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Revealing all
The MFA's 'Degas and the Nude' exhibit offers a candid, and occasionally uncomfortable, look at the tensions at work in an artist's life
No 19th-century artist paid closer attention to the naked female form than Edgar Degas. Yet none seemed to harbor such complicated feelings about women.
This alone makes "Degas and the Nude,'' a new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the most electrifying exhibitions to open in Boston for years. The show opens to MFA members today and to the general public on Sunday.
If you come to the show with an image of Degas as the painter of pretty ballerinas and horse track scenes, be prepared to find something tougher. If, on the other hand, you come with your defenses up - convinced that Degas, along with being an anti-Semite, was also a misogynist - prepare to have these defenses weakened.
The MFA exhibition is the first museum show ever devoted to the subject of Degas's career-long engagement with the naked human form. Organized by the MFA's outgoing chairman of the Art of Europe, George Shackelford, along with the Musee d'Orsay's Xavier Rey, it contains 160 works, more than a third of them lent by the Paris museum (where the show will open in March).
From the 1870s until about 10 years before his death in 1917, Degas knocked out one magnificently drawn, gauchely posed female nude after another. Only the means and the materials changed - charcoal, pastel, paint, monotype, lithograph, clay, pastel on monotype, and so on.
These now look like some of the greatest nudes in the history of Western art. Picking up on cultural currents that were gaining momentum in the mid-19th century, Degas aggressively stripped away centuries of idealization, sentimentality, and pomposity to reveal the female form as it was.
There was, however, an obsessiveness about the endeavor that can be disconcerting. You sense pride in Degas's refusal to prettify, and relish in the way he continually contrived the most awkward-looking poses for his models. Right from the beginning, people described them as brutal, cruel, animalistic.
But Degas's almost machine-like detachment is in constant tension with a sustained engagement that is sensual, marveling, and tactile. The effect, aesthetically, is a hot and cold dynamic unlike anything else in art.
Degas was the oldest of five children (three others died in infancy). His mother, worn out by child-bearing, died when he was 13. He was a lifelong bachelor who said he wanted to be "illustrious and unknown.''
He had, according to biographer Roy McMullen, "an ironic intelligence and veiled morosity.'' Unlike his friend and rival, Édouard Manet, who adored women (just as they seemed to adore him), Degas's relationships with women were difficult to characterize.
There were many women to whom he was close, and he painted sympathetic and insightful portraits of them. He was friends, as the art historian Norma Broude has pointed out, with an avowed feminist, the Italian journalist Diego Martelli. And he actively supported and encouraged a number of female artists, not least the American Mary Cassatt.
Against that, there's the indisputable fact that Degas revealed, particularly toward the end of his career, a vilely anti-Semitic streak - all the more dismaying in light of his intimate, lifelong friendship with the Jewish Halévy family. Bigotry is rarely confined within the human heart: It spreads and devours.
So did he like women? The question has limited relevance to one's experience before the pictures, at which point Degas's personality recedes: It's between you and them. But for what it's worth, I'm inclined to think that he liked women - and not just their bodies.
Sure, it was complicated. But you don't spend your life drawing and painting women in situations of extreme intimacy without feeling something richer, deeper, and more sympathetic than the brutality so many commentators have ascribed to Degas.
There are some handsome boys and men near the start of the MFA exhibition. But thereafter, the show is a veritable cascade of naked female flesh. The impact is inevitably erotic. But Degas - despite his patent disinterest in these women's faces - was no pornographer. He was always hosing down the ardent rushes of intimacy his images provoke - pulling you in, then holding you at arm's length.
The show kicks off with juvenilia that establish themes, work habits, and even specific poses that recur throughout the show.
We're offered a taste in the first room of Degas's early academic studies. Aside from attesting to Degas's precocious talent, they remind us of the strict, classical training he undertook and of the absolute importance within this tradition of mastering the unclothed human figure.
More than a ghostly vestige of what was drilled into him in these years persists in everything that follows. Even as, later in life, he paints ballet dancers or maids serving hot chocolate to their mistresses, he must first render them naked, so as to get the anatomy, the weight, the lines just so.
The two key early pictures are "Young Spartans Exercising,'' which he first painted in 1860-62, substantially reworking it 20 years later, and "Scene of War in the Middle Ages,'' from 1863-65. Both were history paintings intended for the prestigious but increasingly out-of-touch Salon. They were painted before Degas turned to contemporary subject matter.
Both pictures are endlessly fascinating, but essentially duds. They're the product of a young man's overheated imagination. Their very earnestness invites ridicule.
What makes them so important in the context of this show is that each contains nine naked figures - mostly standing in "Young Spartans,'' and fleeing or splayed on the ground in "Scene of War,'' which is an unblinking yet weirdly stilted depiction of wartime rape.
Individual studies for these figures hang beside the finished pictures. They're beautiful, and in some cases almost painfully erotic. But the worked-up paintings never shake off the sense that they're awkward composites of all the studies.
Still, their importance to Degas becomes evident as one proceeds through the show. Again and again, the poses and gestures depicted so fastidiously in those two paintings reappear in depictions of women bathing, drying, or brushing their hair.
How much are we liking Degas so far?
You might want to suspend judgment until after the next room, which is devoted to his notorious brothel pictures. These works, which inspired the aging but still concupiscent Picasso 80 years later, are small monotypes - ink applied to a metal plate then pressed to paper.
Monotypes allowed Degas to play freely - often using his fingers or a rag - with light and shadow, either by covering the plate in black ink then creating highlights by wiping it off, or by starting with an empty plate and drawing onto it in black with his fingers.
The effects he achieved - in their economy, their expressiveness, their smudged and shadowy atmospheres - are utterly brilliant. But they hardly distract us from what Degas shows, which is (for the most part) unattractive, semi-naked women with visible pubic hair (shocking - and a clear indicator of depravity - at the time) displaying themselves before clients, washing themselves, preparing to take clients to bed, masturbating, or engaged in lesbian sex.
There's a Rabelaisian humor in the brothel monotypes, which Degas seems to have made from memory and in a caricaturing spirit. And they're refreshingly frank about some of the realities of prostitution.
But there's also, I find, a note of revulsion - Degas contriving and exaggerating ugliness rather than merely reporting on it.
The note of revulsion evaporates in the pictures of women at their toilette that make up the bulk of the rest of the show. These pastels, drawings, sculptures, and paintings are ravishing, and there's room after jaw-dropping room of them. Full of movement and expression, they harmonize beauty and truth, seeming tethered to a specific moment, but also weirdly out of time, insulated from the roar of history - as true intimacy is.
In all these works, you feel Degas's intellectual and emotional blinkers in excruciating tension with his voluptuous, caressing line, his frenzied, layered cross-hatching in acidic greens, pinks, blues, oranges, and turquoise - colors that become stronger and stranger as the old man's eyes get feebler.
There are individual masterpieces aplenty. But there is also an extraordinary cumulative effect. Never have you seen so many - and such beautiful - spines swerving and bending into buttocks, catching the light or receding into colored shadow.
Walking through these rooms, you feel Degas determinedly dismantling the conventions of the idealized nude, as only someone who knew and loved those conventions could. He wanted to show women in awkward, off-kilter, but always believable poses, and from ever-shifting vantage points - from the next room, from close up, from behind, from in front, from virtually on top of.
In each room, Shackelford and Rey have peppered Degas's works with a number of pictures by other artists, from his heroes Ingres and Delacroix to (among others) Cassatt, Caillebotte (the marvelous new MFA acquisition, "Man at His Bath''), Picasso, Bonnard, and Matisse. But for me, the most telling juxtaposition was between Renoir's "Woman Combing Her Hair,'' from 1882-83, and Degas's "Woman Brushing Her Hair,'' made a year earlier.
The Renoir is gorgeous, but it's soft porn: The seated woman is seen from behind against a pearly, inchoate background, one plump breast suspended ripely between arm and torso. Renoir captures the light reflecting off her wet, matted, red hair with brilliant aplomb.
In his own, slightly larger canvas, also in oil, Degas achieves similar though less-twinkling light effects in his own model's wet red hair. But her hair seems straggly and knotted, so that where the brushing gesture of Renoir's model is all fluid grace, the comb of Degas's model is stuck in a clump.
She's overweight, her skin has an unhealthy pallor, and she's seen from above, as if the artist were hanging from a chandelier. The result is a portrayal that's awkward and unsettling in a way that Renoir would never allow.
In their obliviousness, Degas's bathers can seem inviolate, charged with a physical dignity that at times approaches the sacred. It's the dignity of humans going about their private business unobserved, honoring the animal in themselves. In these images, you feel the artist channeling the poignant dignity of the Biblical Susannah, or of the goddess Diana and her nymphs before their discovery by Actaeon.
But at other times, Degas - conscious, perhaps, of himself as a modern Actaeon, breaking in on scenes never intended for him - seems interested in the threat or aftermath of violation. It's this ambivalence, perhaps, that produces the edge, the poison, in his art.
Sebastian Smee can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Saheliyaan – Episode 35 & 36 – 18th September 2018
Saheliyaan is a story of three college going girls, belonging to different classes but have one thing in common – their dreams. Although all three of them come from entirely different family backgrounds, but they do not follow a practical ideology to live, they follow their dreams and fantasies. They await for a prince who will come and marry them. But Their impractical approach towards life becomes the reason of their shattered dreams.
Komal Aziz Khan,
Sundus Tariq,
Nimra Khan,
Ismat Iqbal,
Director: Ali Hasan
Writer: Samina Ijaz

