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Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I
by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.
August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.
But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father's newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?
Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…
Publisher: HarperCollinsReleased: Oct 3, 2017ISBN: 9780062562692Format: book
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Last Christmas in Paris - Hazel Gaynor
Richmond, London
Life is forever changed without her; without the sense of her somewhere near. Empty hours wander by as I listen for the soft tread of her footfall on the stair and wait for her laughter to cheer these lifeless rooms. When I close my eyes I can conjure her; the scent of her perfume, the feather-touch of her fingertips against my cheek, those intense blue eyes looking back at me. But it is all illusion. Smoke and mirrors that conceal the truth of her absence.
I push myself up wearily from the chair, clutching my cane like an extra limb as I hobble to the window. Snow sprinkles from a soft grey sky, gathering in pockets along the river, quick to find shelter from the hungry waters of the Thames that flood the inlet behind the house. A skiff bobs to the gentle rhythm of the tide. It reminds me of how I rowed with such vigour as a young man, desperate to impress. I see her there still, sitting on the riverbank, skirt tucked behind her knees, laughing as she launches a stone and watches it sail higher and farther than the others, looping in a great arc and splashing me with its perfectly aimed descent into the water.
I see her everywhere. In everything. How can she not be here?
I feel for the necklace in my pocket, and remember how she loved to quote Miss Brontë's words. I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.
What a fool I was.
Mr. Harding? Margaret perches in the doorway. Her pristine nurse's uniform takes me back over the years to the noise and smell of field hospitals and clearing stations, and all that once was. It's time, Thomas. The car is here.
Taking a laboured breath I rest my face against the window, savouring the icy chill of the glass against my skin. My gaze wanders over the neighbouring houses, the moody old Thames, and the view beyond the hill towards London. I, alone, know it is the last time I will look upon these places I hold most dear. The doctors tell me I don't have long. It is a reality I have made my peace with, a reality I hide from those who would only fuss if they knew the full extent of my illness—my nurse included.
Are my letters packed, Margaret? I ask.
They're in your suitcase as you requested.
All of them? The sealed letter as well? I can't bring myself to say, the last one.
Yes, Thomas. All of them.
I nod. How many were there in the end? Dozens, and more. So much fear and hope captured in our words, so much longing and loss—and love. She always said her war was fought in words; her pen and prose the only weapons she, as a woman, could wield. She felt it was important to keep a record of all the correspondence, curating the memories of those years with as much determination and care as any exhibition at the British Museum. That a fragile bundle of paper sentiments survived the war when so many people were lost has always angered me, but now I am glad of them. Now, I am ready to relive those days, read through our letters one last time in Paris, as was her dying wish. I think about the sealed letter: To be opened in Paris on Christmas Eve. I wonder what more she might have to say.
Margaret waits patiently as I make my way across the room. She knows I am a stubborn old fool and that I will only grouse if she offers me her assistance. She glances at the window, and frowns.
Are you sure Paris is a good idea, Mr. Harding? The snow is really coming down.
I wave her concern away. Paris is always a good idea, I reply, my breathing heavy as I reach the door. Especially at Christmas. I falter at my words. Words which were once hers. And because I promised.
I've never been. Margaret smiles brightly. I hope we'll see the Eiffel Tower.
I mutter under my breath that it is difficult to miss and turn to take one final look at the room, moments and memories hidden beneath the dust sheets that have always turned our London home into a temporary mausoleum at this time of year. If ever a city was made for snow, Paris is it.
She nods and holds out a tentative arm. To Paris then, Mr. Harding? And don't spare the horses!
Her youthful enthusiasm reminds me of an old friend and I smile as I loop my arm through hers. To Paris, I say. I hope she is as beautiful as I remember.
Margaret closes the door behind us and I say a silent farewell to all those I have loved and lost, and to all the precious gifts that life has given me. If I have understood things correctly, Paris may yet have one final gift in store.
But first, I must go back to the beginning of our story, back to the beginning of a war none of us wanted, a war they said would be over by Christmas.
I keep the first bundle of letters in my pocket and as the plane taxis down the runway, I untie the red ribbon, and start to read . . .
"They were summoned from the hillside
They were called in from the glen,
And the country found them ready
At the stirring call for men."
—Ivor Novello, Keep the Home Fires Burning
From Thomas Harding to his father
Oxford, England
I write to you from the Officers' Training Corps at Oxford. I've done it—I've joined the army—so I might serve our country in these great times and prove myself an honourable citizen, just as you did during the South African War. You returned as a hero, and I wish to live up to your legacy, at least in this way. There is a real sense of adventure here, a feeling that enlisting is the right thing to do. So many men have applied for a commission with the old Bugshooters that they've had to speed up the application process. No more aiming at flies on Christ Church Meadow! This is serious business now.
I am troubled by how we left things the last time I saw you. Two grown men, especially family, shouldn't shout at each other to settle things. I know you want me to take the helm at the newspaper, but we are different people, Father. I hope one day you will understand my passion for scholarship. To become a professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the world is nothing to scoff at, though I know you disagree. At least by taking an active role in the war I won't disappoint you. War makes equals of us all. Isn't that what you once said?
Will Elliott signed up as well. In fact, we'll be in the same regiment. I thought you would be glad to see me placed with my closest friend. All believe the war will come to a speedy end, so you might expect me home by Christmas, and we can talk again then. I'm certainly looking forward to a swift victory and yuletide cheer.
Sending good wishes, Father. I will be thinking of you in battle.
Your son,
From Evelyn Elliott to Will Elliott
Richmond, England
Dearest Will,
Mama told me about your enlisting. I expected nothing less, and wanted to send a few lines to let you know how incredibly proud we all are. The British Army will be lucky to have you. Finally, you'll have a chance to bring back some medals of your own to add to the family collection. Papa is all puffed up with pride, as I'm sure you can imagine, although I'm afraid he doesn't expect you to see much action. He expects it will be over before you've even got to your training camp. While I know you will be eager to do your bit, I hope Papa is right.
I hear Tom Harding also enlisted. You two always were inseparable, and if you must go to war then I am glad to know that your greatest friend will be with you. If this were a battle of wits and intellect, the British Army could not wish for two finer recruits, although I can hardly imagine Tom Harding rushing into battle with a rifle and bayonet. I suspect he would far rather write a thesis about it than participate in it. Keep an eye on him. You know how stubborn he can be at times.
Papa is still livid about the suspension of the last two matches of the County cricket championships, especially with Surrey on course to win again. He says September without cricket is like December without snow—it just doesn't feel right. Poor Papa. I think he feels rather left behind with all the younger men heading off to war.
Write a few lines now and again, would you? You know how Mama fusses.
From Will Elliott to Evelyn Elliott
Dear Evie,
Many thanks for the vote of confidence—Tom and I are bristling with something like excitement, though that isn't quite the word. Josh and Dean are here, too, and Bill Spry; the whole College almost, off to vanquish the enemy. The bloody Krauts won't know what hit them.
Be good to Mama and Papa while I'm away. None of that mischief you're so fond of stirring up, do you hear me? I won't be there to bail you out.
With all good wishes,
From Evelyn Elliott to Thomas Harding
1st October, 1914
Dear Thomas Archibald Harding,
(I'm sorry—I couldn't resist the opportunity to poke a little more fun at your recently discovered middle name. How on earth did you keep that a secret all these years?)
I am really quite hopeless. You, Will, and the rest of the boys are gone less than an hour and already I find myself bored and restless. So much so that I am at Will's writing desk, penning my first letter to you. After all, I did promise to write soon, and you know how much I hate to break a promise (you may yet regret complaining of having no female relations to write to you). You know I have a dreadful tendency for overenthusiasm and I'm afraid this war may bring out my very worst best intentions. Can you ever forgive me for sending you into the Cherwell with my overzealous punting? If I catch the post this afternoon, it is entirely possible my letter will arrive at your training camp before you do (and I give you full permission to claim it is from your sweetheart and be the envy of everyone there).
You won't be surprised to know that I envy you and Will, heading off on your grand adventure, just as I envied you when you returned to Oxford after the long vacation. It seems I must always be the one to wave you off and stay behind but I live in hope that one day I'll be the one heading off somewhere exciting. I suppose a girl can dream.
It was a lovely crowd to see you off, wasn't it? Some of the women were inconsolable, but I retained my composure, as did Mama. We are terribly proud of you all and can't wait for you to return as heroes—although, in all honesty, you looked more like a group of nervous bachelors heading to their first tea dance than a troop of soldiers heading to war. No doubt you'll look the part once you have a rifle in your hand. Send a photograph if you can. I should like to see what Thomas Archibald Harding looks like as a proper soldier.
Alice says I'll have to find a way to divert myself while you're gone. I have a mind to take up a new hobby. Golf, perhaps. Or maybe I'll dust off Will's bicycle and join the local ladies' bicycling club. In any event, they say the war will be over by Christmas and then all I'll have to worry about is how to survive another weary afternoon of cribbage with Mama and her friends.
If you have time to respond between drills and polishing your boots, it would be nice to know where you are and what you are doing. If I cannot go with you both to France, you will have to transport me there with your words.
Evelyn Maria Constance Elliott
From Evelyn to Will
Dear Will,
I have just written five pages to Tom Harding—four more than I'd intended—and now I am running out of ink and words, so please forgive me if this is rather brief.
I'm sitting at your writing desk, and it wishes to inform you that it is much happier with its new occupant. Far less banging of fists and gnashing of teeth and spilt ink. You're not gone two hours and I must say that I already feel very much at home here in your room. The view over the garden is lovely. How funny that I never really appreciated it before. I can idle here now, you see, absorb the view at leisure with no mean big brother to chase me out. I might even sleep in your bed, Will. I might have a good old rummage through your drawers. I wonder what terrible secrets I might unearth!
I hope your training camp is comfortable, although no doubt a far cry from your London clubs. Don't worry. You'll be dining and dancing at The Savoy again before the year is out. Don't do anything foolish, Will, I know how impetuous you can be, and please send word as soon as you can—if not to me then at least to Mama. Spare me the misery of her inevitable fretting. Please. I will forgive you your most terrible secrets if you can just write a short letter home every now and again.
Do your duty and hurry home.
Wishing you well, and safe onward travels.
From Thomas Harding to Evelyn
I laughed when I received your letter, just as we arrived. I suppose the postal service is faster than we think it is. And for your information, yes, I am an Archibald, and I'd happily lob an ice cream at you if you were here. Make fun, Evelyn Maria Constance Elliott, but don't forget the tree house or the horse manure and your little rag doll. I may be a proper soldier now, but I'm not above pranks and retribution!
It looks as if we'll train and learn the drill here at camp in Mytchett for four weeks, then ship off to the Front. The regiment is all enthusiasm and energy; we are all looking forward to seeing the real action. Already I've learned marching orders, basic first aid, and face-to-face combat. Your brother and I decided the training isn't so different from wrestling with Robbie Banks. That bullheaded fellow was always looking for a brawl at the pub. I'm anxious to get to the more interesting bits. Will is brimming with eagerness. You know how he can be.
You asked for a picture of what it's like at camp, so here goes. At reveille the bugle drives us out of bed at the start of the day. I say day, but it's so early we're up hours before dawn when it's black as pitch. Still, no one grumbles about a lost hour or two of sleep, not when we're headed to war. We dress, eat, and do some variation of training until noon when we break for a short lunch, after which we have more training until four or five in the afternoon. We're free to head into town then if we wish, though not every day. Most often we hang around the billiards hall or play rounds of cards, smoke, etc. Being a lieutenant, I try to avoid getting mixed up in any mischief with the privates. Well, not too often anyway. I spend a lot of time in my bunk alone, in fact. Looking back at Oxford—and this is difficult to admit—I'm thankful for my time in the Officers' Training Corps. (Don't tell Will. He'll give me hell.) Some training, though little, was certainly better than none. Anyway, the privates really are the last rung, poor chaps. They will bear the brunt of the attacks. If I were among them, I would work like the devil so I could move up in the world.
That's all for now. Getting called to the card table.
Lieutenant Thomas Archibald Harding
From Evie to Thomas
15th October, 1914
Dear Thomas Archibald,
You replied! How jolly to see your letter among the morning post. It made for a very pleasant change from polite invitations to tea, and the rather less polite rejection of my latest attempt to have a piece published in the Times. Perhaps I should submit my next under a male pseudonym. If it's good enough for the lady novelist who writes as George Eliot then it's good enough for me. Evan Elliott has a rather nice ring to it, don't you think?
Joking aside, I do sometimes wish I were a boy so I could see more of the world. Even the prospect of the battlefield is more appealing right now than sitting here waiting for a marriage proposal. Boys go to college and war. Girls marry well. This, from Papa when I complained of it being unfair earlier today.
Speaking of marriage, Mama checks the casualty lists daily for news of Charlie Gilbert. She clings desperately to the hope of my receiving a proposal from him when he returns, while I, meanwhile, hope he will fall in love with a beautiful French girl and forget all about his infatuation with me (which, as you know, I have always enthusiastically discouraged). Poor, dull Charlie. He's not a bad sort, but you know how he is—and how I am. Marrying Charlie would be rather like marrying a broken carriage clock. How the hours would drag.
Your training sounds much like dorm life at school. Didn't they wake you with a bugle there, too? Or was it a gong? I forget. I imagine you and Will having great larks with the other chaps. You certainly sound in very good spirits and ready for the off. I expect the waiting is terribly frustrating. Like waiting for Christmas—all the anticipation, and yet still no snow and still no parcels under the tree.
Talking of Christmas, do you think it silly of me to still hope we might manage that trip to Paris we all became rather excited about after a few too many sherries? Papa says the city is full of refugees and that despite the allied victory at the Marne, it may still come under German attack again. If we do make it, Alice Cuthbert will come to make a foursome. She's terrific fun, and you know how fond she is of Will. (Remind him, would you. It would make me so happy to see the two of them together.) They say Paris is impossibly pretty at Christmastime, and it will be just the tonic after months of fighting for you and months of boredom for Alice and me. Let's say we'll go if we can. Ça va être merveilleux! All those hours hunched over my French textbooks may prove to be of use after all.
In quite exciting news, I am now a member of the Richmond Lady Cyclist's Club. I mostly fall off so far, but the ladies assure me they all struggled to control their bicycles at first, and that I must keep practicing. I would far rather ride an unbroken horse to be honest, but I shall persist and try again tomorrow (you know how stubborn I can be!). If I ever do master the art of bicycling, I have plans to ride all the way to Brighton to visit Alice. I recently read about Tessie Reynolds's exploits in The Lady and find myself having grand notions about dashing around the country on two wheels. Don't tell Will.
I hope this reaches you before you head off. Papa says you won't be able to tell us where you are once you leave Mytchett in order to prevent information from falling into enemy hands. He says all letters from the Front will be censored before they reach home, so be careful of spilling any secrets or you'll be court martialed before you've pulled the trigger once.
Is there anything I can send before you ship out? Mama said you would probably be grateful for some decent tobacco. She is convinced you are all living in squalor. I've included the best Virginia I could find, just in case.
Yours in friendship,
From Will Elliott to Evie
Dear Writing Desk,
Do not be fooled by Evie's charms. She is untidy and presses too hard with her pen. She will have you ruined in weeks. Please pass on my thanks for her letter (albeit half the length of the one she sent to my friend Tom) and reassure everyone at home that I am in the best of health.
Not much to report from training camp, except that we are keen to get to the Front, see an end to this and return home as swiftly as possible to reclaim what is rightfully ours, writing desks included.
Behave, Evelyn.
Yours, in ink,
From Thomas to Evie
Dear Evelyn Elliott,
I assure you, you look much better as a woman than a man. I can see it now, Evan Elliott in heels and skirt, riding a bicycle like a banshee from hell. Gave myself a good laugh over that one. But in all seriousness, you should keep submitting your articles. You're quite the writer. Don't let them make you believe otherwise.
Camp life is going swimmingly. Glad to be here and so proud to march on, even if it means leaving my father's struggling newspaper business behind. More on that another time.
I'm glad of your letters. Though I'm just one of a bunch of chaps playing poker at the moment, and not exactly a heroic representative of our country, I suspect at some point I'll be desperately glad to have news from home. And you're just the girl to deliver it, so thank you.
Speaking of home, are your horses spirited away somewhere? Will worries about Shylock and Hamlet. We've seen the shipments go out—hundreds of them, or thousands, really. We've been told they're confiscating all the horses and sending them to the Front. Your brother will commit treason if his are taken. You know how he loves them. If they were to go to battle . . . Well, let's not speak of it. Do what you can.
I'm sure you've heard the Allies are holding the lines, keeping Paris relatively safe for now? The government is taking precautions, though, and moved south to Bordeaux. So it would seem, my friend, that Christmas in Paris might still be a fine idea, even without half a bottle of sherry in my stomach. We might have joked when we talked about it at first, but there's no time like the present, I say. Besides, I welcome a diversion at that time of year. Since my mother passed, I've never felt the same about the jolliest season, and all that. The last Christmas I spent with her was in Edinburgh when I was twelve. It snowed and we had a grand party with the rest of the family. Father never let me go to Scotland for Christmas again after that. He was so hurt and angry when she left him, and angrier still that I enjoyed spending time with the other half of my family. I suppose I should be grateful I spent so many summers there before she died. I'm planning to visit after this is all over. Scotland has always felt like my other home, you know?
Damn it, Evie. Now isn't the time for such thoughts, is it? I should have nothing but honour on my mind.
For now, I send you a hurrah for the kingdom (!) and a friendly salute (I may have had one stout too many).
31st October, 1914
Dear Lieutenant Thomas Archibald Harding,
(I presume formal address is a requirement now?)
Thank you for your letter. It's curious how a few lines can cheer one so greatly over a cup of tea and a slice of toast. I hope my letters are as eagerly received. It's a wonder they ever find you among so many men there at the camp. And thank you for your kind words about my writing. You are quite right. I must persevere. I suppose there will be plenty to write about with so much going on in the world.
Charlie Gilbert sent a letter last week (I won't trouble you with the romantic details). He is somewhere in France and sounds dreadfully glum, although Charlie always tends to exaggerate so I take his words with a pinch of salt, especially since the newspapers are all talk of victory and the men being in high spirits. He says they are all encouraged by the news about successful recruitment campaigns and they are eager for the latest troops to arrive.
Will sent a short note as well. He complained of the typhoid vaccination, which has left him feeling a bit green around the gills. He also enclosed a photograph of your regiment. I must say you both look terribly smart in your uniforms. The photograph has pride of place on the mantelpiece. We are immensely proud.
You ask what news from home? Not much, I'm afraid, other than to tell you that my bicycling has improved. There's a wonderful freedom in hurtling along the lanes with the wind in my hair. I don't know why I didn't learn to do it sooner. I found a wonderful little volume in Papa's library called Handbook for Lady Cyclists. The author, Lillias Campbell Davidson, gives the following advice on appropriate attire for cycling tours: Wear as few petticoats as possible and have your gown made neatly and plainly of flannel without loose ends or drapery to catch in your bicycle. I'd rather wear a pair of men's trousers, but Mama would never speak to me again.
Other than swotting up on cycling tours, there's an awful fuss among next season's debutantes and their mothers who are worried sick about a lack of eligible escorts for the spring season. Please make sure to send some decent sorts back home. You are in charge, are you not? I will hold you entirely responsible for the dashed hopes of an entire generation of young women and their dressmakers if you fail in your duties.
In other news, the horses. Oh, Tom. It's really quite awful. The army have indeed requisitioned any animal that isn't already lame and Shylock and Hamlet are both gone to serve as war horses. I did my very best to plead their case, insisting they were both ruined by too much love and sugar lumps and not at all cut out for battle, but my protests fell on deaf ears. Papa says we must all do our bit—even the animals. I don't know how to tell Will. He'll be heartbroken. Perhaps you could tell him? It would be far kinder for him to hear it from a friend than in


