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Dwan Adams of the Peace Corps made such a terrific pitch, I'm expecting half the class to have run off and joined when I get to Bioethics tomorrow. I'm half considering it myself. I don't know how she made life in a tent in Mongolian winter sound appealing but she did. So, you want to join?
Today in CoPhi it's Pascal, Spinoza, Locke & Reid, and a Philosophy Bites interview with Anne Phillips on multiculturalism.
There's more to Blaise Pascal than his famous Wager [SEP], there are all those thoughts (Pensees) and there's also his antipathy for his fellow philosophe Francais, Montaigne. I usually compare-&-contrast Montaigne and Descartes, so this makes for a nice new menage a trois (without an accent). Blaise is hostile to both Rene and Michel but is a cautious gambler, finding Descartes' God too antiseptic and too, well, philosophical. And he finds Montaigne a self-absorbed, trivia-mongering potty-mouth.
But Montaigne would not at all disagree that "the heart has its reasons which reason knows not." And isn't it funny to think of Descartes philosophizing in his hypothetical armchair, asking if his fire and his body (etc.) are real, pretending to speculate that all the world and its philosophical problems might be figments of his solipsistic or dreamy or demon-instigated imagination? And then funnier still to come across this quote from Pascal: "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." But look what happens when a philosopher sits quietly in a room alone: you get the Meditations!
Pascal also said
"Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it." And "It is man's natural sickness to believe that he possesses the Truth."
"There are two equally dangerous extremes: to exclude reason, to admit nothing but reason."
"The nature of man is wholly natural, omne animal. There is nothing he may not make natural; there is nothing natural he may not lose."*
"The weather and my mood have little connection. I have my foggy and my fine days within me…" [Or as Jimmy Buffett says, carry the weather with you.]
And all military veterans especially should appreciate this one:
"Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?"
And this will be an epigraph for my Philosophy Walks (or its sequel Philosophy Rides):
"Our nature lies in movement; complete calm is death."
But Pascal does finally blow the big game of life, for betting too heavily on self-interest. He's obsessed with "saving [his] own soul at all costs." That's a losing proposition.
[*That statement about us being "omne animal" sounded flattering, to me, being a philosophical naturalist and a friend to animals. But later epigraphs indicate Pascal's platonist perfectionism and his derogatory attitude towards humanity and its natural condition. Without God's grace, he writes, we are "like unto the brute beasts." He doesn't seem pleased about that, but I'm with Walt Whitman: "I think I could turn and live with animals, they're so placid and self contain'd… They do not sweat and whine about their condition… They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God…"]
Julia Sweeney, donning her no-god glasses, gets to the nub of what's wrong with Pascal's Wager:
So how can I come up against this biggest question, the ultimate question, "Do I really believe in a personal God," and then turn away from the evidence? How can I believe, just because I want to? How will I have any respect for myself if I did that?
I thought of Pascal's Wager. Pascal argued that it's better to bet there is a God, because if you're wrong there's nothing to lose, but if there is, you win an eternity in heaven. But I can't force myself to believe, just in case it turns out to be true. The God I've been praying to knows what I think, he doesn't just make sure I show up for church. How could I possibly pretend to believe? I might convince other people, but surely not God.
Spinoza believed in Einstein's God [Tippett], and vice versa. Gambling with your soul? Einstein famously said God does not play dice with the universe. God doesn't play at anything, or listen to anyone, or save or punish or forgive. God just is.
They were pantheists, Spinoza and Einstein, a lot less tormented by the vast and starry universe than Pascal ("all these stars frighten me") with his personal and possibly punitive God. As Jennifer Hecht notes, there's a howling statistical error at the heart of Pascal's specious reasoning: "We may be struck by lightning or not, but that doesn't make it a fifty-fifty proposition." And his bad wager underscores something more to appreciate about Spinoza.
What Pascal decried as the misery of man without the Biblical God, was for Spinoza the liberation of the human spirit from the bonds of fear and superstition.
[Descartes to Deism… Tlumak on free will…Descartes before the horse (& Spinoza/Einstein slides)…]
Locke said the key to personal identity is memory. Oh-oh! But Thomas Reid, Mr. Scottish Common Sense, helpfully said you can get there from here: if you remember yourself in (say) 1998, and that Self remembers itself in 1980, and that one remembers version 1975, and so on… well, you're the same person you were back in the day. Whew! That's a relief. The Ship of Theseus may be seaworthy, after all. (But see below.*)
Cesar Kuriyama told the TEDsters the other day that he intends to record, splice, and archive a second of every day of his life. He wants never to forget. What would Locke say? Or Nietzsche?
"Consider the herds that are feeding yonder: they know not the meaning of yesterday or today; they graze and ruminate, move or rest, from morning to night, from day to day, taken up with their little loves and hates and the mercy of the moment, feeling neither melancholy nor satiety. Man cannot see them without regret, for even in the pride of his humanity he looks enviously on the beast's happiness. He wishes simply to live without satiety or pain, like the beast; yet it is all in vain, for he will not change places with it. He may ask the beast—"Why do you look at me and not speak to me of your happiness?" The beast wants to answer—"Because I always forget what I wished to say"; but he forgets this answer, too, and is silent; and the man is left to wonder."
Gayatri Devi says if you want a better memory you must make yourself forget more.
Anne Phillips says one of the smartest things I've heard anyone say about the niqab, the Islamic full face veil, and whether it has a place before the faces of those who most directly influence our children:
"…it's a bit problematic sending a message to 11-year old children that it's impossible for men and women to engage in face-to-face communication."
Walter Cronkite used to ask "Can the world be saved?" Honestly, it's too soon to tell. But I think William James had it right, long ago, when he wrote:
*"The world may be saved, on condition that its parts shall do their best. But shipwreck in detail, or even on the whole, is among the open possibilities."
So there's our challenge: to do our best. Push that stone, and push it again. And be happy. Sail on, sail on, sailor. Watch out for those shoals, those rocks and bergs. Be safe. Prepare the rafts.
And consider the Corps.


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Author: squash and awe
My love of food and cultures have taken me around the world, dropping me into my current location in Hawaii. I have been loving cooking, photography, gardening, baking, and outdoor adventuring, since back when I was filling a Girl Scout sash with badges. My locations may change, and my activities continue to grow in number, but deep down inside, I still love curling up with a good book, squealing about in a classic car, and making stick-to-your-ribs meals out of homegrown goods.

