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Encore Presentation - The Noose: An American Nightmare
Aired November 3, 2007 - 20:00 ET
ANNOUNCER: CNN Special Investigations Unit, "The Noose: An American Nightmare." Kyra Phillips reporting. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNOUNCER: Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was the depths of the Great Depression, this, the face of innocence, in a killing field. Rubin Stacy, a homeless black tenant farmer, was taken from police custody by 100 masked men. Hands cuffed, he was hanged from a tree, then riddled with bullets. Rubin Stacy's crime? Scaring a white woman, Mrs. Marion Jones. And, for this, the angry mop lynched him next to Mrs. Jones' home, where he had gone seeking nothing more than food. (END VIDEOTAPE) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That was July 19, 1935. Thankfully, times have changed. But changed how much? This fall, I spent several weeks in Jena Louisiana, a small town that was minding its own business, until it suddenly became a reluctant symbol for the racial ills still plaguing our nation. It started when three white teenagers hung nooses from a tree on the Jena High School campus. It was a small, but ugly episode, with enormous consequences. The following months saw fights between blacks and whites. And finally a group of black teens stomped a white boy into unconsciousness. The stiff charges brought against one of those black kids made Jena a potent symbol of racial division. You can debate the issues of Jena Six, but there's no denying the power of the hangman's noose. In this hour, a look at ugly reality underlying this symbol. The pictures and stories you will see will make you uncomfortable. It may not be appropriate for your children, but we believe that it's important that you, our viewers, understand the horrific history of the noose in America. Perhaps some people who think it's funny to hang a noose will change their minds. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS (voice-over): Just hours after 20,000 protesters marched against what they saw as racial injustice in Jena, police in nearby Alexandria stopped two teenagers in this red pickup truck. Hanging from the back, two yellow nylon ropes -- each with a hangman's noose. In quick succession, more incidents. At the beginning of October, two kids hung a noose at a South Carolina high school. And five days later, a noose was found on the door of a black professor's office at New York's Columbia University. MADONNA CONSTANTINE, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Hanging a noose on my door reeks of cowardice and fear on many, many levels. It's directed toward me individually, but I think, also, the community has been affected by it -- white students, students of color. PHILLIPS: Since Jena, the noose has been displayed in more than a dozen cities around the country, placed deliberately for one reason -- to instill fear. MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: At the end of the day, whatever you may know about the Klan or race relations in America, the noose means one thing -- it means death by hanging. PHILLIPS: Mark Potok is a director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks hate crimes and hate groups. POTOK: I'm not talking about people who are in the Klan or in a neo-Nazi group or who are waving Confederate flags or, in fact, participating in the noose incidents. I'm talking about a much broader swathe of the white American public, largely Southern, who I think are very angry about Jena and what they see as a misportrayal of what happened in Jena. PHILLIPS: In the living room of his small house in Atlanta, 75- year-old John Crawford knows, perhaps better than anyone in the country, the hatred that the noose stands for. His grandfather was lynched. JOHN CRAWFORD, GRANDFATHER WAS LYNCHED: They threw him down the steps and out in the street. And that's where they gathered and began to, well, you say, beat him, cut him and everything else. PHILLIPS: Crawford is talking about his grandfather, Anthony Crawford, a prosperous black farmer who owned nearly 500 acres of land and had $20,000 in the bank. In 1916, he was stabbed, shot and lynched in Abbeville, South Carolina. Anthony Crawford's crime? He argued with a white man over the price of cottonseed. CRAWFORD: I heard they drove him through the street. They took him through the colored neighborhood, say, hey, you're a nigger here. PHILLIPS: But lynchings in America were not just confined to blacks. Charles Commander Clay is an attorney in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta. Eighty years ago, his great-uncle took part in one of the most infamous lynchings in America, the execution of Leo Frank. In 1913, Frank, the Jewish manager of a pencil factory, was convicted and sentenced to death for a murder and rape of a 13-year- old girl who had worked at his plant. Frank's sentence was commuted by Georgia's governor. CHARLES COMMANDER CLAY, ATTORNEY: Folks then took matters into their own hands and went to the prison, took this unfortunate man out, Leo Frank, and executed him, in their mind, in accordance with the sentence imposed by the court. That doesn't make it right. PHILLIPS: Over the years, there's been considerable evidence that Leo Frank was innocent. And, today, in Marietta, the only reminders of what happened to Leo Frank are these two tiny plaques on the corner of this nondescript office building by a busy freeway. CLAY: If you walked out on the street of East or West Cobb today and asked somebody about Leo Frank, I suspect you wouldn't find one in 10 that could tell you what it was about. PHILLIPS: The murders of Leo Frank and Anthony Crawford are not isolated events. From the end of the Civil War until 1981, more than 4,700 people have been lynched in America. More than two-thirds of them were black. Up next: They're hard to look at, images from our past that we must confront. ANNOUNCER: Of the 492 lynchings in Texas between 1882 and 1930, the most infamous was of Jesse Washington, an illiterate black 17- year-old farm hand. Waco, Texas, May 15, 1916, Washington had just been convicted of raping and murdering 53-year-old Lucy Fryer when a white mob broke into the courtroom and dragged him out. Farms, schools and stores closed down, so that people could attend the lynching. Washington was doused in coal oil, hanged, castrated, his fingers chopped off. Then he was set ablaze. This act of savagery became known as the Waco horror. Though lynching violated Texas law, not one member of the Waco mob was ever prosecuted. (END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: God, this is just horrifying. He's been lynched and burned? JAMES ALLEN, CURATOR: This is amazing. This is Sherman, Texas. And they wanted this man so badly, because he was a black criminal, in their minds. PHILLIPS (voice-over): James Allen is a curator and author who leads a comfortable life along the Georgia coast. But he is also a man who will not let anyone forget about America's dark past. For more than three decades, Allen has amassed a one-of-a-kind collection of postcards and photographs of more than 300 lynchings. (on camera): Why do you, a white man, even care about these lynching pictures? ALLEN: Well, for me, the question would be the opposite. Why wouldn't any man care about these pictures? What is wrong? White Christian America somehow is desensitized to black pain. And that's what we need to find out, is how to correct that situation. PHILLIPS (voice-over): For James Allen, each image is intensely personal. ALLEN: I think, really, most painful for me -- and I have never talked about this -- but are the images where they have stripped the men nude. They are at your complete and total mercy. And this is constantly done to African-Americans. PHILLIPS (on camera): You talk about these black men being stripped, whipped, lynched. Why does this make such an impact on you? ALLEN: These are real people with lives and personalities and ambitions. They have families. PHILLIPS (voice-over): For each of the almost 3,500 black Americans who were lynched, thousands more of their loved ones would bear lifelong scars. ALLEN: And the problem is that violence is terribly uninstructive in America. We never seem to learn anything about racial violence. We commit the crimes; we forget them. PHILLIPS: We forget, he says, about the horror that George Hughes endured in Sherman, Texas, in 1930. ALLEN: I can't explain to you fully why people went to the extent that they did. Folks in the courthouse that would not surrender him put George Hughes in the vault, and escaped the courthouse. They burned it to the ground. And George Hughes was literally cooked. PHILLIPS (on camera): And then they hung him from the tree? ALLEN: It wasn't enough. They had to drag him through the street and hang him in the tree. PHILLIPS: And thousands of people turned up to watch. ALLEN: And burned him. They burned his corpse here at the tree. PHILLIPS (voice-over): And we forget about the living nightmare of Lige Daniels in Center, Texas. ALLEN: Lige Daniels is surrounded by white men and boys. This is an initiation for the next generation. Their fathers and grandfathers and their families want them to see what happens to a black person. Well, Lige Daniels was accused of killing a white woman. The men broke him out of jail and hung him from this tree. And he was 16 years old. PHILLIPS (on camera): Did they have proof that he did it? ALLEN: No. Most likely. I don't know, because he never even had a day in court. PHILLIPS (voice-over): And we forget, Allen says, about these nameless men murdered in tiny Watkinsville, Georgia, in 1905. ALLEN: These men, I believe, were one of 10 or 11 men that were taken out of the Watkinsville, Georgia, jail at midnight, for no reason in particular. They took them not far to this fence, tied them up like dogs, like you see here, and a group of men just literally shot and killed them. They threw all these men to the same grave. So, within an hour of Atlanta is a mass grave. PHILLIPS: Jim Allen wrote a book about all of this, "Without Sanctuary." And while his postcards and photos go on exhibit from time to time, the collection resides here. ALLEN: The first thing we realized was that these men that were being killed had no identities. These were brutes. These were niggers. And, so, there became this drive to give these people names. Who are these people? I want to give them their name back. These are all crimes that are still waiting for their day in court. And they will never go away. PHILLIPS: The horrors of the noose. CHARLES HICKMAN, VICTIM: I walked to the door. That's when they grabbed me, put the noose around my neck, and started choking me with it. PHILLIPS: Charles Hickman's nightmare -- when we come back. ANNOUNCER: Duluth, Minnesota, June 15, 1920, three black circus workers accused of raping and killing a young white girl were seized from the police station. A crowd watched as Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie were strung up on Duluth's main street. After the hangings, rumors quickly spread that 14 other African-Americans in the jail were also involved in the attack on the young woman. Minnesota's governor, Joseph Burnquist, fearing more violence, summoned the National Guard to restore order. Because the hangings happened in Minnesota, a Northern state, much of the country was shocked. And it was later discovered that the young girl was not only alive, but had never been raped. (END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HICKMAN: I'm struggling, trying to get free. I was about out of it. I couldn't breathe. I just was almost choked out. PHILLIPS: Charles Hickman is now 39 years old. But he thought that day, October 17, 2002, would be his last. Charles Hickman was raised by his father, Joe, who taught him to treat people the way he wants to be treated. JOE HICKMAN, FATHER OF CHARLES HICKMAN: A person is not responsible for what color they are, you know? I have always taught all of my kids that. PHILLIPS: In 2002, Charles found work as a sandblaster at CCSI, Commercial Coating Services, in Conroe, Texas. C. HICKMAN: From day one, it started out like any other job, try to get in there and get to know people, get the feel of the job. PHILLIPS: He was the only black person among 100 employees. C. HICKMAN: The second day I worked there, I started getting harassed. They would call me nigger. They would call me puto (ph), chongo (ph). PHILLIPS: Co-workers, even supervisors, joined in the harassment. But, in the fall of 2002, the abuse took a dangerous turn. RUDY SUSTAITA, ATTORNEY: Someone decided that they were going to create a noose and then hang it up in the warehouse, in full display for