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Sony Debuts PS4 With More Whimper Than Bang
Feb 21, 2013 1:54 PM PT
Sony officially introduced its long-anticipated PlayStation 4 video game console at a media event in New York City on Wednesday. However, Sony merely showed off its new controller -- it didn't actually unveil the physical console, likely saving that newsworthy moment for the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in June.
Sony did give quite a bit more than a peak at the upcoming system's hardware, though, and noted that the PS4 will be centered on a custom chip that will contain eight x86-64 cores, along with a what it described as a "state of the art graphics processor."
This GPU reportedly has been enhanced for general-purpose computing -- including physics simulations. It will contain a unified array of 18 compute cores that collectively could generate up to 1.84 Teraflops of processing power, meaning that gamers can expect some truly lifelike graphics. The system also will be equipped with 8 GB of unified system memory, which could likely further boost graphics performance.
Boon for Devs
This could make it easier for developers to create awe-inspiring games, addressing complaints over the difficulty in working with the PlayStation 3.
"They pushed away developers with PS3, but this time they understand that the developers are really important to delivering that compelling software early on," said Christine Arrington, senior analyst for games at IHS Screen Digest.
"With the PS4, Sony knows it has to be leaps and bounds ahead of what you can do with a tablet or smartphone," she added.
"They are saying, 'We get it, we are a core game platform,'" Arrington told TechNewsWorld. "They know that out of the gate they need to have those games that core gamers go out and buy."
That strategy could certainly help Sony. The PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 are now in their seventh and eighth years respectively, and the long-generation cycle will likely be the future for the PS4 as well.
"It still makes sense for Sony and Microsoft and even Nintendo to go after that market, but the business has changed fundamentally in the way people consume games," said Billy Pidgeon, senior analyst at Inside Network. "This console cycle is going to be slower for everyone involved. Overall, there is going to be a slower penetration rate with new devices like the PS4. The early adopters will pile on, but it will be slower than in the past."
New Control and Connections
Sony did display its new DualShock 4 controller, a Bluetooth 2.1+EDR-equipped device that is reminiscent of the original controller but with a few new features. Most notable is the new light bar that contains a three-color LED that reportedly can correspond with the PlayStation Move motion capture interface and alert players to important in-game situations.
While not as revolutionary at first glance as Nintendo's Wii U controller, the new DualShock 4 is still an advancement for Sony.
"It is a good mix of what has worked for them. That DualShock has become almost iconic," said Pidgeon. "It shows Sony's commitment to hardcore gaming as well; it has to be different but also has to be kind of the same."
This also plays into the way Sony promised to integrate a second-screen option that could include connectivity with the PlayStation Vita, as well as with smartphones and tablets.
"They checked the box off on social media and the multiscreen gaming, and it looks like there will be greater integration with the PS Vita," Pidgeon told TechNewsWorld, "but what does that really mean? For a whole lot more money... you can do the Wii U thing."
Sony and Social Gaming
The question remains, however, whether Sony will be able to compete against the growing category of social gaming. Is it something that it will compete against or embrace?
"There is a little of both with the PS4," said Screen Digest's Arrington.
Nintendo is attempting to return to its core audience with the Wii U, but so far the system hasn't managed to get the same level of interest or buzz. However, Sony may have something Nintendo doesn't have. The PS3 is clearly more than just more of the same.
"Sony has an advantage because the Wii U [is] not a clear enough differentiator from the Wii," Arrington emphasized. "Sony won't fall into that problem." Fight for the Hardcore
Moreover Sony could be seen to be looking beyond simple games, and see its real competition as Microsoft's still-to-be-officially-announced Xbox 720.
"Sony wasn't going to address casual gaming such as competition from iOS or Android games at the PS4 launch because Sony's goal was to reinvigorate their core gaming audience, " said P.J. McNealy, consultant with Digital World Research. "The landscape is clearly different this generation."
"Not only is Sony competing against Microsoft and Nintendo, but also Ouya at some point, nVidia's upcoming platform, iOS games, Android games, Amazon games, Facebook games," McNealy told TechNewsWorld. "The list goes on."
In this case Sony could be looking to dominate the living room, even as gaming has gone well beyond something just done after work or after school. Today gaming is something people do everywhere, where shooting birds at pigs is just a way to kill time. This could make it hard for Sony to ever recapture its glory days completely.
"There is a huge competition between electronic platforms for consumer work and play hours," George T. Chronis, editor of DFC Dossier, told TechNewsWorld.
"PlayStation consoles will never again be dominant as in the days of the PS2," he said, "but consoles can still be a huge business for Sony."


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Boys' deaths add urgency to Conn. gun debate
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The family of two young boys killed in an apparent-murder suicide — and state police — said Thursday they want to know why the boys' grandmother, with an apparent history of mental health problems, had access to the revolver used in the shooting.
The shooting has added urgency to a legislative review of access to guns that is already under way in Connecticut, where a troubled 20-year-old man gunned down 26 people, including 20 first-graders, on the opposite side of the state at a Newtown school on Dec. 14.
The two boys' grandmother, 47-year-old Debra Denison, was supposed to take them from a day care to a birthday party Tuesday but instead drove to a nearby lake where she and the children were found shot to death after a frantic search. Police said the gun had been taken from her home, and one relative said it apparently belonged to Denison's husband.
"It was in the house, which is hard to believe," said Marcia White, a paternal great-grandmother of the boys, who said Denison's struggles with mental health were well known to the family.
State Sen. Toni Harp, a member of the General Assembly task force charged with formulating a response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, said there appeared to be striking parallels to the Newtown tragedy, including the slaying of children and gun violence by people without permits to carry weapons.
She said her working group on mental health has endorsed changing the gun-permitting process to ask about people in the household with mental illness and lay out responsibilities for owners to keep guns away from them.
"The problem is, often family members have guns in their home that are not secure, and they assume people in the home will not violate their property and use them," said Harp, a Democrat. "But we hear more and more about people taking guns that don't belong to them and doing great harm with them."
Harp said there is concern about stigmatizing people with behavioral health issues, who experts say are no more violent that others, and the legislature has to walk a fine line in taking steps to prevent future tragedies.
Several family members said Denison, the boys' maternal grandmother, had long struggled with her mental health. Robert White, the boys' great-uncle, said at a news conference Thursday that Denison had a mental disorder but appeared to have improved in recent months.
Denison had a 13-year-year-old son who wasn't with her Tuesday afternoon and was apparently unharmed. In Denison's suicide note, she said in part that God was watching over him Tuesday, White said. What exactly she meant, and her motive for the killings, is still unclear.
Denison also had a 27-year-old son, Christopher Allen, who is in prison serving a 32-year sentence for felony murder. Allen stabbed a man to death on a boat in Mystic in 2008 as he and a co-defendant boarded the vessel to steal money and drugs.
After leaving a suicide note, Denison drove alone Tuesday to the day care center in North Stonington, where she picked up 2-year-old Alton Perry and 6-month-old Ashton Perry. It was Alton's birthday.
The staff at the day care said Denison was on the list of people authorized to collect the children, and nothing seemed amiss — the grandmother was friendly and talkative as she loaded the children in her van. The bodies of Denison and the children were found several hours later.
Robert White said the boys' parents, Jeremy and Brenda Perry, know the day care followed protocol and do not blame it for what happened.
A spokeswoman for the state police, Sgt. Donna Tadiello, said the investigation will look at who purchased the revolver, how Denison obtained it and her history of mental illness.
"Everything about that weapon, we'll try to uncover as much information as possible," Tadiello said.
Police have not released the contents of the suicide note, and White said the family does not have any clues to what triggered the violence.
"Only God knows the answer to that," she said.
A community vigil is planned Friday night in North Stonington to support the boys' parents, who are described by friends in the rural southeastern Connecticut town as friendly and hard-working. Jeremy is a landscaper, but his work has been limited because of severe injuries sustained a year ago in a four-wheeler accident.
In Connecticut, those found not guilty of a felony by reason of insanity, or involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, are prohibited from possessing guns. A person also must be deemed "suitable" by police before receiving a handgun permit, though there is no standard for determining suitability, said Mike Lawlor, the state's undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning.
Connecticut also passed a law in 1999 that allows authorities to seize weapons from anyone if they have probable cause to believe the person poses a threat to themselves or others. That law was passed in response to the killing of four people at state lottery headquarters by an employee with a history of mental illness.
The law has been used more than 600 times, and with increased frequency since the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Lawlor said.
"If you see something, you should say something to law enforcement, teachers or others in authority. And they, in turn, need to know this option is out there," Lawlor said.
State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, a Republican, said he expects lawmakers will make some kind of recommendations concerning the possession of guns when someone in the home has mental health issues. But he said it will not be easy to choose an appropriate course.
"Some have suggested if there's someone in your household who is being treated for mental disorders, does that mean if you go see a therapist once? Just think of the examples. You're a child having trouble in school and your parents want you to go see a counselor, does that then mean the parents may not be able to own a gun or possess one?" McKinney said. "Those are very difficult issues."
Associated Press writers Susan Haigh, Dave Collins and Pat Eaton-Robb contributed to this report.

subset: commoncrawl


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Online Deaf Community
Welcome to online deaf community, the website where ability counts. Inspired by the UK's popular magazine, this site aims to be the best resource for anyone looking for useful information on disability in the UK today. Through this site you will be able to access information and features - on holidays, sports and the local facilities in cities across the UK - while our regularly updated "What's Happening" section will help you plan your diary over the next few months - listing boxes exhibitions, fun days and other events of potential interest to disabled people. Each of these sections can be accessed by clicking on the relevant buttons on the left of this screen..
Our Long-Term Goal is to be a recognised centre of excellence for research and project management which supports voluntary and public sector groups and research partners to contact deaf community and assist disabled and disadvantaged people. Our Values to provide consultancy services which are ethically driven and to support contracts which are designed to affect policy at local, regional, national or international level.
To attract, develop and retain small numbers of high quality staff and to develop them in line with their own skills, talents and personal goals.To continuously improve our services.
To support and promote the Disability Symbol and all that it stands for To promote equality of opportunity and support the Equality Opportunities Quality Framework To operate with integrity in relation to all our clients and customers
- Public diplomacy
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- solar panels company
Coming soon will be our Products & Services Showcase. This will be an excellent source of information on companies and organisations - listed under various categories - which can provide invaluable assistance to disabled people. Also coming soon will be our directory of both national and local organisations. We hope that you will find this site easy to navigate and use. If you have any comments about the website - British Business Angels Association (BBAA) - Entrepreneurs or you would like to order a free trial copy of the printed magazine - click on the "Feedback" link. If you would like to subscribe to the magazine using our secure order form, click the "Subscribe" link on any page.


