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Dickey makes Blue Jays' debut
The knuckleball fraternity was in full force for Monday's game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey gave up two runs and four hits in his Toronto spring training debut while fellow knuckleballer Steven Wright pitched two scoreless innings for a Boston split squad in a 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.
"You don't see that too often," Toronto manager John Gibbons said of seeing two starters tossing knucklers.
Wright, a minor leaguer, gave up two hits and struck out three. Former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who is working with Wright, was at the game.
"Just a little nervous because you want to do your best in general, but to have guys with the keen eye for the knuckleball (watching)," Wright said. "But once I got out there I felt pretty good."
Wright and Dickey have communicated by phone and text in the past. Wright sent a message to Dickey when he arrived for Monday's game.
"He texted me right before the game," Dickey said. "There just wasn't time to connect, so I'll have to connect with him, hopefully, when he pitches in the big leagues for the Red Sox."
Dickey was planning to text his Boston counterpart postgame.
"I think he pitched really well," Dickey said. "I'm pulling for him, of course. I know how hard it is."
Both pitchers seek advice from Wakefield. Dickey said he faced Wakefield a couple times as a reliever in games the former Red Sox standout started.
"He always has a good insight, so it's good to get with him when I can, especially to see me pitch live," Dickey said. "He can tell me if he sees something that's out of whack or not."
Red Sox manager John Farrell, who moved from Toronto to Boston during the offseason after managing the Blue Jays in 2011 and `12, was roundly booed by fans when his name was announced during the pregame starting lineup introductions. This was the first time Farrell has faced his former team.
"I appreciate that people might have differing opinions," Farrell said. "All I can do is go about my work day in and day out. People are going to form their own impressions. I can't control that. I thoroughly enjoyed the time there."
The Red Sox scored twice in the first on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's single and Dickey's wild pitch. The right-hander gave up a second-inning single to Mitch Maier, but also induced an inning-ending double play from Pedro Ciriaco.
Wright retired Jose Bautista on a fly that reached deep center despite a stiff wind blowing, and Edwin Encarnacion on a grounder after Melky Cabrera hit a one-out double in the first. He struck three and allowed a single during the second.
"That's the first time I feel like I've started against another knuckleballer, and we're real similar as far as speed," Dickey said. "I think he threw some really good ones today. And if he stays on that path, and continues to throw strikes with it, I think he has a bright future with it."
Blue Jays right-hander Josh Johnson followed Dickey and gave up one hit in two shutout innings. Encarnacion hit a solo homer.
Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr. had three hits and an RBI.
NOTES: Boston RHP Clay Buchholz will pitch in a simulated game on Tuesday. 1B Mike Napoli (hip) will be one of the hitters against Buchholz, who is scheduled to start a spring training game Saturday. ... Napoli could get at-bats in an exhibition game on Friday. ... Gibbons said his team feels badly that Yankees OF Curtis Granderson, who was hit by a pitch in Sunday's game between the teams, will be out up to 10 weeks with a broken right forearm. "He's one of the good guys," Gibbons said. "It's unfortunate. He'll be back better than ever." ... The Blue Jays claimed 1B Lars Anderson on waivers from the Chicago White Sox and transferred RHP Kyle Drabek from the 15- to the 60-day DL. The Red acquired Wright from Cleveland for Anderson last July.


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The former Memphis police officer captured on video surveillance beating a transgender woman in 2008 has been sentenced to two years in prison and two years probation for the assault and for tax evasion, reports the Commercial Appeal.
In August 2010, former Memphis Police Department Officer Bridges McRae plead guilty to violating the civil rights of Duanna Johnson. McRae also plead guilty to evading taxes between 2004 and 2008. McRae agreed to a two-year prison sentence.
Duanna Johnson was later killed in an unsolved shooting.
The 2008 beating happened while McRae was booking Johnson into the Shelby County Jail. Despite graphic surveillance video of McRae beating Johnson and the testimony of fellow police officers, McRae's April 2010 trial ended in a mistrial. The vote was 11-1 for guilty. McRae was facing up to ten years at retrial before his plea deal.
The altercation began after Johnson became upset because McRae repeatedly called her "Dwayne" and refused to call her "Duanna." Fellow officers testified, and the tape showed, McRae wrapping his handcuffs around his fist, repeatedly punching Johnson in the head and then using his pepper spray. "I love to fight," McRae boasted to officers.
Meanwhile: Civil suits are pending against the Memphis Police Department, the City of Memphis and Shelby County. And Duanna Johnson's killer or killers remain on the loose.
R20's complete coverage HERE.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Prayer and Worship
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Jealousy of Aaron and Miriam. 1Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the Cushite woman he had married; for he had in fact married a Cushite woman.* 2They complained,* "Is it through Moses alone that the LORD has spoken? Has he not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard this. 3a Now the man Moses was very humble, more than anyone else on earth. 4So at once the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam: Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting. And the three of them went. 5Then the LORD came down in a column of cloud, and standing at the entrance of the tent, called, "Aaron and Miriam." When both came forward, 6the LORD said: Now listen to my words:
If there are prophets among you,
in visions I reveal myself to them,
in dreams I speak to them;
7Not so with my servant Moses!
Throughout my house he is worthy of trust:* b
8face to face I speak to him,c
plainly and not in riddles.
The likeness of the LORD he beholds.
Why, then, do you not fear to speak against my servant Moses? 9And so the LORD's wrath flared against them, and he departed.
Miriam's Punishment. 10Now the cloud withdrew from the tent, and there was Miriam,d stricken with a scaly infection, white as snow!* When Aaron turned toward Miriam and saw her stricken with snow-white scales, 11he said to Moses, "Ah, my lord! Please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed! 12Do not let her be like the stillborn baby that comes forth from its mother's womb with its flesh half consumed." 13Then Moses cried to the LORD, "Please, not this! Please, heal her!" 14But the LORD answered Moses: Suppose her father had spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; afterwards she may be brought back. 15So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not start out again until she was brought back.
16After that the people set out from Hazeroth and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.
* [12:1] Cushite woman: apparently Zipporah, the Midianite, is meant; cf. Ex 2:21.
* [12:2] The apparent reason for Miriam's and Aaron's quarrel with their brother Moses was jealousy of his authority; his Cushite wife served only as an occasion for the dispute.
* [12:7] Worthy of trust: the text is open to a variety of interpretations. Thus, the word of Moses may be relied upon by Israel because God speaks to him directly; or, Moses alone is worthy of God's trust in God's household (heavenly or earthly). An alternative translation, however, is: "with all my house he is entrusted."
* [12:10] Stricken with a scaly infection, white as snow: see note on Lv 13:1–14:47. The point of the simile lies either in the flakiness or the whiteness of snow.
c. [12:8] Ex 33:1; Dt 34:10; Sir 45:3.
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text:
About HammerThe Hammer philosophy
Stability, functionality and reliability from Austria
Since 1997 Hammer have been producing high quality yet affordable woodworking machines for smaller workshops and businesses. The models have been specifically designed for this customer group and are now available in three configurations, basic, winner and perform offering price optimised solutions for every requirement. From the passionate woodworker to the business user with high demands, with machines from Hammer you are guaranteed reliability and precise woodworking.Profile of Hammer
Hammer woodworking machines were first presented in 1997 at the Innsbruck Autumn exhibition. With elaborate product solutions and machine concepts unique in their class, Hammer asserted itself as a first class machine range offering quality yet affordable machines that could compete with cheaper products from the East.
The range now consists of 20 Austrian built models including planers, panel saws, spindle moulders, boring machines, saw/spindle moulder and 5 operation combination machines all with numerous configuration options. The range has developed to meet the increasing requirements of modern woodworking and the product range has grown in line with what is required from the market.Why Hammer?
With a Hammer you get a complete package of exceptional optional extras and unrivalled service.
- Competent advice:
Expert advice and support from day one!
- Manufacturing quality:
Modern production technology and highest production standards guarantee top machine construction quality.
- Top-Service:
Qualified customer support and service employees within your vicinity ensure the operational readiness of your Hammer.
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Original spare parts with long term availability at the best price ensuring that your machine keeps its value.
- Simple, quick and guaranteed best price in the online shop:
24 hours a day, 7 days a week and always up to date.
- Stock and logistics - available immediately:
The quick availability and supply of spare parts helps to ensure your productivity.


