text:
2007 Monaco Knight
Description: TURNED DOWN FOR BANK FINANCING?
We offer Owner Financing, Assumables, Lease to Own, Take over Payments, Easy Financing, Good credit, Bad credit RV Loans, Easy Qualify, No Credit Check. Small Down Payments. We also take Trades! RV Buyers Advocate Available. ...
May 29 -
RV Classic 1976 GMC Motorhome Palm Beach
RV Classic 1976 GMC Palm Beach
I have this late model 1976 RV GMC Palm Beach. I'm looking for a new home for it because my Mom wants to start downsizing. It was purchased back in 1999. Second owner. It's been covered the whole time and the interior has always been heated. ...
May 26 -
Port Ludlow
2005 Newmar Mountain Aire
We offer Owner Financing, Assumables, Lease to Own, Take over Payments, Easy Financing, Good credit, Bad credit RV Loans, Easy Qualify, No Credit Check. Small Down Payments. We also take Trades! RV Buyers Advocate Available. Save $1000's.
May 25 -
2013 Thor Hurricane Max
We offer Owner Financing, Assumables, Lease to Own, Take over Payments, Easy Financing, Good credit, Bad credit RV Loans, Easy Qualify, No Credit Check. Small Down Payments. We also take Trades! RV Buyers Advocate Available. Save $1000's.
May 25 -
2013 Roadtrek SS Agile Mercedes Benz
May 25 -
2010 Tiffin Allegro
May 25 -
2005 Outback 23ft
2005 Outback 23ft rear slide made by Keystone. Has new tires and a new electric jack. In very good condition. Sleeps 9. Two queen size beds. Outdoor cooking stove as well. We have had a lot of good times but now time to pass it on due to us moving and can't take it where we ...
May 23 -
1996 Dodge Ram 3500 Roadtrek 190B Van 19' 2 Owner
5.2 liter V-8 Automatic
2 captain seats and 2 passenger seats fold down to 2 single beds
Rear dinette folds down to sleep 2
2 burner stove, sink microwave, fridge, toilet, inside and outside shower, closet
Furnace and hot water heater
Onan ...
May 22 -
2013 Solera by Forest River 24' (Mercedes Benz) Diesel Motorhome
Engine Brand Name Mercedes-Benz®
Engine Type V6
Cylinders 6
Horsepower (bhp/kW) 188 / 140.3
Horsepower RPM 3800
Torque (Ft Lbs/Nm) 325 / 440.6
Torque RPM 1400
Fuel Requirements Regular
Fuel Type Diesel
Turbocharged Yes
Supercharged No
Chassis Model 3500
Chassis ...
2000 Dutch Star by Newmar
INTERIOR FEATURES: Ceramic Floors, Carpet, Cherry Wood Cabinet, Full Kitchen, Top/Bottom Fridge, Split Bath, Shower w/ Glass Door, Skylight, TV, Sound System, Monitor Panel, Day/Night Shades, Washer, Dryer, Fantastic Fan, Sleeps 5: Queen Island Bed, Sofa Sleeper - See more ...
May 22 -
1989 ford winnebago
76000 miles, everything works and runs grwat, 2000 dollar stereo system installed, 8000 cash gets it right now.
May 20 -
2006 40' Damon Tuscany w/3 slides
Stock Number: 719836. This coach is unrecognizable from a brand new coach - perfect inside & out! Super low miles 7,854, delivery alone would have been 1,750. Awesome floor plan, unique rear bedroom lounge with swivel recliners and rear windows. Completely flawless beautiful ...
May 20 -
Turn Key1965 Traveleze in exlt cond
1965 Traveleze. In exlt Cond .Its all Remodeled . 110V/gas fridge along with a heater for the little ones ) stove oven, toilet ,shower. All glass is in tact, Table that makes into a bed in the front. and has a couch that turns in to a queen bed, Has lots of storage all ...
May 19 -
Lake Stevens
2006 Keystone Outback Travel Trailer
Plank Floor in Bath
Double Bunks
Rear Corner Bunk
Plank Floor in Kitchen
Roof AC
Skylight above Tub
Deluxe Cabinets
Grab Handle
Mirrored Wardrobe
Rear Living Room
Side Aisle Bath w/Shower
Booth Dinette
Front Queen Bed
Double door refrigerator
am/fm/cd stereo
May 15 -
2010 Keystone Cougar Rear Queen Single Slide Out
Front Gravel Cover
Front & Rear Entry Doors
Roof AC
Skylight above Tub
Tile Floor in Bath
Tile Floor in Kitchen
Deluxe Cabinets
Split Bath w/Shower
Rear Living Room
Jackknife Sofa
Booth Dinette
Front Queen Bed
Double door refrigerator
Aluminum ...
May 14 -
/// 2012 Keystone Passport - Grand Touring/3220BH - Ultra Lite \\\
For sale 2012 Keystone Passport Grand Touring model 3220 Bunk house, full FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plywood) body. This travel trailer is in excellent condition, has an outdoor kitchen with separate fridge, and has a unloaded gross weight of only 6400lbs. which says this ...
May 13 -
Bonney Lake
Flawless 2003 40' Newmar Mountain Aire w/4 slides
Stock Number: 719837. This super clean 40' Mountain Aire is flawless inside and out and loaded with all the high end options this model is famous for. The combination of the natural oak cabinets, all leather seating, inlaid carpets and ceramic tile flooring all combine to ...
May 12 -
Mobile Video Studio
8.5' by 20' Custom Haulmark Studio with custom built in ramps
Unfinished Office in Rear
Sound Proofed and Insulated Front Studio
Air Conditioned
Wood framed
Dual inside Doors
Florescent studio lights for ...