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The increased monitoring and profiling of Internet users by companies such as Google and its DoubleClick online advertising subsidiary is widely seen as one of the biggest threats to online privacy. But in reality, said university professor Paul Ohm, the potential for the same kind of activities by ISPs poses a much greater privacy risk.
Ohm, an associate professor of law at the University of Colorado Law School, published a research paper titled "The Rise and Fall of Invasive ISP Surveillance" late last month. The 77-page document chronicles the different market pressures and technology advances that are shaping the behavior of ISPs and warns of "a coming storm of unprecedented and invasive" surveillance of users by such companies.
It isn't an opinion that is shared by everyone, but the issue has been getting an increasing amount of attention from privacy advocates and lawmakers.
Much of Ohm's concern has to do with the vantage point that ISPs have on the Web and their ability to take advantage of it in a hitherto unprecedented manner. In many ways, ISPs are far more able to track, monitor and profile user behavior than Google and other online advertising vendors are, he said in an interview.
"I'm not saying that they are invading your privacy right now," Ohm said. "What the paper does is to play out the possibilities. ISPs have the power to obliterate privacy."
According to Ohm, ISPs have been fairly good custodians of online privacy -- until recently, at least. But a couple of factors are driving a change in the status quo, he claimed. One of them is the growing availability of sophisticated deep-packet inspection technologies that enable companies to collect and mine huge amounts of very granular information about Internet usage. ISPs looking to broaden their revenue sources could increasingly look to monetize this data -- for instance, by selling it to behavioral advertising firms, Ohm said.
Google's enormous success in the online advertising market has "redefined expectations for both profitability and privacy online," Ohm wrote in his report. He predicted that ISPs will attempt to replicate Google's success by trying to monetize user data at the expense of privacy protections. Offering them potential help are advertising firms such as NebuAd and Phorm, which are looking to partner with ISPs to access, analyze and categorize the behavior of users for targeted advertising purposes.
Another incentive for ISPs to be more intrusive about gathering usage information comes from copyright owners that are offering service providers "great sums for their users' secrets," Ohm said in his report. As an example, he noted that the recording and movie industries "view ISP monitoring as an avenue for controlling what they see as rampant infringing activity, particularly on P2P networks."
In addition, ISPs, which already are saddled with a requirement that they comply with a 1994 US federal wiretapping law called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, are feeling increased pressure from the federal government to configure their networks so they are able to quickly assist monitoring activities by law enforcement agencies, Ohm said.


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Posted on 20th February 2014 by Media Relations
Staff at Taronga Western Plains Zoo's Wildlife Hospital watched in delight recently as seven Eastern Long-necked Turtle hatchlings emerged from their eggs.The hatchlings' mother had arrived at the Wildlife Hospital in November with a badly cracked shell, after being run over by a car.An x-ray revealed the turtle was carrying eggs. Unable to repair the shell and save the mother, hospital staff carefully retrieved the eggs and placed them into an incubator.The eggs then sat at a regulated temperature, with staff waiting anxiously for signs of hatching. One day veterinary nurses noticed the eggs starting to hatch and before long seven healthy hatchlings had emerged.With the hatchlings all doing well after three weeks, the decision was made to release the young turtles into a water body at Billabong Camp. The turtles now call this lovely lake home.


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Aussie space geeks get chance to see asteroid passing Earth
A RARE look at an asteroid passing Earth was on offer to Aussie star gazers on Friday evening.
From about 6pm "Space rock 2010 DA14" was expected to make its way past Australia.
Spanning 50m across and travelling about 17,111 above the atmosphere, the asteroid was the closest to pass Earth in more than a decade.
While it was not visible to the naked eye, those with binoculars and telescopes were expected to be able to see the asteroid until about 10pm.


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Drug information provided by: IBM Micromedex
Rectal corticosteroids are used to treat mild or moderate ulcerative colitis. They also may be used along with systemic (oral or injection) corticosteroids or other medicines to treat severe disease or mild to moderate disease that has spread too far to be treated effectively by medicine inserted into the rectum alone. Rectal corticosteroids also are used to help relieve swelling, itching, and discomfort of some other rectal problems, including hemorrhoids and inflammation of the rectum caused by radiation therapy.
Rectal corticosteroids are available only with your doctor's prescription.
This product is available in the following dosage forms:
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to medicines in this group or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.
Children and teenagers who must use this medicine should be checked often by their doctor. Rectal corticosteroids may be absorbed through the lining of the rectum and, rarely, may affect growth, especially if used in large amounts or for a long time. Before using this medicine in children, you should discuss its use with the child's doctor.
Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults. Although there is no specific information comparing use of rectal corticosteroids in the elderly with use in other age groups, these medicines are not expected to cause different side effects or problems in older people than they do in younger adults.
Betamethasone may change the number and ability of movement of sperm in men. Budesonide crosses the placenta. It is not known whether other rectal corticosteroids cross the placenta. Studies in animals have shown that budesonide, hydrocortisone, and hydrocortisone acetate cause birth defects. Rectal corticosteroids should not be used in large amounts or for a long time by women who are pregnant or who are planning to become pregnant.
It is not known whether rectal corticosteroids pass into breast milk. However, systemic (oral and injection) corticosteroids pass into breast milk and may cause problems with growth in nursing babies. It may be necessary for you to take a different medicine or to stop breast-feeding during treatment. Be sure you have discussed with your doctor the risks and benefits of using the medicine.
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. Tell your healthcare professional if you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine.
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of medicines in this class. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
It is important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits.
For patients using the enema form of this medicine:
For patients using the foam form of this medicine:
For patients using the suppository form of this medicine:
Do not use rectal corticosteroids in larger amounts, more often, or for a longer time than your doctor ordered. To do so may increase the chance of absorption through the lining of the rectum and the chance of side effects.
The dose medicines in this class will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of these medicines. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.
The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Keep out of the reach of children.
Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light. Keep from freezing.
Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed.
Do not puncture, break, or burn the rectal foam aerosol container, even when it is empty.
Do not stop using this medicine without first checking with your doctor. Your doctor may want you to reduce gradually the amount you are using before you completely stop using it.
Check with your doctor if your condition does not improve within 2 or 3 weeks or if it becomes worse.
Check with your doctor if you notice rectal bleeding, pain, burning, itching, blistering, or any other sign of irritation that you did not have before you started using this medicine.
Use of suppositories may cause staining of clothing or fabric.
Tell the doctor in charge that you are using this medicine:
Avoid close contact with anyone who has chickenpox or measles. This is especially important for children. Tell your doctor right away if you think you have been exposed to chickenpox or measles.
While you are being treated with this medicine, and after you stop taking it, do not have any immunizations without your doctor's approval.
For patients with diabetes:
Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
Additional side effects may occur if you use this medicine for a long time. Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Portions of this document last updated: Nov. 01, 2020
Original article: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/corticosteroid-rectal-route/description/drg-20070430
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C/ Hermana Concepción Orellana, 2, 41410
The Alcázar de la Reina Hotel has 68 rooms: 2 suites (with 2 double rooms in each), 3 junior suites, 60 double rooms and 1 single room. All rooms are outward facing, spacious, bright and with strikingly elegant and charming decoration. They are fully equipped with air conditioning, heating, telephone, satellite TV, mini-bar, marble bathroom, hairdryer, safe…. The majority of the rooms offer panoramic views of the beautiful Vega de Carmona and la Cueva de la Batida (ruins from the Middle Ages), while others open onto enormous Mudejar patios. Enjoy a stay with a difference in the place of your dreams. We also have rooms specially adapted to people with disabilities. Our unbeatable bar leads the way into our à la carte restaurant. The room is decorated with flamenco motifs, and boasts a quiet, relaxed atmosphere. Our dishes are prepared using the finest ingredients from the local area, maintaining the secrets of old Andalusian cuisine while experimenting with the new tastes of modern cuisine. The Tabanco Restaurant also has an outdoor terrace located in a traditional Andalusian patio where the faint sound of water gives a certain touch reminiscent of a Mudejar garden, making the patio one of the most pleasant places to be during spring and summer.
Cancellation is possible until any time of day 2 days prior to the check-in date without penalty.
A cancellation after that time or a no-show, will incur a penalty of 1 night's stay.
Be the first one.


