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Melospiza melodia (song sparrow)
A Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) flew right up to me as I was sitting on my ladder at Tavasci Marsh [Arizona], sang a quick song and left - as though he was auditioning! Then, remarkably enough, another did the same thing 30 minutes later. The two songs are totally different in pitch and content. The first three phrases are the first bird, the last phrase is from the second. It is noteworthy that the second sparrow sang the same phrase over and over, whereas the first one sang different phrases each time.
Douglas Von Gausig (recordist; copyright holder), Naturesongs.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
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To cite this page:
Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2020. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed at https://animaldiversity.org.
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For U? Think twice about MBA
Whether you're thinking of a top-tier MBA or a PhD in anthropology, there's a right way and a wrong way to approach graduate school. You need to understand your dreams and what's required to achieve them. Also, you need to understand the marketplace, and what it values.
If you dream of climbing ladders in the Fortune 500, get an MBA. The degree is a VIP ticket to corporate life and a prerequisite for the top ranks. And if you have the luck of being in your 20s, don't wait, get the degree now, when it can get you a better starting job after you graduate. If you've already made headway in your career, you'll still need that MBA, but when you're older, it's more like a career lubricant than a jump start: The degree has little impact on where you are now, but prevents you from getting stuck later.
Think twice before cashing in your chips for a less respected school. The top five or ten business schools have a much, much higher value in the business world than all the other business schools. If you attend the third tier school, do it at night because the costs to your checkbook and your career growth while you're in school do not outweigh the benefits of the degree.
For some people, though, graduate school is not so much a way to fulfill a dream as a way to put off finding one. Thomas Benton, a pseudonym for an assistant professor who writes a column for the Chronicle of Higher Education, blames much of the flight to graduate school on grade inflation and fragile egos:
Humanities majors are used to praise from professors. Many recent grads return to school when they discover that not everyone thinks they're as great as their humanities teachers did. Humanities don't have the objective standards of business. Going back to grad school allows people to reestablish their ego. But it's short lived because they have to face the same market when they get out.
So be honest with yourself. If you're going back to school because you're nostalgic for the days when you could get a good grade and a pat on the back, if you're looking for grad school to give you breathing room from the realities of adult life, you probably need a social worker more than you need another degree.
Besides, breathing time in grad school only delays future feelings of suffocation. For example, MFA programs do not make you more creative, they make you more qualified to teach. And the academic job market is a nightmare. One out of five people who enter English literature PhD programs will get a job in that field. The rest will find themselves back at square one, waiting tables while looking for a career, albeit with improved literary banter.
Lost humanities students with an eye for cash and stability often enter law school because other professional schools require too much math or science. Yet the land of lost lawyers is full, too, which confirms that if you don't have a passion for what you're going to learn in graduate school, you shouldn't go.
If you still think you might be best off at grad school, then here's a checklist of things you should do before you apply:
1. Try other jobs first. The people who do best in graduate school are those who don't use it to escape their terrible job life.
2. Determine if an advanced degree is necessary. Talk to people who are where you want to be in five years to ten years. If those people got there without a degree, then you probably can, too.
3. Take the passion test. Are you reading about your proposed graduate topic now? If you're not passionate enough about the subject matter to read about it on your own, then pursue something that excites you more.

subset: commoncrawl


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In the previous post of our twelve-part blog series on the Top 10 Technology Trends for advisors and their partners, we explored outsourcing, an increasingly mainstream way of getting more done for less. The eighth trend we will discuss in this post is social media.
Unless you've been living on a deserted island for the past few years, you know that social networking and social media is all the rage. It seems you can't turn on the evening news without hearing "Twitter this" or "Facebook that." With many technology trends, financial services firms have entered the market slowly, because of the unknown compliance and regulatory risks. Despite those risks, financial institutions and advisors are increasingly using social media including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Chatter and other services.
For those in the financial services industry, there are really two core uses for social media. The first is an obvious one, as a new medium for communication. The second is less obvious but just as powerful, and that is as an intelligence gathering tool.
Social Media and Client Expectations
Advisors are being asked to participate in social media as a communications medium —sometimes reluctantly—by clients. In years past, it might have been acceptable to communicate with clients once a quarter. With the advent of email, cell phones and online account access, clients expected more frequent investment and general account updates; maybe once a month or even weekly.
However, with the popularization of social media, more and more clients want instant access to an advisor. For example, if news comes out about a company in which a client owns stock, some clients may expect near instant communication from her advisor about what the news means to the client's portfolio. You probably don't have too many clients with this expectation today. Yet as more and more young people who have grown up on text messaging and Facebook start hiring financial professionals, you can be sure that these will be client expectations in the coming years. Obviously these are unrealistic. However, the social media/instant communication trend means that it is the advisor's responsibility to set client communication expectations.
Social Media and Internal Communications
Social media also plays a role in internal employee communications. As employees become more and more accustomed to viewing the daily lives of their friends and commenting on others' posts/information, private social media-like tools are replacing in-person meetings and email as a form of employee interaction in the business environment.
For example, software like Yammer and Chatter make it easy for employees to share what they're working on, and it allows others to communicate the statud of a project status, for instance, in real time, often integrated within a company's CRM system. Online collaboration tools like Tracky provide full project management capabilities using a private Twitter interface that is easy to use and is very collaborative in nature.
Social Media and Marketing
The most obvious role that the social media trend plays is with marketing. It is now easier than ever for advisors to cost-effectively communicate with clients and prospects. It's easy and free to link with clients and prospects on LinkedIn, follow others on Twitter, post messages on Facebook, etc. Because social media is so informal, the danger is that the advisor risks being 'friends' on social media where too much personal information can be shared, versus maintaining a professional relationship.
As a marketing vehicle, social media must be considered like any form of advertising and thus falls under the same compliance regulations and guidelines. If your firm says that a brochure needs to be approved, then your post on Twitter probably needs to be pre-approved. If your firm requires you to archive every marketing email you send, then you most likely need to have software that automatically and permanently archives every Facebook post.
Social Media and Its Dangers
In addition to maintaining legal compliance, anyone in business—and advisors in particular—needs to be very careful what they post online because of 'reputational compliance.' It's important to remember that anything in digital format is probably archived, and thus searchable, forever.
As you probably know, the majority of communication effectiveness occurs non-verbally and via tone of voice. For example, calling someone a jerk can have two different meanings: one if you have a scowl on your face and if you deliver the message in a deep, angry tone; another if you have a smile, pat your friend on the back, and have an upbeat tone. Obviously tone of voice and non-verbal communication is lost in social media communication, even if you use emoticons like "smiley faces" J in your posts.
Thus, a joke that you relate to a client or prospect that might be very funny in person could be taken completely the wrong way online, out of context. Other posts can be dangerous as well. Ever share a political comment online? That's fine. Just know you could be alienating 51% or 49% of your potential prospects, depending on where you live. Did you Tweet about poor customer service you received at a local restaurant? Your rant may be perceived as 'whiny' or immature by your clients.
As you participate in the social media trend, it's important to remember the 'Newspaper Test."' Basically, you need to ask yourself this question: "Would what I'm about to post online embarrass me if it were on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper?" If the answer is yes, then don't post it. Here's another good practice to implement: if you ever have a question about sending something in digital format—a text, a post, a Tweet, a blog comment—write what you want to see in an email and send it to yourself first. Then wait a few minutes, or even a day, and then read the email. Almost 100% of the time, you'll probably decide to revise your comment or not send it at all.
Social Media and Referrals
For advisors, another use of social media is as an intelligence gathering tool. In years past, when you met with a new prospect, you had about as much information on the individual as what your referral source (if that's where the lead came from) told you. If you were meeting with an existing client, your information gathering was pretty much limited to questions that you asked during your in-person meeting. With social media, that has now all changed.
For example, if you're meeting with a new prospect who is a business executive, it's highly likely that the individual has a LinkedIn account that you can review prior to the meeting. By doing some homework, you will know the prospect's work history, education, their likes/dislikes, and even personal information before you walk in the room. Used correctly, this information allows you to connect on a more meaningful level, ensures relevancy, and gives you permission to ask more personal, values-based questions.
For existing clients, you can now easily track what's going on in their lives by following clients on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and other social networks. When your review meeting comes along, you'll already know about your client's upcoming vacation, how their child is doing in school, movies your client recently saw and their favorite new restaurant. You may also learn about your client's political feelings, religious affiliation and other highly personal information. Again, used correctly, this information can help you form better questions, provide relevant ideas or advice and help you connect with clients in a more personal manner. (Of course, if you use it incorrectly your clients will think you're spying on them, but that is a separate issue altogether.)
By connecting with your clients via social media, you also gain another very powerful benefit. You know who your clients know. For example, when you connect with your clients on LinkedIn and Facebook, you can see who their business and personal connections are. Said in another way, you can 'mine' your clients for leads.
According to Julie Littlechild's AdvisorImpact, less than 2% of advisors actually ask their clients for referrals by name. Asking a client if they know anyone who could use your services is uncomfortable for both you and your client. Saying something like "as you know, we're connected on LinkedIn and I see that you know Julie Jones. How well do you know Julie? How would you feel about making an introduction to her?" could be a much more comfortable referrals approach for both you and your client. When you ask for referrals by name, you are much more likely to get a hot or at least warm prospect lead which ultimately builds upon itself as you gain more clients, and link with those clients via social networks.
View all the articles in this series at the Top Tech Trends home page.


text: TitleMax is one of the largest and most reputable title lending companies in the country. Since 1998, TitleMax has been providing people with no credit check title loans that come with a superior level of customer service. If you need to get some extra cash fast, TitleMax is the place for you to go. You can get up to $5,000 in as little as 30 minutes and the best part is, you get to keep driving your car through the course of the loan. Visit www.titlemax.com today!


