widens.

"Anna!" she cries out. She opens her hands and beckons Anna forward, spilling half her drink at the same time. "Come say hi to Hercules!"

Oh yeah. That's his name. Stepping forward, a half-smile on her face, Anna lets Meg's arms come to wrap around her in an almost-hug. She's able to face Hercules and send him a wave and a, "Hey, man."

He returns the wave, just before glancing over the tops of the girls' heads. He must say something about mingling or welcoming other people. Anna's not listening because Meg, despite being fully conscious, is hanging off her like a dead weight.

They've been here for like, three hours at most at this point. And most of that was dancing. How much had she had after they'd split up?it's not like she's never been in this position before.

At least Meg's just wearing a toga...

And actually, Meg has surprisingly cute pyjamas. Anna can't help the little smile when she notices the owls plastered all over the pants.

She fills the glass up again for her own drink, but she makes sure it's full when she puts it, along with a sleeve of ibuprofen, on Meg's bedside table.

"Night night," she says, heading for the door. Meg's voice stops her.

"Stay...?"

She's peeking out from under her covers, eyes sleepy. They're wide enough to see the trepidation there. Anna hesitates for a second before putting her bag down. It's only early. She's got time, and truthfully... she wants to.

So she does. Within moments she's sliding into the sheets next to Meg, toes


wiggling against hers and faces lining up on the pillows.

Meg leans closer, hand coming up to rest on Anna's waist as they look at each other. Meg's got some hair in her eyes, and without even thinking as she does it, Anna lifts a hand to brush it away.

Maybe Anna's imagining things, but it kind of feels like Meg leans into it. Her eyes close and she leans just a little closer. "Thanks... Anna..." she says softly, just as her breathing evens out.

Anna stays until Meg's fallen asleep and after. She can't find it in herself to leave straight away.

Elsa's not getting a lot of study done. Her mind keeps wandering, mostly to Anna, but also to other things. Their lease is coming up, for one, and still,no one has a plan. For another, Kristoff's in the living room playing video games and she's already had to ask him to turn it down like, three times already. He does, but somehow it feels like it's just getting louder and louder.

... It's mostly Anna on her mind.

She wishes she could have gone, too (and at this point she probably would have gotten even more study done because at least then she wouldn't be wasting the time she had set aside.

Anna's probably having a blast. Elsa hasn't had much time to spend with her yet, and this honestly would have been the perfect opportunity. Kristoff wouldn't have come, so it would only have been them two.

Though, her track record with parties is really shit. The last time


she was anywhere near club music and grog, she'd had to call Kristoff at some ungodly hour of the morning to pick her up. That whole night had been stupid.

She'd been stupid, if she's honest with herself. Picking up randoms. She doesn't even really have clear memories of the night, which only makes it worse because she knows it was entirely consensual. She'd just had to simultaneously agree to sex and also drink enough to block out most of it. Only stupid people do shit like that. She's pretty sure there was a joint, somewhere in there, but she doesn't know if she took it.

Even so, that's still stupid. Having sex with people she didn't know who were also in the habit of getting high. Jesus christ, whatwas she, a teenage rebel? She should have called Kristoff hours earlier, while she still had her wits and her intelligence.

Wait.

Elsa closes her eyes and tries to focus on a specific moment. At the club, drinking and dancing – grinding, really, on anyone who comes near. Pushing away a skeevy dude but then letting a pretty brunette with amber eyes tug her close, hands on her hips and squeezing. Sandwiched between her and a dude, all smiles. She remembers climbing into an Uber, sitting between her two new friends. Gasping as a hand slid into her shirt and lips found her own. Making out with the chick before stumbling inside their apartment. Eating her out just as the boyfriend slid inside. He hadn't stayed there long, entering his


girlfriend minutes later.

He didn't have a condom on.

Oh fuck. He didn't have a condom on.

Elsa's on the pill – has been for years to deal with stupid fucking periods. That's not why she's concerned.

Stumbling from her room and out to meet Kristoff, she ends up collapsing on the couch with her breath coming short. It's harsh and loud, ragged spurts that are just not enough, and Kristoff (for all his obliviousness) actually notices. Elsa doesn't hear his game pause but she does feel his arms around her shoulders. They seem to calm her, but it's not perfect. His hand, rubbing circles onto her back, kind of is. She's still panicking, but it's enough for her head to clear and for her to get her bearings.

"I didn't- I wasn'tbest..."

At that, Elsa's finally able to offer up a slight smile. It doesn't quite reach her eyes, still red-rimmed. She leans against him and rests her head on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," he murmurs, arm wrapping around her shoulders. "We'll all get through this together. No matter what, we're here for you."

Kristoff's first hockey game of the season actually falls on the very next night. Elsa and Anna plan to take him out for pizza afterwards, regardless of who wins. Watching him play is always a treat, and it's not like they're not going to be supportive. They get dressed in the team colours and Anna's super excited, even if Kris and Elsa seem a bit subdued.

But that's okay. Anna has more than enough cheer to


make up for it.

She'd sent Meg a text that morning, asking how she was feeling. She'd gotten back a curt, "fine. still hungover", and then a few hours later, another saying, "wow that was bitchy. sorry :( feeling a lot better now. thanks for getting me home. xx"

That was more like it, and it just made Anna's mood even better. Everyone is happy and healthy and that's all that matters.

The game doesn't start until 6, which gives them plenty of time to get there. Elsa finds herself dressing up, perhaps a little more than necessary. The way Anna had smiled and shyly held her hand, it totally made it worth it.

It's hard, trying to limit contact though. She and Kristoff had done some research, and from what they'dfound, kissing was still safe. Even so, Elsa only gave her a peck instead of a full-on kiss.

Anna honestly didn't look like she minded.

They walk, hand-in-hand, to the hockey oval. Don't get fantastic seats, all things considered, but that doesn't really matter – not when they can still see the puck and distinguish the players. Kristoff, when his team finally enters the pitch, spends a good ten seconds scanning the stands for his girls. Elsa and Anna both jump to their feet to wave, and then sink low in embarrassed giggles when he sends a kiss their way.

The first half is relatively tame because it's the first match of the season and everyone is just trying out their team – getting a feel for competitive hockey, and not


just the practice sessions. They cut to half-time with only one point each, which makes it just a little more exciting because now the teams are going to be desperate for a point.

Elsa stays in her seat while Anna ducks to the bathroom, ensuring no one steals their seats. She's on her phone, posting a picture of the game to Facebook, when Anna returns.

Only, she's not alone.

Her friend – a girl, and the same one who'd ripped into Elsa and Kristoff on the lawn that day – is standing next to her. She's not acting shy or anything, but she doesn't seem all that comfortable being around Elsa. Without warning, she sticks a hand out.

"Sorry. About that day. I get it now."

It's a surprise, but Elsa's not thebecause they have the best bases and the topping doesn't taste like shit. It's this gourmet independent place, and they order two pizzas plus garlic bread and dessert, just because it all tastes so great.

Meg's actually a really nice person when she's not yelling, as Kristoff and Elsa discover. She's fun and engaging, even if she keeps looking at Anna – as though searching for confirmation that she's doing okay. They're sitting together on one side of the booth while Kristoff and Elsa are on the other.

They drove Kris' truck, which means they have to drop Meg home. Elsa can't help but stare after Anna as she walks Meg to the front of the brunette's dorm building. She's just... interested in Meg. She's the only 'outsider' who knows


about their odd relationship. It's not like they were overtly lovey-dovey with each other , but still...

Elsa looks away as Anna releases Meg from a hug. The last thing she wants is to get caught staring. Anna's all smiles when she returns to the car, which might be why she doesn't fill the rest of the drive with idle chatter. It's not until they're almost at the apartment when she pipes up.

"Hey, Kris, are you staying the night?"

Elsa's eyes widen and she's glad she's in the front seat when she glances at Kristoff. He already knows what she's thinking, because he says, "Nah, not tonight. I'll see both you girls tomorrow, though."

When they pull up, Elsa just leans across the center console and gives him a peck. "Thanks,"she whispers in the time it takes Anna to get out of the car and to his open driver's window.

Anna's much less reserved when she kisses him, but that doesn't mean it strays into graphic territory. She's got a lovely blush on her cheeks when she pulls away, and Kristoff has to actually clear his throat.

"Yeah," he says, still coughing. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He hangs around long enough to see them get into the building, but after Anna's pressed the lift button and turns back, he's already sped off. That's okay.

Anna sidles closer to Elsa and loops their arms together. Elsa turns her head, mild surprise written on her face, which is only taken advantage of when Anna kisses her. She presses their lips together, insistent, and Elsa


allows it because the last thing she wants to do is stop.

It's the ding of the elevator that makes her break it, and she shoots Anna a sheepish smile. Anna returns it, and she doesn't initiate anything else in the lift.

They live on the sixth floor, out of eight, but the elevator is super old and clunky so it takes twice as long as it should. When Elsa clears her throat and says, "So. Meg." Anna has enough time to smile before having to add a verbal response.

"She's awesome, isn't she?"

Elsa nods, more non-committal than actual agreement. Anna's not wrong, but she's kind of missing something.

"She's very friendly," she says instead.

"Yeah..." Anna's word is soft, and she's frowning thoughtfully. It doesn't seem to be the sort of thingElsa needs to respond to, so she doesn't. She simply observes Anna instead of trying to continue the conversation.

There's nothing else that needs to be said. Not yet. Perhaps in the future, but right now, all Elsa does is stand next to her girlfriend and rest her head on her shoulder.

Kristoff and Elsa have to go to the clinic on Wednesday, mostly because there's no available appointments any other day. Elsa's supposed to go to school and work, but this is just too important.

Kristoff comes and picks her up. Elsa's actually almost out the door when Anna comes out of her bedroom, hair a mess and rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Hey," she says. "Where're you off to?"

Fuck. Elsa hadn't expected to see her this morning. "Oh, Kris and


force herself into it. She's sure Kris won't do that, either.

She still feels guilty as all hell, but- she's going to tell Anna. No matter the results, she's going to tell her. She just... wants to wait for them. It's something Anna definitely deserves to know, but why mention it when there's really no news yet anyway?

