The Bachelor episode guide season 20

Season 20

Season 20

Season 19

Season 18

Season 17

Season 16

Season 15

When Bachelorette Andi Dorfman said goodbye to Nick Viall just as he was preparing to pick out a ring for her, he was devastated. When Nick walked up to Kaitlyn Bristowe with an engagement ring in his pocket, only to be sent home, he was crushed. How could one man endure so much heartbreak? If you believe that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," Nick Viall, 36, a technology salesman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is back stronger than ever, ready and eager to begin his search for true love on the 21st season of ABC's hit romance reality series The Bachelor, which will premiere in January 2017.

The stunning departure of LB, who refused Ben’s rose, setSacred Blacksmith There were thousands of them. They made tools. They made plows. They made carts and armor and saddles. They built furnaces and homes. They called themselves the Hearthblood, for they never felt the biting cold of the Freljord, and could tolerate the immense heat bubbling beneath their bare feet on the slopes of Hearth-Home. They became the finest craftspeople in the world, and their workmanship was surpassed in quality only by Ornn’s. It padded toward her, propelled by some strange desperation that she couldn’t identify. Then she saw the telltale foam at the corners of its mouth. This animal was not driven by hunger or territorial instincts. It was in pain, and it wanted release. The wolf leapt at her, as if it had made up


its mind that its next act would be to kill or be killed. She swung the hammer, using every ounce of her strength to move the weapon’s considerable weight. The blow she delivered collapsed the animal’s skull in an instant, ending its torment. She took no pleasure in the kill, but she supposed it was the best possible outcome, for her and the wolf. We watched in stunned silence as the creature stood alone against the Ursine. With a roar, he brought his hammer down onto the ground, and a fissure cracked toward the advancing army, stopping just short of their vanguard. Spouts of lava and sulfur jetted into the sky, hardened fire rained down on the half-bear warriors. A Sacred Blacksmith senses when the world is onthe cusp of a new era. When they rise, it is a signt that great change is coming. During the wars to come, and in their aftermath, they know the Freljord—and the rest of Runeterra—will have need of a good blacksmith. The Origin of Sacred Smithing The Demigod Ornn was the firstborn of his brothers and sisters. He leapt into the world, itching for a fight. This was not so easy, however. Trees were weak adversaries, snapping far too easily. Icebergs melted at his touch, running away into the sea. Frustrated, he punched a mountain. The mountain did not yield. Ornn was pleased by this, so he challenged the land itself to a good-natured brawl. As Ornn wrestled with the land, he dented and bruised it, shaping all


of the Freljord that we know today. He headbutted mountains from the planes, and pounded down deep valleys. When he was tired, Ornn thanked the land for the glorious match. The land responded by opening a fiery pit, showing him its very heart, and he was honored to see it was a reflection of him: a fiery ram. The land had deemed Ornn worthy, and bestowed its secrets to him, gifting him the strength of primordial flame, for fire is the true agent of change. He looked at the landscape that was the result of his fight and nodded. It would do. After this, Ornn set himself to building tools and weapons.

The Sacred Blacksmith Level Proficiency Bonus Features Cantrips Known 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8thDétails:Hawaiian Airlines flight 481 took off from Honolulu (HNL) bound for Tahiti (PPT). No notable events occurred on the flight until the approach. At 23:24 the captain started the arrival briefing and mentioned the following items: frequency, description of missed approach. He then asked the co-pilot to find out about the weather. The controller transmitted the 23:00 information, mentioning a 080°/5 kt wind, occasionally 340°/15 kt, with gusts to 25 kt. He also mentioned rain showers, some cumulonimbus and indicated that the runway was wet. During the descent, numerous thunderstorm cells were observed by the crew on the track and around the aerodrome. At 23:46, the tower controller asked the flight to descend towards 2,500 ft QNH and to report back when passing OVINI. He stated that there


were showers at the aerodrome. Twenty-two seconds later, the co-pilot announced that they were passing OVINI.At 23:49 the captain armed the spoilers and asked for the flaps to be extended to 22° then, twenty-five seconds later, to the 35° position.The controller cleared flight HAL 481 to land on runway 04. He gave the wind as 060°/10 kt, gusting to 14. The captain noticed changes in the wind and the co-pilot announced, based on the airplane's GFMS, a wind from 280° at 28 kt. Almost two minutes later the controller transmitted updated weather information: 330°/18 kt, gusting to 28. Thirty-two seconds later, the crew had the airfield in sight and a final wind reading was given to them: 330°/18 kt, gusting to 29.At 23:52:11, the autopilot was disconnected. Nineseconds later, the airplane passed under the approach path and the GPWS "sink rate" warning sounded. The pilot rejoined the descent path with the aid of the PAPI and continued his approach using external visual references. At that time, the airplane was following a track parallel and to the right of the approach path. Between 23:52:32 and 23:52:38, the radio altimeter call-outs between fifty and ten feet began and continued at a rate of one per second. Power reduction began five seconds after the ten feet call-out. At 23:52:45 s, the wheels of the main landing gear touched the runway to the right of the centerline. Five seconds later, which was two seconds after the nose gear touched down, the thrust reversers were deployed. The parameters indicate that


reverse thrust on each of the engines was adjusted and regulated without it ever reaching its maximum value. At 23:52:53, eight seconds after the main landing gear touched down, the spoilers were deployed manually by the flight engineer. At 23:52:59, the copilot's "Centerline" call-out suggested the Captain rejoin the runway centerline, from which the airplane was moving away to the left. At 23:53:21, the airplane crushed the localizer antennae, continued along the runway extended centerline and then came to a stop past the end of the runway, its nose in a lagoon. The Captain , after checking on the safety situation around the airplane, ordered the evacuation via door 2R.[Asthma-related mortality in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2000-2009: a multicausal analysis].
The study of multiple causes of death helps reveal the true extent of mortality statistics. The aim of this study was to assess trends in asthma mortality rates in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 2000 to 2009, based on data from the Mortality Information System among individuals one year or older, in which asthma was mentioned on any line or in any part of the death certificate. Linear regression was used for data analysis. The historical series showed a downward trend in the standardized mortality rate related to asthma as the underlying or associated cause of death, with a reduction in males and stability in females. When asthma was the underlying cause,


Poleman Raikkonen held his advantage at the start as the pack filtered through Ste Devote for the first time without incident, with Vettel keeping second ahead of Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes.

That was how the order remained out front until the pitstops, which began when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pitted from fourth place on lap 32 – followed by Bottas one lap later.

Raikkonen was brought in from the lead on lap 34, rejoining well ahead of Bottas and Verstappen, but Vettel stayed out on track for another five laps, setting the fastest lap in the process.

The four-time champion rejoined after his stop ahead of his Ferrari teammate, and had established a lead of more than 10 seconds before the safety car was called on lap 61 when Jenson Button andPascal Wehrlein collided at Portier.

Button, standing in for Fernando Alonso at McLaren, had tried to force his way up the inside of Wehrlein, whose car was pitched onto its side when the pair made contact.

Wehrlein emerged unhurt from the incident, which also left Button with terminal damage.

When the race resumed on lap 67, Vettel duly pulled away from Raikkonen to secure his third victory of the season by a margin of 3.145s and extend his points lead.

Daniel Ricciardo took the final podium spot, having jumped both Bottas and Verstappen in the pits with a stop six laps later than the latter.

The Australian brushed the outside barrier exiting Ste Devote while being challenged by Bottas at the restart, but retained third place and kept Bottas and Verstappen at bay


in the remaining laps.

From 13th on the grid, Lewis Hamilton was able to salvage a seventh place finish behind the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz.

Hamilton made up a place on Stoffel Vandoorne at the start, and gained further ground when Nico Hulkenberg stopped on track with a gearbox failure and Sergio Perez had to pit early to replace a damaged front wing.

That put the Briton up to 10th before the start of the pitstop phase, and staying out until lap 46 allowed him to jump Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat, as well as Kevin Magnussen – who had to return to the pits for a second time after getting a puncture.

Hamilton now lies 25 points adrift of Vettel in the title battle, with Bottas a further 29 backin third.

Grosjean held on for eighth, but Kvyat lost ninth when he was hit by Perez at Rascasse, an incident that forced the Mexican to pit – promoting Felipe Massa to ninth and Magnussen to 10th.

Vandoorne had been running 10th at the restart, but lost the chance of securing McLaren’s first point of the year when he ran wide at Ste Devote while being passed by Perez and went into the barriers.

Renault's Jolyon Palmer finished just outside the points in 11th, ahead of Esteban Ocon - delayed by a puncture early on - and Perez.

Lance Stroll retired in the closing stages with apparent brake problems, while Marcus Ericsson also failed to finish after running into the Ste Devote barriers during the safety car period.

Race results:


done (but I do worry that some agency like NICE could decide that over-55s should not get BHR in future). Old age is OK except for long recovery times after big days out, as noted by Woodstock and others. I would have liked to have raced a half marathon by now but having trained over the distance last year it took a couple of months to get back to faster running again, and I am sticking to 5km at the moment with a view to getting my 250 shirt from parkrun by Christmas (number 246 tomorrow!).

One highlight of the year was meeting Tri Hard Alan at Imperial College hospital in the summer for a tour of their musculoskeletal department, meeting Professor Cobb and members of his team, beingFirst published Mon Nov 19, 2012; substantive revision Mon Oct 9, 2017

In brief, the Japanese Pure Land contribution to Buddhist philosophy may be said to lie in its fusion of two fundamental attitudes. On the one hand, it stands squarely upon a Mahayana Buddhist conception of enlightened wisdom as radically nondichotomous and nondual with reality, indicated with such terms as thusness, buddha-nature, and emptiness. On the other hand, it directly confronts the nature of human existence in its ineluctable finitude: karmically conditioned, discriminative and reifying in awareness, and given to the afflicting passions of attachment to a falsely conceived self surrounded by substantial objects. Through its probing religious anthropology, Japanese Pure Land thought explores the paradoxical issues of how transformative awakening can be possible for the ignorant self,


Amida’s buddha-field became the focus of a continuous commentarial tradition that began among such major Indian Mahayana thinkers as Nāgārjuna (c. 150–250) and Vasubandhu (c. 320–400) in India, was transmitted to China as early as the third century CE, and is maintained today in Japan. Thus, it may be said that Pure Land concepts and ideas emerged directly out of elemental strains of Mahayana Buddhist thought at an early stage and underwent continual development in East Asia.