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Archdale post office to remain open despite letter carrier move
A change in how one local U.S. Post Office operates is coming this weekend, but shouldn't affect service to postal customers, officials said.
Letter carriers who currently work out of the postal facility at 10193 N Main St. in Archdale will relocate to the main post office in High Point on East Green Drive.
The retail counter at the Archdale facility will continue to be staffed the same hours to transact business for customers. In addition, the service at the post office boxes at the site will continue as it is now, according to postal service spokesman Carl Walton.
"As far as customers are concerned, nothing will change. It's not closing," Walton said. "Delivery times won't change. They'll still get to their delivery points the same time they did."
No jobs are being cut from the Archdale location.
The Postal Service has struggled as mail volume has declined nationwide, as it reportedly loses $25 million a day. Some facilities have cut back hours and others have consolidated mail processing centers, as is being done with the Archdale site.
Walton said there is ample space at the High Point location and that consolidating Archdale's letter carriers there will save on expenses.
"It's one of a number of initiatives the Postal Service is doing nationwide, just trying to find ways to cut costs and maximize efficiencies," he said.
Beverly Nelson, president of the Archdale-Trinity Chamber of Commerce, said her organization is working to prevent the closure of the Archdale location. It's one of only two post offices in the Archdale/Trinity area.
"It is heavily used. There are certain times a day it is impossible to find a parking place there," said Nelson. "I'm not going to speak for them and what they may or may not do, but I do think they are looking at that building and how much it is costing them."
Nelson said the chamber has been in contact with district postal leadership, as well as state and federal elected officials about the situation.
"We're monitoring things to make sure that whatever they do keeps a presence here in Archdale," she said.


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Just days after Hurricane Sandy ravaged must of Long Island's South Shore, Nassau County Episcopal churches began taking part in a relief effort that is still in full swing.
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Valley Stream and Trinity-St. John's in Hewlett have joined forces to help those in need, and they even found some assistance in another state. On Monday, a party rental company from Massachusetts delivered a truckload of food and baby items to Trinity-St. John's on Broadway, adding to the massive volume of items that had already been collected in the month since the storm.
Michael Linton, owner of Michael's Party Rentals in Ludlow, Mass., organized a food drive there, partnering with area schools and churches. Items were collected during Thanksgiving week, and on Monday Linton made the four-hour drive to Hewlett, where 4,000 pounds of donations were unloaded and brought into the Trinity-St. John's parish hall.
"I wish we could have filled the truck," he said, noting that there were other, competing food drives for Hurricane Sandy victims. Still, he said, the box truck was at least half full for its journey to Long Island.
Linton explained that his business doesn't have the financial resources to make a large donation, but he has a full-time event coordinator and available trucks. "We thought we could use those resources and do a lot more than we could financially do," he said. "It was a lot more work than we anticipated but it was well worth it."
The items will go to people affected by the storm, primarily in the Rockaways. The Rev. Owen Thompson, rector of Trinity-St. John's, said that about 80 percent of his congregation is from that area.
It was the Venerable Brenda Overfield, rector of Holy Trinity in Valley Stream and arch deacon of Nassau County, who made the connection with Linton. Just days after the storm, Holy Trinity opened as a collection center for food, clothing and other items that people wanted to donate. At one point, Overfield said, half of the school gymnasium was full. Keeping track of the donations was difficult, she said, because as fast as they came in, they went right back out to the people in need.


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As Nassau County Tax Collector, I would like to welcome you to
BidNassau.com, the website for
our annual tax certificate sale.
BidNassau.com is designed to make the sale process efficient and
You can find more information about how to participate in our sale
under the Frequently Asked Questions and Auction Schedule.
We also encourage you to take advantage of the research tools available
on BidNassau.com, where users can search the list of auction items,
create custom reports and view tax and property details.
The tax certificate sale is a critical part of our tax collection
process, allowing us to collect delinquent property taxes and provide
the necessary operating funds for our schools, law enforcement agencies
and many other local services.


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She's the emblematic toy for young girls; she's the source of many feminist and health advocacy groups. Barbie is a toy whose controversies are as extensive as her résumé (my favorite Barbie growing up was a vet).
Today the controversial doll made headlines once again after Galia Slayen published an account of the six-foot-tall Barbie replica she made to raise awareness about eating disorders through The Huffington Post. Slayen said that as a seven-year-old she viewed Barbie as the representation of "beauty, perfection and the ideal for young girls around the world."
To make a statement about Barbie's unrealistic figure, Slayen decided to construct a life-size replica of Barbie to see what a full sized representation of the doll would look like. You can see pictures of the replica here.
Now, if you're a bit thrown off by the proportions of the model to the actual doll, you're not alone. Let's first give Slayen her credit: the replica's head is not to scale; she says in her article that it was taken from a toy meant for brushing Barbie's hair so that her model would have the characteristically perfect Barbie face. That explains the replica's tiny head, but what of the rest of its proportions?
Barbies are often cited as, if blown up to real life, having measurements of 5'9″ with a 39″ bust, an 18″ waist, and 33″ hips, according to Slayen's post. That's the model she used in constructing her Barbie replica.
But Barbies today don't look like they did back when they first debuted — they were given larger waists and smaller hips in the '90s — and I'm not sure today's Barbies would be quite so disproportionate. Barbie may be incredibly slender, she may be graciously endowed in the chest, but the picture to the left of Barbie at the 2009 "Barbie Fashion Show" doesn't look as unrealistic as Slayen's model suggests.
Let's do the math here. According to this sewing Web site, which provides measurements for those who wish to make their own doll clothes, Barbie dolls are 12″ tall. They have a 6″ chest, a 3.75″ waist and 5″ hips. Unrealistic, sure. But just how unrealistic?
Take me, for instance.My height is 5'10″ — tall, yes. But fake? Not at all. To have the same measurements as Barbie does at my height, I'd have to have roughly a 35″ chest, a 22″ waist and 30″ hips. And frankly, that's never going to happen. But speaking as someone who had an entire box of Pizza Rolls for dinner last night, I don't think Barbie is as far from reality as some people would suggest. In the spirit of making a point, I'll stoop so low as to give you my measurements: 33″-23″-"34″. Obviously I'm no Barbie — it's physically impossible for me to achieve those measurements and still be healthy, and I have no desire to do so. But in fairness to the doll, Slayen's 39″ bust matched with an 18″ waist isn't an entirely accurate scale.
I'm not saying that Barbie is by any means a realistic model or an ideal that girls and women should strive for, because she isn't. I just want to point out that she's not quite as unrealistic as some people argue. Toys should by no means promote negative body image in young children, and since Barbie may do that, I'd welcome a more realistic body type for the doll — but it seems that Barbie's reputation is a bit exaggerated.


text:
kashire wrote:Oh man, for sure. That would be pretty sweet.
Tremendous! I've sent you guys the Windows build for now, but as soon as I'm ready to cut a Linux version, you will be my test subject.
I actually believe really strongly in supporting Linux builds for games. I'm not a fan at all of the intrusive EULAs Microsoft has been moving toward of late, and I've got serious privacy concerns about Windows 10. I'd already be using Ubuntu for everything, if only games / other software would work natively there.
The only thing I can really do about the issue is to try to make sure the software I produce runs natively on Linux. Of course, that's easier said than done, especially for an organization as small as Voyager Games. The architecture choices I made when first designing Outer Colony were made to facilitate potential Linux and Mac support, so the additional testing requirement imposed by multi-OS support should be the only real impediment we face. I'm hoping we can overcome it.


text:
Complete Story
Broadband Plan Could Learn From Cable Labs Collaborative M
By: John Eggerton, Multichannel News
Former Cable Labs chief Dick Green wants the government to promote the kind of collaborative research that resulted in the DOCSIS standard for cable high-speed modem data delivery and to find ways to incentivize research through government contracting.
Speaking at an FCC broadband workshop on spurring research, Green pointed to the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984, which allowed Cable Labs to form by removing antitrust problems with joint research.
Green also took the opportunity to put in a plug for that standard, pointing out that by 2010 it will have the capability of delivering more than 300 megabits per second.
He said the government, as part of the national broadband plan, should encourage more such collaborations, which increases the number of joint projects and boosts competitiveness of the U.S. in reasearch. It has numerous benefits, he said, including reducing costs, eliminating duplicative efforts, and encouraging synergies.
Green told the workshop audience that the cable industry had invested $145 billion in private capital to build fiber-rich, two-way interactive networks, which has been followed by hundreds of billions by wireless, telco and satellite companies.
Green had another suggestion for the government: tie research to government contracts. He pointed to the Defense Department, where contracts include offest for the cost of industry research, allowing companies to recover the costs as part of the contract, so the government winds up paying its share of R&D in the price it pays for products and services in the contract.
He recommended that any time the government buys a technology or service, it attach an R&D incentive to the contract.
Source: http://www.multichannel.com/article/390601-Green_Broadband_Plan_Could_Learn_From_Cable_Labs_Collaborative_Model.php?rssid=20059&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MultichannelBreakingNews+%28Multichannel+News+-+Breaking+News%29