The drive to the clinic is silent. Kristoff's radio is still broken. At least it's not too far away.

They're given forms to fill out on arrival, and the questions are a lot more personal than Elsa had expected. She's gotta figure out her cycle, and talk about whether she's ever been pregnant and-slash-or had an abortion. They want to know when the unsafe sex have happened, and whether she's slept with anyonesince.

Kristoff's gotta fill out the same form, but it doesn't make him as upset as it seems to make Elsa. She doesn't want to have to be here. The fact she is means she fucked up bad – at least to her. God, if her dad could see her now...

... He'd probably be holding her hand and helping her as much as he could.

She'll have to go back and visit him soon. So much has happened. She needs to think of him as proud of her. She's sure he would be.

The actual exam is much less invasive than the forms seemed to be. They're let in together, and while it's a little embarrassing, talking about her body in front of Kristoff, the trade off is that he has


really do is make Anna feel as loved as possible, even without a lot of physical intimacy. She can still kiss her. Hugs and hand-holding are totally allowed. It's just sex.

And it's not like they're doing that anyway. If it comes up... well, what's putting it off for a few more days gonna do?

Anna's on the couch, talking into her mobile when Elsa walks through the door. Her arm is aching, but at least there's no evidence of a blood test, aside from a small bruise. Damn, why does her skin have to be so pale? But, it's only very minor. She's already decided, if Anna asks, that she's not going to lie. She's just going to say, "I had a blood test."

But Anna doesn't ask. She grinswidely at Elsa, turning back to her phone briefly. "Hey, Meg, gotta go. Elsa's home. Yeah, you too. Talk to you later. Bye-bye!"

She gets to her feet, moving towards Elsa and smiling. Elsa opens her arms and pretty much falls into her girlfriend. She's so tired, suddenly. And Anna's so comfortable.

"Mm gonna have a nap..." Elsa decides, eyes closing. Anna's hand comes to rub at her back.

"You look exhausted. Got a good workout, then?"

Elsa opens her eyes slowly. Huh? "What—" She's interrupted by a yawn, which only makes Anna let out a giggle. "What workout?"

"Oh, well. A quickie in the car is a lot harder than it looks."

Elsa actually lifts her head.

She's almost offended at the suggestion, but Anna's smiling – and not a pained smile. A happy,


her pants. She watches for a second, and the last thing Elsa wants to do is make her stop. Being watched by Anna is different to Kristoff. Elsa's already starting to regret this idea.

How is she supposed to keep her arms to herself, let alone her lips or her hands or her fingers?

They lie there for a while, facing each other. Elsa's eyes keep shutting, but they always flutter open before too long.

"You should sleep," Anna murmurs to her. She lifts a hand to caress Elsa's face, and the action reminds her of her drunken friend after that party.

Her stomach twists in a way that isn't very pleasant, but she's not sure why, because at the same time her heart flutters a little.

Elsa smiles and leans into herhand. That must be it because Anna can't help but return it. Leaning forward, she presses her lips against Elsa, encouraging her to release a little groan.

Before long, Anna's lying on top of her, chests pressed together and lips fused. It takes a real struggle for Elsa to twist her head, gasping. Her arousal is completely obvious, in the flush of her cheeks and peaks of her nipples. Gasping for breath, she has to lower her eyes away from Anna, away from her blush and her chest, so she can say, "We- we should stop..."

She doesn't want to see Anna's expression. She's still ridiculously turned on, but she can't do this.

Anna slides off her, sitting cross-legged and staring at her lap. Elsa's eyes shift to the ceiling as


she breathes out as silently as possible.

"Sorry..." Anna says softly. It barely manages to cross the suddenly gaping schism between them. Elsa rolls over and crawls to her girlfriend; presses her head into Anna's stomach and wraps her arms around her.

"It's not you," Elsa replies, voice muffled. "I'm just- I just need time."

And that's not a complete lie. Elsa does need time. She needs to wait for her test results, and she needs to figure out a way to tell Anna. It's not the fact that she slept with someone else that's terrifying. It's the fact that Anna's the only one who doesn't know. That's not going to go down well, but maybe Elsa can still limit the damage. Waiting... waiting for the results gives her an excuse.

"...Okay..."Anna's voice is still low, and from her position Elsa isn't sure what she's thinking. But then a hand comes up to brush at her hair, and she knows Anna doesn't care. Knows she's not angry. "Okay."

Elsa's counting the days. She survived yesterday. That leaves four days to Monday. Unfortunately, two of those days are a weekend and Elsa's got zero idea for how to survive them.

That's all before she realises that she's spending time with her girlfriend and with her boyfriend and she doesn't have to survive.

Saturday, Kris has another hockey match – though, this time Meg joins them right from the beginning. Elsa takes special note of the way Anna lights up when she catches sight of her friend. It's actually... nice to see, though. Anna's


after, and it's even more exciting than the last one. Kristoff's team is playing so much worse than last time, it's almost unbelievable. Are these the same players? And it's not even the team as a whole. Kristoff just seems distracted. Anna still shouts at the top of her lungs, trying to encourage them, but it's completely futile. Or, rather, her voice is lost amongst the hundreds that cry over the top of her. She barely hears Elsa and Meg, and by the time halftime rolls around, she's certain she's going to lose her voice.

She never noticed how much Meg and Elsa didn't talk until she's not there to fill the silence.

"So, Els," she starts, voice raspy and- yep, that's definitely pain. "Meg's into ancient religions. You're agal of science, talk."

Elsa raises an eyebrow at her, and Anna shrugs. Thank God Meg's there to try, though. She snorts and says, "Ancient mythology, Anna. It's only a religion if there are actually people who still believe it."

Poking her tongue out, Anna retorts, "Please, I've heard you. You dream about Hades. 'Rockin' Bod Hades,' you called him. Hair of fire but that's not what sets you alight—"

"Shut up!" Meg interrupts. "I'm pretty sure you mistook Hades for Aphrodite. Easy mistake to make. Though, you could have been projecting. Sappho's got a special place in her garden for you."

Anna's face erupts in a bright blush, but she ends up just poking her tongue out. "Fuck you," she says, but there's no real malice in her tone.

"Love you too~"

And


best friend and girlfriend get along" should.

It really doesn't take long to figure out the rest from there.

Before long, the championship hockey games are upon them. Kristoff has to travel to Chicago, which is great, except it's not like Anna or Elsa could easily accompany him.

That's fine, though. It's almost a blessing in disguise, because well. Kristoff's moving up in his hockey career, and it also gives the girls some time to spend with each other, without worrying about neglecting him.

It's just... because they're such a small uni, and the hockey team has never made it past regionals before, they want the players to arrive as soon as possible for test games and interviews and trials for funding.

He's got two days to get everything sorted before he fliesdoesn't know if she's safe. At least, she forgets until Anna brings it up.

And Elsa can see why she would. They haven't had sex since before Christmas – good lord, that's like, almost six months at this point – and she knows Kristoff's been avoiding it, too. So when Anna brings up the idea that maybe they could possibly just have a nice time together before Kristoff has to leave, it physically hurts Elsa to turn her down. They can be safe with Kristoff, but it would be suspicious if she asked Anna to suddenly use a dental dam.

She's got an excuse. She just says she's not ready for that yet. But the way Anna's face falls makes Elsa's own heart crumple in her chest.

The clinic should ring


now, with the best one at her feet, what was she supposed to do with it?

That question is actually really easy to answer. She returns to Anna, who's still out like a light, and presses her face into a freckled tummy. She smiles when Anna lets out a little noise, and moves her head to be closer to Anna's face.

She really wants to kiss her, so she does. It's how Anna wakes up, soft lips pressing into her cheeks and around her face.

"Mmm good morning," Anna murmurs. She isn't given a chance to say anything more because, now she's awake, Elsa just wants to kiss her properly. If they didn't already have plans, it could very easily have progressed even further; this time, though, Anna's the one togives an an energetic nod, and, still smiling, hands over her phone for Elsa to programme her number into it.

Once she hands the phone back, Marisol doesn't linger. Elsa and Anna go back to their breakfast, but it's a little subdued. Elsa's heart is racing and she's not sure how to slow it down. It doesn't help when Anna says, "So... what did you need to tell me?"

Her face is so open. So innocent. Elsa can't destroy that right now. So she smiles, even as her heart sinks, and says, "Nothing. Everything's fine." At least that second part isn't a lie.

The rest of the brunch passes in slightly awkward conversation. It's tense, where it hadn't been earlier. More from the interruption, rather than because of who or how


collapses on the couch as she reads it out loud. It's all the typical things; how he's doing, what the his new, temporary place is like. How the whole team has already found the pub. Anna replies for both herself and for Elsa, though she makes sure to tell Kris not to text to her phone next time. She couldn't be trusted to reply, evidently.

Once it's sent, she stands back up and puts her phone on the kitchen table next to Elsa's. "Els, today was amazing, but I'm ready for a nap, I think."

Elsa smiles at her as she pulls her in for a hug. "Well, maybe we should rest. Recharge. We have, hmm, big plans tonight."

Anna's completely on board with that idea.

It's a fantastic idea, really, untilthey sleep away the entire afternoon, and Elsa wakes up in a hot sweat. The last thing she actually wants to do is stick to her girlfriend – yet – so she rolls over to get up. Shower is a must at the moment.

Anna grumbles, but she eventually gets up too. Dinner won't cook itself, after all. Elsa's just soaping her left leg (she's already shaved her right) when her phone goes off.

"Hey, could you get that?" she shouts. "It's probably Kristoff."

She hopes he's sent a picture because she's already forgotten where he's gone. Though, knowing him, it's probably a, "cool place. room has a shower-bath. i don't like their coffee". He's a bit shit at texting.

When she doesn't hear back from Anna, she assumes it is a


at her.

"Hey... what's up?" she asks, more hesitantly than she probably needs to. Anna glances up at her for a second and she looks more upset than onions would make her. She gives a sniffle and then picks up a phone – Elsa's phone – and throws it to her.

"You tell me."

