text:
For new releases go to
As we transition to our new site, you'll still find some Stats NZ information here on this archive site.
These releases provide data on the number, floor area, and value of new dwellings, and the floor area and value of non-residential buildings.
The latest releases contain tables on:
Subscribe to our information releases.
Access time series data from the Infoshare database.
Subject category: Industry sectors
Group: Building Consents.
Bulk CSV download available here.
Source: Territorial authorities
Frequency: Monthly
Available from: May 1998
Geographic coverage: Regional, territorial authority
You can find previous releases dating back to February 2005 here. For releases before this please complete this request form.


text:
- The UN called upon governments to expand their efforts to ensure the protection for the world's 43 million forcibly displaced people in the face of "never-ending" conflicts that are creating new semi-permanent refugee populations. More than 5.5 million refugees are stuck in protracted situations.
- China began hosting its first UN climate conference this week aimed at building momentum and finding areas of agreement ahead of the annual summit of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Climate change is said to highly affect global conflicts. China said at the conference that rich nations must vow greater cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and warned of lost trust in talks, while rich countries accused China of undercutting progress.
- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a report on Friday calling for equal participation by women in post-conflict peacebuilding. He laid out a seven-point action plan aimed at changing practices among all actors and improving outcomes on the ground.
- At least nine civilians were killed after al-Shabab fighters in Mogadishu, Somalia attacked an African Union's peacekeeping position on Saturday and another eight were killed on Sunday. On Wednesday it was announced that over 30 people had been killed in the past three days and at least 51 wounded in this continued fighting. Uganda announced it could raise an entire 20,000 troop force for the African Union to defeat Somalia's Islamist rebels and pacify the country in a statement released on Monday. Uganda's President has been urging greater urgency in regional and international efforts to stabilize Somalia since the twin bomb blasts that rocked Uganda's capital in July that were led by the al-Shabab militia. Uganda is also the site for the new UN regional peacekeeping hub for the Great-Lakes region.
- The UN Security Council traveled to Sudan this week to discuss the scheduled referenda on self-determination. Southern Sudan will vote on whether to secede from the rest of the country on January 9th, while the central area of Abyei will vote on whether to be part of the north or south. Sudanese officials announced on Tuesday that the long-awaited timetable for the referendum has been released, but that unforeseen circumstances could still delay the vote. Voter registration is to start in mid-November, with the final voter list ready by December 31st, leaving just 8 days before the January 9th deadline for the vote. Armed men abducted a civilian peacekeeper in Darfur on Thursday.
- Ethiopia's best-known opposition leader was released after five years in jail for treason related to the 2005 election dispute on Wednesday. The move was seen as a placatory gesture by the newly sworn in Prime Minister, who had refused to let her out for the parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party won 99.6% of the seats.
- Nigeria's government admitted it was warned of the parade attack last week that killed at least 12 people by foreign agencies and did the best it could to secure the area. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) also suggested that it gave the security forces five days notice of the attacks. South African police invaded the Johannesburg home of the leader of MEND on Saturday, apparently acting on the request of Nigerian authorities who claimed he was stockpiling weapons and re-arming fighters in the Niger Delta region. No weapons were found after a 10 hour search. Nigeria's secret service detained an aid to one of President Goodluck Jonathan's election rivals on Monday in connection to the bomb attacks, raising concern over violence in next year's election polls. The former MEND leader announced that he received a phone call from a "close associate" of Goodluck Jonathan urging him to tell MEND to retract its claim of the bombings, so that they could blame them on northerners who are opposing the President. The next day, the former leader was being described as the main suspect in the bombings. On Wednesday, the Northern Political Leaders Forum declared that President Jonathan should immediately resign from office or they will take take steps to impeach him because he has proved he is incapable of leading the nation justly and fairly, amid another bomb scare. On Friday, inmates at a prison in northeastern Nigeria torched a part of the building, raising fears that a radical Islamic sect, who has many members incarcerated in the jail, are attempting a comeback. The sect previously staged an uprising that resulted in the deaths of hundreds.
- Guinea's already postponed runoff presidential elections may be delayed even further due to technical issues such as production and supply of voters' cards. The originally scheduled September 19th election was delayed because of election violence. On Wednesday, the government announced it will hold the delayed second round on October 24th. On Wednesday, the first place winner of the first round of elections insisted that a run off could only be possible if the "controversial" election commissioner is changed and threatened to boycott the elections if he was not.
- Suspected al-Qaeda militants killed five Algerian soldiers and wounded another 10 in an attack on their convoy on Saturday. Around 200,000 people have died in the country since violence broke out in the early 1990s between Islamist rebels and government forces.
- According to a leading survey, governance standards have improved significantly in Angola, Liberia and Togo over the past four years but have decline in Eritrea and Madagascar. Mauritius was revealed as Africa's best-governed country, while Somalia was listed as the worst-governed nation.
- The Egyptian Journalists' Union has accused the government of cracking down on media that is critical of the authorities in advance of an upcoming November parliamentary election. Two popular talk shows were recently closed down.
- UN peacekeepers say they have captured the rebel commander they accuse of being behind the rape of hundreds of villagers in eastern DR Congo in August on Tuesday. The UN peacekeeping force was largely criticized for failing to prevent the mass rape of over 300 people, which took place just 20 miles from their base. Recent budget cuts to the newly scaled back MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, mean that the mission lacks sufficient helicopter strength to operate effectively in the country's unstable east. The UN announced that the crisis in the DRC is beyond their capacity. ICC appeals judges ruled on Friday that Thomas Lubanga, accused of war crimes, should not be released and ordered that his trial resume following a two month stay after the prosecutor failed to comply with the trial chamber's orders.
- The first of 500 additional UN peacekeeping troops arrived in Cote D'Ivoire on Thursday in advance of the October 31st election. The UN is distributing voter and identity cards across the country.
- Recent attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has shown that the group has extended its reach to vulnerable communities in the Central African Republic. Four LRA rebels are said to have been killed in a clash on Monday with the UDFR.
- Two suspected US missile strikes into northwest Pakistan reportedly killed at least 12 militants on Saturday and another five militants of German nationality were thought to have been killed in drone strikes on Tuesday. On Monday, gunmen attacked seven more fuel tankers in revenge for last week's NATO incursions into the country, and on Tuesday at least 20 trucks were targeted, resulting in the deaths of at least 3 people. Two Pakistani troops were said to have been killed in the incursion. The attacks continued, with another dozen tankers attacked on Wednesday, resulting in the death of at least one man. On Thursday, two suspected suicide bombers hit a crowded Muslim shrine in Karachi, killing at least 7 people. At least four people were said to have been killed in more NATO drone attacks on Thursday, bringing the death toll from drone attacks to over 150 in the past month alone. On Friday, three drone missiles killed at least five suspected militants, and two soldiers were killed in a roadside blast in the northwest. NATO's Secretary-General has spoken out against the continued blockage of the main NATO supply routes into Afghanistan by Pakistan, saying that the incursion was "obviously… unintended". Meanwhile, former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf has decided to form a new political party in an effort to "introduce a new democratic political culture" to his people. An ironic choice of words from a man who led a coup in 1999 to overthrow an elected civilian government because he was fired.
- Eight private security firms have been disbanded and hundreds of weapons confiscated in Afghanistan as the government moves towards taking full responsibility for the country's security. Afghanistan is set to take over security from foreign troops by 2014. At least 3 Afghan civilians were killed alongside 17 insurgents in a NATO air strike targeting senior Taliban commanders in the south on Sunday. The US military later apologized for the civilian deaths. At least eight people were killed after two explosions rocked Kandahar on Monday. On Tuesday, an Afghan soldier fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a French and Afghan outpost, but missed the target. The soldier has fled and has yet to be caught. Following the barrage of complaints of election fraud, a provincial head of the Independent Election Commission was arrested on Monday. The officer was accused by candidates and observers of taking bribes in exchange for important election posts. Peace talks were supposedly underway between Taliban reps, Afghan officials and a Pakistani government delegation in Kabul this week aimed at setting the ground for negotiations on ending the Afghan war, although participants denied that the talks involved Afghan and Pakistani officials meeting with the Taliban, calling them instead "brainstorming sessions". NATO claimed that a Taliban leader and seven of his associates were killed in an air strike and ground operation on Wednesday, and that the Taliban "shadow governor" of a northwestern province was killed in a separate operation on the same day. On Thursday, a German soldier was killed in a suicide attack in a northern province. On Friday, a British soldier was killed in an explosion in the southern Helmand province and at least 15 people were killed in a separate bomb blast in a mosque in a northern town. Also on Friday, two other ISAF soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in the south; Taliban insurgents burned eight NATO supply trucks and killed six Afghan guards; one senior Taliban commander was captured with four others and one insurgent was killed in Kabul; and Afghan forces killed four suspects in a firefight in Kabul.
- Police in Bangladesh arrested three militants from the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in their continuing crackdown on militancy. Police claim that LeT followers have regrouped and are trying to launch fresh attacks.
- Fiji's former prime minister Chaudry was arrested on Friday for allegedly violating public emergency regulations that outlawed holding public meetings. Chaudry is thought to be a real contender to overthrow the current military government in the next election. The current President, who seized power in a 2006 coup, imposed the ban and scrapped plans for an election after saying conditions were not right.
- Three Thai soldiers were killed after an ambush by suspected Muslim separatists in south Thailand on Sunday. The soldiers were said to be patrolling a road near the Malaysian border when gunmen opened fired from a nearby hill. On Tuesday, at least three people were killed after an explosion hit a residential building north of Bangkok. On Wednesday at least four people were said to have been killed in drive-by shootings by separatist rebels in the south.
- Government troops continued their operations against militants in eastern Tajikistan resulting in the death of four soldiers, a police officer and two insurgents. Meanwhile, official press centres in the area are virtually closed and communication lines remain blocked making it extremely difficult for media representatives to get any information about the ongoing events. In retaliation, Tajik troops killed at least 5 rebels between Monday and Tuesday. On Thursday, a land mine blast killed six soldiers in an operation on the Afghan borders.
- Police in Sri Lanka have been ordered to arrest activists who put up posters that criticize the President's backing of a prison term for a former army chief who ran against him. The former army chief, once a national hero, was ordered to serve 30 months for corruption charges. Police have claimed that the order was intended to prevent posters from being placed in prohibited areas.
- Authorities in Indian Kashmir began scaling down security as part of its efforts to defuse tensions. More than 100 people have been killed since June. Kashmiris remain angry about the widely-hated security law that gives the military sweeping powers to search, arrest or shoot protesters that are still in place.
- Disturbing pictures of Nepali police carting off ballot boxes in Nepal, following the primary election held among some 80,000 Tibetan exiles to pick candidates for polls for a new parliament-in-exile and prime minister next year, have raised concern of continued repression of political activities by the Chinese. China objects to the election for a government in exile which it does not recognize.