everyone to see. PHILLIPS: Rudy Sustaita is the attorney at the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in Houston. SUSTAITA: And it was made of a very yellow, vibrant color, nylon. C. HICKMAN: It was there like for a couple days that I noticed. And then it wasn't there anymore. PHILLIPS: That day was October 17, 2002. Attorney Charles Peckham describes what happened to his client in the noisy factory. CHARLES PECKHAM, ATTORNEY FOR HICKMAN: One of his co-workers walked by him with the noose. And, of course, it was loud. So, Charles really couldn't hear what was said. But he was holding the noose and was pointing at Charles and laughing. PHILLIPS: Near the end of Charles' shift, his supervisor told him that someone was looking for him and was in the bathroom. C. HICKMAN: I walked through the door. That's when they grabbed me, put the noose around my neck, and started choking me, choking me with it. PHILLIPS: The man who actually brandished the noose, a white co- worker, was John Wrublewski. C. HICKMAN: Once it got around my neck, it tightened. That's when everybody was coming in. And they was just -- really weren't trying to do anything to help. They were just standing there, watching. PHILLIPS: Wrublewski and the others left him for gasping for breath on the bathroom floor. C. HICKMAN: All I know is, something happened. And I was spitting up blood quite a bit, just -- just -- so, no one tried to help, nothing. PHILLIPS: He felt defeated and destroyed, but Charles Hickman went back to work. PECKHAM: He has five kids and a wife. He has got a family to support, and so he continued working there. J. HICKMAN: I was taking his wife to work. She said, they hung Charles on the job. I said, they who hung him? She said, them white people hung him. I said, them white folks hung that boy? She said, yes. I said, where he at now? He gone to work. PHILLIPS: Joe Hickman turned around and went to get his son. J. HICKMAN: You spend your whole life raising a family up, trying to teach them the right thing, and then you got some idiot that would come and do something like that, and it devastated the whole family. PHILLIPS: Together, father and son pressed charges. Kevin Pullum (ph), a lieutenant with the Texas Rangers, began interviewing witnesses. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They knew that Mr. Wrublewski had the noose, and had taken it into the bathroom, and that Mr. Hickman had entered the bathroom a short time later. And, out of concern, one or more of those people entered the bathroom to check and saw that the event was occurring. PHILLIPS: Pullum also took a sworn statement from Wrublewski, who had been fired a week after the noose attack. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did say that, he guessed, you know, it probably -- it could have been considered racially motivated, he said, because it wouldn't have had the same effect had he placed the noose on a white person's neck. PHILLIPS: Wrublewski, on parole for a prior felony conviction, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault. He served nine months. Meanwhile, Charles Hickman asked the EEOC to sue on his behalf. PECKHAM: His supervisor, when he was clocking in, told him something to the effect that they were going to take him out in the woods and bury him up to his neck. PHILLIPS: Once again, John Wrublewski would have to explain why he put a hangman's noose around a black man's neck. JOHN WRUBLEWSKI, DEFENDANT: I figured, you know, he has got a real cool personal demeanor and stuff like that. So, I was like, just that one time, I was like, I'm going to (INAUDIBLE) fun with him, too. And I just -- I didn't think about it. SUSTAITA: It takes on the connotation of lynching, and just the worst form of discrimination, racism, violence, and anger, and hatred. PHILLIPS: Facing a substantial civil judgment, the owners of CCSI sold the company. In March 2006, the new owners settled with Hickman and the EEOC for a record $1 million. PECKHAM: The company was also to plant a tree on their premises with a plaque that said "Charles Hickman, Dedicated Employee." PHILLIPS: CCSI failed to comment about the case. Charles Hickman hasn't worked since the attack. C. HICKMAN: I think about it every day, every day, because it should have never happened. But it happened. And you can't turn that back. PHILLIPS: Up next... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A swastika drawn on the door. PHILLIPS: ... behind the scenes with a hate crimes detective. ANNOUNCER: Shubuta, Mississippi, October 12, 1942, the bodies of two black 14-year-olds lay on the ground. The noose is still around their necks. After confessing to the attempted rape of a 13-year-old white girl, Charles Lang and Ernest Green were dragged from jail and hanged from a railroad bridge. U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle ordered the FBI to investigate the lynchings, promising a relentless prosecution. No one was ever convicted. (END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello in Washington. Back to "The Noose: An American Nightmare" in just a minute. Here's what's in the news right now. Tropical storm Noel has just been upgraded to a hurricane with 75-mile per hour winds. The storm lunged in the Bahamas and Cuba today after battering Haiti and the Dominican Republic earlier in the week. So far, Noel has killed 108 people making it the deadliest storm this season. President Bush accuses Congress of stalling on three fronts in the fight to prevent terrorism at home. Today, the president urged Congress to approve his attorney general nominee, passed a wire- tapping law, and speed up approval of a war spending bill. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is no time for Congress to weaken the Department of Justice by denying a strong and effective leader. There's no time for Congress to weaken our ability to gather vital intelligence from captured terrorists. There's no time for Congress to weaken our ability to intercept information from terrorists about potential attacks on the United States of America. This is no time for Congress to hold back vital funding for our troops. (END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: The president also compared Democratic leaders to those who ignored the rise of Hitler and Lenin. The man who piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima has died. Paul Tibbets was a 30-year old colonel when he commanded the mission near the end of World War Two. Tibbets died at his home in Columbus, Ohio. He was 92 years old. I'm Carol Costello. Now, back to "The Noose: An American Nightmare." ANNOUNCER: CNN's Special Investigations Unit, "The Noose: An American Nightmare". Kyra Phillips reporting. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): On Tuesday morning, October 9th, a noose is discovered hanging on the door of a black professor here at Columbia University in New York City. Word spreads. Protesters take to the streets. An investigation begins, and the media shines the spotlight. Versions of this have happened dozens of times over the past few months which has us asking, how do you investigate hate? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a noose found in the men's locker room of the Hempstead Police Department. PHILLIPS (voice-over): On September 28, Corey Pegues, the president of a black law enforcement group became enraged after learning about a noose hanging in this small Hempstead New York police station. He immediately let the local press know. COREY PEGUES, PRESIDENT, BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT GROUP: Just look at this, what this represents. When I hold this up, when I see this, I think of my ancestors hanging off trees. We're appalled that in 2007, someone has the audacity to put a noose in a police department where people are sworn to protect and serve. PHILLIPS: Hempstead deputy police chief Willie Dixon believes he was the target of someone's hate and ignorance. WILLIE DIXON, HEMPSTEAD DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: A noose, in my mind, represents the darkest periods in this country's history. And it wasn't enough to lynch an African-American. He would castrate him to add insult to injury. And after the lifeless body was hanging from a tree, he would then set that individual on fire. PHILLIPS: The events set off a whirlwind of activity for Dixon's boss, Chief Joe Wing. CHIEF JOE WING, CHIEF OF HEMPSTEAD POLICE DEPARTMENT: Within 24 hours, I spoke to a member of the FBI. In the pursuing days and weeks, I had to deal with the media and media relations. And very important, I had to deal with the morale of the officers, the morale of the department, because this is one act, and I believe it was one individual. But it had such an adverse impact on all of the officers. PHILLIPS: Now that the initial frenzy has died down, the investigation proceeds beneath the radar of the media. A process, detective sergeant Gary Shapiro of the nearby Nassau County Police Department, knows well. He's not involved in the Hempstead case, but he's investigated hate crimes for 12 years. GARY SHAPIRO, DETECTIVE SERGEANT, NASSAU COUNTY: What I have here are some photos from a synagogue which was damaged on the north shore of Nassau County. There was some anti-Semitic graffiti. At the synagogue, there were swastikas and some derogatory words. And based on the fact that certain symbolism was used, this was considered a hate crime. PHILLIPS: Two young men have been arrested for that crime. SHAPIRO: That symbolism is a very powerful thing, whether you're dealing with the swastika or a noose or KKK in graffiti. Somebody painted the Klan standing around a figure that's hung from a hangman's noose. These are years and years worth of copulation. What was the motivation? Why was it done? We take it very seriously up here and, you know, we do the best we can with it. PHILLIPS: It's a hate crime when a person or his property is targeted because of race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. For example -- SHAPIRO: If there in the investigation it's found, the attack occurred because of an argument over a parking spot, a derogatory language was used, that is not a hate crime. But during the investigation if it's found that during the course of that argument, one assaulted the other because of a dislike for that particular or hate for that particular person or their group and that's why they assaulted them, then that is a hate crime. PHILLIPS: There are federal hate crime statutes, and nearly every state has its own hate crime laws. New York's law was recently changed, so it's now a felony to put a swastika on someone's property or to burn a cross in public view. Nooses were not added. SHAPIRO: More graffiti and damage to the windows was found along this wall right here. PHILLIPS: On the day we met Detective Shapiro, two nooses were found in his jurisdiction. One of them, a doll with black tar on its face. Shapiro believes that noose hanging will eventually be included in New York hate crime law and Corey Pegues is working hard to make that happen sooner rather than later. PEGUES: We want federal legislation. The hanging of a noose should be a hate crime. Just look at this picture. Imagine this around my neck. This is not a game. This is serious. We're talking about human lives. We don't take this as a joke. And we want it to stop across America, now. PHILLIPS: When we return, Hal Turner doesn't see the noose as a joke either. He says it's an important symbol of white justice. Danielsville, Georgia, April 28, 1936, in an effort to protect accused rapist Lynn Shaw from an angry white mob, the National Guard was called to escort him to Atlanta. Shaw had slipped the noose but only briefly. One week later, his body was found swinging from a pine tree in a creek bed. Lynn Shaw was the 468th African-American lynched in Georgia. (END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS (voice-over): He's a man with a message, trying to appeal to our very worst instincts. HAL TURNER, RADIO TALK-SHOW HOST: No more savage black crimes. PHILLIPS: Hal Turner markets his message of hatred at white supremacist rallies and on his Internet radio show. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TURNER: Welcome to the Hal Turner show. (END VIDEO CLIP) TURNER: I say publicly what most folks already know and think but dared to do so only in private. My radio show is the only radio show in America, where people could call up and say whatever they want about racial issues. PHILLIPS: Turner is the latest in a long list of extremists who have played to fear an ignorance. People like David Duke, formerly of the Ku Klux Klan. CROWD: White revolution? PHILLIPS: Tom Metzger, a neo-Nazi. TOM METZGER, NEO-NAZI: We're racists and we make no apology for it. PHILLIPS: George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American- Nazi party. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE LINCOLN ROCKWELL, FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN-NAZI PARTY: Jews are behind it and have financed it. (END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: And Father Charles Coughlin, who in the 1930s used the airways to preach anti-semitism and fascism. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FATHER CHARLES COUGHLIN, PREACHED ANTI-SEMITISM & FASCISM: Drive the money changers from the temple and you did it. (END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: They have laid the ground work for Turner and his contemporaries. Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center tracks violent extremist groups. MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Hal Turner is, first of all, a straight-up neo-Nazi. He's kind of a soul ideologue, but he is very much the violent public face of the white supremacists movement. It's difficult for me to believe that any relatively sane person could listen to Hal Turner and think anything but the man is a maniac. Listen to what he's actually proposing. PHILLIPS: You might be wondering why we'd even give Turner the publicity. We asked ourselves that question, and we asked Mark Potok. POTOK: When you get a guy like Hal Turner, who is out there in public, who is spouting his incredible vitriol, you know, it's actually preferable or at least it could seem preferable to have him where you know where he is. You know what he's doing. You can see the effect he's having or not having on the movement. Then God forbid, you know, running around in dark alleys and planning something that really could leave people hurt, seriously dead. PHILLIPS: And so I sat down face to face with Hal Turner. PHILLIPS (on camera): Who is Hal Turner? TURNER: A talk-radio host from metropolitan New York City that smashes political correctness every Wednesday night. PHILLIPS: Come on, now, you're a little more abrasive than that. TURNER: Oh, sure, I have to be because political correctness in America today is a fanatical ideology, and it requires fanatical ways of punching through it. A lot of people call it hate, racism, bigotry. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TURNER: Brown-skinned animals. (END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS (voice-over): Turner said his racist beliefs were born when Republican voters in New Jersey passed him over as a Congressional candidate in favor of a Latino woman. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TURNER: I'm being discriminated against because I'm white. (END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS (on camera): So you're bitter? TURNER: I am offended that the culture that developed and built and paid for this country is now being put at the back of the bus, so to speak. Because for some reason or another, all these lower cultures and lower races are more important, and I find that disgusting. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TURNER: So the choice is yours, blacks. Are you going to rein in your young hoodlums or are you going to radio (INAUDIBLE) or are you going to find them swinging from a rope? (END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Turner's become a master at knowing how far he can push the envelope. POTOK: Turner is very aware of precisely where the first amendment ends. So that, you know, he can say things like, it would be a good thing. Wouldn't it be nice if some judges, some more judges were murdered. But he's quite careful as a general matter, not to say "kill that judge." PHILLIPS: It's no surprise that virtually all hate groups have become masters of the Internet, although we have no way of knowing how many or how few people Turner actually reaches. POTOK: They figured they could finally get past the editors of the "New York Times, the producers at CNN. They could go right to the people. PHILLIPS: Going right to the people is exactly what Turner did with our interview. When he talked about it on his Web site and where you'll also find this, a Jena six style hangman's noose for sale. TURNER: It's a cute little figure (ph). You couldn't hurt a fly with this. But the point I'm trying to make is, this is a simple way for white people to say they are fed up with black crime. PHILLIPS (on camera): Do you know what those nooses mean to African-Americans? TURNER: I have no clue. PHILLIPS: Do you care? Do you care what it means to an African- American? TURNER: No, I'm tired of caring about what things mean to different people of different races. PHILLIPS: Doesn't a noose symbolize hate, bigotry, division? TURNER: Justice. PHILLIPS: What do you mean, justice? TURNER: That's what a noose symbolizes, justice. Rapists, justice. Child molesters, justice. PHILLIPS: You're saying this is not a symbol for the way black people were treated years and years ago. TURNER: Maybe they deserved it, and I don't care. This is a symbol of justice, and you're going to see a lot more of this in the United States. PHILLIPS: When we return -- he was a racist who shared Hal Turner's beliefs, but not anymore. ANNOUNCER: Okemah, Oklahoma, May 25th, 1911. Black men weren't the only victims of the noose. Laura Nelson and her 15-year-old son L.W. (ph) were hanged from a newly constructed bridge. Nelson was accused of murdering a deputy sheriff after he discovered stolen goods in her home. They were dragged six miles to the Canadian river and lynched, but not before Laura was raped by some in the mob. Like so many lynchings at the time, there was no investigation of these murders. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) QUAY HANNA, FOUNDER OF QUAY'S CLUB: Remember, we're talking about how these two guys had hung nooses off the back of their truck and they had gone -- PHILLIPS (voice-over): Welcome to Quay's club. HUNTER MCBRIDE, QUAY'S CLUB MEMBER: I don't really think they knew what kind of racial stigma it had behind it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They knew it was even though they were 12. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last time that we met -- PHILLIPS: It's a discussion group about race at Penn Manor High School in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. NATE IRWIN, QUAY'S CLUB MEMBER: They were showing a threat to people of different race, because they don't like them. That's got to be as simple as it can be. PHILLIPS: Today, the conversation is about the young men arrested right after the huge protest in Jena, Louisiana, for hanging two nooses from a pickup truck. HANNA: We've got black and Puerto Rican. We've got a full- blooded southerner. We've got just our local home grown rednecks including myself. PHILLIPS: The group leader is 37-year-old Quay Hanna, a self- proclaimed redneck and former racist who changed his views 15 years ago during a bus ride across America. He grew up in this mostly white, largely agricultural county. Today, he believes students can change their minds about hate and racist symbols. PHILLIPS (on camera): What changes them? HANNA: Well, again, they become confronted with what they've always thought was true. They're confronted with what seems to be the case and then suddenly, it throws everything out of whack. PHILLIPS (voice-over): Quay remembers one student, a skin head, who sat through weekly club meetings for three years but never said a word. HANNA: I have a book that all my students sign when they're leaving. In there, he said, I never thought anyone could change my mind about racism but you seem to do that. PHILLIPS: After one club meeting, I sat down with some members. Nate Irwin (ph), the self-proclaimed country boy. Hunter McBride, who grew up in the south and wants to teach history. Amber Kitch, the ex- city girl, who now lives in the country. And Elaine Odiambo (ph), originally from Kenya. PHILLIPS (on camera): How has this club made an impact on your life? ELAINE ODIAMBO, QUAY CLUB MEMBER: I used to see (INAUDIBLE) and him and think that they're criminals -- PHILLIP: People like Nate, the country boy. ODIAMBO (ph): Yes, the country boys, the rednecks or whatever, and think they're really racist. PHILLIPS: So Nate, Elaine stereotyped you. Did you stereotype Elaine because she was black? NATE IRWIN (ph), QUAY'S CLUB MEMBER: No, I did not, due to the fact that this club has been a big intrical part of my life. Eighth grade, Quay caught us. You know, there were a few minority students in our middle school. And it got to the point where we were just being mean to this people on principle, and he nipped it in the bud. PHILLIPS: You were a bit racist. IRWIN: I admit, yes, in middle school. I do agree. PHILLIPS: When you saw what was happening in Jena, Louisiana, did you sit back and think, oh, my gosh. That's how I was? IRWIN: That's how I used to be. Not because I just didn't just stumble upon this mentality, I was immersed in it. PHILLIPS: Could a noose ever be used as a prank? MCBRIDE: I don't think the noose could be used as a prank just because of the stigma behind it. You know, a lot of people know that it was used in lynchings. And there was a lot of lynchings that occurred all throughout the United States. PHILLIPS: Amber, when you think of a noose or you see a noose, what comes to mind? AMBER KITCH, QUAY'S CLUB MEMBER: Every time you think of a noose, you automatically think of someone being hung. And most likely, it always leads to death. PHILLIPS ((voice-over): In Pennsylvania, what students learn about slavery, lynchings, and the segregated south is largely left to the individual school districts. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of the day, after you learn about these lynching and hangings and all kinds of these prejudice things, it's just another fact in the text book. People don't really think about it much. So in my opinion, it is pretty easy for people to just shove it off and say, you know what, that happened in the 1800s. UNIDENTIFIED MALE TEACHER: This is where racism begins in America. PHILLIPS: But 70 miles east, the Philadelphia school district teaches black history in a way that's hard to shove off. An African- American history class is mandatory for graduation. UNIDENTIFIED MALE TEACHER: So if the mother is a slave, the children will be slaves. PHILLIPS: It's a unique curriculum covering the great work of Ida B. Wells, the anti-lynching crusader and the story of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955, for simply talking to a white woman. Teachers may also use Jim Allen's remarkable resource, "Without Sanctuary." It's a collection of photographs and postcards from America's dark past. HANNA: Before I say anything else, I want to let you know that yesterday I was at Warwick. . PHILLIPS: And Quay Hanna is now a remarkable resource for students at another Lancaster County school. HANNA: It was tense. I felt tense going in there. PHILLIPS: He's working at Warwick High School, where students reportedly threatened to bring in guns after an incident in early October. About 12 students known for wearing confederate flags, threw paper balls and hard candies at a small group of minority students, including Eric Chora (ph). ERIC CHORA (ph), MINORITY STUDENT: And I call f.u. nigger and stuff like that. Like niggers these days are too loud and outspoken. HANNA: It was a great assembly. I was pumped up. I was cranking. PHILLIPS: Quay Hanna held an all-school assembly and has spoken separately with the students involved in the skirmish. He's hopeful, but it's an uphill battle. CHORA: I think that was stupid because, I think, how are you going to bring in a former racist to teach other kids, rednecks, kids that are racist to be good. They are not going to listen to them. PHILLIPS: They might. Others have before. HANNA: What I do is come in, and I say, I will build with who is willing to build. So if that's the students of color, I will build from there. If that's the students from poor white America, I will build from there. If that's people who are unrelated to that incident from outside, then I'll build from there. PHILLIPS (on camera): In this remarkably diverse nation of 300 million people, are two dozen nooses cause for concern? And in a country that cherishes freedom of speech for everyone, should we sound an alarm over one voice of hate like Hal Turner? Well, most of those responsible for hanging those nooses will never be identified. What we do know, is that as America's dark history recedes further into the past, it's more important than ever that young people understand the horrors of the noose. I'm Kyra Phillips. (END VIDEOTAPE) TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com


