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0.024048 | <urn:uuid:07281d9f-a600-4fb5-b619-70eed6cdd9e7> | en | 0.954196 | Court Strikes Down Controversial NLRB Poster Requirement
This issue has been kicked back and forth in the court system in the last couple of years. There finally appears to be some closure, much to the relief of America's business community. The Hill reports:
NLRB Keeps Charging Ahead Blindly
In the regulatory mess that is Washington today, the leader of the ridiculous pack just might be the National Labor Relations Board.
With union membership continuing to decline to historically low levels, the NLRB has apparently determined it will do whatever it can to help slow the erosion. It has shown no pretense of fairness in its decisions over the past four years with its rulings also often having major impacts on non-union employers.
In January, a U.S. Court of Appeals threw out three of President Obama's NLRB appointees, raising questions about the legality of recent rulings. Those same people have now been renominated by the President, so the drama continues.
The latest partisan action regards union dues expenditures. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) provides this summary:
A case currently before the NLRB could significantly alter the current way in which employees can exercise their Beck rights to object to union dues’ expenditures. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, in the Beck decision, employees can object to a portion of union dues’ expenditures if the dues are being used to fund political activity not related to collective bargaining or contract administration. In a recent case, the United Nurses and Allied Professionals (Kent Hospital) and Jeanette Geary, however, the NLRB decided an employee, who objected to the union’s expenditures, did not deserve to have any verification showing proof how the union was spending its funds.
The Board’s new idea would unfairly and unnecessarily stack the deck against employees who have to pay dues, but disagree with the union politically. Under the proposal, any lobbying activity the union would engage in on Capitol Hill, down to state and local seats of government, would go unchecked.
Double Standard Approach Not Helping Teamsters
Having worked in Democratic politics, my take on labor in America has certainly been influenced. Without getting too deep in the woods, I think there is definitely a time and place for organization in some industries — and a functional coexistence between a union and an employer can be a healthy thing if both sides act responsibly. The unfortunate aspect of that, however, is that sometimes union tactics become so aggressive — and even hypocritical – they hinder their relevance and hardly endear anyone to their cause. Red State takes a look at a recent Teamsters strategy that even had the National Labor Relations Board irritated. As the author of the post points out, their actions seem to punish the very workers they purport to help.
Now, a Teamsters union local in Memphis is fighting its two clerical workers from unionizing with the Steelworkers and–again, the Obama labor board is having none of it.
The case didn’t end there, however.
Make Sure NLRB Can’t Come Down on Your Social Media Policy
Your social media policy cannot limit free speech
Union Misdeeds, Part II: Maximum Wages Prevent Individual Awards
Employers attempting to reward union employees for jobs well done are being prohibited from doing so by union contracts. This post asks: Why should unions have the power to turn down a raise on a worker’s behalf? Heritage’s The Foundry blog explains:
Union contracts do not just set the minimum compensation that workers can earn; they also set maximum wages.
Employers may not pay employees more than their union has negotiated. Unions typically base pay on seniority and job classifications—not individual effort or productivity. Workers cannot bargain individually for more. By law, hard-working union members get the same pay as those who slack off.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) strikes down attempts to raise wages without union permission. The Brooklyn Hospital Center rewarded its best nurses with $100 gift cards. The NLRB told the hospital to cease and desist. The Register Guard Publishing Company gave a bonus commission to employees who sold advertising contracts that the company wanted to promote. The NLRB also ordered them to stop.
Union contracts should not prevent workers from earning raises. The Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees (RAISE) Act corrects this problem. It amends the National Labor Relations Act to eliminate the wage ceiling. The RAISE Act allows employers to pay deserving employees higher wages for their work without facing unfair labor practice complaints. The Senate may vote on the RAISE Act as an amendment to the farm bill.
The RAISE Act would benefit employers and employees by allowing companies to offer performance pay to reward productivity. Unsurprisingly, employees work harder when their employers reward their hard work. Research shows that the average worker’s earnings rise 6–10 percent when they can get performance pay. Companies pay these higher wages out of the higher revenue their productivity generates. Both sides win.
Forbidding employers from paying individual union members higher wages makes no sense in today’s economy. Workers want their achievements recognized, and employers want to reward productivity. The RAISE Act lifts the seniority ceiling and allows union members to get ahead. Why should unions have the power to turn down a raise on a worker’s behalf?
Effort to Slow NLRB ‘Ambush’ Fails
OK, there wasn’t much chance the amendment was going to pass the U.S. Senate and, if somehow it did, it would have been vetoed by the White House. But it was worth the old college try, as they say, and it did shine the spotlight once again on the runaway actions of the National Labor Relations Board.
The amendment was an attempt to overturn new regulations that dramatically reduce the time between union organization efforts and the actual election in that workplace. In other words, unions will still be able to make their case for why their presence would make sense during their organizing effort, but employers will have precious little time to respond prior to a vote taking place.
Currently, worker votes typically take place 45 to 60 days after a union gathers enough signatures to warrant an election. Under the new regulations, those votes could take place within a matter of a few weeks, or even days.
Indiana senators Richard Lugar and Dan Coats supported the resolution to overturn the NLRB action. The 54-45 vote to disapprove, however, was along party lines with the exception of one vote.
Lawmaker reactions were swift, calling the rule an "ambush" on employers:
Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri): "By speeding up union elections and removing important safeguards that ensure a fair election process, this unnecessary rule will restrict job creators’ free speech rights and limit workers’ opportunities to hear both sides of the argument to unionize — an issue critically important to their livelihood.
Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee ranking member: “This vote was an important opportunity to send a message to the NLRB that their job is not to tip the scale in favor of one party or another, but to fairly resolve disputes and conduct secret ballot elections."
Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina): The National Labor Relations Board seems hell bent on changing processes across the board, more for political reasons than for substantive reasons."
Advice for Employers and Employees About Social Media Use
Every week, it seems like there’s another story or controversy surrounding a business and its use of social media. Whether it’s an ill-advised Tweet, improperly disciplining an employee for social media use or an employee venting irresponsibly, the gray area in this arena seems to be spreading like a (computer) virus. offers some tips on what you should consider when it comes to social media use. Keeping these concepts in mind may keep you out of trouble in the future:
If you’d like more information on this topic, the Indiana Chamber offers the Indiana Employer’s Guide to Monitoring Electronic Technology in the Workplace – 3rd Edition (authored by attorneys from Ogletree Deakins).
NLRB April 30 Posting Requirement Blocked for Now
The National Labor Relations Board’s posting requirement that was set to take effect on April 30 has been postponed… AGAIN. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Tuesday issued an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the rule until an appeal of a lower court’s decision upholding the rule (but voiding some penalties) has been decided. Oral arguments in the case are currently scheduled for September.
Tuesday’s ruling follows last Friday’s decision by a federal court in South Carolina that struck down the posting requirement, leading to confusion over what is now required. Implementation of the posting requirement is now on hold until further notice.
Laffer: Right-to-Work a Beneficial Economic Tool for States
A few Chamber staffers joined hundreds in attendance at today’s Economic Club of Indiana luncheon featuring Arthur B. Laffer, an economist, author and former member of President Reagan’s Economic Advisory Policy Board (though he also asserted that Bill Clinton was "a great president"). When asked about right-to-work legislation, he lauded Indiana’s efforts to become the 23rd right-to-work state. Back in May, he co-wrote an editorial on the issue in the The Wall Street Journal. An excerpt:
A recent New York Times editorial justified the NLRB decision by arguing that unions are suffering from "the flight of companies to ‘Right-to-Work’ states where workers cannot be required to join a union." That’s for sure, and quite an admission. We’ve been observing that migration pattern for years, but liberals have denied it’s actually happening—until now.
Every year we rank the states on their economic competitiveness in a report called "Rich States, Poor States" for the American Legislative Exchange Council. This ranking uses 15 fiscal, tax and regulatory variables to determine which states have policies that are most conducive to prosperity. Two of these 15 policies have consistently stood out as the most important in predicting where jobs will be created and incomes will rise. First, states with no income tax generally outperform high income tax states. Second, states that have right-to-work laws grow faster than states with forced unionism.
As of today there are 22 right-to-work states and 28 union-shop states. Over the past decade (2000-09) the right-to-work states grew faster in nearly every respect than their union-shop counterparts: 54.6% versus 41.1% in gross state product, 53.3% versus 40.6% in personal income, 11.9% versus 6.1% in population, and 4.1% versus -0.6% in payrolls.
For years, unions argued that right-to-work laws were bad for workers and for the states that passed them. But with the NLRB complaint, they’ve essentially thrown in the towel. If forced unionism is better for the economy of a state, why would the NLRB need to intervene to keep Boeing from leaving Washington? Why aren’t businesses and workers moving operations to heavily unionized places like Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and fleeing states like Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas?
In reality, the stampede of businesses from forced-union states like Washington has accelerated in recent years. A 2010 study in the Cato Journal by economist Richard Vedder of Ohio University found that between 2000 and 2008 4.8 million Americans moved from forced-union states to right-to-work states. That’s one person every minute of every day.
Right-to-work states are also getting richer over time. Prof. Vedder found a 23% higher per capita income growth rate in right-to-work states than in forced-union states, which over the period 1977-2007 amounted to a $2,760 larger increase in per-person income in those states. That’s a giant differential.
So now the unions concede that this migration is indeed happening, but they say that it is unhealthy and undesirable because workers in right-to-work states are paid less and get worse benefits than the workers in union states. Actually, when adjusting for the cost of living in each state and the fact that right-to-work states were poorer to begin with, a 2003 study in the Journal of Labor Research by University of Oklahoma economist Robert Reed found that wages rose faster in states that don’t require union membership.
Employers that move away from forced-union states mainly do so not to scale back wages and salaries—although sometimes that happens—but to avoid having to deal with intrusive union rules, the threat of costly work stoppages, lawsuits, worker paychecks going to union fat cats, and so on.
Obama’s NLRB Appointments Raise Concerns About Board
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0.027059 | <urn:uuid:1d4fbdcb-a228-42d4-b42d-9843935c24d2> | en | 0.961859 | 21 and Over Dares You to Get Offended
It's hard to know what to laugh at anymore -- the only guideline, maybe, is that we'll know it when we see it. And Jon Lucas and Scott Moore's guy-humor extravaganza 21 & Over isn't quite it. 21 & Over, in which three college guys set out for a night of drinking and, they hope, debauchery, is filled with crude gags that almost tip into the red on the bad-taste-ometer: One of its characters, in a drunken stupor, eats a tampon -- unused, thank God, as this isn't a Catherine Breillat movie. The trio crash a sorority house filled with tough, angry Latinas -- stereotype alert! One of the guys tosses his cookies while riding a mechanical bull; his puke spins into the air in slow motion, a visual symphony of pearlescent beige droplets. There's even an uptight Asian girl who plays field hockey -- stereotype alert number two! You can almost see the minds of the filmmakers working: Someone out there has just got to take umbrage at 21 & Over -- please.
Starring Miles Teller, Justin Chon, Skyler Astin, and Sarah Wright. Written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. 93 minutes. Rated R.
Mayhem ensues, but as any woman writing about guy humor will tell you, it's really all about male insecurity. And 21 & Over definitely is about male insecurity. These kids, we learn, are facing big life issues: Casey, the sweet, responsible one, is getting cold feet over the cookie-cutter finance career he's headed for, especially after he meets a free-spirit Breck-girl blonde (played by Parks and Recreation's Sarah Wright). Miller, the bright, wise-cracking schemer, has, unbeknownst to his friends, dropped out of school altogether. And the smartest, if most reserved, of them all, JeffChang is the Asian kid who -- anti-stereotype alert! -- is lousy at science and has no desire whatsoever to go to medical school. (The movie's best line, funny in a rueful way, is JeffChang's response when his friends urge him to just tell his father outright that he really doesn't want to be a doctor: "Oh my God, you guys, that is so white.")
21 & Over has a few mildly amusing gags, as when that Latina sorority ultimately takes its revenge; the scene also addresses the homoerotic subtext of buddy comedies head-on and face-forward, in a way that's surprisingly unexploitive. Like its older brothers The Hangover movies, it puts lots of male humiliation right up front. (You really don't want to know how JeffChang ends up with a teddy bear Superglued to his penis.) Perhaps that's a way of leavening the purportedly transgressive humor these movies trade in -- it's as if the protagonists are saying, "We can be as crude as we want because, really, we're hurting inside."
But the movie rambles in a way that dilutes any possibility of edgy discomfort. Lucas and Moore have good control over the timing within the gags; it's the spaces between them that stretch out awkwardly. You can't hate 21 & Over, and you can't laugh at it. The most you can do is just pity it for not being as outrageous as it thinks it is. And as any guy will tell you, being pitied is the ultimate humiliation.
Great humor, even when it's wrapped in intelligent bohemian's clothing a la Lenny Bruce, still comes from the id, which means it's bound to offend someone, sometime. Plus, it's more than OK for guys to make comedies about hurting inside. But there's one hitch: The movies have to be funny. That goes for allegedly female-centric movies like Bridesmaids, too -- if the alternative to incessant fart and boob jokes is Melissa McCarthy taking a crap in the sink, I'll take the farts and boobs.
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0.022307 | <urn:uuid:5735904f-ff43-4f7f-a1a1-b0819c5a0dc7> | en | 0.933364 | Ciao! I've played videogame from 26 years till now and I've played them all: arcade, console, PC. Now it's time to get into it and begin to build something, even if for now I'm only watching your works. Good luck for your mods!
Comment History
1c0n Apr 1 2010, 6:18pm replied:
Oh, many thanks. For a moment i was thinking that you would reward all your efforts for Crossfire with my credit card... LOLZ :)
+1 vote mod: Crossfire 2.0
1c0n Mar 31 2010, 7:49pm says:
Guys, Avira gives me a bunch of trojan alarm near the end of installation... Know something about?
+1 vote mod: Crossfire 2.0
1c0n Jun 22 2009, 10:25am says:
Nice mod. A first person exploration rathen than a true fps, Curse is a technical marvel (maybe the ruins are a little too polished for being... well, ruins). Only the combat system is a little finger up the ***, often causing confusion.
It's a 8. Well done, I'll wait the other episodes without trusting the release date. ^^
+1 vote mod: CURSE
1c0n Jun 11 2009, 6:30am says:
Ooooooohhh! Great, I'm downloading.
(Two months I've been waiting for this moment... ^^)
+2 votes mod: CURSE
1c0n May 27 2009, 9:38am says:
I like this mod. It's a nice little-change to the RE4 survival mode and it's very additive and furious. It's an 8 for me for two reasons:
A- Two maps. Yes, they are very big, but are few indeed.
B- No servers to be found. Play-and-host with your friends or die.
Add maps, more secrets, the 8 will become a 9.
Add changes between the four characters, add more maps, add more effects like snow, sand storm, rain, whathever you want, the 9 will become a 10. ^^ Good luck!
P.S. If anyone wants to crush some demons with me, mail me and I will gladly participate to the slaughter.
+1 vote mod: The Haunted
1c0n May 20 2009, 4:41pm says:
Yes. It's just a mod.
I'll go do something else.
And forget about it.
Is this really what they want? I don't think so.
I don't care about "Someone's fault", it's just that there was a date so don't try to fool me with the filesucker drama: if the game it's not complete I will surely watch it while waiting; if you continue to delay, well yeah, I got better things to do rather than refreshing the same page over and over again.
Really: I don't wanna be mean, but when you set a date you must respect it. It' doesn't need a genius to understand that people grow tired and angry after THREE delays... And for Filefucker too!!!
And a note to Community rating: give the vote AFTER testing a mod, not when you see some pics.
+2 votes mod: CURSE
1c0n May 7 2009, 8:16pm says:
very nice mod, but too short. Yes, there's the grandma minigame which is a good pastime... But the main story stops just when the things became interesting. And is she Mona or you haven't time to modify the model as for the protagonist one?
Hope to see other works from you soon. Vote: 7
+1 vote mod: Boiling
1c0n Apr 22 2009, 7:31pm says:
"However the release will be Fileplanet exclusive, and that means, we had to consider the release date they suggest - so they could give the biggest possible exposure to the mod"
Oh guys... Come on! Biggest possible exposure to the mod? Release date they suggest? For what? I don't like when modders begins to think EA/Eidos alike. Bah...
+1 vote mod: CURSE
1c0n Apr 1 2009, 7:31pm says:
Awesome mod. I was disappointed for the crashes but now I see there is a solution. Oh, sometimes people get fried (mee too) when walking on the spiderbot A2... But again, great mod. It's a 9.
+1 vote mod: The Nameless Mod
1c0n Dec 8 2008, 4:26pm says:
If you own rFactor then you MUST dowload it, period.
Some glitches with pilot hands, and disappointing car accidents (But I think it's an issue of GMotor 2) but boy, you don't donwload it and all the devils of hell will be searching for you for revenge.
+1 vote mod: CTDP F1 2006
1c0n Nov 15 2008, 8:37pm says:
Great work. Nice gameplay, dark atmosphere and great sounds.
You guys really have done a true MOD instead of another fraggafraggaboomboom thing.
Only two things:
A- The Impact Hammer... Blah... I can't imagine how to move an ancient ball with an supertechnological weapon... Maybe it's better to find something more suitable with the Aztec background.
B- Sometimes I feel as if some chambers resembles too much one another. Probably some new textures should do the works.
P.S. Greetings for winning the the first phase of MSU. You deserve it.
+1 vote mod: The Ball Mod
1c0n Aug 28 2008, 10:10am replied:
Ok, played it for a long time before reaching the end of the first act. Because the hard/impossible part is the first act (6-7 hours to pass it for me). From the second act you can see the enemies a little more clearly as in the third, where the vegetation is a little less dense. And in both act the game becomes less frustrating and really gorgeous to see. Yes, as Davuvnik says, it's an interesting mod, but first level must be better balanced and with more save point and possibly with a little less enemies. And removing the killing forbidden zones would be a nice present: this is a nasty way to say "Thou shall not pass from here"...
+2 votes mod: The Delta Sector
1c0n Aug 23 2008, 8:49pm says:
Oh boy... I've said it's frustrating? No. I'ts impossible.
If I put out my nose from a rock they kill me.
If I run they kill me.
If I'm Garret the master thief by raiding every bush (taking pain on the poor little finger on the ctrl key) they kill me.
If I launch rocks to distract them they kill me
If I try to outflanking them, THE WATER KILLS ME? (really, armor and health begin to decrease until I die...)
And if I try to simply reach that f***ing waypoint they kill me long before I do it. I spent three hours trying going past the third checkpoint, repeating the same tract in every way I could do it... And they continue to kill me. And I'm playing at medium.
Delta sector? Mmmmhhh... Gameplay Zero suits this mod well...
+1 vote mod: The Delta Sector
1c0n Aug 23 2008, 4:23pm says:
OK. Technically this mod is awesome. It's a true total conversion, very heavy indeed, much more than Far Cry, but there are a lot of things on screen. Unfortunately, where this mod lose is in the gameplay side: simply it's too hard. And not for player's fault. If you're in a wood, full of trees and branches and bushes and whatever you want: you cannot see the enemy even when it shoots repeatedly at you (Never missed my beloved binoculars as in this mod...), while it seems than you have a big neon on your head saying "HEY! I'M HERE!". Add the waypoint saving system of Far Cry: result is frustration. I hope all these issues will be corrected in future releases because the mod is very brilliant.
7 out of 10.
+1 vote mod: The Delta Sector
1c0n Jul 16 2008, 8:24pm says:
Hey, say the truth: there's something else after the ending, when I hear the gull's wings and the splash? I'm waiting in front of my monitor with the black screen. And I've started painting circuits and chemical and other things on my room's walls to make time passing... :-)
The only thing I'm worried about is the language. I'm Italian and I've understand most of the speech (the rest thanks to the script you've posted) but really, with the italian school system totally deranged, I think in Italy only a few could be delighted by this work of you.
0 votes mod: Dear Esther
1c0n Jul 12 2008, 8:31am says:
Oh boy.
This work rocks. It has wiped away all my certaintyes about videogames. Where's my weapon, where's the enemy, where is my predetermined path to fulfill my mission.
I'm speechless.
To complete the work (because mod is a word too small to describe this) a superb narrator and an incredible soundratck.
Enough talk. 10/10
0 votes mod: Dear Esther
1c0n Apr 8 2008, 7:02pm says:
...hurts this work... ^^
+1 vote mod: Philip Muwanga's Squad Commander
1c0n Apr 8 2008, 7:01pm says:
Good job. And fun. I've give it an 8, altough there are some bugs and the lack of a save system huts this work a lot.(But I think this is a limitation of UT '04). And very good characters.
I hope there will be new mission in future release...
+1 vote mod: Philip Muwanga's Squad Commander
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0.049507 | <urn:uuid:df1e55c8-0fa0-4c54-b21d-696590448bac> | en | 0.969656 | hide Matching Documents
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Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 7. 1 1 Browse Search
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d, where he lived until his death. He was for a time a director of the National Bank of Commerce, Boston, a trustee of the Medford Savings Bank, and selectman in 1872-73. Descended from Quaker stock, he was an earnest and active anti-slavery man, being one of those who went to Harper's Ferry to procure the body of John Brown and remove it to North Elba, N. Y. He took a prominent part in recruiting colored men for the 54th and 55th regiments. He was treasurer of the Colored School at Calhoun, Ala., and to his interest and endeavor much of its success was due. Two letters to the Boston Herald, March 1 and 26, 1903, afterwards printed by him under the titles, Why the Negro was Enfranchised, and Negro Suffrage Justified, testify to his life-long interest in the colored people. He was a zealous advocate of woman suffrage, frequently appearing before legislative committees in its defence. He believed in it as a right, and opposed property qualifications as a surrender of principle. | http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/nebrowser?id=tgn%2C2002962 | dclm-gs1-171540001 | false | false | {
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0.026727 | <urn:uuid:d86ea7c6-d2fa-452a-b38a-77b2fa01807f> | en | 0.844801 | Ramesh T A
Rookie - 294 Points (28th August 1950 / Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India)
Who has really the boon of freedom in the world?
Plants, animals, men or birds want freedom forever;
Peace and happiness everybody loves to enjoy here.
The joy everyone enjoys is not ready to sacrifice ever;
The strongest dominates to maintain its freedom ever.
Survival depends upon the favourable situation only;
Life goes on for all living beings big or small somehow.
Living on land, swimming on sea and flying in air there’s
Survival of many beings in the world striving for satiation.
Land survivors cannot live in the sea and fly in the air;
Survivors of both on land and sea cannot fly in the sky;
Living on land man can survive on sea but not in the sky;
Of all the creatures only sea gulls and albatross survive
On land, sea and sky as they only have boon of freedom!
Submitted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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• Rookie - 31 Points Leonard Dabydeen (3/10/2010 10:31:00 AM)
This prosaic read certainly invites discussion, Ramesh. If we were to juxtapose creatures for survival in the triangle of land, sea and sky - are we to feel satiated that only the 'strong' shall survive? Or is it that 'survival depends upon the favourable'? If 'sea gulls and albatross survive/On land, sea and sky as they only have boon of freedom! ', what makes other 'creatures' less favourable to obtain this position?
A thoughful write, indeed. Thanx for sharing.
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0.075498 | <urn:uuid:5a128642-e7ee-40b3-b94c-4cfca38e84a8> | en | 0.950124 | Tomb Raider multiplayer developed by Eidos Montreal
"Tomb Raider will include a multiplayer offering thanks to the hard work of our sister-studio, the hugely talented Eidos Montreal," Crystal Dynamics community manager Meagan Marie confirmed in a forum thread about the multiplayer-revealing issue of OXM. "The team at Eidos Montreal has been working away at the multiplayer while we focused everything on the single-player offering."
Eidos Montreal was behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution, though the studio has multiple teams.
Though, even if the multiplayer side is given to someone else, its very existence can still be detrimental. Spec Ops: The Line lead designer Cory Davis recently complained bitterly about shoe-horning multiplayer into the Heart of Darkness 'em up.
"No one is playing it, and I don't even feel like it's part of the overall package," Davis said. "It's another game rammed onto the disk like a cancerous growth, threatening to destroy the best things about the experience that the team at Yager put their heart and souls into creating."
Not that adding multiplayer in unexpected places cannot pay off, of course. Mass Effect 3's survival mode, for example, was a wonderful surprise, given how bizarre the idea of adding co-op face-shoots to the concluding chapter of a sprawling RPG trilogy sounded when EA announced it.
Tomb Raider ventures onto PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 5. | http://www.shacknews.com/article/77227/tomb-raider-multiplayer-developed-by-eidos-montreal/?id=29457965 | dclm-gs1-171640001 | false | false | {
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0.018501 | <urn:uuid:ee8d10e6-fc1c-4789-a5a3-7656b58a1c1a> | en | 0.901055 | The American Future
1. The American Future
2. by Simon Schama; read by Peter Marinker
3. Find this on the Guardian bookshop
In this elegantly written history, Schama elucidates America's present and the "end of plenty" through an examination of her past. With the destruction of the Native Americans likened to 20th-century ethnic cleansing, this is in no way a whitewash. The tragic irony in Thomas Jefferson's vision of a peaceful nation is all too clear.
Today's best video
Today in pictures | http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/25/audiobook-american-future-schama/print | dclm-gs1-171740001 | false | false | {
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0.13733 | <urn:uuid:1663de3d-7731-4bc2-878d-8bce127420fa> | en | 0.933559 | The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
I have watched this film directed by Sergio Leone atleast 30 times. Clint Eastwood’s epic act turned a little-known actor into an international star. It is the story of three adventurers the good (Clint Eastwood), the bad (Lee Van Cleef) and the ugly (Eli Wallach), chasing the same treasury graveyard. Throughout the film Leone created some fine shots and the extreme close-ups are impressive to this day. The music of Ennio Morricone is magnificent.
Incendies is a Canadian mysterious drama directed by Denis Villeneuve that tells the powerful and emotional tale of the voyage of two young adults to uncover the truth of their mother’s secret. An incredibly well-made movie Villeneuve knows how to use the language of cinema to craft a story. It has all the elements that a film needs to become memorable and touching.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie is an extraordinary, enchanting, endearing and artistic, French, rom-com. Amélie Poulain (played by Audrey Tautou), is a shy waitress struggling with her own isolation. Her journey to find true meaning, love and happiness paired with a good soundtrack, art direction and cinematography weaves absolute magic.
The Colour of Paradise
Art, beauty, poetry, love and loss are part of Majid Majidi’s thought-provoking film. The movie revolves around a young Iranian boy, who is visually-impaired and heads home for his vacations where his sisters and grandmother await him to show the world. However, his father is ashamed of his son’s blindness and plans to send him away. Will he realise how precious his son is?
Schindler’s List
Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List is “a fable rather than a movie”. Set against the backdrop of the darker days of the 20th Century, it unveils the incredible act of Oskar Schindler, a war profiteer and industrialist who spent his fortune and risked his life to save over a thousand Jews from the Nazis. The movie is fully crafted in black and white with only one little girl in a red coat symbolising the death of many innocents. It is a heart-breaking story, told with honesty.
Those that almost made it
Raging Bull: Martin Scorsese
Shawshank Redemption: Frank Darabont
Citizen Kane: Orson Welles
The Prestige: Christopher Nolan
Roman Holiday: William Wyler
Mervin Lourdu Raj is currently studying French at the Alliance Française of Madras and is an inveterate world cinema, film noir and Western films aficionado. | http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/my-five-mervin-lourdu-raj/article5989156.ece | dclm-gs1-171780001 | false | false | {
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0.051664 | <urn:uuid:4ce22a34-1ae3-4eca-a7c0-03acef7bafca> | en | 0.959972 | Pulp Fiction
No one puts the fun into filmmaking quite like Quentin Tarantino does. Pulp Fiction, released in 1994, is arguably his masterpiece, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential films of this generation. The movie touched a new high in the genre of black comedies and also introduced a ground-breaking element in story-telling, which comprised six stories, all inter-connected, but narrated in a peculiarly non-linear way. Unabashedly unpredictable, deeply intriguing with an ironic mix of humour and violence and containing inspired performance from its ensemble cast, Pulp Fiction is a sheer delight for any lover of the genre.
Godfather Part 1 & 2
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the first two instalments of the Godfather series were released in the early 1970s. While the first part shows how the Godfather (Marlon Brando) deals with family and professional affairs in his twilight, the second part is both a sequel and prequel to the first film, narrating how Marlon’s character had reached up to his stature and then how his son (Al Pachino) takes his legacy forwards, after his death. Both films are epitomes of remarkable story-telling and avant-garde acting. The immense love and the fan-following for the series, even today, is unmatchable.
Black Friday
Directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film is based on the book by S. Hussain Zaidi on the 1993 Bombay bombings. Black Friday was immensely controversial, especially because it names some of the famous personalities of the day and provides a graphic description of the events involved. The story is told backwards, starting from the aftermath of the blasts and ends with the build-up to the plan of attack. The cast consists mainly of lesser known actors, but all deliver impeccable performances, including Pawan Malhotra, who plays the mastermind of behind the bombings. Black Friday is a great example of fearless film-making.
The Shawshank Redemption
The film directed by Frank Darabont is a prison drama that at first received a lukewarm box office response but has since achieved a cult status. It tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker, who spends 19 years of his life in the Shawshank State Prison due to a false charge of the murder of his wife. In the process, he befriends a fellow inmate, Red, and many others and spend 19 years, dealing with routine prison troubles, harassment and corruption. A tale of preservation, human bonding and hope, Shawshank Redemption is a deeply moving motion picture experience, that stays with the viewer for days.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This mind-bending classic, directed by Michael Gondry is about an estranged couple, who have erased each other from their memory but meet later on, discover their past, and decide to attempt a new relationship anyway. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the movie benefits from a truly unique idea, terrific script and arguably, the career-best performances of Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey. It’s conceptually complicated and dense with literary allusions but is as unabashedly romantic as any movie you’ll ever see.
Those that almost made it
Vertigo: Alfred Hitchcock
Mera Naam Joker: Raj Kapoor
The Dark Knight: Christopher Nolan
Spiderman 2: Sam Raimi
Lagaan: Ashutosh Gowariker
Titanic: James Cameron
Sarfarosh: John Matthew Mathan
Ravishu Bansal lives in Thiruvananthapuram and is hoping to join an MBA programme soon. | http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/my-five-ravishu-bansal/article6085393.ece | dclm-gs1-171790001 | false | false | {
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0.019569 | <urn:uuid:b7c946f9-2b4c-4e3f-a7ff-5bfeb8d81d3b> | en | 0.966389 | World Bank set to resume aid to Myanmar
— The World Bank announced Wednesday it is prepared to resume assistance to Myanmar after 25 years. It said it is ready to provide $85 million in grants for development while also helping to clear almost $400 million in arrears from old loans.
World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Pamela Cox announced the grants in Yangon as she opened a new World Bank Group office. She said they could begin by October if the bank's board approves.
The Asian Development Bank also opened an office in Myanmar on Wednesday.
Cox and a colleague from the affiliated International Finance Corp. met with President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week. It was the first visit by senior bank officials since the country began undertaking political and economic reforms last year after decades of repressive military rule.
Myanmar's military junta handed power last year to a nominally civilian government that has surprised the world with a series of political and economic reforms, including releasing prominent political prisoners and allowing Suu Kyi to contest recent parliamentary by-elections.
"This comes at a critical time when the country is undergoing what we call a triple transition - Myanmar's moving from a military government to a more open and democratic government, Myanmar is moving from conflict to peace and Myanmar is moving from a closed economy to an open economy," Cox told a news conference in Yangon.
The World Bank said the grants would be for "community-driven development programs which will allow communities to decide whether to invest in schools, roads, water or other projects."
Thein Sein's reform program has prompted Western nations to lift or ease sanctions they had applied to the previous military government because of its repressive policies. However, several hurdles remain to more substantial World Bank assistance.
In February, the United States, the bank's largest shareholder, lifted its opposition to multilateral development banks giving limited technical assistance to Myanmar, but other U.S. sanctions still require Washington to oppose new lending, though they could be lifted sometime in the future.
Cox said she did not expect the issue of arrears to slow action on the grants. She said clearing the $397 million in arrears - which would be done though a loan covering interest that has not been paid since 1997- would not be accomplished until January, but if the board agrees the grants could be given before then.
She stressed that the bank is not forgiving the debt. In April, Japan said it would take steps to forgive about 300 billion yen ($3.7 billion) of debt and resume full-fledged development aid to Myanmar as a way of supporting the country's democratic and economic reforms.
Japan's Kyodo News agency reported Wednesday that the Japanese government will extend bridge loans to Myanmar to cover the arrears owed to the World Bank as well as about $500 million owed to the Asian Development Bank. The report did not name a source for the information.
The Associated Press
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0.04832 | <urn:uuid:6a05a136-680b-4d7f-8685-d00166e77c3e> | en | 0.961498 | - Advertisement -
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« News Home
Where are the incumbents?
By David Skolnick (Contact)
On the side
But only five people filed for the seats by Wednesday’s deadline.
And what is going on in Austintown, my beloved hometown?
Another bond issue?
1chuck_carney(499 comments)posted 1 year, 4 months ago
Let's see. Rep. Johnson is getting blamed for the Senate's intransigence.
Senator Reid has been sitting on bills sent over from the house for years. Remember it takes two to tango.
By the way little timmie ryan hasn't done anything significant during his tenure.
Suggest removal:
2GoPens(397 comments)posted 1 year, 4 months ago
Wait! Do you mean Bill Johnson has actually done something in Congress?
Suggest removal:
3Alexinytown(246 comments)posted 1 year, 4 months ago
Sorry to break up the party, but 1.) Johnson won before redistricting and 2.) Democrats would have stacked the deck with districting if they were in charge of it, let's be fair about that point. Don't go assuming this is some one sided phenomenon.
And are you really going to use Michigan as an example? Take a walk through Detroit sometime and point out some Republican policies that caused that mess. The blame lies squarely with the Democrats on that one, and even now they want Americans to subsidize their liberal lunacy by giving the city of Detroit a bailout. Too bad, my tax dollars shouldn't be going to rewarding bad decision making.
Suggest removal:
4Alexinytown(246 comments)posted 1 year, 4 months ago
Quite frankly, the electorate voted for the policies those states are adopting, as much as the electorate voted an incompetent, unqualified person into the White House. Maybe sometime before 2016 he will stop campaigning and start governing like a competent leader, but seeing as how the election of this individual has shaken my faith in humanity, I am going to hope for the best and expect the worst in the meantime.
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5redeye1(4715 comments)posted 1 year, 4 months ago
What really is crazy is how short minded liberaturds are . They are all complaining about Soc Sec. Well if they would take some time and investigate the Soc. Sec. They would find out it was the liberturds who took all the money out of the funds over the years since Johnson. Without ever paying back a cent, just giving it IOU's. But they won't because it would show them the real truth about why Soc Sec is almost BROKE. The GOP is trying to keep as much of the funds there for the people to use. But since its a problem now the liberturds think it was caused by GOP. As my dad use to say "You can T fix stupid"
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Sponsored Links: Vindy Wheels | Vindy Jobs | Vindy Homes | http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/aug/09/where-are-the-incumbents/ | dclm-gs1-171860001 | false | false | {
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0.100467 | <urn:uuid:c733cabe-13c3-40be-8dfe-0d3e042a8c9f> | en | 0.949822 | PlaystationTrophies Got a news tip?
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Conversation Between SRJB and AltruismIsDead
Showing Visitor Messages 1 to 3 of 3
1. AltruismIsDead
09-30-2010 03:53 AM
yeah sorry here as well for a late reply been busy with work and all, but unfortunately before we updated the requirements since they were old and dated (and since more games and stuff have came out) you would've gotten in. Now it's been upped to 3 working systems, 150 retail games or 75 XBLA titles.
But if you have other game collections amongst your 360 games since now we've basically been expanding to include more we could let you in, or if you still want to be in without having that, you could but the only restrictions would be you wouldn't be able to post in the official leaderboard update thread until you meet the systems/games/xbla owned requirements
2. SRJB
09-01-2010 01:47 AM
hey sorry for the late reply. I have 2 360's and only about 50 games at the moment. Is that enough?
3. AltruismIsDead
08-22-2010 07:14 PM
| http://www.xboxachievements.com/forum/converse.php?u=169174&u2=5759 | dclm-gs1-171920001 | false | false | {
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0.395221 | <urn:uuid:07c5e8f1-e2c0-48e5-bdd8-f3d90fca2f4a> | en | 0.969183 |
It takes a second to realize that the images are actually real. There's some sorta graphical magic at play that you can read about here. Or you can just enjoy all the pretty, speedy New Yorkiness and quietly long for a busy summer day. | http://gawker.com/5483684/beautiful-new-york-in-miniature?tag=showcase | dclm-gs1-172260001 | false | false | {
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0.821856 | <urn:uuid:2ca5d29b-c280-4241-b9da-3c3b5346a7df> | en | 0.885567 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Are there any open source tools for calculating the normal modes of arbitrary objects? Input would be some 3D design format and material properties, output would be movement direction and magnitude for each vertex along with frequency of each normal mode.
Commercial software such as SYSNOISE does this.
Failing that, can anybody provide advice/references on creating such a tool? (I'll publish it, I promise :p)
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
up vote 4 down vote accepted
Any physics-oriented FEM solver should do this. I have only done it with COMSOL, which is proprietary and expensive, but searching Ubuntu's repository of free software turns up at least two promising candidates: Elmer and FreeFEM. I'm trying out Elmer now.
This example seems to be what you want: http://www.csc.fi/english/pages/elmer/examples/eigenmodes
share|improve this answer
Great, thanks! Trying it now. – Forrest Feb 22 '11 at 0:03
Your Answer
| http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/5630/free-open-source-tools-for-calculating-normal-modes-failing-that-advice/5632 | dclm-gs1-172430001 | false | false | {
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0.066386 | <urn:uuid:e06f1e4c-1cfb-4767-86e4-36ab1416f920> | en | 0.888942 | Skip to content
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NCAA Men's Championship Game - Kansas v Kentucky
Charlotte lost big in the NBA Draft Lottery. You can say they only fell one space — they had the worst record, now they pick No. 2 — but that is a big fall from the nearly sure-fire Anthony Davis to a bigger risk. Who do the Bobcats take starts to shape an entire draft…
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5. T. Jones (5367) | http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/tag/brad-beal/ | dclm-gs1-172440001 | false | false | {
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0.058941 | <urn:uuid:658a1fed-7ea2-48a5-b3d8-b50c04561b65> | en | 0.958366 | You are viewing second_first
Contact info | Concrit
but no such winds blow hither
Name: Kristen
Mun Journal: mouthofbrass
AIM: MadMadPhineas
Email: kristen [at] spectrumvoid [dot] net
Timezone: MST
Any comments, questions or suggestions on how I play Rei? Leave them here or use one of the contact methods above. Comments are screened and anonymous commenting is enabled.
025 | Video
is it hard understanding I'm incomplete
[Accidental videos don't happen to Rei often. She makes sure of that by keeping her device in a drawer unless she wants to use it.
Today, though, the device is sitting on what stands in for her dresser, recording Rei at an odd angle as she looks into the mirror above the dresser. She unfolds and puts on a broken, somewhat warped pair of glasses, looking at her reflection.
Though it's hard to see from that angle, words begin to appear in red on her mirror as she looks on.]
[Rei's expression doesn't change. She picks up the device and smacks it against the mirror. Her hand obscures the camera, but there's a crack and subsequent sound of tinkling glass before the feed goes out.]
024 | Action
something like laughter
[Rei is in the music room, sitting on the piano bench while she restrings her viola. She takes her time about it, tuning each new string by ear before moving on to the next.]
023 | Video | Action
how do I kitchen?
[When Rei turns the feed on, the device is a little ways away from her, so the first thing that can be seen is her straightening and withdrawing her hand.
It is very quickly apparent that she's in the kitchen, probably baking, if the ingredients around her are any indication. She's a little messy and her expression is one of vague determination. She stares at the recipe book in front of her as though uncertain about the directions she's being given.
Why is she recording this? Well, it's either a silent invitation to come and eat the cake she's making, should she succeed in finishing it, or it's an equally silent solicitation for help, since she's never baked before in her life.]
022 | Video
I'm sleeping in my urn feeling just fine
[Rei looks at the camera for a moment when the feed starts. Behind her are branches, showing that she's up an apple tree in the orchard. It's difficult to tell from her expression, but she's having second thoughts about addressing the network.
What animals are good pets?
system breakdown imminent
This is in progress. Comment if you should be on here and I missed you.
CR chartCollapse )
021 | Action
all who go to her cannot return
[Rei is laying a trap. Walking down the hallway with a waste basket, she's leaving a trail of trash for one of the cleaning robots. The trail leads back to a fairly bare cubicle where she's laid out some tools on the desk. Her comm device is also there, and it might just turn on at different points.
Once she reaches her destination, she sits cross legged in an office chair to wait, with her feet safely up off of the floor where the thing won't be able to shock her. She sits very still and waits patiently, looking at nothing in particular. Just like any good predator.
After the robot finds its way to her, she shoves a filing cabinet over with a loud BANG! to trap the robot inside the cubicle. For a little while, she just "watches" it, but then she gets the tools from the desk and starts to take it apart by feel.]
[ooc: For action tags, just specify which part of this you're action'ing her during. Network tags are also welcome, related or unrelated to this action of the post.]
020 | Action
stabbing at the voices making me insane
[Rei is working the late late shift at a seedy diner all by herself. And by seedy diner, I mean the dining room. That somehow employs people for the duration of the event but really isn't that much different, except all gritty and film noir-y.
She'll be closing up in an hour or so, and in the meantime, she's wiping things down and getting ready. Her inner monologue is pretty quiet for the moment, focused on the mundane tasks of work.]
[ooc: Rei's monologue will appear in italics following her normal speech. But um you probably shouldn't expect her to be thinking much more than she actually says most of the time. :||||]
019 | Action
[Rei is roaming the mansion looking for Bagheera. She's carrying a slightly modified communication device tied to a thick cord in one hand and what looks like a smoothie in the other.
Occasionally she stops and just leans on the wall or sits on the stairs, drinking her smoothie and looking around.
All tags are welcome.]
018 | Video
like a flower never taught to grow
[Rei's room is much brighter than normal. An entire wall has been replaced with a view of green fields leading up to distant mountains set against a sky so blue it almost hurts to look at. The floor seems to drop off into thin air and clouds drift past, sometimes edging into the room proper.
The camera is set up on some surface opposite this landscape and Rei is standing to one side, near the edge of the floor, facing it, her face hidden by her hair and the angle at which she's standing. A breeze from "outside" the room ruffles her skirt as she stands and watches the clouds pass by.] | http://second-first.livejournal.com/ | dclm-gs1-172460001 | false | false | {
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0.837025 | <urn:uuid:fc53c4b2-f415-4fa5-a2e0-5f0ea96f861e> | en | 0.846614 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm trying to solve the problem here but I don't know why my code isn't working. Any help is appreciated. EDIT: Edited to make correction mentioned below, but there is still an extra "15" (in bold) on the second line of the output and I don't understand where it is coming from.
My output is
18662658515 555227215
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void){
int n;
int j;
int i = 0;
char mystr[15];
printf("%c", mystr[j]);
if ('A' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'C')
if ('D' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'F')
if ('G' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'I')
if ('J' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'L')
if ('M' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'O')
if ('P' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'S')
if ('T' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'V')
if ('W' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'Z')
share|improve this question
perhaps you could elucidate what is going wrong. – John Nolan May 4 '09 at 21:40
The output of my program doesn't match the output of the sample run. – Stu May 4 '09 at 21:42
5 Answers 5
up vote 3 down vote accepted
The problem is that you're iterating over all 15 characters in the input string, regardless of the length of the input. The first test case has 11 characters, but the second case has only 8. In the second iteration, you're accidentally processing the last two characters from the first input, which were 15.
To fix it, just stop your iteration when you hit the NUL character 0, which terminates the string by changing this line
for(j=0; mystr[j] != 0; j++){
share|improve this answer
Thanks. I can see why people don't like writing in C :( – Stu May 4 '09 at 22:11
For one thing, I think your comparisons are backwards. For example, you should be testing "if ('A' <= mystr[j] && mystr[j] <= 'C')".
share|improve this answer
Yup; if you're going to use the backwards comparison notation, you need to use the consistent notation. – Jonathan Leffler May 4 '09 at 21:49
It would be helpful, perhaps, to have a function between() (with apologies; my C is rusty):
bool between(char c, char before, char after) {
return before <= c && c <= after;
if (between(mystr[j], 'A', 'C')
It is generally better to use half-open ranges, where the lower limit is inclusive and the upper limit exclusive. With this, then, the last element of each test would be the first element of the preceding test, which could help you detect certain kinds of bugs more readily.
share|improve this answer
consider that you might want to compare things in the same order. Speak this out in plain english before writing code. If myLetterCode is Greater Than A.code && myLetterCode is Less than C.Code (it must be B!).
keep your letter on the left and the thing you're comparing it to on the right. Otherwise it gets very confusing very fast.
share|improve this answer
Wouldn't this be easier with a lookup table?
int numbers[] = { 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3,
... cut ...
if (isdigit (mystr[j]))
printf ("%d", numbers[mystr[j] - 'A']);
... cut ...
share|improve this answer
That is a cleaner way but I was not clever enough to think of it. – Stu May 4 '09 at 22:19
Your Answer
| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/822186/if-and-equality-statements/822312 | dclm-gs1-172570001 | false | false | {
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0.047784 | <urn:uuid:04c3f0be-6897-4b3b-aa0a-9db8686a439b> | en | 0.965741 | • Feb 4, 2009
The markets have responded to the news rather favorably, with H-D shares hitting $13.56 in trading yesterday afternoon – a 14 of its workforce. This move marks the first time that Buffet has ever invested in the company.
[Source: Bloomberg]
I'm reporting this comment as:
• 1 Second Ago
• 5 Years Ago
HD is significant short term trouble. The cruiser market in general has peaked and EU_reader is not alone in cruiser buyers seeking out other brands. Used HD are also a big problem for the company, too many bikes for sale, with too few miles. Why would a buyer interested in HD buy a new bike, even if discounted, when they can buy a 2-3 yo one with less than 5K on the odo for 50-60% less that is virtually indistinguishable from a new one?
The whole MC industry shares this low mileage used bike problem, but for HD it is particularly a problem. The other day, a MC dealer sales manager of a different brand told me that 2 of the local HD franchises are not taking trades or are only doing it selectively.
• 5 Years Ago
Could this not also mean that the new bikes are selling faster then the used inventory?
Also, dont you think that is a self-serving statement from a MC sales-person? Maybe no trades of MC and by selective they mean only HD?
• 5 Years Ago
1. Because you cant get a used HD with for 50-60% of the MSRP. The cost difference is not that significant. These are not Hondas.
2. Because HD buyers generally want to make their bike uniquely theirs by customizing it.
3. Because HD does a very good job of making each model year significant with new colors and subtle changes, that anyone in the market for a HD actually cares about.
4. Because it is difficult to get financing for a private party deal, especially now. Much easier to finance form a dealer.
5. They want a warranty.
6. The same reason people buy new cars when the off lease car is 20% less expensive. People like new stuff.
• 5 Years Ago
Can you please show me a link to all these 50-60% off 2 year old HDs? I cant find any. 2003 HD Fatboys are still $13-$16K. What other cruiser holds value like that?
• 5 Years Ago
Hmmm, not seeing this one. H-D is a dead company walking but I guess if Berkshire Hathaway thinks they can clear 15% then it's worth the $300 million gamble.
• 5 Years Ago
Au contraire, PPP! Harley owns Italy's MV Agusta motorcycles, which produces some of the most technically advanced large (the MV Agusta line) and small (the Cagiva line) motorcyles on planet Earth. The Italian technology plus the Harley mystique and fanatical customer base could possibly mean that Harleys may eventually be the only street vehicles produced in the USA by an American company. The fate of the (not so) Big Three will validate or invalidate that claim.
Waaaayyy back in the early 'Seventies, wags were claiming Harley was finished at that time, too. Harley went on the gain 52 percent of the US street bike market despite the high-quality competition from Japan and Europe. The Nethead here has never owned a Harley (I've had a Honda CB750 Four since October of 1971), but I wish those mavericks (Oops, old man/Ms. Airhead terminology--pardonez moi!) all the luck in the world!
• 5 Years Ago
This is very unlike Warren Buffet
• 5 Years Ago
Yes they lost compared to historical numbers but they are still a profitable company.
• 5 Years Ago
HD isn't dead. They have massive amounts of brand equity. They're not dead especially when you consider how low tech their products have been, and how much they keep on selling.
They could do a reverse evolution of their lineup and gradually end up with a bicycle frame and a panhead motor and still sell to the die hards.
Harley rules. All you have to do is take a drive around rural California to see how many people there are solely dedicated to this brand.
• 5 Years Ago
"But i guess that's totally different in the USA, where they like chrome, bling and a lot of noise."
Exactly - you dont really get the appeal of HD. The V-Rod is there for those like you. Nothing wrong with that but that is not really the HD formula. HD riders dont really care about performance against other brands- just performance against other HDs. Harley is a society all in itself. It is a sub-culture that the bike is only one part of. The bikes are not the most tech advanced, but it does not matter, that is not the point. With a HD you are buying into something you CAN not get with any other bike manufacturer except maybe Indian or Triumph. HD is way more than just bikes. The bike is probably only 50% of the equation.
