text:
If you could assign a grade to your job, what would it be?
We're starting a new feature in this blog that I hope you will participate in. For the benefit of those just entering IT or for those who are looking at a change in IT specialty, I'm going to gather some feedback. Each week, I'll feature a particular IT specialty and ask those of you who practice that specialty to help us score it.
This week we'll start with IT programmer. If you're a programmer or have ever been a programmer, could you take a moment to answer the polls below? Try to comment more on your feelings about the specialty itself and not the company you're currently working for or with. After we've covered a group of IT jobs, we'll compile them into a download that will give a snapshot view of what's available in IT.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jerelino Augustuszoon
Meet Me in VeniceHD
IMDb: 6.3
93 min
The story is about Liza. She is a young woman who travels to Venice to meet her Italian father Mauro. Mauro has not seen Liza ...
Actor: Meral Polat, Lidija Stevanovic, Goran Radakovic, Riquel Gilliard, Jerelino Augustuszoon, Marta Sebestyen, Anton Antonov, Nikolay Hristov, Dragomir Varimezov, Beppe Costa, Roberta Petzoldt, Nikola Rakocevic


text:
!! History Commons Alert, Exciting News
This is a scalable context timeline. It contains events related to the event May 26, 2009: Obama Nominates Judge Sotomayor to Supreme Court. You can narrow or broaden the context of this timeline by adjusting the zoom level. The lower the scale, the more relevant the items on average will be, while the higher the scale, the less relevant the items, on average, will be.
Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor delivers a lecture at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. Sotomayor, whose parents are Puerto Rican, speaks on the subject of Hispanics in the judiciary and her own experience as a Latina (Hispanic woman) jurist. After noting the tremendous cultural and ethnic diversity among Hispanics, and citing the ascension of increasing numbers of Hispanics and women to the judiciary, Sotomayor addresses the issue of judges acting without regard for their ethnic heritage or gender. "[J]udges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices and aspire to achieve a greater degree of fairness and integrity based on the reason of law," she says, and notes that while she tries to aspire to that goal: "I wonder whether achieving that goal is possible in all or even in most cases. And I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society. Whatever the reasons why we may have different perspectives, either as some theorists suggest because of our cultural experiences or as others postulate because we have basic differences in logic and reasoning, are in many respects a small part of a larger practical question we as women and minority judges in society in general must address. I accept the thesis… that in any group of human beings there is a diversity of opinion because there is both a diversity of experiences and of thought.… I further accept that our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions. The aspiration to impartiality is just that—it's an aspiration because it denies the fact that we are by our experiences making different choices than others." She adds: "Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases.… I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First… there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life. Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice [Benjamin] Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I… believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable.… However, to understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give. For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others. Other simply do not care. Hence, one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench." [National Council of La Raza Law Journal, 10/2001; ABC News, 10/26/2001 ; New York Times, 5/14/2009] After Sotomayor is nominated to the Supreme Court (see May 26, 2009), many critics will use this speech to accuse her of racism (see May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 27, 2009, May 28, 2009, and June 3, 2009).
Entity Tags: University of California at Berkeley School of Law, Sonia Sotomayor, US Supreme Court
Timeline Tags: Civil Liberties
The announcement that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring is already sparking a tremendous fundraising effort among conservative opposition groups, according to the Congressional Quarterly. "This is a nuclear weapon for the conservatives out there," says conservative fundraiser Dan Morgan. "When you do fundraising, there's an emotional component in this, and boy the emotion is there magnified times 100." President Obama is expected to choose a replacement for Souter who is somewhat left of center, a choice that will be portrayed by right-wing groups as a threat to their positions on abortion, gun rights, gay marriage, and property rights, among other "hot-button" social and legal issues (see May 26, 2009). The upshot: lots of money gathered to oppose Obama's prospective nominee. "Although Souter may be a more difficult case to make as his voting record is center-left, it does open the door for discussion of who, and how left a replacement, President Obama may choose," says veteran Republican fundraiser Linus Catignani. "It also gives clarity to the power of the presidency and generates lots of chatter regarding the fact that Obama may make up to four replacements in short order. That obviously paints a very scary picture for many conservatives." Catignani says that when conservative Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito (see September 29, 2005 and October 31, 2005 - February 1, 2006) were nominated, Republican fundraisers used them as touchstones for their efforts to gather money—that time in the interest of promoting and defending the nominees. Democrats used their nominations to raise funds in opposition, much as Republicans are doing now, and Democrats will use the nomination to raise funds in defense of Obama's nominee. Souter's replacement will energize and invigorate a flagging and dispirited conservative base, says former Democratic National Committee Chairman Steve Grossman. "This can be a catalyst properly handled that can get people back into a sense of stakeholdership." It can also be used to energize Democrats to fund efforts to thwart the Republicans' own efforts to derail the nomination. Morgan says: "The Supreme Court is great. That's going to be mail, that's going to be phone calls. The clients I work with are in meetings already. There are letters being written already." [Congressional Quarterly, 5/1/2009]
Entity Tags: Linus Catignani, Barack Obama, David Souter, Sonia Sotomayor, Dan Morgan, Steve Grossman, US Supreme Court
New Republic legal correspondent Jeffrey Rosen, a law professor at George Washington University, writes an analysis of appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor, considered by many to be a leading candidate to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. Rose from Poverty to Consideration for High Court - Rosen gives a brief biographical sketch of Sotomayor, whom he labels as a "compelling" candidate both for her legal accomplishments and her life story. Sotomayor is the daughter of poor Puerto Rican immigrants, grew up in the South Bronx, and graduated with high academic honors from Princeton and Yale. She has served as a prosecutor, a corporate litigator, and a judge. If nominated and confirmed, Sotomayor would be the Court's first Hispanic member and only its third female member. She has the support of both New York senators, Democrats Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Conflicting Opinions Largely from Anonymous Sources - Rosen notes that her former clerks praise her as "demanding but thoughtful" and "commit[ted] to legal fairness," a "rule-bound pragmatist—very geared toward determining what the right answer is and what the law dictates, but her general approach is, unsurprisingly, influenced by her unique background." Rosen quotes several anonymous sources—"nearly all… former law clerks… or former federal prosecutors in New York"—who, he says, question "her temperament, her judicial craftsmanship, and most of all, her ability to provide an intellectual counterweight to the conservative justices, as well as a clear liberal alternative." According to one former law clerk, Sotomayor is "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," egotistical, and "domineering." In contrast, one of his named sources, fellow Second Circuit appeals court judge Jose Cabranes, said of her, "She is not intimidated or overwhelmed by the eminence or power or prestige of any party, or indeed of the media." Anonymous sources tell Rosen that Sotomayor is more apt to quibble with a colleague's grammar and syntax rather than the focus of their legal arguments. Another former clerk praises Sotomayor for being tough-minded and "impressive." Rosen admits that he has not read enough of Sotomayor's opinions "to have a confident sense of them," nor has he "talked to enough of Sotomayor's detractors and supporters, to get a fully balanced picture of her strengths. It's possible that the former clerks and former prosecutors I talked to have an incomplete picture of her abilities. But they're not motivated by sour grapes or by ideological disagreement—they'd like the most intellectually powerful and politically effective liberal justice possible. And they think that Sotomayor, although personally and professionally impressive, may not meet that demanding standard." Rosen concludes that President Obama would be taking an unnecessary "gamble" by nominating her to the high court. [New Republic, 5/4/2009] Repercussions of Analysis - Rosen's column triggers several demeaning characterizations of Sotomayor in the conservative press (see May 4, 2009 and May 5, 2009), characterizations that will intensify when she is nominated for the Court (see May 26, 2009). His use of anonymous sources to base his negative coverage will be repudiated by a number of critics (see May 5, 2009).