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Ghost Town CEO Steve Shiver told players in the Haywood County tourism community they need to pull together if they want to effectively market and brand the region.
Shiver invited members of the tourism and business community to a breakfast meeting at the Maggie Valley theme park last week for what he called a tourism rally. Shiver appealed to the community to engage in cross-marketing, partnering and co-branding. Shiver said Ghost Town could use its pull to market the region as a whole, and alluded that other business could help drive traffic to Ghost Town.
Shiver has said visitation will be what gets the park through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. If enough people come through the gates, it can make the money it needs to stay open and reorganize. Without Ghost Town, Maggie Valley will lose a major player in tourism and suffer economically, Shiver said.
Shiver said the tourism community has had trouble working collectively in the past.
"Being an outsider and coming in relatively new, looking at the tussle that I have sometimes seen in the past, that does nothing but hurt us all," Shiver said. Shiver named at least half a dozen tourism entities that all play a role in marketing the region.
"The different groups out there all want the same end results," Shiver said, but sometimes end up competing.
Shiver came to Haywood County from Florida less than 18 months ago.
The tourism community in Haywood County has been known for its factions over the years. Some tourism entities have historically been at odds, often pitted in a tug of war over the best way to spend tourism promotional dollars.
That division has subsided over the past two years, however. The money tug-of-war was largely solved when Haywood County Tourism Development Authority increased its tax on overnight lodging from 3 percent to 4 percent. That created more money to spread around. The extra money was earmarked for niche tourism initiatives that didn't fit with the big picture marketing of the countywide tourism authority.
But Shiver questioned whether money could be used more effectively if pooled to make a bigger marketing splash rather than dispersed to myriad smaller entities.
"If we are not on the same page, it dilutes our affect," Shiver said.
Shiver said Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge continue to claim a bigger piece of the market share "because they had their act together and we were fractionalized," he said. "If we don't pool our resources and leverage our resources we are going to lose it."
Miracle opening
Shiver said he proved hundreds of people wrong by opening the park in the face of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"We have done what many said we could not do," Shiver said.
Shiver also addressed the question everyone wants to know: when will the roller coaster open?
"Everybody, the roller coaster is on the way," Shiver said. Shiver said he couldn't say when, but that it would open one day soon. Shiver has been promising the public that the roller coaster would open soon for over a year now. Many in Maggie Valley feel Ghost Town's success hinges on whether the roller coaster opens.
Ghost Town is in the midst of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Shiver said the park is committed to pulling through and paying off its debts, which total some $2.5 million in unpaid bills to businesses, many of them local.
"I apologize on behalf of Ghost Town and its owners. We are going to do everything we can," Shiver said. "We don't take it lightly. The position we are in right now we don't like to be in. But we are going to reorganize and move through."
Ghost Town was forced into bankruptcy after defaulting on its $9.5 million mortgage. The 1960s-era theme park was rife with major infrastructure problems the owners weren't privy to when they bought it more than two years ago, Shiver said. The park was also hit by a drop in tourism from the recession. Shiver thinks business will pick back up this year as families look for vacations close to home.
"We heard often Ghost Town is the thing of the past, that if it is not bullets and baggie pants kids don't want it these days," Shiver said, referring to the gangster and rap culture of today's youth.
Shiver said he didn't agree, however. Shiver said Ghost Town is built on a foundation of family values and that's just what America needs today. That said, Shiver said the park hopes to expand its rides to increase its appeal for teen-agers. Another goal for next year will be to create an Appalachian heritage village with living history demonstrations.
Shiver has been raising money from investors any way he can to help overhaul the park. Shiver showed that he hasn't lost his since of humor when thanking Marla Banta, the owner of Jude's Coffee and Creamery, for giving out free ice cream scoops in exchange for donations to help Ghost Town.
"That million dollars you gave us really helped," Shiver said.


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USCGA Boating Course
Date & Time
August 15th, 2020 8:30 AM
Flotilla 29 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Lake Lanier, announces a one-day "About Boating Safely" course. The course is scheduled for Saturday, August 15, 2020. This course also serves as a PWC certified course for children under the age of 16. This course will be given at the Bunzi Operations Center, 6595 Lights Ferry Rd., Flowery Branch, Ga., on the left just before the entrance to Aqualand Marina. Classes run from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and cost is $30. Discounts available for additional family members.
State law now requires any person born after January 1, 1998, must have completed a boater education course approved by the Ga. DNR before he or she may legally operate a motorized vessel on Georgia state waters. Successful completion of this course could result in a reduction in your boat's insurance premium.
Course contents include:
• Know your boat
• Before you get underway
• Navigating the waterways
• Operating your vessel safely
• Legal requirements of boating
• Boating emergencies
• Enjoying watersports
• State of Georgia regulations
More info: Jorge Bartra Sr., firstname.lastname@example.com or 470-350-7592 or http://wow.uscgaux.info/content.php?unit=070-02-09.


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Is Dual-Eligible Coordination Moving Too Fast?
Some say the feds and states need to slow down their efforts to coordinate care for the millions eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
About 9 million Americans -- mostly low-income seniors and those with disabilities -- are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. These so-called "dual eligibles" make up less than a quarter of the total members of each plan, but because they're also the sickest and poorest individuals, they account for a disproportionately high amount of the costs of the two programs -- about 40 percent. Because Medicaid is run by the states and Medicare by the feds, there's little coordination between the two programs.
In 2010, the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation -- both created by the Affordable Care Act and housed under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) -- launched a program to improve that coordination. The State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Dual Eligible Individuals awarded 15 states with up to $1 million each to "identify and validate delivery system and payment coordination models that can be tested and replicated in other states."
CMS wants some states to start using these new models by January 2013. But that's too fast, according to Patricia Nemore, a senior policy attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, which works to advance fair access to Medicare and quality health care. I asked her why she feels the feds need to put the brakes on their coordination efforts in this edited transcript.
Why do you feel these efforts need to slow down?
First, let me say that when you see the "9 million dual eligibles" figure, it's really more like 7 million because about 2 million of them don't get full Medicaid services. The current efforts to change delivery and payment systems for that population will effect somewhere between 2.5 million and 3 million of those. There is no other single factor that joins this population. It's not like we are talking about a homogeneous population who all suffer from, say, heart disease or all need long-term care. It's a very heterogeneous population -- some use a few services, some use a lot of services. But most of the proposals coming from the states are looking to put the entire population in one demonstration.
The language of the initiative is all about demonstration, and one might think that would require a control group to see if the demo was or was not successful. But the proposals do not generally have control groups. Medicare and Medicaid don't work well together. They have different rules, different appeals systems, so a reasonable control group would have the same coverage issues and have to overcome the issues that get in the way of people getting what they need.
What else concerns you?
Part of our concern is that there is a lot of vagueness, a lot of unknowns, many questions unanswered. You can't talk about duals uniformly. You can't even talk about a state uniformly; the infrastructure is different in city versus rural, one part of a state versus another part. We need to look at a more targeted approach. There is a lot of discussion in the literature looking at people who use a lot of services, the people you can help the most while possibly reducing costs the most. That kind of targeting would be a good place for states to start.
For example, one very common buzzword is "care coordination." Everyone agrees that care coordination should happen, and for many duals, it is very much lacking. There have been demos of care coordination showing specific things can or cannot be successful. Telephonic care, for instance, is not successful; it has to be face-to-face between the coordinator and the patient. Another example: Wisconsin has been putting nurse practitioners (NP) in nursing homes to intervene when there might be some health issue developing that might end up sending the person to the hospital. The NP can intervene and prevent that, and that has proved successful.
So we know something about these things, but these proposals don't talk about them in this specific way. The new delivery system models that are being proposed are not tried systems. The most common system being looked at is a capitated system, and those plans have little experience with very high-need, high-cost populations.
Another big concern is: How is the coordination process being monitored? Both the states and CMS are pretty strapped now, and monitoring will be a significant issue. Duals are first and foremost Medicare beneficiaries; most are paid into Social Security, and more than half of Medicaid money is also federal money, so there needs to be significant federal oversight. We believe that there needs to be strong ombudsman programs for these projects as they go forward, both to help people individually and to see the bigger picture. We are worried there may not be the resources for this kind of oversight.
What would you like to see happen?
Things are slowing down somewhat. Some states are already seeing there was a great rush to start in January 2013 and recognizing they are not ready to do that. That's a good thing.
The June issue of Health Affairs focuses on this population and raises questions about how little we know about things that actually do work and whether we have the data we need. This issue is an indication of public awareness of the concerns we have.
But we also know that, at this moment, states with proposed January 2013 implementation comprise about 2 million out of the 7 million duals. That is a lot of people. Many organizations, including ours, are trying to be part of the conversation.
Click here for full coverage of the Affordable Care Act.
We invite you to discuss and comment on this article using social media.


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Election Day is just over two months away, but Democrats — with reason to be confident that they can win control of the House — are already planning their legislative agenda for 2019.
In addition to a slate of potentially dozens of aggressive oversight hearings and investigations into the Trump administration, the initial agenda also includes legislative packages covering health-care costs, infrastructure investment and ethics and lobbying reform, Axios' Mike Allen reported Monday.
On health care: The legislation would be divided into two areas, according to Axios, with one centered on lowering overall costs and reducing premiums and the other focused specifically on driving down prescription-drug prices.
On infrastructure: The Trump administration's plan — which calls for $200 billion in direct federal spending in hopes of spurring some $1.5 trillion in total investments from private, state and local partners — has gone nowhere. The Democrats will reportedly propose $1 trillion in federal infrastructure spending, with the plan being pitched "as a way to boost jobs and wages." Despite pressure from the left wing of the party to push for a bold agenda and worry less about how to pay for it, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly remains committed to reviving "pay-go" rules that would require new revenue or spending cuts to pay for the newly proposed spending.