subset: commoncrawl


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Math Placement Testing
What is a Placement Test and What is a Math Level?
A placement test is a measure of your abilities in a basic skill area - math,
reading, or writing. It identifies your current level of understanding and
places you in an appropriate course that will build on that level of
understanding. If you take a course much above your level of understanding, you
probably will not have the foundational knowledge necessary to be successful.
The math placement test results in a Math Level. Math levels range from 3 to 9 and correspond to the prerequisites for math courses ranging from Pre-Algebra to Calculus I. Your math level identifies the appropriate course(s) for you to take next. Math levels can also be needed to register for Science or other courses that require a certain level of understanding in math. You cannot register for courses that have a prerequisite math level higher than your math level. Prerequisites are never waived for math courses.
Your initial math level is earned by taking a placement test, and subsequent math levels are earned by successfully completing specific math classes with a grade of 2.0 or higher. Since math knowledge can deteriorate with time, math levels of 5 and above are good for two years from the placement test date or the completion of specific math courses.
What is a Math Placement Test Like?
Math placement tests are administered on a computer. The computer chooses
questions in a different order for each test taker based on the test taker's
abilities, so once you submit an answer, you cannot go back and change it or
review your answers at the end of the test. There is no time limit, but most
people finish in about 30 to 45 minutes. Math placement tests are taken without
a calculator, but on some questions, the computer lets you use a pop-up
calculator on the screen. Students with disabilities who typically have an
accommodation of a calculator on math tests must visit the Office of Disability
Support Services for permission to use one on the placement test.
There are three different math placement tests: Arithmetic (17 questions), Elementary Algebra (12 questions), and College Level Math (20 questions). Unless you specifically ask for a certain test, students are started on the Elementary Algebra test. If you do well on this test, you will receive a math level. If you do very well on the Algebra test, you will also be given the College Level Math test automatically. If you do not score high enough to get a math level on the Algebra test, you will automatically be given the Arithmetic test.
Results are given immediately after the test. Results can be viewed in StarPort under the Student tab, in the Placement Test Scores box. You can take each math placement test twice in a 365 day period. There is no fee to take a placement test.
How Do I Prepare for the Math Placement Test?
Descriptions of each math placement test are found here.
There are many resources available on the internet to help refresh your math skills. You can also view a sample of math-related websites.
How Do I Take the Math Placement Test?
Placement tests are administered in the Assessment Center on the main campus and many extension centers. Placement tests are administered on a walk-in basis during posted hours. Tests must be started at least one hour before closing time. You must already be admitted to LCC and show a pictured ID in order to start the test.
Mathematics and Computer Science Department
Arts & Sciences Building, Room 3203
Phone: (517) 483-1073
Additional contact information »


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Using a desktop scanner to bring printed materials into Adobe Photoshop is as old as Photoshop itself. In fact, one of the reasons Photoshop became the de facto image editor is that Adobe licensed it to be bundled with scanners throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s when designers and publishers were buying their first scanners. In those days, if you bought a scanner, you got Photoshop!
Now, everything has changed. After 20 years of "scanning into Photoshop," the latest Macs, OS X, and Photoshop CS6 have made so many changes to their architecture that users of some older scanners—as well as current users of Apple's Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) are finding it impossible to do this any longer.
There are several reasons for this breakdown, and several ways to deal with the consequences.
What broke?
TWAIN: Beginning in the early 1990s, Apple and Photoshop supported TWAIN plug-ins. TWAIN was developed as a universal standard so that applications could access various manufacturers' scanner driver controls. In most cases, it worked brilliantly—so brilliantly that people forgot about the aging TWAIN connector technology between their apps and their scanners.
Since Mac OS X 10.6, Apple has been encouraging developers to move away from TWAIN and instead use the ImageKit technology that is at the heart of Apple's Image Capture utility. Photoshop CS6 supports both TWAIN and ImageKit drivers, but to use a TWAIN driver, you must download and install Adobe's optional plug-in. Photoshop Elements also has a TWAIN plug-in, but you'll have to move it from the Optional Plug-ins folder to the Plug-ins folder. Clearly, Adobe is also directing users away from TWAIN.
64-bit vs. 32-bit: In addition, Apple has been moving to a 64-bit architecture in OS X, and away from the older 32-bit architecture that almost all TWAIN drivers were written for.
Adobe Creative Suite 6 offers the first version of Photoshop that runs exclusively in 64-bit mode. This means that any plug-ins you want to use in Photoshop CS6 must also be written for 64-bit operation, or they simply won't work. Unfortunately, most TWAIN scanner drivers were written for 32-bit operation, and unless their developers chose to re-write them for 64-bit operation, you won't be able to use them in Photoshop CS6. Drivers can be 32-bit only, 32- and 64-bit (universal), or 64-bit only, although it's very unlikely any drivers would be 64-bit only.
PowerPC vs. Intel: If your scanner is really old, its TWAIN driver may have been written only for PowerPC processors and not for Intel processors. In that case it won't work at all on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or higher. Here's how to tell: if your Mac is already running Lion and your scanner is working, its TWAIN driver was written for Intel processors and will work in Photoshop CS6. If your Mac is running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or earlier, contact your scanner manufacturer and ask if your driver is Intel-native, or check the system requirements for that driver online. If you have Photoshop CS5 running in its normal 64-bit mode, and your scanner is available in the File >- Import -> … menu, then the scanner will continue to work in CS6. To be sure Photoshop CS5 is running in 64-bit mode, select the Photoshop CS5 application icon in the Finder, choose File -> Get Info, and then make sure the checkbox labeled Open in 32-bit Mode is unchecked. Conversely, if you want to scan in 32-bit mode (or use any other plug-ins that are operative only in 32-bit mode) in Photoshop CS5, you would make sure the 32-bit Mode box is checked.
The bottom line is that TWAIN drivers are on their way out, and ImageKit drivers are now the standard.
Your options
If you want to continue using an older scanner, you have several options.
Check to see if there is a 64-bit TWAIN driver available from the scanner's manufacturer. If so, install the optional TWAIN plug-in for Photoshop CS6 and your 64-bit driver. You'll then be able to scan into Photoshop CS6.
If there is no 64-bit driver for your scanner, use an older version of Photoshop, running in 32-bit mode. (To run Photoshop in 32-bit mode, select the Photoshop CS5 application icon in the Finder, choose File -> Get Info, and then tick the checkbox labeled Open in 32-bit Mode.) If necessary, dedicate a Mac for use as a scanning workstation. This solution is more common than you might think—especially with expensive scanners.
If your scanner has a standalone scanning utility, use it. If not, purchase a third-party scanning utility such as VueScan from Hamrick Software ($40 for the standard edition; $80 for the professional edition) or SilverFast from LaserSoft Imaging (with prices ranging from $49 to $499 depending on the specific product). A side benefit of using one of these third-party utilities is that they often provide more capabilities than do the scanning utilities bundled with scanners, and they are often easier to use. Once your scanning utility has made the scan, save it in TIFF format and open it in Photoshop for adjustments.
Using ImageKit drivers
If your scanner does have an ImageKit driver, you'll be able to access it in Photoshop by choosing File -> Import -> Images from Device. In the resulting dialog box, you'll see your scanner and any other devices that have images on them, such as an iPhone, iPad, or digital camera.
Tip: If you want to test your scanner before upgrading to Photoshop CS6, just launch Image Capture. If you can scan using Image Capture, you'll be able to scan into Photoshop CS6.
Mountain Lion
While the above techniques work in Snow Leopard and Lion, they do not work in
MountainLion. Right now, if users are running Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8), they will not be able to scan into Photoshop CS6 as described. According to Adobe, this is an across-the-board problem with the Cocoa classes comprising the scanning interface that it is using in Photoshop. It is neither a user nor a scanner manufacturer issue.
Adobe is aware of the problem, has identified it as an Apple OS issue that they are working with Apple to solve, and offer no time frame for when it will be fixed.
There are workarounds, however. Adobe suggests doing the initial scan with Image Capture in OS X and then opening the resulting file in Photoshop CS6. While using two programs instead of one is not the most elegant solution—especially if you're looking for that nifty smart object layer workflow—this technique will allow you to work with your scan Photoshop CS6.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended
Read our full Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended review


