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Gigabyte M1305

The new Gigabyte M1305 booktop notebook is a 13.3-inch LCD Notebook with docking station sporting NVIDIA GeForce GT220 DDR3 1GB Desktop VGA Card.
With this hybrid design, you can replace your desktop with this Booktop. Carry it as a notebook when you are on the move and dock it and use it as a desktop at home. The beauty of it is that the 3D graphics performance is enhanced with the NVIDIA GT220 on the Docking station which takes over the display. With the GT220, you can play your 3D games with better frame rate.

The detailed specs if the new Gigabyte M1305 BookTop Laptop are:

  • Intel® Core ™ 2 Duo / Pentium® / Celeron® ULV Processor
  • Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
  • 13.3″ LCD Wide Screen, 1366×768
  • Mobile Intel® GS45 Express
  • Built-in 1.3MegaPixel Webcam
  • 3.5G Antenna build-in, 3.5G module supported (Optional)
  • 2.5″ SATA HDD Supported Capacities of 320GB/500GB
  • WLAN Integrated 802.11b/g/n, Lan 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet
  • Main Battery: Li-ion 6 cell, 3800mAh, battery life is around 6-6.5 hrs
  • FlexiBay for ODD & 2nd Battery
  • 2nd Battery: Li-polymer 3 cell, 2550mAh, battery life could be extended around 4 hrs.
  • Facial Recognition Security Check
  • Fingerprint Reader Security Check
  • Docking Station Includes NVIDIA® GeForce® GT220 DDRIII 1GB Desktop VGA Card (Dock Graphic card can only output from the video-out ports on the dock)

Gigabyte M1305 Price and Availability:The new Gigabyte M1305 BookTop laptop price and availability are not revealed yet.

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'Once in a lifetime'
Covington teen to take second trip to rodeo finals

By Michelle Floyd

Staff Reporter

When Rebekah Christian made it to the National High School Finals Rodeo in 2006, she was surprised. When she made it again this year, she was even more shocked.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm glad I accomplished it," said Christian, an 18-year-old Faith Academy graduate from Covington. "I'm saying, 'Wow. I've done this all four years of high school.'"

Her mother, Tina Lovell, said most girls who make it to the national competition are considered lucky when they make it once. To make it twice is even more of an accomplishment.

"I am very proud of her and all of her hard work," Lovell said. "She was up every morning before school taking care of her horse... I've taken her to every rodeo, and I wouldn't miss it for the world."

To make it to the 2008 National High School Finals Rodeo, Christian competed this past year in about 28 Georgia rodeos in pole bending. Pole bending is a timed event in which a rider must weave a horse in and out of six poles arranged 20 feet apart in a line. Christian completes an average run in about 21 seconds.

After accumulating points all year long for her strong time, she was the fourth highest scorer in the state, which allowed her to compete in the finals with the three other top female participants. Christian, her horse, Lightening, and her mother will travel to Farmington, N.M. for the competitions July 20 through 26.

While Christian will compete in a variety of pole bending matches during the week to try to place in the finals, she said she's happy just to attend the event.

"I just want to go see the sights (in New Mexico) and see what New Mexico has to offer," she said. "I watch (other competitions at the rodeo) too. They make it fun for spectators."

To prepare for the rodeo, she's been trying to keep the 20-year-old Lightening in shape by making her exercise and giving her vitamins.

"She's getting old, but if you take care of them, they take care of you," she said. "You get a horse, and it's a team effort."

Christian said she will miss participating in the high school rodeo competitions, since this is her last eligible year to compete.

"The friends you make and the good times you have with them - I'm getting kind of sad," she said.

Friends is what got her into rodeo competitions in the first place.

"I learned about a rodeo from a friend at school - I went to a couple of competitions with her and it was fun, so I said 'I want to do that,'" she said. "I've never been into basketball or cheerleading - that's not for me; I want to get in and get dirty."

When she returns home from the competition, she will go back to her job at Hair Motif in Conyers, where she is apprenticing under her mom to become a hair dresser.

"I've worked with (the other employees) almost five years; they've become part of my family," she said.

Even though she won't be able to compete on the high school level anymore, Christian stills plans to ride horses and compete in other open shows. After all, she's been riding since Santa brought her a horse and competing since she was 8 years old.

"I've always loved horses; I always brought home books from the library," she said. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a horse."

Michelle Floyd can be reached at michelle.floyd@newtoncitizen.com.

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Phoenix: A springboard to a Harvick title?

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Paul Menard (27) and NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick (4) during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (USA TODAY Sports: Andrew Weber)

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Paul Menard (27) and NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick (4) during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (USA TODAY Sports: Andrew Weber)

With the Daytona 500 and all its pageantry now complete, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers and teams can now turn its focus toward the rest of the schedule, which starts with a trip west to Phoenix for Sunday’s The Profit on CNBC 500, Presented by Small Business Fueling America.

Phoenix will feature the first knock-out group qualifying session in NASCAR’s premier series. The new qualifying format was announced during the offseason and offers fans and drivers a more intense, exciting qualifying session.

When the drivers take to the one-mile track, four-time Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick should be considered one of the favorites. Although he has experienced success in Phoenix, he knows that reaching Victory Lane is a never-ending learning process.

“You really have to have an understanding of the track,” Harvick said. “Every time we go back, I feel like we learn something different.

“The track is still racy enough where you can make up time if your car is good, but you need to stay focused on strategy.”

Harvick, currently in 12th place and 17 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the standings, has finished third in the title hunt in three of the past four years. If he’s to make the jump to the championship stage at Homestead in November, he will need a strong performance at Phoenix — one of his best tracks.

A win on Sunday would all but guarantee him a spot in the revamped Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. It also plays to his advantage that all three national series return to Phoenix for the penultimate race of the season.

In 22 NSCS races at the track, Harvick has compiled seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in addition to his four wins, which is tied for most at the track with Jimmie Johnson. In last November’s event, he finished first after leading a race-high 70 laps. In 2006, Harvick swept both races at Phoenix, and won again in fall 2012.

Harvick’s driver rating is 101.3 over the last 18 races, second only to Johnson.

Harvick endured a number of changes during the offseason — moving from Richard Childress Racing to Stewart-Haas Racing and pairing with crew chief Rodney Childers. Those adjustments, however, don’t concern Harvick; he feels confident about where he and his team are in terms of communication and performance.

“We’re starting the rest of the season this weekend at Phoenix, in a way,” said Harvick, who placed 13th in the Daytona 500. “Rodney has always built fast short-track race cars and I’m really looking forward to building off what we’ve accomplished thus far.”

After a win in the season-opening race at Daytona, Regan Smith carries a six-point standings advantage over Trevor Bayne into Saturday’s Blue Jeans Go Green presented by Cotton, The Fabric of Our Lives.

Smith, however, isn’t taking anything for granted.

“We left Daytona with the points lead, but it’s a long season,” Smith said. “Something I’ve learned is to not pay attention to the points. I’m sure I’ll hear about it one way or another, but I’m not going to really look at it until we get to race 20 or 25.”

With the NASCAR Nationwide Series in Phoenix, he is looking to build upon last week’s success and improve upon his fourth-place finish in last fall’s race at the one-mile track, his best showing in six starts.

“Phoenix was a challenge for us last spring,” Smith said. “We came back and did our homework, changed some things and left there with a top five last fall.”

In last year’s spring event, the Cato, N.Y., driver finished a respectable 11th. In his four other NNS Phoenix starts, he has an eighth and three finishes lower than 24th. He has an 82.2 driver rating at the track. His best result in nine NSCS starts was a 20th, coming in the second race of 2012. In two NCWTS starts, he has never finished higher than 30th.

If there is one team with a decided advantage over all others, it has to be Joe Gibbs Racing. JGR’s drivers have won the last three NNS races at Phoenix with Kyle Busch sweeping the events last season and Joey Logano winning in 2012. In the past 12 races, JGR drivers have won six. This weekend, Busch, Elliott Sadler and Matt Kenseth will all be piloting JGR-owned Toyotas.


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today's Pick
Bus overturns in Iganga, 6 injured
Publish Date: Jul 17, 2014
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By Vision Reporter

A bus (YY coach) from Mbale on Thursday morning overturned at Namasoga trading centre, about 3km from Iganga town.

Six people sustained severe injuries. The victims have been rushed to Iganga hospital.

The statements, comments, or opinions expressed through the use of New Vision Online are those of their respective authors, who are solely responsible for them, and do not necessarily represent the views held by the staff and management of New Vision Online.

