The Malacia Tapestry

# The Malacia Tapestry

## Abstract

The Malacia Tapestry is a fantasy-historical novel by British writer Brian Aldiss, published in 1976. The story takes place in a fictional port city called Malacia, which is an alternate history version of a Renaissance city-state. It tells the story of a poor young actor named Perian de Chirolo who hopes to change his station in life so he can marry a wealthy merchant's daughter. While Malacia is considered a near-utopia, the happiness in the city belies the authoritarian rule of the powerful Supreme Council, which uses fear to prevent progress.

## Plot

The Malacia Tapestry is a novel about Perian de Chirolo, a poor young man who is both a rogue and rarely-working actor, in the imaginary city of Malacia, which resembles Renaissance Venice. De Chirolo lives in a humble attic, cadges meals and drinks in taverns, seeks love affairs with many women, and mingles with artists, astrologers, magicians, and nobility in the bustling port town. As the story opens, De Chirolo enjoys his free time with his young friend Guy de Lambert, who is also an actor. The pair pass their days drinking, jesting, and having affairs with women.

Malacia has a legendary curse that it can never progress or change, which is enforced by a powerful Supreme Council, which also eliminates heretics and other freethinkers. The craftsman Otto Bengtsohn, though, defies the anti-progress edicts and invents a type of early photography. Bengtsohn uses the camera to make slides of a play, which is funded by the powerful and wealthy Andrus Hoytola. De Chirolo falls in love with Hoytola's daughter, Armida, who is acting in the play. De Chirolo starts a secret love affair with the wealthy Armida, but she tells him they cannot marry unless he achieves enough in to make an acceptable mate.

Despite De Chirolo's professions of love to Armida, and their secret plan to marry, De Chirolo has sexual encounters with a number of women.De Chirolo starts to fall in love, and decides to cease his womanizing. As De Chirolo works with the other participants in the play, he meets working-class apprentices who call for progress and changes in society, which is against the law in Malacia. As De Chirolo tries to rise in Malacian society, he feels frustrated at his lack of progress in being accepted by the nobles.

When Andrus Hoytola invites de Chirolo to join the annual hunt for "ancestral animals" (rare examples of the almost-extinct dinosaurs), de Chirolo is pleased to mingle with nobles and slay a seven-ton Devil-Jaw. However, de Chirolo's rise in Malacian society unravels when Andrus Hoytola learns that Bengtsohn is a Progressive who hopes that his zahnoscope slides can be used to foment a revolution against the ruling class. As the elder Hoytola suspects that de Chirolo is in league with Bengtsohn, de Chirolo ends up banished from society and Bengtsohn is killed. As the story ends, Bengtsohn's fellow Progressives try to recruit de Chirolo to join their plans for a class revolution.

## Characters

- Perian de Chirolo: young man who works occasionally as an actor

- Guy de Lambert: young man in the same theatre troupe as Perian de Chirolo and one of his friends; he is described as handsome, witty, idle and vain

- Pozzi Kemperer: a middle-aged theatre impresario and actor, sometimes hires de Chirolo and de Lambert

- La Singla: beautiful young actress with golden hair and an ample figure who is married to Kemperer, she has amorous encounters with de Chirolo

- Caylus Nortolini: a "lordly young man" known as a ladies' man and sword fighter, who is liked for his generosity buying drinks at local taverns

- Bedalar Nortolini: an attractive young woman, Caylus' sister, and a friend to Armida Hoytola, the daughter of a wealthy merchant

- Armida Hoytola: the beautiful, slender 18-year-old daughter of Andrus Hoytola, a wealthy merchant

- Andrus Hoytola: a wealthy merchant who seeks to rise in Malacian society, he lives in a mansion and owns 80 horses and a country estate, Juracia

### Progressives

- Otto Bengtsohn: old inventor and craftsman from Tolkhorm, a northern town known for its enlightened Progressive political leanings; he has invented the zahnoscope, a Daguerreotype -style early camera

- Bonihatch: an apprentice to Bengtsohn and a fellow Progressive

- Letitia Zlatorog: an impoverished young seamstress; Bonihatch is in love with her and Perian tries to seduce her. She is also a Progressive

### Minor characters

- Piebald Pete: a balding, impoverished marionette artisan, who once entertained in the houses of the nobility, but has now become mostly a busker on the streets

- Bledlore: a brilliant glassworker who once did work for the nobility, but who now has become impoverished, living in a shabby room atop a crumbling warehouse

- Yolaria: Armida's "whey-faced" old chaperone, she supervises most of Armida's social activities

- Man in black coat: this anonymous figure wears a large black coat and a black tricorne hat over a grey wig. His hat bears the Supreme Council's emblem, showing he is a representative of the powerful, but shadowy ruling body which ensures order and stability in Malacia through disappearances, torture and executions

- Captain John: A Captain in the Tuscady Heavy Cavalry, which is posted temporarily in Malacia to defend it from the Turkish attacks; he is in love with La Singla

- Katarini de Chirolo: Perian de Chirolo's sister, married to the rarely-home merchant Volpato; they live in a crumbling castle

- Elder de Chirolo: Perian de Chirolo's elderly, sick father; he is a scholar who is obsessed with his historical research and writing

## Setting

Malacia is a walled city with a port where merchant ships unload their cargo. The River Toi winds through the city. Stary Most ("old bridge" in Russian) is a busy market where street astrologers, busking jugglers, snake charmers, acrobats and prostitutes ply their trades amidst the market stalls. The Fragrant Quarter is the area where the spice ships used to unload, but now the old warehouses have mostly been converted to smaller units. To the north is countryside, and then in the distance, the Vokoban Mountains. To the south is a long, dusty road to Byzantium. To the south-east is the tree-lined Valmonal Canal. The Hoytola mansion is near the canal. To the west is the Prilipit Mountains, a jagged and distorted terrain where the Chabrizzi, a noble family, have their palace, which is filled with winding corridors and chained-up old "ancestral animals". In the country is Juracia, the Hoytola family's huge country estate, which includes vast wooded areas where "ancestral animals" still roam.

## Play within story

The novel has a fictional play within the story, Prince Mendicula: The Joyous Tragedy of the Prince and Patricia and General Gerald and Jemina. This play, written by Bengtsohn, is the work which the actors are portraying in the photo-play slides. In the play, the revolutionary-minded Bonihatch (Bengtsohn's young apprentice), plays the Prince; Armida plays his wife, the Princess Patricia; Perian plays General Gerald; and the young, poor seamstress Letitia Zlatorog plays Lady Jemina. The events in the play end up being paralleled by the events in the story (albeit with some changes of people), as Perian is in love with Armida in the story, while also trying to unsuccessfully seduce Letitia, and Perian encourages his best friend Guy to befriend Armida.

### Plot

In the fictional play, Prince Mendicula is a powerful prince who has just conquered the kingdom of Gorica, which lies in ruins as a result of his attack. The Prince was aided in this military conquest by his General Gerald, a noble, rich friend. The Prince's wife is the beautiful Princess Patricia. General Gerald has no wife as the play starts, but he hopes to marry a woman from the conquered city, the Lady Jemina. As the Prince tours the captured city, he becomes entranced with a dark-haired woman who he meets at the inn he is staying in, and he makes drunken advances on her, which she rebuffs; unbeknownst to the Prince, the object of his affections was Lady Jemina.

During the time that the Prince is exploring Gorica, he worries that Patricia may have been unfaithful with General Gerald, so he rushes back, but he finds them asleep in separate rooms. Patricia smells the liquor on the Prince's breath, and draws away from his embrace. Her coolness plants a seed of anxiety in the Prince's mind regarding Patricia and the General. After struggling with his doubts, the Prince urges Patricia and the General to enjoy their friendship. When the Prince leaves to establish his rule in Gorica, the General takes Patricia to balls and opera shows. Patricia becomes less warm towards the Prince, which makes the Prince feel guilty for his attempted seduction of the dark-haired woman at the inn. The Prince begins to obsess over the dark-haired woman, seeing her at the inn and talking with her all night. When the Prince returns home in the early hours of the morning, he finds Patricia and the General together, walking in the garden, which they claim was a coincidental early arising.

The General tells the Prince that he wants the Prince to meet his unnamed bride-to-be soon (which we know to be Lady Jemina). The General praises the Prince for his enlightened attitude towards the General's relationship with Patricia and for the Prince's seeming lack of jealousy. The Prince accuses Patricia of a sexual relationship with the General, a suspicious attitude which only serves to push her more into the General's arms. Meanwhile, the Prince happens to encounter the dark-haired woman, who is upset that her husband-to-be is consorting with another woman. The Prince consoles the dark-haired woman and holds her, which leads to sexual intercourse.

The next day is the dark-haired woman's wedding day, so when she awakes, she feels she has betrayed the General, and says that she must die by suicide to end her dishonour. The Prince finds it a strange coincidence that the dark-haired woman's wedding is on the same day as General Gerald's wedding. When the Prince tells the dark-haired woman about his friend General Gerald's impending wedding, the dark-haired woman, Lady Jemina, is distraught even more.

When the Prince realizes that his lover is General Gerald's bride-to-be, the Prince tells Lady Jemina that Patricia has been spotless in her virtue. The Prince goes to Patricia and tells her he will cease looking at other women, and begs her forgiveness. Patricia is cool towards him and says she takes his guilt as an admission of having taken a lover. Patricia gets remote and haughty, and she tells the Prince that despite his repentance, it is too late, and that she is enjoying her affair with Gerald too much. The Prince is shocked at their affair, but Patricia insists the Prince must have known, as he encouraged them to spend time together. Patricia expresses scorn for the Prince, and even when he gets angry, she is only amused, and tells him that she is not attracted to him because the Prince is not frivolous and superficial enough, traits she has come to find relaxing and appealing.

When General Gerald enters, the Prince calls him out as a vile betrayer, and the Prince draws his sword. The General draws his sword, and they duel. The General is wounded, and falls back. The Prince hesitates from delivering the death blow, when suddenly a messenger runs in. The Lady Jemina has been found dead by suicide, dressed in her bridal gown. The Prince is stricken by grief, and falls back. Seeing his opportunity, the General leaps up and stabs the Prince, who gives a last look at Princess Patricia, before dying on her bed.