- The offices of the Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) party in Kyrgyzstan were attacked on Wednesday after some 100 members of two local movements forced their way into the offices. The two movements had staged a protest in Bishkek's central square early that day. Kyrgyzstan is scheduled to hold an election on Sunday amid fears of increasing violence.
- South Korea's defense minister announced that his military would initiate a new and expanded propaganda war if provoked by the North and has reinstalled 11 sets of psychological warfare loudspeakers along the border. The North has warned that if undertaken, it will fire across the border and destroy the loudspeakers. The South also suggested that the North's nuclear programme has reached an "alarming level" and poses a serious threat to the South. North Korea confirmed on Friday that Kim Jong-Un, Kim Jong-Il's youngest son will succeed him as the next leader.
- The announcement of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner angered the Chinese authorities, who see Liu Xiaobo as a criminal. Liu Xiaobo is currently serving time in a Chinese prison for "incitement to subvert state power" and co-authoring Charter 08, a call for democratic reforms in the country. The Chinese warned that awarding Liu the prize would damage Sino-Norwegian relations. Liu is a long-time activist for human rights and democracy.
Central and North America
- An armed gang kidnapped at least 20 tourists in Mexico on Saturday near the resort city of Acapulco, in what is thought to be the latest bout of drug related violence in the country. On Saturday, assailants tossed a live grenade into a square in Monterrey, injuring 12 people.
- The controversial and notorious security contractor Blackwater (now renamed Xe) is said to have received a new contract in the $10 billion range. Two former Blackwater employees are currently on trial in the US for murdering civilians in Afghanistan, and in 2008, give Blackwater guards were charged with the deaths of 17 Iraqis civilians, which were ultimately dismissed. The group also has been charged with weapons export violations. The first civilian trial of a Guantanamo Bay detainee was delayed on Wednesday after the judge told prosecutors they could not call their star witness, because they had learned of his identity only through harsh interrogation at a secret CIA camp.
- The controversial and much protested "Ground Zero mosque" scheduled to be built in New York City turns out not to be a mosque after all, but a multi-faith community centre that includes a gym, playground and childcare area. It's Muslim prayer area does not even satisfy the stringent requirements for a sanctified mosque.
- The US State Department issued a travel alert to Europe on Sunday following the threats of a possible terrorist plot in several European countries.
- The US midterm elections are to become the most expensive in history, and nearly five times as much as the last Presidential election, at an estimated $5 billion. This is the first year in which all donation limits were removed, allowing corporations to get involved.
- A Canadian army captain convicted of shooting an unarmed Taliban fighter in Afghanistan after a battle avoided a jail term this week and instead will be kicked out of the Canadian forces. The killing has been dubbed a "mercy killing", citing that the Captain only shot the gravely wounded enemy to end his suffering as he believed he was not going to receive treatment from Afghan forces. Mercy killing is not a defense in Canada. The Supreme Court in Canada ruled on Friday that suspects in serious crimes do not have a right to consult their lawyer during a police interrogation, essentially reversing the Canadian Charter's right to counsel in specific cases.
South America
- Ecuador's President Correa vowed to punish and purge his enemies after last week's police rebellion. He suggested the axe would also swing towards opposition politicians whom he accused of attempting a coup. Days later, the government agreed to raise the pay of its police and armed forces by $35 million annually, calling the announcement a "coincidence". Debate has been ensuing over whether the police tried to kill the President during the riots or were simply protesting against pay cuts and conditions. On Wednesday it was announced that at least 46 police officers were detained for their alleged participation in the revolt.
- Former guerrilla Dilma Rousseff won the first-round Presidential election in the Brazilian polling with 46.7% of the votes, and will do battle in the October 31st runoff against Social Democrat Jose Serra who won just under 33% of the votes. Green party activist Marina Silva gained far higher than pollsters had expected with 19% of the vote.
- Bolivian President Evo Morales is said to have kneed a political opponent in the groin during a friendly football match of political rivals. A bodyguard of Morales tried to arrest the kneed opponent after the match, but he was quickly ordered to be released by the opposition leader.
Middle East
- The Palestinian leadership confirmed that it will not return to direct peace negotiations with the Israelis without an extension to the now-expired freeze on settlement construction, a move endorsed by the Arab League. The Israelis have begun deflecting blame for the breakdown of talks, with expectations of the Palestinians "to show some flexibility". The Syrian President said that the peace talks were only aimed at "bolstering domestic support" for Obama during a meeting with Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Two Israeli soldiers were convicted on Sunday of using a nine-year old Palestinian boy as a human shield during the three-week Gaza war in 2008-9. The soldiers will face prison sentences of up to three years. Israeli paramilitary border police killed a Palestinian on Sunday after he entered East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank without a permit. On Monday, arsonists, suspected to be radical Israeli settlers, damaged part of a Palestinian mosque in the West Bank, scrawling the word "revenge" in Hebrew on a wall. On Monday, a video of an Israeli soldier dancing around a blindfolded, bound prisoner provoked more anger from Palestinians. The Israeli army condemned the video, calling it an "isolated incident" and opened a criminal investigation on the matter on Tuesday. Many see this as the continued degrading treatment and mentality of the occupier in the country, remembering the degrading photos from an Israeli guard that surfaced on facebook in early August, among others. On Wednesday, Israeli PM Netanyahu announced he would push for legislation requiring all those who want to become Israeli citizens to pledge a loyalty oath to the "nation-state of the Jewish people" in an attempt to win back angry settlers. On Thursday, the Israeli military said it had carried out an air strike in the Gaza Strip against Palestinian militants planning an attack in Israel. Witnesses say the strike targeted a car traveling in the central Gaza Strip. The ICC is being urged to prosecute members of the Israeli defense force for its role in the Gaza flotilla killings, however, Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, meaning it can only be possible after a reference from the UN Security Council. On Friday Israel signed a deal with the US to buy $2.75 billion worth of radar-evading Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets. The F-35 is said to be the most-advanced fighter in the world.
- Hamas announced on Wednesday that it would retaliate against the Western-backed Palestinian Authority if it continued to take actions against their members in the West Bank. The PA has recently been cracking down on Islamist activists, with Hamas claiming that nearly 750 of its activists have been arrested since August 31st. On Friday, Israeli forces killed two senior Hamas militants in the West Bank.
- Iran has detained several western "spies" it claims were behind the recent cyber attacks on its nuclear programme. The number of jailed students in Iran has been reported to be the highest in decades with over 73 students currently being held in jails over their activism. Student opposition to the government report that the government has been using a new militarization strategy on campuses to stop opposition political activism there. On Thursday, at least four police officers and one bystander were killed after a gunman opened fire on a police patrol in Iran's Kurdish region. On Friday, Iranian security forces killed two people suspected in Thursday's attack.
- Britain's deputy ambassador to Yemen and her colleagues survived a rocket propelled grenade attack on their car on Wednesday. It is thought that the attack was carried out by al-Qaeda.
- Tensions have increased in Lebanon and Syria after Syria issued arrest warrants for more than 30 people accused of misleading the investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former PM in 2005. Syria's wanted list includes senior Lebanese judges, politicians and journalists who are said to have been "false witnesses".
- Iraq postponed its first full census in more than two decades until December on Sunday to avoid triggering open conflict between Arabs and Kurds locked in a fight over oil-rich land in the north. The survey is crucial because it will determine who has the greatest percentage of the total population in the region, and can therefore claim it as its own under the constitution. Two senior security officials in the north were arrested in connection with a plot to bomb the provincial government building on Sunday. Also on Sunday, gunmen using silenced weapons– increasingly the weapon of choice of insurgents–opened fire on a police checkpoint, killing one policeman in Falluja. At least one person was killed in Baghdad in a roadside bombing that targeted a deputy minister in the Iraqi government on Monday, at least one other person was killed in a separate bombing within the city and at least three people were killed in a bomb attack in Jalawlah. On Wednesday a civilian was wounded in a rocket attack in Kirkuk, while a roadside bomb targeting police patrol in a northern city wounded two policemen. On Friday, armed men in two boats wounded seven security guards when they attacked a prison in Basra, causing a riot in the prison. Also on Friday, a policeman was killed by a sniper in Baghdad.
- Russian forces killed as many as five people as they besieged two housing blocks in Daghestan on Saturday in a counterterrorism raid.
- The leader of Russia's opposition Yabloko party was detained along with several environmental activists after protesting in the North Caucasus. The protesters were later released by police without charge. Russia announced on Thursday that it had successfully tested a long-range missile seen as a mainstay of its nuclear forces, after a series of failures which had raised doubts about its viability.
- Roma and other migrants leaving France will soon be required to be fingerprinted, in an attempt to discourage them from coming back to France after being expelled. The fingerprinting is scheduled to begin October 15th, and will include anyone over the age of 12. Nearly a million protesters demonstrated on Saturday, pressing President Sarkozy to drop plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. This was the third day of protests in a month. A French blogger who filmed himself burning a Qur'an and urinating on it to put out the flames will face charges of incitement to religious hatred on Tuesday. He faces up to five years in jail. France's highest court has approved the law banning full-facial veils in public. In six months time, women wearing the veil will face arrest and a $195 fine or "citizenship lessons", while a man who forces a woman to wear the veil will be fined $42,000 and serve up to a year in prison.
- The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders has gone on trial this week on charges of inciting anti-Muslim hatred. Wilders released a short film in 2008 that denounced the Qur'an as a fascist book, urging Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" passages. Wilders is appealing to have the case dismissed invoking freedom of speech.
- Bosnians went to the polls on Sunday to vote in general elections. Voters complained that the elections were dominated by issues of nationalism and ethnicity instead of the economy and necessary political reforms. Preliminary election results indicated that the current tripartite government is likely to remain deadlocked over Bosnia's future, with two of the leaders advocating unity and a third pushing for the country's breakup. The Bosnian state prosecutor indicted four Bosnian Serb police officers on Thursday on charges of mass killing, detention and torture during the 1992-5 war.
- Teachers in an eastern Ukrainian city complained this week that the ruling Party of Regions is putting pressure on them, and that it is no longer possible for any to become a school director and not be a member. Many parents of students complain that the Party has started using secondary schools for its election campaign with pictures of the local Party candidate on display.
- England and France may soon find themselves cooperating defensively on everything from nuclear warheads to transport aircraft, helicopters and aircraft carriers. The two countries are set to hold a summit in three weeks to discuss collaboration.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
ponder fodder...
I saw this quote at the end of an email today. I don't know much about the fellow who wrote it, but this little bit was worth thinking about.
"I look upon what is whole in you, not what seems to be lacking, and when
you learn to do the same, then the lack will disappear on its own. No
effort is required to dispel an illusion, but it takes great effort
indeed to deny what is and has always been true. This is why you are so
tired, because you have used the power of creation to deny the power of
-James Twyman
I have named the fireplace squirrel "Ralphie." He hangs his head down from the hole in the flue like a periscope to keep a watch for fresh sunflower seeds. I need to take a picture of the cats...they sit in front of the fireplace like they are watching television.
Dreary, chilly, foggy and rainy today.


