Breaking 1991 down into the biggest news, sports and entertainment events; here’s what happened…

At the start of the year the ‘Gulf War’ kicked off as a result of Iraq invading Kuwait, leading to UK forces heading off to fight Saddam Hussein’s army. The fighting lasted just a couple of months but is well remembered due to it being the first war that was televised on the news.

The little loved media tycoon Robert Maxwell met a mysterious end whilst holidaying on his boat off the coast of Tenerife. Struggling under financial pressure, with his corporation on the brink of collapse, he was thought to have gone overboard although no-one really knows what happened.

Another mystery to arise was an outbreak of ‘crop circles’. Some 600 new ones appeared (one in the Prime Ministers garden!) in the UK throughout the summer of ’91, putting Britain under the world media spotlight. Some experts pointed the finger at human hoaxers, some claimed abnormal weather conditions were the cause, whilst others were 100% sure that they were messages from aliens.

In terms of sport, England hosted the 1991 Rugby World Cup but, despite having home advantage, they were edged out in the final by the Australians. Paul Gascoigne, the new star of football, damaged his knee whilst playing for Tottenham in the FA Cup final leading to a year long spell on the sidelines.

TV saw a couple of newcomers make their mark and an old-hand return. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer (better known as just Vic & Bob) debuted on channel 4 and their brand of bizarre humour quickly caught on, making their surreal show a 1991 hit. Back with more silly games, less than special guests and ‘gunk’ was Noel Edmonds on his live show (broadcast from the fictitious ‘Crinkley Bottom’) ‘Noel’s House Party’. Accompanying Edmonds, was his pink and yellow friend Mr. Blobby who surprisingly managed a number one single despite not being able to speak!

The top film of 1991 was ‘Silence Of The Lambs’ with leading roles from Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. As Hannibal Lecturer (a psychotic cannibal) and Clarice Sterling (a young FBI cadet) they form a strange kind of partnership in order to hunt down an even stranger serial killer by the name of “Buffalo Bill”. Also out that year was one of the few sequels to better the original; he said “I’ll be back” and Arnold Schwarzenegger was in ‘Terminator 2’. This time playing one of the good guys trying to protect the boy destined to save the human race.

On the UK music front in ’91, the year belonged to Bryan Adams and his HUGE hit ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’. The title track for ‘Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves’ topped the charts for a record 16 weeks and was in the Top 40 for a total of 6 months. As for the best selling album of 1991, that went to Simply Red and their album ‘Stars’. The Christmas number one was a re-issue; Queen again releasing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to commemorate the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury earlier in the year.

I have been wondering, as I am sure you have as to how long it would take the government to take action against the mortgage brokers who are responsible for at least a portion of the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry. After following several newspaper accounts for this information it’s finally happening, and there will be more to come. The problem with this market is the lack of regulation of mortgage brokers. We regulate banks, Savings and Loan companies and the like but the brokers are not. The reason given for this is that they are not the lenders but only sales people.

Watch for more finger pointing and playing the blame game. The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has announced that a David Goldwasser, a mortgage and loan broker in Rockland County has pled guilty to defrauding Key Bank of New York City and First Union Bank of Port Chester New York of almost $500,000. Mr. Goldwasser admitted in court that he had submitted application for loans for other parties but also for a company that he had a financial interest in. He admitted that he had submitted financial documents that were false including false tax returns and bank and brokerage statements. He could receive up to 30 years in prison as well as be required to make restitution for the full amount.

Another case pending of a slightly different type concerns a man referred as being a “rogue mortgage broker” of Port Washington NY. Jacob Milton is accused of stealing another person’s identity. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime wave according to both the FBI and the U,S, Postal Service If you think you are not a candidate read on.

Mr. Milton is accused not only of stealing the identity of the unnamed individual but of buying two homes in his name and leaving him more than $1 million dollars in debt. Now due to the announcement by the police other victims are emerging. Some of these are claiming credit card fraud and other types of fraud. Police believe there could possibly be hundreds of victims.

This type of fraud happens every day in every city and could happen to you. Here’s what is interesting, Mr. Milton is the director of a major mortgage company with offices throughout New York. Not exactly the kind of guy anyone would suspect.

As to potential mortgage fraud by unscrupulous brokers it remains to be seen as to the amount of prosecution. Don’t hold your breath on that one. The membership of all the mortgage broker associations in the United States represent less than 10% of the entire industry. But that’s still enough to create havoc in the banking world. Many of the brokers feel little or no responsibility because they bundle the loans placing a few bad ones in with the good ones apparently feeling things will balance out. They take their money and move on.

There have been instances of outright fraud though. The Orange County Register (California) ran an article recently about a mortgage broker who submitted fraudulent loan forms for a legal Mexican family who couldn’t speak English. Now this family is losing their home and of course the mortgage broker who packaged it for them is nowhere to be found. A similar case is being investigated here in Phoenix. In both cases the brokers were only interested in their commission from the deal.