subset: commoncrawl


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In search of more than just sun, sea and sand, Rough Guides writer Helen Ochyra takes a hike in Gran Canaria.
You know a place sees a lot of sun when the slightest whiff of rain brings the locals out in joyous dance. On this first morning in Gran Canaria we woke to a cloudy sky and by the time I wandered out onto the terrace for breakfast, that cloud had turned to rain. It was warm rain, but rain nonetheless.
While the locals call out to each other in sweet relief at this first rain in months, we chomp on omelettes and look out disconsolately at the drizzle. Today is our first day of walking in the island's interior and we are due to reach 1715m. Normally, this would yield spectacular volcanic views, but today we will be walking in a cloud.
Our itinerary has been put together by Macs Adventure and the scheduled transfer to El Sao – quite literally the end of the road and where we will begin walking – will take our luggage on to the next hotel in Tejeda, a remote village clinging to the volcanic slopes that surround it, some 16km away. We are told it will take over seven hours to hike and so we waste no time in setting off, waterproofs at the ready.
This turns out to be a good move; the route is tough, with steep ascents on rocky slopes and near-vertical paths covered in lava grit. We walk across barrancos (ravines), through ancient evergreen forests and along grassy plateaus before reaching a gigantic lava field at some sixteen hundred metres. The black gravel beneath my walking boots reminds me of the black sand beaches the Canaries are perhaps best known for, but we couldn't be further from those tourist hotspots, not just miles away at the island's coast but seemingly worlds away in an entirely different destination.
As the mists swirl around us we walk on across the lava flow guided by well-placed stone markers. These are some of the very few visible signs of human contact with the landscape and they bring home how unspoiled this volcanic island really is. There are some dry-stone walls and fences that nod to the island's agricultural economy, but all else around us is wild. That is, until we reach Tejeda.
Arriving in this tourist town comes as something of a shock after hours of wilderness but it is not an unpleasant one. The white towers of the traditional Canarian church poke their heads above the terracotta roofs of diminutive buildings, made to appear all the smaller by the soaring volcanic cliffs that rise above them.
This pre-Hispanic town is to be our base for the next three nights, and we settle in to our apartment at Hotel Fonda de la Tea to plan our next few walks. Tejeda is ideally located for walking up to Roque Nublo, the island's most famous peak. This chunky monolith can be seen from most places on the island – but not today. I peer through the clouds in vain from the apartment balcony and wonder what else I have missed seeing today. What have those clouds been hiding?
The next morning the island hides from me no more – the scenery rushes to meet me as soon as I open my eyes. A brilliant blue sky has pushed the clouds aside and I am surrounded by volcanic splendour. I cannot wait to get out there and am on the trail within minutes, starting the ascent up to Roque Nublo with a spring in my step.
The climb is tough but the path is well-maintained, running through grassland and later woodland, with views back over Tejeda. The scenery is unlike any I have ever seen before. Bowl-like valleys thick with armies of pine trees run between craggy peaks that retain the violent beauty of the eruption that formed them. Beneath our feet are petrified lava flows, above our heads soaring eagles and in the distance a cloud-cloaked Atlantic Ocean with the peak of Tenerife's Teide floating above it.
Squint and you might make out a coastal resort but from Roque Nublo most of the island's mass-market infrastructure is hidden – and it remains hidden to us for the rest of our week. We pick our way along the Altavista ridge on an extinct volcanic caldera and compare the island's barren south to its fertile north with a walk along the ridge between Tejeda and Pico de las Nieves, the island's watershed. We see Roque Nublo from every angle, lose ourselves in vast pine forests and stand on what feels like the roof of the world, with craggy slopes running down from our feet to the ocean in all directions.
At the end of our week we will make it to that ocean. But we will look back at the peaks up which we have walked and smile at the memories of our discovery – that the Canary Islands are so much more than beaches and bars.
Macs Adventure offer seven-night walking trips to Gran Canaria from £625 per person, including accommodation, breakfasts, two dinners, baggage transfers and a detailed info pack.
Book hostels for your trip, and don't forget to purchase travel insurance before you go.
Browse the Rough Guides ebook shop for guides to help you plan for trip.
Top image: Mountains and valleys of Gran Canaria island © Patryk kosmider/Shutterstock


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Radiotherapy 'needs to be modernised' in Europe
Access to Radiotherapy varies dramatically between countries across Europe, according to a study led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Austria.
With Cancer incidence on the rise in Europe, the findings indicate that some countries have too few radiotherapy machines to ensure all patients receive adequate treatment.
Every year 3.2 million people are diagnosed with cancer in Europe - in the UK alone there were more than 320,000 cases in 2010. Experts suggest that around half of patients diagnosed with cancer could benefit from radiotherapy as part of their treatment.
Using the Directory of Radiotherapy Centres (DIRAC's) records of radiotherapy facilities, the IAEA study highlighted that several western European countries have too few machines to meet the need for radiotherapy treatment.
Based on the number of people they estimated could be treated with each machine, the authors identified what percentage of patients with cancer in each country who would not have access to radiotherapy.
In the UK and Germany, the results showed that 21 per cent of patients are not offered radiotherapy. Austria's figure for unmet need followed at 20 per cent, then Portugal (19 per cent) and Italy (16 per cent).
Nordic countries, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands were found to be more well-equipped to meet treatment demands.
While eastern and southeastern European countries were found to have the greatest need to modernise and expand equipment.
It is hoped that the research, which was based on information from the Directory of Radiotherapy Centres (DIRAC) database, will help countries to meet growing demand for radiotherapy by allowing them to make comparisons with other nations for the first time.
The study also looked at how services were organised across the different countries. Although a majority of 28 out of 33 countries split radiotherapy machines across a range of centres, nations like Britain and Sweden adopted a more centralised approach, with between four and 10 machines at each centre.
The authors said that the "fragmentation" of the services could affect the "economic burden of radiotherapy and its quality".
Though they cautioned that their study did not look at the impact that these different approaches have on cancer outcomes, they said their results warrant further investigation.
Hilary Tovey, senior policy manager at Cancer Research UK, said the research provided a useful snapshot of radiotherapy services across Europe.
She added: "We already know that more capacity is needed in the UK to ensure patients are not missing out. In England alone we need to double the number of linear accelerator radiotherapy machines over the next four years. At over Ł1million a machine this could cause an enormous headache for the NHS if it is not properly planned for.
"Radiotherapy can help to cure some cancers. All patients should have access to the best radiotherapy for their cancer across the UK. That's why we'll continue to call for this important service to be given the priority it deserves."
The study is published in the Lancet Oncology.
Copyright Press Association 2013
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giovedì 9 febbraio 2012
Let's Play: Mupen64Plus
Who doesn't remember games like Super Mario 64, Goldeneye 64, NBA Hang Time, Starfox 64, Banjo & Kazooie etc...? Now you can play all of them! Mupen64Plus is a Nintendo 64 emulator and is available for linux! What else do you want?
A hard ch... Oh come on!
Mupen64Plus has its own native Linux client, so which kind of choice do you want to do?
Talking about performances...
First of all my hardware:
agp_aperture_size: 256
cpu: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor
cpu_ghz: 0.80
distro: Ubuntu 11.10 oneiric
kernel: 3.0.0-15-generic
machine_bitness: 64
memory: 3960
soundcard: HDA ATI SB at 0xfbcf4000 irq 16
soundcard_driver: ALSA Version 1.0.24
videocard_direct: True
videocard_driver_version: 4.2.0 NVIDIA 290.10
videocard_manufacturer: NVIDIA Corporation
videocard_ram: 1024
videocard_type: GeForce GTX 550 Ti/PCI/SSE2
x_version: X.Org X Server 1.10.4
As i said before for P-UAE emulator, performances does not depend by the OS, since it's an emulator. It depends by your hardware and by the OS itself. Anyway, on Ubuntu it works like a charm (Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit version)!
The installation takes about 2 minutes.
The program doesn't need any plugin. It provides a graphic plugin, a sound plugin and an input plugin. All you have to do is configure them.
Feel free to send me an email or leave a comment if you got some problems or if you just wanna ask me a question. I will always answer you!
Pubblicato da Unknown a 11:27
Etichette: Let's play
Ubicazione: Roma, Italia
2 commenti:
- Anonimo11 febbraio 2012 03:44
I have been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours these days, yet I never discovered any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you probably did, the web will probably be a lot more useful than ever before.RispondiElimina
American Recorder Technologies Studio Monitor Speaker Stand Pair Rosewood
BlueHost is ultimately one of the best hosting provider for any hosting plans you might need.RispondiElimina
Iscriviti a: Commenti sul post (Atom)


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Reminder-Attend the International Council on Active Aging-ICAA Conference 2013: November 21 – 23, 2013 San Diego, CA. Attendees will expand your knowledge of key topics such as wellness programming for older adults and staff, management/marketing, increasing older adult participation, and programming without walls. http://www.icaa.cc/conferenceandevents/overview.htm
Attend the University of Illinois-Chicago's National Posture Institute Posture & Resistance Training CEC Workshop-Oct 26-27, 2013 (Sat.-Sun.). Register Now: http://npionline.org/workshops/uic
Early Bird Discount Extended! Join NPI at University of Maryland | November 8-9 (Fri.-Sat.). Attend a Posture & Resistance Training CEC Workshop and become a Certified Posture Specialist (CPS) / Certified Resistance Training Professional (RTP). Register before Oct. 12: http://www.npionline.org/workshops/um
Start Your Week with an Natiional Posture Institute Giveaway! We are giving away an Online ACSM/NSCA & more CEC Course, your choice from 20+ CEC courses (a $99 value). No Purchase Necessary. Enter Now: http://on.fb.me/15mNqNz
Join NPI Executive Director & Professor Ken Baldwin at Rancho La Puerta Health Spa, the Baja California fitness resort and spa known worldwide August 9-15, 2014 for a fun filled week of posture exercise training, relaxation, and organic spa food. Contact Ken directly here learn more & receive a discount to attend if you are a 1st time spa guest: Rancho La Puerta Spa
First time spa guests receive 5% off best available room rate, plus a $250 gift certificate, and free room upgrade (space available basis) & you can combine this with other special offers. Most guests arrive to vacation at Rancho La Puerta, which is near San Diego, California, after hearing of its reputation from friends. Many are also aware of its award-winning excellence, recognized by three "World's Best Destination Spa" awards from Travel + Leisure magazine in the past four years.
NPI Executive Director & Associate Professor (SUNY) Ken Baldwin will be presenting a webinar on Posture Analysis and Assessments for the Medical Fitness Association today at 12:00 Eastern time.
Attend ACSM, ACE, NASM, NSCA, AFAA, CEC Workshop in Vegas during the day & go to a show at night! Become an NPI Certified Posture Specialist & Certified Resistance Training Professional at UNLV (Las Vegas) Oct. 18-19, 2013. Register Now: http://www.npionline.org/workshops/unlv


