Unidentified decedent

Unidentified decedent or unidentified person (also abbreviated as UID or UP) is a term in American English used to describe a corpse of a person whose identity cannot be established by police and medical examiners. In many cases, it is several years before the identities of some UIDs are found, while in some cases, they are never identified. A UID may remain unidentified due to lack of evidence as well as absence of personal identification such as a driver's license. Where the remains have deteriorated or mutilated to the point that the body is not easily recognized, a UID's face may be reconstructed to show what it had looked like before death. UIDs are often referred to by the placeholder names "John Doe" or "Jane Doe". Causes: There are approximately 40,000 UIDs in the United States, and numerous others elsewhere. A body may go unidentified due to death in a state where the person was unrecorded, an advanced state of decomposition or major facial injuries. Location: Some UIDs die outside their native state. The Sumter County Does, murdered in South Carolina, may have been Canadian. Barbara Hess Precht died in Ohio in 2006 but was not identified until 2014. She had been living as a transient with her husband in California for decades but returned to her native state of Ohio, where she died of unknown circumstances. In both of these cases, the UIDs were found in a recognizable state and had their fingerprints and dental records taken with ease. It is unknown if the Sumter County Does' DNA was later recovered, since their bodies would require exhumation to recover DNA. In Lourdes, France, a corpse believed to have been native to a different country was discovered. Many illegal immigrants that die in the United States after crossing the border from Mexico remain unidentified. Decomposition: Many UIDs are found long after they die and have decomposed severely. This significantly changes their facial features and may prevent identification through fingerprints. Environmental conditions often are a major factor in decomposition, as some UIDs are found months after death with little decomposition if their bodies are placed in cold areas. Some are found in warm areas shortly after death, but hot temperatures and scavenging animals deteriorated the features In some cases, warm temperatures mummify the corpse, which also distorts its features, though the tissues have survived initial decomposition. One example is the "Persian Princess", who died in the 1990s but, in an act of archaeological forgery, was untruthfully stated in Pakistan to have been over 2,000 years old. A man found in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, in 1994 had died months before his body was found, yet in some places, his skin had not deteriorated and tattoos were found, which are also used to identify the dead. Putrefaction: Putrefaction often occurs when bacteria decompose the remains and generate gasses inside, causing the corpse to swell and become discolored. In cases such as the Rogers family, who were murdered in 1989 by Oba Chandler, the bodies were deposited in water but surfaced after gasses in their remains caused them to float to the surface. They were deceased a short period of time but were already severely decomposed and unrecognizable, due to putrefaction that occurred while underwater and high temperatures. It was not until a week later that dental records revealed their identities. Skeletonization: Skeletonization occurs when the UID has decayed to the point that bones and possibly some tissues are all that is found, usually when death occurred a significant amount of time before discovery. If a skeletonized body is found, fingerprints and toeprints are impossible to recover, unless they have survived the initial decomposition of the remains. Fingerprints are often used to identify the dead and were used widely before DNA comparison was possible. In some cases, partial remains limit the available information; for example, a woman's skull found in Frankfurt, Germany, was insufficient to estimate her height and weight. Skeletonized UIDs are often forensically reconstructed if searching dental records and DNA databases is unsuccessful. Traumatic injuries: Some UIDs experience trauma that significantly alters their appearance, especially those who die in vehicular accidents or were murdered in a violent manner. A facial expression often represents the pain, which shifts the face into a position that would not commonly be seen by the public, including those who have seen the person when they were alive. A body found decapitated would also prove to be unrecognizable. Many UIDs whose heads were not recovered remain unidentified, like in the Whitehall Mystery, which occurred in the United Kingdom. Burning: Often, someone who tries to conceal a body attempts to destroy it or render it unrecognizable. The currently unidentified Yermo John Doe was killed approximately one hour before he was found, but was completely unrecognizable. When Lynn Breeden, a Canadian model, was murdered and set ablaze in a dumpster, her body was so severely damaged that DNA processing and fingerprint analysis were impossible. She was identified sometime later after her unique dentition matched her own dental records, and DNA extracted from her blood at a different scene was matched. Linda Agostini's body was found burned near Albury, Australia in 1934. Her remains were identified ten years later through dental comparison. Identification process: Usually, bodies are identified by comparing their usually unique DNA, fingerprints and dental characteristics. DNA is considered the most accurate, but was not as widely used until the 1990s. It is often obtained through hair follicles, blood, tissue and other biological material. Bodies can also be identified with other physical information, such as illnesses, evidence of surgery, breaks and fractures, and height and weight information. A medical examiner will often be involved with identifying a body. Mortuary photographs: Many police departments and medical examiners have made efforts to identify the deceased by placing mortuary photographs of the UID's face online. In some instances, the mortuary photographs would be retouched of wounds if they are to be released to the public. Dismembered corpses may also be digitally altered to appear attached to the body. This is not considered to be the most effective method, as the nature of death often distorts the UID's face. An example of this is that of "Grateful Doe," who was killed in a vehicular crash in 1995. He sustained extreme trauma that disfigured his face. A Jane Doe found in a river in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had died months earlier, but was preserved by the cold temperatures. Her morgue photographs were displayed publicly on a medical examiner's website, but her face had been distorted by swelling after absorbing water, with additional decomposition. Death masks have also been used to assist with identification, which have been stated to be more accurate, as they are required to display "relaxed expressions," which often do not illustrate the faces of the UIDs as they were found, such as that of L'Inconnue de la Seine, a French suicide victim found in the late 1800s. However, a death mask will still depict sunken eyes or other characteristics of a long-term illness, which do not often show how they would have looked in life. Reconstructions: When a body is found in an advanced state of decomposition or has died violently, reconstructions are sometimes required to receive assistance from the public, when releasing images of a corpse is considered taboo. Often, those in a recognizable state will often be reconstructed due to the same reason. Faces can be reconstructed with a three-dimensional model or by 2D, which includes sketches or digital reconstructions, similar to facial composites. Sketches have been used in a variety of cases. Forensic artist Karen T. Taylor created her own method during the 1980s, which involved much more precise techniques, such as estimating locations and sizes of the features of a skull. This method has been shown to be fairly successful. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has developed methods to estimate the likenesses of the faces of UIDs whose remains were too deteriorated to create a two-dimensional sketch or reconstruction due to the lack of tissue on the bones. A skull would be placed through a CT scanner and the image would then be manipulated with a software that was intended for architecture design, to add digital layers of tissue based on the UID's age, sex and race. Problems: In some cases, such as that of Colleen Emily Orsborn, the true identity of the UID is excluded from the case. In Orsborn's case, she had fractured one of the bones in her leg, but a medical examiner who performed the autopsy on her remains was not able to discover evidence of the injury and subsequently excluded her from the case. It was not until 2011 when DNA confirmed Orsborn was the UID found in 1984. In cases such as the Racine County Jane Doe, a rule out has also been subjected to criticism. Aundria Bowman, a teen who disappeared in 1989 who bore a strong resemblance to the UID found in 1999, was excluded, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. On an online forum, known as Websleuths, users have disagreed with this ruling. In the case of Lavender Doe, a mother of a missing girl also disagreed with the exclusion of her missing daughter through DNA, as she claimed the reconstruction of the UID looked very similar to her daughter. Notable cases: -Whitehall Mystery, England, unidentified since 1888 -Taman Shud Case, Australia, unidentified since 1948 -Isdal Woman, Norway, unidentified since 1970 -Sumter County Does, United States, unidentified since 1976 -"Beth Doe", United States, unidentified since 1976 -Orange Socks, United States, unidentified since 1979 -Persian Princess, Pakistan, unidentified since 1996 Formerly unidentified: -"Pyjama Girl", murdered in 1934 in Australia and identified in 1944 as Linda Agostini -"Tent Girl", murdered in 1968 and identified as Barbara Ann Hackmann Taylor in 1998 -"Precious Doe", murdered in 2001 and identified as Erica Michelle Green in 2005 -"Ballarat Bandit", committed suicide in 2004 and identified as a Canadian man, George Robert Johnston in 2006 -"Baby Grace", murdered in 2007 and identified as Riley Ann Sawyers later that year -"DuPage Johnny Doe", murdered in 2005 and identified as Atcel Olmedo in 2011 -"Baby Hope", murdered in 1991 and identified as Anjelica Castillo in 2013 -"Pearl Lady", found in the Ohio River in 2006 and identified as Barbara Precht in 2014 -Caledonia Jane Doe, found murdered in 1979 and identified in 2015 as Tammy Alexander -"Grateful Doe", died in a car accident in 1995 and identified in 2015 as Jason Callahan