text:
Will Carroll, somewhat innocuously, tweeted the picture you see here during the Playboy party Saturday night, gently ribbing Rovell for tweeting anywhere. As you can see, the tweet was sent on February 4 at 12:05 a.m.
This Rovell tweet—"These Super Bowl parties are nothing like they were from 2001-2007. 1,500 people, 16 Playmates. Needle in a haystack."—was sent on February 4 at 12:04 a.m.
In all likelihood, Will Carroll snapped the very moment Rovell finally lost all of his mind (along with some of his followers). And who could blame the poor guy, all dressed up and no one to dance with.

subset: commoncrawl


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Contest gives Kan. woman 2nd chance at lost Christmas
Migraine forces woman to miss festivities several years ago
A Kansas woman had a second chance to celebrate a Christmas that she missed several years ago.
Tammy Rome, 42, of Eudora, suffers from chronic migraine. She experiences migraines and headaches at least 15 days of every month.
Rome said her headaches were so strong that they caused her to miss out on her family's Christmas festivities a few years ago. She was one of the winners in a national contest that allowed her to relive the lost opportunity.
Celebrity event planner Mindy Weiss helped organize a Christmas dinner for Rome at the Deer Creek Golf Club Wednesday.
Doctors said about 3.2 million Americans deal with chronic migraine and women are three times more likely to suffer from the condition than men. A recent study found that many people who have the condition have not been properly diagnosed.
Rome said she encourages anyone who deals with migraines to contact a headache specialist to find ways to better manage their conditions.


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Ageing leads to impairment of tissue homeostasis and functional decline of organs and represents a main risk factor for prevalent diseases such as cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration in developed countries. To devise therapies aimed at improving the health state of the elderly, a detailed knowledge of molecular mechanisms leading to the impairment of organ function with increasing age is essential. There is accumulating evidence that posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of proteins contribute to this decline.
PTMs occur either enzymatically catalysed or non-enzymatically, with both types often targeting the same amino acid. Under physiological conditions enzymatic PTMs regulate protein activities, thereby controlling shape and function of cells. However, due to alterations of modifying enzymes or because of an altered cellular environment in aged organisms, PTM patterns may change, and, moreover, non-enzymatic modifications, such as oxidation, may compete with enzymatically regulated processes, such as acetylation and glycosylation. As a consequence, dysregulation of cellular processes occurs.
The aim of the Research Training Group (RTG) is to investigate PTMs of cellular proteins as key players in age progression. Scientists from the universities of Halle and Jena as well as from the Leibniz Institute of Age Research Jena combine their expertise from various fields of chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, biomedicine and "omics"-based technologies to characterise PTM-mediated mechanisms of functional decline during ageing.
In particular, the influence of PTMs on ageing-relevant signalling proteins and epigenetic and transcriptional regulation will be investigated. The scientific programme constitutes an excellent background to qualify young scientists for a future career in interdisciplinary ageing research from basic chemistry to medicine. The RTG provides an innovative qualification programme including state-of-the-art methodological platforms and high-quality training in theoretical and practical aspects of ageing research with a focus on PTMs.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Simm
Clinic for Heart Surgery,
University Hospital Halle,
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg,
Ernst-Grube Str. 40,
D-06120 Halle
Phone: +49 (0) 345-557 2647
E-Mail: andreas.simm(at)uk-halle.de
Prof. Dr. Regine Heller
Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
Institute of Molecular Cell Biology
Center for Molecular Biomedicine (CMB)
Jena University Hospital
Hans-Knöll-Strasse 2
D- 07745 Jena
Phone: +49 (0) 36419395633
E-Mail: regine.heller(at)med.uni-jena.de


