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The unspoken, arrogant and greedy horrors of the NCAA tourney

The NCAA Tournament, as presented by CBS and Turner TV, in three acts:

Act I: No ado about something

Thursday night on CBS, as West Virginia’s 6-foot-7 Jonathan Holton was at the foul line, Marv Albert spoke a thumbnail: Holton’s from Miami, a transfer from the University of Rhode Island.

Well, yeah … but, as is so often the reality in big-time, full scholarship, televised athletics, there’s so much more.

West Virginia lists Holton as a junior. It also gives his birth day, but not the year he was born. Given that three years ago he was the 20-year-old freshman star at Rhode Island, he is a 23-year-old junior, which makes him a rather senior junior.

In March 2012, Holton at URI, was arrested three times over three days.

He was arrested for secretly recording then distributing video of separate sexual encounters with two female students. As police looked closer, he was arrested for stealing the laptop of a URI student. As police looked even closer, he was arrested as a fugitive for a probation violation stemming from a strong-armed robbery in Florida.

URI, which apparently had no idea why a 20-year-old star freshman from Miami would be available in the first place, expelled Holton. Darn!

No matter, Holton returned to Florida to face the music — plea bargain probation, again — and to play basketball for a community college.

And, because nothing matters, Holton remained a hot property. That he wound up playing for Bob Huggins at West Virginia — both synonymous with the trafficking of athletes who have no other business being in any college — put rhyme to the reason.

While enrolled at West Virginia, he traveled back to Rhode Island, where he pleaded no contest to felony voyeurism, a sex crime, and was given probation. Then it was back to basketball at West Virginia!

The Associated Press reported the bottom line when Holton signed with West Virginia: “A prototype Big 12 forward who should give the Mountaineers immediate help on the front line.”

And that’s how Jonathan Holton, 6-foot-7 forward from Miami and a transfer from Rhode Island, got to the foul line for West Virginia on Thursday night on CBS.

Act 2: Love’s Labour’s Lost

John CalipariGetty Images

If common decency were not kryptonite to super powers, Dr. Eli Capilouto, president of the University of Kentucky, would have had John Calipari on the phone and/or carpet the night of March 19.

With Kentucky up 30-to-35 points over 16-seed Hampton deep into the second half, Calipari didn’t give his subs a shot until two entered with two minutes left, four others with a minute left.

“Our student-athletes deserve better,” Dr. Capilouto would have told him. “They worked hard for you and UK basketball all season. I was embarrassed by what you did to them.”

Apparently no such call was made, no such sentiment expressed, because Thursday, as UK was beating the adjectives and adverbs out of West Virginia, 78-39, Calipari kept four kids, conspicuously seated side-by-side in their blue warm-ups, on the end of the bench.

Finally, confident that the lead was safe, Calipari put them in … with 38 bleepin’ seconds left!

Kentucky was able to hold on to win by 39.

If I were those kids, two of them seniors, I would have told Coach Cal to shove it. Let’s see ESPN put that in its Top 10 Plays! Calipari played four kids 38 seconds at the end of a slaughter!

Chris WebberAP

With 3:20 left, Kentucky up 38, CBS analyst Chris Webber — no paragon of basketball virtue — began to openly and righteously wonder why Calipari had not already begun to honor some of his and UK’s sweat and toil kids.

Why, Webber asked aloud, would Calipari not play “the practice guys, the walk-ons, the guys who help this team be so good?” Damned good question.

Co-analyst Len Elmore disappointed. He ducked, choosing to compliment Coach Cal’s regular troops for still playing so hard with a huge lead. Yeah, we noticed. The circumstances were too revolting to miss.

What a national champ, this Coach Cal, a man for our times. Thursday he did it again. He humiliated four of his players, made them stand out as unworthy, beneath his concern and attention. He made them stand out as losers on an undefeated team.

Act 3: Some by virtue fall

Don’t know how many New Jersey taxpayers who watched Rutgers’ women lose to UConn on Monday night on ESPN2 realized their own dilemma. If they were rooting for Rutgers, they should cheer up. The silver lining is lined with silver. For now.

Had Rutgers won, coach C. Vivian Stringer would be due a bonus, as per her contract with the state university, for reaching the Sweet 16. Bonus? How much? Are you sitting down? Lying down?

Half a million bucks, $500,000.

Yep, that’s in Stringer’s new, four-year deal that pays her a base of roughly $800,000, bonus clauses added. Hey, this past season Rutgers paid an assistant football coach $500,000. Athletic director Julie Hermann, at a $450,000 base plus a $12,000 car stipend, recently was rewarded a $30,000 bonus.

Julie HermannGetty Images

Though it is easy to compile the short- and long-term benefits of a state university invested in the higher education of its residents and all academic comers, at Rutgers, as at too many colleges, there’s a critical shortage of money to spend on education. Yet, tens of millions are made available to spend on basketball and football.

What benefits are bestowed on a society when schools put their greatest emphasis on winning basketball and football games? Got me. Sure, root for your school! But at what price? Where’s the line?

In Stringer’s case, Rutgers seems to fuel excessive entitlement, a common find among overly indulged Division I college coaches. While a national news media that knew nothing about her ways and means crowned her Queen of All Things Good as blind response to the 2007 WFAN/MSNBC Don Imus racial episode, well, not quite.

For example, Stringer recruited 6-foot-3 Shalicia Hurns, who had been kicked out of two previous colleges — drugs, a hit-and-run, chronic disregard for rules. Employing Division I college math, Stringer explained that Hurns deserved “a second chance.”

Well, Hurns was expelled from Rutgers after she was arrested for beating, kidnapping and holding a knife to her roommate, an Rutgers student.

While Imus made a public apology to Stringer and Rutgers — and was fired — Stringer was defiant about her decision to give Hurns a third second chance. “I don’t apologize for anything,” she told USA Today.

Anyway, Jersey taxpayers, maybe that $500K bonus will be hers next season. While fools and their money are soon parted, sometimes it takes a while.


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Fantasy football sleepers: Two running backs with a new team

Post Fantasy Insanity columnist Drew Loftis and Scott Engel, representing the Fantasy Sports TV Network (FNTSY), debate:

Which relocated deep sleeper is more valuable: Dallas’ Christine Michael or Tennessee’s Terrance West?

Drew: Throughout the fantasy draft season I have been soft on Joseph Randle because I thought the Cowboys might make a move like this. The trade for Michael devalues Randle and Darren McFadden more than it elevates Michael. West has less talent to surpass in Tennessee, where incumbent Bishop Sankey has been uninspiring and rookie David Cobb (calf) was just placed on short-term injured reserve.

Scott: West was not able to move past Isaiah Crowell last year in Cleveland, and Crowell is nothing special. West had a prime opportunity to make an impact on a team that may be more offensively challenged than the Titans are and could not earn regular playing time. Michael is by far the more talented player and could really shine with a move back to his Texas roots behind an outstanding offensive line. Randle has not done enough to distinguish himself and McFadden is a mediocre, injury-prone shell of his past self.

Drew: If I’m picking best player, I’m picking Michael. But best fantasy outlook, I’m go West because of opportunity. Randle and McFadden, as lackluster as they may be, will be harder to pass on the depth chart than Sankey will. There is a better chance West stumbles into a feature role with the Titans, whose offense should improve.

Scott: Opportunity does not always lead to production. West has shown absolutely nothing to suggest he can earn a starting job yet. Even if he starts at some point, that does not mean he will take advantage. Michael has less of a clear path to opportunity, but his talent may demand it at some point and he will definitely outshine West. This is about more than just the depth charts as they currently stand.

Drew: You’re right, it is about more than current depth charts, it’s about future depth charts. West is more likely to get more opportunities, and opportunity makes a bigger fantasy impact than talent. Besides, it’s not like Michael is an All-Pro. We’re talking about two mediocre RBs, one just happens to be slightly more mediocre than the other. Barring injury, I can’t envision a scenario in which Michael becomes the feature guy. I can with West. And I will take the slightly less talented guy with more opportunity over the guy in a backfield committee.

Scott: Opportunity does not always equal impact, just ask last year’s owners of Montee Ball. And Michael is not mediocre in terms of talent. He’s a formidable power back with speed, one who made scouts very excited when he was coming out of college. He’s more than just slightly more talented than West. He was shipped out of Seattle because of other personality issues. Now he has a chance to restart his career with the unproven Randle and injury-prone DMC ahead of him. If Michael gets a chance, there is no way he does not outshine West, especially in a much better offense.

Pick up The Post on Saturdays and Tuesdays during the NFL season for more fantasy tips from Drew and Scott, and watch Scott on FNTSY on Cablevision Ch. 238 and tune in to “RotoExperts in the Morning” weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio.

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In My Library: William Goldman

“Life is pain.” Granted, William Goldman wrote that line for “The Princess Bride” — but it’s a fair summation of “Misery,” the Stephen King thriller Goldman adapted for screen and stage.