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In addition to its own logic functionality, the LGX01 has interfaces to all the major home automation systems such as C-Bus, Crestron, KNX, Lutron, Modbus, Z-Wave and others via a range of Universal Communications Modules (UCM) modules.
A plug-in Ethernet interface UCM/ETH03 allows access through the Comfort Android and iOS apps to control any automation function in the LGX01 as well as programming by the Comfigurator (Comfort configuration) software tool.
The LGX01 has 8 inputs and 8 outputs expandable to 96 I/Os. 32 Time Programs allow for the scheduling of automation responses.
Inputs can be connected to switches, motions sensors or current sensors, and each input's On and Off state change can be used to trigger an automation response.
Each of the open-collector outputs can be used to drive relays or send infrared signals to IR emitters to control appliances like heating, air conditioners and AV equipment.
A wide range of interface modules include Intelligent Remote Input/Output(IRIO) modules, Temperature Sensor Modules (TSM01), and UCM interfaces to C-Bus, KNX, Modbus, Z-Wave etc.
laser.com | cbus-shop.comCopyright © 2020 Laser Business Systems Ltd.
Use keywords to find the product you are looking for. Advanced Search


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ANN ARBOR, MICH. (Sept. 17, 8:45 a.m. ET) — A new IV catheter system designed to minimize the risk of needle-stick injuries and occupational exposure to blood has received market clearance from the Food and Drug Administration.
IV therapy products manufacturer Tangent Medical Technologies announced Sept. 13 that FDA has approved its NovaCath Secure IV Catheter System. The NovaCath system integrates a series of next-generation technologies designed to address IV therapy challenges including catheter stabilization, healthcare worker safety, tubing management and patient comfort.
"Up to 50 percent of all short-peripheral IV catheters develop complications that negatively impact catheter dwell times, clinical outcomes, patient safety and patient satisfaction," said Curtis Bloch, vice president of sales and marketing for the Ann Arbor, Mich., company that was founded in 2009 as a spin-out of the University of Michigan's Medical Innovation Center.
"Our innovative, closed IV catheter design uniquely integrates advanced catheter stabilization, next generation tubing management, passive needle encapsulation, and blood control on every short-peripheral IV start," Bloch said. "The FDA clearance will pave the way for us to advance the safety and efficacy of IV therapy."
In addition, NovaCath's integrated advanced catheter stabilization technology can eliminate an external 'j-loop' based on its redirect of the fluid path internal to the device, said Tangent.
"Clinicians were quick to point out the novel design and benefits it would bring the practice of IV therapy, as well as patient and clinician safety," said Tangent CEO and Chairman Jeff Williams.


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Trip Back to Kuantan
>> Monday, June 30, 2008
It's surely been AGES since I last wrote anything on this site. Really sorry to our dear readers for the period of silence on the blog.
I've been extremely busy lately with a project & I've also been keeping myself busy with some arrangements for a family-friend's wedding back in Kuantan. Anne on the other hand is currently based in Kulim already, & is pretty much in a hair-pulling phase due to her project...lol.
I actually left for Kuantan on Wednesday evening & oh, it was another 'drama' in life :S ... here goes the story...
I've arranged with TL to give me a ride to a train station after work. We were supposed to leave office latest by 6pm. The mad thing(s) about that day (25th June) were:
- I had a lot of work to complete before I leave for Kuantan. I took TWO days leave on a peak week...bummer...no choice man...
- Servers were down one after another & I just couldn't start on my work until AFTER lunch!! Can you imagine that?? I wasted half the day 'trying' to get things working, but to no avail! *argh!!*
- It was Mei's last day with us at ITSC, so we took a 1.5 hours lunch break! Yeah man...when my workload was mountain-high, I still had a 1.5 hours lunch break... *great! :S*
- I couldn't complete my work even around 5.30pm!
- TL was called into a meeting around 5.40pm!!! Bummer!! Why of all times at 5.40pm when I need to leave by 6pm??? *pulls hair out*
Anyways, I managed to get to Kuantan in time....caught the bus on time (and even had spare time). I was really busy running around helping out with the wedding (from 25th June - 28th June) that I didn't really get to go food-hunting whatsoever. I spent most of my time there finishing up the hand-made guest book for the wedding (more photos will be uploaded later when I get it from the official photographer) & formatting/finalizing the guest list for the wedding dinner. What I kinda regret is that I didn't get to take that many photos while I was there for the wedding since I was helping out here & there *sigh* Oh well...here are 3 photos taken in Kuantan nonetheless...
One of the 'guest books' in the shape of a tree...spray painted the tree myself & did up all the deco too! *faints*
The wedded couple: Rach (good friend) & Calv (family friend)
Flower girls: Phoebe & Nichol, my 2 darlings...kekeke
Although I didn't get to do much while I was there, I'm actually very thankful that I spent quite a lot of priceless time with my 'families' there...plus I also had ONE chance to spend time at the beach with a friend! Nice.
Times spent with family & friends are priceless. I'll keep our readers updated on our 'adventures', so stay tuned!
- Ruth


text: New acquisitions Our new acquisitions can be found in the library catalogue. Newly purchased documents can be found by using the following link, sorted by subject matter and location. The current month is shown; purchases from previous months can be viewed as well. New purchases New audio books and DVDs can be found here. New publications of University faculty members We are happy to present newly released publications of University faculty members in the display case in the ground floor foyer of the Library Building upon request. Please note the associated guidelines.


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Peer-Reviewed Publications
Found 13 resultsTitle
Filters: Author is Delgado, Kit M [Clear All Filters]
The Impact of Interhospital Transfer on Mortality Benchmarking at Level III and IV Trauma centers: A Step Toward Shared Mortality Attribution in a statewide system." J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2020;88(1):42-50."
Impact of the Young Adult Dependent Coverage Expansion on Opioid Overdoses and Deaths: a Quasi-Experimental Study." J Gen Intern Med. 2020."
Opportunities to Reduce Youth Distracted Driving and Adolescent Driver Motor Vehicle Crashes." Pediatrics. 2020."
State-level Variation in Opioid Prescribing After Knee Arthroscopy Among the Opioid-naïve in the USA: 2015-2019." BMJ Open. 2020;10(8):e035126."
Barriers and Facilitators for Emergency Department Initiation of Buprenorphine: A Physician Survey." Am J Emerg Med. 2019."
Impact of a State Opioid Prescribing Limit and Electronic Medical Record Alert on Opioid Prescriptions: a Difference-in-Differences Analysis." J Gen Intern Med. 2019."
National Variation in Opioid Prescription Fills and Long Term Use in Opioid Naïve Patients After Urological Surgery." J. Urol.. 2019:101097JU0000000000000343."
US Emergency Department Encounters for Firearm Injuries According to Presentation at Trauma vs Nontrauma Centers." JAMA Surg. 2019."
Attitudes on Technological, Social, and Behavioral Economic Strategies to Reduce Cellphone Use While Driving in Teens." Traffic Inj Prev. 2018:1-23."
Novel Smartphone-Based Measures of Cell Phone Use While Driving in a Sample of Newly Licensed Adolescent Drivers." Health Educ Behav. 2018:1090198118788612."
Opioid Prescribing Limits for Acute Pain - Striking the Right Balance." N. Engl. J. Med.. 2018;379(6):504-506."
Adolescent Cellphone Use While Driving: An Overview of the Literature and Promising Future Directions for Prevention." Media and Communication. 2016;4(3)."


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In this role you will support a portfolio of unregulated entities including private equity, real estate, infrastructure, debt investments. You must be technically proficient in financial accounting and keen to grow technically in your field. Being proactive in your approach is key; to be able to understand accounting problems and offer solutions, and to provide support to a variety of stakeholders.
This is a great opportunity to participate in various accounting aspects of your portfolio including taking part in financial transactions and understanding accounting requirements from the onset.
The successful candidate will be expected to:
If you are interested in this position, and want to know more, please apply as a priority!
We handle all applications in the strictest confidence, and your data is never shared with any third party without your express consent.
EuroLux Consulting specialises in recruiting experienced professionals for the thriving Luxembourg financial and legal services market. We have a large network of highly skilled professional candidates and we collaborate with some of the highest calibre clients in the market.
Eurolux Consulting has been working solely in the Luxembourg market for a decade. With market-leading expertise, our director has over 18 years' experience recruiting within the Luxembourg market. Our clients include banks, asset managers, ManCos, law firms, trust & corporate services companies, private equity firms, real estate management companies, investment companies, fintech and consulting companies, all based in Luxembourg.
We will consider each application and we will contact you if your profile may be a good fit for our client. By sending your CV, you are consenting to Eurolux reviewing and processing your data for the purpose of the recruitment process. If you do not consent to that, do not send us your CV.
Please note that we cannot respond to every application. If your profile is strong but not quite right for our client's current need, we may keep your CV on our internal database, and contact you when we have an interesting role that suits your profile and may be of interest. If you do not want us to do that, please let us know at email@example.com
Our specialities: Fund Administration/Fund Accounting, Transfer Agency, Legal, Risk, Compliance, Client Onboarding, AML/KYC, Regulatory Compliance, Client Services, Relationship Management, Internal Audit, Financial Accounting, Investment Control, Product Development, Product Management, Business Development, Project Management, Programme Management, Business Analysis, Fund Law, Corporate Law, Finance.
Asset classes include: traditional funds, alternative funds (regulated and unregulated), hold.co.s, Lux co.s, (UCITs, UCIs, OEICs, SICAVs, SIFs, SICARs, SICAFs, RAIFs, SPVs, SPFs, SCSp, Sarl, SA…)
If you require assistance in job seeking or information about the Luxembourg job market, please get in contact via email: email@example.com or tel: +44 207 871 9020, or please go to http://www.euroluxconsulting.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.