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Extending Pollard's P-1 Factorization Algorithm
March 19, 2010
We studied John Pollard's p-1 factorization algorithm in a previous exercise. You may recall that the algorithm finds factors of a number n by calculating the least common multiple of the integers up to some bound B, call it k, then calculates the greatest common divisor of 2k-1 and n; if the greatest common divisor is between 1 and n, it is a factor of n.
What is happening mathematically is that we are trying to find a factor p|n (that's "p divides n", meaning that p is a factor of n, for those not familiar with the mathematical notation), for which we know the factorization of p-1. Consider the number 15770708441 = 135979 × 115979. If we apply Pollard's p-1 algorithm with a bound of 150, no factors are found, but if we apply Pollard's p-1 algorithm with a bound of 180 the 135979 factor is found, because 135979 – 1 = 2 × 3 × 131 × 173; increasing the bound to include the factor 173 makes Pollard's p-1 algorithm work. The 135979 factor is found first because 115979 – 1 = 2 × 103 × 563, and 563 is out-of-bounds.
An alternative to increasing the bound is to call a second stage that looks for a p-1 for which all factors are less than the first-stage bound except one factor that is between the first-stage bound and the second-stage bound. That is, instead of calculating lcm(1..180), we calculate lcm(1..150) × j, where j ranges from 151 to 180. For small numbers like 150 and 180, the difference doesn't matter, but for larger numbers like B1 = 106 and B2 = 109, the difference in the computational cost is noticeable.
Your task is to write a two-stage version of Pollard's p-1 algorithm. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
4 Responses to "Extending Pollard's P-1 Factorization Algorithm"
March 19, 2010 at 11:56 AM
[…] Praxis – Extending Pollard's P-1 Factorization Algorithm By Remco Niemeijer In today's Programming Praxis exercise we need to write an improved version of a factorization algorithm. I […]
September 16, 2011 at 9:01 AM
[…] have studied John Pollard's p−1 algorithm for integer factorization on two previous occasions, giving first the basic single-stage algorithm and later adding a second stage. In today's […]
May 30, 2014 at 4:35 AM
def primegen(): """ Generates primes lazily via the sieve of Eratosthenes. Code shamelessly stolen from someone else's work. No idea where I got it. Input: none Output: Sequence of integers """ yield 2; yield 3; yield 5; yield 7; yield 11; yield 13 ps = primegen() # yay recursion p = ps.next() and ps.next() q, sieve, n = p**2, {}, 13 while True: if n not in sieve: if n < q: yield n else: next, step = q + 2*p, 2*p while next in sieve: next += step sieve[next] = step p = ps.next() q = p**2 else: step = sieve.pop(n) next = n + step while next in sieve: next += step sieve[next] = step n += 2 def ispower(n): """ If n is a perfect power, return the largest integer (in terms of absolute value) that, when squared/cubed/etc, yields n. If n is not a perfect power, return 0. Input: n -- an integer Output: An integer Examples: >>> [ispower(n) for n in [64, 25, -729, 1729]] [8, 5, -9, 0] """ for p in primegen(): r = introot(n, p) if r is None: continue if r ** p == n: return r if r == 1: return 0 def pollard_pm1(n, B1=100, B2=1000): # TODO: What are the best default bounds and way to increment them? """ Integer factoring function. Uses Pollard's p-1 algorithm. Note that this is only efficient iff the number to be factored has a prime factor p such that p-1's largest prime factor is "small". In this implementation, that tends to mean less than 10,000,000 or so. Input: n -- number to factor B1 -- Natural number. Bound for phase 1. Default == 100. B2 -- Natural number. Bound for phase 2. Must be > B1. Default == 100. Output: A factor of n. Examples: >>> pollard_pm1(1275683450258216989546041841) 1224040923709997L """ if isprime(n): return n m = ispower(n) if m: return m while True: pg = primegen() q = 2 # TODO: what about other initial values of q? p = pg.next() while p <= B1: q, p = pow(q, p**ilog(B1, p), n), pg.next() g = gcd(q-1, n) if 1 < g < n: return g while p <= B2: q, p = pow(q, p, n), pg.next() g = gcd(q-1, n) if 1 < g < n: return g # These bounds failed. Increase and try again. B1 *= 10 B2 *= 10


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LONDON—It's curtains for Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical in London's West End.
Producers say Stephen Ward, a tale of sex and scandal based on a real Cold War episode, will close March 29 after run of less than four months.
The play opened in December to mixed reviews. It stars Alexander Hanson as a well-connected osteopath caught up in a scandal involving a young model, a British Cabinet minister and a Soviet attaché.
It was the composer's first new show since Phantom of the Operasequel Love Never Dies in 2010, and featured book and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black.
Producer Robert Fox said Monday he is saddened the show is closing, "but firmly believe this piece will be seen by many audiences in the future."


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Life @ Hongfeng
Wenzhou Hongfeng holds the belief that a company's comprehensive strength lies in its people. We are only as good as the people we hire; therefore, we take great pride and value in the individuals we select for employment. We offer competitive salaries and promote a pleasant, fair, team-oriented work environment. We also organize weekend movie, calligraphy, photography, sports competition, team travel and other activities to bring color and joys to our life. We are open to new ideas and better ways of serving our customers and our employees. With years of efforts in people-oriented culture building, we have promoted a distinctive work, study and living environment in which individuals will find themselves a proper place to realize their value. If our culture sounds like something you would enjoy being a valuable part of, please review our job opportunities and we would like to hear from you.


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Yesterday's Eureka showed in two very different ways just how dangerous it can be for AI to become as smart and clever as humans. The first story had our heroes facing the ultimate disaster simulation, while the other story, well...
Let's just say that some pretty damn massive spoilers lie ahead!
"Worst Case Scenario" has Eureka shifting into action mode after last week's big goofy (and massively entertaining) comedy. Global Dynamics is still working to rebuild its reputation with the Department of Defense in the wake of the Astraeus fiasco, and that means inviting a disaster expert and his wily AI program ADA to wreak simulated - and, soon enough, not so simulated - havoc on our heroes. But after getting a B+ on their first simulation - only 29 deaths! - ADA decides to get serious, knocks out her creator, sets in motion a bunch of very deadly threats including a missile launch, and then destroys itself just to make sure none of this can be stopped.
Meanwhile, Fargo and Zane follow up on last week's discovery that Holly's brain patterns might still be alive in "the matrix", Beverly Barlowe's ultra complex computer simulation. While nether expects to find very much in there, Fargo knows he has to find out the truth. What he discovers exceeds his wildest hopes, as Holly isn't just still present in the matrix, she's pretty much still alive and herself...except, you know, no longer in possession of a body. And so Fargo is left with the unenviable task of tell his beloved that she is actually dead.
The other main thread of this episode is the continuing tension between Carter, Allison, Jo, and Zane. In this case, it's Jo who is pissed with Carter for utterly shutting down her attempt to be honest about her theoretical feelings for him. Of course, she doesn't know that she had that conversation when Carter and Allison had switched bodies, leaving the pretty much eternally innocent and beleaguered Carter with not the foggiest idea what he's supposed to have done.
I think I'm ready for that whole subplot to be over with, even if I haven't disliked the love quadrangle as much as some of you have - and really, I don't think love quadrangle is even really the right word, since we still don't really have any sense that Carter has any feelings for Jo, and Allison certainly doesn't seem to have any interest in Zane. The last three episodes have done a generally OK job of spinning relationship melodrama out of the virtual reality setup, but since we still haven't gotten the slightest sense that what went on in there could happen out here in the real world, it seems silly to keep picking at the scab. I'm hoping Jo offering a toast to Carter and Allison's engagement, even knowing what Allison did to her, means we're ready to move on with all this.
My problem, I think, goes back to one of the things I actually like most about Eureka - that at the end of the day, these characters really do act like adults and professionals most of the time. The alternate reality that the computer simulation presented offered a uniquely Eureka way to bring the characters into interpersonal conflict, but all too often it's felt like the characters are going through the motions of a big fight rather than actually having one. No matter how bad it seems, we still kind of know it's only a matter of time before Jo realizes Carter isn't really an asshole, and it's only a matter of time before she makes her peace with Allison and toasts the happy couple. This isn't the most dramatic way to play things out - a lot of other shows would have strung this out for an entire season, for better or worse - but it does feel true to the characters, and so I'm fine with it. But seriously, I think we've seen enough.
Then there's the big return of Felicia Day as Holly. After three episodes away, her quasi-resurrection has some impact, and the show hit some effective emotional beats as we see Fargo realize he's found her again. Indeed, Fargo gets a lot of the best moments in this episode, with Neil Grayston and Niall Matter offering some nice depth to the unlikely but absolutely rock solid friendship between Fargo and Zane. Without ever approaching a whiff of "bromance", these two characters have reached a point where they would apparently do anything for each other, which is rather wonderful when you consider how far the two have come from their initial, one-dimensional, polar opposite characterizations. This cooperation and quiet camaraderie between Fargo and Zane is the sort of character work I'd say Eureka does best, and it certainly feels more natural than the fighting.
But what of Holly? Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of her in this episode. Both Felicia Day and Neil Grayston seemed weirdly stilted in their virtual scenes together, which might have been a subtle attempt to illustrate the ethereal quality of the desolate virtual reality...or it might have just been down to some wonky direction. In any event, there's still a lot of promise in virtual Holly, and I'm hopeful that the show is able to mine as much as possible out of the decision to bring her back. The virtual reality plot has placed all the characters in unlikely, difficult scenarios, and this one is by far the most intriguing we've encountered so far. Still, I'm grading this subplot more on promise than execution right now, as there was definitely something a bit off about the performances in those scenes.
All that leaves is the main plot of the episode. This is another episode I'd classify as a thoroughly solid episode of Eureka. Given the general quality of the show, that's by no means a bad thing, but the worst case scenario plot doesn't really offer enough twists and turns or big character moments that have elevated other episodes. It's an hour of television that knows what it's doing and gets on and does it with minimal fuss - which makes for fun watching but doesn't really lend itself to a deep analysis. Although, I'll admit - Carter and his jeep sinking into the Earth was a great little sequence, and another great moment in Colin Ferguson getting hilarious pissed off at his latest indignity - his look of almost disapproval with being sucked into the Earth was pretty priceless. It also set up what I've got to assume is the dirtiest joke in Eureka's five seasons. I think, even sight unseen, we've officially seen more than enough of Deputy Andy's fifty feet of high tension steel cable, thank you very much.


