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18: The Architect Plays Himself
Hightower Whenever someone asks me why I became an architect, I always tell them the same thing. I did it for the money. Leonardo DiCaprio remembers it differently:
DiCaprio Not just money. You remember. It's the chance to build cathedrals, entire cities, things that never existed, things that couldn't exist in the real world… I need an architect as good as I was.
Hightower That's from the 2010 firm Inception. In the movie DiCaprio leads a team of professional thieves who enter people's dreams to extract or implant information. The plot is actually a whole lot more complicated that that, but that's basically what happens.
Page How did architects become involved?
DiCaprio Someone had to design the dreams, right?
Hightower In the world of film there are entire genres based on professions. Police procedurals tell the stores of what detectives do. Courtroom dramas describe what attorneys do. But no such category exists for architects. That's probably for the best since most of what architects do is slow-paced and not particularly cinematic.
But while movies rarely feature what architects do, movies often feature characters who are architects.
That's what we're going to talk about on this, the eighteenth episode of The Works – a podcast about Architecture, those who create it and those who inhabit it.
I'm Brantley Hightower.
For this episode we're going to play clips from several films. So first of all, spoiler alert. Also because not all of these films are rated G this will be the first episode of The Works where there will be profanity. You have been warned. Dammit.
Architecture and movies are closely intertwined. A film has a setting that almost always is a building of some sort. The architecture of a film can help establish the tone or reinforce a theme. But movies aren't about places. They're about people and their stories. Stories involve characters and with a two-hour-long movie, you need get to know those characters fairly quickly. Often a filmmaker will assign a character a specific profession not because it's central to the plot but because it efficiently communicates something about the character's personality.
So what does it say when a character is identified as an architect?
More often than not it's a shorthand way of saying they are thoughtful. They are creative, but not too artsy. They are part of a respectable, educated profession, but they themselves are not overly intellectual. They are balanced individuals with whom the audience can identify. They're the good guy that you want to see win.
The 2008 film Momma Mia! is an adaptation of a musical that strung together a bunch of ABBA songs to create – or at least attempt to create – a cohesive narrative. In the film, Pierce Brosnan plays an architect who is also one of the three former love interests of Meryl Streep. We don't really learn very much about his career as a design professional but we do learn why he didn't choose a career in musical performance.
Streep OK, here's the thing. I love being on my own. You know, every morning I wake up and I thank God I don't have middle-aged, menopausal man telling me how to run my life. You know I'm free and I'm single. And it's great.
Brosnan Where are those happy days? They seem so hard to find. I tried to reach for you, but you have closed your mind. Whatever happened to our love? I wish I understood. It used to be so nice. It used to be so good…
Hightower Despite the fact he can't really sing we like Brosnan's character. He's a good guy and by the end of the film Streep chooses to marry him.
One of the reasons we tend to like architects in movies is that they are approachable in ways that doctor and lawyer characters often are not. Even though architects are part of a demanding profession, designing a building requires them to listen to and understand others. They need to be in touch with their emotions and that's one of the reasons why they tend to be sympathetic characters. As a result we feel bad for them when their spouses die: a fate that befalls a remarkable number of architects in movies.
It happens to Tom Hanks in 1993's Sleepless in Seattle, Mike Brady in 1995's The Brady Bunch Movie, Michale J. Fox in 1996's The Freighteners, David Duchovny in 2000's Return to Me, Liam Neeson in 2003's Love Actually and Michael Keaton in 2005's White Noise.
It may be hard to be an architect but it's downright deadly to be married to one.
The widower architect Liam Neeson plays in Love Actually is a doting father who has an endearing relationship with his son. His professional background has uniquely prepared him to be able to talk about feelings and love.
A different character played by Neeson in the Taken movies has a different background that has uniquely prepared him for other things:
Neeson I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
Hightower Of course, even if he was still playing an architect, Neeson could go on to commit wonton acts of violence. In the 1974 film Death Wish, Charles Bronson plays an architect who's wife – you guessed it – dies. Actually she is murdered and as a result Bronson becomes a vigilante, roaming the crime-filled streets of New York with a .32 caliber revolver.
Despite the dubious morality of the multiple acts of premeditated murder depicted in the film, the architect remains somewhat sympathetic in a way a character belonging to another profession might not.
But architects can be the heroes of action films without ever touching a firearm. Released the same year as Death Wish, 1974's The Towering Inferno features Paul Newman as the architect of a 138-story skyscraper. As you may have guessed from the title, the building catches fire.
A surprising amount of the film is dedicated to a discussion of electrical specifications. That's what happens in this exchange between the architect and the evil electrical engineer:
Newman We had an electrical flare-up in the main utility room and it looked to me like some of the wiring wasn't exactly what I asked for.
Chamberlain Every piece of wire I put in that building is strictly up to code – inspected and approved.
Newman Code is not enough for that building and you know it. That's why I asked for insulation that was way above standard.
Hightower Collaboration is a key part of what architects do. They have to work with their clients to develop a design, they have to work with engineers to develop the various systems of that design and they have to work with contractors to make sure the final design is properly built.
To navigate all the competing agendas, the architect has to be something of a salesman.
Warden Are you a salesman?
Fonda I'm an architect.
Warden You know what the "soft sell" is? Well you got it. Believe me!
Hightower That's Henry Fonda as Juror Number Nine in 12 Angry Men. Fonda's architect is not the foreman or the judge. He has limited authority and in the beginning of the film, he's the only one who has doubt regarding the guilt of the man on trial. But he uses his power of persuasion – his "soft sell" – to gradually bring his fellow jurors to his way of thinking.
Of course, just because an architect is persuasive it doesn't mean he knows how to do everything. This can be a source of frustration for an architect used to designing complex buildings.
Selleck Alright, well, OK. Get me another diaper. I'll use the tape – I'll use the tape from the diaper and I'll tape it up. I'm an architect for Christ sake, I build 50 story skyscrapers, I assemble cities of the future, I can certainly put together a goddamn diaper. Take it easy, kid. Alright?
Hightower That's Tom Selleck in 1987's Three Men And A Baby. It turns out that skyscraper design and diaper changing are completely unrelated skills. It also turns out that architects don't really "build" anything.
By definition architects design buildings. They prepare the drawings and specifications that are then provided to a separate entity – the contractor – who uses those documents to construct the building itself. But that doesn't stop architects in movies from constantly claiming otherwise.
In the 1992 romantic comedy, The Housesitter Steve Martin plays an architect who drives the woman he hopes to marry to his newly constructed home in hopes of impressing her:
Delany What is this?
Martin Will you marry me?
Delany What?
Martin I have loved you since the ninth grade. Marry me.
Delany You bought this house?
Martin Bought it? I'm an architect: I designed it! I built it!
Hightower No he did not.
Steve Martin's character may very well have designed the house himself but it's highly doubtful he built it as well.
It's an easy mistake to make. Keanu Reeves made the same error in 2006's The Lake House:
Reeves I'm an architect. I like to build. And while I wouldn't say my current project is ideal it allows me to be here – in this place – and that's enough for now.
Hightower In the movie Reeves plays an architect who inhabits the same lake house as a doctor played by Sandra Bullock but two years in the past. Or is it that Bullock is two years in the future? I frankly don't know – nor do I really care.
Anyway, in The Matrix movies Keanu Reeves doesn't play an architect, but he does interact with one:
Bakaitis Hello Neo.
Reeves Who are you?
Bakaitis I am the architect. I created the Matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions and though the process has altered your consciousness you remain irrevocably human. Ergo some of my answers you will understand and some of them you will not.
Hightower For the record, this how I typically introduce myself to potential clients. It sets a good tone for the relationship.
In The Matrix films the Architect is a computer program that created the simulated reality – the "Matrix" – that gives the films their names. To be honest, the mechanical and detached motivations of this architect seem to be more in line with that of an engineer. Then again his elevated language and sense of self-importance are characteristics sometimes associated with architects. The architect has created something and he is very proud of it.
Although they can be thoughtful, sympathetic characters, architects can also be egotistical megalomaniacs – artists who feel their vision must be preserved at all costs. Take, for example, Howard Roark:
Cooper I am an architect. I know what is to come by the principle on which it is built. We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live. My ideas are my property. They were taken from me by force, by breach of contract. No appeal was left to me. It was believed that my work belonged to others, to do with as they pleased. They had a claim upon me without my consent -- that it was my duty to serve them without choice or reward.
Hightower That's Gary Cooper from the1949 film The Fountainhead. He plays a genius architect who blows up the Courtland Housing Project because it wasn't built exactly how he had designed it.
Cooper Now you know why a dynamited Courtland. I designed Courtland. I made it possible. I destroyed it. I agreed to design it for the purpose of it seeing built as I wished. That was the price I set for my work. I was not paid. My building was disfigured at the whim of others who took all the benefits of my work and gave me nothing in return.
Hightower What a dick.
For an architect, The Fountainhead is impossible to ignore in either its novel or its film version. The character of Howard Roark defines what's best and what's worst about architects. They are principled and have a unique vision of the world, but that vision can often blind them to the realities of the world they actually occupy.
Of course, if every architect blew up all the buildings that weren't built exactly how they liked it, there wouldn't be that many buildings left. The reality is that the act of design is also the act of compromise. There are many moving parts to designing and constructing a building. There is never enough time and the budget is never large enough. And when the economy is bad, building can stop altogether.
In the 1993 film, Indecent Proposal, Woody Harrelson plays an architect married to Demi Moore. He designs a house for the two of them but during the early 90s recession they run out of money before construction is completed.
This is actually a thing. When a major economic downturn hits, projects are cancelled and architects are laid off. This happened in the early 90s as portrayed in the film and it happened again in the early 2000s after the dot-com bubble burst. The Great Recession of the late 2000s decimated the profession. An entire generation of architecture graduates were unable to find jobs and many left the profession all together.
Anyway, in the movie, the struggling couple takes the meager savings they have left and go to Las Vegas. While there they run into a billionaire played by Robert Redford who offers to pay Harrelson a million dollars to sleep with his wife. This turns out to be a really bad idea.
Towards the end of the film Harrelson becomes a professor at a local university to try and make ends meet. Although he has no experience teaching, he puts on a pair of glasses which makes him appear smarter when he lectures:
Harrelson Great architecture is only going to come from your passion and even that won't assure you a job. Louis Kahn died in a men's room in Penn Station. For days, no one claimed the body. Look at that – is that beautiful? The moneymen did not weep because the great ones are impossible to deal with. They're a pain in the ass because they know that if they do their jobs properly, if just this once they can get it right they can actually lift the human spirit - take it to a higher place.
Hightower One thing that's interesting about this particular scene is that the students he is lecturing to are remarkably diverse. Well, maybe they aren't remarkably diverse but they are certainly more diverse than the architects we've seen portrayed so far. We see both female students as well as students of color. If you've been paying any attention you might have noticed that all of the architects we've seen in movies so far have been men – white men to be precise.
This isn't some bias imposed by Hollywood. It's actually an accurate representation of the architecture profession. Nearly eighty-five percent of the architects in the United States are men. About that same percentage are white.
It's an issue the profession is acutely aware of but it's also one that's proved difficult to remedy. Although nearly half of all architecture school graduates are women, those graduates tend to drop out of the profession in greater numbers than their male counterparts. There are lots of reasons for this, not the least of which is the difficulty of being a parent while at the same time being a full-time architect.
Just ask the architect played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1996 romantic comedy One Fine Day. In the movie she plays a single mother struggling to balance her career as an architect while raising her son after a divorce. This struggle is ever-so-subtly rendered in the scene where she trips over a bag left on the floor by her son while carrying a large architectural model. Like my daughter, her son goes by the name Sammy.
Pfeifer Sammy!... Ugh!
Hightower Didn't see that one coming.
Hilarity ensues when Pfeiffer accidentally switches the clunky mid-nineties cell phone she was carrying with an identical one carried by the father of one of her son's classmates. Luckily for her the father happens to be George Clooney.
At the end of the day I'm a white male. I'm also a white male at the beginning of the day as well, but all that is to say I'll never know what it's like to feel out-of-place in the profession or the world in which I live. My generation inherited our biased world. It happens to be biased in my favor, but that's something my generation hopes to improve.
It seems likely that will happen. I personally find myself surrounded by architects who just happen to be women. The other architect I work with at HiWorks is a woman. I'm married to a female architect. The mother of my children is an architect as well. Actually, those last two architects are actually the same person.
At any rate, I hope my daughters are growing up in a world where they see women working as architects, astronauts and accountants as well as teachers, nurses and homemakers. I hope my daughters feel free to choose whatever job they are passionate about regardless of who they see working that job in movies.
In the meantime, though, I hope my Sammy picks her stuff up off the floor so I don't trip on it while carrying large architectural models around the house.
Sammy Sorry, Daddy.
Hightower Thanks today to all the studios who I borrowed clips from under questionable legal authority. These include Warner Brothers, Universal, The BBC, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, United Artists, Buena Vista and Viacom.
The title of this episode - as well as its general approach - was inspired by the 2003 video essay, Los Angeles Plays Itself. Created by Thom Anderson, the film beautifully illustrates the role that the City of Los Angeles and its architecture has played in movies. I'll include a link to it as well all the other films I referenced in the show notes. I'll also include a link to the parody version of the scene from The Matrix Reloaded that features Will Ferrell as the architect:
Farrell You do NOT want me to get out of this chair! Ergo open your yapper one more time and I'm going to architect a world of pain all over your candy ass!
Hightower The Works is a production of HiWorks and you can find more information about it and everything we've talked about today at Hi dot Works.
Until next time, I'm Brantley Hightower.