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Overstock.com will now sell its jewelry, clothes and furniture in exchange for the controversial online currency bitcoin as well as traditional payment methods, according to reports.
Overstock's chief executive and chairman, Patrick Byrne, told CNBC about the reasons for his decision. First, he wants to cater to largely ignored bitcoin holders, and secondly, he really likes limited government. "I believe limited government is a better business model for our nation than is unlimited government (and limited government has the additional benefit of being consistent with our Constitution)," he wrote.
Overstock is handling bitcoin payments through San Francisco startup Coinbase, and Byrne hopes the bitcoin payments will raise revenue.
U.S. & World
Bitcoin was created in 2008 by a computer programmer known as Satoshi Nakamoto, who may or may not be really one person or a group of people. Nakamoto's identity has been kept a mystery but the invention -- an Internet currency without government regulation -- has been taking hold. Anyone can use bitcoin to pay for items on several websites or buy food from restaurants but large online retailers shied away from the infamous currency, according to Wired.
Perhaps the fact that it's trading around $1,000 per bitcoin is the reason, or enough people have bitcoin to make it lucrative. Either way, Overstock's decision is a unique one and may stay that way. China's e-commerce giant Alibaba has barred bitcoin, and major retailers don't accept the currency. Without government regulation, many merchants worry about the currency's volatility.
Overstock plans to reduce volatility by having Coinbase set the exchange rate and immediately convert bitcoin to dollars. In this way, Overstock's risk is little to nothing, while most of the risk will be on Coinbase. Great business plan for a startup? We're not so sure, but Coinbase has $25 million in VC funds, so it can hang on for a while.


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I recently had the opportunity to share a Go!Airlines flight with community organizer, musician and founder of the Men of Pa'a, Iopa "Bruddah Kuz" Maunakea, a few weeks ago and I asked him what he was doing over on Oahu.
He told me that he was "working on the rail… the Honolulu Rail".
Well the other day he posted the following picture on Facebook and I asked him I could post this here on my site because I understand the importance of what this actually represents:
"Bruddah Kuz" stated on his Facebook page, "Strip the forms on column 65. One down and two hundred more to go…pretty impressive the view going be awesome…."
Filed under: aloha, Hawaii, Rumors, Something New?, State Affairs, Technology, Transportation Tagged: | Bruddah Kuz, Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project, Honolulu Rail, Iopa Maunakea


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Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Alamo Bowl Sets Record
Nice to know that when Michigan lays an egg, the whole nation is watching.
2 comments:
- BaggyPantsDevil said...
It's all part of the Michigan spirit of giving, numerous individuals with the opposing team have career days while millions watch.
Even non-Michigan fans are talking about the horrible officiating. Tuesday Morning Quarterback, Gregg Easterbrook--who holds college football in low esteem--felt the last play was a display of "spectacular officiating ineptitude." Citing the "unfair acts" clause, he even goes so far as suggesting: "You can make a case the referee should have awarded Michigan a touchdown."
His recommended equitable resolution: "The ball should have been placed at the Nebraska 13, the point the runner reached, and Michigan given one untimed down."
For his entire commentary, go here:
- January 04, 2006 4:02 PM
- The King said...
That game is probably going to hurt our recruiting more than Woody Hayes ever did.
- January 04, 2006 5:50 PM


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GROTON — The Nashua River Watershed Association invites the public to join us for a free presentation on "River Otters and Fishers in Massachusetts: A Tale of Two Weasels" on Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. at the NRWA River Resource Center at 592 Main Street. Our presenter will be Trina Moruzzi, Wildlife Biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Come learn the basics of river otter and fisher biology and ecology. Trina will talk about what these often mysterious animals are, where you can find them, what they eat, how they behave, and what signs you might see when they are present.
Did you know that river otters and fishers are both members of the weasel family? These weasels have adapted themselves to the water, to the trees, and even your backyard. In our region, the weasel family ranges in size from the red squirrel-sized long-tailed weasel (or ermine) to these two large weasels, otters and fishers (fishers can be 3-feet long and weigh up to 16 pounds).
Trina has been with the Division for 12 years. She assists on a number of different projects from waterfowl banding to black bear capture and radio telemetry, overseeing the deer hunt for paraplegic sportsmen, as well as providing outreach to communities on wildlife related issues.
This presentation is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and registration is strongly recommended. Seats for all registrants will be held until 6:55 p.m., at which time open seats will be released to walk-in attendees. To register contact Pam Gilfillan, NRWA Development Associate, at 978-448-0299, or email email@example.com. The NRWA is a nonprofit environmental organization that depends on memberships for support.


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For Jenicat:
The pattern is the one for the second month of the Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery Block of the month. It's called "Star Struck".
For klum78:
I picked this pattern, called "Indian's Mats", off of quilterscache.com because I thought it looked like Christmas ornaments.
Another block for Jenicat:
You might recognize this pattern as the first pattern from the aforementioned Designer Mystery Block of the Month. It's called "Cross Stitch".
For whoopdedoo_5:
Another "Cross Stitch" block. The muted colors didn't photograph too well, but it looks much better in person!
For audrey1999:
I used Jacquie's tutorial for this one. My first ever wonky log cabin! I really like how it came out, and I think I'll be making more.
For fishie:
This one's called "Box Quilt" and it's also from Quilter's Cache.
For CaroDIYnamite:
Another Quilter's Cache block. This one's called "Mother's Dream".
For glittergirl94:
Another "Mother's Dream".
For 1b1g1k2:
There's that "Cross Stitch" block again! Can you tell that I like it? : )
Another block for whoopdedoo_5:
For ritapizza:
This one's the "Flying Dutchman Variation" from Quilter's Cache.
A third block for Jenicat:
And here is a sampling of the blocks that have been made for me so far:
(Fabrics are Midwest Modern from Amy Butler, but they don't seem to photograph too well. The blocks are GORGEOUS in person! Everyone is doing such great work in this swap!)


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Regular price
Items included: None - No box or manuals
Max wrist size: 8.25 Inches
This item includes a 100% Money-back Guarantee!
If you're not completely satisfied with your purchase, just send it back in the same condition within 60 days and we will refund the full purchase price. We'll even cover the return shipping.
To receive free return shipping, please contact us for a return shipping label
Klawk Watches - We have been in business over 7 years, with more than 10,000+ customers from around the world. We specialize in Rare, Limited Edition, and New old-Stock watches.
You can expect top-notch customer service - We hand inspect each watch before shipping, and install new batteries if needed - things you won't get from a large retailer.
We are not an "Official licensed dealer" for any brand of watches. This allows us to sell our watches below the manufacturer's retail prices and provide BIG savings for our customers. The manufacturer may require purchase from an authorized retailer for the manufacturer's warranty to be valid.
We've got you covered - We include a no-hassle 60-day warranty on all of our watches. This warranty covers any issues or defects with the watch movement. Does not cover watch damage.
We want you to feel confident purchasing from us. Feel free to contact me with any questions at my personal email address - email@example.com