text:
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@id": "http://www.procelpac.com/products/", "name": "Products" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@id": "http://www.procelpac.com/products/pevc/", "name": "Venturesource" } } ] }
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text:
From 14 February 2018 to 16 March 2018
Solo exhibition
Exhibition opening and artist talk: WED, 14 February 2018 at 7 pm
Aksioma Project Space
Komenskega 18, Ljubljana, Slovenia
From 27 January 2018 to 24 March 2018
Documentary screening
Screenings: Every Thursday afternoon at 8 pm
(with entrance ticket)
In the framework of the exhibition Ambiguous bodies - timeless interpretations.
Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece
From 26 January 2018 to 24 February 2018
Group exhibition
Guided tour by curator Jure Kirbiš: FRI, 26 January 2018 at 6:30 pm
Exhibition opening: FRI, 26 January 2018 at 7 pm
Featuring: Nika Ham, Emil Kozole, Iza Pavlina, Dorotea Škrabo, Valerie Wolf Gang
UGM Studio
Trg Leona Štuklja 2, Maribor, Slovenia
* Part of Aksioma Institute production programme to support young artists.
From 18 October 2017 to 18 February 2018
Curated by Domenico Quaranta
Exhibition opening: WED, 18 October 2017 at 8 pm
Curator's guided tour: THU, 19 October 2017 at 11 am
Symposium What's in a Name?: WED, 10 January 2018 at 11 am
Curator: Janez Janša
With: Urša Chitrakar, Konstantina Georgelou, Janez Janša, Mala Kline, Lev Kreft in Aldo Milohnič
Janez Janša® catalogue presentation and guided tour by curator Domenico Quaranta: THU, 11 January 2018 at 4 pm
Maistrova 3, Ljubljana, Slovenia
See Janez Janša®
From 18 January 2018 to 2 February 2018
Solo exhibition
Exhibition opening: THU, 18 January 2018 at 8 pm
Filodrammatica Gallery
Korzo 28/1, Rijeka, Croatia
From 11 January 2018 to 9 February 2018
Group exhibition
Exhibition opening and talk by curators Ruth Catlow and Marc Garrett: THU, 11 January 2018 at 7 pm
Participating artists: Jaya Klara Brekke, Pete Gomes, Rob Myers, O'Khaos, Paul Seidler, Paul Kolling, Max Hampshire, Lina Theodorou, xfx (a.k.a. Ami Clarke), C. Angheloiu, M. Dovey and J. Stewart
Aksioma Project Space
Komenskega 18, Ljubljana, Slovenia
See New World Order


text:
Interim analysis of the intergroup EORTC-LYSA-FIL 20051 H10 trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology indicates an increased risk of early relapse when omitting radiotherapy in early PET scan negative patients with stage I/II Hodgkin's lymphoma. Early outcome, however, was excellent in both arms, and the final analysis should reveal whether these initial findings are maintained over time.
Dr. J.M.M. Raemaekers of the Radboud university medical center Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and central coordinator of the study says, "The standard treatment for patients with clinical stage I/II Hodgkin's Lymphoma is ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastin and dacarbazin) chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. Striking the right balance between initial cure through combined modality treatment and accepting a higher risk of late complications, and a higher recurrence rate after omitting radiotherapy in subsets of patients who will subsequently need intensive salvage treatment, is a matter of unsettled debate."
The main objective of the H10 trial was to evaluate whether involved-node radiotherapy could be omitted without loss of efficacy in terms of progression-free survival in patients with stage I/II Hodgkin's Lymphoma who had a negative earlyPET scan after two cycles of ABVD chemotherapy. This interim trial analysis included a total of 1137 patients with untreated clinical stage I/II Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Of these, 444 patients had favorable and 693 unfavorable prognoses. Patients in each prognostic group were randomized between standard and experimental treatment and first received two cycles of ABVD chemotherapy. Patients in the experimental arm who attained a negative earlyPET scan after the two cycles of ABVD chemotherapy were spared involved-node radiotherapy.
For patients with a favorable prognosis and a negative earlyPET scan, one progression occurred in the standard arm and nine progressions occurred in the experimental arm. For patients with unfavorable prognosis and a negative earlyPET scan, seven events occurred in the standard arm and 16 events occurred in the experimental arm. Even though there were few events and the median follow-up time short, the Independent Data Monitoring Committee concluded it was unlikely that the final results would show non-inferiority for the experimental treatment. They, therefore, advised that randomization should be stopped for earlyPET negative patients.
|Contact: John Bean
European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer


text:
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This is from G4TV
Call of Duty continues to march out a game every year, but has it managed to stay in line with what gamers expect from the series? How do you keep a game fresh, while keeping it the same? Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 a game you'll want to buy or put on your wishlist? Find out in our full review below!
The Pros
- Cinematic storyline with branching moments feels truly epic
- Multiplayer has been kicked up several notches
- New options add lots of replay value
The Cons
- Was the zombie mode worth the hype?
- Strike Force levels have atrocious AI
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Review:
The Call of Duty franchise has continually steamrolled the competition, and as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 releases this holiday season, it enters a field crowded with competition. Just the past few weeks alone have brought us Borderlands 2, Halo 4 and Medal of Honor: Warfighter, with two of those games dominating our free time, and the other one… not. And that's just the recent FPS lineup. Suffice it to say, there are plenty of games to divert your attention right now.
But Activision's powerhouse title wants all eyes trained on it at launch as it tries to beat the massive "biggest entertainment launch ever" already set by its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. So how does it stack up?
There's a 2 on the Box For A Reason!
Black Ops 2 is a sequel in both title and story, although it does not pick up immediately where the first game left off. Instead, we're years in the future, where the present time is now 2025. You're still playing as Mason, although this time it's David Mason, son of Alex Mason from the original Black Ops. He's visiting Frank Woods, his father's old (literally) partner who has information about Raul Menendez, and possibly a terrorist attack on the United States.
That's where the train begins to pull out of the station in Black Ops 2, and it will take you on a wild ride around the world, and jump through multiple points in time. You'll be back in the boots of Alex Mason, running missions again alongside Woods, and you'll encounter historical figures in the game, like Oliver North and Manuel Noriega, who they casually nickname "Pineapple Face."
You'll see the bond between Woods and the elder Mason deepen, based on missions they carried out post Black Ops, and you'll also find out just who Raul Menendez is, and why Treyarch considers him to be "the most dangerous terrorist since Bin Laden." Although you've played through the campaign at least once, you'll probably conclude that Menendez is much, much worse.
Zombie Trailer
But for the majority of the game, you'll be doing duty as David Mason and often following directly in your father's footsteps as you trail Menendez and try to stop a global terrorist event by his hands. During your time as David, you'll be partnered up with fellow soldier Harper, voiced by and modeled after Michael Rooker who does a fantastic job throughout this game. We're just glad he never went full Merle Dixon on us.
The team was extremely proud to be able to bring screenwriter David S. Goyer in as a story consultant on this title, and it shows in the plot. This is a massive story with some truly horrific moments embedded in it. It entwines a fantastic story into the plotlines of Black Ops, and does a commendable job of pushing us 13 years into the future. While the Rare Earth Elements storyline might seem farfetched at first, if you do a little digging into the science behind it, you'll find that it is eerily on target.
Little things like the fact that some of the missions (and a multiplayer map) take place aboard an aircraft carrier named the USS Obama, and the usage of biometric identity bracelets that insert your image into advertisements aboard a luxurious floating city seem grounded in the reality of today. Then there's all of the future tech you'll get to play with, like wing suits and flechette guns with exploding rounds. Most of the really nifty toys aren't available in multiplayer, giving the campaign another notch in its replayability belt.
Replay's The Thing
Speaking of replay, while the game has a fairly epic campaign that should take about eight hours to complete in full, for the first time in a Call of Duty game, there are finally reasons to replay the campaign besides just upping the difficulty level. There are branching decisions throughout that will affect your story, and ultimately the ending of the game.
Some of these decisions will also trigger Strike Force levels, which are optional levels that will appear from time to time within the game. While you don't have to take part in these at all, your decisions here will also affect the endgame. Plus, you can also fail these levels, although you can try to replay them if you have the resources. But they will only be available for a limited time, and once the window closes, they are gone forever.
The branching events in the campaign are where the story treads into the "interactive storytelling" realm. Sometimes these can be somewhat trivial and cosmetic, and at other times they can have a bearing on future campaign events and on Strike Force levels. You can easily identify these moments as they happen in the campaign with certain achievements, or you can see them in the level menus where your progress is marked.
Case in point on the trivial side: During a later mission to a luxurious floating city, Harper remarks that if he was on his own time, he would get some "hot chick" action. When I replayed the game, in an earlier mission, where we were fleeing the wrath of Menendez, I accidentally steered our car under a jet of flame, badly burning half of Harper's face. When made our way to the floating city, and Harper makes his "hot chick" remark, one of the other characters quips, "Not with that face." Ouch!
With these decisions and levels boil down to is a first for the franchise: multiple endings. While it isn't a new idea in the video game industry, it's a novel approach for Call of Duty, and it will make you want to replay the campaign more than once.
A Strike Against Strike Force
While we fully support branching storylines and welcome decisions that have a direct affect on the outcome of your game, unfortunately these Strike Force levels are a bit of a misstep. First of all, they are meant to be strategic. Offering the player a satellite level top-down view of the battlefield, you can issue rudimentary commands to your units like move and attack.
Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence in these units just isn't enough to get the job done, and after much frustration you'll find that it is often much easier to jump down into a single soldier unit to get the job done. A good example of this was in a level where we had to plant three beacons at different locations on at a cargo ship port. After issuing movie commands to our units, they would frequently get pinned down by enemy fire, or easily taken out by gunfire.
While part many Call of Duty multiplayer matches involves you lone-wolfing it, we didn't expect to be leaving squads and units behind in the campaign in order to secure or complete objectives. Thankfully you can gain the ability to continue trying Strike Force levels as you complete campaign missions, but they vanish after you progress past a certain point so if you're a completist you'll have to act fast or forego that level forever.
Our advice: after beginning a Strike Force level, figure out the objective, and then issue rough move commands to your units before jumping into a single soldier and then go Rambo on the situation.
Loading Out
Another first for the Call of Duty series is the ability to change up your loadouts before missions, giving you variety to how you play the single player missions. You'll encounter challenges in each mission that will require certain weapons, and besides just completing a missions, you can now stat-track each one as well to see what your "score" was. While this doesn't create a massive different, it is nice to see some variety here, and to select your preferred weapon set before launching a mission.
The loadout changes carry over into multiplayer as well, where the biggest change to that mode comes in the form of the new "Pick 10" system. Now you can pick only ten different items: weapons, perks, attachments, wildcards, etc. to outfit yourself with before a match begins. As you progress through multiplayer, you can gain wildcards that allow you to carry two primary weapons, or have more than one Perk 1 and so one, but you continually have to juggle your ten so you don't go over.
Multipass, No Leeloo Dallas Required
If you've ever glanced at the top of the online gaming charts for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, then you know that Call of Duty titles frequently own the top slot. But this presents the developers with a unique problem where they need to innovate, while adhering to the adage 'If it ain't broke… don't fix it." So while they haven't radically changed multiplayer, they have definitely kicked it up several notches.
First and foremost is through the Pick 10 system, which introduces arguably the largest change to single player since perks were first introduced. The one real effect that the system has is that it will cause you to constantly fiddle with your loadouts. In Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 2 and so on, players tended to find a loadout they preferred, and would just stick with it.
With Pick 10, you'll find yourself diving into the menus between matches to change something minor, or alter your loadout completely by equipping two primary weapons, or by equipping no weapons whatsoever (which equips your melee blade by default) and trying to rank up your knife. It's a simple system, but one that provides a ton of variety. We just wish it had a giant slot machine handle built in that could dial up a random loadout at any time.
There are multiple new attachments in the game that are unlockable as you rank up your weapons, many of which are new to the game. These include millimeter-wave scanners that can show enemies through obstacles, and shock charge grenades that stun enemies that get near them. Taking a page from Gears of War, your assault shields can now be embedded in the ground as well, giving you portable cover that you can move and place at will.
Scorestreaks are now replacing Killstreaks, and those have been tweaked as you would expect and updated with "future" 2025 weaponry. Some of these changes are small, but extremely welcomed. Sentry Guns now fight autonomously, or you can jump into them at any time to take control. The same goes for the Autonomous Ground Robot drone that you can jump in and out of.
Easily the most useful and devious Scorestreak at our disposal was the Guardian. This sets up a microwave-based turret that can be aimed in one direction. It will cause an enemy to slow down, become disoriented, and if they don't get out of the way of the beam fast enough it will kill them. In one of our Search & Destroy matches, a teammate planted the bomb and set up a Guardian on the bombsite. He was subsequently killed, but the lone remaining enemy could not get close enough to disarm the bomb without cooking himself. Ultimately, he sacrificed himself while trying, giving us the win.
A La Mode
Multiplayer has also shaken up the modes this time around, and thankfully gone is the CoD Cash/Points system from the original Black Ops. So instead of Wager Matches you just have Party Games, but they bring back Sharpshooter, Gun Game, One in the Chamber, and Stick & Stones. Combat Training is also more integral to multiplayer as well, with up to three live players and three bots being able to take part in Bootcamp, where you can also rank up from one to ten. You can also play Objective modes with bots beyond level ten, although you'll only earn half XP.
Objective modes are now round-based, so for instance in Domination, players will now switch sides in the attack and defend back and forth. There are some new modes as well, including Hardpoint, which is basically King of the Hill with a constantly changing target. Or it might be more appropriate to call it Headquarters… without the Headquarters. Custom Games are back as well, with multiple options to tweak including bots in all game modes, and the ability to change Pick 10 to Pick 3 up to Pick 17.
Also new is League Play, where you can team up and rank up as a league. There's a large, ladder-based tier system in play here, framed loosely after the Diamond etc. ladders inStarCraft 2. However in our brief time with the game, we weren't able to see how accurately it rates your play here. Although like StarCraft, you do have to participate in a number of placement matches before you get an actual ranking, which is promising. Hardcore Clan players, this is probably where you'll want to take your teams to play.
Another addition is Multi-Team play, which has up to 18 players and six teams competing with each other. It's somewhat chaotic when multiple teams are on the map, sometimes forcing you to try and work with another team if one of the others starts to pull way ahead. At least, it forces you to do that as much as you can in CoD multiplayer, where kill first, ask for cooperation later is normally the rule of thumb.
The Theater mode has been tweaked as well, with players able to store 20 clips (which can all be merged into one big clip), and the ability to attach the camera to objects in the game, like the Dragonfire quad-copter scorestreak, or the RCDX remote control car. You can also now CoDcast recorded games, which
But easily our favorite addition was the ability to create an instant highlight reel. Simply pull up a match and select this option, and a reel of your best moments in the game will be created on the fly. You can play with the settings for the moments it captures, but right out of the box it does a fine job of making a brag reel to share without all of the video scrubbing and editing.
How Prestigious is Prestige?
Prestige has also been revamped here, with level 55 as the target number for Prestige, and at 10 levels deep. But this time hitting Prestige does not wipe your slate clean. It now continues your level progression, and your weapon XP and attachments are not reset, nor are the challenges. Your unlocks stay unlocked. You'll be able to choose one of three rewards whenever you hit the magic number, allowing you to add a new Create a Class slot (up to 5), get a Refund of unlock tokens, or get a Fresh Start which actually does reset all of your stats and kicks you back to level one.
eSports Are eHarmony For Some, Not For Others
Treyarch has bent over backwards to satisfy the eSports community with Black Ops 2, which includes the aforementioned League Play and also encompasses shoutcasting and livestreaming as well. With CoDcasting (their version of shoutcasting), there are multiple controls in the game that allow a commentator to navigate through any game with a variety of tools including picture-in-picture, map view, a score panel, name plates, and the ability to drop in and out of player conversations.
During our review event, professional shoutcaster Hastro watched a match we played in, and then CoDcasted out the entire game in commentary mode, and we captured the video here for you to watch. While it might only be a very small group of gamers that take advantage of this mode, expect it to pop up frequently as people try it out. One thing we learned: it's tough to make an entire Call of Duty multiplayer match sound exciting the whole time.
You can also livestream your matches out directly to the web, giving everyone the ability to become a YouTube superstar. Again, this is going to result in a ton of content, but it will be up to you to separate the good from the bad.
The Undead Just Keep On Coming
Much has been ballyhooed about the new Zombie mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and while it initially feels huge, it's not quite what we were hoping for. Black Ops provided a rich undead experience with so much Zombie DLC for the game made available after launch, including the fan-favorite Call of the Dead, and the Rezurrection DLC which was only zombie maps.
We fully expect that trend to continue, as right now Zombies in this game feels like only part of a sprawling puzzle that has yet to be unlocked. That doesn't mean that the zombies aren't fun here, we just expected something bigger given that the mode now has it's own menu screen and selection system. Although it's a statement unto itself that we've come to expect to much from this game mode, which almost felt like an afterthought when it was included with Call of Duty: World at War.
The largest change to Zombies is the Tranzit system, which finds you and up to three other survivors struggling to stay alive at several different locations, which can be visited via an automated bus on a looping route. Starting out at a semi-destroyed bus depot, the animatronic bus driver (think Johnny Cab from Total Recall and voiced by Nolan North) will kindly honk before pulling out and taking the journey to the next stop. You can opt to stay on the bus (yes, it will get attacked by zombies on the way and while stopped), or stay at your locations. But as a warning: if you try to run from location to location without the bus, you'll get attacked by these nightmare-inducing baby things that leap onto your skull. Don't try it unless you have a death wish.
But Zombies is all about exploration, and to augment that fact the team has created "Buildables" in the world of Zombies now, giving players the chance to combine parts at workbenches in order to create useful items. For instance an electric fan and a dressmaker's mannequin make a power turbine. Naturally, right? You can also find single-use items such as a ladder that can be attached to your bus to allow rooftop access, or a wedge for the front of the bus to shove zombies aside.
There are a wealth of secrets to unlock in here, just like any good zombies map, and while we like to think it will keep gamers busy for weeks, we have no doubt that there will be full unlock guides on YouTube by the end of launch day, augemented by the fact that Zombie games can now be loaded in the Theater. The development team definitely played coy with us here, and there's still a lot to find even after our team managed to stay alive through 15 waves of zombies.
Zombies also adds a new grief mode where you can play another team of four (it's always the FBI vs. the CDC, as an FYI) in humans vs. humans vs. zombies. The goal here is to outlast the other team, and thankfully there are some mechanics to aid you in that goal, like chucks of meat you can find and toss into the midst of the enemy team, bringing with it rabid hordes of the undead.
What we recommend: Jump into Survival which has up to four players trying to survive waves in the locations from Tranzit. The Buildables are still there, and it will give your team a chance to learn how they work without having to worry about multiple locations for now.
All On Accounta Pullin' A Trigger
Honestly, the most impressive thing about Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is that Treyarch and Activision didn't just dump a few new maps and weapons in here and slap a "TWO" on the box. A ton of work has gone into this game from top to bottom, and it stands as a real testament to the developers who didn't want to just coattail this one into the books. Nearly every system and aspect of the game has been tweaked or overhauled, and it certainly shows in the final product.
While the Strike Force levels are welcomed because of their eventual affect on the outcome of the game, the presentation and AI in them needs a serious overhaul. Call of Duty has always been about the first-person shooting experience, and attempting to add a strategic element to that could work at some point, but it doesn't really come together here. Likewise, the Zombies mode feels slightly hobbled, and while that will probably be filled out via DLC, we would like a more complete package out of the box.
But despite the slight dings in Strike Missions and Zombies, the series continues to shine with its incredibly ambitious, globe-spanning, epic single player campaign, which is now augmented with an incredibly high replay factor. And it should come as no surprise that the multiplayer continues to shine, and will dominate the online game boards in the weeks and months to come. The series has come to be strongly identified by its online multiplayer, and the same holds true in this latest release. They've perfected the scratch to the itch you have when you feel the need to jump online and shoot things.
And as with most Call of Duty titles, stay tuned after the credits for something extra. Although this time, be prepared for the truly bizarre. Seriously. It still has us simultaneously scratching our heads and tapping our toes.