“King may be a horror writer but he writes about human monsters, too,” Goldman told AP.

Watching King respond to the screening of 1990’s “Misery” — about an injured novelist and the deranged fan who tortures him — Goldman recalled the writer cringing in his seat saying, “Be careful . . . Look out, she’s got a gun in her apron.” Now “Misery” is on Broadway, starring Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf in a production that The Post called “a carnival ride that piles on the twists and turns.”

You may be surprised to find what’s in Goldman’s library.

Mixed Company by Irwin Shaw

Reading short stories like “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses” and “The Eighty Yard Run” started me on my way. I am now and forever grateful to Shaw. He is my hero.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

I am most moved and always have been by stupid courage — the kind when, against all odds, the hero just keeps going. Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) knew how to write about that better than anyone.

The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald

When crime writers are mentioned, [Dashiell] Hammett and [Raymond] Chandler always get top billing, but Ross Macdonald is as good as any of them. He nailed it with “Moving Target” [the first book in Macdonald’s famed Lew Archer series].

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Who wouldn’t want any of the “Winnie-the-Pooh” books in their libraries? They’re just a little older than I am. I read them as a kid and read them to my girls. Pooh is as lovable a character as anybody ever created.

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The real reason for Trump’s poor polls

White House official Steve Bannon is off the National Security Council, in a reversal of what had been an eyebrow-raising decision to put the president’s top political adviser on the NSC.
It is a step toward normality in a White House that has struggled with it, especially in the Oval Office.

One would have thought the sweet spot for President Trump would be enough policy heterodoxy to convince marginal working-class voters that he’s a different kind of Republican, coupled with enough conventional behavior to take the edge off his radioactive image.

Instead, after about 75 days, it’s been the opposite on both counts. With some exceptions (banging on companies on Twitter for outsourcing, the heavy emphasis on immigration enforcement), the substance has been conventionally Republican, while the behavior has been outlandishly Trump.

The two are related. Since Trump is undisciplined, doesn’t have well-formulated policy views and will change his mind based on the last person he’s talked to, he’s not well-suited to driving an agenda.

The result could well be a Republican president with the kind of policy platform that leads people to believe the party is out of touch, presented in the most off-putting and needlessly combative way possible.

Consider: If there is one issue that Trump has been consistent on for decades, it is attacking free trade. His jeremiads on trade clearly played a role in his breach of the Democrats’ blue wall in November. Yet, according to news reports, Trump’s team is having arguments about the fundamental direction of his trade policy.

How is this for priorities? The administration apparently doesn’t know whether it is protectionist or not, but is utterly committed to defending every Saturday morning tweet from the president. In other words, the only thing that is an unquestioned constant is Trump’s demeanor. Or to put it another way, Trump’s content may be subject to change, but never his style.

When all is said and done, the residue of distinctiveness of the Trump phenomenon could well be Trump himself, namely his ramshackle management, willingness to say anything and propensity for feeling slighted and hurling insults.

Tellingly, the president has sunk beneath 40 percent in a couple of polls without anything major having gone wrong. The initial travel-ban rollout was a fiasco, but the policy has essentially been on hold since, blocked by the courts. The defeat of the health care bill was a blow, but it could still be revived. Otherwise, there’s been no foreign blowup, the job market is reasonably strong and every indicator of business and consumer sentiment is pointing in the right direction.

The drag on Trump has to be Trump himself. You might have thought he’d have learned a lesson from the positive reaction to his selection of Neil Gorsuch — a normal pick, arrived at through a normal process, who may be the biggest success of the first year — and to his almost entirely conventional speech to the joint session of Congress. Instead, they represented brief wanderings onto script from an otherwise improvisational actor.

Trump feels like he’s still up for grabs. Will he end up accommodating the GOP establishment, going hard populist or throwing in with the New York moderates in his White House? Regardless, how he conducts himself will remain equally a problem.

Perpetual warfare on all fronts doesn’t mean you’re winning, just that you have a lot of enemies. Counterpunching doesn’t always mean you’re hurting your adversary, just that you may be fighting on his terrain. Chaos doesn’t mean you’re draining the swamp, just that you’re wasting political capital.

The adage is that if you’re taking flak, it means you’re over the target. In Trump’s case, it may mean that he decided on a whim to change the flight plan in the middle of the mission to divebomb some out-of-the-way, well-defended target.

Normality won’t mean anything until it reaches all the way to the top.

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January 20 - February 18

You need to cultivate an air of mystery about yourself. You need to keep others guessing about what you are up to. Chances are, of course, that you are up to nothing much at all but it doesn’t hurt to pretend. Don’t let anyone know too much this weekend.


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Featured News

The Order of the Arrow High Adventure Program (OAHA) allows Arrowmen to enjoy the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) national high adventure bases in a way unlike anything else. Joey Dierdorf, youth OAHA coordinator and former OA Trail Crew foreman at Philmont Scout Ranch, sheds light on what OAHA is and why you should take this opportunity to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Feb 10, 2018     Lodge Ledger
NLS Updates

The National Leadership Seminar (NLS) is often regarded as one of the best youth leadership training programs available. From its inception, NLS has built confident leaders who are able to harness their creative skills and leadership personality to better their chapters, lodges, and sections. This program not only helps participants positively affect Scouting at home, but is also helps them succeed in life. Now, with a recent update in place, participants of a 2018 NLS course should be prepared for an even more exciting event.

Feb 10, 2018     Lodge Ledger
Website Redesign

Earlier this year, the national website of the Order of the Arrow (OA) experienced a complete redesign. The previous website, which was introduced in 2014, had become increasingly inadequate for fulfilling its purpose in the organization. Issues with navigation and search functionality, the need for a better mobile experience, and the 2015 branding update were all factors in the decision to redesign the website.

Feb 10, 2018     Lodge Ledger
Conclave Games

It is almost time for the spring conclave season! Arrowmen from all over your section with soon gather. Check-in will be easy, friends will be met and activities will commence for what will certainly be one of the most exciting weekends of the year. The entire weekend will be full of many different games that are interactive, exciting and worthwhile. Where did all these great game ideas come from? How does the leadership provide all these activities that keep Arrowmen entertained all weekend?

Feb 06, 2018     Lodge Ledger
New Jersey State Police Camporee

Every three years, Scouts from across the state of New Jersey and beyond come together for the New Jersey State Police National Guard Camporee. With over eight thousand attendees, it will be the largest Scouting event held in the state of New Jersey this year. With a growing interest in STEM, the organizers of the camporee built the entire event around exploring technology. From touring a forensic lab to working with robotics and drones, there was a plethora of events Scouts could attend around the State Trooper Training Academy during the weekend.

Jan 14, 2018     OA Today


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MSHA Launches 2013 Winter Alert Campaign

The annual report warns coal miners of hazards caused by winter conditions

Keeping with its annual tradition, MSHA issued the 2013 “Winter Alert” campaign, aimed at warning coal mine operators of various winter hazards. According to a press release from MSHA’s website, the campaign is launched every year because statistics show that more deadly mine explosions happen from October-March than any other period.

The “Winter Alert” emphasizes the need to be aware of (and prevent) winter risks through thorough examinations, sufficient ventilation, adequate rock dusting and maintaining escape routes. Because colder air brings low barometric pressures and low humidity, as well as drying of surfaces, it can create an environment conducive to an explosion. Other hazards a cold environment can cause include icy walkways, limited visibility and freezing and thawing of highwalls.

To view the alerts, visit:

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OSHA Renews Partnership with Key Players in Electrical Industry

The partnership is aimed at reducing worker deaths and injuries

According to a press release from OSHA, the organization recently renewed a national strategic partnership with workers, employers and other professionals in the electrical transmission and distribution industry. The partnership aims to reduce injuries, illnesses and death among electrical workers and linesmen.

The partnership includes ten of the largest electrical transmission and distribution contractors in the country, as well as an electrical industry labor union and two trade associations. According to the press release, the partnership has noticeably reduced injuries, illnesses and fatalities among those in the electrical industry since its inception in 2004. In 2004, there were 11 fatalities, while there was just one in 2013.

The partnership has instituted several best practices for dealing with hazards, including fall protection, using insulating protective equipment, implementing safety checks and training over 33,000 workers and supervisors on electrical industry courses. Members of the partnership include: Asplundh Tree Expert Co., Davis H. Elliot Co. Inc., Henkels and McCoy Inc., MasTec Inc., MDU Construction Services Group Inc., Michels Corp., MYR Group Inc., PLH Group, Pike Electric LLC, Quanta Services Inc., International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Edison Electric Institute and the National Electrical Contractors Association

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Halliburton Settles Deepwater Horizon Claims

The settlement is approximately $1.1 billion, which includes legal fees and is subject to approval by a U.S. district judge in New Orleans.

