outside the government, beyond the police

Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Tracking down alien life on Earth, arming the human race against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes. And you gotta be ready.



The Torchwood Institute is the name of a secret organization set up to combat alien threats to the human race. Initially founded by Queen Victoria herself, Torchwood's head office was based in the Canary Wharf tower in London's docklands. However, a devastating alien attack [shown in the Doctor Who episode "Doomsday"] left virtually the entire staff dead, the organization without a leader, and the tiny Cardiff field office left to defend humanity on its own. Well, almost on its own...

Torchwood's small Cardiff office (known as 'The Hub') was established at the end of the 19th Century, on top of a rift in space and time. People, objects and creatures from across the Universe and from all periods of time often find themselves 'washed up' in Cardiff - and it's Torchwood's job to assess if they pose a threat to humanity, and to either capture or destroy them if they do or to take care of them if they don’t.



John Barrowman does a terrific job as Cap'n Jack Harkness, a man whose lived a life that won't allow him to die and has taught him a flexible sense of morality to match his flexible sense of sexuality. Cap'n Jack laughs, jokes, flirts and fights his way through one set after another of impossible circumstances, but a heart of gold beats beneath his suspendered chest. His team means everything to him and he'll give anything to protect them. The casting is excellent, rather than a stable of beautiful people, they have chosen actors that look, and thanks to good writing, behave, like real people.

Balefire

Balefire by Cate Tiernan

Clio Martin and Thais Allard are twins, separated at birth by their grandmother, Petra, to protect them from the questionable machinations of people within her own coven. Thais goes with her father to live in Connecticut, while Clio remains with Petra in New Orleans. But when they are 17, their father is killed in a mysterious accident, and Thais finds herself in the hands of strangers in a city she never thought she had any connection to. Running into their twin the first day of school is the least of the surprises the girls face as they both discover their family's true history, one that goes back further than either of them ever imagined.

Thais soon learns that she and the twin she never knew come from a family of witches, that she possesses astonishing powers, and that she, along with Clio, has a key role in Balefire, the coven she was born into.
Fiery Clio is less than thrilled to have to share the spotlight, but the twins must learn to combine their powers in order to complete a rite that will transform their lives and the coven forever

Anita Blake

If you love a good mystery and a touch of the supernatural, Anita Blake may just be a great book series for you.

Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita Blake is an Animator, who raises the dead for a living, as well as a Vampire Executioner and U.S. Marshal for the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. She lives in St. Louis, were not only do wereanimals and vampires walk the streets, they have rights as citizens.

Necromancer: Anita is one of the most powerful animators operating commercially. She can raise zombies, sense the dead, raise vampires in daytime, sense vampires and lycanthropes, estimate their power level, the approximate age of vampires, has good night vision and can resist (at least partially) mental influence from vampires.

Combat Training: Anita has a black belt in Judo as of the first book. She works out regularly with her best friend Ronnie "to be able to out run the bad guys" when she needs to. She credits Edward for much of her training in weapons, primarily handguns and knives.

Supernatural Experience: Anita holds a bachelor's degree in preternatural biology and is a trained vampire executioner. She also has a well-worn two-semester background in comparative religion. These courses often told her useful tidbits about other cultures/mythologies, and throughout the series she learns vastly more about vampires, lycanthropes, and other preternatural creatures. RPIT relies on her for information about a wide variety of supernatural entities.

The Anita Blake series spans twenty novels so far. This is the complete list in chronological order. I do highly suggest reading the novels in order since the time-line for the story flows so closely from one book to the next.

1 Guilty Pleasures
2 The Laughing Corpse
3 Circus of the Damned
4 The Lunatic Cafe
5 Bloody Bones
6 The Killing Dance
7 Burnt Offerings
8 Blue Moon
9 Obsidian Butterfly
10 Narcissus In Chains
11 Cerulean Sins
12 Incubus Dreams
13 Micah
14 Danse Macabre
15 The Harlequin
16 Blood Noir
17 Skin Trade
18 Flirt
19 Bullet
20 Hit List

God, No!