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Queen Beatrix, of the Netherlands, walks an orange carpet this week to reopen the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam. It’s a big deal. The jewel in the crown of the nation’s cultural institutions, where you can see major works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and their cohorts of the seventeenth-century Dutch Golden Age—and, perhaps, truly grasp their characters—has been under renovation for ten long years. The project has cost almost half a billion dollars and has been subject to frustrating delays, including a ferocious campaign waged by local bicyclists against the threatened loss of a shortcut through one of the building’s arches. The reopening coincides with improvements to the two other stellar museums in the immense public space known as the Museumplein, in the affluent Old South quarter. In September, the modern-art Stedelijk—home to touchstone paintings by Mondrian and Malevich—finished a makeover featuring an eccentric new entrance pavilion that not only looks quite like a bathtub, as critics were quick to note and mock; it looks exactly like a bathtub, of some two-tier Jacuzzi sort. Yet, inside, it is spacious and friendly. Next month, the Van Gogh Museum will reopen after its second modification in fourteen years, with a third planned, for a glassed-in entrance hall. The current one is mainly to satisfy fire codes and other official dictates necessitated by the museum’s popularity. I observed the magnetic pull of van Gogh at the nearby Hermitage (a branch of the St. Petersburg museum), where throngs lined up to see some seventy paintings, about a third of the Van Gogh Museum’s holdings, in a powerful show titled, simply, “Vincent.”

The straining scale of Amsterdam’s museum projects is echoed in The Hague, where the jewel-box Mauritshuis museum, which boasts Vermeer’s “View of Delft” and “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” is doubling its exhibition space, and is due to reopen in mid-2014. (Meanwhile, most of its treasures are on view at the city’s Municipal Museum.) The enterprises broadcast Dutch pride and relative prosperity, in economically frail Europe, with a tincture of the desperate competition for visitors and prestige that art institutions worldwide have come to incarnate. This was impossible to miss in the Rijksmuseum’s colossal new atrium, created by roofing two former courtyards and digging down about thirty feet—and thus, this being Holland, well beneath the water table—where I met the museum’s director, Wim Pijbes, and we discussed cookies. Every Dutch town has had a signature cookie, he told me. (“Cookie” comes from the Dutch koekje.) The atrium’s esplanade café, where we sat, will make a point of serving and celebrating examples from around the country. Pijbes also pointed out the multicolored dazzle of Dutch liqueurs, ranked above the café’s bar, like palace guards on parade. Volunteering no mention of the museum’s art, he epitomized the drive of big-time museum directors everywhere to rival the success of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, in London. These days, everybody likes civically lively venues. Increasingly, museum directors live and die by them.

Upstairs from the atrium, there’s art. The literal and nerve center of the museum’s exhibits, which total eight thousand or so items, from a collection of about a million, is the majestic Gallery of Honor, which is laid out like a cathedral nave, with chapels, and enshrines the apostles of Golden Age painting. The altarpiece is Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” (1642), which I’m not alone in deeming one of the world’s two best paintings, in a tossup with Velázquez’s “Las Meninas” (1656), at the Prado. In L.E.D.-enhanced natural light, pouring down though a skylight from the North Sea heavens, “The Night Watch” dreams and blazes. A militia company of vivid individuals disport in velvety deep space, each evincing some particular delight. One joyously flourishes a flag, another dotes on an extremely long spear, and a drummer beams rugged confidence that we like his drumming. They are fronted by two officers, engaged in affable conversation, who practically step into the room with us. The picture is inexhaustibly alive. Is there something excessive about the popular deification of Rembrandt, as of van Gogh, at souvenir shops throughout Amsterdam? You won’t think so in the Gallery of Honor, where I had a moment of fancying the almost hundred-and-eighty-five-square-foot canvas as a raft for the self-respect of Western civilization. One of us did that!

Elsewhere in the gallery, four perfect paintings by Vermeer, who defines perfection in art, share an alcove with exciting pictures by the more nonchalant Pieter de Hooch, his fellow citizen of Delft. Three church interiors and a street view by Pieter Janz Saenredam abolish any doubts about the magical matter-of-factness of the eccentric visionary, an avatar of Giorgio de Chirico. Frans Hals, with vivacious portraits, and Jacob van Ruisdael, with grand yet somehow confiding landscapes, are shown at their best, as is Jan Steen, if, unlike me, you relish his over-the-top bawdry. But Rembrandt rules. On a scaled-down par with “The Night Watch” are “The Jewish Bride” (1667) and “The Syndics of the Clothmakers’ Guild” (1662), famous from the Dutch Masters cigar box. The syndics appear startled by your interrupting their proceedings, in a split-second capture of their gazes (uncannily like those of some of the characters in “Las Meninas”) which makes the august gentlemen seem as vulnerable as furtive boys. As for “The Jewish Bride,” turn it sideways and tell me what you see. It’s a Rothko, right? The reds of the woman’s dress and the golden browns of the man’s attire hover in an unfathomable space, less seen than inhaled. Look at the painting from as far away as possible. It leaps to you. It also renders a small, odd, stunningly intimate gesture: the woman touches the man’s hand as he lays it across her breasts, as if to say, “Yes, I’m yours.” He is utterly smitten. She appears content but ever so slightly calculating. She may not be quite the unalloyed blessing that he imagines. To understand people better than Rembrandt did, you would have to be the God who invented them.

Two aspects of the Rijksmuseum’s redo, which was principally overseen by the Spanish architectural firm Cruz y Ortiz, reflect hyper-conservative trends in current museology. First is the toilsome restoration of a flowery pastiche of Gothic and Renaissance motifs that made up the original decorations of the building, as it was designed by the architect Pierre Cuypers, in 1876, and finished nine years later. In the nineteen-thirties, modernizers removed or destroyed Cuypers’s ornamentations on walls and ceilings, along with murals in the Great Hall that commemorated cardinal points of Dutch history. All of it, down to the Great Hall’s elaborately patterned terrazzo floor, has been put back or exactly replicated. The nationalist afflatus and dated style make the historic scenes look clownishly feeble when compared with the supreme art that lies beyond, in the Gallery of Honor. The rescue speaks for eagerly indulgent, anti-ironic nostalgia. Second, the new installation of the collection, carried out by the French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, makes a point of interspersing art works with historical artifacts. In the permanent collection, many paintings must now keep company with glassware, weaponry, sailors’ caps, and other domestic, military, and commercial crafts and relics of the Netherlands in its halcyon days. The effect is vexing in direct proportion to the quality of the afflicted paintings.

The contextual folderol is passably entertaining in a maritime-themed installation, where you may savor Willem van de Velde the Elder’s enormous, meticulous ink drawings, from the sixteen-fifties. They are shown with a huge model warship and the gaudy carved-wood stern decoration from a British flagship that, in 1667, fell to a triumphant raid up the Thames by Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, who smirks contentedly in a nearby portrait by Rembrandt’s student Ferdinand Bol. Far less enchanting is a gallery that is chiefly devoted to paintings by the young Rembrandt—including his dramatically shadowed, gustily proto-Romantic self-portrait, made at the age of twenty-two—but is raddled with lesser art, ceramics, and furniture whose presence is justified by the fact that Rembrandt knew and liked their makers. If a nasty look could evaporate matter, I would have made that stuff go away. (Of course, stuff is dear to Dutch hearts, as witness the splendors of the nation’s seventeenth-century still-lifes.) The intrusion presumes an only casually engaged audience, whose artistic taste is indistinguishable from a yen for fascinating facts. But, for all I know, that will account for most of the two million visitors that the refurbished museum expects to host each year—not that many more, by the way, than the comparatively minuscule Van Gogh Museum routinely attracts without recourse to cookies.

Beyond the Gallery of Honor, the Rijksmuseum offers few masterpieces, but room after room of such Golden Age little masters as Gabriël Metsu and Gerard ter Borch. In one painting by ter Borch, a woman in a glistening silver satin dress ducks her head and turns away from us, in response to something said by a seated gallant who is too young to endorse the work’s sometimes speculated title, “The Paternal Admonition”; the scene expanded, in my mind, to the length and depth of a first-rate movie. Metsu’s luminously painted “The Sick Child” (circa 1660)—a hollow-eyed little girl on her mother’s lap—initiates a heartbreaking genre that flourished two centuries later, notably in Edvard Munch’s paintings and prints of the same title. There are also abundant strong works by Caravaggio followers from Utrecht, including Hendrick ter Brugghen. And there is Adriaen Coorte’s unforgettable “Still-Life with Asparagus” (1697): a bundle of startlingly white spears, bound with brown twine, that all but drops from the canvas into your hands. Dutch painters of the era maintained dizzyingly exalted standards of excellence across a range of genres, working for a market in which history paintings functioned as large-denomination currency and still-lifes were useful small change.

There is a modicum of notable art from other countries. Rooms of medieval and Renaissance art and a separate pavilion for Asian treasures are fine and absorbing, but unexceptional. The trailblazingly democratic and bourgeois Netherlands never nurtured the border-crossing habits of the kings and nobles whose avidity as collectors survives in the major museums of Paris, London, Vienna, and Madrid. That’s part of the Golden Age’s originality and timeless charm: its art was made to be sold to regular citizens. The spiritual distance from the artist’s inspiration to a viewer’s eye, mind, and heart—even now, with a little effort of imagination—is vanishingly short. The turn toward secular subjects of Dutch culture in the Golden Age was a lucky result of Calvinism, which banished most art from churches while tolerating it in daily life, on the condition that it illustrate proper morality. Strangely, then, iconic Dutch art owes an essence of its character to religious iconoclasm, which diverted spiritual passion from sanctuaries to parlors and countrysides. The peculiar tension of that displacement has never recurred anywhere on so engulfing a scale, but hints of it linger in Northern European modern art, particularly in that of van Gogh, and somewhat in that of Mondrian and Malevich.