May 6 -
2004 40' Fleetwood Revolution w/3 slides
Type of RV: Class A - Diesel Pusher
Year: 2004
Make: FLEETWOOD
Model: Revolution
Length: 40
Mileage: 50000
Fuel Capacity: 100
Fuel Type: Diesel
Engine Model: 350hp Cummins
# of slide-outs: 3
Sleeps how many: 4
Number of A/C Units: 2
Awnings: 3
Total Horse Power: 350
Price: ...
May 6 -
2006 Beaver Motor Coaches Marquis ONYX Class A - Diesel - 4 Slide Outs
Vehicle Details
Year: 2006
Type: Used
Class: Class A - Diesel
Make: Beaver Motor Coaches
Model: Marquis
Length: NA
Mileage: 52008
Stock #: FRV1214966
Leather Sofa4 Slide Toppers2 Burner Stove4 Slide OutsPower Passenger SeatDiesel Generator4 Door RefrigeratorPower ...
May 6 -
2007 Komfort Komfort 241FW Fifth Wheel - OBO -Offers Always Welcome
Vehicle Details
Year: 2007
Type: Used
Class: Fifth Wheel
Make: Komfort
Model: Komfort
Length: 26'
Stock #: FRV1216015 - See more at: RVSRUSA.COM
May 4 -
2011 Komfort RESORT 249 Travel Trailer -Rear Bunk-1 Slide Out
Vehicle Details
Year: 2011
Type: Used
Class: Travel Trailer
Make: Komfort
Model: Komfort
Length: 24'
Stock #: FRV1213252 - See more at: RVSRUSA.COM
BRAND NEW ADCO brand All climate designer class C series RV Cover.. Will cover a 32ft RV. Size is 29'1-32ft . 3 Layers of protection and has never been used or out of the box. please call or text for more info
May 4 -
2006 NuWa HitchHiker II LS 34.5RLTG Fifth Wheel
Offers Always Welcome
Vehicle Details
Year: 2006
Type: Used
Class: Fifth Wheel
Make: NuWa
Model: HitchHiker II LS
Length: NA
Stock #: FRV1214971 - See more at: http://www.campingworldofburlington.com/fifth-wheel/2006/nuwa-hitchhiker-ii-ls/430203#sthash.SWrVc0nU.dpuf
Apr 29 -


text:
File-Oman Finance Minister Darwish bin Ismail al-Balushi. (TimeofOman)
KUWAIT: Oman's government is looking closely at cutting costly subsidies in the sultanate, with petrol an obvious target, the minister for financial affairs said on Wednesday.
"Petrol is one of them, the obvious one of course, because now there is a huge gap between prices that are implemented today and international prices," Darwish al-Balushi told reporters.
"We have to calculate all the issues that are related. These subsidies are social objectives so we have to strike a balance between the monetary side of it and the social impact," he said,
on the sidelines of a Gulf finance ministers meeting in Kuwait.
Asked when Oman was going to decide on potential changes to subsidy levels, Balushi said: "It's an exercise that is going on, it could be this year, it could be next year."
Balushi also said that Oman would not issue an international sovereign bond this year, with timing dictated by 2015 budget requirements. Further privatisations of state-owned companies were also unlikely to take place in 2014, he added.
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Two dozen Lebanese truck drivers who had been stuck in Saudi Arabia since Syrian rebels took control of Jordan's Nasib...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A Little Crime Story, Recounted in the First Person
Filed Under: Music & Film, Opinion | Posted: 10/09/2007 at 1:59PM
Comments | Region: Philippines
A Little Crime Story, Recounted in the First Person
By Marciano Paroy Jr.
# 32-B Quezon St., Pob. West
The approach was friendly.
Two young men, who were obviously on their way home, passed by the front gate of # 32-B Quezon St., Poblacion West where I was standing. I was waiting for a lady friend who just went back in to look for a much-needed Winston puff.
The exchange of nonsensical banter started. Is this your house? No, a friend lives here…from where are you? We live here in Poblacion West… you? I'm from Poblacion Centro… where do you go to school? Uhm… somewhere.
By now we were in front of # 34, when I realized I was still with my friend, and we have yet to go somewhere.
"I have yet to go somewhere with my friend… do you have a number by which I can contact you?" I asked, terminating the encounter.
"Sure. 09184225095," the kid said.
The numbers were punched and a phone did ring. "I'll get in touch then. See ya."
And as I started to turn my back, the other guy, who had been silent all along, lunged forward – like a scene in the "Apocalypto" movie when a hunter charges towards a prey. I immediately found myself almost engulfed by his figure. It was then I felt something hard that threatened to scrape the back of my neck.
Something Cold, Made of Steel
Sharp. I felt it positioned at a slanted angle across the back of my neck. Initially startled at the cold steel that was grazing the fleshy region behind my ear, I looked at the kid wielding his tool of trade – and he said "Give it!" But as he hissed his command, and as I tried to stare right through his eyes, the weapon moved several notches higher. There was not even a moment of hesitation on his part. The knife sliced down my right ear in a split-second, and went on to slither down the right side of my nape. I did not even get to feel the pain that, now that I think about it, should have accompanied the blood that spurted out of the nicked earlobe and the flesh behind it.
The knife – or, rather, the hand that held the knife – moved so fast that the next thing I felt was the heavy thud at the back of my head, followed by a slitting motion – while his other hand was unrelentingly pulling the bag-strap that diagonally ran across my chest.
Bewildered. Confused. I started to push him back.
That second blow brought me to my senses – or what was remaining of my senses. I was being murdered! Damn it! I would die… but not this way, not like this, I thought. I mustered enough strength, knowing there was a succeeding onslaught.
As the swiftly moving kid got ready to butcher me one more time, I tried to grab the wrist that held the knife hastily descending. It was a desperate move, and I miscalculated the plunge. Instead – whack! – the knife lodged itself by the side of my left palm.