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Oh my goodness! Your post today goes right along with mine - which is all about my itch to new a new kitty!!!ReplyDelete
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text: Search Results We have found 1 classified ads matching your search query. Close Sort By: TitleDatePopularityFeaturedRatingPrice List Grid Moving Kings NC Posted 08 months 23 days 17 hours 4 minutes ago. Packers and Movers 208 Moving Kings NC – movers in NC Are you planning on moving out of or to North Carolina? Moving Kings NC can help you do it quickly and in safe manner. Your safety and satisfaction matter the most. As Unknown 1 Page 1 of 1


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Question: What is an XSS vulnerability? Should I be concerned about an XSS vulnerability?
XSS (short for Cross-Site Scripting) is a widespread vulnerability that affects many web applications. The danger behind XSS is that it allows an attacker to inject content into a website and modify how it is displayed, forcing a victim's browser to execute the code provided by the attacker while loading the page.
Generally XSS vulnerabilities require some type of interaction by the user to trigger the vulnerability, either via social engineering, or waiting for someone to visit a specific page. That's why it's often not taken seriously by developers, but if left unpatched, can be very dangerous.
Imagine you are on your WordPress wp-admin panel adding a new post. If you are using a plugin with a stored XSS vulnerability (explained below) that gets exploited, it can force your browser to create a new admin user while in the wp-admin panel, or it can edit a post and perform other similar actions.
An XSS vulnerability gives an attacker almost full control of the most important software we have on our desktops today: our browsers.
XSS: The Injection Vulnerability
Any website or application has several inputs. They range from form fields to the URL itself, which will become data to be handled by the underlying code. A simple example of this data is when we submit our name, username, password or any other input on a form:
Our name will be stored in the website database for later use, for actions like personalizing our experience in the website. Think for instance when you log into your favorite website and it greets you with your name: "Welcome, John!".
Each of these data points are considered inputs, and they can be manipulated if the code behind them are not properly validating the inputs and sanitizing the outputs. When an input is specially crafted to contain a certain sequence of characters in order to make the server or even the own browser answer in a desired way, it's called injection.
This injection type is known as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): a way to inject code that will perform actions in the browser on behalf of a website. This action can be abrasive and notify the user, or it can work in the background unbeknownst to the user.
Perhaps the most rudimentary Proof of Concept (PoC) you might have come across includes the use of a very basic script tag that generates a popup notifying you of a flaw on the page. That script looks something like this:
<script>alert('THIS IS AN XSS VULNERABILITY!!!')</script>
Via this example, you are using a pair of HTML tags delimiting a javascript block. The call to the function makes the box appear with the following phrase: THIS IS AN XSS VULNERABILITY!!!
When this input is accepted by the application and echoed back to the user, it's evaluated by the user's browser and executed as if it were native to the website code. It becomes part of the rendered website in that moment, allowing the attacker to perform a number of nefarious acts.
Types of XSS
Not all XSS vulnerabilities are the same. There are a wide range of types and here we'll provide a very high-level overview of each, including their delivery modes to provide context:
Reference: OWASP XSS Types
Caused by server-side code (Java, PHP, .NET, etc.):
The traditional XSS attacks:
1. Reflected (Non-Persistent) – occurs when the payload gets echoed back to user by opening a link to a vulnerable website with a crafted input.
2. Stored (Persistent) – occurs when the payload gets stored server side and retrieved with every user request to a page.
Caused by client-side code (Javascript, Visual Basic, Flash, etc.):
Also known as DOM-based XSS:
3.Reflected (Non-Persistent) – same as with server side, but this time payload is possible due to code processed by browser.
4. Stored (Persistent) – same as with server side, but this time the payload gets stored in client machine, using browser storage.
Caused by infrastructure (browser, plugins, server, etc.):
Very rare but more dangerous:
5. Client-side infrastructure – occurs when the payload has something to do with the browser's internals, like its XSS filter or some other core functionality.
6. Server-side infrastructure – occurs when the web server is responsible for a flawed handling of requests allowing modification of response bodies.
7. Network – occurs when it's possible to tamper the communication between client and server and thus injecting network packet(s) with the payload.
Caused by user:
Commonly seen in scams.
8. Self-XSS – occurs when the user is responsible for injecting the payload in the browser to hack him/herself, usually by means of social engineering.
What Are the Dangers of XSS?
How can I protect my website from XSS? Should I be worried about all of these vulnerabilities I hear in reference to XSS? How can I test my code for it? How can I understand what it really means? There are technologies like the Sucuri Firewall designed to help mitigate these attacks, it's where I spend my time doing research, but as developers you undeniably want insight on how to identify and account for these weaknesses.
I plan to answer these questions in the upcoming XSS series in which I will work to target and demystify this often misunderstood and undervalued vulnerability. Stay tuned, and join me in the discussion, either in comments or online via twitter via the #asksucuri hashtag.