Entity Tags: Charles Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Sonia Sotomayor, US Supreme Court, Jose Cabranes, Jeffrey Rosen
Timeline Tags: Civil Liberties, Domestic Propaganda
Columnist Marc Ambinder joins in the wave of conservative criticism against prospective Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 4, 2009) triggered by an analysis in the New Republic (see May 4, 2009). Ambinder warns the Obama administration not to choose Sotomayor simply because some liberals and Hispanics want her on the bench, calls her "solid if unspectacular," and writes, "And the respectable intellectual center… is beginning to have doubts." Ambinder does not note who, exactly, makes up the "intellectual center" he cites. [Atlantic Monthly, 5/5/2009] Nation columnist Chris Hayes retorts: "One gossipy article from Jeff Rosen means 'the respectable intellectual center… is beginning to have doubts.' Really?" [Salon, 5/5/2009] Less than a month later, Sotomayor will be nominated to the Court (see May 26, 2009).
Entity Tags: Chris Hayes, Obama administration, Sonia Sotomayor, US Supreme Court, Marc Ambinder, Jeffrey Rosen
Timeline Tags: Domestic Propaganda
Conservative groups run attack ads and public relations campaigns against three of President Obama's prospective nominees to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, even though Obama has not yet named a replacement. The three being targeted for attack are Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh Court of Appeals, US Solicitor General Elena Kagan, and Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Second Court of Appeals, who will eventually get the nod (see May 26, 2009). Progressive groups counter the attacks with their own ads and blog campaigns. Wood is targeted as too pro-abortion, Kagan has come under fire for not being supportive enough of the military, and in Sotomayor's court, one ad says, "the content of your character is not as important as the color of your skin." Tom Goldstein, who runs the influential SCOTUSblog, a non-partisan website focusing on Supreme Court issues, says: "I think that the Internet and blogs have been great in terms of being able to distribute information easily. The downside is that there is an equal leveling effect in which totally idiotic wing nuts can go off—that's true on both the far left and far right.… So it contributes to good people being torn apart for no reason." Gary Marx of the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative group that assembled the attack ads, says the spots are an attempt to properly "frame the issue." Law professor Jonathan Adler says the ads are more about fundraising than any real attempt to derail whichever nominee Obama selects. "If you are a conservative group and you want more Republicans in the Senate, then you really harp on this issue." Adler says the nomination process for Supreme Court choices has been locked in a "downward spiral" for more than 20 years. "I think we're talking about the wrong things," he says. "It can have negative effects on the judiciary. And it could steer people away from the court who are easy to demonize." The ultimate result, he says, "is a worse judiciary and a tainted confirmation process." Former Bush administration lawyer Bradford Berenson blames the Obama administration for the preemptive attacks, citing the White House's choice to conduct what he calls a "lengthy, semipublic deliberation" over the nomination. That "virtually guarantees that the interest groups will mount attacks and exert both public and private pressure in an effort to influence the selection," he says. "In some ways, that is the point of proceeding in this way—to get a feel for the strength and type of opposition particular candidates will face." [Los Angeles Times, 5/21/2009]
Entity Tags: Elena Kagan, Barack Obama, Bradford Berenson, Diane T. Wood, Jonathan Adler, Thomas Goldstein, Gary Marx, US Supreme Court, David Souter, Sonia Sotomayor
Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor during the nomination announcement. [Source: Associated Press]President Obama nominates Second Circuit Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his candidate to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter (see May 1, 2009). Sotomayor is a Hispanic woman from an underprivileged background with a stellar academic record and an extensive legal background, having served as a prosecutor, a corporate lawyer, and a judge for 17 years, having been first appointed to the bench by former President George H. W. Bush. She is expected to receive heavy support from Democrats. Republicans say they are waiting for more information to decide whether to mount organized opposition. Political observers say such a move would be chancy for Republicans, who need to attract more support from Hispanic and female voters. Obama calls Sotomayor a judge with an impressive intellect and a great capacity for empathy, and a jurist who renders judgments with "an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live." He notes that Sotomayor has more legal experience than any currently sitting justice had when they ascended to the high court. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the Court. Sotomayor is considered more or less ideologically consistent with the moderate-to-liberal Souter, and thus would not change the court's ideological makeup. The Obama administration says it wants Sotomayor approved in time for the Court's October session. In her acceptance speech, Sotomayor says of herself, "I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences." Of her position as a jurist, she says she is driven first and foremost by the rule of law and the principles laid down in the Constitution. "Those principles," she says, "are as meaningful and relevant in each generation as the generation before." Sotomayor was chosen over three other short-listed finalists: fellow appellate court judge Diane Wood, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. It is likely that one or more of the people on the list may become nominated to the court as well: Justice John Paul Stevens is 89 years old, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76, suffers from pancreatic cancer. [Associated Press, 5/26/2009; CNN, 5/26/2009] In response to the nomination, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele says: "Republicans look forward to learning more about… Sotomayor's thoughts on the importance of the Supreme Court's fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law. Supreme Court vacancies are rare, which makes Sonia Sotomayor's nomination a perfect opportunity for America to have a thoughtful discussion about the role of the Supreme Court in our daily lives. Republicans will reserve judgment on Sonia Sotomayor until there has been a thorough and thoughtful examination of her legal views." [Think Progress, 5/26/2009]
Entity Tags: Elena Kagan, Barack Obama, Diane T. Wood, Sonia Sotomayor, Michael Steele, David Souter, US Supreme Court, Janet Napolitano
National Review columnist Mark Krikorian complains that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) should not insist on her name being pronounced properly—with the emphasis on the last syllable. "Putting the emphasis on the final syllable of Sotomayor is unnatural in English," he writes, "and insisting on an unnatural pronunciation is something we shouldn't be giving in to." Krikorian continues: "This may seem like carping, but it's not. Part of our success in assimilation has been to leave whole areas of culture up to the individual, so that newcomers have whatever cuisine or religion or so on they want, limiting the demand for conformity to a smaller field than most other places would. But one of the areas where conformity is appropriate is how your new countrymen say your name, since that's not something the rest of us can just ignore, unlike what church you go to or what you eat for lunch. And there are basically two options—the newcomer adapts to us or we adapt to him. And multiculturalism means there's a lot more of the latter going on than there should be." [National Review, 5/27/2009] Two days later, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann derides Krikorian's argument, noting: "I don't know when your ancestors arrived in this country, Mr. Krikorian, but there was a time in which immigrants with tough-to-pronounce names were encouraged to change them, or sometimes had them changed for them at Ellis Island and elsewhere. Unless Sitting Bull is one of your ancestors, they either got here afterwards, or, like mine, they resisted this racist wall papering pap that you are now spouting. If they hadn't, today, your name, by your own logic, would be Mark Krik." [MSNBC, 5/29/2009]
Entity Tags: Mark Krikorian, Keith Olbermann, US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor
Pat Buchanan on MSNBC. [Source: Vosizneias (.com)]Conservative pundit Pat Buchanan calls Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) an "affirmative action candidate" for the Court. "I don't say it's an outrage, I say it's affirmative action," Buchanan says. "They were picked because she's a woman and a Hispanic and you know it as well as I do." His sole evidence for his claim is the fact that President Obama apparently had no males on his short list of potential nominees. When host Norah O'Donnell points out that in past nominations the list of nominees had been exclusively white males, and perhaps "there weren't any white men who were qualified" this time around, Buchanan calls her a bigot. When guest Lawrence O'Donnell, a former Democratic Senate staffer (and no relation to the host), asks if he would have raised similar objections if the list had contained no women, Buchanan refuses to answer. Think Progress correspondent Amanda Terkel notes that Buchanan has, in the past, avowed that slavery was good for African-Americans, wished for an America that was 90 percent white, and accused Hispanics of not wanting to "assimilate." Lawrence O'Donnell says of Buchanan's argument: "It's like watching a dead fish flop around on the deck. You're dead on this one, Pat. It's all over." [Think Progress, 5/27/2009] The next day, Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes follows Buchanan's lead, saying that Sotomayor is "one of those who has benefited from affirmative action over the years tremendously." Radio host William Bennett, featuring Barnes as his guest, replies, "Did she get into Princeton on affirmative action, one wonders," to which Barnes repeats, "One wonders." [Think Progress, 5/28/2009]
Entity Tags: Patrick Buchanan, Fred Barnes, Amanda Terkel, Lawrence O'Donnell, Sonia Sotomayor, Norah O'Donnell, US Supreme Court, William J. Bennett
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, guest-hosting William Bennett's radio show, says that Republicans should not attack Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) over her race (see May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 27, 2009, May 28, 2009, May 28, 2009, and May 28, 2009). Doing so risks damaging the Republican Party's image, he says. Steele, who is an African-American, warns that the "liberal media," and particularly MSNBC, will use the racially motivated attacks to paint Republicans as bigots. "MSNBC will rip everything we have to say up into shreds," he says. "I'm excited that a Hispanic woman is in this position," he says. Republicans should stop "slammin' and rammin'" on Sotomayor, and instead "acknowledge" the "historic aspect" of the pick and make a "cogent, articulate argument" against her for purely substantive reasons. Steele says the party doesn't want to "get painted as a party that's against the first Hispanic woman" picked for the Supreme Court. Democrats have made similar attacks on conservative candidates in the past, Steele avers, and says that the "liberal media" gave Democrats an unfair advantage in such controversies. Steele does not mention two of the loudest voices in the racially-based attacks against Sotomayor, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent writes: "It's a reminder of Steele's predicament: He knows how badly these attacks are damaging the party and how neatly they play into the hands of Dems, but he can't call out the leading figures launching those attacks, because that risks infuriating the base and feeding the meme that the GOP is hopelessly divided." [Plum Line, 5/29/2009] Two weeks before, while hosting Bennett's show, Steele had attacked Sotomayor's intellect and personality, calling her "not a bell ringer" and "abrasive." [Think Progress, 5/29/2009] A week later, while hosting Bennett's show, Steele will say, "God help you if you're a white male coming before her bench" (see June 5, 2009).