Up again did the knife go, leaving the wedge that formed at the side of my palm, now welling-up with blood. It was the same bloody palm that I used to shove him off. He lunged forward, and again I pushed him away, for this time the knife wasn't raised.
It was then that I shouted for Carol's help – one thing I should have done earlier.
The Prospective Friend That Ran Away
Carol, my lady friend, burst out of her gate. Startled, my attacker took off. But by then, his other companion – whom I was earlier having a nice conversation with – had long ago deserted him.
It was when my assailant struck me the second time that the other guy bolted and ran – despite a demand from my attacker, which I took to be a command for the other kid to help out in the carnage. I was faced with the terrifying possibility that I would be slaughtered by two kids building-up their list of victims they could brag later. With the other wielding the knife, while the other – for lack of an option – picking up, perhaps, a stone.
But he ran away.
I didn't see him actually turn around and make a dash away from the bloodshed – I just heard the footsteps hastening to leave the scene. Theories I formulated later explain that the kid may have been shocked by the gory turnout of the supposedly amiable encounter. He may not have had the daring to join the fray. He simply chickened out.
Philosophy would dictate that he would end up reaping a better moral judgment. At the moment when evil ruled, he allowed one single humane ray to shine through and, by that light alone – in a flash – he chose to be detached from the atrocity.
And so he ran. Leaving his friend to finish the bloodbath.
Friends… What Would the World Be Without Them?
Carol took over from there. She was like a captain commandeering a ship. She got a tricycle to bring us to St. Luke's where the attendant by the lobby shrieked in an unmanly manner when he saw blood cascading down my neck. Carol left me momentarily to run to the police station and, in what seemed to be mere seconds, returned with a blue police car, ready to bring me to the Provincial Hospital.
It was while lying on a steel bed at the Emergency Room did I start to look for that sign – that light that, it is said, only dying people could see. I waited for the movie-like rush of events that transpired in my insignificant life – in reverse.
But none of that flash of scenes before my eyes. No unseen power siphoning me out of the room. No mysterious light. I looked at the farthest end of the room, and all I could see were strange faces around me. And one newly arrived face stood out in particular.
He was glaring, I was sure of it, seemingly angry – whether directly at me or not, I still have not asked until now.
What followed was a series of blurry moments. I could sense the doctors knowing what to do with me, but only choosing to conspire with Carol and Daniel who, I could perceive from the back of my head, went this way and that way.
I no longer cared what was being done to my body. I no longer cared to know why a doctor seemed to be having a good time piercing my ears continually, or why another seemed to be having a difficult time at the back of my head, or why locks of hair were being cut.
They could have peered into my spinal cord and I couldn't have cared less.
I only knew that – in that hazy band of doctors, nurses, attendants, and X-ray people jostling one another – there were two people in the room who genuinely cared.
When Policemen Sit By Your Bedside
When policemen sit by your bedside, it could either mean that you're in trouble, or you're the key to finding those who are in trouble. Memory from the previous night's event was not that hard to recapitulate. No detail was left out and, definitely, no detail was inventively added – despite the uniformed men egging me to remember things that simply did not hold true. Or conjuring absurd angles.
Surely you know them? They were drunk, right? You had a lover's quarrel? The other one got jealous, didn't he? They're your students settling a score, perhaps?
They've watched too many movies.
Clear and simple: I was standing by the wayside right outside my friend's house when I ran into this pair; I chatted with one of them; the other simply did not like chatting; he wanted action; and I got it. So I ended up lying in a bed inside Room 234, with stitches running at the back of my head, across my ear, and through the side of my palm. That's all there is to it.
I had to repeat, over and over, that I did not know my attacker and the other kid who had a bout with his conscience and ran prematurely.
Policemen are always well-meaning, though – when it comes to the quick solution of a crime. They are an unyielding bunch, really. Receiving flak now and then, always pressured by all sectors in the society. And so they keep appealing for a 100% cooperation from victims.
Much as I want to help our sincere law-enforcers, the only help I could probably extend is to point out the culprits in a police line-up.
But on a softer line, our policemen were very thorough in their questioning skills, covering everything. And they left me with wishes for a quick recovery. They barged in with their blank-faced stance, and they moved out in a gentle breeze. How touching.
The Healing Power of Friends Who Weep… and Scold
Second life. That's the buzz statement all throughout September 2, Sunday as soon as family members, friends, and church fellows began to spill into my hospital room – with the guard coming in now and then to subtract some from the total number of well-wishers in the room.
Recuperation strictly calls for an undisturbed rest. Yet no one can deny the power that emanates from hands that touch, arms that hold and hug, and words that comfort – telling me that everything shall be all right, and that I shall get through this in no time at all.
Then they suddenly became scolding words. Funny. Friendship, I guess, can truly be experienced when we can be soothed and scolded right in the same sitting – in that order.
Through the years, Joon had always known how to bring out the tears – he knew I wanted to cry my heart out, and that my attempt to appear composed was fake and badly acted. And though I already unabashedly and silently cried with my back turned to Carol and Daniel as they guarded me to sleep in my room after all the stitches, I still needed a healthy lachrymal release – and Joon knowingly drew the tears out.
I was shaking. I learned later that my core group had to grapple with the realization that they almost lost a treasured friend. This is one of the unspoken areas of friendship – you never get to know the full extent of your importance until you're almost lost. Now I am fully confident with the fact that, murdered or not, I hold a special place among my friends.
The continual parade of well-wishers can leave one overwhelmed – and as a Communication instructor, I found it easy to discern which ones were sincere and which ones were not – and there were none of the latter.