Houston-based Halliburton announced Sept. 2 that it has agreed to settle "a substantial majority of the plaintiffs' class claims" against it resulting from the April 20, 2010, blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling rig Deepwater Horizon sank as a result of the well blowout, which triggered a major oil spill. The settlement is approximately $1.1 billion, which includes legal fees and is subject to approval by a U.S. district judge in New Orleans.

The company's announcement said the money will be paid in three installments into a trust until all appeals have been resolved.

The settlement agreement includes claims against Halliburton that BP assigned to the settlement class in BP's April 2012 settlement, punitive damages claims against Halliburton by a class of plaintiffs for alleged damage to property or associated with the commercial fishing industry from the spill, and an affirmation that Halliburton has no liability for compensatory damages to the members of the settlement class in the BP April 2012 settlement, according to the announcement.

It states that the settlement "is subject to an agreed-upon level of participation by the current claimants which, if not achieved, allows Halliburton to terminate the agreement."

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Medgate Inc.

Developed in consultation with clients, Medgate 6.0 features many enhancements to all modules for increased flexibility and configuration options across the board. General enhancements include an enforced password policy, country-specific labeling, measurement conversions, Medgate Automatic E-mail Notification (MAEN) from front end, and more.

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Oil price, BP/Cairn/Far, Amerisur, Sound, SDX, Serica And finally…

Oil price

A quiet day in the oil bourses in which the problems being encountered by Mrs Merkel meant that the market ended in a listless and slightly concerned manner. This morning the market is up by around 30c, again on very little news. As we run up to the Opec meeting there will be the usual tittle tattle as ad hoc meetings are reported but hold steady for November 30th.

Reuters reported last night that BP ‘is in talks with Cairn Energy about buying a 30% stake in its deep water SNE field offshore Senegal'. According to reports this stake would be valued at around $600m and is awaiting validation by the state of Senegal. This morning Cairn has totally debunked the story calling it ‘nonsense' although I must admit it had a ring of truth about it. My view remains that should Cairn want to part company with all or part of their stake it carries significantly higher value to shareholders if done when the operatorship is still up for grabs, ie before next spring when it transfers.

In the meantime Far has some good news in The Gambia in which it holds an 80% stake in two offshore blocks adjacent to the SNE field and in the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau Casin. Following a detailed geotechnical evaluation of these two blocks it has completed an assessment of the potential for hydrocarbon resources. An independent resources review conducted by RISC for blocks A2 and A5 in The Gambia supports Far's assessment.

The combined Prospective Resources for the two blocks have been assessed at 1.1bn barrels (unrisked, best estimate, recoverable 100% basis) with 926.4m barrels net to Far. Far are planning ahead and expect to drill a well in late 2018, meanwhile the farm-out procedure is fully underway. With such a good record in the area and with strong support from partners and shareholders Far must be a most exciting prospect as it starts work in The Gambia.

Amerisur Resources

A CPO-5, Llanos Basin update from AMER this morning but realistically there isnt yet much to report. The initial phase of the  LTT on Mariposa-1 started on November 18th with a clean up and it has now been closed for a pressure buildup test. Shortly the well will come back onstream at a commercial production rate which will be higher than any of the numbers during clean up. This is very good news for Amerisur, obviously as what looks like a very good commercial discovery on a large block that might lead to further success but also as a welcome diversification in Colombia. At change from 20p AMER looks exceptionally good value and with some very exciting wells to be drilled in the south to come I expect significant upward movement before long.

Sound Energy

After I wrote yesterday Sound reported on completion of the Airborne Full Tensor Gravity Gradiometry (FTG) and magnetic survey acquisition in Eastern Morocco. The company report ‘highly encouraging results' with  a far more detailed view of the deep, thick Paleozoic basin extending over the three permit areas. The survey clearly offers significant paleozoic opportunities and by mid- December the company ‘expects to have an improved understanding of the exploration potential of the licence areas'.

And this morning Sound has said that it has completed 56% of its phase 1 seismic programme at Tendrara in Eastern Morocco. There will be much for CEO James Parsons to say in his ‘fireside chat' on Friday morning and of course there is a triple bill of Sound, Echo and Coro on December 6th to look forward to.

SDX Energy

Results from SDX but there is nothing we dont know after recent announcements on well success in Morocco and developments in Egypt. Revenue growth y/y is very strong and predicted to grow substantially as the benefits of the Circle acquisition become tangible. With a raise of $10m and shareholders incredibly supportive the outlook is very exciting, 2 from 2 wells in Morocco and coming onstream very quickly plus a busy programme in Egypt means I expect a stream of good operational news from SDX over the winter.

Serica Energy

The deal Serica has announced this morning looks like it should be transformational for the company and certainly de-risks its current asset base. The deal also marks the return to Serica of Mitch Flegg who left as COO and returns as CEO after an unfortunate spell at Circle. They have acquired from BP substantial holdings in the Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields in the North Sea and have taken all the BP staff and also have a production sales agreement for the hydrocarbon offtake.

With BP on the hook for substantial elements of the decommissioning, Serica are buying some good assets with little in upfront payments and a significant addition to reserves and production. 2P reserves will rise 16 fold to 50 mmboe and production 7 fold to 21/- boe/d of which 85% is gas. I am looking forward to sitting down with Mitch to look at it in some detail and also to restarting coverage of Serica, after this most interesting deal.

And finally...

Back to the Champions League tonight as the HubCap Stealers are in Seville, the Noisy Neighbours host Feyenoord and Spurs are at Borussia Dortmund. Tomorrow I notice that Chelsea are in Baku, Azerbaijan…..

Visit source site

BPoil priceAmerisur ResourcesCairn EnergyFARSDX EnergySound EnergySerica EnergyGambiaSenegal

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WTI $61.34 +74c, Brent $64.33 -3c, Diff -$2.99 -77c, NG $2.58 -1c Oil Price Traders say it was a funny old day in the market yesterday, an early sell off was closed with a weak greenback helping out, but WTI gained most as it finished up on the day. The differential is now below $3 and means ...

Malcolm Graham-Wood - Malcy's Blog

Posted 7 days agoOpinion > MalcyMalcy'sMalcy's Blog +6
All posts from malcy


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22 February 2006

To Every Thing There Is a Season

I went home last week becasue my uncle was in the hospital and the doc said that we'd better go see him while we still could. Dad rang and told me about this and wanted me to go home on Saturday. Great timing, I just dismantled Irma, washed the components and kerosened the frame and if I didn't put them back and lubed them quick enough the chain was going to be strewn with rust. However, my main concern was the frame because at that time I still had no idea how on earth was I going to get the linseed oil and was afraid that by the time I came back it would be home sweet home of corrosions. Plues tomorrow a friend of mine was coming and I promised to let him stay in my place till he found a flat.

That was Tuesday. So I still had time to complete the procedure, but after much indecisions I rang and told my parents that I was going home tomorrow, the half rustproofed Irma can wait.

When I was walking on the corridor towards the room I was like feeling alright, nothing special, like just a normal trip to see a doc when I had a cold or somehow managed to shove my thumb into someone's mouth and broke my fingernail. I stepped in, recognizing the number on the door, and after passed through the first bed and the curtain connecting to the second one light entered this outer part of the room accompanied by the window.

They said he was looking particularly animated that day. His hands were dry and dotted with dark, sinister spots and so was his appearance. The tubes ran under his shirt and raised a mountain in his sunken chest producing irregular yet consistant minor earthquakes.

I went over to him and touched his bony hands and when I noticed the hurdle being formed inside my throat I knew that I had to turn my head to one side pretending that I was looking at the phone or the equipments. Luckily auntie and my folks were absorbed in their conversation about the healthy food they brought him. I went for a walk, the thing that lingered on my mind was his bright voice, the bright voice of a few years back now replaced by a thin whisper over the air.

She said to him, "don't you want to celebrate the diamond anniversary with me?" To which he replied indignantly and with visible difficulty, "when did I say I didn't?" Then I found myself smiling. Later I realized surprisingly that I didn't try to conceal that smile in front of my family, especially my old man, like I usually did.

19 February 2006

Trängselskatt (Rush Hour Tax) in Central Stockholm

I came upon an article on Guardian Unlimited about oil, one of the issues that always interests me. According to it, a government official said,

We want to be both mentally and technically prepared for a world without oil. The plan is a response to global climate change, rising petroleum prices and warnings by some experts that the world may soon be running out of oil.

In Taiwan the problem made its presence known once more recently in a price battle on petrol between several companies, one of which raised theirs prices simply because they had to yet the other in order to gain an advantage over their rival maintained or even lowered their prices.

But I guess I'm in no position to judge because I just bought a big bloody 1 gallon can of boiled linseed oil while I only used and needed 250 ml.

15 February 2006

Twenty Five Days Already

Yeah it's the 25th day already, 5 days more till the beginning of the second semestre of my second year in grad school. Haven't read anything actually, a bit of Sophie's World and El amor en los tiempos del cólera and that's it. Don't remember what I've been doing all these time, running around I suppose.

