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Vinny, 13, cries during a visit with his mother, Eve, at the Bernalillo County juvenile detention centre. ‘Mom, just get me out. Just get me out, Mom,’ Vinny says. ‘When my mom was being beaten up, I was so scared. I wanted to defend my mom. I’m tired of seeing my mom get hurt. The Vinny and David photo essay begins with Vinny, then 13, when he was incarcerated for stabbing his mother’s assailant, and shadows him and his older brother, David. It focuses on their lives and their family, community and respective incarcerations over five years in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Photograph: Isadora Kosofsky | 95,935,552 |
Description
+/- 5 acres available on HWY 15-501. Total of approximately 18500 sq ft of workshop and showroom space over 2 buildings One of the few remaining prime retail development tracts is now available for sale. Existing structures include showroom, and multiple workshops. Call office for all showings. Do not view site without appointment with listing broker. Seller has reserved the right not to be obligated to accept an offer to purchase. | 95,935,694 |
Reduce the heat to the lowest and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the
heat and allow the pressure indicator to return to its original
position before opening the lid. Add the bird's nest and pressure
cook again for a further 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow the pressure indicator to return to
its original position before opening the cooker.
Serve the soup hot.
BestRecipes1.com Broughts you the Number 1 recipes all around the World! You're sure to find the perfect dish. | 95,935,838 |
And no response from SK and all South Koreans are still walking around like nothing is happening..because they've been through this multiple times and know it's all just propaganda and nothing will happen.
They are right next to them and don't care at all, why are we so worried?
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 36653642
thats how wars are.... when war comes to your town life dont stop... you still got to go to the store and to work to make money even while the bombs are falling... examples
WW2 londonWW2 berlinWW2 parisww2 tokyomoderen day gaza,iraq,syria,and now korea... war dosnt stop life, it only compilicates it... until your dead
are we at the point in the situation where a couple of volleys could be had back n forth without further escalation, or, if one shot goes, so does the world? what is a real possibility?
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 36430087
^this^ wondering the same.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 5240732
A nuclear attack on an American base would result in a nuclear response by the United States on North Korea, which has a mutual defense pact with China.
This is a given.
China wants us out of the orient completely, and that means the south Korean peninsula, Taiwan and Japan. So yes , it is a possible rapid escalation scenario that could blow up into an all out nuclear exchange in a matter of hours from now.
North Korea has always has been a buffer zone between China and US forces, and China undoubtedly gave them the bomb.
The Chinese are behind the aggression and now that they have destroyed our economy and we have no industrial machine intact, they can roll right over NATO with the co operation of Putin.
This is a probable scenario given Putin hates the jew banksters that sponsored the Bolshevik revolution and that are running the NATO block, and he doesn't like the aggressive imperialist wars we have worn ourselves out on , many of his ancestors were killed by Stalin who was backed by the jew bankers.
It's a complicated situation. While China and Russia have adopted the capitalist system combining it with a easing of totalitarianism, we are slipping into the failed communist totalitarian system of government both China and Russia have already learned is a failure and cannot work the hard way..
The banksters will try to come out the only man standing, BUT NOT THIS TIME. their day has come, and I for one won't miss them. We should have hung them from the lamp posts 80 years ago, but we let them destroy our nation and use it up.
No one would listen, and as long as credit was easy we were all happy. That wealth has to come from some where, in the case of the banksters it has to be stolen from other nations.
Kim could just have some guys photoshop a nuclear detonation over a picture of Los Angeles and tell his generals "We won! America is defeated!" and continue his game from there. I suspect he will do something like that... claim the war is occurring, that he is winning, and then declare total victory and host a parade despite the fact that everyone else sees what is really happening.
The same thing happens all over internet discussion forums, why not in the geopolitical arena as well? | 95,935,862 |
AC Milan star Gigio Donnarumma is ready to sign a contract extension with AC Milan, according to a report of Il Corriere dello Sport.
The 18-year-old sensation had been offered a new € 4 million-a-year deal but both him and his agent had taken time regarding a possible new deal at the club.
The Italian paper, however, claims Donnarumma has finally decided to put pen to paper on a new deal with the Serie A giants who have already been pretty busy with summer negotiations so far this summer.
AC Milan have already completed the signings of Franck Kessié, Ricardo Rodriguez and Mateo Musacchio and according to several reports an agreement is also place for Lazio star Lucas Biglia.
It remains to be seen whether AC Milan will eventually include a release clause in the player’s new deal but the official announcement of Donnarumma’s contract extension is expected to be announced between Monday and Tuesday next week. | 95,936,218 |
Q:
What will the Satipatthana Sutta teach me?
I am completely new to all this (buddhism, meditation etc...) but I really want to begin somewhere
I found this guy called Stephen Procter who has this free guided meditation program (52 guided meditations, 1 each week) that he says will guide you to the completion of the Satipatthana Sutta.
What actually is that sutta about? what will it teach me. Is it for real deal enlightenment (or just new age hippy dippy stuff)? What sort of meditations would this be about (I suuuck at visualization, which is why I am not trying out tantric practices even tho I like the sound of them)
And why is there all these other methods then? all these other suttas, and then stuff like Vajrayana buddhism. I don't get it, I just want something clear cut that can at the very least give me a very solid foundation.
Can I do this Sattipathana program if im physically unhealthy? (all the Hinduism yogas seem to require superman level health before you can even think about doing anything with the mind)
A:
The Satipatthana Sutta is a famous Buddhist scripture attributed to the Buddha (although it is unlikely it was actually spoken by the Buddha but instead is a compiling of various teachings of the Buddha). The Satipatthana Sutta is used for instruction in very basic meditation training (rather than used for very advanced training).
The Satipatthana Sutta is often interpreted and thus taught differently by different teachers.
The word 'satipatthana' means 'establishing mindfulness'. Establishing 'mindfulness' means to 'bring to mind' the Buddhist teachings in relation to experience. In terms of formal 'satipatthana' practise, it means to not have greed, grief or attachment towards experience. The Satipatthana Sutta says as its core practise:
he lives clearly comprehending and mindful, having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief.
he lives detached and clings to nothing in the world.
Satipatthana practice includes the natural experiencing of four objects:
(i) the breathing & body;
(ii) pleasant, painful & neutral feelings;
(iii) the mind, its moods or, otherwise, its clarity; and
(iv) various realities ('dhamma'), such as impermanence, the nature of suffering & peace, etc.
These four objects of meditation experience are used to train mindfulness; so to remember to not cling or have greed or grief towards these four objects.
Importantly, continuously experiencing the breathing & body with a non-attached and non-judging mind causes the breathing to calm & the body to relax. In short, it feels peaceful & calm.
Ideally, Satipatthana requires having normal breathing and being able to sit still with back upright (either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair without leaning against the back of the chair) for about 30 to 60 minutes. Having normal breathing means not having a blocked nose or any other chronic breathing abnormality. Having normal breathing & sitting upright allows the breathing to relax & calm while keeping the mind alert and non-drowsy.
I am listening to Stephen Procter, here. If Stephen is offering a free guided meditation program then you have nothing to lose to do it. His teachings sound reasonable to me.
| 95,936,290 |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JAN 08 2018
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
JAMES J. WANG, an individual, No. 16-55664
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No.
2:14-cv-08883-BRO-PJW
v.
SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT, MEMORANDUM*
INC., A Delaware Corporation; et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Beverly Reid O’Connell, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted December 6, 2017
Pasadena, California
Before: KELLY,** CALLAHAN, and BEA, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-Appellant James Wang applied for a software engineering job at
Defendant-Appellee Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc., and alleges that, in violation
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The Honorable Paul J. Kelly, Jr., United States Circuit Judge for the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, sitting by designation.
of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA), he was denied an interview because he is deaf. The
district court granted summary judgment for Defendants because Mr. Wang failed
to show that he was qualified for the position and, alternatively, failed to show that
Sony’s reason for not interviewing him was pretextual. The district court further
held that there was no basis for Mr. Wang’s punitive damages claim. Exercising
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and reviewing the grant of summary judgment
de novo, we affirm.
Under both FEHA and the ADA, a plaintiff’s prima facie case includes
showing that he or she is qualified for the job. See Nigro v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.,
784 F.3d 495, 497 (9th Cir. 2015) (FEHA); Snead v. Metro. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co.,
237 F.3d 1080, 1087 (9th Cir. 2001) (ADA). It was undisputed at summary
judgment that the Sony position required a minimum of three years’ practical work
experience with Java. And in his deposition, Mr. Wang testified to having little
work experience with Java and also testified that he would have needed on-the-job
training in it. He tried to mitigate the effect of this testimony with a declaration
that he had the requisite Java experience, but the district court excluded the
declaration on the grounds that it was uncorroborated, self-serving, and
contradictory to his deposition testimony. In his opening brief on appeal, Mr.
2
Wang did not challenge the district court’s exclusion of his declaration and
therefore waived the argument that the exclusion was error. See Smith v. Marsh,
194 F.3d 1045, 1052 (9th Cir. 1999). Even if he had challenged it, “exclusion of
evidence at summary judgment is reviewed for abuse of discretion.” U.S. Cellular
Inv. Co. v. GTE Mobilnet, Inc., 281 F.3d 929, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). Given that
courts may exclude “testimony that flatly contradicts earlier testimony in an
attempt to ‘create’ an issue of fact and avoid summary judgment,” Kennedy v.
Allied Mut. Ins. Co., 952 F.2d 262, 267 (9th Cir. 1991), the exclusion was not an
abuse of discretion.
Even with his declaration, no reasonable jury could have found that Mr.
Wang had the qualifications necessary to establish a prima facie case of disability
discrimination. Mr. Wang’s declaration stated that he had spent six years working
with programs that required skill in Java, but he stated in his deposition that he
used Java only “a little bit” (about three to five percent of his time) during those
six years. This does not create a genuine dispute as to whether he had the requisite
three years’ practical work experience in Java. Accordingly, the district court
correctly determined that Defendants were entitled to summary judgment.
For the first time on appeal, Mr. Wang argues that Java was not a true job
qualification. This is directly contrary to his position at summary judgment, where
3
he did not dispute that a minimum of three years’ experience in Java was a job
requirement. Issues raised for the first time on appeal are generally deemed
waived. Singh v. Napolitano, 649 F.3d 899, 903 (9th Cir. 2011). The closest Mr.
Wang came to making this argument was when he asked, “[I]f Java experience
were so crucial . . . then why would Sony schedule an interview with a candidate
like Simone Wu[,] who had none?” However, this question arose in the context of
arguing that Sony’s reason for not interviewing Mr. Wang was pretextual, not that
Java was a specious requirement. Furthermore, Sony’s offer to interview a
candidate who did not have Java experience on her resume does not mean that Java
was not a true requirement. Sony stated that it would interview Simone Wu “to
check her skills a little deeper,” not that it would hire her regardless of her Java
experience. Because this issue was not disputed nor argued before the district
court, we decline to consider it on appeal.
The district court correctly granted summary judgment for Defendants on
the ground that Mr. Wang failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination.
Consequently, we need not consider the district court’s alternative holdings
regarding whether Mr. Wang failed to show pretext or whether Mr. Wang can
recover punitive damages.
AFFIRMED.
4
| 95,936,530 |
Q:
Proving that $\pi_{X \times Y} \simeq \pi_X \otimes \pi_Y$
If $X$ and $Y$ are $G$-sets and $X \times Y$ is a G-set by $g \cdot (x,y)=(g \cdot x , g \cdot y)$. \pi is the corresponding permutation representation. Prove that $\pi_{X \times Y} \simeq \pi_X \otimes \pi_Y$.
Now $\chi_\pi (g)$ is the number of fixed points of $g$ in $X$.
So LHS: $\chi_{\pi_{X \times Y}}(g)=$ $\{$ number of fixed points of $g$ in $X$ $\}$$\{$ number of fixed points of $g$ in $Y$ $\}$
and RHS: $\chi_{\pi_X \otimes \pi_Y}(g)=\chi_{\pi_X}(g) \cdot \chi_{\pi_Y}(g)$ =$\{$ number of fixed points of $g$ in $X$ $\}$$\{$ number of fixed points of $g$ in $Y$ $\}$
So Im guessing that we can extend this to $\chi_{\pi_X \otimes \pi_Y}=\chi_{\pi_{X \times Y}}$
but this does not determine uniquely that $\pi_{X \times Y} \simeq \pi_X \otimes \pi_Y$.
A:
The problem is more straightforward: The action of $G$ on the vector space $k[X\times Y] = k[X]\otimes k[Y]$ (where $k$ is your ground field) is given by $g(x\otimes y) = gx \otimes gy$, which is precisely the definition of the tensor product of representations.
| 95,936,692 |
Friend to Friend
“He never claims to have all the answers to all questions, but I’ve never asked him a question yet that I didn’t feel his answer had been thought out in advance.”
“He lets you know what he thinks, but doesn’t pressure you into making his decision.”
“He loves people, and especially his family. When I visit him at his office, he pushes everything aside and takes all the time I need no matter what else he’s doing, and that goes for my friends too. He’ll always take time with them when they have problems.”
Three statements from three lovely children of a fine man serving the Lord! I was most impressed with the love, pride, and devotion these children showed for each other and for their father and mother as I spoke with them.
“He loves big chocolate bars and usually someone gives him a couple of the largest they can find for Christmas. Oh, he loves to eat uniced chocolate cake too.”
“When we visit, he’s always concerned about how long we can stay. One evening when my brother had to leave rather suddenly, Dad sighed and said, ‘Maybe in the next world we’ll have more time to talk.’ Dad really loves us.”
The strength and importance of a family that feels loved and expresses love is very apparent in this family.
“Dad has a zest for life! He’s very energetic and gives 100 percent of himself to whatever he does. He enjoys athletics and likes to win, but he’s also a good loser.”
“He grew up on a farm where one of his main chores was tending the pigs his father raised. He has many ribbons from the state fair that were won by his prize-winning pigs. One time, however, these pigs caused him some embarrassment. While he was at school one day, some of them got out of their pen and his mother was very upset about it. She called the school and had them announce the pigs’ escape over the school’s intercom system. She asked that her son be sent home immediately to find his lost pigs. Needless to say, he wasn’t too happy about everyone in the school hearing about his wayward pigs.”
“My grandparents were converts to the Church and became totally committed to the gospel. Dad recalls many times when as a child he witnessed the power of the priesthood in his home. One night when his younger sister was very ill with whooping cough, she couldn’t breathe and they thought she might die. Dad remembers Grandpa laying his hands on her head and blessing her that she would be able to breathe and live. She soon became better. Such experiences left a lasting impression on him.”
“My father is a time-oriented person and he gets a lot of mileage out of a day.”
“Being the only son of this General Authority,” I inquired, “what does your father expect of you?”
“Dad wants to keep me alive, both physically and spiritually,” came the quick reply.
“I’m sure Dad realizes we have to make our own decisions, but when we go to him, he always explains the possible consequences of our decisions. He’s very perceptive and levelheaded.”
“Dad loves to talk about the boy Joseph who was sold into Egypt. He always says that Joseph became a leader through righteousness, and then he was able to influence many others to be righteous. My father believes we should use the gospel to influence others in this way. He also admires the way in which Joseph showed love for his family. This seems to be uppermost in Dad’s mind, I guess—the family unit.”
When I asked about their father’s sense of humor, one of the children offered this comment, “Dad has very poor handwriting and he readily admits it. He sometimes asks his office secretary to tell him what he has written on his calendar, because he can’t read it himself. President Lee called Dad’s handwriting, ‘unreformed Egyptian.’ One time when he was on the stand with President Kimball at a meeting, a message was delivered to Dad reporting that one of the Church school buildings in South America had burned. Father wrote a note to President Kimball, telling him about it. President Kimball looked at it for a long time, then sent a note back, ‘Do you mean burned or buried?’”
“My father always gets tears in his eyes when someone sings, ‘Ye Elders of Israel.’ He loves missionaries and the missionary work. He loves to read and usually finishes a book in an evening because he reads so rapidly.”
In conclusion, the children told this story about their father when he was in the army.
“One time Dad was in a foxhole and enemy bombs were coming closer and closer all around him. He said a very fervent prayer and promised he would serve the Lord righteously if his life could be spared. One shell landed about three feet from him, but miraculously his life was spared.
“On a recent trip overseas Dad visited the site of this particular foxhole. Now just a short distance from there an LDS chapel has been built. He was amazed and thrilled at the contrast and later spoke of it in a meeting at that chapel. Dad has never forgotten his commitment to the Lord, and he truly tries to live each day as righteously as he can.”
This General Authority’s name is Neal A. Maxwell, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve. | 95,936,726 |
Eminem - Partners In Rhyme: The True Story of Infinite (Official Trailer)
The full 10-minute documentary short, 'Partners In Rhyme,' is out now - watch it here: http://smarturl.it/eminem_doc. Features never-before-seen footage of Marshall Mathers in his early years when he was doing open mic nights in Detroit and recording at the Bass Brothers studio. | 95,936,754 |
Get iTunes on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows
Description
It’s the holidays and the kids have to find the perfect Secret Santa gifts for each other. Also this season, Jade and Beck help Sinjin with a game show, Tori awaits the release of the new Pear phone, and the gang has an interesting time in detention!
Victorious, Vol. 3
Description
It’s the holidays and the kids have to find the perfect Secret Santa gifts for each other. Also this season, Jade and Beck help Sinjin with a game show, Tori awaits the release of the new Pear phone, and the gang has an interesting time in detention! | 95,937,072 |
Digital World Dangers – Help Your Child Use Digital Devices in a Safe, Responsible Way
Parents usually teach their children about the danger of strangers, but it’s easy to overlook some unsafe things that children can encounter in the constantly changing digital world.
Three big concerns include:
Cyber bullying
Predators
Pornography
Parents can help protect children by teaching basic concepts of how to use digital devices in a healthy, safe and responsible way.
7 Strategies to Help Children Use Digital Devices Safely
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provides the following tips to help parents manage the digital landscape they’re exploring with their children.
#1 – Treat media as you would any other environment in your child’s life.
The same parenting guidelines apply in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know your children’s friends, both online and off. Know what platforms, software, and apps your children are using, where they are going on the web, and what they are doing online.
#2 – Set limits and encourage playtime.
Tech use, like all other activities, should have reasonable limits. Unstructured and offline play stimulates creativity. Make unplugged playtime a daily priority, especially for very young children. And don’t forget to join your children in unplugged play whenever you’re able.
#3 – Families who play together, learn together.
Family participation is also great for media activities—it encourages social interactions, bonding, and learning. Play a video game with your kids. It’s a good way to demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette. And, you can introduce and share your own life experiences and perspectives—and guidance—as you play the game.
#4 – Be a good role model.
Teach and model kindness and good manners online. And, because children are great mimics, limit your own media use. In fact, you’ll be more available for and connected with your children if you’re interacting, hugging and playing with them rather than simply staring at a screen.
#5 – Know the value of face-to-face communication.
Very young children learn best through two-way communication. Engaging in back-and-forth “talk time” is critical for language development. Conversations can be face-to-face or, if necessary, by video chat, with a traveling parent or far-away grandparent. Research has shown that it’s that “back-and-forth conversation” that improves language skills—much more so than “passive” listening or one-way interaction with a screen.
#6 – Create tech-free zones.
Keep family mealtimes and other family and social gatherings tech-free. Recharge devices overnight—outside your child’s bedroom to help children avoid the temptation to use them when they should be sleeping. These changes encourage more family time, healthier eating habits, and better sleep, all critical for children’s wellness.
#7 – Don’t use technology as an emotional pacifier.
Media can be very effective in keeping kids calm and quiet, but it should not be the only way they learn to calm down. Children need to be taught how to identify and handle strong emotions, come up with activities to manage boredom, or calm down through breathing, talking about ways to solve the problem, and finding other strategies for channeling emotions. | 95,937,296 |
Thresher men fall to Swedes
The Bethel College men’s basketball team had a strong shooting first half and struggled from the field in the second half, falling to Bethany 84-75 Wednesday in KCAC play at Thresher Gym. The game was tied 47-47 at the half. Bethel shot 51.6 percent in the first half and 40.6 percent in the second half. Bethany was 46.7 percent in the first half and 45.2 percent in the second half. Bethel was outscored 20-7 from the free throw line. Bethany was led by Dwight Abad with 28 points. Trey Beachum and Ray Purtle with 20. For Bethel, Adam Arciniega scored 27 points, hitting five of seven from 3-point range, followed by Onesimus Moore and Lee Griffin with 13 points each. Ronnie Hodge scored 12 points. Bethany improves to 9-10, 5-6 in KCAC play. Bethel falls to 2-19, 1-10 in KCAC play. Bethel plays at 7 p.m. Saturday at Friends. | 95,937,341 |
Posted on September 29, 2013 | 9:23 AM
Check out the grand finals performances of Janice Javier during the finale live show of The Voice of the Philippines on Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila.
Janice, who is the last artist standing in Team Apl gave an all-out performance of Greatest Love of All. Her rendition is very heartfelt and one of the most amazing covers of the song.
Meanwhile, she also performed her original song Coming Home.
Janice had her time with Lolita Carbon singing Himig ng Pag-ibig and her coach Apl with Blackeyed Peas The Time (Dirty Bit) during Sunday's live finale show. | 95,937,561 |
By Bill Center
Walker Lockett completed the prospect cycle Tuesday when he allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in his first start for Triple-A El Paso. The 22-year-old right-hander has pitched at every level of the Padres’ full-season minor league system this season.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Lockett started the season with Single-A Fort Wayne and was 1–3 with a 3.00 earned run average in eight starts before being promoted to Advanced Single-A Lake Elsinore on May 18.
Lockett was 4–3 with a 2.98 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) before being promoted to Double-A San Antonio on July 18. He was 4–1 with a 2.08 ERA in six appearances (four starts) as part of San Antonio’s second-half resurgence before being promoted to El Paso on Aug. 20.
[milbvideo id=”969329083" width=”550" height=”330" /]
Overall, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Lockett has a 9–8 record with a 2.72 ERA this season in 26 appearances (23 starts). He has allowed 133 hits in 152 innings with a 114-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Lockett’s rapid rise is credited to developing and getting command of his sinker. Lockett was a fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft out of Providence (Fla.) High.
Meanwhile, right-hander Dinelson Lamet, 24, who opened the season at Lake Elsinore, Wednesday was given his second promotion of the season to El Paso. He has a 12–8 record with a 2.91 ERA in 26 starts this season at Lake Elsinore and San Antonio. | 95,937,619 |
Q:
How to prevent a UITableViewCell to be reused behind a translucent Navigationbar?
I had a UINavigationBar translucent (iOS7) with a UITableView.
When I scroll, I see the tableView behind my Navigationbar, but the cells are too small and are reused too soon.
How can I configure my UITableView to prevent this effect ?
Thank's for your advices !
A:
The solution is to :
set a negative frame to the TableView : tableView.frame = CGRectMake(0, -64, 320, 568+64);
add a contentInset : tableView.contentInset = UIEdgeInsetsMake(64, 0, 0, 0);
and a scrollIndicatorInsets : tableView.scrollIndicatorInsets = UIEdgeInsetsMake(64, 0, 0, 0);
I don't like this trick, but it's the only reasonable I find...
| 95,937,669 |
Truckers seek back relief
By JUDY LIN
Associated PressPublished:January 9, 2003 7:00PM
SMITHTON, Pa. When Erwin Daugherty pays a visit to the busy truck stop here, hes not getting a tuneup for his 18-wheeler. Its his back thats getting realigned. Every month or two, Daugherty, 71, of Quinlan, Texas, gets his back checked at the Smithton Travel Center, a truck stop about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh where chiropractors Andrew Giran and. | 95,937,877 |
Many parents have contacted me recently to highlight their serious concerns over the lack of places for children in their preferred schooling method, Irish-language instruction. Up to 200 Kildare North…
Press Release | 1st March 2013 Independent TD Catherine Murphy has highlighted the growing difficulties some North Kildare residents are experiencing when trying to insure their homes. Some insurance companies… | 95,938,029 |
Been really really unmotivated to post and create. Probably something to do with being Ill for the past 3 daysEnjoy this piece tho! Took around 5-7 hours to make in total. I streamed 5 hours of me drawing it.Alt versions i.imgur.com/EcfGh8T.jpg - No Ark i.imgur.com/61t5Cjm.jpg - Just Anders, EliteUsed: SFM, Clip Studio Paint | 95,938,123 |
PayPal has cut ties and ceased all payments to Mega, Kim Dotcom's encrypted storage startup. Mega announced the news in a blog post, blaming Visa and MasterCard for pressuring PayPal into dropping the site. Mega was founded in the wake of MegaUpload's seizure by the US Department of Justice, and piracy rumors have followed the site since its inception.
According to Mega, Paypal dissolved the partnership over concerns that the site "has a unique model with its end-to-end encryption which leads to unknowability of what is on the platform." PayPal described the logic differently. "We can confirm that we have decided to end our relationship with Mega for business reasons," a Paypal spokesperson told The Verge. "We respect the privacy of all our customers and former customers and will not provide further details about this decision."
The move comes on the heels of a report by the Digital Citizens Alliance, which named Mega as part of a growing trend of anonymous cyberlocker services. The report described the services as fundamental to content piracy, "bleeding the Internet for profit while making it less attractive for generations to come." After the report was published, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) urged credit card companies to cut off the businesses, including Mega alongside other services like 4Shared and RapidGator. | 95,938,162 |
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English version According to RFI journalist Christophe Boisbouvier, following the excesses of violence committed by the Gabonese security forces on the population after the fraudulent results of the presidential election, embarrassed by the presence of French advisors in these forces, Francois Hollande has ordered the withdrawal of all French advisors from the security forces and their redeployment to the Embassy of France, until the situation settles down.
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English version Dear readers, having noticed the free fall of their client, the French magazine Paris Match writes that the consulting firm WPP which handles Ali Bongo’s communication, advised him as an emergency exit, to conduct a media offensive that would be aimed at trying to salvage his regime by attempting to discredit the work of the observers of the European Union. This leap into nothingness took place through interviews on radios Europe 1 and RTL; in which Ali Bongo tried to present the EU observers as having a partisan attitude. But Paris Match found that this strategy was doomed to failure because the magazine said: "But what could he blame the EU about? Since August 31, the EU delegation has asked to consult the minutes used by the Cenap to compile the results of the Haut-Ogooué region, home region of Ali Bongo. The minutes that Mariya Gabriel's team has in its possession were compilled at… | 95,938,303 |
Beautiful. That is always the first word that comes to mind when I see Miriam. She returns for another sexy video for WPL Productions and really puts on a show. Miriam is beautiful from head to toe. She has a great personality and loves to tease. She has the total package. Miriam has gotten very popular very quickly and I hope she will be around for a long time. Check her out. Download Miriam #3 (60 minutes) for $20.00 Members enter here | 95,938,730 |
Video of the Day: Keep Drawing
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Video of the Day: Keep Drawing
Video of the Day: Keep Drawing
This morning, the good folks over at Colossal turned us on to this amazing new rotoscope animation by Korean design firm Studio Shelter and directed by Ha Juan, in which every single frame is a drawing of a different character, often in a different style and even a different medium than the frame before. The result is a slightly manic, jagged 2-d video about creativity, form, and character that made us want to pick up the pad. Not only that, but many of the single drawn frames are works of art worthy of display all by themselves, so we can only imagine what it took to create a video like this. Click through to watch, and let us know if you find it inspiring or head-spinning in the comments. | 95,938,913 |
Palo Alto moms link arms in front of Christine Ford's home, chant 'Protect Christine'
A group of two dozen people gathered in the driveway of Christine Blasey Ford's Palo Alto home Thursday to show support for the professor who says she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The Mercury News reported the group of mostly moms and a few men linked arms and chanted "Protect Christine! Protect Christine."
"We've got her back," Jamie Barnett told CBS San Francisco. "Her story is our story. She's one of us."
Ford emerged in the public eye when she accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while he was drunk at a high school party in the early 1980s.
The national women’s advocacy organization UltraViolet sponsored a plane to fly over Palo Alto with a sign reading "Thank you Christine. We have your back." Sept. 20, 2018 The national women’s advocacy organization UltraViolet sponsored a plane to fly over Palo Alto with a sign reading "Thank you Christine. We have your back." Sept. 20, 2018 Photo: Courtesy Ultra Violet Photo: Courtesy Ultra Violet Image 1 of / 34 Caption Close Palo Alto moms link arms in front of Christine Ford's home, chant 'Protect Christine' 1 / 34 Back to Gallery
Her quiet life as a psychology professor in Palo Alto has been turned upside down since going public with her story.
ALSO, A new twist in the Kavanaugh saga raises some very unpleasant questions
Kavanaugh denies the accusation and said he would be willing to appear before the committee to refute it.
While the Palo Alto neighbors marched in front of Ford's house, the advocacy group UltraViolet hired a plane to fly over the region with a banner reading, "Thank you Christine. We have your back."
"Ford has demonstrated tremendous courage in coming forward and sharing her story of how Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. She is a hero and we have her back," explained Shaunna Thomas, a co-founder of the women's advocacy group. "Violence against women should have no place in our society and it certainly should have no place on the highest court in the nation. Brett Kavanaugh should withdraw his nomination." | 95,938,956 |
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| 95,939,093 |
I'll have you know, that I cured cancer By liking a picture on Facebook
141,993 shares | 95,939,297 |
Fuel Consumption Meter
Monitoring your vehicle's fuel consumption can be a very good idea. Making sure your car is using the right amount of fuel and getting the most miles per gallon can help you make sure you vehicle is running correctly. When your car starts getting poor gas mileage and you are going through gas quicker than before, it could be a sign that your car needs maintenance. There are several things that could be causing your car to use more gasoline than it should so keeping an eye on the fuel consumption is a good way of detecting when something is wrong.
There are a few different styles of fuel consumption meters that you can purchase to help you monitor the amount of gas your car is getting per gallon. There are basic models that relay only the basic information or there are more advanced versions that can provide you with a lot of your vehicle's driving information. Some of the models will help inform you of your current gas mileage along with the average mileage over several consecutive trips and they will help you calculate the total cost in fuel that you have spent. Some models are advanced enough to tell you how many miles you have left on your current tank of gas, preventing you from ever running out of gas. They can calculate your speed and the temperature of your coolant as well as determine the position of your throttle.
Fuel consumption meters are plugged directly into your car's computer system with a cable. This allows all the information to be current and accurate. Depending on the style, how many features you want and the brand you choose will determine how much your new fuel consumption meter will cost. There are varying prices of meters ranging from $50 up to $500. Many styles fit directly into the dash board while other models can fit in other areas depending on where you would like it to be in the car.
Fuel consumption meters can be purchased for all types of vehicles including cars, trucks, and even boats. If you are unsure about purchasing a fuel consumption meter you may be surprised at just how reliable and helpful they really are. You will be able to keep track of many aspects regarding your vehicle's gas intake versus how well it uses the fuel. Keeping better track of your mileage, your speed and how well your car uses fuel under different driving conditions can really help you save money in the long run by adjusting your driving habits or by correcting a problem within your vehicle's fuel system.
If you find that you are getting poor gas mileage then you may need something as simple as a new spark plug, a new fuel filter, a better grade of gasoline, or fuel injector cleaner. However poor gas mileage can be the sign of a more serious problem with a vehicle as well and you may need to have it looked at by a mechanic. You may also notice a difference in your gas mileage depending on how much weight is inside the vehicle or whether or not you are towing something behind you. Other factors to consider is whether or not you are driving in the mountains or in the city. There are many things that can cause a fluctuation in your vehicle's gas mileage and having a fuel consumption meter can really help you determine exactly how your car handles in all of these different driving conditions.
Purchasing a new fuel consumption meter can offer you many benefits. Unfortunately many people are driving around unaware of how much gasoline there vehicle is using and therefore they are wasting money on extra gas. You could be monitoring the gas mileage your car gets and detect a problem with your vehicle before it ends up costing you a lot of money as well.
- Can this fuel consumption meter can use on diesel bus?
- are there any limits to the kinds of cars/vehicles that this meter can be used with?
We are a company in HK that is in need of a solution to measure vehicle fuel consumption accurately. We need the solution to take into account or use a return line measurement. We prefer the solution to be relatively portable and with easy/straightforward installation - we plan to use such a device on multiple vehicles on multiple occasions.
Also, we would appreciate some kind of ballpark figure for a solution as we need so we can have an idea of what the possible costs will be.
Any and all information you provide on some possible solutions would be greatly appreciated. | 95,939,560 |
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Notes: Leyland ready to run
Notes: Leyland ready to run
NEW YORK -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland took his shots on Monday about his club's late-season collapse. Now that the Division Series has arrived, he's going on the offensive, both in actions and words.
Though Leyland has discussed advancing runners and manufacturing offense for months, he talked Tuesday afternoon about pushing the tempo and putting runners in motion against the Yankees.
"I don't want to tip my hand to the Yankees, but obviously, we're going to try to move runners if they get them on by way of hit-and-run," he said. "We're going to have to do things a little bit different in this series. I don't mean to sound crazy, but I'm not afraid to try something. I mean, you have to have guys on to do it, and you can't try something every time you get somebody on."
A large part of Leyland's motivation centered around facing Chien-Ming Wang in the opener. The Tigers had just five runners on base over 7 2/3 innings against him on Aug. 30. None of them advanced a base after reaching, and Carlos Guillen was thrown out trying to steal second.
Aside from a well-executed squeeze bunt last week, the Tigers were not a running team down the stretch, though offense wasn't the main concern at the wire. The way Wang pitches when he's on, it's a factor they had to address, having struggled with double plays against ground-ball pitchers.