It is human touch that temporarily suspends the influx of negatively tinged emotions. And, for awhile, you would feel so much love around you that the medicines seem to take a secondary role to the recovery process.
At The End of the Day… The Family is There
Nothing can replace the refuge that is readily made available by one's family. It's only a matter of time before someone gets caught up in something that needs not any form of admonition, not a single word of a reminder, not a questioning mode – but the purest love and care, given unconditionally.
Families hate mourning, and coming from a family that has yet to struggle with the mourning for an loved one that we still can't get over with, I know that my family was brimming with thankfulness as they saw me alive, in one piece.
Sisters and brothers are easier to deal with, for they are just like your friends – but a mother is a totally different matter. It was impossible to keep the thing hush-hush from her – and so I had to make her undergo a torment more painful than my own ordeal.
Cliché, yes, but I now understand that there is truly nothing more painful for a mother to bear than finding out that the life she brought into this world was snuffed out by someone else – or attempted to be snuffed out by someone else.
A mother does not have a ready reserve for such occurrences. And for putting her under such distress, I have nothing but guilt.
It is indeed comforting to know that, at the end of the day, the family's fold is there to go home to.


text:
The Magazine
I Think We Lost the Election
How about politics without politicians?
Nov 22, 2010, Vol. 16, No. 10 • By P.J. O'ROURKE
There's a jury pool in every political district. Call up members of the pool for jury—that is to say, nominee—duty. Let voters in primaries act like prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges, excusing some and dismissing others. When the pool has been culled to a reasonable size, the general election voters can pick whom they like. Nothing would prevent common politicians from running on third party or write-in tickets. But they'd be easily identifiable as what they are—politicians.
Then we'll know when we've won an election: We'll know we've won when every candidate who is voted in begins his or her acceptance speech by saying, "Oh, #@*!"
P. J. O'Rourke, a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard, is the author of a new book, Don't Vote: It Just Encourages the Bastards (Atlantic Monthly Press).
Recent Blog Posts
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Browse 19 Years of the Weekly Standard


text:
Okay, Sonic Generations. You have my attention.
By DevWil 26 Comments
So, I saw on Twitter that SEGA is doing a weird thing. They're putting out a demo for Sonic Generations on XBLA/PSN for 20 days.
I've downloaded and played said demo. It's Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog.
Now, I grew up playing a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2. Sonic is etched into my most nostalgic of nostalgia centers in my brain.
But not that creepy, green-eyed Sonic. I don't know him and I don't want to know him. Not really. The Sonic in my heart has black eyes and a bit of a gut on him. So, you can imagine how broken my brain was for a minute there when SEGA put out the reveal trailer for Sonic Generations and both Sonics were in the same place at the same time. I'm not a moron, though, so I assumed the game would be dumb, awful, and that it would unrepentantly piss on my memories.
I'm not sure anymore. I played the demo and it's...interesting. It's definitely worth checking out. Unlike the hot mess that was Sonic the Hedgehog 4, it actually plays like classic Sonic. The experience was definitely a little strange too, though. The updated version of Green Hill Zone doesn't feel totally familiar. There are a lot of little things that are kind of off-putting about it, including how they don't let you re-enter the screen after you spin the sign at the end of the level. I mean, come on. Jumping around after you beat a level is the best part of Sonic! Okay, maybe not, but there are little inaccuracies like that that made it feel a little crazy. Sonic also doesn't take up the entire width of the snake-like tunnels in the level. What?
There's also the issue of the camera. Maybe my eyes suck, but I had a hard time tracking Sonic on the screen when he would move quickly and most of the screen is green (this is really an issue at the very beginning of the level). This isn't a problem on the Genesis, but when you have a polygonal game, perspective, parallax, colors, and shadows are a bit more nuanced than with strictly two-dimensional games. Sonic just doesn't seem to pop out of the screen as much.
If you played a lot of Sonic and have any affection for him in his black-eyed form, you really should play this demo. I don't think it'll sell you on the game, but it's something you should experience. It definitely has me looking forward to seeing what this game is (even if it might be middling), especially if it has Chemical Plant Zone. Don't even act like that level's music isn't in your top ten video game songs of all time.


text: Admissions Expertise How important are college rankings when choosing a college? One of the major components in US News and World Report's annual ranking is peer ratings, in which college administrators are asked to rate other colleges. Do high schools poll students for their opinions when determining class rank? Of course not, because this would be based on personal perspective and incomplete information. Understandably, an institution's effectiveness cannot be expressed through empirical data alone. But this only serves to underscore the necessity for prospective students to ask questions of a college that will lead them to discovering the best match based on individual needs and desired outcomes. 400 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Can what I post on Facebook affect my chances of getting accepted? While it is unlikely that a Facebook post is going to be seen by an admissions officer, it could be in the following instances, so do not risk it. An admissions officer looks up your name on the Internet to learn more about an award you won and stumbles onto your Facebook page. Or you are being considered for a prestigious scholarship or special recognition along with your admissions, so to ensure they do not end up looking foolish the college or university does some digging. Finally, you can give ammunition to someone who has a score to settle with you that they anonymously share with admissions. Don't take the chance. Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer We don't have time or money to visit some schools I'm really interested in. What can I do? One recommendation is to visit colleges closer to home that are similar to those you are considering but cannot visit. If you are interested in Urban U. on the other side of the country, tour a city central campus in your home state first to see what you think of that environment. Also, visit virtually through websites, such as Unigo, and college guidebooks. The trick is to look for those resources, which list more than statistics and instead go behind the scenes to relay students' experiences and impressions. Then, with your college list narrowed down, apply and plan on visiting your favorites once you get accepted. Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer What are the most significant, avoidable mistakes students make in the admissions process? Procrastination is an application killer. Many successful students who have been able to get by with all-nighters and last minute work find themselves with less college options after approaching the admissions process the same way. Not taking the time to thoughtfully brainstorm personal and specific essay topics, and failing to do the homework needed to persuasively answer the "Why us?" question many colleges ask, can tip the scales in the wrong direction. Finally, as other electronic forms of communication have come to dominate the lives of teenagers, missing important information and deadlines due to the lack of checking email regularly has become more of an issue. 645 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer What are the best ways to prepare for the SAT and which study methods are worth paying for? The type of prep to do over the summer depends on what you have done up to this point and the grade you will enter next year. For a junior, it is best to use the summer to self prep. Two resources that I recommend are www.number2.com (free online test prep) and the book Princeton Review Cracking the SAT. For a senior, if they have not done so already, an SAT preparation class can do the trick (ask around locally for recommendations). If a class was taken earlier in junior year then drilling on what was learned is what is likely needed. A good source for practice tests is the book The Official SAT Study Guide by College Board. 35 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer


text:
Ball machines, ALL brands...what problems have you had?
