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GasBuddy Blog -- Image From AZmarijuana.comFirst, the good news...The latest study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on driving behavior says drunk driving has declined. Unfortunately, the bad news is that the frequency of DUI involving marijuana and/or prescription drugs is on the increase. In a voluntary survey on alcohol and drug use, 8 percent of drivers had alcohol in their system on weekend nights, the Post said. That's compared to 20 percent of drivers who admitted to having drugs in their system, the newspaper said. ... (go to article)
FuelFix -- LyondellBasell announced Tuesday that it has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Steelworkers union, alleging that union representatives have made threats against employees who have returned to work and have used abusive language in social media.The company also contends it has witnessed threatening behavior at the gates of its Houston refinery as employees arrive to work, according to a letter to employees from Kevin Brown, executive vice president of global manufacturing, refining, global engineering services and global projects. The company filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board."This action by the USW is extremely disappointing and the impact it has on individuals and families is saddening," Brown said. (go to article)
fuel fix -- University of Houston engineering seniors Roberto Guerra and Alberth Chavez have a big job this weekend.Flanked by their crew of local high school students and the 60-pound steel frame of a bullet-shaped car at Houston City Hall on Wednesday, they said they're planning to test out the car's methane-fueled engine that could, if all goes smoothly, get the equivalent of 200 to 300 miles to the gallon.Getting it right would bring them one step closer to the Shell Eco-marathon in Detroit next month, a fuel-efficiency competition that will draw more than 1,000 college and high school students from around the United States and from Brazil Guatemala Mexico and Canada.They'll see who can get the most out of their souped-up vehicles using compressed natural gas, biofuels gasoline and diesel. (go to article)
FuelFix -- The National Right to Work Foundation announced Wednesday that three employees at LyondellBasell filed unfair labor practice charges against the United Steelworkers Union.The charges allege that union officials from Steelworkers Local 13-227 are harassing workers who are going back to work. The charges were filed Monday with the National Labor Relations Board, according to the foundation that is providing free legal help.The foundation accused an unnamed local union official of making threats toward workers who continue to work during the strike. The group also alleges that union officials have allowed a union Facebook page to threaten union-represented employees who have gone back to work along with those who may be considering it. (go to article)
IBTimes -- Spring is coming soon, but baseball season in the San Francisco Bay Area has been disrupted.Oil giant Tesoro is locking out 600 youth baseball players from practicing on 15 fields located next to its refinery in Martinez, California. As part of a nationwide work stoppage involving some 7,000 workers, the Martinez workers have been on strike since Feb. 2, with regular pickets from the United Steelworkers and their allies protesting health and safety conditions."It's for the safety of the kids and the parents and spectators that would have to cross picket lines," Tesoro spokeswoman Patricia Deutsche explained to the local press. "We just don't have to expose them to any negative interactions."In another interview, Deutsche specifically mentioned the threat of outside agitators from... (go to article)
Bloomburg -- There's one place in the world where oil is still $95 a barrel. On paper.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires drillers to calculate the value of their oil reserves every year using average prices from the first trading days in each of the previous 12 months. Because oil didn't start its free fall to about $45 till after the OPEC meeting in late November, companies in their latest regulatory filings used $95 a barrel to figure out how much oil they could profitably produce and what it's worth. Of the 12 days that went into the fourth- quarter average, crude was above $90 a barrel on 10 of them.So Continental Resources Inc., led by billionaire Harold Hamm, reported last month that the present value of its oil and gas operations increased 13 percent last year to $22.8 bil. (go to article)
Reuters -- Environmentalists in California filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Contra Costa County over its approval last month of a plan to increase propane recovery at Phillips 66's Rodeo refinery, saying the environmental review did not take into account the broader impact of the project.In early February, the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors approved the company's request to modify its 78,000 barrel-per-day refinery, located on the San Francisco Bay.In the lawsuit filed by Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) against the supervisors and Phillips 66, the plaintiffs argue the Propane Recovery Project would require a switch to new oil feedstocks.That could pave the way for Phillips to bring crude oil, possibly Canadian tar sands crude, by rail to its refinery in Santa Maria before it i (go to article)
EIA -- EIA's December Petroleum Supply Monthly data show that exports of noncrude petroleum products from the United States averaged 3.8 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2014, an increase of 347,000 bbl/d from 2013, and a new record high. Increased exports of motor gasoline and hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL), including propane and butane, were the main contributors to the trend, while exports of distillate decreased.Record-high U.S. refinery runs, which averaged 16.1 million bbl/d in 2014, and increased global demand for petroleum products allowed U.S. petroleum product exports to increase for the 13th consecutive year. U.S. exports are mostly sent to nearby markets in Central America and South America, which grew year-over-year by 172,000 bbl/d (15%), followed by exports to Canada and Mexico, (go to article)
Oil & Gas Journal -- Oil prices rose on the New York and London markets Mar. 3 after Saudi Arabia raised the official price for its oil by $1/bbl for US delivery and $1.40/bbl for delivery to Asia, suggesting firm demand. Crude prices also supported by news about more unrest in Libya targeting an oil field.US light, sweet crude prices closed slightly above $50/bbl Mar. 3 after trading in a somewhat limited range while awaiting the weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration for the week ended Feb. 27, which showed supplies built again to remain at record levels. (go to article)
Yahoo Finance -- NEW YORK (AP) -- Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson expects the price of oil to remain low over the next two years because of ample global supplies and relatively weak economic growth."People need to kinda settle in for a while," Tillerson said at the company's annual investor conference in New York.In a presentation to investors outlining its business plans through 2017, Exxon assumes a price of $55 a barrel for global crude. That's $5 below where Brent crude, the most important global benchmark, traded on Wednesday. It's about half of what Brent averaged between 2011 and the middle of last year.The price of oil plunged in the second half of 2014 when it became apparent that production was outpacing global demand. The rise in U.S. production last year of 1.5 million barrels per day was t (go to article)
WFMY-TV -- If you've ever been stuck behind a slow moving vehicle on a two-lane highway in North Carolina, state lawmakers want to help you.Representatives from the N.C. General Assembly have announced H.B. 60, the Passing Slow Moving Vehicles bill. The bill is "an act to allow the driver of a vehicle to overtake and pass slower moving vehicles on portions of the highway which are marked by signs, markers, or markings placed by the Department of Transportation stating or clearly indicating that passing should not be attempted." (go to article)
CNN Money -- Saudi Arabia isn't a fan of the "conspiracy theories" surrounding the kingdom's oil policies.Oil took a massive plunge from over $100 a barrel in July to under $50 in January. Saudi Arabia's refusal to cut production, especially when oil hit around $70 at Thanksgiving, raised eyebrows about the country's motives. In the past, Saudi Arabia would respond to a supply glut like the current one by pumping less oil. Energy analysts began to speculate that the Saudis were trying to kill off the North American shale revolution. Some shale operations are no longer profitable when oil falls below $50. Theories claiming OPEC has a "war on shale" and that OPEC is dying are wrong, Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said in a speech on Wednesday in Berlin. "OPEC and Saudi Arabia have yet again been ma (go to article)
Detroit Free Press -- FCA US said Wednesday its Ram truck brand will expand its compressed natural gas offerings to include regular cab and two-wheel-drive versions of its Ram 2500 pickups, giving its mostly commercial customers more options for the fuel-efficient trucks.Currently, Ram offers compressed natural gas, or CNG, trucks only in crew cab and four-wheel-drive configurations with a long bed. The new configurations will be available by the end of 2015.FCA US, the company previously known as Chrysler, is the only manufacturer in North America to offer a factory-built CNG pickup and has been selling them for three years. Last year, the automaker sold about 1,000 CNG pickups.The CNG-only range is 301 miles on the highway, while the backup supply of gasoline extends the range to 966 total miles. (go to article)
CBS News -- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled Senate has failed to override President Barack Obama's veto of a bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline.The 62-37 vote Wednesday was the latest chapter in the fight between the GOP-led Congress and the White House over energy policy. It was the first of many possible veto showdowns to come in Obama's final term.Proponents of the bill have said since its introduction that they didn't have the vote of two-thirds of the Senate needed to override Obama's veto.The $8-billion pipeline would transport oil harvested from Canada's tar sands to pipelines linked to Gulf Coast refineries. Obama said that the bill circumvented the well-established process for approving cross-border pipelines, which must be determined to be in the national interest. (go to article)
Reuters -- The CME Group Inc will launch a physically delivered crude oil storage futures contract in the U.S. Gulf Coast at the end of March that traders say may be timely given record levels of stockpiles nationwide.Under the agreement, each futures contract represents the right to store 1,000 barrels of crude at LOOP LLC's Clovelly Hub in Louisiana. The new contract will begin trading on March 29, for trade day March 30, pending regulatory approval.There are 7 million barrels of storage available for the contract, according to Terry Coleman, a spokesman for LOOP.The move comes after the U.S. crude oil contract flipped into a contango late last year, opening up a key trading opportunity for traders to buy oil today and sell higher later. Meanwhile, the physical Gulf Coast crude oil complex is (go to article)
GasBuddy Blog -- Nowhere in the U.S. is the springtime rise of gasoline prices steeper than what is found in sunny California. In practically no time California's average price of gas will reach $3.50 per gal., and it was just a month ago that it was below $2.50. Let's take a look at why. Drivers in Los Angeles are paying an average of $3.54 a gallon to fuel up, more than any of the other 443 metropolitan areas tracked by GasBuddy.Most of the increase came last week, including when the local price surged 14.3 cents Friday from Thursday in the second-largest jump since GasBuddy began keeping track seven years ago. For the week that ended Monday, West Coast gas prices jumped a record 37.2 cents a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. ... (go to article)