"I just try to do what I think gives us the best chance to win the game," Leyland said. "And you've got to be careful. You don't want to get overinvolved as a manager in the playoffs, because you don't want to get carried away. But at the same time, you can't sit back on your hands, either.
"From a managerial standpoint, you've got a great chance of looking real bad or looking pretty decent. It's not that you're into that from your own standpoint. It's just that I know what we have to do to try to beat this team, in my opinion, with this particular pitcher."
The respect card: Leyland has no problem talking about sneaking in a run. He has a bone to pick, however, about sneaking in a playoff spot.
The Tigers' 19-31 finish qualifies as the worst in that span by a team to reach the postseason, according to research on baseball-reference.com. The previous record was held by the 1976 Kansas City Royals and this year's Cardinals, who both went 22-28 down the stretch but still won their respective divisions. Leyland counters that the Tigers still had the fourth-best record in the Majors after that, basically because they were 40 games over .500 before the skid began.
"The one thing I am a little bit upset about is they say we haven't played real well lately and all of a sudden, we've kind of crept in," he said. "That [ticks] me off, because I think it's totally unfair to the Detroit Tigers. We didn't creep in anywhere. We have more wins than anybody in baseball except for three teams. That's pretty impressive, in my opinion. The last time the Yankees won the World Series, they lost 16 of their last 19."
Those 2000 Yankees lost their final seven games, then dropped their Division Series opener at Oakland before recovering to earn their third straight World Series championship.
The only other team to enter the playoffs after losing five straight games or more, ironically, knocked out the Tigers in their last playoff appearance. The 1987 Twins lost their last five, then upset Detroit in the ALCS en route to their first World Series title.
Both of those teams, however, won their division. The '87 Twins had to, since there was no Wild Card then. The Tigers' fall out of the division and into the Wild Card with the season-ending skid, in that sense, is something new. Leyland took responsibility for it.
"Did we [blow] the division? Yeah, we [blew it]," he said. "We should've won it. It's hard to keep that intensity, I guess. It wasn't like we weren't trying. Should we have won it? Yes. Did we? No, we didn't do it."
No doubt, he also mentioned the 2000 Yankees to his team when he addressed them before the series, much like the underdog factor. His talk with the media almost sounded like a rehearsal.
"Everybody's got us like we're the freshmen scrimmaging the varsity," he said. "That seems to be everybody's opinion. I mean, I have the utmost respect for the New York Yankees. I don't know what's going to happen. They might beat the [tar] out of us. But I can tell you one thing: I'm not going to be afraid.
"I read the paper. I'm not a fickle person. I know everything leading up to this is that this is a slam dunk for the Yankees. But I'm also smart enough to know that if we beat the Yankees tonight, they'll be all over the Yankees."
Thames starts: The irony about Leyland's desire to run is that he started Marcus Thames in part for his power. Thames, out of the lineup since last Wednesday with a throat infection, was back at DH and batting eighth on Tuesday.
"I think he's a little bit better now," said Leyland, who was up on Monday night looking at matchups. "I don't know how he's going to do, obviously, but he's had a couple hits off [Wang]. I'm going to take a shot that Marcus is all right, and if Marcus centers one, he might hit it out."
With Craig Monroe batting seventh and Brandon Inge ninth, the bottom third of the Tigers order on Tuesday combined for 79 home runs in the regular season, 36 more than Nos. 3-5 hitters Sean Casey (injured for part of the season), Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen.
Fans of Fredi: The Marlins' managerial change on Tuesday was news on both sides of this playoff series. While the Yankees were no doubt disappointed in the dismissal of Joe Girardi, a former coach under Joe Torre, Fredi Gonzalez's hiring was a throwback to the Dave Dombrowski era in Florida.
Not only was Gonzalez a coach for the Marlins from 1999-2001 while Dombrowski was the general manager, he was the franchise's first Minor League hiring years earlier, tabbed to manage their Double-A affiliate in Erie in 1992 before the big-league club began playing games.
"He's a very knowledgeable baseball guy," said Tigers assistant GM Al Avila, who worked in the same post in Florida when Gonzalez coached. "He knows how to motivate. He knows how to communicate. And he knows how to manage the game on the field. And he's learned it from the bottom up. He's paid his dues.
"Anybody can say I'm happy for him and he's going to do a great job, but the reality is, he's always done a good job, always been a great manager wherever he's been."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. | 95,939,564 |
One of Australia's most remotely stationed police officers is set to retire after almost a decade posted in an isolated town in far south-west Queensland.
The Birdsville post has one of the harshest climates in the country and a jurisdiction roughly the size of the United Kingdom, which includes the Simpson Desert.
Like other Queensland Police Service officers, Senior Constable Neale McShane will be forced to retire when he turns 60 later this year.
His policing career spans more than 40 years and includes time spent as a police prosecutor in other regions.
Now, the search for his replacement is on.
"I've done 10 years and that's not a bad stint and, probably, it is time to move on and let a younger person take over," Senior Constable McShane said.
"I enjoy the work but there comes a time for all of us to move on I suppose."
Senior Constable Neale McShane's jurisdiction is about the size of the United Kingdom. ( ABC News: Josh Bavas )
The last arrest was four years ago and was only for a minor offence at the annual Birdsville Races.
"He was advised to go home and he decided not to and he was arrested," Senior Constable McShane said.
"Occasionally you get offences of a minor nature but because of the remote area you don't get people to come here to steal or cause trouble because they stick out so much; they probably stick to places like Surfers Paradise."
Senior Constable McShane said despite the town's quiet nature he could not afford to be complacent.
"[Just] because it's a remote area doesn't mean there's going to be no crime here and there could be serious crime here, just look at the Peter Falconio murder in the Northern Territory," he said.
"So you're always on the look out for suspicious people coming to town or passing through."
Birdsville's only park ranger and traditional owner Don Rowlands said Senior Constable McShane would be sorely missed.
"When he's out there, he does his job that you wouldn't believe," he said.
"He's been a real good back-up for me and I for him I guess.
"It'll be sad because he knows the country and he knows how to drive in the terrain.
"The new fella, I suppose I'll have to go teach him all the ropes."
Constable calls on help for Simpson Desert rescues
A lot of Senior Constable McShane's work involves preparing tourists for travelling through the Simpson Desert.
Temperatures in the desert can reach above 50 degrees Celsius and the park is closed during summer as a result.
But despite best laid efforts, things do go wrong and Senior Constable McShane is called upon for about five desert rescues a year.
Senior Constable Neale McShane is called upon to assist in about five rescues in the Simpson Desert every year. ( Supplied: Hugh Brown )
He relies on the support of the town mechanic and the ambulance officer when things go wrong.
"Whatever assistance you need they usually give because obviously [in] a single officer station you can't do it all yourself," Senior Constable McShane said.
In 2009, he received a distress call from a driver who rolled his car on a sand dune in the middle of a dust storm about 170 kilometres from Birdsville.
He said it was a long drive but the man was rescued.
"You went over some sand-hills and you couldn't see in front of you. It took us ages and ages to get there ... and apart from a bump on the head, he wasn't too bad," Senior Constable McShane said.
Another one of his daily chores is checking the official temperature gauge for the Bureau of Meteorology.
The police station also hosts a number of monitoring systems including a Dust Watch device, locust early warning system, tectonic plate monitor for Geoscience Australia, CSIRO ozone monitor and a set-up which measures the durability of roofing and fencing in the harsh outback sun. | 95,939,633 |
Newly obtained congressional data shows hundreds of terror plots have been stopped in the U.S. since 9/11 – mostly involving foreign-born suspects, including dozens of refugees.
The files are sure to inflame the debate over the Obama administration’s push to admit thousands more refugees from Syria and elsewhere, a proposal Donald Trump has vehemently opposed on the 2016 campaign trail.
“[T]hese data make clear that the United States not only lacks the ability to properly screen individuals prior to their arrival, but also that our nation has an unprecedented assimilation problem,” Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told President Obama in a June 14 letter, obtained by FoxNews.com.
The files also give fresh insight into the true scope of the terror threat and cover a wide range of cases, including:
A Seattle man plotting to attack a U.S. military facility
An Atlantic City man using his “Revolution Muslim” site to encourage confrontations with U.S. Jewish leaders “at their homes”
An Iraq refugee arrested in January, accused of traveling to Syria to “take up arms” with terror groups
While the June 12 massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub marked the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil since 2001, the data shows America has been facing a steady stream of plots. For the period September 2001 through 2014, data shows the U.S. successfully prosecuted 580 individuals for terrorism and terror-related cases. Further, since early 2014, at least 131 individuals were identified as being implicated in terror.
Across both those groups, the senators reported that at least 40 people initially admitted to the U.S. as refugees later were convicted or implicated in terror cases.
Among the 580 convicted, they said, at least 380 were foreign-born. The top countries of origin were Pakistan, Lebanon and Somalia, as well as the Palestinian territories.
Both Sessions and Cruz sit on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, which compiled the terror-case information based on data from the Justice Department, news reports and other open-source information. The files were shared with FoxNews.com.
The files include dates, states of residence, countries of origin for foreign-born suspects, and reams of other details.
Specifically, they show a sharp spike in cases in 2015, largely stemming from the arrest of suspects claiming allegiance to the Islamic State. They also show a heavy concentration of cases involving suspects from California, Texas, New York and Minnesota, among other states.
EXPLORE THE DATA IN THE MAPS AND CHARTS BELOW
The senators say the terror-case repository still is missing critical details on suspects’ immigration history, which they say the Department of Homeland Security has “failed to provide.” Immigration data the senators compiled came from other sources.
Sessions and Cruz asked the president in their letter to order the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and State to "update" and provide more detailed information. The senators have sent several letters to those departments since last year requesting immigration histories of those tied to terror.
“The administration refuses to give out the information necessary to establish a sound policy that protects Americans from terrorists,” Sessions said in a statement to Fox News.
Asked about the complaints, DHS spokeswoman Gillian M. Christensen told FoxNews.com the department “will respond to the senators’ request directly and not through the press.”
“More than 100 Congressional committees, subcommittees, caucuses, commissions and groups exercise oversight and ensure accountability of DHS and we work closely with them on a daily basis. We’ve received unprecedented requests from a number of senators and representatives for physical paper files for more than 700 aliens,” she said, adding that officials have to review each page manually for privacy and other issues.
Cruz ran unsuccessfully this year for the Republican presidential nomination. Sessions, an ardent critic of the administration’s immigration policies, is supporting presumptive GOP nominee Trump.
The allegations detailed in the subcommittee’s research pertain to a range of cases, involving suspects caught traveling or trying to travel overseas to fight, as well as suspects ensnared in controversial sting operations which civil-liberties groups including the ACLU have criticized.
In a 2014 report, Human Rights Watch said nearly half of the federal counterterror convictions at the time came from “informant-based cases,” many of them sting operations where the informants played a role in the plot.
The report said: “In some cases the Federal Bureau of Investigation may have created terrorists out of law-abiding individuals by conducting sting operations that facilitated or invented the target’s willingness to act.”
But even in some of those cases, federal agents got involved after learning of a serious suspected plot. In the case of the Seattle suspect, Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, authorities said he approached someone in 2011 about attacking a military installation. That citizen alerted law enforcement and worked with them to capture Latif and an accomplice.
FoxNews.com’s Liz Torrey contributed to this report. | 95,939,982 |
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 50-18-72 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to when public disclosure of public records is not required and the disclosure of exempting legal authority, so as to limit the disclosure of certain private information of firefighters; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Status History
Jul/01/2009 - Effective Date
Apr/21/2009 - Act 12
Apr/21/2009 - Senate Date Signed by Governor
Apr/13/2009 - Senate Sent to Governor
Apr/03/2009 - House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
Apr/01/2009 - Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended
Mar/30/2009 - House Passed/Adopted By Substitute
Mar/30/2009 - House Third Readers
Mar/25/2009 - House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
Feb/24/2009 - House Second Readers
Feb/19/2009 - House First Readers
Feb/18/2009 - Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute
Feb/18/2009 - Senate Third Read
Feb/12/2009 - Senate Read Second Time
Feb/11/2009 - Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
Jan/16/2009 - Senate Read and Referred
Jan/15/2009 - Senate Hopper
Footnotes
3/30/20909 Modified Structured Rule; 4/1/2009 Senate Agrees to House Sub as Amended by Senate; 4/3/2009 House agrees to House Substitute as Senate amended | 95,940,079 |
Best Gourmet Ice Cream Trucks Around the Country
Tuesday
Jul 1, 2014 at 12:01 AMJul 1, 2014 at 10:25 PM
Beat the heat with a visit to one of the country's most delicious ice cream trucks.
Summer time means ice cream time, but it doesn't mean you have to go in search of the refreshing treat—sometimes, the ice cream comes to you. Below, we round up the 10 best gourmet ice cream trucks in the country, plus two exclusive ice cream sandwich recipes from one of the most famous trucks, Coolhaus.
Parfait Organic Artisan Ice Cream
[caption id="attachment_330713" align="alignnone" width="493"] Parfait Organic Artisan Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: Seattle, WA
Why They're Awesome: All of the ice creams and sorbets are gluten free, and several of the sorbets are vegan as well, ensuring that anyone can indulge in the truck's delicious desserts. But just because Parfait accommodates dietary restrictions doesn’t mean their flavors are limited: there are 25 varieties currently listed on the website, some of which are named after the local farms that provided signature ingredients, like the Ballard Bee Honey and Alm Hill Farm Blueberry ice creams.
First Thing to Try: The summer-only Hayton Farms Strawberry ice cream, which is made with fresh strawberries from a local farm in Skagit Valley.
Zsa's Gourmet Ice Cream
[caption id="attachment_330718" align="alignnone" width="493"] Zsa's Gourmet Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: Philadelphia, PA
Why They're Awesome: Zsa’s cheerful blue 1963 International Harvester van—named Gatsby—offers small batch, artisanal ice cream by the scoop and by the pint, so you can have your ice cream now and save it for later, too. Zsa’s doesn’t use any artificial flavorings or colorings, and it goes through more than 100 lbs of sugar a week to make its own caramel for one of its most acclaimed flavors, Salted Caramel.
First Thing to Try: Get a scoop of Salted Caramel and/or Zsa's other uber-popular flavor, Black Magic.
Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
[caption id="attachment_330717" align="alignnone" width="493"] Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: New York City, NY
Why They're Awesome: Van Leeuwen has not one, not two, but six trucks that frequent the Brooklyn and Manhattan areas. If you can’t find one of the trucks, there are also three brick-and-mortar stores located in NYC so you can get your ice cream fix no matter what. All of Van Leeuwen’s trucks and stores use local, hormone- and antibiotic-free ingredients as well as biodegradable utensils made from 100% renewable materials, so you can feel good about the tasty ice cream you’re eating.
First Thing to Try: Try out one of the special flavors that are made in small batches on rotation, such as Sweet Sticky Black Rice.
Hello! Ice Cream
[caption id="attachment_330720" align="alignnone" width="493"] Hello! Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: Ann Arbor, MI
Why They're Awesome: Despite the name, Hello! Ice Cream actually serves up mouth-watering gelato-based treats out of its 1965 International Metro van named Ingrid. Ingrid drives all over the South Michigan area during the summer, bringing gelato, sorbetto, and other delicious Italian desserts everywhere she goes. Flavors range from American favorites like espresso to Italian specialties like zabaglione (a custard made of eggs, cream, and marsala wine).
First Thing to Try: Grab yourself a cup of one of the traditional Italian gelato flavors.
Twirl and Dip Organic Soft Serve Ice Cream Truck
[caption id="attachment_330716" align="alignnone" width="493"] Twirl and Dip Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: San Francisco, CA
Why They're Awesome: Twirl and Dip gets their name from its soft serve twirl cone (Organic Vanilla Bean and Organic Chocolate swirled together) and its chocolate dip (made with TCHO chocolate and Maldon sea salt). While their flavors are certainly classic, Twirl and Dip adds a new spin on old dessert by making its organic goodies with fresh, local ingredients. If you’re not in the mood for ice cream, Twirl and Dip also offers handmade ice lollies in seasonal flavors like Cantaloupe with Honey and Watermelon Lemonade.
First Thing to Try: A chocolate-and-vanilla twirl cone dipped in chocolate, of course.
The S'Cream Truck
[caption id="attachment_330714" align="alignnone" width="493"] The S'Cream Truck[/caption]
Where: Los Angeles, LA
Why They're Awesome: Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne-Gonzalez decided that ice cream trucks should offer healthier treats for kids without artificial colors or ingredients—and thus was the S’Cream Truck born. Not only is their ice cream better for you, it’s also delicious and fun to eat.
First Thing to Try: Be sure to try their signature S’Cream Balls (ice cream balls on a stick dipped in chocolate toppings).
Cones Truck
[caption id="attachment_330722" align="alignnone" width="493"] Sticks and Cones Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: Charlotte, NC
Why They're Awesome: Sticks and Cones Ice Cream takes its name from their two trucks: the Sticks Truck and the Cones truck. The Sticks Truck offers regular ice cream truck fare, but the Cones Truck goes a step beyond with creations like the Granny Gene (above right), which combines homemade lemon curd and graham crackers with vanilla soft serve ice cream. Many of the other sundaes also incorporate homemade baked goods, which the Cones truck often sells a la mode as well.
First Thing to Try: Any premium sundae that includes a home-baked goodie in it.
Fifty Licks Handmade Ice Cream
[caption id="attachment_330721" align="alignnone" width="493"] Fifty Licks Handmade Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: Portland, OR
Why They're Awesome: Fifty Licks makes its seasonal ice cream flavors with a unique French custard-style base for the perfect creamy consistency. Founder Chad Draizin won’t sell a flavor until he perfects the taste, leading to standouts like Buttermilk Blood Orange Creamsicle and Jasmine Rice with Fragrant Pandan Leaf. The truck is only open during the summer, but the brick-and-mortar location is open year round and serves sorbets, cuban coffee, and sorbet cocktails in addition to ice cream.
First Thing to Try: If you want a true Portland experience, try the Pip's Original Salted Honey Doughnut ice cream, which incorporates doughnuts from another local stop.
Treatbot Ice Cream Truck
[caption id="attachment_330715" align="alignnone" width="493"] Treatbot Ice Cream[/caption]
Where: San Jose, CA
Why They're Awesome: If you like to listen to music while you eat ice cream, then Treatbot is the truck for you: it offers karaoke along with sweet treats. Unfortunately, an accident a few weeks ago totalled the original truck, but a new pink one now roams the streets of San Jose and will be outfitted for more karaoke soon. The plucky Treatbot truck offers fun flavors like East Side Horchata and Bananutella—but if you can’t shake the urge to sing, stop by the Treatbot Factory in the San Pedro Square Market.
First Thing to Try: The 408 flavor—named after a California area code—combines caramel ice cream, fudge, and Oreo cookies. Yum!
Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwiches
[caption id="attachment_330712" align="alignnone" width="493"] Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwiches[/caption]
Where: Los Angeles, CA; New York City, NY; Austin, TX; Dallas, TX
Why They're Awesome: No ice cream truck roundup would be complete without Coolhaus. With four trucks roaming three different states, Coolhaus serves up architecturally-inspired ice cream cream sandwiches with names like I. M. Pei-nut Butter (Double Chocolate cookies with Peanut Butter ice cream). If you don’t live nearby one of the four trucks, check out our featured Coolhaus recipes below to make your own sandwiches, or pick up the newly-released Coolhaus Ice Cream Book for even more options.
First Thing to Try: Make your own delicious sandwiches right now...
Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwich with Peanut Butter Cap'N Crunch Cookies
Salted Chocolate Almond Joy Ice Cream Sandwich with Pretzel Chocolate Chunk Cookies
For more on ice cream...
This article originally appeared as on Relish | 95,940,191 |
Time for a Permanent Commission in to NYPD, IAB, and DA Corruption: Title 18.subsection 242.conspiring of rights.which is a felony that can land that detective behind bars for ten years. I was sent this -- is this applicable to Det John Vergona and his partner, Det Andy Dwyer his partner, supervisor Lt Angelos Burgos, supervisor Sgt Chen and all involved including in Internal Affairs? NYPD Internal Affairs DA want to do the crime do the time. Turn Broken Windows back on them!
NYPD committed Crimes in my Case and how many other cases?
The Detectives in my case Det Vergona and Det Andy Dwyer, their partners, and supervisors and facebook friends NYPD PO Eugene Schatz aka Gene Schatz and Det Tommy Moran were party to the fact Verogna was lying in his DD5s and was going to verbally violently threaten me over the phone because the cowardly criminal detectives and supervisors did not have it in them to commit the crimes they committed and face me but they did use Ron Kuby's letter to pretend they dd not commit crimes and Internal Affairs has protected them along w/ top brass all party to retaliation.
I had respected the NYPD until NYPD PO Gene Schatz and his facebook friends Detective Andrew Dwyer and Det John Vergona, with their partners, and supervisors DI Ed Winski, Lt Angelo Burgos and Sgt Chen did a bait and switch downgrading their crimes and Delita HOOKS crimes to no crimes. Google Dr Fagelman assault and see Delita HOOKS in action but she wasn't done breaking laws and the NYPD detectives and supervisors joined in and did Dr Andrew Fagelman quite a favor since he did not fire his violent, manipulative attack receptionist and when a private investigator asked Dr Fagelman did you talk to the NYPD he said "no comment" aka he would implicate himself in the crimes of arranging for Delita HOOKS to walk in and commit a crime filing a false cross complaint and Dr Fagelman was party to even more crimes the face Det John VERGONA was going to violently threaten me over the phone with false arrest on a Saturday 4pm only for the utmost retaliation and even fabrication of crimes which Eric Garner outlines in his own case 4 years ago....
These corrupt evil people would teach be about the real NYPD and how they break laws, do fixing and favors and all these years Internal Affairs protected these crimes along with Corp Counsel Zachary Carter lied in my case and his predecessor before him.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
NYPD Ramos Trial September and Schoolcraft Trial Begins --- well September is going to be hell for the NYPD so no wonder commissioner Raymond Kelly wishes he could escape to The White House!http://suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com/2012/12/nypd-dark-days-bronx-courts-dec-2012_3.htmlRamos, a New York City Police Officer, is charged with crimes stemming from more than half a dozen different incidents that occurred between March 10, 2009 and November 11, 2009. Ramos has been charged with attempted robbery, attempted grand larceny, transporting what he believed to be a shipment of heroin for drug dealers, selling counterfeit CDs and DVDs in his barbershops, and disclosing the identity of a confidential informant who was providing information on a series of shootings and homicides.http://bronxda.nyc.gov/information/pending.htm
Wiczyk, O.3297/2011Pt. H6009/03/2013Coming soon the Adrian Schoolcraft Trial this September along with the CityTime trial but I want to remind you NYPD, PBA fixing and favors only happen in the Bronx hardee har har and IAB isn't corrupt hardee har har protecting the NYPD Brand ( my term NYPD Brand) --- http://nypdnewcommission.blogspot.com
When Det John Vergona fixed me being violently assaulted at Dr Andrew Fagelman's by his receptionist office manager Delita Hooks I went from someone who tried to believe in the good NYPD to creating a blog calling for a new commission.
Reminder honorable Judge Mollen called for a PERMANENT outside monitor of the NYPD and we never got it.
Then NYPD needs a new commission every 20 years starting in 1894 with the "Lexow Commission" thanks to police corruption exposed by courageous Rev. Dr. Charles Parkhurst (tid bit from Leonard Levitt's NYPD Confidential.)
any ideas why Delita Hooks, the Jodi Arias of medical reception wasn't arrested after she provoked me to first try and get help and than to finally start filming after she got between me and the door and violently gave me the finger....?
She could have closed the door but she uses it for balance to start the physical part of the assault....
Did Dr. Fagelman called 1800 NYPD PBA fix it for me or what....? Why would the NYPD fix this and IAB sits on this case like they are hatching a dinosaur's egg? Something stink? Yes, that is why I am suing.
Monday, July 29, 2013
* Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson invoked Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman while striking an unusually provocative tone against stop-and-frisk policing at a church in Brooklyn, the Times writes:http://nyti.ms/11pqMn4
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Bloomberg Vetoes Set Up a Showdown Over NYPD vs Today Rally Steps of City Hall* Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed two controversial bills yesterday, including one to create an NYPD inspector general, setting up an override battle in the New York City Council, The Wall Street Journal reports:http://on.wsj.com/15H5xg4 (Blurb from City and State)
From Suzannah B. Troy Artist:
A rally on the steps of City Hall today to protest Bloomberg's veto.I was published in The Wall Street Journal "Betrayal at Ground Zero" and in The New York Times give the NYPD and FDNY a raise. I am now suing the NYPD pro se http://www.scribd.com/suzannah_troy/documents and posted on scribed as a political statement. http://youtu.be/dh9TedhfthE Here is a clip of me being violently assaulted at Dr. Fagelman's office at 155 Spring st. Apparently Dr Fagelman, Delita Hooks (receptionist office manager) who threatened me with bodily harm and punched me and grabbed my hair, threw her shoes, kicked me and the NYPD all do not know it is against the law to punch a medical patient for some reason and my rights and body violated. The NYPD met with my attacker but refused to meet with me to see the damage to my eye etc.Interesting huh.I made a video at 4:30 am addressing mayor Bloomberg and asking him for a comment as well as showing you all what post traumatic stress looks like 9 months and 23 days after I was violently assaulted and attribute to the PTS to Dr Fagelman who refused to fire Delita Hooks, Delita Hooks, the NYPD and IAB.http://mayorbloombergkingofnewyork.blogspot.com/2013/07/pts-dr-fagelman-delita-hooks-punching.htmlVideo asking you to ask Bloomberg about this in link above...
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Well Commish Kelly understands the guilty part just not why certain NYPD are so very guilty. I just filed my first law suit ever and I am doing it pro se against the NYPD. I had a letter in The WSJ "Betrayal at Ground Zero" and a letter in The NY Times asking that the NYPD and FDNY get a sizable raise.
Yes there are some good NYPD out there...not enough of them too many have guns and badges that should not have them.
Thanks to the few good honest cops out there....just not enough of you.
* The New York Times’ Michael Powell writes that outgoing New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne engaged in “unwise” behavior in shading the truth more than once over his tenure: http://nyti.ms/13yZWto
Comment I attempted to post on The NY Times 7:37 am this morning:
"The NYPD culture is a culture of lies. I had a letter published after 9-11 asking for a raise for the NYPD and FDNY in The New York Times. Never again.
I was violently assaulted at the doctors office in Soho and 2 weeks later, I learned the MD's receptionist who attacked me filed a false cross complaint and "my detective" who refused to meet me lied to me and about me over the phone because he to date has never met me. I agreed to be false arrested twice and I spoke to Ron Kuby who promised to see me through this nightmare as I tried to tend to serious injuries including to my eye but I was confounded as much by the NYPD violence and abuse that poured through the phone.
I asked Ron Kuby about the lying. He told me the detective can lie to me but he isn't allowed to lie to my lawyer. I have to laugh because we all know what testily means. The NYPD are so brazen lying they are willing to lie under oath.
The NYPD stats are like a casino in Las Vegas, the fix is in.
The NYPD stats are one big lie. Mike Bloomberg says crime is down. Not true. I was violently assaulted as a medical patient in an office trying to be chic and a medical office is suppose to be a safe place. Instead of being part of a statical report me being savagely attacked by a medical doctor's receptionist is now part of a lawsuit I filed myself against the NYPD with the hope win, lose or settlement for reform and a new Commission in to the the NYPD. IAB, CCRB and Commission to Combat Police Corruption in my opinion a lie as well. "
* The New York Times’ Michael Powell writes that outgoing New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne engaged in “unwise” behavior in shading the truth more than once over his tenure: http://nyti.ms/13yZWto
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Det John Vergona is this what you wanted? Det Andy Dwyer you took an just like Vergona but in my opinion you did not keep it and neither of you have an ounce of decency. Det Andy Dwyer is Delita Hooks NYPD detective who never even called me.
I was harassed (aggravated harassment in my opinion) taunted my lawsuits will go no where. Well they are going on Scribd with all your names including Dr. Andrew Fagelman, Delita Hooks and I would tell you everyone involved except that they have my name and to date I still do not have everyone's names involved although I was a medical patient including the women in this video I was told lied and said it was me.
By the way after I was taunted and told my lawsuits would go no where 2 YouTubes on this violent assault on my 2ndary channel were wrongfully removed. It took me a week to get them back and an apology from Google YouTube Passover Wednesday 6:30 am. Gee, I wonder who removed the video Det John Vergona, Delita Hooks assaulted me false cross complaint no arrest" and the extra copy of Delita Hooks assaulting me. In my opinion all part of a 9 month campaign of aggravated harassment and witness tampering and now that the lawsuit is clearly happening -- this is my first all of the sudden the aggravated harassment cyber bullying has gone silent.
The NYPD does not care. The NYPD involved that collect over time do and none will have to pay for their lawyers.
Lt Angelo Burgos and Sgt Chen are named, DI Ed Winski named and a more.....you can read it all on scribed.
NYPD Det John Vergona Det Andy Dwyer Supervisors and 3 IAB named in Law Suit
"The mother of an unarmed National Guardsman slain by an NYPD detective will file a federal lawsuit Tuesday against New York City and the man who shot her son on the Grand Central Parkway, the Daily News has learned.
Noel Polanco, 22, was shot once in the chest by Emergency Service Unit Detective Hassan Hamdy, who said the victim was reaching under the car seat after being ordered to keep his hands on the steering wheel."Noel Polanco was unarmed. Maybe he couldn't hear Hassan but Hassan perhaps due to adrelaine shit him but it seems like murder. I was a victim of 2 sets of corrupt detectives at the First Precinct that fixed a violent crime for Dr Andrew Fagelman who did not fire his violent receptionist office manager who started her assault by telling me I have no rights and the NYPD must agree because they refused to meet me but only met with my violent attacker. I was a victim of a violent crime and the corrupt cops never treated me as a crime victim.Do you think something is seriously wrong with NYPD?
FYI: NYPD corruption fixing a violent crime on behalf of Delita Hooks and in my opinion Dr. Fagelman for not firing her fixed by the NYPD with Det John Vergona using intimidation, threatening me with false imprisonment knowingly using her false cross complaint... and that I must wait 4 days for false arrest to weekend all with the goal to force me to drop the charges as I had serious and dangerous injuries most specifically my eye..
were the NYPD taking extra steps to brought that medical office and the violence by preventing me from being a victim and getting the services and support I need as a victim?
Yes in my opinion. Why did the NYPD take such gross and corrupt steps on behalf of Dr. Andrew Faeglman's employee a receptionist office manager
NYPD Must Have Outside Federal Monitor not Inspector General like CCRB, IAB and Commission to Combat Police Corruption = NYC Gov Fraudsters* New York City lawyers filed papers in Manhattan federal court saying that the likely addition of an inspector general for the New York Police Department would make a potential federal monitor for its stop-and-frisk program redundant, the Daily News writes: http://nydn.us/18kZNOKWe need a Federal Outside Monitor and not just for Stop and Frisk! I was a victim of a violent crime and not one detective involved in fixing this violent crime for Dr. Andrew Fagelman's employee Delita Hooks would meet with me the victim but did meet with my violent attacker. Det John Vergona and Delita Hooks's Detective Andy Dwyer who's name I just learned 9 months later because he never contacted me also had their supervisors protecting them and all will be named in a law suit. Before 2 YouTubes of mine were illegally removed from YouTubeland I was mocked that my law suits will go no where but I am asking New Yorkers to step up the law suits win or lose case or no case and put them on Scribd so we can take them to a federal level and demand change that the police must be head accountable and to date to many laws actually protect police corruption and I have 2 sets of NYPD detectives and supervisors refusing to do their jobs and also involved in preventing me from reporting Delita Hooks filed a false cross complaint but based on the video proof they should have gone to the DA themselves.* New York City lawyers filed papers in Manhattan federal court saying that the likely addition of an inspector general for the New York Police Department would make a potential federal monitor for its stop-and-frisk program redundant, the Daily News writes: http://nydn.us/18kZNOK
Note if the NYPD are not doing their job and you want to sue the first thing you must do is go to IAB and than include IAB in the law suit because IAB will most likely protect corrupt cops and their you do have grounds and it will be harder for NYC gov to toss.
I will post my law suit in scribd with the hopes that more People come forward and do what I do and with tips and a note if you earn under $20 grand you can get the court to waive filing charges.
Thank the corrupt NYPD detectives at the First Precinct Det Squad starting with Det John Vergona who even refused to meet me to see serious damage to my eye, neck and defensive wounds on my arm.
With out eye surgery I would have gone blind.Named in my law suit also IAB chief Campisi, DI Edward Winski, Lt. Angelo Burgos and Sgt Chen.
DETECTIVE MICHAEL BAZERMAN
Michael Bazerman, Cy Vance's corrupt NYPD wire tapping detectives had to turn himself in for arrest to the same precinct 01the First Precinct that was going to false arrest for being a victim of a violent crime --- me with a hole in my retina, blood in my eye, neck damage neck in a brace all from Delita Hooks Dr. Andrew Fagelman's extremely violent medical receptionist who thanks to this video evidence can't punch another medical patient and get the NYPD fix it for her...watch the video...
yes Internal Affairs is investigating Det. John Vergona and Delita Hooks NYPD detectives as well as supervisors but one wonders if NYPD Detective Michael Bazerman did some criminal activity for Cy Vance or anyone else that Bazerman felt like doing a favor or earning some extra cash on the side for...???? Look at Cy Vance, Manhattan DA and NYPD the Michael Premo trial if you want some insight in to less than ethical behavior by the DA and the NYPD.
