"Something became increasingly clear towards the end of the criminal investigation: there seemed to be two faces of Ousman Sonko," prosecutor Sabrina Beyeler said on March 4 when the Swiss Federal Court of Bellinzona resumed the crimes against humanity trial of the former Gambian interior minister. "One face shows an intelligent, attentive, courteous and cooperative suspect who knows of no wrongdoing and has never been guilty of anything. The other face shows a person who was aware of everything from A to Z, who knew about the systematic human rights violations and helped orchestrate them at the highest level, a “mastermind”, a cool, considered planner and strategist, someone without scruples, who was selfish, ambitious, an alpha male, a person of power who wants to control the situation at all times and hold all the strings."
During the proceedings, she told the court, they were shown the following side of the accused: "He claims and defends himself that there was no state repression, killings, torture or rape in Gambia. Rather, he says that it was – and these were the words of the defense – a tourist paradise. Not at all. Such a statement is tasteless and misplaced. It ignores all of the revelations that have become internationally known in recent years about the machinations of Yahya Jammeh [president of The Gambia from July 1994 to January 2017] and his followers. The accused wants to present himself as a reformer and law-abiding public servant and claims that there have been many improvements under Yahya Jammeh."
In the prosecutor’s view the handwritten notes found with the accused when he was arrested in 2017 demonstrate that Sonko knew everything. "These memos also show that the accused was well able to resist instructions from the president."
Killing Manneh, the most serious crime
For the prosecutor, the accused´s involvement in the murder of Almamo Manneh is the highest crime he allegedly committed. Manneh was a state guard soldier and one Jammeh´s most loyal men. Before the Gambia's truth commission (2018-2021), he was implicated to have participated in a number of tortures. In 2000 however, Manneh himself suffered a similar fate as many of Jammeh´s close allies. He was killed. However, Sonko refused to respond to questions on this issue. "I am bound by an oath of secrecy," he always responded, even though he denied the allegation.
"The Office of the Attorney General considers that the involvement of the accused as an accomplice is more than sufficiently proven. As commander of the State Guard, the accused led the group of five to six soldiers. All soldiers acted under his command, i.e. they carried out the orders as they had been planned and ordered by the accused. He himself acted as part of this group and actively participated by shooting the fleeing Almamo Manneh with his own weapon. It was clear to the accused, and also the objective, that Almamo Manneh would not be arrested but liquidated as an enemy of the State," the prosecutor argued.
In her argument, she told the court Sonko used his professional connection with Manneh to lure him into an ambush. "The accused," she added, "acted with the soldiers as a kind of 'death squad' and was prepared to eliminate any person who was [against] the regime, outside legal rights. A single human life didn't matter to him, it was too insignificant compared to the government's selfish interests in staying in power. The killing is therefore to be qualified as a serious case because perpetrators acted cruelly."
Addressing Binta Jamba’s rape
The prosecutor then touched on all the other crimes. "The army was active as part of this [group of] perpetrators in the context of attempted coups, among other things. The perpetrators' collective also acted together to prevent the prosecution of these crimes by covering these state crimes with a cloak of silence, falsifying or destroying incriminating evidence and publicly covering up the true facts with untrue statements. This collective of perpetrators acted together in an organised and coordinated manner in the crimes against Bunja Darboe, Ramzia Diab, Demba Dem, Musa Saidykhan and Madi Ceesay, Baba Jobe, Solo Sandeng, Nokoi Njie, Modou Ngum, Fatou Camara, Fatoumatta Jawara and Modou Touray," the prosecutor continued, naming all the individual victims in the case.
Binta Jamba, the widow of Manneh testified to being raped by Sonko multiple times over several years after her husband´s murder. Sonko denied it and said that during that period, from January 2000 to January 2002 he was in a neighbouring country, Sierra Leone, on a peace mission. Jamba´s statements "show a sufficient number of different real indicators to conclude that her statements are true and that the events took place as she described them," the prosecutor pleaded. "If one compares the statements made by Binta Jamba in the course of the pre-trial proceedings and before the court," she explained, "it is noticeable that she described the course of the core events the same way and with a high level of detail, even though she did not report on certain events chronologically per se… Various characteristics of the accused’s actions show that the crime against Binta Jamba were not primarily about the satisfaction of the accused’s sexual urges, but rather about the state interests of President Jammeh power apparatus, which the accused wanted to protec with his behaviour. One feature that stands out is the official appearance of the accused. He did not appear to Binta Jamba and the public as a private person in the moments in question, but as a representative of the army."
It took the prosecutor about six hours to make her pleadings before the three judges. Then she concluded: "In December last year, the Jungler Bai Lowe, who was involved in various crimes against humanity as a driver, was sentenced to life imprisonment [in a German court]. The defendant´s involvement in the offence and his culpability must be weighed significantly higher in this case…Taking all sentencing criteria into account, the Office of the Attorney General therefore requests that the accused be sentenced to life imprisonment."
“That's not fair”
When the closing argument of the prosecutor was shared in writing with the parties as Beyeler began addressing the judges, Sonko’s defense lawyer Philippe Currat asked the court for interpretation for his client. This was rejected. "That's not fair," Currat told the court. As a matter of fact, the defendant has to sit in court through long hours of pleadings about what his fate should be in a language he claims to not understand. Such is the Swiss court system, it turns out. Despite several submissions by the prosecution and defense, the bench, from the onset, has maintained that its only official language is German.
"The prosecution has begun its closing arguments, which will take all day. I have asked for my client to be able to benefit from either simultaneous or written translation, in order to understand what is required of him. The Court refused. When he is given the last chance to speak, he will only be able to say that he has understood nothing of what the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Confederation and the plaintiffs' lawyers have said against him. As for the Gambian journalists who have once again made the trip, they are reduced to listening to days of pleadings that they do not understand a single word of. This is a sad spectacle from our courts, which clearly do not understand what is at stake in a trial conducted on the basis of universal jurisdiction," the defense lawyer wrote a few hours later on LinkedIn.
Sonko, looking more frail than a month ago, sat next to his lawyer, going through documents and mostly jotting something down. Only he and Currat are on the defense bench this time around. The other three members of the team, including Sonko’s daughter, are not present. "There is no point coming if you cannot understand the language. It's just going to be additional costs for nothing," Currat responded when asked by Justice Info.
So long, Gambian people!
In January, a little Gambian community formed in Bellinzona, the tiny capital of Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. Plaintiffs – Gambians living at home and others abroad – as well as a few Gambian journalists and others, met in the Swiss court every day for three weeks of evidence hearings. In March, the atmosphere has changed. This time around, the plaintiffs are not in court. They are missing the final pleadings, unable to afford the cost of coming twice. The fate of one of the highest-ranking alleged perpetrators in Gambia, a former interior minister, is being determined in a country thousands of kilometres away, yet there is very little trace of the Gambian people and very little effort being made to include them. Except for the defendant of course, and two Gambian journalists, including Justice Info’s correspondent, who have received financial support from a self-organized, generous group of Swiss citizens, there are no Gambians present.
Although the Gambian community struggled with the language barrier from the start, this month’s proceedings seem to exclude them even more than in January. "My experience this time is totally different from the January sessions. When plaintiffs and witnesses had to speak in languages, I understand. This time, the proceedings were conducted in German, making it extra hard for me to make sense of what is going on. Without any means for interpretation, I have to rely on online translation of the documents shared with me after the session to make sense of it. It is quite unproductive, time consuming and information is not timely delivered to us when our readers need real time updates about the proceedings," Sanna Camara, a Gambian journalist covering the trial, said.


text:
Vacation rentals in Italy (villas, farms, estates, agriturismo, apartments)
Cortona: La Locanda nel LoggiatoPiazza di Pescheria 52044 , Phone: 0575.630575
Reviewed by: Monica Pileggi from MD, review #902
Directions: Center of town
Very good bruschetta, followed by pasta with pancetta in a tomato cream sauce. I really enjoyed this dish! Reenie had an excellent dish of Spelt with chicory and parmesean cheese sauce (I wish I ordered that dish because it was excellent!) followed by gnocchi. Wine. Equivalent of US$50.
Reviewed by: Sally Watkins from TX, review #222
Excellent traditional food, many locals with their families there.
This restaurant was previously called "La Logetta".
Alessandra (owner of Il Girasole and Il Papiro in Cortona) took us to La Locanda nel Loggiato, a new version of a former restaurant in the same location. Three or four rooms, excellent traditional food, many locals with their families there. Lunch with three courses and wine, vin santo and grappa (!) was about $ 25 per person.
Reviewed by: Pauline from NM (moderator), review #223
Great food. Small and family run.
We have eaten here many times (when it was La Logetta). Located above the main piazza in Cortona. You can sit inside in one of two or three small rooms or outside across a small street on the terrace overlooking the piazza.
This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.
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domain: travel