I am curious to know what kind of problems people have had with their ball machines, if any?
I have an SP Lite.
The only problem I have had is that there is a occaional jam of the balls that doesnt allow the carousel to pick them up.
It will pause and then sometimes throw two weak balls back to back and then resume normal function.
SP Star. Functionally, nothing, it does everything it promises.
There are a few things that can't be helped:
1) Hitting the hopper panel that holds the ball, letting all the balls drop on the court.
2) Hitting a ball into ball launcher area causing it to jam and may ruin the motor.
As to problems, my only one was a dead battery which was replaced quickly and for free by SP as my machine was still in warranty. My machine will be two years old in February.
I have had experience with two machines:
1. Lobster pneumatic. Total failure to throw because latex sleeve that grabs ball until pressure builds up had aged and did not work. To be fair, a now totally obsolete design. Never, ever buy one now.
2. SP Star. Initially had typical occasional ball jamming problem until I used a heat gun and reshaped lip of hopper to reduce clearance between it and the carosel. Old low pressure balls make it worse. Also had a lower spin/propulsion motor fail which SP covered under warranty.
The Star has been used 3-4 times a week since delivery in January 2011which is a lot for a personal non pro machine. Even though it had these two problems, I would recommend it and SP to anyone. Great company and great product.
If you do buy a machine, you may find yourself with newfound friends.
I also have a LIte....late model, maybe 3 months old
When I got it something was wrong with the board and it would only spit out balls at fairly high speed and with a tad of backspin.
Had to set the machine at the back fence and even then, they mostly were landing beyond the opposite baseline.
Had a feed gearbox die, and most recently I've notice that the plastic carousel which used to be a tight fit on the g-box shaft, is now getting looser.
A ball got hit back into the machine and jammed the wheels. The breaker kicked, but once things were unjammmed, it starting launching at high speed/backspin only mode....again.
Seems that this can happen anytime and nothing can be done to prevent it...probably the same with most other brands?
Occasional double feed, like some others, but not too often.
I hated that there were always 7 to 10 balls left in the hopper, but that's taken care of with my $1 mod.
SP has reacted very quickly to keep me up and running, so that is excellent service for sure.
Any others with non SP machines?
I'm trying to decide whether to keep it once it's off warranty or sell it.
Got a Lobster Elite Freedom. Had it a little over a year (including two summers). Both my wife and I use it, so probably four times a week seven months of the year, and an average of once a week for the rest. So based on these approximations, we've used it 200 times or so (very rough guess).
Two "feet" have fallen off, both control knobs fell off, the battery is dying, and now the handle used to push it around has had a piece fall off, so transporting is a bit of a chore.
Based on all this, I'd probably buy from another company if I had it to do over. That being said, we've gotten a lot of use out of it, and most of the breakdowns are minor. New "feet" and knobs are a few dollars (props to Lobster for not soaking us on these). The battery was probably overcharged, and that's my fault. The bottom line is it's still shooting balls, and I love being able to leave work in the evening and bash tennis balls afterwards without having to schedule something or actually play a match. I'm enjoying it much, much more than I anticipated, and the repairs (besides the battery) are pretty minor.
I wasn't sure about purchasing the machine, but if there were a tennis facility that had one, and only charge a few dollars to use it, I'd be thrilled. So if I've used it 200 times, and paid $800 for it (maybe it was $700. I don't remember), that's $4.00 per use if it dies tomorrow (and all but the battery is covered for two years). Good value in my book.
Oh, and if I had it to do over, I'd get something that could hit topspin. This thing shoots balls flat, so they skip through the court. Still fun to hit, but not the same as real tennis (unless the guy hits weird flat strokes), so you can't really work on anything, because the ball you're getting is so completely different than what you're likely to get in a real match. I really wish I'd have paid extra to get something that could produce a ball I'm actually likely to see when I play against a human.
I have to say that my Sp Lite does launch a fairly realistic ball.
fwiw, I bought a heavy duty battery locally, for under $40 (12 volt 20 ah) It's good for 4 to 6 hours of constant all out use. So your battery woes might not be that big of a deal to fix.
The vendor also told me that it was impossible to overcharge it...I bought a smart/fast charger anyhow, so I just plug it in and forget it. ($60 shipped).
I have an SP edge lite that I bought this spring.
The upper motor bolt snapped after about a dozen uses.
The best theory put forth on the TT boards is that it was damaged in shipping as another owner reported his battery mounting had come loose in shipping as well.
SP sent me replacement bolts free of charge. I prefer to do it myself instead of sending it on another rough ride on the round trip through the mail.
Lobster pneumatic machines are world renown for working for 30 plus years - only catch....you have to repalce that pesky rubber sleeve every 2 years,...the pneumatic machines have been out of production for 2 years now.