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2014 nye parties seattle
Seattle New Year's Events Guide: Parties, Fireworks, Dinner, Champagne Toasts
New Year's Eve is tomorrow and we have a large list of Seattle parties, events, firework celebrations, dinner, champagne toasts, and more. You can always keep updated on our New Year's calendar here.
WIN SEATTLE NYE TICKETS: We give out 100s of $$$ in free tickets every week including to many of the top events in Seattle. Join our newsletter if you like free stuff!
2014/2015 Seattle New Year's Parties & Events:
- December 26-31: Free New Year's Celebration & Street Show @ Celebration Lane, Bellevue | Bubbles, Light & Music Display, Drummers & Dance
- December 31: New Year's Eve Video Game Lock-In @ PLAYlive Nation Seattle | Tons of Hot Games, Pizza, Snacks, Midnight Toast
- December 31: Moisture Festival New Year's Eve Extravaganza @ Hale's Palladium | All Ages, Music, Comedy/Varietè, Dancing, Champagne Toast
- December 31: Waterways Cruises 2015 Seattle New Year's Eve Cocktail Cruises | Champagne Toast, Fireworks, Full-service Bar, DJ & Dancing!
- December 31: New Year's Eve "Crawl 'Til The Ball Falls" Bar Crawl w/ BarCrawls.com | 5+ Bars, Music, Debauchery
- December 31: Black & White New Year's Eve Party @ Fadó Irish Pub | Champagne Toast, Party Favors, w/ DJ Doogie
- December 31: Wicked Karma presents Bollysutra New Year's Eve Extravaganza! @ China Harbor, Champagne Toast
- December 31: New Year's Eve Party @ Seattle Center | Music by The Nines, Fireworks
- December 31: Huge New Year's Party Bonza Bash | 18 Piece Big Band, Champagne Toast, Red Carpet & More
- December 31: Resolution 2015 New Years Eve @ WaMu Theater | Hardwell, Morgan Page, Cosmic Gate, Balloon Drop, Dancing & More!
- December 31: Neon New Years Eve @ Nectar Lounge | w/ 80s Cover Band Nite Wave + The West & DJ Indica Jones
- December 31: Downtown Seattle New Year's Eve Party at Frolik Kitchen | DJ, Prizes, Food, Drink
- December 31 & January 1: FREE New Year's Eve and Day Walks in West Seattle | Holiday Lights, Beautiful Views
- January 1: Polar Plunge @ Point Defiance Park | Pictures, Free, Costumes, Puget South Plunge, Kid & Adult Plunge, Fun Run
- January 1: Ivar's Clam Lights LAST DAY @ Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park | Free, Stunning Visual Display, Decorated Walking Path
- January 1: New Year's Day Resolution Run 5K & Polar Bear Dive @ Magnuson Park | Beer Garden, Kid's Dash
- January 1: Tacoma New Years Day First Mile @ Point Defiance Park | Free, Flat, Fast Mile Along the Waterfront (more info)
- January 1: New Years Day Polar Bear Plunge @ Matthews Beach Park | 1,000 Brave Souls, Official Plunge Patch, Polar Cub Club (more info)
- January 3: A Latin New Year @ Nectar Lounge | con Picoso and The Cumbieros + En Canto (Win Tickets, $30)
Related Events & Info:
Seattle New Year's Eve Cocktail Cruise | Champagne Toast, Fireworks, & Dancing!
Ring in the New Year in style aboard a beautiful Waterways yacht, with a champagne toast in hand and the best views of the dazzling fireworks show on Lake Union! Champagne, souvenir Waterways flutes, personalized cakes, flowers and other cruise enhancements are available to complement your dining experience with an advance purchase.
YOUR NEW YEAR'S EVE COCKTAIL CRUISE INCLUDES: Read the rest of this entry »
Downtown Seattle New Year's Eve Bar Crawl!
'Crawl 'Til The Ball Falls'
December 31, 2014
5 p.m. – 4 a.m. | $10 | 21+
More info + Tickets: http://newyears.com
Get ready to crawl into the BIGGEST, the BADDEST, the most OVER-THE-TOP New Year's Eve in Seattle, with the official NYE Crawl 'Til the Ball Falls Bar Crawl. Get ready to drink it up NYE revelers: it's gonna be one deluxe night of divine debauchery.
What's better than one wild NYE party in Seattle? How about more than five bars? That's right, at this insane NYE Bar Crawl, you'll have access to all the best New Year's revelry at a diverse array of premium party destinations.
More info on the NYE Bar Crawl on Seattle Pipeline here.
Huge Seattle New Year's Eve Dance Party @ WaMu Theater | USC Presents Resolution 2015
Ring in 2015 with the Northwest's Timeless New Year's Eve Tradition: Resolution! Dancing the night away in a festival atmosphere full of surprises to the sounds of world-class artists is the perfect setting in which to reflect on the past and set plans for the year to come. Gather with friends old and new on December 31st as we usher in a new year full of renewal, refreshment, & Resolution!
More info + video of Resolution NYE Party on Seattle Pipeline here.
———-–————————————–———————————— Read the rest of this entry »


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Victoria Cooking School
Chef Billie Essa is available on the above dates for any the following menus:
Book this Private Event at Our Victoria Cooking School
The Fine Print:The standard price for any private party is $1290 (+tax) for the first 10 people and $99 (+tax) per person after that. The minimum charge for a private event is $1290 (+tax). The 3-hour event, which typically runs from 6-9pm, includes the chef, food costs, and staff. Any beverages would need to be supplied by you, for a self-service bar. If you prefer bar service (we serve you), we would need to take out a special occasion license, at an additional cost to you. Groups larger than 20 guests, will require additional rentals. Please call us at 778-769-1978 or email us at: firstname.lastname@example.com, to find out more!
Private Party Cancellation Policy:
- A 50% deposit is required at time of booking, and is fully refundable up to 30 days before your event. The balance is due 48 hours prior to your event.
- Half of the deposit is refundable, up to 14 days before your event. The deposit is non-refundable less than 14 days prior to your event.
- If you need to change the date of your event you may do so once, for free, up to 14 days before your event. Any additional date changes will have a $100 charge. We are sorry, but we cannot accommodate date changes less than 14 days prior to your event.
- Final number of guests is required 48 hours before your event (with no changes allowed following this time - if a guest is unable to attend within this period, please send somebody in their place)


text:
Explore to read the latest announcements regarding the Hub.
Server crash - 5 Sep 2016
9th September 2016, 06:56 AM
Use this forum to ask questions about how to do things or how to fix problems regarding Hub forums.
After sending a private...
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text:
Effect Of An Integrase Inhibitor On The Latency And Reservoir Of HIV-1
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00807443
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : December 12, 2008
Last Update Posted : February 1, 2013
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
The presence of a pool of cells latently infected by HIV-1 in patients taking HAART and with a viral load below 50 copies/mL is the main limitation to eradication of the virus from the body. This viral reservoir prevents antiretroviral therapy from being interrupted; therefore, patients are obliged to continue with treatment for a period calculated to be greater than 60 years.
Despite the important advances in knowledge of the biology of this reservoir, we still have no real knowledge about its dynamics. The opportunity to carry out a clinical trial for the first time with an integrase inhibitor is exceptional, since the results could provide important information on the nature of this reservoir.
If maintenance of the reservoir is a dynamic process, inclusion of an integrase inhibitor is expected to lead to a reduction in the size of this reservoir. This effect could be critical when including IAT (viral reactivation), since, in theory, it would be necessary to act on a smaller reservoir. Current consensus is that it would be necessary to act on almost 100% of the viral reservoir (approximately 1,000,000 cells).
The study has also been designed to enable us to understand the biochemical and molecular mechanisms by which certain drugs can induce viral reactivation in vitro as a previous step to a clinical trial aimed at reactivating viral latency and eradicating HIV-1 from the body.
|Condition or disease
|HIV-1 HIV Infections
|Drug: Raltegravir
|Phase 2
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|10 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Single Group Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Basic Science
|Official Title:
|Pilot Study Of The Effect Of An Integrase Inhibitor On The Latency And Reservoir Of HIV-1 In Patients Taking Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy
|Study Start Date :
|September 2009
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|December 2011
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|December 2011
|Experimental: Raltegravir
Drug: Raltegravir
Raltegravir (INN), 400 mg tablets, developed and supplied by Merck Sharp & Dohme. A dose of 400 mg will be administered every 12 hours
- To evaluate, by means of a clinical trial, the effect of therapy with an integrase inhibitor (Raltegravir) on the cell reservoir of HIV-1 on patients taking HAART [ Time Frame: 12 months ]
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- After receiving information on the design and objectives of the study, the possible risks involved, and the fact that they can refuse to collaborate at any time, patients will give their informed consent to participate in the study and agree to provide material for the cellular and molecular studies.
- Aged over 18 years.
- Chronic HIV infection
- Antiretroviral therapy with at least 3 drugs for at least 2 years and with no modifications expected during the study. Antiretroviral drugs can be switched due to intolerance as long as plasma viremia remains controlled.
- Undetectable viral load determined by ultrasensitive techniques (<50 copies HIV RNA/mL) for at least 2 years.
- CD4+ T lymphocyte count above 350 cells/mm3.
- Understand the objective of the study and be available to make frequent visits to the hospital.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Previous failure of antiretroviral therapy, understood as a rebound in viral load that can be detected after having reached undetectable levels. Low-grade increases (<200 copies of HIV RNA/mL) and transitory increases (blips) resolved without modifying antiretroviral therapy are excluded.
- Proven resistance against the antiretroviral drugs under study.
- Planned interruption of antiretroviral therapy.
- Taking immunosuppressive or immunostimulating medication of any type, including valproic acid.
- Taking a fusion inhibitor (enfuvirtide).
- Pregnancy or intention to become pregnant during the study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00807443
|Hospital Universitario Ramon Y Cajal
|Madrid, Spain, 28034
|Principal Investigator:
|Santiago Moreno Guillen, MD,PhD
|Responsible Party:
|Fundacion para la Investigacion Biomedica del Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|December 12, 2008 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|February 1, 2013
|Last Verified:
|January 2013
integrase inhibitor (raltegravir)
the cell reservoir of HIV-1
treatment experienced
HIV Infections
Lentivirus Infections
Retroviridae Infections
RNA Virus Infections
Virus Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
Immune System Diseases
Raltegravir Potassium
Anti-HIV Agents
Anti-Retroviral Agents
Antiviral Agents
Anti-Infective Agents
HIV Integrase Inhibitors
Integrase Inhibitors
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action