Not only can the man rant, he can write.

From the larger, louder half of the world-famous magic duo Penn & Teller comes a scathingly funny reinterpretation of The Ten Commandments. They are The Penn Commandments, and they reveal one outrageous and opinionated atheist's experience in the world. In this rollicking yet honest account of a godless existence, Penn takes readers on a roller coaster of exploration and flips conventional religious wisdom on its ear to reveal that doubt, skepticism, and wonder -- all signs of a general feeling of disbelief -- are to be celebrated and cherished, rather than suppressed. And he tells some pretty damn funny stories along the way. From performing blockbuster shows on the Vegas Strip to the adventures of fatherhood, from an on-going dialogue with proselytizers of the Christian Right to the joys of sex while scuba diving, Jillette's self-created Decalogue invites his reader on a journey of discovery that is equal parts wise and wisecracking.

Praise for God, No!

"People who say that libertarians have no heart or atheists have no soul need to read this book. Because Penn Jillette has a lot of both." -- MATT STONE and TREY PARKER, creators of South Park and the award-winning Broadway musical The Book of Mormon

"There are few people in the country who question more boldly, brashly, and bravely than my friend Penn Jillette. This book is funny, provocative, and profane. But is it right? God, no!" --GLENN BECK

"This planet has yielded exactly one mutual friend for Glenn Beck and me and that friend has written a brilliant book called God, No! Penn reveals 'the big secret of magic,' tells you why tattoos are perfect expressions of atheism and exactly what to eat when you know you're going to vomit later." --LAWRENCE O'DONNELL

"Penn Jillette is a twenty-first-century Lord of Misrule: big, boisterously anarchic, funny, Rabelaisian, impossible and unique. There isn't--couldn't be--better not be--anybody like him."  --RICHARD DAWKINS, bestselling author of The Greatest Show on Earth and The God Delusion

I love listening to Penn Jillette. To anyone interested check out Penn's Sunday School http://pennsundayschool.com/

Penn is just Awesome.

Be ready to be entertained. Penn's irreverent unfiltered humor is exposed for all to see. Some of the stories in this book include sex, and there is a lot of profanity, so if you find that offensive, this probably isn't the book for you.

I would tell everyone to read this book and check out his new show Penn's Sunday School http://pennsundayschool.com/

This book gets 5 out of 5 stars.... go check it out.

Apraxia

Apraxia of speech, also known as verbal apraxia or dyspraxia, is a speech disorder in which a child has trouble saying what he or she wants to say correctly and consistently.

Children with developmental apraxia of speech generally understand language much better than they are able to use words to express themselves.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder. For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech. Apraxia of speech is sometimes called verbal apraxia, developmental apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. No matter what name is used, the most important concept is the root word "praxis." Praxis means planned movement. To some degree or another, a child with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech has difficulty programming and planning speech movements. Apraxia of speech is a specific speech disorder.

The act of speech begins with an intention to communicate. Next, an idea forms, outlining what the speaker wants to say. The words for the desired message are put in the correct order, using the correct grammar. Each of the words are comprised of a specific sequence of sounds (also called phonemes)and syllables that must be ordered together. All of this information is translated from an idea and information about order of sounds into a series of highly coordinated motor movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate.

The brain must tell the muscles of these “articulators” the exact order and timing of movements so that the words in the message are properly articulated. Finally, the muscles must work properly with enough strength and muscle tone to perform the movements needed for speech.

In typically developing speech, children make word attempts and get feedback from others and from their own internal systems regarding how “well” the words they produced matched the ones that they wanted to produce. Children use this information the next time they attempt the words and essentially are able to “learn from experience.” Usually once syllables and words are spoken repeatedly, the speech motor act becomes automatic. Speech motor plans and programs are stored in the brain and can be accessed effortlessly when they are needed. Children with apraxia of speech have difficulty in this aspect of speech. It is believed that children with CAS may not be able to form or access speech motor plans and programs or that these plans and programs are faulty for some reason.