See this violent assault by Dr. Andrew Fagelman's "Delite" aka "Dee" aka "Delita Hooks" who thanks to my YouTube and you as witnesses to NYPD police corruption, in my opinion an unethical MD, Dr. Andrew Fagelman who did not fire Delita Hooks we hear Delita Hooks has lost some of that extremely bad attitude she has had plenty of People comment on including some directly to me from medical staff to a schoolteacher...
DETECTIVE MICHAEL BAZERMAN
Michael Bazerman, Cy Vance's corrupt NYPD wire tapping detectives had to turn himself in for arrest to the same precinct 01the First Precinct that was going to false arrest for being a victim of a violent crime --- me with a hole in my retina, blood in my eye, neck damage neck in a brace all from Delita Hooks Dr. Andrew Fagelman's extremely violent medical receptionist who thanks to this video evidence can't punch another medical patient and get the NYPD fix it for her...watch the video...
yes Internal Affairs is investigating Det. John Vergona and Delita Hooks NYPD detectives as well as supervisors but one wonders if NYPD Detective Michael Bazerman did some criminal activity for Cy Vance or anyone else that Bazerman felt like doing a favor or earning some extra cash on the side for...?????
See this violent assault by Dr. Andrew Fagelman's "Delite" aka "Dee" aka "Delita Hooks" who thanks to my YouTube and you as witnesses to NYPD police corruption, in my opinion an unethical MD, Dr. Andrew Fagelman who did not fire Delita Hooks we hear Delita Hooks has lost some of that extremely bad attitude she has had plenty of People comment on including some directly to me from medical staff to a schoolteacher...
DETECTIVE MICHAEL BAZERMAN
Michael Bazerman, Cy Vance's corrupt NYPD wire tapping detectives had to turn himself in for arrest to the same precinct 01the First Precinct that was going to false arrest for being a victim of a violent crime --- me with a hole in my retina, blood in my eye, neck damage neck in a brace all from Delita Hooks Dr. Andrew Fagelman's extremely violent medical receptionist who thanks to this video evidence can't punch another medical patient and get the NYPD fix it for her...watch the video...
yes Internal Affairs is investigating Det. John Vergona and Delita Hooks NYPD detectives as well as supervisors but one wonders if NYPD Detective Michael Bazerman did some criminal activity for Cy Vance or anyone else that Bazerman felt like doing a favor or earning some extra cash on the side for...?????
See this violent assault by Dr. Andrew Fagelman's "Delite" aka "Dee" aka "Delita Hooks" who thanks to my YouTube and you as witnesses to NYPD police corruption, in my opinion an unethical MD, Dr. Andrew Fagelman who did not fire Delita Hooks we hear Delita Hooks has lost some of that extremely bad attitude she has had plenty of People comment on including some directly to me from medical staff to a schoolteacher...
DETECTIVE MICHAEL BAZERMAN
Michael Bazerman, Cy Vance's corrupt NYPD wire tapping detectives had to turn himself in for arrest to the same precinct 01the First Precinct that was going to false arrest for being a victim of a violent crime --- me with a hole in my retina, blood in my eye, neck damage neck in a brace all from Delita Hooks Dr. Andrew Fagelman's extremely violent medical receptionist who thanks to this video evidence can't punch another medical patient and get the NYPD fix it for her...watch the video...
yes Internal Affairs is investigating Det. John Vergona and Delita Hooks NYPD detectives as well as supervisors but one wonders if NYPD Detective Michael Bazerman did some criminal activity for Cy Vance or anyone else that Bazerman felt like doing a favor or earning some extra cash on the side for...?????
See this violent assault by Dr. Andrew Fagelman's "Delite" aka "Dee" aka "Delita Hooks" who thanks to my YouTube and you as witnesses to NYPD police corruption, in my opinion an unethical MD, Dr. Andrew Fagelman who did not fire Delita Hooks we hear Delita Hooks has lost some of that extremely bad attitude she has had plenty of People comment on including some directly to me from medical staff to a schoolteacher...
I was at a medical office Dr. Andrew Fagelman's see an MD, Dr Vine $430 to get a cyst removed and biopsied.
I asked would you consider paper cups instead of styrofoam it's better for the environment when Delita Hooks, Dr. Fagelman's receptionist office manager verbally assaulted me from behind the counter.
She told me I had no rights and that who am I. She got corrupt NYPD at the First Precinct to agree that I am a sub-human and I have no rights and that in violence Delita Hooks and I are are equal according to Delita Hooks except she provoked me first to seek help from my MD who was busy with another patient behind a closed door and than Delita Hooks provoked me to start filming because her behavior so shocking and Delita Hooks could have closed the door but instead she gets even crazier like she is on a drug or something and she is so confident the NYPD will fix her violent crime she walks in the day after me and files a false cross complaint and signed a letter to the NYPD that if I ever file assault charges again against her she will file yet another (false) cross complaint.
The NYPD Detectives for Delita Hooks lead detectives 9 months after the assault Oct 1 I was told was Det Andy Dwyer who considered me a nothing as Delita Hooks has told me I am -- Det Andy Dwyer agreed I have no rights so he ran to meet my violent attacker and than never called me because he was going to fix this violent assault that left me with damage a detached retina because I stood there with a numb arm 2 injections $430 dollars to get a cyst removed hold 2 bags and my iphone so Det Andy Dwyer and Det John Vergona deserved that I a non-human being with no rights as Delita Hooks made clear deserved to be violently attacked after having a cyst removed and biospied.
Why did the NYPD arrest the strippers.
By the way do certain medical doctors drug pedal viagra to the NYPD and retired NYPD.
How many NYPD retired etc involved in sex pedaling and drug pedaling under the radar.
SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh9TedhfthE&sns=emDamaged From Dr Andrew Fagelman Delita Hooks Violent Assault Lies NYPD fixingI have bad dreams including with Dr Fagelman's office , I have vision problems, worst neck pain of my life and emotional pain from NYPD fixing as well as dr Andrew Fagelman for not firing Delita Hooks and in fact paying her.
The violence and lies sick and disturbing. A medical office is suppose to be a safe place not a place if violence and lies and violations of my body of my patient rights and patient privacy.
Ex-Officer Sentenced for Lying About a Drug Sale
Isaias Alicea, who was given six months in prison, said he saw two men involved in a drug deal in the lobby of a New York City housing project, but video indicated otherwise.
nytimes.com
I can't wait to hear the lies conspiracy to fix a crime by Dr Fagelman's Delita Hooks who violently attacked md lied and got corrupt cops to fix it for her. Despite my serious injuries, video evidence, photos the corrupt cops would not even meet me but met her to fix the crime 2 crimes a false cross complaint. Maybe IAB will run out of ways to try and protect corrupt cops but do far 9 months and 12 days. Google Dr Fagelman assault. At 12,500 views Dr Fagelman's violent lying receptionist office manager got an adult rating for violence.
She can get a job as a violent liar for the nyod who mostly do not fear perjury charges for some reason.
"A construction worker who spent nearly four years in prison for stickups he didn’t commit filed a $15 million lawsuit against the NYPD detectives he claims framed him.
Martin Nnodimele was convicted in 2008 of robbing Visio Optics in midtown and Caravan clothing store in the East Village the prior year, based largely on surveillance video from the heists and the detectives’ contention that when shown a wanted poster with the bandit’s picture, Nnodimele replied: “That’s me.”
But Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.’s conviction integrity unit reviewed Nnodimele’s case last year and concluded proof of his guilt had been “compromised” and dismissed the indictment, according to the suit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court."
Suzannah TroyThe photo of Cy references Haggerty trial -/ mayor Bloomberg committed perjury during trial not covered by immunity Cy Vance had to give him and Cy puts him above the law like the Herion in NYPD rape cop moreno's locker - just roll it in to the year. No wonder NYPD Mina felt he could steal guns fromNYPD 09 put of same lockers where heroin hidden wrist slap Cy Vance Cy to busy false prosecution record number of innocent ows on whistle blowers???
Bratton protected John Miller’s crime his lies went beyond Racism, homophobia, misogyny blaming the Prospect Park Rape Victim and he was allowed to grow rich or instead of being fired and held accountable! In her case and my Casey NYPD Internal Affairs didn’t like our politics they treated us like we got what we deserved when we didn’t.
My Case I allege Joe Tacopina aggravated harassment, harassing and threatening me during an open investigation witness tampering intimidation and this is a lawyer I’m alleging use a fake account Bob Dobalina and he brags he got Abner Louima cop off and NYPD Rape Cops off And the 1st Precinct detective squad acted on his cunt threat to bury me destroy me see the tables turned on me along with supervisors and CO Ed Winski all the way up to the top 3PC.
Joe Tacopina knows a lot about corrupt NYPD officers, fixing, favors as well as retaliation and threatening a victim he knows a threatening a victim during an open investigation is a crime as is lying to as is lying to the police during an open investigation it's a crime so the doctors office committed crimes too if they lied or conspired to have me threatened.
Joe Tacopina I'm alleging threaten me with a sock with a sock puppet account and then ghost wrote a letter for my attacker she signed openly threatening me to her NYPD fixer which is why the corrupt detectives rush to seal that letter her crimes with their crimes.
Ray Kelly, Bratton, O'Neill, Charles Campisi, Reznick protected a pile up of times in my case including a misogynist hate crime my guess Joe Tacopina committed using a fake sock puppet account, there was a 2nd fake sock puppet account I believe it was Chad Siegel my guess, NYPD detectives and their supervisors committed crimes including acted on the misogynist hate crime after I forwarded the emails to the detective who had never met me lied about me and police reports and committed crimes along with his partners and crimes including the first cop I have reported to Internal Affairs who is his Facebook friend.
I asked the detective in the email is this witness tampering. If it was Joe Tacopina and Chad Seigel I asked him the same question and their response was to delete the accounts. I asked him the same question and their response was to delete the counts
Joe Tacopina knows a lot about corrupt NYPD officers, fixing, favors as well as retaliation and threatening a victim he knows a threatening a victim during an open investigation is a crime as is lying to as is lying to the police during an open investigation it's a crime so the doctors office committed crimes too if they lied or conspired to have me threatened.
Joe Tacopina I'm alleging threaten me with a sock with a sock puppet account and then ghost wrote a letter for my attacker she signed openly threatening me to her NYPD fixer which is why the corrupt detectives rush to seal that letter her crimes with their crimes.
Ray Kelly, Bratton, O'Neill, Charles Campisi, Reznick protected a pile up of times in my case including a misogynist hate crime my guess Joe Tacopina committed using a fake sock puppet account, there was a 2nd fake sock puppet account I believe it was Chad Siegel my guess, NYPD detectives and their supervisors committed crimes including acted on the misogynist hate crime after I forwarded the emails to the detective who had never met me lied about me and police reports and committed crimes along with his partners and crimes including the first cop I have reported to Internal Affairs who is his Facebook friend.
I asked the detective in the email is this witness tampering. If it was Joe Tacopina and Chad Seigel I asked him the same question and their response was to delete the accounts. I asked him the same question and their response was to delete the counts
About Me
Passionate letters published in The Financial Times re: Lucien Freud, my art and women's issues, The Wall St. Journal"Betrayal at Ground Zero", The Chief, The New York Times (9),Crains "NYU's Logo should be a dorm with a dollar", The New York Sun, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, Metro, AMNY, The Village Voice "Carbon Copy" letter of the week, Newsday, Jerusalem Post, my blog mentioned New York Mag Intelligencer neighborhood watch. Got speed bumps for Anna Silver School & doors for women's bathroom Tompkins. Donated my white blood cells twice to help a little girl fight Non-Hodgkins & man w/Lymphoma. Two hour process & you can only do it 12 x in your life. Too worn out to donate now. Way back Liz Smith mentioned me & my favorite zen quote "Live each moment as if your hair is on fire." which means live in the moment like it is your last aka live life passionately!
I am really proud to say I have run 2 New York City Marathons!!! Also to have done volunteer work with pre-school handicap children at Rusk. NYTimes My YouTube work 1) Giuseppi Logan’s Second Chance 2)Mysterious Mr. Rechnitz
NYPD PO Magori or Migori you tell me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrc3ncHFTIhear her lie to me and violate my constitutional rights with NYPD Sgt Chen backing her up and preventing me from reporting Delita Hooks False Cross complaint. Sgt Chen also refuses to come down and face me a violation of protocol.
First Yelp review 2009 describes Dr Andrew Fagelman's staff as bi polar but who knew they would commit a series of crimes and get corrupt NYPD at the First Precinct to join in the crimes committing even more crimes. | 95,940,300 |
Merida’s elegant tree-lined Paseo de Montejo is the city’s main boulevard and most fashionable district. Once a primarily residential area, Paseo de Montejo in Merida has since been commercialized. Many of the historic 19th century mansions that line the boulevard have been converted into restaurants. Others have been converted into nightclubs, boutique hotels, shops, offices, and museums.
Located northeast of the central plaza and architecturally reminiscent of Havana, Cuba, the area surrounding the Paseo de Montejo in Merida was developed during the henequen boom of the late 19th and early 20th century. Plantation owners looking to move out of the city’s historic center built gorgeous mansions along this stretch of boulevard.
The Paseo de Montejo is home to Merida’s Monumento a la Bandera (Flag Monument) and Museo Regional de Antropologia (Regional Anthropology Museum) which is housed in the Palacio Canton, one of the grandest mansions along the boulevard. Visit the Regional Anthropology Museum to learn about the pre-Columbian history of the Yucatan Peninsula as well as to tour one of the city’s most splendid colonial buildings.
Maria U. says: "Hello! We had amazing! We loved the attention and in general that everything is of the highest quality! We congratulate them for the service and the impeccable arrangement of the premises. We will return without hesitation and we will always recommend them. Happy day." Maria U. dice: Hola! Pasamos increíble! Nos encantó la atención y en general que todo es de altísima calidad! Los felicitamos por el servicio y el arreglo impecable del local. Volveremos sin dudarlo y lo recomendaremos siempre. Feliz día
Ivette P. says: "Excellent!!!
It is the first time that I make use of a beauty salon without recommendations from anyone. His salon was located by Google because it was close to my hotel, so I let myself be guided by Google's comments.
I do not regret!! From now on whoever visits Mérida I will recommend this place. Regards" Ivette P. dice: Excelente!!! Es la primera vez que hago uso de un salón de belleza sin recomendaciones de nadie. Su salón lo ubique por Google porque estaba cerca de mi hotel, por lo que me dejé guiar de los comentarios de Google.
No me arrepiento!! De ahora en adelante a quien visite Mérida les recomendaré este lugar. Saludos
Reese W. says: "We all know that Robert gives us a great cut, but lets take the time to remember the fantastic lady or ladies that wash our hair. At my age it's one of best enjoyments I look forward to at Robert Abuda Salon." Reese W. dice: Todos sabemos que Robert nos da un gran corte, pero vamos a tomarnos el tiempo para recordar a la dama o damas fantásticas
que lava nuestro cabello A mi edad es uno de los mejores disfrutes que espero en Robert Abuda Salon.
Linda J. says: "Annie was wonderful! Good to share a few laughs with everyone as well. I will drop in again before we leave. Best regards, Linda" Linda J. dice: Annie fue maravillosa! Es bueno compartir algunas risas con todos también. Entraré de nuevo antes de irnos. Saludos cordiales, Linda
Terry S. says: "Robert, I am 75 years old and you gave me the best haircut I have ever had. My wife agrees. Do I have to fly down to Merida every month??" Terry S. dice: ¡Robert, Tengo 75 años y tu me diste la mejor corte de pelo que he tenido. Mi esposa está de acuerdo. ¿Debo volar a Mérida todos los meses?!!!
Reese W. says: "I took my 94 year old father in law visiting from the Mid-West to Robert for help last Friday. His words, best hair cut he has ever had, fantastic. PHD in chemistry, at 94 have to come to Merida to get a great hair cut. LOL" Reese W. dice: Llevé a mi suegro de 94 años visitando desde el Medio Oeste a Robert para pedir ayuda el viernes pasado.
Sus palabras, el mejor corte de pelo que haya tenido, fantástico. PHD en química, en 94 tienen que venir a Mérida para obtener un buen corte de pelo JAJAJAJ.
Lenny H. dice: Me gusto mucho el servicio, fui por maquillaje y peinado y las dos personas que me atendieron fueron muy amables y agradables, sobre todo en mi caso que no tenia mucha idea de que quería o que me quedaba bien para la ocasión, me fueron de mucha ayuda, al final me gusto mucho el resultado y fue muy agradable el tiempo que tuve que estar en el salon. Lenny H. says: "I liked the service a lot, I went for makeup and a hairstyle and the two people who took care of me were very; especially in my case that I did not have much idea of what I wanted or what I was good for the occasion. In the end I really liked the result, and the time I spent in the salon was very pleasant."
Ann Marie B. says: "This is a fabulous salon. Every time I get a haircut from Robert my friends all comment at what a great cut it is and how nice it looks. Annie does my pedicures and they last for a full month, not chipping even with regular polish. She is a perfectionist and I love the way she treats my feet. The most important thing is that all the staff are so warm and welcoming. They really take care of me and I wish that I could be pampered like that every day of my life." Ann Marie dice: "Este es un salón fabuloso. Cada vez que tengo un corte de pelo de Robert mis amigos todos los comentarios en lo que un gran corte es y lo bonito que parece. Annie hace mis pedicuras y duran un mes entero, no chipping incluso con pulimento regular. Ella es perfeccionista y me encanta la forma en que trata mis pies. Lo más importante es que todo el personal es tan cálido y acogedor. Ellos realmente cuidan de mí y me gustaría que pudiera ser mimado como que todos los días de mi vida."
Ann Marie B. says: "Robert Abuda Salon is about caring for the client. Each and every single Esthetician is qualified and professional. The shampoos are pure heaven and my cut with Robert always gets loads of compliments. He is a master with hair. The salon is in full operating condition, but currently undergoing a "make-over". The make-over does not interfere with the experience. Just another sign that Robert really cares about his clients and their time spent in the salon."
Ann Marie B. dice: "Robert Abuda Salon es sobre de cuidar al cliente. Cada esthetician es calificado y profesional. Los champús son puro cielo y mi corte con Robert siempre recibe montones de cumplidos. Él es un amo con el pelo. El salón está en condiciones de funcionamiento completo, pero actualmente está experimentando un "make-over". El make-over no interfiere con la experiencia. Sólo otra señal de que a Robert le importan sus clientes y su tiempo en el salón."
SPA PEDICURE by ANNIE | PEDICURE SPA por ANNIE.
06/11/2017
Maggie G says: "Angie is amazing. She knew exactly what I wanted and the end result was even better than I had imagined. She’s incredibly gentle and graceful. I would recommend her to everyone."
Maggie G. dice: "Angie es increíble. Ella sabía exactamente lo que yo quería y el resultado final fue incluso mejor de lo que había imaginado. Ella es increíblemente amable y agraciada. Yo la recomendaría a todos."
Lidia V. says: “It was the best. Thank you guys so much for accommodating us on short notice. We will be back on my next visit.” Lidia V. dice: "Fue el mejor. Gracias chicos tanto por acomodarnos en breve aviso. Volveré en mi próxima visita."
Fiona X. says: “My Haircut was exactly what I wanted. I have been to the salon twice and on both occasions I have been very happy with my hair cut.” Fiona X. dice: "El corte quedó exacto como lo pedí. He ido dos veces, en ambas ocasiones quedé muy contenta con mi corte."
STILL HAPPY WITH MY HAIR by ROBERT | FELIZ CON MI CORTE de PELO por ROBERT
12/18/2016
Christine A. says: “I've been in Philadelphia off and on for the past 6 weeks, and I waited to return to Merida before I got a haircut. Need I say more?! Robert is great.” Christine A. dice: "He estado en Filadelfia de vez en cuando durante las últimas 6 semanas, y esperé a regresar a Mérida antes de cortarme el pelo. ¡¿Necesito decir mas!? Robert es genial!!"
Christine A. says: Like many others, I have struggled to find a good haircut when moving to a new city (Merida). Robert rescued my hair from the last bad cut that I received in my last city in the US. I left the salon happy with my hair again. I'll be back! Christine A. dice: Como muchos otros, he tenido problemas para encontrar un buen corte de pelo cuando se mueve a una nueva ciudad (Mérida). Robert rescató mi pelo desde la última mal corte que he recibido en mi última ciudad de los EE.UU.. Salí del salón de contento con mi pelo otra vez. ¡Vuelvo enseguida!
Patricia Q. says: I've been in living in Merida now for almost two years and I had given up on getting a good haircut. I waited until I made it back to the states to visit my hairdresser there, But it's been a long 8 month since my last visit to the states and my hair was driving me crazy. I saw a friend and she had the cutest haircut so I asked her for a referral and she gave me the name of the stylist Luis and Robert Abuda salon. I booked a cut for the next day. My haircut is the best I've gotten in a long time, I think he may have cut it better than my stylist in the states! Thank you Luis for making me feel like a million bucks! Rob, your salon is great...the neatest and cleanest salon in Merida and thank you, thank you, thank you! Patricia Q. dice: He estado en el que vive en Mérida ahora por casi dos años y que había renunciado a obtener un buen corte de pelo. Esperé hasta que hice de nuevo a los estados a visitar a mi peluquería allí, pero ha pasado un largo 8 meses desde mi última visita a los estados y mi pelo me estaba volviendo loca. Vi a un amigo y ella tenía el corte de pelo más lindo así que le pedí una referencia y ella me dio el nombre del estilista Luis y Robert Abuda salón. Reservé un corte para el día siguiente. Mi corte de pelo es el mejor que he recibido en mucho tiempo, creo que puede haber cortarlo mejor que mi estilista en los Estados Unidos! Gracias Luis por hacerme sentir como un millón de dólares! Rob, su salón es grande ... el más bonito y el salón más limpio en Mérida y gracias, gracias, gracias!
Lisa S. says: Every part of my experience with this salon was fantastic! From being able to book an appointment quickly and easily online to the attentive staff and pleasant atmosphere. To top it off, Robert gave me the best haircut I have ever had! I highly recommend this salon!!
Lisa S. dice: Cada parte de mi experiencia con este salón era fantástico! De poder reservar una cita rápida y fácilmente en línea para el personal atento y ambiente agradable. Por si fuera poco, Robert me dio el mejor corte de pelo que he tenido! Recomiendo altamente este salón !!
Etna A. says: The best place I know! Luis and Yenni are excellent. I could say this is the best place in town. Etna A. dice: El mejor lugar que conozco luis y Yenni son excelentes. Yo podría decir es el mejor lugar de la ciudad!
Jacqueline M. dice: Me encanta el Trabajo de luis!!!!!!!! Me ha cambiado el look y te déjà tal Cual la imagen que le enseñes . El salón muy bonito . Y todo el staff muy bien. Jacqueline M. says: I love the work of Luis!!!!!!!! I changed my look and have left it as the way that you styled it and then taught me. Very nice salon. And all the staff are very kind.
Rosa E. says: Robert, I have to say that you are an artist:) You did the most beautiful highlight that i ever had. Also the haircut is pretty and perfect.
Your service, the atmosphere, just a lot of good words :) Thank you and you will meet soon :) there is no doubt!!! Rosa E. dice: Tengo que decir que es que eres artista :) Hiciste lo más bonito que he tenido.
También el corte de pelo es bonito y perfecto.
Su servicio, el ambiente, sólo un montón de buena palabra :) Gracias y te encontrarás pronto :) no hay duda! Rosa
Sheila j. says: "Wow. A stylist who actually listen to what I wanted. Not used to that. I have difficult frizzy hair, and Robert understood that I need length to keep it tame. Also, Robert did not try to push his products on me." Sheila j. dice: Wow. Un estilista que realmente escucha lo que yo quería. No estoy acostumbrado a eso. Tengo el pelo muy rizado difícil, y Robert entendí que necesito longitud de mantenerlo dócil. Además, Robert no trató de empujar sus productos en mí.
Juan R. says: Robert did an excellent job fixing the disastrous hair cut someone else made me. He's very patient and detail-oriented. This was the first time Robert cuts my hair and I'm so glad with the results... I'll come back next time I need a haircut!!
Mens Cut with Luis B.
5/22/2014
Ulysses G. says: I had a haircut by Luis & it was an excellent cut. It was just what I had hoped for a hair dresser who knows his stuff. Talks to you about the cut best suited for you and knows what he is doing. I walk out the door looking good and feeling happy, ready to see what's next!!! Thanx 4 everything
Thanks so much!
5/9/2014
Kelly C. says: My cut and color with Luis is perfect and exactly what I wanted. Yenni's pedicure is gorgeous. I will see you guys again in 6 weeks! Thanks so much!
The Best!
4/29/2014
Humberto R. says: Incredible patience, Rob is always focus on what he is doing, and the result, it´s always perfect!
Just what was wanted!!
4/27/2014
Don B. says: Nice to relax again getting a hair cut with Robert. You know instantly, that he does know his business and always checks with you while cutting. Excellent job Robert!
The Works with Robert
4/24/2014
Lynda B. says: It was just what I had hoped for a hair dresser who knows his stuff. Rob talks to you about the color and cut best suited for you and knows what he is doing. Great and I am a regular now!!!! Lynda
Cut, Color & Highlights with Robert
4/24/2014
Denice E. says: Excellent! I will be back. I love my new hairdo. Thanks again!
Men's Cut with Luis
4/23/2014
John R. says: Luis is always fabulous, and everyone else is always so kind. I walk out the door looking good and feeling happy, ready to see what's next in this city we love.
Great Pedicure with Yenni.
4/17/2014
Marie R. says: This was my third time going for a pedicure and French polish with Yenni. She does a wonderful job and with the gel polish my toes twinkle for weeks. Very happy. Thanks, too, to Luis for a quick trim of my bangs. As always, Rob and the entire staff were friendly and helpful.
Luis did a fabulous job.
4/17/2014
Heather H. says: Just had highlights, cut and blow-dry with Luis and could not be more delighted! Especially love the color—it's beautiful!
Laura G. says: It's always a pleasure to get my hair done with Rob. I consider it part of my "me" time for the month and wouldn't consider trusting my hair to anyone else!
As Usual.....
3/5/2014
Marcel S. says: .....perfect and friendly, Thanks Luis.
Haircut & Pedicure
3/1/2014
Lourdes S. says: Was so happy with my haircut from Luis, and my pedicure from Yenni - Both were focused, fun to work with, listened to what I wanted, and then made it even better. They did a fantastic job and I received many, many compliments on their work afterwards.
Elizabeth D. says: We loved our experience. Celine was able to get her hair colour done the way she likes it and Robert gave me a great cut. Although the salon is located on the very chic Paseo Montejo, the staff were all very friendly and easy to communicate with in any language!
Love my Color & Cut from Luis!
2/22/2014
Carla G. says: I have very straight and fine hair so I read online that Luis seemed to do a nice job cutting this type of hair. He did a fantastic cut and suggested color as well. I cannot recommend him enough!
Luis is a superb stylist!
2/19/2014
Linda K says: Luis is a superb stylist! Sometimes I give him carte blanche; other times we discuss what I'm in the mood for. He can immediately pull up examples on the computer to show me, but whatever he does is fabulous and I always love it. This is a great salon - I recommend it totally!!!! Oh, and they also have excellent hair products available! Linda.
Love Robert Abuda Salon!
1/9/2014
Lola P. My haircut yesterday with Luis was perfect! Went to a wine event same evening and got many compliments. I'm happily spreading the word. Love all ya'll at RAS! Lola.
Wonderful
1/7/2014
Jan D. says: Thank you to Luis for the great colour and hair cut. A fabulous salon. Luis was helpful, skilled and really really nice. Will recommend him and the Robert Abuda Salon to everyone. Great atmosphere, professional and fun.
Deborah S. H. says: I have my hair cut extremely short and Robert is an expert at getting it "just right". Coming to the salon is now one of my rituals when I visit Merida for my vacation. Thank you Robert and Team Abuda.
Hi Rob,
Just want to thank you for making my daughter very happy, she loved her new haircut and you did a great job with the styling. I know it's not easy to make 21 year old very happy with her hair, but you did it. Thanks again, S.
Gail S. says: I always look forward to my hair cut with Robert. He does a truly amazing cut that holds it's style. And that's difficult to do in this Merida humidity! I always feel wonderful leaving his salon. Big fan!! Thanks Rob.
Luis did a wonderful job!!!
6/20/2013
Angela D. says: I have always dreaded finding a new hairstylist due to frequent disastrous results. I have a difficult hair type with many obstacles, in the name of cowlicks. Too often stylist can't seem to work with my numerous spiral patterned locks resulting in a "Rod Stewart do". Luis did an excellent job cutting my hair so that I can manage it without much fuss and it looks great! I will definitely go back to Luis for my subsequent cuts. Thank you so much, Luis, for your excellent work!!!
Robert is Awesome!
5/15/2013
Maricris L. says: The salon is very chic and we were greeted well by Robert and his staff. They cleaned my hair with gentle products and then Robert went on to cut it the way I asked him to. You know how some stylists chop off your hair if you ask for a trim? None of that here. He styled my hair very nicely too, and was very good with conversation when the hair dryer is not on. We're in Merida at least once a year and spend a lot of time at the beach house. My poor hair gets damaged with salt water so I have to go back to the US with damaged hair. It gets really hectic when I'm home so it's hard to fit in a hair appointment with my regular stylist, which means I could go on for weeks or months with damaged hair. But not anymore - I will keep going to Robert whenever we're in Merida. I feel like I'm cheating on my regular stylist a little bit LOL but hey, Robert did a great job and is worth the visit. I wish I knew about him years ago but it's never too late!
Best in the State!
5/07/2013
OK amazing experience! Best hair cut in a decade! I so love you guys! Robert, always a pleasure. You're a doll! and Luis, you are in charge of my hair for life! Seriously you are the best in the state !!!!!
Michael E.
Muchas Gracias Rob!
4/30/2013
Lori R. says: Hola Rob, Thank you again for the wonderful cut and color you gave me a few weeks ago. I am now back in Philadelphia and when I return in August, I look forward to another visit to your beautiful salon! Your attention to detail with both my cut and color is to be commended! Saludos, Lori
Great cut and color!
4/10/2013
Debbie M. says: I consistently receive a great cut and color from Rob because he pays attention to the details. A visit to your salon is always the highlight of my week! Thanks, Rob!
Great!
4/7/2013
Antonella P. says: Having my hair done at Robert Abuda Salon is also therapeutic! I had a very relaxing time, a nice head massage and I when I got out I felt 5 years younger thanks to my hair do! Thank you!
I loved my hair cut!
3/14/2013
MariaJo C. says: Im totally happy with my hair cut by Robert I will visit again and recommed. Gracias!
Terrific job
3/9/2013
Ayn C. says: Love what Rob did with my hair yesterday. The cut was great, but more importantly, the "lowlights," which I had been very reluctant to get, look completely natural.
Very pleased!
2/28/2013
Kathi B. says: Marco did a great job! I got the hair cut I wanted. Definitly will return the next time a need my hair cut in Merida.
Very happy
2/27/2013
Kay S. says: Very happy with both cut and color from Robert.
Indispensible
2/15/2013
Claudia J. says: Rob is one of my indispensible people in Merida. Finding Rob as a hair designer to take of my whispy & thin locks was truly wonderful. Regular visits for me are a must. He lifts my spirits, too. His energy is inspiration. | 95,940,488 |
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596 P.2d 1033 (1979)
AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURERS WAREHOUSE, INC., a Utah Corporation, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
SERVICE AUTO PARTS, INC., a Utah Corporation and William E. Peffer and Sharon A. Peffer, Defendants and Appellants.
No. 15995.
Supreme Court of Utah.
June 8, 1979.
*1034 David S. Cook, Bountiful, for defendants and appellants.
Joseph L. Henriod and Stephen L. Henriod, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and respondent.
HALL, Justice:
Appeal from a summary judgment which ruled that the individual defendants (hereinafter "Peffer") were personally liable for an open account of the corporate defendant Service Auto Parts (hereinafter "Service").
Service is a corporation which dealt in automobile parts. For several years plaintiff had supplied Service with much of its merchandise on an open account. In 1972 the account had reached the sum of approximately $18,000. On December 15, 1972, plaintiff indicated that it would continue to supply Service with automotive parts and equipment only on the condition that Service and Peffer execute four instruments: a promissory note, a security agreement, a financing statement, and a loan disclosure statement, (only the first two of which are pertinent to this appeal). Although none of the originals are in the record, the parties agree that the documents read, in pertinent part, as follows:
PROMISSORY NOTE (Interest)
December 15, 1972
The undersigned, jointly and severally, promise to pay to the order of AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURERS WAREHOUSE, INC. at 57 East 7th South, Salt Lake City, Utah, or at such other place as the holder hereof may designate in writing, the sum of EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS ($18,000.00), payable as follows: $378.10 on or before February 10, 1973, and $378.10 on or before the 10th day of each succeeding month until the total principal and interest are paid in full, ... .
This note is secured by a Security Agreement on Inventory and Equipment.
SECURITY AGREEMENT
(Inventory and Equipment)
On this 15th day of December 1972, SERVICE AUTO PARTS, INC., a Utah corporation, WILLIAM E. PEFFER and SHARON A. PEFFER, his wife, Debtors, hereby agree with and grant to AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURERS WAREHOUSE, INC. a security interest in the following property:
1. All inventory of debtors now owned or hereafter acquired which is held for sale or lease or is held as raw materials, work in process, or materials in connection with Debtors' business;
2. The equipment identified in the list attached hereto, identified as Exhibit "A", which is attached hereto and made a part hereof;
and all additions and accessions thereto, herein collectively called the "Collateral," to secure all Debtors' present and future debts, obligations and liabilities of whatever nature to Secured Party (the "Obligations"), including the note executed by Debtors to Secured Party in the amount of $18,000.00 and Debtors' obligators hereunder.