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Bruce Bent, founder of the first money market fund, was cleared of fraud charges Monday after the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that he deceived investors leading up to the Primary Reserve Fund "breaking the buck."
While the jury rejected the charges against Bent in what turned out to be a monthlong trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the jury did find Reserve Management Co. and Resrv Partners Inc. liable of fraud and Bruce Bent II liable for negligence.
The SEC alleged in its 2009 complaint that the Reserve Management (RMCI), its chairman, Bruce Bent Sr., its vice chairman and president, Bruce Bent II, and Resrv Partners failed to provide key material information to investors, the fund's board of trustees, and rating agencies as Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15.
SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro noted at the time the complaint was filed that: "As we alleged in our complaint, the fund's managers turned a blind eye to investors and the reality of the situation at hand before the fund broke the buck last September."
The Reserve Fund, which held $785 million in Lehman-issued securities, became illiquid on Sept. 15 when the fund was unable to meet investor requests for redemptions.
Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's Enforcement Division, said in a statement on Monday that "today's verdict of liability sends the message that fund executives cannot withhold from investors and trustees key information about their fund's vulnerability. This case, along with our actions against more than 100 other entities and individuals, demonstrates our continuing commitment to pursuing cases arising out of the financial crisis."
However, Thomas Gorman, a partner at the international law firm Dorsey Whitney, says that "the jury's verdict should be seen as a significant loss for the SEC."
The complaint in this case, Gorman says, "painted a vivid picture of intentional fraud by the defendants. Yet the jury found against the SEC on each intentional fraud charge. While the jury did find in favor of the SEC on some charges, each of those was based on negligence," which he said is "a far cry from the wrongful and intentional conduct that the SEC alleged in its complaint."
This verdict, he continued, "should cause the SEC to carefully re-evaluate the way it writes complaints and charges defendants to ensure that the facts and charges are carefully matched and appropriate."
The Financial Stability Oversight Council met Tuesday to discuss proposed recommendations regarding money market mutual fund reform, pursuant to the council's authority under section 120 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.


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Were you given a speeding ticket in Tool, Texas? Were you issued a traffic ticket in the Dallas - Fort Worth area? Jack Byno Attorney at Law defends speeding tickets!
For more information on getting your Henderson County speeding tickets defended and your warrants lifted, please call Jack Byno at 817-685-0912.
Police departments issue many speeding and other traffic violationsevery year. Whether you got a speeding ticket or a stop sign citation,these are citations that should be taken seriously. Drivers that get these tickets need an attorney on their side! Jack Byno, speeding ticket lawyer, can help fight to keep your speeding citation and other traffic tickets off your record and get your warrants lifted.
Planning on going to court? Are you considering a trial? Do not appear by yourself in front of the judge. Jack Byno Attorney at Law has the courtroom experience you need. Call Jack Byno at 817-685-0912.
CDL holders are always welcome!
Speeding tickets defended and warrants lifted in cities including, but not limited to, Athens, Brownsboro, Chandler, Caney City, Coffee City, Enchanted Oaks, Eustace, Gun Barrell City, Larue, Malakoff, Payne Springs, Paynor, Seven Points, Star Harbor, Tool, and Trinidad.
Principle office located at 2319 Hall Johnson Road, Suite B, Colleyville, Tx 76034. Call 817-685-0912.


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Suede Embroidered Dress
Suede Embroidered Dress
The perfect game day dress! Love the colors and fabric for Fall! This dress has a looser fit and adjustable straps.
Brooke is wearing size small.
All purchases will be processed and shipped out within 3 days of your order. You will receive an email notifying you when your purchase has been shipped. We ship all US orders through USPS and international through DHL, and you can expect to receive your order with 5-7 business days.
All returns must be postmarked within 2 weeks of date received. Only store credit will be given to returned items, no refunds. Email us if you have a return; once items are received we will email you an online coupon code. We cannot guarantee exchanges or hold items. If you need a different size we will check our inventory and, if available, we will ship out as soon as possible. We do not accept damaged, worn, or washed items. Unacceptable items will be shipped back to you at your own expense. Mail your items to:
4741 Central Street #277
Kansas City, MO 64112


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HPE Synergy 3820C 10/20Gb Converged Network Adapter
What if you could double your bandwidth, simplify management and reduce compute I/O costs and complexity?
The HPE Synergy 3820C 10/20Gb Converged Network Adapter is a key element in HPE composable fabric connecting pools of compute resources to networks with reliable, high-performing converged 10 or 20 Gb Ethernet connectivity. With Flex-20 Technology, the Synergy 3820C converges Ethernet and FCoE onto a single connection simplifying hardware and reducing costs. Each adapter replaces a 10 Gb NIC and 8 Gb Fibre Channel HBA simplifying I/O hardware by 50%1 and reducing costs up to 60%2. The Synergy 3820C is an ideal choice for any virtualized or converged data center.
Provisioning and updating Synergy 3820C are simple, reliable and fast using HPE Synergy's software-defined template-driven, frictionless operation. The HPE Synergy Composer automatically delivers proper firmware and driver coordination including staging updates for execution to avoid workload disruption.
Key Features
Run Anything
The HPE Synergy 3820C 10/20Gb Converged Network Adapter delivers flexibility to compose multiple network flows including Ethernet and FCoE or iSCSI within each connection.
Flex-20 Technology allows you to fine tune bandwidth for up to four partitioned FlexNIC's and FlexHBA's to optimize connectivity for different application needs.
A single mezzanine form factor provides flexible network and storage I/O for any HPE Synergy Compute Module.
Move Faster
The HPE Synergy 3820C 10/20Gb Converged Network Adapter provides 2X bandwidth improvement to remove compute I/O bottlenecks improving performance and accelerating virtualized workloads.
Each 20 Gb adapter provides CPU improvement for Synergy Compute Modules over two 10 Gb adapters with hardware acceleration and stateless TCP/IP offload technology.
Provides up to 80 Gb/s of converged bi-directional Ethernet bandwidth.
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The HPE Synergy 3820C 10/20Gb Converged Network Adapter consolidates server I/O connections reducing NIC/HBA adapter, cabling and switch port requirements.
Provisions and updates all adapters quickly and consistently using the HPE Synergy template-driven server profiles.
Orchestrates reliable adapter firmware updates with an entire HPE Synergy infrastructure from a single tool, HPE Synergy Composer.
[1] HPE Internal analysis, one converged network adapter reduces the need for a separate Ethernet adapter and HBA Fibre Channel adapter, or two adapters vs one.
[2] HPE Internal analysis, based on ILP pricing, comparing the cost of one converged network adapter vs the cost of separate Ethernet adapter, separate Fibre Channel HBA adapter and required transceivers.
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If you feel like you may be getting whiplash from all of the spin on the IRS scandal, it just means you're paying attention. Over the weekend, people had a tough time keeping the story straight — even within a single newspaper. On Friday, the Washington Post reported from their sources within the Cincinnati office of the IRS that the low-level employees just followed orders from their bosses, rather than going rogue as the administration suggests (via Sean Higgins, emphasis mine):
As could be expected, the folks in the determinations unit on Main Street have had trouble concentrating this week. Number crunchers, whose work is nonpolitical, don't necessarily enjoy the spotlight, especially when the media and the public assume they're engaged in partisan villainy.
"We're not political,'' said one determinations staffer in khakis as he left work late Tuesday afternoon. "We people on the local level are doing what we are supposed to do. . . . That's why there are so many people here who are flustered. Everything comes from the top. We don't have any authority to make those decisions without someone signing off on them. There has to be a directive."
So it was the managers who put this extra scrutiny in place? Not so, said … the Washington Post yesterday. In an article headlined "How the IRS seeded the clouds in 2010 for a political deluge three years later," the Post argues that the targeting was just an organic response to a stream of applications for tax-exempt status:
In early 2010, an Internal Revenue Service team in Cincinnati began noticing a stream of applications from groups with political-sounding names, setting in motion a dragnet aimed at separating legitimate tax-exempt groups from those working to get candidates elected.
The IRS officials decided to single out one type of political group for particular scrutiny. "These cases involve various local organizations in the Tea Party movement," read one internal IRS e-mail sent at the time. …
According to the inspector general's report, as IRS officials in Cincinnati tried to decide what to do about the groups — political advocacy organizations seeking what is known as 501 (c)(4) status — they sent out intrusive questionnaires seeking donor lists, copies of meeting minutes and reams of other documents. Applications sat around for months, sometimes years; some organizations ended up folding while awaiting answers that never came.
IRS officials in Cincinnati were ignorant of the law and did not recognize that they should not scrutinize groups solely based on terms such as "tea party," "patriots" and other conservative-sounding descriptions in their names, the inspector general's report said.
On Friday, the low-level IRS officials insisted that they wouldn't have applied any special scrutiny without a directive from management. On Sunday, they're back to being rogue agents making their own decisions. I wonder if Washington Post reporters actually read the Washington Post. They certainly seem to have trouble doing any research outside of their own archives, because had they checked on the actual data for applications in FY2010, they would have discovered that the number of applications had dropped, not increased.
Oh, if the Post only had a checker of fact to weigh in on this conundrum. Hey, wait a moment, it does! In fact, the paper's Glenn Kessler gave Lois Lerner four Pinocchios today for making the same claim:
At first glance, the Inspector General's report appears to show that the number of 501(c)(4) applications actually went down that year, from 1,751 in 2009 to 1,735.
But it turns out that these are federal fiscal-year figures, meaning "2010" is actually Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010, so the "2010" year includes more than three months before the Supreme Court decision was announced.
Astonishingly, despite Lerner's public claim, an IRS spokeswoman was not able to provide the actual calendar year numbers. By allocating one-quarter of the fiscal year numbers to the prior year, we can get a very rough sense of the increase on a calendar-year basis.(Figures are rounded to avoid false precision; 2012 is not possible to calculate)
2009: 1745
2010: 1865
2011: 2540
In other words, while there was an increase in 2010, it was relatively small. The real jump did not come until 2011, long after the targeting of conservative groups had been implemented. Also, it appears Lerner significantly understated the number of applications in 2010 ("1500") in order to make her claim of "more than doubled."
So much for the organic defense.
The Post's reporters make another odd and unsupported claim:
Many liberal-leaning and nonpolitical groups were also caught up in the effort.
Really? Like whom, exactly? An analysis by USA Today last week showed the exact opposite — that groups with liberal- or progressive-sounding names sailed through the approval process without any additional scrutiny. Zachary Goldfarb and Kimberly Kindy just throw that sentence into the article above the jump, and follow it up with no data or even anecdotal evidence that it's at all accurate or even arguable.
Next time the Post wants to offer a follow-up, maybe they'd like to have reporters do it, rather than stenographers for the IRS.
Update: Guy Benson reminds me that Steve Miller specifically refuted the notion that progressive groups got the same targeting during his testimony on Friday:
I guess these reporters missed the hearing, too.