It Gets Better Project

It Gets Better is an Internet-based 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in the United States by gay activist, author, media pundit, and journalist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller on September 21, 2010, in response to the suicides of teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or because their peers suspected that they were gay. Its goal is to prevent suicide among LGBT youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens' lives will improve. The project has grown rapidly: over 200 videos were uploaded in the first week, and the project's YouTube channel reached the 650 video limit in the next week. The project is now organized on its own website, the It Gets Better Project, and includes more than 50,000 entries from people of all sexual orientations, including many celebrities; the videos have received over 50 million views. A book of essays from the project was released in March 2011. The project was given the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Governor's Award at the 64th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for "strategically, creatively and powerfully utilizing the media to educate and inspire," according to the academy's chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum. Project history: The project was founded by Savage in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas and other teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or perceived to be, such as with Raymond Chase, Tyler Clementi, Ryan Halligan, Asher Brown, and Seth Walsh. Savage wrote, "I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better." A one-hour special aired on February 21, 2012, hosted by Savage. A second special is slated to air on October 9 on MTV and Logo. U.S. President Barack Obama lent his voice to the movement against bullying and contributed a video on October 21, 2010, saying "We've got to dispel this myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage; that it's just some inevitable part of growing up. It's not. We have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all of our kids. And for every young person out there you need to know that if you're in trouble, there are caring adults who can help." In March 2011, Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted an anti-bullying conference. In September 2011, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer in Buffalo, New York committed suicide after complaining about being bullied for being gay. In May 2011, he had created an "It gets better" YouTube video for other gay kids not to get discouraged about bullying. In October 2011, 15-year-old Jamie Hubley committed suicide after being subjected to anti-gay bullying. The project operates as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Contributors: People and groups named on this list as notable It Gets Better video contributors are linked to associated articles and include footnotes with an external link to their video and any other relevant citations. Individuals: Jonathan Adler Max Adler J. Alexander Marsha Ambrosius Darla K. Anderson Buck Angel Andy Bell of Erasure Laura Benanti Cazwell Chester Bennington Julie Benz John Berry Joe Biden Justin Bieber Chaz Bono Kate Bornstein Jeffery Self and Guy Branum Drew Brees Sherrod Brown Blondell Reynolds Brown Michael Buckley Joel Burns David Cameron Annie Clark Margaret Cho Hillary Clinton Andy Cohen Ben Cohen Stephen Colbert Chris Colfer Dane Cook Chris Crocker Shane Bitney Crone Adrianne Curry Shane Dawson Ellen DeGeneres Jason Derulo Simon Doonan Rebecca Drysdale Hal Duncan Lisa Edelstein Omar Epps Gloria Estefan Eve Jeffers Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet Martin Foley Al Franken Lady Gaga Chris Giunchigliani Ari Gold Wynter Gordon Kathy Griffin Vinny Guadagnino Tim Gunn Amy Gutmann Kevin Hague Todrick Hall Tom Hanks Mark Hanson Jodie Harsh Anne Hathaway Don Harmon Neil Patrick Harris Darren Hayes Jennifer Love Hewitt Perez Hilton Keri Hilson Dave Holmes Janet Jackson Peter Jacobson Ruben Kihuen Larry King Valerie Jarrett Micah Jesse Jewel Kilcher Kermit the Frog Kesha Michael Kors Ryan Kwanten and Chris Bauer La La and Ciara Adam Lambert Jack Layton Claudia Lee Rex Lee Nicole LeFavour Adam Levine Lizzy the Lezzy Judith Light Joel Madden Bill Maher Joe Manganiello Jay Manuel Sergio Gabriel Martinez James Duke Mason Kyle Dean Massey Jenny McCarthy Dalton McGuinty A. J. McLean Rick Mercer Jeff Merkley Cesar Millan Stephanie Miller Nicki Minaj Jim Moran John Nolan Danny Noriega Barack Obama and Michelle Obama Rory O'Malley Suze Orman Anna Paquin Nancy Pelosi John Pérez Katy Perry Randy Phillips P!nk John Quale Zachary Quinto Patricia Racette and her wife Beth Clayton Rise Against LeAnn Rimes Gene Robinson Dennis Van Roekel Sia Dan Savage Debbie Wasserman Schultz Ken Seeley for Palm Springs High School Fiona Shaw Jake Shears Peter Shumlin Alexander Skarsgard Ian Somerhalder Jesse Spencer Jeffree Star George Takei Gareth Thomas Rob Thomas Derek Warburton Michael Urie Tom Vilsack Elizabeth Warren Brent Weber Chris Whiteside Olivia Wilde Wendy Williams BD Wong

Bracelet

I better wear my medicalert bracelet. It'll help me in case i conk out

Stud earrings

I prefer stud earrings. I like them as I've had a job where i can't wear dangly earrings

Encyclopedia of Mormonism

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is a semiofficial encyclopedia for topics relevant to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The text is available free online. Background: Published in 1992, the Encyclopedia contains nearly 1500 articles, including several short unattributed entries (the equivalent of Wikipedia stubs) in four volumes. The text is approximately one million words, and over 1,850 pages including pictures, maps, charts, index, and appendices. The title for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism was chosen by Macmillan, the secular publisher that initiated the project. There were over 730 contributors from a wide variety of fields, most of whom had LDS and academic backgrounds. A large number were professors at Brigham Young University (BYU), the LDS Church-owned university. Most individuals contributed only one article, and few submitted more than three or four. Notable contributors include Mormon historians Leonard J. Arrington and Thomas G. Alexander, former Salt Lake City mayor Ted Wilson, noted non-Mormon LDS historian Jan Shipps, authors Steven R. Covey, Gerald N. Lund, and Richard Eyre, respected scholar and apologist Hugh Nibley, and a few members of LDS hierarchy such as H. David Burton and Jeffery R. Holland. The editor of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Daniel H. Ludlow, states that he strove to make the volume as professional as possible. Most articles are written by Ph.D.s in their respective fields. LDS general authorities (the spiritual leaders of the church) wrote little of the Encyclopedia; indeed, most contributors from church hierarchy were only tapped to write articles on the publications or institutions they directly administered or led. For impartiality and perspective, several non-Mormons were asked to write important articles. For example, Shipps wrote on the outsider's interpretation of Mormonism, and Richard P. Howard, a historian of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), wrote on his branch of the Latter Day Saint movement. Subjects addressed: The Encyclopedia of Mormonism includes lengthy articles on core LDS subjects like LDS Church history and doctrine, but the work also includes many topics that are less closely related to Mormonism. For example, articles on constitutional law, sports, science, and feeedom discuss LDS perspectives and contributions to various fields. Ludlow also sought to make the encyclopedia accessible to non-Mormons: an optional fifth volume was printed, containing the "Standard Works," LDS scriptures that are heavily cited in the encyclopedia. Role of encyclopedia relative to church: Although the LDS Church cooperated in the production of the book, particularly by setting aside BYU resources, the Encyclopedia was meant to be independent and unofficial in the church. Ludlow highlights that in his concluding preface remarks: Lest the role of the Encyclopedia be given more weight than it deserves, the editors make it clear that those who have written and edited have only tried to explain their understanding of Church history, doctrines, and procedures; their statement and opinions remain their own. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is a joint product of Brigham Young University and Macmillan Publishing Company, and its contents do not necessarily represent the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. – Encyclopedia of Mormonism, p. lxii. The LDS Church also noted the position in official publications. In spite of these comments and the non-Mormon publisher, the Encyclopedia is referred to as an official or at least semiofficial publication by many outsiders of the church. The view has credence because BYU was the contractual author of the work. Furthermore, six general authorities, not credited editors, worked on the project, including Dallin H. Oaks, Neal A. Maxwell, and Holland (BYU president when the project began). Views of contents: In addition to established scholars like Nibley, many other LDS scholars who were then less known also contributed, including John Gee, William Hamblin, Louis C. Midgley, Daniel C. Peterson, Noel B. Reynolds, Stephen D. Ricks, John L. Sorenson, Melvin J. Thorne, and John W. Welch. Critics had mixed reviews. Sterling M. McMurrin said that "the articles on social issues and church structure and the biographies are the most useful" but also felt that "the work is a carefully sanitized partisan affair that, while having many strengths, is quite uneven in quality and, though it appears to face many difficult issues head on, clearly omits, distorts, and compromises wherever necessary to advance and protect a positive image of Mormons, Mormonism, and the church." George D. Smith concluded his review of the Encyclopedia by saying, "As a 'religious encyclopedia' that addresses a goal of preserving a body of belief, the Encyclopedia of Mormonism impressively fulfills its mission. At the same time, the encyclopedia, like an iceberg, presents only a portion of important background and issues concerning the Book of Mormon. It is a brief for orthodoxy that lacks the scope and diversity necessary to qualify it as truly encyclopedic." The introduction to Sunstone's review of the Encyclopedia mentioned that Lavina Fielding Anderson "pointed out 'pitfalls in the treatment of women's issues, but revealed a few surprisingly positive moments that otherwise might have been overlooked-and probably were by some editors.'" No article of so-called Mormon historical revisionism is found in the Encyclopedia. It has been noted that after the Encyclopedia's publication, several LDS scholars were excommunicated, including some members of the 1993 "September Six." George D. Smith criticized the Encyclopedia because it is not the promised comprehensive treatment of Book of Mormon scholarship: "it is a statement of LDS orthodoxy."

Robert Lee Yates

Robert Lee Yates, Jr. is an American serial killer from Spokane, Washington. From 1996 to 1998, Yates is known to have murdered at least 13 women, all of whom were prostitutes working on Spokane's "Skid Row" on E. Sprague Avenue. Yates also confessed to two murders committed in Walla Walla in 1975 and a 1988 murder committed in Skagit County. In 2002, Yates was convicted of killing two women in Pierce County. He currently is on death row at the Washington State Penitentiary. Early life: Yates grew up in Oak Harbor, Washington in a middle-class family that attended a local Seventh-day Adventist church. He graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 1970, and in 1975, he was hired by the Washington State Department of Corrections to work as a prison guard at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. In October 1977 Yates enlisted in the United States Army, in which he became certified to fly civilian transport airplanes and helicopters. Yates was stationed in various countries outside the continental United States, including Germany and later Somalia and Haiti during the United Nations peacekeeping missions of the 1990s. He earned several military awards and medals during his 18.5 year military career, including three Army Achievement Medals, three Army Commendation Medals, two Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals, and three Meritorious Service Medals.Yates left the Army in April 1996. Murders: The murders Yates committed between 1996 and 1998 in Spokane all involved prostitutes in Spokane's "Skid Row" area on E. Sprague Avenue. The victims were initially solicited for prostitution by Yates, who would have sex with them (often in his 1979 Ford van), sometimes do drugs with them, then kill them and dump their bodies in rural locations. All of his victims died of gunshot wounds to the head; eight of the murders were committed with a Raven .25-caliber handgun, and one attempted murder was linked to the same model of handgun. Autopsies of two of the victims indicated that the killer was a marksman aiming for the heart. One particularly bizarre detail of Yates' murders involved the case of Melody Murfin, whose body was buried just outside the bedroom window of Yates' family home. On August 1, 1998, Yates picked up prostitute Christine Smith, who managed to escape after being shot, assaulted and robbed. On September 19, 1998, Yates was asked to give a DNA sample to Spokane police after being stopped; he refused, stating that it was too extreme of a request for a "family man". Convictions and appeals: Yates was arrested on April 18, 2000, for the murder of Jennifer Joseph. After his arrest a search warrant was executed on a 1977 white Corvette that he had previously owned. A white Corvette had been identified as the vehicle that one of the victims had last been seen in. Coincidentally, Yates had been pulled over in this vehicle while the Task Force was searching for it, but the field interview report was misread as saying "Camaro" not "Corvette", thus the incident was not realized until after Yates had been arrested. After searching the Corvette police discovered blood that they linked to Jennifer Joseph and DNA from Yates that they then tied to 12 other victims. In 2000 he was charged with 13 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder in Spokane County Superior Court. As part of a plea bargain in which Yates confessed to the murders to avoid the death penalty, he was sentenced to 408 years in prison. In 2001 Yates was charged in Pierce County with the murders of two additional women. The prosecution sought the death penalty for the deaths of Melinda L. Mercer in 1997 and Connie Ellis in 1998, which were thought to be linked to the killings in Spokane County. In October 2002, Yates was convicted of those murders and sentenced to death by lethal injection. The 2002 death sentence was appealed on grounds that Yates believed his 2000 plea bargain to be "all-encompassing", and that a life sentence for 13 murders and a death sentence for two constituted "disproportionate, freakish, wanton and random" application of the death penalty. The arguments were rejected in 2007 by the Washington Supreme Court. A September 19, 2008 execution date was stayed by Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander pending additional appeals. In 2013 Yates's attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition in federal district court, stating that Yates is mentally ill and, “through no fault of his own ... suffers from a severe paraphilic disorder” that predisposed him to commit murder. The still-pending motion is regarded as a "long shot" by most observers. “I don’t think Mr. Yates helps his cause by relying on the fact that he’s a necrophiliac,” said Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. Yates remains on death row at the Washington State Penitentiary. His case has been further complicated by Washington Governor Jay Inslee's 2013 declaration that he would not sign death warrants for anyone on death row while he is in office. Inslee cited the high cost of the appeals process, the randomness with which death sentences are sought, and a lack of evidence that the penalty serves as a deterrent to other criminals. In July 2015, the Washington Supreme Court once again rejected an effort by Yates to overturn his conviction and death sentence.

