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The Dashwood Sisters Tell All: A Modern Day Novel of Jane Austen by Beth Pattillo
So when I saw that this was by Beth Pattillo, I was like…
For those of you who don't know, my review of Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart did not go well…
I did not like that book at all. I thought it was absolutely horrible, a complete waste of my time. (If you want to read it, follow this link). So needless to say, I wasn't exactly thrilled to be reading another one of her books.
But did I hate this book? Keep reading to find out!
*Contains Spoilers*
Ellen (Elinor) and Mimi (Marianne) Douglas (Dashwood) have never been close or gotten along with each other. Ellen is the no-nonsense, sensible, wears comfortable clothes sister:
Mimi on the other hand is the dreamer, outgoing, friendly, doesn't always think things through, and a fashionista.
The book is split between the two as narrators and I have to say that I really enjoyed seeing into both sisters heads.
So the sisters are going on a walking tour of Hampshire, England to follow in the footsteps of Jane Austen.
I know awesome sounding right? Well not for these two as not only do they not get along, they also don't really like Jane Austen.
Their mother recently died from cancer and her will stated that they had to go on the tour together and release her ashes in "the most appropriate place" or else they get nothing.
The girls agree for sentiment and inheritance.
So of course Ellen the "sensible one" brought the right clothing and shoes for their hike, making sure she packed simply and lightly. Mimi on the other hand is a regular clotheshorse and not only has too much to carry but didn't bring the right things for the hike, looking good but not dressing appropriately.
They arrive at the hotel they will be staying at and meet the tall, good-looking, fifty-something, retired air force pilot, Tom Braddock (Colonel Brandon).
After he retired from the air force, he moved to England and does Austen tours as a sideline business.
Mimi really came on the tour for money more than sentiment. She knows that Ellen and her have a very slim chance of bonding and she really needs the money to achieve her dream; having a boutique in New York. Tom seems very nice, returning her left behind bag, but too old and serious. Besides Mimi can't be focusing on guys, she needs to keep her eyes on the prize.
So as Ellen unpacks, she pulls out a package that was sent to her by her mother. The lawyer told her that she had to bring it on the trip and she and Mimi have the task of "deciding what to do with it" after arriving in England.
Ellen decides to get some fresh air when she runs into the person she least expects, her old crush from college, Daniel. Nothing ever happened as he had a fiancé and Ellen wasn't the type of girl to try and break something like that up. Now however, Daniel is a antique dealer, and a single one at that.
Ellen tells Daniel why she is in "Jane Austen land", even though she is not a fan of the books. Daniel reveals that her mom actually arranged for him to come too. Ellen decides to open the package and discovers a book. And not just any book:
Private Property of Miss Cassandra Austen.
Do Not Read.
This Means You, Jane.
So Mimi arrives early to the meet and greet the other walkers, and finds out who she will be spending the next days with. There is a couple from Nashville, a couple from Nebraska, a television producer from New York, Karen; a retired lawyer from L.A., Charlotte; a few others but most importantly the gorgeous and richly dressed, British, Ethan Blackmore (Willoughby).
Mimi is excited and hoping to bag the guy, her own Austen-esque hero.
Daniel wants to take a closer look at the diary, but Ellen stops him. She wants to wait and of course talk to Mimi about it.
She hurriedly gets ready and runs down, looking for Mimi who tells her about Ethan. Before Ellen can meet him, they are interrupted by Mrs. Parrot, the lecturer on the tour. She asks them a lot of questions, and the already paranoid Ellen starts wondering of she knows about the diary they own.
Mimi tries to throw Daniel and Ellen together, but Ellen doesn't want to think on that, thwarting her plans.
After dinner, Ellen tells Mimi about the book and her fears that Mrs. Parrot knows about it all.
The two start reading the diary:
The first part of the diary is Cassandra warning Jane about showing her feelings. Cassandra is very much like Elinor/Ellen and Jane sounds like Marianne/Mimi. Cassandra hopes to marry Tom Fowle and worries over Jane's crush on Jack (who he is I don't know.)
The next day is the beginning of the hike, and after Ellen hides the book she joins the others. Ellen is thrilled yet uneasy seeing Daniel after all these years. It turns out that her old feelings are resurfacing.
They spend the hike talking about their lives, death of relationships, and Daniel's two kids.
Mimi in the other hand is trying as hard as she can to keep up with Ethan. It doesn't help that she is wearing the wrong shoes and her feet are killing her.
They talk with Mimi sharing, but Ethan revealing very little about him. *Warning Sign!*
Back away Mimi, far away!
As the reach the church on their hike, Mimi stops to rest and demeans herself. Why didn't she take the time to break in her boots. Why didn't she take the time to see her mom? Because she was afraid.
Tom comes to see her and check on her and the two have a lovely conversation.
Stay Mimi, stay!
She also discovers from Tom that their is a huge market for Jane Austen memorabilia (no duh) and LOTS of money can be made.
Mimi thinks this is great as selling the diary will help her achieve her dreams.
As Mimi continues walking with Ethan he points out his house. House to him, but "mansion" to us in the states. Mimi is floored by it. Ethan invites her over for a "private tour" and Mimi accepts.
No Mimi, no!
That night when they stop at a pub to eat, Tom comes over to Ellen to talk to her about Mimi. He is worried about her feet, as she is going to have some serious problems with them. Tom also warns Ellen that Ethan is no good, she better watch her sister.
They spend the time talking with Ellen telling Tom about why they are on the tour and her mother's attempt at matchmaking from the grave. Tom encourages her to not be afraid and try with Daniel if she still has feelings for him.
Afterwards the sisters have a real heart to heart. Ellen shares her frustrations at having to care for mom on her own, while Mimi shares her fears to come and see her. Then they talk about Daniel and Ethan.
"Maybe we are more alike than we think," Mimi said.
"What do you mean?"
"You're afraid to show your feelings to the man you love, and I'm afraid of what will happen if I can't hide mine."
Ellen talks to Mrs. Parrot at their next stop and asks questions about the Austen sisters. She also finds out that there are rumors of Cassandra's and Jane's diaries, but no truth in whether they actually exist. It is something that many people have been after to discover.
Later, Ellen goes to get a drink sand overhears Mrs. Parrot talking to someone about her. Creepy!
Before she can hear any more, Mimi comes up and announces her presence.
After a dinner of flirting by Ethan (gag) Mimi joins him to visit his house. He mentions his Austen heirlooms, and Mimi shares that she has Cassandra's diary.
No Mimi Why! Why! Why would you do that? You don't know anything about this guy! How can you trust him with such a secret?
Ethan isn't that "interested" in the diary, yeah right, and they continue looking at the house. They spend the rest of the night "kissing"…
Ellen meanwhile spends a restless night worried about Mimi, Daniel, and Mrs. Parrot. She decides to read more:
Cassandra talks more about how she wishes Jane would listen and know that Jack Smith is no good. She has tried to get her father to send Jane away, but he won't. She decides that she will have to do something. Also the words along, the, narrow, way, it, goes are all underlined.
The next morning, Mimi does not come down for breakfast. Ethan does and talks to Ellen sharing that Mimi has told him everything, including her dreams for a store. Ellen has no idea that Mimi shared the information with Ethan, and lets him know that their mother in no heiress and Mimi will receive only a small pittance.
Later when Mimi is hiking with Ethan he acts cool toward her, confusing her. Later Ellen gives her a talking to and the two fight over whether it is all Mimi or a consensual interest.
Afterwards, Ellen spends some more time with Daniel.
Mimi is fed up with Ellen's moods and the way Ethan switches frim hot to cold. So she ends up spending her time with Tom.
They have a fun chat with Tom telling her all kinds of stories about his military life. And Tom kisses her!
But Mimi tells him she just wants to be friends.
That night Ellen has plans to picnic with Daniel. In truely awesome sister mode, Mimi gives Ellen a slight makeover, enhancing her beauty.
They spend the whole time talking, sharing feelings, and kissing.
That night Mimi and Ellen meet up. Mimi wants to talk about Ellen's date, but Ellen reads more of the diary.
Cassandra goes on how Jack and Tom Lefroy are both a bad idea but Jane won't listen to her. Then she talks about the new fashion of fruit on the bonnets, and the death of her fiancé. The words underlined in this passage are couples, crowded, to dance, in time, a flower, thus, may, last, for, years, a, wine, must, age, to be, sublime, but, first, the, grapes, must, run, quite, and clear.
They stop and look at the underlined words, thinking that they might be a code. When they write them all out it comes the following:
Along the narrow way it goes
From house to house and back again
A carpet for a traveler's woes
That always brings one home again.
What happened to grapes? And wine?
Ellen hides the journal, and when Mimi sees this she stars to feel bad about telling Ethan. She was about to say something, but chickens out and goes to her room instead.
The next morning after breakfast, they read more of the journal to see if there is more secret code.
Hogg, I mean Higg- I mean Harries Bigg-Wither wants to marry Jane but she is not interested. Jane is also rewriting Sense & Sensiblity, as her recent times with Mr. Bigg-Wither has given her ideas (? not sure what). They find more underlining and this is what it makes.
A gentlemen learns from an early age
To play his part upon the stage
His lines are crisp, his speech is clear
He studies most from year to year.
Couples crowd to dance in time
A flower thus may last for years
A wine must age to be sublime
But first the grapes must run quite clear
Tailor, draper, seamstress all
Needles, thread and trimmings
Fashion, fir or rough or small
With trunks and boxes brimming
The girls decide to take a break from their detective work as they have the hike to go on. They hide the diary and head out.
Ethan approaches Mimi about seeing the diary. Mimi doesn't want to, but figures that if she doesn't Ethan is saying see ya.
No Mimi, no! You need someone to value you not what you have.
Tom also approaches Mimi and tells her that she can trust him. When he leaves she is approached by Ethan who manipulates her into thinking the can have a relationship if only he gets to see the book.
The next day Ethan leaves, and Mimi is devastated, She feels guilty about telling him about the journal and her feet are in excruciating pain. Tom tries to help her but Mimi has decided she wants to do it all on her own, show everyone.
That day when Ellen goes into her room the diary is gone!
She confronts Mrs. Parrot but doesn't get a straight answer if she is involved.
Mimi on the other hand has spent even more time with Tom and is starting to fall for him.
Mimi and Ellen try to figure out the code but start sharing other things. Mimi says she is sorry that she made a fool of herself over Ethan. Ellen admits to the diary being stolen. When Mim is about to fully confess about Ethan they are interrupted by Mrs. Parrot.
Tom tells Mimi that Ethan is a womanizer and looking for a rich wife to take care of him and his house. Mimi is mad that Tom didn't say anything earlier but acquiesce that she probably wouldn't have believed him.
They meet with Mrs. Parrot and find out that she and their mother were part of a secret Austen group, the Formidables. Their mother took the diary when she left the country. They also learn that the diary is part if a set.
Ellen thinks Daniel stole the diary and confronts him, but Mimi isn't so sure.
At the last dinner it turns out that Mimi and Ellen's mother planned the entire trip. Tom also tells Mimi how much he cares for her and Mimi thinks of moving to England.
Mimi finally ponys up about Ethan and Ellen is furious. But she forgives her and the two agree to a new start.
They approach Mrs. Parrot and tell her about the clues. They figure out that the diary is in a cabinet, one that Mimi saw in Ethan's house.
They trick him with Daniel distracting, while the girls find the Jane diary, blackmailing the Cassandra one out of him as well.
They release their mother's ashes and Mrs Parrot reveals that she is actually their aunt.
They give the diaries to Mrs. Parrot and then Ellen returns home to start anew with Daniel, while Mimi decides to stay in England.
So what do I think of this book?
Well, I actually really enjoyed it.
I know, I was surprised too. I thought that Patillo presented the story of the Dashwoods well, along with the sister relationship; staying out of the cliché pitfalls that most novelist fall into.
The only problem I had with this was that I thought it was a bit odd that Mimi and Tom fall in love in a week but other than that I loved every part of it.
Five Stars! 🙂
For more of Beth Patillo's works, go to Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart
For more books based on Jane Austen's work, go to Death Comes to Pemberley
For more on Sense and Sensibility, go to I Don't Want You Far From Me: Sense and Sensibility (1995)
For more Sense and Sensibility variations, go to The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries
For more on Cecelia Gray, go to An Awesome Author