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Washington, D.C. -- "The hog was lying in the cradle and all four feet had been removed. The hog was observed to be kicking and shaking its head. It exhibited skin twitching and irregular but rhythmic breathing with deep abdominal and thoracic movement. It appeared to be gasping for breath," a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspector wrote about a still-conscious hog at a slaughter plant in Frankenmuth, Mo.
With meat recalls due to bacterial contamination and the horrific handling and slaughtering of downer cows making headlines in recent months, consumers are increasingly aware of some of the problems occurring behind slaughterhouse doors. But new documentation reveals how dire the situation really is. The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has released the first report of its kind to analyze humane slaughter enforcement at state, federal and foreign slaughterhouses.
Drawing from over 1,000 documents obtained from sources including 60 public records requests to federal and state agriculture departments from 2002 to 2007, the report exposes the lack of sound enforcement at plants throughout the United States and across the globe.
"This report shows that enforcement of humane slaughter law is a low priority of the US Department of Agriculture, state agriculture departments, and the U.S. animal agriculture industry as a whole," said author Dena Jones, a consultant to AWI. "Legal and regulatory changes need to be made in the current inspection system to better protect the approximately 10 billion animals killed for food each year in the United States."
Currently, humane slaughter laws require that livestock be rendered insensible with one stunning attempt before they are killed. However, American Meat Institute guidelines consider an acceptable stunning effectiveness rating of 99 percent for pigs and 95 percent for cattle and sheep, while the National Chicken Council has set an acceptable stunning standard of 98 percent for chickens. Even if every single slaughter plant was able to meet these voluntary industry goals, the report notes, 185 million chickens, 1.8 million cattle and sheep and 1 million pigs would still be killed inhumanely each year in the United States.
Little time is actually spent by agriculture department inspectors observing the handling, stunning and slaughter of animals. Nonetheless, the citations recorded by the USDA are disturbing. At a plant in Benton, Ark., an inspector noted, "At approximately 1:00 p.m. [a Holstein cow] had a 1 cm hole in its forehead from a captive bolt stunner. At 1:10 p.m. the cow had not been moved and was breathing regularly. An establishment employee tried to re-stun the animal twice but the hand held captive bolt stunner did not fire."
Between 2002 and 2005, only 42 enforcement actions beyond issuances of deficiency reports for noncompliances with humane slaughter laws were taken in the United States. But whistleblower accounts and undercover videotape documentation from inside slaughterhouses reviewed in the report suggest that the current low level of humane enforcement is not due to a lack of violations. Instead, crimes are either not observed or recognized by inspection personnel, not reported through the proper channel, or the appropriate remedial measures are not being taken.
"USDA inspectors must be present at plants to ensure adherence to basic standards of decency, said AWI President Cathy Liss. "At the very least, animals who are killed for food are entitled to a merciful death."
For a PDF version (150 pgs, 1.4MB) of the report, click here.
Additional Information:
- Animal Welfare Institute and Humane Farming Association release video footage entitled "Scenes from USDA Inspected Slaughterhouses"
- Government Report Confirms Slaughter is not Humane - AWI Quarterly
- Groups Say Human Oversight Necessary at US Slaughterhouses - AWI Press Release
Media Contacts:
Cathy Liss, (202) 446-2121
Dena Jones, (202) 446-2146
For over 57 years, AWI has been the leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill. AWI promotes humane farming practices and fights the growth of animal factories for the benefit of animals, consumers, farm families, rural communities and the environment. More information is available at www.awionline.org.


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Our clothing is unique because it has a Camino inspired fabric design with colourful shells, arrows, footprints and hearts to remind you of the spirit of the way. My Camino Clothing is for the peregrina who wants to embody her Camino experience on the path and/or back home. Comfy stretchy leggings, with a wide waistband, can be worn for walking, yoga, leisure and fashion. And we have a new sleeveless top Camino inspired painting by Toronto artist Jill Sky Innes. Be the first to wear it!
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Was General John R. Allen, who succeeded General David Petraeus as lead commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, actually sending inappropriate emails to Tampa socialite Jill Kelley? (If you still don't know who these people are, read our explainer here.)
According to the New York Times, "Conflicting portrayals of e-mails" have emerged: some of Allen's associates say he's just the type of Southern gentleman who calls women sweethearts, while other FBI officials say some of the language in his emails to Kelley was "overly flirtatious." We don't know yet. But one of the most intriguing parts of the article — and of the Petraeus scandal thus far, really — is how all these Super Important People were constantly chatting with one another at a rate that puts even the most gossipy middle schoolers to shame.
This is how the Times explains Allen's role in it all:
General Allen's connection to the scandal appears to have originated with an e-mail he received from an account that was registered under a fake name and has now been linked to Ms. Broadwell, according to a senior American official. The e-mail warned General Allen to be wary of Ms. Kelley and was vaguely threatening. Though he did not know who had written the e-mail, he was concerned and passed it on to Ms. Kelley. She then discussed it with an agent she knew at the F.B.I.'s field office in Tampa, whose cybercrime unit opened an investigation that eventually linked Ms. Broadwell to General Petraeus.
And this is how we imagine it going down via AOL Instant Messenger:
AwesomeAllen242: hiii sweetie
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: ;) hey
AwesomeAllen242: i just thought u should kno that people are talking shit about u
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: what do u mean????
AwesomeAllen242: i got this random email that said i shouldn't trust u.
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: OMG
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: OMG
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: WTF
AwesomeAllen242: i know :(
AwesomeAllen242: who do u think it could be?
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: i dunno will you send it to me and i'll send it to my boo at the FBI?
AwesomeAllen242: ya sure, is it that dude who sent you those hott pics?
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: LOL ;) maybe
AwesomeAllen242: LOL. kk sent!
o0o0KellyChica0o0o: thnx babe <3
AwesomeAllen242: <3 <3 <3 ur the best.
Also, apparently Kelley and Allen didn't necessarily send 20,000 to 30,000 page of documents to each other from 2010 to 2012, as previously reported. "Pentagon officials cautioned against making too much of that number," the Times says, "since some might be from e-mail chains, or brief messages printed out on a whole page."
Do you think Kelley and Allen are into email chain forwards, like the kind in which a 16 year old ghost threatens to come to your house in the middle of the night and kill you with a butcher knife if you don't pass her story on to 20 people? We're open to all theories at this point.


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I still can't believe this is the first up-close, 480p video of NASA retrieving the space shuttle's two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) from the Atlantic Ocean, and yet it is! The SRBs are, in a word, massive. And they float!
Obviously, right? How else would NASA retrieve these two huge towers of propulsion from the ocean once the space shuttle no longer needs them to achieve orbit around the Earth?
Once the boosters are retrieved by the two teams (Liberty Star and Freedom Star) and a gaggle of divers, they are sent to Utah to be refurbished and stored.
This particular pick-up followed the final launch of Discovery on February 24. Listen for the loud "plunk-plunk" when the second boat gets set to begin the retrieval process. [NASA]


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We understand how difficult it can be to find a law firm that can effectively handle your complex legal issues. This can be especially true for people who need assistance in more than one area of law. We have assembled a team that has the knowledge and skill necessary to resolve legal problems in the following key practice areas: real estate law, family law, civil litigation, personal injury, estate planning, criminal defense, business law and municipal law, planning and zoning, among others.
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Our clients derive a great deal of benefit from the diverse collective background of our Sussex County lawyers. Each one maintains a dedicated focus on select areas of law, making it possible for us to provide the relevant and informed representation you need. Our ability to collaborate on cases involving multiple areas of law allows us to develop innovative solutions to even the most troublesome legal matters.
When you choose our firm, you can feel confident that your legal matter is in the hands of a tenured attorney who is committed to obtaining the best available outcome on your behalf. We have the experience, the dedication and the resources to properly investigate your case and bring it to a positive resolution.
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Good food, Good Life – that is what we stand for. Everything you need to know about Nestlé is here: brands, key figures and dates.
As the world's largest food and beverage company, Nestlé has plenty of opportunities for you to make an impact through the work you do in a truly global business.
Nestle Australia Media Centre
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What is the last thing on your mind before you fall asleep? Or when you have a lot of road time, what do you spend most of your time thinking about?
The reason I ask is because what people spend time and energy thinking about is usually what they are most passionate about. Yes, we can get consumed about "life" issues that take up a lot of our thoughts (worrying about kids, replaying embarrassing moments in our head). But with those things aside, what is usually on your mind? Are you aNxiOusLy brainstorming a new meal to cook that night? Envisioning the next vacation you want to take? Predicting how the sports season is going to turn out?
The cool thing about this question is that your answer may vary from year to year or even month to month. Want to know the most current thing "on my mind" these days? Interior design. I LOVE colors and furniture. I love changing the way a room looks and turning something junkie into something pretty. I can spend hours faNtiCiziNg about ways I could transform a space and can get lost in textures and fabrics.
Discover your hidden obsession by taking note of where your mind spends its time. Next, do something about it. I'm not saying you need to switch careers, but if you are only thinking of this great thing, why not take the first step and actually put it into practice. For me, it would be easy to find an excuse such as not having the funds or time to transform my house in the ways I've envisioned. BUT, in the meantime I can still get excited over small projects that don't cost much and allow me to enjoy transforming a space or furniture piece.
If you can slowly act on these thoughts, you may find that they will become more and more of a reality. Five to six years ago I would daydream a lot about being my own boss. To my surprise, it soon became true and I've been living that dream for over 4 years. It didn't happen overnight, but by actually applying some things on my mind, I ended up discovering new ways to make it happen.
Your passions may just be hobbies. They may turn into a career. They may be something that will make you money when you retire. You will never really know how they end up, but I can tell you one thing…they will always just be a dream if you don't do anything more than that. And what fun is that when you could be LiViNg iT?!
Happy Dreaming ;)


