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WANT TO LOCALIZE? Use the online campaign database at http://gov.e-rockford.com/elections/contributions/gns/# to find local folks who gave to one of the recent dropouts – ask why they gave, whether they really believed their guy would win, and what they expect to happen to their money now.
WANT TO LOCALIZE? Use the online campaign database at http://gov.e-rockford.com/elections/contributions/gns/# to find local folks who gave to one of the recent dropouts – ask why they gave, whether they really believed their guy would win, and what they expect to happen to their money now. In his quest to become our 44th president, John Kerry banked some $330 million from tens of thousands of donors. Then the Massachusetts senator lost before he could spend all his millions on himself and Democratic colleagues. So he began moving those dollars to his congressional re-election fund -- $1 million in early December 2004, then $3 million a few weeks later, according to federal filings. That chunk of change – a whopping $19 million in all – was a heck of a boost for Kerry's bid to keep his Senate seat. And it's totally legal. Doling out some of the surplus in 2006 helped bolster Democrats running for Congress. All legal. "Once you give the money, you've given it to the person to do with it what they choose," said Michael Goldman, a media and politics professor at Tufts University. "You are trusting that individual." The wide field of presidential hopefuls has narrowed on the eve of the mass primary election day known as Super Duper Tuesday on Feb. 5, with just two major candidates left in either party. So what will Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden and Fred Thompson do with the rest of the $35 million they've collectively raised (as of Sept. 30, 2007, the most recent day required by the Federal Election Commission)? How about John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani, the latest drop-outs, who together took in nearly $74 million? Will Giuliani throw any of his money along with his endorsement to John McCain? Richardson and the others certainly spent strong to remain competitive. But for whatever remains in their war chests, they have a few options, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog on money in elections. Any money tagged for the general election cycle (and campaign finance law dictates separate funds and donation limits for the primary and the general elections) must be returned to donors within 60 days after the candidate is no longer a candidate. For example, Biden also could ask a donor's permission to re-designate it to his 2008 Senate campaign for re-election or use it to settle campaign debts, according to the center. But returning the money to individual donors rarely happens because figuring out who gets what is simply too complicated, said Massie Ritsch, a center spokesman. "In addition to being logistically complicated, refunding to donors presents other difficulties: 'Who gets their money back?' Because you've spent some of it," Ritsch said. "It's all one pot of money." And the campaign pots have brimmed over. Candidates have been rushing to grab money from as many donors as possible, since the White House is totally up in the air with no presidential or vice presidential incumbents on the ticket for the first time since 1952. The field of applicants was especially crowded this time around, with 10 Republicans and eight Democrats as of November 2007, a whole year before the general election. Rules for leftover primary money are more lax, without need for donor permission to give to: - A charity as long as the candidate doesn't draw a salary. - Party committees without limits. - The candidate's committee for the Senate or House. - Another federal candidate's campaign committee, up to $2,000. - State and local candidates or to their own state committees, state and local laws permitting. Candidates also can do nothing at all, leaving the account open indefinitely, according to campaign finance rules. President Bush still has an open campaign compliance committee – a separate fund to pay for attorneys and accountants, payroll, etc. -- containing, as of Dec. 31, 2007, exactly $ 114,832.19, according to the FEC. But the extra-stiff competition among the wide field of potential 2008 nominees who've busted fundraising records has meant they'll likely also break spending barriers, too. Edwards' campaign said Wednesday that he wasn't stepping down for lack of money. Nor did the former senator say what he'd do next. "Who has money left over who didn't spend it?" Goldman said. "It will be interesting in the end to see if any of (the dropouts end) up with a surplus or a deficit." [OPTIONAL MASSACHUSETTS-START] Goldman called John Kerry's leftovers an anomaly, saying the senator's bank account drew criticism from contributors and Democratic colleagues, who bitterly wondered what he was saving it for. "Lots of