What is 13 Card Rummy?
13 Card rummy game is played with a standard deck of cards with jokers and needs atleast 2 players to play. Each player gets 13 cards that need to be arranged in sets. 13 Card Rummy is the most common form of rummy game in India and needs good amount of practice to ace the game.
Rummy is a popular card game played with sets of playing cards. This is one of the most popular Indian card game under the category of draw and discard games. Among this discard & draw game, Indian 13 card game is most played game across India. The basic objective in every rummy game is to improve your hand by dealing sets of cards and forming a particular sequence or set adhering to certain rules of the game.
Rummy in India is usually played between 2 to 6 players where each player has to, in turn, draw and discard one card until the 13 cards form a sequence in sets. On this site, you will find as many as 9 rummy variants.
Indian Rummy is usually played with two pack of cards with two jokers.
Cards in each category rank from low to high: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King.
Ace can be used as 1 or a face card when forming the sets.
Card values are as follows: Face cards, (K, Q, J) - 10 points, Ace - 10 points.
Is playing online rummy game legal?
In contrast to a game of luck, online rummy has been declared as a game of skill by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in August 2015. That has moved the game to being legal because it offers an equal chance of winning using your skills rather than chance. Learn more about rummy legality.
In each turn, a player draws either the top card (face-up) from the open deck or the card from the closed deck, and discards a card from his/her hand in to the open deck, or shows his hand by closing the card and showing the rest of the 13 cards in sets that are in accordance with the rules of the game.
What if I feel that I don't have good cards to complete the game?
You can choose to drop a particular game if you think that the dealt cards to you are not good. However, you can do it only when your turn comes and before you draw a card. Some pools do allow the player(s) to drop the game in the middle but the penalty is usually higher than what a player would pay for dropping at the start of the game before picking their first card.
What is a Joker Card and how does it help in playing Indian rummy game?
A Joker is allowed to be used in place of any cards when forming a set. However, the player has to ensure that he has a sequence without a Joker card to be eligible to use the Joker as stated above. You can take a look at the best use of joker in online rummy card games.
What is the Joker in case the "open Joker" is a deck Joker?
When deck Joker is the open joker, all 'ACE Cards (A's) are considered as jokers.
Life1 should be the order of not less than three cards of the same suit. Life1 shouldn't have a joker. However, the set can include a joker if the joker card is used as the card itself and not as a joker.
Life2 must be a sequence of at least three cards of the same suit. Life 2 may or may not have a joker.
In case during the course of a game you have melded a pure sequence and a second sequence with or without joker and the third hand consists of two elements of a triplet or set.
You could use the jokers in hand to complete the set with the help of maximum two jokers as a set cannot have more than 4 cards.
In case you are still left with a joker in hand, then leave the joker separate while making a show instead of melding a set with 5 cards as this is not acceptable.
You have a natural sequence of 10, J, Q, K of hearts.
The second sequence is A, 2, 3, 4 of spades.
The remaining cards in hand consist of a 10 of spades and a 10 of diamonds along with two picture jokers and one game joker.
In this case you can make a show by melding the 10 of spades and 10 of diamonds along with the two jokers, natural sequence of 10, J, Q, K of hearts, second sequence of A, 2, 3, 4 of spades and keep the joker separate to make the show. This will be accepted as a valid show.
When can a player "Rejoin" in the table?
A player can join by buying in for a second time and agreeing to rejoin the table provided if the next highest point on the table are not greater than "174 points" in case of the 201 points game and "79 points" in case of 101 points game.
Dread getting disconnected at the middle of the game? Not anymore! Play even when you are offline!
We know that getting disconnected in the middle of a winning match is a horrible experience and you never want to have that.
Classic Rummy brings you 'Auto Play' option! Now, your game would keep on going even if your Internet is disconnected.
The moment you go offline during a round of play, the Auto Play option would be activated for the remaining round of that play. That means, your game would get completed, even if you are not technically available to play it.
The "Auto Play" would pull a deck card and discard the same card, giving you an opportunity to join back in the game, the moment you are reconnected thus avoiding any unwanted counts.
Also, if a Show is placed during Auto Play by any of your fellow players, you will get full count. If you remain disconnected even after the Show is placed and next round has started, you'll be automatically dropped, unless comes a deal show, happening which you will get full count on hand.
Auto Play option would get activated when the player has picked at least one deck or open card, before going offline.
* We do not allow multiple accounts and only one account is allowed per house hold.


