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Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Global Economy
Edited by Charlie Karlsson, Urban Gråsjö, Sofia Wixe
Innovation and entrepreneurship are the prime drivers in the global economy. This scholarly book identifies some of the key forces behind innovation and entrepreneurship at the same time as it closes the gap between science and technology R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship, productivity growth, and internationalization. The expert contributions explore the underlying forces and add substantial theoretical and empirical knowledge to the current state-of-the-art in several research fields including the economics of innovation and entrepreneurship, regional economics, economic geography and international economics. Learn More
Forecasting Urban Travel
David E. Boyce, Huw C.W.L. Williams
Forecasting Urban Travel presents in a non-mathematical way the evolution of methods, models and theories underpinning travel forecasts and policy analysis, from the early urban transportation studies of the 1950s to current applications throughout the urbanized world. From original documents, correspondence and interviews, especially from the United States and the United Kingdom, the authors seek to capture the spirit and problems faced in different eras, as changing information requirements, computing technology and planning objectives conditioned the nature of forecasts. Learn More
2016 Paperback Price: $ 65.00 Web: $ 52.00
Interculturalism in Cities
Edited by Ricard Zapata-Barrero
Cities are increasingly recognized as new players in diversity studies, and many of them are showing evidence of an intercultural shift. As an emerging concept and policy, interculturalism is becoming the most pragmatic answer to concrete concerns in cities. Within this framework, this book covers two major concerns: how to conceptualize and how to implement intercultural policies. Through the use of theoretical and comparative case studies, the current most prominent contributors in the field examine an area that multicultural policies have missed in the past: interaction between people from different cultures and national backgrounds. By compiling the recent research in Europe and elsewhere this book concludes that interculturalism is becoming both an attractive and efficient new paradigm for diversity management. Learn More
Handbook of Service Business
Edited by John R. Bryson, Peter W. Daniels
Service business accounts for more than 75 per cent of the wealth and employment created in most developed market economies. The management and economics of service business is based around selling expertise, knowledge and experiences. This Handbook contributes to on-going debates about the nature of service business and the characteristics of service-led economies by exploring disciplinary perspectives on services, services and core business processes and the management of service business. A series of case studies are also provided. The volume pushes back the frontiers of current critical thinking about the role of service business by bringing together eminent scholars from economics, management, sociology, public policy, planning and geography. Learn More
Handbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy
Edited by John R. Bryson, Jennifer Clark, Vida Vanchan
This interdisciplinary volume provides a critical and multi-disciplinary review of current manufacturing processes, practices, and policies, and broadens our understanding of production and innovation in the world economy. Chapters highlight how firms and industries modify existing processes to produce for established and emerging markets through dynamic and design-driven strategies. This approach allows readers to view transformations in production systems and processes across sectors, technologies and industries. Contributors include scholars ranging from engineering to policy to economic geography. The evidence demonstrates that manufacturing continues to matter in the world economy. Learn More
Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Economic Geography
Edited by Charlie Karlsson, Martin Andersson, Therese Norman
This Handbook provides an overview and assessment of the state-of-the-art regarding research methods, approaches and applications central to economic geography. The chapters are written by distinguished researchers from a variety of scholarly traditions and with a background in different academic disciplines including economics, economic, human and cultural geography, and economic history. The resulting Handbook covers a broad spectrum of methodologies and approaches applicable in analyses pertaining to the geography of economic activities and economic outcomes. Learn More
Megaregions
Edited by John Harrison, Michael Hoyler
By critically assessing the opportunities and challenges posed by planning and governing at the megaregional scale, this innovative book examines the latest conceptualizations of trans-metropolitan landscapes. In doing so, it seeks to uncover whether megaregions are a meaningful new spatial framework for the analysis of cities in globalization. Situated within the broader contours of global urban analysis, the book draws together a range of thought-provoking contributions from scholars engaged in the study of trans-metropolitan regions. It thereby provides multiple paths of access for those wishing to familiarize themselves with this topical area of global urban studies. Learn More
The Regional and Urban Policy of the European Union
Philip McCann
The regional and urban development policy of the European Union, or more precisely, EU Cohesion Policy, is undergoing change. This development is driven by the enormous transformations in European regions and by shifts in thinking and analysis. The issues raised by the changes to regional and urban development policy in Europe span many academic disciplines and build on different research methodologies. A broad approach is required in order to address these issues and this book explicitly incorporates insights from a range of different disciplines. After examining the major regional and urban features of the European economy and discussing the analytical underpinnings of the current re-design to EU Cohesion Policy, the book also aims to provide a road map of the various EU regional and urban data-sources which are available to researchers and policy-makers. This book is aimed at all economists, geographers, regional scientists, spatial planners, transportation scientists, sociologists, urban studies researchers, environmental scholars, political scientists and policy-analysts who are interested in regional and urban issues. Learn More
Arts, Culture and the Making of Global Cities
Lily Kong, Ching Chia-ho, Chou Tsu-Lung
While global cities have mostly been characterized as sites of intensive and extensive economic activity, the quest for global city status also increasingly rests on the creative production and consumption of culture and the arts. Arts, Culture and the Making of Global Cities examines such ambitions and projects undertaken in five major cities in Asia: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Singapore. Providing a thorough comparison of their urban imaging strategies and attempts to harness arts and culture, as well as more organically evolved arts activities and spaces, this book analyses the relative successes and failures of these cities. Offering rich ethnographic detail drawn from extensive fieldwork, the authors challenge city strategies and existing urban theories and reveal the many complexities in the art of city-making. Learn More
The Economics of Outsourcing
Edited by Leslie P. Willcocks, Mary C. Lacity
In this wide-ranging collection, Professor Willcocks and Professor Lacity examine the economic determinants and outcomes of outsourcing and offshoring at both the firm and country levels. They provide a comprehensive overview of the topic, offering an interdisciplinary perspective, which covers the empirical and theoretical research not only of economists but also of researchers from other disciplines, most notably business strategy, information systems and international business. Learn More
Property Rights, Land Values and Urban Development
Li Tian
This book presents an analysis of betterment and compensation issues under the Land Use Rights (LURs) System in China since 1988. The topic originates from the observation of widening inequity and increasing uncertainty associated with the failure of government to adequately address betterment and compensation issues. An analytical framework of institutions and property rights is employed to examine socio-economic impacts under the LURs system, in particular, the role of the state is analyzed to explore the effects of government intervention in land markets. Learn More
Accessibility and Spatial Interaction
Edited by Ana Condeço-Melhorado, Aura Reggiani, Javier Gutiérrez
The concept of accessibility is linked to the level of opportunities available for spatial interaction (flows of people, goods or information) between a set of locations, through a physical and/or digital transport infrastructure network. Accessibility has proved to be a crucial tool for understanding the framework of sustainability policy in light of best practice planning and decision-making processes. Methods such as cost–benefit analysis, multi-criteria analysis and risk analysis can benefit greatly from embedding accessibility results. This book presents a cohesive collection of recent studies, modeling and discussing spatial interaction by means of accessibility indicators Learn More
International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development
Edited by Robert E.B. Lucas
This Handbook summarizes the state of thinking and presents new evidence on various links between international migration and economic development, with particular reference to lower-income countries. The connections between trade, aid and migration are critically examined through global case studies. Learn More
Asian-Pacific Rim Logistics
Peter J. Rimmer
Encompassing China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, extending to Australasia and connecting with South Asia, the Asian-Pacific Rim forms the world’s most dynamic economic region. Comprehending the region’s logistical structure and its institutions are of pivotal importance for businesses, researchers and policy-makers. Learn More
Governance for Urban Sustainability and Resilience
Jeroen van der Heijden
Cities, and the built environment more broadly, are key in the global response to climate change. This groundbreaking book seeks to understand what governance tools are best suited for achieving cities that are less harmful to the natural environment, are less dependent on finite resources, and can better withstand human-made hazards and climate risks. Learn More
Migration and Diversity
Edited by Steven Vertovec
Processes of social change brought about by international migration usually entail multiple kinds of diversification affecting ethnicities and identities, languages, gender balances, social statuses, skills and more. Compiled and introduced by a leading figure in the field, Migration and Diversity draws together key social scientific studies addressing varieties of migration-driven diversification. Contributions also examine state responses to, and the wider effects of, the new social, economic and political configurations that arise from migration. Combining empirical and theoretical works, this volume will be useful for undergraduate and graduate students through to professional scholars engaging in some of the most topical issues of today. Learn More
Global Clusters of Innovation
Edited by Jerome S. Engel
In the geography of the global economy, there are known ‘hot spots’ where new technologies germinate at an astounding rate and pools of capital, expertise and talent foster the development of new industries and new ways of doing business. These clusters of innovation are significant drivers of value creation and function as models for economic expansion in both developed and developing countries. This book explores the key attributes of these innovation hubs using case studies from around the world. Learn More
Cities and Private Planning
Edited by David Emanuel Andersson, Stefano Moroni
Through comprehensive case studies of privately planned cities and neighbourhood in Asia, Europe and North America, this book characterizes the theoretical basis and empirical manifestations of private urban planning. In this innovative volume, Andersson and Moroni develop an under-studied aspect of urban planning and re-evaluate conceptions of our urban future. Learn More
Edited by Stephane Hess, Andrew Daly
Choice modelling is an increasingly important technique for forecasting and valuation, with applications in fields such as transportation, health and environmental economics. For this reason it has attracted attention from leading academics and practitioners and methods have advanced substantially in recent years. This Handbook, composed of contributions from senior figures in the field, summarises the essential analytical techniques and discusses the key current research issues. It will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners in a wide range of areas. Learn More
Migration and Freedom
Brad K. Blitz
Migration and Freedom is a thorough and revealing exploration of the complex relationship between mobility and citizenship in the European area. Drawing upon over 170 interviews, it provides an original account of the opportunities and challenges associated with the rights to free movement and settlement in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Russia. It documents successful and unsuccessful settlement and establishment cases and records how both official and informal restrictions on individuals’ mobility have effectively created new categories of citizenship. Learn More


The X-Files 6.19, The Unnatural: “E.T. Steal Home”
Posted in TV tagged Bounty Hunter, The X-Files at 1:25 pm by Jenn
I don’t know about you guys, but I do this with my co-workers all the time
Summary: In Roswell, New Mexico, on July 2nd, 1947, a light is shining over a mound of dirt. But it’s not a UFO, it’s a light on a baseball field. (The boundaries are marked by cacti, and sometimes the balls stick to them.) When a player named Josh Exley comes up to the plate, everyone in the outfield backs up. He hits a foul ball, but an outfielder has trouble finding it. Something out in the darkness tosses the ball back to him.
