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You may have heard that Ubisoft have a new Tom Clancy game coming out this year called The Division. If you've played literally any other Tom Clancy game before, you probably have a pretty good idea on what The Division is like.
Wait, no. That's not right at all. The Division is unlike any Tom Clancy game you've played before. That's because it's a big open-world RPG. Yeah, like those games with dragons, but this time it's bio-terrorism instead. That may sound strange, but The Division is actually really good at being a role-playing game.
Here's ten reasons why The Division is the next big thing in PC RPGs.
1 – It's genuinely an RPG
Let's get one thing straight: The Division is an RPG. And I don't mean it's a third-person shooter with some upgrade stats: this is a full-out, numbers-led RPG to stand in the stables next to Diablo III and Borderlands. Both you and enemies have hit points, you can increase your weapon DPS by bolting on mods, and you level up by gaining XP for kills and quest completion. It's even got a character creator. The only way it could be any more RPG is if Chris Avellone was writing it.
"From the beginning when we set out to do an RPG," explains creative director Magnus Jansén. "We wanted to do something where your investment and your tactics matter."
Because it's an RPG, The Division's combat is nothing like the one-hit-kill firefights of other Tom Clancy games. "To honour your [weapon and skill] choices, and doing tactical combat in the RPG setting, we've made some concessions to the absolute reality," says Jansén. As such, enemies must be fired upon until their HP depletes, rather than simply double-tapped in the head.
"We keep you immersed with the fact that enemies have body armour and various things to explain why some people take a lot more damage than others," explains Jansén in regards to the more bullet sponge-y enemies.
2 – It's not competing with the MMO crowd
MMO's have their definition in the title: massive, multiplayer, and online. While The Division is online and multiplayer, it's certainly not massive in terms of players. In the questing zones of its Midtown Manhattan, you'll be with just three other co-op players at most. Head into the Dark Zone – the highly contaminated PvP area at the centre of the map – and things get busier, but not by much.
"It's not a crowded place," reveals Jansén. "We want to keep encounters something interesting, so the Dark Zone is not crowded."
The technical numbers behind the Dark Zone is support for about 20 – 24 players, but you'll likely never see that many all in one area. "There are lots and lots of square miles, so we tried to fill that up with people to reach a certain density," says Jansén. "You'll walk a couple of blocks and you're likely to maybe see one person. If you make a lot of noise, like during an extraction, then you're likely to attract a handful of people, maybe one or two groups."
Basically, your immersion in the world won't be ruined by a server of 200 people teabagging corpses.
3 – It's proper Tom Clancy
Did you know that The Division is real? Well, sort of. It's based on Operation Dark Winter, a simulation carried out in 2001 by the American government to see how well the country would cope with a smallpox epidemic. The answer was pretty simple: we're doomed. Society and infrastructure would collapse, leading to disaster in the streets.
That's scary for us in real life, but it's the perfect start to a Tom Clancy novel. Since Tom himself is no longer with us, it's left to Ubisoft to tell the tale. For The Division, the epidemic all starts on Black Friday, with the virus being passed around on banknotes. Get it? It's the downfall of capitalism thanks to rampant consumerism. Clever, eh?
Saving us all from anarchy are the agents of The Division themselves: men and women with access to tons and tons of military hardware, ready to shoot the heck out of those who would try and destroy America by looting the abandoned buildings of New York. Yup, this is a Clancy story alright.
4 – It's an open world that feels real
It's mandatory to have an open world in RPGs these days, and The Division certainly has one. It's a close-enough 1:1 recreation of Midtown Manhattan, complete with major spots like Madison Square Garden, Times Square, and the Lincoln Tunnel. Because of the strive for accuracy, you won't find a single copy-paste street corner in The Division. And thanks to being a
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Fan questions/answers will raise AI of Ayase
The stage event for Tsukasa Fushimi 's Eromanga Sensei novel series at Machi Asobi Vol. 18 revealed on Friday that the Ayase route from the Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai Portable PlayStation Portable game is receiving a light novel adaptation. The novel, titled Ore no Ayase ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai , will feature a revised and expanded version of Fushimi's scenario from the game's Ayase Aragaki route. Dependent on fans' reactions, a second similar light novel volume may be released.
The event also revealed an Ayase "interactive AI-raising project" (pictured right) utilizing NTT and Dwango 's "Nakiri Shitsumon Ōtō" (Impersonating Question Answer) service. People will submit questions and answer as Ayase, and fans will choose replies they think are appropriate to the character. An AI version of Ayase will develop according to fans' responses.
Bandai Namco Games released the Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai Portable PlayStation Portable game in 2011. Tsukasa Fushimi and Hiro Kanzaki 's original Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai ( Oreimo ) light novel series ran from 2008 to 2013. Sakura Ikeda drew the manga adaptation and the Oreimo: Kuroneko ( Ore no Kouhai ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai ) spinoff manga that debuted in 2011. The novels inspired a television anime adaptation in 2010 with a second season in 2013.
[Via Nijipoi]
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Original Paper Iodine Deficiency in Vegetarians and Vegans Krajčovičová-Kudláčková M.a · Bučková K.b · Klimeš I.b · Šeboková E.b
Author affiliations aInstitute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine and bInstitute of Experimental Endocrinology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia Keywords: IodineVegansVegetarians Related Articles for " " Ann Nutr Metab 2003;47:183–185 https://doi.org/10.1159/000070483
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
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The world's largest asset managers have held secret summit meetings to hammer out proposals for improving public company governance to encourage longer-term investment and reduce friction with shareholders.
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, and Warren Buffett convened the sessions with the heads of BlackRock, Fidelity, Vanguard and Capital Group to work on a new statement of best practice that would cover the relationship between US companies and their investors.
The unusual collaboration comes at a time of rising shareholder activism and a raging debate about whether public markets demand short-term profits at the expense of long-term investment.
Andrew Hill Lasting lessons for smug CEOs and somnolent shareholders Directors must call out poor managers before they destroy the companies they run
In recent years, some private companies have shunned early public listings, and technology bosses such as Michael Dell have argued that equity markets are too focused on short-term gains. Some large technology groups have also gone public with dual-class share structures that limit shareholder rights in an effort to minimise the influence of activist hedge funds.
The asset management bosses, including Abby Johnson of Fidelity, Larry Fink of BlackRock and Tim Armour of Capital Group, met most recently at JPMorgan's New York headquarters in December, the Financial Times has learnt, following a first meeting in August.
The group is discussing a statement of best practice on corporate governance. Discussions have focused on issues such as the role of board directors, executive compensation, board tenure and shareholder rights, all of which have been flashpoints at US annual meetings.
Mr Dimon, in particular, has reason to hope for a rapprochement between boards and long-term shareholders. He has faced personal criticism for combining the role of chairman and chief executive at JPMorgan, and at the company's last two annual meetings, more than a third of its shareholders voted that he should split the roles.
As well as being a major player in capital markets, JPMorgan also has an asset management arm that is one of the US equity market's largest investors, with $1.7tn in assets. Mr Buffett, a long-time friend of Mr Dimon, has eschewed many corporate governance norms at his company, Berkshire Hathaway.
Other contributors to the initiative are understood to include Mark Wiseman of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Jeff Ubben of ValueAct, an activist hedge fund manager.
Podcast Alphachat: How short-termism is misunderstood Credit Suisse's Michael Mauboussin discusses corporate short-termism with host Cardiff Garcia
No participants agreed to be quoted on the initiative, which is not expected to come to fruition for several months. The asset managers hope to come up with a list of best practices that they will support at the companies they invest in.
The move comes amid a debate on shareholder rights and responsibilities and on the balance of power between investors, boards and management. Activist hedge funds with more than $100bn in assets have used their muscle to demand board changes and push companies to increase returns to shareholders, often through share buybacks.
The largest companies typically face a half-dozen or more votes from dissident shareholders at each annual meeting, on topics ranging from executive compensation to environmental policies and political lobbying.
An increasing number of US companies have also agreed this year to offer long-term shareholders the right to nominate their own candidates for board directors.
The volume of initial public offerings tumbled 42 per cent in the US last year despite the growing economy, as companies sought investors — including some traditional public markets investors — who were willing to buy shares even while they remained private.
Letter in response to this report:
Boards fail when executives are captured / From Bevis Longstreth
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How to Preload Images
"Preloading" loads an image file into the users' computer memory so that it can be instantly accessed when needed. This is useful, for example, if you have a mouseover event and an image needs to change without any delay.
Option 1: Nice and Simple
To preload an image into your web page, paste the code below into the document head (replace the red image file name with your own):
<script type="text/javascript"> if (document.images) { img1 = new Image(); img1.src = " image.jpg "; } </script>
You can add more images by duplicating the image lines, e.g.:
<script type="text/javascript"> if (document.images) { img1 = new Image(); img1.src = " image.jpg "; img2 = new Image(); img2.src = " image2.jpg "; } </script>
Option 2: A Flexible Array
This method can be used if you have an external JavaScript file that is used by multiple pages. Use the same function to easily preload any number of images on different pages. Firstly, add the following function to your main JavaScript file:
function preload(images) { if (document.images) { var i = 0; var imageArray = new Array(); imageArray = images.split(','); var imageObj = new Image(); for(i=0; i<=imageArray.length-1; i++) { //document.write('<img src="' + imageArray[i] + '" />');// Write to page (uncomment to check images) imageObj.src=imageArray[i]; } } }
Then in the <head> of each web page, add the following code after you've called the main JavaScript file:
<script type="text/javascript"> preload(' image1.jpg , image2.jpg , image3.jpg '); </script>
Replace the file names in red with your own files. You can have as many as you like, just make sure that they are separated by a comma.
Option 3: No JavaScript
You can also preload an image without JavaScript by creating a 1 pixel square version of the file and hiding it somewhere on the page, like so:
<image src="picture.jpg" width="1" height="1" border="0">
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Taking Stock
Next session, I shared the list of problems I was able to compile.
Problem #1: Logistics. I have the asset sheet, but don't know how to quit my job and convert my net worth into income I can live on.
Problem #2: What comes next? I have absolutely no idea what to do with the next phase of my life. I just know I don't want to be in my industry anymore. It isn't that I hate it. I don't. It's just that it no longer provides significant challenges or pleasure. I'm suddenly unsure if it ever did. My role is mostly mechanical: I go through the motions. I'm an expert. I receive work and I do it and I don't think twice about whether or not I'm enjoying it. It just happens – it's part of me. How do I get rid of this?
Problem #3: What happens to my previous life? What will I tell people? Will I lose friends? What will I do with the loss of structure?
Problem #4: What will I do to make me feel like I'm giving back? I don't think that what I currently do is all that important, but at the very least, I perform my function well and folks are happy with my contributions. This gives me some small sense of value and esteem. What will replace this?
Problem #5: Purposelessness at work. Although I produce some amount of valuable work for my employer every week, most of the hours are spent idling. I'm stuck there, cannot leave, cannot work-from-home, and cannot stand this aspect of the job now that I'm FI. It was tolerable in the past, when I had a slow stint at a previous employer, but that's because I still really needed the salary, which filled me with a sense of purpose and made the idleness seem like a useful activity by the fact that it was driving me toward completion of a long-standing goal.
Problem #6: The Bucket of Fear. I have all sorts of concerns about moving from FI to RE status, most of which I articulated in this post. At the time of these issues, back in 2013, the biggest one was the idea that I'd do nothing — absolutely nothing — after retiring. Maybe I'd become like Peggy Bundy on Married… With Children, watching soap operas during the day and eating bon-bons. Or, worse, I'd return to my old drinking problem.
Problem #7: I Feel Older. With age, most people feel a decreased sense of possibility in life. Fewer paths are available to follow. Many of your choices have already been made. You have launched. There is no returning to Earth for another unique blastoff in a totally different direction; your primary trajectory has been defined, for better or worse. This isn't to say that there aren't plenty of paths still open to you, but the fact remains that some are closed. For example, you will not, at age 35, become an Olympic-calibre swimmer. (You could, however, still become a good one.)
Problem #8: My Significant Other is Not Totally Cool With All Of This. Enough said.
I added that some of these problems I think about frequently — like the finances, and feeling purposeless — while others I do my best to ignore. After I dumped all of this stuff on him, Dr. Katz told me to start working on logistics first.
My suggestion? Tackle the finances immediately. It'll be the easiest to resolve because it's strictly a numbers game and it'll be good to cross something quickly off your list. You think you have enough to retire? Well, you don't have to prove it to me. You have to prove it to yourself. Break things down and get comfortable with your own plans. Only you can assert that you're fully covered on this.
Do the research that needs to be done. Crunch numbers. Create spreadsheets. Find Jesus. Whatever it takes.
He also immediately commented on #4, Giving back, telling me that this is all in my head. I don't have to give back to anyone, ever. I know, it's just one man's opinion, but he was very clear and passionate on this point. I wondered briefly if he was a Libertarian.
And to be honest, this completely shocked me. The last thing I expected was for a goddamned therapist to tell me something is quote all in my head. I thought these people (read: analysts) were, as a rule, paid to indulge their clients — to say precisely the opposite. Something along the lines of: Oh, well you think that way because of your upbringing. But let's examine the substrate of these mental patterns: Tell me about your mother.
Still, his point was clear: I needed to stop worrying about the expectations of others, the
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EA's press conference may not have revealed a ton of new info about Mass Effect: Andromeda, but it offered a brief glimpse of the return of the Mako. That's right, the bouncing, rubbery, ice skate with wheels is back. But don't groan just yet. BioWare has been doing some interesting work to make sure that the Mako is more universally liked this time around - and that involves getting a little help from a team that knows its stuff about racers.
Both Mac Walters (Creative Director on Mass Effect: Andromeda) and Aaron Flynn (general manager at BioWare) were very forthcoming that the Mako wasn't just awkward to drive, but that you couldn't do a lot of interesting stuff with it. "So that's all going to get fixed," Flynn tells me. "When we thought about bringing the Mako back, we said: 'We can't bring the Mako back as an iteration of the Mako. It has to be a high quality experience that compares well to any driving simulation by doing that.'"
So what do you do when you need to overhaul your vehicles, and you're part of a huge corporation with teams working on multiple different kinds of projects? You bring on the Need for Speed team to help out. "One really fortuitous thing is that, because so many other teams are on Frostbite now, the Need for Speed folks had done a couple of games on Frostbite at that point," Flynn explains. "They were more than happy to lend a hand and offer advice and guidance to our developers to make sure that the Mako, when we actually get it all done, drives and plays great. It doesn't feel like you have those many, many edge cases the Mako in [the first Mass Effect] had where you could do crazy stuff with it. So that won't be there, knock on wood."
Making the Mako control well, and making it take advantage of the newer open spaces all goes back to a single point: that the team wants to make the Mako actually fun to play. "I think we've approached pretty much everything with Mass Effect: Andromeda that we shouldn't have assumptions about the way we've done things in the past," Walters tells me. "Some things have worked very well, other things haven't, so we looked at the Mako, we said 'Is it fun?' That had to be the question we wanted to answer first. And then, 'is it serving the purpose of exploration that we wanted it to?' We put a lot of effort into it early on to sort of answer those questions."
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You can earn money at Freelancer.com by using your bitcoin skills.
Bitcoin is a crypto currency, with the creation and the transfer of the bitcoins being based on a protocol that does not depend on the central authority. The coins can be transferred through computers or through smartphones and related devices, without the necessity of having a financial institution as an intermediate. This concept was established by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and it was geared towards the world of electronic cash systems. If you understand more about this topic on a professional level, then you have a better chance to enjoy the advantages of being a freelancer at Freelancer.com.
Bitcoin has its own technical part that needs to be addressed by professionals. If you are one of them, then you should be on a platform that ensures the consistency of job posting by clients. When working as a bitcoin freelancer at Freelancer.com, you will have access to many of the jobs posted by clients from all over the world and bid on those that are within your professional level. There is too much to enjoy while working at the leading freelancer platform online, including getting paid at rates that your services deserve, giving you the encouragement you need to keep on working on more Bitcoin projects.
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Is climbing ruining your posture?
Climbing is great exercise for your arms and back, but is it also affecting your spine in a negative way?
Climbing uses a constant rowing motion, or a downward pulling motion. These types of motions utilize muscles in your back like: the latissimus, rhomboids, middle and lower trapezius. These muscles often play a role in good posture, they keep your shoulders back and your spine upright. So, how might climbing be making your posture worse?
It is the simple resting posture on the wall. Climbers do this naturally to be more efficient in their muscle use. Do you tend to rest; how often and for how long on each climb? Most climbers will tell you to take rest brakes on the wall and let everything "hang loose" and relax the muscles in your back and even in your arms. This is done to use your body in the most efficient way and expend the least amount of energy. This is where the problem lies because normal resting posture puts your spine in a position called kyphosis.There is a natural kyphosis in your mid back but we are putting that to the extreme when we climb. Our normal population and especially the younger generations are already increasing this kyphosis with electronics use and regular sitting/standing posture. So, for us climbers, we need to prevent our physical activities from increase this kyphosis even further!
Why is this bad? A limitation in the thoracic spine, or mid back, can often lead to back pain, shoulder pain, and neck pain. When one segment in the body is limited it affects everything else above and below that segment.
What can you do to change this?
The answer is simple! You need to work on extension in the mid back as well as opening the front of your body. Then train the muscles in your chest to equalize your strength ratio from front to back. Below are some examples of exercises and soft tissue releases that can help protect your back, neck, and shoulders to keep you reaching new heights!
Scorpion
Foam Roller in extension
Lacrosse ball pec release
Push-up / bench press
Front plank / side plank
If you have any questions about strength training and form when it comes to rock climbing please feel free to contact me at bwally@mainephysicaltherapy.com. And don't forget to book your free pain consultation at our South Portland, Gorham, and Portland clinics.
Back in Motion® Physical Therapy – South Portland, Maine
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BY: Follow @BillGertz
Sunni extremists are infiltrating the United States with the help of alien smugglers in South America and are crossing U.S. borders with ease, according to a U.S. South Command intelligence report.
The Command's J-2 intelligence directorate reported recently in internal channels that "special interest aliens" are working with a known alien smuggling network in Latin America to reach the United States. The smuggling network was not identified.
Army Col. Lisa A. Garcia, a Southcom spokeswoman, did not address the intelligence report directly but said Sunni terrorist infiltration is a security concern.
"Networks that specialize in smuggling individuals from regions of terrorist concern, mainly from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the Middle East, and East Africa, are indeed a concern for Southcom and other interagency security partners who support our country's national security," Garcia told the Washington Free Beacon.
"There are major hubs that serve as entry points into the region for migrants from those areas of concern attempting to enter the U.S. along our border with Mexico," she said.
The infiltrators from terrorist states and unstable regions exploit vulnerabilities in commercial transportation systems and immigration enforcement agencies in some of the countries used for transit, Garcia said.
"In 2015, we saw a total of 331,000 migrants enter the southwestern border between the U.S. and Mexico, of that we estimate more than 30,000 of those were from countries of terrorist concern," she said.
Another problem in dealing with migrants from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia is a lack of information among the governments of the countries used by potential terrorists for transit.
The exploitation of alien smuggling networks by terrorists until recently had been dismissed by both American security officials and private security experts as largely an urban myth.
However, the Southcom intelligence report revealed that the threat of Islamist terror infiltration is no longer theoretical. "This makes the case for Trump's wall," said one American security official of the Southcom report. "These guys are doing whatever they want to get in the country."
Adm. Kurt Tidd, Southcom's commander, said last week that the lack of information is hampering security efforts against alien smuggling.
"An element that has been long recognized is that our ability to track people moving through transportation systems is an area that we must continue to devote efforts on, and the ease with which human traffickers are able to use our transportation systems to move people through the networks relatively undetected should give us all concern," Tidd said.
Special interest aliens are described by the U.S. government as aliens who pose a potential terrorism threat coming from 34 nations in the Middle East, Africa, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia. The list of states of concern includes Afghanistan, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Eritrea, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump last week called for stepped up counterterrorism measures that he said would involve "extreme vetting" of immigrants in a bid to better screen out potential terrorists.
Trump also has made a campaign theme the construction of a wall across the United States' southern border as part of efforts to better control the flood of illegal immigrants.
Joel Vargas, head of Contingent Security Services and a consultant to law enforcement agencies, said there is no evidence Sunni extremists are creating new relationships with alien smugglers. However, he said in an email that "existing smuggling networks from Central America are increasing their access."
"We have intercepted immigrants coming from Asia but we have been unable to determine if they are extremists," Vargas said. "Our Sunni illegal migration coming from [Latin America] is very small. On the other hand, they can use the networks set up by the Shia."
A report produced by Vargas for the International Airport, Seaport and Transport Police states that the Iran-backed Shiite terror group Hezbollah mainly has ties to Latin American through overseas Lebanese expatriates.
Hezbollah recently increased support in transnational crime in the region by supply arms and training to various groups.
"Hezbollah's current goals appear to be focused on accruing resources rather than conducting offensive operations, however the group's growing capabilities are still a clear threat to regional U.S. interests," the report said. "Iran's involvement in Latin America is also increasing, and Hezbollah will likely be able to use these budding political and economic ties as cover for its operations."
Vargas said Hezbollah's networks in Latin America could be used by Sunni extremists to get to the United States. "That is a workable situation," he said. "If they disclose they are ISIL or any other group, I doubt that even the Shias will help out. Even [drug] cartels are killing anyone who appears extremist. It is bad for their business."
According to Vargas, Guatemala remains a weak link
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Photo
It seemed quixotic at first, but maybe the idea of turning the Tappan Zee Bridge into a walkway after a new bridge is built is not so far fetched after all.
State officials said Wednesday that they were exploring the possibility of turning the three-mile-long bridge into a route for pedestrians and bicyclists along the lines of the High Line on the West Side of Manhattan, or the equally successful Walkway Over the Hudson linking Poughkeepsie and Highland.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and aides said at a cabinet meeting in Albany that it would cost $150 million to demolish the existing bridge, which carries the New York State Thruway, so turning it into a walkway connecting Rockland and Westchester Counties was worth exploring.
"Could you leave it up, and what are the economics and the practicalities of that?" Mr. Cuomo said at the meeting. "It's an exciting option."
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
After more than 10 years of study, building a new bridge finally seemed to reach critical mass last fall when it was one of 14 projects chosen by the Obama administration for expedited federal review and approval — possibly allowing work on a new $5 billion bridge to begin as early as spring 2013. The bridge is 56 years old — 6 years past its anticipated life span — and needs $50 million in maintenance and repairs annually.
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Citrix's recently launched Recertification Program offers you the flexibility to maintain your certification simply by attending the associated course.*
Enroll now to maintain your "Citrix Certified" status and continue to gain industry recognition and competitive differentiation in the marketplace.
Click the associated courses to view a detailed outline and available training dates:
Citrix Certified Associate – Virtualization (CCA-V)
Associated Courses: CXD-210: Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.1x Administration or
CMB-310: Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop, and Provisioning Services 7.1x Administration (Fast Track)
Citrix Certified Professional – Virtualization (CCP-V)
Associated Courses: CXD-310: Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.1x Advanced Administration or
CMB-310: Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop, and Provisioning Services 7.1x Administration (Fast Track) and
CXD-303: Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.1x Optimization and Troubleshooting
Citrix Certified Expert – Virtualization (CCE-V)*
Associated Course: CXD-410 Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.1x Assessment, Design and Advanced Configuration
Citrix Certified Associate – Networking (CCA-N)
Associated Courses: CNS-222: Citrix NetScaler Essentials and Unified Gateway or
CNS-220: Citrix NetScaler Essentials and Traffic Management
Citrix Certified Professional – Networking (CCP-N)
Associated Course: CNS-320: Citrix NetScaler Advanced Topics – Security, Management & Optimization
Citrix Certified Professional – Mobility (CCP-M)
Associated Course: CXM-303: Deploying Enterprise Mobility Solutions with Citrix XenMobile
XenApp and XenDesktop Service on Citrix Cloud Certified (CC-XAD-CC)
Associated Course: CXD-252 Moving to the XenApp and XenDesktop Service on Citrix Cloud and Microsoft Azure
XenApp and XenDesktop Service Integration with Microsoft Azure Certified (CC-XAD-MA)
Associated Course: CXD-252 Moving to the XenApp and XenDesktop Service on Citrix Cloud and Microsoft Azure
*Important Note: As of January 1, 2018, individuals with expired certifications are not eligible to recertify by attending the associated course. If a certification expires before an individual takes or passes the required exam or equivalent training, they will need to regain all of the lower level certifications and pass the associated exam in order to regain certification.
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Phoniks
12 Super Funky Remixes of Classic Wu-Tang Hits – "Shaolin Summer: The Remixes"
The Wu-Tang Clan is one of the most respected hip-hop groups in music history. This is no secret. If one was reworking music from their extensive and rather notable discography extreme caution must be used. One of Phonik's first songs that got a lot of steam of Soundcloud and beyond was his remix of "C.R.E.A.M."(dolla dolla bill y'all). Just this week Phoniks released a new mix-tape full of a bunch of uptempo funk and disco style remixes. These include heaters like "Criminology" and "3 Bricks".
As Phoniks gears up to release "Knowledge Of Self" with Awon this fall he first surprises us with this funky mid-summer offering. A 12-track remix tape featuring jazz-funk and disco based flips on classic Wu-Tang material including songs such as "C.R.E.A.M.", "Gravel Pit", and "Criminology". Phoniks takes performances that were originally spit over RZA's dark, chilling instrumentals and turns them into upbeat, funk-driven summer jams. The high tempo disco breaks's take the listener up past the mid-way point in the album where they succumb to more traditional jazz and soul style instrumentals that will keep the head nodding until the finish line. Altogether a very enjoyable listen on a nice summer day and what should become a staple in hip-hop head's summer playlists. This embed is invalid
About Phoniks Phoniks is a hip-hop producer from Portland, Maine known for his vintage-90's boom bap production style and melodic jazz and soul samples. The 24-year old beatmaker has amassed 10 million+ plays over the past two year's through exposure from his original work with emcee's Awon, Dephlow, and Anti-Lilly and his series of popular remix tapes on Soundcloud. His work has been featured on websites such as Earmilk, 2DopeBoyz, The Word Is Bond, DJBooth.net, and The Source. Recently he has begun his own independent record label "Don't Sleep Records" with partner Awon. Newest full-length album titled "Knowledge Of Self" with Awon dropping in mid-October.
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Ugh. I seriously hate my life. Everything's just so messed up right now. I just need a minute to vent about it or something. Maybe that'll help me feel better.
So, I tried talking to Tante Joce the other day about moving out… And she just shut me down! She wouldn't even listen to what I had to say!