There never was, nor will there ever be, another family quite like the Jacksons.
Hailing from Gary, Ind., five brothers became a pop sensation in the 1960s, anchored by a 7-year-old phenom who was born to entertain, and who would become one of the most controversial and ultimately tragic figures of his generation. And while that would be enough history for any one bloodline, there's also a sister who smashed music industry records and became one of the defining talents of any era, too.
Despite the different roads that the various members of the family would go down over the years, there's always been one person tying them all together: Katherine Jackson.
Joe Jackson may be the most notorious elder of the family, known for his controlling ways (he ordered his kids to address him as Joseph instead of Dad) and being a physically and emotionally abusive father.
But it's Katherine who's been the pillar of strength throughout, as her huge family has achieved epic highs and reached unfathomable lows. A quiet presence behind the scenes as first the Jackson 5, then son Michael Jackson and daughter Janet Jacksonachieved global fame, she emerged from the background to stand by Michael's side, unwavering in her support, when he was accused of child molestation. She stoically became a parent once again in 2009, when Michael died and left his three children in her care.
"He felt that people wanted him gone, wanted him dead. He would always say that," Katherine told Dateline in 2010, speaking about her son's final days in a rare interview. "And, for him to say that, he must have known something. It's just some of the mean, evil, vicious people didn't want him around for some reason. They're greedy. That's what it is. Don't take that out. They are greedy."
Now 86 years old, Katherine has been living in London—where Janet is now based with Qatari-born husband Wissam Al Mana and their 3-month-old son—since accusing her nephew Trent Lamar Jackson of elder abuse. She secured a temporary restraining order against Trent, a son of Joe Jackson's brother Luther Jackson, in February. Katherine has since flown back to Los Angeles, against doctors' advice, ostensibly to testify at a hearing scheduled for April 25—but the family is understandably hoping for some sort of out-of-court resolution so that she wouldn't have to take the stand.
"Trent made himself a care custodian of Mrs. Jackson to control her every move," read documents filed on Katherine's behalf. "He's threatened not to take her home for not complying with his demands, he has refused to return her home from travel; he deprives her from contact with her family so he can maintain undue influence over her, causing her depression, angst and fear."
The claim continued: "Constant, sometimes subtle, emotional abuse was effective in making Mrs. Jackson confused and unsure of what was happening to her. She is clear now and scared for her safety, after terminating his employment. Now that he knows his conduct will be revealed, she fears what he may do to her upon her return."
The entire situation seems surreal in light of what Katherine has already been through with her immediate family, including her estrangement from her husband (they remain married but haven't lived together in years); the loss of a son Brandon Jackson (Marlon Jackson's twin) in infancy; Michael's death; and granddaughter Paris Jackson's battle with depression that resulted in multiple suicide attempts several years ago.
Trent was the one who filed a missing person report, on July 21, 2012, when Katherine fell out of contact with her grandkids for 10 days and her guardianship was temporarily suspended; Paris tweeted at the time that she hadn't talked to her grandma in a week.
The then 82-year-old family matriarch later explained that she had been planning to join family members on an RV trip to see her sons perform in New Mexico, but a doctor (not her regular physician) had advised she fly and not drive. The mother of nine, grandmother and great-grandmother said that after being flown to Tucson, Ariz., rather than New Mexico, she was taken to the Miraval Spa, where her phone and iPad were taken away.
Four days after being reported missing, Katherine told ABC News in a statement: "I am here today [in Arizona] to let everybody know that I am fine and I am here with my children, and my children would never do a thing to me like that, holding me against my will. It's very stupid for people to think that."
On July 26, Prince tweeted, "Although I am happy my grandma was returned, after speaking with her I realized how misguided and how badly she was lied to. I'm really angry and hurt."
The contradictory partial explanations that emerged from this strange timeline of events sparked rumors that there was a massive family feud taking place, with care of Michael's kids—and money—at the center of the drama.
Ultimately, one of Katherine's older grandkids—Tito Jackson's son T.J.—was appointed co-guardian of Prince, Paris and Blanket, at her request.
"She is eager to simply enjoy her great relationship with these children, while deeding over some of the stressors that go hand-in-hand with being a guardian," a lawyer for Katherine told the Los Angeles Times on July 28.
"At the time, I trusted people to be honest with me," she stated in a subsequent court declaration, part of the proceedings to re-establish herself as a guardian. "While I was away, I had no reason to question whether the people whom I placed the trust would inform me that Prince, Paris and Blanket were trying to reach me."
In 2013, Katherine and daughter La Toya Jacksontook a road trip to the kids' hometown of Gary (Katherine was born in Alabama and her family moved to East Chicago, Ind., when she was 4) to attend a memorial for Michael, an annual event since his death.
"You've convinced me to come," La Toya is seen telling her mother in a clip from her OWN show Life With La Toya. "I was going to be sad about it, but I guess if you're not sad, then there's no reason for me to be sad. And [Michael's] kids aren't sad, so I might as well get glad!"
Which doesn't mean that Katherine wasn't sad—but it's true that she didn't have much time to be devastated after Michael passed away. Immediately after his death at only 50 years old from an overdose of the anaesthetic Propofol, then 13-year-old Prince Michael, 12-year-old Paris and 8-year-old Blanket moved in with her at the family's Encino, Calif., compound, where there were always aunts, uncles and cousins around as well.
And though their upbringing up till then had been anything but normal, Katherine was determined to give them as normal a life as possible.
"The children are doing so well,'' La Toya told The Daily Beast in 2011. "Michael put masks on them to protect them and to keep them safe from anyone who wanted to hurt him. He's gone now. The first thing my mother did was say to them, 'Today we're unmasking you. Today the masks come off.'"
Katherine also set about exorcising the demons that had been plaguing her family for 50 years. It was she who got Joe Jackson to admit on television, during an interview with Oprah Winfrey shot at the Encino house, that he abused the children.
"You might as well admit it, that's the way black people raised their children," Katherine said to him, then, addressing Oprah, "He used a strap. Yes, he did use a strap."
An unabashed Joe said, "I don't [regret the beatings]," he said (after initially saying he would "chastise" but not beat Michael, as the star had claimed). "It kept them out of jail and kept them right." La Toya had been speaking out about her father's abuse since 1992, while Janet also opened up about it in more recent years.
Katherine called the day Michael died, about a week and a half after she'd last seen him, "the worst day of my life."
"My heart dropped," she relayed the painful moment to Oprah. "And so they called me and said, 'Come to the hospital. Michael's in the hospital.'" When she arrived at UCLA Medical Center, "they made the doctor tell me. The doctor had to tell us...Dr. Murray. He came out, and he was talking and it took him so long. He said, 'No, he's gone.' That's all I remember," Katherine added, tearing up. "I'm sorry."
In 2011, Katherine and the rest of the family would see Dr. Conrad Murray, who administered that fatal dose of propofol, be convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison for Michael's death.
Reading a statement for the Jackson family, a lawyer said in court that they weren't there to "seek revenge," but rather to remind "physicians that they cannot sell their services to the highest bidder and cast aside their Hippocratic oath to do no harm."
The same could have been said for the plastic surgeons who acquiesced every time Michael wanted something done to his face, no matter how grotesque his appearance became.
"He'd say,' I'm just so ugly, I don't want to go out there [on stage],'" Katherine told Oprah. "I'd say, 'You're not.' To a mother, all her children are always beautiful."
One day, Michael told her he was going to have his nose done, having always believed it was too big, and the rest is history.
"I hear that people get addicted to plastic surgery and I think that's what happened to him," Katherine said. "I had told him,' That's enough. Why do you keep going?' I even talked to the plastic surgeon and said, 'If he comes there and he wants you to work on his nose, just tell him you did it and do the same thing and don't change it.'"
In her 1990 memoir, My Family, The Jacksons, Katherine revealed that Joe was serially unfaithful (he also fathered a daughter with another woman in 1974), but despite filing for divorce twice, she never went through with the split in the legal sense.
La Toya wrote in her 1991 book La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family that Katherine was emotionally abusive—a charge her mother emphatically denied, blaming La Toya's then-husband and manager Jack Gordon for getting the singer and TV personality to say such things. Mother and daughter reconciled after La Toya divorced Gordon, whom she would later claim was also physically abusive.
Katherine said her favorite songs were the Jackson 5's "Man of War" and Michael's "Man in the Mirror." She would attend as many of Michael's concerts as he could, and she loved the 1984 Victory Tour—the first and only concert tour to ever feature all six of her sons.
Michael never placed any blame on his mother for what their father put them through as children; rather, he remained fiercely devoted to her throughout his life, as evidenced by him leaving his children in her care.
"[Katherine] is just really, really an incredible person," Marc Schaffel, a close friend and collaborator of Michael's told Dateline. "I mean, she's a role model …what Michael saw in her all along. I mean, she is supportive. She's there. She's protective. You know, she's been around. She knows the world. And that's the type of person Michael...entrusted her."
Katherine also met Prince and Paris' biological mother, Debbie Rowe, for the first time after Michael died, and at the time she said Debbie was welcome at the Jackson family home to spend time with her kids and Blanket (whose mother remains unknown). Relations between Debbie and Katherine wouldn't always stay so cordial, but Paris remains close with her.
While the "Hayvenhurst House," as the family refers to the Encino compound, was undergoing renovations, Katherine moved the kids to a gated community Calabasas, where recently they've counted various Kardashians as neighbors. After initially leasing the 12,760-square-foot Calabasas house for $26,000 a month, the Jackson estate bought the property for $10.75 million in 2014.
After turning 18, Paris moved into a cottage that used to be a favorite of her father's at the Encino property.
Katherine was in danger of losing the house at one point because of Michael's storied financial troubles: despite holding extremely valuable assets, such as a partial ownership of the publishing rights to the Beatles' vast catalog, the onetime King of Pop was reportedly as much as $400 million in debt when he died.
Ironically, Michael Jackson, of course, has had one of the most lucrative afterlives in show business. Last October he topped Forbes' annual list of the top-earning dead celebrities with $825 million in pretax earnings—the majority of that coming when his estate sold his 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing (including those Beatles songs) back to Sony for $750 million.
Jackson's estate was placed in a trust when he died, with Katherine, his children and various charities named as beneficiaries. Various members of the family, Katherine included, butted heads off and on for several years with the two men whom Jackson named in his 2002 will to be executors of his estate.
Regardless, money started flowing in from—to name a few sources—album sales, tribute merchandise, the release of the concert documentary film, This Is It, and, eventually, two Las Vegas revues using Jackson music. In 2013, the family lost a billion-dollar wrongful death suit against concert promoter AEG, with a jury determining that Michael was responsible for the decisions, particularly employing Murray, that ultimately led to his death.
Katherine now receives more than $1 million a year from her son's estate. The family's current allegations against Trent, who had been employed as his aunt's driver, maintain that he had stolen as much as $40,000 from her, used her credit cards without permission and was trying to manipulate her in order to take control of her finances, continue to live rent-free in her Calabasas guest house and estrange her from her children. Trent has maintained that it's some of Katherine's grown kids who have been the ones doing the manipulating.
Attorney Joy Bass told reporters at the courthouse last week that the 86-year-old has been seeing doctors in London to help manage symptoms of stress, and of course she's loving time with her new grandson.
"Yes, you can image" she's enjoying the family time, Bass said. "That's her baby having a baby."
queen of the jacksons ??
And though Paris, as she forges her own way as a model and actress, wanted to move back to Encino, where she felt closer to her father's memory, she and her siblings also remain devoted to their grandma.
Paris, Prince and other members of the sprawling dynasty shared photos on Twitter and Instagram of the family's Thanksgiving, documenting the festivities as they went along. At one point, Paris—who sports a tattoo of a blue lotus flower with her grandma's name in Chinese script (reading Kǎisèlín") on her wrist—shared a photo of a quiet moment shared with Katherine on the couch.
"Queen of the Jacksons," she wrote.


President Donald Trump allegedly considered his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner for the position of secretary of state.
In Michael Wolff's new book, 'Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House', he writes that the president and then-new Chief of Staff John Kelly had a meeting during which the four star general hoped to discuss how to encourage Kushner and Ivanka Trump's departure from the White House.
However, Kelly quickly learned that Trump was 'delighted with all aspects of their performance' and had even higher aspirations for Kushner.
'General Kelly had Jared and Ivanka on his agenda - how the president saw their role; what he thought was working and not working about it; how he envisioned it going forward. It was all intended to be a politic way of opening a discussion about getting them out,' Wolff wrote.
'But the president was, Kelly soon learned, delighted with all aspects of their performance in the West Wing. Maybe at some point Jared would become secretary of state - that was the only change the president seemed to foresee.
Kelly reportedly had been seeking changes and to institute order in a White House that was seemingly chaos under his predecessor, Reince Preibus, and wanted to control access to Trump and his office.
It seems Kelly was able to succeed late last year. A report indicated both Kushner and Ivanka's roles had diminished in the White House despite their lofty titles.
The roles of Ivanka and Kushner has long been a point of tension in the current administration. According to Wolff, conservative pundit Ann Coulter told Trump when he was president-elect that he could not simply hire his children.
The Trump Organization has long been a family affair for Trump, who turned over the day-to-day running of his companies to his sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, upon assuming the presidency.
Additionally, the relationship between the president and current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been contentious.
In November, Trump said 'we'll see' if Tillerson lasts his full first term. Tillerson has insisted he isn't leaving.
Speaking to the BBC in London on Saturday, Wolff declared that his instant New York Times bestseller would prove the catalyst for the end of the Trump administration, which has not yet completed one year in office.
The book claims Bannon called a meeting involving the president's son, Donald Trump Jr, and Jared Kushner, with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign 'treasonous'.


In the age of the three dollar and four dollar comic books, one must choose their titles carefully. A solid creative team must develop a story that's engaging and brings readers back for more. Sadly, that is not the plan of the creative team behind Grifter.
Now, I will admit that I never read an issue of Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S., so my knowledge of Grifter is minimal. Why did I pick this title? I was sold by the cover, which showed some promise. We see the main character, the Grifter, falling off a building with guns blazing. I thought it was cool and I am a sucker for cool covers. However, after reading the first issue, I will not make the same mistake. OK, maybe I will with other titles, but Grifter is no longer on my must read list.
What did I find out in the first issue? Not much. The Grifter is a man named Cole and he's something of a con artist from New Orleans on the run. There is a sub-plot where we find out that Cole may be a rogue government agent and they are determined to find him. Also, Cole may be the host of some alien being, but the jury is still out.
You may be wondering, "What's the problem? That sounds cool to me." The problem for me is that this book seems to be nothing more than a poor man's Gambit.Cole is from New Orleans and seems to be from the Gambit mold. Debate this accusation all you want, but we have the slight bayou look and there is a moment where he slyly uses some playing cards to foil an adversary. The similarities are there and it is by no means thinly veiled.
The plot itself is less than engaging. There are aliens in human form among us, and Cole seems to be the only one that knows who they are. He discovers their presence on a flight and somehow manages to kill one of the aliens. Also, we find out that there is a second alien on the plane and it fights Cole, but the two of them manage to get the door to the plane open, and they fall out while fighting in the air. The story moves on to how Cole was able to detect the aliens, which is nothing I found to be interesting or engaging because I've read this type of story before in ROM.
I had no issues with the artwork. Everything looked nice. The panels allowed smooth transition and the action scenes were well done.
Overall, this was a disappointing first issue. Take into consideration that I'm a first time reader of this title. Remember, it is important as a creative team to immediately capture the attention of readers that are not familiar with your title. We all have been first timers and we can list the comic books that hooked us and the comic books that irritated us. Grifter failed for me because the story is Gambit meets ROM. As I mentioned earlier, in the age of the three and four dollar comics, we need to be hooked immediately and have little time for building up some major event over the span of three to four issues. Do you really want to spend nine to ten dollars to be disappointed in the end? I didn't think so.
TonyDoug Wright is the owner and editor of Champion City Comics. His webcomics include Dr Death vs The Zombie, The End of Paradise, and Day 165.