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"Carolla…has keen political instincts and a vision for common sense."
–New York Post
"Laugh-out-loud funny… [Adam Carolla's] invective-filled screed is often completely politically incorrect, and always completely hilarious."
–AOL's Popeater.com
"If comedy books were big-breasted porn stars, In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks would be Christy Canyon."
–Bill Simmons, ESPN columnist and bestselling author of The Book of Basketball
"Adam Carolla is a genius. And no, I'm not kidding."
–Jimmy Kimmel
"Reading Adam Carolla is akin to having a horrible illness. Alone with your thoughts, you struggle with whether you want to even go on living. When you're done, you're a stronger, better person."
–Alec Baldwin
"If you're a man, read this book. If you're a man who wears turtlenecks, wise up. Nobody thinks that looks good."
–Seth MacFarlane
"I don't know this guy from Adam, but Carolla's humor—fearlessly crass, shamelessly honest and irresistibly funny—sucks out like liposuction the layers of fatty pride to expose the often warped and wounded psyche buried deep within the modern American male."
–Ken Burns


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We have compiled an article on the history of All Saints Day for your reading pleasure. You may also want to read up on how a saint is made and peruse our selection of saint medals or our Patron Saint Index.
We have also posted an article on the history of All Souls Day.


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Orange said today a switch problem was to blame for 3g outages in recent weeks, which seem to be concentrated in London.
We've received several emails from irritated Orange customers. We were also sent updated advice from the telco to staff working in Orange call centres who are dealing with the problems.
The mail said:
We've had a challenging few weeks with some customers not being able to access their mobile data services such as MMS, internet or emails. Working closely with our technical teams, we have introduced several solutions to reduce this issue and are currently developing a permanent fix.
We know how tough it is when dealing with more calls than usual from frustrated customers and would like to thank you for your support during this difficult period. We are keeping a very close eye on our services and would like to assure you we are doing everything we can to ensure our network stability is fully restored.
If you have any queries from customers regarding their mobile data services please apologise for the inconvenience caused and deal with the queries as per the standard process.
Orange has been busy sorting out its tie-up with T-Mobile's network, but the French-owned firm denied this played any part in the current problems.
A spokeswoman for L'Orange said:
We can confirm that earlier this month some Orange customers experienced temporary and intermittent issues with mobile data services due to a technical fault at one of our major switch sites. Orange is committed to delivering the best customer service and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our customers.
This was not a result of the network share between Orange and T-Mobile. Following the merger between Orange and T-Mobile, we are continuing to invest in and improve our network every day to provide customers with the best possible service as part of the biggest and best mobile network. We are always looking at opportunities to update sites and to ensure that all of our customers can receive high quality 3G network coverage across the UK.


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This high quality tea from the fantastic brand Clipper is a fine organic assam tea, specially selected to retain a full flavour after decaffeination.
Clipper decaffeinated envelope tea is packed in a 100% fully biodegradable, recyclable carton, made from renewable resources.
Clipper Tea products are made with only pure ingredients and a clear conscience. Using only the highest quality sources, adding nothing artificial and striving to improve the welfare of the workers. This allows Clipper to ethically produce great tasting tea
Ingredients: Organically grown decaffeinated black tea.


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DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid from fish oil, plays an important role in developing prenatal and infant visual systems and has been associated with reduced risk of macular degeneration in observational research. Despite some promising double-blind research also showing benefit of certain nutrient combinations for people already diagnosed with macular degeneration, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that adding omega-3s to a nutrient combination did not slow down disease progression any more than that same formulation on its own. However, they did find that replacing the beta-carotene in that formulation with other carotenoids provided the same benefits while preventing increased lung cancer risk the original formula caused in former smokers.
Replacing the beta-carotene with other carotenoids provided the same benefits for all, while reducing lung cancer risk the original formula increased in former smokers
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. It happens when the macula—a yellow spot on the retina of the eye—is damaged, leading to progressive central vision loss.
In 2001, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (ARMDS) found that taking an antioxidant supplement containing vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc could reduce the risk of macular degeneration progression by about 25% in people with the disease. Since then, other studies have suggested that additional nutrients might also help people with macular degeneration.
The first of these are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) found in fish oil. Observational studies have suggested that people who eat more fish containing these omega-3 fatty acids have a lower risk of macular degeneration.
Lutein and zeaxanthin are antioxidants found in green leafy vegetables, corn, egg yolks, and broccoli. These carotenoids are found in high concentrations in the macula and lend the macula its bright yellow appearance. One study showed that a combination of omega-3s and lutein and zeaxanthin could increase macular pigment density in people with macular degeneration, a factor associated with decreased risk of the disease.
For the study, called AREDS2, researchers decided to make some changes to the original AREDS supplement to see how different formulations would affect macular degeneration progression. Over 4,000 people aged 50 to 85 years who were at risk for advanced macular degeneration took part in the 5-year study.
They also made some other changes to the formula, including decreasing the amount of zinc and swapping out the beta-carotene for lutein and zeaxanthin. High doses of zinc can cause stomach upset and beta-carotene may increase lung cancer risk in smokers, limiting its use in these people.
Here are the highlights of the study's findings:
"Because of potential increased incidence of lung cancer in former smokers, lutein and zeaxanthin could be an appropriate carotenoid substitute in the AREDS formulation," commented lead study author, Dr. Emily Chew of the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
To help prevent macular degeneration, eye health experts recommend getting regular exercise, avoiding smoking, eating fish at least once a week, and consuming plenty of antioxidant-rich foods. Chopping, pureeing, and cooking carotenoid-containing foods in oil help make their beneficial compounds more absorbable.
(JAMA 2013;doi:10.1001/jama.2013.4997)