The Pure Land path based on Amida is expounded in the Larger and Smaller Sutras of the Adornments of [the Buddha-field Named] Bliss (Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra), which trace their origins back to northwestern India in about the first century CE, the period of the redaction of the Prajñāpāramitā in 8000 Lines, Garland, Lotus, Vimalakīrti,and other major Mahayana sutras. These two sutras, along with the later Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (Jp. Kanmuryōjukyō), form the foundation for the East Asian Pure Land tradition.

The Larger Sutra is the only extant sutra that relates the narrative of how the bodhisattva Dharma-Storehouse (Dharmākara) established and fulfilled vows to become Amida (“immeasurable [light and life]”), the buddha of compassion who leads all beings to enlightenment by enabling them to be born into his buddha-field. It was first translated into Chinese in the third century and was reputedly retranslated eleven more times over the following seven hundred years, attesting to its enduring importance in Chinese Buddhist tradition. The Pure Land tradition developed for over a thousand years in China, accumulating an extensive body


of scriptural and commentarial writings, before undergoing the radical reinterpretation in Japan that Suzuki refers to.

Thus, the Pure Land Buddhist heritage in Japan stands today upon the selective use of a continuous textual tradition stretching back nearly two millennia. Terms from the Chinese of the sutras in their various renditions and evolving commentaries on the Pure Land path became the standard medium of Pure Land Buddhist discourse in Japan, so that a full grasp of the Japanese tradition requires familiarity with these terms, their relationship to the broader Buddhist tradition, and the historical changes in their understandings and emphases in the course of their long development in various cultural spheres and sectarian settings. Japanese Buddhists have been, throughout their history, fully aware of their geographical position at theeasternmost reach of the spread of Buddhism in Asia and of their indebtedness to the transmission of Buddhist tradition across the various ethnic locales and political boundaries of the Asian continent.

1.2 Comparative Frameworks

A further difficulty in grasping Japanese Pure Land thought involves the pitfalls of a comparative approach in relation to Western religious traditions. When, for his own polemical purposes, Karl Barth (1886–1968) surveyed the religious traditions of the world in search of doctrinal parallels to Christianity, he concluded that it was the Japanese Pure Land tradition that provided “the most exact, comprehensive, and plausible ‘pagan’ parallel to Christianity” (Barth 1961, 1,2: 342). He expresses some shock at the depth and specificity of resemblance, commenting that the Pure Land thought of Hōnen (1133–1212) and Shinran (1173–1263) in particular

parallels


scholasticism, sectarian disputation, and an erroneous notion of the nature of the wisdom that was the aim of Buddhist practice. They declared that the established view of training, directed to merely personal emancipation from painful existence, was narrow and finally inadequate, and that in their aspiration to attain the actual realization Śākyamuni had transmitted, they had sought and discovered a method by which genuine attainment was possible. They called this new path the “great vehicle” (Mahayana), because it holds as its goal the attainment of authentic enlightenment by all beings, and asserted that it was superior to the existing institutions, which they labeled the “lesser vehicle” (Hinayana).

According to Mahayanists, the Hinayana sages withdrew from ordinary life in society and performed practices and disciplines, seeking their own extinction ofconcept of giving or transferring merit (Jp. ekō) is a direct expression of the nature of bodhisattvas, for they undertake their practice in nondichotomous wisdom.

2.4 Cosmic Buddhas and Buddha-fields

Even in the early Buddhist tradition, Sakyamuni’s attainment of awakening was not regarded as an utterly unique event or even the first occurrence of buddhahood. Nevertheless, the appearance of a buddha, who bears the epochal role of bringing liberation to beings through teaching, was regarded as a momentous event in the history of the world. The early tradition had taught instead the ideal of the arhat, who would enter into nirvana upon death, having completely eradicated blind passions and attained emancipation from further rebirth within the world of samsaric existence.

The Mahayana tradition, however, recognized the attainment of buddhahood itself—not merely


attained supreme awakening by following the bodhisattva path, and these beings all work for the liberation of others in their own spheres of realization. Mahayana writings often refer to the concept of the “great chiliocosm,” which is made up of one billion universes. In the Mahayana cosmology, there are great chiliocosms countless as the sands of the Ganges throughout the ten quarters, and most are buddha-fields, or parts of buddha-fields, in which a buddha teaches dharma for the benefit of its inhabitants. Our own universe—called the Sahā world, or “world in which pain must be endured”—is the buddha-field of Sakyamuni, the sphere in which he appeared in order to save the beings within it. Thus, the entire cosmos is a panoply of countless buddha-fields in which the dramaLand thought, I will focus in particular on the stream of Hōnen. It was Hōnen who achieved perhaps the radical doctrinal innovation of his seminal period in Japanese Buddhist history by establishing the practice of vocal nembutsu as an independent, self-sufficient path of Buddhist praxis. Despite widespread esteem for his priestly and scholarly attainments and the purity of his religious aspirations, Hōnen himself, in his penetrating self-reflection, expressed a profound awareness of his incapacity to fulfill any Buddhist practice and thereby advance himself toward enlightenment. He therefore searched throughout Buddhist tradition for an accessible path, and at length found the exposition of the nembutsu.

Nembutsu practices in early Buddhist tradition centered on mindfulness exercises conducted in veneration of Sakyamuni Buddha, and included elements of bodily worship and the reverent


repetition of the name of the Buddha. Later, it developed into a core practice of monastics involving ritual prostrations with the body, contemplation on the features of enlightened beings and vocal recitation of their names, conducted with long lists of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Such nembutsu practice was and remains a basic practice in the Tendai monastery of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, where Hōnen originally trained and lived. In addition, the Chinese Tientai practice of “constant walking samadhi” (jōgyō zammai), in which a monk circumambulates a large statue of Amida, intoning the nembutsu and meditating on Amida Buddha and features of the Pure Land continuously for ninety days, had been transmitted to Mount Hiei during the Heian period, and the group practice of “constant nembutsu” (fudan nembutsu) in whichthe achievement of extensive learning, deep meditative states, heroic discipline, and compassionate action. Without an adequate demonstration that vocal nembutsu held such power, Pure Land praxis would remain an supplementary discipline within the existing schools of Buddhist tradition, one supportive practice to be performed in combination with a range of other methods.

Hōnen promulgated his teaching by adopting an innovative perspective on the nature of the practices taught in Buddhist tradition. He reasoned that, although the utterance of the Buddha’s name had long been transmitted in various Buddhist schools as one among countless different kinds of practice useful for attainment of enlightenment, the vocal nembutsu designated in Amida’s vow as the act leading to birth into the Pure Land was qualitatively distinct from every one of the thousands of


In other words, Amida, through his vow and the salvific virtue of his own already completed performance of endless aeons of bodhisattva practices, established the saying of the Name as the medium by which his own compassionate working actively reaches each being. Thus, the nembutsu has been prepared for beings as effective practice—already fulfilled by Amida as the act resulting in birth in the Pure Land. This salvific activity is particularly appropriate in the present age, when the accomplishment of praxis as ordinarily understood in Buddhist tradition has receded beyond the reach of beings. Anticipating this situation, Amida’s vow teaches that one should relinquish the illusions and attachments focused on the self and its capacities and set aside the extensive body of traditional methods of praxis as noPower, he established the Pure Land school (Jōdoshū) as an authentic Buddhist path, effective in itself and independent from the traditionally recognized schools that had been transmitted to Japan from the Asian continent over the preceding centuries. Hōnen set about to accomplish this in his major writing, Collection on the Nembutsu Selected in the Primal Vow (Senchaku hongan nembutsu-shū), composed in kanbun (Chinese) and addressed to an audience versed in Buddhist erudition and its methods of discourse. Here, Hōnen systematically raises the traditional issues involved in recognizing the Pure Land teaching as a legitimate school of Buddhism, such as the identification of foundational sutras, the delineation of the historical lineage of masters by which the Pure Land path has been transmitted down to the present, and its doctrinal


orthodoxy, demonstrated with reference to the sutras and the commentarial tradition. In his work, Hōnen argues logically and cogently on the basis of scriptural evidence, including extended citations from the recognized Chinese canon.

Hōnen allowed his work to be copied only by disciples during his lifetime, but it was published shortly after his death. It immediately garnered vehement censure and counter-argument from scholar-monks of traditional schools, attesting to the impact Hōnen’s nembutsu teaching was already having in Japanese society, but also to the recognition of the forms of scholastic discourse and rational argument into which his thought had been cast. From the accounts of his followers and records of his spoken words and letters, it appears that Hōnen was an immensely charismatic figure, communicating his teaching to both thehistorical in a modern sense, in fact the dominant traditional motif in treating questions of the reality of Amida and the Pure Land reflects, not such notions as substance, identity, autonomy, and permanence, but an interactive, dynamic movement across provisional dichotomies of formless reality and form, enlightened wisdom and ignorance, transtemporality and time, buddha and sentient being. This thinking characterized by the discriminative perception of the world of beings rooted in the nondiscriminative apprehension of reality may be seen in relation to the question of the real existence of beings born in the Pure Land in the following passage from the sixth century Chinese Pure Land thinker Tanluan (476–542):

Question: In the Mahayana sutras and treatises it is frequently taught that sentient beings are in the final analysis unborn,


in the perspective on Amida among the Mahayana schools, and it stands diametrically opposed to modernist assumptions. For Mahayana Buddhists, reality resides not fundamentally with the historical existence of Sakyamuni as such, but rather with that for which he is recognized as buddha, or that which is the motive-force for his appearance in the world, his attainment of buddhahood, and his teaching of dharma. Reality assumes form in order to emerge into the consciousness of sentient beings and thereby guide beings beyond the attachments and compulsions of their discriminative, reifying, conceptual grasp of their own existence and the things of the world around them.