I'm now in the process of rustproofing Irma and it's a real pain in the ass because I know nothing about all the chemicals and stuff and the more I read the more confused I got and didn't know what to do. I sprayed some WD40 like stuff into the frame about 5 months ago hoping that it would do the trick, but then in late January when I stripped the frame off all its components I found that that stuff was still in its liquid form which scared the shit out of me. So lots of researches on the internet followed, after much mistakes, wastes of time, money and petrol going around in circles, I flushed the frame with kerosene and now it's drying itself in the garage.

But of course, this will only get that stuff off the steel and not rustproofing anything, I have to apply something more to form a layer between the steel and the air. Lots of choices: motor oil, boiled linseed oil, commercial frame saver, fish oil, etc. So I bought a can of undercoating paint, but then I realized that it would probably make the bike too heavy afterwards so reluctantly I looked for other options, realizing that this daft prick just wasted more money and resourses on nothing. After having spent days looking for Amsoil HDMP (Heavy Duty Metal Protector) with no success I settled with boiled linseed oil. And I was quite happy with that decision because I finally made up my mind.

But then to my surprise, many of the hardware stores don't carry linseed oil, it has to be specially ordered and it's not cheap at all (at least not in this part of the world) about US$11 for one gallon. And I don't need a gallon, just one litre, but I have to buy a gallon becasue they don't just sell one litre... and what am I supposed to do with the rest? Later today in a painting shop I found a small bottle of boiled linseed oil (75ml), but it was US$4 and I couldn't imagine how much I would have to pay to get a litre. Money or Mother Nature, tough call.

08 February 2006

The Tragic and Inevitable Death of Tektōnturbidus

Tektōnturbidus was standing in the middle of the parking lot. He flagged down some of the passing vehicles.

“Where you are going?”, he asked. Some said to school, some said to work and some said just fooling around. He asked why they went to school, why they went to work, why the thing they were doing. “I don’t know, well, I think because it’s how it should be, isn’t it? I mean, well, that’s what everyone’s doing, that’s also what my parents and the elders tell me to do. And… besides, hell, I don’t know anything else better to do!”

He asked whether they believed in Destiny or not, some said yes, some said no and other said they didn’t know, hadn’t actually thought about that before, but nearly everyone said that they would avoid certain things to steer clear of bad luck and will do certain things to bring good luck. By sunset, he reached the conclusion that even though many said no, they were constantly worried about it.

The next day he showed up in the parking lot again which upset some. He had been standing there asking those stupid questions for the past ninety days. He asked them whether they were happy, and again the answers were divided into three groups. He asked what they wanted to do if it was possible and the answers were very often a long way from what they were actually doing. Even those who had everything and claimed to be happy were a bit shaken in the end. At the end of the day, Tektōnturbidus reached the conclusion that he hadn’t met a truely happy man yet.

He asked them why didn’t they do anything different to change the situation since they didn’t like it? The most frequent answer was that it was risky to change and it was safer to accept the norm. He was thinking about these answers on his way home, he was sure about two things: that everyone was afriad of Destiny and, that no man was happy. By the time he got to his front door he reached the conclusion that no man was happy because they inflicted Destiny upon themselves whether they knew it or not.

The discontent against his presence in the parking lot accumulated into anger, it was because of fear. And fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. And suffering it was for the cops busted into his apartment the following day and he was accused of corrupting the populace, sabotaging the state and blaspheming against the Life. The jury found him guilty and he was condemned to meet his end in the depth of the unforgiving Mount Oblivion.

05 February 2006

I was helping out in the kitchen and then I saw a big bird in the back yard. It didn’t move, it just stood there and so was I. Its beak was pointing high into the sky and I wondered what it was staring at or having on its mind.


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Beryl gets a new hat!

When I bought Beryl the Cockatoo lamp, she came with a shade that I liked but always wanted to change at some point.

old pearly jenkins

So I finally got around to doing something about it!

I bought some cute spotty fabric from Spotlight and a cheap shade from Bunnings.

20150307_124136 20150307_125858

To see how much  fabric I would need, I placed the seam of the shade on the edge of a towel and rolled it along the towel until the seam appeared again.  I made a mark on the towel and used a tape measure to find the length.

I measured the width of the shade and added an extra inch either side to fold over the wire on the inside. For a nice tidy finish I folded over an inch of fabric and gave it a press with a  hot iron.

old pearly jenkins

I used a can of spray on adhesive to hold down the fold and allowed it to dry for a few minutes.

I then spray the entire length of fabric with the adhesive and very carefully began to roll the shade along the fabric.  I lined up the raw edge of the fabric with the seam on the back of the shade and finishing with the folded edge.

20150307_130915 20150307_131218

I folded the edges into the inside of the shade and left to dry for a while.

old pearly jenkins

old pearly jenkins

I’m really pleased with the results.  The whole project from beginning to end took less than half an hour and approximately $20.00.

A lamp shade and a Koala

Before we left our house I grabbed a few projects that I’d like to find the time to do.  One is  to find some fabric  to recover a lamp shade to go with the pink lamp base I’d painted earlier this year.  The turquoise shade  developed a mysterious  large dent.  hmmmm….boys?

old pearly jenkins

I’ve brought a very cheap lamp shade from Bunnings, cut out a template from butchers paper, brought the adhesive spray, watched some YouTube videos and now I’m on the hunt for some suitable  fabric.

old pearly jenkins

I’ve seen some gorgeous lamp shades …..

I have fallen in love with this owl lamp shade.  The website Little Treasures that I found this shade on is worth checking out.  They have several other designs and they’re all equally as lovely.

I’m still on the hunt for fabric that I like.  I have visited many different online fabric stores and came across one that has some brilliant fabrics.  It turns out the business is here in Brisbane.  It’s called Voodoo Rabbit and is on Stanley Street, East Brisbane.

Acacia Racoons Canyon by Free Spirit

voodoo rabbit

A Ghastlie Night Mold Green by Alexander Henry

A Ghastlie Gallery Smoke by Alexander Henry

I recently bought a chocolate-brown and  rather battered , plaster Koala from The Cottage Garden Nursery at East Brisbane.  I’ve left it at my parent’s house and my lovely mother has started to sand it down.  I’ve been perusing the spray can aisle at Bunnings for a colour.

old pearly jenkins

Any suggestions?


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Local Number Portability FAQ

Have questions? No problem, find your answer below:

Click here for the Number Transfer application form.

What Is Local Number Portability?

Local Number Portability (LNP) is new to Bermuda and allows customers with telephone services to retain their existing telephone numbers when switching from one provider to another.

When Does “Porting” Become Available?

“Porting” or the transfer of a phone number between mobile carriers became available on March 3, 2014.

Can I Transfer My Number From Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC) To A Mobile Carrier?

As soon as this becomes available, we will make the necessary announcements and update this space.

How Do I Transfer My Number?

Contact the carrier you wish to transfer service to. That carrier will submit a request to your current carrier. You will then be contacted by the new carrier with either an approval or declined response. If approved, you will have 5 business days to visit your desired carrier’s retail location to activate service. If your request has been rejected you must contact your old carrier to clear any items that lead to the request decline. Unless your account balance is not current there is no need to contact your existing carrier.

Is There A Fee To Transfer My Number?

No, transferring your number is a free service.

How Long Will The Process Take?

The entire process may take up to 7 days. Please allow 2 business days for the approval steps to be completed. Once you receive notification that your request has been approved, you will have 5 days to activate service with your new carrier. If your old carrier declines your request based on the approval criteria, you must contact your old carrier to resolve any issues. Once resolved if you still wish to transfer your service and the number a new request will need to be resubmitted.

What If I Only Want To Transfer Some Of The Phone Numbers On My Account?

Yes that is possible. Provide the new carrier with only the phone numbers you want to transfer.

I Want To Transfer My Prepaid Number. Will My Account Balance Be Moved Over?

Account balances and remaining voice, SMS or data on your prepaid account balance will be lost upon transferring services. As part of the transfer One Communications is happy to place a one-time credit on your account up to a maximum of $25.

Will My Voice And/Or Data Plans Along With Added Service Features Be Transferred When I Port My Number?

No. These services will not be transferred and you will need to set them up again with your new carrier. The new operator may not offer exactly the same price plans and services. This should be checked before changing carriers.

Do I Need To Back Up The Files On My Device Before Activating Service With One Communications?

You will be receiving a new SIM card from us at no extra charge upon activation. Your old SIM will be deactivated. To ensure you retain items associated with your number:

  • Back up all contact information that are saved to your SIM by downloading them onto a computer or directly onto your device.
  • Read any unread SMS messages
  • Send any unsent SMS messages
  • Listen to any unheard voice messages

Will I Lose My Apps?

Apps normally save to the device as a default with a secondary option to save to the memory card. Only items saved to the SIM are at risk since your old SIM will be deactivated. A new SIM card will be provided to you at no charge.