Elsa doesn't move for a second. She wants to ask Anna again, but that's only because she's terrified of what's going to be on her phone. It was- that was her message tone. It's not like the clinic was going to text her some private information. So what's up?

Apprehensively, Elsa unlocks it. The first thing to pop up is a message. It's not from Kristoff.

Oh shit.

Hi, Elsa. It's Marisol. Hope you had a good day. I meantthe living room all alone. She slips to the floor, shoulders heaving as her body's wracked with sobs. Her eyes sting from the salt spilling from them.

She falls asleep there, cold and alone.

Anna has only a vague idea of where she's going. She's got her keys, which means she's got the spare to Kristoff's place. But- she doesn't think she could go there right now, either. Just the thought of them hurts. Not because of what Elsa did. It's more the fact that she didn't think Anna was important enough to tell.

Without even really being aware of it, her feet carry her to a familiar building. Her eyes are still a little blurry, and her face is stupidly sticky, but for the first time since seeing that text,


her heart feels a tiny bit lighter.

Unlocking her phone, she goes into her favourites and presses a contact. It takes a few rings, but when they finally answer, Anna just wants to hold onto the sound of their voice.

"Meg!" she says into the speaker. Her friend can probably hear how mucousy her voice but Anna begins speaking again almost straight away. "I'm out the front. Can you... let me up?"

"Of course!"

Meg's dorm is locked with key cards, so Anna's forced to wait on the front stoop for Meg to come down. She puts on a smile, but it's futile. Just seeing her friend makes her want to burst into tears again.

She doesn't, but it's a struggle.

She's ushered into the elevator, and then after that, into Meg's dorm. It'sa mess, and Anna watches in silence as Meg awkwardly kicks some underwear underneath the bed. She grabs Anna's bags and puts them in the corner, and then leads Anna to the bed. It's like, the only place to sit down.

Except Anna doesn't sit. She bursts into tears and leans into Meg, who shuffles back enough so Anna's head is in her lap. She brushes her fingertips through Anna's hair and doesn't say a word. Eventually, Anna just spills everything anyway.

"It's so fucked, Meg," she says softly at the end of the story. She's stopped crying by now, and has switched to staring at Meg's knee, drawing little shapes with her fingertip. "And- and do you know the worst of it? It's that I'm the fuck up. You're-


throat. She rolls onto her knees, and says, "What?" with an air of such disbelief that it almost looks like Meg couldn't stay silent if she tried.

"I won't hurt you, Anna," she replies. Her voice is soft, but there's a definite conviction to her words. She stares defiantly at her friend, as though expecting a challenge.

"Meg..." What can she say to that? She's not a moron. Anna's seen the looks. And she knows her own feelings. But... "I can't, Meg. You're my best friend. I can't."

As much as she, as they, might want to... it's not possible.

Anna doesn't return home for three days. She does shoot Elsa a text, just so she knows she's safe, but she makes sure to end it with an, "I'm still mad. I'llbe home when I'm ready."

When she does finally return home, it's because Meg had convinced her to go and talk to Elsa. Now's the time to fix things – while Kristoff is away and after they've both had a chance and think about what they each wanted.

Elsa is waiting in the living room. The TV is on mute, and when Anna walks through the door, clutching Meg's hand for dear life, Elsa's eyes immediately jump to that piece of contact.

But she doesn't say anything. She just clears her throat and offers a small, "Hi."

Anna stops, and the door swings shut behind her and Meg. "...Hi..."

They make their way in to the living room, sitting across from Elsa. Her eyes are drawn once again to Anna and Meg's clasped


want to be, so they have to make arrangements for that.

They haven't told Kristoff about the changes yet. He's so busy that every time she's tried to call, he hasn't been around to answer, and texts are ignored for days at a time. It's understandable. He's probably exhausted and busy. Anna doesn't blame him. It's just frustrating when she wants to let him know that she maybe likes someone else, too, and they like her, and the rules have been updated. He's missing out on so much.

So, Anna goes on dates with Elsa, and hangs out with Meg, and sometimes they all spend time together. It's obvious that there's no romance between Elsa and Meg, but the fact that they might actually be friends, even with everything weirdbetween them, it's... well, it's a nice feeling.

For the first time in a very long time, Anna isn't scared of being alone.

Maybe she's got more self-esteem now – a therapist would probably say that she's finally seeing her true value, or some shit like that. It's hard, though, knowing Meg likes her – and liking her back – but still having to put on this façade. They're not going to do anything, not without talking to him first, but there are definitely conversations that stray a little too close to flirting.

At least Meg understands. She gets it, the non-monogamy thing. But it seems that she maybe – definitely – wanted a different outcome. An outcome where she could be with Anna while Anna dated Elsa and Kristoff. Meg


much she realises she's missed him while he's been away.

Elsa lets her kiss him first because it probably shows on her face, just how much she needs it.

He's the father of the little life growing in her. She needs him right now.

An airport terminal is the wrong place to spill everything, so they all kind of just hug each other. Meg had stayed home – "Not my business," she'd said. "Let me know how the news goes, okay?"

Anna had just nodded and hugged her, before jumping into the passenger seat of Kristoff's car to go and pick him up.

"So," he says once they're all in the car, his luggage in the boot. Anna's in the front seat, playing with his hand. "What did I miss?"© All Rights Reserved. Please do not distribute without written permission from Damn Interesting.

Jessica Wilcox was born into a humble family on New Year’s Eve of 1925. Her father left them when she was three; her mother was critical and cold to her. The young girl was often left alone for hours in a dark room, and hence, as children are wont to do, she created an imaginary friends with whom to pass the time. With these imaginary friends, Jessica forged strong friendships, chief among them was one named Arlene, who hung around for many years and grew up with Jessica despite being an almost polar opposite of her: Jessica was open and articulate, Arlene was cynical and contemptuous like her mother. Other imaginary friends faded, but Jessica


never grew out of Arlene–rather Arlene grew into Jessica, and became a separate personality.

Jessica was 16 when she entered the Miss Atlantic City contest, which led to a job at the Miss America Contest, which in turn was her platform to fame and a new name: Candy Jones.

During World War II, Candy was one of the world’s most popular pin-up girls. She toured with the USO through the South Pacific in 1944 and 45, and in the 60’s she may have unwittingly become a secret agent for the CIA, but Candy didn’t know anything about it. The agent was actually her alter ego, Arlene.

While out with the USO in April of 1945, Candy became very ill, and was taken to a hospital in the Philippines. While there shebecame friends with a medic whose name has been obscured over time, but is known by the pseudonym of “Gilbert Jensen.”

After the war Candy went home and married, then divorced, opened a modeling school and was getting by pretty well when she was approached by an FBI agent who asked her for her help. It seemed a benign request, and it was only patriotic to help out, and she allowed him to use her office as a secretive government mail drop.

And that was the entire story until 1972 when Candy married John Nebel. The pair had a true whirlwind romance, having known each other only a month before they wed. Despite being a generally congenial disposition, after they married Nebel started noticing Candy displaying huge, sudden mood-swings, the


continue the sessions. As the hypnosis continued, Nebel learned that Candy became unusually susceptible to suggestion while under, and more disturbingly, she would spontaneously age-regress, and speak in a child-like voice. Sometimes her own, and sometimes Arlene Grant’s. It was the latter that spooked Nebel into tape-recording the sessions.

He uncovered a plot that had roots in 1945 Philippine hospital, and began in earnest when the FBI had asked for her help. Candy had only a few memories of the things she was asked to do, but Arlene had a grasp of all of them. While her modeling school was doubling as a government mail-drop she was asked to drop off a letter in Oakland, and since she was going there anyhow, why refuse? When she arrived the recipientwas the doctor Gilbert Jensen that had befriended her when ill. He offered her a tidy sum of money to allow him to hypnotize her, and she accepted since she was divorced and strapped for dough. He told her the hypnosis didn’t work, but in sessions where the Arlene personality spoke, she said it had.

Jensen asked Candy to be a messenger for the CIA, and that her post was to be so secret that not even headquarters would know about her. In order to serve she needed to be in top health, and thus submitted to regular injections of vitamins. These were, of course, not vitamins, but a chemical agent designed to bring out the Arlene persona. When she assumed the Arlene identity she would alter her dress,


are some hints that point to the credibility of her story.

In the 60’s Candy told her editors that she sometimes worked for the FBI. Candy wrote a letter to her attorney instructing him that if she were to die or vanish that he wasn’t at liberty to reveal the details of the event to anyone. In 1974 the Rockefeller Commission exposed CIA’s MKULTRA Program–a mind-control program that was going on in the 1950’s. There were several absences from her school, or business trips where there was no business to do. And when Donald Bain was talking to her about publishing a book on the story of her life she produced a passport she’d found in the name of Arlene Grant bearing a photo of her in a darkThe dam across Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, the site of the first hydroelectric power plant in the world

The World's First Hydroelectric Power Plant Began Operation
September 30, 1882
When you look at rushing waterfalls and rivers, you may not immediately think of electricity. But hydroelectric (water-powered) power plants are responsible for lighting many of our homes and neighborhoods. On September 30, 1882, the world's first hydroelectric power plant began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. The plant, later named the Appleton Edison Light Company, was initiated by Appleton paper manufacturer H.J. Rogers, who had been inspired by Thomas Edison's plans for an electricity-producing station in New York.


Ending months of speculation, the flavours and texturants units at Degussa, Germany's third largest chemicals group, are up for sale as the firm looks at selling the food ingredients arm or finding a partner for its business.

The food ingredients business pulled in sales of €527 million in 2003, generating a small slice of overall revenues for the group that peaked €11.4 billion last year. But the division's sales were not enough to help the two business units - Flavors & Fruit systems and Texturants systems - match the performance of larger commercial players.

Degussa told FoodNavigator.com that the food ingredients division is "too small to be able to attain a leading market position on its own".

For this reason the firm is "pursuing a strategy to enable the unit tothe main European suppliers along with DSM of creatine, an ingredient enjoying decent growth on the back of the burgeoning sports nutrition market. These products are sold under the bioactives unit, recently absorbed into the texturant arm.

