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Originally Posted by BatLobsterRises I didn't have a problem with the cops taking back the city. There was still a payoff there. It was full circle, we start with a corrupt police force in BB and TDK, but by the end of TDKR they are defending Gotham alongside the Batman. Cops are people too. Who were the biggest heroes on 9/11? Cops and firefighters who inspired an entire country. TDK showed that Batman didn't want civilians literally physically fighting when they're not qualified for it. "That wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to inspire people". Now, I wouldn't have had a problem with some tougher civilians entering the battle, but I think from a visual standpoint it helped reinforce the war theme better to have all the police in their uniforms vs. the mercenaries in their wardrobe. My Nolan film rankings: The Dark Knight The Dark Knight Rises I think pretty much everyone's lists would differ tremendously, with the only universal being no one would have Insomnia at the top. And I like that movie quite a bit too. This is my ranking of Nolan films as well.
Mod Q&A: Once upon a time, there was a moderator... Posted Oct 24, 2011 @ 7:53 AM Welcome to the forum. You're welcome to start any character or other threads as needed. Just be sure to read the FAQ first. Any questions or suggestions, you can post them here or PM me. Posted Oct 25, 2011 @ 6:10 AM Posted Oct 28, 2011 @ 11:02 PM Edited by Tableau, Oct 29, 2011 @ 1:42 AM. Posted Oct 30, 2011 @ 2:50 PM Edited by Tableau, Oct 30, 2011 @ 2:51 PM. Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 7:56 PM Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:10 PM Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:16 PM On the other hand, being able to compare the show to anything instead of separating it out could mean less headaches, too, because it's not like this topic could exist in a vacuum. Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:24 PM Edited by Trini Girl, Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:24 PM. Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:32 PM That would be a helluva lot easier to do in one thread. I thought it could all be under one thread since there might be comparisons with the original tales versus another show's take on those tales. Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 6:02 AM Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 7:26 PM Now the conversation about Honey Crisp Apples led to this wonderful Bon Mot, but I was wondering if it would be feasible to have a nitpicker's thread? Regarding The Great Apple Scandal of 2011, my personal fanwank from now on will be that the subtext went like this: REGINA: I haven't found anything more wonderful in the whole world than Honeycrisp Apples! EMMA: But you brought me Red Delicious. REGINA: I know. I don't like you that much. Something like "Once Upon a Time Continuity and Nitpicks: Those Apples Were NOT Honeycrisp" Posted Nov 6, 2011 @ 11:21 PM Posted Nov 7, 2011 @ 2:15 AM Posted Nov 14, 2011 @ 6:46 PM Posted Nov 27, 2011 @ 1:59 PM Posted Nov 27, 2011 @ 7:58 PM If for some reason I don't put one up in the future, then any poster is welcome to start the thread. Just make sure it's after the episode has finished airing. Posted Nov 27, 2011 @ 8:06 PM As for finishing airing- this airs at 7pm where I live on CTV (Canadian station)- I still wait till after the 8pm showing on the US channel to start one if I created a thread, correct? I assumed so- but wanted to check to confirm. Edited by callietwo, Nov 27, 2011 @ 8:07 PM. Posted Nov 30, 2011 @ 5:14 PM Edited by TWoP Tennison, Nov 30, 2011 @ 5:15 PM. Posted Nov 30, 2011 @ 7:14 PM Posted Dec 1, 2011 @ 8:02 PM Posted Dec 2, 2011 @ 9:27 AM In a forum for another show, I'd think about maybe the speculation without spoilers thread or the Q and A thread, but I don't think I've seen anything like that so far for OUAT. Posted Dec 2, 2011 @ 5:36 PM Posted Dec 12, 2011 @ 9:12 PM I've been trying to read and comment on episode 7 "Heart.." but, like you pointed out at one time, they needed to move on from redundancy. Thanks for any consideration. I like to have fun and enjoy the shared interest, whether praise or criticism in an evolving and perplexing story. I really just want people to lighten up and see this show for what it is. ;)
Join Date: May 2010 Location: Your Dreams Doutzen Kroes (April 2011 - February 2012) This is a continuation thread, the old thread is Here Last edited by HeatherAnne; 24-04-2011 at 09:47 AM. Join Date: Jan 2008 Thanks Tarsha, Lilso78 (bellazon) transilated the interview. Her son, Phyllon, was born in January, but Doutzen Kroes, world famous supermodel and L'Oreal star, won't miss her appearance at the next Cannes film festival. - How did you get back in shape for your Cannes appearance? Doutzen Kroes: I ate healthy, stopped eating sweets and worked out daily with my coach. Before my pregnancy, I was already working out a lot. But now, it's different, I worked out softly to make my muscle slimmer and longer. I did Pilates, stretching and I used Perfect Slim, a very fresh L'Oreal product. Because I really didn't want to look too muscular. - Did you work out during your pregnancy? I was doing super soft yoga once a week, with a coach, at home. That prepared my abs and my legs, I got back in shape really fast after giving birth thanks to these exercises. - Being back in shape, is that an obsession? No, but as a model of a big brand, I have to show a good image of me. I have to show that I'm taking care of myself, of my body, that I eat healthy, that I work out... and that I'm not anorexic. Anorexia is a real problem, not only in the fashion industry, but in the whole world. Fashion tells people what to do, what to wear, how to be and what to look like, so the fashion industry has to change, designers must show healthy and beautiful models to the world. Personnaly, I'm really proud to show that you can be a successful model without being anorexic. That is really important. - What can we find in your fridge? Just organic food! Before my pregnancy, I already thought about it. But, when I found out that I was pregnant, eating organic became an obsession. - What is your secret to have such a beautiful skin after giving birth, My mother! The first weeks after I gave birth, she was always around me to remind me to take care of myself, especially of my skin. I moisturized it a lot, this is what makes it look beautiful today. - What is your favourite product now that you gave birth? Tripe Active Jour by L'Oreal Paris, a great moisturizer! I use it every morning. - How do you make your skin glow before a photoshoot? As soon as a wake up, I wash my face with super cold water and to have a nice tan, I use Sublime Bronze. - You take a great care of your skin, what about your baby's skin? I apply on his skin L'Huile de Massage Douceur and La Creme Protectrice Visage by Weleda Bebe, both are 100% organics of course. - If you had one "beauty advice" to give to your son when he'll grow up, what would it be? You only have one skin. And it's not because he's a boy that he doesn't have to take care of it. So it will be washing + moisturizing in the morning and before he goes to sleep for him! + She will be at the MET ball tomorrow according to her twitter.
^but she doens't fit the description Theimagist gave a few weeks ago. She is a fresh face but not a fresh face who will make her US Vogue debut on that cover... "I'm not sorry... I'm sorry that I didn't make it clear that it was a joke. But I can't be sorry for what I said—it's against my nature." Lars von Trier
In a remote region of a distant star system, the crowds gather for the annual galactic tournament. Hundreds of civilizations have sent their best racers, ready to compete. With no rules aside from crossing the finish line, the ships combine amazing speed with ruthless weaponry. This month's theme: Hover Racer edit: winners announced! personal site: www.alexalvarez.com follow me on twitter my work in progress, a bunch of hours in so far, still need to weaponize the front, thinking of mounting a chain gun in there, not sure if i should change the cockpit to more or a motorcycle style rider? I saw in the rules thread that you can use some 3D elements in the 2D challenges, but that response dates all the way back to 2006. Just to be clear, can I design and build my ship in 3D as a base to paint over for my final image? Or is the 2D challenge just about creating and completing a image only in 2D? I would hate to submit a piece that isn't allowed to be used in this challenge. Thanks for the help! This is almost exactly what my friend and I did for our 3d animation finals back when we finished school. Ours was a bit more like the video game F-Zero, lots of hovercars racing, but no weapons. I think I can drag out a few files and update them for this contest Sounds like a blast!
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Originally Posted by Champ2647 No matter how you try to justify it, it is still ONLY 3 additional months. You could be right, maybe 2 months ago they fell behind or made a decision to change the direction of the Multiplayer or some other change and began working on it. Doesn't change the fact that niether of us know anything other than they felt they needed 3 additional months. but to claim that because they now have extra time they can change 80% of the game they spent the other 2 years planning and strategizing for is just as "dumb". and the GH reference makes no sense because it isn't an FPS. COD/BF3/Halo these are all FPS' and actually make sense to reference while stating a case for the style that FC3 is going for. Borrowing from those great games whether you like it or not is THEIR choice and a smart one if you ask me. THat doesn't mean that They still can't keep Far Cry's charm and give it it's own style, it just means that FC3 needs to build a foundation around what those other shooters did well while adding it's own style/feel/uniqueness. Adding a GH part to any of those games doesn't make sense but adding a map editor to COD would right?? and guess what?? it would be borrowinng something awesome from FC to make it a better offering and overall better FPS. and it's not that I don't understand your release window theory, it's that it shouldn't matter. If the Dev's are that wish- washy on what they are building with Far Cry 3 then the game is doomed no matter when it is released. Massive needs to stick with their guns and follow their vision. Yes they need to make adjustments and trust me they can definitely make a few changes for the better if they listen to our cries' (And maybe they have). but completely overhauling the game because of a release date change is just not a smart thing and in the end none of us would be happy with the result, even you. And I am not saying they should clone COD/BF3 and put it in the jungle and call it FC. I'm saying they can learn from other FPS's on how to make the gameplay fun and to enhance what is already great about the FC universe (tropical setting, exploration, freedom, map editor, etc.) from what I have seen in he videos they are on the right path. Last edited by FROGM4N; 07-07-2012 at 01:14 AM. Hey I agree with some of your points. -Don't want the screen to be filled pop ups etc tho I read somewhere that they have toned down the pop ups and size. I'm happy enough to find out how I did after the match is over though -CTD, it was different and it couldn't hurt to have another game mode. -Was never a map maker but would like to see new approved for ranked map more often than on FC2. As for answering questions I think I seen a thread updated a few days ago (though I thought some questions asked were asked before) :confused But hey they are doing their best Last edited by warunasanjaya4; 10-19-2012 at 01:57 PM. Because it's much less buggy ? Originally Posted by warunasanjaya4 I've read through these posts with keen intrest. But the one point that sticks out to is the radar issue. Farcry maybe the only fps that dose not use radar. This in my humble opinion makes the game for me , looking for muzzle flash and tracing wizz lines makes the hunt for your attacker more fun for me. If its going to be on a toggle funtion then players that use radar should be penalised because in my experience radar finds your enermies for you. The more map knowlege you have the deadlier it becomes. Will hosts be able to turn this off or is it down to the player ?
Plans for the future? 2003 Wolfsburg Ed. 1.8T -18x8.5 et35 Audi RS4 reps (final et 15 & 20) -debadged, black grille, and clear side markers -Hyperboost DV(hasn't been installed yet ) -Interior: Pioneer AVH-p3100 HU, Alpine S series speakers, Kicker CVR-12, Rockford Fosgate 500 watt amp, wood floor trunk, and an airbag light courtesy of VW At its best: Travel mode now: -raised and 17x7 et38 Longbeaches (no spacers) So here is my build thread. Enjoy. Bone stock. The day got it. (handed down from my dad) Added some bass. 12" Kicker CVR and RF 500 watt amp combo with Pioneer AVH-P3100 head unit It snowed in Texas so I had to take one of my snow dog Probably my favorite picture spot, and added the german colors badge. Then got Rokkors and painted the grille black Painted the brake calipers red Picked up some Audi RS4 reps 18x8.5 et35. Pirelli P Zero Nero 225/40 Lowered it 3/4 in more Got the back driver side fender repaired btw. 15mm spacers ordered a couple days ago from ECS and badges are soon to be taken off. Thanks for looking! Last edited by xcrunnr93; 11-27-2011 at 11:01 PM. FS - OZ M-191 Center Cap - http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...5#post77384355 Diesel Dub Club #38 \|\| Euro Style \|\| MK2 Militia \|\| Looks clean man overall Clear side markers, lose the wing, and get those spacers on nice work Keep fapping Build Thread: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...hread...Neat!-. rather than getting the rieger rep: Last edited by xcrunnr93; 09-17-2011 at 10:00 PM.
I am experiencing some problems for a basic Maximum Likelihood estimation. FYI, I am working with the paper of Rose & Smith (http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/1530/1/paper_141.pdf). The problem is happening at the very beginning of the MLE procedure: how to "symbolically" sum of data? In the result, Mathematica cannot distinguish that what is a constant and what is the variable within the sum, and hence will not be able to solve the max problem later. I attach the in- and output for you to see. I think it has to do with my specification of data array but I really can't find... can somebody help me? thanks a lot!! Attachment: output-math.pdf, URL: ,
if it isn't PSU related, clear the CMOS (remove battery, bridge jumper, whatever your motherboard's manual says), then try booting up again and see what happens. If still no go, check for leaking or bulging capacitors on the motherboard. If everything checks out fine, get a PSU tester or swap out PSU's with a known working one. Disconnect ALL unnecessary peripherals leaving only 1 stick RAM, video, keyboard and mouse. Power on again and see if it works. If no go, you have a dead motherboard. This post has been edited by Alex548: Apr 26 2010, 02:15 AM
I've tried the say, player_say, and hudtext, but nothing seems to work. I'm just trying to display some text from a script or a button. bind BLACK say "Hello World!" This binds the say command to the Black button, but it doesn''t work. Is there a variable that enables text display, or a hud panel that needs to be enabled? Any help is appreciated.
Originally Posted by IminUroutKFP I'm pretty sure that 2100 is a perfectly fine 3b sizing, especially ip against the original raiser. Checking the flop though is dumb, definitely lead out, if they all still get it in then you can let it go cause you are rarely ahead of all 3 and even if you are it's gonna be hard to fade all that with 1 pair that is definitely gonna be against at least an over or 2 usually. I think leading and folding to all 3 shoves is fine I agree with this logic except for one key idea, which is going to sound a little bit loose, and a little bit crazy- but I think it's an interesting idea worth debating so feel free to flame away if you disagree : ) Without any background on the players or their stats, I think alot of the time the player in middle position is open shoving with a fairly wide range- it's a decent sized pot that would increase his stack by nearly 50%, and he knows that the short stacks behind him will have put their tournament life on the line to call, and that you as the big stack would risk taking a pretty big hit here, and are probably going to pass most of the time with the best hand. Sure he might make this play with a bigger pocket pair, but I think most of the time those hands are going to lead out or check raise instead to get some value instead of risking losing everyone. It's a good spot for him to significantly propel himself forward with an acceptably small level of risk of being called, based on his stack size in relation to the other players in the pot. But his stack is [I]also[I] the reason why it's a profitable play for you to call here. He has the other two covered by a good margin- you can afford to call and lose to both shorter stacks, and still make enough back from the player in MP for what's almost a break even situation. I think you're short about 1 and a half k. If your hands good for the win you win a ginormous pot, double up and jump way out amongst the chip leap! In addition, you might call and find one of the shorter stacks does have one of the top three hands, but i think with their chip stacks alot of hands are getting it in here with med pockets, ace 8/2/3 hands, 89, 8t and high cards- all to gamble for value- and you should too! You might have to fade like coby briant, or you might be playing catch up on the small stacks, but I think you crush the open shovers range giving you insurance on the play, and I think you're ahead of the shorter stacks often enough for it to be worth a call. Worst case scenario you lose to all three still have about 50BB left and a reasonable chance of playing your way back into contention. I can see significant prize pool equity when you win here, but I haven't bothered to check the ICM numbers so maybe I'm wrong. I certainly don't think i'm way off though, and while it might not be a play for everybody (sure you're in a good spot with a your current stack, there's no shame in taking the conservative route and finding a better spot to chip up), I think it's a spot where you can take a shot at gaining a commanding position in the tournament at an acceptable level of risk- your tournament life isn't even on the line, and the only way you take a significant dent in the hand is if you can't beat the open shover. Ship it baby lets gamble
To clarify, you rate to score 2 trump tricks and partner's bringing something to the party but not much. Hopefully it's useful. Sure, you beat it 2 when kj9x are in dummy, but they make an over when declarer holds that. I'm guessing that on average it's about 50-50 = and -1. But you're risking 170 to win 100, plus you're giving info to declarer who might otherwise take a line that depends on a split or something and go down in a making contract. Now you ring up +100 and +790. Ime, the +3 from +200 v +100 isn't worth it the times you're wrong. Edit: yeah you probably avg 2.5 trump tricks and partner somewhere between 0.5 and 1 trick.
On Thursday, May 5, the nation’s Catholic bishops issued a dramatic appeal to the members of the U.S. Senate, and it wasn’t about abortion. In a letter sent to all 100 members of that august chamber, the bishops urged the lawmakers to ensure that the upcoming federal budget doesn’t “rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons.” “The moral measure of this budget debate,” the letter said, “is not which party wins or which powerful interests prevail, but rather how those who are jobless, hungry, homeless or poor are treated,” the letter said. “Their voices are too often missing in these debates, but they have the most compelling moral claim on our consciences and our common resources.” The letter’s specific target was the long-term budget “framework” proposed by Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, chair of the House budget committee, which purports to attack the national debt by slashing social spending. A “just” budget framework, the bishops wrote, “requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs fairly.” In other words: Raise taxes on the rich, cut military spending and don’t weaken Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Don’t cut unemployment benefits, welfare or affordable housing. A nearly identical letter sent to members of the House in April, before their budget vote, specifically criticized Ryan’s plan to convert Medicare to a voucher program and turn Medicaid into block grants to the states. Now, none of this breaks any new ground in Catholic social doctrine. Church teachings on economics have been pretty consistent since 1891, when Pope Leo XIII issued his landmark encyclical, “Rerum Novarum,” on the evils of unfettered market capitalism and the rights of working people and the poor. The doctrine has been periodically reaffirmed and updated, most recently by the current pope in 2009. The American bishops issued a lengthy “pastoral letter” in 1986, “Economic Justice for All,” that remains unmatched as a statement of the spiritual roots of social justice. But the church as an institution hasn’t put much muscle behind it in the past few decades. On the contrary, the Catholic hierarchy has invested the lion’s share of its political capital in fighting abortion. It has allied itself firmly with conservatives because of the abortion issue, and to a lesser degree gay rights. The late Pope John Paul II, best remembered for his warmth toward Jews, moved the church far to the right during his 26-year papacy by appointing an entire generation of conservative bishops to replace the previous generation of Vatican II-era liberals. Leading American clerics have regularly attacked and bullied liberal Catholics like John Kerry and Mario Cuomo for their views on abortion. The rights of the poor have consistently taken a back seat. This spring the church is pointing its guns in the other direction. Without naming names, it is taking direct aim at the Republican economic agenda — at a key moment when the issues are actually on the table. The bishhops’ letter talked about preserving funds for childhood nutrition and affordable housing and avoiding cuts in health care. It condemned draconian cuts to foreign aid that would eliminate life-saving food and medicines and abandon flood and earthquake victims to their fate. It mentioned raising taxes — which means, simply, taking money from those who can afford it rather than from those who can’t. This criticism is particularly pointed because the Republican leaders most prominently identified with those policies, budget chief Ryan and House Speaker John Boehner, are both Catholic. By saying that the policies they’re championing are in violation of church teachings, the bishops are implying that they’re bad Catholics. If a believer is expected to respect the rights of the unborn, surely there’s an obligation to the born as well. Judaism teaches this lesson, too: A portion of each person’s income is taken by law to support the poor. We will recite this lesson in synagogue in a few days when we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, the ancient festival of the spring wheat harvest, the traditional anniversary of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, which falls on June 8. We observe Shavuot by reading the biblical Book of Ruth, the storied Moabite woman who became the ancestor of King David. The story recalls how Ruth met her future husband when she went to his wheat field during the spring harvest to retrieve the gleanings. This is the grain that grows in the corners of the field and the sheaves that fall to the ground during harvest; it is left for the poor as their right. That is, a portion of your income is not yours but is redistributed to the poor. To keep it, to seek to extract the full profit from your enterprise, is a sin. Sharing your income with those who have less is not a matter of charity or generosity, but a legal obligation. This is the lesson we recite in celebration of the giving of the Torah and to honor the memory of King David, Israel’s greatest sovereign. This is the beginning of law and the meaning of sovereign governance. I’d like to think that the bishops’ letters are the beginning of a new phase in America’s spiritual journey. I’d like to think they will tell Boehner and Ryan what they told Kerry: You may not preach sin and call yourself a person of faith. I’d like to think that rabbis around the country will be reading the bishops’ letter along with the Book of Ruth in synagogue on Shavuot. I’d like to think that a delegation of bishops and rabbis would pay a Shavuot visit to the House Republican leaders, Speaker Boehner, budget chairman Ryan and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and read to them about the gleaning. I’d like to think I could put money on this. But I won’t. Contact J.J. Goldberg at email@example.com
(Page 2 of 2) Mitzpe Hila, Israel — He had to face the “conflict” between wanting to get back to his old life and accepting that his five years of waging a relentless campaign for his son’s return had irrevocably changed him. He chose the latter, and decided to enter politics. Noam Shalit will stand for the Knesset on a Labor ticket in the next elections, due in the fall of 2013. Aviva Shalit, his wife, feels “very bad” about his choice, he admitted: “She doesn’t like the idea that I will be on the front lines in the media and so on. She wants to go back to the way that we lived before.” Reflecting the tension in the household, Noam Shalit conducted the interview in the front garden rather than inside the house, where family members would be nearby. Discussing his decision not to go back to work involved a rare admission of how complex his life has become. This is a man who, on most subjects, has boiled down his opinions to curt and very definite statements. He will feel no conflict campaigning politically against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who made the prisoner exchange deal and freed more than 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners to bring his son back home. Netanyahu “was committed to do this, [and] he didn’t do us a favor,” because the government has an obligation to rescue its soldiers, he said. Shalit also said that even though his campaign is widely credited with pushing Netanyahu to make the exchange, which by Shalit’s own assessment went against Netanyahu’s beliefs, “against his politics and almost against his DNA,” Shalit believes that he shares no responsibility for its ramifications. When asked what he will feel if a prisoner released in the deal commits a terrorist attack in the future and accusations are leveled against him, he responded: “Accusations against me? It’s not my decision to release Palestinian prisoners.” Shalit is confident that he could compartmentalize his negative feelings toward Hamas if ever the time came that the movement was prepared to negotiate And if he enters politics, he will be prepared to take part in talks. “If there would be any chance to talk to them and promote peace and promote the two-state solution, I will be glad to talk to anybody,” he said. On the subject of the Palestinians, Shalit said he believes that “maybe if I were a Palestinian, I would fight the Israeli armed forces.” Shalit’s expression hardly changed during the course of his interview, and he hardly moved his face or body, sitting straight in his chair. Talking to him, one gets the sense that his dispassionate way of applying logic was the secret to the campaign for his son’s freedom. He hardly needed to display emotion; by getting the nation to think of his son as everybody’s son, he made use of his fellow citizens’ emotions to mobilize them. And he focused his energies on making the same demands over and over again, for the most part without losing his cool. Asked about his lack of anger when he discusses his son’s captivity, he said matter-of-factly: “I never believed that anger will do me good or will improve our chances to get Gilad back. On the contrary, it will divert me from the focus and will reduce my capabilities.” Contact Nathan Jeffay at firstname.lastname@example.org
DOVER — A Strafford County judge has granted prosecutors more time to build their case against murder suspect Seth Mazzaglia. The 30-year-old from Dover has been charged in connection with the death of University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth Marriott. Mazzaglia has been held in jail since his arrest in October on a second-degree murder charge. On Jan. 2., a superior court judge signed off on a request from the New Hampshire Attorney General's office for an extension of the time by which they must bring an indictment against Mazzaglia. Prosecutors now have until the end of February to present their case to a grand jury. In a motion filed Dec. 14 in Strafford County Superior Court, Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley wrote that the state was requesting additional time in order to interview witnesses and finish “certain investigative steps” in connection with the case. “In particular, the State notes that witness interviews, and further investigative leads deriving therefrom, are actively occurring,” a court motion states. “So too are forensic testings pertaining to a variety of matters, which it is believed will provide additional pertinent information.” The state is also seeking additional time in order to assess which charges are appropriate to bring against Mazzaglia during the grand jury proceeding, according to the motion. Marriott, a 19-year-old University of New Hampshire student, was last seen on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and is presumed dead. Prosecutors allege Marriott was either strangled or suffocated by Mazzaglia inside his apartment on Mill Street the night she went missing. The first new development in the case in the last several weeks came on Monday, Dec. 24, when police arrested a second person in connection with Marriott's death. Portsmouth resident Kathryn “Kat” McDonough, 19, is accused of lying to police about her whereabouts and interaction with Marriott on the night Marriott went missing. McDonough, a Portsmouth resident, was engaged in a romantic relationship with Mazzaglia before Marriott's disappearance, prosecutors have confirmed.
To send a Sports Short announcement about your community or recreational sporting event, please email email@example.com, mail 150 Venture Drive, Dover, NH 03820 or fax us at 603-749-7079. If you are e-mailing your announcement, please paste it in the body of the email. Do not send email attachments. DO NOT SEND COPY IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and please submit in paragraph form. Please note: If your item is time sensitive, do not send at the last moment (i.e. the day before or the day of the event). It is suggested that you submit your item at least 10 days before the event to insure that it receives proper placement in a timely manner. Dover Youth Softball sign-ups DOVER — Dover Girls Softball registration is now open for the 2013 spring season for ages 4-16. You can register online at www.doversoftball.com. Walk-in registrations are at the McConnell Center in Dover behind the library: 32 Saint Thomas St. They will be held in the cafeteria: Feb. 4 and 6 from 6-8 p.m.; Feb. 9 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The March dates are March 4 and 6 from 6-8 p.m. and March 9 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. If you have not played before please bring proof of age. For those new to the league there will be team formation at the end of March. There will be tryouts for team placement only for the 12u and 10u groups. All girls are eligible to play there are no cuts. Dates TBA. Dover Arena Summer Girls High School Hockey Program dover — The Dover Arena will once again hold the girls summer high school skate on Sunday nights in July and August. This was a huge success last summer and filled quickly. Every Sunday at 5:30 – 7 p.m. teams will be picked for a full game format with referees. It was very competitive last summer and lots of fun. Every week the teams will change. All local area high school girls are welcome to register for this summer program. Players can be entering the 9th grade in September of 2013 or graduating in June 2013 and anything in between. This is a game format. Teams will be made each week based on registrations. Space is very limited for skaters only 22 will be signed up each week, and there are 2 goalie spots available. Referee will be provided. This program was full last summer so sign up early. For more information contact the Dover Ice Arena 603-516-6060 during weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Coe-Brown dance competition canceled NORTHWOOD — The Coe-Brown Northwood Academy girls basketball team’s So You Think You Can Dance Competition on Feb. 2 has been canceled. Police-Fire charity hockey game ROCHESTER — The Rochester Police Department would like to announce it’s annual charity hockey game on Feb. 8, 6 p.m., at the Rochester Arena. This is the 6th year of this game. This hockey game is a great opportunity to support your local heros, while giving back to the community. Admission to the game is non-perishable food items. All donated items will be delivered to Gerry’s Food Pantry to support those in need within the Rochester Community. Softball league seeks women’s teams and players PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Women’s Softball League is seeking teams and individual players for the 2013 season. A league meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the old Sherburne School in Portsmouth. If you have questions or need directions, call Bob at 603-436-3860. Green Wave Baseball Players Clinic DOVER — The 2013 Green Wave Baseball Players Clinic will take place March 16 and 17 at Dover High School. There are two sessions for ages 7 to 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. The clinic is being run by Dover High baseball coach John Carver and his staff and players. The fee is $45 and checks can be sent (payable to Green Wave Baseball Boosters) Ms. Donna Sheldon, 3 Southwood Drive, Dover, NH 03820. FC Exeter seeks soccer players EXETER — FC Exeter seeks experienced high school age players interested in competing for a roster slot on one of our three teams for the upcoming Spring 2013 GSYSL travel soccer season. Teams competing under the FC Exeterbanner this Spring will include U-18 Boys; U-17 Girls, and U-18 Girls. Interested players should visit the FC Exeter webpage at the Exeter Youth Soccer website (www.exeterexpress.com) for more info on the Spring ‘13 travel teams. You can e-mail FCX Coach-At-Large Chuck Murray (firstname.lastname@example.org or email@example.com) or the appropriate headcoach (see webpage info) for team-specific details. Green Wave Winter Break Basketball Camp DOVER — The Dover High boys basketball program will host their 8th Annual Green Wave Winter Break Basketball Camp for boys and girls Feb. 25 to 28 at Woodman Park School. The camp will be broken down into two sessions. This camp is for all skill levels and will focus on some skills but mostly playing games. The camp will run from 8:45 to 10:15 a.m. for 2nd thru 4th graders (younger kids may attend with director approval) and from 10:30 to Noon for 5th thru 8th graders. The cost for the camp is just $40. For more information please drop by the athletic or recreation department to pick up a registration form (flyer) or call coach Romps at 603-834-0112 or email at firstname.lastname@example.org. Enrollment is limited. Spring Training Hitting Camp NEWINGTON — Diamond King Productions is hosting a Spring Training Hitting Camp at USA Training Centers on Saturdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. It will run from Feb. 23 to March 30 and the cost is $300. The camp is for players ages 11 and 12 who want to get ready for the upcoming baseball season. Camp instructors are Ben Hart and Chris Anderson. Hart played Division 1 baseball at both Vermont and UMass Amherst. He ran the video department for the DeMarini Top 96, where he worked closely with hundreds of college coaches breaking down and analyzing baseball mechanics. Anderson was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2006. Since retiring in 2009, Anderson has been involved in coaching throughout the Seacoast.To register, call Hart at 603-969-9034. Coe-Brown coaching openings NORTHWOOD — Coe-Brown Northwood Academy is seeking the following coaches for the 2013-14 school year: girls lacrosse, boys lacrosse, JV boys soccer. Interested candidates should send a letter of interest, resume and three references to Matthew Skidds, Athletic Director, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, 907 First NH Turnpike, Northwood, NH 03261. Email is email@example.com. Dover cheerleaders need volunteer coaches DOVER — Dover Little Green Cheerleading League is seeking volunteer coaches for the 2013 season. DLGC is a non-profit recreational cheer program in Dover. The organization includes cheer teams K-8th grade. As a league the athletes cheer at the Dover Youth Football and Dover Little Green Football games. The season extends from May continuing into November including attendance to 3-6 competitions per season. Applicants must have prior cheer coaching experience, strong communication and interpersonal relation skills, as well as have an affinity towards working with children. CPR/first aid training is required and will be paid for by the league. Interested applicants may contact DLGC at the following email address for additional information and submission of resume. DLGCDoverNH@gmail.com. Cocheco Lacrosse sign-ups DOVER _ Registration is now open for the 2013 season of the fastest game on two feet. Girls and boys teams for pre-K through U15. Sign up by Feb. 28 to lock in last year’s prices. Visit www.cochecolacrosse.org for more information on the program and to register. CBNA softball clinics NORTHWOOD — The Coe-Brown Northwood Academy varsity softball team is hosting a clinic on Saturday, March 9 and 16, from 12 to 2 p.m. for players in grades 5 to 8 at Coe-Brown. The cost of the clinic is $30 for both sessions. The clinic is designed as “hands on” instruction where young players will learn the skills necessary to be a successful softball player. The participants will work on the fundamentals of pitching, hitting, throwing and fielding by interacting with the CBNA coaching staff and the varsity team. For more information and to sign up please email coach Tenasco at firstname.lastname@example.org or visit us online at coebrown.org and click on the athletic link for the clinic brochure. Same-day registrations accepted.