Entity Tags: Republican Party, Sonia Sotomayor, MSNBC, Greg Sargent, US Supreme Court, Michael Steele
Right-wing pundit Pat Buchanan continues to attack Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009), this time during an appearance on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. Buchanan continues his allegations that Sotomayor is an "affirmative action nominee" (see May 28, 2009), and mocks her recent discussion of her difficulties with the English language: Sotomayor told a New York Times reporter that during her first years in college, she honed her English skills by reading children's books, practiced with lower-level grammar books, and worked with a professor who provided her tutoring in the language. Buchanan says in reference to the article: "Well I, again in that Saturday piece, she went to Princeton. She graduated first in her class it said. But she herself said she read, basically classic children's books to read and learn the language and she read basic English grammars and she got help from tutors. I think that, I mean if you're, frankly if you're in college and you're working on Pinocchio or on the troll under the bridge, I don't think that's college work." The article did not characterize her outside, self-directed remedial work with English as "college work." Amanda Terkel, a reporter for left-leaning Think Progress, will note: "Buchanan has long claimed that Hispanic immigrants are resistant to learning English and has said that it would be easier for them to 'assimilate' if they did so.… So basically, Buchanan yells when Hispanics are allegedly unwilling to learn English. However, when they make an attempt to do so, he mocks them as being dumb." [New York Times, 5/30/2009; Think Progress, 6/1/2009]
Entity Tags: US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Amanda Terkel, Patrick Buchanan
Former George H. W. Bush speechwriter Peggy Noonan joins the ranks of Republicans (see May 28-31, 2009, May 29, 2009, and May 29, 2009) asking for a more moderate and less inflammatory tone in recent criticisms of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009 and May 26, 2009). Republicans should "play grown-up," she advises, in opposing the Sotomayor nomination, and notes that her background—disadvantaged, Hispanic, female—makes her dangerous to oppose too vehemently: "Politically she's like a beautiful doll containing a canister of poison gas: Break her and you die." Noonan continues: "New York is proud of her; I'm proud of our country and grateful at its insistence, in a time when some say the American dream is dead, that it most certainly is not. The dream is: You can come from any place or condition, any walk of life, and rise to the top, taking your people with you, in your heart and theirs. Maybe that's what they mean by empathy: Where you come from enters you, and you bring it with you as you rise. But if that's what they mean, then we're all empathetic. We're the most fluid society in human history, but no one ever leaves their zip code in America, we all take it with us. It's part of our pride. And it's not bad, it's good." Noonan calls Republicans who launch virulent attacks on her racial heritage or gender "idiots," and writes that instead of "exciting the base," as one Republican strategist has said the attacks will do, "How about excit[ing] a moderate, or interest[ing] an independent? How about gain[ing] the attention of people who aren't already on your side? The base is plenty excited already, as you know if you've ever read a comment thread on a conservative blog.… They don't need to be revved, they're already revved. Newt Gingrich twitters that Judge Sotomayor is a racist (see May 27, 2009). Does anyone believe that? He should rest his dancing thumbs, stop trying to position himself as the choice and voice of the base in 2012, and think.… The choice for Republicans isn't between 'attack' and 'roll over.' It's broader than that, and more interesting. There's a new and fresh opportunity here for Republicans in the Senate to be serious, and, in their seriousness, to be seen and understood in a new light." [Wall Street Journal, 6/1/2009]
Entity Tags: US Supreme Court, Newt Gingrich, Sonia Sotomayor, Peggy Noonan
A doctored photo of Sotomayor issued by the Council of Conservative Citizens. The robe and hood have been added to the photo, as has the 'raised-fist' logo. [Source: Council of Conservative Citizens / Think Progress]The Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), a pro-segregation group that the Southern Poverty Law Center has called "brazenly racist," posts a doctored photograph of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) on its Web site. The altered photograph depicts Sotomayor wearing what appears to be a robe and hood similar to those worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan. The robe has a raised fist and the words "La Raza." Sotomayor is a member of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), a Hispanic civil rights organization which some conservatives have falsely claimed is a racist organization (see May 28, 2009 and May 29, 2009). An NCLR spokesman confirms that the logo in the photograph is not used on any basis by the organization. [Think Progress, 6/2/2009]
Entity Tags: National Council of La Raza, Council of Conservative Citizens, US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Southern Poverty Law Center
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) writes what appears to be a retraction or withdrawal of his previous accusations that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) is a racist (see May 27, 2009). He writes that he was reacting to the news of remarks she made during a 2001 speech in which she said a "wise Latina" judge would often make better decisions than a white male (see October 26, 2001), and calls his "initial reaction… perhaps too strong and too direct." Others have criticized his "word choice" in his vilification of Sotomayor, and Gingrich writes, "The word 'racist' should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable (a fact which both President Obama and his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, have since admitted)" (see May 29, 2009). Gingrich then launches an attack on Sotomayor's "judicial impartiality" and accuses her of "a betrayal of a fundamental principle of the American system—that everyone is equal before the law." Gingrich is either unaware of, or ignoring, a recent analysis which disproves the thesis that Sotomayor has systematically exhibited racial bias in her rulings (see May 29, 2009). He calls her a "radical liberal activist" masquerading as a "convention[al] liberal," and lambasts Obama for believing that "judicial impartiality" is "no longer a quality we can and should demand from our Supreme Court justices." [Think Progress, 4/3/2007; Human Events, 6/3/2009] Liberal news and analysis Web site Think Progress notes that Gingrich may not be the most impartial person to weigh in on this issue, having called Spanish "the language of living in the ghetto" and warned of "gay and secular fascism" as an imminent threat to American society. [Think Progress, 4/3/2007; Think Progress, 11/17/2008]
Entity Tags: US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, Robert Gibbs, Think Progress (.org)
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele implies that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) has racist tendencies, a week after urging fellow Republicans to stop "slammin' and rammin'" Sotomayor over the issue of race and deal with her nomination on the issues (see May 29, 2009). While guest-hosting William Bennett's radio show, Steele discusses criticisms that have been made of Sotomayor. "[T]he comments that she made that have been played up about, you know, the Latina woman being a better judge than the white male is something that she has said on numerous occasions," Steele tells a caller (see October 26, 2001). "So this was not just the one and only time it was said. They've now found other evidences and other speeches… that she has made mention of this, this fact that her ethnicity, that her cultural background puts her in a different position as a judge to judge your case.… And God help you if you're a white male coming before her bench." A recent analysis of Sotomayor's decisions as a judge in race-based cases proves that she does not discriminate against white plaintiffs (see May 29, 2009). [Think Progress, 6/5/2009] Four days later, Steele will defend his remarks. "Well, that's not inflammatory," he tells a CNN audience. "It's based off of what—the inference that she left and what she said. You know, if you have a judge, where you have a situation where you have—you're going before a trier of fact, and the trier of fact is on record as saying that this individual's background experience is better positioned to make a decision than someone else, that gives one pause. And so my view of it was, in looking at it, you're now segregating out white men by your comments. So, God help you if you're a white male. If you're seeking justice, this may not be the bench you want to go before." [Think Progress, 6/10/2009]
Entity Tags: Republican National Committee, US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Michael Steele
Former First Lady Laura Bush says some positive things about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009). On ABC's Good Morning America, Bush says: "I think she sounds like a very interesting and good nominee.… As a woman, I'm proud there might be another woman on the Court. So we'll see what happens, but I wish her well." [Think Progress, 6/8/2009] Bush's comments stand in contrast to some conservatives' gender-based attacks on Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009, May 28, 2009, and June 5, 2009).