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Chain-of-Custody: Getting Started
Urinalysis is only one tool to help combat the drug abuse problem we face today. But if it is used correctly, urinalysis can be a formidable tool. Since the use of urinalysis is a complex matter requiring careful and thoughtful discussion and implementation, it is important to investigate this tool comprehensively. The need to ensure the protection of individual rights within the context of a drug-testing program makes essential the development of proper chain-of-custody procedures. Legal challenges focus on the accuracy of specimen handling and the accountability of specimen custody more frequently than on the accuracy of the analytical method. If the proper chain-of-custody is found lacking (i.e., if it cannot be proved that the sample that tested positive was the sample given by the person in question), legal proceedings can quickly be challenged.
Chain-of-Custody of Urine Samples
Starting at the time of collection, a sample's chain-of-custody must be documented and protected. Chain-of-custody is a legal term that refers to the ability to trace and safeguard the sample, from the time it was donated, through the collection, and analysis, of the sample, to the reporting of the result. Chain-ofcustody documentation answers the question: Were the specimen and the reported result correctly matched? Sound procedure requires that the sample be secured in a manner that ensures any tampering or attempted tampering is evident. It further requires that each time the sample changes hands or is moved from one place to another, it is signed for and kept in a secure area to ensure against inadvertent or intentional switching with another sample.
Elements of Chain-of-Custody Procedure
The elements of a good chain-of-custody procedure include the following:
- The donor should be supervised either directly or indirectly while delivering the specimen.
- The specimen container should be handed directly to the person supervising the collection and labeled and sealed immediately.
- The collector and the donor should initial the bottle to indicate that both agree that the bottle contains the donor's urine specimen.
- The name of each person who has access to the specimen should be noted on a form accompanying the specimen. (Access to the specimen should be limited as much as possible.)
- The sample should be kept in a secure place, such as a locked room or refrigerator, until it is either tested or sent to the laboratory.
- Testing performed on-site should be done in a secure location to avoid the possibility of exchanging samples with a passerby.
- If the specimen must be transported to an outside laboratory, it should be mailed in a sealed container and placed in an external carton with an evidence seal. Government mail or licensed and bonded courier services are acceptable means of transporting specimens.
- The specimen must be properly labeled so that laboratory personnel will not confuse it with others.
- If the specimen is to be offered as evidence in a legal proceeding, it must be in the same condition as it was when taken—unless the change is for a justifiable purpose, such as alteration required for the testing procedure.
Chain-of-Custody: Collection
Chain-of-custody errors occur more easily during specimen collection than during the testing process. The donor, if a drug user, may try to tamper with the sample in a number of ways, such as adding liquid or a foreign substance to the sample or substituting a drug-free sample for his/her own. Errors by the collector can range from improperly labeling and securing the specimen bottle to accidentally contaminating the specimen, or confusing it with another specimen.
To overcome these common errors, a specified sample collection site should be set up with the necessary materials, equipment, facilities, and supervision. This is to provide for the collection, security, temporary storage, and shipping or transportation of urine specimens to a drug-testing laboratory.
The collection site should be secure during drug testing. Only authorized personnel should be permitted in the designated collection site when urine specimens are collected or stored.
Sample Collection Materials
These are the materials needed to collect urine specimens:
- Specimen bottles: wide-mouthed, screwcapped, 60–125 mL translucent polyethylene bottles. (Bottles will be filled 1/2 to 2/3 full of urine.) The caps should contain self-sealing, leak-proof liners. These are available through most medical or laboratory supply companies.
- Labels for specimen bottles with spaces to write the donor's identification number, name of the collector, and the date and time of collection.
- Seals (evidence tape) long enough to cover the top of the cap and run partially down the sides of the bottles. The seal should have to be broken to open a sealed bottle.
- Chain-of-custody forms to accompany each sample bottle. The form should be designed to show who had the specimen and when.
- Boxes, seals, and labels for shipping specimens.
- Refrigerator or freezer if specimens are to be kept longer than a few hours before analysis. This should be locked or kept in a locked room.
Chain-of-Custody Form
An identification label that shows the date; the individual's specimen number; and any other identifying information required should be placed securely on the bottle. The donor should initial the identification label on the specimen bottle for the purpose of certifying that it is the specimen collected from him/her.
A chain-of-custody form should be used for maintaining control and accountability of each specimen from the point of collection to final disposition of the specimen. Each time a specimen is handled or transferred, every individual in the chain should be identified. Every effort should be made to minimize the number of persons handling specimens.
The chain-of-custody form should have the following information:
- Donor name or ID number
- Collection information
- Date and time sample was collected
– Name of person supervising collection
– Name of person requesting collection
– Name(s) of person(s) with access to sample
– List of medications being taken by donor
– Any comments about the sample
- Laboratory information
– Date and time sample was received
– Name of person receiving sample
– Tests requested
– Name of person reviewing or certifying test results
– Test results—initial test results and confirmation test results with calibrator cutoffs listed
Typically, these forms are pre-printed with the name of the client; the address of the person reviewing the results; and the pre-selected test panel.
The label that is placed on the specimen container must be designed to clearly link the labeled bottle to the chain-of-custody form. It should be non-removable, or at least tamper-evident, so that it cannot be removed, replaced, or altered. A common security feature is to integrate the label into the actual seal, thus making the seal unique. The label can be pre-printed with the identifying number, and provide an area for the donor's initials (which should be inscribed after the bottle is sealed); the collector's signature; and the time and date of collection. The bottle should be labeled in the donor's presence.
Sample Tampering Prevention
To ensure correct identification of the person giving the specimen, and to prevent donors from using a substitute, collectors should always ask the donor to present an identification card with a photo, such as an employee identification card, driver's license, or national identity card.
It is not uncommon for people who know in advance that they will be donating a sample to carry a container of drug-free urine or liquid substitute (apple juice, colored water, etc.) into the restroom, and substitute this for their own urine specimen. People have also been known to add toilet or tap water to dilute the sample or add adulterants such as bleach, salt, or vinegar in an effort to manipulate the test results.
A decision must be made on how to balance the need to prevent sample tampering by the donor with respect for the donor's privacy. Direct observation of the donor delivering the sample can be uncomfortable for both the donor and the supervisor. One approach that reduces the chance of tampering, while affording privacy, is to have the person change into a patient's gown, and leave purses or other articles of clothing outside the restroom while delivering the specimen.
Chances for adulterating the specimen can be further reduced by:
- using a specified toilet facility
- adding a colored cleaning solution to the toilet bowl
- removing the soap from the facility
- making the hot water tap inoperative
The person collecting the sample then only needs to check the color and temperature of the specimen (it should be between 33°C and 36°C) to make sure cold water wasn't substituted or added. The donor should provide a new urine sample if any of these requirements are not met, or if particulate matter can be seen floating in the urine or settled at the bottom of the cup.
The specimen should be kept in view by both the donor and the person collecting the sample at all times prior to its being sealed and labeled. If the specimen is transferred to a second bottle, the collection-site person should request that the donor observe the transfer of the specimen and the placement of the tamperproof
seal over the bottle cap and down the sides of the bottle.
Chain-of-Custody: Transportation
When the specimen is ready to be shipped to the drug-testing laboratory, it should be placed in a container designed to minimize the possibility of damage during shipment, for example, specimen boxes or padded mailers. This container should be securely sealed to eliminate the possibility of undetected tampering. On the tape sealing the container, the collection site supervisor may sign and enter the date that the specimens were sealed in the containers for shipment.
Chain-of-custody forms should be attached to each sealed container for shipment to the drug-testing laboratory.
Collection and Shipping Log
The specimen collector should maintain comprehensive records of all collections and shipments to the laboratory. A collection and shipping log should be a bound notebook with pre-numbered pages. Each entry should include the donor's name and signature; the collector's signature; the time and date of collection; the airbill number; and the date of shipment. In addition, the collection site's copy of the airbill should be signed by the courier and retained as part of the official records.
Sample Handling Procedures
Although it seems inconceivable that someone at the laboratory would deliberately tamper with a specimen, attorneys could raise the question in a hearing. To guard against this, it is sound practice for laboratories to implement special handling procedures for drug-abuse specimens. These procedures should separate drug-abuse specimens from routine clinical specimens.
Chain-of-Custody: Testing
The laboratory should have in place security measures to control access to the drug-testing area, and to ensure that only authorized personnel handle the specimens and have access to areas where the records for the drug-testing specimens are stored. Laboratory personnel receiving a shipment of specimens should sign for its receipt; note in writing whether the shipping package seals are intact; and inspect the bottle or bottles to ascertain that they are sealed. The laboratory should then compare the information on the label of each bottle to that on the request form, and note any discrepancies. If discrepancies are found, or if the seals are questionable, the laboratory should have a procedure worked out with the client on how to deal with the situation.
Sample Identification
Once the container has been inspected and is found to be intact, it should be assigned a unique identifying number usually called an accession number. This number links the bottle; the request form; and the test result together for reporting purposes.
Pre-numbered identification labels that are placed on the bottle at the time of collection are convenient. The sequential number thus applied can be used to track the specimen and its test results through the testing process.
An excellent numbering system employs the placement of several copies of the same sequential number on each bottle. One of these additional labels can be placed on any test tube or other container to which the specimen is transferred for testing.
Many laboratories now use bar-coded labels to further ensure that accession numbers are not misread or entered incorrectly. Bar-coded labels with the same unique number are placed on the chain-of-custody form; the collection log; the specimen container; and the sample cup that is placed on the analyzer. Sometimes the specific destination to which each bar-coded form is sent is coded into the computer. This permits a cross-check on the authenticity of the form, and automatically creates a data file when the form's bar code is read into the computer. These techniques have greatly reduced the number of errors attributed to manually entered information.
One way to link the sample to the donor, and, at the same time, maintain privacy, is to use the donor's identification card number as the accession number, instead of a random sequential number.
When specimens are transferred to test tubes or cups, a separate, internal chain-of-custody document for the handling of test samples or aliquots should be initiated. Some laboratories have tried to use the external form for this purpose, but such practices expose the original chain-of-custody documents to the testing staff. Use of an internal form helps ensure that the testing is conducted anonymously. This internal custody form then accompanies the test aliquots as they are signed over to the receiving technician.
Chain-of-Custody: Reporting
Before any test result is reported, it should be reviewed, and the test certified as an accurate report by the designated individual. The report should identify the drugs or metabolites being tested; whether the result is positive or negative; the cutoff for each; and the specimen identification number. Test results should always be reported on the chain-of-custody form; sent as confidential mail; and addressed to the person authorized to receive the results. If test results are sent electronically, such as with facsimile, or computer terminals and printers, access to the data transmission, storage, and retrieval system should be made secure. Also, a hard copy of the report should be mailed or sent to the client concurrently with the electronic report.
Sample Storage
The original specimen container should be secured at all times, preferably in a limited-access area. If this is not possible, then locked cages; locked refrigerators; or some other means may be used to secure specimens during the testing period. These temporary storage areas should have a log that fully documents who entered the area; what was entered or removed; and when the actions occurred. Since specimens may have to be retested, all positive specimens should be saved for at least one year, in case of a legal challenge. Samples kept longer than a week should be kept frozen to avoid degradation of the drug or metabolites. If extended storage affects test results, the effect is always in the direction of a positive sample becoming negative. The specimens should be kept in a secure refrigeration/freezer unit, with access to only authorized personnel. Emergency power equipment should be available in case of prolonged power failure.
Records Storage
Drug-testing records contain potentially damaging information about individuals. Although personal identification should not be included on documents sent to the laboratory, all lab records associated with drug testing should be stored in a secure manner. Security should include protection against fire and water damage, as well as unauthorized entry. The laboratory may be required to prove that no one was able to alter the records after the fact.
Chain-of-Custody: Summary
In summary, remember that the elements of a good chain-of-custody procedure include the following:
- The donor should be supervised either directly or indirectly while delivering the specimen.
- The specimen container should be handed directly to the person supervising the collection and labeled and sealed immediately.
- The collector and the donor should initial the bottle to indicate that both agree that the bottle contains the donor's urine specimen.
- The name of each person who has access to the specimen should be noted on a form accompanying the specimen. (Access to the specimen should be limited as much as possible.)
- The sample should be kept in a secure place, such as a locked room or refrigerator, until it is either tested or sent to the laboratory.
- Testing performed on-site should be done in a secure location to avoid the possibility of exchanging samples with a passerby.
- If the specimen must be transported to an outside laboratory, it should be mailed in a sealed container and placed in an external carton with an evidence seal. Government mail or licensed and bonded courier services are acceptable means of transporting specimens.
- The specimen must be properly labeled so that laboratory personnel will not confuse it with others.
- If the specimen is to be offered as evidence in a legal proceeding, it must be in the same condition as it was when taken --unless the change is for a justifiable purpose, such as alteration required for the testing procedure.
Remember that starting at the time of collection, a sample's chain-of-custody must be documented and protected. If legal proceedings are initiated, records should show that proper chain-of-custody procedures were followed. This information is not meant to substitute for legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained before initiating any drug-testing program, since laws and regulations governing drug testing vary widely.