Woodlands Church believes that church should be engaging and fun, calling it "The Best Hour of Your Week". We strive to eliminate the barriers of boredom, unfriendliness and fear that keep people from experiencing a relationship with Jesus Christ. Pastor Kerry Shook's messages are relevant, and his illustrations memorable. Wherever you are, you can find a location near you. Woodlands Church has campuses through out the Houston area and world wide on the Internet and through our TV Broadcast ministry. Come experience a casual and relaxed atmosphere with innovative messages and presentations.Locations & Service Times Enjoy great hymns of the faith, Gospel favorites, reverent worship, and dynamic preaching from Pastor Kerry. Come early for donuts and coffee. Sundays at 9:00am in The Chapel in the Woods. Experience Woodlands Church in a new way. SundayPM uses Twitter to create an interactive worship experience. After each message, Pastor Kerry will take time to answer questions or discuss comments that have come in during the message. Sundays at 6:00pm in the Main Worship Auditorium. Woodlands Church Online Thousands worship with Woodlands Church each weekend from across the United States and around the world through our Woodlands Church Online Internet campus. The online worship experience includes live teaching from Pastor Kerry Shook, powerful worship music, interactive chat and prayer. This all streams live to your computer, smart phone, or tablet device from our Fellowship Campus in The Woodlands, TX.Watch Online Life changing messages from Pastor Kerry Shook are broadcast around the world on TBN, Daystar, The Inspiration Network, Armed Forces Network, and many more local networks.View TV Listings
Scalby is a pretty village on the outskirts (3 miles) of the town of Scarborough & on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. An ideal base for walkers, cyclists and golfers.Scarborough is England's oldest seaside resort and for entertainment amongst many other things there is Alan Aykbourne's famous Stephen Joseph Theatre & The Spa which hosts daily musical performances.We are close to Whitby, Bridlington & Filey & the inland towns of Malton & Pickering and 40 miles from York Nearby Points of Interest - Scarborough Castle (4 mi) - Castle set on cliff headland with superb views over Scarborough and towards Flamborough Head - Goathland/Grosmont (15 mi) - Goathland is where 'ITV's Heartbeat' is filmed on the Yorkshire moors from after visiting the Aidensfield arms village stores etc you can take walks through beautiful wooded countryside or take a ride on the steam train to Pickering stopping at grosmont (Hogsmede station in the Harry Potter books) - North York Moors National Park (0.7 mi) - One of England's most popular national parks. - Scarborough Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary (1.7 mi) - A place to experience close encounters with a whole host of sea life. - The Stephen Joseph Theatre (3.7 mi) - First 'theatre in the round' in the UK - Walking/Cycling (1 mi) - There are many trailways on our doorstep including the famous Cleveland Way. - Golf - Ganton Golf Club (11.7 mi) - Ganton is among the best of Britain's inland golf courses. - Amenities (1 mi) - Supermarket 1 mile Chemist 1 mile Bank/ATM 1 mile Petrol station 1 mile Travelling from south take the A64 to Scarborough then A171 Scarborough to Whitby when you see the sign to Scalby village (tennis courts on right) go past this and take 3rd turning left into barmoor lane go down hill into dip and see duck pond on right we are the drive on right after duck pond. from north A171 whitby to Scarborough road go through villages of Cloughton and then Burniston. over the mini roundabout at Burniston (Jolly sailors pub on left) a mile on left turn into BarmoorLane A64 into Scarborough then A171 Scarborough - Whitby third turn left PAST sign to Scalby village down hill we are 1st drive right after the duck pond Take A171 Whitby to Scarborough through the village of Cloughton then onto Burniston over mini roundabout a mile on turn right into Barmoor Lane down the hill we are 1st right after duck pond Scarborough Railway Station(2.6mi, 4.2km) Start out at Scarborough Railway Station. Turn right onto the A171 and at roundabout take the 2nd exit onto the A171 (signposted Town Centre). At mini-roundabout turn left onto the A171 (signposted Town Centre, York, Bridlington) and continue forward onto the A171 (signposted Town Centre). At traffic signals turn right onto the A165 (signposted Bridlington) and at the next traffic signals turn right onto the A171 (signposted York A64) you will then arrive at Foulsyke Farm.
Alphabetic Index : A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z \|— Metropolitan municipality —\| \|Clockwise from top: The Golden Horn between Galata and the Sarayburnu; the Maslak financial district; İstiklal Avenue; Haydarpaşa Terminal; and Sultan Ahmed Mosque\| \|IstanbulLocation in Turkey\| \|Coordinates: 41°00′49″N 28°57′18″E / 41.01361°N 28.955°E / 41.01361; 28.955\| \|c. 660 BC\| \|Kadir Topbaş (AKP)\| \|5,343 km2 (2,063 sq mi)\| \|• Density\|\|2,523/km2 (6,530/sq mi)\| \|Demonym\|\|Istanbulite(s) (Turkish: İstanbullu(lar))\| \|34000 to 34850\| \|(+90) 212 (European side) (+90) 216 (Asian side)\| \|Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality\| Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.5 million, the city forms one of the largest urban agglomerations in Europe and is among the largest cities in the world by population within city limits. Istanbul's vast area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province, of which the city is the administrative capital. Istanbul is a transcontinental city, straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives in Asia. Founded on the Sarayburnu promontory around 660 BC as Byzantium, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires: the Roman Empire (330–395), the Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold and the seat of the last caliphate. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital in Ankara, palaces and imperial mosques still line Istanbul's hills as visible reminders of the city's previous central role. Istanbul's strategic position along the historic Silk Road, rail networks to Europe and the Middle East, and the only sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean have helped foster an eclectic populace, although less so since the establishment of the Republic in 1923. Overlooked for the new capital during the interwar period, the city has since regained much of its prominence. The population of the city has increased tenfold since the 1950s, as migrants from across Anatolia have flocked to the metropolis and city limits have expanded to accommodate them. Arts festivals were established at the end of the 20th century, while infrastructure improvements have produced a complex transportation network. Seven million foreign visitors arrived in Istanbul in 2010, when it was named a European Capital of Culture, making the city the world's tenth-most-popular tourist destination. The city's biggest draw remains its historic center, partially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but its cultural and entertainment hub can be found across the city's natural harbor, the Golden Horn, in the Beyoğlu district. Considered a global city, Istanbul hosts the headquarters of many Turkish companies and media outlets and accounts for more than a quarter of the country's gross domestic product. Hoping to capitalize on its revitalization and rapid expansion, Istanbul is currently bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The first known name of the city is Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον, Byzántion), originating from the name of the king, Byzas, whose colony founded it around 660 BC. After Constantine the Great made it the new eastern capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD, the city became widely known as Constantinopolis (Constantinople), which, as the Latinized form of "Κωνσταντινούπολις" (Kōnstantinoúpolis), means the "City of Constantine". He also attempted to promote the name Nea Roma ("New Rome"), but this did not attain widespread usage. Constantinople remained the most common name for the city in the West until the establishment of the Turkish Republic, and Kostantiniyye (Ottoman Turkish قسطنطينيه) was the primary name used by the Ottomans during their rule. Nevertheless, the use of Constantinople to refer to the city during the Ottoman period (from the mid-15th century) is now considered politically incorrect, even if not historically inaccurate, by Turks. By the 19th century, the city had acquired a number of other names used by either foreigners or Turks. Europeans used Constantinople to refer to the whole of the city, but used the name Stamboul—as the Turks also did—to describe the walled peninsula between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. Pera (from the Greek word for "across") was used to describe the area between the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, but Turks also used the name Beyoğlu, which is still in use today. Islambol (meaning either "City of Islam" or "Full of Islam") was sometimes colloquially used to refer to the city, and was even engraved on some Ottoman coins, but the belief that it was the precursor to the present name, İstanbul, is belied by the fact that the latter existed well before the former and even predates the Ottoman and Muslim conquest of the city. Etymologically, the name İstanbul (Turkish pronunciation: , colloquially ) derives from the Medieval Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" (pronounced ), which means "in the city" or "to the city". This reflected its status as the only major city in the vicinity, much in the same way people today often colloquially refer to their nearby urban centers as "the City". An alternative view is that the name evolved directly from the name Constantinople, with the first and third syllables dropped. In modern Turkish, the name is written as İstanbul, with a dotted İ, as the Turkish alphabet distinguishes between a dotted and dotless I. Also, while in English the stress is on the first syllable (Is), in Turkish it is on the second syllable (tan). İstanbul was officially adopted as the sole name of the city in 1930. A person from the city is an İstanbullu (plural: İstanbullular), although Istanbulite is used in English.History Main article: History of IstanbulRemains of a Byzantine column found at Byzantium's acropolis, located today within the Topkapı Palace complex Neolithic artifacts, dating back to the 7th millennium BC and uncovered by archaeologists at the beginning of the 21st century AD, indicate Istanbul's historic peninsula was settled earlier than previously thought and before the Bosphorus was even formed. Before the discovery, conventional wisdom held that Thracian tribes, including the Phrygians, began settling on the Sarayburnu in the late 6th millennium BC. On the Asian side, artifacts originating around the 4th millennium BC have been found in Fikirtepe (within Kadıköy). The same location was the site of a Phoenician trading post at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC as well as the town of Chalcedon, which was established in c. 680 BC. However, the history of Istanbul generally begins around 660 BC, when settlers from Megara, under the command of King Byzas, established Byzantium on the European side of the Bosphorus. The settlers proceeded to build an acropolis adjacent to the Golden Horn on the site of the early Thracian settlements, fueling the nascent city's economy. The city experienced a brief period of Persian rule at the turn of the 5th century BC, but the Greeks recaptured it during the Greco-Persian Wars. Byzantium then continued as part of the Athenian League and its successor, the Second Athenian Empire, before ultimately gaining independence in 355 BC. Long allied with the Romans, Byzantium officially became a part of the Roman Empire in 73 AD. Byzantium's decision to side with the usurper Pescennius Niger against Roman Emperor Septimius Severus cost it dearly; by the time it surrendered at the end of 195 AD, two years of siege had left the city devastated. Still, five years later, Severus began to rebuild Byzantium, and the city regained—and, by some accounts, surpassed—its previous prosperity.Rise and fall of Constantinople Main article: Constantinople Constantine the Great effectively became the emperor of the whole of the Roman Empire in September 324. Two months later, Constantine laid out the plans for a new, Christian city to replace Byzantium. As the eastern capital of the empire, the city was named Nea Roma; however, most simply called it Constantinople, a name that persisted into the 20th century. Six years later, on 11 May 330, Constantinople was proclaimed the capital of an empire that eventually became known as the Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire.Created in 1422 by Cristoforo Buondelmonti, this is the oldest surviving map of Constantinople. The establishment of Constantinople served as one of Constantine's most lasting accomplishments, shifting Roman power eastward as the city became a center of Greek culture and Christianity. Numerous churches were built across the city, including the Hagia Sophia, which remained the world's largest cathedral for a thousand years. Other improvements to the city undertaken by Constantine included a major renovation and expansion of the Hippodrome of Constantinople; accommodating tens of thousands of spectators, the hippodrome became central to civic life and, in the 5th and 6th centuries, the epicenter of episodes of unrest, including the Nika riots. Constantinople's location also ensured its existence would stand the test of time; for many centuries, its walls and seafront protected Europe against invaders from the east and the advance of Islam. During most of the Middle Ages, the latter part of the Byzantine era, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city on the European continent and at times the largest in the world. Constantinople began to decline after the Fourth Crusade, during which it was sacked and pillaged. The city subsequently became the center of the Latin Empire, created by Catholic crusaders to replace the Orthodox Byzantine Empire. However, the Latin Empire was short-lived, and the Byzantine Empire was restored, albeit weakened, in 1261. Constantinople's churches, defenses, and basic services were in disrepair, and its population had dwindled to a hundred thousand from up to half a million during the 8th century. Various economic and military policies instituted by Andronikos II, such as the reduction of military forces, weakened the empire and left it more vulnerable to attack. In the mid-14th century, the Ottoman Turks began a strategy of taking smaller towns and cities over time, cutting off Constantinople's supply routes and strangling it slowly. Finally, on 29 May 1453, after an eight-week siege (during which the last Roman emperor, Constantine XI, was killed), Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" captured Constantinople and declared it the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. Hours later, the sultan rode to the Hagia Sophia and summoned an imam to proclaim the Islamic creed, converting the grand cathedral into an imperial mosque.Ottoman and Turkish eraSüleymaniye Mosque is one of several mosques in Istanbul designed by Mimar Sinan. Following the fall of Constantinople, Mehmed II immediately set out to revitalize the city, by then also known as Istanbul. He urged the return of those who had fled the city during the siege, and forcibly resettled Muslims, Jews, and Christians from other parts of Anatolia. The sultan invited people from all over Europe to his capital, creating a cosmopolitan society that persisted through much of the Ottoman period. Meanwhile, Mehmed II repaired the city's damaged infrastructure, began to build the Grand Bazaar, and constructed Topkapı Palace, the sultan's official residence. The Ottomans quickly transformed the city from a bastion of Christianity to a symbol of Islamic culture. Religious foundations were established to fund the construction of grand imperial mosques, often adjoined by schools, hospitals, and public baths. The Ottoman Dynasty claimed the status of caliphate in 1517, with Istanbul remaining the capital of this last caliphate for four centuries. Suleiman the Magnificent's reign from 1520 to 1566 was a period of especially great artistic and architectural achievement; chief architect Mimar Sinan designed several iconic buildings in the city, while Ottoman arts of ceramics, calligraphy, and miniature flourished. The total population of Istanbul amounted to 570,000 by the end of the 18th century. A period of rebellion at the start of the 19th century led to the rise of the progressive Sultan Mahmud II and eventually to the Tanzimat period, which produced political reforms and allowed new technology to be introduced to the city. Bridges across the Golden Horn were constructed during this period, and Istanbul was connected to the rest of the European railway network in the 1880s. Modern facilities, such as a stable water network, electricity, telephones, and trams, were gradually introduced to Istanbul over the following decades, although later than to other European cities. Still, the modernization efforts were not enough to forestall the decline of the Ottoman regime.The Greek battleship Lemnos and torpedo boat Dafni off the shores of Istanbul during the occupation of the city In the early 20th century, the Young Turk Revolution disposed of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and a series of wars plagued the ailing empire's capital. The last of these, World War I, resulted in the British, French, and Italian occupation of Istanbul. The final Ottoman sultan, Mehmed VI, was exiled in November 1922; the following year, the occupation of Istanbul ended with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne and the recognition of the Republic of Turkey, declared by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In the early years of the republic, Istanbul was overlooked in favor of Ankara, selected as Turkey's capital to distance the new, secular country from its Ottoman history. However, starting from the late 1940s and early 1950s, Istanbul underwent great structural change, as new public squares, boulevards, and avenues were constructed throughout the city, sometimes at the expense of historical buildings. The population of Istanbul began to rapidly increase in the 1970s, as people from Anatolia migrated to the city to find employment in the many new factories that were built on the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis. This sudden, sharp rise in the city's population caused a large demand for housing development, and many previously outlying villages and forests became engulfed into the metropolitan area of Istanbul.Geography Further information: Geography of Turkey and Geology of TurkeySatellite view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus Istanbul is located in northwestern Turkey within the Marmara Region on a total area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi). The Bosphorus, which connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, divides the city into a European, Thracian side—comprising the historic and economic centers—and an Asian, Anatolian side. The city is further divided by the Golden Horn, a natural harbor bounding the peninsula where the former Byzantium and Constantinople were founded. The confluence of the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus, and the Golden Horn at the heart of present-day Istanbul has deterred attacking forces for thousands of years and still remains a prominent feature of the city's landscape. Following the model of Rome, the historic peninsula is said to be characterized by seven hills, each topped by imperial mosques. The easternmost of these hills is the site of Topkapı Palace on the Sarayburnu. Rising from the opposite side of the Golden Horn is another, conical hill, where the modern Beyoğlu district is situated. Because of the topography, buildings in Beyoğlu were once constructed with the help of terraced retaining walls, and roads were laid out in the form of steps. Üsküdar on the Asian side exhibits similarly hilly characteristics, with the terrain gradually extending down to the Bosphorus coast, but the landscape in Şemsipaşa and Ayazma is more abrupt, akin to a promontory. The highest point in Istanbul is Çamlıca Hill, with an altitude of 288 meters (945 ft).Faults in western Turkey are concentrated just southwest of Istanbul, under the Sea of Marmara and northern Aegean Sea. Istanbul is situated near the North Anatolian Fault, close to the boundary between the African and Eurasian Plates. This fault zone, which runs from northern Anatolia to the Sea of Marmara, has been responsible for several deadly earthquakes throughout the city's history. Among the most devastating of these seismic events was the 1509 earthquake, which caused a tsunami that broke over the walls of the city and killed more than 10,000 people. More recently, in 1999, an earthquake with its epicenter in nearby İzmit left 18,000 people dead, including 1,000 people in Istanbul's suburbs. The people of Istanbul remain concerned that an even more catastrophic seismic event may be in the city's near future, as thousands of structures recently built to accommodate Istanbul's rapidly increasing population may not have been constructed properly. Seismologists say the risk of a 7.6-magnitude or greater earthquake striking Istanbul by 2030 is more than 60 percent.Climate Istanbul is characterized as having a Mediterranean climate, according to the updated Köppen–Geiger classification system. However, due to its vast size, diverse topography, and maritime location, Istanbul exhibits microclimates. Northern parts of the city express characteristics of an oceanic climate because of humidity from the Black Sea and the relatively high concentration of vegetation. The climate in the populated areas of the city in the south is warmer and less affected by humidity.Fog, seen here shrouding the Levent business district, frequently forms in the morning. Indeed, one of the most salient characteristics of the climate in parts of Istanbul is its persistently high humidity, which reaches 80 percent most mornings. Because of these conditions, fog is very common, although more so in northern parts of the city and away from the city center. Notably dense fog events that disrupt transportation in the region, including on the Bosphorus, are perennial occurrences during the autumn and winter months, when the humidity remains high into the afternoon. The humid conditions and the fog tend to dissipate by midday during the summer months, but the lingering humidity still has the effect of exacerbating the moderately high summer temperatures. During these summer months, high temperatures average around 29 °C (84 °F) and rainfall is uncommon; there are only about fifteen days with measurable precipitation between June and August. Nevertheless, despite the low precipitation, the summer months also have the highest concentration of thunderstorms. Winter is colder in Istanbul than in other cities around the Mediterranean basin, with low temperatures averaging 4–5 °C (39–41 °F). Lake-effect snow from the Black Sea is common, although difficult to forecast, with the potential to be heavy and—as with the fog—disruptive to the city's infrastructure. Spring and autumn are mild, but often wet and unpredictable; chilly winds from the northwest and warm gusts from the south—sometimes in the same day—tend to cause fluctuations in temperature. Overall, Istanbul has an annual average of 115 days with significant precipitation, which amounts to 852 millimeters (33.5 in) per year. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in the city are 40.5 °C (105 °F) and −16.1 °C (3 °F), respectively. The highest amount of rainfall recorded in a single day is 227 millimeters (8.9 in), whereas the highest recorded snow cover is 80 centimeters (31 in). \|9.3 (48.7)\|\|9.7 (49.5)\|\|12.1 (53.8)\|\|17.0 (62.6)\|\|22.1 (71.8)\|\|26.9 (80.4)\|\|29.4 (84.9)\|\|29.2 (84.6)\|\|25.5 (77.9)\|\|20.2 (68.4)\|\|15.2 (59.4)\|\|11.2 (52.2)\|\|18.98 (66.17)\| \|4.2 (39.6)\|\|4.0 (39.2)\|\|5.5 (41.9)\|\|9.3 (48.7)\|\|13.5 (56.3)\|\|18.0 (64.4)\|\|20.4 (68.7)\|\|20.5 (68.9)\|\|17.4 (63.3)\|\|13.6 (56.5)\|\|9.3 (48.7)\|\|6.2 (43.2)\|\|11.83 (53.29)\| \|100.9 (3.972)\|\|80.9 (3.185)\|\|69.6 (2.74)\|\|45.4 (1.787)\|\|35.5 (1.398)\|\|37.5 (1.476)\|\|39.0 (1.535)\|\|46.3 (1.823)\|\|62.9 (2.476)\|\|100.7 (3.965)\|\|108.6 (4.276)\|\|124.7 (4.909)\|\|852 (33.54)\| \|Source: Turkish State Meteorological Service (all exc. rain data: 1970–2011; rain data: 1970–2010)\| \|UNESCO World Heritage Site\| \|I, II, III, IV\| \|Europe and North America\| \|1985 (9th Session)\| \|* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO\| The Fatih district corresponds to what was, until the Ottoman conquest, the whole of the city, across from which stood the Genoese citadel of Galata. Those Genoese fortifications were largely demolished in the 19th century, leaving only the Galata Tower, to make way for northward expansion of the city. Galata is now a part of the Beyoğlu district, which forms Istanbul's commercial and entertainment center around Taksim Square. Dolmabahçe Palace, the seat of government during the late Ottoman period, is located in Beşiktaş, just north of Beyoğlu, across from BJK İnönü Stadium, home to Turkey's oldest football club. The former village of Ortaköy is situated within Beşiktaş and provides its name to the Ortaköy Mosque, along the Bosphorus near the First Bosphorus Bridge. Lining the shores of the Bosphorus north of there are yalıs, luxurious chalet mansions originally built by 19th-century aristocrats and elites as summer homes. Farther inland, outside the city's inner ring road, are Levent and Maslak, Istanbul's primary economic centers.Originally outside the city, yalı residences along the Bosphorus are now homes in some of Istanbul's elite neighborhoods. During the Ottoman period, Üsküdar and Kadıköy were outside the scope of urban Istanbul, serving as tranquil outposts with seaside yalıs and gardens. However, during the second half of the 20th century, the Asian side experienced massive urban growth; the late development of this part of the city led to better infrastructure and tidier urban planning when compared with most other residential areas in the city. Much of the Asian side of the Bosphorus functions as a suburb of the economic and commercial centers in European Istanbul, accounting for a third of the city's population but only a quarter of its employment. As a result of Istanbul's exponential growth during the 20th century, a significant portion of the city is composed of gecekondular (literally "built overnight"), referring to illegally constructed squatter buildings. At present, some gecekondu areas are being gradually demolished and replaced by modern mass-housing compounds. Istanbul does not have a primary urban park, unlike other large cities, but it does have a number of green areas. Gülhane Park and Yıldız Park were originally included within the grounds of two of Istanbul's palaces—Topkapı Palace and Yıldız Palace—but they were repurposed as public parks in the early decades of the Turkish Republic. Another park, Fethi Paşa Korusu, is situated on a hillside adjacent to the Bosphorus Bridge in Anatolia, opposite Yıldız Palace. Along the European side, and closer to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, is Emirgan Park; originally a private estate belonging to Ottoman leaders, the 47-hectare (120-acre) park is known for its diversity of plants and an annual tulip festival held since 2005. Popular during the summer among Istanbulites is Belgrad Forest, spreading across 5,500 hectares (14,000 acres) at the northern edge of the city. The forest originally supplied water to the city and remnants of reservoirs used during Byzantine and Ottoman times still survive.Architecture Main article: Architecture of IstanbulOriginally a church, later a mosque, and now a museum, the Hagia Sophia was built by Justinian in the 6th century. Istanbul is primarily known for its Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, but its buildings reflect the various peoples and empires that have previously ruled the city. Examples of Genoese and Roman architecture remain visible in Istanbul alongside their Ottoman counterparts. While nothing of the architecture of the classical Greek period has survived, Roman architecture has proved to be more durable. Obelisks from the Hippodrome of Constantinople are still visible in Sultanahmet Square, while a section of the Valens Aqueduct, constructed in the late 4th century, stands relatively intact at the western edge of the Fatih district. The Column of Constantine, erected in 330 AD to mark the new Roman capital, still stands not far from the Hippodrome. Early Byzantine architecture followed the classical Roman model of domes and arches, but improved upon these elements, as in the Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus. The oldest surviving Byzantine church in Istanbul—albeit in ruins—is the Monastery of Stoudios (later converted into the Imrahor Mosque), which was built in 454. After the recapture of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantines enlarged two of the most important churches still extant, Chora Church and Pammakaristos Church. Still, the pinnacle of Byzantine architecture, and one of Istanbul's most iconic structures, is the Hagia Sophia. Topped by a dome 31 meters (102 ft) in diameter, the Hagia Sophia stood as the world's largest cathedral for more than a thousand years, before being converted into a mosque and, as it stands now, a museum. Among the oldest surviving examples of Ottoman architecture in Istanbul are the Anadoluhisarı and Rumelihisarı fortresses, which assisted the Ottomans during their siege of the city. Over the next four centuries, the Ottomans proceeded to make an indelible impression on the skyline of Istanbul, building towering mosques and ornate palaces. The largest palace, Topkapı, includes a diverse array of architectural styles, from Baroque inside the Harem, to its Neoclassical Enderûn Library. The imperial mosques include Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque), Süleymaniye Mosque, and Yeni Mosque, all of which were built at the peak of the Ottoman Empire, in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the following centuries, and especially after the Tanzimat reforms, Ottoman architecture was supplanted by European styles. Areas around İstiklal Avenue were filled with grand European embassies and rows of buildings in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles, which went on to influence the architecture of a variety of structures in Beyoğlu—including churches, stores, and theaters—and official buildings such as Dolmabahçe Palace.AdministrationIstanbul's districts extend far from the city center, along the full length of the Bosphorus (with the Black Sea at top and the Sea of Marmara at bottom). Since 2004, Istanbul has been one of only two cities in Turkey (the other being İzmit) whose city boundaries are concurrent with the boundaries of its province. The city, considered capital of Istanbul Province, is administered by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (MMI), which oversees the thirty-nine districts of the city-province. The current city structure can be traced back to the Tanzimat period of reform in the 19th century, before which Islamic judges and imams led the city under the auspices of the Grand Vizier. Following the model of French cities, this religious system was replaced by a mayor and a citywide council composed of representatives of the confessional groups (millet) across Istanbul. Beyoğlu was the first area of the city to have its own director and council, with members instead being longtime residents of the neighborhood. Laws enacted after the Ottoman constitution of 1876 aimed to expand this structure across the city, imitating the twenty arrondissements of Paris, but they were not fully implemented until 1908, when Istanbul was declared a province with nine constituent districts. This system continued beyond the founding of the Turkish Republic, with the province renamed a belediye (municipality), but the municipality was disbanded in 1957. Small settlements adjacent to major population centers in Turkey, including Istanbul, were merged into their respective primary cities during the early 1980s, resulting in metropolitan municipalities. The main decision-making body of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is the Municipal Council, with members drawn from district councils. The Municipal Council is responsible for citywide issues, including managing the budget, maintaining civic infrastructure, and overseeing museums and major cultural centers. Since the government operates under a "powerful mayor, weak council" approach, the council's leader—the metropolitan mayor—has the authority to make swift decisions, often at the expense of transparency. The Municipal Council is advised by the Metropolitan Executive Committee, although the Committee also has limited power to make decisions of its own. All representatives on the Committee are appointed by the metropolitan mayor and the Council, with the mayor—or someone of his or her choosing—serving as head.The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality City Hall, built in 1953, is in the Fatih district. Meanwhile, district councils are chiefly responsible for waste management and construction projects within their respective districts. They each maintain their own budgets, although the metropolitan mayor reserves the right to review district decisions. One-fifth of all district council members, including the district mayors, also represent their districts in the Municipal Council. All members of the district councils and the Municipal Council, including the metropolitan mayor, are elected to five-year terms. Representing the Justice and Development Party, Kadir Topbaş has been Mayor of Istanbul since March 2004. With the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Istanbul Province having equivalent jurisdictions, few responsibilities remain for the provincial government. Similar to the MMI, the Istanbul Special Provincial Administration has a governor, a democratically elected decision-making body—the Provincial Parliament—and an appointed Executive Committee. Mirroring the executive committee at the municipal level, the Provincial Executive Committee includes a secretary-general and leaders of departments that advise the Provincial Parliament. The Provincial Administration's duties are largely limited to the building and maintenance of schools, residences, government buildings, and roads, and the promotion of arts, culture, and nature conservation. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu has been Governor of Istanbul Province since May 2010.Demographics See also: Demographics of Turkey \|Sources: Chandler 1987, Morris 2010, and Turan 2010 Pre-Republic figures estimated\| Throughout most of its history, Istanbul has ranked among the largest cities in the world. By 500 AD, Constantinople had somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000 people, edging out its predecessor, Rome, for world's largest city. Constantinople jostled with other major historical cities, such as Baghdad and Chang'an, for the position of world's most populous city until the 13th century. While it never returned to being the world's largest, it remained Europe's largest city from not long after the Fall of Constantinople until the start of the 19th century, when it was surpassed by London. Today, it still forms one of the largest urban agglomerations in Europe, alongside Moscow. The Turkish Statistic Institute estimates that the population of Istanbul was 13,483,052 on 31 December 2011, making it the largest city in Turkey, with 18 percent of the country's population. Because of its vast land area, Istanbul is among the five most populous cities proper in the world, even though its metropolitan area—roughly equivalent to the city proper—ranks below fifteenth. The city's annual population growth of 3.45 percent ranks as the highest among the seventy-eight largest metropolises in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The high population growth mirrors an urbanization trend across the country, as the second- and third-fastest growing OECD metropolises are the Turkish cities of İzmir and Ankara. Istanbul experienced especially rapid growth during the second half of the 20th century, with its population increasing tenfold between 1950 and 2000. This growth in population comes, in part, from an expansion of city limits—particularly between 1980 and 1985, when the number of Istanbulites nearly doubled. The remarkable growth was, and still is, largely fueled by migrants from eastern Turkey seeking employment and improved living conditions. The number of residents of Istanbul originating from seven northern and eastern provinces is greater than the populations of their entire respective provinces; notably, Sivas and Kastamonu each account for more than half a million residents of Istanbul. Istanbul's foreign population, by comparison, is very small, amounting to just 42,228 residents in 2007. Only 28 percent of the city's residents are originally from Istanbul. Istanbul's population density of 2,523 people per square kilometer (6,530/mi2) far exceeds Turkey's 102 people per square kilometer (264/mi2). The most densely populated areas tend to lie to the northwest, west, and southwest of the city center, on the European side; the most densely populated district on the Asian side is Üsküdar.Religious and ethnic groups Main article: Religion in Istanbul See also: Greeks in Turkey, Armenians in Turkey, and Jews in Turkey Istanbul has been a cosmopolitan city throughout much of its history, but it has become more homogenized since the end of the Ottoman Empire. Still, most of Turkey's religious and ethnic minorities remain concentrated in Istanbul. The vast majority of people across Turkey, and in Istanbul, consider themselves Muslim, and more specifically members of the Sunni branch of Islam. Most Sunnis follow the Hanafi school of Islamic thought, although approximately 10 percent of Sunnis follow the Shafi'i school. The largest non-Sunni Muslim sect, accounting for 4.5 million Turks, is the Alevis; a third of all Alevis in the country live in Istanbul. Mystic movements, like Sufism, were officially banned after the establishment of the Turkish Republic, but they still boast numerous followers.Eyüp Sultan Mosque, the resting place of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, is a popular place of pilgrimage. The Patriarch of Constantinople has been designated Ecumenical Patriarch since the 6th century, and has subsequently come to be widely regarded as the leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians. Since 1601, the Patriarchate has been based in Istanbul's Church of St. George. Into the 19th century, the Christians of Istanbul tended to be either Greek Orthodox or members of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Because of a number of events during the 20th century—including the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, a 1942 wealth tax, and the 1955 Istanbul riots—the Greek population, originally centered in Fener and Samatya, has decreased substantially. At the start of the 21st century, Istanbul's Greek population numbered just 3,000 (down from 130,000 in 1923). The Armenian population in Turkey also saw a decline, in part due to the Armenian Genocide, but it has been on the rebound because of recent immigration from Armenia; today, there are between 50,000 and 70,000 Armenians in Istanbul, down from 164,000 in 1913. The largest ethnic minority in Istanbul is the Kurdish community, originating from eastern and southeastern Turkey. Although the Kurdish presence in the city dates back to the early Ottoman period, the influx of Kurds into the city has accelerated since the beginning of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (i.e. since the late 1970s). Between two and four million residents of Istanbul are Kurdish, meaning there are more Kurds in Istanbul than in any other city in the world. The neighborhood of Balat used to be home to a sizable Sephardi Jewish community, first formed during the period of the Spanish Inquisition. Romaniotes and Ashkenazi Jews resided in Istanbul even before the Sephardim, but their proportion has since dwindled; today, just 1 percent of Istanbul's Jews are Ashkenazi. In large part due to emigration to Israel, the Jewish population nationwide dropped from 100,000 in 1950 to just 18,000 in 2005, with the majority of them living in either Istanbul or Izmir. Levantines, Latin Christians who settled in Galata during the Ottoman period, played a seminal role in shaping the culture and architecture of Istanbul during the 19th and early 20th centuries; their population has dwindled, but they still remain in the city in small numbers.Economy Main article: Economy of IstanbulThe Levent business district is home to Istanbul's tallest buildings. With a GDP of US$182 billion in 2008, Istanbul ranked 34th among the world's urban areas in terms of gross domestic product. Istanbul is responsible for 27 percent of Turkey's GDP, with 20 percent of the country's industrial labor force residing in the city. Its GDP per capita and productivity are greater than their national averages by 70 percent and 50 percent, respectively, owing in part to the focus on high-value-added activities. With its high population and significant contribution to the Turkish economy, Istanbul is responsible for two-fifths of the nation's tax revenue. That includes the taxes of thirty billionaires based in Istanbul, the fifth-highest number among cities around the world. As expected for a city of its size, Istanbul has a diverse industrial economy, producing commodities as varied as olive oil, tobacco, transport vehicles, and electronics. Despite having a focus on high-value-added work, its low-value-added manufacturing sector is substantial, representing just 26 percent of Istanbul's GDP, but four-fifths of the city's total exports. In 2005, companies based in Istanbul produced exports worth $41.4 billion and received imports totaling $69.9 billion; these figures were equivalent to 57 percent and 60 percent, respectively, of the national totals. Istanbul is home to Turkey's only securities market, the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Although it was originally established as the Ottoman Stock Exchange in 1866, its importance declined after the Great Depression in the 1930s. It was ultimately reorganized into its current form at the start of 1986, following a series of governmental financial liberalization programs. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Bankalar Caddesi (Banks Street) in Galata was the financial center of the Ottoman Empire, where the Ottoman Stock Exchange was located. Bankalar Caddesi continued to be Istanbul's main financial district until the 1990s, when most Turkish banks began moving their headquarters to the modern central business districts of Levent and Maslak. In 1995, the Istanbul Stock Exchange moved to its current building in the İstinye quarter of the Sarıyer district.As a route to the Black Sea, the Bosphorus is one of the busiest waterways in the world. As the only sea route between the oil-rich Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Bosphorus is one of the busiest waterways in the world; more than 200 million tonnes of oil pass through the strait each year, and the traffic on the Bosphorus is three times that on the Suez Canal. As a result, there have been proposals to build a canal, known as Canal Istanbul, parallel to the strait, on the European side of the city. Istanbul has three major shipping ports—the Port of Haydarpaşa, the Port of Ambarlı, and the Port of Zeytinburnu—as well as several smaller ports and oil terminals along the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. Haydarpaşa, situated at the southeastern end of the Bosphorus, was Istanbul's largest port until the early 2000s. Shifts in operations to Ambarlı since then have left Haydarpaşa running under capacity and with plans to decommission the port. As of 2007, Ambarlı, on the western edge of the urban center, had an annual capacity of 1.5 million TEUs (compared to 354,000 TEUs at Haydarpaşa), making it the fourth-largest cargo terminal in the Mediterranean basin. The Port of Zeytinburnu is advantaged by its proximity to motorways and Atatürk International Airport, and long-term plans for the city call for greater connectivity between all terminals and the road and rail networks. Istanbul is an increasingly popular tourist destination; whereas just 2.4 million foreigners visited the city in 2000, it welcomed 7 million foreign tourists in 2010, making it the world's tenth-most visited city. Istanbul is Turkey's second-largest international gateway, after Antalya, receiving a quarter of the nation's foreign tourists. Istanbul's tourist industry is concentrated in the European side, with 90 percent of the city's hotels located there. Low- and mid-range hotels tend to be located on the Sarayburnu, while higher-end hotels are primarily located in the entertainment and financial centers north of the Golden Horn. Istanbul's seventy museums, the most visited of which are the Topkapı Palace Museum and the Hagia Sophia, bring in $30 million in revenue each year. The city's environmental master plan also notes that there are 17 palaces, 64 mosques, and 49 churches of historical significance in Istanbul.Culture Main article: Culture of Istanbul Istanbul was historically known as a cultural hub, but its cultural scene stagnated after the Turkish Republic shifted its focus toward Ankara. The new national government established programs that served to orient Turks toward musical traditions, especially those originating in Europe, but musical institutions and visits by foreign classical artists were primarily centered in the new capital. Although much of Turkey's cultural scene had its roots in Istanbul, it was not until the 1980s and 1990s that Istanbul reemerged globally as a city whose cultural significance is not solely based on its past glory.The Istanbul Archaeology Museums, founded by Osman Hamdi Bey in 1891, form Turkey's oldest modern museum. By the end of the 19th century, Istanbul had established itself as a regional artistic center, with Turkish, European, and Middle Eastern artists flocking to the city. Despite efforts to make Ankara Turkey's cultural heart, Istanbul had the country's primary institution of art until the 1970s. Furthermore, when additional universities and art journals were founded in Istanbul during the 1980s, artists formerly based in Ankara moved in. Beyoğlu has been transformed into the artistic center of the city, with young artists and older Turkish artists formerly residing abroad finding footing there. Modern art museums, including İstanbul Modern, the Pera Museum, and SantralIstanbul, opened in the 2000s to complement the exhibition spaces and auction houses that have already contributed to the cosmopolitan nature of the city. Still, these museums have yet to attain the popularity of older museums on the historic peninsula, including the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, which ushered in the era of modern museums in Turkey, and the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. The first film screening in Turkey was at Yıldız Palace in 1896, just a year after the technology publicly debuted in Paris. Movie theaters rapidly cropped up in Beyoğlu, with the greatest concentration of theaters being along the street now known as İstiklal Avenue. Istanbul also became the heart of Turkey's nascent film industry, although Turkish films were not consistently developed until the 1950s. Since then, Istanbul has been the most popular location to film Turkish dramas and comedies. While the Turkish film industry ramped up in the second half of the century, it was not until Uzak (2002) and My Father and My Son (2005), both filmed in Istanbul, that the nation's movies began to see substantial international success. Istanbul and its picturesque skyline have also served as a backdrop for a number of foreign films, including Topkapi (1964), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Mission Istaanbul (2008). Coinciding with this cultural reemergence was the establishment of the Istanbul Festival, which began showcasing a variety of art from Turkey and around the world in 1973. From this flagship festival came the International Istanbul Film Festival and the Istanbul International Jazz Festival in the early 1980s. With its focus now solely on music and dance, the Istanbul Festival has been known as the Istanbul International Music Festival since 1994. The most prominent of the festivals that evolved from the original Istanbul Festival is the Istanbul Biennial, held every two years since 1987. While its early incarnations were aimed at showcasing Turkish visual art, it has since opened to international artists and risen in prestige to become among the elite biennales, alongside the Venice Biennale and the São Paulo Art Biennial.Leisure and entertainmentThe Grand Bazaar is one of the largest covered markets in the world. Istanbul has numerous shopping centers, from the historic to the modern. The Grand Bazaar, in operation since 1461, is among the world's oldest and largest covered markets. Mahmutpasha Bazaar is an open-air market extending between the Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian Bazaar, which has been Istanbul's major spice market since 1660. Galleria Ataköy ushered in the age of modern shopping malls in Turkey when it opened in 1987. Since then, malls have become major shopping centers outside the historic peninsula. Akmerkez was awarded the title of Europe's best shopping mall by the International Council of Shopping Centers, while Istanbul Cevahir has been among the continent's largest since opening in 2005. Abdi İpekçi Street in Nişantaşı and Bağdat Avenue on the Anatolian side of the city have evolved into high-end shopping districts. Aside from typical Turkish cuisine like kebab, Istanbul is also famous for its historic seafood restaurants. Many of the city's most popular and upscale seafood restaurants line the shores of the Bosphorus, while the Kumkapı neighborhood along the Sea of Marmara has a pedestrian zone that hosts around fifty fish restaurants. The Princes' Islands, 15 kilometers (9 mi) from the city center, are also popular for their seafood restaurants. Because of their restaurants, historic summer mansions, and tranquil, car-free streets, the Princes' Islands are a popular vacation destination among Istanbulites and foreign tourists. Restaurants featuring foreign cuisines are mainly concentrated in the Beyoğlu district. Residing along İstiklal Avenue is the Çiçek Pasajı, now home to winehouses (known as meyhanes), pubs, and restaurants. While the focus of İstiklal Avenue, originally famous for its taverns, has shifted toward shopping, the nearby Nevizade Street is still lined with winehouses and pubs. Some other neighborhoods around İstiklal Avenue have recently been revamped to cater to Beyoğlu's nightlife, with formerly commercial streets now lined with pubs, cafés, and restaurants playing live music. Other focal points for Istanbul's nightlife include Nişantaşı, Ortaköy, Bebek, and Kadıköy.Sports See also: List of sport facilities in IstanbulWith a capacity of 76,092 spectators, Atatürk Olympic Stadium is Turkey's largest multi-purpose stadium. Istanbul has some of Turkey's oldest—and, by some measures, most successful—sports clubs. Beşiktaş J.K., established in 1903, is considered the oldest of these sports clubs; because of its initial status as Turkey's only club, it occasionally played as the national team. While its football team has seen several periods of dominance in national competition, Istanbul's Galatasaray S.K. and Fenerbahçe S.K. have fared better in international competition and tie for the honor of winning the most Süper Lig championships. Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe have a long-standing rivalry across the Bosphorus, with Galatasaray based in European Istanbul and Fenerbahçe based in the Anatolian part of the city. Istanbul has four basketball teams—Anadolu Efes S.K., Beşiktaş Milangaz, Fenerbahçe Ülker, and Galatasaray Medical Park—that play in the premier-level Turkish Basketball League. Many of Istanbul's sports facilities have been built or upgraded since 2000 to bolster the city's bids for the Summer Olympic Games. Atatürk Olympic Stadium, the largest multi-purpose stadium in Turkey, was completed in 2002 as an IAAF first-class venue for track and field. The stadium hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final and remains the home field of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Fenerbahçe's home field, hosted the 2009 UEFA Cup Final three years after its completion, and Türk Telekom Arena opened in 2011 to replace Ali Sami Yen Stadium as Galatasaray's home turf. All three stadiums are elite Category 4 (formerly five-star) UEFA stadiums.Ülker Sports Arena, completed in 2012, is the home court of Fenerbahçe's basketball teams. The Sinan Erdem Dome, among the largest indoor arenas in Europe, hosted the final of the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and the 2011–12 Euroleague Final Four. Prior to the completion of the Sinan Erdem Dome in 2010, Abdi İpekçi Arena was Istanbul's primary indoor arena, having hosted the finals of EuroBasket 2001. Several other indoor arenas, including the Beşiktaş Milangaz Arena, have also been inaugurated since 2000, serving as the home courts of Istanbul's sports clubs. The most recent of these is the 13,800-seat Ülker Sports Arena, which opened in 2012 as the home court of Fenerbahçe's basketball teams. Despite the construction boom, four consecutive bids for the Summer Olympics—in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012—and national bids for UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016 have ended unsuccessfully. Istanbul is currently bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics, with the host city expected to be announced in September 2013, and is at the center of Turkey's UEFA Euro 2020 bid, on which a decision is expected in early 2014. Istanbul Park was a stop on the World Touring Car Championship circuit and the European Le Mans Series in 2005 and 2006, but the track has not seen either of these competitions since then. Between its opening in 2005 and 2011, Istanbul Park also hosted the annual Turkish Grand Prix; its future remains uncertain due to financial troubles. The Istanbul Sailing Club, established in 1952, hosts a number of races, showcases, and events on the waterways in and around Istanbul each year. The Turkish Offshore Racing Club also hosts major races, with its most prestigious being its race for the Marine Forces Trophy. Istanbul was also an occasional stop on the F1 Powerboat World Championship circuit, although its last appearance on the Bosphorus was in 2000.MediaEstablished in 1948, Hürriyet is one of Turkey's most circulated newspapers. While most state-run radio and television stations are based in Ankara, Istanbul is the primary hub of Turkish media. The industry has its roots in the former Ottoman capital, where the first Turkish newspaper, Takvim-i Vekayi (Calendar of Affairs), was published in 1831. The Cağaloğlu street on which the newspaper was printed, Bâb-ı Âli Street, rapidly became the center of Turkish print media, alongside Beyoğlu across the Golden Horn. Today, Istanbul hosts a wide variety of periodicals. Most nationwide newspapers are based in Istanbul, with simultaneous Ankara and İzmir editions. Istanbul-based Zaman, although only founded in 1986, is Turkey's most widely circulated paper, with a weekly distribution of more than one million. Posta, Hürriyet, Sabah, and Habertürk, which round out the country's top five papers, are all headquartered in Istanbul, boasting more than 200,000 weekly sales each. Hürriyet's English-language edition, The Hürriyet Daily News, has been printed since 1961, but the English-language Today's Zaman, first published by Zaman in 2007, has overtaken it in circulation. Several smaller newspapers, including popular publications like Milliyet and Cumhuriyet, are also based in Istanbul.Headquarters of the state-run TRT's Istanbul radio operations Radio broadcasts in Istanbul date back to 1927, when Turkey's first radio transmission came from atop the Central Post Office in Eminönü. Control of this transmission, and other radio stations established in the following decades, ultimately came under the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), which held a monopoly on radio and television broadcasts between its founding in 1964 and 1990. Today, TRT runs four national radio stations; while these stations have transmitters across the country so each can reach over 90 percent of the country's population, only one—Radio 2—is based in Istanbul. Offering a range of content from educational programming to coverage of sporting events, Radio 2 is the most popular radio station in Turkey. Istanbul's airwaves are the busiest in Turkey, primarily featuring either Turkish-language or English-language content. One of the rare exceptions, offering both, is Açık Radyo (94.9 FM). Among Turkey's first private stations, and the first featuring foreign popular music, was Istanbul's Metro FM (97.2 FM). The state-run Radio 3, although based in Ankara, also features English-language popular music, while English-language news programming is provided on NTV Radyo (102.8 FM). TRT-Children is the only TRT television station based in Istanbul. Regardless, Istanbul is home to the headquarters of a number of Turkish stations and regional headquarters of international media outlets. Istanbul-based Star TV was the first private television network to be established following the end of the TRT monopoly; Star TV and Show TV (also based in Istanbul) remain highly popular throughout the country, airing Turkish and American series. Samanyolu TV, Kanal D, and ATV are other stations in Istanbul that offer a mix of news and series, while NTV (partnered with U.S. media outlet MSNBC) and Sky Turk—both based in the city—are mainly just known for their news coverage in Turkish. The BBC has a regional office in Istanbul, assisting its Turkish-language news operations, while American news channel CNN established the Turkish-language CNN Türk there in 1999.Education Further information: Education in TurkeyMain entrance gate of Istanbul University, the city's oldest Turkish institution Istanbul University, founded in 1453, is the oldest Turkish educational institution in the city. Although originally an Islamic school, the university established law, medicine, and science departments in the 19th century and was secularized after the founding of the Turkish Republic. Istanbul Technical University, founded in 1773 as the Royal School of Naval Engineering, is the world's third-oldest university dedicated entirely to engineering sciences. These public universities are two of just eight across the city; other prominent state universities in Istanbul include the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, which served as Turkey's primary institution of art until the 1970s, and Marmara University, the country's third-largest institution of higher learning. Istanbul Medeniyet University, founded in 2010, is the newest public university, offering two-year degrees through eleven academic departments. While the most established universities in Istanbul are backed by the government, the city has a number of prominent private institutions. The first modern private university in Istanbul was Robert College, founded by a group from the United States in 1863. The tertiary element of its education program has now become the public Boğaziçi University, while the remaining portion in Arnavutköy continues as a boarding school under the name Robert College. Private universities were officially outlawed in Turkey before the Constitution of 1982, but there were already fifteen private "higher schools", which were effectively universities, in Istanbul by 1970. The first private university established in Istanbul since 1982 was Koç University (founded in 1992), and another dozen had opened within the following decade. Today, there are at least thirty private universities in the city, including Istanbul Commerce University and Kadir Has University.Since its higher education section became Boğaziçi University, Robert College has been an American boarding school In 2007, there were about 4,350 schools, about half of which were primary schools; on average, each school had 688 students. In recent years, Istanbul's educational system has expanded substantially; from 2000 to 2007, the number of classrooms and teachers nearly doubled and the number of students increased by more than 60 percent. Galatasaray High School, established in 1481 as the Galata Palace Imperial School, is the oldest high school in Istanbul and the second-oldest educational institution in the city. It was built at the behest of Sultan Bayezid II, who sought to bring students with diverse backgrounds together as a means of further strengthening his growing empire. It is one of Turkey's Anatolian High Schools, elite public high schools that place a stronger emphasis on instruction in foreign languages. Galatasaray, for example, offers instruction in French, while other Anatolian High Schools primarily teach in English or German alongside Turkish. The city also has foreign high schools, such as Liceo Italiano, that were established in the 19th century to educate foreigners. A few of Istanbul's other high schools are notable for their styles of teaching or entrance requirements. Kuleli Military High School, located along the shores of the Bosphorus in Çengelköy, and Turkish Naval High School, located on one of the Princes' Islands, are military high schools, complemented by three military academies—the Turkish Air Force, Turkish Military, and Turkish Naval Academies. Another important school in Istanbul is Darüşşafaka High School, which provides free education to children across the country missing at least one parent. Darüşşafaka begins instruction with the fourth grade, providing instruction in English and, starting in sixth grade, a second foreign language—German or French. Other prominent high schools in the city include Kabataş Erkek Lisesi (founded in 1908) and Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi (founded in 1955).Public services Main article: Utilities in Istanbul Further information: Telecommunications in Turkey and Health care in TurkeyThe Silahtarağa Power Station, now the art museum SantralIstanbul, was Istanbul's sole source of power between 1914 and 1952. Istanbul's first water supply systems date back to the city's early history, when aqueducts (such as the Valens Aqueduct) deposited the water in the city's numerous cisterns. At the behest of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Kırkçeşme water supply network was constructed; by 1563, the network provided 4,200 cubic meters (150,000 cu ft) of water to 158 sites each day. In later years, with the aim of responding to the ever-increasing public demand, water from various springs was channeled to public fountains, like the Fountain of Ahmed III, by means of supply lines. Today, Istanbul has a chlorinated and filtered water supply and a sewage treatment system managed by the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İSKİ). The Silahtarağa Power Station, a coal-fired power plant along the Golden Horn, was the sole source of Istanbul's electricity between 1914, when its first engine room was completed, and 1952. Following the founding of the Turkish Republic, the plant underwent a number of renovations to accommodate the city's increasing demand; its capacity grew from 23 megawatts in 1923 to a peak of 120 megawatts in 1956. Capacity proceeded to decline until the Silahtarağa Power Station reached the end of its economic life and shut down in 1983. The state-run Turkish Electrical Authority (TEK) briefly—between its founding in 1970 and 1984—held a monopoly on the generation and distribution of electricity, but now the authority—since split between the Turkish Electricity Generation Transmission Company (TEAŞ) and the Turkish Electricity Distribution Company (TEDAŞ)—competes with private electric utilities.Istanbul's current central post office dates back to 1909. The Ottoman Ministry of Post and Telegraph was established in 1840 and the first post office, the Imperial Post Office, opened near the courtyard of Yeni Mosque. By 1876, the first international mailing network between Istanbul and the lands beyond the vast Ottoman Empire had been established. Sultan Abdülmecid I issued Samuel Morse his first official honor for the telegraph in 1847, and construction of the first telegraph line—between Istanbul and Edirne—finished in time to announce the end of the Crimean War in 1856. A nascent telephone circuit began to emerge in Istanbul in 1881 and after the first manual telephone exchange became operational in Istanbul in 1909, the Ministry of Post and Telegraph became the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone. Of course, Istanbul's telecommunications infrastructure has developed substantially in the century since. GSM cellular networks arrived in Turkey in 1994, with Istanbul among the first cities to receive the service. Today, mobile and landline service is provided by a number of private companies, after Türk Telekom, which split from the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone in 1995, was privatized in 2005. Postal services remain under the purview of what is now the Post and Telegraph Organization (retaining the initialism PTT). In 2000, Istanbul had 137 hospitals, of which 100 were private. Turkish citizens are entitled to subsidized healthcare in the nation's state-run hospitals. As public hospitals tend to be overcrowded or otherwise slow, private hospitals are preferable for those who can afford them. Their prevalence has increased significantly over the last decade, as the percentage of outpatients using private hospitals increased from 6 percent to 23 percent between 2005 and 2009. Many of these private hospitals, as well as some of the public hospitals, are equipped with high-tech equipment, including MRI machines, or associated with medical research centers. Turkey has more hospitals accredited by the U.S.-based Joint Commission than any other country in the world, with most concentrated in its big cities. The high quality of healthcare, especially in private hospitals, has contributed to a recent upsurge in medical tourism to Turkey (with a 40 percent increase between 2007 and 2008 alone). Laser eye surgery is particularly common among medical tourists, as Turkey is known for specializing in the procedure.Transportation Main article: Public transport in IstanbulThe Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge is one of two suspension bridges on the Bosphorus. Istanbul's primary motorways are the O-1, O-2, O-3, and O-4. The O-1 forms the city's inner ring road, traversing the Bosphorus Bridge, and the O-2 is the city's outer ring road, crossing the Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Second Bosphorus) Bridge. The O-2 continues west to Edirne and the O-4 continues east to Ankara; the O-2, O-3, and O-4 are coterminous with European route E80 (the Trans European Motorway) between Portugal and the Turkish–Iranian border. The two Bosphorus Bridges currently form the only fixed links between the Asian and European sides of Turkey, together carrying 400,000 vehicles each day. The dual-deck, 14.6-kilometer (9.1 mi) Eurasia Tunnel is currently under construction beneath the Bosphorus, between Fatih and Kadıköy. The Third Bosphorus Bridge, first considered in the 1990s, may also finally be coming to fruition, as the project was officially launched in 2012. Both projects may be completed as early as 2015.Istanbul's modern trams are a long way from the horse-drawn trams that debuted in 1872. Istanbul's local public transportation system is a complex network of trams, funiculars, metro lines, buses, bus rapid transit, and ferries. Fares across modes are integrated, using the contactless Istanbulkart, introduced in 2010, or the older Akbil electronic ticket device. Trams in Istanbul date back to 1872, when they were horse-drawn, but even the first electrified trams were decommissioned in the 1960s. Operated by Istanbul Electricity, Tramway, and Tunnel (IETT), trams slowly returned to the city in the 1990s with the introduction of a nostalgic route and a faster modern tram line, which now carries 265,000 passengers each day. The Tünel opened in 1875 as the world's second-oldest subterranean rail line (after London's Metropolitan Railway). It still carries passengers between Karaköy and İstiklal Avenue along a steep 573-meter (1,880 ft) track, while a more modern funicular between Taksim Square and Kabataş began running in 2006. The Istanbul Metro comprises three disconnected lines (the M1, M2, and M4) with several other lines (including the M3) and extensions under construction or proposed. The two sides of Istanbul's metro will ultimately be connected under the Bosphorus when the Marmaray tunnel, the first rail connection of any kind between Thrace and Anatolia, is completed in 2015. Upon its completion, rail use in the city is expected to increase to 28 percent (from just 4 percent), behind only Tokyo and New York City. Until then, buses provide transportation within and between the two halves of the city, accommodating 2.2 million passenger-trips each day. The Metrobus, a form of bus rapid transit, traverses the Bosphorus Bridge, with dedicated lanes leading to its termini. İDO (Istanbul Seabuses) runs a combination of all-passenger ferries and car-and-passenger ferries to ports on both sides of the Bosphorus, as far north as the Black Sea. With additional destinations around the Sea of Marmara, İDO runs the largest municipal ferry operation in the world. The city's main cruise ship terminal is the Port of Istanbul in Karaköy, with a capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour. While most visitors enter Istanbul by air, about half a million foreign tourists enter the city by sea each year.Atatürk International Airport, which handled 37.4 million passengers in 2011, is the city's primary airport. International rail service from Istanbul launched in 1889, with a line between Bucharest and Istanbul's Sirkeci Terminal, which ultimately became famous as the eastern terminus of the Orient Express from Paris. Regular service to Bucharest and Thessaloniki continued until the early 2010s, when the former was interrupted for Marmaray construction and the latter was halted due to economic woes in Greece. After Istanbul's Haydarpaşa Terminal opened in 1908, it served as the western terminus of the Baghdad Railway and an extension of the Hejaz Railway; today, neither service is offered directly from Istanbul. Service to Ankara and other points across Turkey is normally offered by Turkish State Railways, but construction of Marmaray and the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed line forced the station to close in 2012. New stations to replace both the Haydarpaşa and Sirkeci terminals, and connect the city's disjointed railway networks, are expected to open upon completion of the Marmaray project; until then, Istanbul is left without intercity rail service. Private bus companies instead operate routes along—and well beyond—those offered by the rail network. Istanbul's main bus station is the largest in Europe, with a daily capacity of 15,000 buses and 600,000 passengers, serving destinations as far as Frankfurt. Istanbul has two international airports, the larger of which is Atatürk International. Atatürk, located 24 kilometers (15 mi) west of the city center, handled 37.4 million passengers in 2011, making it the eighth-busiest airport in Europe and the thirtieth-busiest in the world. Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, 45 kilometers (28 mi) southeast of the city center, opened in 2001 to relieve Atatürk International. Dominated by low-cost carriers, Istanbul's second airport has rapidly become popular among travelers, especially since inaugurating a new international terminal in 2009; the airport handled 12.7 million passengers in 2011, when Airports Council International named it the world's fastest growing airport. A third airport has been proposed for the Black Sea coast.