* * * * * *
Each person signing this Agreement, other than Secured Party, is a Debtor; and the obligations of all Debtors are joint and several.
Both documents were signed by defendants in the following manner:
_________________________________
WILLIAM E. PEFFER
_________________________________
SHARON A. PEFFER
SERVICE AUTO PARTS, INC.
By _______________________________
William E. Peffer, Its President
Between December 15, 1972, and July 1, 1977, defendants made all required payments *1035 on the promissory note, reducing the balance thereof to $2,671.34. Meanwhile, Service continued to charge on open account with plaintiff purchases of automotive parts and equipment which resulted in a balance due and owing in September, 1976 of an additional $13,185.08. At that time plaintiff filed a complaint against Service seeking judgment for open account purchases beginning in 1974 through August 31, 1976. In its answer, Service denied that the balance was correct, due to plaintiff's failure to give appropriate credit for returned merchandise and for interest charged on returns. On May 9, 1977, plaintiff filed an amended complaint against both Service and Peffer, alleging the existence of the security agreement of December 15, 1972. Plaintiff sought judgment on the open account, an order permitting foreclosure on the collateral and judgment against Peffer for any deficiency. Peffer answered, denying any personal obligation on the open account for purchases occurring after the execution of the security agreement and promissory note.
On June 29, 1977, a third party creditor of Service, which had theretofore secured a judgment, levied a writ of execution upon all assets of Service. The levying creditor was advised of plaintiff's security interest and arrangements were made to deliver the entire stock of goods and equipment to plaintiff. Plaintiff then resold most of the merchandise (allegedly at jobber price) for a total of $6,678.71. Defendants claim that they received no notice of any public or private sales of the collateral, and that it was sold at a fraction of its value.[1]
On January 20, 1976, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. An affidavit signed by one of plaintiff's employees asserted that the amount due on the promissory note and open account was $9,472.49 plus interest from January 1, 1978. Plaintiff's counsel also filed an affidavit, claiming $2,800.00 was a reasonable attorney's fee for services rendered since September 1976.
On February 17, 1978, Peffer filed a motion for summary judgment seeking a dismissal of plaintiff's complaint. The motion was supported by memorandum and affidavit giving numerous reasons why Peffer should not be held personally liable for any deficiency judgment. On June 26, 1978, the trial court denied Peffer's motion for summary judgment and further ruled as follows:
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the Motion of the plaintiff for Summary Judgment against the defendants, Peffer, and each of them, is hereby granted; there appearing to the Court to be no genuine issue of material fact in that the documents signed by the parties were separate and apart from the signature of Mr. Peffer as President of Service Auto Parts, Inc., and appear to be signed by the individual defendants, Peffer.[2]
Thereafter judgment was rendered against Peffer, awarding plaintiff $9,501.89[3] "principal and interest to January 1, 1978," the further sum of $322.57 interest from January 1, 1978, the sum of $2,800.00 attorneys' fees and $32.00 court costs.
On appeal, Peffer argues alternatively that (a) as a matter of law, the security agreement creates no personal liability of Peffer for the open account of Service after December 15, 1972; and (b) if not, there remain disputed factual issues which must be resolved at trial. Plaintiff seeks not only an affirmance of the lower court's decision but also requests attorneys' fees on appeal.
*1036 The narrow question we are called upon to answer is whether by cosigning a security agreement with provisions as indicated supra, one becomes a guarantor of the principal. We must therefore interpret the language of the documents drafted by plaintiff[4] and signed by the parties in 1972. Where the issue involved is solely one of law, as in the instant case, this Court is capable of determining the question as was the trial court and we are not bound by its conclusions.[5]
To be held liable for the open account purchases of Service (after the execution of the note of December 15, 1972), Peffer must have made an original or a collateral promise. In determining whether such a promise has been made, we have previously held as follows:[6]
In determining whether or not there is an original promise or a collateral promise under a given set of facts, the intention of the parties governs. This intention is to be ascertained from the words of the promise, the situation of the parties and all the circumstances surrounding the transaction.
First we must therefore consider the language of the security agreement relied upon by plaintiff. The agreement appears to be an adapted form[7] not intended to create obligations beyond its normal commercial significance. Plaintiff is named as the "Secured Party"[8] and defendants were named as "Debtors."[9] The collateral was described as inventory (then owned or later acquired) and equipment of Debtors. Debtors' present and future debts, obligations and liabilities (including the note) were secured by the collateral not by Peffer's personal guarantee. Peffer clearly incurred personal liability on the note by signing as individuals. By individually signing the security agreement which provided that "the obligations of all Debtors are joint and several,"[10] the parties merely recognized that the obligation of Peffer and Service on the note was a then existing obligation which would be deemed "joint and several" in the enforcement of the security agreement. The further effect of individually signing the agreement is that any interest Peffer may have in the collateral which secured the agreement would be yielded up to be applied against the debt in the event of a default.[11]
Had the parties wanted a guaranty agreement on the open account they should have either executed a separate document or at the very least they should have made explicit provisions therefor in the other documents. The law requires that promises to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another be written.[12]
Plaintiff has cited no authority (nor have we independently been able to find any) which even suggests that typical recitals in an inventory security agreement should be treated as a guaranty or similar document used in obtaining the promise of one party to stand good for the obligations of another.
The other criterion in determining the intention of the parties[13] is to look at the attendant circumstances surrounding the transaction. In this case Peffer has never (either before or after 1972) purchased *1037 merchandise from plaintiff as an individual. Peffer was never individually billed and plaintiff never even contended Peffer was personally liable for anything beyond the payments required by the December 15, 1972, promissory note until the amended complaint was filed in 1977. The circumstances therefore are not indicative of the parties' intention to treat the security agreement as anything more.
Concluding as we do that Peffer is not personally liable for merchandise purchased on the open account after 1972, we must now decide whether plaintiff's resale of the collateral should properly apply to the open account or to the promissory note. At the time the inventory and equipment was turned over to plaintiff for resale, there remained a $2,671.34 balance on the 1972 note. Of the seven checks identified by plaintiff as payments against the indebtedness claimed, one (dated August 17, 1977) bears the following notation:
Int. 20.98
Principal 2,650.36
________
2,671.34
Mdse: Returned by Service Auto Bountiful
Applied against Note Owing.
The check appears to be plaintiff's accounting entry, an instrument drawn on plaintiff's account, made to the order of plaintiff. The other checks bear the notation "Applied against Open Account." Plaintiff is bound by its decision to treat the promissory note as having been satisfied. The note having been satisfied, we need not reach the question Peffer raises as to inadequate notice of the resale.
The judgment should therefore be reversed and judgment entered in favor of Peffer. Costs to Peffer.
CROCKETT, C.J., and MAUGHAN, WILKINS and STEWART, JJ., concur.
NOTES
[1] Defendants claim the assets were valued at between $14,986.22 (actual jobber cost) and $27,579.92 (approximate retail value).
[2] Obviously Peffer signed the documents individually and as president of Service. It would appear, however, that the trial court did not focus on the specific problem presented, i.e., the effect of Peffer having personally signed the security agreement.
[3] Apparently consisting of $2,671.34 (on the note) plus $13,185.08 (on the open account) less $6,383.93 (amount received for the liquidated merchandise less handling charges) plus minimal interest on the note.
[4] That an ambiguity in a guaranty will generally be construed against the party who drafted it see 38 Am.Jur.2d, Guaranty, Sec. 71.
[5] Hartman v. Potter, Utah, 596 P.2d 653 (No. 16004, decided June 1, 1979).
[6] Sugar v. Miller, 6 Utah 2d 433, 315 P.2d 862 (1957).
[7] This can be seen from the inconsistencies of the provisions that (a) debtors were not to sell the collateral; yet (b) the inventory was held for the purposes of sale.
[8] U.C.A., 1953, 70A-9-105(i).
[9] U.C.A., 1953, 70A-9-105(d).
[10] As phrased, the reference is to present obligations.
[11] See Consolidated Wagon & Machine Co. v. Kay, 81 Utah 595, 21 P.2d 836 (1933).
[12] U.C.A., 1953, 25-5-4(2). See also Lester Piano Co. v. Romney, 41 Utah 436, 126 P. 325 (1912).
[13] See footnote 4, supra.
| 95,940,642 |
RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b)
File Name: 14a0132p.06
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
_________________
X
Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, -
AUTOMATED SOLUTIONS CORPORATION,
-
-
-
No. 13-3025/3058
v.
,
>
-
Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant. -
PARAGON DATA SYSTEMS, INC.,
-
N
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland.
No. 1:05-cv-01519—Lesley Brooks Wells, District Judge.
Argued: May 9, 2014
Decided and Filed: June 25, 2014
Before: COLE and SUTTON, Circuit Judges; CLELAND, District Judge.*
_________________
COUNSEL
ARGUED: Drew A. Carson, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee. Richard
S. Mitchell, ROETZEL & ANDRESS, LPA, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee/Cross-
Appellant ON BRIEF: Drew A. Carson, Cleveland, Ohio, Patrick J. Milligan, Steven
J. Forbes, NORCHI FORBES LLC, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.
Richard S. Mitchell, Christine M. Garritano, ROETZEL & ANDRESS, LPA, Cleveland,
Ohio, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
_________________
OPINION
_________________
CLELAND, District Judge. On June 21, 2001, Automated Solutions Corporation
(“ASC”) and Paragon Data Systems, Inc. (“Paragon”) entered into a contract to develop
*
The Honorable Robert H. Cleland, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of
Michigan, sitting by designation.
1
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 2
and support computer software for the Chicago Tribune. This software, called the
“Single Copy Distribution System” (“SCDS”) would allow the Chicago Tribune to
manage and track newspaper deliveries and subscriptions. Unfortunately, tensions
emerged between the two companies and Paragon terminated the contract on September
16, 2003. ASC sued Paragon in Ohio state court, and after a bench trial, the state court
found in ASC’s favor and declared that ASC was the sole owner of the SCDS. Soon
after the state court issued its judgment, ASC filed the instant action alleging, inter alia,
that Paragon had infringed on its copyright and trademark in the SCDS. After
approximately eight years of litigation, the district court granted summary judgment to
Paragon on all of ASC’s claims. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.
I. BACKGROUND
A. The Development of the SCDS
ASC is an Ohio corporation engaged in the business of developing custom
software; Paragon is primarily engaged in providing hardware, equipment, and
maintenance support services for the automatic data collection industry. In 1999,
Paragon became aware of a business opportunity with the Chicago Tribune (“the
Tribune”). Paragon approached ASC and proposed submitting a bid to the Tribune for
custom software, hardware, and pre-packaged software components. On June 21, 2001,
ASC and Paragon entered into a Software Development and Ownership Agreement
(“SDO Agreement”). Pursuant to the SDO Agreement, ASC and Paragon agreed to
jointly develop, own, market, and license software for use by the Tribune and other
newspaper companies. The parties soon developed a software tracking system called the
“Single Copy Distribution System.” The SCDS utilized “C++” programming language
and allowed the Tribune to track newspaper subscriptions through the use of a handheld
device that communicated with a remote server. In August 2001, the parties licensed the
SCDS to the Tribune.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 3
B. The State Court Litigation
The business relationship between ASC and Paragon soured. After an agreement
via letter failed to resolve billing disputes between ASC and Paragon, on September 16,
2003, Paragon sent a letter to ASC terminating the SDO Agreement. Seven days later,
ASC sought a declaratory judgment in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
that ASC had no further obligations to Paragon and that ASC was the sole owner of
SCDS. On February 2, 2005, following a bench trial, the state court held that the SDO
Agreement permitted Paragon to market the SCDS to third parties without ASC’s written
consent, but that it could not actually sell the SCDS to third parties unless ASC
consented to the sale. However, the state court concluded that Paragon waived its rights
to the SCDS when it decided to terminate the SDO Agreement instead of seeking legal
remedies under the SDO Agreement. This meant that Paragon’s legal rights to any
modifications of the SCDS expired on September 16, 2003. On July 6, 2006, the Court
of Appeals of Ohio affirmed. Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys., Inc.,
856 N.E.2d 1008 (Ohio Ct. App. 2006).
While the state court litigation was pending, Paragon continued its efforts to use
the SCDS. An affidavit submitted by Giles Manias, an officer and shareholder of
Paragon, explains that Paragon was under a continued contractual obligation to provide
the SCDS to the Tribune, along with technical support for the program. Manias
identifies a former Paragon employee, Brent Anderson, as the individual responsible for
translating the SCDS code that ASC provided. Manias states that Anderson spent a
significant amount of time attempting to make the SCDS code usable. In order to
facilitate his work, Paragon bought Anderson a “Sun Server,” which is an external
Oracle database server. The Sun Server was necessary to performing work on the SCDS
because it utilized an external server as part of its method for keeping track of data.
Software code for the SCDS was not written on the Sun Server, but the Sun Server was
necessary for Anderson’s work in attempting to make the “server side” of the SCDS
code workable. No other Paragon employee had the knowledge necessary to operate the
Sun Server. Despite his efforts, Anderson was unable to make the SCDS code work, and
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 4
Paragon terminated his employment in March 2004. Manias also states that by 2004, the
handheld devices that the SCDS was originally designed to work on had become
obsolete. In order to continue marketing the SCDS, Paragon created a simulation of the
SCDS which it used on new handheld devices at a 2004 newspaper trade show.
However, this simulation was not functional software; it was purely designed for
demonstration purposes. After the state court ruled that Paragon had no rights in the
SCDS system, Paragon discarded the Sun Server.
C. Paragon Develops DRACI
In April 2004, Paragon contacted the Cleveland Plain Dealer, another newspaper,
and offered to sell it hardware and software for its newspaper delivery system. The Plain
Dealer purchased handheld devices from Paragon in May 2004, but originally intended
to develop its own software program to run on these devices. However, time constraints
intervened, and the Plain Dealer contacted Paragon in late 2004 to discuss the possibility
of Paragon developing software for the handheld devices. The Plain Dealer submitted
screen shots of how it wanted the program to look, and Paragon informed the Plain
Dealer that it would be creating the program from scratch.
Paragon assigned programmer Brian Atkin to work on the software, which was
dubbed “DRACI.”1 DRACI did not utilize a server, and Atkin states via affidavit that
he wrote the code “from scratch.” In line with the Plain Dealer’s specifications, Atkin
wrote DRACI utilizing “VB.Net” programming language. Atkin also states that he was
the only person at Paragon to write any code used in DRACI, and that he did not work
with Anderson, who had already been terminated by Paragon by the time Atkin created
DRACI. According to Atkin, “DRACI is not a complicated piece of software” and he
composed it “primarily in [his] head.” It took less than a month for Atkin to write and
deliver DRACI to the Plain Dealer.
1
The parties do not explain whether “DRACI” is an acronym, and if so, what it stands for.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 5
D. The Federal Litigation
ASC acquired a federal copyright registration in the SCDS code on February 25,
2005. On April 26, 2005, ASC filed a second suit against Paragon in state court.
Paragon removed the matter to federal court, and ASC filed an amended complaint
alleging copyright infringement, trademark infringement, breach of contract, conversion,
tortious interference with a business relationship, unjust enrichment, and unfair
competition on the basis of Paragon’s alleged copying of the SCDS software to use in
its DRACI software. After numerous discovery disputes, the district court noted that
“Paragon appears to have failed in its duty to preserve information because of pending
or reasonably anticipated litigation.” Because Paragon had not produced documentary
evidence of its DRACI code development to ASC, the court ordered Paragon to submit
to a forensic expert investigation of its computer systems for evidence that Paragon
copied the SCDS software when it created DRACI. The court allowed ASC to choose
whether it wanted this forensic examination to take place, as well as the forensic
examiner it wished to use, but ordered that ASC would pay for any forensic examination
it chose to conduct.
ASC decided to proceed with the forensic examination and selected Visual
Evidence/E-Discovery LLC (“Visual Evidence”) as its forensic examiner. Visual
Evidence interviewed Paragon representatives, determined relevant sources of
electronically stored information, and analyzed the forensic images it obtained from
Paragon’s email server and Atkin’s hard drive. Visual Evidence concluded that its
ability to obtain potentially relevant evidence was inhibited for three reasons:
(1) Atkin’s former personal computer’s hard drive failed, and files were
not transferred to his current personal computer (both of which were used
for his work with Paragon).
(2) Anderson’s personal computer (again, used for work with Paragon)
was not maintained or archived after his departure.
(3) Paragon used a faulty back-up tape which did not accurately record
information.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 6
Visual Evidence further noted that “considering that Paragon is an information
technology based company, it is arresting that they operated without a fully functional
back-up system from 2003 through 2006 when the new system was employed.” It is not
apparent from the report that Visual Evidence discovered any evidence supporting
ASC’s claim that Paragon derived DRACI from the SCDS.
Paragon disputed the completeness of Visual Evidence’s report. Specifically, via
affidavit, Manias states that Anderson and Atkin’s failed hard drives may still be in
Paragon’s possession as Paragon maintains a set of “dead drives” that failed in the
ordinary course of business. However, because it does not track the serial numbers of
each of its employees’ hard drives, Paragon is unable to determine whether Anderson
and Atkin’s hard drives are among its collection of “dead drives.” Nevertheless, Manias
further states that he informed Visual Evidence of these hard drives, and Visual
Evidence chose not to examine the drives or note their existence in its report.
As part of the forensic computer examination, both Visual Evidence and
Paragon’s own e-discovery consultant, Vestige Ltd., conducted electronic searches
designed to filter out attorney-client privileged files. Unfortunately, both Visual
Evidence and Vestige missed two emails between Paragon and its attorneys. ASC filed
these emails with the court for in camera review and asked for case-terminating
sanctions based on their content. Paragon moved to strike the emails, noting that they
were subject to a claw-back agreement between the parties, were disclosed inadvertently,
and that Paragon had promptly asserted attorney-client privilege over the emails,
demanding their return. The district court granted Paragon’s motion to strike, noting that
Paragon’s disclosure of the emails appeared inadvertent and that Paragon had taken
reasonable steps to prevent the disclosure of privileged material during a “voluminous
document production.”
Based on Visual Evidence’s report, ASC moved for sanctions and an award of
attorneys’ fees, arguing that Paragon had deliberately destroyed evidence relevant to the
case. Paragon, in turn, moved for summary judgment, arguing that ASC had not
submitted any evidence that Paragon had copied the SCDS or that DRACI was
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 7
substantially similar or derived from the SCDS. The district court referred both motions
to a magistrate judge.
The magistrate judge issued two separate report and recommendations, (“R&Rs”)
advising that the district court grant ASC’s motion for sanctions in part, and that it
further grant Paragon’s motion for summary judgment in part.
Addressing ASC’s motion for sanctions, the magistrate judge found that Paragon
failed to institute any systematic document retention policy, and further failed to institute
a litigation hold after it was first sued by ASC. This failure resulted in the disposal of
the Sun Server, Atkin and Anderson’s failed hard drives, and a belatedly-disclosed work
report for Anderson’s activity at Paragon, all of which would have been subject to
Paragon’s duty to preserve evidence. However, based on the affidavits Paragon
submitted, the magistrate judge recommended finding that Paragon was at most
negligent, and that it had not acted with any degree of willful or malicious behavior.
Regarding the Sun Server, the magistrate judge reasoned that ASC was unable to
contradict Paragon’s assertions that it did not use the Sun Server in the development of
DRACI, therefore rendering its absence irrelevant. And although ASC argued that it
should have received the Anderson work reports earlier in the litigation, the magistrate
judge noted that ASC had since received the reports, and they did not appear to be
relevant. Lastly, as to the Anderson and Atkin hard drives, the magistrate judge
concluded that although the Anderson hard drive appeared irrelevant, Atkin was
undisputedly the author of the DRACI software and “the precise circumstances of
DRACI’s creation are very much relevant to ASC’s infringement claim.” Because of
Paragon’s negligence in maintaining Atkin’s hard drive, the magistrate judge
recommended that the district court consider instructing a jury that it may “infer, after
considering all the evidence, that the Atkin hard drive contained evidence showing that
Paragon’s DRACI code was derived from ASC’s SCDS code.” In taking this “middle
ground,” the magistrate reasoned that although it did not condone Paragon’s negligence,
any adverse inference sanction should be considered at trial, rather than imposing such
a sanction at the summary judgment stage.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 8
Turning to Paragon’s motion for partial summary judgment, the magistrate judge
recommended granting summary judgment to Paragon on ASC’s copyright infringement
claim because ASC had not identified what portions of the SCDS software were
protectable under the Copyright Act. Instead, ASC had extensively argued that there
was evidence that Paragon either directly copied the SCDS software or that it had access
to the software and that substantial similarity resulted, thereby raising the reasonable
inference that copying had occurred. But in not identifying which portions of the SCDS
software were subject to copyright protection, ASC had “thus failed to provide any basis
by which a jury could determine that Paragon infringed on anything.” The magistrate
judge recommended that Paragon’s motion for summary judgment as to ASC’s other
claims be denied.
The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s R&Rs in part, and dismissed
ASC’s remaining claims. The court characterized ASC’s argument that it was not
properly put on notice as to its burden of proof for its copyright infringement claim as
“utterly confounding and specious.” The court further noted that ASC’s expert
testimony was “replete with insufficient conclusory statements” and failed to “identify
those elements comprising the unique protectable expression of [the] SCDS.” For these
reasons, the court concluded that the factual basis for the copyright claim was
insufficient to submit to a jury.
Turning to ASC’s remaining claims, the court reasoned that because the
gravamen of ASC’s claims was that the DRACI software infringed upon the SCDS
software, ASC’s remaining claims were contingent upon its infringement claim and
should also be dismissed. To the extent the court interpreted ASC’s claims as arising out
of Paragon’s use of the SCDS, the court held that these claims could have been raised
in the state court proceeding and thus res judicata barred them. Lastly, the court noted
the magistrate judge’s recommendation that it consider an adverse inference instruction
in favor of ASC, but concluded that sanctions were moot given its dismissal of the
remainder of ASC’s claims.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 9
II. ANALYSIS
A. Discovery Disputes
“A federal court’s inherent powers include broad discretion to craft proper
sanctions for spoliated evidence.” Adkins v. Wolever, 554 F.3d 650, 651 (6th Cir. 2009)
(en banc) (hereinafter, “Adkins I”). We review a district court’s decision whether to
impose sanctions for abuse of discretion. Jones v. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., 617 F.3d 843, 850
(6th Cir. 2010). “A court abuses its discretion when it commits a clear error of
judgment, such as applying the incorrect legal standard, misapplying the correct legal
standard, or relying upon clearly erroneous findings of fact.” Id. (citation omitted). The
severity of a sanction often depends on the party’s fault. Adkins I, 554 F.3d at 652–53.
However, “the fact-intensive inquiry into a party’s degree of fault is for a district court”
to determine, and we recognize that district courts enjoy relatively broad discretion in
this area. Id. at 653. District courts may “impose many different kinds of sanctions for
spoliated evidence, including dismissing a case, granting summary judgment, or
instructing a jury that it may infer a fact based on lost or destroyed evidence.” Id.
[A] party seeking an adverse inference instruction based on the
destruction of evidence must establish (1) that the party having control
over the evidence had an obligation to preserve it at the time it was
destroyed; (2) that the records were destroyed with culpable state of
mind; and (3) that the destroyed evidence was relevant to the party’s
claim or defense such that a reasonable trier of fact could find that it
would support that claim or defense.
Beaven v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 622 F.3d 540, 553 (6th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted).
“The test prescribed in Beaven is conjunctive; thus, so long as the district court did not
err in determining that [a party] had not satisfied at least one of the prongs, its
determination that a spoliation sanction was not warranted should not be upset.” Adkins
v. Wolever, 692 F.3d 499, 504 (6th Cir. 2012) (hereinafter, “Adkins II”). “Whether an
adverse inference is permissive or mandatory is determined on a case-by-case basis,
corresponding in part to the sanctioned party’s degree of fault.” Flagg v. City of Detroit,
715 F.3d 165, 178 (6th Cir. 2013).
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 10
On appeal, ASC raises a host of arguments that the district court abused its
discretion by denying ASC’s motion for sanctions against Paragon. Specifically, ASC
asserts that on the basis of Paragon’s alleged violations, the district court should have
terminated the case, entered judgment in ASC’s favor, sanctioned Paragon’s attorneys,
and awarded ASC attorneys’ fees. Each of ASC’s discovery arguments is addressed in
turn.
1. Anderson’s Hard Drive and the Sun Server
Regarding both Anderson’s hard drive and the Sun Server, the magistrate judge
concluded, and the district court agreed, that Paragon had a duty to preserve these pieces
of evidence, and that it was negligent in failing to do so. Nevertheless, the magistrate
judge and the district court found that ASC had not met its burden in showing that the
Sun Server and Anderson’s hard drive contained evidence relevant to this litigation.
ASC disputes the district court’s finding that the Sun Server and hard drive did not
contain relevant evidence, and argues that it made a “compelling showing” that
information relevant to its claims would have been found in the Anderson hard drive and
the Sun Server, had Paragon not discarded them.
In this context, “relevant” means: “something more than sufficiently probative
to satisfy Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Rather, the party seeking an
adverse inference must adduce sufficient evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact
could infer that the destroyed [or unavailable] evidence would have been of the nature
alleged by the party affected by its destruction.” One Beacon Ins. Co. v. Broad. Dev.
Group, Inc., 147 F. App’x 535, 541 (6th Cir. 2005) (quoting Residential Funding Corp.
v. DeGeorge Fin. Corp., 306 F.3d 99, 108–09 (2d Cir. 2002)) (brackets in original,
internal quotation marks omitted).2 “A party seeking an adverse inference may rely on
circumstantial evidence to suggest the contents of destroyed evidence.” Beaven,
622 F.3d at 555 (citation and brackets omitted).
2
We note that a new version of Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(e), which would require a higher burden of
proof for an adverse inference instruction, is under consideration by the relevant Rules Committees.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 11
ASC does not cite any evidence that suggests that either Anderson or the Sun
Server that he worked on were used to develop the DRACI software. ASC repeats its
assertions (and the magistrate judge agreed) that Paragon was under a duty to preserve
the hard drive and the Sun Server and that Paragon was negligent in failing to preserve
both pieces of equipment. However, whether Paragon was negligent in failing to
preserve the Sun Server and hard drive does not advance a showing of relevance, which
is a necessary finding for the district court to impose sanctions. To the extent that ASC
cites a transcript of an interview that its investigator held with Anderson as support for
its argument that Paragon used the SCDS as a model for DRACI, we note that the
interview appears to have been highly suggestive, and in any event, Anderson’s
statements during the interview are unsworn, and thus of limited reliability.3 The district
court did not clearly err in determining that a reasonable trier of fact could not find that
the missing Anderson hard drive and Sun Server would support ASC’s claims.
2. Paragon’s Back-up Tapes
ASC argues that the magistrate judge improperly concluded that Paragon’s back-
up tapes were not subject to Paragon’s duty to preserve evidence. ASC asserts that a
back-up system used by Paragon from 2003–2005 should have been preserved and
produced in the course of the instant litigation. According to Manias, Paragon used an
“I-Omega” back-up system to insure that its electronically stored information would be
recoverable in the event of a problem with its main storage system. However, as part of
this system, the back-up tapes were overwritten daily. At some point, the system failed,
and Paragon discarded the back-up tapes because the information on the tapes was not
retrievable.
The magistrate judge rejected ASC’s assertion that the back-up tapes should have
been subject to Paragon’s duty to preserve. The magistrate judge reasoned that in
Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, 220 F.R.D. 212 (S.D.N.Y. 2003),4 the court noted that
3
It does not appear that either party ever deposed Anderson.
4
See n. 1.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 12
a “litigation hold does not apply to inaccessible backup tapes (e.g., those typically
maintained solely for the purpose of disaster recovery), which may continue to be
recycled on the schedule set forth in the company’s policy.” Id. at 218; see also Forest
Labs., Inc. v. Caraco Pharm. Labs., LTD, No. 06-CV-13143, 2009 WL 998402, at *4
(E.D. Mich. April 14, 2009) (concluding that where defendants had offered no evidence
that the tapes in question were maintained for any purpose other than disaster recovery,
the tapes were not subject to the duty to preserve); The Sedona Principles, Second
Edition: Best Practices, Recommendations & Principles for Addressing Electronic
Document Production at 35–36 (The Sedona Conference Working Group Series, 2007)
available at https://thesedonaconference.org/download-pub/81 (“Absent specific
circumstances, preservation obligations should not extend to disaster recovery backup
tapes created in the ordinary course of business.”). The magistrate judge criticized
Paragon for not having a systematic document retention policy in place, but nevertheless
concluded that because the only evidence in the record suggested that the back-up tapes
were rewritten daily and used only for disaster recovery, they were not subject to
Paragon’s duty to preserve.
ASC argues that the magistrate judge did not properly apply Zubulake’s
reasoning because once Anderson and Atkin’s hard drives failed, the back-up tapes
became the only way to access Anderson and Atkin’s information, and thus should have
been preserved. See Zubulake, 220 F.R.D. at 218. However, this argument does not
address the unrebutted facts that the back-up tapes were re-written daily and only used
for disaster recovery.5 Further, the only evidence before the magistrate judge suggested
that the back-up tapes failed and were effectively useless as a disaster recovery system.
Although ASC asserts that once Anderson and Atkin’s hard drives failed, Paragon
should have immediately preserved the back-up tapes, there is no indication as to when
the hard drives failed in relation to when the back-up tapes ceased working properly.
5
We note ASC’s expert’s declaration takes issue with Paragon’s representation that its back-up
tapes failed and were discarded. However, although ASC’s expert reiterated that Paragon’s document
retention policy was extremely poor and expressed skepticism that Paragon does not have more
information that it has not disclosed, he did not advance any evidence suggesting that Paragon’s back-up
tapes were used as an archive in the normal course of business, thus bringing them within the normal ambit
of Paragon’s duty to preserve.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 13
Even assuming that Paragon had retained the back-up tapes, it is not at all clear that
useful evidence would have been gleaned from the tapes, or that any data would have
been recoverable. Based on the evidence before it, we conclude that the district court
did not abuse its broad discretion in adopting the R&R’s conclusion that the back-up
tapes were not subject to Paragon’s duty to preserve evidence.
3. Paragon’s Culpability
ASC asserts that the magistrate judge wrongly found that Paragon’s failure to
preserve evidentiary items was “at most” negligent, rather than willful or grossly
negligent. “The ultimate determination of culpability is within the district court’s
discretion so long as it is not a clearly erroneous interpretation of the facts. . . . Even
if we were to disagree with the district court’s ultimate conclusion on culpability, it does
not necessarily follow that the district court’s determination should be upset.” Adkins
II, 692 F.3d at 505–06.
ASC cites Pension Committee of University of Montreal Pension Plan v. Banc
of America Securities, 685 F. Supp. 2d 456 (S.D.N.Y. 2010). In Pension Committee, the
court stated that in the context of discovery misconduct: “Conduct is either acceptable
or unacceptable. Once it is unacceptable the only question is how bad is the conduct.”
Id. at 463. The Pension Committee court placed great emphasis on Zubulake’s effect on
electronic discovery standards:
A failure to preserve evidence resulting in the loss or destruction of
relevant information is surely negligent, and, depending on the
circumstances, may be grossly negligent or willful. For example, the
intentional destruction of relevant records, either paper or electronic,
after the duty to preserve has attached, is willful. Possibly after October,
2003, when Zubulake IV was issued, and definitely after July, 2004,
when the final relevant Zubulake opinion was issued, the failure to issue
a written litigation hold constitutes gross negligence because that failure
is likely to result in the destruction of relevant information.
Id. at 465 (footnotes omitted) (emphasis in original). The Pension Committee court
further stated that: “Relevance and prejudice may be presumed when the spoliating
party acted in bad faith or in a grossly negligence manner.” Id. at 467. ASC cites
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 14
Pension Committee’s language to argue that the magistrate judge misapplied the relevant
law, and thus abused his discretion, by concluding that despite Paragon’s lack of any
systematic document retention system, its conduct was merely negligent, rather than
willful or grossly negligent. ASC therefore argues that the relevance of Paragon’s
spoliated evidence is therefore presumed, making it a further abuse of discretion for the
district court to deny severe sanctions for Paragon’s conduct.
There is reason to doubt Pension Committee’s persuasive effect. To begin with,
the Second Circuit directly criticized Pension Committee’s broad language: “We reject
the notion that a failure to institute a ‘litigation hold’ constitutes gross negligence per
se.” Chin v. Port Auth. of N.Y & N.J., 685 F.3d 135, 162 (2d Cir. 2012). The Second
Circuit reasoned instead that “the better approach is to consider [the failure to adopt
good preservation practices] as one factor in the determination of whether discovery
sanctions should issue[,]” and that a finding of gross negligence does not mandate an
adverse inference instruction. Id. (quotation marks omitted). Rather, “[the Second
Circuit has] repeatedly held that a case-by-case approach to the failure to produce
relevant evidence, at the discretion of the district court, is appropriate.” Id. (quotation
marks omitted).