She just kept saying all this shit about how I can't afford it – even though I have tens of thousands of euros sitting in a bank account waiting for me! Actually more like hundreds of thousands, I bet. Papa and Onkel Florian's band never really hit it as big as other bands out there, but I'm not an idiot. I know they did pretty damn well for themselves. And I know Papa left me more than enough to be able to live on my own!
But of course Tante Joce said no.
And when I even said I'd get a job to pay for rent instead (which I'd totally be willing to do!) she still shot me down!
This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say she babies me – she won't listen. She won't give me a chance!
It made me so mad… And then I kinda made things worse, I guess.
I ended up calling her a bitch. And I've never called her that before. Ever. I still feel like shit for saying it. I mean, no matter how ridiculous or unfair she was being, Tante Joce didn't deserve that. I know she didn't. Me and my big mouth.
Dom says I totally blew it. He thinks she'll probably never understand what I was trying to say, because she'll be too caught up being mad that I called her a bitch. And I kinda can't help worrying that he might be right.
But Remi made me feel a little better, at least. He says River's called Tante Clara a bitch a bunch of times, but it always blows over. "Mama knows she doesn't mean it," he told me. "I'm sure this'll be the same."
And I really, really hope he's right. Because I know I can't apologize now, no matter how bad I feel. It's too late. It's been too long. And it'll make it look like I'm saying she was right or something. And she wasn't. She was being ridiculous and overprotective, just like she always is.
Anyway, I think Remi maybe had a point. I mean, it's been like three days, and Tante Joce still hasn't mentioned it. So maybe she's over it? Of course, she hasn't really said much to me at all, to be honest. Neither has grandpa. Or Oma and Opa. It almost feels like Tante Joce asked them not to. I mean, grandpa's been giving me these… 'looks', y'know? Like he really wants to say something. But he never does.
I guess they've all kinda been looking at me a little weird though. Sometimes it's like they're mad. But other times it's like they're… nervous? Waiting for something to happen, I guess? It's kinda hard to explain.
Even the girls noticed something was up. The three of them cornered me after dinner last night and asked me what happened… They could tell there was something weird going on. So I told them about it (minus the part where I called their mom a bitch… Something told me that wouldn't be the best idea).
Tony got all nervous and started spewing all the same garbage Tante Joce was saying about why moving out's a bad idea and how Tante Joce is just worried about me and blah blah blah. Typical Tony. I get that she's trying to help, but… Ugh.
And I couldn't believe it, but Alex actually laughed at me. She told me I'm being an idiot, and says everyone's probably acting funny because they're waiting for me to blow up and start "throwing a temper tantrum" again. Yeah, whatever. I'm starting to think I should have reserved the "bitch" title for her instead of Tante Joce…
Charlie was the only one who was at least a little helpful. Or at least not mean. Or annoying. She did roll her eyes at me though…
But anyway, she thinks they're afraid I'm gonna try to run away or do something stupid like that. "If you do, it's over." That's what she told me. She says if I'm serious about this thing, I need to give it some time, then try asking again another way. And in the meantime I should try to "earn some brownie points".
Sounds like the best option, I guess — Play nice
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The ferry lies on its side just the way it was when it sank on April 16, 2014. The hull shows clear signs of deterioration after being trapped at the bottom of the ocean for three years, with the letters "Sewol" largely erased by to the elements.
The ferry Sewol was finally raised above the surface of the ocean on Thursday, 1,073 days after it sank off the southwest coast of Korea with over 300 mostly teenage passengers on board.
As salvage efforts picked up speed, a portion of the hull rose 10 m above the surface later in the morning. But then salvage workers encountered an unexpected problem. A 10 m ramp at the rear of the vessel used to load and offload vehicles was discovered to be open. The locking mechanism that holds it closed apparently broke when the ship hit the seafloor.
That makes it impossible to move the ferry into the cargo bay of a semi-submersible structure that will transport it to dry dock. Salvage workers struggled all night to remove the ramp before the notoriously rough waters off Jindo grow dangerously choppy again at noon on Friday. It finally came loose at around 6:45 a.m.
The ferry is now being hoisted to 13 m above the surface and five towboats and two barges will tow it 1.7 km away to a point where the current is much slower. It will then be transported upright on to the semi-submersible structure and taken to Mokpo.
If all goes well, it should be able to reach the dock in 11 to 12 days, and another 15 days will be required to search the inside of the vessel on dry land.
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[soliloquy id="18443″]
Wyrmwood is a movie about the zombie apocalypse (as many movies are these days). It follows two main plot threads. First off, we have Barry (Jay Gallagher) who teams up with various travelers trying to survive in this new world. All the while Barry feels profound remorse and guilt over having had to put a few nails in the heads of his newly-undead wife and child. The story goes in a very Mad Max–esque direction and that os what immediately drew me into this picture. The cast gears up in sporting equipment and makeshift armor and piles into a modded out truck that uses zombies as its' fuel source (just go with it).
While this is all going on, Barry's sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey) has been captured by some kind of military experiment involving zombies and a crazy scientist in a hazmat suit. As she is chained to a wall she slowly begins to develop the ability to control zombies through some sort of telepathy or telekinesis or something (again, just go with it).
Here is where I take a bit of an issue. This movie seems like it's at odds with itself and confused as to what it wants to be. It feels like screenwriters Kiah Roache-Turner and Tristan Roache-Turner had two ideas for a zombie movie and instead of choosing one and running with it they tried to do both at the same time. Either story is interesting enough to carry the film, but I wish they had picked one or the other, because both of them are underdeveloped. Characters in Barry's story often get killed off before we learn anything about them and a lot of the details of the zombie fuel thing are left unexplained. Why did all of the regular gas stop working? Why are the zombies suddenly breathing and bleeding fuel? It's the same way with Brooke's story. There are vague allusions to a higher purpose, but we never really know what the military experiment was meant to accomplish. The plot raises too many questions to which we never get answers.
Script issues aside, the core cast of Wyrmwood is great. Jay Gallagher steals the show as Barry, going to some real extremes over the course of the movie. He's a blast to watch as guilt turns to anger and he starts to take out his frustrations on the unsuspecting zombie population. Seriously, there are moments where he just runs right up to them and punches them in the face. Having started the movie off in a very dark place it's great to see him just let loose. Leon Bruchill's Benny plays off of Barry really well and they have some nice banter at times. Bianca Bradley as Brooke is tough as nails even before the zombie superpowers kick in. She's badass and always engaging to watch, which is impressive considering how much of the movie she spends with a muzzle on her face while she's tied to a wall.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Berryn Schwerdt as the doctor. I have no idea what his character was doing but oh man is he entertaining. This doctor is dancing to music while sticking syringes in zombies and chewing up the scenery all over his laboratory. He's an over-the-top caricature, but it really works.
Kiah Roache-Turner shows some real promise in the director's chair as well. Wyrmwood can be a little rough around the edges at times, but for the most part it's a really good looking movie. There's some of the dreaded "shaky cam," but it's never done to an obnoxious degree and always serves to accent the chaos of the situation. There's definitely an eye for color here, too. Some scenes are lit in a saturated and exaggerated way while others are void of color entirely. All of this sets an interesting mood throughout the picture.
Ultimately, I liked this movie. It's definitely in that "style over substance" camp, but sometimes that's enough. The script is all over the place throwing everything but the kitchen sink at you, and while that can be a little off-putting in certain regards it also makes for a hell of an experience. If they had ironed out some of the plot issues this could have been a great movie, but as it stands it's a good one. Wyrmwood is a fun and humorous adventure that doesn't take itself incredibly seriously but still manages to squeeze in some really dark and emotional moments. It's left open for a sequel so who knows… maybe we'll get the answers to those questions some day. You can check it out for yourself in select theaters and VOD February 13, 2015!
WICKED RATING: [usr 6]
Director(s): Kiah Roache-Turner
Writer(s): Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner
Stars: Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey
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One thing I hate about being an atheist is some people would call me the devil. Yes. Me. Get a good look at the devil reincarnated people. Little old me is the devil…the minimum wage part-time cart pusher at walmart that does stand-up comedy on the side. Not the guy creating laws that doesnt' allow people of certain sexualitys to marry each other.
No it's me a guy who tries his best to put other people's needs over his own. Not the corporation that cuts the funds for a program that'll feed the homeless so they can go on a vacation with the homies then later write it off as a "business trip".
No it's me the guy who "awww"'s at kitten videos. Not the people who start wars because someone didn't want to share.
Im going to break the logic of the people who call me the devil….I'm an atheist, I don't believe in any higher power. The devil in a way knew GOD personally…I technically can't be the devil.
small rant
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The burned Doctors Without Borders hospital is seen after explosions in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. (Médecins Sans Frontières via AP)
After nearly an hour of bombing on its hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, a Doctors Without Borders representative in Kabul received a text message from a U.S. military official in response to the group's pleas to stop the attack: "I'll do my best," said the text message from the American, who was also in Kabul. "Praying for you all."
The 2:59 a.m. message is included in a log released by Doctors Without Borders on Thursday in a report on the Oct. 3 bombing of its Kunduz medical facility by the U.S. military. The first bombs from a U.S. AC-130 gunship fell between 2 a.m. and 2:08 a.m., prompting a flurry of calls from the medical organization, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières Global (MSF), for the airstrikes to stop.
[Pentagon faces question: Should it make condolence payments for Taliban killed in hospital bombing?]
The report was released by MSF to be transparent and counter speculation that the hospital was being used as a Taliban military base, the medical organization said. The hospital was treating Afghan civilians, Taliban fighters and civilians the night of the airstrikes, it said.
The bombing came as the U.S. and Afghan militaries fought to take back the city of Kunduz, which had fallen to the Taliban a few days before. Some 30 medical staff members and patients were killed, with some burned beyond recognition.
"The question remains as to whether our hospital lost protected status in the eyes of the military forces engaged in this attack — and if so, why," said Joanne Liu, MSF's international president, in a letter included with the report. "This answer does not lie within the MSF hospital. Those responsible for requesting, ordering and approving the airstrikes hold these answers."
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said Thursday that MSF shared its report with the military ahead of releasing it. Gen. John Campbell, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, also met with MSF leaders in Afghanistan on Wednesday, Davis added.
"We continue to work closely with MSF in identifying the victims killed and wounded so we can conclude our investigations and proceed with follow-on actions, to include condolence payments. We're also committed to working with MSF to determine the full extent of the damage on the hospital so that it can be repaired in full."
MSF began making calls about the airstrikes, which remain under investigation by the U.S. military, no more than 11 minutes after the first airstrikes hit the hospital, the report said. At 2:19 a.m., an MSF official called the top U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan to say that the hospital had been hit with an airstrike, but the bombs continued to fall.
[In northern Afghanistan, a mix of Taliban, foreign fighters and soldiers spread thin]
MSF followed up with a 2:20 a.m. phone call to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and calls at 2:32 a.m. to a Defense Department official in Washington and a United Nations liaison in Afghanistan, the report said. As the airstrikes continued, a military official at the U.S. military headquarters in Kabul apologized in a text message at 2:52 a.m.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I still do not know what happened," the text message said, according to the MSF report.
The message exchange as it appears in the report follows. Resolute Support is shorthand for the headquarters by the same name, which leads U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and is near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. OCHA CivMil is short for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' civil-military liaison in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian group assured the U.S. military its hospital in northern Afghanistan was not under Taliban threat just days before a deadly airstrike on the compound last month, the organization said Thursday.
The group continued to push for an independent investigation into one of the deadliest civilian casualty incidents stemming from a coalition action in the Afghan conflict. The U.S. military and others are currently conducting parallel reviews into the chain of events leading to the more than hour-long attack.
Campbell told The Washington Post in an interview in Kabul on Friday that the military is obligated by law to do what is known in military parlance as a 15-6 investigation, after the Army regulation that lays out the rules for investigating officers. He expects to have the initial results of that soon, but declined to be more specific with a time table.
Campbell added that he does not
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I noted earlier that Sen. John McCain has taken a strange position on the Libyan conflict: He's been calling for the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi not only on humanitarian grounds, but also because Gadhafi has "American blood on his hands" from the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. However, just 18 months ago, McCain himself traveled to Tripoli to talk to Gadhafi about a transfer of American military equipment. He also praised the "remarkable and positive turn" in U.S.-Libya relations.
It turns out one of the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks describes in detail the friendly meeting between McCain and Gadhafi. It was also attended by fellow hawks Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham as well as Gadhafi's son, Muatassim. (See video of the meeting here.)
Keep in mind the context for the meeting was several years of increasingly warm relations between the U.S. and Libya. In the private talks, Muatassim Gadhafi "emphasized Libya's interest in the purchase of U.S. lethal and non-lethal military equipment." McCain was receptive to that request:
Muatassim requested the "highest level of help possible" to obtain military supplies, including mobile hospitals and uniforms. He also requested assistance with upgrading Libya's equipment, including helicopters. "We can get [equipment] from Russia or China, but we want to get it from you as a symbol of faith from the United States," he said. He described the security threats that Libya could possibly face as a result of its geography - "There are 60 million Algerians to the West, 80 million Egyptians to the East, we have Europe in front of us, and we face Sub-Saharan Africa with its problems to the South." ... Senator McCain assured Muatassim that the United States wanted to provide Libya with the equipment it needs for its TRIPOLI 00000677 002.2 OF 002 security. He stated that he understood Libya's requests regarding the rehabilitation of its eight C130s (ref D) and pledged to see what he could do to move things forward in Congress. He encouraged Muatassim to keep in mind the long-term perspective of bilateral security engagement and to remember that small obstacles will emerge from time to time that can be overcome.
Bucky Turco at Animal New York points out that the Pentagon apparently has an expansive definition of "non-lethal equipment." The term encompasses items like shotguns, tear gas canisters and stun grenades.
McCain sent out this memorable tweet after his Gadhafi meeting:
There's nothing contradictory about previously advocating for normalization of relations with Gadhafi and then shifting, in the face of Gadhafi's attacks on rebels, to supporting a bombing campaign. That's not what McCain is doing. He is arguing that Ghadafi needs to be ousted because he has American blood on his hands (from 1988), when the senator himself was meeting with and praising the Libyan regime a mere 18 months ago.
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Growing up, you read me the Ugly Duckling. And for years I believed that was me. I am a woman—that ugly duckling among men. For so long you taught me I was nothing more than a bad copy of the standard.
I couldn't run as fast or lift as much. I didn't make the same money and I cried too often. I grew up in a man's world where I didn't belong.
And when I couldn't be him, I wanted only to please him. I put on your makeup and wore your short skirts. I gave my life, my body, my dignity, for the cause of being pretty. I knew that no matter what I did, I was worthy only to the degree that I could please and be beautiful for my master. And so I spent my life on the cover of Cosmo and gave my body for you to sell.
I was a slave, but you taught me I was free. I was your object, but you swore it was success. You taught me that my purpose in life was to be on display, to attract and be beautiful for men. You had me believe that my body was created to market your cars. And you raised me to think I was an ugly duckling.
But you lied.
Islam tells me I'm a swan. I'm different—it's meant to be that way. And my body, my soul, were created for something more.
God says in the Qur'an:
{O mankind, We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another (not that you may despise each other). Verily, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the one who is most righteous} (49:13)
So I am honored. But it is not by my relationship to men. My value as a woman is not measured by the size of my waist or the number of men who like me. My worth as a human being is measured on a higher scale: a scale of righteousness and piety. And my purpose in life—despite what the fashion magazines say—is something more sublime than just looking good for men.
And so God tells me to cover myself, to hide my beauty, and to tell the world that I'm not here to please men with my body; I'm here to please God. God elevates the dignity of a woman's body by commanding that it be respected and covered, shown only to the deserving—only to the man I marry.
So to those who wish to "liberate" me, I have only one thing to say:
Thanks, but no thanks.
I'm not here to be on display. And my body is not for public consumption. I will not be reduced to an object or a pair of legs to sell shoes. I'm a soul, a mind, a servant of God. My worth is defined by the beauty of my soul, my heart, my moral character. So I won't worship your beauty standards, and I don't submit to your fashion sense. My submission is to something higher.
With my veil I put my faith on display—rather than my beauty. My value as a human is defined by my relationship with God, not by my looks. So I cover the irrelevant. And when you look at me, you don't see a body. You view me only for what I am: a servant of my Creator.
So you see, as a Muslim woman, I've been liberated from a silent kind of bondage. I don't answer to the slaves of God on earth. I answer to their King.
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Attention owners of unmanned aerial vehicles (aka, drones) interested in filming orcas off the coast of Washington: keep your distance. That's the message being sent by officials from the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife after ticketing two drone pilots $1,025 each for getting too close to a pod of killer whales.
According to KIROTV in Seattle, the two pilots were fined in separate incidents on Aug. 16 involving an aerial drone within 10 yards of a pod of orcas. Under Washington state law, no vessel or object of any manner is permitted within 200 yards " of a southern resident orca whale." Exceptions are made for authorized scientific research, federal vessels and rescue operations.
One of the men fined, Douglas Shih of Aerial Photography Seattle, told the station that he never intended to "hurt or distract" the orcas. He later uploaded a video of the offense to YouTube.
In a first-of-its-kind study released earlier this month, scientists flew drones to within 33 feet of bears tagged with heart sensors. While the bears didn't act bothered by the drones, their heart rates went up significantly — with one bear's heart rate leaping from 39 to 162 beats a minute. The news comes as conservation organizations all over the world are leveraging drones to help monitor and protect endangered species.
"I don't doubt that these bears, that many species, could habituate to UAVs," study leader Mark Ditmer told NatGeo. "But if you have an endangered species or animals sensitive to human interference, we could push them beyond a threshold. If in the future there are lots of UAVs out there, acute stress could become more chronic. And that can lead to a lot of problems."
Drone pilots filming orcas fined $1K each for flying too close
Fish and Wildlife officers hand out the stiff penalties based on federal protections for killer whales.
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Due to the fierce competition in the online shopping world, one of the common questions we're asked by clients, is how they can keep control of product pricing. After all, when you sell to a distributor or to a retailer you're selling at a discounted rate. The price resellers pay is determined mostly by your MSRP (Manufacturer Suggest Retail Price). But once they've paid, they can then sell at whatever price they deem profitable to them. So if your MSRP is $50.00 and you sell to a retailer at 50% discount, they have the potential to make $25.00 profit. But if they're willing to make less they can undercut the competition.
When this happens, and the price war kicks in, your MSRP goes out the window and your phone starts to ring off the hook with complaints from resellers. Usually it's the brick and mortar stores complaining about the cutthroat pricing the online players are offering. But it can be other online resellers complaining too.
The solution (or rather prevention) is MAP
When we're working with new companies and we're discussing pricing strategy and sales channels - we always bring up their reseller agreements. It can be a dicey conversation, since many eager entrepreneurs will take any order, and don't want to potentially complicate sales with legal agreements. However, the smartest will listen and can understand how implementing reseller agreements from the start will circumvent problems (such as price wars and reseller disputes) later.
Reseller agreements can be complicated things and its definitely a document you'll need legal counsel to do right. But virtually all of them should stipulate that the reseller agrees to a minimum advertised price.
So what exactly is MAP?
A minimum advertised price is just that - it's the agreed price a reseller agrees to advertise a brand or product at. There may be some wiggle room, but generally, when a reseller accepts the agreement, they're stuck. They can't advertise a product for sale any less than the agreed price. This means in print, online, or any where. Of course, this doesn't mean they can't sell the product cheaper, they simply can't display a cheaper price. And well, if the lower price isn't shown, it's hard to discover it.
MAP does not equal price fixing
While collusion to maintain a fixed price or profit margin is illegal in most circumstances MAP policies are legitimate and valid - if done correctly. First, and here's the big differentiator - MAP pricing does not limit the actual selling price. It simply sets the minimum price a product can be advertised at - whether that's in print or online.
Apple computer is a perfect example of this policy. It's rare that you'll see any sale or larger discounting on Apple products - regardless of the size of the reseller. Apple controls their displayed pricing in two ways. First, their reseller agreements certainly dictate MAP price points - and secondly, they offer slimmer than normal margins to their channels - the later reduces the incentive to discount heavily. They also strictly control the inventory levels dolled out to resellers - to prevent steep discounting or clearance pricing. In fact, one of the few times you'll ever see bargain pricing on Apple products is when a retailer has decided to discontinue selling Apple. But because they're usually not sitting on a large stock pile of inventory, this rarely happens.
Why would a reseller accept MAP?
Resellers are adverse to risk. They certainly don't want to take on new brands and products that they'll be undercut on by other resellers. They want to have some cost control and profit assurances. MAP affords them some protection. They know that if they buy your product to sell, they won't necessarily see it online tomorrow advertised for way less. Likewise, generally, by accepting MAP the reseller will gain something in return. And this is the important motivator. It may be co-op advertising dollars. It may be exclusivity or specific territories. Or it could simply be better wholesale pricing.
What about eBay and Amazon?
Of course, the "right of first sale doctrine" and the abundance of steep discount offers means you'll always find "deals" online. Steeply discounted products that don't adhere to your MAP - and probably don't have to. For instance, if you or a reseller, offer a promotional discount, perhaps buy one get one free (BOGO) - you'll get savvy shoppers that scoop up these deals and then resell the products at a discount. And since they're working with virtually no overhead, they may be willing to live on a few dollars of profit.
Our advice to clients in this area is usually two-fold. First, limit or at least monitor these types of sales and promotional offers. If you make such an offer and a customer suddenly orders dozens of them, there's a good chance they'll be on eBay in the
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Even as Congress has begun the process to repeal Obamacare, Americans continue to seek coverage through its insurance exchanges.
More than 11.5 million people have signed up for coverage through the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov, and the 12 state-based exchanges, as of Dec. 24, according to federal data released Tuesday. That's 286,000 more than the comparable time a year ago.
The number of people opting for Obamacare is under more scrutiny than usual this year, since President-elect Trump and Congressional Republicans have vowed to repeal it soon after he takes office on Jan. 20. Initial efforts, however, are already running into resistance, with some GOP members wanting to wait until a replacement plan is ready before voting to repeal.
Though the Trump administration takes control late next week, current Health & Human Services officials laid out a plan to further boost sign ups through Jan. 31, which marks the end of open enrollment. The agency is airing television and radio ads, sending targeted emails to potential customers and reaching out via YouTube and other social media channels -- continuing outreach efforts that have been underway during this enrollment season.
The Internal Revenue Service is also contacting those who paid a penalty for remaining uninsured. The agency recently announced that about 6.5 million Americans had to pay the penalty, typically $330, in 2015. That's less than the roughly 8 million who were penalized in 2014.
High on the list of targets is younger Americans, who typically are healthier and have lower health care expenses. However, they still make up only 26% of those signing up on the federal exchange to date, the same as last year.
It's unclear whether the marketing efforts will continue under Trump, who has vowed to repeal President Obama's signature health reform law.
Still, Obama and his officials continue to make a case for Obamacare.
"In access, quality and affordability, the Affordable Care Act has helped us make real progress for families across the nation," said Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Monday.
The Obama administration expects a total of 13.8 million people to sign up for plans by the end of the enrollment period, which began Nov. 1. However, it's common for people to drop their policies during the course of the year because they find coverage elsewhere, either through a job or a spouse. So, an average of 11.4 million people are expected to be in Obamacare policies during 2017.
Consumers aren't officially enrolled until they pay their first month's premium.
Related: GOP worried about Obamacare plan
Even before the election, there were concerns that prospective enrollees would be deterred by price hikes -- the average premium for the benchmark silver plan soared 22% for 2017 -- and the fact that some insurers had pulled out of the exchanges.
Most enrollees, however, are shielded from those increases by federal subsidies. Some 82% of people who have signed up for 2017 plans are eligible for subsidies, according to Health & Human Services Department officials. The average subsidy for those enrolling on the federal exchange is $4,600 a year.
Consumers are also shopping around for coverage. Some 56% of returning customers actively selected plan, up from 51% a year ago. Those who opt not to shop are automatically re-enrolled in their existing policy.
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LendingClub, a company that provides an online loan marketplace, has filed an S-1 document to raise up to $500 million in its initial public offering.
The San Francisco-based LendingClub, as with many technology companies currently seeking the public markets, has quickly growing revenues but isn't profitable.
The company had net revenue of $86.94 million in the first half of 2014, up from $37.09 million in the year-ago period. The cost of that revenue growth swung LendingClub from profit to loss. In The first half of 2013, LendingClub had net income of $1.74 million. In the same period this year, the company lost $16.49 million.
The company's sales and marketing costs jumped from $16.12 million to $39.81 million when comparing the first half of 2013 and the first half of 2014.
LendingClub doesn't loan out its own capital and collects fees of loans that are originated on its platform from both individuals and more sophisticated investors alike. The more loans that pass through its network, the more money that LendingClub nets without putting more immediate risk onto its books — a neat mechanism.
According to the S-1, LendingClub receives between 1 percent and 6 percent of the principal amount of loaned monies. Also, LendingClub charges investors a small percent — around 1, but variable — management fee, and takes a roughly 1 percent servicing fee on transacted payments.
According to CrunchBase, LendingClub has previously raised $392.9 million in venture capital over the course of 12 rounds — the company's most recent capital infusion, $65 million, touched down in April of this year. LendingClub reported cash of just under $67 million in its S-1 document.
LendingClub's loan volume has quickly grown. The company indicates that it has "facilitated" over $5 billion in loans since its birth in 2007. $1 billion of that tally occurred in the second quarter of 2014, implying rapid expansion of demand for its services. According to the filing, loan volume increased by 125 percent from the first half of 2013 to the first half of 2014.
The company's preliminary S-1 doesn't indicate what its ticker symbol will be, or what exchange it will list on. The document does indicate that the company intends to execute its offering this year.
LendingClub's IPO could set a benchmark for other companies that have growing revenues and cost structures that lead to GAAP losses.
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A Chinese man growing poppies on the roof garden of his home to produce opium for making drugs for his own use was caught by police after he posted videos of the white flowers on his social media account, mainland media reports.
The unnamed man from Mojiang county in the southwestern province of Yunnan, uploaded videos of 163 poppy plants he was growing using his smartphone, the China News Service reported.
However, planting and cultivating the plant is prohibited on the mainland without a licence.
A policeman checking posts on the internet spotted the videos last week, which led to officers visiting the man's home.
All 163 poppy plants have been removed.
After being questioned by police, the man said he had been ill for a long time and had been growing the poppies for the seeds to produce opium, for making drugs for his own use. Opium is used in creating morphine, which is used in medicines and as a recreational drug.
The man said he was unaware that growing these plants was illegal.
Mainland law states that a person that has unlawfully planted fewer than 500 poppy plants, but which does not lead to a serious crime, can be fined up to 500 yuan (HK$600), or placed in detention for up to five days.
The report did not give details about the man's likely punishment.