An incendiary mix of bitter local rivalry and two teams searching for consistency amid fan disquiet see Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur throw themselves into the bearpit of a North London derby at Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Always a high-octane affair, the lunchtime Premier League clash promises goals, drama and bragging rights but the only thing concerning opposing managers Arsene Wenger and Andre Villas-Boas, however, is securing three points. For clubs with annual top-four and Champions League ambitions, neither is where they want to be after 11 games. Spurs, in their first season under former Chelsea manager Villas-Boas, are in seventh, one point and one place above Wenger's men. The two teams are already 10 and 11 points behind leaders Manchester United respectively. Arsenal blew a two-goal lead at home to Fulham last weekend, forced to settle for a 3-3 draw after Mikel Arteta's penalty was saved in the fifth minute of added time. It was the second successive game that Arsenal had failed to win from two goals to the good after surrendering the lead at Schalke 04 in the Champions League. Wenger said his fragile side needed to defend with "more drive and belief" and, according to the Daily Mail, is considering ditching his trusted 4-3-2-1 formation and playing with five defenders to tighten up Arsenal's leaky defence. Spurs have lost their last two league games at home to Wigan Athletic when they were booed off at White Hart Lane - a defeat described by Villas-Boas as their worst performance of the season - and last weekend at Manchester City. Villas-Boas has a string of injuries to contend with. Right back Kyle Walker, striker Jermain Defoe and winger Aaron Lennon are being assessed after picking up hamstring problems against City, although Spurs are hopeful they will feature. Midfielder Mousa Dembele has not played since October 7 because of a hip injury and is struggling to be fit, while Younes Kaboul, Scott Parker and Benoit Assou-Ekotto remain sidelined. Arsenal walloped their rivals 5-2 in an extraordinary clash at Emirates Stadium in February, scoring five unanswered goals after Spurs led 2-0 after 34 minutes. The season before that, it was Arsenal who led 2-0 after half an hour, only for Spurs to storm back after the break to win 3-2. Wenger and Villas-Boas, along with every other Premier League manager, will be crossing fingers and toes that players do not return injured from midweek international duty. Concerns have long been voiced about the scheduling of international friendlies and the club versus country conflict argument. "When we play this Saturday at 12.45 against Tottenham and Santi Cazorla plays [for Spain] in Panama on Wednesday, you cannot say there is no conflict of interest," Wenger told The Sun newspaper. "What is difficult to understand is why these games are not like the official games and on a Tuesday?" Across the capital, an early season relegation "six-pointer" takes place in West London at Loftus Road where winless and rock-bottom Queens Park Rangers host Southampton, just one point and one place above them. Rangers manager Mark Hughes has been rigidly backed by club owner Tony Fernandes but admitted after last weekend's defeat at Stoke that he had to deliver fast. "I have confidence in the players to turn this round, but it needs to happen next week," Welshman Hughes said in the wake of the Stoke defeat. In the title race, leaders Manchester United visit lowly Norwich City on Saturday, second-placed Manchester City host Aston Villa and Chelsea, in third, are at West Bromwich Albion. Bayern fans snap up 45,000 tickets to watch Champions League final live at Allianz Arena When Sir Alex wakes up on Monday morning without team to manage, he will not be putting his feet up Paris Saint-Germain midfielder announces he will be retiring at the end of the current season Record goal-scorer signs a one-year contract extension with Europa League winners Chelsea Ten years on, the legends speak to FFT Your questions answered by an A to Z of legends He's here, he's there, he's... The cost of Premier League away travel Nike CR7 IX for you FourFourTwo is brought to you by Haymarket Consumer Media & FourFourTwo is part of Haymarket Sport \| International Licensing \| © Haymarket Media Group 2010
Czech Republic will be without captain Tomas Rosicky for this weekend's Euro 2012 warm-up match against Israel due to a calf problem, Czech media reported on Wednesday. The Arsenal midfielder will resume training next week and could play in the June 2 friendly versus Hungary, national team manager Vladimir Smicer told news website iDNES.cz. "Maybe he will be ready for the match against Hungary but we want the bruise on the calf muscle to be healed completely so he is entirely fit for the tournament," Smicer was quoted as The Czechs are counting on Rosicky, once dubbed "Little Mozart" because of his ability to orchestrate the midfield, to lead them at next month's finals in Poland and Ukraine. Rosicky, 31, has scored 20 goals in 85 appearances for hios Czech Republic are in Group A alongside co-hosts Poland, Russia and Greece. Bayern fans snap up 45,000 tickets to watch Champions League final live at Allianz Arena When Sir Alex wakes up on Monday morning without team to manage, he will not be putting his feet up Paris Saint-Germain midfielder announces he will be retiring at the end of the current season Record goal-scorer signs a one-year contract extension with Europa League winners Chelsea Ten years on, the legends speak to FFT Your questions answered by an A to Z of legends He's here, he's there, he's... The cost of Premier League away travel Nike CR7 IX for you FourFourTwo is brought to you by Haymarket Consumer Media & FourFourTwo is part of Haymarket Sport \| International Licensing \| © Haymarket Media Group 2010
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With the severity of the disaster in Slave Lake, as well as the recent wildfires in and around town, I would like to assure the community that the Town of Fox Creek has a very comprehensive Municipal Emergency Response Plan in place. This plan is designed to ensure a prompt and coordinated response for events that extend beyond routine emergencies and maintains an emergency management organization to ensure the safety of the citizens. In the event that a major emergency or disaster occurs, this plan would be activated. The Emergency Operations Centre would be assembled and a Local State of Emergency could be declared. On Saturday, while the Fire Department, Sustainable Resources Development (SRD) and the RCMP were responding to the wildfire in Town, there was a lot going on behind the scene. Our Deputy Director of Disaster Services, Cindy Nielson, was receiving up to date information on the fire from Sustainable Resource Development and it was being communicated to Acting CAO/Administration, Florrie MacLeod, Acting CAO/Operations, Owen Farnel, and the Mayor. Acting CAO/Operations, Owen Farnel, monitored water levels at the pump house and continually relayed information to the Fire Chief and Mayor. The Director of Community Services, Shannon Bray, and Director of Recreation and Parks, Renee Fenwick, key members in the Emergency Response Plan, where on standby. Fortunately, due to the quick actions of the Fire Chief, SRD and the entire Fire Department, the wildfire did not escalate into a disaster. Had the word been given by the Fire Chief to evacuate residents, the Town was ready to activate the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at the Town Administration Office. Once the EOC is activated it is the centre for direct support to execute control over emergency operations. The Public Information Officer would prepare Media Releases with accurate information advising the Town residents of any action that was needed. The Media Releases cover a wide range of local broadcasted radio stations, tv channels and newspapers. The Town of Fox Creek’s Emergency Response Plan is a working document that sets out the rules and guide lines for all major emergencies or disasters in the municipality. The members are well trained and continue to take additional courses. Coincidentally, on May 3 the Town hosted a Basic Emergency Management training session, and had several staff members attend as well as some Fire Department members. On Wednesday, May 18 Acting CAO/Operations, Owen Farnel held a debriefing meeting with the Fire Chief, RCMP, SRD, MD of Greenview and Atco to review the events of the wildfire and to ensure that our plan is up to date. Fox Creek is very fortunate to have such a dedicated group of emergency responders.Print This Post
This is the official blog of Northern Arizona slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Begun in 2002, and transferred to blogspot in 2006, FoxTheBlog has recorded more than 350,000 hits since 2009. This blog cover's Graham's poetry, the Arizona poetry slam community and offers tips for slam poets from sources around the Internet. Read CFG's full biography here. Looking for just that one poem? You know the one ... click here to find it. Thursday, October 1, 2009 Review of "Princess of Cups" on Decker's album "Long Days" "Long Days" track #6. "Princess of Cups" Decker’s sixth track on “Long Days” is “Princess of Cups” and includes the vocals of Decker’s longtime friend Shauna McCoy. “Princess of Cups” is effectively the conclusion to “Song No. 5,” the song before it. After a short, intense relationship with the woman in “Song No. 5,” Decker put the past behind him with this coda that forms the final song in the album’s romantic trilogy. It begins immediately confronting that fact the relationship is over without any suspicion, “I adore you / that's about the last thing I’ve got to say / take it or leave it / you own my heart now anyway.” Of course, it’s not the last thing he has to say as the song continues on. It plays with the imagery of love as a spark of fluttering flame whose smoke now blots out the sun. However, “If I am the fuel, tell me, baby, what could you be if you're not the rain?” “It’s the most poetic song I’ve written,” Decker said. The lyrics also play with the Bible passage of Daniel 2:1-13, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. Decker’s dream is also lost to him but not due to divinity or fear of knowing but from the woman herself. “If all that I’m left with is a memory / I just want to remember your face / the times you were dancing with me / and the dream that I dreamed / before you shook me awake.” “Princess of Cups” is also the cleanest song on the album, formed with just acoustic guitar, the duet of McCoy and Decker and a second vocal track that fades into a near echo as the song reaches the end, figuratively letting go of the relationship. Lyrics for "Princess Of Cups" I adore you. that's about the last thing I’ve got to say. take it or leave it. you own my heart now anyway. if that was a spark, my heart is now a fluttering flame. the smoke from these embers was just about enough to blot out the day to blot out the day. if all that I’m left with is a memory, I just want to remember your face, the times you were dancing with me, and the dream that I dreamed before you shook me awake if that was a spark, I thank you for your mercy when you put out the flame. still, my heart it smolders, just about enough to blot out the day. think what you will. do what you want, I’d never ask you to change. if I am the fuel, tell me, baby, what could you be if you're not the rain? if that was a spark, my heart burns on in perpetual flame the smoke from your fire was just about enough to blot out the day. to blot out the day.
By Thomas Gerbasi LAS VEGAS, December 5 – Roy Nelson came into the Octagon at The Pearl at The Palms Saturday night to the strains of Weird Al Yankovic’s “I’m Fat,” but behind his physique and self-effacing humor lies a real fighter, and ‘Big Country’ proved it with a devastating first round knockout of previously unbeaten Brendan Schaub that earned Nelson The Ultimate Fighter season ten title. “I’m feeling pretty good, a little tired,” smiled the 6-0, 263 pound Nelson, a former heavyweight champion of the now defunct IFL organization who ended his reality show run with a UFC contract. And surprisingly, he didn’t do it with the ground game that led him to victory in his three fights on the Spike TV show; he did it with a standup attack that caught the former Golden Gloves champion by surprise. Schaub’s striking was working beautifully in the opening stages of the fight as he drove Nelson back against the fence. Nelson shook off the shots, got off a wide hook and then was able to get Schaub to the canvas, where he quickly took his trademark side control position. Surprisingly, Schaub found his way free and resumed his striking attack, but the Colorado fighter’s defense was porous, and that was a sign of things to come, as Nelson took Schaub’s punches and kept moving forward, eventually landing with a flush right hand to the temple that sent Schaub down hard to the canvas. A follow up shot finished things off, with referee Herb Dean calling the bout off at the 3:45 mark. “I’m ready to step in with whatever heavyweights we have,” said Nelson. With the win, Nelson improves to 15-4; Schaub falls to 5-1.
Fragtastic Reef is a Reef Aquarium Supply store, and have everything you need to setup your reef aquarium. We carry all the major brands for your reef tank, quality is what matters most. Weather your setting up a saltwater aquarium or maintaining the one you have, we have what you need. We also carry all the reef supplies you need for dosing, supplements, and filters. We sell what we believe works and have used ourselves. When you call, email, or talk and ask questions your not talking to an employee but the Owner. By selling Aquarium Aquatic Supplies online we have the advantage. Most places sell it but never use it, but not with us. We also have a full retail location and purchasing from us is just like supporting a local fish pet store! We are passionate about what we do. I have personally been in the hobby for over 11 years! We started as a hobbist like most others do! Fragtastic Reef is not only an online retailer but also has a store front. Our prices in our store are the same as online. We pride ourselves in providing the best reef supplies Equipment, Foods, and Livestock in the industry. If your new to saltwater aquariums, or an advance hobbist we are always willing to help! Some brands we carry are all listed on our website here, plus we have other Aquatic Supplies in the store also. Reef Octopus, SWC, Ecotech Marine, Tunze, ATI, New Life Spectrum, Marineland, Aqueon Aquariums, Bulk Reef Supply, and much more! If there is anything we would recommend it would be this: "Do it right the first time!" Our reason for this statement is simple. Buying the right equipment, food, and supplies can make or break you in the hobby. If you purchase a cheap skimmer or lighting for example, usually we have found you get undesirable results. This dont mean something thats cheap is not good, but usually will not perform near as good as a nicer model or brand. Equipment for your setup is the most important decisions you have to make. The better the equipment the less likely you will have problems. We offer business and personal aquariums to be maintained by us. Pricing is very competitive and our knowledge is unmatched. We take care of your aquarium like it was our own. Please contact us for pricing or to setup a visit. We can also setup, maintain, or any other needs you may have.
ZF-3513: The "remove" family of methods in Zend_Form et al should not return Boolean The "remove" method family (Zend_Form::removeElement(), Zend_Form_DisplayGroup::removeDecorator(), Zend_Form_Element::removeValidator(), etc) should not return a Boolean but an Object. Either these methods should return the Object they remove or the Object on which the method is called, which is fairly standard behavior for pushing and popping Stack Objects. In languages where garbage collection is an issue, the Stack returns the object popped, so that it can be explicitly destroyed. In a language such as PHP where garbage collection isn't as much of an issue, the Stack should return itself, to allow additional method chaining on itself. In the case of Zend_Form, this latter approach would be invaluable, as a developer could then perform an action such as: $Form = new Zend_Form; $Form->removeDecorator('FormElements')->addDecorator('Fieldset')->addDecorator('FormElements'); echo $Form;
Rental Homes Linden on For Rent By Owner For Rent By Owner Linden - FRBO - specializes in rental homes, homes for rent , vacation rentals and rental houses in Linden. Linden landlords and agents serving the condo market list rental houses Linden , rent houses Linden Michigan, and houses for rent in Linden. These houses for rent are primarily listed by rental house owners in the Linden Michigan area. For Rent By Owner includes both short-term rental homes, long-term homes for rent Linden and vacation homes. We include search critiria allowing you to search by rental type (i.e., short-term, long-term or vacation). Linden Michigan goods could thump and work with your pursual of homes for rent in Linden, Michigan. Modify Search Criteria Homes For Rent Linden Michigan FRBO We have developed an interactive map driven website. Unlike most rental home websites, For rent by owner shows the specific locations of the houses for rent that meet the requirements being searched. The results are also listed in a table allowing renters to easily review the Linden houses for rent. Finding a use For Rent By Owner, third party listing companies book apartment and house lists.If there are too many results for the vacation rentals Linden or homes for rent, you can narrow the results by changing the criteria. Each time you adjust your search criteria, the new homse for rent and their corresponding locations are mapped and the results table is updated with the new houses for rent Linden . Our online website, FRBO.com does take in individual quarter decadent and lake apartments, farmhouses, apartments, and vacation homes. Homes for Lease Linden FRBO.com For Rent By Owner continues to increase the number of Linden rental homes, houses for lease, and vacation homes in our searchable database. Online Mls involve : Linden rental houses houses for rent by owner Linden beach homes in Linden, Michigan short term rentals in Linden If you are looking for your next Linden rental home or vacation rental, you have come to the right place. Our Linden homes for rent are located around the entire area. You can expand the searchable houses for rent in Linden Michigan by selecting a larger range.
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Vanilla is a product of Lussumo:Documentation and Support. 1 to 16 of 16 This year’s Nobel Prize in medicine went to a trio of scientists who discovered the enzyme telomerase, which allows cells to divide without any limits, making them effectively immortal.It may be nature’s greatest double-edged sword. Coax cells into producing telomerase, and they will survive indefinitely, but they will also become cancerous. “In the absence of a comprehensive understanding, it’s very dangerous,” Muller said. “We have to figure out how to do maintenance on our telomeres.”Muller thinks humans could live for 90 to 210 years once scientists know more about the molecular basis of aging.“If we could figure out how to do maintenance, we could extend our lives,” he said. “But it has to be done very carefully, and we’d have to have a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism. ” It really does my heart good to know that I'm part of one of the last generations to not live forever.
Riffing on a theme borrowed from sinkah’s rise and sprawl (the noise piece), k-punk on glampirism. Without wanting to re-open the engagements of the last couple of weeks, it does strike me a) that “Low” is very much the rockist’s choice of 70s Bowie (cards on table, I’m for Aladdin Sane) and b) that the trouble with this Deleuze stuff is in the way you tell it. If Bowie functioned as “a force of reterritorializion” by “fixating upon the most deterrorialized, most intense elements, and ushering them back into the fold of r and r and melody” this also means, as k-punk acknowledges that there must also be deterritorialization (although he doesn’t use the word): “a movement in the opposite direction : listeners sent off on voyages of discovery, flights from the self, invention of artificial identities”. Now I can’t claim to be an expert on this here D&G stuff, but it says here (Mille Plateaux, Introduction, page 10 in English translation): How could movements of deterritorialization and processes of reterritorialization not be relative, always connected, caught up in one another? The orchid deterritorializes by forming an image, a tracing of a wasp; but the wasp reterritorializes on that image. The wasp is nevertheless deterritorialized, becoming a piece of the orchid’s reproductive apparatus. But it reterritorializes the orchid by transporting its pollen. Wasp and orchid, as heterogeneous elements, form a rhizome. It could be said that the orchid imitates the wasp, reproducing its image in a signifying fashion (mimesis, mimicry, lure, etc.). But this is true only on the level of the strata – a parallelism between two strata such that a plant organization on one imitates an animal organization on the other. At the same time, something else entirely is going on: not imitation at all but a capture of code, surplus value of code, an increase in valence, a veritable becoming, a becoming-wasp of the orchid and a becoming-orchid of the wasp. Each of these becomings brings about the deterritorialization of one term and the reterritorialization of the other; the two becomings interlink and form relays in a circulation of intensities pushing the deterritorialization ever further. So my questions are, and perhaps someone who knows about these things could explain to me: 1) [Theoretical question] If the deterritorialization is pushed ever further, doesn’t that mean that the reterritorialization is also pushed ever further? But if so why privilege the first? Doesn’t this confirm that what makes this different from dialectics is the positive value attached to (‘life’) to ‘intensity’, and ultimately to positivity rather than negativity. Is intensity just ‘good’ (surely not, since as D&G say on p. 9: ‘one can never posit a dualism or a dichotomy, even in the rudimentary form of the good and the bad’. 2) [Bowie question] How does the model work for Bowie? Why isn’t the use of the experimental elements in pop the deterritorialization of the avant-garde rather than its re-territorialization? Surely on the D&G account given above, it must be both deterritorialization of one on the other, and vice versa? The avant-garde is deterritorialized, becoming part of the pop market’s commercial reproductive apparatus; and pop reterritorializes on it; but pop is deterritorializing too, and the avant-garde reterritorializing. I can’t find the analogies to explain this since I don’t know the D&G system well enough, but it does seem to me axiomatic that the process goes both ways at once, and that this defines what they’re trying to describe: the becoming pop of the avant-garde, and the becoming avant-garde of pop. a) now if this isn’t dialectics, what is it? and b) why isn’t this what mark s has been arguing?
Release Notes: This release corrects a few bugs relating to compatibility with PostgreSQL 8.0, printing purchase orders, and generating sales orders. All testers are urged to upgrade before reporting bugs. Release Notes: This release corrects some errors in the install documentation. Template support for embedded Perl code was dropped. Release Notes: This release corrects a number of data access bugs, including those that prevent the database from being created on remote database servers. Release Notes: This release fixes one data access bug in the reconcilliation feature. Release Notes: This release corrects a number of database access bugs and a bug in the redirection logic. The bcc and cc fields are omitted from deletion when an order is converted into an invoice. Release Notes: Large numbers of bugs in database access calls were corrected. A bug in the redirect logic was also fixed. The RPM was changed to only require the PostgreSQL client libraries rather than the whole server. Release Notes: This release fixes a large number of bugs in database access, user creation, password handling, and more. Release Notes: This release corrects a number of problematic error handling issues. These include the internal server error when the database connection fails, better error handling when creating databases, and so forth. Several other software bugs have been fixed. This is the first release to include an RPM package. Release Notes: Several major bugs have been fixed since the last release, and the install/upgrade process is now fully documented (though not yet automated). The software now runs properly under vanilla Perl on the Win32 platform. User info now is stored in the database, meaning that the software no longer needs Web- server-writable files. Release Notes: This release includes enhancements to the invoice and POS screens, a new logging module, and rewritten localization handling that uses gettext. However, it is not intended for production use and may not work as advertised.
ulatencyd is a scriptable daemon which constantly optimizes the Linux kernel for best user experience. The default configuration tries reduce the latency for a typical desktop system and protects the system from malicious processes and groups. With a different configuration, all other types of systems can be adjusted as well. \|Tags\|\|Linux cgroups Lua daemon Optimization kernel tuning scheduler\| Release Notes: Small bugfixes. Release Notes: CLI/GUI improvements, configuration for games/single_tasks, bugfixes, Policykit support, and better documentation. Release Notes: Bugfixes. Release Notes: A CLI/GUI client, a Simplerules module, instant rules that are executed without delay, enhancements to the D-Bus interface, better realtime support, and bugfixes. Release Notes: This is a major bugfix release.
Netdiscover is a network address discovering tool that was developed mainly for those wireless networks without DHCP servers, though it also works on wired networks. It sends ARP requests and sniffs for replies. A Java library for reporting. A CentOS based server virtualization solution supporting both OpenVZ and KVM hypervisors.
