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Frank Caliendo chuckled at the thought of picking his favorite impersonation to perform.
"You mean, pick one of my children?" the 40-year-old comedian asked.
His reluctance to decide may come from fondness, but it's definitely not from a lack of choices. Caliendo's famed repertoire of impressions extends from former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, to NFL football television analysts John Madden, Chris Berman and Jon Gruden, to actors Morgan Freeman, Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson.
Article Photos
He's even been experimenting with characters from the film "Avengers," including actor Chris Hemsworth's Thor calling out the name of the movie's villain.
"That's what's wrong (with fans)," Caliendo said, with mock disgruntlement. "I work so hard to figure these all out, but then all I have to say is (shifting to match Hemsworth's voice) 'Loki!'"
Caliendo will bring all of his impressions to the Eisenhower Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus for a comedy show on March 16. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Fact Box
What: Frank Caliendo
Where: Eisenhower Auditorium on Penn State campus
When: 7:30 p.m. March 16
Caliendo began honing his impersonations at a young age.
"As a kid, I did little bits of them," he said, "but I am pretty obsessive-compulsive, so I kept doing more and more."
When he went to college, he initially majored in broadcast journalism, but decided that he "didn't want to work for real." He then tried a comedy improv class.
"They said, 'You'd be great at stand-up,'" Caliendo remembered, "to which I answered, 'Which means I suck at this?'"
He hit the college stand-up circuit at age 22, and his first bit that really resonated was his impression of John Madden.
"So I was pigeon-holed right away," he said.
After "a year or two," he moved to Los Angeles, where he landed on the Fox sketch comedy show "MADtv."
He also appeared as a frequent guest of comedian Jimmy Kimmel during bits on "Fox NFL Sunday" telecasts. After Kimmel began his late-night talk show on ABC, Caliendo took over on the football broadcasts.
After nine years on Fox, Caliendo recently moved his comedy takes to ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown."
"On Fox, it was hard to figure out what to do," Caliendo said. "ESPN is totally different. Fox was 'bring a celebrity into a football situation.' ESPN is 'do something about ESPN,' though every once in awhile, I'll jump back into the 'bring a celebrity into a situation' because I don't know what to do.
"ESPN always wants me to do more, but I like doing them here and there. I would like to a do fake documentary before every Super Bowl and do a draft bit, but when you get into the middle of the season, you start thinking, 'OK, what jokes haven't I done? Who's in jail right now?' "
Caliendo counts Robin Williams among his comedic influences, and the impressionist brings a similar, high-kinetic style to his performances, said Matthew Bolich, advertising director of the Lewistown Sentinel. The Sentinel is presenting Caliendo's performance.
"He is zany," Bolich said. "He shifts gears quickly from one impression to another. You have to be on your toes. He does some comedic bits, but the impressions are his strong suit. He goes a mile a minute, and you have to keep up."
Caliendo, who also counts Jonathan Winters as an inspiration, loves to keep things moving during his stand-up routine.
"I like the old-school impersonators," but what they did was too slow-paced, Caliendo said. "[Their routines would be] this is this person, and this is what he would do in this situation.
"I like the speed, I like comedians doing things with lots of energy. It seemed more fun to me, so I went that route."
Bolich expects that Caliendo's show will thoroughly entertain anyone who attends.
"With Frank Caliendo, he appeals to a broad range of people, especially anyone who likes sports," Bolich said. "From his appearances on the 'NFL on Fox' to ESPN now, he does so many amazing sports impressions. Anyone who is a big sports fan (will love this show), as well as anyone who loves impressions."
Mirror staff writer Cory Dobrowolsky can be reached at 814-946-7428.


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The concert is sponsored by the Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary Club, with proceeds benefiting the Victory House of the Lehigh Valley veterans program and the club's other charitable activities.
Katherine Christopher, born and raised in Bethlehem, began her arts career at Pennsylvania Youth Theatre. She received a 2003 Freddy Award nomination in the category of best supporting actress for her role as Anita in Freedom High School's production of "West Side Story." A graduate of Bucknell University and Manhattan School of Music, she has performed with the New York Grand Opera Company and also in Italy.
For further info: morningstarrotary.org
The Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, with music director Allan Birney, presents a "Kaleidoscopic Sounds" program with piano soloist Dudana Mazmanishvili on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, 3231 W. Tilghman St., Allentown. Mazmanishvili will perform "Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22" by Camille Saint-Saens. Also performing will be the Camerata Singers and soprano Kathryn Aaron, vocal soloist, with "Miserere in C Minor." Selections will include music by Wolfgang A. Mozart and Czech Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka.
Mazmanishvili performs widely in Europe and her native Georgia, as well as in the United States. She has performed several times as a recitalist for Music at Wesley, a concert series produced by Birney.
For further info: PASinfonia.org
The legacy of Harry Chapin's music is alive and well, as brother Steve Chapin and his band pay tribute in a performance on Saturday at 8 p.m., at the Sellersville Theatre, Sellersville. Steve Chapin is joined by Chapin band alumni Big John Wallace (bass guitar/pyrotechnic vocals) and Howard Fields (drums), as they perform recreations of Harry Chapin's most well-loved songs as well as Steve Chapin's own tunes. Casual, onstage conversation will reveal memories of personal experiences each had on the road and in the studio with Harry Chapin. Big John's son, Clark Wallace, and Steve's son, Jonathan Chapin, join in with such songs as "Cat's in the Cradle," "Taxi," "Mr. Tanner," "Better Place to Be," and "W.O.L.D."
New York folk singer-songwriter Harry Foster Chapin was killed in a car crash in 1981. He was committed in the fight to end world hunger. His 1975 Broadway musical revue, "The Night That Made America Famous," featured songs he wrote for the musical as well as those from his previous albums.
For further info: st94.com