text:
- Published: 30 Sep 2020
- Bondi...
- From KyleNB 4 Photos
- 805 Views
Rate this photo
(1 vote)
North Bondi
0 - 1 ft - NNW winds @ 7 knots Mostly sunny. 23.5°C, water 19°C
0.5 - 1 ft - NNW winds @ 7 knots Mostly sunny. 23.5°C, water 19°C
Manly - Fairy Bower
0.5 - 1 ft - N winds @ 3 knots Mostly sunny. °C, water 19°C
Nick Carroll: If You're Waiting for a Custom Surfboard Order, Get Ready To Keep on Waiting
A surfboard blank and materials shortage has hit Australia
From Air Shows To Death-Defying Code Red Tahiti and Everything in Between – Nathan Fletcher Tells His Story on Jamie Mitchell's Podcast
The Late Drop Podcast
Kelly's Take on the Machado High-Five, Pumping Mundaka, & Dane Reynolds in Crappy Waves
This Week In Surfing: Ten Things from Surfing & the Internet on the Week That Was November 20 2020
Padang Comes to Life as Late Season Swell hits Bali
Golden hour at perfect Padang Padang - it's been a good week to be in Bali... Photo: Childs
Daydream The Indo Season with Riley Laing & Crew's Swell Expedition
Offshore barrels and dreamy setups


text:
Pink Leather
Hurry! Only 1 Left in Stock!
Guía de Tallas
Recibe tu pedido post COVID-19
Hurry! Only 1 Left in Stock!
Guía de Tallas
Enjoy the benefits of registering:
Have a question? You may find an answer in our FAQs.
But you can also contact us:
Call Us: +34 965 683 950
Mon-Fri: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Email Us: firstname.lastname@example.com
Free shipping on all orders, and free first change and return free.
Credit Card: Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express. The total will be charged to your card when the order is shipped.
PayPal: Shop easily online without having to enter your credit card details on the website.
You can return any item purchased on Ballenero within 14 days of the delivery date.
Do you want to add products to your personal account?


text:
|Pin It
Part Number:IBD-S-8759
Item Size:1.5" round sticker
Filigree Skeleton Orange Sticker
These Halloween round stickers boast an ornate orange background adorned with an elegant white skull surrounded by your personalized text to turn them into return address labels or gift tags!
Ideal For:Halloween Return Address Labels
When Will I Get My Order?View Delivery Times
Have Questions About Our Products & Services?View Our FAQs
Font Shown:Engravers Roman
Font Color:Black
Paper Thickness:1.5" Round 100% Recycled Stickers
Printing Method:Digital Press
Min. Order Quantity:60
Delivery Time
To determine your delivery time, add the ground shipping time to your location, as shown on the map below, to the listed processing time. To speed up your delivery, you can select rush processing(details below in the form) and/or upgrade shipping to next day or second day air during the checkout process. If you have requested a proof, the processing time listed begins after you have approved your proof.
Processing Time:Approximately 4-5 business days
Ships From:North Carolina


text:
November 30, 2011
At A Glance
CHICAGO—Physicians who have a financial interest in imaging equipment are more likely to refer their patients for potentially unnecessary imaging exams, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"Self-referral," whereby a non-radiologist physician orders imaging exams and directs patients to imaging services in which that physician has a financial interest, is a concerning trend in medicine and a significant driver of healthcare costs.
"Self-referred medical imaging has been shown to be an important contributor to escalating medical costs," said Ben E. Paxton, M.D., radiology resident at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
"Attempts to date at reducing healthcare spending on medical imaging have come in the form of across-the-board cuts that threaten to reduce access to vital imaging services," said the paper's senior author, Ramsey Kilani, M.D., associate faculty member at Duke. "We believe patients would be better served if we instead eliminated underlying drivers of unnecessary imaging spending."
Between 2000 and 2005, ownership or leasing of MRI equipment by non-radiologists grew by 254 percent, compared to 83 percent among radiologists. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the proportion of non-radiologists billing for in-office imaging more than doubled from 2000 to 2006. During that same time period, private office imaging utilization rates by non-radiologists who control patient referral grew by 71 percent.
For the study, the researchers set out to determine if utilization of lumbar spine MRI differs, depending on the financial interest of the physician ordering the exam. They reviewed 500 consecutive diagnostic lumbar spine MRI exams ordered by two orthopedic physician groups serving the same community. The first group had financial interest in the MRI equipment used (FI group), and the second had no financial interest in the equipment (NFI group).
For each group, the researchers analyzed the number of abnormalities per positive scan, the mean age of the patients and the negative exam result rate.
The results of the study showed that among the 500 MRI exams (250 per group), between the two groups there was no significant difference in the number of abnormalities per positive scan. However, the mean age among patients in the FI group was 49.6, compared to 56.9 for the NFI group.
There were 86 percent more negative scans in the FI group than the NFI group, indicating a significantly higher number of potentially unnecessary exams. Of the 163 negative exams, 106 belonged to the FI group, compared to 57 for the NFI group. In the FI group, 42 percent of patients referred for exams had negative scans, compared to 23 percent of the NFI group.
"Orthopedic surgeons with financial interest in the equipment had a much higher rate of negative lumbar spine MRIs," Dr. Paxton said. "In addition, they were much more likely to order MRI exams on younger patients. This suggests that there is a different clinical threshold for ordering MRI exams in the setting of financial incentivization."
Dr. Paxton added that increased imaging utilization due to self-referral may not yield medically useful information and may place the patient at risk for potential adverse consequences.
"It is important for patients to be aware of the problem of self-referral and to understand the conflict of interest that exists when their doctor orders an imaging exam and then collects money on that imaging exam," he said.
Coauthors are Matthew Lungren, M.D., Sin-Ho Jung, Ph.D., and Peter Kranz, M.D.
Paxton Figure 1: MR image of the lumbar potion of the spine.
Paxton Figure 2: MR image of the lumbar potion of the spine.
Paxton Chart 1:
Paxton Chart 2:
Paxton Chart 3:
Siemens Figure 1: Siemens Magnetom Trio MRI System.
Siemens Figure 2: Siemens Magnetom Trio, A Tim System 3T.
Siemens Figure 3: Siemens Magnetom Trio, A Tim System 3T.
Siemens Figure 4: Siemens Magnetom Avanto 1.5 T.
Siemens Figure 5: Siemens Magnetom Avanto 1.5 T.
Siemens Figure 6: Siemens Magnetom Avanto 1.5 T.


text:
Call Us: 1-866-330-1272
E-mail: email@example.com
We are a balloon distributor. Our balloons are not inflated when delivered.
Bargain Balloons.Over 16000 Balloon Designs in Stock.
Please specify ID of cart you want to transfer
Please type new ID
Please specify Qty
Curling Ribbon
Bargain BalloonsBalloons for Less
Balloon Accessory Size: 500 Yards
Make: Berwick
Other: 500 Yards. Enough for 250-350 balloons.
Wholesale Discount Price:
Balloon Accessory Size: 250 Yards
Print: Double Sided
Make: Berwick
Other: 250 Yards. Enough for 125-175 balloons.
Wholesale Discount Price:
Balloon Accessory Size: 500
Make: Qualatex
Other: String and Lines.
Wholesale Discount Price:
Size: "
Print: No Print
Make: CTI
Other: 100 Per Bag. Precut to 7.3 Feet Per Roll
Wholesale Discount Price:
An email will be sent to you once the product is back in stock in the quantity you need. Your email will not be used for any other purpose.
Please type your email below:
Please specify how many of this product you need:
Unlike many other
companies we do respond to all your balloon related e-mails and we will do it in a timely mannner.
Please never hesitate to email us at
If you do not receive a quick response to your balloon related question please first check your junk mail.
Our response could have ended up
in your junk mail folder. Otherwise please send us another e-mail which should
include your phone number. For some reason our e-mail is not getting through to
Helium Balloon Chart
Common Sizes listed
Canada's Lowest Priced Balloon Company
Canada's Discount Balloons Company
Balloons for Less
Mylar Balloons, Foil Balloons, Latex Balloons and Balloon
Accessories for less.
This site is owned by Special
Buys Co. Inc.Our Helium Balloon Websites include.
www.bargainballoons.ca www.specialbuysinc.com
At Bargain Balloons Canada (Operated in Canada by Special
Buys Inc) we strive to offer the lowest possible Canadian
wholesale prices on Foil Balloons (mylar balloons, metallic
balloons) and other balloon accessories. We are able to do this because we
purchase in large volume and therefore can pass the savings onto you. We
also limit our own expenses which means not printing catalogs and not taking
phone orders. Your Canadian mylar balloon order is shipped from Toronto,
Canada. That means no customs fees etc... at the border. We look
forward to shipping you your first balloon order or shipping you your second,
third....hundredth etc.... balloon order.
Helium Balloons for Less.
Savings of 20-60% off normal
wholesale everyday.
The design of our Canadian website and all logos are
the property of Special Buys Clothing Company Inc.
Mylar Balloons, Foil Balloons, Latex Balloons and Balloon
Accessories for less.
Canada's Discount Balloons Company
Balloons for Less
[ Terms and Conditions ] [ Privacy
] [ Balloons Lists