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Compare cheap flights to Cairo
When is the cheapest time to fly to Cairo?
What to do in Cairo
Cairo is the capital city of Egypt and it's known across the world for many things – a fascinating past, world wonder sites, beautiful landscapes, incredible museums, and so much more. See for yourself why people from around the world travel to Cairo, from centuries ago up until today.
When you visit legendary destinations like Cairo, you have to see its top tourist spots. Make your way to the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Learn more of the city's history and be in awe of the artefacts at the Egyptian Museum.
Another great museum in the city is the Coptic Museum. Travel back in time when you visit the Pharaonic Village. Add more photos to your trip at Abdeen Palace and the best street in Cairo at Sharia Al Mu'izz Li-Din Allah.
Then tour the city's holy places next at the Mosque of Mohamed Ali Pasha, the gorgeous Al-Azhar Mosque, and the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.
Find green in the desert and have a relaxing day at the lush Al-Azhar Park, El Orman Gardens, and the International Garden. Get your heart going again and visit Cairo's best theme parks at Dream Park and Magic Land. They're perfect for the family or for spending time with your loved one.
Experience the Egyptian way of life and catch a show of the Al-Tannoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe. Bring your wallet and spend your Egyptian pound at Khan al-Khalili souk, Zamalek, Fair Trade Egypt, and Midan Talaat Harb for great finds.
Complete your amazing trip in the city with a 360-view of Cairo at Cairo Tower. The tower itself is a sight during sunset and at night.
Feel like a winner and conquer the "The Victorious" city during your trip with this Cairo travel guide.
When to visit Cairo
The best time to visit Cairo is during the shoulder season from October to November and March to April, when the temperature is comfortable. To save more dollars on airfare, book your flights on May, October, and November, when it's the cheapest time to fly to Cairo.
Before you start packing, secure your travel visa first so you can fly to Egypt and travel to Cairo. Just visit Smartraveller and the website of the Consulate General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Sydney for more travel info.
Travelling to and around Cairo
After your touchdown at Cairo International Airport, you can reach the city by taxi, share taxi, microbus, and limo service. Wander Cairo easily when you take the metro, taxi, and bus.
Give in to your wanderlust and travel to the historic city of Cairo! Pack plenty of sunblock, get your passport ready, and go book your Cairo flights with Skiddoo today.
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If you try to think of a verb to describe an archaeologist's work, you will probably come up with "dig." And dig we do. However, for every day an archaeologist spends excavating, she must spend many more analyzing artifacts in the lab, interpreting results, and writing reports and papers. After completing a 10-week field season in the jungle, at the Maya site of Ceibal, I am writing to you from our project's lab in Guatemala City, where my team members and I are busy analyzing our finds. (You can read a little about our project here.)
I'm a graduate student at the University of Arizona, working on my Ph.D. dissertation. My dissertation research involves excavating ancient Maya houses and the areas around those houses, some of which date back to around 800 B.C. (You can see some cool preliminary results here.) When you excavate households, you find a lot of ancient people's trash. Archaeologists love trash. The most common kind of artifact I find is broken pottery, which we call ceramic sherds. I spent today, the Day of Archaeology 2014, sorting, counting, recording, and labeling these bits of ancient bowls and plates. Below you can see my cozy workspace:
This kind of work is more tedious than glamorous, but it's an important step in interpreting the archaeological record. Ceramics are used to study all kinds of interesting topics, including trade, social status, and ancient technology. We sometimes even find residues of ancient foods and drinks in ceramic vessels.
Right now, I am most interested in my piles of sherds as a way to date the different floors, buildings, burials, and other deposits I have excavated. In the Maya area, archaeologists are constantly refining our knowledge of how local ceramics changed over time. Our knowledge of Maya ceramic types allows us to quickly put together the basic timeline of an archaeological site. (We also use other methods of dating, such as radiocarbon dating, but for various reasons those are not always feasible, useful options.) Without that timeline, we couldn't begin to understand the events that took place in the past. By carefully recording and publishing the ceramic finds from our site, we contribute to our discipline's broader knowledge of ancient Maya ceramics. We create representative collections of sherds for others to study, and we reassemble whole ceramic vessels that will eventually by curated by Guatemala's Institute of Anthropology and History. Some of the nicer Maya dishes may even end up in the national archaeology museum.
Other project members, who hail from Guatemala, the US, Europe, and Japan, are busy analyzing the stone tools, human bones, animal bones, and other artifacts excavated at our site. Each provides an important, different piece of the puzzle in our quest to understand ancient Maya society.
Next time you break a dish in your kitchen and clean up the pieces, stop to think about what a future archaeologist might someday learn from your discarded trash!


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TRAILER LIFE LURES MORE THOUSANDS (Nov, 1936)
Tin Can Tourists' Reunion in Sandusky reflects growing boom in business of escaping rent by house car dwelling.
NEW impetus has been given the boom in trailer travel by the exhibits and meetings of the Automobile Tourists Association at Manistee, Mich., and the reunion of the Tin Can Tourists of the World at Sandusky, Ohio.
Thousands more are turning to life on wheels and a dozen additional automobile makers are planning to add house cars to their lines as a result of the interest displayed. The Sandusky gathering gave birth to a new organization of builders, the Coach Trailer Manufacturers' Association.
Registration at the Manistee gathering, the third for the A. T. A., reached 5,726 and at Sandusky over 2,000 persons in 500 trailers enjoyed themselves for several weeks at the Erie County Fair Grounds. Thirty manu facturers displayed new models of every type at both gatherings.
Scores of noted trailer travelers gathered at Sandusky to hear that the organization had grown to 97,000 members since its formation at Tampa, Fla., in 1919 and to enjoy a recreation program arranged by the entertainment committee of Harry Bolus, Mansfield, Ohio.
Mr. Bolus knows something about entertaining. For many years he was a member of the Fields Minstrels and was long a vaudeville star. Though they have a home in Mansfield, Mr. and Mrs. Bolus spend much of their time in their famous trailer.
Oldest of the tourists present was R. W Vaughn of Rome City, Ind. A charter member of the organization and a former officer, he is still active in its affairs at the age of 85. He credits his health to life in the open.
Mrs. Guy E. Russell of Ripley, N. Y., who has spent most of the recent years living in a trailer with her husband and their four children, was enthusiastic in her praise of house car life.
"We have less worries and after a while one takes on a more cheerful outlook on life," she said. "We live far cheaper than we could in most any city.
"The time required for cleaning our home daily is negligible. In the food problem, we have the advantage of picking up fresh vegetables and fruits from roadside stands. Hucksters make daily rounds.
"We don't eat any more canned food than city folk though we are called 'Tin Canners!' Meats, ice and other necessities are bought from nearby stores and delivery service is given if we are staying a while. Prices are less than average. We nearly always buy in quantities, and farmers and truck gardeners give us a rate.
"My children get every advantage of education. When we stay in a place for several months, they are sent to the public schools. In some subjects, geography and history, they excel. They have traveled through most of the 48 states and learn more by seeing than they could from books."
The M. McCune family of Detroit attracted considerable attention in a luxurious self-built trailer housing eight persons. It contains four double beds and is handsomely arranged with walnut woodwork, mohair lounges and imitation snake-skin wall covering. Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Collier of Miami, Fla., brought six canary birds to the gathering.
Ira W. Green of Vassar, Mich., royal chief, said attendance exceeded that of the previous reunion and predicted a record attendance at the Sarasota, Fla. Officers are elected and business transacted at this meeting. Capt. Edward H. Jungclas, president and secretary of the A. T. A., announced a get-together meeting at Lake City, Fla., Nov. 22 to 28, and a winter convention at Clearwater, Fla., Jan. 29 to Feb. 8.
Ease and enjoyment of the trailer dwellers at the meetings converted many to the idea. Groups sat about under awnings. Women clicked needles at knitting or crocheting. Dogs frolicked on the grounds. There was a checker tournament, dances and movies. Monday is wash day.
The "Tin Canners" are an organization without dues, fees or assessments. The name comes from their food and not their vehicles. Their original emblem was a can tied to a radiator cap. A neat metal emblem is now placed on car fronts. The sale of emblems and membership badges provides entertainment and operating expenses for the organization.
Carl Schelm, president of Schelm Brothers, Peoria, Ill., was elected president of the new trailer manufacturers' association. B. R. Scheff, sales manager Palace Travel Coach Co., was chosen vice president; R. E. Merrill, sales manager, Kabin Koach, Detroit, treasurer.
Directors in addition to officers are W. J. Schult, president Schult Trailer Co., Elkhart, Ind.; Norman C. Wolfe, president Silver Dome Co., Detroit; A. G. Sherman, president Covered Wagon Co., Mt. Clemens, Mich.; Earl Raymond, treasurer Raymond Products Co., Saginaw, Mich.; Roy Gilkinson, general manager Gilkie Trailer Co., Terre Haute, Ind.; Clarence M. Lutes, owner Kozy Coach Co., Kalamazoo, Mich.
The organization plans a series of winter trailer exhibitions in various parts of the country. A trailer show will be a feature of the annual New York Auto Show opening this year on Nov. 11.
Many automobile and truck manufacturers have entered the trailer field either directly or through subsidiaries. Among the latest are the Pierce-Arrow Motor Corp. of Buffalo with the Travelodge, the Federal Motor Truck Co. of Detroit with the Motohome and Motomart. The Hayes Body Co. is making a new Motor-Home trailer at Grand Rapids, Mich. The Aladdin Co. of Bay City, Mich., has just produced a new Mayflower trailer.