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Khloé Kardashian Sued for Alleged Assault
A transgender woman claims Kardashian "violently" attacked her outside a club
A transgender woman is suing Khloé Kardashian for assault, claiming the reality star "violently" attacked her outside a Hollywood nightclub on Dec. 5, 2009.
Papers filed by Chantal Spears, formerly Ronald Spears, state that after the incident the victim needed medical care and suffered from "severe mental anguish."
Chantal told TMZ the incident resulted after she made a comment to Kardashian s husband, Lamar Odom.
"All I was telling Lamar Odom is maybe he is too young to get married and all of a sudden I get this big push from this girl," Chantal told TMZ.
Spears is seeking unspecified damages. Reps for Kardashian could not immediately be reached for comment.


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Robert Pattinson Cuts His Hair: Love It or Hate It?
Mark Sullivan/WireImage, Finalpixx
Say good-bye to Robert Pattinson's sexy tousled locks. The Twilight star caused a major frenzy when he stepped out this weekend with a new crew cut. Though he may not have the long messy 'do that won us over, we think he looks just as hot with the shorter 'do. The second installment of Twilight doesn't begin filming for awhile, so hopefully the longer locks will be back when Edward returns to the screen. We want to know what you think, is Robert just as sexy with his new crew cut?


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Query Planvan.halbert Apr 4, 2012 2:01 PM
Want to start a discussion on getting a better understanding of analyzing a query plan. With the goal of answering these 3 questions (but not limited to):
- Better understanding of some of the node rules
- What to look for in a query plan that would indicate the query will perform at less than optimal performance
- What are the recommended action(s) to improve query performance
Probably, many of the recommendations will be to update your model or add a hint to your query. But I would like to tie the identified problem in the query plan to the recommended resolution. An example of this is the table cardinality. Not having this value set in the source model can definitely impact how the query plan is constructed. But when would a query plan show the symtom? Which node rules utilize this value?
This post may get lengthy, so I'm going to start out with one rule at a time, and try to connect all the dots. Also, I'm running some of my own tests to show what I'm seeing in the query plan in an effort to help draw a correlation between the node rules and the query plan.
NOTE: this is using the 7.7 doc's.
As details are determined, they will be noted in this section.
RuleChooseJoinStrategy - this rules determines the base join strategy and join type
A Join Strategy is, what kind of algorithm Teiid using internally to sorting through the results on each side to satisfy the JoinType.
Join Strategy: Merge, Nested Loop, Nested Table, Enhanced Sort
Default strategy: Nested Loop
Merge: Merge Join Strategy supports generalized Full, Left Outer, and Inner Joins (containing non-equi join criteria) as long as there is at least one equi-join criteria
Nested Loop: Currently implmented as a degenerate case of merge join, and only for use with Full, Left, Inner and Cross joins.
Nested Table: A variation of the NEST_LOOP join that handles nested tables.
Enhanded Sort: An extension to the MERGE join strategy, to check for conditions necessary to NOT fully sort one of the sides. Will be used for inner joins and only if both sorts are not required. Degrades to a normal merge join if the tuples are balanced.
NESTED LOOP is expensive
Join Type: Inner Join, Right Outer Join, Left Outer Join, Full Outer Join, Cross Join, Union Join, Semi Join, Anti Semi Join
CROSS JOINS are usually expensive, as they produce Cartesian product of two resultsets.
- RuleChooseDependent
- It talks about enabling costing? how is that done
- reference is made to "column ndv and column nnv values", what are ndv / nnv?
- indicates that if "key metadata information" is there, what key metadata is it specifically looking for?
4. When a JOIN is planned, you will see a JoinNode in the query plan. For each JoinNode, at the end for that planned node, it indicates the strategy, type and criteria. Example:
Query Plan
+ Child 0:
+ Join Strategy:NESTED LOOP JOIN
+ Join Type:CROSS JOIN
+ Join Criteria:product.symbol = stock.symbol
What are the possible values for Strategy and Type (I didn't see a link or reference in the doc)? And which one's indicate a possible performance problem?
What are possible resolutions?
Is there value (or null) for which the Join Criteria will contain such that it indicates a problem may exist?


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Petty Officer 2ND Class Danny Dietz
Many Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives hide among the treacherous peaks of Afghanistan, making searches and missions difficult and dangerous. However, for Navy Seals called in to search the hostile areas, it's just another day's work.
Petty Officer Dietz, along with Petty Officer Axelson, were part of a four-man reconnaissance team sent on one such mission, tasked with finding a key Taliban leader east of Asadabad, Afghanistan. As the team made their way through the mountainous region, Taliban sympathizers spotted the Seals, and alerted terrorist fighters of the team's presence.
A deadly firefight ensued between the four Seals and an enemy force of at least 30 fighters. Positioning themselves as best they could, the team realized they needed help. They radioed for reinforcements and soon, a MH-47 Chinook helicopter was on its way to help in the fight. However, the Taliban fighters spotted the Chinook as it made its way toward the Seals position, and they launched a RPG toward the aircraft, shooting it down and killing all 16 men aboard.
The Seals knew their chances were slim, but they continued to hold their ground. Both Dietz and Axelson were severely injured, but they continued to fight, taking several of the enemy with them to their graves.
Although the two died from their wounds, their actions allowed one of the Seals to evade the enemy and escape. A few days later, the surviving Seal was recovered by U.S. forces.
Both Dietz and Axelson were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross on Sept. 13, 2006.