subset: commoncrawl


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The 7 People Who Turn Every Parking Lot into a War Zone
#3. The Cart Bearer
This is the person who returns to their vehicle with a cart full of purchases, loads those purchases into their car and then leaves the cart sitting right the fuck in the middle of a perfectly good parking space.
Why They Must Be Stopped
You probably think I'm going to say this needs to be stopped because they're robbing hardworking men and women of valuable hassle-free parking spaces. And you're right, I'm totally saying that. But there's something else. Have you ever stopped to take a look at the person who gets tasked with rounding up stray carts in the parking lot? Even more importantly, have you ever talked to them? If you had, you would know that, nine out of 10 times, it's the "developmentally challenged" person who gets tasked with that horseshit job. And don't howl, you know every grocery or department store employs at least one. It's the law, probably. So leaving your cart in a parking spot instead of moving it to the cart corral (maybe that's what it's called) amounts to abuse of the handicapped. Why would you do that, you monster? Also, move your shit so the rest of us can park.
What You Should Do About It
Usually, by the time you realize that this particular transgression has occurred, there isn't much at all you can do other than move the cart and take your parking spot. That's what makes their crime so heinous. They vanish into the night before anyone has a chance to hand them the swift justice they deserve. Even if you do see it happening, the hooligan will already be in their car and backing out of the parking space by the time you can act. And understand, if they're already exhibiting the kind of blatant disregard for their fellow man that this display of parking lot dickery requires, they will have no qualms about just backing over you if you decide to play the hero and jump behind their car in an attempt to block them in and lecture them on their bullshit. Unless you can somehow fit that cart into your trunk fast enough to follow that person home, at which point you chuck said cart through their living room window, it's best to just take the loss here.
#2. The Parking Spot Stalker
The Parking Spot Stalker is a driver who, upon seeing you walking toward your car in a crowded parking lot, follows behind you at a super-creepy speed of about 1.4 mph in an effort to get your soon-to-be-vacant parking spot before anyone else.
Why They Must Be Stopped
While I understand the logic employed by the Parking Spot Stalker, there is an unsettling gray area when it comes to their actions. If you're a woman being followed by a slow-moving vehicle, it usually means you're about to bolster your city's sexual assault statistics. If you're a dude, you're probably just more concerned about garden variety armed robbery. Either way, there are really no good options there. So, to the Parking Spot Stalker's credit, at least they're not out raping and robbing innocent shoppers. Way to be, assholes!
What You Should Do About It
The key to thwarting a parking lot stalker is misdirection. Instead of getting angry, have some fun with the situation and see how long you can get them to follow you. When you reach your car, just keep on walking. Maybe go to the end of one lane, cross over into another and start walking in the opposite direction. See how many laps you can take with them hot on your heels. If you hear them start to accelerate like they're giving up, immediately head for the driver's side door of the nearest vehicle. When they slam on their brakes, start walking again. Repeat this process until they finally drive away in frustration or settle for a lesser parking spot. If you're in especially good shape, maybe consider chasing them for good measure when they finally pull off. What could it hurt?
#1. The Parking Spot Rusher
A close relative of the Parking Spot Stalker, the Parking Spot Rusher will creep their way around a jam-packed parking lot looking for people who appear to be getting into or have just gotten into their vehicle. When they find one, they wait for that person to start their car and pull out so they can overtake the newly vacant parking spot.
Why They Must Be Stopped
Listen, bitch, nobody cares about your need to find a suitable parking spot when they're trying to strap an unruly kid in and load two weeks' worth of groceries into the trunk of a car. That entire process is stressful enough without you lurking in the background like Ted Bundy staking out a sorority house.
What You Should Do About It
If someone is sitting in their running vehicle impatiently waiting for you to leave, by no means should you make it a stress-free wait for them. In fact, go out of your way to make it appear as if there is no good reason for you to still be in that parking spot. Don't adjust your mirrors, don't fish around on the floor for that Spin Doctors CD you should be ashamed to own but aren't ... basically, don't do anything. Just sit there like an asshole, just like the person hoping to get your parking spot is doing. If for some reason your assailant is brave enough to walk up to your car and ask if you're leaving soon, tell them you're waiting on someone. When they walk back to their car to leave, wait until they get just far enough to not be blocking you in and then back out of the parking spot. They'll see you in the rearview mirror and want to kill you, of course, but they'll be far too focused on getting back to that parking spot before someone else can take it from them to actually act on that anger. So then you wait, idling at such an angle so as to block anyone else from pulling in without some assistance from you. If another more reasonable driver shows up, yield the parking space to them. If the Parking Spot Rusher makes it back around, though, pull back in to that spot and take a fucking nap if you have to. Whatever it takes, don't give this person your parking spot. Is it an even more petty response to an already petty situation? Yes, it is. Everything I've proposed in this column is petty. But admit it, after reading this, you won't be able to live with yourself if you don't at least try some of this stuff out the next time you're assaulted with douchebaggery in a parking lot.
Adam hosts a podcast called Unpopular Opinion that you should check out right here. Be his friend on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.
Check out more from Adam in 7 Obnoxious Assholes Who Show Up At Every Concert and 6 Places You Should Never Twitter From.


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Girl petitions Philadelphia archdiocese to play football
DOYLESTOWN -- She ended last season by sacking the quarterback. Now an 11-year-old girl is trying to persuade the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that she should be allowed to continue her All-Star tackle football career.
Caroline Pla played in a Bucks County CYO league for all of 2011 and through the first two games of 2012 before an opposing team reported her. The archdiocese wanted her off the field immediately, but relented and allowed her to finish out the season.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Pla wants to continue playing next year. Her mom has started a petition to get the archdiocese to change its boys-only rule. The petition, at change.org, had drawn nearly 7,300 supporters through Sunday afternoon.
An archdiocesan spokesman says the policy is under review.
-- Associated Press


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Top Definition
Ingenuity, creativity, to create/do/make with less than the amount of or lack of needed components to complete a task/project/recipe.
Der wud not any milk,eggs,or buttah fo' the boxed mac n' cheese so Pless Made DO and hooked it up wif some mayonnaise and sprite. WE MAKE DO!!
von Jesus Scoot 7. März 2007
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something one resorts to as a temporary convenience; makeshift.
He prepared a bed of straw as a makedo for his guests to kip down.
von uttam maharjan 3. November 2011