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Star Awards Showcase 2020
University of Edinburgh Business School, 23 January, 4pm to 6pm
How to Submit a Winning Entry
Join us for this free event at the University of Edinburgh Business School on January 23, to hear from fantastic Gold winning campaigns and find out more about how to prepare your own award-worthy entry for the 2020 Star Awards.
Who will you hear from?
The Scottish Government have a proven track record at the Awards, scoping 8 Gold awards in 2019, including Star Marketing Team of the Year. They also secured the win for the Champions of Equality and Diversity Award for their work across a number of campaigns – all of which have the higher aim of improving the lives of those in Scotland. The ELC recruitment campaigns reflect a mix of gender and ethnicities, with males over represented; men are 50% of the cast yet are 4% of current workforce – a balance which the campaigns seek to address. Their Organ Donation campaign tackles race inequalities, with activities targeting BAME groups to overcome cultural and religious barriers. The Working to Reduce Hate Campaign increased understanding and knowledge of hate crime by 10%, and a quarter claimed to have done something as a result of the campaign.
As well as learning more about the award-winning work, Kim Wallace from the Scottish Government will share their own insights into how they prepare and work with their agencies to craft their entries. As new sponsor of the Champions of Diversity and Equality Award for 2020, they will also outline the importance of diversity in marketing and how you can and should get involved.
Also speaking at the event is Jane Wilson, Group Account Director at MediaCom who will speak about their Gold winning campaign with Tesco Bank. They identified that over one on three Brits uses international money transfers to send money overseas. This campaign used personalisation, focusing on the use of Arabic language as a personalised option for some audiences. The campaign was hugely successful and has now been rolled out across other parts of the business.
Jane will talk through the specifics of the campaign and highlight their approach to successfully preparing and writing the paper.
WIRE was the 2019 Star Agency of the Year, impressing the judging panel with their drive, growth and impressive portfolio of clients and creative work. They picked up 2 Golds and at this session you will hear more about their award winning work with DF Concerts as well as their own project Bloody Big Brunch – a campaign developed within WIRE to address period poverty and one that has now gone nationwide.
Lee Beattie is Co-Founder and Director at WIRE and will talk about the work and share her top tips for putting together an engaging and well-structured paper. As well as winning several awards, Lee has also been a judge, so can also share her own insights from a judge's perspective.
Chairing the session, is Petra Cameron, Star Awards Chair and Head of Advertising & Content at Royal Bank of Scotland. Petra has been involved in the judging process for several years across a number of different categories and will share her own thoughts on what makes a stand-out paper for the judges.
If you are perhaps considering entering for the first time, or maybe you have entered but not yet been successful, this session will give you valuable tips and advice for preparing and putting your paper together, including:
Timescales and how much time to allow
Collaboration and who to involve from both the client and agency perspective
Structure of the paper and how to tell a good story
Pitfalls to avoid
Presentation of your paper and what to consider
What it's important to include and perhaps what you should leave out
Important questions/checklist before you hit the submit button
Remember case studies of previous winners are also available on the Star Awards website.
Book your place now.
Choose from a range of ticket options on our booking page
University of Edinburgh Business School
29 Buccleuch Pl, EH8 9JS, Scotland
Star Awards 2020
Empowering brave leaders
We push boundaries, tackle taboos and provide comfortable spaces to have uncomfortable conversations. Join our global community.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