If none of that is important to you that is fine. It is probably not the same in Europe anyway. But HD is a status symbol, a piece of freedom, a historical icon. The intangibles are what make a HD not the performance specs. HD makes very high quality bikes with tremendous fit and finish that is what is important to the buyers.
When have over 1 million people assembled for a Honda gathering? Harley owners do it a few times a year. Yes, you can go to Daytona on a MC but its not the same.
To each their own, but HD does not need to change to suit you. There have always been those out there like you that just dont get "it" about HD. It not the root of the current slowdown, the economy is the problem, not marketing, products, or anything else.
• 5 Years Ago
Obviously you're right with your analysis, so i'd have to agree with you there.
I'm perhaps not the best placed person to judge these things, coming from a totally different cultural background. Maybe over on this side of the pond we're just a bit more down to earth on these things.
If Victory can deliver a substantially more powerful and modern engine, then it's worth considering in my opinion. And I'd have no problem buying a second hand bike when it's not totally modified by some ape ;)
Over here, i'd also have financing through a bank and not through a dealership, even when buying new. There's also no problem in receiving a bank lone for a private exchange of goods.
But you're right about the subculture. I'd have to compare it with apple. You don't buy an mp3 player, you buy an iPod. And likewise, you're comparing one iPod to to another iPod when making a purchase, not even considering an alternative. I get it.
Also, i'm not debating that someone will want to pay a little more for a premium brand, so do I. (premium cars, Mac computers...)
Using your words, i guess the bike is 80% of the package over here :) Naturally, it has to look good. Enough Japanese bikes don't, I agree with that. And yes, the fit and finish on Harleys is top notch. Just a little 'busy' designwise, and looking really, really dated. When i turn up (25 years old) on a Harley Softail, my mates would die laughing :p But they might think a Victory is kinda cool. With the led taillights, flowing lines and a more modern appeal in general.
Also, i'm not totally opposed to chrome and bling :p But as always, in a perfect balance with the total package. The Raider S is also quite 'blingy', as are the victory bikes. No problem there...
Pricewise? In Europe even worse than in the USA. Tax included you'd be paying the equivalent of 20-24.000 dollars for dyna's/softails. Then afterwards you have the pricey regular dealer check-ups and service.
Price, dealer care, value for money, it's all a part of the equation :) I Have to agree that harley's maintain their value much better than other bikes.
But wouldn't you agree that when the babyboomer-generation is no longer buying HD's, that harley needs to up the ante? They need something new and exiting to complement the v-rod. The v-rod alone is not enough in my opinion. The youth of today is the Harley buyer of tommorow, and i don't see them selling big volumes with their current line-up, only selling bikes to the 'inner crowd'.
I don't mind the bling and the noise, but it's gotta be backed up with something more substantial than that. And they need an attitude change. :)
What i'm saying, you can only stretch consumer loyalty so far... No matter how much i truly like the heritage, my voice of reason kicks in :) It's starting to get really, really hard to justify that price gap (5-6000 euros), only for the badge, considering the competition (price and technology wise)
There's one HD i really like: sportster XR12000! Brilliant. And the dyna fat bob is also looking good!
• 5 Years Ago
Harley should do an electric chopper. I know, I know, totally the antithesis of Harley, they are loud and shaky. But still, I'd like to see Harley's take on electric.
• 5 Years Ago
âThis economy is certainly providing him with opportunities,â said Frank Betz, a partner at Carret Zane Capital Management, which holds Berkshire shares. âHe probably looks at Harley motorcycles as having a strong long-term demand in the marketplace.â
Harley gained $1.87, or 16 percent, to $13.73 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after earlier reaching $14.55, the biggest gain since November 2008.
• 5 Years Ago
Doubt it, and wonder how many of you ride American bikes or even care? I own, I ride. Harley will be fine, heres why. The custom bike thing was, and always is, a joke. Most of the custom bikes are unrideable. Things are done to make the bike LOOK good first, rideability sometimes is not even second. For the "thrill" of owning one of these useless thngs you can pay 60k or more. Harely starts to look good, if your after American iron, at under 20k and maybe 5-10k in accessories. Their target audience has almost always been the 40+ crowd, like myself, people who tend to have money.
In otherwords, as the custom motorcycle industry finally is dying a well deserved death, Harely will be there to catch people looking for an American V-Twin. The same people are riding Harleys that were 20 years ago and will be 20 more years from now. If they get new customers with their new custom looking bikes, improved sportster and Buell, they should ride out of this nicely.
Now, we wait.
• 5 Years Ago
"Doubt it, and wonder how many of you ride American bikes or even care?"
And how is that important? You can have opinions about cruiser bikes without resorting to pathetic patriotic reasoning. That's what HD does best, appealing to (and abusing) that deep rooted patriotic feeling, which is not the least bit relevant when motoring is concerned. It's even an insult to true patriotism, since biking is only riding around on a piece of metal.
The "you don't ride one so your meaning is insignificant" is the worst type of argument there is. If so, you can just close down autoblog.com, since not a lot of people own porsches, ferrari's, etc...
Furthermore, victory is just as 'american' as Harley Davidson, probably even more so. HD is producing lots of parts in Asia, whereas Victory doesn't. No, you confuse heritage with nationalism. If a bike is designed, produced and put together by Americans, then i would call that an American bike, even if their 'history' only spans 10 years.
I understand the american cruiser concept and spirit, even though I'm European.
But i guess that also makes me ignorant about American bikes in your eyes. Nevertheless, i respect and understand the HD brand marketing. I know all their bikes, all the engines, worked on a '42 liberator, i know my HD history.
Which makes me not buying a modern HD all the more significant.
You talk about customs. That's totally not the point here. Customs have always been a niche market for people with money to spare. I like watching American Customs on television, because the Teutuls look like a nice and warm family. But i thouroughly dislike almost every bike they make. Even if they gave me one, i wouldn't accept riding it. I'm all for rational choices and superior ride quality, not 400mm wide rear tires and bikes more than 2.5m long. They look absolutely ridiculous.
You make it sound like everyone wants a custom bike, can't afford one and that only HD will be there to jump in when the custom scene dies. Wrong. Lots of brands are there fighting for your attention and approval, for people who can put aside the HD brainwashing.
Customs will always be made, since you will always see people who do not know where to spend their money first. But that marketshare is so small, it's got nothing to do with HD, Victory, yamaha ... or whatever.
"The same people are riding Harleys that were 20 years ago and will be 20 more years from now. "
True, but that hardcore crew will perhaps only buy one more Harley Davidson in 20 years. Heck, maybe they'll even drive the one they have for 20 more years.
Besides, if i'm gonna spend 15-20k dollars, i would want the best there is on the market, and not have my judgement clouded by emotional reasoning. Choosing is all the fun in buying!
I refer to the vegas (not the jackpot!) and the Raider S. I would not consider those to be custom bikes. The ride is brilliant and not compromised by big tires, long rakes and heavy 'barn-engineering'. Alu frames, good shocks, good brakes, light bikes combined with a modern and sleek take on contemporary cruising (not 'custom'!!) is really the future for classic V-twin cruising.
If you want a new inflow of young buyers, you need other kind of bikes, it's that simple. Come on, HD has 2 valves per cylinder, what year is this? 1980?
Having a bike watercooled is also a nice treat on a warm summer day while standing still at the traffic lights.
Don't get me wrong, i'll always admire HD's, but now they're just lagging far behind.
About prices: You could argue that a porsche is also expensive, but a porsche delivers on that price and offers premium quality! HD makes you pay a premium price for 1990's technology. No thanks. I wouldn't care about the price, if they could deliver more added value than just some badge value and history. And i'm sure a lot of people feel the same way.
I'm a rational person, i'd like to shell out my euros for tangible quality and technology. Get value for my cash. As soon as Harley davidson is ready to move on, and show me what their vision on the future is, i'd be right back in the HD camp. With their current line-up, they just don't cut it. But i guess that's totally different in the USA, where they like chrome, bling and a lot of noise.
• 5 Years Ago
I have owned and ridden a Harley, OK but nothing that great. I do hope they do well, because I would hate to see Buell go down...I have owned and ridden Buells and I actually would consider buying another one...especially the 1125. Too bad the HD dealers I have been to lately pretty much ignore you when you hover around the Buells ( with out one other customer in the dealership in one instance )...bunch of tools!
• 5 Years Ago
Wow 15% is really high. They must have needed the cash really bad
• 5 Years Ago
Hate to say it, but even as an owner & a fan I would have to agree with Polly Prissy Pants on this one. The "Harley" wave ended/peaked 5 years ago. Look at the custom or large chopper business as a whole, not very promising.
• 5 Years Ago
No offense Cameron but I am pretty sure the richest man in the world has a better understanding of the fate of HD than you do. Of course HD sales are down. It is a luxury product that no one needs. The want has not changed. There are still millions of consumers that "want" the product but simply cant manage it right now or that will make do with their current model. Even those that can afford it are holding off just to see how the economy improves. Buffet knows this. The stock is depressed, exactly why Buffet, the financial genius, decided to invest.
• 5 Years Ago
Normally i would agree with you, LloydChiro
And yes, the value of the name and brand 'harley davidson' is enormous, as is the lifestyle merchandising! But i'm in the market for a cruiser bike this year, and although i've always been a longtime HD fan (never owned one, i'm only 25) it's very unlikely that my cruiser will be a HD.
It's very weird, i used to absolutely love their 'design' (*cough*), the pedigree, the lineage and history. I've got the books, someone in my family owns a '42 liberator... No other company has that same 'lifestyle', 'brand recognition' image and has appealed to me more than HD.
But now, considering their line-up, there are only three harley's i would consider buying, namely a v-rod, fat bob (dyna) and maybe a rocker (C). That's it. :s All the rest is too heavy, too old, and much too expensive considering the competition out there.
Since i've come across victory and some recent japanese bikes that just hit the mark without being hugely overpriced, my appreciation for harley has hit rock bottom.
Maybe growing up made me realise that 'heritage' is no guarantee for the present. Their bikes look absolutely dated compared to victory's bike. Victory really has a modern cruiser style for the 21 century. HD is still a beefed up panhead from the '60. Performance, reliability, clean and modern design, it's all there with victory.
In short, i'm no longer buying that 'lifestyle' crap, the marketing is all about hot air, no substance. I kinda feel like a fool for buying into it.
They seriously need to consider a new engine design with more power, maybe even watercooled. Appeal to a younger audience, because all your babyboomers already have one. Come on harley, leed the pack, like they've done with the V-Rod. That bike is spot on for all the right reasons!!
My top 3 is:
-victory vegas/kingpin
-yamaha Raider S (13500 dollar for god sake... o_0 )
-fat bob/v-rod
In that order. They need to do something about dealer attitude (arrogance), quality and appeal of their bikes, and clean up some of that untidy and dated design of theirs. Bolting a crude v-twin in an iron welded tube frame no lunger does it for me...
• 5 Years Ago
Total Cost of Ownership is generally less with a HD than other manufactures. Unless you plan on never selling your bike the extremely high resale value of HD is important. Only the V-rod sees any significant depreciation, despite being the tech marvel of the lineup.
• 5 Years Ago
The thing that gave them so many sales in recent years was that they became a life stage vehicle for boomers. Once they move on, the numbers will never come back, even if the hard cores remain faithful. Maybe the boomers will still buy them when the economy comes back and Buffet can get his money out, but it is not a bet I would take.
• 5 Years Ago
So you are basically saying that you are smarter than Warren Buffet when it comes to investing?
• Load More Comments | http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/04/warren-buffet-invests-300m-in-harley-davidson/ | dclm-gs1-172750001 | false | false | {
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0.035729 | <urn:uuid:ca67ac62-b621-4780-bef5-ef8fcb48845a> | en | 0.957537 | Viewing Review: Denon's AVR-2312CI - A Step Up? - AVS Forum
Denon's AVR-2312CI - A Step Up? Edit
by MJfromMD Combined Rating: 4.0
Pros Cons
• What it can do
• Figuring out how to get it to do it.
The 2312CI seemed the logical selection, priced at just under $600 and seemingly having the right bells and whistles to be considered a step up. I have owned it less than a week, but after spending days in calibration attempts, reading reference materials, and fearful tweaking, I think it is very close to reaching its potential. However, it bothers me that I am all-the-while attempting to match or better the previous AVR unit, instead of blowing away its memory.
The Audyessy calibration sounded like a great benefit - and perhaps it is - but I am not sure if it performs its magic to provide more accurate results (closer to reference) or just the faster path, considering the maze of adjustments required to get there manually.
I have calibrated, read, re-read, and studied the references provided on and linked to this forum, as well as the other sources from Denon, etc. (and of course, all instructions). I obeyed the advisories and theories concerning the "small" speaker configuration and LFE bass management. Perhaps my disadvantage remains to be the fact that it's all still a bit unfamiliar for me and I find it difficult to find where to make adjustments to the point of forgetting what i wanted to achieve by the time I get there. The other issue I have going against me is the definition of some settings vs their intended use.
For example, when listening to my "Hotel California" DVD-Audio disc for system evaluation, I opened the AVR "Music" menu to assure proper audio track/type. Of the choices, the "Multi-channel" seemed closest to what I expected to be correct, out of all the choices listed. But selecting it delivered some harsh, hollow, bad sounding result that hurt even the memory of what it formerly sounded like. However, selecting the AVR menu's "BD Direct" choice resulted in producing what seemed close to my desired expectation. So I wondered if the "Music Menu" isn't full of those synthesisized pre-sets that people who don't care about reference or audio quality at all select - I don't know.
The "BD Direct" probably just plays the raw PCM into the AVR's decoder - which does a splendid job when properly configured. But I haven't found where Denon's user guide explains the little (but VERY important) operational details like that. It is there - I am sure. But I just haven't been able to ascertain it yet. Maybe it's in one of those grid tables with little dots in columns, to be understood by the engineers who designed it.
It just seems easier to pick some filtered, pre-set audio mode then it is to get to the pristine or decoded-only pure sweet audio. That's all I really want! Hopefully, I will "get it" sooner or later. I drank the Denon Kool Aid years ago..... it just needs to take affect.
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DannerD3H 01-07-2013, 12:02 AM
Have u turned off the audessy EQ ??
U can doo so throug th Musik point under setup
morph99 09-07-2012, 02:34 PM
You dont know what you are talking about. And why are you listening to a DVD Audio disc in Multi Channel mode? Set the input mode to Auto and listen to it in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.
Color Accuracy:
Black Levels:
Video Quality:
Ease of Setup:
The Film / Movie:
Audio Quality:
Special Features:
Ease of Use: | http://www.avsforum.com/forum/dbtreview.php?do=view_review&id=3899 | dclm-gs1-172770001 | false | false | {
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0.020741 | <urn:uuid:acf50b2c-070b-4e9e-960c-f76cab3ef0f8> | en | 0.91697 | Free 2-Day Shipping on all orders over $50*
The Alpina DS 9 Max Racing Ski Poles rewards your strongest efforts.
Slip your hands into the Alpina DS 9 Max Racing Ski Poles' carbon weave Rabbit strap, hold tight on the cork grips and push your way ahead of the rest of your competitors on the open skate track. These carbon-shafted skate race poles help you push your limits. The DS 9 Max Racing Ski Poles' Tungsten carbide tips sink into early morning skate tracks with ease and the low-profile baskets eliminate the catch and drag as you ramp up for a sprint. Alpina's low modulus diamond carbon shafts maintain stiff torsional integrity, transferring every ounce of power from each push efficiently, allowing you to get the most out of your long-trained form.
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One Way Diamond Storm 9Max
These poles are great for racing. Pretty much the lightest poles I know of. Even though the baskets are miniscule, they are light and I haven't had any problems due to their size. The only thing I would change would be the straps. My previous poles had the Swix straps and were quite comfortable and easy to strap into. These straps are basically the exact opposite of Swix and somehow wrap around at the bottom of the hand which is just confusing and weird. | http://www.backcountry.com/alpina-diamond-strorm-9-max-racing-ski-poles | dclm-gs1-172780001 | false | false | {
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0.020974 | <urn:uuid:4f2efefb-1323-4e81-a76d-a8b7f680230d> | en | 0.930825 | Zuco 103 One Down, One Up Review
Album. Released 2003.
BBC Review
'a well worthwhile progress report for these prime proponents of Brazilian dancefloor...
Martin Longley 2004
This 2CD set combines three aspects of Zuco 103. The One Down disc is devoted to unplugged material, while the One Up spinner divides time between live numbers and remix jobs.
The trio was formed when German keyboardist Stefan Schmid and Amsterdam drummer Stefan Kruger met Lilian Vieira at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Given that these two were already running a Brazilian jazz combo, it seemed wise to induct a singer from Rio, thereby making up a fresh band. Disc 1's supposedly unplugged material still sounds fairly electric, with its Fender Rhodes piano and fulsome basslines. What Zuco really mean is that the songs are slower, more reclined in nature, and that all that blinking-light programming junk has been jettisoned!
Vieira sounds mellowed-out against Schmid's trinkling keys, unwinding a slinky, sloping funk motion. "Mo" has a chamber jazz sophistication, and "Eu Nasci No Brasil" deepens the reflective pool. By this time, Schmid has turned to acoustic piano, then "Q Baiano" makes a sudden move up to a springy, taut gracefulness, with Vieira spilling Portuguese phonetics in staccato couplets. "Voltando" is nowhere near unplugged, stuffed with samples to aid its drum 'n' bass propulsion.
This is all attractive enough, but the real substance is to be found on Disc 2's live set, recorded in Belgium. Here, the trio are operating at a frenetic pace, with Vieira audibly jumping around on stage, her vocals lusty and loud. The core trio is augmented by bass, percussion and the braying electro-skids of Sjam Sjamsjoedin's turntables. The slogging samba rhythms of "Peregrino" rush towards the accumulating breakbeat tension of "Humana", then Zuco shift into an oscillating techno vibe for "To Life", its pounding, monomaniac bass drum being relieved by pattering congas.
The remix tracks offer up a more mainstream experience, with "Treasure" and "Get Urself 2gether" approaching conventional soulfulness, although the latter is livened up by a guesting rapper Tara Chase, sparring with Vieira. It's the remix of "Peregrino" that satisfies the most, dominated by a ratcheting samba beat.
These kind of collections can often be seen as cynical record company-generated fillers between studio albums. But there's sufficient power here to the live cuts and a pleasingly seductive mood to the unplugged material that makes this a well worthwhile progress report for these prime proponents of Brazilian dancefloor fusion.
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0.087287 | <urn:uuid:cefbf93a-dea6-429f-9b3b-4c96228e2fa5> | en | 0.880169 | Morning Briefing, 13/12/2012 QR code
What is this?
This code will link to the page for Morning Briefing, 13/12/2012 when read using a QR code reader.
You may save, print or share the image. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p2x8m/qrcode | dclm-gs1-172800001 | false | false | {
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0.019077 | <urn:uuid:bd3002c9-cca1-4bdd-a537-3d3c836fd0cc> | en | 0.835697 | Email updates
Open Access Research
Integer programming-based method for grammar-based tree compression and its application to pattern extraction of glycan tree structures
Yang Zhao, Morihiro Hayashida and Tatsuya Akutsu*
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BMC Bioinformatics 2010, 11(Suppl 11):S4 doi:10.1186/1471-2105-11-S11-S4
Published: 14 December 2010
A bisection-type algorithm for the grammar-based compression of tree-structured data has been proposed recently. In this framework, an elementary ordered-tree grammar (EOTG) and an elementary unordered-tree grammar (EUTG) were defined, and an approximation algorithm was proposed.
In this paper, we propose an integer programming-based method that finds the minimum context-free grammar (CFG) for a given string under the condition that at most two symbols appear on the right-hand side of each production rule. Next, we extend this method to find the minimum EOTG and EUTG grammars for given ordered and unordered trees, respectively. Then, we conduct computational experiments for the ordered and unordered artificial trees. Finally, we apply our methods to pattern extraction of glycan tree structures.
We propose integer programming-based methods that find the minimum CFG, EOTG, and EUTG for given strings, ordered and unordered trees. Our proposed methods for trees are useful for extracting patterns of glycan tree structures. | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/11/S11/S4/abstract | dclm-gs1-172820001 | false | true | {
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0.05038 | <urn:uuid:10e8e904-e6a4-4a1f-aaae-9a4b9f020738> | en | 0.825996 | Assume that the three blocks portrayed in Figure P4.27 move on africtionless surface and that a F = 46 N force acts as shown on the m =3.5 kg block.
Figure P4.27
(a) Determine the acceleration given thissystem.
wrong check mark m/s2 (tothe right) | http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/assume-three-blocks-portrayed-figure-p427-move-africtionless-surface-f-46-n-force-acts-sho-q196935 | dclm-gs1-172900001 | false | false | {
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0.169375 | <urn:uuid:f960bbdf-6010-4fb6-badc-5ac3da422917> | en | 0.948707 |
(Source: Google)
Source: Google
Comments Threshold
RE: So what happens...
By degobah77 on 4/28/2014 2:40:34 PM , Rating: 0
Great, until the computer crashes - probably while it's crunching of bunch of live or die data, and then, BAM, REBOOT! *car flips into oncoming traffic, taking out minivans, smart cars, and hybrids, killing dozens of families that were driving just fine manually!
No thanks, I'll take personal experience and skill over a fucking calculator.
RE: So what happens...
By drycrust3 on 4/28/2014 6:46:45 PM , Rating: 2
People get drunk, they take drugs, they drive at night without their headlights on, they drive for too long without a break and fall asleep, the talk on their cellphones ... the list is almost endless. Sure computers need a reboot, but often the computer hasn't frozen completely, in which case the computer may be able to recognize it has a problem, park somewhere safe, then initiate the reboot.
Anyway, what happens when a cop doing a spot check finds an intoxicated person on the back seat of a car with no driver? "Please say your name and address ... Excuse me, are you the driver of this car?" "No Officer, I'm the passenger, a computer is driving this car".
| http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=34807&commentid=935434&threshhold=1&red=5649 | dclm-gs1-172970001 | false | false | {
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0.177257 | <urn:uuid:5955b3e3-d191-49ca-a854-31624279ae6e> | en | 0.955952 | Multiplatform Shooter MMO Announced - Defiance - PC -
Switch Lights
The lights are on
What's Happening
Multiplatform Shooter MMO Announced
Trion Worlds made waves with its debut product, Rift. Following up on that MMORPG's success, the company is creating another massively multiplayer game at its internal San Diego studio -- but Defiance is anything but a traditional MMO. This multiplatform shooter that ties into an upcoming SyFy television show breaks nearly every mold you try to fit it into.
This mission is very reminiscent of Rift's dynamically spawned public events. Entering the area prompts get a voice transmission from a mission-giving NPC requesting help against the 99ers, and groups can quickly and easily form up to tackle the challenge. Unlike Rift, however, Defiance employs WoW-like phasing technology to preserve players' places in the story. If you've completed the mission in the past and swing by the area again, you won't encounter the 99ers again -- but for another player who has yet to experience the quest, the cyborg assailants will be ready for killing.
Arkfall appears to be functionally nearly identical to Rift's rifts. You've got public groups banding together to deal with what appears to be a dynamically spawned enemy invasion, multiple stages of the encounter progressing in sequence, and rewards at the end. I don't mean the Rift comparison to be a negative one; that game's dynamic events system is the best part of a very good MMORPG.
Defiance ties into an upcoming, unannounced SyFy cable TV show. Since SyFy hasn't unveiled it yet, Trion isn't talking much about that side of the game. All we know is that the game's world and the show's universe will evolve together, where any big events in the show will be mirrored in the game. Characters from the show will also appear in Defiance, and Trion says that it's "talking about" having top players' characters possibly being mentioned in the TV show.
Defiance allows thousands of players on any of the three platforms to connect to a single server hosting a persistent open world. The gameplay is more Halo than World of Warcraft. It sports solid current-generation visuals, though nothing that compares with the Resistances or Battlefields of the world. Trion's challenge is to pull off its crazy three-platform cross-play and deliver solid gameplay. If that comes off, Defiance could be a bold step in a new gaming direction. Given the general excellence of Rift, I'm liking Defiance's prospects.
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Donation Heart Ribbon
High Diabetes Rates In National City Cause Concern
Video unavailable. Read transcript below.
Video published October 9, 2009 | Download MP4 | View transcript
Above: KPBS investigative reporter Amita Sharma examines reasons for high diabetes rates in National City.
GLORIA PENNER (Host): And now we turn to National City, which many of us know for its "Mile of Cars" This week we learn that it's also the city with the highest diabetes rate in San Diego County. Investigative reporter Amita Sharma is here to explain. Amita, that's kind of shocking to think. Why are diabetes rates so high in National City?
AMITA SHARMA (KPBS Investigative Reporter): Well, there are a couple of reasons, actually. National City is the poorest city in San Diego County. And like other impoverished towns all over this country, there isn't a lot of access to high quality fruits and vegetables. There is also a disproportionate number of fast food places, which doesn't serve healthy food, but offers food that is much cheaper. There's another reason. 60 percent of the people who live in National City are Latino. And most of them are Mexican. Mexicans eat a lot of beans, rice and tortillas. All carbohydrates which the body converts as sugar, converts into sugar. Another reason is that they use a lot of lard in their cooking... straight fat, which causes obesity.
PENNER: Obesity. Okay, what is the link then between obesity and diabetes?
SHARMA: There is a strong link between obesity and diabetes. I spoke with Dr. Athena Tsimikas at the Scripps Whittier Institute for Diabetes. And she said there is no doubt that diabetes is tied to obesity. She said if people could attain and then maintain their ideal body weight, there would be a dramatic reduction in diabetes.
PENNER: You're talking about an economic group that doesn't have access to quality foods. You're talking about a culture that's use to eating the kinds of foods you described, so what can National City do about this problem?
SHARMA: Well, there's an idea that's floating around by a gentlemen whose name is Richard Kiy. He heads the International Community Foundation that works on border health. And it's his idea, it's his goal to create a large urban farm that would grow commonly eaten fruits and vegetables. Those fruits and vegetables would then be sold at a farmer's market at affordable prices and this market would also accept food stamps.
PENNER: I'm thinking about National City. I'm picturing it. I use to live in the South Bay. How are they going to plant a garden big enough to feed all those people in National City, which is a very developed area?
SHARMA: That's a very good question. National City is all developed out. It's all built out. So, the idea is to convert this 76-acre municpal golf course into an urban farm. At least, if not all of it, part of it.
PENNER: So, what do city officials say about that idea?
SHARMA: Well, I spoke to Brad Raulston. He heads the Community Development Department, and he's all for the idea. The City already has a couple urban farms. They are thinking about converting a couple of intersections into urban farms, so he's on board. Here's more of what he had to say.
BRAD RAULSTON (Head of Community Development Department): "Essentially what we're trying to do is go back to our roots because National City was "Rancho de la Nacion" was essentially a large farm when it was created. We have an ideal climate for growing things… space. And there is definitely an argument to be made that there are a greater needs than golf.
PENNER: That sounds pretty positive to me. So, what are the chances that all of this is going to happen?
SHARMA: Well, it is, it sounds positive. There is some chance that there will be some opposition to shutting down this golf course, or at least closing part of it. Because this particular golf course offers golf at bargain basement rates and while it's not used by a lot of the city's residents, it is used widely by people who live out of town, so I think city officials are sort of girding themselves for some opposition to this.
PENNER: Well we'll see when the announcement finally comes through. Thank-you very much Amita Sharma.
SHARMA: Thank you.
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Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag
Introducing Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag
The scenic dzongkhag (administrative district) of Wangdue Phodrang is centred on the once magnificent dzong of that name and stretches all the way to the Pele La and Phobjikha valley. South of Wangdi, as it is known locally, towards the southern region of Tsirang, is the giant Indian-financed Punatsangchuu hydroelectric project. | http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bhutan/western-bhutan/wangdue-phodrang-dzongkhag | dclm-gs1-173220001 | false | false | {
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0.029052 | <urn:uuid:37e4ff33-1666-4c17-82ad-71bf46e8a49a> | en | 0.739618 | Jet Pilot (1957) Showtimes and Tickets
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0.068952 | <urn:uuid:781180b9-cbad-4acb-a55c-bf834a3f19a1> | en | 0.984605 | DSS left alone early in morning.
(23 Posts)
Bonsoir Mon 31-Dec-12 18:05:07
My DD (8) often rings my mother (in England, but the telephone is free) when we are out and she is alone with her brothers. It's good for DC to have people they can ring up for a friendly chat if they are a bit lonely - as The Fallen Madonna says, grandparents love this!
TheFallenMadonna Mon 31-Dec-12 15:34:26
Bonsoir's suggestion that your DH phone him in the mornings is a good one. My DS is 11 and has about an hour at home by himself after school. My mum phones him most days. They both love it!
brandnewbubble Mon 31-Dec-12 12:32:02
Finding a childminder or a breakfast club would be great - your DH could pay that directly if both the parents are willing to let it happen. But... I know he doesn't like being alone, and it's not ideal, but to be honest she's doing it so she can be there for hometime at school. I would agree with her that that is more important, and getting himself up, fed and dressed and to school on time speaks very well of him. I'd just reinforce how proud you all are of his responsibility, and he can call anytime.
The other stuff... offloading her feelings onto him, etc... sounds a lot more serious.
AmberLeaf Mon 31-Dec-12 12:18:50
If you are worried about suggesting carers support, maybe your DH could speak to his sons school and they could bring it up/refer him?
MrsMushroom Mon 31-Dec-12 10:20:30
I was left at this age and I didn't like it much. It didn't last long in my case as Mum saw that it made me miserable. Some kids would be fine....since your DSS is not fine, it's not ideal.
Graceparkhill Mon 31-Dec-12 10:15:09
Agree with suggestion of young carers support. Sounds like his mum will have ongoing MH issues so it would be good to get your DSS linked into supports from an early age.
I also think you could talk through scenarios with him- what would you do if you burnt the toast/ spilled the milk/ lost your gym kit and reinforce his confidence.
It might be worth reinforcing that his mum loves him and she is going to work to help support him( not to abandon him)
Smudging Mon 31-Dec-12 10:07:24
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Theas18 Mon 31-Dec-12 09:54:28
And re the money side of things I guess if he needs new shoes etc you need to get them for him rather than giving her cash? Obvious but no doubt another walking on eggshells moment.
He's lucky to have you.
AmberLeaf Mon 31-Dec-12 09:44:51
Sorry forgot to live link it/
young carers site
AmberLeaf Mon 31-Dec-12 09:44:08
Your more recent post puts another angle on it though, does he get any support from any of the young carers groups?
There are local groups too, if you google youngcarers and his local area you'll get a better idea.
GlassTrees Mon 31-Dec-12 09:34:00
I don't know Amber, that's why I asked.
But thank you all for your replies as I have been worrying about it and now have a clearer perspective on it and am seeing sense. smile
AmberLeaf Mon 31-Dec-12 09:08:37
What would you suggest she do as an alternative though?
I dont think you would get a child minder for a nearly secondary school aged child at 6:30am.
This is the reality of working single parents.
It sounds like she works really hard too.
Bonsoir Mon 31-Dec-12 09:04:20
"Is it legal to leave a child aged 10 in the house for 2 hours alone though?"
Yes of course it's legal. A parent's responsibility is to ensure their child comes to no harm - which is not the same as needing an adult present all the time.
GlassTrees Mon 31-Dec-12 09:01:29
Oh lots of replies whilst I was typing! Thank you!
I guess I will just leave it and see if DSS becomes more comfortable with it over time. Glad to know its not illegal. I also agree on the baby steps to independence thing.
GlassTrees Mon 31-Dec-12 08:57:43
Thank you for your replies. He does have a phone, but he never calls DH on it anyway. The problem is he loves his mum very much obviously, but she has MH problems (bipolar) and can be quite volatile and has massive hatred and resentment towards DH and I. She had a spending problem and had every store /credit card and ran up around £60k debt and was out if work and eventually made bankrupt, lost her house and ended up in a council flat. DH and I have a successful business and have worked very hard for what we have. DH pays a lot of maintenance for DSS (over what he should). But she is consumed with hatred and jealousy of us (evil texts to me etc) I ignore her behaviour as I don't want to get involved in her games. The thing is that she treats DSS as if he were her adult partner, offloading her feelings, hatred of us onto him etc. he knows absolutely everything she feels, he says he has to look after her all the time. He's often been neglected and she has been reported to SS twice in the past (not by us).
So this is why DSS never phones us (he doesn't want his mum to know and for her to be upset). If DH suggested paying extra for an early morning childminder (do they exist?) she would take it that he was saying she can't cope and that we are trying to take DSS off her etc etc and there would be major hysterics with it. Plus when given extra money (cash) for various reasons such as DSS needs new shoes, she has appeared the next day with new highlights and DSS has no new shoes.
When he's here he is happy, fun and lively. He becomes quite anxious and silent in the car when taken back to meet his mum. sad
I'm off track sorry. I'm sure there's not much to be done about the early morning thing. Is it legal to leave a child aged 10 in the house for 2 hours alone though?
Theas18 Mon 31-Dec-12 08:49:16
IIRC it's not illegal to leave kids home alone. However at any age parents can be liable if they come to harm.
It isn't unreasonable for a 10yr old to get them self to school etc. In my "baby steps to independence" theory kids need to be able to do this by the time they start secondary anyway (they should have the skills even if they don't have to do it) and for summer borns this means thy are only just 11 by then.
Bonsoir Mon 31-Dec-12 08:44:59
Maybe your DH could call his son every morning for a five minute chat and some kind words? Or maybe alternate with grandparents etc? I'm sure that would make a different to loneliness.
Bonsoir Mon 31-Dec-12 08:43:26
It is absolutely fine and normal for a 10 year old to be on his own in the early morning and to get up and dressed and get himself to school on foot. All children, given the choice, would prefer their parent(s) to be there in the morning to wake them, cuddle them, give them breakfast etc. But they don't always have that choice.
Can you brainstorm with your DSS to think of ways to keep himself happy in the morning? Does he put the radio on? Does he have nice cereals etc for breakfast? Maybe you could take him to the supermarket and let him look at all the options for breakfast so that he feels in control of his time?
What about buying him a phone? So he can call one of u in the morning if he feels scared ?
HarkTheHattifattnerSing Mon 31-Dec-12 08:31:39
its not an ideal situation, but unless your dh if prepared to pay for a child minder I think you need to keep your nose out of it - I very much doubt that this was her first choice, and I doubt she has many options. Being a single parent is bloody hard.
FWIW, many kids grow up as latch key kids, the difference being that they are alone at the end of school until 5:30ish. All power to the ex, she is making sure she is there for him after school.
Sorry read five not fifty blush but maybe chip in for child care?
It's not ideal but she's probably just trying to do the best she can. Out of hours child care is expensive and supermarket work won't pay enough to cover it. Is there some way that maybe you could help out financially do he can taxi to yours to get ready for school or can ur dh go over and be with him. ?
GlassTrees Mon 31-Dec-12 08:20:44
I've name changed for this but I am very much a regular poster. (I don't know why we write that at the beginning, as if it makes any difference)!
I have a DSS who has just turned 10. He lives with his mother in a small flat in a town about 50 miles away from us. We have him every other weekend and holidays (i have 2 DSs as well, one of whom is his half brother) and he is generally a happy and well behaved boy.
His mother works in a supermarket. She works shifts and most often does an early shift so she can collect her son from school at 3.30. But it means she leaves the flat at 6.30am, leaving him to get himself up, breakfast, dressed and walk to school (over 2 miles). He's capable of doing this but when he told my DH he was miserable and said he hates it and feels a bit scared and lonely.
I just wanted to ask really, is this OK? Is it even legal? This isn't about DHsX, she does her best, nor about point scoring etc, I just feel sad for DSS and wonder if we should say anything. DHsX does not speak to us and is very very hostile, so saying something would cause a big row I am sure hmm
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Leah Blum - 2 Records Found in Flagstaff, AZ
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There's more than one way to do things
by rjimlad (Acolyte)
on May 24, 2000 at 23:56 UTC ( #14651=user: print w/ replies, xml ) Need Help??
I'm currently employed working on web-based perl projects, the code of which varies from the delightful to the obscene. I'm somewhat fanatical about standards and doing things The Right Way, but that's not to say I'll discount any of the MWTDI if it's valid and demonstrably *not stupid*. Besides which, the fun part of perl is thinking 'hmmm... I wonder what syntax I'd need for this', making a guess, typing it, running it, and then seeing it actually work! I also like obscure things, so meaningless (but not per se obfuscated) things like this please me: perl -ne's/([^\s]*)/${\(join ",",map {"\"$_\""} <${1}>)}/g'
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P is for Practical
Comment on
Here's the algorithm:
use constant COL => 4; my @data = qw( 10 15 25 30 10 13 ); my @cols = map [$_], @data; while (@data > COL) { my $i = 0; my $s = $data[$i] + $data[$i+1]; for my $j (1 .. @data-2) { ($i, $s) = ($j, $data[$j] + $data[$j+1]) if $data[$j] + $data[$j+1] < $s; } splice @data, $i, 2, $s; splice @cols, $i, 2, [@{ $cols[$i] }, @{ $cols[$i+1] }]; }
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0.0503 | <urn:uuid:fc0c279b-cb67-43f1-9e5f-daaca62b7b15> | en | 0.899787 | Johnny Goyena
Rookie (Daraga, Albay, Philippines)
Could it be true?
Sometimes I think about your wish...
That someday you would write me too
The way I have written you
And though that may be a remote possibility,
I still hope and pray that someday
it would become a reality...
I wish that day would come
Sometime in the near future
Although no one really knows
What tomorrow brings
Only time can tell,
Oh, how my heart would swell!
If and when that day comes,
I hope it means that-
You've found it in your heart
to tell me things I never knew
You have made a leap of faith
You are more trusting too
You've become more open
You have more understanding,
You have finally allowed me to be
closer to you...
You have become more important to me
You and I can be together
You and I can share the best of everything
You and I are the best of friends
You and I will never part
You are there for me
as I am for you for the rest of my days...
Whatever the future brings
I hope that someday
somewhere we will meet again...
And when that happens,
it will be like-
seeing a long winter turn to spring
watching a beautiful sunrise together
welcoming the rains after a dry spell
holding hands under the starlight
making all my dreams come true
when all these things will be
possible because of you!
But even if that day wouldn't come
I would still be thankful for -
having met you in my lifetime
having known you as a true friend
having spent time together
as if there's no tomorrow
having held your hands
as if not wanting to let you go
having you in my arms
as if you were mine
having kissed your sweet lips
for that magical kiss...
Truly you have always made me feel good
and special like this...
Someday....someday... someday...
Submitted: Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Topic of this poem: love
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Poet's Notes about The Poem
'Someday' is a word that expresses hope and what could be in the future... People should never lose hope and believing in themselves.
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0.085366 | <urn:uuid:4fb50e68-aae2-4c76-875f-dc1a3963f230> | en | 0.991593 | Monday 29 December 2014 | UK News feed
Bill Deedes and that distinctive lisp
Where did Bill Deedes's famous Churchillian lisp come from? His distinctive shushing of the letter "s" was a matter that had long fascinated his colleagues. His frequent broadcast performances allowed a rolling assessment of the development of the impediment - if that is what it was - that had been captured in the Private Eye joke when he was the Telegraph's Editor: "Shome mishtake, shurely?"
There was no hint of the lisp in his childhood nor in his television appearances in the 1950s. John Butterwick, who had been an intelligence officer in Deedes's battalion in the war, noticed how his voice had changed over the years. There had been no shushing when Major Deedes was shouting orders to his riflemen. Yet when Butterwick saw his comrade on television in later years, he noticed that it was there. Butterwick thought it had been deliberately acquired.
Deedes always affected to be puzzled himself as to how the lisp developed. In a television profile by Michael Cockerell, broadcast in 1997, he was unforthcoming. He claimed that when stopped by a policeman in his car, the breathalyser was always produced on the assumption he had been drinking. "Occasionally I get abusive letters, saying 'Why can't you pronounce words properly?' I'm encouraged by the thought that Winston did it. But there is nothing I can do about it."
Some colleagues at the Telegraph rather doubted that latter claim. In a 1986 Radio 4 programme, the columnist Peter (T.E.) Utley pointed to the happy coincidence that Deedes's natural charm was intensified by his eccentricity of speech: "He slurs his 's'es. I've never known exactly why. This suddenly happened to him in middle life and I don't think it was due to any great dental operation or anything of the kind, but it has given him a great air of geniality, and of elder statesmanship."
Utley was by no means the only colleague to think he put it on, and that Deedes was fully aware that it added to his appeal as he got older.
Most likely, Deedes slowly acquired his shushing in the late 1960s, when his clipped, upper-class way of speaking fell out of fashion, even for Tory politicians: it was probably a defence mechanism against the "anti-toff" attacks from the Labour benches when he was Minister without Portfolio.
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The data showed exports had risen 14.8% in the first 10 days of March before the quake struck, but fell 9.7% for the rest of the month.
"The effect of the earthquake can clearly be seen," a finance ministry official told a news conference, adding that production had stalled. "In particular, auto exports fell significantly, and as a result, overall exports decreased greatly."
Car exports declined 27.8% in March, the largest drop since October 2009, when it fell 37.2% due to lingering weak global demand brought on by the financial crisis of 2008, another official said.
The magnitude-9 quake and tsunami, which devastated northern Japan, damaged production facilities in the region and led to nationwide supply-chain problems. The March 11 disaster also triggered a crisis at a nuclear-power plant, causing power-supply shortages.
Economists said exports would be affected for some time by the prospect of continued stalled production, and some even forecast a trade deficit in the coming months, which would further slow the world's third-largest economy.
Akiyoshi Takumori, chief economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management, said Japan is expected to report a trade deficit in April and May, assuming import growth and export decline continue at the same pace as March.
"If Japan posts a trade deficit in April and May, the [gross domestic product] is also likely to contract in the April-June period," Mr. Takumori said, adding that he estimates the April trade balance to record a deficit of around ¥14.4 billion.
While Japan managed to retain a trade surplus in March, the surplus plummeted 78.9% from a year earlier to ¥196.5 billion, much smaller than expectations for a ¥645.4 billion surplus.
Imports rose 11.9% to ¥5.67 trillion, pushed up by high commodity prices, even though crude-oil import volumes declined by 6.6%. In February, imports were up 9.9% from a year earlier, to ¥4.935 trillion.
Exports to China were up 3.8%, while shipments to all Asian countries were flat, the ministry said. Exports to the U.S. fell 3.4%.
For the fiscal year ending in March, Japan's trade surplus stood at ¥5.392 trillion, up 3.9% from the previous year.
The trade data gave a small boost to the dollar against the yen, but the gains were limited, with the dollar back at previous levels.
"Falls in exports have been expected ever since the earthquake, and that idea was partly behind the yen's weakness against the dollar and the euro" after late March, said one dealer at a Japanese bank.
The prospect of a sharply reduced trade surplus for Japan is expected to ease the stubborn strength of the yen, which has continued to gain against other key currencies despite the effects of the earthquake. Analysts have said repatriation demands for the yen by big Japanese exporters has been a key factor behind its steady strength.
The poor results echoed other economic indicators in reflecting the impact of the earthquake, which has left more than 27,000 people dead or missing.
In its monthly economic report for April, the government last week downgraded its assessment for the economy for the first time in six months, prompting a government official to say that while the economy hadn't fallen into a recession, the recovery "is now a thing of the past."
Earlier this month, in one of the first official views of the economy since the disaster, the Economic Watchers survey of retailer and service-sector sentiment plunged to 27.7 in March, from 48.4 in February. The 27.7 figure is the lowest since February 2009, when the index stood at 19.4. | http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703922504576273632350582312?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703922504576273632350582312.html | dclm-gs1-173830001 | false | false | {
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0.428236 | <urn:uuid:0ef118c5-13fd-48cd-8235-5eaab7cca901> | en | 0.936242 | Washington Proposes $1 Trillion Bailout for Delinquent Student Loans
A possible $1 trillion bailout is coming—and soon.
Ron discussed this problem last night with Larry Kudlow:
A student loan bailout will also be rewarding higher education bureaucrats for a diminished product. A college degree used to mean that a person would add on average $1 million to their income over their lifetime. Today a college degree only guarantees an average $300,000 in added income over a lifetime.
The answer isn’t a bailout. The student loan industry must to be returned to the private sector. Would a private lender ever invest $100,000 of their money in a student that had no plan? No.
It’s not about limiting access to college; it’s about making sure students have a well-thought out plan for their future before investors put a $100,000 stake in their education. College should be about specializing in a trade rather than defaulting to general studies that won’t lead to a job.
A civics education is important, but why would an employer hire someone with no applicable work skills, especially in a slow economy?
If we wish to end the incentives for bailouts, we need to hit higher education in the purse. Endless government money and bailouts won’t get our students jobs, and it won’t fix the problem.
By Ron Meyer and Celia Bigelow
Exclusive to Breitbart.com. | http://americanmajorityaction.org/blog/washington-proposes-1-trillion-bailout-for-delinquent-student-loans/ | dclm-gs1-173870001 | false | false | {
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0.057502 | <urn:uuid:ddc4c371-7dc1-4185-9a62-2c8a82492945> | en | 0.978794 | Return to Transcripts main page
Donald Sterling Slams Magic Johnson; U.S. Planes Join Search for Nigerian Girls
Aired May 13, 2014 - 08:00 ET
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome once again to NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, May 13th, 8:00 in the East.
If Donald Sterling was looking for redemption, he probably did not help his chances last night. In a CNN exclusive, Sterling took another shot at Magic Johnson, if you can believe it, questioning his place as a role model and how much he thinks Johnson's done to help the black community.
NBA's commissioner is responding, responding quickly, making it clear that he won't stand for Sterling's remarks. Despite his apologies, Sterling made things worse for himself.
DONALD STERLING, OWNER, L.A. CLIPPERS: Here is a man who -- I don't know if I say this. He acts so holy. I mean, he made love to every girl in every city in America and he had AIDS. And when he had those AIDS I went to my synagogue and I prayed for him. I hoped he could live and be well.
I didn't criticize him. I could have. Is he an example for children? You know, because he has money, he is able to treat himself.
But Magic Johnson is irrelevant in this thing. What has he done? Can you tell me? Big Magic Johnson, what has he done?
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC360": Well, he's a businessperson. He --
STERLING: He's got AIDS. Did he do any business -- I like -- did he help anybody in South L.A.?
COOPER: I think he has HIV. It doesn't actually a full-blown AIDS.
STERLING: What kind of guy goes to every city and has sex with every girl and then he catches HIV? Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about?
I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background. But what does he do for the black people? He doesn't do anything. You call up and say, well --
COOPER: He's opened a lot of businesses in inner city neighborhoods.
STERLING: The Jewish people have a company and it's for people who want to borrow money with no interest. They want to give them a fishing pole.
We want to help people. If you don't have to money, we loan it to you. If you don't have interest, one day you will pay us back.
I'm just telling you, he does nothing, it's all talk.
COOPER: Are you saying that African-Americans don't contribute to African-American communities as much as Jewish people do?
STERLING: There's no African-American -- never mind. He's a good person and he -- what am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don't think so.
But I'll say it. I'll say it, you know. He's great. But I -- I just don't think he is a good example for the children of Los Angeles, that he would go and do what he did and then get AIDS. I mean, come on. Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people.
And some of the African-Americans, maybe I'll get in trouble again, they don't want to help anybody. What has Magic Johnson really done for children's hospital? Which kids are lying in the hallways? They're sick. They need a bed. What has he done for any hospital? What has he done for any group?
I don't know. Maybe he's done a lot.
CUOMO: Let me guess. You're shaking your head right now, right? So was the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver who responded to Sterling saying, quote, "I just read a transcript of Donald Sterling's interview with Anderson Cooper, and while Magic Johnson doesn't need me to, I feel compelled on behalf of the NBA family to apologize to him that he continues to be dragged into this and be degraded by such a malicious, personal attack. The NBA board of governors is continuing with its process to remove Mr. Sterling as expeditiously as possible."
I want to bring in .AC. Green. He's a retired NBA player, a great at that, and a former teammate and friend of Magic Johnson.
A.C., the first thing to get to this morning is that Shelly Sterling, obviously, the estranged wife of Donald, spoke this morning about what she thinks about what her husband had to say about Magic Johnson. Let's play that for everybody.
SHELLY STERLING, ESTRANGED WIFE OF DONALD STERLING: He's not the man I know, or I knew. There's something wrong. I really think personally, he has dementia. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some people look at that and think, maybe you're making excuses for him.
SHELLY STERLING: No. I don't make excuses for anybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you shed any light on what he said about Magic Johnson?
SHELLY STERLING: Why would he bring Magic Johnson into the issue about what's happening now? I mean, that's where I feel pity, because he couldn't get all the dots together. He couldn't connect the dots.
I'm very angry, and I'm very hurt, and I've even cried listening to that, because I just feel bad.
CUOMO: What do you make of that, A.C.?
A.C. GREEN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Well, I feel bad, too, at what Mrs. Sterling is saying, I echo her comments.
I don't necessarily know Donald Sterling like a personal friend but I tell you what, the dots are definitely not connecting. I am appalled by just hearing the statements that he made about my friend Magic Johnson, my former teammate. And talking about behavior that was 20- plus years ago, obviously, the man is totally changed. He is everything that Donald Sterling was saying he's not doing, public will tell you that Earvin "Magic" Johnson and his wife Cookie are doing in various communities across our country.