Now I know someone is going to say that mortgage brokers are the fall guys and someone else is really the bad guy. We have mortgage brokers on our website. Most mortgage brokers do a great job. All the brokers on our website are major companies who really care about the industry. It’s the small “Johnnie Come Lately’s” who have caused the most problems. They have no investment in the overall health of the industry, and are only out for the “fast buck” it seems.

Everyone bears some responsibility for the problem. A broker only sells what the people have been asking for years: the lowest payment with little or no down payment. However just a few years back it was IMPOSSIBLE to get this type of loan. It may be necessary for the banking industry to go back to the way they did 20+ years ago and require a down payment commensurate with the loan possibly more people would not be able to own their own homes, but the financial institutions wouldn’t be in trouble either. The Arizona Republic carried a lead article this morning (10/23/07) stating that Rep. Barney Frank the head of the House Financial Services Committee has introduced a bill to require the banking industry to do just that.

The real root cause of sub-prime is investment-banking fraud. It is bad business to design any product that encourages people to cheat. The fraud (or lapses in judgment if you prefer) this time around is in the hundred of millions of dollars so it must be prosecuted and fixed in this author’s opinion before our country suffers the mother of all financial collapses.

Simply put the solution is so simple, maybe that’s why no one can see it. The system as we have it now is about pushing limits of production and volume sales. Also it’s about making credit available to people who 20 years ago couldn’t qualify. That part has been successful. Home ownership has grown by giant leaps that no one can argue is a totally bad thing.

But as success grew the industry threw caution to the wind and made some foolish decisions. The investment banking folks and the large subprime wholesalers got careless and forgot past lessons of maintaining loan volume and extending credit without adhering to good business guidelines.

Risk in the lending business is easy to measure.

· Mortgages are at least 5 or 6 thousand years old

· A safe mortgage investment formula was calculated a long time ago

· The formula computed at 80% Loan-to-value is a good risk if the borrower has reasonable credit.

· It’s no more complex than that.

But risk increases dramatically every time you change the formula.

· Increase the loan to value (Inflated prices are another problem)

· Sell adjustable rate loans for the first five years just to make a sale

· Due to the inflated prices longer term loans are offered

· The last thing is people with extremely poor credit being offered credit on homes they cannot afford.

All these factors combined have made a package that can blow up in our face. We must have a common sense approach.

Where will all this end? Time will tell.

References: The Arizona Republic, Washington Post, The OC Register

In the same way that editors don’t want to see an ending they’ve seen before, equally, there are some story beginnings that have been done to death. Here are ten you shouldn’t use.

“It was a dark and stormy night.”

The “weather report” gambit. Not only is it a lazy way to start a story, but this one was voted “Worst story opening of all time.”

“I hadn’t seen her in the bar before. She was pale, but interesting.”

The “Vampire pick-up gambit” Or maybe they’re a werewolf, or alien, or serial killer. Or maybe the narrator isn’t what he or she seems. Either way, the story turns out the same, and the editor will have given up long before he got to the end.

“The man with the piercing eyes and pointed beard asked ‘What you would give to have your heart’s desire?”

The old “Pact with the Devil” gambit. Only try this if you really have sold your soul for fame and fortune – all other permutations have been played out years ago.

“I thought he was supposed to be in Vegas, so I was surprised to see ………”

Almost as old as pact with the Devil stories is the “I talked to a ghost” gambit. Cavemen probably told this story to each other around their campfires. And you think an editor hasn’t heard it?

“I woke up in the dark, and all I could feel above me was velvet, and beneath that, wood.”

The “buried alive” gambit. Those cavemen probably knew this one as well. A variation is the “Sixth Sense” gambit where the narrator is already dead. Do you think the editor didn’t see the film?

“They gave me a really good going over, and I vowed there and then to have my revenge.”

The “Clint Eastwood” gambit. Generally a sign that you’re going to be explicitly violent. Even if the editor wants that kind of stuff, they’ll want a better plot than this.

“I’ve always felt strange around the time of the full moon.”

The “werewolf” gambit. Even Michael Jackson knows about the effects of the moon on certain people, and you know how cut off he is from reality?

“I got a strange feeling when I saw the sarcophagus arrive in the storeroom.”

The “mummy” gambit. Even more old-hat since the recent blockbuster movies. Shambling piles of bandages just don’t hack it in the 21st Century.

“The red-haired FBI agent turned to her partner and said….”

Editors watch television too you know. The only place to send these, and those concerning teenage vampire slayers, is to fan-fiction web sites. Even there you have to have an original plotline. Rehashes of episodes just won’t make it.

“What would you do if I gave you three wishes?”

The “Leprechaun” gambit. And guess what – the protagonist gets screwed on the third wish. The editor will be asleep before you get to wish number two.