Entity Tags: US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Laura Bush
After meeting one-on-one with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009), Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) predicts that she will be confirmed "with pretty good numbers" and will "fit in" well on the Court. Martinez, like Sotomayor a Hispanic, says he is not concerned about her "wise Latina" comments from 2001 (see October 26, 2001). He knows of no evidence that shows she has ever let her heritage or personal feelings influence her judicial decisions (see May 29, 2009). "For someone who is of Latin background, personally, I understand what she is trying to say," Martinez comments. "Which is, the richness of her experience forms who she is. It forms who I am." [CNN, 6/9/2009]
Entity Tags: US Supreme Court, Mel Martinez, Sonia Sotomayor
Former President George H. W. Bush condemns the right-wing attacks against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009), speaking out specifically against the charges that she has racist tendencies (see May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 28, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 27-29, 2009, May 27, 2009, May 28, 2009, May 28, 2009, May 28, 2009, May 29, 2009, May 29, 2009, June 2, 2009, June 5, 2009, and June 7, 2009). "I don't know her that well but I think she's had a distinguished record on the bench and she should be entitled to fair hearings," he says. "Not—[it's] like the senator John Cornyn said it (see May 28-31, 2009). He may vote for it, he may not. But he's been backing away from these… backing off from those radical statements to describe her, to attribute things to her that may or may not be true.… And she was called by somebody a racist once. That's not right. I mean that's not fair. It doesn't help the process. You're out there name-calling. So let them decide who they want to vote for and get on with it." [Think Progress, 6/12/2009]
Entity Tags: US Supreme Court, John Cornyn, Sonia Sotomayor, George Herbert Walker Bush
English-only advocates Pat Buchanan and white nationalist Peter Brimelow standing under misspelled banner. [Source: Think Progress (.org)]Right-wing pundit Pat Buchanan and his organization The American Cause host a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a political majority. The conference is co-sponsored by a number of white nationalist and white advocacy groups. The conference features a panel discussion supporting English-only initiatives as a way to attract "working-class white Democrats" to the Republican Party, and in the process ridicules Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) for her use of children's books to study English while she was in college (see May 31, 2009). The panelists also suggest that, without English as the official language of the US, President Obama would force Americans to speak Spanish. The conference's English-only advocates apparently do not notice that the banner hanging over the festivities prominently misspells the word "conference" as "conferenece." [Media Matters, 6/11/2009; Think Progress, 6/22/2009]
Entity Tags: Republican Party, Patrick Buchanan, The American Cause, US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor, left, is sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice by Chief Justice John Roberts, right. Her mother, Celina Sotomayor, and her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, look on. [Source: New York Times]The US Senate confirms Judge Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009) as Supreme Court Justice in a 68-31 vote. Nine Republicans and 59 Democrats vote for her confirmation (four of the Republicans who voted to confirm her are retiring from the Senate after the completion of their terms, and will not face questions about their vote during re-election battles). Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who supports Sotomayor, did not vote due to illness. Sotomayor will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts on August 8. President Obama says he is "deeply gratified" by the Senate vote, and adds, "This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it's a wonderful day for America." Senator Patrick Leahy closed the final day of debate over Sotomayor's confirmation by saying: "It is distinctively American to continually refine our union, moving us closer to our ideals. Our union is not yet perfected, but with this confirmation, we will be making progress.… Years from now, we will remember this time, when we crossed paths with the quintessentially American journey of Sonia Sotomayor, and when our nation took another step forward through this historic confirmation process." At a watch party in the Washington Court Hotel, when the final tally is announced, supporters begin chanting, "Si, se puerde," the Spanish translation of the 2008 Obama campaign slogan of "Yes, we can." [CNN, 8/6/2009; New York Times, 8/6/2009]
Entity Tags: Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama, Edward M. ("Ted") Kennedy, US Senate, John G. Roberts, Jr, Patrick J. Leahy
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (l) interviews Frank Schaeffer (r). [Source: Crooks and Liars (.com)]Frank Schaeffer, who with his late father Francis Schaeffer helped shape the social and religious conservatism that currently dominates much of American politics, writes what he calls an "inside scoop" on "why conservatives are rampaging town halls" to disrupt discussions of health care reform (see June 30, 2009, July 6, 2009, July 25, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 31, 2009, August 1, 2009, August 1, 2009, August 2, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 5, 2009, August 5, 2009, August 6, 2009, August 6, 2009, and August 6-8, 2009), and, ultimately, to deliberately foment political violence. Schaeffer was once a leader of the conservative evangelical movement who has now repudiated his former positions, and has written a book on the subject. [AlterNet (.org), 8/7/2009; MSNBC, 8/10/2009] Schaeffer's father wrote a book, A Christian Manifesto, which compared pro-abortion policies to those of Adolf Hitler, and said that the use of force to roll back abortion law would be justified. Schaeffer himself has written a very different book, entitled Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elects, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All or Almost All of It Back. [MSNBC, 6/1/2009] Comparing Pro-Abortion Activists to Nazis - He tells MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that his father used to compare pro-abortion activists to Nazis, and told his followers "that using violence or force to overthrow Nazi Germany would have been appropriate for Christians, including the assassination of [Adolf] Hitler." It is a straight, short line, Schaeffer says, to go from the concept of justifiably assassinating Hitler to using violence against those who are compared to Nazis. "It's really like playing Russian roulette," he says. "You put a cartridge in the chamber, you spin, and once in a while it goes off. And we saw that happen with Dr. Tiller (see May 31, 2009). We've seen it happen numerous times in this country with the violence against political leaders, whether it's Martin Luther King or whoever it might be. We have a history of being a well-armed, violent country.… There is a coded message here. And that is that you have a group of people who, like Rush Limbaugh (see July 21, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 28, 2009, August 3, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 6, 2009, and August 6, 2009) would rather see the president and the country fail, and their coded message to their own lunatic fringe is very simple—and that is go for broke. When you start comparing a democratically elected president, who is not only our first black president but a moderate progressive, to Adolf Hitler (see August 7, 2009), you have arrived at a point where you are literally leading—leaving a loaded gun on the table, saying the first person who wants to come along and use this, go ahead. Be our guest." [MSNBC, 8/10/2009] Conservative World View Shattered by Obama Election - In a separate op-ed, Schaeffer writes: "The Republican Old Guard are in the fix an atheist would be in if Jesus showed up and raised his mother from the dead: Their world view has just been shattered. Obama's election has driven them over the edge." Schaeffer says that when he worked with Dick Armey (R-TX), the former House Majority Leader and now lobbyist was "a decent guy, whatever his political views. How could he stoop so low as to be organizing what amounts to America's Brown Shirts today?" He answers his own question: Armey, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), and others "can't compute that their white man-led conservative revolution is dead. They can't reconcile their idea of themselves with the fact that white men like them don't run the country any more—and never will again. To them the black president is leading a column of the 'other' into their promised land. Gays, immigrants, blacks, progressives, even a female Hispanic appointed to the Supreme Court (see May 26, 2009)… for them this is the Apocalypse.… [N]ow all the the Republican gurus have left is what the defeated Germans of World War Two had: a scorched earth policy. If they can't win then everyone must go down. Obama must fail! The country must fail!" Using 70s-Era Anti-Abortion Protest Tactics - Schaeffer says conservative and industry lobbying firms orchestrating the anti-reform movement (see April 14, 2009, April 15, 2009, May 29, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 5, 2009, Before August 6, 2009, May 29, 2009, and August 6-7, 2009) are using the same tactics he and his father helped create for anti-abortion clinic protesters in the 1970s. He notes one lobbying organization, Armey's FreedomWorks. "FreedomWorks represents a top-down, corporate-friendly approach that's been the norm for conservative organizations for years," Schaeffer writes. "How do I know this is the norm? Because I used to have strategy meetings with the late Jack Kemp (R-NY) and Dick Armey and the rest of the Republican gang about using their business ties to help finance the pro-life movement to defeat Democrats. I know this script. I helped write it. Democratic members of Congress are being harassed by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior at local town halls. It's the tactic we used to follow abortion providers around their neighborhoods. 