text:
By Georgia Wilkinson
It’s not unusual to go to a pantomime at Christmas. If you’re going in Glasgow, it’s not unusual for that panto to star the Krankies and Michelle McManus. What is reasonably unusual, is for that panto to star former Baywatch babe, David Hasselhoff. And it was absolutely brilliant.
It was a slow start. Peter Pan himself was not bad, but for the first five minutes of the show Tinkerbell was a laser-pointer on the wall. It relied completely on the audience already knowing the story, and it lacked the basics that most people expect from a panto – there was no “HELLO BOYS AND GIRLS!”, and the first song was an original that you couldn’t even clap along to. Some scantily-clad Native Americans did some quite good dancing. The Krankies appeared, and did some one-liners and then wondered off again. Michelle McManus dressed as a mermaid, and told bad jokes about her ex-boyfriends. So far, so average. And then Hasselhoff appeared.
He was really funny. He spent the first five minutes making jokes about his name – threatening to take people’s head’s Hoff if they crossed him and other such stellar puns – and proving to the audience that he actually is quite a good singer. After that, it really took off.
The singing got better. The puns got worse. By the second act there was the feeling that the cast had fallen into their stride. During a set change, the Krankies stood in front of the curtain and told some jokes. I was prepared for the bad puns – I was not prepared for the downright filth. The jokes were old, and worn out, and when told properly were absolutely hilarious – people were literally doubled over laughing.
The star of the show, however, was the technology. Although we were mystified at being given 3D glasses for a live show, halfway through act two Michelle McManus announced we could explore her underwater world. The entire theatre assumed that it would be a calm, gentle ride through the sea, like Finding Nemo without the mission to find Nemo. The whole theatre was proved wrong when a little skull in a pirate bandana popped up a foot in front of their face and laughed manically. We were attacked by piranhas, by a shark, by an eel; a target appeared and everyone had to fire at a sunken ship, which returned fire so spectacularly that everybody ducked. It was stunning, and terrifying, and brilliant.
The thing that everyone forgets about pantomimes is that they don’t really have any plot at all – the only reason that they bother with a story is that everyone needs a reason to be there. Pantos really just do whatever they want and damn the consequences, and that’s exactly what Peter Pan did this Christmas. It took a beloved story, and played with it so much that, by the end, it made perfect sense for David Hasselhoff to be standing in a golden and white kilt singing 500 Miles with the audience.

domain: entertainment


text:
- Antoine De Saint Exupery
To me, this is the essence of design - that it allows you to sculpt a mass of information and visuals until only the pure essential is left to convey the message. In the process of simplification, you have to dig deep and discover not only what’s there, but also what’s not there. This is where the seed of inspiration and the power of design to act as a catalyst for innovation lies.
Design also requires you to be strategically creative. It is not just about aesthetics - although this plays a paramount role - it is really about problem solving. It is about organizing information and visual content in a way that is relevant, meaningful, and purposeful. It is about communication. Frank Chimero said “people ignore design that ignores people.” This is true - design must take into account its target audience, as well as the environment it lives in. As a designer, you have to put yourself in the shoes of anyone that will be influenced by your work - and not just those of your clients - in order to design mindfully. After all, design is a responsibility… and a privilege.
DJ Hadiman, Carlos M. Garate Photography, RamiCorp Solutions, Mili7, Lushbrush, Drea’s Estates, vetBlue, Gani, Arrowbow, MADE Music, The Forest Hill Group, Limey, Property Tek Group, MAKELAB, John Orpheus, BiogeniQ, EpiExperts, Doula Pantry Naturals, Lovistics, Filmartist, The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada, Daniel Badre - Personal Injury Law, Studio Amarelo, WWF Canada, Go Button Media

domain: artistic


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Photos tagged as seasons
| Tags: seasons
Show as stream
Palm tree lined road from Four Seasons Resort - stunning grounds and great location -- had to visit the gift shop there. Mt. Nevis in the backdrop.
A bit of Autumn time in Oregon
Central Otago is well-known for its glorious colours in autumn.
Brilliant colors along a highway in New Hampshire signal the change of seasons
Blair bridge is one of New Hampshire's historical covered bridges, shown here midst the colors of fall

domain: geography


text:
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Minecraft received five awards during the 2011 Game Developers Conference. Of the Game Developers Choice Awards, it won the Innovation Award, Best Downloadable Game Award, and Best Debut Game Award; from the Independent Games Festival, it won the Audience Award and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. In 2012, Minecraft was awarded a Golden Joystick Award in the category Best Downloadable Game. As of June 2016, over 106 million copies had been sold, with more than 40 million unique Minecraft players each month across all the various platforms the game is available on making it the best-selling PC game to date and the second best-selling video game of all time behind Tetris. On 15 September 2014, Microsoft announced a deal to buy Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property for US$2.5 billion; the acquisition was completed on 6 November 2014.
THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME IN THE WORLD OF MINECRAFT. Continue your adventures with the New Order of the Stone by purchasing the Adventure Pass (via in-app), which includes access to download episodes six, seven, and eight, as they become available
In this five part episodic series, play as either a male or female hero named ‘Jesse,’ and embark on a perilous adventure across the Overworld, through the Nether, to the End, and beyond. You and your friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect; slayers of the Ender Dragon. While at EnderCon in hopes of meeting Gabriel the Warrior, you and your friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and you must set out on a quest to find The Order of the Stone if you are to save your world from oblivion.


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Wizarding Weekend, in its fifth year, is once again going to bring fans of magic, science and fantasy together on the Ithaca Commons on Oct. 26 and 27 with various interactive games and crafts. This year’s highlights include a scroll ceremony and guardian quest, a Fan Arts Show and, as before, a wide range of costumes to add lively colors to Ithaca’s fall season.
“Two local teenagers came up with the idea in 2015. They just thought it would be cool to have something fun related to a specific set of books in what is now Press Bay Alley,” Darlynne Overbaugh, the director of the festival, told The Sun.
Leading up to the first iteration of the event, she had planned a five-hour event for five hundred families during one week. “But it went viral,” Overbaugh said, and “eight thousand people turned up.”
Now, the annual event takes an entire year to plan and attempts have been made to make the event more representative of the local culture.
The Gorgekeep School of Magic, a festival creation based on the local area, draws most of its inspiration from plants and animals in New York State such as sugar maple and trillium and was modelled after the local New Roots Charter High School.
Guardians from the “school” will present participants with scrolls during a special ceremony on the Commons, as well as leading them through tasks activities to complete a quest.
And through the help of an augmented reality app, the local New Roots Charter School will be transformed into the Gorgekeep School of Magic.
In 2018, Overbaugh told The Sun that Warner Brothers had sent her a “cease and desist” letter prohibiting any reference to Harry Potter. This led to the festival being rebranded to celebrate all magic and fantasy.
On the event’s website, there is a disclaimer that says that Warner Bros. Entertainment, Pottermore, and J.K. Rowling are not associated with or responsible for the event.
Overbaugh said it was often very difficult during the planning process, because they wanted to cater to all fans of magic and fantasy while not alienating those who have a specific interest.
She mentioned that many ideas for the event were generated by family discussions with her eight-year-old daughter and her husband. She has also engaged with students from Ithaca College’s public relations course to brainstorm on potential ideas.
Overbaugh’s advice for this year’s attendees was to “come in a costume.” According to Overbaugh, each year there are many people who come just for the purpose of seeing everybody else’s costumes. “Costumes allow people to embrace the theme of the event and to live in the moment,” she explained.
While the event is free, there is also a magical passport at $25 available for those who want an enhanced experience that includes participation in a magical creature hunt with prizes and other activities .

domain: news


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text:
When you donate to charity, there are lots of different ways that your money is going to be useful. Children’s charities are dedicated to improving the lives of children in numerous different ways, whether the children are economically disadvantaged, abused or disabled.
You need to know about all the different ways that children are helped by charities. What are they?
Children’s Charities Can Give Kids Access To Nature
Some children live in areas where there are not a lot of green spaces. Their parents might not be able to afford a car or to take public transport to the countryside or to the beach. Studies have shown that spending a lot of time in nature helps to make people feel mentally and physically healthier. When you donate to charities for children that provide kids with the opportunity to play in nature, you will be helping them to develop as people.
Children’s Charities Can Give Kids Bike Rides
Some children do not get the chance to ride a bike when they are young because their parents cannot afford to buy them one. They will not be able to learn if this is the case. When children learn to ride a bike, this gives them a great opportunity to socialise and to get some exercise at the same time.
The charity will be able to provide the children with free lessons. This includes providing the bike and all of the protective equipment. You will know that the children are completely safe when they are having their cycling lessons and that they will not injure themselves at all.
After a few lessons with the charity, the children can then have a bike donated to them and they will be cycling around the streets of their home town in next to no time at all. This will give them a great deal of happiness.
Children’s Charities Can Give Kids Swimming Practice
Some children do not have access to a swimming pool or their parents may be unable to afford to give them any lessons. Swimming is an extremely fun activity and they will be able to play with lots of other children. Swimming is also an excellent form of exercise and they will feel healthier as a result. The charity will be able to provide all of the equipment such as goggles, bathing suits and water wings.
Children’s Charities Can Give Kids Access To Playgrounds
There are lots of areas where children do not have a safe place to play. Playing by the side of the road can be extremely dangerous, so charities can make sure that kids are given access to a fully equipped playground. This will ensure that the children are completely safe.
The children will have a lot of fun when they are on a roundabout or go down a slide. This is also one of the easiest ways to give kids exercise so that they are not stuck at home in front of the television all day.
Choose a quality charity for children to donate to.