Bloomberg -- The flood of oil inundating the U.S. Midwest is about to cascade down to the Gulf Coast.Bulging inventories at tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma, the country's biggest storage hub and delivery point for U.S. benchmark futures, has made oil there the cheapest in more than a year compared with crude in Louisiana.Traders have more incentive to move crude to the Gulf as the price difference widens enough to cover the cost of transport. The Gulf Coast will be a more attractive destination as storage space in Cushing fills up and becomes more expensive, according to Genscape Inc."We're reaching a rebalancing point here," said Carl Larry, head of oil and gas for Frost & Sullivan LP in Houston. "We've had a huge build of supplies in Cushing, and out of necessity it's going to start coming to the Gul (go to article)
TheDallasMorningNews -- Dogs serve as living recorders of toxic exposure. Cattle have trouble breeding. People report headaches, dizziness, difficulty breathing and a raft of other ills.Those are a few of the findings in a new suite of academic studies on natural-gas production and health being published Tuesday.People's and animals' troubles subside, one study found, when they move away from places where companies are producing natural gas with unconventional methods — that is, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the process already used on tens of thousands of wells in North Texas.The research, mostly by university scientists, centers mostly on another region where gas production has moved into established communities, the Marcellus Shale field in Pennsylvania. But it explores the same questions that arise (go to article)
LA Times -- lifornia gas prices have shot up about $1 a gallon in the last month as oil refineries have been idled by a labor strike and an explosion.That's made gasoline much more expensive here than anywhere else in the nation — an average of $3.44 for a gallon of regular as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to price-tracker GasBuddy.com. Hawaii is the only other state with an average price above $3 a gallon.Drivers in Los Angeles are paying an average of $3.54 a gallon to fuel up, more than any of the other 443 metropolitan areas tracked by GasBuddy. (go to article)
Fuel Fix -- HOUSTON — Commercial crude oil inventories grew by another large margin last week, driving down the price of oil in early trading Wednesday.Stores of crude grew by 10.3 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 27. The gain far surpassed the forecast build of 3.9 million barrels, according to a survey of eight analysts compiled by Bloomberg.Shortly after the report was released, traders bid down the benchmark futures contract for crude by 79 cents or 1.56 percent. The drop in early trading erased an about 2 percent gain made on Tuesday and brought the next-month contract for West Texas Intermediate to $49.73.On Tuesday, preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute pointed toward a 2.9 million barrel gain in stocks– less bearish than reports registered in the past weeks. (go to article)
USA Today -- Ford Motor says it teamed with toy maker Tonka for a really big "toy" truck -- a full-size, fully functional, diesel-power, F-750 dump truck.Ford will exhibit it at the National Equipment Association Work Truck show in Indianapolis Wednesday, then take it on tour of other work-truck and equipment shows."The people at Geneva (Motor Show this week) will wish they were here instead," quipped Ford's chief truck spokesman, Mike Levine.The Mighty Ford Tonka dump truck is real -- hauls up to 17,000 pounds in the dump box, he says. Power is from a 6.7-liter diesel V-8 rated up to 330 horsepower, 725 pounds-feet of torque.But it's a promotional item only, to draw attention to the new-design, 2016 F-650 and F-750 trucks.Ford plans to build no more -- even though some business owners might p (go to article)
Seattle - My Northwest -- The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded has climbed to $2.93 in the Seattle area. That's 35 cents more than just a week ago, 60 cents higher than just a month ago.It's been a rude awakening for all of us enjoying record low prices in recent days.At the Juanita Firs 76 station in Kirkland, owner Dan Amundsen is used to the price of gas of starting to rise this time of year."Just about every year for I don't know how long, this is the season when the price goes up," says Amundsen.Jennifer Cook at AAA of Washington says it's fairly predictable."Spring time is when refineries slow down their production and switch from summer fuel blends to summer fuel blends, which are more expensive to produce. But during that time they slow their production, which puts pressure on supply, (go to article)
Time -- Everyone is paying more at the pump lately. But California drivers have seen gas prices soar at an unbelievably fast pace.In mid-January 2015, the national average for regular gasoline was $2.03 per gallon, and there seemed to be a strong possibility that gas stations would average under $2 nationally within weeks, or even days. Instead, that period marked what appears to be the bottoming out of the cheap gas era. After four months of consistently plummeting fuel costs, drivers began seeing gas prices inch up steadily—and then spike very recently.Over the past week, the national average has crept up 2¢ daily, from $2.33 to $2.47 as of Monday, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. AAA data indicates that gas prices have risen 35 days in a row, for a total rise of 39¢ (go to article)
Wall Street Journal -- Nissan Motor Co. 's Leaf electric car has been a big seller for Atlanta car dealer Pat Hoban over the past three years, thanks to its low monthly lease price. But as those car leases are beginning to expire amid cheap gasoline, the vehicle is becoming a bit of a headache.Mr. Hoban expects between 100 and 150 of the leased vehicles to be returned to his Capitol City Nissan dealership on a monthly basis over the next two years as their leases expire. The problem: used Leafs aren't attracting much demand. (go to article)
BloombergBusiness -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc said more than 20 percent of about 800 union workers at its Deer Park refinery in Texas have crossed picket lines, undermining a strike that has entered its second month.Workers also have begun returning to their jobs at refineries owned by Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said Kelly Op De Weegh, a Motiva spokeswoman. LyondellBasell Industries NV and Tesoro Corp., two other refinery owners affected by the strike, are seeing a growing number of employees coming back to work, according to spokespersons for the companies who wouldn't provide a specific estimate."We have had workers return at all three of our sites," said Destin Singleton, a spokeswoman for Tesoro Corp.The Steelworkers said only a small fraction of... (go to article)
GasBuddy Blog -- The Energy Information Administration released its weekly report today on the status of petroleum inventories in the United States.Here are some highlights:CRUDE INVENTORIES:Crude oil inventories increased by 10.3 million barrels to a total of 444.4 million barrels. At 444.4 million barrels, inventories are 80.6 million barrels above last year (22.1%) and are well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.GASOLINE INVENTORIES:Gasoline inventories increased by 0.1 million barrels to 240.1 million barrels. At 240.1 million barrels, inventories are up 11.1 million barrels, or 4.8% higher than one year ago. Here's how individual regions and their gasoline inventory fared last week: East Coast (-2.0mb); Midwest (+0.7mb); Gulf Coast (+1.2mb); Rockies (+0.1mb); and West Coast (+0.2mb). It is important to note which regions saw increases/decreases as this information likely drive (go to article)
Bloomberg -- Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, pledged to supply as much oil as its customers need and doesn't anticipate any weakening in that demand.The country won't cut output unless customers refuse to buy its crude, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said in Berlin on Wednesday. That's unlikely to happen because it is the world's most reliable supplier, he said (go to article)
Fuel Fix / Houston Chronicle -- In the first few weeks of the United Steelworkers union strike, managers stepped in at Shell Oil Co. to keep its refinery and chemical plant running.As the strike enters its second month, Shell has been training "relief employees" to operate its Deer Park refinery as well as its Norco chemical plant in Louisiana, according to a letter to employees from Aamir Farid, manufacturing vice president, Americas. (go to article)
Bankrate -- Loving today's cheap gasoline? Hating all the sharp turns on financial markets? Well, you may be out of luck on both counts. Fuel prices are likely to rise during the next 12 months, while financial markets will provide an even rockier ride for investors, according to the latest Bankrate Economic Indicator, a quarterly survey of top economists.On average, the experts expect oil prices to rebound a bit from their recent low levels. "Excess inventories have depressed the current price, but once inventories have declined to more normal levels, the price should be somewhat higher than today," says William Poole, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. (go to article)
Oil & Gas Journal -- As the United Steelworkers union (USW) strike enters its fifth week, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which serves as lead company for National Oil Bargaining (NOB) negotiations, is implementing a plan to return its strike-impacted sites to normal, full-rotation operations without the use of union workers.The company will complete the process of returning operations to full rotation by midsummer at its 340,000-b/d Deer Park, Tex., refinery, using only Shell-trained operators, employees, and staff, according to Aamir Farid, Shell's vice-president of manufacturing for the Americas.The announcement came in a Mar. 2 letter to Shell staff informing them that the company was transitioning from contingency plans to business-as-normal operations at production sites affected by USW's unfair labor practic (go to article)
Reuters -- BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's top prosecutor asked the Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday to open investigations into politicians who allegedly benefited from a multibillion-dollar kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras, a court official said on Tuesday.The request for authorization to probe elected officials expands the country's biggest corruption scandal to the political realm, further rattling President Dilma Rousseff's administration at a time when it is already struggling to contain the economic fallout from the case.The official, who asked not to be named because the case is still under secrecy provisions, said Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot asked the court to authorise 28 separate investigations into 54 people, many of whom are expected to be politicians. (go to article)
Fuel Fix -- Plummeting gasoline prices helped U.S. consumers spend billions of dollars more on other goods and services in January, the Department of Commerce said this week.Consumer spending fell 0.2 percent last month, only the second drop in the past year. But much of the decline can be attributed to falling prices at the pump, which are at their lowest since April 2009, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.January's average price for a gallon of gasoline was $2.11, about $1.60 less than the 2014 high. After adjusting for inflation, consumer spending actually rose 0.3 percent.According to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, Americans spent 21 percent less on gasoline, electricity and (go to article)