My shoulders are rubbed raw from carrying two heavy bags across two airports for hours. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to lift my huge bag over my head into the luggage compartment all by myself. Usually I ask for help, but this time I decided to try it on my own. What a huge dufus with my face all tweaked and red and sweaty trying to lift that dumb red bag way up there so high. And the old lady next to me says, "you're a lot stronger than you look, you little thing you" That's right! BOOYAH! UHH! I said.
I went to dinner at the Cracker Barrell tonight. I saw it as I drove up to the hotel, and I was so excited because I used to go to the Cracker Barrell in Georgia when I visited my grandma. I just HAD to go! Oh my god, this place is hilarious. It was full of decrepit, fat people with no teeth (but really friendly and happy decrepit, fat people!) The host was this jolly black man who smiled so hard while telling us the special, I thought he was going to start cracking up at the sound of "porkchop". The entire menu consisted of fried this and fried that. I got the fried chicken (of course), with mashed pototoes, gravy, biscuits, and corn! I don't think the Midwest believes in spice, because everything was bland, but with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!! And get this - my entire dinner cost $7.60!! My boss is going to see my expense report and give me a raise! I went on and on about how cheap this place was, and the people I were with were like, "Really?? Looks like these prices are higher than the CB in Tennessee!" Whatever cheapos, I haven't paid $7.60 for dinner since...who knows! I'm damn happy about this!
Anyway, Cincinnati is definitely different from home. I miss my Billy. I enjoy seeing new places, but its always better when you have someone to share it with.