text: I recently got the new Droid Turbo Two and now my Dragon Quest game isn't working the same way. I'm unable to open my menu in game because it only registers that I want to walk. It is making the game unplayable because I can only use spells and items in battle. Is there any way to fix this issue? Or is there someone I could contact to make them aware of this issue?


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Chunky Braid Cable Stitch
Stitch Description
The chunky braid cable stitch is a large cable panel worked on reverse stockinette. While it looks complicated the pattern is relatively simple and easy to memorize. It makes for a great detail in aran sweaters or in a cabled scarf. It can be combined with other traditional cable motifs for use in a blanket as well. This is a foundational cable pattern that is incredibly versatile.
Video Tutorial
Materials Used
Valley Yarns: Northampton
Sourced from the softest wool WEBS could find and dyed in a beautiful collection of solid colors and heathered shades. It is a dream to felt and soft enough for cozy garments. This yarn also has a whopping 247 yards per skein. It is beautiful and economical. Made in Peru.
Get This
Knitting Needles
A good pair of knitting needles can make your life a whole lot easier. We recommend a high quality wood or metal needle. And remember, you can use circular needles for flat knitting as well as in the round!
Get This
- Knit Stitch
- Purl Stitch
- Cable 6 Front – slip next 3 sts onto cable needle and hold at front of work, knit next 3 sts from left hand needle, then knit sts from cable needle.
- Cable 6 Back – slip next 3 sts onto cable needle and hold at back of work, knit next 3 sts from left hand needle, then knit sts from cable needle.
Stitch Details
Stitch Characteristics
Pattern Instructions
Cast On: Panel worked over 15 stitches on a background of reverse stockinette.
- Row 1 (RS): knit.
- Row 2: purl.
- Row 3: k3, *C6F; rep from * to end.
- Row 4: purl.
- Row 5: knit.
- Row 6: purl.
- Row 7: *C6B; rep from * to last 3 sts, k3.
- Row 8: purl.
Repeat rows 1-8 until you have reached your desired length.


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What's in your bin?
Hey all! I am sorry for my lack of posting lately. As I'm sure you know, there are not many child life-specific things happening in my life at the moment. I am still working full time as a nanny and seeing a community-based child life client on weekends. Like I mentioned in my last post […]Read More


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Celebrating 100 years of Lutheran Campus Ministry – Twin Cities at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus.
Join us for the inspiring words of Bishop Patricia Lull and others as they reflect on
LCM-TC. Indulge in the savory delights of Fabulous Catering & splurge on a chance to win sensational prizes in support of the next 100 years!
November 1, 2014
5:30PM Social Hour
6:30PM Dinner & Program
$30 per person
$65 per person (this price includes a $35 donation that is tax deductible)
Both ticket prices include appetizers, a fresh salad, oregano grilled chicken with toasted Israeli cous cous and roasted Mediterranean vegetables, and a really yummy carrot cake for dessert!
Grace University Lutheran Church
324 Harvard Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
To pay "Online/Credit Card" please select one of the following price options:
1. To pay $30 per ticket click below
2. To pay $65 per ticket click below


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Secret Restaurant Recipes: Olive Garden's Brownie Banana Funtastico
Secret Restaurant Recipes: Olive Garden's Brownie Banana Funtastico: Ingredients: === BROWNIES === 1 package brownie mix bananas -- as needed ...
6 separated eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Dash of salt 2/3 cup sifted flour
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Heat oven to 300. Grease and flour or spray two baking sheets. Whisk egg yolks till thick. Beat in sugar slowly and add vanilla. Combine egg whites with the salt and beat till it peaks. Add a quarter of the egg whites and a quarter of the flour to the yolk mixture. Fold gently. Do this again and again till all the flour and whites are in.
Lay in strips using a pastry or plastic bag with the corner snipped. Lay 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Sift powdered sugar over cookies till well covered. Tip pan and gently shake to remove the excess powdered sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes on top rack. Cool on the same sheets for a couple minutes, then transfer sheets to wire rack. When cool remove from sheets and either store or serve.photo credit: distopiandreamgirl via photopin cc
Cheese Cake Cookies
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup pecan, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 egg
2 T milk
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Grease or spray an 8x8 baking pan and heat oven to 350. Cream brown sugar and butter till well combined, then stir in flour and pecans. Put aside 1 cup for the top. Using fingers press the remainder into the bottom of the pan to make the crust. Bake about 15 minutes just till lightly browned.
Blend sugar with cream cheese, then beat in egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Pour this filling over the crust and use rest of crumbs mix for topping. Bake for 25 minutes. Chill on wire rack for 15 minutes and them put in fridge till chilled. Cut squares and serve. photo credit: Christi @ Love From The Oven via photopin cc
Malt Toffee Cookies
- 1 cup soft butter or margarine
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1- 3.4oz. instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup instant oats
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup chopped malted milk balls
- 3/4 cups chopped English toffee
Photo by Scubadive67
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[JURIST] Former Enron [JURIST news archive] executive Kevin Howard [DOJ materials] pleaded guilty [plea agreement, PDF] Monday to falsifying books and records in relation to Enron's broadband service. The plea resulted from accusations [complaint text] that Howard indirectly caused the false recording of revenue earnings for Enron by failing to disclose material facts to outside accountant Arthur Andersen and Oregon video-on-demand company nCube. Prosecutors alleged that this conduct resulted in manufactured earnings for the failed broadband division. The deal, called "Project Braveheart," was designed to monetize a portion of future earnings and cash flow from an agreement with Blockbuster. Specifically, Howard's guilty plea is in regards to:
his participation in the "Braveheart" transaction, which closed on December 22, 2000, knowingly and willfully directly or indirectly caused Enron's Form 10K for the year-ending 2000 to be falsified, in that the 10K did not accurately and fairly reflect, in reasonable detail, the transactions and dispositions of the assets of Enron, in violation of [federal securities law].
Although the violation usually carries a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment and a fine, the plea agrees to a sentence between four and 12 months of "home confinement, probation, or some combination thereof."
In March, a district court judge issued an order [JURIST report] setting a July 30 date for the resentencing of former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling [JURIST news archive] and setting up a system for victims to share their accounts with the court. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] upheld [opinion, PDF] a district court ruling to vacate the conviction of Howard based on an earlier Fifth Circuit opinion that overturned separate Enron convictions on the ground that the government's honest services fraud theory was flawed.