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Service Templates and SCVMM 2012 Demo
- Posted: Apr 25, 2012 at 3:55PM
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Rick sits down to chat with Stephen Baron, Sr. Program Manager - to talk about all things Service Templates in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012.
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The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the Institute's governing body. The Board formulates principles and policies to govern the Institute's activities and operations; approves the work programme; adopts the budget; reviews the structure and composition of staffing and performs other statutory functions, including considering the methods of financing the Institute with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of its future operations, their continuity and the Institute's autonomous character within the framework of the United Nations.
The Board is composed of a small, yet highly diverse group of distinguished trustees who are appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General in consultation with the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council. Trustees are eligible for a maximum of two consecutive, three-year terms.
Current Members
Chibuike Amaechi
Alexey Borodavkin
Sarah Cook
Alexandre Fasel
Thomas Fitschen
Wu Hailong
Kathleen Cravero-Kristoffersson
Marta Mauras Perez
Vijay Kunhianandan Nambiar
Per Örnéus
Yukie Osa
Alfonso Quiñónez
Carsten Staur
Chibuike Amaechi
Mr. Amaechi is Minister of Transportation of the Republic of Nigeria under the Muhammadu Buhari administration. He has been an active politician in Nigeria for more than three decades, serving as Governor of the Rivers State (2007-2014) and holding a number of government positions in different offices, including the Nigeria National Congress, where he was State Secretary for Administrative Affairs, and the Democratic Party of Nigeria, where he was State Secretary of the Supreme Committee of the Party. He was also the pioneer Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria for two terms. As Governor of the Rivers State, Mr. Amaechi worked to reduce poverty by a significant percentage, almost doubled social spending and with special focus on health and education, and increased public investment in capacity building for young scholars.
Alexey Borodavkin
Ambassador Alexey Borodavkin is Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, and Permanent Representative to the Conference of Disarmament. Ambassador Borodavkin has a long-standing diplomatic career in the Russian Foreign Service. Prior to his present assignment which he has occupied since December 2011, Ambassador Borodavkin served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and was responsible for relations with Asian countries and multilateral cooperation in Asia and the Pacific from 2008 to 2011. Previous assignments include Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (2008-2011); Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Slovak Republic (2002-2004); Director, Fourth CIS Department (1998-1999); and Minister-Counselor, Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Thailand (1993-1997). Ambassador Borodavkin holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He is married with three sons.
Alexandre Fasel
Ambassador Alexandre Fasel is Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and to the other international organizations in Geneva. Prior to this posting, he served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and to the other international organizations in Geneva, Special Representative of Switzerland to the Human Rights Council, as well as Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament. From July 2007 to August 2011, he was Assistant State Secretary for United Nations and other International Organizations in the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. He also headed the Center for Analysis and Forward Studies in the Swiss Foreign Ministry (2004-2007). Earlier postings in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs include Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in Australia and Personal Adviser to Minister of Foreign Affairs Flavio Cotti.
Sarah Cook
Sarah Cook is Director of UNICEF's Office of Research, Innocenti. Prior to taking up this assignment in June 2015, Ms Cook was Director of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) since 2009. She was previously a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex, and has also worked for the Ford Foundation in China. Sarah received her PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University and an M.Sc. in Social Policy in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics. Her research has focused in particular on China's social and economic transformations, including work on labour markets and employment, gender, poverty and inequality and social welfare reforms. Recent projects have included a long term study on social protection in Asia, research on migration and health in China and work on the implications of China's rise for international development. Current interests include new directions in social policy being taken by emerging and developing countries in the context of financial, social and environmental crisis.
Taous Feroukhi (Chair)
Ambassador Taous Feroukhi is presently Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. Prior to this posting, she was Director General of International Political and Security Affairs (2012/2015) and Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of Algeria to Austria and also to the United Nations Office at Vienna (2001-2011). During this period, she served a number of functions, including Chair of the Vienna Chapter of the African Group, Chair of the Vienna Chapter of the Group of 77, and Chair of the Council of Governors. Ambassador Feroukhi has also undertaken a number of other assignments during her distinguished diplomatic career. She has the Grand Gold Decoration for services rendered to the Republic of Austria. Since 2010, she serves on the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Institute.
Thomas Fitschen (Vice Chair)
Ambassador Thomas Fitschen is presently Director of United Nations, International Cyber Policy and Counter-terrorism of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to taking up this assignment in 2015, Ambassador Fitschen was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Office of the United Nations and the other International Organizations in Geneva. In previous postings, he served as Head of the General Assembly Affairs Division and Deputy Head of the Ministry's Task Force Rule of Law Promotion from 2008-2011. He has had a number of other assignments, including assignments in New York at the German Permanent Mission (2005-2008), and in Berlin as Deputy Head of the Task Force Global Issues (2001-2005) and desk officer at the Division for International Cooperation against Organized Crime and Terrorism (1991-2001). Dr. Fitschen is a member of the German Society of International Law, the European Society of International Law and the German United Nations Association, and he publishes regularly on international law and the United Nations.
Wu Hailong
Ambassador Wu Hailong is Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland. Prior to this appointment in 2014, Ambassador Wu served as Head of Mission to the European Union from 2011 to 2014, and from 2009 to 2011 as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Wu served in a number of capacities, including Director-General, Department of International Organizations and Conferences from 2006 to 2009; Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Agency (2004 to 2006). Ambassador Wu is married and has one daughter.
Kathleen Cravero-Kristoffersson
Kathleen Cravero-Kristoffersson is President of Oak Foundation, where she provides leadership and guidance in each of the six substantive programmes of the Foundation, including the environment, child abuse, housing & homelessness, international human rights, issues affecting women and learning differences. Prior to joining Oak Foundation in 2009, Ms. Cravero worked for over two decades on a range of international development issues, from newly emerging democracies to conflict and emergency situations. Ms. Cravero worked in various posts of increasing responsibility with UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNDP and WHO. Her two last assignments with the United Nations included Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery with the United Nations Development Programme (Feb 2005 – Jan 2009) and Deputy Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (from March 2000 to March 2005).
Earlier in her career, Ms Cravero served as UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Burundi (1998-2000); UNICEF Representative in Uganda (1994-1998); External Relations Officer of the World Health Organization Global Programme on AIDS (1992-1994); UNICEF Senior Health Advisor (1988-1992); and UNICEF Programme Coordinator in Chad (1985-1988).
Ms Cravero holds a Ph.D. in Political Science (Fordham University), and a Masters in Public Health (Columbia University).
Marta Maurás Perez
Ambassador Marta Maurás Perez is Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations, other International Organizations and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. She is a sociologist, international expert, consultant and speaker on child rights, gender equality, human rights, social policy and international relations.
During most of her professional career, Ms. Maurás Perez has been associated to the United Nations system. Since 1974, she has served in various senior technical and managerial capacities with UNICEF, the UN and ECLAC in the field and in regional offices in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and at Headquarters in New York. In 2008 she was elected member of the United Nations Committee on Child Rights where she served as Vice-president until 2012, leading, among others, the preparation of General Comment #16 on State Obligations regarding the Impact of Business on Child Rights, and the 2012 Day of General Discussion on International Migrations and Children.
She is a member of several international and national NGOs and academic institutions, notably, the Centro de Estudios y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Valencia, Spain, Director of the Board of Latinobarometro, the opinion poll on democracy in the Latin American and Caribbean region
Vijay Kunhianandan Nambiar
Mr. Vijay Nambiar is the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Myanmar, a role he has held since 2010. He served as Chef de Cabinet to the Secretary-General at the rank of Under-Secretary-General from 2007-2012. Earlier in 2006, Mr. Nambiar served as Special Adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Nambiar served as Deputy National Security Adviser to the Government of India and Head of the National Security Council Secretariat. He was India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (May 2002-June 2004). Earlier he served as Ambassador of India, in Pakistan (2000-2001), China (1996-2000), Malaysia (1993-1996), and Afghanistan (1990-1992). He was also earlier Ambassador of India in Algeria (1985-1988).
Mr. Nambiar joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1967 and spent his early years specializing in the Chinese language. In the course of his professional career in the Indian Foreign Service, he served in numerous bilateral and multilateral appointments during the 1970s and 1980s in Hong Kong, Beijing, Belgrade and New York. Mr. Nambiar has a post graduate degree from Bombay University where he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal in 1965. He is married and has two daughters and a grandson.
Per Örnéus
Ambassador Per Örnéus is Deputy Director-General and Head of the Department for Multilateral Development Cooperation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden. The Department coordinates the Government's participation in the process to develop the new 2030 global development agenda. Mr. Örnéus represents Sweden as Chair of Advisory Commission of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. He is also Alternate Governor for Sweden to the African, Asian and Inter-American Development Banks.
Before assuming his current position in 2010, Mr. Örnéus spent two years as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations. From 2003 to 2008 he was the Head of Section for Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Issues at the Department for Security Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 2004-2005 he chaired the OCHA Donor Support Group, and in 2006-2007 the ICRC Donor Support Group. Prior to this held the position of Deputy at the Embassy of Sweden to Latvia.
Besides various missions with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Örnéus has worked as an Aid Coordinator with the Swedish International Development Agency, and also as a Management Consultant for Swedish Management Group and the Swedish Employer's Federation. Mr. Per Örnéus was born in Stockholm in 1962, is married, and has two daughters.
Yukie Osa
Professor Osa is with the Graduate School of Social Design Studies of the Department of Sociology at Rikkyo University and President of the Association for Aid and Relief (AAR), Japan. She is also a member of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO and a Member of the Advisory Group of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). She is well known in development circles inside and outside of Japan, and has worked in AAR's emergency assistance operations and programmes in a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Former Yugoslavia and Mozambique, and represented AAR on the Coordination Committee of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Professor Osa has lectured at various other academic institutions, including the University of Tokyo, Waseda University and Aoyama Gakuin University. She is the author of a number of publications.
Alfonso Quiñónez
Ambassador Alfonso Quiñónez is Professor at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin de Guatemala. Prior to taking up this position in 2015, Ambassador Quiñónez served for 13 years in the the Organization of American States, most recently the Secretary for External Relations. Previously at OAS, Ambassador Quiñónez served as Executive Secretary for Integral Development and Director General of the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development (ICAD). Prior to joining OAS in 2001, Ambassador Quiñónez served as Executive Director of the Alvaro Arzù Foundation for Peace in Guatemala and as advisor to the Mayor of Guatemala City. As a diplomat in the Guatemalan Foreign Service, he served as Ambassador for ten years and held postings in Spain and the United States. From 1998-2000, he served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the Organization of American States.
Carsten Staur
Ambassador Carsten Staur is Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations in Geneva since 2013. Before that he served as his country's ambassador to the UN in New York from 2007-13 and as State Secretary for International Development from 2001-2007. He joined the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981, and has also been Director of Development Policy, Ambassador to Israel and Under-Secretary for Administration. In 2013 he published "Shared Responsibility: The United Nations in the Age of Globalization" (McGill-Queen's University Press). He is married and has two children.
Ex Officio members
United Nations Secretary-General
President of the General Assembly
President of the Economic and Social Council
Executive Director, United Nations Institute for Training and Research
Secretary of the Board
Brook Boyer
United Nations Institute for Training and Research
Palais des Nations
CH 1211 Geneva 10
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee reviews the programme budget, financial statements, resource mobilization strategies and related documents, and provides recommendations to the Board for decisions. The present Chair of the Finance Committee is Mr. Alfonso Quiñónez.