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- home
- / Credenzas
- / Credenza by Three of the Possessed DAZZLE APARTMENT
NOTE: This product is eligible to ship via FedEx/UPS. Assembly required
Credenza is an old-fashioned word, but credenzas are currently the hottest item in modern home decor. They're incredibly versatile, amazingly functional, and devilishly stylish. And there's no other credenzas on the market with even half as much style as these artistic credenzas from DENY Designs. The design is clean and minimalist, the materials are high quality and durable, and the artwork on the doors is utterly breathtaking. Choose either a black or gold metal base to finalize your look. You'll love the Credenza by Three of the Possessed DAZZLE APARTMENT.
Each DENY Designs credenza is hand-crafted and built-to-order in Denver, Colorado (made in the USA)! Each colorful credenza uses strong Baltic Birch wood with a high-gloss finish that leaves the wood feeling ultra smooth. The credenzas feature an adjustable shelf across the interior. Perfect for storing your liquor collection, your vinyl records, or your favorite board games! The beauty of these credenzas is not just in their artistic design, it's in their versatility. You can use these credenzas in your dining room as a buffet, in your living room as a media stand, or as an elegant bar cabinet. The possibilities are endless. These unique modern credenzas feature artistic prints that have been created by artists all over the world. These prints are applied to the front of the credenzas to create a personal and unique artistic experience. They'll also leave your guests speechless (and let's face it, a little jealous, too).
- One interior shelf with adjustable height
- Built from strong Baltic Birch wood
- High gloss finish
- Care: Wipe clean with non-abrasive rag
- Artist: Three of the Possessed for Deny Designs
Apt2B offers free delivery on every order!
Each piece is expertly handmade to order in Denver, Colorado just for you! Production time takes an average of 5-7 weeks to complete.
Related Items
Credenza by Fimbis CELEBRATION
Credenza by Iveta Abolina AUGUST
Credenza by Three of the Possessed DAZZLE APARTMENT


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Blend of Views Trait
Have Pathfinder or Ponyfinder rules questions, ask here!
2 posts • Page 1 of 1
- TheStratovarian
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 9:18 am
Blend of Views Trait
Tribes and the zebra book both mention it, but i cant find it anywhere in the campaign book for zebra, what does it do?
Re: Blend of Views Trait
It's a pony satyr trait. Pony satyrs are in Forgotten Gods of Everglow and in the compilation book Princess Luminace's Guide to the Pony Pantheon.
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|"Thunder Mountain Colors" 9x12, pastel
The time has come to say goodbye to Arizona and head east. East for us is a 3500-mile trip with a final destination of Campobello Island, New Brunswick. Along the way, I'll be teaching workshops in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. As always, though we have enjoyed our winter here in Arizona, we're looking forward to hitting the road and finally being back at our quiet island home again.
Spring is already moving into summer here in Arizona, and the roses are beautiful in our community. But by the time we get the Campobello, it will be barely spring, and our lilacs there will be just starting. The apple trees will be another month before they strike their floral crescendo. May is always a slow start for the Maritimes, and we'll have some fog, some rain and some cool weather. But it won't be long before the sun rolls back the fog and hammers the sea into a broad blue shield.
By the way, in case you aren't on my newsletter mailing list, here is a link to my latest newslettter.
I'll write again from the road.


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Проф. атлетов
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by David Crane [email protected] DefenseReview first reported on the M16 Clinic AR-15/M16/M4/M4A1-platform 5.56x45mm subcarbine/SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle) weapons packages back in December, 2004. That first article discussed the select-fire/full-auto, SOPMOD M4 CQBR (Close Quarters Battle Receiver)-style M16 Viper and M16 Viper-XRP (eXtra-Range/Perimeter) 5.56mm subcarbines/SBRs, which are built specifically for military Special Operations applications, including anti-terrorism/counterterrorism operations. These weapons would appear to …Read More »
Tag Archives: gas piston
DefRev Exclusive: KAC Introduces 6mm PDW for Special Operations Applications
by David Crane david at defensereview.com This article has been updated with digital photos (JPEG format), as well as a link to the KAC CQB PDW fact sheet/spec sheet. Click on the photos below to view them full-size. Knight's Armament Company (KAC) has just (formally) introduced a 6x35mm PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) with AR-15/M16 controls for the Mil/LE market (tentatively) called the …Read More »
Modern Day Marine Military Expo: Latest and Greatest Tactical Technology
by Bob Taubert Like the SHOT Show, the annual Modern Day Marine Military Expo gets bigger and better each year. However, unlike SHOT some of the toys for Uncle Sam's boys that are on display cost millions of dollars a pop. Aircraft, particularly the unmanned variety, unmanned and manned waterborne patrol and attack platforms, wheeled and tracked robots, people and weapons …Read More »
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by David Crane [email protected] Below are more DefRev "Quick Hits from SHOT Show 2006. DefenseReview will be reporting more in-depth on these technologies, later. –While we were in the outdoor tent, we ran into Frank and Chris Desomma at the Patriot Ordnance Factory (P.O.F-USA) booth. POF-USA had their new 7.62x51mm/.308 Win., 6.8mm (6.8x43mm), and 6.5 Grendel gas piston upper receivers …Read More »
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Helping Homeless Veterans Get Back on Their Feet
Joy, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, lost her business amid the 2008 financial crisis, and was forced to live out of her van. Being homeless made even relatively simple tasks complicated, but over time, Joy found that she was growing accustomed to homelessness, making it even harder for her to get back to work. It wasn't until Joy enrolled in the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency's Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program, or HVRP, that she was able to get back on her feet. The center helped her find a home and a sense of purpose, and even hired her as a veteran outreach specialist.
Funded by the Labor Department, HVRP provides services to help homeless veterans reenter the workforce, which in turn gets them back on track in other aspects of life. Services include occupational, classroom and on-the-job training, as well as job search and placement assistance, including follow-up services. Real employment opportunities help veterans reach both financial stability and independence.
HVRP programs are available throughout the country in different regions and neighborhoods, though the majority of these programs are in urban areas where homeless veterans tend to be heavily concentrated.
HVRP has been helping homeless veterans since it was authorized in 1987 under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. In 2010, the program expanded its scope to include services for homeless female veterans, veterans with families, and formerly incarcerated veterans. This year, the department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service expects to award approximately $12 million in HVRP awards.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were 39,471 homeless veterans as of 2016. Thanks to the efforts of HVRP and other local veteran assistance programs, this number has decreased 48 percent since 2009, but as long as any single veteran remains homeless, there is work to be done.
Through their admirable service, veterans like Joy who face adversity after transitioning back to civilian life have earned some help from their country. Through programs like HVRP, we honor the men and women who served by giving them an opportunity to reach their goals and become who they want to be.
Kenneth Fenner is the competitive grants lead at the department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service. Stay connected by following @VETS_DOL on Twitter and visiting www.veterans.gov
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The program is really doing a lot to help homeless veterans get back on their feet. These Homeless Veteran's Reintegration Programs are available throughout the country in different regions and neighborhoods but are most concentrated in the urban areas where a heavy concentration of these homeless veterans can be found.