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School's out and Mom's already frazzled. The kids have already started their, "I'm bored!" blues. What to do? Head on over to Solon Market for a fun-filled summer! The Market kicks off Opening Day Saturday, June 7, with give-aways and a petting zoo, free samples and plenty of seasonal produce as well as crafts, baked goods and flea market items. Browse the open-air market and visit with your friends, neighbors and family.
Solon Market is bringing back many favorites such as Christmas (in July this year), Fire Fighter Days and the popular Dog Daze Pet Expo. For a complete calendar of events, check out their facebook page at Solon Market or call 696-4227.
Solon Market is a free market charging nothing to vendors for set-up. Located at 15185 Algoma Ave. behind Solon Township Offices in and near the picturesque barn once owned by the Stout Family. It is family-oriented and kid friendly. Market hours are every Saturday through October from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Come and join the fun!

subset: commoncrawl


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The blog is being sponsored this month by TestLab², a software testing and QA company based in the Ukraine. I have used TestLab² on a number of occasions for third party testing of PerfectTablePlan releases on both Windows and Mac OS X. They found a number of bugs that I hadn't been able to find on my own (testing your own software is always problematic) and gave me additional confidence that I hadn't let any embarrassing bugs make it through into the final binaries. Their prices are very reasonable (from $20/hour) and I have always found them to be very professional and responsive (see my previous write-up on outsourcing testing). They also have access to operating systems that I don't have set-up, e.g. Windows 8 and Mac OS X 10.8.
Special offer
Quote "successful software" when you ask for an estimate and they will give you a 20% discount. This offer is valid for first-time customers, for the next 14 days only.