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How to create a News Page
Before posting a news item you will need to upload a logo and to do this click on modify my logo and upload one.
Then click on and create your news. Remember people are going to view this on mobile devices so keep your posts short and simple and where possible add an image to your post.
Bellow is a sample News page:


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What's So Scary About Risotto?
Risotto Milanese is a nice side dish to serve with meats. It's wonderful, of course, with Osso Bucco. As a general guide, I allow 1/4 cup of dry rice for each person as a side dish. And don't omit the saffron - it's really what defines this traditional risotto.
Risotto Milanese
serves 4 as a side dish
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup onion, diced finely
- 1 cup Arborio or Carnaroli rice
- 1 large pinch saffron threads
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Bring the chicken broth to a simmer. Lower heat, keep warm.
In the risotto pan, add the olive oil and onion. Cook the onion slowly for several minutes, until soft but do not brown. Add the rice and cook the rice for a couple of minutes. Add the saffron. Add the white wine and cook for a couple of minutes until the liquid has cooked off.
Start adding the broth. Add a couple of ladles initially and stir. Use a rubber spatula instead of a spoon. This really is the best tool - you can really lift the rice off the bottom of the pan. When you begin adding the broth, start timing the risotto. It should take between 20-25 minutes. You should stir the rice as much as you can, not allowing it to stick to the bottom of the pan. Do not boil the rice, just keep it on a simmer. As soon as the liquid has cooked off, keeping adding the broth by the ladleful. After about 20 minutes, taste the rice. It should be soft, but still retain a little firmness. When you think it is done, do not add any more liquid. Four cups of broth is usually just right. When the rice has absorbed the liquid, turn off the heat and add the parmesan. Serve hot and add more grated parmesan to the top if you like.
Tip: Use real Parmigiano Reggiano, if you can, and grate it yourself. Look to make sure the rind has the Parmigiano stamp on it. I use this cheese myself and I do not throw the rinds away after I have used all the cheese. I will cut off a chunk of the rind and throw it in when I make risottos and let it cook along with the rice, flavoring the risotto.
Favorite pan for risotto: Mauviel's copper chef's pan


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If you are looking for financial yield–for retirement, for example–then you are interested in equity valuation. The rate of interest is fully charged (whole) but the capacity to determine it is limited.
Determination is reduced to a probability, and in the financial realm the rate of interest is discounted to reflect divergence of the real and actual rate of interest.
The discount rate is effectively determined on demand. (The price of a bond, for example, is determined by the discount rate, determined by the rate of interest in it.) This "attributive value" yields to the distribution of equity (the price to be paid to actually possess it now, with the risk of loss–the rent–fully assumed in priority). Divisibility (diversification of the risk) trends the probable value of equity in the futures now (the occupation of space over time) at a rate essentially determined–discounted–by the capacity to measurably affect it and thus transact an interpretation (having resolution authority).
(See, also, other articles by griffithlighton on attributive value.)
The authority to interpret transactions, like when the Fed looks for "signals" to raise the discount rate, is the authority to resolve the futures into now, deriving certainty from a random existence that in the macro dimension is really not random at all until you try to affect it. The difference, of course, then has an attributive value, having a transactional interpretation (yielding to observable signs or symbols, like the little birdie, which is an interpretation of objective reality), existing on demand (expanding at the margin) to occupy space over time (resisting absolutely nothing).
Even if you are into funds you don't directly manage, the signal-to-noise matters to you. What is trending occupies your space, anyway.
(The last time I commented on equity-market trending it was about the sentiment surrounding a June interest-rate rise. I haven't said much about the recent rise in equity valuation since then because the sentiment, the attributive value, or the interpretation that transacts the risk, is just that–a sentiment.)
Notice that the objective, technical measure of GDP (like I was telling you) still struggles to break 1%, but inflation is being measured at 2% or more. This happens (like Sanders is saying) because income is distributing so that "the top one-tenth of 1% has more money than the bottom 90%." Technically, this means the capacity to make demands, trend the marketplace, and determine the value of equity is controlled by a handful of oligarchs.
Sanders' technical evaluation is the object of a lot of jokes, which trivializes the real issue, just like the court jesters are paid to do in service to their masters. It is the same way with market sentiment and equity valuation. There is a lot of noise to the signal, and as the real issue gets technically clearer, it is necessary to reduce the signal by increasing the amount of noise.
Technically, rising inflation against slow growth is the whipsaw effect. This is what the big ugly monster (deflation) technically looks like and don't think it won't get around to you, consolidating your equity interest and boosting its value in the form of securitized debt.
(AIG if you recall, for example, is an insurance company steeped in the art of securitizing the debt, which led to the last financial crisis. Hank Greenburg, its CEO, lost a lot of money, gobbled up by the deflation monster. Compared to most everybody else he was still a rich man, but to the top one-tenth of the 1% he's just another servant of the servant class, scratching out a living, doing their bidding on demand.)
Secured debt in the form of equity continues to rise because "the top one-tenth of 1% has more money than the bottom 90%." That it is driven by whether the Fed raises the rent (thus blaming it on the Fed–operating by fiat) is a lot of noise. It is a lot of nonsense intending to reduce the irreducible risk of loss fully assumed (determined–occupying space over time) in all the futures, existing on demand, in priority.
NOW is the time to demand it.
Vote for Sanders, anyway!


text:
This realtor wanted a business portrait that included his business partner. Though I've photographed the family dog many times, this was the first opportunity I had to include a beloved animal in a business portrait. These two show homes and are often side by side and what a better way to show who you are and what your business is! What a way to see properties and envision your home with this beauty! I thought this was a great way to think creatively about what you need in a business portrait.
Business Portrait for Bloggers, Designers and Creatives
A typical head shot, suit and tie or formal portrait is not for everyone! This session was at a coffee shop in Alameda, Ca for a designer. This type of session says so much more that just what you look like! These images can be used not only for a profile image but also website, blog and promotional materials.
Business Portrait: then and now
Sometimes you just need a new business portrait. Not that anything is wrong with the old one, but you change, hair changes maybe a wardrobe change. These images are about 4 years apart and it's a slight difference but enough that a new one was needed. You don't want people to not recognize you or tell you that your photo doesn't look like you. More often a professional photo is needed over a dated or unprofessional snap shot that is being used, but even with a professional photo, it is a good idea to keep it current.