text:
What's the Point?
Earlier this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would consider eliminating the extra point in favor of a revised scoring system. Peter King believes this is long overdue and advocates a change. Robert Klemko disagrees and thinks it'd be a knee-jerk decision to abolish the PAT. Their arguments are below.
I was wrong this week. I wrote the extra point is the biggest waste of time in American sport. Actually, the intentional walk is worse. But that's it. That's the only thing worse than the 45 seconds of clock between the touchdown and the TV timeout that was wasted five times per game in the 2013 NFL season on a play that has become the most automatic thing about football. That's three and a half minutes in every game, wasted.
Why I think the PAT should be re-invented immediately:
1. Kickers have made it too automatic. In the past three years, kickers have missed five, six and seven extra points, respectively. That's 18 misses out of 3,709 tries—a 99.5 percent accuracy rate. Out of every 200 extra points, one is missed.
2. I do love football tradition. I'm the guy, remember, who wrote a pro football history book back in the nineties and got ripped for having Don Hutson and Otto Graham 1-2 on the list of greatest players of all time. You can have a respect for tradition and still know when change is logical. And right now, change is overdue on the PAT.
3. Recall the last time an extra point was exciting, or even remotely interesting. I can't.
When the current iteration of football scoring was last changed significantly, in 1912, the touchdown was valued at six points and the "try," or point after touchdown, one. In those days, the kicker was a rank amateur compared to everyone else on the field, and the PAT was always in doubt at different levels of football. When the NFL was invented in 1920, this line of scoring was adopted: six for a touchdown, one for the extra point.
It's good ... again! Officials made this signal on extra points 1,178 times in 2013—out of 1,183 attempts. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
So the PAT has been alive in its its current form for 102 years. Are we sentenced to live with it forever? Can we not change a rule that clearly has outlived its usefulness?
Or, put another way: If you were inventing the sport of football today, and you were putting a scoring system into play, would you adopt a rule for scoring that was 99.5% efficient? Would you adopt a rule for a highly competitive game that was absolutely uncompetitive?
I raised this point about Stephen Gostkowski this week in The Season. Gostkowski has made 360 straight PATs, dating back to the final game of his rookie season, in 2006. He last missed four months before the Patriots traded for Randy Moss. Seven years ago. In that time, four-and-a-half hours of Patriots football has been played with Gostkowski attempting and making extra points (360 times 45 seconds per PAT try). What a waste.
So, what should the NFL do? I'm not in favor of what Roger Goodell suggested to Rich Eisen this week, that every touchdown be awarded seven points, and if you choose to go for two and make it, you finish with eight points—but if you miss, you only get six. That's penalizing a team for trying a potentially exciting play, the two-point conversion. What I'd do:
1. Make every touchdown worth six points.
2. Give teams a choice on the conversion. The one-point conversion would be a kick. The two-point conversion would be from the 2-yard line, where it currently is, run as it currently is when teams choose to go for two after a touchdown.
3. But the PAT would be moved back. I am open to any number of suggestions here. My preference would be a true challenge. Say the average spot of a missed field goal in 2013 is from 44 yards out. In 2014, then, the spot for the extra point would be the 27-yard line, necessitating a 44-yard kick to convert the extra point. But I am flexible here. Anything with the ball spotted at the 25 or farther would be okay with me. I just want to make the kick non-automatic.
Sorry, King. You're Wrong
Completely disagree with Peter King's take on extra points? So does Robert Klemko, who argues it would be short-sighted to eliminate them. FULL STORY
I don't want to fiddle with the tradition of the game. I love tradition. I wish there would be more mud bowls and Charger powder-blues and crew-cutted tight ends. I do not advocate change for change's sake. But the extra point just doesn't make sense anymore. It's not going to ruin the game to change it, the same way changing the kickoff spot by five yards didn't lessen the greatness of the game.
I've heard scores of suggestions, many of them smart and good, about the PAT on Twitter in the past day or so. It's good to discuss the merits of the game you all love so much. All I ask, again, is this: If you were inventing a competitive sport like football all over again, would you include a play that is the most automatic in sports?
Now, head to Page 2 to hear Robert Klemko's retort...
Peter, I agree with you.
Extra points are gimmes, and the game would be immediately improved by narrowing the goal post, setting the kicks at an angle, moving back the extra point or eliminating it all together.
It's a non-play, and it's unnecessary in today's NFL. Even former Jets special teams coach Mike Westhoff grudgingly agrees.
"I don't like eliminating more special teams plays, and the declining importance of special teams is why I've turned down offers to go back to the NFL," Westhoff told me, "but if I were a head coach, I would not be opposed if they made that change. The kick doesn't matter anymore."
If the NFL eliminates the extra point, coaches likely won't have the option of going for one. (Elsa/Getty Images)
It's a fine and obvious point, but it doesn't take into account the long view. There are many precedents in football which illustrate why reactionary, knee-jerk rule changes are never the way to go.
Here's my favorite:
By 1940, the center-QB exchange had evolved from the center kicking the ball back with his heel, to rolling the ball on the ground back to the quarterback with one hand, to an elevated snap invented by John Heisman. In 1893 as coach of Buchtel College, Heisman taught his center to snap the ball in the air to accommodate his very tall quarterback of the time. Then, in 1940, Bears coach George Halas had an idea, which for all intents and purposes killed Heisman's gun. His center snapped the ball to the quarterback standing directly behind him, and in the NFL Championship that year the Bears put up 73 points on Washington, rushing for 381 yards and passing for 138. This would be the way football was played for as long as anybody could foresee.
And what might the NFL look like now if the decision-makers of yesteryear looked at their sport the same way those who would change the extra point today see things? Undoubtedly, they would have deemed the QB-center exchange too easy. By the late-1950s, with 20 years of 99% execution, what would have been the point of a snap? Why not just scrap the formalities and let the quarterback start with the ball in his hands? It would have sped up the game, and probably saved the necks of more than a few centers.
And if they had gone ahead and killed the snap, the consequences would have been endless.
Niners coach Red Hickey never would have introduced the modern shotgun in November of 1960 as a way of escaping a scary Colts pass rush. Tom Landry never would have improved on it with Dallas in the '70s, despite being mocked endlessly by a football community still stuck under center. We would know nothing of countless schematic innovations which led to the offenses of Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson, who thrive in diverse, shotgun-heavy attacks, borne of the patience of men who recognized decades ago that football strategy was in its infancy.
Suppose we take the same long view on extra points?
During the 2013 regular season, a little under half of the 69 two-point conversion attempts were successful, and in 2012, exactly half worked. When it was tried, it was always late in a game—only three times did teams go for two in the first half of games this season. Going for two points is a big risk when the average team scores 23.4 per game. Plus or minus two points constituted an even bigger risk in 1999, when the average team scored 20.8 per game.
It stands to reason the two-point conversion will become more and more enticing as rule changes such as the defenseless receiver rule and the constantly evolving safety bubble around the quarterback raise scoring every year. When Chip Kelly's offense at Oregon was scoring 50 points a game, he occasionally went for two in the first quarter, because why not? If your offense is above average, and the average offense converts 50% of the time, odds are your risk is going to be rewarded.
And if it isn't? Two points is still a drop in the bucket when you're scoring 50 points per game. Plus, as a safeguard, Kelly would often line up in a gadget formation, and revert to a kicking formation if the defensive front wasn't conducive to the plan.
"I do think that offenses will go for two more as scoring rises, and that really does make the extra point situation more crucial," Westhoff said. "The problem is, coaches are still stuck in the old thing a little bit. They ignore the odds and play it safe."
If the NFL were to continue on its path to higher and higher scoring, one can assume coaches will eventually take Kelly's college strategies to heart. And such operations would be impossible if the NFL did something short-sighted like, say, eliminate the extra point, or ask teams to declare whether they're going for one or two after a touchdown, which would have to be the case in the event of the extra point kick being pushed back.
I proposed this theory to Westhoff, who agreed.
"I like it. I do think that offenses will go for two more as scoring rises, and that really does make the extra point situation more crucial," he said, "The problem is, coaches are still stuck in the old thing a little bit. They ignore the odds and play it safe."
Indeed, instead of coaches attempting more conversions as NFL scoring rose at the turn of the century, they attempted fewer. Those brave '99ers called for 80 two-point conversions that season, 11 more than NFL teams attempted in 2013. No doubt, this is evidence of the NFL's group-think malady, which holds that widespread innovation is preceded by a lone boatsman riding against the current. It will take a maverick—a Heisman or a Hickey or a Landry—to buck the NFL trend and make the extra point an exciting proposition once again.
Until then, let's be patient.