Death of Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden, the founder and head of the Islamist group Al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1:00 am PKT (20:00 UTC, May 1) by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six). The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a Central Intelligence Agency-led operation. In addition to DEVGRU, participating units included the United States Army Special Operations Command's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) and CIA operatives. The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was launched from Afghanistan. U.S. military officials said that after the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried him at sea within 24 hours of his death in accordance with Islamic tradition. According to a Pakistani official, the United States had direct evidence that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, knew of bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad. Al-Qaeda confirmed the death on May 6 with posts made on militant websites, vowing to avenge the killing. Other Pakistani militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, also vowed retaliation against the U.S. and against Pakistan for not preventing the operation. The raid was supported by over 90% of the American public, was welcomed by the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, and a large number of governments, but was condemned by others, including two-thirds of the Pakistani public. Legal and ethical aspects of the killing, such as his not being taken alive despite being unarmed, were questioned by others, including Amnesty International. Also controversial was the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of bin Laden's death to the public. The Pakistani Abbottabad Commission Report was leaked to Al Jazeera on July 8, 2013. Locating bin Laden: Accounts of how Bin Laden was located by U.S. intelligence differ. The White House and CIA director John Brennan stated that the process began with a fragment of information unearthed in 2002, resulting in years of consequent investigation. This account states that by September 2010, these leads followed a courier to the Abbottabad urban compound, where the U.S. began intensive multiplatform surveillance. According to journalist Seymour Hersh and NBC News, however, the U.S. was tipped off about Bin Laden's location when a Pakistani intelligence officer offered details of where the Pakistani Intelligence Service held him in detention in exchange for a bounty. ISIS walk-in places Bin Laden in Abbottabad: In August 2010, a former Pakistani intelligence officer approached the U.S. embassy station chief in Islamabad and offered to provide Bin Laden's location, in return for the $25 million reward, according to a retired senior U.S. intelligence official. This story was corroborated by two U.S. intelligence officials speaking to NBC news, and had been previously reported by intelligence analyst Raelynn Hillhouse. The Pakistani official informed U.S. intelligence that Bin Laden had been located by Pakistani ISI in 2006, and held under house arrest near Pakistani intelligence and military centers ever since. The official passed polygraph tests, after which the U.S. began local and satellite surveillance of Bin Laden's Abbottabad residence. According to the retired senior U.S. intelligence official speaking to Hersh, Bin Laden was ill at this point, financially supported by some within Saudi Arabia, and kept by the ISI to better manage their complex relationship with Pakistani and Afghan Islamist groups. According to the official, retired CIA officials emphasized the importance of Bin Laden's courier to the press, because they were nervous over torture scrutiny and possible prosecution. In May 2015 the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported that the German Federal Intelligence Service (Germany) (BND) were aware that Bin Laden was in Pakistan with the knowledge of Pakistani intelligence services. The BND informed the CIA that Bin Laden was in Pakistan, and Bild am Sonntag states that the CIA then found his "precise location" through a courier. Der Spiegel questioned the veracity of the report, produced in the midst of a scandal over BND and NSA collaboration. Identity of his courier: According to the earlier official version of his identification from a U.S. official, identification of al-Qaeda couriers was an early priority for interrogators at CIA black sites and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, because bin Laden was believed to communicate through such couriers while concealing his whereabouts from al-Qaeda foot soldiers and top commanders. Bin Laden was known not to use phones after 1998, when the U.S. had launched missile strikes against his bases in Afghanistan and Sudan in August (Operation Infinite Reach) by tracking an associate's satellite phone. The U.S. official had stated that by 2002, interrogators had heard uncorroborated claims about an al-Qaeda courier with the kunya Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (sometimes referred to as Sheikh Abu Ahmed from Kuwait). One of those claims came from Mohammed al-Qahtani, a detainee interrogated for 48 days more or less continuously between November 23, 2002, and January 11, 2003. At some point during this period, al-Qahtani told interrogators about a man known as Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti who was part of the inner circle of al-Qaeda. Later in 2003, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged operational chief of al-Qaeda, stated that he was acquainted with al-Kuwaiti, but that the man was not active in al-Qaeda, according to a U.S. official. According to a U.S. official, in 2004 a prisoner named Hassan Ghul revealed that bin Laden relied on a trusted courier known as al-Kuwaiti. Ghul stated that al-Kuwaiti was close to bin Laden as well as Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Mohammed's successor Abu Faraj al-Libbi. Ghul revealed that al-Kuwaiti had not been seen in some time, which led U.S. officials to suspect he was traveling with bin Laden. When confronted with Ghul's account, Mohammed maintained his original story. Abu Faraj al-Libbi was captured in 2005 and transferred to Guantánamo in September 2006. He told CIA interrogators that bin Laden's courier was a man named Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan and denied knowing al-Kuwaiti. Because both Mohammed and al-Libbi had minimized al-Kuwaiti's importance, officials speculated that he was part of bin Laden's inner circle. In 2007, officials learned al-Kuwaiti's real name, though they said they would disclose neither the name nor how they learned it. Pakistani officials in 2011 stated the courier's name was Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed, from Pakistan's Swat Valley. He and his brother Abrar and their families were living at bin Laden's compound, the officials said. Since the name Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan appears in the JTF-GTMO detainee assessment for Abu Faraj al-Libbi released by WikiLeaks on April 24, 2011, there was speculation that the U.S. assault on the Abbottabad compound was expedited as a precaution. The CIA never found anyone named Maulawi Jan and concluded that the name was an invention of al-Libbi. A 2010 wiretap of another suspect picked up a conversation with al-Kuwaiti. CIA paramilitary operatives located al-Kuwaiti in August 2010 and followed him back to the Abbottabad compound, which led them to speculate it was bin Laden's location. The courier and a relative (who was either a brother or a cousin) were killed in the May 2, 2011, raid. Afterward, some locals identified the men as Pashtuns named Arshad and Tareq Khan. Arshad Khan was carrying an old, noncomputerized Pakistani identification card, which identified him as from Khat Kuruna, a village near Charsadda in northwestern Pakistan. Pakistani officials have found no record of an Arshad Khan in that area and suspect the men were living under false identities. Bin Laden's compound: The CIA used surveillance photos and intelligence reports to determine the identities of the inhabitants of the Abbottabad compound to which the courier was traveling. In September 2010, the CIA concluded that the compound was custom-built to hide someone of significance, very likely bin Laden. Officials surmised that he was living there with his youngest wife and family. Built in 2004, the three-story compound was located at the end of a narrow dirt road. Google Earth maps made from satellite photographs show that the compound was not present in 2001 but had been built by the time that new images were taken in 2005. It is located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northeast of the city center of Abbottabad. Abbottabad is about 100 miles (160 km) from the Afghanistan border on the far eastern side of Pakistan (about 20 miles (32 km) from India). The compound is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy. Located on a plot of land eight times larger than those of nearby houses, the compound was surrounded by a 12-to-18-foot (3.7–5.5 m)[34] concrete wall topped with barbed wire. It had two security gates, and the third-floor balcony had a seven-foot-high (2.1 m) privacy wall, tall enough to hide the 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) bin Laden. The compound had no Internet or landline telephone service. Its residents burned their refuse, unlike their neighbors, who set their garbage out for collection. Local residents called the building the Waziristan Haveli, because they believed the owner was from Waziristan. Following the American raid and killing of bin Laden, the Pakistani government demolished the compound in February 2012. Intelligence gathering: The CIA led the effort to surveil and gather intelligence on the compound; other critical roles in the operation were played by other United States agencies, including the National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and U.S. Defense Department. According to The Washington Post, "The [intelligence-gathering] effort was so extensive and costly that the CIA went to Congress in December 2010 to secure authority to reallocate tens of millions of dollars within assorted agency budgets to fund it", U.S. officials said. The CIA rented a home in Abbottabad from which a team staked out and observed the compound over a number of months. The CIA team used informants and other techniques – including a widely criticised fake vaccination program – to gather intelligence on the compound. The safe house was abandoned immediately after bin Laden's death. The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency helped the Joint Special Operations Command create mission simulators for the pilots, and analyzed data from an RQ-170 drone before, during and after the raid on the compound. The NGA created three-dimensional renderings of the house, created schedules describing residential traffic patterns, and assessed the number, height and gender of the residents of the compound. Also involved in the intelligence gathering measures were an arm of the National Security Agency known as the Tailored Access Operations group which, among other things, is specialized in surreptitiously installing spyware and tracking devices on targeted computers and mobile-phone networks. Because of the work of the Tailored Access Operations group, the NSA could collect intelligence from mobile phones that were used by al-Qaeda operatives and other "persons of interest" in the hunt for bin Laden. The design of bin Laden's compound may have ultimately contributed to his discovery. A former CIA official involved in the manhunt told The Washington Post, "The place was three stories high, and you could watch it from a variety of angles." The CIA used a process called "red teaming" on the collected intelligence to independently review the circumstantial evidence and available facts of their case that bin Laden was living at the Abbottabad compound. An administration official stated, "We conducted red-team exercises and other forms of alternative analysis to check our work. No other candidate fit the bill as well as bin Laden did." This duplicate analysis was necessary because Despite what officials described as an extraordinarily concentrated collection effort leading up to the operation, no U.S. spy agency was ever able to capture a photograph of bin Laden at the compound before the raid or a recording of the voice of the mysterious male figure whose family occupied the structure's top two floors. Operation Neptune Spear: The official mission code name was Operation Neptune Spear. Neptune's spear is the trident, which appears on the U.S. Navy's Special Warfare insignia, with the three prongs of the trident representing the operational capacity of SEALs on sea, air and land. Objective: The Associated Press reported at the time two U.S. officials as stating the operation was "a kill-or-capture mission, since the U.S. doesn't kill unarmed people trying to surrender", but that "it was clear from the beginning that whoever was behind those walls had no intention of surrendering".[50] White House counterterrorism advisor John O. Brennan said after the raid: "If we had the opportunity to take bin Laden alive, if he didn't present any threat, the individuals involved were able and prepared to do that."