CUOMO: Well, look, I think the good news is, to few people, this has anything to do with the truth, it has just to do with this one man, Donald Sterling. Notably, to actually blame Magic Johnson for his fight with HIV. I haven't heard anything like that in 20 years. Have you?
GREEN: No. No, I haven't, and that's exactly the point. I mean, I think there's the just -- there's something haywire upstairs in Mr. Sterling's mind. So his reality is definitely clouded.
You know what? If anyone needs pray right now, it is Mr. Sterling who needs it, because no one really understands what's going on in his mind. I mean, I think the gentleman, what I understand, is pretty much living, quote/unquote, "in a box" in Beverly Hills feeling he can't come outside of his own home because of what the public really feels about him at this point in time in Los Angeles.
CUOMO: He just made the worst case for himself that he could, probably. Let me ask you. You know Magic. Is there any chance along allegation, a suggestion without proof, right? And Donald Sterling makes one.
GREEN: Right.
CUOMO: He seems to be suggesting that magic somehow knew this woman in his life and somehow got him to be recorded and baited and to say these horrible things in some type of gambit, maybe to help get access to the team.
Do you have any reason to believe any kind of scheme like this is existing?
GREEN: That is such a farfetched story. I mean, if Magic really wanted to go and try and buy another, another sports team, let alone the Clippers, I don't think he's going to have a problem doing that as Mr. Adam Silver has said, he's a friend of the NBA, a lifetime friend of the NBA. He can make that call to the commissioner and find out what team is available, and if it happens to be the Clippers, it happens to be the Clippers.
He doesn't have time for that petty type of stuff to really go on and try and come up with some concoction to take the Clippers away? I mean, that really doesn't make any sense.
CUOMO: To your knowledge, does he have any type of relationship with Donald Sterling to say, be quiet about this and I'll help you out. Just be quite for a couple of weeks. To your knowledge, do they have that kind of relationship?
GREEN: Well, I think there's a business relationship and a mutual respect for the things that they've done and what they're trying to do in L.A. itself. But I'll tell you what, I can see Magic reaching out to Donald Sterling and trying to help him and trying to understand the situation.
But I'll tell you what I also think. I think once he found out exactly sort of what has been said and assess what the damages really were done at that time, I wouldn't have called Donald Sterling back either.
CUOMO: And, you know, so if anything, he would be reaching out to help, but you don't think he was in any way plotting against Donald Sterling?
GREEN: No. I have -- there's nothing within me that would think magic would ever think about plotting against Donald Sterling. That's just ridiculous, honestly.
CUOMO: Now, your friend has tweeted, look, I want to talk about the playoffs. After this, I don't want to talk about Sterling anymore. How wounded is it to be reminded of his fight with HIV? Obviously, a life or death struggle and to be talked about this way by an owner of the NBA.
What impact do you think it has on Magic John Johnson?
GREEN: You know, look, Magic's a successful father, husband, businessman, respected figure in our community as well as just across this world. And to have at the same time, really, a colleague, someone that you do respect, because you have to go to battle with, you, in a sense, you do some similar things in the community, but to have someone say -- that you have a sense of relationship and a level of respect for say something like that, I mean, honestly, that is so far below the belt that I know Earvin well enough, that he can forgive him and he will forgive him, he will move past this but this is a call for a low blow and, like I said, it has no merit whatsoever.
So why would a person have to dig up something so many years back that has no relevance to 2014? I just don't get it, but then again, no one gets Donald Sterling these days.
CUOMO: One thing we know for sure for all the questions raised by this interview is that, if Magic Johnson or anybody else wants to buy the Clippers, it looks like it will be available.
A.C. Green, thank you very much for joining us. Pleasure to meet you.
GREEN: Thanks, Chris. Appreciate your time.
CUOMO: Oh, yes.
All right. So, Magic Johnson, obviously, unfortunately forced into this situation. What is his actual take? You heard from his friend right there. You're going to get to hear from him directly. Anderson is going to sit down with him in a CNN exclusive with the NBA legend tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on "AC360."
BOLDUAN: Turning now to a stunning scene at a home in New Hampshire as it literally explodes and it happened on live TV.
The blast coming just moments after a deadly shoot-out with police. Now authorities are trying to simply figure out exactly what happened here.
Don Lemon has been taking a look at it -- Don.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You look at that video, it is unimaginable and happened in the town of Brentwood, about 25 miles from Manchester, New Hampshire. Police were dispatched to investigate an altercation between a father and his son.
LEMON (voice-over): This violent explosion tearing through a New Hampshire home is leaving police puzzled and adding to the mystery just moments before the massive explosion -- a man in the home shot and killed a police officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just felt the explosion. We looked at each other. We really got to get out of here.
LEMON: Officer Steve Arkell was responding to a call of domestic disturbance when authorities say Michael Nolan fatally shot him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers arrived and a short time later the home was engulfed in flames and then exploded.
LEMON: According to neighbors, Nolan lived in the home with his father. Neighbors also saying that a loud argument could be heard before the blast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could see our house. We saw the explosion go up and stuff blow over to our house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not only did we hear it, we saw it simultaneously. Very frightening.
LEMON: The cause of the fire and explosion are still unknown. A frightening scene leaving this neighborhood on edge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the cops came, SWAT team, people there walking around house with machine guns. It was just scary, scary, scary.
LEMON: Frightening.
Well, police believe the suspected shooter died in the fire. Officer Stephen Arkell leaves behind a wife and two teenage daughters. It's an awful story.
BOLDUAN: Awful story and important to rep the family left behind. Thanks, Don.
CUOMO: Coming up on NEW DAY, American planes and technology, part of the mission to get back the girls kidnapped in Nigeria. Meanwhile, new video of them just released. We're going to show it to you as well as the calls for their release and asking for negotiations by the men holding them.
LEMON: Well, in a terrible situation, there is a little good news. The United States is front and center in the search is for nearly 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. American spy planes are now in the skies over Nigeria hoping to somehow find a spot to zero in on a location the girls may be and help determine whether it really is them in a new video that was released by Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian army arrived in the town where the girls were taken.
Let's bring in Vlad Duthiers. He's live from Abuja, Nigeria, this morning.
What's the latest, Vlad?
Well, in addition to the U.S. assets you pointed out that are helping with surveillance, with reconnaissance, they're also going to be doing some intelligence gathering and even providing hostage negotiation techniques for the Nigerian government. We're learning now after speaking to parents in Chibok, that a group of military officers arrived in the town yesterday, Monday -- eight pickup loads of them in the town. A lot of residents still not trusting the military will be able to get the job done on their own but this is a welcome sign.
In addition to the startling video released yesterday, which purports to show not only the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, offering to negotiate with 100-plus girls you also see in the video, which he says of the girls that he's kidnapped. Nigerian government, Chris, are saying that they are prepared to look at all options to secure the release of these girls -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: Vlad, thank you so much.
Let's continue the conversation and let's focus on the video and how to get those girls back.
With me once again is retired Army Major General James Spider Marks, a CNN military analyst, and, of course, former commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center.
Spider, let's lay ought, once again, where we're talking and why it poses such a challenge to finding these girls, not only talking a month later.
We're looking at a map of Nigeria. The two capital cities, Lagos, Abuja, and the town where the girls were all taken from. Where is the Boko Haram influence greatest? Is it all over Nigeria?
MAJ. GEN. JAMES MARKS (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No, it's not all over Nigeria. Now, certainly, when you talk about influence, it's only presence, where is their presence but also where is their influence, their ability to touch.
BOLDUAN: The fear of them.
MARKS: Absolutely. That's all over Nigeria.
You got it, and, in fact, it is expanding throughout the world right now. We're talking about it.
But in terms of physical presence, it's primarily in what I would call kind of the upper two-thirds, most importantly in the Northeast, which is really the desert region of Nigeria, as compared to what you see along the coast, which is the oil exploration takes place. This is an area that would be entirely easier to get to in terms of intelligence collection, because it's not forested. You're not down there on the coast where there's some natural cover.
So, this is an area where we can gather good intelligence and we can acquire that intelligence through technical means which is what we're doing now. It's a layering effect. We have satellites, we have air breather aircraft, we have UAVs, drones that are being flown.
The key issue, Kate, at this point is to try to get some sources, some folks on the ground. Not U.S. folks but indigenous, locals, that are willing to risk getting up into that area to further build the picture of what's taking place.
BOLDUAN: Because as you look at the map, you can also see why there is a big concern amongst, especially U.S. intelligence officials, that the girls have been not only split up, but also maybe moved into the neighboring countries. Chad, Cameroon, Niger, right?
MARKS: Absolutely correct. These are -- there are borders that are established, they're not well-recognized or certainly policed. If the United States was going to do anything, we have a presence in a number of neighboring countries, and if we were going to try, if we had the authorization, the good intelligence and we had the authorization --
BOLDUAN: Let's show that presence. These are specifically some of our main bases where we have drones that can help with that aerial surveillance.
MARKS: Correct and that's exactly right. We have presence, reship, able to operate before. If we were going to do something in northeast Nigeria, we wouldn't do it. We wouldn't stage from southern Nigeria. You go to some place like Chad where you come across the border very quickly, do something precisely.
Intelligence is fleeting. We don't want it to be late. So, if we have a good picture what's going on we want to act as quickly as possible.
BOLDUAN: And you were mentioning before, it's not only important to have the drones in the air, to have the aerial surveillance to try to find the girls, or some indication where, their captors, but also to have eyes on the ground to corroborate them?
MARKS: Absolutely correct. You never want a sole source of intelligence, Kate. You want to verify it through other means.
Clearly, the best and most precise picture we're going to paint if it has all of these different forms of intelligence, human intelligence, imagery intelligence to get from satellites. Signal intelligence. These folks communicate. You want to be able to break into signals and break it down and get a better sense what they're doing.
BOLDUAN: Let me all -- when you take all of this into account, Spider, let me get your take on the fact Nigerian officials have said everything is on the table what they'll do and can do to get the girls back. We know that in the video where we finally saw some of the girls we believe for the first time since they've gone missing, the supposed leader of the group said also, you're not going to see them again until you release our brothers that you have captured.
But then top of that, layer in the United States as policy does not negotiate with terrorists. Does that pose a problem for our involvement --
MARKS: Oh, sure.
BOLDUAN: -- in this search?
MARKS: Well, first of all, yes. Short answer is, yes. The United States does negotiate with terrorists. We can qualify that.
MARKS: But this is the Nigerian government negotiated --
BOLDUAN: This is their deal?
MARKS: This is absolutely their deal. The United States is in a support-type role but we have great capabilities that we bring forward, and the key thing not only is the intelligence, but with our Special Forces presence, albeit a small group of folks, they have what's called a command and control capability where they can fight beyond their weight. There are more capabilities that can are brought in and controlled by that small group of incredibly talented young Americans, that would really help clarify the situation on the ground.
But any time you're talking about a hostage release, it really is a matter of weighing the risk. You're going to give something up, get something in return. If you have incredibly grotesque people coming out of jail, we know immediately what they're going to -- this is recidivism. They're going back to their bad behavior and they're going to go join the ranks of Boko Haram. That's not a good outcome.
BOLDUAN: That's not a good balance. But these girls' lives hang on the balance as well.
MARKS: Absolutely.
MARKS: Yes. I mean, we all are on the same page on that.
Spider, great to see you. Thank you so much.
The focus should remain, of course, on how to help these girls and how to help girls all over the world. How can you help? Go to CNN.com/impact. You can do your part.
CUOMO: All right. Thanks for getting the word out, Kate.
Coming up on NEW DAY, music's first couple hits a sour note. What had Beyonce's sister trying to pummel Jay-Z? Good thing their bodyguard was there. We're going to show the video and see what you make of it. | http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1405/13/nday.05.html | dclm-gs1-174130001 | false | true | {
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0.039614 | <urn:uuid:da7eae16-26a1-41de-a246-cad0a86a21dc> | en | 0.962795 | Pleasanton Weekly
News - February 15, 2013
Five rescuers get commendations for saving a life
Doctors said victim has less than 10% chance of survival without help
by Glenn Wohltmann
Police Dispatcher Teri Stewart received a 9-1-1 call from a woman reporting her 53-year-old friend male was suffering from a possible heart attack, just before 9 p.m. Jan. 19. As the woman attempted to perform CPR, dispatcher Brandy Medeiros sent Officer Lisa Cavellini, Officer Jeff Grave and Sgt. Joseph Leonardo to the location.
Within two minutes of the call, the officers were on scene and assessing the victim. Cavellini immediately began CPR, while Grave deployed an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and Leonardo performed rescue breathing.
The shock from the AED restarted the man's heart. By the time he was in an ambulance en route to the hospital he was coherent and talking. Two days later he was released from the hospital with no residual effects or complications.
Doctors determined the man had suffered a massive heart attack and had it not been for orchestrated efforts of public workers, he would have had less than a 10% chance of survival.
The five involved in the rescue were formally commended Feb. 6 by Chief Dave Spiller.
Every patrol vehicle in the Pleasanton Police Department's fleet is equipped with an AED and all officers receive regular training in CPR and advanced first aid. The department encourages everyone to learn CPR.
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Comment Re:Not just a problem for mobile browsers (Score 1) 117
And no, I do not feel the need to spend $1500 on a new machine just so advertisers can serve me up more ads faster.
Or you could uninstall Flash and Java. That would be free.
Why uninstall software they might need? Much simpler and more effective to simply refuse the ads.
Of course, what I would really like is an ad-blocker that still "hits" the page (so the owner gets credit), but simply blackholes the image/video instead of displaying it. (I'm firmly in the camp of "my browser does what I tell it to do, not what you tell it to do")
Comment Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score 1) 447
If what I say is untrue or grounds for harassment there are already laws in place to deal with that (as the GP suggested, that's what libel laws are for), but you would (as far as I understand such things) have to sue me for making the untrue statement and not my web host for enabling me to distribute it.
There may be grounds if the "web host" is putting ads on the site and therefore profiting from it.
After all, that's the real play they're making here - it's not Yelp, it's an extortionist version of Facebook or LinkedIn, where you'll need to regularly log in (and look at their ads and such) in order to make sure your next employment interview doesn't bring up some puppy-drowning incident you've never heard of before that moment.
Comment Re:Surprised "The Power of the Daleks" was lost (Score 1) 79
You know, I had a friend in Canada who swore blind he saw 1960s episodes broadcast that are now missing but when this was mentioned to the upper echelons of Dr.Who fandom, we were told it wasn't true, his memory was faulty, or that he was wrong. The man is sure he was right, but to those of Fandom Royalty, it seemed to be much effort to check the basis of this story. It was much easier to label it as "rumour" or "wrong."
And it's entirely possible that he's right - a lot of the lost episodes are being found in the archives of foreign television stations. So it's not impossible that the network *did* air it, and then did whatever you do with old shows you didn't care about pre-reruns.
Comment Re:They Never thought he had a bomb... (Score 1) 361
No. . Being a minor is not enough. The cops can and have questioned kids before. No Miranda does not say anything about it until the boy was under arrest. Being questioned - even if detained - does not equal under arrest. You are never under arrest when getting a speeding ticket but you are detained and often questioned.
Of course, you're also not required to answer questions unless you're under arrest. (See the classic "Don't Talk To Police"). And the child was obviously not free to go. So something is still wrong here. And it still doesn't answer why they didn't allow him to call his parents.
As for fake bomb. The first teacher he showed it to told him not to take it around school because it looked like it could be a bomb. My guess is that it actually looked like a bomb until you examined it closely.
Which is still on you, not him. And it begs the question of "where was he supposed to put it"? Is anyone going to claim that this would have went better if it was found in his locker?
But all this still misses the key problem - no one has shown any hint that this kid, at any time, intended this clock to be interpreted as a bomb. We can dissect the relative merits of a teenager's mechanical aptitude, judge his family life, and cast doubt on his character - but that doesn't change the fact that faking a bomb threat does, by definition, require claiming, hinting, or otherwise acting in a manner consistent with the idea that you have a bomb.
Comment Re:Silly story... (Score 1) 361
Now what evidence do you have to refute the fact that the kid is a fraud?
The fact that he's fourteen, and people seem to be forgetting that in junior high, being able to disassemble and (correctly) reassemble a COTS device is actually a bit ahead of the curve in most schools? It's junior high - most kids have never seen the inside of their Xbox, much less know how to do anything with it.
I'm not saying let's give the kid a Nobel. Hell, let's go one step further and take your idea - the kid is a total fraud who patched together something to brown nose a teacher. Last I checked, that wasn't cause for suspension and arrest. So *at worst*, he's the equal of every parent who does their child's science fair project so Little Timmy looks awesome.
Putting it that way, maybe we should be making more arrests...
I've looked and looked. I cannot find anything saying due process required parents outside of tv shows.
He's a minor. And if that's not enough, then Miranda says he should get a lawyer. But what you have is a combination of the police questioning him and the school not permitting him to leave (or call anyone). And I'm sure when the inevitable lawsuits come, the story will be that the school wasn't questioning him, and the cops weren't preventing him from leaving - while dismissing the reality that you've now confined someone without due process. And that still ignores the question of "why isn't the school calling the parents". Isn't this a disciplinary issue?
And you should investigate this a lot better. No-one started freaking out when he brought it to school. He showed two separate teacher- one of which said not to carry it around because it looks like a bomb. It wasn't until several classes latter that it went off in a class disrupting it while he opened the case and turned the alarm off. This is when he was asked why he still had it with him. The principal remembered suspending his sister for uttering a bomb threat and called the law reporting a fake bomb. The cops asked him why he had it and he refused to say anything so they arrested him.
I know , the real story is not as inciting as the popular narrative. But as far as i can tell, That's what happened
No, this still smells like BS. How is it a fake bomb? At any point, did this kid do *anything* to suggest, hint, or otherwise indicate that he wanted people to think he had a bomb? Or is this just another case of a school deciding that pop tarts in the shape of Idaho are a clear and present danger?
Comment Re:Silly story... (Score 1) 361
Well first of all, someone could have manufactured it for him. People have used little kids to give bombs to soldiers in war zones before - sacrificing the life of the child who didn't even know they were going to die. And secondly the GP was indicating that there was nothing in the box but electronics and therefore could not be a bomb. That's obviously not true.
And now we're adding "the US is a war zone" to the list of assumptions, along with "there's a mastermind and this kid is merely a pawn in his Dark Machinations", except that our mastermind is an idiot because he gave the "bomb" to the kid and told them to show it to the shop teacher. Also, since the school at no point reacts in a manner consistent with a suspicion that it was, is, or could possibly be a bomb, it doesn't matter that there could have been a Sooper Sekret Explosive there, because they didn't act in any manner consistent with such a concern.
Of course the kid couldn't manufacture a bomb. He couldn't even manufacture that clock. It was pulled out of an old alarm clock and that is obvious from the pictures. The fact that he clearly didn't manufacture anything DOES suggest to me that the kid was obviously up to something. Since it wasn't for a homework assignment, what exactly was he trying to accomplish?
Is there a reason we don't believe the answer he gave - that he was showing off to his shop teacher? (I think you may be underestimating the average electrical know-how of a junior high kid, by the way.) And that also begs the question - even if he's a complete suck up and show off who didn't do anything noteworthy... since when did that justify what happened to him?
His parents and attorney are distractions at this point. If a cop catches someone with a gun whether real or imitation, he can ask what the kid was planning to do with it without either. He wasn't under arrest until he failed to answer which gave suspicions of illegal intent. It seems that he even now needs prodding to tell the story if you believe Mark Cuban 's story.
No, they're due process at that point. He's at school and he's a minor. If you're going to call cops, you should be calling parents at the same time.
Also, what story do you expect this kid to have? He brought a clock to school, and everyone lost their freaking shit. They asked him what it was. He said "it's a clock". They said "you're lying". What else can this kid say? He's locked in a room, they won't let him call his parents - buttoning up was probably the best possible result for him. Hell, he did better than I would have done at his age.
Comment Re:Silly story... (Score 1) 361
Plain out-and-out racism and denying this kid his civil rights.
You have specific evidence that he was singled out because of his race? Or is that your own bias showing?
If so, why then so much less outrage & support for the kid who pointed a chicken finger at another student, or the pop-tart gun kid, or the kid who wrote a story about shooting a dinosaur? I don't think any of them got invited to the White House.
Well, chicken finger kid got a suspension and sent home for the day. Pop-tart kid got a suspension. Only the Dinosaur Hunter (who interesting, is also the only other teenager on this list) got arrested. And Dinosaur Hunter (in theory) actually *did* talk about guns in school.
So for why, I'd give a couple reasons:
Clock Kid didn't even *do* the thing he's accused of. Which moves us up a rung from "massive over-reaction" to "teachers and cops are just making shit up".
There's some escalating reaction from the community as things just get dumber. Dinosaur Hunter's article even references PopTart. So, every time we hear about this sort of stupidity, you get just a bit *more* angry - which we should, because it gets harder to write it off as "oh, just an isolated incident / overzealous teacher".
To be a bit cynical and flippant for a moment, Dinosaur Guy was doing a creative writing exercise, and no-body cares about liberal arts in America. Meanwhile, Clock Kid may be a case of chasing away a potential STEM graduate (you know, future of the nation, shortage in the country, etc etc).
Also, he's getting a lot of attention from geeks who are watching this and thanking our lucky stars that we didn't grow up in this period. Half the stuff the teachers had us do in school in the 90s would get us arrested these days, I'd think.
Comment Re:Silly story... (Score 1) 361
Except maybe a bunch of bare electronics in an otherwise empty box.
Perhaps. I'm not saying that this high school kid had what he needed to do this but I am certain that someone who can manufacture C4 could also make said C4 fit inside the lining of an otherwise empty box. And yes, his box did appear to have a liner.
Also, we've now added "manufacture of explosives" to the skill set of this kid, while leaving out "how to write ransom demands" or "being smart enough not to carry an explosive on your person all day". Not to mention that we've now created a scenario where the school can recognize that C4 could be hidden inside this box (meaning IT COULD BE A BOMB!1!), but is either (a) smart enough to see that there *isn't* C4 present (and thus there's no need to evacuate), or (b) is too stupid to live, because they *didn't evacuate the school in the presence of a possible bomb*
Simply put: if we're going to say "oh, there COULD have been a bomb there", then we also need to ask "if they thought there could be a bomb, why didn't they follow procedure and evacuate?"
So what was it's purpose and when did he tell them? What is not true again?
He told the teacher in class, the principal at school, and the cops before they put the cuffs on him to take him away for interrogation. And "interrogation" was the word the police used, no Ahmed.
This is a good time to mention that the kid asked for his parents to be called, and they refused. And then interrogated him, without the presence of either his attorney or his parents. It's not too far a stretch to suggest that being hauled into a room and being denied the opportunity to leave or call anyone is throwing distance to straight up unlawful confinement.
(Not to mention, I haven't heard a reason *why* the school and cops decided that calling a minor's parents was such a terrible idea.)
They never claimed it was a bomb. They claimed it was a bomb hoax.
Which is an interesting statement, since to date no-one has said that the *kid* was the source of a bomb hoax. He didn't stick it in the washroom. He made no threats. Which makes me wonder - exactly how is someone mistaking a clock for a bomb the fault of the kid?
I mean, what they're trying to tell us is that this kid made a fake bomb, that he didn't tell anyone about, didn't place, and kept on his person the entire time. So... are we supposed to believe that he's a really shy faux suicide bomber?
Comment Re: Police? (Score 1) 370
To dox someone with a phone book I need to know something about them. A phone number, a name, a place. At least one of those. Then I need to get a phone book for their area.
Or you simply call directory assistance and get the number from the operator. Seriously - it's hilariously easy to get help finding a number. I used to do it for university fundraising.
Doxxing on the Net is completely different. It's a person taking someone is is mostly anonymous and presenting that information to millions of people at once via a quick-n-ease form. Then those people can harass the victim in multiple ways, not just by mail and phone, but also on social media, find connections to their peers and harass them too, bother them by e-mail, swap them, etc.
Anyone who thinks looking someone up on a phone book is even remotely similar to doxxing obviously hasn't thought about how different the situation is, even for a second.
The difference is twofold today. One, it's easier to disseminate the info - once one person has done the legwork, it's just a post and everyone has it. Two, people can hide behind *their* anonymity to harass you from a distance, which makes them bolder (and lets more people do it, because they're too lazy to drive over and egg your house).
Doxxing is a problem; it's just not a *new* problem. Like patents, it's the same problem with "on the internet" attached to it.
Comment Re:That's OK (Score 1) 85
Another possible solution is to remove the perks of being a cabinet minister. You're supposed to be there serving your country; why do you need a raise? If the money is why you're there, then go back to the private sector.
To be clear, this is separate from the budget needed for the department to do it's job - obviously the PM has some travel requirements that the typical MP doesn't. But I think every MP, regardless of position - government, opposition, leader, minister, backbencher - was hired to be a Member of Parliament, and should be paid the same accordingly.
Comment Re:What is there to disassemble? (Score 1) 956
To call in the police? Absurd.
Well, I'll begrudgingly spot the teachers on calling the cops - I don't expect an English teacher to recognize electronics. (I do wonder where the science teachers were during all this, though.)
But I would expect four police officers, among them, to know enough to recognize a bomb. Or more properly, the absolute lack of one. And I expect those teachers, once informed that the kid is right, it's a clock, there is nothing boom inside it, to have the honesty to admit that the kid did not threaten anyone, and never claimed it was a hoax bomb or any such shit. Yes, you don't know, call someone who does. But don't suddenly decide that it's the kid's fault that you didn't pay attention in science class.
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Stooge Fans' I.Q. Test!!
Think you can get 100% on this? These are all questions from my book "The Stooge Fans' I.Q. Test."
In what 1941 movie did this dialogue appear:
"I haven't seen you around."
"I ain't been around."
"In stir?"
"I was a victim of soicumstance! The D.A. framed me for not knowin' I was guilty! Ain't that a coincidence!"
a) Shadow of the Thin Man
b) Fat Chance, Your Honor
c) Dizzy Detectives
Which of these is real?
a) Shemp Hill, North Carolina
b) DeRita Butte, Montana
c) Besserville, Arkansas
In their first short, Womanhaters, the Stooges didn't use their familiar first names. What were their names in this film?
a) Manny, Moe and Jack
b) Jim, Joe and Jack
c) Hit, The Road and Jack
Moe wrote the first draft of Punch Drunks, the Stooges' second Columbia short. What were the names he chose for himself, Larry and Curly?
a) Moe, Larry and Curly
b) Bangs, Fuzzy and Curly
c) Prune, Broccoli and Onion
5. Moe used the terms "idiot," "imbecile," and "moron" interchangeably. But they don't mean the same thing. Put them in order of the stupidest!
6. Director Ed Bernds said that "The Three Stooges owed a great deal" to Joe Henrie, an "unsung hero." Joe was involved in most acts of violence the Stooges perpetrated, but he wasn't a stuntman. What was he?
One of The Three Stooges directors was immortalized in 1985 when a rock group took his name for their band. They recorded several albums. Who are they?
a) Jewels White
b) The Del Lords
c) Charley Chase
8. We all know that Curly was supposedly "Curly Q. Link," the "missing Link" nephew of Bob O. Link. Listen, detective, what was Curly Q. Link's middle name?
9. What was the immortal slogan of the Men in Black?
10. In 1935's Ants in the Pantry, Moe and Larry were playing cards. Someone said "Cut the deck," so Curly cleaved it in half with a hatchet. In 1932 another member of a famous comedy trio had used the same gag. Who?
11. He joined The Three Stooges, even though he had been a success on stage. Dorothy Killgallen wrote in Cosmopolitan, "The next comedian to hit the laughter jackpot of the nation in the manner of Bob Hope and Abbott and Costello is -----." Who drew the praise from Dorothy, and the prediction he'd "be larger than life on everybody's neighborhood screen."?
12. "Half Wits Holiday" is one of the boys' pie-throwing extravaganzas. Within five, how many pies (or substantial handfuls of pie) struck Moe, Larry, Curly and the "society" guests at the melee? Remember, we're counting every sloppy splat that scored a hit on someone's head, face, or bent over backside.
13. When Curly was knocked unconscious, Moe was usually concerned. He'd shout "Say a few syllables!" And if Curly didn't respond: "Utter a few ________!"
14. On January 4, 1982 this prestigious newspaper ran a headline on the FRONT PAGE proclaiming "The Three Stooges Are Riding a Wave of Adult Adulation." They said "The Evel Knievels of comedy" were big business, selling millions of bucks' worth of films and memorabilia! What money-minded paper broke this important story?
15. Gladys George valiantly ran an orphan asylum in the soft-hearted melodrama "Valiant Is The Word for Carrie." The title was switched for a soft-headed Stooge comedy. What was that title?
16. Bank robber Terry Hargan had a suit with the initials "T.H." But what did Shemp think the initials meant?
17. Why is August 30, 1983 an historic day for the Stooges? (Hint: It took place out on the street!)
18. In a rare literary reference in a Stooge short, a dowager(Symona Boniface) doesn't notice that Moe's just gotten rid of a pie by slamming it up into the ceiling. She tells the nervous Stooge, "You act as though ___ ___ of _______ was hanging over your head." You had no idea what it meant as a kid -- how about now? Fill in the blanks.
19. Jack Kerouac called this stooge "goofhaired, mopple- lipped, lisped, muxed and completely flunk." Which stooge was he talking about?
20. What was the last film Moe Howard ever made?
1. a) Shadow of the Thin Man, starring William Powell. The screenwriter must've lifted it as a Stooge tribute-- unless he was just a backbiter!
2. c) Besserville, Arkansas, named some 70 years ago by Leopold Besser, one of Joe's uncles!
3. b) Jim, Tom and Jack
4. b) Bangs (Moe), Fuzzy (Larry) and Curly (Curly)
5. .Medically, an idiot has the mentality of a 4 year-old, an imbecile has the mentality of an 8 year-old, and a moron doesn't progress beyond a 12 year-old mentality.
6. He was the sound effects man.
7. b) The Del Lords
8. Quff
9. "For Duty and Humanity"
10. Harpo Marx. He "cut the deck" with a hatchet in Horse Feathers.
11. Joe Besser
12. The correct answer: 22. A later Stooge short with Shemp, Pest Man Wins, re-used footage from Half Wits Holiday and added new pie fight scenes, yielding a total of 30 hits!
13. adjectives
14. The Wall Street Journal
15. Violent is the Word for Curly
16. Teddy Hoosevelt. See their film Rip, Sew and Stitch.
17. On August 30th 1983 the Stooges got their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you also knew that L.A.'s riotous mayor at the time, Tom Bradley, declared it "Three Stooges Day," then you're a really smart imbecile!
18. "The Sword of Damocles." Moe's response, of course, was "Lady -- you must be psychic!" Splat! It was a great moment in Half Wits Holiday, Pest Man Wins, etc. etc.. For all you students out there, Damocles was a wise guy who dared to speak out about his king's wealth. The king, Dionysius, had his own way of saying "you're living dangerously." He threw Damocles a party -- and Damocles was having a fine time, too. Until he looked up and saw that the king had placed a sword directly over his seat. And that sword was swinging mighty precariously from a fine hair. Make that a Fine hair!
19. Larry
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0.063924 | <urn:uuid:2916b74e-c6d3-4e0b-bdb4-566b310e019d> | en | 0.970265 | Bi Curious – online information and helpful facts
Filed under: Bi Curious - Pinned | Spread the word !
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Many people do not know the proper usage for the term Bi Curious. Bi Curious people are those who have had little or no sexual experience with the same gender yet identify themselves as a homosexual or heterosexual identity. They basically are toying around in their identity until they can confirm that they are either bi sexual or homosexual or to remain heterosexual.
Bi Curious people have the freedom to choose what they really want to be with their sexual identity. They can experiment and enjoy the thrill and pleasures from both ends of the sexual spectrum until they are decided on what their sexual identity is. It may be a onetime thing or an exploratory method to find out more about how to progress their inner sexual identity.
Once a Bi Curious individual comes into sexual relationships, then they are either considered a Bi Sexual, homosexual or heterosexual depending on their decision. By keeping themselves open to both genders and their sexual practices means that they are Bi Sexual in nature after being Bi Curious. Strictly staying to same sex sexual experiences means that they are homosexuals and strictly staying to opposite sex sexual encounters makes them a heterosexual. This can truly help in defining a person and their sexuality.
Being Bi Curious is not a bad thing, but many true homosexuals see it as a way to “cheat the system” You have freedom to choose and some homosexuals see Bi Curious individuals as making themselves seem more appealing to the opposite gender simply by having a dual sexual direction. Many people use being Bi Curious to get a reaction from parents, family and friends or to simply make a statement against the norms of society. True Bi Curious individuals will make their identity hidden until they are truly ready to explore it sexually.
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What Happens When You Are Not Bi Curious Anymore
Filed under: Facts - 03 Oct 2012 | Spread the word !
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People who are bi curious are the ones who are thinking of experimenting with their sexuality. In conclusion, they are curious about trying various types of relations, meaning that, if they are heterosexuals, they may be interested in people of the same sex now. Finding out what is your true sexual inclination can only be done by experimenting, but many people wonder what will happen with them afterwards. The answer is simple: if you found out that you are heterosexual, nothing is changed; if you discover you are a homosexual or a lesbian, then you should think about coming out.
Coming out is one of the most dreaded moments in the life of a person who used to be bi curious and has now discovered that they are homosexual or lesbian. In order to make this transition in the perfect way, you have to consider a few aspects, that should not turn your decision, but should help you take it easier.
Being comfortable with the decision you have made and with its implications is very important. This does not mean that you should be embarrassed about anything, but actually that once you become open about your sexuality, you have to be ready to answer some questions. Some people may not say anything about it, others may shower you with their own opinions and questions and there are the ones who will make fun of you… regardless of these, it is important for you to be able to stand your ground!
Are you going to tell everyone is the next thing you should ponder upon. At some point, everyone will find out, but you have to tell the people who are closest to you and whom you care about, as your family and friends. For those who come out, families and friends should be very supportive, as this is a transition that can be affected by the littlest of things. Therefore, think of all the people you want to tell and about how they may react. If you have friends or family members with an old fashioned mentality, you may not come across the support you were expecting, but you have to find a way to turn their opinion or at least to make them understand your decision.
Patience combined with the right moment will bring perfect results. Do not spring this news on your parents as soon as you enter the house door, for example! Wait for them to have time to talk to you about this subject and to be in a state of mind that is not distracted by any other mundane issue. If you still live with your parents and are financially dependent on them, you have to consider the implications of what you are about to tell them. There is nothing wrong with coming out! However, some parents, with a more traditional mentality, may not be able to accept what you are about to tell them! In this situation, it is best to find a way to tell them without upsetting them.
The most important thing that you have to consider before you take any type of action is if you are absolutely sure that you are not still bi curious! If you still feel uncertain in your sexual orientation, then you can be sure of the fact that you are still bi curious and you should not come out. On the other hand, if things are pretty obvious and you are comfortable with your decision in connection to your sexuality, then coming out is the next step for you.
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How To Handle Being Bi Curious
Filed under: Facts - 23 Aug 2012 | Spread the word !
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Being Bi Curious is the stage in which a person has trouble deciding whether they like the opposite sex, the same sex or both. It is a transition period in which numerous emotions and feelings may come over you and you have to find the best way to cope with them and to get to the bottom of what your sexual orientation really is! However, you should have a ready set state of mind, due to the fact that getting out of the Bi Curious stage actually means that you have to try out relations with people of the same sex and of the opposite sex.
For some, it may be hard to admit that they have homosexual inclinations and that is why you have to try and accept the fact that you may have these feelings. If you do not do as such, you may remain wondering for the rest of your life. Accepting your curiosity will lead to you having a spirited and calm view on the situation. More to this, if you come to embrace the process, you will realize how much easier it is for you to explain to people that you are simply curious and that you are not sure of your feelings yet.
Therefore, make sure to think clearly of your situation and to embrace the fact that you are Bi Curious. You should also think about the people you come into contact with, if you decide to act on your curiosity. It would be best for them to know that you are simply Bi Curious, so that, in the event you do not like the same sex, they will not feel like you have mislead them. Showing respect for others and for their feelings is very important at this point, as you will want the same treatment to be applied to you and to have someone close to you for support in this process.
Bi curiosity ends at some point with the imminent conclusion of your sexual orientation. Even if you are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual, you have to know that nothing will change. You are still the person you were before and you have nothing to worry about. More to this, you should feel at peace since you finally found out the answer to a question that may have bothered you for a really long time!
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Things To Know About Bi Curious
Filed under: Facts - 29 Jun 2012 | Spread the word !
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Bi Curious is a term that has reached quite an impressive popularity in the past few years. It describes people who are showing curiosity and interest for people of the same sex, and actually for people of the sex they do not normally favor. These people are not homosexuals or bisexuals. In other words, this person can be a man showing interest in another man, even though he is not homosexual, but it can also be a homosexual man curious about a relationship with a woman. It can happen just with the purpose to experiment sexuality or the interest can simply remain platonic.
These people commonly feel that they have not been able to experiment as much as they wanted with the other sex than the one they are generally attracted to, so they just need to explore some feelings. They are not bisexual and they are definitely not intending to become. They just want to experiment and explore a whole new world. The interest is however a limited one, so bi-curious people are not going to be willing to develop long term relationships with people from the sex they are not normally attracted to. It can just be a period of finding themselves and realizing what they want. However, happiness will never be obtained, unless these feelings are explored. When searching ends, people will be able to decide on what they want. They can start being from this point on bisexual or even homosexual, but heterosexual, as well.
The term of Bi Curious is often applied in the cases in which experimentation is only made till the point of satisfying a certain curiosity or desire. The desire will end the moment when this urge will be satisfied. In case the person is not able to find out what she really wants, but is not a bisexual either, medical help can be asked. Actually, psychological support can help these people find out what they want in life. Anyway you should not imagine that being curious about the other sex is actually something abnormal. According to specialists, everyone can develop such a curiosity, just that in some cases its degree is highly increased compared to others. Either way, understanding who you are and want you want is the most important thing you will need to keep in mind, no matter how much time you will spend on the search.
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The Main Features Of Bi Curious People
Filed under: Bi Curious - 06 Jun 2012 | Spread the word !
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It may last a while until we get to know ourselves better, even though it may be related to our sexual orientation. Someone who is bi curious means that she or he is also attracted by a person of the same sex, but without having a sexual intercourse. Until a person figures out which are her preferences, it may pass a long time. Nonetheless, although someone is attracted by other sex than has been until now, it doesn’t have to take place an intimate contact, but it’s just a preference or a thought. In other words, this term refers to the narrow path between bisexuality and homosexuality and has started to become more and more popular in many countries. The phenomenon is very interesting and has begun to be researched by sociologists and psychologists.
This term also refers to several experiments that someone does until realises what she or he wants. This process may take a while, but that person will find out which are his or her sexual preferences. Studies have shown that many people are in this situation as they would like to try new things and figure out what they really want. Nevertheless, these people are not perceived very well by others, but there are also people who are more open-minded and understand those who want to find out more about themselves and their identity.
There are many places where those who want to find out if they are bi curious or not can go such as clubs, special cafes, or they can attend various events for homosexual communities or can use online websites. Although it could be awkward at the beginning, people can be bi curious and they have to accept this and start having the life they should. Psychotherapy would be very useful as they will have the possibility to understand better and faster what is happening with them and which are the causes that led to such a sexual behaviour. Briefly, this term means that someone is curious and it may last a long time to see if she or he will take things to the next level. Usually, many people never do that, but they are only curious and wonder how would it be. In case you can’t get rid of such thoughts, inform yourself more on this topic and will understand what is happening with you.
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What Is Bi Curious
Filed under: Bi Curious - 09 Apr 2012 | Spread the word !
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You may have heard of bi curious, because the term is widely used, but if you have no idea what this means, you should learn that bi curious are those that consider themselves heterosexual or homosexual but they show curiosity for the different gender than the one they are attracted to. They cannot be considered bisexual, because they do not have any experience with a person of the sex they do not favor. As they are only playing with their sexual identities, they are considered to be bi curious. Bi curious is the name given to this sexual orientation, a new type among the more known like heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual and asexual. The term of bi curious is also used to display a more narrow orientation located between homosexuality and bisexuality. The term of bi curious only appeared recently, as more and more people cannot fit a certain category and description, when it comes about their sexuality.
The term of bi curious reveals that a heterosexual person did not have any homosexual experiences and a homosexual person did not have any heterosexual experience, but these are desired. The curiosity is maintained as long as these kind of experiments do not take place. Until the person cannot identify itself as homosexual or bisexual, it is considered to be bi curious. The term of bi curious is perfect to describe a person who is contemplating the idea to try either homosexuality or bisexuality and prepares for such an act.
A person can be bi curious until it experiments what he or she desires. After taking a decision, to which “team” it belongs, the person cannot be considered bi curious anymore. Statistically, there are more women that are bi curious than men. More and more women are curious and willing to try different sexual encounters that man. While heterosexual men are not so open to homosexual affairs, heterosexual women are eager to try having sex with other women. More than half of the women are bi curious and a study carried in the United States of America shows that 60% of the self-declared straight women are bi curious, 45% already kissed another woman and 50% have fantasies with women.
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Bi Curious Couple
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Bi Curious Guy
Filed under: Bi Curious - 25 May 2010 | Spread the word !
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So, you find yourself having sexual fantasies about men and now you are questioning if you are a bi curious guy, bisexual, or altogether gay. Maybe you’ve gotten caught up in watching a sensual movie and have discovered you pay more attention to the men in the scene than to the women. Or Maybe you get aroused when you see other naked men in your local gym or locker room. Regardless of the way you’ve uncovered these hidden feelings, the one thing that’s apparent is your desire for men. And now you want to know what these feelings mean.
If you are confused, overwhelmed, or insecure, calling yourself a bi curious guy could be downright frightening. But here’s the honest truth, the only person who can answer the question about your sexuality is you. No one can choose or decide for you. Wondering about these feelings and where they come from is a natural part of the process. You are moving toward understanding who you want, what your needs are, how you want to live your life.
Don’t draw conclusions too fast. Especially is you are married or in a committed relationship. Remember, you are in complete and total control of your life. Deal with these feelings in your own time and in the best way possible. Being a bi curious guy means just that, curiosity. You may or may not be ready to take things to the next level. In fact, you may never be ready to take things to the next level. Just protect yourself and be mindful of the well being of your significant other.
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Bi Curious Quiz
Filed under: Bi Curious - 12 Apr 2010 | Spread the word !
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Here’s your chance to find out if you are bi-curious. But first a word of introduction: A person who feels as though they are bi-curious is caught between experiencing behaviors or identifying with both heterosexual and homosexual sexual orientations. Typically this phrase is used to describe someone who has had an up close and personal relationship with someone of the opposition but on the same hand, is curious about what it would be like to have a relationship with a person of the same sex.
If you have ever had thoughts or desires about being with a person who is of the same sex as you are and were unclear of what that meant, this article is just for you. Online you’ll find one bi curios quiz after another that’s designed to help you understand your feelings. The vast majority of quizzes are simple multiple choice questions that really make you dig down deep. They’ll force you to take a look inside yourself. There’s no right or wrong answers.
You’ll simply learn more about your sexuality and possibly uncover some hidden truths you weren’t aware of. You’ll come across a question that asks if you’ve ever kissed a person of the same sex. Another may ask how you would react to someone of the same sex changing clothes in front of you. And some ask how you would respond to dares like kissing someone of the same sex. You see, each is crafted to pull the wool from your eyes. If you answer a bi curious quiz truthfully, you’ll learn a lot about who you are and your personal beliefs.
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Bi Curious Women
Filed under: Bi Curious - 09 Mar 2010 | Spread the word !
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In the last few decades, sexual independence and overt displays by those people who aren’t “straight” have become a part of life. More people are coming to accept the idea that love has nothing to do with what gender you are and simply the personality of the person you’re with. This has shed a light on previously taboo aspects of sexual orientation and has led many people to more openly express their desires and to experiment with same sex relationships as well as more traditional relationships.
The general term for the people who choose to see what both types of relationship has to offer is bi curious. This term implies, by definition, that someone is curious about exploring their own sexuality by engaging in relationships with both sexes.
For some reason, beyond the grasp of many to even attempt to explain, women are more prone to feel the desire to explore these waters. They often times find themselves attracted to the female form at a younger age and are simply taught to repress these feelings and ideas. Nevertheless, through the last few decades it has become more socially acceptable to see a woman in a relationship with other women. This has also led to several support groups being setup to help people through these confusing times.
By doing a simple search online you are likely to come across various forums and newsletters and even in person meet ups for people who are dealing with the same emotions as you. Generally, these people will engage in relationships with one another in an attempt to work out their feelings and see if they are, in fact, bisexual, straight or homosexual. It is important that the friends and family support the actions of these people as they haven’t changed; they are just looking for something that’s missing.
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The Natural Notions of the Bi-Curious
Filed under: Bi Curious - 22 Feb 2010 | Spread the word !
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At some point or another in their lives, many people will experiment sexually. This doesn’t mean that they will experiment with the same sex, but that there will be new things and adventurous ideas that they have to try. However, for some people simply keeping to the norms of societal acceptance is not an option and they often find themselves wondering about how it would be if they were attracted to the same sex.
Most people, many more in fact that won’t admit to it, have had some sort of sexual fantasy or inclination to the same sex and have just suppressed it until the urge has passed. While this may be an effective route for many people who are nearly positive in their sexual identities, there are many more that can’t help but wonder if they were meant for something different. These people, the ones who speculate more than most, are what’s considered bi-curious. The term itself simply means that you are curious about bisexuality. Most often these feelings will pass with nothing more than the person thinking about it for a short while.
If, however, you are more intrigued by the prospect of being intimate with the same gender, there are some precautions that you should take. Obviously the use of condoms or other forms of protection from diseases must be used. On top of the physical protection, one must protect themselves mentally from the attachment that generally comes with being intimate with someone. Another consideration that must be thought about is the judgment of others for your actions. While nobody should be judged for their sexual preferences, most are and in many cases it’s still frowned on for having non-traditional inclinations making discretion a necessary precaution.
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0.026567 | <urn:uuid:cf0958e8-9935-41a1-97fa-28a097008539> | en | 0.972616 | Richie Incognito's Year of the Bully
Richie Incognito's Year of the Bully
Alvaro Diaz-Rubio
It didn't take Jorge long to find the missile amid the wreckage. Ten years of professional football had imbued the XXXL cup with its own pungent potpourri of blood, Bengay, and ball sweat. Locating it was easier than spotting a streetwalker on Biscayne Boulevard. The jockstrap was wrapped around a brick fastened with athletic tape and addressed simply: "To the Dildos at the New Times."
The next morning, this humble reporter unfurled the putrid package at his desk. The athletic supporter was the size of a baby's blanket, every square inch of fetid, faded cotton covered in childlike scribbles. It wasn't a warning, however — no threat for New Times to back off its investigations into steroid abuse in baseball, police shootings, or local corruption. Instead, it was a letter to the editor:
What's up, pussies? Richie Incognito here. The Miami Dolphins' most offensive offensive lineman. Pro Bowler. All-Star Wild Child. The NFL's dirtiest player and proud of it. I'm #68 on the field but #1 in secretly squeezing a dude's scrotum during a Monday Night Football man-pile. (It's called the "Rich-around." Get it?)
Listen up, you blog-typing twats. I read your articles about me, including the claim I drove that rookie biatch Jonathan Martin bonkers by harassing him. All I have to say is: Take a whiff of my cup and wake the hell up. That dude is softer than my supple Italian foreskin. This is professional football we play, not some tea-cozy crocheting competition.
I'd be angrier if I thought you were singling me out, but all your newspaper seems to do is print politically correct crap. You have a rapper as a columnist, a stripper who writes sex advice, and a newsroom full of MFAs. Let's start with your so-called People issue. You profiled a human statue, a community activist, and a kid in a chicken costume. Seriously, guys. What fucking city are you living in?
Take a good, hard look at 2013 and show me when a community activist accomplished anything. The only statue anyone cares about is the Heisman. And for god's sake, someone strip that kid of his chicken suit and suit him up in some pads so he finally gets laid.
What about Miami's real badasses? What about the ballers like me who get the dirty work done? The amoral assholes who pull no punches and spare no shady dollar in an all-out blitz to win?
Here's an idea. How's about you print my People issue? No charities. No children. No gourmet coffee roasters or French fashion bloggers. Just the bullies who truly boss this town.
Fins up!
P.S. Can you guys crochet me a new cup?
Dear Richie:
What a lovely surprise to receive your, uh, letter the other day, but do the Incognitos not believe in mailboxes? It's taken our unpaid interns three days to pick up the mess. One cut herself pretty badly and, without health insurance, had to use your jockstrap to stop the bleeding.
To address your complaints: We're sorry you don't agree with our coverage of your suspension from the Dolphins, but calling your teammate a "half-n****r," threatening to defecate in his mouth, and saying you'd kill his family was, let's just say, excessive. Compared to that, making Martin pay $15,000 for you to fly to Vegas and taunting him by saying you had sex with his sister almost seems quaint. Almost.
As for your argument that our recent People issue ignored Miami's "real badasses," we must point out that our issue focused on the coolest and most creative people in the city, not its most cutthroat and powerful.