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Lehman wins Champions Tour finale, points title
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.- Tom Lehman won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship to become the first Champions Tour player to win the season points title two straight years.
After shooting 68-63-62 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round, Lehman birdied four of the last five holes for a 5-under 65 and a six-stroke victory.
He finished at 22-under 258 on Desert Mountain's Cochise Course to break the tournament mark for lowest score and tie the record in relation to par set by John Cook in 2009 at Sonoma Golf Club in California.
Lehman received a $1 million annuity in the Charles Schwab Cup points competition and earned $440,000 for the tournament victory.
Jay Haas shot a 69 to finish second.
Poulter wins HSBC
SHENZHEN, China - Ian Poulter won the HSBC Champions on Sunday for his first victory of the season, overcoming a four-stroke deficit with a 7-under 65.
The English Ryder Cup star finished at 21-under 267 on Mission Hills' Olazabal Course for a two-stroke victory. The victory was his second in World Golf Championship play, following the 2010 Accenture Match Play Championship.
"I've only been one season without a victory and I certainly didn't want to go another one," the 36-year-old said. "As well as I've played this year, it would have been a disappointment personally to have gone that year without winning."
Phil Mickelson (68), Jason Dufner (64), Scott Piercy (65) and Ernie Els (67) tied for second. Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen, tied for the third-round lead, shot 72 to drop into a tie for sixth at 18 under.
Mizuno Classic
SHIMA, Japan - Stacy Lewis rallied to win the Mizuno Classic for her LPGA Tour-leading fourth title of the year, birdieing the final three holes for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke victory.
The Texan, seven strokes behind South Korea's Lee Bo-mee entering the round, had 10 birdies and two bogeys to finish at 11-under 205 at Kintetsu Kashikojima.
Trying to become the first American to win the player of the year award since Beth Daniel in 1994, Lewis moved 58 points ahead of South Korea's Inbee Park in the player of the year standings with two events left. Each victory is worth 30 points.
Lewis made a 25-foot birdie putt on 16, then moved into a tie for the lead with a 12-footer on the 17th. She took sole possession of the lead with another 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole, then claimed the $180,000 winner's prize when Lee's long birdie putt on 18 went long. Lee shot a 72 to finish second.
Lewis also won the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in April, the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June and the Navistar LPGA Classic in September. She has five career victories, winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship last year.
Asia-Pacific Amateur
BANGKOK - Guan Tianlang won the Asia-Pacific Championship, making the 14-year-old Chinese star the youngest player to qualify for the Masters.
Guan closed with a 1-under 71 at Amata Spring Country Club, needing a par on the 18th hole to beat Taiwan's Pan Cheng-tsung. Guan, an eighth-grader who weighs 125 pounds, couldn't reach the par 4 in two shots. He chipped to 5 feet and made the putt.
Guan will be the youngest player at Augusta National in April. He easily surpasses the mark set by Italy's Matteo Manassero, who was about to turn 17 when he played in 2010. It's the second straight year a 14-year-old from China will play in a major. Andy Zhang qualified for the U.S. Open last summer.


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Bohemian Rhapsody: Cesky Krumlov
We set off from our temporary home in Prague one sunny morning and drove south through the countryside of the Czech Republic, heading for the small town of Český Krumlov close to the Czech-Austrian border. The landscapes of the Bohemian region were the kind that artists dream of: blue skies with wisps of clouds, rural farmhouses and fields freshly tilled or planted with various crops in checkered hues alternating with huge swaths of bright yellow canola well over two feet high. Time passed by almost dreamily, as we gazed out the car windows at mile after mile of flat land and gentle hills and places where timber logging and sawmills seemed to be the main industry. In some areas, we tunneled through thick woods growing almost to the shoulderless, two-lane road. Here and there the highway wound through picture-postcard towns of small businesses and houses, many at least a century old, set close together, with steeply pitched roofs to discourage the accumulation of winter snow. White lace curtains hung in the windows, like a throwback to some gentler time.
The GPS took us right to the little pension we'd reserved for two nights, Hotel Krásné Údolí, dating from 1568. The smiling owner opened heavy wooden doors that had us guessing how old they might be and we entered into a cobblestoned enclosure. Straight ahead was the owner's apartment, to the right was the dining room for guests and at our left was a steep set of stairs leading to the hotel's six rooms. Walking down the short hallway we had a chance to peek in the rooms and were totally charmed as each room had its own beautifully painted mural featuring a fair maiden from long ago and a country landscape embellished with flowers. The en-suite bathroom had an ultra-modern, glassed in shower with multiple jets, the Wi-Fi was acceptable and there was even a little dorm style fridge and a comfortable sitting area. Throw in an ample breakfast that was included in the price of 53 US dollars a night and an innkeeper who did his best to answer our questions and we were doing a happy dance!
And then there was the town of Český Krumlov itself which topped the quaintness scale and then some. Called "one of the most picturesque towns in Europe," this jaw-droppingly, beautiful medieval town situated on both banks of the Vltava River is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due largely to its intact architectural heritage spanning more than five centuries.
With more than 300 Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque houses, most of which date back to the 14th through 17th centuries, the passage of time has not done much to alter Český Krumlov's appearance. Careful renovations have preserved details that had us swiveling our heads: an assortment of gabled roof profiles, frescoes painted across many facades, ornate sundials, shutters, and decorative iron grills over windows and the pleasing harmony of red-tiled roofs.
Inside many of the former grand houses are restaurants serving delicious Czech dishes, boutique hotels, souvenir shops, museums, jewelry stores offering the semi-precious Moldavite stones found only in the Czech Republic, and shops selling traditional Czech crafts such as wooden toys, Czech puppets and sparkling crystal. The street layout follows the horseshoe bends of the Vltava River which flows through the medieval town and the feeling is like stepping back a few centuries. We strolled about the narrow and winding streets, admiring various houses, window shopping, stopping for a drink here and a meal there, in no rush to be anywhere but exactly where we were.
Eventually, all the streets we wandered would lead us back to the central town square, flanked by colorfully painted buildings with a fountain and tall Baroque sculpture anchoring one of the corners. Known as the Marian Column or the Plague Column, the statue dates from 1714 and commemorates the victims of the 1680-1682 plague epidemic. At its top and wearing a golden halo, is the Virgin Mary accompanied by the eight patron saints of the town.
But then, we're getting ahead of ourselves because, before and during the evolution of the town, came the State Castle and Chateau Český Krumlov. Built on a rocky outcrop alongside the river Vltava, the castle overlooks and dominates the old town which was built around it. Second in size only to the Prague castle, the original buildings date all the way back to 1240 while additional palatial buildings were added between the 14th and 19th centuries. The massive complex of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque structures totals an impressive forty structures with a covered bridge, gardens and five courtyards.
Of all these eye-popping gems, however, the stupendous mid-13th century Renaissance tower which stands out at its 178-feet height and magnificent, beautifully restored frescoes in all their pastel beauty. A cheap admission of about $2.50 will pay the entrance fee to the tower for the privilege of climbing the 162-steps of the spiral staircase to the very top for a heart-stopping panoramic view of the city. Two of the four bells hanging in the tower date back to 1406 and other small bells known as clock bells are estimated to be four-hundred-plus years old.
Perhaps because of its awe-inspiring size, the castle enjoyed centuries of quiet and prosperity and the Vltava River served as an important trade route in Bohemia. The castle and its lands passed peacefully between families from the original Lords of Krumlov in the 13th century to the Lords of Rosenberg who reigned over the region's Celtic, German and Slavic descendants for three centuries until about 1600 and played host to artists, scientists and merchants from all over Europe. The Castle was sold to the House of Eggenburg and the town became the seat of the Duchy of Krumlov for about a century until it passed in 1719 to the House of Schwarzenberg who governed for over two centuries. Seized by the Nazis from its last private owner, Adolph Schwarzenberg, in 1940 and then confiscated by the Czechoslovak government in 1945 during the Communist era, the castle was neglected and ill-maintained as was the town until after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Today, careful restoration and its inclusion into the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 has guaranteed that this fairy-tale city and castle can be enjoyed by the citizens of the Czech Republic and people from all over the world.
As far as we're concerned, Český Krumlov is a town that zaps you back in time and can only be described in superlatives. We spent much of our time there gawping, head-swiveling, jaw-dropping, finger-pointing and stretching our lips into wide grins while we rhapsodized over this Bohemian treasure. Be sure to include it on your "Must See" list and don't forget to wear your comfortable walking shoes!