The catcher remarks that he heard the Yankees wanted to recruit Exley, but Exley says he enjoys the quiet of the “cactus league.” The catcher has heard rumors that Exley, who’s black, could be the next Jackie Robinson. Exley says he doesn’t want to be a famous man like Robinson – he just wants to be a man. He hits a home run, his 61st of the season, and his teammates lift him up in victory.
The celebration ends when Klan members ride onto the field on horses. Their leader shouts racial slurs at the other black players and mocks the white ones for hanging out with them. The meek pitcher, who’s been having trouble with his throws, gets in some practice by throwing at the Klansmen. One of the coaches unmasks the leader…who’s an alien.
In the present, there’s a baseball game, commentated by Vin Scully, on a TV at FBI headquarters. Scully’s annoyed that Mulder has her working on such a nice day. She asks if he’s ever thought about trying to find a life on this planet. Mulder says he’s tried, and that’s why he’s looking elsewhere.
Scully has brought in an ice cream cone – well, a nonfat tofutti rice dreamsicle – and taunts Mulder for spending the day looking through New Mexico obituaries from the 1940s. Why worry about people who died 50 years ago? They should let sleeping dogs lie. The two toss cliché phrases at each other until Mulder grams Scully’s snack from her. It falls on the book he’s been looking at, and Scully sees that he’s secretly been reading up on baseball.
Mulder waxes poetic about the things you can learn from box scores. Some things are the same as they were 50 years ago, like numbers. Scully asks if Mulder’s mother ever told her to go play outside. Mulder gets distracted by a photo of Arthur Dales and rips it out of the book. Scully calls him a rebel for defacing government property.
Mulder goes to Dales’ home (in D.C., not Florida), and is confused when the man there, who’s not Dales, says he is. He explains that he’s Dales’ brother, and for some reason, they have the same name. They also had a sister and a goldfish named Arthur. Dales knows who Mulder is, thanks to his brother; they’ve talked about him a lot (nothing flattering). This Dales isn’t interested in a chat, and he closes the door on Mulder.
Since Mulder has never given up on a possibly interesting story, he decides to ask some questions through the door. Why is Dales (not the original, as Mulder thought, but the brother he’s speaking to) in a picture with Exley, who disappeared in 1947 after hitting 61 home runs? And what about the third man in the picture, who looks just like the Bounty Hunter? Dales thinks Mulder’s uninterested in baseball, but Mulder is a big fan.
Dales invites Mulder in and looks through some boxes while talking about how “the baseball gods” could answer all of Mulder’s questions about government conspiracies. He asks Mulder if he believes that love and passion could make a man shape-shift. “What exactly has your brother told you about me?” Mulder asks.
He wants to know why the Dales brothers didn’t say anything about the Bounty Hunter, if they’ve known about him and colonization plans for 50 years. Dales says that no one would believe him. Mulder’s offended that Dales doesn’t think he was “ripe” enough to be told. Dales finds a coin bank shaped like a baseball player that he says will tell Mulder all he wants to know.
We go back in time to June 29th, 1947, when Dales (the brother, not the original, but played by the actor who played the original in Travelers – this episode is confusing) goes to a ballpark to meet Exley for the first time. He works for the Roswell police and has been assigned to serve as Exley’s bodyguard. Exley doesn’t want the protection, but there’s a $500 bounty on his head from the KKK, and Dales isn’t about to let anyone, no matter his race, religion, or nationality – even Canadian! – be murdered if he can prevent it.
Dales is playing on a Negro League team, the Roswell Grays, and they’re on their way to their next game. Dales studies French on the bus. Exley asks Dales if he can get them some police uniforms to play in. Dales jokes that, instead of the Grays, they could be the Black and Blues. The players pretend to be offended, but everyone has a good laugh. Later, after many of the men on the bus have fallen asleep, Dales wakes up during a thunderstorm and checks on Exley. He’s stunned to see that Exley’s reflection in his window looks like an alien.
In the present, Mulder thinks Dales is messing with him. “E.T. steal home! E.T. steal home!” he jokes. Dales insists that he’s telling the truth. In fact, all the great baseball players were aliens. That includes Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays (“well, obviously,” says Dales). None of the greats fit in on Earth or in any other world. But on the field, they did. Mulder thinks he’s being metaphorical, but Dales says he only has time to be truthful. He gets a medication delivery from a kid he calls Poor Boy.
Back in 1947, two boys, one black and one white, argue about whether or not a ball Exley hit is worth anything, since he’s not in the majors yet. Dales is in the Grays’ dugout, practically part of the team now. They even share chaw with him (though it makes him sick). There’s a big crowd at the game, so Dales is on the lookout, and he tackles Exley to protect him from what he thinks is a gun. It turns out to squirt water, so Dales says Exley had a bee on him. (This freaking show and freaking bees.)
Later in the game, Exley gets hit by a pitch, and when his team checks on his mental state, he starts speaking an unrecognizable language. After a moment, he recovers, and when they ask where he’s from, he says Macon. The others don’t give the weird moment a second thought. But Dales goes to collect Exley’s glove and finds an acidic green substance on it.
Dales goes to a police station and calls Exley’s hometown, Macon, to do a background check on him. At the same time, he hands over Exley’s glove for testing. A Macon officer is very interested in Exley’s current whereabouts, as he disappeared five years ago…when he was six years old. The officer is also interested in Exley’s whereabouts because he’s the Bounty Hunter.
The two boys who were arguing earlier hang around the Grays’ dugout during their next game. The white one, called Poor Boy, tells Exley that some Yankee scouts are there to watch him. Exley plays poorly in the game, so Poor Boy thinks he’ll lose his chance at playing in the majors. As soon as the disappointed scouts leave, Exley hits a home run.
On the bus after the game, Dales confronts Exley for tanking the game, then reveals that he knows Josh Exley isn’t his real name – he took the missing boy’s identity. Exley denies that he’s from Macon, though Dales points out that he said he was after he was hit in the game. Exley says he also spoke in tongues, like he did in church when he was a kid. He says he was joking around.
Dales knows Exley’s trying to stay out of the spotlight because he’s hiding something. But tanking the game means he disappointed the fans, his teammates, and his race. That last one hits Exley hard. Dales is determined to find out his secret, but Exley warns that he’d better be looking into the right secret. In the team’s motel that night, Dales hears some noises from Exley’s room. He picks the lock, lets himself in, and sees an alien. Both of them scream in surprise, and Dales passes out.
Exley revives Dales, who immediately passes out again. Exley gives him water, but that only revives him briefly. “You’re supposed to be a big, bad policeman,” Exley chastises. When Dales is finally conscious, he thinks he’s dreaming. Exley confirms that this is what he really looks like. He shifts into the appearance of a woman, asking if that makes it easier for Dales to handle the revelation. Dales says that makes it weirder. Someone comes in looking for Exley and sees Dales with a hot woman instead.
On the bus the next day, Exley quietly tells Dales that his fellow aliens wanted him to keep to himself and not intermingle with humans. Dales guesses that he broke the rules because he came to Earth and fell in love with a woman. Exley laughs and says that he fell in love with baseball. His people don’t laugh or smile, but seeing his first baseball game brought joy out of him. It was the first “unnecessary” thing he’d ever experienced, and he couldn’t make himself go home. The players start a singalong, harmonizing on “Come and Go With Me to That Land.”
The bus’ journey turns into a ’40s TV commercial for Gray Bus Lines. The tagline, voiced over by Vin Scully, is “you can go home again.” In the present, Mulder guesses that Exley made himself appear black so people wouldn’t be suspicious not to see him in the majors. He thinks Dales is implying that Exley had something to do with the Roswell crash in July of 1947. Dales tells him to stop jumping to conclusions and “trust the tale.” Things that fascinate us are true. (This, contrary to what Dales said before, is a metaphor.)