people were shocked to learn how much money he still had in the bank," Goldman said. "99.9 percent of the time, people spend every single penny they have to get elected." Kerry just closed out his 2004 presidential account on Jan. 27, settling about $15,000 in bank fees and taxes with the remaining $200,000 and then moving the rest to his own Senate campaign. In 2007, he gave himself $742,508.04. Right after his 2004 defeat, Kerry sent more than $1 million to the Democratic National Committee and another $1 million to his Senate campaign fund. The trickle into the Kerry Senate fund -- $325,000 here, $500,000 there -- continued through December 2007, when Kerry transferred close to another $200,000, according to his FEC filings. In 2005 and 2006, when word got out about how much his presidential campaign hadn't spent, Kerry began writing checks for Democrats running in the midterm elections. He also has refunded about $125,000 to individual donors, nearly all of that collected for primary cycle spending. "One has to work real hard to find a losing candidate with money leftover in their campaign account -- not only money, but $19 million," Goldman said. "If there's a lesson to be learned, it's that it will be a long time before another candidate in a close race doesn't spend every single dime they can to win." [OPTIONAL MASSACHUSETTS-END] [OR OPTIONAL ILLINOIS-START] When former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun ended her bid for president right before the 2004 Iowa caucuses, she refunded contributions to eight donors totaling $10,250. Music producer Quincy Jones was refunded $5,000 he had donated; James Reynolds, chairman of Loop Capital Markets, was refunded $1,000. And the committee of then-Cook County President John Stroger Jr. also got $2,000 back. The rest went to other committees: - $1,000 to the Prairie Capital Convention Center. - $250 to Alabama Young Democrats. - $250 to the Friends to Elect Sheila Smoot. - $500 to Friends of Terry Link. - $250 Harris County Women's Political Caucus. Braun continued to spend campaign money through 2006 on telephones, something listed as "office support services," and more than $15,000 on accounting, some $11,000 of which was paid to herself, according to her FEC records. She also paid herself a $1,000 consulting fee, though she has yet to seek another office – all perfectly legal. "A candidate is allowed to do that. The trouble is the public tends not to like it," Goldman said. With debts still totaling about $260,000, Braun continues to file reports on her presidential account with the FEC.
Lauren FitzPatrick is a national reporter for GateHouse News Service. Contact her at firstname.lastname@example.com.
What's left
Here's what the dropouts had left, as of Dec. 31, 2007, the last date required by the Federal Election Commission, three days before the Iowa caucuses. How they've spent the remaining money won't be available until Feb. 20 at the earliest.
Candidate What's left as of 12/31/07 Total raised
Edwards $7,790,457.67 $34,742,977.27
Richardson $1,813,465.86 $22,270,368.61
Dodd $2,489,560.48 $1,040,349.10
Biden $1,867,392.00 $8,225,091.00
Giuliani $12,776,812.11 $58,536,631.67
Thompson $2,140,266.92 $21,565,299.79
Hunter $196,594.49 $2,300,058.40


text: All About 'Antica Hd Plus' Inspired by a fusion of aesthetics, Antica HD Plus incorporates mixed species, colors and embossed-in-register textures for classic appeal and design-forward visuals. It features wire brush oak visuals, rustic high color contrast and mixed-plank visuals for installation ease. Antica HD Plus features an Armourbead® wear layer for enhanced performance and Soft Silence® acoustical pad for noise reduction and added comfort. Product Specifications Flooring Type Resilient Style 524SA ANTICA HD PLUS Color 00159 SAGGIO Collection Floorte Construction WPC Width 7.08 in. Length 48.03 in. Installation Grade ABOVE, ON, BELOW Wear Layer 20 MIL Made in the USA NO Country Of Origin China VOC Shaw Industries and each of its brands carefully consider the impact of our products throughout their lifecycle. The resilient (vinyl) products we sell - whether manufactured by Shaw or sourced from others, both residential and commercial - contain no ortho-phthalate plasticizers (including benzyl butyl phthalate). Our resilient products are also formulated using only virgin vinyl polymer to avoid the challenges of legacy chemicals that often come with post-consumer recycled content in this product category. Downloads Floorte Warranty Download PDF

subset: commoncrawl


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From: Finland
Genre: Metal, Grindcore, Death Metal
Renowned Finnish grind cyclone ROTTEN SOUND extends its legacy of extremity with their brand-new album Cursed. Thoroughly punishing from start to finish, Cursed blazes a swath of destruction through sixteen tracks as relentless as they are oppressive. With ROTTEN SOUND there is no mercy, and Cursed gives no quarter.