[51] CIA Director Leon Panetta said on PBS NewsHour: "The authority here was to kill bin Laden. ... Obviously under the rules of engagement, if he in fact had thrown up his hands, surrendered and didn't appear to be representing any kind of threat, then they were to capture him. But, they had full authority to kill him." A U.S. national security official, who was not named, told Reuters that "'this was a kill operation', making clear there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive in Pakistan". Another source referencing a kill (rather than capture) order stated, "Officials described the reaction of the special operators when they were told a number of weeks ago that they had been chosen to train for the mission. 'They were told, "We think we found Osama bin Laden, and your job is to kill him,"' an official recalled. The SEALs started to cheer." Planning and final decision: The CIA briefed Vice Admiral William H. McRaven, the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), about the compound in January 2011. McRaven said a commando raid would be fairly straightforward but he was concerned about the Pakistani response. He assigned a captain from the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) to work with a CIA team at their campus in Langley, Virginia. The captain, named "Brian", set up an office in the printing plant in the CIA's Langley compound and, with six other JSOC officers, began to plan the raid. Administration attorneys did an analysis on the legal issues and options before the raid. In addition to a helicopter raid, planners considered attacking the compound with B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. They considered a joint operation with Pakistani forces. Obama, however, decided that the Pakistani government and military could not be trusted to maintain operational security for the operation against bin Laden. "There was a real lack of confidence that the Pakistanis could keep this secret for more than a nanosecond," a senior adviser to the President told The New Yorker. Obama met with the National Security Council on March 14 to review the options. The President was concerned that the mission would be exposed and wanted to proceed quickly. For that reason he ruled out involving the Pakistanis. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other military officials expressed doubts as to whether bin Laden was in the compound, and whether a commando raid was worth the risk. At the end of the meeting, the president seemed to be leaning toward a bombing mission. Two U.S. Air Force officers were tasked with exploring that option further. The CIA was unable to rule out the existence of an underground bunker below the compound. Presuming that one existed, 32 2,000-pound (910 kg) bombs fitted with JDAM guidance systems would be required to destroy it. With that amount of ordnance, at least one other house was in the blast radius. Estimates were that up to a dozen civilians would be killed in addition to those in the compound. Furthermore, it was unlikely there would be enough evidence remaining to prove that bin Laden was dead. Presented with this information at the next Security Council meeting on March 29, Obama put the bombing plan on hold. Instead he directed Admiral McRaven to develop the plan for a helicopter raid. The U.S. intelligence community also studied an option of hitting bin Laden with a drone-fired small tactical munition as he paced in his compound's vegetable garden. McRaven assembled a team drawing from the most experienced and senior operators from Red Squadron, one of four that make up DEVGRU. Red Squadron was coming home from Afghanistan and could be redirected without attracting attention. The team had language skills and experience with cross-border operations into Pakistan. Without being told the exact nature of their mission, the team performed rehearsals of the raid in two locations in the U.S.—around April 10 at Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity facility in North Carolina where a 1:1 version of bin Laden's compound was built, and April 18 in Nevada. The location in Nevada was at 4,000 feet (1,200 m) elevation—chosen to test the effects the altitude would have on the raiders' helicopters. The Nevada mock-up used chain-link fences to simulate the compound walls, which left the U.S. participants unaware of the potential effects of the high compound walls on the helicopters' lift capabilities. Planners believed the SEALs could get to Abbottabad and back without being challenged by the Pakistani military. The helicopters to be used in the raid had been designed to be quiet and to have low radar visibility. Since the U.S. had helped equip and train the Pakistanis, their defensive capabilities were known. The U.S. had supplied F-16 Fighting Falcons to Pakistan on the condition they were kept at a Pakistani military base under 24-hour U.S. surveillance. If bin Laden surrendered, he would be held near Bagram Air Base. If the SEALs were discovered by the Pakistanis in the middle of the raid, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen would call Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and try to negotiate their release. When the National Security Council (NSC) met again on April 19, Obama gave provisional approval for the helicopter raid. But as he worried that the plan for dealing with the Pakistanis was too uncertain, Obama asked Admiral McRaven to equip the team to fight its way out if necessary. McRaven and the SEALs left for Afghanistan to practice at a one-acre, full-scale replica of the compound built on a restricted area of Bagram known as Camp Alpha. The team departed the U.S. from Naval Air Station Oceana on April 26 in a C-17 aircraft, refueled on the ground at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, landed at Bagram Air Base, then moved to Jalalabad on April 27. On April 28, Admiral Mullen explained the final plan to the NSC. To bolster the "fight your way out" scenario, Chinook helicopters with additional troops would be positioned nearby. Most of the advisers in the meeting supported going forward with the raid. Only Vice President Biden completely opposed it. Gates advocated using the drone missile option, but changed his support the next day to the helicopter raid plan. Obama said he wanted to speak directly to Admiral McRaven before he gave the order to proceed. The president asked if McRaven had learned anything since arriving in Afghanistan that caused him to lose confidence in the mission. McRaven told him the team was ready and that the next few nights would have little moonlight over Abbottabad, good conditions for a raid. On April 29 at 8:20 a.m. EDT, Obama conferred with his advisers and gave the final go-ahead. The raid would take place the following day. That evening the president was informed that the operation would be delayed one day due to cloudy weather. On April 30, Obama called McRaven one more time to wish the SEALs well and to thank them for their service. That evening, the President attended the annual White House Correspondent's Association dinner, which was hosted by comedian and television actor Seth Meyers. At one point, Meyers joked: "People think bin Laden is hiding in the Hindu Kush, but did you know that every day from 4 to 5 he hosts a show on C-SPAN?" Obama laughed, despite his knowledge of the operation to come. On May 1 at 1:22 p.m., Panetta, acting on the president's orders, directed McRaven to move forward with the operation. Shortly after 3 p.m., the president joined national security officials in the Situation Room to monitor the raid. They watched night-vision images taken from a Sentinel drone while Panetta, appearing in a corner of the screen from CIA headquarters, narrated what was happening. Video links with Panetta at CIA headquarters and McRaven in Afghanistan were set up in the Situation Room. In an adjoining office was the live drone feed presented on a laptop computer operated by Brigadier General Marshall Webb, assistant commander of JSOC. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was one of those in the Situation Room, and described it like this: "Contrary to some news reports and what you see in the movies, we had no means to see what was happening inside the building itself. All we could do was wait for an update from the team on the ground. I looked at the President. He was calm. Rarely have I been prouder to serve by his side as I was that day." Two other command centers monitored the raid from the Pentagon and the American embassy in Islamabad. Execution of the operation- Approach and entry: The raid was carried out by approximately two dozen heliborne U.S. Navy SEALs from the Red Squadron of the Joint Special Operations Command's U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). For legal reasons (namely that the U.S. was not at war with Pakistan), the military personnel assigned to the mission were temporarily transferred to the control of the civilian Central Intelligence Agency. The DEVGRU SEALs operated in two teams and were reportedly equipped with Heckler & Koch HK416 military assault rifles, Mark 48 machine guns used for fire support, FN SCAR-H STD Mk 17 battle rifles and Heckler & Koch MP7A1 personal defense weapons (with attached Knight's Armament QDSS-NT4 suppressors), Insight Technology AN/AVS-6 and GPVNG-18 (Ground Panoramic Night Vision Goggles) L-3 night-vision goggles, body armor and sidearms such as SIG Sauer P226R Navy MK25 and H&K Mark 23 Mod 0. According to The New York Times, a total of "79 commandos and a dog" were involved in the raid. The military working dog was a Belgian Malinois named Cairo. According to one report, the dog was tasked with tracking "anyone who tried to escape and to alert SEALs to any approaching Pakistani security forces". The dog was to be used to help deter any Pakistani ground response to the raid and to help look for any hidden rooms or hidden doors in the compound. Additional personnel on the mission included a language interpreter, the dog handler, helicopter pilots, "tactical signals, intelligence collectors, and navigators using highly classified hyperspectral imagers". The SEALs flew into Pakistan from a staging base in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan after originating at Bagram Air Base in northeastern Afghanistan The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), a U.S. Army Special Operations Command unit known as the "Night Stalkers", provided the two modified Black Hawk helicopters that were used for the raid itself, as well as the much larger Chinook heavy-lift helicopters that were employed as backups. The Black Hawks appear to have been never-before-publicly-seen "stealth" versions of the helicopter that fly more quietly while being harder to detect on radar than conventional models; due to the weight of the extra stealth equipment on the Black Hawks, cargo was "calculated to the ounce, with the weather factored in." The Chinooks kept on standby were on the ground "in a deserted area roughly two-thirds of the way" from Jalalabad to Abbottabad, with two additional SEAL teams consisting of approximately 24 DEVGRU operators for a "quick reaction force" (QRF). The Chinooks were equipped with 7.62mm GAU-17/A miniguns and GAU-21/B .50-caliber machine guns and extra fuel for the Black Hawks. Their mission was to interdict any Pakistani military attempts to interfere with the raid. Other Chinooks, holding 25 more SEALs from DEVGRU, were stationed just across the border in Afghanistan in case reinforcements were needed during the raid The 160th SOAR helicopters were supported by multiple other aircraft, including fixed-wing fighter jets and drones. According to CNN, "the Air Force had a full team of combat search-and-rescue helicopters available". The raid was scheduled for a time with little moonlight so the helicopters could enter Pakistan "low to the ground and undetected". The helicopters used hilly terrain and nap-of-the-earth techniques to reach the compound without appearing on radar and alerting the Pakistani military. The flight from Jalalabad to Abbottabad took about 90 minutes. According to the mission plan, the first helicopter would hover over the compound's yard while its full team of SEALs fast-roped to the ground. At the same time, the second helicopter would fly to the northeast corner of the compound and deploy the interpreter, the dog and handler, and four SEALs to secure the perimeter. The team in the courtyard was to enter the house from the ground floor. As they hovered above the target, however, the first helicopter experienced a hazardous airflow condition known as a vortex ring state. This was aggravated by higher than expected air temperature ("a so-called 'hot and high' environment") and the high compound walls, which stopped the rotor downwash from diffusing. The helicopter's tail grazed one of the compound's walls, damaging its tail rotor, and the helicopter rolled onto its side. The pilot quickly buried the aircraft's nose to keep it from tipping over. None of the SEALs, crew and pilots on the helicopter were seriously injured in the soft crash landing, which ended with it pitched at a 45-degree angle resting against the wall. The other helicopter landed outside the compound and the SEALs scaled the walls to get inside. The SEALs advanced into the house, breaching walls and doors with explosives.