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Thursday, November 26, 2020
The Amona stalemate
The Palestine Monitor
- January 25, 2017
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- Amona is an Israeli outpost that has been at the heart of a heated controversy over the past year, and it's not about to cool down.
This outpost is illegal both under international law – as all settlements are – and under Israeli law, meaning Amona was never approved by the Israeli government. Yet it was built on Palestinian land, more than 20 years ago, and now houses about 300 people (41 families). There are dozens and dozens of similar structures in the West Bank.
The legal and political battles around Amona have made it into a symbol representing different forces and ideologies acting in the occupied Palestinian territories.
On the one hand, Palestinians who own the land on which Amona lies argued that the land is legally theirs, and that it was never even legally confiscated by the Israeli authorities, as it is often the case with places where settlements are located. Palestinians were helped by NGOs such as Yesh Din ("There is justice"), a prominent Israeli organization protecting human rights of Palestinians under occupation.
On the other hand, several Israeli politicians tried to make the case for Amona and support the settlers. Settlers themselves organised demonstrations against their eviction and insisted they want to remain in the West Bank, where they feel entitled to the land for religious reasons.
Controversy peaked last December, as Amona was originally slated for evacuation by December 25.
Mariam Hamad, one of the Palestinians who own the land on which Amona was built, celebrated by handing out candies and sweets to people in Silwad. "I could not go back to this land for more than 20 years, and finally, with God help, I will go back to those 6 acres of fruitful and beautiful land. I couldn't be happier," the 83 year-old told Palestine Monitor. "Land is more expensive and dear to me than my own eyes," she added.
But Mariam may not be able to go back after all. After the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Amona should be demolished on grounds that it was built on privately owned Palestinians land, another last-minute agreement was reached between the Israeli government and Amona's settlers to relocate them to adjacent pieces of land. It could mean that the whole area remains under settlers' control.
"The adjacent plots are on Palestinian land. They have yet to divide the plots, so we don't know what the exact situation is yet. They're supposed to evacuate by the 8th of February," said Yesh Din's spokersperson Gilad Grossman. "We're waiting to see the developments. We fear the if they will be moved to the adjacent plots, then the Palestinian landowners will not be able to return to their land," he added.
Some of that land belongs to Palestinian residents of Silwad –the nearby Palestinian village. The Mayor of Silwad, Abdel Rahman Saleh, said that after residents fought one battle for Amona settlers to be evacuated, they are ready to fight a second battle to have them evacuated from the second location – yet again, on privately-owned Palestinian land. He explained that the land is located in Basin 17 and Basin 6. Basin 17 is owned by eight Silwad residents and Basin 6 is owned by residents of Ein Yabrud, another neighboring village.
"Today we only want to see the actual result of 20 years of fighting, and these settlers have to go away," Abdel Rahman Saleh said. "I think the occupation forces want to take the land by force and I feel it's only because they have weapons that they are able to stay on this land, but we will keep fighting for justice anyway". The Mayor himself owns 5 dunams of the land at stake.
Yesh Din gathered evidence and presented an objection to the Israeli authorities about the relocation plan. Impact seems limited though, since according to Ynet, an Israeli media outlet, the
process of building new homes for the evicted Amona residents has already began
Following the new Palestinian claims, settlers backtracked from the relocation deal and instead
for renewed protests.
Bennett, Netanyahu," they posted on Facebook on Sunday. "We, the residents of Amona, feel that you have deceived us and the entire community, particularly the right-wing and the nationalist camp."
In any case, settlers may be the ones who lose the less. Israeli peace organization Peace Now reported that each family in Amona will receive about $260,000 in compensation and will be supported through the relocation.
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Why don't you wait to see it before you judge it?
I'm all for the alterations -- what I'm against is making the original versions completely unavailable. That's what's so great about that upcoming Blade Runner set, and also about the ET disc. You get the best of both worlds.
Quote from: mutinycoWhy don't you wait to see it before you judge it?this is actually a good point. and i think raises what could only be a moviewatchers ethical dilemma. is the problem to you, that george lucas changed his movie after release? or that he may have made it worse? because i know most of us right now are dying for a 3 disc Blade Runner set with the original, previous directors cut, and the one he's been talking about because the directors cut currently out is one he was 'rushed' to complete. if the director is restoring the film closer to his original vision without compromises he was forced to make, is that not a good thing? so is it tampering with the film after its release? because if so, when is the statue of limitations up? can a filmmaker show a test audience and then change it? what about if it plays a few film festivals? or after its release in theatres but before video? is it only that a film after being with us for so long cant be altered? or that you can change the editing, but not the actual film (IE the special effects etc.) where do YOU stand on this?
Oh and is this movie really as good as the trailer suggests? I've not seen the movie before.


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Gistr is a web site that showcases events for 20+ marketing, pr, sales and social media organizations in the Twin Cities, all in one place. Today Gistr is one year old!! So hop on over and say Happy Birthday, Gistr!! (By the way, did you know that 33% of gistr's traffic in year one was driven by social media?? Yay, LinkedIn groups!! Yay, Twitter!!!)
Check out gistr at http://gistr.com/ or @GistrMN
Kay Roseland @KayLoire