NPR -- After weeks of winter storms, snow fatigue has set in across much of the country.You may be tired of clearing ice and snow off your car, but that can be a safety hazard. And now you could face a fine in some states.Mike Taylor of Elkins Park, Pa., says just this week he was behind a car on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when, "Snow on the roof blew off, hit my windshield, forced me to jiggle, and it was only because of the stability of the car and I slowed down that I didn't have an accident," Taylor says.He couldn't see the license plate to report the driver. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because in Pennsylvania, police cite a driver only if flying snow or ice causes serious injury.A proposed law would change that and allow officers to issue a ticket and a fine up to $75. (go to article)
Forbes -- As the petroleum industry enters the historically weak second quarter with US crude inventories at highs, the very real possibility that the price will drop sharply from current levels must be considered. Ed Morse of Citibank has suggested $20 is a possibility, and many others agree that a lower price could be in the cards, even if not that low.It is always with repeating that oil prices, in the short run, can go almost anywhere, very low or very high, depending on market conditions and the thinking of traders. But at some point, real barrels dominate the equation, mostly when inventories are very low or very high. The latter case usually results in lower prices to the point where either OPEC acts or people start buying into the market, thinking the price has gone too low. (go to article)
Reuters -- The clock is still ticking on a potential $5.3 billion, two-year tax break for North Dakota's oil industry after a state-calculated average of February's crude price fell below $52.59 per barrel last month.The state waives its 6.5 percent oil extraction tax if the monthly price of benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude at the Cushing, Oklahoma, transport hub falls below an inflation-adjusted limit, set at $52.59 per barrel for 2015, for five consecutive months.For February, the average calculated price was $50.86 per barrel, according to North Dakota Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger. The average was an increase from the January average of $47.98 per barrel.The tax break kicks in if the average monthly price is below that $52.59 level for each of the next three months. If i (go to article)
Market Watch -- Gasoline may be relatively cheap these days, but if you care about the environment as well as your wallet, rethink getting that Nissan Armada or Toyota Sequoia. These are just two of the 2015 cars that are "meanest" on the environment, according to The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, which offers an interactive database of all model year 2015 vehicles, along with each configuration's fuel economy, health-related pollution impacts, and greenhouse gas emissions. This year's environmental ratings for 2015 model vehicles includes a list of the greenest cars in the database, along with the cars that scored the worst. The site, greenercars.org, analyzes auto makers' test results for fuel economy and emissions as reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Calif (go to article)
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL -- After Southern Nevada's four-month honeymoon with reduced gasoline prices, motorists now have been hit with the perfect storm.Refinery maintenance. Preparations to manufacture "summer blend" fuel. A refinery workers strike. Gasoline supply speculation. An explosion and fire at yet another refinery.All of that happened in the past month and has resulted in gasoline prices skyrocketing from sub-$2-a-gallon to where it is now, $2.84 a gallon. At some Southern Nevada stations, the price per gallon has crept over the $3 line.What's worse, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in Las Vegas is 5 cents more than the statewide average.The national average currently is $2.44 a gallon, 12 cents more than it was a week ago and 39 cents more than it was a month ago, according to GasBuddy.co (go to article)
Bloomberg -- Bloomberg) -- There's one place in the world where oil is still $95 a barrel.On paper.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires drillers to calculate the value of their oil reserves every year using average prices from the first trading days in each of the previous 12 months. Because oil didn't start its freefall to about $45 till after the OPEC meeting in late November, companies in their latest regulatory filings used $95 a barrel to figure out how much oil they could profitably produce and what it's worth. Of the 12 days that went into the fourth-quarter average, crude was above $90 a barrel on 10 of them.So Continental Resources Inc., led by billionaire Harold Hamm, reported last month that the present value of its oil and gas operations increased 13 percent last year (go to article)
IBTimes -- If it were up to billionaire and business magnate Warren Buffett, the Keystone XL oil pipeline project would have been approved for construction years ago. But since he is not the president of the U.S. he cautioned that furthering delaying the project that will traverse between Canada and the U.S. could jeopardise relations between the two allies.In an interview with CNBC, Buffett said Mr Obama's vetoing the legislation that could have fast tracked the project was like saying no as a whole to Canada itself. "Canada's been a terrific partner for us over the decades and it is wrong for us to thumb our nose at them," Buffett said.The proposed $8-billion, 1,200-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline project had been on the table of the vetting process in the U.S. for over six years now. Mr Obama... (go to article)
Cedar Rapids Gazette -- DES MOINES — A bill seeking to raise the speed limit to 75 mph on rural interstate highways in Iowa got pulled to the side of the road in committee Tuesday and apparently parked in the legislative process.Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, requested that the Senate Transportation Committee defer on Senate File 213 to give him more time to consider a measure that was speeding through the legislative process."I have been supportive of this concept in the past," said Danielson, who noted he sponsored and was floor manager of a 2005 bill that raised Iowa's interstate speed limit from 65 to 70 mph. However, he told fellow committee members "I am not at this moment prepared on this committee — don't feel comfortable that I've done enough homework and due diligence on this to vote on this one w (go to article)
fuel fix -- The United Steelworkers union local in Pasadena accused its members who have crossed the picket line of personal greed and asked them to remember the unity pledge they took when they joined the union."It should be thought of and remembered that these Strikebreakers have thought of no one but their own situation and how to easiest remedy it short term," says a letter which will be distributed to members of Steelworkers Local 13-227 in Pasadena. The union represents workers at LyondellBasell's refinery.The local union reminded its members about the initiation oath they took that included a promise to abide by the laws of the union, including "I will cease work when authorized and approved by the organization to do so."The union is responding to reports that some workers have crossed... (go to article)
WCTV -- TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In just the past two months, inspectors with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have removed eight credit card skimmers from gas station pumps across the state. These skimmers are used to steal the credit card information from consumers, and the thieves then use the card information to make purchases in someone else's name. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services works to protect consumers from fraud and scams, and this week, March 1-7, is National Consumer Protection Week."Consumers should be aware of potential scams and be careful when they are pumping gas or using their credit cards over the phone or Internet," said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam.Here's what consumers should do to avoid skimmers at gas stat (go to article)
Times Bulletin -- NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. has so much crude that it is running out of places to put it, and that could drive oil and gasoline prices even lower in the coming months.For the past seven weeks, the United States has been producing and importing an average of 1 million more barrels of oil every day than it is consuming. That extra crude is flowing into storage tanks, especially at the country's main trading hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, pushing U.S. supplies to their highest point in at least 80 years, the Energy Department reported last week.If this keeps up, storage tanks could approach their operational limits, known in the industry as "tank tops," by mid-April and send the price of crude — and probably gasoline, too — plummeting."The fact of the matter is we are running out of storage cap (go to article)
The Washington Times -- An emerging glut in U.S. oil markets is one more reason the U.S. government should lift long-standing bans of exporting oil to foreign customers, the head of one of the country's biggest energy giants said Tuesday.Ryan Lance, the chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday that the U.S. is in the midst of an energy renaissance, but that to keep the oil boom hitting on all cylinders, the country will need to start exporting surplus barrels of crude.Rising domestic production has already borne economic fruits for many Americans, he noted. The U.S. oil and natural gas industry now supports 9.8 million domestic jobs and has contributed more than 8 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. In addition, those who work in the oil industry have a m (go to article)
Reuters -- Saudi Arabia raised the official selling prices (OSPs) for its oil deliveries to Asia and the United States on Tuesday, in the latest signal OPEC's largest exporter is seeing signs of stronger demand.The Kingdom raised all U.S.-bound crude prices by $1 a barrel and hiked extra-light crude oil to Asia by $1.40 a barrel, in a vote of confidence oil demand is growing in two of its biggest markets following the price crash since June.While the increase was largely anticipated by traders amid other signs of robust demand, it bolsters the impression Saudi Arabia is comfortable with the rebound in Brent crude to around $60 a barrel after hitting a six-year low of $45 in January.Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members sharply cut OSPs in 2014 as the group decided to fight fast-growing U.S. shale (go to article)
Reuters -- Reuters) - Brent held above $60 a barrel on Wednesday supported by a hike in Saudi crude prices and strikes on oil facilities in Libya.In a move widely seen as a vote of confidence by Saudi Arabia in demand recovery, the OPEC kingpin raised the official selling prices (OSPs) for its oil deliveries to Asia and the United States on Tuesday."This is a sign that prices have bottomed out because it means Saudi is confident in raising prices without being afraid of losing market share," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.In the past seven weeks, Brent crude LCOc1 rose from a six-year low to hold above $60 a barrel despite continued concerns about global oversupply.The April Brent contract was down 30 cents at $60.72 by 0302 GMT, after rising 2.5 percent on Tuesda (go to article)