## Reception

Kirkus Reviews states that it is "...a tribute to the sheer exuberance of Aldiss' invention that his considerable freight of thematic baggage doesn't simply collapse under its own weight", calling the book a "...provocative, remarkably successful marriage of breezy jeu d'esprit and historical reflection." C. Ben Ostrander reviewed The Malacia Tapestry in The Space Gamer No. 17, and commented that the novel "is a stylistic and imaginative masterpiece I have no doubt that it is a classic, an example of what can be done with a science fiction novel."

## Reviews

- Review by David Wingrove (1976) in Vector 78

- Review by David Pringle (1977) in Foundation, #11 and 12 March 1977

- Review by Jeff Schalles (1978) in Thrust, #11, Fall 1978

- Review by Richard Lupoff (1979) in Starship, Spring 1979

- Review by David Pringle (1988) in Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels


Blayke Brailey

# Blayke Brailey

## Abstract

Blayke Brailey (born 23 September 1998) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League (NRL).

## Background

Brailey was born in Sydney, Australia.

He played his junior rugby league for the Aquinas Colts. His older brother Jayden is also a hooker who plays for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League.

## Playing career

### 2018

Brailey played for Cronulla's feeder club side Newtown Jets in the 2018 Intrust Super Premiership NSW grand final against Canterbury-Bankstown at Leichhardt Oval which Newtown lost 18–12.

### 2019

Brailey made his first grade debut in round 1 of the 2019 NRL season against the Newcastle Knights.

Brailey played for Cronulla's feeder side Newtown in their Canterbury Cup NSW grand final victory over the Wentworthville Magpies at Bankwest Stadium. Newtown won the match 20–15 after extra-time. The following week, Brailey played in the NRL State Championship final for Newtown against the Burleigh Bears at ANZ Stadium which Newtown won on the final siren after trailing Burleigh 16–14 to win 20–16.

### 2020

After the departure of his brother Jayden to Newcastle, Brailey became the Sharks’ first-choice hooker for the 2020 NRL season. Brailey played in 20 games throughout the shortened season, including Cronulla’s elimination final exit.

### 2021

Brailey played a total of 24 games for Cronulla in the 2021 NRL season which saw the club finish 9th and narrowly miss out on the finals.

### 2022

Brailey played 26 games for Cronulla in the 2022 NRL season including both of the clubs finals games as they were eliminated in straight sets losing to North Queensland and South Sydney.

### 2023

Brailey was added to the extended squad for the NSW Blues for Game 1 in Adelaide. In round 18 of the 2023 NRL season, Brailey made his 100th first grade appearance for Cronulla in their 52-16 victory over rivals St. George Illawarra. Brailey was named 2023 Porter Gallen Medal winner as 2023 Cronulla Sharks player of the year and also Tommy Bishop Player's Player.

## Statistics

### NRL


Sable Colby

# Sable Colby

## Abstract

Sabella "Sable" Scott Colby is a fictional character from the ABC television series Dynasty and its spin-off The Colbys, both created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. Portrayed by Stephanie Beacham, the character was introduced on Dynasty in the November 1985 two-part episode " The Titans " as the socialite wife of wealthy California CEO Jason Colby (Charlton Heston). Beacham was subsequently a series regular on The Colbys for two seasons from 1985 to 1987. She reappeared as Sable on Dynasty for its ninth and final season from 1988 to 1989.

## Development and casting

In March 1985, ABC announced that its rumored Dynasty spin-off, The Colbys, had been greenlighted, to debut the following season. Charlton Heston was cast as patriarch Jason Colby in July 1985, and it was reported that The Colbys ' versions of Dynasty rivals Krystle Carrington (Linda Evans) and Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) would be named Anthea (later changed to Francesca) and Sable. Faye Dunaway, Angie Dickinson, Elizabeth Ashley, and Diana Rigg all turned down the role of Jason's wife Sable. Producers started auditioning British actresses to play one of the sisters as the equivalent of Collins's Alexis. According to Kate O'Mara, she and Stephanie Beacham were the final two choices to play Sable, but O'Mara was already under contract with a stage play in London. O'Mara later played Caress Morell, the sister of Collins' character Alexis, on Dynasty. In August 1985, producers cast Beacham, "a household name" in the UK who had starred in the title role of the ITV drama Connie.

On vacation after playing a ruthless businesswoman on Connie, Beacham almost passed on the request that she return to London to screen test for The Colbys. She was compelled to return when her housesitter locked the keys in her home. Beacham tested on a Friday, was flown to Los Angeles a week later, and was in wardrobe the next day. She noted of her audition, "I said whatever rubbish I could remember and camped it up". Beacham later explained that her main reason for doing The Colbys was her pay, which was an estimated $20,000 per episode. Beacham said that she and Heston were "a very lovely team", and that "What was really flattering actually was that the crew always used to gather around to watch the first run-through of our scenes, not just because they had to." Beacham is completely deaf in her right ear and has only 70 percent hearing in her left, and she compensates by positioning herself to the right of other actors in as many scenes as possible.

## Appearances

Beacham debuted as Sable in the Dynasty episodes " The Titans - Part 1 " and " The Titans - Part 2 ", which aired back-to-back on November 13, 1985. She subsequently appeared as a series regular on The Colbys, which ran for two seasons from November 20, 1985, to March 26, 1987. Beacham later played Sable in the ninth and final season of Dynasty from 1988 to 1989. Sable did not appear in the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion.

## Characterization

Jasper Rees of The Telegraph wrote in 2016 that "Stephanie Beacham will forever be known as blow-dried, shoulder-padded vamp Sable Colby". Barbara Holsopple of The Pittsburgh Press called Sable "scheming" and "smarmy", noting that Jason's wife is ruffled by his sister Constance Colby 's (Barbara Stanwyck) bestowal of her company shares on her nephew Jeff (John James) rather than to Jason and Sable's three children. David Wallace of People described Sable as "wily", and recounted how Sable deals with Constance by first trying to have her declared incompetent and then by sabotaging her horse's saddle. Dynasty co-creator Esther Shapiro said of Beacham, "We loved her patrician quality. Despite Sable's seamy side, you understand why a major tycoon would stay married to her." Wallace dubbed Beacham "the show's real fire", and wrote that she "might just be the one to show Joan Collins the real meaning of she-deviltry." In February 1986, Beacham said that a confrontation between Sable and her cousin Alexis (Collins) might be "jolly good fun." Beacham commented in 2012 that she and Collins "felt we represented the Eighties."

Beacham said of Sable, "When she gets cross, frightful things can happen...I've allowed Sable to get more and more neurotic...she's such a terror." Beacham agreed it could be a challenge playing someone with so much emotion, but called Sable "a nearly three-dimensional human being".

## Storylines

### Dynasty season six

The Colbys of Los Angeles come to Denver to celebrate a new business venture with oil tycoon Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) in the 1985 Dynasty episodes "The Titans - Parts 1 and 2". Sable is the wife of mogul Jason Colby, and the mother of his three children Miles (Maxwell Caulfield), Monica (Tracy Scoggins), and Bliss (Claire Yarlett).

### The Colbys season one

In the series premiere, " The Celebration ", the Colbys return to Los Angeles and Sable is upset that Jason's sister Constance has given her shares to her nephew Jeff rather than Sable and Jason's three children. A dismissive Jason tells Sable to stay out of it, but she makes a failed attempt to convince Constance that she has made a mistake. Sable is getting worried that no one has heard from Miles, and also tells Monica that it is unlikely Jason will ever treat her like he would a man. In " Conspiracy of Silence ", the Colbys are surprised when Miles comes home married to Randall, who they now know is an amnesiac Fallon Carrington (Emma Samms). Sable is delighted that her son has married an heiress. She is reunited with her estranged sister Francesca (Katharine Ross), Jeff's mother with Jason's deceased brother Philip, but makes it clear she hopes Frankie will not stay in town long. Hoping to tie Fallon to Miles, Sable suggests to Fallon that she have a baby as soon as possible in " Moment of Truth ". Sable accuses Frankie of conspiring with Constance to benefit Jeff. Frankie intends to leave town, but is convinced to stay by Jason, with whom she had an affair many years ago. Sable comes across Jason's medical report and is shocked to learn that he is dying, unaware that his doctor has told him the diagnosis was a mistake. Sable apologizes to Frankie in " Family Album ", hoping she will talk Constance about the shares she gave Jeff. Sable is told that the only way to reverse Constance's decision is to have her declared incompetent. When Constance dismisses Sable a final time, Sable goes to Jason with false concern about Constance's mental state. Sable is sure that Zach's interest in her is only a means to get to Jason, but she begins to soften to him. Sable continues her plan to make Constance appear senile in " Shadow of the Past ". Sable loosens Constance's saddle, but is horrified when Frankie takes the horse and is almost injured. Constance, however, starts doubting herself.

In " A House Divided ", Jason confides in Frankie that Sable has become very greedy and selfish, but Frankie encourages him to work on his marriage. Sable learns of Constance's secret boyfriend Hutch Corrigan (Joseph Campanella), and mistakenly comes to believe that he is a con man extorting money from her. Zach continues to pursue Sable, but she keeps him at arm's length. Sable tells a horrified Jason that she has taken the first steps to have Constance declared mentally incompetent. Sable tries to justify her actions to Jason in " The Reunion ", but he does not like how she has changed and vows to fight her on Constance's behalf. Fallon has regained her memory, and Sable is unhappy when Miles offers to annul their marriage. Sable tells Constance that she can avoid a trial by simply undoing her gift to Jeff, but Constance refuses. Sable asks Frankie to take Jeff and to leave town so that she can save Miles's marriage and her own. Learning of Sable's lawsuit, Jeff goes to Constance and offers to return the shares in " Fallen Idol ", but she refuses. Sable goes to Zach's apartment to view a painting and resists his advances. Sable apologizes to Frankie for her hostility, and though Jason is willing to give his marriage a second chance, he changes his mind when Sable refuses to drop her lawsuit. In " The Letter ", Zach buys an expensive painting for Sable, who refuses to be bought but is drawn into a kiss. Sable accidentally hits Constance with her car, and then finds a letter Constance tried to destroy that suggests Jeff may not have been fathered by Philip. Though Constance only has a concussion, Sable is filled with remorse in " The Turning Point ". She drops her lawsuit against Constance and tries to reconcile with Jason, who says it is too late.