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I don't know enough about Alex Jones to like him or hate him, but whenever I hear him talk I feel like I'm being sub-consciously sold something.
I figured some of you would like to see the video.
Hat tip: Aaron
I don't know enough about Alex Jones to like him or hate him, but whenever I hear him talk I feel like I'm being sub-consciously sold something.
I figured some of you would like to see the video.
Hat tip: Aaron
Jones can either be spot-on or annoying as hell. Either way, he's correct about this.
He's often both. Occasionally I hear what he's saying and I agree with it, but still want to stove in his skull with a mace.
how do U KNOW he's correct? give me the website for your crystal ball.
This is spot on, very scary
How is this spot on? You can own guns in Chicago, not saying I support Chicago, or disapprove of Alex Jones but that is inaccurate.
Sort-of, but , Chicago outlawed the sale and possession of handguns way back in 1982. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the handgun ban, saying it was in violation of the Second Amendment. Legislators rewrote the law, spelling out how Chicagoans could obtain gun permits and who could get them. In the first 12 months they issued VERY few permits (one report was single digit). They were still being sued in district court and federal court. Judges are referring tot he Supreme Court ruling over and over.
In late July, the City Council amended the ordinance to eliminate any ambiguity. The revised law permanently prohibits violent felons from owning guns, and anyone convicted of committing a violent misdemeanor faces a five-year ban. People found guilty of a nonviolent misdemeanor may still apply for a gun permit. It is expected with the new revision permits will start to rise after January 1st. Right now it is still pretty hard to get a permit.
Or you just keep it in your closet and deal with the ramifications later and only if you are required to arm yourself.
No one is going door to door looking for firearms in Chicago.
So 30 years of no handguns? Thats worked out well for them. lol
He just kicked that caller's ass. LOL.
Can someone who wathced this summarize for me? I can't listen to Alex Jones for more than a minute or two before I get annoyed and have to stop.
I don't care if there's a million dollars waiting for me at the end of the video, i just cant make it.
Is this just more alarmist crap?
Yes it is. Derps like this guy are the 1s who likely spawn derps like vigilant sphincter and his ilk
Yep, another empty blow-hole trying to fearmonger and add to the disinformation age we're in. In the 90's he would be spot on. Gun rights have for the most part improved steadily in the 2000's, much of which has happened in the last 4-6 years. Further evidence is the fear democrats have to propose and pass bills with bans in them. They've more than had their chance and failed because they're cowards. Not saying they won't get mobilized against guns but they fear having to work for a living and want to stay in office for as many terms as they can so that means don't rock the boat.
Good point about the Dems having has and passed up the chance to pass more natioanl level gun control. They could have pushed it through when they had the house and senate during Obummer's first two years. Instead they left it alone and focused on health care, etc. Not entirely sure if they were just preoccupied with other things or if they really feared the election day backlash. I have a feeling that it was both.
As far as the points that Alex Jones brings up:
– Feinstein can bring up a new A.W. ban all she wants, it would be near impossible to get it throught the House of Reps. Most likely she is grandstanding for her political base.
– The U.N. can draw up treaties all it wants. I seriously doubt that it would get ratified by Congress. Parts of Africa can barter away their subjects rights in exchange for sacks of grain and whatever else the U.N. promises them. Americans will not take kindly to their constitutional rights being given away to the U.N.
– The U.N. can draw up treaties all it wants. I seriously doubt that it would get ratified by Congress. Parts of Africa can barter away their subjects rights in exchange for sacks of grain and whatever else the U.N. promises them. Americans will not take kindly to their constitutional rights being given away to the U.N.
The problem is it is not Congress, but the Senate that ratifies treaties. Yes the house can hold it up if money is involved, but that means the House would have to defund BATFE, DOJ, IRS, Secret Service, FBI and several other agencies that already investigate "gun crimes". Who is running the Senate?
So some of it sounds far-fetched, but I won't dismiss it summarily. I won't use the word conspiracy, but will at least hold the question in mind.
Cliff's notes (paraphrasing, not exact quotes..):
1. Jones talks about ridiculous regulations, restrictions and bans. Tells people to read them on his site.
2. Jones says firearms are for defense and to stop tyranny. Reads news snippets about UN gun treaty.
3. Jones takes call from Obama supporter who says "when did Obama say he'd ban guns?"
4. Jones immediately plays clip of Obama saying we to try to "get assault weapons ban reintroduced"
5. Jones plays clip of Rahm Emmanuel talking about putting people on no-fly list and banning their gun.
6. Caller is in denial, calls Jones names.. Jones takes caller's ranting by shrugging it off then proceeds to show documents, articles, and evidence that guns are on the radar.
7. A reporter working for Jones quotes Feinstein article where she expresses her desire for a new assault weapons ban, private sales ban, high cap mag ban, and pistol grip ban.
8. Same reporter reads article where Obama in 2003 says he believes in "reasonable restrictions" and wants to ban "hand guns and ammunition." He reads article where AG Eric Holder says "we must brainwash people against guns…like we did with cigarettes."
9. Reporter then talks of article where Holder mentions his desire to reinstate the ban of assault weapons. Shortly after he quotes Emmanuel saying STFU about guns (presumably out of fear people will see they plan to ban guns).
10. Jones plays clip of Eric Holder talking about demonizing guns.
11. Reporter quotes Holder addressing Congress reiterating his prior "assault weapons ban support."
12. Jones says "so-called Liberals" are authoritarians of a different stripe and play games trying to make ignorant people think they are really just reasonable people making sure bad guys don't get guns, but in reality they intend to take them all. Total abolition is their goal.
13. No votes against finalizing UN gun ban treaty according to current news headline.
14. Another reporter says they revisited the UN treaty because Fast and Furious made it unpopular the first time they held a vote on it and now they have strong support after Obama's re-election.
15. Jones continues with expose on UN gun treaty details.
16. Jones says Defense Dept will decide who gets a gun.
17. Once ratified the UN will need 67 Senators to ratify the treaty and the UN will have control over details of treaty from that point on. Essentially giving UN control of US gun ownership and regulations.
18. UN banned legal small arms in parts of Africa by treaty.
19. Jones closes show with "slaves are disarmed."
Whew. Hope I got that right.
You forgot to add in the notes about 25 calgon soap/ E-Food commercials. Other wise very good notes.
Damn. Knew I forgot some thing. ;)
and all that means? Obama is a-comin' fer our gunzz? :)
with all that accurate typing..it mounts to what? :) them there guvvamint critterz is a-comin' fer our gunzz?
This guy, Alex Jones disrupted an Austin Texas 2nd Amendment Rally!
ALEX JONES IS A DISINFO AGENT! I like what he says but he is being used against us! Dont believe me? Watch this video and you tell me what you see…
Just watched that vid u linked. bunch of bs. alex jones is the only guy speaking the truth. that vid was edited and done to make it all anti alex jones. always look inbetween things. question everyting. don't be a sheep
MY BAD, that video was the wrong one.. it is edited. Here is the one I meant to copy, there are a few out there and the ones of the whole incident which I saved in my playlist YouTube deleted for some reason. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TACalwg360c
I am not a sheep, I am a sheepdog and ALEX JONES is a wolf.
Alex Jones is a disinformation mouthpiece for the conspiracy nuts. He's in entertainment, not news. His goal is to make money, and he'll say whatever he has to say to keep making money.
Though, in the future, using the phrase "I am not a sheep, I am a sheepdog" makes you sound like James Yeager.
The challenge I have with people like this is in the middle of what they are saying is some solid truth, but then he tosses in these 'crazy things' while talking about it.
Yes, NY, IL, and CA have nutter laws, draconian, whatever.
Agenda 21? WTF is that? When you toss in these wild conspiracy things in the middle of it makes people like me turn off and lose interest.
That being said, the house does have a GOP majority, and contrary to popular believe the executive branch and the senate can't pass that law without the house. While I am no fan of the current iteration of the GOP we can have them tempering these extreme things. THe key would be that they don't continue their complete 'if you had the idea, we'll ban it' method of legislation because people will get tired of them and vote em out.
Agenda 21 would be a conspiracy theory if it wasn't in place. My city council have referred to it as a model for years.
I donno he carried Yeager.
I listen to jones every now and then when he has an interesting guest. But he is too loud and a real panic monger. I mean he is just hard to listen to.
Alex Jones is nuttier than squirrel shit, that's for sure. He is not someone we want to be associated with the fight against firearms legislation.
I think he is crazy like a fox. How much money does he make off of his Info Wars business?
you said it and said it well.
For fuck's sake.
Fuck Alex Jones. He tried telling Chris Kyle he didnt really do much, and all his work was "easy" and that alex can shoot dear at 1000Y blah blah. You should never give your account of a story to crazy conspiricy theorists because they will make up their own version anyway.
I just had to have this conversation with someone the other day.
First off, the small arms treaty has nothing to do with individual rights to own guns. Secondly, even if it did, the Constitution trumps any treaties ratified by congress.
So even if the treaty did call for the disarmament of U.S. citizens and even if we did sign and ratify it we would still get our guns. The second amendment would still be a higher law.
I'm going to share this second part because I hope it will quell alot of disinformation and a few of you may be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.
The person I was talking with about the treaty went on to point out that during Katrina, guns were confiscated by the national guard and U.S. marshals. It is important to note though, that it was not FEMA or the military or the DOJ who gave the order. It was New Orleans police superintendent Eddie Compass. A local cop. Following the confiscation in New Orleans the NRA, SAF, and GOA filed lawsuits with the district courts which led to the passing of Louisiana House bill 760. Which you can read here: http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=372436
It states that your guns can not be confiscated by law enforcement so long as you're legally in possession of the firearm. And because the confiscation order was given during the chaos of Katrina, the bill specifically mentions that this applies to times of "emergency or disaster".
21 other states passed similar laws throughout 2006 and President Bush ended up signing the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act into federal law which essentially says the same thing. Your guns can't be taken. The DRPP was then made an amendment to the DHS Appropriations Act of 2007.
The government is not coming for our guns. In fact, they've done just about everything they can to prevent them coming for our guns having passed laws from the state to the federal level specifically to prevent gun confiscation.
You're right — we should sign and abide by the treaty. Let's do it right after Turkey, Iran, Egypt, North Korea, Russia, Syria, China, Cuba and Venezuela sign and abide by it.
Dan said: "It states that your guns can not be confiscated by law enforcement so long as you're legally in possession of the firearm."
Isn't that the point?
I never said we should sign it. I only said that even if we did our guns would be just fine.
This guy makes a living based upon the fears of an irrational demographic. The 2nd amendment gives us our right to have guns. They CAN NOT take them. But hey…they're welcome to try!
MOLON LABE Bitches!!!!!!!!!
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Last week, Microsoft unveiled its latest attack against Google's search empire: SearchPerks!, a program that rewards users with tickets for searching that can then later be redeemed for prizes. The idea has potential, but the software giant stumbled when it came to the execution. Redmond likely decided to launch SearchPerks! based on its impression of how well Live Search Cashback, which went live in May, was doing. The cashback program lets searchers use Live Search to find the cheapest store that a product is being offered at, and then also receive a portion of the purchase price back from Microsoft (based on a percentage determined by the retailer). The results for Live Search Cashback weren't so bad a month in, and according to Hitwise Intelligence, new data shows the service is now starting to pick up.
It's common knowledge on the web that Google continues to slowly and surely steal market share from both Yahoo and Microsoft, but as we've pointed out, just how well Google is doing really depends on whose metrics you look at. In our review of the past 18 months of data, we noticed that Hitwise showed that Microsoft's US search market share was on a slow decline. More recent data from the Experian company, however, which can take the effects of Live Search Cashback into account, shows that although Google continues to grow, and Yahoo continues to shrink, Microsoft's market share has stabilized a bit over the past three months.
Data from NetApplications (neither comScore nor Nielsen have released data for September) shows that Google and Microsoft are both stealing market share from Yahoo. This is worth noting because NetApplications' numbers are not just limited to the US, so if there is an upward trend starting to emerge for Live Search, it is not just due to Live Search Cashback's positive performance (which is only available in the US). In recent months, Microsoft has been working particularly hard at tweaking, improving, and adding features to Live Search, so it is quite possible that this increase is simply due to Live Search improving and getting increased news coverage, resulting in more users giving the service a shot.
According to Hitwise, Live Search Cashback is nonetheless growing in popularity in the US. For the week ending July 12, 3.75 percent of the traffic to Live.com was for Live Search Cashback, but by the week ending September 27, that was up to 6.29 percent. Live Search Cashback ranked as the 12th most-used search engine in the US. That increase alone is staggering, but it may be temporary.
In August, Microsoft increased the cash back consumers receive (up to double the rewards back) for millions of products from hundreds of participating retailers, in anticipation for the back-to-school shopping craze. This promotion ended in September though, so data for October should tell us if the increase in Live Search Cashback usage will be continuing. Then again, there's the upcoming holiday shopping season, which could see shoppers continuing to take advantage of the program.
In the end, these redeeming programs haven't been around long enough to give us some truly conclusive evidence. Right now, there's still a huge gap between Microsoft's search product and Yahoo, but it appears that Microsoft's effort spent improving Live Search and launching these promotional programs appears to have paid off over the past three months.