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Mon-Fri 8.00 - 16.00
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The magnificent Norwegian fjords
From the British Isles to the Baltic States
The amazing Scandinavian capitals: Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Reykjavík
From the British Isles to Scandinavia, via the Baltic States , this is an extraordinary MSC Cruise voyage that propose interesting and unusual itineraries to explore some of the most remote and uncontaminated areas of the planet, where nature flaunts all of its splendour.
From the Norwegian fjords to the rugged landscapes sculpted by the ocean, cruising becomes a unique experience, sailing past enchanted castles and glaciers under the midnight sun, between some of the most fascinating cities in the world, Hamburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Tallin and small, picturesque hamlets such as Warnemünde in Germany and Stavanger and Molde in Norway, all the way to the mythical Cape North, separated from the North Pole only by the Svalbard Islands, in the Arctic Sea.
A cruise is the best way to discover and appreciate a corner of the planet which is still populated by mysterious legends and millenary stories.
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PRESS RELEASE: There's a saying; 'get the right product for the job'... so if you have a Roland Handsonic or SPD electronic percussion multi-pad, then Protection Racket's specially designed electronic cases are perfect for carrying and protecting your valuable electronic gear.
Protection Racket new range of five electronic drum cases are specified to fit Roland's flagship electronic percussion pads; each manufactured to the exact product dimensions and compartmentalised to hold additional accessories such as stands and sticks.
The new cases are sensitive to the need of electronic gear, protecting them and provide a safe environment during transport. Using Protection Racket's unique Propadd foam for it's shock resistant characteristics, the cases are both rugged in construction and lightweight in design.
The Internal dividers are made from 8mm bini covered polyprop for extra strength and security and there are elasticated straps inside to keep everything held down when in transit.
All the cases are manufactured using rugged Racketex, Protection racket's high abrasion resistance, 100% waterproof polyester that won't fade, crack or shrink. They include carrying handle, detachable shoulder strap and large outer zipped outer pocket for accessories.
Now available are the:
Electro 3 to fit Roland SPD-S sampling percussion Pad (RRP £64.00)
Electro 4 to fit Roland SPD-6 electronic percussion multi-pad (RRP £64.00)
Electro 5 to fit Roland SPD-20 electronic percussion multi-pad (RRP £64.00)
Electro 6 to fit Roland HPD-10 HandSonic (RRP £64.00)
Electro 7 to fit Roland HPD-15 HandSonic (RRP £64.00)
For more information, visit Protection Racket's official site
Information taken from official press release
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Related Video
If you're new to the industry, or just getting into the truck scene, then the words Specialty Equipment Market Association may not mean a whole lot to you. To the rest of us, however, SEMA is the biggest word in the business. For nearly four decades, SEMA has been at the forefront of the aftermarket, not only bringing the industry together, but fighting to keep us together as well by battling the political monkeys in Washington, DC.
Each year, SEMA invites its member base of more than 100,000 and the press to invade Sin City for nearly a full week of never-before-seen aftermarket products as well as thousands of custom vehicles, both inside and outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. The analogy of a kid in a candy store doesn't even come close to cutting it, since this particular candy store is more than 2 million square feet and the candy inside boasts price tags well into the six-figure range.
Vehicles ranging from Rick Dore's gorgeous 1930's coup to RAW's body-dropped Ford F-150 on 22s graced the interior of the Center Hall, while the outside of the convention center was home to the airbrush work of Mickey Harris, which engulfed every inch of a monster-size Chevy with scenes of war, peace, and American heritage -- a poignant reminder of our recent history.
Unfortunately, for diehard truck enthusiasts, this wasn't their year, as this was undoubtedly the year of the musclecar. Mustangs, Magnums, and Hemi-powered Chrysler 300Cs were a dominant force within the halls of the convention center. However, several of Nissan's redesigned Frontiers as well as Chevy Colorados were able to break up the mix. Those who can remember last year's truck inundation can take it all in stride, though.
If it even seems possible, the 2004 SEMA Show outgrew its previous size with the addition of several new lots outside for feature vehicles as well as a North Hall that was packed from wall to wall with small electronics and audio equipment, rather than filled with boats like the previous year.
We'd love to be able to extend an invite to all of our readers to 2005's show, however SEMA only allows its members to walk through the front doors. But don't worry: You can count on your friends here at Sport Truck to bring the virtual tour to you year after year.
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These adorable flowers are sure to make their day a little better! With bi-colored fuchsia and pink mini carnations, lavender daisy poms, hot pink mini spray roses, and white waxflower, this arrangement is the perfect way into their heart. Show them you're thinking of them with our Thoughtful Expressions bouquet!
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It was a longish voyage from Adelaide to Hobart (yes, I know, our ancestors would disagree!) so we had a combination day with genealogy and then some sight-seeing after our arrival in port at 2pm.
I loved arriving by sea into Hobart because it brought to mind that Mary O'Brien had probably come this way before me, back on 4 April 1853. Just imagine the relief of all those on board the Florentia after four and a half months at sea, with a diminishing supply of provisions. Hobart is such a pretty town with its encircling hills and Mount Wellington towering over the city. It may not have the drama of Sydney's sandstone cliffs but it has an amiable, welcoming vibe. I could happily live in Hobart but that wouldn't be an improvement on the remoteness of Darwin, and my heat-loving tropical friends would simply refuse to visit. It must surely have been appealing though to the immigrants from Ireland, England and Wales on board the Florentia.(Apologies to my mates who are heartily sick of Mary O'Brien from County Clare).
It was a public holiday for Regatta Day as the captain brought his huge ship to dock at the wharf. Little boats were skimming round the harbour but my friend Sharn and I chose to head off along the wharf to Salamanca Place and Battery Point for some sight-seeing. Having decided to stop for a coffee, we joined other Unlock the Past Cruisers for a chat at a local coffee shop.
But first there was some genealogy while still at sea:
Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas in Genealogy (panel discussion)
GeniAus (Jill Ball) hosted this Panel on Ethics which got good feedback from the audience. The panel was Kirsty Gray, Maria Northcote and myself and Jill had prepared a range of pertinent questions for us to respond to in turn. It was interesting to see the consistency between our responses …and there'd been no prior consultation or discussion. (if anyone has thought on the session I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on the panel – difficult to retain it all while in the thick of it)
Chris Paton again unravelled the complexities and variability of Scottish records with his talk Scottish marriage: instantly buckled for life. Scotland may be (currently) part of the UK, but Scottish family history is really not the same as that for England, make no mistake! Among the warnings Chris issued is that people only needed to have a witness to their commitment and the marriage was a valid one, and also the the (wonderful) ScotlandsPeople only has marriages for the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Churches. If you can't find your ancestors you may wish to follow up the Statistical Accounts to see which other denominations were active in their parish at the time.
After arrival in Hobart people scattered to their various activities and plans. I was fortunate to spent a few fun hours with fellow genie and photo obsessive, Sharn from Family History 4 U. Some of my photos from the day will eventually make it to my photo and travel blog Tropical Territory and Travel which has been sadly neglected of late, like other things. Although the weather looked a little precarious in the beginning it turned into a magnificent afternoon with crystal clear vivid blue skies.
The day finished with a very good fireworks display over the harbour, with resounding toots of the ship's "horn" in thanks for the display. It certainly gathered the crowds on the high decks and afterwards I was invited to join my table-mates, Cathy and Dot and friend Maria in the cocktail bar on Deck 14…a very pleasant end to the day.
Day 8 was another full day in port and imagine our surprise to look out from the verandah and see another cruise ship had arrived overnight. It was interesting to see that life at sea involves little down-time for the crew who were busy painting any blemishes on the ship's hull.
My priority for Day 8 ( a shore day) was to hit the archives in Hobart although initially I'd hoped to go to the Cascade Factory. However that was superseded by following up all possible leads on the Florentia and whether they would offer any further clues to whether Mary O'Brien was on board as an unassisted immigrant when the ship sailed into Hobart. Despite searching a range of pre-ordered documents, the answers were still ambiguous by the end of the day. My research outcomes re the Florentia will be the subject of an upcoming post.
And so we sailed from Hobart Town with my thoughts reflecting on whether Mary O'Brien and her sister Bridget were similarly sorry to leave this pretty place behind to head north to Moreton Bay, or in my case, to Sydney Town.


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Unlike an asset sale, a taxable stock sale does not result in the recognition of taxable income or loss at the corporate level. The differences between the basis and fair market value (FMV) of corporate assets are deferred instead of recognized immediately, as they are in an asset sale. Although the selling shareholders may recognize taxable gain on the sale of their shares, the double-taxation problem is deferred and becomes the responsibility of the buyer (for the corporate portion of the double taxation).
In a taxable stock sale, the corporation's tax attributes (net operating loss (NOL), capital loss, and tax credit carryovers and certain built-in losses) come under the control of the buyer. However, these tax attributes can be subject to severe restrictions after a corporate ownership change under Secs. 382 and 383. In an asset sale, the selling corporation's tax attributes remain under the control of the seller, and these attributes can be used to offset income and gains resulting from the asset sale.
Nontax issues may dictate a preference for an asset sale or a stock sale. Purchasers generally try to avoid acquiring stock because the target corporation may have contingent or undisclosed liabilities the purchaser will inherit if stock is acquired. However, if a target has valuable nonassignable assets (such as a license agreement or a favorable lease), acquiring stock may be more appealing to the purchaser.
For a selling shareholder, a taxable stock sale (as opposed to an asset sale by the corporation or a tax-free reorganization) makes sense in the following situations:
- Double taxation will erode the proceeds the seller nets from an asset sale by the target followed by a liquidation of the target.
- The seller can shelter gains from the stock sale with NOLs or capital loss carryovers.
- The seller can recognize a loss (perhaps an ordinary loss under Sec. 1244, as discussed below) on the sale of the target's stock.
- A tax-free reorganization is unattractive because the seller wants cash, or a limited market exists for the stock of the acquiring corporation.
For a buyer, a taxable stock purchase makes sense in the following situations:
- The target holds depreciated assets (basis greater than FMV) so the issue of stepping up the basis of the assets is not applicable.
- The target's tax attributes have value even after application of the Secs. 382–383 limitation rules. If the buyer makes a direct asset purchase, the target's tax attributes do not come under the buyer's control.
- Unwanted assets and/or unknown or contingent liabilities are unimportant to the buyer.
- The target has many assets, making the transfer of title to those assets a complex and costly matter, or has favorable contracts or permits that are nonassignable.
Tax Consequences to Seller
If the stock has been held for more than 12 months, its sale usually generates a long-term capital gain or loss for the shareholder. If the stock is sold at a gain, the seller may be able to exclude some of the gain under Sec. 1202. If the stock is sold at a loss, the seller can treat some or all of a loss as ordinary rather than capital under Sec. 1244.
In a stock sale for cash, the seller recognizes gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized (the sales proceeds) and the basis in the stock sold (Secs. 1001(a) and (b)). If property is included in the sale price, the amount realized by the seller includes the property's FMV (Sec. 1001(b)). If stock is sold at a loss, the loss will be disallowed if the related-party rules apply.
Claiming an Ordinary Loss on Sale of Sec. 1244 Stock
Sec. 1244 allows certain shareholders to treat losses from the sale of qualified corporate stock as ordinary rather than capital losses. The maximum deductible ordinary loss is $50,000 per year, or $100,000 if the shareholder files a joint return, further limited to the shareholder's taxable income before considering the loss. (The $100,000 annual limitation for married taxpayers filing joint returns applies whether one or both spouses sustain a Sec. 1244 loss.) Any loss in excess of the annual limitation is a capital loss.
Example 1: J is a single filer who incurs a $75,000 loss on the sale of Sec. 1244 stock in 2013. She can claim a $50,000 ordinary loss on the sale and a $25,000 capital loss. If she has no capital gains in 2013, her capital loss deduction is limited to $3,000 with the balance available for carryover.
In this example, J's ordinary loss deduction is allowed in full in 2013 if she has adequate taxable income. If not, the loss creates an NOL. Because any loss treated as ordinary under Sec. 1244 (taking into account the annual dollar limitations) is considered a loss from the taxpayer's trade or business, a Sec. 1244 loss is allowable in calculating the taxpayer's NOL deduction under Sec. 172. Any resulting NOL can generally be carried back to the two preceding tax years and then forward to the next 20 years following the loss year. The NOL deduction created by a Sec. 1244 loss is allowed in full in the carryback or carryforward year, without regard to the $50,000 or $100,000 annual loss limitation.
Gains and losses on Sec. 1244 stock are not netted before applying the annual dollar limitation, and the annual dollar limitation can apply to the sale of Sec. 1244 stock of the same corporation in different (e.g., succeeding) tax years.
Example 2: K, a single individual, started a new business on Jan. 1, 2008, by contributing $100,000 in exchange for 1,000 shares of common stock qualifying as Sec. 1244 stock. She sold 200 shares of stock on Feb. 1, 2013, for $40,000, resulting in a $20,000 gain. During the second half of 2013, the corporation's business begins to deteriorate. K sells 600 shares for $10,000 on Nov. 1, 2013, resulting in a loss of $50,000, and the following year she sells her remaining 200 shares of stock for $2,000, resulting in a loss of $18,000.
In 2013, K recognizes a $20,000 long-term capital gain from the Feb. 1, 2013, sale and a $50,000 Sec. 1244 ordinary loss from the Nov. 1, 2013, sale. In 2014, she can claim an additional $18,000 ordinary loss from the sale of her remaining Sec. 1244 stock.
The corporation cannot have capital receipts in excess of $1 million on the day the stock is issued for the stock to be considered Sec. 1244 stock. This test is applied each time new stock is issued. If new shares are issued in exchange for cash or property transferred to the corporation and the $1 million capital receipts limit is not exceeded, the new stock is Sec. 1244 stock.
Excluding Gain From Sale of Qualified Small Business Stock
Sec. 1202 allows taxpayers (other than corporations) to exclude a certain percentage of gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock (QSBS) that has been held for more than five years. QSBS is stock originally issued after Aug. 10, 1993, by a C corporation with aggregate gross assets not exceeding $50 million at any time from Aug. 10, 1993, to immediately after the issuance of the stock (Secs. 1202(c) and (d)). The taxpayer must have acquired the stock at its original issue or in a tax-free transaction. In addition, the corporation must meet an active business requirement whereby 80% or more of its assets are used in one or more businesses other than those specifically excluded. Ineligible businesses include certain personal service activities, banking and other financial services, farming, mineral extraction businesses, hotels, and restaurants (Secs. 1202(c)(2) and (e)).
Sec. 1202(b)(1) limits the amount of gain eligible for exclusion to the greater of (1) 10 times the taxpayer's aggregate adjusted basis in the stock that is sold, or (2) $10 million reduced by any eligible gain taken into account in prior tax years for dispositions of stock issued by the corporation. Any gain in excess of the limitation amount is taxed under the normal rules for capital gains.
Eligible sellers can exclude 50% if the QSBS was acquired before Feb. 18, 2009, or after Dec. 31, 2013; 75% if the QSBS was acquired after Feb. 17, 2009, and before Sept. 28, 2010; and 100% if the QSBS was acquired after Sept. 27, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2014. Given the satisfaction of the five-year ownership requirement, QSBS sold during 2013 will be eligible for the 50% gain exclusion. For 2014 sales, stock purchased before Feb. 18, 2009, will qualify for the 50% exclusion, while stock purchased after Feb. 17, 2009, will qualify for the 75% exclusion.
This case study has been adapted from PPC's Tax Planning Guide—Closely Held Corporations, 26th Edition, by Albert L. Grasso, R. Barry Johnson, Lewis A. Siegel, Richard Burris, Mary C. Danylak, James A. Keller, and Brian Martin, published by Thomson Tax & Accounting, Fort Worth, Texas, 2013 (800-323-8724; ppc.thomson.com).
Albert Ellentuck is of counsel with King & Nordlinger LLP in Arlington, Va.