Sable rejects the painting from Zach. She is shocked when a drunken Miles mentions Jason and Frankie's attraction to each other. Sable tries to stop Jason from divorcing her by threatening to expose Frankie's indiscretions, but Jason is unmoved. Sable reveals the letter concerning Jeff's paternity in " Thursday's Child ", but Frankie reassures Jeff he is Philip's son. Sable is angry that Zach has been manipulating her family, but she cannot deny her attraction to him. In " The Pact ", Sable threatens to use the letter against Frankie unless Jeff gives up Fallon. Jason agrees not to divorce Sable if she stops trying to prove in court that Jeff is not a Colby. In " Fallon's Choice ", Constance discovers that Sable gaslighted her to make her seem confused. When Fallon chooses Jeff over Miles, Sable gives the letter to Miles, who intends to use it against Jeff in court. Jason blames Sable for showing the letter to Miles in " The Trial ", and neither he nor Constance can convince Miles to drop the case. Sable calls out Frankie as a slut in public. In " Burden of Proof ", Sable is shocked to hear Jason claim to be Jeff's father in court, and vows to never forgive him. Zach comforts Sable. She and Jason agree to divorce in " My Father's House ", and she rejects Frankie's attempt at a reconciliation. Sable wants the house in the divorce, and though Jason is willing, Constance refuses to sell her half to him. Despite everything that Jason has done to her, Sable cannot sleep with Zach. She spends a platonic night as his penthouse, where Miles is shocked to find her. Sable is " The Outcast " horrified by the idea of Jeff and Fallon's wedding, which Jason insists she plan. Sable explains her being at Zach's place to Miles, and then clashes with Fallon over wedding arrangements. Constance's private investigator records a conversation in which Zach professes to Sable his desire to sleep with her. Sable enrages Jason when she attacks Frankie again.

In " The Wedding ", Sable asks both Zach and Miles not to attend Jeff and Fallon's nuptials, but both men ignore her. Sable has hope for her marriage when it is clear Jason is still attracted to her. Sable is desperate when Miles is arrested for murder, and seeks comfort with Jason in " The Honeymoon ". Knowing it will irk Sable, Constance invites Frankie to move into the pool house. Frankie, already angry with Sable, accepts. Sable is horrified when Miles tells her that he blacked out and does not know whether he committed the murder or not. Sable tells Zach in " Double Jeopardy " that she hopes to reconcile with Jason. Sable tries to mend fences with Constance, who does not believe Sable is being genuine. Sable overhears Frankie telling Constance that she is now divorced. In " A Family Affair ", Sable remains unable to convince Constance of her good intentions, but manages to ingratiate herself to Jason by offering concern for Jeff, who has also been arrested for murder. Witnessing the chemistry between Jason and Frankie, Sable makes Frankie believe that she and Jason have reconciled and spent the night together, and does not admit that she is aware of Frankie's divorce. Believing Jason still loves Sable, Frankie is surprised when he proposes to her. Leaving for Greece to investigate Jeff's case, Jason and Frankie are joined by Sable, who has invited herself along for moral support. Sable tortures Frankie with details of her renewed relationship with Jason in " The Reckoning ". Sable is terrified when it seems like Miles has jumped bail, and when he reappears she makes it clear she is willing to lie in court to give him an alibi. Fearful that when Jason divorces Sable she will ally with Zach against the Colbys, Constance gives Jason the tape of Sable and Zach. In " Anniversary Waltz ", Miles turns down Sable's offer to perjure herself on his behalf. Faced with a surprise anniversary party planned by Sable, Jason presents the tape to her and says he loves Frankie. Jason confronts Zach, who he suspects framed Jeff and Miles, and they fight for Zach's gun. Sable arrives and is shot. In " Checkmate ", Jason is overcome with guilt when he learns that a hospitalized Sable may lose her sight. Zach tells Jason that he loves Sable, but she has never been unfaithful. When the news comes that Sable will recover, a remorseful Jason tells her she will always be special to him, and gives her the tape. Sable takes this, and her belief that Jason confronted Zach over her, as a profession of Jason's love. She is distraught when he tells her he is going to the Dominican Republic to get a divorce. Sable chases after Jason to stop him but trips and falls down the stairs. Hurt and angry, she tells the district attorney that Jason attacked her. Jason is arrested.

### The Colbys season two

In the season two premiere " The Gathering Storm ", Sable refuses pleas from Frankie and Miles to drop the charges against Jason. He asks her to do so himself, and Sable says she will if he gives up his plan to divorce her. Sable's lawyer, Arthur Cates (Peter White), makes it clear that she will need Zach to testify for her. She goes to Zach and sleeps with him before asking him to back her up in court, but he refuses to lie for her. Sable is angry and humiliated in " No Exit ", and seeing Jason and Frankie together ignites another tirade against Frankie. Despondent, Sable asks Monica for advice, and confesses that she lied to the police about Jason and now wants to drop the charges. Jason confronts Zach, certain he encouraged Sable's accusations, but learns that Zach refused to lie for Sable. Taking Arthur's advice, Sable drops the charges and, to avoid legal repercussions, pleads temporary mental incompetence brought on by her shooting. The family is happy with Sable's decision, but Jason is convinced that she only did it because Zach would not back her up. Frankie is appalled when Jason throws Sable out of the mansion, but she faints before she can leave. In " Jason's Choice ", the doctor advises the family that Sable needs to stay in bed for a week. Sable decides that it is best for her to leave, but Miles, Monica, and Bliss ask Jason to let her remain in the mansion. Jason agrees if she does not oppose the divorce. She accepts, but Frankie is not happy about it. Jason gives the divorce papers to Sable in " The Matchmaker ", while Zach gives her the Excelsior, the hotel he bought from Dominique. Zach offers to teach Sable how to wield the power she will receive by way of her divorce settlement.

Sable encourages Miles to make up his mind about his new girlfriend, Channing Carter (Kim Morgan Greene), unaware that she has been sent by her uncle, ruthless publisher Lucas Carter (Kevin McCarthy), to be his spy within the Colby family. When Channing accepts Miles's proposal and tells Lucas she will no longer spy for him, he maligns her with lies to Sable, who accompanies Lucas to Las Vegas to stop the wedding. Learning of their plan, Channing convinces Miles to marry her immediately in " Something Old, Something New ". Arriving too late, Sable warns Channing not to hurt Miles like Fallon did. In " The Gala ", Zach advises Sable to ask for class C stock in her divorce settlement, and Arthur recommends she offer Jason a quick divorce in exchange. Sable pressures Jason to give Miles a seat on the Colby Enterprises board, but he insists that Miles first needs to prove that he is serious about his marriage. Sable encourages an unreceptive Channing to get pregnant as soon as possible, but is concerned when she learns that Miles is still attracted to Fallon. While investigating Channing's fertility in " Bloodlines ", Sable inadvertently discovers that the paternity of Fallon's child is uncertain, and deduces that the father may very well be Miles. In " Deceptions ", Miles is furious when Sable reveals that he may be the father of Fallon's baby. Sable follows Jason and Frankie to Brussels in " And Baby Makes Four ". In " Bid for Freedom ", Sable helps convince Jason to assist Bliss's Russian ballet dancer boyfriend, Kolya Rostov (Adrian Paul), in defecting to the US. In " Sanctuary ", Sable learns from Zach that Scott Cassidy (Coleby Lombardo), the young son of Senator Cash Cassidy (James Houghton) and his wife Adrienne (Shanna Reed), is really Monica's son with Cash whom she gave up for adoption eight years before. Sable confirms this with Monica, and advises her not to tell Jason yet. Meanwhile, Sable encourages Miles to resolve his latest issues with Channing because he will need a wife to get custody of Fallon's baby. Angry with Arthur for keeping her in the dark about Monica's child, Sable compels him to help her fix the situation now. In " Power Plays ", Sable goes behind Monica's back and tries to convince Adrienne to give up Scott as a means to give Jason his first grandchild. Adrienne refuses and lashes out at Monica, who warns an indignant Sable to stay out of her private life.

With Zach's guidance, Sable creates a stir at her first Colby Enterprises board meeting, embarrassing Jason and then shocking him with the news that she co-owns with Zach an electronics company involved in Jason's satellite project. At the Excelsior, Jason reproaches Zach for weaponizing Sable against him, and Zach offers to call her off if Jason lets him into the project. With Constance presumed dead in a plane crash, in " The Legacy " Sable pretends to be affected and apologizes to Jason for all she did to Constance. Sable is triumphant when Constance's voting power is left to Miles, but she is disappointed when he will not use his new power to help her. Sable suggests that Monica tell Jason the truth about Scott in " The Home Wrecker ", but Monica recognizes her mother's self-serving motives and forbids Sable from telling Jason. Sable tells Zach that his attacks on Colby Enterprises are also attacks on her, and he responds with an engagement ring. She asks for more time to decide. In " The Manhunt ", Sable tries to convince Cash and Monica that Scott will be better off away from Adrienne, who has had addiction issues and made suicide attempts. Zach pressures Sable for an answer to his proposal in " All Fall Down ", but she runs back to Jason when she learns that he was almost shot. She is pained to learn that Jason and Frankie are engaged. Jason tries to talk Sable out of marrying Zach, who Jason believes is dangerous. Sable assures him she is not ready to jump from one marriage to another so quickly. After Fallon falls down the stairs, her baby is in jeopardy in " Guilty Party ". Sable tries to calm a distraught Miles, who is more afraid to lose Fallon than the child. Sable and Frankie find common ground in their concern for the baby. Sable and Monica finally talk about Monica's pregnancy and Scott's birth. In " Fallon's Baby ", Sable continues investigating Adrienne, and witnesses Adrienne telling Cash that she is taking Scott back to Washington. Cash and Monica again refuse Sable's interference. Jason tries to convince Sable that her machinations will only alienate her children.