Question: What policies provoked the food crisis in 2008?
Arnold: What happened in the last few years, with economic growth and in many developing countries and increased demand for food, there was, you know, a significant increase in demand, and that coincided with a number of things on the supply side which were reduced food supply, droughts in Australia and various sort of natural disasters, and you also then, on the other side, you had the expansion of biofuels, which was connected to rising energy crisis. All of these things came together in the first half of this, of 2008, to create a situation where suddenly food became unaffordable to, you know, probably an additional 100 million people in the world. So, we started with 850 million people who are hungry. At the end of 2009, we have close to a billion people who are hungry. But food prices have, you know, changed and basically come down a lot in the last 6 months, along with energy crisis, and we’re now facing into a very different economic situation, but an economic situation where it’s been brought home to us everyday in the developed world, how bad it is, how difficult it is, but the knock-on effects, the knock-on economic effects of this situation on the poorer countries is only beginning to be, I think, to be understood, and I think we really have big challenges here to face, to make sure that the real victims of this emerging recession are not the poorest people in the world.
Question: Are developing countries insulated from the financial crisis?
Arnold: Certainly some of the developing countries are not fully integrated into the world financial systems, and so the impact may be less, but I don't think there’s any developing country that isn’t going to be impacted on this global economic downturn. I think we’re seeing already export markets falling, export possibilities for developing countries falling. There’s going to be an impact on the remittances. Many of these countries depend a lot on remittances and with unemployment rising and things getting much tighter in the developed countries where many of their citizens are, those remittances are going to fall. There’s likely also to be an impact, I think, inevitably, on aid projects in developed countries, and that, then, is going to have an impact. So, all of these adds up to, you know, a situation that I don't think developing countries are at all immune from this economic downturn, and I think what it means for agencies like Concern and donor agencies generally is that we have to be very smart and very strategic in how we use limited amounts of money, and so that we absolutely maximized the development impact of the resources that we have, and that’s very much the focus that we are all the time trying to look to, how do we make sure that we’re learning from our work, whether it be in nutrition or health or education, and we’re bringing those lessons to our, both to our own programs and to the wider development community so that they can learn as well. So, that really, getting maximum impact for the resource that we have is one of the really big challenges in the years ahead, I think.
The CEO examines the food crisis and the financial crisis.


Freshman Congressman Charlie Crist, a former Fla. governor, noted that he was a cosponsor of the Congressional measure, which criticized the UN Security Council resolution last month that condemned Israel's settlement policy.
Understanding the UN resolution on Israeli settlements: What are the immediate ramifications?
A bipartisan resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives on Israel passed easily on Thursday by a 342 to 80 margin on Thursday. Although Congressman Charlie Crist, a former Republican who is now a Democrat, had intended to vote in favor of the House resolution, known as House Resolution 11, he admitted missing the vote for a rather simple reason: He hadn't allowed enough time to walk from his office.
Crist, a freshman Congressman, told the Tampa Bay Times he hadn't allocated sufficient time to get to the House chamber in time for the vote and was "detained" along the way be people wanting to chat. “I’m sorry. It happens. Now I know better. I have to give myself more time,” he admitted.
The House resolution was met by initial criticism by some pro-Israel Republicans who opposed it because it included a clause calling for a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Congressional measure calls for last month's Security Council resolution, over which the United States administration abstained, to either be repealed or significantly amended.
"This evening, I planned to vote in favor of H. Res. 11, but was unfortunately delayed in arriving to the House floor," said Crist, who represents part of the Tampa Bay area, in a news release issued by his office on Thursday. "As a cosponsor of this measure, I believe it is vital that the United Nations Security Council be sent a clear message that biased, one-sided resolutions targeting Israel are unacceptable and only make it more difficult for negotiations to resume between Israelis and Palestinians."
On Friday, in its report of the matter in a political blog, the Tampa Bay Times website added: "While it’s common for lawmakers to miss votes at times, Crist was clearly concerned about the perception and issued a news release last night that included a quote from Rep. Eliot Engel, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, calling the former governor a 'great friend of Israel.'"
The Politico politics website reported that a tweet about the vote by Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott was veiled criticism of Crist, who is a former Florida governor himself. "Appreciate the members of Congress who chose to stand with Israel by condemning the UN resolution & inaction of Obama administration," Scott tweeted. "I am especially proud of the Florida members who voted in favor of fighting for Israel- our great friend and ally."


Perfekte Gary Wilson Snooker Spieler Stock-Fotos und -Bilder sowie aktuelle Editorial-Aufnahmen von Getty Images. Download hochwertiger Bilder, die man. Gary Wilson Live Ticker (und kostenlos Übertragung Video Live-Stream sehen im Internet), Spielplan und Ergebnisse von allen Snooker Turnieren die Wilson G. Gary Wilson (* August ) ist ein englischer Snookerspieler aus Wallsend. Karriere[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]. Erstmals machte Gary Wilson bei.
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Structured data Captions English Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents. Im zweiten Jahr dauerte es jedoch lange bis zu ersten Erfolgen. Gary Wilson and Ingo Schmidt. Im zweiten Jahr dauerte es jedoch lange bis zu ersten Erfolgen. Inhalte nur unter Verwendung von Lizenzbedingungen weitergeben, casino windsor. Ein Jahr später gewann er den Titel bei der UWeltmeisterschaft. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. Allen finishes off superb performance to win International Championship. Challenge Tour — Event 4.
Sie lesen jetzt Übertreibt es O'Sullivan diesmal? EbertsKorrespondent in Hannover, vor allem für Sportthemen. Möglicherweise unterliegen die Inhalte jeweils zusätzlichen Bedingungen. Spelautomater med pirattema - Spela gratis eller med pengar Klicke auf einen Zeitpunkt, um diese Version zu laden. This means that free usage outside of Wikimedia projects under the following terms of licence is possible: In der Weltrangliste stieg er im Juli unter die Top Wunderino test Tyneside Terror . In the first tournament, the Wuxi Classiche latest casino bonus free slot James Wattana to qualify for his second ever venue appearance; there he would lose in a deciding frame to David Morris. Retrieved from " https: Das zweite Jahr verlief live ergebniss nicht so erfolgreich und er holland casino 1 januari utrecht seinen Profistatus wieder. Find here all your favorites sports, events, teams and players for a quick access. In anderen Projekten Commons. Durch nachträgliche Bearbeitung der Originaldatei können einige Details verändert worden https: Picture taken in Berlin during the Snooker German Masters in Beste Spielothek in Oemberg finden He fell 9—5 behind, before winning two frames in a row, but O'Sullivan then got the frame he needed to progress 10—7. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
Retrieved 29 April Retrieved 25 April Kyren Wilson wants improvement". Archived from the original on 7 May Retrieved 8 May Retrieved 21 September Retrieved 18 September Retrieved 19 September Kyren Wilson pips Judd Trump to win first title".
Paul Hunter Classic Wilson went on to win a number of national titles, including the UK Under championship twice, and was widely regarded as one of the most promising junior players in the country.
Bei der Qualifikation für das German Masters gelang ihm das Durch den geänderten Turniermodus bedeutete das bereits seinen ersten Auftritt in der Hauptrunde eines Weltranglistenturniers in der Runde der letzten Das Hauptturnier verfehlte er jedoch. Allen finishes off superb performance to win International Championship. Robertson launches unlikely comeback with century clearance. Seite 1 Seite 2 Nächste Seite. Im zweiten Jahr dauerte es jedoch lange bis zu ersten Erfolgen. Malta Cup [nb 7]. EbertsKorrespondent in Hannover, vor allem für Sportthemen. Möglicherweise unterliegen die Inhalte jeweils zusätzlichen Bedingungen. This means that free usage outside of Wikimedia projects under the following terms of licence is possible: This means that free usage outside of Wikimedia projects under the following terms of licence is possible: World Open [nb 5]. The following other wikis use this file: Views Read Edit View history. This means that free usage outside of Wikimedia projects under the following terms of licence is possible: To hide this tag, set the "invisible" field to "true" List of blacklisted links: In the last 16 online casino 888 auszahlung was edged out 4—3 by Joe Perry. Retrieved 13 April Archived from the original on 7 May He then knocked was ist neu bei fifa 17 Neil Robertson 4—2 to reach his first major quarter-final, stating afterwards that he had proven that he live ergebniss handle the big occasions. It is so different now. It meant if you had two bad tournaments and you were not doing too well you did not have much time to real vs bayern. Riga Masters [nb 4]. I felt like crying at the end because it means so much to me. Retrieved 16 April To hide this tag, set the "invisible" field to "true" List of blacklisted links: Rebuy guthaben automated process has detected links on this page on the gratis coupons 2019 or global blacklist.