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Almost 'Panzer' quality
As the spiritual successor to the Panzer Dragoon franchise, Crimson Dragon has some big shoes to fill. The talent is there, as the former director of the first three Panzer games and a Panzer composer are attached, but the prospect of Kinect gameplay and an Xbox One exclusivity deal made things a bit hard to swallow.
The forced Kinect scheme has since been dropped, and as time went on, the game looked better and better. Although it may not be quite up to par with some of the masterful games it takes inspiration from, it's a fine successor all the same for old and new fans alike.
Crimson Dragon (Xbox One)
Developer: Grounding, Inc. / Land Ho! Co. Ltd.
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release Date: November 22, 2013
Crimson Dragon takes place on the desolate planet Draco, where pretty much everything is out to get you. Humans have colonized said planet, and have seized control of the dragon population to fight it -- which is where you come in. While it would make sense to mold Draco into a soulless collection of browns that the game industry is so fixated on, it must be said that Crimson Dragon is a gorgeous-looking game.
Although it is budget priced, it looks decidedly next-gen, and there's an insane amount of detail that went into the game's handful of maps and locales. I'm not one to usually put much stock in visuals, but being able to see enemies from far away also helps strictly in terms of gameplay. Even just flying around in a few locations had my jaw dropping in awe, with a huge draw distance, and a good variety of themes, like lush jungle forests, frigid tundras, and vast sparkling oceans.
Panzer Dragoon made its name as an on-rails shooter, and that's how the vast majority of Crimson Dragon operates. You'll control your dragon by way of left analog movement and right analog targeting, with the ability to barrel roll using the left and right buttons (LB and RB). The left trigger switches weapons (usually of a lock-on and straight-shot variety), and the right trigger is your shot button. That's basically all you need to know, but the implementation is where it counts, because this game is hard on the default "Classic Mode."
Monsters are relentless, and even smaller foes will regularly keep you on your guard with a consistent amount of bullets always on-screen. If you aren't always watching out and keeping your barrel roll ability at the ready, you won't make it much farther than the first few stages. It's pretty exciting that the old-school challenge of the original series was preserved, and I had a blast trying to best some of the levels that claimed my life more than a few times. If you just want to take it easy, a "Casual" setting is available at any time from the options menu.
To help break up the pacing of the game you'll have sub-missions for every level, like "grabbing beacons" or "killing an enemy within a time limit." You'll get graded accordingly based on your performance, and the quest to constantly get a top mark is extremely addictive. To mix things up even further, every so often (mostly during boss battles) Crimson Dragon will give you "free flight" control and allow you to fly about an arena (think Star Fox 64). These portions don't control nearly as well as the on-rails sections, but barring the occasional camera issue, I didn't have much of a problem acclimating myself to it.
In fact, once you get used to aiming a few levels into the game, you'll have very little issues with the controls outside of the occasional free-flight camera hiccup. Again, I want to make it clear that Kinect support is just relegated to voice commands, and they are completely optional. They're mainly used to navigate menus, and order your wingman around, which can be done with the d-pad.
You'll revisit some maps to do more missions, but they feel different as you'll take you on different paths (think A-B-C scenarios in old-school games). Sometimes, you'll also need to kill certain creatures or complete certain objectives to unlock more levels. It doesn't feel like gating so much as an arcade-like setup, which is a major plus as I'm more inclined to want to jump back into previous stages.
When you're not frantically shooting down horrific creatures in missions, you can visit the Dragon Roost -- which is basically a miniature version of Pokemon. You'll have a chance to feed, evolve, level-up, manage, and even change your dragon's form (fire to sky type, for example). The Roost wears these Pokemon influences on its sleeve, with three levels of evolution, and it's all the better for it. Don't expect anything too deep, but there's a ton of fun to be had experimenting with your creatures.
Crimson Dragon also has a good selection of social features (which is a rarity these days), mostly due to the ability to hire an AI wingman from Xbox Live -- almost like an asynchronous Dark Souls mechanic. The better the dragon, the more the cost to hire them, and I had a blast sifting through various player's creations to choose the right one to complement my team. You can also visit the in-game shop to buy items, and more dragons to allow further experimentation. In fact, I was surprised at how much fun I had spending time outside of gameplay, messing around with menu-based functions.