Mulder still isn’t sure if Exley was an alien or a hybrid. He admits that he’s an idiot. As the Bounty Hunter appears on the 1940s broadcast on Dales’ TV, Dales says that since Exley had the same characteristics that make a man a man, he was human. Back in 1947, the Bounty Hunter stashes a body in a car trunk, then goes to meet the rest of the team.
Dales learns that the green stuff on Exley’s glove is from a lifeform that isn’t carbon-based. He’s called around to ask questions, but Dales tells him to keep quiet. He just wants the glove back. Exley – or someone who looks like Exley – shows up at the tech’s lab, saying Dales sent him to get his lab. He attacks the tech, then morphs into the Bounty Hunter.
The real Exley is at a ball field, and when Dales finds him there, he warns that he’s being accused of murder. Instead of running away, like Dales suggests, Exley wants to toss the ball around for a little while. He reveals that he talked to his family and wants to go home. He doesn’t have the sense of loyalty that would keep him on Earth, playing for humans. His family is still his family. Sirens approach, and Exley decides it’s time to leave. He asks Dales to tell people, including his kids, how good Exley was.
Dales doesn’t cooperate with the local cops, just telling them that Exley said he was going home. Dales refuses to betray Exley, even if it means he’s considered an accomplice or loses his job. After the police leave, Dales finds a map of the desert, with a home plate drawn on it.
We revisit the game from the beginning of the episode, and see that everyone fled after the Klan leader was unmasked. It’s the Bounty Hunter, there to kill Exley. Dales drives out there to save Exley, who says that dying would be the right thing to do. The Bounty Hunter is disgusted that Exley would risk the project for a game. Exley takes one last moment of pride in his 61st home run.
The Bounty Hunter wants Exley to show his true face in his moment of death. The Bounty Hunter goes first, morphing into an alien. Exley says that the face he’s wearing is his true face; he won’t shift. Dales arrives just as the Bounty Hunter is riding away, having icepicked Exley. Dales doesn’t care that Exley’s blood could harm him – it’s regular red blood, not green acid. Exley laughs, then dies in Dales’ arms. “Come and Go With Me to That Land” plays as current-day Dales remembers the moment. “I got a brother in that land where I’m bound,” the song says.
Scully finds Mulder at a batting cage, having been summoned by a message from “Fox Mantle.” He wants to give her a birthday present, though it’s not her birthday. Mulder knows that she’s never hit a baseball. Scully says no; she’s found more necessary things to do. He shows her how to hold the bat, telling her he’s paying Poor Boy to shag balls and run the pitching machine.
Poor Boy’s totally going to go home and tell his parents how he saw two FBI agents with their hands all over each other, because…seriously. Mulder helps Scully hit some balls, joking about all the stuff he puts her through. “Shut up, Mulder. I’m playing baseball,” she tells him. Up in the night sky, some of the stars shine brighter than the others.
Thoughts: This episode was written and directed by David Duchovny.
Exley is played by Jesse L. Martin. The second Dales is played by M. Emmet Walsh.
Darrin McGavin (the original Dales) was supposed to be in the episode but had to step out because he got sick. They wrote in the character of his brother, but I guess didn’t bother to come up with a new name.
Vin Scully (the namesake of Dana Scully, by the way) recorded his part for free because of budget issues.


Comic CONsciousness
by Tyler and Christo Wilson
“The great thing about the comics industry is that it’s driven by passion
…it isn’t driven by money.”
Royden Lepp, graphic novelist, The New York Times, 7/28/14
The New York Times:
Armed Animals Don’t Invent Themselves
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Character Creators Fight for Cash and Credit
“Like millions of moviegoers over the weekend, Bill Mantlo watched “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the Marvel Studios space adventure that sold more than $172 million in tickets worldwide in its first four days of release.”
“The film’s success is particularly meaningful to Mr. Mantlo, 62, [who watched the film from his nursing home room] a comic-book writer who helped create one of the movie’s main characters: the foul-tempered, gun-wielding anthropomorphic Rocket Raccoon.”
Groot holding Rocket Raccoon, who was created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen, in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Photograph from, Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures
Our very own Boulevardier Brothers have something to say,
and it’s all about comics, Comic-Con, and yes! it’s Comic-Con season again…
TYLER: I’ve been investing in comic books since I was 3 years old. Before I could even read I would join Ma and my older brother Christo on the weekly trips to the comic shop, and buy them just for the trip home which was a visual universe of amazing action packed illustrations. There was always a monthly budget for books and comics in our house, our Ma encouraged all varieties of reading, and she is proud today of her, “voracious reader sons.” I favored mostly Marvel titles, like Spider-Man and Iron Man, as I got older I was drawn toward the darker imprints, particularly Vertigo and the Hellblazer books.
Illustration by Tyler Wilson
Inspired by artists like Tim Bradstreet (Hellblazer) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy), many of my pieces explore the blending of humanity, the occult, and technology. Del Toro on Mignola, “Mike’s body of work is firmly anchored in comic-book and literary traditions of Machen, Lovecraft, Toth, and Kirby. Yet what has been emerging from them is a species all on its own.”
The REAL Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.
Comic books are actually versatile tools, they can be used to articulate views on political and societal shifts, as well as being colorful escapist fantasies. It is the rare author who can successfully combine both of these into a comic that doesn’t become overbearingly self serious or run off the rails (how many times can a character come back from the dead — really?).
There are of course some seminal works: Watchmen by Alan Moore, Sandman by Neil Gaiman, The Dark Knight Rises by Frank Miller, (soon to be newly released film Sin City: A Dame to Kill For — August 22, 2014 continues his genre) that manage to not only define entirely new worlds and characters, but to a certain extent hold up a gritty and super powered mirror to some of the real world’s problems. Comics have matured over the years, from their Golden Age beginnings like the jingoistic propaganda of early Captain America and Superman, to cynical and dark dystopian tales like Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan or the religiously polarizing and irreverent Preacher by Garth Ennis.
From the Comic-Con website:
Comic-Con International: San Diego began in 1970 when a group of comics, movie, and science fiction fans — including the late Shel Dorf, Ken Krueger, and Richard Alf banded together to put on the first comic book convention in southern California. Comic-Con started as a one-day “minicon,” called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Minicon, on March 21, 1970 at the U.S. Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego. The purpose of this single day, which included two special guests, Forrest J Ackerman and Mike Royer, and drew about 100 attendees was to raise funds and generate interest for a larger convention. The success of the minicon led to the first full-fledged, three-day San Diego Comic-Con (called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con), held August 1–3, 1970, at the U.S. Grant Hotel, with guests Ray Bradbury, Jack Kirby, and A. E. van Vogt. Over 300 attendees packed into the hotel’s basement for that groundbreaking event, which featured a dealers’ room, programs and panels, film screenings, and more…essentially, the model for every comic book convention to follow.
From the beginning, the founders of the show set out to include not only the comic books they loved, but also other aspects of the popular arts that they enjoyed and felt deserved wider recognition, including films and science fiction/fantasy literature. After one more name change (San Diego’s West Coast Comic Convention, in 1972), the show officially became the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 1973 with the fourth annual event. In 1995, the non–profit event changed its name to Comic-Con International: San Diego (CCI).
CHRISTO: I’ve always been a comics fan, my Dad inspired me with his 60’s comics collection, and I passed this along to my younger brother Tyler. With 20 years and counting of collecting, I think perhaps the most astounding thing about modern comic books, and the comic industry, is how successful the material has become across the media landscape. To put this is perspective, consider that in 1996, Marvel Comics was bankrupt, and yet today the Disney/Marvel juggernaut is redefining what is possible across movies and television with projects and crossovers of immense scope. But Marvel is hardly the only success story: Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is a cult phenomenon spanning comics, television, and a critically acclaimed episodic video game series. Similarly, Bill Willingham’s modern classic Fables is also now an award winning video game (The Wolf Among Us), as well as (arguably) the inspiration for television hit Once Upon A Time.
A few Comic-Con facts from mental_floss:
The first Masquerade Ball, a fan-made costume and makeup contest, took place in 1974.
In 1979, $12,000 in receipts was stolen from the Comic-Con International Treasurer’s home. As a result, the organization behind Comic-Con had to ask fans for donations to pay off the debt.
Since 2000, San Diego Comic-Con has hosted an annual film festival called the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, which highlights the best in genre movie-making.
Director Kevin Smith has made guest appearances at San Diego Comic-Con since 1997. In 2007, Comic-Con organizers asked the geek icon to close out Comic-Con Saturday Nights in Hall H with an hour-and-a-half long “Geek State of the Union Address.”
San Diego Comic-Con was featured on various TV shows throughout the last decade, including The O.C., Weeds, and Entourage. The comic book convention was also featured on the reality shows Beauty and the Geek and MTV’s Punk’d and The Real World: San Diego.
CHRISTO: The sheer size, scope, and cross-genre popularity of Comic-Con 2014 is perhaps the strongest evidence that comic books have truly arrived as mainstream culture. You’re equally likely to encounter Joss Whedon surrounded by the Avengers, Firefly browncoats, of Buffy-esque vampires. Guillermo del Toro might be found piloting a 50-story tall Jaeger from Pacific Rim, forestalling the vampire apocalypse in The Strain (itself a trilogy of books, comics, and now a television show), or investigating the paranormal with Hellboy. In short, comic culture is now just culture, and Comic-Con is the epicenter of the new entertainment landscape.