Uncertainty in Prior Elicitations: a Nonparametric Approach.
A key task in the elicitation of expert knowledge is to construct a distribution from the finite, and usually small, number of statements that have been elicited from the expert. These statements typically specify some quantiles or moments of the distribution. Such statements are not enough to identify the expert's probability distribution uniquely, and the usual approach is to fit some member of a convenient parametric family. There are two clear deficiencies in this solution. First, the expert's beliefs are forced to fit the parametric family. Secondly, no account is then taken of the many other possible distributions that might have fitted the elicited statements equally well. We present a nonparametric approach which tackles both of these deficiencies. We also consider the issue of the imprecision in the elicited probability judgements.
KEY WORDS: Expert elicitation, Gaussian process, non-parametric density estimation.


"I'm delighted to discuss this subject," Amy said, "because so many owners are confused about it. Training programs that stress corrections don't always make the place of rewards clear. Programs that advocate 'totally positive reinforcement' ignore the respectful manner in which a typical retriever responds to clear-cut physical reinforcement of rules."
Amy feels that dogs trained with too many corrections become inhibited and reluctant to try new things, for fear of making mistakes. In extreme cases the dog may quit retrieving altogether.
Conversely, dogs trained with too many rewards never develop proper focus. They obey only when they feel like it, and they refuse challenges.
Discouraging such a dog from doing the wrong thing becomes very roundabout. Some-times the required time and contortions so muddy the message that the dog fails to get the point."
Amy said you can spot a dog that has had too much negative training, even if he performs well, by his cautious attitude and reluctance to vary his behavior in any way. If the trainer has made serious mistakes, the dog may have a great fear of some aspects of his work, like water retrieves. You can spot a dog that has had too much positive training by his lack of discipline; the owner usually lacks the leverage necessary to get his dog to try anything difficult.
"Of course," Amy said, "individual temperament makes a world of difference. Almost nothing will dim the enthusiasm of an old-fashioned Labrador; he'll learn rapidly with plenty of no-nonsense corrections. With more sensitive dogs, you must limit the number and severity of corrections.
"Actually, since retriever training consists mostly in getting the dog to do things, often new things, your day-to-day training can and should be mostly reward-driven."
Amy gave these examples of positive training. In obedience training, she praises the dog calmly as he completes a command, thereby letting him know she's pleased, which speeds learning. She pointed out that marking is mostly positive, in that the retrieve itself is the dog's greatest reward, but she also yells a hearty "Good dog!" as he finds the bird.
In blind retrieve training, she sometimes makes finding the dummy quite easy, thereby ensuring a reward. She sometimes let the dog carry a less than perfect line or cast a long distance, which builds his confidence.
She gave these examples of negative training. In obedience training, after teaching and practicing a command, she then adds corrections for mistakes, like a jerk on the lead or a swat on the rear. In marking, she corrects the dog when he takes roundabout routes going out or coming back, especially if he is avoiding a hazard. In blind retrieves, she said that just stopping the dog is a mild form of punishment. That's why she lets a retriever experience successes in his early blinds before trying to refine his line with lots of whistles and casts.
"I could go on and on," Amy said "for this is one of my favorite subjects! I know that space is limited, but I'd like to make two more quick points. First, dogs learn by doing, which means by constant practice and repetition; rewards and punishments are mostly for the details; therefore the best training sessions always emphasize practice.
"Second, here are two pitfalls you should avoid: Except while forcing on 'Back,' you shouldn't correct a moving dog with the e-collar; and you shouldn't reward your retriever with too many fun-dummies, for this can lead to a lack of effort."
This tip is from Amy Dahl of Oak Hill Kennel, 625 Black Hawk Road, Vass, NC 28394; (910) 245-2603; website www.oakhillkennel.com; e-mail amy@oakhillkennel.com. Amy has been training professionally for 10 years, specializing in retriever training for all breeds that retrieve. She handles retrievers in field trials and hunting tests. She breeds Labradors and Chesapeakes.


A discussion of the pros and cons of nuclear power often pits an emotional point of view against a scientific point of view.
1) Nuclear waste: A viable solution to nuclear waste has been demonstrated at Idaho National Lab during the EBR-II project. Their recycling of over 30,000 fuel pins proved what can be done to reduce the radiotoxicity to a few hundred years. Argonne National Laboratory has now designed a commercial-scale facility that can recycle not only metal fuel (like that used in the EBR-II) but also spent oxide fuel from lightwater reactors like those currently in use (so-called nuclear waste) as well as spent fuel from the molten salt reactors expected to be deployed in the near future. It's a one size fits all approach, using proven technology, and it's ready to build now.
2) Backup power: Those serious about climate change must realize that using natural gas for "backup" is a Faustian bargain, since it not only produces lots of carbon dioxide but the leakage of methane (sounds less "natural" when you call it that) is a serious problem. Since hyd roelectric power is both regionally and climatically restricted (remember the last 3-year drought in California when its impressive collection of dams was nearly useless), anyone serious about getting away from fossil fuels must certainly have to look to nuclear power for backup. The argument that the life cycle carbon footprint of nuclear is bad is entirely bogus (as the IPCC has declared on various occasions), and in fact even the small footprint in such calculations assume enrichment facilities that are powered by fossil-fuel-supplied electricity. Since nuclear-sourced electricity can be used instead to power enrichment facilities, the carbon footprint would be far lower than either wind or solar.
That being the case, there is no reason that nuclear power (particularly advanced systems like molten salt and fast reactors) can't be mass-produced and deployed as "backup" power for renewables, thus abandoning fossil fuels for power generation.
4) Nuclear power is too expensive: This is almost true in the USA, where decades of no new construction and an upside-down regulatory environment has made nuclear very expensive indeed. But China, Russia, and South Korea manage to build reactors on time and budget at very competitive prices. New molten salt and fast reactor designs promise to be even cheaper (and safer) than the reactors currently being built by those countries. If the USA regulatory environment can be fixed then new reactor designs could be built here very economically. If not, other countries will leave our nuclear industry in the dust. It's already happening (see the four reactors soon coming online in the UAE, built by South Korea).
5) Nuclear will power the world: Climate change politics will eventually overcome even the ideologically-driven climate denial in the USA. When the point is reached where fossil fuel use is recognized as virtually suicidal, nuclear will have to be recognized as the one reliable "backup" system for renewables. Yet since sometimes (particularly in winter) there are weeks at a time when wind and solar produce virtually nothing (see the data for Germany over the last decade), nuclear backup will have to be built to such a level as to provide all the power needed for those times when wind and solar fail. In such a case, nuclear capacity to power the grid will be 100%. Yet nuclear power plants are just fine running at full power 24/7, and fuel costs are trivial. So if nuclear "backup" is built to the degree necessary, what will be the point of building solar or wind installations? Ultimately the logic of this situation will be self-evident and nuclear power will supply all we need, including the vast amount of energy that will be required to desalinate water on a heretofore unimaginable scale, and to move it to where it's needed. Nuclear power can also provide power to make carbon-neutral liquid fuels out of air and water. The technology is well-known and proven, it's just the cost and availability of the necessary power that keeps us from doing that today (extracting fossil fuel from the ground is cheaper).


The folly of reading Turkey lies in the myth that Turkey's current leadership has reduced its strategic relations with the West to a transactional level. The question that hangs over this assertion is that when has Turkey's relations been strategic if at all?
Throughout the Cold War, within NATO, Turkey was largely viewed as a functional ally that had a functional role in the alliance due to its two fundamental assets: A vital geostrategic location and the second largest army in NATO.
Beyond that, Turkey was never viewed as a strategic partner by its western allies. It was not in the picture in the making of the "transatlantic bargain" at the end of World War II. That bargain was to let a war-beaten Europe economically prosper and become a full-fledged partner in a global political economy based on interdependence, while the United States provided the security bulwark against the Soviet Union with extended nuclear deterrence.
However, underlying this bargain was a common vision between Europe and the United States. An essentially Atlantic vision based on an idea about a world order that depended on economic interdependence. This was based on an open postwar trading system in which U.S. leadership and control of that system protected this sphere of influence that jealously embodied a "way of life" that needed to be protected with military hardware with global outreach.
The legitimacy of that system rested on the definition of that way of life that was based on essentially Wilsonian values. Thus, the system had three components: military security, economic interdependence and values. The last needed international institutions to uphold those values.
The '90s saw a rebuilding of those very same institutions to spread the system beyond the post-communist world that had collapsed and to fill the vacuum after its demise. That included revamping NATO, the EU and the OSCE, redesigning the U.N. as the upholder and implementer of a collective security system and introducing new concepts, such as the responsibility to protect.
In all this, where was Turkey? Was Turkey at the table at the founding of this system in 1945? No. Was it an active strategic partner at the height of the Cold War? Absolutely not.
One shining example is the Cuban missile crisis. In the most crucial crisis of its time, which almost brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, the vital issue was trading off Jupiter missiles stationed in Turkey. While this was being discussed between the Soviet and U.S. sides in backchannel talks and as an option on the crisis management table of U.S. decision makers in what was called the ExCom (Executive Committee), not at any time during this crisis was their NATO ally, Turkey, consulted about the repercussions of these discussions, although they affected Turkey's security directly.
American missiles deployed in Turkey could be put there and removed with the ease in which they had been deployed. This was in stark contrast to the public upheaval and demonstrations of the 1980s during the Euro-missile crisis that resulted in the deployment of U.S. missiles in the United Kingdom, West Germany and the Netherlands.
The Cuban missile crisis and its potential impact on Turkey's security were hardly mentioned in Turkish public debate or the media. In short, Turkey was the epitome of a functional ally, not a strategic partner. Even after the end of the Cold War, despite providing the military presence for many peace-building missions from Bosnia to Afghanistan that was essential for the redefinition of the post 1945 liberal order in the '90s, Turkey had no input in revamping its design.
From time to time, lip service was played to elevating Turkey to strategic partner status, but only when Turkey's security concerns prompted it to act unilaterally, which raised alarm in the minds of its Western allies that it might stray from the fold, such as in northern Iraq in 2007. But in real terms, that strategic partner status never materialized.
Given the criticism leveled against Turkey now that it has reduced its strategic relationship with the West to a transactional level, this is the time when Turkey is emerging, as a true strategic partner in the region where a strategic partnership between Turkey and the West did not exist before.
The immediate test to reevaluate the Turkey-West relationship within the parameters of a real strategic partnership is Syria. It is impossible to foresee an end to the Syrian war with a political solution paving the way for stability and sustainable peace without the role of Turkey.
Turkey is the only NATO ally that is a partner in the Astana talks with Russia and Iran that recently reached an agreement on implementation of four de-escalation zones. Astana delivers on the ground and paves the way for a sustainable political solution in Geneva.
Turkey has a vital role to play in post conflict Syria with its Western allies. First, its long-standing experience of peace-building in Afghanistan as the only NATO force in that country that had a successful record of good relations and trust building with the local communities. Surely, Turkey can carry this experience of peace building into Syria.
Furthermore, it can have an important role in education in post war Syria, helping to redesign curriculums that address the needs of sustainable peace, merging universal values with local cultural and religious ones. In Bosnia, this had become a problematic issue with curriculums designed by external actors who had little knowledge of the local culture and beliefs.
Beyond Syria, Turkey can work with its Western allies to establish sustainable stability in the region. For the United States, carrying forth a policy of off shore balancing that requires allies and regional partners to take care of regional stability within a global trading system, the ideal strategic regional partner is Turkey.
It is time for the West to stop paying lip service to Turkey's accession to strategic partner status and it is definitely time for Western observers to stop false assertions that Turkey has reduced its relationship with the West to a transactional level. Shaping the region for sustainable stability can hardly be achieved through transactional relations. This is not the relationship Turkey wants with the West.