Zach wants an answer to his proposal, but Sable is still smarting over Jason and Frankie's engagement. In " Answered Prayers ", Sable is as upset as Miles that Fallon's baby is not his, and recommends that he distance himself from Fallon. Sable and Jason sign their divorce papers as friends, but Sable assures him that he will not be happy with Frankie. Frankie hopes to patch things up with Sable before her wedding to Jason, but Sable is unforgiving. Monica and Miles are worried that Sable plans to marry Zach. In Marrakech, with Zach, Sable can only think about the wedding happening in Los Angeles. In " Return Engagement ", Sable and Zach are set to marry when Sable learns that presumed-dead Philip Colby (Michael Parks), Frankie's ex-husband and Jeff's father, has returned. Sable reconnects with Philip and assures him that Frankie loves Jason, but Philip is doubtful. Sable witnesses a near-kiss between Philip and Frankie. Zach, spurned again by Sable, suggests to Adrienne that they help each other with their problems. Sable rebuffs Zach in " Devil's Advocate ", and commiserates with Philip about wanting to reunite with their former spouses. Sable is furious in " Betrayals " when she learns from Monica that Zach tried to blackmail Cash about Scott. Sable lashes out at Zach and returns his ring, vowing never to return to him. When Jason comes home unexpectedly, Sable tries to keep him away from the pool house where Philip is visiting Frankie, but Jason finds his fiancée and his brother in bed together. In " The Dead End ", Sable tries to keep Jason and Philip apart, but they fight brutally. Jason remembers Sable's warning about Frankie, and thanks her for trying keep him away from the pool house to spare his feelings. Zach apologizes to Sable for his misdeeds, and though she believes he is remorseful, she is not in love with him and wants to stop the charade. Philip steals Sable's Colby Enterprises access card and steals sensitive information for Zach. In the series finale " Crossroads ", Zach tells Sable that the person who tried to kill Jason is Philip, which she tells Jason. After witnessing Monica's heartbreaking goodbye to Scott, Sable picks the boy up from school without the Cassidys' consent and persuades him to come with her.

### Dynasty season nine

In " A Touch of Sable ", Sable is still living in Los Angeles when she runs into her cousin Alexis Colby. Alexis is there to meet with Sable's wealthy friend Hamilton Stone (Christopher Neame) to aid her in recovering her ships, which are being held in the African nation of Natumbe. Sable flirts with Alexis's ex-husband Dex Dexter (Michael Nader) in " She's Back ", which merely amuses him. In " Alexis in Blunderland ", Stone has earned Alexis's trust, and Sable uses his new inside knowledge of Colbyco 's business dealings to attempt to seize control of Alexis's oil tankers. Tasked to sell the Carlton Hotel for Alexis, Dex inadvertently sells it to Sable in " Every Picture Tells a Story ". When Fallon shows her an old photo of Blake with a man recently found dead in the Carrington lake, Sable suggests that Fallon talk to her mother Alexis about his identity. Sable tells Blake he has her support if the story comes out, as the dead man is Roger Grimes (J. Eddie Peck), Alexis's lover from 25 years before. Sable's friendship with Blake's wife Krystle deepens in " The Wedding ". Krystle recognizes the man whom Sable has been sending to dive in the lake, Gibson (Stan Sells), so Sable tells him to discontinue his efforts. In " Ginger Snaps ", Jeff accuses Sable of trying to replace Krystle at Blake's side. Having discovered an underground passage, Gibson continues his investigation, only to be warned away from Denver by Sable in " Delta Woe ".

Sable and Dex flirt after they each independently follow Colbyco's comptroller, Fritz Heath (Kenneth Tigar), to a casino. In " Tankers, Cadavers to Chance ", Sammy Jo Carrington (Heather Locklear) recognizes Gibson as the man Krystle described, and Gibson threatens Sable to get him out of police custody. Alexis romances Dex to get him away from Sable, but soon Sable taunts Alexis with the news that she has taken possession of Alexis's tankers. Blake confronts Gibson in " All Hands on Dex ", and learns that Sable hired him. Blake accuses Sable of acting on her ex-husband Jason's behalf, but before she can explain, Alexis arrives and vows to destroy them both. Heath becomes indebted to Sable when she acquires his gambling marker, and she jubilantly throws herself in Dex's arms. In " Virginia Reels ", Sable tells Blake and Dex she was searching the lake to discover what Jason was keeping hidden there. She explains that she had no idea Blake and Dex would be harmed by her investigation, and Dex is intrigued by her honesty. Jealous of Dex's interest in Sable, her assistant Joanna Sills (Kim Terry) befriends Adam Carrington (Gordon Thomson. Sable threatens to reveal that Heath is embezzling money from Colbyco unless he helps her obtain leverage against Alexis. He demands $5 million for such information, and when Sable laughs, he pulls a gun on her. Sable is able to convince Heath to lower the gun in " House of the Falling Son ", and he tells her how she can ruin Colbyco. Rattled by the encounter, Sable goes to Dex and they spend the night together. Sable questions Joanna's loyalty when she confronts Sable for putting herself between Joanna and Dex, and Dex later rebuffs Joanna's advances. Sable apologizes to Dex for their night together, saying she respects his love for Alexis. But despite their mutual protestations that their encounter meant nothing, they fall into bed together again. Adam tries to charm Joanna into spying on Sable for him and Alexis in " The Son Also Rises ". Sable's doubts about Joanna are confirmed when she sees Joanna go into Adam's suite. Sable asks Dex if he will choose Blake over Alexis if they go to war, and Joanna accepts Adam's offer.

Sable's daughter, Monica, comes to Denver for a visit, and Sable convinces her to stay and help her with her campaign to destroy Alexis. In " Grimes and Punishment ", Joanna tells Adam everything she knows about Sable. Alexis reveals to a shocked Sable that her tankers have been destroyed, and Sable vows revenge. Alexis is devastated to learn that Dex slept with Sable, and Monica tries to persuade Jeff to take Sable's side in the impending war between Alexis and Sable. In " Sins of the Father ", Alexis is emotionally crushed by Dex's affair with Sable. Seeing a painting that Roger Grimes gave to Alexis, Sable deduces the secret of the lake. Blake confesses to her and Dex that hidden beneath the lake is a Nazi treasure of precious art innocently obtained by his father which the Carrington, Colby, and Dexter families have kept secret to protect their reputations. The treasure vanishes in " Tale of the Tape ", and Blake tasks Sable to find out what Alexis may know about it. Jeff warns Blake not to trust Sable. Sable serves Alexis with a lawsuit with which she intends to ruin her cousin. Alexis indicates she knows a secret or two about Sable. Sable learns that Alexis is having the painting appraised in " No Bones About It ", and convinces the appraiser to tell Alexis it is worthless. Sable learns she is pregnant in " Here Comes the Son ", but is unable to tell Dex he is the father. An altercation between Jeff and Adam in " Blasts from the Past " prompts Alexis to reveal in front of Sable and Monica that Jason is not Miles or Monica's father. A furious Sable attacks Alexis and they have a public catfight in the lobby of the Carlton. Sable tells Dex that he is the father of her baby, but rejects his offer to help raise the child. Sable confides in Blake that twins Miles and Monica were the products of rape. Having learned about the Nazi treasure, Alexis offers to spare Blake public scorn in the series finale " Catch 22 " if Sable withdraws her lawsuit against Colbyco. Sable agrees and they sign the appropriate contracts at the Carlton, with Dex, Adam and Monica also present. During the meeting, Adam and Dex get into a fight which results in Dex and Alexis being sent toppling through the upper floor balcony as Sable and Monica watch in horror.


The Demolitionist

# The Demolitionist

## Abstract

The Demolitionist is a 1995 American action horror film directed by Robert Kurtzman. The film stars Nicole Eggert, Richard Grieco, Bruce Abbott, Heather Langenkamp, Susan Tyrrell and Tom Savini.

## Plot

A murdered female police officer is brought back to life by a cold-hearted scientist to serve as "The Demolitionist", the ultimate crime-fighting weapon in a city overrun by criminals and internal corruption.

## Cast

- Nicole Eggert as Alyssa Lloyd

- Richard Grieco as "Mad Dog" Burne

- Bruce Abbott as Professor Jack Crowley

- Heather Langenkamp as Christy Carruthers

- Andras Jones as Daniel Dupre

- Susan Tyrrell as Mayor Eleanor Grimbaum

- Peter Jason as Chief Higgins

- Sarah Douglas as The Surgeon

- Tom Savini as Roland

- Jack Nance as Father McKenzie

- Randy Vasquez as Henry "Little Henry" Burne

- Chris Cowell as The Executioner

- Joseph Pilato as "Boxer"

- Reggie Bannister as Warden Thomas

- Dan Hicks as Krutchfield

- Bob Hurst as Duffy

- Niles Allen Stewart as 'Hammerhead'

- David Anthony Marshall as "One Eye"

- Andre Rosey Brown as Frank "Big Frank"

- James Mongold as Arlis

- Paul Munoz as "Skin"

- Russ MacGuire as "Ram"

- J. Wolf as "Wolf"

- Brandon Burke as Jermot

- Randy Stafford as "Lipps"

- Derek Mears as Chuck "Chuck X"

- Porter Jamison as "Swamp Rat"

- Walter T. Hubbard as "The Hubb"

- Richard French as J.C.

- Ryan Powley as "Porkchop"

- Armand Medina as Mortay

- Michael Maranda as Otto

- Joelle Sailers as Biker Slut

- Bruce Campbell as Raffle Winner (uncredited)

## Production

Special effects artist Robert Kurtzman made his directorial debut with The Demolitionist and co-wrote the original screenplay with his wife Anne. The Kurtzman's had wanted to work on a low-budget film together with the plan being for Anne to produce the film while Robert would direct it. After producer Donald P. Borchers learned of their planned film, he came aboard and helped set up the film at Border Planet Productions and A-Pix Entertainment which gave the film a bigger albeit still low budget. In order to stretch their low budget, the producers made a deal with Coca-Cola who in exchange for prominent product placement provided funds for the production as well as unlimited drinks for the cast and crew during production.