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Ending months of speculation, the flavours and texturants units at Degussa, Germany's third largest chemicals group, are up for sale as the firm looks at selling the food ingredients arm or finding a partner for its business.


Something screwing with the crops?"

"That." He pointed at me. "Something is indeed screwing with our crops, our cane, our livelihoods. And it starts with Wal and ends in Wa."

I forced my hands to relax. It was reflex to make fists when I heard the name of my former employer. "What do they have to do with us?"

"Everything," said Vikram, the despair in his voice boiling into white-hot rage. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it also wasn't enough to scare me. I had twenty centimeters and ten kilos on him, alcohol-fueled fury or no. My understanding of Vikram's personal history was that he had come to drinking after a lifetime of abstention. Whether he was a teetotaler because of his beliefs (the orange beard being a mark ofout. I turned him on his side and held him in place. He protested, but it was token resistance. The rum and his despair had done their work. "Vikram, did you try and push an Article Thirty-Three on my foreman?"

He laughed. "You would have been compensated. Two and a half million, easily, just from the cane alone. Throw in the actual product, and three is a fair offer."

"Why would you try to buy my perfectly profitable distillery?"

He moaned. "Because we're fucked."

I flipped him on his back. "I think you need to explain that. Right now."

He flailed his head from side to side. "I feel sick."

"Vikram, I'm recording this. You can either explain it to me or in front of the entire Co-Op."

"They won't care," said Vikram, turning his


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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Birding Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Eric writes:

Greetings from Tucson,

In April I made two trips to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to conduct bird surveys. Organ Pipe is located directly on the border of Mexico and Arizona, so the logistics of bird surveys becomes more complicated than in other locations. There is lots of illegal traffic, both people and drugs, through this part of the state which we could run into at any time. So, we were in regular communications with park personnel to make sure everything was going well when we were out in the field.

An Organ Pipe Cactus, the namesake of the park

Whatever the dangers involved, this park has some beautiful terrain, and some special birds. It is one of the few places insouthern Arizona where Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls nest, although only in low densities. Migrants such as Flycatchers, Warblers, Tanagers, Grosbeaks, and Sparrows stream through this area in April in May. And, an uncommon bird in Arizona, the Vaux's Swift, can be seen occasionally migrating along a wash.

I hillside with Organ Pipes and Saguaros

One of the best birding locations in the area is Gringo Pass RV Park that is directly on the border of Mexico, you actually bird right along the fence! This RV park has nesting Great Horned Owls and Harris's Hawks, both of which give excellent views! It is also a spectacular area for migrants; the combination of water, trees, fruit, and location in the desert, make it a perfect stopover location.

Great Horned Owlet at Gringo Pass RV Park

Great


a leftward shift of the product.
However, by carrying out two accumulations on two different accumulators, the natural propagation of the carry is lost in the multiplication-accumulation operations.
In the invention, there is provision for means to propagate the carry. Preferably, the arithmetic and logic computation unit having a first register to memorize the carry computed in the current operation and to give this carry in the next operation, the propagation means include a first circuit and a second register, the first circuit being controlled by a control signal delivered by the control unit to save the carry computed by the arithmetic and logic unit either in the first register or in the second register. The first circuit is advantageously a multiplexer/demultiplexer.
According to a second characteristic of the invention, themultiplication, in:
applying the contents of the product register to an input of the arithmetic and logic unit and sending a computation signal of the accumulation to the arithmetic and logic unit; PA1 sending a signal for the computation of a new product to the multiplier. PA1 the protection of the first carry register, to keep the carry computed in the previous instruction; PA1 the application of the contents of the product register to the input with shifter; PA1 a first accumulation of the contents of the product register arithmetically shifted by n bits towards the left by the shifter with the contents of the first accumulator, with memorization of the carry in a second register; PA1 a second accumulation of the contents of the product register shifted arithmetically


Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Monday, June 13, 2016

PEN NZ condemns the continuing ban by the Fijian government of Television New Zealand Pacific Affairs correspondent Barbara Dreaver

PEN views the continuation of this ban as an indication of the ongoing erosion of freedom of expression in the Pacific. New Zealand currently ranks 5th in the world in the latest World Press Freedom Index. This is well ahead of Australia, which ranks 25th out of 180 countries. New Zealand should takeits place as leader in the Pacific on the World Press Freedom Index, to make a clear stance in favour of Barbara Dreaver and the other journalists currently banned from Fiji. In the last year there has been a marked erosion worldwide in freedom of expression.

Freedom of Expression is a right guaranteed under the European Convention of Human Rights. Article 19 of which states, ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression’. PEN NZ notes that this right includes the freedom to ‘seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’

Background: Dreaver is on a ‘blacklist’ of journalists banned from Fiji. In 2008 Dreaver was taken into custody after arriving in Fiji, detained overnight, and refused access to assistance from the


NZ Ministry of Foreign Affair and Trade.

Following her detention she was deported back to New Zealand. For the past eight years she has been banned by the post-coup Fiji government, led by former military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama, from entering the country, except for a one hour special dispensation to transit through Nadi International Airport.

Dreaver is the TVNZ’s Pacific Correspondent. NZ Prime Minister, John Key, described Barbara Dreaver as a ‘significant voice’ of the Pacific. Other journalists also banned from Fiji include former Fairfax reporter Michael Field and Australian journalist Sean Dorney. Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has stated he will not be lifting the ban which he sees as necessary to prevent the "wilful propagation of false information."year 1979 and was elected as the candidate of Bangladesh Awami League in the June 1996 parliamentary election.

References

Category:People from Sunamganj District
Category:Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians
Category:Bangladesh Awami League politicians
Category:2nd Jatiya Sangsad members
Category:7th Jatiya Sangsad members


lost to fighters affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) “as a result of the American aircraft aggression”.

The US military said it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against ISIL in Deir Az Zor on Saturday.

Russia’s military said it was told by the Syrian army that at least 62 soldiers were killed and more than 100 wounded in the raid in the Jabal Tharda area of Deir Az Zor.

The Observatory said on Sunday the plane came down in the same area, which overlooks the government’s Deir Az Zor military airport.

The city’s airport and some government-held districts have been entirely surrounded by ISIL since last year, with the airport providing the only external access.

Heavy air strikesThe School of Nursing (SON) is searching for a forward-thinking and innovative professional to serve as the Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning and Innovation. This position reports directly to the Dean and is responsible for the collaborative development and oversight of experiential learning, practice and global initiatives, and community partnerships for the SON. A primary focus is to build and sustain relationships for the facilitation of student education and opportunities for leadership and scholarship activities supporting the teaching and service mission and strategic vision of both the SON and the University. The Assistant Dean will collaborate with the Dean, Associate Deans for Academic Programs, Academic Affairs, Research and Innovation, and program directors to ensure integration of teaching, scholarship, and service missions of the school.

Qualifications: • A Master's degree


practice and education. 5. Seeking external funding for initiatives. 6. Assisting with marketing and communicating SON initiatives and partnerships. 7. Increasing and coordinating opportunities for cultural and global service learning. 8. Overseeing the coordination of the SON community wellness centers. 9. Providing leadership in the SON and university for health related academic partnerships and experiential learning 10. Initiating and sustaining productive relationships and partnerships within the University, locally, regionally, and nationally. The School of Nursing is CCNE accredited and is a NLN Center of Excellence in Faculty Development. The University has over 19,000 students and is classified by Carnegie as a research university with high research activity. The School of Nursing has over 1,050 students enrolled in BSN, RN-BSN, MSN, MSN/MBA, DNP and PhD programs with more thanassemblages' comprising diverse spatial concatenations of people, things, symbols and behaviours. As he remarks:"More usefully, energies, a term hinted at but under-used .., is a key ingredient in this spatial stew, especially when associated with health and healing. Material settings and bodies hold within them a range of potential energies, those energies have symbolic healing associations and it is through energetic performances of health in place that productive aspects of the assemblage ... are expressed. (2011, 472)"

The waters in the wells might really be quite 'ordinary', but they are embedded within a matrix of "deeper meanings, many of which were associated with the energies of the place itself and its affective reputation as a site of renewed energies" (475). Such claims can perhaps re-energise, as it were, how


Daniel Andre Tande (pictured) jumped 138 meters and 142 meters at Garmisch-Partenkirchen winning his first event of the season. Poland's Kamil Stoch had jumps of 135.5 meters and the day's longest jump, 143 meters, for 286.0 points, to finish second and take the overall tournament lead from Austria's Stefan Kraft. Kraft, the overall winner in the 2014-15 Four Hills tournament, finished third with 282.4 points after jumps of 137 meters and 140 meters.

Markus Eisenbichler had the best point tally among the German jumpers who qualified for the event, with jumps of 136.5-meters 139.5 meters for 278.9 points, which saw him finish fourt on the day and also put him fourth in the tournament.

"I'm really pleased that there are only three competitors that are better than me. I haveas fighting antibiotic resistance and autoimmune diseases, reclaiming ravaged farmland, reducing fertilizer and pesticide use, and converting sunlight into useful chemicals,” said Jeff F. Miller, director of the California NanoSystems Institute and corresponding author of the Science paper.

By metabolic processes, microbes synthesize countless different molecules, which through genetic engineering could lead to colonies of microbial “workers” being used for the sustainable synthesis of pharmaceuticals, materials, and chemical commodities. Genetically engineered microbes could also produce biofuels through metabolic processes and be used in the conversion of solar energy into liquid fuel, according to work already underway by Silver at the Wyss Institute and HMS.