'Protesters' surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (see June 22, 2009) and forced police officers to have to escort him to his car for safety. We used to do the same to Dr. Tiller… until someone killed him." [AlterNet (.org), 8/7/2009] Aware of Potential for Violence - In a previous interview with Maddow, Schaeffer expounded on this same topic. "[W]hat we did is we talked one game to the large public and we talked another game amongst ourselves," he told Maddow. "And amongst ourselves, we were very radical.… I know that this is the case because of the fact that I was part of the movement, but also understood very well what we were doing back then was to attack the political issue when we talked to people like Ronald Reagan and the Bush family and Jack Kemp—the late Jack Kemp that we were very close to in all this. But on a private side, we also were egging people on to first pick at abortion clinics, then chain themselves to fences, then go to jail. We knew full well that in a country that had seen the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, two Kennedy brothers, and others, that what we were also doing was opening a gate here. And I think there's no way to duck this. We live in a country in which guns are all over the place. We have plenty of people with a screw loose, plenty of people on the edge. It only takes one." [MSNBC, 6/1/2009] Using Lies to Obscure Facts, Disrupt Debate - The health care reform opponents are using what Schaeffer calls "[a] barrage of outright lies, wherein the Democrats are being accused of wanting to launch a massive euthanasia program against the elderly, free abortions for everyone, and 'a government takeover' of health care" to disrupt informed debate. Some protesters have escalated to physical violence and intimidation. Schaeffer says that just as in the 1970s, the protesters engaging in the physical violence are often "plants sent to disrupt public forums on the health care issue.… [M]uch of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama's reforms. There is no daylight between the Republican Party, the health care insurance industry, far-right leaders like Dick Armey, the legion of insurance lobbyists, and now, a small army of thugs.… No, I don't believe that these people are about to take over the country. No, the sky is not falling. But the Republican Party is. It is now profoundly anti-American. The health insurance industry is run by very smart and very greedy people who have sunk to a new low. So has the Republican Party's leadership that will not stand up and denounce the likes of Dick Armey for helping organize roving bands of thugs trying to strip the rest of us of the ability to be heard when it comes to the popular will on reforming health care." American Fascism - Schaeffer accuses the right of undermining American democracy and attempting to establish an almost-fascist control of society. "Here's the emerging American version of the fascist's formula," he writes: "combine millions of dollars of lobbyists' money with embittered troublemakers who have a small army of not terribly bright white angry people (collected over decades through pro-life mass mailing networks) at their beck and call, ever ready to believe any myth or lie circulated by the semi-literate and completely and routinely misinformed right wing—evangelical religious underground. Then put his little mob together with the insurance companies' big bucks. That's how it works—American Brown Shirts at the ready." He notes that the murder of Tiller closed down his clinic, one of the few in the country that performed late-term abortions. So the murder of Tiller achieved the goal of the anti-abortion movement. "In this case a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save our economy from going bankrupt because of spiraling health care costs may be lost, not because of a better argument, but because of lies backed up by anti-democratic embittered thuggery. The motive? Revenge on America by the Old White Guys of the far right, and greed by the insurance industry." Schaeffer concludes, "It's time to give this garbage a name: insurance industry funded fascism." [AlterNet (.org), 8/7/2009]
Entity Tags: Frank Schaeffer, Francis Schaeffer, Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, FreedomWorks, Tim Bishop, Rachel Maddow, Barack Obama
Timeline Tags: US Health Care, Domestic Propaganda, 2010 Elections
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text:
I am just another newbie c++ programmer hanging around here, hoping to learn something. So I thought, let's fool around a little with tic-tac-toe. I found a code on the forum, and edited it, till the bugs were out, and the game was working optimal. Now I am wondering, what kind of game would be nice for me to create next?
(Something similair to tic-tac-toe)


text:
Reservation Sub-Levels
The Reservation Sub-Levels were built pretty much like a typical vault.
- 1 Sub-Level 1
- 2 Sub-Level 2
- 3 Sub-Level 3
Sub-Level 1
This level is the main sleeping area for the sub-level ghouls. This level is clean, crisp, and very well taken care of, unlike the Reservation Town. The contrast between the two should be somewhat shocking. The floors of the level are sparkling, the walls show no sign of wear, and the sleeping quarters are very well maintained, with two beds each and toilets that look like they've never been used (and with ghouls, they probably haven't… do ghouls even poop?). Depending on the time of day, half the beds and/or rooms will be occupied by ghouls in clean white lab coats, and the other half of the rooms will not. In addition, each room will have two chests for the ghouls to store stuff.
Conversation is pretty limited here to just floats and such, except for Marty. Marty is a disillusioned ghoul who has the same type of thinking that Hank has; all is not right in paradise. If Marty feels like he can trust the player, he will divulge some of the things he's working on. One of those things is the assembly of dirty bombs on sub-level 3. The player will get the opportunity to eventually help or hinder Willem Clark and his diabolical plans based on info from Hank and Marty. Of course, one of the best ways to earn trust from Measles is to snitch on Marty about his rebellious thoughts, but I'll get into more detail in the quests section.
In addition to speaking to Marty, the player can hack into the General Computer on this level and find out little tidbits about the Nuclear Nellie, the dirty bombs, and just the very slightest hint at the ghoul procreation experimentation.
Main Elevator
This is the Main Access Elevator that goes back to the surface and to the 2nd sub-level.
Sleeping Quarters
The rooms in Sub-level 1 are pretty ordinary when it comes to vault sleeping quarters. Each room is very clean and well kept. Each room also has two twin size beds and a footlocker at each bed. The bathrooms are spotless, not so much because they are constantly cleaned, but because ghouls really have no use for a toilet… I think.
Locker Room
This is a pretty typical vault locker room, with two rows of lockers running down the center of the room, separated by a wall going down the center of the room. Each locker will be filled with an assortment of goodies the player can loot. What those goodies are remains TBD.
General Computer
At the end of the outside of the Locker room is Sub-Level 1's General Computer. From here the player can access very generic stuff, like the work schedule of the lab techs, the guards, how many slaves were brought into the Sub-Levels, and how many had to be put into the incinerators after the failed procreation experiments… huh? Yes, the player can get a bit of information about the ghoul procreation process and see that the human slaves have something to do with it. A bit of good hacking will reveal the name of the chief doctor in charge of the experiments, Dr. Sebastian.
Also, the computer will give a brief history rundown of the Reservation's great leader and founder, Dr. Willem Clark. The history will practically deify the doctor, basically proclaiming him the savior of the ghouls; their very own Christ, as it were. However, from conversations and reading the computer history, it seems that no one, except a very select few, have seen Dr. Willem Clark in a very long time –perhaps in over fifty years. There is no doubt he is still on the Reservation, but it would seem he has secluded himself to Sub-Level 3. Evidently, he wants to be closer to his "children" and the daily conceptions (don't try to picture it, it will rot your brain and make you start thinking David Hasselhoff is a sexy man).
Sub-Level 2
Once the player has access to Sub-Level 2, he will have access to mechanics labs engineered for weapon, armor, and ammo smithing. However, the player may be in for a bit of shell shock once he enters Sub-Level 2. This level is very dirty, akin to an early 19th century English machine factory. The floors and walls are covered with soot and the air is a thick fog of mixed fumes generated by large boilers and burners. Evidently there is not a good air filtration system on Sub-Level 2, not that the ghouls would really need one. The player would be wise to use a gas mask down here (radiation is not as big a factor as on the surface. The sub-levels were well enough insulated during the Big War to keep out most of the radiation from above, but obviously not all).