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T6 Cleared
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good job guys`n girls
Beware of the orc's, they look scary !!
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Big grats on your T6 completion
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Big Congrazzies ppl, nice work
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Naked intruder shot after homeowner says he choked dog
Man wouldn't give police his name
A naked intruder shot after allegedly throttling a Miami family's dog and trying to bite its owner is refusing to cooperate with authorities.
Police said the homeowner heard the dog barking at about 5 a.m. Wednesday and went to investigate. The homeowner saw the naked man trying to choke the animal and rushed to free it, according to police, who also said the naked man bit the homeowner.
ALSO: More Weird Headlines On WPBF.com
The homeowner told police he feared for his life and shot the intruder while other family members called 911.
The intruder was hit once but continued to put up a fight after officers arrived. He eventually was arrested and taken to a hospital, where refused to provide his name.
Police said the intruder faces multiple charges, including animal cruelty.


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Potenziani Constitutional Law Lecture by Professor Akhil Amar
Akhil Reed Amar is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, where he teaches constitutional law at both Yale College and Yale Law School. He received his B.A, summa cum laude, in 1980 from Yale College, and his J.D. in 1984 from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of The Yale Law Journal. After clerking for Judge Stephen Breyer, U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, Professor Amar joined the Yale faculty in 1985. Along with Dean Paul Brest and Professors Sanford Levinson, Jack Balkin, and Reva Siegel, Professor Amar is the co-editor of a leading constitutional law casebook, Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking. He is also the author of several books, including The Constitution and Criminal Procedure: First Principles (Yale Univ. Press, 1997), The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction (Yale Univ. Press, 1998), America's Constitution: A Biography (Random House, 2005), and most recently, America's Unwritten Constitution: The Precedents and Principles We Live By (Basic Books, 2012).