But you're right. More than any year in recent memory, 2013 was dominated by bullies like you. From Gov. Rick Scott to rogue neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, corrupt politicians to bad cops and even worse criminals, steroidal sports stars to scamming team owners, 2013 was the year that Florida's Freudian id came roaring back in full force.
This was the Year of the Bully. So let's see your list, Richie. What psychos and sadists make up your People issue?
New Times
Richie's response arrived a few days later. This time, it was penned in ketchup on the greasy cardboard containers of a 16-piece family dinner from KFC:
Growing up in Jersey, my father would grab me by the collar in a horseshoe tackle and pull a Joe Pesci on me. "Son, don't take no shit from no one," he'd scream. "If you let anyone give you shit now, you're gonna take shit your entire life."
Of course, he also told me that Bill Clinton was Beelzebub and that "pretty boy Patrick Swayze wouldn't last a day in the real shit" while watching Red Dawn, but that might have just been the Vietnam flashbacks and Wild Turkey talking.
Well, that's what Maroño was like as mayor of Sweetwater. He launched a nationwide witch hunt on bath salts, blaming the drugs not only for the Miami Zombie but also for any two-bit break-in or any bum biting a cop. (Personally, I prefer booze before biting.) All the while, Maroño was really the one screwing over Sweetwater residents.
In Homestead, Mayor Steve Bateman didn't have the patience to stock the city government with supporters. Instead, he pulled an RGIII (pre-knee injury) and did it all on his lonesome. When a local developer had trouble building a health clinic, Bateman offered to grease the wheels — at the cost of $125 an hour in secret consulting fees. YOMO, Steve! YOMO!
Michael Pizzi made Miami Lakes politics his personal bitch. He went from the top of his University of Miami law school class to the top of local government. Then the mayor was caught taking $6,000 in kickbacks for federal contracts. But unlike Maroño and Bateman, who both pleaded guilty, Pizzi came out pissing into the wind. "I am innocent," he announced after a hearing in October. "And I will be exonerated and found not guilty at trial." Makin' me proud, Pizzi!
But the biggest baller in my book was Barry Layne Moore. The 51-year-old hillbilly mayor of Hampton, Florida, was caught dealing oxycodone to his entire town. Talk about a big fish in a little pond.
Then there was Raphael Herman, a dude who boasted about killing Osama bin Laden while running for mayor of Miami Beach. He missed his own election after getting jailed for swinging a six-foot flagpole at black people on a public bus. A flagpole! What a patriot.
Herman lost, of course, but the guy who won was an even bigger bully. Philip Levine spent a small fortune — roughly $2 million — to win a job that pays just ten grand a year. He's like a tropical, totally not handsome version of Leo DiCaprio in that Great Gatsby movie. Only there's not even a hot chick he's trying to bang. Levine dropped $354 for every vote he won by buying TV ads and treating old people to free punch, pie, and salsa music.
Attaboy, Phil! Making it rain on those wrinkles like senior night at the strip club.
Your father sounds like the type of guy who made you watch him kill small forest animals with his bare hands when you were a child. He probably didn't even wash up before dinner. I'd tell you to go see a psychiatrist, but you'd just flip my desk and try to dry-hump my sister.
As for your list, well, it's a tad full of criminals. Rick Scott may have escaped the clink, but his band of merry mayors won't. Levine bought himself an island, but that doesn't mean he's legit.
Besides, the politicians you mentioned are part of the problem, not some superhero solution. Across North America, politicians are abusing the bully pulpit, from serial dick-pic-sender Anthony Weiner to compulsive fur-coat-consumer Jesse Jackson Jr. to the crack-smoking, prostitute-loving mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford. These liars belong in jail, not on a best-of list.
These scumbags set a terrible example. They show that bullying is not only OK but also the way to get ahead. No wonder kids are taking the message to heart. In Polk County, two teenage girls bullied 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick until she killed herself in a cement factory. One of them later posted on Facebook: "Yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself but I don't give a fuck." Somehow, prosecutors still dropped the charges last month.
In Hollywood, two angelic-looking teens attacked their own friend because the girls were "beefing." They restrained, beat, and taunted the poor 15-year-old as she was raped by a male gang member on video. Then they let their bloodied victim stumble around the neighborhood looking for help.
Here in Miami, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers at Florida International University posted nude photos of women they had slept with for one another to see on Facebook. One member posted a pic of a woman wearing a Pike shirt next to the caption: "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVEN FATTYS OUR SHIRTS!!!!! THEY WEAR THEM!!!!!" The frat brothers also boasted about hazing pledges and pranking other houses by putting pig heads on their doors. Even after New Times broke the story, however, FIU cops declined to make arrests.
Like the FIU frat bros, Florida's most infamous bully escaped justice this year. George Zimmerman stalked unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin before fatally shooting him in the chest. Yet a jury acquitted the self-appointed neighborhood watchman of murder in July because of Florida's insane Stand Your Ground legislation.
Since then, Zimmerman has gone off the deep end. He's been pulled over three times for speeding, once with a gun in the glove compartment. And on November 18, his new girlfriend called 911 to say Zimmerman had smashed her coffee table and pointed a shotgun at her head. When police arrested him, he had five guns on him, including an AR-15.
Zimmerman is the worst kind of bully: one backed by bullets and barristers. After all, it was the National Rifle Association that crafted Stand Your Ground here in 2005. Not only does the NRA own the Florida Legislature, but it also has your boy Rick Scott in its pocket. No wonder Scott shot down the Dream Defenders by refusing to reconsider the law.
Federal agents pinch our personal info like schoolyard bullies shaking down kids for lunch money. Power-hungry politicians play constituents for fools. What other crooks do you have on your list, Richie?
Another letter arrived. This one, at least, was on paper — a weathered, water-stained (or what we hope was water) copy of the NFL Rule Book. The section "Unnecessary Roughness" was highlighted in blood red. "Personal foul" was adorned with a winking smiley face. And scribbled next to a paragraph about locker-room etiquette was the phrase "Mangina time!"
On the back cover, under a hand-drawn diagram of the Rich-around, Incognito had written his rebuttal:
George Zimmerman! How could I have forgotten him? My brothah from anothah mothah! Pudgy, violent, and without remorse, just like me. After his acquittal, that dude would come over to my place in Fort Lauderdale. We'd get shitfaced, play Call of Duty, I'd call him a "half-Mexican" (or Peruvian, whatever), and we'd end up punching each other until we passed out.
You can rag on Zimmerman all you want, but he wasn't the only bully with a gun and a badge to make it big this year. Far from it. Cops left more bruises on 2013 than a Dirty Harry interrogation. And they did it by borrowing from my playbook: harassing brothers and blindsiding opponents.
In New York, cops have been stopping and frisking people — well, black people — for years without a problem. But then, this August, a federal judge got all riled up over something called "racial profiling." What are cops supposed to do? Arrest anybody who flips a desk, starts a bar fight, uses a golf club to sexually assault a woman, or harasses his co-workers? C'mon.
Now this sappy political correctness has even spread to my own neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. Thanks to New Times, cops are in trouble for pulling over black guys on bicycles. Ever since you wrote your exposé "Biking While Black" showing that Fort Lauderdale Police use bike registration laws to hassle minorities, the police have begun stopping — wait for it — nonminorities!
Don't worry. They won't bother me. It has nothing to do with me being white or a hulking NFL lineman. It's because I don't ride bikes. They're for poor people. You know what's not for poor people? Bentleys. And I've got plenty of those. Black ones too. See? I'm not a racist.
Another casualty of the PC brigade was Miami Gardens Chief Matthew Boyd. So what if his officers were caught on camera arresting innocent black gas station employees a couple (hundred) times. That Quickstop is in the ghetto! That's just what you do in the ghetto: arrest black people. Right? And so what if none of the cops is black? Or if they rifled through the store without a search warrant? You bleeding-heart liberals call that "shredding the Constitution." My boy Boyd calls it "proactive policing."
Speaking of being proactive, guess what happens nowadays when a cop chases down a fugitive and arrests him? He gets shit for doing his job. That's what happened to Miami Beach Officer Jorge Mercado in August. Granted, the fugitive was really just an 18-year-old graffiti artist named Israel Hernandez. And Mercado might not have needed to Taser the kid to arrest him. And, oh yeah, Hernandez died because of the stun gun. Minor detail.
The good news, however, is that Mercado is back on patrol! So don't let these little hiccups get you down, Blue! What would my bully list be like without you?
Bad cops. Bad criminals. Bad politicians. All bullies. But what about sports stars like you? You guys are celebrities and millionaires, yet you keep treating Florida like it's your personal pissing mat. Nobody is more responsible for what went wrong this year than you.
First, there is Florida State University football phenom Jameis Winston. In November, news broke that he'd been accused of raping a drunk FSU student in Tallahassee in 2012. Cops bungled the investigation for a year. Then, earlier this month, prosecutors suddenly dropped charges against the star quarterback for a "lack of evidence." Some media outlets stooped to suggesting the victim simply had loose morals. Incredibly, Winston emerged as the Seminoles' scandal-seasoned leader and won the Heisman. He may have outrun justice, but that statue is forever coated in sleaze.
This was also the year New Times exposed an even greater sports scandal: the massive steroid operation still staining America's pastime. This newspaper outed baseball superstars including Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colón, Nelson Cruz, and the $275 million man himself, Alex Rodriguez, as clients of a shady Coral Gables clinic called Biogenesis.
When we broke the news that A-Rod and others had been receiving illegal performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis chief Tony Bosch, the players all denied knowing the fake doctor. A-Rod, in particular, came out swinging (and missing). He hired a legion of lawyers, filed a handful of lawsuits, and took to the airwaves to angrily deny juicing. But his big-league bloviating and bullying didn't work. MLB still banned him for a record 211 games. The other players named in New Times' report received 50-game suspensions.
"And that's my point. You can call me a bully. But I'm what you've made me — just like the cops and criminals and politicians you complain about. Want to toughen up a rookie? I'm your man. Block 300-pound defensive linebackers who want to run train on Ryan Tannehill? I'll do it. But don't expect me to be Mother Fucking Teresa as soon as the fourth quarter ends.
"Besides, unless we embarrass some sponsor or create a scandal on ESPN, y'all don't really give a crap what happens to us ballplayers anyway," Richie said, slugging back a tumbler of Wild Turkey and tossing the glass over his shoulder into the sand. "You don't care if we're concussed out of our minds or end up shooting ourselves in the chest so scientists can figure out what's wrong with our heads. You only want to know about our injuries when you might lose money in your fantasy football league."
Richie stood up in the hot tub completely naked, now wagging more than one shriveled, pale kielbasa.
"It's not just football, either. South Florida is built upon shit like this, like a swamp. You don't ask where the money for skyscrapers or art museums comes from; you just smile and throw a party. Then you act surprised when some corrupt politician goes to jail.
"You need bullies like me because we do the dirty work that lets you stay clean," he said, pointing a pickled finger at the camera. "So that Ryan Tannehill stays pretty and sells shampoo. And so that you get a good show on Sunday."
Richie slumped back into the hot tub, grabbed another glass, and flashed his $4 million-a-year grin.
"See you dildos next season."
Alvaro Diaz-Rubio
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Remind Me Later > | http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/richie-incognitos-year-of-the-bully-6352990 | dclm-gs1-175100001 | false | false | {
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0.060061 | <urn:uuid:5d21ec29-9b35-44c4-8f31-bfee3a3d5125> | en | 0.961575 | Hawking's new book does not dismiss the real God from creation, Jesuit scholars say
Dr. Stephen Hawking, Br. Guy Consolmagno and Fr. Robert Spitzer
When this is understood, Fr. Spitzer said, Hawking's basic confusion becomes clear. Although Hawking talks about the universe “creating itself from nothing,” he is presupposing that this “nothing” somehow involved gravity and other fundamental laws of physics, Fr. Spitzer explained.
“Let’s take the law mentioned by Dr. Hawking above – the law of gravity,” Spitzer wrote. “It has a specific constant associated with it and specific characteristics, and it has specific effects on mass-energy and even on space-time itself. This is a very curious definition of 'nothing'.”
“Now,” he continued, “if we rephrase Dr. Hawking’s statement in the above fashion, then he has clearly not explained why there is something rather than nothing. He has only explained that something comes from something,” by describing the development of a functioning universe on the basis of laws such as gravity.
Historically, many Christian theologians, as well as non-Christian philosophers, have argued precisely the opposite of Hawking's point: namely, that the laws of physics can only be ascribed to an infinite, intelligent and non-physical creator.
Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory, explained to CNA on Friday how the preconditions for the universe's unfolding and operations were not a form of “nothing,” as Hawking considers them to be. Rather, he said, they are the conditions created by God for the ordering of the world.
“God is the reason why space and time and the laws of nature can be present for the forces to operate that Stephen Hawking is talking about,” he told CNA.
Hawking's dismissal of God, Br. Consolmagno said, was based not only on his incorrect designation of physical laws as “nothing,” but also on a failure to grasp the notion of God's transcendence. As such, he concluded, Hawking was really dismissing a kind of “god” in which Christians do not believe.
“The 'god' that Stephen Hawking doesn’t believe in, is one I don’t believe in either. God is not just another force in the Universe, alongside gravity or electricity. God is not a force to be invoked to . . . 'start a scene or two' and fill the momentary gaps in our knowledge.”
Rather, Br. Consolmagno said, “God is the reason why existence itself exists.”
This profound mystery, Fr. Spitzer said, was one which Professor Hawking was actually indicating, at the very same time he was attempting to dismiss it.
“In my view,” he concluded, “Dr. Hawking has not yet shown the non-necessity of this reality. Indeed, he implies it by assuming the existence of a beginning in his assertion about the universe coming from nothing.”
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8.10: The Prefix Sub-
Difficulty Level: At Grade Created by: CK-12
The Prefix Sub-
1. You have seen that when the prefix ad- is added to a stem, the <d> and [d] often assimilate and become more similar to the stem's first letter and sound, as in attempt and appear, a\cancel{d} + t + tempt and a\cancel{d}+ p + pear.
In the same way, when the prefix sub- is added to a stem, the <\mathrm{b}> and [b] often assimilate to become more similar to the stem's first letter and sound. Thus, su\cancel{b} + m + mon = summon
2. In each of the words below, the first letters are some form of the prefix sub-. In some of them the <\mathrm{b}> and [b] have assimilated, and in some they have not. Analyze each word into its prefix and stem, showing any assimilation:
Word = Prefix + Stem
summon = su\cancel{b} + m + mon
success = su\cancel{b} + c + cess
supply = su\cancel{b} + p + ply
subject = sub + ject
suffer = su\cancel{b} + f + fer
support = su\cancel{b} + p + port
submarine = sub + marine
sufficient = su\cancel{b} + f + ficient
suppose = su\cancel{b} + p + pose
substitute = sub + stitute
suburbs = sub + urbs
succeed = su\cancel{b} + c + ceed
surrogate = su\cancel{b} + r + rogate
suppress = su\cancel{b} + p + press
suggest = su\cancel{b} + g + gest
submitting = sub + mitting
2. Sort the words into these two groups:
Words in which the [b] and the
assimilated: did not assimilate:
summon subject
success submarine
supply substitute
suffer suburbs
support submitting
3. Now sort the words in which the <\mathrm{b}> and [b] assimilated into these groups:
Words in which the
<f> <c> <\mathrm{p}>
suffer success supply
sufficient succeed support
Words in which the
<g> <m> <r>
suggest summon surrogate
Word Find. This Find contains twenty words that start with some form of the prefix sub-
& \text{submit}\surd && \text{success}\surd && \text{submarine}\surd && \text{succinct}\surd \\& \text{sufficient}\surd && \text{subtract}\surd && \text{suppose}\surd && \text{surrogate}\surd \\& \text{subscribe}\surd && \text{suffocate}\surd && \text{support}\surd && \text{suffer}\surd \\& \text{substitute}\surd && \text{subject}\surd && \text{supply}\surd && \text{suggest}\surd \\& \text{succeed}\surd && \text{subdue}\surd && \text{succumb}\surd && \text{summon}\surd
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0.381766 | <urn:uuid:c06aa7cc-0aef-4e97-83fa-5855f3b18b94> | en | 0.946146 | HomeOrder NOWContactCause and EffectCurriculumGuestbookMaterials and DrawingsYouTube Videos
The scientific documents, telling of Lenz’s work is still written ONLY in Royal German! Check for yourself! When you see what was used and how his test were conducted. You will know that his work were not completed test, by todays standards.
He had no way to control or know what his input was. He had no way to know what the output was or if it was AC, or DC currents. The list goes on about things NO ONE could have tested in 1834. Below is a copy, from a reference book, sent to us from US Army lybrary. Maybe you can get these documents translated in the English language?
Lenz device
This video is 24.1 MB, it shows what Lenz used and the reactions he saw in 1834. The scientific papers Lenz wrote are in a secret language which forced us to duplicate his test. After duplicating, I would say that he was trying to prove or disprove Galvanism, not anything about an AC or DC current and not anything about motion.
Reference book
If we don't teach others what we have learned,
what good does it do for our children,
or... mankind? | http://www.energy-ingenuity.com/id34.html | dclm-gs1-175340001 | false | false | {
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0.20058 | <urn:uuid:d9417c6f-3cdc-4cd6-ab43-a3489e6a402a> | en | 0.83115 | what is the pH of a .0020M NaOH solution?
Asked on
1 Answer | Add Yours
sciencesolve's profile pic
Posted on (Answer #1)
You need to evaluate pH using the following equation, such that:
`pH = -log(NaOH)`
Since the problem provides the concentration of `0.002M` , you need to replace it in formula above:
`pH = -log(0.002) => pH = -(-2.69) => pH = 2.69`
Hence, evaluating the pH of the `.002 M NaOH` solution yields `pH = 2.69.`
We’ve answered 395,839 questions. We can answer yours, too.
Ask a question | http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-ph-0020m-naoh-solution-437055 | dclm-gs1-175390001 | false | false | {
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0.21253 | <urn:uuid:effac998-7d91-4c4b-b15b-9922a620ea2a> | en | 0.961343 | The Walking Dead
JCBRAVE All-Pro Tip Jar Donor
I've never watched Walking Dead until last night after seeing it all over facebook and twitter, and I must say; IDK why it's so popular, it looks fake as hell.
Maybe if I had been following it from day-1 I'd like it some, but after seeing last nights episode I can say I won't be missing football games to watch it.
2. nickmsmith
nickmsmith Most poverty RB core.
First season is pretty good. If I had started watching in the second season or so, I'd think it was terrible. but the first season makes you care about the characters, so you're on the hook for the 2nd season.
3. SawdustMan
SawdustMan Stronger than Justin Hunter Tip Jar Donor
Yeah this definitely isn't the kind of show that you can just pick up mid-way through it's run.
4. xpmar9x
xpmar9x Vote for Pedro
Yeah! I was hoping to be introduced to him ep1, looks like we should get it ep2 however.
Solid season, lots of zombie killing.. I dig.
5. Titans Eternal
Titans Eternal Got the swagger of a cripple
Everything is new to me. I never read the comics or google any spoilers. I have no idea who the governor guy is. I still don't understand the point of the black chick dragging the armless jawless zombies around.
Feel bad for ole' Herschel. Much like Rick, I've had to cut a mans leg off before using an axe.
RIP David Parker
+1 if anyone remembers
I didn't start watching until season 2. Everything was zombies.. zombie games, movies, zombie dlc's.. I had absolutely zero interest in watching something about zombies. S2 wasn't amazing, but I liked it enough to go back and watch season 1. I don't watch Breaking Bad of Sons of Anarchy.. so Walking Dead is easily my favorite drama on TV.
• High Five High Five x 1
6. nickmsmith
nickmsmith Most poverty RB core.
They are her relatives or something. The zombies. one's her boyfriend or husband or something. She ripped the jaws off of them, so they can't hurt people. And cut their arms off.
• High Five High Five x 1
7. xpmar9x
xpmar9x Vote for Pedro
The black chicks name is Michonne.
I'm assuming it masks her smell.. so walkers can't smell her "alive scent"? You learn alot if you watch the Talking Dead after the show... doesn't give spoilers - just things you might of missed.
I wont tell you about the gov'nah unless you want me too... don't wan't to spoil it for you. Real generally, he's the white guy you see in the "scenes for the next episode"
• High Five High Five x 2
8. Alex1939
Alex1939 Space Invaders Champion Tip Jar Donor
I could be wrong, but I think she just called em her boyfriends.
9. Alzarius
Alzarius Starter
Well..... i mean they are zombies, of course its going to be fake :p
Thing is, you have never watched it, so havent seen everything leading up to last night. Its hard to enjoy a series when you start the 3rd season into it, especially this one because its more segmented than "seasons" Its one long continuation that literally picks up where it left off so you basically picked up a book and turned to page 150 and started reading.
Season one was amazing, loved it and I was hooked, long enough to endure season 2 where it was more about learning about the characters.
10. nickmsmith
nickmsmith Most poverty RB core.
the first epi I ever saw was the one where they have the shootout in the bar in season 2. I thought the show sucked big time until I watched from season 1. | http://www.gotitans.com/threads/the-walking-dead.84686/page-2 | dclm-gs1-175460001 | false | false | {
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0.345372 | <urn:uuid:27923184-076e-412e-a4dd-ae68abd194a7> | en | 0.953622 | You may remember seeing news footage of the protests at the doors of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Third Ministerial Conference held in Seattle, Washington, in 1999. Similar demonstrations against the WTO have also occurred in Italy, Spain, Canada and Switzerland. What is the WTO, and why do so many people oppose it? The following article addresses these questions and concerns regarding the world's only international organization that deals with the global rules of trade.
What Is the WTO?
The WTO was born out of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was established in 1947. A series of trade negotiations, GATT rounds began at the end of World War II and were aimed at reducing tariffs for the facilitation of global trade on goods. The rationale for GATT was based on the Most Favored Nation (MFN) clause, which, when assigned to one country by another, gives the selected country privileged trading rights. As such, GATT aimed to help all countries obtain MFN-like status so that no single country would be at a trading advantage over others.
The WTO replaced GATT as the world's global trading body in 1995, and the current set of governing rules stems from the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations, which took place throughout 1986-1994. GATT trading regulations established between 1947 and 1994 (and in particular those negotiated during the Uruguay Round) remain the primary rule book for multilateral trade in goods. Specific sectors such as agriculture have been addressed, as well as issues dealing with anti-dumping.
The Uruguay Round also laid the foundations for regulating trade in services. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is the guideline directing multilateral trade in services. Intellectual property rights were also addressed in the establishment of regulations protecting the trade and investment of ideas, concepts, designs, patents, and so forth.
The purpose of the WTO is to ensure that global trade commences smoothly, freely and predictably. The WTO creates and embodies the legal ground rules for global trade among member nations and thus offers a system for international commerce. The WTO aims to create economic peace and stability in the world through a multilateral system based on consenting member states (currently there are slightly more than 140 members) that have ratified the rules of the WTO in their individual countries as well. This means that WTO rules become a part of a country's domestic legal system. The rules, therefore, apply to local companies and nationals in the conduct of business in the international arena. If a company decides to invest in a foreign country, by, for example, setting up an office in that country, the rules of the WTO (and hence, a country's local laws) will govern how that can be done. Theoretically, if a country is a member to the WTO, its local laws cannot contradict WTO rules and regulations, which currently govern approximately 97% of all world trade.
How It Functions
Decisions are made by consensus, though a majority vote may also rule (this is very rare). Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the Ministerial Committee, which holds meetings at least every two years, makes the top decisions. There is also a General Council, a Goods Council, Services Council, and an Intellectual Property Rights Council, which all report to the General Council. Finally, there are a number of working groups and committees.
If a trade dispute occurs, the WTO works to resolve it. If, for example, a country erects a trade barrier in the form of a customs duty against a particular country or a particular good, the WTO may issue trade sanctions against the violating country. The WTO will also work to resolve the conflict through negotiations.
Free Trade at What Cost?
The anti-WTO protests we have seen around the world are a response to the consequences of establishing a multilateral trading system. Critics say that the after-effects of WTO policies are undemocratic because of the lack of transparency during negotiations. Opponents also argue that since the WTO functions as a global authority on trade and reserves the right to review a country's domestic trade policies, national sovereignty is compromised. For example, regulations that a country may wish to establish to protect its industry, workers or environment could be considered barriers to the WTO's aim to facilitate free trade. A country may have to sacrifice its own interests to avoid violating WTO agreements. Thus, a country becomes limited in its choices. Moreover, brutal regimes that are pernicious to their own countries may inadvertently be receiving concealed support from foreign governments who continue, in the name of free trade, to do business with these regimes. Unfavorable governments in favor of big business therefore remain in power at the cost of a representative government.
One high profile WTO controversy has to do with intellectual property rights and a government's duty to its citizens versus a global authority. One well known example is HIV/AIDS treatments and the cost of patented medicines. Poor, very needy countries, such as those in South America and sub-Saharan Africa, simply cannot afford to buy these patented drugs. If they were to buy or manufacture these same drugs under an affordable generic label, which would save thousands of lives, these countries would, as members of the WTO, be in violation of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) agreements and subject to possible trade sanctions.
Free trade fosters investment into other countries, which can help boost the economy and eventually the standard of living of all countries involved. As most investment comes from the developed and economically powerful into the developing and less influential economies, there is, however, a tendency for the system to give the investor an advantage. Regulations that facilitate the investment process are in the investor's interest because these regulations help foreign investors maintain an edge over local competition. Controversy over what is the best course of action in the creation of a global economic system - one that fosters free trade and free choice - will persist.
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0.260638 | <urn:uuid:d5d9afac-8c28-4bcd-9df7-0e981eafa5c3> | en | 0.940395 | The S&P 500 is at a four-year high and the investors that continue to try and fight the current bull market are taking a beating. There are a large number of stocks that trade with high short positions, even as the market is at highs.
The short interest ratio on a stock is the amount of trading days it would take for all the shorts to be covered with average volume. For example, a short interest ratio of 8 would suggest it will take eight trading days for all the short positions to be covered if that was the entire volume each day.
When stocks are trading near highs and breakout to new levels it often will trigger a short covering rally as the short sellers give up their bearish bet and cover the position. To cover the position the short sell must buy back the stock and thus creates a large wave of buying; the end result is a stock rally.
SEE: Short Interest: What It Tells Us
Four stocks generated by a scan that searches for potential short covering candidates are highlighted below:
Realty Income (NYSE:O) has a short interest ratio of 8.5 and recently hit a new all-time high.The company owns a portfolio of commercial retail properties throughout the U.S. The rebound in retail REITs and the 4.5% dividend yield on the stock only increases the odds of higher prices. The shorts are betting that the consumer spending will slow and retail-related REITs will be hard hit. So far, the bulls have gotten this one right.
Canadian telecom products and services company Telus (NYSE:TU) has a short interest ratio over 100, according to the numbers. This number is extraordinarily high, but with average volume of only 131,000 and 19.42 million shares shorted, it works out. The stock is within a few percentage points of an all-time high set in 2007; a breakout above that level could easily spur on a short covering rally. The price to watch is $62.46. The bonus for TU is the 4.3% dividend that the stock pays to investors. This would be considered a risky play due to the stock trading just below important resistance.
The Fresh Market (Nasdaq:TFM) is an operator of grocery stores and as of last month it operated 115 stores in 21 states. The short interest ratio is 13.3 and the stock that went public in late 2010 is trading within 1% of its all-time high. The stock does not pay a dividend and trades with a PEG ratio of 1.8, which is not attractive, nor is it a negative number. The trend has been solid for TFM and the grocery store sector and it appears that will continue even as the shorts try and fight it.
The Ultimate Software Group (Nasdaq:ULTI) is a software-as-a-service company that falls into the growingly popular cloud-computing sector. The stock has a short interest ratio of 13.0 and is within 2% of an all-time high.There is no dividend payout and the PEG ratio is a higher 2.85, however the momentum in ULTI and the cloud-computing sector as a whole make the stock an interesting play.
The Bottom Line
I would never suggest an investor purchase a stock based solely on the short interest ratio. The number is a tool to use in finding new ideas and can be used as a predictor to a potential short covering rally. Investors must respect what the company does as well as its other fundamentals and the chart when deciding on a potential purchase.
SEE: 5 Must-Have Metrics For Value Investors
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0.025816 | <urn:uuid:e58f7a85-2b34-4db3-84e5-54001ee572d7> | en | 0.984579 | Loading player…
1) All-women experimental post punk band from Toronto
2) Female fronted UK punk band from the mid 1980's
1) Fifth Column is an all-women experimental post punk band from Toronto, which came about during the early 1980s. They took the name Fifth Column after a military manoeuvre by Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War.
Their live shows often included films played overtop of the band and a 'go-go' boy dancing. They were frequently accompanied by guest musicians who played instruments as varied as saxophone, trumpet, flute, or violin.
Independent-minded, they released their recordings, including their second full length recording All-Time Queen Of The World, themselves. A video for the song "Like This " from the album was directed by Bruce LaBruce with Fifth Column. The band also appeared on a number of compilations.
2) http://www.mf-enterprizes.com/Fifth%20Column%20Page.html
API Calls | http://www.last.fm/music/Fifth+Column/+wiki | dclm-gs1-175650001 | false | false | {
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0.128131 | <urn:uuid:fd140397-15b5-4a2e-971e-1364f56c5e7e> | en | 0.97723 | Poll shows Donald Trump gets a thumbs down from Valley voters
Letters To The Editor
NCAA penalties were excessive
I definitely agree with Rep. Charlie Dent and the other four Pennsylvania congressmen that the penalties placed against Penn State were entirely too extreme.
Where does the NCAA get the authority to impose such strict penalties that punish current and future student-players who had nothing to do with Jerry Sandusky's actions? The football team and the student athletes are being deprived of a big part of a very successful football program. These student-athletes work very hard to make the football program successful and have an excellent academic record to continue being able to play football.
They had nothing to do with Sandusky's actions. It's also was very unfair to fire Joe Paterno, after 50-plus years at Penn State and with all he has done for the university. To allow the NCAA to erase the record of wins for Paterno's Penn State football games over the last decade is criminal. Punishing the football team for something a former assistant coach did on his own, without any knowledge of the players or Paterno, is just not right. A $60 million fine and a four-year ban on bowl games is way over the line. A $10 million fine would have been more appropriate, providing that the money was used in Pennsylvania to help prevent this tragedy from happening again.
Bob Halsey
Lower Macungie Township
Copyright © 2015, The Morning Call | http://www.mcall.com/opinion/letters/mc-sb2-halsey-20140730-story.html | dclm-gs1-175690001 | false | false | {
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0.076658 | <urn:uuid:715d9b50-87dc-46a7-ba64-8341d171307e> | en | 0.94308 | NCAA March Madness 2001 PlayStation
Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 5 out of 9
2. Negative: 0 out of 9
1. CNET Gamecenter
Even with the game's wealth of gameplay modes and excellent sound, the developers' failure to provide analog support and to improve the game's frame rate really hampers the franchise.
2. Besides a few cosmetic changes, nothing appears to have changed from last year's game. People buying MM2K1 who own MM2K are probably being suckered into purchasing a $40 roster patch.
3. Shows brief glimpses of that old EA excellence with its new dynasty mode, but sadly, the overall game slides weakly into the realm of substandard.
There are no user reviews yet. | http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation/ncaa-march-madness-2001/critic-reviews?dist=neutral | dclm-gs1-175710001 | false | false | {
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0.048126 | <urn:uuid:1c159957-f73e-43c0-9a3e-36d418e00e6c> | en | 0.910265 | Open Access Open Badges Nano Express
Biocompatibility of hydrophilic silica-coated CdTe quantum dots and magnetic nanoparticles
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Citation and License
Published: 6 April 2011
Fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles exhibit great application prospects in biomedical engineering. Herein, we reported the effects of hydrophilic silica-coated CdTe quantum dots and magnetic nanoparticles (FMNPs) on human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells and mice with the aim of investigating their biocompatibility. FMNPs with 150 nm in diameter were prepared, and characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectra and magnetometer. HEK293 cells were cultured with different doses of FMNPs (20, 50, and 100μ g/ml) for 1-4 days. Cell viability and adhesion ability were analyzed by CCK8 method and Western blotting. 30 mice were randomly divided into three groups, and were, respectively, injected via tail vein with 20, 60, and 100 μg FMNPs, and then were, respectively, raised for 1, 7, and 30 days, then their lifespan, important organs, and blood biochemical parameters were analyzed. Results show that the prepared water-soluble FMNPs had high fluorescent and magnetic properties, less than 50 μg/ml of FMNPs exhibited good biocompatibility to HEK293 cells, the cell viability, and adhesion ability were similar to the control HEK293 cells. FMNPs primarily accumulated in those organs such as lung, liver, and spleen. Lung exposed to FMNPs displayed a dose-dependent inflammatory response, blood biochemical parameters such as white blood cell count (WBC), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), displayed significant increase when the FMNPs were injected into mice at dose of 100μg. In conclusion, FMNPs exhibit good biocompatibility to cells under the dose of less than 50 μg/ml, and to mice under the dose of less than 2mg/kg body weight. The FMNPs' biocompatibility must be considered when FMNPs are used for in vivo diagnosis and therapy. | http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/299/abstract?fmt_view=mobile | dclm-gs1-175770001 | false | true | {
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0.241432 | <urn:uuid:87083060-0eef-4483-bc26-491459add616> | en | 0.960034 | Zowie Gear Hammer e-Sports Headset Review
hardnrg - 2009-11-11 15:44:11 in Speakers/Headphones
Category: Speakers/Headphones
Reviewed by: hardnrg
Reviewed on: November 23, 2009
Price: $59.99
Zowie. Wowie Zowie?! Nope, this is Zowie Gear, a relatively new brand for computer gaming peripheral products. The people who work at Zowie Gear have previously developed and manufactured products for professional gaming at other companies, and created the new company with the ambition of becoming the best manufacturer of professional gaming gear. Currently, the line-up of products is mostly mousepads, but there are also two headsets and two gaming bundles. The gaming bundle seems to be a painted Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical, along with a mousepad, mouse bag, and low-friction teflon pads (mouse skatez). I'm not quite sure why this mouse is in the Professional Gaming bundle, it seems quite pedestrian compared to the gaming mice from Logitech, Razer, and even Microsoft. I'm literally still scratching my head... Anyway, enough about the other products, I'll stop, it's Hammer time.
The headset I'll be looking at in this review is the 3.5mm version of the Zowie Gear Hammer (there is also a USB version of the Hammer). Will it be better than other gaming headsets? Is it the best for professional gaming?
Closer Look:
In the world of audio, the better headphones tend to be packaged in a box rather than one of those annoying plastic bubble things. This isn't a definitive rule, it's not even really a fair generalization, but it certainly raised my expectations as soon as I saw the headset. On the front of the box, you can clearly see the words "designed for e-sports." So, this is not an ordinary multimedia headset aimed at the general public, it has been specifically designed for serious competitive gaming. The back of the box lists the important and unique features, and the technical specifications, as you would expect (which you can see properly, later in this review).
The product package comprises of the headset itself (which has an in-line volume/mic control), an extension cable, and a pair of alternative earpads.
Let's look at each of these components in detail.
Closer Look:
Frequency response 15 - 25,000 Hz
Speaker dimension 40 mm
Impedance 32 Ω
Sensitivity 98 dB ± 4 dB
Cable length 1.2 m + 1.8 m = 3.0 m
Connectors 3.5 mm gold-plated
Frequency range 60 - 10,000 Hz
Directivity Uni-directional
Impedance Low
Sensitivity -57 dB ± 4 dB
All information courtesy of Zowie Gear
Testing Setup:
Comparison Headsets:
I listened to a wide selection of music, from psychedelic trance to symphonic classical, to explore the ability to deliver powerful sound whilst maintaining the clarity of finer detail. The Hammer headphones provide a tidy and controlled bottom-end, more punchy than the X-52, but not boomy like the Medusa. The mids appear well balanced and again are favourable to the X-52 and Medusa, but the high end seems somewhat muted or muffled. So, the Hammer is not quite as bright sounding as the X-52 or Medusa, but because of the well-executed bass and mids, it sounds the best overall.
I should point out here that the Hammer didn't really need much EQ adjustment at all, whereas the X-52 and Medusa pretty much required EQ adjustment to make them sound decent.
Both of the comparison headsets are 5.1 designs, with 4 drivers in each earcup, and they suffer from slightly imbalanced sound across the frequency range, sometimes resulting in quiet dialogue, or overly boomy explosions (not in a good way). As the Hammer is a straightforward stereo design, the resulting movie sound is reproduced more faithfully, as it doesn't not have the mismatched speaker problem of the X-52 and Medusa. So, although the other headsets can seem more exciting and dramatic, the Hammer is more accurate and clear.
The Hammer is a closed-back design, meaning the earcups don't have holes on the back. This did seem to restrain the sound somewhat, and the soundstage didn't seem all that wide compared to the X-52. It was a tough call, but I think the Hammer and X-52 are neck and neck in movies. While the Hammer reproduces all the sound levels better (i.e. dialogue vs. foley vs. music etc), the X-52 has a wider sound, so things appear further apart from left to right.
Although the headphones are a closed-back design, there is some sound leakage in both directions, so other people in the room (or on the train/bus/plane) can hear what you are listening to (if it's very loud), and you can hear loud things around you. I personally feel that professional gaming headsets should have at least some level of sound isolation, mostly so that the only sounds that you hear are from the headphones, from the gaming world, not the real world. With the velvet earpads, there is almost no sound isolation; switching to the leather earpads provided a little sound dampening, but it was still very little. This means that your gaming environment would need to be fairly quiet, and if you are gaming late at night, you might annoy other people in the same room.
I tried driving a Hummer in Crysis and could hear the engine properly, unlike with the X-52. There was also no problem with other sounds in front of, or behind, the player in other FPS games (e.g. gunshots, grenades, and other explosions). So, as with movies, the sound delivered is much more accurate than the comparison headsets.
Testing the microphone out in VoIP apps (Ventrilo, TeamSpeak and Skype), I found that the mic does pic up some plosives and breathing noise when the mic is directly in front of the mouth, but it is not as pronounced as with the X-52 or Medusa. Adjusting the mic slightly above or below the mouth eliminated these unwanted noises. This is quite a basic concept that people should follow when using a headset, but the large housing on the mic appears to do a better job at filtering out the unwanted noises and capture your voice better.
You know what, it's very hard to fault the Hammer headset at all. It doesn't require drastic EQ adjustment to sound good, and sounds better still with a touch more bass and treble. The mic boom and mic housing are very solid and look and feel like they could take a beating as well as hold up during regular usage (I'm looking at you, Medusa!) The circumaural design means that the Hammer doesn't press down on my ears, which doesn't lead to the ear pinnae fatigue I get from wearing supra-aural headphones and headsets for several hours. Being able to adjust the headband infinitely meant that I could get the earpads in exactly the right position on my head, and the headband does not flex inwards so much to produce too much pressure either side of my head, but is not too loose, so it feels comfortable and secure on my head. The microphone picks up my voice very clearly and certainly proved to work very well whilst playing games online. I feel like I could go on for ever listing the merits of this headset, but I should stop, it's Hammer time (sorry... couldn't resist, again!)
This headset isn't perfect though. The fact that the headphones provide almost no level of sound isolation could pose a problem if you have a noisy computer, have an air-conditioner running nearby, if there are noisy kids in the house, etc etc. If you are playing a game where you need to keep your ears peeled, listening out for footsteps or other distant/feint sounds, having the real world intrude upon your ears could mean that you don't hear the subtle sounds, and possibly lose your competitive edge. Playing in a quiet room would solve this, but we all know this is not always possible (maybe not ever for some people!)
The high frequency response was a little disappointing, and I think the headphones would be more engaging if the top end performance was improved, as they would seem more bright and lively, rather than performing very well only in the bass and mid frequencies. This is, admittedly, a bit of a harsh criticism. I realize that the retail price of the Hammer headset means that the headphones aren't going to be reference-class quality, but I hope to see Zowie Gear develop more headset products in the future, and have some higher end headphone speaker drivers on offer.
If the headphones provided decent sound isolation from the real world, and the high end response was a bit better, I would recommend the headset as the best you can get. As I've tried to stress in this conclusion, the shortcomings are actually minor, and I found the headset hard to fault. You can really tell a lot of thought, design and consideration went into developing the Zowie Gear Hammer headset, and it all paid off as Zowie Gear have produced a headset worthy of the professional gamer. I have never played games professionally, but I used to play Unreal Tournament (99 and 2k4) on the European leagues for about a year, and I understand the importance of a decent headset when the matches matter. I would personally use the Hammer headset over any headset or headphone+mic setup I own when playing online games, and I hope Zowie Gear continue to grow and produce further outstanding headsets. | http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/zowie_hammer/print/ | dclm-gs1-175900001 | false | false | {
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0.049223 | <urn:uuid:26307a0f-fbb7-48f8-bf55-de0125f6624c> | en | 0.918188 | Racial Disparities in Cholecystectomy Rates During Hospitalizations for Acute Gallstone Pancreatitis: A National Survey
Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The American Journal of Gastroenterology (Impact Factor: 10.76). 09/2008; 103(9):2301-7. DOI: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2008.01949.x
Source: PubMed
ABSTRACT Practice guidelines advocate performing cholecystectomy for acute gallstone pancreatitis during the same hospitalization stay. Our objectives were to determine nationwide rates of adherence to these guidelines in the United States and whether this varied with race and ethnicity.
We queried the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) to identify admissions for acute gallstone pancreatitis between 1998 and 2003. We calculated overall and race-specific proportions of patients who underwent cholecystectomy or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) prior to discharge. We used multivariate analysis to determine racial effects while adjusting for age, comorbidity, health insurance payer, and hospital factors.
The overall rate of cholecystectomy was 51% and that of either cholecystectomy or ERCP was 62%. Cholecystectomy rates were lower among African Americans (AAs) and Asians compared to Whites (44% and 43%, respectively, vs 50%, P < 0.001). After multivariate adjustment, the odds of cholecystectomy was lower in AAs (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.63-0.73) and Asians/Pacific Islanders (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.65-0.87) relative to Whites, while rates were modestly higher among Hispanics (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.22). AAs were less likely to receive ERCP than Whites (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.65-0.78). In contrast, Asians/Pacific Islanders (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.16-1.69) and Hispanics (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.09-1.29) were more likely to receive ERCP than Whites.
Despite practice guidelines, about only half of admissions for gallstone pancreatitis receive cholecystectomy during the same hospitalization, and cholecystectomy rates vary substantially by race. These findings raise concerns regarding suboptimal healthcare delivery.
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Show more | http://www.researchgate.net/publication/23308964_Racial_Disparities_in_Cholecystectomy_Rates_During_Hospitalizations_for_Acute_Gallstone_Pancreatitis_A_National_Survey | dclm-gs1-176030001 | false | false | {
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0.049503 | <urn:uuid:c5cb602e-3b77-46f1-871b-09d328744a32> | en | 0.983042 | Here's part 3 of 3 70s Christian Rock:The Jesus Movement Era.
I'm gonna start with one of the most important bands of the Jesus Movement Era.
The year was 1972, and 4 young college students named Bob Hartman, Greg Hough, John Degroff, and Bill Glover, formed the band:
Petra from left to right:Bob Hartman, Bill Glover, John Degroff and Greg Hough
Though the guys shared their idea of Christian Rock with the church they went to, almost the entire church (mainly adults) were not too thrilled with the idea, but they prooved popular with a younger audience, anyway enough of that, let's get on with the first 3 Petra albums starting with:
Petra (1st album)
This is a good album, it came out two years after they formed, instead of being Arena Rock/AOR, it has a Country sound to it, with some hard rock guitar riffs, there are some good tracks on this LP like "Walking in the Light", and "Gonna Fly Away", there's even an experimental country song called "Lucas McGraw", which was what they used to break the ice, overall, I highly recommend this album.
Come and Join Us
This is Petra's second album, it came out three years after their first LP was released, this album still goes with the Country Rock, although they go for a more Rock 'n' Roll sound, this album was a compromise because Bob Hartman wanted to call the album "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You" but their label wouldn't let them, and "Killing my old man" was cut off of the album as well, speaking of "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You" if you have heard the version Petra did in 1984, You're in for a real surprise, this is also a great album, aside from their first one, and this was the last one with the original Petra, and the first to have Greg X Volz.
Washes Whiter Than
In 1978 Greg Hough, John Degroff, and bill Glover left, and with that, it was just Bob Hartman, and Greg Volz, and Rob Frazier.
A year later Petra released "Washes Whiter Than" their third album, which is less rocky and more pop oriented, it's an okay one, the reason for sounding pop was because Bob and Greg were tired of doing albums too controversial for airplay, for once in their lives they had their first radio hit "Why Should the Father Bother", this album has some good stuff, like "Morning Star" which is a decent rocker, and "Yahweh Love", this album was reissued on a one disc CD, along with Never Say Die(their return to Rock),however two tracks are taken off that one: "Magic Words", and "Couldn't Find Love Without You", overall I think this is an okay album.
I will also mention an artist who is an important part of the Jesus Movement Era, and that is
Larry Norman
This (in my opinion) is the guy that started Christian Rock, he may not have been the guy that started it, but he was certainly one of the first few to get noticed play C.R., anyway, if you recall my top 10 article, you'll know Larry lives where I live, if you've read my profile, you'll know that's Salem, Oregon, now on to one of his albums:
In Another Land
This is one of my favorite albums, it came out in 1976, and has some mellow stuff, and stuff that rocks, like "The Rock That Doesn't Roll", or "Shot Down", it even has a remix of "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus", if you haven't heard this one, I reccomend you listen to it.
Anyway, on to other bands/artists.
Glass Harp-It Makes me Glad
Now here's a power trio that didn't last long, but these guys were good, Glass Harp featured lead singer Phil Keaggy, this is their last album, the only song I've heard off of it is "Do Lord", so there's not much else to say about this album.
Gentle Faith
This was a side project featuring blues artist Darrell Mansfield, if you haven't heard him, you should, Darrell can wale on the harmonica, all I know is that after the release of this album, you didn't hear from Gentle Faith after that, so there's not much else to say about this album.
Keith Green-No Compromise
In 1978 Keith Green released his second album No Compromise, which featured my favorite Keith Green song "How Can They Live Without Jesus", I haven't heard much of this album, so there's not much else to say about it.
Phil Keaggy-What a Day
In 1969 Phil Keaggy was the lead singer of a power trio called Glass Harp, but it wasn't until 1973 when he went solo and released his first album "What a Day, there's not much to say because I've never heard Phil's solo stuff, so why am I talk about Phil Keaggy, if I haven't heard his solo stuff, well, I'm just giving you guys what you want.
well that's all I'll give you, although there were other Christian Rock bands/artists through out the 70's like Degarmo and Key, Love Song, Mylon Lefevre, Barry McGuire, and Daniel Amos, this of course concludes my 3 part Christian Rock Article, up next Christian Video Games. | http://www.retrojunk.com/article/show/1210/70s-christian-rock | dclm-gs1-176050001 | false | false | {
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0.578591 | <urn:uuid:9dd6183b-1d6d-4461-bafa-050f00c56fc0> | en | 0.967219 | Teaching Tip 13: Checking Together
1. It's a good idea to let the students check their answers together before feeding back to the teacher because it gives them the chance to rub out/cross out any glaring errors before the teacher sees and thus avoid looking stupid in front of the class.
2. If a student hasn't a clue about some of the answers it's reassuring to find out that their partner hasn't the foggiest either. The students realise they are not alone. They can also copy their partners answers (if their partner has some that they don't) but their partner might not be right!
3. Peer teaching is considered a good thing in the world of EFL. Peers are equals. So in this case a students peers are a student's fellow classmates. Working together and checking work together is a form of peer teaching. This means that instead of the know-it-all (and/or) mother-tongue teacher always teaching them, the students can teach each other (by explaining grammar points, correcting pronunciation, explaining new words and phrases etc). The beauty of it is that the students are all equal to each other and are in the same boat, linguistically speaking.
« Back Next »
© Liz Regan 2003 | http://www.tefl.net/teaching/teaching-tip_13.htm | dclm-gs1-176270001 | false | false | {
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0.034178 | <urn:uuid:92d9d1aa-8a96-4922-b3fa-01d298367636> | en | 0.970931 | It's another "Grand Plan" ("Big debate over a dime," Feb. 17).
Wrapped within this mathematical maze of malarky was this beauty: "$74 million in unclaimed deposits, figuring that 16 percent of the containers on which consumers have paid a deposit would not be returned."
Forget about the rest of the article. Ten years of unclaimed deposits is almost $740 million! This must put big smiles on faces of our liberal legislators and environmentalists who have dreams of how that money could be used to fund more "government interference" and inflict more changes in our "social behavior" to help save us from the waves of garbage now littering the landscape.
These advanced homo sapiens are thinking about the future too, "expand the idea, so that recycling deposits also would be paid for new cars, cellphones and appliances."
Please stop drooling.
Henry M. Votel, Forest Lake
The right choice
Let's keep this simple. The DNR knows it is not a wise decision to feed deer. They even admit it. Nevertheless, they have caved in to hunters and have decided to feed deer, at least in some areas. To me, this appears to be evidence that being intelligent enough to determine the correct answer is only half of the solution to some problems. The other half is having the courage to follow through and make the right choice. DNR, you -- not special interest groups -- have regulatory obligations.