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No way out: How the state helped kill a convict
Brunswick Correctional Center
On the night of January 13, 2004, an acquaintance of mine was murdered. His roommate strangled him to death.
This happened in Sussex I State Prison in Waverly. My acquaintance's name was Richard Alvin Ausley, and he was a child molester.
Some would say that Ausley finally got his just deserts. In 1961, he kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy and left him tied up in the woods, a crime for which Ausley spent 10 years in prison.
Twelve years later, Ausley abducted a 13-year-old boy named Paul Martin Andrews, buried him alive in a box in a rural part of Virginia, and raped him numerous times. After eight days, Andrews was rescued by hunters, and Ausley was sentenced to 48 years in prison. [Andrews' first-person account of the ordeal, "This is his story," was the Hook's January 30, 2003 cover story.]
Ausley was eligible for parole after 30 years, and in 2003, the Virginia Department of Corrections was legally required to set him free. But informed in the summer of 2002 by a reporter of the pending release, Andrews understandably launched a public campaign to prevent his tormentor's return to society. The solution, Andrews explained to the media– including NBC's Today show– was to have Ausley civilly committed to a state mental hospital as a violent sexual predator.
But Richard Ausley was never committed to a psychiatric facility. Instead, he was sent to a high-security prison for especially disruptive inmates and placed in a cell with a convict who had himself been molested as a child. Shortly afterward, Ausley was dead.
This incident has continued to ripple through the prison system: Just a few weeks ago, the Virginia Department of Corrections revised its inmate-housing policy in the aftermath of Ausley's death.
Ausley and I were incarcerated together at one of Virginia's medium-security facilities, Brunswick Correctional Center in Lawrenceville. We were not friends, but I had several interactions with him. Prisons are like small villages. Everyone knows everyone else, if only through borrowing cigarettes from each other.
Like Ausley, I am a high-profile inmate. My 1989 extradition from England set a legal precedent still found in law books; my 1990 trial was featured on Geraldo Rivera's show ahead of the Menendez brothers' case; and fictionalized versions of the crime of which I was convicted are still broadcast as reruns on Court TV and A&E. So I know a little of what Ausley felt as his past was replayed in the media over and over and over again.
I am alleged to have killed my girlfriend's parents because she claimed her mother had sexually abused her and had taken nude photographs of her which she showed to friends. Whether my girlfriend's mother did in fact abuse her is as much in dispute as my supposed guilt as the murderer. I claim I merely covered up the crime after the fact. But whatever my actual role may have been, my motive included loathing of child molesters. So I have considerable sympathy for Richard Ausley's victim, Paul Andrews, as well.
Perpetrators and victims
But I cannot just dismiss Ausley as a monster, if for no other reason than that I knew the man. One day, when the civil-commitment storm was raging at its fiercest in the newspapers, he came to my table in the chow hall, asked to sit down, and said to me, "I just don't know what to do. You know what I mean. Can you help me?"
I certainly did know what he meant, and I knew I could not help him. I told him so, and he shuffled away, a wizened, frail man in his mid-60s, barely 5 feet tall, and to be frank more than a little crazy after three decades in prison.
When I look back on it now, I regret that I let Ausley walk away from my table without at least trying to help him somehow. I could not have prevented his murder, I know, but I failed him as a fellow human being.
At the prison where I met him, there's an entire building full of men like Ausley: rapists and pedophiles within two years of their mandatory release. These prisoners are participants in an innovative program called Sex Offender Residential Treatment (SORT), which provides intensive therapy to prepare them for their return to society. In my view, SORT is one of the best things the Virginia Department of Corrections does, and I only wish it would be expanded.
Sex offenders form one of the largest subgroups of criminals in prison, and I myself have had several of these men as cellmates over the years. Locked in a 7-by-12-foot concrete box with the Ausleys of this world, I have learned to distinguish some character traits they have in common.
Rapists, for instance, tend to be angry and insecure, whereas pedophiles show a marked inclination to be timid, fearful, and dishonest.
Anyone familiar with the psychology of sexual-abuse victims will immediately recognize that second cluster of personality traits: Frequently, children who are molested try to keep their abusers at bay with exaggerated cautiousness, complaisance, and deception.
Why do incarcerated molesters display the same characteristics as their victims? Because the majority of pedophiles in prison were themselves sexually or physically mistreated in their youth.
No, I'm not about to revisit "the abuse excuse," as Alan Dershowitz called this phenomenon with unforgivable callousness. But can we really ignore the fact that– according to federal Bureau of Justice statistics– victims of child abuse are 38 percent more likely than nonvictims to be arrested for a violent crime later in life, and 16.1 percent of male prison inmates admit to having been maltreated as they were growing up?
The actual figure is undoubtedly much higher; many prisoners do not even recognize that they have been abused. When my fellow inmates recall their childhoods, for instance, they brag of leather-belt "whuppings" inflicted by their parents, and other horrors. I have actually overheard a rec-yard conversation between two sex offenders from the SORT program in which the two competed over who had been molested more horrifically as a boy as if this were a point of honor between them!
Other convicts have told me of growing up in detention centers for troubled youths, where older teens raped younger ones on a nightly basis. In their eyes, this was normal, unremarkable, a suitable subject to joke about years later while we had dinner together in prison.
Whether Ausley was abused as a child is something I do not know. But it strikes me as exceedingly unlikely that a person who hadn't been abused would wake up one day and, out of the blue, start sexually assaulting young boys.
Whatever secrets Ausley's childhood may have held, the court did not care when it sentenced him to 48 years behind bars in 1973. He was a monster. But once he entered the prison world, the monster became a victim.
Vulnerable and unprotected
According to former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley's testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2002, anywhere from 250,000 to 600,000 of America's 2.1 million prisoners are sexually assaulted by other inmates each year. Pedophiles are probably the favorite target of penitentiary predators because many guards will not help them if they seek protection.
One of the sad ironies of penitentiary culture is that incarcerated pedophiles are frequently subjected to more of the same sexual violence that they experienced in their youths. In the eyes of other prisoners, garden-variety rapists are not so bad and can be tolerated. But molesters like Ausley are beyond the pale and thus fair game for inmate-on-inmate rape.
From what other convicts who did time with Ausley in the '70s and '80s tell me, he indeed had a very rough life behind bars.
In those days, just as today, any young or physically small inmate like Ausley was subject to sexual enslavement by a "prison daddy." Such forced relationships may eventually assume a pseudo-consensual nature; Ausley, however, was intentionally punished by his fellow prisoners and, by extension, the correctional officers who allowed him to be raped. They wanted to hurt him, and they did on a regular basis, for decades, according to my sources.
In the medium-security Mecklenburg Correctional Center in Boydton, in the early '80s, Ausley was granted a brief respite by a gang of young white convicts who protected him and collected regular payment for this service, of course.
Ausley earned his protection money by selling acrylic paintings, which he produced at an astonishing rate and sent to a Virginia gallery that sold them anonymously. Even some guards bought his artwork, as mementos of the monster of monsters.
By the turn of the century, he was transferred to the low-medium-security prison where I met him: Brunswick, with its SORT program. Even here, however, Ausley could not completely escape his past. "Inmates frown on this type of thing," he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a jailhouse interview. "There's not a day goes by that I don't hear something whispers, finger-pointing."
SORT participants are all subject to at least some low-level harassment by other prisoners, of course. But a few older inmates remembered Ausley's original crime and confronted him. After his death, another convict told me that he had spoken to Ausley as soon as he arrived at Brunswick.
"You were my bogeyman as I was growing up," this man said to Ausley. "I grew up near where you lived. When my mom wanted us kids to come inside from the back yard, she would tell us, 'Ausley's escaped from jail, boys. You'd better come indoors.' I grew up hating you, man."
According to the convict, Ausley listened and just walked away. No doubt the old child molester had heard it all before.
By sending Ausley to Brunswick, the Department of Corrections presumably intended to provide him with therapy to prepare him for his return to society. That plan, as far as I'm concerned, was both appropriate and intelligent. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, the recidivism rate for released inmates 55 years old and older is 1.4 percent, and Ausley was now in his early 60s.
Contrary to popular myth, rapists and molesters are not completely incorrigible. According to a major recent meta-analysis of therapeutic programs conducted by the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada, only 17.4 percent commit new sex crimes when they leave prison– even without receiving treatment during their incarceration. If they are given therapy, as was the plan for Ausley, that rate of sexual reoffending can drop as low as 9.9 percent. And in the three years that Brunswick Correctional Center's SORT program has been in operation, not a single graduate has committed a new sex crime.
A moment of optimism crushed
In early 2002, things were looking up for Ausley. He had spent roughly two years in the SORT program and was scheduled for release the following year. But unbeknownst to Ausley, that summer, Paul Andrews heard of his pending release and embarked on a highly public crusade to have him civilly committed.
At Brunswick, Ausley had been a known child molester, but with the exception of a few oldtimers who remembered his 1973 trial not a particularly famous one. All this changed when Andrews revisited the nightmarish circumstances of his crime in regular interviews with print and TV journalists. The old pedophile's picture was plastered on the front pages of the state's newspapers at regular intervals. Many inmates devoured the latest Ausley article with the same fervor as Sports Illustrated.
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From Andrews' point of view, his campaign to have Ausley civilly committed was justified, and I personally sympathize with him. Once again: I am no friend of child molesters. But there is an old adage in the legal community: "Hard cases make bad law." It applies well not only to Ausley's but also to any other sex offender's civil commitment.
After a pedophile or rapist has completed his entire prison sentence, he is in effect tried again on the same charges that put him behind bars in the first place only this time, he carries the additional burden of proving that he can be safely released into society. If he fails that judicial test, he is sent to a facility that's a prison in all but name.