However, the people who do need protection from the fumes are the human slaves working in the large, but smog congested smithing rooms. All of them have scarf-like materials wrapped around their faces as a weak form of protection, though every one of them frequently coughs. Though one might expect to see a few large slaves handling the brunt of the shoveling, the opposite is true. All the slaves lurking about are quite frail. At first assumption, one might think that their frailness is a result of long term exposure to the level's fumes and poor treatment of the slaves. However, a bit of investigation will reveal that all the working slaves are usually the weakest of the crop purchased. Evidently, the strongest human slaves are carted off to a room that emits a strange green glow through the door cracks on Sub-Level 3A slave or two may mention that at night, when they are resting in their holding cell, that they can hear screams coming down the hall where the "Green Room" is.
The first room the player will run into is the firing range directly north. It looks like a standard indoor firing range, except for the filth, comes complete with three ranges and, at any given time, a couple of ghoul guards trying out a new conventional firearm. Since the guards have a bit of an ego, they are anxious to challenge the player to a contest of skills. Best of ten shots at the maximum distance in the range wins the contest (prize is TBD).
To the northeast of the level is a large room used for armor manufacturing. Inside, there are two large furnaces next to makeshift anvils and tables. A couple of ghouls bang away at stretching leather and forming metal to make suits of armor. Several slaves toil away at moving around the scrap materials and shoveling coal into the furnaces from large piles of coal along the northern wall.
Just south of the armor smithing room is the weapon and ammo smithing room. It looks very similar to the armor smithing room, except that there a lot of medium sized crates filled with ammo and guns (a lot for the FO3 world, anyways). One side is filled with crates of non-functioning weapons, and another, guarded by four ghoul guards, is filled with functioning guns and ammo, though this side is much smaller than the non-functioning side. The two weapon smith ghouls toil away at dismantling the non-working guns to either piece together the different parts into a functioning weapon, or melt down the metal to forge new components. The slaves cart coal from the stockpile in the armor smith and shovel it into the furnaces in the weapon smith facility. Again, these slaves are frail and look like they are going to keel over at any moment. Even though the slaves are frail, the floating toxins do not help their health conditions. The slaves rarely live longer than a couple of years before the toxins kill them. The player will have the opportunity to either find proper gas masks or devise a makeshift air filtration system.
Running the whole show on Sub-Level 2 is Milt the Foreman. He can be found walking from room to room, making sure things are running smoothly. He's a no-nonsense ghoul who tells it like it is, and he'll waste no time telling the player what he thinks of human scum. In any event, Milt will serve as a focus point to augment current weapons and armor for the player to make them more deadly, provided the player has the blessing of Dr. Willem Clark. If not, he'll call the guards and they will lay the smack down!
There's also a Chem Lab on this level where the player can use the chem.-mechanic's table to concoct stim packs, Rad-Away, and other such things. There is a science techy in here every once in a while, but he only comes in to get supplies and such – nothing to buy here. But if the player follow said techy, he will see that he takes a different elevator than the one the player came. This elevator is the only way to Sub-Level 3 and its big mysteries.
There's also the requisite sleeping chambers for the ghoul workers, as well as a bathroom/locker-room complete with lockers for the player to pick.
The last place of note on this level is the Incinerator Room. Periodically during a given day, a techy will come up from Sub-Level 3 with a large, covered trash can. He will head into the Incinerator room and dump the contents into the very large incinerator. The player may try to investigate the ashes and such around the incinerator to determine what was thrown in there. A good Perception will uncover human bone in the ash.
Main Access Elevator
This is the Main Access Elevator that goes back to the surface and to the 1st sub-level.
Shooting Range
A standard, three lane firing range except with overly used targets at the far end of the room and a lot of soot and dirt on the walls. There are no working pulley systems to bring a target back and forth to the shooter. Every once in a while, the player may run into a ghoul guard or two who are practicing. These ghouls will challenge the player, provided the player is there with the permission of Willem Clark, to a shoot off. The winner gets an epithet or something like that. However, once the player does this challenge, he will not be challenged again. Hey, ammo's valuable, even if the ghouls make most of their own.
Armor Smithing Facility
This room looks like a cross between a medieval forge and a turn-of-the-century machine sweatshop. Two large furnaces roar with fire and crackle whenever metal is placed close enough to melt. Two ghouls labor away making leather and metal armor, and four to six slaves toil with cleaning up the scraps and shoveling coal into the furnaces. There are a couple of large tables holding various tools, remnants, etc. Also, there are two makeshift anvils the ghouls use to forge steel, and two large tubs of murky, black water to cool the steel. No talking here, too much work to do.
Weapon Smithing Facility
This room also looks like a cross between a medieval forge and a turn-of-the-century machine sweatshop. Two large furnaces roar with fire and crackle whenever metal is placed close enough to melt. Two ghouls labor away making gun barrels and components, then assemble them, and four to six slaves toil with cleaning up the scraps and shoveling coal into the furnaces. There are a couple of large tables holding various tools, remnants, etc. Also, there are two makeshift anvils the ghouls use to forge steel, and two large tubs of murky, black water to cool the steel. No talking here, too much work to do.
Chemical Laboratory
A large table and four big tubs of green goo are all that occupy this room. On the table is an assortment of beakers, tubes, measuring devices, and other assorted lab stuff. The player may use this facility to make stim packs, Rad-X, and any other chem in the game. If the player is allowed to be on Sub-Level 2, then the techy who comes into the facility every once in a while will not raise an eyebrow. However, if the player is not allowed to be there, then the techy will flip out and call the guards.
The Incinerator
This lovely room has a very large, rusty, burnt looking incinerator smack in the middle. The iron doors are kept closed and locked when not in use, but the heat and sound of the searing flames within can be heard and felt from out in the halls. At the foot of the incinerator's big iron door is scattered pile of ash and burned debris. A perceptive PC can sift through the ash and discover that these are the remains of humans. A couple of time per day, a techy from Sub-Level 3 comes to the incinerator with a large trash can and dumps its contents into the incinerator.
Foreman Sleeping Quarters
This is the one room on Sub-Level 2 that is not nearly as dirty and sooty as the rest of the level. It's far from clean, but compared to the rest of the level, it's worthy of a king. There are four beds along the walls of the room, a footlocker at the base of each bed, and a cabinet along one of the walls. Inside the cabinet are old books and magazines of varying interests. During the night time hours, these beds are occupied by the foreman, during the day, they are not. It is not wise to wake a sleeping foreman, even if you are there by permission of Willem Clark. These guys are very grumpy and need their ugly-sleep.
Locker-room and Bathrooms
Understand the needs humans have to expel their internal wastes, the ghouls have tried to maintain the bathrooms on Sub-Level 2. The commodes are functional enough to get rid of most waste, but some waste does back up, providing an even more noxious odor than the soot smells. Since the ghouls do not mind really bad smells (hell, they smell bad enough), they have little sympathy for their slaves' complaints of fouled toilets. The player may remedy this problem by fixing the clogs in the lines, or sending a cherry bomb down one of the commodes to blast the clog away. I'll need a scripted cut scene for this event of water and waste blowing out of the toilet. The bathroom might be really messy after this, but hey, these pipes are clean (HA! A "Cabin Boy" reference – which is in this doc for my amusement only and will not be in FO3)!
Elevator to Sub-Level 3
This is the Elevator that goes only to and from Sub-Level 3.
Sub-Level 3
Sub-Level 3 used to be the meat and potatoes of the Reservation back in the day. Little has changed in that regard. While Sub-Level 2 maintains manufacturing of armor and arms for trade on the surface, the true research and development, and the means by which Willem Clark fulfills his dream, occurs on Sub-Level 3.
The only way for the player to access this level is through the southern elevator on Sub-Level 2. The use of this elevator requires the visual approval of Willem Clark himself. The player's options to gain entry are to earn the trust of Willem Clark through completing quests, going Rambo and killing everyone topside and the first two sub-levels – this brings Willem and his cronies to the player for a final showdown, and by doing this Willem forgets to reset the security on the elevator -, or the final way is to sneak down the elevator using deception. However, since Willem visually checks everyone in and out of the elevator through a heavily protected camera over the elevator, and he is personally familiar with all who works for him, the player would need a very high Deceive skill to pull off the scam.