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NASCAR recently wrapped up its postseason party, taking the celebration to Las Vegas and all the lights, crowds and mayhem that Sin City has to offer.
Much like an inauguration or a coronation, the Champion's Week festivities include a variety of sponsor events, award dinners, concerts, interviews and fan opportunities, culminated by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Gala.
In the center of the spotlight was new Sprint Cup Champion, Brad Keselowski. The 28-year old, in just his third Sprint Cup season, did something that no Penske driver had been able to do: capture the top title for one of racing's most storied programs.
Along the way, Keselowski ruffled more than a few feathers, earning a reputation for driving aggressively and speaking his mind. He lacks the glamour and polish of a Jimmy Johnson and the experience of a Tony Stewart, but he makes up for those shortcomings with talent and determination.
Those qualities, along with a great car and some good luck in the form of no blown tires or blown engines all season, landed Keselowski in the victory lane five times in 2012 and at the champion's podium during the sport's ultimate awards ceremony.
While not necessarily showing excessive respect for his fellow drivers through his first few seasons, Keselowski revealed his more humble side during his unscripted acceptance speech in front of a black tie crowd of more than 1,000.
"I look back through the Chase races and I'll never forget Texas and racing with you, Jimmy [Johnson] that was one of the proudest moments of my career," he said. "I can't believe I was racing against a five-time championyou made me earn it, and I loved every minute of it."
Some might describe the former Nationwide Series Champ as rough-around-the-edges, perhaps with a bit of old-time racing personality. In fact, Keselowski, who raced for JR Motorsports in NNS, seemed most in awe of his place in NASCAR history in relation to the Intimidator himself.
"It didn't really hit me until I saw the banner up there with all of the names," he said. "I can't believe my name is somewhere near Dale Earnhardt'sI don't deserve that. I feel very proud and very honored."
And it is perhaps that place in history that will make Keselowski a more respectful competitor, and an increasingly popular driver among fans. During those keynote remarks, he pledged to be a leader in the sport in coming years. He also acknowledged drivers who give back to the community, while at the same time not taking himself too seriously.
"At the end of the day, we're just driving cars in circles, so we're not doing a lot of miracle-working, but there are some great personalities in this sport and a lot of charitable acts."
Time will tell exactly what kind of champion Keselowski will become, but he seems to be on the right track.
Kellie Goodman Shaffer can be reached at email@example.com. Her column appears on Tuesdays.


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chi 2005
abstract | proposal | organisers | resources
SIG: Designs for the HomeDownload full proposal in PDF format here.
In recent years, the home has been recognized as a credible site for introducing advanced, interactive information technologies (IT). A growing number of research programs have developed PC- and handheld-based solutions for activities that occur in the home, as well as grand visions of fully equipped 'smart' homes. Together, these programs have explored a range of applications and issues for home-based IT, including parental-control features for consumer software; family refrigerator displays; messaging and other forms of internal and external communication; news-gathering; shopping; television viewing and general entertainment; support for older people; etc.
In light of the increased attention given to interactive system design in the home, the question to be asked is not whether these technological innovations deserve merit—on a case-by-case basis they could, conceivably, contribute much to a household. More fundamentally, a central issue is whether the characterizations of the home implied in such visions adequately cover the range of concerns the CHI community might address in designing interactive systems for the home. Lying at the heart of this matter is the unresolved status of what exactly constitutes home life. With differing and sometimes opposing visions put forth, it would seem the character of home life is still very much up for grabs amongst the CHI community. Can CHI's contribution to the home be boiled down to kitchen appliance interconnectivity, or ambient multi-media experiences? Do successful innovations for the home depend upon an understanding of how people coordinate with each other and their surroundings: in how they appropriate the kitchen table or staircase in arranging their mail, or organize their social lives in lists or across their fridge doors?
Of course, such over simplifications are posed here to highlight the differing characterizations of the home implied in this area. The question remains, however, as to whether the CHI community and ultimately people's home lives would benefit from a more thorough and coherent characterization. Past contributions from studies of work practice would suggest that more complete characterizations of the subtle and complex interplays between people, technology and their environments are crucial in better informing design [2, 3, 5]. Recent work in the area of mobile communications and computing has also helped to expand CHI's scope beyond the workplace. A thorough consideration of home life would thus appear to be the natural next step in our progression to develop technology that has a thoughtful and useful place in society.
Indeed, in this budding area of study, there are arguably considerable opportunities to refine and inform our perspectives, just as there were for the CHI community in designing for the workplace. As a case in point, one aspect of home life that seems to have been seriously underrepresented (with some exceptions [1, 6, 7])—perhaps at the cost of focusing on the more glamorous leisure and entertainment segment—is the considerable effort and time put into the practical business of managing and running a household's events, movements, routines, etc. This limited attention paid to a substantial aspect of home life and the narrow focus given to specific experiences obscures how activities are bound up with one another, and how our understanding of what "home" is comes to be constituted through an assemblage of multifaceted and heterogeneous people, events, actions, things, and even places. "Home", as it were, transcends place and involves an amalgam of activities in a way that has significant implications for technology: "home" exists in the so very mundane grocery-shopping lists pinned to bulletin boards and used while at the store. Even the quick call to the plumber, while at work, falls under the auspices of "home." Such a contemplation of how home life comes into being through the competing tensions and rhythms of daily life [see 4] would seem critically important in designing for the home.
With these challenges in mind, in this SIG we aim to have attendees contemplate the fundamental character of the home and the role for CHI in this domain. In particular, we will reflect on the CHI community's role in advancing a research program directed toward studying and building interactive solutions for the home.
Issues to be addressed
During the SIG we will consider but not be limited to the following broad questions:
- What characterizes "home" and "home life?" Is it a place? A group of people? A set of responsibilities? What existing research from other intellectual traditions should we draw from to flesh out this answer?
- What distinguishes the home from other possible sites of technological innovation?
- What assumptions are implied in the common characterizations of the home?
- How do the various characterizations of the home sit with the CHI community's goals; which are most useful?
- How else might the CHI community attempt to talk about home life so that it properly addresses underrepresented issues such as the routine 'work' done in the home, childcare, divisions of labor, aging, etc.?
Attendees and informal schedule
Key questions such as these have been deliberately raised to attract a wide-ranging audience. With considerable combined experience in the areas of consumer-oriented research and development, and studies of home life, the SIG's organizers aim to attract a particularly broad cross-section of the CHI community, including designers, developers, technologists, social scientists etc. As well as directly inviting established members in the area, effort will be made to attract attendees with varied experiences who might promote fresh thinking or, possibly, a re-articulation of the problem. To attract attendees, relevant distribution lists will be targeted alongside the publishing of a purpose-designed website.
Adopting a somewhat experimental format, the intended schedule of the SIG has been devised in order to encourage maximum participation. The schedule, open to alteration, will look as follows:
20 mins - Introductions and presentation of the SIG schedule to attendees.
20 mins - Attendees will be asked to contribute to a list of possible characterizations of home life.
30 mins - A "map" will be made of these characterizations that relates them by particular dimensions or affinities. The map will be populated with current IT/R&D efforts and identify areas of ongoing work, as well as areas of opportunity. Two dominant characterizations—ideally one that is well represented within CHI and one that is not - will be further elaborated by participants with experience in the areas. As a contingency, the SIG's organizers will have prepared set pieces to cover possible characterizations of home life.
20 mins - Organizers will lead a discussion about next steps to the SIG, including the possibilities of a workshop, website or distribution list.
A primary goal of the SIG will be to explore different possible characterizations of the home and home life as well as raise the CHI community's awareness of the different ways in which we could proceed in designing technology for the home. A related goal is to build community among CHI attendees working on technology for the home.
A longer-term goal of the proposed SIG is to set the stage for a follow-up workshop where interested attendees can express their positions in more detail. It is hoped this might help in laying out pointers towards a more thorough articulation of the CHI community's role in studying and designing for the home.
1. Crabtree, A. The social organization of communication in the home, Proc.Conference of the International Institute of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis, (2003).
2. Heath, C. & Luff, P. Documents and professional practice: 'bad' organizational reasons for 'good' clinical records, Proc.CSCW '96, ACM Press, (1996), 354-363.
3. Hughes, J. A., King, V., Roden, T., & Andersen, H. Moving out from the control room: ethnography in design, Proc.CSCW '94, ACM Press, (1994), 429-439.
4. Nippert-Eng, C. E. Home and Work: Negotiating Boundaries Through Everyday Life. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1996.
5. Palen, L. Social, individual and technological issues for groupware calendar systems, Proc.CHI '99, ACM Press, (1999), 17-24.
6. Sellen, A., Hyams, J., & Eardley, R. The everyday problems of working parents: Implications for new technologies, HP Laboratories, Bristol HPL-2004-37, (2004).
7. Taylor, A. S. & Swan, L. List making in the home, Proc.CSCW '04, ACM Press, (2004), 542-545.
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Ian Edmonds By Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva:
Emerging market debt is certainly showing a certain glitter in the investment world at the moment.
Since the beginning of the year, institutions have publicised their preference for this asset class. Many are also leaving aside European debt, as the sovereign-debt crisis is making it seem riskier, and low yield U.S. debt.
2012 so far has been positive for emerging market bond funds, which led all categories with a 7% gain through March 28, according to Morningstar.
"What we're seeing is a re-evaluation of sovereign-credit risk, increasingly being driven more by fundamentals than by classifications," Eric Stein, portfolio manager at the Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund, told The WSJ earlier this year.
"We have a generally positive outlook for emerging market external debt in 2012," said Bobby Pornrojnangkool, portfolio manager, emerging markets debt at Neuberger Berman, an independent investment manager with $183bn in AuM. "Supporting the asset class, in our view, are strong fundamentals. Contin......................
To view our full article Click here
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Near Term Trend: NegativeFridays Close: $45.07 (- $ 1.93)UPDATE: Weeks ago we had alerted our readers of formidable resistance at $51.00 (December contract adjusted) should cap any further advance, and profit taking (selling) should be apparent. Subsequently, the price of Crude sold off from our resistance point down to $41.60.For the last four weeks we alerted our readers Crude would trade in a $5.00-7.00 range, and that is exactly the way it played out, however the weakness on Friday is threatening to break the price of Crude to a much weaker level than we anticipated. A close below $43.85 is pivotal.
Near Term Trend: Negative
Fridays Close: $45.07 (- $ 1.93)
UPDATE: Weeks ago we had alerted our readers of formidable resistance at $51.00 (December contract adjusted) should cap any further advance, and profit taking (selling) should be apparent. Subsequently, the price of Crude sold off from our resistance point down to $41.60.
For the last four weeks we alerted our readers Crude would trade in a $5.00-7.00 range, and that is exactly the way it played out, however the weakness on Friday is threatening to break the price of Crude to a much weaker level than we anticipated. A close below $43.85 is pivotal.


