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Two for Joy
by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer
Published by Poisoned Pen Press
Set in Darkness
by Ian Rankin
by Caleb Carr
Time Troubles
Just as the three spirits in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol covered all stops on the time continuum -- past, present and future -- so does modern crime fiction. The hunger for new story settings has given us mysteries rooted all the way back to the Cro-Magnon era and many centuries ahead of our own. However, the mere novelty of tales imagined in distant epochs doesn't make them meritorious. Or memorable.
Two for Joy, the second novel (after One for Sorrow, 1999) featuring John, resourceful Lord Chamberlain to 6th-century Roman Emperor Justinian I, goes well beyond its singular backdrop to deliver a plot that is, well, Byzantine. Things get off to a riveting start as a "stylite" -- one of the many emaciated holy men who dwell atop prominent pillars in the city of Constantinople -- is consumed by fire during a rainstorm. "[R]ivulets of flame ran greedily across the stylite's robe," write authors Mary Reed and Eric Mayer. "Glowing patches blossomed and spread in the man's straggling beard.... The burning man tried to dowse the blaze, slapping at his chest. He began screaming only when his matted hair burst into an incandescent halo around his head."
After other stylites meet equally fiery fates, John seeks an earthly explanation for these "divine acts." However, he's distracted by an elderly pagan philosopher who abuses his patience, as well as by the querulous Justinian, who orders John to abridge the rising renown of a Christian prophet named Michael -- an enigmatic figure with a thirst for power (fed by a growing multitude of acolytes) that threatens the peace in what remains of the Roman Empire. As more conflagrations savage Constantinople, a senator friend of John's is slain and his son imprisoned. And while the fetching but fearsome Empress Theodora begins to exercise control over the situation, the Lord Chamberlain must unravel a series of mysteries that might secure his own welfare but will surely reveal a traitor within his circle of intimates.
With greater confidence than is expected of sophomore novelists, Reed and Mayer offer here not only an engrossing story line, but a rich study of a time and place that never reads like a history lesson. Their ancient Constantinople seems at once familiar -- filled like our own cities with mendacious ladder-climbers, ruthless businesspeople and the overlooked poor -- and abundant in foreign intrigues. Hired killers lurk in shadowy alleys. Followers of the Persian bull god Mithra celebrate bloody rites in secret, underground temples. Eccentric characters challenge each other for the reader's attention -- none quirkier than John, a practicing pagan in charge of a Christian court and likely fiction's only sleuthing eunuch, having been involuntarily castrated during his travels as a young bullring acrobat. Three cheers for Two for Joy. Who'd have thought you could have such a ball hanging around with a guy who has none?
That same description does not apply to another John -- John Rebus, the ballsy modern-day Edinburgh police inspector who has starred in 11 novels by Scottish author Ian Rankin. Antisocial, untrusting, stubborn, abusive-drinking -- Rebus is more like a pulp-fiction-era private eye than the usual protagonists in police procedurals. Yet his gloomy-edged escapades have been bestsellers in the United Kingdom for years and have recently become hot properties on the other side of the Atlantic. Black and Blue (1997), which won the British Crime Writers Association's prestigious Gold Dagger Award, is among the few distinctive serial-killer yarns in print and last year's Dead Souls, in which Rebus hounded (alternately) a pedophile and a murderer, was almost as estimable. Although the new Set in Darkness is rather more orthodox in its plotting and less surprising in its resolution, it's still an impressive introduction to both Rankin's oeuvre and today's burgeoning Scottish crime fiction genre.
Like other Rebus books, this one opens with a puzzle from the past: a corpse is found hidden behind a fireplace in one of the buildings scheduled to be integrated into Edinburgh's new Scottish Parliament complex. The body appears to have been deposited two decades before, back when the Scots last tried (but failed) to win independence. Sniffing about for clues, Rebus comes to suspect this old crime may be connected to the recent bludgeoning death of Roddy Grieve, a Labor Party candidate from a high-profile family who'd been a shoo-in for a seat in the new Parliament. Meanwhile, Rebus' former partner and protégé, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, is driving home one evening when she sees a homeless man take a suicide leap from a bridge. Following up, she discovers that the tramp was anything but destitute -- in fact, he had a small fortune. He'd also been going by the same name as that of the man whose remains were concealed behind the fireplace. As complications tumble upon coincidences, Rebus exposes a real-estate conspiracy, confronts a toadyish cop who's become obsessed with DS Clarke, is seduced by a femme fataleish former model (think Charlotte Rampling, from the 1975 movie adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely) and faces off against a gangster he thought was safely behind bars.
Rankin has said that he was "appalled" to find his Rebus debut, Knots & Crosses (1987), shelved under Crime Fiction -- he thought he was penning mainstream literature. Indeed, Set in Darkness, like its predecessors, is less a linear whodunit than a study of moral choices and their implications, heavy on character, light on violent episodes. A rewarding read by any standard.
Far less satisfying, unfortunately, is Killing Time -- the third novel by historical thriller writer Caleb Carr (The Alienist, 1994), but his first to meld the mystery with science fiction. While that combination has produced some interesting earlier works, including Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man (1953) and Paul Johnston's Body Politic (1999), Carr's cautionary suspense novel of the future reads like a paranoid adult's re-crafting of a boy's space opera.
Set in the year 2023, Killing Time posits a polluted world where wars are fought over dwindling natural resources. Where corporations control governments and information technology has become as much a crutch as a creative tool, shoveling news and rumors at a public no longer able to distinguish between the two. Although he's nostalgic for life before the Web boom, psychiatrist and criminal profiler Dr. Gideon Wolfe has made the most of his circumstances, earning a handsome wage by educating prison guards -- a real growth industry, ever since the adoption of "mandatory drug and quality-of-life punishments so stringent that fully two percent of [America's] population was behind bars." However, his complacency is disrupted when the wife of a murdered special-effects expert comes to him with evidence showing how details of a presidential assassination were falsified. Wolfe's efforts to confirm this manipulation lead to his best friend's demise... and the psychiatrist's "abduction" aboard a super-advanced airship piloted by scientists and military experts hoping to spread enough fantastical misinformation to convince the world that it should better regulate technology.
Initially, Wolfe finds it heady to ride above the clouds in a craft that resembles -- at least spiritually -- Jules Verne's Nautilus (right down to its being captained by a righteous genius, Malcolm Tressalian). He enjoys both the intellectual camaraderie of other crewmembers and the warmer attentions of Tressalian's curvaceous sister, choosing to ignore hints of troubles to come. But when the ship is suddenly called upon to stop a terrorist bent on revenge against Russians he has been deluded into believing were responsible for the Holocaust, Wolfe realizes he's merely exchanged one dubious existence for another. And there may be no turning back. This is neither a great revelation nor an unanticipated one and only confirms the shallowness of Carr's vision for his novel. Better that in the future, he stick to tales of the past. | December 2000


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Intl. Notebook Mar 8 2017
It's never too late to go to Paris.
Above are some scans from Paris-Hollywood issue #56, published in 1949. Paulette Goddard is the cover star, sporting a crazy hair-do that makes her look a bit like she has horns. The cover text explains that the shot was made as a promo for her role in Les Naufrageurs des mers du sud, better known as Reap the Wild Wind, and we'll just assume the wild wind did that to her hair. The movie was made in 1942 but due to a little inconvenience called World War II did not play in France until later. Inside the issue you get Alexis Smith (described as a protégée of Errol Flynn), Jane Russell, Mary Kay Dodson, and the always lovely Adele Mara. The back cover goes to Janis Paige, who's posing in costume for her role in the western Cheyenne. We have more of these magazines in the website and you can see them by clicking the keywords "Paris-Hollywood" below.
FranceParis-HollywoodLes Naufrageurs des mers du sudReap the Wild WindCheyenneJanis PaigePaulette GoddardAlexis SmithAdele MaraMary Kay DodsonJane RussellErrol Flynncinema
Vintage Pulp Mar 8 2012
National Star Chronicle had a catchy slogan, but occasionally had a hard time living up to it.
This National Star Chronicle published today in 1965 forgoes its usual cheesecake cover in favor of screaming text about a torturer. The person in question is Alfred Poettinger, who indeed tied a nude woman to his bed and tortured her the last three days of December 1964 in the village of Studl-Paura, Austria. The torture took the form of whippings, followed by insertions of red hot needles. It's at this juncture that the Chronicle's account veers into pure fiction. In the real world, the woman, Monika Einoeder, managed to slip her bonds and flee naked to an adjacent house, where she called the police. Cops arrived at Poettinger's only to find that he had hanged himself. But in Chronicle world, Poettinger didn't die, but rather was trundled off to jail, where Chronicle house scribe Ernst Brookman allegedly scored an interview. The point of such a blatant lie, we presume, was to convince readers that the Chronicle had a network of intrepid reporters blanketing the world. It probably worked, too, but then this little thing called the internet came along and now we can look up articles from Jan 2 1965 and read for ourselves over and over that Poettinger was swinging from the rafters when police found him. So much for the Chronicle's motto: True Stories About True People. Well, at least they got half of it right, and to their credit the editors didn't forget the cheesecake entirely. Inside, it takes the form of Evi Marandi, Pilar Pellicer, Janis Paige, and Paola Penni, all of whom you see below. More from National Star Chronicle later.
AustriaStudl-PauraNational Star ChronicleAlfred PoettingerEvi MarandiPilar PellicerJanis PaigePaola Pennitabloid