text:
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Analyzing CVE-2010-0188 exploits: Context aware malware (Part 2)/
...Continued from Part 1.
Advancing shellcode
I was able to extract the shellcode from the attacks in June and July. I opened the X86 code in IDA Pro and was baffled, I knew it would take time and research to figure out what the attacker was trying to accomplish. Though I could easily see that part of the code was trying to bootstrap a malicious binary. Since then I've read a paper titled "Understanding Windows Shellcode" (by skape firstname.lastname@example.com) which explained what our friend Pat Casey was doing, almost line by line.
Step 1: Since we are running code that is not linked we need to resolve function addresses manually. How? We locate the kernel32 DLL using knowledge of the the Process Environment Block (PEB) data structure. In this case, we are using the information belonging to Adobe which is standard for all Windows 32 PE files. In that, kernel32.dll is always the second module to be initialized. Now we can walk the list of initialized modules to the second entry.
Step 2: Resolve the locations of needed functions. This is a really cool technique in my opinion, though it may be old. The shellcode writer computes a hash of a required function name, then enumerates a list of functions exported by kernel32 and compares each hash. Now once the author knows the location of kernel32 they can also use knowledge of the PE header structure to locate the export table.
Finally the shellcode makes a call to GetTempPathA [5B8ACA33h], then loads the urlmod library using LoadLibraryA [0EC0E4E8Eh], downloads a file to (you guessed it, to the Temp folder) using URLDownloadToFile [702F1A36h], then finally executes the file with WinExec [0E8AFE98h] and kills the running process. You can resolve any hash value found in shellcode using a script from FireEye. Awesome, but now for some bad news. The shellcode from the August exploits is now packed. That's not bad news meaning it's hard to analyze, it's bad news because the attack is evolving. Now let's take a look at another anti-reversing technique used by Pat Casey.
Context is key
This is the most important part of the article, as it adds another dimension of difficulty to malware analysis. (As if manual unpacking wasn't frustrating enough.) This dimention is context. Being new to the reverse engineering / malware analysis scene I'm not sure if this is entirely new, but I haven't seen or heard it addressed. Embedding context into an attack vector succeeds for legitimate attacks and cripples analysis. The reason being that malware samples are not stored with context information. Sites like Clean-MX will deliver malware properties but the context in which the malware was obtained or first observed is long gone. Sites that promote analyst contribution typically begin with a set of hashes, a date, and a file. The entry is then populated with properties, no matter how much analyst-time is spent, context cannot be recovered.
The set of CVE-2010-0188 exploits took advantage of this lack of context to deter would-be analysts from understanding the malware's intent. Rewinding a bit from the malicious PDF brings us to the delivery. As I mentioned before, malvertizing redirects unsuspecting victims to a malicious host. The redirection puts the victim at the mercy of a JavaScript probe for Internet Explorer, followed by an attack on the HCP protocol. It will then deliver PDFs, Flash, or Jars where applicable. The goal of the malware author is to have one of these attacks succeed. Enter the malware analyst.
The analyst receives either the JavaScript, PDF, Flash, or Jar and begins their work. (I worked on the PDF.) After learning a bit about memory views in Olly (:)) the analyst defeats some obfuscation and observes an HTTP request. Running the PDF in a vulnerable version of Acrobat Reader will cause the application to crash and the shellcode to download and execute more code from specific URI. Previously I was racing to extract this URI from newly registered domains (containing fresh URIs), and download the executable to analyse. Every time I tried the download it would result in simple HTML that used a "meta-refresh" to Google. Eventually I observed a download in a controlled environment and was sure to mimic every detail of the HTTP GET request. I rushed to my sacrificial honeypot machine to start the download... still no malware, even with a 20 minute delta.
The solution lied in context.
It popped into my mind that perhaps the availability of the executable was triggered by the download of a PDF. Wrong, but close. After a few frustrating minutes I remembered the exploits from June using a HTTP POST to tell the server what vulnerability to try. Now in August the probing JavaScript contained the values of each malicious file. (I assume the author wanted a smaller footprint by eliminating POST traffic.) What if the POST served as a 'registration' of a victim? Once the server sees a POST it knows it has an infection candidate. Here in August the same 'registration' was taking place by recording a secondary request (for the PDF/Jar/Flash) object. Bingo! The executable download triggered by the shellcode only works if the host (IP let's say) first visits the probing page and downloads a respective malicious object.
Being a Newbie Analyst is Frustrating
My vigor sank when I opened the download and saw it was packed. I was expecting it, since the shellcode also changed this month to include obfuscation. Yet I wanted to try decompiling since I like C much more than X86 Assembly, too bad. PEiD gave a 'Packed' guess based off of high entropy as well. The entry point in the PE header givens 1111 which contains a bit of code (Figure 2) but immediately trickles into User32.DLL by calling EnumDisplayMonitors at 1147 which calls 114E. This is non-obvious in IDA but a few steps in Olly 1.10 do the trick. This moves 7FFE0300 into EDX (ntdll.KiFastSystemCall) with a stack of:
- 12FEEC) Return to malware.<EP>+35 from 116C
- 12FEF8) malware.114E
Stepping into this leads to a SYSENTER followed shortly by an INT 2B at USER32.7E4194A8. 2B leaves ring3 and thus Olly cannot continue. Instead I added a break point before ntdll.KiFastSystemCall returned. This allowed me to play the application and observe the stack after each system call. I could also watch memory allocations. I noticed DLL contents loaded into MemoryMaps (rpcss.dll, wbemprox.dll, wbemsvc.dll, etc). I also saw a meaningful registry Open and Write to: HTCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run with a value and data being set to a copy of the application stored in C:\Documents and Settings\<Account Name>\Local Settings\Application Data\<random folder name>\<random file name>.exe. Finally it terminates and launches itself from the new location. Observe it in all it's majesty:
Then what happens? Well it waits, and waits, and waits. I have not investigated the trigger completely as I am still playing around with memory captures (using the SysInternals suite). But it seems like browsing the net will cause a DNS lookup for hxxp://antispyoem.com (188.8.131.52) then a GET request to /check?pgid=5, followed by a GET request to /percer.php?login=NTcuNQ== (perhaps a base64 of 57.5). Searching clean-MX for AS2588 (which 188.8.131.52 belongs to) shows similar hostnames such as antispycraft with similar logins NzUuNDI= being 75.42. Is this another step in context correlation? Either way, as soon as this happens the madness beings.
It seems that this PDF exploit was programmed to infect the host with Koobface. The PE that it downloads in non-other than a packed Rouge AntiVirus called "Security Suite". After the trigger, the malware being alerting the user that the system is infected and prevents new executables from launching.
In the end, much fun was had and much more learning is in store. I'm sure there are more malware authors out there like this Pat Casey kit; over the last month I've been searching for them. If I find anything interesting I'll be sure to report. :)


text:
Let me present - Aurora!11:39:00
I'm so happy a lot of you beautiful people found your way back to my blog after I FINALLY posted again two days ago (I know, right?) So I decided, why not tell you a little bit about my Aurora!
This little beaut is just over 4 months old and I can tell you - she's a whole dream come true.
Most of you know how much I've wanted a girl and the name Aurora stuck with me for 8 long years. When I saw her face I knew she'd be mine forever and she's the best girl I could ever ask for.
I know people don't like to say a baby is 'good' because babies can't be bad (obviously), but they can be easy or challenging. I've had two very challenging babies in the past (due to very different reasons) and two easy peasy ones - Aurora is one of those. Even though her nights have been dreadful (with hundreds of feeds, refusing to burp, vomiting and long growly sickness bug) the rest of the time she's perfect. Well, as long as she's with me. You see, I'm not allowed to leave the room without bringing her with. The first month she had no problem being with her dad, but since then she's turned into a real mummy's pig and it's me or the highway.
She never cry or make a fuss... Unless she's left with her dad that is. She can be perfectly fine in her walker or swing but ON her dad? Forget it.
In regards to growth. She's massive. Like in the 99th percentile. Both weight and length. She's a big baby, and yet she's still 100% breastfed. Those babies aren't typically all that fat. It does make it funner looking at her and her little baby rolls, because I've never had a chubby baby and it makes her so much cuter. I call her my chipmunk cheek because it looks like she stores a lot of food in her cheeks! Awful, I know. I'll stop when she's older and understands me 😊
You and me against the world RoRo 💗