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Mulgrew voiced the villainous Red Claw opposite [[Adrienne Barbeau]]'s Catwoman in three episodes of ''Batman: The Animated Series'' (two in 1992, a third in 1995).
Mulgrew voiced the villainous Red Claw opposite [[Adrienne Barbeau]]'s Catwoman in three episodes of ''Batman: The Animated Series'' (two in 1992, a third in 1995).
Mulgrew was among the many ''Star Trek'' performers who supplied their voices to the Disney animated series ''Gargoyles''. Others who have done so include TNG's Jonathan Frakes, [[Marina Sirtis]], [[Brent Spiner]], [[LeVar Burton]], and [[Michael Dorn]], DS9's Avery Brooks, TNG and DS9's [[Colm Meaney]], TOS'
Mulgrew was among the many ''Star Trek'' performers who supplied their voices to the Disney animated series ''Gargoyles''. Others who have done so include TNG's Jonathan Frakes, [[Marina Sirtis]], [[Brent Spiner]], [[LeVar Burton]], and [[Michael Dorn]], DS9's Avery Brooks, TNG and DS9's [[Colm Meaney]], TOS' [[Nichelle Nichols]], ''Voyager'' guest actor [[John Rhys-Davies]], and [[Star Trek films|''Trek'' movie]] actors and TNG guest stars [[David Warner]] and [[Paul Winfield]].
==== Video games ====
==== Video games ====
Revision as of 04:54, 8 February 2015
Template:Realworld Kate Mulgrew (born 29 April 1955; age 65) is an actress who is best known for playing Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. Before stepping into the role of a Starfleet captain, her claim to fame was playing Mary Ryan on the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope. Since then, she has been part of the main cast in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
- 1 Personal
- 2 Playing Kathryn Janeway
- 3 Career
- 4 Additional characters
- 5 External links
Katherine Kiernan Mulgrew was born in Dubuque, Iowa, to Joan and Thomas James Mulgrew, the oldest girl in an Irish Catholic family of eight. Both of her parents have since passed away.
Mulgrew gained an interest in acting at the age of 12, which her mother helped to flourish by giving her biographies of legendary actresses and sending her to summer acting schools. At the age of 17, she left home and traveled to New York City to study acting. She was accepted into Stella Adler's Conservatory while attending New York University, but left at the end of her junior year to pursue a full-time acting career, beginning within her breakthrough role as Mary Ryan on the hit soap opera Ryan's Hope.
From 1982 to 1993, she was married to Robert Egan. The marriage produced two sons: Ian Thomas and Alexander James. The divorce became final in 1995. In November of that year, Mulgrew dated Star Trek: Voyager director Winrich Kolbe. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #6, p. 39) She married Ohio politician Timothy Hagan, whom she met in 1995 through her mother. They became engaged in November 1998 and married on 19 April 1999. They have since divorced.
Mulgrew is also an active member of the Alzheimer's Association National Advisory Council. Her mother, Joan, suffered from the debilitating illness prior to her death on 27 July 2006.
Mulgrew was friends with the late John F. Kennedy, Jr., and attended his funeral with her husband, Tim. She is also a longtime friend of John de Lancie, the actor best known for playing Q on various Star Trek episodes, including three episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.
Her last name is pronounced "Mul-GREW", with emphasis on the second syllable.
Playing Kathryn Janeway
Mulgrew originally auditioned for the role of Captain Nicole Janeway when Voyager was being cast. She initially sent in a videotaped audition, which she made in New York City in August 1994. Unhappy with this audition, however, she auditioned in person a few weeks later. On that same day, Genevieve Bujold was selected to play Janeway over Mulgrew. But Bujold left the role after only two days of filming, primarily due to her unfamiliarity with the rapid production schedule necessary in a television series. Mulgrew was the runner-up between the two actresses and eventually was assigned to replace Bujold. After taking the part, she requested the name be changed from Nicole to Kathryn and the producers agreed. [1]
Among the actresses Mulgrew beat out for the role were Helen Shaver, Chelsea Field, and Karen Austin (see Performers considered for Star Trek roles). Discussing Mulgrew's casting, Voyager co-creator and executive producer Jeri Taylor states that Mulgrew "had an ineffable quality that put her ahead of the pack. She has proven to be a remarkably accurate choice". [2]
In an interview with Daniel Howard Cerone of the Los Angeles Times early in the show's production, Mulgrew referred to playing Janeway as "a huge challenge". She found the constant use of technobabble particularly challenging, comparing it to the medical language she had to use while starring on Heartbeat. Mulgrew credited her commanding presence on the set to her upbringing as "the oldest, bossy girl in a family of eight". Regarding her character, Mulgrew commented, "The captain ... has to have an emotional control, an intellectual center, a presence, a calm. Full thrusters, you know? This is a great woman". [3]
In an interview with the New York Times in 1999, Mulgrew told about her thoughts leaving the production because of the less free time she could spent with her husband Tim Hagan and her two sons. The producers decided to change the production plans and worked out a special schedule and Mulgrew decided to sign on for the seventh season.
Mulgrew played the role of Captain Janeway for seven seasons, from 1995 through 2001. Her performance earned her a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films as well as a Golden Satellite Award in 1998; the role also garnered her three more Saturn Award nominations. Kate Mulgrew's stand-in, photo double, and body double on the series was Sue Henley.
In 2002, Mulgrew once again appeared as Janeway – now holding the rank of Vice Admiral – in Star Trek Nemesis. She replaced Jeri Ryan, whom the writer (John Logan) wanted to cameo, but due to her busy schedule on Boston Public, Mulgrew cameoed instead. She also voiced the character in the video games Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force and Star Trek: Legacy and appeared as Admiral Janeway in the "Borg Invasion 4D" attraction at Star Trek: The Experience.
She most recently voiced Janeway in the video game Star Trek: Legacy. William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, and Scott Bakula supplied the voices of their captains, as well.
Several costumes worn by Mulgrew throughout the run of Star Trek: Voyager were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, including a two piece Starfleet uniform. [4]
Ryan's Hope
Mulgrew starred on Ryan's Hope for three years, from 1975 through 1978. Among her co-stars on this series were Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home actress Catherine Hicks (who played Dr. Faith Coleridge), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Andrew Robinson (who played Dr. Frank Ryan), Daniel Hugh Kelly, and Michael Corbett.
When she left the series, Mulgrew requested her character be killed off. The producers initially refused, but finally did so due to unpopular recasts of the character. However, Mulgrew went on to appear intermittently on the series afterwards, as Mary Ryan's spirit.
Mrs. Columbo
Mulgrew starred in a short-lived spin-off series of Columbo entitled Mrs. Columbo, on which she played Mrs. Kate Columbo. Her character was believed to be the oft-referenced "missus" of the famed TV detective played by Peter Falk, although this detail was never stated outright and later Columbo movies disregarded it entirely.
The character's name was changed to Kate Callahan for the show's second season following an off-screen "divorce", and the series was renamed Kate Loves a Mystery. Although the series only lasted for two seasons in 1979, it earned Mulgrew a 1980 Golden Globe nomination.
One of the actors to guest star on Mrs. Columbo was Rene Auberjonois, who went on to play Colonel West in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, among other roles. Auberjonois appeared in two episodes of the show, each time as a different character...
Later series
For two seasons from 1988 through 1989, Mulgrew starred as Dr. Joanne Springsteen (later Halloran) in the TV drama HeartBeat, set in a women's obstetrics and gynecology clinic. Also starring on this series was Deep Space Nine guest actress Gail Strickland.
Another short-lived series on which Mulgrew starred was the NBC sitcom Man of the People, which aired for one season in 1991. The series followed a hustler (played by James Garner) who becomes councilman of a city headed by Mulgrew's Mayor Lisabeth Chardin.
Mulgrew was seen in a recurring role on the short-lived NBC series The Black Donnellys in 2007, playing the mother of the title characters. She then played the recurring role of Mrs. Jeannie Flanagan on the NBC medical drama Mercy, which has been cancelled and was aired in 2009-2010. More recently, since 2011, she has starred in the Adult Swim comedy series NTSF:SD:SUV::, and alongside Michael Harney in the Netflix streaming series Orange is the New Black.
TV movies and mini-series
Mulgrew co-starred with three-time Deep Space Nine actor Frank Langella in the 1976 made-for-TV movie The American Woman: Portraits of Courage. In 1978, Mulgrew co-starred with fellow Trek performers Jonathan Banks, Nicholas Coster, Christopher Lloyd, Allan Miller, Diana Muldaur, and Nehemiah Persoff in the CBS mini-series, The Word.
In 1987, Mulgrew had a role in the telefilm Roses Are for the Rich. Robert Picardo, who became her co-star on Star Trek: Voyager, also had a role in the film, as did two-time Trek guest star Anne Haney. In 1988, while filming Roots: The Gift, Mulgrew acted alongside three actors who later became a part of three different Star Trek series: Avery Brooks (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and Mulgrew's Voyager co-star Tim Russ. This telefilm also featured Jerry Hardin, who appeared on TNG in the same year, as Radue.
Mulgrew appeared with TNG actress Patti Yasutake in the 1991 TV movie Fatal Friendship. In the 1993 TV movie For Love and Glory, Mulgrew and Deep Space Nine and Enterprise guest star Robert Foxworth played a married couple, with Voyager guest actor Zach Galligan and TNG guest actress Olivia d'Abo as their children.
In 1998, Mulgrew co-starred opposite TNG guest actor Corbin Bernsen in the TV movie Riddler's Moon, in which Mulgrew played widowed farmer Victoria Riddler.
TV guest appearances
Mulgrew has made guest appearances on a variety of TV programs. Her first such ventures were two 1978 episodes of Dallas. In 1984, Mulgrew played the wife of William Lucking's character in an episode of the short-lived series Jessie.
In 1986, Mulgrew guest-starred in a two-parter of St. Elsewhere, a series which had Trek veterans Jeff Allin, Chad Allen, Ed Begley, Jr., Norman Lloyd, Deborah May, France Nuyen, Jennifer Savidge, Alfre Woodard, and Jane Wyatt as regular cast members. That same year, she guest-starred as a city councilor in a three-parter on the hit sitcom Cheers, co-starring TNG guest star Kelsey Grammer in his regular role as Frasier Crane.
In 1987, Mulgrew appeared in an episode of Murder, She Wrote alongside TOS guest actors Vince Howard, Robert Walker, Jr., and William Windom. She returned to the series in 1992 (co-starring with Michael McGrady) and again in 1994 (with future Voyager guest actress Musetta Vander). Mulgrew also appeared as an alcoholic anchorwoman on the hit sitcom Murphy Brown in 1992. In 2006, Mulgrew guest-starred in an episode of the NBC drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
In 2011 Mulgrew worked on the third season of the mystery series Warehouse 13. Her character, Jane Lattimer, was featured in a four-episode story arc. Warehouse 13 was co-created by Jane Espenson and stars Saul Rubinek. [5]
Film roles
Mulgrew made her feature film debut in the drama Lovespell, retelling the tragic tale of Tristan and Iseult (with Mulgrew playing the latter). Filmed in 1979, the film was ultimately released in December 1981. [6]
In 1982, Mulgrew starred in the thriller A Stranger Is Watching, in which she played a journalist who befriends a man whose wife was raped and killed, only to be kidnapped (along with the man's daughter) by the same murderer/rapist.
In 1985, Mulgrew starred as Major Rayner Fleming in the action film Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. This film also starred Mulgrew's future Voyager co-star Joel Grey as the racist and sexist Chiun, who ridiculed Mulgrew's character for being a woman with rank. Also appearing in this film are Trek alumni Patrick Kilpatrick, Michael Pataki, and Jeff Allin.
Mulgrew then starred in the 1987 black comedy Throw Momma from the Train as the ex-wife of Billy Crystal's character who becomes an unwitting part of a childish man's attempts to have his mother killed. Raye Birk and TOS guest star Peter Brocco also appeared in this film. "Momma" was played by Anne Ramsey, wife of Trek guest star Logan Ramsey.
In 1991, Mulgrew played Judith Schweitzer in the film Round Numbers, co-starring with TNG guest-actress Samantha Eggar. In 1994, she appeared in the film Camp Nowhere, starring Christopher Lloyd from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (whom Mulgrew previously co-starred with in the mini-series The Word) and also featuring an appearance by The Next Generation actor Jonathan Frakes. John Putch and Ron Fassler had roles in the film, as well. The following year, Mulgrew appeared in the 1995 film Captain Nuke and the Bomber Boys with Joe Piscopo.
In 2005 Mulgrew portrayed Dr. Mary Smith in the independent drama Perception. Three years later she was cast to portray Colonel Simms in the 2008 short drama The Response and in 2010, Mulgrew portrayed the wife of Christopher McDonald's character in the comedy The Best and the Brightest.
Voice-over work
Mulgrew voiced the villainous Red Claw opposite Adrienne Barbeau's Catwoman in three episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (two in 1992, a third in 1995).
Mulgrew was among the many Star Trek performers who supplied their voices to the Disney animated series Gargoyles. Others who have done so include TNG 's Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Michael Dorn, DS9 's Avery Brooks, TNG and DS9 's Colm Meaney, TOS ' Nichelle Nichols, Voyager guest actor John Rhys-Davies, and Trek movie actors and TNG guest stars David Warner and Paul Winfield.
Video games
Besides voicing Captain Janeway for Elite Force, Mulgrew also lent her voice to a video game entitled Run Like Hell. Other Trek performers who supplied voices for this game were Clancy Brown, Brad Dourif, and Sherman Howard.
Mulgrew's voice can also be heard on the hit video game Lords of Everquest, which also featured voices by Ron Perlman, John Rhys-Davies, and Voyager co-star Dwight Schultz. Additionally, she can be heard in the 2009 role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins, playing the shape-shifting witch, Flemeth. The game also features voice work from fellow Star Trek: Voyager actor Tim Russ. In 2011 she reprised her voice part as Flemeth in the sequel Dragon Age II.
Stage roles
Mulgrew made her professional stage acting debut in a 1975 production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town at the American Shakespeare Theatre, in which she played Emily Webb. One of her co-stars in this play was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest actor John Glover. [7]
In 1978, Mulgrew played Desdemona in the Hampton Theatre Company production of William Shakespeare's Othello. Two-time Voyager guest actor Ivar Brogger was among Mulgrew's co-stars in this play. [8]
Mulgrew appeared in numerous stage productions throughout the 1980s, including Neil Simon's Chapter Two (1980, with Michael Zaslow), Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1981-82), The Ballad of Soapy Smith (1983, with Kevin Tighe), The Misanthrope (1984, with Daniel Davis), William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (1985, with Kelsey Grammer), Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1986, co-starring Julianna McCarthy and Dakin Matthews), Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing (1986, also with Dakin Matthews), The Film Society (1987, again working with Daniel Davis), and Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (with Robert Curtis-Brown and Don McManus).
From 20 May through 1 July 1990, Mulgrew acted alongside fellow Trek alumni Raye Birk, Christine Healy, John Larroquette, Joycelyn O'Brien, Andrew Robinson, and John Vickery in the West Coast Premiere of Brian Friel's Aristocrats at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. [9] In 1992, Mulgrew co-starred with Joel Brooks and the late Kellie Waymire in the La Jolla Playhouse production of What The Butler Saw. [10] Mulgrew made her Broadway debut the following year in Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy. [11] [12]
In February 2002, Mulgrew began playing legendary actress Katharine Hepburn in Tea at Five, a one-woman play written by Matthew Lombardo. The play toured through the U.S. through October 2005, and garnered Mulgrew several awards.
She later starred as Laura Keane in the new Civil War-era Broadway play, Our Leading Lady, written by Charles Busch. The play had a preview run from 22 February through 18 March 2007 and opened 20 March 2007 in New York City. It closed on 29 April 2007. [13]
On 9 July 2007, the Signature Theatre Company announced that Mulgrew has replaced Victoria Clark in the role of Clytemnestra in Charles Mee's Iphigenia 2.0, directed by Tina Landau and co-starring Rocco Sisto, which ran from 26 August 2007 through 7 October 2007 at the Signature Theatre Company's Peter Norton Space. [14] Mulgrew won an Obie Award for her performance in this play. [15]
On 22 April 2008 Mulgrew stepped into the role of "Mommy" in the off-Broadway production of Edward Albee's The American Dream and The Sandbox, replacing another actress who had to depart after the play was extended to 17 May. However, Mulgrew was forced to withdraw from the play early "due to a dire family emergency" and the play closed on 3 May. [16]
On 25 September 2008, Mulgrew began playing the role of Hesther Saloman in the Broadway revival of Equus. The play ran through 8 February 2009. [17] After Equus, Mulgrew starred as Maria Callas in a production of Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning play Master Class. The production was staged at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey, from March 4 through April 5, 2009. [18]
See also
Additional characters
|Star Trek: Voyager regular cast
|Robert Beltran • Roxann Dawson • Jennifer Lien • Robert Duncan McNeill • Kate Mulgrew • Ethan Phillips • Robert Picardo • Tim Russ • Jeri Ryan • Garrett Wang
External links
- TotallyKate.com - official site
- Kate Mulgrew at Wikipedia
- Template:IMDb-link
- Kate Mulgrew at the Internet Broadway Database
- Kate Mulgrew at TriviaTribute.com


