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The gens Secundinia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome.  No members of this gens are mentioned by ancient writers, but a number are known from inscriptions, dating entirely or almost entirely from imperial times, and concentrated in Gaul, Germania, Noricum, and adjacent areas.

Origin
The nomen Secundinius belongs to a class of gentilicia formed from other names using the suffix , indicating that it was derived either from the cognomen Secundinus, or from the nomen Secundius.  Both of these in turn derive from Secundus, a name originally given to a second son or second child; Secundinus is a diminutive form.  Secundus may originally have been a praenomen, like similar names such as Quintus, Sextus, and Decimus, but in the time of the Republic the masculine form is only encountered as a surname.

Praenomina
The main praenomina of the Secundinii were Gaius and Lucius, two of the most common names at every period of Roman history.  Only a few examples of other praenomina are found in the inscriptions of this gens, many of which lack praenomina.  Also found are Marcus and Sextus, which were common, and Postumus, which was relatively scarce as a praenomen, although common as a surname under the Empire.

Members

 Secundinia Nepotilla, the wife of Valerius Victor, and the mother of Gaia Valeria Candidida, buried at Cemenelum in Alpes Maritimae in the late first century, with a monument dedicated by her parents.
 Sextus Secundinius, together with his wife, Junia Firmis, built a sepulchre at Virunum in Noricum, dating to the first century, or the first half of the second, for themselves and their children, Mogetius, aged nine, and Sextianus, aged seven.
 Lucius Secundinius Surianus, buried at Flavia Solva in Noricum, aged fifty-one, during the first century, or the first half of the second.
 Postumus Secundinius Maximus, the heir of Tiberius Julius Ingenuus of Virunum, a soldier from the twelfth urban cohort at Rome, in the century of Naevius, who was buried at Rome in the late first or early second century, aged twenty-four years, having served for six years.
 Secundinia Severina, the wife of Gaius Sacretius Spectatinus, one of the duumviri jure dicundo at Flavia Solva, who built a sepulchre for himself and his wife at the present site of Grafendorf bei Hartburg, then part of Noricum, dating to the first half of the second century.
 Lucius Secundinius, an officer in the second cohort of an uncertain military unit in AD 135.
 Secundinius Justinus, made an offering to Jupiter Dolichenus, according to an inscription found at the present site of Zeillern, formerly part of Noricum, between the first and third centuries.
 Secundinius Mercator, buried at Noreia in Noricum between the first and third centuries.
 Secundinius Vibianus, made an offering to the tutelary deity of Noricum at Virunum between the first and third centuries.
 Secundinius Verullus, a centurion in the Legio II Augusta, stationed along Hadrian's Wall in Britain during the middle of the second century.
 Gaius Secundinius Eutyches, buried at Alba Julia in Dacia during the second century, with a monument dedicated by his wife, Vibia Annia.
 Secundinia Paterna, buried at Rome, aged thirty years, five months, in a second-century tomb built by her husband, Valerius Secularis.
 Gaius Secundinius Sabinianus, made a second-century offering to Silvanus Domesticus at Aquincum in Pannonia Inferior.
 Gaius Secundinius Secundus, one of the aediles at Celeiensium, built a second-century tomb at Ivenna in Noricum for himself and his wife, Materna, the daughter of Vibenus.
 Lucius Secundinius Victor, built a second-century tomb at Fanum Fortunae in Umbria for Clearchus, the slave of Lucius Titius Felix.
 Gaius Secundinius Legitimus, a member of the college of Jupiter Cernenius at Alburnus Major in Dacia, according to an inscription from AD 167.
 Secundinius Ursinus, built a tomb at Virunum, dating to the middle or late second century, for himself, his wife, Betautunis, and their granddaughter, Lasciva, aged one year and five months.
 Secundinius Divixtus, one of a number of persons who made offerings to Fortuna at Civitas Alisinensium in Germania Inferior, according to an inscription dating to the second century, or the first half of the third.
 Secundinia Festiva, buried in a tomb byult by Acceptus Senilis at Celeia in Noricum, dating to the second or third century.
 Secundinius Verus, a soldier stationed at Alexandria in AD 199.
 Secundinius Amantius, a cornicularius, or hornblower, in the Legio XXII Primigenia, who, with the permission of his father, Primulus, made offerings to Sol Invictus, Mithras, and Mars at Mogontiacum in Germania Superior, in the latter half of the second century, or the early part of the third.
 Marcus Secundinius Silvanus, a negotiator, or merchant, dealing in chalk from Britain, who made offerings to Nehalennia at Ganventa in Gallia Belgica, in the latter half of the second century, or the first half of the third.
 Secundinius Serotinus, buried at Abodiacum in Raetia, aged ninety-five years, fifteen days, in the late second century, or first half of the third.
 Gaius Secundinius Dignus, made offerings to Jupiter Optimus Maximus and Juno Regina at the present site of Osterburken, formerly part of Germania Superior, in the late second or early third century.
 Marcus Secundinius Vitalis, a decurion in the Ala I Thracum, along with his wife, Claudia Priscilla, and daughter, Secundinia Vitalina, made an offering to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Depulsor at Poetovio in Pannonia Superior, in the late second or early third century.
 Secundinia M. f. Vitalina, the daughter of Marcus Secundinius Vitalis and Claudia Priscilla, with whom she joined in making an offering to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Depulsor at Poetovio in the late second or early third century.
 Lucius Secundinius Severus, together with Gaius Victorinius Fronto, made an offering to the Matronae Aufaniae at Bonna in Germania Inferior in AD 204.
 Lucius Secundinius Favoralis, one of the Seviri Augustales at Civitas Mattiacorum, made an offering to Jupiter Optimus Maximus and Juno Regina at Mogontiacum, in the first half of the third century.
 Secundinia Justa, together with her son, Lucius Septimius Peregrinus, dedicated a monument at Lugdunum to her husband, Lucius Septimius Mucianus, a soldier in the Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix, dating to the first half of the third century.  In the middle part of the century, Secundinia, her daughter-in-law, Oclatia Alexandra, grandson, Lucius Septimius Alexander, and cousin, the centurion Marcus Valerius Silvanus, of the Cohors I Germanica in Germania Inferior, dedicated a monument at Lugdunum to her son, Peregrinus.
 Secundinius Amabilis, a young soldier in the Cohors I Flavia at Colonia in Germania Inferior, where he was buried, aged nineteen years, ten months, and twenty-five days, in a tomb between the late second and end of the third century.
 Secundinia Pervinca, buried at Augusta Vindelicorum in Raetia, aged forty-five years, seven months, and twenty-one days, in a sepulchre built by her husband, Gaius Julianius Julius, decurion and quattuorvir, for himself, his wife, and their children, Julianius Julius Junior, Julianius Jucundus, and Julianus Justus, dating to the third century, or the last part of the second.
 Secundinius Tossor, made an offering to Sol Invictus and Mithras at Octodurum in Alpes Poeninae, dating between the late second and end of the third century.
 Secundinius Candidianus, buried at in a third-century tomb at Ovilava, built by Titus Flavius Campestrinus, a veteran soldier, and Julia Exorata, for Julius Exoratus, probably their son, and Candidianus.

Undated Secundinii

 Secundinia, dedicated a tomb at the present site of Waldbillig, formerly part of Gallia Belgica, to her husband, Gallionius Planctus.
 Secundinius, named in an inscription from the present site of Igel, formerly part of Gallia Belgica, along with his sister, Ingenuia Decmina, and Secundinia Afra.
 Gaius Secundinius Adventus, along with his sister-in-law, Nundinia Severina, dedicated a monument at Colonia to his brother, the chalk merchant Secundinius Severus.
 Gaius Secundinius Amandus, made an offering to the goddess of the Batavi at Juliacum in Germania Inferior.
 Secundinius Attillus, along with Divilla, made an offering to a temple at the present site of Schweighouse-sur-Moder, formerly part of Germania Superior.
 Lucius Secundinius Aventinus, together with his brother, Secundinius Securus, dedicated a family sepulchre at the present site of Igel for their parents, children, themselves, Publia Pacata, the wife of Aventinus, and Lucius Saccius Modestus, together with his son, Modestius Macedonius.
 Secundinia Avita, buried in a family sepulchre built by Aurelius Avitianus at Bonna for himself, Avita, and Aurelius Arusenus Turesus, a veteran of the Legio I Minervia, perhaps his father.
 Secundinius Felicissimus, mentioned in a song inscribed at Tarraco in Hispania Citerior.
 Secundinia Fruenda, one of the heirs of a soldier buried at Colonia, together with Audacta.
 Gaius Secundinius Hylas, dedicated a monument at Lugdunum in Gallia Lugdunensis to his wife, Facundinia Germana, aged eighteen years, two months, and sixteen days.
 Lucius Secundinius Januarius, made an offering to the local goddesses at Colonia in Germania Inferior.
 Gaius Secundinius Julianus, an eques, or horseman, in the Legio XXII Primigenia, buried at Ancyra in Galatia, aged thirty-five, having served for fifteen years, with a monument from his friend and heir, Gaius Seranius Vegetus.
 Secundinia Justina, together with Quintus Julius Severinus, perhaps her husband, made an offering to the local goddesses at Juliacum.
 Secundinius Martius, made an offering to Mars at Colonia Ulpia Trajana in Germania Inferior.
 Secundinia Materna, named in a monument from Dea Augusta Vocontiorum in Gallia Narbonensis.
 Lucius Secundinius Moderatus, together with his comrade Lucius Justius Satto, made an offering to Nehalennia, commemorated in an inscription found at Domburg, formerly part of Gallia Belgica.
 Secundinius Motucus, dedicated a monument at Augusta Treverorum in Gallia Belgica for the freedman Motucius Lupercus.
 Secundinia Paterna, together with Marcus Flavinius Fatalis, made an offering to Jupiter Optimus Maximus at Colonia.
 Secundinia Romana, dedicated a tomb at Augusta Treverorum for one of her children.
 Secundinia Sacrobena, buried at Divodurum in Gallia Belgica.
 Secundinius Securus, along with his brother, Lucius Secundinius Aventinus, dedicated a family sepulchre at the present site of Igel for their parents, children, themselves, Publia Pacata, the wife of Aventinus, and Lucius Saccius Modestus, together with his son, Modestius Macedonius.
 Secundinius Severus, a chalk merchant buried at Colonia, with a monument from his wife, Nundinia Severina, and brother, Gaius Secundinius Adventus.
 Secundinia Tavena, buried at Augusta Treverorum, in a family sepulchre built by her husband, A[...]us A[...]ius.
 Secundinia Ursula, dedicated a monument at Colonia to her son, Severinius, the son of Evalus.
 Secundinia Victorina, the wife of [...]sonius Adjutor, named in an inscription from Germania Inferior.

See also
 List of Roman gentes

References

Bibliography

 Theodor Mommsen et alii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated CIL), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
 René Cagnat et alii, L'Année épigraphique (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated AE), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
 George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
 La Carte Archéologique de la Gaule (Archaeological Map of Gaul, abbreviated CAG), Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (1931–present).
 Viktor Hoffiller and Balduin Saria, Antike Inschriften aus Jugoslawien (Ancient Inscriptions from Yugoslavia, abbreviated AIJ), vol. 1: Noricum und Pannonia Superior, Zagreb (1938).
 Anna and Jaroslav Šašel, Inscriptiones Latinae quae in Iugoslavia inter annos MCMXL et MCMLX repertae et editae sunt (Inscriptions from Yugoslavia Found and Published between 1940 and 1960, abbreviated ILJug), Ljubljana (1963–1986).
 Inscriptiones Daciae Romanae (Inscriptions from Roman Dacia, abbreviated IDR), Bucharest (1975–present).
 Brigitte and Hartmut Galsterer, Die Römischen Steininschriften aus Köln (The Roman Stone Inscriptions of Cologne, abbreviated RSK), Cologne (1975).
 Annona Epigraphica Austriaca (Epigraphy of Austria Annual, abbreviated AEA) (1979–present).

Roman gentes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
DevOps Leader Eficode Receives Strategic Investment from Investcorp to Boost Global Expansion
Helsinki, Finland, December 20, 2022 – Eficode has announced a significant investment from Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm. Investcorp becomes a majority shareholder in Eficode, and will partner with Eficode's founder, Risto Virkkala, and CEO, Ilari Nurmi, to support Eficode through its next phase of ambitious growth and international expansion. Risto, Ilari, and the rest of the Eficode management team will continue to be significant shareholders in the company alongside Investcorp.
Eficode accelerates global growth in DevOps services
In April 2018, Eficode received an investment from Bocap's private equity fund. Fuelled by this investment, Eficode grew its revenues from €22 million to over €150 million in 4 years and is now present in 10 countries. Eficode's impressive list of 1400 customers include Volvo, P&G, Nokia, The Royal Bank of Scotland, OP Financial Group, Vodafone, ABB, Kone, Rovio and Vestas, among others.
Eficode is amongst the most significant Atlassian, GitHub and GitLab partners worldwide, measured by number of certified professionals, partnerships, and acclaimed industry awards.
Risto Virkkala, founder of Eficode, said: "It's great to partner with Investcorp who has a strong track record in supporting growing technology and professional services companies. Demand for DevOps grows all the time, as every company needs to put software development capabilities and software products as their strategic pillars. With Bocap, Eficode went to Europe. Now with the backing of Investcorp, we expect to significantly accelerate our growth worldwide to make Eficode the leading DevOps services house in the world."
Ilari Nurmi, CEO of Eficode, added: "We are excited to partner with Investcorp as we enter our next phase of growth. We believe that Investcorp will enable Eficode to further strengthen its position as a leading global provider of DevOps consulting services and managed DevOps platform. Investcorp has the right expertise and experience to support our global expansion strategy, both organically and through further acquisitions. We look forward to being able to help more companies through their digital transformation journeys."
Vilma Torstila, Bocap's Investment Director, said: "Bocap has been a part of Eficode's exhilarating growth story till its current Pan-European success. The close collaboration with Eficode's ambitious team has been rewarding, and we are excited to see what the future holds for this dynamic and forward-thinking company!"
Investcorp partners with leaders in technology and professional services
Investcorp is a global investment manager specializing in alternative investments across private equity, real estate, credit, and a number of other asset classes. Founded in 1982, Investcorp focuses on generating attractive returns for its clients while creating long-term value in its investee companies by acting as a prudent and responsible investor.
Daniel Lopez-Cruz, Head of European Private Equity at Investcorp, stated, "We are thrilled to be partnering with Eficode, a leader within the large, fast-growing and resilient DevOps market. Eficode's services are becoming increasingly important to companies in all industries as they go through digital transformation. Eficode provides mission-critical services that enable companies to meet the digital expectations of their customers, take their R&D capabilities to the next level, improve efficiency and cost management, and maintain their competitive edge. We're looking forward to working with Risto and Eficode's talented team to capitalise on the opportunities available to the company."
Investcorp's notable investments include Swedish-based Electronic Health Record software and services provider Cambio; leading global provider of ticketing software solutions provider Vivaticket; tech-enabled digital sales and marketing solutions platform CloudCare; modern data, technology, and digital transformation consulting firm Resultant (formerly KSM Consulting); leading business advisory firm CrossCountry; and global consulting firm AlixPartners.
Investcorp has today 13 offices across the US, Europe, GCC and Asia, including India, China and Singapore. As of June 30, 2022, Investcorp Group had US $42.7 billion in total AUM, including assets managed by third party managers, and employed over 480 people from 50 nationalities globally across its offices.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Ilari Nurmi, Chief Executive Officer, Eficode. ilari.nurmi@eficode.com, +358 40 577 5084
Lauri Palokangas, Chief Marketing Officer, Eficode. lauri.palokangas@eficode.com, +358 50 486 4918
About Eficode
Eficode is the leading DevOps company, driving the DevOps and Agile movement and building the future of software development across ten countries with about 600 professionals.
Eficode guides customers with DevOps and Agile skills and practices, and enables them to focus on their growth and customers with Eficode ROOT managed DevOps platform: a managed service with over 50 preferred tools, including Atlassian, GitLab, GitHub, and Kubernetes; along with our Application Management and Atlassian services.
About Investcorp
Investcorp is a global investment manager, specializing in alternative investments across private equity, real estate, credit, absolute return strategies, GP stakes, infrastructure and insurance asset management. Since our inception in 1982, we have focused on generating attractive returns for our clients while creating long-term value in our investee companies and for our shareholders as a prudent and responsible investor.
We invest a meaningful portion of our own capital in products we offer to our clients, ensuring that our interests are aligned with our stakeholders, including the communities that we operate within, towards driving sustainable value creation. We take pride in partnering with our clients to deliver tailored solutions for their needs, utilizing a disciplined investment process, employing world-class talent and combining the resources of a global institution with an innovative, entrepreneurial approach. In January 2022, Investcorp issued its 2021 Responsible Business Report which outlines its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) highlights for 2021 and specific initiatives the Firm implemented to meet its goals: https://www.investcorp.com/esg/.
For further information, visit www.investcorp.com and follow us @Investcorp on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
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text:
James / The Slow Readers Club - Wolverhampton Civic - 7th December 2016
Day two of James' UK mini tour saw them return to Wolverhampton for the first time in nineteen years to the Civic. A set full of surprises and seven setlist changes from the previous night and a band at the peak of their powers in one of the best venues of this size in the country delighted a packed Black Country crowd. Support came from The Slow Readers Club.
We've said it plenty of times, but The Slow Readers Club look and sound at home on these bigger stages that have become the norm for them in 2016, both on the two tours with James and in their own right. They've blossomed into a band capable of filling academies across the land, not just in the delivery of the songs in their set, which impressively you can reel off a list of songs that were not played, but also in the way they carry themselves on stage. Jim's foot to foot hop as he delivers razor sharp bass lines and Kurtis's effortless rock star slightly distant cool have always been there, but the crisper clearer sound also allows us to appreciate just how good a drummer David is too, as you can hear the subtleties and nuances in what he does, no more so than at the very end of the set as he brings Know The Day Will Come to a close.
There's already a lot of love between them and James' audience, some of which is down to the band's patronage, but that alone doesn't explain the reaction they get. Songs from their debut (Sirens, Block Out The Sun and the anthemic One More Minute) mix with those from Cavalcade (the title track that opens the set, Days Like This Will Break Your Heart, Start Again, Forever In Your Debt, Plant The Seed, I Saw A Ghost and the aforementioned Know The Day Will Come) to create a set that doesn't let the audience's attention wander. These are big songs, about real human feelings we can relate to, and the cathartic impact of singing them works for those on and off the stage and by the end they've won over a whole new set of fans as the brisk business at the merchandise desk at the end of the night proved.
James come on to stage fashionably late and launch themselves into Waltzing Along. It's a song that's often a barometer for a live James set. It's not one of their most adventurous songs in its recorded format, but how it's transformed into the live environment is often a marker for the intensity and challenge of what's to come. Tonight it reveals a band on fire, fresh off a debut tour of Australia and New Zealand with a mischievous glint in their eye that says they're going to challenge us and themselves with a set that packs a punch with the big hitters sprinkled liberally throughout, but one that also delves into the back catalogue and plucks out long-forgotten gems like the coolest magic trick around.
To My Surprise, once a few technical issues are ironed out, has the same delirious effects, its chorus exploding into spectacular light and two thousand or so of us yelling the line "were you just born an arsehole?" at the tops of our voices. It's testament to the impact that Girl At The End Of The World has had this year that it's greeted as an old friend rather than the tepid response bands of James' vintage often get with new material. James are, of course, a different breed. Similarly, arms are raised all round the venue, probably involuntarily in places, as the rippling, cascading crescendos of Surfer's Song roll over us like the waves the song's subject matter is riding. Tim's out and up on the barrier surveying all before him looking for connections. Ring The Bells returns to the set and has the delirious effect you'd expect from it. It's far more than an invitation to dance, it compels you to let loose and that's exactly what the audience do as it propels itself, accelerating under the weight of its own movement to its ecstatic conclusion.
Things are brought down a notch in terms of pace, but ratcheted up in terms of intensity for the quartet of Interrogation, Ten Below, English Beefcake and Five-O, four songs separated by years in terms of birth, but with an emotional power beating strongly from the heart at the centre of each of them. The self-doubt, inner questioning of Interrogation's lyrics around a swirling, menacing musical build contrasts with the wistful reminiscing on Tim's dark school boy days in nearby Shrewsbury where John Peel's show was one of the few escapes. English Beefcake, with enough ideas in it to fill an album, reaches a delirious celebratory conclusion of "there's nothing to say, I get in the way, unable to break obsession" that somehow feels like it's two thousand people joined together in some form of musical self-help confessional. Even more powerful is Five-O, which starts with an incredible violin solo from Saul that has Tim sat on Dave's drum riser to drink it all in with the rest of us and ends with Adrian's displaying a master class in slide guitar.
There's so much love in the room that you can almost feel it in the air after Moving On delivers a perfect message to those who have departed the world and it's not lost on Tim who tells us that they could feel who we were all thinking about during that song and that it was collectively for all of them. A quick change to the set list sees the reintroduction of Born Of Frustration, which acts like a release valve for any remaining emotional energy that any of us have left. It's one of those songs that they manage to play differently every time they tour it, so much scope for improvisation and adding to the much-loved original. Andy ends up on the balcony amongst the fans, encouraging us all to join in the Indian holler. To think once that simple minded journalists thought this was a copy of rock's dinosaurs.
"I love that you loved that one" are Tim's words to us after the end of a delicate, immaculately listened to Feet Of Clay, a song that benefits immensely from the quality of both the sound in the hall and the audience's attention. It's the type of James song that can often get lost mid-set with an audience hungry from the adrenaline release of the big hit singles and lose its place in the set, but, like all the Girl At The End Of The World songs, it fights its own battles and more than holds its own in the heat of the battle.
Next up is a real treat for the hardcore James fan. At the time they were splitting from Sire in 1988 and just before Gavan's departure, they were in a vein of rich songwriting form and from the sessions that spawned Sit Down, Burned was also born and then let out on the live long-deleted One Man Clapping album. It's a direct vitriolic response to the treatment they'd had from the music industry, but some of its core sentiments could equally relate to relationship betrayal. It's James from a different era, but also a James that you can still recognise - a slow powerful flame burning at its core that explodes into light at the point the chorus kicks in. We get something in our eye at this point as we're sure others in the hall do to.
That recognition is evident in Dear John that follows, a song born of the same raw materials but with a completely different chemical reaction to create its end product. Tim dares us at the end to play it at a divorce ceremony and jokes that they've now got a song for every occasion.
Cello and acoustic guitars are brought out for an intimate acoustic She's A Star and Adrian's piercing cello cuts through the steaming hot air like a knife through soft butter as two thousand sets of arms reach for the sky and sing back every word. It then jumps straight into a wild, ecstatic Come Home that has everyone jumping around like we'd time travelled back to 1990, that siren call of Mark's still as impossible to resist now as it was back then. Tim's out amongst us, surfing on a sea of arms, almost dropped at one point, but somehow returned to the stage in one piece.
A rippling keyboard introduction doesn't reveal to all what's to follow, but the 1-2-3-4 call in certainly does and a Sit Down that changes pace at will as the crowd drown out Tim. He tells us it's a song that they don't play very often, and to us that's what keeps it so special rather than the elephant in the room that gets dragged out at the end of the night. The main set finishes with Attention, the stage cloaked in black as it reaches the middle section from which it slowly comes back in, through a sea of raised arms clapping, and explodes back into light.
For the encore, Tim ventures up on to the balcony, dancing with those hemmed in by the seats and in a touching moment singing a verse and chorus holding someone who was unable to dance's hand and looking them straight in the eye as he did. By the time he makes it back to the stage, the rest of the band have already struck up Sometimes, a delirious version that the audience bring back at the end and then the band take the opportunity to come back too and improvise whilst Tim loses himself in his own world of dance and the rest of us do a very bad impersonation of him doing just that. They finish with a sea of arms in the air and a celebratory Nothing But Love, a contrast to some of the dark themes that have gone before, and confirmation that in 2016, thirty odd years in, they still have the ability to not just craft magical journey songs, but something that can just grab at the heart strings and create magic.
It feels at the moment that James are on a roll, there's a glint in the collective eye that says they're not just here to entertain, they're here to have fun, to challenge us, to give us something different to what they gave the crowd the night before. It's at times like this that the band are at their best, unafraid of it coming crashing down if the improvisation or the song they haven't played for years doesn't quite come off, driven by their creative urges and feeding off each other and off us.
James played Waltzing Along, To My Surprise, Surfer's Song, Ring The Bells, Interrogation, Ten Below, English Beefcake, Five-O, Moving On, Born Of Frustration, Feet Of Clay, Burned, Dear John, She's A Star, Come Home, Sit Down, Attention, Just Like Fred Astaire, Sometimes and Nothing But Love.
James' official website can be found here. They are on Facebook and Twitter. Some of the band - Tim, Larry, Andy and Dave - are also on Twitter.
The Slow Readers Club can be found at their website. They are also on Facebook and Twitter.
Our Introducing The Slow Readers Club piece can be found here.
Labels: James, The Slow Readers Club
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A job task analysis questionnaire is a special record comprising of varied questions that help examine and study the various tasks involved in a particular job. A job comprises of several other sub-tasks, each of which needs to be analyzed separately to ensure that they are in perfect state of execution and can be culminated to result in a completely effective job procedure. Hence, the questionnaire must comprise of such questions that bring out the details of the tasks involved in the particular job.
Q1: Describe the nature of the job and its primary objectives.
Q2: What are the specific requirements for this job?
Q3: What types of personnel have been employed at the job?
Q4: Who has/have been recruited to supervise over the job? Kindly mention their qualifications along with.
Q5: What is the suggested procedure for execution of the job?
Q6: What are the tasks specifically included as part of this particular job?
Q7: Discuss the steps for executing the tasks involved?
Q8: How are the duties and responsibilities distributed for execution of each of the tasks?
Q9: What are the prerequisites for each of the individual tasks?
Q10: What effect does each of the tasks have on the job as a whole?
Q11: What is the approximate time span for each task?
Q12: What is the expected outcome/result of the tasks in this job?
Q13: What are the areas that have been recognized for future developments?
Q14: Describe the work environment and the job as you perceive it.


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La 5a Brigada Mixta va ser una unitat de l'Exèrcit Popular de la República que va participar en la Guerra Civil Espanyola, sent una de les primeres que es va crear seguint el sistema de les Brigades Mixtes. Aquesta unitat va estar composta per carrabiners.

Història
La brigada va ser creada cap a finals d'octubre de 1936 a Villena, a partir de forces de carrabiners. Va ser formada a partir d'unitats de carrabiners i va quedar sota el comandament de Fernando Sabio Dutoit.

El 4 de novembre la brigada va partir cap a Villacañas en ferrocarril, i des d'allí va continuar per mitjans motoritzats fins a aconseguir la zona de Colmenar de Oreja i Chinchón, on va quedar instal·lat el lloc de comandament de la brigada. Durant la defensa de Madrid va cedir dues dels seus batallons per a la defensa de la ciutat. El dia 7 la 5a BM es trobava protegint el sector de Vallecas. El dia 12, al costat de la 2a Brigada Mixta i XII Brigada Internacional, va atacar el Cerro de los Ángeles. El 21 de novembre el comandament republicà li va encomanar la reconquesta del Cerro Garabitas, recentment capturat per les forces revoltades. No obstant això, la brigada va fracassar en el seu intent de conquistar el turó i a canvi va sofrir moltes baixes, entre elles la del comandant Sabio —que va resultar ferit—. Al començament de desembre la unitat va ser destinada a cobrir el front que anava des de Valdemorillo fins a la Ciutat Universitària de Madrid, sector que es trobava sota el comandament del general Kléber. Poc després la brigada va ser adscrita a la 5a Divisió, sota el comandament del comandant Juan Perea Capulino.

La brigada va participar en les últimes fases de la Batalla del Jarama. Arribada a la zona de combat, el 14 de febrer va intentar conquistar el pont de Pindoque, però l'atac va fracassar. Després de l'estabilització del front de Madrid, la 5a BM no tornaria a participar en cap acció bèl·lica important.

A la fi de 1937 la brigada va quedar adscrita a la 13a Divisió. En la primavera de 1938 va passar a dependre de la 18a Divisió del Grup d'Exèrcits de la Regió Central (GERC). Al març de 1939, en els primers moments del Cop de Casado la unitat va tenir una actitud vacil·lant, però finalment es va inclinar en favor de les tropes de Liberino González, consolidant la victòria del coronel Segismundo Casado. La brigada va desaparèixer amb el final de la contesa.

Comandaments
 Capità d'intendència Fernando Sabio Dutoit;
 Tinent coronel de carrabiners Luis Sánchez Codés;
 Capità de carrabiners Hilario Fernández Recio;
 Capità de carrabiners Lázaro Fraguas Palacios;
 Capità de carrabiners Manuel Suárez Zabalo;

Referències

Bibliografia
 Alpert, Michael (1989); El Ejército Republicano en la Guerra Civil, Siglo XXI de España, Madrid, ISBN 84-3230-682-7

 Salas Larrazábal, Ramón (2000); Historia del Ejército Popular de la República. La Esfera de los Libros S.L. ISBN 84-9734-465-0

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Home / Paintings / Picasso / The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso
The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso
January 26, 2020 Paintings, Picasso
Where is the Old Guitarist painting located?
The Old Guitarist
by Pablo Picasso
The Old Guitarist, oil painting on canvas by Pablo Picasso, who is one of the greatest artists of all time, is crated in 1903 and early 1904 soon afterwards his best friend Carlos Casagemas's suicide leading cause of death. It is exhibited in Art Institute of Chicago within Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection. The painting depicts a desperate and blind guitarist over the streets of Barcelona, Spain. Monochromatic blue background concerning the Blue Period of Picasso, is the prominent indicator to reveal dark times of the artist. During this period, Picasso created over 14 canvases with his blue palette and highly focused on pathos of human being to depict the both positive and negative terms, such as solitude, sorrow and hope.
The Death of Casagemas
The Death of Casagemas (1901)
Searching for fortune and fame, drives two friends to Paris from Madrid when Pablo Picasso was 19 years old. Unexpected death by suicide of Casagemas, put Picasso in a depressed condition and brought to ruin him over years. This pessimistic timeline of his art between 1901 and 1904, called as Blue Period while categorizing the masterpieces of Pablo Picasso by art historians.
The Old Guitarist Analysis
Carlos Casagemas
in His Coffin
Art movements like Constructivism, Symbolism, Futurism, Modernism, Impressionism and Post Impressionism (related to Avant-Garde) have impacts on The Old Guitarist and relevantly Pablo Picasso's artistic process. However, it lived short, it is possible to claim Vorticism which is related to Cubism (see Guernica), also has an impact on the portrait. But priorly, effects of Symbolist Movement are seen obviously. Depiction of blindness indicates the inner vision of an artist just like many blind figures in Picasso paintings. Representation of this poor musician who plays his guitar for a couple of pennies in order to keep living, can be accepted as a criticism of society examples. Painting a blind musician form lower class, was probably not challenging for Picasso, because after he lost his best friend Casagemas, years of poverty had begun for him when he was not famous or rich. Those days, Picasso had a lot of time with gypsies, immorals and beggars.
What is the Old Guitarist about?
The Ascetic
The Crouching Beggar
The large brown guitar is the only element that has a vivid color against all melancholic colors in this two dimensional painting. It symbolizes hope for an artist to get rid of the bad days. When it is compared to dark gray tones, dull greens and melancholic blues, bright yellow tones creates a contrast and have a purpose of arousing people's interests into the figure which implies to hope. Just like in The Crouching Beggar (1902) and The Ascetic (1903) paintings by Pablo Picasso, usage of bright colors fit the purpose of symbolizing survival hope via bread, drink and blanket.
What inspired Picasso to paint?
El Greco's Self Portrait
To reveal the inspiration source of Pablo Picasso while creating The Old Guitarist, two masterpieces done by El Greco and George Frederic Watts, come to the forefront. El Greco, who is counted as the father of Expressionism and Cubism, is a greek painter, sculptor and architect. He received his education in the style of Byzantine Art (see Deesis) in Crete Island where was a part of the Republic of Venice. In 1570, after he had moved to Rome, he created Mannerism art movement and had a significant part in the early stages of Renaissance. By strange color choices, lengthened body parts and forced angular perspectives, El Greco's painting style impacted the art of Pablo Picasso, especially in his Blue Period. When it is focused on body structures of the figures in El Greco paintings, it is seen that abnormal limbs and arms make the portrait gain depth, however they drift the sense of reality away.
Hope by
George Frederic Watts
Despite the inspiration of technical details comes from El Greco, Picasso availed himself of Hope painting of George Frederic Watts to create the Old Guitarist. In Hope, a poorly dressed blind woman was depicted on the globelike floor and playing her lyre with one single string. Contrary to The Old Guitarist, eyes of the musician are covered with a bandage to imply the blindness of the figure obviously. In both paintings, blue and green tones had been used to import a desperate and sick atmosphere to the observers, while light tones of brown refer to hope. Another spectacular coincidence is clearly seen between the Old Guitarist and The Man with the Blue Guitar, which is a poem written by Wallace Stevens in 1937. However, depictions in the book seem to narrate The Old Guitarist, the poet denied the relation and inspiration on his behalf.
X Ray Discovery and Hidden Sketches
X ray image
Along with technological progress concerning the invention of x ray machines, an opportunity brought about. Nowadays, it is piece of cake to have detailed x ray scans of those priceless artworks and reveal their secrets. In the years of poverty for Picasso, he was not able to afford new canvases. Art historians believe that it is the reason of existing those three figures sketched underneath The Old Guitarist. Moreover, some other paintings such as Mother and Child by the Sea (1902) and The Blue Room (1901) from Picasso's Blue Period, include older drawings when their x ray images checked.
(X ray)
Besides the madonna and young woman depicted respectively, two other sketches are clearly seen. Until those hidden drawings are not relevant to each other, authorities support the theory that Picasso did not paint over his older sketches on purpose but because of poverty.
Hidden Woman
After Art Institute of Chicago shares the copies of the Old Guitarist with the Cleveland Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. State, William Robins and his colleague Max Jacob identified the drawings under the portrait. They have revealed shadowy figures of a woman with her little child and an animal, which is probably a cow. Many x ray images can be extracted from a copy of The Old Guitarist today worldwide.
How much is the Old Guitarist worth today?
Boy with a Pipe
The masterpiece of Pablo Picasso, is an oil painting on canvas with size of 130 cm × 82.6 cm (48.4 in × 32.5 in). Price of The Old Guitarist cannot be specified unless the Art Institute of Chicago decides to sell it. However, it is accepted priceless by authorities, The Old Guitarist quite likely worths more than $104.2 million which was the latest price of the Boy with a Pipe sold in 2004. If these two paintings, which belong to the Blue Period and Rose Period of Picasso, are assumed in same value, via an inflation calculation regard to the yearly change in USA, The Old Guitarist theoretically worths around $145.4 million today in 2020, even if the Art Institute of Chicago does not tend to sell it.
The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso Reviewed by Articonog on January 26, 2020 Rating: 5


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City of Beverly Hills | Community News | News
EDD Fraud Arrests Continue in Beverly Hills
The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) continues to make arrests connected to California Employment Development Department (EDD) fraud.
BY Ana Figueroa September 26, 2020
The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) continues to make arrests connected to California Employment Development Department (EDD) fraud. As first reported by the Courier on Sept. 11, the fraud involves the use of stolen identities to obtain unemployment benefits in the form of a Bank of America debit cards.
As of this week, Beverly Hills Police have made nearly 90 arrests in connection with the fraud. According to BHPD spokesperson, Lt. Max Subin, the department has seized 181 debit cards with a total potential value of $3.6 million; $466,000 in U.S. currency, seven handguns and one replica handgun.
"This scam came on rather quickly and now we're adjusting. We found out that this has been going on and now our federal partners, the FBI, the Department of Labor, the Secret Service, ATF as well as the investigative arm of the EDD are all helping. They know that we've made a large amount of arrests and are a very good police department," he said.
A confluence of circumstances has allowed the unscrupulous to game the system.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in massive unemployment in the state. At the same time, the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program has extended benefits to the self-employed, gig workers, independent contractors and others previously ineligible. But at the EDD, outdated technology is hampering the processing of legitimate claims. And, it's failing to weed out fraudulent ones.
In response to widespread reports of fraud throughout the state, the EDD announced a two-week moratorium on new claims on Sept. 19. The reset is intended to reduce the backlog of nearly 600,000 cases. The state will also roll out "ID.me," a new identity verification tool.
A spokesperson for the EDD said the new system will stop scammers sooner than the current process, which involves notices by mail.
A Courier reader has experienced the mail scheme firsthand. The reader, whose name is withheld for security reasons, contacted the Courier after seeing our Sept. 11 issue.
She said she had been trying to reach the EDD for weeks, after "hundreds of identity verification letters" began to arrive at her house on Aug. 29. All the letters had different names but listed her address. She was living in a rental home, getting ready to move out. Her apartment had been listed online. The reader returned stacks of the letters back to her mail carrier and shredded the rest. Nonetheless, she soon began receiving envelopes with debit cards, some sent by UPS.
Moreover, two men came to her door, asking for their mail.
The reader never heard back from EDD. She reached out to the LAPD, and they referred her to their fraud unit. She called them several times, but no one answered and there is no way to leave a message. Her L.A. City Councilperson's office did respond and said they would refer the matter to EDD and to her Congressional representative.
The reader still has possession of some
of the debit cards, in case authorities ever do contact her. In Beverly Hills, residents are encouraged to call the department if they receive mail from the EDD that isn't theirs.
"We appreciate any information. We will respond. We will take the cards into evidence," said Subin.
He adds, "We remain vigilant. We had 44 arrests last week. This week, we have 87, so it has almost doubled."
Subin also noted that not all benefit cards are suspect.
"People need to live and go to Trader Joe's and Ralphs and Macys and use the card to survive. There are actual victims here, in addition to the taxpayers. We've had people contact us who are unable to get benefits because their address was used numerous times by scammers. The system shut them down because they were suspicious. They need the benefits and can't get them," said Subin.
He added, "This is identity theft 101."
BHPD Confiscates Nearly $3 Million in EDD Fraud Arrests
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the EDD has paid out more than $81.8 billion in unemployment benefits since March.
Exercise, Wellness and Pampering has Taken to the Rooftops
You can also arrange a class with Natural Pilates of Brentwood who has set up their outdoor studio in the parking lot with tents. "It's a beautiful and welcoming atmosphere that their clients and our guests have really enjoyed," Clark told the Courier. "They are also hosting a yoga retreat in October."
Beverly Center Paints the City
"Beverly Center is proud to partner with PTCP and this group of talented local artists to provide a public space to showcase their meaningful work as a way to create positive change in our community," said Jackie Plaza, Marketing and Sponsorship Director of Beverly Center.


According to the Crime in England and Wales Report published in 2007, homes and offices equipped with an alarm system are three times less likely to experience a break in. Indeed, we all know that there is a need to install an alarm system so that we will be alerted when there is an intruder or when an emergency is about to happen, but we may not be so sure what actually make up of a good alarm system.
Typically, three things are inseparable from an alarm system; first and foremost, a detector. A reliable detector should react to incidences such as movement, jolt, tremor, change in temperature and water level etc. Some detectors come with passive infrared sensors (PIRs) which can detect if a person is moving via infrared heat sensing. Others may make use of Dual Technology – that is to combine sensing technologies via infrared and microwave in reducing the likelihood of a false alarm. Detectors also come in the forms of door or window contacts, so that alarm will sound when the door is open or when window is broken.
Secondly, an alarm system should also come with the control panel. This is also known as the "brain" of the whole alarm system as it is where all the detectors or sensors are connected to. A control panel will analyse all the signals transmitted from the detectors. A control panel usually comes with a keypad, which serve the purpose of controlling it. When an alarm goes off, the keypads within the control panel will identify what is the possible trigger and the information can be communicated either by LED indicators (for LED keypads) or texts (for LCD keypads).
The third component to an alarm system will be the siren. Sometimes, different tones are set to reflect if the alarm had been triggered internally or externally. External trigger is more vital in this case as it serve an additional purpose of deterrent or to seek the attention of outsiders for extra help. There are also optional component such as the communication device in which pre-recorded speech can be sound out when the alarm is triggered. These messages can be sent out by the control panel to users' phones or contacts, which comes in handy especially when the user is not around.
Once we have the basic knowledge for making up a reliable alarm system, the next thing one should consider will be the locations to which the system is to be placed.


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Conspirator Brock's Basement
Welcome to Conspirator Brock.com! This little part of the internet is home to my random musings about comics, movies and other comic centric topics. Every Wednesday my pull list gets posted so you can compare, contrast, or complain about the books I pick up and read every week. Thank you for stopping by, and always feel free to leave comments.
Reading List 2019
Random Comic Picks
Comic Book Binding Projects
Asking The Hard Questions (1-26-12)
What would it take for you to read and actually buy Marvel books again?
I asked Ryan Higgins this question and his answer was brutally honest and very true. He said, "It would take a lot for me to actually buy Marvel books again. Like Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and other creators I love would have to move over to Marvel for me to even really start picking up Marvel books."
I've been having that same feeling for a few years now. The Marvel books I actually buy and take home for my collection have dwindled down to nothing, and part of me feels bad for this, but then the rational part of me remembers that Marvel books haven't been worth spending money on and then I don't feel so bad.
But why am I cutting Marvel titles from my pull list at such a aggressive rate? Higgins had said that part of his reasoning for taking a book home was a combination of writer, enjoyment of character and art, and if 75% of these things weren't met then it wasn't worth it to him to take something home.
Of course certain things weighed heavier than others, but the example he gave was the current Nova series that is set to come out. He likes Nova, he doesn't care for the writer, the Marvel Point.1 Nova story was shit, and he really likes Nova; so he will at least read it, but take it home, no chance unless it blows him away.
I would have to agree with his thought process, but for me Marvel books have been such a disappointment over the past few years that I would have to add the fact that the book needed to be worth the money I spent on it. If it was a $2.99 book I better get $2.99 worth of pages and if it is $3.99 then I better get $3.99 worth of pages, but over the years it seems Marvel's price per page count has gone up and doesn't seem to be going down.
Marvel is banking on people loving the characters so much that they will buy anything with that character in it; i.e. Spider-man or Wolverine have numerous titles under their belts and then appearing in other titles on a frequent basis. I'm past this. I want quality writing, art work and a quality character when it comes to my comic book reading. Marvel, for me, has not delivered these goods in a long time, and my current and future pull lists (stuff I take home) will reflect this unless a lot changes.
Labels: Asking The Hard Questions, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Jim Lee, Marvel, Nova, Ryan Higgins
jinpei05 January 26, 2012 at 2:24 PM
Well stated, good sir.
sdf January 26, 2012 at 3:20 PM
Ohhhhhhhh shiat....love that image
Conspirator Brock January 26, 2012 at 4:46 PM
I must admit I had fun making it.
desmond95 January 26, 2012 at 8:38 PM
"Spider-man or Wolverine have numerous titles under their belts and then appearing in other titles on a frequent basis."
Bro, Batman has four ongoings, and then appears in a bunch of other books. He's like DC's version of Spider-Man or Wolverine in terms of promotion (i think, including teams, six Batman books vs. the 4 or 5 Spidey books and 3 or 4 Wolverine books, but i might be missing some)
"I'm past this. I want quality writing, art work and a quality character when it comes to my comic book reading."
What Marvel characters do you like? Also, do you really judge things from a price-to-page ratio? Quality wise, I understand but I don't really care about quantity. I just need a really good book (JL is the exception, as I would say that there are better $3.99 titles IMO but i still get for a few reasons).
When it comes to Batman having multiple titles I will admit this truth, but how many people buy The Dark Knight vs. something like Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man?
Price per page...you don't want to get the most out of your comic book purchase?
I like Spider-Man, Wolverine, the X-Men, Hulk, Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, and Cable to name a few.
I want to buy Marvel, I do. They just make it a difficult thing to do.
desmond95 January 27, 2012 at 12:27 AM
Well, TDK has the name plus the relaunch backing it up plus the movie, to be fair.
"Price per page...you don't want to get the most out of your comic book purchase?"
Ok, I don't like that Marvel has a bunch of $3.99 books. It's why i'm trade waiting on Moon Knight and Ellis' Secret Avengers. What I mean is that if a book is good enough (like REALLY good) I don't mind the $3.99 price point regardless of the number of pages. Likewise, I don't mind backups if they're good. But usually I don't buy 3.99 books on principle so whatever.
Well, you ARE trade waiting some of their best stuff (DD, Punisher). Can't really speak for things like Hulk, Cable, GotG, or Nova, and you've already made up your mind on X-Men (though i've heard Aaron's Wolverine has been pretty good lately) and Spider-Man.
Do you ever try the non-mainline (Cap, ASM, etc.) books?
Conspirator Brock January 27, 2012 at 9:22 AM
I do agree that a book is can be worth $3.99 even with a lower page count. Great books are worth the little extra.
I am "trade waiting" (by the way great way to say it) for some Marvel titles, but I was addressing in this post the fact that Marvel titles are disappearing off my pull list (what I take home) because they aren't worth it to me.
I did like issue one of Brain Wood's Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega series, but I didn't take it home.
As for the X-Men, No More Mutants was a great concept that went on for way to long and I'm tired of seeing the same kind of story over and over again and Schism put me on the side of those who don't buy X-Books anymore.
Non-mainline books? Depends on creative team, character and overall interest, but I don't shy away from them on purpose.
LiQuid January 27, 2012 at 12:59 PM
Brock, why do you say you're sick of "same kind of story" from X-Men, yet you were so disgusted with Wolverine and the X-Men that you couldn't even make it through one issue? WatXM is widely considered the antithesis of everything the X-Men books have been since M-day. It's an amazing, lighthearted (yet still EXTREMELY relevant) X-men book and nearly unanimously everybody that reads it loves the heck out of it. Alpha and Omega was totally good, but it didn't even come close to reaching the same level of all-around crowd pleasing FUN that WatXM has managed to reach in four short issues.
I get that you don't like to drop $4 on comics. I figure the extra money I'm spending on marquee Marvel books every week does add up (AND SUCK!), but you can't honestly pretend like there's no quality coming out of Marvel just because they are charging an extra dollar for some of the comics that you REALLY want.
I really hate arguing with you about Marvel because business practices aside I feel like they do put out a lot of great books that I love to read. Of all books that you have tried and dropped I really hope you decide to give Uncanny X-force and WatXM another try in trades because some of the best stories I've ever read in recent comics has come out of those two stories.
No anger, no animosity man, just talking about good comics. Hope you don't dismiss my comments as just another LiQuid comment and be civil with me cause I'm really laid back about this kind of thing it just sucks seeing your blanket injustices towards all Marvel.
Have a good weekend man!
Ryan mentioned that Marvel was like a girlfriend you have broken up with. For Ryan this break up happened many years ago so he can look at it with some disconnect. For me it is a more recent break-up; so I am a little jaded and prone to lashing out at that bitch for the heartache she has caused me.
Not to mention the fact that she is such a high maintenance ex-girlfriend. Costing me a lot of hard earned dollars on a lot of bull shit items.
As for the current state of the X-Books.
-Cyclops Team is the Gold Team and Wolverine is the Blue Team.
-Uncanny X-Force was good until it brought Deathlok into the picture and then they started to revisit Age of Apocalypse and draw out the story for over 6 months. What happened to the sick as hell team of killers doing the dirty work the X-Men couldn't? They went away with the renumbering.
-I enjoyed the Neil Gaiman Eternals series from 2006, but to take five years to do something with the Celestials? No longer care.
-The X-Men have been trying to recover from the fall out from House of M since 2005. They were going somewhere with Hope, but then what? All the Hope build up and with Uncanny X-Men, X-Men Legacy, Astonishing X-Men, Generation Hope and the X-Men series the books couldn't seem to go anywhere. I know let's renumber. Schism was a hard thing to read. From the jarring change of artist every issue (plus filler guys) and Jason Aaron's (who I like on Scalped) blah story about a teenage Hellfire club of wannabe Grant Morrison New X-Men rebels I couldn't stomach anymore. Which left me in a position to jump off the X-Men titles with the renumbering of Uncanny X-Men and the addition of yet another X-title Wolverine and the X-men. I know you say, "WatXM is widely considered the antithesis of everything the X-Men books have been since M-day," but you have to realize that it has taken 6 years for them to get to this point and I don't care anymore.
I have read Amazing Spider-Man since One More Day ($3.99 an issue) and then with Brand New Day we got 3 issues a month and an Extra issue. ($3.99 for the first issue of a story arc and then $2.99 for the rest of the issues of the arc and the Extra was $3.99) So, for just Amazing Spider-Man one would spend a minimum of $13.00 a month to read that title. Now it comes out every other week at $3.99 an issue and so I spend $8.00 for two titles when before four titles came out a month with an average price for two titles being $6.50. Nickels and Dimes add up and I wasn't impressed with every story that came out. When it comes to my dollar I want to uy something I like and feel I'm paying a fair and good price.
I understand my opinion on Marvel is not yours and I respect your opinion when it comes to titles you enjoy, but remember I recently have broken up with Marvel and it is still a sore subject. As for revisiting Uncanny X-Force and Wolverine and the X-Men. Not going to happen any time soon. I would rather try some of the Punisher books or the new Daredevil or to be honest the new Star Wars book coming out by John Ostrander.
And finally as to the "No anger, no animosity man" there is none. Talking comics is what we are doing and it is more fun to argue than agree. As for the fact that it sucks seeing me blanket injustices towards all Marvel; it sucks being dumped.
Enjoying a weekend? I always attempt as should you.
"What happened to the sick as hell team of killers doing the dirty work the X-Men couldn't? They went away with the renumbering."
"but you have to realize that it has taken 6 years for them to get to this point and I don't care anymore."
Didn't you say you were tired of "same old same old" X-Men stories? So, once it has been too long, you don't care if it's creative anymore? I dunno, that just seems odd to me. By the time W&tX came out you hadn't even jumped off X-Men yet. As for Hope, it looks like we'll see with AvX.
I can see why you wouldn't want to stick with ASM anymore though, even though i hear it's been pretty good lately. It just seems odd to dislike something unique like UXF and W&tXM while at the same time buying some of DC's more mediocre (IMO) action books, like (I hate to go back to this well) Grifter or apparently the new Green Arrow. Or, why not give something different at Marvel a shot like you did with DC's New 52. But if it's a money thing, I understand. There are quite a few series I wanna try out but unfortunately I can't.
But whatever, man. This will probably ultimately go nowhere, and we all have our tastes, and to each his own. Either way, hope your weekend was pretty good!
"By the time W&tX came out you hadn't even jumped off X-Men yet."
-Once I had heard (long before W&tX came out) that they where going to renumber Uncanny and split the X-Men up I started to evaluate my desire to keep X-Titles on my pull list. After Uncanny #1, W&tX #1 and the last "large as shit space station falling into a sun" story from Legacy, I was done.
-As for giving the mediocre titles at DC a try I did on some because of the cross title rejiggering, but for Grifter I like the character and wanted to see what they were doing with him. As for Green Arrow, I'm off after this story arc ends.
-I could give other Marvel titles a shot, but as I can relate, it is a matter of money. For example, I would love to give the Punisher Max series a go, but it is $19.99 for the first trade which only collects five issues($4.00 a book) doesn't seem like a good buy for me.
And as for single issues, Marvel titles have been mediocre at best for me, so I'm not one to jump on a single issue habit for something that isn't up my alley and could jump in price at any time for any reason.
To each his own! And desmond95, I hope you had a great weekend too!
Since comics, video games, movies, etc aren't free, then price is always an issue. Also, customer cash is king, and price/page is just as valid as any other reason to buy or not buy anything. When a company needs to deal with the consequences of their pricing schemes.
Marvel is sooooo High Maintenance.
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Conspirator Brock
I'm the father of two amazing kids, and a host on The Comic Conspiracy Podcast. All while trying to keep my hobbies in check, blogging, vlogging, and looking for the "one" good job or career. I'm also trying to get out of California before I go completely insane. Even though I think that has already happened...
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It's Tuesday, Ryan Said What? 1/17/12
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Wayne Cochran, once known as "The White Knight of Soul," died Tuesday (Nov. 21) at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer. His passing was confirmed by his son Christopher in the Miami Herald.
Known for a towering pompadour-style haircut, Cochran's elaborate stage dress is thought to have influenced Elvis Presley's Las Vegas era outfits. Earlier in his career Cochran had played in Otis Redding's band before being signed to King Records, where he established a close friendship with James Brown. "I never heard race in the music. It was just music that spoke to me. It moved me," the Herald reported Cochran as having said in 2011.
Cochran also discovered bass phenomenon Jaco Pastorius, who joined the C.C. Riders for a time. "He made sounds on his instrument I had never heard before," the band leader later recalled.
Cochran leaves behind two children, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.


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Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best
From Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame, we rank every entry into the multi-billion dollar franchise.
By Matt Miller
In the mid-2000s Marvel was in trouble. Comics were a thing of the past and superhero movies were at a crossroads. Rights were scattered across a number of different studios making it difficult to wrangle any of these heroes into a single franchise. Then Marvel Studios had the crazy idea to attempt to bring some of what were then considered B-list heroes under one roof to launch a new cinematic universe. It was unprecedented and no one thought it would work—especially by anchoring this massive undertaking with a nobody like Iron Man. But, the Robert Downey Jr.-starring film was a hit, and history was made.
Now, after 23 movies Marvel has officially concluded what it calls its third phase of its Cinematic Universe with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Along the way, the MCU has far surpassed other major franchises like Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit series in terms of box office numbers. And though at this point the Disney property has crafted a reliable superhero movie formula, not all of the MCU movies are created equal. Here they are ranked from worst to best.
23) Thor: The Dark World (2013)
When even Chris Hemsworth's biceps aren't enough to make a movie watchable, you know you've fucked up horribly. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
22) Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Two years later, I still couldn't tell you who Ultron is and what his age was. If there was any semblance of plot in this movie, memory of it has been pushed out of my brain in favor of about 30 billion superheroes hitting each other until I felt like I'd just gotten off a mildly dangerous carnival ride. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
21) The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Remember when Edward Norton was the Hulk and then very suddenly not? Yeah, I still don't remember what happened there? Was that ever explained? Is Norton okay? Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
20) Thor (2011)
A superhero movie posing as a cheap Lord of the Rings knockoff, Thor ended with a team of LARPERs fighting an empty CGI suit of armor. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
19) Iron Man 2 (2010)
At one point Mickey Rourke, who is some sort of trashy Russian hacker, attacks a car race, which sounds like some shit that actually would happen in 2017. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
18) Ant-Man (2015)
In one scene, Ant-Man shrinks down to a microscopic level and then Neil deGrasse Tyson ruins the movie magic by explaining how that's not actually possible in science. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
17) Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
It's sad that the idea of Captain America punching a Nazi would probably be controversial if this movie were released today. At least this movie harkens back to a time when good and evil seemed kinda clear. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
The best thing to say about Iron Man 3 is that it was a little bit better than Iron Man 2. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
15) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Sadly, what started as the best entry to the Marvel Universe quickly ruined a good thing by trying too hard to make it bigger and better in the subsequent sequel. What a very Marvel thing to do. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
14) Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
I hope you like hearing the term "quantum." Ant-Man's second entry has so much nonsensical techno-babble that it makes Star Trek sound like Steinbeck. Compared to Avengers: Infinity War, which came out a month earlier, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a breezy, inconsequential entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe that's a refreshing comedic detour in the franchise.
13) Doctor Strange (2016)
Don't worry if you were too stoned to follow Doctor Strange. The movie looks good enough to make up for its indecipherable plot. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
12) Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
While the penultimate film in the Avengers title doesn't continue with the progress seen in other 2017 and 2018 Marvel titles, it does much better at balancing the dozens of moving parts than its predecessor. If only the greatest heroes in the universe were better at protecting these stupid stones. Maybe Thanos deserves to win...
11) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Even though it falls into the familiar Marvel trap of a big, stupid ending, about two-thirds of Winter Soldier is a riskier and smarter entry into the MCU than most. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
10) Captain Marvel (2019)
Brie Larson's Captain Marvel deserved a better movie. Although, this film managed to rewrite 50 years of comic book history to give the character the place she deserved, Captain Marvel is too focused on finding its place in the MCU films before and after it to really shine as a stand-alone movie.
9) Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
In a refreshing change of pace, Marvel turns a Spider-Man movie into a funny teen drama that gives the supporting characters a chance to feel alive. The biggest accomplishment here, though, is making the sixth Spider-Man movie (with the third actor to play Peter Parker) in 15 years somehow not suck. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
8) Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
After impressively rebooting the character (again!) with Homecoming, Far From Home establishes Spider-Man as a worthy successor to Tony Stark and a capable new character to anchor this franchise after the conclusion of Iron Man and Captain America's storylines. With an impressive cast consisting of Tom Holland and Zendaya, Spider-Man's future in the MCU is bright. And he's only in high school!
7) The Avengers (2012)
The idea seemed doomed. How could Marvel put so many stars, so many heroes into one film? How could they pull off the balancing act of an interconnected universe consisting of a half dozen blockbuster films and fit them into one movie? Though a touch uneven and dizzying, Marvel pulled off one of the most impressive and ambitious feats in the big movie business. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
6) Avengers: Endgame
Though the stakes remain low in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—particularly low because of lazy plot devices—Endgame does its best to create emotional conclusions for some of the most iconic heroes of the last decade. It might be much of what fans expected from this movie, and what we've come to see from Marvel, but it brilliantly wraps up 10 years of movies and takes the time to actually focus on its characters.
5) Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Where previous entries felt stuffed to the brim, overwhelming, and just plain messy, Marvel finally found a good balance of the number of superheroes-to-story ratio. Even with appearances from literally everyone—and an introduction to the new Spider-Man—Civil War still somehow feels like a Captain America movie. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
4) Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
After two very bad Thor movies, director Taika Waititi somehow managed to not only save the franchise, but provide a promising formula for the next generation of Marvel movies. Thor: Ragnarok is a hilarious, exciting, and unexpected Marvel movie that stands out from every other film in the MCU, while proving to be one of the best big-budget blockbusters of 2017. Pre-order on Amazon.
3) Iron Man (2008)
It's the movie that started it all. Iron Man changed not only the superhero genre, but the movie industry as a whole. Plus, this was the movie that brought Robert Downey Jr. back, and the only Iron Man movie in which Tony Stark is a lovable asshole rather than just an asshole. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
2) Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians has everything a Marvel movie should be: an awesome soundtrack, a hilarious script, a unique visual style, its own attitude, an ensemble of fully-developed characters, a talking tree, and the rare ability to stand-alone among the rest of the universe. Guardians is at once part of the MCU and literally in its own galaxy, yet it still provides the backbone for how all these worlds are connected. It's proof that audiences are open to (slightly) new ideas, and don't require something familiar and rehashed every time. Buy/rent on Amazon and iTunes.
1) Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther is unlike any other Marvel movie, one that says something about our world in ways the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn't (despite their best intentions). Featuring a phenomenal collection of actors playing some of the most complex characters found in a superhero movie, Black Panther's pairing of Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan as bitter rivals results in a nuanced thematic conflict that puts most Marvel plot lines to shame. Most importantly: It's fun as hell, visually dazzling, and a refreshing addition to a film series that desperately needed a boost to keep it from becoming stale.
From: Esquire US
Matt Miller Culture Editor Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
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Food For Joy! Vegetable Hakka Noodles - Food For Joy!
I've always dreamt of a countryside lifestyle with less chaos and clamour. The place where I used to live in Shimoga, since five years was one of its kind. We built a beautiful dream home there, where one would always find cattle feeding on its side and natures' luxurious beauty. My mini kitchen garden was "the" heart of the home. When it rained I had the best sceneries to feast my eyes. It was less of a home and more of a dreamy island. When I opened my eyes, circumstances changed and then cropped up the Mandya chapter!
Mandya has its own story to say. Few parts are influenced by the urban lifestyle of Mysore and Bangalore whereas a few parts of Mandya are still non – urbanised and we get too see a lot of Ragi Mudde and Soppu Saaru getting sold off just like hot cakes in small vans and canteens. Weddings are never held without Ragi Mudde served on the platters.
We hadn't yet toured this place until we had Arvind, at our home in Mandya about whom I've spoken before, whose presence at any place and any time is just inspiring. Being a huge fan of Krishna (my little one), he keeps no stone unturned to spend some precious moments with this notorious toddler of mine.
This time when Arvind came visiting, Vinay decided to brisk all of us to a beautiful location nearby Mandya at Thonnur Lake, 10 kms from Pandavpura. This lake is supposedly planned by the Vaishnava saint, Ramanujacharya about 10 centuries ago. You can find a huge statue of the saint himself Enroute to the lake. All I could do was relax and thank God for whatever I was seeing and experiencing through my eyes.
There is a lot of history attached to this lake. This lake is asserted to have medicinal properties and that its water has never dried up since its conception, even in severe drought conditions. According to evidences, when Tipu Sultan visited the lake, he saw pebbles through its clear waters, and named the lake Moti Talab, or the Lake of Pearls.
The main attraction was the Nambhi Narayan temple that was again founded by the Vaishnava seer Ramanujacharya. According to some cantonment of people, it was originally a Jain basadi that was transformed into the Vishnu temple with the arrival of Ramanujacharya. Here the idol of Vishnu as Nambi Narayana was installed by Ramanujacharya himself.
While the idol in the sanctum is said to be over 5,500 years old, the temple itself, was built about 1,000 years ago with contributions by several kings who ruled over the region at various points of time. As a result, the temple is a blend of different styles of architecture. Though the Cholas are credited with the architectural design of the temple, the actual temple construction is attributed to the Hoysalas.
On our way back to Mandya, we halted at a 'Aale Mane' (A house were Jaggery is manufactured). Mandya manufactures huge amounts of jaggery and sugar and we see many bullock carts and tractors carry huge amounts of harvested sugarcane to factories. Apparently Mandya was also named as "Sakkare Pattana" or "Sugar Town".
Interestingly, jaggery is less used by the people of Mandya. We rarely get to see jaggery being used in local households here. Jaggery has just two steps of purification and manufacture. The sugarcane juice is constantly extracted and poured continuously into one huge cauldron. The extracted juice is then filtered and stirred continuously with a large ladle. A huge amount of dust, dirt and scum is collected at this step. After the first filtration, the contents are transferred to another cauldron of the same size and boiled well till thickens. This process takes a long time. After the boiling jaggery comes to a consistency it is poured into buckets or moulds and kept for drying. When it cools down, it is packed, boxed and sent for sale.
My toddler approves of all savoury and has never liked or craved for sweets till date. Being quite picky in nature he occasionally surprises me by suddenly asking for a second helping with his food or snack. I keep saying this to everyone around me; I'm just waiting for the day when he would start expressing his desires and food cravings. I would trade anything and run to the kitchen to fulfil his cravings.
Vegetable Noodles is quick to make if you have all the ingredients ready at hand. Chopping and tossing the ingredients together with love is all what you need. You need to make sure you use whole wheat noodles when you buy them from the store.
This is a very simple ingredient recipe. You can add chopped cabbage, celery and spring onions also for a better taste. You must make sure you use whole wheat noodles for this recipe.
Step 1: Chop all the vegetables into juliennes.
Step 2: Cook the noodles in around 4 cups of water and a few tbsps of oil. Drain the excess water. You can reuse the water for cooking rice or soups.
Step 3: Grind, ginger, garlic and green chillies in a blender. Keep aside.
Step 4: In a wok or a large pan, add some sesame oil and fry the onions.
Step 5: Once the onions are cooked add in the capsicum and sauce for two minutes.
Step 6: Next add in the rest of the vegetables, salt and let it cook until semi - soft. If you want your vegetables completely cooked then you can cook them until soft.
Step 8: Next toss in the noodles. Mix gently.
Step 9: Add soya sauce, tomato sauce and toss everything very gently with a fork. You can adjust the tomato sauce as per your liking. You can add lesser or more too.
Step 10: Toss well and top it with coriander leaves. Serve with a vegetable manchurian gravy of your choice or tomato sauce.


Everybody dreads the possibility of developing dementia and memory loss. I'm not talking about forgetting where you placed your keys, blanking on the name of some actor in a movie you saw three years ago, or the occasional brain fart when you can't remember what was on your grocery shopping list. I'm talking about forgetting how to get back to your house, drawing a blank on your spouse's name, or not recognizing a loved one's face. Scary stuff.
New research reveals that exercise may help fight off dementia—particularly in women. This doesn't surprise me. If you're familiar with my work, you know that I often say that what's good for the heart is good for the brain. Physical exercise is the fountain of youth; it's critical to keeping your brain vibrant and young. Exercise is one of the most powerful anti-aging tools, and it directly fights depression, anxiety, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
What did surprise me about this study, which was published in the journal Neurology, is HOW MUCH protection exercise provided.
Middle-aged women who had the highest level of cardiovascular fitness were almost 90 percent less likely to develop dementia in old age than women with lower fitness levels.
The women with the lowest fitness levels in middle age had the highest rates of dementia in their golden years.
Now that's what I call motivation to get moving!
In general, I recommend four types of exercise that are great for your brain: bursting or interval training, strength training, coordination exercises, and mindful exercise. Of course, you should check with your physician before starting any new exercise routines.
• Burst training involves 60-second bursts at go-for-broke intensity followed by a few minutes of lower-intensity exertion. Take a 30-45 minute walk every day. During the walk take 4 or 5 one-minute periods to "burst" (walking or running as fast as you can), then go back to walking at a normal pace.
• Strengthen your brain with strength training. The stronger you are as you age, the less likely you are to get Alzheimer's disease. It also helps with weight loss and losing belly fat. I recommend two 30-45 minute weightlifting sessions a week—one for the lower body (abs, lower back, and legs), the other for the upper body (arms, upper back, and chest).
• Boost your brain with coordination activities. Doing coordination activities —like dancing, tennis, or table tennis (the world's best brain sport)—boosts the activity in the cerebellum.
• Calm and focus your mind with mindful exercise. Yoga, tai chi, and other mindful exercises have been found to reduce anxiety and depression and increase focus.
To find out how you can shape up your brain and body, check out my #WorkoutWednesday fitness tips on Facebook.


Love potions bought on the Internet.
Impressed by the claimed breakthrough, Mr. Sato promptly ordered a bottle from the seller, listed as "shop7," for 3,580 yen (US$33), which he figured was a fair price on the basis that as "the world's first" love potion, he couldn't really say it was more expensive than any other.
Two days later, a box arrived at SoraNews24 headquarters. Oddly enough, the label's descriptions of the package contents said "nutritional supplements," but is there anything more nourishing than love?
Inside the box was a small glass bottle. Turning it around and looking at the label on the backside, Mr. Sato learned that the love potion's primary ingredients are extracts from mucuna bennettii (a kind of flowering vine native to New Guinea) and guarana fruit.
The love potion's instructions said to mix it into a drink, so Mr. Sato prepared several cups of water, one for each member of the staff in the office that day. Unscrewing the bottle's cap, he saw that the liquid was a deep brown color, and had a faintly sour smell to it.
Oddly enough, the instructions contained no information whatsoever regarding the proper dosage, so Mr. Sato decided to put one drop in each cup.
He then called his coworkers over and explained his plan, which they all took with surprising calmness (because a dude can only shock you so much when you've already eaten sushi off his naked body). So after a quick "Cheers!" it was down the hatch with the love potion.
Then it was back to work, and Mr. Sato asked everyone to inform him as soon as they felt the potion begin to work.
Whose heart would begin to stir fist, he wondered? Would it be Yoshio, his intrepid boss with a borderline-criminal past?
Young Seiji, who's still just learning the romance ropes?
Or would everyone's passion burst forth simultaneously?
An hour went by without anyone sweeping Mr. Sato up in their warm, strong yet supple arms. Then another hour passed, with everyone still continuing to diligently type away at their projects, with no furtive glances or surreptitious notes declaring undying affection and all-consuming amour.
Quitting time rolled around, with the day at the office having felt as ordinary as any other. Mr. Sato began to worry that maybe he should have used a larger dose of the potion…but then he realized why he hadn't observed any changes among his coworkers.
It was because they'd all already loved each other, even before he'd administered the potion.
▼ Even our reporter Go Hattori, who was out sick for the day, loves everyone so much that we could feel his presence hovering above us, like a disembodied head in a floating cube.
While we're not sure it counts as romantic love, there's no denying that there's plenty of genuine affection and fellowship among our team. After all, you might be able to put up with some annoying or bizarre behavior from a colleague you don't care for on a personal basis, but if you're willing to stick around an office where not only is a guy blasting his nuts with cooling spray, but asking if anyone wants to join him, then you must like each other on a pretty deep level.


Dan Huge has been named public finance director of the Indiana Finance Authority, a position with which he's already familiar.
Gov. Mike Pence announced the appointment Friday.
Huge, who is chief financial officer and chief operating officer at IFA, served as interim director of the agency from January to April this year after Kendra York stepped down. York had led the IFA since 2009.
This time, Huge will succeed former banking executive Dennis Bassett, who recently announced his retirement after just six months on the job.
Prior to joining the IFA, Huge was CFO of the Capital Improvement Board and executive director of the Indiana Bond Bank.
The Purdue University graduate also worked as CFO for Air Road Express, executive director of the Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank and as a controller for Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone and Towne Air Freight.
The IFA oversees state-related debt issuance and helps various agencies with financing.


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Feminism Politics Sexual Assault
College halts event with female lawmaker after she's accused of sexually harassing men
College Fix Staff •February 9, 2018
'I could smell the booze and see she was pretty far gone'
When Education Secretary Betsy DeVos* rescinded the Obama administration's Title IX guidance documents, some states considered legislation that would codify its provisions in their own laws, namely a low evidence standard and preferential treatment of accusers.
The co-author of a California codification bill, vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, and national leader in the #MeToo movement has now herself been accused by multiple men.
It's causing Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia immediate headaches: A college where she was scheduled to speak today has postponed the event.
She also announced Friday she was "voluntarily taking an immediate unpaid leave" from the Assembly "so as not to serve as a distraction or in any way influence the process of this investigation," even as she disputed the allegations.
Politico reports Garcia is under investigation by the Rules Committee following groping accusations by a former male legislative staffer, Daniel Fierro, who now leads his own PR firm.
His account of her behavior was corroborated by Lerna Shirinian, the communications director for Fierro's then-boss, Assemblyman Ian Calderon:
"I remember it very clearly, he told me as soon as it happened..he was in shock, I was in shock — but the culture was very different back then," Shirinian said, noting the admission was in confidence and she had to respect her friend's decision not to report it.
Another former male legislative staffer also confirmed Fierro's account. A lobbyist separately accused Garcia of a pattern of sexual harassment years later, an account corroborated by a female "high profile political operative in Sacramento." All three declined to be named.
The Claremont Independent reports Pomona College's politics department was scheduled to feature Garcia, a 1999 graduate, this afternoon at a "pizza and politics" talk.
The flyer for the event notes that she "currently chairs the Legislative Women's Caucus" and "has been a leading voice for women's issues, government transparency, and environmental justice."
The event has been postponed in light of the allegations, department chair Susan McWilliams told the Independent.
Also the chair of the Natural Resources Committee, Garcia was in a position to retaliate against both Fierro and the lobbyist if they reported her. The former was a young man trying to launch his communications business, and the latter, who represents a "major industry trade association," had business before her committee.
Because Fierro left the Assembly before whistleblower protections were signed into law last week, "he is not protected," according to Politico:
Since he no longer works for the legislature, Fierro won't receive legal counsel or any help in his effort to report the assemblywoman's conduct. Nor will he have any protection from retribution in the insular world of California politics, where former staffers, strategists, lawmakers and lobbyists often cross paths.
MORE: Jerry Brown vetoes Garcia's presumed-guilty bill
Co-sponsor of CA bill (https://t.co/b4A6APJv4y), which Gov. Brown vetoed, that sought to codify the guilt-presuming Obama standards for college students. https://t.co/UsfDvTFXkM
— KC Johnson (@kcjohnson9) February 9, 2018
The allegations share one undercurrent: Garcia's public drunkenness.
Fierro said Garcia "cornered him alone" while he was cleaning the dugout after the annual Assembly softball game in 2014, "began stroking his back, then squeezed his buttocks and attempted to touch his crotch."
She seemed to be drunk, and when he saw her again later that night, "she had to have other people hold her up."
Garcia has that reputation in Sacramento: The lobbyist said he saw her "in an intoxicated state on several occasions" around town, "sometimes appearing to need help."
Last May, Garcia followed up on repeated late-night phone propositions to the lobbyist by propositioning him at a political fundraiser:
She spotted him and said,"Where are you going?" the lobbyist said.
"She came back and was whispering real close and I could smell the booze and see she was pretty far gone,'' he said. "She looked at me for a second and said, "I've set a goal for myself to fuck you."
At that point, Garcia "stepped in front of me and reaches out and is grabbing for my crotch,'' he said. That was "the line in the sand," according to the lobbyist, and he stopped her. "I was four inches from her, eyeball to eyeball — and I said, 'That ain't gonna happen.'"
The lobbyist and Fierro said they are airing their accusations now because of the #MeToo moment and Garcia's leading role in it as well as the related #WeSaidEnough.
She was featured in the Time story "The Silence Breakers."
MORE: States embrace Obama's Title IX rules as Trump signals changes
I didn't know I was part of the story. That I was pictured and added to a timeline of this reckoning. It's an awkwardly humbling experience, but I am proud of this work and the company I am in. I hope you'll pick up a copy of @TIME &read about the bravery.#MeToo #WeSaidEnough pic.twitter.com/P1bfCDPKCf
— Cristina Garcia (@AsmGarcia) December 15, 2017
Fierro said he mentioned the incident last month to Calderone, his former boss, leading to the Rules Committee investigation – which quickly leaked.
The lobbyist was galled by Garcia's hypocrisy:
"I watched her jumping into this, and she's Joan of Arc," he said. "She's pushing against people who have done a lot of things — some worse than her, and some not."
Garcia issued a statement Thursday that she was never apprised of the allegations "until today" but she will "participate fully in any investigation that takes place:
I can confirm that I did attend the 2014 legislative softball game with a number of members and my staff. I can also say I have zero recollection of engaging in inappropriate behavior and such behavior is inconsistent with my values.
She followed up that statement Friday announcing her legislative leave:
Upon reflection of the details alleged, I am certain I did not engage in the behavior I am accused of. However, as I've said before, any claims about sexual harassment must be taken seriously, and I believe elected officials should be held to a higher standard of accountability. … I implore the Assembly Rules Committee to conduct a thorough and expeditious investigation, and I look forward to getting back to work on behalf of my constituents and for the betterment of California.
Hours before the Politico report was published, Garcia was educating her Twitter followers about consent.
The Claremont Independent notes Pomona celebrated its alumna in September 2016 as "a force of change in Sacramento" and one of the few Latina legislators who was "just getting started."
She "discovered her passions and developed her leadership skills and sense of social responsibility" as a Pomona student, and "continued to foster" her lifelong idealism on campus.
It set her up for office when she knocked off an incumbent in 2012 and rose through the ranks to vice chair of the women's caucus:
"I grew up in a household with strong women. When I showed up to the legislature, I became a second-class citizen in a way I had never felt. [I was] sexually harassed early on – even though I was a legislator. And I was told to sit down because I didn't know what was going on. …
"I decided that to be legislator, I was going to legislate to empower other women and change that. There's a lot work and not enough women, so I want to share the wealth with other women," she says.
She became known for her efforts to repeal the so-called tampon tax – also rejected by Gov. Brown – and to "revise an outdated definition of rape," apparently referring to the codification bill that Brown also vetoed.
Read the Politico report, Independent report and Pomona profile of Garcia.
UPDATE: The headline and body of the article have been revised to account for news that Garcia's alma mater postponed an event where she was scheduled to speak. She also announced she was taking leave from the Assembly for the duration of the investigation. Information from an earlier Pomona feature on Garcia has been added as well.
MORE: Mass. lawmakers approve 'junk science' campus rape bill
*Disclosure
IMAGE: News 24h On The World/YouTube


Using Social Media to Attract New Customers with Tony Robbins & Scott Klososky - Super Inspired Now!
Scott Klososky and Tony Robbins discuss the advantages using social media innovations to find new customers.
Credit to Tony Robbins for his amazing work.
Prince Ea WINS VIBE MAGAZINE CONTEST!!! Thankyou to everyone who voted!!


Versatile Actor from Manchester with experience in West end, Off west end, Touring productions and Pantomime. With a Passion for new writing and development.
In my spare time i DJ and run a successful events company specialising in disco music.
Puppetry, Circus Skills, DJing and Stand up Comedy.


Description: Two terrains as ground and one for the trunk; two trees as stones, two trees (one twice instanced) as grass; three BTO trees with translucent foliage, total 19 instances. A plant from the Vegetation set and a bird from Daz 3D. Ambient light by the Field 2a HDRI, support by a distant light and the key light by the sun. A small forest glade with sun rays.