Skateboarding

Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. Skateboarding can also be considered a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. Since the 1970s, skateparks have been constructed specifically for use by skateboarders, Freestyle BMXers, aggressive skaters, and very recently, scooters. History- 1940s–1960s: The first skateboards started with wooden boxes, or boards, with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. Crate scooters preceded skateboards, having a wooden crate attached to the nose (front of the board), which formed rudimentary handlebars. The boxes turned into planks, similar to the skateboard decks of today. An American WAC, Betty Magnuson, reported seeing French children in the Montmartre section of Paris riding on boards with roller skate wheels attached to them in late 1944. Skateboarding, as we know it, was probably born sometime in the late 1940s, or early 1950s, when surfers in California wanted something to do when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first board; it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles, California surf shop, meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards. Accordingly, skateboarding was originally denoted "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated surfing style and maneuvers, and performed barefoot. By the 1960s a small number of surfing manufacturers in Southern California such as Jack's, Kips', Hobie, Bing's and Makaha started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards, and assembled teams to promote their products. One of the earliest Skateboard exhibitions was sponsored by Makaha's founder, Larry Stevenson, in 1963 and held at the Pier Avenue Junior High School in Hermosa Beach, California. Some of these same teams of skateboarders were also featured on a television show called "Surf's Up" in 1964, hosted by Stan Richards, that helped promote skateboarding as something new and fun to do. As the popularity of skateboarding began expanding, the first skateboarding magazine, The Quarterly Skateboarder was published in 1964. John Severson who published the magazine wrote in his first editorial: Today's skateboarders are founders in this sport—they're pioneers—they are the first. There is no history in Skateboarding—its being made now—by you. The sport is being molded and we believe that doing the right thing now will lead to a bright future for the sport. Already, there are storm clouds on the horizon with opponents of the sport talking about ban and restriction. The magazine only lasted four issues, but resumed publication as Skateboarder in 1975. The first broadcast of an actual skateboarding competition was the 1965 National Skateboarding Championships, which were held in Anaheim, California and aired on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports. Because skateboarding was a new sport during this time, there were only two original disciplines during competitions; flatland freestyle & slalom downhill racing. One of the earliest sponsored skateboarders, Patti McGee, was paid by Hobie and Vita Pak to travel around the country to do skateboarding exhibitions and to demonstrate skateboarding safety tips. McGee made the cover of Life magazine in 1965 and was featured on several popular television programs The Mike Douglas Show, What's My Line? and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which helped make skateboarding even more popular at the time. Some of the other well known surfer-style skateboarders of the time also included Danny Bearer, Torger Johnson, Bruce Logan, Bill and Mark Richards, Woody Woodward, & Jim Fitzpatrick. The growth of the sport during this period can also be seen in sales figures for Makaha, which quoted $10 million worth of board sales between 1963 and 1965 (Weyland, 2002:28). By 1966 a variety of sources began to claim that skateboarding was dangerous, resulting in shops being reluctant to sell them, and parents being reluctant to buy them. In 1966 sales had dropped significantly (ibid) and Skateboarder Magazine had stopped publication. The popularity of skateboarding dropped and remained low until the early 1970s. 1970s: In the early 1970s, Frank Nasworthy started to develop a skateboard wheel made of polyurethane, calling his company Cadillac Wheels. Prior to this new material, skateboards wheels were metal or "clay" wheels. The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that from the wheel's release in 1972 the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, causing companies to invest more in product development. Nasworthy commissioned artist Jim Evans to do a series of paintings promoting Cadillac Wheels, they were featured as ads and posters in the resurrected Skateboarder magazine, and proved immensely popular in promoting the new style of skateboarding. In the early 1970s skateparks hadn't been invented yet, so skateboarders would flock and skateboard in such urban places like The Escondido reservoir in San Diego, California. Skateboarding magazine would publish the location and Skateboarders made up nicknames for each location such as the Tea Bowl, the Fruit Bowl, Bellagio, the Rabbit Hole, Bird Bath, the Egg Bowl, Upland Pool and the Sewer Slide. Some of the development concepts in the terrain of skateparks were actually taken from the Escondido reservoir. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) specially designed for skateboarding, reached in 1976 by Tracker Trucks. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of 10 inches (250 mm) and over, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. A banana board is a skinny, flexible skateboard made of polypropylene with ribs on the underside for structural support. These were very popular during the mid-1970s and were available in myriad colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name. In 1975 skateboarding had risen back in popularity enough to have one of the largest skateboarding competition's since the 1960s, the Del Mar National Championships, which is said to have had up to 500 competitors. The competition lasted two days and was sponsored by Bahne Skateboards & Cadillac Wheels. While the main event was won by freestyle spinning skate legend Russ Howell, a local skate team from Santa Monica, California, the Zephyr team, ushered in a new era of surfer style skateboarding during the competition that would have a lasting impact on skateboarding's history. With a team of 12, including skating legends such as Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Peggy Oki & Stacy Peralta, they brought a new progressive style of skateboarding to the event, based on the style of Hawaiian surfers Larry Bertlemann, Buttons Kaluhiokalani and Mark Liddell. Craig Stecyk, a photo journalist for Skateboarder Magazine wrote about and photographed the team, along with Glen E. Friedman, shortly afterwards and ran a series on the team called the Dogtown articles, which eventually immortalized the Zephyr skateboard team. The team became known as the Z-Boys and would go on to become one of the most influential teams in skateboarding's history. It was soon after that skateboarding contest for cash and prizes using a professional tier system began to be held throughout California, like the The California Free Former World Professional Skateboard Championships, which featured Freestyle and Slalom competitions. A precursor to the extreme sport of Street luge, that was sanctioned by the United States Skateboarding Association (USSA), also took place during the 1970s in Signal Hill, California. The competition was called "The Signal Hill Skateboarding Speed Run", with several competitors earning entries into the Guinness Book of World Records, at the time clocking speeds of over 50 mph on a skateboard. Due to technology and safety concerns at the time, when many competitors crashed during their runs, the sport did not gain popularity or support during this time. In March 1976, Skateboard City skatepark in Port Orange, Florida and Carlsbad Skatepark in San Diego County, California, would be the first two skateparks to be opened to the public in just a week apart. They were the first of some 200 skateparks that would be built through 1982. This was due in part to articles that were running in the Investment Journals at the time, stating that skateparks were a good investment.[4][25][36] Notable skateboarders from the 1970s also include Ty Page, Tom Inouye, Laura Thornhill, Ellen O'Neal, Kim Cespedes, Bob Biniak, Jana Payne, Waldo Autry, Robin Logan, Bobby Piercy, Russ Howell, Ellen Berryman, Shogo Kubo, Desiree Von Essen, Henry Hester, Robin Alaway, Paul Hackett, Michelle Matta, Bruce Logan, Steve Cathey, Edie Robertson, Mike Weed, David Hackett, Gregg Ayres, Darren Ho, and Tom Sims. Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites and metals, like fiberglass and aluminium, but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably Ty Page, Bruce Logan, Bobby Piercy, Kevin Reed, and the Z-Boys started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the 1976 California drought. This started the "vert" trend in skateboarding. With increased control, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners, and the development (first by Norcon, then more successfully by Rector) of improved knee pads that had a hard sliding cap and strong strapping proved to be too-little-too-late. During this era, the "freestyle" movement in skateboarding began to splinter off and develop into a much more specialized discipline, characterized by the development of a wide assortment of flat-ground tricks. As a result of the "vert" skating movement, skate parks had to contend with high-liability costs that led to many park closures. In response, vert skaters started making their own ramps, while freestyle skaters continued to evolve their flatland style. Thus by the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had once again declined in popularity. 1980s: This period was fueled by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on vert ramp skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ollie) by Alan Gelfand in Florida in 1976,[37] and the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by George Orton and Tony Alva in California, made it possible for skaters to perform airs on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period didn't ride vert ramps. As most people could not afford to build vert ramps, or did not have access to nearby ramps, street skating increased in popularity. Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period, with pioneers such as Rodney Mullen inventing many of the basic tricks that would become the foundation of modern street skating, such as the "Impossible" and the "kickflip". The influence that freestyle exerted upon street skating became apparent during the mid-1980s; however, street skating was still performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, and large soft wheels. In response to the tensions created by this confluence of skateboarding "genres", an rapid evolution occurred in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centers and public and private property as their "spot" to skate (public opposition, in which businesses, governments, and property owners have banned skateboarding on properties under their jurisdiction or ownership, would progressively intensify over the following decades). By 1992, only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating, combined with the decline of vert skating, produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters. 1990s: Skateboarding during the 1990s became dominated by street skateboarding. Most boards are about 7 1⁄4 to 8 inches (180 to 200 mm) wide and 30 to 32 inches (760 to 810 mm) long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard polyurethane, with hardness (durometer) approximately 99A. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, and the wheels' inertia is overcome quicker, thus making tricks more manageable. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid-1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. This form had become standard by the mid '90s. 2000–present: By 2001 skateboarding had gained in such popularity, that more participants under the age of 18 rode skateboards (10.6 million) than played baseball (8.2 million), although traditional organized team sports still dominated youth programs overall. Skateboarding and skateparks began to be viewed and used in a variety of new ways to compliment academic lessons in schools, including new non-traditional physical education skateboarding programs, like Skatepass and Skateistan that are used to encourage youth to have better attendance, self-discipline and confidence. This was also based on the healthy physical opportunities skateboarding was understood to bring participants for muscle & bone strengthening, balance and the positive impacts it can have on youth in teaching them mutual respect, social networking, artistic expression and an appreciation of the environment. In 2003 Go Skateboarding Day was founded in southern California by the International Association of Skateboard Companies to promote skateboarding throughout the world. It is celebrated annually on June 21 “to define skateboarding as the rebellious, creative celebration of independence it continues to be.” According to market research firm American Sports Data the number of skateboarders worldwide increased by more than 60 percent between 1999 and 2002—from 7.8 million to 12.5 million. Many cities also began implementing recreation plans and statutes, during this time period, as part of their vision for local parks and communities to make public lands more available in particular, for skateboarding, inviting skateboarders to come in off of the city streets and into organized skateboarding activity areas. By 2006 there were over 2,400 Skateparks worldwide and the design of skateparks themselves had made a transition, as skaters turned designers, began to emerge in the field adding features for all levels of skaters. Many new places to skateboard designed specifically for street skaters, such as the “Safe Spot Skate Spot” program, first initiated by professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek throughout many cites, allowed for the creation of smaller alternative safe skate plazas to be built at a lower cost. One of the largest locations ever built to skateboard in the world, SMP Skatepark in China, at 12,000 square meters in size, was built complete with a 5,000-seat stadium. In 2009 Skatelab opened the Skateboarding Hall of Fame & Skateboard Museum. Nominees