Note: We encourage all readers to take time and explore the visual feast of unbelievable comic art by each illustrator great in this post…hence all the links, do visit their sites and Wikipedia for an eyeball full!
by: Tyler and Christo Wilson
Tagged as: a e van vogt, alan moore, Bill Mantlo, captain america, CCI, comic, Comic-Con, comic-con international independent film festival, dark knight rises, del toro, dystopia, fables, forrest j ackerman, frank miller, garth ennis, geek state of the union, golden age comics, guardians of the galaxy, hellblazer, hellboy, iron man, jack kirby, ken krueger, kevin smith, kirby, lovecraft, machen, marvel, mike mignola, mike royer, minicon, Neil Gaiman, once upon a time, preacher, Ray Bradbury, richard alf, rocket raccoon, royden lepp, sandman, SDCC, shel dorf, sin city, spider-man, superman, the wolf among us, tim bradstreet, toth, transmetropolitan, walking dead, warren ellis, watchmen
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Varner on "The Guarantee"
By Patrick Stevens The Washington Times - October 26, 2007, 10:43AM
\ The senior safety is bright, insightful, gregarious and engaging, a guy with a heck of a future regardless of what he does once he leaves college. He’s also one of the few players you’re certain actually enjoys the give-and-take with reporters. \
\ He’s also honest; not in a tactless, loose cannon way, but in a “I’ve-seen-a-lot-and-this-is-how-it-is” kind of way.\
\ So there was no one better to ask about Clemson tailback James Davis‘ guarantee of a Tiger victory tomorrow at Maryland than Varner, who chuckled when the topic was brought up earlier this week.\
\ “I saw it, but I just laughed about it,” Varner said. “I don’t know. You just can’t guarantee things in this sport. I would never do that because you just don’t do that. That’s a very immature thing to do, to guarantee something like that.”\
\ At that point, the Official Beat Diva cut in from a few seats away and lamented that she hadn’t asked Varner the same question earlier, prompting another set of laughs before Varner continued.\
\ “It’s such an immature thing to do, definitely,” he said. “If you feel that strong about it, then more power to him. I’m not going to sit and guarantee anything because it’s like ‘any given Sunday.’ It’s any given Saturday.”\
\ I told Varner at this point I figured he would probably have a wary view of such theatrics.\
\ “I saw it and I said ‘Wow, that’s pretty bold, buddy,’” Varner said. “I want to see what you do in the game. I’m going to be looking for him. I’m going to be looking for No. 1. Definitely, I want to see if he can back up that and see what he’s going to bring to the table with all that talk. That’s cool. We like that. It’s sitting in the back of our heads.”\
\ “Like you guys needed to be riled up,” I offered, referencing a last-minute 18-17 loss to Virginia last week.\
\ “Thanks. We needed that,” Varner said. “Good. Like we weren’t mad enough. You’ve just really [ticked] us off now. That’s even better.”\
\ The first lesson in all of this is to not engage Varner in a war of words. You’ll lose. Badly.\
\ Tomorrow, we’ll learn if angering Varner and the rest of a wounded team turns out to be a particularly dangerous game for Davis to play. \
\ – Patrick Stevens


Poverty may have pushed Sien back into prostitution; the home became less happy and Van Gogh may have felt family life was irreconcilable with his artistic development. Sien gave her daughter to her mother, and baby Willem to her brother.[78] Willem remembered visiting Rotterdam when he was about 12, when an uncle tried to persuade Sien to marry to legitimise the child.[79] He believed Van Gogh was his father, but the timing of his birth makes this unlikely.[80] Sien drowned herself in the River Scheldt in 1904.[81]
After the altercation with Gauguin, Van Gogh returned to his room, where he was assaulted by voices and severed his left ear with a razor (either wholly or in part; accounts differ),[note 9] causing severe bleeding.[142] He bandaged the wound, wrapped the ear in paper, and delivered the package to a woman at a brothel Van Gogh and Gauguin both frequented.[142] Van Gogh was found unconscious the next morning by a policeman and taken to hospital,[145][146] where Félix Rey, a young doctor still in training, treated him. The ear was delivered to the hospital, but Rey did not attempt to reattach it as too much time had passed.[140]
Van Dyke had four children with his first wife, Margie. The pair lived separate lives for years, before officially divorcing in 1984. The actor became involved with Michelle Triola, an ex-girlfriend of Lee Marvin, in the late 1970s. Trioia had been working as Van Dyke's agent's secretary when they first met. Van Dyke stayed with Triola for nearly 30 years, until her death in 2009. In March 2012, the 86-year-old actor wed 40-year-old makeup artist Arlene Silver.
Among Van Dyke's high school classmates in Danville were Donald O'Connor and Bobby Short, both of whom would go on to successful careers as entertainers.[10] One of his closest friends was a cousin of Gene Hackman, the future actor, who also lived in Danville in those years.[10] Van Dyke's mother's family was very religious, and for a brief period in his youth, he considered a career in ministry, although a drama class in high school convinced him that his true calling was as a professional entertainer.[10] In his autobiography, he wrote, "I suppose that I never completely gave up my childhood idea of being a minister. Only the medium and the message changed. I have still endeavored to touch people's souls, to raise their spirits and put smiles on their faces."[10] Even after the launch of his career as an entertainer, he taught Sunday school in the Presbyterian Church, where he was an elder, and he continued to read such theologians as Buber, Tillich, and Bonhoeffer, who helped explain in practical terms the relevance of religion in everyday life.[10]
He incorporated his children and grandchildren into his TV endeavors. Son Barry Van Dyke, grandsons Shane Van Dyke and Carey Van Dyke along with other Van Dyke grandchildren and relatives appeared in various episodes of the long-running series Diagnosis: Murder. Although Stacy Van Dyke was not well known in show business, she made an appearance in the Diagnosis: Murder Christmas episode "Murder in the Family" (season 4) as Carol Sloan Hilton, the estranged daughter of Dr. Mark Sloan.
Danny (last name May, I'm pretty sure) and Sierra were a pleasure to work with. They had a completely non-pushy yet totally dedicated approach. Their timing was perfect - literally every time we had a question or wanted help, they appeared and LISTENED to our wants and dislikes and guided us like they really cared. They were upbeat and personable and miles ahead of the salespeople we met at other furniture stores in the area. We couldn't be happier with how we were treated.
Van Gogh worked for Goupil in London from 1873 to May 1875 and in Paris from that date until April 1876. Daily contact with works of art aroused his artistic sensibility, and he soon formed a taste for Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch masters, although his preference was for two contemporary French painters, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot, whose influence was to last throughout his life. Van Gogh disliked art dealing. Moreover, his approach to life darkened when his love was rejected by a London girl in 1874. His burning desire for human affection thwarted, he became increasingly solitary. He worked as a language teacher and lay preacher in England and, in 1877, worked for a bookseller in Dordrecht, Netherlands. Impelled by a longing to serve humanity, he envisaged entering the ministry and took up theology; however, he abandoned this project in 1878 for short-term training as an evangelist in Brussels. A conflict with authority ensued when he disputed the orthodox doctrinal approach. Failing to get an appointment after three months, he left to do missionary work among the impoverished population of the Borinage, a coal-mining region in southwestern Belgium. There, in the winter of 1879–80, he experienced the first great spiritual crisis of his life. Living among the poor, he gave away all his worldly goods in an impassioned moment; he was thereupon dismissed by church authorities for a too-literal interpretation of Christian teaching.
Many of the comedy films Van Dyke starred in throughout the 1960s were relatively unsuccessful at the box office, including What a Way to Go! with Shirley MacLaine, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., Fitzwilly, The Art of Love with James Garner and Elke Sommer, Some Kind of a Nut, Never a Dull Moment with Edward G. Robinson, and Divorce American Style with Debbie Reynolds and Jean Simmons. But he also starred as Caractacus Pott (with his native accent, at his own insistence, despite the English setting) in the successful musical version of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), which co-starred Sally Ann Howes and featured the same songwriters (The Sherman Brothers) and choreographers (Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood) as Mary Poppins.
The piece comes back and looks horrible. The fabric was torn and stapled back together unevenly. We called Art Van to complain and were promised to be contacted by the manager. In the meantime we moved and didn't get a chance to call manager back.  We called back and were told manager would contact us. Nothing. I finally called the manager, Kathy Smith, today and received the worst treatment I've ever experienced from a store. Right away she had a chip on her should and said because it's been 8 months since original purchase, we couldn't get a replacement and basically it wasn't her problem. I wasn't rude and didn't say anything to anger her but she acted like I was trying to steal from her. I explained that if we could not get the piece replaced (which is ridiculous by itself), could we get a decent discount on the purchase of two new pieces? We need to get the reverse pieces for the new house and were hoping after all the inconvenience, that they could work with us since the original piece looks terrible from being serviced.