text:
A beautiful hyper-realistic painting by artist Omar Ortiz (nsfw). Such an incredible use of paint to create depth of focus and the reflection of light on skin.
via thisiscolossal.com
|Marilyn Monroe
|Marilyn Monroe
|Elvis Presley
|Audrey Hepburn
|Statue of Liberty
|The fetus cake
|Muppet cake (threadcakes.com)
|This edible chocolate couch by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich (odditycentral.com)
|Bed cake (threadcakes.com)
|Shower cake (threadcakes.com)
|Kitchen cake (threadcakes.com)
|Cushion cake (threadcakes.com)
|Knitting cake (threadcakes.com)
|Twilight cake (cakecentral.com)
|iPhone cake
|Egypt cake
|Dino cake?
|Brain cake (instructables.com)
|Hand cake (instructables.com)
|Octopus cake created by Karen Portaleo of Highland Bakery (foododdity.com)
|Spag bol cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Baby cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Wolf cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Swimming pool cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Cookie cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Claw cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Turkey cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Skull cake (scaryjane.com)
|Sewing machine cake (from smallthingsiced.co.uk)
|Zombie dog cake (Flikr)
|Sandwich cake (Ace of Cakes)
|Burger cake (cakecentral.com)
|Baby shower cake
|Underwear cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Camera cake (weheartit.com)
|Baby cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Toilet cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Ipod cake (debbiedoescakes.net)
|Fertility cake
|Knitting cake (cakecentral.com)
|Bon Voyage
|Chinese noodle box cake (cakecentral.com)
|Rainbow cake. made by Pip Lincolne
|Turkey cake (cakewrecks.com)
|Sesame Street cake


text:
Replacements named for All-Star rosters
Romo among those stepping in for injured players, unavailable pitchers
Giants closer Sergio Romo has traveled a long road during his baseball career, a 28th-round Draft pick who played at four different colleges before becoming a postseason hero last October. Now he can add "All-Star" to his unlikely list of accomplishments.
Romo was one of four players added to the National League All-Star team on Sunday, joining Pirates reliever Mark Melancon, Cardinals reliever Edward Mujica and Braves catcher Brian McCann. Orioles starter Chris Tillman, Royals closer Greg Holland and A's closer Grant Balfour were added to the American League squad. They all replace pitchers and one injured player who are unavailable for Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York.
"To be honest, I still feel like I weaseled my way into the big leagues," Romo said. "Everything that's happened, I feel very fortunate.
"It's a very proud moment. I never saw myself making an All-Star team. Now that it's happening, I'm very proud, and I'm proud that my teammates congratulated me and let me know that I'm deserving. To know that they feel I'm deserving, that's what's most gratifying about it."
Tillman is the substitute for the Tigers' Justin Verlander, who started against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon and therefore could not pitch on Tuesday. Holland was named to replace Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, who started Sunday, and Balfour, coincidentally, replaces teammate Bartolo Colon on the AL roster, with Colon unavailable to pitch Tuesday after starting Sunday's game against the Red Sox.
McCann was added to the roster to replace NL Final Vote winner Freddie Freeman, who injured his thumb on Saturday, giving the Senior Circuit an extra catcher with the Cardinals' Yadier Molina injured.
With the addition of five first-time All-Stars, this year's rosters feature a record 38 newcomers, surpassing the total of 35 from the 2011 game at Arizona.
Romo has racked up 21 saves and posted a 2.86 ERA for All-Star skipper Bruce Bochy. Last year, Romo recorded the final out in nine of the Giants' 11 postseason victories, as the club won its second World Series championship in three years.
Melancon gives the Pirates five All-Stars, the club's most since 1972, when a Bucs contingent including Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell made the trip to Atlanta. The 28-year-old has excelled as a setup man for fellow All-Star Jason Grilli. Melancon owns an NL-best 0.81 ERA, holding batters to a .193 average and striking out 46 in 44 1/3 innings.
"He's been almost automatic in the eighth inning for us," said Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington, who acquired Melancon in a trade with the Red Sox this offseason.
McCann has rebounded well from a tough 2012 and now is an All-Star for the seventh time despite beginning the season on the disabled list. Since debuting on May 6, he has hit .291 with 12 home runs, 32 RBIs and a .910 OPS.
"Freddie's carried us," McCann said. "It's unfortunate that he won't be able to play in the game. I'm happy to be going in his place. I'm glad someone in this clubhouse got to go in his place, but I feel bad for him that he won't be able to enjoy it on the field."
With Tillman's inclusion, the Orioles now have five All-Stars, their most since Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and Roberto Alomar led a group of five to Cleveland in 1997. Tillman is 11-3 this season, with a 3.95 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 111 2/3 innings.
"It's huge. We were all just as excited as he was when we found out today," said Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis, another All-Star. "The guy's worked hard all year. He's been a guy that we really depend on, a guy that's really been a horse for us."
Holland will join two teammates, outfielder Alex Gordon and catcher Salvador Perez, in New York. In his first season as a closer, he has racked up 22 saves, with a 1.80 ERA and a whopping 60 strikeouts in 35 innings.
"It's exciting," Holland said. "I thought a lot about it leading up to it and I didn't get in but I was so happy for Salvy and Gordo that it was kind of easy to move on from."
In his 10th big league season out of Australia, Balfour is an All-Star for the first time.
"Balf deserves to be an All-Star as well," manager Bob Melvin said, "and thank goodness he is."
The 35-year-old has notched 25 saves, with a streak of 43 consecutive conversions going back to last year. His outing on Sunday against the Red Sox dropped his ERA to 1.63.
"I'm relieved. It's definitely a great honor to be going," Balfour said. "It's one of those things, each and every year, you'd like to be on the team. It hasn't worked out that way. I feel like I've had some good years, but things have to go right and go your way sometimes, and it's just an honor now to be named to it, and I'm very happy to cross it off the list."
The final phase of All-Star Game voting will again have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans will vote exclusively online at MLB.com via the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining the recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
The 2013 All-Star Game will be played at Citi Field on Tuesday. Come to MLB.com for extensive online coverage of the All-Star Week festivities.
The 84th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network and SiriusXM also will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.


text:
The group meets behind the shop and is led by experienced local runners who know all of the best routes – A variety of distances wind around the beautiful surrounding communities of Los Altos – All paces and abilities welcome!
- This event has passed.
(Currently Postponed) Group Run: Community Led
November 23 @ 6:00 am - 7:30 am
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 6:00 am on Saturday, repeating indefinitely
An event every week that begins at 6:00 am on Monday and Wednesday, repeating indefinitely


text:
Welcome to OneXRoot.com!
We are a team of dedicated HTC One X rooting experts here to provide you with the best online video tutorials so you can easily root your HTC One X, install new ROMs, and a whole lot more.
New to rooting Android smartphones? Please see our One X Root Guide first.
Please subscribe to our e-mail list (it's free) to stay updated on the latest HTC One X rooting news. We alert you once or twice a week with the best HTC One X news of the week and we don't share your e-mail with anyone else.
Max Lee, founder of OneXRoot.com