Aviston drivers should know that the axles are the last link in transferring power from the engine to the wheels. They're strong parts that last a long time – but they can run into trouble.
Axles just wear out over time and need to be replaced. And sometimes axle seals leak, causing the axle to wear out prematurely. Lubricant leaks out, and water and dirt can get in and contaminate the gears. When this happens you might hear strange noises coming from the axle.
There are different kinds of axles, each with their own potential problems. Your friendly and knowledgeable Faust Automotive & Tires knows this and checks for things like leaking seals, torn CV boots, worn axle joints. An axle inspection at Faust Automotive & Tires will reveal if there are any problems or if a part is nearing failure.
When there is a concern with the axle shaft, it will be removed and inspected. If it's damaged, the shaft will have to be replaced. If the shaft is in good shape, it'll be cleaned, lubed and reinstalled. At Faust Automotive & Tires, damaged CV boots are replaced as well.
It's important for Aviston drivers to take care of this work as soon as they become aware of a problem. Waiting only makes the damage worse and more expensive to repair later. If the vehicle axle fails completely, it could lock up. This could severely damage other things like your transmission – very costly. It could also contribute to an accident, which nobody wants.
Taking care of your axles when they need attention saves money in the long run and helps keep you safely on the road in IL.


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William T. Pizzi, Some Worries About Sentencing Guidelines, 64 U. Colo. L. Rev. 707 (1993), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/articles/818.
This Article discusses Kay A. Knapp, Allocation of Discretion and Accountability Within Sentencing Structures, 64 U. Colo. L. Rev. 679 (1993).


Fresh on the heels of landing Joe Mecane as its new Head of Execution and re-hiring James Yeh to lead its global quantitative strategies business, the firm has landed Tom Zychinski, the former head of fixed income trade execution at Bridgewater Associates. Zychinski onboards as head of portfolio analytics and monitoring within its equity quantitative research group in New York.
Kevin Byrne has named senior vice president of Macquarie Portfolio Solutions, the transition management business of Macquarie Group. Byrne's appointment comes after the departure of Lance Vegna, who had been director and co-head of portfolio solutions with Fogg. Previously, Byrne was senior vice president at Loop Capital Markets. He will report to Fred Fogg, director and head of Macquarie Portfolio Solutions.
Mizuho Americas announced the addition of Traci Creange to its fixed income team as Managing Director and Head of US Floating Rate Note (FRN) Credit Trading. In her new role, Creange will be responsible for trading all maturities and sectors across the floating rate note complex for Mizuho's growing US client base. A 15 year veteran, she most recently served as head FRN trader for Deutsche Bank. Prior to this, she was with Mizuho as an Executive Director in investment grade credit trading from 2011-2014. Creange comes to Mizuho with nearly fifteen years of senior credit trading experience at firms including Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Bear Stearns.
State Street Corporation announced the appointment of David Pagliaro as head of State Street Global Exchange for Europe EMEA. Based in London, Pagliaro will report to John Plansky, global head of State Street Global ExchangeSM and Liz Nolan, co-head of Global Services for EMEA.