domain: sociology


text:
The unapologetic white of the hospital walls provided a morbid canvas for the unfolding scene. It was dark, it was gruesome, and worst of all, I was in it.
The girl was beautiful, no doubt. No older than seven or eight, she had shoulder length light black hair, and a face crafted to laugh and to smile. But the most striking feature was her eyes. Those eyes which had widened in surprise as my car rammed her, those eyes which haunted me all the way to the hospital as I rushed her bloodied and broken body; and would haunt me for so many years. Those eyes which would never open again. Those two beautiful blue eyes.
Just like her father’s.
The older man was leaning over her daughter’s body, head lowered. He was absolutely quiet, no tears, no curses, nothing. Just a damned silence, a silence which was more deafening than anything he could’ve screamed at me.
“I’m sorry.” I stammered out. My clothes were bloodied with the girl’s blood, and my mind was in shambles, even as tears streamed down cheeks. I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, “Please, forgive me.”
Slowly, the father raised his head. His blue eyes locked with mine, and spoke volumes. About unfathomable anguish, sorrow, torment. About anger.
Looking me straight in the face, he shook his head, ever so slowly. Left to right, right to left.
I woke up in a cold sweat, panting. The nightmare was still burning inside my head. But at least I was not screaming.
Unlike the past seven years.
It was well past six now, no use trying to go to sleep again. I got up and went to freshen up. I poured water onto my face, and stared at the mirror. A rugged face with a mop of black hair looked back at me. The specs were missing.
The quintessential upstart, I thought.
The law was lenient to me, considering my young age, the psychologist’s statement that the accident had affected me deeply, and that the girl’s family hadn’t bothered to attend even one hearing. Not surprising, as her only known relative, the father, had disappeared on the day of her funeral, leaving behind a heart wrenching note that he wasn’t strong enough to go through it.
I got three years behind bars, but needed a further seven month treatment at a mental care institute for depression and trauma.
But, as they say, time heals all wounds. I recovered, and went back to work, managing to leave the past behind me as best as I could. I got recruited into a reputed logistic management company, with an okay salary, and best of all, my marriage is fixed for next month. The only remnant of my past life was the recurrent nightmare, and I was bringing that under control too.
I smiled at myself in the mirror.
It was still night when I set out for shipyard. A huge consignment of books was coming, and I was in charge. It was a routine assignment: take the forty mile drive, arrive in time, sip a glass of coffee, make sure all books are unloaded, report to the boss, and take the forty miles back.
The cool night air blew in through the windows of the Swift. Far off, the horizon was painted in the shiest of orange, and the NH was deserted except for the occasional two wheelers and lorries. There was the faintest smell of rain in the air.
I was in high spirits. Today would be my last working day before my matrimonial leave, as I liked to call it, of a week kicked in. The next two days would be busy shopping, a bachelor party on the third, and then; “I do”.
There was someone standing ahead. The cars headlight brought him into focus. Wearing a green jacket over his black T-shirt, coupled with blue jeans, a thick beard and dark shades, the man looked like a hippie lost in time.
He held out his hand, in the universally recognised hitch hiker fashion.
I slowed down my car and brought it to a stop in front of him. Eagerly, he opened the door and got in. I resumed my journey.
“Where to?” I asked. He hadn’t even taken off his shades.
“To the nearest bus stop or railway station. Farthest, if you will.” He replied. His voice was a gruff hoarse one, one you could associate with kindergarten teachers. I smiled.
“So what’s your name?” I asked as yet another tipper roared past us.
The man remained silent. I was about to repeat my question when he answered.
“My name? Hmmm… I am known by different names. Hari, John, Mohammed, Karthik, Velayudhan; whichever you will.”
I smiled internally. Definitely a hippie.
“So, let me guess. You don’t like identities.”
The man was silent again, before replying. “No; more like I lost the one I had. One fine day, it was just pulled away from beneath my feet.”
I had my eyes on the road, but I felt him turn his head towards me, “Do you know what that feels like?” he asked, in a low, almost menacing, tone.
A shudder passed through me. Like a floodgate opened, the memories came crashing down, ready to drown me.
There was pandemonium at the funeral. The father’s note had been found, and everyone was stumped. Here was the body of the little girl waiting to be cremated, and there were no relatives to carry out her last rites. Apparently, both the father and mother were orphans, the girl their only child; the mother had died giving birth, and I had killed their daughter.
I. Me. Myself.
The court had granted me special permission to attend. There were lot of murmurs and murderous looks thrown at me when I was escorted in, wearing handcuffs. But now everyone had something else to talk about.
Who would light the pyre?
I looked around. At the far end of the porch, a few priests were huddled over, deep in discussion over what to do. Islands of men stood scattered here and there, talking among themselves, and occasionally shooting a glance at either me or the girl lying on the bed.
Sleeping. Silently. Peacefully. Her face revealing the slightest hint of a smile.
I walked up to the priests and talked to them. They were shocked and then talked among themselves. They called a few neighbours and Resident Association members and talked to them. Each and every individual’s reaction was etched into my mind. Some nodded sagely, some looked away in shock, and a few walked out with disgust on their faces. But all agreed; this was the best, and probably only, solution.
It was I who offered the gods a ball of rice for her peace. It was I who walked around her body with the ceremonial pot on my head. It was I who lit the little girl’s pyre.
I. Me. Myself.
Her name was Aiswarya. Aiswarya Vijay.
The honk of the tipper brought me back to my senses. I banked sharply, narrowly avoiding disaster. The Swift came to rest by the side of the road, tyres smoking.
I was sweating, out of breath. The hitch- hiker seemed nonplussed.
“I know how it feels.” I told him. He nodded slowly. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up.
We resumed our journey, in total silence.
I was scared. What have you tripped inside me?, I thought. It was my first such episode in nearly five years. And my wedding was only four days away.
The hippie’s silence was like that of one who was lost in thought. He kept his head bowed, not looking up, and it seemed to me that he was wrestling with himself.
The sun was just breaking out on the horizon, and its rays fell directly onto the dashboard. There was now more people on the road now, mostly joggers and morning walkers, though it still was more dark than light.
The hippie looked up again. He hadn’t removed his shades throughout the journey.
A terrifying thought struck me. Paranoia, I tried to dismiss it. But thoughts do not give up so easily.
“Why haven’t you removed your glasses?” I finally asked.
I felt his head turn towards me once again.
“I think I’ll get down here.” he said in an even tone.
I pulled up, and killed the engine.
“Why haven’t you removed your glasses?” I repeated my question.
He looked at me. Slowly, he removed his glasses. I looked into his eyes. His blue eyes.
The eyes that had haunted me for so long.
“Vijay…” my voice trailed off.
He looked at me again. Locked his eyes with mine.
I felt my blood freeze.
“Do you know how it feels to be obsessed?” he began, in a voice quivering with emotions beyond my grasp of understanding, “Do you know how it feels, when day in and day out, your mind is ruled by one thought, and one thought alone. How, no matter how hard you try, you simply can’t let it go, how it echoes around inside your head, longing to be free, but refusing to leave. It is living death. Do you know how that feels?,” He was silent for a few seconds, then, sighing, he replied to his own question, “I guess you do.
“Seven years ago, I lost everything. Everything. I even forfeited my right to my daughter’s last rites. I wandered, a mad man, seeking answers. And answers lay everywhere. It was in peace, it was in violence; it was in forgiveness, it was in revenge; it was in God, it was in Devil, it was everywhere. For seven years, I thought, my salvation, my only purpose in life, lay in your blood.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out something. The morning rays glistened off a revolver. Loaded. He pointed it at me.
My mind was racing, but I simply stared idiotically, stupefied, at the gun pointed at my heart. And one thought latched on: My past. My past.
It seemed like an eternity, but it was only a few seconds. He let the gun drop. It clattered to the floor of the car.
“But you defeated me,” he continued, “You suffered more than I did, you repented. You made the right decisions, and I made all the wrong ones. I… I didn’t even …” he choked up. Wiping off a tear, he opened the door and got out of the car. I simply watched, dumbfounded.
The world was a pale yellow colour by now, with the sun ready to begin his daily trip across the sky. An ambulance roared past us.
He closed the door, and leaned in through the window.
“You are a better man than me,” he said plainly, “a better human being.” He paused for a few moments, looking into my eyes deeply, almost searching.
“I forgive you.” he said silently.
Vijay turned and walked away. I didn’t do anything, I simply watched him walk. He was a well-built man, slightly plump maybe, with a squarish face almost completely covered by a beard. But the most striking feature was not his eyes. It was the little girl who walked beside him; a girl with shoulder length light black hair, blue eyes, and a face crafted to laugh and to smile.
As father and daughter became specks on the horizon, Aiswarya turned around, and waved at me like an old friend.
It began to rain.


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Seeing that the old post was locked, i am just moving this over to here.
Some guys down a ogn suggested that i posted my music videos here. Seeing they loved them so much.
I used fraps, and just used primier 6 to morph them all together into a wonderfull music video.
I'm on a roll
All 20 megs each ( Right click and click save as )
I recommend the arsehole song.
Wish you all luck.
if you wish to contact me my email is.