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Is Harley-Davidson's venerable Panhead the best looking motorcycle engine of all time? It's certainly up there with the Triumph and Moto Guzzi twins. It's nearly half a century since the last Panhead rolled off the production line, but its appeal has never waned. It's a hit with both customizers and restorers, so we're spoilt for choice with this Top 5.
The 'Pan' was the mainstay of Milwaukee's production from 1948 until the mid 60s. It fixed many of the problems that afflicted its predecessor, the Knuckle, with oil-tight aluminum heads and chrome-plated rocker covers.
For some folks, the Pan has never been bettered. You can even buy a lookalike motor from S&S: It's designed to slot into a post-1970 Harley chassis and will cost you a cool $8,000.
For this round-up, though, we're focusing on custom Panheads that keep the retro vibe but crank up the style. The kind of bike you might want to take out early on a Sunday morning for a leisurely ride, letting the torque do the talking.
WRECKED METALS Matt Whitlock builds hot rods as well as motorcycles. An eye for a line seems to come with that territory, and Matt's 1959 Panhead is super-clean. It's running a rebuilt motor boosted to 93 ci and a 4-speed 'box with suicide shift. The heavy-set looks of a stock Pan have gone, thanks to a rigid frame, a Springer front end and straight-shootin' custom pipes. Matt fabricated the narrow bars, foot controls and rear fender himself, giving the Harley a timeless, classic look. [More about this bike | Wrecked Metals]
Image (and top image] by Dylan and Sara.
MATT MACHINE Australian Matt Darwon has a double life. By day he's an award-winning architect, and by night (okay, by weekend) he's a world-class bike builder. He focuses on twins, whether Moto Guzzi, Ducati or Harley, and rides his bikes hard along the highways and backroads of New South Wales. He built this 1950 Pan for a friend, meticulously re-welding the frame and then grafting on a Kawasaki tank and Yamaha rear fender. An S&S Super E carb gives the engine a useful power boost and Matt made the pipes himself. Believe it or not, he also applied the intricate paint job. Is there no end to this guy's talents? [More about this bike | Matt Machine]
NOISE CYCLES Scott Jones is a true original, and this is one of the most original custom Panheads out there. It's an 88ci 1952 EL model that won 'Best In Show' at Born Free, thanks to offbeat styling and remarkable craftsmanship. Jones cut his teeth working for Jesse James and then Ian Barry of Falcon Motorcycles, so he knows his stuff. In this case, that stuff includes a hand-fabricated aluminum tank, a drum brake from a Yamaha racebike, and a smattering of custom-machined components, including the triple trees. Fine work from a builder at the top of his game. [More about this bike | Noise Cycles]
Image by Jose Gallina.
CUSTOMS FROM JAMESVILLE There's more to the Danish custom scene than the Wrenchmonkees. Denmark is also home to James Roper-Caldbeck, an Englishman who specializes in rebuilding vintage Harleys. In Europe, word has spread far and wide about his skills, and this 1948 Pan was commissioned by a Romanian enthusiast living in Germany. The need to pass strict German legislation resulted in a low-key build, but it still oozes style—from the Springer front end to the rear fender, which was crafted from a 1930 Ford spare wheel carrier. In between is a thoroughly overhauled and reconfigured machine, with neat touches like cloth-covered wiring and a subtly cut-and-shut tank. [More about this bike | Customs From Jamesville]
LOWBROW CUSTOMS Tyler Malinky of Lowbrow Customs is usually associated with the Brit chopper scene, but he can turn out a killer Harley when he wants to. This 'garage-built' Panhead caught the attention of virtually every custom magazine in the States last year; it's not a radical build, but it's beautifully proportioned and finished. Tyler cleaned up the frame, TIG welded any blemishes, and fitted a rigid rear section, a stretched neck and Triumph forks. After installing Amal carbs (yes, really), Malinky used a modified Bates taillight to supply the finishing touch. This Panhead is one of those bikes that just looks 'right.' [More about this bike on Hot Bike | Lowbrow Customs]
Reckon we've
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When you think of Elder Scrolls and questing you immediately go into the exploration mode. Turn and run off in a random direction and you are guaranteed to find some lost ruin or dungeon. However, even the great RPG behemoth known as Skyrim has directions and quests to move the player through multiple story lines. Elder Scrolls Online has a similar approach. The team wanted to add in exploration to the zones and the game, but hey also have quests in to guide players through the zone pick up some valuable loot at low levels and to tell an overall story. We wanted to talk a little about how questing works in the game and what players can expect.
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We got to play Daggerfall with the demo this past week. The opening zone has a quest line where you are helping some pirates put together a crew to get off this island under the thumb of an evil warlord. I don't want to give the story away, so that is all you get in terms of spoilers. There is a main quest line to find three crew members around the island and reunite them with the captain.
Quests begin with cutaways to the character talking directly to you on screen. It is easy to get through and you can talk as much or as little as you want. Like any Elder Scrolls game you are given dialogue choices. You can get the main theme of the quest and say goodbye, or you can continue with more information during the conversation. I will admit that I am not a huge fan of cut scenes, however in Elder Scrolls Online they are not intrusive. The game does not center around the dialogue and you can still get the quest information and move on quickly. You can also get more information on the quests if you want to continue chatting through all of the options.
As you move through the zones there are a lot of quest areas that open up to you. Everything is very clearly marked on your map so it is easy to navigate. As you enter one of the areas in the main quest you will see other quests pop up in the zone to finish if you want. One of the journalists at the demo only did the main quest line and quickly moved to the next zone. I continued to find smaller quests that I wanted to do and pursued those instead. It took me longer to get through the zone, but I am also the completionist sort of player.
So the big question is what happens if you do not really "pick up" quests? There are fail safes built into the zones so that you will move through the content and get to the next areas. This is not as big a deal once you get out of the starter zone. The other important thing I noticed is that there are no "kill ten rats" quests at all, at least not in the starting zone. The quest lines are more centered around story and not about grinding some arbitrary number. Overall, it has more of an RPG feel than many MMOs do.
There is another very important element in Elder Scrolls Online questing: how you accomplish your goals. The team feels very strongly about giving you multiple ways to achieve your quest objectives. On one hand you are given a disguise to wear and travel through a pirate camp. This allows you to avoid all of the fights along the way. If you are more of a bash 'em style player you can just charge in and fight your way through the camp. You can also sneak around the NPCs to reach your objectives. There were multiple ways to get the quests done throughout the entire opening zone. I know the team is all about this dynamic and it is great for the players. At one point I was fighting everything I saw in the camp. Then I had to run back through to complete a quest and I did not want to have to fight so I put on the disguise. It made it much easier to move quickly. Having multiple options to complete your goals is definitely one of the best parts of questing in ESO.
At MMORPG.com we have talked a lot about quest design. I think one thing that Elder Scrolls gets right is that you do not feel like you're just grinding quests, at least not early on. It really does capture the RPG feeling of games like Skyrim where you can pick multiple paths, go on different adventures and you never feel like you are in a hamster wheel. The question will be how it plays out at higher levels, and whether the developers will run out of ways to keep things interesting for the PVE adventurers among us.
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You need the Real Audio player to hear this which you can download for free . If it still doesn't work try this link .
Most people have heard of Murphy's Law. But most people, when they're referring to Murphy's Law, are actually referring to the rather pessimistic Finagle's Law, which is "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."
Murphy's Law is quite different, and is actually a message of hope. Not only does it warn you about what things can go wrong, it'll even tell you how you can work around them, so as to make it impossible for Murphy's Law to actually happen.
Now the AeroSpace industry, where things move very rapidly under very harsh and extreme conditions, is an unforgiving environment. And that's where Murphy's Law was first invented.
In 1949, the US Air Force was running a test series (Project MX981) to see what sort of acceleration (or G-forces) a human being could withstand. They were using a volunteer strapped into a rocket sled at what is now called Edward's Air Force Base, in California. The sled would accelerate up to about 1,000 kilometres per hour, and then stop suddenly. One of the volunteer human torpedoes was Colonel Stapp, who was also a medical doctor.
Now our hero, Air Force Captain Edward A. Murphy Jnr., had designed a harness which strapped onto the volunteer. This harness held 16 sensors to measure the acceleration, or the G-forces, on different parts of the poor volunteer. As luck would have it, there were two ways that each sensor could be installed.
The rocket sled took off, and stopped suddenly, generating 40 Gs. Under 1 G, the average person weighs about 70 kg, but under 40 Gs, they weigh 40 times more - about 2.8 tonnes. 40 Gs is an enormous amount of acceleration - enough to push your ears onto the front of your head.
At the end of the experiment Colonel Stapp staggered off the rocket sled with blood-shot eyes and bleeds from a number of bodily orifices. When he looked at the results, he wasn't very happy - all the sensors registered zero! He called for Captain Murphy, who examined the sled - and found that every single one of those 16 sensors had been installed the wrong way round. Colonel Stapp had been strained in vain.
In a voice like thunder, Edward A. Murphy Jnr. proclaimed, "If there are two or more ways to do something and one of those results in a catastrophe, then someone will do it that way". This is the true and original form of Murphy's Law.
Of course, you have to notice that little word, "If" in "If there are two or more ways......". Suppose that there's only one way. For example, if you design something that can be installed only one way, then it can't be put in the wrong way.
Consider 240 V electrical power. You definitely don't want the full 240V power to jump directly to any of the other wires. So look at your standard 3-pin 240V electrical power plug. It's not symmetrical. There's only one way to insert it into a 240V electrical power socket.
But sometimes, it doesn't matter which way a thing goes in, so long as it goes in. So another way around Murphy's Law is to design something so that it doesn't matter which way it goes in.
Consider the key.
Your average car key has equal bumps on both sides, so it doesn't matter whether you put it in one way or the other - it always works. But your house key has bumps only on one side - this means that half the time, you'll put it in the wrong way. I guess it's an example of Murphy's Law that after half a century after Murphy's Law was first discovered, the house key manufacturers still haven't heard of it.
So once he had realised the message of Murphy's Law, Murphy himself redesigned the G-force sensors so that they could be installed only one way - and that particular problem was solved.
The next day Murphy's Law was officially declared at a Press Conference about the rocket sled test. A few months later Murphy's Law began to be mentioned in AeroSpace manufacturer's advertisements, and finally by the Flight Safety Foundation. As Murphy's Law spread across the planet, two things happened - people forgot that there was a real person called Murphy, and the Law got modified into the pessimistic form of "If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong".
The fact that many people confuse the optimistic Murphy's Law for the pessimistic Finagle's Law, is proof that Murphy's Law can even act upon itself.
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It also shows that 85 percent of African-Americans and 62 percent of Asian and Hispanics below age 30 sympathize with the movement, which emerged in 2012 after Florida neighborhood vigilante George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin.
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Persona 4: Dancing All Night Producer Shares The Latest Details
By Sato . February 16, 2015 . 4:09am
Recently, Persona 4: Dancing All Night's official website was updated, and producer Kazuhisa Wada answered some fan questions in a Q&A session on the game's blog. Here are some of the details Game Jouhou put together from his answers.
There are plans for a downloadable version.
No plans for a demo, but there are plans for an event where the game will be demoed.
The gameplay is basically the kind where you have notes appear from the middle of the screen, and go towards one of the six areas, and you time your button or D-pad presses accordingly. Similar to other rhythm games, there are multiple presses, long holds, and "scratch" elements. The game is also compatible to touch functions. A tutorial and play demonstration video is expected to be revealed soon.
The difficulties are Easy, Normal, Hard, and All Night. In story mode, you'll get to make it even easier.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a rhythm game with a story. It takes place several days after the very end of Persona 4 Golden.More details on that will be revealed later on.
Each character has multiple costumes, a part that Atlus put a lot of effort into.
There are plans for costume and song DLCs. Things will be put in motion after seeing how fans react.
There will be a mode to look at character models.
There's a main dance mode called "Free Dance" that will unlock more songs as you play along.
There are rewards for achieving full-combos for the tracks.
Nanako plays a big role in the game's story, and will dance, but she won't participate in the battles we'll see in the story.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night will be compatible with the PlayStation TV.
Hanako Ohtani won't dance.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night releases in Japan on June 25, 2015 for PlayStation Vita.
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Could they have gotten into an argument over religion? Police wouldn't say if the Bible was found open or closed, but its presence so close to the body leaves one to wonder.
A local detective refused to fill in any of the many blank holes in the story of Freddy Akoa's death.
"I can't go into any of the details," Detective Rich Vogel of the Portland Police Department told WND. "I'm just not at liberty to give out any information about a case that's subject to an ongoing investigation. Eventually the whole story will come out. It always does."
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American Gods has added more old gods to its cast.
EW has learned exclusively that Orlando Jones and Demore Barnes have joined the ensemble of Starz's hotly-anticipated fantasy series American Gods, based on the cult classic novel by Neil Gaiman. Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are adapting the book into series and serving as showrunners.
Jones (Sleepy Hollow) will play Mr. Nancy on the show, one of the gods Shadow meets — and, arguably, befriends — during his visit to the House on the Rock, a.k.a. the American landmark where the gods assemble. Nancy is the human form of the West African trickster god Anansi, who is classically depicted as a spider and has a penchant for telling stories. (He's got a great one about a Tiger and a Monkey, if you ever need him to warm up a crowd.)
Mr. Nancy is also the eponymous character in Gaiman's American Gods spin-off follow-up, Anansi Boys, which follows his two sons.
As for Barnes, who previously starred on 12 Monkeys, he's set to play Mr. Ibis, "the keeper of stories, past and present, and he recounts them with great relish." Mr. Ibis runs a funeral parlor, is fascinated with death, and briefly takes Shadow under his wing.
American Gods tells the story of an ex-con named Shadow (Ricky Whittle) who gets released from prison and, thanks to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), finds himself caught up in a war of worship between old, immigrant gods whose power has diminished over generations and America's new deities of technology and consumerism.
As the show enters its fourth episode of production, the ensemble has shaped up incredibly well, given fan reaction already. Jones and Barnes join a cast that includes recently announced Gillian Anderson as Media; Emily Browning as Laura Moon; Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney; Yetide Badaki as Bilquis; Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya; Peter Stormare as Czernobog; Bruce Langley and Crispin Glover as the Technical Boy and Mr. World, respectively; Mousa Kraish as the Jinn; Chris Obi as Mr. Jacquel; and Jonathan Tucker as Low Key Lyesmith.
The series premieres on Starz in 2017, with David Slade directing the pilot, written by Fuller and Green.
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Your first name
Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu had some strong words about the recent Russia investigation for CNN on Tuesday.
Sununu appeared on "New Day" where he and Alisyn Camerota got into it right away.
WATCH:
Camerota said that Sununu should be gravely concerned if there was any collusion between the Trump administration and Russian government officials.
"I don't see any evidence of collusion, do you?" asked Sununu. He followed up by saying that the lack of evidence should end the media's reporting on the subject.
Sununu also believes that anything that would have been found against Trump or his staff, would have already been uncovered.
"You're seven months into the investigation," Sununu said.
Camerota came back and said that the governor's point was unfair and that the real investigation was just beginning.
To which the governor replied frankly, "How much crow are you going to eat?"
You can Follow Nick on Twitter and Facebook
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
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Who we are ....
Warner Music Artist Services is a global team with a simple ethos: put the artists first. Our team is made up of engineers and marketers, graphic designers and salespeople. We are creative and detail-obsessed. Above all, we are music fans - unabashed, enthusiastic music fans. We are passionate champions of our artists, and we work tirelessly to deliver for them every album cycle, every tour, every day.
We are flexible, agile and strategic. Our global sales and marketing teams provide a broad suite of expert commercial and marketing knowledge. We utilize the latest digital marketing technology, develop infrastructure and execute strategy through consumer analytics, email marketing and CRM expertise that turns the artist goals into "must have" opportunities for fans.
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Table 3.3
Population by mother tongue, language spoken most often at home and linguistic continuity index, Prince Edward Island, 1971 and 2006
Table summary
This table displays the results of population by mother tongue, language spoken most often at home and linguistic continuity index, Prince Edward Island, 1971 and 2006. The information is grouped by linguistic characteristics appearing as row headers and is grouped by 1971, 2006, French, English and other languages appearing as column headers, calculated using number as a unit of measure.
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Review: Neon Indian, 'VEGA INTL. Night School'
Note: NPR's audio for First Listens comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the band's full-album video at the bottom of the page.
Enlarge this image Courtesy of the artist Courtesy of the artist
"Hey there, sexy," a saucy voice says on a hotline set up to promote Neon Indian's new album, in a sort of send-up of phone-sex festivity. Dial the number (512-643-VEGA) and, after sitting through a few lascivious intimations, a link gets sent by way of text to hear the new single from VEGA INTL. Night School. It's very Neon Indian: old and new technologies coming together in a sly but seemingly sincere way, with throwback results that keep the prospect of a party in mind.
"Slumlord," the song triggered by the phone call, is big and bright in a manner that peers back to Neon Indian's chillwave roots but with a newer — and bigger and brighter — sense of scale. The beat is thwacking and spacious, its disco ambiance aided by a bulbous bassline and a gaggle of synthesizers in arpeggiated action. There's a lot going on, and its antic metabolism carries over to much of the album, Neon Indian's third since breaking out in 2009 and its first since 2011's Era Extraña.
After a brief, roiling electronic intro, "Annie" kicks off the album in earnest with a laid-back quasi-reggae vibe that evokes contemporaries like Peaking Lights as well as throwbacks from The English Beat to Men At Work. The sleek, colorful electronic tinge of it all makes for a sound far better than the notion of "quasi-reggae" might suggest, and it introduces '80s-mining inclinations that are never too distant in the mix. "Street Level" follows in the style of a strange, sloshing pop song that seems to have more sounds clamoring within it than any one song could contain, before "Smut!" clears out a bit in favor of an airier, more leisurely groove.
The vocals of Neon Indian chief Alan Palomo sound smeary and diaphanous throughout, with occasional falsetto rises that tip toward Prince but more often strike a wandering tone that favors suggestive impressions of feelings more than clear words. ("Neoprene" and "magazine" figure in "Smut!" in a way that seems significant.) Within the mix of so many other animated sounds at play, the voice takes its place as just another presence at a party worth crashing.
Neon Indian has also created a psychedelic video for the entire album. The visuals were created by Sabrina Ratté:
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There are two ways to support Buddhism. One is known as amisapuja, supporting through material offerings. These are the four supports of food, clothing, shelter and medicine. The act of amisapuja supports Buddhism by giving material offerings to the sangha of monks and nuns, enabling them to live in reasonable comfort for the practice of dhamma. This fosters the direct realization of the Buddha's teaching, in turn bringing continued prosperity to the Buddhist religion.
Buddhism can be likened to a tree. A tree has roots, a trunk, branches, twigs, and leaves. The leaves and branches depend on the roots to absorb nutriment from the soil. The words we speak are like branches and leaves, which depend on a root—the mind—to absorb nutriment and send it out to them. These limbs in turn carry the fruit as our speech and actions. Whatever state the mind is in, skillful or unskillful, it expresses that quality outwardly through our actions and speech.
Therefore the support of Buddhism through the practical application of the teachings is the most important kind of support. For example, in the ceremony of taking the precepts on observance days, the teacher describes those unskillful actions that should be avoided. But if you simply go through the ceremony of taking the precepts without reflecting on their meaning, progress is difficult. You will be unable to find the true practice. The real support of Buddhism must therefore be done through patipattipuja, the "offering" of practice, cultivating true restraint, concentration and wisdom. Then you will know what Buddhism is all about. If you don't understand through practice, you'll never know, even if you learn the whole Tipitaka.
In the time of the Buddha there was a monk known as Tuccho Pothila. This monk was one of the Buddha's most learned disciples, thoroughly versed in the scriptures and texts. He was so famous that he was revered by people everywhere and had eighteen monasteries under his care. When people heard the name " Tuccho Pothila" they were awestruck, and nobody would dare question anything he taught, so much did they revere his command of the teachings.
One day he went to pay respects to the Buddha. As he was paying his respects, the Buddha said, "Ah, hello, Venerable Empty Scripture!" Just like that! They conversed for a while until it was time to go, and then, as he was taking leave of the Buddha, the Buddha said, "Oh, leaving now, Venerable Empty Scripture?"
That was what the Buddha said. On arriving, "Oh, hello, Venerable Empty Scripture." When it was time to go, "Ah, leaving now, Venerable Empty Scripture?" That was the teaching the Buddha gave. Tuccho Pothila was puzzled, "Why did the Buddha say that? What did he mean?" He thought and thought, turning over everything he had learned, until eventually he realized, "It's true ! 'Venerable Empty Scripture'—that's me, a monk who studies but doesn't practice." When he looked into his heart he saw that really he was no different from lay people. Whatever they aspired to, he also aspired to; whatever they enjoyed, he also enjoyed. There was no real samana within him, no truly profound quality capable of firmly establishing him in the Noble Way and providing true peace.
So he decided to practice. But there was nowhere for him to go to. All the teachers around were his own students. No one would dare accept him. Usually when people meet their teacher they become timid and deferential, and so no one would dare to become his teacher.
Finally he went to see a certain young novice who was enlightened and asked to practice under him. The novice said, "Yes, sure you can practice with me, but only if you're sincere. If you're not sincere then I won't accept you." Tuccho Pothila pledged himself as a student of the novice.
The novice then told him to put on all his robes. Now there happened to be a muddy bog nearby. When Tuccho Pothila had carefully put on all his robes—expensive ones they were, too—the novice said, "Okay, now run down into that bog. If I don't tell you to stop, don't stop. If I don't tell you to come out, don't come out. Okay…run!"
Tuccho Pothila, neatly robed, plunged into the bog. The novice didn't tell him to stop until he was completely covered in mud. Finally the novice said, "You can stop now." So he stopped. "Okay, come on up!" And he came out.
Clearly Tuccho Pothila had given up his pride. He was ready to accept the teaching. If
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Your Portlandia Personality Test The New Portlandia Webseries Is Going Your Way Posted by Ben Cochran on January 19th
Carrie and Fred understand that although we have so much in common, we're each so beautifully unique and different. To help us navigate those differences, Portlandia has found an easy and honest way to embrace our special selves in the form of a progressive new traffic system: a specific lane for every kind of driver. It's all in honor of the show's 8th and final season, and it's all presented by Subaru.
Ready to find out who you really are? Match your personality to a lane and hop on the expressway to self-understanding.
Lane 10: Trucks Piled With Junk
Your junk is falling out of your trunk. Shake a tail light, people — this lane is for you.
Lane 33: Twins
You're like a Gemini, but waaaay more pedestrian. Maybe you and a friend just wear the same outfits a lot. Who cares, it's just twinning enough to make you feel special.
Lane 27: Broken Windows
Bad luck follows you around and everyone knows it. Your proverbial seat is always damp from proverbial rain. Is this the universe telling you to swallow your pride? Yes.
Lane 69: Filthy Cars
You're all about convenience. Getting your car washed while you drive is a no-brainer.
Lane 43: Newly Divorced Singles
It's been a while since you've driven alone, and you don't know the rules of the road anymore. What's too fast? What's too slow? Are you sending the right signals? Don't worry, the breakdown lane is nearby if you need it.
Still can't find a lane to match your personality? Check out all the videos here. And see the final season of Portlandia this spring on IFC.
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The science of Santa: Mr Claus will eat 150 BILLION calories and visit 5,556 houses per SECOND this Christmas Eve
Fun infographic attempts to explain the science behind Santa and his elves
Based on population figures, Santa will deliver gifts to 1.6 billion children
This requires visiting 5,556 homes a second and eating 150 billion calories
Each child needs 80cm of wrapping, which would stretch 1.5 million miles
the total number of presents would set Santa back £279.27 billion
With young children inevitably set to ask a barrage of questions about Santa this Christmas, a team of scientists have created a fun guide that attempts to at least answer a selection of them.
It was created by the founders of The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair who teamed up with economists from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
They worked out that, based on official population figures, there are 1.6 billion children worldwide set to be visited by Santa this year.
Using official global population figures, the Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair and the Centre for Economics and Business Research have attempted to calculate the science of Santa, pictured left. They worked out that 1.6 billion children will need presents globally this year
THE SCIENCE OF SANTA CLAUS
Based on population figures, Santa will deliver gifts to 1.6 billion children. This requires visiting 5,556 homes a second and eating 150 billion calories in milk and mince pies.
With an average of 2.5 children per household, Santa will need to make 640 million stops on Christmas Eve. Each child needs 80cm of wrapping, which would stretch 1.5 million miles. The total number of presents would set Santa back £279.27 billion. Prior to the big night, Santa needs to store all these presents in a warehouse.
Assuming each present average out at 0.008 m3, the warehouse would need to cover the same space as 240,000 double-decker buses.
But thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the Earth, Santa does have 32 hours to work with.
The researchers estimated that Santa will therefore have to visit 5,556 homes every second on Christmas Eve to make sure every child gets a gift.
With an average of 2.5 children per household, Santa will need to make 640 million stops on Christmas Eve.
If he eats milk and mince pies at each of these addresses, he will consume a total of 150 billion calories in just one night - 60,000 times his daily recommended intake.
Assuming each of the 640 homes he visits gives him a 200ml glass of semi-skimmed milk and one mince pie, Santa will have drunk almost 130 million litres of milk by the time he's finished his deliveries - enough to fill over 50 Olympic swimming pools.
He will also have eaten nearly 40,000 metric tonnes worth of mince pies.
To work off this extra weight, Santa would need to walk 1.3 billion miles, which is 54,000 times around the circumference of the earth.
According to the Big Bang Fair, Santa's elves will use 80cm of wrapping paper for each child, which would stretch 1.5 million miles and the total number of presents would set Santa back £279.27 billion. He would also need to store these presents in a warehouse that covers the same space as 240,000 double-decker busses
The Big Bang experts assume each elf can wrap a present in exactly 10 seconds and at that speed wrapping two presents for every child would require 3,000 elves to work eight hours every day for an entire year to get the job done.
Furthermore, if Santa gave two presents to each child the elves would need to use an average of 80cm of wrapping paper for each gift – which works out at a staggering 1.6 million miles of paper.
If two metres of wrapping paper costs Santa 99p, this will cost a total of £1.27 billion.
Based on these calculations, Christmas gifts will cost Santa £279.27 billion this year - £30 billion more than the GDP of his home country of Finland.
That would be enough to go around the world 60 times and is more than six times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
The researchers estimated that Santa will have to visit 5,556 homes every second this Christmas Eve to make sure every child gets a gift. If he eats milk and mince pies at each of these addresses, he will consume a total of 150 billion calories in just one night - 60,000 times his daily recommended intake
Prior to the big night, Santa would need to store all these presents in a warehouse, and assuming each present averages out at 0.008 m3, the warehouse would need to cover the same space as 240,000 double-decker busses.