In Paris in 1901 a large Van Gogh retrospective was held at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, which excited André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck, and contributed to the emergence of Fauvism.[269] Important group exhibitions took place with the Sonderbund artists in Cologne in 1912, the Armory Show, New York in 1913, and Berlin in 1914.[273] Henk Bremmer was instrumental in teaching and talking about Van Gogh,[274] and introduced Helene Kröller-Müller to Van Gogh's art; she became an avid collector of his work.[275] The early figures in German Expressionism such as Emil Nolde acknowledged a debt to Van Gogh's work.[276] Bremmer assisted Jacob Baart de la Faille, whose catalogue raisonné L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh appeared in 1928.[277][note 15]
Though The Dick Van Dyke Show got off to a slow start, it eventually developed quite a following; Van Dyke won over audiences with his good humor and likeability, and won three Emmy Awards for his work on the series. Decades after the show went off the air, in 1966, it remained a popular program in syndication. Following the show's end in 1966, Van Dyke starred on several other TV series, including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, but none captured the public's heart the way his first sitcom did.
In 1944, Paul Van Doren dropped out of intermediate school in 8th Grade at age fourteen when he realized he didn’t like school. He had a strong passion for horses and found his way to the race track where he earned the nickname “Dutch the Clutch”, and for just one dollar he would give you the odds of the race.[3] Paul’s mother, Rena, did not enjoy the idea of Paul being without a job and not in school, so she insisted he get a job at Randy’s, a one-time shoe manufacturer in the US. His job entailed sweeping the floors and making shoes. Paul eventually worked his way up the ladder and became the executive vice president at just 34 years old. Randy’s became one of the biggest shoe manufacturers in the US From Van Doren’s quick success in Massachusetts, he was ordered to turn around a failing Randy’s factory in Garden Grove, California that was losing close to a million dollars each month. Paul and his brother Jim moved their families and settled in Anaheim to help the factory. After just eight months of being in Garden Grove, the factory was functioning better than the one in Massachusetts.[4] Three months after trying to have the Garden Grove factory, Paul decided he wanted to start his own shoe brand.
After his recovery, and despite his antipathy towards academic teaching, he took the higher-level admission exams at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and in January 1886 matriculated in painting and drawing. He became ill and run down by overwork, poor diet and excessive smoking.[99] He started to attend drawing classes after plaster models at the Antwerp Academy on 18 January 1886. He quickly got into trouble with Charles Verlat, the director of the Academy and teacher of a painting class, because of his unconventional painting style. Van Gogh had also clashed with the instructor of the drawing class Franz Vinck. Van Gogh finally started to attend the drawing classes after antique plaster models given by Eugène Siberdt. Soon Siberdt and Van Gogh came into conflict when the latter did not comply with Siberdt's requirement that drawings express the contour and concentrate on the line. When Van Gogh was required to draw the Venus of Milo during a drawing class, he produced the limbless, naked torso of a Flemish peasant woman. Siberdt regarded this as defiance against his artistic guidance and made corrections to Van Gogh's drawing with his crayon so vigorously that he tore the paper. Van Gogh then flew into a violent rage and shouted at Siberdt: 'You clearly do not know what a young woman is like, God damn it! A woman must have hips, buttocks, a pelvis in which she can carry a baby!' According to some accounts this was the last time Van Gogh attended classes at the Academy and he left later for Paris.[100] On 31 March 1886, which was about a month after the confrontation with Siberdt, the teachers of the Academy decided that 17 students, including Van Gogh, had to repeat a year. The story that Van Gogh was expelled from the Academy by Siberdt is therefore unfounded.[101]
Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 into a Dutch Reformed family in Groot-Zundert, in the predominantly Catholic province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands.[16] He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. Van Gogh was given the name of his grandfather, and of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth.[note 2] Vincent was a common name in the Van Gogh family: his grandfather, Vincent (1789–1874), who received a degree in theology at the University of Leiden in 1811, had six sons, three of whom became art dealers. This Vincent may have been named after his own great-uncle, a sculptor (1729–1802).[18]
I am extremely unhappy with the service I was provided. My wife and I just moved, and are on a tight budget. We were in need of a mattress due to having to leave the old one at our old place. After sleeping on an air mattress for a few months we decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy a real one. We went to art van and got a cheaper mattress (due to the tight budget) and told it was not in stock at their location but it was at their Dearborn location, and they would have it shuttled and we could pick it up in 1-2 business days. After they took our card information and charged us they informed us that the mattress wouldn't be ready until February, and we are now going to have to wait 3 weeks.
"People say, and I am willing to believe it, that it is hard to know yourself. But it is not easy to paint yourself, either. The portraits painted by Rembrandt are more than a view of nature, they are more like a revelation,” he later wrote to his brother. The works are now displayed in museums around the world, including in Washington, D.C., Paris, New York and Amsterdam.
Van Dyke grew up in Danville, Illinois, with his parents Loren and Hazel and younger brother, Jerry, who also became an actor. "Danville was a town of 30,000 people, and it felt as if most of them were relatives," Van Dyke later wrote in his autobiography, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business. His father, Loren, was often away from the family, working as a traveling salesman for the Sunshine Cookie Company.
There are more than 600 letters from Vincent to Theo and around 40 from Theo to Vincent. There are 22 to his sister Wil, 58 to the painter Anthon van Rappard, 22 to Émile Bernard as well as individual letters to Paul Signac, Paul Gauguin and the critic Albert Aurier. Some are illustrated with sketches.[8] Many are undated, but art historians have been able to place most in chronological order. Problems in transcription and dating remain, mainly with those posted from Arles. While there Vincent wrote around 200 letters in Dutch, French and English.[14] There is a gap in the record when he lived in Paris as the brothers lived together and had no need to correspond.[15]
After Van Gogh's death, memorial exhibitions were held in Brussels, Paris, The Hague and Antwerp. His work was shown in several high-profile exhibitions, including six works at Les XX; in 1891 there was a retrospective exhibition in Brussels.[265] In 1892 Octave Mirbeau wrote that Van Gogh's suicide was an "infinitely sadder loss for art ... even though the populace has not crowded to a magnificent funeral, and poor Vincent van Gogh, whose demise means the extinction of a beautiful flame of genius, has gone to his death as obscure and neglected as he lived."[263]


Category: Grayssen Chronicles
Where we Will, We’ll Roam
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“Any plans after we reach our destination?” Sen asked Vanni softly as he stood at the bow of the airship watching the scenery.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, after a moment. “I figured… I thought that I’d explore. I’d like to… see the world.”
“The world’s a big place,” Sen pointed out. “The road gets mighty lonely. Might you want some company?”
“Maybe,” Vanni replied. He looked out over the bow of the airship and smiled. His father had always warned him about trusting strangers. The woman might have an ulterior motive for her offer; but she might just want company on the road.
“Where are we going?” Oliver asked, joining them.
Vanni spun to face them and waved a hand toward the horizon. “That way,” he declared. “After that… who knows.”
Tags: Oliver, Sen, Vanni
Longer Ways to Go
Vanni bounded up the gangplank of the airship with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. He carried a violin that he’d purchased with the money he’d earned at the little inn. On his back was a pack full of the provisions that he’d forgotten in his haste to leave home. He wore more serviceable clothes now, instead of the finery he’d worn when he reached the inn.
“Vanni Galiano?” the steward said as he reached the deck. “You’re one of three musicians on the ship. I’ll take you to your room as soon as the others arrive. For now, feel free to explore but try not to get underfoot.”
“Yes, sir,” Vanni said. He stepped over to the side, out of the way of a passing airman. Then he looked out over the bow of the ship. Before him lay the great wide blue of the sky. The world seemed to stretch out before him, beckoning him forward. He felt the freedom of the open road and chuckled, as he had to shake his hair out of his face.
“Might want to cut that,” an androgynous voice said wryly from behind him.
Vanni spun to find a buxom woman of dark complexion standing behind him. He pushed his hair away again and nodded. “Might be a plan,” he agreed. “Vanni Galiano,” he added. “I play violin and piano and sing tenor.”
“Sentina Cole. My friends call me Sen. I play harp and guitar and sing alto. Classically trained or self-taught?” she asked, not taking his hand.
“Classically trained,” Vanni returned, tucking his hands behind his back. “And you?”
“I have formal training,” she replied, offering her hand now. Vanni frowned but shook it as she added, “Sorry, a lot of folks set themselves out as bards when they really don’t have a claim to the title. Being able to pick out a few folksy songs, does not a bard make.”
Vanni grinned and looked away, sharply reminded of his music teacher. The maestro had thought only those educated in music should pursue it as a career. He’d only learned music to please his father and, later, because it was fun. It had never even occurred to him that he could find a career in music until the barkeeper had asked him about his skills. The juxtaposition of the two ideas was intriguing.
“Are you saying that those who learned in a more traditional manner have no business being bards?” another voice said.
Vanni looked up to find a fair man who appeared a few years older than he was. “If so I fear I must disagree. After all, going back to our roots music was largely a structureless endeavor. It’s a more recent addition, actually.”
“The only musicians I know are largely untrained and they’re… fun to listen to. They have a sound that’s all their own,” Vanni pointed out. “I suppose because they don’t know how music is ‘supposed’ to sound.” He turned his gaze toward the horizon. “Like when I first started, I figured that I should only play the few folksongs I knew. It wasn’t until later that I began using my more classical music with a less classical audience. I was pleasantly surprised when they liked it.”