This case-by-case approach is the law in our circuit as well. We recognize that
district courts are best positioned to adjudicate discovery disputes, as they have the most
contact with the parties, the personalities, and the litigation. We have previously
characterized the inquiry into a party’s degree of fault as “fact-intensive” and within the
“broad discretion” of the district courts. Adkins, 554 F.3d at 653. Additionally, we have
declined to impose bright-line rules, leaving it instead to a case-by-case determination
whether sanctions are necessary, and if so, what form they must take. See Flagg,
715 F.3d at 178. Thus, the appropriate inquiry on appeal is whether the district court
committed a “clear error of judgment,” not a de novo fact-based determination of which
party was more at fault. Jones, 617 F.3d at 850. Our review of the record in this case
demonstrates that there was ample support for the district court’s determination that
Paragon was at most negligent.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 15
The magistrate judge first noted an affidavit from Manias, who attested that
Paragon never intentionally withheld or destroyed evidence, and at all times complied
in good faith with its discovery obligations. Manias also stated that Paragon is a small
company with only eleven employees. Additionally, Paragon submitted affidavits from
many of its prior attorneys in both the state and federal ligation, all attesting that they
were not aware of any evidence withholding, and that they believed Paragon’s discovery
responses were truthful and accurate when they were made. Despite ASC’s attempts to
cast doubt on the notion that Paragon and its counsel acted in good faith, it did not
submit any evidence suggesting that Paragon willfully withheld evidentiary material.
This is not to say that we applaud Paragon’s conduct in this litigation. As ASC
repeatedly points out in its brief, Paragon is an information-technology company, and
thus could be expected to have a better-than-average understanding of electronic
discovery and the necessity for functioning back-up tapes and the preservation of data.
Paragon’s behavior was negligent; but we are unwilling to say that the district court
abused its discretion in determining that it was not grossly so. Instead, after considering
all of the evidence before it, the district court determined that severe sanctions were
improper. Given the support found in the record for this determination, the district court
did not commit a clear error of judgment, and thus, did not abuse its discretion in finding
that Paragon was negligent.
4. Paragon’s Privileged Material
ASC argues that the district court improperly struck two email exhibits as
protected by attorney-client privilege. “We review the decision to grant or deny a
motion to strike for an abuse of discretion, and decisions that are reasonable, that is, not
arbitrary, will not be overturned.” Dassault Systemes, SA v. Childress, 663 F.3d 832,
846 (6th Cir. 2011) (citation omitted). However, “whether the attorney-client privilege
applies is a mixed question of law and fact, subject to de novo review.” Reg’l Airport
Auth. of Louisville v. LFG, LLC, 460 F.3d 697, 712 (6th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted).
“The purpose of attorney-client privilege is to ensure free and open
communications between a client and his attorney.” In re Grand Jury Subpoenas,
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 16
454 F.3d 511, 519 (6th Cir. 2006). The privilege “may be overridden . . . by the so-
called crime-fraud exception, encompassing advice given with respect to ongoing or
future wrongdoing.” Id. at 520. When a party asserts that the crime-fraud exception
applies, district courts may conduct an in camera inspection of the allegedly privileged
documents.
Before engaging in in camera review to determine the applicability of the
crime-fraud exception, the judge should require a showing of a factual
basis adequate to support a good faith belief by a reasonable person that
in camera review of the materials may reveal evidence to establish the
claim that the crime-fraud exception applies.
Once that showing is made, the decision whether to engage in in camera
review rests in the sound discretion of the district court. The court
should make that decision in light of the facts and circumstances of the
particular case, including, among other things, the volume of materials
the district court has been asked to review, the relative importance to the
case of the alleged privileged information, and the likelihood that the
evidence produced through in camera review, together with other
available evidence then before the court, will establish that the crime-
fraud exception does apply.
United States v. Zolin, 491 U.S. 554, 572 (1989) (citations and quotation marks omitted).
ASC asserts that two emails between Paragon and its counsel demonstrate that
Paragon had an intent to obstruct justice throughout the discovery process. Paragon
argues that the emails are presented without their full context, that its officers’ words
“merely represent the ongoing frustration of Paragon at ASC’s continued attempt to gain
access to information that is entirely irrelevant to this matter,” and that, in any event, the
emails were privileged communications and subject to a claw-back agreement between
the parties.
After reviewing the emails at issue, the district court concluded that ASC had not
shown that there was a good faith basis to believe that an in camera review of the emails
or other inadvertantly produced documents would show that the crime-fraud exception
should apply. On appeal, ASC argues that the emails are prima facie evidence of the
applicability of the crime-fraud exception. We disagree.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 17
The district court considered the history of litigation between the parties, as well
as the content of the emails themselves. Instead of being the smoking gun that ASC
believes the emails to be, it appears that they reflect Paragon’s frustration with the length
of the litigation, as well as with the ongoing discovery disputes. The emails ASC cites
do not discuss violating a current order, nor do they seek advice regarding future illegal
conduct. Rather, they appear to discuss the ongoing discovery litigation process, a
subject undoubtedly within the purview of the attorney-client relationship. Further, there
is no indication that Paragon’s counsel responded to these emails with legal advice
concerning how to circumvent Paragon’s discovery obligations. Because the district
court’s decision to deny ASC’s request for an in camera review and strike the emails
from the record was reasonable, and not arbitrary, we affirm.6
B. Summary Judgment
ASC also challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Paragon
on all of ASC’s claims. “We review a district court’s decision granting summary
judgment de novo.” Vance v. Wade, 546 F.3d 774, 781 (6th Cir. 2008) (citation
omitted).
1. Copyright Infringement
In order to establish copyright infringement, ASC must prove two elements:
“(1) ownership of a valid copyright, and (2) copying of constituent elements of the work
that are original.” Feist Publ’ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., Inc., 499 U.S. 340, 361
(1991). Paragon challenged the second element of this test, specifically whether there
is a substantial similarity between the protectable elements of the SCDS and DRACI.
We use a two-part test for determining substantial similarity. First, we “identify
and eliminate those elements [of a work] that are unoriginal and therefore unprotected.”
Kohus v. Mariol, 328 F.3d 848, 853 (6th Cir. 2003). Next, we determine “whether the
6
We also note Paragon’s argument that the emails were subject to a claw-back agreement between
the parties. Although such agreements are generally enforceable, see Fed R. Evid. 502(e), no such
agreement between the parties has been submitted.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 18
allegedly infringing work is substantially similar to protect[a]ble elements of the
original.” Id. at 856. “It is axiomatic . . . that mere abstract ideas are not protect[a]ble,
but the expression of an idea is.” Id. at 855. When the work at issue is functional, rather
than creative, “it is necessary to eliminate those elements dictated by efficiency.” Id. at
856.
“In ascertaining this elusive boundary line between idea and expression, between
process and non-functional expression, courts have looked to two other staples of
copyright law—the doctrines of merger and scenes a faire.” Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static
Control Components, Inc., 387 F.3d 522, 535 (6th Cir. 2004) (citation omitted). Merger
refers to situations where “expression is essential to the statement of the idea” or “where
there is only one way or very few ways of expressing the idea.” Id. In these instances,
the idea and expression have merged, and copyright law provides no protection. In
contrast, scenes a faire describes instances “when external factors constrain the choice
of expressive vehicle,” thereby precluding protection. Id. “In the computer-software
context, the doctrine means that the elements of a program dictated by practical
realities—e.g., by hardware standards and mechanical specifications, software standards
and compatibility requirements, computer manufacturer design standards, target industry
practices, and standard computer programming practices—may not obtain protection.”
Id.
Addressing Paragon’s argument that it was entitled to summary judgment
because ASC could not prove substantial similarity, the magistrate judge relied on our
decision in R.C. Olmstead, Inc. v. CU Interface, LLC, 606 F.3d 262 (6th Cir. 2010). In
Olmstead, the plaintiff software and hardware company brought suit alleging copyright
infringement based on the defendant’s alleged copying of the plaintiff’s software. Id.
at 266–68. However, the district court granted summary judgment to the defendant, and
we affirmed, noting that “[the plaintiff] has not attempted to identify any original
elements of its software that [the defendant] copied.” Id. at 275. Because the plaintiff
did not identify those elements of its software that it claimed were original, and therefore
subject to copyright protection, “its substantial similarity analysis [did] not filter
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 19
elements that would be expected to be common to any . . . software, those dictated by
the particular business practices.” Id. Accordingly, we concluded that the plaintiff had
failed to create a triable issue of fact as to whether the defendant had copied original
elements of the plaintiff’s software. Id. at 276.
Following R.C. Olmstead, the magistrate judge observed that ASC had not “even
attempt[ed] to specify exactly what portions of the SCDS software are protectable,
original elements and which are unprotectable.” The magistrate judge further reasoned
that although “ASC has extensively argued its conclusion that Paragon’s software is
substantially similar to its SCDS code . . . it has offered no evidence . . . by which a jury
could arrive at that conclusion. Given that ASC had made no showing which elements
of the SCDS were subject to copyright protection, and therefore at issue in this lawsuit,
the magistrate judge noted that the court was “hamstrung” and unable to engage in the
necessary first step of the substantial similarity analysis.
ASC objected to the magistrate judge’s recommendation that the district court
grant Paragon summary judgment on ASC’s copyright claim, arguing (1) that Paragon
had not moved for summary judgment on the grounds that ASC had failed to show
which elements of the SCDS were original and protected, and (2) that ASC had
submitted enough evidence of the original, protectable elements of the SCDS to allow
a reasonable jury to find in its favor.
The district court rejected both arguments. First, it characterized ASC’s assertion
that it was not put on notice regarding the burden of proof for its copyright infringement
claim as “utterly confounding and specious.” Turning to ASC’s argument that it had
submitted sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact, the court noted
that ASC had never submitted any evidence identifying the unique protectable elements
of the SCDS, and that there was “insufficient evidence to generate even an implication
that DRACI [is] substantially similar to SCDS.”
On appeal, ASC again argues that it was not on notice that it needed to submit
evidence identifying the protectable portions of the SCDS software, that it submitted
sufficient evidence to justify submitting the matter to a jury, and that the district court’s
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 20
adoption of the magistrate judge’s recommendation that it consider an adverse jury
instruction at trial for the spoliated Atkin hard drive precluded summary judgment.
Paragon moved for summary judgment on the grounds that ASC “cannot
establish that there is substantial similarity between the DRACI software system and the
SCDS system.” It stated that it was focusing “solely on the issue of substantial
similarity” for its motion, and identified the Kohus test discussed above, which requires
a court to “identify and eliminate those elements [of a work] that are unoriginal and
therefore unprotected.” Kohus, 328 F.3d at 853. Paragon then identified eight reasons
why DRACI could not have been copied from the SCDS, and argued that for any of
these reasons, summary judgment was appropriate.
When moving for summary judgment, the movant has the initial burden of
showing the absence of a genuine dispute as to a material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,
477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). The burden then shifts to the nonmovant, who must put forth
enough evidence to show that there exists “a genuine issue for trial.” Horton v. Potter,
369 F.3d 906, 909 (6th Cir. 2004) (citation omitted). The nonmovant “must do more
than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.”
Matsushita v. Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586 (1986).
Here, Paragon moved for summary judgment on the issue of substantial
similarity. At this point, it became ASC’s burden to advance enough evidence for a
reasonable juror to find in its favor. As noted above, the substantial similarity test has
two prongs: ASC chose not to address the first prong, and instead focused on the
second. The record demonstrates that Paragon’s motion for summary judgment put ASC
on notice that its ability to satisfy the substantial similarity test was at issue, and its
arguments to the contrary are without merit.7
7
In its appellate brief, ASC asserts that “[i]t is not disputable that Paragon did not move for
summary judgment . . . on grounds that [ASC] did not own a valid copyright in SCDS.” (Appellant Br.
at 56.) This is true; however, ASC conflates the issue of whether it owned a copyright in the SCDS with
whether it had identified which portions of the SCDS were subject to copyright protection, which is the
first step of the substantial similarity test.
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 21
Turning to whether ASC submitted sufficient evidence to show which portions
of the SCDS were original, and therefore subject to copyright, we also agree with the
district court that ASC did not meet its burden. ASC relies on the declaration of its
expert, Dr. Wolfgang Pelz, as identifying the unique portions of the SCDS software
code. Dr. Pelz is a professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Akron.
He states that he “distilled” the SCDS software to its “unique protectable expression,”
but does not elaborate which portions of data are unique, what makes them unique, or
why their particular form is not dictated by practical realities, see Lexmark, 387 F.3d at
535, and therefore not subject to copyright protection. The most detail that Dr. Pelz’s
declaration provides is in reference to data structures used in a Paragon “VB.net” file.
Dr. Pelz states that the “field names, field types, field lengths, and the order of the fields
within the data structures” within the VB.net file are similar to the SCDS code/software.
Again, it is not at all clear from Dr. Pelz’s declaration that these elements are subject to
copyright protection, how they are similar to the SCDS, or why they “go well beyond
what could be attributable to common usage, software/hardware requirements, or best
practices.” As we stated in R.C. Olmstead, “[e]xpert reports must include ‘how’ and
‘why’ the expert reached a particular result, not merely the expert’s conclusory
opinions.” R.C. Olmstead, 606 F.3d at 271 (citation omitted); Alexander v. CareSource,
576 F.3d 551, 560 (6th Cir. 2009) (“Conclusory statements unadorned with supporting
facts are insufficient to establish a factual dispute that will defeat summary judgment.”).
Dr. Pelz’s declaration includes no attempt at explaining this “how” and “why,” and
instead focuses solely on his legal conclusion that Paragon “infringed Automated’s
rights in and to the SCDS code/software.” Without more, this is not enough to create a
genuine issue of material fact as to whether Paragon copied original elements of ASC’s
software. See R.C. Olmstead, 606 F.3d at 275.
Lastly, ASC argues that, because the magistrate judge recommended that ASC
was entitled to an adverse inference instruction regarding Atkin’s spoliated hard drive,
this instruction alone creates an issue of material fact that precludes summary judgment.
The adverse inference instruction permits a finding that Paragon derived DRACI from
the SCDS (the second prong of substantial similarity). That finding would not help ASC
Nos. 13-3025/3058 Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys. Page 22
here because ASC’s problem is that it cannot establish which, if any, elements of the
SCDS are subject to copyright protections (the first prong of substantial similarity). We
thus find no error in the district court’s reasoning that its grant of summary judgment in
favor of Paragon due to ASC’s inability to identify the protectable elements of the SCDS
made the adverse inference instruction irrelevant to the issue.8
2. ASC’s Remaining Claims
ASC also appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment on the basis of
res judicata for its remaining claims alleging trademark infringement, tortious
interference with business relationships, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition.
ASC argues that because these claims focus on whether Paragon marketed, copied, or
monetized the SCDS after Paragon’s breach of the agreement, the claims survive
independently from ASC’s copyright claim.
ASC forfeited this argument. “Waiver is different than forfeiture. Whereas
forfeiture is the failure to make the timely assertion of a right, waiver is the intentional
relinquishment or abandonment of a known right.” United States v. Olano, 507 U.S.
725, 733 (1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). Despite filing an appellate brief
comprising over sixty pages, ASC devotes a single paragraph to its argument that res
judicata should not apply, leaving us to guess what it means, or why the district court’s
application of res judicata was erroneous. ASC cannot wait until the closing pages of
its brief to raise an argument in a single paragraph that we should reverse and preserve
the majority of its claims against Paragon.
III. CONCLUSION
For these reasons, we AFFIRM.
8
Because we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Paragon on ASC’s
copyright claim, we do not find it necessary to reach Paragon’s cross-appeal which argues that the district
court erred by adopting the magistrate judge’s recommendation that it consider imposing an adverse-
inference jury instruction for Atkin’s spoliated hard drive at trial.
| 95,940,644 |
const app = require('./app')
const appModule = require('./module')
const page = require('./page')
const component = require('./component')
module.exports = {
app: app,
module: appModule,
page: page,
component: component
}
| 95,940,656 |
Registration Rules: • Participation will be limited to the first 112 Athletes.• Archers may compete in one of the following classes:Barebow Recurve - No sights, finger release and stabilizers. One consistent nocking point. Use of stailizers shall be permitted. An adjustable arrow plate may be used provided it does not extend more than 1/4' above the arrow. Only one adjustable draw check and level mounted on the bow, neither of which may extend above the arrow and a mechanical type arrow rest and cusion plunger are permitted.Barebow Compound - No sights, finger release and stabilizers. One consistent nocking point. Use of stabilizers shall be permitted. An adjustable arrow plate may be used provided it does not extend more than 1/4' above the arrow. Only one adjustable draw check and level mounted on the bow, neither of which may extend above the arrow and a mechanical type arrow rest and cusion plunger are permitted.Freestyle Bowhunter* - Release aid, sight with 5 fixed pins, 12" stabilizer.Freestyle Limited Recurve - Finger release, sights without magnification. String peep sights are not allowed (World Archery rules)Freestyle Limited* - Finger release, any type of sight/scope and stabilizer.Freestyle* - Release aid, any type of sight/scope and stabilizer.Longbow - Longbow and finger release. No sights, clickers, drawchecks, stabilizers or levels. Only one anchor point. This style requires wooden arrows.
* May use either a recurve or compound bow.Freestyle Limited Recurve will follow World Archery rules. All other classes will follow N.F.A.A. rules
• NFAA Rules will be used as a guideline.• Freestyle Limited Recurve will follow World Archery Rules.• Archers must provide their own bows and target arrows.• Closed-toe shoes are required.• Archers will shoot 56 total shots each day - 28 in the morning; 28 in the afternoon.• Archers will take two shots at two targets at 14 locations in the morning and 14 in the afternoon.• Distance to targets will not exceed 45 yards.• Distance to targets will be marked at each location.• Distance to targets will be unmarked for Traditional events.• Distance to targets will be changed each day.• Size of targets will range between a jackalope and a caribou.• Ring scoring will be used - 10 / 8 / 5 / Animal• Participants must complete events to earn a medal.• The Director of shooting shall be advised if an archer, when drawing back the string of his bow uses any technique which, in the opinion of the judges, could allow the arrow, if accidentally released, to fly beyond a safety zone. If the archer persists in using such a technique, he shall, in the interest of safety, be asked by the HWSG Direstor or DOS to stop shooting immediately and to leave the field. Archers must draw back with the arrow pointed at the target, not at the sky.
Additional Information:
Lunch, soda and water will be available for a reasonable fee.
Medals: In each class and age division, Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded to the top three scores. There will be no tie-breakers. When ties exist, both archers will be given identical medals. Medals will be awarded at the Sport Sponsor Social. | 95,940,675 |
Cadillac Escalade Water Pump
How to Know If Your Cadillac Escalade Water Pump is Faulty
Out of the many problems that can happen to your car, water pump failure can be one of the worst. Basically, it's the one in charge of pumping the coolant and water to the engine so that it won't overheat. It can be a hassle if the Cadillac Escalade water pump becomes faulty, which is why here are some troubleshooting tips to help you diagnose if you should have it replaced already.
Broken bearing
The usual cause of a faulty water pump is a broken bearing on the pump shaft that has a leak. This can be seen seeping from the weep hole, which is located at the bottom of the water pump. You can also inspect the gasket that's found behind it. Take note that you won't be able to notice that the water pump is leaking once the engine is off, so you have to ensure that it is on before working on it.
Loose pump shaft
Oftentimes, the reason why the bearing gets worn out is because of a loose pump shaft. Locate it and grab the fan and start wobbling it. If it moves, then it's an indication that the shaft is broken. This must be replaced immediately to avoid damaging the water pump.
Signs of leak
This troubleshooting technique is a good way to know if your water pump is leaking. Have your Cadillac Escalade parked on a concrete surface, preferably inside your garage. Place a white or light-colored cardboard directly underneath the motor. When morning comes and you find out that the board is wet, then the water pump is indeed leaking.
Odd noises
If you hear any odd noises coming from under the hood, then there must be something wrong with the components. A low-pitched grinding sound indicates that the bearing is worn. Have this replaced immediately because it can affect the water pump.
Thermostat warning light is on
You can check the warning lights on your dashboard to find out if the parts under the hood are still okay. If the thermostat warning light turns on, then it's an indication that your vehicle is not getting enough coolant because the water pump is leaking.
Cadillac Escalade Water Pump Available Years
Doing Proper Upkeep on the Cadillac Escalade Water Pump 27 February 2013
Out of all the parts that could go wrong in your vehicle, the water pump should be the one that's supposed to be properly taken care of. If your car starts to overheat, then that's a sure sign that your pump's about to go south. However, there are some maintenance tips that you can follow to make the Cadillac Escalade water pump last longer than expected.
Tighten any loose parts.
It's inevitable for the water pump to leak, so you have to act immediately if it does. First, look for the pump. It's usually in front of the engine and behind the fan blade. It's essential that the engine's heated up, which is why you should switch it on when inspecting for leaks. The common cause of a leaking water pump is because of a worn bearing and seal. If these are damaged, then you should have them replaced right away. The gasket is also a culprit; if you discover that it's blown and soaked, have it changed as soon as possible. See to it that the bolts are tight as well. Remember that it's less costly to replace these tiny parts instead of changing the water pump itself.
Replace the leaking hose.
Inspect all the hoses that are near the water pump. Usually, when a hose is leaking, it could mean that the pump also has the same problem. If you discover any broken hose, have it replaced right away. This will surely save you a lot of money if you replace this rather than the water pump itself.
Seal the water pump.
Another reason why the water pump is leaking is because it's probably missing a seal. To prevent water from seeping out of the pump, you'd better make sure that it's sealed up. Regularly check on the water pump if its seal is broken because you'll definitely have to get a new one if it is. Be sure to let the engine cool down before working on it. Also, drain the oil and coolant from the engine. In fact, you can place these in two different pans so that you can reuse them later. | 95,940,780 |
Mr Thomas Edgar Major
Thomas Edgar Major was born in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, England in the last months of 1876. He was the son of Thomas Rowe Major (1848-1893) and Mary Simmonds (1851-?).
Both his parents were natives of Dorset and had married in St George's Church, Fordington on Boxing Day 1871 and his father was then described as a printer by trade. Thomas had three known siblings: William Henry (b. 1874), George Herbert (b. 1880) and Mary Anne (b. 1883).
Thomas first appears on the 1881 census when he was living at 17 St George's Terrace, Islington. The family would shift to 13 Melgund (?) Road, Islington by the time of the next census in 1891. Thomas, aged 14, had already left school and was working as a clerk. His father passed away in 1893 and the family show up on the 1901 census living at Colne (?) House, Islington, his mother dressmaking to support the household. Thomas was absent, perhaps at sea.
Thomas was married in London in late 1907 to Elizabeth Jane Shoard (b. 1879 in Clerkenwell, Middlesex) and the couple would have one child, a daughter named Pearl Georgina Elizabeth (b. 1909).
On the 1911 census Thomas, his wife and daughter were listed as living at 9 Old Park Villas, Palmers Green, North London, the home of his widowed mother-in-law Sarah Shoard. He was at this time described as a ship's steward.
Thomas was on board the Titanic for her delivery trip from Belfast to Southampton. When he signed-on again, in Southampton, on 4 April 1912, he gave his address as Criterion Res., (Southampton). His last ship had been the Olympic. As a bath steward he received monthly wages of £3 15s.
Major died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified.
What became of his widow Elizabeth is not certain but she may have remarried several years later.
His daughter Pearl was married in 1930 to Robert S. Leach and is thought to have had one child. Her second marriage was in 1960 to Ralph Griffin. Pearl settled in Hove, Sussex and died there in 1989. | 95,940,874 |
Nothing more could be as sweet
When death and I finally meet.
I have wasted all the lives given
And nothing has since been proven
That I was here and meant for glory
Another hastily ended chapter
In someone’s heart thereafter.
Broken symbols and unclear paths
Have driven the mind, my once home
Into the throws of the maddened deep
Shy ghosts do not force the hand
Yet they have wept for decades. | 95,941,065 |
A trial comparing local pain after subcutaneous injection of epoetin-beta versus darbepoetin-alpha in healthy volunteers.
The aim of this study was to compare local pain experienced with subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of epoetin-beta vs. darbepoetin-alpha. 40 healthy volunteers were enrolled into this single-blind, crossover study. After receiving an injection of placebo, individuals were randomized to receive s.c. injections of epoetin-beta 6,000 IU (0.3 ml) or darbepoetin-alpha 30 mg (0.3 ml), with a 1-week washout period between injections. Local pain was evaluated using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and a 6-item Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) immediately after (T0) and 1 h after injection (T1). The respective mean (standard deviation) and median (range) VAS values at T0 were 1.2 (1.7) and 0.5 (0.0 - 6.9) for epoetin-beta vs. 2.8 (2.4) and 1.9 (0.0 - 9.0) for darbepoetin-alpha (p < 0.0001). At T0, VRS scores demonstrated that 51% of individuals experienced no pain after epoetin- injection compared with 16% of those receiving darbepoetin-alpha. The percentage of individuals perceiving moderate or important pain was significantly greater with darbepoetin-alpha (38%) compared with epoetin-beta (5%, p = 0.0005) and placebo (14%). Pain evaluation at T1 showed no difference between treatment groups. Local tolerance was excellent except for a small hematoma with epoetin- at T1 and with darbepoetin-alpha at T0 which persisted at T1. In healthy volunteers, s.c. injection of epoetin-beta was significantly less painful than with darbepoetin-alpha and comparable with placebo. No significant pain was apparent at T1 in any group. | 95,941,278 |
A 50-over-old ball had to seam back a mile - no indication of where it was going in the air - at 143kph and snake past the inside edge to do something for only the second time in Virat Kohli's career. Yes, he does get out playing a defensive shot to balls he can leave outside off, but this was only the second time a fast bowler had bowled him without hitting his bat on the way.
That is a remarkable statistic for an attacking batsman. It is also one of the more under-rated aspects of Kohli's batting. If there is a technical weakness outside off, this is such a strength. He hardly ever gives up his stumps. He has only ever been bowled seven times in his career out of 104 dismissals. Three times to spinners, even two of those off the edge, and four times to quicks. And it took a pitch of this devilry to repeat what had happened in 2014 when Kohli shouldered arms to Liam Plunkett in England. And not before he had followed up his 54 in the first innings with a 41 in the second.
It is as good as two centuries on a normal pitch. Kohli is remembered for his dominating big centuries, as he should be, but some of his best innings have been these little gems in the third innings of a Test. Kolkata against New Zealand and Visakhapatnam against England are two such examples where he just rose above the rest in difficult batting conditions. He whipped shooters to the midwicket boundary.
Here, though, batting was not just difficult, it was dangerous. The match was on the line in the third innings. M Vijay was getting hit with balls rearing off a length and also chasing him with seam movement back in. In the first hour, South Africa presented just one ball that was full enough to drive. Somebody had to retrieve it from the cover boundary because Kohli had driven it there.
Standing outside your crease and striding forward to bowlers such as Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel is not a good idea at the best of times. To do it here, on this mean track, can be suicidal. Kohli not just did that, he refused to go back in even when rapped on the gloves with a length ball. To have a control percentage of 76 on this pitch despite batting in the first session of the day is no joke. Courage is often a misplaced word in cricket, but not here. This was an innings played in the face of real danger.
It started with real courage of conviction that India could bat first on this surface. All through the series, the word "intent" has been overused and often mocked. He has not been articulating it properly, but one of his definitions of intent is to want to be there. To handle the heat in the kitchen. To look forward to training - he has been having two batting stints in every net session in the lead-up to this Test - and fielding and sledging and batting even though your side is losing. It couldn't have been more evident than in the decision he took at the toss. There are a few batsmen captains, and not just Indian, who would have chosen to bowl here, let alone looking forward to batting.
This series has been a tumultuous experience for Kohli the captain. His selection has come in for deserved criticism. His attitude to preparation and getting acclimatised to these conditions - nothing prepares you for this pitch, though - has been questioned. He has lost his first series as a full-time captain. He has been beleaguered, but there has not been a spell of play in this series when you could look at Kohli and say he didn't want to be out in the middle.
This time, finally, Kohli took the right support, but that too started with admission that he had made a selection error. It is not so much about picking Rohit Sharma, but when the cost of Rohit is leaving out your proven best batsmen in seeming conditions, it becomes a questionable call. To expect Rohit to do what Ajinkya Rahane does at No. 5 in Tests is an unfair as expecting Rahane to do what Rohit does when opening in ODIs. With a platform there, and India one concentrated attack away from reaching a lead they could bowl with, Rahane showed he is indeed the batsman who can turn a match in one session.
Ajinkya Rahane attempts an upper cut BCCI
There were shades of Melbourne 2014-15 in this assault. Just as South Africa began to tie Kohli down, Rahane unfurled a series of drives on the up, and also cuts over the infield every time South Africa erred in length. When he is waiting for his turn to bat, Rahane sits and visualises what will be bowled to him and what he can do to dominate that bowling. And dominate he did. This was more of a usual Kohli innings. Here Kohli gave Rahane the platform, and Rahane launched from there.
"I was thinking what my approach was going to be because only survival was not the point on this wicket because we wanted to score runs and we were thinking if we get 170-180 that will be a good total on this track," Rahane said. "I was actually thinking from last night what are the important shots on this wicket and if I get aggressive in my batting I wanted to put South Africa on the back foot."
There was no shortage of courage here either. Early on in his innings he was hit on the back elbow by a length ball that kicked at him. He immediately looked at the dugout, not to draw the physio's attention, but to tell him not to come to help him because he wanted to send a message. He didn't even rub the elbow. This is so Rahane. On India's last tour here, his first real Test series, Rahane reacted similarly after Dale Steyn hit him.
"I remember thinking, 'Everybody is watching,'" Rahane told ESPNcricinfo later. "Back home on TV too. I didn't want to show to the world I was a soft boy. Or that the ball has hurt me. I had to give Dale Steyn a strong message too. That nothing has happened to me. That if you will keep standing here, I will also keep staring at you. You see, the batsman has an advantage here: the bowler has to go back to his mark at some point, and even if he turns around and looks at you, you can still meet his stare. I never lost eye contact."
This here, though, was not a fight with the bowler. Here you had to fight the pitch. Stare the devil in its eye, keep tapping it with the bat every chance you get, and bear everything it throws at you. India's courage didn't stop at Kohli and Rahane, rightfully back as India's two attacking batsmen. The defence of M Vijay for 127 balls, the application of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the hitting of Mohammed Shami, they were all signs that the captain was not the only one wanting to be there in the middle.
This day's play won't undo the basic mistakes made in preparation and selection earlier on the tour as the series is already gone, but through this day's play, this team has done a lot to beat the derogatory notion that India's batsmen go missing when the heat is on. This was one of India's most glorious days of batting away from home in what is already one of India's most glorious Tests from home.
Here was a side risking going out of the game for weeks or months in an attempt to win a dead rubber. They were not just bearing with the pitch, they were enjoying it. You can see why India are aggrieved that at the end of the day they had to go off because the umpires felt the pitch was now dangerous just as much as you can see why the umpires would stop play. Anything less than a Test win in return for this effort will seem like an injustice to those who bravely took blow after blow. There is no guarantee the Test will end of its own volition and bring them a win, but they have already won many a cynic over with this batting performance. | 95,941,461 |
Recently, in hospitals or the like, there is an increased need for performing various treatments such as separation, extraction, inspection, and measurement of minute substances such as bacteria (for example, protozoa, and bacteria dissolved in water, such as colon bacillus such as O157 and O26, Legionella bacteria, cryptosporidium bacteria, salmonella, dysentery bacillus, and Campylobacter bacteria).
Particularly, reports of accidents and cases of diseases due to Legionella bacteria have been increasing rapidly. Legionnaires' disease was specified as a category 4 infection by the “Law Concerning Prevention of Infections and Medical Care for Patients of Infections” (new law for infection control) in December 1998, and has a risk of death for aged people and people in an immunological deficiency state or in a state with resisting power being weakened. Therefore, investigation into the cause thereof, and stable detection and rapid detection of Legionella bacteria have been desired.
The microbes such as bacteria are generally obtained in a condition where a minor amount of microbes are suspended in a large amount (for example, from about 50 mL to about 10 L) of liquid (for example, blood, juice, feces, or sewage). Various treatments such as culturing and amplification of the microbes and PCR for detecting O antigens or Verotoxin (VT) genes need to be performed in a state with the concentration of the microbes being increased.
Regarding Legionnaires' disease, for example, according to “New Guidelines for Prevention of Legionnaires' Disease”, chlorination needs to be performed immediately, when an inspection result is 1 cfu/100 ml (cfu: colony forming unit) in an inspection of environmental water in a bath or the like, which a human body directly touches, or when an inspection result is 10 cfu/100 ml in an inspection of environmental water in a cooling tower or a heat storage tank. In order to detect the borderline, enrichment of Legionella bacteria from a large amount of samples such as several hundred milliliters is required.
Conventionally, therefore, separation and extraction have been performed by causing a large amount (for example, more than 1 liter) of suspension in which the microbes are suspended, to pass through a barrier filter or sterilization filter, or by centrifugal separation, or by culturing in a medium. Generally, however, the suspension contains a large number of impurities other than the target. Because there is such cloudiness and contamination in the suspension, when the barrier filter or sterilization filter using a pore size smaller than the biomass is a membrane filter or the like, inefficiency has been frequently pointed out, and there is a disadvantage in that these filters are blocked or undesired substances are collected. Moreover, when centrifugal separation is used, it is normal that centrifugal separation is performed for 10 minutes at a speed of 11000 rpm, for example, by obtaining 1 mL of a sample in a tube, and it is difficult to handle a large amount of liquid of more than 1 liter at a time in view of equipment size. Thus, conventionally, it has been difficult to separate a target from a large volume of suspension, and time and labor are required.
Moreover, taking into consideration the case where substances such as bacteria that affect living things such as humans are handled, an apparatus has been desired that can automatically perform treatment without the need of human operation, portions in contact with the suspension can be replaced without the need of washing, and it can be used efficiently and reliably.