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March's food-and-drink fests
March 8
Here's a Taste of Navajo--and the Navajo community in question encompasses Allied Gardens, Del Cerro, Grantville, San Carlos and College-area neighborhoods, according to city planning. This event, taking place at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor and Interpretive Center, has small bites from area eateries like Sei Sushi and Lisko Artisan Deli & Fish Market. Drinks come from Ballast Point, Stone Brewing, Orfila Winery and the San Diego Bartending School. Tunes will be provided by a Native American flute trio. $30 and $50 for two tickets; (619) 668-3281 or tasteofnavajo.com.
March 8-9
A Chocolate Decadence fest takes hold of Temecula on Friday night. The Pechange Wine Festival, featuring many varietals and small bites, consumes Temecula's Saturday afternoon. (Former "American Idol" contestant Casey Adams pairs with the wine event.) Both fests take place at Pechanga. 877-711-2946 or pechanga.com. Tickets: Chocolate Decadence - $45. Pechanga Wine Festival - $65.
March 9
Your friendly neighborhood butchers at Siesel's Meats and sister protein shop Iowa Meat Farms want you to experience barrel-cured corned beef at their 3rd Annual Corned Beef Festival. Savor their latest slow-brined vintage and pick up tips for your St. Patty's party menu from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pre-order your corned beef and be ready to make killer Reubens. Iowa Meat Farms, 6041 Mission Gorge Road, (619) 281-5766 or bestmeatssandiego.com; Siesel's Meats, 4131 Ashton St. (619) 275-1234 or bestmeatssandiego.com
March 9
Everyone's gassing up for the Valley Center Food Truck Fest, Part II. This food truck-up sequel is returning to Bates Nut Farm from noon to 6 p.m. Pig out courtesy of 15 road hogs, including Under the Crust and Devilicious, both featured on "The Great Food Truck Race." Bates Nut Farm, 15954 Woods Valley Road, Valley Center. 760-749-3333; batesnutfarm.biz. Admission to the farm is free (food from the trucks = not free)…and there are pony rides!
March 9-10
So many grape-growing regions make up California's roaring wine industry, and 150 of our small, family-owned wineries will offer you unlimited pours and anecdotes at the Family Winemakers of California tasting event. Find success stories like Saddleback Cellars from Napa's newest kingmaking Oakville territory. Order bottles teeming with 30 varietals. A pricier ticket gets you into the reserve area for sips of wines like Grgich Hills Estate's Chardonnay. March 9 general admission; March 10 limited tasting. Del Mar Fairgrounds, Exhibit Hall, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. (415) 707-0646 or fwcconsumertickets.eventbrite.com. $60-$100.
March 23
It's the Wild West Spring Walkabout! With the addition of new pizza spot Buona Forchetta and the beer dealers at the Stone Company Store, South Park is an even cuter neighborhood to stumble around. Coinciding with this installment of the walkabout series, in which shops and eateries stay open late, is the annual Beech Street Buckaroo BBQ. Free self-guided tour. southparkscene.com.
March 24
Hit the blacktop for the 4th Annual Mission Valley Craft Beer & Food Festival, held late afternoon in the Handlery Hotel's parking lot. That's where 30 breweries compete for your affections alongside 20 chefs, including Hanis Cavin of Carnitas' Snack Shack, Sea Rocket Bistro's Tommy Fraioli, Table 926's Matt Richman, Burlap's Anthony Sinsay, Local Habit's Nick Brune, Terra's Jeff Rossman and other experts in the beer pairing universe. Live music, too. Handlery Hotel & Resort, 950 Hotel Circle North. Mission Valley. $35; $50 VIP. ticketderby.com/event/?id=9428
March 24
It's a cross-border culinary showcase of fine-dining chefs, comfort-food makers and the "best food cart in the world" -- what Anthony Bourdain called the sea-rific cart La Guerrerense. The Street Food Market event at the San Diego Public Market is bringing in all kinds of marquee chefs for its menu, including A.R. Valentien's Jeff Jackson, Mision 19's Javier Plascencia and more of our region's A team for this early evening food, drink and live music party. San Diego Public Market, 1735 National Ave., Barrio Logan. $55-$85. (619) 233-3901 or brownpapertickets.com/event/338833
March 7
SeaWorld feeds people when it hosts the fancy 28th Annual Sustainable Seafood Gala. Food stations are supplied by chefs like (gala chair) Andrew Spurgin, the Marine Room's Bernard Guillas, The Fishery's Paul Arias, Tender Greens' Pete Balistreri, Cafe Chloe's Katie Grebow, Alchemy's Ricardo Heredia and more... Talk about protecting our oceans is provided by anyone you say hello to. Manta and Dolphin Point, $150. (619) 523-1903 or sdof.org/events/sustainable-seafood-gala.
Related: Sustainable Seafood Week kicks off at area restaurants from March 10-15. Get an eco-conscious seafood plate or a prix-fixe meal at Alchemy, Azuki Sushi, Bay Park Fish Company, Brooklyn Girl, George's at the Cove, Jsix, Rubio's, Saltbox Dining and Drinking, Baci Ristorante Italiano, Sea Rocket Bistro, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, The Red Door and more sustainably minded spots, listed at sustainableseafoodweek.org.
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Office Space
After two months of being home and working at Crapparoni Grill (thats such a rad nickname, how did I not come up with it sooner?) I have finally found a job!!! Im seriously so excited! Every sentence won't end with an exclamation mark I promise. I've been working with a company called Accountemps that does placement for accountants permanent and temporary. The 3 people that I have been working with there really liked me and what I had to offer. They were very optimistic that they could find something good for me.
Last Thursday I worked the day shift at the Mac Shack and it was one of the top 3 worst shifts ever. I wanted to quit on the spot right there. I had a voicemail from Accountemps waiting for me when I got off. They said they had something for me that started the next day. I called them back and said that yes I was interested. My saving grace! Finally after the worst day, I would be able to quit. They said they would call back to confirm in about an hour or two. I was so excited. I called some friends and family informing them of the news and how excited I was. One of the really cool parts was the company itself which is called Anderson Bats and they make softball bats. Softball/baseball, very similar. So that excited me too. Also, its like two miles down the street from my house. Does it get any better?
The call came an hour or two later informing me that I had in fact, not gotten the job. I am Jack's broken heart. Are you kidding me? I felt like I was destined for it. I was so ready to start in a real job. Not to mention the fact that I didn't want go back to the Crapparoni Grill ( I love it!) on Friday night. I was seriously so depressed the rest of the day. But, I put my apron back on and went back to serving tables for the time being.
Flash forward to this morning. I get a call from Accountemps again, informing me that Anderson Bats wanted to interview me. YESSSSS!!! I think may have jumped in the air like the people on the Toyota commercials of my childhood. You know what I'm talking about. "I love what you do for me, TOYOTA!!!" And they freeze frame on the people jumping in the air with their legs kicked out. Haha, anyways, so I got dressed and headed down for the interview. I really think that I should have more confidence in myself because I swear I nail every interview I have. First impressions are my forte' apparently. Needless to say, I will be starting tomorrow doing various A/P and A/R work but eventually will be charge of all the A/R. I forgot to mention one of the sweetest parts about the job. Its for the most part a casual dress. So, I don't have to wear a tie and can wear jeans and even t-shirts. How sweet is that? Im excited to finally be in something where I can show my skills. Wish me luck!