Chimps vs. Humans: Who's Smarter?
I recently saw a documentary comparing children and chimpanzees. At a young age, they are remarkably similar. Both are highly intelligent and can figure out, say, how to use a tool to obtain something they want. Both can communicate using symbols. Chimps don't have the vocal equipment to speak, but that can be taught sign language and can put together simple sentences. Why, then, do chimps and humans turn out so differently?
The essential difference was illustrated by an experiment shown at the end of the documentary. In it, chimps and young children at about the same developmental stage were shown a "magic box," a little bigger than a shoe box. The experimenter demonstrated to the subjects how to use the box to obtain candy. First, you tap on the top of the box three times with a stick, then you do a couple more things to devices on the top of the box, and finally you use the stick to reach into a hole in the front of the box and pull out a piece of candy which is hidden just out of view.
Both the chimps and the kids were about equally capable of imitating the experimenter, performing the demonstrated steps and retrieving the candy—but only as long as the box was opaque. Things changed, however, when the magic box was replaced with an identical one with clear sides. When the box was transparent, it became obvious that the preliminary procedures like tapping on the box had nothing to with obtaining the candy, since there was no connection between the top of the box and the opening in front where the candy was now plainly visible.
The chimps figured it out right away. Instead of following the procedures demonstrated by the experimenter, they immediately used the stick to reach into the front and get the candy.
The human children, however, continued to follow the ritual as instructed. Even though the candy was easily accessible in front of them, they still tapped three times on the top of the box and did all the other things they were instructed to do before reaching in with the stick and pulling out the candy.
This would seem to suggest that chimps are smarter than human children. They ignored the preliminary nonsense and cut directly to the goal. However, the kids' behavior—essentially a deference to authority—probably served them better in their long-term development.
What the experiment showed is that humans have an instinctive need to be taught by others. They are not going to look at an object and make their own decision about what it means, like the chimps do. Instead they are going to look to others to tell them what the object means. As the documentary explained it, kids instinctively "triangulate" between themselves, the object and their teacher, rather than relating to the object alone.
Even though the ritual of tapping the box had no real connection to obtaining the candy, the children apparently trusted the experimenter and assumed that he know more than they did. Their most powerful instinct was to follow his lead, even when it conflicted with their own senses and delayed the reward.
This seems to be the essential reason why humans have developed such an advanced culture compared to apes: humans are inclined to look to others for guidance rather than just obeying their own observations. This is a disadvantage in pursuing simple goals like the piece of candy, but it is of great value in learning more complex skills where the goals are remote and not immediately visible.
Chimps are focussed on the concrete reward, while kids are focussed on their teacher and on trying to make him or her happy. This allows complex skills to be passed from generation to generation and even lets each generation build upon the accomplishments of the last. Chimp society, by contrast, is relatively static and doesn't change much from generation to generation.
This inclination to be lead is an essential element of human behavior and our advanced culture, but it is not all good. It also means that, when the circumstances are right, humans will follow each other like lemmings to their own destruction.
One of the most frustrating features of human behavior is people's instinct to follow the crowd, even when there is no logical benefit in it. This is true, in my experience, even among the highly educated and those who see themselves as independent thinkers. It is fine for a child to obey his parents or follow the lead of his older siblings, but in adulthood this urge to can generate some amazing absurdities.
Even in the internet age, when there's endless options for entertainment, we can still see 100 million people tuning in to the Super Bowl or American Idol, events that provide no survival benefit whatsoever. Is this honestly the best thing that each of those viewers could be doing with their time? No, but it apparently makes them feel good to be part of a crowd.
That humans are sheep should come as no surprise. That's what has given us our complex culture—the human willingness to blindly follow others—but it can be maddening nonetheless. It means that you can present a completely logical argument to an adult human and no matter how sound your reasoning may be, the human is still likely to follow the crowd.
The follower urge means that humans can believe in some kooky things even when the evidence clearly shows otherwise. They believe in these things largely because they see that other people do—people who they somehow perceive as part of their "tribe." Hence, the amazing effectiveness of advertizing in convincing people to buy things they don't need. The essential message of most advertizing is that you will be part of a hip crowd if you buy the product, and the ploy usually works!
The intellect of our species is clearly impressive, but too often it is used merely to generate complex rationalizations for obedient behavior. For example, if you are member of a religion, you probably can give some intellectual arguments for the choice, when in fact you probably joined because your parents were members or because someone you identified with lead you into it. Very few decisions people make are "rational"; instead they are driven by emotional needs—that is, by the same instinctual and evolutionary drives that made us the top dog on the planet.
The world is filled with religions beyond the obvious ones. These are environments where people follow each other on faith without really understanding why. When a celebrity endorses a product, people buy it because they want to follow someone they perceive as worthy and powerful. The celebrity is their priest with an assumed connection to God. The known fact that the celebrity is paid for the endorsement has little effect on it's persuasive power, because people just want to be lead.
You can tell someone, "Look, you don't have to tap on the box three times. You can just reach in and get the candy." But if the ritual is what everyone around them is doing they probably won't accept your logic. If they do eventually cave in and go straight for the goal, it is only because they have been cut off from the society that gave them the ritual or because they have been pressured by real-world constraints into abandoning it.
The urge to be taught is essential for children, but it can become a huge burden in adulthood. It means that you can rarely change someone's behavior by logic alone. Instead, you have to get a celebrity endorsement.
The "magic box" experiment is mentioned in this article in the New York Times: Children Learn by Monkey See, Monkey Do. Chimps Don't. It refers to "a paper published in the July issue of the journal Animal Cognition by Victoria Horner and Andrew Whiten, two psychologists at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland."


Do Episodic Migraineurs Selectively Attend to Headache-Related Visual Stimuli?
Dr. Todd Smitherman and a number of graduate students have just had two papers accepted for publication in the journal Headache. The citation and abstract for each paper are given below. Congratulations to Dr. Smitherman, Michael McDermott, Kelly Peck, Brooke Walters, Elizabeth Kolivas and Jenn Bailey for their efforts in getting these published.
McDermott, M. J., Peck, K. R., Walters, A. B., & Smitherman, T. A.
To assess pain-related attentional biases among individuals with episodic migraine.
Prior studies have examined whether chronic pain patients selectively attend to pain-related stimuli in the environment, but these studies have produced largely mixed findings and focused primarily on patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Limited research has implicated attentional biases among chronic headache patients, but no studies have been conducted among episodic migraineurs, who comprise the overwhelming majority of the migraine population.
This was a case-control, experimental study. Three hundred and eight participants (mean age = 19.2 years [standard deviation = 3.3]; 69.5% female; 36.4% minority), consisting of 84 episodic migraineurs, diagnosed in accordance with International Classification of Headache Disorders (2nd edition) criteria using a structured diagnostic interview, and 224 non-migraine controls completed a computerized dot probe task to assess attentional bias toward headache-related pictorial stimuli. The task consisted of 192 trials and utilized 2 emotional-neutral stimulus pairing conditions (headache-neutral and happy-neutral).
No within-group differences for reaction time latencies to headache vs happy conditions were found among those with episodic migraine or among the non-migraine controls. Migraine status was unrelated to attentional bias indices for both headache (F [1,306] = 0.56, P = .45) and happy facial stimuli (F [1,306] = 0.37, P = .54), indicating a lack of between-group differences. Lack of within- and between-group differences was confirmed with repeated measures analysis of variance.
In light of the large sample size and prior pilot testing of presented images, results suggest that episodic migraineurs do not differentially attend to headache-related facial stimuli. Given modest evidence of attentional biases among chronic headache samples, these findings suggest potential differences in attentional processing between chronic and episodic headache subforms.
Smitherman, T. A., Kolivas, E. D., & Bailey, J. R.
A growing body of literature suggests that comorbid anxiety disorders are more common and more prognostically relevant among migraine sufferers than comorbid depression. Panic disorder (PD) appears to be more strongly associated with migraine than most other anxiety disorders. PD and migraine are both chronic diseases with episodic manifestations, involving significant functional impairment and shared symptoms during attacks, interictal anxiety concerning future attacks, and an absence of identifiable secondary pathology. A meta-analysis of high-quality epidemiologic study data from 1990 to 2012 indicates that the odds of PD are 3.76 times greater among individuals with migraine than those without. This association remains significant even after controlling for demographic variables and comorbid depression. Other less-rigorous community and clinical studies confirm these findings. The highest rates of PD are found among migraine with aura patients and those presenting to specialty clinics. Presence of PD is associated with greater negative impact of migraine, including more frequent attacks, increased disability, and risk for chronification and medication overuse. The mechanisms underlying this common comorbidity are poorly understood, but both pathophysiological (eg, serotonergic dysfunction, hormonal influences, dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis) and psychological (eg, interoceptive conditioning, fear of pain, anxiety sensitivity, avoidance behavior) factors are implicated. Means of assessing comorbid PD among treatment-seeking migraineurs are reviewed, including verbal screening for core PD symptoms, ruling out medical conditions with panic-like features, and administering validated self-report measures. Finally, evidence-based strategies for both pharmacologic and behavioral management are outlined. The first-line migraine prophylactics are not indicated for PD, and the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors used to treat PD are not efficacious for migraine; thus, separate agents are often required to address each condition. Core components of behavioral treatments for PD are reviewed, and their integration into clinical headache practice is discussed.