I have a Lobster Elite Freedom. It's about 4 years old and out of warranty. The circuit board is bad on it and keeps resetting. Let me know if anyone has a used working circuit board for sale.
How much is a new board?
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Is that his secretary?
Two more ads below.
And below those, the TV spot where the agency probably stole this stupid idea from.
Related: If Mitt Romney did Viagra ads.
Ad agency: Publicis, Mexico.
Dat ass, boing! They are not on that beach, just so's you know.
The groom has no feet.
Preview Your Response


text:
|HistoryBuff.com September 2008 Newsletter
|To unsubscribe from the HistoryBuff.com newsletter, click here and enter your email address in the form. Your email address will be immediately removed.
Although I do not approve of drug abuse, I love this one! Throughout the late 1960s and middle 1970s, there was a magazine on the newsstand by the name of High Times. As the era and title suggests, the content was about drug use. An example article was "How to Grow Marijuana." The magazine also had a classified ad section. Early on, one classified ad read as follows: "For Sale: Mexican pot. $2 per ounce�" then when on with name, address, etc. Months later, through mainstream newspapers, I learned more about the ad results. 100,000 orders poured in with many sending money for several ounces each. Yes, the classified ad was investigated by several government agencies and found to be harmless. Harmless??? You see, the gentleman that placed the classified ad, lived in San Diego and made almost daily trips to Tijuana, Mexico, a short drive. Each time he brought back with him fifty pounds or more of Mexican pots. Customs let him through each time. You see, he was selling ceramic pots made in Mexico. Although this was a deceptive ad, government officials ruled that he could keep the money and did not face any charges. (Would you believe, there were actually dissatisfied customers that contacted their attorney general to complain that they did not receive marijuana!!!) A successful drug or alcohol detox program is the Recovery Helpline.
Picture this, you are 19 years old and go to a local bank for a loan to buy a car. Since you have no credit history, your father needs to be a cosigner to get the loan. Your father signs the loan document. You then receive in the mail your payment coupon book. When it is due, you tear off one of the coupons and mail it in with your payment. Shortly thereafter, you receive a letter from the bank thanking you for paying off your loan and letting you know you can obtain another loan WITHOUT a cosigner. You take them up on the offer. In fact, over the next six months, you get five loans, make one payment for each loan, then get letters from the bank thanking you for paying off your loan and offering another loan. In turn, you literally go into the used car business. You end up paying only $50 or so per car and sell them at $1,000 each!
As a matter of routine, your bank does a routine audit and discovered thousands of dollars unaccounted for. Checking deeper, CPA�s discover where the problem is. It all traces back to you! You borrowed $900, made one payment of $52 and somehow the loan got marked as paid off within the bank's computer. Since it was the 1960s and computer hackers literally did not exist then, bank officials are stumped. They call you in for an interview. They lay it all out for you and tell you that they are willing to drop all charges and let you keep the money IF you tell them how you did it. How did you do it? When the time for the first payment comes, you tear off the LAST coupon and mail in the payment. You see, at the time, banks were just beginning to use magnetic ink and readers on their checks and payment coupons. The last coupon also included magnetic ink instructions to mark the loan as paid off in the computer and send a thank you letter. As a result of knowing this, the last coupon no longer has the added instructions for the computer. Instead, the computer counts payments made and when the total number of payments reaches the total number for the loan, THEN the computer marks the loan paid and sends out a thank you letter!
Because the bathrooms are so small in the Eisenhower home, instead of letting tourists actually enter them, the original doors have been replaced with glass doors. That way the tourists can still see inside. One time, a teenage son asked his father why the bathrooms had glass doors. The father, not knowing any better, told his son that was because Eisenhower was president and the secret service had to be able to keep him in view at all times. With that, the son told his dad that he no longer wanted to become President of the United States!
Newsletter Archives Now Online Over the past few months several people have emailed me requesting if they could obtain copies of past issues of this newsletter. I dug through my archives and found most of the past issues intact and ready to go. A few issues I no longer have a copy of. I have now uploaded what I have and created a link to them. The link is http://www.historybuff.com/newsletter/index.html. Enjoy reading them.
Donations As many of you recall, several months ago I changed the email address for my site due to receiving in excess of 500 SPAM emails on a daily basis. Although I took steps to make it so that no where on the site the "bots" would be able to find it. Despite those measures, I am now up to about 50 SPAM emails per day. However, I will keep the newer email address (current one) until the SPAM emails get too far out of hand again.
When I changed my email address, I also added the new one to the HistoryBuff.com PayPal account and deleted the old one from the account. PayPal automatically sends me an email when each person makes a donation. However, after about 3 months with no donations, I checked my PayPal account and saw that, in fact, several people had made donations but I wasn't notified. It took over 2 hours on the telephone with PayPal customer service to finally get it straightened out. It actually took my insisting that I speak with a supervisor before the problem was remedied. Those that made donations in the past few months were: Barbara Johns, Susan Freedman-Varbero, Morris Brill, Paula Stephen, and Daniel Hunt. Many thanks for your donations. It is always appreciated.
Additonal Panoramas Now OnlineOver the summer I had the opportunity to shoot several more panoramas of historic sites. The ones online now are: Surratt Tavern that played a role in the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865, Appomattox Court House National Park in Virginia. This is where the surrender papers were signed by General Grant and Lee to end the Civil War.
July Contest
CONTEST ONE QUESTION: Who was the only first lady (wife of president) that was born in a foreign country?
ANSWER: The wife of John Quincy Adams. Louisa was born in England
CONTEST TWO QUESTION: What song was recognized as the unofficial anthem of the Confederate States of America?
ANSWER: There were three acceptable answers: Dixie, The Bonnie Blue Flag, God Save the South.