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BR Police: Auburn fan steals truck, kidnaps woman, hits 9 parked cars outside Tigerland bars
Man 'wanted to see what it was really like to play the video game Grand Theft Auto.'
One Auburn fan who visited for the college football game never got the chance to see the big matchup. That's because he was behind bars after he allegedly stole a truck, kidnapped a woman, and hit nine parked cars, according to WVLA in Baton Rouge.
According to the arrest report, the incident happened on Saturday shortly before 2:30 a.m. Officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department were called to the Tigerland area in response to a stolen vehicle and erratic driver.
Witnesses said the owner of the truck pulled up in the parking lot of the bar and got out of the vehicle. He left the truck running and a female passenger was sitting in a truck alone. Then, the suspect, Zachary Burgess, 20, of Hoover, Ala., got in and tried to steal the vehicle.
"When he tried to flee the parking lot there were several cars blocking the way," Cpl. Don Coppola said. "He began ramming into the parked cars."
The female in the vehicle was reportedly being held in the truck against will. She claims that Burgess "forcibly" held her captive in the truck.
"The passenger was able to jump out of the vehicle and get to safety," Coppola said.
Burgess allegedly struck a total of nine vehicles.
During questioning Burgess allegedly told an officer that he "wanted to see what it was really like to play the video game Grand Theft Auto."
Burgess was arrested and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, nine counts of hit-and-run and simple kidnapping. His bond was set at $80,000. He was released on Sunday after posting bond.
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Egyptian court upholds 10-year prison sentences for 2 police officers over killing of activist
CAIRO – Egypt's highest appeals court has upheld the sentencing of two police officers to 10 years in prison each for the 2010 killing of a political activist in the port city of Alexandria.
Wednesday's ruling cannot be appealed. The officers were convicted in a retrial last year in a landmark case over the beating death of 28-year-old Khaled Said.
His slaying was one of the sparks that ignited the January 2011 uprising that toppled Egypt's long-time autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak. Photographs of the Said's severely beaten face were posted on the Internet and became a rallying cry against rampant police brutality.
The police officers — Awad Suliman and Mahmoud Salah — previously had been convicted and sentenced in October 2011 to seven years each but that verdict was later thrown out.


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CORRECTIONS- Two things about Biscuit Run
The Hook's January 6 cover story, "Bad Men? New numbers show spiraling costs of Biscuit Run" gave a brother's first name as that of the father of deal-orchestrator Hunter Craig. Craig father's name is Daley. Also, despite a year-ago statement he made at a press conference about "any loss we've taken," Dave Matthews Band member Boyd Tinsley was not an owner in the Biscuit Run deal, according to a close associate of Tinsley's. (The associate says Tinsley attended the press conference merely as friend of outgoing governor Tim Kaine.)


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Los Campesinos! Lighten Up With 'No Blues'
Los Campesinos is a kind of puzzling name for a Welsh sextet that's put out five albums since 2006. Many of them have titles that don't seem to be destined to soar to the top of the pop charts: "We are Beautiful," "We are Doomed," "Romance is Boring" and "Hello Sadness." Now, their latest: "No Blues."
LOS CAMPESINOS: (Singing) There is no blues (unintelligible) the river I watch (unintelligible)...
SIMON: We're joined now by Los Campesinos' lead singer, Gareth David - or Gareth Campesinos, as he is often known. He comes to us from the studios of the BBC in Cardiff, Wales. Thanks very much for being with us.
GARETH DAVID: It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you, Scott.
SIMON: You know, every now and then in this country, we see Welsh, you know, one of the signs with a town that has a name that seems to be two and a half miles long. So, we're not very familiar with Welsh here. So, in Welsh, Los Campesinos means what exactly?
DAVID: In Welsh, Los Campesinos means absolutely nothing - both linguistically and in terms of people knowing anything about our band. But it's Spanish. It translates loosely as the peasants or the farmers. And it's...
SIMON: Well, all right. That I know, OK. We...
DAVID: OK. You've got that. You've got that.
SIMON: But I don't understand how a Welsh band gets that name.
DAVID: And I wish that there was an answer for that. The only answer is that if we had any idea that, you know, a few years down the line we would have some sort of profile, we would have definitely have thought harder about the name.
SIMON: You have five band mates, right?
DAVID: Yes, I do. Five darling band mates.
SIMON: Well, who are they and give us some stories how you began.
DAVID: Well, the start of the band is very serendipitous. Myself and Neil, my band mate, we met on our first day at university and there was a beautiful moment whereby I knocked on his door to introduce myself - I was wearing a Sonic Youth T-shirt and he held in his hand this Sonic Youth poster. And I think from that moment we knew that we were destined to be stuck with each other for all eternity. My other band mates would be - Tom is my songwriting partner and he's a founding member as well. We've had members come and go, but the other three would be Jason, our man on the drums, Rob Campesinos, who is a jack of all trades and then my sister is also in the band.
SIMON: I didn't know that. That's adorable - you and your sister in the same band.
DAVID: It's really nice. She wasn't originally in the band and so I had the amazing opportunity to say to my sister would you like to be in this band and tour the world with me? And that was, like, one of the best moments I've experienced in my whole life, I think.
SIMON: Let's play the first single from your new album, if we could. It's got a catchy title: "What Death Leaves Behind."
CAMPESINOS: (Singing) I was brave man (unintelligible), you are a shadow brave, I see too much a specter. (unintelligible), that's being (unintelligible) upon me, I'll be a place (unintelligible) on your naked body.
SIMON: What's the story here?
DAVID: Well, despite the title - and as you pointed out, reading back my album titles earlier - they all do seem a little bit downbeat, a little bit morbid. I think "What Death Leaves Behind" is intended to be a pretty euphoric song. It's essentially about the good in things and about friendship and about sort of the strong relationship that you forge with somebody else. But then, you know, you got a, you keep a mystique by giving it a miserable title, I think.
SIMON: Do I get this right, while we're kind of in the general area, you once worked at a cemetery?
DAVID: Yeah, I still do on occasion, yeah. I tend graves - not digging, unfortunately. I think that's outside of my expertise. But general pruning and gardening and maintaining the tombs and that. Yeah, I do. It's very peaceful.
SIMON: Well, I guess when you're going the pruning, though, it's a quiet and contemplative place.
DAVID: Yeah, it totally is. It's the ideal place to collect your thoughts and to get ideas for song and to listen to music. And, yeah, it's a place which encourages thought, I suppose.
SIMON: Let's hear a little bit of a song you have called "Cemetery Gaits."
CAMPESINOS: (Singing) I'm going to my grave, (unintelligible) the way we crawl (unintelligible)...
SIMON: We should explain that the title, too, is "Cemetery Gaits," G-A-I-T-S, as in walking.
DAVID: Clever, right?
SIMON: A Joyce-ian pun, to be sure. You have a lot of wordplay on this album, don't you?
DAVID: Yeah, I think so. I write the lyrics and I have absolutely no musical ability whatsoever. I am in awe of my band mates who are all very capable and talented musicians and I can do nothing of the sort. So, I think I overcompensate for that by being needlessly verbose in my songwriting.
SIMON: You're really making people eager to go out and download this. And I feel we ought to give you another - we ought to give you a chance to make your own best case as to why people might like your music. Reading between the lines, are you trying to make people conscious of the preciousness of life?
DAVID: Yeah. This album is quite a turning point for us as a band, I think, because it is a lot more hopeful than a lot of stuff we've written previously. And as somebody who - to be serious for a moment - has sort of battled with depression for a long time and been in some pretty dark places, it's important for, you know, when there are those cracks of light and there is happiness, it's important to embrace those things because life is so fleeting and you've got to make the most of it. And I think, although, amongst all the melancholy, there are plenty of jokes in there and the puns and the self-deprecation, and that's what life is, I think.
SIMON: We want to go out with a song. I wonder if you can tell us about it: "Avocado Baby."
DAVID: It's a crazy, silly song. It's got a local cheerleading squad on it from Cardiff, the Cardiff Cougar All Stars, who I think would be very excited to hear their name mentioned on NPR. A group of girls and one boy who came in and we kind of cajoled into singing backing vocals for us. Although, when we showed up, we were the three people in our late 20s and we just immediately became the most uncool people in the world, sort of a life-flashing-before-our-eyes moment.
SIMON: Well, let's go out listening to "Avocado Baby." Gareth David of Los Campesinos. Their new album, it's called "No Blues." He joined us from the BBC studios in Cardiff, Wales. Mr. David, (Foreign language spoken).
DAVID: Thank you.
DAVID: Thanks very much.
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In the News: APD, hearing but not understanding
Children who have difficulty understanding verbal instructions and who struggle with reading and spelling could have an APD.
Does your child sometimes have trouble understanding spoken information? Have tests shown her "hearing is fine" yet she is not reaching her learning potential? Can't quite put your finger on the problem? It may be a hearing disorder. The SoundSkills team of experts can diagnose and treat Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). We can help children with APD hear and learn. Read more
Increasingly, SoundSkills is seeing adults for assessment and treatment. This section of the website is under development. Much of the information contained in the website is relevant for all ages. Please contact the clinic if you have any specific questions regarding our services for adults. Read more
Often misdiagnosed as dyslexia or other learning disability, APD requires specialised testing, assessment and individual treatment. We provide advanced diagnostic and treatment services to assist you with patients with APD. Treatment includes: auditory training therapy, language therapy, assistive listening devices and remote microphone hearing aids. Read more
Does a child in your classroom have difficulty comprehending and retaining auditory instructions, become easily distracted or even disruptive, struggle with spelling and reading? Our Education Adviser can work with you on optimal teaching strategies, IEPs, and trial and use of assistive listening equipment such as RM hearing aids. We can help your students achieve their best. Read more
Children with APD find it challenging to take in the spoken message and make it meaningful. This problem with interpreting and recalling messages leads to problems in learning.Find out more
SoundSkills is a specialist multi-disciplinary diagnostic and treatment service for children and adults with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD).
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a hearing problem which occurs not in the ears but in the hearing pathways or hearing centres of the brain. The ears may process sound normally, and the person may pass ordinary hearing tests, but the brain has difficulty interpreting what is heard. This type of hearing loss adversely affects understanding, especially in difficult listening situations such as when there is other distracting sound present, or when listening to complex information or instructions. As a result learning is usually affected.
APD may occur in conjunction with other disorders such as:
APD often causes or is associated with:
SoundSkills is a specialist APD clinic staffed by a team of APD experts in audiological diagnostic assessment, speech-language diagnostic assessment, and treatment of auditory disorders drawn from the professions of audiology, speech language therapy and special education.
SoundSkills was established by audiologist Dr Bill Keith to provide improved APD services in this neglected and under-funded area of hearing services.More Information
SoundSkills specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of APD for adults and children, providing the support of a multi-disciplinary team of experts. Our qualified professionals in audiology, speech-language therapy and special education are all on-site and able to provide the full range of services required to effectively diagnose and manage APD, from informational counselling for the client, their family and teachers, to auditory training and language therapy and fitting of remote microphone and conventional hearing-aids.
For Children, we also carry out school visits to involve schools and teachers in APD management. We work as an expert team to provide the best possible outcome, support and care for APD. Our methods are based on sound scientific research, adapted to suit each individual. APD diagnosis and treatment is our focus, so our clients can be assured of the care of the most comprehensive and specialised APD team in New Zealand. We can provide referral for other assessment as required.
SoundSkills is one of few such specialist APD clinics world-wide. Through our close links with universities in New Zealand and overseas we keep up with the latest scientific research in APD from around the world ensuring that our diagnosis and treatment services are evidence-based and cutting edge.More Information
Children who have difficulty understanding verbal instructions and who struggle with reading and spelling could have an APD.
Presented by our expert team of professionals. Learn more about APD and ask questions of our team – from facts to funding assistance…
APD is the most neglected and underdiagnosed area of hearing services in NZ according to Dr Bill Keith, audiologist of specialist APD clinic SoundSkills