As Sub-Level 1 is sharply contrasted in appearance and feel to Sub-Level 2, so is Sub-Level 3 to both previous levels. Not only is Sub-Level 3 very clean and tidy, but it is also eerily dark and cold, both figuratively and literally. The halls are permanently lit by red power back-up lights, and the purple glow of the force field at the end of the hall accentuates the dark mood. During the daylight hours, the entire level is deathly silent, save for the hum of the force fields. During the night, inconsistent screams of terror and pain can be heard coming from within a room; a room known to the slaves only as the "Green Room."
The first room to the right from the elevator in Sub-Level 3 is a long room consisting of three smaller rooms. The rooms are regular, square rooms each with a single bed and a cabinet against the wall. If the player has entered this area during the day, the rooms will be empty. However, at night the rooms will be occupied by their respective owners getting ready for a good night's rest. These rooms, as it turns out, belong to the successful results of the ghoul procreation experiments. Like Measles, these three ghouls are Born Ghouls. However, only Belle will give the player the time of day, the other two will brush the player off.
Elevator to Sub-Level 2
This is the Elevator that goes to and from Sub-Level 2, exclusively.
Born Ghouls Quarters
At the southeast section of Sub-Level 3 is an entrance to a medium sized corridor. Along the north side of the corridor are three sterile looking, square rooms, each with a nice size bed and cabinet. Other than the slightest hint of blood drops here and there, and the occasional bone fragment, there is nothing extraordinary about these rooms, save for their owners. These three rooms belong to Born Ghouls; ghouls, like Measles, who were not created through exposure to the FEV virus, but ghouls who were actually born into ghoul-dom. Through cruel experimentation on humans by Dr. Sebastian, these ghouls gestated and were birthed. Reveling in their infrequent success (the ghoul procreation experiments have a 2% success rate), Dr. Sebastian and Dr. Willem Clark keep their Born Ghoul progeny close at hand and comfortable. To them, the Born Ghouls represent the future of the ghoul "species", and they will do everything in their power to make sure their "children" are well taken care of.
Measles' Room and Dr. Willem Clark's Room
To the southwest is a large room. Upon passing through the steel door, there is a purple force field due west and a small room to the north. The room to the north is exactly the same size and style as the Born Ghoul rooms to the east. This room belongs to Measles', Willem Clark's right hand ghoul and sometimes personal bodyguard. However, since Willem never really leaves his chambers, Measles has been assigned additional tasks. In fact, the only time Measles is in this room is when Willem calls for him or it is nighttime – time to sleep. During the day, Measles is usually topside at the Trading Post making certain all is running smoothly.
To get into Dr. Willem Clark's room, the player either needs to be invited, kill everyone on the previous levels which draws Willem and some of his cronies to deal with the player, thus leaving the force field down, or use his super mechanics skill on the purple force field. Otherwise, the player may only dream about what is inside. However, once inside (and as long as Willem is not dead), the player will be greeted with almost sheer darkness, except for a soft glowing light resting next to a shadowy form. There is a bed, a cabinet filled with books, and a computer in this room, but they are hard to see in the darkness. As it turns out, the shadowy form is Dr. Willem Clark. He will say he prefers the dark because it allows him to be alone with his thoughts – and he has many, many thoughts. If the player feels brave, Willem will be happy to convey these thoughts.
Bottom line, though, is that the computer in Willem Clark's room holds the launch codes for the Hermes-XIII space rocket. There are several ways to get these codes, which I will go into greater detail later in this doc.
Scientists' Sleeping Quarters
Similar in style to the sleeping quarters on Sub-Level 1, but a bit wider, this room is for the exclusive use of the techies and scientists of Sub-Level 3. There are four beds, a few cabinets, and foot lockers at the foot of each bed. Other than that, there's not much to look at.
The Green Room (Ghoul Procreation Laboratory)
Like something straight out of a 1950's horror move (in living Techno-color!), this is the laboratory where the madness of ghoul procreation takes place. There are two tables filled to the brim with tubes, bottles, beakers, a Tesla coil, and anything else that emotes a mad scientist feel. At the far end of the room are two big glass tubes filled with a viscous, green liquid. Inside this bubbling goo are two floating humanoid forms attached to tubes and wires. Closer examination reveals that the occupants of these tubes are human. Even closer examination will reveal that there is a large hose burrowed into the distended abdomen of each floating human, and from the wild, terrified eyes of the occupants, it becomes clear that the humans are terrified and in a great deal of pain.
The individual running this show is a ghoul named Dr. Sebastian. He relishes in his work and is eager to talk about it, provided the player has permission to be in Sub-Level 3 (Willem let's everyone know if the player is allowed to be there – after all, how many healthy humans are actually allowed to roam the dark halls of Sub-Level 3?). While all the sordid details of the ghoul procreation process will not be revealed, the player will get enough disturbing imagery to convince them that the process is not fun in the least – for the humans, anyway.
Force Fields and the Main Generator
To the north are a series of force fields that lead to the main power generator. The first force field is only accessible with the proper security pass (yep, search for a keycard. There are several on the persons of the lab techs and Sub-Level 3 guards, plus the player may finagle one from an amorous ghoul.) Of course, the force field can be circumvented by a talented mechanic. Once passed the force fields, the player has access to the Main Power Generator. If the player has aspirations to blow the generator up, he may. However, this will only knock out main power and the backup generators will kick in. And, even though the Main Generator is a sub-reactor, the heavy insulation in this room will keep the explosion confined to this room, thus not endangering the other rooms. The design thinking was that if anything would go wrong with the generator and is melted down, the resulting explosion would not "domino effect" with the nuclear warheads for the B.O.M.B. missiles.
Nuclear Weapons R&D and Reservation's Main Computer
This massive room was once used to research and then develop the missiles and warheads that would eventually be used on the B.O.M.B. satellites.
The first thing the player will run into is the Reservation's Main Computer core. This machine holds all the information about the B.O.M.B. and Hermes programs, and it also includes the launch codes for the Hermes-XIII space rocket. However, the launch codes are encrypted and require a heavy science skill to extract. This is just an alternative to meeting, face to face, Willem Clark, and gives the science/stealth boy another opportunity to advance.
At the center of the room is a very large, Howitzer looking cannon. Named "Nuclear Nellie," this gun was originally designed to fire a ten megaton nuclear warhead shell, cannon style, to a target some thirty miles away. In its current state, Willem Clark changed Nuclear Nellie's design a bit to fire a dirty shell thirty miles away. The dirty shell uses the few, but remaining remnants of uranium and other radioactive material to distribute over a two city block area. The resulting contamination, Willem hopes, will cause the occupants of the newly radioactive zone to disperse and flee. Willem intends to one day use this device against an enemy, once he finds one that is a suitable threat. Until then, Nuclear Nellie waits.
Another road block for Nuclear Nellie is the broken equipment lift. Some time after the Big War, no one knows exactly when, the heavy cable for the lift snapped, rendering the lift useless. If the player ever finds a replacement cable, the lift will once again function and Willem will be one step closer to fulfilling his dream.
Finally, at the northwest section of the room, the player will find the hallowed husks of four nuclear missiles with the acronym B.O.M.B.-001 painted on their sides. These missiles look like they have been rummaged over more than a hundred times and truly have nothing left of value attached to them, except maybe the metal shells.
Slave's Quarters
A filthy den of hopelessness, this large room is used to house the two-dozen or so slaves used in the Sub-Levels. The floor is filthy with dirt, blood, urine, and excrement, and there is a dead body or two protruding from the cave-in dirt and boulder piles. There is nothing pleasant about these quarters, and the ghouls make sure that there is nothing pleasant about them. Since the ghouls of the Reservation hold most humans in utter contempt (yes, the player would have his work cut out for him to woo Willem and his followers), they figure that treating the slaves as badly as the humans treat ghouls on the outside is justice served. Granted, much of the ghouls' hatred towards humanity has been fueled and exaggerated by Willem Clark, but that does not make it less real for the Reservation ghouls. Besides, the ghouls figure humans are easy to replace at this time thanks to Caesar's Legions and the Blackfoot slave trade.