## Release

The film premiered in Los Angeles on March 10, 1995. It later received a limited theatrical release in May 1996 before debuting on video in July 1996.

## Reception

The film has a 17% approval rating based on 6 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Ray Mark Rinaldi of St. Louis Post-Dispatch highlighted the films camp aesthetics, and described the performances as a "cartoon brought to life." Glenn Kenny of EW praised the film for its "low budget charm". Lorry Kikta of Film Threat praised the action sequences, costume design, and dialogue. She also highlighted the performances of Susan Tyrell and Richard Grieco. In contrast, TV Guide panned the movie, commenting that it was obviously inspired by RoboCop, but lacked the "inspiration's satiric viewpoint, or enough of a budget to create any memorable action scenes."


Xfinity

# Xfinity

## Abstract

Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications business segment and division of the Comcast Corporation. It is used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2010; prior to that, these services were marketed primarily under the Comcast name.

As of 2023 its CEO is Dave Watson, its chairman is Brian L. Roberts, and its CFO is Catherine Avgiris. Xfinity went from US$ 23.7 billion in revenue in 2007 to $50.04 billion in 2016.

## Branding

In February 2010, Comcast began to re-brand its consumer triple play service offerings under the name Xfinity; Comcast Digital Cable was renamed "Xfinity TV", Comcast Digital Voice became "Xfinity Voice", and Comcast High-Speed Internet became "Xfinity Internet". The re-branding and an associated promotional campaign were scheduled to coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The rebranding was characterized by the media as an effort to sidestep the negativity of the Comcast brand. Time considered Xfinity to be among the worst corporate renamings of all time, asking "Will the name change work? Probably not, but at least it'll sound a bit edgier when you're put on hold...with Xfinity."

## Internet service

### Comcast Internet availability by state

Comcast is the largest provider of cable internet access in the United States, servicing 40% of the market in 2011. As of July 26, 2018, Comcast has 26.5 million high-speed internet customers.

Comcast began offering internet services in late 1996, when it helped found the @Home Network, which sold internet service through Comcast's cable lines. The agreement continued after @Home's merger with Excite. When the combined company Excite@Home filed for bankruptcy in 2002, Comcast moved their roughly 950,000 internet customers completely onto their own network.

Along with the price of internet subscriptions, Comcast charges users an additional $14.00/month to rent a cable modem. This fee has been seen by some as unfair, but is waived for customers who buy their own modems. Comcast charges $20 for internet installation, but the fee is waived for customers who opt to install themselves.

In 2011, Comcast launched its "Internet Essentials" program, which offers low-cost internet service to families with children who qualify for free or reduced price school lunches. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required this budget service as a condition for allowing Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in January 2011. Of an estimated 2.60 million households eligible for the program, about 220,000 households participate in the program as of June 2013. A similar program is available from other internet providers through the non-profit Connect2compete.org. Comcast has stated that the program will accept new customers for a total of three years. In March 2014, as he met with FCC concerning the Time Warner Cable merger, Comcast vice president David Cohen told reporters that the internet essentials program will be extended indefinitely.

At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, Comcast unveiled a new software platform for its Arris 1682G and Cisco 3941T/3939 modems, which would offer a redesigned configuration interface, support for remote setup and management via an Xfinity mobile app, and enabling integration of supported smart home devices with other Xfinity platforms such as Xfinity TV. The new platform launched under the brand xFi in May 2017. Comcast also unveiled the xFi Advanced Gateway, a new router designed to facilitate faster Wi-Fi speeds, including support for 802.11ac Wave 2, as well as internal support for Bluetooth Low Energy, Thread, and Zigbee for finer integration with Internet of things devices, and support for an accompanying line of Wi-Fi extenders (manufactured by Plume).

### Xfinity WiFi

Comcast operates a network of public Wi-Fi hotspots for Xfinity internet subscribers known as Xfinity WiFi, which consists of a mixture of hotspots installed in public locations and businesses, and those generated by supported Xfinity home gateways on an opt-out basis. Users on the "Performance" tier or higher receive unlimited usage of these hotspots after signing in with their Xfinity Account. By default, all dual-band Xfinity home gateways operate both a private network, and a public network with the SSID "xfinitywifi". To conserve bandwidth, these hotspots are capped at 5 simultaneous users. Customers can opt out of providing Xfinity WiFi through either the Comcast website, or by installing a third-party router.

Comcast has received criticism for this practice, with critics arguing that the company was abusing customer resources (including bandwidth and electricity) to provide services for other customers, as well as concerns regarding security, and liability for actions performed by users while connected to these home hotspots; in 2014, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed in California, citing violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and similar state laws for these reasons. Comcast defended the service by stating that the public Wi-Fi is firewalled from devices connected to the in-home network, was designed to have minimal bandwidth impact to "support robust usage", and that customers would not be liable for the actions of other users, as abusers can be traced by means of the Xfinity account they used to sign into the network. The lawsuit was taken to arbitration.

In the wake of Hurricane Irma, all Xfinity WiFi hotspots in Florida were opened to non-Comcast subscribers.

### Data cap

Initially, Comcast had a policy of terminating broadband customers who use "excessive bandwidth", a term the company refused to define in its terms of service, which once said only that a customer's use should not "represent (in the sole judgment of Comcast) an overly large burden on the network". Company responses to press inquiries suggested a limit of several hundred gigabytes per month. In September 2007, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said the company defined "excessive use" as the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month.

Comcast introduced a 250 GB monthly bandwidth cap to its broadband service on October 1, 2008, combining both upload and download towards the monthly limit. If a user exceeded the cap three times within six months, the customer's residential services may have been terminated for one year. A spokesperson stated that this policy had been in place for some time, but was the first time Comcast has announced a specific usage limit.

As the cap provoked a strongly negative reaction from some, Comcast decided to modify its policy in 2012. Under the new system, the cap was replaced with a data threshold and increased to 300GB in some markets, and consumers who exceed this threshold are charged $10 for every 50 GB above the limit. Customers could purchase a $30 add-on for "unlimited" data. In a leaked memo, Comcast employees were instructed to state that the policy is for "Fairness and providing a more flexible policy to our customers", and not for controlling network congestion.

On April 27, 2016, Comcast announced that it would raise its data threshold in trial markets to 1 TB by June 2016; the company stated that "more than 99 percent of our customers do not come close to using a terabyte." The decision to raise the cap came following implication of increased scrutiny surrounding them by the FCC: in its approval of Charter Communications ' purchase of Time Warner Cable, the Commission stipulated that Charter must not implement caps. As previously, a $10 overage fee is charged for every 50 GB above the limit, and customers can purchase an add-on for "unlimited" data, but its price was increased to $50. In October 2016, Comcast announced that bandwidth thresholds would be implemented in the majority of its markets (outside of New York and the northeast) beginning November 1, 2016. The data usage plan does not currently apply to the Gigabit Pro tier of service, Business Internet customers, customers on Bulk Internet agreements, and customers with Prepaid Internet.

On November 23, 2020, Comcast announced a new 1.2TB data cap will be implemented for all of the remaining areas in the northeast by March 2021. However, it was postponed due to pressure from the Pennsylvanian attorney general due to concerns on how it would impact customers, especially for those working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Network management and peering

In September 2007, a rumor emerged among tech blogs that Comcast was throttling or even blocking internet traffic transmitted via the BitTorrent protocol. Comcast vehemently denied the accusations of blocking traffic, stating that "Comcast does not, has not, and will not block any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services", and that "We engage in reasonable network management". After more widespread confirmation that Comcast was throttling BitTorrent traffic, Comcast said it occasionally delayed BitTorrent traffic in order to speed up other kinds of data, but declined to go into specifics. Following the announcement of an official investigation by the FCC, Comcast voluntarily ended the traffic discrimination. The FCC investigation concluded that Comcast's throttling policies were illegal. However, after filing a lawsuit in September 2008, Comcast overturned the illegality of its network management in 2010, as the court ruled that the FCC lacked the authority to enforce net neutrality under the FCC's then current regulatory policy. The court suggested instead of its current framework, the FCC move to a common carrier structure to justify its enforcement. As of February 2014, the FCC has announced a new justification, but avoided the more extensive regulation required by the common carrier framework.

In 2010, Netflix signed an agreement with Level 3 Communications to carry its data. Shortly after, Level 3 entered a heated dispute concerning whether Level 3 would have to pay Comcast to bridge their respective networks, in an agreement known as peering. The disagreement continued as Netflix's current carrier, Cogent Communications, explicitly placed blame for Netflix bottlenecks on Comcast and several other ISPs. In February 2014, after rumors surfaced that Comcast and Netflix had reached an unspecified agreement, the companies confirmed that Netflix was paying Comcast to connect to its network. The details of the agreement are not public, and speculation disagrees about whether the agreement is a precedent against net neutrality, or a continuation of normal peering agreements.

## Cable telephony

Xfinity Voice (formerly Comcast Digital Voice) is a Voice Over IP cable telephony service that was launched in 2005 in some markets, and to all of Comcast's markets in 2006. Comcast's older service, Comcast Digital Phone, continued to offer service for a brief period, until Comcast shut it down around in late 2007. In 2009, after completing transition from their old service, Comcast had 7.6 million voice customers. As of the end of 2013, Comcast Digital Voice had reached 10.7 million subscribers.

At the start of 2012, Comcast stood as the United States' third-largest residential line provider, supplying 9.34 million residential lines.