Send Marc Emery Mail or Money in US Prison Marc is at Yazoo City Correctional Institution in Mississippi. Please send him letters, news updates, and photos. He needs our support to get through the next few years. MARC EMERY #40252-086 FCI YAZOO CITY - MEDIUM E-1 P.O. BOX 5888 YAZOO CITY, MS Marc can receive books and magazine subscriptions, but they must be sent directly from the publisher or store, such as Amazon.com. Books cannot be sent from individuals; the prison will return book packages unless they come directly from a retailer. SENDING MARC MONEY Pay to: 40252086Emery Code City: FBOP Acct. #: 40252-086 Emery (may not be required) Attention: Marc Scott Emery (Note: If you have problems with this information, please let JodieEmery@gmail.com know) If you would like to send money to Jodie to deposit in Marc's commissary herself, or to contribute to her travel and accommodation costs to visit Marc, send mail to the address below or contact JodieEmery@gmail.com for details. 307 West Hastings Street Inmates' families and friends choosing to send inmates funds through the mail must send those funds to the following address and in accordance with the directions provided below: Federal Bureau of Prisons Insert Valid Committed Inmate Name Insert Inmate Eight-Digit Register Number Post Office Box 474701 Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001 The deposit must be in the form of a money order made out to the inmate's full committed name and complete eight-digit register number. Effective December 1, 2007, all non-postal money orders and non-government checks processed through the National Lockbox will be placed on a 15-day hold. The Bureau of Prisons will return to the sender funds that do not have valid inmate information provided the envelope has an adequate return address. Personal checks and cash cannot be accepted for deposit. The sender's name and return address must appear on the upper left-hand corner of the envelope to ensure that the funds can be returned to the sender in the event that they cannot be posted to the inmate's account. The deposit envelope must not contain any items intended for delivery to the inmate. The Bureau of Prisons shall dispose of all items included with the funds. In the event funds have been mailed but have not been received in the inmate's account and adequate time has passed for mail service to Des Moines, Iowa, the sender must initiate a tracer with the entity who sold them the money order to resolve any issues. Inmates' families and friends may also send inmates funds through Western Union's Quick Collect Program. All funds sent via Western Union's Quick Collect will be posted to the inmate's account within two to four hours, when those funds are sent between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. EST (seven days per week, including holidays). Funds received after 9:00 pm EST will be posted by 7:00 am EST the following morning. Funds sent to an inmate through the Quick Collect Program may be sent via one of the following ways: 1) At an agent location with cash: The inmate's family or friends must complete a Quick Collect Form. Click here to view a sample Quick Collect Form. To find the nearest agent, they may call 1-800-325-6000 or go to www.westernunion.com. 2) By phone using a credit/debit card: The inmate's family or friends may simply call 1-800-634-3422 and press option 2. www.westernunion.com. See Disclaimers and Endorsement at www.bop.gov/disclaimer.jsp">www.westernunion.com For each Western Union Quick Collect transaction, the following information must be provided: Please note that the inmate's committed name and eight-digit register number must be entered correctly. If the sender does not provide the correct information, the transaction cannot be completed. The Code City is always FBOP, DC. Each transaction is accepted or rejected at the point of sale. The sender has the sole responsibility of sending the funds to the correct inmate. If an incorrect register number and/or name are used and accepted and posted to that inmate, funds may not be returned. Any questions or concerns regarding Western Union transfers should be directed to Western Union by the sender (general public). Questions or concerns should not be directed to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. For additional information concerning inmate Commissary account deposit procedures, please see the Bureau of Prisons Trust Fund/Warehouse/Laundry Manual (PS 4500.07) or 28 CFR Parts 506 and 540. For information concerning a specific deposit, please contact Federal Bureau of Prisons' staff at 202-307-2712 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET. 3) ONLINE using a credit/debit card: The inmate's family and friends may go to and select "Quick Collect." 1) Valid Inmate Eight-Digit Register Number (entered with no spaces or dashes) followed immediately by Inmate's Last Name 2) Committed Inmate Full Name entered on Attention Line 3) Code City: FBOP, DC
Freemeteo 旅馆预订 : Bogatic 旅馆 Ethno village Stanisici & Hotel Pirg 16.99 Km 远离 Bogatic Featuring ponds, mills, traditional restaurants and a brook, the Ethno Village Stanisici ... Minimum rate: 30.77 EUR 17.56 Km 远离 Bogatic Set in the heart of Sremska Mitrovica on the ruins of an antique Roman palace, Hotel ... Minimum rate: 23 EUR 32.77 Km 远离 Bogatic Set in Ruma in the southern foothills of Fruska Gora National Park, this guest house ... Minimum rate: 30 EUR 32.82 Km 远离 Bogatic Providing free private parking in the centre of Ruma, Hotel Park offers air-conditioned ... Minimum rate: 49 EUR
uh, oh, for the last 15 years, mistreating a homosexual trumps racism. McDonald’s, its workers and the two thug women are in some real trouble now. Just ask Gray’s Anatomy’s former actor Isaiah Washington who was fired for calling a co-worker a fairy. posted on 04/23/2011 7:13:17 AM PDT (Obama and the left are making a mockery of our country.) And that is what makes this so fascinating. LOL posted on 04/23/2011 7:14:53 AM PDT (Freedom is a myth anymore it seems) Nothing will be done about it. A black in the WH as well as Holder trumps it all. posted on 04/23/2011 7:15:01 AM PDT (TEXAS GAL- born and bred and proud of it!) FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
Skip to comments.Judicial Watch and True the Vote Seek to Defend Florida’s Efforts to Clean Voter Registration Posted on 06/26/2012 1:42:40 PM PDT by jazusamo Full title: Judicial Watch and True the Vote Seek to Defend Floridas Efforts to Clean Voter Registration Lists in Obama Administration Lawsuit Grassroots Public Interest Groups Seek Court Permission to Intervene to Defend Florida Clean-up Efforts: not only are the State of Floridas list maintenance activities valid, proper, and timely, but they are also required under federal law. (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it has filed a Motion for Intervention with its client True the Vote to defend the State of Floridas efforts to clean up voter registration lists against an Obama administration lawsuit (The United States of America v. State of Florida and Ken Detzner (No. 4:12-cv-285)) . Florida initiated a systematic effort to remove ineligible voters from its voter registration lists after Judicial Watch filed a letter of inquiry with Florida election officials on February 6, 2012. Judicial Watch alerted the State of Florida that failure to maintain clean voter registration lists violates Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). In response to Floridas efforts to comply with the NVRA, the Obama administration filed a lawsuit on June 12, 2012, asking a federal court to enjoin the state from continuing its purge of illegal voters. According to Judicial Watchs motion , filed jointly with Judicial Watch client True the Vote on June 26, 2012, with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division: [Judicial Watch and True the Vote] seek to enter this lawsuit in order to demonstrate that, not only are the State of Floridas list maintenance activities valid, proper, and timely, but that they also are required under federal law. Intervention will ensure that the organizational interests of Proposed Intervener True the Vote and the rights and interest of the members of Proposed Intervener Judicial Watch, Inc. are adequately protected and preserved. As reported by The Associated Press , the State of Florida ordered the removal of 53,000 dead voters from its lists while identifying an additional 2,700 non-citizens registered to vote. Press reports suggest the number of non-citizen voters in the state could be as high as 180,000. Judicial Watchs actions in Florida are part of its 2012 Election Integrity Project. According to a comprehensive Judicial Watch investigation, in addition to Florida and Indiana, a number of other states also appear to have problems with inaccurate voter registration lists, including: Mississippi, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Alabama, and California. Judicial Watch has put election officials on notice in these states that they must maintain accurate voter registration lists consistent with Section 8 of the NVRA or face litigation to enforce the federal law. On June 11, 2012, Judicial Watch (along with co-plaintiff True the Vote) filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Indiana for failure to comply with voter list maintenance provisions of the NVRA. J. Christian Adams, a former civil rights attorney with the Department of Justice, is of counsel to the groups on these legal actions. The groups are also represented in Florida by the firm, Radey, Thomas, Yon & Clark. The Obama Justice Department is evidently hostile to the idea of clean and fair elections, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. It is shameful that the Justice Department is now in court trying to stop Florida from fulfilling its legal obligation to remove non-citizen, ineligible voters from the voting rolls. We look forward to defending the voting rights of our supporters, the rule of law, and election integrity from an unprecedented attack from this politicized Justice Department. According to polls, most Americans agree that Florida should be making efforts to ensure people who are not eligible to vote are kept off of the voter registration rolls. Not only is this common sense, it is what the law requires. Its disappointing that the Justice Department is more interested in taking extreme legal positions than protecting the integrity of the 2012 elections, said True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht. A recent report by non-partisan Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) published in February 2012 indicates that approximately 24 million active voter registrations in states across the country or one out of every eight registrations are either no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate. Donate to Judicial Watch, if you can, and if you’d like to. This is large. J. Christian Adams' website: So what are they going to do? Take it all the way to the SCOTUS, Good Luck With That! JW takes criticism from some here for their supposed inaction but they are at least doing something to help the conservative cause. They are not funded by tax dollars but by private contributions and I for one appreciate them. I’m glad to learn Adams is associated with this, but am a bit worried to know Judicial Watch is party to it. They’ve been generating a lot of hot air and ink since at least the Clinton scandals, but have they ever won anything? Even something little? I gave up on them as less attention worthy than DEBKA years ago, but maybe they’ve changed. Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
Since Nov 20, 2001 Yeah, this is as good as I get. In any potential mate you have BRAINS, BEAUTY, and SANITY, but you are only allowed to pick TWO. My wife picked brains and sanity. Its like I tell everyone. Im aging as well as Sean Connery. I just didnt start out as good looking. After my heart attack I realized that life was too short to waste on things you dont enjoy. I have since quit my job of 10 years and am charging towards an eventual PhD in History. I now have a masters degree in Military History with a concentration in World War II and have received two scholarships to begin my PhD work at the University of North Texas. Since my specialty is World War II, Homer_J_Simpsons Realtime Threads a valuable resource for me and one I recommend to anyone who is interested in marching through the years of the Second World War. 001 A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge - Charles B. MacDonald. 002 A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War - Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett. 003 A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II - Gerhard L. Weinberg. 004 Agent Zigzag: At True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love and Betrayal - Ben MacIntyre. 005 Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II - Mark A. Stoler. 006 An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 - Rick Atkinson. 007 Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 - Max Hastings. 008 At Dawn We Slept; The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Gordon W. Prange with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon. 009 Bataan Uncensored Colonel E.B. Miller. 010 Before Stalingrad: Barbarossa Hitlers Invasion of Russia 1941 David Glantz. 011 Behind Hitlers Lines: The True Story of the Only Soldier to Fight for Both American and the Soviet Union in World War II Thomas H. Taylor. 012 Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin Timothy Snyder. 013 Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II - From the Battle of the Bulge to the Crossing of the Rhine - Charles B. MacDonald. 014 Countdown to Valkyrie: The July Plot to Assassinate Hitler Nigel Jones. 015 D-Day: The Battle for Normandy Anthony Beevor. 016 D-Day with the Screaming Eagles George E. Koskimaki. 017 Darkest Hour: The True Story of Lark Force at Rabaul, Australias Worst Military Disaster of World War II Bruce Gamble. 018 Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan - Ronald H. Spector. 019 Fatefull Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941 Ian Kershaw. 020 Flight from the Reich: Refugee Jews, 1933-1946 Deborah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt. 021 General Wainwrights Story General Johnathan M. Wainwright. 022 Hells Highway: A Chronicle of the 101st Airborne in the Holland Campaign, September November 1944 George E. Koskimaki. 023 Hiroshima John Hersey. 024 Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris - Ian Kershaw. 025 Hitler: 1936-1945 Nemesis - Ian Kershaw. 026 Holocaust: A History - Deborah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt. 027 Ike: An American Hero Michael Korda. 028 Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot - Starr Smith. 029 Jungvolk: The Story of a Boy Defending Hitlers Thrid Reich Wilhelm Gehlen and Don Gregory. 030 LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay - Warren Kozak. 031 Masters of Death: The SS Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust - Richard Rhodes. 032 Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navys Story - Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya. 033 Mirrors of Destruction - Omer Bartov. 034 Neptunes Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal James D. Hornfischer. 035 Operation Barbarossa and Germanys Defeat in the East David Stahel. 036 Operation Drumbeat: The Dramatic True Story of Germanys First U-Boat Attacks along the American Coast in World War II - Michael Gannon. 037 Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Christopher R. Browning. 038 Panzer Leader General Heinz Guderian. 039 Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace - Mark Perry. 040 Pattons Peers: The Forgotten Allied Field Commanders of the Western Front 1944-1945 - John A. English. 041 Pattons Third Army in World War II Michael Green and James D. Brown. 042 Pearl Harbor: Final Judgement Henry C. Clausen and Bruce Lee. 043 Pearl Harbor as History: Japanese-American Relations 1931-1941. 044 Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 - Max Hastings. 045 Russias War: A History of the Soviet War Effort: 1941-1945 - Richard Overy. 046 Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front David Glantz, et al. 047 Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 - Antony Beevor. 048 Supplying the Troops: General Somervell and American Logistics in WWII John Kennedy Ohl. 049 Taking Command: General J. Lawton Collins from Guadalcanal to Utah Beach and Victory in Europe H. Paul Jeffers. 050 The Atlantic Campaign - Dan Van der Vat. 051 The Battered Bastards of Bastogne: The 101st Airborne in the Battle of the Bulge, December 19, 1944 January 17, 1945 George E. Koskimaki. 052 The Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West - Karl-Heinz Frieser. 053 The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 Rick Atkinson. 054 The Fall of Berlin 1945 - Antony Beevor. 055 The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II Gregory A. Freeman. 056 The GI Offensive in Europe: The Triumph of American Infantry Divisions, 1941-1945 - Peter R. Mansoor. 057 The Historical Atlas of World War II Alexander Swanston and Malcolm Swanston. 058 The Knights of Bushido: A History of Japanese War Crimes During World War II - Lord Russell of Liverpool. 059 The Last Year of the Luftwaffe: May 1944 to May 1945 - Alfred Price. 060 The Library of Congress World War II Companion David M. Kennedy, ed. 061 The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes. (Reviewed) 062 The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness World War II: Over 200 First-Hand Accounts from the Six Years that Tore the World Apart - John E. Lewis (editor) 063 The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide - Robert Jay Lifton. 064 The Patton Papers: 1940-1945 Martin Blumenson. 065 The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II - Iris Chang. 066 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany - William L. Shirer. 067 The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 - John Toland. 068 The Road to Victory: The Untold Story of World War IIs Red Ball Express David P. Colley 069 The Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution: A Reconsideration - Mark Roseman. 070 War as I Knew It General George S. Patton. 071 War in the Pacific: America at War - Jerome T. Hagen. 072 War without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War - John W. Dower. 073 West Point Atlas for the Second World War: Asia and the Pacific - Thomas E. Griess (editor). 074 Why the Allies Won - Richard Overy. 075 Why We Watched: Europe, America, and the Holocaust Theordore S. Hamerow. 076 Winstons War: Churchill 1940-1945 Max Hastings. (Reviewed) 077 With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa - E.B. Sledge. 078 Youre Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Roger Hall. Other Historical Items in Library A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army & American Character, 1775-1783 - Charles Royster. The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare: Ideas, Organization, and Field Command - Edward Hagerman. World War I Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy David Stevenson. Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America - Jennifer D. Keene. Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale, and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914-1918 Alexander Watson. Europes Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914? David Fromkin. Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Roger Chickering and Stig Förster, editors. Passchendaele: The Untold Story Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson. The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 Norman Stone. The First World War - John Keegan. The Kaisers Army: The Politics of Military Technology in Germany during the Machine Age, 1870-1918 Eric Dorn Brose. The Killing Ground: The British Army, The Western Front, & The Emergence of Modern War, 1900-1918 Tim Travers. The Origins of the First World War James Joll The Pity of War: Explaining World War I Niall Ferguson. The Unquiet Western Front: Britains Role in Literature and History Brian Bond. War and National Reinvention: Japan in the Great War, 1914-1919 Frederick R. Dickinson. War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity, and German Occupation in World War I Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius. Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I - John S. Eisenhower. East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950 - Roy E. Appleman. Red Wings Over the Yalu: China, the Soviet Union, and the Air War in Korea Xiaoming Zhang. The Last Stand of Fox Comany: A True Stor of U.S. Marines in Combat - Bob Drury and Tom Calvin. 100 Missions North: A Fighter Pilots Story of the Vietnam War - Brig. Gen. Ken Bell, USAF(ret). The Army and Vietnam - Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr. Other Wars and Warfare A Peoples Army: Massachusetts Soldiers & Society in the Seven Years War - Fred Anderson. Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare Robert M. Citino. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice - David Galula. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War - Rich Atkinson. For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America - Allan R. Millett & Peter Maslowski. From War to Nationalism: Chinas Turning Point, 1924-1925 Arthur Waldron. House to House: An Epic Memoir of War - SSG David Bellavia with John R. Bruning. Major Problems in American Military History - John Whiteclay Chambers II and G. Kurt Piehler (editors). Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age - Peter Paret (editor). Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989 Bruce A. Elleman. On War - Carl von Clausewitz, edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Roots of Strategy: Book 4 - David Jablonsky (editor). Some Did It for Civilisation Some Did It for Their Country: A Revised View of the Boxer War Jane E. Elliott. The Art of War - Sun Tzu, translated by Samuel B. Griffith. The Art of War: War and Military Thought - Martin van Creveld. The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 - Antony Beevor. The Long March: The True History of Communist Chinas Founding Myth - Sun Shuyun. The Name of War: King Philips War and the Origins of the American Identity - Jill Lepore. The Philippine War, 1899-1902 - Brian McAllister Linn. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli, translated by George Bull. The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941 - Edward M. Coffman. War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795 Peter Lorge. Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792-1914 Geoffrey Wawro. Other Histories and Worthwhile Reads 33 Questions About American History Youre not Supposed to Ask - Thomas E. Woods Jr. A Fiery Peace in a Cold War - Neil Sheehan. A Patriots History of the United States - From Columbus Great Discovery to the War on Terror - Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen. A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide Samantha Power All the U.S. Air Force Airplanes, 1907-1983 - Andrew W. Waters. American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic Joseph J. Ellis. Aviation: From Our Earliest Attempts at Flight to Tomorrows Advanced Designs - Donald S. Lopez. Escape from the Deep: The Epic Story of a Legendary Submarine and her Courageous Crew Alex Kershaw For the Presidents Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush Christopher Andrew. Historians Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought - David Hackett Fischer. Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern - Ernst Breisach. John Adams - David McCullough. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA Tim Weiner. Modern Historiography: An Introduction - Michael Bently. Murder Among the Rich and Famous: Celebrity Slaying that Shocked America - Jay Robert Nash. Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 - Elizabeth A. Fenn. Spaceflight: The Complete Illustrated Story - From Earliest Designs to Plans for the 21st Century - Valerie Neal, Cathleen S. Lewis, and Frank H. Winter. Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer - Peter Wright. The Battle for History: Re-fighting World War II - John Keegan. The Cold War: A New History - John Lewis Gaddis. The Reagan Diaries Ronald Reagan, edited by Douglas Brinkley. The United Nations and International Politics Stephen Ryan. A History of Modern Japan: Revised Edition Richard Storry Alex Nigel Nicolson Beacons in the Night: With the OSS and Titos Partisans in Wartime Yugoslavia Franklin Lindsay Breakout and Pursuit Martin Blumenson Burma: The Longest War 1941-1945 Louis Allen Citizen Soldiers: From Normandy Beaches to the Surrender of Germany Stephen E. Ambrose Comrades in Arms: British Aid to Russia 1941-1945 Joan Beaumont Cross Channel Attack Gordon A Harrison Crossing the Line: A Bluejackets Odyssey in World War II Alvin B. Kernan Disputed Barricade; The Live and Times of Josip Bronz-Tito, Marshal of Jugoslavia Frizroy Maclean Double Patriots: A Study of Japanese Nationalism Richard Storry Eisenhowers Lieutenants: The Campaigns of France and Germany, 1944-45 Russell Weigley European Theater of Operations: The Supreme Command Forrest Pogue German Rule in Russia: 1941-1945 Alexander Dallin Haile Selassies War Anthony Mockler Hitlers Stalingrad Decisions Geoffrey Jukes Hitlers Strategy 1940-1941: The Balkan Clue Martin L. Van Creveld Hitlers War Directives 1939-1945 Hugh Trevor-Roper (editor) How War Came: The Immediate Origins of the Second World War 1938-1939 Donald Cameron Watt Inside the Third Reich Albert Speer Inside Hitlers Headquarters, 1939-45 Walter Warlimont Last Battle: The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin Cornelius Ryan Lorraine Campaign Hugh M. Cole Lost Victories: The War Memoirs of Hitlers Most Brilliant General Erich Manstein Nothing but Honour: The Story of the Warsaw Uprising, 1944 J.K. Zawodny Rommel: The Desert Fox Desmond Young Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph T.E. Lawrence Six Armies in Normandy: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris; June 6 Aug 5, 1944 John Keegan Strange Defeat Marc Bloch Strange Victory: Hitlers Conquest of France Ernest R. May The Beginning of the Road V.I. Chuikov The Crucible of War: Western Desert 1941 Barrie Pitt The Desert Generals Correlli Barnett The Embattled Mountain F.W. Deakin The Halder War Diary 1939-1942 Franz Halder The Luftwaffe, 1933-45: Strategy for Defeat Williamson Murray The Rape of Serbia: The British Role in Titos Grab for Power 1943-1944 Michael Lees The Reckoning David Halberstam The Road to Berlin: Stalins War with Germany John Erickson The Road to Stalingrad John Erickson The Siegfried Line Campaign European Theater of Operation Charles B. MacDonald The Struggle for Europe Chester Wilmot The War Hitler Won: The Fall of Poland, September 1939 Nicholas Bethell To Lose a Battle: France 1940 Alistair Horne Triumph in the Philippines: The War in the Pacific Robert Ross Smith Ultra in the West Ralph Francis Bennett Victory in Europe, 1945: The Last Offensive of World War II Charles B. MacDonald Wartime Milvan Djilas With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain Michael Korda
Do you like GREEN London Transport buses? Do you enjoy days out in the Country? Do you remember glorious days on Green Rovers? Answer yes to any of these and Country Bus Rallies are for you. Whether you are a bus enthusiast, a fifties fanatic, a number collector, a photographer, or someone who just likes a good day out, Country Bus Rallies are the thing for you. They happen on about four Sundays a year, during the warmer (if not drier) months. Preserved green London Transport buses, mainly from the fifties and sixties - and their drivers and conductors - plus a few red friends, gather together for a day running services around a market town somewhere in the London Country Area, places like East Grinstead, Hertford and Sevenoaks, plus an annual Summer Holiday event in Eastbourne. GS2 at the rural terminus at Chapmore End, in June 2011. There are proper published timetable for the days, that can be obtained in advance so that you can plan your excursions and make connections. There are enough buses for you to do this, with connecting points scattered around in towns and villages - and at pubs. We even try not to leave anyone behind at the end of the day! Sometimes events conspire to wreck the best of well-laid plans, like road closures, drivers getting lost, or even punctures. It all adds to the enjoyment if you come in the right frame of mind! Services at the major events are provided free of charge. Possession of a programme is not required, and does not constitute a ticket or a right to ride on services. Nevertheless we do hope that you will purchase a programme! RF28 worked Green Line route 713 between Epsom and Dorking in September 2009. Here it is at the Dorking terminus. Feeder journeys can often be very interesting in themselves. In April 2010 RMC4 worked to East Grinstead from Bromley using route 410 to Godstone and then 409 to East Grinstead, before working on routes 409 and 708 during the day. For details of bus services and feeder services, click here. GS60 Events2013 marks 60 years since the introduction of both GS buses and green Country Area RFs, and Country Bus Rallies will be marking both in our major events and in our Route Recreation Days this year. We have noticed various other events announcing a GS 60 theme and in some cases using photographs of vehicles that belong to C.B.R. Members. To avoid disappointment please always refer to the C B R website where we shall announce which of our Country RF’s and GS vehicles will be attending each event. At the moment all appropriate vehicles are committed to our East Grinstead, Sevenoaks and Hertford events. Route recreations are planned for Hitchin, Oxted, Orpington and Gravesend areas during the course of the year . We have not yet committed any of the CBR Country RFs or GS 1, 2 or 62 to any other event. GS 55 is at an advanced stage of restoration and should be out and about during the second half of 2013. GS2 on the very rural 386 in June 2003, when we celebrated fifty years of GS operation. RT2083 at Hertford Bus Station, June 2011, running short journeys on the Green Line 715. RF633 in the lane to Tewin on the 388 to Mardley Hill on Saturday 4th June 2011. Route Recreation Days (other dates to be announced later) If you wish to enquire or register for any of the 2013 events please send contact details and A5 stamped address envelop to : Country Bus Rallies 19, Hampton Way East Grinstead West Sussex RH19 4SG GS62 and RF308 meet at Tewin on the 388, June 2007. Maidstone & District Bristol SO43 operated at the Sevenoaks Running Day in May 2010. Send a strong A5 envelope with sufficient stamps for the return post (First Class) containing the number of programmes you require, with a cheque or postal order for £7.50 to: Country Bus Rallies 19 Hampton Way Programmes can also be purchased on the day, but buying one in advance will help you plan your day (and is £0.50 cheaper!). Possession of a programme is not required to use the services. Some journeys that we expect to be heavily in demand will require a free control ticket to be obtained from the control point before boarding. The first three programmes (ie EG, DG and HG) can be pre-ordered for £21 (three stamped A5 envelopes required!) or the first four (including Eastbourne) for £28 (with four stamped A5 envelopes). MB90 pauses in Chipstead with a 454 working from Tonbridge, May 2010. Country Bus Rallies are a group of volunteers, who have come together to offer these events. They have a wealth of experience in bus preservation, and enjoy sharing their hobby with the public through these running days. It is NOT a business! The group has no obligation to provide the services, to operate in accordance with the published timetable, or to provide particular buses - but do try! The buses are mostly provided by private preservationists. Some have private vehicle insurance, some are public service vehicles. RT604 worked on the 408 between West Croydon and Effingham or Guildford in September 2009, while RT3148 worked on the local 435 at the East Grinstead Day, April 2010.Please note:Vehicle owners ask that people who travel on their buses refrain from eating or drinking while aboard, and please do not bring aboard framed rucksacks or non-folding pushchairs. (The food and drink tends to encourage mice in places where the buses are kept, which don't do the buses much good, the rucksacks have been found to scratch the elderly paintwork, and non-folding pushchairs cause access difficulties in the narrow gangways of these older buses.) Operating in Greater London (Central Area) is more difficult. The main problem is not Transport for London, who are very co-operative with responsible groups, but the problem of finding places to stand or park buses. Bus stations are often not useable in the TfL zone as these are in intensive use seven days a week. So CBR operations in red areas usually involve small numbers of buses which operate without using a central location. For these reason the Bromley mini-Running Days have operated without a programme or published timetable, and the days at Loughton have had few buses to avoid parking problems and allow use of Loughton bus station. RT3062 pauses at Fairlop on a 167 working to Barkingside, during the 2011 Loughton mini-event Text and photos by Ian Smith. Click on photos for a larger picture. Ian Smith and Ian's Bus Stop have no official connection with Country Bus Rallies, although I have enjoyed riding and recording some of the events in the last few years, and am regarded as group photographer for the events I can get to. Information is provided in good faith, but I have no responsibility for organising or providing facilities. The reports are purely my personal record of the days, and not an official record, so the emphasis is purely mine and not that of the CBR organisers. Some aspects of the days get overlooked by me, or left until next time, so apologies to anyone who expects comprehensive coverage of all aspects! As was common in the 1950s, red buses feature on the Country Bus Running Days. Here RF429 duplicates GS15 on a 465 journey to Staffhurst Wood, passing Holland (September 2011). OTHER ORGANISERS also have London-orientated running days and rallies. Please note that although many of the buses and participants in these events may be the same as on the CBR events, Country Bus Rallies have no responsibility for any aspect of their organisation or content. Amersham & District are organising a number of events, but because when I mentioned them here people applied to us for programmes instead of to the organisers you will have to look them up for yourselves.
After the last elections, it may be time to get accustomed to a new old morality, a mythological good old days to return to, when god was in the schools, the gummint was small and kept out of the way except for what we did in our bedrooms, minorities and women knew their place, and all was right with the world. It’s all quite simple, really: blame the victims. In all things. That way they have earned their miseries, and we (part of the trick is convincing each outgroup to band together as “we” in opposition to other outgroups) can feel justified in denying basic human rights to our fellow human beings. The narrative must always go “when you blame society, you are letting criminals off the hook!” Even when we could have prevented the crime by having a job, an education, a future for the eventual criminal. Preventing a crime does not give the satisfaction that punishing a criminal does. Preventing a crime reminds us that it is in our power to influence one another, and that is one frightening step away from… being responsible for one another. Can’t have that. When we blame a criminal, we are quite intentionally letting the rest of us off the hook. Dammit, I got off narrative. Like I was saying, the clock has been turned back. It’s time to embrace the new old world view. So, for our third installment of Cuttlefish Pledge Week, a story and a modest proposal. Jennifer, Jennifer, got herself pregnant, The poor, irresponsible slut. See, boys will be boys, so it’s up to the girls To be moral, and keep their legs shut. But Jennifer, Jennifer, couldn’t be bothered; She led her young Billy astray. They met, after classes, at Jennifer’s house, And now there’s a kid on the way. Jennifer, Jennifer, wants an abortion— She says she’s too young for a baby— But the law of the land says abortion is murder; The answer is no, and not maybe. See, murder is murder; we cannot condone The destruction of innocent life. And Billy, of course, is an innocent, too, And he’s much, much too young for a wife. So Jennifer, Jennifer, finds herself caught In the view of a watchful Big Brother, And Country and Church have a task on their hands— How to keep the babe safe from its mother. If murder is murder, for fetus or child, Then surely assault is assault; A fetus is damaged by drinking or smoking, And all of it, Jennifer’s fault. If Jennifer, Jennifer, falls down the stairs Then the baby inside could be harmed; And since that poor child is a ward of the state It is right we should all be alarmed! So Jennifer, Jennifer, needs to be safe For the sake of the babe in her womb; To keep the poor innocent safe from all harm, Let’s keep Jennifer locked in her room. But Jennifer, Jennifer, isn’t the first Nor the last to be pregnant, you see. The task that’s before us—protecting our children— Is crucial, I think you’ll agree. With the passing to law of my modest proposal, I honestly think we’ll prevail. It’s simple: Each woman who finds herself pregnant Must spend the next nine months in jail. Jennifer, Jennifer, shielded from harm In a cell with a toilet and cot With a closed-circuit camera, an unblinking eye, For the safety of Jennifer’s tot. When at last you deliver your new baby boy We’ll whisk you right out through the door; We care about kids while they’re inside your womb— Once they’re out, we don’t care any more. And Jennifer, Jennifer, can’t find her Billy— Besides, he’s too young for a wife— She weighs her alternatives, looks down each road… And reluctantly takes her own life. And the church says a prayer for the baby unborn And a heartfelt and tearful farewell. But Jennifer, Jennifer, so says the church, Will be heading directly to hell. Maybe if we cut funding for prenatal care, we can save enough money to pay for those jail cells and closed-circuit cameras…
(I am taking a break from original posts due to the holidays and because of travel after that. Until I return, here are some old posts, updated and edited, for those who might have missed them the first time around. New posts should appear starting Monday, January 14, 2008.) I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink. It deals with how we all make snap judgments about people and things, sometimes within a couple of seconds or less. Gladwell reports on a whole slew of studies that suggest that we have the ability to ‘thin-slice’ events, to make major conclusions from just a narrow window of observations. I first read about this as applied to teaching in an essay by Gladwell that appeared in the New Yorker (May 29, 2000) where he described research by psychologists Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal who found that by showing observers silent videoclips of teachers in action, the observers (who had never met the teachers before) were able to make judgments of teacher effectiveness that correlated strongly with the evaluations of students who had taken an entire course with that teacher. (Source: Half a Minute: Predicting Teacher Evaluations From Thin Slices of Nonverbal Behavior and Physical Attractiveness, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1993, vol. 64, No. 3, 431-441.) This result is enough to give any teacher the heebie-jeebies. The thought that students have formed stable and robust judgments about you before you have even opened your mouth on the very first day of the very first class is unnerving. It seems so unfair that you are being judged before you can even begin to prove yourself. But, for good or bad, this seems to be supported by other studies, such as those done by Robert Boice in his book Advice for New Faculty Members. The implication for this is that the cliché “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” is all too true. And what Gladwell’s New Yorker article and book seem to suggest is that this kind of thin-slicing is something that all of us do all the time. But not all of us do it well. Some people use thin-slicing to arrive at conclusions that are valid, others to arrive at completely erroneous judgments. Those who do it well tend to be people who have considerable experience in that particular area. They have distilled that experience into some key variables that they then use to size up the situation at a glance, often without even consciously being aware of how they do it. Seen in this way, the seemingly uncanny ability of people to identify at a glance who the good and bad teachers are might not seem that surprising. Most people have had lots of experience with many teachers in their lives, and along the way have unconsciously picked up subtle non-verbal cues that they use to correlate with good and bad teaching. They use these markers as predictors and seem to be quite good at it. I was self-consciously reflecting on this last week when I ran two mock-seminars for visiting high-school seniors as part of “Experience Case ” days. The idea was to have a seminar class for these students so that they could see what a seminar would be like if they chose to matriculate here. I found that just by glancing around the room at the assembled students at the beginning, I could tell who was likely to be an active participant in the seminar and who would not. It was easy for me to make these predictions and I was pretty confident that I would be proven right, and I usually was. But how did I do it? Hard to tell. But I have taught for many years and encountered thousands of students and this wealth of experience undoubtedly played a role in my ability to make snap judgments. If pressed to explain my judgments I might say that it was the way the students sat, their body language, the way they made eye contact, the expression on their faces, and other things like that. But while I am confident about my ability to predict the students’ subsequent behavior in the seminar, I am not nearly as confident in the validity of the reasons I give. And this is consistent with what Gladwell reports in his book. Many of the experts who made good judgments did not know how they arrived at their conclusions or, when they did give reasons, the reasons could not stand up to close scrutiny. He gives the example of veteran tennis pro and coach Vic Braden. Braden found that when watching tennis players about to make their second serve, he could predict with uncanny accuracy (close to 100%) when they would double fault. This is amazing because he was watching top players (who very rarely double fault) perform on television, and many of the players were people he had never seen play before. But what drove Braden crazy was that he could not say how he made his predictions. He just knew in a flash of insight that they would, and no amount of watching slow-motion replays enabled him to pinpoint the reasons. But Gladwell points out that we use thin-slicing techniques even is situations where we do not have much experience or expertise and these judgments can lead us astray. In later postings, I will describe the kinds of situations where snap judgments are likely to lead us to shaky conclusions and where we should be alert. POST SCRIPT: Charlie Wilson’s War The film with the above name tries to make a comedy out of the role that the US played in creating the Taleban in Afghanistan. Stanley Heller points out that this was no laughing matter for the million Afghans who died as a result of the geostrategic games played by the Soviet Union and the Carter-Reagan governments.
In England, the Reading University Atheist, Humanist and Secularist Society (RAHS) was kicked out of a fair aimed at first-year students when they tried to advertise a forthcoming debate on the topic “Should we respect religion?” Their offense? As part of their display, they had in their stall a pineapple with the label Mohammed. Towards the afternoon, the group was informed they had to leave the fair by a member of Reading University Student Union (RUSU) staff. The reason given was several complaints had made against the offending pineapple, although RAHS members insist they were not made aware of any such protestations. The society refused to remove the fruit due to their “commitment to freedom of expression”, to which they were told by the RUSU member: “Either the pineapple goes, or you do.” A struggle ensued, wherein the pineapple was seized, but shortly returned to the owners, where it was re-christened Jesus. According to the RAHS, a small group of students then gathered around the table and forcefully removed the pineapple’s name tag. The society was then “forced to leave the venue”, accompanied by security staff. As the RAHS spokesperson said, “We wanted to celebrate the fact that we live in a country in which free speech is protected, and where it is lawful to call a pineapple by whatever name one chooses.” Rightly so. What kind of country is one where people cannot give their own beloved pineapples the name of their choice? Of course, we all know that in the wrong hands any fruit can be a dangerous weapon. So here’s a video on how to defend yourself in such an event.
The text is my territory. Though not only words, letters, syllables written or spoken, but the text in a broad sense: the cultural text that constitutes us, and thus the myths we live; the text of our circular memory, the infinite intertext of our being in the world; the text of the universe, the always already, the text(ure) of being, the rhythm that is intrinsic to a text’s composition; and - we have heard it before, but it needs saying again - in a digital world everything from design to downloading is literally text. Consequently, the web comes natural as the medium for writing creating composing. There is a logic here but a logic without logical connectives - the ones you need to write in a linear fashion but which you here have to unlearn - whose complexity goes beyond my control. Still, digital technology enables me to follow the creative process from its conception through every stage to the text’s final editing - which never seems to be final. And, in the process I have to unlearn to rely on the word. There is more. Image music text technology. The interface where I tip in to the Other. Which is why I write create compose for the web. Recurrent themes in my work are language, desire and love by means of which we create our subjectivity. Themes that continue my scholarly work in reader-response theory. In producing for the web I combine my intellectual work with the visual, the imaginative and the performative - it’s all a kind of an essay.