are chosen by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC). Recently, barefoot skating has been experiencing a revival. Many skaters ride barefoot, particularly in summer and in warmer countries, such as South Africa, Australia, Spain and South America. The plastic penny board is intended to be ridden barefoot, as is the surfboard-inspired hamboard. Trick skating: With the evolution of skateparks and ramp skating, the skateboard began to change. Early skate tricks had consisted mainly of two-dimensional freestyle manoeuvres like riding on only two wheels ("wheelie" or "manual"), spinning only on the back wheels (a "pivot"), high jumping over a bar and landing on the board again, also known as a "hippie jump", long jumping from one board to another, (often over small barrels or fearless teenagers), or slalom. Another popular trick was the Bertlemann slide, named after Larry Bertelemann's surfing manoeuvres. In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the ollie by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand. It remained largely a unique Florida trick until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary maneuvers caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. The ollie was adapted to flat ground by Rodney Mullen in 1982. Mullen also invented the "Magic Flip," which was later renamed the kickflip, as well as many other tricks including, the 360 kickflip, which is a 360 pop shove-it and a kickflip in the same motion. The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself, it has formed the basis of many street skating tricks. A recent development in the world of trick skating is the 1080, which was first ever landed by Tom Schaar in 2012. Culture: Skateboarding was popularized by the 1986 skateboarding cult classic Thrashin'. Directed by David Winters and starring Josh Brolin, it features appearances from many famous skaters such as Tony Alva, Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero. Thrashin' also had a direct impact on Lords of Dogtown, as Catherine Hardwicke, who directed Lords of Dogtown, was hired by Winters to work on Thrashin' as a production designer where she met, worked with and befriended many famous skaters including the real Tony Alva, Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero. Skateboarding was, at first, tied to the culture of surfing. As skateboarding spread across the United States to places unfamiliar with surfing or surfing culture, it developed an image of its own. For example, the classic film short Video Days (1991) portrayed skateboarders as reckless rebels. California duo Jan and Dean recorded the song "Sidewalk Surfin'" in 1964, which is the Beach Boys song "Catch a Wave" with new lyrics associated with skateboarding. The image of the skateboarder as a rebellious, non-conforming youth has faded in recent years. Certain cities still oppose the building of skateparks in their neighborhoods, for fear of increased crime and drugs in the area. The rift between the old image of skateboarding and a newer one is quite visible: magazines such as Thrasher portray skateboarding as dirty, rebellious, and still firmly tied to punk, while other publications, Transworld Skateboarding as an example, paint a more diverse and controlled picture of skateboarding. Furthermore, as more professional skaters use hip hop, reggae, or hard rock music accompaniment in their videos, many urban youths, hip-hop fans, reggae fans, and hard rock fans are also drawn to skateboarding, further diluting the sport's punk image. Films such as the 1986 Thrashin', Grind and Lords of Dogtown, have helped improve the reputation of skateboarding youth, depicting individuals of this subculture as having a positive outlook on life, prone to poking harmless fun at each other, and engaging in healthy sportsman's competition. According to the film, lack of respect, egotism and hostility towards fellow skateboarders is generally frowned upon, albeit each of the characters (and as such, proxies of the "stereotypical" skateboarder) have a firm disrespect for authority and for rules in general. Group spirit is supposed to heavily influence the members of this community. In presentations of this sort, showcasing of criminal tendencies is absent, and no attempt is made to tie extreme sports to any kind of illegal activity. Gleaming the Cube, a 1989 movie starring Christian Slater as a skateboarding teen investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother, was somewhat of an iconic landmark to the skateboarding genre of the era.[citation needed] Many well-known skaters had cameos in the film, including Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, where Mullen served as Slater's stunt double. The increasing availability of technology is apparent within the skateboarding community. Many skateboarders record and edit videos of themselves and friends skateboarding. However, part of this culture is to not merely replicate but to innovate; emphasis is placed on finding new places and landing new tricks. Skateboarding video games have also become very popular in skateboarding culture. Some of the most popular are the Tony Hawk series and Skate series for various consoles (including hand-held) and personal computer. Skate shoe: Whilst early skateboarders generally rode barefoot, preferring direct foot-to-board contact, and some skaters continue to do so, one of the early leading trends associated with the sub-culture of skateboarding itself, was the sticky sole "Slip-On" Skate shoe, most popularized by Sean Penn's skateboarding character from the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Because early skateboarders were actually surfers trying to emulate the sport of surfing, at the time when skateboards first came out on the market, many skateboarded barefoot. But skaters often lacked traction, which led to foot injuries. This necessitated the need for a shoe that was specifically designed and marketed for skateboarding, such as the Randy "720", manufactured by the Randolph Rubber Company, and Vans sneakers, which eventually became cultural iconic signifiers for skateboarders during the 70s & 80's as skateboarding became more widespread. While the skate shoes design afforded better connection & traction with the deck, skaterboarders themselves could often be identified when wearing the shoes, with Tony Hawk once saying, "If you were wearing Vans shoes in 86, you were a skateboarder" Because of its connection with skateboarding, Vans financed the legendary skateboarding documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys and was the first sneaker company to endorse a professional skateboarder Stacy Peralta. Vans has a long history of being a major sponsor of many of skateboarding's competitions and events throughout skateboarding's history as well, including the Vans Warped Tour and the Vans Triple Crown Series. As it eventually became more apparent that skateboarding had a particular identity with a style of shoe, other brands of shoe companies began to specifically design skate shoes for functionality and style to further enhance the experience and culture of skateboarding including such brands as; Converse, Nike, DC Shoes, Globe, Adidas, Zoo York and World Industries. Many professional skateboarders are designed a pro-model skate shoe, with their name on it, once they have received a skateboarding sponsorship after becoming notable skateboarders. Some shoe companies involved with skateboarding, like Sole Technology, an American footwear company that makes the Etnies skate shoe brand, further distinguish themselves in the market by collaborating with local cities to open public Skateparks, such as the etnies skatepark in Lake Forest, California. Skateboard deck: Individuality and a self-expressed casual style, have always been, among two of the cultural values for skateboarders, as uniforms and jerseys are not typically worn. This type of personal style for skateboarders is often reflected in the graphical designs illustrated on the bottom of the deck of skateboards, since its initial conception in the mid seventies, when Wes Humpston and Jim Muri first began doing design work for Dogtown Skateboards out of their garage by hand, creating the very first iconic skateboard-deck art with the design of the "Dogtown Cross". Prior to the mid-seventies many early skateboards were originally based upon the concept of “Sidewalk Surfing” and were tied to the surf culture, skateboards were surfboard like in appearance with little to no graphics located under the bottom of the skateboard-deck. Some of the early manufactured skateboards such as "Roller Derby", the "Duraflex Surfer" and the "Banana board" are characteristic. Some skateboards during that time were manufactured with company logo's or stickers across the top of the deck of the skateboard, as griptape was not initially used for construction. But as skateboarding progressed & evolved, and as artist began to design and add influence to the artwork of skateboards, designs and themes began to change. There were several artistic skateboarding pioneer's that had an influence on the culture of skateboarding during the 1980s, that transformed skateboard-deck art like Jim Phillips, who's edgy comic-book style "Screaming Hand", not only became the main logo for Santa Cruz Skateboards, but eventually transcended into tattoos of the same image for thousands of people & vinyl collectable figurines over the years. Artist Vernon Courtlandt Johnson is said to have used his artwork of skeletons and skulls, for Powell Peralta, during the same time that the music genres of punk rock and new wave music were beginning to mesh with the culture of skateboarding. Some other notable skateboard artists that made contribrutions to the culture of skateboarding also include Andy Jenkins, Todd Bratrud, Neil Blender, Marc McKee, Tod Swank, Mark Gonzales, Lance Mountain, Natas Kaupas and Jim Evans. Over the years skateboard-deck art has continued to influence and expand the culture of skateboarding, as many people began collecting skateboards based on their artistic value and nostalgia. Productions of limited editions with particular designs and types of collectible prints that can be hung on the wall, have been created by such famous artist as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. Most professional skateboarders today have their own signature skateboard decks, with their favorite artistic designs printed on them using Computer graphics. Safety: Skateboards, along with other small-wheeled transportation such as in-line skates and scooters, suffer a safety problem: riders may easily be thrown from small cracks and outcroppings in pavement, especially where the cracks run across the direction of travel. Hitting such an irregularity is the major cause of falls and injuries. The risk may be reduced at higher travel speeds. Severe injuries are relatively rare. Commonly, a skateboarder who falls suffers from scrapes, cuts, bruises, and sprains. Among injuries reported to a hospital, about half involve broken bones, usually the long bones in the leg or arm. One-third of skateboarders with reported injuries are very new to the sport, having started skating within one week of the injury. Although less common, involving 3.5–9 percent of reported injuries, traumatic head injuries and death are possible severe outcomes. Skating as a form of transportation exposes the skateboarder to the dangers of other traffic. Skateboarders on the street may be hit by other vehicles or may fall into vehicular traffic. Skateboarders also pose a risk to other pedestrians and traffic. If the skateboarder falls, the skateboard may roll or fly into another person. A skateboarder who collides with a person who is walking or biking may injure or, rarely, kill that person. Many jurisdictions require skateboarders to wear bicycle helmets to reduce the risk of head injuries and death. Other protective gear, such as wrist guards, also reduce injury. Some medical researchers have proposed restricting skateboarding to designated, specially designed areas, to reduce the number and severity of injuries, and to eliminate injuries caused by motor vehicles or to other pedestrians. The use, ownership and sale of skateboards were forbidden in Norway from 1978 to 1989 because of the high number of injuries caused by boards. The ban led skateboarders to construct ramps in the forest and other secluded areas to avoid the police. There was, however, one legal skatepark in the country in Frognerparken in Oslo. Other uses and styles- Transportation: The use of skateboards solely as a form of transportation is often associated with the longboard. Depending on local laws, using skateboards as a form of transportation outside residential areas may or may not be legal. Backers cite portability, exercise, and environmental friendliness as some of the benefits of skateboarding as an alternative to automobiles. Military: The United States Marine Corps tested the usefulness of commercial off-the-shelf skateboards during urban combat military exercises in the late 1990s in a program called Urban Warrior '99. Their special purpose was "for maneuvering inside buildings in order to detect tripwires and sniper fire". Trampboarding: Trampboarding is a variant of skateboarding that uses a board without the trucks and the wheels on a trampoline. Using the bounce of the trampoline gives height to perform a tricks, whereas in skateboarding you need to make the height by performing an ollie. Trampboarding is seen on YouTube in numerous videos. Swing boarding: Swing boarding is the activity where a skateboard deck is suspended from a pivot point above the rider which allows the rider to swing about that pivot point. The board swings in an arc which is a similar movement to riding a half pipe. The incorporation of a harness and frame allows the rider to perform turns spins all while flying though the air. Controversy: Skateboarding is sometimes associated with property damage to urban terrain features such as curbs, benches, and ledges when skateboarders perform tricks known as grinds on these surfaces. Private industry has responded to this perceived damage with skate deterrent devices, such as the Skatestopper, in an effort to mitigate damage and discourage skateboarding on these surfaces. The passing of ordinances and the use of posted signs stating "Skateboarding is not allowed" have also become common methods to mitigate skateboarding in public areas in many cities, to protect pedestrians and property. In the area of street skating, tickets and arrest from police for trespassing are not uncommon.