Microbes also play a vital role in balancing biogeochemical processes, such as removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The interactions between soil, plant roots, and microbes


of electronic music, he composed scores for three Andrei Tarkovsky films (Solaris and Mirror, in addition to Stalker) and here he recalls the process for composing for Stalker. Included is 6-minutes with cinematographer Alexander Knyazhinsky (also found on the AE Blu-ray ). Knyazhinsky was the second cinematographer associated with Stalker. In this interview, the last he gave before his death in 1996, he recounts his arrival midway through the famously difficult production, and describes his working relationship with director Andrei Tarkovsky. Also available is 1/4 hour with set designer Rashit Safiullin who discusses working on Stalker. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Mark Le Fanu. For many, myself included, this represents the Blu-ray release of the year to date. I am 'blownEllerman House

About Ellerman House

This luxury boutique hotel is a historical landmark situated in Kloof Road on the slopes of Signal Hill in Bantry Bay, Cape Town, with stunning views of Cape Town, Bantry Bay, the V&A Waterfront, Atlantic Ocean and Robben Island. Each room and suite of Ellerman House and Spa with its private balcony enjoys this magnificent view as well as the lounge areas and sheltered spacious outdoor swimming pool surrounded by terraced lawns.

The discerning guest will find the exclusive Ellerman House and Spa in Bantry Bay with its unique historical architecture offers comfort combined with discreet hospitality, excellent service and luxurious facilities.

Guests who choose to dine in the hotel's tastefully decorated restaurant will find acclaimed international chefs providing a true gourmet dining experience. The Ellerman House


Hotel is proud to feature two precious collections on display in the hotel - a unique and valuable art collection which can be admired along the walls and a fine collection of South African vintage wines.

The signature characteristics of the exclusive Relais & Chauteaux Hotel chain are Character, Courtesy, Calm, Charm and Cuisine, each of which will be apparent to the guest staying at the Ellerman House in Bantry Bay, Cape Town (South Africa).

Facilities to be enjoyed at the Ellerman House Hotel in Bantry Bay include the gourmet restaurant, the outdoor heated swimming pool, lawned terraces with their magnificent views of Cape Town and the ocean, the bar, the fully equipped gymnasium, the sauna, complemented by the health and beauty spa, as well as the cosy library withthe villa, Ellerman Villa's butler and his assistant who take care of the guest throughout the stay in Cape Town, transfers to and from the Cape Town International Airport in an air conditioned vehicle, breakfast served by the guest's personal chef, a fully stocked fridge with luxury snacks, a fully stocked bar with freshly squeezed juices, beers, spirits and chosen house wines, the use of the Ellerman Spa with its jet stream pool, steam room and sauna, same day laundry service, technologically advanced electronic equipment, private entrance with 24 hour monitored security, as well as private and secure parking.


Obama issued an order updating the resources covered under that order, which allows presidents to delegate authority to various federal departments and agencies in the event of national emergencies.

Claims of martial law appeared in another viral email we wrote about in November 2012. That one claimed that the federal government was stockpiling ammunition and that Obama was creating a “standing army of government youth.” Neither claim was accurate. In fact, the National Rifle Association — no friend of the president — said the suggestion that the Obama administration was stockpiling ammunition and “preparing for a war with the American people” displays “a lack of understanding of the law enforcement functions carried about by officers in small federal agencies.”

And just last year, after several readers asked about it, weCasualty

By Jessica E., Grand Junction, CO

Image Credit: Kimberly H., Summer Shade, KY

My father never came home from the warYes, he did come back to his housebut the war only followed himGhosts of soldiersfrom both sides,innoccent people with hollow eyesstalked himhe would battle with them inhis headtake the battle to me withhis handThe whoosh of an assailinghand, the sign of an impending bombFlashes of paingritbloodBlack. Blue. Purple.Badges of survivingthrough past battlesIf my father had come home from the warhe would be proudof the soldierhe made meI keep marching througheach battleonly hoping Iwon’t become another ghost to haunt himAnother casualty ofwar.


On Monday, a byelection is being held in the riding of Toronto Centre, and Linda McQuaig, one of Canada's principal champions of social justice and equality, is the NDP candidate for that seat in the House of Commons.

For years, the Liberal Party has taken Toronto Centre for granted -- it is Bob Rae's old riding and the Liberals want desperately to keep it to prove that Justin Trudeau is not just the vacuous pretty boy he actually appears to be. If he loses this riding, it would go a long way to exposing him and the party for what they are.

McQuaig's Liberal opponent in the riding is Chrystia Freeland, a parachute candidate who is being touted as a progressive with deep concerns about inequality. Trudeau has tried toboost her profile by stating that he wants her in his "inner circle."

The problem is that there is nothing to suggest that the Liberal Party or their star candidate give a damn about inequality let alone have any intention of doing anything about it. Trudeau's hero is Paul Martin, who as finance minister did more than any other politician in Canada to undermine equality and reduce the power of ordinary workers. His "labour flexibility" policies devastated Canadian working people and large swaths of the middle class. He slashed Unemployment Insurance, ended the Canada Assistance Plan (the federal funding program that forced provinces to have half-decent social assistance programs), deliberately kept unemployment at high levels through the 1990s to weaken labour and generally abandoned policies that protected employees. He


spied a fellow reenactor’s homemade hurls—distant cousins of the hockey stick used in hurling to advance a ball downfield and toward a goal—and brought his budding love for the sport back home to field his own team. The SEATTLEGAELS hurling club started swinging that same year, and by 2006 it won the national championship in its division—no magic spells necessary. Seattle Gaels, www.seattlegaels.com

International Beer FestivalNot every American fires up the grill on Independence Day: Every Fourth of July weekend, a grassy lot in Seattle Center is framed by a quadrant of booths containing kegs filled up with the world’s finest beers. Organized by the owner of Uber Tavern up on Aurora, it’s called the SEATTLEINTERNATIONALBEERFESTIVAL, and it’s the most delicious, debauched exercise in global unity you’ll encounter allsubequatorial homesick blues was to recruit a few friends, meet in a nearby field, and pummel each other for possession of a ball. Thus, the SEATTLEGRIZZLIES—the only Australian-rules football club in town—was born. Eleven years later, the team has 65 members, nearly two-thirds of whom are American. The Grizzlies regularly play their bruising blend of soccer, rugby, and football against rival clubs in Portland and Vancouver, and you can catch them scrimmaging in condensed “metro footy” matches at Moshier Park in Burien during spring and early summer. Seattle Grizzlies, www.seattlefooty.com

Scottish Highland GamesNot even kilts can debutch the brute-strength competitions at the PACIFICNORTHWESTSCOTTISHHIGHLANDGAMESANDCLANGATHERING. Since 1947, 300-pound titans of tartan-clad heavy lifting have stomped into Seattle from across the country to face off in nine configurations of heaving, slinging, and


The BlackBerry Brain Trust

In early October, scientific and political bigwigs from around the world gathered in Waterloo, Ontario, to celebrate the opening of the new headquarters of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Made largely of patterned glass, the 65,000-square-foot complex has a soaring atrium, multiple fireplaces, a bistro, a squash court, and a 205-seat auditorium for lectures and string quartet performances. It looks more like a resort than a think tank where some of the smartest people in the world are contemplating the foundations of quantum physics. The elegant structure answers the question (as the architect put it), How do you design a place in which to think?

But the building's plush appurtenances just set the scene. Perimeter stands out because of a $66 million endowment from MikePerimeter runs the risk of abject failure. It is 100 years since Einstein published his papers on relativity, and we're still grappling with problems that stumped him.

Piloting his Taser sailboat off the shore of Lake Ontario on a beautiful fall day, Lee Smolin looks like a screenwriter's vision of a scientist - wire-rimmed glasses, a scraggly beard, and windblown hair - squeezed into a head-to-toe black wet suit. (Subsequent meetings will confirm that he always looks like that, minus the wet suit.) He's the archetypal Perimeter researcher, full of respect for the world's great theoretical physics locales - the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara, Harvard and MIT in Cambridge, and CERN in Geneva. He is also quite


of natural light and places for spontaneous discussion. A foosball table in the second-floor lounge has already become a popular venue for brainstorming and blowing off steam. The architects designed a nook for an old Mendelssohn piano from Perimeter's former HQ (a bar before it was a think tank). And chalkboards are everywhere, even in the outdoor atrium.

Of course, it helps to have a few of the top scientific minds on the planet. Smolin propounds a "fecund universe" theory holding that every black hole leads to another universe. Raymond Laflamme, the information theorist who changed Stephen Hawking's mind on the direction of time in a contracting universe, was lured to Perimeter from Los Alamos National Lab. Fotini Markopoulou Kalamara figured out how to introduce causality into loop quantumgravity theory.

The list goes on, totaling 39 appointees, postdocs, and grad students. The only scientist at Perimeter over 50, John Moffat, was a starving artist in Copenhagen when he wrote Einstein a letter in 1953, questioning the assumptions of unified field theory. It was an audacious move for someone who'd taught himself physics, but Einstein wrote back. The two maintained a correspondence and friendship until a few months before the older scientist's death.

Riding the success of the BlackBerry to billionaire status, Lazaridis is one of the most successful technology executives of all time. A lifelong science geek, he decided his chances for a good job were better in engineering than in pure physics. (CrackBerry users: Feel free to thumb-type him a thank-you note.) Even though founding Research in


think.

"The issue of tenure was a tempest in a teapot," says Burton. Perimeter is open to cross-appointments with tenure-giving institutions like the nearby University of Waterloo.

However, Perimeter is even better if you're not yet on the tenure track. Postdoctoral students, the long-suffering second-class citizens of academia, have unprecedented latitude here. Sipping on a pint of Stella Artois in the backyard of the Jane Bond bar, an institute favorite just off Waterloo's main drag, Joseph Emerson says he came to do his postdoc at Perimeter for "complete freedom." Emerson still does the quantum computer research he did at MIT, but now he also indulges his other interest, the foundations of quantum mechanics - the bedrock of physics itself. Outside Perimeter, "foundations" is the Rodney Dangerfield of physics - it"well-known fact," Motl wrote, "that the billionaire's opinion of what theoretical physics means is naive." Perimeter staff deny that the institute is a rich man's folly, of course. (Motl, when contacted about his three-year-old missive, conceded in a nondenial denial sort of way, "It is appreciated that the billionaire gave the money to theoretical physics.")

Still, the institute's decision to seemingly "favor" loop quantum gravity researchers over superstring theoreticians continues to draw fire from the scientific community, though Perimeter has roughly equal numbers of both, and they all seem to get along. "String theorists usually come from particle physics, while LQG people are more from the gravity and general relativity side of things," says Jaume Gomis, a Perimeter theorist. "My hope is that we'll learn from them and they'll


sex with a patient is required by law to report them to the college. Bill 87 increased the fine to a maximum of $50,000 for failure of a health professional to report to the college.