Xfinity Voice allows communication over the internet using VoIP, but uses a private network instead of a public IP address, which allows Comcast to prioritize voice data during heavy traffic. In technical terms, on Comcast's Hybrid Fiber Coaxial network, calls are placed into individual Unsolicited Grant Service flows, based on DOCSIS 1.1 Quality of service standards. For the customer, this has the benefit of preventing network congestion from interfering with call quality. Other, non-Comcast VoIP services on Comcast's network must use the lower priority public IP addresses. This separation of traffic into separate flows, or Smart pipe, has been criticised as a violation of net neutrality, whereby all data traffic should be treated equally— dumb pipe. The practice was questioned by the FCC in 2009. In their response, Comcast stated that services that use telecommunications are not necessarily telecommunications services, and said that the FCC's designation of Comcast Digital Voice as an information service exempted it from telecommunications service regulations on traditional landline. Comcast also said that because Comcast Voice was a separate service, it was unfair to directly compare the data for Comcast Voice with the data for other VoIP services.

Because telephone services over VoIP are not automatically tied to a physical address, Xfinity Voice utilizes E911 to help 911 emergency service operators to automatically locate the source of the 911 call. Voice calls are delivered as a digital stream over the Comcast network, signal is converted to analog plain old telephone service lines at the cable modem, which outputs on standard physical analog style RJ-11 ports.

This is separate from their former offering of "Comcast Digital Phone" which is not VoIP. The Digital Phone terms of service is still up which clearly defined this service as Circuit Switched.

## Cable television

Comcast's cable television customers peaked in 2007, with about 24.8 million customers. Comcast had lost customers every year since. However, the first quarterly gain in customers since their peak occurred in the fourth quarter of 2013. As of the end of 2013, Comcast had a total of 21.7 million cable customers. The average cost of Comcast's Digital Basic cable subscription had increased 72% from 2003 to 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2015, Comcast got 89,000 new video subscribers. This was their highest gain since 2007.

Comcast also charges a Regulatory Recovery Fee of varying size(s) with their Digital Basic cable subscription in order to "recover additional costs associated with governmental programs". Since January 2014, Comcast has also charged a Broadcast TV Fee to "defray the rising costs of retransmitting broadcast television signals(sic)."

In May 2012, Comcast softlaunched X1 (codenamed "Xcalibur"), a new hardware and software platform for its television services in Boston. It features wider support for internet content and video streaming apps, and a remote control with voice recognition input. X1 was scheduled for nationwide availability by the end of 2013. Comcast has licensed the X1 platform as middleware to other providers, including Cox Cable (as "Cox Contour"), and Canadian providers Shaw (as "Shaw BlueCurve TV"), Rogers (as "Rogers Ignite TV") and Vidéotron (as Helix TV).

### Retransmission fees

Beginning in the mid-2000s, the prices of retransmission fees, requirements for cable companies to retransmit television broadcasters content, have become more expensive. These fees (and the arguments over them between broadcasters and distributors) caused blackouts of certain (influential) television programming. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission then reviewed its rules for broadcasters and distributors to make any possible changes to them in response to the high-profile blackouts. Comcast has had ten year agreements with CBS Disney, and Fox Broadcasting Company for distributing and reproducing content. The financial details of the deals are not known.

Due to retransmission fees becoming more expensive every year, broadcasters pay more expensive substantial fees for retransmitting broadcast television. Comcast instated Broadcast TV Fee (as a part of the Digital Basic cable subscription) to gain lost profit from paying more expensive fees to retransmit programming content. Comcast's subsidiary, NBCUniversal, was one of several broadcasters party to American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo, Inc., over the question of whether Aereo is a retransmitter (which would require it to pay retransmission fees). The case was decided on June 25, 2014, in favor of the broadcasters in a 6–3 decision.

## Home security and automation

Comcast has a home security and home automation service known as Xfinity Home in some of its service areas. The service has a burglar and fire alarm, surveillance cameras, and wireless motion sensors put on doorways and windows to detect when said doorway or window was opened, and to detect when someone was in a house when it was vacant, However, Xfinity Home had a vulnerability that when exploited, falsely reported that all was well. The wireless motion sensors Xfinity Home used could also be easily jammed, and thus disabled, by radio frequencies.

## Xfinity Mobile

On April 6, 2017, Comcast launched Xfinity Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on the Verizon mobile network.

Xfinity Mobile provides prepaid (with users able to purchase data in 1 GB bundles) and monthly unlimited plans, with the latter throttled after 20 GB of use. The service is sold exclusively to Comcast internet subscribers. Access to Xfinity WiFi hotspots is also included, which is promoted as a means to help conserve bandwidth caps.

Analysts perceived Xfinity Mobile as being a response to AT&T's acquisition of DirecTV, which added the national satellite provider alongside its existing wireline and wireless services, and an increased push towards mobile television. In the third quarter of 2018, Xfinity Mobile surpassed 1 million subscribers. On May 18, 2020, Xfinity Mobile announced plans with 5G data.

## Xfinity 3D

Comcast ran a 3DTV channel known as Xfinity 3D from February 20, 2011 until December 16, 2014, on Xfinity cable systems. The channel mainly featured NBC Sports and Universal Pictures content in the format, along with content from other studios and demonstration films in the 3D format.

## Comcast Business

In addition to residential consumers, Comcast also serves businesses as customers, targeting small businesses with fewer than 20 employees and mid-sized businesses of 20–500 employees. In 2009, Minneapolis–Saint Paul became the first city in which Comcast Business Class offered 100 Mbit/s Internet service, which includes Microsoft Communication Services. Comcast Business Class Internet service does not have a bandwidth usage cap.

Comcast Business services used to be sold exclusively through direct sales employees. In March 2011, Comcast created an indirect sales channel called the Solution Provider Program, a comprehensive indirect channel program that enables telecommunications consultants and system integrators to sell Comcast's services such as Business Class Internet, Voice, and high-capacity Ethernet services to small and mid-market businesses. The program offers recurring commissions for sales partners based on monthly revenue, and Comcast will provide, install, manage and bill for these services. For the initial launch of the Solutions Provider Program, Comcast enlisted three national master representatives— Telarus, based in Salt Lake City, Utah; Intelisys, based in Petaluma, California; and Telecom Brokerage Inc (TBI), based in Chicago. Sub-agent sales partners must work with one of these three partners in the early stages of the program.

## NASCAR sponsorship

Xfinity currently sponsors the NASCAR Xfinity Series and is a premier sponsor of the NASCAR Cup Series. They sponsored NASCAR Cup Series driver Carl Edwards in 2016 at Richmond Raceway. Edwards won the race with a bump and run on teammate Kyle Busch. They also have sponsored both NASCAR Cup Series drivers Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace on 23XI Racing promoting Xfinity Mobile and Xfinity 10G, and since 2020, has sponsored the Xfinity 500.

## Controversies

Xfinity and its parent company, Comcast, were sued in August 2016 in King County Superior Court by the State of Washington (AG Ferguson, Washington's Attorney General) for 100 million dollars over claims that Comcast violated the state's Consumer Protection Act 445,000 times over its Service Protection Plan by overly charging for call service fees, knowingly using improper credit screening practices, and by lying about the costs of its Service Protection Plan to 49,660 customers on support calls. The amount that the customers unknowingly paid for the plan from 2011 to 2015 was 71 million dollars. However, when asked for recorded customer service calls discussing the Service Protection Plan, Comcast said that it was "too burdensome". Eventually it gave 4,500 samples of the requested calls, but was accused of deleting many other calls by Washington. In response, Comcast said that it was "not under any obligation to preserve them" and that it deleted customer service calls routinely. It accused Washington of only "listening to 150 calls when we gave 4,500 of them", and said that "customers receive an email confirmation when they sign up for the protection plan". The lawsuit lasted until June 2019, when a King County court judge, Judge Timothy Bradshaw, ruled in favor of Washington State and against Comcast, ordering Comcast to pay 9.1 million dollars in penalties in addition to providing restitution to customers within 60 days.

Xfinity and its parent company Comcast were sued through putative class action on June 19, 2018, by Illinois customer Elizabeth O' Neill, over accusations of opening Xfinity Mobile accounts for customers without their consent, and failing to notify customers when the same accounts were infiltrated without their authorization to buy new cell phones from Comcast's website. They had done this by using information from the customer's already established internet and cable accounts. The case was ruled to be solved in arbitration in accordance with the subscriber agreement she had agreed to.

In 2023, the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) ruled that Comcast's marketing of its broadband service as the "Xfinity 10G Network" was misleading, as " 10G " could be insinuated as referring to 10 gigabit service. This service is not available to all households as it requires installation of a fiber optic local loop, as DOCSIS isn't capable of 10 gigabit end-user speeds. In January 2024, Comcast agreed to stop using the "Xfinity 10G Network" branding in this manner.

## Data breach

On December 20, 2023 it was revealed that an Xfinity data breach had exposed the personal data of 35.8 million people, including usernames, passwords, and answers to security questions, due to a vulnerability in the Citrix software used.


Guillaume Warmuz

# Guillaume Warmuz

## Abstract

Guillaume Warmuz (born 22 May 1970) is a French football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper.

He played 374 games in Ligue 1 during 13 seasons, representing in the competition Lens and Monaco.

## Playing career

Born in Saint-Vallier, Saône-et-Loire, Warmuz started his professional with Marseille in 1989. After no Ligue 1 appearances in his sole season, he moved to Louhans-Cuiseaux from Ligue 2, where he was first-choice.

In the 1992 summer Warmuz signed for top flight club Lens, making his club debut on 8 August in a 3–0 home defeat by Auxerre. Over the course of the following ten years he went on to play in 427 official games for Les Sang et Or, winning the 1998 national championship and the following year's Coupe de la Ligue.

In January 2003, then a free agent Warmuz signed a short-term contract for Arsenal, as a replacement for the injured Rami Shaaban. He left in July after failing to appear in any matches, and joined Borussia Dortmund after Jens Lehmann had just left for the Gunners.

Warmuz featured in 17 Bundesliga matches in his first season, as the other goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller did the same and the club finished in sixth position. He left in 2005 to Monaco back in his country, retiring at the end of the 2006–07 campaign at the age of 37.

## Managerial career

On 16 February 2008, Warmuz was appointed director of football at Gueugnon, lasting eight days in office. From May to December 2012, he acted as Auxerre's goalkeeping coach.

On 1 June 2017, Warmuz was appointed as manager of Championnat National 2 side Montceau Bourgogne. In April 2018, with his side facing relegation, Warmuz resigned as manager.