Death Wish Coffee

Death Wish Coffee is an American coffee company and distributor. The company was created in the 2000s in Saratoga Springs, New York by Mike Brown. First incorporated as Saratoga Coffee Drinkers, the company eventually changed its name to Death Wish in 2012 and moved to Round Lake, New York. The company won Intuit's "Small Business, Big Game" contest, which awarded a free television commercial aired during Super Bowl 50. History of the company- Founding the company: Mike Brown quit his job as an accountant and opened up a coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, New York in 2008. The coffee shop experienced initial economic downfall due to menu inconsistency and the learning curve of creating and starting a new business. This required Brown to sell his house and move into his mother’s home at the age of 30 in order to maintain payments for the shop. In order to make an extra profit, Brown began selling coffee with high caffeine content after customers continually asked him for his strongest cup of coffee. While running his business, Brown manipulated coffee brews to try and find a solution for what he bills as the "strongest coffee" in the basement of his coffee shop. Brown got samples from several importers and began to create his own blend. This blend contained both Robusta and Arabica beans — Robusta beans having double the caffeine of Arabica. He renamed his company from Saratoga Drinkers to Death Wish Coffee in 2012 and moved his company into a small warehouse where he had only six employees and himself to run the company. Brown got the idea of the skull and cross-bone logo and the name "Death Wish" after his girlfriend bought him a souvenir which had a picture of a mean dog saying "Death Wish" under it. Brown originally created this brand in hopes of “making ends meet” by making a profit of $5,000 extra a year selling it online. Death Wish reinvested initial profits back into the business, operating out of coffee shop’s basement for the first half of the year in 2012, and then later moved it into a warehouse. Expansion after Super Bowl Commercial: After the 2016 Super Bowl commercial aired, the company's demand for more product distribution grew so Brown doubled his staff of six employees. Gross income increased to $6 million in 2015-2016. At the beginning, the company only sold the product in their store but as the company has expanded Mike Brown, the owner of the company, expanded to selling the coffee grounds in different stores such as Target and was able to allow costumers all over to consume the high caffeinated coffee by creating a tab on his website to allow them to purchase his products online. Marketing- Superbowl Commercial: On Sunday, February 7, 2016, Death Wish Coffee Coffee Company aired a commercial during Super Bowl 50. This coveted commercial spot was awarded to Death Wish after the company won the Small Business Big Game contest powered by Intuit Quickbooks, an accounting software company. The Small Business Big Game contest is held each year by Intuit Quickbooks. Small businesses can create a profile to enter the contest, win votes on the website, and complete activities set by Intuit Quickbooks. This is one of the ways Intuit Quickbook helps small businesses advertise among big corporations and other more known businesses. Super Bowl 50 received 114.4 million viewers, thus making it the third most watched television production in America’s history. This 30 second ad spot cost around $5 million and was produced by RPA Advertising Agency. RPA produced 3 other advertisements in Super Bowl 50. Other companies that were in competition for the top prize include Chubbies, a clothing company specializing in very short shorts, and Vidler’s 5 & 10, a mom and pop shop located in New York state (and which coincidentally carries Death Wish Coffee as one of its products). In an interview with Forbes Magazine, Brown said that a creative marketing agency called RPA pitched him three ideas and he went with the Viking-themed commercial. "I love the strength of the Vikings, and it wasn’t the typical coffee commercial." The Vikings once again portrayed the coffee as being strong and fierce. The 30 second video advertisement starts off with a scene on a Viking war ship. The coxswain is shouting words of encouragement and motivation as they row through a very heavy storm. The ship comes to a cliff and as the crew begins to fall off the edge, the viewer sees that the waterfall’s source is a cup of coffee and actually goes directly into a man’s mouth. The ad ends with a bearded man taking a sip from his mug and giving a brief smile with a deep, manly voice narrating “Death Wish Coffee, Fiercely Caffeinated”. The ad spot has been wildly successful for Death Wish. According to Spot Trender, a commercial analytics firm, sixty four percent of people said that they enjoyed the ad, and eighty seven percent said they would remember it. Over fifty percent said they were likely to buy the product. The results of the ad were almost instantaneous. According to Death Wish’s CEO, Mike Brown, the company received 150,000 hits on their website as soon as it aired. It was two of the top ten under the Movers and Shakers category. In 24 hours, sale’s increased 550% percent. The day after, Death Wish Whole Bean Coffee was the number one best-seller in the Grocery & Gourmet category on Amazon.com. Even five weeks later, the company was seeing tremendous attention as revenues were still an impressive five times higher than before the ad was shown. Brown can only sleep four to five hours a night in order to keep up with the amount of orders his company needs to fill. As of February 2016, Death Wish Coffee is still reaping the benefits from the ad. More Amazon data shows that Death Wish Whole Bean Coffee is number 34 on the bestseller list under Grocery and gourmet category, and number 18 in the coffee and tea category. Death Wish has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars, with 82 percent of customers ranking it a 5 stars. Advertising the Product: Death Wish Coffee’s advertising strategy has changed dramatically since the Super Bowl spot. Since the Super Bowl ad spot, Death Wish has not needed to advertise as business has grown substantially. Before the contest, Mike Brown relied on free marketing as much as possible. In an interview with Forbes Magazine , Brown said that “We’ve sent the product to news reporters, celebrities, bloggers. Ninety-nine percent of the time I don’t hear anything back. But when people wrote reviews about it, we’d see a bump in sales. We also do Facebook ads and Google advertising. Facebook ads work better than Google ads. We get charged about a dollar every time someone clicks on our ad.” In 2013, the NBC show “Good Morning America” opened up their show by drinking Death Wish Coffee and even went as far as to go up to Brown’s initial shop in Saratoga Springs, New York. After that brief exposure, Death Wish’s customer base doubled. Marketing Analysis of Social Media: Currently on Death Wish’s website, there are links to all their social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. There is a spot to enter a customer's email address to sign them up for a newsletter that contains exclusive deals, new product releases, and contests. Also on their website, many different types of merchandise are available. From T-shirts, to coffee cups, to coffee supplies, to patches, and many different types of apparel are for sale by the company.On Death Wish's twitter and Facebook account, they advertise by using memes which are usually a humorous image, video, or piece of text that is copied with slight variations that are used to describe a moment in time and is sent around the internet word. This form of advertisement is popular within the millennial generation. Unlike other coffee companies, Death Wish makes a joke about their advertisement creating memes to explain the love they have for coffee. Each tweet they hashtag their company's name and some tweets include a hyperlink to their company's official web page. On their Facebook page there is a tab that includes the company's motto, phone number, address, email address, and a link to their website. Marketing Strategy of the company: The marketing strategy that Death Wish Coffee is currently implementing is called “Disruptive Marketing”. Disruptive marketing can be defined as “reshaping an existing product or service to meet the demand of customers unsatisfied by the current offering”. The current coffee industry is very saturated and not very welcoming to new start ups, such as Death Wish, but not a single big coffee retailer marketed their coffee solely for its strength. Death Wish took this opening and sold their entire blend behind their slogan the “World’s Strongest Coffee.” Coffee Brands- Death Wish: Introduced in 2012, the coffee brand was created using both Robusta and Arabica beans. The brand bills itself as the "strongest coffee" in the world. In a 12-ounce cup of coffee, there is an average of 650.4 milligrams of caffeine per serving. The coffee has four times the amount of caffeine than the average energy drink and one cup of Death Wish equals two cups of other brands of coffee. With this being say the company added a very large warning on the back of the coffee bag explaining that this bag of coffee is not like your normal coffee as it contains 6 times the average caffeine per cup of coffee. Customers have the option to buy a one-pound, two pound, or five pound bag of the product. There is also an option to have the coffee be in bean form or ground form. Barrel Brand: Introduced in 2014, Deathwish’s Barrel Brand coffee, which is infused with whiskey, rye, rum, and wine, is a product that the company offers to appeal to those “with a sophisticated palate whom are coffee/ spirit connoisseurs”. To create this product, the company uses oak barrels from a local distillery to create their specialty craft coffee, which the company feels will revolutionize the coffee industry just as craft beer did decades ago. While initially offered in very limited quantities, a high demand for this product has allowed the company to recently begin increasing the amount in which they produce. Valhalla Java: Valhalla Java is another product that the company offers and it is a blend of medium and dark roasts. The coffee beans that are used for the Valhalla Java brand was found in the volcanic soils of Indonesia and soils from Central and South America. The coffee is blend of medium and dark roast and has a combination of nutty, chocolate, and sweet flavor. Zak Wylde, former guitarist for Ozzy Osborne and founder of Black Label Society, endorses this brand of coffee within the Death Wish Coffee company. Bundles: Death Wish comes in different bundles which allow customers to purchase different products. With this being said, Death Wish Coffee eventually created and started to sell K Cups, which are individual size servings that fit within the Keurig machine. Customers can buy a pack of twenty. The company also sells a six cup Chemex Coffee bundle which allows the customer to manually brew their coffee so they have hundred percent control over how their coffee taste. This product comes with six filters and a bag of coffee grounds. There is another option online, which is a bundle that comes with a bag of Death Wish Coffee grounds and a bag of Valhalla Java Coffee.