The Stedelijk is still the most chaste of the world’s white-walled modern museums, even with its obligatory representations of frolicsome Pop, rugged postminimalist, and miscellaneous contemporary art. Intentionally or not, the new bathtub entrance hall’s suggestion of hygiene resonates. Finely proportioned, evenly lit rooms anticipate hushed contemplation of things that are hard put to merit it. Austere abstraction fares well. Big canvases by Barnett Newman, inflected only with the vertical divisions (not quite lines and not quite shapes) that he termed “zips,” look more brilliantly cogent at the Stedelijk than in any other setting, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Much of the rest of the work—most tellingly, the work since Andy Warhol—feels impatient with the sacred aura of the place. Physical imperfections glare. The collaged and slathered surfaces and vernacular objects (an umbrella, a mirror) in Robert Rauschenberg’s huge early “combine” painting “Charlene” (1954) come across now as less daring than decrepit. To the extent that the Stedelijk institutionalized the faith of modernism, it has come to incite heretical doubt. That being so—and not neglecting such glories as a room of seminal paintings by Willem de Kooning—it functions as a jittery barometer of present discontents.

Van Gogh, the saint of modern painting, holds up magnificently, giving a workaday headache to the people charged with preserving his legacy. How to accommodate the floods of visitors preoccupies the staff of the Van Gogh Museum. Marije Vellekoop, the head of collections, told me of a pre-ticketing scheme that will assure the constant maximum allowable attendance. The planned glass entrance hall will conduct visitors through a detached building, which is now devoted to special exhibitions, and underground, into the museum’s graceful modernist quarters, designed by the great Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld, in 1963-64, and opened in 1973. (The abandonment of traditional grand entrances in favor of subterranean access, as with I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid, at the Louvre, is a curious trend in the evolving culture of museums.) With that finishing touch, the Museumplein will have established itself as the leading model, to be followed or contested, for the conjunction of art and its public in the twenty-first century.

Peter Schjeldahl has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998 and is the magazine’s art critic.

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Home > News Center > Proposed Rule

Proposed Rule

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996

Explanation of Proposed Amendments

As the Commission is aware, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act ("CFMA") amends the Commodity Exchange Act to make it clear that it is unlawful to offer off-exchange foreign currency futures and options contracts ("FOREX") to retail customers unless the offeror is an enumerated regulated financial entity, including a futures commission mer-chant or its affiliate. Under this amendment, NFA Member FCMs are authorized to offer FOREX transactions to retail customers.

NFA's primary objective is to prohibit fraudulent acts by entities that register as FCMs for the purpose of qualifying under the CFMA to engage in FOREX transactions with retail customers. Proposed NFA Bylaw 306 creates a separate NFA membership category for FOREX dealers. The new Bylaw provides that any NFA Member that is the counterparty to foreign currency futures and options transactions that are offered to or entered into with persons that are not eligible contract participants would also be subject to regulation (e.g. anti-fraud) as a FOREX Dealer Member if 35% or more of its gross revenue from financial market transactions (acting as counterparty or agent) is generated from those foreign currency futures and options activities. This category will allow NFA to exercise appropriate regulatory authority over firms that primarily engage in FOREX business without imposing additional regulation on Members that are otherwise highly regulated and offer FOREX as a limited portion of their business.

Off-exchange, retail foreign currency business has historically been a breeding ground for fraudulent activities. Proposed Compliance Rule 2-36 prohibits FOREX Dealer Members from engaging in fraudulent activities involving FOREX transactions. The rule is modeled after Compliance Rule 2-2, NFA's anti-fraud rule governing exchange-traded futures and options transactions. In addition, proposed Rule 2-36 contains a provision prohibiting these Members from engaging in any foreign currency futures or options transaction that is prohibited under the Commodity Exchange Act.

NFA is the premier independent provider of efficient and innovative regulatory programs that safeguard the integrity of the derivatives markets.
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Around the NFL

New York Jets defense's turnover has no end in sight

The New York Jets threaten to be unrecognizable on defense next season.

Parting ways with everyone from LaRon Landry to Sione Pouha -- and with Darrelle Revis one foot out the door -- it's anyone's guess what this lineup will look like come September. Does Antonio Garay do anything for you?

Instant Debate: Jets' 2013 reality
Rex Ryan and the Jets are set to enter the 2013 season with little to no expectations. How will they fare? Our analysts debate. More ...

The Jets agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the former San Diego Chargers defensive tackle on Friday, according to multiple reports. ESPN first noted the move for Garay, an attempt by the Jets to shore up the middle of their line after Pouha was released earlier in the week and Mike DeVito signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Garay -- who spent time on the Jets' practice squad in 2009 -- struggled last season to make an impact in San Diego, playing in just eight games and looking suspect against the run. Garay likely will split time with Kenrick Ellis, who has made just four starts since being drafted by the Jets in 2011.

The Jets -- low on funds -- haven't been competitive on the open market and find themselves stuck signing over-the-hill veterans while productive players like tight end Dustin Keller vanish stage left. A long-suffering fan base hopes the master plan includes more than low-level signings that figure to be nothing more than patches over gaping holes.

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.

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Around the NFL

Marshawn Lynch: 'I'm just here so I won't get fined'

NEW YORK -- Marshawn Lynch continued to speak to the media Wednesday after an adventurous and entertaining Media Day showing.

"I'm just here so I won't get fined, boss. That's the only reason why," Lynch said Wednesday morning.

The Pro Football Writers Association released a statement Wednesday bemoaning the lack of access to Lynch on Tuesday and disagreeing with the NFL's handling of the issue. (The league indicated Lynch would not be fined.) Lynch had a pointed, smart response.

"If y'all say y'all is a bridge from the players to the fans, and the fans really ain't really tripping, then what's the point?" Lynch wondered. "What's the purpose? They got my back. I appreciate that. But I don't get what's the bridge being built for."

We see both sides of the issue. Part of a player's responsibilities in the NFL is media availability. It's required by the league because the media -- the television networks -- pay a large portion of everyone's salary. It comes with the job.

Then again, Lynch clearly is uncomfortable in front of the camera. He was available to NFL Media columnist Michael Silver in a fascinating article and ultimately has spoken with the media more this week than he has over the entire season.

Live from New York, it's "The Around The League Podcast!"

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Hayter, Stanley William
British, 1901 - 1988

Related Content

Born in England in 1901, Hayter studied chemistry and geology at King's College, London, and subsequently spent three years working for an oil company. He pursued his long-standing desire to become an artist in 1926 when he moved to Paris, took up with the surrealists, painted, and learned printmaking—in particular, the age-old technique of line engraving. Hayter was captivated by the surrealists' dreamlike imagery and their reliance on the subconscious mind to spur creativity.

In Paris in 1927 Hayter set up a print workshop, Atelier 17, where he invited artists to investigate the expressive and technical potential of engraving and etching. With the outbreak of World War II, Hayter joined the exodus to New York, where he taught at the New School for Social Research and reestablished Atelier 17 in lower Manhattan. European surrealists found a community of émigrés there while American artists were inspired by the European avant-garde.

Hayter returned to Paris in 1950 and was making inventive abstractions by the early 1960s that rival the visual brilliance of op art—many imbued with electric, even dissonant, color and dazzling moiré patterns. Hayter was knighted and received the Légion d'honneur in 1951, and was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 1958 Venice Biennale. He became Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1967. He died in Paris in 1988.

Black, Peter and Desiree Moorhead. The Prints of Stanley William Hayter: A Complete Catalogue. Mount Kisco, NY, 1992.

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October 2008 Digest (Vol. 7, No. 2)

November 06, 2008

Focus: Reports expose more questions on B´Tselem´s credibility

A series of reports by Yehonatan D´choach-Halevy have challenged the credibility of B´Tselem´s statistics regarding Palestinians killed by the Israeli army. According to his October 26, 2008 analysis, focusing on 2007 and based on a 67-page detailed research summary of B´Tselem´s list, the figures contain omissions, distortions and errors, including incomplete information on affiliation with terrorist organizations, participation in terrorist attacks, and other suspicious activities.

He also published a second report on 38 individuals that are listed as "Name unknown to B´Tselem," some even six years after their deaths. According to D´choach-Halevy, this belies B´Tselem´s claims of rigorous field research. In another report, he notes discrepancies and contradictions between testimonials taken from "witnesses" by B´Tselem, and versions of events published in newspapers and other media sources.

This follows CAMERA criticism of B´Tselem´s statistics as "deceptive" and "untrustworthy."

Durban 2009 NGO Update: Pressing for another disastrous NGO Forum

The second substantive Preparatory Session for the Durban Review Conference was held in Geneva from October 6-17, 2008. Government delegates and NGO representatives debated the draft outcome document, the possibility of another NGO Forum, and other issues.