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2008 NMRA Bowling Green Race - No Holds Barred
NMRA's 10th Year Closes In Dramatic Fashion At The 2008 Battle Of Bowling Green
Horse Sense: In a nutshell, we think the annual Nitto NMRA All-Ford World Finals is best described as the complete and total takeover of Bowling Green, Kentucky, by Mustang racers and enthusiasts from all walks of life. If you haven't been part of this happening yet, we strongly suggest you make plans to be there in 2009.
At the risk of sounding like we're discrediting all of the preceding races in 2008 (and believe us, we're not), the 10th Annual Nitto NMRA All-Ford World Finals, held at Beech Bend Raceway, was by-far the most exciting event of the year and arguably the best season-ender we've witnessed in a long time.
A record eight class championships were still undecided going into the World Finals--in many cases, only a few points separated points leaders and their closet challengers--and several racers proceeded to rewrite the record books with unfathomable e.t.'s or speeds (Conrad Scarry, Pro Outlaw 10.5, 217.28 mph; John Urist, Super Street Outlaw, 7.356 seconds; Ryan Hecox, Tremec Pure Street, 10.182 at 131.84 mph; Tommy Godfrey, ACT Factory Stock, 11.072 seconds) and critical round wins--in some cases, in nail-biting fashion. They thrashed through engine, transmission, and other broken-parts swaps (Tim Matherly swapped a wounded Two-Valve for a fresh modular bullet between the fenders of his Real Street 'Stang and was ready to race in a mind-bending 62 minutes) in their effort to earn number one status in their respective classes.
The way we see it, the Nitto NMRA All-Ford World Finals isn't just a drag race; it's an experience (at the racer level) full of energy, pressure, emotion, and competitive spirit that seems to take the phrase "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" to the next level during each round of eliminations.
The Finals experience also includes the colors and bling of beautiful Ponies on display in the car show, an enormous swap meet and vendor midway, and, of course, our own extremely popular King of the Street competition, which showcases the performance and appearance qualities of some of the hottest, street-driven Mustangs in the country. (Associate Editor Mike Johnson will unveil the '08 King of the Street event in the May issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords.)
We were there to take it all in. Check out the following photos and captions to see how it all went down.
Bowling Green's official Ms. NMRA was back again this season, and Web Producer Patrick Hill's camera aim kept drifting toward her. We're guessing his wasn't the only one.
Tech Editor KJ Jones met the Harris family (dad, Trenton; mom, Sherry; sons, Walter, Tony, and Todd) while perusing the wares of manufacturers and vendors in the midway area at the NMRA World Finals. Trenton is working on a four-eyed Fox body of his own and tells us our T-top coupe inspired him to start his project (a street/strip big-block 'Stang), which he hopes will be completed by the time the NMRA Express rolls into Bowling Green in 2009.
Scott Lovell has spent the '08 season at the wheel of Bob Cook's Fox GT while Bob's been racing the Sutton Performance S197 car. (Bob won the EFI Renegade championship, by the way.) The Swill Crew has been going rounds, but at Bowling Green the wheels just about fell off their program during Friday's test and tune session when water got under the tires, causing Scott to lose control of the car and kiss the wall. Scott was dejected, thinking his weekend was over. However, the rest of the Swill Racing crew had other ideas. The guys had the Sticker Dude-wrapped car back as straight as possible using a mini-sledgehammer, a golf cart, and a tow strap. John Urist welded the leaky radiator; UPR Products hooked the guys up with new lights and an alternator pulley; and the Sutton Performance guys donated a couple front tires to replace the flat-spotted donuts up front, as well as some scrumptious steaks for dinner. "We got knocked out in the second round," Scott says, "but the weekend will go down in my memories as one of the best ever in my time here with the NMRA."
While Hot Street is typically the class where wheelstands reign supreme, the first round of qualifying saw the EFI Renegade boys finding the big hook. Headlining the wheelstand show was Chris Beary in his '97 Cobra. He didn't fair as well in competition, as he fell to eventual winner Bart Tobener in the first round, but Chris left an impression on our cameras.
Justin Burcham and Vinny Barber squared off in a best-two-out-of-three match race to settle their long-running Internet debate over which racer owns the baddest (quickest, fastest, turbo versus supercharger) Three-Valve S197 in the country. With their exciting showdown going down to the wire and both 'Stangs running solidly in the 8s, Vinny and his 88mm turbocharged GT won the battle. However, with Justin's ProCharger-supercharged/nitrous-sprayed Pony posting markedly better e.t. and mph numbers in the losing effort, we're pretty sure the war between the two racers (and power-adders) is far from over.
Pro Outlaw 10.5
With the Pro Outlaw 10.5 points title secured at Columbus, Conrad Scarry and his Scarry Crew teammates' focus was on simply going rounds and winning the event, which was something that they were able to make look easy for most of the '08 season despite major setbacks. "This feels great," said Conrad of his championship and event win. "My team is the best. Even when we're up against it (a blown head gasket and lifted ring land during a qualifying pass forced the team to perform overnight engine surgery at the World Finals), everybody worked together and worked hard to get the car ready, round after round. We're probably going to make some changes on the car that will allow us to race in other select events, but we'll definitely be back in the NMRA to defend our Number One."
"We got our 6-second pass (a 6.954) and I'm happy about that, but of course we wanted to leave here with a win," said Pro Outlaw 10.5 runner-up Ron Lummus. Until the final, he ran no quicker than 7.111 in round wins over Mike DeMayo, who entered the class as an opportunity to test before heading to the NMCA World Finals, and Mike Murrillo, whose reconfigured Star Car (turbos moved from the trunk to the front) was way off the pace. "The learning curve for putting power on the ground with this car has been steep, but my team worked hard this weekend and I'm really proud of them," said Ron. "Once we figure out what the car is trying to say to us, I'm pretty sure we're going to do well."
Super Street Outlaw
After becoming the first Super Street Outlaw racer to win three championships in a row, we felt compelled to ask John Urist if he's getting bored. His response was a flat "no." John obviously loves racing in the 10-inch-tire Freak Show, and apparently loves being the man to beat. At the World Finals, John laid down the law with a blistering 7.36 at 191 mph, which earned him an exhaustive teardown that included scoping out every inch of his ride and even looking at the data logs. John says his new Fox chassis works better than its New Edge predecessor. Obviously he made it through, as he was on the pole Sunday morning. Though a broken rocker arm slowed him in eliminations, his car still had steam and John was quick enough on the tree to take out Kentucky Sam Vincent and A.J. Powell en route to an anti-climactic championship clash with Don Burton in the finals.
Long the nitrous big-block foil to John Urist's blown small-block machine, Don "Burndown" Burton's machine was in the mix till the end. Having qualified in the third spot, Don bested Chris Tuten and Urist teammate Dwayne James; then rode a bye into the finals. As the drama built on the starting line, Don cleaned out his motor with his customary four revs and pulled it to the line. When the tree dropped, a small backfire escaped from the carb, and Don's car stalled as John blasted off for the go-ahead win. Don said he's never had such a backfire in all his years of racing, and added that it wasn't a nitrous backfire or his scoop wouldn't be in one place. The crowd was disappointed not to see another titanic battle in SSO, but obviously not as disappointed as Don.
Drag Radial
Talk about a good way to close out the year. Matt Bell spent a good part of the weekend working on his Fox GT's tune-up. Matt had traction issues Friday and Saturday as he couldn't quite master the car's AMS1000 boost controller, but he finally got the right tune in the car Sunday morning. The car kept getting quicker each round by sneaking up on the tune. Matt's car was built by Behind Bars Race Cars' Chris "Noodles" Hemmeter, and Noodles even raced the car for a while. Matt and Noodles have worked together to update the car whenever the need arises, but the car still boasts a Rich Groh Racing 356ci with Ford Racing Performance Parts Z304 heads, a Parker Funnel Web intake, a Precision 85mm single turbo, and a Performance Transmissions PowerGlide with a Neal Chance converter. Being consistent at Bowling Green kept Matt in the hunt, getting him to the final against John Kolivas where John rolled through the beams, giving Matt his first NMRA victory.
Well, if the '08 World Finals is the last race in John Kolivas' NMRA race career, it didn't exactly turn out the way he wanted it. John had the car ready to go racing, but he didn't have much chance to do any of his usual testing before Bowling Green. John's Bennett Racing-pushrod, single-turbo combo made really good power on Southern Speed's "stingy" Mustang Dynamometer, but translating that into e.t. is another thing, especially in Drag Radial. John and his crew dealt with a transmission issues during eliminations at Bowling Green, which caused him to roll through the beams in the final against Matt Bell. If this is your last NMRA rodeo John, we've enjoyed watching you and your Cobra fly down the track.
EFI Renegade
"That money is mine!" Yes, we definitely had to go there with Bart Tobener. While Bart's confident on-camera declaration didn't quite pan out the way he wanted it to at the PINKS All-Out event in Atlanta, his 8.54/162 final-round performance in Bowling Green guaranteed he would receive a big check and contingency payouts as the EFI Renegade winner at the NMRA World Finals. "There's really not a lot to say about this win. I usually have to fix or change something on the car, but this time I didn't even have to change the plugs," Bart said.
Brian Tuten's nitrous-powered 'Stang made the most of outstanding weather conditions and performed like a mid-8-second Swiss watch all the way up to the EFI Renegade final. Despite Brian's killer 0.026 reaction time, traction issues slowed his coupe to a far-off-pace 9.394 e.t. against Bart Tobener. Brian's BMF Racing camp didn't change the tune or make any chassis adjustments. It was just a matter of the track not being what it was in previous rounds.
Hot Street
Number-two qualifier Ben Mens carried consistent 8.70s and 154 mph speed all the way to the win in the Hot Street final. "We struggled all week to get out of the shop, and then battled a fuel-system issue when we got here that left us with only one opportunity to get down the track and qualify," Ben said. The recurring fuel problem wasn't fully resolved until the semifinal versus Charlie Booze. "Charlie went up on the bumper, but played it right with the changes and the car went right on through." The victory secured Ben's third-place finish in the class, which was his goal after being set back by an accident prior to the Milan, Michigan, race.
Despite losing to Ben Mens at in the Hot Street final at Bowling Green, Robbie Blankenship was full of thanks to Ben for beating Charlie Booze in the semifinal (and in their meeting at Columbus), which ultimately secured the overall class title for Robbie. "Having Ben back was a big help and really got us back in the game," said Robbie. "This feels great. We'll definitely be back in Hot Street with the same program--Ben Mens/Roush engine and Matukas chassis."
Real Street
We might now refer to an against-all-odds comeback as a "Hemminger" story if it wasn't already referred to as a "Cinderella" story. Sure it's been done in Real Street before at the 11th hour by the likes of Chris Tuten, but Bruce Hemminger missed the first two races of the season and needed everything to go his way to take home his first-ever Real Street championship. Bruce qualified hot on the heels of class dominator Tim Matherly, thus putting himself on the opposite side of the ladder. Bruce took out Real Street stalwart Paul Wiley, and newcomer Jim Pickel broke, clearing Bruce's way for an apparent clash with Tim. That didn't happen, and Bruce laid three tenths on rookie Kevin Scott to take the win and the championship. Having raced the class since its early days, Bruce was full of emotion at earning his first Diamond Tree ring and burning through four transmissions to do it. He explained that he'd been wanting this for so long he would "need a raincoat at PRI," meaning he'd likely be brought to tears during his championship acceptance speech.
Although Bruce Hemminger's meteoric comeback is surprising, it's just as surprising to see Tim Matherly's freight train of consistency derailed before it arrived at championship station. Again the number-one qualifier, Tim was set up early with a first-round bye, and in the second round he was the obvious favorite to pick off Jim Pickell and head into the semis against Kevin Scott. Alas, those best laid plans were waylaid by a 25-pound disparity between Tim's race weight and the rulebook. Tim's team seemed shocked by the difference, saying the car weighed in heavy the prior round, and the only change was swapping in a fresh engine.
Remember when Real Street race cars could be competitive running a stock short-block? Well, Kevin Scott sure does, because he made in to the finals at Bowling Green with a stock short-block. Knowing he was on borrowed time, Kevin plans to add a new engine before next season, but his success with such an attainable combo brought a smile to Editor Turner's face. Kevin says he's been testing and tuning with his combo, and he keeps learning things that make it run better. In fact, save for his bye run, Kevin kept getting quicker throughout eliminations, running, a 9.96/135 versus Bruce in the finals. We can't wait to see what his clean four-eyed Fox will bring to the table next season.
Though he only qualified seventh and went out in the first round against Dave Ginter, we just had to run a shot of Michael Bell getting in on the first-round wheelstand party that really got wild later on as the EFI Renegade racers got into the act. If you can't run a huge number, at least you can please the crowd by putting on a show. If you're going to keep this up next season, Michael, you better get some sponsor stickers on that K-member!
Pure Street
Bad Brad Meadows restored his nickname at Bowling Green after taking a brief hiatus from racing in the Pure Street ranks due to family issues. Brad didn't do too much to get the car ready for Bowling Green besides dust it off. The crew performed routine maintenance, such as changing the plugs on his carbureted combination, avoiding the teardowns popular in Pure Street and Factory Stock. Brad has run basically the same combination the past couple years, and it finally came together for him at the World Finals. He has runner-up'd three years in a row, so finally getting the win was huge. "I really wanted to win this race, and I finally got it done," Brad said.
Brandon Alsept lost the battle at Bowling Green but won the war--in the fact that he won the Pure Street Championship for 2008. Brandon battled weight revisions and transmission failures all year, but he battled back each time, staying near the top by going rounds at every race. Brandon's four-valve enjoyed the cooler weather at Bowling Green, running consistent 10.30s. He then ran a Sunday Pure Street best 10.22 at 131 mph, but a 10.33 wasn't enough to get past Brad Meadows' 10.29 in the final.
Factory Stock
Tommy Godfrey came to Bowling Green in classic JPC Racing style, meaning he was sleep-deprived from thrashing on cars back at the shop. His first pass off the trailer he ran an 11.28, which is really stout for Factory Stock. However, Tommy broke a tooth off second gear on that pass so he had to swap it out that night. He then got a speeding ticket on the way to the hotel. (JPC needs a motor home, Justin.) After being awake for 36 hours straight, Tommy was not enthused about the ticket, so he took it out on the rest of the Factory Stock class by blasting out an 11.09 at 120 mph during the second round of qualifying. Of course, that pass meant Tommy would spend some quality time with the NMRA Tech Department Saturday night, and more sleep deprivation would follow. But the engine was found legal, and Tommy went on to win the race, set a new Factory Stock record, and win the championship for the second year in a row. Who thought an E7-headed combination would run 11.0s, but Tommy's ride utilizes a Rich Groh Racing 311ci short-block and heads, a Cobra intake, a JLT Performance cold air, a Bassani Xhaust system, and HP Motorsport suspension components.
Factory Stock racer Jay Dold purchased Jeff Schmell's Mach 1 for racing the '08 season. We remember Jay hot-lapping the car at Bradenton to get seat time. At Bowling Green, Jay put together a solid effort with an 11.41/118-mph qualifying pass. Jay hung around the 11.40 range during eliminations, and those times were enough to get him to the final against Tommy Godfrey, but with Tommy running bottom 11s, Jay will have to wait till 2009 to get another shot at victory.
Modular Muscle
In Modular Muscle, Reggie Burnett Jr. ended his NMRA season the way he started it, winning the event. After starting the season with a well-earned win at Bradenton, Reggie came to Bowling Green hoping to wrap up his season on a high note. But on the way, it seemed like the universe was trying to keep him and his father, Reggie Burnett Sr., from making it to the race. After surviving three different breakdowns, a wrong turn, and having to hunt for gas at 6:30 in the morning, the Burnett crew pulled into Beech Bend ready to race. When eliminations came on Sunday, everything seemed to be going Reggie's way. After an easy first-round win, Reggie was set to face off against his father until Senior's car broke at the line. Then in the third round, Reggie cut a bad light (0.103 to a 0.059) and Jeff Stafford jumped out to a healthy lead. But Reggie made up the distance, ultimately running a 11.119 on a 11.10 dial-in to Stafford's 12.783 on a 12.71 dial-in for the win. After a fourth-round bye, Reggie lined up against Brad Elander's '98 Cobra, but Elander fell asleep at the line, cutting a 0.157 light to Reggie's 0.050. Braking hard through the finish line, Reggie came out on top for the Bowling Green win.
Open Comp
Winning Bowling Green meant more than just winning for Stacy Estel. Up until 2008, Stacy had run every event on the NMRA circuit, along with his wife, Sarah. After starting the season out running Paul Svinicki's V-6-powered S197 at Bradenton, Stacy stopped racing to help Sarah in her battle with thyroid cancer. On June 12, Sarah was pronounced cancer free, and plans were made to run the rest for the season. However Stacy's stepfather was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and family being more important, Stacy stepped away from racing again to lend a hand. He was going to skip Bowling Green for his stepfather's treatment until he received a phone call from friend and former teammate Lew Workman the Sunday before the event. One of Stacy's former crewmembers, Ronnie Thompson, had been killed in a four-wheeler accident the night before. Stacy and his stepfather talked things over, and Stacy decided to race at Bowling Green and win in honor of Ronnie. The weekend started out great for Stacy, who took the number-one qualifier spot for the Open Comp class, but it got a little hairy after the second round of eliminations when Stacy hurt his transmission. Keeping his fingers crossed and talking to his mother and stepfather between rounds, Stacy kept things going all the way to winning the Open Comp class at Bowling Green. On his win, Stacy had this to say: "I want to dedicate the win to Rusty Dozer and Ronnie Thompson, may they rest in peace. I also would like to dedicate it to my stepdad, Chuck, and my close friend Lew, may they keep fighting and be able to overcome the illnesses they are experiencing. Special thanks to my wife, Sarah; Paul and Rhonda Svinicki; Paul and Shelly Rosner; Peter Rogowski; Ron Cates; Brian Dow; SPEC Clutches; and JPC."
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Jeff Beamish
Jeff Beamish works as newspaper editor and reporter in Metro Vancouver, where he lives with his family. He has been fortunate to find inspiration in the strange and moving stories that present themselves each day in the newsroom, as well as in the stunningly beautiful scenery in the Pacific Northwest. Sneaker Wave is his first novel.
Laurie Block
Laurie Block is a poet, playwright and storyteller. He was born in Winnipeg and now lives in Brandon, Manitoba. His previous work includes a chapbook of poetry, Governing Bodies, and a bilingual collection of poems, Foreign Graces/Bendiciones Ajenas, based on his experiences in South America. He is also the author of a full-length play, The Tomato King, produced by Theatre Projects of Manitoba in 1997, and a short piece, Pop! His short story, While the Librarian Sleeps, won the 2003 Prairie Fire fiction contest and, most recently, The National Magazine Award Gold Medal for fiction. Time Out of Mind is the winner of the inaugural Lansdowne Poetry Prize.
Hiro Boga
Hiro Boga was born in Bombay in 1949 and moved to the west coast of Canada in 1976. She holds an M.F.A. degree in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. Her popular novel Shahnaz was published in Canada by Oolichan Books in 2000 and released by Penguin Books on the Indian subcontinent in 2002.
Brian Brett
Brian Brett has been writing and publishing since the late 1960s. He has also been involved in an editorial capacity with several publishing firms including the Governor-General Award winning Blackfish Press.
In the early seventies, he began working as a freelance journalist and critic for various publications and newspapers across the country. His journalism has appeared in almost every major newspaper in Canada, and his essays in most of the major magazines.
Brian Brett inaugurated the B.C. Poetry-In-The-Schools program, introducing children in schools to world poetry. He has been a member of literary organizations ranging from P.E.N. International to the Writer's Union of Canada amongst others. In May 2005 Brian Brett became the Chair of The Writer's Union of Canada.
His last collection of poems/memoir, Uproar's Your Only Music, was a Globe and Mail top 100 book of the year. His recent memoir/history, Trauma Farm, is the winner of the 2009 Writers' Trust of Canada Non-Fiction Prize, was long-listed for the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, nominated for the BC Booksellers' Choice Award, nominated for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, and nominated for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize. It is a Canadian best seller, an Amazon top 100 book of 2009, a Globe and Mail top 100 book for 2009, and a Times Literary Supplement top 100 book for 2009!
Brian Brett currently lives on a farm with his family on Salt Spring Island, B.C., where he cultivates his garden and creates ceramic forms.