text:
'Two Minutes with ...' focuses on Chen
SARASOTA, Fla. -- The "Two Minutes with…" series continues with Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen. Chen has a new interpreter this season, which is more out of habit than necessity as he's able to have conversations in English. The 28-year-old Chen went 7-7 with a 4.07 ERA in 23 starts last season, missing time with an oblique injury and having bone spurs removed from his knee this winter.
Expected to be part of the Orioles' starting five, here's a little more about the Taiwan native off the field…
Favorite food: Hot pot. Chinese hot pot. You put all the food in there and cook it up in water. It's like a stew.
Favorite movie: 42.
Hidden talent: I can speak four languages -- Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese and, now, English.
If I wasn't a baseball player, I'd be … in the Army. I thought about it [before baseball], but not really that serious. In Taiwan, it is a good job with a steady salary.
Favorite offseason place: Europe. I went there to play baseball, but I didn't really get to see much. A lot of friends have told me it's fun to go, so I want to go there again.
Prized possession: My collection of One Piece toys, which are of famous Japanese animations. I started the collection about 10 years ago, when I was in Japan, and I keep it at home in Taiwan.


text:
Alabama breaks daily COVID-19 case, hospitalization record again Thursday
Finance director: Alabama expects to spend nearly all of $1.8 billion in CARES Act funds
U.S. Chamber announces support for a coronavirus aid bill before Christmas
Alabama Realtors endorse Kirk Hatcher for Senate District 26
Merrill awards NASS Medallions to several power cooperatives
Kirk Hatcher's (potential) problem with the Hatch Act
Insiders say former Rep. April Weaver is "frontrunner" for Senate District 14
Voters once again heading back to the polls in Montgomery
Opinion | A question for Alabama Republican voters
Gov. Kay Ivey meets with Congressman-elect Jerry Carl
Clean water advocates want a comprehensive water plan for Alabama that creates jobs
State unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent last month
Governor announces $200 million "Revive Plus" small business grant program
Applications open the Livestock Auction Market Direct Payment Program, Poultry Processor Reimbursement Program
Sewell's annual job fair will be virtual this year
Illinois man sentenced on drug trafficking charges
State Rep: Lee County DA's past cases should be reviewed by AG, DOJ
Prosecution accepts misdemeanor plea in high-profile environmental administrator's case
U.S. Supreme Court rules Alabama can ban curbside voting
Sean Worsley, Black disabled veteran arrested for medical marijuana, gets parole
Suspected drug traffickers jailed in St. Clair County
Governor appoints State Sen. Cam Ward as Bureau of Pardons and Paroles director
Report: Black men in Alabama prisons three times more likely to die by homicide
Alabama Education Association, Board of Medical Examiners meet over excuses to break COVID-19 quarantines
Governor announces more than $298 million for K-12, college projects
Many Alabama schools return to remote learning before Thanksgiving
State settles Craig Pouncey defamation suit against Mary Scott Hunter
Chancellor appoints three to top spots at Alabama community colleges
Opinion | Alabama's public corruption problem might just be hopeless
Judge reduces former Alabama Speaker Mike Hubbard's prison sentence
Lee County DA arrested on second perjury charge
Lee County DA Brandon Hughes indicted on 7 counts of ethics violations, theft and perjury
Alabama Political Reporter partners with Covering Climate Now
Pike County Public Fishing Lake will be temporarily closed beginning December 23
SNAP recipients approved for additional aid in 20 counties hit by Zeta
Longtime Alabama State Parks manager Tim Haney honored for lifetime service
Mark McDaniel reappointed to NASA Human Exploration and Operations Advisory Committee
Jones bill aimed at bringing jobs back from China included in Senate NDAA
Byrne praises House passage of NDAA authorizing additional Austal ship
Aderholt critical of Democrats' NASA budget proposal
Sen. Jones: Millions for Alabama priorities in annual defense bill
Department of Justice sues Ashland Housing Authority alleging racial discrimination
Teledyne Brown receives $85 million NASA contract
Opinion | What in the world are people thinking?
Opinion | Ivey sends the wrong message at the wrong time on in-person learning
Opinion | COVID killed the Don
Opinion | Thinking: I'll know it when I see it
Opinion | Let's hope for Reed's success
Opinion | Clorox, anyone?
Opinion | Prisons, justice reform and the art of the possible
Opinion | Amendment 4: Stairway to heaven or highway to hell?
Opinion | Alvin Holmes pulled no punches
Opinion | The emperor has no votes
Opinion | There aren't many Cam Wards left in Alabama politics
Opinion | The blackest Black Friday ever
Opinion | Be thankful, not regretful
Opinion | Let the embarrassment begin
Opinion | We can hope again
Opinion | Turnout for presidential election shatters record in Alabama
Opinion | Jim Martin: The father of modern Republican Party in Alabama
Opinion | Alabama is truly a Republican State
Opinion | Election Day is next week
Opinion | The enduring legacy of Margaret Thatcher
Opinion | Giving thanks and staying safe
Opinion | 400 years later, the Pilgrim story is more relevant than ever
Opinion | Record voter turnout in Alabama shows need for voting legislation
Opinion | Warning: Your blood may boil
By Eddie Burkhalter Special to the Alabama Political Reporter As news articles broke throughout 2017 of men and women coming forward, sometimes decades afterward, to say...


text: ISIS fighters celebrating in Mosul, Iraq, in 2014. Criminological studies suggest terrorists would use diverse tactics to neutralise feelings of guilt. Reuters October 6, 2016 How ISIS terrorists neutralise guilt to justify their atrocities Bertrand Venard, Audencia Do ISIS fighters feel guilty about the violence they perpetrate? Not likely, according to criminological research, which suggests terrorists "neutralise" their guilt, just as many other criminals do.