There’s only so many good ideas floating around. Remember, if you’ve seen something like it before, then the editor will have too. Try to make sure your idea is an original one.That way you might get an editor to read past page one.

Then you’ve only got the middle and the ending to worry about, but that’s two completely different articles.

In 1962 Coors® filed a 10 million dollar lawsuit against the Teemsters Union because of their blockade of Coors beer. Jimmy Hoffa, in retaliation, tried to organize a union at the Coors Porcelain Factory in Golden, Colorado.

Joseph Coors was President of the Coors Porcelain Company, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Adolph Coors Company®. I was an engineer working at the Golden, Colorado factory. Following is a brief history of the company:

Brief History of Coors Porcelain Company

In the early days of beer making, the eastern breweries became jealous of the Coors brewery marketing efforts and forced glass bottle manufacturers to stop supplying bottles to Coors. They did this by threatening the bottle manufacturers that they would not buy bottles from any company that sold bottles to Coors.

At that time, Coors was not supplying beer east of the Mississippi but the eastern manufacturers thought the threat was real in the west and could spread eastward.

As a footnote, in 1958 in Chicago at the Palmer House, while Carol Channing sang Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend and threw imitation diamond necklaces on our table, Joe Coors told our dinner group that the company would never sell beer east of the Mississippi River. I told him I wanted the first dealership east of the Mississippi. I should have stuck around to collect it.

Adolph Coors was not to be put off by the bottle embargo. He hired glass makers and they made bottles for Coors. Finally, the eastern bottle manufacturers became angry at the eastern brewers because they had lost business. They immediately got back into the graces of Adolph Coors and again supplied bottles.

Adolph Coors did not want to dismiss his new bottle-making employees. The bottle factory was converted to ceramics and produced crocks to store malt and other items at the brewery.

During World War I, the Allied Blockade stopped the flow of German chemical porcelain into the United States. This was a burden on industry and chemical laboratories across the country. The federal government asked 54 ceramic companies to make porcelain. Coors was the only company to succeed because Adolph Coors had connections in Germany that provided him the technology to make chemical porcelain.

Coors later made alumina ceramics with technology provided by A. C. Sparkplug, and later, other companies. During World War II flights of DC-3s carried ceramics to the Manhattan Project from the Coors factory.

Coors’ substrates for solar cells were on the Telstar satellite created by Bell Labs. In 1962, Telstar broadcast the first television signals from space which allowed transatlantic television transmission. Coors supplied beryllium oxide and other ceramics to government-sponsored projects. Since I was under a secrecy agreement at the time and possibly (but not probably) some items may still be secret, I’ll not describe other activities. The company has since expanded into a number of technically-oriented companies outside Colorado.

Back to the Hoffa Visit

The Coors family was always anti-union. A bitter strike at Coors Porcelain Company had earlier prompted actions that placed deep-seated resentment in some employees. Hoffa, in light of the lawsuit by Coors, decided to take a shot at organizing the union again. Although the lawsuit was generated by the Adolph Coors Company, Hoffa had to recognize the union at the brewery. He attacked the Coors Porcelain Company instead.

In preparation to Hoffa’s visit, Joe Coors called the salaried staff into the company cafeteria and told us that in no way was any union activities to be tolerated. He was especially concerned about the machine shop where the tooling was made. Union activity often started there. As I remember, Joe said a few things that were not exactly legal to say but I’m too old to remember the specifics. Later, much tooling was farmed out.

When Hoffa came to the factory I watched him pass out literature to the employees as they left work. He was chatting with them at the front gate and shaking their hands without trespassing on company property or doing anything else that could be considered illegal.

I went out into the factory and some of our senior staff was standing on work benches watching the show. I told them they looked like a bunch of idiots and to go into my office to watch, which they did.

That evening, Hoffa held a meeting for our employees. Two salaried staff employees went to the meeting where Coors supplied the beer. They drank beer with Hoffa, shook his hand, and listened to his speech. These two showed up on the evening television news.

One of the most amazing things happened the next day. I was sure they would be fired immediately. They were not!

Hoffa was impressive to the working man. I understand that he lived in the same simple suburban home in Detroit for many years. However, he was not able to organize a new union at the Coors Porcelain Company factory.

Hoffa spent some time in prison starting in 1967. Here is an excerpt from [http://tinyurl.com/r726c] Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren would later call the conviction an “affront to the quality and fairness of federal law enforcement”. United States President Richard M. Nixon commuted Jimmy Hoffa’s sentence, and he left prison on 24th December 1971.

Here is another excerpt from the same reference: In July of 1975 Jimmy Hoffa disappeared. He was last seen at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and he was declared legally dead in 1982.

There was a memorial service for Hoffa on July 31, 1995, twenty years after his disappearance, which more than two thousand people attended. Some however, claim that he is still alive.