This circular dynamic moving between formless reality and the world of forms may be seen with regard to the relationship between Sakaymuni and Amida inletters, he states:

Those who feel that their own birth is completely settled should, mindful of the Buddha’s benevolence, hold the nembutsu in their hearts and say it to respond in gratitude to that benevolence, with the wish, “May there be peace in the world, and may the Buddha’s teaching spread!”. (Shinran CWS I: 560)

In the face of the persecution of the nembutsu by local authorities, he advises his disciples:

The people who are trying to obstruct the nembutsu are the manor lords, bailiffs, and landowners in the local areas … . practicers of the nembutsu should act with compassion for those who commit such obstruction, feel pity for them, and earnestly say the nembutsu, thereby helping those who seek to hinder them. (Shinran CWS I: 563–564)

For Shinran, the working


so on. Japan’s encounter with modernity represents a particularly clear and well-defined case, for up until the mid-nineteenth century, Japan had an official policy of isolation, restricting all international contact. Political stability, including religious institutions, had continued without significant threat or conflict for nearly two and a half centuries, during which a relatively peaceful, prosperous, and culturally active citizenry flourished. After being forcibly opened to foreign commerce in 1853, Japanese leaders emerged who were fearful of the efforts by Western powers to exert control over the country through utilizing internal conflict. They sought fundamental political change without large-scale civil warfare and successfully effected a shift in power from the shogunate nominally to the emperor in 1868. Further, they entered upon a deliberate program of importing and adopting Westernlearning, technology, and sociopolitical institutions. Christianity was perceived as woven into the fabric of modern civilization and as providing the moral foundation for Western advances. Hence, some Japanese believed the successful assimilation of Western technology and social institution would require the adoption of Christianity.

5.1 Christian Critique of Pure Land Buddhism

During the four decades from the opening of Japan to about the time of the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, Buddhist institutions were forced into a largely defensive posture in the face of programs for radical social change and the influx of Christian missionizing. Buddhist reform movements were beginning to arise, but on the whole it was a period for regrouping, apologetics, and new organizational rather than intellectual development. The observations and criticisms by Christian missionaries


a corporate, social ethic roused the Buddhists to establish schools, hospitals, and various kinds of chaplaincies.

5.2 The Modernization of Buddhist Thought: Intellectual Reform

The Japanese Buddhist response to modernity from the beginning of the twentieth century tended to be dominated by two interrelated trends: the attempt to reinterpret the nature of the Buddhist and Christian traditions and the relationship between them, and the attempt to modernize Buddhist teachings by adopting modes of understanding religious life discerned in Western thought and Christian conceptual motifs.

Until the latter half of the nineteenth century, there were no terms in Japanese corresponding to the abstract categories of “philosophy” and “religion.” Nevertheless, the study of Western philosophy began to be diligently pursued, even before the Meiji restoration, as an important body of Western learning crucialfor modern Japan, an accompaniment to the natural sciences. The accepted term corresponding to “religion,” shūkyō宗教, came into use as the standard equivalent for the Western concept from the 1860’s, when it was required for the translation of diplomatic documents exchanged with Western nations. In terms of actual content, therefore, it was at first closely associated with Christianity.

For Buddhists, philosophy and religion became a means not only to position Buddhism in relation to Christianity, but also to distance it from Christianity to its own advantage, particularly in relation to modern scientific knowledge. The central figure here was Inoue Enryō (1858-1919), who was born into the family of a Pure Land temple priest of the Shin Buddhist tradition and was active throughout his life as an educator and public


in religious life. In his late twenties, he undertook an ascetic discipline of daily life and diet that ended after several years when he contracted tuberculosis. In the last five years of his life, he was strongly attracted to the introspective spiritual cultivation of equanimity and indifference to contingencies that he found in the early scriptures of Buddhism and especially in the Stoic philosopher Epictetus.

Although Kiyozawa makes little mention of Christianity in his writings beyond, for example, reflections on the doctrines of creation or monotheism from a comparative philosophical perspective, we find in his journal in 1898, amid passages from Epictetus and other classical texts, references to biblical passages in standard English notation. In relation to the notion “God is in man,” which he considers “an old doctrine”institutional and educational reform, he appears almost to embody a Buddhist response to Gordon’s accusation that Buddhism lacks the power to influence daily life and ethical social action. Toward the end of his life, Kiyozawa created a Buddhist movement for the quest of “spiritual living” (seishin-shugi), which he defines in terms of the personal encounter with the absolute.

In Kiyozawa’s disciple Soga Ryōjin (1875-1971), also a Shin Buddhist priest, we find the same interest in articulating the personal immediacy of religious teachings. Instead of seeking, like his teacher, to build on the legitimacy of philosophy and science, carving out a place for Buddhism beyond the limitations of a rational philosophical analysis of life experience, Soga stood within Shin Buddhist teachings and sought to show their vital significance. He did


polemical purposes, it appears that by the turn of the twentieth century, some Buddhist philosophers had gained a new confidence of their own, allowing themselves to be stimulated by Christian theological ideas.

In one of his seminal essays, “Savior on Earth,” Soga begins:

In the first part of July last year (1912), … I intuited the phrase, “The Tathagata (Amida) is myself,” and in the latter part of August, … the phrase, “The Tathagata becomes me and saves me,” was bestowed on me. Finally, about October, I was brought to realize that “‘The Tathagata becomes me’ signifies the birth of Dharmakara Bodhisattva.” (Blum and Rhodes 2011, p. 107, translation modified)

This essay was published in 1913 in the magazine begun by Kiyozawa, Seishinkai (The World of Spiritual Living), fifteen years afterOn a recent episode of American Ninja Warrior, competitor Jessie Graff became the first woman in the history of the show to complete stage two of its notoriously difficult obstacle course. It was a historic moment on the show and an exciting one for ANW’s approximately 6 million viewers. But Graff’s accomplishment reflects the failings of the rest of the sports world, even though her sport is barely included in that world at all.

Jessie Graff competes at the ANW finals in Las Vegas in 2016.

Like most sports, ANW runs in seasons. But unlike most sports, it began as a TV show. Each season of ANW, a spin-off of the Japanese show Sasuke, features a group of competitors trying to make it through a series of entertaining but strenuous


obstacle courses that get progressively harder with each episode. It has been on the air since 2009, a long time in the world of reality television, but the blink of an eye when it comes to professional sports. And thanks to its TV origins, the athletic competition itself falls somewhere between the two categories. Despite its hazy genre, or maybe because of it, ANW is doing something that so many professional sports leagues are unlikely to have even seriously considered: eschewing gender segregation.

When it comes to adults in sports, mixed-gender competition is reserved for the unserious and the amateur: a company softball team, a neighborhood kickball league, a friendly ultimate frisbee club. But gender integration rarely exists in higher levels of competition and certainly not in ‘serious’ sportslike basketball, baseball, and soccer. When it comes to that category, where the high physical ability required is taken for granted, a woman beating or simply competing against a man is treated like a sensation (as was recently explored on the short-lived Fox drama series Pitch, about a woman who plays major league baseball). Only on a reality competition show would something so potentially scandalous take place. There was no real gendered prestige to lose — as in, say, the NFL — because it was never there in the first place.

Kacy Catanzaro competes in Season 8 of American Ninja Warrior. In 2014, she became the first woman to qualify for the show's finals course.

Sandy Zimmerman competes on a recent episode of American Ninja Warrior.

Jesse Labreck competes in a


puppies was born on August 21, 2013 to parents Ayumi and sire Morningstar Dr McDreamy Chouseisou. This was the second and final litter born to Ayumi (who herself was from the "A-Team" litter). They are referred to as the "E-team" of puppies to mark the 5th litter. There were a total of three red female puppies (Eiko, pink collar; Eisha, purple collar; and Ember, red collar) and two cream-colored males (Enoki, green collar; and Edo, blue collar).

Sixth litter:  F-Team
The sixth litter of puppies was born on November 10, 2015, born to Chiyoko (aka Yo-Yo) from the "C-Team" litter, and Hiro, an AKC/UKC/NIPPO-USA Champion male Shiba imported by the family from Japan in 2013. This litter of pups are referred to as the "F-team" to mark the 6th
925 F.Supp. 160 (1996)
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff,
v.
The VILLAGE OF AIRMONT, Airmont Civic Association, Ralph Bracco in his capacity as Mayor of the Village of Airmont, John C. Layne, Raymond Kane, Charles Calotta and Ronald Sabo, in their capacities as Trustees of the Village of Airmont, Defendants.
No. 91 Civ. 8453 (GLG).
United States District Court, S.D. New York.
April 25, 1996.
Craig L. Parshall, Law Offices of Craig Parshall, Fredericksburg, Virginia, for Plaintiffs Rabbi Yitzchok LeBlanc-Sternberg, Chanie LeBlanc-Sternberg, Fred Walfish, Lewis Kamman and Park Avenue Synagogue, Inc.
Sara L. Shudofsky, Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New *161 York, New York City for Plaintiff United States of America.
Dennis E.A. Lynch, Dorfman, Lynch & Knoebel, Nyack, New York, and Brian S. Sokoloff, Thurm & Heller, New York City, for Defendants Village of


[The problem of marital infertility caused by the male partner pathology in view of potential semen donors].
An inquiry was carried out in 91 students of the V year of Medical Academy, potential semen donors for artificial insemination, for gaining an insight into the degree of acceptance of this problem in their present situation and in assumed possible infertility of them or their partners, and the foreseen results of sociocultural consequences of the infertility of one of the partners in a married couple, as regarded by the responders. The highest grade of acceptance of semen donation for heterologous insemination was shown by students living in cities and coming from the families of the intelligentsia. Among the factors determining this attitude the most frequent were: altruistic attitude, followed by economicVideoman Releases Debut Album A Kind Of Serenity

Videoman writes music for lonely people. On September 29th, the Montreal-based band released their debut album, A Kind Of Serenity, featuring the album opener, Salt & Wine. Have a look at the video for the track here. The record will be available for pre-order on September 8th, with an instant-grat download of the first single, Adeline. The group will celebrate the release with a hometown show in Montreal on October 5th at Petit Campus.