Although this release
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May 3, 2018 - Welcome to the For Honor subreddit! ...... Now coming from just finishing the new GoW, the final kick to the face and neck brake is oddly similar to when a Valkyrie in ..... Bushi's new execution kinda doesn't make any sense.
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This pattern is also available in the Nine Rubies iPad app. The app is available separately for $4.99
This quick and easy infinity scarf shows off the Sol Degrade yarn really nicely. It's a great scarf for summer, as the dropped stitches and 100% cotton creates a breezy warm-weather accessory.
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CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan police crushed and chopped up nearly 2,000 shotguns and pistols in a Caracas city square on Wednesday, as the new interior minister relaunched a long-stalled gun control campaign in one of the world's most crime-ridden countries.
Venezuelan National Guard destroy a weapon during an exercise to disable seized weapons in Caracas, Venezuela, August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said the event marked the renewal of efforts to disarm Venezuelans, through a combination of seizures and a voluntary program to swap guns for electrical goods.
A police officer hammers a pistol during an exercise to destroy seized weapons in Caracas, Venezuela August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello
Venezuela has the world's second highest murder rate and the street gangs that plague its poor neighborhoods have become increasingly heavily armed in recent years, at a time when a deep recession has reduced resources available to police.
Gangs often get weapons from the police, either by stealing them or buying them from corrupt officers, experts say.
With inflation of 185 percent in 2015 and a currency collapse, police salaries have fallen far behind rising prices creating more incentives for corruption.
Slideshow (5 Images)
President Nicolas Maduro promoted Reverol this month, days after the United States accused the former anti-drugs tsar of taking bribes from cocaine traffickers.
"We are going to bring disarmament and peace," Reverol told reporters, while police officers drilled and sawed at rusty shotguns, home made pistols and some newer weapons.
Other guns were crushed in truck-mounted presses. Some members of the public watched, although more danced to a nearby sound system playing salsa music.
Venezuela has also bought laser technology to mark ammunition, Reverol said, in an attempt to keep a registry of the bullets given out to the South American nation's many state and municipal police forces.
Experts say that much of the ammunition used in crimes in Venezuela is made at the country's government munitions factory and sold on by corrupt police.
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Earlier today, President Obama held a press conference to address the growing public concern over the National Security Agency's surveillance practices. We are glad to see that the Administration has been forced to address the matter publicly as a result of the sustained public pressure from concerned voters as well as the ongoing press coverage of this issue. Obama acknowledged that Americans were uncomfortable with the surveillance that has been leaked to the media (and noted that he would be as well, if he weren't in the government). He made four commitments to transparency and reform during the press conference, and also published a whitepaper describing the legal interpretation of the PATRIOT Act that is used to attempt to justify bulk surveillance.
While we're glad Obama is responding to the public's concerns, we take Obama's promises today with a healthy dose of skepticism. He may be paying lip service to accountability and transparency, but the devil will be in the details when it comes to whether his proposals will be effective.
Other promises aside, President Obama did not commit to reducing the surveillance of Americans' communications or the communications of individuals abroad who are not suspected of any crime.
Obama's 4 Commitments – And What's Missing
Obama made 4 specific commitments around NSA surveillance. Here's an overview of what he did – and did not – promise to do.
1. Obama will work with Congress to "pursue appropriate reforms to Section 215 of the Patriot Act." This is the subsection of law used to justify the bulk collection of telephone records. Several bills have been introduced this Congress that attempt to tighten up this law, and we're glad to see Obama will be supportive of such efforts. However, Obama pointedly did not address Sec. 702, the other statute that the government has cited as supporting its broader surveillance, including the content of communications. And as we've explained, to return Americans to the rule of law and privacy and free speech rights that they deserve, we'll need changes well beyond Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. And even as to 215, Obama failed to explain what "appropriate reforms" might look like. Read what EFF thinks should be in NSA reform legislation.
2. Obama will work with Congress to improve public confidence in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) by creating a public advocate that can defend privacy in the court. We were pleased that Obama specifically promised "to make sure civil liberties concerns have an independent voice, in appropriate cases, by ensuring that the government's position is challenged by an adversary" in the extremely secretive FISC. This could be a powerful reform, and one we would wholeheartedly support (especially, for example, if organizations like EFF can serve as the adversary on occasion). However, whether this is actually implemented in a meaningful way remains to be seen. A public advocate in the FISC should be involved in every proceeding, not just "in appropriate cases." Furthermore, that advocate would need full access to the materials the government will be using in presenting its case to the judge. And finally, we remain concerned that this position will be subject to capture unless it has at least the sort of independence and protections that public defenders enjoy.
3. Obama has directed the intelligence community "to make public as much information about these programs as possible." First, "these programs" must include "all surveillance programs," not just those that have been leaked so far. The NSA is supposed to put in place a full time civil liberties and privacy officer and create a website that details its surveillance practices. This should have happened long ago, though we think this is a step in the right direction. However, any such website must actually provide real answers about surveillance rather than obfuscations and word games.
4. Obama is creating a "high level group of outside experts to review our entire intelligence and communications technologies." This group will be tasked with creating an interim report in 60 days and a final report by the end of the year that should address the impact of surveillance technologies, including potential abuses as well as the impact on foreign policy. We're not certain whether Obama is planning on having the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board fulfill this role or whether he is planning on creating a new board, but it is very clear that any group of experts will struggle to have independence, adequate subpoena power, resources and staff time, as well as the political clout necessary to have a meaningful impact on our current surveillance regime. We hope that Obama ensures that this expert board has the information it needs to do its job.
While we were skeptical about other aspects of the press conference, we were pleased to see Obama acknowledge the benefits of privacy enhancing technology. He stated that "[T]echnology itself may provide us some additional safeguards. So for example, if people don't have confidence that the law, the checks and balances of the court and Congress, are sufficient to give us confidence that government's not snooping, well, maybe we can embed technologies in there that prevent the snooping regardless of what government wants to do. I mean, there may be some technological
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Jim Riddle
Friday Keynote Speaker
Transform Organic Today, Grow with Integrity Tomorrow
For more than 30 years, Jim Riddle has been an organic farmer, inspector, educator, policy analyst, and activist.
From 2001 to 2006, Riddle served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Standards Board, chairing the board from 2004 to 2005. In the years since, he has remained engaged on organic issues, calling for attention to process, transparency, and integrity.
He is founding chair of the thriving Winona Farmers' Market and the International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA), and has served on the leadership team for eOrganic and on the boards of the International Organic Accreditation Service, Beyond Pesticides, and the Organic Processing Institute.
He served on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Organic Advisory Task Force from 1991 to 2009, and was instrumental in passing Minnesota's landmark organic certification cost-share program in 1998 and a national organic certification cost-share program in 2002. From 2006 to 2013, he worked for the University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center as Organic Outreach Coordinator.
From 2013 to 2016, he coordinated the organic research grant program for graduate students at the Ceres Trust. He has recently been appointed to chair the Minnesota Organic Advisory Task Force, which provides advice to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota.
Riddle and his wife also own and operate Blue Fruit Farm, a five acre fruit farm in southeastern Minnesota growing certified organic blueberries, elderberries, aronia berries, black currants, blue plums, honey berries, and juneberries.
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Vampire bat venom is able to dodge its victim's immune system , could lead to new treatments for stroke and high blood pressure. Being overweight may be better for your heart: cardiovascular mortality higher among people who are underweight . Cinnamon could help fight Parkinson's: the spice lessened the effects of the disease in mice . Ever wonder what happens to your brain when you're writing ? Writing stimulates that hippocampus (involved in memory) and areas of the brain involved in speech. But there is a difference in brain activity between professional and novice writers.
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Every year careless hackers, cyberstalkers and others are undone by the digital trails they leave behind for law enforcement to collect and trace back to them.
But who would have thought the nation's top spy chief would be undone so easily by digital footprints left behind in e-mail?
In the irony of ironies, thedistinguished career of CIA Director and former Afghanistan war commander David Petraeusappears to have come unhinged after authorities traced the location of the sender of threatening e-mails that were written from an anonymous e-mail account and sent to a woman in Florida.
Authorities say the location data connected to the e-mails and the e-mail account from which they were sent, helped them identify the sender as Petraeus' biographer, Paula Broadwell. This helped them search other e-mail accounts owned by Broadwell, including a Gmail account she used, which led them to the affair with Petraeus, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The case shows just how easy it is to discover the personal connections that can unmask anonymous parties. But the Petraeus affair is as much an outlier as an exemplar. The FBI rarely, if ever, gets involved when one person is harassing another online.
"I'm not aware of any case when the FBI has gotten involved in a case of online harassment," Justin Patchin, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, said. "The FBI definitely wouldn't get involved in your Joe Schmoe love triangle."
The affair began to unravel after the Florida woman, Jill Kelley, contacted an FBI friend after receiving threatening and harassing e-mails from an anonymous person who accused her of flirting with a man who was not identified in the e-mails. Kelley is a volunteer social planner for events at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, which is home to the military's Central Command. Petraeus was commander of CENTCOM from 2008 to 2010, when he left to take his position as head of the CIA.The e-mails, between 5 and 10 of them, began arriving last May, and reportedly told Kelley to "back off" and "stay away" from the unnamed man.
Kelley's FBI friend launched an investigation to determine if the threatening e-mails constituted a cybercrime.
FBI investigators determined that the anonymous account from which the e-mails were sent belonged to Broadwell and her husband, who live in North Carolina. Reports are unclear about how they did this, but, according to the New York Times investigators were able to determine what other e-mail accounts had been accessed from the same computer address as the one that sent the harassing e-mails, which may have led them to Broadwell or her husband.
The information contained in the metadata of e-mail headers varies. It's unclear if the anonymous account was a Gmail account or came from another e-mail service provider. In Gmail, the header generally only includes the IP address and domains of the servers through which the e-mail was sent, as well as ones it passed through in transit to the recipient's inbox. Authorities would have had to contact Google to obtain information about the IP address that was used to log into the anonymous account and any other accounts that were accessed from the same address. But other e-mail providers, such as Yahoo, do include the sender IP address in the metadata.
Agents considered that the anonymous e-mail account used to send the harassing e-mails might have been hacked by someone else who was sending the e-mails to Kelley. But they eventually were able to match the locations from which the e-mails were sent to the same locations, including hotels, where Broadwell was known to have been during the times the correspondence was set to Kelley, according to the Journal.
Based on these connections, investigators obtained a warrant to monitor other e-mail accounts Broadwell used, including a Gmail account.
In examining these other accounts, agents uncovered sexually explicit e-mails that Broadwell exchanged with another party who also used a Gmail account. Investigators were not able to immediately identify Petraeus as the other party, however, because he'd set up his Gmail account using a pseudonym.
Investigators determined sometime during mid-summer that it belonged to Petraeus and that the two were having an affair. The reports do not say how investigators made that connection. According to the New York Times it's not known if the FBI gained access to Petraeus' personal e-mail account, or if its investigation relied solely on e-mails found in Broadwell's account.
Broadwell's affair with Petraeus reportedly began two months after he took over the CIA and ended about four months ago, around the same time the FBI discovered the affair, according to Col. Steven Boylan, who spoke to ABC News.
After the FBI contacted Broadwell the week of Oct. 21, she acknowledged the affair and provided authorities with her computer. The agents discovered several classified
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Although some Quakers were slaveholders, members of that religious group were among the earliest to protest the African slave trade, the perpetual bondage of its captives, and the practice of separating enslaved family members by sale to different masters.
As the nineteenth century progressed, many abolitionists united to form numerous antislavery societies. These groups sent petitions with thousands of signatures to Congress, held abolition meetings and conferences, boycotted products made with slave labor, printed mountains of literature, and gave innumerable speeches for their cause. Individual abolitionists sometimes advocated violent means for bringing slavery to an end.
Although black and white abolitionists often worked together, by the 1840s they differed in philosophy and method. While many white abolitionists focused only on slavery, black Americans tended to couple anti-slavery activities with demands for racial equality and justice.
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Video
The super-rich are often referred to as the richest 1% of the population - whose wealth surpasses the other 99%.
But now there is a separate elite, the 0.1%, who tower above even the multi-millionaires.
Chrystia Freeland - author of Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else - and Anup Desai, a City University of New York professor involved in the Occupy movement, spoke to the BBC's Mishal Husain about the growth of the billionaire class, and what that means for the wider economy.
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The beginning of wrestling from the arms. [96v] Der anfall vsz den Armen zu ringen.
They have peasant-clinched with one arm below and the other above and lie in the striving. In the striving, so he slips his head through his arm and pulls him up. [97r] Die habent birlichs gefasst ain Arm vnden den anndern oben vnd ligend In dem streb. In dem Streb So schlefft er sin hopt durch sin Arm vnd zuckt In vff.
As he has clinched from the arms. So he thrusts with his right elbow on his right arm and with the thrust so he grips him below his right foot and pulls him up and throws him over. He has it not good. He will throw him over the shank. [97v] Als der gefaszt hatt vsz den Armen So stoszt der mit sinem Rechten Elbogen vff sinen Rechten arm vnd mit dem stosz So gryfft er Im vnder sinen rechten fusz vnd zuckt In vff vnd wirfft In über vssz. Der hutt es nit gutt. Der wyl den werffen vber den schenckel.
Here he will bring him into trapping if he might break the arm. Here he has brought his arm on the shoulder and will break it off. [98r] Hie wyl der den bringen In Trapen ob er Im möcht Brechen den Arm. Hie hatt der Im den arm Bracht vff die achsel vnd wöllen Im den abbrechen.
From the clinch, so he throws him over the shank. Here he has stepped behind and thrust him over the shank. [98v] Vsz dem Fasen So würfft er In vber den Schenckel. Hie hatt er In hinder Tretten vnd Stosst In über den schenckel.
Yet an equal peasant clinch. From the peasant clinch, so he pulls the lower arm and grips him by the head and swings him from him. [99r] Aber ain glichs Byrlichs Fasen. Vss dem Byrlichs fasen So zuckt Er den vndern Arm vnd ergryfft In by dem hopt vnd Swenckt In von Im.
In this clinch so he will go-through. Here he is going-through him and throws him over the back. [99v] In dem Fasen So wyl Der durchgon. Hie Ist er Im durchgangen vnd würfft In über den Rücken.
In the going-through, so is that countered and he chokes him by the neck. Yet a counter over the going through, in the through-going, so pull the foot behind you and grip him by the neck. [100r] In dem durchgon So ist das der Bruch vnd wirckt In by dem halsz. Aber ain Bruch vber das durch gon In dem durchgon So zuck den fusz hindersich vnd ergryff In by dem halsz.
The Hooking before-you. He counters the Hooking with the strike. [100v] Das Hechlin Fürsich. Das Hecklin der Bruch mit dem Schlag.
When one grips on from behind, so wait if you might get his shank and pull him through and right yourself up. Yet so one grasps on from behind, so step with your foot behind yourself between his legs and grip him after the shank. [101r] Wen ainer ain ergryfft hinderwertligen So wartt oh dir möcht Sin schenckel werden vnd züch In her durch vnd Richt dich vff. Aber so ainr ain faszt hinderwertz so Tryt mit dinem fusz hinder sich zwüschen Sine bain vnd gryff im nach dem schenckel.
This is a counter against the lifting from behind, take him by the hair and pull him over the shoulder. This is called a lock, will he then become free, so break his finger or bend yourself and throw him over the back. [101v] Das ist ain heben hinderwertz der Bruch darüber Nem In by dem har vnd züch In über die achsel. Das haiszt ain beschulsz wyl er den led
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(Amy King/The Washington Post; iStock)
Melinda Gates, the philanthropist and mother of three, gathered from listening to her kids and their friends that the next generation of American spouses expects to evenly split the household chores.
"I'm sorry to say this, but if you think that, you're wrong," she wrote to high schoolers Monday in her annual open letter, co-penned with her husband Bill Gates. "Unless things change, girls today will spend hundreds of thousands more hours than boys doing unpaid work simply because society assumes it's their responsibility."
She backed her case with global data. Women worldwide devote an average of 4.5 hours each day to unpaid work — cooking, cleaning, changing the baby's diaper. Men contribute less than half that much time, according to the OECD.
The domestic division of labor remains staggeringly unbalanced in the United States, where female breadwinners now support 40 percent of homes. Women here typically spend two hours and 12 minutes daily on housework, while men spend one hour and 21 minutes.
[The best age to get married if you don't want to get divorced]
A 2015 survey by Working Mom, furthermore, found that female breadwinners who lived with male partners still reported handling the bulk of grocery shopping, meal preparation, bill-paying and cleaning.
"This isn't a global plot by men to oppress women," Melinda wrote. "It's more subtle than that. The division of work depends on cultural norms, and we call them norms because they seem normal — so normal that many of us don't notice the assumptions we're making. But your generation can notice them — and keep pointing them out until the world pays attention."
(Bill, it should be noted, drives their kids to school every other day.)
Melinda is right about cultural norms in America and beyond. Even after moms could vote and become chief executives and run for president, dads maintained their status as primary provider status in popular culture.
Consider Fusion's new breakdown of the Oscar-winning actresses through the years: Most have played wives.
The wife penalty
Of course, that's a highly simplified explanation for why one sex shoulders more unpaid work. And it's not to say all women feel trapped in motherhood and the associated duties.
But, as Gates points out, for women who want to excel in their careers, the disproportionate load can create an unfair penalty. Men, it turns out, might be holding their partners back when they don't share non-work tasks.
Mothers in the United States who work full time, year round, make an average of $40,000, compared to $56,999 paid to fathers, according to the National Women's Law Center. That's 70 cents to the dollar.
Economists say this disparity probably comes from a blend of factors: Women are sometimes "mommy tracked," or passed over for high-profile projects or promotions, when employers assume motherhood (but not fatherhood) zaps productivity. A 2015 study from the University of Georgia found that, for this reason, expectant mothers are often afraid to tell their bosses they're pregnant.
Women do take more time off to tend to family, but that's not always a choice. Sometimes, as the data shows, husbands just don't pull their domestic weight. They also tend to prioritize their careers over their wives', while wives tend to equally prioritize both partners' careers, according to a 2014 study of 25,000 Harvard Business School graduates.
The lesbian wage premium
Evidence for the wife (or husband) penalty shows up in what researchers call the "lesbian wage premium." Across years of research, women who have never lived with a male partner make more money than women who have.
Last year, Marieka Klawitter, professor of public policy at the University of Washington, examined 29 studies across the Western Hemisphere on wages and sexual orientation and found a 9 percent earnings premium for lesbians over heterosexual women. (Gay men, meanwhile, faced an 11 percent penalty, compared to straight men.)
She controlled for parenthood and concluded lesbians simply had more education and work experience than the general female population.
[The U.S. is still divided on what causes homosexuality]
But another study from the University of Nevada, which used national data from the year 2000, adds a stunning asterisk to Klawitter's findings: Lesbians who had previously lived with male partners made 9.5 percent less than those who'd never cohabitated with a husband figure.
Were men actually the drags on women's earnings?
After controlling for characteristics like education and experience, the authors found a 6.6 percent premium for cohabiting lesbians over cohabiting heterosexual women, with the premium falling to 5.2 percent if the lesbians had ever been married to a man.
(Still, two-women
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I got chatting with a bloke on Waikiki Beach recently. A Collingwood supporter who wanted to talk about the state of the game. 'Roosy,' he said, 'what do you see as the biggest problems facing footy, and how would you fix them?'
I didn't go to Hawaii to talk about footy. But this got me thinking. About all the meetings I'd been in with AFL executives like Adrian Anderson, Andrew Demetriou and Gillon McLachlan during my years as a coach. About so many conversations focused on the integrity of the competition. What I believed then I'm even more convinced of now: that footy's integrity is compromised.
The first thing we need to do is to leave the rules alone. There's been too much tinkering and too much change. So let's just take a deep breath, let the rules settle, and leave the game as is for the next year four or five years, until the next broadcast deal starts in 2023.
The game itself is in really good shape. It's even, because the equalisation mechanisms are kicking in after years of compromised drafts. It's good to watch, and thankfully no-one's talking about flooding now, or stoppages. So leave it be – and, while we're at it, keep the interchange system as it is and the Grand Final on Saturday afternoon, too.
But there are problems. There are five issues compromising the AFL that have been bubbling for years, some for decades, and there's also a relative newcomer to the debate: the need to deal with concussion and its ramifications so that the game's welfare keeps pace with the players.
DRAW EQUALITY
The draw's not fair. We all know it. You could be playing the five bottom teams twice. You could be playing the five top teams twice. I don't subscribe to the 17-5 model that's been mooted, I think it's ridiculous, so what is the fairest draw model for the integrity of the competition? What's fairest is that you play everyone twice, home and away, but you're never going to have a 34-week season. So what's the next best option?
The players obviously want to spend less time at clubs, and I actually spoke to a high-profile player last year when I was coaching Melbourne and I said, 'Would you take less money if there was only 17 rounds?' He said, 'Yeah, I would'.
So, 17 rounds. Play each other once: home one year and away the other. Two byes stretch it to 19 weeks, and instead of the pre-finals week off I would have a 'wildcard' play-off round where it's seven-versus-ten and eight-versus-nine. So the bottom eight are finished, teams one to six get the week off, and then, bang, you go into the finals series of eight as we know it.
But there are problems. There are five issues compromising the AFL that have been bubbling for years, some for decades.
That stretches the season for the broadcasters, gives the players the two byes they want, gives the top six an extra bye, but also gives the 10th placed team a sneaky chance to play finals. There will be issues with broadcasters and that's why it needs to happen at the end of the current TV rights deal – clearly there's obstacles around how you'd get it done. But one of the biggest impediments to our game now is it started off as 12 teams playing each other twice, so 22 rounds. In an 18-team competition, there are soft draws and hard draws and we need a fairer, more equitable system.
How resistant will the AFL's broadcast partners be, given that they're tipping in more than $2 billion over six years for what they get now? If they're paying what they're paying now, then they're going to want 23 rounds, but if they're saying, 'Well, we'll pay less', and the players say, 'Well, we'll take less', who knows? Clearly there's some issues around it, but I'd love to think that the powers-that-be can sit down and work it out, because the fixture won't be fair until they do.
RAISE THE DRAFT AGE
This is one I've been very strong about, for multiple reasons. Probably the main one is when kids are doing Year 12 we shouldn't be asking them to do under 18 championships, TAC Cup, club football, school football, and their final year of school all at the same time. Then suddenly you might be on the plane to Perth when you've lived in Ballarat and your Mum and Dad have looked after you and your whole life's been relocated. I think the minimum draft age needs to be at least a year older.
As it is, the gap that
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Disclaimer
Before I start, let me make a few things very clear. I believe hitting a woman is a despicable act, as a husband, I can't imagine a situation where I would do so, and as a father, I would absolutely destroy any "man" who put his hands on my 4-year-old daughter, or my son if he ever even had the thought of doing so to any woman. I believe that our justice system was designed around a single premise: that everyone is "innocent until proven guilty" ... however, that through time, there are certain acts, like domestic violence, where our societal views have begun to default immediately to guilt, and place the burden of proof, unfairly, on the accused. We view many of these types of cases as black-and-white, open-and-shut. ... Casting these individuals as horrible human beings who don't deserve to breathe, and the only picture of "justice" involves them paying mightily for their actions. I believe that there are certain situations in which those feelings inevitably influence the actions of those in law enforcement as well as the judicial system. ... Thus bringing about the importance of a trial by jury, and unanimous verdicts. Certain people, including Dallas' own Dale Hansen of WFAA Channel 8 have adopted the view that Hardy is without a doubt, guilty, and Mr. Hansen declared so in his statements regarding the Dallas Cowboys this week. ( Our complete coverage of Hardy/Cowboys angles is collected here.)
Hansen's "unplugged'' piece from Wednesday is seen above. His Thursday roundtable featuring our own Mike Fisher is here.
The purpose of this piece is not to declare Greg Hardy to be innocent or guilty of the actions of which he was accused; it is simply to provide as true a picture as possible of the events that took place, their context, and their aftermath, to allow you (the reader) to come to your own conclusion.
Background
Hardy came into the NFL with questions about his off-field behavior, after being suspended for two games by the University of Mississippi for missing meetings and breaking team rules, and even kicked off the team before being reinstated. However, Tyrone Nix, Hardy's defensive coordinator at Ole Miss told the Charlotte Observer that Hardy never had any incidence involving violence towards women in his time there, and that he "has always been a guy of high character, as far as respect to others." Prior to the incident in question, Hardy's criminal record consisted only of traffic violations, including speeding, on operator's license (waived), window-tinting violation (waived), and driving without registration (waived).
Hardy and the alleged victim, Nicole Holder, entered a romantic relationship in September 2013, the start of Hardy's finest year of professional football, while Holder was employed as a waitress at a Charlotte nightclub. They remained in a relationship which a friend of Holder described as "really good, really bad, with nothing in between" until they broke up in February 2014, although they did stay in contact and occasionally engage intimately.
After the couple split, Holder entered a brief relationship with the rapper Nelly, which had upset Hardy, but by the time of the incident in question, they were trying to "reconcile the relationship."
On May 10, 2014, two nights before the incident in question, Holder was seen following Hardy out of her place of employment, The Epicenter nightclub in Charlotte, crying and blocking his car from leaving. Security guards involved the police after Holder kicked the door of Hardy's car.
The night of the incident
The night of May 12, 2014, Hardy, and Holder, along with Hardy's assistant and other friends, went out drinking. Holder later admitted to snorting cocaine that night, although a co-worker enacted her Fifth Amendment rights when asked about taking cocaine with Holder that night. After a night of partying, including Hardy getting upset when a Nelly song was played in one of the clubs they visited, they returned to Hardy's apartment and continued to party.
The 9-1-1 Calls: At approximately 4:18 a.m., Hardy made a call to 9-1-1, in which he stated the following: That Holder had hit him in the face twice, and wouldn't leave the apartment, and that she told him to break her arm when he asked her to leave. Hardy's assistant was trying to retain her but she was attempting to his Hardy with a shoe. Hardy stated that she wouldn't let him close the door to the apartment and that he "can't touch her to get her out". That he was trying to stay away from her, and that he was behind the bar, and wasn't touching her, but that she had broken some glass and he couldn't walk through his kitchen. Additionally he repeatedly asked "What do I do?" When asked if he needed a medic he stated that he was "a little swollen" but didn't notice
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POLL TIME : What did you think of MaM View On reddit.com submitted 1 year ago by lets_shake_hands posted in /r/SuperMaM
Hi All There has been some debate about what MaM was *really* about and what it meant to each individual. Some say it was obviously about the justice system and had nothing to do with whether SA is guilty or not. So I am going to have some responses to what you believe MaM was about. You can pick multiple different answers. I believe MaM was biased towards Stevie, believed he was innocent and now guilty. It was not about the justice system. Thanks for voting and reading. Feel free to leave a comment if you believe I have missed something or share your thoughts.