Eighty-five people entered. Twenty-one people had errors in their entry: Not selecting a prize; Selecting a prize from the Contest One entry, but answered the Contest Two question; or incorrect subject heading. One prize went unclaimed.
To enter Contest One, answer the question: Three United States Presidents died on July 4th. Who were they?
To enter Contest Two, answer the question: Who was Abraham Lincoln's FIRST Vice-President?
(Only one of each offered)
A Mighty Fortress
By Charles Alling
A Mighty Fortress is the personal account of the captain and crew of a lead bomber in the enourmous formation raids made by the 8th Airforce during the last few months of WWII.
This book may be ordered from Amazon.com.
For a complete listing of this publisher's titles, please visit www.casematepublishing.com
The Gentleman's Magazine
(Only one of each offered)
DVD Classic TV
Howdy Doody
5 Episodes of the Classic TV Series
DVD Movie
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1935)
|Original Historic Newspapers
The Atlas (Boston) historic newspaper from 1837
Original Manchester American & Messenger (New Hampshire) historic newspaper from 1853
Original New Hampshire Patriot historic newspaper from 1868
Original Coldwater Republican (Michigan) historic newspaper from 1876
2) The prop was used in the scene where Dorothy and her companions are driven by a horse of a different color around the Emerald City. The prop once owned by Abraham Lincoln was his personal carriage while he was president. The carriage is now owned and on display at the Judy Garland Museum in Kansas.
3) The boy was Kurt Russell.
|That's it for this issue.
Rick Brown
|To visit HistoryBuff.com go to http://www.historybuff.com
Your email address will be immediately removed.


text: Water Tubing Water Tubing Water Tubing on the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers near Harpers Ferry, WV. You remember the Lazy River ride at the water park? The one where you could float away the afternoon in the summer sun? Harpers Ferry Adventure Center (formerly Butt's Tubes- Don't Put Your Butt Any Place Else!) is the original Harpers Ferry tubing company and the adventure company who has water tubing down to a science. We have been offering river tubing for over 20 years! We have White Water or Flat Water options, and our tubing tickets are all-day passes! You can bring a cooler or rent one of ours, and spend the whole day on the river tubing Harpers Ferry. Put your butt in one of our tubes and let the river decide your pace! We have the smoothest operation, the shortest lines, and we are the only outfitter that has shuttles going all day long! HFAC is excited to be the only outfitter around sporting our "Ton of Fun" truck which transports our tubing adventurers from our private take out. Our location is only 1/4 mile from the river which means more river time! Your tubing pass is good all day here for as many runs as you desire within our scheduled hours of operation. Shuttles run continuously every day, so you can enjoy more time on the river. Go once, twice, or go for the record of six trips in one day! Tubing is our most popular river activity, and is the perfect way to soak up the sun, laugh with your family and friends, and cool off on a hot, summer day. We provide the equipment and the logistics, the river provides the rest! Don't Put Your Butt Anyplace Else! Check out White Water Tubing and Flat Water Tubing trip details, and decide which of our trips is the perfect fit for you! All Terrain Tubing: Want to do 'em both? Check out our All Terrain Tubing Combo. Enjoy the best of both tubing worlds with this combination, White Water AND Flat Water Tubing, all in one day! Arrive for the first departure and head out for the Flat Water trip first. After you've warmed up and got your river legs on the 'Doah', we'll bring you back to headquarters to re-group and perhaps grab a bite to eat. With bellies full, and river legs on, we'll head down to the river for the white water part of your day, where you'll splash down the 'Mac' and through Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Your All Terrain experience also includes a comfortable ride on one of our ATV's to bring you back up the mountain at the end of your trip. Minimum age for this is 12 years old. All our Tubing Trips! White Water Tubing The thrill of white water without the paddle! Want some excitement on your tubing trip? White Water Tubing is our most popular river activity and for good reason. Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More Flat Water Tubing Float away the afternoon in the Summer sun! If you prefer a lazier float or have smaller children in your group, this is the trip for you. Relax and take in the scenery! Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More Park & Play Tubing Short on Time? Are you short on time but still want to get on the water, or looking for a last minute solution to cool off this summer? How about spending a relaxing day on the water tubing at your own pace? Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More Park & Play COMBO Tube and Kayak/Canoe All Day! Add more fun to your tubing by combining it with our canoe/kayak park and play. It's the same thing just with the option of tubing, canoeing and kayaking all in a days fun. Book the combo and save per person on weekdays and per person on weekends. Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More All Terrain Tubing Enjoy the best of both tubing worlds! White Water and Flat Water tubing all in one day! Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More Guided Tubing Guide-assisted tubing for groups. Are your adult chaperones outnumbered by a large group of youth? Or just want a taste of local lore during your trip? Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More Tubing Shuttle Have your own equipment ..and just need a lift? We'll provide shuttle service with an existing tubing trip. Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More Tubing Season Pass Unlimited tubing all summer long! For one low price, enjoy unlimited tubing trips and other member only perks with our Tubing Season Pass. Pricing - Mon-Fri: $ Sat: $ Sun: $ Learn More Tubing Olympics Sunday July 20th Claim fame and lots of great prizes!. Tube-tastic Prizes include: Cash Prize, Deluxe Adventure Package, FREE trips and more! Pricing - Mon-Fri: $ Sat: Sun: Learn More Raft and Tube Combo Venture for our 2 most popular activities! Spend the day rafting and tubing on the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Pricing - Mon-Fri: Sat: Sun: Learn More


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US Airways has apologised for their "mistake" of sending out a pornographic image on twitter to a client in response to a complaint on Monday.
The tweet that included the image was directed at a Twitter user with the handle @ellerafter in response to her complaint about a delayed flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina to Portland International Airport in Oregon.