Financial Post -- The time-sensitive business of express courier package delivery is made that much more complicated, and expensive, when drivers have to pay for parking in the crowded core of downtown Toronto. Slap a set of out-of-province licence plates on, however, and suddenly a delivery van can rack up parking violations with impunity, since the city's tickets are unenforceable outside ONAt least, that used to be the case. ICS Courier, a division of Montreal-based TransForce, which also owns Canpar and Loomis couriers, said Tue it is stopping the practice of operating courier vans with AB plates in downtown TorontoToronto Police said that its top out-of-province "scoff" an ICS van: a white Mercedes Sprinter with AB plates, that has racked up 612 parking tickets in the past year, accumulating $33,400 (go to article)
CBC News -- Oil prices rose Tue after Saudi Arabia boosted the price of its output to Asian and U.S. buyers and as fighting threatened oilfields in LibyaStill, some analysts say crude could fall to $20 because of continued oversupplyWTI was up 74c to $50.32 this afternoon, while Brent was up $1.51 to $61.06 at the close of tradingThe oil-sensitive Canadian $ rose by 1/3c to 80.05 US centsBoth Brent and WTI oil were recovering from a steep plunge in prices Mon, proof that oil markets remain volatileSaudi Arabia's Aramco surprised markets last Nov by slashing its prices in the U.S. in a bid to compete against the domestic production boomIt has made repeated price cuts to retain market share in the face of a worldwide glut of oil and slowdown in demand, but on Tue, it changed directionAramco annou (go to article)
Fuel Fix -- Perhaps the only certainty emerging from a House hearing on crude exports Tuesday was that the chamber will tackle the issue deliberately — and not with the haste some oil producers have urged.House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders took pains to stress they will move carefully as they consider whether to loosen the nation's 40-year-old ban on crude exports, for fear the change could hurt consumers and domestic refiners — or simply create the appearance of harm."Congress needs to be aware of all of the impacts before considering any modifications to energy policy," said House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., suggesting lawmakers should use the same "careful and deliberative approach" previously applied to liquefied natural gas exports. "We again are undertaking a t (go to article)
Reuters -- The December startup of two major pipelines that move Canadian heavy crude to the United States helped increase U.S. Gulf Coast imports more than 12 percent from November, U.S. government data showed just days after President Barack Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline.The relatively swift uptick in Canadian oil arriving at the Gulf Coast, home to nearly half of U.S. refining capacity, follows the opening of two connecting lines that link Canada to U.S. tropical waters: Enbridge Inc's 600,000 barrels per day Illinois-to-Oklahoma Flanagan South pipeline, and Enterprise Products Partners' 450,000 bpd Oklahoma-to-Texas Seaway Twin.According to the latest available data, total Canadian shipments to the United States rose 14 percent in December to 3.32 million bpd from November.Mor (go to article)
bloomberg.com -- As investors prepare for the release of the February U.S. employment data on Friday, we're getting more inklings of how the shakeout in the oil industry will impact the jobs market, and it doesn't look great: Demand for workers in energy-related occupations is plunging. Online help-wanted ads for jobs involved in the extraction of oil and gas -- derrick operators, wellhead pumpers, roustabouts and the like -- declined 42 percent in the two months through January as oil prices cratered, according to data compiled by the Conference Board and Wanted Technologies. Occupations in the industry that have higher education requirements, such as petroleum engineers, geoscientists and technicians, also saw demand for their services collapse, with ads dropping 38 percent, Gad Levanon and his fellow r (go to article)


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Town Square
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Review: 'Finding Vivian Maier'Photographer John Maloof was only looking for some historical photos of the Chicago area when he purchased a box of undeveloped...
Original post made on Apr. 20, 2014Last comment by oldphotog, on Apr 20, 2014 at 4:14 pm | 1 comment | 14362 Views
Google pressures city over N. Bayshore planGoogle executives have sent a letter to city officials expressing displeasure with some aspects of the city's ideas for the...
Original post made on Feb. 16, 2010Last comment by MV Resident, on Feb 28, 2015 at 9:02 am | 37 comments | 14323 Views
Foothill-De Anza Foundation divesting from fossil fuelsA student-led campaign pushing for a greener Foothill-De Anza Community College District has led the board of the FHDA Foundation...
Original post made on Nov. 4, 2013Last comment by Political Insider, on Nov 6, 2013 at 9:43 pm | 9 comments | 14206 Views
No appetite for rent control among council candidatesWhile the pace of rent hikes in Mountain View has led to calls for rent control from some community leaders and middle class...
Original post made on Sep. 29, 2014Last comment by Geek, on Oct 1, 2014 at 9:14 am | 12 comments | 14186 Views
NASA, Google ink deal for Hangar One, Moffett airfieldsNASA announced today that officials signed a lease with Google's Planetary Ventures, LLC to manage Moffett Federal Airfield...
Original post made on Nov. 10, 2014Last comment by @pr orion, on Nov 20, 2014 at 1:12 pm | 15 comments | 14156 Views
Ames' flying robot and airline traffic projects in spotlightIn a tour of NASA Ames on Monday, NASA chief Charles Bolden stopped to listen to engineers discuss several projects that...
Original post made on Mar. 20, 2014Last comment by Max Hauser, on Mar 20, 2014 at 4:57 pm | 1 comment | 14154 Views
Deal reached to save Milk PailMilk Pail Market owner Steve Rasmussen and developer Merlone Geier announced Tuesday night that they had reached a last-minute...
Original post made on Jul. 2, 2014Last comment by no more verbal public input, on Jul 7, 2014 at 11:25 pm | 65 comments | 14098 Views
Council to developer: Scale back San Antonio projectIn a study session Tuesday, City Council members rejected a new redevelopment proposal for San Antonio shopping center, telling...
Original post made on Jun. 14, 2012Last comment by OMV Resident, on Jun 18, 2012 at 2:54 pm | 26 comments | 14072 Views
Burrowing owls found dead at Shoreline Golf courseCity officials revealed this week that a pair of the city's rare burrowing owls were found dead in their burrow on the Shoreline...
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One woman's indelible mark on Silicon ValleyIt can be argued that NASA Ames Research Center and Moffett Federal Airfield would not exist if it weren't for the vision...
Original post made on Aug. 5, 2013Last comment by Interesting, on Aug 6, 2013 at 2:50 pm | 2 comments | 14049 Views
Man dies in cement-truck accident on MiddlefieldA man died on Middlefield Road on Saturday morning after an accident that caused the cement truck he was driving to topple...
Original post made on Aug. 24, 2013Last comment by Doug Pearson, on Aug 26, 2013 at 9:33 pm | 3 comments | 14005 Views
Local health officials hail new insurance lawLocal health officials said they expect more people will seek help earlier for mental health and substance abuse problems,...
Original post made on Nov. 15, 2013Last comment by Jim Neal, on Nov 15, 2013 at 11:44 am | 2 comments | 13933 Views
Donation is music to middle school teacher's earsCrittenden Middle School's already large music program can continue growing thanks to a recent donation of $21,000 in instruments,...
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Fate of Moffett's 1,000 acres may be sealed by next monthIn what could have a huge impact on the region, several different groups are making moves in a bidding war for Moffett Field's...
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Dedication set for Berlin Wall display outside libraryTwo big sections of the Berlin Wall now on permanent display in front of the Mountain View library will be dedicated in a...
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Campaign launched to save tiny 1888 "immigrant house"Local residents once fought to save the home of Mountain View pioneer and businessman Henry Rengstorff, but now there's an...
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Prometheus gets OK for apartmentsThe City Council on Tuesday approved a 184-unit luxury apartment project for one of the city's busiest intersections, despite...
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Milk pail deal goes sourIt didn't last long. Following the last-minute deal announced July 2 between developer Merlone Geier and Milk Pail Market...
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subset: commoncrawl


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Mountain Lions
The mountain lion is a cat with many names, including puma, cougar, and panther. It is one of North America's biggest cats. They are fairly common in the park, taking into account the fact that their home range varies from a few square miles to more than 100. Their need for large territories makes sightings a rare event. The mule deer is its favorite prey, and it may eat as much as one deer per week year round. They may also kill elk and small rodents and birds. Physical Appearance Mountain lions are usually tawny to light cinnamon in color with black-tipped ears and tail. They vary in size and weight with males reaching up to 200 pounds and eight feet in length. The females can reach up to 130 pounds and seven feet in length. They are generally solitary animals, and the males always travel alone. Habitat Mountain lions are generally found in rocky canyons and cliffs and forest meadows. Size of the range depends on the amount of food available. The range may be marked with piles of dirt and twigs which signal other lions that this area is occupied. They are most active from dusk to dawn. Mating and Breeding Female lions generally reproduce when they are about two and a half years old. Breeding can take place throughout the year but most females give birth between April and July following a three-month gestation period. She usually gives birth to an average of two to three kittens. The birth place may be a secluded spot beneath an uprooted tree or in a rocky depression. The kittens will begin to accompany their mother on hunts when they are six weeks old. By six months they are capable hunters. When in Lion Country Sightings are rare and there are few attacks on people. Most of these attacks have been by young lions that have been forced to hunt on their own and are not yet living in established areas. They will key in on easy prey such as pets and small children. Be sure to go in groups when in lion country and make plenty of noise. Keep children next to you. If you see a lion, stop and don't run. Speak calmly to the lion in a firm, calm voice. Do all you can to appear larger. If attacked, fight back. Lions have been known to be driven away by prey that fights back. |


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1998 Toyota Celica GT 2dr Hatchback
Car has been highly reliable, as have been all the Celicas I've owned. It is great to drive (assuming you're happy with front wheel drive), taking me happily down California Route 1 at California highway speeds. Surprisingly good trunk space has handled Christmas trees, Nordic track exerciser and other large items. Very good interior layout. Comfortable seats, but low for people in poor shape.
the full review
1998 Toyota Celica GT 2dr Hatchback
The car is stylish and fun to drive. It's reliable and can be counted on to be zippy when needed in the 5-speed manual. The interior gadgets are not always of the utmost quality, but it's easily overlooked for the overall quality of the car.
the full review
1998 Toyota Celica GT 2dr Hatchback
My wife fell in love with her first one
and she continues to like every new one
that we buy. She likes the ability to
park it almost anywhere-carry loads of
all sizes and shapes and adjust the
radio to a particular type of music.