text:
It's no secret that I think Jimmy Fallon is to acting as The Backstreet Boys are/were to music. While his goof off abilities tend to follow the same bland pseudo-funny quality, his "characters" are practically non-existent. And then there's Fever Pitch where his over-exaggerated eye movements are paired up with the over-exaggerated mouth pulls of Drew Barrymore. The difference here, the thing that makes this movie not Duplex, or Taxi, is that Drew and Jimmy are playing characters that seem more real. I wouldn't say they have layers, but they have a layer of a personality to them. That slight bit of depth to their characters makes it just bearable enough to sit through to see how it ends.
Fever Pitch is based on a book of the same name by Nick Hornby. It's about a man obsessed with soccer and was actually made into a movie a few years ago in Europe. (Hollywood and its original ideas strikes again.) For the American version, they changed the sport to baseball and thought a great agony of true fan-dom would be for the guy to be a Red Sox fan. For anyone that doesn't know, it's been believed that there was a "Curse of the Bambino" on the team for selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees and as a result the team hadn't won a World Series game since 1918. ("World" Series, of course, meaning a competition between American teams.) Fallon's character Ben is an obsessed fan. He loves his Sox and can't find a girl to tolerate his addiction to the sport and the team. Along comes Barrymore who goes out on a limb and believes his fascination will allow her more guilt-free time to work towards "that big promotion" most main characters are striving for.
If it's at all possible, the Farrelly brothers have created a monster; they actually made a chick flick. Now, I know what you're thinking. A married woman, mother of a toddler, this must be Margaret's kind of a movie. Egad! Didn't you just sigh with romanticism when Ben cleaned up Drew's vomit in the bathroom? Aw, he took care of her in her worst moments. Someone hold my hair, I'm going to throw up. Moments like these, and there were a few, come off forced and hold all the typical cliches for romantic comedies. The writers knew this was an unnecessary tug at women's heart strings and I think it's a cheap way to ask you to like a character. These scenes were written because they knew it would "read well with a female test audience", not because they believed he was that type of a guy. There's a well-known scene (the one from all the trailers) where Barrymore gets hit in the head with a baseball. Where's his sympathy now? How come he's high-fiving the guy across from her limp body instead of caring for her? If his character was intended to be a caring guy, just one into his sport, then he needs to be consistently caring. That's like telling "Saturday Night Live" (where Fallon came from) to be funny and stay that way. Oh wait, that's a bad example.
There are funny moments to Fever Pitch, there just aren't enough of them to carry the whole film. However, this problem is not exclusive to this movie. Too often the modern love story throws a man and a woman together in predictable roles and we knew within the first five minutes how the last five minutes will end. They meet, they fall in love, they live happily ever after. I hate that story line. I've seen that story line. It makes me feel as underestimated as a thinking woman as I think my toddler feels about most of the TV shows geared toward her demographic. Who the hell is "Dooley" anyway and why is a space thing that looks like a pig with antennae hanging out with the tin man, a bunch of kids, and a mail carrier? Oh, wait, we can't watch that, "Jakers" is on, the show about the Irish CGI farm animals. I don't want my kid exposed to that anymore than I want to be exposed to Fallon's disappointing script choices. He has the ability to do better, at least I'm pretty sure of it. I just don't think being funny is for him anymore. Let Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller keep doing their jobs uninterrupted.
One thing that may have helped the movie would have been if the sports fanatic was Drew Barrymore. Let the man be the one that's not interested, and let the woman go wild about her team. At least it would have broken some molds. Without changing anything, however, Fever Pitch should be filed in the "cute" folder. It's cute. Cute's fine, people got paid for their work, no one could be happier. But it's time to shut the filing cabinet drawer and never think about it ever again.
Despite Fever Pitch's short comings, some of the extras on the disc are actually decent. However, as you open the box covered with the airbrushed faces of Fallon and Barrymore, and before you even get to the main menu, you have to sit through the anti-piracy FBI warning video where they try to make a cool commercial about not downloading movies and music. What's funny here, is that if you have an illegal copy, I'm betting it doesn't have the warning on it. So…only the people that paid for the DVD are getting told to not steal a copy. Interesting. Next there's a montage of movies Twentieth Century Fox has done and wants you to be excited about. This too, you cannot press Menu to avoid.
When it comes to the real extras, the first problem is that you can hardly make out the baseball icon you're supposed to use as a cursor. But once you find it, there are some nice deleted scenes and a great gag reel. There are a couple of internet featurettes (meaning only about two minutes long), "Love Triangle" and "Breaking the Curse." The latter is where you learn that it was not in the script for the Red Sox to win the World Series in 2004. The fact that they finally won was perfect for the script and the cast were literally thrown into a van and driven to the playoff games. Fox Sports lent them one of their eighteen cameras for filming. The scenes with Fallon and Barrymore on the field with the victorious Red Sox are true and not staged at all. If anything, that is my favorite aspect of the movie and the filming process. This is followed up by the theatrical trailer and "Making a Scene: Fever Pitch" which is a good look at the characters and their story.
The strangest thing on the disc is the directors' commentary with Peter and Bobby Farrelly. They talk most of the time, but much of the discussion doesn't seem to stay focused on the movie. It's as though they are disinterested in the film themselves. They spend a majority of the air space talking about different authors, websites, actors, producers, etc. It's like they're rubbing shoulders with the big wigs and can't keep from going, "oh, yeah, they're great, yes they are." Almost every actor in the film is said to have a chance to be going far in the business, or that they're the next big thing. One girl in the film that is a background fill in with no lines is supposed to be a "rising star, that one, make sure to remember her name", which they then say about five times. Strange, I don't remember what it is now, but she'll be a hit I tell ya, a hit! About the most ludicrous thing is that the Farrelly brothers describe Fallon's performance as very Hanks-ian.
What? I know they didn't just compare Tom Hanks to Jimmy Fallon. That's it. Time to toss this disc aside and anxiously await the "brilliant" performance Fallon will obviously have in Castaway 3000.


text: |The wife appeared before the judge and said, "I want a divorce." The judge said, "Why do you want a divorce?" "Because my husband is a terrible lover." "How long have you been married?" "Fourteen years." "I don't understand," said the judge. "Why wait fourteen years to divorce your husband if he's a terrible lover?" She said, "Because, your honor, until that salesman stopped by last week, I didn't know!"


text:
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RM 48 only


text:
Ten things to watch for in the GOP debate - including Santorum's religion talk, Romney attacking and anyone sounding presidential
With just six days until voters in Arizona and Michigan head to the polls, the GOP race is tight between front runners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
A new NBC News/Marist poll shows the two are locked in a statistical tie in Michigan, with Romney at 37percent and Santorum 35percent. Meanwhile a different NBC/Marist survey shows Romney leading Arizona 43percent to Santorum's 27percent.
Just as every candidate will tell you that this is the most important election of your lifetime, pundits are apt to state that an impending debate is the one on which the whole presidential race will depend.
That's not quite the case tonight but there will nevertheless be a hell of a lot at stake during tonight's two-hour Republican gathering here in Mesa, Arizona - the 20th GOP debate of the 2012 campaign. Although there will be four candidates on the stage - around a table this time - the main contest will be the mano-a-mano one between Romney and Santorum.
Rick Santorum is tied in polls going into the Michigan primary - but will he be able to stop talking religion and keep his cool at the Arizona debate?
Santorum will have a big target painted on his back. This is the first debate in which he's the national poll leader. More significantly, the triple victor of Loopy Tuesday is in a statistical tie in Michigan, the state of Romney's birth and boyhood, and perhaps also in Arizona, which has a significant Mormon population.
1. Can Rick Santorum keep his cool?
Although Santorum has developed an affable, happy warrior style on the campaign trail in recent months, he has a reputation for being hard-edged and prickly. In Phoenix yesterday, he was visibly irritated by the focus on his 2008 Satan comments. Today, one of his aides complained that Romney's Mormon faith was not getting similar scrutiny. Will be be able to contain his frustration on the debate stage.
2. Can Santorum stop talking about religion?
In Phoenix yesterday, the sign behind Santorum said: 'The Courage to fight for American jobs'. But Santorum barely spoke about the economy, instead dwelling on the Constitution, American exceptionalism and President Barack Obama's attacks on faith. A laser focus on the economy is what voters are looking for - if Santorum allows himself to be pigeon-holed as 'the religious guy' he'll lose.
3. Can Newt Gingrich get back in the game?
Remember Newt Gingrich? He was the guy who won in South Carolina and declared that Santorum shpould drop out. After imploding under a barrage of attacks from Romney in Florida, Gingrich has had a disastrous few weeks and looks set to finish third or fourth in both contests next Tuesday. As he showed in South Carolina, Gingrich can perform superbly in debates and he needs to shine tonight. His main target may well be Santorum - which could play to Romney's advantage.
Mitt Romney has been struggling to gain cred with the Republican base. Look to him to try and gain traction there and possibly attack Santorum at the debate
4. How harshly will Romney attack Santorum?
At a rally in Chandler, Arizona today, Romney did not mention any of his opponents by name or even by implication, instead focussing on Obama and the economy. Is Romney's internal polling showing a margin of comfort in Michigan and Arizona? Or was he lulling Santorum into a false sense of security in advance of tonight? Team Romney has relentlessly portrayed Santorum as a career politician and Washington insider. Santorum has 16 years of votes in Congress to defend. Given the Romney oppo operation's previous skill in digging up material, it's highly likely there'll be some grenades thrown Santorum's way tonight.
5. Can Romney establish his conservative credentials?
Romney gave a good speech at CPAC but let himself down badly by blurting out that he had been a 'severely conservative' governor of Massacusetts. He probably meant to say 'staunchly' or 'seriously' and the gaffe fed the perception on the Right that he has learnt conservative values by rote and his convictions are skin deep. But Romney has begun to develop a fluent narrative about how his years in business led him on a journey that end in him being a conservative. That's better than his previous attempts to try to suggest that he has always been on the Right.
6. How tough will moderator John King be?
CNN host John King received some criticism in South Carolina for giving Newt Gingrich a golden opportunity to lambast the media without asking some tough follow-ups after Gingrich predictably hit the softball out of the park. An aggressive performance from King could cut off Gingrich's chances of getting back into the game - and also put Santorum on the spot.
Former frontrunner Newt Gingrich is just trying to back in the game
7. Can Santorum act like a man who thinks he can be President?
One of the odd things I've always found about Santorum's candidacy is that he seems constantly surprised that he's on the stage with presidential candidates, never mind that he has a chance of winning the nomination. For most of this race, he's been one of the figuers on the periphery of debates complaining that he's not getting asked enough questions. A key thing for him is to show he has the gravitas and self-confidence to be top dog.
8. Will Ron Paul come to Romney's aid against Santorum?
One of the most interesting storylines of this race is the personal friendship between Ron Paul and Romney - despite their chalk-and-cheese personalities and policies. Paul knows he cannot win the nomination but he is angling for a big speaking role at the Tampa convention, and is perhaps even laying the groundwork for a future presidential bid by his son Senator Rand Paul. A dream scenario for Romney would be for the harshest critique of Santorum's time in Washington to come from Paul - and the Texas congressman has shown in recent weeks that he is no fan of Santorum's.
And what will Ron Paul do? He may come to Romney's aid and lay groundwork for a starring role in Tampa
9. Can someone take on Barack Obama?
Obama aides are in danger of chuckling themselves to death at the moment over what's happening in the Republican race. They may well be guilty of complacency but there's no doubt that the improved economic numbers and the sense that the GOP will have a weak (and possibly exhausted and out-of-cash) nominee mean that Obama's prospects of re-election are currently looking rosier than they have done for at least six months. The winner of tonight's debate could be the one who is most plausible in atacking Obama - if it's just a slugfest.
10. Can any candidate sound like a potential commander-in-chief?
Foreign policy has barely got a look in during many of the GOP debates. But with Iran's progress towards a possible nuclear bomb looking ever more dangerous and Syria waging bloody war against its own people, what's happening in the wider world is suddenly much more to the fore. Democrats believe that foreign policy will be Obama's big strength, not least becasue of the killing of Osama bin Laden. They may well be wrong about that but in any event Republicans want a nominee who will be able to take Obama on. It's something Romney and Santorum, in particular, need to do, not least to overcome their relative lack relative lack of foreign policy experience.
To comment on this article, please visit Toby Harnden's blog
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- Four boys on bikes carry a huge sofa in an impressive feat
- Jeremy Corbyn reacts to death of police officer in Berkshire
- Millionaire causes outrage by slapping models' bums on private yacht
- Millionaire Italian playboy crossdresses while dancing with models
- Cops board Delta plane after a fight during an eight-hour delay
- Family feud leads to a barbaric street brawl in Aston, Birmingham
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Home › News and Events ›
Scouts Canada, the country's leading youth organization, offers challenging programs for boys, girls and youth age 5-26 in thousands of individual groups in most cities and towns across Canada.
The Canadian Path has launched and sections are forging their way ahead. Doing Seasonal Program Quality Assessments are a great way to find out what your youth love about the program, and what might need a little tweaking. If you aren't familiar with the Program Quality Standards, more information on how they work can be found here: (http://www.scouts.ca/canadianpath/download/pqs/program-quality-standards...) Still have Questions? Take a look at the FAQ: (http://www.scoutinglife.ca/wp-content/uploads/all/pqs-faq.pdf)
All sections who complete and enter a PQS review will be entered into a draw for a $50 voucher that can be used towards a section program activity of the youth's choice, whether that be an outdoor adventure, renting sailboats, book a swimming pool, buy an abundance of hot chocolate or having a silly hat pizza party. If you haven't done a seasonal review yet, it is not too late to complete a Fall assessment! Take a few minutes at your next section meeting to review the fall program with your youth, and then make sure their responses get entered into MyScouts. When you do a second review for the Winter season before the deadline, your section will receive a second entry. Groups that have all of their sections complete two PQS's will also get a third, bonus entry for each of their sections.
Contest open to all sections in Manitoba Council who have completed at least one PQS with their youth and entered the results in MyScouts by the deadline. Sections who have already completed a PQS, great job! You will automatically be entered. Contest closes 11:59pm April 15, 2017.
If you want help doing the review with your youth, or have trouble entering the results into your Group's profile, let your Area Support Manager know and we would be glad to arrange for someone on the Council Service Team to come out and give you a hand.