After years in Los Angeles studying classical music, Videoman frontman, Pasquale D’Alessio, returned to Montreal and became a Resident Artist with Opera de Montreal with one goal: to compose an opera. Looking for a modern take for the script, he teamed up with musician and writer, Mitch Findlay.


The duo began working on the story, and quickly realized the project was evolving. No longer an opera, but an album.

The record continued to grow, with new songs being written every day. D’Alessio and Findlay joined forces with fellow creatives, Tom Fellows and Costa Kalafitidis, and decided to spend some songwriting time in Northern Quebec. By day: perfecting the music. By night: folklore and exploration. One evening in the woods, the group stumbled upon a decrepit mannequin with a broken television for a head, and thus, Videoman was born. After returning to Montreal with the album ready to record, the project caught the ear of former Dears guitarist, Patrick Krief, who signed on to produce the new songs.

"The album was made during the hardest year of our lives,”Hooters Girl Comes In 2nd In Natl. Competition 3-28-2011

The 21-yearold employee of both the Kochville Township and Bay City Hooters was one of 16 girls worldwide selected to compete for the title.The competition is based on public vote, and this round of voting ends at midnight on March 22.Hurst said if she wins, she'll use the $10,000 in prize money to help pay for her education. Shes a biology and chemistry student at Saginaw Valley State University.

This Sept. 24, 2017, photo provided by Michael Kass shows Yann Arnaud during a Cirque du Soleil performance in Toronto. Arnaud died early Sunday, March 18, 2018, after falling while performing during a show on Saturday in Tampa, Fla. (Michael Kass via AP)

A Cirque du Soleil performer died Saturday night after he


Cumulative index 1981-1985, Volumes 138-157.
This cumulative index also includes listings of all major papers from the American Journal of Neuroradiology, American Journal of Roentgenology, Clinics in Diagnostic Ultrasound, Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography, Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, RadioGraphics, Radiologic Clinics of North America, Seminars in Nuclear Medicine, Seminars in Roentgenology, and Seminars in Ultrasound, CT and MR.The Good Shepherd

Meditation

Sunday, Ordinary 34, Proper 29 continued the defining of what made up the family of God. The Psalmist sang praises to God because he was a good shepherd of his flock. The prophet Ezekiel described the attributes of being a shepherd that would take care of his sheep and protect them. He would heal the sick, bring together the scattered and lost, bandage the wounded and in general discern what was needed and take care of it.

In an interesting twist, the prophet spoke of God helping the weak and needy, but destroying the fat and powerful. The implication was that some shepherds were fat and powerful while their sheep were sick and injured, starving to death. Some church leaders have squirreled away money and wealth, while


Proper 29

The King of Love My Shepherd Is – Tiberiu Daniel

The Family of God – the Sheep of His Pasture

Single Bible Study chapter to study

Matthew 25:31-46

King James Version (KJV)

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For IConnect with Us

One parking ordinance killed

In a surprise move, the Port Orchard City Council on Monday night killed one of the three pending RV/boat parking ordinances  the ordinance limiting the number of such vehicles which can be stored on a residents property.

Councilman Don Morrison, who initiated the motion, also presented city staff with instructions to write a new ordinance that incorporates the suggestions made at two public hearings hosted by the councils street committee.

Morrison, who chairs the committee, said he was advised killing the older ordinance and substituting a new one was a way to streamline the re-write process.

It was technically told (to me) that this was the way to do it, Morrison said.

The new ordinance will make two significant changes to the old ordinance. The old


ordinance, first introduced in July, restricted property owners to one RV and one boat on their properties. Any additional campers, vessels or trailers had to be stored in a fully enclosed garage.

The new ordinance, currently being reviewed by the city attorney, allows residents to have any combination of restricted vehicles on their properties  two boats, two campers, a trailer and a boat, and so on. Morrison said many residents complained the rule of one boat and one RV did not reflect the recreational interests of the city. Most were angry the city seemed to be telling them not only how many vehicles they could own, but what kind of vehicles those could be.

The new ordinance also allows residents to keep unlimited numbers of recreational vehicles on theirThe Army was wrapping up an investigation into the anthrax scandal focusing on the Dugway Proving Grounds site in Utah even as new questions emerged on the extent of live shipments of the deadly toxin nationwide and around the world.

Pentagon officials said that conclusions of the Article 15-6 fact-finding investigation under Army regulations could be released soon, possibly later this week.

The results could lead to disciplinary action against those responsible for the mistaken shipments, many by Federal Express, of live anthrax spores to 184 labs and contractors in all 50 states and at least nine foreign countries, plus the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico. The number of shipments of live toxins totaled 575, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

"It's just


unimaginable" that Dugway and DOD for more than 10 years was sending the "seed stock for a biological weapon to hundreds of entities" around the nation and the world without adequate safeguards, said Dr. Richard Ebright, head of the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University.

Many of the shipments went to private contractors and corporations seeking to develop testing mechanisms and vaccines that could then be sold to DOD. "This underscores what a boondoggle the entire system has become," said Ebright, who has testified before Congress on the issue.

Last May, when reports on the inadvertent shipments began to emerge, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter pledged to hold accountable those responsible. He also issued an apology to South Korea for the Army's testing of what proved to be live anthraxat the Osan Air Force Base without the knowledge of the Seoul government.

Last month, a joint South Korea-U.S. working group charged that U.S. Forces-Korea imported anthrax samples for tests at the Yongsan garrison in central Seoul 15 times between 2009 and 2014, apparently contradicting previous U.S. claims that the shipment to Osan was a one-off mistake.

However, the Pentagon said that South Korea was told at the time of the Osan disclosure that biological testing had been going on in South Korea since 2009.

The Article 15-6 investigation was one of three that began after Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work ordered a review of how DOD handles biological agents. Work's action followed the report last May from a lab in Maryland, which found live spores in an anthrax sample from


Dugway that supposedly had been irradiated and was inert.

Operations at the West Desert Test Center at Dugway were the subject of the Article 15-6 investigation. The office of the Secretary of the Army and the CDC were conducting separate investigations of the DOD's system for handling deadly toxins, said Marine Maj. Adrian j. Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman.

The problem areas were not limited to the shipment and testing of anthrax. In September, the CDC investigation disclosed that DOD's Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center in Maryland had mishandled potentially live plague samples.

The CDC said that it found a sample of plague in a facility freezer at Edgewood "outside the containment area," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said. The CDC also raised concerns about Edgewood's handling of a strain of equineA failed reforestation effort in the Kootenays has left B.C.'s logging watchdog concerned.

Arrow Glenn Ltd, a private logging company with access to over 600 hectares of forested land in B.C., failed to reforest several clear-cuts near Creston — a direct violation of the regulatory Forest and Range Practices Act.

According to a two-year random audit from the Forest Practices Board, Arrow Glenn had seven years to replant trees in numerous clear-cuts but failed to meet minimum standards. They also failed to submit mandatory annual progress reports to the government.

"In the case of a licensee not meeting reforestation obligations, that's not good stewardship — or stewardship period," said Timothy Ryan, chair of the FPB.

The FPB is funded by the province to make suspect forestry practices public and prompt a response


staff never noticed Arrow Glenn's mismanagement, even after mandatory progress reports didn't show up in their mailbox, Mosher notes, and he is unsure how Arrow Glenn managed to slip through the cracks.

"It's one of the questions that we wonder," he said. "But it's not part of our compliance audit."

The ministry did not address the issue in their response to CBC.

"As recommended by the board, district staff will work with the licensee to ensure he meets his reforestation obligations," said the ministry in a written statement, adding that reforestation can be quite difficult in the region.

Arrow Glenn Ltd. could not be reached for a comment on the audit.

Not an excuse

"These are arid, challenging sites to grow trees on," said John Betts, director of the Western Silvicultural Contractors Association, anof 10% of Damon common stock. On August 18, 1988, following unsuccessful attempts to negotiate an acquisition of Damon, Nomad commenced a cash tender offer for any and all shares not owned by its affiliates. The tender offer was conditioned, in part, on judicial invalidation of the Act.
The Act regulates the acquisition of shares of stock of firms organized under the laws of states other than Massachusetts. It provides that a person who acquires stock in a "control share acquisition" may vote that stock only if the disinterested shareholders of the acquired company vote to approve enfranchisement. Neither the acquiring person nor the officers or employee-directors of the acquired corporation may participate in the enfranchisement vote. A "control share acquisition" results when an acquiring person holds voting rights


AN AWARD-WINNING organic farmer has found a novel way of increasing productivity - playing Andrew Lloyd-Webber music to his hens.

Former firefighter turned Wirral organic farmer Steve Ledsham says egg-laying levels have shot up since he started playing music to his hens.

And Mr Ledsham has found there is nothing finer for boosting production than the sound-track from Phantom Of The Opera.

He says he has boosted the number of eggs laid by 40% since he installed a CD player in the hen coop.

He was given the music from Phantom when wife Brenda acquired two copies and he decided to try it out on his birds, with surprising results.

Mr Ledsham has run Church Farm Organics, in Thurstaston, Wirral, for more than 13 years, although the former divisional commander with Merseyside FireService knew nothing about farming when he bought the 60-acre farm.

He even had to get friends to teach him how to drive a tractor. The father-of-two, who lives with wife Brenda, 54, a former Birkenhead School teacher, has a son Matthew, 26, a trainee pilot, and daughter Sally, 23, who works for British Airways cabin crew.

He was a fireman for 20 years but had only ever grown a few vegetables in his back garden before embarking on his organic farming business.

He now farms sheep, pigs, lambs, ducks, goats and cattle as well as producing fruit and vegetables.

Last year Mr Ledsham beat off competition from more than 1,300 organic farms across the UK to have Church Farm named The Soil Association's best organic farm shop. He was also runner-up


in the National Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards 2004.

He believes his animals should have the best quality of life possible and allows them to roam free around a huge 150ft barn.

His 300 free-range hens used to lay around 200 eggs a week, but, after being inspired by Phantom, that has been boosted by an extra 80 eggs a week.

Mr Ledsham, 55, said: "This is proof positive that classical music can make hens more productive layers.