Incidentally, Adolph Coors, Jr., who was president of the Adolph Coors Company just prior to Hoffa’s visit, was murdered during a kidnapping attempt in 1960 by Joseph Corbett, a former Fulbright scholar. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Corbett],_Jr.

Adolph Coors, Jr. was a fine leader and I dedicated two editions of my college text Ceramics: Industrial Processing and Testing to him. Ad Coors new how to solve and avoid problems better than his brothers Bill and Joe.

A Slight Diversion to Make You Laugh

I can’t resist giving you a story about Ad Coors here.

While Joe Coors was away at school, Bill Coors was running the porcelain plant. A worker whose name was Eli was a kiln loader and was still working at the same job while I was there.

Eli was rebuilding the kiln deck settings when Bill told him to not do it his way but Bill’s way. Eli said that if he built the decks Bill’s way there would be a major kiln wreck and he (Eli) would have to clean it up.

Bill insisted on getting his way. Eli told him to shove the kiln up his ass and went home.

When Ad heard what had happened he called Eli at home and told him to come to his office. When Eli got there Ad walked him and Bill out to the kiln.

This is what Ad Coors said, “You are both wrong!

“Now Bill, if you set the kiln furniture (refractory) your way, there will be a major kiln wreck just as Eli said.

“Now Eli, you are wrong too. You know that Bill can’t get that kiln up his ass.”

Back to Hoffa

Hoffa is back in the news. For some reason the FBI wants his body.

Observing the news footage it appears that the whole FBI is out shoveling dirt on a horse farm in Milford Township. Now the barn is coming down if it hasn’t already.

Wouldn’t it be better to put all this effort into finding terrorist?

Where is Osama Bin Laden anyway?

Is he sipping lemonade in Mecca as I said in another article. See http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Osama-Bin-Ladens-Winter-Home&id=104229

The End

Hoffa, Coors, Joseph Coors, Coors Porcelain Company, Adolph Coors Company, embargo, lawsuit, union, Golden Colorado, bottles, blockade, truckers, Osama Bin Laden, news, murder

copyright©2006 John T. Jones, Ph.D.

“So far as musical pedagogy is concerned-and by extension of musical creation-Nadia Boulanger is the most influential person who ever lived.”

Ned Rorem

As the lesbian opera singer I am, it feels good to introduce the composer, conductor and pedagogue Nadia Boulanger to women and the LGBT audience. There are very few that know that classical music’s primary influence during the 1900s was a woman. In addition, she was probably a dyke and practically nobody knows about that! She lived 1887-1979 born of a Russian mother and a French father. Very musical of course, just like her sister Lili Boulanger. Very ambitious, very proud and very productive. I suspect, very much a lesbian. And very, very faithful catholic too… How easy was that?

Composers such as Ned Rorem, Astor Piazolla, Philip Glass, Leonard Bernstein and Quincy Jones are on her roster of famous pupils. Mostly men, as so often, not because there were no women, but because women are not as famous and you’re not talking about women in the terms of “genius”. Just as you are not talking about most great culture bearers of the female sex after their death. She may have been ever so famous during her lifetime still there is silence as soon as the coffin is closed. But had it been a man, he remains famous. However, was it a gay or transgender icon, in some way that will be retouched with a practiced hand!

Many women composers in the 1800s Europe were at least as successful as their male colleagues. Unfortunately, they were excluded and briskly crossed from music history after their death and thus they were forgotten, quickly removed from memory, one by one. So here we are, ripped both our women’s history and our LGBT heritage and to this day most people believe that there were no women composers before present time. I think it’s up to us, women and non-heteronormative thinkers to talk about La Boulanger and her likes, otherwise she too will sink into the swamps of oblivion.

Also, please, do not talk about Boulanger living with a woman for 40 years! A woman whose official role was “assistant” and who always called her “Mademoiselle,” when anyone was listening. Mademoiselle is receiving now. Mademoiselle will return next Monday. Mademoiselle is very busy, can I forward a message? And sadly: “Mademoiselle is asking for the last rites” on her deathbed. Annette Dieudonné, was her name and also Dieudonné was a composer and teacher. How often do you live for decades with a person who then inherit everything you owned and produced, but it was not in an intimate relationship? Surprisingly often if it is a same-sex couple when posterity may determine. Should we laugh or cry about this absurd situation?

Curiously enough, she has also affected my musical life since I’ve rehearsed and recorded a demo with Nanette Nowels-Stenholm, whom in turn has been her pupil! It feels great and a bit unreal to have such a giant that close, somewhat like a musical grandmother.

If you want to know more, there is Leonie Rosenstiel’s book Nadia Boulanger – A Life in Music or The tender tyrant and Nadia Boulanger: A Life Devoted to Music, a biography by Alan Kendall.