Many therapists believe that sign language is beneficial for children who have difficulty being understood. They often recommend that children attempt to say the words they are signing to practice making the necessary movements with their mouths.

People with more extreme cases of acquired apraxia may also benefit from sign language. Or they may use assistive electronic devices, including computers that can be used to produce words and sentences.

Very few studies have been done to determine the relative effectiveness of various treatment approaches for childhood apraxia of speech.


Where can I get more Information about Childhood Apraxia of Speech?

Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA)
1151 Freeport Road, #243
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
E-mail helpdesk@apraxia-kids.org
Website: www.apraxia-kids.org

Birth Defect Research for Children, Inc. (BDRC)
930 Woodcock Road, Suite 225
Orlando, FL 32803
E-mail staff@birthdefects.org
Website: www.birthdefects.org

CHERAB Foundation
P.O. Box 8524
Port St. Lucie, FL 34952
E-mail help@cherab.org
Website: www.cherab.org
www.speechville.com

A Devil and Her Love Song

Reads R to L (Japanese Style)

Meet Maria Kawai--she's gorgeous and whip-smart, a girl who seems to have it all. But when she unleashes her sharp tongue, it's no wonder some consider her to be the very devil Maria's difficult ways even get her kicked out of an elite school, but this particular fall may actually turn out to be her saving grace...

Maria's frank nature gains her more enemies at her new school, but her angelic singing voice inadvertently catches the attention of Yusuke Kanda and Shin Meguro. Can these boys mend her hardened heart, or will they just end up getting scorched?

I love reading mangas. My all time favorite is the Death Note Series.

This one is good. There are more volumes to this story available in Japanese that will most likely be translated and released as time goes on.

I give this Manga 4 stars out of 5


I got this book for free through Goodreads First read.

Dante Valentine series

Dante Valentine series by Lilith Saintcrow

Necromancer. Bounty hunter. Killer.

Dante Valentine has been all three in her life. But in the beginning, she was a Necromancer for hire. And while she was choosy about her jobs, there were just some she couldn't turn down. Like when the Devil showed up at the door and offered her a deal. Her life - in exchange for the capture and elimination of a renegade demon. But how do you kill something that can't die?

Dante Valentine is a bounty hunter and a Necromance - she can invoke the spirits of the dead briefly for the purpose of communication. She's the best in the world at what she does, which puts her at the top of Lucifer's list when he needs a rogue demon tracked down. Lucifer sends his Right Hand, the demon Japhrimel, to bring Dante to Hell for the purpose of hiring her on for the job. Dante has a smart mouth, a little too much bravado, and a troubled past. She's also honorable, loves her friends, and can't see the sense in discriminating against a demon - or letting anyone else do so. The consequences of that shape the rest of her life.

These five books remind me a little bit of Hamilton's Anita Blake series. The stories are tense, beautifully plotted and fast-paced. Dante makes things so much harder than they have to be. She even realizes she's doing it but she just can't seem to help it sometimes. This series also benefits from a firm overall plan with a definite end that ties everything together. It's not an endless "The Adventures of Dante" sort of thing. The five books flow together beautifully when read as a single narrative.

It's not your typical Urban Fantasy story with lots of clichées and meaningless romance (not that I don't enjoy those storys too, from time to time). It's the story itself that matters here and the characters and their development. Their feelings, their hopes, their despair, their pain and their relationships/friendship.

Plot. Counterplot. Betrayal. Intrigue. When you’re working for the Devil, it’s all par for the course. You just have to live with it. Right?
Wrong. When you’re Danny Valentine and the Devil double-crosses you one too many times, there’s only one thing to do.
Fight back. No matter how hopeless it is. No matter how suicidal it is. No matter how far the game is rigged in the Devil’s favor.
Welcome to Hell.

The books in the set are Working for the Devil, Dead Man Rising, The Devil's Right Hand, Saint City Sinners, and To Hell and Back.