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home About Us Expertise Aboriginal Case Studies Staff Community Contact Us
Solutions for Today's Environment
©Copyright 2021 Oakridge Environmental Limited, 647 Neal Drive, Suite #3, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 6X7
647 Neal Drive, Suite #3
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
K9J 6X7
ore@oakridgeenvironmental.com
Canada-wide, we have nineteen (19) known species
of bats in the country, with most occurring along the
west coast (i.e., British Columbia), although data
resources are limited and ever evolving. The
federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) Public Registry
currently lists three (3) bat species as "Special Concern"
(although 2 are classified as "data deficient"), one (1)
as "Threatened" and three (3) as "Endangered".
Ontario is known to be home to eight (8) different species of
bats. In addition to the SARA (above), Species at Risk
Ontario (SARO) currently lists three (3) species of Myotis
(mouse-eared bat) and the Tri-Colored Bat (Perimyotis
subflavus) as Endangered in the Province. The Myotis species include the Little Brown Myotis
(Myotis lucifugus), Northern "Long-Eared" Myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) and the Eastern Small-Footed
Myotis (Myotis leibii).
As a result, any comprehensive Species at Risk (SAR) analysis needs to include a review of whether or not these
bat species are present on your site.
Unlike most other SAR inspections, it is not possible for trained personnel to simply observe bats from sight and
sound. Bats are small, nocturnal mammals that emit ultrasonic sounds (for echolocation) that are not
audible to the human ear. Although one may be able to observe bats flying (foraging) in the evening hours,
identifying individual bat species typically requires a close-up view by observing individuals in roosts/
hibernacula (which can be harmful to both the observer and the bats themselves).
Oakridge Environmental Ltd. staff have the knowledge to conduct SAR surveys for bats using state-of-the-art
ultrasonic sound detection equipment. Although only regionally accepted protocols for bat detection in
Ontario exist, ORE staff can customize solutions specific to the needs of your project throughout Ontario.
To learn more about bats and the threats facing them, please visit the Toronto Zoo's website:
www.torontozoo.com/bats
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Injury Surveillance in Correctional Facilities -- Michigan, April 1994-March 1995
Following an outbreak of Legionnaires disease in a Michigan prison in 1993 (1), which was first recognized at a civilian hospital, the Michigan Department of Public Health (MDPH) recommended that surveillance for acute infectious diseases be established in the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). In April 1994, MDOC and MDPH implemented a pilot system to monitor trends and detect clusters of selected acute infectious diseases and injury in six Michigan state correctional facilities. This report summarizes the findings of injury surveillance during April 1994-March 1995.
In each facility, the nurse in charge of the clinic submitted daily reports by electronic mail of the number of inmates with acute unintentional injury (occurring during recreational, occupational, and other activities) and acute intentional injury (assault and self-inflicted). Of the 34 MDOC facilities, reporting sources were clinics in five facilities (one for females {F}; one regional prison for housing near families {R}; one for young men {aged 15-25 years} {Y}; one with a 25% prevalence of chronic disease {C}; and one in the upper peninsula of Michigan {U}) and the emergency department (ED) of the MDOC hospital serving one large facility and facility C. These sites accounted for approximately 10,000 of the 38,000 prisoners statewide. However, prisoners at facility C and the facility served by the ED were able to use services at other clinics, which were not reporting sources in the pilot system. Incidence rates per 1000 prisoners were calculated based on annual average prisoner populations.
During April 1994-March 1995, a total of 3176 new injury-related visits was reported. The number of reported unintentional injuries (2502) was nearly fourfold greater than that for intentional injuries (674). Nearly half (1446 {46%}) of all unintentional injuries were associated with recreational activities (Table_1). Temporal peaks in assault injuries coincided with, or were preceded by, peaks in recreational injuries (Figure_1). The high incidence of recreational and occupational injuries at two facilities (Y and F) prompted investigations by facility staff. Based on a review of 30 consecutive recreational injuries at facility Y in July 1994, participation in basketball accounted for more than one third (11) of all recreational injuries that month; other activities resulting in injuries were softball (five), weight lifting (three), volleyball (one), and soccer (one); the activities for nine were unspecified. The most serious injury, which had been sustained in the weight-training area, was a fractured humerus requiring surgery. These findings enabled the development of recommendations for improved training and supervision of prisoners during recreational activities.
Based on a review of the 25 occupational injuries reported at facility F during April-June 1994, most injuries were burns incurred by prisoners while they removed dishes from the oven in a kitchen. Following this investigation, the food-service supervisor instituted a safety training program to prevent occupational injuries in this setting, and numbers of occupational injuries decreased to 13, 10, and three during the three subsequent quarters, respectively.
Reported by: L Green, MD, C Hutchinson, MD, D Lamb, Michigan Dept of Corrections. D Johnson, MD, K Wilcox, MD, State Epidemiologist, Michigan Dept of Public Health. Div of Field Epidemiology, Epidemiology Program Office, CDC.
Editorial Note: During the first year of operation, the pilot disease and injury surveillance system in Michigan prisons suggested the occurrence of high annual rates (greater than 500 per 1000) of new injury-related visits in some facilities. The co-incidence of peaks in assault and recreational injury suggests a possible association between recreational events and subsequent assaults, or that some prisoners reported assault as recreational injury to avoid official investigation or retribution by the perpetrator(s). Based on data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (2), the total rate of injury-related visits at facilities Y and U was 1.7 and 2.4 times higher, respectively, than the estimated comparable age- and sex-specific rates of new injury-related visits to emergency departments and physicians' offices, after excluding traffic injuries. However, these higher rates may reflect differences in thresholds for seeking health care.
The findings from the pilot surveillance system in Michigan are subject to at least three limitations. First, because only injuries resulting in a health-care visit were counted, actual injury incidence was probably higher than that documented in the system. Second, because prisoners at facility C and facilities served by the ED could use other clinics, injury rates for these facilities were underestimated. Third, to ensure simplicity of this system, only counts of different types of injuries were collected without information on cause.
The injury component of the pilot surveillance system recognizes that injury control is a national priority (3) and responds to recommendations of the National Research Council to establish injury surveillance systems in prisons (4). The information obtained through surveillance in Michigan prisons was used by facility staff to undertake investigations of the high level of specific types of injury in their facilities. Although this surveillance system was not continued when the pilot was completed in March 1994, MDOC plans to reinstate surveillance when its health-care-visit logs for the system statewide are computerized in late 1996 or early 1997. To increase the effectiveness of injury-prevention efforts, more detailed information on injury severity, circumstance, and cause should be collected, particularly from high-incidence facilities; such efforts will require a team approach involving health-care and custody staff.
CDC. Legionnaires' disease associated with cooling towers -- Massachusetts, Michigan, and Rhode Island, 1993. MMWR 1994;43:491-3,499.
Burt C. Injury related visits to hospital emergency departments, United States, 1992. Hyattsville, Maryland: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, CDC, NCHS, 1995. (Advance data no. 261).
National Committee for Injury Prevention and Control. Injury prevention: meeting the challenge. Am J Prev Med 1989;5(no. 3, suppl).
National Research Council. Understanding and preventing violence. Reiss A, Roth J, eds. Washington, DC: National Academy Press 1993:152-5,336.
Table_1
Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.
TABLE 1. Number and annual rate * of new injury-related visits in correctional facilities +, by facility and
type of injury -- Michigan, April 1994-March 1995
=============================================================================================================================
Unintentional Injury                        Intentional Injury
------------------------------------------------   ---------------------------------
Recreational  Occupational     Other     Total      Assault   inflicted     Total      Total
------------  ------------  ---------- ---------   ---------  ----------  ---------  ------------
Facility  Population & No.    Rate  No.     Rate  No.   Rate No.  Rate   No.  Rate  No.  Rate   No.  Rate  No.  Rate
F            562       49      87   51       91    83   132  183   326    11   26     2    5     13   23   196   349
R           1303      213     163   32       25    61    47  306   235    41   31     6    5     47   36   353   271
Y           1311      297     227   79       60   135   103  511   390   153  117    32   24    185  141   696   531
C           1000        8       8   13       13    20    20   41    41     2    2     0   --      2    2    43    43
U           1053      344     327   20       19   151   126  515   489    91   86    37   35    128  122   643   611
ED          6000      535      89  185       31   226    38  946   158   120   20   179   30    299   50  1245   208
* Per 1000 prisoners.
+ Includes clinics of one for females (F), one regional prison for housing near families (R), one for young men (aged 15-25
years) (Y), one with a 25% prevalence of chronic disease (C), one in the upper peninsula of Michigan (U), and the emergency
department (ED) of a hospital serving one large facility and facility C.
& Average annual population.