Lawyers for the college and Patient A sparred last week before a panel of the college’s independent discipline committee, made up of three doctors and two members of the public, as to whether or not the patient was “coerced” into testifying.

College lawyer Carolyn Silver said the patient was co-operative in the early part of the investigation, and consented to the college accessing her medical records. Patient A’s lawyer, Neil Perrier, said she wants no part in the proceedings.

He will be bringing a motion before the panel on Nov. 20 to quash the summons requiringa factual controversy exists as to whether he made a material misrepresentation. He points out that he stated in a filed affidavit that he did not fill out the disability portion of the application and did not know that a previous condition "which was not disabling" would exclude him from coverage. His affidavit also states the North Central agent did not explain to him the pre-existing condition clause in the disability portion of the application. Schlemmer also points out that North Central did not file an affidavit refuting his affidavit.
¶ 15 In the latter regard, the record reflects the North Central agent had died by the time Schlemmer brought this action. Therefore, it appears no one was available to refute Schlemmer's factual allegations regarding his transaction with that


Court's conclusion that Schlemmer made a material misrepresentation is legally sufficient to allow North Central to deny coverage under the policy.
¶ 26 3. Did the District Court err in failing to rule on whether North Central's agent had knowledge of Schlemmer's medical condition?
¶ 27 Schlemmer contends an issue of material fact exists regarding the nature and extent of North Central's agent's knowledge of his condition at the time he applied for the disability insurance. In his affidavit, he stated "from 1991 through 1996 I had numerous medical problems which [the North Central agent] was or should have been aware of." In his brief, he argues the agent "most likely had knowledge" of his condition because of her "long standing relationship" with him as his bank loan officer.
¶ 28Echoes of Silence | Peter Emanuel Goldman

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A film by Peter Emanuel Goldman with his bonus short, "Pestilent City"

Peter Emmanuel Goldman's rarely screened debut, an underappreciated landmark of the New American Cinema, chronicles the lives of twenty-somethings adrift in New York City, finding tremendous pathos in the smallest moments: a furtive glance across a museum gallery, girls putting on makeup, a stroll beneath the pulsing lights of Times Square marquees. Composed with a lo-fi purity and bereft of diegetic sound, its shadowy images of youthful flaneurs are paired with evocatively hand-painted title cards and a dynamic soundtrack drawn from the artist's LPs that, when combined, conjure up a ballad of sexual dependency like none other.


St. Catherine’s Church

St. Catherine’s Church is an unadorned Gothic Church room with a rustic timber ceiling and a large gallery. Interestingly enough, the choir, which extends into the Romanesque Bingel Tower, lies a few steps lower.

On the walls there are tombstone slabs and hatchments as well as the ancestral charts of Eberwin III (1536 – 1562). Deserving particular mention are the small pulpit and the double-sided Gothic sculpture of the Madonna, done by Master Evert van Roden of Münster. Besides Heinrich Brabender, this artist was one of the most important Westphalian sculptors working around 1500 A.D. The figure, hanging freely in space, each side showing the Madonna from the front, their backs touching, was originally made for Cloister Frenswegen in 1503. The polychromy of the sculpture was removedTyohaar Ki Thaali

Tyohaar Ki Thaali is an Indian television series that airs on The EPIC Channel and takes viewers through various festivals celebrated in India. Tyohaar Ki Thaali is a show that offers a delectable mix of stories and recipes hosted by Sakshi Tanwar. The show is also available on 'EPIC ON' (EPIC TV's online video streaming platform).

Show summary
Tyohaar Ki Thaali is a show that offers a delectable mix of stories and recipes hosted by Sakshi Tanwar. In this show, Sakshi Tanwar celebrates Indias's festivals by sharing her long cherished, heirloom recipes of various bhogs and prasads identified with the Gods. Peppered with folklores, legends and Sakshi's personal anecdotes.

Show themes

 Episode 1 – Ganesh Chaturthi
 Episode 2 – Onam
 Episode 3 – Anant Chaturdashi
 Episode 4


whatever the remaining work might be, in order to remove the very heavy helmet and put his own lighter helmet back on and go back to work. The interruption can be at best a nuisance and at worst a potentially dangerous situation. The size of the helmet with its mounted thermal imager is too large to display to some other part of the body and switch-out helmets while working.
Based upon their assessment of the situation, the firefighters, emergency responders or workers may elect to go in to their work environment without a helmet mounted system, and instead use their normal personal helmet. The atmosphere could then deteriorate, forcing a retreat and precious time lost to re-equip themselves with the helmet mounted system before handling the work in theMenu

Tag Archives: fantasy

Entertain the Elk talks about the history of real world maps and the design of the fantasy maps for Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia and Game of Thrones.

Throughout history, maps have always communicated ideas and stories to its audience, but what about maps of fictional worlds? In this video, I examine the maps of Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings), Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia), and The Known World (Game of Thrones) in order to find the tiny details the mapmakers chose to include that point to their larger stories.

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Shad M Brooks is a huge, huge fan of swords and castles, amongst other geeky subjects, all of which he enthusiastically explores on his YouTube channel, Shadversity. I’ve been really enjoying his castles


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President Trump claimed that the tens of thousands of protesters around the country that want his tax returns made public were paid, and he is demanding an investigation into who paid them.

Trump tweeted:

Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017

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By “someone” Trump has made it clear in the past that he means Republicans in Congress. When Trump wanted someone to investigate his voter fraud conspiracy, he wanted Congress. When Trump wanted someone to investigate leaks, he was talking about Congress. When Trump wanted someone to investigate his baseless claim that Obama spied on him, once again, he was talking about Congress.

It is safeThe Great American Eclipse 2017

On August 21, 2017, North America will see its first total solar eclipse in a century. A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. Even though the sun is much bigger than the moon, because the moon is so much closer to us, they appear about the same size in the sky. If the moon is full and lined up perfectly, the result is a total solar eclipse.

In August, this perfect alignment—the total eclipse—will occur along a 70-mile-wide (113-km wide) line that cuts through 12 states, from Oregon and Idaho through Missouri and Illinois, and ending in South Carolina. Observers in this area will see the moon approach the sun, cover it completely so that only a bright ring


supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany), and IGN (Spain). Support for CARMA construction was derived from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the Associates of the California Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, the states of Illinois, California, and Maryland, and the National Science Foundation. CARMA development and operations were supported by the National Science Foundation under a cooperative agreement and by the CARMA consortium universities. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. This publication makes use of data products from the [*Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer*]{}, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and thethe Institut National des Science de l’Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This study is also based in part on data products produced at Terapix available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS. Based on observations made with the NASA [*Galaxy Evolution Explorer*]{}. [*GALEX*]{} is operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology under NASA contract NAS5-98034. This work uses data based on observations obtained with the [*XMM-Newton*]{}, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA. Facilities: IRAM PdBI, CARMA, VLA, [*HST*]{}(WFC3), SMA, ALMA, [*Spitzer*]{} (IRAC, MIPS), [*WISE*]{}, [*Herschel*]{}(PACS, SPIRE), VISTA, CFHT(MegaCam), [*XMM-Newton*]{}(EPIC), [*GALEX*]{}

CO


Isco dropped off grid this summer in a bid to remain at Real Madrid.

The Spain international's Bernabeu future looked ambiguous, having fallen out of favour for much of last season, but Zinedine Zidane's return changed his outlook.

The midfielder informed Madrid officials at the end of the last season he was not prepared to leave the club under any circumstances and went to great lengths to ensure he stayed in the Spanish capital.

Isco was considering his future last season but decided he wanted to stay at Real Madrid

According to Marca, Isco has had his phone off for the whole summer and will keep it switched off until the transfer window closes in Spain on September 2.

They claim several clubs enquired about Isco's availability but the player told the clubhe will refuse to listen to any proposals.

Zidane is a huge admirer of Isco and is understood to have given him assurances about playing a more prominent role this season.

Isco had been unhappy at the number of games he played under former boss Santiago Solari last campaign and was considering his future before Zidane took over the reins again in March, having only quit 10 months earlier.

The 27-year-old has kept his phone off the whole summer to ignore interest from other clubs

The return of Zinedine Zidane is a big factor why Isco decided he wanted to stay at Madrid

The 27-year-old only completed 90 minutes on three occasions last season and is expected to feature more regularly this term.

He came on in the second half as Real Madrid won


Monday, July 25, 2011

The Python Software Foundation selected ten new nominated members
during the election held in July 2011.

New Nominated Members

Nominated members are individuals or entities who have demonstrated a
commitment to the Python language and community. They are nominated
and elected by existing members of the foundation.

Giovanni Bajo

Giovanni Bajo has contributed to the community as an organizer for the
EuroPython and PyCon Italy conferences, and as a founding member
of Python Italia. He also contributes to the PyQt and PyInstaller
projects

Massimo DiPierro

Massimo DiPierro is an Associate Professor at the School of Computing
and Digital Media of DePaul University and the Director of the Master
of Science program in Computational Finance. He is also the manager
and founder of MetaCryption LLC and Experts4solutions LLC. Massimo's
open source contributions include web2py and fermiqcd.net.

Mike Driscoll

Mike Driscoll is a member ofthe PSF Communications team, where he is
one of the most frequent posters on this blog. He also writes for the
Python Insider and PyCon blogs. Mike is active in the Python community
in Iowa and founded Pyowa, the local Python user group. He also helps
on the PyCon organizer and program committees.

Alex Gaynor

Alex Gaynor has contributed to the PyCon program committee for the
past two years. He also has delivered presentations at PyCon,
DjangoCon, DjangoCon EU, and PyOhio.

Alex has commit rights for PyPy, Django, CPython, and Unladen
Swallow. He has also contributed to dozens of other projects through
github.