Do I Have To Purchase A New Mobile Phone If I Have A Locked Phone?

If your device is currently locked, your current cellular phone carrier will unlock your phone free of charge and your current phone can then be used.

Am I Obliged To Pay My Early Termination Fee If I Am Still Under Contract?

It will be your responsibility to review your existing contract with your current carrier. You will need to fulfill any contractual obligations including payment of early cancellation fees to your old carrier (if applicable). Provided that your payments are up to date, your remaining balance can be paid in full after the number transfer has taken place. It is your responsibility to pay your old carrier’s invoices.

What Will I Need To Bring With Me To Activate Service With My New Carrier?

You will need:

  • Your most current bill
  • Your device for number verification purposes
  • Your photo I.D.
  • A valid credit card in your name
  • Remember, you must be the authorized account holder to complete the porting process.

Will I Experience A Disruption In Service When I Transfer My Number?

Not necessarily. Our goal is to make this process as seamless as possible for you. Once you have visited our store to complete the activation process, you will be provided with detailed instructions from our Customer Care representatives.

What If I Want To Transfer My Number And Service Back To My Original Carrier?

Your number will be reserved with the original carrier for 12 months from the date you transferred.
You would follow the same process to transfer back services.

What Happens If I Miss The 5 Day Timeframe To Activate My New Service?

The process will need to start over again if you are unable to activate your device within 5 days of your approval. It is recommended that submitting your port request be done during a time that is fairly flexible for you.


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Question: Was Nina Pierpont’s book peer-reviewed?

Jack P. Goellner, Director Emeritus, John Hopkins University Press

Jack P. Goellner, Director Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University Press

No, it was not,” say the wind turbine Salesmen.   “Oh yes it was!” responds this man.

Who is this man?  He is a legend in the publishing world.  Especially the world of scholarly publishing.  (It’s a safe bet that Mr. Goellner understands more about peer review than a wind turbine salesmen, don’t you think?)

For more than twenty years, Mr. Goellner was Director of the Johns Hopkins University Press, the oldest university press in America (founded 1878).  During his tenure, JHUP became a world leader, celebrated, among other fields, for its medical publishing—a tradition which subsequent directors have carried forward.

Goellner is widely considered a “publisher’s publisher.”  More directors of university presses have come out of JHUP than out of any other press.  (One of them is the current director of Harvard University Press.)  Considerable credit for this fact goes to Jack Goellner.
When Jack retired, his alma mater, Allegheny College, conferred an honorary doctorate upon him in recognition of his accomplishments and stature in scholarly publishing.

Now read what this man has to say about Pierpont’s “Wind Turbine Syndrome.”

Dr. Pierpont has written a superb and powerful book. Truly first-rate in its presentation of hard data, and with remarkable clarity.

I devoutly hope that her findings, pinned as they  are to unassailable research and rigorously peer-reviewed by ranking scientists, come to the attention of movers and shakers who can broaden the research base and shape  the politics of dealing with Wind Turbine Syndrome.

Was Pierpont’s book peer-reviewed? “Yes it was,” responds the expert.


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Back to all updates

over 1 year ago

Extended Deadline!

Good news!   We’re extending the hackathon deadline to Tuesday, September 6th at 9:00PM ET - that’s almost 5 extra days to build your OpenPOWER application!   Please remember you can update your submission anytime between now and the new deadline. If you need any questions answered, head to our Slack channel or write us at   We can't wait to see what you build!


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The Umbra

Crafter’s Den

The smell of blood and gun-smoke emanates from this room.

  • Shaman’s Voodoo Bench
  • Gunsmith’s Workbench

Aft Quarters

This room serves as a dining hall and also has the captain’s quarters within it.

This landing leads to the main deck, and has a stairway to the cargo hold. It serves as an armory for the crew when they come up from below deck.

  • Crew’s personal weapons
  • 10 Cutlasses
  • 100 Lead Shot
  • 100 Scatter Shot
  • 10 Powder Horns
  • 200 Black Powder

Cargo Hold

  • Crew’s personal effects
  • 10 Hammocks for the crew

Main Deck

  • 2 Cannons
  • 10 shots each

The Umbra

Orb of Kal'abach Brando306 dascarletm


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Scam Scum

As I journalist, I sometimes get an opportunity to write about unusual things. Over the last two week I have had the opportunity to report on a scam taking place in the pallet industry. The scam artist tried to get companies to pay for transit costs to a fake shipping company. The bait was that the scammer offered to pay via credit card so the company thought it already had its money. When the card went through, the pallet company would be tempted to ship the pallets and possibly even pay the shipping costs.

The scam artist used stolen credit card information. Obviously, any company that bit on the deal would lose out. Any charges on the stolen credit cards would be charged back. Not only does this show the danger of credit cards in the Information Age, it also indicates how many people are conducting fraud across international borders. The bank accounts involved appear to trace back to Africa. At this point, nobody has come forward as having fallen for the scam. This makes me wonder why somebody would go to so much effort for so little profit. That’s a lot of wasted time.

You can read more about the scam at

If you want to read how sometimes the good guys pull one on scammers. Read this link sent to me by a friend. It will make you laugh….a lot.

One response to “Scam Scum

  1. Hello,
    I have a question about explore talent (and its many various and sundry tags – i.e.-;;, etc. etc.)
    I’m a musician and apparently there have been more complaints from models and actors/actresses. I still think they’re a waste of money. I, too, was suckered by their “free trial membership”. But to be fair, I figured I’d give it a month. After 28 days of submitting to ‘roles’ for which I knew I was well qualified, I didn’t receive one call or email inviting me to audition. Equally important is, I was denied access to the contact info for people with whom I was interested in auditioning. In other words, even after becoming a member, I still couldn’t call or send an email to the groups for which I wanted to audition. I cancelled my membership, yet they still billed me for a 2nd month. After I called, left a nasty message and sent an angry email demanding they cancel me, I received confirmation my account was cancelled (even though they were begging with offers of this that and the other, I still said “HELL NO”! I can be short on work by myself, I don’t need to pay somebody to keep it that way!
    That was about 2 years ago. I don’t have a credit card. I had them deduct the $ from my checking acct. electronically. What’s really odd is, to this day, I still receive weekly emails from them containing a list of “matched roles”. I since have closed my checking acct and have reopened another. From what I can tell by reviewing my bank statements, there haven’t been any deductions from my acct by this outfit. I’ve been assured my subscription is free. I just want to keep it that way. Do anyone know if, by chance they use a different name or tag, when they deduct $ from your acct?

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text:
Keeping in the spirit of reproducing hard-to-find information on my blog, here’s something I recently discovered when trying to get my terminal working properly with a Linux server at school.

I use rxvt-unicode as my terminal emulator on Linux for its light weight nature and text based configuration. Unfortunately, sometimes when I SSH into some machines (like the OSU CSE department’s stdlinux), I get a message like this:

tput: unknown terminal "rxvt-unicode-256color"
tcsh: No entry for terminal type "rxvt-unicode-256color"
tcsh: using dumb terminal settings

What’s happening is that a lot of machines don’t understand how to properly interact with my terminal emulator. Different terminals have different support for certain features, and they way that they communicate this is by setting the environment variable $TERM. The system then has definitions for various $TERM values about what features are supported, and shells and other programs can use this information to help their output appear correct. These mapping files, called terminfo files, are missing for rxvt-unicode on many systems.

Luckily, terminfo files can be stored in your home directory in ~/.terminfo, so all you should have to do is copy the file from the computer you installed rxvt-unicode on to the machine that’s complaining.

ssh stdlinux mkdir -p ~/.terminfo/r
scp /usr/share/terminfo/r/rxvt-unicode-256color stdlinux:.terminfo/r/

Thanks to Tom Ryder’s original post, which lead me to this solution and goes into a lot more detail about terminal strings, for the curious.


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That’s Some Pig! From their curly tails to their twitchy noses, pigs are uniquely suited to providing barnyard benefit. They represent a cost-neutral source of fertilizer, as well as an ever-fattening value at market. They’re so ingenious, they even found a use for all that mud that would otherwise go to waste.

  • Choose your card..

    We will mail a card to the shipping address you provide at checkout.

    New Recipient Details

    Delivery can take up to 7-10 business days.

    Your certificate will be attached to your email receipt.

SKU: 2064 Categories: , , Tags: , , , ,

Pigs provide fertilizer for gardens and crops, and can quickly grow much larger, generating extra income after being sold at market.

Your charitable gifts go where they have the most sustainable, meaningful impact on the lives of women, men, children and families with whom Outreach partners to end chronic poverty. All items in the Sustainable Gift Catalog symbolically represent the outcome of the work underway by our international teams, including community-managed animal and farming projects, education, health clinics, clean water initiatives, and much more.