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Revisiting Steve Winwood's Hit Late-'80s LP 'Roll With It'
When "Roll With It," the title track of Steve Winwood's fifth solo album, came out of the gate in the summer of 1988 and hit No.1 almost immediately, it was proof positive that that U.S. listeners were craving music that hearkened back to '60s rhythm and blues — they just hadn't realized it until they'd heard it.
The song was absolutely a throwback to that life-affirming, sweaty, horn- and organ-spiked soul — like Junior Walker ("Shotgun"), Sam & Dave ("Hold On, I'm Comin'"), or maybe even that British export the Spencer Davis Group ("Gimme Some Lovin'").
Fittingly enough, the same singer who powered Spencer Davis Group's hits when he was a mere lad of 15, was in the pilot's seat for "Roll With It," 25 years later.
Winwood had been on the charts and on listeners' stereos for just about all that time, whether creating a mind-expanding psychedelic stew with Traffic, playing stadium-filling blues with two-thirds of Cream in Blind Faith or venturing out on his own for an eclectic body of work, from the de rigueur debut in 1977, to the one-man-band introspection of Arc of a Diver in 1980, to the guest-heavy hits on Back in the High Life in 1986.
Those hits and the ones that spawned from Roll With It had come as a result of an epiphany Winwood had had about his role in popular music. Arc of a Diver had been a hit, but its follow-up, 1982's Talking Back to the Night, had been a commercial disappointment. "I had a choice to go a couple of ways," he told Rolling Stone in 1988. "If I was to say, 'Well, I'm a musician, I'm not an entertainer,' then I have no business going onstage with lights and trying to look ... I should be in the back doing the music, and somebody else should be out front."
Listen to Steve Winwood's 'Roll With It'
"So you have the choice," he continued. "You have to decide which way to go. I thought about it long and seriously, and I thought that if I sing songs to people, you can't deny it, you're an entertainer. It's not just 'I'm entertaining them' but 'I am actually an entertainer.'"
Armed with that realization, Winwood brought in producers, engineers, session musicians and guest stars (like James Taylor, Chaka Khan and Joe Walsh) for Back in the High Life, which went to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and yielded four singles, including the No. 1 hit "Higher Love." Winwood eschewed the famous guests on Roll With It, but otherwise followed his "entertainer" template and produced an album that hit No. 1, his only solo record to do so.
Shortly after "Roll With It" began climbing the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, a snippet of new Winwood song, the keyboard-heavy "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do," began appearing in Michelob beer commercials, leading some to wonder whether Winwood had made the song to order for the beer brand, compromising his artistry for corporate dollars.
Listen to Steve Winwood's 'Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?'
Winwood was cagey about which came first, the beer deal or the song, but he was unapologetic about the partnership. "I wrote a seven-minute song," he told Rolling Stone. "It had the word night in it, but so have other songs I've done. [Michelob] knew that. There's no way that their involvement made me present a lower-quality product. There's no way."
It came back to Winwood's contention of being an entertainer, not just a musician. "The fact that [the song is] on TV and in commercials — music is entertainment," he noted. "That's the way I see it: music is entertainment, and commercials can be entertaining. So I'm happy with it."
Roll With It also contained the gospel-influenced elegy "One More Morning," a hymn of gratitude that is also one of his finest ballads. "Just to have this day and life starting all over, for all it may bring," he sings. "A blessing on everything and one more song I can sing." By the time the horns float up into the mix by the song's end, the listener is likewise grateful for Winwood and lyricist Will Jennings' hopeful outlook.
"Holding On" and "Put on Your Dancing Shoes" also mine the soul sound of the "Roll With It" single; the latter was an early highlight in the shows Winwood played on his summer tour in support of Roll With It. Those shows were outstanding mixes of old Winwood and new, with High Life and Roll With It songs standing proudly alongside long runs through Traffic's "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" and each evening's final encore, his old Spencer Davis Group hit "Gimme Some Lovin'."
The shows were, above all else, entertaining. And Winwood was (and still is) an entertainer.


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Better than expected Chinese data over the weekend, speculation that Greece is close to reaching its debt buyback target and even some signs of progress in reaching a resolution to avert the fiscal cliff set up risk assets for a generally positive start to the week. Talks between the administration and senior Republicans will continue this week but it appears that some senior Republicans are willing to give up their objections to tax hikes on the very wealthy.
The November US jobs report released at the end of last week which revealed a 146k increase in payrolls and a drop in the unemployment rate to 7.7% is likely to have little influence at the turn of the week. The report was met with a muted reaction. While on the face of it the data was better than expected, downward revisions to past months and a surprising lack of impact from Hurricane Sandy left markets somewhat perplexed.
However, not everything is rosy. Last week's sharp downward growth revisions to Eurozone growth by the European Central Bank (ECB), a plunge in US consumer sentiment and comments from Italian Prime Minister Monti that he intends to resign will cast a shadow over markets, restraining any upside.
Although activity will likely continue to thin as holidays approach there is still plenty too chew on this week. In the US the Fed is set to continue purchasing USD 85 billion of longer dated securities following the end of Operation Twist but this should come as little surprise to the market and therefore will yield little reaction. There will be some encouraging news on the consumer as retail sales bounce back in November.
Across the pond the European Council meeting beginning on Thursday will be in focus, with banking union and bank recapitalisation among the topics up for discussion. Given the hint of monetary easing by the ECB markets will scrutinise upcoming data for the timing but a likely increase in the German ZEW investor confidence survey in December and stabilisation in the Eurozone composite purchasing manager's index will not prove compelling enough to warrant an imminent rate cut.
Elsewhere in Japan the upcoming elections will mark the highlight of the calendar over the weekend although the weaker than expected Q3 GDP reading this morning (-0.9% QoQ) and expected deterioration in the Tankan survey later in the week will maintain the pressure for more aggressive policy action and a weaker JPY.
EUR took a hit from the ECB's dovish stance last week and will not take too kindly to the news of Monti's intended resignation after the fiscal 2013 budget in Italy. EUR/USD 1.2880 still marks a solid support level for the currency.
USD/JPY continues to probe higher but extreme short market positioning will likely limit the ability of the currency pair to push higher. On the topside 83.15 will market strong resistance for the currency pair.
AUD and NZD look generally well supported, with Chinese data over the weekend giving further support although for AUD/USD 1.0519 will continue to act a tough technical barrier to crack.