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The Northern Earth Mysteries Group has been an informal association of neo-antiquarian or 'earth mysteries' researchers and enthusiasts, originally set up in 1979 to act as a focus and contact point for 'new antiquarian' study in the North of England and Scotland. Its journal, Northern Earth, was the first regional 'alternative archaeology' journal in Britain, and is now the world's oldest journal in the field, publishing its 100th issue in our 25th anniversary year of 2004.
The group has met on an occasional basis for field trips, museum visits, talks and other events, publicising them in Northern Earth. In addition, until the late 1990s the NEMG regularly hosted an 'annual gathering', a weekend at which members had the opportunity to meet others in an informal atmosphere; these events took place at Spring Bank Holidays at a location appropriate to the group's interests in archaeology, folklore and sacred places and landscapes.
From 1981 to 1991, a moot, or conference, was held annually in the autumn, at which members and guests would give presentations of their work. This event is now occasional only, last held in 2004 to mark our 25th year of existence, and not tied to a specific season, due to time and other pressures on the voluntary team. We also support the creation of local groups and aim to encourage and make public local research.
Northern Earth today has a presence on Twitter and Facebook, including the group Northern Earth Walks, an open group for facilitating walks, weekend trips and other gatherings of NE readers.
In 1980, a travelling exhibition was prepared by members, covering a number of areas of research, and toured the North of England until 1982. An exhibition catalogue was produced. It was also involved in the Calderdale Earth Mysteries exhibition, held at the Piece Hall, Halifax, in 1996.
To date, the NEMG. has published a number of booklets including:-
Earth Mysteries – an Exploratory Introduction, by Brian Larkman and Philip Heselton
Astrological Geomancy by Patrick McFadzean
Geomantic Survivals in York, by Ben Fernee
Skyways and Landmarks Revisited, by Philip Heselton, Jimmy Goddard and Paul Baines
The Day The Sun Went Out: accounts of the 1927 solar eclipse as seen from Yorkshire and the Pennines by John Billingsley.
A Laureate's Landscape: Walks around Ted Hughes' Mytholmroyd, by John Billingsley
Folk Tales from Calderdale Vol. 1, by John Billingsley
Folk Tales from Calderdale Vol. 2: Hood, head & Hag, by John Billingsley
The Mixenden Treasure: A true tale of magic in 16th-century Yorkshire, by John Billingsley
Rushes and Ale: A brief history of rushbearing, by Garry Stringfellow
Astronomy & Measurement in Megalithic Architecture, by Peter Harris
Spanish Anti-Fascist 'Prisoners of War' in Lancashire, 1944-1946, by Richard Cleminson
Our publishing schedule was resumed in 2007 with Folk Tales from Upper Calderdale and A Laureate's Landscape: walks around Ted Hughes' Mytholmroyd, both by the current editor, John Billingsley. Further titles are planned. We have also published a black-and-white postcard of Alfred Watkins, photographed with his camera in 1926; copies are still available. Planning is actively underway for an expanded publication schedule.
Journal and NEMG Membership
Membership of the NEMG is by subscription to its journal, Northern Earth, published quarterly in March, June, September and December, in a 36-page A5 format.
Founder members of the NEMG
Participants at our inaugural meeting were Brian Larkman, John Billingsley, Philip Heselton, Phil Rushworth, John Barnatt and Richard Smith (if we've forgotten anybody, please let us know!)
Don't forget to look at the back issues because there are a host of other articles from the catalogue of work to give you an even greater taste of what Northern Earth has to offer.


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Open Firmware è una tecnologia hardware per sviluppare firmware indipendente dal sistema operativo (software caricato all'accensione del computer prima del sistema operativo) sviluppata da Sun Microsystems. È utilizzata nei computer Apple Macintosh dotati di processori PowerPC, nelle workstation SPARC e nei server della Sun Microsystems, nei computer PegasosPPCe in altri sistemi.

È accessibile utilizzando un'interfaccia di tipo shell basata sul Forth, un potente linguaggio ad alto livello, descritto nel documento dell'IEEE standard numerato IEEE-1275. Ad esempio è possibile programmare il BIOS in modo da risolvere il problema della Torre di Hanoi.

Vantaggi dell'Open firmware
Poiché il codice Forth viene compilato in Fcode (come un bytecode) e non nel linguaggio macchina di una particolare architettura, il codice dell'Open firmware include una I/O card che può essere eseguita da ogni sistema che usa l'Open firmware. In questo modo, un I/O card fornisce diagnostica durante il boot, codice di configurazione, e driver che possono essere usati da qualsiasi sistema, permettendo a molte delle stesse I/O card di essere usate su sistemi Sun e Macintosh.

Accedere all'Open Firmware
Sui sistemi Sun, l'interfaccia dell'Open firmware è visualizzata sul terminale della consolle prima del boot del software di sistema. Se è connessa una tastiera, il video principale viene usato come terminale per la consolle e si può riaccedere all'Open firmware in ogni momento, premendo Stop-A. Se nessuna tastiera è connessa, allora la prima linea seriale sul sistema è usata solitamente come console e si accede all'Open firmware mandando un segnale di "Break". Mentre il software di sistema è in esecuzione, molti settaggi dell'Open firmware possono essere letti o scritti usando il comando "eeprom".

Sui Macintosh, si può accedere all'interfaccia dell'Open firmware premendo i tasti Cmd-Option-O-F all'avvio. Questa funzionalità è generalmente usata dagli sviluppatori; per gli utenti comuni macOS fornisce una interfaccia grafica di alto livello per modificare l'Open firmware. Per esempio è possibile specificare il disco di boot o la partizione senza usare direttamente l'interfaccia dell'Open firmware.