"The organic philosophy is to give the chickens the best possible way of life, and playing music to them is part of that.

"We have definitely noticed the numbers laid have gone up since we started playing Phantom of the Opera to them.

"It's a winner - a real inspiration to them and completely in"50/50" owners in the corporation, to be called Coachlight Restaurant, Inc. The defendants contributed Van Johnson's real estate to the corporation and the plaintiff contributed the building. All received shares of stock in return. All other expenses, such as those incurred in getting restaurant fixtures, were to be shared equally. During construction, the defendants informed the plaintiff that they had run out of money. The plaintiff testified he had invested too much money in the project at that point to back out, and that he therefore continued to finance the *1063 project to its completion. The defendants were placed in charge of the restaurant's operation and Van Johnson was to receive a salary of $300 per week. At the end of the first three months' operation of the


in the area that had been made in the past few years; and the expert had looked at a sale of a piece of real estate sold during the pendency of the suit. The sales were in the same general area, and all occurred within two or three years of the date the real property was transferred to the corporation. Under these facts, we cannot say the trial judge abused his discretion in allowing the expert to testify as to the value of the land. He apparently determined these sales were not so remote in time or distance as to make testimony concerning them incompetent as evidence of value of the tract under consideration. Therefore, no error was committed.

IV
Fourth, the appellants argue that there was not sufficient evidenceand naysayers would be Operation Gladio. Gladio, as my listeners are no doubt aware, was the codename for the secret NATO/CIA stay-behind armies that were ostensibly placed throughout Europe just in case the dastardly Russkies invaded. In reality, they conducted activities to undermine their political enemies in European countries, activities that included false flag terrorism.

There's no speculation needed here. There have been parliamentary inquiries on the nature of these secret armies and their actions. The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the US and NATO for their role in manipulating European politics. Scholarly treatises have been written on the Gladio program and the information about it in the public record. Heck, even the Big Brother Corporation and the Old Grey Presstitute herself have done feature reporting and exposés


of Kisumu, the bedrock of opposition National Super Alliance (NASA), as one of the hosts for the now nine-team tournament that will kick off on Sunday in Kakamega and Machakos counties.

Kisumu has been rocked by a series of fierce riots since incumbent President, Uhuru Kenyatta, was declared the winner of the first disputed polls of Aug. 8 and the Oct. 26 rerun.

Following the withdrawal of Zimbabwe, Group B of the 2017 Challenge Cup will feature four teams - record winners Uganda, Burundi, Southern Sudan and Ethiopia.

Kenya are in Group A and will open their campaign to reclaim the title they last won in 2013 with a testing fixture against former champions Rwanda at the Bukhungu Stadium, Kakamega that will follow the opening ceremony.

Libya is the other invited nationfor the 2017 Challenge Cup and are pooled in the same group as the hosts, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Football Kenya Federation President, Nick Mwendwa, challenged new Belgian head coach, Paul Put, to win the title as a stepping stone to a successful 2019 AFCON qualifying campaign.

"We are eyeing to win it. It was a target even before the new coach came in because the last time we hosted we won it. It's good if they deliver it this time round too.

"I know the new coach has focused on the 2019 AFCON but this is a good way of setting the tone," Mwendwa urged.

"You can see the will, energy and urge in them. They are a focused group who want to achieve something. It has given me a chance


setting and the water positively dazzled in the golden light. There was a strong breeze - a much blessed respite from the heat and humidity. People walked about happily, and if one paid very close attention, one could hear music.a fan of the classic silver screen, (myself included) might think this song was written just for the attraction. After all, how else did Donald Duck make it into the lyrics of the song? However, much like the ride and the films featured in the attraction, this song has a history and some interesting facts.

The music was composed in 1937 for the Warner Brothers movie “Hollywood Hotel” by Richard A. Whiting, who had done many film scores before including, “Monkey Business”, “Bright Eyes”, and “Sing, Baby Sing”. He would go on to do only one more film score after “Hollywood Hotel”, which was “Cowboy from Brooklyn”, because he would pass away the very next year at the height of his career in 1938. He was just 46 years


Now lets see if RIAS will apply what they learned when screening passengers.
One can only dream right? lol

A man who stripped nearly naked to make a point about his constitutional rights scored a victory today after forcing airport personnel to study up
on the First and Fourth Amendments, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Aaron Tobey, known as the "4th Amendment Flasher," was arrested in 2010 by the Transportation Security Administration and Richmond International
Airport security after stripping down to his underwear - much beyond the point mandated by protocol - with a portion of the Fourth Amendment written
on his chest in black marker: "The right of the people to be secure...against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated."
Though charges were ultimately dropped, Tobey sued the TSA and the airport, andMay 05, 2009

Frankie the Brave

Tomorrow Frankie and her papa are going to Germany. They'll spend a week in Berlin, visiting Grandma Elke and Jörg's childhood friends, and then another week with Jörg's father in Bremen.

On one of Frankie's first days at Mulberry School, she brought in one of her favorite things for show-and-tell: a tiny replica of the Musicians of Bremen statue, along with a book telling the story. The book is originally German, translated into English. The important part of that sentence is that it is a German book, meaning that, although it is ostensibly a children's book, there were puppies being starved to death and eyes being scratched out and ankles slashed and other similarly edifying terrors involved. In other words, German folk tales are like


but that in
no way altered the legal status of the slaves as things. The slaves did not want to be liked. They wanted to be free.

After the emancipation of the slaves, an elaborate structure
of law and custom was erected for the purpose of extracting cheap labor from
the Freedmen and Freedwomen while denying them any political power. A century and a half of dangerous and painful
struggle by Black men and women somewhat, but by no means fully, challenged
those laws and customs. It is still the
case today that the descendants of the slaves, as well as many others who look
like them physically, are paid less for their work, are educated in inferior
schools, are denied equal access to the rungs of the steep job ladder that characterizes
America’s unequal economy and society.

Itdriven by economic concerns – we must not insult some 35% of the populace. And we must not insult those nice people who may support Trump. But: the fact remains indisputable that Trump has said and done many racist things. Anyone who supports Trump is willing to tolerate racist behavior in the most powerful person in the world. His supporters are overwhelmingly white. And one key to his appeal is his stereotyping and trashing of Latinos, Muslims, and more recently Africans – not to mention his birtherism. Trump’s supporters mostly don’t support Trump despite his racist appeals, but because of it.

People who support racist politicians are behaving in a racist way. Trump would not be president without his racist appeals. His supporters are racist enough to elect him


12 January 2010

The Ignoble Prize for Economics

The Ignoble Prize for Economics, to be awarded to the three economists who contributed most to enabling the Global Financial Collapse (GFC), and

The Noble Prize for Economics, to be awarded to the three economists who first and most cogently warned of the coming calamity.

It is accepted fact that the economics profession through its teachings, pronouncements and policy recommendations facilitated the GFC. We also know that danger signs became visible long before the event and that some economists (those with their eyes on the real-world) gave public warnings which if acted upon would have averted the human disaster.

With other learned professions entrusted with public confidence, such as medicine and engineering, it is inconceivable that their professional bodies would not at the very leastcosts.
Shouldn't something be said about the present cost?
As per Catalini, it is a result of the buildup and energy around the cryptomarket through the finish of a year ago, a redress will undoubtedly happen. He finished up.
Bitcoin keeps on sliding, now into February, and it is by all accounts borne on the back of a great deal of negative press - some genuine, and some not as much as persuading.
The Korean crackdown was a paper tiger and exposed by the nations most astounding expert, yet terrible news leaves its blemish on such a theoretical market.
Notwithstanding, the present cost demonstrates that negative press has a major part to play in the way the market moves. What's more, the flipside of that is so does positive news."

"**Your Post Has Been


A former champion French boxer-turned-“yellow vest” protester who was filmed attacking riot police officers during demonstrations in January has been convicted of assault.

Christophe Dettinger, 37, was sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday night. The judge brushed aside calls for a tougher sentence and gave Dettinger lenient terms that will allow him to work during the day.

BOXER-TURNED-'YELLOW VEST' PROTESTER WHO ALLEGEDLY HIT POLICE OFFICER HAS FUNDRAISING SITE TAKEN DOWN

The videos from a protest on Jan. 5 went viral on social media, triggering an outpouring of comments either hailing Dettinger as a hero of the yellow vest movement or lambasting him as a vicious attacker. He said he reacted “wrongly” after he and his family were tear-gassed during the protests.

A fundraising page was set up to raise moneyThis actually showed up on TCM a couple of weeks ago. The Little Rascals weren't exactly a shining pillar of progressive racial relations, but this movie could have set the Civil Rights movement back decades. In fact, it probably did. Maybe someone can explain to me why Buckwheat was fighting for the Confederacy? OOOO TAY!

Perhaps I can say one positive thing about the Little Rascals/Our Gang license...my mother made a brief appearance in one of the shorts.

Another interesting note of trivia...Carl "Alfafa" Switzer made an uncredited appearance as a slave in The Ten Commandments. He actually had a lengthy list of uncredited film appearances, including one in It's A Wonderful Life. He was one of the guys that threw the switch on the swimming pool floor.

Nine times out


Thomas Davidoff and Tsur Somerville are associate professors in the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business. Joshua D. Gottlieb is an associate professor in the University of British Columbia's Vancouver School of Economics

The end of 2017 was a busy time for policy efforts to address the housing-affordability crisis in Canada's most expensive region.

In November, the City of Vancouver announced a new housing-affordability strategy. But in December, it rejected a much-needed effort to rezone some of the most valuable land in North America for more flexible housing options.

Story continues below advertisement

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada released new data showing non-residents own 5 per cent of residential property in Metro Vancouver, and nearly 12 per cent of condominium units in the City of Vancouver.

These new developments revive a key questionadmission also provides access to the museum’s multiple exhibits.

Event Details

Sawyer Flea is back! Join us every Sunday starting, Sept 8th from 9am - 1pm on the corner of Sawyer and Edwards for a unique outdoor market featuring artisan foods

Event Details

Sawyer Flea is back! Join us every Sunday starting, Sept 8th from 9am – 1pm on the corner of Sawyer and Edwards for a unique outdoor market featuring artisan foods and artisan goods. Bring the whole family including your four legged furry friend.


color — or more than 1 in 10 Minnesotans of color — now live in St. Paul.