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Dodgers may get Kemp back on Monday
Puig also confident he'll return to starting lineup in Arizona
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers could get reinforcement in the outfield Monday with the possible return of Matt Kemp.
Kemp, who has been on the disabled list since July 21 with a sprained left ankle and also dealt with a tight right hamstring during his ongoing rehab process, will be tested by club officials during workouts before the Dodgers' series opener in Arizona.
"I've been told that depending where he's at, it could be tomorrow," manager Don Mattingly said on Sunday of Kemp's return. "We want him to be healthy. It's a possibility if everything would go perfect."
Yasiel Puig was not available to play the field Sunday because of tightness in his left hip, but the rookie felt well enough to pinch-hit in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss to the Giants.
Puig grounded into a forceout to shortstop with the bases loaded to end the game and said he expects to play during a four-game series in Arizona that begins Monday.
"It shouldn't take very long before I'm back in the lineup," Puig said through a translator.
Puig came out of Saturday's 19-3 loss after five innings. He was shaken up after a diving catch in center field, but he remained in the game and ran hard on the bases before Mattingly took him out.
Puig and Kemp aren't the only Dodgers banged up heading into the club's 10-game road trip.
Shortstop Hanley Ramirez has not played since Thursday. He had two cortisone shots in his lower back Friday to treat a nerve that was causing tingling in his left hamstring.
"Hanley is feeling great today," Mattingly said Sunday. "He's kind of pushing to get back in there soon. I want Hanley to play right away, honestly. As soon as he can play I want him to play."
Outfielder Andre Ethier has not played since he irritated his left ankle running the bases Friday. He walked out of the clubhouse with a protective boot over his left foot following Saturday's game. Mattingly said Ethier was feeling better Sunday, but the outfielder has not done any running to test his ankle.
Outfielder Carl Crawford in considered day to day with tightness in his back.
"We've dealt with it here and there, usually it's been a day or two days with that," Mattingly said.
Despite a list of nagging injuries to some of his best players, Mattingly did not seem too concerned Sunday.
"I'm pretty confident that these guys are getting healthy and we'll be able to get everybody back in there," he said.


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PIMCO CEO Mohamed El-Erian has decided to resign effective mid-March, the bond giant announced Tuesday. Chief Operating Officer Douglas Hodge will take over as CEO of the investment firm. Bill Gross will remain chief investment officer.
"My first reaction is that he has been such a thought leader for PIMCO and a public face for them on CNBC, speaking about the direction of the markets, macroeconomic policy and more," said Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Americas research for Denver-based Lipper, in an interview with ThinkAdvisor.
According to the PIMCO statement, El-Erian will remain a member of the International Executive Committee of Allianz (AZSEY), the international insurer that is PIMCO's parent company, and, as of mid-March, also advise Allianz's Board of Management of the multinational insurer on global economic and policy issues.
"Reading the PIMCO statement [about his news], I get the impression that he will not appear publicly so much anymore and will spend more time on internal operations at Alllianz," Tjornehoj said.
Tjornehoj says he can't comment on any Web-based speculation that El-Erian could be considering work for the Egyptian government.
"He had left PIMCO before [in 2005] to go to Harvard and came back a few years later," the fixed-income specialist said. At Harvard, El-Erian led the Harvard Management Co., the university's endowment unit. "So, we have seen this before — for different reasons, perhaps."
About 15 minutes after the announcement was made, Gross said on Twitter, "PIMCO's fully engaged. Batteries 110% charged. I'm ready to go for another 40 years!"
The partnership between Gross and El-Erian will be missed by those in the industry, Tjornehoj says. "They've had an excellent symbiotic relationship, with one generally looking out and one in," he said. "But PIMCO's appointed two people to fill El-Erian's shoes, so it's doing as much as it can to ensure a smooth transition for clients and employees."
According to Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research at S&P Capital IQ, investors could use some soothing. Last year was "a tough" one for PIMCO, Rosenbluth says. (Investors pulled more than $41 billion of assets out of the PIMCO Total Return Fund, for instance.)
"As they are more exposed to fixed income assets than most large fund management firms, they were hurt by a shift in investor interest toward equities from fixed income," the fund expert said in a statement.
The PIMCO Total Return Fund got hurt since it was "on the wrong side of the interest rate move and was weak on both an absolute and relative basis," Rosenbluth adds. "Despite a stronger long-term record, when a high-profile fund struggles, leadership changes can accompany them."
When he was named last year to Investment Advisor's 13th annual list of the most influential people in and around the advisory industry, El-Erian spoke of how fortunate he considered himself to work at PIMCO. In an exclusive interview with Savita Iyer, he said the firm fosters a "culture of inquiry" that allows him to put into practice what he said he learned during his undergraduate studies at Cambridge University: "That how you think is as important as what you think."
Speaking of advisors in that interview, he said they were "rightly focusing on understanding the dynamics of an individual and broadening their focus to learn about the needs of the entire household to build a customized plan to enable individuals to meet their financial objectives." He also said that "the basic assumptions behind a "one size fits all" financial strategy that may have been effective in the past — and even that is debatable — need to evolve and dynamically adjust according to individual circumstances and objectives."
In that interview, he also addressed the challenges faced by "policymakers and regulators" who he said have a "delicate balance to achieve between thoughtful policy and regulation and the potential unintended consequences that may inadvertently limit much-needed economic growth." He also addressed America's political dysfunction, which he warned was "encumbering the ability of the United States to focus on what's important: long-term job creation and economic growth. This is the key to safely deleveraging over-indebted segments of society."
The PIMCO statement on El-Erian's resignation also announced other leadership appointments at the investment firm:
- Andrew Balls, Deputy Chief Investment Officer: Balls is a managing director in the London office, a member of the Investment Committee and Head of European Portfolio Management.
- Daniel Ivascyn, Deputy Chief Investment Officer: Ivascyn is a managing director in the Newport Beach office, Head of Mortgage Credit Portfolio Management, and a lead portfolio manager for PIMCO's alternatives investment strategies.
- Jay Jacobs, President: Jacobs is a managing director in the Newport Beach office and is currently the head of talent management globally.
- Craig Dawson, Head of Strategic Business Management: Mr. Dawson is a managing director and is currently head of PIMCO Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, based in the Munich office.
Check out El-Erian: Be Picky on Emerging Market Investing in 2014 on ThinkAdvisor.


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Facility Name: Merritt Downtown Athletic Club
Location: Baltimore
Opened: 1989
Square Footage: 66,000 square feet
In a Former Life: A train depot built in 1860
Cost of Renovation: Millions of dollars
Fun Fact: Abraham Lincoln visited the station at least once during his lifetime, and his body was stationed in the depot overnight during his funeral procession.
Health club members can take a step back in time by visiting the Merritt Downtown Athletic Club. The 66,000-square-foot fitness facility is located inside of a 148-year-old train depot in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood of downtown Baltimore.
The brick building was once part of a large train complex for the southern end point of the North Central Railroad. Over the years, it has undergone many transformations as a passenger terminal, Railway Express building and a storage shed. Before Merritt purchased the building in 1989, the historic landmark was the home of a tennis and racquet club.
The facility features high ceilings and spans 300 feet by 100 feet. Due to the sheer size of the facility, the owners were able to gradually add many amenities, such as a golf-driving cage, Olympic training center, full-service restaurant, a new lobby and group exercise studios. The club also converted the lower level courts into an area with a new rubberized track, women's locker room, mind/body studio and the only full-court basketball gym in downtown Baltimore. In addition, Merritt added heat and air conditioning.
Despite all these changes, the facility originally maintained its California redwood roof because of its historic nature. However, issues with leaks led the club owners to shingle the roof, although the ceiling is still the original California redwood ceiling. When the complex was built, the roof was the largest indoor area in the world with a suspension system and no internal supports.
The club owners also added a mezzanine level to the building to house fitness equipment.
"We basically built another building inside of the existing building," says Donyel Hood, the club company's director of marketing.
When club members walk into the building, they can still feel the vibe of the old train station, says Veronica Meza, senior sales manager.
"As soon as people take a tour, they want to know what the building was used for before," she says.
Although Merritt has had to invest in the continued maintenance and upkeep of the club, the history of the building has helped attract new members.
"It's such a unique facility that people can't help but want to know about it," Meza says. "When they walk inside, they can't believe how big it is, and when they walk around to the back of it, they'll see that some of the tracks are still there."


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10A 100% Remy Human Ombre Bodywave Hair Weave 3 Bundles #1B/4/27 Blonde Ombre Hair Extensions 300g
Hair Material: 100% Remy Human Hair
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text: By the banks of the Nile, across the river from Thebes, a three-tiered temple was found beneath hundreds of tons of sand tens of centuries after its construction. The temple is a reflection of the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II, and was constructed alongside that eleventh-dynasty structure. However, the temple of Hatshepsut is far larger than that of Mentuhotep. The architect was Senmut, Hatshepsut's lover and a member of her court with more than 20 titles. Senmut designed the temple Continue reading Queen Hatshepsut's Temple Deir El Bahri


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The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
Penguin Adult, 2003 M05 29 - 224 pages
Around 60,000 years ago, a man, identical to us in all important respects, walked the soil of Africa. Every man alive today is descended from him. How did he come to be father to all of us - a real-life Adam? And why do we come in such a huge variety of sizes, shapes, types and races if we all share a single prehistoric ancestor?
In this fascinating book, Spencer Wells shows how the truth about our ancestors is hidden in our genetic code, and reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible not just to discover where our ancestors lived (and who they may have fought, loved, learned from and influence) but to create a family tree for the whole of humanity.
What people are saying - Write a review
Review: The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyUser Review - Joe - Goodreads
Conclusion of Wells' work is that we're all descendants of a single man who lived in Africa about 20,000 years ago. And he is convincing! Very interesting book, with some genetic science thrown in to spice it up (but it doesn't get in the way). Read full review
LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - snash - LibraryThing
The book presents a picture of man's migrations between 60,000 and 10,000 years ago. It is a companion book with the TV special and provides more background into the scientific rational of the study and its conclusions. It is presented in a manner quite understandable to the lay person. Read full review