Please develop the character and courage to do what you know to be right.
Bob Holtz, Roseville
Respect for right-of-ways
Dan Nimlos, Blaine | http://www.twincities.com/letters/ci_25165554/dreams-unclaimed-deposits?source=rss | dclm-gs1-176360001 | false | false | {
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0.024383 | <urn:uuid:9563a6a2-04b5-4e7c-bdf0-0b58f5c8a2e3> | en | 0.956445 | How Apple's App Store review process hurt Occipital's RedLaser SDK and my very own 'avit iPhone app
Occipital is the company behind RedLaser (iTunes link), a hugely-successful barcode scanning app for the iPhone that is one of the top-selling and highest-grossing apps on the App Store.
Beyond that, however, Occipital is a Value Adder, just like Joe Hewitt.
Instead of being content with having one of the top-selling apps on the App Store, as a Value Adder, Occipital decided to devote considerable time, effort, and money into extending the iPhone platform by sharing their technology and giving any developer the ability to add 1D barcode scanning to their apps via a commercial SDK called the RedLaser SDK.
(Occipital takes a well-deserved 10% cut of commercial apps that use the RedLaser SDK.)
The RedLaser SDK
The RedLaser SDK is a beautiful plug-and-play library that makes it trivial to add high-accuracy 1D barcode scanning for any generation iPhone (not just the 3GS with its auto-focus camera). This is huge. It opens up the iPhone platform to a whole slew of new applications hitherto made infeasible by the poor quality cameras on older iPhone models and the complexity of implementing accurate and efficient 1D barcode scanning from the ground up.
So how do you think Apple responded to such a wonderful addition to the iPhone platform? By working closely with Occipital to help them in any way they could? By buying Occipital and adding their technology to the official iPhone SDK?
Nope, you guessed it: by rejecting apps built with the RedLaser SDK.
Because Occipital used an undocumented API call in a public framework (not a private API call) to bring real-time barcode scanning to the iPhone platform in the RedLaser SDK.
The technical details
The RedLaser SDK which Apple rejected – let's call it the RedLaser Realtime SDK – uses the undocumented UIGetScreenImage call to constantly sample the video stream, trying to detect the presence of a barcode in the image.
In my extensive tests with the RedLaser RealTime SDK while bulding 'avit, I did not encounter any crashes whatsoever and neither did I find any other negative repercussions from the use of this call. As far as I'm concerned, there is no technical reason whatsoever for Apple to have rejected the use of this call apart from the fact that it is an undocumented API call in an otherwise public framework.
Get it straight: This is not Occipital's fault but Apple's shortsightedness
After it came to light that Apple was rejecting the RedLaser Realtime SDK some people mistakenly began to blame Occipital and RedLaser.
The most public of these came from Nick Lansley from Tesco, in his blog post titled Barcode scanning for iPhone – anyone help? wherein he lamented the RedLaser Realtime SDK's use of "'hidden' iPhone API calls" and put out a call for someone to create a barcode scanning component using "published iPhone/Cocoa-Touch API calls and not in any way try and use hacked internal knowledge of iPhone."
Unfortunately, what Nick didn't understand was that any real-time solution that anyone created would have had to use the same undocumented API call and that the only other alternative was what RedLaser ended up implementing in the next version of their SDK – let's call it the RedLaser Burst SDK – which was to use a "tap to scan" flow and the takePicture() API call.
Thankfully, Nick did post a retraction on his blog after this clear explanation by Jeffrey Powers, co-founder of Occipital:
I thought you would like to know that RedLaser, as an algorithm, has nothing to do with unpublished APIs, but that video processing in general is currently impossible without unpublished API use. We have some confidence that Apple will course-correct on this issue with their next OS update.
In the meantime, we do have a version of RedLaser that avoids this problem which became publicly available as of yesterday. It uses what we call "Photo-Burst" instead of the unpublished API, which means it takes a couple of snapshots very rapidly and then processes those momentarily. At the core it still uses RedLaser's state of the art barcode recognition, and it still works on all iPhone models.
Apple to developers: your app's UX be damned?
From the user's perspective, the realtime nature of the barcode scanner in the RedLaser Realtime SDK provides a beautiful user experience:
You simply aim your iPhone's camera at a barcode and move it around slightly until the phone recognizes the barcode. The flow incorporates elements of game dynamics as the user quickly learns the ideal range that a barcode is sampled at via play.
Unfortunately, since Apple decided to reject apps built on the realtime RedLaser SDK, this user experience is now not available to iPhone users.
The alternative
In light of Apple's rejection of apps built on the RedLaser Realtime SDK, Occipital was forced to devote yet more development time, effort, and money, to reworking a perfectly functional SDK to create the RedLaser Burst SDK, which doesn't use the undocumented API call.
This means that the RedLaser Burst SDK doesn't perform realtime analysis of the video image. Instead, the user has to align the barcode and tap the screen (or a button). At this point, the phone takes two or three pictures of the barcode in rapid succession and attempts to detect the barcode within those images. If it cannot detect it, the user has to align the barcode again and tap to scan again.
This, of course, is a step backwards insofar as the user experience is concerned.
In place of a playful process of continuous feedback, you potentially have a series of failures and retries.
Now, thankfully, RedLaser's barcode recognition algorithms are really advanced so in most cases a single scan with the Burst SDK is all it takes to recognize a barcode. However, the accuracy does drop on older handsets and it may take the user a little while to find the best focal distance for capturing barcodes without continuous feedback.
The saddest part of all this is that Apple has made the decision to reject the RedLaser Realtime SDK not based on any sound technical decision but rather on its shortsighted and inconsistent App Store review policies. Furthermore, it has done so in full knowledge that this decision would lead to less-than-optimal user experiences in apps that used the non-realtime alternative.
Can you see how Apple is acting contrary to its own interests here?
Apple is all about user experience.
Here, they are saying that app developers have to sacrifice the user experience of their apps because, well…, because Apple said so, that's why!
And this decision isn't even in Apple's own best interests or, perhaps more importantly, in those of its shareholders.
How Apple's App Store review process is failing its shareholders
If you understand that Apple's bottom line is inextricably linked to sales of apps on the iPhone platform, you begin to understand how its App Store review process actually hurts Apple and its shareholders.
Let's see how Apple's decision to reject apps based on the RedLaser Realtime SDK, hurts itself and its shareholders:
Let me state it plainly: by rejecting apps and whole SDKs based on its shortsighted App Store review process policies instead of based on the value they add to the platform and their user experience, Apple is reducing its own profit and thus failing its stockholders.
And I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Apple's shortsighted policy on disallowing real-time analysis of the video image on iPhones is blocking a whole range of potential augmented reality applications and thus further reducing Apple's potential profits.
Another app not created, another sale unrealized.
Just last night, when I was thinking of writing this blog post, I read a tweet from Tim Sears, author of the excellent Robotvision augmented reality iPhone app (iTunes link):
Spent a few hours last night playing around with face tracking on the iPhone. Too bad rapid image capturing isn't supported. Too bad.
Here was a developer complaining that he couldn't build a cool new iPhone app that used face tracking because of Apple's policy disallowing real-time analysis of the video image from the iPhone's camera. I decided to contact him to ask him what his thoughts were on the subject and he responded with this gem of a quote, which I wholeheartedly agree with (emphasis mine):
I believe Apple needs to change their philosophy to the App Review process, making it less about what technology you use and more about good business decisions. They should be rejecting apps that are abusing infrastructure and are creating a poor experience for the user and accepting apps that are driving innovation. It shouldn't be based around logistical red-tape such as what supported libraries you are using and what text you are entering into your marketing description.
What can I say? Tim said everything I was thinking in one succinct paragraph. I can only hope that someone at Apple reads this, prints out that paragraph in 72pt text, and pastes it all around the Apple campus.
Apple stifling augmented reality apps on the iPhone
Tim goes on to talk about how the burgeoning augmented reality industry on the iPhone is suffering due to Apple's shortsightedness on this issue:
UIGetScreenImage is just one more case for this (on top of the many others such as the CameraOverlay, and the Google Voice fiasco). The young and fertile augmented reality industry is suffering because of it, as well, as there are many more doors to be opened once we can leverage the iPhone for marker-based tracking and object recognition. These are core technical requirements critical to the continued innovation of this industry.
As you can probably tell, Apple's stance on this issue is hurting not just iPhone apps that want to perform barcode scanning but also the take off of what is perhaps the hottest and most exciting mobile application category of our day: augmented reality.
Why this matters to me
As you may already know, this is an issue that is close to my heart since my first iPhone app, 'avit, uses the RedLaser SDK.
Because of Apple's rejection of RedLaser's Realtime SDK, I've had to re-architect 'avit to use the RedLaser Burst SDK.
As an independent developer, this delay has cost me unnecessary time and money.
And yet, it hasn't been all bad.
Although Apple's rejection of the SDK meant that the release of 'avit was delayed (I still haven't submitted it to the App Store – I hope to do so this week after we've signed the license agreement for RedLaser with Occipital), it also meant that I was able to use the extra time to improve the user experience of other parts of the application.
Once I've had a chance to record a new screencast for 'avit, I will write up another post comparing and contrasting the user experience between RedLaser's Realtime and Burst SDK versions in more detail.
And just in case I didn't make it painfully clear earlier, Occipital is in no way to blame for any of this. Their only crime was to try and make the best possible barcode reader for the iPhone.
If anything, Occipital have performed brilliantly and with great patience while firmly lodged between a rock and hard place. They've also been very helpful to me personally during all this with Jeffrey constantly and personally keeping me updated on the latest developments and working with me to make the transition to the new SDK as painless as possible.
Also, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, Occipital in no way asked me to write any of this nor have they had prior knowledge of this post. In fact, knowing Jeffrey's humble and non-confrontational approach, he would probably have preferred it had I not written anything at all. That, of course, would not have been possible since I had to explain to you guys why the user experience changed in 'avit since the initial screencast and I couldn't do that without addressing this issue.
Beyond that, I also feel that the issue needs to be addressed as it pertains to more than just my app but concerns the long-term health of the platform itself. Furthermore, we as developers cannot live in fear of offending the gatekeepers of the platforms that we develop for. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson:
When developers fear their platform, there is tyranny; when the platform fears developers, there is liberty.
All this to say that I hope Apple will come to its senses and start supporting the real-time analysis of the video image on iPhones so that I can go back to enabling realtime barcode scanning in 'avit, Tim can create his awesome new face-tracking app, and so that someone out there reading this can build something revolutionary that none of us has even thought of yet.
Apple, please hear the rising chorus of discontent from developers who are unhappy with your App Store review process, stop playing gatekeeper and limiting the potential of this awesome platform, and address these issues before the cacophonous crescendo is replaced by a deafening silence.
If you're an Apple engineer, access Radar ticket 7400523 for this issue (thanks, Nik.) | https://ar.al/2530/ | dclm-gs1-176510001 | false | false | {
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0.042861 | <urn:uuid:7c4b9806-bfd9-4ee3-9e24-c743bea5beac> | en | 0.950895 | “Winter’s Tale” sets up the supernatural in the first scene when a pair of immigrants are denied coming to America and instead choose to place their baby inside a model ship and sail him to America. The baby eventually washes up on the shores of New York and grows up to be the thieving Peter Lake (Colin Farrell, “Saving Mr. Banks”).
The movie jumps to 1916 Manhattan with Peter running from a Manhattan crime-boss, Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe, “Man of Steel”). In the midst of a robbery he gets caught by the 21-year old Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay, “Downton Abbey), who is dying of consumption. Between the somewhat chuckle-worthy and corny dialogue, the two lock eyes and it is love at first sight.
Throughout the first half hour of the film Peter is told he has one miracle in him meant for a single person, and the film’s main plot of good versus evil is brought out. Soon we find out that Pearly is a servant to the devil himself and must help to restore a natural balance on Earth. As the romance between Peter and Beverly takes off, their love story becomes more clichéd and predictable.
The inevitable battle between Peter and Pearly is escalated by Beverly’s death and “Winter’s Tale” moves from 1916 to a present-day version of Manhattan. In the first shot of the present day, Peter comes crawling out of the river without any question about where he has been for the past 98 years. Neither the movie’s plot nor the dialogue between characters explains what happened with Peter over the time. The biggest explanation seems highly overused—his mission in life hadn’t been fulfilled therefore Peter couldn’t die. Through a course of luck, Peter finds his mission in life is to use his miracle saving an adorable child, Abby, who is a cancer patient.
As a mythical love tale, “Winter’s Tale” has many great graphics and beautiful cinematography. A flying horse, Athansor, comes to Peter’s rescue multiple times. The graphics of the horse and its wings are perfectly put together; it’s as if this animal was meant to have wings. One of the major themes of the movie is light, and with this theme come lens flares drawing attention to the way light hits certain objects. However, the effect looks tacky and distracts from other things happening in the scene.
The film is split 50/50 between 1916 Manhattan and present day—never allowing for a complete bonding between viewer and character. “Winter’s Tale” focuses on deeper questions of what happens to us when we die, but are answered with clichés, things like turning into stars when we’ve served our purpose in life. Instead of expanding a moment and allowing a connection to form not only between characters on screen but also between character and audience, “Winter’s Tale” switches through subplot after subplot. There are several interactions between Peter and Abby as well as Peter and Beverly’s little sister that allow for awe-inspiring moments, but they’re few and far in-between.
The script of “Winter’s Tale” lacks thoughtful dialogue and action. The film’s talented group of actors isn’t enough to combat the lack of carefully chosen dialogue and viewer connection. What was set up to be an epic supernatural romance movie turned out to be a slow-moving, boring flop. Released on Valentine’s Day, “Winter’s Tale” doesn’t seem to be an eternal love that will last throughout the ages as the taglines suggest; instead, it’s a slow, boring ride into the stars.
1.5 out of 5 stars | https://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2014/02/14/despite-beautiful-cinematography-ambitious-winters-tale-rife-cliches-es/ | dclm-gs1-176520001 | false | false | {
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0.172431 | <urn:uuid:5ef28f27-684a-4517-93c4-9a24a924e254> | en | 0.952661 | Cinavia DRM Protection
Discussion in 'AnyDVD' started by Rogersware, Nov 24, 2011.
1. Rogersware
Rogersware Well-Known Member
It seems that DRM is now going into certain devices to prevent sound playback....Here is a sample of the message you'll encounter.
How is slysoft handling this new protection?
2. fordman
fordman Well-Known Member
They're not - because it would require a reauthoring of the audio stream to get rid of the "digital watermark," I've seen it stated here that Slysoft feels that this is outside the scope of their current products.
The accepted solution seems to purchase playback devices that do not incorporate Cinavia. One must also be careful with firmware updates, as it may add Cinavia to a device that even predated the existence of Cinavia. Apparently the Sony Playstation 3 was one of the first devices to incorporate Cinavia, though there are other duplication products that have added a workaround for the protection for PS3 playback. I have Sony BluRay players and am not hesitant to update the firmware...
Last edited: Nov 24, 2011
3. Hawk
Hawk Well-Known Member
For know slysoft has no plan of defeating it, but if they do it will most likely in clonebd or whatever they call it.
4. Adbear
Adbear Well-Known Member | https://forum.slysoft.com/threads/cinavia-drm-protection.50783/ | dclm-gs1-176610001 | false | false | {
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0.027912 | <urn:uuid:aa46dfe4-66ae-4dd3-86f4-084c21de33ca> | en | 0.945566 | 'Tandem' kick in Argentina
Eurosport - Thu, 22 Apr 15:12:00 2010
Here is one for the dubious goals panel; a remarkable double overhead kick for Gimnasia La Plata against Boca Juniors in the Argentine league.
2010 Gimnasia-Boca - 0
As the ball loops up off a defender, Sebastian Romero (on the left) and Marco Perez both have the same idea, and the combined force of their joint volley carries the ball into the Boca net.
We're not sure what to call this, but we'll go for a 'tandem' since it was a two-man bicycle kick.
After forensic examination, the goal was awarded to Perez, but we think the pair should have taken half a goal each.
| https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/22042010/58/tandem-kick-argentina.html | dclm-gs1-176630001 | false | false | {
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0.043651 | <urn:uuid:01d72ca1-2535-4167-a56c-999d0acd1d40> | en | 0.968467 | Techdirt. Stories filed under "chicago" Easily digestible tech news... en-us Techdirt. Stories filed under "chicago" Tue, 15 Sep 2015 06:11:00 PDT Chicago Sued Over Its Attempted 9% Netflix Tax Karl Bode noted how the city of Chicago was hoping to cash in on streaming services by imposing a new tax on Netflix. Blind to the negative impact such taxes can have on emerging economies, Chicago proudly proclaimed it would be expanding its 9% "amusement tax" authority (traditionally covering book stores, music stores, ball games and other brick and mortar entertainment) to cover any service that interacts with the cloud. While the new ruling was supposed to technically take effect September 1, Chicago recently announced it was postponing portions of the new tax until next year to field criticism and manage plan logistics.
While Chicagoans wait, the city's now on the receiving end of a new lawsuit (pdf) by the Liberty Justice Center, which claims that Chicago is violating the law in two ways. One, the lawsuit claims that the city aldermen violated city rules by not holding a full vote on the changes. Two, the lawsuit states that Chicago's tax grab also violates the Internet Freedom Tax Act, which prohibits local, state, and federal governments from enacting "internet taxes." The plaintiffs are quick to note that actually putting the idea to a public vote likely wouldn't end well for the city:
"No aldermen voted on this tax. It never went before the Chicago City Council, which makes the so-called 'Netflix tax' an illegal tax," Jeffrey Schwab, an attorney with the Liberty Justice Center, said in a news release Thursday. "If the city wants to tax Internet-based streaming media services, then it should put the measure through the political process, and let Chicagoans have their voices heard through the democratic process."
Should Chicago's plan even survive the lawsuit, it remains unclear how the city plans to collect the tax. Would it demand that Netflix and Spotify tax users themselves, even if they have no physical presence in the city proper? Would Chicago residents be required to report this revenue (which they either won't do, or would hide behind VPNs)? Chicago's just one of many cities taking this controversial tack as traditional revenue runs dry, creating an absolutely mind-boggling legal minefield for new economy companies suddenly facing an ocean of discordant and often logically and legally inconsistent attempts to tax the cloud.
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tax ALL the things
Mon, 17 Aug 2015 14:47:00 PDT Chicago, Los Angeles Police Departments Have Been Using 'Stingrays On Steroids' For Over A Decade Tim Cushing More evidence has surfaced showing local law enforcement agencies are using high-powered surveillance equipment -- equipment originally designed for the military and highly-recommended by the NSA. Ali Winston and the Center for Investigative Reporting have obtained documents showing both Chicago and Los Angeles have used "dirt boxes" (DRT -- Digital Receiver Technology "boxes:" high-powered cell site simulators) since 2005.
Documents from Digital Receiver Technology clearly spell out these interception capabilities.
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Mon, 10 Aug 2015 03:39:54 PDT Chicago's Secret Homan Square Detention Facility Way Worse Than Anyone Thought Timothy Geigner Back in February, we brought you the delightful news that the Chicago police department was rather broadly known to be operating what was essentially a CIA-style black site within the neighborhood of Homan Square. This facility, located in a rough West Side neighborhood of the city, featured such practices as off-the-books detention, lawyer-less interrogations, and the occasional fatality. This place, where detainees would disappear for hours or days, seemed to be a vacuum of civil liberties and instead operated under the theory that Chicago police were rulers over all, and were owed whatever they demanded. The original Guardian link detailed a number of witness stories from those who had been detained at Homan Square, but very little information was available about exactly how widely the facility was being used.
Thanks to the Guardian's FOIA efforts, however, we have some clarity on how much Homan Square is used and how the police detain people there, and, well, it's extremely chilling to anyone with a modicum of interest in civil liberties.
At least 3,500 Americans have been detained inside a Chicago police warehouse described by some of its arrestees as a secretive interrogation facility, newly uncovered records reveal. Of the thousands held in the facility known as Homan Square over a decade, 82% were black. Only three received documented visits from an attorney, according to a cache of documents obtained when the Guardian sued the police.
Despite repeated denials from the Chicago police department that the warehouse is a secretive, off-the-books anomaly, the Homan Square files begin to show how the city’s most vulnerable people get lost in its criminal justice system.
I wasn't a math major, but three out of thirty-five hundred detainees receiving visits from counsel is something like not-enough-percent. And before anyone goes off on the dangers of the West Side of Chicago or goes off prospecting for dirt on those detained, a review of the charges against many of those detained at Homan Square are laughably mundane. And that's when charges were filed to begin with.
Documents indicate the detainees are a group of disproportionately minority citizens, many accused of low-level drug crimes, faced with incriminating themselves before their arrests appeared in a booking system by which their families and attorneys might find them.
The CPD response to this, even after the initial story broke months ago, has been that Homan Square isn't a black site, it's simply an undercover base for Chicago police, which, you know, you say tomato, I say black site. Either way, the city's long-running denial maintains that all those arrested are indeed processed through the booking system and can be found by attorneys and families, except the detainees at Homan Square aren't arrested until they're booked at another station, so that doesn't mean anything at all. The Guardian's review of the records show that most of these detentions have occurred under the watchful gaze of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, most of those eventually charged with a crime were charged with anything from traffic violations to drug possession, and under ten-percent of detainees were white, despite whites making up a third of the city's population. And these records only go back to 2004. Homan Square has been in operation since 1995.
After the facts are presented, the article includes the usual quotes from civil rights leaders who lament their own lack of surprise at all of this and who wonder blissfully if anyone will do anything about Homan Square this go around. To hell with that. If you have a brain cell to spare on civil rights for an entire city's population, this ought to both shock you and make you very, very angry.
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Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:21:51 PDT Police Shut Down Hologram Concert Of Rapper Because They Don't Like His Lyrics; Pretty Clear First Amendment Problem Mike Masnick shut down an entire music festival because they didn't like a particular rapper, Chief Keef, who appeared via hologram (supposedly to avoid arrest for some outstanding warrants in the mid-west). The police don't even try to come up with some other bogus reason. They flat out admit that they didn't want Keef to perform and thus they shut it down:
Hammond police Cmdr. Pat Vicari said the promoters were warned the concert would be shut down if Chief Keef performed.
"We spoke to the promoter several times, and they assured us (Chief Keef) would not be performing," Vicari said. "Later, an officer working the show realized it was being streamed on one of the hip-hop sites, and promoters were warned again they would be shut down.”
Why? Because apparently politicians don't like his lyrics:
Thomas M. McDermott Jr., the mayor of Hammond, said in an interview that his office became aware of the surprise performance, which was also streamed live online, through social media. All of the Craze Fest acts — which included Riff Raff, Lil Bibby and Tink — had been previously vetted because the event was held at a public park, he said.
The reference to Mayor Emanuel was to Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel blocking a similar concert in Chicago a week earlier, when Emanuel's office declared Keef "an unacceptable role model." Because, apparently, in Chicago, you're only allowed to be a role model if the mayor's office gives its stamp of approval:
Last weekend, a Chicago theater called off a similar show after representatives for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office deemed Chief Keef “an unacceptable role model,” whose music “promotes violence” and whose presence via hologram “posed a significant public safety risk.”
Here's the really crazy part, though. The concert itself was to protest violence, and was called a "Stop the Killing" benefit concert, in an effort to raise money for the families of two people that Keef knew who were recently killed in a shooting.
As Eugene Volokh notes, it's difficult to see how this is anything but a First Amendment violation.
The government may impose reasonable content-neutral restrictions on speech in such venues, such as sound level restrictions, and may charge money for the use of the venues. But the government may not restrict speech because of its viewpoint, or the viewpoint that the speakers had expressed elsewhere, which seems to have happened here
He further points out that the "public safety" risk claims are not an acceptable reason to shut down the event either, pointing to Terminiello v. Chicago. Even beyond that, there were no reports of any actual threats or public safety issues at the event itself. And yes, Keef may have outstanding warrants, which would make it perfectly reasonable to have him arrested if he did show up, it still doesn't explain why the concert was shut down.
It will be interesting to see if Keef does anything about this. The hologram appearance was coordinated by Hologram USA, the company owned by wacky publicity hound billionaire Alki David, whose antics we've discussed in relation to his Aereo-clone streaming TV service FilmOn (not surprisingly, the concert was also being streamed live via... FilmOn). David immediately lashed out at the shutting down of the concert and rightly called out the First Amendment violation:
"Shame on the mayor and police chief of Hammond for shutting down a voice that can create positive change in a community in desperate need. And for taking away money that could have gone to help the victims' families," David said in a statement. "This was a legal event and there was no justification to shut it down besides your glaring disregard for the first amendment right to free speech.
Some have argued that Keef intentionally uses conflicts like this to get more publicity to market himself -- and even if it's true that doesn't matter. Even if Keef is truly a horrible person in every way, the First Amendment isn't supposed to only protect the speech of "good people." It's supposed to protect everyone. And yet it's amazing how quickly some in power forget this.
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Thu, 2 Jul 2015 12:44:26 PDT Chicago Rages Against The Future With 9% Tax On Netflix, Spotify And Other Streaming Services Timothy Geigner Almost exactly three years ago, Mike wrote up a post that discussed Planet Money pulling together five economists with differing political views to see what they could all agree on. The result was several policy ideas that appeared to transcend politics if economics was the driving motivator instead of any kind of partisanship. The whole post is awesome, and has influenced my thoughts on economic policy and taxes to a large degree, but I came away from it with one general concept firmly in mind: tax what you want to discourage, don't tax what you want to encourage, and never tax innovation or the future.
And now my home city is taxing the future. You see, the city of Chicago recently announced that it will extend its 9% amusement tax to online streaming services and cloud computing.
A ruling by Chicago’s Department of Finance allows the city to add an extra nine percent tax onto “electronically delivered amusements” and “nonpossessory computer leases.” In an odd combination, buying a subscription to streaming media, such as Netflix or Spotify, would qualify, as would using a cloud computing platform, such as Amazon Web Services. Each would be subject to 9% tax; Chicago is the first major American city to levy a tax on either streaming services or cloud computing services.
Amusement taxes in and of themselves generally violate the concept I highlighted in the opening. After all, if you're a municipality, taxing fun is essentially saying you want less fun. But what makes this re-write of the amusement tax already on the books silly is that it is purely a money-grab. Here's what happened: the amusement tax in Chicago worked primarily to collect revenue from book stores, music stores and movie rental stores, which are obviously becoming increasingly in short supply as consumers move to online stores and streaming services like Netflix and Spotify and Amazon for all of the above. This is actually a good thing from a public interest standpoint for a variety of reasons: less pollution from physical products, more efficiency in the marketplace, the opening of more creative outlets for members of the city, and more access to more content from more places and devices, meaning a more robust economic marketplace. The future, in other words, although increasingly the present as well. And Chicago wants to tax all this, effectively discouraging its use, in order to collect an additional $12 million a year.
Chicago, mind you, is in the hole for roughly one hundred times that amount.
Cities with amusement taxes have lost revenue as more people forgo book stores, record shops and video rental stores in place of online outlets. But $12 million isn’t going to be much more than a drop of water in the bucket of the city’s $1 billion operating shortfall.
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Tue, 24 Feb 2015 14:43:08 PST The Guardian Details The Horrors Of Chicago Police's 'CIA-Style Black Site' Timothy Geigner
Unfortunately, the perception of how our police force cares to operate here is also largely incorrect: it's so much worse than you think. If you thought it was all corruption and laziness from some (and I stress some) of Chicago's finest, you don't know the half of it, because the other half is the pure denial of the basic rights we are supposed to have when dealing with our protectors. The recent work done by The Guardian in detailing how Chicago police operated a CIA-style black site ought to chill the bones of anyone planning on being anywhere near my beloved city.
The practices undertaken at the Homan facility are alleged to include detaining people without documenting their arrest, beatings, keeping detainees shackled for hours at a time, refusing attorneys for detainees access to the facility, and detaining people while refusing them legal counsel for up to a full day. These practices, by the way, weren't reserved for the mature, but were happily visited upon minors, because when you're going to go evil there is no point in half-assing it. Do these types of practices sound familiar to you? Would it help if the detainees were in orange jumpsuits and had the tan of a Cuban sun upon their skin? You get the point.
So, what types of hardened criminals find themselves disappeared at the Homan Square Gitmo?
Church was held at the facility for just under 24 hours, most of that time spent cuffed to the furniture there. Though he had immediately asked to call legal counsel, this request was denied. Neither he nor the 11 other protestors that were taken there were allowed to see legal counsel until finally Church's, and only Church's, lawyer was allowed in after 20 or so hours. Prior to that, police had been questioning him illegaly. Because of the well-publicized nature of the protestor's detention, lawyers had been searching for him for hours. The reason Church couldn't be found wasn't a bug, though. It was a feature.
And yet, as ridiculous as it sounds, Church and the other protestors got off lucky.
On February 2, 2013, John Hubbard was taken to Homan Square. Hubbard never walked out. The Chicago Tribune reported that the 44-year old was found “unresponsive inside an interview room”, and pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner’s office could not locate any record for the Guardian indicating a cause of Hubbard’s death. It remains unclear why Hubbard was ever in police custody.
It's quite a shame that we can't ask Mr. Hubbard because he died within the facility where lawyers are refused entrance, where detainees are kept out of the record books, and where the police appear to operate with impunity. Now, it's roughly around here where you're thinking one of two things. Some of you are thinking that such a claim as this is so outlandish that there's very little chance that it's true. Others must be thinking that the accusations of abuse and the denial of rights are rare mistakes made by a tiny percentage of officers. Too bad this secret wasn't all that secret.
Keep in mind the references to Gitmo and CIA black sites overseas and then juxtapose that to the ongoing militarization of domestic police within our borders, and the picture becomes a clear warning against allowing the practices of our military and spy organizations to trickle into our domestic police departments. Will the outside world pressure Chicago into giving up the abuse? Unlikely. The outside view of my city is often wrong, but there's no doubting the popular assertion that Chicago is a machine, and the police department represents a powerful cog in that machine, one with a great deal of torque and few placed within which to shove a brick that will keep it from turning.
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Fri, 20 Feb 2015 13:33:00 PST Cabs Strike In Chicago Against Uber; Uber Drivers Presumably Report Uptick In Business Timothy Geigner For a couple of years now, Chicago taxi companies have been making all kinds of noise in an attempt to keep Uber and other ridesharing services from disrupting the marketplace. The whole thing has been a fairly transparent case of a jealous legacy player in an industry not loving a disruptive newcomer. That said, there's precious little validity in a claim against a city or competitor that mostly amounts to: "But I really like all that money I was making."
Not that such a lack of validity is keeping Chicago's taxi services from waving their arms around in an attempt to get attention. The most recent futile event was a staged mini-strike in Chicago's downtown area (actually, directly below my office), during which cabbies refused to pick up fares and instead drove around the loop honking their horns the entire time.
Many cabbies drove through downtown for four hours Tuesday morning, refusing to pick up fares. Dozens of cabs drive in circles around City Hall and the Daley Center for more than an hour, honking their horns to draw attention. Many cabbies had posted protest signs in their windows, accusing Uber of stealing their customers.
“It’s good music to my ears,” said cab driver Rocky Mmomo, a steering committee member of the United Taxidrivers Community Council. Mmomo said cabbies want the tax industry deregulated, so it can better compete with Uber and the other ride-sharing companies.
A couple items to note here. First, don't be fooled by old Rocky's claim that they just want the cab companies to be deregulated so they can be on a level playing field with Uber drivers. What isn't mentioned here is the obvious problem with that line of thinking: Uber's service and livery services aren't really the same thing, so the same regulations don't apply. A full-time taxi driver employed by a taxi service that pays for the medallion and proper livery license is a far cry from an Uber driver who does a little people-shipping during his or her off hours. They're just not the same thing and pretending they are won't get anyone anywhere.
And the city of Chicago, for its part, is licensing Uber based on what it actually is.
On Monday, the city agreed to issue a “transportation network provider” license to Uber, after negotiations led to a promise from Uber to provide more stringent safety measures than required by the city’s ride-sharing ordinance. Uber competitors Lyft and Sidecar were granted similar licenses three months ago.
Again, as you can see, Uber and ridesharing service providers aren't cab companies. Pretending they are doesn't make any sense. But that's what the legacy cab companies want. And you can tell that's all they want by their arguments for deregulation.
“We’ll be sitting at a hotel for two, three hours; and all of a sudden you see three UberX cabs just came and picked up customers while we’re just sitting there. How is that fair? That’s not fair to a cab driver,” cab driver Mustafa Husein said.
Forgive me, sir, but who the hell ever promised you fairness when it comes to competing in a changing business marketplace? The very nature of disruptive business models are to be "unfair" to the legacy models so as to build a more efficient product and happier customers. That's the entire point. I'm fairly certain nobody promised cabbies a living, after all. So honk away, guys. I'm sure Uber drivers are happy to pick up those fares you refuse.
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Wed, 11 Feb 2015 13:44:00 PST Police Officers Can Sue Newspaper For Publishing Descriptive Info, Raising Serious First Amendment Issues Mike Masnick "balance" free speech rights against state publicity rights. Now, over in the 7th Circuit, there's a troubling ruling that seems to suggest a particular privacy law might similarly override the First Amendment. The writeup at the Columbia Journalism Review (link in the previous sentence) is a really great overview of the case, or you can read the ruling itself.
In short, the Chicago Sun-Times published a series of reports investigating whether or not Chicago Police "manipulated" an investigation into a manslaughter case, involving a nephew of then Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley. That nephew, R.J. Vanecko, had apparently punched another man, David Koschman, leading Koschman to fall over and hit his head -- leading to a brain injury from which he died a few days later. The Sun-Times report argued that the police investigation was designed more to protect Vanecko, rather than bring him to justice.
In exposing the questionable nature of the investigation, the Chicago Sun-Times highlighted the key "police lineup" that the CPD had put together, showing Vanecko and five police officers. No eyewitness picked out Vanecko, but the Sun-Times report argued that the police had chosen officers who strongly resembled Vanecko to make it difficult to pick out who really was involved. In order to make this point, reporters at the paper used a public records request to get the lineup photos, but then also got the physical information about the other officers in the photo via the state's motor vehicle records database, controlled by the Illinois Secretary of State.
The point, obviously, was to show the physical resemblance to Vanecko. However, the officers in question sued the Sun-Times, arguing that publishing the information from the motor vehicle database, violated the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) of 1994. That law bars the disclosure of "personal information" from the various Department of Motor Vehicles' records. It was originally passed after people had been using information in those databases to find and harass people they disagreed with politically.
The Sun-Times argued, reasonably, that the First Amendment should protect its right to publish this information. However, both the lower court and the 7th Circuit appeals court have now both disagreed.
The appeals court starts out by first noting that the information that was published -- the police officers' "approximate date of birth, height, weight, hair color, and eye color" are "personal information" as defined by the DPPA. That seems ridiculous enough already, given that those aren't exactly things that are private information for the most part. From there we get to the First Amendment analysis. First, the court says that there's nothing unconstitutional about the DPPA's prohibition on obtaining the information, since that doesn't involve any expression. The Sun-Times argued that even so, the purpose here was to stifle reporting by denying the press access to such information. It pointed to the recent ACLU case we covered, where the court said a law banning the recording of police violated the First Amendment, but the court doesn't buy it:
However, ACLU is distinguishable on several grounds. While the Illinois eavesdropping statute’s effect on First Amendment interests was “far from incidental” because it banned “all audio recording of any oral communication,”..., the same is not true of the DPPA’s prohibition on the acquisition of personal information from a single, isolated source. It can hardly be said that this targeted restriction renders Sun-Times’s right to publish the truthful information at issue here—much of which can be gathered from physical observation of the Officers or from other lawful sources (including, of course, a state FOIA request)—“largely ineffective.” Further, in forbidding only the act of peering into an individual’s personal government records, the DPPA protects privacy concerns not present in ACLU. If a member of the press observed one of the Officers in public—for example, during a traffic stop—he could publish any information gleaned from that interaction without offending the DPPA. By contrast, the Illinois eavesdropping statute operated as a total ban on recording police officers’ activities, even when they were “performing their duties in public places and speaking at a volume audible to bystanders.”
Now, how about the restriction on disclosing the information -- which seems to fall even more squarely into the First Amendment arena? Again, the court doesn't buy it. It points out that while it would be protected in publishing the information if someone else got it and gave it to the Sun-Times, that doesn't apply if the Sun-Times itself broke the law in getting the information:
The Supreme Court has established that “if a newspaper lawfully obtains truthful information about a matter of public significance then state officials may not constitutionally punish publication of the information, absent a need to further a state interest of the highest order.” .... Sun-Times, however, cites no authority for the proposition that an entity that acquires information by breaking the law enjoys a First Amendment right to disseminate that information. Instead, all of the many cases on which Sun-Times relies involve scenarios where the press’s initial acquisition of sensitive information was lawful.
The court then has to do some rather fancy tap dancing to get around some of its previous rulings that said similar activity was protected free speech, by arguing that the "intent" matters.
Sun-Times fares no better in its invocation of precedent from this circuit. Sun-Times points to our opinion in Thomas v. Pearl, 998 F.2d 447, 449 (7th Cir. 1993), in which a college basketball coach secretly taped conversations with a player about illegal perks offered by a rival university, as an example of what Sun-Times terms “theoretically unlawful news-gathering techniques inherent to successful journalism.” Yet in Thomas, we determined that the coach lacked the requisite intent to be found in violation of federal wiretapping laws, id. at 452–53, and thus had not unlawfully obtained the in-formation at issue. Sun-Times also cites Desnick v. American Broadcasting Cos., 44 F.3d 1345, 1355 (7th Cir. 1995), for the proposition that the First Amendment protects a broadcaster’s “surreptitious, confrontational, unscrupulous and ungentlemanly” investigatory tactics. But Desnick’s ruling applies only insofar as “no established rights are invaded in the process.” Id. Here, of course, Sun-Times’s acquisition of the Officers’ personal information invaded their established rights under the DPPA. This is a crucial distinction. Although Sun-Times claims that, in acquiring and disclosing truthful information, it engaged only in “perfectly routine, traditional journalism,” it cannot escape the fact that it acquired that truthful information unlawfully.
The thing that I don't get is why it's the Sun-Times that is being seen as the one who broke the DPPA here. It seems more like it was the Secretary of State, who gave the Sun-Times the information which it controlled in the first place. But the Court seems blind to that concept:
We would face an analogous scenario if a third party had obtained personal information in violation of the DPPA and transmitted that information to Sun-Times, who subsequently published it. But that is not our case. Here, there is no intervening illegal actor: Sun-Times itself unlawfully sought and acquired the Officers’ personal information from the Secretary of State, and proceeded to publish it. Where the acquirer and publisher are one and the same, a prohibition on the publication of sensitive information operates as an effective deterrent against the initial unlawful acquisition of that same information. Such acquisition carries little benefit independent of the right to disseminate that information to a broader audience. We therefore conclude that the government’s deterrence interest is both important and likely to be advanced by the DPPA’s ban on Sun-Times’s disclosure of the Officers’ per-sonal information.
But that doesn't make much sense. Asking the Secretary of State for the information seems like a perfectly reasonable journalistic tactic in investigating a story.
The court then goes into even more troubling waters, as the judges basically decide that the information here isn't that important anyway, and that also undermines the First Amendment claims. It notes that in other cases, courts have found that "privacy concerns give way when balanced against the interest in publishing matters of public importance." Again, we're back to this idea that there's some sort of mythical "balancing act" between the First Amendment and privacy rights. And, when the court puts these two things on the scales in this case, it thinks the balance goes to privacy, rather than the First Amendment. Why? Because it finds that the "personal information" about the officers really isn't that important to the story.
While Sun-Times provided details of the Officers’ physical traits to highlight the resemblance between the “fillers” and Vanecko, most of the article’s editorial force was achieved through publication of the lineup photographs that Sun-Times obtained through its FOIA request—the value added by the inclusion of the Officers’ personal information was negligible. Each Officer’s height is evident from the lineup photographs, while their weights and ages are relevant only to the extent that they increase the Officers’ resemblance to Vanecko—a resemblance that the photographs independently convey. And, although identifying the Officers’ hair and eye colors may add some detail to the published black-and-white photographs, their personal information is largely redundant of what the public could easily observe from the photographs themselves. Therefore, Sun-Times’s publication of the Officers’ personal details both intruded on their privacy and threatened their safety, while doing little to advance Sun-Times’s reporting on a story of public concern.
This seems immensely troubling for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it puts the court system into the editing business, deciding which facts are actually relevant to the story, and which are somehow unnecessary. The court notes that it's possible a case "involving less privacy concerns or information of greater public significance" would come up with a different result, but that's also ridiculous. First of all, how is someone's height and eye color such a great "privacy concern"? Second, this again seems like a pretty clear restriction on the freedom of the press. It's not something that you "balance." The First Amendment is pretty clear that Congress cannot pass a law abridging the freedom of the press. And yet here, the court seems to think that it's okay, as long as it's "balanced."
Because of this, the police can now sue the paper for daring to reveal their eye color and whatnot. This seems like a terrible ruling for the First Amendment, and even while the court tries to limit it to the specific facts of this case, it seems likely that this particular ruling is now likely to be cited against reporters quite a lot.
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Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:33:00 PST Traffic Cam Company 'Bagman' Pleads Guilty To Bribing Chicago Transportation Official Tim Cushing John Bills
Managing Commissioner
Chicago Transportation Department
30 N. LaSalle Street
Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 744-3600
Mr. John Bills,
As the Commissioner of Chicago's DOT, you are undoubtedly aware that unsafe driving kills or injures hundreds of people every year.* While not every death or injury can be prevented, there are proactive measures that can be taken to reduce this terrible toll.
*[Stats tk, but probably a lot.]
One of the best deterrents is a non-intrusive camera: one that acts as both a recording device and a police officer. (And a judge and jury, truth be told.) In fact, these cameras -- which can* monitor speed and red light violations -- perform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, generating a possibly unlimited amount of revenue for your department, as well as for the city itself. They may also make your streets safer, both for commuters and pedestrians -- something that can be highlighted when pursuing funding.
*[The spirit is willing, but the tech is weak.]
Unlike more static revenue streams like vehicle registration feeds and road taxes, camera systems can be tweaked as needed to guard against budget shortfalls. Working in conjunction with Redflex specialists, you'll be able to avail yourself to a variety of revenue boosters like shortened yellow lights, sudden speed limit changes, unchallengeable tickets and any number of camera malfunctions or programming errors that will almost always* result in more generated revenue.
*[Caveats apply. See 135-page agreement for further details.]
Choosing the best traffic camera solution for your city is a daunting decision. We at Redflex believe we can offer what many of our competitors can't, or at least likely won't. In addition to our traffic camera "expertise," we also offer the following:
• A condominium in Gilbert, Arizona
• Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep discounts on hotel rooms, car rentals and meals
• Debt consolidation plans for select transportation officials
• Multiple personal finance options
We realize your have your choice in traffic control systems, but would like to remind you that only one company can offer you up to $570,000 in cash over the next eight years.
Martin "Bagman" O'Malley
Senior Consultant
Redflex Traffic Systems
Phoenix, Arizona
866 703-8097
[h/t velox -- and, yes, if you hadn't figured it out yet, this is satire, but based on a true story]
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that's 'safety' with a capital $
Thu, 13 Nov 2014 14:44:00 PST Chicago School Zone Speed Cams Tag Drivers Even In The Summer, Because Chicago Timothy Geigner Well, this is fun. We just recently wrote about how Chicago's speed cameras, ostensibly all to do with safety, failed to bring in as much money as Mayor Rahm Emanuel had suggested in his budget plan. Yes, tickets based on speed cameras were worked into the budget numbers, which is a strange thing to do if they're supposed to be about safety and not money. Safe driving, in other words, should not trigger a budget crisis. But it turns out the ticketing revenue might still be inflated, even at the crisis number, as a bunch of speeding tickets were generated by cameras within school zones flagging drivers for driving over the school zone limit in the summertime.
Kenneth Maschek, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in circuit court Friday, says he was issued a $100 fine for speeding near Lane Tech College Prep High School on June 26, 2014. A speed camera, or Automated Speed Enforcement system, captured alleged violation, but the school year ended on June 10, Maschek claims. His was one of more than 34,000 violations that Chicago issued over summer break this year, from July 1 to September 1, according to the lawsuit. Maschek says the law is meant to keep the areas around schools, statutorily defined as one-eighth of a mile, safe for the children attending them.
We appear to be doubling up on claiming that revenue-generating laws are all about safety. In this case, speed cameras ticketed drivers for driving over limits intended to protect children when there were no children present. In case you were wondering, state law specifically prohibits issuing citations for driving over school zone limits except on "school days." This resulted in millions in revenue that never should have been generated.
The city's website states that school safety zones are in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on school days, reducing speed to 20 mph until 4 p.m. and 30 mph after that. Maschek who cites the page and related press releases in his lawsuit, notes that signs posted near the zones also say the speed reduction applies "on school days when children are present." Residents of Chicago "routinely drive through school safety zones on an ongoing basis," leaving them constantly vulnerable to speeding tickets when the reduced speed should not be in effect, the complaint states.
I expect that the city will mumble something about summer school and blah blah blah, because that's what we do in my home city. When confronted with a clear mistake or inequity, we look it straight in the eye and pretend it doesn't exist. It's sort of a municipal past time around these parts. Hopefully the courts will see through any push back. Either way, the claim that speed cameras have anything to do with safety should be over and done with.
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Thu, 6 Nov 2014 04:09:46 PST Chicago Transit Cops Start Up Their Own Security Theater, Will Start Randomly Swabbing Bags For Explosive Residue Tim Cushing It appears Chicago wants to get in on New York City's racket -- steamrolling civil liberties because of a supposed terrorism nexus. For New York City, it's been every day since Sept. 11th, 2001, greatly aided and abetted by a nanny statist mayor and a police commissioner who'd never seen a personal freedom he didn't immediately dislike.
For Chicago, the terrorism connection isn't nearly as clear. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any justification for the deployment of random explosive-residue-swabbing checkpoints at public transit stations.
There is "no known terrorist threat" that prompted the new procedure slated to begin the week of Nov. 3, Nancy Lipman, Chicago police commander for public transportation, said Friday at a news conference announcing the initiative.
OK... With that, um, cleared up, here's how the TSA-Lite random acts of intrusion will go down.
Chicago police say they will randomly select one rail station each day to set up the screening table outside the rail turnstiles during rush hour. Lipman said most of the stations will be downtown but other stops will be included as well.
A team of four to five officers will man the table, which will have two explosives testing machines.
One rail station… out of dozens… selected randomly... with each search also being randomly generated.
Police will approach riders, whom they have randomly selected by picking a random number that morning, Lipman said.
This randomly-selected person -- if carrying a bag -- will be asked to submit to an explosive residue test. The bag will not be opened. Unless it tests positive, in which case further impositions will be imposed.
A positive test triggers a search request. Commuters can refuse but they won't be allowed to board their train and will be asked to leave the station. Almost "free to go," but not quite. Chicago transit cops will be free to perform less voluntary searches should they decide "probable cause" exists to do so. Given that a bag has just tested positive for explosives, that should be all the justification they need.
Police spokesman Marty Maloney calls this random act of security theater a "proactive, protective measure." Nearly everyone else, if given a few minutes to think about it, will call it "futile." Or "stupid."
The multiple layers of randomness are essential to preventing charges of discrimination or other civil liberties violations. (This is what makes DUI checkpoints and the TSA's "enhanced screening" Constitutional -- you either have to stop everybody or be truly random.) But this precaution also undermines the effectiveness of the effort. In fact, everything about this program borders on uselessness.
Anyone can refuse the initial test. They can also refuse to have their bags searched if they do test positive for explosive residue. Both actions will likely be viewed with suspicion but neither leads directly to detainment.
The city boasts more than 140 entry points, just for this mode of public transportation. Anyone who would rather avoid the "random checkpoint" will have plenty of options. The program checks a random entry for random people, rather than making any attempt to truly spot suspicious individuals or behavior. The Transit Authority takes great care to explain just how painless the process will be, what with limited checkpoints and no mandatory searches, but these words of comfort only highlight the fact that the screening system is almost entirely composed of security holes. The chances that this will actually prevent an attack are so close to zero as to be completely indistinguishable from doing nothing.
In exchange for its half-assed efforts, the city will likely net itself a few additional lawsuits, thanks to that inevitable byproduct of poorly-thought-out and poorly-implemented security theater programs: civil liberties' violations.
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Wed, 22 Oct 2014 03:53:32 PDT Complete Failure: Chicago's Speed Camera Traps Fail To Bring In The Revenue Mayor Emanuel Counted Upon Timothy Geigner Speed cameras, just like their red-light camera brethren, have been pretty well established as nothing more than revenue machines for local municipalities. Their application results in a myriad of issues, such as the fact that the cameras don't work, not to mention that the cameras don't work, oh, and the cameras don't work and the companies behind them might try to fudge the evidence if you dispute a ticket. The excuse for these cameras that don't work has always been that they are designed to make the roads safer under the theory that if motorists know that the cameras exist, they will be less likely to speed. That supposed justification is belied by two facts. The first is that some people who have tried to warn motorists that the cameras exist have been dragged to court for doing so, which sort of defeats the entire supposed purpose of the cameras. The second fact that disproves the justification is that Chicago just can't help going all Chicago on itself.