To capture microbes or the like such as bacteria, it is known that capturing efficiency can be increased by using a capturing material of an appropriate size corresponding to the size of the bacteria. | 95,941,557 |
[Eating addiction - a behavioral addiction?].
With the introduction of the category Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders in DSM-5 for the first time behavioral addictions have entered the medical classification system. Food Addiction can be diagnosed with a 25-item questionnaire based on DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence. Food Addiction centers between substance-based addiction and non-substance-based behavioral addiction. To date, there is no evidence for a food component displaying addictive properties similar to psychotropic substances, such as cocaine or heroin. There is a lack of valid and reliable psychiatric-diagnostic criteria that aim to characterize Eating-Addiction as a behavioral addiction. | 95,941,820 |
Allergic reactions to nickel-containing orthodontic appliances: clinical signs and treatment alternatives.
Nickel is the most common contact allergen. Nickel-containing orthodontic appliances are implicated in allergic reactions, which represent a type IV delayed hypersensitivity immune response. Nickel hypersensitivity is diagnosed through the patient's history, clinical findings, and biocompatibility testing (patch skin tests). While testing the level of nickel in mucosa and blood does not have diagnostic value, the in vitro cell proliferation assays could be an important diagnostic tool. Allergic hypersensitivity reactions may involve intra- and extraoral clinical signs, comprising diffuse erythema, edema, eczema, fissuring, desquamation, and symptoms such as itching and soreness. Caution and close monitoring should be exercised when placing nickel-containing orthodontic appliances in patients with known histories of nickel contact dermatitis, as the original treatment approach might need modification. The aim of this article is to provide orthodontists with the necessary knowledge about the biologic mechanisms, diagnostic tools, and clinical signs, as well as the treatment alternatives to nickel-induced allergic reactions. | 95,941,962 |
Dry & Store Box
The Dry & Store Box will pay for itself many times over by reduced hearing aid repair costs. Put your hearing aid or hearing aids in the unit overnight. Dry & Store Box will keep them working far longer by absorbing damage causing moisture from the interior of your hearing aids.
The Dry & Store Box is excellent for areas with high humidity, or where heavy perspiration exists.
Protects your valuable hearing aid.
Dries ear wax that can interfere with the function of your hearing aid.
Extends the life of your hearing aid.
We're here to help you!
Contact Precise Hearing
Precise Hearing's trained specialists are happy to assist you in choosing the right hearing aid solution for your unique loss. They can also:
Help determine how to read your hearing test
Help you find the tubes, domes, and other accessories that fit your current hearing aids
Offer support for hearing aids and/or accessories that you have already purchased through Precise Hearing | 95,942,112 |
By Brandon Turbeville
Following on the heels of the pseudo-journalistic whitewash by the BBC regarding the UK government’s funding of terrorism in Syria, USA Today has released a similar piece revealing how the United States has armed ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Of course, USA Today claims that the arms which made their way from the United States and Saudi Arabia to the hands of ISIS were all unintentional, thus completing another whitewash of what has already been exposed numerous times in the alternative media.
The report by USA Today, entitled “The U.S. Bought Weapons For Syrian Rebels – And Some Wound Up In The Hands Of ISIS Terrorists,” Jim Michaels wrote,
Sophisticated weapons the U.S. military secretly provided to Syrian rebels quickly fell into the hands of the Islamic State, a study released Thursday disclosed. The report said the Islamic State’s possession of these weapons remains a threat to the U.S.-led coalition still operating against the terror group in Iraq and Syria. The arms included anti-tank weapons purchased by the United States that ended up in possession of the Islamic State within two months of leaving the factory, according to the study by Conflict Armament Research, an organization that tracks arms shipments. The study was funded by the European Union and German government. Efforts by the United States and other countries to supply weapons to rebel groups “have significantly augmented the quantity and quality of weapons available to (Islamic State) forces,” the report concluded. The study examined 40,000 weapons and other items recovered from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, during the past three years. The militants have been retreating across Iraq and Syria as U.S.-backed forces have routed them from their strongholds. Investigators were unable to determine whether ISIS captured the weapons on the battlefield or whether the rebels sold or gave the arms to the terror group. The report cites an ISIS propaganda video showing militants with weapons captured last year from the New Syrian Army, an alliance of fighters battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. It has long been known that ISIS captured a huge amount of American weapons —including tanks and artillery — when the militant group swept into Iraq from Syria in 2014 and routed several divisions of Iraqi soldiers, many who abandoned their weapons and fled. The new study raises questions about a different source for weapons: arms secretly sent to rebel factions fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad in his long civil war. The covert CIA program, begun by the Obama administration in 2013, was ended earlier this year by President Trump. Saudi Arabia, which — like the U.S. — strongly opposes Assad, also supplies weapons to rebel groups. The CIA declined to comment on the report.
ISIS Is Controlled By The U.S. And NATO
It is important to point out that the Islamic State is not some shadowy force that emerged from the caves of Afghanistan to form an effective military force that is funded by Twitter donations and murky secretive finance deals. IS is entirely the creation of NATO and the West and NATO remains in control of the organization.
As Tony Cartalucci writes in his article “ Implausible Deniability: West’s ISIS Terror Hordes In Iraq,”
Beginning in 2011 – and actually even as early as 2007 – the United States has been arming, funding, and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and a myriad of armed terrorist organizations to overthrow the government of Syria, fight Hezbollah in Lebanon, and undermine the power and influence of Iran, which of course includes any other government or group in the MENA region friendly toward Tehran.
Image: ISIS corridors begin in Turkey and end in Baghdad. [credit: Land Destroyer]
Billions in cash have been funneled into the hands of terrorist groups including Al Nusra, Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and what is now being called “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” or ISIS. One can see clearly by any map of ISIS held territory that it butts up directly against Turkey’s borders with defined corridors ISIS uses to invade southward – this is because it is precisely from NATO territory this terrorist scourge originated.
ISIS was harbored on NATO territory, armed and funded by US CIA agents with cash and weapons brought in from the Saudis, Qataris, and NATO members themselves. The “non-lethal aid” the US and British sent including the vehicles we now see ISIS driving around in.
They didn’t “take” this gear from “moderates.” There were never any moderates to begin with. The deadly sectarian genocide we now see unfolding was long ago predicted by those in the Pentagon – current and former officials – interviewed in 2007 by Pulitzer Prize-winning veteran journalist Seymour Hersh. Hersh’s 9-page 2007 report, “The Redirection” states explicitly:
To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has cooperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.
“Extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam” and are “sympathetic to Al Qaeda” – is a verbatim definition of what ISIS is today. Clearly the words of Hersh were as prophetic as they were factually informed, grounded in the reality of a regional conflict already engineered and taking shape as early as 2007. Hersh’s report would also forewarn the sectarian nature of the coming conflict, and in particular mention the region’s Christians who were admittedly being protected by Hezbollah.
While Hersh’s report was written in 2007, knowledge of the plan to use death squads to target Middle Eastern countries, particularly Syria, had been reported on even as far back as 2005 by Michael Hirsh and John Barry for Newsweek in an article entitled “The Salvador Option.”
Regardless, Cartalucci states in a separate article, “NATO’s Terror Hordes In Iraq A Pretext For Syria Invasion,”
In actuality, ISIS is the product of a joint NATO-GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] conspiracy stretching back as far as 2007 where US-Saudi policymakers sought to ignite a region-wide sectarian war to purge the Middle East of Iran’s arch of influence stretching from its borders, across Syria and Iraq, and as far west as Lebanon and the coast of the Mediterranean. ISIS has been harbored, trained, armed, and extensively funded by a coalition of NATO and Persian Gulf states within Turkey’s (NATO territory) borders and has launched invasions into northern Syria with, at times, both Turkish artillery and air cover. The most recent example of this was the cross-border invasion by Al Qaeda into Kasab village, Latikia province in northwest Syria.
Cartalucci is referring to a cross-border invasion that was coordinated with NATO, Turkey, Israel, and the death squads where Israel acted as air force cover while Turkey facilitated the death squad invasion from inside its own borders.
Keep in mind also that, prior to the rapid appearance and seizure of territory by ISIS in Syria and Iraq, European media outlets like Der Spiegel reported that hundreds of fighters were being trained in Jordan by Western intelligence and military personnel for the purpose of deployment in Syria to fight against Assad. The numbers were said to be expected to reach about 10,000 fighters when the reports were issued in March, 2013. Although Western and European media outlets would try to spin the operation as the training of “moderate rebels,” subsequent reports revealed that these fighters were actually ISIS fighters.
Western media outlets have also gone to great lengths to spin the fact that ISIS is operating in both Syria and Iraq with an alarming number of American weapons and equipment. As Business Insider stated, “The report [study by the London-based small arms research organization Conflict Armament Research] said the jihadists disposed of ‘significant quantities’ of US-made small arms including M16 assault rifles and included photos showing the markings ‘Property of US Govt.’” The article also acknowledged that a large number of the weapons used by ISIS were provided by Saudi Arabia, a close American ally.
ISIS IS Al-Qaeda
It is important to remember that the so-called leader of ISIS is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As Voltaire Net describes Baghdadi,
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is an Iraqi who joined Al-Qaeda to fight against President Saddam Hussein. During the U.S. invasion, he distinguished himself by engaging in several actions against Shiites and Christians (including the taking of the Baghdad Cathedral) and by ushering in an Islamist reign of terror (he presided over an Islamic court which sentenced many Iraqis to be slaughtered in public). After the departure of Paul Bremer III, al-Baghdadi was arrested and incarcerated at Camp Bucca from 2005 to 2009. This period saw the dissolution of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, whose fighters merged into a group of tribal resistance, the Islamic Emirate of Iraq. On 16 May 2010, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was named emir of the IEI, which was in the process of disintegration. After the departure of U.S. troops, he staged operations against the government al-Maliki, accused of being at the service of Iran. In 2013, after vowing allegiance to Al-Qaeda, he took off with his group to continue the jihad in Syria, rebaptizing it Islamic Emirate of Iraq and the Levant. In doing so, he challenged the privileges that Ayman al-Zawahiri had previously granted, on behalf of Al-Qaeda, to the Al-Nusra Front in Syria, which was originally nothing more than an extension of the IEI.
Regardless, false assumptions surrounding the true leadership of ISIS would be called into question in January of 2014 when Al-Arabiya, a Saudi-owned and operated news agency, published an article as well as a video of an interrogation of an ISIS fighter who had been captured while operating inside Syria.
When asked why ISIS was following the movement of the Free Syrian Army and who had given him the orders to do so, the fighter stated that he did not know why he was ordered to monitor the FSA’s movement but that the orders had come from Abu Faisal, also known as Prince Abdul Rachman al-Faisal of the Saudi Royal Family.
An excerpt from the relevant section of the interrogation reads as follows:
Interrogator: Why do you (ISIS) monitor the movement of the Free Syrian Army? ISIS Detainee: I don’t know exactly why but we received orders from ISIS command. Interrogator: Who among ISIS gave the orders? ISIS Detainee: Prince Abdul Rachman al-Faisal, who is also known as Abu Faisal.
Such revelations, of course, will only be shocking news to those who have been unaware of the levels to which the Saudis have been involved with the funding, training, and directing of death squad forces deployed in Syria. Indeed, the Saudis have even openly admitted to the Russian government that they do, in fact, control a number of varied terrorist organizations across the world.
Even tired mainstream media organizations such as Newsweek (aka The Daily Beast) can no longer ignore the facts surrounding the Saudis’ involvement with the organization of terrorist groups across the world.
Note also that Voltaire Net describes al-Nusra, a documented al-Qaeda connected group, as merely an extension of the IEI (Islamic Emirate of Iraq) which itself was nothing more than a version of Al-Qaeda In Iraq. Thus, from Al-Qaeda in Iraq, came the IEI, which then became the Islamic Emirate of Iraq and the Levant. IEIL then became ISIS/ISIL which is now often referred to as IS.
In other words, Nusra=Al-Qaeda-IEI=IEIL=ISIL=ISIS=IS.
With the information presented above regarding the nature of the Free Syrian Army and the so-called “moderate rebels,” it would be entirely fair to add these “moderate” groups to the list as well.
Although too lengthy of a study to be presented in this article, it is important to point out that al-Qaeda is entirely a creation of the West, created for the purpose of drawing the Soviets into Afghanistan in the 1970s and a host of other geopolitical goals in the middle east and around the world, 9/11 being the most memorable instance of Western intelligence al-Qaeda mobilization.
Arms To “Moderates” – Arms To “Extremists”
Name changes aside, it is clear to everyone that arming “vetted” “moderate” “rebels” was only cover for arming ISIS, even since the Obama administration admitted publicly to doing what the CIA had already been doing covertly for years in arming the “rebels.”
The so-called “opposition” in Syria is anything but moderate. As Tony Cartalucci wrote in his article, “In Syria, There Are No Moderates,”
. . . . . there were never, nor are there any “moderates” operating in Syria. The West has intentionally armed and funded Al Qaeda and other sectarian extremists since as early as 2007 in preparation for an engineered sectarian bloodbath serving US-Saudi-Israeli interests. This latest bid to portray the terrorists operating along and within Syria’s borders as “divided” along extremists/moderate lines is a ploy to justify the continued flow of Western cash and arms into Syria to perpetuate the conflict, as well as create conditions along Syria’s borders with which Western partners, Israel, Jordan, and Turkey, can justify direct military intervention.
Indeed, even the New York Times has been forced to admit that there are, as Cartalucci expertly argues in his article, no moderates in the ranks of the Syrian death squads. As Ben Hubbard wrote in April, 2013,
In Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, rebels aligned with Al Qaeda control the power plant, run the bakeries and head a court that applies Islamic law. Elsewhere, they have seized government oil fields, put employees back to work and now profit from the crude they produce. Across Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government. Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.
Even one of the FSA commanders, Bassel Idriss, recently admitted to openly collaborating with ISIS and al-Nusra, revealing yet another example of the fact that the “moderate rebels” are not moderate at all.
In an interview with the Daily Star of Lebanon, Idriss stated “We are collaborating with the Islamic State and the Nusra Front by attacking the Syrian Army’s gatherings in . . . Qalamoun . . . . Let’s face it: The Nusra Front is the biggest power present right now in Qalamoun and we as FSA would collaborate on any mission they launch as long as it coincides with our values.”
Idriss also admitted that many FSA fighters had pledged allegiance to ISIS. He said, “[ISIS] wanted to enhance its presence in the Western Qalamoun area. After the fall of Yabroud and the FSA’s retreat into the hills [around Arsal], many units pledged allegiance [to ISIS]”.
Abu Fidaa, a retired Syrian Army Colonel who is now a part of the Revolutionary Council in the Qalamoun, corroborated Idrisss’ statements by saying that “A very large number of FSA members [in Arsal] have joined ISIS and Nusra. In the end, people want to eat, they want to live, and the Islamic State has everything.”
Not only the FSA, but also the Syrian Revolutionary Front has also openly admitted to working with Nusra and al-Qaeda. The leader of the SRF, Jamaal Maarouf admitted that his brigades coordinate with Nusra and al-Qaeda regularly.
The atrocities committed by America’s “rebels” in Syria are legion and, in order to compile them all in one article, we would end up with several volumes of books simply telling one gruesome story after another. Coffee vender Mohammed al-Qatta was captured and killed for stating that he would not extend credit to an unspecified individual “Even if Muhammad comes down,” a common phrase used by many Syrians. This statement was construed as blasphemy by the death squads who are portrayed as “freedom fighters” by the Western media and government agencies supporting them.
Upon making the statement, al-Qatta was abducted by the death squads and tortured before being publicly executed. UPI reports “When they brought him back, the teen’s head was covered with his shirt and his body bore marks of whipping.”
The death squads then paraded the young man in front of a crowd that included his parents and siblings, announcing that “cursing the prophet” is a horrible act and others committing such crimes will be punished. The death squads then shot the boy once in the mouth and once in the neck.
The Huffington Post writes that the murderers are believed to be “members of a rebel group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front. “
Even the pseudo-organizations like the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have found it impossible to obfuscate the animalistic brutality of the death squads in this latest act. Indeed, death squad supporter Rami Abdul Rahman has been forced to admit the savagery of groups he has supported for at least the last two years.
What is more interesting is that Rahman has been forced to admit that the killers were likely foreign fighters – not native Syrians fighting for freedom against their oppressive government, as Western audiences have been propagandized to believe.
“They spoke classical Arabic, not Syrian dialect,” he said.
“They shot the boy twice, once in the mouth, another in his neck, in front of his mother, his father and his siblings,” he added.
Ironically, it is reported that the 15-year old victim had taken part in protests against the government prior to his “blasphemous” remark, thus proving that the death squads which are now being mopped up by Assad’s forces, are incapable of even the slightest cognitive functions that allow for coexistence.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has criticized the killing as “criminal” and as a “gift to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.”
“This kind of criminality is exactly what makes people in Syria fear the fall of the regime,” Abdel Rahman said.
Yet this kind of criminality and “gifts” to Assad have been taking place ever since the invasion of foreign-backed death squads into Syria two years ago when those efforts began in earnest. Indeed, Rahman and his Observatory have been supporting the death squads throughout the entire ordeal in full knowledge of the atrocities being committed against the Syrian people.
Rahman and his organization are clearly aware of videos showing the death squads machine gunning captives, beheading prisoners (see here and here), and forcing young children to behead them. I, myself, have written an article dealing with reports regarding the death squad’s hanging of a young child after murdering his family in front of him. One can also view the videos of the death squad members beating and humiliating the famous elderly “Yellow Man” in Aleppo.
Remember that“rebel” leader Abu Sakkar was videotaped cutting out the heart of a Syrian soldier and then biting it for the camera to see. Shortly before biting the man’s heart, Sakkar stated to the camera “I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers.”
The video can be seen here and it came fresh on the heels of a pledge by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to provide $123 million in aid to the Syrian death squads and £40 million by the UK, all in the midst of a worldwide economic depression and the imposition of brutal austerity measures in both countries. It should be noted that Abu Sakkar was a leader in the Yarmouk Brigade, a fighting unit of the Free Syrian Army.
Always known for their brutality and inhumanity to innocent men, women, and children, America’s “rebels” videotaped themselves beheading a child (under the age of 12) they had accused of fighting alongside the Liwaa al-Quds (Quds Brigade), a Palestinian militia fighting alongside the Syrian government.
The video, which was recorded by the terrorists of Nour al-Din al-Zinki, an American-backed “rebel” group, showed the child in ragged clothes sitting in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by five bearded terrorists. The child is then laid on his stomach and his hands tied behind his back. After a short intro speech by the executioner, the child’s head is then lifted up and the executioner begins sawing with a small and, apparently, dull knife through the child’s neck. After a few muffled attempts at screaming, the knife having severed the vocal chords early enough to prevent most of that, the executioner holds the child’s head above his own and utters the familiar cry of “Allahu Akbar!” At this point, his chanting friends, more akin to a pack of crazed apes more than anything resembling human, begin repeating the chant and holding their hands in the air, celebrating their kill.
In the video, it should be noted that the terrorist says “We will leave no one in Handarat,” an open admission of the intent and purpose of committing an act of genocide.
The Jerusalem Brigade (al-Quds Brigade) released a statement saying that the boy was not a fighter with the brigade and identified him as Abdullah Issa.
“He lived in al-Mashhad [Aleppo] with his family, among multiple poor families that live in the area under the control of terrorists,” said al-Quds, adding that the boy was ill. “By taking one glance at the child – the argument that he was a fighter is immediately disapproved.” Issa had begged to be shot in the head instead of beheading, even a small mercy being denied.
I myself traveled to Syria in October, 2017 and heard many stories from the Syrian people of similar cruelty, a village baker being shoved into his ovens, a young girl held for ransom and cut apart piece by piece in front of her family. There are no shortage of similar stories of the cruelty of America’s rebels anywhere they managed to seize territory.
More Alleged Moderates Join ISIS/Al-Qaeda – Bring TOW Missiles With Them
Harakat Hazm, propagandized to the American public as the face of the “moderate rebellion” in Syria has been the recipient of a large quantity of American weapons in the past including TOW anti-tank rockets and other arms.
According to mainstream outlets like The Daily Beast, Harakat Hazm was one of the few terrorist organizations actually trusted by the White House, hence the heavy amount of weaponry provided to them by the Pentagon. As funding for the death squad forces began to dry up, the story goes, the beleaguered fighters were forced to join ISIS in order to stay alive in their fight against the secular government of Bashar al-Assad and their alleged fight against al-Nusra (ISIS/al-Qaeda).
The truth, however, is that Harakat Hazm is nothing more than another branch of the jihadist extremists such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, and the FSA. Even more so, Hazm functions more as a funnel of weapons provided by the West at taxpayer expense to the very terrorist organizations that the Western public is constantly propagandized to fear.
Since Hazm is represented to the public as “moderates,” they are able to act as the public face of the “rebellion,” while the true recipients of weaponry go to their intended target – ISIS, et al.
It is thus important to remember the Washington Post article from 2014 entitled, “U.S. Backed Syria Rebels Routed By Fighters Linked To al-Qaeda,” where the US news agency attempted to describe how al-Nusra fighters were able to capture large amounts of weaponry from Harakat Hazm in the village of Khan Subbul in November of last year. The Washington Post reported that,
Among the groups whose bases were overrun in the assault was Harakat Hazm, the biggest recipient of U.S. assistance offered under a small-scale, covert CIA program launched this year, including the first deliveries of U.S.-made TOW antitank missiles. The group’s headquarters outside the village of Khan Subbul was seized by Jabhat al-Nusra overnight Saturday, after rebel fighters there surrendered their weapons and fled without a fight, according to residents in the area. […] Harakat Hazm, whose name means “Steadfastness Movement,” had also received small arms and ammunition alongside non-lethal aid in the form of vehicles, food and uniforms from the United States and its European and Persian Gulf Arab allies grouped as the Friends of Syria alliance. Scores of its fighters had received U.S. training in Qatar under the covert program, but it was also not possible to confirm whether any of those fighters had defected to the al-Qaeda affiliate.
While it is certainly true that, because of the mentally deranged nature of the fundamentalist terrorists belonging to these various groups, there are a number of violent conflicts that take place between them as they vie for power or quibble over disagreements in religious minutia, it is also true that the implied apocalyptic battle between Nusra and Harakat Hazm presented by mainstream outlets like the Washington Post never actually took place.
As one can read from the passages quoted above, the so-called moderates who just happened (another convenient coincidence) to be the same so-called moderates who were the “biggest recipients of U.S. assistance” were allegedly confronted by Nusra and “surrendered their weapons and fled without a fight.”
In other words, the U.S. provided these groups with a massive amount of assistance that was subsequently given to al-Nusra. While the mainstream media will present this as the result of a complicated battle situation, the truth is that it was nothing more than a conduit to provide arms to terrorist organizations whose public relations skills may not be as developed as the US State Department would hope.
Lastly, it must be pointed out that Harakat Hazm should not be considered the “biggest recipient” of U.S. aid, since Harakat Hazm is simply one division of the whole that has been receiving billions of dollars of U.S. aid and equipment as well as other relevant assistance since at least 2010.
In the end, the alleged al-Nusra/Harakat Hazm battle, when correctly understood in its proper context, should be viewed as nothing more than a carefully constructed cover story for the re-arming of Al-Nusra and other relevant Western-backed death squad forces.
Thus, with the recent disbanding of Harakat Hazm and the blending with al-Qaeda/ISIS forces, al-Qaeda/ISIS forces are now the beneficiaries of fresh new batches of relatively sophisticated weaponry and TOW anti-tank missiles.
It is thus very likely that Harakat Hazm has only ever existed for the purposes of plausible deniability on the part of NATO and the United States as they continue to arm, direct, and facilitate cannibals and caliphs running rampant across Syria and Iraq.
Airdrops To ISIS
As the “convenient” and “accidental” airdrops of weapons and supplies by the US and NATO into the hands of ISIS and al-Qaeda jihadists fighting inside both Syria and Iraq began to draw more attention throughout largely alternative media outlets, such convenient mistakes also came to be questioned by national governments, particularly those who may be in the crosshairs of NATO in the very near future.
Individuals who have come to question the nature of the allegedly accidental air drops are legion, but one of the more recent and high profile skeptics is the Commander of Iran’s Basij Force, Brigadier General Mohammed Reza Naqdi.
In an address to a group of Basij forces on January 5, Naqdi stated that “The US directly supports the ISIL in Iraq and the US planes drop the needed aids and weapons for ISIL in Iraq …” In addition, he stated that the US Embassy in Baghdad is the command center for ISIL and other “takfiri” militants.
Indeed, while the United States military portrays the receipt of weapons and supplies by ISIS as entirely accidental, Naqdi presents the situation as quite the opposite. Contradicting the propaganda and stated aims of the US military, Naqdi stated that the Iraqi forces have managed to retrieve aid that was actually intended for ISIS fighters, not the other way around.
Naqdi, however, is merely the latest official in the region who has suggested that the U.S. “assault” on ISIS is half-hearted at best. Iraqi Member of Parliament Majid al-Gharawi recently stated that all information available “pointed out that US planes are supplying ISIL organization, not only in Salahuddin province, but also other provinces,” according to Iraq TradeLink.
He also stated that the United States is “not serious in fighting against the ISIL organization, because they have the technological power to determine the presence of ISIL gunmen and destroy them in one month [but have not done so].”
Gharawi suggested that the “the US is trying to expand the time of the war against the ISIL to get guarantees from the Iraqi government to have its bases in Mosul and Anbar provinces.”
It is important to mention that, according to FARS News, the Iraqi Parliamentary Security and Defense Commission revealed that a US plane did indeed supply ISIS with arms and ammunition in the Salahuddin province in Iraq, yet that revelation has received little to no coverage in the West.
In late December, 2014, yet another Iraqi lawmaker, Nahlah al-Hababi, questioned the motives and commitment of the US and its anti-ISIL coalition and claimed that the terrorist groups are actually receiving a large amount of aid dropped by unidentified aircraft.
Hababi is quoted by FARS News Agency as stating “The international coalition is not serious about air strikes on ISIL terrorists and is even seeking to take out the popular Basij (voluntary) forces from the battlefield against the Takfiris so that the problem with ISIL remains unsolved in the near future.”
“Basij” is a term that largely means “volunteer” as in volunteer forces.
She also was quoted as saying that “The ISIL terrorists are still receiving aids from unidentified fighter jets in Iraq and Syria.”
FARS also quotes Hababi as pointing out that the airstrikes launched by NATO are only launched in areas where Kurdish Peshmerga forces are fighting, while such strikes launched in other areas are “not so precise.” The suggestion, of course, is that the “coalition” has a vested interest in supporting the Kurdish forces while, at the same time, supporting ISIS in the process of weakening Syria’s Assad, Iraqi nationalism, and presumably, Iranian influence. Clearly, Hababi is not far off from the reality of the situation.
As FARS writes,
In late December, the US-led coalition dropped aids to the Takfiri militants in an area North of Baghdad. Field sources in Iraq told al-Manar that the international coalition airplanes dropped aids to the terrorist militants in Balad, an area which lies in Salahuddin province North of Baghdad. In October, a high-ranking Iranian commander also slammed the US for providing aid supplies to ISIL, adding that the US claims that the weapons were mistakenly airdropped to ISIL were untrue. “The US and the so-called anti-ISIL coalition claim that they have launched a campaign against this terrorist and criminal group – while supplying them with weapons, food and medicine in Jalawla region (a town in Diyala Governorate, Iraq). This explicitly displays the falsity of the coalition’s and the US’ claims,” Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said. The US claimed that it had airdropped weapons and medical aid to Kurdish fighters confronting the ISIL in Kobani, near the Turkish border in Northern Syria. The US Defense Department said that it had airdropped 28 bundles of weapons and supplies, but one of them did not make it into the hands of the Kurdish fighters. Video footage later showed that some of the weapons that the US airdropped were taken by ISIL militants.
The question of such “convenient accidents” are by no means unique to the Middle Eastern, Iraqi, or Iranian press reports, however. These types of “mistakes” happen on a seemingly regular basis in areas where the United States is allegedly fighting the very terrorist organization it created.
In October, 2014, “coalition” forces dropped a number of aid supplies and ammunition allegedly intended for the Iraqi people and anti-Isis forces on the ground into territory controlled by ISIS. The “mistake” was confirmed by Iraqi officials and parliamentarians.
Only in the West, it seems, does the general public look upon the so-called mistakes as anything but a sloppy excuse to re-arm NATO’s terrorist mercenaries in order to reinvigorate their proxy war.
A number of allegations made by the Iraqi army regarding US and UK airdrops of weapons and other equipment have been made as well particularly around March, 2015.
These reports are by no means the first time that the United States, Europe, or Israel have been implicated in the arming and support of ISIS. It is, however, the first time Iraqi forces (since the initial US invasion of 2003) have mounted a direct resistance to US and NATO treachery.
Leaked Documents Show How The U.S., Gulf Countries Ship Weapons To Terrorists Using Diplomatic Flight Cover
A report by Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva entitled, “350 Diplomatic Flights Carry Weapons For Terrorists,” may very well have blown the lid on a secret program to provide weapons to terrorists in Iraq and Syria as well as anti-Houthi militants in Yemen. Gaytandzhieva’s report claims that the documents leaked to her by anonymous sources show that the Azberbaijani airline Silk Way Airlines was contracted by companies in the United States, Israel, and the Balkans to the militaries of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates as well as U.S. Special Ops. Gaytandzhieva’s own on-the-ground reporting also uncovered many weapons related to this secret trade in Aleppo after she had traveled there to investigate the story. PLEASE NOTE: It is important to visit Gaytandzhieva’s original article in which she presents scanned copies of the documents sent to her.
Although Gaytandzhieva’s report was months old, it gained wider traction in the alternative media after it was revealed she was subsequently interrogated by Bulgaria’s intelligence services and then fired from her newspaper because of the story.Gaytandzhieva reported that at least 350 diplomatic flights by Silk Way Airlines (an Azeri state-run company) transported weapons all across the world to various war zones over the past three years. She writes that the planes carried “tens of tons of heavy weapons and ammunition headed to terrorists under the cover of diplomatic flights.” Gaytandzhieva says that the documents implicating Silk Way Airlines were sent to her on Twitter by Anonymous Bulgaria.
She reported that the documents include correspondence between the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Bulgaria. They also include documents which were attached requesting clearance for overflight and/or landing in Bulgaria and many other countries in Europe as well as the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Turkey including others still. The documents show Silk Way Airlines offering diplomatic flights to private companies and arm manufacturers in Israel, the Balkans, and the United States as well as the UAE, KSA, militaries and U.S. Special Ops Command (USSOCOM). The airline also offered its services to the militaries of Germany and Denmark in Afghanistan and to Sweden in Iraq.
AThe diplomatic flights were utilized because they are exempt from checks, taxes, and air bills. For that reason, she states that the Silk Way planes transported “hundreds of tons of weapons to different locations around the world without regulation” and for free.The planes made stops ranging from a few hours up to a whole day for no logical reason i.e. repair, refueling, etc., thus lending further evidence that the planes were indeed shipping weapons as a primary mission.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) requires that “Dangerous Goods, Regulations, operators, transporting dangerous goods forbidden transportation by civil aircrafts, must apply for exemption for transportation of dangerous goods by air.” According to the documents Gaytandzhieva received, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry sent instructions to its embassies in Bulgaria and other European countries requesting diplomatic clearance for Silk Way Airlines flights. The embassies then sent diplomatic notes to the Foreign Ministry of the host countries to request the exemption. The Foreign Ministry would then send back a note signed by the local civil aviation authorities granting the necessary exemption for the transport of the dangerous goods by air.
These requests, according to the documents and the report, included information about the type and quantity of the goods on board, listed as “heavy weapons and ammunition.” Still, Gaytandzhieva writes, “the responsible authorities of many countries (Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey, Germany, UK, Greece, etc.) have turned a blind eye and allowed diplomatic flights for the transport of tons of weapons, carried out by civil aircrafts for military needs.”
US Connection
The main customers of the “flights for weapons” program seem to be American companies which supply weaponry to the U.S. military and Special Operations Command. In the cases being addressed by Gaytandzhieva, however, all the weapons being transported are “non-standard” weapons, meaning those not used by the U.S. military or Special Ops.
According to the “register of federal contracts,” American companies were awarded contracts for $1 billion over the last three years under a program for “non-US standard weapons supplies.” According to the documents analyzed by Gaytanzhieva, all of these companies used Silk Way Airlines for the weapons transport. In some cases where Silk Way Airlines was too busy to accommodate shipment, Azerbaijan Air Force planes were used to transport the weapons. The weapons, however, never reached Azerbaijan.