text:
Excerpt From: "A Conspiracy of Cells: One Woman's Immortal Legacy and the Medical Scandal It Caused"
by Michael Gold
© 1986 Michael Gold
Henrietta Lacks
1: Special Delivery
Jim Duff was carrying an odd little suitcase as he stepped out of the helicopter. It was a box of molded styrofoam, like a small ice chest you might take to a softball game to keep a six-pack cool. Except that this chest was made of thicker, more serious looking stuff.
Walter Nelson-Rees knew what was inside. It was the reason he had come out to the Berkeley heliport to meet Duff. The two men shook hands, and Nelson-Rees noticed that Duff was a bit edgy.
"We'd better go get a drink," said Duff.
When they had driven the few blocks to Oakland and found a bar, Duff gingerly placed the box onto the floor beneath their table and started his pitch. "Walter," he said in a quiet, earnest tone, "these cells are ... different. And you're going to have to handle them ... differently."
Of course the cells are different, thought Nelson- Rees. When had a bureaucrat from the National Cancer Institute ever flown from Washington, D.C., to California to personally deliver a chest full of dry ice and malignant tumor cells? There had been plenty of shipments over the years-hundreds, in fact-but air freight had always sufficed. The National Cancer Institute trusted the airlines, and when the airlines got the packages to Oakland, it trusted Nelson-Rees to handle the rest.
Tall, with a sharp nose and thin lips, Walter Anthony Nelson-Rees had a slightly aristocratic look about him and a manner that suggested he was sure of everything he did. He operated one of the best cell banks in the country, if not the best, and seemed quite aware of that. The officials of the National Cancer Institute knew it too. In fact, Nelson-Rees's cell bank existed largely to serve researchers working under the aegis of the institute. They were the bigshots, some of the best scientific minds in the country, and they needed the best weapons they could get to fight "The War."
"The War on Cancer," as the newspapers called it. The year was 1973. Richard Nixon wanted to be remembered as the president who brought cancer to its knees, and the National Cancer Institute, lavishly endowed, was his war department.
Yes, the institute wanted only the best for its boys, the choicest cuts of cancerous tissues from which they might extract the secrets of the disease, its cause and its cure. Nelson-Rees was the supply man. Cells from any organ taken from patients of any age, any race, either sex -- you name it, he had it. When a researcher managed to get a new kind of cell growing in a culture dish, a cell that looked as though it could be useful for cancer experiments, chances are the institute would have a sample sent to Nelson-Rees.
He was as fastidious as The Odd Couple's Felix Unger, which was the perfect recommendation for someone in charge of nurturing sometimes delicate cultures, keeping their identities straight, and protecting them from ... well, from anything unexpected. Nelson-Rees complained regularly to maintenance workers at his lab about their inability to get the air pristine, free of dust and microorganisms. And few of those who saw it will ever forget the scene following Nelson-Rees's discovery that a technician had used a hallway in the "clean section" of the cell bank to fold up his parachute after hours. "His spore-infested parachute!" wailed Nelson-Rees.
That's why he was one of the trusted keepers of the cells. He was a perfectionist.
Yet here was Duff, straight from a transcontinental flight with his cancerous carryon luggage, going on about how special these latest cells were and how careful Nelson- Rees was to be. "You're not to do anything with these, Walter, unless you get a prior okay from us. Just thaw them out, grow up a few separate populations, and store them away." Jim Duff was the man who watched over Nelson-Rees's lab for the institute. He was a natural bureaucrat with a bureaucrat's instinct to cover his rear flank. But he was also a friend to Nelson-Rees, who therefore nodded politely as he sipped his vodka and tonic.
"This is very important, Walter. There's more to it than just science." Duff paused to let the message sink in.
Inside the styrofoam case, within sealed plastic flasks, floating in a red nutrient bath at room temperature, some of the cells were growing and multiplying as the two men spoke. In a separate refrigerated compartment, duplicates of the active cells sat motionless in tiny glass bottles, suspended in a frozen state. There were six distinct cultures in all, a six-pack of human tumor cells, six new weapons for "The War."
And Duff was right; they were different. For one thing, they had come from the Soviet Union.
Richard Nixon not only dreamed of curing cancer, he also hoped to take the chill off America's relationship with the Russians. Toward both ends he negotiated an agreement with Leonid Brezhnev in May of 1972 that called for the two nations to cooperate in biomedical research. Soviet scientists were keenly interested in "The War," particularly any recent progress that their American counterparts, who were thought to be at least several years ahead, were willing to share. So in November the first delegation of American cancer researchers traveled to Moscow to present their Russian colleagues with, among other things, a set of thirty viruses. There were rat viruses and hamster viruses and wooly monkey viruses and gibbon ape viruses, all of which had been found to induce cancer in these animals.
By studying viruses that caused cancer in animals, researchers hoped to find out something about analogous viruses that might cause human cancer. In fact in the early 1970s, almost everyone who counted at the National Cancer Institute seemed certain that in only a few years someone on their payroll would find the virus responsible for cancer in human beings. So far, though, all they had turned up were viruses that produced cancer in animal cells. Even those few isolated from human cells turned out to be animal viruses that had somehow found their way into human tissue but were incapable of triggering cancer there.
Undaunted, the institute pushed ahead, spending $60 million a year in the search for the human tumor virus. Competition was stiff, to say the least. For to find the virus that causes human cancer would open the way to a vaccine, a shot, like the miracle vaccination that had been immunizing people against the plague of polio for the last few decades. Cancer would be on its way to extinction, and a Nobel Prize would be the least an appreciative world could do for the scientist who made it possible. The high-pressure race had already led to several premature claims of victory in the United States. One of the most recent "winners" of the Human Cancer Virus Sweepstakes even received official congratulations from Richard Nixon after the good news was leaked to the press. Some months later the alleged agent was determined to be another animal virus -- this one a mouse virus -- and the race was on again.
In any case, the National Cancer Institute figured it wouldn't hurt to give the Russians a few of these animal viruses. The collection was all done up in handsome gold lettering and presented with much pomp. It was such a hit among the Russian scientists that they felt they had to give the Americans something special in return. What was special about the cultures of human cancer cells delivered by the Russians a few weeks later was that all six had viruses growing within them, viruses that the Soviets suspected were the causes of the malignancies.
Well, as they say in diplomatic circles, it was quite something. Richard Nixon's scientific delegates were unanimously skeptical that the Russians, with their primitive equipment and lax laboratory techniques, could have come up with even one cell line that contained a genuine human cancer virus, much less six of them. No, it was too much to believe. And yet there they were, six cultures of cancer cells taken from six different patients, each culture carrying some kind of virus. Quite something. "My God, suppose they somehow stumbled onto it?" the Americans asked each other. It was simply too potentially valuable to ignore. Besides, even the purest of cynics on the American team knew there was more at stake here. These were Russians, this was detente, there were political ramifications. The Americans smiled and thanked the Russians. They packed the cells into their suitcases and brought them back home.
A couple of weeks later, Walter Nelson-Rees received a letter from the institute saying that samples of some virus-laden Russian cells, received in connection with the biomedical exchange program, would soon be delivered to his cell bank. Only four other American scientists had been given samples of the cells, and only they were authorized to experiment with them, the letter explained. As for Nelson-Rees, he was to keep some of the cells growing and to freeze the others as a safeguard against loss. The letter concluded: "No one is to be provided with these materials, or with any data acquired using these cultures, unless specific authorization has been obtained .... Dr. James Duff expects to visit you on January 10, 1973. He will hand carry the cultures to insure safe delivery."
Nelson-Rees thought it improbable that the viruses in these cells would prove to be human cancer agents. He was, however, pleased with himself and his lab. Once again the bigshots had come to his tidy cloakroom to check their fanciest hats.
When they had drained their drinks, Duff picked up the Styrofoam case and followed Nelson-Rees to the car. It was about nine o'clock in the evening. They drove through Oakland's harbor district to the Naval Biosciences compound. It was here, through a confusing web of agreements between government agencies and the School of Public Health of the University of California at Berkeley, that Nelson-Rees operated his cell bank. Before they entered the clean section where the cell culture work was done, where floors as well as counter tops gleamed like mirrors, Nelson-Rees asked Duff to remove his jacket and don a white lab coat. Then he handed him a pair of white nylon booties to keep the street dust on Duff's shoes from dirtying the floors.
Nelson-Rees recorded the arrival of the cultures in a big black logbook. He put the plastic flasks in a tall aluminum cabinet that looked like an oversized refrigerator but in fact was the incubator, where cells in culture grew in a tropical environment of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The tiny glass bottles went into a cylindrical freezer of stainless steel -- about four feet in diameter and five feet tall -- that was filled with liquid nitrogen at 300 degrees below zero. Nelson-Rees slammed the lid shut, forcing a cloud of cold, white vapor into the room, and turned to Duff.
Walter Nelson-Rees's obsessions went far beyond nylon booties. "In order to run a successful cell bank that stores thousands of different tissue cultures, that grows up and sends out as many as a dozen samples a day to researchers all over the country -- to do that," Nelson-Rees often explained, "one needs to know what one is working with. One has to know which cell is which." Identification, the art and science of being able to recognize the subtle differences between cells, was his stock-in-trade. All of which is to say that he could no more leave six unidentified cell cultures in his deep freeze and incubator than Felix Unger could sneeze into his hands.
A few weeks after Jim Duff told him not to do anything with the Russian cells, Nelson-Rees disobeyed orders. He sent samples of each culture to Ward Peterson, a colleague at the Child Research Center in Detroit, who specialized in performing certain biochemical tests. This was always the first step in his routine check of anything that came into the bank. While waiting for Peterson's results, Nelson-Rees examined the cells' chromosomes, the rodlike structures inside each cell's nucleus that carryall its genetic information. After several days of gazing through a microscope at scores of slides, he had convinced himself that indeed, these cells carried human chromosomes; they were human cells. If someone had said to him at that point, "Well of course the chromosomes are human. The Russians said they were all human cells," Nelson-Rees would have nodded and replied, "Mmm, of course. But one must be sure about these things."
The cells were from human patients, all right, but he had noticed something odd. Among its many chromosomes, every human cell usually has two that determine an individual's sex. The sex chromosomes come in two varieties, one shaped roughly like the letter X, the other like a Y. If a person's cells have two X chromosomes apiece, that person is a female. If they carry one X and one Y, the person is a male. What Nelson -Rees noticed was that there were no Y chromosomes among any of the Russian cells. How strange if by chance all six cultures happened to come from women. Of course, it was well known to tissue culture experts that cells growing for a long time in a laboratory environment could simply lose chromosomes now and then. Indeed, the Y seemed particularly vulnerable to getting lost in the shuffle of division. Possibly there were some males among the original Soviet cultures whose Y chromosomes had been lost along the way; that would explain things.
Still, it bothered him.
Peterson's results began coming in about a month later. He had been analyzing the cells' enzymes, catalysts that speed up chemical reactions within the body. While some enzymes are standard equipment for human beings -- nearly everyone, for instance, has the enzyme galactose-I-phosphate uridyl transferase that helps break down a sugar found in milk -- certain ones appear only in small segments of the human population. These enzymes, once observed and catalogued, can be used along with other characteristics to tell cells apart.
In the first Russian cell line he tested, Peterson found an enzyme called G6PD type A, a variant of a standard enzyme that helps to metabolize glucose, another basic sugar. The form of G6PD in most people moves relatively slowly through an "electrophoretic gel," a kind of Jell-O smear hooked up to a battery or transformer. Electrophoresis indirectly measures a chemical's electric charge by testing how fast a certain voltage can drag it through this gel. The point is that in addition to the common, slow-moving form of G6PD, there is another variety that moves faster, presumably because it has a stronger charge. It was known from studies of many cells that this variant, called type A, occurs almost exclusively in black people. And even among blacks it appears in just one out of three people. Peterson's discovery of this uncommon enzyme in one of the Russian cells was not in itself unusual; there are blacks in the Soviet Union. What was unusual was his finding it in the second cell line as well, and, as the months went on, in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.
"It is somewhat unexpected that all six cultures would lack the male Y chromosome," Nelson-Rees said to himself. "It is even more unlikely that all six cell cultures would by chance be from blacks. And the odds that all would also just happen to have the rare form of the G6PD enzyme are .... Well, it's almost impossible."
He decided to notify the bureaucrats in Washington.
Jim Duff, long-distance, was upset, though not as much as might have been forecast based on his original commandment on the special handling required for these cultures. Perhaps he knew Nelson-Rees well enough to expect his friend would scrutinize them and send them to Detroit despite the warnings. Or maybe the news left him stunned. In any case, he told Nelson-Rees the observations were unusual, but they pointed to no firm conclusion. No doubt it occurred to Duff that, if true, the findings might eventually prove to be embarrassing. He was inclined not to accept them, at least not until Nelson-Rees had checked and double-checked. "There's too much at stake here, Walter," said Duff. "Don't rock the boat. Don't rock the boat until you're absolutely, 100 percent sure."
The next call went to the man at the institute who had direct responsibility for the care of the Russian cells. He was a superior of Duff's, superior not only in rank but also in his ability to worry about matters of protocol, to evaluate every development in terms of how it might offend someone, anyone, or -- who knows? -- maybe even endanger his job.
"What do you mean you sent the cells out for testing?"
"I sent them out for the purpose of identifying them," said Walter Nelson-Rees.
"Those cells were not to go anywhere. What has this fellow in Detroit been doing with them?"
"Nothing, just analyzing them. You needn't worry." But the bureaucrat was worried, and one of his more intriguing worries was that the institute might get nailed for violating federal quarantine procedures. It was awkward enough that Nixon's delegation had smuggled the Russian cultures into the United States in the first place. Being bathed partly in bovine serum, the cells were a potential source of hoof-and-mouth disease, a scourge then rampant in the Soviet Union. Authorities with the U.S. Department of Agriculture had become quite agitated when they heard about the cells' unofficial entrance into the country. They had calmed down slightly when the cancer officials permitted inspections of the few labs authorized to work on the cultures. But now, if news leaked out that Nelson-Rees had been shipping the stuff wherever he pleased ....
"Doctor Nelson-Rees, you were told specifically not to distribute those cells. How could you have sent them to Detroit?"
"I've just told you. I sent them to Detroit to be identified."
By the time the conversation had circled back around itself a few times, it was clear to Nelson-Rees that the bureaucrat was not interested in hearing about his findings. He then called Wade Parks, an institute virologist and one of the privileged researchers allowed to examine samples of the Russian cells. Parks said he had tentatively identified the virus from one of the cell lines. Unfortunately, it appeared to be a monkey virus -- another confounded animal virus. This one, Parks said, had never been known to do anything related to cancer or to be anywhere interesting. Not only that, preliminary checks of the other cell cultures suggested they might all be carrying the same worthless virus. The implication was that the Russian cells were duds. The elusive human tumor virus, it appeared, remained elusive.
But Nelson-Rees was more interested in the cells themselves than the viruses they held. What with his own findings and now this from Parks, there was something obviously strange about these cell lines. All lacked the Y chromosome, all carried the rare enzyme, and now all contained the same virus. The theory taking shape in his mind was both obvious and preposterous; he had to try it out on someone. "Has it ever occurred to anyone that these might be all the same cells?" he asked the virologist.
He would not have been surprised to hear Parks dismiss the idea. After all, how could they be the same cells? Each culture had come from a different research institute in the Soviet Union. Each was seeded by a bit of tissue taken from different patients with different kinds of cancer. How could they now be identical? And what kind of cell would they all be? Parks, however, said none of this. Instead he said that the same thought had occurred to him.
Nelson-Rees couldn't say -- not precisely, anyway -- how all the cell lines had become one. Nor could he say what kinds of cells were in the six cultures originally. But he was almost sure of what was growing in them now. He even knew the name of the woman to whom the cells, all of them, belonged. But he needed proof.
As it happened he and an assistant had just learned a technique that could help him get the proof. It was a method of applying purple stain to a cell's chromosomes. The chromosomes absorbed the color in selected areas and ended up looking like barber poles. Instead of neat stripes of red and white, though, they had bands of purple running across them at irregular intervals. The banding patterns were unique to each chromosome, like fingerprints, which made cells eminently more identifiable. If a researcher knew the banded fingerprints for various cell lines, he could use them to identify an unknown cell with far more certainty than by merely determining the lack of a Y chromosome, for example, or the presence of a rare enzyme.
Nelson-Rees and his assistant spent several months preparing the Russian cells, staining the chromosomes, photographing the fingerprints, and checking them against the fingerprints of their prime suspect. When they were through, the conclusion was inescapable. Maybe the bureaucrats didn't want to hear it, but they got another phone call. It was bad news, reinforcing Parks's impression that the cells were probably worthless to the quest for the human tumor virus. But it went beyond that.
These were not distinct cultures of cancer cells from six different patients in the Soviet Union. They were all the cells of an American who in her entire life had probably not been more than a few miles from her home in Baltimore, Maryland.
A housewife with four children, this woman had been stricken with cancer at the age of thirty. She died in 1951, more than twenty years before a group of smiling Russians proudly presented a group of smiling Americans with six of their most promising cell cultures.
Her name was Henrietta Lacks.