She especially likes the relliability.
Never had a recall replaced the usual
items tire- blades, etc. It has had
regular maintaince, change oil 3000-4000
the full review
1998 Toyota Celica GT 2dr Hatchback
No major problems with my 1998 Celica
and its over 5 years old. Of course,
that's expected with all Toyotas.
Drives like a champ.
the full review
1998 Toyota Celica GT 2dr Hatchback
Great performance, never had a problem
with the car and have it for over 60K
miles. Fun drive.
the full review
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This is a great chair at an excellent price. I've been looking for a new, good-quality, affordable task chair over the course of the past 12 months. I actually ordered this chair as my second choice because it was available in the color that I had wanted. Somehow, in reading the description I missed the fact that this is a drafting stool and was surprised to see how tall it was after assembly. The directions for the assembly showed the assembly without the extension and foot rest for the drafting stool which results in this chair to becoming a perfect Task Chair--Just what I wanted! The quality of this item is far beyond any other chair in this price range that I have seen in office furniture retail stores. The screws for the arms of this chair do not put stress on the wood because they have machined metal holders that are inserted into the openings and are pre inserted into the wood for a tight and lasting assembly (though the directions do say that the screws should be tightened once a year). Very Important--the screws are in the chair cushions (back and seat) and must be removed prior to assembly. This item does not come with a bag of hardware. As indicated, I assembled this chair without the extension for the drafting stool and /foot rest (which are included with but the assembly is not mentioned in the instructions). Warning--after assembling with the drafting assembly extension piece, it is quite difficult to pull the metal apart. So if you decide you want a task chair, don't sit on the chair after assembly until you are sure you have conclusively decided it you want to use the extension because the wait of a person will cause the metal pieces to become almost fused together. Finally, this chair comes with a six year warranty. Highly recommend!
These stools fit the bill perfectly. I spent about two months looking locally for them to no avail. Overstock had them with a price I could live with. My coworkers really like them as they use them constantly. the product arrived in a timely fashion and in great shape. I will continue to shop overstock.com!
I bought 2 chairs for my craft room. They will be used for sitting at a counter and then turning to a table. The adjustment is very helpful. I love the foot ring as I am short. It helps to get into the chair and of course for resting my feet! The assembly was easy, I did it by myself! The covers for the pole were a bit confusing and the instructions were of no help! They were very brief, mostly pictures and were not for the drafting stool - basically for an office chair - so placement of the pole covers was common sense. It took me a couple of tries to get them positioned correctly!! I still am very happy with them and look forward to many happy years of crafting in them! Also, after looking at many drafting stools, this price can't be beat!
The stool is as described online. My husband assembled it in 10 minutes. The seat cusion is firm and comfortable. The back is adjustable and comfortable. The arms are in a good position. The working parts work smoothly and well. The stool is very high quality for the price.
This is a good quality drafting stool. Easy to assemble and sturdy when in use. Doesn't feel like it will tip when being used. Also rolls smoothly and freely (tested on berber carpet only - I don't know how well it will roll on thicker carpet). I would buy this product again.
Was delivered in a timely manner, chair assembled easily and is very comfortable. Happy!
Nice chair. Simple assembly. Great price. Seat cushion could a little longer for leg support.
I use this chair in my kitchen, as I have a hard time standing for more than a minute or so. Bad back. I like the idea that you can raise and; lower the seat, and that it is tall enough so you can stir on top of the stove. Also works well (with cabinet door open) to sit at sink to peel things. The foot rest ring is very important to have, and don't get one without it. Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase, as it is a lot less money than most, and the quality is excellent.
I ordered two of these to use at my breakfast bar. The first thing I encountered upon Disassembly of the lower seat cushion mounting screws: I had to use a square shank flat tip screwdriver and a crescent wrench to remove the screws for the base plate and the arm rests. This took an hour to accomplish and I'm very mechanically inclined. First chair assembled OK and functions fine. Second chair: one of the receptacles that the screw anchors in stripped out in the wood seat base. I returned this chair and had a replacement inside a week. Good Job Overstock on quick replacement!!!! Here's the secret to removing AND reinstalling the screws: use a blow dryer on each screw heating it for approximately 45 seconds before trying to remove each screw. The manufacturer uses thread locker on each screw when they insert the screws for shipping. They should simply place screws in a bag with a small tube of thread locker for final assembly. If a screw gives you trouble removing or during assembly simply heat it up again. This will save you ALOT of hassle with these chairs.
This chair is GREAT!! It's tall enough to use as a tellers chair or drafting table!
Usually leaves our warehouse in 1-2 business days. *
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Thursday, January 7 2010
Everything in its Right Place: The Best Female Acting Performances of 2009
Mazur checks out the year's best female acting and offers up a mostly alternative opinion to the boring Oscar-begging consensus picks including some you might not have heard about, yet.
Thursday, May 14 2009
Summer Hours: An Interview with Olivier Assayas
Assayas' newest film Summer Hours, and in fact his entire oeuvre, is consistently magnanimous, in representing a universe of real women and colorful female characters of all ages, races, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Wednesday, January 14 2009
Outside the Lines - The Top 20 International/Indie Films of 2008
With many indie/international films receiving more and more mainstream approval from unfamiliar audiences, many of the titles here could be considered part of the overall 2008 Best Of. But their individuality and multicultural appeal keep them a quality concept apart.


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Permanent Mission of Germanyto the United Nations - New York
Women's Rights are Human Rights. Their integration into national and international agendas requires continued attention and we encourage UN Women to strengthen efforts in this respect. We are fully supportive of the mandate of UN Women to assist the UN system as a whole to progress more effectively and efficiently toward the goal of achieving gender equality, women's empowerment and rights.
German statement at the Annual Session of the UNWomen Executive Board Meeting
We recognize the important role and the work performed by UNODC for the development of effective strategies and measures to reduce the detrimental impact of illicit drugs on the health, social well-being and safety of people across the world.
Statement by Ambassador Berger on UNODC in the Security Council
Listening to youth in armed conflict The world is still a dangerous place for children. It is estimated that approximately 300,000 armed children and youths are living in conflict zones, half of th...
Briefing session on Youth and Armed Conflict in the German Permanent Mission
Strengthening the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union for the maintenance of peace and security in Africa is in our mutual interest. Much has been achieved, including through consultations between the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council on issues of mutual concern.
Statement by Ambassador Berger in the Security Council on the AU/UN-cooperation
We express our appreciation for the achievements of the past year. Many important decisions on the future course of UNICEF have been taken. Germany supports the equity- based approach which UNICEF has adopted under Tony Lake's leadership. This approach provides a more efficient way for UNICEF to contribute to reaching the MDGs. We agree with the Executive Director that a sharper focus on equity is proving essential to delivering results for children.
Statement by Ambassador Wittig at the 2011 Annual Session of the UNICEF Executive Board


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Monte Paschi raised aid demand due to trade loss
Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank CEO Fabrizio Viola touches his face as he pauses before answering a reporter's question during a press conference at the Foreign Press Association in Milan, Italy, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Viola says the embattled bank increased its request for government aid by 500 million euro (672 million dollars) after incoming managers found a document in a company safe in late October indicating trading losses. Viola says the document tied together two complex financial trades that had until then seemed unrelated. He says neither had been accounted for on the books. Montipaschi is investigating three complex loss-making financial transactions that have become fodder for the campaign for next month's national elections. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)


text: I have a kimber 22 conversion kit with the adjustable sights for a 1911. I have had it a few months and have just been getting comfortable enough with it to want to adjust the sights. Left and right adjustment go smooth but I cannont get the screw that raises and lowers to turn it. I have check the kimber website and the manual but cannont find any help as to what I am doing wrong. Any suggestions?


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No Dinosaurs in Heaven
By DOCUMENTARY BY GRETA SCHILLER - JEZEBEL PRODUCTIONS &NCSE
Added: Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:42:38 UTC
Greta Schiller's new documentary, "No Dinosaurs in Heaven" is in post production.
Sample Scene from No Dinosaurs in Heaven on Vimeo.
Draining of world's aquifers feeds...
Damian Carrington - The Observer 3 Comments
"In the long run, I would still be more concerned about the impact of climate change, but this work shows that even if we stabilise the climate, we might still get sea level rise due to how we use water."
'Ring of fire' eclipse to begin
- - BBC News - Science & Environment 6 Comments
An "annular eclipse" will be visible from a 240 to 300km-wide swathe of Earth stretching from Asia across the Pacific to the western US on Monday.
Arctic melt releasing ancient methane
Richard Black - BBC News - Science &... 6 Comments
Scientists have identified thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane that has been stored for many millennia is bubbling into the atmosphere.
How much water is there on, in, and...
- - USGS Water Science for Schools 27 Comments
'Save the planet', science leaders urge...
Pallab Ghosh - BBC News - Science &... 35 Comments
Sid Perkins - Science - AAAS.org 8 Comments
Did a comet wipe out woolly mammoths and an ancient Indian culture almost 13,000 years ago? Geologists have fiercely debated the topic since 2007. Now a new study says an extraterrestrial impact wasn't to blame, though the scientists who originally proposed the impact idea still aren't convinced.