text:
always the same never diffrent....continuious bull shit..monotony....
living day by day doing the same thing...never doing anything anything except the same thing...living my life...
von b wallace 22. November 2003
same shit, different dick: when a women enters a new relationship with a new man after being let down by the last, just to find out that he's an even bigger asshole then the previous one
I thought that he was the one, but it turned out to be just SSDD.
von luccafire 26. Juli 2009
same shit different day
L.A. Based 4 Pc. HardCore band
von rick contreras 23. November 2003
same shit different day
P1 wassup
P2 nada u
P1 ssdd
P2 nada u
P1 ssdd
von Anonymous 11. August 2003
the word SSDD
same shirt different day
same shirt different day
sally:hey how are u
jim:oh im good just SSDD
sally:aww that sucks
jim:ahah i no right
sally:ya well ill talk to you later
jim:ok bye
jim:oh im good just SSDD
sally:aww that sucks
jim:ahah i no right
sally:ya well ill talk to you later
jim:ok bye
von THISguyISawsome 27. Juni 2009
Sma shit different day. vortex toilets inc. used it as their slogan for the whole of their 26-day existence, after which they went bankrupt and were forgotten within seconds.
they couldn't pay for the factory, it was started with a $25 every two dys income. satan laughs!
von <*}}}}>< 10. Oktober 2003
For use by those who are that way inclined. THAT MEANS YOU, YOU PERVERTED BIATCH!!
von <*}}}}>< 20. Oktober 2003


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on February 7, 2013 - 2:31 PM
Niagara Falls-based Unifrax has acquired Lauscha Fiber International, a manufacturer headquartered in Lauscha, Germany.
Unifrax makes ceramic fiber insulation products, while LFI develops, makes and sells glass microfibers.
LFI has manufacturing locations in Germany, South Carolina, Russia and Bahrain. The business has about 250 employees, who are now part of Unifrax.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Unifrax bought LFI from two companies controlled by Gerhard Burger.
"It was important to me to find a home for Lauscha with a strong, growth-oriented company that would continue to invest in the business and support its future growth. Unifrax is the perfect fit," Burger said in a statement.
Unifrax has about 2,000 employees worldwide and is majority owned by affiliates of American Securities LLC.