Why Progressives Should Oppose Assisted Suicide
By Marilyn Golden, Policy Analyst Disability Rights, Education and Defense Fund.
April 12, 2005
In January the California State Senate begins hearings on AB 651, which would legalize assisted suicide in California. A similar bill presented in the State Assembly last year but didn't even come to a vote because of overwhelming Democrat and Republican opposition. There is a widespread public perception that those opposed to legalization are religious conservatives, and the logical position for a liberal is in support.
But the coalition that's formed to oppose the bill, Californians Against Assisted Suicide shows a diversity of political opinion that may be surprising to those who have not looked closely at the issue. In opposition are numerous disability rights organizations, generally seen as liberal-leaning; the Southern California Cancer Pain Initiative, a group associated with the American Cancer Society; the California Medical Association; and the League of United Latin American Citizens the oldest civil rights group in California. Catholic organizations are in the mix, but no person would consider this a coalition of religious conservatives. This is a diverse coalition representing many groups coming together across the political spectrum. Why?
Perhaps the most significant reason is the deadly mix between assisted suicide and profit-driven managed health care. Again and again, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and managed care bureaucracies have overruled physicians' treatment decisions, sometimes hastening patients' deaths. The cost of the lethal medication generally used for assisted suicide is about $35 to $50, far cheaper than the cost of treatment for most long-term medical conditions. The incentive to save money by denying treatment already poses a significant danger. This danger would be far greater if assisted suicide is legal.
If patients with limited finances are denied other treatment options by their insurance, they are, in effect, being steered toward assisted death. It is no coincidence that the author of Oregon's assisted suicide law, Barbara Coombs Lee, was an HMO executive when she drafted it.
A 1998 study from Georgetown University's Center for Clinical Bioethics underscores the link between profit-driven managed health care and assisted suicide. The research found a strong link between cost-cutting pressure and a willingness to prescribe lethal drugs to patients, were it legal to do so. The study warns that there must be "a sobering degree of caution in legalizing [assisted suicide] in a medical care environment that is characterized by increasing pressure on physicians to control the cost of care."
The California bill is modeled after a nearly identical law that went into effect in Oregon in 1997. A closer look at Oregon highlights the many flaws.
Each year, Oregon publishes a statistical report that leaves out more than it states. For example, several of these reports have included language such as "We cannot determine whether assisted suicide is being practiced outside the framework of the law." The statute provided no resources or even authority to detect violations. All we know comes from doctors who prescribed the drugs, not family members or friends who probably have additional information about the patients. Doctors that fail to report their lethal prescriptions face no penalty. The state doesn't even talk to doctors who refused to assist the very same patients other physicians later helped to die, though these doctors who first said "no" may have viewed the patients as not meeting legal requirements, important information if one wishes to evaluate the law's outcomes. Autopsies are not required, so there's no way to ascertain the deceased was actually terminally ill, opening the door to another Dr. Kevorkian. The state's research has never reported on several prominent cases inconsistent with the law – these cases came to light only via the media. Last March, an editorial in The Oregonian complained that the law's reporting system "seems rigged to avoid finding" the answers.
We must separate our private wishes for what we each may hope to have available for ourselves someday and, rather, focus on the significant dangers of legalizing assisted suicide in this society as it operates today. This column is sure to bring howls from those already ideologically supportive of legalization, but anyone who wants to look deeper, beyond the simplistic mantras of choice and "right to die," are encouraged to read other articles and testimony that can be found in these locations:
- A longer article by this author at http://dredf.org/assistedsuicide.html
- Commentary by Dr. Herbert Hendin, Medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, at http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p040201b.html
- Testimony by Dr. Gregg Hamilton, Physicians for Compassionate Care, at http://www.pccef.org/articles/art32HouseOfLords.htm
- Analysis of the first six years of Oregon's assisted suicide law by the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide at http://internationaltaskforce.org/orrpt6.htm


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Netflix has announced it’s canceling "The Brothers Sun," its hit action-comedy-drama from "Glee" and "American Horror Story" co-creator Brad Falchuk and newcomer Byron Wu, after just one season.
The news, which was first reported by Deadline on Friday, comes less than two months after the eight-episode first season premiered on January 4. Since then, it's garnered more than 11 million hours of viewing time for the streamer and spent most of 2024 so far in the Netflix top 10. Bafflingly, it appears that wasn't enough to convince Netflix to move ahead with a second season.
"The Brothers Sun" stars Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh ("Everything, Everywhere, All at Once") as the former matriarch of a family of Taiwanese gangsters. When her son Bruce (Sam Song Li) was born, she took him away from the family to America so they could lead a life free from the criminal underworld.
He grows up thinking he's just another Taiwanese-American kid living in California but learns at the show's onset that not only are most of his relatives hardened criminals back in Taipei, but the family business is still going strong. When an assassination attempt on the family patriarch puts the whole family in danger, his older brother Charles (Justin Chien) comes to America to protect Bruce and Eileen from the rival gangs now vying for dominance over the Taiwanese criminal underworld.
The show's first season currently holds an 84% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with many critics praising Yeoh's performance in particular as a "tour de force." Variety called Yeoh “cutthroat and commanding” and described the series as “a thrilling, brilliant dramedy about familial obligations, buried skeletons and the bonds that can never be broken.” The outlet also called Chien and Li "two mega talents who will undoubtedly continue to grace our screens.” Audiences had even more praise for the show, as it holds a 91% rating from over 500 reviews.
Netflix has a lengthy history of axing beloved programs, but even knowing that does little to ease the sting of seeing a great show unceremoniously cut. 2023 saw the end of adult animated series like "Inside Job" and "Disenchantment" as well as several teen shows like "Sex Education" and "Never Have I Ever."
More from Tom's Guide
- 5 new to Netflix movies with 90% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes in March 2024
- What to watch in March 2024: 17 new movies and shows
- 11 top new movies to stream this week on Netflix, Max and more
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Alyse Stanley is a news editor at Tom’s Guide overseeing weekend coverage and writing about the latest in tech, gaming and entertainment.
Prior to joining Tom’s Guide, Alyse worked as an editor for the Washington Post’s sunsetted video game section, Launcher. She previously led Gizmodo’s weekend news desk, where she covered breaking tech news — everything from the latest spec rumors and gadget launches to social media policy and cybersecurity threats. She has also written game reviews and features as a freelance reporter for outlets like Polygon, Unwinnable, and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. She’s a big fan of horror movies, cartoons, and miniature painting.


LAHORE: Imran Khan has commonly been very commending about the country’s army and in his latest statement; the cricket star-turned politician expressed no qualms about working with the military.
“I think a democratic government rules from moral authority. And if you don’t have moral authority, then those who have the physical authority assert themselves. In my opinion, it is the Pakistan Army and not an enemy army. I will carry the army with me,” Khan told Foreign media in an interview.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman said he heard all stuff about how the army is influential in Pakistan. According to him, “the army depends on one man. Whoever is the army chief, the army policy goes the way of the army chief,” he said.
He also heaped praise on Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. “It’s the first time that I am seeing an army chief saying time and again that ‘I will ensure free and fair elections,’ which is the one thing that we want. That’s all I want,” he added.
To a question about foreign policy especially in connection to India, he was of the view that the military would have a bigger say in the security policy. “But I don’t blame the army. I blame the most corrupt governments whose main concern has only been making corrupt money and protecting the corrupt money. They could easily have taken a more assertive role in foreign policy.”
Khan gathered a mammoth crowd at his party’s rally on April 29 in Lahore, promising radical change for the poor at a campaign rally that has long been the power base of ousted premier Nawaz Sharif.
“It is time to change our destiny and think big.”
Khan told a boisterous crowd of about 100,000 people that Pakistan was “heading towards destruction” but his plan would help forge a fairer society and steer Pakistan towards a path first envisaged by the nation’s father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
After spending much of his post-cricket political career on the fringes, Khan has in recent years emerged as a key challenger to Sharif, a three-time prime minister who was ousted by the Supreme Court last year but whose party retains power.


Root ingress is a major factor in blocked drains, this can also cause breakages within the pipework. Therefore root cutting is required to remove the roots from the drain system and then drain re-lining to complete the drain repairs.
The root cutting process is the removal of plant or tree roots without the need to excavate restoring the flow to the drain. Once the roots are cleared from the drain it is then re-lined to prevent the roots from returning.
[contact-form-7 id=”78″ title=”Contact form 1″]