Gaytanzhieva writes,
The documents leaked from the Embassy include shocking examples of weapon transport. A case in point: on 12th May 2015 an aircraft of Azerbaijan Air Forces carried 7,9 tons of PG-7V and 10 tons of PG-9V to the supposed destination via the route Burgas (Bulgaria)-Incirlik (Turkey)-Burgas-Nasosny (Azerbaijan). The consignor was the American company Purple Shovel, and the consignee – the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. According to the documents, however, the military cargo was offloaded at Incirlik military base and never reached the consignee. The weapons were sold to Purple Shovel by Alguns, Bulgaria, and manufactured by Bulgaria’s VMZ military plant. According to the federal contracts registry, in December of 2014 USSOCOM signed a $26.7 million contract with Purple Shovel. Bulgaria was indicated as the country of origin of the weapons. On 6th June 2015, a 41-year old American national Francis Norvello, an employee of Purple Shovel, was killed in a blast when a rocket-propelled grenade malfunctioned at a military range near the village of Anevo in Bulgaria. Two other Americans and two Bulgarians were also injured. The US Embassy to Bulgaria then released a statement announcing that the U.S. government contractors were working on a U.S. military program to train and equip moderate rebels in Syria. Which resulted in the U.S. Ambassador in Sofia to be immediately withdrawn from her post. The very same weapons as those supplied by Purple Shovel were not used by moderate rebels in Syria. In December of last year while reporting on the battle of Aleppo as a correspondent for Bulgarian media I found and filmed 9 underground warehouses full of heavy weapons with Bulgaria as their country of origin. They were used by Al Nusra Front (Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria designated as a terrorist organization by the UN). Another U.S. contractor involved in the same program for non-US standard military supplies is Orbital ATK. This company received $250 million over just the past two years. Information as to what type of weapons and to whom those weapons were supplied is classified. According to the documents, Orbital ATK transported weapons on 6 diplomatic Silk Way Airlines flights in July and August of 2015 flying the route Baku (Azerbaijan)-Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-Baku-Kabul (Afghanistan). The weapons were exported by IGMAN j.j. Konjic, (Bosnia and Herzegovina) commissioned by Orbital ATK. The consignee was the National Police of Afghanistan. Interestingly, all these diplomatic flights with weapons had technical landings and a 7 h 30 min stop at Baku before their final destination – Afghanistan. Military aircrafts of Azerbaijan transported 282 tons of cargo (PG-7VL and other grenades) on 10 diplomatic flights in April and May 2017 to the destination Baku-Rijeka (Croatia)-Baku. The consignor was the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, and the consignee – Culmen International LLC, USA. This same company has been awarded two contracts ($47 million each) along with other contractors for non-US standard weapon supplies on 18 February 2016 and 19 April 2017 respectively. Culmen International LLC has also signed a $26.7 million contract for foreign weapons with the Department of Defense and a $3.9 million contract for newly manufactured non-US standard weapons. Chemring Military Products is another main contractor in the program for non-US standard weapon supplies to the US army through diplomatic Silk Way Airlines flights. This military supplier has 4 contracts for $302.8 million in total. The weapons were purchased from local manufacturers in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania and according to documents transported to Iraq and Afghanistan via diplomatic flights. One of those flights in particular, on 18 October 2016, carrying 15.5 tons of 122 mm rockets bought by Chemring in Belgrade, Serbia, was diverted from its destination – Kabul, and instead landed in Lahore, Pakistan. After a 2-hour stop, the aircraft took off to Afghanistan. The only possible explanation for the extension of the flight by a thousand kilometers is offloading in Pakistan, even though documents stated that the cargo was destined for Afghanistan. The largest non-US standard weapons supplier to the US army is Alliant Techsystems Operations-USA with contracts totalling $490.4 million. In December of 2016, this company transported tons of grenades (API 23×115 mm, HE 23×115 mm, GSH 23×115 mm) from Yugoimport, Serbia to the Afghani Defense Ministry on diplomatic flights to the destination Baku-Belgrade-Kabul.
The Saudi Connection
The United States is by no means the sole patron of Silk Way Airlines and the diplomatic cover business for arms transfers. As many as 23 diplomatic flights carrying weapons from Bulgaria, Serbia, and Azerbaijan to Riyadh and Jedda were utilized according to Gaytanzhieva’s investigation. The consignees were listed as VMC military plant and Transmobile of Bulgaria, Yugoimport in Serbia, and CIHAZ in Azerbaijan, according to the documents.
It must be noted that KSA was clearly not purchasing those weapons for itself because KSA only uses Western weapons. It seems obvious that, if the documents are accurate, the weapons were those being funneled to terrorists in Syria and Yemen. KSA also provides weapons to southern Africa where wars, civil wars, warlords, and terror are commonplace due to the region’s vast amounts of natural wealth.
Gaytanzhieva writes,
On 28 April and 12 May this year, Silk Way carried out two diplomatic flights from Baku to Burgas-Jeddah-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo). The military cargo on-board of both flights was paid for by Saudi Arabia, according to the documents leaked from Azerbaijan’s Embassy to Bulgarian sources. The aircraft made a technical landing at Jeddah airport with a 12 h 30 min stop for the first flight and 14 h stop for the second one. The aircraft was loaded with mortars and anti-tank grenades including SPG-9 and GP-25. These very same weapons were discovered by the Iraqi army a month ago in an Islamic State warehouse in Mosul. Islamic State jihadists are also seen using those heavy weapons in propaganda videos posted online by the terrorist group. Interestingly, the consignee on the transport documents, however, is the Republican Guards of Congo. Coyote machine gun 12,7х108 mm appeared in videos and photos posted online by militant groups in Idlib and the province of Hama in Syria. The same type of weapon was transported on a diplomatic flight via Turkey and Saudi Arabia a few months earlier. In February and March of 2017, Saudi Arabia received 350 tons of weapons on Silk Way diplomatic flights flying to the route Baku-Belgrade-Prince Sultan-Baku. The cargo included 27 350 psc. 128-mm Plamen-a rockets and 10 000 pcs. 122 mm Grad rockets. The consignor was Tehnoremont Temerin, Serbia to order by Famеway Investment LTD, Cypruss. On 5 March 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft carried 1700 pcs. RPG-7 (consignor: Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan) and 2500 pcs. PG-7VM (consignor: Transmobilе Ltd., Bulgaria) for the Defense Ministry of Saudi Arabia. Diplomatic flights from Burgas Airport to Prince Sultan Airport on 18 and 28 February 2017 each carried a further 5080 psc. 40 mm PG-7V for RPG-7 and 24 978 psc. RGD-5. The weapons were exported by Transmobile, Bulgaria to the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia. Such munitions and RPG-7 originating in Bulgaria can often be seen in videos filmed and posted by the Islamic State on their propaganda channels.
UAE Connection
UAE also uses western standard weapons for its military. However, it is also another country that purchased non-standard weapons which were then apparently transferred to a third party. Gaytanzhieva writes,
On three flights to Burgas-Abu Dhabi-Swaihan in March and April of 2017, Silk Way transported 10.8 tons of PG7VM HEAT for 40 mm RPG-7 on each flight with technical landing and a 2-hour stop in Abu Dhabi. The exporter is Samel-90, Bulgaria, the importer – Al Tuff International Company LLC. The latter company is involved with Orbital ATK LLC, which is the Middle East subsidiary of the American military company Orbital ATK. Although the ultimate consignee is the UAE army, the documents of the flight reveal that the sponsoring party is Saudi Arabia.
Gaytandzhieva Fired From Newspaper After Questioning
Although the report was months old, Qatari-based al-Jazeera ran the story and revealed that Gaytanzhieva had been interrogated by the Bulgarian national security services and subsequently fired from her job with the paper. The reporter later tweeted and confirmed that she had indeed been questioned by security services and fired from her job.
Conclusion
While the Western corporate press are able to admit that “some” money “found its way” to ISIS proper in Syria, much like the BBC whitewash, it is unable to admit that money and arms were directly provided to ISIS and other jihadist groups. As the evidence demonstrates, however (although it is only the tip of the iceberg), the United States has clearly supported ISIS directly, even being the power most responsible for its organization, funding, arming, and direction as well as the constant propaganda campaign to paint the terrorists as a formidable fighting force. The latest piece by USA Today and other outlets following suit is thus one more whitewash of a much bigger story and one that has already been reported on years ago by the alternative media.
Image credit: The Anti-Media
Brandon Turbeville writes for Activist Post – article archive here – He is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President, and Resisting The Empire: The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome. Turbeville has published over 1000 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.
This article may be freely shared in part or in full with author attribution and source link.
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Computer start up problems
On a computer I agreed to help fix with my friend, I can't seem to figure any way out.
When we start it up, there is just a blinking cursor on the top left corner, like a big command prompt that takes up the screen. However, when we try to type in stuff, it doesn't input anything and just stays blinking. Is there any way to fix this start up problem? Thanks.
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Try presssing F-8 repeatedly at startup and see if it will list advanced boot options. If so > select Last known good configuration. It sounds to me to be a failed hard drive or MBR corruption. Has the HDD been tested?
There is another sneaky little feature which I have just run into on an ASUS motherboard and Win 7, which has just cost me at least two hours frustration.
Having arrived at the blank screen with the blinking cursor, like Pixelvoxel above, and rebooting and tapping F8, this sometimes brings up a screen headed 'Boot choice' or Boot options' or something like that anyway. On this computer, which has two DVD drives installed, it offered a sequence DVD drive (1), Hard drive (1), DVD drive (2). Mistaking it for the boot priority sequence, every time it came up I clicked on DVD drive (1). Return of flashing cursor.
It was only after I had taken a break it occurred to me to try something different - click on 'Hard drive (1). And lo ! Win 7 went and installed itself as though there had never been a problem. Just the small matter of a couple of hundred updates + a complete software re-install. Never mind, at least the (expletive deleted) thing is working.
It was only after I had taken a break it occurred to me to try something different - click on 'Hard drive (1). And lo ! Win 7 went and installed itself as though there had never been a problem. Just the small matter of a couple of hundred updates + a complete software re-install. Never mind, at least the (expletive deleted) thing is working. | 95,942,183 |
THE NATIONAL BALLOT REFERENDUM
From the 22nd till the 25th of November, UCA students will have the opportunity to vote in a university-wide referendum on the NUS National Ballot. The ballot poses the question, 'Should NUS conduct and publish a risk assessment and equality impact assessment before finalising the NSS boycott / sabotage action?'. For most students, this probably doesn't make much sense. It's a simple question, but it has a bit of background. Let's break this question down.
The UK government is launching Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) as a way of determining whether universities are ‘gold’, ‘silver’, or ‘bronze’ standard. Depending on which level a university is awarded, they will be allowed to raise their tuition fees further above and beyond the current £9,000 per year
TEF measures a number of things to determine whether a university should be gold, silver or bronze. One of their methods of measurement is the National Student Survey (NSS), which final year undergraduate students are asked to complete before they leave university. This is the only aspect of TEF which students have any direct control over.
In order to sabotage TEF (and therefore sabotage the government’s attempts to allow universities to raise tuition fees even further), the National Union of Students (NUS) has proposed a boycott of the NSS. This would mean either refusing to complete the survey, or providing unusable answers. As a result, universities that might normally be ‘gold’, would potentially be granted a ‘silver’ or ‘bronze’ because of students’ negative responses to NSS.
University of West London’s Students’ Union has asked that the NUS conducts a risk assessment into their proposed boycott of the NSS, to find out the potential harm to smaller students’ unions that are more reliant on the success of their relationship with their institution. It is possible that the boycott, and the potential sabotage of the Teaching Excellence Framework, could result in some students’ unions losing funding or support from their institution.
Now here’s where you come in: a National Ballot has been called by the NUS as to whether they should conduct this risk assessment. That’s all you need to answer today - the question we posed at the beginning:
Should NUS conduct and publish a risk assessment and equality impact assessment before finalising the NSS boycott / sabotage action?
To vote, follow the individual link that will be emailed to you when voting opens on Tuesday 22nd November. If you have any further questions about the ballot or the referendum, please email [email protected] | 95,942,257 |
FOLLOW
Eavesdropping
Me: Really great. It was so nice to connect with another writer working the system, climbing the publishing ladder. I really enjoyed her insights. We work very differently and in different genres.
Pai: Which isn’t a bad thing?
Me: Not at all. I think there are unique elements we can learn from each other and ideas and projects we can pass off to one another.
Pai: Which genre is her work?
Me: YA.
Pai: Why what?
Me: YA… Young Adult.
Pai: Argh, you Americans and your acronyms. It’s like you‘re all in the army all the time.
Me: (giggles) A book is YA when the protagonist is between the ages of 13-18. It doesn’t mean the book is specifically for teens, but that it deals with the struggles and adventures of youth.
Pai: Such as sparkly vampires would be YA even though it felt like everyone every age read that book?
Me: Exactly. What I love about YA is that you have none of the patriarchal nonsense of Adult Fiction.
Pai: Right, the Chick-Lit dilemma.
Me: (sarcastically overly serious) Um, excuse me, in the interest of being more inclusive and less debasing the term is actually Women’s Fiction.
Pai: (oozing with facetiousness) My humble apology, authoress.
Me: Listen, genres are incredibly important! When you pitch your book you toss your plea onto a specific slush pile; get that pile wrong and…
Pai: You don’t get past the gatekeeper.
Me: (nodding) You must KNOW THY WORK! I write contemporary fiction, BUT my work thus far has a female protagonist and is written with a female voice, therefore according to mainstream publishing should be marked to a female audience so my work is considered Women’s Fiction, but there is no Men’s Fiction genre. Anything written with a male perspective without Sci-Fi, Fantasy, dystopian or elements a historical timeframe is simply Contemporary Fiction.
Pai: So because you’re a woman and wrote a book about a woman that is why you have this specific genre.
Me: Not because I am a woman women’s fiction is fuzzy and nuanced. Nicholas Sparks writes Women’s Fiction, but some people consider his work more Romance. Paulo Coelho is marketed within Women’s Fiction.
Pai: And Fifty Shades of Gray is Romance?
Me: No, Fifty Shades of Gray is Erotic Romance or Erotica.
Pai: What’s the difference between Romance and Erotica?
Me: Writing where the sexual content’s objective is to stimulate or arouse the reader is Erotica and Romance is writing where sex and courtship exist and are a part of the plot, but are written in more of a Hollywood-movie-montage vibe. Erotic Romance is a blend of both and was a term developed to help market some books out of the Harlequin Fabio- cover-modeled mass-marketed paperback trap and into a higher price point.
Pai: But doesn’t your book contain sex?
Me: Yes, but the plot isn’t driven by sex. My books employ a “self discovery” narrative so they fall into Contemporary Fiction, but because of all the aforementioned malarkey I will more likely get noticed if I toss them into Women’s Fiction slush (mimicking gagging because I deeply resent this genre trap).
Pai: So it is all about the amount of sex?
Me: No, well maybe, kinda, genre’s are a tangled web…
Hank: (sitting across the hall at the dinning room table) ARGH! YOU GUYS! YOU KNOW I CAN HEAR YOU. I am right here. I can hear everything.
(Pai and I lean to the left to be in full view of the doorway)
Pai: So?
Me: What is wrong with our conversation? We’re talking about publishing.
Hank: You’re talking about sex.
Pai: Our conversation isn’t inappropriate and besides you’re ten.
Hank: I just… I don’t know. I guess… I mean, it isn’t, but I just…
Me: Just because you have zero interest in sex doesn’t mean it isn’t a major part of life for a lot of adults.
Hank: Oh, I know! Sex is everywhere. I guess, I mean, I get it, but I just sooooo don’t care and I am like STAWP TALKING all the time about it people! Like, on TV and songs and teenagers, all they talk about is sex and I just do not care. Like, there are more interesting things, you know?
Me: Word.
Pai: But we aren’t talking about sex acts. We’re discussing how sex within the context of publishing leads to being separated, categorized and marginalized. This conversation is rather interesting.
Me: If sex never becomes interesting to you that is cool, but if it does know you can always talk to us about what you find attractive, but until just don’t engage.
Hank: I just don’t care.
Pai: Good, as I said you are ten. Sex is a part of adulthood and never anything to be ashamed of as long as sex is respectful and consensual.
Hank: I know, I know! I just don’t care!
Me: Then, my darling boy, employ the same methods I used when you were obsessed with Minecraft: just don’t listen and don’t engage! Change the subject or if you are distracted by a conversation you are not a part of…
Pai: Like now for instance.
Me: Simply turn your attention elsewhere. Apply your headphones, politely close a door or move to a less distracting area.
Pai: Okay?
Hank: Sure. Yes. Can you please close the kitchen door so I can study and be less distracted?
Me: Our pleasure. Thank you for telling us we were disturbing your work. | 95,942,628 |
Texas launches criminal probe into plant explosion
Texas law enforcement officials on Friday launched a criminal investigation into the massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month, after weeks of largely treating the blast as an industrial accident.
By:
Angela Brown , Associated Press
E-mail To (required):The complete e-mail address or addresses to send the article to | 95,942,798 |
PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-1950
HOWARD E. NEASE; NANCY NEASE,
Plaintiffs – Appellees,
v.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a Delaware Corporation,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Huntington. Robert C. Chambers,
Chief District Judge. (3:13-cv-29840)
Argued: September 21, 2016 Decided: February 1, 2017
Before MOTZ, TRAXLER, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Reversed and remanded with instructions by published opinion.
Judge Traxler wrote the opinion, in which Judge Motz and Judge
Agee joined.
ARGUED: Jonathan D. Hacker, O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP, Washington,
D.C., for Appellant. Larry Lee Javins, II, BAILEY, JAVINS &
CARTER, L.C., Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees. ON
BRIEF: Andrew B. Cooke, FLAHERTY, SENSABAUGH & BONASSO, PLLC,
Charleston, West Virginia; Bradley N. Garcia, O’MELVENY & MYERS
LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Tony L. O’Dell, TIANO
O’DELL, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees.
TRAXLER, Circuit Judge:
Howard and Nancy Nease commenced this product liability
action against Ford Motor Company, alleging that Howard suffered
serious injuries in an accident caused by a design defect in the
speed control system of his 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck. Over
Ford’s objection, the Neases offered the expert testimony of
Samuel Sero that the speed control cable in the 2001 Ranger is
susceptible to getting stuck or “bound” while the throttle to
which it is linked is in the open position, thus preventing the
driver from slowing down the vehicle. The Neases claim that
this is precisely what happened while Howard was driving his
2001 Ranger. A West Virginia jury awarded the Neases
$3,012,828.35 in damages. Ford made several post-trial motions,
including a motion for judgment as a matter of law under Rule
50(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In its motion,
Ford renewed its pre-trial argument that Sero’s testimony was
inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
509 U.S. 579 (1993), and should have been excluded. In the
alternative, Ford sought a new trial on the basis that the
district court erroneously instructed the jury on strict
liability under West Virginia law and erroneously admitted
evidence of prior incidents involving Ford vehicles.
The district court denied Ford’s post-trial motions. Ford
now appeals. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that
2
Sero’s testimony should not have been admitted. And, without
any other expert testimony to establish that the 2001 Ford
Ranger was defectively designed and that there were safer
alternative designs available that a reasonably prudent
manufacturer would have adopted, the Neases cannot prove their
case under West Virginia law. Accordingly, we must reverse and
remand for entry of judgment in Ford’s favor.
I.
On November 20, 2012, Howard was driving his recently
purchased, used 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck on U.S. Route 60
in St. Albans, West Virginia. According to Howard, he was
traveling 45-50 mph when he discovered his vehicle would not
slow down when he released the accelerator pedal. He tried to
slow the pickup truck by applying the brakes, but to no avail.
In order to avoid running into pedestrians or other cars, Howard
turned the Ranger off the road, drove over a curb, and crashed
into a brick car wash building. For about 25-30 seconds after
the pickup truck hit the brick wall, the tires reportedly
continued spinning until the engine shut down. Howard’s Ranger
had approximately 116,000 miles on it at the time of the
accident, and there is no indication in the record that the
vehicle had ever manifested problems with the accelerator,
cruise control or throttle. The Neases thereafter filed this
action against Ford Motor Company, alleging that Ford
3
defectively designed the accelerator pedal-to-throttle assembly
of the 2001 Ranger pickup truck. The complaint asserted causes
of action for strict liability, negligence, and breach of
warranty.
A.
The general design and function of the throttle control
system in the 2001 Ford Ranger is typical of any modern
passenger vehicle. The driver controls engine speed by
depressing the accelerator pedal, which is linked to the
throttle, which, in turn, regulates the amount of air flowing
into the engine. When the accelerator pedal is depressed, the
throttle opens and engine speed increases; when the accelerator
pedal is released, the throttle closes, airflow is restricted
and engine speed decreases.
In the 2001 Ford Ranger, the accelerator pedal is linked to
the throttle body by a steel accelerator cable. The accelerator
cable is attached to a lever on the throttle body; the lever
operates the throttle valve and the throttle valve controls the
engine’s air intake. As “the accelerator pedal is depressed,
the accelerator cable [which is attached to the throttle lever]
is pulled to open the throttle [valve] and increase the engine
speed.” J.A. 83. In essence, the accelerator pedal, the
accelerator cable and the throttle lever form a pulley system
that opens the throttle. As a safety feature, the throttle
4
lever is equipped with return springs that exert 7.2 pounds of
continuous force to pull the throttle closed when the driver
takes his foot off of the accelerator.
In addition to the accelerator pedal-to-throttle assembly,
another means by which the driver of a 2001 Ranger can open the
throttle is the cruise control system. This system is operated
by a “speed control actuator and [a] speed control cable.” J.A.
85. The cruise control system incorporates an electric motor
that operates a steel cable—the speed control cable—to open and
close the throttle. The speed control cable and the accelerator
cable are attached to the same throttle lever/pulley system that
operates the throttle valve. When the speed control actuator
receives input from the cruise control switch on the steering
column, the motor manipulates the speed control cable to pull
the throttle lever independently of the main accelerator cable.
The throttle control design takes into account that both
cables are attached to the same throttle lever/pulley-system.
In order to prevent significant stress to the speed control
cable that could potentially occur when the cruise control is
not engaged and the throttle lever is being controlled by the
accelerator pedal and cable, Ford incorporated a “‘lost motion’
configuration” for the speed control cable assembly. J.A. 85.
In this design, the steel speed control cable runs from the
motor in the speed control actuator through a plastic “guide
5
tube,” and is attached to the throttle lever by a plastic
“connector.” Id. The connector and the guide tube move with
the throttle lever when it is being operated by the accelerator
cable. The speed control cable itself stays stationary while
the guide tube moves up and down the cable and in and out of a
stationary plastic casing tube, called a “casing cap,” which is
attached to the motor. Id. The gap between the moving guide
tube and the stationary casing cap is approximately 0.04 inches.
B.
Following the accident, plaintiffs hired Samuel Sero, an
electrical engineer, to examine the engine and the throttle
assembly in Howard’s 2001 Ford Ranger. Sero approached his
examination with the view that in failure-to-decelerate cases,
the issue is often one of “mechanical binding” and that a post-
accident investigation should “look at the accelerator cable,
[to] see if there’s anything on it that bound up and prevented
it from closing the throttle when the accelerator pedal was
released, looking for . . . any kind of grime, grit, or anything
that could bind that one.” J.A. 613. 1 Sero indicated that a
post-accident investigation should therefore look for the
1Contaminants that typically build up on automobile engine
parts over time include carbon, substances accumulating from
“vapors off of gasoline, brake fluid, hydraulic fluids, battery
acids, steel, copper, aluminum, [and] magnesium,” J.A. 644, as
well as the dirt and grime that washes up into the engine from
the surface of the road.
6
presence of contaminants and particles that could lodge between
the speed control guide tube and the casing cap and create a
“wedging effect.” J.A. 628. Sero used a borescope to inspect
the speed control assembly.
A borescope is essentially a fiber-optic tube equipped with
a light that a mechanic or an engineer can insert into an
inaccessible area of the engine and view a given component
without having to disassemble the engine. When he examined the
speed control cable in the Neases’ pickup, Sero did not find any
materials wedged between the guide tube and the cap. In fact,
he noted that the speed control cable moved freely.
Nevertheless, Sero concluded that contaminants had entered and
built up in the casing cap over time, causing the guide tube to
stick and, therefore, the throttle plate to remain open. Sero
testified that he was able to identify “a lot of contaminant . .
. deposited” in the casing cap, J.A. 636, and “along the guide
tube,” J.A. 631. Sero also noticed “gouges or striations” on
the guide tube. J.A. 645. From this observation, Sero believed
that there had been “a rough, abrasive material between the . .
. interior of the [casing] cap tube and the surface of the guide
tube,” indicative of binding. J.A. 645. Sero surmised that
sufficient debris had accumulated to create the “wedging effect”
needed to keep the throttle open after the accelerator pedal was
released. However, Sero had no way of knowing precisely how
7
much contaminant was present in the casing cap or whether it was
enough to lodge in the 0.04 inch-gap between the cap and the
guide tube such that the throttle would be stuck in the open
position. The borescope is simply a viewing tool; it does not
afford a means for determining the amount of the contaminant
that can be seen with the device.
To bolster his opinion, Sero pointed to a document Ford had
prepared in 1987 identifying potential risks Ford engineers
should consider addressing in the design of particular vehicles
in the future. This document is called a Failure Mode and
Effects Analysis (“FMEA”). According to Ford’s “Potential
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis” Handbook, “[a]n FMEA can be
described as a systemized group of activities intended to: (a)
recognize and evaluate the potential failure of a
product/process and its effects, (b) identify actions which
could eliminate or reduce the chance of the potential failure
occurring, and (c) document the process.” J.A. 968. The
primary purposes of an FMEA include “identify[ing] potential
failure modes and rat[ing] the severity of their effects” and
“help[ing] engineers focus on eliminating product and process
concerns and help[ing] prevent problems from occurring.” Id.
An FMEA “is meant to be a ‘before-the-event’ action, not an
‘after-the-fact’ exercise.” Id.
8
Sero testified that the 1987 FMEA “directly addresse[d] the
fact [that] dirt, grease or ice has formed between cable and
cable sheath” and therefore demonstrated that “Ford [was] well
aware of the problem of binding in the lost motion device/cruise
cable.” J.A. 52. Sero asserted therefore that the 1987 FMEA
proved the speed control assembly in the 2001 Ford Ranger was
susceptible to binding. Sero was apparently unaware, however,
that the 1987 FMEA did not even apply to the 2001 Ford Ranger.
The 1987 FMEA “dealt with a vacuum-actuated speed control
system” that was not present in the 2001 Ranger. J.A. 1260.
Based on his borescope exam and the 1987 FMEA, Sero opined
that the 2001 Ford Ranger’s design was not reasonably safe and
that there were several alternative designs that Ford could have
utilized in the design of the speed control assembly:
It is my opinion, . . . within a reasonable
degree of engineering certainty that . . .
1. Mr. Nease’s 2001 Ranger experienced a failure
to decelerate by reason of the binding of the lost
motion portion of the cruise . . . cable while the
throttle was substantially open;
2. The cable design employed by Ford in the
subject 2001 Ranger permits dirt, grease and grime to
enter the conduit through which the cable passes and
is known to cause sticking or binding of the cable;
3. The subject cable is defectively designed;
4. The binding of the cable . . . was caused by
particles of dirt and/or debris typically found under
the hood of motor vehicles;
9
5. The open-throttle condition . . . almost
immediately deplete[d] the vacuum assist to the
brakes;
6. The open-throttle condition, accompanied by
loss of vacuum assist, required the application of
brake pedal forces beyond the physical capabilities of
Mr. Nease;
7. The binding of the defectively-designed cable
was the proximate cause of the crash of the Nease
vehicle;
8. Safer, feasible alternative designs were
available and known to Ford Motor Company at the time
the 2001 Ranger was manufactured.
J.A. 53-54.
Prior to trial, Ford moved to exclude Sero’s opinions under
Daubert on the grounds that Sero’s opinions were not based on
any reliable methodology and that Sero had not established
through testing or other means, such as scientific literature,
that the binding of the speed control assembly could actually
occur. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 597 (explaining that the
district court must “ensur[e] that an expert’s testimony . . .
rests on a reliable foundation” (emphasis added)). Ford also
argued that Sero, as an electrical engineer, was unqualified to
render an expert opinion on matters of automotive design. The
district court denied Ford’s motion to exclude Sero’s testimony,
concluding that Sero was sufficiently qualified by means of his
experience “design[ing] and operat[ing] . . . mechanical systems
in a variety of settings.” J.A. 525. The court also determined
10
that in arriving at his opinion, Sero employed “standard
engineering methodology to conduct his physical inspection and
reach his opinions.” Id. This methodology included “physically
inspecting the vehicle’s parts, understanding how they are
designed to operate, observing evidence of whether some material
interfered with the operation of the cable, and opining how that
could and did occur here.” Id. at 526.
The case proceeded to trial and Sero offered his opinions.
Ford attacked Sero’s opinions on cross examination and offered
its own expert testimony. Sero acknowledged that when he
performed his inspection of the speed control cable in the
Neases’ Ranger, he did not find any materials actually wedged
between the guide tube and cap, and he noted that the speed
control cable moved freely. Sero further admitted that he had
never actually found a bound speed cable assembly in any vehicle
that he had inspected.
In contrast to Sero’s professed inability to determine how
much debris was present in the casing cap (because the borescope
does not provide a way to determine the scale of the
contaminants), Ford’s experts performed tests on the Neases’
vehicle and were able to quantify the size of the contaminants
found on the Ranger’s guide tube. Dr. Steven MacLean, an expert
in the field of mechanical engineering, used a scanning electron
microscope to determine that “the thickest region . . . [found]
11
on Mr. Nease’s guide tube . . . was approximately 50 microns in
thickness,” J.A. 2438. For perspective, Dr. MacLean explained
that a piece of paper is about 60 microns thick, making it 10
microns thicker than the contaminants found on the guide tube in
the speed control assembly. Either one is far smaller than the
.04 inch gap between the casing cap and guide tube. And, with
respect to the gouge marks Sero noticed during the borescope
exam that he believed were indicative of binding, Dr. MacLean
testified that his analysis indicated that these marks “are from
the manufacturing process, the molding process of these parts,”
not “a binding event.” J.A. 2419.
Sero agreed that he had never conducted any testing to
determine whether enough debris could accumulate in the casing
cap during normal operation to resist the 7.2 pounds of force
exerted by the return spring and to cause the throttle to stick
open. Sero simply relied upon his observations during the
borescope exam, which was videotaped. At trial, however, Sero
was unable to distinguish between the video of the Nease
borescope and a borescope exam for a previous case in which Sero
had testified that the speed control cable did not bind. He
could not tell the borescope of the cable that he said did bind
from the borescope of the cable that he said did not bind. In
other words, he could not tell one from the other.
12
With regard to the FMEA process that was so central to
Sero’s opinion, Ford presented evidence that potential failure
modes identified in the FMEA had not occurred during actual
vehicle operation. For example, Dr. MacLean explained that a
FMEA is a common “engineering tool,” J.A. 2475, used before
marketing a new product to the public to “proactively try to
determine what are all of the possible failure modes for that
particular new design.” Id. According to MacLean, an FMEA is
not a record of existing problems but rather “a forward-looking
tool for . . . a new product.” J.A. 2481. When an FMEA is
performed, the manufacturer “bring[s] in design engineers,
analysis engineers, manufacturing engineers, people from all
different disciplines, and . . . [the group tries] to come up
with a very comprehensive and exhaustive list of failure modes.
. . . [and seek to determine] how likely it is to occur, and
what does my system do to possibly detect it and prevent it from
happening.” J.A. 2475. Similarly, Karl Stopschinski, a
registered professional engineer and member of the Society of
Automotive Engineers, testified that the FMEA process is akin to
a “brainstorming session” to “identify any potential failure
modes.” J.A. 2157 (emphasis added). Additionally, Ford’s
engineering experts indicated that the 1987 FMEA on which Sero
relied did not even apply to the Neases’ 2001 Ranger pickup
truck. Rather, James Engle, a design analysis engineer,
13
indicated that it is the 2004 FMEA that applies to the 2001
Ranger because it was “originated in February of ’97 and carried
forward.” J.A. 1265.
Finally, Sero testified that several alternative speed
control cable designs were available at the time and that Ford
could have made the 2001 Ranger safer by incorporating one of
these designs. He admitted, however, that he had not tested any
of these alternative designs to determine whether any of them
would have prevented the accident in question. In Sero’s
opinion, testing of the alternative designs he identified was
unnecessary because the designs had been in use in other
vehicles for years and were therefore “proven commodit[ies].”
J.A. 717.
The district court instructed the jury that on plaintiffs’
strict liability claim, plaintiffs had to prove that the design
of the 2001 Ford Ranger was not “reasonably safe for its
intended use.” J.A. 1922. Although the court explained that
the “plaintiffs are only entitled to a reasonably safe product,
not to an absolutely safe product,” the court then instructed,
over Ford’s objection, that “[i]f a product can be made safer
and the danger may be reduced by an alternative design at not
substantial increase in price, then the manufacturer has a duty
to adopt such a design.” Id. During closing argument,
14
plaintiffs’ counsel highlighted the safer alternative design
instruction:
. . . If a product can be made safer and the
danger reduced by an alternative design or device at
no substantial increase in cost, then the manufacturer
has a duty to adopt such design. All that means is if
you find that one of the other designs was safer and
it wasn’t going to cost very much . . . [t]hen you can
find that Ford breached its duty.
J.A. 1960.
The jury returned a verdict for the Neases on the strict
liability count and awarded damages of $3,012,828.35. The jury
returned defense verdicts on the negligence and breach of
warranty counts.
After trial Ford filed a Renewed Motion for Judgment as a
Matter of Law pursuant to Rule 50(b). First, Ford argued that
“there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict
for strict liability because the claim was dependent upon the
testimony of Plaintiffs’ expert . . . Sero.” J.A. 3477. And,
Ford argued, as it had prior to trial, that Sero’s testimony
should not have been admitted because Sero was unqualified to
testify as an expert and that Sero’s opinions should have been
excluded under Daubert. Specifically, Ford argued that “Sero
never demonstrated unidirectional binding of Mr. Nease’s speed
control cable, he did not attempt to simulate his theory, he did
not conduct any tests that a foreign substance could withstand
the seven-pound spring pressure, [and] he did not demonstrate
15
alternative designs were equally or more safe.” J.A. 3478. The
district court denied the Rule 50 motion, concluding that Sero’s
methodology was reliable because he used the FMEA methodology
used by Ford and that the borescope examination was “consistent
and trustworthy and what historically [was] used in failure to
decelerate cases.” J.A. 3479.