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Security and Linux

Last week a quietly released report by the Communications-Electronics Security Group (GCHQ’s information security arm) announcing that that Ubuntu 12.04 was the most secure operating system tested (this included Google’s Android, Apple’s Mac OS X and Microsoft’s Windows 7, 8 and RT). Obviously this is great news for us as Ubuntu 12.04 is our chosen operating system and the backbone of our business.

So why is Ubuntu more secure than Windows? It all boils down to the way Linux (the family of Operating Systems, Ubuntu belongs to) works and is structured. There are several critical differences between the two systems.

Firstly its all about privileges, in a the typical small business set-up the machine user has administrator rights which in Windows means that user can modify or delete any file on the system, consequently so can any virus! Whereas in Linux even as an administrator you cannot compromise the system files, consequently if you did suffer a viral attack it would only effect your files rather than the system files, making the difference between a major disaster and slight annoyance and restoring your backed up data.

On the subject of viruses, these are most commonly spread though email attachments which when opened cause chaos. Whereas for this to happen in a Ubuntu machine the user would have to save the attachment, change its permissions to executable and then try and run the file, which is pretty unlikely to happen.

But people being people, there are viruses for Linux machines, these are much rarer than Windows ones, but nonetheless they do exist, that said these can be protected against with relative ease, and as I said earlier there are any reported viruses which can effect your system files.

Of course open source software being what it is there is a free anti-virus package for Linux called ClamAV which we include within our bundle of software, as well as a graphical front-end for it. In addition to which we also provide a graphical frontend for preinstalled Ubuntu firewall, between these two tools you are already reducing the risks to your security.

Finally and probably the most importantly keep up-to-date with the software updates, Ubuntu will helpfully let you know when updates are needed you just need to keep on top of them. Unlike some of the Windows updates these are generally fairly small files and wont build up on your system slowing it down. If you do want to keep system tidy and clean use the Ubuntu Tweak Janitor tool (which we include) to tidy up your system files and remove any unnecessary files.


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Historical Hotties Champion!

All month long we’ve been searching for the hottest YA boy in history. We found a couple in Renaissance Venice, some old school gents from childhood classics, and others listening to great music, but in a big twist, our champion was in the future all along!

Historical Hotties.7.26.13

Congratulations to James Dashner and the Dashner Army (also known as Dashnerds) for getting Thomas the win! The boy has brains, but when Dylan O’Brien is playing the role, he’s also quite the looker we wouldn’t mind getting lost in a maze with.

One thought on “Historical Hotties Champion!

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Craig & Fred-FTR
(Dave Moran)

It’s a tale as old as time: a serendipitous meeting between human and a stray dog that blossoms into a life-changing friendship—but this time, the pair met under peculiar circumstances. U.S. Marine Sergeant Craig Grossi befriended his canine pal, Fred, in a remote part of Afghanistan shortly before being airlifted out in 2010. Fred tagged along with

CRAIG & FRED cover

Grossi on the journey home, where the soldier was tasked with readjusting to civilian life, a process marked by lasting trauma of an injury he sustained during his service and the loss of two of his friends and fellow Marines. With Grossi through this difficult time was Fred, whose support led him share their story coast-to-coast—and now in a book with Craig & Fred: A Marine, A Stray Dog, and How They Rescued Each OtherOut now, the book is available as an adult memoir and as a young readers’ edition. Check out a video of Grossi talking about the book below and read on for an excerpt.

It was between Taliban attacks that I spotted him.

I was hot and exhausted, trying to stay cool in sandals and the thin green running shorts we called “silkies.” I stood refilling my water bottle and heating some water for Ali, who, despite the heat, insisted on a cup of tea with his lunch. As I put the cap on my water bottle, I watched a goofy-looking dog trot across the compound. With his short legs and puppylike pep, he looked nothing like other stray dogs I’d seen in Afghanistan. Most were tall and bulky, and they moved around in packs, aggressive over territory and scavenged food.

I could tell this dog was different. He didn’t have a pack; he was alone. He pranced nonchalantly in the dust, tail bobbing and snout held high, as if he was particularly proud of the morsel of food he was carrying. There was something innocent about him; he seemed unaffected by life in a combat zone. I’d noticed his routine before in the day or so since we’d been in the compound. The dog would go over to the burn pit to rummage for something to eat, then carry little scraps back to his makeshift den, which was a shady spot under a few bushes.

Funny little hoarder, I thought.

When we first arrived at the compound, I asked the old man about a couple of dogs that were hanging around. “Are they yours?” I asked. If so, we’d help transport them to the family’s new compound, along with the livestock.

“No, no, no,” he told us. It would have been unusual for a farmer in Sangin to have a pet dog. The villagers loved animals] and took great care of their livestock, but they were focused on surviving and on feeding their families; they couldn’t afford to feed and care for a pet. Occasionally, when we did come across “pet” dogs, they were actually used for fighting.

After the family left and we moved in, the little dog stayed.

It was almost as if this were his compound. I stood and watched him flop down in his spot under the bushes. Beside him I could see other food scraps he’d accumulated: little MRE wrappers, sticks, bones.

I put down my water bottle, picked up a piece of beef jerky, and started walking over to him, my sandaled feet kicking up dust. When the dog realized I was coming his way, he stopped eating and looked at me. He watched as I approached, squinting to shield his eyes from the dust and sun.

A few steps away from him, I paused.

“Hey, buddy,” I said. “How’s it going?”

He seemed to be studying me. There was something expressive about his big, light brown eyes—almost humanlike. For a moment, we just looked at each other. Then I heard a quiet thwap thwap thwap. A little cloud of dust kicked up into the air behind him. I couldn’t believe it: he was wagging his tail.

I took it as an invitation to move closer and crouched down to get a better look at him. The dog’s fur was mostly white, with large spots of light orange-brown. He had a long snout with a big black nose and floppy ears. As he looked at me, his eyebrows twitched from side to side, curious. He continued to wag his tail, and his expression was soft and easy, as if he was smiling.

The dog seemed happy as a clam, but I could see he was covered in black bugs the size of dimes. They were buzzing around him, then burrowing into the fur on his face and neck.

I extended my arm, holding out the piece of beef jerky. “Here you go, buddy,” I said.

The dog stood up and shook, as if to rid himself of as many bugs as possible before getting near me. He took a few steps forward, his nose leading the way, and inspected my offering before

carefully pulling it from my hand with his front teeth. I laughed watching him chew the jerky. Most dogs I knew didn’t bother chewing treats before sending them down the hatch.

“Well, you’ve got better manners than most, don’t you?” I said, and extended my other hand so he could give it a few sniffs. With his permission, I massaged my fingers into the fur around his neck and under his ears. It was coarse and matted in dust; it felt unnaturally stiff, almost like a dirty pair of jeans.

But the dog happily leaned into me, pleased with the neck rub. I wondered if it was the first time he’d ever been petted. Before I got carried away with him, though, I stopped myself. Cozying up to dogs was off-limits in Afghanistan. When I first arrived in-country, back at the main base, I’d sat through two full days of orientation where they laid out all the rules, big and small. No alcohol. No porn. No saluting superiors, for tactical reasons. One of the memorable ones came from a veterinarian from the military police K-9 unit. “No dogs,” she said plainly, then proceeded to tell us horror stories about guys contracting rabies. Get caught with a stray dog, she said, and that dog will be euthanized, no questions asked. On top of that, I was still hyperfocused on proving myself to the RECON guys. I had to show my worth on this mission, not sit around in the dust with a dog.

With that in mind, I reluctantly got up. The dog just stood there, gazing up at me. “Okay, buddy,” I said. I turned and headed back toward my corner of the compound.

But after taking just a few steps, I felt a little nudge at the back of my ankle. I looked down to see the dog staring up at me with a toothy grin, tail wagging again. From across the compound, Matt, one of the EOD guys, had been watching our exchange. “Looks like you made a friend!” he shouted. But what I heard was, “Looks like a Fred!” The name stuck.

From CRAIG & FRED: A Marine, A Stray Dog, and How They Rescued Each Other, by Craig Grossi. Copyright © 2017 by Craig Grossi. William Morrow Publishers. Reprinted by permission. Also available as a Young Readers edition

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10 Seconds in Hell

A short game about domestic violence with multiple endings.

This game is free but the developer accepts your support by letting you pay what you think is fair for the game.

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Catching Up

Egun And Them Some…with Author Lanaia Lee

Sunday, September 15, 2012, at 8pm edt,  KDCL Media with Miss Paula & Oro Shango present author Lanaia Lee

Lanaia Lee was born to a Navy father and a school teacher mother. With the death of her mother from a massive stroke a stroke when Lanaia was 9, and due to his military career, her father lost custody of Lanaia to her grandmother, a professed black witch, who abandoned her at 14.