Creator of this poll has opted for captcha verification. To vote on this option please fill in the captcha.
Your vote: After watching MaM you believe SA was guilty but now believe innocent
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** Black Kite seems to have the best answer here. Bannon as an individual almost certainly doesn't come within miles or parsecs of being a reliable source. I can still remember one of his first interviews after being dismissed from the White House to the effect that he wasn't fired but set free to advance Trump's cause outside of the government. BS of the first order. Sometimes I wonder if he can perceive the real world. And I'm a conservative leaning person who generally votes Republican. [[User:John Carter|John Carter]] ([[User talk:John Carter|talk]]) 20:25, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
** Black Kite seems to have the best answer here. Bannon as an individual almost certainly doesn't come within miles or parsecs of being a reliable source. I can still remember one of his first interviews after being dismissed from the White House to the effect that he wasn't fired but set free to advance Trump's cause outside of the government. BS of the first order. Sometimes I wonder if he can perceive the real world. And I'm a conservative leaning person who generally votes Republican. [[User:John Carter|John Carter]] ([[User talk:John Carter|talk]]) 20:25, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
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1 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 119 There's a point in every college football season (at least for Aggies and Bulldogs) when disappointment, at least for a few minutes, obscures hope. Melanie and I found ourselves re-acquainted with some disappointment this past weekend, which... Free View in iTunes
2 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 118 Since Melanie and I went to Chicago last weekend, this episode seemed like a great opportunity to recap our trip. We talk about our unforeseen hotel challenges, our night at Hamilton, and our many, many laughs at The Popcast Live. We also discuss... Free View in iTunes
3 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 117 Well, you will not be surprised to learn that we talk a great deal - A GREAT DEAL - about college football in this episode. There's some accountability in terms of how one of us managed to go to Starkville this past weekend despite some seemingly... Free View in iTunes
4 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 116 As you (might) know, I'm working with a different computer these days, and somewhere in this new-to-me version of Garage Band (which is what I use to edit) I have somehow changed myself to a setting that is likely called "DJ From The 1970s." Melanie... Free View in iTunes
5 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 115 It's been a couple of weeks, so Melanie and I play catch-up in this episode. We talk about a unique challenge I'm facing this weekend, the technological heartbreak of late last week, and why a pep talk from other writers is a very sweet thing indeed.... Free View in iTunes
6 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 114 Well, our good friend Travis Cottrell is back with us this week, and oh, do we have a fine time. However, since y'all know how we like to pride ourselves on technological excellence, you might as well be aware that apparently my microphone wasn't... Free View in iTunes
7 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 113 Our good friend Travis Cottrell is with us on this episode, and we have ourselves a blast. We talk about workout needs of extroverts vs. introverts, we hear about Travis' recent regional airline experience, and we answer a bunch of fun questions that... Free View in iTunes
8 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 112 All righty, y'all - this is our Very Special Southern Charm Finale Re-cap. We talk about so many things: Craig, Kathryn & Shep, white tie attire, Patricia's pet caftans, Chelsea & Austen, and last but not least - the train... Free View in iTunes
9 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 111 On this episode we talk about my unusually quiet house, the latest on Southern Charm, and a couple of Netflix movies that have renewed Melanie's faith in the romantic comedy. We also continue with the questions we didn't finish last week, and as it... Free View in iTunes
10 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 110 A few days ago some of the folks on our Big Boo Facebook page were kind enough to leave comments with some questions / topics that they wanted us to discuss, so that is exactly what Melanie and I do on this episode. We picked seven to start with, and... Free View in iTunes
11 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 109 In what is no doubt the complete opposite of a surprise, we had some sound issues with this one. We still don't know exactly why. What we do know, though, is that I sound like a loud talker and Melanie sounds like a soft talker who is trying to subtly.. Free View in iTunes
12 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 108 On this episode of the podcast we talk extensively about Southern Charm and caftans. AS YOU DO. We also chronicle some of our current, um, hormone-adjacent frustrations, recap what's happened for our teams so far in the college baseball post-season,... Free View in iTunes
13 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 107 If you're in need of a little superficial to kick off your summer, this is the episode for you. We talk about nail polish, our nail-related frustrations, our favorite summer shoes, and all the reasons why we're embracing the caftan for summer 2018. We.. Free View in iTunes
14 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 106 The Royal Wedding happened. And now we recap. (Spoiler: WE LOVED EVERY SECOND.) Here's where you can get more info on the stuff / products / places we mention: - Sofia Wellesley's dress - Kitty Spencer's dress - Victoria Beckham's dress - Amal... Free View in iTunes
15 Clean The Big Boo Cast, Episode 105 This one is all Royal Wedding. And no small amount speculation. Needless to say, we are giddy with anticipation. Here's where you
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F1 driver penalty points: Who has picked up most sanctions in 2016?
Stewards' investigations into incidents between drivers on track and other misdemeanours have become increasingly commonplace in F1, with different totting-up procedures in place to deter repeat offenders.
With the 2016 season entering its final races, we take a look at how the tables for driver penalty points and reprimands stands…
Driver penalty points
Since 2014, F1 has had a penalty points system in place akin to the one used on roads to punish driving offences.
Any driver who accrues 12 points on their superlicence over a rolling 12-month period receives a one-race ban. Points are wiped when the year anniversary of the respective offence is reached. No driver has yet reached the 12-point limit.
Haas driver Esteban Gutierrez leads the table after the Japanese GP with seven points, five of which were collected in the space of just three races either side of the summer break. The Mexican picked up three at Spa for blocking Pascal Wehrlein on the 200mph Kemmel Straight.
Sebastian Vettel runs into Nico Rosberg at the start of the Malaysia GP. Sebastian Vettel runs into Nico Rosberg at the start of the Malaysia GP.
Championship leader Nico Rosberg is next up with six after being found at fault for collisions with Lewis Hamilton (Austria), Max Verstappen (Germany) and Kimi Raikkonen (Malaysia). Despite not having a reputation as one of the sport's more aggressive drivers, Valtteri Bottas also has collected six points, as has Sauber's Felipe Nasr.
The F1 drivers' half-term report
Lewis Hamilton is one of five drivers with a clean licence, while Max Verstappen has not added any extra points to his record in 2016 despite a string of high-profile wheel-to-wheel battles.
Verstappen accrued a record eight points in his debut F1 campaign last season, but just three now remain on his licence from Abu Dhabi last November with the Red Bull driver successfully steering clear of trouble with the stewards so far in 2016.
F1 driver penalty points (after 2016 Japanese GP) Points Driver Next points dropped 7 Esteban Gutierrez May 1, 2017 (2 points) 6 Valtteri Bottas November 13, 2016 (2 points) Felipe Nasr November 14, 2016 (2 points) Nico Rosberg July 3, 2017 (2 points) 5 Daniil Kvyat May 1, 2017 (3 points) 4 Carlos Sainz May 1, 2017 (2 points) Pascal Wehrlein May 29, 2017 (4 points) Sebastian Vettel July 10, 2017 (2 points) Rio Haryanto March 19, 2017 (2 points) 3 Max Verstappen November 29, 2016 (3 points) Sergio Perez September 17, 2017 (3 points) 2 Fernando Alonso November 29, 2016 (2 points) Nico Hulkenberg April 17, 2017 (2 points) Kevin Magnussen May 15, 2017 (2 points) Marcus Ericsson May 29, 2017 (2 points) Kimi Raikkonen June 19, 2017 (2 points) Jolyon Palmer July 2, 2017 (2 points) Esteban Ocon September 18, 2017 (2 points) 0 Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa, Jenson Button
Driver reprimands
Although Hamilton has no penalty points to his name, the world champion jointly leads the way for reprimands after the season's opening 17 rounds - leaving him one away from a grid penalty.
Reprimands are usually issued by stewards for more minor infringements and a 10-place grid drop is applied if a driver receives three of them during any one season, provided two were meted out for driving offences.
Hamilton's two reprimands both fall into this category. In Bahrain he was punished for briefly reversing in the pit lane after qualifying, while in Russia he was warned about not rejoining the track in the correct manner during practice.
The world championship leader, who took a big grid penalty after the summer break for exceeding engine elements, is therefore one more reprimand of any kind away from a costly 10-place drop.
Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz is the only other driver on two reprimands for the season.
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Dr John Bates' disclosures about the manipulation of data behind the so-called 'Pausebuster' paper is the biggest scientific scandal since 'Climategate' in 2009 when, as Britain's Daily Mail reported, thousands of leaked emails revealed scientists were trying to block access to data, and using a 'trick' to conceal embarrassing flaws in their claims about global warming.
Britain's Mail on Sunday today revealed astonishing evidence that the organisation that is the world's leading source of climate data rushed to publish a landmark paper that exaggerated global warming and was timed to influence the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.
A high-level whistleblower has told this newspaper that America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) breached its own rules on scientific integrity when it published the sensational but flawed report, aimed at making the maximum possible impact on world leaders including Barack Obama and David Cameron at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015.
The report claimed that the 'pause' or 'slowdown' in global warming in the period since 1998 – revealed by UN scientists in 2013 – never existed, and that world temperatures had been rising faster than scientists expected. Launched by NOAA with a public relations fanfare, it was splashed across the world's media, and cited repeatedly by politicians and policy makers.
But the whistleblower, Dr John Bates, a top NOAA scientist with an impeccable reputation, has shown The Mail on Sunday irrefutable evidence that the paper was based on misleading, 'unverified' data.
It was never subjected to NOAA's rigorous internal evaluation process – which Dr Bates devised.
His vehement objections to the publication of the faulty data were overridden by his NOAA superiors in what he describes as a 'blatant attempt to intensify the impact' of what became known as the Pausebuster paper.
In an exclusive interview, Dr Bates accused the lead author of the paper, Thomas Karl, who was until last year director of the NOAA section that produces climate data – the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) – of 'insisting on decisions and scientific choices that maximised warming and minimised documentation… in an effort to discredit the notion of a global warming pause, rushed so that he could time publication to influence national and international deliberations on climate policy'.
The scandal has disturbing echoes of the 'Climategate' affair which broke shortly before the UN climate summit in 2009, when the leak of thousands of emails between climate scientists suggested they had manipulated and hidden data. Some were British experts at the influential Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.
His disclosures are likely to stiffen President Trump's determination to enact his pledges to reverse his predecessor's 'green' policies, and to withdraw from the Paris deal – so triggering an intense political row.
As The Mail continues, whatever takes its place, said Dr Bates, "there needs to be a fundamental change to the way NOAA deals with data so that people can check and validate scientific results. I'm hoping that this will be a wake-up call to the climate science community – a signal that we have to put in place processes to make sure this kind of crap doesn't happen again.
"I want to address the systemic problems. I don't care whether modifications to the datasets make temperatures go up or down. But I want the observations to speak for themselves, and for that, there needs to be a new emphasis that ethical standards must be maintained." He said he decided to speak out after seeing reports in papers including the Washington Post and Forbes magazine claiming that scientists feared the Trump administration would fail to maintain and preserve NOAA's climate records. Dr Bates said: "How ironic it is that there is now this idea that Trump is going to trash climate data, when key decisions were earlier taken by someone whose responsibility it was to maintain its integrity – and failed."
NOAA not only failed, but it effectively mounted a cover-up when challenged over its data.
After the paper was published, the US House of Representatives Science Committee launched an inquiry into its Pausebuster claims. NOAA refused to comply with subpoenas demanding internal emails from the committee chairman, the Texas Republican Lamar Smith, and falsely claimed that no one had raised concerns about the paper internally. Last night Mr Smith thanked Dr Bates "for courageously stepping forward to tell the truth about NOAA's senior officials playing fast and loose with the data in order to meet a politically predetermined conclusion". He added: "The Karl study used flawed data, was rushed to publication in an effort to support the President's climate change agenda, and ignored NOAA's own standards for scientific study." Professor Curry, now the president of the Climate Forecast Applications Network, said last night: 'Large adjustments to the raw data, and substantial changes in successive dataset versions, imply substantial uncertainties.' It was time, she said, that politicians and policymakers took these uncertainties on board.
Read more here...
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Synonyms Examples Word Origin. See more synonyms for utmost on Thesaurus.com. adjective. of the greatest or highest degree, quantity, or the like; greatest: of the utmost importance. being at the farthest point or extremity; farthest: the utmost reef of the island.
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Drawn for riddlemethis77
Drawn for mellonlegolas
Drawn for temperaturas
You've clicked on a link that will take you outside of
Neopets.com. We do not control your destination's website,
so its rules, regulations, and Meepit defense systems will be
different! Are you sure you'd like to continue?
It is a journey
I must face...alone.
*dramatic music* I want to stay on Neopets,
where the dangers of
Meepit invasion
are taken seriously.
You've clicked on a link that will take you outside of
Neopets.com. We do not control your destination's website,
so its rules, regulations, and Meepit defense systems will be
different! Are you sure you'd like to continue?
It is a journey
I must face...alone.
*dramatic music* I want to stay on Neopets,
where the dangers of
Meepit invasion
are taken seriously.
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Taylor Valley is one the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The landscape is composed of expanses of a sandy, gravelly soil, ice-covered lakes (at right), and glaciers flowing from the local mountains (center background). Credit: Andrew Fountain New research led by Portland State University glacier scientist Andrew Fountain reveals how a single warming event in Antarctica may be an indication of future ecosystem changes.
In the scientific paper, "The Impact of a Large-scale Climate Event on Antarctic Ecosystem Processes," published in a special section Thursday in Bioscience, Fountain and his team detail the climate event and summarize the cascading ecological consequences over the last 15 years caused by a single season of intense melting in Antarctica between 2001 and 2002.
"What we saw in the Antarctic summer of 2001 and 2002 could be the Antarctic future in the decades to come," said Fountain, the study's lead author. "What was an otherwise unchanging environment could be on the cusp of very dramatic changes."
Stationed in East Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys—a polar desert that's among the driest places on Earth—Fountain and his research team studied the effects of massive flooding caused by the glaciers that melted when air temperatures suddenly warmed to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Flooding streams eroded, lake ice thinned, lake levels rose, and water reached new places across the barren landscape.
The ecosystem still responded to this event after five or more years. Scientists suspect these events will appear more frequently in the future as climate warming affects Antarctica.
Fountain's research was conducted in tandem with another National Science Foundation-funded site, Palmer Station, on the West Antarctic Peninsula, a vastly different Antarctic landscape.
The extreme climate shift at Palmer during 2001 and 2002 caused freezing and melting at the edge of the peninsula, resulting in increased algal bloom and Antarctic krill, a devastating decline in the population of Adelie penguins, and an increase in the populations of gentoo and chinstrap penguins.
Explore further: Climate is changing fast in West Antarctica
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Buzz Axe Bombardier Take the wrath of the hot potato! Character Krieg Type Gamechanger Tier 3 Maximum Points 1 Skill Tree Bloodlust Minimum Level 16 Effect When thrown, your buzz axe now has Dynamite attached to it which explodes on impact. Game Borderlands 2
Buzz Axe Bombardier is a tier 3 skill in Krieg's Bloodlust skill tree. When thrown during Buzz Axe Rampage, Krieg's buzz axe will explode as soon as it makes contact with a surface. During Buzz Axe Rampage, Krieg's buzz axe will have a bundle of lit dynamite attached to the end.
Effects
Adds explosive damage equal to the base damage of the thrown buzz axe.[1]
Special Skill Text
Axe go Boom!
Notes
When points are invested in both Fire Fiend and Buzz Axe Bombardier, the thrown buzz axe will both explode and have a chance to light enemies on fire.
When a point is invested in this skill, the buzz axe is treated as a grenade. Because of this it will trigger the skill Blood Bath and counts towards grenade associated challenges.
Buzz Axe Bombardier can be extremely powerful when combined with Strip the Flesh, and class mods that increase explosive damage.
The impact radius of the explosion is actually quite large. This means Krieg does not actually need to hit an enemy to damage them with this ability, making a thrown buzz axe much more effective against fast or small targets.
The explosion can damage Krieg himself when the impact location is too close.
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The new England kit has the OTP seal of approval. Now let's remember when the kit designers didn't get it so right!
1. England third shirt, 1992
Umbro seemingly replaced the Three Lions by breeding a sunflower with an iguana and letting the resulting offspring crawl over this third shirt.
2. England away shirt, 1996
England's summer of 1996 was going fantastically well until this splash of typical English grey put a dampener on proceedings.
3. England goalkeeper away shirt, 1996
The battleship grey outfield kit might get all the retrospective attention, but we should not overlook the accompanying monstrosity of a goalkeeper shirt being worn by David Seaman on that fateful day.
4. England home shirt, 2008
This bland effort sort of merges with the previous kit (with the St George's cross on the shoulder) in the brain. There is nothing special or distinct about it. Just boring.
5. England third shirt, 1990
Very much of its time, this England third shirt was (perhaps wisely) only worn once. It is not clear whether the opposition were mesmerised by the magic eye-style pattern.
6. England goalkeeper shirt, 1988
England were about as fashionable as they were successful at Euro 1988. The pinnacle of their brief and tasteless appearance at the tournament was Peter Shilton's lovely jersey.
7. England away shirt, 1998
And a decade on, Umbro were still getting it wrong. This shiny effort features a patchwork of cheap looking St George's crosses.
8. England away shirt, 2007
The current away kit was perfectly paired with the old home kit (number 4) since they were equally dull. The response to the away-kit-by-numbers training ground chic is one of the likely reasons for the change of direction for the new home kit.
9. England goalkeeper shirt, 1993
Come on. Own up: who's been vomiting Umbro logos?
10. England home shirt, 2005
I know this shirt is well-loved in some quarters, but I suspect that is because Umbro were seen to be listening to people who thought the England shirt needed a St George's cross on it. I don't think the history books will look back so fondly on this pretty dull effort.
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Anyone who's read this blog knows my opinion of Mike Adams, the proprietor of the quack website known as NaturalNews.com. It is not favorable, to put it mildly. All you have to do to realize that is to type his name into the search box of this blog and see what comes up: Anger at his attacks on celebrities who have died of cancer; mockery of his pretending to be a scientist and attacking Jimmy Kimmel for "hate speech" about vaccines; alarm at his threats delivered with somewhat plausible deniability against scientists; further alarm at his "natural biopreparedness" and homeopathy for Ebola; and, of course amusement at his New World Order conspiracy mongering. In terms of blog fodder, Adams is the gift that keeps on giving. Unfortunately, in terms of his influence against science and medicine and for pseudoscience and quackery, his influence is not insubstantial, so much so that when the opportunity presents itself I feel obligated to discuss him.
The opportunity has presented itself in the form of an excellent summation of the empire of pseudoscience and quackery that is Mike Adams by Sacha Feinman entitled Meet The Internet Entrepreneur Profiting Off The Anti-Vaxxer Movement. Of course, I have one quibble about this title. Adams profits off of way more than the antivaccine movement. Quackery, fear mongering about food, Scientology-like hatred of psychiatry to the point where after the Sandy Hook school massacre, he immediately blamed psychiatric medications for the rampage of Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the massacre. But that's just a quibble. The article itself tells the tale quite well. It also confirms something I've been writing for quite a while now, namely how Adams got his quacky start selling Y2K scams:
Towards the turn of the millennium, the Y2K bug was much on the mind of the media, representing perhaps the first great conspiracy of the digital age. True believers held that the seemingly simple switchover from 12/31/99 to 1/1/00 would cause computers and electronic systems the world over to crash, triggering international crises of every conceivable sort. Adams saw the opportunity in the situation, and began to sell supposed "information products" that would insulate his paying audience from the oncoming chaos, which, of course, never came. In a since-deleted excerpt on Adams' site published by ZDNet, Adams boasted that in 1999, "in an effort to fine-tune his web marketing techniques, Michael [Adams] launched a six-month experiment to determine what kind of revenues are possible when combining his proprietary techniques and technologies with a high-awareness topic. The result? With the help of only one employee, he created a subscriber base of over 50,000 people and sold over $400,000 worth of information products while offering an open-ended, 100% moneyback [sic] guarantee." This subscriber base was largely won over by Adams' then infamous "39 Unanswered Questions about Y2K." In a foreshadowing of the sorts of the "listicles" that would drive traffic to both Natural News and the site's advertisers (not to mention BuzzFeed), Adams demonstrated a remarkable ability to frame a controversial issue in a manner perfectly suited for digital consumption. The widely shared email consisted of a series of fear-mongering questions such as, "Why is there not a single Fortune 1000 firm that has said, in its 10-Q SEC statement, that it is fully, unequivocally Y2K-compliant?" Critics panned the listicle as, "a national spamming campaign against the press and politicians to stir up enough anxiety to clear the shelves of Y2K supplies" and, "the best publicity stunt I've seen."
So from the beginning, Adams was talented. He saw the possibilities in web marketing to drive traffic to his sites and use that to monetize them very early on, and to monetize them selling scams. In this, we can see him honing his early techniques. Indeed, he took it far beyond just that, mastering the dark arts of using "black hat" search engine optimization, running link farms, and using those skills to drive traffic back to his site. It turns out that the skill set that made Adams so talented at crafting mass e-mail marketing campaigns that actually persuaded the marks to give up their money is the same skill set that he later honed to become an expert at SEO.
But how successful has he been? According to Feinman:
According to the service comScore, Natural News hosted over 2 million unique visitors in the month of December 2014. The website's Google PageRank is a respectable six, the same number enjoyed by other, more mainstream preachers of the "natural" space. The CEO of Whole Foods John Mackey's blog also receives a six, as do the landing pages for Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra. Adams claims that he has, "
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Alex Gibney profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, whose most prominent adherents include A-list Hollywood celebrities, shining a light on how the church cultivates true believers, including their experiences and what they are willing to do in the name of religion. The film covers a broad range of material from the
Alex Gibney profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, whose most prominent adherents include A-list Hollywood celebrities, shining a light on how the church cultivates true believers, including their experiences and what they are willing to do in the name of religion. The film covers a broad range of material from the church's origins—punctuated by an intimate portrait of founder L. Ron Hubbard—to present-day practices and alleged abuses as reported in the media. [Sundance]
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How do we accept the truth? What ingredients are necessary for a person to change their most treasured beliefs if these beliefs are actually erroneous? Here we will review the "four essentials" for accepting truth. All four of these qualities are indispensable. If even one is missing or lacking, it will be extremely difficult for a person to accept and embrace reality. Let us review each one in turn:
1. Intelligence
First, in order to accept the truth, a person must utilize their inherent intelligence. This includes the ability to use logic, reason, and intuition to understand a complex problem—often called critical thinking. Many people lose their critical thinking skills when they are subjectively biased toward their own paradigm or worldview. Critical thinking is important because it allows a person to think objectively, rather than subjectively, and is an essential step for actually learning the truth. The moment we cease to think critically, we cease to intelligently engage in disciplined thought that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence.
A great hindrance to learning truth occurs when we already have our conclusions formed before even examining the evidence. This happens when people think, for instance, "I know this is true, so I will refuse to look at any evidence to the contrary until I find something that might substantiate my already-determined beliefs." Thinking in this way does not allow a person to learn or progress in the direction of truth. In reality, our thinking should be the other way around. One should form conclusions after weighing all the evidence, rather than ignoring most of the evidence and searching until one can find some small piece of evidence to support an already drawn conclusion. Sherlock Holmes aptly described this situation when he said, "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts" (Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia).
2. Truth
Second, in order to accept truth, a person must have access to true information regarding the church's actual history, origins, and doctrines. Many people are unaware of what actually happened when our church began and during the intervening years since then. They are exposed only to the church's version of its history, which unfortunately is highly romanticized and inaccurate. As a result, they are "only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it" (D&C 123:12). Still other people are afraid to look at the actual true history because they have been taught all their lives that any negative information about the church is "of the adversary" or "poison for the soul." Perhaps such people do not realize that "the truth stands boldly and unafraid; it is not shaken by the testing; For truth, if it be truth, arises from each testing stronger, more secure. Those that would silence doubt are filled with fear" (Robert Weston). Only error fears investigation. If you are being instructed not to investigate something, then there is probably something being hidden that you deserve to know.
Along with this second essential is included the incentive and personal drive to study the true information and validate its sources. Many people, upon discovering the truth regarding our church, find themselves absorbed in months and months of fascinating study. Because a whole new world of information has been opened to their view, they acquire an insatiable desire to learn the truth. This desire and thirst for truth is crucial for anyone who wishes to acquire wisdom and live a life of integrity. It is important that each person arrives at their own conclusion based upon their personal study and critical thinking.
Perhaps you have heard the story of a young man who approached the great thinker, Aristotle, and asked him the profound question: "How can I have wisdom?" Aristotle smiled and replied, "Follow me." The young man followed closely as they made their way into a pool of water. Aristotle suddenly turned and pushed the young man under the water. The student flailed with his arms, but to no avail. Aristotle was the stronger of the two, and he held the struggling lad's head beneath the surface. At the last possible moment, Aristotle pulled him up, dragged him over to the edge, and sat him down. Coughing and gasping for air, the student could hardly believe what had just occurred. Unmoved by the young man's confusion and surprise, Aristotle simply asked him, "Young man, when I held you under the water, what did you want more than anything in the world?" He sputtered between coughs, "Air, sir . . . air!" Aristotle then responded, "When you want wisdom as badly as you wanted air, then you will find it."
John Adams observed: "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." In our information age, the facts and the evidence are readily available to us. We need only to have
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The Walking Dead star Josh McDermitt has deleted his social media accounts.
The actor – who plays survivor Eugene Porter on the popular zombie drama – offered no explanation for the sudden removal of his Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts.
Although McDermitt has shied away from giving a reason for his decision, he has received death threats and online abuse in recent weeks, with some viewers at home directing their fury at the poor actor after his (fictional) character Eugene betrayed Rick Grimes and defected to Negan.
© AMC
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It's just a TV show, people.
And let's not pretend that we would all be Daryl Dixon if we were taken prisoner by Negan.
© AMC
In a video shared on the night of the season seven finale, which saw Eugene prove his loyalty by openly declaring that he was definitely Negan, McDermitt said he had no time for death threats.
"Don't send me death threats, because I will report all that shit to the cops," he said. "I'm just sick of it.
"You can hate Eugene, I don't care. You can think whatever you want. But when you start saying you hope I die, I don't know if you're talking about Josh or Eugene. I gotta report that shit, so, just don't be an asshole.
"And just stop complaining. Just stop complaining about everything on the internet. Just go spend time with your family or friends or loved ones. Just get off the internet.