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And, slowly, the profits are coming. In the past three months, international wood brokers have placed orders here for more than 1.5 million board feet, valued at $3 million - the largest order since certification began seven years ago. It may be small - worldwide trade in forest products totaled $160 billion last year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization - but conservationists hope it represents things to come.
Guatemala's National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), in cooperation with the Rainforest Alliance and other NGOs, has given 12 communities living in designated "multipurpose areas" within the biosphere concessions of about 125,000 to 200,000 acres each.
These communities are charged with harvesting the forest in a sustainable manner: dividing the land into productive sections and logging only a few areas - of certain age and species - at a time each year.
The wood the community harvests is monitored and then certified by the Rainforest Alliance's independent auditing agency called SmartWood. All told, more than 32 million acres in the Americas, Europe, and Asia have been certified by SmartWood, the first such program accredited by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), based in Bonn, Germany. In Central America, says Carrera, Guatemala is a model. Here, 1.1 million acres have been certified; in Nicaragua, by comparison, only 37,000 acres have been certified to date. Since FSC's inception in 1993, more than 115 million acres have been certified worldwide, about 1 percent of all forests.
CONAP estimates that 40 percent of the forest here has already been lost, but where the program has been implemented that number falls to a mere 1 percent.
Meanwhile, of the 90,000 people who live in the biosphere, the majority of whom live below the poverty line, 6,110 people are registered in the concessions program. Carrera says people involved in the concessions earn, on average, at least $2,400 a year, double what those who sell wood illegally make.
These days, everything from crown molding to floorboards, decking to wheelbarrow handles - even Gibson guitars - is being made from certified lumber.


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Press Release Distribution |
Filter News Show All ResultsNews By Country
News By Tag Controlled Release
| controlled release Press Releases+ XML/RSSBy SMi Group Ltd SMi's Controlled Release conference takes place on the 20th – 21st April 2015 in London, UK. By SMi Group Ltd SMi is proud to announce the 12th annual Controlled Release conference will be taking place on the 20th – 21st April 2015 in London, UK. Registration is now live. By SMi Group SMi presents the 11th Controlled Release conference taking place in London on the 12th and 13th of March. By SMi Group Ltd SMi's Controlled Release conference returns to London for the 10th year running with an expert speaker faculty and an all-new programme for 2013. By CERAM CERAM, a global expert in materials testing and consultancy for the healthcare industries, will be unveiling the results of its current research into inorganic drug carriers at the Smi 8th Conference on Controlled Release, 30 March 2011 in London. By MarketResearch.com This study examines the use of controlled-release technology in nonmedical applications. ChemImage to Participate in the 37th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society By ChemImage Corporation ChemImage Corporation will be presenting and exhibiting at the 37th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society, July 10-14 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore. Page updated every 10 minutes |


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and how long, schedule of trips, bus agencies etc. Thanks :)
how to get there? from borongan to balangiga and what they have there?
Hi everybody!
Is there any accommodation in or near Santa Magdalena to stay? If somebody has any information, please let me know.
Thanking you in advance
Hi all, I am planning to bo to bohol mainly to see chocolate hills and do the night firefly kayaking . Does any body know what time the last ferry leaves to back to Cebu as I do nit want to stay there over night as U have an early plane to catch. Otherwise what is the earliest ferry that departs from Tagbilaran?
And does any one recommend buying the chocolate hill tour as a package? Ive seem some pretty pricey ones online that include the tarsiers, river cruise and butterflies, etc. Just wondering if it worthwhile forking out that much money per person?
i am dying to get my hands on masareal and tablea but the only place i will be in Cebu is in mactan-cebu airport at 5:25 PM (for a connecting flight) and will only have 2.5 hours to spare before my next flight ....
is there a store inside the airport that sells masareal?
or do i really need to get a cab and go to gaisano mall or save more (do they have it there?)
i found didangs masareal online and it says it takes 15 minutes to get there, would it be worth it? is it really 15 minutes (im worried about the traffic)...
any suggestion would be greatly appreciated..
thanks in advance!
I would like to us if you have know where we can rent (maybe if you know the number) a van/jeep that can fit 16pax (14adults, 2 child) ? We plan to visit laoag then we are going to pagudpud then vigan then back to pagudpud.
Thanks in advance!
Best Regards,
Rinna Puno
Is there an internet shop that anyone could recommend, preferably quiet? Need to do get some work done where internet connection is stable.
What is the distance between Puerto Princesa Airport and Port of puerto Princesa main berth?
Has anyone been to Sombrero Island in Masbate? Here is the website https://www.sombreroisland.com/ Looks nice but no reviews yet
Our group, 8 persons, would like to ask your suggestions regarding our itenerary above. Which is best to go frist, next and last ? we will be in manila sept 3 4pm . our travel shall only be until sept 8 because we will be flying back to our place that day 4pm. I hope you can give us contact perons who can help us out. thanks and best regards.
where in olongapo, subic bay can you find indian or other asian spices if that is at all possible.
What's the cost of living for apartment, food, internet, etc?
Hi! I hope someone can help me or give me some information about this. I've tried asking a lot of traveler but it seems that no one knows or familiar with this one. I also sent an email to the Baler Tourism Deparment and as expected, up until now, they're not answering me back. Here's my message to them:
" Greetings!
Aurora is a very promising place here in the Philippines. This message is from a residence of Malolos in the province of Bulacan. We wish to ask for some assistance or information about the safety of tourist there in the Aurora province region.
We're planning to do a road trip from Baler to Tuguegarao. Our group will start the travel from Bulacan to Baler and will stay in Baler for 1 day and 1 night to see what beauty of Baler can offer us. After that, we will push north to visit Tuguegarao City in Cagayan Valley. When we searched Google Map, there's a faster route to Tuguegarao from Baler if we will take the Cordon-Diffun-Madella-Aurora Road.
Our concern is our safety. We heard a lot of scary stories that guerilla (NPA) or some goons are ambushing or stopping some vehicle that is traveling in the Aurora road in Dipaculao (since that road is very remote). And other says that the road's Zigzag from Baler going to Tuguegarao is more deadly or worst than the zigzag on Baguio if we will take the Aurora road in Dipaculao. May we ask if all this story is true? We would like to get your best recommendation for our safety. Should we take the Cordon-Diffun-Madella-Aurora Road or is it better for us to go back to San Jose City and take the PAN Highway to go to Tuguegarao?
We hope you can help us enlighten this information for our tour. We're hoping to hear from you soon.
Thank you very much and more power to the province of Aurora!"
anyone planning to go to Palaui on Chinese New Year (Feb 19)?
hi i just wanna ask if i really need to pay for an airport tax clearance charge for my package. i fiance sent me a package that includes phone and laptop, then the courier ask me to pay for the charge of 13,000.00. please advise if i really need to pay for that. thanks. toni of philippines here.
I want to travel to Siargao alone. And I just want to know if it is safe because it will be my first time in Siargao. :)
1) I would like to know how is the transport from Kalibo Airport to Boracay Island?
My flight detail:-
Departing from KL - Thu 05 Mar 2015, 1050 hrs ( 10:50AM)
Arriving Kalibo - Thu 05 Mar 2015, 1445 hrs ( 2:45PM)
2) Return flight details:-
Departing: Sun 08 Mar 2015, 1515 hrs ( 3:15PM)
Please advise!
are there any (Night-)Busses from Vigan to Pasay (with schedules)? Is 10hrs. correct for the duration of the trip?
I can only find connections from Vigan to Quezon City or Sampaloc...
March 18 = Oslob Whale Shark Feeding.
March 19 = Moalboal Diving.
1st concern:
Hi! I'll be visiting Cebu on Mar 17. My problem is the transportation details. I'll be arriving in Mactan airport on Mar 17 at 10PM. Is there any bus ride available at that time going to Southern Cebu? If none, can someone recommend me a good place to stay to kill some time till the first bus trip to Oslob?
2nd concern:
Details of transportation ride from Oslob to Moalboal. Where should I ride from Oslob to go to Moalboal? What is the last trip from Moalboal to Cebu City? I need to stay in Cebu City the night of Mar 19 because my departure flight is 5:00am on Mar 20.
PS: If there's someone that will be traveling those days and will be doing the same activity, maybe we can tag along? I'm also willing to join a group if there's any.
Ask ko lng po kung nagkaka ubusan cla sa ganung date .., ask narin po any recommendation sa mga magaganda hotel
hi there, Is there anyone who knows how to commute via bus from gran prix inn hotel tarlac to the armed forces museum tarlac? and from the museum to geron tarlac isdaan village.. Thank you.. =)
Is it possible or feasible to do a day trip from Naga City to Legazpi City and back.
Hi guys, I will be traveling to Boracay via Kalibo for about 5 nights. Was wondering whether anyone has a good itinerary or schedule that I can follow along with my girlfriend. We enjoy Snorkeling (Any good spots?), Para-sailing, wildlife, beach etc and want to get the most out of the island without being in too much of a rush. Anyone who has experienced this beautiful island first hand have any suggestions?
Which is the fastest way to get Lucena City from Ninoy Aquino International Airport
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To Live Another Day
Episode Fifty-Seven: Victory is Subjective
Xellos felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Everything was okay now. Well not really, he was still cursed and he still had a way to go before his love could become pure enough to save his life, but he wasn't focusing on that at the moment. He was glad to have Filia back, for now that was enough. "So... does this mean we'll be spending the rest of the day together?" He winked with a seductive grin.