Few fish are more peaceful and easy to care for than those in the popular Tetras family. This Tetra photo gallery shows why. Want more information about a particular fish in the gallery? Just click on the fish name for a complete profile. \|Black Neon Tetra\|\|Black Phantom Tetra\|\|Black Widow Tetra\|\|Bleeding Heart Tetra\| \|Blind Cave Fish\|\|Bloodfin Tetra\|\|Buenos Aires Tetra\|\|Cardinal Tetra\| \|Colombian Tetra\|\|Congo Tetra\|\|Diamond Tetra\|\|Emperor Tetra\|
Those of you with multiple blogs or private blogs...if you could add a link to your blog when you comment, that would be GREAT! And...here we go! 1. Follow the _____________. 2. _________ is something I always take with me on vacation. 3. To achieve your goals, you must __________. 4. _____________ is something I'd like you to know about me. 5. I have a ______________. 6. ________ floats. 7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!
VIDEO CLIP: Sewage Leaking into Mississippi from Pipe in Fridley River Bank The Metropolitan Council Environmental Services stopped the leak at about 2 a.m. Friday. Here is a short video clip from the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) of sewage flowing from a leaking pipe down a Fridley riverbank into the Mississippi River. MCES fixed the leak at about 2 a.m. Friday—about 12 hours after a Fridley resident reported an odor of sewage. Metropolitan Council spokesperson Bonnie Kollodge said MCES staff will continue to monitor the river into the weekend; she added that current high water flows were dissapating the sewage more quickly than would have been the case with normal water levels.
The more I read and here about the Congress of the People the more I think they might actually get somewhere. The only thing that stops me from supporting them is that they were part of the most corrupt political party on the face of the planet and i think they might just be after power and status. I might be wrong and I hope I am wrong because this country needs a break from the ANC. I think we’ll just have to wait and see what their views are on BEE and AA as well as crime and other things that matter. They gave their policies out but that’s just to long to read. Anyway. We’ll see as time goes by if they can actually bring change that is much needed from the corrupt ANC
LocationLatino Cultural Center 2600 Live Oak St. Dallas, TX 75204 DatesDec 1 thru Dec 15 Attending many plays is a blessing and a curse. There is nothing like live theater; however, seeing the same plays, or types of plays, over and over can become a bit routine. At Cara Mia Theatre this month, there’s something that breaks the routine, a play, Milagritos, based on the short stories of Sandra Cisneros and performed by a company of performers and artists who have fashioned a theater experience that feels more like a religious event that transcends its earthly venue. From the opening, when the actors and musicians dance, sing, and clap as they process down the aisles towards the stage, it is easy to imagine you are at a festive Mass rather than a simple play. And that is the beauty of this show, because it is, in fact, simple, but executed beautifully, and with such spiritual and earnest precision by director David Lozano and his artistic ensemble. The play is based on short stories from the collection Woman Hollering Creek by Cisneros and adapted for the stage by Marisela Barrera. The name “milagritos” comes from the story “Little Miracles, Kept Promises.” That story is comprised of a series of letters from Mexican-Americans, addressed to the patron saint of Mexico, the Virgin of Guadalupe. The adaptation focuses on Chayo (Vanessa DeSilvio) who writes the last letter in the story and represents the tension of living as a modern Chicana woman who is a single, independent thinking artist. She feels lost between classes: “I’m amphibious;” and keenly aware of her unattached nature: “No woman wants to live alone, I do!” Along with flashbacks and childhood pastiches of Chayo as Chayito (Frida Espinosa-Müller) we see various other petitions, sacrifices, and sacraments in the form of candles, letters, and prayers offered to Mary: “so many milagritos pinned here.” It is a very Catholic-centric show with its many nods to, saints, specialized prayers and rituals which plays into the conversational yet confessional tone; however, the nods to Buddha, Yahweh, Allah, the Spirit, the Light, and the Tao universalize the experience even more for the audience. Sincere performances by the rest of the ensemble (Rodney Garza, Ana González, Cesar Hernandez, and Priscilla Rice) are stylized, but work for the ritualistic nature of the show. DeSilvio’s performance as Chayo is multi-layered and emotionally evocative, and her singing voice is angelic. The space is more of an auditorium than a theater, and sometimes the booming and echoing acoustics cause words to get lost, but the original music score by S-Ankh Rasa, and rousing musical accompaniment provided by Armando Monsivias, Rasa, and Mauricio Barrozo do much to salve those auditory wounds. Lively and colorful costume design by Kristin Moore, and whimsical moves choreographed by Michelle Gibson contribute to the show’s feast for the eyes. For something a little different in this season of holiday fare and the usual theatrical suspects, why not pin your hopes on this infectiously entertaining and moving show.
all images via Loup Charmant Loup Charmant is a romantic organic cotton loungewear brand from NYC by designer Kee Edwards. This eco-friendly label consists of pieces made from wispy white cotton that's perfect for a day in the Summer sun. Just seeing this collection makes us wish for a lazy day away from the city while enjoying a cold glass of lemonade. Loup Charmant, which means 'charming wolf' in French, features a mix of loungewear and ready-to-wear items that have a somewhat vintage appeal and girlish charm. We wish we had a bit more details on the designer (we want to know the story behind the company's name), but we are happy to at least share that you can shop the entire collection here. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Shop with us at Faire Frou Frou
Florida State is a premier, comprehensive, graduate research university, with both law and medical schools. Our faculty includes: members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; Pulitzer Prize winners; a Nobel Laureate; Oscar winners; and Guggenheim, Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities fellows. Florida State faculty members attract nearly $200 million a year in research dollars. Florida State consistently ranks in the top 10 universities nationally in physical sciences grants awarded by the National Science Foundation. Our nearly 40,000 students, of whom 8,500 are graduate and professional students, come from across the nation and around the world.
\|Received:\|\|11/29/2004 11:01:35 AM\| \|Subject:\|\|Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales\| \|Title:\|\|Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment\| \|CFR Citation:\|\|16 CFR Part 310\| Comments:I do not want this proposal to pass! This seems like a back door attempt to invade my privacy and serves no good to anyone but the nameless companies wanting to use it. Please--a very strong NO to this proposal!!!
pickp0cket asked: its gone back to normal dont worry FALSE ALARM pickp0cket asked: has isa actually left? or is it some kind of sick joke on the wikipedia page, idk this is actually upsetting me Anonymous asked: hello im doing a report for my class about famous celebrities and their friends. so i picked flo and i wanted to know about her friends before she was famous? anything will help thanks! thescientistsjournal asked: Re: Last question from anon. Are you top or a bottom? .... I am Top , I am Down ... I am Up and I am Down ... I am both strange and charm ... I am a particle of matter :) florencewelchlungs asked: I'm in the uk, do you know any current magazines or newspapers Florence is in that I can buy, I've seen some rebloggings of uk magazines with her in, it would be great help thanks x Anonymous asked: Are you a top or a bottom? Anonymous asked: Bonsoir, it is Alex here, @boynamedAlex on twitta if anyone was wondering. It was I that circled the dancer's package as 1) i am immature: immaturity is funny. 2) If anything I was complimenting the dancer, he should be pleased. I was merely pointing it out, some people may find it attractive. It was purely for comedic value and I am sure that, not only the followers of this blog (apart from... Anonymous asked: I just saw that submission with the males dancers genitals circled. I know this blog had nothing to do with that picture, but I would just like to say how immature it is. Male dancers sometimes have to where tights and it is very childish is act like, "Look! Gasp! He has a penis!" thegoddessmacha asked: Why did Flo do the middle finger in the gif, may I ask? XD If you have £5000+ to spend, why not bid on this? → A private performance by Florence + the Machine for up to 25 guests Music and style icon Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine has performed to viewing figures of almost a billion, been the most Googled person on the planet, won the coveted Brits ‘Best Album’ award, been nominated for Best New Artist at the 83rd Academy Awards and performed at the Grammy Awards, the Met Ball and the Nobel... / Anonymous asked fuckyeahflorencewelch: Hello, I LOVE YOUR BLOG! Do you have a link to the video of the gif you just posted where Florence is saying “I love singing it’s pleasurable for me” because it looks new and I havent seen it. Thank you and keep up the great work! xx Hi, thanks! I asked the blog who made the gif :) It’s this video. [[MORE]] / Anonymous... Florence Welch Behind the scenes of the Harper’s bazaar shoot plus an interview. Florence for Harper's Bazaar UK! Our Flo will be gracing the cover of Harper’s Bazaar UK July issue! Here’s the link to the Behind The Cover video! Enjoy everyone! :) (submitted by dissatisfactionchronic.tumblr.com) _________________________________________________- woo! so pretty :) givemesomethinganything asked fuckyeahflorencewelch: oh how i love your blog. so very much. but OMG sometimes the asks you get make me want to slam my head repeatedly against a wall. xoxo ahaha you know how I feel! It is quite difficult when people use us as their own personal google/ ask us ridiculous things like what her favourite colour is/don’tread the FAQ/don’t follow the... Anonymous asked: It's always kinda sad to me, when band is switching bandmembers ;[ And wait, if Rusty is new keyboard player, then Isa is who? She does clapping sections now, right? ;D floraa- asked: HI! I´m doing this work for college where I have to design a lamp for Florence. The thing is that we have to describe the context where this lamp is going to be used. So I came to this blog beacuse is super complete and I wanted to ask you if you have any photo of Florence´s house or Florence in the dressing rooms. It will help me A LOT. Thank you very much! :) and sorry for my bad... Anonymous asked: Does Florence loves boys or girls? Anonymous asked: @about members: "(...)Mark Saunders, Rusty Bradshaw" - who are they? I believe Lungs lineup was different? Anonymous asked: what time will the Spectrum video release tomorrow? Anonymous asked: I know Google exists but I wasn't sure if it was updated so I just asked. Haha, thank you!
Sun is to incorporate key pieces of rival Linux software under the bonnet of its Solaris operating system. Sun has been attempting to work closer with Linux and other open-source developers with mixed success. However according to Sun's Website a revamped Solaris, Linux Hybrid will be easier to use. According to EarthTimes, the hyrbid will keep the Solaris kernel but have Linix based off-shoots. Sun is refusing to comment at this point as it plans to release the project next week.
The story is that as Mark Twain and novelist William Dean Howells stepped outside one morning, a downpour began and Howells asked Twain, “Do you think it will stop?” Twain answered, “It always has.” The debt- ceiling impasse has, as things generally do, ended, and a post-mortem validates conservatives’ portrayal of Barack Obama and their dismay about the dangers and incompetence of liberalism’s legacy, the regulatory state. For weeks, you could not fling a brick in Washington without hitting someone with a debt-reduction plan — unless you hit Obama, whose plan, which he intimated was terrifically brave, was never put on paper. In a prime-time spill of his usual applesauce about millionaires, billionaires and oil companies, he said, yet again, that justice demanded a “balanced” solution — one involving new revenues. His whistle into the wind came after Washington’s most consequential Democrat, Harry Reid, proposed a revenue-free solution. By affirming liberalism’s lodestar — the principle that government’s grasp on national resources must constantly increase — Obama made himself a spectator in a Washington more conservative than it was during the Reagan presidency. By accepting, as he had no choice but to do, Congress’ resolution of the crisis, Obama annoyed liberals. They indict him for apostasy from their one-word catechism, “More!” But egged on by them, he talked himself into a corner. Having said that failure to raise the ceiling would mean apocalypse, he could hardly say failure to raise revenues would be worse. As with his dozens of exhortations during the health care debate, and his campaigning for candidates in 2009 and 2010, his debt-ceiling rhetoric was impotent. Still, the debt debate was instructive about recent history, the openness of America’s political process, and the nature of the American regime. Regarding recent history: Panic-mongers warned, “Raise the ceiling lest the stock market experience a TARP convulsion.” Yes, the market declined almost 778 points when the House rejected TARP. But who remembered that after TARP was quickly enacted, in the next five months the market lost another 3,800 points? Regarding the political process: There are limits to what can be accomplished by those controlling only half of Congress, but the tea party has demonstrated that the limits are elastic under the pressure of disciplined and durable passion. As Tom Brokaw said in Washington on “Meet the Press” last Sunday, the debt-ceiling drama ended as it did because the tea party got angry, got organized and got here. Regarding the federal regime: Before this debate, who knew that the government sends more than 100 million checks or electronic transfers a month to employees, vendors and — much the largest group — entitlement beneficiaries, including 21 million households receiving food stamps? During various liberal ascendancies, the federal spider has woven a web of dependencies. The political purpose has been to produce growing constituencies of voters disposed to vote Democratic. This disposition, aka the entitlement mentality, is triggered by making the constituencies constantly apprehensive about the security of their status as wards of government. Obama’s presidency may last 17 or 65 more months, but it has been irreversibly neutered by two historic blunders made at its outset. It defined itself by health care reform most Americans did not desire, rather than by economic recovery. And it allowed, even encouraged, self-indulgent liberal majorities in Congress to create a stimulus that confirmed conservatism’s portrayal of liberalism as an undisciplined agglomeration of parochial appetites. This sterile stimulus discredited stimulus as a policy. Obama’s 2012 problem is that he dare not run as a liberal but cannot run from his liberalism. The left’s narrative for 2012 is that by not offering another stimulus, Washington is being dangerously frugal. This, even though his stimulus — including cash for clunkers, cash for caulkers, dollars for dishwashers (yes, there actually were money showers for home improvements and greener appliances), etc. — led downhill. The economy’s calamitous 0.8 percent growth in the first half of this year indicates that the already appalling deficit projections for coming years are much too optimistic. The debt increases caused by anemic growth and job creation may dwarf whatever debt reduction results from the process initiated by the debt-ceiling agreement. This may portend a vicious downward spiral as increased borrowing and the burden of debt service further suffocate America’s dynamism. America may be one-third of the way through a lost decade — or worse, toward a lost national identity. So, Republicans have their 2012 theme: “Is this the best we can do?” George Will’s email address is email@example.com. Washington Post Writers Group Do you have an opinion to share with other readers? Then send us a letter.
Titan Men in 5th Place Feb. 14, 2011 St. George, UT - Dakota Duerr shot a one-under par 71 and Cal State Fullerton is only six strokes off the pace after Monday's first round of the Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational Men's Golf Tournament hosted by Southern Utah. The Titans totaled 291 (3 over par) strokes over the first round and are in fifth place behind Dixie State (285), Utah Valley State (286), College of Charleston (288) and Utah State (290). There are 12 teams in the field. Corey Gard shot an even par 72 for the Titans, who also got a 72 from Nick Ellis and 76s from Mark Anguiano and Scott Rubzin. Mason Casper of Utah Valley State and Benjamin Schilleman of Utah State are the individual leaders at 67. The final 18 holes will be played Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. MST.
Cancer Fighting Foods/Spices The National Cancer Institute estimates that roughly one-third of all cancer deaths may be diet related. What you eat can hurt you, but it can also help you. Many of the common foods found in grocery stores or organic markets contain cancer-fighting properties, from the antioxidants that neutralize the damage caused by free radicals to the powerful phytochemicals that scientists are just beginning to explore. There isn’t a single element in a particular food that does all the work: The best thing to do is eat a variety of foods. The following foods have the ability to help stave off cancer and some can even help inhibit cancer cell growth or reduce tumor size. Avocados are rich in glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that attacks free radicals in the body by blocking intestinal absorption of certain fats. They also supply even more potassium than bananas and are a strong source of beta-carotene. Scientists also believe that avocados may also be useful in treating viral hepatitis (a cause of liver cancer), as well as other sources of liver damage. Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower have a chemical component called indole-3-carbinol that can combat breast cancer by converting a cancer-promoting estrogen into a more protective variety. Broccoli, especially sprouts, also have the phytochemical sulforaphane, a product of glucoraphanin – believed to aid in preventing some types of cancer, like colon and rectal cancer. Sulforaphane induces the production of certain enzymes that can deactivate free radicals and carcinogens. The enzymes have been shown to inhibit the growth of tumors in laboratory animals. However, be aware that the Agriculture Department studied 71 types of broccoli plants and found a 30-fold difference in the amounts of glucoraphanin. It appears that the more bitter the broccoli is, the more glucoraphanin it has. Broccoli sprouts have been developed under the trade name BroccoSprouts that have a consistent level of sulforaphane – as much as 20 times higher than the levels found in mature heads of broccoli. Carrots contain a lot of beta carotene, which may help reduce a wide range of cancers including lung, mouth, throat, stomach, intestine, bladder, prostate and breast. Some research indicated beta carotene may actually cause cancer, but this has not proven that eating carrots, unless in very large quantities – 2 to 3 kilos a day, can cause cancer. In fact, a substance called falcarinol that is found in carrots has been found to reduce the risk of cancer, according to researchers at Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS). Kirsten Brandt, head of the research department, explained that isolated cancer cells grow more slowly when exposed to falcarinol. This substance is a polyacethylen, however, so it is important not to cook the carrots. Chili peppers and jalapenos contain a chemical, capsaicin, which may neutralize certain cancer-causing substances (nitrosamines) and may help prevent cancers such as stomach cancer. November 20, 2008 at 3:27 pm Maybe you should be eating more beets, left, or chopped cabbage. (Credit: Evan Sung for The New York Times, left Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice. - Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters. How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power. - Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes. How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches. - Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes. How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil. - Cinnamon: Helps control blood sugar and cholesterol. How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal. - Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants. How to eat: Just drink it. - Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but packed with cancer-fighting antioxidants. How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked. - Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death. How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad. - Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.’’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins. How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread. - Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,’’ it has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish. - Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies. How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds. - Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories. How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site, which published the original version of the list last year. In my own house, I only have two of these items — pumpkin seeds, which I often roast and put on salads, and frozen blueberries, which I mix with milk, yogurt and other fruits for morning smoothies. How about you? Have any of these foods found their way into your shopping cart? Courtesy: New York Times July 1, 2008 at 9:06 am
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Along Havana’s northern coastline, storms that roll down from the north send waves crashing against the concrete seawall, drenching vintage cars and kids playing games of chicken with the salty spray. Fishermen toss their lines into the warm waters, shirtless men play dominoes on card tables, and throngs of young people gather on weekend nights to laugh, flirt and sip cheap rum. This is the achingly beautiful and most instantly recognisable part of Havana’s cityscape: the Malecon seafront boulevard, with its curlicue lamp posts and pastel buildings rising into an azure sky. Just about anywhere else in the world, it would be a playground for the wealthy, diners in four-star restaurants and tourists willing to spend hundreds of dollars a night for a million-dollar view. But along the Malecon, many buildings are dank, labyrinthine tenements bursting beyond capacity, plagued by mold and reeking of backed-up sewer drains. Paint peels away from plaster, and the saline air rusts iron bars to dust. Some buildings have collapsed entirely, their propped-up facades testimony to a more dignified architectural era. Now, for the first time since the 1959 revolution, a new law that permits the sale of real estate has transformed these buildings into extremely valuable properties. Another new law that allows more people to go into business for themselves has entrepreneurs setting up shop and talking up the future. And a multimillion-dollar revitalisation project is marching down the street improving lighting, sidewalks and drainage. The year has seen some remarkable first steps toward a new Cuban economic model, including the sacrificing of a number of Marxism’s sacred cows. The state is still firmly in control of all key sectors, from energy and manufacturing to health care and education, but increasingly people are allowed to engage in a small measure of private enterprise. Officials say the changes are irreversible, and this is the last chance to save the economy. Yet Cubans will tell you that change comes slowly on the island. Strict controls on foreign investment and property ownership mean there’s precious little money to bankroll a capitalist revival. Even some Malecon denizens who embrace the reforms see a long haul ahead. “It’s not that I see the future as black, more like I’m seeing a little spark from someone three kilometres away who lit a match,” said Jose Luis Leal Ordonez, the proprietor of a modest snack shop.”But it’s a match, not a lantern.” Leal’s block, the first one along the promenade, has offered a front row seat to five decades of Cuba under Fidel Castro. The residents of Malecon 1 to 33 have watched the powerful forces of revolution play out beneath their balconies, and today they’re bracing for yet another act as Castro’s younger brother Raul turns a half-century of communist dogma on its ear. Given that Cuba’s national identity has been inextricably bound up with its powerful neighbour 150 kilometres to the north, it is perhaps fitting that the Malecon is the legacy of a “Yanqui”. The year was 1900 and the country was under US control following the Spanish-American War. Governor General Leonard Wood, who commanded the Rough Riders during the war with friend Teddy Roosevelt as his No 2, launched a public works programme to clean up unsanitary conditions and stimulate the economy. A key element was the Malecon. At that time Havana ended about a block from the sea, separated from the waves by craggy rock. Raw sewage seeped into the bay nearby, so fishermen and bathers avoided this part of the waterfront. Only later would high-rise hotels and casinos spring up to make the Malecon a world-famous tourism draw. For those early American occupiers, “The idea was to create a maritime drive so the city, which until now had its back to the sea, would begin to face the ocean,” said architect Abel Esquivel. Since 1994, he has been working with the City Historian’s office to restore the crumbling Malecon. As the boulevard and promenade took shape, buildings sprang up on this block. One of the first was a three-storey boarding house for singles and childless couples who occupied 12 apartments. Today, those have been subdivided horizontally and vertically, again and again, to take advantage of every last inch of space, and some 70 families live crammed into every nook and cranny. Leal runs his cafeteria in the home where he was born 46 years ago, at the dark crux of an interior passageway. It caters mostly to neighbours and goes unnoticed by tourists on the sun-drenched walk outside. A lifelong supporter of the revolution, Leal is grateful for the opportunity to live rent free and earn two master’s degrees on the state’s dime. Still, after years of frustration working for dysfunctional government bureacracies, he quit his state job. He opened his snack shop May 1, and already it brings more income than before, enough even for his daughter’s upcoming “quinceanera,” her coming-of-age 15th birthday party. He is one of the people on this block who is buying into Castro’s entrepreneurial challenge. Another is Omar Torres, who operates a private restaurant known as a “paladar” on a second-storey terrace with sea and skyline views. He praised the government for lifting a ban on the serving of lobster and steak and allowing him to more than quadruple the number of diners he can seat. Downstairs, an artist runs an independent gallery selling paintings of “Che” Guevara and cityscapes to tourists. Although he doesn’t own the house, he’s so confident in the future that he’s using the income to remodel his rental. Elsewhere, folks are letting out rooms to travellers, and newly licensed street vendors are now legally peddling peanuts in tightly wrapped paper cones. “Cubans dream of truly feeling like masters of their own destiny, for the state not to interfere in personal matters,” Leal said. “Until now the state told you that you couldn’t even sell your home.” From its early days, the Malecon was a place to see and be seen, to celebrate a success, drown a sorrow or woo a sweetheart. By the 1920s it was a favourite strip for middle-class Cubans who motored up and down to show off their vehicles. Havana developed without a strong central plan or dominant core, and the Malecon became one of its most important communal spaces, said historian Daniel Rodriguez, a Cuban-American researcher at New York University. “I think the closest thing Havana has to an urban centre is this long seawall,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a long, ribbony main square.” Today the concrete promenade stretches six kilometres from the harbour to the Almendares River, the last section completed in 1958 under strongman Fulgencio Batista. Those were heady times, when the city’s nightclubs pulsed with a mambo beat and mafia casinos on the Malecon drew planeloads of American tourists. But their days were numbered. The following January, the young rebel Fidel Castro marched triumphantly into Havana and in short order began seizing mansions and apartment buildings and redistributing them to the poor, triggering a tectonic shift in housing as well as the rest of the economy and society. Castro declared private real estate incompatible with the revolution’s ideals. “For the bourgeoisie,” he said, things like “country, society, liberty, family and humanity have always been tied to a single concept: private property.” In a country where everyone is guaranteed a place to live, millions are jammed into dilapidated, multigenerational homes. The government is landlord to vast ranks of tenants who pay nothing or a nominal rent of around $2 a month. Sapped of any sense of ownership, some cannibalised the old buildings, ripping out wood, cinderblocks and decorative tiles to use or sell. That, combined with the punishing climate, has stifled upkeep and hastened decay in the buildings on the Malecon. One of them, the Hotel Surf, was a beauty when Griselia Valdes arrived here as an 18-year-old newly-wed in 1963. The entryway was tiled in pink and black with white benches and a restaurant on the ground floor. The rooms even had air-conditioning. The glass bricks that lined the front wall are long gone, demolished by big storms. A drainpipe dumps over a spider web of electrical wires hanging at eye level in a passageway, while rainwater filters through the walls and spills into the lobby. The elevator was taken out years ago, but, with the motor left rusting at the top of the shaft, people fear it could come crashing down any day. “Mostly it is us who have abused the building with the subdivisions, with the banging and the crashing,” Valdes said. “From neglecting it, from indolence.” Jan Ochoa Barzaga, who lives in the hotel’s basement, is pessimistic about how much Raul Castro’s reforms can change things. The factory worker finds it very frustrating that his girlfriend, like many others in Cuba, received a free university education from a generous government, but is languishing in a low-paid job. Ochoa Barzaga tried to make the sea passage off the island in 2009, but was caught and returned home. If he had another opportunity to leave, he wouldn’t think long. “If they opened it up again,” said the 32-year-old. “I’d be out of here.” The Malecon continued to serve as center stage throughout Fidel Castro’s rule, with the military conducting war games along the seawall during the 1960s after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. In 2000, a flag-waving Castro personally led marches along the seawall to demand Cuban raft-boy Elian Gonzalez’s return from the United States. Four years earlier, with Cuba buckling under a severe economic crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union, thousands marched through the streets with makeshift plywood and inner-tube rafts and set off from the Malecon in a desperate gamble to reach Florida. Many failed. On August 5 of that year, riotous protests erupted on the boulevard and surrounding streets that were likely the biggest challenge to Castro since he took power. Amid looting and dozens of arrests, Castro addressed the crowd from atop a military vehicle. “We were witnesses to all that,” said Torres, the private restaurant owner, who saw the multitudes from his balcony. “You began to reconsider the meaning that Fidel has for Cubans, because in a moment of chaos and uncertainty, his presence was something else. Even the rioters began shouting, “Fidel! Fidel!” That image of a robust, charismatic father figure faded when illness forced him from power five years ago. The future is left to Raul, who at 80, is five years younger than his brother. He has dropped one bombshell after another with his economic reforms. None caused more of a stir than the measure legalising the real estate market. There’s no sign of an imminent gold rush along this block of the Malecon, or anywhere else. Few individuals hold title to these homes; most rent from the government. Meanwhile the new law contains protections against individual accumulation of property or wealth, and officials insist this is no wholesale embrace of capitalism. “All these changes, necessary to update the economic model, aim to preserve socialism, strengthen it and make it truly irrevocable,” Raul Castro said in December 2010. There’s also the question of money: Cuba has only a tiny middle class with the kind of coin to not only buy a seafront home but afford the maintenance needed to keep the corrosive air at bay. The new law bars anyone not a permanent resident from buying property, including exiles who still imagine a day when they might return. For Jorge Sanguinetty, who grew up a few blocks from the Malecon and was an economist for central planning under Fidel Castro before fleeing in 1967, the history of the seawalk is personal. “I was like Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. I used to go fishing there, walking through the rocks. We could see the salt from the waves on our windows during the storms,” Sanguinetty recalled, saying he still dreams about it more than 40 years later. “You have to see a sunset (on the) Malecon. They are absolutely sensational.” Sanguinetty, founder of the international development group DevTech Systems, is writing a book about potential redevelopment in Cuba and has followed the issue closely over the years. He said the same forces that caused the Malecon’s decay also added to its charm. “The stagnation of Havana had this unintended consequence: Even though many things have fallen apart and are no longer salvageable, Havana will remain very desirable because uncontrolled development didn’t take place,” he said by phone from his office in Miami. “So there are many jewels there architecturally, and the Malecon is one of the most beautiful jewels in the crown.” When it comes to the Malecon, the City Historian’s Office wields near-total control. A largely autonomous institution, it collects undisclosed millions of dollars each year from the hotels and tourist restaurants it runs in restored buildings, and plows a big chunk of that back into rehabilitating more. The office recently said it has more than 180 projects, on top of the hundreds already completed. The result has been an architectural rebirth that’s on display in the gleaming Spanish-American cultural centre, a rescued former tenement next door to Leal’s building. A few doors away is a near-total rehab with brand-new apartments upstairs from a state-run restaurant, a mixed-use model that could be repeated. There are also reminders that money is tight. Residents here remember how in the early 2000s, at the site of the collapsed Hotel Miramar, a fancy hotel from 1902 where tuxedoed waiters once attended to a fashionable clientele, Fidel Castro and Chinese President Jiang Zemin laid the cornerstone for a $24-million hotel to be built with help from Beijing. Construction mysteriously froze after just a few weeks. Today, bricks form a single uncompleted first storey and a faded artistic rendering tacked to a fence depicts the glassy, hyper-modern structure that never got built. Despite the decay and unfulfilled hopes, the residents say they live in a magical place that creates a sense of community that doesn’t exist even one block inland. “I’m right on what we call the balcony of the city,” said Leal, the cafeteria owner. “For me there’s no place more sacred than where I live.”