Soda PDF Premium is simple to navigate and works with eight languages. It has basic PDF conversion, creation and editing features plus some extras that make it a great choice for businesses wanting to make professional and attractive PDFs.
Convert PDF Software: Why you Need it to Convert PDF to Word?
The top performers in our review are Adobe Acrobat DC, the Gold Award winner; Power PDF Advanced, the Silver Award winner; and Foxit Phantom PDF, the Bronze Award winner. Here's more on choosing a system to meet your needs, along with detail on how we arrived at our ranking of the top 10 PDF conversion software applications.
The portable document format, more commonly known as a PDF, captures a document much in the same way that a printed document does. PDFs can be sent anywhere and viewed on any operating system and device without incompatibility issues. The versatility of PDFs makes them a good option for businesses to post documents on company websites. Companies can offer more in-depth research and analysis to their customers and offer a downloadable document that can be read on any operating system.
As popularity of the PDF has grown, so has the need for programs that allow you to create, edit and share these files. Convert PDF software does more than convert and edit electronic documents. It offers a range of features that let you manipulate, comment on and secure multiple PDFs. We have reviewed the top PDF converters and ranked them in order according to how well each program allows you to edit your PDFs and convert them into different formats.
Many convert PDF software programs feature optical character recognition (OCR) software (software that allows you to scan paper docs and convert them into PDFs and other formats). However, if your primary goal is to convert PDFs into editable text, you may want to check out our Document Scanning Services site.
If you need a solution to manage and track your business's documents, you may be interested in some other important office tools. If you have a lot of PDFs going in and out of your office on a daily basis, document management software might be a good fit. These systems give you the tools to manage, organize and securely store all of your documents. If most of your sensitive documents are not yet in digital form, you may be interested in document scanners, which quickly convert paper documents into electronic form so they can be securely shared and saved.
Originally, we started with 15 PDF conversion software applications. We looked for programs that offer tools to convert PDFs to a variety of other documents. With most users wanting to convert PDF to Word documents, we eliminated one program that didn't integrate with Microsoft.
We then tested 14 programs that met our criteria: namely, programs with OCR capabilities that create searchable PDFs, convert PDFs into popular formats and that are easy to use as well as the other features present on our product comparison (refer to our matrix). We picked the top 10 programs based not only the presence of these features but how well the software performed, with an emphasis on usability.
To test PDF conversion software, we either received trial accounts of each application or purchased the software from the manufacturer. We tested programs based on their ability to convert PDF documents into different formats, how many steps were involved in setting up the software and converting files, what editing features were present, and what resources the software offers to help you during the conversion process.
We tested these 10 programs for their conversion capabilities and their ability to convert batches of files at once. This was an important test, because many people use convert PDF software to combine multiple documents. If you work with multiple languages, you want software that can handle more than one language as well. Look at our matrix to see how many languages each application supports.
We tested the software ourselves to see how intuitive it was to both access and use. While all software has a learning curve, you do not want to spend days or weeks learning how to execute basic functions. Our Ease of Use score reflects how easy the software was to download or access, the steps involved in converting a PDF to a Word document, how easy it was to navigate the interface and the accessibility of the program's resources. We offer further evaluations of the usability of each software in the product reviews.
In our tests, Adobe Acrobat performed remarkably well in every aspect. Not only does this software offer a clean interface that is easy to navigate, but it offers easy accessibility. You simply download the software and its associated app, and you can access your PDFs from anywhere. We found it was exceptionally easy to convert scanned PDFs into other file formats and never had to access the help resources, although they were present in the application.
When we tested the editing features, we looked for software with OCR compatibility, which lets you create editable PDFs from scanned documents. Editing features are key because often you need to change documents throughout their lifecycle.
When we tested the editing features convert PDF software provides, Soda PDF Professional and Foxit PhantomPDF stood out due to their freehand drawing tools as well as their ability to redact text, collect data from forms and add digital signatures to documents.
There are many things to consider when deciding which online PDF editor is the best fit for your document-management needs. When choosing software that allows you to create PDFs and convert them into different formats, focus on versions that help your documents work for you.
On our lineup, there is a wide range of programs to choose from depending on your needs. For example, Adobe Acrobat's DC PDF converter is top of the line. PDF Architect is a great value choice. While it may not offer the extensive feature set that Adobe's software does, it effectively converts PDFs and is less than half the price.
Our top three convert PDF software applications have the tools you need to successfully convert PDFs into a variety of other file formats. However, besides their performance, the three programs are very easy to use and offer clean interfaces that are easy to navigate. Between the high performance and ease of use, these programs stand out among the rest.
Another solid choice is PDFelement. While it falls in the middle of the lineup, it offers a high level of usability and numerous conversion tools that improve the software's versatility. Not only that, the program has features that allow you to edit and share password-protected PDFs.
Convert PDF software is a great addition to your document-management system and can help you create, edit and secure your important documents and contracts.
Whenever possible, Business.com evaluates all products and services in hands-on tests that simulate as closely as possible the experiences of typical consumers. The companies had no input or influence over our test methods, nor was the methodology provided to any of them in more detail than is available through reading our reviews. In addition, results of our evaluations were not provided to the companies in advance of publication.
One of the largest benefits of a PDF is that it can be read and used by nearly any operating system without issue. However, there are times when it is necessary to convert a PDF into a different format; often, files are converted from a PDF to a Microsoft Word document for editing purposes. Other types of conversion options include simple text (TXT) files, RTF files and XML.
While all of the software applications on our lineup offer some conversion options, look for apps that offer a range of options. The more file formats the software supports, the more versatility the PDF converter offers.
With a PDF, you have more control over who can interact with your document than you would with a normal Word file. When you set controls on a PDF, you can password protect various functions, including who can view it, edit it or even print it. These are important tools in convert PDF software since they allow you to share your documents but still maintain a high level of control over them.
Certain software programs, including Nitro Pro, allow you to send documents for a digital signature while limiting what information in the document the receiving party can change.
Have a convert PDF software question of your own?
How can I convert a pdf image into a pptx template for presentations in my business?
While the other answers are fine, it's worth noting that in the latest version of PPT, you can simply open the PDF by selecting 'open with PPT'. Some formatting errors may appear, but the document will be readable and editable nonetheless.
Has anybody used Nitro PDF before?
Well, I haven't used Nitro PDF rather than I use Polaris and Adobe over my tab. I don't think to install nitro pdf is worth it because its just a single application which can only be used for reading PDF files, but using Polaris means I can use it to access pdf files, create word files, create powerpoints, etc. So, better to use Polaris rather than any other PDF in my opinion!
How to make pdf document read only without setting any password protection to the document?
Soda PDF's software is easy-to-use, multilingual, and preloaded with templates and editing tools. Check out our review on convert PDF software to learn more.
Adobe Acrobat PDF conversion software delivers exceptional quality and service. See how it compares with other PDF converters here.
Foxit Phantom PDF is among the best PDF conversion software apps on the market. Learn why in our review.
Lightning PDF is PDF conversion software with features that make it good for publishers and international businesses. Learn more in our review.
Nitro Pro is simple-to-use PDF conversion software designed for what businesses need. See how it compares with other PDF converters here.
Using PDF Architect, you can convert PDFs into other file types and vice versa with ease. See how it compares with other PDF converters here.
PDFTables has converted over 81 million pages to PDF structured data. This program features different pricing options depending on how many pages you need converted from PDF to Excel, CSV or XML.
PDFelement offers an easy-to-use conversion application with numerous PDF editing tools.
Nuance's Power PDF converts PDFs and has features for enhancing, securing and saving them in other formats. See how it compares with other PDF converters.
Qoppa PDF Studio Pro offers an extensive selection of editing and conversion tools. Learn more about this PDF conversion software in our review.
You can purchase iSkysoft PDF editor for either Mac or Windows computers. To see how it compares to other convert PDF software, check out our review.
Able2Extract Professional can convert PDFs into Excel files, Word documents, PowerPoint files and more. It also functions as a PDF editor and viewer in addition to a converter.