Here is also a great article on the genius of this remarkable woman written by Don Campbell: http://www.scena.org/lsm/sm6-3/nadia-en.html

Here are the biggest news, sport and entertainment stories of 1993…

Britain’s longest recession since the 1930s was officially over as the economy grew during the first three months of the year. The Conservatives claimed credit for the upturn in fortunes but critics claimed it was luck more than anything else. However it was achieved, it was welcomed by the nation’s people who could now look forward to spending again.

One new place they could spend at being Buckingham Palace; the public being allowed inside for the first time ever during the summer of ’93. With the entrance fee being set at £8, it wasn’t cheap, but that did nothing to hold back demand; within a week of going on sale, all advance group booking slots to visit Buckingham Palace had been filled for the next three years.

Other news included an oil tanker carrying running aground near the Shetland Islands (resulting in 84,700 tonnes of crude oil being spilled into the North Sea and a major ecological catastrophe); and anti-racist demonstrations being held across London in response to criminal charges being dropped against two youths accused of murdering black teenager Stephen Lawrence.

In the world of sport, horse racing’s big event ‘The Grand National’ (with a worldwide audience of 300 million people) ended in ‘chaos’ after many of the riders had failed to realise a false start had been called and had set off around the racetrack. The Jockey Club was forced to declare the race void; meaning bookmakers had to re-pay the £75 million in bets that had been placed on the race (and miss out on their biggest pay-day of the year!).

On a personal mission to resolve alien related ‘chaos’, were FBI agents ‘Mulder & Scully’; their popular US series ‘X-Files’ coming across the Atlantic to UK screens. Motivated by the belief that Mulder’s sister had been abducted by little green men, they set about trying to find the ‘truth’. One place where the truth definitely wasn’t was on ‘Beavis & Butthead’s sofa. These boys spent ’93 becoming world famous for flicking between TV channels and playing football with frogs.

With Britain itself still struggling to come up with any blockbuster movies of it’s own, ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Indecent Proposal’ were the major films to hit cinemas during the year. ‘Jurassic Park’ involved dinosaurs (really quite scary-looking, genuine ones!) running riot around a theme park created by an eccentric millionaire. ‘Indecent Proposal’ was another tale to involve a rich man (this time a billionaire played by Robert Redford); this guy offering a couple, who had just lost a fortune in Las Vegas, $1m to spend the night with the wife.

Denise Robbins, a software engineering manager by day, integrates her knowledge of computers and technology into all her techno-romantic thriller novels. Her published works include It Happens in Threes and Killer Bunny Hill with Connect the Dots and Never Tempt Danger scheduled for release in 2010.

I saw down with Denise and asked about the unique combination of technology and fiction.

Your computer background has obviously been a big factor in the plots of your books. How did you become interested in technology?

It all started when I was a kid. In elementary school we went on a field trip to an electronics shop. In there, we saw all kinds of cool gadgets like small calculators, electronic games, and then… a computer. Holy cow! I could play chess on the computer.

About that same time, my dad brought home a modem. I’m not talking the modems you pick up today that fit in the palm of your hand, we’re talking a behemoth of a machine that looked like a typewriter with a phone coupler attached to it.

Some readers may not understand the significance of computers in fighting crime. Explain how important an understanding of new technologies can be in staying ahead of the bad guy.

Computers are used a great deal more than people think in regards to fighting crime. One simple example is the FBI’s website that gives the public information on some of the criminals they are searching for. This website not only informs the public, but now there are large numbers of people on the lookout for the ‘bad guys.’

Local police departments have computers in every patrol car, which can be used in different scenarios. Remember the last time you were pulled over? The police officer can put your license plate into the computer and check if the car was stolen, your driving record, or even your car registration. A police officer making a routine stop may not seem like any big deal or use for computer technology, but what you may not realize is that the same computer that told the officer the car was stolen, can also provide arrest and warrant information. Information attained via the computer by the officer makes him/her more capable of making the right decision of how to approach the situation.

Computers also give law enforcement the resources and technology needed to keep up with modern day criminals in the cyber world. Some criminals steal people’s identities or purchase goods with someone else’s credit cards over the Internet. Internet felons commit all sorts of crimes such as downloading child pornography, even trying to convince minors to meet them somewhere, which could result in abduction. Without computers, it would be nearly impossible to catch felons of this nature. Through computers law enforcement agencies can watch these actions and make the web safer.

Because of computers and instant access to large amounts of information, law enforcement agents have the power to turn a possible dangerous situation into a much safer one sooner rather than later.

Explain a little about nanotechnology and its current uses.

Nanotechnology is a technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to complex, atomic specifications. The nanoscale is about a thousand times smaller than micro that is, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair.

Items already available in the marketplace include: burn and wound dressings, water filtration, dental-bonding agent, coatings for easier cleaning glass, bumpers and catalytic converters on cars, protective and glare-reducing coatings for eyeglasses and cars, sunscreens and cosmetics, stain-free clothing and mattresses, ink, longer-lasting tennis balls, and lightweight and stronger tennis rackets.

