Introduction to Winds of Winter

To the Tyrants of the World.Hey you, the unfair tyrants...

You the lovers of the darkness...

You the enemies of life...

You've made fun of innocent people's wounds; and your palm covered with their blood

You kept walking while you were deforming the charm of existence and growing seeds of sadness in their land

Wait, don't let the spring, the clearness of the sky and the shine of the morning light fool you...

Because the darkness, the thunder rumble and the blowing of the wind are coming toward you from the horizon

Beware because there is a fire underneath the ash

Who grows thorns will reap wounds

You've taken off heads of people and the flowers of hope; and watered the cure of the sand with blood and tears until it was drunk

The blood's river will sweep you away and you will be burned by the fiery storm.

The Will To LiveIf the people one day will to live

then destiny must respond

and the night must disappear

and the chain must break.

Those who never been cuddled by the passion of life

will evaporate in its air and perish.

So beware to those who don't desire life

from a slap of the victorious nothingness!

Thus told me the living organisms

And what their concealed souls reported to me.

And the winds banged between the crevices

on top of the mountains and underneath the trees.

If I have the ambition to achieve a goal

I will climb up my desire and forget any precaution.

I don't avoid the dangers of the routes

or the blazing fireball.

Those who don't like climbing the mountains

will live forever in holes.

So, the youth's blood has filled my heart,

and other winds have roared in my chest.

I pondered, listening to the rumble of thunder

to the winds music and the rain's cadence.

And the earth told me when I asked:

O Mother do you hate humans?

I bless those who have ambitions

and those who enjoy taking risks

and I damn those who dont flow with the times

and those who are complacent about life,

life between the stones.

The universe is alive, loves life

And pities the dead no matter how glorious.

The horizon wont embrace dead birds,

and the bees wont kiss dead flowers.

Were it not for the motherhood of my adoring heart

those holes wouldnt have embraced the dead.

Beware those who beware to those who dont desire life

from a slap of the victorious nothingness!

On one autumn night

filled with sorrow and ennui

I got drunk from the night's shining stars

and I sang to sadness until it got drunk .

I asked darkness: Will life come back

to what the spring of life decays?

But the darkness's lips didn't talk,

nor did the virgins dawn croon.

Then the forest told me in a lovely

softness like the throbbing of strings.

The winter comes, the foggy winter,

the snowy winter, the rainy winter.

Then extinguished will be the magic,

the magic of the tree branches,

the magic of the flowers and fruits,

and the magic of the quiet, peaceful evening

and the magic of the delicious and fragrant meadows.

And the tree branches and leaves will fall

and the flowers of a dear new succulent era.

...

The sacred chanting of life rang

in the dreamy enchanted temple,

and declared in the universe that ambition

is the flame of life and spirit of glory.

So if the souls will to live,

then destiny must answer.

Humat al-Hima (Defenders of the Homeland)O defenders of the Homeland!

Rally around to the glory of our time!

The blood surges in our veins,

We die for the sake of our land.

Let the heavens roar with thunder

Let thunderbolts rain with fire.

Men and youth of Tunisia,

Rise up for her might and glory.

No place for traitors in Tunisia,

Only for those who defend her!

We live and die loyal to Tunisia,

A life of dignity and a death of glory.

As a nation we inherited

Arms like granite towers.

Holding aloft our proud flag flying,

We boast of it, it boasts of us,

Arms that achieve ambitions and glory,

Sure to realize our hopes,

Inflict defeat on foes,

Offer peace to friends.

When the people will to live,

Destiny must surely respond.

Oppression shall then vanish.

Fetters are certain to break.

National Anthem

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On April 4, 2008, Judge Senter disqualified the Rigsby sisters from testifying:

State Farm and Renfroe have charged Scruggs with two basic types of ethical misconduct and with conflicts of interest, all of which relate in one way or another to the relationship between Scruggs and the SKG and two former Renfroe employees Cori and Kerri Rigsby (the Rigsby sisters). State Farm and Renfroe allege 1) that Scruggs participated and encouraged the Rigsby sisters to wrongfully appropriate and disclose confidential documents in which both State Farm and Renfroe had a legitimate right to confidentiality; and 2) that Scruggs paid the Rigsby sisters a substantial sum in furtherance of Scruggs's efforts to encourage the misappropriation of these documents.State Farm and Renfroe have alleged additional acts of misconduct relating to other witnesses and to the plaintiffs' counsel having obtained documentary and physical evidence without following the established procedure for the use of out-of-state subpoenas in the discovery process.I have determined that disqualification is required because Scruggs, acting in furtherance of the SKG joint venture, paid the Rigsby sisters a substantial sum of money (a consulting fee of $150,000 per year) despite Scruggs's knowledge that the Rigsby sisters were material witnesses in connection with many hurricane damage claims that were likely to become the subject of litigation. While Scruggs made the arrangements for these payments, the other members of the SKG joint venture knew or should have known that the payments were being made, and I am of the opinion that their failure to take timely and reasonable remedial steps or to object to this arrangement amounts to a ratification of Scruggs's actions. While the other ethical misconduct alleged by State Farm and Renfroe are substantial, the payments to the Rigsby sisters are, in and of themselves, sufficient to warrant disqualification.It is apparent to me, from my review of the deposition testimony of the Rigsby sisters, that there was no legitimate reason for these payments and that the "consulting" work that ostensibly justified these payments was a sham. Even if this were not the case, the performance of legitimate work that is closely related to a matter in litigation cannot justify an attorney's payment of a substantial sum of money to a non-expert material witness.Payments to non-expert witnesses are specifically limited to statutory witness fees; reasonable expenses actually incurred for mileage, meals, and lodging; and reasonable compensation for time lost from work while attending a trial or testifying by deposition. (Opinion No. 145 of the Mississippi State Bar Ethics Committee, March 11, 1988). The payments Scruggs made to the Rigsby sisters bears no reasonable connection to any work they performed or to any of expenses they incurred in testifying. These payments were clearly improper. N.L.R.B. v. Thermon Heat Tracing Services,Inc., 143 F.3d 181 (5 Cir.1998); Golden Door Jewelry Creations, Inc. v. Lloyds Underwriters Non-Marine Ass'n, 865 F.Supp 1516, 1526 (S.D.Fla.1994); Rentclub, Inc. v. Transamerica Rental Fin. Corp., 811 F.Supp 651, 653 (M.D.Fla.1992), aff'd 43 F.3d 1439 (11th Cir.1995); Wagner v. Lehman Bros. Kuhn Loeb Inc., 646 F.Supp 643 (N.D.Ill.1986).Even though the payments to the Rigsby sisters originated with Scruggs, the other members of the joint venture were aware or should have been aware that the payments were being made and did nothing to prevent their continued payment. In these circumstances, all of the other members of the original SKG are responsible for this breach of ethics. Those whom these firms have subsequently associated must also be disqualified to prevent the appearance of impropriety in the remainder of this litigation. See MRPC 5.1(c) ("A lawyer shall be responsible for another lawyer's violation of the rules of professional conduct if: (1) the lawyer orders or, with knowledge of the specific conduct, ratifies the conduct involved ... or ... knows of the conduct at the time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but fails to take reasonable remedial action."); See American Can Co. v. Citrus Feed Co., 436 F.2d 1125, 1128-29 (5th Cir.1971).The payments made to the Rigsby sisters require the disqualification of the successors to the SKG and those whom they have added as associates from further participation in any litigation in this Court against State Farm and Renfroe arising from property damage attributable to Hurricane Katrina. The motions to disqualify will be granted. An appropriate order will be entered, and the plaintiffs in all cases affected by this disqualification shall be allowed a period of forty-five days in which to retain new counsel or to notify the Court of their intention to proceed pro-se. For good cause, this period may be enlarged at the discretion of the United States Magistrate Judge assigned to the case. The plaintiff's failure to retain new counsel or to inform the court of the intention to proceed pro-se will make a case subject to this order eligible for dismissal without prejudice. The attorneys subject to disqualification by the terms of this order shall send, via United States mail, postage prepaid, a copy of the opinion and order in this case to each client affected by this ruling.The Rigsby sisters will be disqualified as witnesses in any actions now pending on this Court's docket against State Farm or Renfroe in which the SKG or the KLG has represented the plaintiffs, and any documents supplied by the Rigsby sisters to the SKG or the KLG or its associates shall also be excluded from evidence unless the plaintiffs can show that the documents were obtained through ordinary methods of discovery.