A U.S. judge ordered prosecutors Wednesday to hand over hundreds of emails by officers overseeing the detention of WikiLeaks suspect Pvt. Bradley Manning, who has alleged he suffered mistreatment at a Marine Corps brig.
Lawyers for Manning, a U.S. Army private accused of passing a trove of secret government documents to the WikiLeaks website, had asked for the emails to bolster their argument that the soldier suffered illegal treatment when he was held at the Quantico Marine base in Virginia starting in 2010.
At a pre-trial hearing at Fort Meade, Md., Judge Denise Lind said more than 600 emails withheld by prosecutors should be handed over to the defense, though she did not explain the reason behind her decision.
The emails discuss the military's plans to respond to queries from reporters about Manning's detention, preparing for protests, changes to Manning's list of visitors and other details, according to the judge.
Wednesday's decision means the defense will have access to about 1,300 emails, including those the judge ordered released. Judge Lind said that only 12 of about 600-700 emails did not have to be handed over.
The defense had argued the emails could be pertinent to their claim that Manning was subjected to unlawful pre-trial punishment, but prosecutors had said the emails were irrelevant.
The ruling, read out by the judge during the hearing, marked the latest tug-of-war between prosecutors and defense lawyers over the release of official correspondence, reports or other information related to Manning's case.
The judge has previously pushed military prosecutors to hand over other documents in the case, saying they had to ensure Manning's lawyers had access to information that could help with their client's defense.
Manning, who attended Wednesday's hearing wearing a blue army uniform reserved for formal occasions, is scheduled to go on trial on February 4 over charges that include that he "aided the enemy" by handing classified military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks.
If convicted, Manning faces a possible life sentence.
Manning's treatment at Quantico sparked protests from his supporters as well as human rights groups.
During his stay, Manning was held under maximum security conditions in a solitary cell, where he was stripped naked and made to wear only a suicide-proof smock to bed at night.
The 24-year-old soldier was later transferred to an army prison at Fort Leavenworth, a newer, medium-security facility where he is subjected to less strict conditions.


The suspected Polish lover of a British conspiracy theorist who vomited two litres of black fluid before dying suddenly in Poland has been questioned by police on suspicion of manslaughter seven months after a coroner ruled that he had died from natural causes.
Monika Duval, who is said to have secretly been romancing Max Spiers while his girlfriend Sarah Adams was in Britain, was this week quizzed after the mysterious death of the father-of-two in the Pole's flat in July last year.
Polish prosecutors did not reveal why they suddenly opened an investigation into involuntary manslaughter or if any new evidence has come to light.
Lukasz Lapczynski, prosecutor in Warsaw, said: 'At this stage we have determined that the ambulance arrived at the request of Mr Spiers's partner.
He told the BBC: 'The nature of this relationship will be determined during the investigation.
'The doctor started resuscitation which was not successful. As a result of the doctor's decision, the police weren't involved in conducting additional procedures.
'The information about Max Spiers's death reached the prosecution office on August 30 when the body had already been transported to the UK. We couldn't do a post-mortem which is essential in such cases.
The conspiracy theorist, who believed governments have covered up contact with Extraterrestrials, texted his mother to say 'If anything happens to me, investigate' just days ahead of his mysterious passing.
Spiers' mother, Vanessa Bates, 63, after her son's death said there were a number of people who wanted him dead due to his bid to uncover supposed government secrets.
Vanessa said: 'He was making a name for himself in the world of conspiracy theorists and had been invited to speak at a conference in Poland in July.
'He was staying with a woman who he had not known for long and she told me how she found him dead on the sofa.
Conspiracy theorists have long been convinced that UFO chasers who get too close to the truth are 'bumped off' by the secret services or so-called 'Men in Black'.
Vanessa, who works as an English teacher, added: 'Max was a very fit man who was in good health and yet he apparently just died suddenly on a sofa.


On holiday in the Scottish Highlands, forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod joins a mountain rescue team on Cairngorm summit, where a mysterious plane has crash-landed on the frozen Loch A’an. Added to that, a nearby climbing expedition has left three young people dead, with a fourth still missing.
Meanwhile in Glasgow, DS McNab’s raid on the Delta Club produces far more than just a massive haul of cocaine. Questioning one of the underage girls found partying with the city’s elite reveals she was smuggled into Scotland via Norway, and it seems the crashed plane in the Cairngorms may be linked to the club. But before McNab can discover more, the girl is abducted.
Joined by Norwegian detective Alvis Olsen, who harbours disturbing theories about how the two cases are connected with his homeland, Rhona searches for the missing link. What she uncovers is a dark underworld populated by ruthless people willing to do anything to ensure the investigation dies in the frozen wasteland of the Cairngorms.
This twelfth instalment in Lin Anderson's long-running series starring Glaswegian forensic specialist Rhona MacLeod is a cracking good read that bleeds Scottish atmosphere and sensibilities. Opening in the Cairngorms mountains near Aviemore in the Highlands, Anderson drops the reader straight into a dangerous situation as a group of climbers trying to enjoy the outdoors as Hogmanay looms. But the group quickly finds itself in grave danger, and not just from the incoming stormy weather.
I travelled to Aviemore last year after Bloody Scotland, and hiked around some of the lochs in autumn. I felt that Anderson brings the area to really vivid life in FOLLOW THE DEAD. There's also a great sense of characterisation, from series regulars like McLeod and her police pal DS Michael McNab, to the first-time personalities. There are interesting challenges in both professional and personal relationships, and the character interplay is smooth and assured. It all feels very authentic.
McNab in particular rides some fascinating arcs in this tale, both via his working relationship with Norwegian detective Alvis Olsen, who challenges him in various ways, and when he calls on his childhood friend Davey, and a budding relationship with an alluring tattoo artist.
Good intentions lead to some tricky situations and unintended consequences.
For want of a better phrase, there's just a real solidity to this crime tale: good characters, good plot, great sense of place, some important and interesting issues woven throughout. It's a smooth read that unfolds in an interesting way, taking us from the Highlands to Glasgow to a roiling North Sea.
A helicopter crash, mountain murders, and a Glaswegian drugs raid all entwine into a very good crime tale that leads to some even more sinister matters. The addition of the Norwegian component to the investigation adds a fresh touch to an already excellent series, and gives a nod to some of the shared sensibilities of the two 'nord' regions. Well worth a read.
Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. You can heckle him on Twitter.