text:
Upon the rumored new Apple product release date, Digiarty Software gears up for the arrival of iPhone 6 and pulls the trigger on a DVD to iPhone ripper giveaway that is valid before Sep.15 for offline movie enjoyment on iPhone 6 and iPad in days to come.
Chengdu, China -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/25/2014 --It is widely rumored and strongly believed that Apple will release iPhone 6 on September 9, 2014. Digiarty Software Inc, a world-famous multimedia software developing company, gears up for the imminent milestone and pulls the trigger on an unprecedented DVD to iPhone ripper giveaway for offline movie enjoyment on supposed iPhone 6 with the leaked specifications (on Amazon) of 4.7-inch screen, 130 x 65 x 7mm dimension and 113g weight. The giveaway is open to all and is valid from today to Sep.15.
The main purpose of this activity is to prepare all iPhone 6 owners-to-be for high definition DVD movie enjoyment in offline and portable way. WinX DVD to iPhone Ripper is a function-concentrated and stunning technical backup for the new iOS 8 gadgets. It operates by ripping DVDs to iPad, Apple TV, iTunes or iPhone (6) supported video/audio formats with concordant video resolution, aspect ratio and frame rate while supporting both homemade and copy protected DVDs for fair use.
Ripping DVD to iPhone 6 video is one of the must-have ways to transform the new iOS 8 device into a cutting edge tech gear. According to a video leaked by known Apple leaker Sonny Dickson, "Apple could have a reversible USB cable up its sleeves for iPhone 6. If it is true, the converted movies can be transferred to the smartphone for playback more flexibly.
The software being given away has self-explanatory presets such that users can select any desired profile for iPhone, iPad, iTunes or Apple TV easily. Another prominent feature is the fast speed brought about by Hyper-threading technology, optimized MMX SSE SSE2 SSE3 CPU instructions and the support for multi-core CPU. According to Digiarty, it doubles the speed of many common DVD to iPhone rippers while maximally keeping the original image and sound effect.
The WinX DVD to iPhone Ripper giveaway is also helpful in the following aspects:
* Converting a DVD to a MP4, MOV or M4V video that can be played by QuickTime on Mac
* Extracting music from a DVD and saving it as MP3, AAC or AC3 ringtone for iPhone
* Adding downloaded SRT subtitle files to the existing subtitle track
* Making stylish videos by trimming, cropping and merging.
For more iOS products prepared by Digiarty, please surf:
Pricing and Availability
To advance shoulder to shoulder with Apple Inc., the developer of WinX DVD to iPhone Ripper is giving away it regardless of the regular price $29.95. Everyone visiting the following webpage is enabled to get either the Windows or Mac edition for free before Sep.15, 2014:
About Digiarty Software, Inc.
Digiarty Software, Inc. specializes in multimedia software based on Windows (8), Mac OS X (10.10) and iOS (8), which provides personal and home-use video audio software across Apple, Android, Microsoft, Samsung, HTC, Google, Sony and other platforms or devices, including DVD Rippers, Video Converters, DVD Author, DVD copy software, online video downloader, audio video player, multimedia streaming app, etc.


text:
As the gas detection experts, Honeywell Analytics brings together nearly 200 collective years of expertise in design, manufacture and technology. The company also enjoys a glittering array of accolades including being the originators of an impressive number of technological firsts.
Adaptability and innovation are key themes at Honeywell Analytics. The company's comprehensive product range has an option suited to every type of application or industry. In addition, a strong commitment to service and understanding the unique needs of its customers ensures that Honeywell Analytics remains the premier provider of gas detection solutions, and a name that is synonymous with excellence. In addition to the extensive product range, Honeywell Analytics also provides a number of authoritative platforms, providing a comprehensive offering of knowledge, expertise and information on every aspect of gas detection. These include the website www.honeywellanalytics.com known as the definitive resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the subject in its entirety.
Honeywell Analytics – Experts in Gas Detection


text:
Plenty of strife in a spectacular rugby league season
WHETHER it was good news or bad, 2012 had everything in what was arguably the greatest year in the history of the NRL.
Coaches were sacked, the chief executive was sacked, Melbourne put its troubled past behind it to win the competition, the State of Origin series was extraordinary from start to finish, and everywhere you looked the referees were in trouble.
Here are the highlights:
1: The Storm's premiership - September 30
THE Storm was left in ruins in 2010 after being caught cheating the salary cap.
The club was stripped of two premierships, made ineligible to play for competition points that season and had to shed players in 2011, including stars Greg Inglis and Ryan Hoffman.
This year provided redemption, the Storm overcoming a late-season form slump to beat the Bulldogs 14-4 in the decider.
While the Storm players covered themselves in glory, the Bulldogs went into crisis control after prop James Graham copped 12 weeks for biting Storm fullback Billy Slater on the ear and the club was fined $30,000 following unsavoury Mad Monday celebrations.
2: The Greg Inglis try in Origin I - May 23
UNDOUBTEDLY the biggest talking point of the year came in Origin I when Queensland star Greg Inglis was awarded a controversial try that put the game out of reach for the Blues. New South Wales players, officials and fans were in uproar, arguing replays showed the ball was clearly knocked on before Inglis grounded it.
The debate continued for days - the decision just the first of what became an avalanche of clangers from under-fire referees on the field and in the video box.
3: Queensland in seventh heaven - July 4
ONE of the most anticipated, and arguably the best, Origin series was sealed with a memorable field goal from Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk at Suncorp Stadium in game three.
The kick came from 40m out with five minutes left on the clock and was all that separated the teams, which had thrown everything but the kitchen sink at each other. After the game, Cronk's teammates revealed the Storm star had practised kicking field goals from all over the park in case one was needed on the night.
4: The Greg Inglis shoulder charge - July 21
IT WAS the hit that changed the rules. Inglis's shoulder charge on Dean Young, where the Souths fullback raced in to put a blind shot on the Dragons back-rower, was compared to a car crash.
Inglis copped a three-game suspension and the tackle was subsequently banned from the game after the season. Young was in such a bad way after the match he thought his coach was former Dragons mentor Nathan Brown, not Steve Price.
5: Try of the year: some Barba magic - June 24
IN FRONT of a Mackay stand full of family and friends, Bulldogs fullback Ben Barba set up the try of the year against the Storm in round 16.
Picking up the ball in his side's in-goal area, Barba beat six opponents in a mesmerising dash downfield, before chipping ahead at full speed for centre Josh Morris to gather and score. Barba finished the year
with 22 tries, many of them similarly brilliant efforts, and was a worthy winner of the Dally M medal.
6: David Gallop sacking - June 5
JUST a week before the highly anticipated Origin II kick-off, the NRL's worst-kept secret was confirmed when chief executive David Gallop was sacked.
His 10-year reign - notable for punishing the Bulldogs and Storm for salary cap breaches, and bringing in strict off-field rules - was brought to an end due to his strained relationship with ARL Commission chairman John Grant. Gallop was later appointed CEO of Football Federation Australia.
7: Kieran Foran's hand of God incident - September 14
FANS from both the Cowboys and Sea Eagles were left stunned after another video referee blunder in a big game cost the Cowboys victory in the semi-final clash at Allianz Stadium.
Replays clearly showed Sea Eagles five-eighth Kieran Foran knocked the ball forward in the lead-up to a try by teammate Michael Oldfield.
The bizarre decision led to the sacking of referees bosses Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper following a flood of criticism, including Cowboys coach Neil Henry labelling some NRL match officials incompetent.
8: Broadcast deal - August 21
THIS deal, worth $1.025 billion, put rugby league at the top of the Australian sporting landscape. While it wasn't as much as the AFL's unprecedented $1.25 billion deal, on a per-minute basis rugby league was the winner.
Starting from next season, NRL games will be worth $1275 every 60 seconds across 80 minutes, as opposed to the AFL's $1170 per minute over 100 minutes of game time.
9: Joey becomes an Immortal - September 27
NO ONE can deny what former Newcastle halfback Andrew Johns did on the field was freakish, and on his playing ability alone he deserved to be crowned an Immortal.
But what angered many Queensland league fans was his off-field history of misdemeanours, and that he received the recognition ahead of Mal Meninga.
As well as being a Canberra, Maroons and Kangaroos great, Meninga has a clean off-field record and has coached Queensland to an unprecedented seven straight series. Perception is everything.
10: Big Petero retires - May 8
ONE of the toughest props to play the game, Petero Civoniceva announced early in the year that he would retire at season's end.
After 307 first-grade games, he did not get the farewell he wanted, but although the Broncos were bundled out in the first week of the finals, Civoniceva was chaired off the ground by his Queensland teammates after Origin III.
In 2012, the game much-loved players Nathan Hindmarsh, Luke Burt, Ben Hornby and Dean Young, Aaron Payne, Colin Best, Micheal Luck and Casey McGuire also retired.