Suffering from erratic hypertension, Lanaia suffered a stroke when at the age of 30. For the next 2 years, she underwent intensive physical therapy, but would never walk again. She found work at a vocational trade school to help with her rehab and there met her husband, David, who was also in a wheelchair from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

In 2001, David dared her to write a poem. Out of curiosity, she posted it on an online poetry forum. The feedback was so positive, she kept writing. She has published several novels and anthologies of short stories and poetry. All of her work is typed with one hand because of her disabilities.

Lanaia gives credit to God’s grace, which she believes has helped her overcome immense adversity, and she claims she won’t quit until she hits the bestseller list.

After Dark with Viktor Aurelius & Jeff Niles

After Dark at 8pm edt & 6pm mdt on KDCL Media & The H20 Network with guests Viktor Aurelius & Jeff Niles

Jeff Niles and Viktor Aurelius have just completed the first season of their Audio Drama Lilith’s Children. Angels, Demons, Vampires, creatures of light and darkness are all brought together to battle a single being who wishes to enslave the world under his control.

Jeff Niles has been a stage actor with his own Theatre Company for many years. His voice acting talents have been heard in a multitude of productions over the past nine years, from his own productions on The 4077th Productions for the last four years of which he is best known as the Master Detective in his Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes to working with Dream Real Enterprises and many other Audio Production Companies.

Viktor Aurelius, the 2000 Year Old Vampire who hosts Whispers in the Dark  recites poetry, writes, directs and produces his own Audio Dramas. Most recently his 10-part series Lilith’s Children and voicing characters in many other productions kept him busy, but he is hard at work on several new productions that he and Jeff Niles will release very soon.


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Can we say ‘we told you so’ now?

Life, to use the Great British art of the understatement, has been pretty tough in general practice recently. Over the last decade, the proportion of NHS money invested in General Practice has dropped from a peak of over 11% to a low point of 7.2%. At the same time:

- With an ever-older population which has far more complex health needs, patients are being discharged much more quickly from hospitals. That means we’re providing infinitely more complicated care in the community for sicker and sicker patients

- We have endless targets to reduce hospital outpatient referrals so that in most areas more than one GP needs to review a case before referral to hospital is allowed

- We also have endless targets for reducing prescribing costs, which involves not just refusing more expensive drugs but also switching patients to more cost effective versions. To do this safely, we have to go through the records of every patient on a medicine to check whether a cheaper alternative would be as good for them

- We spend far more time than ever ticking boxes to prove we’re doing what we know we’re already doing – and then the Care Quality Commission descends to pick holes in our figures, never giving encouragement for all that we have achieved

- Patient consultation rates are going up year on year, not just because of more illness but because patients who have their own pressures demand immediate ‘cure’

- We feel stuck in the middle between our Public Health responsibility to prescribe fewer antibiotics, and patients who press loud and hard to be given them

- Patients believe everything they read in the tabloids about GPs being overpaid and underworked, and morale in general practice has never been lower.

The domino effect is serious. 1 in 10 GP training places went unfilled last year, and 1 in 3 were unfilled this year after the first round of interviews. 1 in 3 GPs in the UK are planning to retire in the next five years, and many of them are starting to go already. If a practice loses a partner and can’t replace them – many of my colleagues put out national adverts and don’t get a single applicant – more pressure is left on the doctors who remain. I am officially ‘part time’ in my practice, working 2/3 of full-time – but my ‘eight hour day’ usually lasts from 6.30am - 8.00pm, without so much as a 10-minute coffee break. For doing so, I earn less than a tube driver. We GPs know it’s hard to get GP appointments – we’re patients too – but we can’t magic more staff out of thin air, and someone has to provide the service.

But while the vast majority of my patients are wonderful, we spend more and more time feeling the brunt of dissatisfaction which should be aimed at the Government. Yesterday a patient told me that the GPs in my practice were ‘being irresponsible by taking on too much. Why don’t you just accept that you need more doctors?’. The same day, another explained seriously that the reason he hadn’t been getting any of his essential monitoring tests was because he didn’t want ‘to see a different doctor every time I come to the practice. If you and your kind would just stop leaving, I would have turned up to my diabetes checks and I wouldn’t have put on two stone’. Many complain when I (inevitably) run late. But if I extend my consultation times to 15 minutes, we’ll have even fewer appointments.

But finally, the government has realised that there’s a real problem, and has stepped in with a series of plans to improve the situation in general practice – and the funding to make it happen. Announcing their plans, NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens was remarkably honest about the mistakes of recent years in terms of priorities. He admitted "GPs are by far the largest branch of British medicine and as a recent British Medical Journal headline put it - if general practice fails, the whole NHS fails. So if anyone 10 years ago had said, 'Here's what the NHS should now do - cut the share of funding for primary care and grow the number of hospital specialists three times faster than GPs,' they'd have been laughed out of court. But looking back over a decade that's exactly what's happened. Now we need to act and this plan sets out exactly how."

These plans include:

- £2.4 billion a year for the next five years, to bring the proportion of the NHS budget spent on general practice up to 10.4% by 2020

- Plans to reduce bureaucracy, so increasing by up to 10% the amount of time GPs have to see patients rather than push paper

- Investment in healthcare assistants and other staff who can do the work GPs don’t really need to do, freeing us up to do the really complicated stuff nobody else can

- Changes to hospital contracts to avoid GPs having to duplicate workload by making endless re-referrals to different departments in the same hospital

- Investment in an extra 3,000 mental health workers to support practices by 2020. Mental health has long been a Cinderella service where NHS funding is concerned, so this is particularly welcome

- Funding for 1,500 pharmacists to work in practices, including seeing some patients for routine reviews. Practice nurses have done an amazing job in taking on routine follow-up of patients with long-term conditions like asthma and type 2 diabetes. Pharmacists could, with the right training, offer great expertise in checking medications and ensuring patients have the right medicines and are using them to best effect

- Moves to reduce the hopeless amounts of inappropriate bureaucracy involved in CQC visits

- 18.5% increase in investment in IT

- A target of 5,000 more GPs in five years.

Of course, much of this depends on encouraging junior doctors to choose to train in general practice – and not to move to Australia the moment they finish their training. And to do that, it needs to stop junior doctors leaving the profession before they even reach the stage of choosing a specialty. Jeremy Hunt’s shocking mishandling of the junior doctor contract has resulted in the first all-out strike action by doctors for 40 years – they don’t want more pay; they want a contract that ensures patient safety. The government will have to work very hard to rebuild the trust of the medical profession. And if the medical profession folds, so does the NHS.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of medical conditions. Patient Platform Limited has used all reasonable care in compiling the information but make no warranty as to its accuracy. Consult a doctor or other health care professional for diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. For details see our conditions.


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Sympathy for the Cannibal: Archaeology, Emotion, and Cannibalism

A reconstruciton of the cannibalized teen girl referred to as "Jane" (image ).

A reconstruction of the cannibalized teen girl referred to as “Jane” (image Studio EIS photo by Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian).

Today the Jamestown Rediscovery Project reported on the archaeology of a teen girl who was apparently butchered and consumed by fellow colonists in the winter of 1609-1610.  Most of the instant press coverage revolves around the evidence that the body was butchered, with mandible cut marks and skull fragmentation reflecting a somewhat clumsy dismemberment of the body during a winter in which about 80% of the settlement’s residents died.  Our collective fascination with this girl’s fate obliquely humanizes her even as we paint a sympathetic if uneasy picture of the fellow settlers who cannibalized her.  The story of “Jane,” as Jamestown refers to her, paints the emotional incomprehensibility of human nature while simultaneously rationalizing the desperation that would have led these first settlers to consume one of their own number.

Cannibalism holds a powerful grip on human imagination for perfectly understandable reasons: to consume another human’s body is nearly always constructed as one of the most universal of all violations, driven only by absolutely total desperation, radical ritual, or simple tragic madness.  Cannibals have been a staple of popular discourse for much of the colonial period, but the specter of the cannibal was routinely invoked as an ideological caricature of colonial peoples.  William Arens’ 1979 study The Man-Eating Myth was a skeptical reaction against the ideological weight of cannibal narratives, with Arens rejecting nearly all accounts of cannibalism in virtually any time and place.  Cannibalism certainly has been wielded to stigmatize various colonial “Others,” and contemporary uneasiness with cannibalism has led most scholars to be circumspect about the subject.  Yet a wave of archaeologists have argued quite persuasively that the aversion to acknowledging cannibalism ignores quite significant evidence for it.  Compelling examples reach back over 780,000 years ago at the Spanish site Gran Dolina; 100,000 year-old Neandertal remains at Moula-Guercy were clearly cannibalized; Walter Hough’s 1901 claim for Anasazi cannibalism is accepted by many contemporary scholars; the Colorado site Cowboy Wash dates to AD 1150-1175 and has been interpreted by one team as containing human fecal remains (coprolites) with identifiable human tissue remains alongside tools with human blood residues and bones suggesting cannibalism; and in winter 1846-1847 the well-known Donner party consumed members of their group when stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Four chop marks on the top of the skull suggest other colonists were attempting to open the cranium (image Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian)

Four chop marks on the top of the skull suggest other colonists were attempting to open the cranium (image Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian)

Cut marks run along the base of the mandible (image Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian).