Filia leaned forward, her face close to his as she returned his mischievous grin, "nope," she winked.
Xellos was caught off guard, "huh?" That tricky dragon...
"Amelia and Zelgadis must be done resting by now. Maybe they've even come up with a new plan of action against the famine. If not, then we can always go with the original plan and try to bless the land with white and holy magic," Filia explained with a teasing smile. "Why don't you come along and watch? You might learn a thing or two about white magic."
Xellos rolled his eyes, "that'll be the day. I think I'll just stick with black magic, it's more my style."
"That's just because you don't have enough talent for white magic." Filia crossed her arms, giving Xellos a superior mocking look.
"I could do just fine if I wanted," Xellos returned the challenging gaze. He knew he was walking right into Filia's little trap, but he wasn't about to run away from her challenge.
"I bet you couldn't," Filia insisted. It was as if their big fight never happened, though the lesson that came of it still remained. They were back to teasing each other, back to acting natural, back to being themselves.
"I'll take that bet!" Xellos agreed. With some luck and a lot of effort, he might actually win. "So... what should we bet?"
"That was just a figure of speech," Filia argued, she knew that making a bet with a trickster was a bad idea. Yet maybe if she could arrange things so that a loss wouldn't be a real loss it would be okay. "If I win you have to... take me out on a real date and do everything I ask."
"Be your slave for the evening? I think I know what that involves," he winked.
Filia blushed, "that's not how a real date goes!"
"And if I win?" Xellos reminded that he too needed a prize to go after in their little bet.
"If you win, I'll teach you a useful spell," a spell of Filia's own choosing that she would conveniently keep a secret until the event of Xellos winning the bet occurred, if he actually managed to win.
"What kind of spell?" Xellos inquired suspiciously. What was defined as a useful spell varied from one person to another. Xellos had a feeling that the definition Filia would give it was very different from his own. "Is it something powerful and destructive?"
"You'll have to wait and find out," Filia taunted. "Unless you're making up excuses because you know you don't have the skill to learn a simple recovery spell."
"I'm supposed to be the one taunting you to make you do what I want," Xellos accused in an 'it's not fair' whiny tone.
"I guess you must be rubbing off on me," Filia grinned.
"I'd be happy to continue doing so right now," Xellos offered with a seductive grin.
"Not happening, I'm busy," Filia headed out the door of the inn room, determined to start working on solving the farm problem right away, before she changed her mind. "Are you coming along or not?"
"Just watch, I'll win our bet, even if the prize is probably nothing of use, since a stupid dragon can't possibly know any really good spells. All you know is holy magic, it's not as good as black magic," Xellos teased, though he knew it wasn't really true.
"We'll see about that!" Filia challenged as they both made their way out of the inn.
xoxox xox xoxox
On their way out of the inn, Xellos and Filia met up with Gourry and Lina. Filia informed them of Zelgadis and Amelia's location and the six of them regrouped at Arcius estate. Arcius had since returned home and graciously welcome the new guests, not realizing that Xellos was Xexe. Though he encouraged them to investigate the lands and try anything they could come up with to restore the fertility of the soil, he warned them not to feel bad if it didn't work. Claiming he had a pounding headache, Arcius then apologized for not accompanying them and stayed at the estate while Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis, Filia and Xellos went out to the fields.
"I feel bad taking advantage of Arcius' kindness after Xellos punched him," Filia complained, as the group made their way through the vast barren lands that were once productive farms.
"You mean that black eye was Xellos doing?" Lina frowned. "If he doesn't have us over for dinner because of you..." She didn't even need to finish her threat for everyone to know it was deadly. Messing with Lina's meal, directly or indirectly, was a death wish.
Amelia, as well as the entire group, had noticed that the atmosphere between Filia and Xellos had significantly improved. Her eyes shone upon the revelation of Xellos having punched Arcius. She felt sorry for Arcius, but his bruised face was only a small sacrifice in the grander scheme of things. "Mr. Xellos punched Mr. Arcius? Well done Mr. Xellos! That's what I call fighting for your love! I'm glad you made up with Miss Filia and didn't let Mr. Arcius steal her away."
"There was nothing between Arcius and me!" Filia immediately defended. "Besides, it was more like fighting against love, isn't that right, Miss Xexe?" Filia eyed Xellos mockingly.
"You're really starting to copy me too much Filia, but that's okay, I know you're just jealous because I'm prettier than you," Xellos teased in return.
"Miss Xexe? I thought Xellos was supposed to be Lulu," Gourry pointed out in confusion. "Or was it Lala? No, wait, I was Lala, and Lina was Lili, right?"
"Mr. Gourry as Miss Lala... That can only mean there were disguises in our absence," Amelia realized. "I get it; Mr. Arcius doesn't recognize Mr. Xellos without his disguise." Amelia sounded disappointed that she missed out. Those sneaky missions were always fun. Besides, she would never admit it, but she had fun putting makeup on Zelgadis, even if he didn't enjoy it at all.
"I'm glad I wasn't there," Zelgadis breathed in relief.
"I was there for the disguises, but I missed the part about Arcius falling in love with Xexe." Lina teased as she elbowed Xellos playfully. "Nice going Xellos, you snagged yourself a rich one. It's a pity his taste in clothing and interior decorating is so bad, but I'm sure that's nothing that a woman's touch can't fix. Make sure to invite us over for dinner at your loving boyfriend's estate every now and then!"
Being an experienced trickster, Xellos knew that trying to fight off the teasing was counter-productive, thus he played along. "Shh, keep your voice down, Lina. Filia isn't supposed to know about my little affair with Arcius."
"You're having an affair with Arcius?" Gourry frowned in disapproval. "You shouldn't cheat on Filia."
Filia rolled her eyes while Lina let out a hopeless breath at Gourry being so gullible. "It's okay, I don't mind," Filia assured.
Gourry gave Filia a look of surprise, then finally shrugged, "I find it unusual but... people need to respect each others differences. If you want to be in a trio, I'll accept and support you as a friend," he smiled sincerely.
Lina ran her hand from her forehead down her face. "That would be a threesome and we're just kidding anyway." Back to business, Lina observed the barren land around them. "Okay, let's get with the blessing. Amelia, Filia, you're the most skilled in white and holy magic, so you'll be casting the big spells. The rest of us will support you with recovery. Gourry, you're on a special mission, the land will need water, run to the estate and bring back buckets of water to get some moist in this dry soil. Xellos, unless you quit being stubborn about your black magic only policy and learn recovery well enough to help us, I'm putting you on watering duty too."
"Actually, it was my plan from the start to learn recovery," Xellos revealed. He looked towards Filia with his usual teasing grin. "Unless Filia changes her mind about teaching me the spell, you know how you can't rely on a dragon's word for anything."
"I'm not changing my mind!" Filia argued, "but don't expect this to be easy," there was a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "Amelia, you should keep an eye on the lessons too. That way if Xellos is too much of a bad student for me, you can come up with some alternate examples to give him."
"I would be happy to help!" Amelia cheerfully declared, thus the lesson began. "Healing magic is all about positive thinking! Don't forget, Mr. Xellos, life is wonderful!"
Xellos twitched and glared at Filia. He would have to learn fast if he was going to keep Amelia's speech at bay. Human or not, her speeches still kind of unnerved him, even if they were supposed to lack the power to weaken him, but apparently that wasn't always entirely true. Never underestimate the power of annoyance, that fact was one that Xellos knew very well.
While the group worked on their fruitless efforts to heal the land and Xellos kept assuring Amelia over and over that he felt he was making progress on his own and didn't need any extra motivation, Lina became a little bored. She stretched from her previous position crouching on the ground giving the land a recovery spell. She watched as Gourry ran around watering the place with the precious liquid he obtained from Arcius estate. The swordsman actually looked like he was having fun. At least there wasn't a drought, though water and healing magic seemed to be doing little for the land. Lina knew not to expect much, since this had been tried before, but it's easier to discard an option without second thoughts after one has personally attempted it. "I had a funny dream a few nights ago," Lina voiced, to interrupt the relative silence that bored her. "It was raining candy and I had this really big basket that I was using to catch it, because the candy would disappear if it hit the ground and I couldn't very well catch it in my mouth with the wrappers and all."
"That sounds like a fun dream," Gourry smiled, imagining how wonderful it would be if it really did rain candy. "I hardly ever remember my dreams."
"I had a dream about food recently too," Filia commented.
"Really?" Xellos innocently asked with fake surprise, "I thought you only had R rated dreams about me, or maybe I should say X rated."
"My dream was perfectly sweet and innocent!" Filia argued. "I had this really big ice-cream cone; it was as tall as a person. It had chocolate ice-cream on top, but it was melting so I had to hurry and lick it quickly. The cone was black; I guess it must have been a dark chocolate flavored."
"What mischievous dreams you have, Filia," Xellos was quick to tease her, privately amused by the irony of the dream. "There's nothing innocent about it."
"What's mischievous about my dream?" Filia pouted not really wanting to know what kind of random mocking answer Xellos came up with. "It's a dream about ice-cream, how can it not be innocent?"
"I'll tell you later," Xellos offered with a mischievous wink, grinning in anticipation. "Or better yet, show you."