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In this article
- how old your baby is
- whether she's breastfed or formula-fed
- whether she's started solids (NCT 2010)
What will my newborn's poos be like?For the first couple of days after the birth, your baby will pass meconium. Meconium is greeny-black in colour, and has a sticky, tar-like texture. It is made up of mucus, amniotic fluid, and everything your baby has ingested while she was in your womb (uterus).
Meconium may be difficult to wipe off your baby's tiny bottom, but its appearance is a good sign that her bowels are working normally.
What will my baby's poos be like if I'm breastfeeding?Your colostrum, or first milk, acts as a laxative, helping to push meconium out of your baby's system. Once your milk comes in, after about three days, your baby's poos will gradually change. They will be:
- At least the size of a 50 sen coin (NCT 2010).
- Lighter in colour, changing from a greenish-brown to bright or mustard yellow. This yellow poo may smell slightly sweet (NCT 2010, NHS 2013).
- Loose in texture. The poos may seem grainy at times, curdled at others.
In the early weeks, your baby may poo during or after every feed. On average, she will do four poos a day in the first week (NICE/CKS 2010). This will slowly settle down and her bowels will work out their own routine. You may then find that she poos at a similar time each day.
After the first few weeks, some breastfed babies will only poo once every few days or once a week. This is not a problem as long as your baby's poos are soft and are passed easily (NCT 2010, NICE/CKS 2010).
Your baby's routine may change:
- when you introduce solids;
- if she is feeling unwell;
- when she starts to take fewer feeds.
Will formula-feeding affect my baby's poos?If you are formula-feeding your baby, her poos may be different from a breastfed baby's. You may notice they are:
- Bulkier (UNICEF 2010) in texture than a breastfed baby's (a bit like the texture of toothpaste). This is because formula milk can't be digested as fully as breastmilk (NCT 2010).
- Pale yellow or yellowish-brown in colour.
- Strong-smelling, more like an adult's.
Formula-fed babies are more prone to constipation than breastfed babies. Talk to your family doctor or paediatrician if you feel your baby has a problem.
Will my baby's poos change if I switch from breastmilk to formula milk?Yes, they will. You may notice that your baby's poos become darker and more paste-like (NHS 2013a). They will also be smellier!
While you're making the change from breastmilk to formula, try to do it slowly, ideally over a period of several weeks (Inch 2009).
This will give your baby's digestive system time to adapt and help to prevent her becoming constipated. It will also reduce the risk of painful, swollen breasts and mastitis for you.
Once your baby has adapted to the bottle, she may settle down into a completely different pooing routine!
What will my baby's poos be like when she starts solids?Starting your baby on solids will have a dramatic effect on her poos. You'll find that her poos are affected by the foods she eats. If you feed her pureed carrot, the contents of her next nappy will be bright orange.
You may find fibre-rich foods, such as raisins or baked beans, pass straight through your baby and end up in her nappy. This will change when she gets older and is able to digest fibre more efficiently.
As she moves on to a wide variety of foods, your baby's poos will become thicker, darker, and a lot more smelly.
What sort of poo is not normal?Diarrhoea
Your baby may have diarrhoea if:
- her poo is very runny;
- she is pooing more often, or passing larger amounts than normal;
- the poo is explosive or spurts out of her bottom.
If you are breastfeeding your baby, she is less likely to suffer from diarrhoea. This is because your milk helps to prevent the growth of the bacteria that cause it (Start4life/NHS n.d.).
Formula-fed babies are more prone to infection, which is why it's so important to sterilise equipment and always wash your hands thoroughly.
If your baby has diarrhoea, the cause could be:
- an infection, such as gastroenteritis;
- too much fruit or juice;
- a reaction to medication;
- a sensitivity or allergy to a food.
If you're formula-feeding, your baby could be reacting badly to the brand of formula you're using. But talk to your family doctor or paediatrician before you switch brands, in case there is another cause (UNICEF 2010).
If your baby is teething, her poo may be looser than normal but it should not cause diarrhoea. If your baby has diarrhoea, don't assume that her teething is the cause. It's more likely to be an infection.
In an older baby, diarrhoea can also be a sign of severe constipation. Fresh poo may be leaking out past a blockage of hard poo (NICE/CKS 2010).
Diarrhoea should clear up without treatment within 24 hours. If it doesn't, get it checked out as your baby is at risk of dehydration.
If your baby has had six episodes of diarrhoea in the past 24 hours, see your doctor urgently (NHS 2013c).
Many babies turn bright red and push hard when they do a poo. This is normal.
Constipation, on the other hand, is when:
- Your baby seems to have real difficulty doing a poo.
- Her poos are small and dry, like rabbit droppings. Alternatively, they may be large and hard.
- Your baby seems irritable, and she strains and cries when she does a poo.
- Her tummy feels hard to the touch.
- Her poos have streaks of blood in them. This can be caused by tiny cracks in the skin, called anal fissures, caused by passing hard poos (NICE/CKS 2010).
Breastfed babies don't tend to suffer as much constipation as formula-fed babies. Breastmilk contains all the right nutrients to keep their poos soft (Start4life/NHS n.d.).
Mixing up formula milk with too much powder can lead to constipation. Always follow the instructions when making up a bottle. Make sure you put water up to the recommended level first before adding the powder (Start4life/NHS 2012, UNICEF 2010).
Constipation can also be caused by:
- fever
- dehydration
- changes in how much your baby drinks
- a change in diet
- certain medications
Sometimes, older babies become constipated because they are trying to avoid pain. For example, they may have a tear in the skin around the opening of their bottom (anal fissure). This can become a vicious cycle. Your baby holds on and gets more constipated, and then the pain is even worse when she does eventually go (NICE/CKS 2010).
Always take your baby to your health visitor or GP as soon as possible if she's constipated, particularly if you notice blood in her poos. They will be able to check out all possible causes (NHS 2013a).
You'll probably be advised to increase your baby's fluid intake, as well as the amount of fibre in her diet, if she is on solids. Giving her pureed prunes or apricots can be a good way to do this.
Green poo
If you're breastfeeding, green poo can be a sign that your baby is taking in too much lactose (the natural sugar found in milk). This can happen if she feeds often, but doesn't get the rich milk at the end of the feed to fill her up. Make sure your baby finishes feeding from one breast before you offer her your other one.
If you are feeding your baby formula milk, the brand you are using could be turning your baby's poo dark green (NHS 2013a). It may be worth switching to a different formula to see if that has any effect.
If the symptoms last longer than 24 hours, visit your doctor. The cause may be:
- a food sensitivity
- side-effects of medication
- your baby's feeding routine
- a stomach bug
Very pale poo
Very pale poo can be a sign of jaundice, which is common in newborns. Jaundice causes your newborn's skin and the whites of her eyes to look yellow, and usually clears up within a couple of weeks of birth. Tell your doctor if your baby has jaundice, even if it looks like it's going away (NHS 2013b).
Also tell your doctor if your baby is passing very pale, chalky white, poos. This can be a sign of liver problems, especially where jaundice lasts beyond two weeks (NHS 2013b, NICE 2010).
Take a look at our baby poo photo gallery to see what's normal and what's not.
Baca versi Bahasa: Najis bayi anda: Apa yang normal dan apa yang tidak
ReferencesInch S. 2009. Infant Feeding. In: Fraser DM, Cooper MA. eds. Myles Textbook for Midwives. 15th edition. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier, 785-816
NCT. 2010. What's in a nappy? National Childbirth Trust. www.nct.org.uk [pdf file, accessed February 2014]
NHS. 2013a. Nappies. www.nhs.uk [Accessed February 2014]
NHS. 2013b. Newborn jaundice. NHS Choices, Health A-Z. www.nhs.uk [Accessed February 2014]NHS 2013c. Diarrhoea and vomiting in children. www.nhs.uk [Accessed February 2014]
NICE. 2010. Neonatal jaundice. National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. www.nice.org.uk [Accessed February 2014]
NICE/CKS. 2010. Constipation in children. National Institute of Health and Care Excellence/NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries, Clinical topic. www. cks.nice.org.uk [Accessed February 2014]
Start4life/NHS. n.d. Mum's milk - why breastfeeding is better for you and your baby. www.nhs.uk/start4life [Accessed February 2014]
Start4life/NHS. 2012. Guide to bottle feeding. www.gov.uk [pdf file, accessed February 2014]
UNICEF. 2010. The health professional's guide to: "A guide to infant formula for parents who are bottle feeding". www.babyfriendly.org.uk [pdf file, accessed February 2014]


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A Connecticut priest accused of sexual assault of a minor has been arrested on federal firearms charges.
Rev. Paul Gotta of East Windsor was arrested by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Friday.
Gotta had been the administrator of St. Philip Church in East Windsor and St. Catherine Church in Broad Brook but was placed on administrative leave on Monday after being accused of sexual abuse, according to the Archdiocese of Hartford. Federal authorities said Gotta is now living in Bridgeport.
The Department of Children and Families is investigating the abuse allegations.
Gotta is charged with aiding and abetting the unlawful transport of a firearm in interstate commerce and the purchase of a handgun by a juvenile. He faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted.
Gotta is the same priest who contacted police in June to report an 18-year-old who had allegedly made threats against his school, the Metropolitan Learning Center, in Bloomfield. He told authorities Kyle Bass had weapons and the ability to make bombs and had made references to both the Newtown tragedy and the Boston Marathon bombing, prosecutors said at the time.
Bass was arrested on bomb manufacturing charges in June. He was held on $750,000 bond.
It was not clear Friday if the firearms charges against Gotta were related to the case against Bass.