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How We Work with You
Learning Services
Global Reach
Driving Results
Learning Transfer Approach
Maximizing the Impact of Learning on Performance
"Overall, we found that if an organization implemented all of these [11] actions, they could improve the effectiveness of their learning by over 180%."
— Wilson Learning Research Study
The best workshop is only as good as the impact achieved on the job. But, sadly, without the right preparation and the intentional follow-up of a sustainability plan, only 35% of new skills are typically still being used 12 months after the initial training event.
Based on years of experience and research, Wilson Learning offers a unique extended learning approach that ensures your learners are ready to learn, acquire the skills and tools they need, and continue to apply and integrate the learning to deliver performance improvements.
Getting Ready to Learn . . .
Of the areas that most strongly influence the transfer of learning, learner readiness is the first key to success. Our proven extended learning approach provides your participants with pre-workshop experiential activities and information that stimulates curiosity, promotes buy-in, and provides a "starter set" of tools so your learners are already engaged well before they participate in a session.
Acquiring Skills and Knowledge . . .
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Calixto v. Watson Bowman Acme Corp., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111659 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 16, 2009)
Case Background: Plaintiff Calixto brought this action against defendants CRT and Watson Bowman Acme Corp. (WABO), alleging infringement of patent and trademark, breach of contract, and tortious interference of an agreement between plaintiff and another party. CRT had signed an Asset Purchase Agreement and was negotiating with Calixto on a licensing agreement for the Asian territory, for use of a patented system for joining concrete slabs that may be used in the construction of parking garages or vehicular roadways and an associated trademark. WABO was to be a sub-licensee of CRT's rights.
Procedural History: The court addresses a motion to compel by Calixto.
Basic Points:
- Restoration of 30 back-up apes was found to be unnecessary when moving party failed to establih a reasonable expection that doing so would yeild relevant documents not already produced.
- Restoration of a single back-up tape was ordered because of sufficient possibility that new information would be found
- Failing to object to search methodology might be a factor in losing your motion to compel
- Failing to counter expert opinion on pricing might be a factor in losing your motion to compel
- When sending a deman letter to trigger the duty of preservation, make sure it explicitly cites all possible causes of action and directly addresses every potential litigant.
Factual Background: During a deposition, WABO's former CEO discussed a document retention policy that included measures to ensure the retention of e-mails on offsite storage for, as best as he could recall, a minimum of ten years. In a 30(b)(6) deposition, WABO's witness implied that there was a systematic data purge for e-mails older than six months that was implemented when BASF AC acquired WABO. However, the deponee was unable to say whether such a purge had been in place prior to the acquisition. Based on this testimony, however, Calixto filed a motion to compel, requesting the court find spoliation had occurred in the face of ongoing litigation.
During the hearing on the motion to compel, Calixito challenged WABO's actions on two grounds:
1. the destruction of former CEO Burri's e-mails on his hard drive after Burri left WABO; and
2. WABO's refusal to restore monthly back-up tapes.
WABO argued that its policy was to destroy ESI from the hard drives of separated employees, and that Mr. Burri left prior to December 1, 2004, which was the earliest date from which it still retained data on back-up tapes. Therefore, no record of Burri's e-mails existed, and WABO could not recover the e-mails from anywhere.
With respect to the second issue, WABO claimed that nothing relevant that existed on the back-up tapes had not already been produced to Calixto.
The Court ordered WABO to produce an affidavit explaining, among other matters,
(1) how WABO conducted its search for documents responsive to the deposition notice and discovery obligations;
(2) what, if any, documents had been deleted from WABO's IT system, and the circumstances surrounding any such deletions; and (3) what, if any, options existed for recovery of any deleted documents.
Subsequently, WABO filed the affidavit with the court.
Process Used for Conducting a Search and Collection of Relevant ESI:
WABO first identified and contacted all WABO employees who:
1. had any possible contact with Plaintiff;
2. Who had any possible knowledge of the Trademarks or Patent at issue; or
3. Who possibly had any information relating to the Lawsuit or to Plaintiff's document requests.
WABO instructed these individuals to search their personal electronic records, including their personal hard drives and computer files, and their personal hard copy records for any responsive documents or information. WABO searched the Lotus Notes mailboxes of the selected group of custodians.
WABO IT searched the server house directories, the shared drives, and the individual files (including archive files) for the identified individuals for keywords and terms, including the terms "Degussa," "BASF," "CORTE," 4 "Calixto, "Asset Purchase Agreement," "'381 Patent," "JEENE," and "ALADIN." WABO also directed the identified individuals to search their local hard drives and Lotus Notes mailboxes for the same search terms. WABO officers also made personal inquiries of those identified as possibly having responsive information or documents, asking about their knowledge and the location of any pertinent information.
WABO made available to its counsel all documents obtained through the efforts outlined above. Counsel then provided relevant documents to Calixto and listed privileged documents on a log.
The court observed that testimony in the declaration implicitly suggested that reconfiguring the back-up tapes into a searchable format and then searching the reformatted version would not yield additional responsive documents because everything reasonably anticipated to be relevant to the litigation was preserved via the litigation hold and searched pursuant to the procedures articulated above.
WABO stated that the it was a routine business practice to delete a former employee's email upon separation, although no written policy existed. No documentation recording the deletion operation was generated, and the exact date of deletion could not be recalled, although WABO insisted that the deletion did occur prior to receiving a letter from Plaintiffs threatening litigation.
Back-up Tapes:
Because back-up tapes used a compressed format that rendered data contained by them inaccessible, WABO claimed that the data must be restored in order to render it accessible. Because of the tape rotation schedule, WABO only held data for approximately 30 months, meaning that WABO now only retained tapes containing data from December of 2004. WABO has preserved data from that time forward in order to comply with its discovery obligations.
In reviewing WABO's IT representative's testimony, the court noted that IT felt they needed to deleted data to increase performance and liberate memory and disk space. IT generated the policy of deleting emails of departed employees at its own initiative, although it did communicate the fact that it was engaged in this practice to executives at the time. BASF's newly implemented automatic deletion program exempts those custodians on a litigation hold.
WABO (and BASF) Counsel:
Senior counsel at BASF, who also had a history with WABO also testified on the existence of two letters and their effects on the litigation hold process. The first, dated March 1, 2004, was sent to WABO president Burri, described negotiations with respect to licensing at an impasse, and concluded that no further discussions would occur. The "re" block was "Proposed Exclusive License Agreement Between Jorge Calixto and Shanghai Master Builders Co., Ltd." It reminded WABO that they were prohibited from making, distributing, or selling any product using the process set forth in the Patent and from using the JEENE trademark in the Asia/Pacific Territory. It warned that Calixto would enforce his rights and remedies under an earlier signed Asset Purchase Agreement, as well as any common law and/or statutory rights in the relevant jurisdiction.
Counsel claimed never to have seen that letter, but contended that he did not view it as threatening imminent litigation against WABO because:
(1) he saw the letter as a demand letter for royalty payments; and
(2) WABO is not a signatory to the Asset Purchase Agreement discussed in the letter
The second letter was dated September 9, 2004. The "re" block on this letter reads, "Breach of Asset Purchase Agreement dated November 17, 2003 by and Between [CRT] and . . . Calixto." the letter alleges that CRT was engaging in precisely these activities within the Asia/Pacific Territory. Among other instances, Plaintiff's counsel cited a WABO announcement that it had "changed the name of the 'JEENE' system to 'Aladin' as of 1st January 2004.'" The letter concluded by demanding that CRT:
cease and desist from engaging in [such] activities. Furthermore, . . . Calixto is entitled to damages as a result of the breach of the Agreement, including the attorneys' fees and costs he has incurred pursuant to Section 10.2 of the Agreement. Unless we receive a written response from [CRT] within ten (10) days of your receipt of this notice detailing its intended actions for addressing these matters and compensating . . . Calixto, . . . Calixto has authorized us to pursue all rights and remedies available to him under the Agreement and in accordance with applicable law.
Senior counsel testified that he remembered receiving this letter, but he did not view it as triggering document retention requirements at WABO because:
(1) the letter was about CRT's alleged breach of the Agreement, and WABO was not a party to that Agreement,
(2) it did not appear to him as though litigation was imminent, based on this letter, and
(3) even had it appeared so, because CRT is a German entity and Calixto is a citizen of Brazil, Pendergast did not anticipate that litigation in the United States would occur, and document preservation and discovery requirements in other countries can differ substantially from those in the United States.
Counsel stated he did not consider that WABO might be sued until Calixto actually filed suit against WABO and others in Florida Circuit Court and served it on WABO. More specifically, Pendergast stated, on March 30 or 31, 2005, after learning of the lawsuit, he put a litigation hold in place.
As mentioned above, Calixto sought to obtain letters of request enabling service of subpoenas duces tecum to proceed against BASF SE Construction Chemicals Division, in Germany; BASF Construction Chemicals Asia Pacific in Shanghai, China; Sanfield Industries Ltd. in Hong Kong; and Vispack Co., Ltd., in Thailand. WABO objected, asserting that it had already provided Calixto with documents in its possession regarding all sales during the relevant time frame.
The court observed that it must address two issues in resolving Plaintiff's Motion to Compel:
(1) Whether WABO's alleged destruction of the Burri e-mails or its process of searching for documents relevant to this litigation and responsive to Calixto's requests was so deficient as to justify an order from the Court directing WABO to engage in sampling or some other methodology requiring WABO to reconfigure any or all of its back-up tapes and conduct a search of them; and
(2) Whether WABO's destruction of the Burri e-mails in 2004 constituted spoliation warranting some type of sanction.
Sufficiency of WABO's Search:
The court began this part of its analysis by citing FRCP 26(b)(2)(B):
Specific Limitations on Electronically Stored Information. A party need not provide discovery of electronically stored information from sources that the party identifies as not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. On motion to compel discovery or for a protective order, the party from whom discovery is sought must show that the information is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. If that showing is made, the court may nonetheless order discovery from such sources if the requesting party shows good cause, considering the limitations of Rule 26(b)(2)(C). The court may specify conditions for the discovery.
Rule 26(b)(2)(C), in turn, directs the court to limit discovery when it finds that the discovery sought is, as relevant to the analysis in this case, unreasonably cumulative or duplicative. The burden fell on WABO to demonstrate that the information that Calixto seeks is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost.
WABO submitted an estimate from e-discovery vendor Kroll Ontrack, stating the cost to restore these back-up tapes to a searchable format would be approximately $ 40,000.00. WABO would then have to spend further funds for a review for relevance and privilege any documents resulting from this endeavor. The Court concluded that WABO satisfied its initial burden of showing that the materials that Calixto seeks from the back-up tapes are not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. The court then concluded that Calixto has not established good cause for the Court to require WABO to restore and search the back-up tapes, despite the cost and burden.
The court continued by finding that Calixto has failed to establish a reasonable expectation that restoring and searching all of the back-up tapes will yield relevant documents that WABO's other search methods have not. Calixto raised no objections to the adequacy of WABO's search methods, including, among other procedures, the keywords that WABO chose to use in performing its search for relevant and responsive material from its electronic databases. Moreover, the Court's independent review of WABO's specified search methodology revealed that it appeared to have been designed to find relevant information, and no obvious significant gaps in the methodology.
The court did find, however, that the very earliest back-up tape should be restored and searched, because of doubts about the actual date of the deletion of former CEO Burri's email. The court stated that it was possible that such a search would not return merely duplicative data, and the court was not persuaded that searching a single back-up tape would constitute an undue burden.
Spoliation Sanctions:
Spoliation sanctions constitute an evidentiary matter, and in diversity cases, the Federal Rules of Evidence govern the admissibility of evidence in federal courts. The key to unlocking a court's inherent power requires a finding of bad faith.
Where no direct evidence of bad intent exists, in this Circuit, bad faith may be found on circumstantial evidence where all of the following hallmarks are present:
(1) evidence once existed that could fairly be supposed to have been material to the proof or defense of a claim at issue in the case;
(2) the spoliating party engaged in an affirmative act causing the evidence to be lost;
(3) the spoliating party did so while it knew or should have known of its duty to preserve the evidence; and
(4) the affirmative act causing the loss cannot be credibly explained as not involving bad faith by the reason proffered by the spoliator.
In applying these factors to the deleted emails, it first concluded that it was likely that Burri's email store contained relevant documents. There was no doubt that WABO affirmatively caused the data to be destroyed. However, the court was not convinced that a duty to preserve attached at the time of destruction, as it decided that neither of the letters discussed above triggered that duty. The court emphasized that WABO was not a signatory of the Asset Purchase Agreement cited in the letters, and that it appeared that WABO was not a proper defendant for a breach of contract claim based on that document.
WABO IT's representative credibly testified that, as a senior information systems analyst, her primary job was to ensure the security and proper functioning of WABO's computer system, something that too much information storage threatened. Therefore, no deliberate act of destruction of evidence occurred.
Ultimately, the court agreed to require the restoration and search of a single back-up tape while denying the other requests discussed here.