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Now Reading: Can a $2.5 Billion Bond Deal Fix Harris County's Inequitable Flood Control?
Can a $2.5 Billion Bond Deal Fix Harris County's Inequitable Flood Control?
The uneven patchwork of drainage infrastructure in Harris County means that some of Houston's poorest neighborhoods are still waiting for basic flood protections.
Eufenio Reyes cleans out his bedroom after his Houston home flooded in May. Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP
Amal Ahmed Aug 8, 2019, 2:40 pm CST
When Raul bought his home in 1999, he had no way of knowing that just two years later, Tropical Storm Allison, as it inundated Houston with more than 30 inches of rain, would submerge his street in a northeastern neighborhood called Lakewood. He rebuilt after Allison—and after major floods in 2008, and again in 2015, and most recently two years ago after Hurricane Harvey. When I ask Raul, who declined to share his last name, how much longer he thinks he'll stay here, he points to the ground. He'll leave when he's returned to the earth itself.
Raul's story is common in Lakewood, where a strong rainstorm can push water up to front porches. The neighborhood sits alongside Halls Bayou, a tributary of the larger Greens Bayou watershed, and its main drainage system is a series of open, concrete ditches between the curb and the road, where you might otherwise expect to see a sidewalk. The ditches, built decades ago and which in some places seem like hardly more than a gentle dip in the road, are designed to funnel water toward a culvert at the end of each block. The system isn't structured to handle downpours like those sustained during Hurricane Harvey, but it should be able to shuttle water out of the neighborhood during regularly occurring storms. Yet the drainage infrastructure is so poorly maintained, it's effectively useless. The grass has grown over the ditches, almost leveling them out in some places. Lawn signs, leaves, mud, and trash clog the entrances to the storm drain. Even when the ditches are funneling water away, it can take hours for them to empty completely. Residents often end up clearing out the ditches on their own.
"These communities outside the [city center] are stuck with this really primitive open ditch drainage that would normally be reserved for rural areas or small towns," said Charlie Duncan, a director at Texas Housers, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income housing services.
A tributary of Halls Bayou runs close to the homes in Lakewood. During major storms like Harvey, the stream can't hold enough water to prevent flooding. Amal Ahmed
When Lakewood was built in the 1950s, it was a rural area. Decades ago, when the neighborhood was still mostly middle-class and white, its open ditch drainage system was sufficient because the land upstream from the bayou was still undeveloped and could thus absorb runoff.
There's been significant development in the area since then, but the neighborhood's flood protections haven't changed much. That's true across large swaths of Harris County, where drainage infrastructure is an uneven patchwork. Some parts of the county have measures intended to protect residents against a 100-year storm, while others, like Lakewood, have far fewer protections, and experience small-scale, localized flooding on a regular basis. "The system wasn't built all at once," said Kyle Shelton, a director and researcher at Rice University's Kinder Institute. "There was never a huge collection of money to say, 'OK, we're building all these [protections] to the same level.' All of those infrastructure projects are usually piecemeal."
And then there's the question of who gets funding for new projects. Greens Bayou has one of the highest concentrations of poverty in the county. Lakewood is predominantly black and Latinx, and the median home value is $56,200—nearly a quarter of the citywide median. In Halls Bayou, most of the 37 tributaries haven't even been studied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Homes along those tributaries may not be included in the floodplain maps, which means the risk of flooding isn't officially quantified.
Click to enlarge. Christina Walsh/Rice University's SSPEED Center
Federal projects are usually funded after complicated cost-benefit analyses which rely in part on property values. But that means low-income neighborhoods like Lakewood have long been passed over for resources that instead flow to wealthier Texans.
"Right away, that discriminates," said Iris Gonzalez, the director of a Houston-based advocacy group called the Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER). "It means that poor communities and communities of color just can't score enough to get federal projects."
But for communities like Lakewood, help could be on the way. Last year, on the first anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, 85 percent of Harris County voters approved a historic $2.5 billion flood infrastructure bond deal. The bond language states that "flooding issues do not respect jurisdictional or political boundaries," giving the County Commissioner's Court authority to "provide a process for the equitable expenditure of funds"—but what that equitable process looks like isn't specified.
"Right away, that discriminates. It means that poor communities and communities of color just can't score enough to get federal projects."
As Harvey's second anniversary nears, community advocates worry that absent a tangible plan and process, the bond money—most of which hasn't been disbursed—will likely benefit affluent communities first, before the studies are even complete on the types of detention ponds or channel improvements that Halls Bayou needs.
"The idea that some areas have been overlooked in the past—there is some truth to that in parts of Harris County," said Matt Zeve, the deputy executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District, which will manage most of the infrastructure projects funded by the bond. "We can't make up for lost time, but what we can do is recognize that the work hasn't been done in the past, and we need to dedicate the financial resources to that work."
"This neighborhood is affordable," says Ben Hirsch, who works at West Street Recovery, a nonprofit that rebuilds homes in neighborhoods like Lakewood. For the most part, residents here wouldn't be able to buy a detached, two-bedroom house with a yard in any other part of the city. "But it's only affordable because of the risks."
More than $100 million from the bond has been earmarked for Halls Bayou, but in the decade that it might take to disburse the promised infrastructure funding and complete the county's master list of planned projects, Hirsch believes the area will continue to flood, in small storms or historic ones. "The most progressive organizations in the city will say, 'Well, you know this money is coming'—because there is nothing else to say," he said.
But even $100 million isn't going to save these neighborhoods. It's "only a sliver of what we need for resilience," said CEER's Gonzales. Many of the projects listed to receive funding "were already on the top of the list," she said. Chrishelle Palay, the executive director of the Houston Organizing Movement for Equity (HOME), also points out that the bond's equity provisions don't establish a clear, transparent process. "There isn't a policy in place to make sure that a resident in any watershed would know how the order [of projects] that are underway is determined," she said.
Abandoned homes in Lakewood are routinely bought and flipped, and advertisements proclaiming "No Credit Ok!" litter the neighborhood. Amal Ahmed
The fact that the equity commitment is so vague has also led others to accuse the county of attempting to siphon funds away from wealthy communities that were also hit hard by Harvey. Houston City Council member Greg Travis advised the County Commissioner's office against "conducting social engineering to decide which projects should be funded immediately."
In February, state Representative Jim Murphy told County Commissioner Lina Hidalgo that prioritizing bond projects based on neighborhood income levels was "outside of the scope" of the bond program, and could therefore threaten the Legislature's effort to provide disaster funding to Harris County. Hidalgo later clarified to the Houston Chronicle that income data was not being used to determine project timelines.
Of the 17 bond projects dedicated to Halls Bayou, seven are in the preliminary design phase; the rest have yet to make it to that first step. For most infrastructure projects managed by the Flood Control District, the design phase could take up to a full year, Zeve tells me. The timeline for the next stage—acquiring right of ways from private citizens and businesses, and environmental permitting—is messy and unpredictable. It could take a few months, a year, or longer, Zeve said. After that, the project moves on to the final design phase for another nine to 12 months. Then, and only then, does construction begin—which can last anywhere from one to four years depending on the size of the project. Throughout the yearslong process, Zeve said, "There's a lot of work being done, but anyone who's not in the contracting or engineering community doesn't see anything happening."
Shirley Ronquillo, a community activist from East Aldine, knows a few things about agitating for action. In her neighborhood on the far northeast side of the city, homeowners on opposite sides of the street are divided by city and county jurisdiction lines. For years, Ronquilo has been unable to get requests regarding even mundane issues like potholes addressed. Is it the city of Houston's pothole, or the county's? No one seems to know, or, she suspects, care. She points to the fact that when the county was conducting outreach ahead of last year's bond vote, none of the community programs were held in Spanish in this primarily Latinx, working-class community.
"How much do you need to study the flooding? We know it floods," she said. Earlier in our conversation, Ronquillo told me that when she was growing up, she and her family would swim across major roads toward safety whenever the flooding got too bad. East Aldine has the same poorly maintained open-ditch drainage system as in Lakewood.
What the county doesn't know, Ronquillo said, is that residents in this corner of the city are often reluctant to apply for funds to rebuild and repair homes that were destroyed by floods because they don't have the right paperwork: sometimes related to immigration status, sometimes related to property deeds or permits. Two years after Hurricane Harvey, children are still living in homes that show signs of water damage and mold.
"The most progressive organizations in the city will say, 'Well, you know this money is coming'—because there is nothing else to say."
As we drive through East Aldine, Ronquillo points to each block, listing off how high the water reached during Harvey as well as the last time it flooded from an unusually strong burst of rain. Streets that fall out of the city's jurisdiction, and its commercial zoning laws, are lined by taco trucks, auto-repair shops, and mobile home parks. Men on horses ride past cars on the narrow two-lane road.
The unchecked growth that happens in unincorporated areas makes it harder to measure and mitigate flood risk. Every new patch of concrete means more runoff.
A storm gutter in Lakewood, photographed in July partially blocked by grass and litter. Volunteers helped clear and mow these gutters in early May—the last time they were cleared out, according to West Street Recovery's Ben Hirsch. Amal Ahmed
The City of Houston is unlikely to annex this portion of Harris County soon. (After the city's expansion spree slowed in the 1990s, the state made it harder for cities to acquire new land.) But if the city were, someday, to annex the patchwork of streets that are part of unincorporated Harris County, the infrastructure issues here would be added to what Duncan, Texas Housers' advocacy director, calls Houston's "infrastructure debt"—one more network of poorly maintained ditches to upgrade and maintain. "It's going to require a more concerted effort to improve that infrastructure that's so far behind," he said.
East Aldine won't face the same fate as Lakewood, which became part of a forward-facing city with an economy larger than the state of Maryland, but is now stuck with the services of a small, unincorporated community from the past.
With $2.5 billion on the table, Harris County is poised to fix some of its longstanding issues. But only time will tell how much longer some communities have to wait.
Sunk Costs: Back-to-back record flooding along the Brazos River forced people in Richmond to make an excruciating choice: Stay or go?
Sinking Land and Climate Change Are Worsening Tidal Floods on the Texas Coast: More than 10,000 homes along the Texas coast will flood at least 26 times a year by 2045, researchers say.
Floods Drown 'High Ground' in Uncertain, Texas: Time has always been a friend to those who live on the west side of Caddo Lake, but in March of 2016, time became their enemy.
Amal Ahmed is a general assignment reporter at the Texas Observer. Originally from Dallas, she has a journalism degree from Northwestern University and previously worked at The Atlantic and Texas Monthly. You can contact her at [email protected].
Read More: flooding, Harris County, port arthur
Bordering on Empty
The Rio Grande is one of the most endangered rivers in the world. The Rio Grande Valley is one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation. Can South Texas weather a hotter, drier future? by Naveena Sadasivam
She's 28. She's an Immigrant. She's in Charge of Texas' Most Populous County. Get Used to It.
When Lina Hidalgo was elected Harris County judge in November, many scoffed at her unexpected victory. Now she's on a mission to prove that her progressive agenda is just what Houston needs. by Blake Paterson
The Flood Next Time
In the floodplain of the Rio Grande, Trump's wall threatens to inundate communities on both sides of the border. by Gus Bova
Popular Articles Now:
Announcing the Texas Observer's New Engagement Initiative
The Year Newspaper Unions Roared Back to Life in Texas


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text:
// Copyright (c) 2017-2019 Jae-jun Kang
// See the file LICENSE for details.