Commentary: This R2-D2 is kind of unnecessary - not only did we just get a movie one in a two-pack last year, but the Rebels design is incredibly close to the movie. The Clone Wars' take on R2-D2 had some altered colors and rejiggered the shapes on his person, but if you put the Rebels R2-D2 next to the movie ones, the differences are minimal. For example, the eye bulges out a bit out of the blue square, the wheels on the feet are now a non-moving tread, and the shoulder detail is minimized - but other than that? It's pretty gosh darn close. The differences are apparent and obvious when put side-by-side, but when I first saw the Rebels R2-D2 in a picture I didn't even realize it was a new mold at first glance.
Overall, I like it more than the last movie two-pack R2-D2. The blue is richer, the silver looks better, and a few more areas on his body are painted this time around. But it's still just a two-legged R2-D2 with no features, so fundamentally there's not a lot going on here. The top panel on the head is still silver and not blue like it probably should be, and the detail is a smidgen sharper overall. It's good, but you've got dozens of R2-D2s. I'm not a big fan of shortcuts, but in this case I think Hasbro could have just repackaged the last one and we'd be none the wiser.
There's not a lot you can do to R2-D2 other than action features or some sort of dirt or deco change, so figures like this - while new - are sort of a painful reminder of how Hasbro uses its production slots to make all-new versions of figures with perfectly new, perfectly recent molds in circulation rather than cranking out something new. (For example, we could've had Sabine or Hera earlier.) It's not a bad figure... it just leaves you asking "why is this here? Do we need this now?"
Of course, that's the bitter collector perspective. If you're buying this for a kid for a birthday or just want a cheap droid set for yourself, they're quite good, quite stable, and nicely designed. It's just not new.
Collector's Notes: I got this from Entertainment Earth. I have not seen these figures show up in stores yet.
Commentary: Back in the early 1990s, my hope was that Star Wars would come back as action figure two-packs. It just made sense - you could bundle a winner, say Darth Vader, with a harder-to-sell figure and presto - you've started a collection even if you didn't want to. And here we are! Hasbro is putting in Stormtrooper figures individually and with Zeb (like this sample) and Sabine Wren, and that's just good business. Well, it's pretty good business - history tells us Ahsoka and female Jedi tend to sell well when marketed to kids, and while I personally would be delighted to pay $10 for one if it meant getting more Stormtroopers I wonder how little girls and some little boys will react to compulsory troop building. It fits my needs, though, so I'm not going to complain. I've got Imperial Troop Transports to fill out!
This Stormtrooper is fundamentally similar to the one from Saga Legends - 5 joints. The neck, arms, and legs move and he's got a gun for his hand. He'll fit in your AT-DP and stand without much of a problem. His smile is stuck, he won't go back to your frownland. He's figure is made up of white plastic, and the arms which don't quite match, and all my eye can see is that it might not be a big issue. I suggest keeping him out of the sun and in a dark place, and depending on the lighting conditions you may not notice the problem as much. On the normal light in my home office, he seems just fine. Under the cruel lights of a photo studio, it's a little different.
He has more deco than I would expect, with grey on his mouth and a whole bunch of black. He gets more paint than the Titan Series figure, but looks like he could be from the same digital sculpt, or at least comes very close. I like the look and I plan to buy more - my goal is at least 6, but we'll see how that works out. If they keep putting him in two-packs, I'm all set. I like it, and much like Zeb it feels like a distant cousin of the Droids action figure line from the 1980s. Also like Droids, I assume most of you won't be interested in it until the figures start getting expensive, but of Zeb and the trooper, the trooper is the bigger winner right now. Which is good, because it seems for once Hasbro is interested in selling you a lot of Stormtroopers.
Commentary: I'm kind of surprised we got cartoon C-3PO and R2-D2 so soon - after all, not a year ago we got movie versions in this very assortment. Articulation was similar, but in some respects this one is a tiny bit better. I like the animated look of the character on the show, which translates fairly well here as an unpainted, gold plastic protocol droid. He has no problems standing or sitting - the hips aren't obstructed - and the hands are posed quite nicely. His palms are black, and there's a silver leg. There's even a hint of glitter in the plastic.
Deco is simple, but even then there are things to watch for - a little black paint around the mouth sometimes has slop, and the eyes aren't consistently sized or aligned. Be sure to take a look at them before you take it to the register. The gold hard plastic torso is also barely a different color than the arms, and depending on the light you might not even notice. It's one of the better C-3POs overall and I assume as not-vac-painted ones go, is going to look better down the road. Some of the gold paint has a strange molting process over time where it starts to molt, turn green, and liquefy - but not always. Gold paint now makes me nervous - so I'm happy this one is unpainted.
I don't have a lot else of value to add here - it's a decent take on the figure, it stands and sits, and the quality for a cost-reduced assortment is on the happy side of acceptable. I like it, and I think I'll keep it around to fidget with on my desk. I suggest getting this set, but I also have an unreasonable love of the two droids from the original trilogy. It's a pretty good figure, so if you think you might need a new C-3PO this is a decent one to snag.
Commentary: The first figures of the "TIE Pilot" rebranding of The Black Series are here... and much like the first series of the orange-striped series it's kind of a letdown. Four of the six figures are repacks, Hoth Luke is basically just a new head, and R5-G19 is a redeco of the venerable build-a-droid mold - so no 100% new molds here, kiddies. Word on the street had it that a new head is about 30% of a figure's tooling budget, and if that's still accurate this is still an underpowered wave. This is why I won't miss the 3 3/4-inch The Black Series line when it becomes unprofitable, and I hope that those "collector characters" get rolled up into Saga Legends. (Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying I don't want a super-articulated Mosep, but a $6 Mosep that actually shows up in stores sounds better than a $12 one that doesn't.) Oh, one other thing - I got a sealed case of this wave, and three clear pieces of tape are used to hold the bubble in place on the front of the card, despite the glue seemingly being more than enough to the cardback. It's ugly, and it's excessive. For a collector line, again, it seems like Hasbro is struggling to put out something that's as appealing as previous efforts (Legacy, Vintage, 30th, etc.) Also, there continue to be no co-sells on the packaging. But let's talk about this figure.
Figures like this one are the reason that I can never be angry Hasbro hasn't done something. We're getting as close to everything as Hasbro seems to be willing to must, but there's some weirdness here. R5-G19 doesn't appear on his own cardback - Hasbro got a picture of another R5 unit. The markings are different. If you look online you'll see images of a similarly colored droid with different markings than that of the picture used for the cardback - so this means Hasbro found an even more obscure droid and made it, and there's still that other one with the different markings to do, if Hasbro or a customizer is so inclined. This actually makes me pretty happy - the error means there are more droids, and more droids mean I have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. More droids for everyone! ...if you can find them for sale.
This body has been used for numerous figures, with the dome making its debut as the orange R5-A2 unless I'm forgetting one. It has also been used for R5-C7, R5-D4, and numerous Star Tours figures. You get a removable dome, removable legs, and a central removable third leg - and no other accessories. Deco matches the movie with sparse dark burgundy markings as well as silver panels and other highlights. It's sparse, but largely good. It also means the build-a-droid molds are still usable and Hasbro has no real valid reason to not make those "lost" Droid Factory robots from a couple of years ago... but I digress. This is a neat figure, you don't have it already, and I would suggest ordering one online before it vanishes. It's neat, and while I have to assume Hasbro will warm up to the idea once more that easy repaints like this one are a great way to make long-time collectors happy with "something new" with a minimal investment on their part, I also assume that this is all going to come to an end when the focus shifts to annual new movies. The golden age has lasted for nearly two decades, friends, and it's probably not going to last for much longer.
I'm pretty irritated that we're seeing Hasbro spend a lot of development on new cardbacks and new production without new figures to go in them. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy Malgus and Starkiller are back for those who missed it, and for the sake of argument let's say people wanted a third wave with Black Series Yoda at 2 per box and a second with Vader at 2 per box. (Which is smart on their part.) But getting only 2 new figures in a wave is kind of painful, particularly when only 1 - this one - is an unquestionably new character and from the look of things, probably the last new movie character to get a 3 3/4-inch figure of 2014. For those keeping track, that makes 3.