“Just because something is different doesn’t make it bad. It can make it all the more interesting. Variety adds spice to life,” the young man agreed. He held out a hand and said, “Oliver Montgomery, pleasure to meet you.”
“Vanni Galiano.” He took the offered hand and smiled broadly. “Are you the third musician that they were waiting for?”
“I am,” Oliver replied. “I play flute and harp. I sing baritone… trending toward the lower end of the register.”
Vanni nodded and added his own vital information. As Sen made her introductions and the ship set out, he gazed out at the horizon. He had a long way to go before he went home again but he thought he would enjoy the journey.
Tempting me Into the Garden
Philippe sat up and listened to the soft music that had woken him for a few moments before standing. He walked like someone who was in a trance. He wasn’t quite entranced by the music, but if he let it the song would lull his senses.
He followed the song to its source – the garden. It was dark and most of the flowers were closed for the night. There in the gazebo a beautiful red-haired woman stood. It was she who sang so sweetly. He could see that she wasn’t a vampire when she opened her mouth.
“What are you doing here?” Philippe asked as the song drew to a close.
“I came for you,” she replied. She held out her hands and without a second thought, Philippe took them.
“What do you wish of me?” he asked. She set a hand on his eyes and he closed them. Then he sank to the soft earth.
“You are a vampire who chooses not to feed on humans or even the blood of animals, yes?” she asked.
Her voice was musical. When she spoke it was as if she sang. Philippe felt compelled to answer truthfully. “Yes,” he murmured.
“Your brothers are not vampires, true?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied softly. “Patrice by virtue of the treatments he underwent as a child and Vanni by birth.”
“Would you like to be as they are?” she asked. “Do you know what you would lose if you were human?”
“My gifts over fire. My gift of flight. My strength. My thirst for blood,” he murmured. “But I would be able to be near them without worrying that I’d bite them in a moment of excitement.”
“Is this a fair trade?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied. Then he felt suddenly cold. He couldn’t stop shivering. Then he could but not from warmth. It was as if all the heat was drawn from his body. Then the sensation stopped as suddenly as it had started. Philippe sat up and looked around in shock. He was alone in the garden.
Curious, he set a finger to his teeth. They were all the same shape. He had no more fangs. He was as human as his brothers. He shivered again – but not from the cold.
Tags: Philippe
I’ve Waited for You for a Long Time
Vanni frowned and looked all around him. It was dark. There was no moon and the streetlights were too far off to light the cemetery. He didn’t like it. He felt like anyone could sneak up on him.
As if the dark thoughts had summoned up trouble, Vanni was surprised by strong arms around his chest. Another hand covered his mouth. He was half-dragged, half-carried over to a ditch that the autumn rains had filled with water.
Suddenly, he was pushed beneath the water. He struggled to get away; to hold his breath in. In the end, he could do neither. Air escaped in fat bubbles, quickly replaced by murky water. Vanni’s struggles eased as cold filled his chest.
Then he relaxed. Suddenly he was warm. He sat up in shock and looked around frightfully. “Giovanni,” a familiar voice greeted. “It’s too early. You have to go back.”
“What?” Vanni looked around and found that he was still sitting in the ditch. Not far off a man was running away as two other ran toward him. He recognized them immediately as his father and godfather. He looked for whoever had spoken and found a girl standing not far off.
“Giovanni, you have to go back,” she said, pointing to where his father was kneeling on the ground over a lifeless form.
Suddenly, Vanni recognized the girl. “Lissa?” he said. He stood and took her hands. “Lissa, it’s you,” he said. He leaned against her and smiled. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve always been there but you need to go back. I’ve waited for you for a long time. I can wait a little longer. Your father needs you. Go. I’ll wait,” she promised.
Vanni nodded and suddenly a force caught him up and he was cold again. He was coughing, gagging and vomiting up the water that he’d swallowed and inhaled. Strong hands rubbed his back and soon he relaxed. “Dad?” he whispered hoarsely.
“Thank Gaia,” the older man said. “Are you hurt, son?”
“I think I’m alright,” Vanni replied. He rolled over so he could look at his father. “I saw Lissa. She said… she said she’d wait, that it wasn’t my time yet. She said you needed me.”
Suddenly he was caugh in a bone-crushing embrace. “I do need you, son,” his father murmured. “I don’t say it often. I don’t say it near enough. I take you for granted but I can’t imagine what I would do if something happened to you.”
“I love you too, Dad,” Vanni whispered.
Tags: Vanni
The Dead are Gentle to Us
Vanni looked out over the cemetary with its rows of stones. His brothers stood not far away. His father stood further back. “Well, we’re altogether,” he said softly. “Just like you wanted.”
“We’re finally a family again,” Philippe added. He took each of his brother’s hands and smiled gently between them. They were a most unusual family. Vanni was a human mage. He was a vampire and Patrice was somewhere in between the two. Still, there was no doubt that they were related. All had their mother’s coloring.
“The question now is: what will Cris do?” Patrice said.
“He’s had no problem raising you all these years,” Vanni pointed out.
“He gave me treatments to subdue my vampire side, Vanni. Those treatments won’t work for Philippe. He’s too old now.”
The youngest brother looked at their mother’s grave. “She wanted us to be raised as brothers. Father will respect that. He may be anxious about Philippe being a vampire, but he’ll honor her wishes. He will always love her.”
“True,” Patrice agreed. He reached over and took Vanni’s hand and smiled. They’d be fine now. They were a family.
Tags: Patrice, Phillippe, Vanni


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Allen, Hice Help Secure Ft. Gordon Cyber Instructional Facility Funding
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The Outlook for the U.S. Housing Market Hits its Highest Point in Three Years
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GMA Convention Guest Speakers Share Unique Roads to Success
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Governor Kemp Makes Historic Appointment for Insurance Commissioner
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Freight and Logistics Commission will Look at All Options
Democrat and Republican lawmakers in Georgia agree that logistics and moving freight across the state will be a key issue when they meet under the Gold Dome again in January 2020. To prepare for those discussions, a Joint Commission of the state House and Senate has been appointed to study and consider different options.
Matt Arthur: Improve Horizons for Millions of Georgians Outside Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta continues to be the hub of economic activity in Georgia and the Southeast, with no sign of slowing down any time soon. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Atlanta has had a 43% growth in jobs since 1991, more than 20 percentage points higher than the national average. It has the fourth fastest population growth in the nation—nearly six million people live in the metro region.
Small Business Hiring and Wage Growth Hold Steady in May
The Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch for May shows job and wage growth were essentially unchanged from the previous month. The national jobs index stands at 98.76 and has been relatively stable throughout 2019. Hourly earnings have increased 2.53 percent ($0.67) over the past 12 months, remaining slightly ahead of the 2018 average growth rate (2.49 percent).
Georgia Chamber Partners With U.S. Chamber To Host Small Business Series June 12th
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will be partnering to host the Small Business Series on June 12, 2019 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mason Fine Art and Events in Atlanta.
Georgia Power Customers to See Credit on June Bills
The second of three credits associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will be applied directly to Georgia Power customers’ bills in June. These credits are a result of the reduction in Georgia Power’s federal corporate tax rate from 35% down to 21%.
Congress Passes Disaster Relief Bill
Help is on the way. Nearly nine months after farmers in South Georgia were devastated by Hurricane Michael, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $19.1 billion disaster relief bill Monday, sending the measure to President Donald Trump. The legislation was approved 354-58 by Congress.
10 Most Expensive Places to Retire in the U.S.
Retirement might be a financial struggle for many retirees, but there is a segment for whom money is not a problem. To help those who like to dream big, Topretirements.com has developed a list of the 10 most luxurious places to retire. Communities where the hardest task is to choose whether it will be the beach club, marina, golf course, or take the plane out for a flight.


Trump Campaign Advisor Details Sept. 2016 Meeting With FBI’s ‘Informant’
Charlie Neibergall/AP
The top Trump campaign official who assembled members of the foreign policy team that became the subject of the FBI’s probe into Russian election meddling went on an Iowa radio show Monday to detail his recollections of meeting with an informant reportedly working for the feds.
Sam Clovis told the Simon Conway Show that he and the informant — an American academic based in Britain — met at a DoubleTree hotel in Virginia just outside of Washington on September 1, 2016. The two sat for coffee and had a “high level” academic discussion about China, Clovis said.
“It was like two faculty members sitting down in the faculty lounge talking about research,” Clovis, who served as the campaign’s national co-chairman, said. “There was no indication or no inclination that this was anything more than just wanting to offer up his help to the campaign if I needed it.”
Clovis’ name popped up in a story last week about the informant in the Washington Post, which also identified the informant by name Monday evening.
President Trump met Monday with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who’s overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, as well as FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats about turning over information about the informant to Congress.
Clovis, on the radio show, alleged that the informant meeting appeared to be “a deliberative and intentional effort on the part of the leadership of the FBI to create something that didn’t exist.”
The FBI, he claimed, was trying to “literally like plant evidence or to create an audit trail that would lead investigators on to something, then they would have justification to go back to their FISA warrants and all the other things.”
He said that the informant, in an email back and forth setting up the meeting, used his previous contact with Trump campaign foreign policy advisor Carter Page as “bonafides” to get in front of Clovis. Page had met the informant at a July 2016 conference, and was in touch with him on multiple occasions.