Tetsuya Morimoto

Tetsuya Morimoto is active in the Japanese Python community and is on
the staff for PyCon JP. He has translated a significant portion of
"Python Module of the Week" into Japanese, and works on the PSF
Communication team to


organize the translation process and working on
the Japanese version of the Python Insider blog. Tetsuya uses
Python extensively in his work, and contributes to the pyrtm,
Pikzie, and ikazuchi projects.

Paulo Nuin

Paulo Nuin is a member of the PSF Communications team. He writes for
the PSF blog and leads the Portuguese translation team for Python
Insider. As part of mentoring undergraduate and graduate students at
Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, Paulo has encouraged the use
of Python and BioPython for daily lab and informatics work and
organizes a "Python for Bioinformatics" workshop.

Audrey M. Roy

Audrey Roy has been instrumental in the creation and initial success
of the PyLadies outreach group in Los Angeles and will be one of the
keynote speakers at PyConAU 2011. She is a core developer for
DjangoPackages and the associated Packaginator open source project.

Gavin M. Roy

GavinRoy is the CTO of myYearbook.com, where he encourages the use of
Python and contributes internally developed code to the open source
community. He supports two local Python user groups, PhillyPUG in
Philadelphia, and PUG-IP in Princeton, NJ. He was a speaker at PyCon
2011 in Atlanta and participated in the Program Committee. Gavin is
also the primary maintainer of the pika module for interacting with
RabbitMQ.

PSF Membership

The FAQ contains more
information about membership in the Python Software Foundation.

The Python Software Foundation selected ten new nominated members
during the election held in July 2011.

New Nominated Members

Nominated members are individuals or entities who have demonstrated a
commitment to the Python language and community. They are nominated
and elected by existing members of the foundation.

Giovanni Bajo

Giovanni Bajo has contributed to the community as an organizer for the
EuroPython and PyCon Italy


conferences, and as a founding member
of Python Italia. He also contributes to the PyQt and PyInstaller
projects

Massimo DiPierro

Massimo DiPierro is an Associate Professor at the School of Computing
and Digital Media of DePaul University and the Director of the Master
of Science program in Computational Finance. He is also the manager
and founder of MetaCryption LLC and Experts4solutions LLC. Massimo's
open source contributions include web2py and fermiqcd.net.

Mike Driscoll

Mike Driscoll is a member of the PSF Communications team, where he is
one of the most frequent posters on this blog. He also writes for the
Python Insider and PyCon blogs. Mike is active in the Python community
in Iowa and founded Pyowa, the local Python user group. He also helps
on the PyCon organizer and program committees.

Alex Gaynor

Alex Gaynor has contributed to the PyCon program committee for the
pasttwo years. He also has delivered presentations at PyCon,
DjangoCon, DjangoCon EU, and PyOhio.

Alex has commit rights for PyPy, Django, CPython, and Unladen
Swallow. He has also contributed to dozens of other projects through
github.

Tetsuya Morimoto

Tetsuya Morimoto is active in the Japanese Python community and is on
the staff for PyCon JP. He has translated a significant portion of
"Python Module of the Week" into Japanese, and works on the PSF
Communication team to organize the translation process and working on
the Japanese version of the Python Insider blog. Tetsuya uses
Python extensively in his work, and contributes to the pyrtm,
Pikzie, and ikazuchi projects.

Paulo Nuin

Paulo Nuin is a member of the PSF Communications team. He writes for
the PSF blog and leads the Portuguese translation team for Python
Insider. As part of mentoring undergraduate and graduate students at
Queen's


University in Kingston, Canada, Paulo has encouraged the use
of Python and BioPython for daily lab and informatics work and
organizes a "Python for Bioinformatics" workshop.

Audrey M. Roy

Audrey Roy has been instrumental in the creation and initial success
of the PyLadies outreach group in Los Angeles and will be one of the
keynote speakers at PyConAU 2011. She is a core developer for
DjangoPackages and the associated Packaginator open source project.

Gavin M. Roy

Gavin Roy is the CTO of myYearbook.com, where he encourages the use of
Python and contributes internally developed code to the open source
community. He supports two local Python user groups, PhillyPUG in
Philadelphia, and PUG-IP in Princeton, NJ. He was a speaker at PyCon
2011 in Atlanta and participated in the Program Committee. Gavin is
also the primary maintainer of the pika module for interactingBio: Monica Valentinelli is a writer, editor, game designer, and freelancer. Described as a “force of nature” by her peers, Monica is best known for her work in the horror, dark fantasy, and dark science fiction genres and has over thirty stories and games published through 2012. In addition to her writing and editing credits, Monica has over ten years marketing experience and has worked behind-the-scenes with businesses large and small. For more about Monica, visit http://www.mlvwrites.com.

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children' Peter Kyle. Who currently has Eddie Izzard campaigning with him:

Luckily they're nowhere near me!

Peter Kyle is a bit more capable than your average leftist politician. He is not as slimy as Tristan Hunt or Peters close friend Chuka Umunna; he is not as stupid as much of the current Labour cabinet and he is not as obviously hypocritical as the Lib Dems. He is gay in a constituency neighboring the gay capital of Europe.

But, if I was the remainer globalist force behind him (unless I have something wrong here), I would not put Peter Kyle up against the Lib Dems and the Greens! Seriously the Greens do not matter but the Liberal Democrat and Labour vote are likely to be split in this election, it was ajustice committee's study of the SNC-Lavalin affair instead of recalling former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify — delayed it by dragging out a vote on a motion about MP travel.

Morneau tabled his budget and left the House without giving the speech. When he eventually returned and rose to speak, opposition members tried to drown him out by banging on their desks.

The thumping and shouts of "let her speak" and "coverup" were so loud that people gathered in the public gallery could not hear what Morneau was saying. He carried on with his speech; the Conservatives eventually staged a walkout from the chamber as he spoke.

Conservative MPs banged on desks and jeered loudly during Finance Minister Bill Morneau's budget speech making it nearly impossible to hear what Morneau


in the workforce.

The budget also introduces safeguards to protect pensions in the event of company bankruptcies, and offers supports to community projects that improve the lives of vulnerable seniors.

"Women and men who have worked hard their entire lives … deserve a secure and dignified retirement, free of financial worries," Morneau said.

Morneau's 460-page budget, titled Investing in the Middle Class, offers no timeline for erasing the deficit.

The Liberals had pledged to run deficits to finance a massive infrastructure program, but broke their promise to return to balance by 2019.

Former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice MacKinnon predicts that could be a problem for many voters.

After Conservative MPs stopped pounding on desks and jeering they walked out of the House of Commons and Morneau restarted his budget speech. Here it is in"Deficit spending today, to cover up a scandal, to be paid for by higher taxes after the election."

Scheer said his caucus members walked out during Morneau's speech to make a point.

"It is not business as usual, and we could not stand by and pretend otherwise," he said.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer speaks to reporters with his caucus surrounding him after leaving Minister of Finance Bill Morneau's budget speech in protest to the handling of the SNC-Lavalin scandal Tuesday. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)

Other highlights of the budget include:

The creation of dedicated real estate audit teams at the Canada Revenue Agency to tackle tax non-compliance and money laundering in the housing market.

An additional $739 million over five years to repair water systems on First Nations reserves.

$1.2 billion over three years to help


First Nations children access health and social services.

A commitment to ensure access to high-speed internet by 2030 across the country.

A federal purchase incentive of up to $5,000 for electric battery or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with sticker prices of less than $45,000.

Working with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to offer funds to support retrofits, such as hot water systems or rooftop solar panels, that make homes and businesses more energy efficient.

As he rolled out his budget, Morneau also took time to tout the government's past accomplishments, including the Canada Child Benefit that he said has helped to lift 280,000 children out of poverty. He said the federal government's "historic investment" in infrastructure has funded 33,000 projects and created well-paying jobs across the country.

Morneau defends deficits

In a news conference,Several thousand people gathered downtown Tuesday, protesting bank bailouts and tax cuts for the wealthy and demanding jobs and funding for schools.

The rally was organized by "Stand Up! Chicago," which included the Chicago Teachers Union, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the Illinois Hunger Coalition and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

"Instead of investing in our community, instead of investing and creating jobs, they chose to pay their CFOs and CEOs over a billion dollars, and the folks that were out here today just don't think that's fair," Stand Up! Chicago Director E.J. Serrano told NBC Chicago.

Three separate marches snaked through the Loop, each led by a 12-foot-tall "corporate welfare king." The group converged at Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue, where some sat in the middle of the


predictions never materialized. Murder rates started dropping immediately after the passage of the law, prompting one of the chief opponents, Rep. Ron Silver, to admit that he had been wrong about concealed carry.

Such was the case in Texas, as well. One of the chief opponents in the Lone Star State was Senior Cpl. Glenn White, who was president of the Dallas Police Association. White lobbied against the law in 1993 and 1995 because he thought it would lead to wholesale armed conflict. Senior Cpl. White admitted to the Dallas Morning News: "All the horror stories I thought would come to pass didn't happen. No bogeyman. I think it's worked out well, and that says good things about the citizens who have permits. I'm a convert."

Another was Harris CountyPolicy Center had an article by Josh Sugarmann advocating a federal handgun ban. So VPC is a gun ban advocacy group.

Carl N. Brown

December 29, 2013, 02:08 PM

I have seen breakdowns of homicides as 14% stranger, 15% relative or spouse, 34% known to victim by name and the remainder NO relationship established. That almost a third relationship unknown.

The home invader who a relative surprised in her living room one night, and his accomplice who she detained at gun point for arrest, were known in the neighborhood as thieves and as thugs who intimidated victims into silence.

If she had been murdered, and the suspect caught, I guess he would have been one of "known to victim" or "acquantance" murderers. That's hardly the impression VPC wants to make.

Schwing

January 2, 2014, 10:56


Experiences with Sense & Sensibility

Sabarimala Festival

Sabarimala Temple is one of the most important pilgrim centres in India. Every year, lakhs of devotees throng this holy shrine situated amidst the thick forest of Periyar Tiger Reserve. Pilgrims have to undertake 41 days vritham (penance) consisting of strict celibacy. Females between the age of 10 and 50 are not permitted in the shrine.