Like Ryse and Powershot Golf, Crimson Dragon unfortunately employs a microtransaction option to buy more currency. But! It's mostly inoffensive, because you can just buy everything through gameplay. If anyone is familiar with Mass Effect 3, it basically operates by allowing players to buy "boosters" or other items with "Jewels" -- the real-life currency of the game.
I don't like that this system is in place in the slightest, but I never once felt like I had to pay money. Instead, I was inspired to level up my dragons through normal gameplay, and simply improve my skills. Co-op multiplayer support is on the horizon, set for a December update that will allow up to three players to go on missions simultaneously. For now, you'll have to deal with single-player.
Crimson Dragon was a pleasant surprise. As a massive fan of the Panzer series, I was worried that this wouldn't quite honor it, but there's plenty here for gamers who have been longing for an entry since 2003's Orta. There are some mechanical problems, but any old-school rail shooter fan will be able to handle them.
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Crimson Dragon reviewed by Chris Carter
Impressive effort with a few noticeable problems holding it back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
How we score: The Destructoid reviews guide


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Omarosa was the latest celebrity to get the axe on All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.
Omarosa, who was initially a contestant during Season 1 of The Apprentice, was axed after once again stirring up drama on her team and getting into a dust-up with Dennis Rodman, who had some choice words for his teammate, most of which were censored. Her usual antics weren't enough to draw viewers, however, as the show hit a series low of 4.6 million on Sunday night.
Fall TV Scorecard: Renewed or canceled?
"I adore you," Donald Trump told her. "We've had tremendous success together. You helped make The Apprentice. You helped to make me a star... but Omarosa, you're fired."
Were you surprised Omarosa was fired so soon? Or that she lasted this long?
All-Star Celebrity Apprentice airs Sundays at 10/9c on NBC.


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"My last husband would lie around like Al Bundy and expect me to be waiting on him all the time," Ms. Toohey said. "Evelio helps with the dishes and he's grateful for what I do. When we see each other, he takes me out to dinner and doesn't expect me to cook every night or do his laundry. And when I do cook, he appreciates it."Hmmm... So the idea is that living with a woman ruins the man? How do we know the Al Bundy guy would have been any good if kept at a distance? Or are you going to say it's only possible to be Al Bundy if you've got a woman putting up with it?
She can take her time putting her 5-year-old daughter to bed, she said, without worrying that there's a husband in a nearby room "competing for attention."
[Researchers] have even identified a new demographic category to describe such arrangements: the "living apart together," or L.A.T., relationship. These couples are committed to sharing their lives, but only to a point.I like the idea, but I'm also skeptical. There are different reasons to want to live like this. Some couples probably just don't like each other that much, or they love autonomy more -- including the freedom not to have to show respect and concern for other person all the time and not to have the other person seeing everything that you do. As the article notes, in many cases, there are children who are not the natural children of the two adults in the current couple. Wanting a love relationship with someone doesn't necessarily mean you want him as a parent for your children or that you want to parent his children. And if both sides of the couple have children, those children don't necessarily see themselves as the Brady Bunch.
"Although social pressures encourage stepfamilies blending, only one out of three stepfamilies survive," [Jeannette Lofas, a clinical social worker, said.] "I always say to people, would you go on a plane to San Francisco with your child if you had a two-thirds chance of not surviving it?"A strange comparison. Forming a family and then failing produces a breakup, a visible failure. Not forming a family can hurt too, but life goes on continuously, with no perceptible failure point.
[T]he rise in L.A.T. relationships may be due to a growing unwillingness to compromise, particularly among members of a generation known for their self-involvement.Oh, it must be a trend. Gail Sheehy has written a book about it. So, yeah, Baby Boomers are selfish bastards. And old folks get set in their ways and don't like anybody messing with them.
"In many cases Baby Boomers want to have the freedom to live on their own terms," said the author Gail Sheehy, whose latest book is "Sex and the Seasoned Woman" (Random House). "As you age, you have more commitments and possessions in your life that you are attached to that the other person may not want to share."