Clovis’ lawyer, Victoria Toensing, previously said, according to the Washington Post that the informant had not mentioned his other Trump contacts when reaching out to Clovis. Clovis said he wasn’t sure “where she got that information,” since she had access to the emails setting up the September 2016 meeting.
Toensing, in an phone interview Tuesday with TPM, backed up Clovis’ account. She told TPM that the informant had said in an email to Clovis that Page had recommended that they meet. She also claimed that the informant had told Page when they met at the conference that he was a big fan of Clovis’. Page confirmed Toensing’s account in an email to TPM.
Clovis suggested that the informant then used their meeting to get a meeting with George Papadopoulos.
The informant would eventually meet with Papadopoulos in mid-September, according to the New York Times, where he would ask Papadopoulos what he knew about Russia’s efforts to influence the election. (Papadopoulos denied having any insight, according to the Times.)
Clovis said Monday that his meeting with the informant was focused solely on the informant’s China research. Clovis claimed he didn’t think anything of the meeting, as the campaign already a had a “host” of people with China expertise, and that he didn’t even bother to open the attachments that the informant later emailed him on Sept. 27 with more of his research.
“I took a meeting like this probably once a day — I had somebody like this who would sit down with me,” Clovis said. “Literally dozens of people that had academic credentials that wanted to help and be involved, and I met with them all the time.”
Update: This story has been updated to include Carter Page’s confirmation that the informant told him he was a big fan of Sam Clovis’.


Belarus, UNECE discuss preparation of second Innovation Performance Review
MINSK, 14 March (BelTA) – The State Committee on Science and Technology (SCST) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe discussed the preparation of the second Innovation Performance Review of Belarus, BelTA learned from the SCST press service.
“Chairman of Belarus’ State Committee on Science and Technology Alexander Shumilin and international experts of the UN Economic Commission for Europe discussed the issues related to the preparation of the next Innovation Performance Review of Belarus (Innovations for Sustainable Development – the review of Belarus),” the State Committee on Science and Technology said.
The first project was implemented by the UNECE jointly with the State Committee on Science and Technology in 2010-2011. It was the result of joint work of leading foreign experts and specialists who gave an independent assessment of the status and trends of development of innovation activity in the country.
The second review of innovation development is needed to see the progress made since the first project in the light of the changed external conditions. In the second review the experts will pay close attention to the establishment of knowledge and innovation support institutes, innovations in the manufacturing and public sectors, innovative infrastructure, including the development of industrial parks and business incubators.
The visit of a delegation of the UNECE experts will be over on 18 March 2016. They are expected to hold a series of meetings in the ministries and departments, and visit a range of enterprises.


This program was offered in the past. This program might be offered again, but to be certain contact the organizing institution of this program. For current programs view all programs, or see the current offer by University of Groningen.
Search for New Physics with Low-Energy Precision Tests
The unexplained nature of dark matter and energy and the relative abundance of matter and antimatter are just two out of many reasons to expect physics beyond the Standard Model. In an attempt to resolve these issues, a variety of theoretical extensions to the Standard Model were developed. These extensions also predict new phenomena, such as the variation of fundamental constants and symmetry violation beyond allowed by the Standard Model. Sophisticated experiments are needed to detect these phenomena and thereby explore the physics beyond the Standard Model.
Low-energy precision tests are a very promising alternative to high energy accelerator research in this field. Using a combination of precision table-top experiments, electronic structure calculations and particle-physics theory, the understanding of the foundations of our universe can be tested at energies that effectively surpass those available at the largest particle accelerators. The search for new physics beyond the Standard Model using small-scale experiments is the topic of this summer school.
Leading experts will provide an overview of both experimental and theoretical aspects of this exciting field of research. Topics will include the status of the Standard Model and its extensions, parity violation, search for the electron electric dipole moment and for variation of the fundamental constants, methods to manipulate and control atoms, ions and molecules, and theoretical approaches. By bringing together enthusiastic scientists and students from different disciplines connected to the search for physics beyond the Standard Model, we hope to foster the development of this field and to encourage future collaborations.
View all upcoming programs of University of Groningen
Master / Graduate
housing included
new-physics-summerschool@rug.nl
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What Would The World Be Like If Video Games Didn’t Exist? Boring!
by Dana · 4 Comments
Have you ever wondered what would the world be like if video games didn’t exist? For some, a scary thought, for others a matter of indifference. I know it’s a bit silly to wonder about it when video games do exist and we should not dwell on what ifs but I thought that it’d be fun to look into it in one of my posts.
In short, there’s no way of knowing. But if video games didn’t exist, there would be other media to consume. However, the world would lose a great art form and many long-lasting friendships would not exist. Let’s look into how video games have changed the world and what it would be like without them.
Whether you are a fan of video games or not, you have to admit that video games created a whole new culture on top of already established entertainment such as TV, movies and theatre. That brings me straight to point one.
Entertainment substitutes
If video games didn’t exist, people would still stick with what they know: TV, board games, movies, theatre, music, fashion and with the vastness of the internet, social media and entertainment portals like Youtube.
Some people would pick out a new hobby (sports, musical instruments, crafts, writing, drawing), some would pick up more books as a result. Some people believe that children would be playing outside a lot more but I think that’s debatable. With social media and TV, they could still sit for hours on end, substituting video games for TV shows and youtube videos.
Video games as an art
Those who say that video games aren’t a form of art may have never touched a video game. Like books, movies, comics or TV, video games tell an engaging story with beautiful visuals. Not only that but they make the player a part of the story, allowing them to make decisions that can change the course of the game. Video games can provoke joy, sadness, grief, anger and everything in between, much like other media do. They make you think of your actions and their consequences, make you ask questions and maybe even see the world in a new light.
Not only that, but video games have inspired many artists to draw or write about their favorite characters, creating derivative works and expanding on the franchise. Just look at the stunning illustration of Ellie from The Last of Us!
A lot of hardware manufacturers would not be spending billions of dollars on making their products better and better. Graphic cards, while for everyone, are specifically marketed to gamers for great performance and best graphics. This is not limited only to graphic cards but also processors, headphones, gaming keyboards and mice. Technology advancement in this field develops very quickly.
Playing video games no longer carry (or should not carry!) the stigma of making people asocial. Nowadays video games can be an activity for the whole family or a group of friends. Not only that, thanks to online multiplayer games, we meet new people, socialize and bond over common interests, creating new friendships.
Many of these friendships are formed over long distances and in a world where video games wouldn’t exist, we most likely would never meet the same people. The fact that these friendships have been forged online makes them no less valuable or less “real”. I’m very thankful for video games; because of them I’ve met some of my closest friends and also my best friend. In fact, my friend wanted to make a post about his experience meeting friends online, which you can find here.
Of course there are people who prefer their own company to other people on most days and that’s okay. Being introverted isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And chances are if you’re introverted and love to play video games, you’d be introverted even if they didn’t exist.
Some people may find the thought that video games can help people ridiculous. There are many ways in which they can:
Career choices – some people may find inspiration for their career paths in their favorite fictional characters or even become a video game developer or writer. Sure, such characters also exist in movies, TV and books.
Questionable choices – Video games can often help people from making poor life choices (turning to alcohol, drugs to escape)
Ambition – Video games provide a lot of rewards and achievements, which can motivate people in their careers to strive higher.
Interest in various subjects – many video games have dealt with history and mythology and as such they made more people interested in these topics better than a school would.
Battling mental illness – Agoraphobia and anxiety disorder can be very limiting to a person to the point of isolation. With the mobile game Pokémon: GO, people with these disorders report that for the first time in a long time, they look forward to going out among others. Such idea before this may have seemed unfathomable.
Escape from real life – If a person is going through a tough time, battling depression or even abuse, playing video games can provide an escape, forgetting their problems for a while. I’ve read this touching (and horrifying) story of Scott, whose life was saved by video games by escaping abuse.
Move more/work out – When you picture a gamer, you just imagine a person sitting down for hours on end. While that may be true for some people, there are also games that promote working out, using motion controllers or Kinect sensors to interact. Such games can be dancing games (Zumba, Dance Dance Revolution) to fitness games on Nintendo Wii.
Charity – A number of gamers who support various charities are on the rise. Large influencers use their reach to raise money for charity. Youtubers like Markiplier, Pewdiepie, Jacksepticeye, and others have raised millions of dollars for various charities and continue to do so to this day just by live streaming themselves playing a video game. There are charities helping people play video games or making custom controllers for people with limited mobility (for example AbleGamers, Child’s Play). My friend Ian has done 5 or six 24-hour charity live streams, raising a lot of money in the process.
Video games made into broader entertainment
As I mentioned above, video games are an art form of their own. Video games have been taken and adapted for big screens, into novels and comics.
Notable examples of movies based on video games:
Some may argue that these movies were really bad. While that may be true, at least there was a lesson learned from them.
Video games are important
Whatever your stance on video games or gamers in general, the truth is that video games have become a large and integral part of our modern culture. So what would the world be like if video games didn’t exist?
I dare to say it’d be very different. Characters and stories that we love and play time and time again would not exist and some people would have never met in real life and become friends or even significant others.