text:
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text:
By Manar Mohsen
As millions chanted for the fall of President Mohamed Morsi's regime, Cairokee entertained hundreds of thousands with songs of revolution, hope and courage in a performance held on Monday evening at the protest outside the presidential palace.
The popular band was invited by volunteer organisers to boost the festive atmosphere of the sit-in calling for the ouster of Morsi, and played five songs. With lyrics like: "we are the people… and our path is right," "stand your ground and sunshine will return," "you say 'justice,' and they call you a betrayer." Their performance seemed to capture the emotions of a nation feeling abandoned by its politicians.
Amir Eid, lead singer of Cairokee, said that he decided to perform at the protest because music gives him a way of expressing his views. "The situation is getting worse and the people can no longer accept it," he said. "Everyone wants to express himself, this is how they and we chose to do it, and I think that is the beginning of democracy."
The set list of Cairokee had an undeniable political undertone; in one song the band made a direct attack on the Muslim Brotherhood, saying: "And suddenly they are against us, when they were standing by us and sleeping next to us … Turns out we are 'betrayers', why don't you come see with your own eyes those in the street, I swear we are Egyptians."
During its performance, the band called the audience "the best in the world," and the crowd brought to life the concept behind the name 'Cairokee,' singing along with the band. The audience served as backup singers, shaking the ground with their noise while managing to stay completely in tune.
Cairokee's music was a perfect fit with the atmosphere of a city in revolt. Many in the audience, despite the overcrowding, managed to make space to dance along to the music, whereas those left with barely room to breathe simply jumped up and down out of enthusiasm.
"The performance was great and very relevant to what we are going through," said Mohamed Farahat, a protester. "This amount of positive energy and amazing vibe makes me wish we would have a revolution every day."


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Some of the ways that we measure the economy just don't square with our daily reality. Take the unemployment rate, announced to great fanfare each month. A lot of people think it measures the percentage of Americans who don't have jobs. But that would be too simple. The Bureau of Labor Statistics explains the measurement — 8.1 percent last month — this way: "The official concept of unemployment … includes all jobless persons who are available to take a job and have actively sought work in the past four weeks."
There are plenty of unemployed people who haven't looked or applied for a job in the past month. Sure, some are enjoying "funemployment" (see the TV show Girls if you need a definition of that), but a vastly larger number are what are called "discouraged workers," or people who have stopped regularly looking for work because they just aren't finding any. Many have run out of unemployment benefits, if they ever qualified for them. In fact, a different figure (U-6) measures the percentage of the civilian population that is unemployed or underemployed for economic reasons. That figure was 14.5 percent last month.
The issue isn't just that there's a huge gap between the unemployment rate and the broader un- or underemployment figure. The unemployment rate begins to seem like a bad joke when you have months like April, when it drops not because more people are getting jobs but because more people drop off the employment rolls and become discouraged workers. Of course, when it comes to the African-American community, the official unemployment rate is 13 percent as of April, and the total percentage of un- and underemployed African Americans is likely double that.
UC Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education produces a monthly brief on African-American employment. "Three things are evident from the April jobs report," the center's labor-policy specialist Steven C. Pitts told The Root. "First, the drop in the official black unemployment rate [from 14 percent in March to 13 percent in April] confirms the downward trend in unemployment, which began in August 2011.
"Second, part of the decline in black unemployment is due to the slow increase, since December, in black men who have dropped out of the labor force," he continued. "This increase mathematically reduces the official unemployment rate. Third, for the second consecutive month, overall growth in payroll employment has been lower than expected. This slow job growth reduces the probability that discouraged workers would regain optimism and resume their search for jobs."
Of course, the employment crisis doesn't affect the lives of just everyday Americans. It also has a huge impact on the political future of the commander in chief, President Barack Obama. Jobs are seen as his greatest weakness, a point hammered home by his opponent Mitt Romney and in the media. For example, an article in the Christian Science Monitor embedded a grim quote from an economist in its headline: "With Meager Jobs Growth, 'Time Running Out' for Obama."
How you interpret the numbers — and place credit or blame for the economy — may shape your vote. In January 2008, under President George W. Bush, the unemployment rate was 5 percent. But by the time he left office in January 2009 and President Obama took the nation's helm, the unemployment rate was up to 7.8 percent.
It rose as high as 10 percent by October 2009 and — again, due partly to a mix of real job creation and discouraged workers dropping off the rolls — has now dropped to 8.1 percent. It may seem fussy to spend this much time on numbers, but some political analysts argue that the president cannot win re-election with an unemployment rate over 8 percent.
Those are the numbers, but we can't forget that each person has the ability to transform his or her own life. Some of the best come-from-behind stories in this labor market show the importance of emotional resilience.
For a 2010 radio special, I interviewed Hazel Shaw, a 58-year-old Arizona woman with a master's degree in public administration and a 20-year work history. After leaving her job to care for her dying father in North Carolina, she returned to find that the job market had dried up. Shaw had to move into a shelter after spending down her retirement savings. But the same qualities that made her a good human resources employee for most of her career ended up getting her a job as a clerk at the same homeless shelter where she'd lived.
Since then I've heard similar stories, including a man who was hired after giving out free job advice while he waited in line to receive groceries at a New York food pantry. His generosity of spirit and willingness to help others — even while he himself was unemployed and without benefits — ultimately reconnected him to the world of work.
But a lot of people don't have the mix of fortitude and luck that it takes to find a job in this economy. And one of the questions that will be answered in the 2012 election is whether those buffeted and battered by the economy will choose President Obama or challenger Mitt Romney — or simply vote for no one at all.
Farai Chideya is an award-winning author and journalist and a spring 2012 fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics. Follow her on Twitter.
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So often sporting clays, the firearms competition that combines skeet shooting with a golf-course-like format of challenges, is thought of as a substitute. For hunters, it's practice for game hunting. For animal lovers, it's a bloodless alternative to the real thing. But judging by the way it's gathered enthusiasts recently, this stylish British import now holds its own without need of reference to anything else.
Shooters stalk their clay prey while walking a rural course, stopping at a series of 12 to 20 stations that each pose unique targeting situations meant to replicate different prey: mainly birds flying in different directions, but some clays skitter along the ground like rabbits. As in golf, course designers gain notoriety for the sadistic trials that they confront contestants with—and then change every day.
The simulation of hunting may have spawned sporting clays, but even some who aren't squeamish about blood feel it sometimes betters the real thing. After all, the season lasts all year and the amount of game is endless. It's an effective way of pitting shooter against shooter without the repetition of skeet and trap shooting. And judging from the amenities at the tonier shooting clubs, some enthusiasts just enjoy the chance to dress for the occasion—tweed jackets, plus fours and Wellington boots—and dine on lavish buffets between clay slaughters.
You can outfit yourself with a shotgun and eye and ear protection—for less than a set of golf clubs, and course dues typically run about the same as moderate greens fees. Of course, you can also blithefully shoot the hell out of your budget with fine firearms, such as the Holland & Holland Royal over-and-under shotgun pictured ($450,000, www.hollandandholland.com) with its engraving and other bespoke options, or other equally elegant guns from Beretta (www.beretta.com). Both firms also deal in apparel. Holland & Holland maintains a shooting ground in England for competition and instruction, and the Italian company supports events.
The National Sporting Clays Association (www.mynsca.com) in San Antonio, Texas, puts on the national championship and also posts a wealth of information about the sport, clubs and competitions on its Web site.


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Liquidrock wrote:DB
Pokemon (watched this along with DB and DBZ as a kid)
Liquidrock wrote:ZOIDS
Who remembers ZOIDS? That's some old school shit right there.
maBaiT wrote:got addicted to one piece and naruto..
Raptorbane wrote:maBaiT wrote:got addicted to one piece and naruto..
That's like getting addicted to eating hardcover novels. How is that possible, and why would you succumb to it in the first place?
Gabtraf wrote:Alright a new enemy lets fight it, okay now its dead *Insert flashback about family*, hey look a new enemy has appeared, lets fight it! *Cycle repeats*
There is a reason why I like short animes.. it is because they don't have a shity cycle like these ones.
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