A ski jacket produced by Franz Ziener GmbH&Co is based on nanotechnology. The windproof and waterproof properties are not obtained by a surface coating of the jacket but by the use of nanofibres.

The company InMat makes long-lasting tennis-balls by coating the inner core with clay polymer nanocomposites. These tennis-balls have twice the lifetime of conventional balls.

What do you see happening with nanotechnology in the future?

Today, we have just scratched the surface on what nanotechnology will do for us. There are many nanotechnology applications in research and development. In the field of medicine, there will be Qdots that identify the location of cancer cells in the body and Nanoparticles that deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells to minimize damage to healthy cells. Can you imagine not having to expose the entire body to chemotherapy but only the part that requires the treatment?

Nanotechnology is huge in the science and technology area as well, in particular, manmade diamonds. In recent years, there has been research into producing manmade diamonds, no, not cubic zirconia, but “real” diamonds grown in a lab and not in nature. Manmade diamonds is a huge breakthrough that will only get bigger. The diamond has the largest thermal conductivity of any material. With every improvement in computer chip technology, the machines get faster and hotter. At some point the chips and computer insides will melt. Diamonds are the answer for faster computers without the heat factor. For the same thermal conductivity reason, manmade diamonds could help make lasers of extreme power. The material could allow a cell phone to fit into a watch and iPods to store 10,000 movies, not just 10,000 songs.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Nanotechnology is the next great wave and I’m hoping it hits soon.

What are some of the challenges in blending cutting-edge technology with fiction?

The challenge in creating techno-fiction is knowing how to keep the story moving at the same time giving enough of a visual picture of the technology so the reader understands without dumping boring information on top of their head.

It seems like the field of technology is more of a man’s world. How did you end up in the field and why do you think there aren’t more women involved?

I think since my dad was in technology, not the same as I am involved today, I was destined for computers.

Taking a job with a government contractor for the Department of Defense hooked me on technology. I was part of a team that built software for use in military medical facilities. It was when I taught computer programs and programming to adults that I found my love for all that ‘geeky’ computer stuff. There is nothing like watching the spark in somebody’s eyes as the light bulb goes on inside their head after they have learned to write code and see the result.

Why there are not more women in science and technology is a question that has been asked quite a lot in recent years. One simple answer is how parents and teachers present information technology professions and other occupations to their daughters and students. It is about encouraging and providing role models.

Another explanation for the lack of women in information technology careers is misconception and preference. Why do I say that as if they are com-mingled? Many people believe working in IT is solitary. They imagine someone sitting in front of a computer eight hours or more a day with no one to talk with. Ask any of the engineers that work for and with me and they will let you know that is not the case.

In general, women prefer to work with people while men prefer to work with things. With the solitary misconception out there, many women are choosing other careers.

Do you have a lot of male readers because of your interesting plots? How do you draw them in?

To be honest, I am not certain that I have too many male readers yet, but I have a few and I want more. I think once the guys know that my novels are based on interesting and real technology, have suspense and mystery woven in with action and adventure that they will want to read them. All it takes is a few good men… to spread the word.

While my novels are fiction, when my hero or heroine is shooting a weapon, all readers should know that I have done the research and had the experience several times. My first time shooting anything, but a shotgun at skeet (of which I am a very good shot), was when I wrote It Happens in Threes. I had to know what it felt like. I contacted a friend who taught me all the various right and wrongs and who enjoyed seeing me struggle filling a clip and always forgetting to take the safety off.

Right now, my attempt at “drawing them in” is to give a guy I see a copy of the book, ask him to read it, and let me know what he thinks. So far, the response has been positive. The other little tidbit that helps draw the men in as that I have other men review and edit my novels for the male perspective. It always helps me when Steve or David say, “No guy would say that.” Then they wrinkle their noses and slash away at my work. I am very grateful. I also have friends who are former military and they correct some of my ideas as well.

How do you handle the fine line between giving too much technological information and making the story flow?

This is an excellent question. Computer stuff can be very dry and boring, take it from me. What I do is take technology and introduce the readers to it in small pieces, like breadcrumbs of information, so that technology is part of the mystery or part of the solution in the puzzle. I take the technology and break it down so my characters show you just enough to make you understand, and at the same time get curious. Wait until you find out about nanotechnology in Killer Bunny Hill. I’ll give you a hint – Diamonds aren’t just a girl’s best friend.

Where do you come up with your story ideas?

My story ideas come from various places and most the time it is just a matter of sitting down with pen and paper and asking myself about the particular characters I have just identified in my mind. Sometimes, as in the case of my second novel Killer Bunny Hill, the seed for novel will just hit me while flying across the country on a plane. In the case of my fourth novel Never Tempt Danger, the idea came from a dream. Those are just the beginnings, now I have to construct a story line and that takes a little more effort.

Sometimes I take from my own experiences with technology, but that is still limited in scope. So what do I do? Well, here is my answer.