Collegamenti esterni
  https://web.archive.org/web/20041011184040/http://playground.sun.com/1275/mejohnson/
  http://www.firmworks.com

Tecnologie di macOS
Hardware Apple
Firmware

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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The YBBS > The New News > Pharmaceuticals found in drinking water
View Full Version : Pharmaceuticals found in drinking water
simuvac
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/10/pharma.water1/index.html
Prescription drugs found in drinking water across U.S.
(AP) -- A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs -- and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen -- in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas -- from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit, Michigan, to Louisville, Kentucky. http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/map.gifMap: See the cities where drugs were found in drinking water » (http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Prescription+drugs+found+in+drinking+water+a cross+U.S.+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=27056417&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2008%2FHEALTH%2F03% 2F10%2Fpharma.water1%2Findex.html&partnerID=211911#cnnSTCOther1)
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.
How do the drugs get into the water?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies -- which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public -- have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
A 'growing concern'
"We recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists.
They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
• Officials in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.
• Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
• Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
• A sex hormone was detected in the drinking water of San Francisco, California.
• The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.
Testing not required
The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water.
Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; Baltimore, Maryland; Phoenix, Arizona; Boston, Massachusetts; and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.
Some providers screen for only one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.
Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water -- Fairfax, Virginia; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Nebraska; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Santa Clara, California; and New York City.
The New York state health department and the USGS tested the source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer.
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" -- regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals.
In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque, New Mexico; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia, said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas, Texas, has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. Arlington, Texas, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug.
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers -- one in each state, and two each in Missouri and Texas -- that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in Emporia, Kansas, refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues.
Rural, bottled water also unchecked
Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.
Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems.
Contamination is not confined to the United States. More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have detected pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe -- even in Swiss lakes and the North Sea.
In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, the source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs.
Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs -- and flushing them unmetabolized or unused -- in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of U.S. drug prescriptions (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/prescription_drugs) rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The Nielsen Co.
Medications not all absorbed
"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the United States.
Some drugs, including widely used cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove pharmaceuticals.
Veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for a wide range of ailments -- sometimes with the same drugs as humans. The inflation-adjusted value of veterinary drugs rose by 8 percent, to $5.2 billion, over the past five years, according to an analysis of data from the Animal Health Institute.
Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no.
"Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby -- director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. -- said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms."
Recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation.
Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life -- such as earthworms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show.
Wildlife problems troubling
Some scientists stress that the research is extremely limited, and there are too many unknowns. They say, though, that the documented health problems in wildlife are disconcerting.
To the degree that the EPA is focused on the issue, it appears to be looking at detection. Grumbles acknowledged that just late last year the agency developed three new methods to "detect and quantify pharmaceuticals" in wastewater.
"We realize that we have a limited amount of data on the concentrations," he said. "We're going to be able to learn a lot more."
So much is unknown. Many independent scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be harmful to humans. There's growing concern in the scientific community, though, that certain drugs -- or combinations of drugs -- may harm humans over decades because water, unlike most specific foods, is consumed in sizable amounts every day.
Our bodies may shrug off a relatively big one-time dose, yet suffer from a smaller amount delivered continuously over a half century, perhaps subtly stirring allergies or nerve damage. Pregnant women, the elderly and the very ill might be more sensitive.
"We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany.
AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hGsoyElv4ZL879LW6z2aZS0Pix7AD8VA14500
By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD – 19 hours ago
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.
Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.
Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.
The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.
The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.
Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water — Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara, Calif., and New York City.
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals.
In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise. For example, water department officials in New Orleans said their water had not been tested for pharmaceuticals, but a Tulane University researcher and his students have published a study that found the pain reliever naproxen, the sex hormone estrone and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct clofibric acid in treated drinking water.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Va.; said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. Arlington, Texas, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug.
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers — one in each state, and two each in Missouri and Texas — that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in Emporia, Kan., refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues.
The Stroud Water Research Center, in Avondale, Pa., has measured water samples from New York City's upstate watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more caffeine was detected at suburban sites, researcher Anthony Aufdenkampe was struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas.
He suspects it escapes from failed septic tanks, maybe with other drugs. "Septic systems are essentially small treatment plants that are essentially unmanaged and therefore tend to fail," Aufdenkampe said.
Contamination is not confined to the United States. More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have detected pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe — even in Swiss lakes and the North Sea.
For example, in Canada, a study of 20 Ontario drinking water treatment plants by a national research institute found nine different drugs in water samples. Japanese health officials in December called for human health impact studies after detecting prescription drugs in drinking water at seven different sites.
In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs.
Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs — and flushing them unmetabolized or unused — in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of U.S. prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The Nielsen Co.
One technology, reverse osmosis, removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale use and leaves several gallons of polluted water for every one that is made drinkable.
Another issue: There's evidence that adding chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants, makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic.
Human waste isn't the only source of contamination. Cattle, for example, are given ear implants that provide a slow release of trenbolone, an anabolic steroid used by some bodybuilders, which causes cattle to bulk up. But not all the trenbolone circulating in a steer is metabolized. A German study showed 10 percent of the steroid passed right through the animals.
Water sampled downstream of a Nebraska feedlot had steroid levels four times as high as the water taken upstream. Male fathead minnows living in that downstream area had low testosterone levels and small heads.
Other veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and even obesity — sometimes with the same drugs as humans. The inflation-adjusted value of veterinary drugs rose by 8 percent, to $5.2 billion, over the past five years, according to an analysis of data from the Animal Health Institute.
Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no. "Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby — director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. — said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms."
Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life — such as earth worms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show.
"It brings a question to people's minds that if the fish were affected ... might there be a potential problem for humans?" EPA research biologist Vickie Wilson told the AP. "It could be that the fish are just exquisitely sensitive because of their physiology or something. We haven't gotten far enough along."
With limited research funds, said Shane Snyder, research and development project manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority, a greater emphasis should be put on studying the effects of drugs in water.
"I think it's a shame that so much money is going into monitoring to figure out if these things are out there, and so little is being spent on human health," said Snyder. "They need to just accept that these things are everywhere — every chemical and pharmaceutical could be there. It's time for the EPA to step up to the plate and make a statement about the need to study effects, both human and environmental."
To the degree that the EPA is focused on the issue, it appears to be looking at detection. Grumbles acknowledged that just late last year the agency developed three new methods to "detect and quantify pharmaceuticals" in wastewater. "We realize that we have a limited amount of data on the concentrations," he said. "We're going to be able to learn a lot more."
While Grumbles said the EPA had analyzed 287 pharmaceuticals for possible inclusion on a draft list of candidates for regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said only one, nitroglycerin, was on the list. Nitroglycerin can be used as a drug for heart problems, but the key reason it's being considered is its widespread use in making explosives.
So much is unknown. Many independent scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be harmful to humans. Confidence about human safety is based largely on studies that poison lab animals with much higher amounts.
There's growing concern in the scientific community, meanwhile, that certain drugs — or combinations of drugs — may harm humans over decades because water, unlike most specific foods, is consumed in sizable amounts every day.
Many concerns about chronic low-level exposure focus on certain drug classes: chemotherapy that can act as a powerful poison; hormones that can hamper reproduction or development; medicines for depression and epilepsy that can damage the brain or change behavior; antibiotics that can allow human germs to mutate into more dangerous forms; pain relievers and blood-pressure diuretics.
For several decades, federal environmental officials and nonprofit watchdog environmental groups have focused on regulated contaminants — pesticides, lead, PCBs — which are present in higher concentrations and clearly pose a health risk.
However, some experts say medications may pose a unique danger because, unlike most pollutants, they were crafted to act on the human body.
"These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific effects at very low concentrations. That's what pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock to people that they have effects," says zoologist John Sumpter at Brunel University in London, who has studied trace hormones, heart medicine and other drugs.
And while drugs are tested to be safe for humans, the timeframe is usually over a matter of months, not a lifetime. Pharmaceuticals also can produce side effects and interact with other drugs at normal medical doses. That's why — aside from therapeutic doses of fluoride injected into potable water supplies — pharmaceuticals are prescribed to people who need them, not delivered to everyone in their drinking water.


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text:
Q: A question about the type of static functions in C++ In my application I use a method of a C++ - API that is defined like this:
ApiDataType_::specialApiMethod(ApiInterface *pVar, void* pV)

So as first parameter I need a parameter of typeApiInterface.
If I declare a static method testFunc() in my program, I can use this method as first parameter in specialApiMethod().
//.h
public:
   static void testFunc(ApiDataType adt, void* ptr);

//.cpp
{
myClassObj->specialApiMethod(MyClass::testFunc, this)
}

This only works if testFunc() is static. Without the static keyword, it will not work. Why this works with the static keyword?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who became underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a government witness against him and other mobsters in a deal in which he confessed to involvement in 19 murders.

Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime family, and later for the Brooklyn faction of the Gambino family, Gravano was part of the group that conspired to murder Gambino boss Paul Castellano in 1985. Gravano played a key role in planning and executing Castellano's murder, along with John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, Frank DeCicco, and Joseph Armone.

Soon after Castellano's murder, Gotti elevated Gravano to become an official captain after Salvatore "Toddo" Aurelio retired, a position Gravano held until 1987 when he became consigliere. In 1990 he became underboss, a position he held at the time he became a government witness. In 1991, Gravano agreed to turn state's evidence and testify for the prosecution against Gotti after hearing the boss making several disparaging remarks about Gravano on a wiretap that implicated them both in several murders. At the time, Gravano was the highest-ranking member of the Five Families to break his blood oath and cooperate with the government. As a result of his testimonies, Gotti and Frank Locascio were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1992. In 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison; however, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year. He was released early and entered the U.S. federal Witness Protection Program in Arizona, but left the program in 1995.

In 1997, Gravano was consulted several times for the biographical book about his life, Underboss by author Peter Maas. In February 2000, Gravano and nearly 40 other ring members—including his ex-wife Debra, daughter Karen and son Gerard—were arrested on federal and state drug charges. In 2002, Gravano was sentenced in New York to twenty years in prison. A month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to nineteen years in prison to run concurrently. He was initially scheduled to be released in March 2019, but was released early in September 2017.

Childhood and early life
Salvatore Gravano was born on March 12, 1945, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to Giorlando "Gerry" and Caterina "Kay" Gravano. He was the youngest of three children, having two sisters. Both of Gravano's parents hailed from Sicily; his mother was brought to the U.S. as a child, while his father had been on the crew of a freighter when he jumped ship in Canada and entered the U.S. illegally. Gravano's father ran a small dress factory and maintained a good standard of living for the family. Early on, one of Gravano's relatives remarked that he looked like his uncle Sammy. From that point on, everyone called Gravano "Sammy" instead of "Salvatore" or "Sal".

At age 13, Gravano joined the Rampers, a prominent street gang in Bensonhurst. He had found that some people had stolen his bicycle and went to fight the thieves. Made men who were watching from a café saw him take on a few people at once, and they gave Gravano back his bike. As he was leaving, one of the made men remarked on how little Sammy fought "like a bull", hence his nickname "The Bull".

Gravano had dyslexia, was bullied, and did poorly in school. Teachers classified him as being "a slow learner". He was held back from grade advancement on two occasions, and also punched school officials on two occasions. Gravano was sent to a school for "incorrigibles"; however, just before he reached the age of 16, the school refused to keep him any longer. Gravano's father tried to redirect and discipline his son, including forcing him to attend Mass, but had little success.

In 1964, Gravano was drafted into the United States Army and served in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While an enlisted man, Gravano mainly worked as a mess hall cook. He rose to the rank of corporal and was granted an honorable discharge after two years.

In 1971, Gravano married Debra Scibetta; they had two children. His daughter Karen Gravano appeared on the VH1 reality series Mob Wives beginning in 2011, and released a book in 2013 titled Mob Daughter: The Mafia, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and Me!

Later in his mob career, Gravano was ordered to help arrange the murder of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Scibetta. Gravano is also the brother-in-law of Gambino caporegime Eddie Garafola and Mario Garafola. Gravano was a childhood friend of Colombo crime family associate Gerard Pappa.

Colombo associate
The Mafia had a longstanding presence in Bensonhurst via the Profaci family, which evolved into the Colombo family. Despite his father's attempts to dissuade him, Gravano, like many of his Ramper colleagues, drifted into the Cosa Nostra. He first became associated with the Cosa Nostra in 1968 through Anthony Spero, whose uncle Shorty was an associate of the Colombo family under future boss, Carmine "The Snake" Persico. Gravano was initially involved in crimes such as larceny, hijacking, and armed robbery. He quickly moved into racketeering, loansharking, and running a lucrative poker game in the back room of an after-hours club, of which he was part owner.

Gravano became a particular favorite of family boss Joe Colombo, who used Gravano to picket the FBI Manhattan headquarters as part of his Italian-American Civil Rights League initiative. Gravano's rise was so sudden that it was generally understood that he would be among the first to become made when the Cosa Nostra's membership books were reopened (they had been closed since 1957).

In 1970, Gravano committed his first murder—that of Joseph Colucci, a fellow Spero associate with whose wife Tommy Spero was having an affair. Gravano described the experience thus:

As that Beatles song played, I became a killer. Joe Colucci was going to die. I was going to kill him because he was plotting to kill me. I felt the rage inside me. ... Everything went in slow motion. I could almost feel the bullet leaving the gun and entering his skull. It was strange. I didn't hear the first shot. I didn't see any blood. His head didn't seem to move. ... I felt like I was a million miles away, like this was all a dream.

The Colucci murder won respect and approval from Persico for Gravano. Gravano later became a mentor to Colucci's son Jack, who became involved in the construction industry as a Gambino associate.

Made man
In the early 1970s, Colombo soldier Ralph Spero, brother of Shorty, became envious of Gravano's success, fearing that he would become a made man before his son, Tommy. This rivalry culminated with the death of Ralph Ronga, another Colombo family soldier in Ralph Spero's crew. After Ronga's death, a rumor had spread that Gravano had attempted to pick up Ronga's widow Sybil Davies at a bar, though Gravano maintained that Davies was the one hitting on him. Ralph Spero used this rumor in an attempt to gain support to have Gravano killed, or as an excuse to kill Gravano himself. While Shorty Spero believed Gravano rather than Ralph, he and the Colombo hierarchy decided that to avoid conflict, it was best for Gravano to leave the Colombo family and join the Gambino crime family.

Now with the Gambinos, Gravano became an associate of capo Salvatore "Toddo" Aurello. Aurello quickly took a liking to Gravano and became his mob mentor. Around this time, Gravano took a construction job (he later claimed to have considered leaving the criminal life). A former associate, however, falsely claimed to the New York District Attorney's Office that Gravano and another associate were responsible for a double murder from 1969. After Gravano was indicted, he desperately needed money to pay his legal bills. He quit his construction job and went on a self-described "robbing rampage" for a year and a half. One week into the trial, the prosecution moved to dismiss the charges. Gravano later said of this legal problem:

That pinch [arrest] changed my whole life. I never, ever stopped a second from there on in. I was like a madman. Never stopped stealing. Never stopped robbing. I was obsessed.

Gravano's robbery spree impressed Aurello, who proposed him for membership in the Gambino family soon after the membership books were reopened. In 1976, Gravano was formally initiated into the Gambino family as a made man.

Gambino soldier

In 1978, boss Paul Castellano allegedly ordered the murder of Gambino associate Nicholas Scibetta. A cocaine and alcohol user, Scibetta participated in several public fights and insulted the daughter of George DeCicco. Since Scibetta was Gravano's brother-in-law, Castellano asked Frank DeCicco to first notify Gravano of the impending hit. When advised of Scibetta's fate, a furious Gravano said he would kill Castellano first. However, Gravano was eventually calmed by DeCicco and accepted Scibetta's death as the punishment earned by his behavior. Another part of the motive for the murder was that Scibetta was suspected of being gay. Gravano later said, "I chose against Nicky. I took an oath that Cosa Nostra came before everything." Scibetta was dismembered and his body was never found, other than an arm.

Gravano later opened an afterhours club in Bensonhurst. The bar was the scene of a violent altercation one night, involving a rowdy biker gang intent on ransacking the establishment. A melee ensued, in which Gravano broke his ankle and the bikers were chased off. Gravano then went to Castellano and received permission to murder the leader of the gang. Along with Milito, Gravano hunted down the leader, wounding him and killing another member of the gang. Castellano was flabbergasted when he learned the crutch-ridden Gravano personally took part in the hit.

Construction magnate
Like his predecessor Carlo Gambino, Castellano favored emphasizing more sophisticated schemes involving construction, trucking, and garbage disposal over traditional street-level activities such as loansharking, gambling, and hijackings. Castellano had a particular interest in the construction business. Gravano entered into the plumbing and drywall business with his brother-in-law, Edward Garafola.
Gravano's construction and other business interests soon earned him a reputation as a "good earner" within the Gambino organization and made him a multi-millionaire, enabling him to build a large estate for his family in rural Ocean County, New Jersey. He invested in trotting horses to race at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Gravano became the operator of a popular discotheque, The Plaza Suite in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn. He reportedly made $4,000 a week from the Plaza Suite. He also used the club as his construction racket headquarters.

Simone murder
Gravano further ingratiated himself to Castellano when he interceded in a civil war that had erupted within the Philadelphia crime family. In March 1980, longtime Philadelphia boss Angelo Bruno was assassinated by his consigliere, Antonio Caponigro, without authorization from The Commission. The Commission summoned Caponigro to New York, where it sentenced him to death for his transgression. After Caponigro was tortured and killed, Philip Testa was installed as the new Philadelphia boss and Nicky Scarfo as consigliere. The Commission subsequently placed contracts on Caponigro's co-conspirators, including John "Johnny Keys" Simone, who also happened to be Bruno's cousin. The Simone contract was given to Gravano.

After befriending Simone through a series of meetings, Gravano, with the assistance of Milito and D'Angelo, abducted Simone from Yardley Golf Club in Yardley, Pennsylvania (part of suburban Trenton, New Jersey), and drove him to a wooded area on Staten Island.

Gravano then granted Simone's requests to die with his shoes off, in fulfillment of a promise he had made to his wife, and at the hands of a made man. After Gravano removed Simone's shoes, Milito shot Simone in the back of the head, killing him. Gravano later expressed admiration for Simone as a so-called "man's man", remarking favorably on the calmness with which he accepted his fate.

Fiala murder
By the early 1980s, the Plaza Suite was a thriving establishment. Patrons often had to wait an hour to get in and the club featured high-profile live acts such as singers Chubby Checker and the Four Tops.

In 1982, Frank Fiala, a wealthy businessman and drug trafficker, paid Gravano $40,000 to rent the Plaza Suite for a birthday party he was throwing himself. Two days after the party, Gravano accepted a $1,000,000 offer from Fiala to buy the establishment, which Gravano had only valued at $200,000. The deal was structured to include $100,000 cash as a down payment, $650,000 in gold bullion under the table, and a $250,000 payment at the real estate closing.

Before the transaction was completed, Fiala began acting like he already owned the club. Upon leaving the Plaza Suite, Gravano called Garafola and set up an ambush outside the club, involving Garafola, Milito, D'Angelo, Nicholas Mormando, and Michael DeBatt in the plan. Later that night, Gravano confronted Fiala on the street as he exited the Plaza Suite among a group of people, asking, "Hey, Frank, how you doing?" As Fiala turned around, surprised to see Gravano, Milito came up behind him and shot him in the head. Milito stood over the body and fired a shot into each of Fiala's eyes as Fiala's entourage and the crowd of people on the street dispersed, screaming. Gravano walked up to Fiala's body and spat on him.

Gravano was never charged for the crime; he had made a $5,000 payoff to the later discredited and disgraced New York Police Department homicide detective Louis Eppolito to ensure the investigation yielded no leads.

Although Gravano evaded criminal charges, he incurred Castellano's wrath over the unsanctioned killing. Gravano attempted to lie low for nearly three weeks afterwards, during which time he called his crew together and made the decision to kill Castellano if necessary. Gravano and Milito were then summoned to a meeting with Castellano at a Manhattan restaurant. Castellano had been given the details of what Fiala had done, but he was still livid that Gravano had not come to him for permission to kill Fiala first. Gravano was spared execution when he convinced Castellano that the reason he had kept him in the dark was to protect the boss in case something went wrong with the hit.

Fiala's murder posed one final problem for Gravano in the form of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The high publicity generated by the incident triggered an IRS investigation into Gravano and Fiala's deal for the sale of the Plaza Suite and Gravano was subsequently charged with tax evasion. Gravano was represented by Gerald Shargel and acquitted at trial.

D'Angelo was later killed by a Colombo family associate celebrating his having been proposed for membership. The killer was then murdered, himself, on orders from the Colombo family.

Aligning with Gotti
In the aftermath of the Fiala murder, Gravano continued to focus on his construction business, branching out into the lucrative concrete paving industry. New York City's cement industry was controlled by four of the Five Families, which made millions of dollars by manipulating bids and steering contracts. Gravano said in 1998, "I literally controlled Manhattan, literally. You want concrete poured in Manhattan? That was me. Tishman, Donald Trump, all these guys—they couldn't build a building without me."

Gravano eventually became embroiled in a dispute with business partner Louie DiBono, a member of another Gambino crew. A sit-down with Castellano was held, at which an irate Gravano accused DiBono of withholding $200,000 in payments for subcontracts and threatened to kill DiBono. Gambino underboss Neil Dellacroce intervened on Gravano's behalf and Castellano told the two men to end their business partnership, though Gravano's standing with the boss slipped as a result of the incident. Dellacroce, however, was rising star John Gotti's mentor, and when word got back to him that Dellacroce had supported Gravano, Gotti was impressed.

During this time, the FBI had intensified its efforts against the Gambino family and in August 1983, three members of Gotti's crew – Angelo Ruggiero, John Carneglia, and Gene Gotti – were indicted for heroin trafficking. Castellano was against anyone in the family dealing narcotics. Castellano planned to kill Gene Gotti and Ruggiero if he believed they were drug traffickers. Castellano asked Ruggiero for a copy of the government surveillance tapes that had Ruggiero's conversations. To save Gene Gotti and Ruggiero, Dellacroce stalled the demand. Eventually, one of the reasons for Gotti's killing Castellano was to save his brother and Ruggiero. The FBI had bugged Ruggiero's house and telephone, and Castellano decided he needed copies of the tapes to justify his impending move to Dellacroce and the family's other capos.

When Castellano was indicted for both his connection to Roy DeMeo's stolen car ring and as part of the Mafia Commission Trial, he learned his own house had been bugged on the basis of evidence from the Ruggiero tapes and he became livid. In June 1985, he again demanded that Dellacroce get him the tapes. Dellacroce and Gotti tried to convince Ruggiero to comply if Castellano explained beforehand how he intended to use the tapes, but Ruggiero refused, fearing he would endanger good friends.

Three months later, Gravano was approached by Robert DiBernardo, a fellow Gambino member acting as an intermediary for Gotti. DiBernardo informed him that Gotti and Ruggiero wanted to meet with him in Queens. Gravano arrived to find only Ruggiero was present. Ruggiero informed Gravano that he and Gotti were planning to murder Castellano and asked for Gravano's support.

Gravano was initially noncommittal, wanting to confer first with Frank DeCicco. In conversation with DeCicco, both men voiced concern that Castellano would designate his nephew, Thomas Gambino, acting boss and his driver, Thomas Bilotti, underboss in the event he was convicted and sent to prison. Neither man appealed to Gravano or DeCicco as leadership material, and they ultimately decided to support the hit on Castellano.

Castellano murder
Gravano's second choice to become boss after Castellano's murder was Frank DeCicco, but DeCicco felt John Gotti's ego was too big to take a subservient role. DeCicco argued that Gotti's boldness, intelligence, and charisma made him well-suited to be "a good boss" and he convinced Gravano to give Gotti a chance. DeCicco and Gravano made a secret pact to kill Gotti and take over the family as boss and underboss, respectively, if they were unhappy with Gotti's leadership after one year. The conspirators' first order of business was meeting with other Gambino members, most of whom were disaffected under Castellano, and gaining their support for the hit. They also recruited longtime capo Joseph "Piney" Armone into the conspiracy. Armone's support was critical; he was a respected old-timer in the family, and it was believed he could help win over Castellano supporters to the new regime.

The next step was smoothing over the planned hit with the other families. It has long been a hard and fast rule in the Mafia that killing a boss is forbidden without the support of a majority of the Commission. Indeed, Gotti's planned hit would have been the first off-the-record hit on a boss since Frank Costello was nearly killed in 1957. Knowing it would be too risky to approach the other four bosses directly, the conspirators got the support of several important mobsters of their generation in the Lucchese, Colombo and Bonanno families. Gotti and Ruggiero then sought and obtained the approval of key figures from the Colombos and Bonannos, while DeCicco secured the backing of top mobsters aligned with the Luccheses. They did not even consider approaching the Genoveses; Castellano had especially close ties with Genovese boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, and approaching any major Genovese figure, even one of their generation, could have been a tipoff. Gotti could thus claim he had the support of "off-the-record contacts" from three out of five families. With Neil Dellacroce's death on December 2, 1985, the final constraint on a move by Gotti or Castellano against the other was removed. Gotti, enraged that Castellano chose not to attend his mentor's wake, wasted little time in striking.

Not suspecting the plot against him, Castellano invited DeCicco to a meeting on December 16, 1985, with fellow capos Thomas Gambino, James Failla, and Danny Marino at Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. The conspirators considered the restaurant a prime location for the hit because the area would be packed with bustling crowds of holiday shoppers, making it easier for the assassins to blend in and escape. The plans for the assassination were finalized on December 15, and the next afternoon, the conspirators met for a final time on the Lower East Side. At Gotti's suggestion, the shooters wore long white trench coats and black fur Russian hats, which Gravano considered a "brilliant" idea.

Gotti and Gravano arrived at the restaurant shortly before 5 o'clock and, after circling the block, parked their car across the intersection and within view of the entrance. Around 5:30, Gravano spotted Castellano's Lincoln Town Car stopped at a nearby intersection and, via walkie talkie, alerted the team of hitmen stationed outside the restaurant of Castellano's approach. Castellano's driver, Thomas Bilotti, pulled the car up directly in front of the entrance. As Castellano and Bilotti exited the Lincoln, they were ambushed and killed in a barrage of bullets. As the hat-and-trench-coat-adorned men slipped away into the night, Gotti calmly drove the car past the front of the restaurant to get a look at the scene. Looking down at Bilotti's body from the passenger window, Gravano remarked, "He's gone."

The new regime
After Castellano's death, Gallo–the only surviving member of the hierarchy–convened a three-man committee to temporarily run the family, comprising himself, Gotti and DeCicco. However, it was an open secret that Gotti was acting boss in all but name, and nearly all of the family's capos knew he had been the one behind the hit. Gotti was formally acclaimed as the new boss of the Gambino family at a meeting of 20 capos held on January 15, 1986. Gotti, in turn, selected DeCicco as his underboss and elevated Gravano to capo after Toddo Aurello announced his desire to retire.

On April 13, 1986, DeCicco was killed when his car was bombed following a visit to Castellano loyalist James Failla. The bombing was carried out by Victor Amuso and Anthony Casso of the Lucchese family, under orders of Vincent Gigante and Lucchese boss Anthony Corallo, to avenge Castellano and Bilotti by killing their successors; Gotti also planned to visit Failla that day, but canceled, and the bomb was detonated after a soldier who rode with DeCicco was mistaken for the boss.

Bombs had long been banned by the Mafia out of concern that it would put innocent people in harm's way, leading the Gambinos to initially suspect that "zips" — Sicilian mafiosi working in the U.S. — were behind it; zips were well known for using bombs.

"Nicky Cowboy" murder
The first person on Gravano's hit list after Castellano's murder was Nicholas "Nicky Cowboy" Mormando, a former member of his crew. Mormando had become addicted to crack cocaine and was suspected by Gravano of getting friend and fellow crew member Michael DeBatt addicted to the drug. According to Gravano, Mormando started to act "like a renegade ... berserk". The final straw came when Mormando announced he no longer wanted to be in the crew and planned to start his own gang. Gravano decided he "couldn't take a chance" because Mormando "knew too much" and he got permission from Gotti to kill Mormando.

Gravano arranged to have Mormando murdered on his way to a meeting at Gravano's Bensonhurst restaurant, Tali's. After assuring Mormando of his safety, Gravano told him to pick up Joseph Paruta on his way. Paruta got in the backseat of the car and shot Mormando twice in the back of the head. Mormando's corpse was then disposed of in a vacant lot, where it was discovered the next day.

Consigliere and underboss

Gotti was imprisoned in May 1986 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York, while awaiting trial on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges. He was forced to rely heavily on Gravano, Angelo Ruggiero, and Joseph "Piney" Armone to manage the family's day-to-day affairs while he called the major shots from his jail cell.

In June, Gravano was approached by Ruggiero and, supposedly at Gotti's behest, given orders to murder capo Robert DiBernardo for making negative remarks about Gotti's leadership. Gravano was friendly with DiBernardo and tried to get the murder called off until he had a chance to speak with Gotti after his trial. Ruggiero claimed to have met again with Gotti and told Gravano that the boss wanted DiBernardo killed right away.

Gravano arranged a meeting with DiBernardo where Joe Paruta, a member of Gravano's crew, shot DiBernardo twice in the back of the head as the underboss watched. Gravano later learned that Ruggiero was $250,000 in debt to DiBernardo and realized Ruggiero may have fabricated the orders from Gotti or simply lied to Gotti about what DiBernardo was accused of saying in order to erase the debt and improve his own standing in the family. In any event, DiBernardo's death proved profitable for Gravano, as he took over the deceased man's control of Teamsters Local 282.

Gotti's trial ultimately ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury and the boss was freed from jail. Gravano's specific position within the family varied during 1986 and 1987. With Gotti's permission, Gravano set up the murders of Tommy Spero and several other Gambino associates. In 1986, Gotti underwent a racketeering trial. Jury selection for the racketeering case began again in August 1986, with Gotti standing trial alongside Gene "Willie Boy" Johnson (who, despite being exposed as an informant, refused to turn state's evidence), Leonard DiMaria, Tony Rampino, Nicholas Corozzo and John Carneglia.

At this point, the Gambinos were able to compromise the case when George Pape hid his friendship with Boško Radonjić and was empaneled as juror No. 11. Through Radonjić, Pape contacted Gravano and agreed to sell his vote on the jury for $60,000. On March 13, 1987, they acquitted Gotti and his codefendants of all charges. In the face of previous Mafia convictions, particularly the success of the Mafia Commission Trial, Gotti's acquittal was a major upset that further added to his reputation. The American media dubbed Gotti "The Teflon Don" in reference to the failure of any charges to "stick".

With DeCicco dead, the Gambinos were left without an underboss. Gotti chose to fill the vacancy with Joseph Armone.

In 1987, Joseph N. Gallo was replaced with Gravano as consigliere, and by 1990, Gravano was promoted to underboss to replace the acting underboss Frank LoCascio. By this time, Gravano was regarded as a "rising force" in the construction industry and often mingled with executives from major construction firms and union officials at his popular Bensonhurst restaurant, Tali's.

Gravano's success was not without a downside. First, his quick rise up the Gambino hierarchy attracted the attention of the FBI, and he was soon placed under surveillance. Second, he started to sense some jealousy from Gotti over the profitability of his legitimate business interests. Nevertheless, Gravano claimed to be kicking up over $2 million each year to Gotti out of his union activities alone. Beginning in January 1988, Gotti, against Gravano's advice, required his capos to meet with him at the Ravenite Social Club once a week.

Turning government witness
Gotti, Gravano and LoCascio were often recorded by the bugs placed throughout the Ravenite (concealed in the main room, the first-floor hallway and the upstairs apartment of the building) discussing incriminating events. On December 11, 1990, FBI agents and NYPD detectives raided the Ravenite, arresting Gravano, Gotti and LoCascio. Gravano pleaded guilty to a superseding racketeering charge, and Gotti charged with five murders (Castellano, Bilotti, DiBernardo, Liborio Milito and Louis Dibono), conspiracy to murder Gaetano Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion.

Based on tapes from FBI bugs played at pretrial hearings, the Gambino administration was denied bail. At the same time, attorneys Bruce Cutler and Gerald Shargel were disqualified from defending Gotti and Gravano after prosecutors successfully contended they were "part of the evidence" and thus liable to be called as witnesses. Prosecutors argued that Cutler and Shargel not only knew about potential criminal activity, but had worked as "in-house counsel" for the Gambino family. Gotti subsequently hired Albert Krieger, a Miami attorney who had worked with Joseph Bonanno, to replace Cutler.

The tapes also created a rift between Gotti and Gravano, where the Gambino boss described his newly appointed underboss as too greedy and attempted to frame Gravano as the main force behind the murders of DiBernardo, Milito and Dibono. Gotti's attempt at reconciliation failed, leaving Gravano disillusioned with the mob and doubtful on his chances of winning his case without Shargel, his former attorney. Gravano ultimately opted to turn state's evidence, formally agreeing to testify on November 13, 1991. He was the first member of the hierarchy of a New York crime family to turn informer, and the second confessed underboss in the history of the American Mafia to do so after the Philadelphia crime family's Phil Leonetti.

Gotti and LoCascio were tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York before District Judge I. Leo Glasser. Jury selection began in January 1992 with an anonymous jury and, for the first time in a Brooklyn federal case, fully sequestered during the trial due to Gotti's reputation for jury tampering. The trial commenced with the prosecution's opening statements on February 12; prosecutors Andrew Maloney and John Gleeson began their case by playing tapes showing Gotti discussing Gambino family business, including murders he approved, and confirming the animosity between Gotti and Castellano to establish the former's motive to kill his boss. After calling an eyewitness of the Sparks hit who identified Carneglia as one of the men who shot Bilotti, they then brought Gravano to testify on March 2. On the stand, Gravano confirmed Gotti's place in the structure of the Gambino family and described in detail the conspiracy to assassinate Castellano, giving a full description of the hit and its aftermath. Gravano confessed to 19 murders, implicating Gotti in four of them. Krieger, and LoCascio's attorney, Anthony Cardinale, proved unable to shake Gravano during cross-examination. After additional testimony and tapes, the government rested its case on March 24. Among other outbursts, Gotti called Gravano a junkie while his attorneys sought to discuss his past steroid use.

On June 23, 1992, Glasser sentenced Gotti and LoCascio to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and a $250,000 fine. Gotti surrendered to federal authorities to serve his prison time on December 14, 1992. On September 26, 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison. However, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year.

Later life

Book and interviews
Later in 1994, Gravano was released early and entered the U.S. federal Witness Protection Program. The government moved him to Tempe, Arizona, where he assumed the name Jimmy Moran and started a swimming pool installation company.

However, in 1995, Gravano left Witness Protection and relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. A federal prosecutor later said that Gravano did not like the constraints of the program. Gravano began living very openly, giving interviews to magazines, and appearing in a nationally televised interview with television journalist Diane Sawyer. It was reported that he had undergone plastic surgery to his face. In 1996, his wife Debra divorced him.

In 1997, Gravano was consulted several times for the 1997 biographical book about his life, Underboss by author Peter Maas. In it, Gravano said he became a government witness after Gotti attempted to defame him at their trial. Gravano finally realized that the Cosa Nostra code of honor was a sham. At this time, Gravano also hired a publicist, despite the fact Gravano complained often about the publicity-seeking Gotti. After the publication of Underboss, several families of Gravano's victims filed a $25 million lawsuit against him. Also in 1997, New York State took legal action to seize Gravano's profits from the book.

During an interview Gravano had with the newspaper The Arizona Republic, he said federal agents he had met after becoming a government witness had become his personal friends and even visited him in Arizona while on vacation. Gravano later said that he did not want The Republic to publish the story, but relented after the paper allegedly threatened to reveal that his family was living with him in Phoenix. The story so incensed his former mob compatriots that they forced the Gambinos to put a murder contract on him. The FBI alleged that Peter Gotti ordered two Gambino soldiers, Thomas "Huck" Carbonaro and Eddie Garafola, to murder Gravano in Arizona in 1999.

Drug conviction
By the late 1990s, Gravano had re-engaged in criminal activity. He partnered with a local youth gang known as the "Devil Dogs" after his son, Gerard, became friends with the gang's 23-year-old leader, Michael Papa. Gravano started a major ecstasy trafficking organization, selling over 30,000 tablets and grossing $500,000 a week.

In February 2000, Gravano and nearly 40 other ring members — including his ex-wife Debra, daughter Karen, and Gerard — were arrested on federal and state drug charges. Gravano was implicated by informants in his own drug ring, as well as by recorded conversations in which he discussed drug profits with Debra and Karen.

On May 25, 2001, Gravano pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to drug trafficking charges. On June 29, 2001, Gravano pleaded guilty in Phoenix to the state charges.

In 2002, Gravano was diagnosed with Graves' disease, a thyroid disorder that can cause fatigue, weight loss with increased appetite, and hair loss.

On September 7, 2002, after numerous delays, Gravano was sentenced in New York to 20 years in prison. A month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to 19 years in prison to run concurrently. Gravano served his sentence at ADX Florence, part of it being in solitary confinement. Gerard Gravano received nine years in prison in October 2002. Debra and Karen Gravano also pleaded guilty and received several years on probation. In November 2003, Sammy and Karen were ordered to pay $805,713.41 as reimbursement for court costs and investigative expenses relating to an earlier drug ring judgment.

On February 24, 2003, New Jersey state prosecutors announced Gravano's indictment for ordering the 1980 murder of NYPD detective Peter Calabro by murderer Richard Kuklinski. Gravano denied any involvement in Calabro's death and rejected a plea deal, under which he would have received no additional jail time if he confessed to the crime and implicated all his accomplices. The charges against Gravano were dropped after Kuklinski's death in 2006.

In August 2015, Gravano's request to leave prison early was denied for reasons citing his "longstanding reputation for extreme violence".

In 2013, National Geographic Channel dramatized Gravano's ecstasy ring in a scene in the Banged Up Abroad episode "Raving Arizona", televised worldwide. The episode told the story of ecstasy dealer "English" Shaun Attwood, who was Gravano's main competitor in the Arizona ecstasy market.

Gravano was listed as being in the Arizona state prison system at a CO Special Services unit. He was initially scheduled to be released in March 2019, however, was released early on September 18, 2017.

In December 2020, Gravano started a YouTube channel and a podcast titled Our Thing.

See also
 Witness to the Mob, a made-for-TV film based on the rise of Sammy Gravano through the ranks of the Gambino crime family.

References

External links

 Sammy "The Bull" Gravano Biography Crimelibrary.com
 Salvatore Gravano Arizona Inmate Information
Maas, Peter. Underboss. 1997.
 Documentary series from Court TV (now TruTV) "MUGSHOTS: Sammy "The Bull" Gravano"  episode (2003) at FilmRise
 Booknotes interview with Maas about Underboss: Sammy The Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia, August 24, 1997

1945 births
American gangsters of Sicilian descent
Federal Bureau of Investigation informants
Gambino crime family
Inmates of ADX Florence
Living people
Mafia hitmen
People convicted of racketeering
People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program
American Mafia cooperating witnesses
United States Army non-commissioned officers
Military personnel from New York City
American people convicted of drug offenses
People with dyslexia
American YouTubers
American podcasters


text:
Topic DBMS
SubTopic DBMS strategy
AWS data warehousing
DBMS strategy
DBMS software
Microsoft SQL Server management
Oracle database management
columnar database
A columnar database is a database management system (DBMS) that stores data in columns instead of rows.
The goal of a columnar database is to efficiently write and read data to and from hard disk storage in order to speed up the time it takes to return a query.
In a columnar database, all the column 1 values are physically together, followed by all the column 2 values, etc. The data is stored in record order, so the 100th entry for column 1 and the 100th entry for column 2 belong to the same input record. This allows individual data elements, such as customer name for instance, to be accessed in columns as a group, rather than individually row-by-row.
Here is an example of a simple database table with 4 columns and 3 rows.
ID Last First Bonus
1 Doe John 8000
2 Smith Jane 4000
3 Beck Sam 1000
In a row-oriented database management system, the data would be stored like this: 1,Doe,John,8000;2,Smith,Jane,4000;3,Beck,Sam,1000;
In a column-oriented database management system, the data would be stored like this: 1,2,3;Doe,Smith,Beck;John,Jane,Sam;8000,4000,1000;
One of the main benefits of a columnar database is that data can be highly compressed. The compression permits columnar operations — like MIN, MAX, SUM, COUNT and AVG— to be performed very rapidly. Another benefit is that because a column-based DBMSs is self-indexing, it uses less disk space than a relational database management system (RDBMS) containing the same data.
As the use of in-memory analytics increases, however, the relative benefits of row-oriented vs. column oriented databases may become less important. In-memory analytics is not concerned with efficiently reading and writing data to a hard disk. Instead, it allows data to be queried in random access memory (RAM).
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