Brower noted that the percentage of residents who are people of color in St. Paul reached 50.2 percent in 2017, for a total count of 154,000 people of color that year. About 40 percent of the Minneapolis population is people of color, or roughly 170,000 people in 2017.

Still, imagine St. Paul before Interstate 94 and other major thoroughfares removed homes by the hundreds.

St. Paul, which is home to 313,000 residents this year by Metropolitan Council estimates, is still 400 people short of its all-time high population reached in 1960, which was 313,411 residents.

The U.S. Census Bureau will update its figures after the 2020 census is taken. Brower noted, however, that many ofexporter of codeine and thebaine in the world), the country already has a sizable, skilled pharmaceutical workforce with a set path to market through the federal body Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which administers Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certifications.1

Since November 1995 when the TGA gained accession to the global organisation, Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S), Australia became connected to 51 participating regulatory authorities around the world with comparable GMP inspection systems. Through PIC/S, Australian GMP compliant manufacturers would receive critical international GMP certification recognition, as reciprocal recognition agreements are in place between Australia and other ‘Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme’ member-countries.

MediPharm Labs Australia enters the Australian cannabis market

MediPharm Labs Australia Pty. Ltd., a subsidiary of Canadian public company MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSX: LABS) (OTCQX: MEDIF) (FSE: MLZ), was founded in


2017 and has played an important role in advancing Australia’s emerging cannabis industry. The Canadian parent, MediPharm Labs Corp., established in 2015, is a trusted global leader in the specialised production of purified, cannabis oil and concentrates as well as contract manufacturing of advanced derivative products.

In Australia, cannabis cultivators may only apply to the Office of Drug Control for their licence if paired with a processor, because this medicinal cannabis market doesn’t allow for any smokable medicinal cannabis flower, only concentrate-based products. MediPharm Labs Australia received its cannabis manufacturing licence from the ODC under the Narcotics Drugs Act 1967 on May 21, 2019. In its capacity as a processor, MediPharm Labs Australia has been named a specialised processor on dozens of domestic Australian cultivator licence applications ensuring adesigned with ISO standard-built cleanrooms and critical environments that accommodate Good Manufacturing Practices workflow. Key customised equipment, including two primary extraction systems, have been received with commissioning planned before the end of 2019.

To drive the successful development of the business, MediPharm Labs Australia has been building its senior leadership team. At the helm is Warren Everitt, CEO, Asia Pacific who brings a long career of executive leadership, sales and marketing in Asia Pacific through his international digital marketing agency, Market One, where he consulted to some of the world’s biggest companies.

Head of Quality for Australia is Dr Jake Golding who brings 20-years’ experience in pharmaceutical and bio tech organisations, with expertise in chemistry, commercial production & operations as well as quality systems. Golding’s experience includes registration & qualification


is expected to begin in the first half of 2020, subject to receipt of final local authorisations and a GMP certification from the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia.

Future Asia Pacific partnerships

For cultivators emerging throughout the APAC region, partnering with an Australia-based processor like MediPharm Labs Australia provides the possibility of a longstanding, secure business relationship. Australia’s stable political environment, its established cannabis regulatory framework and its long history of pharmaceutical manufacturing will lend credibility, expertise and market access to new cannabis ventures in Asia Pacific.

In turn, future licensed cultivators in legalised South East Asian countries, could offer the global cannabis industry attractive input supply due to favourable growing climates as well as lower local costs of labour, electricity and auxiliary services such as transport and waste.

Cultivation under GoodS for Saree; the story of a Survivor #AtoZchallenge

S for Saree; the story of a Survivor #AtoZchallenge

Sapna straightened the pleats of the saree and looked up at the gorgeous woman standing above her. The model smiled back at her. Sapna went on with tucking and putting the ensemble in place. Helping her straighten out the creases and then adding the finishing touches of her makeup. The dressing room was in a mad chaos with models all around in various stages of dress and undress. There were mists of hair spray and setting powders mixed in the air. Shoes with taped soles were lying on table with numbered labels on them and long racks of clothes kept whizzing around the floor barely missing to hit someone or something. Several


make up artists and hair dressers were standing around makeshift tables, working calmly amid this random chaos. Their dexterous fingers working their magic, turning each face and hair do into an exquisite piece of art. The fashion show was just about to start in a few minutes, the auditorium outside was already filled and the hosts of the evening could be heard regaling the crowds with their funny one liners. Backstage it seemed like they will not have the show up and running on time, the last few minutes was a whirl of flying bandanas, hot rolling irons, lost shoes, and highlighter palettes. Sapna was helping putting on the setting spray on another model now. Glasses of wine, unfinished mostly, were left standing on the tables everywhere. Finallythe moment arrived and the models moved in synchronized succession from backstage to the runway. As they returned back stage there was another rush of outfit changes, each change done in barely 2 mins. Sapna was adept at handling this super charged environment and went around assisting and helping out in an expert manner. She had been doing this since the past 5 years now.

The show finished as quickly as it had started, it was over within minutes. Some of the people moved out quickly and went mingling in the crowd outside while few of the models crashed backstage lazily, removing the remains of the their caked faces, getting out of the exquisite clothes and into more comfortable ones. Sapna sat around helping, she was an assistant to


one of the best make up artists in the industry, one who was in the A-list for such shows. She was learning the trade under her, and though she was exceptionally good at what she did, she knew it will be a long time before she could dream of making it on her own. There were very few people who will give her the chance to do so. She was thankful to Ahana Ahuliwalia, her boss, for giving her the opportunity to work alongside her, she was a good woman.

There was another woman Sapna was very thankful to, Ayesha Nambiar, the woman who was walking towards her now. Sapna still remembered the first day she had met Ayesha, 8 years ago, Sapna was 20 years old then. Thatto face the 3 beautiful girls sitting in front of her, looking at her with empathy in their eyes. She knew it was empathy, she was able to recognize it, she had once seen admiration in eyes, she had also seen disgust in eyes, many a times pity was there, and very rarely empathy; her face broke into a sad smile. “I trusted.”

Sapna had spent her entire life in Kasauli, the elder daughter of her parents, she had inherited her mother’s sharp features and her father’s tall and lean figure. Being quite pleasing to the eye, she was used to being the receiver of unwanted attentions ever so often, but was used to avoiding them with ease. She was good at her studies and in her heart she


dreamt to one day be part of the glamour industry. She had always thought of it as a distant dream only until one day she received a call back for an audition in reply to one of the applications she had sent to an agency. Overjoyed with it she had quickly been able to convince her parents to let her go and try out her chance. Skeptical at first, her parents had been convinced once they saw that the call was from a reputable agency. Sapna had travelled to Mumbai for the auditions and there she had met Ayesha for the first time. She had worn her best saree and a simple necklace adorned her slender neck when she went in. She was selected and asked to joinfor a training next week. Back at Kasauli, the family had been busy preparing for her departure when she had the fight with a friend of hers, a guy named Raghav from her college, who had professed his love for her. Sapna had never taken him seriously and always kept him at arm’s length. Raghav had cornered her one day and told her flatly that she was not supposed to go and should think about marrying him instead. Sapna had outright refused and left after a huge fight with him. He had threatened that he will teach her a lesson for being so proud and rejecting him. Two days later she had met him again with a common friend and they tried explaining to him that she did


not love him and it was wrong of him to expect her to get married to him. They had left on cordial terms wishing each other luck.

The acid attack happened next day while she was waiting to board her train. At first she had felt like cold water was splashed on her face which quickly turned into a burning sensation she could not bear, while her skin, her nose and her eyes melted away. It was like a thousand handfuls of chilli powder were being rubbed on her bare skin while burning it with a torch light from within. She had fainted while screaming.

It was 5 months later that she saw her disfigured, partly bandaged face for the first time. 15 corrective surgeries later she was left withloss of vision in one of her eyes and had trouble breathing due to disfigured nostrils. Her face was beyond recognition and was burned completely with charred black marks all over her neck and face. She had screamed in more agony then, than the day of the attack.

The trail of her case still continued 8 years later, and getting the paltry compensation amount from the government had proved to be another challenge. Her parents had spent all their money in the first year of her treatment, going through various corrective surgeries. It was hard enough to afford the basic surgeries required for correction only and to keep infection at bay. Removing the disfigurement was highly impossible and will entail too many plastic surgeries which were out of the


Space shuttle Discovery sits atop NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) ready to transport it from Kennedy Space Center to the Washington D.C., on April 17, 2012 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Following the retirement of the shuttle fleet, Discovery will fly to Washington for display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. (Photo by Lofty Ambitions)

Space Shuttle Discovery leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on its way to the Orbiter Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center August 11, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Space Shuttles Endeavour and Discovery switched buildings as they are being decommissioned with the end of the Shuttle program. (Photo by Roberto Gonzalez/Getty Images)

Canadian-Israeli film director Simcha Jacobovici holds two nails during a press conference on April 12, 2011. Jacobovici believes that the twoto subsidize a burgeoning home-recording habit. A classically trained pianist, Scholz picked up guitar in his early 20s. He initially didn't think of it as much more than a hobby, building a basement studio for tracking a growing set of demos.

To help get his songs onto tape, Scholz enlisted the aid of drummer Jim Masdea and guitarist Barry Goudreau, with whom he'd played in a college band during his tenure at MIT. Goudreau introduced Scholz to singer Brad Delp, completing the collective that circled around his creative orbit throughout the early '70s — occasionally in the studio, and occasionally onstage, where they performed local gigs for years while sending out demos in a seemingly fruitless effort to get signed.

The years took their toll on the band members, who'd


more or less hung it up as a performing unit by 1974. Scholz persisted, however, bringing Delp and Masdea back to the basement studio for another round of recording on six new songs — and it was those final demos that finally brought some backing in the form of promoters Paul Ahern and Charlie McKenzie, who assumed management of the band and started shopping the tapes through industry channels still out of Scholz's reach.