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In software development we talk a lot about the cost of change. Cost of change is also a hot topic at the moment - how expensive will it be to reduce our carbon emissions? What will the impact on the economy be? So I was interested to read this in The Undercover Economist:
"Ask the polluters and they will tell you that reducing their pollution is like stopping breathing - it would be very expensive to stop, so somebody else should make the changes. But it's not really hard to find out the truth. Regulators can find out how much it costs to reduce pollution by telling people to either change their ways or pay a charge. Watch which decision they make. Judge them by their actions.
The EPA tried this in the case of sulfur emissions. They set up an auction for the right to emit sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain. Polluters were given a quota of emission permits and could either buy more permits in the auction or reduce their emission by shutting down, installing sulfur scrubbers, or buying cleaner coal. When the EPA simply tried to tell them to install sulfur scrubbers, the power generators argued that it would be very expensive to do so, and they lobbied hard to stop the mandatory regulation. Even the EPA estimated that the cost of reducing sulfur dioxide emissions by one ton would probably be in the range $250 to $750 and might be as high as $1,500. But when the EPA conducted the auction in 1993, very few polluters made high bids. The companies had been exaggerating their costs. By 1996 permit prices had fallen to $70 a ton, and even at that price many polluters were buying cleaner coal or installing scrubbers rather than buying permits to continue polluting.
The regulators discovered that getting rid of sulfur dioxide was so cheap that few people were willing to pay for the right to keep producing it. ... The clever thing about the auction was not that the sulfur emissions were reduced - that could have been required by law - but that legislators all over the world found out how much sulfur scrubbers really cost. It created a basis for further legislation: not making rules in the dark, but in full knowledge of the (modest) cost."
So how would this work in software? Instead of telling people to reduce their cyclomatic complexity, I'll sell my teams some CC permits and see who bids for them and how much they pay. Same thing for test coverage. How about LOC as well? Ok, at some point we need to conscious of the Law of Unintended Consequence, but I like this idea a lot.


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Circle of Care in Philadelphia inaugurated an annual Arbor Day celebration in 1990, planting a tree each year in honor of a child with HIV/AIDS who had received services from the agency and died during the previous year. "It's a beautiful grove," said Circle of Care's Alicia Beatty, who noted that celebrations continued for 10 years until the first year the agency did not lose a child.1
Part D of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has played a key role in the development and provision of the health care and support services at Circle of Care and dozens of other agencies and institutions that focus on women, infants, children, and youth living with and affected by HIV. Like most other components of the program, Part D has its roots in an initiative that predated passage of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act.
Origins of Part D
"Greatly concerned with the increase in the number of pediatric AIDS cases,"2 Congress first acted to address pediatric cases in 1987 by providing $5 million for the Pediatric AIDS Demonstration Projects in the FY 1988 budget. At the end of 1987, 737 pediatric AIDS cases had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up from 410 cases at the end of 1986.3
It was also a time of stigma and discrimination faced by children and families. Beatty recalls that one of the first HIV-infected babies buried in Philadelphia was buried in a Styrofoam cooler because none of the local funeral directors wanted to take the body. A primary architect of the demonstration program was Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), who played a role in drafting the guiding legislative language.4
Addressing Unique Needs of Women and Families
The goal of the demonstration project, which originally supported 13 programs, was to develop care and treatment models for children with AIDS and HIV-infected pregnant women and their families as well as to enhance the participation of women and children in HIV-related clinical trials.5
The program was housed at HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau. From the outset, it was designed to address the unique needs of women living with HIV/AIDS and their children and families. Parents living with HIV must manage their own care while caring for their children. Coordinating child care, transportation, and medical and social service appointments can present major challenges, especially for single parents or if a child or partner is also infected. Children living with HIV/AIDS also face a range of special issues, including delayed growth and development, mental health needs, and the unique side effects of HIV medications on children, among others.5
Speaking of her experiences in the program's early days at Children's Hospital in New Orleans, Beth Scalco says, "When I started working in the pediatric AIDS program, we did not have AZT [zidovudvine], and we were seeing 25 percent of women with HIV passing the virus to their children. We were seeing really sick children and children who died very quickly. A lot of our work was also trying to keep a child in a family, trying to help moms who were sick to have the support they needed to care for their kids, trying to place kids in foster care and with other relatives."6
Pioneering Work of Elizabeth Glaser
The inclusion of the demonstration project in the Ryan White CARE Act in 1990 was largely the result of the efforts of Elizabeth Glaser, founder of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.7 Glaser was a vocal advocate for investments in research on therapies to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to treat infected children. At the time, Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) was leading efforts to pass the CARE Act in the House of Representatives. At the suggestion of Waxman's staff members, Glaser enlisted Representative Norman Lent (R-NY), a key Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, to build stronger bipartisan support for the bill. Lent became an advocate for the bill and took the lead on pediatric provisions during the House debate.8