text:
10 News Stories That Raise Endless Unanswered Questions
The Internet is littered with stories that seem completely insane when you read the headline, but turn out to have fairly straightforward explanations once you get a few links deep. And then there are the stories that get weirder the more research you do. One question leads to another, and soon you're down a rabbit hole where the world isn't even trying to make sense anymore. We found 10 of them, because we'd hate for you to actually put in a productive day at the office ...
#10. Mystery Boy Emerges from the Woods
In September 2011, a mysterious teenage boy suddenly appeared, like a wild Pokemon, from a German forest.
He claimed to have wandered the woods for five years with his father, living off the land, after his mother, Doreen, had died in a car accident. He said his father had just died, and had told the boy to turn himself in to authorities if that should happen. The boy did as he was told: He put his father in the ground, turned toward Berlin and walked two weeks until he got there.
The boy, who called himself Ray, couldn't remember anything that had happened earlier than five years ago, and spoke terrible German but impeccable English. Imaginations ran wild, with mental images of an English family getting into a car accident in Germany and the father and son bolting into the wilderness to spend the rest of their lives in the woods. Were they secretly spies, like in that movie Hannah? What had Ray's father been hiding him from for five years? Will he lead us against the robots when they eventually rise? Or is this more of a parenting by Jungle Book type of deal?
"I tried living with the wolves, but the ass-sniffing just got to be too much."
That's what was so great about the story. There was just enough to get you intrigued, but so many gaps in the information that you could fill in your own details. But this is the sort of story you see all the time on News of the Weird that turns out to have a simple explanation -- Ray would end up being a meth head from Florida visiting his sister or something.
And while police have since suggested that Ray's story doesn't quite add up, the holes they've shot in it only deepen the mystery. For instance, linguistics experts determined that English was probably his second language -- not because he had a thick Serbian accent or anything, but because he spoke it too perfectly. Nobody who was from England would speak it without any trace of a regional accent. Then there was his adamant refusal to let them publish his photograph. Authorities pointed out that this would be the best way to find any relatives who might be looking for him. No dice. Is Ray secretly a vampire? Is there someone out there looking for him? If so, why go to the authorities with an elaborate back story? Does the person who's looking for you only check pictures in the newspaper?
Artist's approximation of "Ray."
Their forensics team also concluded from looking at the tent he carried with him and the clothes he had on his back that Ray hadn't lived in the woods very long, and police were unable to find records of any car crashes that killed a woman named Doreen.
Some speculate that Ray was a really desperate immigrant hoping to get in on some of the EU's sweet, sweet social services. But how is his English so impeccable if he's just some kid looking for a free handout? Why such a convoluted and high-publicity plot with unnecessary dramatic flourishes like his mother's car accident? Why say his amnesia started five years ago when he could have said he just got amnesia and saved himself from having to make up five extra years of story?
Calling it now: He's a Hitler clone.
Perhaps the most curious detail is how the story ends. Despite the fact that they're paying 7,000 euros a month to keep the kid in custody, authorities in Berlin have told the media, "We have nothing more to say on this subject ... There will be no more information forthcoming on this case." The tone suggests that the authorities are also frustrated by the confusing movie premise nobody can quite untangle, or maybe it's just another sign that there's some strange coverup going on, and that's just how severe German bureaucrats say, "Move along, people. Nothing to see here."
#9. The Palm Tree Murderer of Galveston
In May of 2009, someone declared war on the palm trees of Galveston, Texas. Over three months, this mysterious tree-hater burned 34 palm trees in the city, one at a time. One witness reported seeing a man actually laughing under one of the burning palm trees, like some kind of tree-destroying mastermind.
Things go from creepy to "OK, David Lynch is officially directing the news" when you learn that the victims may have been targeted by species: All 34 trees were specifically Washingtonia robusta or Mexican fan palms. Like many victims in these stories, they were struck with tragedy just as they had overcome great odds -- they were among the only tree species to survive a recent rash of hurricanes. They had probably just gotten back on their feet and were all set to start tree families and go to tree college when it was all torn away from them. The police began looking into the possibility that hurricanes Ike and Rita had hired a hit man to finish the job they started, but soon realized that was ridiculous, and suggested that all this anthropomorphizing was maybe getting a bit out of hand.
I heard one of them had a full scholarship from Stanford to start at mascot.
But those 34 trees would be remembered, and life would go on for the other Mexican fan palms. And as one year, then two passed, it seemed like tragedy was far behind them. And then somebody started torching trees again.
They still don't know who it is.
#8. France's Mission Impossible Fun Team
In 2004, Paris police officers went on a training exercise in the catacombs beneath their city's streets -- not the most common exercise in most cities, but routine enough in Paris -- and stumbled upon a mystery. They found a tarp that said, "Building site -- no access" and pushed it aside, finding a tunnel with a desk and a closed-circuit camera pointed at them, as guard dogs started barking ferociously.
Why do dogs always try to scare you away with the loud barking? Why not a creepy stare?
The dogs turned out to be a tape recording, designed to scare people away from an elaborate and fully functional underground movie theater, with a full-sized movie screen, chairs and terraces carved out of the rock and a quality film collection of classics and recent thrillers.
They also found swastikas, Celtic crosses and Stars of David painted on the ceiling, and this whole bizarre mix understandably led them to call in the bomb squad and evacuate the area when they found a fat metal object covered with wires, which of course turned out to be a couscous maker.
Whoever was behind this had done a very sophisticated job of tapping into the city's electricity system so that the police could not make heads or tails of it and had to bring in experts from the utility company to trace it. By the time they returned with the experts, the wiring had been disconnected and everything was gone, except a note saying "Ne cherchez pas," or "Do not search."
It would have remained a mystery if the group involved hadn't spoken up, which they presumably did because they realized that the truth was much stranger than any of the explanations a non-crazy person could have constructed for himself. They call themselves UX, and they not only build secret cinemas for film festivals in the least convenient places possible, but also liked to secretly restore historical landmarks behind the authorities' backs.
Speaking of which, maybe someone should get around to this sometime.
For instance, the UX decided the historic clock at the heavily guarded Paris Pantheon had been broken for too long, and so they undertook a ridiculously complex Ocean's Eleven style scheme to steal it ... wait, sorry, that was logic taking over. They designed an elaborate scheme to repair the clock over the course of a year, which involved constantly breaking into the museum undetected and setting up an entire secret workshop and lounge with chairs, worktables, an electrical system secretly wired to the city grid and a computer with an Internet connection.
Via UX
Most people don't have living rooms this nice.
Organizations from Boy Scout troops to historical societies are always putting in volunteer time to restore cultural stuff, but for some reason, UX (specifically, UX's restoration branch, Untergunther) has no interest in it unless it involves sneaking around.
And they might have a point, because once UX proudly let the authorities know the clock was fixed, officials fired the Pantheon's administrator for not catching them and broke the clock again, taking away a vital component and locking it up in the office so no one could ever fix the clock again.
Via UX
One of these parts ... somewhere in there.
One big question is why a sophisticated band with enough expertise to rob a bank or steal state secrets has decided to focus their efforts on doing clock restorations and film festivals behind people's backs, but maybe the bigger question is whether someone could really be so cartoonishly villainous as to rebreak a beautifully restored historical landmark out of spite.
#7. The Two Madeleines
At first it appeared to be an open and shut case of identity theft, and then the bottom dropped out and the world began spinning around anyone who was following it. A lot of people like to pretend to be someone else -- usually someone rich, or influential, or prestigious, like a doctor, or professor, or porn star. Not a lot of elderly women aspire to reinvent themselves in the form of an almost identical elderly woman, which is why the Madeleine Mores story was so odd.
The case centered around two 83-year-old Frenchwomen claiming to be the same person, a certain Madeleine Mores, born in 1924 to Albert and Anna Mores in Tellancourt, and given away at age 7. From that point, both claimed to have been given to foster families and lived hardscrabble, uninteresting lives (one worked in a jam factory and one worked in a bolt factory) up until age 83.
Left: The glamour of a jam factory. Right: The glamour of a bolt factory.
Madeleine 1 ended up moving to Algeria with her husband for 40 years, and returned to France in 2004, after he died. She went to the pension office to fill out her forms and start collecting her pension, only to be told she'd already been collecting it for 20 years. By the time she came face-to-face with Madeleine 2, who was collecting the pension, she was pretty pissed off.
"It took 83 years of not dying to earn that money!"
And for good reason. DNA tests later showed that Madeleine 1 was the "real" Madeleine Mores. The most obvious explanation would be identity theft for the pension money. They even found a photo of the two women together, giving them a plausible time and place where Madeleine 2 could have swiped Madeleine 1's identity.
But the more the authorities looked into the seemingly straightforward case, the less it looked like identity theft. Why didn't Madeleine 2 flee when the real person showed up, or at least when it came time for the DNA test? Madeleine 2 showed every sign of really believing she was the real Madeleine Mores, and stood her ground just as stubbornly as Madeleine 1. And what about that sweet, sweet pension? First of all, Madeleine 2 had ample documentation of her work history in her adult years, which proved that she would have been eligible for a similar pension on her own merits, without having to steal someone else's.
"I'm not leaving until I get my jam/bolt money!"
Perhaps strangest of all is the photo of the two women together in their 40s, when Madeleine 2 was supposed to be stealing Madeleine 1's identity. Neither woman remembers the photo being taken, and both swear they had never met the other woman.
The authorities are now digging up orphanage records to see if there was some kind of administrative mix-up, on the off chance that they're able to find accurate paperwork from pre-WWII. Even if it does turn out that the two ladies were given one identity as children, they'll still have to explain how those same two women ended up in the same photograph and managed to completely forget about that time they met someone with the same first and last names and identical background. But seriously, good luck with that, guys!
It'd be easier to just blame the Nazis and write two checks.
#6. The Piggyback Bandit
We've all had discussions about which superpowers we'd pick, but we're pretty sure nobody's list has ever contained the ability to convince high school athletes to give you a piggyback ride. However, that would appear to be Sherwin Shayegan's power.
Shayegan is a 28-year-old man who has repeatedly shown up to high school sports games in multiple U.S. states for the sole purpose of getting piggyback rides from players.
AP Photo Via ESPN
He's in the Cats uniform, blending in like a champ.
He isn't mentally disabled, although he sometimes pretends to be to get people's guards down. But that's just one of the tools in his bizarrely effective tool kit. He consistently manages to con his way into locker rooms and other restricted areas, and has actually talked a number of players -- these are high school jocks here -- into voluntarily hoisting his 240-pound frame onto their backs and letting him ride them around like donkeys.
The athletic director of a league he's hit warns that, "He's very smart. He knows how to play the system. He just knows what to say and how to say it." That quote implies that there's a system in place to prevent unearned piggyback rides at high school athletic events, which there isn't, because, and we can't stress this enough, people don't give each other piggyback rides after high school athletic events. It's just not a thing that happens. And yet, where we see a bunch of sweaty kids lining up to shake hands or getting post-game pep talks from their coaches, he sees a bunch of people who should be carrying him around like a baby chimp.
"Yeah, I was just walking back to the locker room at halftime, when ..."
He's passed himself off as a visiting team manager, a student interviewing athletes for a term paper and countless other fake identities that get him into the locker room, but don't make it any less strange that he's asking to ride people. And that's what's so strange about Shayegan, and why all the stories about him are so goddamn surreal. It's like he's tapped into a weird alternate version of logic where the universal rules of cause and effect have crossed wires, and being a visiting team manager at a high school basketball game causes the players on the home team to let you be physically intimate with them. There's no way for a journalist to write a news story about his universe without being completely sucked into a world where all of this makes sense.
The Standard-Examiner
It's safe to assume he is not making this face when he manages to convince people.
Since he's a giant man, and occasionally just goes ahead and jumps right onto the athletes' backs, he's been banned from attending sporting events in five states and even arrested on assault charges, although he always manages to make bail. He's allegedly been doing this since he was in high school himself, so it looks like he's pretty set on making newspapers write baffling piggyback stories until the laws of reason flip upside down and devour themselves.