A number of NGO officials spoke at the formal PrepCom sessions. Some, such as BADIL and the Paris-based Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP), continued the previous anti-Israel demonization. A group calling itself Independent Jewish Voices, which was not accredited but spoke in place of EAFORD, made the absurd claim that the first NGO Forum was not marked by antisemitism. In contrast, other NGOs, such as Magenta, Human Rights First, and the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism provided a counterweight to these attacks.

The discussion of whether to hold an NGO Forum did not result in a decision on this issue. On October 14, 2008, NGO Monitor sent an open letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calling on him to "avoid providing official sponsorship or funding for another NGO Forum that is likely to be a venue used to promote hatred and antisemitism" and "would further undermine universal human rights principles in the framework of the 2009 Review Conference. " Similar letters were published by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the American Jewish Committee. At the Prepcom, unofficial meetings of a few NGOs promoting the Forum included antisemitic and anti-Israel attacks against Jewish representatives. Charles Graves (Interfaith International) chaired the meeting, repeating the myth that the 2001 NGO event was antisemitic. Claiming that the UN would provide them with facilities, they appointed regional coordinating committees to advance the prospects of an NGO Forum.

NGO Lawfare update: PCHR and Al-Haq

Following the publication of NGO Monitor´s monograph NGO "Lawfare" : Exploitation of Courts in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, anti-Israel NGOs showed that they will continue to use the courts to pursue political and military objectives in Europe.

  • According to a news report, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) created a "diplomatic mess" between Israel and Spain after filing a June 2008 suit in the National Court of Spain against seven former senior Israeli military officials.  Using "war crimes" claims, PCHR focused on allegations related to a July 2002 IDF air strike against Sheik Salah Shehadah, a founder of Hamas´ military wing and a major terrorist. Similarly, in October 2008, PCHR joined Dutch lawyers to appeal the decision not to arrest Minister Ami Ayalon on arriving in the Netherlands in May 2008. PCHR pressured Dutch authorities for an "application for [Ayalon´s] arrest" for the alleged torture of a Palestinian prisoner in 1999 and 2000, when Ayalon was head of Israel´s General Security Service.
  • On October 21, 2008, a British appellate court heard arguments in a suit initiated by Al-Haq regarding "arms-related licensing agreements with Israel. " Moreover, on October 27, John Reynolds, who works for Al Haq, spoke at Harvard in support of a case filed in Quebec against corporations involved in housing construction in the West Bank. These cases are part of Al-Haq´s strategy of preparing "ready-to-be-used case files. . .to be activated in the courts of a number of third party states. " Al-Haq is funded by the Ford Foundation, Christian Aid, European governments, and others.
  • In October, Adalah, an Arab-Israeli NGO funded by the New Israel Fund (NIF), among others, publicized preparations for "lawfare" cases in Spain against Israeli police officers involved in the deaths of 13 Israeli-Arabs in the October 2000 riots "in solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada. " This follows the Israeli Attorney General´s decision not to indict the officers, citing evidentiary problems and "the fact that the incident involved the use of operational judgment in an emergency situation. "

Focus:  Spanish NGOs Join Palestinians and AIC in Boycott conference

On October 29-30, 2008, The Bilboa Initiative - a "civil society assembly" organized by the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), Ittijah, the Alternative Information Center (AIC), and MEWANDO (supported by the Basque government) - held a conference in Spain to discuss "effective coordination tool[s] for practical campaigning in solidarity for Palestine and for a just peace. " Speakers included representatives from: the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Coalition (PGAAWC), Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott to Israel (PACBI), Zochrot, AIC, BADIL, Addameer, and NIF-funded Ahali Center for Community Development (combined grants of $280,000 in 2006-7).  The agenda included implementing boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns; and lectures on "Israel: Between colonialism and institutionalized racism," and the "right of return. "

MEWANDO (Middle East Without Wars and Oppression Network) is a coalition of Spanish NGOs, which recognizes "the return of all [Palestinian] refugees" and "the liberation of all prisoners. "  It accuses Israel of a "Zionist campaign of ethnic cleansing in Palestine [which] has evolved and perfected itself without interruption since 1948" and promotes the "boycott of the Israeli apartheid state. " MEWANDO is supported by the Department of Housing and Social Affairs of the Basque Government.

HRW representative laments UNHRC´s "disproportionate focus on Israel"

Human Rights Watch´s Chief Operating Officer Suzanne Nossel, in remarks about the need for the United States to join the UN Human Rights Council, noted the UNHRC´s "disproportionate focus on Israel and relative inattention to grave human rights abuses in Burma, Zimbabwe and elsewhere. " This deviates from HRW support for the HRC during its creation, and the comments from HRW representatives in June and July 2007 about the value of the Human Rights Council. Nossel´s statement also contrasts with the well-documented bias of HRW´s Middle East and North Africa Division, which hires employees with a history of pro-Palestinian campaigning and is itself guilty of double standards with respect to Israel.

HRF publishes hate crime and antisemitism surveys

Human Rights First (HRF), a New York-based NGO, released its 2008 Hate Crime Survey "examining bias-driven violence in 2007 and 2008" throughout North America and Europe.  It concluded that "European and North American governments are failing to keep pace with a wave of violent hate crime that continues to rise across the region. "

HRF also published a survey of Antisemitic Violence, noting that "in 2007, overall levels of violent antisemitic attacks against persons increased in Canada, Germany, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom," but decreased in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Amnesty-UK´s tendentious accusations against the Israeli army

Amnesty´s campaign to delegitimize Israeli defensive actions in Gaza is continuing. In an October 7, 2008 press release, Amnesty International-UK´s Director Kate Allen stated, "The shocking truth is that Israeli soldiers kill civilians in Gaza with near-total impunity, week in week out. " Yet, as even B´Tselem acknowledges, no Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israeli security forces in the months of August and September 2008.

In the same statement, AIUK referred to the April 2008 accidental death of a Reuters´ cameraman during an IDF operation, claiming that he could be "clearly" identified as a non-combatant. As NGO Monitor has demonstrated, Amnesty´s comments on this incident reflect minimal research and the primacy of its political agenda: AI rejected the findings of the Israeli army investigation without having access to the complete report.

PCHR Exploits Human Rights

On October 21, 2008, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) - a major Gaza-based NGO whose funders include the EU, Christian Aid, Ireland, and Norway, and a leader of the NGO-lawfare movement - published a report entitled "Blood on Their Hands: Child Killings by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the Gaza Strip. " The 64-page document claims that the Israeli army killed a number of children between June 2007 and July 2008. According to a PCHR press release, these deaths "are the direct result of IOF policy of targeting unarmed civilians in the OPT, and especially the Gaza Strip, as a form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians. "

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Marcus Sheff, Executive Director of the Israel Project, pointed to discrepancies between PCHR´s claims and B´Tselem´s statistics.  Sheff found that at least two of the "victims" were killed while participating in hostilities against Israel, and at least one of the "children" was 18 years old (given the credibility deficits in B´Tselem´s research, these are minimal figures). In the Al Jazeera report, a PCHR representative erased the context of terrorism and condemned Israel´s "patterns of deliberate killing and deliberate targeting of children. "

ACRI vs. Ittijah on Umm al-Fahm

On October 29, 2008, the Israeli High Court of Justice approved a Jewish march through the Israeli Arab city of Umm al-Fahm.  The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) "welcome[d]" the court´s decision, since "freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy, and its most genuine test is in the facilitation of its most outrageous, extreme, and controversial forms. "  However Ittijah, a network of highly political Palestinian NGOs in Israel, released a statement condemning the High Court´s ruling as "it [serves as tacit] approval for the [raw] aggression and the ethnic cleansing movement that we saw in Acco [during the Yom Kippur riots]. " Ittijah also "called upon our nation´s public. . .to be on high alert for any aggression in al-Fahm, and to defend our existence in our homeland" (translations from the original Arabic).

NGO Monitor in the Media – Lawfare coverage

NGO Monitor´s publication and press conference - NGO "Lawfare" : Exploitation of Courts in the Arab-Israeli Conflict - generated considerable media attention.

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888 Views 2 Replies Last post: Feb 25, 2013 3:49 PM by Gr9h9m RSS
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Feb 25, 2013 2:00 PM

Please help to identify this beetle

Hello - we've found about 10 of these in the past week in various downstairs rooms in our small Victorian terraced house.

Should we be worried?

Kind regards

  • Currently Being Moderated
    Feb 25, 2013 3:12 PM (in response to Gr9h9m)
    Re: Please help to identify this beetle

    That will be a 'vine weevil' - probably Otiorhyncus sulcatus. When found indoors they are frequently emergees from plant pots or have otherwise crawled in beneath doors from the outside. look out for more, if more do manifest themselves then it will more than likely be one of your houseplants at the 'root' of it - pun intended.

    No need to worry as they do not nibble on us, pets, furnishings, fabrics or foodstuffs. Larvae feed on plant roots (they love a cyclamen) and adults nibble leaves. Worst case scenario - one or two of your houseplants may look a bit limp ... a small price to pay for a bit of wildlife in the home surely?