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace x2net
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Cleanup helper base class for any event-consuming classes.
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>
    /// x2 event handlers are built on C# delegates. In case of an instance
    /// method delegate, it keeps a strong reference to the method target object.
    /// This means that when you bind an event with an instance method, the
    /// target object will never be garbage-collected as long as the handler
    /// delegate lives, resulting in undesirable memory leak.
    ///
    /// EventSink is here to handle the case. First, let your event-consuming
    /// class be derived from EventSink. When the object is no longer needed,
    /// explicitly call its Dispose() method to ensure that all the event
    /// bindings to the object are removed so that the object is properly
    /// garbage-collected.
    ///
    /// An EventSink object should be initialized with a single specific flow.
    /// And an object instance of any EventSink-derived class should never be
    /// shared by two or more different flows. These are constraints by design.
    /// </remarks>
    public class EventSink : IDisposable
    {
        protected volatile bool disposed;

        private List<Binding.Token> bindings;
        private WeakReference flow;

        public bool Disposed { get { return disposed; } }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the flow which this EventSink belongs to.
        /// </summary>
        public Flow Flow
        {
            get { return flow.Target as Flow; }
            protected set
            {
                if (bindings.Count != 0)
                {
                    throw new InvalidOperationException();
                }
                EnsureNotDisposed();
                flow = new WeakReference(value);
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Initializes a new instance of the EventSink class with the flow that
        /// runs the current thread.
        /// </summary>
        public EventSink() : this(Flow.CurrentFlow) { }

        /// <summary>
        /// Initializes a new instance of the EventSink class with the specified
        /// flow.
        /// </summary>
        public EventSink(Flow flow)
        {
            bindings = new List<Binding.Token>();
            this.flow = new WeakReference(flow);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Releases all the handler bindings associated with this EventSink.
        /// </summary>
        public void Dispose()
        {
            Dispose(true);
            GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Frees managed or unmanaged resources.
        /// </summary>
        protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
        {
            if (disposed) { return; }
            disposed = true;

            try
            {
                var flow = Flow;
                if ((object)flow == null) { return; }

                lock (bindings)
                {
                    for (int i = 0, count = bindings.Count; i < count; ++i)
                    {
                        flow.UnsubscribeInternal(bindings[i]);
                    }

                    bindings.Clear();

                    this.flow.Target = null;
                }
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Trace.Warn("error removing EventSink bindings : {0}", e);
            }
        }

        protected void EnsureNotDisposed()
        {
            if (disposed)
            {
                throw new ObjectDisposedException(GetType().FullName);
            }
        }

        public void Bind(Binding.Token bindingToken)
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return;
            }
            flow.Subscribe(bindingToken);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Bind<T>(T e, Action<T> handler)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Subscribe(e, handler);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Bind<T>(T e, Action<T> handler, Predicate<T> predicate)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Subscribe(e, handler, predicate);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Bind<T>(T e, Func<Coroutine, T, IEnumerator> handler)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Subscribe(e, handler);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Bind<T>(T e, Func<Coroutine, T, IEnumerator> handler,
            Predicate<T> predicate)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Subscribe(e, handler, predicate);
        }

        public void Unbind(Binding.Token bindingToken)
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return;
            }
            flow.Unsubscribe(bindingToken);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Unbind<T>(T e, Action<T> handler)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Unsubscribe(e, handler);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Unbind<T>(T e, Action<T> handler, Predicate<T> predicate)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Unsubscribe(e, handler, predicate);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Unbind<T>(T e, Func<Coroutine, T, IEnumerator> handler)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Unsubscribe(e, handler);
        }

        public Binding.Token? Unbind<T>(T e, Func<Coroutine, T, IEnumerator> handler,
            Predicate<T> predicate)
            where T : Event
        {
            var flow = Flow;
            if (ReferenceEquals(flow, null))
            {
                return null;
            }
            return flow.Unsubscribe(e, handler, predicate);
        }

        internal void AddBinding(Binding.Token bindingToken)
        {
            lock (bindings)
            {
                bindings.Add(bindingToken);
            }
        }

        internal void RemoveBinding(Binding.Token bindingToken)
        {
            lock (bindings)
            {
                bindings.Remove(bindingToken);
            }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
'No-Pants' Pastor Seulean Re-enters State House Race, Says His Party Bullied Him to Drop Out
Anti-abortion organization continues to attack state Senator
Colo District Attorney "Happy" to Break the Law to Carry His Gun into a Theater that Bans Guns
CO Enviro Groups Petition State to Protect the Air on High-Pollution Days
Colorado Fake News Round-up: Muslims Aren't Here to Colonize America
Erik Maulbetsch
Colorado Republicans' love of fake news continues unabated since last month's round-up. Two official county party pages, along with other GOP officials and leaders, are still sharing verifiably false memes and stories.
Leading the way is the Mesa County Republicans Vice Chair Mark McCallister. On July 8 he shared a meme with a fake quote attributed to controversial Oxford professor of Islamic studies Tariq Ramadan. The statement in part read
"We are here to colonize the US and Canada and spread Islamic Sharia Law. Canada has one of the easiest legal systems to penetrate and advance Sharia from within, but if that doesn't work, we won't hesitate to use violent Jihad."
Scary stuff indeed, but he never said it. Snopes debunked the meme back in February, with it post "Did a Muslim Scholar Advocate 'Colonizing' U.S. and Canada with Sharia Law?" The fact-checking site rated the claim "False."
McCallister also shared a post by the Mesa County Republican Party that featured a photoshopped image falsely depicting an Antifa supporter attacking a police officer.The link itself connected to an opinion piece, but the image the author used to promote the column on Facebook was debunked by Snopes last summer: "Antifa Member Photographed Beating Police Officer?" The original image is from a 2009 riot in Greece.
Ironically, the writer promoting his opinions with this patently fake image describes his website as "an antidote to the endless extremism and dishonesty that is currently coming out of the Far Left and also the Far Right."
Speaking of irony, here is another more recent post from the Mesa County GOP Vice Chair. It is posted without comment.
Chaffee County Republicans managed to take fake news posting to a new level by posting a fake meme about the fact-checking site Snopes. The meme purported to show two images of George Soros shaking hands with Snopes founder…except that neither man next to Soros is Snopes' CEO, but rather, a couple of other easily identifiable white guys. Nevertheless the image circulated enough that Snopes felt the need to address it, which it did in a post titled "Was Snopes.com 'BUSTED' for Our CEO's Ties to George Soros?" Short answer: No, because there are no ties.
Finally, Tom Tancredo's latest anti-immigrant project, Citizens for Secure Borders, shared a Daily Caller news story with clear falsehood in its title: "Illegal immigrant arrested for starting string of Colorado fires that charred 40K acres." The story covers the arrest of Jesper Joergensen, a Danish man living in Colorado on an expired visa, for starting the devastating Spring fire. That coverage is accurate, as are the following paragraphs about the other wildfires burning throughout the state. The headline, however, accuses Joergensen of starting a "string of wildfires," which is clearly false.
This doesn't quite meet the Times Recorder's standard for fake news, as the Daily Caller article hasn't been debunked by an official fact-checking site such as Snopes or Politifact, but it is nevertheless false. Furthermore, The Tancredo group's post repeated the false accusation in its own blurb about the article. Considering that this is about arguable the largest news story in Colorado, a local group such as this should know better.
Tancredo himself has a mixed record when it comes to addressing false or inaccurate posts. He has removed at least one fake news post from his Facebook page once it was pointed out to him by the Times Recorder, but has ignored other requests, including one from 9News' Kyle Clark to "apologize for spreading a falsehood."
fake newsMesa County RepublicansTom Tancredo