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With advance apologies to Lloyd and Jeff Bridges, Henry and Peter Fonda, Martin and Charlie Sheen, this special designation belongs to Kirk and Michael Douglas.
Read Whole Story
Perhaps his clean-cut, boyish image obscured my ability to recognize the astonishing talent he possessed from the start. Regardless, I could see it now: Jeff Bridges has always been a lot more than a pretty face.
Thirty years ago, ABC-TV delighted and outraged sci-fi fans with its new series, Battlestar Galactica, a lovable beneficiary of Star Wars' success. Happy Birthday, BG!
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HUD secretary pitches housing assistance program in Triangle
Posted February 2, 2012
Raleigh, N.C. — A day after President Barack Obama proposed a vast expansion of government assistance to homeowners, his housing chief was in the Triangle to promote and explain the program.
Obama wants to make lower lending rates a possibility for millions of borrowers who have not been able to get out from under burdensome mortgages, and he has suggested paying for the estimated $5 billion to $10 billion cost with a fee on the nation's largest banks.
Despite interest rates at historic lows, banks have been reluctant to refinance loans of "underwater" homeowners – those who owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth. Obama called for creating a new program through the Federal Housing Administration that would have the government assume the risk for the new mortgages, making it easier for people to refinance.
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Thursday that about 200,000 North Carolina homeowners are underwater on their mortgages.
"If you have other debt – you might have a second lien, you might have medical debt or student loans or other things that are stopping you from refinancing – this would help you," Donovan said following an appearance at Triangle Family Services in Raleigh.
Adriane Punter, who has been unemployed since September 2009, was turned down when she tried to refinance the mortgage on her Wake Forest home. She pays an interest rate of almost 7 percent, which is about twice the rate banks are now charging on 15-year mortgages.
"I'm going to need to refinance where I can be able to pay this mortgage payment on less than I was making in the past," said Punter, who starts a temporary job next week. "(It) would free up a lot of money for me to even put gas in the car."
The proposal also calls for cutting the fees charged for refinancing mortgages, which Donovan said would make that option available for more homeowners.
"In the long run, you could save money by bringing your annual payments or your monthly payment down, but you don't have the upfront cost, so this will help," he said.
The administration estimates that the average family would save $3,000 a year under the program.
The potential impact of the plan could be limited, however, by the fact that it wouldn't apply to borrowers who are behind on their home loan payments, making them most threatened by foreclosure.
Congressional critics say there's no guarantee new loans won't be as risky as those that led the housing market to collapse in 2008. They said the government should let the market work through its difficulties on its own.
"We just think it's fair for banks who contributed to this problem by making loans that folks couldn't afford and helped create the housing bubble, that they ought to be part of the solution as well," Donovan said.
To qualify for the program, homeowners must be current on their payments for at least six months and not have missed more than one payment in the six months preceding that. Their loans also would have to fall within the mortgage limits set by the FHA in their home counties.
About 11 million Americans – roughly one in four with mortgages – are underwater, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data firm. Half of all U.S. mortgages – about 30 million home loans – are owned by banks and other non-government lenders.


After examining freedom of information responses from 276 councils, the Liberal Democrats recently revealed how many homes had been abandoned. The figures were astonishing.
At the moment, there are 216,000 homes in the UK that have been empty for over six months, with 60,000 of them having been left empty for two years or more. A staggering 23,000 have been empty for five years-plus, while 11,000 homes have been abandoned for at least 10 years.
If homes are abandoned and not looked after, they will eventually degrade and probably be more hassle for investors than its worth, not to mention, more expensive. Overall, this will make the profit a lot lower than it should be.
Deciding on whether a house would be worth investing in and developing comes down to the sort of property in question, how much work actually needs to be done and what sort of returns you’re likely to get.
For example, if the property was in good condition and wouldn’t need much doing up, then it would be a pretty smooth investment as it would be an easy renovation and you could just stick it back on the market for profit.
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However, if the house has any major issues, then it may not be worth it — unless you investigate gaining planning permission, knock the house down and start from scratch. It may prove to be a great investment if you could knock the house down and build multiple homes on the same plot, so this is something to consider.
Some of the greatest-yielding investments and developments are born from properties in ruins or disrepair. The key to making a success of it is knowing your market values, who your target audience is and, most important of all, knowing your risk through build costs to get it to a saleable/lettable condition. Some of the most common mistakes with redeveloping properties sit in these areas and they can quite easily cause investors problems on a project.
A few key risk mitigants when looking to invest in such properties would be to get a steer on the likely cost to redevelop/renovate from a cost consultant and gaining an estate agent’s opinion on end values before you commit to the purchase.
Often, if the property has been on the market for a long period of time, there is a reason why an investor hasn’t swept it up, so this is something to consider when undertaking your analysis of the proposed project.


Remember when AOL was the first choice for all newbies who wanted Internet access? Those days are long gone, and the company has been losing subscribers for its brand of “gated community” Internet access at an alarming rate. Back in its heyday, AOL had 27 million subscribers (that was in 2002). Now, the number of subscribers has fallen to 17.7 million, and over 1 million subscribers have defected in the past three months alone.
Why is this happening? When the World Wide Web was in its infancy, AOL provided an easy and reassuringly safe way to access the AOL online community. Now, going online with other Internet Service Providers is just as easy, and people have flocked to sign up to broadband access, for which AOL was never able to provide a compelling offer to customers.
IN this fairly desperate strategic situation, AOL has decided to take some radical measures: From next month on, AOL will stop promoting its Internet access; dial-up Internet access through AOL will only cost $9.95 per month, and everyone will be able to access most of AOL’s content and services, including its children’s and teen portals, parental controls and email, for free.
The company has also announced that it will cut 5,000 staff (or more than a quarter of the company’s entire workforce) over the coming six months. About 2,000 jobs will be lost in the U.S. customer service, marketing and operations divisions, with the remaining 3,000 job losses relating to AOL’s European Internet business.
AOL’s competitors in the Internet access business are rubbing their hands in glee because they’ve now got one major competitor less to contend with. But with AOL’s focus firmly on generating advertising income from its properties, the likes of Google (which owns a 5% stake in AOL) and Yahoo! might have to start paying more attention to AOL’s next moves.


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Mcpvp: the minecraft pvp server community, Capture the flag - mcctf.com. fast-action pvp 24/7. no need to gather materials, just hop on and fight..[1.4.6] mcpvp - kit pvp 1.7.5 minecraft server, Free server status banner for your own website / forum (updates every 5-10 minutes) bbcode for your forum signature: html for your website: copy (ctrl+c) one of the. Mcpvp forum - minecraft pvp, Welcome to the mcpvp forum! everything community related. help fellow members out, welcome new people or post suggestions..
Mcpvp.com – newshow to upgrade to minecraft 1.6.2, 1. mojang released a new launcher which is required in order to play on versions after 1.5.2..Mcpvp hunger games texture pack [1.6] minecraft texture pack, A texture pack made for playing mcpvp hunger games ( mcpvp.com/hunger-games/ ) it's very simple and great for that. note: i had some problems updating to 1.6 so if. 0tx.org - home - empire, Cowsook still no meaningful updates from the host - we're not the only ones affected - follow the drama on twitter: in the meantime, enjoy 7tx - there's nothing.
[mc1.6.2/ssp/lan] the hunger games mod 2.5.0 - textures, The hunger games mod 2.5.0. thgm by alexmack929. logo by tomnut1997. what are the hunger games? what is the hunger games mod 2? the hunger games mod, or.

domain: game


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It has a surface area of 1,013 square kilometres (391 sq mi), an elevation of 250 metres (820 ft) above mean sea level, and a shoreline length of 525 kilometres (326 mi). Viewed from above, the lake consists of a series of finger-shaped flooded valleys, of which 554 square kilometres (214 sq mi) are in Chile and 459 square kilometres (177 sq mi) in Argentina, although sources differ on the precise split, presumably reflecting water level variability. The lake is the deepest in the Americas with a maximum depth of 836 metres (2,743 ft) near O'Higgins Glacier, and its characteristic milky light-blue color comes from rock flour suspended in its waters. It is mainly fed by the Mayer River and other streams, and its outlet, the Pascua River, discharges water from the lake towards the Pacific Ocean at a rate of 510 cubic metres (18,000 cu ft)/s. The O'Higgins Glacier flows eastwards towards the lake, as does the Chico Glacier. Both of these glaciers are part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field which extends for approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi) in a north-south direction to the west of Lake O'Higgins.
Immigrants did not settle in the arid windy area around the lake until the 1910s, when British, Scandinavians and Swiss started raising sheep for wool.
The most common tourist route for visiting the lake is that between El Chaltén in Argentina and Villa O'Higgins in Chile, including a ferry through the lake on the Chilean side.
Being the most irregular of the lakes in the area, consisting of eight well defined arms, the name San Martín is sometimes used to refer only to the Argentine side, and O'Higgins to the 4 Chilean arms. Both names come from independence heroes José de San Martín of Argentina and Bernardo O'Higgins of Chile, who fought together for the liberation of Chile, and came to be known as Liberators of America together with other South American figures.
The 4 Argentine arms of the lake, with an area of 521 km², are named Cancha Rayada, Chacabuco, Maipú and De la Lancha, after battles of General San Martín.