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352 Views 1 Reply Last post: Jun 20, 2013 11:14 AM by Fiona - Museum ID team RSS
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Jun 20, 2013 10:37 AM

Sited huge fossil on beach can you tell what it is?

Came across this fossil when walking along Runswick bay beach near Whitby, approx 3ft long and 2 ft across about 18 inches high, bits poking out from the sides and looks as if someone has had a go at breaking some of it off, but too big to move, would have fallen out of the cliffs at some stage.fossilslauras 032.jpgfossilslauras 033.jpgfossilslauras 034.jpgfossilslauras 035.jpg

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Lewy Body Dementia: Information for Patients, Families, and Professionals

Common Symptoms

People with LBD may not have every LBD symptom, and the severity of symptoms can vary greatly from person to person. Throughout the course of the disease, any sudden, major change in functional ability or behavior should be reported to a doctor.

The most common symptoms include changes in cognition, movement, sleep, and behavior.

Cognitive Symptoms

LBD causes changes in thinking abilities. These changes may include:

  • Dementia—Severe loss of thinking abilities that interferes with a person’s capacity to perform daily activities. Dementia is a primary symptom in LBD and usually includes trouble with visual and spatial abilities (judging distance and depth or misidentifying objects), multitasking, problem solving, and reasoning. Memory problems may not be evident at first but often arise as LBD progresses. Dementia can also include changes in mood and behavior, poor judgment, loss of initiative, confusion about time and place, and difficulty with language and numbers.
  • Cognitive fluctuations—Unpredictable changes in concentration, attention, alertness, and wakefulness from day to day and sometimes throughout the day. A person with LBD may stare into space for periods of time, seem drowsy and lethargic, and sleep for several hours during the day despite getting enough sleep the night before. His or her flow of ideas may be disorganized, unclear, or illogical at times. The person may seem better one day, then worse the next day. These cognitive fluctuations are common in LBD but are not always easy for a doctor to identify.
  • Hallucinations—Seeing or hearing things that are not present. Visual hallucinations occur in up to 80 percent of people with LBD, often early on. They are typically realistic and detailed, such as images of children or animals. Auditory hallucinations are less common than visual ones but may also occur. Hallucinations that are not disruptive may not require treatment. However, if they are frightening or dangerous (for example, if the person attempts to fight a perceived intruder), then a doctor may prescribe medication.
Main Symptoms of Lewy Body Dementia
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
Parkinson’s Disease Dementia
Appears within a year of movement problems (primary symptom)
Appears later in the disease, after movement problems (primary symptom)
Movement problems
Appear at the same time as or after dementia (primary symptom)
Appear before dementia (primary symptom)
Fluctuating cognition, attention, alertness
Primary symptom
Common symptom
Visual hallucinations
Primary symptom
Primary symptom
REM sleep behavior disorder
May develop years before other symptoms (common symptom)
May develop years before other symptoms (common symptom)
Extreme sensitivity to antipsychotic medications
Common symptom
Common symptom
Changes in personality and mood
(depression, delusions, apathy)
Common symptom
Common symptom
Changes in autonomic (involuntary) nervous system (blood pressure, bladder and bowel control)
Common symptom
Common symptom

Source: Adapted from the Lewy Body Dementia Association, DLB and PDD Diagnostic Criteria, www.lbda.org/node/470

Movement Symptoms

Some people with LBD may not experience significant movement problems for several years. Others may have them early on. At first, signs of movement problems, such as a change in handwriting, may be very mild and thus overlooked. Parkinsonism is seen early on in Parkinson’s disease dementia but can also develop later on in dementia with Lewy bodies. Specific symptoms of parkinsonism may include:

  • woman in wheelchair
    Movement problems are common in people with Lewy body dementia.
    muscle rigidity or stiffness
  • shuffling gait, slow movement, or frozen stance
  • tremor or shaking, most commonly in the hands and usually at rest
  • balance problems and falls
  • stooped posture
  • loss of coordination
  • smaller handwriting than was usual for the person
  • reduced facial expression
  • difficulty swallowing or a weak voice

Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders are common in people with LBD but are often undiagnosed. A sleep specialist can play an important role on a treatment team, helping to diagnose and treat sleep disorders. Sleep-related disorders seen in people with LBD may include:

  • REM sleep behavior disorder—A condition in which a person seems to act out dreams. It may include vivid dreaming, talking in one’s sleep, violent movements, or falling out of bed. Sometimes only the bed partner of the person with LBD is aware of these symptoms. REM sleep behavior disorder appears in some people years before other LBD symptoms.
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness—Sleeping 2 or more hours a day.
  • Insomnia—Difficulty falling or staying asleep, or waking up too early.
  • Restless leg syndrome—A condition in which a person, while resting, feels the urge to move his or her legs to stop unpleasant or unusual sensations. Walking or moving usually relieves the discomfort.

Behavioral and Mood Symptoms

Changes in behavior and mood are possible in LBD. These changes may include:

  • thoughtful-looking man
    Depression and apathy are some of the mood changes seen in people with Lewy body dementia.
    Depression—A persistent feeling of sadness, inability to enjoy activities, and trouble with sleeping, eating, and other normal activities.
  • Apathy—A lack of interest in normal daily activities or events, and less social interaction.
  • Anxiety—Intense apprehension, uncertainty, or fear about a future event or situation. A person may ask the same questions over and over or be angry or fearful when a loved one is not present.
  • Agitation—Restlessness, as seen by pacing, hand wringing, an inability to get settled, constant repeating of words or phrases, or irritability.
  • Delusions—Strongly held false beliefs or opinions not based on evidence. For example, a person may think his or her spouse is having an affair or that relatives long dead are still living. A delusion that may be seen in LBD is Capgras syndrome, in which the person believes a relative or friend has been replaced by an imposter.
  • Paranoia—An extreme, irrational distrust of others, such as suspicion that people are taking or hiding things.

Other LBD Symptoms

People with LBD can also experience significant changes in the part of the nervous system that regulates automatic actions such as those of the heart, glands, and muscles. The person may have:

Publication Date: September 2013
Page Last Updated: January 22, 2015


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Health and Aging

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  • Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet
    Get the facts about Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia. Learn about symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment, caregiving, and research.
  • Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Fact Sheet
    Learn about the role of genetics in Alzheimer’s disease and what types of Alzheimer’s might be inherited, as well as genetic testing and current research.
  • Biology of Aging
    Learn from NIA’s research on the basic biology of aging. Read about the relationship between aging and genetics, metabolism, and the immune system, as well as directions for future study.


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Puberty and Precocious Puberty: Condition Information

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What are normal puberty, precocious puberty, and delayed puberty?

Normal Puberty

The time in one's life when sexual maturity takes place is known as puberty. The physical changes that mark puberty typically begin in girls between ages 8 and 13 and in boys between ages 9 and 14.

Precocious Puberty

Precocious puberty is a condition that occurs when sexual maturity begins earlier than normal. Precocious (meaning prematurely developed) puberty begins before age 8 for girls and before age 9 for boys.

Children affected by precocious puberty may experience problems such as1:

  • Failure to reach their full height because their growth halts too soon
  • Psychological and social problems, such as anxiety over being "different" from their peers. However, many children do not experience major psychological or social problems, particularly when the onset of puberty is only slightly early.

Delayed Puberty

Delayed puberty is the term for a condition in which the body's timing for sexual maturity is later than the normal range of ages.

Many children with delayed puberty will eventually go through an otherwise normal puberty, just at a late age. Other children have a long-lasting condition known as hypogonadism (pronounced HI-poe-GO-nad-iz-uhm) in which the sex glands (the testes in men and the ovaries in women) produce few or no hormones. For example, hypogonadism can occur in girls with Turner syndrome or in individuals with hypogonadotropic (pronounced HI-po-GO-nah-doe-TROH-pik) hypogonadism, which occurs when the hypothalamus (pronounced HI-po-THAL-uh-muss) produces little to no gonadotropin-releasing hormone (pronounced goh-nad-uh-TROH-pin) (GnRH).