I did some research once for work when I accidentally ran across an article on ‘manmade diamonds’ and using them as computer chips. As I continued to read the story, I found out about an organization known as DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This agency is the central research and development office for the Department of Defense. They fund all kinds of technology research in order to keep our military technologically superior and in turn keep us safe and military personnel safe. Cool stuff!

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today, Denise!

It’s commonly known that Vegas is the place where one can legally wager on just about anything, provided the books offer the proposition bet(s). Gamblers love to put their money on weird wagers, especially around Super Bowl time. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned the ban on sports betting, we just might see more uncanny bets being offered in states that bid for sports books. Weird wagers are not unique to Vegas. The U.K also gets in on the action.

Here’s a collection of some of the most bizarre, weirdest, wackiest wagers ever made:

• 1979: The late Jackie Gaughn, owner of the El Cortez hotel in downtown Vegas, posted odds when the faltering U.S. satellite Skylab, was about to crash to earth. The odds were put up on where it would crash: 5/1 for one of the five oceans, 12/1 into the Soviet Union, 100/1 on California soil, 2,000/1 for a hit in tiny Rhode Island, and even 10,000/1 that it would crash into the El Cortez! Turns out it landed in Australia at 30/1.

• 1980: From the popular TV show Dallas: “Who shot JR?” Wagers were taken at the Castaways Hotel with odds on every cast member prior to the season ending cliff hanger episode, but the Gaming Control Board ordered a halt to all betting because someone had to have a script that knew the answer.

• 1981: Amidst the ongoing controversy over the murder of President John F. Kennedy, the grave of alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was about to be exhumed to confirm identity. The sports book at the Union Plaza was quick to jump on the proposition bandwagon on whose body would be in the coffin. Odds were posted for: a Soviet agent, Jack Ruby (Oswald’s assassin) or an empty coffin. Due to concerns about the virtue of such a wager, the gaming commission put a lid on it. Turns out it was Oswald after all.

• In the UK, it was 500/1 that the FBI will confirm that Elvis is still alive and another 500/1 that Michael and LaToya Jackson are one in the same.

• UK bookmakers also offered 1,000/1 that Tiger Woods would become President of the US and 5,000/1 that Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky would marry.

• A London resident named Matthew Drumbell placed a 1,000,000/1 wager that the world would end before the year 2000. Of course, who would be left to pay him if he survived? No pun intended on the man’s name.

During Super Bowl week in Vegas $ millions are tossed across the betting terminals to wager on one’s favorite team, and some weird bets as well. Here are some of Super Bowls’ past prop bets:

· Will singer Kelly Clarkston omit or mess up one or more words in the National Anthem? How long will it take her to sing it? Over/Under 1 minute, 34 seconds. Will her bare belly be showing when she sings it?

· If Quarterback Tom Brady’s son is shown on TV during the game, will he be wearing a Tom Brady Jersey?

· How many times will Patriots owner Robert Kraft be shown on TV during the game?

· What will be the first touchdown celebration? A ball spike, a dance, lay on the ground, a goalpost dunk, a Tim Tebow kneel, or kiss a cheerleader?

· What color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning team’s head coach? Yellow, orange, clear, red, green, blue? (Yellow was favorite.)

· Who will the Super Bowl MVP thank first in his post-game interview? Teammates, God, Owner, Coach, Family, No one? (Teammates were the favorite.)

So, there you have it. I wonder what weird wagers await us for next Super Bowl? I guess we’ll just Have to wait to find out.

When I was a kid my parents told me that I had to watch out for the Boogeyman if I misbehaved or went outside after dark. This is something that parents used to tell their children to encourage good behavior and discourage them from wandering outside without permission. This myth began centuries ago in Europe where the Boogeyman was another name for the devil. Well, this creature used by parents as a scare tactic may not be real, but there are very dangerous monsters that are real and walk among us. I once came close to meeting one.

On June 26, 1977, I was living in Queens, New York City, just a few blocks from a disco club called Elephas. I walked near and past that club all the time. On that night Sal Lupo and Judy Placido met at Elephas. Judy was being bothered by some guy that kept hitting on her. Sal stepped in to help by pretending to be her boyfriend. It was after three in the morning, so the two decided to leave together just in case. They went outside and sat in Sal’s car with the windows up because it was raining.

Suddenly, there were loud sounds and glass breaking. Judy and Sal had been shot by the infamous.44 caliber killer. The shots stopped and the perpetrator was gone. Sal and Judy were injured, but alive. Others weren’t so fortunate. Later identified as David Berkowitz and arrested on August 10, 1977, their attacker killed six people and injured nine others in eight separate attacks. The press nicknamed him the ‘Son of Sam’.

David Berkowitz claimed that his neighbor’s dog gave him orders to kill. That’s how he interpreted the animal’s all night barking sessions. If the dog kept barking after one of Berkowitz’s attacks, the Son of Sam believed that he was being ordered to kill more people. The dog’s name was Sam. Unfortunately, those attacks are not unique in the history of crime.