Local reporters have the glorious story of the latest Chicago budget crisis that has Mayor Emanuel scrambling for only one reason: Chicago motorists are way better behaved than he'd planned for in his previous budget.
You heard that right: Good behavior is bad for the budget. Real bad, reports CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine. CBS 2 has learned the speed cameras caught far fewer speeders than expected. According to the Mayor's 2015 Budget Overview, there have been "lower than expected violation rates."
How much lower? Fifty million dollars lower. Emanuel's administration had figured on $90 million in fines to help balance this year's budget, but they can only count on $40 million. That's a $50 million shortfall, putting pressure on the next spending plan.
Think about the logic here for a moment: Rahm Emanuel wrote a spending budget for the third largest city in the country that relied on a certain revenue number from speed cameras. Where's the incentive for better behavior on the road in that? There is none. The fact is that Chicago drivers are far better behaved than the city expected. That's an outcome you'd think the city would be celebrating. Instead, it's considered a negative, because the speed cameras were never about safety, they were only a method to fill the city's coffers to the tune of milliions of dollars. That isn't so much public policy as it is an extortion racket that happens to have failed.
"It was a combination of the camera company’s salesmanship and the city's greed," says camera critic Barnet Fagel.
You may not want to forgive the camera company their sales tactics, but how much do you really want to fault them? They're a large company beholden to nothing beyond the profit motive. They can't be expected to have the best interests of a city's population at heart. The Chicago city government on the other hand? Most citizens likely didn't elect Mayor Emanuel out of a sense of sadomasochism or the theory that we all just have a bit too much money in our pockets. Stories like these are among the reasons that Emanuel isn't considered invulnerable in the upcoming mayoral election.
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Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:11:10 PDT Shocking: Red Light Camera Company CEO And Chicago City Official Indicted On Corruption Charges Timothy Geigner We've long-argued that red light cameras, those little flashy things that ticket you for going through a stop light, have always been way less about safety and almost entirely about generating revenue for municipalities. And, while we've covered how corrupted the money-flow of these systems can be, you just have to admire the brazenly "Chicago-way" story of how the windy city got into bed with camera peddlers.
The former chief executive officer of Redflex, a major red light camera (RLC) vendor, has been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a contract with the City of Chicago. On Wednesday, in addition to former CEO Karen Finley, government prosecutors also indicted John Bills, former managing deputy commissioner at the Department of Transportation, and Bills' friend Martin O'Malley, who was hired as a contractor by Redflex.
Now, I can tell you as a native of the area that city officials getting indicted on corruption charges along with the company bribers barely registers as news here any longer. Hell, we send governors to prison like it was the official retirement plan for the office. The charges in this indictment, however, are a special brand of sleazy. Redflex sold the city on the cameras, hired O'Malley as a contractor for $2 million dollars, and O'Malley then sent much of that cash directly back to DoT official John Bills, like some kind of monetary boomerang. Redflex then got into the act directly, because why the hell not.
Via Redflex employees, Bills also acquired a Mercedes and a condominium in Arizona. A May 2014 affidavit written by an FBI special agent suggests that Bills likely used some of this money to purchase and store a boat, buy a car, pay for an addition to his Michigan cabin, pay for his girlfriend's mortgage, pay his own mortgage, pay his kids' schools, and hire a divorce attorney over the course of several years.
To be fair to Bills, it costs a lot of money to keep your side-piece living happily while you divorce the mother of your children and update that sweet cabin-pad. Oh, it should also be mentioned that Redflex employees sent Bills on a couple of vacations over half a decade, and by "couple" I mean seventeen. This all adds up to 23 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, bribery, and some additional charges thrown in because screw these guys. And it's not as though these stupid cameras all this corruption paid for actually, you know, worked. The Chicago Tribune's reporting indicates that something like 13,000 bogus tickets were issued to city residents via Redflex cameras, which were dropped in 2013 due in part to this scandal.
But, hey, don't worry, guys. Redflex is all over this problem.
"Last year we announced aggressive leadership changes, industry leading compliance policies and procedures, and a distinction between our past and present," Jody Ryan, a spokeswoman, wrote to Ars. "Redflex Traffic Systems is moving forward. Since we announced these changes we have signed, renewed, or executed over 100 contracts. Redflex has cooperated fully with the investigative authorities while maintaining the integrity of our customer programs. Our focus is on making a life-saving difference in the communities we serve across the country."
Except their cameras don't do any of that and nobody is going to trust anything coming from the company or city officials about the effectiveness of the cameras, either, what with the details on how the Chicago bid was won by Redflex being revealed. It turns out that Bills actually coached Redflex on how to win the bid, rigged the voting order so that members of the evaluation committee Bills had convinced to vote for Redflex would vote first (indicating broad support to other members), and then had the company hire his buddy, O'Malley, as the Chicago account manager for Redflex.
When it comes to Chicago politics, contracts, and the like, this is as Chicago as it gets. However, given that the whole red light camera thing is a money-making scheme to begin with, the whole concept reeks of corruption. Kill these things off now, please.
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the chicago way
Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:29:29 PDT Chicago Cops Being Sued After Being Caught On Tape Physically And Verbally Abusing A Massage Parlor Employee Tim Cushing A Chicago woman is suing the city, along with ten police officers, for the abuse she was subjected to during a raid of the massage parlor she worked at. The entire interaction (which lasted more than 40 minutes) was caught on tape by the business' camera system.
Here's the beginning of the raid, which shows Chicago's finest interacting with Jianqing Klyzek using a combination of physical force and verbal abuse.
Here's the charming stuff Officer Di Pasquale had to say to Klyzek during their brief conversation.
Defendant DI PASQUALE: You're not fucking American! I'll put you in a UPS box and send you back to wherever the fuck you came from!
Plaintiff: I'm a citizen, OK?
Defendant DI PASQUALE: No you're not! No, you're not a citizen! No, you're not! No, you're not! You're here on our borrowed time. So mind your fucking business before I shut this whole fucking place down. And I'll take this place and then whoever owns it will fucking kill you because they don't care about you, OK? I'll take this building. You'll be dead and your family will be dead.
Note that this follows Officer Messina asking for permission to tase the 5'2" Klyzek "ten fucking times."
Also note -- especially those of you who claim bad cops are anomalies and not representative of the entire force -- that not a single officer (the plain-clothed men lined up against the counter impassively watching a small Asian woman being berated and manhandled by two "uniformed" cops) tried to dial back the aggression or suggested that some of things being said weren't appropriate or helpful. If anyone wants to know why there are so many bad cops, this is part of the problem -- the tacit approval offered by better cops who let this sort of thing happen without intervening.
Not only did these cops not try to defuse a situation that had gotten ridiculously out of hand, but they also assisted Di Pasquale and Messina in their search for the recording device in order to remove the evidence of their misconduct. Unfortunately for them, the device stored recordings off site. (Apparently, this fruitless search made up a large part of the 40-minute "raid.")
Since the officers couldn't find any evidence of prostitution (or human-sized shipping boxes), they fell back on weak claims that Klyzek assaulted an officer by "biting and scratching" as they attempted to restrain her. That failed as well when the judge threw the case out at a preliminary hearing.
But these officers weren't done failing. From the lawsuit:
On information and belief, sometime after the preliminary hearing, one or more of Defendant OFFICERS, contacted an Assistant State's Attorney in order to pursue a Grand Jury indictment for the offense of Aggravated Battery of a Police Officer against Plaintiff.
Based on Officer Sako's (allegedly) false testimony, the grand jury indicted Klyzek for aggravated battery. This was swiftly reversed when her lawyer brought some actual evidence to the grand jury.
On January 13, 2014, after viewing the video recording of Plaintiff's arrest, the State's Attorney's Office dismissed the aggravated battery of a police officer charges against Plaintiff.
Months later, the Chicago PD has yet to arrive at the same conclusion, despite being in possession of the same recorded evidence.
Police spokesman Adam Collins released a statement saying the matter is being investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority and that "the alleged comments, if true, are reprehensible and completely intolerable in our police department."
"If true." So, an officer's word is good enough to secure a grand jury indictment, but a recording -- containing both audio and video -- clearly depicting the chain of events detailed in the lawsuit -- is still up for discussion. If the IPRA ever gets around to using its eyes and ears, maybe it will finally be able to unload Officers Messina and Di Pasquale, something it should have done a half-decade ago.
A separate federal lawsuit alleged that DiPasquale and Messina were among a group of vice squad officers accused of abusing an immigrant during a 2008 prostitution sting. In the 2009 suit, DiPasquale was accused of sticking a gun in one man's face and slamming him into the dashboard of his car, breaking his nose.
The man's attorney, Richard Dvorak, said Monday that the case was settled out of court for less than $100,000.
There's the other reason bad cops are prevalent. The legal system pays victims minimal amounts using taxpayers' money. And those costing the city money simply man a desk or get a few weeks off from work before being given back their badges, guns and, most importantly, power.
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Wed, 19 Mar 2014 19:59:16 PDT Chicago Court Rules Police Misconduct Records Must Be Made Publicly Available Tim Cushing The insularity of law enforcement -- the secrecy and opacity that allows misbehaving officers to escape being held responsible for their actions -- has been partially stripped away in Chicago. The city's appellate court has delivered a decision that puts police misconduct records into the hands of the public.
A three-judge panel of the state Appellate Court in Chicago rejected the city's claim that such files are exempt from the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
The fact that investigative files are now public records is a big win for public oversight. Internal investigation documents have often been withheld by law enforcement agencies, many of whom seem completely uninterested in opening up their departments to additional scrutiny. Additionally, the city's appellate court has severely limited the use of existing exemptions to deny requests for police misconduct files.
City lawyers argued such records were covered by an exemption in the state's Freedom of Information law for "preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda and other records in which opinions are expressed, or policies or actions are formulated."
The judges wrote that exemption only applies to "opinions that public officials form while creating government policy. It does not protect factual material or final agency decisions."
There's still a bit of a loophole left for the Chicago PD to exploit, however.
From what information is out there, it's unclear whether this exception applies to only documents directly related to the disciplinary process or whether it exempts everything related to the case from public records. In either case (though certainly more damaging to oversight in the latter), this exemption gives back a little opacity to misbehaving cops.
On the plus side, this new ruling allows for easier tracking of Chicago police misconduct.
The appeals court also found that "RL" files are open to the public. Those files identify police officers who have accumulated the most misconduct complaints. At issue were two RL files that named officers with the most complaints between 2001-2006 and 2002-2008.
This transparency is something the city of Chicago sorely needs.
A study by University of Chicago professor Craig Futterman found that just 19 of 10,149 complaints accusing CPD officers of excessive force, illegal searches, racial abuse, sexual abuse, and false arrests led to a police suspension of a week or more. In more than 85 percent of internal investigations of complaints, the accused officer was never even interviewed.
If the Chicago PD decides to return to business as usual in terms of responding to misconduct complaints, it will no longer be able to hide its inactivity behind expansive FOI exceptions. And if officers realize they're creating easily accessible public records every time someone files a complaint, they're bound to exercise a bit more discretion while on-duty.
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Wed, 26 Feb 2014 05:39:00 PST Chicago PD Believes It Can See The Future, Starts Warning Citizens About Crimes They Might Commit Karl Bode might commit a crime. Predictive computing can then either target specific areas or specific people that might be in need of some extra law enforcement attention. Except as we've noted repeatedly, these programs are only as valuable as the data they use. Garbage in, garbage out, but in this case you've got a human being on the other end of the equation whose life can be dramatically impacted by law enforcement holding what they believe is "proof" that you'll soon be up to no good.
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Tue, 24 Dec 2013 15:58:02 PST Chicago Sandwich Shop Emails Employees On Dec. 23rd To Say Merry Christmas And You're All Fired Timothy Geigner Let me let you in on a little secret: I don't really like Christmas. Through some combination of those horrible lights, that torture referred to as Christmas music, my disliking of receiving gifts and the proximity to the far superior holiday known as Thanksgiving, December 25th just never gets my trousers off, so to speak. It's led to some of my friends joking that I'm a modern-day Scrooge, which my bank account confirms I am, in fact, not. Besides, it turns out the Chicago area has a much better approximation for Scrooge than I in whoever owns Snarf's Sandwiches on the near North Side.
See, Snarf's thought it would be fun to wait until a couple of days before Christmas to let their employees at their sandwich shop know that, suprise, you're fired. Oh, and because assbaggery prefers its interactions impersonal, they informed their staff of this via a warm and fuzzy email.
3. All staff is terminated, effective Monday, December 23, 2013.
4. All staff may apply for unemployment, if eligible.
6. Payroll will be processed as usual this week and paid on Friday, December 27, 2013.
7. Keep an eye out for the grand opening of the new store.
8. Ownership appreciates your service and wish you well in your new endeavors.
Doug Besant Director of Operations
Bullet point number seven is by far my favorite. Nothing makes a Christmas firing more satisfying than telling the folks fired they should totally come check out the new sandwich shop staffed with all the folks that took their jobs once it reopens. Now, it's interesting that the firing comes just a few days after the staff joined other fast food workers in striking for higher wages, but Snarf's spokeswoman Jill Preston says that's just a happy coincidence.
“During the Christmas holiday we’re pretty slow,” she says. “The restaurant’s usually three quarters closed. This does happen to coincide, but this is something we’ve had planned for awhile.”
So Snarf's has been planning this for some time, huh? In that case, I guess it was just sadism and a hatred for the working stiff that led to management emailing everyone with one day's notice of their termination? At Christmas? Classy. And breaking up with your employees via email? Well that's just the dingle berry on top of the poop sundae for your workers.
“Three days before Christmas and not even a call,” [Employee] Rojas says. “It’s not fair that management and the corporation is treating [employees] this way.”
It looks like Scrooge is alive and well and running a small sandwich shop in Chicago. And somewhere, Tiny Tim just kicked the bucket out of sheer dispair. Happy holidays.
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open faced club scroogewich
Thu, 23 May 2013 10:01:12 PDT Chicago School System On FOIA Requests: Stonewalling, Obfuscation, & Paper-Shredding Timothy Geigner If you're a government with something to hide, there are plenty of shady ways to handle Freedom of Information Act requests. You can make sure your organization is legally allowed to carry guns and simply refuse, like the NYPD. You can also make a big deal about how requests are only honored for in-state residents, as if that were the spirit of the legislation. Or, if you're as big as the federal government, you can play a sort of bureaucratic hackey-sack game with the request for years before releasing the most non-useful information possible. The problem with all of these methods, however, is that they make those using them look petty, but they don't really cement their position in the corrupt jackasses category that I believe all government agencies secretly want to obtain.
Which is why we'll go to the Chicago city government, since they're the obvious experts in the matter. Here, Rahm Emanuel's administration has taken responding to FOIA requests to a whole new level, not only providing nothing in response to such requests, but then answering questions from the Attorney General with non-responses indicating they might just have proactively destroyed the documents being requested. This story begins with our vaunted public school system, the CPS. Glenn Krell wanted to get his hands on what research had been done when CPS put in a longer school day without bothering to give schools any resources to actually do anything with the extra time.
Krell figured CPS had done research on the longer school day because, like every parent in the system, he'd received a letter from Jean-Claude Brizard, then the CEO, claiming that "our elementary school students are receiving 22 percent less instruction time than their peers across the country." So he sent CPS a FOIA request asking for "the reports, statistics, comprehensive city-by-city analysis and other documents that back up the statement by Mr. Brizard."
CPS responded that "the district does not maintain any documents responsive to your request."
Got that? CPS cites a statistic justifying the longer school day, Krell asks for the basis of that statistic, and CPS says there is no document for that. In internet terms, Krell asked for a citation and CPS was unable to provide one. In addition, Krell asked for information on how the city decided to achieve what it calls "selective enforcement tiers", by which high-performing schools are made available to lower-income families as a method for integration. This was another matter about which CPS had indicated its offices were just overflowing with research.
He knew CPS had lots of information on this matter because he'd read about it in the Tribune. In that article, CPS officials boasted about how they'd left no stone unturned in their effort to make the selection process as fair and objective as possible. They said the process considers data such as home-ownership rates in the students' census tracts and the share of homes where English isn't the primary language.
The response to that request? CPS claimed there too it had no documents to turn over. But why? Had Brizard and CPS simply made the statistics and research claims up? To find out, Krell appealed to AG Lisa Madigan, which is exactly what the law indicates you're supposed to do if you get a fishy response to a FOIA request. Madigan's office dutifully asked CPS if such documents had never existed, or if they'd simply been destroyed. CPS responded that they had never maintained those records and they do not exist. The result of that non-answer was for Madigan's office to declare the matter closed.
And that's a problem, because CPS didn't actually answer the AG's question. They do not answer whether or not the documents ever existed at all, only that they never maintained them and they don't exist currently. One way to achieve that answer is for the research to never have actually been done, which would make CPS liars on multiple items it had addressed to parents and the press. Another way is for those documents to have been proactively destroyed instead of maintained, quite possibly so that they'd never have to be revealed for a FOIA request. Either way, that's crappy government. Add to that Madigan's shirking of her responsibility and it's difficult to take Emmanuel seriously when he claims his administration is "the most open, accountable, and transparent government Chicago has ever seen."
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now you see it, now you don't
Thu, 2 May 2013 10:59:00 PDT Bus Company Threatens Redditor With Lawsuit, Meets Ken White, Runs Away Timothy Geigner Another day, another case of a business attempting to stifle online criticism via threat of lawsuit, amirite? We've seen it again and again. Companies ignorant of the terrifying Streisand Effect go after critics and, normally, the only warm and fuzzy feeling we can take away from it is knowing that these abusers are more hated as a result of their threats than they were before. But not today, friends. Today's story ends hilariously well.
It all starts with an Illinois bus company called Suburban Express that operates lines from Chicago to several colleges in and out of the state. Its online reputation is, to say the least, poor.
So, we're dealing with a company that enjoys suing its own customers after slapping their wallets around with insane fines that seem designed less to encourage good behavior than to simply extract more money out of people. Well, if Suburban Express is happy to sue its own customers, you can guess just how aggressive they like to behave with the internet upon which some of these customers express their displeasure. Unfortunately, when that displeasure is aimed at one of the company's drivers who told an exchange student, "If you don't understand English, you don't belong at the University of Illinois or any 'American' University," then you're going to raise the ire of roughly everyone. It was a witness to that event, Jeremy Leval, who took to Facebook to describe the incident. Guess what his prize for outing racism was...
Toeppen wasn't done there, either. He took to Reddit to push back on on Leval's story, indicating that some undescribed person had already apologized for the incident (because that makes it all better?). Unfortunately for him, his company is still being lambasted for its behavior on subreddits for the University of Illinois, where some are also claiming that Suburban Express employees are posting messages accusing reddit users of being virgins and chronic masturbators. Should you think that the idea of a business owner doing all this is a bit far-fetched, it's instructive to note the kind of slimeball we're talking about.
Now, after a bunch of the insulting messages on reddit were deleted by the moderator, Murph Finnicum, Toeppen's attorney threatened to sue him for libel and over deleting the messages purportedly left by Suburban Express employees. James Long, the attorney, demanded "corrective action" immediately due to the damage the company had suffered by having their own posts deleted, and indicated that legal action against him had been authorized by the company.
But, wait, I can already hear you saying: but you promised us this story had a happy ending! Well, it does, courtesy of Ken "Popehat" White.
The result? A letter from attorney James Long to Finnicum:
They ran away as fast as they could. I'm not sure if they are going to continue legal action against Laval, but if they actually read into the Streisand Effect when Ken White mentioned it, then they already know that they really, really shouldn't.
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Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:57:19 PST Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel On City's Illegal Recordings Of Conversations With Journalists: 'Much Ado About Nothing' Tim Cushing a bit of trouble for recording phone conversations with Chicago Tribune reporters without their consent. A city attorney is downplaying the incidents, insisting that there's no "widespread practice of such tapings" and promising that "steps are being taken" to prevent this from happening again.
Why is this a big deal? Because recording a conversation without the consent of all parties is a felony in Illinois. But what happens when city hall officials, who should be familiar with these laws, violate them? Not much. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's response is that committing a felony is nothing to get excited about.
But the commission of a felony is a very big deal if committed by regular citizens. Radley Balko says it's all about who's doing the recording... and who they're recording
So remember when Chicago police were arresting people for recording them, and charging them with crimes punishable by 10 or more years in prison? Remember the woman who was arrested and charged because she attempted to record Chicago PD internal affairs police browbeating her when she tried to report a sexual assault by a Chicago cop? Remember all that stuff we heard from Chicago PD and Cook County DA Anita Alvarez’s office about protecting privacy?
That's not an isolated event. Earlier this year, two men filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago, alleging they were battered, strip-searched and falsely charged after filming a traffic accident caused by a police car. Late last year, a man was arrested for recording the police and charged with illegal eavesdropping and is now facing a sentence of up to 75 years in prison. Another man was arrested and told he was facing 15 years in prison for daring to record a traffic stop.
The good news is that the courts have rejected some of these cases, stating that the law these citizens were arrested for breaking may be unconstitutional. For now, the law still stands. And the recordings done by members of city hall are illegal. The claims that the recordings were simply inadvertent errors rather than part of something more nefarious don't wash when you take a look at what was being discussed when the recordings occurred.
Odd that the illegal recordings would have occurred during discussions about possible law enforcement malfeasance. Emanuel's press aides openly admit that recordings take place during media interviews about "controversial topics," but most of these interviews are done in person, making the recording obvious. No effort was made to inform these reporters that their conversations were being recorded.
Not only is the required consent absent, but the recordings seem to be missing as well:
As Balko points out, the double standard on display here is egregious. Ordinary people get cuffed, threatened, charged with felonies and in some cases, beaten and strip-searched. City officials don't even get a slap on the wrist. Instead, they get the mayor's assurance that their illegal recordings are a whole lot of nothing for anyone to be concerned about. Even the "mysterious" disappearance of the requested recordings fails to raise an eyebrow. Just one of those things that happens to evidence that incriminates politicians and members of law enforcement.
The growing gap between the governing and the governed continues. Those on the enforcement side treat many laws as optional. Those governed and policed are still forced to comply with the laws, no matter how (to paraphrase Frank Zappa) badly written and randomly enforced.
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how dare they!
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Fri, 14 Sep 2012 05:03:00 PDT Seventh Circuit Court: Chicago Cops Can't Use 'Annoyance' As Reason To Stifle Free Speech Tim Cushing whose presence isn't wanted. This overreach has led to the catchall charge "disorderly conduct" being used to cover all sorts of behavior, much of which isn't so much "disorderly" as it is simply "annoying" to the law enforcement officers in question.
First, the background:
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Wed, 20 Jun 2012 03:03:00 PDT A Broken System: Einstein Wouldn't Have Been 'Qualified' To Teach High School Physics Mike Masnick years that many professions that require certain forms of "licensing" are often more about restricting supply. That's not to say those who set up the licensing effort didn't have the best of intentions, but the end effect often doesn't actually do much to benefit the public. I'm reminded of this after reading economist Charles Wheelen explaining why Albert Einstein technically wouldn't have been "qualified" to teach high school physics after retiring from a distinguished career at Princeton. And, for Wheelen, it's not just hypothetical:
When my wife tried to make a mid-career switch to teaching math in the Chicago Public Schools, I no longer needed a hypothetical example. I realized that licensing had the potential to be every bit as harmful in practice as I'd been saying it was in theory.
She found a job at a school adjacent to a public housing project on Chicago's South Side. On about day three of that job—after she had met the students, decorated the classroom, and started teaching—the principal informed Leah that she did not have a "middle-school math endorsement," which the State of Illinois requires.
Amazingly, this happened a second time as well. She did get the "math endorsement," but then lost a job teaching algebra because she didn't have a special "algebra endorsement." And yet, she's clearly qualified to teach those subjects. And, even more importantly, Wheelen points to research showing that students with "certified" teachers don't do any better than those with "uncertified" teachers -- suggesting the whole process has little to do with making sure students get the best education.
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time to fix things
Fri, 8 Jun 2012 08:31:00 PDT Two Men Sue Chicago Police; Claim They Were Abused And Falsely Charged For Filming Officers Leigh Beadon In the past year, we applauded two Illinois courts for protecting every citizen's right to record on-duty police, and ruling that a law criminalizing the act is unconstitutional. We similarly pointed to Boston, where a court forced the city to pay someone they arrested for filming the cops. Of course, it's pretty concerning that this was ever in question to begin with—normally, the argument that "you don't need privacy unless you've got something to hide" is fallacious for a number of reasons, but that doesn't extend to people who are empowered and armed, ostensibly with the consent of the citizenry and on the condition that they follow their own strict code of behavior. The fact that there is a clear push to let officers operate without public scrutiny is intolerable on every level.
But, perhaps worse still, there is the fact that police don't always need a law to protect them from the public's lenses—they can just take matters into their own hands. There are plenty of examples of police harassing people who film them, often threatening to arrest them or going ahead and doing it. It's an intimidation tactic, and really just part of a much larger problem, which is that no matter how much a person is in the right (and how much they know it), the police have plenty of ways to make their life hell for a long time before they see justice, if they ever do. This appears to be the case in a recent Chicago lawsuit, where two men allege they were battered, strip-searched and falsely charged for filming a traffic accident caused by a police car.
The men say they were talking outside with some friends in an early morning in August 2011 when a friend rode by on a motorcycle, heading south on Chicago Avenue.
"At the same time, defendant Captain [Kevin Navarro] was driving a marked Chicago Police Department vehicle, an SUV, northbound on South Chicago Avenue in the wrong lane of traffic, heading northbound in the southbound lane," according to the complaint.
"Defendant Captain drove his police vehicle into plaintiffs' friend, who was traveling southbound on his motorcycle, causing plaintiffs' friend to suffer serious injury."
Numerous police officers arrived quickly.
"After plaintiff Perez was taken into custody, plaintiff Milton, who had also been using his cell phone to record the scene, was seated on his motorcycle, when defendant [Officers] Frahm and Hernandez approached him.
"Defendants Frahm and Hernandez grabbed plaintiff Milton, forced him off of his motorcycle, and threw him to the ground.
The suit continues, claiming that the men were taken to the police station and threatened with felony charges if they didn't help officers delete the recording, and one was strip-searched to check for "other cameras and recording devices" (because most people keep a spare iPhone taped to their inner thigh, of course). They are seeking damages for "false arrest, excessive force, unlawful search, conspiracy, false imprisonment, battery, and malicious prosecution".
Now, we don't have the officers' side of the story yet, but the allegations certainly look bad—and it's not hard to find plenty of instances of similar actions by the police. Assuming the complaint is even close to true, hopefully the court recognizes the affront to justice that this kind of police behavior represents, and joins the growing ranks of courts that are affirming the right to record the police and hold them accountable for their actions.
Permalink | Comments | Email This Story | https://www.techdirt.com/rss.php?tag=chicago | dclm-gs1-176700001 | false | true | {
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0.162796 | <urn:uuid:0edb90df-3746-4192-a429-faf6c829ec10> | en | 0.980033 | 1. On Background
6.5K 107 40
Early in my career, I was a green reporter who wrote purple prose that read like yellow journalism. But they printed the paper in black and white so no one ever noticed.
Now, I was just a hack, one who needed a story and needed it bad. The problem, as always, being that I'm not the type to make my own breaks. I'm not inclined to write a bogus memoir, or parade as a pillhead or claim to be the last, lone believer in my generation. I'm also not opportunistic enough to know a good thing when I've got it, so whatever it was, it won't make it into print – or pixels – let alone a bestseller list. Even if I did, the editors wouldn't believe it.
Such is the hazard of being in the truth business, not the fact business.Forgive me. I buried the lede...
You see, back in J-School, in the 90s, my future colleagues and I knew nothing of the then-nascent Internet and the havoc it would wreak on our prospective industry. Now, there's an entire generation that has never read a printed newspaper. And they're the one's running them. Or what's left of them.
This is how I found myself on the lifestyle beat for a startup that required endless filing of snark and crap that met certain considerations of "keyword density" and adhered to the house style of punchy prose that was neither punchy nor prose by any definition of contemporary letters. IMHO.
For the past five years, the work had been winnowed, watered and weighed down in equal measure. For the past five years I've been in psychic exile. For the past five years, I've been leaning on a pseudonyms to make the rent because...
I also buried an intern.
This is the truth: When you fail to talk your newsroom intern out of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, prepare yourself for the following: Your intern will be dead, your career will be over and your newspaper will fold. And not into a paper hat.
That's really how I became a small town newspaperman without a town or a newspaper. I'm sure some even questioned whether I had the moral ground to call myself a man.
With some modest triangulating on Google it could be known that I was the writer who whose words - my stock and trade - had utterly failed to talk a young man out of taking two steps back onto the bridge's pedestrian walkway and into the rest of his young life.
"Is it going to get better, the newspaper, life, all of this?" he spat against the wind as it whipped his chestnut hair against his 21-year-old forehead.
"No. It's only going to get worse."
"Then why do we do it?" he asked.
I didn't have an answer. Or, I did, but it wasn't the right answer. He shifted his grip and the sweat from his palms darkened the rust-hue of the girder and I improvised.
This is much is certain: It was not the answer he was seeking. He let go and in one glib moment, with no foresight and no hindsight of which to speak, changed both of our lives forever.
There's more but we'll get to that. What's germane is from that moment hence I'd been searching for a story - a new story that would make my past and failures a footnote to the shiny future I'd lost, that my intern lost that everyone lost. Really, my new story needed to be an old story: a redemption tale, as they say in Hollywood; one with enough truth and triumph to clear my byline so that, among other advantages, I might use it again.
I found the story. Or I could get cute and say the story found me. Apparently, that's an antimetabole and some day I might look it up to prove it. In the meantime, not to fracture the fourth wall into constituent fractals of meaning but the story begins, as these things do, in a mirror. | https://www.wattpad.com/58374771-the-quantum-times-1-on-background | dclm-gs1-176730001 | false | false | {
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0.476195 | <urn:uuid:953654e4-cd85-4e56-959f-c3caaff5e063> | en | 0.979945 | Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Faked Out Again
1. Tracey Ullmann said it best: "GO HOME! GO HOME!"
2. There was a really good in-depth interview (1 hour) with J K Rowling on British TV last Sunday evening. The question of writing further HP books came up, and she said not for a long long time if ever. What she doesn't want is for someone else to take up the HP world (she considers it to be her inner world) and try to write further books and so she has attempted to block that from happening by giving verbal sketches of what happens to the characters and their children. She DID say that one of Harry's daughters intrigued her as she would marry a zoologist and travel to remote places to discover/document rare animals, birds and insects!
Everyone who watched the programme (several millions I believe) was struck by how normal and nice she was, how unphased by fame and fortune. The programme was fascinating and far from sycophantic. She is currently working on a book for very young children - nothing to do with HP.
3. Keith Whitley's death was a tragic event, but the worst aspect about it was that it allowed Garth Brooks to become a star.
4. Herschellian, I'm sure she's a nice enough person and, since she struggled for so many years, I'm sure she's well-grounded.
Personally, I'm just sick of all the hype associated with the whole Harry Potter thing and have come to believe that it is one of the most overrated products of the 20th century. Her folks have great marketing skills, and I suspect those skills far exceed the true value of Rowling's work.
I'm ready to move on and give the floor to someone more worthy of literary praise.
5. I'm a big Keith Whitley fan, Tony, and I agree that his sudden death was a major tragedy for country music, one from which the genre has never really recovered. Replacing a Keith Whitley with a Garth Brooks was almost enough to kill off country music...Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Shania Twain, etc. have finished it off now as far as commercial radio is concerned. | http://bookchase.blogspot.com/2008/01/faked-out-again.html | dclm-gs1-176900001 | false | false | {
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0.95456 | <urn:uuid:4b2ea562-7bde-405a-8ec0-532db10e9092> | en | 0.963131 | - Cafe Hayek - http://cafehayek.com -
It’s hard to stop market forces
Tweet [1]
If you’re a sports fan, you’ll know that Johnny Manziel (last year’s Heisman Trophy winner) has been under investigation for selling autographs. He has evidently been cleared of that offense but has received a .5 game suspension for a milder violation that can’t really be explained. ESPN tries to [2]:
In addition to the suspension, Manziel will speak to his teammates about lessons learned from the situation, and A&M will educate its athletes about signing multiple items for individuals.
The NCAA has to be a Kafkaesque organization. Why can’t a college football player sign autographs for money? Because that would allow a fan of say, Alabama, to pay him $100,000 for an autograph. Why would that happen? Because there is a price ceiling of ZERO on the compensation allowed for college football players. (OK, they do get room and board and a chance at an education if they can find the time.) But they are not allowed to collect the wage that would result from their value and from competition for their services. So to keep that from happening surreptitiously, the NCAA forbids autograph sales or any kind of work. So the coaches and the universities get a disproportionate share of the value of top athletes relative to what would result from open competition.
But it’s hard to stop the market forces that are still pushing schools to reward the best athletes. So they compete in other ways (fancy dorms, weight rooms and so on) and fans compete under the table which is why there are constant recruiting scandals. Those scandals make people think that college sports is a cesspool. But the stink comes from the attempt to pretend that these are student-athletes like any other, attending school and playing a little football on the side. | http://cafehayek.com/2013/08/its-hard-to-stop-market-forces.html/print/ | dclm-gs1-176910001 | false | false | {
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0.471437 | <urn:uuid:f561be96-1a27-4b68-9ebc-382b0592c120> | en | 0.867301 |
IRC Meetups/2006/February/February15RawLog
[19:06] <SteveAgl> the speacher is still away...
[19:06] <skippy> screw it. let's get started.
[19:07] <SteveAgl> the agenda #1 is:
[19:07] <SteveAgl> Committors: is bg|commit still useful? It seems nowadays that Matt/Ryan just work their way through open bugs and I can't seem to find much correlation between bugs I/we've tagged as bg|commit and actual ones committed. DavidHouse
[19:14] <skippy> well, since photomatt_away isn't here, and I don't see ryan, let's put that on hold.
[19:14] * Joins: mikelittle
[19:14] <skippy> and we need commiters to talk about the next item, too.
[19:14] * Joins: masq|lappy
[19:14] <skippy> so, moving on to item #3...
[19:14] * Joins: skeltoac
[19:14] <skippy> only photomatt_away can talk about the problems with the forums.
[19:15] <skippy> so, we're done. thanks for coming, everyone. productive meeting, as usual.
[19:15] * Joins: SteamedPenguin
[19:15] <skeltoac> Sorry I showed up late. Can I help with anything?
[19:15] <MichaelH> good job skippy ;)
[19:15] <skippy> is bg|commit a helpful tag, skeltoac ?
[19:15] <skippy> and do you review the list of user-flagged commit candidates?
[19:16] * Joins: rboren
[19:16] <skeltoac> I don't commit patches so I can't answer the first question. I pinged Ryan to jump in here so maybe he can...
[19:16] <skeltoac> there he is :)
[19:16] <skeltoac> rboren: is bg_commit useful?
[19:17] <rboren> Yes, I look at it when I go on commit runs.
[19:18] <skeltoac> skippy: as to your second question, I only review patches when someone asks for my opinion on them.
[19:19] <skippy> http://trac.wordpress.org/report/9 <-- is the grouping on that helpful? Or would a date-based list be more appropriate?
[19:20] <rboren> By date might be better.
[19:20] * Joins: ringmaster
[19:22] <skippy> updated the report. let me know if it's broken, or ineffective in any wya
[19:23] <SteveAgl> where are the trac tag documented?
[19:24] <skippy> i don't know that they are.
[19:24] <skippy> for a while, it was mostly MarkJ and I adding tags ourselves.
[19:24] <skippy> they're all pretty self-explanatory: bg|needs-patch, bg|has-patch, bg|2nd-opinion, bg|commit
[19:24] <skippy> the bg| prefix means "bug gardener"
[19:25] <SteveAgl> oh ok :)
[19:25] <skeltoac> bg|reporter-feedback but reporters rarely come back to check.
[19:25] <SteveAgl> was the bg part not understood by me :)
[19:25] <skippy> we could probably drop that, going forward.
[19:26] <skippy> then modify the reports to not use that in the query.
[19:27] <skippy> any objections to dropping the bg| prefix ?
[19:28] <skeltoac> Not so much.
[19:28] <skippy> so the "commit" tag is still useful. That's good to know
[19:29] <skippy> we need photomatt_away to address the Codex problem. Anyone have anything else to discuss?
[19:29] * Joins: davidhouse
[19:30] * Joins: shep
[19:30] <skippy> any feedback on inline documentation (PHPdoc) ?
[19:31] <shep> i'm here. we can start
[19:31] * Quits: gsnedders
[19:31] <davidhouse> skippy, i'd like to see it.
[19:31] <davidhouse> lets not go overboard.
[19:31] <davidhouse> one or two lines before every function is about righ.
[19:31] <SteveAgl> would be nice to have
[19:32] * Parts: ringmaster
[19:32] <skippy> okay. rboren: would you commit patches that contained nothing but comments?
[19:32] <shep> i have a quick question. a feature request that i thought was supposed to be addressed in 2.0
[19:32] <SteamedPenguin> davidhouse: there are benefits to PHPDoc, as in autogenerating the documentation periodically. makes it easier to export too
[19:32] <rboren> Depends on what they were commenting...
[19:33] <rboren> IF breaking down a tricky regex, probably.
[19:33] <davidhouse> SteamedPenguin: henec my support.
[19:33] <shep> is saving a page as a draft ever going to be included in WP?
[19:33] <skeltoac> shep: it's in.
[19:33] <SteamedPenguin> rboren: that's sounds like an 'if and only if'
[19:34] <shep> skeltoac: in 2.0.1?
[19:34] <rboren> Well, if the comment is a bunch of boilerplate, probably not.
[19:34] <davidhouse> shep, no, 2.1
[19:34] <rboren> But, it's a philosophical discussion.
[19:34] <davidhouse> my commenting policy:
[19:34] <davidhouse> one line summary before every function
[19:34] <davidhouse> comment when you do something voodoo
[19:34] <davidhouse> comment when you begin a big chunk of code (say a big loop)
[19:35] <SteamedPenguin> rboren: so something like var listing and var typing would not go in?
[19:35] <davidhouse> that's it.
[19:35] <skippy> I was once encouraged (elsewhere) to only comment the extraordinary and non-obvious; but that sets an ambiguous standard. Obvious to the person who wrote it is often non-obvious to the newbie
[19:36] <rboren> SteamedPenguin: I wouldn't right now, but we can discuss on the hackers list and see where people fall.
[19:37] <skeltoac> The major argument I see opposed to extensive commenting is that it takes time to review them.
[19:38] <SteamedPenguin> skeltoac: a fair ammount of function description can come straight out of the codex.
[19:38] <SteamedPenguin> at least where template tags are concerned
[19:40] <SteamedPenguin> skeltoac: since that stuff has the most eyeballs it ought to be the first target for inline commenting as well as the easiest to accomplish
[19:40] <SteamedPenguin> making template tags a good test case, IMO
[19:42] <skeltoac> You can always upload patches and ask for peer review. If you have a good set of comments and they've been okayed by a number of devs, Ryan doesn't have to spend his day reading them over.
[19:42] <skeltoac> (I hope, anyway.)
[19:44] <SteamedPenguin> skeltoac: ok, I'll make a simple patch tomorrow then.
[19:45] * Quits: SteveAgl (Read error: 104 (Connection reset by peer)�)
[19:45] * Parts: shep
[19:46] * Parts: skippy ("Free as in Puppies!"�)
[19:47] <mumbles> shoudlent that be </endmeetup>
[19:48] <PotterSys> </meetup> ?
Back to IRC Meetups | http://codex.wordpress.org/IRC_Meetups/2006/February/February15RawLog | dclm-gs1-176940001 | false | false | {
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0.076453 | <urn:uuid:772afdf5-3b18-44c9-8644-c33d279b525f> | en | 0.953632 | Netanyahu hails U.S. as he outlines conditions for peace
Mitch Daniels: No regrets on skipping presidential race
House GOP plans vote on 'clean' increase to debt limit
By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY
Updated at 3:17 p.m. ET
The GOP-led House plans to hold a vote next week on a "clean" increase to the debt limit that doesn't include any spending cuts, in a bid to show President Obama and Democrats that such a measure cannot pass without conditions attached.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week immediately halted investments by two big government pension plans when the federal government officially reached its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. He has repeatedly warned that the government could default on its loans if Congress does not raise the borrowing limit by Aug. 2.
House Speaker John Boehner has repeatedly called for spending cuts in the trillions of dollars to accompany any increase to the debt ceiling, saying everything is on the table to reduce the nation's debt except increasing taxes.
"The Obama administration's request for a debt limit increase without spending cuts is dangerous for jobs and our economy, and the American people reject it," said Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman. "This vote will show that the administration's proposal cannot pass in the House, and that major spending cuts and reforms must be part of the solution."
The GOP proposal would raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion, which would cover the United States' financial commitments through 2012.
The plan by the GOP leadership team is to schedule the vote on the suspension calendar, normally reserved for non-controversial items such as naming post offices, and require a two-thirds vote of the House for passage. Most House bills usually require a simple majority to pass. This legislative route also means no amendments can be offered to bills.
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., has garnered the support of 114 other Democrats for a increasing the debt limit with no strings attached, but that would be far short of the votes needed to pass the GOP measure.
"It's a political stunt," Welch told USA TODAY. "It's designed to fail."
Welch denounced the Republican leadership for "trivializing" the debt limit and potential for default. "They're playing Russian roulette with our economy with a loaded gun," he said.
Netanyahu hails U.S. as he outlines conditions for peace
Mitch Daniels: No regrets on skipping presidential race | http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/05/debt-ceiling-republicans-clean-increase-/1 | dclm-gs1-176960001 | false | false | {
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0.01951 | <urn:uuid:15bbf1b2-d3a7-4559-9c62-e9e603b3ed44> | en | 0.96685 | Return to Transcripts main page
Eyes on the Diplomats; Black Forest Fire 65 Percent Contained; Two Toddlers Missing; Awaiting Major Supreme Court Decisions; The Power of Friendship; Spurs Beat the Heat in Game 5; Kim-ye's Baby Arrives
Aired June 17, 2013 - 05:30 ET
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: With world leaders meeting this morning, brand-new accusations of international intrigue. Spying on your allies?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Nazi next door. An escaped Nazi war criminal hiding out in Minnesota? Arrested after 70 years, what the 94-year-old suspect and his family are saying now.
ROMANS: And new Miss USA has been crowned. The 25-year-old beauty who took that title.
BERMAN: Here she comes. Oh, I guess that's Miss America, not Miss USA.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's about 30 minutes past the hour.
BERMAN: And there are new allegations of spying this morning from the man who leaked so many details of the NSA's wiretapping programs. "The Guardian" newspaper reporting that during 2009's G-20 summit in London, the British and U.S. governments were involved in monitoring the computers and calls of foreign delegates.
Chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin is in Sligo, Ireland, where these latest accusations, I imagine, have to be causing quite a stir this morning, Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. Good morning, and they are. The latest revelations from "The Guardian" will certainly put a chill on an already tense meeting set for this afternoon. "The Guardian" alleges that classified documents show the U.S. tried to intercept then Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev's phone calls at the 2009 G-20 summit. Now, President Obama is set to meet Russia's current president, Vladmir Putin, this afternoon.
They'll discuss topics ranging from disagreements over Syria to Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism. And you know, these latest allegations are not going to warm the mood in the room. Now, Putin has already said earlier this week that in Russia, spying is only done within the framework of the law. That's an apparent tweak at the U.S. Now here -- the U.S. says all surveillance is done legally as well, but clearly, some tension there.
Now, as you point out, in another sense, "The Guardian" article could help share some blame for U.S. spying, because that article it alleges in the 2009 G-20 summit, the British set up internet cafes to monitor e-mails from diplomats and download their passwords for future use. So, at the very least, the president, President Obama, could argue, well, the U.S. is not alone in its snooping.
British intelligence is not commenting on the report. And the U.S. says all these reports are irresponsible and egregious and will damage counterterrorism efforts. At the very least, John, the timing of this report is going to ensure maximum discomfort today.
BERMAN: Maximum discomfort, indeed. Jessica Yellin in Ireland this morning where I have to believe these new revelations are going to create quite a mood as this conference begins. Thanks, Jessica.
ROMANS: All right. Cautious optimism on the fire lines in Colorado this morning. The Black Forest fire, the most destructive in the state's history, is now 65 percent contained. Some evacuees are now being allowed to return to their homes, but authorities say it's still not safe for thousands of others, because winds could stir up hot spots.
The Black Forest fire is now 65 percent contained. It's burned through about 16,000 acres. It's already destroyed nearly 500 homes, and it's blamed now for two deaths. Our Indra Petersons tracking the weather for us this morning. Good morning.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Good morning. At least, now, in Colorado, things are a little bit calmer. The humidity is up. The winds are down, but that could change by midweek. I actually want to show you, notice the relative humidity, about 47 percent. So, in these overnight hours, you don't have that beating sun on you, but they start to get that recovery.
We go through the afternoon, of course, we see those numbers fall. But not as low as we saw last week. They're not going down into those single digits similar to last week. In fact, numbers are looking a little bit better. I want to talk about also what we're looking at in the northeast today. We're going to be talking about some rain, one to two inches where we've already had rain that's still going to be in the forecast.
It's starting with our maps. There we go. Now, they're back. Notice in Colorado Springs, here's the forecast, 80 percent chance of showers for them today and through Tuesday about 78 degrees for them as well. And then, again, by Tuesday and Wednesday, we're goint to start talking about high pressure building in and temperatures really warming up there.
Thirty percent chance, by the way, in the tropics to see a little bit of circulation develop. Now, this is down right by the Yucatan Peninsula. So, we're talking about not really looking at that huge sort of development, but either way, I have to go toward the least on her (ph) endurance today, a chance for heavy rain and wind for them. But good news, (INAUDIBLE) not looking for any threats of hurricanes right now.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Indra.
BERMAN: Thanks, Indra.
The family of a Minnesota man now rushing to his defense over accusations that he was a Nazi commander during World War II.
ANDRIY KARKOS, SON OF MICHAEL KARKOC: "Records do not show that Karkos had a direct hand in war crimes," end quote. And that's the God's honest truth. My father was never a Nazi.
BERMAN (voice-over): The Associated Press says the 94-year-old Michael Karkoc was a commander of the Ukrainian self-defense legion, a group accused of atrocities, even liquidating a small village, leaving dozens dead. But when he came to the U.S. in 1949, he said he was a carpenter who performed military service. (INAUDIBLE) now among those demanding an investigation.
ROMANS (voice-over): Violence at a church in Utah. Police say a man walked into the St. James Catholic Church in Ogden north of Salt Lake City during mass Sunday morning. He fired one shot into the back of another man's head. The injured man said to be recovering in the hospital. No official word yet on their connection. The parishioners say the victim was the gunman's father-in-law.
BERMAN: A Chicago hospital is under investigation accused of trying to defraud Medicare and Medicaid with unnecessary throat surgeries. "Bloomberg News" saying federal officials are asking why the hospital performed so many tracheotomies, a procedure to open a hole in the windpipe. An FBI affidavit claims patients were left sedated so they could not breathe on their own, making the surgery necessary and up to $160,000 per case.
ROMANS: Authorities in two states are looking for young children missing for weeks now. First, in Toledo, Ohio where hundreds spent the weekend searching for Baby Elena Steinfort. She's the 18-month- old who vanished back on June 2nd. Her mother is in jail charged with child endangerment. Court records say she admitted her daughter was seriously hurt but didn't seek treatment for her.
In Utica, New York, a person is on -- a search is on, rather, nine- month-old Levon Wameling (ph). He's been missing for more than two weeks, but police say his father never reported it. Now, the family is begging for information.
AMY WARNEY, MISSING LEVON'S MOM: If you know anything or if he's alive or dead, just please, call the Utica police so I can put him to rest.
ROMANS: The baby's father apparently told police he left the 9-month- old on the front porch after being locked out of his home. When he came back, he said the baby was gone.
BERMAN (on-camera): New York City's Michael Bloomberg, the mayor here, has already banned smoking and tried to ban large sodas. Now, "The New York Times" says he wants the city that never sleeps to start composting food and turning into biofuel. The plan will require residents to separate food scraps from their regular garbage. It will be voluntary to start with. Similar recycling plans are in place in dozens of smaller cities nationwide.
ROMANS (on-camera): There's a new Miss USA. Miss Connecticut, Erin Brady, is a 25-year-old accountant. She beat out 50 other women for the title. In the Q&A section, she answered a question about the Supreme Court decision to uphold widespread collection of DNA evidence. She'll represent the U.S. in the Miss Universe contest and will work to raise awareness for breast and ovarian cancer.
BERMAN: I like the previous photo. She looked so surprised.
BERMAN: There, she looks happy. It was like those surprise, relief, and then happiness.
ROMANS: All right. Coming up, some of the biggest, most contentious issues face in the country. Same-sex marriage, affirmative action, a possible major turning point, the Supreme Court could rule this morning.
BERMAN: And one carjacker messes with the wrong mom. The length that one Texas women went to keep her kids safe.
ROMANS: Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Phillip, has left the hospital where he's been recuperating since abdominal surgery June 7th. The Duke of Edinburgh is 92 years old. We're told he walked out unaided.
BERMAN: Well, the end of its term fast approaching, the Supreme Court miss (ph) today the issue rulings possibly on some of the most controversial topics facing the notion. Joe Johns is to look at four of the biggest cases still pending before the higher court.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outrage on all sides and questions dividing the country for years. At stake, affirmative action, voting rights, and same-sex marriage.