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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Showing impressive momentum, President Barack Obama raised more in high-dollar contributions than Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during the last two months in 10 of 11 battleground states that are pivotal to win the presidential election, according to an analysis of new campaign financial reports by The Associated Press.
Importantly, Romney's campaign has raised more money from donors who gave over $200 than Obama's organization overall since May in four of those 11 battleground states -- in some cases by wide margins, such as $21 million for Romney in Florida versus $11.2 million there for Obama. And nationally, Romney has continued to out-fundraise Obama.
Yet Obama made especially impressive gains last month in Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The new financial figures, current through the end of August, do not reflect a slam dunk for Obama's campaign. But as much as the act of donating more than $200 to a politician is a measure of popular support, the figures present another challenge for Romney in key states with only six weeks before Election Day.
They also represent a precursor to what has been one of the most difficult periods in Romney's candidacy. Romney has struggled this week to quell controversy over a secretly recorded video in which he told donors that 47 percent of the country pays no taxes and is dependent on government, amid fresh signs of a national housing rebound and growing support for Obama in public opinion polls.
For example, in Florida, with its 29 winner-take-all electoral votes, Obama raised $5.5 million in itemized contributions in July and August compared to $3.7 million for Romney during the same period. In Ohio, with 18 electoral votes and also considered a keystone for a winning campaign, Obama raised $2.3 million compared to $1.3 million for Romney, during the same period.
The AP's analysis doesn't include the tens of millions of dollars in advertisements from super political action committees and doesn't include details about donors who gave fewer than $200 because they aren't required to be listed on the federal reports.
"The president's picking up traction in battleground states he carried before," said R. Donahue Peebles, a major Obama fundraiser in New York. "As the election nears, people are paying more attention. The donors who had been sitting on the sidelines are now getting involved and are more engaged."
Obama four years ago broke presidential fundraising records but has found himself financially outgunned for much of the summer, thanks in part to super PACs supporting Romney. Those groups have been largely bankrolled by wealthy Americans and have flourished under recent legal changes that loosened campaign-finance regulations. Obama has similar groups working in his favor, although not as successfully.
Obama's campaign pulled in $114 million in August, slightly more than Romney's $111.6 million. Unlike Obama, Romney raised more than $100 million nationwide for at least three consecutive months this summer.
Romney and the Republican Party had $168.5 million cash on hand versus Obama and the Democrats' $125 million left in the bank. Romney also took out a $20 million loan on Aug. 22; he had repaid at least $5 million of that by the end of August, reports show.
For Obama, pulling ahead of Romney hasn't been easy, particularly for a campaign that has repeatedly and publicly acknowledged it will be outspent. Romney showed remarkable successes in some battleground states earlier this year. He raised $7.6 million in Florida in May, compared to $1.5 million for Obama; Romney raised $3.7 million in Ohio in June compared to $545,000 for Obama.
In Virginia, which broke tradition in 2008 and awarded its 13 electoral votes to Obama, Obama out-raised Romney by roughly 2-to-1 during the last two months. Romney had raised more in Virginia than Obama during the preceding May and June.
The new financial reports also showed that some wealthy executives who have given tens of millions of dollars to super PACs this election didn't give any more money last month, including Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and Texas businessman Harold Simmons. Some major donors have chosen to give instead to super PACs' nonprofit arms, which don't have to reveal their donors but must focus their ads on political issues.


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German Shepherd
15 weeks
This gorgeous German Shepherd puppy will definitely brighten up your days! He is playful, super friendly and has an outgoing personality. This puppy is raised with children very well socialized and he will certainly not disappoint! He is AKC registered, vet checked, vaccinated, wormed and comes with a 1 year genetic health guarantee. His parents are Purli & Budi. Don't let this cuddle bug pass you by! He is just waiting for you to make the call! Please contact us for more information or check out our website at www.keystonepuppies.com for pictures of all of the available puppies for sale.
**SUBMIT APPLICATION** – This is NOT necessary and does NOT ensure that the puppy will be yours. Please just email or call us for availability.
This puppy can be shipped (ground or air*) for an estimated fee of $595.00. *Snub nosed breeds may not be flown.
*Not applicable on marketplace listings.
Member Since: July 2012
Located Near: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Phone Number
Cane Corso MastiffMale, 20 weeksLancaster, Pennsylvania
This adorable Cane Corso puppy is fun-loving and social. He is cute as a button and will make a great companion dog. This puppy is ICCF registered, vet checked, vaccinated...
Learn more View Details
CockapooMale, 19 weeksLancaster, Pennsylvania
This Spunky Cockapoo pup is ready to show you how social he is. He is so social that he will surely greet everyone with his puppy kisses. This fella is being raised with children...
German ShepherdMale, 19 weeksLancaster, Pennsylvania
This Cutie Pie is a German Shepherd ready to explore. He loves running around playing with the children he is currently being raised with. This fella is as social as can be...
German ShepherdFemale, 20 weeksLancaster, Pennsylvania
You have found yourself an amazing German Shepherd puppy! She is raised with children, super social, fun-loving and a bundle of joy. This lady loves to explore and will be...
†All information regarding this puppy listing has been provided by the breeder.