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XS Scuba's Valves are designed and manufactured for long life and heavy use. The Thermo DIN/Yoke Pro 3442 psi (230 bars) is no exception. Valve is made of Marine Grade Brass with triple bright Chrome Plating for long life protection in salt water. Precision Machined from high tension brass and chrome plated valve stems for years of service and corrosion free operation. Valve is factory cleaned for pre-blended Nitrox up to 40% FO2. All O-rings are Viton and EPDM material and are lubricated with Christo-Lube MGC-111 Lubricant. The High-Pressure Seat is Nylon assuring the diver safe use with Nitrox.
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FRENCHTOSWN TOWNSHIP (AP) -- The U.S. Coast Guard says a search crew has found the bodies of two men, one from Southfield, who disappeared after going fishing in eastern Lake Erie.
The Coast Guard says 54-year-old Godfried McKinney of Southfield and 64-year-old Kendrick Covington of Detroit headed out from Monroe on Wednesday to go fishing in a 14-foot boat. They were due back that night and reported missing after they didn't return.
The Coast Guard says a U.S. Customs and Border Protection boat found the men's bodies about 10:50 a.m. Thursday about 7 miles off-shore from DTE Energy Co.'s Fermi 2 nuclear plant. The site is near Monroe in Monroe County's Frenchtown Township.
Those involved in the search included a Coast Guard helicopter from Detroit and a Coast Guard boat from Toledo, Ohio.


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Marshland Glass (formerly Boatwright Glass LLC)
Feb 27, 2012
System Requirements
The minimal and suggested system configuration to get the most out of your Glas-Avenue software
Glass Software Features
Check out all of the features and benefits found in Mainstreet Computer's Glas-Avenue software
Glas-Avenue Software: System Requirements
Glas-Avenue 9.0 System Requirements
How do I know if I meet the requirements?
Because Glas-Avenue is written in a versatile programming language, it has many features that are not available anywhere else. To handle this advanced technology, Mainstreet recommends the following in order to receive the best performance.
- Windows 7+ with at least 3 GB of RAM.
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- Hard drive with at least 10 GB of free space available on a server and 5 GB of free space available for a workstation
- All computers must have the latest Windows service pack installed
- VGA monitor (minimum 1024x768 Graphics display)
- Windows supported printer (LASER printers provide the best performance and quality)
- Anti-virus software
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- Depending on use, systems with 10 or more users may be required to buy SQL separately. **
*High speed internet connections can be through DSL, broadband cable, T1 or any other type of high speed connection. This is required for support purposes as it may be necessary to access your computer to trouble shoot and fix problems you may be experiencing as well as download information to update your software.
**SQL is the database engine used to store your Glas-Avenue information
Hosted System Requirements
|Operating System (Minimum)
|Windows 7+
|RAM (Minimum)
|Free Disk Space
|Internet Connection
|DSL, Cable or Greater
|Local Security (recommended)


text: Hanselminutes Podcast 51 - Static Code Analysis with NDepend February 15, '07 Comments [2] Posted in ASP.NET | Podcast | Programming | Tools Sponsored By My fifty-first podcast is up. This one talks about Static Code Analysis, some definitions and descriptions of coupling and a discussion of NDepend, a .NET static code analysis tool that I'm totally digging. Also, after listening, check out my review of NDepend as well. ACTION: Please vote for us on Podcast Alley! Links from the Show NDepend (m0z) Code Query Language (CQL) Specification (m11) Princples of Package Design PDF (m12) NDepend Screencast Tutorials (m10) Subscribe: Do also remember the archives are always up and they have PDF Transcripts, a little known feature that show up a few weeks after each show. Our sponsors are /n software and Telerik. Telerik is a new sponsor. Check out their UI Suite of controls for ASP.NET. It's very hardcore stuff. One of the things I appreciate about Telerik is their commitment to completeness. For example, they have a page about their Right-to-Left support while some vendors have zero support, or don't bother testing. They also are committed to XHTML compliance and publish their roadmap. It's nice when your controls vendor is very transparent. As I've said before this show comes to you with the audio expertise and stewardship of Carl Franklin. The name comes from Travis Illig, but the goal of the show is simple. Avoid wasting the listener's time. (and make the commute less boring) The basic MP3 feed is here, and the iPod friendly one is here. There's a number of other ways you can get it (streaming, straight download, etc) that are all up on the site just below the fold. I use iTunes, myself, to listen to most podcasts, but I also use FeedDemon and it's built in support. Some other clients are Doppler (also suppose Windows CE), FireAnt, Nimiq, and PrimeTime Podcast. Note that for now, because of bandwidth constraints, the feeds always have just the current show. If you want to get an old show (and because many Podcasting Clients aren't smart enough to not download the file more than once) you can always find them at http://www.hanselminutes.com. I have, and will, also include the enclosures to this feed you're reading, so if you're already subscribed to ComputerZen and you're not interested in cluttering your life with another feed, you have the choice to get the 'cast as well. If there's a topic you'd like to hear, perhaps one that is better spoken than presented on a blog, or a great tool you can't live without, contact me and I'll get it in the queue! Enjoy. Who knows what'll happen in the next show? « Sign up for Windows Home Server Beta 2 | Blog Home | Exiting The Zone of Pain - Static Analys... » About Scott Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author. About Newsletter Sponsored By Hosting By Comments [2] Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or use the Permalink


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I am surprised we don't have Morgan on here - unless it got lost in a crash. I can't find her FB.
I've been reading this blog at work today. I don't know what to think. Basically she was allegedly stalked by a neighbour for 4 months before being found dead in her bed. Cause of death was first said to be natural, and then ruled a suicide by prescription drugs. Her parents are adamant that she would never have taken her own life.
I don't know what to think about the whole stalking thing. Something feels off to me.
Go read it and tell me what you think. The police apparently went to the house 50 times in 4 months and didn't find any evidence.
Morgan passed away suddenly at her home in Carbondale on Friday, December 2, 2011. She was 20 years old. Her life in the mountains and snow were an inspiration to her, she had been waiting for it to snow, and her snow came that night.
She was born at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs on August 16, 1991.
Morgan was a student at Colorado Mountain College, with a love of philosophy, a passion for dance, and a constant appreciation for all forms of art. She was an extremely gifted artist and a loving person, and she saw and gave beauty to others through her photographs. Forever in tune with nature, she loved animals, music, playing piano, and singing.
Always smiling and always caring, she was an amazing person who touched absolutely everybody in her life. Morgan had the unique ability to bring a smile to all people lucky enough to have met her. She left our lives too soon and will be deeply missed by many. This amazing, creative, vibrant, and loving girl was an inspiration to all.
She was the bright light shining in the hearts of her parents Steve and Toni, sister Kristin, brother Ryan, niece Joni-Ann, nephews Odin and Jarred, her cat Mogwai, her puppy Wylah, and her horse TC.
There will be a celebration of Morgan's life on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at 6 PM, held at Christ Community Church, 20351 Highway 82, Basalt, Colorado.


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Wenatchee, Washington, United States. Current population: about 30,000. Area: 7.3 sq miles. Chief products: Apples, World Class Cycling Sprinters.
That's right. The boy from Wenatchee, Tyler Farrar of Garmin Transitions professional cycling team, is not only riding in the Tour de France, he's nipping at the heels of sprinting powerhouse Mark Cavendish. He achieved a second place finish in stage 6 while still suffering from a broken wrist. For those unfamiliar, sprinters rely heavily on the arms, hands and wrists to provide a leverage point for the upper body to hold against the power of the legs as they turn the pedals over. Before the unfortunate crash that broke his wrist, Farrar was a survivor in a Tour de France that was quickly losing sprinters capable of challenging Mark Cavendish. The second place finish despite the injuries shows that Farrar can be a real threat.
Tyler Farrar was born June 2 1984. Following Junior national titles in track as well as sprint events in 2002, he started his professional cycling career in 2003 with Team Jelly Belly. His year with Jelly Belly was followed by a year each on Health Net-Maxxis and Cofidis (Lance Armstrong also once rode for Cofidis). In 2008 he joined team Garmin-Transitions, where he remains today.