  1. National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2011). Precocious puberty. Retrieved June 4, 2012, from [top]

Last Updated Date: 11/30/2012
Last Reviewed Date: 12/16/2013
Vision National Institutes of Health Home BOND National Institues of Health Home Home Storz Lab: Section on Environmental Gene Regulation Home Machner Lab: Unit on Microbial Pathogenesis Home Division of Intramural Population Health Research Home Bonifacino Lab: Section on Intracellular Protein Trafficking Home Lilly Lab: Section on Gamete Development Home Lippincott-Schwartz Lab: Section on Organelle Biology


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The NIDS Coalition

Our Goal

The NIDS Coalition continues to be integrally involved in attempts to assemble a team of highly qualified specialists aimed at engaging in research and clinical trials using detailed diagnostic tools, with a focus on clinical expediency. The goal is to diagnose patients using very specific criteria and markers, so that controlled trials of therapies and ultimately new immune modulating agents can begin.
This possibility is available NOW. Building on what already has been done could save significant time in the process of discovering and improving treatments. It is beyond comprehension why this hasn’t yet happened. To continue to ignore this issue is a crime against children who’ve had to endure unnecessary years of debilitating dysfunction and neural damage. The NIDS Coalition is doing all it can to help in the fight to raise awareness, change misdiagnoses, and find effective treatments now – not decades from now.


text: Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:09:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Archman Subject: Bobbby 6 Bobby 6 By Bald Hairy Man. This is an adult gay story for adult gay men. I this offends you, DON'T read it. This is a fantasy, not a sex manual. Play safely. I was back in Fairfax for two days when Bobby called, "They got Conrad last night," he said. "What do you mean?" "The house invaders. He was out patrolling the neighborhood and ran into them. They beat him up really bad," he said. "A fractured skull, maybe brain damage." "Where was Baskervill?" "He had hurt his paw," Bobby said. "He was at home. It was stupid. Conrad should never have gone alone. I didn't know." I could tell Bobby was badly shaken up. "There was an article in the paper about neighborhood watches. Conrad's picture was on the front page. Who's going to run things now?" We were silent. "I think it's going to be you," I said. "The neighbors trust you. You know everyone. I'll try to get back this weekend. The bad weather has put us behind schedule here, but I'll try to get back." "They say the company is in trouble if your job is late?" he asked. "Late penalties of $100,000.00 a day," I replied. "It will be either a triumph, or an abysmal failure. Harry hasn't exactly told me the details. There is no golden parachute for him. His house is on the line." "I'll take care of things here," Bobby said. "Baskervill's here. I'm taking care of him. Connie's at the hospital full time. That dog's a hunter. If he found a trail, he wouldn't have given a shit about a hurt paw." I didn't get home that weekend, but I got the project back on schedule. Next week, Bobby called and said things were better. Conrad would live, but there would be a lot of rehab in his future. Johnny, the redneck, and Jorge were filing in the gaps left by Conrad. Johnny was free during the day and when he walked his Doberman. He looked fearsome. Jorge's cousin Luis had joined the group. Jorge was small, but while Luis was the same height, he was built like a wrestler. He was more intimidating. Grady was a regular now. "Grady's sort of living at the house now," Bobby said. "He's helping a lot." "Is he sleeping in the guest bedroom?" I asked. "Once and a while," Bobby replied. We both laughed. There usually seemed to be a gap of three to four weeks between the attacks in our neighborhood. The house invaders struck in a wealthy suburban subdivision next. They attacked the wife of a retired Sate Senator. This got massive newspaper coverage. Our neighborhood was forgotten. Bobby was sent up to help me in Fairfax for a week. He was sharing my room when Harry showed up. Harry looked disappointed when he saw Bobby. I think he was hoping for a night of recreation and release. Bobby and I had just gotten back from the job site and we were caked in dirt. I asked him in and introduced him to Bobby. Harry had no gaydar at all and didn't guess Bobby was gay. Bobby went to the bath and I clued him in, "Bobby's a member of the club," I said. "You're more than welcome to stay." "Is he all right?" Harry asked. "Trustworthy? Discrete?" "All of the above," I said. When Bobby re entered the room he had stripped off his dirty clothes and was wearing only jockey shorts. Harry saw the potential. "I need to shower," he said. "Does anyone need to use the head?" "Go ahead," Harry answered. "A shower does sound good. It's been a sticky day." Bobby went back to the bath. A second or two later we heard the shower running. Bobby was quick. In the trailer park there had been a water problem, so he wasn't one to waste hot water. "Who's next?" He had a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. "Harry, why don't you go next," I said. "No, you've been in the sun all day," Harry said. "I'll bring up the rear." I stripped naked and went into the bath. I wondered if Harry and Bobby would take the opportunity to get to know each other. When I returned, Harry was in his under shorts and Bobby had lost the towel. Bobby was at half staff. As I left the bath, Harry dropped his shorts and went to the shower, he was at half staff too. Bobby was masculine, but almost pretty. Harry and I looked like old codgers with a young boy. Harry took a short shower and was back in the bedroom with us. Bobby was sitting on the edge of the bed, and he went right for Harry's cock. Harry sighed in relief when Bobby's mouth enveloped his protruding member. Harry was ripe. I knew Bobby had learned much under Grady's tutelage. Bobby was more adventuresome and forward than he had been. I hadn't realized how far Harry had come. He was on the bed, sixty-nining with Bobby in no time at all. Not only was he obviously enjoying the young man's cock, he didn't mind being watched by me. When Bobby's index finger strayed toward Harry's ass, Harry didn't object. Actually he shifted his legs a little to give Bobby better access. Harry had fucked me and enjoyed that, but he had shown no desire to take my cock up his ass. Bobby's cock was clearly a different matter. I wasn't sure Harry was ready for that, but he was considering the possibility. "Hey guys, make room for me!" I said. They shifted and we formed a small ring, linked cock to mouth. Bobby and Harry were over the excitement of meeting a new man, and we had a nice, relaxed sucking session. After fifteen minutes of sucking we had a cooling down period. "You're so young," Harry said to Bobby, "I hope you don't mind us old guys." "I like men, not boys," Bobby said. "Guys get more masculine as hey get older. I hadn't guessed you were into this sort of suff. Hank's not into kiss and tell." "I'm new to this. I had no idea it would be . . ." Harry began to say. "So fucking good?" Bobby said, completing the sentence. "Let me tell you one thing. The more you do it, the better it gets. I didn't know anything could feel so good." "That's the way it seems to me," Harry replied. "I'd never tried anything like this before. So far, everything has been a success. " "Do you like to fuck?" Bobby asked. Harry nodded. "Me too," Bobby added. "At first I just pitched, but lately I've been catching and liking it." "I enjoyed Hank's ass," Harry said. "I don't know if I could catch." "Your ass is virgin?" Bobby asked. Harry nodded again. "You're only six inches away from losing it." Bobby said. "I really like topping." Harry smiled as he looked at Bobby's dick. "Looks like seven inches to me," he said. Bobby laughed. "There's one easy way to find out," Bobby said. Harry looked at my cock and then Bobby's. You could almost see him thinking which cock would fit. It didn't take too long for Harry to make a choice. Bobby's organ was long and thin. I was much thicker. He opted for Bobby. This was fine for me. I like to fuck, but I wasn't too sure I wanted to be the first to fuck my Boss. If it was good, I would have been fine, but if he didn't like it, I'd just as soon have Bobby's cock to be the first. Bobby was careful and considerate. He'd take his time. Harry was both worried and excited. I remembered feeling that way when I was younger. I wanted to try things and experience more, but I was uneasy and almost afraid. The first time I was fucked was by a truck driver in the cab of his 18-wheeler. It wasn't a great success, but when I tried it again a few years later it was better. Bobby had a good sized knob and he popped it into Harry's ass. Once it was in, the rest was easy. Harry was on his back with his legs on Bobby's shoulders. While he could have pushed in all the way, Bobby took his time. I told Harry to relax. When Bobby's cock head rubbed his prostate, Harry shivered. Bobby noticed and rubbed his gland over the nut several times. Harry's had been half erect. It inflated like a balloon as Bobby's cock head made contact with his prostate. From then on there was no need to tell Harry to relax. Harry turned into a bottom pig. He loved it. Bobby shot off after ten minutes and I took his place. Harry winced when my thick fuck tool popped his sphincter, but was fine after that. My thicker organ continuously maintained the pressure on his prostate. He went into a sexually induced trance. I had to slow up my thrusting twice when it looked as if it was too much for Harry. Harry began to buck and I gave him a half dozen hard thrusts. We shot off together. "Jesus!" Harry said. "What in hell happened?" "I think you found a new sex organ," I said. "My ass?" Harry asked."I thought fucking was good, but taking it in me the ass was . . ." "I think it's the nut in your ass," Bobby said. "I didn't know it was there either. It sends you to the moon, doesn't?" "You felt the same way?" Harry asked. "Sometimes," Bobby said. "It depends on the cock. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's great. I think the size and shape of the cock make a difference." "It's all a part of the joy of man sex," I said. "Every cock is a new experience." Harry's cock was still drooling cum, so I leaned over and sucked it. "You're a fucking mind reader," Harry said as he continued to talk with Bobby. "How long have you guys been playing together? Were you to this when you met Hal?" "Hal took me in after my Mom died about six months ago," Bobby said. "Dad shot her and it was a big mess. The trailer wasn't livable. Hal was the first guy I had sex with who wasn't a cousin. Or an Uncle. It was just messing around until I met Hal." "What's the difference between messing around and sex?" Harry asked. I could tell he was amused. "Attitude, I think," Bobby replied. "When we were kids, we pretended we didn't really like it. Everyone except my Uncle Jake, I think. We use to pretend a man's ass was just a substitute for a cunt. It was a race to see who could shoot off first. I liked sex, but had never bottomed. Hal did that. I was good. It's hard to enjoy something when you can't admit you like it." We talked for a while, but it was getting late and we went to sleep. Bobby and I got back to Richmond the next weekend. Grady was at the house and had more than filled in the gaps in the neighborhood watch while we were gone. We went on a walk. I picked up Baskervill and the three of us wandered the streets. We went by George's place and he joined us with Fee Fee, the killer poodle. The dogs were very alert. Jorge and Luis joined us later. Jorge spoke English well. Luis's English skills were more modest. Jorge translated for Luis. Strangely Luis seemed to understand Grady without any problem. We were chatting when Baskervill got a scent. A second or two later Fee Fee got excited. She began jumping up trying to get George's attention. Baskervill's excitement took the form of obsessive desire to follow the sent. Grady took Fee Fee and told George to call the police. It was a dark area but the dogs didn't mind. Baskervill was normally a placid dog, but he was pulling hard. I wasn't sure if Fee Fee could follow sent as well as Baskervill, but she knew he was a master tracker. When we got to an over grown yard, the dogs got very excited. "It's Lucy Patterson's house," Bobby whispered. The back gate was ajar. "Should we wait for the police?" I asked. "Shit no!" Grady said. He and the two Mexicans raced into the yard. Fee Fee was in the lead. We could see a dark figure leaving the house. Fee Fee wasn't going lose this one. Fee Fee distracted the man just long enough for a Mexican onslaught. Grady went into the house. The door was broken in. I was right behind him with Baskervill. The kitchen had been trashed. Lucy was obsessively neat. I heard moaning from the living room. There was crashing up stairs. Grady ran up stairs with the dog. I looked for Lucy. By now I could hear police sirens. It is hard to say what happened next. It was that confused. I found Lucy, tied up and terrorized. Grady caught the man on the second floor, but the police tried to arrest Jorge and Luis. The man they had caught got away. The Rescue Squad arrived and took Lucy to the hospital. By that time, all the neighbors were on the scene, and George went with Lucy to the hospital. Once the Police realized the mistake they made with Jorge and Luis, they apologized and were good. Unfortunately Grady's man refused to talk. The detective in charge told me he thought the silent one had a record and they'd get some info from him whether he talked or not. The police said they'd talk to us the next morning. Jorge went home to his wife, but Luis came home with us for a beer.