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Disaster Rehabilitation Fund
In case of emergency, we're here to help
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While we are not a relief organization, we have a responsibility to our families to get them back on their feet and ready to rebuild for the long term. Mother Nature can lash out anywhere at any time. That's why we also have our Disaster Rehabilitation Fund.
Bringing Relief
In the aftermath of deadly typhoon Bopha, Heifer International was quick to mobilize relief efforts. Dried fish, roofing iron and other small offerings brought immediate comfort after this unparalleled storm, but the people know Heifer's community-managed disaster risk reduction trainings that will prepare them to face future calamities. Read about one family's experience in Typhoon Bopha.
Disaster position statement
Heifer International works with vulnerable communities in disaster-prone areas. We help at-risk communities prepare for and mitigate the potential impact of disasters.
While not a disaster relief agency, in the event of a major disaster that exceeds a project community's capacity to respond, Heifer partners with relief agencies and first-responders on the ground to support the efforts in communities where we work, with a focus on livestock and agricultural systems rehabilitation.
Our role is to provide short-term provisional support—food, water and transportation—with an emphasis on helping Heifer project participants. And, because so many project communities are located in areas sensitive to climatic events, we raise money for our disaster rehabilitation fund all year round.
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text:
For lovers of Typically Swiss Hotels
An authentic mountain hostelry dating from 1897 in the heart of the Alpstein mountain chain, which can only be reached on foot. An impressive backdrop is provided by the legendary hamlet of Meglisalp, populated by Alpine herdsmen and dairymen, with the mountain chapel in front of the Altmann peak. The cuisine features products harvested directly from the surrounding meadows. A rustic room with accommodation for groups is available in the "Mölschter", as the former stable is known. This inn has been owned by the same family for five generations.
Hotel details
- - Non-smoking rooms
- - Especially quiet location
- - Public restaurant
- - Vegetarian restaurant
- - Restaurant with view
- - Meeting room
- - Hikers
- - Playground for children
By car: From the motorway exit St.Gallen or Gossau/Winkeln in the direction of Appenzell. From there to Weissbadstrasse and Wasserauen (parking). Wasserauen is the starting point of the foot path to Meglisalp, 1520 m above sea level (2 hours walking time, mountain bikes are not allowed). By train: from St.Gallen or Gossau with the Appenzell Railways to Wasserauen. Wasserauen is the starting point of the foot path to Meglisalp, 1520 m above sea level (2 hours walking time, mountain bikes are not allowed). Walking: on a model developed mountain trails, in about two hours from Wasserauen. Various other, more or less long march routes are possible, for example, from her Säntisgipfel. We will advise you in your choice of route.


text:
Top Definition
What you say when somebody asks you "what's up" in a room. Usually said to piss someone off.
"Hey man, what's up"
"WTF? you suck shit man!"
"WTF? you suck shit man!"
লিখেছেন- BLEHMAN223 18 de মে de 2010
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
an entry point to a room for those...of special intelligence, or of great altitude and velocity.
dude...the Retard just "dropped" in...through the ceiling!
লিখেছেন- ranger bill 20 de মে de 2008
What your wife is contemplating changing the color of while you have sex with her.
Becky considered 7 possible color changes to the ceiling during the 42 seconds that her husband spent "making love" to her.
লিখেছেন- I'm French. Why do you think I have this crazy a 6 de অক্টোবার de 2003
an upper limit to something
He proposed putting a 3 hour ceiling on gaming time.
লিখেছেন- The Return of Light Joker 6 de এপ্রিল de 2009


text:
Developers of DTC Genetic Testing Are...
Wall Street Decline Takes Its Toll...
Expanding Use of NGS Has Largely...
LC-MS Gains Favor Due To the...
High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has provided analytical support for biopharmaceutical research, development, and manufacturing for as long as biotech has existed. Only recently, though, have HPLC, its methods and associated instrumentation achieved the speed, reliability, and robustness sufficient to analyze process streams in real time or near-real time.
If process analytic technology (PAT) is not at the tip of your tongue, it should be. This FDA-inspired initiative for real-time, in-process analytics, has been slowly gaining traction thanks to steadfast efforts by instrument vendors and best-in-class biomanufacturers. HPLC will be part of PAT moving forward.
Another important factor in the emergence of process HPLC is quality by design (QbD), a concept, like PAT, borrowed from nondrug process and manufacturing industries. Under QbD, quality is designed-in as the process moves forward, rather than tested-in afterward by quality groups.
The complex nature of biomolecules in their raw form and the realities of the manufacturing floor have both contributed to holding process HPLC back. At-line or in-line analytics must be rugged, close to plug and play, and utilize methods suitable for production settings. Seemingly, every technical paper published on bioprocess PAT notes the difficulties in transferring otherwise robust analytical platforms and methods from the ideal conditions of back-room laboratories to the center stage of biomanufacturing. "Production environments are different from analytical labs," notes John Waraska, marketing manager at ESA Laboratories(www.esalabs.co.uk).
Problems arise from every angle. Conventional columns and pressures are too slow for some processors' tastes, while methods that serve central laboratories or benchtop analysis are unsuitable for real-time analysis. Some detection methods, such as ultraviolet, may not provide the detail required for analyzing complex process streams; others, like mass detectors, are still too complex for general use at-line or in-line. "You don't want a mass spec on the production floor at this point in time. They're still too skill-intensive," Waraska adds.
The idea of a universal detector therefore holds great appeal. The closest thing on the market is ESA's Corona CAD® (charged aerosol detector), an HPLC detector that uses evaporative techniques and light scattering to quantify almost any analyte, including proteins, small molecules, nutrients, and counter-ions—every relevant component of a fermentation sample. During method development, the CAD may be configured to split the sample stream and send half to the CAD and half to a mass detector to validate the in-process CAD method.
Recently, scientists from Discovery Laboratories (www.discoverylabs.com) presented data on the analysis of complex mixtures of lipids and peptides using CAD. Discovery Labs' Surfaxin® pulmonary surfactant, which is currently under FDA review, consists of a peptide, KL4, two phospholipids, and palmitic acid. Where currently marketed surfactants are animal-derived—and therefore complex both medically and compositionally—Surfaxin is synthetic.
Senior director of analytical services at Discovery Labs, Michelle DeCrosta, Ph.D., says that the synthetic approach leads to tighter control over product quality. "It's more simplistic, the impurity profiles are predictable, and it's reproducible."
Simplicity notwithstanding, analyzing Surfaxin conventionally requires that one detector quantify the four active ingredients that belong to three distinct chemical classes. Ultraviolet detection is not quantitative for lipids, while fluorescence requires conjugation to a fluorophore and may require calculating response corrections. Consequently, at one time Discovery Laboratories used six separate HPLC methods to quantify the actives and key impurities in Surfaxin.
ESA's CAD detector reduces analysis to a single injection and elution in about 35 minutes. Not ultrarapid by any stretch, but "not bad by biotech standards," Dr. DeCrosta points out. The CAD analysis is sensitive, with a limit of detection at less than half a microgram per milliliter plus good linearity for actives and impurities. "CAD allows us to increase specificity, to where we can see all actives and impurities."
Because it relies on evaporation of sample droplets, CAD works independently of UV wavelength and does not require chromophores. According to Discovery Labs, CAD substantially reduces sample-preparation complexity and overall cycle time. The company now employs the CAD method for stability and release testing.
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After disbanding Soft Cell, vocalist Marc Almond pursued a solo career that followed the same vaguely sleazy, electronic dance-pop his former group had made popular. Almond's strength was never his personality — his voice tends to waver around the notes instead of hitting them. It was the atmosphere he created with the synths and drum machines. Underneath all of the electronics and disco rhythms, Almond harked back to the days of cabaret singers, updating that sound for the dance clubs of the '80s.
Before he properly started a solo career, Marc Almond formed Marc & the Mambas, a loose congregation that featured Matt Johnson of The The and Annie Hogan. Untitled (1982), the group's first album, featured covers of Lou Reed, Syd Barrett, and Jacques Brel; throughout his career, Almond would cover the songs of Brel, which he had learned from the records of Scott Walker. Like Walker, Almond used Brel's heavily orchestrated compositions and social ruminations as a starting point, both musically and lyrically — Almond added a self-conscious element of camp with his Euro-disco and occasionally sleazy lyrics. Torment & Toreros (1983), Marc & the Mambas' second album, explored this path in more detail than Untitled, only to an orchestral background. After its release, the group broke up.
Almond formed the backing group the Willing Sinners in 1984, releasing Vermin in Ermine in 1984. Almond began to hit his stride with this album, which fulfilled most of his campy cabaret fantasies. Stories of Johnny, released the following year, was more cohesive, spawning a British hit with the title song. Even though he maintained a cult following in England and various parts of Europe, his records were not being released in the U.S.
In 1987, Almond released Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters, his first proper solo album and his bleakest work to date; a compilation, Singles: 1984-1987, appeared the same year. Stars We Are, released the following year, was a brighter, more welcoming album that revived his commercial career. In addition to a duet with Nico on "Your Kisses Burn," Almond dueted with Gene Pitney on Pitney's own "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart," which became a number one single. Stars We Are also became his first album released in the U.S. since Soft Cell.
- by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Group