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Special Educators Borrow From Brain Studies
In a corner of a classroom here at the Ivymount School, a frustrated 7th grader tells himself to take a deep breath. Slowly, without distracting his classmates, he calms down.
This exercise is among many strategies derived from brain-science research that educators at this private school are using with students with disabilities. In this case, the technique is being taught to students with Asperger syndrome, for whom self-control in a moment of frustration can be elusive.
The five steps to regaining calm—including breathing deeply, reading directions, and telling oneself to give something a try—are taped to many of the desks of students in the Model Asperger Program.
Ivymount is one of a growing number of schools trying to adapt techniques based on brain research to special education settings, a practice that many teachers and parents may not have even envisioned a few years ago. While some educators remain skeptical, brain research is slowly migrating from the lab into the classroom, both in predicting which students may have learning difficulties and intervening to help students diagnosed with disabilities.
Opportunities Emerge
Among the efforts under way:
• In Cambridge, Mass., a Harvard University center is devoted to training those who want to use neuroscience and cognitive science to improve teaching, including for students with disabilities.
• In Washington, George Washington University has created a doctoral program in applied neuroscience in special education.
• The Center for Applied Technology, in Wakefield, Mass., employs specialists in neuropsychology, along with other experts, to expand learning opportunities for students with disabilities.
• A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is using brain-imaging to predict which children in a given kindergarten class might eventually struggle with reading, because of dyslexia or other reasons, so intervention can take place as early as possible.
"We are just beginning to understand how big this is," said Maxine B. Freund, a professor in George Washington's department of special education and the associate dean of research and external relations. "It's an opportunity we treasure."
That's especially so for students with disabilities, said Kurt W. Fischer, a Harvard professor of psychology and human development and the founder of the graduate school of education's Mind, Brain, and Education program.
"What we need to do is figure out how to harness those differences instead of making everyone learn the same way," he said.
That doesn't mean there shouldn't still be some caution about translating brain research into educational techniques, he said.
"There are people that are skeptical, and they ought to be skeptical," Mr. Fischer said. "There are lots of things happening," he added, but "it's still early."
Turning a Corner
At MIT, neuroscientist and professor John D.E. Gabrieli has been working on using brain imaging to predict which students may eventually struggle with reading. He is clear about connecting his research with the classroom. One of his current projects involves working with about 20 Boston-area kindergarten classes in inner-city charter schools, suburban district-run schools, and Roman Catholic schools.
As many students as possible are brought to his lab for brain imaging—through the use of noninvasive functional magnetic-resonance imaging, or FMRIS—and the students get additional help based on the results. Mr. Gabrieli will follow the students for several years to see if the targeted interventions can stave off reading problems.
"How to diagnose and classify children—the more that we can make that scientific and less arbitrary, the better," he said. "If something about the brain—the luck of the draw of their brain—is making reading extra hard for them, maybe we could just intervene early and spare them a lot of grief."
Typically, reading problems aren't diagnosed until students are in 3rd or 4th grade. Not only do reading problems at that age hamper students' ability to learn many subjects, they've lost hours of reading practice outside of school, essentially falling even further behind, Mr. Gabrieli said. Children who enjoy reading passively hone their skills by reading for pleasure, something poor readers are less likely to do.
One research-based product that already appears to be helping some students is based on existing practices in special education.
Using BrainWare Safari, software made by Learning Enhancement Corp., based in Chicago, students play what seems like a video game for 30 to 45 minutes a day, several times a week, for three months. The exercises build students' memory skills, their visual- and auditory-processing skills, thinking abilities, and sensory integration, said Betsy Hill, the president and chief operating officer of Learning Enhancement. The program replicates the work of speech and language therapists, vision therapists, and psychologists, work that is tedious for both students and therapists. Different exercises require students to click to a beat and deal with other distractions that can compete for what's known as the working memory. Working memory allows students to do things like take notes at the same time the teacher is talking—a skill not all students easily master.
"Kids are doing one level of an exercise 100, 200, 300 times," Ms. Hill said. "You need that kind of repetition to change those neuropathways."
While students with disabilities may need to spend more time with the software for their brains to be reprogrammed, in a sense, all students have been shown to benefit, she said. One small study in the 550-student Harbor Beach community school district in Michigan, conducted by a district speech-language pathologist without Learning Enhancement's knowledge, showed students' average improvement on cognitive tests was three years and one month in learning progress after using the program for 12 weeks, confirming results published in a scientific journal.
The district was one of the first users of the program, now in about 300 schools across the country. Harbor Beach was so convinced of BrainWare Safari's effectiveness, it is now required for all 3rd grade students new to the district.
Breaking Some Ground
At Ivymount, Monica Adler Werner, the director of the school's Model Asperger Program, said she learned about effective, research-based interventions for social skills at a conference 10 years ago and immediately asked, "Where is this happening?" The answer, she found, was nowhere.
About a year later, she started a summer camp based on the interventions she saw at that conference. Students were taught social skills and spent the rest of the day practicing them. Ms. Werner scaled up that summer camp into the program at Ivymount, which also works with students with other types of autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities. Most students who attend had been in regular public schools whose staff felt Ivymount was better suited to work with the students.
All the program strategies, whether based in neuroscience or other research, have something in common: They are meant to make the implicit explicit for students who don't have the same instinct to detect social cues their peers might pick up naturally. The program is intense, and the school year lasts 11 months.
In one exercise Ms. Werner created, students must each give a classmate a gift, which requires taking the recipient's perspective—a clear example of what researchers term "theory of mind."
Rather than follow the impulse to give gifts they themselves would want, students have to consider their classmates' likes and dislikes. Upon giving their gifts, students have to tell from the recipients' reactions whether they liked the presents.
And when they receive a gift, they must refrain from blurting out that they have the item already or that they don't like it. Sometimes, students are given truly undesirable gifts—broken clocks, a single sock, a hole puncher—to work on that skill.
"The whole social world is a problem for our students to solve," Ms. Werner said. "We break it down for them—help them learn what to look for."
Ms. Werner has a stack of research studies on the shelf in her office. She also has developed relationships with researchers and sits on a federal grant-review committee to keep abreast of more research in the works.
"We do all believe in evidence-based practice whenever possible," she said, noting that the process of taking research from lab to classroom isn't always smooth. "It's OK to make mistakes, as long as you fix them. ... We need to give ourselves the same space we give our students when they take risks."
Vol. 31, Issue 17, Page 10Published in Print: January 18, 2012, as Mind and Brain Research Trickles Into Special Ed. Classrooms
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This is the little 4x4 notecard box and cards I made my girlfriend for her birthday. I found this project at split coast stamping under their resource tab. Thiers was 3x3 and I wanted mine just a little bigger. The link to the site in on the right side of my blog if you are interested in making one. I also made little envelopes to go with each card.
September 17, 2008
Note Card Box with Cards
Posted by Nina at 9:25 AM
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StarCraft 2 comes with a powerful set of tools for making your own maps and game modifications, but there is no local storage; you have to upload your content to Battle.net and let users grab that content from Blizzard's servers. If your content is considered inappropriate or obscene, Blizzard can take it down. The story is making its way around the gaming press, but this shouldn't be a shock... gaming content has long fallen under the control of the company that created the tools.
Does this hurt us as gamers? Absolutely.
Because they can
Blizzard has slapped some serious limits on what we can do with user-created content. There's a 25MB limit on uploaded content, which means any extensive modding with custom graphics, music, or voice acting is impossible. You can't host a game from content stored locally on your computer, so it all has to go through Blizzard. In this way, the company can perfectly control the platform. So why is content being taken down?
"Because we can. Literally. We have a support department now of size and ability to enforce these types of things," Community Manager Bashiok said on the official forums. "It simply wasn't possible when our in-game support used to consist of approximately 20 technical support agents. We did, however, actually police Warcraft III maps to a small degree if they were reported. But it was a rather archaic process."
Blizzard has a list of what will get your content removed from its service, including trademarks, advertising, and offensive content.
"Keeping people from seeing your hate speech and obscene images on our private game service is not the same as relinquishing your constitutional freedoms in the hopes of increased personal/familial security," Bashiok continued. "Ben [Franklin] would tie you to a kite and let go of the string for making such comparisons."
There is also the matter of the rating: StarCraft 2 is rated Teen, and if Blizzard doesn't keep Mature-rated content out, there could be a serious backlash. Since the company hosts every file, it's on their head if something gets through. The advantage of allowing users to control the content files and download the content from any source online—which is what PC gamers from the good ol' days are used to—is that it gives Blizzard some cover. But by hosting every file and hoping for future monetization of this content, Blizzard is forced to tightly control it.
This is nothing new
LittleBigPlanet also allowed impressive content creation, and we saw content being removed there as well. Which is a shame, as the games based on other gaming content or existing properties were some of the best mods and levels made... not to mention some of the most creative. Being inspired by something you're passionate about, only to have your own content deleted is certainly depressing, though it's understandable from Sony's point of view. No one wants to open themselves up to liability.
By shutting down dedicated servers and not releasing any modding tools, Infinity Ward stopped modding dead in its tracks with Modern Warfare 2. Even if someone was able to create a map or a modification, there would be no way to play it online. That's the way publishers like it; Activision Blizzard recently announced that is has sold 20 million map packs for the various Call of Duty releases. Why allow users to create something just to give it away when there's so much money to be made?
Taking the political issue of game ratings out of the equation, I don't feel like we need to be protected from offensive content, and hate speech is easy to avoid; these people don't tend to be subtle (hint: avoid maps named "WHITE POWA"). If I see something I don't want to, I simply end the game. The trade off, which is the ability to download, host, and enjoy content at my own discretion, is well worth the risk of being minimally inconvenienced by bad words or naughty images.
Those of us who remember looking through Duke Nukem 3D fan pages for a new, great map to play and share with friends know what we've lost here, and, to put it bluntly, it sucks. Every now and again you'd trip over a swastika, but the Star Wars total conversions, the Predator sound packs, and the maps based on Star Trek ship layouts were always a good time. Those days are behind us.