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Lots of interest and blogoshere commentary beginning about "The Mojave Experiment."
The reaction is reminiscent of one of those Obama or McCain provocative ads posted online, generating far more attention and buzz than the attention they get on the natural by being broadcast.
Sure, it's a sales pitch, and pretty narrowly geeky at that (thanks GoogleFight!).
But at least it's an innovative one – as the Wall Street Journal puts it today, "Give Microsoft people credit: They did it with humor, and they weren't afraid to air the negative stuff."
Filed under: Microsoft, Society, Technology | Tagged: ad, ads, advertising, BBC, blogosphere, blogs, business, buzz, Chumbawumba, Coffee, comment, commercials, conspiracy, conspiracy theory, Eldridge, experiment, Folgers, fraud, GoogleFight, invisibility, marketing, McCain, Microsoft, Milgram, Milgram Experiment, mind control, Mojave Experiment, Navy, news, Obama, Philadelphia Experiment, Philip Zimbardo, political ad, politics, pop culture, psychology, reality show, reality shows, reality TV, science, Silverlight, Stanford, Stanford Experiment, Stanford University, Stanley Milgram, TV, Vista, Wall Street Journal, Wikipedia, Yale, Zimbardo, Zimbardo Experiment | 1 Comment »


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Jay Leno: "NBC Is a Big Number Two"
Jay Leno has resorted to toilet humor in his jabs at NBC.
Leno called his parent network "a big number two" in his The Tonight Show monologue on Wednesday. Addressing Monday's prime-time ratings, Leno noted that The Voice and Revolution had bumped NBC up to second place for the night.
Fall TV Scorecard: What's renewed? What's canceled?
"Between Easter and Passover, this is truly the season of miracles. We're No. 2!" he said. "And I've been saying that for the last week, that NBC is a big number two."
It's just the latest insult Leno has hurled at the network, which is reportedly replacing him as Tonight Show host with Jimmy Fallon. To say that Leno isn't taking the move well would be an understatement.
Returning Spring Shows: Where we left off with Revolution and more
Elsewhere in Wednesday's monologue, Leno noted T-Mobile's plans to eliminate contracts for its mobile users. "Apparently they got the idea from NBC," Leno said.
Watch Leno's full monologue below:
View original Jay Leno: "NBC Is a Big Number Two" at TVGuide.com


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Emacspeak module
adds support for adding, viewing and finding Google Bookmarks.
Google Bookmarks allows you to store your bookmarks at Google;
this module adds support similar to that provided by Firefox
Bookmarklets for Google Bookmarks implemented in JavaScript.
Note that this module though relatively small was one of the
motivators for the code refactoring described in
Interaction in Emacspeak.
Usage Tips
- To use Webmarks, you need to be signed into Google.
- Signing in to Google is easily done using the Webform
provided as
xml-forms/glogin.htmlin the Emacspeak distribution --- invoke it via key
- In addition, the very first time you use Google Bookmarks,
add your first bookmark using form
xml-forms/bookmark-add.html. Fill out that form, hit submit, and extract the value the
zxparameter returned by the server.
- Use emacs Custom to save the value of the
zxparameter as Emacs option


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My head aches from writing today's sonnet;
So much so, that I feel I cannot write
Its normal poetic introduction.
Have you ever heard the story of the
Man who was asked by a king to name his
Reward for having done his kingdom a
Great turn? He asked his king for grains of rice:
One grain, for the first square of a chess board,
Two grains for the next, and four, for the next,
This would continue to double until
All sixty four squares of the board were used.
The king agreed, perplexed that the man had
Asked for so little, for he admired
This man and did not wish to slight his deeds.
But, the man insisted, and so the king
Reluctantly agreed. He thought the man
Was being modest for asking little;
And mused, in a good natured way, that he
Felt he was getting the better end of
The deal. And his summoned provisioner
began to portion out these grains of rice.
The king knew not that this amount would be
Over eighteen quintillion grains of rice. (18,446,7000,000,000,000,000)
Today's sonnet contains homonyms and
Parts of speech used as other such parts of speech
It has meanings so numerous, only
A computer could count them. However,
Only a human could pick the right one.


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Alan Taylor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, brad fiedel, buddy2blogger, Byung-hun Lee, emilia clarke, genisys operating system, J.K. Simmons, jai courtney, james cameron, jason clarke, john connor, Kyle Reese, movies, reviews, Sarah Connor, sci fi, Science Fiction, skynet, T-800, Terminator Genisys, terminator genisys review
Arnold is back as the T-800, this time renamed as "The Guardian" and faces against a far more advanced enemy. Co-starring Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney and J. K. Simmons.
Check out our review of the latest movie in the Terminator franchise:
Image Sources: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions


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Apparently, you came from distant countries. Do you want to open a Questoria franchise abroad? Conditions.
Everyone from team becomes a hero of a detective, western, spy or mystical thriller in each game. Everyone has their own goals and ways of achieving them. And the story's ending depends on your actions.
An audacious train hold-up by Black Bill's gang,
a shocking murder of a famous singer in the «Seven Moons» saloon,
and a miraculous panacea invention —
do you think it's too much for one small town?
Be ready for a real thrill, if you are...
Somewhere in the Wild West!
London, 1872..
Lord Cornwall, co-owner of the East India Company, was killed.
Three suspects were arrested. But there's not enough evidences.
Scotland Yard turns to a medium for aid.
Relatives of the killed gathered in a Séance…
Mysticism or logic? Deception or truth?
Shush! Light the candles. Join hands.
Candle flame is flickering. The spirit of the lord is here…
There's no point in claiming that Questories are fun for everyone. But from our experience, companies who work in these fields will enjoy Questories:
Financial companies
Small businesses
Мы провели уже 3800 корпоративных квестов на мероприятиях в 67 городах 8 стран и получаем благодарности каждый день.
a live quest for your corporate events in Moscow
Surprise your staff with a new format — they will remember and discuss this team building quests for months to come.
Do not limit yourself to a place — we can play Questoria in your office, during a banquet in a restaurant or as an out-of-town trip.
Thanks to the individual selection of roles, we will engage both quiet and active team members in the game.
An original team building activities: your staff get to know each other better, train in communication skills and learn to work in a team.
You get a bright, atmospheric and festive holiday, and most importantly, it is all ready to go! Forget the hassle — we will take care of the organization.
from 120000 RUB
Маргарита Орленко
Представитель в Москве+7 499 281 69 43
Я всегда любила праздники и яркие эмоции!) А 9 лет назад случилась такая Квестория, что это стало не моим хобби, а любимым делом! Мне доверяют организацию мероприятий, рекомендуют своим близким и возвращаются за новыми впечатлениями! Жизнь - это праздник, улыбки и добро. Отпразднуем это вместе?)
At Questoria, we create exciting stories to have our players fully immersed into the atmosphere. We work on each Questoria for several months and test it thoroughly. We train our hosts. However, part of each game's success depends on you. To help your participants fully enjoy the story as it twists and develops, we offers some tips for organizing the event.
We recommend:
We don't recommend:


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President Obama ran a successful campaign in 2008 against George W. Bush. Yes, yes, John McCain's name was on the ballot, but that was a detail. Obama campaigned against Bush. McCain even laughed about it at the Alfred E. Smith dinner, joking that Obama's "pet name for me" is "George Bush."
The president is hoping to reprise the same race in 2012. Speaking in Iowa last month, he said of Republicans: "They either want to do nothing at all or they want to double down on the same failed policies that got us into this mess."
So it's the anti-Bush campaign, version 2.0. Will it succeed? How can you run for re-election on the hope that voters won't notice you've been in the White House for four years? Some Democrats fondly recall Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 re-election. Roosevelt brought back the ghost of Herbert Hoover -- who would remain a prop of Democratic campaigns for two decades -- and campaigned vigorously against the rich, proposing an "undistributed profits tax" and a "wealth tax." He won by a landslide.
While we now know that the New Deal failed to end the Great Depression (and arguably prolonged and deepened it), 1936 voters lacked that perspective. The unemployment rate had been reduced from 24.9 percent in 1933 to 16.9 percent in 1936 and was continuing to decline during the election year. (It bounced up to 19 percent in 1938.) Under Obama's tenure, the unemployment rate spiked -- arguably, for reasons that predated Obama -- but has remained stubbornly high and is rising (very much attributable to Obama).
Unhappily for the president, voters are aware that he came to power with a House and Senate controlled by his party and that his agenda was duly enacted. When his policies failed to deliver on the promises of prosperity and growth, Obama undertook his protracted and creative search for scapegoats. We've been told that the economic policies of the Obama administration failed to deliver because a) the recession created by Bush's policies was deeper than anyone understood, b) Japan experienced a tsunami, c) the Arab Spring roiled the Middle East, d) ATMs have replaced bank tellers, e) Europe is facing a debt crisis, and f) Republicans refuse to pass his jobs bill.
Last week, he offered that the private sector was "doing fine" and that the public sector needed to spend more money to improve the overall economy. The president really does believe that prosperity comes from government spending. Throughout his presidency, he has extolled government spending programs -- from the interstate highway system to NASA to "clean" energy -- as representing the best in the American character. Other leading Democrats agree. In 2010, Nancy Pelosi described unemployment checks as "one of the biggest stimuluses to our economy."
The percentage of government spending that goes to infrastructure, basic research and other "investments" that arguably conduce to economic growth is infinitesimal. In 2010, two-thirds of the federal budget went to transfer payments -- Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and unemployment. Adding payments to federal civilian workers and the military, checks to individuals consume 80 percent of the budget. Most of the rest goes to interest on the debt and other federal departments, chiefly the Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Government hiring may be necessary, but the idea that it is stimulative is perverse. In order to hire a teacher or a diversity specialist or a tax collector, the government must extract money from taxpayers to pay their salaries. The sum total of water in the pool does not increase when you scoop water from one end and pour it into the other. If the government worker is inefficient or incompetent, you are subtracting from the total water level. The Keynesian "multiplier" has been shown to be an illusion.
If a private employer, by contrast, creates a new business and hires people, he has taken nothing from his fellow taxpayers and is creating wealth that will support those he employs, as well as boost tax receipts to the government.
If governments could spend their way to prosperity, Greece would be an economic powerhouse and California would not be facing a fiscal crisis. If governments could spur the economy by borrowing and spending, there would be no European debt crisis to disturb the sleep of David Axelrod. In fact, there would be no need for the Buffett Rule or any other tax Obama has demanded.
Didn't liberals scoff mercilessly at the caricature of supply-side economics -- the supposed claim that tax cuts would pay for themselves? Now they tout spending yourself into the black without a hint of embarrassment.


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The Photo Enrique Pena probably wishes didn't exist
|PRI Buds: The disgraced former Governor with Mexico's likely next president
Distancing himself from Yarrington:
The PRI's candidate for president, Enrique Pena Nieto, has a 20 pt lead in the polls for the July 1 vote but is fighting off attacks from rivals who say a win for the party that ruled for seven decades would be a return to Mexico's corrupt past.
"The party is not responsible for this," Pena Nieto said on Wednesday when asked about the Yarrington case. "The law should be upheld."
According to the DEA complaint in Texas: Pena-Arguelles' older brother Alfonso was found slain by a monument in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, last year. Next to his body was a banner accusing Antonio Pena-Arguelles of stealing $5 million from the Zetas. DEA informants said the money had been intended to buy the Zetas influence in the Tamaulipas government through Yarrington's connections.
In the complaint : On the morning of his brother's death, Antonio Pena-Arguelles received a cellphone text message from Trevino, the Zetas' No. 2, accusing him, Yarrington and the head of the Gulf cartel, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, of orchestrating Torre's slaying.
Press release:
Link Here Mexican Businessman Indicted for Alleged Money Laundering and Bank Fraud


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BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat has chosen Max Irons as one of the upcoming Brit actors who could follow in Robert Pattinson's footsteps.
Who is the next Robert Pattinson?
Thursday, 13 May 2010
By Frances Cronin – Newsbeat entertainment reporter
We know most of us all love Robert Pattinson but let's face it he's super busy at the moment and there's a lot of buzz in Hollywood about upcoming Brit actors that could follow in his footsteps.
There are currently nearly a dozen films aimed at under 25s in the works in Hollywood and it seems Brit actors are in the running for quite a few of them. We've picked out the Brit stars of the future who could be set to take on Robert Pattinson's mantle.
Max Irons, aged 25.
Max Irons has a famous dad but says that can be a disadvantage at times.
Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke made a star of R-Patz and now she's chosen Brit Max Irons to star in her new fairytale film The Girl With the Red Riding Hood. Max will star alongside Amanda Seyfried, who has to fend off her village from a werewolf.
He has had roles in films Being Julia and Dorian Gray and he's been a Burberry model (does that fashion range know how to spot talent or what?) Max has good acting heritage. He's part of two acting families, the son of top actors Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack.
He admits it can be awkward getting help from his dad: "People often ask you, 'Does he mentor you?' It's funny that because it's a bit like a father teaching you to drive, it's kind of unhelpful even though they're trying their best and it's hard to take. But in terms of him warning me about the industry it's always been very helpful."
"When I made it clear that I wanted to do it [act], he said, 'Just because I've been successful don't necessarily assume it'll be the same for you because it is, quite literally, one of the hardest businesses to succeed in'."
Read the full BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat article.


text:
Easter Seals Southern California Prospero Home is a licensed Adult Residential in Covina, CA. Adult Residential(s) are licensed individually by state or local governments and surveys are typically completed by local entities, such as the Department of Aging or Verteran's Services. Long-Term Care Ombudsman serve as advocates for residents of all licensed long term care settings.
Please visit your state government website to learn more about the level of care provided by Adult Residential(s) in CA. Easter Seals Southern California Prospero Home can be contacted at (818) 512-2494 or submit a request for more information.
Unless Easter Seals Southern California Prospero Home is also certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Adult Residential(s) do not accept Medicare as payment for any care services. However, Adult Residential(s) such as Easter Seals Southern California Prospero Home play a critical role in caring for seniors and bringing peace of mind to families in need of care for loved ones. The long-term costs for non-acute care at Adult Residential(s) is typically much lower than living in a nursing home full-time.


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Ragas in Sufi Music
– Sufiana Kalam | Words of Sufi Sages
First scriptures about sufism and practices had been written in 1st centurey AD. The golden era of sufism war between the 13th and 16th century. It had been it's zenith.
In Western countries the sufism is associated with the dancing dervish (Turkish Mevlevi Order) going back to the Persian theologian, poet, advocate and sufi mystic Schalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273).
The dervishs put themselfs into ecstasy by their rotations. This ritual exercise is called dhikr, in commemoration of God. Its an intensive worship of Allah with renunciation of the worldly.
Music herefore can be part of spiritual exercises. Sufi Rumi described already in the 13th century that music, dance and poetry are helpful for concentration on the divine and renewing the soul. With singing accompanied by instruments God is called. It is sung about the love for God and the prophet Mohammed.
date of broadcasting…
21st February 2011 – 11:00 p.m. (CET)
broadcasting plan | streaming (Internet Radio & Mobile Radio) | podCast
Etymologically sufismus probably has its roots in suf (wool) and safa (purity) . With the entrance into the sufi order a woolen robe is overhanded to a Sufi within an initiation ritual.
Pure Sufis turn away from an earthly life keeping free of any seductions and emotions like pride, arrogance, envy or wrong hopes for a long life. It's the fight against the despotic ego to reach an-nafs al-safiya, which is the "pure soul" as the highest level, always beyond that of the prophet. More important than self-abandonment is love. Living a life truthfully, the heart free of hate and reisting against culinary allurements. The love for God is the postulate for the reunion with God which is possible already this life. Sufism is the inner relationship between the loving one, the Sufi and the beloved God.
The Arabean, Islamic world and different cultures from South and East Europe had influenced each other ove rmany centuries alternately, e.g. between the 6th and 12th century in the muslim oriented Spain. In the modern Europe the term sufism was known lately in the 19th century. The Indian musician and mystic Hazrat Inayat Khan founded the International Sufi Order, in 1917 in London. At the end of the 20th century the sufi orders increasingly became accessable for non muslims. It is defined as a "universal sufism" without any direct link to the Islam, where all religions are welcome.
In sufi music on the Indian sub continent the vocal in Qawwali style is an expressive form. In Arabean Qaul means "expression of the prophet". The Qawwali is established in Muslim regions like North and West Pakistan, Punjab, Hyderabad and same in Bangladesh and in Kashmir.
As Lyrical form of the Qawwali mostly is used the Ghazal. The content expresses the emotional desire for the reunion with the divine and the joy at the love of God. The origin of the Qawwali is rooted in the 8th century, in the Persian area (nowadays: Afghanistan and Iran). The Qawwali form as we know it today matured in India in the late 13th century. The Sufi Amir Khusro Dehelvi linked both Persian and Indian music traditions. Amir Khusro belonged to the Chistiya Sufi Order.
Since the Turkish conquest in South Asia all over the Indian Sub continent established a multiplicity of Sufi Orders, from Delhi to South India: Moinuddin Chishtiya, Nagshbandi, Suhrawardiyah and Qadiriyaah.
By modern medias the sufism experiences world wide interests, especially from non muslims. These days everybody can obtain an opinion about sufism by himself. The first scriptures about sufism from the 1st century ('Kashf al-Mahjub of Hujwiri ' and 'Risala of Qushayri') are available in English translations.