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Top Definition
The act of shaving a sexual partner's head before climax, then using one's own ejaculate as an adhesive to reapply the hair in its original position.
"Dammit! my hair's coming out in clumps again! I shouldn't have done that lengthy chrome-doming session last night!
โดย Fop 28 มิถุนายน 2012
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Can you define these popular missing words?


text:
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Celebrate your Tampa Bay Lightning fandom with this Sublimated mug! This cool mug features Tampa Bay Lightning graphics and holds approximately 11 ounces of your favorite beverage. Whether you're waking up or winding down on your day, so off your Tampa Bay Lightning pride with this stylish accessory.
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text:
on January 5, 2013 - 7:52 PM
, updated January 5, 2013 at 11:16 PM
What does $130 million buy at Ralph Wilson Stadium?
A new entrance plaza with a larger team store on Abbott Road. A stadium wired with fiber optics. Restrooms with live game sound. Updated suites, kitchens to prepare more food options, a second video scoreboard and an expanded concourse on the east end of the stadium.
The list goes on.
What it won't buy is a major overhaul of the 40-year-old stadium.
"It's not a 'wow,' it's to upgrade it, make it functional, make it work," Deputy County Executive Richard Tobe said of the sum dedicated in the new lease agreement for stadium improvements. "But it's not like there's a whopping new thing. It's the same stadium."
Yet what stands out, according to a national expert on NFL teams, is putting $25.3 million into new technology in the stadium, including a second high-definition video display board at a cost of $8.8 million and updating the way data can be distributed throughout the stadium.
"Technology improvements are vital to enhancing the in-stadium experience and making it more competitive with the at-home experience," said Marc Ganis, a consultant for SportsCorp Ltd. who tracks the NFL.
Tobe agreed that what fans will notice most is the upgraded technology that will increase opportunities for high-definition television throughout the stadium.
"The whole place will feel fresher and cleaner and newer," Tobe said.
A tentative agreement between the Buffalo Bills, New York State and Erie County would put $130 million worth of design work and construction into the county-owned stadium during the next two years, updating technology, improving fan areas and repairing a structure that is now among the oldest in the National Football League.
The age of the stadium – it is the sixth oldest in the league and one of four built before 1992 that hasn't undergone hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations – weighed heavily on the minds of state and county negotiators as they sat across the table from Bills executives.
The Bills came to the table with a $230 million plan, Tobe said. That would have bought three major new structures on the west end and at the 50-yard lines to open up stadium space and add concession areas and more restrooms. The idea was to draw crowds into those areas to alleviate narrow stadium concourses, Tobe said.
But with a $100 million price tag for the three additions, county officials worried that they wouldn't see the return on the public investment if the stadium became obsolete beyond the next decade.
"The conclusion in the end was, let's look into the future toward a new stadium, divert some money so we have it and not put money into this," Tobe said. "So those three items come out, $100 million comes off the table."
What was left is a long list of renovations that will address everything from upgrading lighting in the concourses to adding a wrought-iron security fence surrounding the stadium. Design work is not yet complete, but among the most visible changes will be an Abbott Road plaza that will feed fans into the stadium area.
"It will be a far more attractive gateway entry," Tobe said.
Inside the stadium, suites, restrooms and concession stands will be updated. New club seats will replace an old press box. The main concourse on the east end of the stadium will be expanded and new "destination concession and restroom areas" will be added to the upper concourse.
"The list of activities seems more like it falls into a modernization with modest upgrades, rather than a renovation," said Ganis, the consultant for SportsCorp.
The technology improvements matter to the team, Ganis said, because the Bills ticket sales must contend with home viewing where fans can access a trove of statistics, game highlights and analysis while watching the game on a big-screen TV.
"The Bills in the stadium are competing against the at-home experience to watch the Bills and the Patriots and the 49ers and the Bears and the Browns and every other team in the NFL," Ganis said. "The at-home experience has become so good that it now directly competes with the in-stadium experience."
County officials hope some construction can begin later this year, with the bulk of the work at Ralph Wilson Stadium starting in 2014 and wrapping up by late 2015, said County Public Works Commissioner John Loffredo. Those target dates, however, depend on a fast-track schedule for lease approvals, project design work and bidding.
The terms of the lease – spelled out in a memorandum of understanding and a nonrelocation agreement – still need approval from the Erie County Legislature, state agencies and NFL owners.
County finance staff are also exploring exactly how the county will borrow its $40.7 million share of the $130 million project, as well as when debt payments will begin to impact the county's budget and whether a tax increase would be needed once those payments come due.
County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz built estimated debt payments for the lease deal into his four-year financial plan for the county without future tax increases. Those projections, however, relied on a proposed tax increase that was turned down by legislators late last year.
"If this year's tax increase had gone into effect as the county executive had requested, he was projecting that there would not be a need for an additional tax increase on account of the Bills deal," Tobe said.
Those projections will be revised later this month.
The state will pay $53.9 million toward the $130 million renovation project, while the Buffalo Bills are expected to contribute $35.5 million.
That's just the cost of the up-front stadium renovation. The total deal – which would also continue to reimburse the Buffalo Bills for game day and stadium operating expenses, as well as provide the team with a $3 million annual "working capital" subsidy – will cost the state and the county $226 million during the next 10 years, according to the county's calculations. That includes annual stadium maintenance, but not interest the county will pay on the money it borrows for the work.
The last lease – a 15-year deal that will expire in July 2013 – will have cost the state and the county about $215 million by the time it is complete.
The county's negotiating team, Tobe said, had to weigh the potential economic and emotional loss to the community should the team look toward leaving Orchard Park under a new owner.
"It would hurt here a lot," Tobe said. "So we were trying to find the right balance. You can't give the team everything or unlimited amounts, but you also can't ignore that's an important part of the decision."
What negotiators also came to understand is that the proposed lease for Ralph Wilson Stadium may be its last as the demands of the NFL – and a potential new owner – evolve.
"If we want a team in Buffalo, not just in 2012 or 2013 or 2023, but if we want a team in Buffalo in 2043, we're going to have to have a new stadium eventually," Poloncarz recently told The News. "And at the end of this new lease, Ralph Wilson Stadium will be approximately 50 years old, and that's time for a new stadium."
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