Ironically, one of those channels happened to be Epic Records — where, as Scholz became fond of telling people after the band made its breakthrough, exec Lennie Petze had already aggressively passed on the demos. "I understand Lenny has been very quick to mention in public that he was a big part of [us] gettingsigned to Epic Records, so I always keep the letter that he signed, saying that they had no interest," he said years later. "I have one framed and hanging on the wall in my office."

The band ultimately signed to Epic, even though they weren't technically much of a band at that point. Masdea had left the lineup, leaving Scholz to improvise when it came to rounding up personnel for a live showcase; when the dust settled, drummer Sib Hashian and bassist Fran Sheehan were in the fold.

Another hurdle arrived in the form of Epic's insistence that they wanted an album that sounded like Scholz's demos — but one recorded in a professional studio instead of his basement. The label assigned producer John Boylan to the project, and lined


Fatefully rechristened — and with a new sci-fi-inspired logo to match — they put the finishing touches on their self-titled debut in the spring of 1976.

Boston arrived in stores on Aug. 25, and brought with it a new sound that would eventually be scornfully dubbed "corporate rock." With Delp's soaring vocals and Scholz's precisely mapped guitars swirling through the smoothly blended mix, the record balanced pop and rock to such a finely calibrated degree that it was easy to deride the end result as lacking any grit or soul — even as it was impossible not to turn it up and sing along with the band's best tunes.

The album's appeal — and the band's — was perfectly summed up in opening track and lead single, "More Than aon the pop charts. Scholz quit his job at Polaroid, and the rest was history.

Future successes wouldn't come as easily to Boston, who found themselves railroaded into recording a less enthusiastically received follow-up (1978's Don't Look Back, which still topped the charts and went platinum) before Scholz took back the reins and spent the better part of a decade slugging it out in court with Epic over the right to spend as long as he pleased in the studio. He ultimately won, heading to MCA for Boston's third LP, but it was a Pyrrhic victory: The band's prolonged lapses between projects made it difficult to maintain momentum, and disagreements between members created so much turnover that the "corporate rock" label started to feel appropriate.

Scholz continued leading the group,


even after it no longer featured those trademark vocals by Delp, who died in 2007, or any other original members. Still, as complicated as Boston's legacy has become over subsequent decades, this first album remains a classic rock touchstone for generations of listeners — and the gateway into a career that none of Boston's members could have imagined in 1976.

"I was basically a dork that hit the books and liked to build things and did all of the things that you weren’t supposed to do to be popular," Scholz marveled years later. "But somehow I ended up onstage, playing guitar in front of everybody else."

Larry J. Kirsch

Posted 2 years ago

By Dianne

It is with heavy hearts and warm memories that we remember our loving, congenial, gentle husband, father and grandfather, Larry Kirsch, who passed away in North Platte on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, at the age of 71.

Larry was born on June 16, 1942, to John Adam and Dorothy Maxine Foran Kirsch at Arnold, NE. He graduated from North Platte High School in 1960. He worked for Hipp Wholesale and Cash Wa Distributing and was a member of the Eagles Aeries #2839 and the Moose Lodge #551.

Larry had a golden heart as he was always willing to walk that extra mile to be of service to whomever needed or wanted help. He was a friend to everyone and working with people was his


driving force.

Larry is survived by his wife, Diane, whom he married on May 17, 2003, and his mother, Maxine, both of North Platte; his children, Randy Kirsch, of North Platte, Sara (Carl) deSoto, of Austin, TX, Brian Rief, of Lincoln, NE, Jodi (Bill) Simants, of North Platte and Dennis Kailey, of Denver, CO; three grandchildren, Aiden deSoto, Grady and Koby Simants; three sisters-in-law, Karen Sandberg, of Sutherland, NE, Loretta Sandberg, of Stratton, NE and Dianne Sandberg, of Cheyenne, WY; and other family.

He was preceded in death by his father, John Kirsch; and brothers-in-law, Bob, Roland and Bruce Sandberg.

Rosary Service will be 10 a.m. Saturday, July 20, 2013, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church with Celebrant Father Jim Golka. Cremation willStructure of an intronless mouse nucleolin pseudogene: insights into mechanisms enabling the conversion of RNA to DNA.
The complete nucleotide (nt) sequence of a mouse nucleolin (Nuc) pseudogene (termed E4) is reported. The E4 element displays the hallmarks of retroposons generated from processed RNA messages, i.e., lack of introns (out of 14 in the active nuc gene), presence of a poly(dA) tail at the 3' end, and is a short directly repeated sequence (TTCTAATATTTGA) at both ends. In addition, the genetic information corresponding to the 5' part of the nuc mRNA is missing. The most salient feature is the presence in the 3' half of the terminal direct repeats of a motif (TTTGA) corresponding precisely to the nuc messenger sequence at the truncation site. This unusual structure suggests that


                        No. 17-P-948.

       Suffolk.        October 11, 2018. - October 7, 2019.

           Present:   Green, C.J., Hanlon, & Maldonado, JJ.

Motor Vehicle, Homicide, Operating under the influence.
     Alcoholic Liquors, Motor vehicle. Evidence, Intoxication.
     Practice, Criminal, Presumptions and burden of proof,
     Argument by prosecutor, New Trial.

     Indictment found and returned in the Superior Court
Department on November 14, 2012.

     The case was tried before Christopher    At approximately 9:48 P.M., the defendant walked into the

Slate Bar & Grill (Slate) at 109 High Street in Boston and

ordered a glass of champagne.   At just after 10 P.M., Lindsey

Smith, the bar manager at Slate, selected a bottle of champagne

and brought it to the defendant at a table.1   She poured some

champagne in a glass for herself and some in a glass for the

     1 Smith was acquainted with the defendant, who had been
instrumental in helping her obtain the job as bar manager at
Slate. She believed he was one of the owners, along with
several other people. Smith testified that she was permitted to
serve certain people, including owners, regulars at the bar, and
friends without charging them; she described


was working; she testified that she spent about an

hour with the defendant, using the time to complain about her

general manager.     She was emphatic that she had not finished her

glass of champagne, or consumed anything else from the bottle.

     Videotape footage (video) from the establishment showed the

defendant switching the glasses, taking Smith's partially full

glass, and drinking what was left in the glass.     He then

appeared to finish drinking what was in the bottle of champagne

by tipping it upwards and emptying its contents.     At around 11

P.M., Smith went back to the bar area of the restaurant, and the

defendant moved from his table to the bar.     Smith then opened a

second bottle ofchampagne and poured a glass for the defendant.2

     Brian Schmidt also testified that he worked at Slate on the

night in question.     He knew the defendant and believed him to be

one of the owners.     Schmidt remembered that, earlier in the

evening, Smith had received a text from the defendant that he

was on the way and so they "kind of notified everybody that one

of the owners [was] coming in, don't close the kitchen early,

don't start breaking down for the night, you know, leave

everything in order."     Schmidt testified that the defendant sat

     2 Smith also testified that the defendant's vehicle was in
the parking lot of the bar when the defendant was present,


-- "[n]ot a stroll out the door but just kind of

with intent."3

     Shortly after 12:15 A.M., Boston Police Officer Marilynne

Gaffey noticed the defendant's pickup truck stopped on the side

of Morrissey Boulevard in the Dorchester section of Boston.       She

also saw the victim, Doan Bui, and his bicycle lying in the

road.    She stopped, called for backup and medical assistance,

and went to help the victim, who was nonresponsive.    He was

     3 Schmidt described the defendant's leaving as "an Irish
exit. It's kind of a no goodbye, didn't hear anything from him,
just kind of, he was gone, up and left." In summarizing
Schmidt's testimony in his closing argument, the prosecutor
repeated the term. The judge                                                                   5

dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt.     Emergency medical

technicians (EMTs) Matthew King and Christopher Mancuso arrived

soon after Gaffey and determined that the victim was dead.4

     The EMTs found the defendant sitting against a fence by the

side of Morrissey Boulevard.     Both EMTs noticed that the

defendant had slurred speech, and King noticed


that he had

glossy eyes, as if he had been crying.    State Police Trooper

Gregory Turco spoke with the defendant and testified that the

defendant's responses were "unintelligible" because his speech

was slurred.   Turco testified that, based upon "[t]he odor of

alcohol, his inability to look us in the eye when he was

speaking with us, his confusion, his confused state, and based

on what we saw, our interactions with him, I formed an opinion

that, yes, he was intoxicated."     Turco's partner, State Police

Trooper Richard Lauria, also testified that, in his opinion, the

defendant was intoxicated.     When he spoke to the troopers, the

defendant said that he had "found" the victim and appeared not

to understand that there was damage to his truck.

    4 The victim's wife testified; she said that her husband was
the primary caretaker for their two children. In the summer, he
liked to go fishing at night near the gas tank on Morrissey
Boulevard. They would have a cookout with the fish and give
some of it away. She also testified that her husband frequently
rode his bicycle and that he was a good bicyclist -- "he’s
careful and he knows his way on the road." The last time that
she saw her husband alive was in the afternoon, hours before he
was killed, as he was preparing to go fishing.


                                  6

     At the defendant's request, the EMTs transported him to

Boston Medical Center.   During the ride, Mancuso rode with the

defendant in the back of the ambulance and noticed the smell of

alcohol on his breath.   Mancuso, who had been an EMT for twenty

years and a bartender for five years, testified specifically

that he believed the defendant was intoxicated.

     State Police Trooper James DeAngelis followed the ambulance

carrying the defendant to the hospital and he testified that he

noticed the smell of alcohol when the ambulance doors opened.5

DeAngelisalso testified that the defendant had slurred speech,

and that, when the defendant was asked to produce his license at

the hospital, "I observed him pass his license once. . . .     [He]

passed his license again and then on the third attempt . . . he

pulled it out."   DeAngelis concluded his testimony by saying,

"My opinion was that he was drunk."

     State Police Detective Thomas Canning, the lead

investigator on the case, interviewed the defendant in the

hospital.   He observed the defendant to have somewhat slurred

speech and glassy eyes and noticed an odor of alcohol.   He also

watched the defendant stagger from his hospital bed to the

bathroom.   Based upon all of his observations, Canning concluded


defendant and smelled alcohol emanating from him.     Dr.

