Another 19 people convicted in the case received jail terms from one year with two-year reprieve to suspended death sentences, said the statement.

The crime gang, founded by Liu in the city of Xiantao in Hubei in 2001, had opened casinos, which were illegal in China, illegally forced the transfer of shares in local bus companies and manipulated local cement and food markets.

Liu instructed gang members, including Chen, to murder one person. Chen was also held responsible for another death and nine injuries, the statement said.

The statement did not give details about their victims. According to a report in the Wuhan Morning Post in February 2008, one of the victims was Hu Dongfeng, head of a rival gang in Xiantao. Six of Liu’s gang members ambushed him and shotSaturday, May 22, 2010

Creative Writing, May 17, 2010

(note: I suggested a prompt, which was accepted by Meg, the wonderful teacher of the class)Prompt: Youthful ExuberanceWhere did the prompt 'Youthful Exuberance' come from? Well, bear with me while I digress a bit: During the morning art class someone remarked about getting a can of Coke out of the slot tagged Pepsi from the new pop machine. That brought back memories of a bottle-pop machine at a church I attended while young. This particular machine always had a slot labeled "surprise" with a note under the label advising it us this slot would be filled with a variety of selections: over stock of the major brands or the current specials in the supermarket. In short, we could put our 35