"I love you, I do. I love you guys."
We love you too, Josh.
© AMC Gene Page
Related: What's next for The Walking Dead? Here's how season 8 could go down
Looking ahead to season eight, showrunner Scott Gimple teased what's in store for Eugene and the fallout from his decision to defect.
"He has still not found the strength to get over his fear," he said. "He's still Negan after seeing everything Sasha is doing.
"I don't think it looks good for Eugene. But with everything Sasha said to him, maybe his courage is just lying dormant."
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
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Stacey Gayle used to love music. Listening to it and performing it was a big part of her life. She had stacks of CDs in her car, went to concerts of artists like Sean Paul, and would go to parties where hot songs would blare. She was also an active member of the choir at her church: Solid Rock Church of the Nazarene.
Then she started having seizures.
The first one happened while she slept in her bedroom in Rosedale, Queens in New York City on the night of March 3, 2005. She had just turned 22. Her mother rushed her to the emergency room, where doctors stabilized her. Several brain scans and blood tests gave no clue as to why she seized.
Soon after, she had another, this time at a friend's barbecue. She blacked out, fell down and started to shake like crazy as her brain cells went out of whack, firing electrical signals without pause.
At first, the seizures seemed to occur randomly. In the spring of 2006, however, she noticed a pattern. At the time, Sean Paul's "Temperature" was sitting at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, continually being played on urban radio stations. It was playing at nearly every barbecue and party she went to. That was a problem: "Every time it would go on, I would pass out and go into a seizure," she recalls.
All it seemed to take was a few seconds of the song to send Gayle to the floor. "That's the last thing you would think," she explains, "but I did it at home one time and it happened again."
To Gayle, it was clear that the music was causing her seizures. Afraid no one would believe her, she didn't tell a soul except for a lone confidant. Her neurologist, Alan Ettinger at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) in New Hyde Park, N.Y., was in the dark as he put her through a gauntlet of prescriptions. She would eventually try out six antiseizure drugs. The medications offered little relief.
"When you look at individuals who have seizures and whose seizures have not responded to a good trial of two antiseizure medications, the chances of becoming seizure-free from another medication, or another after that, is very slim," says Ettinger.
To try to figure out how to treat Gayle, Ettinger and a colleague admitted her to an epilepsy monitoring unit in early 2007. The idea was to let her have a seizure. For four days, she wore a cap studded with electrodes so that doctors could observe her brain waves and videotape her.
They took her off her medications. No seizure came.
The doctors then tried keeping her awake. Nothing.
Gayle was tired of waiting; she had plans to fly to Jamaica the next day. So she told them to hand over her iPod. She put "Temperature" on repeat and drifted off to sleep.
She seized three times that night.
"The doctors were flabbergasted; they were speechless," says Gayle. "They couldn't believe what I was saying was actually true."
The next day, Stacey went to JFK Airport on her way to the Caribbean. But as she approached her gate, she overheard Sean Paul blaring from an airport bar.
She never made it onto her flight.
Soon, the reaction spread. Throughout the next year other popular hip-hop and R&B songs like Rihanna's repetitively infectious "Umbrella" and crooner Sean Kingston's earnest "Beautiful Girl" sent Gayle to the floor. She was also responding to alternative music and the sound of the drums that accompanied her church choir's performances. Suddenly it seemed like the only types of music that weren't causing her to have a seizure were jazz and classical—both of which she didn't particular like.
Gayle was forced to drop out of school that fall because of her illness. Personalized ring tones drove her nuts. "When people's phones were going off in class, I was having a lot of seizures at school," she says. "Life just turns upside down when you take music out of it: I remember sitting outside of stores in the mall and crying because I can't even go shopping or sit in a restaurant and eat."
She briefly took a job, working at a Bank of America in Manhattan. But, she couldn't handle the noises on the subway, and she would seize frequently both on her commute and at the office.
With medication having been an unequivocal failure, her doctors were wondering if they could do anything other than keep music away from her—an unlikely proposition.
Macdonald Critchley first described musicogenic epilepsy—the technical term for seizures caused by music—in a 1937 paper, according to celebrated neurologist Oliver Sacks's latest book
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Iceland heads into its second snap parliamentary election in less than a year on Saturday with the financial crash that brought the country to its knees nearly a decade ago still playing out in its politics.
The island's economy is thriving again, thanks mainly to an unprecedented tourism boom, but some of its top politicians have been hit by a succession of financial and ethical scandals that have badly dented voters' trust.
Row over sexual abuse letter brings down Iceland's government Read more
The prime minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, called the election last month after his three-party government collapsed over an alleged attempt to cover up efforts by his father to help "restore the honour" of a convicted child sex offender.
Benediktsson formed his centre-right coalition barely 10 months ago, following early elections triggered by his predecessor's resignation. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson had stepped down amid public fury at revelations in the Panama Papers that his family had sheltered money offshore.
The Guardian revealed this month that while an MP, Benediktsson – whose name also appeared in the Panama Papers – had himself sold millions of króna of assets in a major Icelandic bank's investment fund as the state was about to seize control of the country's failing financial sector at the peak of the 2008 crisis.
The prime minister, a member of one of Iceland's wealthiest families, has denied any wrongdoing, but newly leaked documents suggest his relationship with Glitnir bank was close enough to raise serious questions about a possible conflict of interest between his roles as an MP and one of its most valued clients.
Iceland PM sold bank assets hours before financial crash, leaks show Read more
Glitnir Holdco, which administers the collapsed bank's estate, has since sought an injunction preventing Stundin and Reykjavik Media, the Icelandic news outlets that worked on the investigation with the Guardian, from publishing more of the leaked data. Benediktsson has said he had nothing to do with the gagging order.
Despite the scandals, polls show the prime minister's conservative Independence party – a member of 19 of the 27 governments that have run modern Iceland – is now edging ahead in the race with its main rival, the Left-Green Movement, which earlier this month held a clear lead.
Headed by 41-year-old Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Left-Greens have largely succeeded the more traditional Social Democrats as the leading party of the Icelandic left, campaigning against inequality and for greater investment in public services and higher taxes for the better-off.
Polls show nearly half of Iceland's voters would like the popular Jakobsdóttir, seen as representing a new breed of politician, to be prime minister – around twice the number who say they plan to vote for her party. A centre-left government would be only the second since Iceland won full independence from Denmark in 1944.
At least six other parties – including a new Centre Party launched by Gunnlaugsson – could win seats in the 63-member alþingi in a continuing fragmentation of Icelandic politics that reflect mounting voter dissatisfaction with the cronyism and corruption many see as endemic in their political and business classes.
Iceland was plunged into a deep recession following the 2008 crash, during which its three major banks, including Glitnir, failed with liabilities of 11 times the country's GDP. The stock market fell 97%, the value of the króna halved, and Iceland became the first western European country in 25 years to ask the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
A perception now exists that Benediktsson, 47, "is part of the elite that crashed the system", said Egill Helgason, a political commentator at the public broadcaster, RUV. The prime minister and his circle suffer from a serious lack of trust in the wake of recent scandals, he said.
With growth surging at 7.2% last year, however, and unemployment down at just 2.5%, it seems likely that many Icelandic voters still see the Independence party, which has campaigned on a platform of tax cuts and more business investment, as the most likely to deliver economic stability.
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MSNBC's Joe Scarborough accused Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery and Huffington Post's Ryan J. Reilly of getting arrested in Ferguson, Mo., for the attention.
Lowery didn't take it lightly.
Lowery and Reilly were in a McDonald's charging their phones and filing stories when police told them to leave. The two reporters livetweeted their arrest and filmed the cops as they spoke with them, an action that is legal in all 50 states. The two were soon released, but it's sparked massive outrage on Twitter, largely with other members of the media.
Lowery later wrote about the experience for the Washington Post, describing it in detail, while Executive Editor Martin D. Baron said that "there was absolutely no justification for his arrest."
On Thursday's Morning Joe, Scarborough spoke about the arrests from the previous night, and while for him, there were still many unanswered questions about the events, he would've done things a lot different than Lowery and Reilly.
"I don't sit there and have a debate and film the police officer, unless I want to get on TV and have people talk about me the next day," he added.
Both reporters have talked to the cable news circuit after being released by police, but after hearing what Scarborough said during an interview with CNN, Lowery called him out and invited him to come down to Ferguson to find out what's actually going on and to "get out of 30 Rock where he's sitting and sipping his Starbucks smugly."
"There's so much happening here, and instead of putting more reporters on the ground we have people like Joe Scarborough running their mouth and have no idea what they're talking about," he said.
After his appearance, Lowery wasn't done. He took to Twitter and sent a message to everyone speculating about any possible motives.
Talking heads: if you want to ask theoretical questions/speculate about what I did/should of done, feel free to call me first #journalism — Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 14, 2014
You have "questions" about arrests and scene in the McDonalds, @DLoesch & @JoeNBC? Then call me and ask em. I'm not hard to find. — Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 14, 2014
In which someone not here in Ferguson yet wildly speculating to 222k people subtweet lectures me on "journalism" https://t.co/BiXW9HxZCA — Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 14, 2014
Photo by Erik Mauer/Flickr (CC BY ND 2.0)
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A close confidante of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has said that the leader pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005 in order to save the settlement blocs in the West Bank and to improve Israel's security.
Sharon, also known as "the bulldozer" for his determination, ordered Israeli troops to began evacuating more than 8,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip -- first voluntarily, but later forcefully removing those who refused.
Dov Weisglass, who served as Sharon's chief of staff, explained why the prime minister made the decision in 2003 to pull out of Gaza during a seminar to mark 10 years since Israel's disengagement from the coastal enclave held at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya.
He recalled how at the time Sharon held a stormy meeting with settler leaders during which he explained to them that the dream of a Greater Israel, in which Israel held on to all of the West Bank and Gaza was no longer possible.
Forged during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, amid international pressure, the pullout plan was hotly contested within Israel.
Sharon defended it at the time by invoking the safety of settlers under constant and frequently deadly Palestinian attack and the drain on resources caused by the heavy army presence needed to protect them.
After failing to reach agreement with the Palestinians on the plan, Sharon decided to push ahead unilaterally, arguing there was no partner on the Palestinian side.
Weisglass said that Sharon secured a pledge from former US President George Bush over Palestinian refugees in exchange for pulling out of Gaza. According to Weisglass, Bush promised Sharon that in any final status agreement for a two-state solution, Palestinian refugees would settle in a newly established Palestinian state and not return to Israel if Israel pulled out of Gaza.
Weisglass referenced a letter that Bush sent to Sharon in 2004 in which the US president promised the Israeli leader that the West Bank settlement blocs would be included within Israel's final borders.
"In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution have reached the same conclusion," Bush wrote, according to Weisglass.
Sharon's former confidante said that the US and other world leaders recognized Israel's right to the settlement blocs as a result of the Gaza Disengagement.
(With AFP)
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Syfy has ordered a second season of adventure thriller 12 Monkeys, based on the Terry Gilliam movie, to air in 2016.
The first season, which is still airing, was run by Natalie Chaidez who has her own series for Syfy, the upcoming Hunters from Universal Cable Prods and Gale Anne Hurd's Valhalla Productions. She is segueing to that, with Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett, who wrote the 12 Monkeys adaptation and served as co-executive producers on Season 1, named executive producers and showrunners. They are expected to bring in a strong No.2.
Atlas Entertainment's Richard Suckle and the film's producer Charles Roven will continue to executive produce with Atlas' Jake Kurily producing for UCP.
12 Monkeys got off to a modest start in Live+same day rating with 1.35 million viewers for its January premiere but has been a DVR powerhouse, setting Live+3 lift records for Syfy (Its average L3 lift to date is 104%). The series' Live+SD ratings also have been inching up after an initial drop, with the most recent episode on March 6 posting 1.5 million viewers, a 6% increase over the prior four weeks.
"We are absolutely committed to 12 Monkeys, and have been incredibly impressed by the outstanding critical and audience praise the series has earned," said Syfy president Dave Howe. Added Jeff Wachtel, President and Chief Content Officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, "12 Monkeys is a show that has exceeded expectations at every stage. It's had a great first season creatively, and is building a dedicated audience."
12 Monkeys, which is eight episodes into its 13-episode first-season run, stars Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull and Kirk Acevedo. Syfy has yet to make a decision on Helix, whose second season also is airing right now.
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Take the Seattle Public Library Survey About Their New Logo and "Brand Statement"
No matter what they change your name to, you'll always be the Seattle Public Library to me. Max Herman / Shutterstock.com
Oh, god, really, Seattle Public Library? You are so committeed up and you have so much extra dough sitting around* that you've hired a design agency "to develop a rebrand"? (Full press release at the end of this post.) Ugh, fine, okay, I'll take your survey. I love the library, I'm happy to help.
Here, everyone, take the survey.
The first question proposes changing the "brand" from Seattle Public Library to Seattle Public Libraries. Rather than asking what's better, what appeals to you more, what sounds most like the library as you think of it, they ask you what the difference is. As if it's a test to see if you know what words mean. The difference is that one is singular and one is plural.
Their survey:
Sorry to show you my answers. You should answer your own personal truth.
As for which "brand" identity of the two evokes "communities"? Curious question. "Communities" is plural, so the only one that evokes the plural word is the other plural word. Is that really what you wanted to ask? Is this a survey or is this a new-media, feel-good smokescreen for a decision someone wants to make without being on the hook for making a decision? Just change the name if you want to change the name! Clearly, someone wants to change the name, but they also and just as importantly want to be able to say, later, "Well, Susan, everyone who answered the survey said 'libraries' evokes 'communities' more than 'library' does, so we better change it, because democracy."
As for question 3: Far be it from me to just underline what a pointless exercise this is with an example, but something that would concretely help us move forward as a community even more than whatever letters you want to hang on the wall is, say, having a microfilm/microfiche situation that doesn't require running back and forth between the microfilm machine and the printer and having to punch in very long sequences of numbers and passwords each time one wants to print a single page. But that's just me. (Sincerely, thanks for all the help couple weeks back, library staff—you are awesome. It's the administrative apparatus around you, epitomized by this goofy rebrand, that fills my head with question marks.)
Okay, moving on, it's time to see the new "brand statement"! Here we go. Screengrab from my phone while I was sitting at Madison Pub last night trying to help the library.
Ladies and gentlemen, the brand new, surely-worked-over-to-death-by-a-whole-bunch-of-people brand statement.
I didn't have room in the field to type the following:
1. Where. Is. Your. Serial. Comma. What. Is. Wrong. With. You. "Provides" and "experiences" are both verbs, and when you don't have a serial comma after "experiences" to make things clear, you can't help but read "experiences" as a verb the first time through (you read it the same way you read "provides") and be confused when you get to "and learning for all." How do you experience "and learning"? God, I wish I could experience some "and learning" right now. Oh you mean "experiences" as a noun! After you read it five or six times, it becomes clear what the SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY is trying to say using words.
2. Kind of. I mean, how much difference is there between "learning" and "knowledge"? How much overlap on the Venn diagram do "learning" and "knowledge" have? If you're going to put three nouns in a row (and confusingly make one of them seem like a verb) it might be clearer to choose three nouns that are distinct from each other, instead of two that are slightly redundant (one of which doesn't even read as a noun the first time through).
3. "We preserve and create opportunities for the people of Seattle who make it such a dynamic and desirable place to live." Huh. Sounds nice. But then it makes you think. What about the people who do not make Seattle both "dynamic and desirable"? What about painfully shy people who rarely leave the house? Are they good, too? Or is the library only for people doing cartwheels and condo conversions?
4. "When we're empowered as individuals, we're STRONGER TOGETHER." Is that possibly from some other piece of text
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I try to lay my biases out on the table when it comes to reviewing games here so you can get a feel for when I may be judging a game too harshly or if I'm making myself deliberately oblivious to some of the more glaring faults. I believe this works well as you know things like survival horror and open world games are likely to get rated down whilst things like RTS, RPGs and FPSs are usually going to be rated slightly higher (although there are notable exceptions). Still though I try my best to rate a game based on its merits in relation to other titles within the same genre and thus Sleeping Dogs, the latest instalment in the True Crime series from Luxoflux and United Front Games, will be judged against other recent titles like Prototype 2.
Sleeping Dogs takes place in present day Hong Kong putting you in control of an undercover agent named Wei Shen. Your job is to infiltrate the infamous Sun On Yee triad in hopes to bring them down from the inside starting out by using one of your former connections to gain a first meeting with one of their Red Poles, Winston Chu. From there the game takes the usual route of open world escalation, starting you off in the doldrums beating up vendors for protection money as you work your way up the gang hierarchy. At the same time the police want to use your connections to help further their cause in other areas leading you to bust up drug rings, smuggling operations and prostitution syndicates.
Visually Sleeping Dogs is quite vibrant drawing inspiration from the real Hong Kong's neon saturated environment. From what I can recall the graphics are pretty much on par with other open world titles like Grand Theft Auto IV meaning they're pretty good but they make trade offs in order to keep the game running smoothly as you rush through busy streets crowded with people and cars. I had to actually turn the graphics down slightly from their ultra maximum settings due to the frame rate dropping so much (although that might be an issue rather than a compliment as I'll expand on later).
Like all open world games Sleeping Dogs features a multitude of different core game mechanics, mini-games and open world events to while away your time with. The main core of the game is a cross between an Arkham Asylum/City style beat-em-up and Grand Theft Auto's weapon focused game play. Sleeping Dogs also throws free running in there for good measure, allowing you to climb all over different parts of Hong Kong in the search for collectibles, upgrades and cold hard cash. I guess the feeling I'm trying to convey here is that there is certainly a lot to do in Sleeping Dogs, possible even more than I've come across in other recent open world titles.
The main plot of the story is progressed via 2 different styles of missions: ones with the triads and the other with the police. These take the usual typical open world style of giving you a way point on your map that you can travel to at your leisure and there's no hard and fast requirement to do the triad and police missions in sync with each other. Indeed I chose to most of the triad missions first as I found them to be more fun (and more rewarding) which did leave me in the rather awkward position of having to travel the full length of the map constantly as I had progressed out of the area in which the police missions take place. I kind of feel like this could have been remedied by the developers by having multiple police locations for the missions which would've saved me quite a bit of time.
The experience system also works along the separate cop/triad lines with each of them giving you access to an unique set of upgrades. The triads are focused mostly on melee upgrades, giving you additional moves as well as improving your effectiveness in melee combat. The cop upgrades focus more on vehicles and weapons, giving you access to things like a slim jim to jack cars without setting off the alarms. In addition to the two main upgrade paths there's also several ancillary upgrade paths that unlock more cars, additional melee moves as well as upgrades to your total health.
The main experience system works on the idea of stars, with 3 being the highest you can get. They work in different directions however with the police experience starting off at maximum and then you losing points for doing things wrong (like running people over) whilst the triad experience increases, ostensibly for being as brutal as you possibly can be. These two things are in direct competition with each other and it's often a choice between maximising one or the other. What got me though is that the bars need to be completely filled in order for them to be considered achieved meaning that for the police experience you can't do 1 thing wrong and for the triads you really need to go all out at all times in order to get it. The triads one I can understand, its something you work towards, but the cops one feels a bit anal as you can lose points by simply touching another car, depriving you of an entire block of experience even if
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Correspondence with Fans
Concerning the Tower of Joy
I have a question which I'm sure you can (and will?) answer. It's about the Tower of Joy. The image we get from Ned's description is pretty powerful. But it doesn't make sense. The top three kingsguards, including the lord commander amd the best knight in ages, Ser Arthur Dayne are present there. Lyanna is in the tower, she asked Ned to promise him something. This, so says the general consensus us little Jon Snow, who is Lyanna's and Rhaegar's. No sense denying this ;) However, what are the Kingsguards doing fighting Eddard? Eddard would never hurt Lyanna, nor her child. The little one would be safe with Eddard as well, him being a close relative. So I ask you, was there someone else with Lyanna and Jon? You'll need to wait for future books to find out more about the Tower of Joy and what happened there, I fear. I might mention, though, that Ned's account, which you refer to, was in the context of a dream... and a fever dream at that. Our dreams are not always literal. Also, did the Kingsguards know what was in the Tower? Certainly. Cheers, I really hope you will answer these questions for me, I'll not bother you again if you do, I promise hahaha. Merry Christmas btw, it's almost on us! And a happy new year to you.
Comments: | PermaLink Submitted by Calibandar
Valyria-related Subjects
Did Tohbo Mott ever teach Gendry the secrets of reworking Valyrian steel? Interesting question. Who or what were the Stormsingers? What could they do? Another eastern magical discipline. What happened to Ser Arthur Dayne's sword Dawn after Ned brought it back to Ashara? Dawn remains at Starfall, until another Sword of the Morning shall arise. In Valyria did they work Dragonbone into Valyrian steel? No. Did Tyrion ever finish reading the book concerning dragons that he borrowed from Winterfell? Yes.
Comments: | PermaLink Submitted by tyrion_targaryen
Touring and Hollywood Interest
I am coming to Europe twice... to the Netherlands in April, and the Czech Republic in June/July... _A Game of Thrones_ is now uncontested #1 on the Internet Top 100 SF/Fantasy list, passing even the Lord of the Rings. First time that LotR has lost the position since about four editions into the list ... nearly 7 years ago. That's pretty astonishing, considering the huge LOTR presence right now. Very gratifying. I hope I can hold on. Have you seen _The Fellowship of the Ring_ movie yet? There are not a few fans curious as to your reaction to it, and whether you think it'll spell the beginning of a revival of major Hollywood fantasy projects. :) I have seen the movie three times so far. I have quibbles, certainly... but all in all I thought it was magnificent, far and away the best fantasy film ever made. As to whether it will mean a general revival of fantasy in Hollywood... well, we can hope. If they are all done as well as FELLOWSHIP, that would be exciting indeed, but I fear they won't be. On a personal level, the studios aren't lining up to buy A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE yet, but it does look as though I am about to close a film deal on "The Skin Trade," and there is some interest in WILD CARDS as well. The WILD CARDS revival is going very well, by the way. I just turned in the first new book, DEUCES DOWN, which is scheduled for publication this summer. Jim Steranko will do the cover, and Tim Truman the interior illustrations.
Comments: | PermaLink Submitted by Elio M. García, Jr.
Religion and Knighthood
I just want to start by saying that I a great fan of your work. In aSoS Davos said that he expected Devan to be eventually made a knight. If Devan keeps to R'hllor is that possible? Could be a problem there, but it's possible that Stannis will change the rituals. Can someone who keeps to the old gods be made a knight too or is it a exclusive of the Seven? The latter. Those who follow the old gods can be the northern equivilent of knights, but it's not quite the same.
Comments: | PermaLink Submitted by Warrmakker
The Mood in the North
I don't want to waste your time, so I'll get right to the point. (Its obvious I love your books, by my writing to you) -- How would you characterize the current
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10:47:10
JOHNSONI mean, one of the points that I feel -- I can't remember if that was Richard or Ladd who brought this up to me, but the FBI guidelines on who should be allowed to own a gun haven't been updated. They still use the term mentally deranged which is completely out of date, and it doesn't really reflect the complexity of the issue. And I think that's one of the reasons why you're hearing more about guns. It's just easier to regulate those than it is to try and figure out what to do with people who have serious mental illness.
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Columbus, Ohio ( ) —
Researchers have found that the melanopsin pigment in the eye is potentially more sensitive to light than its more famous counterpart, rhodopsin, the pigment that allows for night vision.
For more than two years, the staff of the Laboratory for Computational Photochemistry and Photobiology (LCPP) at Ohio's Bowling Green State University (BGSU), have been investigating melanopsin, a retina pigment capable of sensing light changes in the environment, informing the nervous system and synchronizing it with the day/night rhythm. Most of the study's complex computations were carried out on powerful supercomputer clusters at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC).
Superposition of computer models of human melanopsin (violet) and squid rhodopsin (green). Similar to visual pigments, melanopsin provides the interface between the physical world, responsible for light detection, and the physiological world of brain signaling. Melanopsin mediates a process termed 'photoentrainment,' which takes in light to set the clock of "circadian rhythms." These rhythms (often termed the body clock) represent the biological implementation of the 24-hour day/night and optimize the corresponding physiology
The research recently appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, in an article edited by Arieh Warshel, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California. Warshel and two other chemists received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing multiscale models for complex chemical systems, the same techniques that were used in conducting the BGSU study, "Comparison of the isomerization mechanisms of human melanopsin and invertebrate and vertebrate rhodopsins."
"The retina of vertebrate eyes, including those of humans, is the most powerful light detector that we know," explains Massimo Olivucci, Ph.D., a research professor of Chemistry and director of LCPP in the Center for Photochemical Sciences at BGSU. "In the human eye, light coming through the lens is projected onto the retina where it forms an image on a mosaic of photoreceptor cells that transmits information from the surrounding environment to the brain's visual cortex. In extremely poor illumination conditions, such as those of a star-studded night or ocean depths, the retina is able to perceiv e intensities corresponding to only a few photons, which are indivisible units of light. Such extreme sensitivity is due to specialized photoreceptor cells containing a light sensitive pigment called rhodopsin."
For a long time, it was assumed that the human retina contained only photoreceptor cells specialized in dim-light and daylight vision, according to Olivucci. However, recent studies revealed the existence of a small number of intrinsically photosensitive nervous cells that regulate non-visual light responses. These cells contain a rhodopsin-like protein named melanopsin, which plays a role in the regulation of unconscious visual reflexes and in the synchronization of the body's responses to the dawn/dusk cycle, known as circadian rhythms or the "body clock," through a process known as photoentrainment.
The fact that the melanopsin density in the vertebrate retina is 10,000 times lower than that of rhodopsin density, and that, with respect to the visual photoreceptors, the melanopsin-containing cells capture a million-fold fewer photons, suggests that melanopsin may be more sensitive than rhodopsin. The comprehension of the mechanism that makes this extreme light sensitivity possible appears to be a prerequisite to the development of new technologies.
Both rhodopsin and melanopsin are proteins containing a derivative of vitamin A, which serves as an "antenna" for photon detection. When a photon is detected, the proteins are set in an activated state, through a photochemical transformation, which ultimately results in a signal being sent to the brain. Thus, at the molecular level, visual sensitivity is the result of a trade-off between two factors: light activation and thermal noise. It is currently thought that light-activation efficiency (i.e., the number of activation events relative to the total number of detected photons) may be related to its underlying speed of chemical transformation. On the other hand, the thermal noise depends on the number of activation events triggered by ambient body heat in the absence of photon detection.
"Understanding the mechanism that determines this seemingly amazing light sensitivity of melanopsin may open up new pathways in studying the evolution of light receptors in vertebrate and, in turn, the molecular basis of diseases, such as "seasonal affecting disorders," Olivucci said. "Moreover, it provides a model for developing sub-nanoscale sensors approaching the sensitivity of a single-photon."