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Read the best of reviews from films at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016: https://festivalreviews.org/category/tiff-2016-movie-reviews/
TIFF 2016 Movie Review: CARRIE PILBY (USA 2016) ***
Being too smart might be detrimental to ones life. Based on Caren Lissner's best-selling 2003 novel, CARRIE PILBY is a story of a awkward teen who graduated Harvard at the age of 19 and lives in a small NYC apartment paid for by her London-based father (Gabriel Byrne).
TIFF 2016 Movie Review: BOYS IN THE TREES (Australia 2016)
BOYS UNDER TREES contains an exciting premise – a coming-of-age story with gay overtones set in a small Australian town where the protagonist seeks to leave for the big city. The action takes place during Halloween where goals and Aborigine black magic exists.
TIFF 2016 Movie Review: AQUARIUS (Brazil/France 2016) ****
Filho's AQUARIUS is again set in Recife, the seaside neighbourhood that he made famous in his last film NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS.
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I must be living in man's country. Just this week we met two more intelligent, good men who share my husband's love of woodworking. Paul Bunyans of the Pacific Northwest, all of them. One by one, every house is giving up the garage or building a shed for a workshop. My Paul Bunyan's intention is to sculpt with logs, but I'm putting in an order for a long organically-shaped "live" table as well.
Going rural changes things.
I have gone from browsing Nordstrom's flagship store in downtown Seattle to leafing through Orvis catalogs in the mail. From loving linens to admiring homespun weaves. From manicured box hedges to an old growth forest. From a Pennsylvania bluestone patio to gravel rock. From candle light to bonfires. From dining out every week to eating in.
What is aesthetically pleasing to me now has changed. I can find beauty in firewood neatly stacked. In driftwood washed up on the shore at random. And hay, when it's rolled in the fields later in the summer. I nearly go ecstatic; it's like living in a French Impressionist landscape.
People with so much love in their hearts they plant daffodil bulbs in the wilderness, and make signs for art's sake.
Euphorbia on a white fence, and English daisy in the grass. Mossy paths to anywhere. And anytime I come upon a cairn, it is magical to me.
At home: a deck that's swept, a floor that's swept. And the way cedar needles blend into the colors of my foyer rug so I may go awhile without vacuuming.
Rock and wood in the house. An antler wreath. Antique paddles made by my father-in-law as a young man. The ceramic Raku Fish by Tomfoolery Artworks on the wall swimming toward the sea. Our view from every room, every day.
It's the things that were here, and are here, that we had nothing to do with. Our part, it seems to me, is to stand back and be in awe of it all.


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DEAR ABBY: I'm a 21-year-old nursing student in college. I'm a 'people person' and everyone says I'm easy to talk to. According to my friends, I am pretty, smart, funny, etc., but I have never had a boyfriend.
I was extremely sick throughout high school and during my early college years, and spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital. I missed not only a lot of schooling, but also learning some of the basic social skills most people my age have mastered when it comes to dating. It has been only during the last couple of years that I have been healthy enough to even consider dating, and now I have no clue what to do.
I am naturally friendly and sometimes guys I'm NOT interested in think I'm flirting with them. However, when I try to flirt with a guy, it never works. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and my friends all gave me different advice. Do you have any tips for me, Dear Abby, on how to let a guy know I'm interested? – LOSING THE DATING GAME IN FLORIDA
DEAR LOSING: Yes. Be your outgoing, friendly self with everyone. Don't be afraid to smile and make eye contact. That's the way you let others know you're interested. The problem with 'trying' to flirt is that it can come across as awkward and aggressive, which can either bring you the wrong kind of attention or scare a man off.
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married 38 years. He doesn't drink, smoke, do drugs or chase women. He's a good guy. But …
Twenty years ago we stopped giving each other gifts on all occasions because he didn't like shopping for me. I let him off the hook and said I didn't really mind. However, on his birthday I take him to his favorite seafood restaurant and bake him his favorite cake. My birthday gets forgotten.
There is a special dessert that I love that is found only at a bakery across town. I have told him for the past 10 years how much I'd love that dessert for my birthday. He has never once bought it for me. I feel it's like he's telling me I'm not worth the time or money. For such a small thing, it hurts my feelings a lot. Am I being silly? – SLIGHTED IN INDIANA
DEAR SLIGHTED: You're not being silly. You WERE being silly when you told your husband 20 years ago that you didn't mind if he ignored your birthday and other special occasions, because it wasn't true (or perhaps the effect on you has been cumulative). So, open your mouth and tell your husband – in plenty of time for your next birthday – EXACTLY what you want from him. If you don't, you'll get the same thing you have been getting, which is nothing.
DEAR ABBY: I'm 13 and in junior high school. When we all came back after a break we were greeted with the news that one of the students in our class had died. We were only told that the death was 'ruled an accident,' but nothing else. Is it wrong or disrespectful to speculate what happened to our classmate? – CURIOUS IN THE NORTHWEST
DEAR CURIOUS: Speculating is neither wrong nor disrespectful. When people are given no information, it is normal for them to wonder. After the death of your classmate, I'm surprised grief counseling wasn't offered to help you and your fellow students deal with the loss, because that is what should have happened.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.


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Tännäskrökets Fjällhus
All alpine houses are designed by an architect and newly built. We have chosen traditional colours, lavish materials and placement of the houses in harmony with the terms of nature. Modern living is integrated into nature and as a guest you can enjoy the alpine feel both in- and outdoors.
All houses are well-furnished with all amenities you can expect from modern holiday accommodation and all houses are located in close vicinity to all facilities and all the various activities we can offer. The houses come in 4 different sizes and with up to 12 beds.


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"though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." (Psalms 23:4)
We see in all of these verses so far that the Shepherd leads, guides, helps, and loves us. Now, in this verse, it changes from the Shepherd's actions and love for us, to our own actions. You see, in life there are going to be times when we don't listen so that we get ourselves in places we shouldn't be. Here it's called "the valley of the shadow of death".
Have you ever had times like that? You find that the grass isn't green and the stream is dirty and you say, "how did I get here?" You see that it was through your own decisions, or you didn't take the time to listen to the Shepherd's voice, that you opened doors that should have stayed shut.
Even in these times, even when we mess up, the Great Shepherd doesn't leave us. No! He promised us that He would never leave us or forsake us. Never means never and here we see the same promise. I will fear no evil, why? His written word "FOR YOU ARE WITH ME!" What a promise. When we mess up, we need to 'fess up and He, the Great Shepherd, forgives and restores.
Even when we open doors to the evil one, our Shepherd takes out His mighty rod and grabs hold of us with His wonderful staff and brings great comfort to our lives. What security, what comfort, what hope we have because of our amazing Jesus.
So take heart today that there is no sin too strong that the blood of Jesus can't wash away. Rest in His loving arms and hear His heartbeat as you lay your head upon His chest. Know that He loves you and will always protect you against anything that the enemy might bring against you. He'll even protect you when you open a door that you shouldn't have.
Remember, once you have accepted Jesus Christ as you Lord and Savior, He will never leave you or forsake you.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the blood of Jesus that has washed me white as snow. I thank You that no matter what comes against me or even when I'm walking in the valley, You are there to comfort and to restore. What a God I serve. In Jesus precious name. Amen..
Don't walk the the valley alone, choose Jesus..
If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here
Rob Lavallee
Scriptural Seeds Ministries


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'Tis the season for year-end lists of what everyone and their dog thinks are the best albums of the past year, as well as the incredibly pretentious and elitist mindsets that come with them. I'm not going to pretend I know what's best for anyone, but I do know that there are definitely albums I enjoyed much more than others, despite some critical flaws in some of them. My tastes can be a bit whacky at times, but I'm pretty sure that there are at least a few people out there who will be curious to know what my favorites are, so I will be sharing them.
But not here.
Instead, I'll be doing a series of posts over at Under The Gun Review that will double as a countdown to when we're free of the holiday hell that is the month of December.
Because they're happening one at a time, I'll be posting the list as it goes live day by day over at UTG in list form here.
#25: RIITTIIR by Enslaved (read it)
#24: Results by Murder Construct (read it)
#23: Awakened by As I Lay Dying (read it)
#22: Ex Lives by Every Time I Die (read it)
#21: Failed States by Propagandhi (read it)
#20: Eremita by Ihsahn (read it)
#19: Dead End Kings by Katatonia (read it)
#18: Les Voyages De L'Âme by Alcest (read it)
#17: Autotheism by The Faceless (read it)
#16: All Hail The Void by Enabler (read it)
#15: Legend by Witchcraft (read it)
#14: Death Is The Only Mortal by The Acacia Strain (read it)
#13: No Matter Where It Ends by Black Sheep Wall (read it)
#12: Book Burner by Pig Destroyer (read it)
#11: Parallax II: Future Sequence by Between The Buried And Me (read it)
#10: Monolith Of Inhumanity by Cattle Decapitation (read it)
#9: Incongruous by Beneath The Massacre (read it)
#8: All We Love We Leave Behind by Converge (read it)
#7: CVI by Royal Thunder (read it)
#6: Danza IIII: The Alpha – The Omega by The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza (read it)
#5: Hasta La Muerte by Xibalba (read it)
#4: A Flash Flood Of Color by Enter Shikari (read it)
#3: Yellow & Green by Baroness (read it)
#2: Koloss by Meshuggah (read it)
#1: L'Enfant Sauvage by Gojira (read it)