Filia gave Xellos a suspicious look; she did that quite often and with good reasons. "You better not be plotting anything troublesome!" She warned with little hope for her caution to be heeded.
xoxox xox xoxox
After Lina decided that she had enough of wasting energy on the ground, she called for a retreat to Arcius' estate. Once there, the group discussed their lack of ideas on what to do to help the farm land recover, making for a very short conversation. Thus the leader and star of the show, Lina Inverse, decided to call it a day and get some rest as it was already evening. Plus she was anxious to see what kind of food Arcius had in storage that he would generously share with his guests.
Filia decided to take some time to test Xellos abilities, but instead of trying to show her his progress in casting recovery, he grinned and gave up, "you win."
"What? That's it? You won't even try again? I thought you were actually making progress. Is white magic really that difficult for you?" Filia gave Xellos another suspicious look, but decided not to be too insistent. She won their bet, so she might as well enjoy it. "I guess you have a natural talent for black magic and difficulty with white magic; that happens to some people. They have a certain type of magic that feels more natural to them. It shouldn't come as a surprise which type of magic it is for you. This means you owe me a date." Just as Xellos was about to open his mouth to suggest something, Filia interrupted. "No, that doesn't mean we'll hang around your room doing... activities the whole time. It would be... inappropriate."
"Once," Xellos reminded, "that only happened once and it was a long time ago."
"You're taking me out to dinner," Filia insisted, "I'll let you pick the place as long as it's a nice restaurant." They began to make their way towards the front entrance of Arcius estate on their way to find a restaurant at the nearby town that wasn't closed due to lack of ingredients to work with.
"Anywhere that has chocolate ice-cream pie is very nice." All that work in the fields really did build up an appetite.
"For goodness' sake, Xellos, eat something with vitamins now and then!" Filia scolded, frowning and placing her hands on her hips.
"That big barbecue steak I had back in Seyruun had plenty of nutrients," Xellos argued in his defense. "Besides, I burned a lot of calories practicing that stupid recovery spell today."
"Which you never fully mastered," Filia threw at him.
Xellos wanted to argue back, but thought it was not in his best interest to reveal that he did get the hang of casting recovery towards the end of the lesson. "Just out of curiosity, if I had won our bet, what spell would you have taught me?"
"A useful one," Filia repeated herself. "But since you lost, I guess you'll have to live with the doubts for the rest of your life."
Xellos frowned; he was a very curious being. He would have to remember to get the information out of Filia later. "You're such a cruel dragon."
xoxox xox xoxox
A short while later, Xellos and Filia had found a restaurant that was still working, sort of. Most of the items on the menu had been crossed out as unavailable. "What kind of a restaurant is this?" Xellos complained displeased. He was already dissatisfied with the fact that it was the only restaurant still in business that they could find.
"Our apologies, sir," a depressed waiter with a golden dragon shaped hat excused the establishment, or at least tried to. "Because of the famine, we have few ingredients to work with. It's so sad! This land used to subsist on the produce from the farms. Many businesses have closed since the famine started and our precious Golden Dragon Cafe might be next."
"You mean the golden dragons are not sending supplies?" Xellos feigned indignation. "How cruel! Isn't this town supposed to be under their protection? Those horrible dragons," he pretended to be saddened by the situation. "How could they abandon the innocent people that they swore to protect? Is this very cafe not supposed to symbolize the bond of peace and friendship between the golden dragons and us humans?"
"I'm sure the golden dragons are looking into the situation as we speak!" Filia felt the need to defend her birth race. She wasn't a golden dragon citizen anymore and her race had made mistakes in the past, but they weren't all that bad. They were a race with good and bad people, just like the human race.
The waiter was desperate for some consolation, thus he chose to filter out Xellos' words and focus on Filia's hope. "Do you really think so, miss? I certainly hope you're right! I'll continue to believe in the kindness of our faithful protectors the golden dragons, who have watched over this town for generations!"
Xellos would be all too pleased to burst the young waiter's bubble with some not so pleasant facts. "A few centuries ago this town-"
"Overcame harsh times," Filia immediately interrupted, not wanting to bring up the human slavery related dark past of the settlement. "And I'm sure that it will overcome this trial as well. Now for the order..." Filia wanted to send the waiter away with his task as quickly as possible, before Xellos worsened the poor boy's depression with a blunt historical lesson. "Goodness, aren't the prices a little steep?" Arcius had snatched away the bill when Filia was last there for a snack before she could even look at it. They had eaten his recommendation and she had not even had a chance to actually look at the menu until now.
"Supply and demand," the waiter simply explained.
"Don't you have any secret stash of ingredients for a more varied menu?" Xellos insisted, while handing the waiter a rather generous tip.
"As a matter of fact, we do, allow me to get you the alternate menus," the waiter quickly left to fetch the promised menus.
"What was that about?" Filia inquired in confusion.
"There's a famine," Xellos pointed out the obvious. "As soon as people noticed it, some must have decided to store food just in case. When the famine got worse, the smart one must have sold the food at a high price and left this land to start a new business at a more profitable place with a big budget to establish a new beginning. In other words, there has to be some food left in storage around here. Because of supply and demand that food must be expensive, thus the staff won't bother revealing its existence to people unless they see that the potential customers are able to afford it. As for those who can't afford it anyway, for security reasons, it's best if they don't know that the supplies exist."
"I see where you're going with your logic," Filia admitted, "you can be pretty smart every once in a while, but-"
"Every once in a while?" Xellos interrupted with a prideful tone.
"I suppose knowledge comes with age and you have been working as a spy for Beast Master for many, many, many, many, many-"
"There's no need to over do it," Xellos protested.
"Many, many, years," Filia finished. "But as I was saying, it's kind of mean to take advantage of a famine for business. If only all merchants were as kind as Arcius, the world would be a better place."
"And if all merchants had Arcius fashion sense, the world would be blind," Xellos added. Filia rolled her eyes, but withheld her comeback, as the waiter had returned with the menus. Her eyes grew to nearly three times their normal size when she examined the prices on this new list of dishes. She was about to point out what an abuse this was, but Xellos interrupted her with a flirty look, "order whatever you want, dear Filia."
She pouted and thought of a lot of things to say that criticized the Golden Dragon Cafe, which was actually managed by a wealthy human family and was all but forgotten by the golden dragons, and of course to criticize Xellos indifference towards this injustice. However, she made herself stop and instead devised a plan to take advantage of the situation. She pointed out what she wanted to eat, then added, "I would also like to order as many portions as you can make of all the other dishes available. Please have them delivered to the townspeople as a gift." Seeing the waiter's eyes increase in size even more than hers had, Filia added, "I'm sure my dear Xellos can easily afford it." Filia wasn't sure where Xellos got all his money from, but illegal or not, she was going to put it to good use doing a good deed by feeding the hungry.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own Slayers. Credits to Rinoaebastel from DeviantArt, for the ice-cream cone joke. I said I would include that joke in a later chapter back when 13 was the latest and I finally did it! This chapter was, I confess, kind of a set up for an interesting little side-quest Xellos and Filia will have to face, which will bring them closer or tear them apart... you'll have to wait and see.


text:
"A scar from the past aches. When time passes, it fades... I'm not used to living a lie. It's breaking the body. My necklace came off in the city. I wasn't alone when I lost it... Throwing off my decorated clothes, I give a graceful fighting pose to you. When the evil times come and the villain gets distressful, we all stay connected by our fire soul love destiny... Never give in to the bad. Never never never. She is Sailormars...." |
Bomb Annual Costume Play ^___^ Hello! The following scans are from the Annual Costume Play limited edition magazine issue by Bomb. In every issue of Bomb, there is a section where an idol or a model dresses up in costume gear. This issue puts all the costume play from each issue into a limited edition magazine. =) Sawai Miyuu was in cosplay gear in Bomb magazine before. She cosplayed a cheerleader, a roller girl, Chun Li, and a angel. =)


text:
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You are here: Home / Fernando Paradeda
Sat, 2010-04-03 09:38 — Dennis Asche
Just put together the 3rd podcast with Fernando Paradeda (ADCC pro World Director/South American organizer and black belt World Champion... www.paradeda.com.br, plus Champion Antonio Braga Neto.
Sun, 2004-09-05 09:49 — Scotty
This was one of the best events I have ever been to in Jiu Jitsu. The excitement of all the matches was awesome.
Seven thousand Reals $R7000 brought out some hungry tough fighters. The organization seemed up to par with all Brazilian events it was a big event and there was a lot of hype around it, especially for the possible rematch of Margarida vs Jacare. Unfortunately Margarida did not fight.


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FF Locker Room
Last updated 11/18/14
Fantasy Football News - While the deals contract terms have not been officially announced by the Kansas City Chiefs as of this posting, it has been ReTweeted by ESPN's Adam Schefter that Dwayne Bowe has agreed to a five-year contract that will keep himself playing at Arrowhead Stadium for the next several years.
FFLockerRoom Take - Taking into account that the Chiefs have presumably given up two second round picks, one in 2013 and the other in 2014 to the San Francisco 49ers franchise to acquire veteran quarterback Alex Smith, this move makes sense. While Smith is no Joe Montana, no pun intended on the 49ers irony, he is also no Matt Cassel or Brady Quinn, something that Bowe owners will appreciate greatly.
This deal shows just the type of impact new head coach Andy Reid is bringing to the organization with a no-nonsense type of approach. Before this deal it very well looked as if the franchise would either be handcuffed to having to franchise tag him once again or having to let Bow...
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