PNW Components today announced their new Fall ‘21 apparel collection, consisting of a unisex jacket and jersey, and a men’s-specific short.
A steady request from customers asking for PNW riding gear pushed them to fully commit to entering the category. Following the same standards as their bike components, PNW’s new apparel line offers affordable garments that hold up to the elements and can be trusted for the long haul.
To support our riders, we wanted to make apparel that feels good, looks good, and will stand the test of time. See you out on the trail!
- Aaron Kerson, Co-Founder, PNW Components.
Thank you to all our customers and brand fans! Thanks for keeping biking fun, we love y’all.
- Emily Kerson, Co-Founder, PNW Components.
THE LANDER JACKET
A lightweight trail companion designed for densely forested descents and foggy morning climbs. Designed with an anti-flop back pocket storage system, a helmet friendly hood, and an adventure accommodating fabric to keep you focused on the trail ahead.
The Lander focuses on striking a balance between breathability and protection from the elements. Made with a DWR fabric that wicks away moisture while keeping you feeling fresh on the pedal-heavy climbs.
The integrated rear pocket with zippered access from either side has a one-of-a-kind removable belt system to keep contents under control and held tight against the body. The dual zippers also work as air vents to keep riders cool and comfy on long climbs or before dropping into the hard-earned descents.
Whether trying to keep the heat in or the rain out the hood fits comfortably over a helmet with multiple bungee cinch straps to hold it in place for that extra layer of comfort.
Available in Super Nova (orange) and Neutron (green) and in unisex sizes XS to XXL. MSRP: $149 USD
THE OZONE TRAIL JERSEY
Woven from a smart mix of 20% wool and 80% polyester, this jersey is luxuriously soft, breathable, moisture-wicking, quick-drying and anti-bacterial. Sleep easy knowing this jersey is Bluesign® approved, guaranteeing the fabric meets the demanding requirements of the highest environmental standards for the textile industry.
The Ozone is like the overachieving lovechild of a technical riding jersey and your favourite old T-shirt. With long-than-usual short sleeved and a contoured hem drop tail, the Ozone provides more coverage from the elements while not looking out of place in the pub or coffee shop post-ride.
Available in Crater (grey) and Helium (blue) and in unisex sizes XS to XXL. MSRP $59 USD
THE SHUTTLE SHORT
Focused on comfort, this trail short features a lightweight and mobile fabric that keeps the elements out and all your gear secure, including a cell phone pocket so good at securing your phone you’ll forget you even brought it.
Like the Lander jacket, the Shuttle short is constructed from a breathable, four-way stretch abrasion- and water-resistant DWR fabric.
Two zippered pockets, large enough to hold a plus-sized phone, are placed on the sides of the thighs and fully secured to keep your valuables safe and out of the way while pedalling.
A long inseam and a contoured hem at the front of the knee means your knee pads will always be covered without exposing that awkward thigh gap.
MSRP $99 USD
Committed to sustainability, PNW’s apparel is manufactured from bluesign® and OEKO-TEX® certified fabrics, and ships in compostable and biodegradable packaging. Like all PNW Components branded products, the Fall ‘21 MTB Apparel is covered by the same Lifetime Warranty. PNW is committed to covering any failure due to a manufacturing defect and will repair or replace without charge to the original owner.


Shit that Pissed me Off – 2/16/18
Utah Anti GLBTQIA+ Lawmaker Resigns over Allegations He Solicited a Prostitute
Jon Standard is a Utah politician who, like a lot of other Utah Politicians, is a Mormon and a Republican. He believes that “traditional” marriage should be between one man and one woman (but that’s only because the Mormon church no longer encourages bigamy) and recently helped pass tougher laws for people who solicit prostitutes.
He was forced to resign last week because he solicited a prostitute. He claims it is because his father has cancer and I feel very bad for his father because this jackass is using someone else’s terminal disease as an excuse.
I’m sure that the right is going to say this one Mormon Republican lawmaker in an extremely conservative state who is likely to be replaced by another Mormon Republican lawmaker is being targeted for a hit job by this prostitute who is lying because she’s a prostitute and you can’t trust a prostitute.
I mean, she says he hired her to do a job and she did it so I’m feeling like she’s pretty reliable, you know?
Oh, and he may have used taxpayer funds to pay for the hotel where he hooked up with her. Smaller government!
Shit That Pissed Me Off – 11/28
Religious Conservatives Believe in Free Speech as Long as They are Doing the Speaking
In this case, the Duggars are getting a lot of flack for saying bigoted stuff because the bible says that kind of speech is OK. Problem is, some folks don’t agree and have started a petition to get their show taken off the air.
So what’s the big deal you ask? By petitioning TLC (that show is on The Learning Channel? Really?) to cancel the show, they are attacking the Duggar’s right to free speech!
I can’t believe we have to go over this again but NO WE ARE NOT! Having the right to free speech is not the same thing as consequence free speech. When you say thing that pisses people off, they get to say things back.
It amazes me that conservative Christians claim they are being “silenced” when all that is happening is people are calling them on their bullshit.
Shit that Pissed me off – 9/5
The Whole Jennifer Lawrence Nude Photo Thing
The problem is that there is a dialogue focused on whether or not Lawrence (and other celebrities) are to blame for the theft of their personal pictures.
Well let’s stop and think about this for a mom…NO!
I am writing this blog post on a laptop computer that is valuable. Now you, the reader, know I have a laptop computer you could sell for money. If you came over to my house, broke in and stole my computer would it be my fault because I made you aware that I owned it?
NO! That’s what we call theft! There are all sorts of laws about that shit.
It is not my fault for owning a computer any more that it is Lawrence’s fault that she owned nude photographs of herself (if indeed those are photographs of her – which she denies).
Theft is a crime. Owning things people want to steal is not.
Shit that Pissed me off – 7/18
A Lot of People are Freaking out About Immigrant Children
Here’s what I genuinely don’t understand:
The far right is super concerned about the rights of unborn children.
Once the kids are born, though, they don’t really give a fuck. Especially if those kids weren’t born in America.
In this case, we have a Republican candidate so anxious to show how anti-immigrant he is, he stages a protest with a busload of immigrant kids. Too bad it turns out the kids were actually from a YMCA camp. Apparently they use school busses to move all kinds of kids around. Who knew?
Seriously, does anyone do research before setting up a photo-op?
But more seriously, these are children! This immigration “crisis” is bullshit election year stuff. There are all sorts of people crossing our borders all the time. Politicians only care every two years.
The rest of the time, they only care if there are enough immigrants around to pick their food, cook their food, and clean their houses. And they don’t give a shit about how many of them are on school busses.
Shit That Pissed Me Off – 2/28
Alabama House Committee Approves Prayer in Schools Bill Even Though They Lost the Vote
The bill looks to improve Alabama schools by allowing up to fifteen minutes of organized prayer per day. The believe, apparently, that this will improve children’s test scores more than any other more proven technique. Kids who aren’t Christians are welcome to opt out and deal with ridicule from their peers and teachers. So that’s fair.
In order for this bill to go before the Alabama house, it needed to be approved by committee. It wasn’t.
By voice vote, it was two votes for the bill and three against (with three abstentions). The committee chair claimed that she “heard more yays than nays” and forwarded the bill to the entire House.
You would think that her devout Christianity that was on display when she supported a bill to improve schools through prayer would have been on display when she was called on to honestly count the votes.
I guess, though, that she would rather spend state money on defending the inevitable lawsuit coming their way if this bill becomes law.
How, exactly, are Christian values winning out here?
Shit that Pissed me Off this Week – 3/29
Woman Complains about Sexist Behavior at a Convention and she gets Harassed and Fired
I just don’t get it, really. A couple of guys were making sexist jokes while sitting in the audience for a panel about women coders and an audience member thought they were in the wrong. Yeah. I agree.
She asked the conference organizers to tell them to stop. They were asked to stop and they did.
Then all hell breaks loose because one of the guys loses his job.
Look, I don’t think the guy should have lost his job for that but I wonder if it was really just for that? Isn’t it possible he was shitty at his job already? Even he was “just” fired for sexual harassment (oh the humanity), the logical response should not be for other people on the internet to attack the woman’s place of work and get her fired.
That’s the sort thing dicks do.
Unfortunately, there are an awful lot of dicks on the internet.
Update: Clarifications in the comments below. And in this article. She did send a tweet to the conference organizers, not a public one (at least according to what I read). I question any firings happening and the harrassment is completely unacceptable.
Mea culpa on this one, though. I usually research the articles better before I comment on them. I didn’t look into this one deeply enough. If I had, I would still have commented on it but been more clear about all of the details.
The results of this situation – both firings – look to be classic overreactions by both companies and that still pisses me off.
Shit that Pissed me Off this Week – 3/8
Video Showing Income Disparity in America
I don’t talk a lot about income disparity and tax structure in America because frankly the argument bores me. There seems to be this idea that we all have a right to get rich and therefore the system is fair and us liberals should shut up about it.
But look, the system is not fair. It is designed to ensure that people with money will have an amazingly easy time making more of it while people without money will have a nearly impossible time doing the same. Hard work alone does not get you “ahead.”
Not only that, we need janitors and teachers and police officers and firefighters and none of those people are getting paid well. And they never will. The people with the wealth are not the people doing the jobs that absolutely have to get done. I’m tired of the idea that anyone can get ahead in this country.
The solution is not as simple as just taxing the 1% that controls the vast majority of the wealth in this country because they will still control the vast majority of the wealth in this country. I’m not saying I know the solution.
But I can sure as fuck recognize a problem.
Shit that Pissed me Off this Week – 5/18
I’m on vacation this week and next week so the column is shorter than usual. That, I imagine, is probably a good thing.
Most Psychotic Anti-Gay Person Ever
This lady’s crazy rant has been circulating the internet quite a lot in the last week.
This doesn’t piss me off. It makes me laugh but if I’m being honest with myself, it also makes me sad. This woman isn’t just anti-gay, she is completely around the bend crazy. She needs some sort of medication in the worst way. Just listen to the crazy shit she is saying. Normal people don’t talk like this. When you can make Michele Bachmann look sane, you have a very serious problem.
Update: Yep – she’s mentally ill. Her family says she is on medication (up the dosage) and that makes the attention on her all the more sad. The whole thing points up the kind of hatred that is focused on gay people. She’s mentally ill and you can’t control that but would her vitriol be focused on gays if there weren’t so many sane people doing it already.