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A steady rain fell on the morning of October 13th, 1917, onto a freshly plowed field that had become a muddy mess. Clouds covered the sky.
It was a dreary fall day outside of the village of Fatima, Portugal. Still, a crowd of more than 70,000 people had gathered, because three children had told them that the Blessed Mother would appear.
She had been appearing since the spring, six times in all, and over the summer the crowds had become larger. When she appeared in September, she said that a miracle would occur when she next came, "so that all may see and believe."
The crowds had come to see the miracle. They trudged over the muddy field, and stood waiting. At mid-day, the Blessed Mother appeared to the crowd. She asked them to pray the rosary. She asked people to repent of their sins and amend their lives. Then she appeared in the presence of St. Joseph and the child Jesus.
Finally, the rain stopped. The clouds broke. And the sun began to spin, flicker, and shoot rays of brilliant color across the sky. One pilgrim said that the "sun began to dance."
A newspaper reported that "the sun trembled, the sun made unusual and brusque movements, defying all the laws of the cosmos, and according to the typical expression of the peasants, 'the sun danced'."
Nearly a century later, Pope St. John Paul II said that the most important message of Fatima is that we should pray to the Blessed Mother to defeat the evil of this world. "Pray, pray and ask for nothing else," he said. "Put everything in the hands of the Mother of God."
The Blessed Mother gave specific messages to the children at Fatima, among them the importance of consecrating Russia to her Immaculate Heart. But her most profound and important message for all of us, at all times, is that her intercession can help us to overcome the power of evil, by God's grace.
Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, who died last month, received a letter in 1981 from Sister Lucia, one of the children of Fatima. This letter predicted that "the final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about marriage and the family." Today, when families face such profound challenges, we must entrust our family lives to the Blessed Mother, and trust in the power of the Lord's grace. That is the powerful message of Our Lady of Fatima.
In 1982, Pope St. John Paul II consecrated the entire modern world to Our Lady of Fatima. And he urged all people to entrust their lives to her intercession. We go to Jesus through Mary because she is his mother, and her prayers are especially powerful. We need her prayers for the world, and we need her prayers for families.
May Our Lady of Fatima intercede for all of us. And may we repent of our sins, pray for the defeat of every kind of evil, and entrust ourselves, and our families, to the powerful prayers of the Mother of God, who made the sun dance across the sky.


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WEST PALM BEACH (AP) - Deputies say two people were injured in a shooting on the grounds of the South Florida Fair.
Palm Beach Sheriff's officials say the shooting occurred around late Saturday night near Gate 2 of the fair. The victims were not believed to have life threatening injuries. They were both taken to hospitals.
The Palm Beach Post reports deputies locked down the fairgrounds until around 1 a.m. when patrons were allowed to leave.
Authorities are still searching for the suspect.


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Nigerian Building Professionals' Ethical Ideology and Perceived Ethical Judgement
In recent years, Nigeria is often cited in the international media in connection with corruption and other unethical practices. The professionals in the Nigerian building industry are not immune from the national trend in ethical erosion. Moral philosophy or ethical ideology has been used to explain individuals' reasoning about moral issues and consequent behaviour. This study examines building industry professionals' ethical ideologies with a view to understanding their ethical behaviour in professional practice. In carrying out this investigation, building professionals in clients' organisations, contracting and consultancy organisations within the industry were asked to respond to the Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ) designed by Forsyth in order to determine their idealism and relativism level. Subsequently, they were classified into one of four groups, representing different ethical ideologies. The result indicates that the dominant ethical ideology of building industry professionals is situationism. The study predicts that the attitude of building industry professionals in practice, given the current socio-political and economic situation of Nigeria would possibly be unethical because of the extreme influence situational factors have on their behaviour. This finding is a bold step and necessary benchmark for resolving ethical issues within the industry and should be of interest to policy makers. It is also useful for intra professional ethical comparison.
Full Text:PDF
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.v10i3.1602
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CU Chargers basketball players braved a very cold October morning to lend a hand to the Legs for Literacy event held in Moncton, NB. Both Men's and Women's teams were on hand to guide traffic and cheer on runners as they ran the 10km part of the marathon. Crandall Athletics has developed an internal mandate of giving back to the community through acts of service and this is on of the ways they are doing that.
"Our bike patrol, bike captain, and bike leads commented how IMPRESSED they were with the team, and how well organized and ready they all were" said volunteer coordinator Lisa MacDonald. "Even our runners on the 10k route thought they did a fantastic job!"
The Chargers open up the regular basketball season on November 11 at home this year vs The Mystics from Mount Saint Vincent University. Game times are 1 and 3pm.


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Come Play!
Birthday Party Rooms
All of our party rooms are on the second floor of the Museum and are accessible by elevator or stairs. Each room comfortably fits 20 children around the two tables and 25 adults around the perimeter of the room.
Party Room One
Party Room Two
Party Room Three


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[Photos taken by Maria Cameron]
I never really know how to describe my style - I tend to dabble in lots of different styles and usually chop and change my looks dependent on how I feel, or what I've seen. However, I do have a big love for grunge fashion styles, and a lot of what I save when browsing through instagram/tumblr/pinterest is images of this style. I also, love preppy looks, and have an obsession with collared shirts and blouses, and have been wearing them a lot more recently, so for this outfit I decided to take both of those influences and mash them together creating a preppy grunge look.
I think this outfit looks really cool and comfy, and I can imagine wearing this to a band's gig, or to an Autumn garden party. I think this outfit would look super cool with a pair of creepers, and would only add to the grungy vibe. In fact, I desperately want to get myself a pair of black creepers, not only to wear with this outfit, but to add a indie/gothic feel to some of my other A/W outfits- let me know if you know a good place to buy them from?! With or without the creepers though, I'm in love with his outfit, and have been wearing it a hell of a lot!
Do you like grunge fashion style? Or do you identify with another style genre?


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Miami Beach
Miami Beach theater 'proudly represents artists from sh!thole countries,' marquee says
It didn't take long for the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach to piggy-back off President Donald Trump's "shithole countries" comment.
On Friday, less than 24 hours later, the theater propped up a greeting for the whole community to see:
"Colony Theatre proudly represents artists from sh!thole countries," the marquee exclaims in big, black, bold letters.
The statement is displayed at a time "that feels more important and urgent than ever," said the theater's artistic director, Michel Hausmann.
"Because we are keenly aware about everything that's going on around us, the moment we heard the president's quote, we knew we needed to bring it out into the conversation," Hausmann told the Miami Herald Friday. "We are committed to having immediate conversations about what's happening in our city and in our country."
On the entrance doors, the advertisement for the theater's upcoming play "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" appropriately complements the new signage, Hausmann added.
Promoting the show are four characters of different ethnicities. Splashed next to them are the words "thug, terrorist, illegal and CEO."
"The play was written 12 years ago, but if you read it today, it's eerie. It's as if it was exactly written for the Trump era," Hausmann said. "It's so relevant and only ahead of our current events."
The theater describes the play as a "body-slamming satire about race, stereotypes, and the battle for the American soul. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity turns the fight for success in the world of pro-wrestling into a rollicking parable of political manipulation."
The show runs from Jan. 25 through Feb. 18.
On Thursday, Trump wasn't shy in expressing his frustration with lawmakers when they dabbled with the idea of restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a possible bipartisan deal.
"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" Trump said during the immigration meeting in the Oval Office, according to the Washington Post, The New York Times and the Associated Press.
The possible bipartisan deal would aim to bring back protections for countries that have been removed from the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program by cutting the visa lottery program in half and giving first dibs to countries already in the system.
It's not the first time the Colony Theatre has jumped into political dialogues.
The venue was quick to post sassy signage when Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. The venue also posted a new greeting after violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacist groups and counter protesters.
And when sea-level rise became a national topic, the theater also chimed in with a marquee that read "We'd rather be a theatre above water."
"What can I say, artists are dangerous people," Hausmann said.
Monique O. Madan: 305-376-2108, @MoniqueOMadan