## Honours

Lens

- French Division 1: 1997–98

- Coupe de la Ligue: 1998–99


Li Haitao (politician)

# Li Haitao (politician)

## Abstract

Li Haitao (Chinese: 李海涛; born September 1963) is a Chinese former politician who spent most of his career in northeast China's Heilongjiang province. As of September 2023 he was under investigation by China's top anti-corruption agency. Previously he served as vice chairman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Li is a delegate to the 13th National People's Congress.

## Early life

Li was born in Bayan County, Heilongjiang, in September 1963.

## Career

After graduating from Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University in 1980, he was despatched to the Heilongjiang Provincial Planning Commission (later was reshuffled as Heilongjiang Provincial Economic Commission). There, he was in turn a deputy chief staff member, a chief staff member，a deputy director of the Office，and finally deputy director of the commission. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in February 1989.

In October 2004, he was appointed mayor and deputy party secretary of Jiamusi, he remained in that position until February 2010, when he was transferred to Daxing'anling Prefecture and appointed party secretary.

He was appointed secretary-general of the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government in April 2011, secretary-general of the CCP Heilongjiang Provincial Committee in December 2013, and three years later was admitted to member of the CCP Heilongjiang Provincial Committee, the province's top authority. He rose to become vice governor of Heilongjiang in April 2016.

He was made vice chairman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in January 2022.

## Downfall

On 16 September 2023, he had been suspended for "suspected serious discipline violations" by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the party's internal disciplinary body, and the National Supervisory Commission, the highest anti-corruption agency of China.

On 12 September 2024, he was expelled from the CCP and dismissed from public office.


Mela Tenenbaum

# Mela Tenenbaum

## Abstract

Mela Tenenbaum was a classical violinist and violist, also playing viola d'amore. She performed with the Kyiv Philharmonic and other orchestras. She inspired composers such as Dmitri Klebanov to write pieces for her. She emigrated to the United States and was from the early 1990s concertmaster of the Philharmonia Virtuosi. She recorded works from Vivaldi to salon music, especially chamber music.

## Career

Born in Ukraine, Tenenbaum studied music at the Kyiv Conservatory and obtained a master's degree. She performed with the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra and the Kyiv Philharmonic from 1979. She was also a soloist and concertmaster with the chamber orchestra Perpetuum Mobile, an ensemble supported by the Ukrainian Union of Composers. Several Russian and Ukrainian composers wrote works for her which she premiered. Dmitri Klebanov composed for her pieces such as a viola concerto and Japanese Silhouettes for soprano, viola d'amore and a mixed ensemble of thirteen players.

In 1990, she emigrated to the United States. She was the concertmaster of the chamber orchestra Philharmonia Virtuosi, founded and conducted by Richard Kapp, from 1993. (Other sources give 1989 as the time of immigration and 1991 as year of appointment.) From 1992, she was the concertmaster for choral concerts of the community chorus The Master Singers of Westchester in the Bedford Presbyterian Church, Bach's Mass in B minor in 2003 and Mozart's Great Mass in C minor in 2007. She was on the faculty of the Killington Music Festival, and lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution.

Tenenbaum died in New York City on 15 October 2023.

## Recording

Tenenbaum recorded among others Bach's sonatas and partitas, Locatelli 's Art of the Violin, Mozart's violin concertos, and Beethoven's Violin Concerto. She recorded Vivaldi's concerto for four violins in B-flat, RV 553, with her husband Alexander playing 2nd violin. She is known for also playing salon repertory, such as works for violin and piano recorded as Songs Without Words with pianist Kapp, by composers such as Fritz Kreisler and Henryk Wieniawski. A reviewer compared her to Jascha Heifetz and noted:

While Mela Tenenbaum has a bright, steely tone, and an incisive rhythmic sense, there's nothing mechanical or motoristic about these readings. Her tone is under control, and her left hand is alert to possibilities of expressive fingerings and the subtle portamenti that are so vital in this repertoire.

In 1995, she recorded music she played on the Queen Elizabeth 2 with pianist Anton Nel, titled "Tea Time on the QE2". She recorded a viola recital, again with Kapp, of transcriptions and original pieces, Chausson 's Pièce pour alto et piano, Op. 39, and Henri Vieuxtemps ' Caprice from Hommage à Paganini, Op. 9. A reviewer described her playing of two Hungarian Dances "spontaneous and uninhibited, dramatic with an exciting touch of recklessness". In 1997, she recorded Klebanov's viola concerto and Japanese Silhouettes, a "unique combination of song cycle and viola d'amore concerto", with soprano Natalia Biorro and Kapp conducting the Philharmonia Virtuosi.


Joe Vance

# Joe Vance

## Abstract

Joseph 'Sandy' Albert Vance (September 16, 1905 – July 4, 1978) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched parts of three seasons in the majors between 1935 and 1938 for the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.

Vance was born in Devine, Texas, and went to Devine High School and then Southwest Texas State Teachers College where he lettered in five sports including football (1927), basketball (1928-29), baseball and track (1927).

While he didn't have much success as a pitcher, Vance was known for being fast - and likely the fastest person in baseball at one point. In 1929, he set the world record for running the bases at 13 seconds. Speaking in 1943, pitcher Max Macon of the baseball Dodgers, against whom Vance had competed in both the American Association and International League, called his former mound opponent the fastest man he'd ever seen. He turned down a chance to compete in the 1928 Olympics in track to concentrate on baseball.

He started his career in the minors and played 13 seasons of minor league baseball between 1930 and 1942. He finished with a win-loss record at that level of 108-101, and a 3.53 earned run averrage.

Vance also played 11 games for the football Brooklyn Dodgers in 1931 as a running back.

In 1933 Vance played for the Dallas Steers in the Texas League where he was named the best all-around player in the Texas League. In 1934 he was signed by the Chicago White Sox in September but continued to play for the Steers and also played football for the Dallas Rams of the 1934 American Football League. In June of 1935 he was released by the White Sox to Toronto. By 1936, he was playing for the Kansas City Blues.

Late in the 1937 season, Vance was called up to the Yankees and started the 1938 season with them before spending a short time back with the Blues. In 1938, Vance's season was cut short when he came down with appendicitis, which led the Yankees to trade Myril Hoag to the Nationals for Wes Ferrell. The Yankees won the World Series in both 1937 and 1938, but Vance did not play in those games.

In Panama he met his wife, Helen Liddy and the two were married in New York City in 1938. During World War II, he served in the Navy.

## Sources

- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)


Sammy Arnold

# Sammy Arnold

## Abstract

Sammy Arnold (born 8 April 1996) is an English-born, Irish rugby union player for English club Newcastle Falcons. He plays as a centre.

## Early life

Born in Redhill, Surrey, Arnold moved to Kent aged five and attended a state school until sixth form, when he earned a rugby scholarship at Cranleigh School. Harlequins had shown interest in Arnold joining their academy, but as a scrum-half rather than a centre. Arnold, who wanted to play as a centre for Ireland, instead decided to join Ulster. He qualifies for Ireland through his mother, who is from Wexford – he also has a grandfather from Bere Island, County Cork.

## Club career

### Ulster

Arnold made his debut against Dragons at Rodney Parade in March 2015 as an 18-year-old. At the end of the season he won the Club's Academy Player of the Year award. He made his first Champions Cup appearance against Oyonnax in January 2016, but was forced off through injury after 23 minutes.

### Munster

On 4 February 2016, it was announced that Arnold would be joining Ulster's provincial rivals, Munster, at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. Just weeks after joining Munster, Arnold damaged ligaments in his knee, which ruled him out of the opening period of the 2016–17 season. On 26 November 2016, Arnold made his competitive debut for Munster, starting alongside Jaco Taute in the 2016–17 Pro12 fixture against Benetton at Thomond Park. In January 2017, Arnold was ruled out for 8 weeks with a knee injury. On 27 February 2017, Arnold resumed full training following his recovering from the knee injury.

On 31 March 2017, Arnold started for Munster A in their 2016–17 British and Irish Cup semi-final against Ealing Trailfinders, scoring a try in the 25–9 win against the English Championship side at CIT. On 21 April 2017, Arnold started at 13 for Munster A in their 29–28 victory over English RFU Championship side Jersey Reds in the final of the 2016–17 British and Irish Cup, which was held in Irish Independent Park. He scored his first tries for Munster on 3 November 2017, doing so in the 2017–18 Pro14 win against Welsh side Dragons. Arnold made his European Rugby Champions Cup debut for Munster on 9 December 2017, starting in the Pool 4 fixture against Leicester Tigers in Thomond Park and earning the Man-of-the-Match award in the provinces' 33–10 win.

He was sent-off for a high tackle on Christian Lealiifano in Munster's Pro14 game against Ulster on 1 January 2018 and subsequently banned for 3 weeks. He signed a new two-year contract with Munster in February 2018. Arnold was named the Munster Rugby Young Player of the Year in April 2018.

### Connacht

Arnold joined Connacht on a two-year contract in July 2020, and made his debut for the province against his old club Munster on 30 August 2020.

### Brive

Arnold moved to France to join Brive, where former Ireland and British & Irish Lions player Jeremy Davidson is head coach, on a three-year contract from the 2022–23 season.

### Newcastle Falcons

On 19 July 2024, Arnold returns to the UK as he signs for English side Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership Rugby on a two-year deal from the 2024-25 season.

## International career

After achieving selection at under-18 level in May 2013, Arnold received his first call up for the Ireland under-20 side in February 2015 for a 2015 Six Nations Under 20s Championship clash with France.

Arnold earned his first senior call-up in October 2018, being selected in Joe Schmidt's 42-man Ireland squad for the 2018 Autumn Internationals. Arnold made his senior international debut for Ireland in their 2018 Autumn Test against the United States on 24 November 2018, coming on as a replacement for Will Addison at half-time in Ireland's 57–14 win.