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Azanian Bridges is a neat little thriller, set in more or less the present-day South Africa but in a world in which Apartheid continues. A quick and compelling read, it does a couple of rather cunning things.
The first is its choice of alternate history premise.
There are a number of African alternate histories which invert or rewrite elements of European colonialism (e.g., Abdourahman A. Waberi's In the United States of Africa (2006), Africa Paradis (Sylvestre Amoussou 2006) – and Nisi Shawl's Everfair (2016) to look forward to).
There is a future history imagining the conditions for the emergence of something akin to Apartheid (Arthur Keppel-Jones's When Smuts Goes: A History of South Africa from 1952 to 2010, first published in 2015 (1947)).
There is an array of near-future thrillers that anticipate the end of Apartheid (Anthony Delius's The Day Natal Took Off (1960), Gary Allighan's Verwoerd – the End (1961), Iain Findlay's The Azanian Assignment (1978), Randall Robinson's The Emancipation of Wakefield Clay (1978), Andrew McCoy's The Insurrectionist (1979), Larry Bond's Vortex (1981), Nadine Gordimer's July's People (1981), Frank Graves's African Chess (1990)).
And there is an alternate history with the brilliant premise of aliens arriving in the skies over Johannesburg during the Apartheid era, although sadly District 9 (Blomkamp 2009) doesn't have the faintest idea what to do with it. (Read Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon (2014) instead.)
But, as far as I know, Azanian Bridges is the first story to project Apartheid beyond 1994.
In doing so, Wood sketches in some sly geopolitical changes. The Soviet Union did not withdraw from Afghanistan in 1989, but has spent thirty years 'haemmorrhaging men into their Afghan ulcer' (31). Perestroika and glasnost seem not to have happened, and the USSR is intact, apparently governed by generals. The Berlin wall has not fallen, nor has the Eastern bloc collapsed. Consequently, 'the old anti-communist arguments for supporting' South Africa (163) held sway rather longer among Western powers, and it comes as little surprise that Bush and Blair were both supporters of the Apartheid regime. But now President Obama – along with his ally, the US-backed mujahideen leader Osama bin Laden – are involved in peace talks with the Soviets. The Cold War might finally be limping into its terminal phase, and with weakening Soviet influence in Africa, China is investing heavily across the continent. Meanwhile, in a South Africa ruled by President Eugène Terre'Blanche's Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, Mandela did not leave Robben Island and FW de Klerk is still in prison for trying to bring Apartheid to an end in the 1980s.
All of which is sketched in with greater economy than I have just managed, not least because the layers of paranoid security and firewalling significantly restrict all South Africans' access to the internet and other global media. Phones with cameras are also banned since they are a 'potentially easy source of troubling video' (45) – a nice touch that captures the novel's relevance to our #blacklivesmatter times.
The second (and really really) cunning thing that Wood does is make a connection between the new experimental technology introduced into this alternative near-present and the form his narrative takes: the Empathy Enhancer allows one to experience the experience of others, and vice versa; the novel's chapters alternate between Sibusiso Mchunu, a young amaZulu on the edges of anti-Apartheid struggle who is deeply traumatised when a friend dies in his arms, shot to death by the police at a protest, and the white (but as-yet not very committed) liberal, Dr Martin Van Deventer, the neuropsychologist treating Sibusiso and co-inventor of the Empathy Enhancer.
The security services want the EE device for use in interrogations. Anti-Apartheid groups want to use it to undermine the regime, person-by-person. It is not clear why the Chinese want it, but they do. So when Sibusiso goes on the lam with the device, and Martin sets out in pursuit, the alternating chapters set you up to expect a tensely intercutting thriller, as pursuers become the pursued.
And there are a number of tense sequences and suspenseful passages.
But Wood is playing a very different game, subverting the form to make the reader focus on the twin protagonists' very different experiences of living in a racist state which sees them both, in different ways, as its enemies. This ranges from the most perilous things – run-ins with the security services – to the most quotidian: when Martin is told to destroy his cell phone so it can't be used to trace him, he simply 'grind[s] the phone under [his] heel' (153); when Sibusiso's phone is simply taken from him and tossed into the sea, he is 'upset and angry', in large part because 'we have been taught to throw nothing away' (129).
Such contrasts are the point of the novel.
Azanian Bridges itself is the Empathy Enhancer. Read it and weep.


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A Fox News reporter who could face jail time if she refuses to testify about her sources in the Aurora theater shooting case has won a reprieve.
Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. ruled Monday that he won't decide whether to order reporter Jana Winter to testify until he first decides whether the key clue in the case she was to testify about will be allowed as evidence. In doing so, Samour sided with an argument by Winter's lawyers that the testimony issue isn't "ripe" for ruling.
"The Court is not comfortable proceeding on an incomplete record," Samour wrote in his order Monday. "As soon as the record is adequate, the Court will move forward."
Samour was to decide during a hearing Wednesday whether to order Winter to testify, and he said at a hearing last week that she faced up to six months in jail if she refused to speak. The Wednesday hearing will go on, Samour said, but he will not make a final decision on the issue.
That means Winter may still have to make what Samour referred to in the earlier hearing as a "Hobson's choice" between preserving her career or staying out of jail. Winter has said that if she discloses her sources, it would violate her source's trust and ruin her ability to gather news.
It is rare for journalists to face such a dilemma. As Wednesday's hearing loomed, journalism advocates across the country rallied around Winter, saying the showdown cut at the heart of a journalist's independence and First Amendment rights.
"If anonymous sources believe their identities can be dredged up in court, they will be less likely to disclose to the press information of vital public importance," Angela Greiling Keane, the president of the National Press Club, said in a statement Friday. "That's not a risk worth increasing."
The fight started in July, when Winter, who is based in New York, wrote a story about a notebook that theater shooting suspect James Holmes mailed to his psychiatrist. In the story, Winter cited two unidentified law enforcement sources who told her the notebook contains violent drawings and details of a murderous plot.
Holmes' lawyers were furious, saying the sources violated the case's gag order, and they filed a motion seeking sanctions against the prosecution for the leak. As part of that motion, they put several law enforcement officers on the witness stand, in a fruitless search for the leak. They then subpoenaed Winter even though the law contains protections against reporters having to reveal their sources.
At the same time, Holmes' attorneys argued that the notebook was protected by doctor-patient privilege and should not be evidence in the case. Both sides in the case ultimately agreed the notebook would remain off-limits until Holmes decides whether to raise a mental-health defense.
As long as the notebook is sealed, Samour ruled the issue isn't important enough to the case to overcome the protections Winter has against revealing her sources.
"If the notebook is not privileged and is ruled admissible, it may well prove to be a critical piece of evidence in the case," Samour wrote in his order. "On the other hand, if the Court concludes that the notebook is privileged and inadmissible, it is difficult to discern why the credibility of one or more of the … witnesses would be of importance."
Colorado's shield law gives reporters strong protection against having to divulge their sources, said attorney Steven Zansberg, who has represented several new outlets, including The Denver Post and Fox News, on other issues in the theater shooting case. To overcome that protection, lawyers seeking to put a reporter on the stand must show that the information they want is centrally important to the case, that their interest in getting it outweighs the reporter's First Amendment rights in protecting it and that they can't get the information any other way.
"It is extremely unusual," Zansberg said, especially since the issue here is tangential to the case.
Reporters in Colorado are more commonly subpoenaed to give witness testimony at trial, Zansberg said. Nationally, some of the more high-profile instances of journalist subpoenas — such as the Valerie Plame leak case — involve national-security cases.
Though former New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent time behind bars for refusing to testify in the Plame case, it is rare for journalists to be put in jail. Gregg Leslie, the legal defense director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said no reporters are in jail in America for refusing to testify.
While the situation facing Winter is uncommon, Leslie said such circumstances happen most often in cases like the theater shooting: high-profile local cases where judges are concerned about news reports influencing potential jurors.
Holmes' attorneys said the leak harmed Holmes' right to a fair trial, and Samour said he must also investigate whether any police officers perjured themselves during the earlier hearing when they said they weren't the source of the leak.
"I can't imagine the credibility of any witnesses being more important," Samour said during last week's hearing.
Winter, however, said sources would never trust her again if she testifies and said the public's right to know would be harmed.
Winter's attorneys last week successfully argued there are still other ways to find the leak. Samour told Holmes' lawyers to re-question one Aurora detective on Wednesday because they hadn't previously asked him everything they should have.
"I'm going to make sure the seeking party jumps through all the legal hoops that are required," Samour said.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068, firstname.lastname@example.com or twitter.com/john_ingold