The FBI estimates that at least 50 serial killers are operating in the U.S. today. A perpetrator has to murder at least three people in order to be considered a Serial Killer. By that standard there are probably more like 500 serial killers currently active throughout the nation. Why? Because it is difficult to identify them. Some, like the infamous Zodiac Killer have never been identified or captured.

Zodiac operated in Northern California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Five deaths are directly linked to him, with 28 others suspected. He claimed to have murdered a total of 37 people in taunting letters to the police and newspapers. The total number of victims for others is much higher. Andrei Chikatilo, a.k.a. The Red Ripper, confessed to the murders of 56 women and children between 1978 and 1990 in the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Uzbek SSR.

Psychiatrists that have had the opportunity to personally speak with captured serial killers have discovered that they all suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder. In 2017 the Mayo Clinic explained the behavior of people with ASPD this way: “People with antisocial personality disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They show no guilt or remorse for their behavior. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder often violate the law, becoming criminals.”

Serial Killers live in the real world, but maintain a surreal world that belongs exclusively to them. In their world they justify murder as the sensible solution to whatever need they have or mission they must fulfill. That world is their secret identity and they will do anything to protect it. Those that don’t get caught tend to be highly intelligent and able to control themselves to the extent that they try to stay off police radar. Their greatest weapon again being captured is that they tend to kill randomly.

If police or feds cannot connect the dots when it comes to the victims and locations, there isn’t a lot else they can do except hope that a tip from the public will bring some results. Random crimes involving rape, murder and physical assault to steal is not just a problem for police, it can affect any of us at any time. The best way to avoid these situations is to know more about those likely to commit the crimes, where they might occur and what you can do to stay safe.

Because serial killers suffer from ASPD and are experts at hiding their secret identities, we can assume they can be anyone. If someone new comes into your personal life or work, practice persistence. Wait a long while before responding to any invitation from that person that will result in you being alone with them for any amount of time. Serial killers and most rapists are impatient. If you say no to invitations to have a meal together, go out on a date or just meet socially after work, they will move on to someone else less cautious.

If you live in a town that is not a city and it is located near a major highway, you and your loved ones need to be extra careful. This isn’t your great grandparents’ USA anymore. Early morning hours, late night hours and dinnertime hours are when killers and rapists hunting in rural areas tend to strike. Jogging by yourself has become too great a threat for women and men. Go out to social events in groups and set a curfew for yourself and others in your family. Don’t fall into a Bundy Trap. Serial Killer Ted Bundy wore a fake arm sling and asked women for help getting something in or out of his vehicle.

Knowing the types of traps that serial killers and rapists use is very helpful in staying safe, so practice due diligence and learn all you can. Knowledge is your best weapon against these criminals. You will not only keep yourself and your family safe; you will help your friends and coworkers stay safe by helping them to avoid situations that might put them in danger. For more, visit http://cknell.tripod.com/serial.html

Oh, how beautiful this Waterford is that sits in your cabinet to be adorned and admired by all who visit your home, when you entertain your guests at the dinner table and speak of how the sun reflects the shimmering light and colors of the rainbow through the tall goblets while drinking your chardonnay, or a story of how this magnificent piece of crystal was mouth blown and hand carved by master craftsmen of Waterford Crystal Ireland. But how do you really know for sure, if your Waterford Crystal is authentic or fake?

Well, there are some ways to check if your Waterford is the real thing and the following will outline and help you with some of the basic tests that can be performed by the average person with an untrained eye, depending on whether its a single piece or a complete set of crystal.

Finding out first of all where the crystal was purchased is probably the obvious place to begin. Was it a reputable store? Did you receive a certificate of authenticity? Was the piece signed by the Waterford craftsman? Did it have the acid-etched watermark stamped on the base? Did it have the Seahorse label? Does it ring when you circle your moist finger around the top of the rim? Maybe so.

Some of these questions will have a certain significance to determine the outcome of whether your Waterford Crystal is the real McCoy or not, but?

Did you know that Waterford Crystal Ireland, with the help of the FBI, investigated several manufacturing plants in the United States that were producing pirated copies, of the famous renowned Waterford brand and that these companies produced a whole line of the crystal giftware, including all the popular patterns, not just the same designs but with the watermark stamp, the seahorse label and even the certificate of authenticity.

Having worked with Waterford Ireland and Lenox Crystal USA for over 26 years as a Master Crystal Cutter/Engraver, I have to report coming across thousands of these so-called Waterford Crystal fakes. Yes, they were purchased in reputable stores and also had the acid-etched watermark, had the seahorse label too, but I can assure you that they were not authentic and not produced in Waterford Crystal Ireland. So, I just want you to know first hand that you have every right to be concerned, if your Waterford Crystal is authentic or fake.