Tansy Myer, a contributing artist to Fused, has just completed her first limited edition of ‘Toothhead Girl’ serigraphs prints. Limited Edition Prints – On Sale 9 Colour Serigraph, Hand Pulled Printed by Modern Multiples, Published by Wal+Art Publishing, Edition of 30, Signed by Artist contact; firstname.lastname@example.org to purchase
Cast aside those dreary winter shades, wool sweaters, and itchy turtlenecks and make room for vibrant hues, eye-catching prints and skin bearing styles. The fashions of this spring appear not only to be some of the best stuff that has come out in years, but they also are so varied that there is something for everyone. Take your pick from bright colors or delicious sherbets, heels or flats, cropped pants or shorter capris, mini skirts or sundresses because they're all in style. Prints such as small polka dots, ethnic inspire and retro add some additional excitement to spring. Whether it's worn on a small tote or painted on a mini skirt, be sure to incorporate the current colors of pink, yellow and white. The following are the four hottest looks of spring with the latest trends in the clothes, accessories, colors, prints and materials that make them work. Think country club attire without the stuffiness. For instance, layer a few slim tanks or a polo under a fitted cardigan, and pair with longer shorts, shorter capris, or cropped pants. The classic combination of black and white is once again in style, as are khakis, especially for bottoms. To keep your looks interesting, think about adding some bright splashes of color with a bag, silk scarf or an interesting piece of jewelry. In addition, incorporating an item with either pin stripes or polka dots will up your style points. Pretty in Pastels Ladylike dresses, skirts and tops all add to the romance of spring. The best fabrics for these clothes are typically light and airy so they flutter with the spring breeze. Put on a low strappy sandal to complete this outfit. Simple or no jewelry usually looks the best. As far as colors go, stick with pale blues, pinks, yellows and greens. Just be sure not to over do it, because otherwise you run the risk of looking like a badly-painted Easter egg. Shiny and sheer material, lace and ribbon run rampant across this years spring fashion runways. In order to make this look wearable, don't let your outfit border on Victoria's Secret, but instead only add accents. For example, a camisole with sheer lace highlighting the neck, a shiny flowing skirt in a neutral color or a dress with some ribbon will all add a little flirt to your wardrobe. For hot hues, definitely think in terms of pink and black, and minimize accessories because, although minimal, these accents will speak for themselves. Retro and ethnic prints are really in for spring, and oh so much fun to wear. Make sure to choose carefully when matching these exciting pieces with basic staples. Instead of turning heads you could turn stomachs from a dizzying effect. Both kinds of prints look amazing in intense colors such as tomato red, peacock blue, jungle green, plum and canary yellow. One of springs most fashionable items is the sundress, and both retro and ethnic prints are guaranteed to make this look sizzle. The two prints are also fabulous on halters, skirts, and capris. As far as accessories go, keep them simple, but belts and jewelry made with chunky silver metal will keep you at the top of the fashion chart. Hey guys , spring is fast approaching so that means you need to shed those staple hooded sweatshirts and stocking caps, and trade them in for button down shirts and khaki pants. Although you dont need to stress over wearing the latest styles like girls, there are some easy changes that you can make to ensure a good look. As far as spring styles go, items like short sleeve button down shirts are hot, especially when paired with a lightweight sweater. For bottoms, shorts are always a good choice as long as they are not too short or too tight. Although pants come in various styles for guys, the boot cut, looser fit is usually the most universally flattering. When putting your best foot forward, make sure to avoid the major fashion faux pas of wearing heavy winter shoes and boots with shorts, leather sandals with athletic shorts, and most importantly please no socks with any sort of sandal. -- Information on fashion categories and photographs taken from the May issue of Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Elle magazines.
Image Source: blog.ted.com Autonomous cars are coming! The very first licensed self-driven car is a modified Toyota Prius which won a special permit recently, the first applied for by Google, which allows it to be used on the roads, including now in the capital of sin, Las Vegas strip. Self-driving computer automated vehicles are the “cars of the future,” said Bruce Breslow, of Nevada’s (DMV). Chris Gerdes: The future race car — 150 mph, and no driver Chris Gerdes team is currently developing robotic race cars speeding up to 150 mph while not getting into accidents. - Future Predictions Cars: In the USA We Waste 4.2 Billion Hours in Traffic Jams as Sebastian Thrun Director of the AI Lab at Stanford and Google Wants to Change This! - Predictions: Flying Cars – Coming to a Garage Near You - Predictions: Will Israel Strike Iran? Attack Would Accelerate Iranian Nuclear Race - Hydrogen Cars - Future: Electric Luxury Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Welcome to the world of Fuzzcraft.com! This website is a log of many of the DIY projects I did over the course of over 15 years. I'm a photographer, I used to be a performing musician, and I also did some light effect projects. I also write reviews for some gadgets I buy. Use the sliding tabs on the right to view all the projects and articles. To the left are more general links and links to my other departments. Hopefully I will have inspired you to start building your own fuzzy project. Others have done so, so why not? Rebooted the Yelloweye project. Now doing long term listening tests. These were built out of PVC tubing, and have coaxial tweeters, that I installed myself. Photo gear flightcase #2: a mini case to protect a bare minimum camera kit for my many concert shoots. My increasingly popular Flightcase DIY guide got a complete makeover in the past few weeks. I changed the layout and added a lot of photos of tools and parts, included a number of tips and tricks, and even put up an example case project. Ring light 4.1: a fiber optic TTL ring flash. Thousands of optic fibers guide the light from a camera's popup flash to a ring around the lens. Essentially a very simple idea, with cheap materials, but with stunning results. This is the second, improved version that can be used on any lens. Most recent additions - Wrote a review of an unusual, but versatile camera bag: the Lowepro Passport Sling bag. - Reboot of the Yellow Eyes project. - Added a page about our new home theater setup. - I finished the second photo gear flightcase. Why I build stuff myself Why? Because I can. Because it's fun. Because I'm a cheap-ass. Because I inherited it from my father. Because I have the unstoppable urge to create and build stuff you simply can't buy in a store. Because I like to make noise and dust with power tools. Because burning and melting stuff is awesome. Because it's exciting to start with nothing and end up with something useful. Because I like nothing more than educating myself. Because it keeps me occupied. Because it has helped me to get a job twice. Because I like a mind challenge once in a while. Have fun (or pity me for my nerd streak ),
The Internet is the place to be when you have a thirst for bang up-to-date business news. You can read company Annual Reports, study their year-end accounts, follow your shares' prices and read about who's buying who! We have scoured the web for you and bring you a top list of links below to get you started.
Earlier we had reported that there were rumors about Apple being in talks with German HDTV maker, Loewe, about a possible acquisition. On some level this made sense as it would complement Apple?s rumored iTV, but unfortunately for those hoping for such a deal to come true, it looks like you guys will be disappointed. The company has since issued a statement to German website, Heise, in which a Loewe spokeswoman claimed that there was ?absolutely? nothing to the rumor. For those wondering, all this talk about an Apple ?iTV? exploded thanks to Walter Isaacson?s biography of Apple?s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, who was quoted as saying that he had finally ?cracked? the secret to Apple building a HDTV of their own. Ever since then, there have been plenty of rumors suggesting that production of such a device was in the works and could see a release in 2012/2013. So far unlike iPhone/iPad rumors, there have been no leaked parts or components to suggest that such a device exists so we suggest taking all of this with a grain of salt for now.By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Loewe unveils Art and Connect series 3D TVs, Rumor: Apple to acquire Loewe AG,
Have you checked out Kate Spade New York's new swim collection yet? It's full of bright colors and eye-popping prints, staying true to the wonderful qualities that make Kate Spade New York so unique. Take a look at the adorable "Swan Dive or Cannonball" video to see more! And now...one lucky Gal Meets Glam winner will win a Kate Spade New York nail polish set, limited edition tray, playing cards and pool ring. You will definitely be ready for any last minute summer parties! To enter: you must be following Gal Meets Glam and leave a comment below! So now, tell me what swim items you are lusting over...it's kind of a hard decision ;) *Winner will be chosen at random next week.
In late December, the Turkish Chess Federation, which had been awarded the right to organize the European Women’s Championship, withdrew as the host. The reason given for Turkey’s withdrawal was a conflict between the federation and the European Chess Union, which has jurisdiction over the championship. Last week, Ali Nihat Yazici, the president of the Turkish Chess Federation, wrote to Silvio Danailov, the president of the E.C.U., and said that Turkey was again ready to organize the event, but he said that he did not want to communicate with Sava Stoisavljevic, the general secretary of the E.C.U., who mostly dealt with Mr. Yazici in the earlier negotiations over the contract. Mr. Yazici also asked for an apology from Mr. Danailov. (Some background, Mr. Yazici and Mr. Danailov were opponents last fall in the election for the presidency of the E.C.U. Obviously, Mr. Danailov won.) In his letter, Mr. Yazici gave Mr. Danailov a deadline of Monday, January 24, to accept his offer to again host the tournament. Mr. Danailov did respond in time, but did not accept because it would set a bad precedent. Read more…
I did something similiar several years ago for a mockup demo of cyberpunk-themed "Jagged Alliance" clone which was supposed to have large maps filled with skyscrapers. It was a stupid idea, apparently maps for tactical combat should be tidy and easily understandable :) In order to have a quicker pathfinding one global map was divided into several discrete square-shaped areas. Once we have a criteria for areas, it's time to find possible "entrances" between each pair of adjacent areas. "Entrance" is a transition point which shows that this agent can enter this area at this point. In your example with building of several floors, each floor would be an area with borders defined by floor, ceiling and outer walls; and varius holes in wall or floor, or ladders would be entrances, there could be a lot of them. So entrances basically link path nodes from one area to path nodes in the other area. Once you identified entrances, you'll need to find all possible ways to traverse each area resulting in a "map of area entrances to adjacent area entrances" with edges between entrances showing length of this path through area. If everything went right, your agent standing on the 1-st floor will be able to find its way to that special box on the 4-th floor quickly. Maybe something similiar could be used in your problem of multiple maps, so hope it helps.
I'm making a camera which tracks the player. I am using a basic algorithm to calculate a position for the camera relative to the player. Then I am taking an average of this over the last x number of frames. This creates a nice chase camera which always slightly lags and evens out the players movements. Where I am running into trouble is with delta Time. How can I weight each entry in my list of previous positions so that delta time is taken into account. Currently I'm having an issue where, when the frame rate is particularly slow, the camera lags really far behind the player. I should also mention that currently I am adding each entry ElapsedTimeInSeconds/0.01f times to give the weight. So the average is effectively over fewer frames if the frame rate is slow. I also tried entering values as Value * DeltaTime, then keeping an average of delta time to divide the values by when I get them back out of my average tracking class but that didn't work. What I think I really want is an average over the last n seconds rather than the last n frames.
In my setup there is a box with a hole on one side, and a freely movable "stick" (or bar, tube). This stick can be inserted/moved through the hole into the box. This hole is exactly as wide as the ... What all do I need to learn or work on before creating a 3D virtual environment to simulate a welding process in order to train workers? Any books or tutorials that might help me begin? I have a basic ... I'm seeking advice, suggestions, and ideas on how to handle the updating of large amounts of data in OpenGL and c++. My partner and I have gone through two methods. The first is vertex by vertex ... I want to study water simulation, with a a demo with source code which using physically-based methods(Eulerian approaches or Lagrangian approaches). How can I get some examples?
Peggle Nights Now Available for Mac OS X Second Installment of Casual Cult Classic Now Available for Macintosh PopCap Games today announced that Peggle Nights, the second installment in the immensely popular Peggle series, is now available for the Apple Macintosh line of personal computers. Peggle Nights carries a retail price of US$19.95 and is available now for download at www.popcap.com. Peggle Nights and the original Peggle have been downloaded more than 45 million times and have garnered numerous critical accolades and “game of the year” awards. PopCap also announced the imminent arrival of the second free bonus level pack for Peggle Nights, sporting a “Spring” theme. Peggle Nights features 60 all-new Adventure mode levels and 60 new Challenge mode hurdles, along with a new “Peggle Master” power-up, new kinds of style shots, achievements, and other special bonuses. The game takes players into the “dream worlds” of each of the eleven Peggle Masters, providing five beautifully rendered and themed levels for each character’s secret dreams and aspirations. Peggle Nights supports downloadable expansion packs, and early next month PopCap will release a free 10-level “Spring” themed bonus level pack, the second free expansion pack to be released for the game.
Click to view Snake Draft demo screenshot Your live draft date, time and details are listed on both your League Settings page and your League Office page. EDITING DRAFT LISTS We highly recommend that all live draft users customize their draft list before the actual draft. This protects you on the off chance that you are unable to participate in your live draft (on our calendar, nothing is more important than Fantasy Draft Day). The list can be ordered using our Pre-Rank or Lite Version Tool available on your preseason My Team page. Your list will be used as your default rankings if you are disconnected for any reason during the draft. The links for editing your draft lists are available in two places: - On your preseason League Office page in the "Draft Info" box. - On your main Team page. NOTE: You can edit your draft list as often as you like until one hour before your scheduled draft time. ENTERING YOUR LIVE ONLINE DRAFT You can enter your live draft as early as one hour before the scheduled start time. Links to enter the draft are available on your League Office and My Team pages. Please keep in mind that all leagues MUST be full in order for a draft to begin, so league managers, pay attention and make sure all your league's team owners have joined with their teams at least one hour before your draft! If a league is not full, it will NOT convert into draft mode, and the draft time will be rescheduled. In standard leagues, the draft order is randomly determined before the live draft begins. (In custom leagues, the league manager has the option of manually adjusting the draft order.) The first pick of the draft will be "on the clock" within three minutes of the scheduled draft time, so all team owners should make sure they are ready to go before the scheduled start of the draft. Owners participate in each round of the draft by taking turns selecting players in a snake draft format (i.e., 1-10, 10-1, 1-10, etc.). Each team drafts one player per round until all roster slots are full (including bench). DRAFTING A PLAYER USING THE FLEX DRAFT APPLICATION The Flex draft application is designed to give team owners as much player information as possible during the draft so you can pick the best available player every round. Your draft list will be displayed in the center of the application. If you have customized your list prior to the draft, it will be displayed. Otherwise the list will be sorted by ESPN default rankings. To draft a player, first click on his name. Doing this will highlight the player's row and add him to the "Selected Player" area above. Simply click on the "Draft Player" button when you are on the clock to draft the player for your team. If you're not on the clock, you will not be allowed to draft until it is your turn. However, you can add players to your player queue. In Custom Leagues, the LM will be able to draft players for other teams using the "LM Tools" tab in the draft app. In order to draft for another team, the LM must first click on "Pause Draft." Once the draft is paused, the LM can select the draft option under the appropriate team name and will then be able to draft a player. The LM can resume the draft by clicking on "Resume Draft." The LM can also undo a draft pick, which will reset the clock. There is no limit to the number of times the LM can pause a draft. You can highlight a player's name and either drag-and-drop them into the Player Queue area, or right-click the player name and click the"Add to Top of List" link. This will move the player to the Player Queue. There is no limit to the number of players who can be added to this area. In Snake drafts players listed in the Player Queue will automatically drafted if you're on Auto Pick. CONCLUSION OF THE DRAFT After all rounds have been completed, the system will need a few minutes to process it and convert your league into post-draft mode where you can start managing your team for the season. DRAFTING A PLAYER USING THE LITE DRAFT APPLICATION The Lite Draft application is designed to allow owners who are unable to use the Flex application to take part in a live draft. It is just as effective as the Flash enabled Flex application, but without all the bells and whistles. The Lite Draft version of the live draft application is linked on both the League Office and Clubhouse pages when the league is in draft mode. To select a player when using the Lite Draft version, click on the player you wish to draft and then select "Draft" when you are on the clock. CUSTOM LEAGUE LIVE ONLINE DRAFTS LEAGUE MANAGER LEAGUES ONLY: The LM has the ability to customize many parts of their league's draft. EDIT DRAFT SETTINGS League Manager Tools >> Edit League Settings >> Edit Draft Settings. You can access the Draft Settings page anytime up to one hour before your league's draft is scheduled to begin. On this page you can change any of your draft settings, and any edits submitted to the system will automatically trigger an e-mail to each owner in the league notifying them of the changes. - Changes to live drafts can be made up to one hour before the scheduled live draft time. Additional draft times will be added as required. - Changes for autopick drafts can be made until 2:59 a.m. ET the day the autopick draft is scheduled to process. - Changes for offline drafts can be made until the time the league manager begins entering the offline results. SET DRAFT ORDER LM Tools >> Set Draft Order. If your league uses the live online or autopick draft method and has the draft order setting as "Manually Set by League Manager," you can access the Set Draft Order page anytime until your league's draft is scheduled to begin. On the page you can manually assign a draft position for each team in the league. If no draft order is set, the draft order is randomly determined when your league's draft begins. For offline drafts, the system does not observe a draft order. LM Tools >> Reset Draft. You can access the Reset Draft page after your league's draft is complete. If you wish to reset the draft, the system will completely change the league's status from post-draft to pre-draft. This will undo all draft picks and allow team owners to set their draft list again, if they wish.
Capt.no0b wrote:Is it just me or have Blizz actually listened to us gamers? SuBw00FeR wrote:Really? I managed to buy my complete stash before i hit my first 60. Mugsy wrote:OK, I suppose i should dump the 9 Leoric's Shinbones in my stash as well, esp since I have the Staff of Herding Mugsy wrote:Lets just say I take great amusement with seeing Leoric with 9 shinbones. Heaven (or Hell) knows how he's able to stand when you go fight him. OK, maybe as Chief Wiggum once put it: "Skeleton Power". But, IMHO, I still shouldn't need to make mules to store my stuff. Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests
An anonymous reader writes "Yesterday there was a rumor doing the rounds that Nintendo was set to release a brand new version of the Wii console called the Wii Mini. The new machine would be significantly smaller than the current Wii, is expected to ship with a Wii Remote Plus, Nunchuk, and Sensor Bar, and hopefully carries a much lower (sub-$100) price. Well, it looks as though this wasn't just a rumor. Best Buy Canada has it listed with an image on its front page and a December 7 release date." Also at PC Mag.
Fresh Roasted Food description: A young girl is running a restaurant. Prepare and serve different kind of foods to the customers. Make money by serving the food before customer waiting time exceeds. The faster you complete your orders, the better compliment you will get. Game Instructions: Mouse to play. Play all these RPG games for free.
It's seems I've hit a bump: Every time I try to battle something I die. I couldn't go to High Hrothgar because I couldn't beat the troll. So I figured I'd become a Stormcloak and head over to Windhelm and maybe level up on my journey there. So I leave Ivarstead, die to a bear, and end up fast traveling to Whiterun. I start off on the trail leading to Windhelm and die to a Frostbite Spider. I'm a level 6 Breton. I have light armor and I am focused on 1H weps (mainly sword) and destruction magic (and a little alteration, but not til later in the game). Am I just advancing in the story line to quickly, or do I have a bad character build?
There's information that there's a secret level in Diablo III, similar to Diablo II's "Secret Cow Level". How can I reach that secret area in Diablo III? \|show 1 more comment\| According to sources on the Blizzard forum, the secret level is called Whimsyshire: Whimsyshire is essentially a single-level dungeon, much like the dungeons you find randomly while exploring the wilderness. Just like these random dungeons, it has chests and other lootable objects, plus a plethora of monsters, including some champion and unique monsters. Level-wise, it contains monsters and loot that are roughly on par with the first act of Nightmare (if you're visiting the Normal variant - I assume that it is roughly on par with the first act of the difficulty one harder than the difficulty you enter the portal in) - nothing super difficult or super awesome. It may be worth visiting/farming if you've cleared the difficulty you're on, but are having trouble with the first act of the next difficulty. Otherwise, it's probably likely to be underwhelming. In order to visit Whimsyshire, you must craft a Staff of Herding, and take it to a specific area in Act 1. The Staff of Herding Unlocking Whimsyshire requires a Staff of Herding, which can be crafted at the blacksmith for 50,000 gold and requires the following items: Black Mushroom - Cathedral Level 1 The mushroom in a patch of mushrooms that occasionally spawn on level 1 of the Cathedral (screenshot). When you enter the room, your hero will remark about the unusual mushrooms. The room it spawns in always looks the same so you can look for it in the minimap. (minimap screenshot). If you're past this point in the story, go to Act 1, Mission 4: Reign of the Black King. Travel from the New Tristram waypoint to the Cathedral Garden, and then walk out the gate and back around to the front of the Cathedral. Open the door and descend to Cathedral Level 1. Leoric's Shinbone - Leoric's Manor The shinbone is found occasionally in the fireplace of Leoric's Manor. From the entrance to the manor, walk forward to the staircase, and hang a right. The room with the fireplace is on the first floor on the right side. A large painting of an old man hangs over the fireplace. If the shinbone is present, there will be logs in the fireplace. Click the logs to get the bone. (screenshot). If you're past this point in the story, return to Act 1, Mission 9: The Imprisoned Angel. Take the waypoint to Leoric's Manor. Backtrack through the manor into the room with the large statue overlooking a double staircase, and then head into the room to the northeast on your minimap. Wirt's Bell - Caldeum Bazaar Squirt the Peddler sells this item at the Hidden Camp in Act 2. This vendor was moved in patch 1.0.4 to stand just up and to the right of the waypoint in the Hidden Camp. The item is on the "Miscellaneous" tab. The cost for the bell is 100,000 gold. Liquid Rainbow - Mysterious Cave in Dahlgur Oasis From the Act 2 waypoint "Path to the Oasis," travel southeast. Zaven the Alchemist may be here, and if so you can save him to access the cave. (screenshot) The item is in a the "Mysterious Chest" which also may not spawn, even if you're in the right dungeon. If you're past this point, load Act 2, Mission 7: Blood and Sand. Take the "Path to Oasis" waypoint, as noted above. Gibbering Gemstone - Caverns of Frost in Fields of Slaughter This item drops from a "purple" class monster named Chiltara that has a chance of spawning in the second level of Caverns of Frost, a random dungeon that may or may not appear in the Fields of Slaughter. Other dungeons may appear here, but you can only find this item in the Caverns of Frost. From the waypoint "The Bridge of Korsikk" travel almost due east. You should see a small cluster of debris that has a small, U-shaped indentation in it. (screenshot) The dungeon may spawn northwest, or southeast of this debris. (There are other potential locations, but these are the fastest 2 to check) Ensure this is the Caverns of Frost before clearing it! If you've passed this point, load Act 3, Mission 6: Siegebreaker. Take the waypoint to "The Bridge of Korsikk" as noted above. Plans for the Staff of Herding - Great Span This item is a random drop from Izual, who is a midboss on the Great Spire. Unfortunately, there's not a "fast" quest checkpoint for this one - you're going to have to start Act 4, Mission 4: Prime Evil, and then fight through the Silver Spire Level 1 in order to get to the Great Span. Izual tends to favor attacks that freeze you in place, so bring any skills you know which can break his freezing spell. Many of the "movement" skills (ie, Spirit Walk) can do this. If you kill Izual and he does not drop the plans, you'll have to exit out, reset the quest to "Quest Start" and start over again, fighting through Silver Spire Level 1. For this reason, I'd suggest being overleveled before you attempt this - fighting this area repeatedly is likely to be time consuming and frustrating if you can't just obliterate everything quickly. A few additional notes: The Staff of Herding you create from this recipe only unlocks the Normal difficulty variant of Whimsyshire. To unlock Whimsyshire on higher difficulties, you'll need to upgrade the staff. You can find more information about how to find the plans for these upgrades in this question: Once you have the staff, travel to New Tristram by choosing any of the quests in Act 1 past the point where the road to Old Tristram is open. From the New Tristram waypoint, follow the road towards Old Tristram. When the path turns to the right past the abandoned houses, you will find a fissure in the ground along the southern edge of the path. Nearby will be the Ghost of the Cow King. (screenshot) With the Staff of Herding in your inventory, clicking on the Ghost will trigger a few lines of dialog, and then the fissure will open. Other related questions: Can I enter Whimsyshire if I follow someone in my party with the Staff of Herding? \|show 3 more comments\| This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.
When I play Tap Tap Revenge 4 on my Ipod Touch, I have difficulties playing the songs on harder levels. I have no problem with the songs or the difficulty modes, but with my fingers. Can anyone tell me a strategy or technique to use so I can play this game easily? I find the best way to do it is to use three fingers, one per lane. If that doesn't work, just try experimenting with different variations of where you hold your hand. Some people play with two fingers, some with only one (except for the multi-note sections, obviously).
Building a structure over zoned buildings, as agent86's comment points out, counts as bulldozing the building and dezoning the land. Recall that in SimCity 4, bulldozing zoned building requires the city to buy then decommission the structure from private hands, which means that doing this with hi-rise apartments or office blocks can be quite expensive. You will also of course displace any citizens living or working in those zones as you demolish the buildings. In addition, in rare cases when building a small structure such as the 1x1 bus stop it is possible to create zones which cannot access roads anymore. For example, take a 4x4 zoned area ( < indicate the direction of the zone): If we build a bus stop at s, it is possible that the zone marked * could become trapped. This is rare as the game usually intelligently realigns the zones so that they always face roads, but it is possible to happen if this area was occupied by 2x1 buildings.
We're talking 512 CUDA cores, NVIDIA Parallel DataCache, GigaThread 3.0 engine, and ECC support. This is "Fermi " or the next GPU coming from NVIDIA. It's designed to make parallel computing easier and deliver outstanding graphics as well. Support for up to 6GB of GDD5 memory is there and I'd love to see a card holding 6GB of ram on it. Today they talked about their latest architecture but didn't give a release date on cards utilizing it yet. NVIDIA did say it will outperform the recently released card from their competitor (i.e. AMD Radeon HD 5870) but we won't know if that's true until we get the card in our hands to test out. Still, it's exciting to hear about a brand new architecture and I think it's about time NVIDIA moved past what they've been pumping out recently as a lot of have been rehashes of a year and a half old tech.
Peter A. Jell Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101,. Australia Jell, P.A. & Duncan, P.M. 1986. Invertebrates, mainly insects, from the freshwater, Lower Cretaceous, Koonwarra Fossil Bed (Korumburra Group), South Gippsland, Victoria (pp. 111-205). In Jell, P.A. & Roberts J. (eds.). Plants and invertebrates from the Lower Cretaceous Koonwarra Fossil Bed, South Gippsland, Victoria. Association of Australasian Palaeontologists Memoir 3: 205 pp. Sydney. [(31.xii).1986.] Bolton B, Alpert G, Ward PS, Naskrecki P. 2007. [CD-ROM] Bolton's Catalogue of the Ants of the World. Harvard University Press.
Hi thenoisylove saw on facebook before that it was your birthday but I disabled my facebook. You don’t have an ask box... another hello to you on my bday week! Goodbye September. Thank you for the beautiful memories. And then, it’s November. shivers down my spine Just one more month! then birthday time!! :P my favourite month!!! ♥ why?! :) :) :) I’m ready for you ;) Centennial Theme by One by Four Studio. Powered by Tumblr.
Your web-browser is very outdated, and as such, this website may not display properly. Please consider upgrading to a modern, faster and more secure browser. Click here to do so. i think it would be funny if she was evil too because everyone’s so convinced now that she’s not, and people get so pissed about it. it would be hilarious haha. but i seriously doubt it yeah it would be really funny to catch ourselves w/ egg on our face but omg i actually would be mad because thats SUCH A BAD TWIST!!!!!!! hahahaha at the start, before we knew anything about “uU”, I was convinced she was evil because she was so sweet, it felt really suspicious and sinister to me. whereas in contrast the trolls (karkat in particular) seemed really mean and bad at first and turned out to be great. i thought it was kinda a reversal of that… it’s sorta hard for me to get rid of that feeling now, but from what we’ve seen of calliope she seems pretty much genuinely good. which is too bad because i think it would be so hilarious if the homestuck fan was the ultimate villain haha Hmmm, GirlCal WAS pretty pissed off when BoyCal beat him at chess. Only evil people get angry when they lose at chess. 11 notes (via magnoliapearl & crowbara)
Posted September 14, 2012 Atlanta, GA The top-tier science magazine, Popular Science, has named Andrea Thomaz, assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, one of 2012’s “Brilliant 10,” an award given by the publication to ten scientists under 40 whose innovations will change the world. Thomaz, along with nine other researchers, is featured in the October issue of the magazine. As Director of the College of Computing’s Socially Intelligent Machines research lab, Thomaz ‘s research focuses on all aspects of human-robot interaction and, specifically, on machines that learn new tasks and goals from ordinary people in everyday environments. This research works from the assumption that machines meant to learn from people can better take advantage of the ways in which people naturally approach teaching. Through the development of new computational models, Thomaz is working to build machines that participate in social learning environments. As a result, she has improved the performance of a machine's learning behavior through attention to human interaction and improving the experience of the human teacher by designing interactive learning algorithms based on how people teach, in order to develop a smooth human-robot relationship. Thomaz’s work with robotics opens up a wider world of personal robotics, in which machines are doing anything their owners can program them to do—without actually being programmers. In 2009, Thomaz was awarded the prestigious “MIT Tech Review 2009 Young Innovators Under 35” for her work in robot-human interaction and the development of Simon. Additionally, she has been named a College of Computing Professor of Excellence for her outstanding contributions to the Institute and to her field of study. Thomaz holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The U.S. Navy and a giant defense contractor are asking mom and dad for money to build an ultra-wicked laser death ray, because otherwise it's impossible to stop pirate ships. At last, the historic invincibility of pirate ships is over! The military-industrial complex has been trying to make killer lasers at least since Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative of the 1980s. The unproven, ridiculously-expensive technology was later tested against ground targets. And now, maybe pirates. Northrop Grumman and the Navy want $98 million just to test a laser for warning away suspicious boats — including pirates, ooo — and even melting their engines. The Pirate Menace has become the hot new way of selling weapons systems; a defense-industry consultant recently floated the absurd argument that the cancelled F-22 air-to-air fighter would be awesome against pirates. But the Navy has about a trillion other ways of destroying pirate ships, other than with pricey lasers: Phalanx: A radar-aimed Gatling gun originally designed to shoot down missiles, it has been adapted to work against small ships and is widely deployed. Chain gun: The 25mm M242 Bushmaster machine gun has been mounted on everything from the Apache helicopter to the M2 Bradley infrantry fighting vehicle. The Navy version includes an infrared scope for night operations and a laser rangefinder. Harpoon anti-ship missile: Intended for use over long ranges, the missile was recently adapted for use in shoreline areas. So the Navy has all of these toys at its disposal already. There are two land-based insurgency wars ongoing, which have killed thousands of ground troops. There's a massive recession. And the high command is asking for a super sea laser, to kill pirates. Someone needs to walk the plank, just for thinking about asking for this bullshit.