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Part 2 – The Multiple Functions
In Part 1, an overview of cerata was given together with some examples of what are, and what are not, considered to be cerata and which sea slug taxa possess them. A list of their diverse roles was included. Here in Part 2 those roles (excluding defence – Part 3) will be discussed. But first, a review of which sea slugs have cerata.
Gaseous exchange (Respiration)
The nudibranchs of the Aeolidina do not have that true naked gill from which the order Nudibranchia derives its name. There is no rosette or arc or line of gills on their dorsum to facilitate gaseous exchange. Instead, it is their cerata that act as secondary gills by providing an immense thin-walled surface area interfacing with their watery environment externally and the circulating haemolymph fluid internally. By holding their shape, jutting up into the water column, the cerata are able to function with some efficiency. They are supported by the surrounding water and also by the internal hydrostatic pressure of the haemolymph that also serves to maintain their shape. The movement of water causes the cerata to also move thus constantly refreshing the water in contact with their external surface. All of the Aeolidina use cerata as secondary gills for respiration.
In the Dendronotina, the Tritonia, Tritoniopsis, Marionia and Dendronotus species, for example, the cerata are many-branched, often finely so, whereas in Bornellidae they act as protective structures and supports for tufts of gills emanating medially at their bases. Similarly, some of the Dotidae have small gills (pseudobranchs) attached at the base of their cerata. Tethydidae e.g. Melibe, bear fine dendritic gills on the medial surface of their large paddle-like cerata. Lomanotidae on the other hand have much reduced cerata presenting as small lobed appendages on an often undulating notal ridge.
In some species of Lomanotus I have observed a number of singular, thin tendrils, bright red in colour, emanating from some of these small lobes, that appear capable of extension and withdrawal. These may possibly be respiratory in function, however I have found no reference to them in the literature thus far. (Personal observation/opinion)
Examples of ceratal respiration in the Arminina include species in the genera Janolus, Caldukia, Madrella and Dirona.
The cerata of those of the Sacoglossa that possess them, whether leaf-shaped or fusiform, function for the same purpose.
The major site for digestion, that is, the breakdown, via both extracellular and intracellular, and the subsequent uptake of ingested food at the molecular level, is the appropriately named digestive gland. In most sea slugs this is the largest gland of the digestive system and consists of many “blind” tubules connected to the stomach. In most sea slugs it is a large mass located in the body proper. However, in the aeolids, and some of their other cladobranch relatives, and some of the ceras-bearing sacoglossans, the digestive gland is not located in the main body but instead each ceras receives a branch of the digestive gland as a tube penetrating for almost the entire length (often termed digestive diverticulum). It may be straight (most species), undulating, branched, thin or thick. Often, if it can be observed through the wall of the ceras, it takes on the colouration of the sea slug’s recently ingested prey. In brief and to generalise, food is moved from the stomach into the lumen of the digestive gland penetrating each ceras. The digestive cells lining the lumen secrete the necessary compounds for extracellular digestion and take up the resulting substances in vesicles for intracellular digestion.
The cerata of many, but not all, Aeolidina species have a terminal sac, the cnidosac, able to open to the exterior at the very tip of each ceras, that contains undischarged nematocysts (stinging cells), obtained through consumption of their cnidarian prey, and used for their own defensive purposes (more in Part 3).
Farming of zooxanthellae
Some species, for example some of those aeolids that prey on soft corals or anemones, will take advantage of the large ceratal surface area and the exposure they can provide to sunlight for “farming” of zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium) that they have sequestered from that prey. These aeolids have come to be termed “solar-powered slugs” because of the considerable nutritional benefits derived through this symbiotic association.
These sea slugs include species of Phyllodesmium, Pteraeolidia and Spurilla. The photosynthesis process by the hosted zooxanthellae produces waste products such as sugars and amino acids, even oxygen, that are of benefit to the nudibranch host. In return the zooxanthellae receive a protective habitat plus the waste carbon dioxide and nitrogen compounds, among others, produced by the nudibranch, that they require. Some of these aeolid species may very often be found off their prey, it being conjectured that they do not need to feed as often as those aeolids that don’t host zooxanthellae. In fact these nudibranchs have been known to survive for months on the nutritional products produced by the thriving, dividing and photosynthesising zooxanthellae.
The way zooxanthellae are exploited fall into two major groups. On the one hand there are those species that have a rapid turn over of the zooxanthellae and on the other where long term retention of zooxanthellae illustrates a well-developed, nurturing, symbiotic relationship. These relationships are reflected in the anatomical appearance of the cerata. The more highly developed of these “solar-powered” nudibranchs are well adapted for this “farming” of zooxanthellae by having modified cerata, in some cases flattened and broadened, and with a highly branched digestive gland within. In some instances they have developed larger cerata, and correspondingly, a smaller number of cerata to reduce shading from neighbours. Pteraeolidia on the other hand continues to add row after row of cerata growing into quite a long animal over time. These morphological adaptations by the nudibranch, bring improved housing and distribution and therefore greater solar exposure of zooxanthellae, thereby increasing efficiency. In some instances this has led to still further structural adaptations that in some species creates uncanny mimicry of their host (see Defence: Mimicry/crypsis – Part 3).
In some species the zooxanthellae are not only housed in the cerata but small gut tubules are seen ramified into the skin of the dorsum, the foot and even the rhinophores, oral tentacles and the head, almost any tissue exposed to direct sunlight, e.g. Phyllodesmium macphersonae, Phyllodesmium magnum and also Pteraeolidia.
Hosting of zooxanthellae is believed to have evolved many times across the Nudibranchia order.
Kleptoplasty and chloroplast maintenance
Some species of the Sacoglossa sea slugs (the sap-suckers) do not immediately digest all the contents they have sucked out of their algal prey. These species have developed branches of their digestive tract that ramify into the body wall, as well as the parapodia and cerata (depending on which they possess) in which they maintain the algal plastids, including chloroplasts, in a functioning state, to reap the benefits of their solar powered production. The removal, uptake and maintenance of the plastids for their own use has been termed kleptoplasty (theft of plastids). The length of time the plastids, at this point called kleptoplasts, are viable depends upon both the sea slug species and the algal species. Some sacoglossans are known to be long-term retentionists and others short-term retentionists. Whilst functional kleptoplasty (a quite complex process with many steps) is well recorded in the parapodia-bearing sacoglossans (some authors propose that it is limited to those species) it is not as well known in the cerata-bearing members. However the presence over several weeks of functional kleptoplasts in some species of the cerata-bearing Limapontiidae (e.g. Costasiella and Stiliger) and even some Caliphyllidae (e.g. Caliphylla) has been documented. It is also suggested that the kleptoplasts not only operate as a producer of nutrients but that they additionally, store manufactured products (polysaccharides) until drawn upon by a sea slug in want. The exact modus operandi by which the kleptoplasts survive, are controlled and function in the digestive tract of certain sea slugs is still in contention, but there is no doubt that these too are “solar-powered slugs”.
Some unusual cerata adaptations
Because they lack a true heart and pericardium the haemolymph circulation within the Alderia species (Limapontiidae) of Sacoglossa is achieved by rhythmic pulsations of its cerata on alternating sides of the body, performing therefore as secondary hearts.
Species of the aeolid genus Pruvotfolia have some highly modified cerata situated around the genital orifice that play an active role related to positioning during copulation.
The roles cerata play in the defence of sea slugs are covered in Part 3.
(Note: where an sp. number is used in this NudiNote it refers to a species shown on this site.)
David A. Mullins – January 2022
– Rudman, W. B., (1981). The anatomy and biology of alcyonarian feeding aeolid opisthobranch molluscs and their development of symbiosis with zooxanthellae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 72: 219-262.
– Clark, K. B., Jensen, K. R. & Starts, H. M., (1990). Survey for functional kleptoplasty among West Atlantic Ascoglossa (Sacoglossa, Mollusca: Opisthobranchia). The Veliger, 33: 339-345.
– Rudman, W. B., (1991). Further studies on the taxonomy and biology of the octocoral-feeding genus Phyllodesmium Ehrenberg, 1831 (Nudibranchia: Aeolidoidea). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 57(2): 167-203.
– Rudman, W. B., Willan, R. C. & Burn, R., (1998). Opisthobranchia. Pp. 915-1035 in Beesley, P. L., Ross, G. J. B.and Wells, A. (eds.), Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Fauna of Australia. 5, Part B. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
– Rudman, W. B., (1998, October 11). Solar-powered sea slugs. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/solarpow and associated messages.
– Rudman, W. B., (1999, July 1). Cerata (ceras) in aeolids. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/cera
– Marin, A. & Ros, J., (2004). Chemical defenses in Sacoglossan Opisthobranchs: Taxonomic trends and evolutive implications. Scientia Marina 68(supply. 1): 227-241
– Rudman, W. B., (2005, March 22). Alderia modesta (Loven, 1844). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/aldemode
– Rauch, C., et al, (2015). Why It Is Time to Look Beyond Algal Genes in Photosynthetic Slugs. Genome Biology and Evolution 7(9): 2602-2607.
– Laetz, E. M. J., Moris, V. C., Moritz, L., Haubrich, A. N. & Wagele, H., (2017). Photosynthate accumulation in solar- powered sea slugs – starving slugs survive due to accumulated starch reserves. Frontiers in Zoology 14:4.
– Lobo-da-Cunha, A., (2019). Structure and function of the digestive system in molluscs. Cell and Tissue Research 377:475–503.
– Ponder, W. F. & Lindberg, D. R., with illustrations by Ponder, J. M., (2020). Biology and Evolution of the Mollusca, Volume One & Two. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.