Harpaul Sandhu assisted with the defendant's treatment, and he

also noticed that the defendant's breath smelled of alcohol.

Both doctors opined that the defendant was intoxicated.    In

fact, Sandhu testified that, in his opinion, the defendant was

"very drunk."

    A State Police collision analyst later determined that the

defendant's truck had hit Bui from the rear, when Bui was

traveling on a bicycle in a straight line on the right hand side

of the road.    At the time, the defendant was traveling at least

fifty miles per hour; the collision knocked the victim's body

154 feet from the point of impact.    The speed limit in that

portion of the road was thirty miles per hour.

   During his opening statement, defense counsel told the jury

that Gregory Feeney, the defendant's business partner, would

testify to the defendant's whereabouts from approximately 6 P.M.

to 10 P.M. on September 13, 2014.    Specifically, counsel told

the jury they would hear testimony from the defendant's business

partner that the two men were at a community meeting and that

there was a back and forth between and among people engaged in

the meeting, an "intellectual exercise" in the late afternoon


in his

opening statement that Feeney would testify as to the

defendant's whereabouts for a substantial portion of the

evening; Feeney was never called.   As a result, the prosecutor

was entitled to note in his closing argument the absence of that

evidence from the record.   See Commonwealth v. Tavares, 27 Mass.

App. Ct. 637, 642-643 (1989) ("Although defense counsel in his

opening stated that he would produce witnesses who were with the

defendant at 11 P.M. on the night of the incident, none was

produced.   After the prosecutor, in closing, referred to the

defendant's stated intention in opening argument to produce

witnesses, the defendant moved for a mistrial. . . .    In view of

the defendant's opening argument and his claims of alibi, the

prosecutor's remarks were not improper").

   Michelle Kwan Mystery-The Missing Bronze Horseman

I am starting a MK Mystery, just starting it mind you. It stars Michelle Kwan, Alexei Yagudin, the US team and Russian team. I'm thinking of starting it and letting others add on to it. Here goes:

It was in the middle of August in Washington DC. The humid weather stopped abruptly at the door of the MCI arena. The presidents of the United States and Russia were seated together in the stands awaiting the start of the US/Russia Friendship Competition.

Six months ago such a competition seemed a doubtful event. There was acrimony at the Olympics. Accusations had flown back and forth of cheating and corruption. Today however, all parties wanted to move forward. Not only was a skating competition planned, but for the


first time, selected treasures from the Hermitage were on display at the National Museum of Art.
Prize among these was the statue of The Bronze Horseman. The filigree and craftsmanship was such that had not been seen until the Renaissance, yet it was 10,000 years old. How it was created was an enigma.

The competition was set up so that both a Russian and an American would win the competiotion. An American skater or skating team was paired with a Russian skater or skating team. An industrialist even set a $1,000,000 purse for each winner.

Michelle Kwan was pleasantly suprised at finding that her "team mate" was Alexei Yagudin. She practiced her new Short Program with confidence. The music, choreography, and jumps were different than anything she had attempted before. ThatIrina and Sarah Hughes also had new programs made her even more eager for the competition.

The audience was apppreciative of all the teams. However, it was evident that they had come to see the Ladies Olympic Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists. They did not disappoint. They and their teams were in a virtual tie at the end of the first evenings of Short programs.

During the press conference, the teams fielded questions. Alexei Yagudin was suddenly tapped on the shoulder and abruptly escorted out of the building. The skating teams were curious.

Michelle was startled and frazzled. She turned on the Late Night News. The anchor sonorously stated,"The Bronze Horseman, one of the rare art treasures of the Hermitage Display has been stolen from the National Museum of Art!" A


to investigate the crime and to discover the true thief, if she could. The only thing that she had to go on was the description of the Bronze Horseman from the museum officials. So bright and early the next morning she had called the Archaeology Department at Georgetown University and asked if she could get an appointment with an expert in Bronze Age artifacts. She had been referred to the renowned Professor Hingenboogle. Upon arriving on campus the first thing that had impressed her was the old-money smell of the ivy-encrusted outer walls of the archaeology building. Entering, Michelle quickly found the right office and knocked confidently on the door. which presently opened to reveal a small bespectacled man wearing an apron and covered with dust.

"Oh, hello, mythe original C14?

Part 3 of the Missing Bronze Horseman

Part 3

Michelle wrote down the formula for the carbon 14 dating system. "It may be important later." It was time to visit the wealthy industrialist.

Ivan Von Petrick was native to Luxembourg. However, his grandparents had emigrated from Russia in the 1920s. They had been upper class, not aristocrats. Ivan's father, Dmitri, had marrried the Countess von Egan. After the marriage Dmitri had been bestowed a countship by King Peter of Luxembourg. The Von Petricks were stalwart supporters of the Alllies in WWII. They had been the key backers for Russia in the 1990s. They supported charitable hospices for the victims of Chernobyl. This did not sound like a family that would steal one of the Hermitage's prize artifacts.

A whole floor


of the Ritz Hotel was set aside for Ivan Von Petrick. Michelle announced herself at the desk. The concierge stated, "Count von Petrick sees no one without an appointment Miss Kwan."

"Could you leave a message for him? Maybe I could see him tomorrow."

The concierge dialed to the suites. He looked at Michelle with bemusement. "The Von Petricks will see you now." A muscled bodyguard materialized and escorted her to the elevator. This elevator was different than what was used by the regular customers. The cab was inlaid with real mahogany.

The man who greeted her looked like a taller older version of Mikhail Baryshnikov. "Miss Kwan, Ivan Von Petrick. I'm pleased to meet you." He extended his hand.

"And I also....Count Von Petrick?"
"Mr. Von Petrick will do. This is Americaafter all!" He smiled warmly at Michelle.

At that moment a tow headed four year old boy came running out of one the rooms. He was followed by an equally blond haired woman. "Dmitri!..." Michelle couldn't catch all of the rest but, she knew it was Russian.

"Vera?"

Michelle! I'm so glad to see you!!" Vera Oblenskaya was in the top 10 of Russian ladies skaters in the early 1990s. She never competed internationally during her career. She had met Ivan von Petrick as well as at the 1994 Goodwill Games. She and Ivan had a storybook romance. They had a fairytale wedding in 1996. They later had a son. People magazine had chronicled it as the Daughter of a Factory Worker marrying a European count.

Michelle noted that for someone that


passionate role model.

But now Vera seemed sunken into herself, withdrawn from the fast pace of the world around her.

"Michelle, my friend, my friend," the Countess began in a breaking voice, seizing Michelle's right hand with both of her own. "Michelle, listen to me. Nothing is as it seems. My husband..."

A large hand clapped roughly upon the Countess' frail shoulder. She jerked upright with a gasp. Michelle looked up to see the scowling face of Mr. Burns, the burly bodyguard who had escorted her previously.

"So here you are, Lady," he said in a voice devoid of emotion. "His Excellency was worried about you. May I join your little party. Good afternoon again, Miss Kwan. An unexpected pleasure to see you again so soon."

Michelle mumbled a greeting as the Countessand white checkered tablecloth. Here is the entirety of the text:

After turning the paper over to make sure that there was nothing written on the other side, Michelle sat back in the wire-framed cafe chair and considered her position. Obviously she could not trust the Count, yet somehow in her gut she did not believe that he was the mastermind of an evil plot. The Countess was beyond her help for now. As for the skating competition, she had no idea who her "new partner" could possibly be, but unless he was Ulrich Salcow called back from the grave, he certainly would not be able to step in for Alexei Yagudin. Just exactly how she was supposed not only to throw the competition herself but also contrive to


make Irina and Tim come out ahead of Sarah and Evgeni was yet another enigma, and one that she had no intention of trying to solve.

Michelle sat back and let that old familiar competitive rush sweep through her, taking possession of her mind, body and soul. She would solve the mystery of the Missing Bronze Horseman, spring Alexei from jail, win the skating contest, uncover the plot BEHIND the plot -- what the heck, she might even discover a lost civilization before she was through!

The waiter at last came over to take her order. But he drew back in alarm when he saw her face. Yes, it was the celebrated Michelle Kwan game face, devoid of any whisper of emotion, the face that alone had crushed many ato clear him. "I've got to find out who our mysterious benefactor is." she thought.
Arriving back at the hotel, she pushed the plastic key into the door and as it opened she found her foot on top of a large envelope. It was very elegant and closed with a red seal bearing the initials RT. She opened it quickly.
Robert Tan would like to invite you to a private pool party.
This evening on the roof of this hotel.
Dinner, Dancing and Music from 9pm till ???
"Who is this guy?" she wondered . Suddenly her room phone rang. It was Elaine, her friend and assistant in the room directly upstairs. "Did you get it?" she said excitedly. Elaine was an excitable person. Michelle always felt calm by her in comparison. "Did


got to know something and I'm going to find out what it is."

Part 6 of the Missing Bronze Horseman

Michelle knew it was imperative that she meet Robert Tan. Undoubtedly, she was invited for her celebrity, but she needed a bit more than a hello, she wanted his undivided attention. She unzipped her still unpacked suitcase and rummaged through it. She pulled an item, a gift ,she previously thought unusable till now. It was a very skimpy leater thong bikini. "This should keep him focused." she thought.
Holed up in her room, Michelle watched TV, drank some botles of water and waited for the call from Elaine. As time passed slowly, she began to think about what she might be getting herself into. "What if this guy is dangerous ?",decided to head up to the pool at once.
She took the staircase. It was only 3 flights up. "Too many scary possibilities in elavators." she thought.
The party was indeed in full swing, but Michelle slipped in quietly and unnoticed. Choosing a dark corner she decided for the moment at least to not see or be seen. She ordered a lemonade from a passing waiter and sat down in a lounge chair. Noticing Robert Tan and his noisy entourage approaching, she casually slipped out of the black robe and sat up waiting.
In a flash Tan came over to her, a few bodyguards and ditzy looking models in tow. "Weeeel Michelle Kwan!" he bellowed. "Have you been here long? I didn't notice you arrive." he laughed.
"Not too long." she said