JOHNS: And what the court decides could keep the country split for years to come.
RON BROWNSTEIN, SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: These are critical decisions, because it does effect the future kind of our social relations, our workplace, educational opportunity. In many ways, this is the central, jagged line in our politics that the Supreme Court is going to be poking at with both of these critical decisions.
JOHNS: Hanging in the balance, legacies of the civil right movements, whether public colleges can use race to decide who gets admitted. And the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which attacks discrimination at the polls. Legal experts think votes could be overturned.
THOMAS GOLDSTEIN, SCOTISBLOG.COM PUBLISHER: What would surprise me this term if the court upheld affirmative action or the Voting Right Act, I think, that would be a big surprise.
JOHNS: The Obama administration has fought hard to keep both, but the irony is those leading the charge, President Obama and attorney general, Eric Holder, as African-Americans, are living proof of how much times have changed. The same-sex marriage cases are no less important, dealing with state and federal laws restricting (ph) the rights of gays and lesbians.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We become not just more accepting, we become more loving as a country and as a people. Hearts and minds change with time. Laws do, too.
GOLDSTEIN: This is a conservative court, conservative ideologically and conservative in the sense of liking to take baby steps. And so, it seems very unlikely that they would make some big, radical move.
JOHNS (on-camera): A U.S. official tells CNN that authorities actually were able to hone in on Snowden very quickly as the source of the leaks right after "The Guardian" newspaper went to the administration initially to tell them what they had. At that point, security officials began to figure out who had access to that type of document and what had been downloaded, but they apparently were a little too late.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
ROMANS: All right. It's a new day here at CNN. Our new broadcast begins just a few minutes from now.
BERMAN: It is called "NEW DAY." And Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan here with us to tell us what's coming up, guys.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": We're just excited that we showed up on set on time. (LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: So, we're already succeeding today.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": It's very good. How does my tie look? How does my tie look?
BOLDUAN: It is good.
CUOMO: I've got big news, JB. I've got big news. We've got an exclusive poll for you this morning. CNN letting America know the president's numbers are taking a beating. Is it because of the intelligence scandals? Why is he losing so much with young people? The biggest headline, his trustworthiness is at an all-time low. Why? We'll tell you about it.
BOLDUAN: Also, poll numbers coming out about How Americans feel about the NSA leak and surveillance. Oh, but here's another one for you, guys. Vladimir Putin and the Super Bowl ring.
CUOMO: Hmmm.
BOLDUAN: This is a very interesting story.
CUOMO: Was it a gift?
BOLDUAN: Was it a gift?
CUOMO: Was it a theft?
BOLDUAN: Was it a theft? We're going to find out. That's what's coming up on "NEW DAY."
CUOMO: The intrigue, guys. The intrigue. I mean, you got Phil Mickelson. We all know what happened here, JB. What a shot he had. Everybody thought he had it in the bag this time. Not to be why. We'll take you through what made the lefty wind up second for record time. Although, second is very cool. Very cool.
BOLDUAN: I'll take second. I'll take second in the U.S. Open. But, Phil Mickelson, always a bridesmaid, it appears.
CUOMO: He's won his majors. But there's a one (ph) to this day. I'm a big fan of the lefty, JB. A big fan.
BERMAN: Look, I love Phil Mickelson. He said it broke his heart yesterday. At 43 years old, he said it may have been his last best chance to win the U.S. Open. Second is good, but six times second place of the U.S. Open, not with any big time --
BOLDUAN: It gets a little old, I guess.
BOLDUAN: All right. We'll see you, guys. BERMAN: We could be more excited. We will all be watching "New Day." That's coming up in like 16 minutes. You guys go and make your last second preparations, especially you, Chris.
CUOMO: I'm working on my arm moves, John.
BERMAN: Do some push-ups and get ready for the show.
ROMANS: I'm assuming they had a good night sleep and they had their Wheaties this morning.
BERMAN: That's going to be diet.
ROMANS: Can't wait to see that.
All right. A quick thinking. A Houston area mom is being called a hero for fighting off a carjacker. Dorothy Baker (ph) of Baytown, Texas was leaving the drugstore with her two and five-year-old sons when a robber apparently popped out from the backseat of her van and he was holding a knife.
He demanded money, told her to drive to an ATM to get it, but she had other ideas, driving into a telephone pole instead, knocking the robber off balance and the knife out of his hand, punching him and kicking him out of her car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got out and he started running. And the next thing I thought was, if he gets away, he can do this to somebody else. I turned, intending to clip him in the side or something to get him to stop. And, I ended up actually running completely over him.
ROMANS: He's in the hospital and baker says don't call her a hero. She was just doing what she needed to protect her kids.
BERMAN: The Heat's big three unable to stop the Spurs. San Antonio smashing records to crush Miami in game five of the NBA finals. They are now just one victory away. Can the spurs pull off the ultimate upset?
Also, Barry Manilow turns 70.
ROMANS: Speaking of old guys.
ROMANS: All right. Sibling fight. That's a fact of life, right? How harmful can it be? Apparently, it's very harmful. New research in the Journal Pediatric says bullying among siblings can lead to depression, anxiety, and anger. And it doesn't matter if the aggression is mild or severe. They warn it can be just as bad for your child's mental health to be bullied by a sibling as bullied by a classmate.
Parents to (ph) researcher say it especially to look out for one side of interactions where it's one sibling who is consistently the victim. One child who is more often than not on the receiving end, not the delivering end of the abuse.
BERMAN: This will really make you think.
ROMANS: Yes. It really does.
BERMAN: All right. This is a little more of an uplifting story to tell you about right now. The power of friendship. San Diego fourth grader Travis Selinka (ph) is battling a brain tumor. So, to show support, 15 of his elementary school classmates shaved their heads so Travis would feel right at home when he returned to school.
KARIN ROBERTS, 4TH GRADE TEACHER, EL CAMINO CREEK: Without even me knowing it, one of the boys got together with his mother and they planned a whole thing at this barber shop.
LYNNE SELINKA, TRAVIS' MOTHER: Fifteen boys went into that barbershop. Fifteen men walked out. I mean, it was just -- it was overwhelming. It was overwhelming. And everytime I think about it, it brings tear to my eyes.
BERMAN: Me, too. Fifteen boys walked in. Fifteen men walked out. That is lovely. Travis says the gesture by his classmate and friends has made a lot -- has made this whole thing a lot easier.
ROMANS: Oh, that is so --
BERMAN: I love that. Look at them. Those guys are awesome. Great job, guys.
All right. Sports news, after crushing the Heat last night, the Spurs are now one win away from winning their fifth NBA title. Andy Scholes joins us now with more on the "Bleacher Report."
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, guys. Well, just when it looks like the Heat were going to take control of the series after winning in ball out basket game four, the Spurs changed things up and answered right back with a blowout of their own. Last night in game 5, Gregg Popovich needed to find a way to get Manu Ginobili going, so he put him in the starting lineup for the first time in over a year, and boy, did it work.
Ginobili had a season high 24 points to go along with 10 assists. It was just a one point game in the third quarter, but that's when the Spurs went on a 19-1 run. Danny Green on fire once again. He smashed the NBA finals record at three pointers hitting six more, while scoring 24 points. Spurs cruise to a 114-104 win. The series now shifts back to Miami for game six tomorrow night with San Antonio just one win away from their fifth NBA title.
Well, yesterday's final round of the U.S. Open turned out to be another heartbreaker for Phil Mickelson. Lefty had the lead heading into the final round and did an amazing shot on the tenth. Look at this. He holes it in from the fairway. That was an eagle and had him back in the lead, but Mickelson would bogey three of his final six holes.
He finished second for a record sixth time at the U.S. Open. And while Mickelson struggled through his final round, English man Justin Rose (ph), he had a solid day. Rose shot even par, and that was good enough to win his first major of his career. It's been quite the journey for Rose. After turning pro in 1998, he missed his first 21 cuts. But now, he's finally got the monkey off his back with the U.S. Open win.
JUSTIN ROSE, U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: It's just a really nice thing to have that cleared off the plate now, fairly early. And I'm quite -- assess that so early what the future holds, how to re-evaluate my goals. In the moment, I'm just -- dreams are paying off.
SCHOLES: Well, just one day after getting hit by a line drive in the head, Rays' pitcher, Alex Cub, is out of the hospital. Cub was struck in the head by line drive. Look at that, guys, hit him right in his head near his right ear. That was the fifth inning of Saturday's game. Cub was taken out on a stretcher, but he tweeted from the hospital that he was OK.
All tests normal. And he was diagnosed with a concussion. The Rays replaced him on the seven-day concussion list, but there's still no timetable for his return to rotation. But guys definitely good to have him out of the hospital. And I said, he tweeted from there telling everybody he was OK. So, that's definitely good news for him and the Tampa Bay Rays.
BERMAN: Such a good news. He's one of the most terrifying than you will see on a baseball line and to see that happened. It's so nice he's doing well. Such a good kid. All right. Thank you, Andy.
ROMANS: Keeping up with the Kardashians. A new member joins the clan. How is new mom, Kim, doing? What the proud family is tweeting, coming up.
BERMAN: The baby is tweeting already.
ROMANS: You can't begin your week without this information.
ROMANS: Celebrity power couple, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, they're now the proud parents of a baby girl. The child who weighed less than five pounds is delivered Saturday in Hollywood. So far, the couple known for oversharing has not officially confirmed their daughter's name or even that the baby was born.
But Kim's sister, Khloe, tweeted that mother and daughter are just fine. She called the newest member of the family a miracle. Grandma, Kris Jenner, also tweeted out Happy Father's Day to Kanye.
BERMAN: The baby is going to soon. How do you say like gaga in 140 characters or less?
ROMANS: This is the most important news of the week, I think.
BERMAN: I think so. And we're going to kick off this week. It is a "NEW DAY." Anchors Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan are here. What you guys have coming up?
BOLDUAN: You guys are like, finally, we can stop talking about your show and you can actually do your show.
BOLDUAN: Thank goodness.
CUOMO: We got big news. That's what the show is all about. We got a new poll talking about President Obama's number. A really historic hit. He took especially to trustworthiness --
CUOMO: -- which no politician want to play with the question is why and what can he do about it?
BOLDUAN: Yes. And this morning on "NEW DAY," we also have, we're going to ask House Majority leader, one of the top Republicans in the House, Eric Cantor, what he knew before the news came out on those NSA surveillance leaks. Lots of topics to talk about with Eric Cantor as well.
And plus, this one. You guys are talking about it this morning. I know Berman is a sports fan. You, as well, Christine. Super Bowl ring smackdown. The president of Russia accused of stealing a diamond encrusted ring from the owner of the New England Patriots. Vladimir Putin says it was a gift, the Patriots owner saying not so much.
CUOMO: We're going to go through what it takes to make it a gift, pars this legally. Then also, just a little bit of basic Patriots intrigue. What does it mean about that franchise, John Berman? We're going to get into that very deeply.
BERMAN: You know what, we'll take Tom Brady. They can have the ring.
BERMAN: Although I will say that it's never a good idea to mess with a guy's got nuclear weapons.
BOLDUAN: Agree. Agree.
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Need New Baby Book Suggestions for an 8 yr old.
njvmom posted:
Hi ladies, I'm hoping someone can suggest a book or two appropriate for a 8 year old. Everything I seem to fine is geared towards younger children.
Kristina (14w 4d with baby #2)
Baby #1 DD 8 3/4 yr
donnasamommie responded:
I have a four year old, but I got him books to read aloud. I think they will be just as good for an eight year old. The Berenstain Bears' New Baby and I'm a big Brother by Joanna Cole (She does another called I'm a big sister too). They are both really perfect books for helping explain. Made my son very proud to be a big brother!
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0.031061 | <urn:uuid:6209df01-a76f-447c-89ca-52eb533c2b4f> | en | 0.936202 | Crane.tv: Liu Bolin - The Invisible Man
Artist Liu Bolin and his ability to deceptively frame the human form as a blank canvas atop a camouflaging cityscape is nothing new. However, rarely do we get a glimpse at the man behind the artwork, at least not until Crane.tv decided to link with the Chinese creative to advance its YouTube channel. A glimpse at the entire undertaking in creating one of his celebrated images, Bolin discusses The Invisible Man’s 2005 origins. After the Chinese government tore down this studio and the building it occupied, he decided to protest through artistic expression in which his body blended in with the background of his demolished haven.
Date: /Author: Robert Marshall
Category: Arts/Tags: Art, Liu Bolin, Crane.tv, The Invisible Man/Views: 21
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0.02706 | <urn:uuid:53dcea22-a46b-49a1-a021-8ecbb5bfcd6c> | en | 0.938181 | People With Mostly Bad Taste In Music Do Wykkid Mac Mini Prius Install
Our father who art in the Big Apple, Nick Denton be his name, kicked down this link to what's admittedly a pretty trick, clean install of a Mac Mini in a Prius. We understand the appeal of the Prius to Mac dorks, as it's a whiz-bang techno-thingy that just works. But at the same time, we're Mac dorks who like to suck… »6/22/06 2:04am6/22/06 2:04am
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Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-08: Among the Gods (PFRPG) PDF
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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for Levels 3–7.
The Pathfinder Society sends the PCs to the mountaintop mausoleum and monument known as Antios's Crown in search of a long-lost relic believed to be contained there, but all is not as it seems. Can the Pathfinders survive the denizens of the remote mountain complex and the sinister plot of a powerful cultists who plans revenge on the Society that has foiled their plans one too many times?
Written by Michael Kenway.
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Just a WTF
**( )( )( )
This was lethal for 6-7. If you can avoid doing that tier, do so. Even the 3-4 had unnecessary moments. At the same time, I weep for any of you who have to play this now like I did because you are pretty much guaranteed to never get your second prestige with the new secondary conditions that were written. There is absolutely no way our party could have avoided this, and we had a dedicated character who was built for that kind of condition. And we still couldn't do it. As well, that end DC was absolutely ridiculous for a 3-4 tier. If you don't have someone with feats and skill ranks dedicated to Perception, be ready for disappointment.
Just a lot of unnecessary. The entire table groaned when we found out what we'd lost out on because we couldn't make the DC 25 Perception or what the secondary condition was.
On top of that, the editors need to read these more carefully for missed words and sentence structure.
The only upside is that it was a quick scenario.
Among the Worst
*( )( )( )( )
As much as it pains me, I do believe the title of this review adequately sums up my opinion about this scenario. The only thing I liked about this scenario, was the fact I was playing it with friends. Let’s start by commenting on the plot. Wait, what plot? I’m sorry, but the storyline is pretty much non-existent. At best, you could call it very weak. Next up I’d comment on role-playing opportunities with the various NPCs, but I regret to point out there’s absolutely no possibility for that as well. And let’s not mention the very weird secondary objective. That one itself signifies issues with the scenario as that just screams ‘well, it’s better than nothing… ‘ and is just pretty weak.
Instead the scenario seems to be a bunch of combats mashed together in a seemingly random order and a few traps. That could be quite fun, but again I feel like the execution is over the top. You know things are bad when even the GM suspects the author of wanting to kill player characters. Without going into details, there’s just too many debuffs really. Some debuffing is fun, but this was too much.
Now, there’s always a chance you fail a save, but when this results in having only one out of four partymembers being able to fight simply because he’s immune to something. Let’s be honest: that’s just no fun for everyone involved, especially since it’s a combat scenario. I know, it happens, but when over half the party is unable to participate in half of the encounters, something is wrong.
Even worse and I admit to being a bit biased here: I was only able to do something in one of the four encounters, purely because of the debuffs that were out of my control. In the end, I’m left with a feeling that I contributed nothing worth mentioning. I could see that everyone around the table was unhappy, annoyed or disappointed with how the scenario turned out to be. Luckily we could still make jokes out of character to keep our spirits up, but we have to be reasonable here: we’re playing this game to have fun and this simply didn’t happen.
The only bright spot of this scenario, if I really had to try and find one, was the first fight. And that was simply because I liked that enemy, as I had never faced something similar before. As such, and I’m almost sorry to say this, I recommend everyone to stay clear from this scenario. You should only play this scenario if you want to smash things and a have a very hard time while doing so.
Fast, challenging
***( )( )
This scenario can be run very fast - in as little as two hours, even with a fair amount of inter-party roleplay.
There aren't very many NPCs to interact with, just a long hike up to the top of a tall mountain and several encounters along the journey. You might get a little RP out of the "BBEG" at the end, but that's about it for GM-PC interaction.
A couple of the fights are mechanically interesting, with a couple monsters/enemies/spells you don't get to see all that often. The first fight has an opportunity to be deadly if run by certain GMs against parties lacking a certain type of preparedness in the 3-4 subtier.
The last encounter at the 6-7 subtier could be deadly depending on the dice.
The scenario takes place over multiple days, so keep in mind that individual encounters should be more difficult as the party will be resting in between them.
If you have a party that is just looking for a couple interesting combats and light RP, and you have a short slot you want to ensure you end early for, this is a decent selection.
It's not required to run Among the Living/Among the Dead before this, but you do get a fun "OH THAT GUY" moment at the end for players paying attention.
short, but fun
****( )
Although this is thematically linked to the other two "among the" scenarios, it's actually substantially funnier if the characters in question *haven't* done the first two scenarios, IMO.
Least scenario, definitely not a must-play
**( )( )( )
My perspective on this scenario is as a player. For reference, I played it in the higher tier (6-7). Be warned, spoilers will follow!
I didn't like the scenario very much, to be honest. While the background elements on what's going on are present, the plot is not likely to be understood by players unless the GM does many extra efforts to emphasize certain clues. When I GM or write a scenario, I always make sure my players can understand what's going on with some exposure... there is none here, unfortunately.
As for the mechanics, I didn't like the thin air rule at all. We spent the entire last fight doing double moves for 10'', because of the continuous fatigued condition and difficult terrain.
I definitely don't recommend this scenario, there are others that are far better.
Story: 2/5
Roleplay: 1/5
Encounters: 2/5
Mechanics: 2/5
Total: 2/5
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Healthy Dogs
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Why Does My Dog Drool So Much?
Remember the slobbering Saint Bernard from the movie Beethoven? OK, maybe your dog doesn’t drool that much! But is it still a problem? There’s normal, healthy slobber that helps your dog eat and digest. And then there’s Niagara Falls. Too much drool, or hypersalivation, can be a sign of illness.
Here are some causes and suggested treatments:
Breeding: Bloodhounds, Newfoundlands, mastiffs, and Saint Bernards are breeds with loose upper lips or “flews,” causing them to drool more than others. Keep a hand towel around, maybe even a bib.
Mouth disease and tooth decay: Tarter buildup can rub against the inside of your dog’s lip, causing drool. To check, pull his lip back toward his ear. Do his teeth look like concrete? Are they brown? Are his gums red, swollen, or bleeding? If so, try a professional cleaning and then daily brushing. Your vet can check for gingivitis, mouth ulcers, and tumors as well.
Heat stroke: Short-nosed breeds, such as pugs, Boston terriers, boxers, and bulldogs, are more likely to have heat stroke. They just don’t pant as well as other dogs. If you think about it, your dog wears a fur coat, even in the summer, so it doesn’t take much for him to get overheated. Dogs that are stuck in the sun or run without access to water may also suffer from heat stroke and drool.
To avoid this, always have fresh, clean water available and shady places for him to cool off. On very hot days, keep him indoors, limit exercise, and never leave him in a parked car. Call your vet right way if you suspect heat stroke -- it can be dangerous.
Motion sickness and anxiety: If the only time your dog gets in the car is to go to the vet for shots, of course he’ll be nervous or nauseated.
Open-mouth panting and breathing, which are signs of anxiety, can cause your dog to drool. To make him more comfortable, try putting him in a pet harness or canine seat belt in the back seat without driving anywhere. Then slowly work up to backing out of the driveway and driving around the block. Repeat the routine as needed to ease carsickness. Ginger pills, sold at health food stores, are another solution. Talk to your vet about other remedies.
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i-a4817f568f76b9f4f6d0ad8da736eee8-mom and baby.jpg
ResearchBlogging.orgThere’s a very well-known experiment in developmental psychology called the “A-not-B task.” The experiment goes something like this: you, the experimenter, are seated opposite a human infant. Within the reach of both you and the child are two boxes: box “A,” and box “B.” You hide a toy in “A,” in full view of the infant. As expected, the infant reaches for “A” to retrieve the toy. You repeat the process several times. Each time you hide the toy in “A,” and each time the infant reaches for “A” to find the toy. Experimental set-ups like this are extremely common in infant and animal studies. When trying to determine how a young baby – barely able to interact with you or the world – thinks about the world, you’ve really got two options: design an experiment that relies on the infant’s ability to direct his or her eye gaze to a given location, or one that relies on the infant’s ability to (somewhat clumsily) reach towards a given location.
So you keep hiding the toy in “A” and the baby keeps searching for the toy in “A.” Simple enough. But what happens if you suddenly hide the toy in “B”? Remember, you’re hiding the toy in full view of the infant. An older child or an adult would simply reach for “B” to retrieve the toy. But not the infant. But, despite having just seen the object hidden in the new “B” location, infants between 8 and 12 months of age (the age at which infants begin to have enough motor control to successfully reach for an object) frequently look for it under box “A,” where it had previously been hidden. This effect, first demonstrated by Jean Piaget, is called the perseverative search error or sometimes the A-not-B error.
When experiments get replicated, even under the best of circumstances, there are minor tweaks in the way the experiment is conducted, like in the game telephone. What is especially remarkable, then, about the A-not-B error is that despite the methodological differences in conducting the experiment, the results are extremely consistent. Even if developmental and cognitive psychologists can’t agree on why the error occurs, that it occurs is certain. But a finding without a solid explanation isn’t particularly useful, is it?
One way to better determine the reason for the A-not-B error would be to find a way to break it. This isn’t necessarily a ground-breaking idea: the common errors children make when learning to read, for example, tell us important things about the process of learning to read. When Dan Simons and Chris Chabris discovered inattentional blindness – essentially a breakdown in the attention system – that told researchers something really important about how attention works in the first place. So, are there any circumstances under which an infant under 12 months of age would reliably pass the test, and search for the toy at location B on the B trials?
A group of researchers from Hungary, including Hungarian rockstar developmental psychologists György Gergely and Gergely Csibra (confusing, I know…), began by identifying the one feature of the experimental methodology that was certain to be included in every A-not-B experiment ever conducted: baby-talk. Even the most stodgy, grumpy, curmudeonly human adult can’t help but use baby-talk (or, formally, infant-directed speech) when interacting with a baby. More generally, the task always occurs in a social-communicative context. When the experimenter hides the object each time in location A, it is accompanied by things like eye-contact, addressing the baby by name, looking back and forth between the infant and the hiding location, and baby-talk. These are called ostensive and referential signals. Is it possible that over fifty years of replicated results on the A-not-B error comes down, essentially, to baby-talk?
This isn’t as far-fetched as it might sound. Previous findings have indicated that these ostensive-referential communicative signals could be interpreted by the infant in a special sort of way. Gergely and Csibra suggested that these sorts of social cues could activate within the infant what they called a “pedagogical learning stance.” In other words, they could prepare the infant to go into “learning mode.” Infants, after all, learn just about everything about their culture from their parents and other caretakers. But given how much sensory and social input they get, they must have a way of determining what social interactions are designed to confer generalizable information about the world as opposed to episodic information that relates only to the immediate situation.
Most researchers (Piaget included) have treated the hiding behaviors in the A-not-B experiment as indicative of episodic information about the location of the toy – something like, “the toy is under box A.” But if researchers always provide ostensive-referential communicative cues while conducting the experiment, Gergely and Csibra, along with József Topál, Ádám Miklósi, and Ágnes Erdőhegyi, hypothesized that the infants are actually interpreting the information as generalizable rather than episodic – something like, “objects like this toy tend to be found under box A.” If this is in fact the kind of information that the baby is receiving, then it is indeed reasonable for the baby to continue searching for the object at location A, even if she has seen it hidden at B. The hiding of the toy at location B is more like a statistical outlier, in this case. This would make the A-not-B error not an error at all, but a feature of the pedagogical learning system!
The researchers are quick to point out that the four-second delay included in each condition of the experiment likely made it so that the infant was more likely to err. They write, “in our study, the perseverative error was reduced but did not completely disappear in the [non-communicative] and [non-social] contexts, which suggests that infants’ search behavior also depends on their inhibitory, information processing, and memory skills.” However, while these accounts can explain why infants might not search at the correct location, they do not explain why the infants perseverate at the wrong location. In other words, immaturity of inhibitory, information processing, or memory skills predicts random searches, rather than perseverative searches. It is specifically the perseveration of the infant at location A, then, that is due to the “pedagogical learning stance.” The researchers frame this particularly elegantly:
The take-home message, it seems, is this: all those parents who incessantly babble at their babies in that singsongy baby-talk? That could actually a highly adaptive trait: the combination of adults’ propensity towards baby-talk, combined with infants’ interpretation of information provided in baby-talk as generalizable, allows infants to rapidly learn important information about their world and their culture from their caregivers.
Topál J, Gergely G, Miklósi A, Erdohegyi A, & Csibra G (2008). Infants’ perseverative search errors are induced by pragmatic misinterpretation. Science (New York, N.Y.), 321 (5897), 1831-4 PMID: 18818358
Header image via Flickr/jeanine&preston.
1. #1 Luna_the_cat
April 25, 2011
Wow. That is a really clever experiment; I like the experimental designs where you have to sit back and go, hey, why didn’t anyone think of doing that before?
2. #2 becca
April 25, 2011
I really wanna see the ‘with and without 4 second delay’ graph.
Strictly speaking, the ‘inability to inhibit previously learned motor responses’ isn’t entirely ruled out- it would just mean that motor responses learned under social conditions get learned *differently* than motor responses learned under non-social conditions.
Which would be very cool.
3. #3 Sam K.
April 25, 2011
very curious if you think that similar effects– both the original A-not-B error and the social aspect– might/do occur in dogs.
4. #4 Jason G. Goldman
April 25, 2011
@Sam (#3): excellent question! check back on wednesday for the answer, in part 2 of this week’s series of posts on pedagogy.
@becca (#2): right, the authors and I indicated that pedagogy doesn’t explain everything. but lack of inhibition alone doesn’t explain perseveration, specifically. as for doing the task without a short delay, the rate of success on B-trials would likely be significantly higher. the way the task is designed in the first place involves a brief delay.
5. #5 SoulmanZ
April 25, 2011
Very interesting results though. Will be cool to see it repeated
6. #6 knackbock
April 26, 2011
Very interesting. Thank you!
7. #7 David Wescott
April 26, 2011
I think we should replicate the experiment with Members of Congress.
8. #8 Tim Martin
April 26, 2011
9. #9 Andrea Kuszewski
April 26, 2011
This is interesting. Their findings are consistent with the recent work done by Bonawitz. She that showed when infants and children are showed how to complete a task (in this case, where the ball is) they follow direction of the “teacher”, and stop thinking as much on their own to find the ball. The teacher baby-talked to the infant in the first scenario, the infant took the teacher’s direction and saw the ball was in A, so when the teacher switched it to B, the infant just went back to A, without problem-solving. The infant was already “shown the correct answer”, so at that point, problem-solving ceased. Then he made the error in determining where the ball is.
In the third scenario, the infant was basically in an independent learning state, which is consistent with Bonawitz’s claim that being given too much direction with teaching inhibits independent exploration and subsequent problem-solving.
Great find, and nice analysis, Jason!
10. #10 Dr. O
April 26, 2011
Very cool!
11. #11 vveitas
April 27, 2011
Experimenter’s cues are facilitating the “error”, but are not the cause of it. After all, “error” is not completely gone in the third setting (no experimenter).
I would actually support the view that this is not an error at all. It is just a way of learning / generalising things. E.g. at first babies learn “object is in A” rather that “object is where experimenter puts it”. So they just need some more examples for learning the “correct” pattern. Which seems to lead to the original Piagetian interpretation.
It would be interesting to see statistics about how many “B examples” reverse the pattern of looking for object in A, compared to the number of initial “A examples”. Also, how babies act when presented a different initial pattern, e.g. A-B-A-B-A-B. Would they look into A and B in turns or just get lost?
12. #12 Maximilian Koskull
April 28, 2011
WOW! Thanks a lot for posting the article! I have not heard of this research before.
Besides, here you can find a paper by György Gergely, in which he answers some criticisms on their results:
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0.036133 | <urn:uuid:5a649498-d7bd-4ed7-8ae6-67e39cf1bb3a> | en | 0.93587 | How Should Tourism Businesses Respond To Extreme Weather: A Practical Guide
Skift Take
As extreme weather patterns become more and more common across the globe every year, tourism organizations, both the governments and DMOs, will have to respond and create better resources for tourism businesses. Kudos to VisitEngland for creating this resource for its local stakeholders.
— Rafat Ali
As a large part of the world is enmeshed in extreme weather patterns this winter, a lot of tourism businesses are getting affected. Most of them tend to be small and medium enterprises, and need help in navigating the new landscape, understanding how it affects their business on a day to day basis, how to respond to it, and how to communicate to its current and future customers.
The island of UK has been experiencing extreme weather and flooding in many parts of the country, and that has disrupted normal activities for a lot of destinations and the tourism businesses. VisitEngland, the tourism body responsible for England, has come out with a useful guide on responding to this extreme weather, and we thought it could be useful to businesses beyond the geographic area of England as well, and have extracted below:
Serious events…can also affect the attractiveness of a destination by damaging public realm infrastructure. All of this can impact negatively on visitors’ perceptions of personal safety, access, availability of accommodation and the likelihood of disruption to their travel plans.
The nature of media coverage means that perceptions of the scale of the problem can be exaggerated…Sensational images of flooding and storms stick in people’s minds far more easily than details of the specific locations that are actually experiencing these problems, resulting in confused consumers, false perceptions and potentially impact on future bookings.
It is important that you are able to establish an accurate assessment of the situation and pass this information on to customers and potential customers on a regular basis.
Having a simple communications plan for your business is one of the steps you can take to help manage the impact. Developing a thought-out response can ensure that you put the issue into perspective, reassure visitors and observers about the measures being taken to address the situation (if there is a problem) and fully explain the true extent of the issue.
Experience has shown that the lack of a planned, coordinated communications effort can significantly delay the time it takes for a business or destination to attract visitors back after events such as this have ended.
The aim of this plan is to provide practical guidance to help businesses affected by the extreme weather and flooding, create both an immediate and longer-term approach to communicating with their customers and signpost operators to further sources of support and advice, to help reduce the impact on their business.
Screen Shot 2014-02-21 at 8.37.33 AM
The full report “Responding to extreme weather A practical guide for tourism businesses – Winter 2014” is embedded below as a PDF
Download (PDF, 912KB)
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Comment The Surface Pro, stiff competition for the iPad? (Score 0) 279
Hahahaha... ahahaha! How much did Microsoft pay for this? If anyone has ever spent any significant time with a Surface Pro, as well as an iPad, they would know that these devices aren't even in the same league. My organization has deployed some of the original Surface Pro's, and some 3 Pro's, and, combined with the stillbirth that is Windows 8, these devices are absolute dogs. I think my favorite part about them is that the official dock's video output only works intermittently. Well, that, and the fact that we've seen a failure rate of the Pro 3's of about 30%. I'm not Apple fanatic, not by a long shot, but the iPad just generally works, and it's easy/simple to use. The iPad is also not designed for the same thing the Surface Pro is. It's a pure consumption device.
Comment This shouldn't have been such a big deal. (Score 1, Insightful) 1083
Who cares what happens between consenting adults? This issue has been blown way out of proportion by religious fundamentalists in the US (mostly Christians). No one is forcing anyone to get married, merely extending that right (and the associated benefits) to all couples. No, the sky is not falling.
Comment Re:Minecraft itself is a phenomenon, but (Score 1) 330
How long is your "long run"? 5 years? 10? I know Minecraft has had some pretty serious legs on the NPD sales charts, but will MC merchandise be relevant for long enough to recoup that investment? It just seems to me like Microsoft is getting on board late in the game, and that they overpaid.
Comment Re:Seems reasonable (Score 1) 462
Grow up. Any country looks bad when compared to a perfect castle in the sky. For almost 2 centuries the United States stood tall among the nations of the world.
My ancestors were African slaves in Mississippi/etc. I'd like to borrow the rose-tinted glasses that you are wearing.
You would think so. In a way, it's lucky that they don't. Google could use a similar technology to the one that some digital forensics software does, which actually analyzes the pictures themselves. Basically, an algorithm matches the percentage of pixels that fall in certain color ranges and matches them to known illegal images. It's not a home-run like an identical file hash, and requires human intervention, but we have had some success with it in instances that involve a very large number of files.
Comment Re:Because of the Limited Lifespan? (Score 2) 202
Have you ever owned a Plasma? They die... all the time. I had 3 plasmas die in as many years. I've had the same LCD for 7 years now. Every time I go over to someones house and their TV has a giant glitchy white or black stripe running down the screen I know they have a plasma. I'm sure there are some success stories but when even the $7k+ luxury models have higher failure rates, that technology needs to die.
That's funny, I just pulled a plasma off of the wall yesterday at one of our remote offices (getting rid of local workstation/security camera display). It was an old ED (480p) display TH-42PHD5UY, model year 2002. This thing still works just fine. Additionally, Panasonic has, in the past, scored pretty well for TV reliability. Yes, the black/white stripe is a (rare) plasma-specific failure. LCDs have their own failures, like bunches of dead pixels in the center of the screen. I'm not sure why you were modded "5, Interesting". We can all post anecdotes about how something is reliable or unreliable.
Comment The "best" product didn't win. (Score 3, Interesting) 202
Comment This is an amazing feature (Score 3, Insightful) 171
for users who are disappointed that their cable company isn't showing them enough ads. No, but seriously, this feature sucks. You get voice-activated input swapping, but when you go to the Xbone's interface to swap it shows a pane completely bordered by advertisements ala Idiocracy. Who would find such a thing desirable?
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0.035268 | <urn:uuid:0712ae9e-e72d-45a5-a0c6-2a2c87659775> | en | 0.900411 | #30 Building cross-reference file fails on some filesystems
Miles Strombach
The lstat call (accessible_file in dir.c) made when building the cross-ref db fails when accessing a file on an FS that uses 64-bit inodes, most commonly CIFS. Building the package with CFLAGS=-D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 (per 'man 2 stat', see EOVERFLOW) fixes this problem. This addition causes no problems for 32-bit-inode FSes, so it should probably be added to the default CFLAGS.
• Adding a new-fangled, system-specific flag like that to a portable package's default CFLAGS would be utter folly.
Note that what you see as "man 2 stat" my very well have little or no relation at all to what happens on other platforms --- or even different versions/installations of the same platform, for that matter.
• That CFLAG just sets a define that is part of the Large File Support extension to the Single UNIX Specification (http://www.unix.org/version2/whatsnew/lfs20mar.html) which has been around since 1996. Even if it was new and system specific, as a it's just define it wouldn't change any behavior on systems that don't check for it.
Using the AC_SYS_LARGEFILE macro in configure.in should do the right thing (see http://www.gnu.org/s/hello/manual/autoconf/System-Services.html\) in the rare event that cscope is being compiled on a system without large file support.
• status: open --> closed | http://sourceforge.net/p/cscope/support-requests/30/ | dclm-gs1-177670001 | false | false | {
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0.023331 | <urn:uuid:0ef6c66e-a871-452f-ba4b-a08b9750ca94> | en | 0.981072 | 'Barefoot Bandit' documentary mix of fact and lore
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — The story of "Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore is told in a documentary made by Canadian independent filmmakers Adam and Andrew Gray.
The brothers from Belleville, Ontario, told The Daily Herald they became attracted to the story while researching a script on the 19th Century bandit Billy the Kidd.
"We didn't want to come across as condoning a criminal, but we didn't want to preach about it either," Andrew Gray said.
Harris-Moore began breaking into homes and cabins on Puget Sound's Camano Island as a teenager. Burglaries continued after he escaped from juvenile detention in 2007. They included stealing boats and planes in a cross-country crime spree and ended with his arrest in 2010 in the Bahamas. Now 22, he's serving a seven-year prison sentence.
The directors said their film is about how public fascination with Harris-Moore made him attempt to become the folk hero his fans wanted him to be and how his growing fame became his downfall, the Herald of Everett reported Monday (http://bit.ly/1hKJEH9 ).
"What was really important to us was to tell the tale that was told through the media, which was the legend of the bandit, as opposed to what happened. Over the course of two years and all of the false information that would come out on the Internet, it was such a complicated story and the truth would often get lost," Andrew Gray said. "Everyone sort of used their imagination."
The Grays' film doesn't include interviews from Harris-Moore. That wasn't something they realistically expected. Harris-Moore signed a $1.3 million deal with 20th Century Fox with the money earmarked toward restitution to his victims.
Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com | http://www.am590theanswer.com/news/articles/barefoot-bandit-documentary-mix-of-fact-and-lore | dclm-gs1-177820001 | false | false | {
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0.044279 | <urn:uuid:029890b0-23b6-46a6-977e-df8e093eaca4> | en | 0.872872 | » » »
Gary Valenciano, How Did You Know Chords (ver.3)
How Did You Know Chords (ver.3)
Gary Valenciano Tabs
4/5 (5 votes)
New artist
How Did You Know
Its my very 1st chords that i have made.. I want to dedicate it to
Jamaica CaÑal Jumonong.. She inspired mo to made this song... Mai I LOVE YOU VERY
MUCH... Hope i can tell it to you infront...
LONG LIVE AHSE III of Urios College butuan city...
Mai this song is for you....
How did you know
INTRO: G-Gm7-G7-C-(2x);
G Gm7
I remember so well
G7 C
The day that you came into my life
Cm G
You ask for my name
Em Am7 Dsus4
You had the most beautiful smile
G Gm7
My life started to change
I wake up each day
Feeling alright
Cm G
With you right by side
Makes me feel things
G D
Will work out just fine
How did you know
Em Am7
I needed someone like you in my life
D Gm7
That there's an empty space in my heart
C F D
You came at the right time in my life
I'll never forget
Em Am7
How you brought the sun to shine in my life
F#m7 B7 Em hold
And took all the worries and fears that I had
Am7 D Em
I guess what I'm really trying to say
Am7 F Em
It's not everyday that someone like you comes my way
Am7 D G-Gm7-Eb7
No words can express how much I love you
Submit corrections
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Charlie Rose Talks to CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton
“The exchanges like it when there’s thousands of trades a second, but is that good for markets?”
Photograph by Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg
The Twitter crash on April 23 briefly erased $136 billion from the markets. What’s your take on it?
It looked like we had trouble on our hands right away. Whenever you see market volatility acting so rapidly, our antennas go up big-time.
How did it happen?
I can’t speak for the FBI. I know the press reports just like everybody else that the Syrian Electronic Army took credit for it. But I can tell you with regard to the markets what happened is a lot of traders, particularly these high-frequency traders, who I call cheetahs because they are so fast, go after markets when there’s volatility, when there’s something that we call “ignition momentum.” They don’t care if the market’s going up or the market’s going down. In this case, it went down, then it went right back up. That’s when the cheetahs feed. Unfortunately, a lot of average investors had things like stop-loss provisions where they just got out of the market when prices went down, and never got back in. They’re out money.
Can that be regulated?
It might be to some extent. For example, you’re a company, and you’re about to put your earnings report out, and somebody hacks in and says it’s going to be way lower or way higher, and it impacts your stock price. Those things can impact real people. And we have the ability, and the SEC has the ability, to try to insure that … they increase levels of security so that even an unintentional or reckless attack from the outside can’t be used to impact markets and ultimately hurt investors or consumers.
As high-speed trading grows, does our exposure and the danger of this type of event go up?
It does. Nobody wants to be against technology, but I think that regulators should not—and people should not—assume that faster is always better in markets. We need to question technology to insure that markets continue to perform their fundamental purposes. Sure, the exchanges like it when there’s thousands of trades per second, but is that good for markets? And [the high-frequency traders] are making the most money off of the smaller retail guys. So maybe the cheetahs are the new middlemen. They’re replacing the old floor traders, and maybe that’s the way it’s going to go. But I think people should want their regulators to anticipate these things.
Can you police what sources of data traders are including in their own trading algorithms?
We can’t. You don’t want to get too involved in the free market. But they do things like scrape data from Twitter. Then they listen to you having an interview and how many times did you say a certain word. So it’s a very complex algorithm, and that’s their economic edge.
You’ve spoken out about what you see as market manipulation in gold and silver. What’s going on?
Tell me the changes you’re proposing for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the swaps market.
It’s not just swaps, it’s for futures. These markets performed a fundamental purpose all the way back to 1848, when agriculture folks were trying to hedge their risk. These were people that have skin in the game; they have a physical commodity. I want to ensure that we’re doing the most we can to insure that markets are fair, that the end users aren’t mauled by the cheetahs.
You say there are more high-speed traders today with more to gain. Is that just a question of technology?
It’s not just technology, actually. It’s really oversight and enforcement. We don’t have enough people to go after them. When you think about these scandals like Libor, where Barclays (BCS) and UBS (UBS) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) manipulated this benchmark interest rate, it impacts about everything anybody in the world purchases on credit. It took us years and years to get to the bottom. That’s why I think a transaction fee would be helpful in funding the agency and trying to put bad actors in jail.
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0.033143 | <urn:uuid:0e7c27dc-1819-4f55-bfb0-6683b7ae4728> | en | 0.79886 |
Feast! Recipe Results
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Chicken and Noodles
This company appears in the following product categories:
Entree, Chicken
6 servings
2 1/2-3 1/2 pound whole broiler or fryer chicken
6 cups water
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
1 cup egg noodles
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen peas, optional
1. Rinse and drain chicken. Place in a large pan, add water and salt, spices and herbs, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add the onion, celery and carrots. Continue simmering for another 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Turn off heat.
2. Place chicken on a platter,
remove skin and discard. When chicken is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones and cut into chunks.
3. Skim the fat from the broth and discard.
4. Place flour in a small bowl. Ladle out one cup of broth and add to the flour to moisten, a little at a time until all the broth is used, stirring after each addition to remove lumps.
5. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the pot of soup. Add the chicken chunks. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened.
6. Add the noodles and peas. Continue cooking until tender. Serve hot.
This site is a member of the City & Regional Magazine Association | http://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?nm=Cleveland+Magazine+Recipes&type=MyModule&mod=Directories%3A%3ARecipesV2&mid=2A4CB6CA9A2545048EB568972EC29012&tier=3&id=4589A4A3E3A0482D88ECFC030CA27C9C | dclm-gs1-177960001 | false | false | {
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0.543881 | <urn:uuid:a2bf93ec-c832-4ad3-adfe-a60209d3f4fd> | en | 0.95282 |
Microsoft will finally answer the questions of DRM and more next week
Source: ExtremeTech
Comments Threshold
RE: x86?
By Motoman on 5/15/2013 1:11:48 PM , Rating: -1
Here, you f%cking dipsh1ts:
As the term became common after the introduction of the 80386, it usually implies binary compatibility with the 32-bit instruction set of the 80386. This may sometimes be emphasized as x86-32[5] or x32 to distinguish it either from the original 16-bit "x86-16" or from the 64-bit x86-64. [6] Although most x86 processors used in new personal computers and servers have 64-bit capabilities, to avoid compatibility problems with older computers or systems, the term x86-64 (or x64) is often used to denote 64-bit software, with the term x86 implying only 32-bit. [7][8]
Now please STFU and GTFO.
RE: x86?
RE: x86?
By zephyrprime on 5/15/2013 1:38:19 PM , Rating: 2
It's actually not uncommon for "x86" to refer to the entirety of x86 architechture including x64. People speak imprecisely. I'm sure the software will all be 64bit since 64bit on x86 is a little faster than 32bit software.
RE: x86?
By karimtemple on 5/15/2013 1:57:47 PM , Rating: 3
Honestly, it's un common for hardware to be referred to as "x64," after like 2006. Once Intel switched over, nothing was 32-bit anymore except netbooks (which died quickly and painlessly in 2010).
RE: x86?
RE: x86?
In his defense:
RE: x86?
x86 does not mean 32-bit which is clearly explained.
RE: x86?
RE: x86?
RE: x86?
You. Are. Wrong.
Deal with it.
RE: x86?
Sorry, but it's you who is wrong.
RE: x86?
RE: x86?
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0.155701 | <urn:uuid:aeeadfcc-0b56-4c74-9e65-366a2a864890> | en | 0.959254 | Reasons for Euthanasia
1. Unbearable pain
2. Right to commit suicide
3. People should not be forced to stay alive
1. Unbearable pain as the reason for euthanasia
Probably the major argument in favor of euthanasia is that the person involved is in great pain. Today, advances are constantly being made in the treatment of pain and, as they advance, the case for euthanasia/assisted-suicide is proportionally weakened. Euthanasia advocates stress the cases of unbearable pain as reasons for euthanasia, but then they soon include a "drugged" state. I guess that is in case virtually no uncontrolled pain cases can be found - then they can say those people are drugged into a no-pain state but they need to be euthanasiaed from such a state because it is not dignified. See the opening for the slippery slope? How do you measure "dignity"? No - it will be euthanasia "on demand". The pro-euthanasia folks have already started down the slope. They are even now not stoping with "unbearable pain" - they are alrady including this "drugged state" and other circumstances.
3. Should people be forced to stay alive? No. And neither the law nor medical ethics requires that "everything be done" to keep a person alive. Insistence, against the patient's wishes, that death be postponed by every means available is contrary to law and practice. It would also be cruel and inhumane. There comes a time when continued attempts to cure are not compassionate, wise, or medically sound. That's where hospice, including in-home hospice care, can be of such help. That is the time when all efforts should be placed on making the patient's remaining time comfortable. Then, all interventions should be directed to alleviating pain and other symptoms as well as to the provision of emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the patient's loved ones.
Much of this page is taken from the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide's "Frequently Asked Questions" web page.
Return to the Euthanasia Home Page. | http://www.euthanasia.com/reasonsforeuthanasia.html | dclm-gs1-178200001 | false | false | {
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0.174092 | <urn:uuid:93789c02-e4af-4edf-b954-b9f8c8ebe688> | en | 0.839942 |
1. Boards
2. Pokemon X
TopicCreated ByMsgsLast Post
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Are any of the special moves Pokemon get from Pokemon XD worth hacking for? (Archived)jb0804562/5/2014
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So I'm looking for a Greninja Counter. (Archived)
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if i use a pokepuff as a decoration in pokemon ami will it get eaten eventually? (Archived)Nade_Pony22/5/2014
The only way to beat Shedinja with Sturdy, goggles and safeguard is curse/seed? (Archived)legendrider62/5/2014
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1. Boards
2. Pokemon X | http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/696959-pokemon-x?page=2567 | dclm-gs1-178240001 | false | false | {
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0.116261 | <urn:uuid:346c3695-7d63-4dea-b11b-36a6052934bf> | en | 0.934176 | Epic Rant: White Guys Says America’s Not Racist, Gives 13 Reasons Why
I am not going to fall into the trap. I refuse to apologize for LA Clipper owner Donald Sterling. I refuse to wear the yolk of “racist” that the media is trying to throw over the neck of white Americans. His beliefs have nothing to do with me. Permit me to skip the “I am not a racist” confession normally required for a white man to speak to the issue of blackness and race in America. The constant bellowing of “racist” has worn thin with me. I think it is time to bark back.
Our media have become race-barkers, as obnoxious as the carnival-barkers who drove customers to the bearded lady…or the Siamese twins…or the sword swallower for a fee on the midway. Today, they are race-barkers who see racism behind every action…every thought…it is now “thought” that destroys people.
FEP (facts-evidence-proof) trumps emotional reactions every time. Charges of racism can destroy a reputation. Ask Paula Deen, George Zimmerman, Phil Robertson, The Tea Party, or Cliven Bundy. Do racist words justify government tyranny? Ask Glenn Beck.
So here we go. I am going to give you some observations based on FEP…questions really…for you to ponder. You are free to draw your own conclusions. At least for now. Make sure your phone is off.
1. Do you wake up in the morning and think about your skin color or gender? I wake up ME, just like you do. Our precious granddaughter does as well. She doesn’t know people are different. Her playmates are black. She doesn’t know that. She thinks they are people.
3. Fox News is a sellout. O’Reilly, Hannity, and Van Susteran fall all over themselves apologizing for whitey. Their lead “house negro” is Juan Williams. He is their expert on all thinks black. Why doesn’t “conservative” Fox News have a stable of conservative blacks to make the conservative position? Where are Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Alan Keyes, Jesse Lee Peterson, Pastor James David Manning, Mychal Massie…black voices who can speak to “conservative” solutions to race in America? If Juan Williams was white, we would never have heard his name. Only liberal blacks’ opinions are heard on Fox. Criticism of Obama is racism. Who wants to be called racist? Can’t you see it?
4. Institutional racism is a code word for extortion and corporate shakedown. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have made millions riding that horse. They make powerful white men kneel and beg. The head of the NAACP is a man named Benjamin Jealous (Jealous…need I say more?) Racism is big business, and business is good. The race-barkers have created a feeding frenzy. The media creates their own “experts” who make whites feel guilty for simply being white.