For this reason, the LCPP group – working together with Francesca Fanelli, Ph.D., of Italy's Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia
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Steps for building your Free website.
Follow these steps to acquire your free hosting in the world wide web at no cost, GoogieHost is proud to offer free hosting to all users wherever they are with no advertisements or even anything that will show you are using our services, almost white-labelled hosting.
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Back with new album Carry On, singer-songwriter Willy Mason is currently touring the UK – following a five-year hiatus where he worked as a fisherman, builder, talk radio DJ and teacher.
And having tried a variety of day-jobs, the American musician claims that a classroom full of kids is infinitely more scary than a venue full of punters.
Speaking ahead of his live shows this week, Mason said:
"I got worse stage fright than I ever did playing music. It's scary. It's a lot of responsibility being called a teacher. "When I got to 24, I decided that I would have a lot better things to write about if I went off the road for a little while. I wanted to stay in touch with day-to-day life as my peers were living it."
Mason also indicated that it might not be the last time he disappears.
"Hopefully it won't be called a hiatus next time. I've learned in my old age how to shift gears without destroying the transmission."
For the moment he's sticking with music, and on the new album he worked with Hot Chip and M.I.A producer Dan Carey.
"Working with him bought a lot of new influences from me, that hadn't had the chance to present themselves before really.
His moonshine-soaked sound and emotive lyrics mean that he is often compared to Bob Dylan.
"Every time someone comes along with thought out lyrics and stories, they get really excited and call it the new Bob Dylan. I wish I had more to offer them. I wish there was more of it going on."
His tour calls in at seven UK venues over the coming week or so, and Mason is hoping for big things.
"There's a lot more possibilities with the sound. I feel like I'm taking on a bit of a challenge for the sake of shows, but if I pull it off I think it'll be something special."
See Willy Mason at the following dates:
Mar 8: The Wardrobe, Leeds
Mar 9: Old Town Hall, Gateshead
Mar 10: Oran Mor, Glasgow
Mar 12: The Kazimier, Liverpool
Mar 13: The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Mar 15: The Limelight, Belfast
Get tickets
Willy Mason – Pickup Truck on MUZU.TV.
Are you looking forward to seeing Willy Mason on tour? And what do you think of his five-year hiatus? Share your thoughts in the comments below, on Twitter with #wow247 or over at Facebook
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By Thanasis Delistathis* / @tdelistathis
Friends often ask me to opine on the Greek debt crisis. They are looking for some insight into what is going on and why the country is at the brink of bankruptcy. I suppose they think my heritage makes me more qualified to offer such insight.
The Greek crisis in many ways is a simple story; the predictable outcome of policies and cultural idiosyncrasies. So here is an attempt to tell the story with a few charts:
1. Define it. Why is Greece in trouble?
2. Did Greece get in trouble because Greeks don't work hard ("you know, with those long siestas over lunch"), kind of like the Germans? No.
3. So, if the Greeks work so hard, how come they don't produce enough to cover their obligations?
4. Why is productivity so low? Over the years, politicians have grown the size of government. They also love to regulate. Over the last 30 years they have passed 4,000 new laws and issued about 110,000 ministerial directives. You need a lot of people to enforce these laws. Public servants in Greece get lifetime tenure!! Politicians loved growing the government to curry favor with voters.
5. At the same time, Greeks love to strike to fight for more benefits. Politicians were happy to offer more.
6. Speaking of state favoritism, how about corruption in general? Greece ranks at the bottom within the EU.
7. On top of that, on average Greeks retire earlier…
8. And thus have a higher dependency support ratio (ratio of number of people aged over 65 plus kids up to 15 per 100 persons of working age between 15–65). In reality, this significantly underestimates the true dependency ratio, since the country suffers from high rates of youth unemployment and many people retire before the age of 65. In other words, too many people depend for their livelihood on the too few who work.
9. At the same time, the government is not bringing in enough revenues. How do we know this? Greece has the largest – as percentage of the economy – shadow or underground economy.
10. How can they escape taxes? Most of the people work for tiny businesses who conduct private cash transactions that can more easily be hidden.
11. And by the way, the number of those businesses in going down…
12. While the VAT taxes remain high relative to others in Europe…
13. So, to sum it up Greece doesn't seem to be a great place to do business.
14. How bad? One group ranks the country 130th in the world…
15. OK, so catch me up. What has happened to date?
16. Has Greece actually accomplished anything during this process? Greece actually grew during the first 3 quarters of 2014.
17. Say, what happened in Q4 of 2014? Looking at Chart 15 you might appreciate why Greeks were fed up with ongoing non-stop austerity measures. So they decided to elect a radical left coalition party that promised to undo the former policies. However, it seems consumers don't have much confidence that the new leftist government will be able to reach an agreement with its eurozone partners.
18. As fears also grew among investors, the cost of borrowing from the markets spiked…
19 a. What does Greece need to do? Here is a list of policy recommendations from OECD for sustainable recovery, similar to the spirit of the reforms proposed by Greece's EU partners.
19 b. To date, the Syriza government has not shown any signs of agreement with the eurozone partners, choosing instead to comply with campaign promises of undoing many reforms by the prior government. Some in the left coalition government are openly advocating a default, exit from the Euro and return to the drachma. In fact, there are some economists who say this would be best for Greece as it would enable it to become competitive in global markets. While good in theory in an open well-functioning economy, the first time Greece elected a socialist government that followed similar policies, the drachma had quite a ride, downwards…
20. In this era of uncertainty, businesses and investors have postponed investments and reversed economic growth, prompting the European Commission to slash growth estimates.
At this point, the future is indeed uncertain. Will the Syriza government agree to EU/IMF conditions for further loans and implement the program or choose to gamble with an exit from the Euro? We are days or weeks away from finding out.
*Thanasis Delistathis is the founder and managing partner of New Atlantic Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in the Washington DC Metropolitan Region and Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has invested in entrepreneurs whose technology brought text messaging mainstream in the United States, movies to the Web, radio to your phone and the ability to buy couture straight
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The playmaker is set to be the subject of a bid from his former club in January, while Martin Demichelis will discuss terms over a new Manchester City contract
By Paul Clennam Valencia are lining up a €38 million January move for Juan Mata - but must wait for Peter Lim to complete his takeover of the Spanish side before pursuing a deal for the Manchester United playmaker.Lim, a Singapore-based businessman, has played a part in summer loan deals for Alvaro Negredo and Benfica pair Rodrigo and Andre Gomes, but is yet to reach an agreement with Bankia over the acquisition of the club.Valencia have the option to sign Manchester City striker Negredo for €32 million and should Lim's purchase of the club go through, they will also turn their attention to re-signing Mata.The former Chelsea star left Valencia for Stamford Bridge in 2011 but fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho and made a €47m January move to Old Trafford in 2014.The summer arrival of Louis van Gaal, followed by the signings of Radamel Falcao, Angel Di Maria and Ander Herrera, have seen Mata's place in the starting XI come under threat.And while it is unclear whether Mata would consider a return to Spain, United are understood to be willing to entertain offers of around €38m for the 26-year-old.Valencia are weighing up the possibility of signing Mata on an initial loan deal in January with a view to a permanent move in the summer.But any potential deal to sign Mata would be impossible if Lim's takeover of the club falls through.Lim has also recently acquired a 50 per cent stake in Salford City, the Evo-Stik Division One North outfit part-owned by former United players Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville and Nicky Butt.Teenage forward Jose Angel Pozo's emergence as a Manchester City star in the making has cost the club a six-figure fee.Pozo joined the Premier League champions in 2012 from Real Madrid's youth setup, much to the chagrin of the Spanish giants.The 18-year-old, who has been likened to Barcelona star Lionel Messi, has since caught the eye in City's Elite Development Squad under the guidance of Patrick Vieira.Manuel Pellegrini handed Pozo his debut off the bench in the Capital One Cup victory over Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, with the teenager scoring late on in the 7-0 rout.Following his first appearance and goal for the club, City must now pay Madrid a six-figure fee as part of the deal which took Pozo to the Etihad.Martin Demichelis will discuss a 12-month contract extension with Manchester City in the coming weeks.Demichelis played under Manuel Pellegrini at Malaga and joined the Chilean at the Etihad in 2013 after a short stay with Atletico Madrid which lasted less than two months.The 33-year-old endured a difficult start to life in the Premier League and did not make his debut until October due to injury, but made a significant contribution as the club reclaimed the title last season.The centre-back's form saw him take part in the 2014 World Cup, playing in the final as Argentina narrowly lost to Germany.Despite the big-money summer arrival of Eliaquim Mangala, Demichelis is now set to extend his stay in the Premier League.
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AFL Players Association chief Paul Marsh admitted the players' union had already planned end-of-season talks with head office, although stressed what most clubs had confirmed – that the players have not questioned their earnings. Having attempted to set a minimum player wage of $5000 for the eight-week pre-season followed by the eight-week season, the AFL late last year negotiated a new set minimum with the AFLPA of $8500, to be increased to $9700 in 2018. If the above suggests the league did not see this success coming so quickly, it is also worth recalling that the AFL tried to schedule its first women's game at Collingwood's training ground – the old Olympic Park – and finished up apologising to thousands of fans unable to squeeze into Carlton's Ikon Park, where almost 25,000 attended. Although the women's contracts are proportionately paltry when measured against TV ratings, the clubs fielding the eight women's teams continue to marvel at how enthusiastic their players have been to promote their sport compared with their male counterparts. In short, club officials are not used to footballers showing their appreciation. Several Brisbane Lions AFLW players cried when they were handed new football boots along with a set of runners and like those overstretched AFL staffers working long hours to put on the games, Marsh said players understood they were all working overtime together to achieve a common purpose.
"We've agreed to a standard playing contract for two years in good faith," said Marsh, "and they [the AFL] could hold us to that, but we've already flagged we want to have a conversation with them and they've agreed. "What we're seeing is eight teams and eight sets of players who all want to do more. They are contracted to work for nine hours a week in terms of training and other appearances and they're all doing more and they have no complaints about that. From our perspective there's scope to have conversations with the AFL where we look at that for next year." The AFL refused to speculate on a new women's media deal, saying it was too soon to measure the TV success just two rounds in, but would not rule out rewriting the agreement. How could it not on the figures to date? The Western Bulldogs' victory over Fremantle two weeks ago was the top-rating program in Melbourne that week, defeating My Kitchen Rules in a result that astonished the Seven Network. On market value, broadcasters and the AFL agree a prime-time women's game is worth the same as Seven's Saturday night winter AFL game. This is because Saturday night telecasts of AFLW have, in their infancy, rated as well as their male AFL equivalents, and on many comparisons better. On pay TV, Fox reports that the competition has quadrupled its male A-League numbers. In ratings terms, the women Australian rules footballers' wages look embarrassing when compared with the soccer men.
On every measure that counts, the AFL should be laughing all the way to the bank. As should its new breed of players. Except that they're not, because the competition gave away the broadcast rights for free to Channel Seven and Foxtel on a two-year goodwill agreement. At one point the two parties even haggled over the production costs although in the end the networks picked up the tab, outsourcing the production of all games to Eddie McGuire's McGuire Media. An agreement which only weeks ago appeared as if its broadcasters were doing the AFL a favour now presents as a bargain of the highest order. The decision to allow spectators to attend free has introduced new supporters to football, according to head office, and is likely to continue next season. New corporate partners such as Chemist Warehouse and Cotton On – supporting the women until at least the end of 2019 with a further three-year option – would not have come aboard the AFL without the women. The competition was disappointed Sydney failed to bid for a licence but the consequence is that GWS has signed more AFLW members (2000 at $60 each) and introduced new major sponsors to the club in Harvey Norman and Sydney Airport. Never have the Giants, still battling for recognition, received so much pre-season publicity. The short-term decisions facing the competition include where and when to hold the AFLW version of the Brownlow and whether to schedule a Melbourne grand final at the MCG or Ikon Park. But those appear insignificant compared with the looming review into how to handle the next phase of the AFLW - a competition launched in haste by impatient CEO Gillon McLachlan, but one that will surely prove his greatest legacy.
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In a recent survey of 926 public high school biology teachers across the nation, only 28 percent of teachers taught evolution as a well-supported fundamental idea of science. Meanwhile, 13 percent openly supported "intelligent design" in the classroom, and 60 percent fell somewhere in-between. This majority presented evolution cautiouslyby including non-scientific viewpoints, by limiting discussion to genetics, or by saying that students only needed to learn the material to pass exams.
What do you think about this?
Bill Nye, Executive Director of the Planetary Society: It's horrible. Science is the key to our future, and if you don't believe in science, then you're holding everybody back. And it's fine if you as an adult want to run around pretending or claiming that you don't believe in evolution, but if we educate a generation of people who don't believe in science, that's a recipe for disaster. We talk about the Internet. That comes from science. Weather forecasting. That comes from science. The main idea in all of biology is evolution. To not teach it to our young people is wrong.
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Why is there resistance to teaching evolution in schools?
It's reluctance to change. It's wanting the world to be different than it is. And if you don't want the world to be different you are an unusual human being. We all want the world to be different. But to deny evolution is in no one's best interest.
Do you think there's anything that can be done about it?
Well the longest journey starts with just a single step. Science education: We should support it. Especially elementary school science. Nearly every rocket scientist got interested in it before they were 10. Everybody who's a physician, who makes vaccines, who wants to find the cure for cancer. Everybody who wants to do any medical good for humankind got the passion for that before he or she was 10. So we want to excite a new generation of kidsevery generationabout the passion, beauty and joythe PB&Jof science. These anti-evolution people are frustrating in two ways. The first way is, almost certainly they know better. Those people really do believe in flu shots. They really do understand that when you find fossil bones of ancient dinosaurs, you are looking at deep time, not just 5000 years. And secondly, and much more importantly, having raised a generation of kids who don't understand science is bad for everyone. And with the United States having a leadership role in science and technology, having a generation of kids not believing in science is bad for the world.
Is there a funding issue? Is that why the teachers aren't teaching it correctly?
Oh the teachers get pulled every which way. People get on school boards just with this agenda of not teaching evolution. The school board comes running in and beats them over the head. But denying the facts does not make them not true. And in science we're always looking for the truth, it's what we do. Does this work? Does this solve the problem? Can you do the same experiment and get the same results?
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Should teachers be mandated to teach evolution as fact?
What other fundamental theory in all of biology is there? Intelligent design, as the judge in Dover, Penn., said, is "breathtaking inanity." It was so stupid it took his breath away. I agree with him. It's great to teach in history class, though. People believed the earth was the center of the universe. People believed the earth was flat. It was reasonable at the time, but we don't learn about those ideas in science class.
So do you think those biology teachers are simply teaching their own beliefs, or are they under outside pressure?
They're doing their job but they're under tremendous pressure. The 60 percent who are cautiousthose are the people who are really up against it. They want to keep their job, and they love teaching science, and their children are really excited about it, and yet they've got some people insisting they can't teach the most fundamental idea in all of biology. There's the phrase "just a theory." Which shows you that I have failed. I'm a failure. When we have a theory in science, it's the greatest thing you can have. Relativity is a theory, and people test it every which way. They test it and test it and test it. Gravity is a theory. People have landed spacecraft on the moon within a few feet of accuracy because we understand gravity so well. People make flu vaccinations that stop people from getting sick. Farmers raise crops with science; they hybridize them and make them better with every generation. That's all evolution. Evolution is a theory, and it's a theory that you can test. We've tested evolution in many ways. You can't present good evidence that says evolution is not a fact.
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Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory this week showed how an electronic voting machine model that's expected to be widely used to tally votes in the 2012 elections can be easily hacked using inexpensive, widely-available electronic components.
Roger Johnston, head of the Vulnerability Assessment Team at the U.S. Department of Energy's science and engineering reseaech lab, said the hack, which requires about $25 and very little technical expertise, would let cybercriminals "flip" votes gathered on Diebold Accuvote TS machines and change election results without raising any suspicion.
Johnston and his team have long warned about vulnerabilities in e-voting machines. And two years ago, the team demonstrated how a Sequoia touch screen e-voting machine could be similarly manipulated using cheap components.
The latest research was first reported by the Salon news site.
In the latest experiment, the Argonne researchers showed how a Diebold Accuvote TS touch screen voting machine can be compromised by inserting a man-in-the middle electronic component to intercept the vote cast by a voter and change it before it is recorded by the system.
The component which is less than half the size of a credit card, was assembled using a $1.29 microprocessor and a homemade circuit board that cost less than $10 to assemble.
The handmade component, which Johnston calls "alien electronics," can be simply plugged into a ribbon cable inside the system. There is no need to solder it on to the system, he noted.
Once installed the "alien electronics" can be controlled remotely from a distance of up to a half mile using an ordinary store-brought $15 remote control.
Johnston said the machine is "incredibly easy to tamper with" because all the crucial electronic components are accessible and can be easily modified. The Accuvote TS' enclosure isn't tamper resistant so hjackers can work on the machine without leaving visible signs, he added.
"All we had to do was find out what the machine was doing in terms of communication," Johnston said. "We just had to understand the various components and how the data was being sent. We needed to understand what signal had to be sent to fool the machine into thinking the voter had touched the screen at a particular location."
The experiment shows that e-voting systems are susceptible to more than just cyberattacks, which get the most attention but are harder to pull off as the perpetrators must have some knowledge of the machine's software, hardware and firmware.
The so-called man-in-the-middle attacks don't require knowledge of the voting machine's proprietary software or hardware, Johnston said. "All you need to do is understand the communication between the different parts of the system. Then you just sit there and listen and do whatever mischief you want to.".
The Diebold intrusion was simpler than the Sequoia hack, which required his team to program the man-in the middle component to get the machine to alert users that their votes had been cast as well as changing the selection, he said.
"[The latest hack] was ridiculously easy. We just had to control the information coming in from the voter. If you send the computer the wrong candidate it simply assumes the data that is being sent is what the voter meant," Johnston said.
And "we could easily tamper with the printer output where the paper record would match what was stored electronically," he added.
Johnston described the microprocessor and the other electronic parts used in the experiment as the sort that can be easily purchased at hobby stores or online. The chip could be programmed by people with only rudimentary skills, he noted.
"We wanted people not to get so hung up on cyber vulnerabilities," and consider other threats as well, he said.
Voting systems are often left unguarded when they are not in use or while in transit and can easily be tampered without anyone knowing about it, he added.
The Diebold Accuvote TS is a direct recording electronic voting (DRE) machine, a type that has long drawn flak because it offers no verifiable paper record. Some experts also consider them unreliable, too hard to audit and prone to all sorts of tampering.
Supporters of DRE systems insist that such concerns are overblown.
According to statistics maintained by election watchdog Verified Voting, several states, including Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey and South Carolina currently use DREs without auditable paper trails.
Several other states, including Indiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia, use a combination of paperless DREs as well as paper ballots -- 32 states and the District of Columbia have laws that require DREs to be used only with verifiable paper records.
Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, said that the successful hack by Johnston's team is not surprising.
"On
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Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter
Chapter 2: Relieving
Translated by: Chua
Edited by: XRCO and Elkassar
After Mogensha heard his suggestion, he knew that Sheyan intended for him to take the front lines and attract their attention. Normally, he wouldn't be willing to let others use him in such a manner, yet he also understood the terrifying level the Metals professor and Fanu had reached! Yet, in the previous world, the one that caused the death of the Metals professor and Fanu and survived, was this man called Seaman – the Seaman who had an innate defensive ability!
This cruel reality further established Mogensha's belief – This person must be made a friend, and not the enemy!
After putting to rest his thoughts, Mogensha coughed loudly and attracted the attention of everyone else. He raised his voice.
"I am the golden AK user, Mogensha. Everyone probably have heard of my name before right? Is there anyone able to attack the two beasts outside?"
After he issued the statement, at least 5-6 others displayed an astonished expression, beginning whispering in each others ears. Seated in front of him, a male wearing a leather jacket frowned.
"I can, but firstly It isn't enough to kill them, and I feel there isn't a need to. Let the other transport ship distract them, wouldn't it be better? This will secure our safe landing."
Mogensha laughed coldly, and ignored him. Opposite, a female very resolutely offered.
"I reckon I can communicate with the pilot first. If there is a need to retaliate, then we would definitely do so. But first I need to know the reason."
Obviously this woman's prime ability should be her charm, but naturally she didn't receive a resolute answer – because Mogensha himself did not understand what Sheyan was coming at. But Mogensha understood one thing, and that was Sheyan wished to attack the pursuing twin beasts a the back. If he couldn't even accomplish the first request of Seaman, then his personal worth would no doubt decrease.
Mogensha acted decisively, drawing out his golden AK and aimed towards the 3 safety straps before releasing fire. He then reach out for the metal safety belt and exerted force lightly. A piercing metal cranking sound resounded, as he pulled off the metal safety straps that were binding him; finally standing up.
"What are you trying to do!" Several stunned voices probed out. Disregarding them, Mogensha directly strode towards the little shuttle at the pilot cabin; releasing a robotic yet frustrated tone.
"Hoi! Mate in front. The two alien freaks have already annihilated at least 20 of our bros, and they look like they're about to succeed again. Are we just gonna stay here stupidly?"
The pilot snarled back.
"Do you think I don't want to wreck their ass? F***, I swear on my son's baseball cap. If this was a Valkyrie (anti-fighter spacecraft), then I would serve these two spore wyverns a taste of 8 rounds of H.A.L.O (High Altitude Long Operating) cluster rockets! But this is a bloody transport shuttle, although it is a specially enforced transport shuttle! Rather, you better F***king scram to your seat and buckle up!"
Mogensha shrugged his shoulders dejectedly.
"Alright, looks like the only thing we can do is pray for them."
The pilot cleared his throat and suddenly issued.
"Wait wait, I remember while reinforcing this shuttle, that old Nick seemed to have installed a machine cannon. But the shuttle took off before there was time to link it to the firing system. But if you have confidence in yourself, then I can open the firing compartment. Yo still have to operate it manually. Truthfully, I don't suggest you doing that."
Mogensha exposed a crafty smile.
"Just wait and watch the show."
The pilot extended a thumbs up without turning to him. Pressing somewhere, a long drawn out 'Chi' sound emitted from the ceiling rampart. Another pilot chair rotated as it descended. Mogensha arrogantly took his seat, and ascended with the chair. The male in the leather jacket looked on disapprovingly, yet he didn't dare to voice out. Mogensha's golden AK was a rather impressive deterrent.
In a flash, illuminated tracer rounds were fired out from the hood of the transportation shuttle; directly piercing the body of a predatory spore wyvern. The unprepared spore wyvern immediately lost balance and starting rolling in mid space, screeching out in agony. Huge greenish sticky fluid gushed out from its
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Slobodan Jovanovich, one of the former leaders of the special units of
Serbian police that committed ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, in an
interview for the Kosovo public television "RTK" mention some of the
most monstrous crimes that Serbian police did in Kosovo.
In Slobodan Jovanovich's squad were 150 policemen, 10 of them were criminals released from prisons.
"We had 150 policemen in our squad. 10 of the them were well-known for stealing, killing and massacres, that I couldn't believe. They did not use drugs and alcohol, but were interested in getting rich within a night. I remember an occasion in Rahovec. A policeman cut an Albanian's head and boiled it for a couple of days with the intension of getting the golden teeth he had. I am telling this because this haunts me back and I want it to be easier. After boiling it for three days he took his head and turned it in a lampshade. This is monstrosity. I can't comprehend it. I did not know what he was boiling in there. I thought he was preparing dinner. At a later time he did the same thing with the head of a woman. At home he wanted two head, two lampshades. A couple of years later I heard he ended in a nuthouse. That's due to what he did, because a normal person could not do what he did", confessed Jovanovich.
"While we were in the field they told us "destruct or burn", which meant, destroy the whole village or burn the entire place down. They did kill people for fun, even if someone didn't have any money. They took everything they put their eyes on it. The higher chain of command knew it pretty well. The commanders ordered the destruction of your houses and killing of innocent civilians", added Jovanovich.
The former commander of the special units highlighted that due to these testimonies he is considered a traitor and his family doesn't get any services at all.
He has been threatened to give up his testimonials. He knows that there are at least 300 war criminals that live freely in Belgrade. "None in Belgrade protects me. They consider me enemy. They have excluded me of every service", added Jovanovich.
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As of last night's Bachelorette premiere, it looks like JoJo Fletcher's season of the ABC reality dating series could be one of the most promisingly diverse in recent memory. Handsome dudes like firefighter Grant, motorcycle-riding Christian, and Ali, the son of Iranian immigrants (JoJo is herself half Iranian), are all seemingly poised to stick around for a while.
There was, however, one glaring exception to this otherwise positive trend: Jon. Poor Jon.
The show's first contestant of Asian descent in years emerged from the limo wearing a kilt. That's a bold fashion choice, but in an episode where a guy introduced himself in a full Santa costume, not even the night's boldest.
Kilt or no kilt, Jon's first encounter with JoJo is doomed from the moment he opens his mouth. "I'm half Chinese and half Scottish. But luckily for me, I'm half Scottish below the waist," he tells her, then adds, "I am not wearing any panties."
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We're going to give the show the benefit of the doubt and assume that's a joke that Jon decided to make himself and not one that was fed to him by a producer. Even so, it's downright depressing that—when we finally get to see a man of Asian descent in this franchise, theoretically portrayed as someone worthy of romantic and sexual attraction—his heritage is literally reduced to a punchline, undergirded by a harmful stereotype about penis size.
In the immortal words of Tyra Banks, we were all rooting for you.
Inside the house, the other contestants pile on Jon's traditional Scottish attire, making Jon perhaps the only person in Bachelor history to have been mocked for two different aspects of his cultural background at once. "That's gotta be one of the worst things you could have possibly chosen to wear on the night you're going to meet potentially your future wife," says Robby, apparently not a Braveheart fan, in a talking-head interview.
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In case The Bachelorette hadn't yet convinced you that it was oddly fixated on Jon's genitals, the camera repeatedly zooms in on his crotch while the men speculate as to whether he's wearing underwear.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
Last night was the last we will see of Jon, who was one of six contestants sent home in the first rose ceremony. The Bachelorette needs better representation, but a kilt and a racist dick joke aren't how they're going to achieve it.
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Molly Fitzpatrick is senior editor of Fusion's Pop & Culture section. Her interests include movies about movies, TV shows about TV shows, and movies about TV shows, but not so much TV shows about movies.
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Defensive end Jerry Hughes was so unblockable during a Buffalo Bills' offseason practice that head coach Rex Ryan had to pull him off the field in order for the offense to get work done.
"It's rare that you have to pull a guy from practice because he's ruining your practice, but I had to pull him," Ryan told the Bills' official website. "If we were keeping track he might have had five, six sacks."