Cut marks run along the base of the mandible (image Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian).

Armed with the mangled remains of this anonymous young woman and a historical case for such desperation, the Jamestown case weaves an exceptionally compelling human narrative.  Archaeological narratives about cannibalism typically redeem the victims, humanizing them in the face of an unutterable end and providing an articulate narrative that rationalizes or tries to explain their death.  That rationalization often finds a motivating force for cannibalizing another person, such as starvation, a move that obliquely redeems the cannibals as well as the victims.  Jamestown ReDiscovery, for instance, refers to this girl’s remains as the earliest evidence of “survival cannibalism” in the colonial New World, eager to underscore that this cannibalism was driven by utter desperation.  The team’s Scott Whitaker is one of the team scholars who march through a precise and persuasive forensic analysis of the skeletal evidence, focusing on Jane’s death as a scientifically analyzed process.

Such a rhetorical maneuver tends to evade the emotional incomprehensibility of consuming a human, which may in fact be our fundamental curiosity about such a fringe practice.  The image of the young woman’s skull and awkward cut marks used to open her cranial vault push the limits of rationality for many us and may be a dimension of the girl’s story that archaeological rationality simply cannot resolve.  However, archaeology can address the mechanics of dismemberment, and in the Jamestown case the skeleton is somewhat ineptly butchered and tends to reinforce the Jamestown assessment of this as the depths of desperation.

The story of this girl is part of the Smithsonian exhibit Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake, and her death makes a compelling archaeological narrative that may show how the discipline shares its findings.  The team at Jamestown has honed their skills sharing such stories in a wave of fascinating YouTube videos and well-timed press releases in advance of the Smithsonian exhibition.  The Jamestown press releases feature a facial reconstruction of the cannibalized girl, a method that has little genuine scholarly purpose but is an alluring vehicle for imagination in a museum gallery or a mass media article.

The line between circumspectly tapping into collective fascination and skirting the professional review process can be problematic.  For instance, a 2000 American Antiquity paper by Kurt E. Dongoske, Debra L. Martin and T. J. Ferguson scolded a team at Cowboy Wash for publishing their findings in the popular Discover magazine under the title “American Cannibals” prior to having the data peer-reviewed.  The team at Leicester University was criticized in some circles for likewise failing to present their findings on the Richard III excavation in peer-reviewed scholarship before orchestrating a internationally covered news conference.  Jamestown’s press included such hyperbole as the Daily News‘ headline “Cannibal Colonists!: Remains at Jamestown show early American settlers ate each other” and Vanity Fair‘s snarky headline “Cannibalism at Jamestown is Most Interesting Thing to Happen at Colony since A.P. U.S. History Trip.”

There is perhaps good reason to sympathize with the settlers who consumed this dead young woman in a moment of “survival cannibalism.”  Yet cannibalism resides at the boundaries of human experience, attracting our fascination even in the face of Jamestown’s picture of the colony’s true desperation.  We cannot articulate that fascination in especially settled forms, so much of what this and other archaeologies of cannibalism do is provide a firm mirror into the vast breadth of human nature.

William Arens

1979 The Man-Eating Myth: Anthropology and Anthropophagy.  Oxford University Press, New York.

Alban Defleur, Tim White, Patricia Valensi, Ludovic Slimak, and Évelyne Crégut-Bonnoure

1999 Neanderthal Cannibalism at, Ardèche, FranceScience 286(5437):128-131.

Kelly J. Dixon, Shannon A. Novak, Gwen Robbins, Julie M. Schablitsky, G. Richard Scott and Guy L. Tasa

2010 “Men, Women, and Children Starving”: Archaeology of the Donner Family Camp.  American Antiquity 75(3):627-656.

Kurt E. Dongoske, Debra L. Martin and T. J. Ferguson

2000 Critique of the Claim of Cannibalism at Cowboy WashAmerican Antiquity 65(1):179-190.

Fernández-Jalvo, Yolanda, J. C. Díez, Isabel Cáceres, and Jordi Rosell

1999 Human cannibalism in the Early Pleistocene of Europe (Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). Journal of Human Evolution 37(3-4):591-622.

Michael Harner

1977 The Ecological Basis for Aztec SacrificeAmerican Ethnologist  4(1):117-135

Rachel B. Herrmann

2011 The “tragicall historie”: Cannibalism and Abundance in Colonial Jamestown.  William and Mary Quarterly 3rd series 68(1):47-74.

J. S. Kidd

1988 Scholarly Excess and Journalistic Restraint in the Popular Treatment of Cannibalism.  Social Studies of Science  18(4):749-754.

Patricia M. Lambert, Banks L. Leonard, Brian R. Billman, Richard A. Marlar, Margaret E. Newman and Karl J. Reinhard

2000 Response to Critique of the Claim of Cannibalism at Cowboy WashAmerican Antiquity 65(2):397-406.

Richard A. Marlar, Banks L. Leonard, Brian R. Billman, Patricia M. Lambert, and Jennifer E. Marlar

2000 Biochemical evidence of cannibalism at a prehistoric Puebloan site in southwestern ColoradoNature 407:74-78.

Timothy Taylor

2001 The Edible Dead. British Archaeology 59

Christy G. Turner, II and Jacqueline A. Turner

1992 The First Claim for Cannibalism in the Southwest: Walter Hough’s 1901 Discovery at Canyon Butte Ruin 3, Northeastern ArizonaAmerican Antiquity 57(4):661-682.

Facial reconstruction image from StudioEIS; Photo: Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian

Mandible with cuts image from Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian

Skull with cut marks image from Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian

Posted on May 1, 2013, in Uncategorized and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.

  1. Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. He served a dark and a hungry god.

  2. Reblogged this on Illusions: A Republic Lost and commented:
    This is important. History repeats and changes some but continues to drive foward in the same vein.

  1. Pingback: Apocalyptic of the Day: Jamestown and Cannibalism – Paul Mullins | The Esoteric Alembic

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Benefit fraudster caught for second time.

Posted: March 17, 2013 in General, Law & Disorder, NHS WATCH
Tags: ,

A mother was jailed at Southend Crown Court on Monday after admitting a series of benefit fraud charges.
27Anuoluwapa Oloyede-Samuel, 42, of Aveley, was sentenced to 15 months in prison of which she has to serve at least half. Her husband, Ololeye Ololeke Oloyede-Samuel, 42, received a one-year sentence suspended for two years and also ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work within 12 months.
Both had previously been convicted for similar benefit fraud offences by Croydon Council where they were given suspended jail sentences, but judge Mr Recorder Royall advised these would not be taken into consideration. Oh what!

In the latest case, Thurrock Council was the prosecutor. The court was told Mrs Oloyede-Samuel admitted she fraudulently claimed more than £60,000 in Income Support and Housing and Council Tax Benefit in respect of 27 Hanford Road, Aveley, by lying about her true personal and financial circumstances.

She claimed her husband was not living with her, that she had a tenancy agreement with City Real Estates, she had a rental liability of £1,250 per month, neither she nor her husband was in paid employment or owned any property, that neither she nor her husband had any bank accounts except those declared, and that neither she nor her husband had any income except Income Support and Child Benefit.

Further enquiries into Mr Oloyede-Samuel revealed he did not have leave to remain in the UK, he had a number of undeclared bank accounts – one of which showed he had been working as a security officer.
During the claim period in Thurrock, a total of £244,256.05 had been credited to the undeclared bank accounts.

In November 2009, police and investigators from Thurrock Council attended 27 Hanford Road, Aveley, where the defendants were present. A search was conducted and a number of documents seized.
Following further investigations and interviews, assessors from the Department for Work and Pensions determined Mrs Oloyede-Samuel had no entitlement to Income Support, resulting in an overpayment of £46,165.61 and Thurrock Council assessed that both defendants were overpaid £12,787.49 in Housing Benefit and £1,478.44 in Council Tax Benefit.
In total Mrs Oloyede-Samuel had been overpaid £60,431.54 in benefits; £14,265.93 of which related to Mr Oloyede-Samuel as well.

The couple have four children aged between two and nine and they have lived in Exeter for over a year now. Hmmm, I hope Exeter Council is keeping a watchful eye on this fraudster couple and how come no mention of them paying back the money out of their £¼m stash in the bank nor the geezer being deported.

Percy’s idea to improve hospital care overnight and save lives.

The Government charges the person responsible for running these killer hospitals with Corporate Manslaughter and see they get a prison sentence.

How mad is this.

Some of the Weller family made a visit to the seaside at Broadstairs, Kent yesterday and brought back rock in the form of fish fingers, chips and peas bought in a sweet shop in the town. I wonder if the fish fingers have Broadstairs written through them, I’ll let you know.

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