text:
They Booed The Winning Run
This is not unique to the Bronx. I've heard it in Boston, I've heard it in Philly, I've heard it in all the places where the smart fans dwell and even the ones where they don't.
1. Alex Rodriguez ties up the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon.
2. Papelbon retires Robinson Cano for the second out to keep alive his chances of getting out of the game alive.
3. Papelbon hits Francisco Cervelli on the elbow putting the winning run on base and bringing home run threat Marcus Thames to the plate.
4. The Yankee crowd boos.
You're aware of what Thames did next. I'd just like to stop at the booing part. Nobody's suggesting a Bronx crowd should be applauding Papelbon for plunking a Yankee, but, honestly, if Cervelli can get up and walk to first, that's a good thing, why on earth are you booing the gift of the winning run sent to first on a hit batsman?
12 Comments
People get caught with their mouths open all the time. At least you're looking at something worthy of the occasion. (Not a fan of Alex, but that's undeniably a confrontation of elite performers.)
As far as the booing thing goes, that's just instinct taking over. Every Yankee fan in the park is already half steamed at Papelbon, just on the basis of his ineffable Papelbon-ness, and would love to see him step on a banana peel. They're always going to take a home player being hit personally and react that way, at least for a split second.
The booing thing??? Probably more fans were madder that Cervelli was hit than were happy that he ended up on base because of it…so anybody cheering the latter was either drowned out or glared down by those nearby.
As to the picture thing: it's YOUR blog, post what you want and stop apologizing for it 😉 That screecap was funny. 😀 I'm glad you've got such a sense of humor about getting caught on film with your mouth hanging open like that…..Goofy McSlackjaw indeed 😛 I thought your mouth always going while on camera was your natural state….just teasing, of course 😉
*Sigh* Soon even the rubble of the old stadium will gone and all that will remain is your photos and memories. It's human nature to mourn the loss of things and I do not object to you wanting to share your mourning on your blog…..it is, after all(and as I stated above) YOUR blog, post what you feel like posting.
Come on. Watching the game I knew the boos were for hitting the batter, not the fact that the tying run was on base. That said, I thought that person behind home plate looked familiar, but I was going back and forth between Countdown and the game and Countdown was live and there you were.
Great game.
I guess I know how you got those seats, you can afford them (and deserve them).
But Joe Piscopo? Did he house sit for someone and get the seats in return?
Booing the winning run is like standing with two strikes and two outs at home WHEN THE HOME TEAM IS LOSING.
It happens at Wrigley all the time and drives me crazy.
Wow, so that WAS Keith I saw behind home plate! Then I don't feel so bad for missing all of "Countdown." Anyway, fans boo anything and everything. I never understood booing a pitcher for throwing over to first base when there's a potential base stealer there. Or booing someone for not catching a foul ball. Maybe they weren't booing but yelling "Boo-urns."
I hate how "fans" now think they are supposed to automatically boo an intentional walk or a throw over to first to hold the runner. It's called strategy, people!
I hate how "fans" now think they are supposed to automatically boo an intentional walk or a throw over to first to hold the runner. It's called strategy, people!
It was one of those games, a roller coaster of a game, that as a Red Sox fan, I thought they had in the bag…..until Pap blew his first save of the season. And to lose to the Yankees in New York is the icing on the poop cake.
I still have yet to see if the gazillion dollar investment Boston made in Dice-K will pay off. Even though he settled down after a horrendous 1st inning, I still haven't seen pitching worthy of the cost Boston paid for him. My hopes are that he pans out eventually, but with each passing game, my hopes dim.
Gee, maybe because Yankee fans don't have any manners?
:>) Ok, that was probably uncalled for (or maybe not). At least there were no crazy Yankee fans getting tasered. Cardinals fans are less apt to boo unless a booing is really called for. But in all honesty I can understand fans booing when a player is hit. It has happened inumerable times to poor Ryan Ludwick, and the fans didn't boo the first couple of times. But he keeps getting hit on the same damn hand, that is what is so frustrating.
I can't improve on Goofy McSlackjaw, so I will refrain from commenting on your expression, even though my inherent smart *** is calling to me. However, it may be the camera angle but Joe Piscopo either looks bored or constipated, I can't tell which.
Is there an implication to be derived from the fact that you happened to mention that the eight runs were scored AFTER you arrived? Hmmm. I could go there, but for the sake of manners I will only say that, wow, Keith were you lucky! :>)
keith, as a longtime met fan im highly saddened by piscipos' presence there. please check the 1:50 mark of this video (you should, actually, watch the whole thing, but still): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc3cGTU3C0s
now he's all decked out in yankee gear sitting in the second row (and presumably afraid to move up a row for fear that you will scold him). shame, joe, shame.
Oh come on, Keith. It was the winning run, yes, but you KNOW fans are booing the HBP. It's a visceral reaction.
Perception or reality, it always seems that Boston pitchers are hitting Yankee batters. Granted it wasn't intentional, but still – the starting catcher is "day to day", the last thing the team needs is to lose its backup.
Your Yankee Stadium destruction photo looks like the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Ike two years ago. Some of the debris still here. This hurricane season, debris may end up looking like that except for the coating of red gooey oil!