## Honours

### Munster A

- British and Irish Cup: Winner (1): 2016–17

- Winner (1): 2016–17


Elaine DePrince

# Elaine DePrince

## Abstract

Elaine DePrince (née DiGiacomo, c. 1947 – September 11, 2024) was an American author of non-fiction, hemophilia activist, teacher, and advocate of adoptive parenting. The mother of 11 children, she is best known as the adoptive mother of ballet star Michaela DePrince and the co-author of her autobiography, Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina (2014). She was interviewed in the 2011 documentary First Position. She was also the author of Cry Bloody Murder: A Tale of Tainted Blood (1997), which tells the story of how her three hemophiliac sons were infected with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s.

## Early life and education

Born Elaine DiGiacomo, she attended Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She was a graduate of Rutgers University.

She was inspired to adopt in fifth grade, when she read The Family Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss. The book tells the true story of a family with 12 children, including children who had been considered "unadoptable" because they were non-white or had special needs. She said in interviews that she discussed her desire to adopt with Charles DePrince before they got married, and that he agreed. Elaine and Charles DePrince were married in May 1971 in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

## Adoption of sons

DePrince was born with Von Willebrand disease, a blood clotting disorder similar to hemophilia, and unknowingly passed it on to her two eldest sons. In 1980, DePrinces adopted their son Michael, nearly two, who had hemophilia and was deaf. Five years later, New Jersey officials asked them to adopt two more boys with hemophilia who had been living in a hospital, knowing that the couple was familiar with the medical care required, which included mixing freeze-dried clotting factor with sterile water and injecting them several times weekly.

In May 1988, the DePrinces had their sons tested, and were devastated to learn that their three adopted sons were HIV-positive. All three had contracted the AIDS virus from injecting contaminated blood-clotting products that were supposed to heal them. Their son Cubby died on June 9, 1993 at age 11, followed by Michael who died on March 14, 1994 at age 15. Their son Teddy continued to battle the virus with the help of new protease inhibitor drugs, but eventually died in 2004 at age 24.

### Activism and class action lawsuit

DePrince wrote that the deaths of her two young sons left her wanting to die. Rather than succumb to grief, she decided to investigate how the tainted blood products had ended up being given to hemophiliacs, and to seek justice for them and their families. She lobbied successfully to have the New Jersey legislature extend the statute of limitations so that hemophiliacs could sue for compensation.

The DePrinces joined more than 100 other New Jersey and New York families in a class action lawsuit filed in 1993, which accused clotting factor manufacturers of negligence in the early 1980s, when they failed to warn patients that their products were contaminated with hepatitis. Elaine DePrince emerged as one of the leading advocates for hemophiliacs and their families, repeatedly sharing the story of Cubby and Michael and her anger that their deaths were preventable.

In July 1997, she joined other hemophilia activists in lobbying senators in Washington, D.C. to pass federal legislation awarding funds to AIDS-infected hemophiliacs or their survivors because of the infected products had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Around the same time, the DePrinces were among the families that turned down a proposed $100,000 settlement for hemophiliac AIDS victims or their survivors, arguing that it was not enough.

### Cry Bloody Murder

DePrince's book, Cry Bloody Murder: A Tale of Tainted Blood, published by Random House in July 1997, wove the story of her family's ordeal with her argument that drug companies, the FDA, and the National Hemophilia Foundation were responsible. Publishers Weekly said that, "DePrince credibly contends that the four large U.S. pharmaceutical companies that manufacture clotting-factor concentrates used to treat hemophilia had access to techniques capable of inactivating any HIV in their products years before they employed these techniques". She argued that profit-seeking and backscratching between government agencies and industry caused manufacturers to delay making their blood products safer.

## Adoption of daughters

Their son Michael had dreamt of adopting a child from a war-torn country in Africa. The DePrinces decided to honor his memory by adopting a child from Sierra Leone. Elaine returned from Sierra Leone with two girls named Mabinty, one of whom was Michaela, whom they renamed after Michael.

In total, Elaine and her husband Charles DePrince raised two biological sons and nine adopted children. They lived for many years in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. For a period, the family moved to Vermont, where Elaine and Charles had lived as newlyweds, to escape the reminders of the sons who died.

## Death

Elaine DePrince died on September 11, 2024, one day after the death of her daughter Michaela. According to the family, she was unaware of Michaela's death before she died.


# Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust

## Abstract

Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust, or Joshua's Trust, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) land trust operating in northeast Connecticut. Joshua's Trust was incorporated in 1966 to help conserve property of significant natural or historic interest. As of 2011, the Trust protects more than 5,000 acres, maintains 42 miles (68 km) of trails that are open to the public, holds educational outreach programs, and publishes the Joshua's Tract Walkbook.

## History

In 1676 Attawanhood (also known as Joshua), son of Uncas and Sachem of the Mohegans, died just after fighting in King Philip's War. Many of the towns in Mohegan territory, land north and east of New London, Groton and Stonington, owed their existence to grants from Uncas or his sons. This included all of the current Windham county and the principal part of Tolland county. Joshua, the third son, in his will left his hunting grounds to "sixteen men of Norwich"; this included the then town of Windham, a tract nearly 10 miles square, and Mansfield. Settlements followed swiftly, in Mansfield at 'Ponde Place', Windham, and also in today's towns of Scotland, Chaplin, and Hampton.

In 1966, two-hundred and ninety years later, motivated by the rapid development of the area, the efforts of the Mansfield Historical Society and the Mansfield Conservation Commission resulted in the incorporation of Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust. The Madison Land Trust provided assistance, and individuals donated $1,400. The founding trustees were Floyd M. Callward, Samuel G. Dodd, John M. Evans, George A. Baker Jr. and Gertrude M. Lamb.

Joshua's Trust acquired its first property, Bradley-Buchanan Woods, in 1970. This was followed by the Wolf Rock property, the Ashford Oak and others, including in 1978 the historic Gurleyville Gristmill and miller's cottage, birthplace of Wilbur Cross, the 56th governor of Connecticut. Many of these early trust properties now abut other conserved lands, significantly increasing the size of the protected habitat.

In 1991 the Trust's holdings including preserves and easements reached 2,000 acres, and nineteen years later they crossed the 4,000 acre mark.

In 1992 the Trust needed storage and office space and began to look at the historic Eagleville Schoolhouse in the Town of Mansfield. It was previously used by the Mansfield Historical Society as a museum but subsequently left unoccupied. After negotiating a 30-year lease and renovating the building, Joshua's Trust moved their operations to the former one-room schoolhouse at the corner of Routes 32 and 275 in Mansfield.

Approaching its fiftieth anniversary in 2016, Joshua's Trust is still primarily an all-volunteer organization, with one part-time conservation coordinator. The Trust relies on volunteers for most of its activities, including funding, stewardship, office work and outreach efforts.

The Trust's logo is a replica of the signature mark made by the original Joshua. It is referred to as "Joshua's Mark" or sometimes, colloquially, as "the critter".

## Mission

Joshua's Trust was founded to preserve the rural character of the area, to acquire and assure the preservation of the land and natural resources, to acquire and protect land having a unique or historical significance to the area, and to assist in the development of an open space program. In addition, the Trust engages in and promotes education, training, and scientific study of the natural world.

## Area served

The towns served by Joshua's Trust contain some of the last undeveloped property in the New York-Boston corridor. Significant swaths of undeveloped forest, rivers and watersheds of major significance and farms populate the area. Pilots, flying overhead at night, were struck by the lack of artificial illumination in the as-yet rural and undeveloped area. This gave rise to the nicknames like "the Quiet Corner" and "the Last Green Valley". As of 2009, 70% of the area was still field, forest or farmland. In 1994, the surrounding Shetucket-Quinebaug Heritage Corridor, nestled between the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers, was granted National Heritage Corridor status by the National Park Service. In 1999, the area was enlarged, creating a 35 town heritage corridor which includes all of the Joshua's Trust towns and villages.

As of 2011, Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust owns preserves and/or conservation easements in the towns and villages of Andover, Ashford, Chaplin, Columbia, Coventry, Eastford, Franklin, Hampton, Lebanon, Mansfield, Mansfield Center, Scotland, Storrs, Tolland, Willington, Windham, and Woodstock. In Mansfield, Trust properties include Proposal Rocks, Coney Rock, Wolf Rock, and the Gurley-Mason Mill Site.

## Method

The Trust works with landowners by accepting and managing donated land, raising funds when a significant property is offered at reduced price, and by contributing to municipal open space or agricultural preservation efforts. Recently, property owned "in fee", has been acquired as a result of subdivision activity, when municipal open space set-asides occur. Joshua's Trust also works with landowners who want to protect their land with conservation easements, which are legal restrictions on a parcel's use based on the "bundle of sticks" approach, removing the right to develop the eased property.

Preserves that are owned outright by Joshua's Trust have short and long-term management plans, implemented by Trust volunteers and property steward(s). Conservation easements are actively monitored by members of the Trust's Conservation Easements Committee.

Joshua's Trust offers workshops covering environmental stewardship issues of interest and concern, and works to encourage open space preservation and community involvement. As part of this effort, the Joshua's Trust Conservation Award is awarded to area organizations and individuals in recognition of outstanding conservation efforts.

## Awards received

- 2011 Excellence in Land Conservation Award from CLCC, for Successful Collaboration in Stewardship

- 2011 Positive Results Award from Conserving Tolland

- 2009 Outstanding Stewardship Effort Award from the Connecticut Land Conservation Council

- 2005 Substantial Size Award from the Connecticut Land Trust Service Bureau

- 2003 Special Achievement Award, from the Connecticut Greenways Council

- 2001 Outstanding Organization certificate from the Connecticut Forest and Park Association

- 1998 Green Circle Program Certificate presented by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection

- 1998 Frederick Law Olmsted Award, presented by the Connecticut Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects.

- 1996 Connecticut Land Trust Service Bureau, Partnerships Challenge Award

- 1989 and 1987 recipient of the Connecticut Land Trust Service Bureau Protection Award

## Accreditation

In 2005, the executive board voted to adopt practices consistent with Land Trust Alliance guidelines, and Joshua's Trust was officially granted accredited land trust status in February 2011. This designation recognizes a land trust for its commitment to the highest ethical standards in its practices and stewardship of entrusted properties.


Sammy Arnold