The government sidesteps legal difficulties by pointing out that a trial is a criminal proceeding, whereas a commitment hearing is a civil action. However, that argument does not pass the smell test: Both trials and commitment hearings are held in courtrooms, and in both cases, the defendant ends up locked in a cell. To laymen's eyes, there is no real difference.
What civil commitment does, in effect, is absolve society from figuring out how to reintegrate men like Ausley. The California Department of Corrections recently tried to release a civilly committed sexual predator, Cary Verse, who had been chemically castrated and was considered harmless. The residents of Martinez, a town near San Francisco, organized opposition to his relocation in their community, forcing him, instead, to live in a San Jose motel. That can hardly be considered a case of successful reintegration into society.
Another California sex offender who had completed his sentence, Brian DeVries, had to be housed in a trailer on prison grounds because no town was willing to accept him. And this, in a way, is what civil commitment provides: safe and final disposal of human beings whom no one wants and everyone feels justified in hating.
Virginia provides for civil commitment through the Sexually Violent Predators Act of 1999, but in 2002, the General Assembly had still not provided funding to construct a facility to house men like Ausley.
That changed in 2003, when Andrews succeeded in overcoming the General Assembly's legendary tightfistedness: Legislators finally agreed to build the state's first civil-commitment unit, the Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation in Dinwiddie County, essentially a personal prison for Richard Ausley.
Even after the state had thus guaranteed that Ausley would never see the light of day, the public continued to revile him. When Virginia completed the Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation, the Times-Dispatch vented its righteous anger with the headline "Predators Get Amenities" because the residents of the 36-bed unit would be allowed to play basketball and watch TV, just as in a normal penitentiary.
Switch of plans
Even though the Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation was built because of him, Richard Alvin Ausley did not turn out to be the first resident of this secure psychiatric unit. Andrews had uncovered something else about Ausley's past that made civil commitment unnecessary.
Back when funding for the mental-health unit to hold Ausley still seemed uncertain, Andrews had tracked down Gary E. Founds of Portsmouth. In 1972, Founds had also been sexually assaulted by Ausley. Andrews persuaded him to break three decades of silence about the crime and testify against Ausley. The resulting conviction and new five-year prison sentence meant that Ausley could be housed in a regular penitentiary for the time being. So some other sex offender inaugurated the Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation.
Instead of remaining at Brunswick and continuing in the SORT program, Ausley was transferred to Sussex I State Prison, a security-level-five (out of six) facility specifically designed to house disruptive inmates. Just as puzzling as the therapeutic purpose of civil commitment is the therapeutic purpose of Ausley's transfer to Sussex I, where there are no therapists who work intensively with molesters and rapists.
Department of Corrections spokesperson Larry Traylor told the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot that Ausley was transferred to Sussex I because "the latest conviction made it necessary to upgrade his security level." That seems doubtful. Inmates' security-level classifications are a matter of administrative convenience; for instance, my security level is likely to change as punishment for writing this article, thereby justifying transfer to a more restrictive penal environment.
And for sex offenders enrolled in the SORT program, such as Ausley, the security-level classifications do not apply at all: There are several SORT participants at Brunswick who were granted security-level "overrides" so that they could continue to receive therapy here. Whatever the reason for Ausley's transfer, it probably was not security level.
Among the other prisoners at Brunswick, the most popular theory is that Ausley was moved to Sussex I because he was about to escape again, as he did briefly in the '70s. But that cannot be the reason, either. Even if he had been physically able to break out, years of abuse by other inmates had destroyed Ausley's mind. My general impression of him was that he would have trouble finding the door, much less escaping through it.
Perhaps the reason for Ausley's transfer is simply that the Department of Corrections decided not to waste expensive SORT therapy on a man who would obviously never be released. There is, in fact, a waiting list for the SORT program, and this old no-hoper was taking up a slot that another sex offender needed. Perhaps Sussex I was just the nearest prison with an open bed, and Ausley was turfed there for convenience's sake.
Tragic move
If that was indeed how his transfer was decided, correctional administrators could hardly have chosen a worse new home for Ausley. The inmate population consists largely of young thugs who act out violently even behind bars. A small, extremely well-known child molester in his 60s should perhaps have been sent to the geriatric unit at Deerfield Correctional Center, not Sussex I.
Even worse, that facility's administration then placed Ausley, this notorious pedophile, in a cell with Dewey Keith Venable. This 24-year-old inmate, who had been sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2001 for a series of charges that included carjacking, abduction, and robbery, had himself been victimized as a child, by a pedophile named Dennis L. Sewell.
The bomb exploded on January 13, when Venable strangled and beat Ausley to death. After the murder, he wrote a letter to the Times-Dispatch in which he claimed he had warned guards not to place him in a cell with the infamous child molester Ausley. According to Venable, however, correctional officers threatened to put him in isolation unless he agreed to the cell assignment. He also claimed in his letter to "here voices and see shattos."
When informed of Ausley's death, Andrews told the Times-Dispatch, "While I cannot condone what happened to him, I certainly can feel for the young man who is being charged with his death.... The implications of being abused go far beyond the act of abuse. This young man is another example of the path of destruction left in the wake of a sexual predator, and another life ruined by an encounter with Richard Ausley."
In May 2004, Venable was indicted in Sussex County for the murder by strangulation of Richard Ausley. If convicted under the current indictment, Venable faces the death penalty. And in June, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety John W. Marshall ordered the state police to conduct an independent review of the Department of Corrections' actions in this matter.
Marshall undoubtedly fears that Ausley's murder behind bars will embarrass the state's penal system the same way that the John Geoghan case embarrassed Massachusetts. A Catholic priest convicted of child molestation last year, Geoghan was sent to the high-security unit at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, where he was killed in August 2003 by a fellow inmate, Joseph Druce, who had been a victim of childhood sexual abuse.
"Prison guards harassed pedophile priest John Geoghan and wrote trumped-up disciplinary reports [that]... led to the frail, 68-year-old Geoghan being... sent to the high-security unit," where he was murdered, Massachusetts Public Safety Secretary Edward Flynn's investigation revealed, according to the Associated Press. "Under no circumstances should John Geoghan have been in the special housing unit at Souza-Baranowski," Flynn told the AP in February.
A change in procedures
If Marshall's state police investigation reaches a similar conclusion in Ausley's killing, then some heads may end up rolling in this state. The Virginia Department of Corrections is not waiting for Marshall's investigation, however. As of August 20, inmates arriving at a new prison will be evaluated to determine their compatibility with potential cellmates.
According to Department of Corrections spokesperson Larry Traylor, the department asked the field to revise procedures and "reiterated issues involved with all bed assignments."
For the inmates he left behind here at Brunswick Correctional Center, Ausley's needless death has been an eye-opening experience, a teachable moment. Prisoners who until now missed no opportunity to make snide remarks to sex offenders have suddenly discovered the joys of convict solidarity.
Now they shout at passing SORT staff members, "Hope you're proud you got Peewee killed, you &#@!" All of a sudden Ausley is known by his old nickname, "Peewee." He's become one of us– who would have predicted that?
But there's a reason that Ausley's story became our own. Back in the real world, the civil-commitment movement is gathering momentum. At the time of Ausley's death, Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore's office had already filed petitions to civilly commit 21 other sex offenders. The Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation has been moved and expanded to 150 beds, and plans are afoot to enlarge it again to hold 250. Within a few years, there will be an entire new system of prisons pardon me, civil psychiatric detention centers for all sex offenders, since none of them can ever be trusted completely.
Eventually, civil commitment will likely be expanded to perpetrators of crimes that are not of a sexual nature but are also considered especially egregious: homicides and malicious woundings, of course, but perhaps also carjackings and abductions precisely the kinds of crimes for which Dewey Venable was sent to prison in 2001, three years before killing Richard Ausley. Given the propensity for violence that Venable has displayed even behind bars, a stay at the Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation certainly seems appropriate.
But why stop there? Unless a marijuana dealer can prove to a panel of state-paid psychiatrists that he will never again sell a single joint, perhaps he should be civilly committed, too. Better safe than sorry!
This sort of thinking has, unfortunately, shaped criminal-justice policies in the United States for the past 30 years. From 300,000 in the '70s, the prison population rose to 2.1 million at the end of 2002. Yet the crime rate today is precisely the same as it was thirty years ago: Seven times the number of prisoners, with nothing to show for it in terms of crime control– not exactly a rousing victory in the war on crime.
But criminal justice policy in the U.S. is apparently not affected by rational cost-benefit analysis. At the end of the day, society just wants the evil bastards gone, no matter what the cost.
Perhaps this was the kind of emotion Venable felt when he strangled the old child molester earlier this year. That young man did not have the option to make Ausley disappear in a civil-commitment facility, so he throttled him instead. He just wanted the evil bastard gone, no matter what the cost.
No matter what the cost.
This article first appeared in The City Paper, a Washington, D.C., weekly.
Richard Alvin "PeeWee" Ausley
Martin Andrews understandably launched a public campaign to prevent his tormentor's return to society.
Martin Andrews
It is obvious that Ausley had an opportunity to work his magic on Soering, as well, if he believes that Ausley was ever a victim.
Paul Martin Andrews
Richard Alvin Ausley
Andrews as police found him in 1973
Richard Alvin "PeeWee" Ausley
Author Jens Soering At Brunswick Correctional Center
Freshman-era photos of Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom


text:
The ASCCP has developed a comprehensive, user friendly app for the Updated Consensus Guidelines for Managing Abnormal Cervical Cancer Screening Tests and Cancer Precursors. Each individual recommendation and the algorithms can be viewed following a few keystrokes to enter important patient data. The app is simple to use and will come in very handy when you are on the fly and busy seeing patients.
Category: Medical
Requirements: 2.2 and up


text:
Eastern Rat Snake
Scotophis alleghaniensis
About This Animal
SIZE: 7 ft (2.1 m)
RANGE: Southeastern United States
HABITAT: Woodlands, rural farms and near human habitations
DIET: Rodents and lizards
ON EXHIBIT: Delta Swamp at River Journey
The harmless rat snake is one of the most common and beneficial snakes in the United States. It gets its name from the fact that it is frequently found on farms and in barns feeding on rats and mice. If you remove or kill a rat snake from these areas, the rodent population can increase quickly, posing a threat to human health and to food and grain supplies.


text: Gear Posted 07-17-2014 Orvis Recon Series, Virtually Unbreakable Helios 2 One-Piece Arrive at IFTD (Photos courtesy of Orvis) By: Lynn Burkhead, OutdoorChannel.com There aren't very many International Fly Tackle Dealer shows that come and go where The Orvis Company (www.orvis.com) doesn't make a headline or two. After all, the Vermont-based company has been in the fishing business since the mid-1800s, making fly rods for much of that time. That includes the 2014 IFTD show in Orlando this week where Orvis is bringing out several new offerings for long rod enthusiasts including one that is tailor-made for those looking for a high performance fly rod that will not break the bank. "Our new Recon model is a mid-priced fly rod that costs a (few) hundred dollars less than our Helios 2 model," said Tom Rosenbauer, the marketing director for the company and host of the "Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing" show on World Fishing Network (WFN). Aimed at meeting the needs of the do-it-yourself type who wants the casting ability, great strength and extreme lightweight attributes of the H2, the Recon series arrives on the scene with its big brother's DNA if not its higher price tag. "It isn't the same material but the flex profile is very similar to the Helios 2," said Rosenbauer. "We didn't want to mess with the taper of the rod since the Helios 2 is a multiple award winning rod." Rosenbauer says that he believes that Orvis has achieved that goal with the Recon series. With a variety of different rod length options, the three-weight to six-weight rod lineup comes with a variety of features including shadow green blanks, black nickel reel seats and a burl wood insert among other things. On the saltwater side, different rod length options range from a six-weight rod on up to 10-weights that all feature an EVA foam and cork fighting butt, shadow green blanks, and black nickel reel seats and hardware. Like the Helios 2, Orvis achieves its Recon performance goals thanks to not only the look and feel of the rod and its hardware, but also through its internal design. Rosenbauer says that this is due to the company's proprietary ferrule design and construction methods, something that lets the ferrules be slimmer while allowing for a better energy transfer. "And we do all of this by building these rods from the ground up in our rod shop in Vermont," said Rosenbauer. "Everything from the basic components on up to the rod's construction is completely done in the U.S. And that's true even all the way down to the Recon's aluminum fly rod tube." In addition to the news of the Recon fly rod's arrival, Orvis is also bringing out a one-piece design for its popular H2 rod series. "We've been playing with this one a little bit under the radar," admitted Rosenbauer. "We know that we're not going to sell a lot of them because you can't carry them on a plane and they are expensive to ship. "But guides love them because they never really take their rods apart and these are very strong and are also very smooth to cast." Better yet, the one-piece Helios 2 rods – which Rosenbauer says will have an $895 price tag - check in with an almost unbreakable strength level. "These rods are so strong that we had to modify the rod breakage machine we use to test our rods with," said Rosenbauer. "Every rod (line-up) gets broken in testing, but with this rod, we were getting the tips flexed all the way around and still not getting any broken," he added. "So we had to modify the tip travel capabilities of the machine to get these rods to reach their breaking point." With a variety of rod length options in the seven to 12-weight ranges, the one-piece H2 would seem to be great news for guides who make their living loaning rods to clients every day in the back of a boat. "We've had these (prototypes) in the hands of various saltwater guides including 25 (Florida) Keys' guides, a couple of guys in Louisiana and a couple more up in the Northeast (and they all loved the rod)," said Rosenbauer. With another unbeatable product from one of the world's leading fly rod manufacturers, it sounds like there's actually a lot to love from Orvis at this year's IFTD show. Especially for rod junkies like yours truly who never seem to have enough sweet performing products sitting in our fishing closets. Click here for videos, stories and photos from ICAST 2014. Share This Story Related Fishing : Posted 07-17-2014 Robo Angling Comes of Age View Fishing : Posted 07-17-2014 Buzzing About Best Boat View Fishing : Posted 07-16-2014 Daiwa Zillion Baitcasting Reel View Comments


text:
Back in January I made white chocolate, cranberry and oatmeal biscuits and very nice they were too - sort of cakey but still biscuity! Therefore, when I was looking for another quick biscuit recipe I adapted this one...no point reinventing the wheel.
I replaced the white chocolate with milk chocolate, and the cranberries for fudge chunks. Switching some of the flour for cocoa powder gave a dominant chocolate flavour to the biscuit. The oats added crunch and texture but weren't as noticeable as in the original version.
They keep like a dream for days on end (and I'm not even lying – I have been restrained in my consumption!) and the texture doesn't change at all. I loved the way the fudge oozed a little round the edges and crisped up where it hit the baking sheet into almost a crunchy toffee.
150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g light brown sugar
2 eggs
100g milk chocolate chips
85g fudge chunks
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
120g porridge oats
170g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
Line three baking sheets with baking paper.
Beat together the butter and sugar until light and airy – as it's brown sugar the mix will not whip as light as if caster sugar, but it will turn noticeably paler.
Beat in the eggs gradually.
Stir in the chocolate chips and fudge pieces.
Stir in the bicarb, oats, flour and cocoa powder.
Place rounded teaspoons of mix on the baking sheet leaving approximately 2-3cm between biscuits as they spread as they bake.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden. I checked them after 10 minutes and turned the tray for the remaining baking time.
Leave to cool on the baking sheets as they are very soft when warm.
When completely cool, store in an airtight container.
Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.


text:
Stuttgarter Weindorf
Around the end of August to the beginning of September, Stuttgart's "Wine Village" opens its doors for a 12-day extravaganza of quality wines and culinary specialities of the Swabian region. Over the Market Square and Schillerplatz and all along Kirchstraße, wine and food lovers can make themselves comfortable and indulge in local specialities washed down by their favourite vintage.
Stuttgart's history has always been closely tied to the winegrowing industry. It was back in 1976 that the Pro Stuttgart Tourist Board decided to launch the Stuttgarter Weindorf in honour of this long winegrowing tradition. This traditional festival is now considered one of the most attractive of the many "wine villages" staged in Germany each year.
Swabian hospitality, tempting culinary delights and 250 different wines from the Baden and Württemberg regions attract huge numbers of visitors to the State Capital to sample the full-bodied local wines and enjoy such regional specialities as pasta parcels called Maultaschen, traditionally braised Rostbraten steaks and onion tart.
Dates in 2018: 29 august to 9 september
More information