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Lithofacies, diagenesis and reservoir quality of Upper Shu'aiba reservoirs in Northwestern Oman in cooperation with Shell Chair, Oil and Gas Research Center, SQU and PDO.


text:
Tagged: counsel investigation
Oh My Brady! Who Art Thou?
Although the New York State Court of Appeals decision in People v. McCray, will likely not be a hot topic of conversation in many legal circles, it will definitely have a palpable impact on prosecutorial practices regarding the handling of Brady disclosures in New York.
In McCray, the defendant was accused of raping an 18-year-old female acquaintance. At trial, the prosecution alleged that the defendant and the complainant had gone on a date and that the defendant physically forced the complainant to engage in sexual intercourse while inside an abandoned building. The defense claimed that the sexual encounter was consensual, and an altercation arose when the complainant demanded money in exchange for having sex with the defendant. The defense also contended that a physical struggle occurred when the defendant attempted to stop the complainant from running off with his "pants."
Unquestionably, the case presented a "classic he-said she-said credibility determination." And "[t]he outcome of the case obviously depended on which witness the jury believed."
Prior to trial, the prosecution requested that the court conduct an in-camera review of the complainant's mental health records. The prosecution didn't believe that all of the reports were discoverable, and sought the court's guidance as to which documents were Brady-Giglio material. The trial court found that only 28 pages out of the thousand records it reviewed should be disclosed to the defense –although the undisclosed records referenced, among other things, the complainant's tendency (1) to confuse dates of events or misunderstand events, (2) to have hallucinations or distorted perceptions, (3) to misrepresent the truth in an effort to please her mother, (4) to engage in wishful thinking about relationships with males with whom she is recently acquainted, and (5) to fabricate occurrences of sexual assault and attempted rape by her father –allegations which were ultimately deemed "unfounded."
The Court of Appeals observed that "[t]his case differs from the typical Brady case in that it involves confidential mental health records, and the decision to deny disclosure was made not by a prosecutor, but by a judge after an in camera review of the records sought." Nevertheless, it concluded that the key inquiry remained whether there was a "reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different."
The Court held that the undisclosed records were "either cumulative or of little if any relevance to the case." The Court explained that they "contain other examples of what could be called hallucinations or distorted perceptions, but the other examples were no clearer or more dramatic than the ones the defense already had…." The Court also found that any prior fabrications would be immaterial because the "accusation [against] her father was far removed in time and quite different from the[se] accusation[s]…" The Court concluded that "[i]t is hard to imagine, however, a juror who could attribute the complainant's testimony here — a claim of rape, made immediately after what defendant testified was consensual sex followed by a dispute over payment — to a failure of recollection or a misunderstanding, however susceptible to those failings the complainant may have been."
Dissenters were critical of the Court's failure to protect the defendant's right to consider and explore all legitimate avenues of information relevant to his defense and to the victim's testimony and potential cross-examination. (Dissenting Judges: Jenny Rivera, Jonathan Lippman, Eugene Pigott). They explained that "[w]ithout access to documents concerning reliability of the witness, the defendant cannot properly develop and pursue questioning favorable to the defense or address facts and related issues important to the truth finding process."
Unfortunately, the long-standing importance of the Brady-Giglio rule has not been fully appreciated by all members of the Court and decisions like McCray reaffirm the need for legislative reform in order to address the stark imbalance in discovery practices. Likewise, the result-affecting test conducted by the Courts to determine Brady violations is simply a farfetched and imperfect process -as "[w]hat influences juries, courts seldom know." (Chief Judge Jerome Frank). The imperfection of this process is further illustrated by the illogical fact that the majority in McCray found it "hard to imagine" that a juror might reach a different outcome–while members of its own bench implicitly found that they would have reached a different outcome in this case had they know of the undisclosed reports.
The McCray decision simply fails to recognize that the right to disclosure of exculpatory and impeachment evidence under the Brady-Giglio rule is the cornerstone to ensuring a defendant the right to a fair trial, and ensuring that the "goals of seeking the truth through the trial process" is legitimate. Without access to favorable evidence, a defendant is unable to either effectively prepare for trial, or present facts important to the "truth finding process."
All the parties in McCray, except the defense, were permitted to decide how the complainant's mental health records may be useful to the accused. In my opinion, such a vetting process is unsound, and should not be representative of how future Brady-Giglio materials should be handled by prosecuting offices. As an alternative, these Brady-Giglio materials, even if referencing "private matters" of the complainant, should have been turned over to the defense under a protective order, or subject to preclusion after the court heard arguments from both sides. Of course, such an alternative process would at least respect the fundamental principle that the right to favorable evidence is one of constitutional dimension -and the "privacy concern" of a witness is not.
To decide what may be favorable to a defendant, while keeping him blindfolded in his prison cell, does not comport to the notions of fairness and justice for all.
People v. McCray, — N.E.3d —- (2014)
People v. McCray, 102 AD3d 1000 (3d Dept 2013)
Brady v. Maryland, 373 US 83 (1963)
Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972)
Written by adipietro No comments Posted in Recent Decisions	Tagged with Brady v. Maryland, Brady violation, confrontation clause, constitutional rights, counsel investigation, criminal defense, criminal justice reform, criminal justice system, criminal law, criminal procedure, cross-examination, effective impeachment, exculpatory evidence, in-camera review, New York Court of Appeals, witness credibility
Counsel Ineffective for Failure to Present Psychiatric Evidence at Pre-Trial Hearing
On June 6, 2013, the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the Appellate Division, First Department order vacating George Oliveras's murder conviction. In 1999, Mr. Oliveras voluntarily went to a police station when he heard police were looking for him in connection with a murder. Even though Mr. Oliveras's mother informed police prior to the interrogation that he suffered from mental illness, detectives interrogated Oliveras for six and a half hours – eliciting statements that were the only direct evidence connecting him to the crime. The description provided by a 911 caller did not match Oliveras and bullets found at the scene did not connect him to the crime.
Defense counsel moved to suppress Oliveras' in-custody statements as false and coerced. But, counsel failed to conduct the investigation and analysis necessary to succeed in his strategy. Trial counsel failed to subpoena his client's mental health records, and did not hire an expert. Oliveras was convicted.
Post-conviction, the Office of the Appellate Defender brought a C.P.L. 440.10 motion to vacate, arguing trial counsel was ineffective. After a hearing, the trial court dismissed the motion, but the Appellate Division First Department reversed and ordered a new trial. The Court of Appeals affirmed, explaining that counsel failed to pursue the minimal investigation required under the circumstances.
The strategy to present defendant's mental capacity and susceptibility to police interrogation could only be fully developed after counsel's investigation of the fact and law, which required review of the records.
New York Courts are finally looking beyond the record on appeal and requiring counsel to undertake investigation demanded by the facts of the case.
To read the decision, click here.
Written by abernhard 1 Comment Posted in Police Practices, Wrongful Conviction	Tagged with counsel investigation, CPL 440.10, criminal defense, ineffective representation, mental illness, police practices