text:
Joe, The Man XX

"Joe: Top Man or Bottom Man?"

By Joey E

In the launch of TWO new series, one posted and one in the works, I also found the time to go back to this one, my all-time favorite. I left Joe and Matt unmarried, but about to be married. So here is the twentieth installment of Joe, The Man. I hope you enjoy it and that it lives up to the rest of the series.

Thanks again to my readers for their support, above all Matt, the inspiration for Matt in this story. Now the legal stuff. If you are under 21 (or 18 in some areas), you are not permitted to read this. If you are not able to stomach two gay guys in love, having sex, etc., don't read this. This series is a work of fiction. All rights of this series belongs to Joey E, the author. No unauthorized reproduction is permitted without the written consent of the author.

Believe it or not, I was up before my man was. I got out of bed and went into the kitchen to get myself a bowl of Cinnamon Life cereal. I went into the living room and turned on the TV. As I was eating, my mind flashed back to the previous night. Wow, I thought to myself. Wow. I danced with a porn star. I hooked up with a porn star! I smiled to myself.

"Hung over, Little Bud?" a deep, soft voice said.

I looked up and saw my man, standing in the hallway. I smiled at him. "No, man, I feel fine," I said.

He frowned and said, "You fuckin' bastard. You never get a hangover!"

I laughed. He then smiled and walked over to me. He was wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. And, as usual when he first woke up, there was a tent in them. He sat down next to me and I looked over at him. He smiled at me. He adjusted himself and I looked down at what he had. His dick popped out of his fly and I smiled.

"Somethin' come up dude?" I asked.

He looked down at his cock hangin' or rather pointing out of his fly. He smiled back at me and said, "I'm afraid so, bro. Wanna do something about it?"

I looked at him with a deadpan expression on my face. "Nah, I had my share last night."

He put his strong arm around my neck and said, "You little runt! Now you're gonna pay." He was laughing by this point.

"Sure, Piazza. How's the groin injury doin'?"

"Oh, now you're gonna pay!"

He lowered me so that my face was right in front of his cock.

"Now suck it," he said, in a low, commanding voice.

I opened my mouth to take it in and he let go of my neck. I took it in and started sucking slowly. God, it tasted so good. Don't know why, but it just did. I inhaled and took in the scent of pure man. I went back down on him, playing with his balls as I sucked him.

He gently moved me so he could lie down on the couch. He motioned for me to turn so that my cock would be in front of his face. But as it turns out, it wasn't my cock he was after. He spread my legs immediately and just dove right in between my ass cheeks. His tongue brushed against my hole and I moaned in pleasure. I went right back to his cock, taking it down my throat. I felt his tongue lick around my ass, getting it nice and wet. He ate my ass out, which drove me absolutely crazy.

I turned around to look in back of me and I could see his eyes focused on me. He just dove in harder and heavier than before. When he did this, it usually only meant one thing. He was going to fuck me. And there was nothing I could do to change his mind.

"You want to fuck me, don't you, babe?" I asked, in a low, whisper.

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed before he stuck his tongue in my ass again. I shivered as chills went up my spine.

"Ahhh!" I moaned. It was incredible. Next thing I knew, he had worked his index finger up my hole.

I moaned, quite loudly, and smiled. "Fuck, that feels great."

He started moving his finger gently in and out, giving me a chance to get used to it. He suddenly pulled out and got up.

"Come on," he said, lifting me up in his arms. "Let's go to bed."

"But we were just there," I said, in an innocent voice.

"No use trying to stop me, bud. I get what I want, and," he started to say, holding me tighter, and looking directly into my eyes," I want that ass of!"

He carried me in his arms like a baby to the bed room, which isn't hard, given the size difference between us. He laid me down on the bed on my back. He got a bottle of Wet and smeared it on his hard seven incher. He then gently rubbed around my ass hole, lubing me up. He then pushed a finger inside again and I moaned.

He leaned up and kissed me on the lips, his hand on the back of my head, pulling me closer to him. I felt so good right now it didn't matter to me that my ass was about to be torn apart. I looked up at him and melted away. His fuckin' hot chest with those incredible pecs of his. He still kept it smooth, mostly for me. I reached up with my hand and felt his muscular chest and then pinched his nipple. He moaned and stuck two fingers in my ass.

I screamed out in pain. He stopped pushing, but didn't take his fingers out. After a few seconds, I nodded to him and he continued loosening me up. God, it hurt like a bitch. But I knew my man wanted it, and I wanted to give it to him. He pushed up harder with his two fingers, and brushed up against my prostate once again. I reached down to stroke my cock to find precum dripping down. I was ready. And what's more, I actually wanted it.

"Go ahead, dude, I'm ready," I said, softly, looking into his eyes.

His eyes lit up and he smiled. He took his two fingers out, leaving me with an empty feeling. He then lubed up his cock again, stroked it a few time, and then rubbed it against my ass.

"You fuckin' tease..." I said.

"What? What do you want?" he said, playfully.

"Fuck, man, you know what I want..."

"Yeah, but I want to hear you say it, bud..."

"Ah, man...I want you inside me, man," I said, almost begging.

"Do you? Do you want to feel my hard cock inside your ass?"

"Fuck yeah, come on, babe...I want it..."

He positioned his hard meat against my hole. I braced myself for the pain. He started pushing slowly and eventually, it went in.

I shot up as soon as he went inside me. "Fuck!" I yelled. I literally saw stars as he inched his way inside. It was so big and thick. I looked up at his face, his eyes focused on my face as he pushed further. Finally, I felt his balls against my ass. I let out a sigh. The pain was still there, but it was less than it was before.

"I love your ass, Joe. God, it's so tight," he whispered. He leaned over and kissed me, his body touching mine. We deeply kissed and he started moving ever so slowly in and out of my ass. It was a mix of pleasure and pain, but he was so tender and gentle. He wrapped his arms around me and I felt safe and secure. I moaned softly.

He started moving in faster and stronger. I was fuckin' ready for it too.

"Yeah, come on, dude, fuck me harder," I said. His tempo increased as well as the force behind every thrust.

"Aw, fuck, I love your fuckin' ass," he moaned. "I fuckin' love you, bud!"

I moaned as he shoved it in me as far as it would go. "Yeah, come on, man, fuck me hard."

This dialogue went on for a good fifteen minutes. Matt never could last long inside my ass in the few times that we did it. And I was amazed he was holding up this long. He just kept ridin' my ass and by now, I had a puddle of precum on my stomach.

He pulled out of me and said, "Get on all fours, dude. I wanna try it this way," he said.

I did it without even thinking and he was soon back inside my ass. Only this time, he had his hands on my shoulders, pulling me into him as he thrusted into me. By this time, I was practically screaming from the pain and the pleasure of it all.

Suddenly, I felt a strange feeling building up and I wasn't even touching my cock.

"Fuck, Matt, I think I'm gonna cum from you pounding my ass," I moaned.

"Oh fuck, yeah, little bud, shoot your load," he said, fucking me even harder. I felt his balls slapping against my ass. He let out a high pitched moan which sent me over the edge.

"I'm gonna cum, babe," I yelled out.