The main pilgrimage season is from November to January, during which time male devotees called Ayyappa throng to the site. On their journey pilgrims carry irumudikkettu– two black coloured bags containing coconuts, agarbatti and parched rice on their head.Sure, the dot-com world had to shrink after the tech bubble burst in 2000, but new numbers from online stat firm Netcraft show that the dot-com universe is expanding again, and quite rapidly.
And that may not even be the half of it, if similar numbers from the Internet Systems Consortium are any indication.

In its May survey of Web servers, Netcraft said it counted http responses from 50,550,965 sites, which marks the 16th consecutive month of growth for Web servers by the survey.

Netcraft said the latest numbers, which cover a 30-day span, cap a period of revived growth for the Internet, especially since it comes only 13 months after the survey crossed the 40-million mark in April, 2003.

That's a long way from Netcraft's first survey in August of 1995,


by 169 votes.

Mr Durkan succeeded Nobel Laureate John Hume in taking the seat, which had been held by the SDLP for the previous 34 years.

"I'm a proud abstentionist MP," said Ms McCallion, speaking to the BBC.

"I have never seen a case where any nationalist MP has made a difference to any vote in Westminster especially now at a time when the British government won't even allow their own people to have a say on Brexit," she said.

"If anything, the behaviour of the current British government has vindicated Sinn Fein's abstentionist policy."

Belfast TelegraphTranscript for Exclusive interview with the race car driver who survived a horrific crash

It's the crash seen around the world. A race car hurtling through the air. E driver bind the wheel a teenager and this morning I have mor me iniew about at was going through her mind when her car went airborne. Race car driver Sophia floersch miracuusly survinghis crash St M at the grand prix in macau. Now 18-yeaold was tr to ps a fell driver when someone in front of her braked. Vealing what it was like inside the car when it catapultnto a bootfu phog over 150 les per hour. I wasn't really afraid ber me it wano crash. Whenaw the vid I was qte shocked as well bee it looks horrib and


all the flying part feels different in the car. After it was all over and you're noting in their more, what goes through your head? Well, because I was lng on the barrier, the first thing I was thinking of to put like fire extinhey face because it went on and I had it in which was my upper back and neck and sobit of my legs. Ll happened . Epersch undergoing anhour surge to repair her fractured spine, but the crash not fazing her competitive spirit. Y she is walking ad ly a age on her neck vent infection. The accident not once detefrom the spo I'm just really happy to be re and to be ato continue racing and to not have any results because ofTollcross, McDonald Road, Liberton and Newcraighall were sent to a "collapsed structure" at the school at around 10am.

A service spokeswoman said: "Firefighters assisted ambulance personnel to remove a female casualty from a collapsed structure but sadly she was pronounced dead at the scene. Thoughts are with the family at this difficult time."

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh City Council said: "A pupil at Liberton High School has sadly died following an incident at the school.

"Senior education staff and health and safety officers from the council are at the school providing support to staff and pupils."

(Image: PA/David Cheskin)

Edinburgh City Council was fined £8000 in February after a girl at the same school was seriously injured when she fell more than 16ft (5m) as teachers tried to free her from a broken-down


lift.

The schoolgirl, then aged 15, suffered three fractured vertebrae, bruising over her lower back and a sprained wrist as a result.

She remained in hospital for two days before being discharged and was unable to return to school for a further two weeks, the Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) said at the time.

The HSE confirmed in February that it had investigated the incident and a prosecution was brought against the local authority for "serious safety failings".

The council was fined at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the HSE said.

Edinburgh Southern SNP MSP Jim Eadie, whose constituency covers the school, said: "I am deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic incident, and the thoughts of the entirethe city during a match in December.

The teenager was playing for Edinburgh-based Tynecastle FC against Spartans FC when he collapsed on the Saughton Astro pitch in Edinburgh at the end of last year.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "Awful news from Liberton High. My thoughts & condolences with family & friends."

Local MP Ian Murray also took to Twitter, saying: "Tragic news coming from Liberton High School. My thoughts go out to the family and all at the school. Dreadful news."


Bullen Praises Allen

Former Wednesday chairman Dave Allen was hardly the most popular person at S6 during his reign at the club, but former club captain Lee Bullen has revealed he believes he did a 'great job'.

Bullen was allowed to leave Wednesday after his contract expired at the end of last season, and has since moved back up to Scotland after signing for Falkirk.

But, while talking about a potential takeover at S6 this summer, Bullen told the Sheffield Telegraph that he believes Allen did a great job during difficult times at Wednesday, and that his shares are key to enable a potential takeover to go ahead.

'The fan base and the potential are so massive that it's just right for somebody to come forward,' he said.

'I know football is alwaysAF Medical Team Trains for Inauguration Role

Air Force News|Jan 18, 2013|by Airman 1st Class Zachary Vucic

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- The 56th presidential inauguration, held January 20, 2009, set a record attendance for any event held in Washington D.C., and was one of the most-observed events ever by the global audience. With well over 1 million attendees just four years ago, preparations for the 57th presidential inauguration have taken a considerable effort from a wide variety of sources, both military and civilian. The Air Force's 79th Medical Wing has been an important part of that process, with both a medical and ceremonial mission.

During inaugural preparations, the 79th MDW works with its Army and Navy partners to be fully engaged with Joint Task Force National Capital Region-Medical. Its mission


have several Airmen participating in the ceremonial cordon, which will maintain a line between the crowd and parade, and render a salute as President Barrack Obama drives by. The organization of these Airmen fell to Maj. Jennifer Lavergne, the chief of medical readiness for the 79th MDW.

"Planning this event takes a lot of patience and a positive attitude," Lavergne said. "The closer to the event, the higher the stress. You have to be a wingman and keep everything in perspective."

Lavergne, despite what she says are a "million changes" that have occurred throughout the organization process, has not lost sight of the importance of her role in this historic event.

"It's amazing to have been selected to have this sort of responsibility in bringing people together, organizing, training, and makingrepresent the Air Force in a way that is consistent with the values and traditions that have been in place since the Air Force's inception. This includes members of the cordon team, who are preparing to show the military precision that is taught throughout any military career.

"This is the pinnacle of all those parade practices we've done since basic training, and drill and retreat at the (NCO) academy," said Senior Master Sgt. Mary Martin, the flight chief for laboratory and pathology services, and member of the cordon team. "Now here it is in live full effect; we are actually a part of the cordon team for the president of the United States, our commander and chief; how exciting is that?"

The cordon team has been through numerous uniform inspections


and rehearsals to ensure they are ready and looking sharp come inauguration day. Members of the team know their family and friends will be watching, the experience of which, is truly an honor, cordon team members said.

"I've never been a part of something so prestigious -- so historical," said Airman 1st Class Joseph Carter, a member of the cordon team, and public a health technician with the79th MDW. "To be a part of something this big is an honor -- it's really a blessing,"

Carter is excited that his little brother will be watching the inauguration from his hometown in Florida, knowing that he is a part of the ceremony.

"I feel like he looks up to me a lot, and I'm proud to be a part of this togive him inspiration for his journey through life," Carter said.

Both the medical and cordon teams are excited and somewhat nervous to participate in the ceremony.

"I'm nervous but it's a good nervous," said Tech. Sgt. Brandi Gallaher, a medical laboratory technician with the 79th MDW, and member of the cordon team.. "It's like when you watch a football game, and they play the national anthem. and the hair stands up on your arm. "

The members of the 79th MDW are excited and honored to be a part of this prestigious and historic ceremony. They have been training hard, and have been well prepared for the task at hand. They are confident they will represent the Air Force well.

"This is an event that involves our commander and chief and to


a violation of his due process rights, justifying dismissal of the prosecution.
The trial court conducted a hearing on Gil's motion to dismiss, during which it heard testimony from Officer Powell. Officer Powell testified that he was a narcotics agent in the Orlando Police Department's Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation ["MBI"] and that he became involved in an investigation of Gil and Jose Pereda ["Pereda"] as a result of information provided by a confidential informant named Stephen Bator. He testified that *927 both Gil and Pereda were arrested after he and the confidential informant made an "undercover purchase of trafficking amounts of cocaine" from Gil and Pereda.
Officer Powell testified that Stephen Bator had entered into a substantial assistance agreement and had chosen the pseudonym, Shaun Alexander, which was reflected ona MBI Source Profile Sheet. When asked about the MBI Source Profile Sheet, Officer Powell explained:
When I was  get a subject that signs up for substantial agreement, it's usually a person that's trying to right a wrong. He  he  he was a drug trafficker, he did wrong and now he's trying to come over and make up for his wrongs. We sign him up as a confidential informant.
The form that he signs usually stays with MBI. It has his name, his address, other pertinent information that  that we would like to keep protected.
On the second page we will have him sign his real signature. Under that is a pseudo signature that we will try to use to protect his identity until ordered to bring


Roberto Martinez has accused Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck of diving, with the Wigan manager clearly angry at his display on Saturday.

Martinez went so far as to claim that Welbeck should have been sent off for his actions, with the England international appearing to go down easily in search of a penalty early on in the match.

Javier Hernandez took the penalty and subsequently missed, but that didn't soothe Martinez's opinion of Welbeck, who later made a challenge on Franco di Santo that he believed was worthy of the United man being sent off.

"For Danny Welbeck's last challenge, his foot was over the ball on Franco," he told the Manchester Evening News. "It is completely reckless. Under the new regulations you cannot do that.

"I am not arguing whether theySearch called off for fisherman in Houston Ship Channel

The Coast Guard is searching for fisherman Ba Van Nguyen, who went missing Friday night in the Houston Ship Channel near Eagle Point. The Coast Guard is searching for fisherman Ba Van Nguyen, who went missing Friday night in the Houston Ship Channel near Eagle Point. Photo: Courtesy Of Judy Nguyen Photo: Courtesy Of Judy Nguyen Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Search called off for fisherman in Houston Ship Channel 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

After a 25-hour search, the Coast Guard decided to suspend the effort to find a fisherman who went missing Friday night in the Houston Ship Channel near Eagle Point.

Ba Van Nguyen, 59, reportedly left on his 54-foot shrimp boat, the Regina Pacis, early