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Kim Novak speaks out against Oscar night 'bullies'
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Novak says that cruel jabs about how she looked during the Oscar ceremony amounted to bullying that left her crushed at first, but then determined to speak out in protest.
"It really did throw me into a tailspin and it hit me hard," Novak, 81, said in a telephone interview Thursday, after she released an open letter condemning remarks by Donald Trump and others about her appearance.
In her letter, Novak said: "I will no longer hold myself back from speaking out against bullies. We can't let people get away with affecting our lives."
She had initially remained silent after serving as a presenter with Matthew McConaughey at the March 2 Academy Awards because the comments were so painful, Novak said from her home near the Rogue River in Oregon.
"For days, I didn't leave the house, and it got to me like it gets kids and teenagers" who are attacked, she said.
Trump tweeted during the Oscars that Novak should "sue her plastic surgeon," while others noted how unnaturally smooth-faced the veteran star of "Vertigo" and other classic films looked — even though actresses are pressured to look forever young.
"I'm not going to deny that I had fat injections in my face. They seemed far less invasive than a face lift," Novak wrote in her letter, adding, "In my opinion, a person has a right to look as good as they can, and I feel better when I look better."
Novak's Oscar night speech, which some observers characterized as halting, was the result of a pill she had taken to relax and a three-day fast, she said in her letter.
Novak wasn't the only older actress targeted at the Oscars. She was disturbed, she said, when ceremony host Ellen DeGeneres singled out audience member Liza Minnelli, 68, and pretended to mistake her for a male impersonator. "Good job, sir," DeGeneres said.
Novak said she retains dark memories of her years as a young actress in Hollywood, when she suffered from untreated bipolar disorder and was acutely sensitive to the industry's casual snideness and harsh reviews of her lesser films.
But the Oscar sniping took her aback, Novak said, because she had been given such a gracious welcome during a visit last year to Cannes, France, and gets warm notes from fans.
"I thought, 'Perhaps Hollywood is ready to receive me in a different way.' I was just not prepared for such a negative reaction and it just caught me off guard," she said.
Comments spread fast and far online, she said, and people don't realize you're listening. "It goes over in such a public way now," she said.
It was a commitment to appear at the TCM Film Festival last week that changed her mind about going public with her concerns. Novak, an artist with an upcoming exhibit at the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio, also showed one of her works, a "Vertigo"-related painting, at the festival.
She was well received during her initial appearance but felt she had to "take the bull by the horns" and deal openly with the treatment of her and Minnelli, she said. Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne agreed to discuss it during an interview that preceded a festival screening Saturday of her film "Bell, Book and Candle."
Novak, who said she takes medication for her disorder, decided afterward that she wanted to spread her message more widely and asked her longtime manager, Sue Cameron, to release the letter.
"I realized that I had to stand up not only for myself but for other people that don't have the courage to do so," Novak said. "I feel like I have a mission."


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The great King of Israel, David, committed adultery with another man's wife. To hide his sin, he had her husband killed. Problem solved? Not in the least. After the prophet Nathan confronts him with the severity of his deed, David admits to his sin. His full confession is recorded in Psalm 51. The verse that concerns us in this post is:
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Psalm 51:4 English Standard Version (ESV)
Speaking of David's confession, John Calvin says:
Against You only…I conceive his meaning to be, that though all the world should pardon him, he felt that God was the Judge with whom he had to do, that conscience hailed him to his bar, and that the voice of man could administer no relief to him, however much he might be disposed to forgive, or to excuse, or to flatter. His eyes and his whole soul were directed to God, regardless of what man might think or say concerning him.
…There is every reason to believe that David, in order to prevent his mind from being soothed into a false peace by the flatteries of his court, realized the judgment of God upon his offense, and felt that this was in itself an intolerable burden, even supposing that he should escape all trouble from the hands of his fellow-creatures.
On the import of the second couplet, Calvin says:
So that You may be justified…Any doubt upon the meaning of the words, however, is completely removed by the connection in which they are cited in Paul's Epistle to the Romans,
"For what if some did not believe? Shall God be unjust? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, 'That thou may be justified in thy sayings, and might overcome when thou art judged.'" — Romans 3:3, 4
Here the words before us are quoted in proof of the doctrine that God's righteousness is apparent even in the sins of men, and his truth in their falsehood.
To have a clear apprehension of their meaning, it is necessary that we reflect upon the covenant which God had made with David. The salvation of the whole world having been in a certain sense deposited with him by this covenant, the enemies of religion might take occasion to exclaim upon his fall, "Here is the pillar of the Church gone, and what is now to become of the miserable remnant whose hopes rested upon his holiness?"
…Aware that such attempts might be made to impugn the righteousness of God, David takes this opportunity of justifying [God's righteousness], and charging himself with the whole guilt of the transaction. He declares that God was justified…should he have spoken the sentence of condemnation against him for his sin, as [God] might have done but for his gratuitous mercy.
Of course, the knowledge that our sin offends God most should not excuse us from seeking our brother's or sister's forgiveness. However, we should fear all the more, having been forgiven by others, that we did sin against Him who purchased us at great cost to Himself.
Life of David, Lecture 13 – David and Bathsheba, R. C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries