text:
Lies and Deceit from Australia's "Vaxxed" promoters
Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, Anti-Vaccination Lobby, Health, Legal, Meryl Dorey, Scam	by Paul Gallagher
Lies and deception are second nature to the Australian Vaccination skeptics Network and particularly the group's conspiracy-pushing driving force, Meryl Dorey.
Never one to stray far from the spotlight Dorey has been active in promoting the anti-vaccine conspiracy theory propaganda flick, Vaxxed. Along with Polly Tommey, Brian Hooker, Tasha David and Suzanne Humphries, Dorey has recently caused a stir in misleading the managers of venues booked to screen the bogus "documentary".
This sort of scam was to be expected given the mid-May warning about the film and involvement of disgraced ex-doctor, Andrew Wakefield. On May 15th The West Australian published Parents warned on Perth screening of anti-vaccination film, Vaxxed.
Parents are being warned to ignore propaganda promoting the first WA screening of the anti-vaccination documentary Vaxxed.
The screening of the controversial film in Perth on Friday is being advertised through social media, with the southern suburbs location due to be given to ticketholders 30 minutes beforehand.
Directed by Andrew Wakefield — a former doctor whose debunked study played a key role in the anti-vaccination movement — the film reignites false claims about a link between the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine and autism. […]
Australian Medical Association national president Michael Gannon said people only had to see who the filmmaker was to know the content was questionable.
"Andrew Wakefield was found to have fraudulently produced evidence around the original MMR scare in Britain, which led to him being deregistered as a doctor," Dr Gannon said
By the time the planned July 25th screening in QLD was due, the group was seemingly getting creative. QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk heads a state government that is firmly pro-vaccine. Still, the venue chosen by the Vaxxed crew to peddle their nonsense was Miami State High School. As the ABC later reported;
Earlier this month Health Minister Cameron Dick urged residents to boycott the film that has caused controversy by linking a measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to autism.
In order to slip by the looming conflict of interest and the likely surety that anti-vaccine twaddle would be denied a state school venue, the Vaxxed crew decided to, well.., to lie. About the booking. The, um, purpose. About the purpose of the booking. Mmm, yes um, they did. The ABC quote the QLD Premier;
My preliminary advice is that there has been some misrepresentation to the school in question, Ms Palaszczuk said.
"They conveyed to the principal that it was to be conveying information about organic produce."
A report at Diluted Thinking (which I recommend reading) includes a statement from the Miami State High School Principal, Sue Dalton. It's quite clear that at no time was the intention to screen or the eventual screening of Vaxxed conveyed by those deceiving Miami State School. Sue Dalton's statement notes;
The school hall was hired to an independent local business owner to promote their healthy lifestyle business of organic foods and coffee. It is incredibly disappointing that the agreed purpose of the use of hire did not reflect the forum that was presented last night.
Reasonable Hank also covered this abuse of state education facilities and has fortunately included video of Polly Tommy revealing her unstable anti-vaccinationism. This would appear to be a woman crippled by malignant ideology and intent on spreading potentially lethal falsehood.
The next morning, July 27th, The Gold Coast Bulletin published an ideal front page.
Incredibly the dishonest Vaxxed crew again played their hand at deceit on July 28th taking advantage of Lake Macquarie City Council. Diluted Thinking covers this matter in depth presenting an excellent examination of the facts leading to a comprehensive conclusion. Dorey and Tommey are exposed as the amateur charlatans that they are.
The Newcastle Herald have covered the appalling conduct of the Vaxxed crew. Anger as Charleston community centre The Place screens film linking vaccines with autism;
HEALTH authorities and a Lake Macquarie councillor whose son is on the autism spectrum have slammed a decision to screen a film linking vaccines with autism at a Charlestown community centre.
On Friday night The Place, a not-for-profit centre set up between Lake Macquarie council and property group GPT, hosted a screening of Vaxxed, a documentary that is being toured by the Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network (AVN).
The AVN told Hunter ticket-holders of the venue by text and email two hours before the screening.
Lake Macquarie Liberal councillor Kevin Baker, a director of The Place, said he was shocked centre management had agreed to screen the film, whose central premise is that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine may be leading to an epidemic of autism diagnoses in children.
"It's something that's pretty close to me. I've got close family with autism including my nephew, and my son sits on the spectrum," he said.
Hunter New England Health firmly refuted the film's portrayal of vaccination as harmful to children.
"High vaccination rates have ensured that serious childhood diseases including measles have become rare in Hunter New England," a spokesperson said.
"We will continue to encourage parents to vaccinate their children."
The health service also took aim at Vaxxed director Andrew Wakefield, the lead author of a controversial study published in 1998 and since retracted that claimed the autism link.
On the topic of Dorey deception, she was behind a microphone the following day, July 29th, at the Club On East in Sutherland NSW. Dorey spends almost ten minutes preaching to the converted. However this doesn't lend a grain of truth to anything she says. Except of course that they find it harder getting media attention than previously. This is due to the effective and ongoing work of Stop The AVN which has simply held the AVN and AVsN to account with respect to various health, fair trading and business legislation in NSW and Australia.
Listen to the audio below;
http://traffic.libsyn.com/firesnake/Dorey_VaxxedSeminar_ClubOnEast_SutherlandNSW29072017.mp3
Or download mp3 here
Dipping into her fantasy bag Dorey claims that "we have pushed really hard to try and make vaccination reaction reporting mandatory for doctors". It seems that until doctors report vaccines as striking down huge numbers of children through illness and death, Meryl Dorey will not be satisfied on adverse reaction reporting.
They have also tried to get an ethically impossible study completed to compare the health of the fully vaccinated and the fully unvaccinated. Perhaps this is part of the reason anti-vaccinationists dismiss herd immunity. Sound methodology for such a study is quite a challenge given that the health of "the unvaccinated" benefits from herd immunity.
Dorey then claims that following a visit to Canberra the head of the Liberal Party wrote a letter to the AVN stating, "we know why you're asking this question and we will not do this study, because it could lead to changes in vaccination policy".
To laughter Dorey contends that this response she has plainly made up means that, "vaccination policy is what requires protection in Australia, not the children".
Later Dorey argues that, "we have the Health Minister in Victoria saying there are no side effects for any vaccine". Jill Hennessey said no such thing. In fact I remember this incident because there was anti-vaccine hysteria splitting hairs. It was the media release in concern that led to the wave of abusive emails, Facebook posts and tweets. The minister never mentioned "side effects". She mentioned vaccine "risks" and unfortunately she suggested there "are no risks", when in fact there are minuscule risks.
There are no risks in vaccinating your children, the science is really clear. Talk to a G.P. Don't get your advice from a quack on the Internet.
This anti-vaccine video channel has the minister's media appearance. Still whilst she was likely overly focused on the fear being pushed by the anti-vaccine lobby and made a general statement she has since made other statements. A media release in 2017 again never mentioned "side effects", but included.
Despite scientific evidence proving they are safe and effective, and have saved millions of lives, around 25 per cent of people still have concerns about vaccines.
This more recent and more accurate statement is what Meryl Dorey should focus on, rather than conveniently making up something based on the hysteria of almost 18 months ago. This doesn't stop Dorey getting audience members "who know someone with a vaccine injury" to stand up. About 25 people stand up. Dorey suggests this is about half. Yet not only is this an inaccurate manner in which to gather data Dorey was present when this statement listing serious vaccine injuries between zero and five per year was made to the Social Services Legislative Amendment in 2015.
After misleading her audience on the topic of vaccine injuries Dorey leads into "the right to have free and informed health choices for our children. Nobody has the right to take that away".
In fact I agree. So one must ask Meryl Dorey why she would seek to sabotage the Australian vaccine schedule and place countless individuals at risk of vaccine preventable disease? Why take away the very best informed health programmes that evidence based medicine has to offer? What she calls "free and informed health choices", are in fact misinformed and radically dangerous choices prompted by fear and ignorance.
To the pile of misinformation that Meryl Dorey has been pushing onto the ignorant for her own gain for years we must certainly add Andrew Wakefield's latest scam; Vaxxed.
anti-vaccination, Audio, Australian Vaccination-risks Network, Autism, Meryl Dorey, Scams, Vaxxed	7 Comments
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7 thoughts on "Lies and Deceit from Australia's "Vaxxed" promoters"
Craig Payne
Lies is all they got. That is their modus operandi …
You guys are obviously full of bunk as you listen to the Big Pharma companies that vaccinations don't cause autism . Look at the rate of autism rising right along with the rising amount of vaccinations Australia and soon the US are wanting to push on our children. The CDC's own website states the risks involved with each vaccine. Do your research before you make false accusations on Andrew Wakefield. All he said was there needs to be research done on the link of autism to the MMR -that's when he lost his medical license. It was because Big Pharma didn't want to lose their millions that they get from the MMR vaccine not because they care about the welfare of children. They are very powerful. Dr Wakefield has lost everything to warn people. They are trying to stop him. You are caught up in the Big Pharma lie. YOU are False News. I will warn others about you to not listen to your nonsense!
There are only facts on this site about Wakefield, Laurie. Your response is indeed from the antivax echo chamber. Speaking of research it's important to seek out reputable sources when it comes to the cause of autism. The condition is not the result of vaccination. Those who argue this point have continually changed the specific cause. From measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccination instead of just a single measles vaccine (to which Wakefield held a patent [http://bit.ly/AWpatent], and stood to make at least £72.5m per year had his scam worked [http://bit.ly/AWmoney]), to mercury in vaccines – when in fact it is ethyl mercury that's used and is cleared from the body in days, to claiming "too many vaccines, too soon" and so on.
missscali
Regardless of who is right , it is WRONG in every way to take away our rights as parents to make the choice to vaccinate or NOT to vaccinate. Everyone just keep being SHEEP and soon enough we won't have any rights at all!
And what of the rights of those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions or drug treatment? The tragedy is that the belief that one must have a right "not" to vaccinate, is based on disinformation and the very type of deception that appears in "Vaxxed".
Pingback: Vaxxed III: the aim of the Vaxxed II bus tour | Losing In The Lucky Country


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Westerhout ist der Familienname folgender Personen:

 Gart Westerhout (1927–2012), niederländischer Astronom
 Madeleine Westerhout (* 1990/1991), Empfangsdame und persönliche Assistentin von US-Präsident Donald Trump
 Nicola van Westerhout (1857–1898), italienischer Komponist
 Theo Westerhout (1922–1987), niederländischer Politiker

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


I'm just making a comment here, but it feels like no one ever comments on this blog! This is okay, but I like comments.
Today I was online researching churches for when I go home in just a few weeks. It's so funny...I did this last year. I wanted to join a college group and take dance classes. I was online for weeks figuring all of that out. I ended up doing neither...I met a group of people at a tea party that changed my social landscape (for the better), I spent a lot of time outside in dirt and bugs (taking pictures) and I fell in love. Little different from what I was thinking as I searched the internet.
I'm thinking about all of this as I search now. This is a perfect "little did she know" moment. I had no idea then that my summer would be different from anything I could imagine.
I'm sure this one will be too.
That doesn't stop me from thinking a little about it and trying to plan a little, but honestly, it is with less intensity (maybe I'm FINALLY learning balance!).
Every time I try to run ahead to this summer, even in my mind, I feel a check.
You're not there yet. Don't worry about it yet. Not yet.
I want to. Drat my humanness.
On the website for an old church of mine, I came across a small group leader list. I remember Mary, and I remember her with a different last name. This one which she has belongs to a guy I honestly had a huge crush on at one point, who she has obviously married (I have to admit that when I got to know them, it was obvious that they were going to end up together). This girl was roommates with my small-group leader, a part of my life at that time, though we were not close. Seeing her name made me smile and was a little strange.
I've moved on, and so has she. New season.
Today is Thursday, it marks a month since I've communicated with my ex. I'm moving on too. New season.
Summer is coming quickly, and I am trying not to miss Spring or cling to it too tightly. All of these classes and schedules are familiar, but coming to an end. I don't always enjoy the pace, but I will miss it soon enough as it gives way to the summer.
"Summer Again" tugs at my heart and is an example of one of my paradoxes. Although I dislike sadness, I love sad songs. I don't like sad movies (ask anyone who has tried to get me to watch Dickens - you know who you are) but I love sad songs. This song is about loss of what is as something new comes. It's about seasons, and really, my life. It haunts me.
Another song like that is "When the Summer's Gone" sung (and written) by Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken (who are married and marvelous). Sandra asks over and over again "will our love be strong when the summer's gone?" Seasons. New seasons.
This new season will bring me closer to many of you. I look forward to making memories, meeting new people, building relationships. Seeing what God has for this new season.


1.) A healthy faith family prays, lots. They pray both together and individually. One of the best results of this transition for us is a campaign called "Take Fifteen" that encourages every person to commit 15 minutes each day to praying for our body. It's an easy commitment and we were even given specific prayer requests so it was not hard to fill that time. I hope this continues even after this transition. Prayer is powerful! This isn't rocket science but is always a good reminder.
2.) A healthy faith family communicates properly. Gossip can do terrible, terrible damage more quickly than I think most realize. When a complaint or rumor has come up rather than spread it to neighbors and close friends the party concerned has been encouraged to take these concerns directly to the leadership or individuals involved. It has meant a LOT of meetings but it has also meant a lot of misunderstandings cleared up and further hurt avoided. Again, not a novel idea but it's so easy to fall into gossip if we aren't careful.
3.) A healthy faith family is quick to forgive. As I mentioned in my last post people respond to change in different ways. This is bound to cause misunderstand and assumptions to be made. As people are learning to communicate properly they are also learning to be quick to forgive and quick to ask for forgiveness. This has been one of my favorite things to observe.
4.) A healthy faith family respects other points of views. In any group with more than, well, one person you are bound to have disagreements and conflicting points of view. When it comes to the non-deal breaking theological issues we have seen many views expressed in our faith family. I have appreciated the way that we as a group have respected each other. While we might not all agree, we still love and respect each other and really, we will not know the answers to some of these questions until we can ask God directly so why cause strife in a relationship about it?
6.) A healthy faith family remembers who its true leader is. At the end of this transition we will have some new leadership but really, our true leader has never changed and this whole process has been such a good reminder of that. No one individual makes up the whole faith family or should ever be the face of it. We are all members with Christ as our head and he never changes.
I think she may have even been the one who originally said it. Did I mention that she is very wise (and also doing some awesome things in the country of Uganda)? Anyway, I've thought of this saying often in the last three months as our faith family experiences some very big transitions. Typically I think that transition is fun and exciting, especially when I am anticipating it. However when it's out of the blue, forced upon me, it's another story. This transition in our faith family was big and nothing short of a shock that left many people feeling hurt, abandoned and confused. To be honest I am very excited about where this will lead our community. I am excited about the many opportunities to grow and experience a level of freedom we've not know for a very long time. From a distance it looks like a fun adventure….
…but up close, in the day to day interactions, it is filled with challenges. Relationships are messy and church is weird. It doesn't function quite like a business or workplace nor does is it fully function as a family. Navigating the ins and outs of daily church decisions and relationships can be tricky. I'm sure this is true any time but it is magnified when there is a transition.
I am learning and seeing that people respond to change in different ways. Some people embrace the change and use it as a impetus to change lots of areas. They tend to think, since A is changing we might as well make changes to B and C as well. They may even change things not because they need to be changed but simply because they can be changed. In this way they can create a feeling of security or control in an insecure time. Other people respond in pretty much the completely opposite way. Feeling shaken up by the changes they have experienced can lead them to cling tightly to all that is familiar. Any new changes, even small ones, feel huge and uncomfortable. They resist change because the last change was hard and uncomfortable. They tend to think, why would we want to change anything else right now? By holding tight to everything that remains familiar they can create a feeling of security or control in an insecure time.
Now take all these people, who really both have the same end goal of feeling secure, and encourage them to be an active participant in this faith family. Ask them to contribute and use their gifts and insights, tell them to "get off the bench and into the game" and imagine what happens. Challenges. Lots of them.
Challenges are not bad. They are great opportunities to grow and learn. What is bad is when people in the first group see the people in the second group as sticks in the mud that they can't work with. Or when people in the second group see the actions of those in the first group as reckless and disrespectful. What we need to see, what I'm trying desperate to remember during this time, is that we need each other. We balance each other out and together make a fuller, more accurate representation of Christ than we could ever do alone. Isn't that our goal in the end, to look more like Christ?
So perhaps up close all we can see is a bunch of messy brush strokes that seem too dull and too conservative or too bright and just too much but hopefully from a distance we really are a beautiful and slightly unfocused image of Christ.


This paper proposes a framework for demand estimation with data on bids, bidders' identities, and auction covariates from a sequence of eBay auctions. First the aspect of bidding in a marketplace environment is developed. Form the simple dynamic auction model with IPV and private bidding costs it follows that if participation is optimal the bidder searches with a "reservation bid" for low-price auctions. Extending results from the empirical auction literature and employing a similar two-stage procedure as has recently been used when estimating dynamic games it is shown that bidding costs are non-parametrically identified. The procedure is tried on a new data set. The median cost is estimated at less than 2% of transaction prices.


This year our Crumble Christmas decoration uses a servo to control an "animatronic" Santa leg stuck in a chimney decorated with twinkling lights.
The Chimney is made from some sturdy, red cardboard building blocks, that we already had at home, with cotton wool balls stuck on for the "snow". Santa's leg is cut out from a cardboard box, painted red and black, with more cotton wool balls as a fur trim. The turning part of the servo is sellotaped onto the back of the leg (excuse the Stormtroooper: we used the box from a Star Wars toy) and the body of the servo is taped onto a smaller yellow block that sits behind and inside the chimney. The Crumble and battery box also rest inside.
The Crumble was connected to the battery box with croc-leads and to the computer, using the USB lead. The micro-servo has three connections: power ("+", "-") and "control" (labelled "S" on the crumbliser). The power pads were connected to the second set of pads on the battery box and "S" was connected to the Crumble's pad "C". The Sparkle strip was connected to "+","-", and "D" on the right-hand side of the Crumble and then wrapped around the base of the chimney.
The servo control block needs to tell the Crumble which output the servo is connected to (in this case "C") and the angle to set the servo. As this is an absolute, rather than a relative number, we had to do a bit of experimenting. Eventually, we determined that the servo needed to move between 65 and 85 degrees. To slow down the transition, we used a loop which steps the servo 1 degree every 60 milliseconds and a variable "x", which alternates between 1 and -1, to make it move back and forth. We wanted the Sparkle strip to change colour at the same time as the servo is moving. As there are 20 steps in the loop to move the servo, the simplest way to do this was to use only 20 of the Sparkles. We defined a variable "sprk" to be the index number of the Sparkle. Every time the loop is executed, Sparkles 5 to 25 are set to red, in turn. Variable "x" is used to set the adjacent Sparkle to green. Once we were happy with the effect, we disconnected the Crumble from the computer and placed our decoration on the fireplace. Can you improve on this and work out how to thread two programs together to use all 30 Sparkles? Merry Christmas!!


Invest2Innovate, or i2i, is an intermediary that supports early-stage enterprises in new & untapped markets, beginning in Pakistan. In November 2012, we launched the pilot of our accelerator program, in which five selected social enterprises in Pakistan received business support and access to mentors & investors in the country. The pilot concluded in January 2013, and i2i aims to continue running the i2i Accelerator each year and growing our angel investor community to further build this movement for entrepreneurship in Pakistan.


text:
Q: Array destructuring and assign to a class field values? class ALU {
  constructor (x, y) {
    this.zx = '0' // Zero the x input
    this.nx = '0' // Negate the x input
    this.zy = '0' // Zero the y input
    this.ny = '0' // Negate the y input
    this.f = '0' // Function code: 1 for Add, 0 for And
    this.no = '0' // Negate the output
  }

  ...

  setControlBits (controlBits) {
    this.zx = controlBits[0]
    this.nx = controlBits[1]
    this.zy = controlBits[2]
    this.ny = controlBits[3]
    this.f = controlBits[4]
    this.no = controlBits[5]
  }

  ...
}

How to write this code in a succinct way? Like can we destructure the array and assign it to the class field values?

A: Try this one.

function Foo(list) {
    [this.x, this.y] = list;
}

foo = new Foo([1, 2]);

console.log(foo.x);
console.log(foo.y);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Java: Handling browser's request in my ProxyServer I am writing ProxyServer, firstly I use ServerSocket to get Socket that is connected to me. Then I get InputStream from connected Socket and readed it. I have outputted the request of my browser to console:
GET http://mail.ru/ HTTP/1.1
Host: mail.ru
Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko)
Chrome/31.0.1650.63 Safari/537.36
Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate,sdch
Accept-Language: ru-RU,ru;q=0.8,en-US;q=0.6,en;q=0.4
Cookie: p=7nkAAOS6hAAA; mrcu=7D86524D326C5CB36F898F4A4CD9;
_ga=GA1.2.1174941236.1388398432; c=PCwPUwAAAPKbAAAiAgAAcQAAz5QIAgAA;

I must create new Socket to write this request to internet, but Socket needs port number and hostname(String) to connect.
If we consider that port number is always 80 then from what part of this request I must get hostname? Is this GET http://mail.ru/ HTTP/1.1 or Host: mail.ru?
Also, can I just send to internet only GET http://mail.ru/ HTTP/1.1 abandoning other parts?
Last question is, should I have to rewrite this GET method itself?

A: I have created simpliest ProxyServer. It works not so fast, but works:)
import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
import java.io.BufferedOutputStream;
import java.net.ServerSocket;
import java.net.Socket;
import java.util.StringTokenizer;

/**
 *
 * @author
 */
public class MyProxyServer {
    public static final int port = 8000;

public static void main(String[] args) {
    ServerSocket listener = null;

    try {
        listener = new ServerSocket(port);
        System.out.println("Proxy started..");
        while (true) {
            try {
                Socket client = listener.accept();
                ClientHandler handler = new ClientHandler(client);
            } catch (Exception e) {
                System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
            }
        }
    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
    }
}
}

class ClientHandler implements Runnable {

private Socket client;
private Socket internet;

private Thread thread;

public static int threadcount = 0;

private static int buffer_size = 8192;

private static String CRLF = "\r\n";

public int port = 80;

public ClientHandler(Socket client) {
    this.client = client;
    thread = new Thread(this, "Thread#" + threadcount);
    System.out.println("Thread#" + threadcount + " is running now");
    threadcount++;
    thread.run();
}

@Override
public void run() {
    try {
        byte[] buffer = new byte[buffer_size];
        BufferedInputStream clientIstream = new BufferedInputStream(client.getInputStream());
        clientIstream.read(buffer);

        String clientRequest = new String(buffer);

        System.out.println(clientRequest);

        String host = getHostFromRequest(clientRequest);

        internet = new Socket(host, port);
        BufferedOutputStream internetOstream = new BufferedOutputStream(internet.getOutputStream());
        internetOstream.write(clientRequest.getBytes());
        internetOstream.flush();

        BufferedOutputStream clientOstream = new BufferedOutputStream(client.getOutputStream());

        BufferedInputStream internetIstream = new BufferedInputStream(internet.getInputStream());

        buffer = new byte[buffer_size];
        int buffsize = 0;
        while ((buffsize = internetIstream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
            clientOstream.write(buffer, 0, buffsize);
        }
        clientOstream.flush();

        clientIstream.close();
        clientOstream.close();
        internetIstream.close();
        internetOstream.close();

    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.err.println("Exception " + e.getMessage());
    }
}

private String getHostFromRequest(String request) {
    String host = "";

    StringTokenizer tok = new StringTokenizer(request, CRLF);
    String method = tok.nextToken();
    host = tok.nextToken();

    host = host.substring("Host: ".length());

    return host;
}
}


text:
As you are probably aware, we announced this week that we believe Tian Tian, our female giant panda, is no longer pregnant. Based upon our scientific data, the window has now passed during which Tian Tian would have given birth. Whilst this is sad news, we have been able to make a number of key discoveries relating to giant panda pregnancies which we hope will add to the global understanding of this endangered species. We have also achieved the world's most comprehensive hormone analysis of an individual female panda. The Panda Team at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo have worked tirelessly the past few months and they have truly done everything to support Tian Tian during her breeding season. We will use what we have learnt this year and hope that next year will prove more successful.
Over the past weekend, across the Atlantic, the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington celebrated the birth of twin panda cubs, but unfortunately the smaller of the two cubs did not survive. I commiserate with the National Zoo and send my condolences on the loss of the cub. No giant panda zoo works in isolation; we celebrate each other's gains and empathise with each other's losses as we all work together as part of the giant panda project to save this magnificent species from extinction.
I am also saddened to hear of the passing of John Ramsay this past weekend. John who was affectionately known as 'JR', was the RZSS sculptor and blacksmith, working with the Society for 30 years. JR's intricate work can be found all across the Zoo, from the intricately decorated wrought iron gates, enclosure locking systems and metalwork on animal enclosures. His legacy certainly lives on at here at the Zoo and his one off sculptures of birds, animals and insects dotted distinctly around the site brings pleasure to visitors every day. The staff here were all fond of him and he will be missed. I send my sincere condolences to his wife and children.
And on a final note with some lighter news, I am writing my blog this week all the way from Sweden, where I am spending some time at a similar organisation to our own – Norden's Ark – to take a look at some of their conservation programs. I am here to gain some valuable insights into their program but also to share my knowledge and expertise with them as part of a collaborative conservation effort. I have learnt a fair amount in my short time here and will look at how we can implement some of their ideas within RZSS so that we can grow even further as a conservation charity; saving species from extinction.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." – Margaret Mead
Things have been very festive week at both Highland Wildlife Park and Edinburgh Zoo this week.
At the Park, Boeuf, the six month old muskox, was surprised with special festive enrichment – papier-mâché Christmas puddings. First of all, I must say a big thank you to the staff and volunteers who spent hours building up papier-mâché balls, then painting them to such a high standard. Boeuf and his parents, dad Myse and mum Karin, kicked and head butted the enrichment about the enclosure and Myse appeared to take great pleasure in completely destroying the pudding. It is wonderful to see the family together as Boeuf is a real success story for the Park. Muskox are notoriously difficult to breed due to high neonatal mortality rates and a low tolerance to parasites. Wet weather can also make calves in particular susceptible to pneumonia.
Christmas also arrived early for giant panda Tian Tian who received a panda cake in the shape of a Christmas tree and topped with a carrot star. Panda cake is a firm favourite with both Tian Tian and Yang Guang and is a special nutritional supplement they receive daily as part of their regular diet. Keepers placed the cake on her climbing frame (in an area she wouldn't usually receive food) as an added enrichment for her. Tian Tian wandered and sniffed about the enclosure before finally finding the cake. She climbed up beside it and gently lifted the star from the top before eating the whole cake. You can watch it all here:
There was more excitement at the Giant Panda Experience this week as it was announced that Edinburgh Zoo has been nominated for two prizes at the Giant Panda Zoo Awards 2014. Yang Guang has been nominated for "Favourite Panda Outside of China" and one of his keepers, Michael Livingstone, has been nominated for the "Panda Keeper of the Year" award. Panda fans and experts from around the world are invited to vote for their favourites at: www.GiantPandaZoo.com
Wild About Scotland Bus
To round up the week and truly symbolise the start of the Christmas holidays, the specially designed 'Wild about Scotland' educational bus has just finished its first term on the road. Since its launch at St Paul's Primary School, Whiteinch on 29 August, the bus has travelled 2377 miles to visit 53 primary schools, and welcomed on-board a massive 1,918 eager to learn pupils! The interactive classroom has been developed by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and brought to life by a partnership with Clydesdale Bank.
As I sign off for 2014, I wish you all the very best of wishes for the festive season and the new year ahead.
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together
~ Vincent Van Gogh
Beaver Kit by Phillip Rice
This week we were delighted to welcome, after five years of study, the publication of the Scottish Beaver Trial scientific reports by Scottish Natural Heritage. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland was a key player in the trial which was a partnership with Scottish Wildlife Trust and was hosted by Forestry Commission Scotland. The Scottish Beaver Trial was the first ever licenced mammal reintroduction in the UK. European beavers were reintroduced to the Knapdale Forest, mid-Argyll after they were hunted to extinction there 400 years ago. The key findings of the reports will be presented to the Scottish Government to enable a Ministerial decision about the future of beavers in Scotland to be decided in 2015. The five year trial included 11,817 hours of scientific monitoring fieldwork which varied from tracking the beavers to water sampling and has engaged almost three million people about beaver ecology. In 2013, we were honoured that the project was named 'Best Conservation Project in the UK' by BBC Countryfile magazine.
As the weather begins to get colder, it signals that the festive period is nearly upon us. Next week, on Wednesday 26 November, the first Christmas shopping night will be held in the gift shop at Edinburgh Zoo. Children of all ages will be able to meet Santa in his grotto and a truly festive environment will take over the whole shop as there will be carol singers, food tastings and special discounts. More information can be found at: http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/events/2014/11/meet-santa-at-our-christmas-shopping-night/
During winter at the Zoo, our popular Animal Antics hilltop show is replaced with an activity in a warmer location and this year our presentations team are running storytelling sessions in the Rainforest Room of the Education Centre. I don't want to give everything away, however it is an enlightening story with an important conservation message; it follows the journey of Chi Chi the giant panda as he travels through the mountains of China in search of more bamboo because his food source has declined. The story is a reflection of the actual conservation work taking place out in China.
Lasswade High School – China Trip with Jaguar Land Rover China
Also earlier in the week, I was pleased to sight photos from the recent trip to China by school pupils of Lasswade High School, an experience which I have covered quite closely in previous blog posts and was made possible through a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover China. It is my pleasure to share a couple of these with you.
Lasswade students seeing a giant panda
If you are visiting Highland Wildlife Park, look out for the young capercaillie who went on show last week.
Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.
~William Wordsworth
As you may remember, in April we had two very special visitors who travelled all the way from the Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS) in Uganda to spend some time at Edinburgh Zoo. RZSS is the core funder of BCFS and I am delighted to give you a little update on what has been happening out in Budongo Forest over July.
EX-hunter with goats
Two more Veterinary undergraduate students from Makerere University were stationed at BCFS for the whole month where they got first-hand experience in monitoring chimpanzee health and behaviours, conducting laboratory procedures and learning about conservation. BCFS were also busy implementing the first phase of the Alternative Livelihoods Programme, a partnership with charity Village Enterprise whose mission is to equip those living in poverty with resources to create sustainable businesses. It targets vulnerable groups and villagers, including hunters, widows and low income earners, around Budongo Forest Reserve and introduces training in enterprise development, conservation values and household sanitation. The beneficiaries chose goat management and growing onions as their enterprise choice for the year and I am looking forward to sharing with you their progress. As part of the support, BCFS also conducted livestock treatment during the sessions and over 800 domestic animals were treated through five villages.
Photo by Kevin Schafer
Meanwhile, out in Brazil, the RZSS is working to help zoos fulfil their potential role as conservation institutions. In March this year, RZSS helped fund a workshop to create an action plan for the Brazilian Zoo Association. Now, our giant armadillo project has launched a National Armadillo Conservation campaign in partnership with the Brazilian Zoo Association. We have made lots of materials, games, videos, stories and information so that each Zoo can create their own activities. A web site has been created www.vivatatu.com.br and we hope to translate all the materials to English and Spanish. Zoos in Brazil receive 20 million visitors each year and partnering with them is a great way for the project to reach out to people throughout the country. This partnership also helps create an in-situ / ex-situ conservation link between zoos and field projects.
And of course, as I'm sure you are all aware, there was a lot of excitement at the giant panda enclosure at the start of the week after the announcement that Tian Tian is pregnant. We all have our fingers/paws/hooves crossed it will be third time lucky and tests indicate that she may give birth at the end of the month. Of course, it is still early days and like last year, the late loss of a cub is unfortunately still entirely possible. In the meantime we endeavour to help Tian Tian be as comfortable as possible which (as she is showing sensitivity to noise) includes closing the panda enclosure. We are also looking forward to welcoming our Chinese colleagues next week who will be helping us prepare for the birth. Exciting times!
Science summer school animal behaviour monitoring at HWP
Another successful Summer School finished up last week, however the busy summer period for the Discovery & Learning Department is still in full swing. This was the first week of two for the Science Summer School at Edinburgh Zoo, following on from two weeks at Highland Wildlife Park. The same programme structure is used at both locations, yet details are customised for each. The course revolves around two projects and is for young people aged 16 – 18 years old who have a keen interest in zoology.
The first is an investigative project where they are given a selection of three animals currently not in the collections and are asked to recommend which one animal would be the best suited addition by presenting their findings on the Friday. The project starts with a talk from the head of living collections who discusses the considerations made before introducing any new animals, then students jump straight onto computers and into books and commence their research.
Science Summer School – camera trap setting
The second project is a first step into animal research. Students attend talks and classes which allow them to gain practical experience in scientific fieldwork. They set night vision camera traps (apparently foxes, magpies and even badgers are our regular night time visitors) and even have a hands-on class with one of our veterinary surgeons who teaches how to perform basic suturing (albeit, on chicken fillets) and dissect a salmon. Observation of animal behaviour is another key component of this project, and the young people have the unique opportunity to study this first hand.
I always find it fantastic to see such enthusiasm from the students when they're removed from the classroom environment and working independently out in the field – I often overhear them discussing observations and watch on as they scribble down notes, sometimes whilst even on their lunch breaks! It's truly a great first leap into zoology.
At both Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park, we are all watching with delight as the first borns of this year's summer breeding season grow up. The gentoo chicks are beginning to be moved to the penguin crèche where they can be seen learning to swim and dive, some with a bit more natural elegance than others. The two oldest Darwin's rhea chicks moved to the orchard paddock this week and seem to be enjoying running round their huge new home, and the attention from living on the East Drive. The five otter pups are also getting braver and are beginning to be seen more often. At the Park, the baby Chinese goral has become more visible – like red deer calves, they initially stay hidden for the first 2 – 3 week before actively following their mother. The muskox calf and his mother have now been introduced to the bull and all three animals are now permanently kept together.
On the topic of births, a final note has to be mentioned about giant panda Tian Tian. As the coming weeks are critical for her – we predict this is when implantation could occur and pregnancy may begin – and in response to her sensitivity to noise, we endeavour to create the best environment for her by deciding to close the indoor show dens of the panda experience. Both pandas' outdoor viewing areas will remain open during this time. I do apologise for any inconvenience caused, however trust you understand the decision. A full update can be found here
Our children may save us if they are taught to care properly for the planet; but if not, it may be back to the Ice Age or the caves from where we first emerged. Then we'll have to view the universe above from a cold, dark place.
~Jimmy Buffet, Mother Earth News, March-April 1990
Well Edinburgh Zoo is just finishing week three of Summer School, with one more week to go. Summer School is one of our Discovery & Learning team's busiest times of the year and we are extremely proud of what we can offer children during the school break.
Down in the Jungle was this year's theme, we have a new one each year, and the team has done an amazing job of decorating our Discovery & Learning building to look the part. A local studying artist has created a detailed animal mural to adorn the entrance way and the corridors are done up to look like the youngsters are walking through jungle terrain.
Each year we have 400 places across four weeks (100 slots per week) for children aged six to 15. Divided into four different age groups, children learn about the natural world in a fun and interactive way with our education officers. Summer School activities include animal handling, drama, games, arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, storytelling and more. The older children will spend time learning about animals, enclosure design and do more in-depth learning.
Each age group will get the chance to create an enrichment device for an animal. A bit like a toy, the enrichment is for the animal to essentially 'play' with and offers them a variety of stimulation. Here are some of our jungle themed enrichment devices made by some of our different age groups.
Here's a quick link to one of our senior education officers at RZSS explained more about one of our previous Summer Schools with a Down Under theme http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/discovery-learning/summer-schools
RZSS has also just completed our first offering of a new education programme called ZEST CWR (running 5 May to 10 July). The course was opened up to young people (17-21yrs) across Scotland and launched by Angela Constance MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women's Employment. By working in partnership with Skills Development Scotland we designed the programme for candidates that were not currently in education, employment or training (NEET's). The adapted ZEST programme offered six places at Edinburgh Zoo, as well as two places at the Highland Wildlife Park. All participants had the opportunity to achieve the Skills Development Scotland's Certificate of Work Readiness (CWR).
Also at Edinburgh Zoo this week, a very colourful Mindanao bleeding heart dove has arrived in Brilliant Birds and we shortly hope to find it a mate. Dillon the three banded armadillo has moved into Brilliant Birds too; he has a large open enclosure in the corner of the attraction. A really popular individual, Dillon has been with us for some years taking part in animal handling sessions and the hilltop shows; however this is the first time he's been on public display. Very lively, you are likely to see him scurrying around and exploring his environment.
Still with the Zoo, our rockhopper penguins are now back in the main enclosure – some of you may know they go up to an enclosure further up the hill for breeding season as the birds have previously bred very successfully at this location. The ten new gentoo penguin chicks from this year's breeding season will shortly go into the penguin crèche away from their parents to learn skills like independent feeding, swimming and grooming.
In some mixed news, there was a Chilean flamingo egg laid one morning, but unfortunately the birds accidently cracked it by the afternoon. This is actually still a really encouraging sign and we are hopeful for more eggs. Breeding season for the Zoo's 34 Chilean flamingos started in late spring when the bird keepers built "mud pie" nests to help stimulate courtship behaviour, such as head flagging, wing saluting, vocalising and aggression between competing males. Around 25 nests were created, each ranging in shape and size. In case you are passing the enclosure to the right of the main entrance and spot two eggs sitting rather proudly on top of two mud pie nests right now, they are actually fake and are just there to offer the birds encouragement! We hope to have more of the real thing shortly.
Finally onto staff news, two of our trainee keepers are now fully qualified as zoo keepers. RZSS has a 99.99% success rate that we are extremely proud off. Come September another seven trainee keepers start their course, so we wish them the best of luck. Michael Livingstone, one of our panda keepers, is also off to China next week to the Bifengxia Panda Reserve to work with pregnant pandas and cubs. This is the first trip to China for Michael, with his panda colleagues visiting last year. I hope to be able to share some of his experiences and photos from his trip with you here.
The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual
~John Muir, letter to J.B. McChesney, 19 September 1871
Well the weather this week has been wonderful and the animals at Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park have been making the most of the glorious sunshine.
In the Highlands the two northern lynx cubs are starting to venture out. Born to female Dimma and male Switch (please do excuse the names – they came to us with these already in place!), the cubs born on 24 May and are now seven weeks old. Visitors have been catching their first glimpses of the pair this week.
Keeper's also managed to capture the very first picture of our six Pallas's cat kittens. Born on 30 March to female Alula and male Beebop, the kittens looks rather sizeable already. They are now around three and a half months old. The story of the science behind their conception appeared in one of my earlier blogs. Currently off show until they are around five months old, it is important to keep them secluded as the species young are highly susceptible to toxoplasmosis.
Still with cats, our two Scottish wildcat kittens born on the 11 April to Betty and Hamish have been named Vaa and Gynack. Both females, their names are in-keeping with all kittens born at the Highland Wildlife Park being named after Lochs.
Both Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park have both had Eastern kiang foals. Two were born on the 21 and 22 June at the Park and can be seen in the entrance reserve, and one was born at the Zoo on 24 June. We know already that one of the Park's foals, born to Boshay, is male.
Kiang foal at Edinburgh Zoo by Sharon Hatton
In Edinburgh, Mya the Goeldi's monkey gave birth to a healthy infant just seven days ago in the Magic Forest. Mabanja the crowned lemur gave birth to twins early this week in the Monkey House and both doing well so far. This is her first birth and a first breeding of this beautiful species for us so we are all delighted.
Last but not least, I cannot end without mentioning one of our most high profile potential births…
Of course earlier this week we confirmed that giant panda Tian Tian has conceived. However, with pandas this is not as straightforward as it may sound as the species practice delayed implantation. Technically pregnancy has not yet occurred in Tian Tian as her embryo has not yet implanted into the womb, when this occurs pregnancy has commenced. Pandas have very short pregnancies, so if all remains well, she could give birth at the end of August. Timings are very approximate and this is very early days right now, but Tian Tian is very relaxed and in excellent health. When we know more I will update you all.
Don't blow it – good planets are hard to find.
~Quoted in Time
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This deck project is in partnership with Trex and Lowe?s Welcome to our backyard and the reveal of our brand new Trex deck! The day has finally arrived. It's not every day that I get to share such a big project reveal, I'm so excited you're here for the VIRTUAL DECK REVEAL PARTY (and thanks for […] This article Our New Trex Deck Reveal: Before & After is from The Inspired Room Republishing this article in full or in part is a violation of copyright law. © 2009-2013, all rights reserved.


We are receiving more items for sale or just to take away, so take a look at the For Sale page regularly just in case there is an item that interests you.
This entry was posted in From the Webmaster and tagged garden club warburton, garden club yarra valley by Colin Spain. Bookmark the permalink.


She stands in a space the size of a cockpit. Facing the control panel, she cranks knobs, adjusts levers, and checks gauges to make sure all systems are go. It's not an airplane she maneuvers, but a machine that offers a different sort of lift off: 21-year-old Aiperi Aalieva runs the tiny Coffee Mania coffee station on AUCA's first floor.
For the past two and half years, Aalieva has spent her days caffeinating a steady stream of students, staff and faculty.
"I understand now the language of coffee," she says.
When she's not at Coffee Mania, she attends the Academy of Tourism. When she is at Coffee Mania, she sees her work as part psychologist, part performance artist and part barista.
"When I see someone come, I see in their face what is happening. I hear them talk and see their behavior and in my mind I guess what kind of coffee they will have. When some students come and I see they are stressed or upset, when I give them their coffee I tell them I added something extra. Something like a smile or some kindness or some happiness," she says.
I love this! Esp the addition if a little secret special something.


ZSNES for Intel Mac ready for consumption!
Windows 10 save file location?
Crashing whenever i try to load a rom?
Where can I download the first relase?
Can someone please help me with a FPS issue?
Secret of Mana- Plant boss doesn't appear during the fight.
James Pond 3 Operation Starfish graphical problems.


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Home celebrities
Get the latest celebrity news and hot celeb gossip From Bollywood hollywood and Pakitani Celebrity hottest picture, Stories, News, affairs, Video and Much More
Deepika Padukone just revealed her Cannes 2017 first look
celebrities Ria Khan - May 18, 2017
Bollywood diva Deepika Padukone made a stylish entry in a dark purple Marches Fall 2017 gown at what is undoubtedly one of the world's most glamorous and talked about red carpet events.Her bold and beautiful look stunned one and...
Versatile Actress Reema Lago passes away
Versatile Actress Reema Lago passed away following a cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Thursday morning. After playing the role of Salman Khan's mother in blockbuster movie Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) start getting fame , she also played Juhi Chawla's...
Grey's Anatomy Spin-Off Coming to ABC
celebrities Shahzad Khan - May 17, 2017
Get ready for extra darkish and twisty goodness in Seattle, Shondaland enthusiasts! ABC network president Channing Dungey introduced for the duration of the community's big Upfronts week presentation that grey's Anatomy could soon be getting a spin-off for the 2017-18...
Sin City' and 'Deadwood' Actor Powers Boothe Dead at the age of 68
Powers Boothe, the character actor known for playing villainous roles in films like Sin City and Tombstone and television series like Deadwood and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., died Sunday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 68. Boothe's representative...
MTV Movie and TV Awards Best Actress "Emma Watson" for the Best Movie Winner...
Emma Watson famous for her well known character of Hermione in Harry Potter. A British model, actress and activist. She got a child role in a hugely successful HARRY POTTER film franchise. She committed series for the decade and...
Two legends coming together in a unclear new project
celebrities Ria Khan - May 8, 2017
Rishi Kapoor recently tweets that he is coming with Amitabh Bachchan in a new project. As he said that it's an honour to work with Amitabh Bachchan. However, it is unclear that which project he is talking about but...
Robbin Williams last movie ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING finally coming to theaters after 3 years of...
You actually won't see the legendary comedic actor in his last movie. An American comedian and actor Robbin Williams voiced the main role of the science fiction movie character of dog, Dennis. The movie "Absolutely Anything" also starred Simon Pegg,...
Reharsal Room Of Oxford University named on Rahat Fath Ali Khan
Oxford University decided to give an honour to a Pakistani Singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan nephew of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and named the rehearsal room , and now he is the first South Asian Artist to receive...
Magical voice 13 years old Afghani singer Abubaker
celebrities Ria Khan - April 26, 2017
The 13 years Afghani singer spreading the magic of his voice in the Voice Of Kids. He sings the theme song of the movie Titanic My Heart Will Go On and the audience, judges can't stop to appreciate him.What...
Amber Rose Points Out Her Cellulite and Stretch Marks in Swimsuit Video
celebrities Shahzad Khan - April 24, 2017
Embracing her imperfections! Amber Rose took to Instagram on Sunday, April 23, to share a video of herself pointing out her cellulite and stretch marks. In the clip, the model, 33, lounges on a chair by the pool in an...
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Wayne Rooney: Everton striker set to confirm two-and-a-half-year DC United deal
Behold, the Facebook phishing scam that could dupe even vigilant users
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Istanbul Basaksehir v Burnley – BBC Sport


Concrete is a mixture of cement, aggregate( both coarse and fine), admixtures( stone and mineral) and water used in foundation, RCC beams, columns slabs, etc.
My previous post on Domain Events left some questions about how aggregate roots should be created unanswered. It would actually be more accurate to say how aggregate roots should *not* be created. It turns out that this is one of the less intuitive parts of domain-driven design and has been the source of many arguments on the matter.
Wells Fargo is indeed facing a fine of $1 billion from a pair of federal agencies over mortgage lending and auto insurance abuses. Earlier this week, reports emerged that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was seeking a "record fine" against Wells Fargo for mortgage and auto insurance issues.
We are going to discuss the importance (or insignificance for that matter) of work experience for MS. There are two aspects to it – How much is the work experience valued in the admission process generally?
While the glorification of single motherhood in America continues to pave the way for the destruction of Western Civilization, the importance of fathers is only recently being acknowledged in both the political and social arena.
Kevin, I definitely think opportunity cost are a very important, but often neglected, consideration for our decisions. We don't make choices in a vacuum.
4. The Higher Jhanas . In this chapter we will survey the higher states of jhana. First we will discuss the remaining three jhanas of the fine-material sphere, using the descriptive formulas of the suttas as our starting point and the later literature as our source for the methods of practice that lead to these attainments.
1. A Keynesian believes that aggregate demand is influenced by a host of economic decisions—both public and private—and sometimes behaves erratically.


How Could Insomnia Affect Your Life as a Caregiver?
Elder Care in South Riding VA: It's late at night. You've been rushing around all day and this is nothing new. It seems to be a part of your life lately. You just want a break. You're exhausted.


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Toronto Raptors Vs. Atlanta Hawks: Josh Smith's Triple-Double Powers Hawks to 96-78 Win
By Phil Foley Nov 28, 2010, 10:21pm EST
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What a difference a few days can make in professional sports. Josh Smith, who was having all sorts of difficulties during the Atlanta Hawks' most recent slide, scored 12 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished 10 assists en route to recording his third career triple-double in Atlanta's easy 99-78 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday afternoon.
Marvin Williams had 17 points and 12 boards and Al Horford and Joe Johnson added 16 each for suddenly-hot Atlanta (10-7), which has won three straight games.
This one was over in a blink of an eye in the third quarter. The Hawks, who used an 11-0 run to build a six point halftime lead, took it to Toronto after the break, scoring 25 of the game's 36 points in the frame to turn a close one into a blowout. The Raptors commited six turnovers and shot a putrid 3-for-17 from the field in the frame as Smith flirted with a triple-double.
The Atlanta forward, who along with teammate Horford set the tone of many games with strong play on the boards for the Hawks languished to find that final assist deep into the fourth quarter. He finally fed Johnson for a layup with 4:30 left to accomplish the allusive feat.
Andrea Bargnani had 14 points for Toronto, which was booed on its own home court. But the other team losing is something the Hawks are used to on the highway this season. They improved to an Eastern Conference-best 7-2 away from Philips Arena. They also moved 1-1/2 game ahead of the struggling Miami Heat (9-8) for second place in the Southeast Division. The Orlando Magic (12-4) lead the division by two games.
Toronto Raptors Vs. Atlanta Hawks Score: Josh Smith's Triple-Double Powers Hawks to 96-78 Win
New York Knicks Vs. Atlanta Hawks: Crawford, Hawks Snap Knicks' Five-Game Winning Streak With 99-90 Win


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Curt W. Hidde
11 South Meridian Street
Email : curt.hidde@btlaw.com
Curt Hidde advises clients on the many aspects of corporate transactions. Curt makes a point of understanding the underlying commercial objectives and specific financial drivers of each client, utilizing his decades of experience to achieve their transactional goals. Curt takes a practical approach to problem-solving and is able to break down complex legal concepts into terms clients can understand.
Over the last 25 years, Curt has represented public and private companies in hundreds of corporate transactions. He is skilled in advising on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and public and private offerings of securities.
Curt's M&A experience ranges from representing fast-growing tech and life sciences businesses to Fortune 500 companies, spanning virtually all industries and all transaction structures. He provides legal counsel pertaining to IPOs, secondary offerings of debt and equity securities, ongoing SEC reporting under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, defending and launching tender and takeover offers, and going private transactions.
Curt also has significant experience representing banks and insurance companies in corporate and securities transactions. He frequently advises such clients on the regulatory issues that govern their day-to-day operations, merger and acquisition activities, and capital raising.
He is a frequent speaker on M&A, securities, banking and corporate law issues.
Professional and Community Involvement
Board member and former president, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Indiana
Leader, CFO Roundtable
Leader, Entrepreneur's Alliance
Leader, Venture Club of Indiana
Member, Indianapolis Bar Association Business Law Section
Member, American Bar Association Business Law Section
The Best Lawyers in America, 2013-2019; Lawyer of the Year, 2018
Who's Who in Banking and Finance, Indianapolis Business Journal, 2011
Chambers USA, 2014-2018
Curt W. Hidde Partner
P : 317-231-7707
curt.hidde@btlaw.com
University of Dayton School of Law, J.D., 1993
Indiana University, B.A., History, 1990
Entrepreneurial and Emerging Companies
Venture Capital and Private Equity
Banking and Financial Institutions - Securities
Corporate Governance and Sarbanes-Oxley
$127 million sale of a life sciences company to a publicly-traded strategic buyer
More than 15 roll-up acquisitions for a Fortune 200 company representing aggregate deal values in excess of $5 billion
$160 million bank holding company acquisition
$40 million sale of a custom trailer manufacturer to a publicly-traded competitor
$55 million sale of an HVAC company to a publicly-traded competitor
Sale of a medical device company to a competitor
Public Securities Transactions
IPO of an independent mortgage company
$1.5 billion public offering of medium term notes for an insurance company
$300 million public offering of trust preferred securities for an insurance company
Underwriter's counsel in an IPO of a bank holding company
Established a dividend reinvestment plan for a NASDAQ company
Private Securities Transactions
$115 million 144A private placement of common stock
Private placement of debt securities and warrants for a life sciences company
Private placement of common stock for a community bank
Regulation A offering for a medical device company
Placement agent's counsel in multiple private placements of debt and equity securities
Private placement of equity securities for a real estate development company
Private placement of equity securities in an oil and gas company
$60 million private placement of equity securities to form a mortgage REIT
Financial Institution Transactions
Multiple acquisitions for a publicly-traded bank holding company involving cash and stock consideration with aggregate values in excess of $500 million
Numerous purchases and sale of bank holding companies to competitors and other strategic buyers
Holding company formation for a state commercial bank
Private placement of common stock for a holding company of a community bank
ESOP formation for a bank holding company of a state commercial bank
Redemption of common stock for a bank holding company of a community bank
Structured and implemented stock repurchase program for a bank holding company
Venture Capital and Private Equity Transactions
$20 million private equity investment in a for-profit education company
$28 million private equity investment in a software company
Series A venture capital investment in a life sciences company
$25 million private equity investment in a medical device company
Corporate Law Alert - Indiana Adopts Revisions to Business Corporation Law
Corporate, Securities and Financial Institutions Law Alert - New Executive Compensation Clawback Rules Proposed by SEC; Update on Pay Ratio Disclosure and Pay vs. Performance Rules
Corporate, Securities and Financial Institutions Law Alert - New Executive Compensation Disclosure Rules Proposed by SEC: Pay vs. Performance
Corporate and Securities Law Alert - NASAA Launches Streamlined Electronic Multi-State Private Offering Filing System
Financial Institutions Alert - Recent CFPB Mortgage Rules to Absorb and Implement
Attorney Presentation - In House Counsel's Role in Corporate Governance - How to Work Effectively with the C-Suite and the Board"
Chambers USA Recognizes Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys, Practice Groups in 2019 Nationwide Rankings
Nearly 200 Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys Named to 2019 'The Best Lawyers in America®' List
Chambers USA Recognizes Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys, Practice Groups in 2018 National Rankings
More than 180 Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys Named to 2018 'The Best Lawyers in America®' List
Annual Chambers & Partners Rankings List Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys, Practice Groups
169 Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys Named to 2017 'Best Lawyers in America' List


Usually I post my Mailbox on the first Monday of the month, not sure why I didn't this month. Maybe with all the end of the school year stuff I lost track of time.
I hope that you enjoy all of them.
I have Jack of Spies to read, and.I might trying listening to it as well while I read. I know some people do that. Just hve to find the audio at the library…Hope you enjoy your books.
I've never tried listening and reading a book at the same time.
That's a nice mix of books! I don't read a lot of biographies, however The Woman Who Would Be King sounds like one I'd enjoy. I used to be crazy about Ancient Egyptian history. It still intrigues me. Enjoy!!
Nice list of books! I'm rather excited about The Three.
These are all new to me – I hope you enjoy them!
I have a Michael Koryta around here somewhere, I just need to read it. Enjoy the new books!
Both The Woman Who Would Be King and Bread & Butter look really interesting to me. Hope you enjoy them!
I didn't love Bread & Butter. Just didn't live up to my hopes.
Nice variety. I have The Three from NetGalley too – I think I forgot to list it on my MM post. Looking forward to that one.
What a great selection! I really want to read The Directive, too. Enjoy your new books!
Some good looking books. I want to read The Girls At The Kingfisher Club. I have a giveaway going on at my blog for the book.
ENJOY the rest of your reading week.
Forever Fat Loss sounds promising!!


SWVS is excited to return to San Antonio in 2018 for food, fun, and festivities. This city is filled with both awe-inspiring sites of years past and today's technological marvels. As one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, San Antonio offers something exciting for people from all walks of life.
Whether you're a long-time local or a first-time visitor, we encourage you to explore everything this lively city offers. Between SWVS events, enjoy the fun and flavor of the famous Riverwalk, have a screaming good time at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, or relive history at The Alamo. Unforgettable adventures await you in San Antonio.
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I made a special request to have these done in rose gold and they are beautiful! Plus they arrived only three days after ordering. Very satisfied!
These unique stud earrings are set with fancy blue diamonds that weigh a total of 1/4 carat. The earrings are made out of 14k white gold and measure 3.2mm in diameter.


This very rare mid grey Series 3 88" station wagon is an absolutely stunning low mileage example, having only just tipped the 50,000 mile mark. Obviously she has been cherished by her previous owners which is evident by the incredible condition of the totally original panels and paintwork. The chassis is in mint condition never having had any welding and her engine is on the button, running so smoothly it can hardly be heard in the cabin.
This car is an absolute joy to drive ,the steering, gearbox and brakes are exceptional with the MoT just having been done this month.
To find a Series 3 88"station wagon in this condition and with such low mileage is extremely rare, the cost of restoring one to this level would be double the price of the car itself. This time warp original series 3 is probably the best one on the market and as such would fit well in any collection. A true classic Landrover which needs nothing and is ready to go.


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Politics With Charles P. Pierce
This Man Is a Hero
There are still people doing God's work.
By Charles P. Pierce Published: Jul 21, 2018
(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog's Favourite Living Canadian)
Sometimes, it's hard to believe that there are still people in the world doing God's work. Sometimes, it feels like God has just laid everyone off and moved his operation to a more reliable planet. Then you get a story like the one that was tipped off to the shebeen by Pulitzer-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed and you think that, maybe, the One Great Scorekeeper left some subcontract work behind for us to do here. From The Washington Post (via the Grand Forks Herald).
From sun up to sun down, convicts who were leased by the state to plantation owners toiled in the fields chopping sugar cane sometimes until they "dropped dead in their tracks," as the State Convention of Colored Men of Texas complained in 1883.
In modern-day Sugar Land it was all easy to forget—but not for one man named Reggie Moore, who couldn't stop thinking about it.
Moore started researching Sugar Land's slavery and convict-leasing history after spending time working as a prison guard at one of Texas's oldest prisons, but his curiosity evolved into obsession. He had a hunch. Based on what he learned, he believed that the bodies of former slaves and black prisoners were still buried in Sugar Land's backyard. He focused his attention on a site called the Imperial State Prison Farm, the one that bore the name of the country's premier sugar company.
For 19 years he searched for their bodies, stopping just short of sticking a shovel in the dirt himself.
"I felt like I had to be a voice for the voiceless," said Moore, who is African American.
This week, his quest produced results.
At the former Imperial State Prison Farm site, archaeologists have unearthed an entire plot of precise rectangular graves for 95 souls, each buried 2 to 5 feet beneath the soil in nearly disintegrated pinewood caskets. The 19th century cemetery was unmarked, with no vestige of its existence visible from the surface.
The story of convict labor, especially in the South, is a story of people living an unrelieved nightmare, only one small step ahead of slavery and, sometimes, not even that much. Some masters on some plantations cared about keeping slaves alive; sheriffs and wardens knew there would be an endless supply of primarily black prisoners coming under their charge, so what did they care.
The convict-leasing system proliferated all across the south in the late 19th century and into the 20th, overwhelmingly targeting black Americans picked up for offenses such as vagrancy, flirting with white women or petty theft, as historian Douglas A. Blackmon reported in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Slavery By Another Name." The prisoners were then leased by the state to private businessmen and forced to work on plantations, in coal mines and railroads or other state projects - such as building the entire Texas Capitol building from scratch.
"They were driving the women just like they drove the men," goes the old folk song. In those days, every cruelty had a folk song. Those songs were about the only memory of these poor souls that survived them, until Reggie Moore decided they deserved more.
Moore said the discovery of the 95 graves has been gratifying after so many years of being the sole advocate for the nameless former slaves and convicts. He has since held memorial ceremonies for them at the Imperial cemetery, calling himself their "spokesman."
"It was just overwhelming," Moore said of the discovery of the graves. "And then sad at the same time, because now I know these guys are here. This really did happen."
Two weeks ago, he went to the site of the graves to see the bodies. He had to steady himself as he walked up to them, he said, because he felt like he was going to faint. He knew they were dead but for some reason as he looked at their skeletons they seemed more alive than ever, like he really knew them.
He is a hero now, in the same way and for the same reasons that Catherine Corless, the woman who uncovered the bodies of the babies who died and were left unmourned and unmarked at the Mother and Baby Home in Galway is a hero. They honored the dead by revealing the truth. There is no better work for God or man.
On the topic of memorials, there is a great cause out there for people who love history, journalism, the history of journalism, and the journalism of history. They are raising money to put up a statue in Chicago to honor the great Ida B. Wells-Barnett, the crusading African-American woman who chronicled the worst of the lynching years.
Ida B. Wells.
After three of her friends were murdered by a white mob in Memphis, she dedicated herself to telling the world about the lynching culture throughout the South. Needless to say, this was a dangerous business and Wells used to go about carrying a pistol. She wrote that, rather than being an emotional response to perceived crimes, lynching functioned as a measure of social control in white-supremacist America. She published her stories in a pamphlet and then inveighed against lynching in an editorial in a newspaper she ran.
While she was out of town, a white mob destroyed the newspaper and its offices. She moved north to Chicago. In 1892, she published Southern Horrors, a stark and vivid account of her research. It unsparingly showed the deep complicity of the white establishment—including the establishment press—in ginning up rape charges in order to justify the noose. She wrote:
Men who, like Governor Tillman, start the ball of lynch law rolling for a certain crime, are powerless to stop it when drunken or criminal white toughs feel like hanging an Afro-American on any pretext. Even to the better class of Afro-Americans the crime of rape is so revolting they have too often taken the white man's word and given lynch law neither the investigation nor condemnation it deserved. They forget that a concession of the right to lynch a man for a certain crime, not only concedes the right to lynch any person for any crime, but (so frequently is the cry of rape now raised) it is in a fair way to stamp us a race of rapists and desperadoes. They have gone on hoping and believing that general education and financial strength would solve the difficulty, and are devoting their energies to the accumulation of both.
The mob spirit has grown with the increasing intelligence of the Afro-American. It has left the out-of-the-way places where ignorance prevails, has thrown off the mask and with this new cry stalks in broad daylight in large cities, the centers of civilization, and is encouraged by the "leading citizens" and the press.
Hell, yes, give her a statue.
There was a lot going on, science-wise, this week. For example, 10 new moons were discovered to be orbiting Jupiter, and one of them is sockless drunk. From Vox:
Moons close to Jupiter tend to orbit in a "prograde" motion, meaning in the same direction as Jupiter's rotation. Those farther away rotate in a retrograde motion. But Valetudo is an odd duck. It's orbiting in a prograde motion in the retrograde region.
"It's like driving down the highway the wrong way," Sheppard says. "It's going around Jupiter in one direction, and there's, like, 40-something objects going around Jupiter in the other direction." This means it's "very likely to have some sort of head-on collision over time," he says.
And that's actually an important clue to why there are so many moons around Jupiter. Sheppard explains that a long time ago, there were probably fewer, larger moons orbiting Jupiter in this retrograde region. But over time, they were broken into pieces.
It's possible that Valetudo—or a larger previous version of it—was the destructive force behind the collision. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if a tractor-trailer was driving against traffic on a highway; that's Valetudo. And that possibly "gives us this whole swarm of objects we see today," Sheppard says.
Sober up, Valetudo. Geez.
Then there's this poor ancient sap in Alexandria who got everybody excited for a while, only to have them discover that he was just some dude in a box. From ABC News:
Workmen found the black granite tomb this month during construction of an apartment building in the historic Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.
The 30-tonne coffin, the largest yet found in Alexandria, prompted a swirl of theories in local and international media that it may be the resting place of the ancient Macedonian ruler, who founded the city that still bears his name in 331 BC.
Egypt's antiquities ministry had vigorously dismissed the chances of finding Alexander's remains inside the 2,000-year-old sarcophagus, and on Thursday its scepticism was vindicated.
"We found the bones of three people, in what looks like a family burial. Unfortunately, the mummies inside were not in the best condition and only the bones remain," Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said.
Mr Waziri said some of the remains had disintegrated because sewage water from a nearby building had leaked into the sarcophagus through a small crack in one of the sides.
For a few weeks, you're Alexander The Great and then, one day, you're just another sod dissolving in sewage. Life—and the afterlife—is unfair.
Skeletons in the black granite sarcophagus uncovered early this month in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria, filled with sewage water.
AFP//Getty Images
Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "Nobody Knows" (Smoke and Bones): Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.
Weekly Visit To The Pathe Archives: Here are a pair of Russian spies getting run out of Great Britain in 1962. An American couple, the Krogers were central to the Portland Spy Ring, a huge bust by British authorities aided by the CIA, and one that later prompted a couple of TV movies and the play, Pack of Lies, written by Hugh Whitemore. Because this is a British story, and because Dickens, that clever rascal, is behind every big English news story, the suburban family who lived across the street from the Krogers, and whose house was commandeered by the Special Branch as an observation post, was named Search. History is so cool.
Kerry came out hopelessly lifeless last week against Galway, which defended the hell out of its half of the field. Now, the Kingdom has to beat Monaghan on Sunday to stay in the race for the Sam Maguire. I will be on edge for a couple of days, although David Clifford, Kerry's young star, was one of the few bright spots against Galway and I think he's due for a Mbappe-ian breakout. In any event, boys, try to show up this week.
Is it a good day for dinosaur news, CNN? It's always a good day for dinosaur news!
The ankylosaurid fossil, known as Akainacephalus johnsoni, is now on exhibit in the National History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City.
The genus name essentially means "spike head," but the species name is in honor of museum volunteer Randy Johnson, a retired chemist who helped prepare the skull.
"I never thought that I would have the opportunity to actually work on fossils that could be important for paleontologists," Johnson said in a statement. "Now that I'm a museum volunteer, I'm getting the opportunity to work on a large variety of fossils and consult with top paleontologists—it's like a dream second career. I couldn't believe it when they told me they are naming the ankylosaur after me, a once in a lifetime honor."
I should say so.
The ankylosaurid fossils associated with North America had smooth bony armor on their skulls. This one had pronounced spiky, bony armor covering the skull and snout, closely related to Asian ankylosaurids that lived 125 million years ago.
"A reasonable hypothesis would be that ankylosaurids from Utah are related to those found elsewhere in western North America, so we were really surprised to discover that Akainacephalus was so closely related to species from Asia," said Randall Irmis, co-author of the study and curator of paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Utah, said in a statement.
The fossil helped the researchers determine that at least two immigration events occurred during the Late Cretaceous period, resulting in two groups of ankylosaurid dinosaurs.
They lived then to make us happy now. Immigrants, they get the job done.
The Committee was stunned by the aptness of Top Commenter Michael Harrell's reply to our post about the latest in voter suppression coming out of the Republican congressional majorities:
Pretty sure the legislative money spigot would be wide open if the bill was just called the Election Reform and Efficiency Cutting of Taxes ("ERECT") Act.
That will be quite enough of that, young man. Take your 90.11 Beckhams and go sit in the corner.
I'll be back on Monday with God only knows what mayhem the gobshites bring down upon us. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line and remember the tape is always running and the camera's always hot.
Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here.
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.
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We are optimistic, determined, and dedicated to getting students on campus involved in entrepreneurship.
1.A person who isn't afraid to take a risk and scramble in the dark for an idea they're passionate about.
2.A person who takes initiative to tackle problems worth solving.
3.A person who dreams big and leads change regardless of major, interest, or skill-level.
Our core values are our north star, guiding Spark's work and reminding us, even during stressful execution, why we started these initiatives.
Anyone, no matter what, can foster meaningful impact. Anyone can create something from nothing today, regardless of background or experience.
We believe in impact. Our leadership today can heavily influence tomorrow. We make decisions carefully with the future of the community in mind.
We operate within any constraint — whether that be lack of funding, time, or helping hands — and seek out creative ways to execute our ideas.
Exploring ideas together, thoroughly and thoughtfully, is our forte. We delve into research and ideation with passion, collaboration, and grit.
In stress and laughter, we stick by each other. We love supporting and being with each other, making working together a privilege, not a chore.
We have around 40 members that actively drive Spark towards our mission. Beyond working on initiatives, we are a family and a community that supports each other, helping one another learn and grow.
Our alumni are an integral part of our organization. They've taken Spark from zero to one and often give us input on big decisions.


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Home > People > Ambre Dromgoole
Ambre Dromgoole
ambre.dromgoole@yale.edu
B.A. Oberlin College and Conservatory '15; M.A.R. Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music '17
http://www.AmbreDromgoole.com
Ambre Dromgoole (joint in Religious Studies) holds a B.A. in Musical Studies and Religion from Oberlin College & Conservatory and an M.A. in Religion from Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music. Her Dissertation, "There's a Heaven Somewhere: Itinerancy, Intimacy, and Performance in the Lives of Gospel Blues Women, 1915-1983," positions the friendships, micro-interactions, and collaborations of an intimate circle of Black women gospel musicians (Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Roxie Ann Moore, Ernestine Washington, Marie Knight) as untilled sites worthy of critical Black feminist engagement, sociohistorical consideration, and nuanced religious analysis.
Revealer Magazine "What Breonna Taylor and Sister Rosetta Tharpe Taught Me about Black Women and Friendship"
20th/21st Century Music and Performance; Holiness/Pentecostal Traditions; Women and Gender; Popular Culture; Voice Studies; Sonic Spirituality


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How the Financial Sector Is Making Life Miserable for Sex Workers
The Department of Justice's initiative Operation Choke Point looks to be putting pressure on banks like Chase to terminate the accounts of several porn performers. That would be just one part of a long-standing pattern, and sex workers would like it to...
by Tina Horn
Photo via Flickr user Vincent Desjardins
In a recent article, VICE News speculated that the Department of Justice's initiative Operation Choke Point may be putting pressure on banks like Chase to terminate the accounts of several high-profile porn performers, including Teagan Presley, Stoya, and Chanel Preston. On Twitter many other porn performers claimed that their accounts were being closed, and that they had been offered little explanation beyond being labeled "high risk." An insider at Wells Fargo responded, "We encourage these industry workers to come to us," according to TMZ. By the time Mother Jones was pushing back with a "Chase representative" claiming that Choke Point was not singling out people in the porn industry, I was exasperated.
By and large, these articles failed to mention the fact that sex workers like myself are shut out of institutions every single day. Whorephobia, the fear and hatred of sex workers, is one of the very first things every single sex worker learns how to navigate.
Whether the work we do is criminalized or legal, all sex workers are subject to judgment. This judgment usually stems from sexist double standards, transmisogyny, and a general moral panic about sexuality. Ironically, we are often punished as we attempt to assimilate into "legitimate" society.
After clients pay us in cash, many of us declare the payment, filing taxes as freelance entertainers. Some strip clubs give us W-9 forms, and some porn companies send us 1099s. If we are shut out of banks, we must go to check cashing middlemen who charge exorbitant fees. We can't book plane tickets or sign leases, putting that money back into the economy.
Many of my friends in the sex industry have faced these issues. Lorelei Lee, a published writer, has worked in the porn industry for 15 years as a performer and producer and seen these problems firsthand. "A lot people have seen these bank-account closures as something remarkable or surprising," she said. "The truth is, sex workers are discriminated against every day—fired from their jobs, passed over for jobs that they're qualified for, turned down for apartments."
Some sex workers experience worse problems than others. Sex worker activists have called this phenomenon the "whorearchy," and unfortunately some of us perpetuate it to feel less stigmatized about our own work. I have heard some dominatrices say their work is "less dirty" than working as a full-service escort, and seen many porn performers consider themselves "less whorish" than strippers.
Examples of a sex worker being a person. Photo courtesy of Stoya
"Because porn performers have had the benefit of working legally, and because our work is recorded and thus has this proximity to celebrity, I think performers sometimes make the mistake of identifying as a separate class of sex worker," Lee said. "Even though sex workers in different industries face different kinds of intersecting discriminations, our goals must ultimately be aligned. If you're going to fight for Chanel Preston, you need to fight for Monica Jones."
These whorearchies often follow the same lines as many other power imbalances that favor white, middle-class, cisgender people over people of color, trans people, and the economically disadvantaged. Many Americans, for example, view a white woman working as a dominatrix as glamorous, whereas they consider prostitutes who work on the streets unworthy of basic human rights.
Siouxsie Q, the producer and host of Bay Area-based podcast The Whorecast, takes a patriotic stance on this issue: "In America," she said, "the only folks who are perhaps more despised than sex workers are banks and big business. Sex workers are small-business owners. Banks, who are supposed to be the people who help us go further towards the American dream, are actually standing in the way of that."
Q observed that people who do legal sex work, such as porn performers, don't push back when instituitions unjustly deny them resources. Often it's not worth sex workers' expense or time to go to small-claims court over several hundred dollars, even if that money could represent a month's worth of groceries. In April, on her SF Weekly column The Whore Next Door, Q also noted a pattern of "exclusion, scrutiny, and sometimes theft from crowdfunding organizations."
Activist and writer Maggie Mayhem had one such experience with Paypal.
Back in 2010, she had used a Paypal button on her personal blog, collecting donations to fund a flight to Haiti for post-earthquake relief community service. After a month of successful fundraising, Paypal closed her account and froze the money.
"It was the worst customer-service call ever," Mayhem recounted. "They were distinctly rude to me. I was ready to break down in tears. They were a breath away from calling me a slut on the phone. It was very clear: 'We don't care about your business or your content.'"
On her blog, Mayhem had written about her experiences performing in porn, but her volunteer work had nothing to do with her occupation. According to Mayhem, Paypal's terms of service led them to conclude that the fact that she had done sex work was sufficient cause to deny her the money she had raised. Neither Mayhem nor her donors have been refunded.
Kate D'Adamo, a community organizer with the Sex Workers Outreach Project NYC and Sex Workers Action New York, is concerned about Paypal's actions. She said, "Paypal has for several years made the decision that if they assume someone is involved in the sex trade, they will shut down that account and, in every case that I've heard, keep the money."
Shakti, a porn performer based out of the Bay Area, was also recently denied her crowdfunded money by a credit card processor. In April, Shakti attempted to raise $500 to finance a trip from California to Toronto to present at the Feminist Porn Conference. She publicly expressed her outraged when she was unable to collect her donations, which were hosted by the crowdfunding platform Fundly. It turns out that WePay, the credit card processor that Fundly used, was the one with a policy against Shakti's line of work. She was refunded, but not without a considerable amount of grief.
"Sex workers are coming out left and right as multifaceted individuals who are also in law school, in college, writing books, speaking at schools. I think this is a last-ditch effort by the powers that be to try to shut us down," she suggested.
It wasn't long before WePay was in the news again, coming under more serious scrutiny. In May, several friends of the porn performer Eden Alexander launched a campaign to raise money for her emergency medical expenses. Alexander had a bad reaction to a commonly prescribed prescription drug, which triggered a slew of symptoms including a skin infection, staph infection, and hypothyroidism.
They choose GiveForward, another WePay platform, because it is specifically designed to crowdfund for medical expenses. The initial GiveForward page was carefully worded to support Eden the individual, not Eden the pornographic persona (cache from May 17 is here). Of course, Eden is a porn performer, so it made sense to appeal to her fans and colleagues through her professional social networks. It also made sense for her to retweet messages from supporters, including tweets written by some adult production companies who were offering perks to donors.
WePay considered these retweets a violation of their terms of service, and those of their processor Vantiv, since the original tweeters were "offering adult material in exchange for donations." They flagged and shut down Alexander's account. This was more than an inconvenience for Alexander—this could very well have been a matter of life or death.
Perhaps because of the grave nature of her situation, Eden Alexander has become a poster child for whorephobia victimhood. After sex worker activists stoked a huge war on Twitter, WePay backtracked, offering to reopen Alexander's campaign.
At that point, Eden's support network had moved her campaign to Crowdtilt, another fundraising company. Crowdtilt has stated directly that simply being a sex worker does not violate their terms of service, nor those of their processor, Balanced Inc.
Porn stars aren't the only ones losing access to economic resources. On May 5, NY Toy Collective, a legally registered "adult novelty" company, tweeted, "We generally aren't haters but Chase/quickbooks/intuit is closing our account because of (sic) we sell adult toys." The following day, they offered a 25 percent discount code called CHASEDISCRIMINATES to anyone who wanted to purchase their products.
Without a merchant account, companies like NYTC are not ableto accept credit cards from individual customers or large retailers, making it nearly impossible to keep business afloat. There is a demand for erotic entertainment and services in this country. The fact that sex workers choose to produce that entertainment and supply those services should have no bearing on sex workers and adult entertainment companies' access to resources or fair treatment as working citizens.
Follow Tina Horn on Twitter.
not having access to your own money
having the powers that be block from from living your life
sex work is real work
operation choke point sounds like a fetish movie
porn performers
Tina Horn
puritanical bankers