text:
|XP is just a number
comment on
|( #3333=superdoc: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
See what it looks like for me http://browsershots.org/http://luisroca.com/PerlMonks/Anon_Monk.htmlI hope this is helpful
I appreciate that you took the time in writing your critique. I would like to point out again that I realize there will be users who will see a poorly rendered version of the design. Please feel confident that is NOT the design I have intended for Perl Monks.
Again, for anyone who is having difficulties seeing the site (ie: only one column is visible, extremely poor contrast etc.)
I do apologize to anyone who is having trouble seeing the html page. If you are someone who is seeing the site as described by Anonymous Monk above, post here or msg me and include your specs if possible (browser, screen size and resolution). This will be a big help when I make corrections. I will update the document above with the specs users are most likely to have viewing difficulty and when the corrections for those specs have been made.
Thanks again for the feedback
"...the adversities born of well-placed thoughts should be considered mercies rather than misfortunes." — Don Quixote
In reply to Re^2: RFC: A Design Proposed for Anonymous Monk (logged out view)
by luis.roca


text:
Let's be honest: It's been a slow and steady decline since the first Pirates of the Caribbean. But the fourth installment is stuffed with mermaids, zombies, Penélope Cruz — and has a distinct lack of whiny lovers.
We've got the first clip — is Jack back?
Here's another behind-the-scenes look at Ian McShane as Blackbeard, and Cruz as Jack Sparrow's new love interest.
In all honesty, this film looks better because they've finally put the focus on the only character in this franchise who counts: Captain Jack Sparrow. Then again, this whole mermaid/pirate boy love-fest smacks of the Orlando/Kiera "I love you but I won't marry you unless I make out with Jack to save your live, so instead let's cut out your heart and only see each other every 10 years" nonsense. But at least this lady is half fish.
Can Rob Marshall live up to the original work of Gore Verbinski?


text:
#4704 - STAGE-D組立済スーパードリフトタイヤ26mm(A-Typeラジアル/TE37CH)
To make it more convenient for you the #4704 Mounted Super Drift Tyre
consists of #4402 Super Drift
Tyres pre-assembled on the #3842 TE37 Chrome
The #4402 treaded Super Drift Tyres will give your drift car a cool realistic look. They are moulded from hard compound rubber that has been developed purely for drifting. The HPI Japan drift team has done extensive testing to find a hard compound that allows high revving nitro drifting on paved surfaces, with extreme durability for hours and hours of drift action.
They have two opposite drift characteristics balanced at a high level: great drift quality in low speed for underpowered electric cars for drift beginners and excellent controllability in high speed for expert drivers.
These are made from a hard rubber compound that is designed more for intermediate and advanced drift drivers. If you're just starting to learn how to drift, use a set of T-Drift tyres (#4406) or Stage-D tyres (#35401) to get used to drift driving first.


text: One of the great things about landscape photography is that the possibility is endless on where you can go, what to take a picture of and it all starts with a few steps from your own back door. The horizon is your limit. Lighting speaks volumes in landscape photography. Getting up with the sun at dawn, watching the animals hurry around as they gather their food for the day, and while the sun is just peaking its face over the background would make for great photo with perfect light. When the sun is on its way down, this is great for a landscape picture of peace and serenity. This time of day is when animals and people are heading home for the night where the land is clear of "clutter" and the trees, skies and land are open. Shadows will add depth to any photo of the landscape and give it more of a three-dimensional feel to it. Landscape photography should be relaxing and fun to do. It also requires some time to get the precise composition. When a camera is slightly shifted one way or another, you can see how it will dramatically improve the picture you are looking to take. When it comes to taking a picture of the landscape, taking one photo is just as good as taking ten. You do not have to waste film on something that can be done right the first time, this can be achieved with a bit of patience, and some practice. When photographing landscapes, give your photo a feeling of depth by including close objects in the frame as well as the distant objects. A fine lens for landscape photography is the 50 mm lens that comes as standard equipment on many SLR cameras. But if you are seriously interested in photographing landscapes, a good lens to have would be a wide-angle lens. Losing detail due to camera shake is the biggest problem in landscape photography. So, a tripod and a shutter release cable are very helpful tools to have.


text:
Fox News talked to James Cameron at the Covenant House Gala in Los Angeles where the filmmaker and his wife Suzy Amis were being honored for their philanthropic work in helping homeless youth. He talked about shooting Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 back-to-back.
"We're shooting two films back-to-back, so I'm writing two scripts, not one, which will complete a [three]-film story arc not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc so I'm pretty excited about that," he said. "We're doing a lot of preliminary work right now on new software and new animation techniques and so on. We're creating a new facility in Manhattan Beach so everybody that's not already dead is coming back."
And is he feeling the pressure now that Avatar is the highest-grossing film of all time with $2.78 billion worldwide?
"There's always an expectation. I had to deal with that after 'The Terminator' back in 1984. All of a sudden I had a big hit movie and it was 'what are you doing next?' But my job is take the audience on a journey and entertain them," he added. "The second I am sitting down writing, I just go to Pandora. I don't think about that stuff, about standing on a red carpet. It has its own life, really. The characters have their own lives."
Avatar 2 is scheduled to hit theaters in December of 2014 and Avatar 3 in December of 2015.


text:
- You may also be looking for field emitters, or force field emitters.
Subspace field emitters were typically integrated into the warp nacelles on Federation starships.
Modifications to a starship's engine's power emissions, in conjunction with the installation of field buffers around the emitter coil, could cause a distortion of a ship's power signature to resemble malfunctioning phase modulators in the ship's subspace field emitters. (DS9: "The Homecoming")
Community content is available under CC-BY-NC unless otherwise noted.


text:
Planning a 2010 trip to Stuttgart? This is the taxi that'll pick you up from the airport. It'll be a nicer taxi than in recent years, Mercedes is channeling the '80s for the new E-Class.
Remember when Mercedes sedans were like rolling blocks of granite, hewn from a quality so peerless that it felt like they would last a lifetime? Well, apparently so do the company's designers, who are channeling that block-like look for the interior of the 2010 Mercedes E-Class. Gone is the chintzy cheapness of the early 2000s, replaced with simple, rounded two-tone forms and big chunky buttons.
The exterior looks a little less successful, at least in these brochure scans, attempting to combine conceptFASCINATION details with a squared-off, yet swoopy profile. It looks tough, if a bit fussy from the front, classy from the sides and, well, like a Toyota Avalon from the rear. Just remember to point your taxi's front at any potential passengers.
But those fares won't just be impressed by the new focus on quality and the bold teutonic looks, they'll appreciate the larger interior, achieved by expanding the E-class a centimeter in nearly every direction except height, which is a smidge lower than before.
For the European market at least, there's a range of 10 available engines, five diesels and five gasoline units. Those range from a distinctly taxi-like 2.10-liter, 136 HP diesel to the Miami Dentist special that is the 388 HP 5.5-liter V8.
Look for a 2010 Mercedes E-Class wagon and a 2010 Mercedes E-Class coupe to arrive later in the year, shortly followed by a 2011 Mercedes E-Class Hybrid and a 2011 Mercedes E63 AMG. [German Car Zone via Carscoop]


text:
Thanks to the Average Joe's for putting their heads above the parapet and giving their opinions on all the kites.
Figuring out how to relaunch the Cloud is not straightforward, so kudos for working it out and looking forward to the video.
What did you think of the ability of the Cloud to generate apparent wind? The 17m doesn't seem to be particularly suited to twintips and a lot of the Cloud customers seem to use the 17 with directionals, foils or on snow, which would tend to need less power to ride.
Because it is so much lighter than any of the other kites, I was expecting one of its strong points to be staying up longer as the wind dropped?
Randahl mentioned the bar pressure feeling heavy when on a twintip in stronger wind but didn't notice it in lighter wind on a foil.
How did you find the bar pressure and 'feel' of flying the kite without looking at it?


text:
- About Us
- Issues
- Scorecards
Get Informed
- Join
- Learn
- Take Action
Get Involved
- Contact
- Foundation
- Privacy Policy
Contact FreedomWorks
111 K Street NE
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20002
- Toll Free 1.888.564.6273
- Local 202.783.3870
The basic principle behind the rule of law is that all laws must apply to all citizens equally. Unfortunately, Congress is trying to subvert this principle with regards to Obamacare.
FreedomWorks members are being told that Congressmen, Senators, and their staffers can keep their federal health insurance subsidies. Several concerned citizens have received similar letters back from their legislators about this issue.
One such response says the Office of Personnel Management's regulations "clarify that, like other large employers under the [health care] law, the federal government must continue to make the same contribution to congressional employee premiums as they do now, regardless of whether the employees are enrolled in [the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program] or receive their insurance through the marketplace [i.e. the Obamacare exchange]."
This is misleading. Other large employers are allowed to contribute to their employees' health care plans…unless the employee bought their plan from the Obamacare exchange. Since all members of Congress and their staffers are required to buy insurance from the exchange, they should not be entitled to an employer contribution. If Congress is allowed to keep their taxpayer-funded subsidies, then they will be cutting themselves a deal that no other citizen can receive.
While the best solution would be to exempt all Americans from Obamacare, the next best option is the Vitter-DeSantis bill. The purpose of this bill is to make sure that Congress receives the same kinds of subsidies as everyone else. In addition to upholding the rule of law, it will force Congress to experience the same hardships that other Americans must endure under the Affordable Care Act, which will make them more likely to seriously reform the law.
Its so easy and interesting term for the all user because here first time i visit that any site free https://computernamewindows10.com/ of caste available for the user
Yet another reason I'm thankful for FreedomWorks. Thanks for the post (and the link to the Oct. post) Nick. I'll have to track this bills' progress through Congress and witness it's, hopefully not but most likely, sad slow death through prolonged procedural neglect or it's attachment to a 'lets make child pornography legal and foreclose on all widows and orphans' type bill. And Edwin....thanks for shaming me into re-reading my Federalist Papers, It's been long overdue.
That's an excellent point, the taxpayer's are on the hook for the subsidies as the employer; so we the people should have the say as to whether or not we choose to contribute not congress. This is an issue should be on a ballot and decided by the voters, especially when it concerns other federal agencies. No carve out's
A better solution, though possibly taking more time to achieve (and possibly not) is a Constitutional Amendment based on the words of James Madison:
Federalist 57 – "the 5th circumstance" ...
"I will add, as a fifth circumstance in the situation of the House of Representatives, restraining them from oppressive measures, that they can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of society."
Translated as an Amendment this might read ... "Non-exemption of Congress". (from Madison, Fed. 57) ...
"Congress can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of society."