Pages: 1 2 3
1. Edwardkoziol says:
This man hits home with this comment.I've thought the same thing about Williams he is the Fox Network nigga.Will that blow hard O'Reilly ever have a conservative black American on,Juan is so far up Obumas ass that it will take a tow truck to get him out.I have to point out thatbig Bill isn't the only one all of Foxnews people idolize the chocolate bunny.
2. MuslimLuvChrist says:
Ever notice that more blacks cry racism when they have nothing else to say
Speak Your Mind | http://www.impeachobamacampaign.com/13-things-that-need-to-be-pointed-out-to-race-barkers/comment-page-1/ | dclm-gs1-178360001 | false | false | {
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0.042425 | <urn:uuid:0499036d-f10f-4786-8a72-d68f369a305f> | en | 0.943252 | Kinder's Corporation Jobs Forum
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0.992431 | <urn:uuid:8bb564ad-2ab1-4516-8971-40ee2450859d> | en | 0.932948 | Short-Term Loss
DEFINITION of 'Short-Term Loss'
A capital loss realized on the sale or exchange of a capital asset that has been held for exactly one year or less. Net short-term losses are limited to a maximum deduction of $3,000 per year, which can be used against earned or other ordinary income.
BREAKING DOWN 'Short-Term Loss'
Short-term losses are determined by calculating all short term gains and losses declared on Part II of Schedule D. If the net figure is a loss, then any amount above $3000 must be deferred until the following year. For example, if a taxpayer has a net short-term capital loss of $10,000, then he can declare a $3000 loss each year for three years, deducting the final $1000 in the fourth year following the sale of the assets.
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0.99466 | <urn:uuid:06cec46c-6924-49a1-aa79-66de9b9041b9> | en | 0.930625 | Weighted Average Credit Rating
DEFINITION of 'Weighted Average Credit Rating'
The weighted average of all the bond credit ratings in a bond fund. The measure gives investors an idea of how risky a fund's bonds are overall. The lower the weighted average credit rating, the riskier the bond fund. The weighted average credit rating is expressed as a regular letter rating (AAA, BBB, CCC).
BREAKING DOWN 'Weighted Average Credit Rating'
To arrive at the weighted average credit rating, the calculation starts with dividing the value of each bond in the fund by the total value of the fund. This gives the individual bond weights. The weight of a bond in the fund determines how much that bond influences the weighted average credit rating. For example, if a bond fund has 95% AAA government bonds and 5% junk bonds, the bond fund would still have a weighted average credit rating of AAA.
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0.018587 | <urn:uuid:d446aeef-d104-4498-9eb1-d5209315c148> | en | 0.933806 | LA CROSSE, Wis.--With the new year comes new Wisconsin voting requirements.
Wisconsin's presidential primary on April 3 2012 is going to be the first real election in which everyone will need to show a voter ID.
Some local groups are starting the process of making sure eligible voters won't be turned away when they cast their ballots in the upcoming election.
"Voting is how this country runs and I think that for individuals," said Jane Klekamp, director of the La Crosse County League of Women Voters. "That is how we make our voice be heard."
It's almost time to head back to the polls but this year, voters will need to show a valid voter ID to get a ballot.
Sounds simple enough, but Klekamp said getting every eligible voter on the same page with the new changes is harder than it sounds.
"We don't know who doesn’t know," said Klekamp. "We don't know who is unaware of law."
"There is a segment of the population, the elderly people are affected a lot, also students and the disabled population is the other population that may not have driver's licenses and so some of them will also be adversely affected," said Noreen Holmes, director of the La Crosse County Aging Unit.
Starting Jan. 10, the League of Women Voters, AARP and the La Crosse County Aging Unit, will hold four sessions in La Crosse County to inform voters of the new changes.
With a growing aging population, Holmes said starting early will help make sure some of La Crosse County's oldest voters can continue to cast their ballots.
"The elderly people, usually a high percent of them, vote," said Holmes. "They take their civic responsibility serious, and they should, and we as a society need to enable them to continue using that right."
But getting a valid ID could also take longer now that Wisconsinites can no longer pick up their IDs the same day they apply for one, which is part of the reason why La Crosse County Clerk Ginny Dankmeyer said be prepared.
"Well, at the DMV, if you apply for it, I believe it’s now 10 days and they mail it to you at your house, but getting a birth certificate, if you're trying to get a birth certificate from California, you're looking at 2-3 weeks," said Dankmeyer. "So it's important to start the process now, so you get the birth certificate so you can go to the DMV to get the photo ID"
The most common valid forms of ID include a passport, driver's license and state identification card.
People who arrive without proper identification for Wisconsin's presidental primary they can still vote with provisional ballots, but those ballots won’t be counted until they show their I.D.
Voter ID sessions will be held:
Tuesday Jan. 10 2012- 10:30a.m. at Onalaska City Hall
Wednesday Jan. 11 2012- 1:30p.m. at Holmen Village Hall
Thursday Jan. 12 2012- 1:30p.m. at West Salem Village Hall
Friday Jan. 13 2012-10:30a.m. at La Crosse City Hall | http://www.news8000.com/news/New-Year-new-Wisconsin-voting-requirements/7645740 | dclm-gs1-178620001 | false | false | {
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0.019937 | <urn:uuid:31a2fac1-25d8-49bf-838e-b1b77cc39a04> | en | 0.902301 | Glucosinolate hydrolysis in Lepidium sativum—identification of the thiocyanate-forming protein. Plant Mol Biol
Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Beutenberg Campus, Hans-Knöll-Str. 8, D-07745, Jena, Germany.
Plant Molecular Biology (Impact Factor: 4.26). 02/2007; 63(1):49-61. DOI: 10.1007/s11103-006-9071-5
Source: PubMed
Glucosinolates are a class of thioglycosides found predominantly in plants of the order Brassicales whose function in anti-herbivore defense has been attributed to the products formed by myrosinase-catalyzed hydrolysis upon plant tissue damage. The most common type of hydrolysis products, the isothiocyanates, are toxic to a wide range of organisms. Depending on the glucosinolate side-chain structure and the presence of certain protein factors, other types of hydrolysis products, such as simple nitriles, epithionitriles and organic thiocyanates, can be formed whose biological functions are not well understood. Of the proteins controlling glucosinolate hydrolysis, only epithiospecifier proteins (ESPs) that promote the formation of simple nitriles and epithionitriles have been identified on a molecular level. We investigated glucosinolate hydrolysis in Lepidium sativum and identified a thiocyanate-forming protein (TFP) that shares 63-68% amino acid sequence identity with known ESPs and up to 55% identity with myrosinase-binding proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana, but differs from ESPs in its biochemistry. TFP does not only catalyze thiocyanate and simple nitrile formation from benzylglucosinolate but also the formation of simple nitriles and epithionitriles from aliphatic glucosinolates. Analyses of glucosinolate hydrolysis products in L. sativum autolysates and TFP transcript accumulation revealed an organ-specific regulation of thiocyanate formation. The identification of TFP defines a new family of proteins that control glucosinolate hydrolysis and challenges the previously proposed reaction mechanism of epithionitrile formation. As a protein that promotes the formation of a wide variety of hydrolysis products, its identification provides an important tool for further elucidating the mechanisms of glucosinolate hydrolysis as well as the ecological role and the evolutionary origin of the glucosinolate-myrosinase system.
13 Reads
• Source
• "All specifier proteins that have been studied with respect to their Fe 2? dependency so far had an increased activity (i.e. higher ratio of non-isothiocyanate:isothiocyanate product formation) in assays with addition of Fe 2? than in assays without added Fe 2? (Burow et al. 2009; Kong et al. 2012; Kuchernig et al. 2011; Wittstock and Burow 2007) and in case of purified recombinant AtESP, a strict dependency on Fe 2? has been demonstrated (Burow et al. 2006). Moreover, simple nitrile formation upon glucosinolate hydrolysis can also be caused by Fe 2? (usually [0.01 mM) in the absence of specifier proteins (Burow et al. 2009; Kong et al. 2012; Wittstock and Burow 2007). In case of purified recombinant AtESP, it has been possible to completely block specifier protein activity by addition of EDTA (2 mM) while AtNSP1 (At3g16400) retained some of its activity in the presence of 10 mM EDTA (Burow et al. 2006, 2009). "
[Show abstract] [Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: As components of the glucosinolate-myrosinase system, specifier proteins contribute to the diversity of chemical defenses that have evolved in plants of the Brassicales order as a protection against herbivores and pathogens. Glucosinolates are thioglucosides that are stored separately from their hydrolytic enzymes, myrosinases, in plant tissue. Upon tissue disruption, glucosinolates are hydrolyzed by myrosinases yielding instable aglucones that rearrange to form defensive isothiocyanates. In the presence of specifier proteins, other products, namely simple nitriles, epithionitriles and organic thiocyanates, can be formed instead of isothiocyanates depending on the glucosinolate side chain structure and the type of specifier protein. The biochemical role of specifier proteins is largely unresolved. We have used two thiocyanate-forming proteins and one epithiospecifier protein with different substrate/product specificities to develop molecular models that, in conjunction with mutational analyses, allow us to propose an active site and docking arrangements with glucosinolate aglucones that may explain some of the differences in specifier protein specificities. Furthermore, quantum-mechanical calculations support a reaction mechanism for benzylthiocyanate formation including a catalytic role of the TFP involved. These results may serve as a basis for further theoretical and experimental investigations of the mechanisms of glucosinolate breakdown that will also help to better understand the evolution of specifier proteins from ancestral proteins with functions outside glucosinolate metabolism.
Plant Molecular Biology 09/2013; 84(1). DOI:10.1007/s11103-013-0126-0 · 4.26 Impact Factor
• Source
• "To date, nine plant specifier proteins with different substrate and product specificities have been identified at the molecular level and characterized biochemically, namely the epithiospecifier proteins (ESPs) from Arabidopsis thaliana[23] and Brassica oleracea[28], the thiocyanate-forming proteins (TFPs) from Lepidium sativum[20] and Thlaspi arvense[29] and five nitrile-specifier proteins (NSPs) from A. thaliana[30]. Typically, specifier proteins of different types share 50–80% amino acid sequence identity. "
[Show abstract] [Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Background The glucosinolate-myrosinase system is an activated chemical defense system found in plants of the Brassicales order. Glucosinolates are stored separately from their hydrolytic enzymes, the myrosinases, in plant tissues. Upon tissue damage, e.g. by herbivory, glucosinolates and myrosinases get mixed and glucosinolates are broken down to an array of biologically active compounds of which isothiocyanates are toxic to a wide range of organisms. Specifier proteins occur in some, but not all glucosinolate-containing plants and promote the formation of biologically active non-isothiocyanate products upon myrosinase-catalyzed glucosinolate breakdown. Results Based on a phytochemical screening among representatives of the Brassicales order, we selected candidate species for identification of specifier protein cDNAs. We identified ten specifier proteins from a range of species of the Brassicaceae and assigned each of them to one of the three specifier protein types (NSP, nitrile-specifier protein, ESP, epithiospecifier protein, TFP, thiocyanate-forming protein) after heterologous expression in Escherichia coli. Together with nine known specifier proteins and three putative specifier proteins found in databases, we subjected the newly identified specifier proteins to phylogenetic analyses. Specifier proteins formed three major clusters, named AtNSP5-cluster, AtNSP1-cluster, and ESP/TFP cluster. Within the ESP/TFP cluster, specifier proteins grouped according to the Brassicaceae lineage they were identified from. Non-synonymous vs. synonymous substitution rate ratios suggested purifying selection to act on specifier protein genes. Conclusions Among specifier proteins, NSPs represent the ancestral activity. The data support a monophyletic origin of ESPs from NSPs. The split between NSPs and ESPs/TFPs happened before the radiation of the core Brassicaceae. Future analyses have to show if TFP activity evolved from ESPs at least twice independently in different Brassicaceae lineages as suggested by the phylogeny. The ability to form non-isothiocyanate products by specifier protein activity may provide plants with a selective advantage. The evolution of specifier proteins in the Brassicaceae demonstrates the plasticity of secondary metabolism within an activated plant defense system.
BMC Evolutionary Biology 07/2012; 12(1):127. DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-12-127 · 3.37 Impact Factor
• Source
• "NSPs promote simple nitrile formation at physiological pH values, but do not catalyse epithionitrile or thiocyanate formation (Burow et al., 2009; Kissen and Bones, 2009; Wittstock and Burow, 2010). In the presence of myrosinase and TFP, thiocyanates are formed with only the following glucosinolates: allylglucosinolate, benzylglucosinolate, and 4-methylthiobutylglucosinolate (Burow et al., 2007a; Wittstock and Burow, 2010). The Arabidopisis myrosinases have been well characterized , with TGG1, TGG4, and TGG5 showing activation in the range of 1–5 mM ascorbic acid in vitro, though higher concentrations inhibited enzyme activity (Andréasson et al., 2009; Wittstock and Burow, 2010). "
[Show abstract] [Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Oilseed rape and other crop plants of the family Brassicaceae contain a unique defence system known as the glucosinolate-myrosinase system or the 'mustard oil bomb'. The 'mustard oil bomb' which includes myrosinase and glucosinolates is triggered by abiotic and biotic stress, resulting in the formation of toxic products such as nitriles and isothiocyanates. Myrosinase is present in specialist cells known as 'myrosin cells' and can also be known as toxic mines. The myrosin cell idioblasts of Brassica napus were genetically reprogrammed to undergo controlled cell death (ablation) during seed development. These myrosin cell-free plants have been named MINELESS as they lack toxic mines. This has led to the production of oilseed rape with a significant reduction both in myrosinase levels and in the hydrolysis of glucosinolates. Even though the myrosinase activity in MINELESS was very low compared with the wild type, variation was observed. This variability was overcome by producing homozygous seeds. A microspore culture technique involving non-fertile haploid MINELESS plants was developed and these plants were treated with colchicine to produce double haploid MINELESS plants with full fertility. Double haploid MINELESS plants had significantly reduced myrosinase levels and glucosinolate hydrolysis products. Wild-type and MINELESS plants exhibited significant differences in growth parameters such as plant height, leaf traits, matter accumulation, and yield parameters. The growth and developmental pattern of MINELESS plants was relatively slow compared with the wild type. The characteristics of the pure double haploid MINELESS plant are described and its importance for future biochemical, agricultural, dietary, functional genomics, and plant defence studies is discussed.
Journal of Experimental Botany 07/2011; 62(14):4975-93. DOI:10.1093/jxb/err195 · 5.53 Impact Factor
Show more | http://www.researchgate.net/publication/6660370_Glucosinolate_hydrolysis_in_Lepidium_sativumidentification_of_the_thiocyanate-forming_protein._Plant_Mol_Biol | dclm-gs1-178790001 | false | true | {
"keywords": "l protein, heterologous expression"
} | false | null | false |
0.134856 | <urn:uuid:c50ee128-124d-4eac-a514-8f3f0de68d03> | en | 0.955985 | DST all year would save much more than energy Given the early arrival of daylight-saving time this year, it is an appropriate moment to reflect upon the reasons for DST -- both the ones offered publicly and the far more crucial ones omitted. Congress' rationale for extending DST was that it would help save oil (it takes less energy to heat a house during daylight). Notably, oil is an increasingly crucial resource as supplies dwindle and as Middle East stability looks less certain.
However, a far more important benefit should be the one proffered: DST saves hundreds of lives because darkness contributes to car accidents, which in turn cause injury or death. An extra hour of daylight in the evening will prevent many of those accidents and save lives. However, it trades an extra hour of darkness in the morning, so the question is: Is there a net benefit? When does darkness matter more, at night or in the morning? Because more people are awake and moving about at 4-6 p.m. than at 6-8 a.m., it is logical to believe that there will be a substantial savings of lives and injuries by extending DST.
One group that might be negatively impacted is schoolchildren: They are awake and active at 6-8 a.m. when they walk to school (and not as active at 4-6 p.m. when most are home). To alleviate their concerns, schools could start classes one hour later in winter so students would not have to walk to school in darkness.
In addition, let us not forget that darkness contributes substantially to crime -- and more criminals are active in the early evening than in the early morning. Finally, there is good cause to recommend year-round DST rather than switching every half year -- because the change itself contributes to unnecessary accidents and confusion in the week following.
Steve Calandrillo
It's a fact, but it's wrong to blame humans Regarding the March 12 guest column ("First Person"), "It's expensive to ignore global warming," few question that the climate is getting warmer. That is measurable. It rose 0.7 degrees centigrade in the past century. The sensationalist media, environmental groups and researchers after grants from the latter have also convinced millions such as the guest columnist that this is because of humanity and that far worse will come.
Others, including many of the world's top scientists, question whether humanity materially influences warming. Among them is Claude Allegre, arguably France's greatest scientist, a member of both the French and U.S. Academies of Science. Twenty years ago, Allegre warned that mankind might be causing global warming, but he has recanted.
Allegre says that computer models have failed dismally to predict climate change and thus to establish a manmade cause for warming. Allegre is contemptuous of those he calls the "greenhouse gas fanatics." He and others attribute global warming primarily to cyclical changes in solar radiation.
Although the columnist doesn't say so, his predictions are based on the greenhouse gas theory. Anyone who assumes this is now the accepted theory in science reveals ignorance of science.
Ed Davis
One study shows lowering of sea level Bruce Barnbaum (March 12) warns us that if we do nothing about global warming, the sea level will rise by 20 feet. Apparently, Barnbaum missed the release last month of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Summary for Policymakers, which estimates a 15-inch rise in sea level this century. Although it is possible that IPCC is wrong, there are at least some scientific studies that back up the IPCC numbers. To the best of my knowledge, there are no scientific studies that predict a 20-foot sea-level rise this century. In fact, there is at least one peer-reviewed study (L. Zhen-Shan, S. Xian, 2006) that predicts global cooling in the next 20 years, with a concomitant lowering of the sea level.
Barnbaum goes on to warn us that global warming is causing tropical diseases such as Ebola virus, malaria and others to spread to more temperate climates. Apparently, Barnbaum is unaware that malaria, cholera and other diseases were endemic to large tracts of the U.S. before the 20th century. Clean drinking water, effective health care and the use of DDT and other chemicals eliminated those diseases in the U.S. The fact that those diseases are still endemic in Africa is due more to extreme poverty and lack of health care.
Mark Parker | http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Letters-to-the-Editor-1231417.php | dclm-gs1-178840001 | false | true | {
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0.030065 | <urn:uuid:7bd263fa-be3b-42f4-bf73-841f29ede36f> | en | 0.94293 | Beauty Tips: How to handle a blemish? by Renee Rouleau
Beauty Tips: How to handle a blemish? by Renee Rouleau
Cause for acne blemishes #1
Cause for acne blemishes #2
Cause for acne blemishes #3
Cause for acne blemishes #4
Cause for acne blemishes #5
See 5 more causes!
Cause for acne blemishes #6
Are you about to start your menstrual cycle? Many women can experience a surge of blemishes at the start of their monthly cycle. This is completely normal, but can be very frustrating.
Skin Tip: Taking Vitamin B-6 daily one week prior to your cycle will help regulate hormonal imbalances, which can lead to breakout. Calcium-magnesium supplements can also help when taken during this time. It’s also advisable to use an antibacterial cleanser such as our AHA/BHA Cleansing Gel during the time when you know that you’ll get blemishes.
Cause for acne blemishes #7
Are you peri-menopausal or going through menopause? Hormones are chemical messengers, created by our bodies to regulate everything from metabolism to cell growth to reproductive cycles and mood. When they fluctuate, they can trigger weight gain, depression, sleeplessness and fatigue in addition to adult acne and breakouts. A common sign for hormonal imbalances is when your monthly cycle is inconsistent and sporadic, or has recently stopped.
Skin Tip: It’s advised to check with your physician to see if they have any recommendations to treat the imbalance internally.
Cause for acne blemishes #8
Have you flown on a plane recently in the last three days? I can attest to this one. Flying on an airplane absolutely throws my skin out of whack. The cabins of airplanes have extremely low humidity, which cause the skin to get extremely dehydrated (lack of water). The dry air looks for moisture where it can get it and that means robbing it right from your skin! The dehydrated cells cause a buildup, which can trap oil underneath the skin resulting in post-flight breakouts.
Cause for acne blemishes #9
Have the weather temperatures been fluctuating from day to day? When the season is changing and the weather is warm one day and cold the next, it can wreak havoc on the skin, leaving it confused, unbalanced, and prone to blemishes.
Skin Tip: This is a time to adjust your skin care routine slightly, not go for a major overhaul. Many people feel like they need to switch their entire routine to acne products, but that’s over-compensating and will only leave your skin dried out and irritated. A great way to address the sudden breakouts is to temporarily switch to products using Salicylic Acid like our AHA/BHA Cleansing Gel.
Cause for acne blemishes #10
Have you started taking a new medication? Every drug will affect the body differently, but generally speaking, medications and drug use can cause stress on the nervous system, which elevates hormones (adrenals). This will contribute to the wear and tear of connective tissue resulting in flaccid, loose, sagging skin as well as increased blemishes.
Skin Tip: Consult with your physician.
Cause for acne blemishes #11
Have you recently introduced the use of the Clarisonic brush? Electric brushes such as the Clarisonic can be too stimulating on the skin for some people, resulting in breakouts. For many, the exfoliation benefit it provides can actually help lessen breakouts, but I know for me personally, it caused my skin to get more blemishes.
Skin Tip: If you suspect it may be causing you more blemishes, try discontinuing the brush or use it less often to see if blemishes lessen. Read: Skin care expert, Renée Rouleau reviews the Clarisonic brush.
So there you have it. Eleven possible causes for acne breakouts, pimples and blemishes. There are more than eleven causes, but these are the most common. — Renee Rouleau | http://www.temptalia.com/beauty-tips-how-to-handle-a-blemish-by-renee-rouleau | dclm-gs1-178950001 | false | false | {
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0.022589 | <urn:uuid:b392b078-344e-427a-b84a-12c80f474a9b> | en | 0.940886 | S. Korea faults North's rocket-launch plan
April 4, 2012 at 1:52 PM
SEOUL, April 4 (UPI) -- A South Korean official said the North's plan to launch a long-range rocket "damages the stability and peace" of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.
Hyun In-taek, a unification policy adviser to President Lee Myung-bak, recalled the North's launching a long-range rocket in April 2009, followed by its second nuclear test a month later, Yonhap News Agency reported.
"We already had the exact same situation in 2009," Hyun said. "The whole message North Korea tries to convey through its plan for a long-range missile launch is that a nuclear warhead can be loaded onto the missile.
"By doing this, North Korea thinks the effect of their blackmail will be greater. This is part of their underlying and careful political calculation. Therefore, it is highly likely they will follow the same pattern."
North Korea says it plans to launch the long-range rocket between April 12 and 16 to put a satellite into space orbit.
South Korea, the United States and other nations have criticized the planned launch, saying it's in reality a test of North Korea's improved ballistic missile technology.
Hyun called on the international community to "respond to North Korea with determination."
"The behavior of North Korea we perceive now indisputably damages the stability and peace of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia," he said. "If their behavior is tolerated, we will plunge into deeper security dilemmas."
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Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to parasitic disease scientists | http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/04/04/S-Korea-faults-Norths-rocket-launch-plan/UPI-26121333561938/?rel=49211333659191 | dclm-gs1-179010001 | false | false | {
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0.022771 | <urn:uuid:66705bf0-f7b2-43c3-be42-ce016ea22660> | en | 0.973573 | Contact Us
Yo Gotti
Like A Boss
yogotti1.jpgMemphis MC Yo Gotti wants to make one thing clear—he can stand on his own two. In a city where local success is easy, but getting national exposure seems to elude everyone but Three 6 Mafia and their affiliates, Gotti is the first artist to flip his local fame into a brand name without the aid of another crew. His company, Inevitable Entertainment, has a production deal with Cash Money, which allows him to distribute his own artists—including upcoming Nashville rapper All-Star—through Cash Money/Universal. As a solo artist signed to TVT Records, Gotti’s new album, Back 2 Da Basics, is set to expand on the buzz he set in motion with 2002’s slept-on Life. With appearances by Bun B, 8Ball, Lil Wayne, Slim Thug, Baby, Jazzy Pha and Scott Storch, the music industry seems to agree that Gotti is ready for the spotlight. To get the ball rolling, Gotti has teamed up with DJ Drama for a new mixtape called I Told U So, which will hit the street in a matter of weeks. Gotti checked in with XXLMAG.COM to talk about the simple mathematics of the music biz and address the rumors about his past beef with Three 6 Mafia. Don’t say we didn’t warn you—it’s ya boy Yo Gotti!
Until recently, it has seemed damn near impossible for a Memphis artist to break through on a national level, outside of 8Ball and MJG or the Hypnotize Minds camp. Why do you think that is?
We have three radio stations in Memphis, [so] you get your song on one radio station down here, and you think you a star. But you got to get on the road, you got to get your songs on all three radio stations in every city you can. I think a lot of local cats just don’t know the business, or understand the system. That’s one of the things I’m doing now, because of some of the people who made it, they never told nobody.
So you feel like people who already made it weren’t being as open with the industry knowledge as they could have been?
In Atlanta, even if you just started rapping this week, you know the ropes. Everybody doing it and it’s open and everybody showing you the ropes. [In Memphis,] not only do they not show you, but it’s like they hide it.
People in Memphis have access to Select-O-Hits, one of the last great independent distributors. Do you think that has made it less likely for them to go out and chase a major label deal?
I mean yes, a lot of artists want to be on majors now ’cause it sounds good. People make a lot of money through Select-O, more money than they make from majors. It’s simple mathematics, it ain’t a headache. For example, we get a song poppin’, we go out there to Select-O, we sell 200,000 records and we make $2 million dollars. It’s that simple. Going back and forth with a major record label—that whole bullshit structure—you sell a million records and you still may not see $2 million dollars.
You signed La Chat recently. Have you known her for a while?
Yeah, I was cool with her when she was with Three 6. We was always cool. A lot of people don’t know, but she tried to help me before I had all my deals. She was with Koch, and when I was struggling in the streets of Memphis she would call me with her A&R, trying to help me get signed and shit. It was more of respect than a favor. But I knew her situation was she wasn’t fuckin’ with [Three 6] and she was still trying to do something. I fuck with her ’cause I like her music, and I feel like when I was younger and trying to come up, she was trying to help me.
Rumor has it that you used to be down with Three 6 at one point. True?
Nah, never. I ain’t never done nothing. We ain’t never been to the studio together. I mean, like they tried to sign me before. This was probably like three years ago when I was hot, coming up. At the time, the only way I would’ve done it is do a [deal] that was 50/50, to do a joint venture, and I wanted to take it through Select-O-Hits. I didn’t want no money upfront, I didn’t want nothin’ ’cause I had my own money. And I wanted it to be one album. I pay for half of it; you pay for half of it. They would have to send my 50% check to me, your 50% to you. But they wanted to do more than one album. They said like, Aight, we cool, we gon’ do this. But then they sent my lawyer an artist contract. Then it’s like, I thought we were supposed to be doing this joint venture thing?
So how did you respond?
I never hollered back at these niggas. After a week or two after they sent the contract, they called me like, “Wassup, wassup?” I said , “Don’t play with me.” They like, “What you talkin’ about, man? My lawyers sent the wrong papers.” I said, “Nah dawg, don’t play with me, man. You know what the fuck you doing.” I’m a hustler first of all, so I’m about making money. I know if I had done that through Select-O-Hits, I was gonna sell 100,000 minimum. Independent, that’s $500,000 for me. I’m a hustler. I’m about making money, so I’m with that. But at the same time I’m a leader. I’m a boss. Feel me? I can’t run up under you. I got people I gotta look after. I wanna eat and I want my people to eat. The whole city of Memphis feel like it’s a better situation for me to come ’cause they know I’m willing to show other people how to come up and willing to give other people a chance.
It seems like a lot of people who do end up signing with Three 6 or Hypnotize Minds end up leaving. Why do you think that is?
At the end of the day, we do it because we like it and because we tryin’ to feed our people off it. If you ain’t getting paid, you can’t stay with that.
One more thing about Three 6—I heard that you had a little tiff with them back in 2004 when Crunchy Black said some things about you on a local TV show. Is that true?
Yeah. He was on the local station and he was talking about a lot of Memphis rappers, like the old Three 6 rappers who used to be down with them. Then he said my name: “Yo Gotti, boy, you ain’t hot,” or, “You ain’t got no real deal,” or something. “You ridin’ in a rental car” or something like that. You know man, niggas get high and get on the TV station and go crazy.
yogotti2.jpg So what was your response to that?
I really didn’t have to say nothing, because niggas in the streets know me. Probably some of them know him, and niggas know how I’m rocking. They know what I’m ridin’ in. Niggas out here know I have paper, it ain’t no secret. But at the same time, when you talking about a “real deal”… C’mon man, I’m a boss; you an artist, I’ll sign you. And if he had something to say, I felt like his bosses had to authorize it.
So you feel like Juicy and Paul were cosigning what he was saying?
Yeah, so that’s why it was just on with Three 6. But it wasn’t no thing as far as rappin’, ’cause [Crunchy] can’t rap. He can’t beat me rappin’. That’s a no brainer. You can’t have no rap battle. It was more disrespectful to me ’cause I really don’t know none of them. I mean, back in the hood, I used to see him in different spots, buying his lil’ shit and gettin’ high with it. So I had to see him more often, on [account of] them makin’ him get the lil’ shit to get high with. He would [say to me], “You jammin’, dawg. You this, you that.” And then for me to see the nigga on TV, I’m like, Damn, dude must be really high!
Did you ever reach out to any of them about that incident?
Once I jumped off doing what I do, they got to callin’ different DJs they knew I was cool with. They said they ain’t have nothing to do with Crunchy [speaking on TV] and they put him on punishment. He can’t get on no shows with them. That’s what they do with they artists, they put them on punishment and shit. So I’m telling the DJ, “Tell them niggas to call me!” And they just called back [the DJ] like, “Nah, man, as long as you don’t say nothing back to him he won’t say anything back. And I’m like, Look dawg, I don’t give a fuck about them dudes saying nothing about me. You ain’t no threat.
You released Life on TVT in 2002, at a time that the label was getting a lot of success with its Southern artists, like Lil Jon and the Ying Yang Twins. Why didn’t Life get that big video or that big promotional push that other TVT artists were getting at the time?
I think because me and this other company, Rap Hustlaz, had a 50/50 distribution deal with TVT. Everybody else was an artist on the label, but I wasn’t a TVT artist. We just wanted distribution through TVT. We was getting like $7.50 a CD through TVT on the Life album. But we didn’t do no street run, no radio promo run, we didn’t do nothing. I wanted to promote it, but the other company, Rap Hustlaz, one of them dudes got locked up, and me and the other dude weren’t really seeing eye to eye. TVT probably didn’t understand what was going on between us two. And when I dropped my single “Shawty” the song spread and I ended up talking to [TVT A&R] Brian [Leach] and [president] Steve [Gottlieb]. We did a whole ’nother deal with just me, so they do marketing and promotions now.
I also heard you were doing a Gangsta Grillz with DJ Drama.
It’s finished. It’s probably dropping any day now. It’s mainly original songs, ’cause I had like 70 songs to take the album from. I just got an email from Drama. I’m fittin’ to read it to you. Let me pull it up on my Blackberry. This from him: “Gotti, real talk: before I do a tape, I just ride and listen to it for a whole day so I can digest everything from beginning to end, so I can digest it. You made a classic.”
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Software The Courts Your Rights Online
How To Take a Big Vendor To Small Claims and Win 171
snydeq writes "Gripe Line's Christina Tynan-Wood offers good news for those harboring grievances about faulty software or unfair licensing practices: it is in fact possible to take a big vendor to small claims court and win. But, as one woman's fight against Adobe demonstrates, detailed evidence and a deep understanding of the laws in question are essential to obtaining justice against big vendor lawyers. 'Evidence is the key factor,' explains one legal expert. 'Often the evidence people present does not show what they think it does. And they fail to make themselves aware of the rules of evidence so they can introduce any evidence they do have in court. These companies will have attorneys and those attorneys will use the rules of civil procedure to take advantage of your lack of knowledge.' Moreover, they will spare little expense no matter the magnitude of claims brought against them. 'The lawyer for Adobe tried an "end-user is stupid" argument,' explains the woman who took on Adobe over a software license she never had the privilege of agreeing to. 'But he gave that up when he learned I wasn't a lame-brain home computer user. I have a software engineering background and worked for Sun Microsystems and Fidelity Investments tech group.'"
How To Take a Big Vendor To Small Claims and Win
Comments Filter:
• by socz (1057222) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @02:43AM (#32394972) Homepage Journal
IANAL but I have been told by many who have been in SCC that the company can not send an attorney to represent them. The point of small claims is to give the average person who feels they been taken advantage of at a fair amount of money (low) a chance to recover it. That is why a friend of mine pointed the fact out when a company he went against sent a lawyer and they were forced to send a representative other than an attorney. I've been told that pretty much anyone who WORKS for the company who isn't an attorney can represent them.
I'm currently in an appeals court for a case I started in early 2009. I plan on writing about my experience to help out those EXACTLY in my situation. Although I've made many errors along the way, I've learned a lot on the fly and have been able to use both my errors and knowledge gained to help me out immensely. Everyone who knows about my case has come to the following conclusions:
1a) The defendant's attorney saw I was representing myself without an attorney and figured ez win (pwned).
1b) The defendant's attorney never took me seriously and figured ez win (pwned).
2) The defendant's attorney figured that with the minimum amount of "proof" (evidence) she could successfully defend her client in the proceedings.
3) The defendant's attorney doesn't like what their client has done and is in fact helping me out.
4) The defendant's attorney is actually so bad as an attorney, that an unskilled/untrained/inexperienced person in law is able to beat her even though any other attorney with an average of .333 in case victories could have easily quashed my actions from the start.
So now with an order in my favor, we're in the appellate court to see what they have to say about the case. I also have a subsequent ruling in my actions against the defendant in a related action. But none of it has been easy, though many made it seem like it would be. There are many other factors that have contributed to my success thus far, notably other attorney's in the court room who find my case interesting. One who broke it down to me: "you have no case." But they also gave me some advice that "might' have helped me out.
Now in the appeals court, I am also representing myself. I had enough time and even requested an extension of time to complete my reply brief. As it turns out, it's not as easy to do. Sure, writing it was easy, nothing I haven't done before. But there was a very specific set of rules to follow and this is what took up time. With a page/word limit and a lot of rules, I would say that it's technicalities took more time than looking up laws and relevant cases. Understanding the laws are easy compared to writing the brief. I ended up taking a week off of work for a total of 10 consecutive days of about 12 hours a day minimum to complete it by the deadline.
I might have gone a bit off course there but the point is, for those (relatively few) of us who have a little something upstairs, we can still successfully navigate the legal system. You just need a LOT of determination, a lot of time, a little bit of money, a good case/argument, and more than anything: patience. I've been told by court officials who took part or have helped in my case that the judge had allowed several things that most other judges wouldn't have. The reason I've been told is because of my inexperience and self-representation. We'll see how I fare in the appellate court, but I'm not worried about biting the bag because I now have 16 months under my belt of playing an attorney.*
(* Might be worth mentioning why I didn't use an attorney. I know I'll need an attorney for the 2nd part of my actions (knowing the law isn't enough to favor me) so I am saving my money for that. But also because this is something that's huge in my life and means a lot to me, so there is nothing better worth dedicating myself to. And with a nick name like Socrates (I can't even get my friends to say my real name!) I have to represent! :)
• Re:My understanding (Score:3, Informative)
by 91degrees (207121) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @02:48AM (#32394996) Journal
All sorts of agreements are binding without that. Legally, buying something from a shop is a contract. The act of me giving money and the shopkeeper accepting it is acceptance that I have exchanged money for the item in question.
Generally, if you act in a manner that makes it clear that you have accepted an agreement, then you've accepted. Signing a contract is just a form of proof. It shows that you have most likely read and understood the agreement.
• The US has that too (Score:3, Informative)
by Sycraft-fu (314770) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @03:43AM (#32395158)
All jurisdictions that I know about have a small claims court. Any claim under a certain dollar amount goes there. There's no jury, just the judge, and normally no lawyers. The trials are not conducted by all the rules of normal trials because it is just two people settling a dispute. The TV court shows like Judge Judy are such a court. Normal rules of evidence, testimony, and so on don't apply and the judge often plays a fairly active roll in questioning. The trials are usually short, lasting only a few minutes. filing fees are low, often just $20 or so.
What the dollar limit is varies by jurisdiction, but it tends to be a couple thousand dollars. So if your neighbour borrows your electric drill and destroys it, small claims court is the place you'd go to try and get him to pay if all else fails. However if he knocked down your house, well that would have to go to regular civil court to get what it was worth.
So such a thing does exist and I can't imagine that a company would, as claimed, "spare no expense" to defend themselves in one. Since damages would be capped by statute at a couple thousand bucks, it wouldn't make sense.
• You can't plead the fifth in a civil case.
And you're "correcting" a common misconception with a slightly less common one. You can't plead the Fifth to avoid civil liability. One can, however, plead the Fifth during any court proceeding, including a civil case, if it is possible that the testimony given could possibly subject the person making it to criminal prosecution.
As an example, a doctor being sued for malpractice could not refuse to testify-the issue is a civil, not a criminal, one. On the other hand, if a hospital administrator is summoned to court and was involved in a potentially criminal coverup of malpractice, (s)he certainly could plead the Fifth in such a situation, as the issue in that case is potentially criminal and not just civil.
• by Mr. Freeman (933986) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @03:52AM (#32395196)
Depends on the laws in your state. In some states companies are REQUIRED to be represented by a lawyer.
• Re:My understanding (Score:5, Informative)
by rtfa-troll (1340807) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @04:00AM (#32395230)
The whole point of a small claims court is meant to be that it is for situations where employing a lawyer isn't reasonable. You have a claim of, say 500Euro and the company won't pay. A single hour of lawyer's time is going to cost more than that.
If you take it to the small claims court, the risk to you is extremely limited (in most places, just the nominal cost of registering the case + your time involved).
However, it seems like in Massachusetts at least, you still need to take lots of care. In other places, I understand that the judge has a duty to help the "little guy", overlook small mistakes and, for example, explain to you why your evidence can't be admitted.
• by DarthBart (640519) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @04:05AM (#32395242)
Because your average customer service monkey doesn't know anything about "product activation" or "key blacklisting" or anything like that. They just point to the big sign above "Customer Service/Returns" that says "Opened media may only returned for an exact replacement".
• by erroneus (253617) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @04:54AM (#32395370) Homepage
She delivered a preponderance of evidence to show that she saw no license agreement and therefore was not bound to its terms.
1. Not on the box.
2. Not in the box in printed form.
3. Software didn't install enough to show the EULA.
4. Showed that other people have had the same problem.
Adding to this, she also logged her time spent on the phone to show that she made every effort to make it work.
Many people might say "hey, I understand point number 1. They would need a HUGE box! But why don't they include a printed EULA and why doesn't the EULA come up BEFORE it installs?" Simple. The slippery lawyers want to be able to change the EULA on the fly. It could be used to prove any number of things including the fact that you were able to install it since completion of the install would be followed by an EULA.
The article inexplicably fails to mention the failing product. Was that Adobe's idea? Was that the article's editor's idea? Useful information was omitted to prevent advertisers from pulling their ads I suspect. But, if I understand it correctly, there's a chance that this is a matter of public record. Anyone in Mass care to do a little digging to find out the details?
• by micheas (231635) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @05:05AM (#32395390) Homepage Journal
IANAL , that being said. The law states that Lawyers in the US have a duty as officers of the court to look out for their clients interest and make sure that all parties without representation are fully aware of what is happening, and explain things to them in a manner that they understand what is going on.
This is one of the reasons that lawyers hate going against pro per litigants. another reason, is that you cannot talk to the other side and get someone that knows what proper procedure is.
So, while the attorney has a primary duty to their client, they can (theoretically, I don't know of it ever happening) be disbarred by failing to inform that party without a lawyer what is going on.
Without knowing the case, and reading the pleadings, I could not guess if what the grandparent post is claiming is appropriate behavior for opposing council or not.
• by micheas (231635) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @05:12AM (#32395406) Homepage Journal
IANAL, but In almost all -- if not all states if a company is in small claims court they must send one of the following:
The owner (if a sole proprietorship)
A general partner (if a partnership)
An officer of the company (If a corporation or a form of partnership that has officers)
or a regular employee of the company.
The last one means that a company cannot hire an attorney to go to court, but if they have an attorney on staff that employee can go to court for the company. Here is a basic overview from the California courts: []
• by snowgirl (978879) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @05:30AM (#32395474) Journal
I'm all for 'sticking it to the man', but the fact you're in appeals, and boasting on Slashdot that the opposing legal counsel is "helping you out"... I'm not sure is such a good thing.
I was thinking that too as I read it. Wouldn't it also be grounds for the person he is suing to request a mistrial, which would possibly result in overturning the original ruling?
It's highly unlikely that anything done now could create a mistrial, as the trial has already been concluded.
The appeals court could potentially return an order to the trial court to rehear the case, but that also is uncommon, and thus unlikely. The defendant would have to hire a different lawyer in order to make the claim that his first lawyer was either entirely incompetent (unlikely because they passed the bar) or they committed a gross violation of ethics (possible if they actually were assisting the other side, but would potentially be difficult to prove).
Very likely, the lawyer wasn't being well paid by the defendant, and was exerting the bare minimum of representation for their client.
• by snowgirl (978879) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @05:50AM (#32395546) Journal
Though she kept threatening me for not answering everything she asked such as where I work, company name, location, and hours that have NO RELEVANCE to my case.
Depositions typically allow for a wide range of questions that would not actually be admissible in direct court hearings (outside of California apparently). One of those things is relevance. They do not need to establish it in order to ask questions.
This is because depositions are usually made without a judge present, and so getting a ruling about if a particular question is permissible or not is unwieldy... I mean, having to call up a discovery commissioner or whatever every other question would be a total pain in the butt.
Plus, deposition as "hearsay" cannot always be brought into court on their own.
Of course, as you noted, sometimes you can simply refuse to answer a question under an objection under the rules of evidence, and the deposing lawyer is then forced to obtain either a resolution from a discovery commissioner, or suspend the deposition while they obtain a order to compel an answer. It's likely to piss off the lawyer, and make them look for more fun ways to make your life miserable, but there are cases where it might be the best option.
Like sacrificing your queen in chess... sometimes it might be the right thing to do, even though it's so unlikely to be the right thing that people will tell you definitively "it's never a good thing to do."
• by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2010 @06:22AM (#32395656)
They won't.
Right -- sometimes just the summons will do.
Many years back, I got a rebuilt engine from a major chain. Short story -- the outfit they suggested for installation were screwups, but it worked in the end. Warranty was a year OR 10K miles. The vehicle was an extra, so got nearly no mileage. Some fifteen months later, with only about 6K miles, my daughter took it somewhere. After a stop, she got in , turned the radio all the way up and started off. The radio was so loud that she didn't notice she had left the 3-speed trans in second at freeway speed. Result -- blown engine.
I figured it was my loss, but a friend (a qualified A&P mechanic for United Airlines and who builds race engines in his spare time) said the engine, a Dodge 318 V8, shouldn't have blown even under those circumstances and that I should go after them.
So I did. I gave the shop his opinion and argued that the warranty was unfair -- that only mileage, not time, was a reason for engine wear. I ended up calling daily, sometimes more than once in a day, for over a month, getting blown off each time. It was always a case of the right person being in meetings or otherwise not available.
I finally said screw it and filled out the forms for SCC. The clerk told me I shouldn't list the store manager as defendant, but rather to go home and find out from the California secretary of state's office who the designated summons-receiver for the corporation was -- yeah, this was pre-internet,
I did so, went back and re-filed with the correct name. Inside of a few days, I got a very penitent call from the shop, whining that they thought this whole thing had been settled to my satisfaction weeks before, followed by a bunch of other BS and an invitation to come by the shop that evening for my replacement engine.
FWIW, the engine was $800 (long ago), so figure $400 in profit. I don't know how much aggravation they were willing to go through for that amount, but I suspect the shop manager and other employees (listed in my complaint) got some fairly sharp comments from on high about exactly how much company time should be spent on issues like this.
• Why bother? (Score:3, Informative)
by devent (1627873) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @06:55AM (#32395776) Homepage
Why you people bother with EULAs in the first place? Now, I don't know with product it was but since the woman doesn't suffer any business loss I would think it was just Adobe Photoshop or something else. I didn't agreed to any kind of EULA for over a year and I will certainly not in the foreseeable future. Why? Because I'm using Free Software and there are plenty of it available. As a side effect, these costs you nothing, too.
Now, granted, someone who needs a software to do his work maybe needs to buy a copy of Photoshop or MS Office. But 99% of the people out there just don't need it. Save the EULA BS and save your money. The last time I red an EULA I just couldn't agree to it because it's just so full of BS; how can you agree to any EULA and pay them money for it at the same time? You have an alternative, maybe not always, but often.
• Completely Untrue (Score:3, Informative)
by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 30, 2010 @07:23AM (#32395888)
This story is completely untrue and is using a single example to claim that all cases are like this. In most areas, the court papers are under $100 (something like $25 to $50) for small claims. You do not need a lawyer. There's no reason to even talk with one. Most of the time, companies will settle with you, especially if they do not have a corporate headquarters anywhere near you. For example, Toyota Financial and I had a disagreement over $250, not a lot of money, but the principal of the matter was important to me. Hotels in my area cost about $250 a night + rental car + 3 meals/day + flight + wages = it costs way more money to just figure out the issue and solve it than to send a lawyer to represent your company over $250. As soon as I called their legal department and said I was on my way to the court house, they were incredibly interested in helping me out. Toyota is not the first. I've had to threaten two other companies with law suits. None of them have gone farther than a call with the legal department.
• by Anonymous Cowpat (788193) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @07:37AM (#32395934) Journal
well, the EULA probably has the standard 'no warranty' terms. Adobe probably wanted to hide behind that to avoid the otherwise default position that you have to sell a functioning product; the plantiff showed that since it hadn't been displayed, it wasn't agreed to, and didn't count, leaving Adobe holding the bag for having sold a non-functioning product.
• Re:My understanding (Score:2, Informative)
by larry bagina (561269) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @10:16AM (#32396688) Journal
a signature is only required for real estate and transactions that will take longer than a year to complete. Obviously, it's useful to have a signed contract if there's a problem. but at it's heart, a contract is two people (or companies) making an agreement.
• by DaMattster (977781) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @11:53AM (#32397384)
Since it is a court proceeding, the judge's opinion should be published. Unfortunately, we kind of need to know what state and district the case was filed in. Plus, the rules of Small Claims Court are somewhat fast and loose. In some states, like Pennsylvania, a small claims court judge (also known as a district court judge) is not even required to have a law degree and is an elected position. In fact, I knew someone running for this position that only graduated from high school. Ostensibly, they are given some training in the field of rules of evidence. Still, when you think about the above situation, your odds are pretty long on winning and it will not take much technical jargon to confuse a judge into siding with big brother.
• by daeglo (1822126) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @12:18PM (#32397590)
One can plead the 5th at any time that one may legally implicate oneself in a criminal action.
1) If the question is highly relevant to the state's case, then at that point the person pleading the 5th will be taken into an ADA and have immunity papers drawn up for your part in the alleged action. Once they have been offered immunity for the action they are pleading the 5th against, they are no longer able to claim the 5th as they can no longer be implicated. If after all of this transpires, they were hiding behind the 5th and had no logical fear of self incrimination, they will be charged with contempt of court.
2) If the question is not highly relevant to the state's case OR the DA feels they can make a better case against the pleader, prepare for a nasty criminal investigation. Pleading the 5th is not an admission of committing a criminal act but it is a good jump off point for an investigator. One cannot be arrested for pleading the 5th, however detectives can still begin looking for the smoke and mirrors. Anything that is found by detectives most certainly will be used against the pleader.
Hopefully this helps your understanding of the 5th amendment to the United States Constitution as it is (IME) practiced. Been There, Done That (TM)
• In California (Score:3, Informative)
by fast turtle (1118037) on Sunday May 30, 2010 @12:35PM (#32397736) Journal
Lawyers are not permitted in Small Claims Court.
• Re:In California (Score:3, Informative)
by Whuffo (1043790) on Monday May 31, 2010 @04:50AM (#32405082) Homepage Journal
You're not allowed to have a lawyer represent you in Small Claims Court - that's different from "no lawyers allowed". For small items where the amount asked for is less than the corporation would spend on a defense - you're almost certain to receive a full settlement. But if it's big money then expect the corporation to work to have the case moved to a "real" court.
Mommy, what happens to your files when you die? | http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/05/29/2241211/How-To-Take-a-Big-Vendor-To-Small-Claims-and-Win/informative-comments | dclm-gs1-179160001 | false | true | {
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from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
• n. The belief that the human soul eventually dies.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
• n. The view that death means not only an arrest of all physiological functions, but also the definite disappearance, cessation, or destruction of the human mind or soul. Thanatism is opposed by Haeckel to athanatism, the belief in man' s personal immortality. Primary thanatism is the original absence of the dogma of immortality in certain primitive uncivilized races; secondary thanatism is the later outcome of a rational knowledge of nature in the civilized intelligence.
thanato- + -ism. Coined by Ernst Haeckel. (Wiktionary)
Sorry, no example sentences found.
| https://wordnik.com/words/thanatism | dclm-gs1-179280001 | false | false | {
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