domain: biology


Cena katalogowa: 420PLN
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The CrMo rails are rigid and durable, ensuring that your pedalling effort isn't wasted. They are also very lightweight, but they still maintain rider comfort by soaking up road vibrations.


text:
Though being an African-American brought about harsh adversity for McDowell growing up in the South during the 1960s, he looks back fondly at his youth spent in his hometown.
“This was really a segregated town, but we all did a lot of great things together,” he said. “The laws were segregated, but a lot of the people weren’t.”
Now residing on the West Coast, McDowell is currently married to legendary Motown/R&B singer Gladys Knight (best known for her hits “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and “That’s What Friends Are For.”). And though he’s well vested in the entertainment industry, he’s never forgotten his roots in Haywood County.
“Everybody loves home, no matter where we go,” the 56-year-old said. “A lot of people left [Canton] for opportunities, but this will always be our home.”
And with that love of Western North Carolina in mind, McDowell recently purchased the abandoned Reynolds High School — a boarded up, dilapidated structure in the heart of Canton that once served as an all-black school for the town. His hope is to transform the property into a community center for any and all residents and visitors to use.
“It’ll be a good thing for the interactions in the community,” he said. “People will take more pride in where we are because you’ll be coming to our home. A lot of people don’t know that school is there, and for me, what I want to see is not just the school coming up another level, but also the entire community.”
Back to school
Built in 1930, Reynolds High School is located on the road of the same name. For years, it was a place where pupils played and learned, where families congregated and spent time together.
“It was the beginning of my life,” McDowell said. “It was the beginning of where I learned you could be and do anything you wanted to do.”
All those years ago, Reynolds was the societal centerpiece of the African-American neighborhood that surrounded the institution.
“The school itself was the embodiment of the community,” McDowell recalled. “The band marched from school all the way through the neighborhood, and we’d follow them with pots and pans.”
McDowell attended Reynolds until third grade and then was transferred to the nearby Pennsylvania Avenue School when segregation in the district ended in 1965. From there, he graduated from Pisgah High School. But the memories of Reynolds remain with him, as they have remained with the rest of his family and other neighborhood residents.
“My [older] sister was the last class to go through 11th grade, and the first to graduate from Pisgah,” he said. “But they were really hurt because they wanted to graduate from [Reynolds]. But, with the fact we’ve gotten the building back, all of those people will have pride in the fact they can now showoff what they once had.”
And with the resurrection of the school comes the dusting off of not only memories, but names and faces, many of which who went on to have successful careers around the country and beyond.
“A lot of doctors, pilots and professors graduated from that school,” McDowell said. “The strength of the people there that were able to build that school and graduate is incredible. Back then every person that taught there had their master’s degree.”
Dream come true
Even though he headed West, McDowell had always kept the dream of refurbishing Reynolds in the back of his mind. He told the previous owner of the school that if he was ever interested in selling the property to contact McDowell first. And, for many years, McDowell didn’t hear anything. But, that all changed last year.
“I found out recently that he had passed away and for whatever reason I was home that week and called,” McDowell said. “But, his wife had said they had already put the building up for auction.”
McDowell then went to the auction, made a bid and walked away the new owner of Reynolds for $80,000. His plan is to renovate the structure, which would include a food annex, food bank, education center, computer lab, school museum, picnic area and all new athletic fields, to include a walking track, football field, basketball and tennis courts. Plans also call for a smaller version of Gladys Knight’s Signature Chicken & Waffles restaurant, which is currently based in Atlanta.
“My plan is for it to look like the original building on the outside, so when people come and see it, it’ll look familiar, but of course it’ll be a lot more modern internally,” he said.
With an estimated cost of around $2.5 million to bring the school to pristine condition, McDowell sees the investment — of his own money and donations from friends — as worthwhile, and not just wishful thinking.
“Whatever it takes to get it off the ground,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t put your dreams on someone else’s head, so for me, my dream is to make it the best possible place for the town that I can make it.”
McDowell’s brother, Randy, who also attended Reynolds, still resides in Canton. Having his old school come back to life is a surreal sentiment for the 58-year-old.
“It means a lot, it’s where our roots are, where our foundation is. The people we are today started out there, and to have that building back again means the world to all of us,” Randy said. “It’s been a long time coming. It’s going to take me awhile to comprehend it when I stand there and see it finally open.”
Randy isn’t the only Canton resident excited about the school’s rebirth. Alderman Zeb Smathers said the town would assist William with whatever he may need in making his dream a physical reality. Having the school reopen as a community center will tie a harmonious bow on a troubled era for the community.
“We had our ups and downs like everywhere else [back then], and this gives us the opportunity to preserve something from the past and provide something for the future of this community that is much needed,” Smathers said. “What excites me is [William’s] vision, that it’s not just a promise. We as the Town of Canton will do absolutely everything in our power to help him.”
William is planning to have the landscape of the property cleaned up in preparation for a Fourth of July barbeque and kickoff to the renovations for the building. From there, section by section of the school will be transformed into the planned community center. But, regardless of the timeline of completion, the plans are in motion, and that’s something William is proud to be a part of.
“I wanted it back for the people that had been there for a long time, my grandfather, my mother. I think I did honor to my grandparents. They’ll always be part of that,” he said. “For me, it’s going to be that I didn’t forget about home and the spirit of who I am, no matter where I go. It’s about being able to come back and give back to all of those people and what they did for me.”


Cold with a good deal of cloud around tonight, less chance of wintry flurries. Dry, cold minus 1 or 2c, colder in the countryside. Widespread air frost because the air is drier.
Tomorrow: cloud and sunny breaks. Cloud thickening through the day. Very cold, 2 or 3c. Token snow flurry in the east.


text:
Author pages are created from data sourced from our academic publisher partnerships and public sources.
EGFR Mutations in Lung Cancer: Correlation with Clinical Response to Gefitinib Therapy
Receptor tyrosine kinase genes were sequenced in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and matched normal tissue. Somatic mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene EGFR were found in 15of… Expand
Characterizing the cancer genome in lung adenocarcinoma
Somatic alterations in cellular DNA underlie almost all human cancers. The prospect of targeted therapies and the development of high-resolution, genome-wide approaches are now spurring systematic… Expand
Involvement of Histone H1.2 in Apoptosis Induced by DNA Double-Strand Breaks
It is poorly understood how apoptotic signals arising from DNA damage are transmitted to mitochondria, which release apoptogenic factors into the cytoplasm that activate downstream destruction… Expand
miR-206 Expression is down-regulated in estrogen receptor alpha-positive human breast cancer.
- N. Kondo, Tatsuya Toyama, H. Sugiura, Y. Fujii, H. Yamashita
- Biology, Medicine
- Cancer research
- 15 January 2009
Expression levels of estrogen receptor (ER) alpha govern estrogen-dependent growth, response to endocrine therapy, and prognosis in ERalpha-positive breast cancer. Multiple mechanisms involved in… Expand
Impact and predictors of acute exacerbation of interstitial lung diseases after pulmonary resection for lung cancer.
- T. Satō, S. Teramukai, +12 authors H. Date
- The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular…
- 1 May 2014
OBJECTIVE The study objective was to examine the incidence, risk factors, and mortality rate of acute exacerbation of interstitial lung diseases in patients with lung cancer undergoing pulmonary… Expand
Met gene copy number predicts the prognosis for completely resected non‐small cell lung cancer
The Met oncogene encodes the tyrosine kinase receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Uncontrolled activation of Met is oncogenic and has been implicated in the growth, invasion and metastasis in… Expand
Expression, Function, and Clinical Implications of the Estrogen Receptor β in Human Lung Cancers
Abstract The higher frequency of human lung adenocarcinoma in females than in males, strongly suggests the involvement of gender dependent factors in the etiology of this disease. This is the first… Expand
Japanese Lung Cancer Registry Study of 11,663 Surgical Cases in 2004: Demographic and Prognosis Changes Over Decade
- N. Sawabata, E. Miyaoka, +7 authors K. Yokoi
- Journal of thoracic oncology : official…
- 1 July 2011
Background: The Japan Lung Cancer Society, the Japanese Association for Chest Surgery, and the Japanese Respiratory Society jointly established the Japanese Joint Committee for Lung Cancer… Expand
microRNA expression profile in undifferentiated gastric cancer.
Prognosis of patients with undifferentiated gastric cancer is generally poor. The expression of various microRNAs (miRNAs) has not been comprehensively investigated in undifferentiated gastric… Expand
Stat5 expression predicts response to endocrine therapy and improves survival in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.
- Hideki Yamashita, M. Nishio, +6 authors H. Iwase
- Biology, Medicine
- Endocrine-related cancer
- 15 April 2006
Constitutively activated signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stats), in particular Stat3 and Stat5, have been demonstrated to directly contribute to oncogenesis by stimulating cell… Expand

domain: medical


Top Senate Republicans on Wednesday signaled that Gov. Laura Kelly's nominee for corrections secretary is in trouble because a judge questioned his candor in an open-records lawsuit in Idaho.
Senate President Susan Wagle and Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning said that Jeff Zmuda would have trouble winning nomination because a judge said his testimony in an open-records lawsuit was "disingenuous."
Zmuda's nomination surfaced at a meeting of the state Finance Council on Wednesday as legislative leaders considered plans . . .