The Rudy-esque effort from Hughes, while appreciated by Ryan, needed to be halted for the benefit of the team. Coaches have such limited time to evaluate their squads in the offseason that it only makes sense to sit a guy down when he's blowing up every offensive play.
"It's one of those deals, it's like, 'OK, let's pull him out. Let's get a pass off or something like that.' He really did have that kind of day."
Hughes has quietly been one of the best pass rushers in the league over the past two seasons, accumulating 19 sacks since coming to Buffalo in 2013. He signed a five-year, $45-million contract with the Bills in the offseason.
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Downloading Data using MySQL
We have two MySQL databases for public access:
genome-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu (located on the US west coast)
(located on the US west coast) genome-euro-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu (located in Europe)
These servers allow MySQL access to the same set of data currently available on our public Genome Browser site. The data are synchronized weekly with the main databases on our public site. During synchronization, the MySQL server can be intermittently out of sync with the main website for a short period of time. The weekly synchronization takes place on Monday mornings from 4:00 am to 9:00 am Pacific Time (GMT -7:00 in summer, GMT -8:00 in winter).
Connecting
You must have MySQL client libraries installed on your computer. We recommend using the most current version of the v5.0 MySQL clients.
You can connect to the US MySQL server using the command:
mysql --user=genome --host=genome-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu -A -P 3306
Or the European MySQl server with this command:
mysql --user=genome --host=genome-euro-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu -A -P 3306
The -A flag is optional but is recommended for speed.
Once connected to the database, you may use a wide range of MySQL commands to query the database.
Conditions of use
Avoid excessive or heavy queries that may impact the server performance. Inappropriate query use will result in a restriction of access. If you plan to execute a query that you think may be excessive, contact UCSC first to avoid the possibility of having your access blocked.
Bot access and excessive program-driven use are not permitted.
Attachments by local mirror sites are prohibited.
Using the MySQL server with our utilities
The MySQL database can also be used by the numerous utilities in the Genome Browser source tree. Some of these utilities require a password, so you will need to add the following specifications to your $HOME/.hg.conf file (remember to chmod your .hg.conf file to 600 permissions) if you would like to access the US public MySQL server:
#US MySQL server db.host=genome-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu db.user=genomep db.password=password central.db=hgcentral central.host=genome-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu central.user=genomep central.password=password gbdbLoc1=http://hgdownload.soe.ucsc.edu/gbdb/ forceTwoBit=on
Or these lines if you'd like to access the European MySQL server:
#European MySQL server db.host=genome-euro-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu db.user=genomep db.password=password central.db=hgcentral central.host=genome-euro-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu central.user=genomep central.password=password gbdbLoc1=http://hgdownload.soe.ucsc.edu/gbdb/ forceTwoBit=on
The db.* and central.* settings tell our utilities how to connect to the public MySQL server. The gbdbLoc1 setting tells our utilities where to find data files. The forceTwoBit setting is necessary for utilities that retrieve genomic sequence.
If you have set up your .hg.conf file as above, you can use the hgsql utility, available from our downloads server in the Utilities section, to access the public MySQL server. The benefit of using the hgsql command is that you don't have to include the username or password as part of your command. You only need to specify the host:
hgsql -h genome-mysql.soe.ucsc.edu
If you prefer a graphical user interface (GUI) to the UCSC database tables, use the Table Browser.
System problems should be reported to genome-www@soe.ucsc.edu. Send questions regarding the database contents or queries to genome@soe.ucsc.edu. Messages sent to this address will be posted to the moderated genome mailing list, which is archived on a SEARCHABLE, PUBLIC Google Groups forum.
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Holy lineup. We knew that the Electric Forest Bassnectar residency was happening along with String Cheese (of course), but we had no idea what to expect for 2018. The two back to back weekends in Rothbury, Michigan seem to get better and better each year. People say that forest vibes are the best vibes are best vibes and we couldn't agree more.
Without further ado, check out these two massive lineups. Which weekend is your Squad choosing?
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Calgary will soon have a specific plan to resettle up to 2,300 Syrian refugees, according to Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who called on city residents to welcome the newcomers "with open arms" once they arrive.
Nenshi said the city will announce a specific resettlement strategy "probably sometime this week or next," in conjunction with the federal and provincial governments.
Recent terrorist attacks in France and Lebanon shouldn't deter that plan, he added.
"I need to point out that the people who are desperate refugees are fleeing the exact same people who perpetrated the kind of violence that we saw in Paris and in Beirut last week," Nenshi said.
"They're running away from the bad guys and, as such, we need to be able to open our arms to make sure we can provide safety to these folks."
Suspend plan, says Brad Wall
The mayor's position stands in contrast to that of Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, who wrote a public letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that calls on the federal government to suspend its refugee plan.
"The recent attacks in Paris are a grim reminder of the death and destruction even a small number of malevolent individuals can inflict upon a peaceful country and its citizens," Wall wrote.
Nenshi said he read Wall's letter and thought it raised "perfectly reasonable" concerns, but he disagreed with the premier's conclusion that the process should be slowed down.
"I would argue the right way to do this is to get the right screening in place and the number of refugees that are accepted are an outcome of the screening as opposed to starting with the number," Nenshi said.
Meeting to resettle 1,100 refugees planned
Up to 2,300 refugees are expected in Calgary over the next few months.
The Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) says there will be a public forum held on Thursday to communicate the plan to resettle roughly 1,100 of them in the city.
It will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the John Dutton Theatre at Calgary Public Library's central branch downtown.
"Since the announcement that Canada will accept 25,000 Syrian refugees, CCIS has been proactive in gathering community-based organizations to begin the dialogue and plans to settle and integrate these newcomers into our city," said the non-profit group in a release.
The meeting will identify how the organization hopes to roll out the resettlement program here in the city and will hear from each community service provider involved.
To RSVP to the forum, email syrianproject@ccis-calgary.ab.ca.
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1 review:
4.0 ) $8 .21 This item ships free (worldwide) This item(worldwide) working... stock Discontinued format model 22mm, Brass + SS 22mm, Brass + SS, Crystal Box Pack 22mm, Copper + SS 22mm, Copper + SS - B 22mm, Copper + SS, Crystal Box Pack 22mm, SS (wide drip tip) 22mm, SS (wide drip tip) - B 22mm, SS (wide drip tip) - D 22mm, SS (wide drip tip) - value version 22mm, SS (wide drip tip) -C 22mm, SS (wide drip tip), Crystal Box Pack 22mm, SS (wide drip tip), w/ SS Mini Sleeve 22mm, SS + Acrylic, Grey 22mm, SS + Acrylic, Red 22mm, SS + Acrylic, Translucent 22mm, SS + Carbon Fiber, Blue 22mm, SS + Carbon Fiber, Red 22mm, SS + Carbon Fiber, Silver 22mm, SS, Black (wide drip tip) 22mm, SS, Black (wide drip tip) - value version 22mm, SS, Black (wide drip tip) -B 22mm, SS, Black (wide drip tip) -C 22mm, SS, Black (wide drip tip), Crystal Box Pack 22mm, SS, Blue 22mm, SS, Blue - B 22mm, SS, Blue (Crystal Box Package) 22mm, SS, Copper Color (POM drip tip) 22mm, SS, Gold (POM drip tip) 22mm, SS, White (wide drip tip) 22mm, SS, White (wide drip tip) 22mm, SS, White (wide drip tip) - B 22mm, SS, White (wide drip tip), Crystal Box Pack KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS (w/ black sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS (w/ clear sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS (w/ green sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS (w/ purple sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS (w/ red sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS (w/ yellow sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS + Glass, Silver KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS, Black (w/ clear sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS, Blue (w/ clear sleeve) KENNEDY 22, 22mm, SS, White (w/ clear sleeve) KENNEDY 24 V2 (AFC), 24mm, SS, Black KENNEDY 24 V2 (AFC), 24mm, SS, Brass Tone KENNEDY 24 V2 (AFC), 24mm, SS, Silver KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, Brass, Brass Tone KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, Brass, Gold KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, Copper, Copper Tone KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Black KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Black (kit) KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Blue KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Blue (kit) KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Copper + Silver(kit) KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Gold + Black(kit) KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Silver KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, Silver (kit) KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, White KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS, White (kit) KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm, SS,Gold + Silver(kit) KENNEDY 24 V2, 24mm,Brass,Brass Tone(kit) KENNEDY 24 V2,24mm,Brass+SS,Brass+Black(kit) KENNEDY 24 V2,24mm,Copper,Copper Tone(kit) KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, Black KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, Black - B KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, Black + Red Dots KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, Gold KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, Silver KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, Silver - B KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, White KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, White - B KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 304 SS, White + Red Dots KENNEDY 24, 24mm, 316 SS, Silver
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Madam tells all: Self-described escort Katina Powell, 43, has penned a tell-all book claiming that she was paid $10,000 to put on strip shows involving sex for University of Louisville's basketball recruits and players
A tell-all book written by an escort claiming that a former University of Louisville men's basketball staffer hired her nearly two dozen times to provide strippers to dance and have sex with Cardinals recruits, their fathers and players has sent shockwaves through the college basketball world.
The expose, Breaking The Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen, co-written by Louisville madam Katina Powell and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dick Cady, first surfaced on Amazon as a Kindle book last week, briefly catapulting to No 1 on the best-seller list in the sports category. A hardcover version is expected to come out Monday.
The 104-page e-book, which is largely based on the contents of Powell's five personal journals detailing her sexual escapades, alleges that Louisville's former director of basketball operations Andre McGee hired her and other dancers for 22 shows performed from 2010 to 2014, mostly at the Billy Minardi Hall dormitory.
She said McGee, 28, paid her $10,000 for her services.
According to Powell, 43, the parties thrown for Louisville recruits, their fathers and existing players involved sex with the strippers.
In one of the most shocking revelations in the book, an unapologetic Powell writes that she provided her own three daughters, who were 15, 17 and 19 years old at the time, as escorts for sex with the players.
'People may think that I expose my kids,' an excerpt from Powell's diary printed in the book reads. 'But, s***, they enjoy themlselves, they meet new people Believe me, they have their own lives, but they enjoy the perks of shows.
'For those who have a problem wit' this, kiss my a**.'
Special recruitment: The 104-page e-book, which is largely based on the contents of Powell's alleges that Louisville's former director of basketball operations Andre McGee (pictured) hired her and other dancers for 22 shows performed from 2010 to 2014
Witness speaks: Former Cardinals recruit JaQuan Lyle, now an Ohio State freshman, confirmed the 'gist of allegations' laid out in Powell's book during a meeting with NCAA
Four investigations have been launched, two this week, to review Powell's explosive allegations.
In Chapter 1 of Breaking The Cardinal Rules, Powell and Cady write that in 2010, Powell, a high school dropout in her late 30s, was a divorced mother of three daughters struggling to make ends meet.
Around the same time, she came to the realization that she could make easy money selling her body for sex.
Bombshell tome: The expose, Breaking The Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen, co-written by Powell and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dick Cady, was initially released as a Kindle book Friday. A hardcover version will be published Monday
'No overhead, no taxes, no complaints, no regrets. Sugar for sugar,' she writes in the book.
Before long, she joined a local escort service called Cheetah's, but Powell was unhappy that 60 per cent of her intake had to go to the owner.
Seeking a greater degree of financial independence, Powell launched a 'dance troupe' made up of unmarried friends 'who didn't mind strip-teasing' in clubs and at private bachelor parties.
'Naturally, a girl could pick up extra cash by giving customers the satisfaction they sought after becoming thoroughly inflamed watching a half-dozen chocolate-skinned babes flaunting their goodies,' she says tellingly in her expose.
Powell writes that the person who first introduced her to the idea of putting on shows at the University of Louisville was her friend Tink, who owned a local barber shop that was frequented by some of the college basketball players.
It was Tink, according to Powell, who put her in touch with Andre McGee about arranging adult entertainment for U of L recruits.
McGee had been a starting point guard for the Cardinals for four seasons and played for a year in Germany before coach head Rick Pitino hired him as an assistant whose job responsibilities included on campus recruiting efforts.
'In Basketball programs,' Powell and Cady write,' highly touted potential recruits are wooed like young princes and treated like celebrities.
'Victories, national glory and millions of dollars sometimes will hinge on the decisions, or perhaps whims, of adolescents still in high school.'
Powell says in the book that in 2010, she and McGee, then 23 years old, settled on a price for an evening of entertainment - $300 not including tips - and she went to work rounding up her troupe, which
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John Key is dismissing Green Party criticism that his chief of staff attending a National Party fundraiser meant he was there as Prime Minister, not as an MP or party member, which breaches his own rules.
Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
The Greens say it is another example of the wealthy having access to government in return for boosting National Party coffers, which must raise questions about a conflict of interest.
Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the Wellington dinner in September 2011 charged $3000 a head and since Mr Key was there with his top staffer, Wayne Eagleson, he was there as prime minister.
Photo: RNZ
Dr Norman said that was a breach of Mr Key's own directive to government ministers that they attend so-called Cabinet Club events only in their capacity as MPs or party members.
He described it as fundamentally corrosive to democracy.
But a written statement to Radio New Zealand News said Mr Key attended the dinner as leader of the National Party.
"Mr Eagleson is responsible to Mr Key in both his capacity as Prime Minister and as Leader of the National Party.
"In the time National has been in Government Mr Eagleson has attended a handful of National Party fundraising events."
A spokesperson from his office earlier said the Greens' attacks on National Party fundraising highlighted their push for political parties to be state-funded because the Green Party has trouble raising funds.
Dr Norman said Mr Eagleson was employed by the taxpayer and ministerial services to be the Prime Minister's chief of staff .
"So there's no defence any more that the Prime Minister was simply there as an MP or as a National Party leader. He was there as the Prime Minister with his prime ministerial support staff with him."
Dr Norman said serious questions over a possible conflict of interest had to be raised when people paid for access to the prime minister and the National Party benefited financially from that.
John Key's office said such a fundraiser was completely within the law.
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The Beatles will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with several reissue packages arriving May 26th.
A new stereo mix of the album will be available as a single CD and as part of every other package. An expanded deluxe edition will be released digitally, as a two-CD set or two-LP vinyl package. A super deluxe six-disc box set will also be available.
All three deluxe editions of Sgt. Pepper will boast previously unreleased complete takes of all 13 album tracks. The deluxe CD and digital versions will also include new stereo mixes: a previously unreleased instrumental take of "Penny Lane" and two unreleased takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever."
The super deluxe box set come with all of the aforementioned CDs, plus 33 more recordings from the Sgt. Pepper sessions, most of which have never been released and were newly mixed from the four-track session tapes. A fourth disc will include early, unreleased mono mixes of several songs and a direct transfer of the album's original mono mix. Discs five and six will boast surround-sound audio mixes of the album on Blu-ray and DVD, as well as promo films for several tracks and a restored version of the rare 1992 documentary, The Making of Sgt. Pepper.
The super deluxe package will also come with a 144-page hardcover book featuring a new introduction from Paul McCartney and producer Giles Martin, who newly mixed the reissue with Sam Okell. The book will explore every facet of Sgt. Pepper, from its songs and legendary cover art to musical innovations and historical context. Beatles historian Kevin Howlett, composer and musicologist Howard Goodall, producer Joe Boyd and journalists Ed Vulliamy and Jeff Slate all contributed to the book. A 50-page abridged booklet will be available in the two-CD deluxe edition.
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Reissue Track Lists
CD
(Sgt. Pepper 2017 Stereo Mix)
1. " Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
2. " With A Little Help From My Friends"
3. " Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
4. " Getting Better"
5. " Fixing A Hole"
6. " She's Leaving Home"
7. " Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!"
8. " Within You Without You"
9. " When I'm Sixty-Four"
10. "Lovely Rita"
11. "Good Morning Good Morning"
12. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"
13. "A Day In The Life"
Deluxe [2CD, digital]
CD 1
Sgt. Pepper 2017 Stereo Mix
CD 2
1. " Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" [Take 9]
2. " With A Little Help From My Friends" [Take 1 – False Start And Take 2 – Instrumental]
3. " Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" [Take 1]
4. " Getting Better" [Take 1 – Instrumental And Speech At The End]
5. " Fixing A Hole" [Speech And Take 3]
6. " She's Leaving Home" [Take 1 – Instrumental]
7. " Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!" [Take 4]
8. " Within You Without You" [Take 1 – Indian Instruments]
9. " When I'm Sixty-Four" [Take 2]
10. "Lovely Rita" [Speech And Take 9]
11. "Good Morning Good Morning" [Take 8]
12. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" [Take 8]
13. "A Day In The Life" [Take 1 With Hummed Last Chord]
14. "Strawberry Fields Forever" [Take 7]
15. "Strawberry Fields Forever" [Take 26]
16. "Strawberry Fields Forever" [Stereo Mix – 2015]
17. "Penny Lane" [Take 6 – Instrumental]
18. "Penny Lane" [Stereo Mix – 2017]
Deluxe Vinyl
LP 1
Sgt. Pepper 2017 Stereo Mix
LP 2 (Complete early takes from the sessions in the same sequence as the album)
Side A
1. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" [Take 9 And Speech]
2. "With A Little Help From My Friends" [Take 1 – False Start And Take 2 – Instrumental]
3. "Lucy In The
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Ok everybody,sorry this has taken to long. Been busy with a lot of things going on and I forgot,. I had a new 2G Prius in for PDI and decided to give it a try. And guess what,I found out what we were doing wrong! Just one little step messes up everything. Here is the steps from the TSB and only applies to the 2G.1. Park the vehicle so as it is level,front to back and side to side.2. IgOn and make sure that "Trip A " is showing on the odo ( this is where we made a mistake).3. Power down.4. Keep your foot off the brake.5. Push in and hold down the Odo/Trip button.6. Push the Power button twice to IgOn ( not Ready mode ).7. Turn the Odo/Trip off then On 3 times in 5 seconds.8. Continue holding the Odo/Trip button until a 6 digit code appears.9. Release,then push again the Odo/Trip button for another 5 seconds. The 6 digit code will change to a 5 digit code.10. After the middle digit,of the 5 digit code,changes to "1" release the Odo/Trip button and the odometer will return to normal reading.Hope this clarifies the steps.
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Reader Theora notified us about something interesting recently. A transcript has been released of the original Raiders of the Lost Ark story conference among Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan. Here's a segment, which I've trimmed slightly for relevance to the kind of stuff we discuss here. G = George Lucas, S = Steven Spielberg, L = Lawrence Kasdan.
For a while, they weren't sure what kind of girl to have as a counterpart to Indy…
There was talk about a big name professor who taught Indy everything he knew. Then there was the idea about this German girl, and for the sake of expediency, Kasdan suggested that Indy instead have an affair with the mentor's daughter, which they loved. And then Lucas and Spielberg were off and running with ideas about how's she's been left in Peru and has this bar and is trying to get money together to get back to the States and loves (and resents) Indy to no end. In fact, Kasdan said he wanted Indy and this girl to already have a history when they meet because, "I like it if they already had a relationship at one point. Because then you don't have to build it." Hehehe…
Then the discussion turned to how old Marion and Indy were at the time of the affair:
G — I was thinking that this old guy could have been his mentor. He could have known this little girl when she was just a kid. Had an affair with her when she was eleven.
L — And he was forty-two.
G — He hasn't seen her in twelve years. Now she's twenty-two. It's a real strange relationship.
S — She had better be older than twenty-two.
G — He's thirty-five, and he knew her ten years ago when he was twenty-five and she was only twelve. It would be amusing to make her slightly young at the time.
S — And promiscuous. She came onto him.
G — Fifteen is right on the edge. I know it's an outrageous idea, but it is interesting. Once she's sixteen or seventeen it's not interesting anymore. But if she was fifteen and he was twenty-five and they actually had an affair the last time they met. And she was madly in love with him and he…
S — She has pictures of him.
And now consider the dialog of that scene in the film.
INDY: I never meant to hurt you.
MARION: I was a child! I was in love.
INDY: You knew what you were doing.
MARION: It was wrong. You knew it.
INDY: Look, I did what I did. I don't expect you to be happy about it. But maybe we can do each other some good.
MARION: Why start now?
INDY: Shut up and listen for a second. I want that piece your father had. I've got money.
MARION: How much?
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I find this case to be kind of disturbing. Her accused rapist was investigated and it was found that there wasn't enough evidence to support her accusation. Now, there are certainly some questions about the validity of that investigation, but the point is that it was investigated by the relevant authorities and a decision was made. This has become essentially a "he said/she said" situation.
Do you have to agree with the decision? No. Does another investigation need to be conducted? Maybe. However, I don't think it's fair to drag someone through the mud when they've been cleared of any charges.
The focus should be on the university's poor handling of the case, but instead this project has caused a lot of damage to a potentially innocent person. Rape is a serious issue and if the accused did rape her then he deserves to be punished, but there needs to be evidence that it happened. The problem now is that collecting any kind of evidence of rape at this point is pretty much impossible. This whole case is a mess and I don't think that anyone involved is handling it properly.
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Don't waste your ad dollars with an over-the-top sales pitch. Well-written copy follows these simple guidelines.
February 16, 2009 14 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
This article has been excerpted from Kick-Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps by Susan Gunelius, available from Entrepreneur Press .
Whether you're a small-business owner, a medium-size business owner, an eBay seller, or simply trying to break into the copywriting industry, understanding the fundamentals of writing sales-oriented copy and put you on a path to success. At its core, copywriting is another device in a business' marketing toolbox. Well-written copy can make or break an ad or marketing piece. With that in mind, copywriting can equate to either well-spent advertising investments or a waste of advertising dollars.
Many people misinterpret the uniqueness of effective copywriting. I can't count the number of times I've heard freelance writers say they want to shift from article writing to copywriting as if it's simply an extension of their existing abilities. Copywriting does come naturally to some people, but for most, it's a foreign landscape they do not know how to navigate. Copywriting is about more than writing the hard sell sales letter that many short copywriting courses offer. In fact, I cringe when I see those over-the-top sales letters, which do little more than provide an ugly representation of copywriting, sales and marketing.
Well-crafted copywriting doesn't need to beat a person over the head. It doesn't have to drown in bold typeface and capitalization. The message should stand on its own without an overabundance of heavy-handed sales language and design embellishments. I associate many sales letters that are guilty of this technique with a writer who doesn't truly understand the basic purpose of copywriting. However, successful copywriting can be achieved in 10 easy steps.
Consider Your Copy Motivate your customer to buy with these 10 copywriting steps: 1. Exploit your product's benefits
2. Exploit your competition's weaknesses
3. Know your audience
4. Communicate W.I.I.F.M. (What's In It For Me?)
5. Focus on "you," not "we"
6. Understand your medium
7. Avoid T.M.I. (Too Much Information)
8. Include a call to action
9. C.Y.A. (Cover Your Ass)
10. Proofread
1. Exploit your product's benefits.
The first step of the copywriting outline is the foundation for your advertising campaigns. A benefit is the value of your product to a customer. In other words, a benefit is what the product can do for a customer or how the product can help a customer. You need to put into words the reasons your product is the best available and better than your competitors' products based on the added value it provides to your customers. The key to success is for you to fully understand all the benefits of your product. Only then can you ensure that the audience knows them and can relate to them.
2. Exploit your competition's weaknesses.
To write compelling copy, it is essential that you know what differentiates your product from the competition. Once you know your competitors' weaknesses, you must make sure your audience knows them and understands why buying your competitors' products would be a terrible mistake. Get started by thoroughly researching your competition and understanding what they offer in terms of products and services. Next, list the elements of their offerings that are inferior to your own. Feel free to tear the competition apart but be realistic in your comparisons. You want to be able to support your claims if you are challenged.
3. Know your audience.
Every person in the world is not going to see every ad in the world. Each ad has a specific audience that will see it, and it's the marketer's job to find the best placement to ensure the target audience will see it. For example, an ad for skateboards placed in a local senior citizen housing association newsletter is not likely to generate a lot of sales. In fact, it would be a waste of advertising dollars. The target audience for skateboards is teenagers or young adults. The vast majority of senior citizens do not use skateboards, and it is not a product category in which they typically purchase gifts. Before you buy ad space, make sure you're spending your money in the right place to get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of exposure and building awareness of your product or service.
First, take the time to research your customers thoroughly. In most businesses, 20 percent of customers are responsible for 80 percent of sales (this is called the 80/20 rule in case you're curious about the official marketing terminology for this phenomenon). That 20
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An 18-year-old driver has been charged with causing the death of a man who was killed when two vehicles fleeing police smashed into each other.
Horrified eyewitnesses say they saw the driver of one of the cars killed instantly in the collision, which police say followed the earlier assault and robbery of a 50-year-old man in in Bicton about 6.30pm on Tuesday.
Police say the man was a 28-year-old Willagee resident who'd been involved in the attack along with an 18-year-old man from Munster, who had fled the scene in another car before crashing into his partner in crime.
The scene in Bicton on Tuesday evening. Photo: Fran Rimrod.
One of the offenders is understood to have left in a Holden Astra and the others in a Holden Commodore.
Police responding to the call tried to stop the Holden Commodore on Point Walter Road, but gave chase when their attempts failed.
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Colorado Medical Marijuana Qualification
Who Qualifies for Medicinal Marijuana in Colorado
November 07, 2000, Colorado voters approved Ballot Amendment 20, effectively removing state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana, by patients possessing a written recommendation from their certified physician, advising that he or she may "benefit from the medical use of marijuana".
The Colorado Board of Health has created a set of rules and regulations which create a confidential statewide registry of medical marijuana patients and caregivers with ID cards for all registered patients. Under Amendment 20, patients, physicians and primary or alternate caregivers have an affirmative defense to criminal prosecution under the state's marijuana laws. Colorado patients and their caregivers may possess no more than two ounces of a usable form of marijuana, and more than six marijuana plants, with three or fewer being mature, flowering plants.
What Ailments Qualify For Medical Cannabis in Colorado
Patients in Colorado diagnosed with one of the following severe, debilitating, or life-threatening medical conditions, are afforded legal protection under the Colorado Medical Marijuana law, as per Ballot Amendment 20:
Cancer;
Glaucoma;
HIV/AIDS;
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition other than HIV, cancer or glaucoma; or treatment for such conditions, which produces for a specific patient one or more of the following, and for which, in the professional opinion of the patient's physician, such condition or conditions may reasonably be alleviated by the medical use of marijuana: cachexia; severe pain; severe nausea; seizures, including those that are characteristic of epilepsy; persistent muscle spasms, including those that are characteristic of multiple sclerosis; and other condition, as subject to the approval of the Colorado Board of Health.
* Patients and physician alike may petition to include other medical conditions that would benefit from the medical use of marijuana, in the event the patient's condition is found to be invalid by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
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