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Alban BERG (1885-1935)
Lulu (1935, unfinished version) [135.00]
Evelyn Lear (soprano) - Lulu; Paul Schöffler (baritone) - Dr Schön;
Rudolf Schock (tenor) - Alwa; Kurt Equiluz (tenor) - Painter; Gisela
Litz (mezzo) - Countess Geschwitz; Josef Knapp (baritone) - Schigolch;
Hans Braun (baritone) - Rodrigo; Margarete Ast (contralto) - Schoolboy;
Peter Klein (tenor) - Prince; Hilde Konetzni (mezzo) - Wardrobe mistress;
Ludwig Welter (bass) - Theatre director; Siegfried Rudolf Frese (tenor)
- Servant; Alois Pernestorfer (bass) - Animal trainer; Guido Wieland
(bass) - Dr Goll; Toni Birkmeyer (silent) - Jack the Ripper
Vienna Symphony Orchestra/Karl Böhm
rec. Theater an der Wien, Vienna, 9 June 1962
Sound: PCM Mono
Picture: 4:3/NTSC
Subtitle Languages: DE (Original Language), GB, FR, ES, IT
Region Code: 0
I first made the acquaintance of the score of Lulu through the
1968 recording conducted by Karl Böhm, also with Evelyn Lear in
the title role. This DVD enshrines a performance given six years earlier,
and indeed records the Austrian première of the work given in
1962. Böhm was one of the most annoying of the major German conductors
of the period, because of his apparently overwhelming desire to set
his own mark on operatic scores by subjecting them to often massive
cutting. He even abridged Götterdämmerung at Bayreuth
in 1964, although his later performances which formed the basis for
his recording restored the omitted passage. In the works of his mentor
Richard Strauss he made cuts in his première recording of Daphne
- a score which was dedicated to him - and his use of the scissors in
pieces such as Elektra and Die Frau ohne Schatten became
more and more extreme as time went on. Berg's use of closed musical
forms defied his editorial zeal, so here in this Lulu we are
given the score complete - or as complete as was possible at the time.
Berg left Lulu unfinished at the time of his death, with only
two passages of the Third Act completed and revised in full score as
part of the Lulu Suite although fortunately these included the
very end of the opera. Although the score was almost totally complete
in sketch form, his widow forbade anybody from attempting to put the
final Act into a performable condition. It was not until after her death
that Pierre Boulez finally managed to mount the opera in its entirety
in 1979, using an edition by Friedrich Cerha. The latter edition has
become the standard for all subsequent productions, and quite rightly
too. Cerha manages to produce a very convincing imitation of Berg's
style, and the plot benefits enormously from being given at full length.
In the middle of the Second Act Berg wrote a palindromic interlude,
which turns the plot like a pivot; the first part of the opera shows
Lulu's rise to riches and fame, and the second mirrors that in
its depiction of her fall, degradation and murder. There is even a deliberate
parody of the first half in the final scene, where each of Lulu's
clients as a prostitute is sung by the same singers as the lovers who
have 'helped' her during the first part. Without these scenes
the palindromic interlude is misplaced, and the proportions of the whole
are maimed. Sadly, that was the only version available to Böhm
at the time, and so that is what we are given here.
Of the seven rival versions of Lulu on DVD, all use the Cerha
completion. Oddly enough the available versions do not include Patrice
Chéreau's première production of the full score
which Boulez conducted, although this was televised at the time and
really deserves to be in the catalogues. Given the plethora of complete
recordings, this DVD is valuable purely as a historical document - although
it is a pretty good one, and gives us the score as it was always performed
during the first 44 years of its existence. That said, it cannot be
pretended that in 1962 players and singers were as comfortable with
Berg's often extreme demands on their techniques as they are today.
The orchestral playing, although it sounds pretty accurate and was clearly
well rehearsed, is not such as to inspire confidence; and the recorded
balance is such that even in the opening bars the smashing piano clusters
are hardly audible.
The singers too are an oddly assorted bunch, combining veteran singers
in the twilight of their careers with a batch of young stars in the
making. In the latter category can be counted Evelyn Lear's heroine,
Kurt Equiluz as the painter, and Hans Braun as the athlete. In the former
category we find Paul Schöffler as Doctor Schön (although
not, as Berg intended, doubling as Jack the Ripper), Peter Klein as
the Prince, Hilde Konetzni as the Wardrobe Mistress and Alois Pernestorfer
as the Ringmaster. The last-named, best-known now for his Alberich in
Furtwängler's 1950 La Scala Ring, makes a pretty good
impression in his opening scene, delivering his Sprechstimme
with relish and displaying a still well-preserved voice. The other veterans,
all Wagnerian singers of note during the 1950s, have plenty of volume
and a strong sense of pitch to bring to their roles. They are assisted,
too, by the young Otto Schenk's production, with plenty of dramatic
interplay in a naturalistic style. Schenk often failed to match this
in many of his later stagings for the Met and elsewhere. These are real
characters, and one can even feel a certain twinge of sympathy for the
collection of egotistical monsters that Wedekind and Berg created on
stage. One should also mention the baritone Josef Knapp as Lulu's
putative father. The role is often allocated to veteran Wagnerian basses
but here we have a singer with a firm voice who can sustain his lines
superbly but despite his white hair and moustache he hardly looks seventy
years old.
In the title role Evelyn Lear is a model of corrupting and decaying
glamour. In her succession of gorgeous dresses she imports an element
of Elizabeth Taylor into the dramatic mix. She also sings her frequently
stratospheric notes with a degree of poise which eludes many other singers
who have essayed the role. Rudolf Schock too has a degree of glamour,
despite looking like a rather seedy lounge lizard. Although his career
was drawing towards its close he still has reserves of lyric strength
which recall his glory days as Walther in Kempe's recording of
Die Meistersinger. Schöffler too had a claim to fame in
that opera, and it cannot be pretended that his voice as heard here
would any longer suit the role of Hans Sachs. However he still has plenty
of power, even if he has to resort to shouting his notes rather more
than Berg's Sprechstimme would strictly permit.
No attempt is made to provide a visual stage presentation for the long
interlude in Act Two (where Berg wanted a film to be screened to explain
the action) or in the Variations. Instead, as during the other interludes,
we are shown Böhm in the pit, conducting with economical gestures
from a largely sedentary position. The balance of the orchestral playing
is not good. The brass are sometimes ear-splittingly loud, and the strings
often sound dismally thin and underpowered. This is particularly disturbing
during the Variations. The recorded balance favours the singers on stage,
but they frequently have to force their voices to ride the outbursts
from the brass in the pit. During the final Adagio we are shown the
Countess, the only really sympathetic character in the whole opera,
who declaims some lines from earlier in the Act and then delivers her
final lament over Lulu after the silent Jack the Ripper has killed her.
Gisela Litz is very good dramatically and looks young enough to be a
credible lover for Lulu, but one has heard this passage delivered with
greater lyrical beauty.
There are no extras provided, but the subtitles - derived from Arthur
Jacobs's singing translation - are well-placed and informative
despite a couple of errors - "to well" for "too well",
for example. There are one or two minor adjustments in the spoken dialogue,
splitting up Lulu's long narration of her escape from prison,
but these are unimportant.
The opening of the DVD apologises for the quality of sound and picture,
but the black-and-white images are clear enough and the sound is generally
good although the applause at the end of Acts reveals a degree of wow
and flutter that suggests some tape damage.
As a version of the original version of Lulu this is unique in
the catalogue; and although those wanting a DVD of the opera will inevitably
gravitate towards a complete rendition of the score, the quality of
the performance is sufficient to justify a place for this historical
recording in the catalogues. It has another advantage, too: unlike many
of the modern issues, it adheres to Berg's original scenario without
the superfluous addition of any layers of confusing 'conception'.
Paul Corfield Godfrey


text:
Imagine snuggling under this oversized blanket with your birdees! It is soft as butter and extremely breathable so that everyone feels just the right amount of coziness. Be forewarned that your husband might want one of our toddler blankets all to himself!
- MATERIALS: 95% Bamboo from Viscose; 5% Lycra
- COLOR: Mist
- MEASUREMENT: 40" x 59"
- BREATHABLE material to offer you & your birdee great comfort
- HIGHEST-GRADE yarns to minimize pilling
- ONE-OF-A-KIND prints designed in house


text:
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