"Me too, bud," he said. He lifted me up, wrapping his arm around my chest. I grabbed my cock and began shooting right as I grabbed it. Cum went everywhere. On me, on him, on the bed. I then felt something explode inside my ass as he let out a loud "Aww...fuck!"

I felt his body tremble against mine as he shot his load deep inside me. Though it only probably lasted fifteen seconds, it seemed like eternity. He kissed me on the cheek. I slowly got up off of his softening dick and turned around to kiss him. We wrapped our arms around each other, and fell to the bed in exhaustion.

"Little bud," he said, stroking my hair.

"Thanks," he said.

"For what?"

"For letting me take your ass. I know it's not something you really like, but I just have to have it sometimes."

"I know, man. Although it hurts, I know that it's something you want, and well, it gives you so much pleasure. And I'd be a fool not to let you have it every now and then."

He laughed. "Was it good?"

I sighed. "Oh yeah....fuck it was awesome!"

He smiled and we kissed again.

Since it was the weekend, we usually took a shower together, which is what we did. We got dressed, got ready for the day, and sat down in the living room.

"Shit, don't we have to do something this afternoon?" I said, suddenly remembering that we DID have to do something.

"Uh, no," Matt said, smiling.

"Weren't we going to get together with Jay or something?"

"Well, did I have something to do then?"

"Yeah, me," he said.

"Shut up," I said, laughing. "No, I seem to remember having plans with someone..."

"Bud, remind me to not fuck you as hard next time. Every time I do that, you become stupid for the next day and a half..."

I laughed again. It always seemed to be that way, actually. My mind just wasn't the same after he made love to me.

"We get married in two weeks, can you believe it?" he asked.

"Actually, yes, I can," I said, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"Well, we need to talk more about the wedding, bud. Who are we getting to perform the ceremony?"

"A friend of mine. He's a gay priest."

"A gay priest?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Which one?"

"Good point," I said, laughing at the stereotype of priests. "He's a guy I knew in college. He went into the priesthood shortly after he graduated."

"When did you talk to him?"

"Oh, last night before I went out. I'm sorry, I forgot to mention it what with all the celebration and shit."

"Yeah, that's understandable. It sucks that it won't be legal or anything."

"Hey, it's all we need to know, right?"

"True, bud. I'm a little bit nervous about the whole thing. Aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. I'm terrified mostly about having it in my fuckin' back yard."

"HeY! I just remembered what we had to do today. My parents are coming down to take us out to dinner!" he exclaimed.

"See!! I knew we had to do something! What time are they getting here?"

"They said around four," he replied.

I always felt uncomfortable around Matt's parents for some reason. We had only met twice before. But since I was marrying their son, I knew I'd have to get used to them.

"Don't worry, Little Bud, you'll be fine. I told you, Mom thinks your great. Dad is, well, Dad."

"He's as big as you are...and slightly more intimidating!"

He laughed. Don't let him fool you about that. Mom's always been in charge. And, after all, I was a bit nervous around your parents at first."

"Yeah, that's true. Oh well, it's like three now. I guess we should pick up the mess around here before they get here."

We spent the next half hour cleaning our apartment. There wasn't much to clean up, but we got rid of all signs of sex and vacuumed as well. We changed into some nicer clothes for dinner and as soon as we were ready, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it, bud," he said, walking out of the bedroom.

"Hey Matt!" I heard a booming voice say, as soon as he opened the door.

"Hi, honey," I heard his mom say.

"Come in."

I took a deep breath and stepped out of the bed room and walked down the short hallway to greet his parents.

"Hey, Joe," his Dad said, sticking his hand. I shook it firmly and smiled.

His mom came towards me and hugged me. I smiled at Matt.

"Well, we're ready," Matt said.

"Great, well, then, let's go," his Dad said, smiling.

They were very pleasant people. I could see where Matt got his looks from. His overall size and masculinity came from his father. His dad was about 6'3", probably 200lbs, and looked good for being over 50. Matt's face though came more from his Mom's side. She had the green eyes and those dimples. She also looked good for her age. She was also decidedly shorter than her husband at only around 5'2". Apparently it was like father like son.

We went to the local Mall area and decided on Italian. We went inside the Olive Garden and were seated immediately, amazingly.

"So, two weeks huh?" Matt's Dad said.

"Yep," Matt said, smiling over at me.

"Yes sir, Mr. ..."

"Joe, what did I tell you to call me?" his Dad asked me in mock annoyance.

"Sorry, Mr...uh....Jim..." I said, turning red.

"Oh, Dad, knock it off," Matt said, smiling. "You can call him asshole for all I care," he said to me.

"Hey," Matt's Dad, Jim said. "That's enough from you too!"

"Here we go again," his Mom said, rolling her eyes.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"So, you are coming right?" I asked them both.

"Sure, we want to meet your parents too," his Mom said.

"Cool and they really want to meet you too, Mrs...uh...I mean...Nancy.."

"That's more like it!" Matt's Dad exclaimed.

The waitress came by and we ordered. It was a very relaxing time after that. It was a little unnerving to notice Matt and I had a similar relationship that his parents did. They were always kidding each other around, but always supporting each other at the same time.

"So, how does your parents feel about having this ceremony in their own backyard?"

"Uh, well, they're not entirely crazy about it, but they clearly want to do it," I replied.

"Well, I can understand that," Matt's Mom said.

"Oh, I talked to Scott and Jimmy," Matt's Dad said. "They're both coming?"

"Yeah, I talked to them the other week. They said they wouldn't miss it for the world..."

"Good," Matt said, smiling at me. "

By that time, our food came by and we ate. I must admit, I did feel more comfortable around his parents as the evening went on. By the end of the meal, we were all laughing. At one point, I thought to myself, this really could work. And it is going to work.

"So, how do you like living with Matt?" his Dad asked me at one point.

"Uh, I guess it's all right."

"Well can you cook?" Nancy asked.

"Well, uh....I can cook scrambled eggs," I said, smiling.

"Oh god, Nancy, no wonder why they look so good. They've been starving themselves. Well, Joe, at least you have one up on Matt. I don't think he can even make scrambled eggs."

"Well there was this one time," I said, smiling at Matt.

"Don't you even..." Matt started to say.

"He tried to make me breakfast in bed. He wanted to make me eggs and bacon. I'll never forget the mess he left in the kitchen. He finally made the eggs. He started out with a dozen. When he was done, he had about two left. I only wanted three!"

His parents laughed.

"Hey, bud, you're no chef yourself..."

"True, true. It was the thought We eat out a lot," I explained, laughing.

The entire evening was a success. We all went back to our place after dinner and Matt's parents soon took off. It was just the two of us again.

"See, Little Bud? A piece of cake."

"Yep, as usual, you were right, bud. I love you," I said as I kissed him. He threw his arms around me and lifted me up.

I got to thinking about when Matt told his parents about us. It was about a year ago, right after we graduated from college. I remember him telling me the story like it was yesterday....

(This is a flashback sequence, told by Matt)

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" I yelled, as I walked through the door.

"We're in here, Matt," my Dad's voice said. I walked into the family room and sat down on the Lazy-Boy. They were both sitting on the couch.

"How's it going?" Dad asked.

"All right, bud. Can I talk to you about something?"

My Mom put down her magazine, and my dad turned off the TV with the remote.

"Sure, honey," Mom said. "What is it?"

"Well, uh, I don't know how to say this, but..." I was sweating and shaking. I had never been so scared in my life. My parents were cool people. I knew that they probably wouldn't freak out or anything. But, still, I was nervous.

"What is it, son," Dad asked.

"Well..." I said, taking a deep breath. I looked at both my parents and then turned to the floor.

"...I am dating someone." I looked back up at them.

My Dad took a deep breath and sighed. "We knew that..."

"But you don't know who, do you?"

"Our sources say it's a guy named Joe..." Dad said.

"WHAT?" I screamed. "How the hell did you know that?"

Mom smiled at me. "Scott told us about two months ago."

I immediately wanted to kill my older brother. I was angry. He swore he wouldn't tell anyone.

"That little basta..."

"Now, don't get upset, bud. He told us because we basically asked him. We suspected it for a while."

I slumped back in the chair. "" I asked.

"Well, it began when Dirk died, and how you reacted to his death. There was just something about the way you two interacted that made me suspicious. As usual, though, your Dad was clueless."

My Dad laughed. "I had no clue, son. But when your mother brought it up, it made me think..."

"And you're cool with it?"

"Well, at first I wasn't. But then, your Mom put some sense into was quite a shock, but at the same time, wasn't."

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath. I looked up at them again. "Thanks."

"It doesn't make us love you any less," Mom said.

"Well, the idea of my son sucking cock isn't the most appealing thing in the..."

"James!" my Mom said with that tone in her voice.

"What hun?" Dad asked, surprised.

"Sucking cock?" Mom asked, slowly.

I just had to laugh at them. They were perfectly matched in the weirdest way. It was weird but it worked for them completely. They were one of the happiest married couples I ever knew. And the best parents in the world.

That completes this chapter of the Joe and Matt saga. I'm not sure when I will write another part to this, but in the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, send them to Thanks.