Alternatively, Ford moved for a new trial pursuant to Rule
59(a)(1)(A), arguing that the verdict should be set aside
because the district court issued an improper “duty to adopt”
jury instruction as to safer alternative designs. Ford also
contended that the district court erroneously admitted evidence
of other incidents involving Ford vehicles with an allegedly
defective speed control assembly unit. The district court
denied the motion for a new trial on both grounds. The court
did not expressly reject Ford’s position that the “duty to
adopt” instruction was incorrect under West Virginia law.
Instead, the district court concluded that even if the jury
instruction was erroneous, it was harmless because the jury
found that the product was defective and not reasonably safe,
and thus the jury did not need to reach the question of the duty
to adopt a safer alternative design. Additionally, the district
court noted that the jury instructions were otherwise correct
and informed the jury that the Neases were not entitled to an
absolutely safe product. Finally, the district court ruled that
16
even if the admission of evidence regarding other incidents was
erroneous, it was harmless in view of court’s limiting
instruction to the jury that it “only consider the alleged other
incidents for the limited purpose of determining whether Ford
had notice of the defect” and not “as evidence that the 2001
Ford Ranger was defective.” J.A. 3486.
Ford appeals, arguing that the district court incorrectly
admitted Sero’s expert testimony in contravention of the
requirement that such testimony be reliable under Daubert and
its progeny; that the district court’s erroneous “duty to adopt”
jury instruction was not harmless in view of the fact that it
was the only instruction that counsel for Nease highlighted in
his closing argument to the jury; and that the erroneous
admission of other incident evidence was not rendered harmless
by the district court’s limiting instruction because the
limiting instruction did not apply to the other incidents at
issue. To resolve this appeal, we need only address Ford’s
Daubert argument.
II.
Ford contends that the district court erroneously denied
its motion to exclude Sero’s opinion that Ford’s design of the
speed control assembly in the 2001 Ford Ranger was defective and
that Ford could have used a different design that would have
prevented Nease’s accident. We review the district court's
17
application of Daubert for abuse of discretion. See Anderson v.
Westinghouse Savannah River Co., 406 F.3d 248, 260 (4th Cir.
2005). “If the district court makes an error of law in deciding
an evidentiary question, that error is by definition an abuse of
discretion.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). A
district court likewise abuses its discretion in deciding a
Daubert challenge if its conclusion “rests upon a clearly
erroneous factual finding.” Bryte ex rel. Bryte v. American
Household, Inc., 429 F.3d 469, 475 (4th Cir. 2005).
A. Daubert’s Applicability
We first must visit the question of whether Daubert even
applies under these circumstances. The Neases insist that it
does not. We disagree; Daubert clearly applies here.
In Daubert, the Supreme Court addressed an evidentiary
issue that had long divided federal courts—whether the
admissibility of expert scientific testimony was governed by the
“general acceptance” test established in Frye v. United States,
293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923), 2 or the later-adopted standards set
forth in Federal Rule of Evidence 702, see 509 U.S. at 586–87 &
n.5. Daubert held that the Federal Rules of Evidence superseded
Frye and that the admissibility of scientific evidence no longer
2
Under Frye, expert scientific testimony was admitted only
if the expert opinion was based on principles that were
“generally accept[ed]” in “the particular field in which it
belongs.” 293 F. at 1014.
18
was limited to knowledge or evidence “generally accepted” as
reliable in the relevant scientific community. See 509 U.S. at
588–89.
Thus, Daubert made clear that the governing standard for
evaluating proposed expert testimony was set forth in Rule 702,
which at the time provided: “If scientific, technical, or other
specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to
understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a
witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience,
training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an
opinion or otherwise.” Daubert, 509 U.S. at 588. Implicit in
the text of Rule 702, the Daubert Court concluded, is a district
court’s gatekeeping responsibility to “ensur[e] that an expert’s
testimony both rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to
the task at hand.” Id. at 597 (emphasis added).
Relevant evidence, of course, is evidence that helps “the
trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact
in issue.” Id. at 591 (internal question marks omitted). To be
relevant under Daubert, the proposed expert testimony must have
“a valid scientific connection to the pertinent inquiry as a
precondition to admissibility.” Id. at 592.
With respect to reliability, the district court must ensure
that the proffered expert opinion is “based on scientific,
technical, or other specialized knowledge and not on belief or
19
speculation, and inferences must be derived using scientific or
other valid methods.” Oglesby v. Gen. Motors Corp., 190 F.3d
244, 250 (4th Cir. 1999). Daubert offered a number of
guideposts to help a district court determine if expert
testimony is sufficiently reliable to be admissible. First, “a
key question to be answered in determining whether a theory or
technique is scientific knowledge that will assist the trier of
fact will be whether it can be (and has been) tested.” 509 U.S.
at 593. A second question to be considered by a district court
is “whether the theory or technique has been subjected to peer
review and publication.” Id. Publication regarding the theory
bears upon peer review; “[t]he fact of publication (or lack
thereof) in a peer reviewed journal will be a relevant, though
not dispositive, consideration in assessing the scientific
validity of a particular technique or methodology on which an
opinion is premised.” Id. at 594. Third, “in the case of a
particular scientific technique, the court ordinarily should
consider the known or potential rate of error.” Id. Fourth,
despite the displacement of Frye, “‘general acceptance’” is
nonetheless relevant to the reliability inquiry. Id.
“Widespread acceptance can be an important factor in ruling
particular evidence admissible, and a known technique which has
been able to attract only minimal support with the community may
properly be viewed with skepticism.” Id. (citation and internal
20
quotation marks omitted). Daubert’s list of relevant
considerations is not exhaustive; indeed, the Court has
cautioned that this “list of specific factors neither
necessarily nor exclusively applies to all experts or in every
case,” Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 141 (1999),
and that a trial court has “broad latitude” to determine whether
these factors are “reasonable measures of reliability in a
particular case,” id. at 153.
The Neases contend that we can affirm because the district
court was not obliged to perform its Daubert gatekeeping
function in the first place: “Because the Daubert test for
assessing the validity of scientific evidence applies only to
novel scientific testimony, it does not apply in the expert
field of engineering.” Brief of Appellees at 29. This
bifurcated argument is dead wrong on both counts.
First, Daubert itself makes clear that its application is
not limited to newfangled scientific theory, explaining that “we
do not read the requirements of Rule 702 to apply specially or
exclusively to unconventional evidence.” Daubert, 509 U.S. at
592 n.11. The Court recognized the common-sense premise that
“well-established propositions are less likely to be challenged
than those that are novel,” id., but clearly never suggested
that longstanding theories are immune to a Daubert analysis.
21
Second, the Supreme Court made clear more than 17 years ago
in Kumho Tire that Daubert was not limited to the testimony of
scientists but also applied “to testimony based on ‘technical’
and ‘other specialized’ knowledge.” 526 U.S. at 141. Despite
having cited Kumho Tire in their brief, the Neases are
apparently unaware that the very issue there involved the
application of Daubert to the testimony of a mechanical
engineer. See id. at 141 (“This case requires us to decide how
Daubert applies to the testimony of engineers and other experts
who are not scientists.” (emphasis added)). The Kumho Court
concluded that Rule 702 “applies to all expert testimony” as its
“language makes no relevant distinction between ‘scientific’
knowledge and ‘technical’ or ‘other specialized’ knowledge. It
makes clear that any such knowledge might become the subject of
expert testimony.” Id. at 147. The Kumho Court affirmed the
district court’s application of Daubert and decision to exclude
the engineering expert’s testimony as unreliable. See id. at
158. 3 And, finally, if Kumho were not enough, this court has
also sanctioned the application of Daubert to assess the
reliability of expert engineering testimony. See Oglesby, 190
3
In so holding, the Supreme Court rejected the Eleventh
Circuit’s view that engineering testimony “[fell] outside the
scope of Daubert, [and] that the district court erred as a
matter of law by applying Daubert in this case,” Kumho Tire, 526
U.S. at 146, which is precisely the same argument the Neases
make here.
22
F.3d at 250-51 (affirming district court’s application of
Daubert principles to testimony of a mechanical engineer and
concluding that the district court did not abuse its discretion
in excluding the engineer’s opinion as unreliable).
Accordingly, we conclude that Daubert most certainly
applies to Sero’s testimony. We now turn to consider whether,
under Daubert, the district court properly admitted Sero’s
testimony.
B. The District Court’s Application of Daubert to Sero’s
Opinions
As we already explained, Rule 702 imposes a special
gatekeeping obligation on the trial judge to ensure that an
opinion offered by an expert is reliable. And although a trial
judge has broad discretion “to determine reliability in light of
the particular facts and circumstances of the particular case,”
Kumho, 526 U.S. at 158, such discretion does not include the
decision “to abandon the gatekeeping function,” id. at 158–59
(Scalia, J., concurring).
In ruling on Ford’s motion in limine to exclude Sero’s
testimony as unreliable under Daubert, the district court simply
dismissed “[e]very argument raised by [Ford]” as “go[ing] to the
weight, not admissibility, of [Sero’s] testimony.” J.A. 526.
The court did not use Daubert’s guideposts or any other factors
to assess the reliability of Sero’s testimony, and the court did
23
not make any reliability findings. Indeed, the district court
referred neither to Rule 702 nor to Daubert. We are forced to
conclude that the court abandoned its gatekeeping function with
respect to Ford’s motion in limine.
In denying Ford’s post-trial Rule 50(b) motion for judgment
as a matter of law (which renewed Ford’s argument that Sero’s
opinion should have been excluded under Daubert), the district
court again “[found] that Ford’s arguments go to the weight the
jury should afford Mr. Sero’s testimony, not its admissibility.”
J.A. 3481. Although the district court this time cited Daubert
and stated that, according to Sero, “the methodology he employed
is consistent and trustworthy and what historically is used in
failure to decelerate cases,” J.A. 3479, the court repeatedly
emphasized that Ford effectively raised its objections to Sero’s
opinion through cross-examination. For the district court to
conclude that Ford’s reliability arguments simply “go to the
weight the jury should afford Mr. Sero’s testimony” is to
delegate the court’s gatekeeping responsibility to the jury.
“The main purpose of Daubert exclusion is to protect juries from
being swayed by dubious scientific testimony.” In re Zurn Pex
Plumbing Prods. Liab. Litig., 644 F.3d 604, 613 (8th Cir. 2011).
The district court’s “gatekeeping function” under Daubert
ensures that expert evidence is sufficiently relevant and
reliable when it is submitted to the jury. Rather than ensure
24
the reliability of the evidence on the front end, the district
court effectively let the jury make this determination after
listening to Ford’s cross examination of Sero.
In sum, the district court did not perform its gatekeeping
duties with respect to Sero’s testimony. The fact that an
expert witness was “subject to a thorough and extensive
examination” does not ensure the reliability of the expert’s
testimony; such testimony must still be assessed before it is
presented to the jury. McClain v. Metabolife Int’l, Inc., 401
F.3d 1233, 1238 (11th Cir. 2005). Thus, we are of the opinion
that the district court abused its discretion here “by failing
to act as a gatekeeper.” Id.; see Kumho, 526 U.S. at 158–59
(Scalia, J. concurring) (“[T]rial-court discretion in choosing
the manner of testing expert reliability . . . is not discretion
to abandon the gatekeeping function . . . [or] to perform the
function inadequately.”).
C. Sero’s testimony should have been excluded under Daubert
1. Sero’s testimony that the speed control assembly was not
reasonably safe because it was susceptible to binding
“[A] plaintiff may not prevail in a products liability case
by relying on the opinion of an expert unsupported by any
evidence such as test data or relevant literature in the field.”
Oglesby, 190 F.3d at 249 (internal quotation marks omitted). “A
reliable expert opinion must [not] be based . . . on belief or
25
speculation.” Id. at 250. One especially important factor for
guiding a court in its reliability determination is whether a
given theory has been tested. According to Daubert, “a key
question to be answered in determining whether a theory or
technique is scientific knowledge that will assist the trier of
fact will be whether it can be (and has been) tested.” 509 U.S.
at 593.
Sero’s opinion had three critical components: that the
speed control assembly in the 2001 Ford Ranger was vulnerable to
binding because the design allowed for contaminant to lodge
between the speed control guide tube and the casing cap; that
such binding in fact occurred while Howard was driving his 2001
Ranger, resulting in the accident; and that there were safer
alternative speed control assembly designs available to Ford for
use in the 2001 Ranger.
Testing was of critical importance in this case as Sero
conceded that the speed control cable in the Neases’ Ranger was
not bound or wedged; the cable “moved freely” when Sero
performed a post-accident inspection of the Neases’ Ranger.
J.A. 676. In fact, Sero admitted he has never seen any vehicle
with “post-crash binding.” J.A. 679. Sero, however, conducted
no testing whatsoever to arrive at his opinion. Specifically,
he has never tested a 2001 Ford Ranger to determine whether it
is actually possible for enough debris to accumulate in the
26
casing cap during normal operation to resist the 7.2 pounds of
force exerted by the return springs to pull the throttle closed.
Sero conceded that he never ran any tests to confirm his theory:
Q. Now, as I understand it, . . . you have not
demonstrated your unidirectional binding theory on Mr.
Nease’s speed control cable, have you?
A. No, I have not.
Q. You have not even attempted to simulate your speed
control binding theory on Mr. Nease’s speed control
cable, have you?
A. No.
Q. You have not demonstrated your unidirectional
binding theory [using] another 2001 Ford Ranger, have
you?
A. No.
Q. You have not even attempted to simulate your speed
control malfunction theory with an exemplar 2001 Ford
Ranger, have you?
A. No, I have not.
J.A. 678.
Sero’s failure to test his hypothesis renders his opinions
on the cause of Howard’s accident unreliable. Although Sero’s
theory is plausible and “may even be right[,] . . . it is no
more than a hypothesis, and it thus is not knowledge, nor is it
based upon sufficient facts or data or the product of reliable
principles and methods applied reliably to the facts of the
case.” Tamraz v. Lincoln Elec. Co., 620 F.3d 665, 670 (6th Cir.
2010) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).
27
Generally, scientific methodology involves “generating
hypotheses and testing them to see if they can be falsified.”
Daubert, 509 U.S. at 593. Sero presented a hypothesis only—he
failed to validate it with testing.
Daubert is a flexible test and no single factor, even
testing, is dispositive. But Daubert’s other reliability
markers likewise suggest that Sero’s testimony should not have
been admitted under Rule 702. Sero has not published or
otherwise subjected his theory to peer review. Actually, it
would hardly be possible to solicit peer review since Sero
conducted no tests and used no “methodology” for reaching his
opinions other than merely observing dirt on the speed control
assembly components. And, for this same reason, we cannot
assess the potential rate of error of Sero’s methodology—he did
not employ a particular methodology to reach his conclusions.
Daubert also suggests that district courts, in performing
their gatekeeping functions, consider whether and to what extent
an expert’s theory has been accepted within the relevant
scientific or engineering community. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at
593-94. Despite their contention that Daubert does not apply,
the Neases nonetheless suggest that the internal FMEA performed
by Ford in 1987, which Sero relied upon to support his opinion,
is widely accepted by engineers—Ford’s own engineers in this
case—as a method for identifying design defects. The FMEA
28
relied upon by Sero, however, does not establish that Sero’s
theory is widely accepted in the relevant engineering community.
To begin with, the 1987 FMEA does not even apply to the
2001 Ranger; rather, the 2004 FMEA, which originated in 1997,
applied to the 2001 Ranger at issue here. In other words, Sero
rests his theory on an FMEA produced for different designs. The
1987 FMEA, therefore, lacks a “valid scientific connection to
the pertinent inquiry,” Daubert, 509 U.S. at 592, and is not
“relevant to the task at hand,” id. at 597.
Moreover, to the extent Nease claims the FMEA performed by
Ford in 1987 proves that the speed cable is susceptible to
binding, he misconstrues the nature of the FMEA process. FMEA
is part of the design process itself; design engineers follow
this method well before the design is complete to “identify
potential failure modes and rate the severity of their effects”
and “help engineers focus on eliminating product and process
concerns and help prevent problems from occurring.” J.A. 968.
As Ford engineer James Engle explained, “[t]he purpose [of] the
FMEA is to analyze the [current] design . . . [and] give[] the
engineer information beforehand . . . to let the engineer know
areas where he needs to focus.” J.A. 1279. It is a
“brainstorming session” performed on the front end of the design
process to “identify any potential failure modes.” J.A. 2157.
And, in this case, because it is “conceivable” that “grime or
29
some sort of debris [could] enter[] into the cable and caus[e]
sticking,” Ford naturally listed the potential binding of the
speed control cable “in a brainstorming session of [potential]
failure modes.” J.A. 2157. But Ford included numerous
“mitigating” features in its final design, such as an engine
cover, aimed at eliminating potential problems identified in the
FMEA. J.A. 2157. Ford also placed the throttle “high up on the
engine” to mitigate the intake of “[b]igger and heavier
particles [which] take more force to be . . . moved up . . . to
the top of the engine.” J.A. 2157-58. Additionally, the
components of the speed control assembly were made of nylon that
had a slippery quality and “a very low coefficient of friction.”
J.A. 2433.
In sum, the FMEA relied upon by Sero cannot be viewed as
having established that the binding of the speed control cable
was a recurring design problem in the 2001 Ranger. And it
cannot be used as a proxy for the testing that Sero failed to
do. Ford’s FMEA process merely identifies conceivable design
failures; it does not produce them via testing.
2. Sero’s testimony that there were safer alternative designs
that Ford could have used in the 2001 Ranger
To establish strict liability under West Virginia law, the
plaintiff must show that the “product is defective in the sense
that it is not reasonably safe for its intended use.”
30
Morningstar v. Black & Decker Mfg. Co., 253 S.E.2d 666, 683 (W.
Va. 1979). “The standard of reasonable safeness is determined .
. . by what a reasonably prudent manufacturer’s standards should
have been at the time the product was made.” Id.
Significantly, the West Virginia Supreme Court explained that
the determination of what a “reasonably prudent manufacturer’s
standards should have been at the time” requires a consideration
of “the general state of the art of the manufacturing process,
including design.” Id. (emphasis added).
Ford argues that West Virginia law, as articulated by the
Morningstar court, therefore requires a products liability
plaintiff to prove that a reasonably prudent manufacturer would
have adopted a safer design during the relevant time period.
The Neases disagree, relying on a couple of district court
opinions that suggest the West Virginia Supreme Court “has not
stated one way or the other whether a design defect claim
requires proof of a safer alternative design of the allegedly
defective product.” Mullins v. Ethicon, Inc., 117 F. Supp. 3d
810, 821 (S.D.W. Va. 2015) (internal quotation marks omitted);
Keffer v. Wyeth, 791 F. Supp. 2d 539, 547 (S.D.W. Va. 2011).
While it is true that West Virginia law on the matter is
not crystal clear, we agree with Ford that Morningstar “can only
be read to require the production of evidence on reasonable
alternative design, to gauge what ‘should have been.’”
31
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability § 2, Reporter’s
Note (1998). Although Morningstar does not use the phrase
“alternative design,” a plaintiff in a design case, for all
practical purposes, must identify an alternative design in order
to establish the “state of the art.” See Church v. V.R. Wesson,
385 S.E.2d 393, 396 (W. Va. 1989) (holding plaintiff in a
defective design case failed to establish a prima facie case
because plaintiff’s expert identified an alternative design that
was not feasible at the time of manufacture and thus failed to
prove that defendant’s design was not “state of the art”).
Sero testified that safer, proven design alternatives
existed during the relevant time period that would have
prevented Howard’s accident. One preferable alternative,
according to Sero, incorporates a “nipple wipe” to clean
contaminants off the cable as it moves. Another alternative
identified by Sero utilizes a “boot” which blocks debris and
grime from accumulating on the cable. And, a third alternative
design that Sero believed would have prevented Howard’s accident
simply had a larger gap between the guide tube and the casing
cap. Sero pointed out that Ford had been using all of these
alternative design features for many years by the time the 2001
Ranger was produced.
Sero, however, performed no tests or studies to determine
whether, in fact, these older, long-standing designs were
32
involved in fewer binding incidents. According to Sero, such
tests were unnecessary because designs such as the nipple wipe
had been in use for 50 years and therefore were “proven
elements.” J.A. 669. Similarly, he offered no data from any
other studies or accident records to prove that the older
designs were less likely to bind than the one incorporated in
the Neases’ 2001 Ranger. Sero instead simply proclaimed without
any support that the alternative designs he identified were
safer than the design of the speed control cable assembly in the
2001 Ranger.
This testimony should have been excluded as it was
“unsupported by any evidence such as test data or relevant
literature in the field.” Oglesby, 190 F.3d at 249 (internal
question marks omitted). The fact that the alternatives have
generally been in use for decades is wholly insufficient to
prove that such designs were safer with respect to the alleged
binding incident and that reasonably prudent manufacturers would
have adopted them. 4
4To the extent that the Neases argue that testing or other
comparative analysis of Sero’s alternative designs was
unnecessary because they were not novel designs, their argument
relies upon the same flawed understanding of Daubert that we
have already rejected.
33
III.
Without Sero’s testimony, the Neases cannot prove that the
design of the speed control assembly in the 2001 Ford Ranger
renders the vehicle “not reasonably safe for its intended use.”
Morningstar, 253 S.E.2d at 683. Accordingly, we reverse the
district court’s denial of Ford’s post-trial motion for judgment
as a matter of law and remand the case to the district court for
entry of judgment in Ford’s favor. And, because the granting of
judgment as a matter of law effectively ends this litigation, we
need not reach Ford’s challenges to the jury instruction and the
admission of prior incidents evidence.
REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS
34
| 95,942,903 |
CAR - a failed state gets worse
The teeming hospital grounds in Bossangoa, a northwestern town in the Central African Republic (CAR), offer a glimpse into the worsening crisis the country has faced since a rebel alliance known as Seleka took power by force in March 2013.
Over a thousand people are seeking shelter in the facility. Amid clouds of smoke from cooking fires, children sit listless, women pound maize and groups of men stare off into space.
“We're here because of the Seleka, who came to our village, looted, ransacked and killed,” said Prophete Ngaibona, a father of eight with another on the way.
"We are… I don't even know what to call us. We have nothing now. I can't even go to my house or fields. If they see me there, they'll kill me."
“We've lost our houses, our fields, our goods. Houses were razed with all our things in. We are… I don't even know what to call us. We have nothing now. I can't even go to my house or fields. If they see me there, they'll kill me.”
Humanitarian and development indicators were dire before the coup, but now, amid increasing violence by armed groups and between communities and religious faiths, they are even worse: almost the entire population of 4.5 million has been affected; 1.1 million people outside the capital, Bangui, are estimated to be severely or moderately food-insecure; and there are almost 400,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), double the figure of just a few months ago.
Around 65,000 people have fled the country, most to neighbouring Cameroon.
“CAR was a failed state before. Now, it's just worse,” said Amy Martin, country head of the UN Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“We're estimating over 1.5 million people who need assistance of various kinds, whether it's health, nutrition, shelter, protection,” she said.
But security concerns mean that aid agencies, whose vehicles have come under attack, can only guess at what's happening in some areas, and Martin said the actual number of people affected by the crisis could be much higher.
Adequate response is further hampered by a lack of funds: just 44 percent of the $195 million dollars sought to tackle the crisis has been forthcoming.
Situation dire
“In most of the country, we're very worried about the level of violence we're seeing and that we're hearing about and [that we] get patients from in our hospital,” says Ellen Van der Velden, head of MSF Holland, which is operating in Bossangoa. The team has children under five recovering from bullet wounds.
Once a home: many of the villages south of Bossangoa are ruined and deserted
Over 36,000 people are seeking refuge at Bossangoa's Catholic Mission, after fleeing a coalition of rebels-turned-“government” forces that Michel Djotodia, a northern Muslim, enlisted to bring him to power in the March coup.
Made up of large numbers of mercenaries from neighbouring Chad and Sudan as well as most of the country's former prison population, these forces are mainly Muslim, and have exacted a deadly revenge on mainly Christians in former President Francois Bozize's homeland. France has warned that CAR is “on the verge of genocide” because of the spiraling sectarian violence.
Self-defence groups calling themselves “anti-balaka” - armed with machetes, bows and arrows and spears - have sprung up and committed atrocities not only on Seleka but also on the wider Muslim community. Such inter-faith conflict is a new phenomenon in CAR.
As armed groups trawl the area, looting, killing and razing crops and homes, villages on the 100km stretch of road between Bossangoa and the capital Bangui lie empty. The only signs of life IRIN found were goats waiting patiently for their owners.
Sick and injured
Aside from the terror, people are suffering from illnesses as they hide in their fields with no shelter, medicine and food. Only the bravest or sickest take the highway to seek medical help at Bossangoa Hospital.
“I'm absolutely worried that there are many cases out there that we can't reach. Not only violence, but the malaria,” said MSF doctor Florin Oudenaarden. In the 10 days she has worked at the hospital, the MSF team there has seen four children die, as many come in so weakened by anaemia, malaria and malnutrition that it is impossible to revive them.
Van der Velden says that aside from the violence, malaria is the biggest killer, especially among children. At a recent outreach clinic, 120 out of 200 children tested positive for it.
A two-year-old boy with severe malaria was recently rushed to the clinic by the outreach team, only to die on arrival.
“If we had got there a day earlier, we could have saved him,” she says.
Among the latest child victims at the hospital are a skeletal boy hooked up to a drip and covered in foil paper, who can barely blink for lack of strength.
Another is a four-year-old boy who screams between doses of painkillers, his legs suspended from the ceiling; he was shot through the hips during a recent attack on a gold mine 25km from Bossangoa. MSF's surgeon doubts he will ever walk again; the bullet shattered his joint, requiring what would be a complicated and expensive procedure in the best of places.
Aid limited
Due to insecurity and a lack of funding, UN agencies are only working in the towns, and the time and manpower of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and MSF are limited compared to the scale of the crisis.
“People are dying out there that can't access healthcare, and that's definitely a big concern,” says Van der Velden.
“Our problem right now is that we cannot go beyond Bossangoa as we are underfunded,” says Pablo de Pascual, emergency coordinator for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), which has a $20 million deficit in funding for CAR.
UNICEF has carried out a massive vaccination campaign for under-fives, and MSF is also joining the fight against diseases such as measles, which have flourished in CAR in recent months.
Oudenaarden, whose last postings were Syria and South Sudan, says that her team is doing “six or seven blood transfusions a week, which is very high compared to other projects I've worked with. We also see a lot of malnutrition, and malnutrition is going up quickly.”
“We are planning to address high levels of malnutrition in the coming months,” says de Pascual. As the rains end, the country will start its lean season without anyone to harvest crops.
With violence raging across the country's traditional breadbasket in the north, Martin is also concerned about the lack of food, both for people there and in the rest of the country. Most market mechanisms throughout CAR have collapsed, and there is the blockade on trucks moving to the capital.
Time bomb
Each day, around 40 people arrive at Bossangoa's Catholic Mission, a site spanning only 19 hectares, sparking fears about disease outbreaks. Humanitarian norms recommend 160 hectares for its current population.
De Pascual says living conditions have been “deteriorating since the beginning due to a lack of access of basic public services and increasing numbers in the IDP sites,” sparking fears of cholera.
Renate Sinke, MSF's project coordinator in Bossangoa, describes the living conditions as “horrendous” and thinks the scene is set for an epidemic.
“My non-medical opinion is that I think it's a time bomb,” she says.
The site has two open defecation fields, no hand-washing points and not a single shower. Still, diarrhoeal diseases are so far low.
“We have now seven litres of water per person per day. Last week we had four litres - and it should be 15,” says MSF water and sanitation coordinator Rink de Lange.
There are only 65 working latrines.
“That means that, at this time, we have one latrine for 450 people, when the standard is one in 20. So that's a massive gap that has to be filled. And of course the location of the camp is so dense that it's hard to find places to build latrines,” he says.
And people do not dare to leave for fear of encountering the ex-Seleka.
Instability has pushed 70 percent of the nation's children out of education, and seen 3,500 recruited into rebel forces.
“We still hear stories of people living only 500m away from this place and don't dare to go back into their houses,” says Sinke.
Schools
Instability has pushed 70 percent of the nation's children out of education, and seen 3,500 recruited into rebel forces, and an unknown number recruited into the anti-balaka.
“There are no children coming to school because of their brutality. How can they come to school? Kids can't, parents can't. We just have to stay like this,” says teacher Laurent Namneonde, who is now taking shelter in the mission's school, where he taught for 10 years.
Lucien Rekoi is luckier than most in Bossangoa, who fled only with the shirts on their backs. With a heavily pregnant wife, he made it to the mission with pots, pans, clothes and his identity cards.
His daughter was born six days ago. He now scours the site looking for international aid workers who will lend her a western name, in the vain hope that this and his deceased father's career in the French military might afford them a passport out of CAR.
“I just want to go there [to France]. There's nothing for this place now,” he says. | 95,943,208 |
Faculty perceptions of teaching on television: one school's experience.
Videoteleconferencing (or teaching on television) represents a means of growing importance for distant learners to gain greater access to nursing education. Research has identified a number of key issues for nurse educators to consider related to videoteleconferencing: teaching/evaluation strategies, faculty workload, rewards and incentives, and support structures. The authors conducted an evaluation survey using a case study approach aimed at describing the perceptions of a convenience sample of faculty members (n = 17) regarding their recent television experiences. The survey, conducted by means of a mailed questionnaire, examined perceptions centering on sources of support, reception site logistics, rewards teaching strategies, and future directions. Key findings included: overall, respondents perceived television teaching positively; reception site, administrative support, and peer support were important to faculty; additional preparation time was required for television teaching; teaching on television required changes in style and pedagogical strategies; and student-teacher interactions were affected by the medium. Findings have implications for the implementation of videoteleconferencing operations, recruitment of faculty for television teaching, and evaluation of videoteleconferencing operations. | 95,943,301 |
Effect of pertussis toxin on the induction of nitric oxide synthesis in murine macrophages and on protection in vivo.
Macrophages from mice immunised with whole cell pertussis vaccine (WCV) responded in vitro to selected antigens by nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. This process was closely associated with macrophage activation. Because of the postulated role of traces of pertussis toxin (PT) in the protective effects of WCV, native PT and a genetically detoxified PT (g-PT) in combination with either a heat-treated whole cell pertussis vaccine (dWCV) or a three component acellular vaccine (ACV), were examined for their effects on NO induction in murine macrophages. The protective effects of these two forms of PT were examined in parallel using the intracerebral (ic) and aerosol challenge routes. Cultures of macrophages from mice immunised with dWCV and ACV, PT or g-PT produced less NO than comparable cultures from mice vaccinated with WCV. However, vaccination with either dWCV or ACV in combination with PT but not with g-PT, induced a significant increase (126-157%) in NO production by cultured cells and was associated with increased protection against challenge by both the ic and aerosol routes. These data indicate that a low concentration of PT acting as a co-factor in combination with other Bordetella pertussis antigens, can potentiate the activation of macrophages and that this process plays a key role in protection against infection. | 95,944,417 |
An item, usually made of glass, having fine wires or hairs, or etched or printed fine lines on a surface, and placed in the focal plane of an optical instrument to establish a reference point to the axis for the purpose of aiming, measuring, ranging, and the like. Excludes LENS, OPTICAL INSTRUMENT. | 95,944,481 |
thoughts, moods and emotions
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It’s been so long that I wrote.What with a job change, rusty internet connections and a trip home and many assorted things, I just didn’t get time or a conducive opportunity to sit down and write what has been going on in my head.
As of 2 days ago I started a new stint in my professional career with perhaps one of the largest reputed international NGOs. A comfy designation, easy work hours, almost no work, easy commute- all good things rolled into one. This is what dreams are made up of…right? But unfortunately for me, it’s not true. The last five years out of the eight hours of my working life has been spent stressing every single minute, answering calls and sms’ at unearthly hours, working round the clock. I don’t miss that…I don’t miss my organization, I don’t miss my boss but I miss my team. But that aside, I don’t think I enjoy working anymore. While it’s too early too judge, I am kind of quite disillusioned with the work space thing and I think its time that I seriously start considering doing something on my own, branching out and doing something that is…fruitful I guess for want of a better word.
What has really shocked me though is the “unwillingness” of my family to see me in a place without a regular full time job. The argument of a big brand, reputation, future career opportunities, a fixed salary etc. is something I understand but do not necessarily agree with. Why is it not acceptable if I don’t want to do anything that is associated with a big name? Why can’t I do something that just lets me be, doesn’t necessarily make me known or famous, doesn’t hold me in high repute among friends and family- just lead my life one day at a time with no rush to go anywhere, no milestone to achieve or mountain to climb. The mindset of people of the need to achieve something every step of the way is something that unnerves me and makes me uncomfortable. I do not want it…why is that so unacceptable and difficult to figure? And the worst part of all this is that while we ( my husband and I) can manage to live off one person’s salary, the frills of a bigger car, a foreign holiday, eating out has to be curtailed instantly. And somehow, somewhere that makes me feel guilty. Because it is only the double salary that lets us do many things that we do and I know that with one person earning that wouldn’t be possible. I am willing to compromise but M wouldn’t want to be in that position and it makes me feel guilty to deprive him of his frills just because I want mine…
I don’t know the road ahead but I know it will be an unsteady one…maybe this job, maybe another one, maybe none…let’s see how it goes. The road ahead seems hazy right now but I am guessing it will clear out once I approach it head-on. | 95,944,504 |
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