Carolyne Roehm, the New York socialite and author, is similarly unwilling to sacrifice control of her space. Ms. Roehm, 54, said she is perfectly happy with her extreme version of the L.A.T. relationship, with Simon Pinniger, 53, a businessman who lives 1,700 miles away in Aspen, Colo.Uh, yeah. Let's have a guy with a nice place in Aspen. But wouldn't it be better to have several guys, with housing in various quality vacation spots? But it's only a trendy L.A.T. if they are both devoted to each other. Well, that ought to keep her/him from cheating on you. What! You slept with someone else? But I thought we were a L.A.T.!
Ms. Roehm said she is not interested in making compromises to move in together, even if that makes her sound selfish.Let's hope Pinniger doesn't read that the wrong way.
"I have my own life, my own identity and want to keep it," she said. "I like having the things I love around me."
But the relationship doesn't suffer from the distance between them, she said; after all, she was willing to fly out on a moment's notice when Mr. Pinniger voiced concern about the color of his fireplace stones.What about the color of his moods -- the ever-changing, delicate human manifestations that only a live-in partner can know? Oh, please, I care about his damned fireplace stones! Did you know my boyfriend has a stone fireplace in Aspen?


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Just a quick post before heading off for a tour and dine around at the Venetian/Palazzo Restaurant. The menu and photo below are from a fantastic meal we just had at the Vegas Uncork'd Luncheon at Vintner Grill.
You'll be hearing a lot more about Vegas Uncork'd in the coming weeks. Sorry, no time for details about this food right now, but if you check out the menu below, you can make it all out. Enjoy!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Scenes from the Vegas Uncork'd Luncheon at Vintner Grill
Posted by Chef John at 6:38 PM
3 comments:
- theUngourmet said...
Oh my gosh, these are some fantastic desserts!
- January 29, 2010 at 11:27 PM
- Unknown said...
chef john , i wanna ask you something about the blitz video you did , in the recipe is there anyway to add portion for the cream cheese filling mixture ? beside using another cheese i was thinking of mixing with whipping cream ... the reason to do this is to cut cost and satisfy costumer for my up coming fundraising event
- January 30, 2010 at 7:47 AM
- Amedy said...
amazing place to spend romantic night in
- January 30, 2010 at 3:04 PM
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Margaret Mohr, a Hope College senior from Reed City, has received recognition from the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology for original research that she has been conducting at the college investigating the onset of puberty.
Mohr has been chosen to present her research during the society's 13th annual meeting through one of only 12 "Travel Awards" that the society has given for the international conference, which will be held in June at Michigan State University in East Lansing. The winners were chosen from among more than 100 applicants, who included not only other undergraduates but also graduate students and post-doctoral students.
Mohr is a biology and psychology double major. She has been conducting research with Dr. Gregory Fraley, associate professor of biology, concerning what times the mechanisms that regulate onset of puberty.
Mohr and Fraley note that the onset of puberty in girls has been decreasing for at least the last 150 years, dropping from 16.5 years of age to 10.5 years of age in the United States, Europe and many Asian countries. Many, they explain, feel that the decrease is due to changes in diet and nutritional status, but the control systems in the brain have not been determined. Mohr has discovered a brain mechanism that monitors the body's nutritional status and relays the information to brain centers that control the timing of the onset of puberty.
The Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology is an interdisciplinary scientific organization dedicated to the study of hormonal processes and neuroendocrine systems that regulate behavior. In addition to organizing its annual meeting, the society publishes the journal "Hormones and Behavior."
This year's meeting will run Thursday-Saturday, June 25-27. Previous meetings have been held at sites across the U.S. as well as Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, with the 2010 and 2011 meetings scheduled for Toronto, Canada, and Queretaro, Mexico, respectively.
In addition to providing the opportunity to present research, the Travel Award includes up to $600 for travel expenses, including the hotel stay and meals during the conference.
Mohr is the daughter of Lynn and Jacalyn Mohr of Reed City, and is a 2005 graduate of Reed City High School. She has been accepted into the Ph.D. graduate program in neuroscience at Michigan State University.


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Sand dunes cover this entire VIS image. The dunes are part of Olympia Undae, a huge dune field surrounding 1/4 of the northern polar cap. This image was collected during northern summer, and the dunes are frost free.
Orbit Number: 71391 Latitude: 80.8754 Longitude: 198.41 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-01-17 12:12
Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.