What do you think would happen if video games didn’t exist? I’d love to hear your opinion, so make sure to comment down below!
Controller photo © by Mack Male @ Flickr
Internet Friends
Tissues Needed! The Saddest Moments in Video Games
What Are AAA Games? A Guide To Unofficial Terminology
shannon fowler
I know my fiancé uses them to destress. He is a plaintive care doctor, and his work is emotionally demanding. Without them he doesn’t bounce back after a really hard day as easy
Yes, that is very true, they’re very good at destressing. Until you can’t move past a certain point in a game and you get stressed even more. 😀 But even then I wouldn’t change it for the world. Thank you for your comment, Shannon! 🙂
Heather way
Before video games, I was obsessed with Monopoly board game and wanted to be the world champ
Emily Conway
I have such fun and fond memories with my brother playing video games (particularly Rock Band and the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion) in Elder Scrolls, we would be cracking up as we chased a deer in the woods and punched it to death. If that didn’t exist, I am not sure we would have too much common ground. TV is fine, but it is not interactive and you aren’t working together. There is an element missing from it.
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HANDS-FREE CELL PHONE BILL TO BE HEARD ON ASSEMBLY FLOOR
SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced he will present Assembly Bill 45, which requires cell phone users to use hands-free technology while driving, on the Assembly floor tomorrow, Thursday, May 29, 2003.
AB 45 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee last Wednesday on a vote of 19 to 6. Earlier this year, the bill passed out of the Assembly Transportation Committee on a vote of 14 to 5, with 1 abstention.
Simitian is gaining momentum in his effort to make California the second State in the nation to have a hands-free cell phone law on the books. (New York passed a similar law in 2001.) More than 20 state legislators are co-authoring AB 45. The bill also has significant support from law enforcement, Global 500 businesses, and healthcare providers. If AB 45 passes out of the full Assembly on Thursday, it will go to the Senate Transportation Committee next.
Related Pages: Public Safety, Press Releases, 2003-2004 Legislation, AB 45: Hands-Free Cell Phones


Who Is Destroying the Palestinian Dream?
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6214/palestinian-dream
Hamas's totalitarian rule over the Gaza Strip seems to be nearing its end, as the Islamist movement faces increased challenges from various militias in the area. Many Palestinians are worried that Gaza will fall into the hands of Islamic State or Al-Qaeda.
"By Allah's will, we will uproot the state of the Jews and you [Hamas] and others will vanish as the Gaza Strip will be ruled by sharia, whether you like it or not." — Spokesman for the Islamic State.
In public, Hamas leaders do not admit that their movement is being challenged by Islamic State and Al-Qaeda supporters in Gaza. It is more convenient for them to blame "Israeli occupation" for the violence, on the pretext that only Israel is interested in removing Hamas from power. This claim, however, has proven to be untrue.
It is time for the international community to realize that the Palestinian dream of establishing an independent state is being destroyed by none other than the Palestinians themselves.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which Palestinians hope will one day become part of a future Palestinian state, is quickly sliding toward anarchy and chaos.
Since its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, Hamas has maintained a tight grip on the area, home to some 1.7 million Palestinians. But now Hamas's totalitarian rule over the Gaza Strip seems to be nearing its end, as the Islamist movement faces increased challenges from various militias and groups in the area.
Some of Hamas's rivals belong to more radical terror groups such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda-affiliated militias created by salafi-jihadis inside the Gaza Strip. Others belong to the secular Fatah faction, whose members continue to dream of the day when they will be able to topple the Hamas regime and regain control over the Gaza Strip.
The radical Islamist terror groups are seeking to overthrow Hamas because they believe that the movement is too "soft" when it comes to implementing sharia laws and fighting against Israel. The goal of these groups is to establish an Islamic caliphate in the Gaza Strip and wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
In a recent video posted on the Internet, the Islamic State announced that its men would soon reach the Gaza Strip and remove the Hamas "tyrants" from power. "By Allah's will, we will uproot the state of the Jews and you [Hamas] and others will vanish as the Gaza Strip will be ruled by sharia whether you like it or not," warned a masked spokesman for the Islamic State.
Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip say that the Islamic State has managed over the past few months to recruit hundreds of young men to its ranks. According to the sources, most of the men who joined the Islamic State are former members of the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in addition to a number of disgruntled Fatah militiamen who are unhappy with the policies of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the leader of its Fatah movement, Mahmoud Abbas -- especially his declared opposition to terror attacks against Israel.
Palestinians waving Islamic State flags attempt to storm the French Cultural Center in Gaza City, in January 2015. (Image source: ehna tv YouTube screenshot)
Late last year, a salafi-jihadi militia in the Gaza Strip pledged allegiance to Islamic State, posing yet another major challenge to Hamas.
Until recently, Hamas leaders used to boast about their movement's success in restoring law and order after years of anarchy and lawlessness under the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip. But the "utopia" that Hamas claims to have created is facing an existential threat, as the Gaza Strip witnesses a sharp increase in internal violence. Some Palestinians are even beginning to wonder whether Hamas has already lost control over the entire Gaza Strip.
The violence reached its peak last week when a series of simultaneous explosions rocked the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. The explosions targeted the cars of six senior commanders of the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. No casualties were reported.
The latest bombings are considered a severe blow to Hamas, particularly in light of the fact that they occurred in an area heavily guarded by its security forces.
Some reports suggested that the Islamic State was behind the attacks, which came as a shock to Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in the Gaza Strip.
A number of Hamas officials said they did not rule out the possibility that Fatah members were behind the explosions. The officials claim that Fatah has an interest in showing the world that Hamas is not in control of the situation in the Gaza Strip. In the past, Hamas accused Fatah of being behind another wave of bombings that also targeted its men in the Gaza Strip.
In public, however, Hamas leaders do not like to admit that their movement is also being challenged by supporters of the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda inside the Gaza Strip. For these leaders, it is more convenient to blame "Israeli occupation" for the violence, on the pretext that Israel is the only party interested in removing Hamas from power.
This claim, however, has proven to be untrue in wake of public threats by various Palestinian groups against Hamas. The attempt to lay the blame at Israel's door reflects the growing anxiety of the Hamas leadership, which has stubbornly and consistently denied the existence of Islamic State and Al-Qaeda terrorists inside the Gaza Strip.
Here is what Ismail al-Ashqar, a top Hamas official, had to say about the latest bombings: "Gaza shall remain secure and calm and stable, and there will be no return to the previous state of anarchy as the occupation and its collaborators wish. The Israeli occupation is fully responsible for the explosions."
Ashqar acknowledged that relations between his movement and Fatah were "very bad and tense," especially in the aftermath of the Palestinian Authority's recent crackdown on Hamas men in the West Bank. In recent weeks, according to Palestinian sources, PA security forces in the West Bank have arrested more than 250 Hamas men, on suspicion that they were plotting to undermine President Mahmoud Abbas's regime.
The confrontation between Hamas and its rivals inside the Gaza Strip is likely to escalate in the coming weeks and months. Hamas now has so many enemies inside the Gaza Strip that to combat them, it would have to step up its repressive measures. These measures, however, will only lead to more retaliatory attacks by anti-Hamas forces, and plunge the Gaza Strip into a state of increased anarchy and chaos. Many Palestinians are worried that the Gaza Strip will sooner or later fall into the hands of Islamic State or Al-Qaeda.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, such a threat does not exist, largely thanks to Israeli security measures against terror infrastructure and cells. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, is also waging a massive campaign against Hamas and other Islamist groups in the West Bank. The PA is not doing this out of concern for the "peace process" with Israel; Mahmoud Abbas and his lieutenants know that these Islamists will kill them first on their way to killing Jews.
The growing state of anarchy in the Gaza Strip, as well as the continued power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, do not bode well for those who still believe that the creation of a Palestinian state will bring about peace and stability in the region. The way things are going these days, particularly in the Gaza Strip, it seems that a future Palestinian state will be added to the list of Arab countries that are currently witnessing civil wars and bloodbaths.
It is time for the international community to wake up and realize that the Palestinian dream of establishing an independent state is being destroyed by none other than the Palestinians themselves.
Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on Twitter
Related Topics: Palestinian Authority
Recent Articles by Khaled Abu Toameh
The Hamas March to Destroy Israel, 2019-07-15
Why Palestinians Do Not Trust Their Leaders, 2019-07-11
Palestinians: "Hamas Is Not Afraid of Elections", 2019-07-01
Palestinians and the Bahrain Conference: Condemning Arabs While Asking for Arab Money, 2019-06-24
The Palestinian Leaders' War on Preventing Corruption, 2019-06-17
David M • Aug 3, 2015 at 13:08
Toameh's analysis,as usual, identifies a simmering pot that is not likely to remain quiet for long. Gaza remains an armed camp with Fatah looking for revenge against Hamas' violent takeover just a few years back. The Hamas thugs had fun shooting Fatah knee caps and throwing Fatah loyalists off roofs!
Now new threats from the likes of ISIL are likely to become reality. Will an unstable Gaza provoke an Israeli response? And what kind of response will it be? Given the nature of ISIL it is hard to see anything but more fighting and blood on Gaza's sand.
Fred Z • Aug 3, 2015 at 11:40
I see the lads are still missing no opportunities to miss opportunities.