People move to big, bad New York City, puff out their chests, and declare that they're ready to take on the world. If they can make it here, they can make it anywhere! But they can't make it without a smiling babysitter paid to open the door for them. Or can they? Hamilton Nolan: Doormen are unnecessary. Open your own fucking door. How people have come to believe that they need to live in a building with a doorman—even though they are not, technically, a member of the British Royal Family—is completely beyond me. A building with a doorman is exactly like a regular apartment building, but you pay several hundred dollars per month more for it. In return, a man wearing a funny costume will open the door when you walk in. "He also takes packages," says everyone with a doorman, in unison. Oh. Good. Cool. Great deal. Hundreds of dollars per month—and a hefty tip at Christmas—to do two tasks that anyone who is not paraplegic does on a regular basis without even thinking it's a chore. Doormen solve a problem that does not exist, and are well compensated for doing so. The loser: you, the lazy sucker. You also look bougie. Brian Moylan: Yes, Hamilton, you're right. Having a doorman makes me look like a snooty, upper-class asshole, and I thought the same way you did when I moved from a fourth-floor walk-up in a converted tenement to a pre-War co-op with a doorman (not brags, just facts) about a year ago. I thought when I moved in, "This is annoying and weird and I don't know what to say to these people and I'm never going to use them." Cut to a year later when I have them sign for my packages (yes), but also leave things for friends to swing by and pick up with them, and have items dropped off for me. Yes, it's a convenience, but it's one that I've learned to embrace. With my initial doorman confusion, I didn't know if I was supposed to say "Hi" or "Good morning" or what, so I started saluting at the doormen. It just seemed natural, now they all call me "Captain," and it is sort of nice to come home everyday and have someone say, "Hey, Captain!" It adds a little bit of humanity to the cold, anonymous world of New York that lurks outside the doors. The best part is, if I forget my keys, lose them, or have some other sort of unfortunate incident, the doorman is there to bail me out. Oh, and my fancy new doorman building actually costs less than my crappy old walk-up with a broken buzzer where I would have to run down four flights of stairs every time I ordered delivery. So, that's not a real argument. Hamilton Nolan: I have no doubt that having a doorman is "sort of nice." I also have no doubt that you've learned to embrace the convenience. Embracing convenience: this is your cross to bear, Brian. It would also be convenient to have a quartet of female gymnasts carry me around town on a throne all day. But I don't. Because it would be ridiculous. It's too expensive, and I have my own two legs, as well as those restraining orders. Same issues apply to having a doorman. Plus, if you never open doors or carry packages, how will you develop your trap muscles? Think of your traps, Brian. Brian Moylan: I think the real trap is thinking that because you don't need a doorman now, you won't ever need a doorman ever. I see the doormen in my building every day helping the older and more infirm residents to get to and from the front door, to put their groceries in the elevator, and to generally assist them to continue living. For them a doorman is not a convenience, but a necessity, the one thing that keeps them in their apartment and not in an assisted living facility. Yes, for me it's just a fun guy named Billie to eat McDonald's with and judge me when I stumble in at 5 in the morning, but for them, it's something else entirely. Sure, we don't need them now, but I'm glad I have one in case that day ever comes. [Image via Getty]
There is nothing worse than those letters you get in Christmas cards recapping what someone's family has been doing for the past year. Maybe everyone should start making videos of their year, like this beautiful, sweet, wonderful, and every other positive adjective gay couple. Joe M posted this video of him and his partner's year together. It seems to be mostly their travels and cute moments together, and it is so sweet it makes me want to go out and find a Brazillian gay porn star boyfriend just like Marc Jacobs and gay marry him in every place where it's legal. Sure, the Paramour song is kind of annoying, but the only thing better than two guys in love is two hot, young, British guys in love. It's almost so perfect it's like an ad for something. Oh, please tell my cynical heart it's not and this is love...true love.
Stop staring at the burning cabin on your television. President Obama is about to deliver the first State of the Union of his second term. There's much to look forward to in the address — the first to compete with a major breaking news story since the Clinton's 1997 speech coincided with the verdict for O.J. Simpson's civil trial— including (spoiler alert) news that the Union is "strong," discussion of the economy AND Afghanistan, and, according to CNN, something called a "slap and tickle." And that's not even mentioning this year's special attendee, the patriotic pants shitter Ted Nugent. Tom Scocca will be live-tweeting the speech from the @Gawker account, and we'll have the live-stream here. So stick around to talk about it with us. And in case that's not enough for you, here's the White House's official trailer for the speech, which, of course, features #dubstep. And here's the live-stream: If you want to read along, here's the full text of Obama's speech.
As a general rule, I avoid sports games. I imagine they are crafted with a good deal of care by people who are genuinely interested in the work they are doing, but sports games more complex than Wii Tennis simply go over my head. Part of it is because I'm simply terrible at them. Mostly it's because my interest in anything sports-related lies somewhere between Kim Kardahsian's latest tweet and the degree to which bacon-flavored chips actually taste like bacon. As always, however, there are exceptions. Much of my gaming youth was spent frittering away time in the 2nd floor den (it sounds much more bourgeois than it was) of my boyhood chum's house, playing NBA Jam - due in no small part to the prospect of playing the greatest of hidden character: a man in a giant Hornets suit. Much to my glee, the On Fire Edition has kept the classic look and feel of NBA Jam, with all the excesses, humor, and large men who use their apparent superpowers for the most vain, unimportant purposes imaginable.
am i the only one weirded out by the changes made to the protagonists’ models in ac 3DS? i mean they keep being cute but since they didnt make the same changes to the villagers’ ones they kinda stick out a bit idk WHEN THE INTERNET IS SO BORING THAT YOU WANT TO STUDY INSTEAD It’s the best day ever! By joyfull. The Pixiv title is “EVERYDAY SUNDAE!!” Reimu dressed for fall. Her eyes look really nice. By kyachi. The Pixiv title is “Romantic Fall.” Fall will be here soon. By poyan no ken. The tengu crew in a nice autumn scene. By panzer.
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Surface Turbulent Fluxes, 1x1 deg Daily Grid, Set1Entry ID: GES_DISC_GSSTF_2c Abstract: These data are the Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes Version-2c (GSSTF2c) Dataset recently produced through a MEaSUREs funded project led by Dr. Chung-Lin Shie (UMBC/GEST, NASA/GSFC), converted to HDF-EOS5 format. The stewardship of this HDF-EOS5 dataset is part of the MEaSUREs project, GSSTF version 2b (Shie et al. 2010, Shie et al. 2009) generally agreed better with available ship measurements obtained from several field experiments in 1999 than GSSTF2 (Chou et al. 2003) did in all three flux components, i.e., latent heat flux [LHF], sensible heat flux [SHF], and wind stress [WST] (Shie 2010a,b). GSSTF2b was also found favorable, particularly for LHF and SHF, in an intercomparison study that accessed eleven products of ocean surface turbulent fluxes, in which GSSTF2 and GSSTF2b were also included (Brunke et al. 2011). However, a temporal trend appeared in the globally averaged LHF of GSSTF2b, particularly post year 2000. Shie (2010a,b) attributed the LHF trend to the trends originally found in the globally averaged SSM/I Tb's, i.e., Tb(19v), Tb(19h), Tb(22v) and Tb(37v), which were used to retrieve the GSSTF2b bottom-layer (the lowest atmospheric 500 meter layer) precipitable water [WB], then the surface specific humidity [Qa], and subsequently LHF. The SSM/I Tb's trends were recently found mainly due to the variations/trends of Earth incidence angle (EIA) in the SSM/I satellites (Hilburn and Shie 2011a,b). They have further developed an algorithm properly resolving the EIA problem and successfully reproducing the corrected Tb's by genuinely removing the "artifactitious" trends. An upgraded production of GSSTF2c (Shie et al. 2011) using the corrected Tb's has been completed very recently. GSSTF2c shows a significant improvement in the resultant WB, and subsequently the retrieved LHF - the temporal trends of WB and LHF are greatly reduced after the proper adjustments/treatments in the SSM/I Tb's (Shie and Hilburn 2011). In closing, we believe that the insightful "Rice Cooker Theory" by Shie (2010a,b), i.e., "To produce a good and trustworthy 'output product' (delicious 'cooked rice') depends not only on a well-functioned 'model/algorithm' ('rice cooker'), but also on a genuine and reliable 'input data' ('raw rice') with good quality" should help us better comprehend the impact of the improved Tb on the subsequently retrieved LHF of GSSTF2c. This is the Daily (24-hour) product; data are projected to equidistant Grid that covers the globe at 1x1 degree cell size, resulting in data arrays of 360x180 size. The GSSTF, Version 2c, daily fluxes have first been produced for each individual available SSM/I satellite tapes (e.g., F08, F10, F11, F13, F14 and F15). Then, the Combined daily fluxes are produced by averaging (equally weighted) over available flux data/files from various satellites. These Combined daily flux data are considered as the "final" GSSTF, Version 2c, and are stored in this HDF-EOS5 collection. There are only one set of GSSTF, Version 2c, Combined data, "Set1" It contains 9 variables: "E" 'latent heat flux' (W/m2), "STu" 'zonal wind stress' (N/m2), "STv" 'meridional wind stress' (N/m2), "H" 'sensible heat flux' (W/m2), "Qair" 'surface air (~10-m) specific humidity' (g/kg), "WB" 'lowest 500-m precipitable water' (g/cm2), "U" '10-m wind speed' (m/s), "DQ" 'sea-air humidity difference' (g/kg) "Tot_Precip_Water" 'total precipitable water' (g/cm2) The double-quoted labels are the short names of the data fields in the HDF-EOS5 files. The "individual" daily flux data files, produced for each individual satellite, are also available in HDF-EOS5, although from different collections: GES_DISC_GSSTF_xxx_2c, where xxx are the individual satellites (F08, F10, etc..) The input data sets used for this recent GSSTF production include the upgraded and improved datasets such as the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) Version-6 (V6) product of brightness temperature [Tb], total precipitable water [W], and wind speed [U] produced by the Wentz of Remote Sensing Systems (RSS), as well as the NCEP/DOE Reanalysis-2 (R2) product of sea skin temperature [SKT], 2-meter air temperature [Tair], and sea level pressure [SLP]. Relevant to this MEaSUREs project, these are converted to HDF-EOS5, and are stored in the GES_DISC_GSSTF_NCEP_2c collection. Please use these products with care and proper citations, i.e., properly indicating your applications with, e.g., "using the combined 2001 data file of Set1" or "using the 2001 F13 data file". The following list summarizes individual satellites used to produce the Combined SET1. 1987/07-12: F08 (Note: 1987/12 is filled with missing value due to data scarcity) 1990/01-12: F08 (Note: F10 started in 1990/12, but N/A due to data scarcity) F10/ F11/ F13/ 1995/01-12: 01-04: F10+F11 F10/ F11/ F13/ F10/ F11/ F13/ F14/ 1997/01-12: 01-04: F10+F11+F13 F11/ F13/ F14/ F11/ F13/ F14/ F11/ F13/ F14/ F15/ 2000/01-12: 01/01-05/16: F11+F13+F14+F15 F13/ F14/ F15/ F13/ F14/ F15/ F13/ F14/ F15/ F13/ F14/ F15/ F13/ F14/ F15/ F13/ F14/ F15/ F13/ F14/ F15/ F13/ F14/ F15/ 2008/01-12: 01-07: F13+F14 (a) For Y2006, Y2007 and Y2008, the current Combined daily data files do not include the F15 Individual daily data files due to problematic calibration in F15. The Combined daily files will be updated for those three years once an improved set of Individual daily data files are produced using corrected and updated SSM/I F15 input files. (b) The current Combined daily data files are produced with at most 4 combined satellites, i.e., F10, F11, F13 and F14 for May-Nov 1997, and F11, F13, F14 and F15 for Jan-May 2000. Parameters contained in the data files include the following: DQ\|sea-air humidity difference\|(g/kg) E\|latent heat flux\|(W/m^^2) H\|sensible heat flux\|(W/m^^2) Qair\|surface air (~10-m) specific humidity\|(g/kg) STu\|zonal wind stress\|(N/m^^2) STv\|meridional wind stress\|(N/m^^2) Tot_Precip_Water\|total precipitable water\|(g/cm^^2) U\|10-m wind speed\|(m/s) WB\|lowest 500-m precipitable water\|(g/cm^^2) End of parameter information Purpose: The daily temporal and one-degree spatial resolution of the product can be used to examining climate variability at these scales. The global water cycle's provision of water to terrestrial storage, reservoirs, and rivers rests upon the global excess of evaporation to precipitation over the oceans. Variations in the magnitude of this ocean evaporation excess will ultimately lead to variations in ... the amount of freshwater that is transported (by the atmosphere) and precipitated over continental regions. The air-sea fluxes of momentum, radiation, and freshwater (precipitation-evaporation) play a very essential role in a wide variety of atmospheric and oceanic problems (e.g., oceanic evaporation contributes to the net fresh water input to the oceans and drives the upper ocean density structure and consequently the circulation of the oceans). Information on these fluxes is crucial in understanding the interactions between the atmosphere and oceans, global energy, and water cycle variability, and in improving model simulations of climate variations. The GSSTF dataset has been widely used by scientific communities for global energy and water cycle research and regional and short period data analysis since its official release in 2000/2001. Accurate sea surface fluxes measurements are crucial to understanding the global water and energy cycles. The oceanic evaporation that is a major component of the global oceanic fresh water flux is particularly useful to predicting oceanic circulation and transport. Remote sensing is a valuable tool for global monitoring of these flux measurements. The GSSTF algorithm has been developed and applied to remote sensing research and applications. We are looking forward to serving the scientific communities with another useful dataset in GSSTF2c. (Click for Interactive Map) Data Set Citation Dataset Originator/Creator: Shie, C.-L., K. Hilburn, L. S. Chiu, R. Adler, I-I Lin, E. Nelkin, and J. Ardizzone Dataset Title: Surface Turbulent Fluxes, 1x1 deg Daily Grid, Set1 Dataset Series Name: GSSTF Dataset Release Date: November 18, 2011 Dataset Release Place: Greenbelt, MD, USA Dataset Publisher: Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) Dataset Editor: Andrey Savtchenko Issue Identification: GSSTF_2c Data Presentation Form: Digital Science Data Other Citation Details: http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/GES_DISC_GSSTF_2c.htmlOnline Resource: http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/daac-bin/DataHoldingsMEASURES.pl?PROG... Start Date: 1987-07-09Stop Date: 2009-01-01 Latitude Resolution: 1 degree Longitude Resolution: 1 degree Horizontal Resolution Range: 100 km - < 250 km or approximately 1 degree - < 2.5 degrees Temporal Resolution: 24 hr Temporal Resolution Range: Daily - < Weekly ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > SEA LEVEL PRESSURE ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > AIR TEMPERATURE ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SKIN TEMPERATURE ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > EVAPORATION ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > HUMIDITY ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > PRECIPITABLE WATER ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > TURBULENCE ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > WIND STRESS ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > ATMOSPHERIC HEATING ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > HEAT FLUX ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > RADIATIVE FLUX OCEANS > OCEAN HEAT BUDGET > CONDUCTION OCEANS > OCEAN HEAT BUDGET > EVAPORATION OCEANS > OCEAN HEAT BUDGET > HEAT FLUX OCEANS > OCEAN PRESSURE > SEA LEVEL PRESSURE OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE OCEANS > OCEAN WINDS > SURFACE WINDS OCEANS > OCEAN WINDS > TURBULENCE OCEANS > OCEAN WINDS > WIND STRESS Data Set Progress Distribution Media: FTP/HTTP Distribution Size: 4 MB Distribution Format: HDF-EOS5 Role: DIF AUTHOR Email: Andrey.Savtchenko at nasa.gov Distributed Active Archive Center Global Change Data Center Code 610.2 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Province or State: MD Postal Code: 20771 Email: chung-lin.shie-1 at nasa.gov Brunke, A. M., Z. Wang, X. Zeng, M. Bosilovich, and C.-L. Shie, 2011: An assessment of the uncertainties in ocean surface turbulent fluxes in 11 reanalysis, satellite-derived, and combined global data sets. J. Climate, Vol. 24, 5469-5493. doi: 10.1175/2011JCLI4223.1 Chiu, L. S., S. Gao, and C.-L. Shie, 2012: Oceanic evaporation: Trends and variations (book chapter title), Book title: Remote ... Sensing / Book 2. InTech - Open Access Publisher. (accepted) Chiu, L. S., S. Gao, and C.-L. Shie, 2012: Satellite-based ocean surface turbulent fluxes (book chapter title), Book title: Satellite-based Applications of Climate Change, Editors: J. Qu and A. Powell. CRC Press. (in review) Hilburn, K. A., and C.-L. Shie, 2011: Decadal trends and variability in Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperatures and Earth incidence angle, report number 092811, Remote Sensing Systems, 53 pp. (Available online at: Hilburn, K., and C.-L. Shie, 2011: Decadal trends and variability in Special Sensor Microwave / Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperatures and Earth incidence angle, Abstract IN21A-1418, the 2011 AGU Fall Meeting, 5-9 December 2011, San Francisco, CA, 2011. Lai, Q., L. Wu, L., and C.-L. Shie, 2012: Sea Surface Response to Typhoon Morakot (2009) and the Influence on its Activity, Journal of Tropical Meteorology. (in press) Shie, C.-L., and K. Hilburn, 2011: A newly revived satellite-based global air-sea surface turbulent fluxes dataset and its dependence on the SSM/I brightness temperature, the 2011 IEEE IGARSS, Vancouver, Canada, 25-29 July. Extended Abstract (4 pp), Proceedings (published in CD). Shie, C.-L., and K. Hilburn, 2011: A satellite-based global ocean surface turbulent fluxes dataset and the impact of the associated SSM/I brightness temperature, the 2011 EUMESAT Meteorological Satellite Conference, Oslo, Norway, 5-9 September. Proceedings, 8 pp. (Available online at: Shie, C.-L., K. Hilburn, & L. S. Chiu, R. Adler, I-I Lin, E. Nelkin, J. Ardizzone, S. Gao, A. Savtchenko, 2011: The Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF) Datasets and the uncertainties/impact due to the SSM/I brightness temperature, Abstract IN21A-1417, the 2011 AGU Fall Meeting, 5-9 December 2011, San Francisco, CA, 2011. Shie, C.-L., and collaborators, 2012: The Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF) datasets: updates, improvements and applications, the 18th Conference on Satellite Meteorology, Oceanography and Climatology (SatMOC) Conference, New Orleans, LA, 22-26 Jan 2012. (invited talk) (Abstract available at http://ams.confex.com/ams/92Annual/webprogram/Paper192220.html) Chou, S.-H., E. Nelkin, J. Ardizzone, R. Atlas, and C.-L. Shie (2003) Surface turbulent heat and momentum fluxes over global oceans based on the Goddard satellite retrieval, version 2 (GSSTF2). J. Climate, 16, pp. 3256-3273, 2003. Hilburn, K. A., and C-L. Shie (2011a) The impact of incidence angle variations on climate trends from simple water vapor retrieval algorithms, The 2011 EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference, Oslo, Norway, 5-9 September, 2011. Hilburn, K. A., and C.-L. Shie (2011b) Decadal trends and variability in Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperatures and Earth incidence angle, report number 092811, Remote Sensing Systems, 53 pp. Shie, C.-L., L. S. Chiu, R. Adler, P. Xie, I-I Lin, F.-C. Wang, E. Nelkin, R. Chokngamwong, W. S. Olson, and D. A. Chu (2009) A note on reviving the Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF) dataset, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 26(6), 1071-1080. Shie, C.-L., (2010b) A recently revived dataset of satellite-based global air-sea surface turbulent fluxes (GSSTF2b) - features and applications, paper presented at 17th AMS Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, Annapolis, MD. Available online: http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/measures/documentation/2010-Sat-Air-S... Shie, C.-L, and K. A. Hilburn, (2011) A Satellite-based Global Ocean Surface Turbulent Fluxes Dataset and the Impact of the Associated SSM/I Brightness Temperature, The 2011 EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference, Oslo, Norway, 5-9 September, 2011. Shie, C.-L., K. A. Hilburn, L. S. Chiu, R. Adler, I-I Lin, E. Nelkin, and J. Ardizzone (2011) The Goddard Satellite-Based Surface Turbulent Fluxes Dataset --- Version 2c (GSSTF 2c). GSSTF2c of HDF-EOS5 format is scheduled for official distribution via NASA GES DISC by October 2011. Extended Metadata Properties (Click to view more) Creation and Review Dates DIF Creation Date: 2011-10-04 Last DIF Revision Date: 2013-03-29
A national accrediting organization has named Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center as one of the top performing hospitals in the country in pneumonia and surgical care. The award from The Joint Commission recognizes the hospital’s performance during 2011 in using “evidence-based clinical processes” that are shown to improve care for certain conditions. Out of more than 3,400 hospitals reporting data, TLRMC is one of 620 nationwide designated as “Top Performers on Key Quality Measures.” An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. “This recognition is a result of a concentrated and dedication effort on behalf of our employees and members of our medical staff, said hospital CEO Stephen Meredith. “When presented with the challenge of documenting our hospital is committed to providing the highest level of patient care possible, our healthcare professionals want to prove to their community, Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center is one of the top performing hospitals, not only in this state, but nationally as well. I commend our employees and our medical for their commitment to excellence and congratulate them on this achievement.” It’s the third patient care award for TLRMC in three months. In July, the hospital was recognized for its clinical performance achievements by Alliant Management Services, and in August the hospital received an “A” Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. Those awards are the outgrowth of a constant focus on quality improvement by the hospital’s staff, said chief nursing officer David Logsdon and quality director Michele Vincent. Logsdon said the hospital has been steadily reviewing and stressing improvement for several years now. “It’s really nothing new for us,” he said. Part of TLRMC’s focus on improvement deals with meeting “Core Measures.” Those are nationally standardized performance requirements, based on clinical studies that have demonstrated improved patient outcomes. The goal of Core Measures, which are tracked by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Hospital Quality Alliance, is to lower the risk of surgical complications, lower the risk of mortality and morbidity rates, and implement healthcare standards that will improve the quality of care provided to hospital patients. Logsdon and Vincent said the hospital has a safety committee that looks at issues pertaining to safety of patients, visitors and employees, and some patient care initiatives arise from that. Others are outgrowths of reviewing, discussing and following Core Measures and other clinical processes related to patient care. “Healthcare is taking this turn toward preventative measures,” Vincent said, “designed to help patients get better outcomes.” They said the hospital is constantly working to improve patient care and satisfaction. Over the years, for example, it has cut its “door-to-door” time — the time between patients’ entering and leaving after treatment — in the emergency room to a little over two hours. Adding to patient safety and staffing efficiency is the hospital’s computerized records system, which has physicians entering medical orders into computer files rather than generating pages of handwritten notes. That’s complimented by patient identification bands that contain scanable bar codes. Those codes help reduce the chances of incorrect medications being given to patients or incorrect procedures being performed on them. “We’re constantly working to improve patient care and satisfaction,” Logsdon said.
TeamViewer – Free Remote Access and Support Software With TeamViewer you can remotely control any computer as if you were sitting right in front of it – even through firewalls. All your partner has to do is start a small application, which does not even require installation or administrative rights. Teamwork, presentations and sales talks – a picture says more than a thousand words. TeamViewer enables you to share your desktop with other people over the internet, even through firewalls – the ideal solution for online collaboration. Access all your computers and servers remotely around the clock. Need access to your computers on the road? Need access to your customer’s unattended servers? No problem – with TeamViewer all host installations are free. Simple, fast and secure desktop sharing File transfer between computers Remotely control any PC anywhere on the Internet Free for all non-commercial users!
The Gartner-Denowh Angus ranch has two locations in Eastern Montana. The home place is just north of Sidney, MT. The Blue Mountain ranch is about 30 miles south of Sidney on the way to Wibaux. Most of the operation is grazing land, but we do have some farmland on which we raise feed. The grazing land is mostly native short grass prairie with pastures ranging from 300 to 1300 acres. Montana weather can vary greatly. We can go from weeks of below zero temperatures in the winter to 100 degree days in the summer. Some years we get moisture, and some we don't. But whatever the conditions our cows are expected to endure and thrive. We calve around 700 cows and heifers each year. Our cows are expected to run under the same conditions that the local commercial man endures. This means they graze out as long as possible in the fall, usually until late December, before they ever see any feed. They are then fed a low cost diet until they are turned out on grass in May. We fall graze and feed a low cost, low energy diet to weed out any inefficient cows. Cows that can't function on a low input system in our environment are culled from the herd. The majority of our bulls go to commercial operations in a similar environment to our own, and we want those bulls to surpass their expectations. The calves are weaned around the end of September and put on a high roughage ration at the home place. At this time about 1/3 of the bull calves are banded, and the bottom end of the heifer calves are culled off. Neither the bulls or heifers are pushed for high gains on feed, instead being fed a diet to ensure longevity. Data collection and evaluation is central to our operation. We take a lot of pride in having solid, reliable numbers. It is our opinion that the more accurate and dependable the data provided, the more accurate and dependable the EPDs and ratios will be. Larger contemporary and sire groups will give more accurate results. That is why we strive so hard to treat all the cattle the same all year round - to have the most accurate and dependable data that we can provide. While our environment and location can be trying at times and can create a lot of extra work, we still feel very lucky to be able to test our genetics in such a harsh and varying location. It can only make GDAR genetics more functional, more efficient, and more profitable.
Japanese developer group Brave Robotics recently showcased its latest endeavor, a 1/12 scale transformable robot car that walks, turns and even shoots darts. This iteration is the company’s latest development, coming full circle in a process that began in 2002. After 10 years of failure and frustration, Brave Robotics finally have something to offer the public, on the proviso you have two million yen, which roughly translates to US$24 000. Not exactly within everyone’s tax bracket. The robot is currently listed on the company’s online store and is said to take one month to deliver. This is part in fact to do with the 3D printing process, which takes up a considerable chuck of production time. From what we’ve seen on the video, which made its way to YouTube a couple of days ago, the toy functions in both vehicle and robot modes. The vehicle mode is operated by a PlayStation styled controller (They are Japanese after all) and features fully functional headlights as well as a Wi-Fi enabled camera. The transformation, although jerky, is rather fast and does a pretty good job of mimicking the Autobot-like look and feel. In robot mode, the 3D printed toy has a pretty decent range of movement, being able to move both forwards and backwards as well as turn a full 360 degrees. We’re sure this isn’t the end of the road for Brave Robotics, we just hope its next toy won’t cost as much as an actual car. Topics for this article \|[ advertising enquiries ]\|
GED Testing in North San Juan CA Are you ready to take your GED exam in North San Juan CA? The GED test is only offered in person and not online. Usually in order to sit for the GED examination the student must be at least 17 years old. The General Education Development testing cost in the state of California ranges from $40 to $90. The General Education Development (GED) exam consists of five topics: reading, writing, math, science and social studies. Each section of the test awards a score between 200-800. Most states require test takers to get a score of 410 on each of the five topics and an overall average of 450 for the General Education Development test to pass. Usually GED testing centers in North San Juan CA are offered at: - North San Juan Community Colleges - North San Juan ISD - North San Juan Literacy Centers - North San Juan High Schools Directory of GED Testing in North San Juan CA Nevada Jt Union High Sch Dist 11645 Ridge Road Grass Valley, CA 6.34 miles away
Google had announced that it would be providing Gigabit network to the home, in order to study the usages of high speed internet. Google Fiber networks are now being installed across the country on the shortlisted cities like Kansas and Stanford university. The initial speed tests are out and boy, they are fast. Throughputs of upto 151.68Mb/s download and 92.79Mb/s upload have been testified so far. The ping delay is as low as 5ms, the order of something that you can get on a wifi too. The ISP is listed as TATA communications, which is a pioneer ISP in India. They do have operations in US, but we are not very sure if Google fiber’s backend is provided by TATA comm. This is just the testing phase, its free and speeds would increase in the future. as per Google, We’ve reached an agreement with Stanford University to build an ultra-high speed broadband network to the university’s Residential Subdivision, a group of approximately 850 faculty- and staff-owned homes on campus. Through this trial, we plan to offer Internet speeds up to 1 gigabit per second—more than 100 times faster than what most people have access to today. We plan to start breaking ground in early 2011. The obvious question now is, if Google can do this, why aren’t network operators banging down the company’s door to get involved and roll this out everywhere? Fiber to the home is a big initiative, Verizon had been doing good but they still lack way behind. On a side note, fee to purchase and install Google Fiber from the property line in [one’s] home will be $249 for professional installation and $49 for self-installation. Related: How Optical Fibers work
Warning Spoilers Ahead This is the last episode of the first season of Jormungand, and I’ll admit that I’m sad to see this one go. It was one of the better anime of the Spring 2012 season. It’ll be back in the fall, though. So just look at this as a brief hiatus. Now, here are my thoughts on this episode. Valmet is still out for revenge, and Jonah is still tagging along. Meanwhile Koko’s team is under attack by Dominique and his crew. Last week’s episode made it seem like we’d witness a thrilling battle between the two groups, but things end before they even begin. This left me feeling disappointed, but Valmet brought the action back. And there was a cool shootout involving two moving cars. Valmet got her revenge, but we didn’t actually see her kill Chen. Karen later guns down Valmet, but Jonah ultimately shoots her. But it’s pointless; both of them come out of it alive. I knew Valmet wouldn’t die, but I don’t see the point of keeping Karen around. Koko let Dominique and his crew free under one condition, she wanted to know who put out the hit on her. We don’t get to hear who it was, but the end of the episode implies that the hit came from within her organization. Overall this was a great episode and I can’t wait to see season two. (Rating: 9/10)

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