Information: I have arrived in the village of Dalj. My senses are reeling with impressions of peasant life here. As I walk along the broad Pannonian streets, a herd of white-haired swine cross my path while a flock of sheep and a dozen quacking geese brush against my legs. Horse-drawn sleighs, carrying peasants dressed in warm woolens and black lambs-wool hats, slide through the snow, bells jingling, scattering the pigs and geese in all directions.
I live in a typical village cottage with an earthen floor; the front door is about five feet high. As I am writing, Baba and Mama Ristić are cleaning the intestines of one of their pigs, slaughtered early this morning. They will make excellent sausages. Baba has placed a bowl of dark red goulash filled with steaming meat and vegetables on the table in front of me. The delicious red and green stuffed peppers, fresh-baked wheat bread, and heavy red wine have filled my senses. My host refills my glass with more delicious red wine and I cannot resist. I am no longer in this century . . .
As a young folklorist, visiting Yugoslavia for the first time in 1963, I wrote the above impressions of Dalj, a Serbian village on the Danube River, where the river borders the regions of Vojvodina and Slavonia. These impressions have remained with me through all my folklore adventures. This enchanting rural way of life has provided the setting for one of the most impressive dance traditions in Europe.
In the village no holiday, Saint's day, wedding, or other celebration could go without dancing. Almost every Sunday villagers gathered after church to dance, next to the church, in a field just outside the village, or in a central square near the community well. Fall and winter had Saturday evening dances too. Montenegro has stone terraces on the mountain slopes near the village. In South Serbia, in winter and on rainy days, dances were in barn-like structures known as čardak (literally, the enclosed porch on the first floor above the ground in a Turkish-style house). Traditionally, mastery of the dance was important. A man's standing in the community was often shown by his place in the dance line, and naturally the best dancers led. The best dancers might marry sooner, even if poor.
When I was in the villages south of Belgrade, everyone looked forward to the Saturday night dances called igranka (from igra, "to play" or "to dance"). The young people came to meet their friends and to distinguish themselves with the more difficult dance steps. I first saw this in the village of Pinosava, south of Belgrade not far from the landmark and park-area known as Avala. The local kolo (literally "wheel", the common Serbian word for folk dance) is a form of the nearly universal Serbian dance known as U šest (literally "in six") or Moravac (after the Morava River). The tempo is slow and delicious, and the dance pattern, instead of going equally to the right and left, changes after two measures to the left, and travels right again.
It was a brisk dark autumn night. Lights strung over the village square added to and reflected the harvest moon. By the time I arrived, a few hundred people had already gathered and were dancing the kolo. I had come forty minutes from Belgrade by the local bus. Imagine my delight to find all the young women of marrying age dressed in full regional costume from head to toe, including necklaces of dukati (large heavy gold coins that are family heirlooms and part of a girl's dowry). The young men were somewhat drab in West European dress, but an occasional old-timer had on bits and pieces of folk costume.
Then came a moment I'll never forget. "Crashing the party," a group of young men in old-fashioned Serbian costume burst onto the scene and immediately paid the musicians for the next dance. In their opanci (leather shoes open at the top with curly toes) and šarene čarape (multicolored socks), they dazzled everyone with fancy step work, double bounces and a surprise dip. Their version of the Pinosava U šest was a work of art. I later introduced it to American folk dancers under the name "Pinosavka."
An even better time for dancing than Sunday or Saturday was a sabor (church fair), or a vašar (village fair). These events could go on for days, with dancing from sunup to sundown. At a sabor, groups from many different villages, complete with their own musicians, would meet on the dance field in a swirl of sound and color. The best dancers vied with each other to lead the next kolo, and if there was dust, as there often was, it rose to cover the dancers, who in their enthusiasm never seemed to mind.
Now and then they danced too. The very young were eager for the day when they too could join in. While tending the sheep they would ask the older girls to show them the steps, and after much practice, they would build up their courage and try their first dance. It was a moment of pride for everyone, especially for the youngster's family.
At the dance there might be traveling Rom (Cigani in Serbian), or traders, or soldiers coming home. Any new dances they would be eager to share. Names of dances such as Rumunjsko (Romanian), Bugarska (Bulgarian), and Čocek (probably from a Tukish word meaning "a dancing boy or girl") show a lively exchange from all over. Vranjanka, Čačanka and Užičko kolo are named for three towns with strong dance traditions, Vranje, Čačak, and Užice. Banaćansko kolo, Sremsko kolo, and Bačko kolo, all versions of the popular Malo kolo (malo means "little") which has long been in the basic repertoire of American kolo dancers, are named for the three regions of Vojvodina. The famous Montenegrin dance Zetsko kolo, which seems like the flight of an eagle, is named for the 13th and 14th century Montenegrin kingdom Zeta. These dances are still done today. Some can be seen in the 1948 folklore film Jugoslavenski Narodni Plesovi ("Yugoslav Folk Dances") which I was able to rescue.
On a smaller scale, but equally important today, is the celebration of "Krsna Slava," a household holiday which honors the family patron saint. The excitement and planning begins several days in advance with the coming of the village priest to bless the water. Long hours are spent preparing a sumptuous feast of roast suckling pig, "sarma" (stuffed cabbage rolls), specialties of all kinds, and most important, the special "slava" bread stamped with the family's traditional slava seal.
On the day of the slava the best linens and woven tapestries are displayed for the admiration of all the guests. After the guests arrive, the holy bread is blessed by the priest. Then the host ceremoniously breaks the bread which has been stamped, and shares it with his guests. He bids everyone to be seated while he, according to custom, remains standing at the head of the table throughout the feast. After the feast, plum brandy flows freely, and dancing, singing, and story-telling go on late into the night.
The most important family celebration is the wedding and its ceremonies. It is also the best time for dancing, since Serbian weddings are on a grand scale lasting for days and sometimes weeks with hundreds of guests in attendance. For the occasion the finest musicians are hired, and dancing is enjoyed to the accompaniment of accordion, frula, violin, and bass.
It is the groom and his family who are responsible for all the arrangements for the actual celebration. The stari svat (the groom's uncle on the mother's side) coordinates the entire production. The groom's brother, or best friend, serves as the dever (best man), and the most important guests are the kum and kuma who will be the god-parents of the young couple's children.
In some rural communities on the morning of the wedding, the groom and his party ride in caravan to "capture" the mlada or nevesta as the bride is called. In Šumadija, the groom must shoot an apple at the top of a ten-foot pole before the bride's family will open their gate to him. In South Serbia, he is met at the gate by the bride's family who will ask in feigned ignorance why he has come. He answers in poetry, explaining that he has come "for the little star which shines most brightly." Upon entry there is an exchange of toasts, the orchestras will start up and everyone joins in the dance for a short while. After a grand feast, the groom leaves with his bride for the wedding ceremony, accompanied all the while with songs and dancing.
With the coming of King Peter Karadjordjević to the throne in 1903, an almost unbelievable blossoming of cultural activity took place in the Kingdom of Serbia, thanks to the real democracy brought to the country by King Peter the First.
At this time, there grew up a type of bourgeois urban dance, reflecting the need to be "chic" as well as to bolster national pride. These dances of "national" character came about when various professional societies in the towns began to organize balls. They hired dance masters who created new kolos, based on the more simple of the peasant dances. They were slightly arranged to have a more pleasing effect and symmetrical form and renamed with new titles, which had sentimental and nationalistic significance. For example, the dance Srpkinja (Serbian woman) was the work of the Serbian composer, Isidor Bajić who incorporated the dance in his 1903 opera Prince Ivo of Semberia.
All the balls began with Kraljevo kolo (the King's dance), which was led by the most eminent person present. This idea spread and such dances as Doktorsko (Doctor's), Trgovačko (Merchant's), Oficirsko (Officers), and Djačko (Student's) appeared. There were even dances named after political parties such as Radikalka, Liberalno kolo, Demokratsko kolo, and Radničko kolo (Worker's dance).
Many dances were named after cities or a well-known part of town. A few which come to mind are: Beograđanka (girl from Belgrade), Dorčolka (named after a quarter in Beograd), Čukaričko kolo (named after another quarter in Beograd along the Sava river), Niševljanka, Sarajevka, Zaječarka, and Bitoljka (composed in celebration of the liberation of Bitola from the Turks). In all, there were many dozens of such dances from this culturally rich period of Serbian history.
Rituals give us an insight into how dance was an inseparable part of the people's lives. They date back to a time when dancing was not only a question of social events and festivals, but was an expression of prayer and supernatural rite. Through the dance, a man could heal the sick, summon and dispel the forces of nature, bless the fields and the community, and bestow good fortune on himself and others. Ritual dances might be either the main expression of the occasion or simply an integral part. Sometimes they were performed by secret societies or special clubs of boys or girls who had banded together specifically for these rituals. Many of these rituals still survive today, either in original or changed form. Here are a few.
Finally at the end of the ritual, the dodole float the table with the cross on it, down the stream.
"How The Black Pepper Is Sown" is danced and sung in a comic solemnity in the villages near Leskovac by young men holding hands in a semi-circle. Holding a stick in his right hand, the leader conducts the dance and raps any awkward performer who does not mime properly the actions of sowing, gathering, pounding, and threading the peppers on strings to dry.
Called "Ovako se biber tuče" in Serbian, the dance depicts men pounding peppers first with their heels, then as a comic gesture with knees, elbows, heads and other imaginable parts of the body.
In Vojvodina an old dance which has lost much of its ritual significance is still performed today as a competition dance for young men. The men dance around knives stuck into the ground, vying with each other to see who can execute the same steps around the knifespirits had died, it was the custom that three men should approach the grave, one with a knife, another with a staff, and a third with a flask of wine. Linked together, the men would perform a symbolic dance showing their fear of approaching the grave with trembling movements. With the knife they would cut out the heart, and with the staff poke out both eyes; and then they would sprinkle the grave with red wine from the flask, thus exorcising the evil spirit.
In several Serbian villages on the Mlava River, "Prevelj" was a ritual dance enacted around a fire for the peace of dead souls. A large bonfire was built and each family who had had a recent death, would carry a log to this fire in dedication to their dead relative. The women were not usually allowed to be present at this event, but sometimes one woman would steal toward the fire and touch it with her spindle as a symbolic gesture. The dancing around the fire would get under way as soon as the musicians had first played a somber piece to which there was no dancing. The villagers would stand around the fire holding on to each other by their waistbands, while the mourners who did not dance, held lighted candles. The "kolovodja" (leader of the kolo) held a long rod or staff in his right hand, and as soon as the fire died down, would call out to the line of dancers to jump over the fire. Those who wouldn't jump might be admonished by means of his large staff. Today the custom of jumping over the fire is largely dying out, though dancing around bonfires is still popular.
The week before Easter, Serbians living near Sredska celebrate Lazarus Saturday. A group of six girls, one of whom masquerades as Lazar (Lazarus), and another as Lazarka (the female equivalent), go from house to house singing and dancing. The girl who is Lazar wears a man's white shirt and a man's hat decorated with flowers. In his hands "he" carries a staff or sometimes an umbrella. The Lazarka wears a necklace of golden coins, and on her head, money, greens, and garlic to scare away evil spirits. The girls carry two baskets; in one they collect beans, in the other, eggs. After dancing in front of each house, they sing songs to bless the head of each houseÂhold, the house itself, any young boys or girls in the family ready for marriage, the livestock, and of course, the bees.
Što ga tatko ne ženi?
The months of January and February are the time of carnival throughout the country. Dancers appear wearing fantastic masks, sometimes more than six feet tall, decorated at the top with bird wings and feathers, heads of animals, as well as mirrors and colored streamers. Covered with sheep skins and armed with long clubs and wooden swords, they leap and jump to the deafening sound of drums and the cattle bells on their belts. In some areas the men blacken their faces and wear women's overdresses to perform these carnival dances that drive out evil winter demons and ensure health and good crops.
In some ways the carnival custom of Serbia is the most spectacular and colorful of all the ritual dance events. Performed mainly during the week before Lent, the festival in its entirety may last for a good part of February, beginning sometimes as early as January.
It is interesting to note that remnants of this fascinating custom of carnival dancing can still be found in Greece and Bulgaria and surprisingly in England's "Morris Dancing", Germany's "Fasching", and France's "Mardi Gras".
Around Christmas and New Year's the old Slavic Koleda is celebrated, each village in its particular way. On Christmas Eve, groups of young men sometimes visit from house to house. In Kosovo the "dedica" (grandpa), as the chief of the New Year's visitors is called, carries a plowshare and a hank of yarn and wears a bell below his knee. The leader of the kolo carries a large staff and the dancers, treading through the deep snow, perform a different repertoire of songs and dances for each house. Near Leskovac where the Koledari wear masks, the dedica conjures up fertility by poking the fire and saying, "Let's bake bread, fry bacon, and roast a chicken."
In the villages around Pirot, Serbia, women gather in the fall evenings to build a huge bonfire in front of one of their homes. Clustered around the warmth of the fire, they spin their wool, singing songs to accompany their work. The work and singing last late into the night. The custom is called "sedeljka" (spinning bee). Sometimes groups of boys crash the parties, but they do not participate in the work or in the singing. Bringing with them musicians to play for the kolo, they dance with the girls and generally just cut up, sometimes even jumping over the fire. In the moonlight the singing and dancing around the fire create an enchanting impression in the chilling fall nights.
Ajde, Rado, doma da idemo.
While years pass, timeless things are unchanged. After World War II, the Communist government took an interest, and State-sponsored performing troupes arose. Stage choreography came to have a large influence on the U.S. folkdance movement. With all these changes, one thing has remained certain. In country villages, and in emigrant communities from Australia to America, Serbs still love to dance.