is this normal?

is this normal for a girl to fantasize about riding a motorcycle whose never liked them before?

Cleveland Torso Murderer

The Cleveland Torso Murderer (also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run) was an unidentified serial killer who killed and dismembered at least 12 victims in the Cleveland area in the 1930s. Murders: The official number of murders credited to the Cleveland Torso Murderer is twelve, although recent research has shown there are as many as twenty. The twelve victims were killed between 1935 and 1938, but some, including lead Cleveland Detective Peter Merylo, believe that there may have been 13 or more victims in the Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Youngstown, Ohio, areas between the 1920s and 1950s. Two strong candidates for addition to the initial list of those killed are the unknown victim nicknamed the "Lady of the Lake", found on September 5, 1934, and Robert Robertson, found on July 22, 1950. The victims of the Cleveland Torso Murderer were usually drifters whose identities were never determined, although there were a few exceptions (victims numbers 2, 3, and 8 were identified as Edward Andrassy, Florence Polillo, and possibly Rose Wallace, respectively). Invariably, all the victims, male and female, appeared to hail from the lower class of society—easy prey in Depression-era Cleveland. Many were known as "working poor", who had nowhere else to live but the ramshackle shanty towns in the area known as the Cleveland Flats. The Torso Murderer always beheaded and often dismembered his victims, sometimes also cutting the torso in half; in many cases the cause of death was the decapitation itself. Most of the male victims were castrated, and some victims showed evidence of chemical treatment being applied to their bodies. Many of the victims were found after a considerable period of time following their deaths, sometimes a year or more. This made identification nearly impossible, especially since the heads were often not found. During the time of the "official" murders, Eliot Ness held the position of Public Safety Director of Cleveland, a position with authority over the police department and ancillary services, including the fire department. While Ness had little to do with the investigation, his posthumous reputation as leader of The Untouchables has made him an irresistible character in modern "torso murder" lore. Ness did contribute to the arrest and interrogation of one of the prime suspects, Dr. Francis E. Sweeney, as well as the demolition and burning of the Kingsbury Run, from which the killer took his victims. There has also been some evidence that suggests that the killer even taunted Ness by placing the remains of two victims in full view of his office in city hall. Victims: Most researchers consider there to be twelve definite victims, although new evidence suggests a woman dubbed "The Lady of the Lake" could be included. Only two victims were positively identified; the other ten were six John Does and four Jane Does. Possible victims: Several non-canonical victims are commonly discussed in connection with the Torso Murderer. The first was nicknamed the "Lady of the Lake" and was found near Euclid Beach on the Lake Erie shore on September 5, 1934, at virtually the same spot as canonical victim number 7. Some researchers of the Torso Murderer's victims count the "Lady of the Lake" as victim number 1, or "Victim Zero". A headless, unidentified male was found in a boxcar in New Castle, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1936. Three headless victims were found in boxcars near McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, on May 3, 1940. All bore similar injuries to those inflicted by the Cleveland killer. Dismembered bodies were also found in the swamps near New Castle between the years 1921 and 1934 and between 1939 and 1942. In September 1940 an article in the New Castle News refers to the killer as "The Murder Swamp Killer". The almost identical similarities between the victims in New Castle to those in Cleveland, Ohio, coupled with the similarities between New Castle's Murder Swamp and Cleveland's Kingsbury Run, both of which were directly connected by a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line, were enough to convince Cleveland Detective Peter Merylo that the New Castle murders were the work of the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run". Merylo was convinced the connection was the railroad that ran twice a day between the two cities; he often rode the rails undercover looking for clues to the killer's identity. On July 22, 1950, the body of 41-year-old Robert Robertson was found at a business at 2138 Davenport Avenue in Cleveland. Police believed he had been dead six to eight weeks and appeared to have been intentionally decapitated. His death appeared to fit the profile of other victims: He was estranged from his family, had an arrest record and a drinking problem, and was on the fringes of society. Despite widespread newspaper coverage linking the murder to the crimes in the 1930s, detectives investigating Robertson's death treated it as an isolated crime. In 1939 the "Torso Killer" claimed to have killed a victim in Los Angeles, California. An investigation uncovered animal bones. Suspects: On August 24, 1939, a Cleveland resident named Frank Dolezal, 52, was arrested as a suspect in Florence Polillo's murder; he later died under suspicious circumstances in the Cuyahoga County jail. After his death it was discovered that he had suffered six broken ribs—injuries his friends say he did not have when arrested by Sheriff Martin L. O'Donnell some six weeks prior. Most researchers believe that no evidence exists that Dolezal was involved in the murders, although at one time he did admit killing Flo Polillo in self-defense. Before his death, he recanted his confession and recanted two others as well, saying he had been beaten until he confessed. Most investigators consider the last canonical murder to have been in 1938. One suspected individual was Dr. Francis E. Sweeney. Sweeney was a veteran of World War I who was assigned in a medical unit that conducted amputations and patching in the field. Sweeney was later personally interviewed by Eliot Ness, who oversaw the official investigation into the killings in his capacity as Cleveland's Safety Director. During this interrogation, Sweeney is said to have "failed to pass" two very early polygraph machine tests. Both tests were administered by polygraph expert Leonard Keeler, who told Ness he had his man. Nevertheless, Ness apparently felt there was little chance of obtaining a successful prosecution of the doctor, especially as he was the first cousin of one of Ness's political opponents, Congressman Martin L. Sweeney, who had hounded Ness publicly about his failure to catch the killer. {Congressman Sweeney was also related by marriage to Sherriff O'Donnell}. After Dr. Sweeney committed himself, there were no more leads or connections that police could assign to him as a possible suspect. From his hospital confinement, threatening postcards with Sweeney's name mocked and harassed Ness and his family into the 1950s. He died in a veterans' hospital at Dayton in 1964. In 1997, another theory postulated that there may have been no single Butcher of Kingsbury Run because the murders could have been committed by different people. This was based on the assumption that the autopsy results were inconclusive. First, Cuyahoga County Coroner Arthur J. Pearce may have been inconsistent in his analysis as to whether the cuts on the bodies were expert or slapdash. Second, his successor, Samuel Gerber, who began to enjoy press attention from his involvement in such cases as the Sam Sheppard murder trial, garnered a reputation for sensational theories. Therefore, the only thing known for certain was that all the murder victims were dismembered. In popular culture: -Butcher's Dozen (1988) is the second of four novels by Max Allan Collins fictionalizing Ness's tenure as Cleveland's Public Safety Director. Changing some names, and reordering some events for dramatic purposes, it concludes that, although Ness was unable to actually name the killer publicly, he did identify him and made sure he was no longer a danger to the public. The novel was expanded from a short story, "The Strawberry Teardrop" (1984), in which the main character is Collins's private eye hero, Nate Heller, and Ness plays a supporting role. -David Fincher planned to make a film about the murders after making a movie about another unidentified serial killer, known as the Zodiac Killer. A graphic novel entitled Torso, created by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, became the source for the film. The adaptation was greenlit by Paramount Pictures in 2006 but eventually cancelled. In 2013, the plan to make the film was revived, and it was reported that David Lowery would direct the film. -In 2015 Canadian band The Black River Drifters from Winnipeg, Manitoba released the single The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run from their album Hearts Gone Cold. -Author William Bernhardt wrote a novel about the murders and Elliot Ness' involvement, titled Nemesis: the Final Case of Elliot Ness. Although generally non-fiction, it was written as a novel, and makes some assumptions. The only significant deviation from the true story is the ending. A climax is fictionalized where Ness confirms the killer was Sweeney, and captures him, but is prevented from arresting him due to political pressure. It does try to remain factual to the case otherwise, while still remaining entertaining. NBC is currently in the works to adapt this book into a mini-series. No release date or cast has been announced as of January 2014. -In the 2012 film Seven Psychopaths, the Cleveland Torso Murderer (described as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run) is one of the serial killers murdered by Zachariah Rigby and his accomplice. -The Cleveland Torso Murderer (referred to as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run) was mentioned in episode 415 of Criminal Minds when a serial killer copying other serial killers with each kill bases one of his murders after the aforementioned murderer. The murderer was also seen in a flashback in the same episode, in which he lured a victim. It was erroneously mentioned that the murderer lured his victims from gay bars before shooting, dismembering, and mutilating them. Also, Steven Parkett, who appeared in the Season Ten premiere, was heavily based on the murderer, even having a nickname similar to the murderer's alternate nickname ("The Mad Butcher of Bakersfield"). -SCP-687, a work of SCP Foundation, implies that the murders were retroactively brought into existence through the use of a text adventure game with the power to change history.