@USAirways Unhappy that 1787 sat for an hour on tarmac in CLT because overweight, resulting in over hour late arrival in PDX...
— Elle (@ElleRafter) April 14, 2014
The "accidental" picture was of a toy plane in a woman's private parts. The airline acknowledged the fact that the tweet was sent from its Twitter account, but claimed that it was a genuine mistake and apologised to the client for the same. Although the tweet including the picture was consequently taken down after it was recognized as an error, the image had been posted across the internet as a screen grab by US Airways' 422,000 followers on Twitter.
We apologize for an inappropriate image recently shared as a link in one of our responses. We've removed the tweet and are investigating.
— US Airways (@USAirways) April 14, 2014
A prior incident also increased focus on American Airways, the US Airlines' merger partner, when a 14-year-old Dutch teenager sent a "fake" terrorist threat tweet to the airline on Twitter over the weekend.


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All articles with 'charting principles' Tag
How do you make charts when you have lots of small values but few extremely large values? [Debate]
Here is an interesting charting problem we come across once in a while. We have a lot of small numbers and a few very large numbers. How do we effectively plot all of them in a chart?
Now, how do you go about making a chart?Continue »
5 Rules for Making Better Charts (and one fun chart)
Jeff Weir, an alert reader of this blog points me this chart showcasing voice-over artist's for various Simpson's characters. I am a hard-core Simpon's fan, so I naturally wasted quarter-hour looking at the chart. That is when I realize this chart is not only fun, it also teaches 5 valuable lessons on making better charts. Read the rest of this post to find out the five rules.Continue »
Display Alerts in Dashboards to Grab User Attention [Quick Tip]
Dashboards can be overwhelming with lots of details and context. A simple way to drag user's attention to important stuff in the dashboard is to use alerts. See this example to understand what alerts mean. How to display alerts in Excel Dashboards? The easiest way to display alerts is to use Excel 2007's Conditional Formatting […]Continue »
Excel Links – Project Management Edition
It has been quite a while since we had an excel links post. It doesn't mean that I am not reading anything new on excel or charting. I have been reading lots of awesome articles and useful content and sharing it on my google reader recommendation list. But it is just that I have been […]Continue »
What are your favorite colors for charts?
Ok, it is Friday again. That means poll time. I would like to know what color choices you prefer for your charts?
My Favorite Colors for Charting are,
These are the colors I use when making charts in Excel 2007 (it has capability to set any color for chart elements).Continue »
How to Select Right Chart for your Data
Bar chart or Line? Scatter plot or box plot? These are the questions we ask ourselves when we set out to make a chart. Because, "Selecting right chart for our data" is very important to tell our story.
In this article, we will learn how to "select the right chart" based on our data and situation.Continue »
Speaking at TechEd 2010 on "How to Select the Right Chart for your Data"
I have come to Bangalore to attend the TechEd 2010 conference by Microsoft. Today (April 13th), I will be speaking on "How to select the right chart for your data". A short talk telling people how to choose the correct chart based on the message they want to convey. [You can see the schedule and […]Continue »
Make your Chart Legends Legendary
We all know that legend can be added to a chart to provide useful information, color codes etc.
Today we will learn how to make the chart legends smarter so that they provide more meaning and context to the chart, like this:
This type of legend can be more useful than a plain legend as this provides more useful information without taking up too much space.Continue »
How to Visualize Survey Results using Incell Panel Charts [case study]
A panel chart (often called as trellis display or small-multiples) shows data for multiple variables in an easy to digest format. It lets users compare in any way and draw conclusions with ease.
Today, I want to discuss how the principles of panel chart can be applied to visualize a complex set of survey results. For this we will use the recent survey conducted by Gartner on how various customers use BI (Business Intelligence) tools.Continue »
Best Month Ever (and a charting tip inside)
Let us take a minute and bask in some glory, for, our little community at PHD had the most fantastic month ever. That is right, January 2010 is so far the best month since I started blogging. We have broken all sorts of previous records on content, conversations, connections, traffic and revenue. In January, we […]Continue »
Flu Trends in a City chart from Google is Awesome!
There is nothing awesome about flu. In fact, it is anti-awesome if you have flu. I have been fortunate enough not to get it ever (it is another story that I have cold almost 364 days of an year).
Don't worry if you are afraid of it, Folks at Google are not letting you down. They are using google search terms to predict flu trends and present the information in a beautiful chart.
Today I want to tell you why this particular chart on flu trends made by Google is awesome…Continue »
Group Smaller Slices in Pie Charts to Improve Readability
Jon Peltier can stand on his roof and shout in to a megaphone "Use Bar Charts, Not Pies", but the fact remains that most of us use pie charts sometime or other. In fact I will go ahead and say that pie charts are actually the most widely used charts in business contexts.
Today I want to teach you a simple pie chart hack that can improve readability of the chart while retaining most of the critical information intact.Continue »
Excel Links of the Week [Excel Dashboards Edition]
Over the weekend I spent some time to update the Excel Dashboards page. It now features more articles, downloads and resources for those of you making Excel Dashboards. Go ahead and check out the page here and let me know your feedback.
Moving on to this weeks excel and charting links worth checking.Continue »
What is the most embarrassing charting mistake you made? [weekend poll]
This week's poll is very simple. What is the the most embarrassing charting mistake your made?
For me it has to be that one time when I made a sports dashboard using excel. I have adjusted the axis scale of a bar chart so that my favorite cricket player (Sachin Tendulkar, who else?)'s records are emphasized. In a matter of minutes I have received several comments from all over world pointing out the mistake. Even though, the intention was to highlight the achievements of master blaster, the axis adjustment was obviously a mistake.Continue »
Top X chart – Show Top X values of a chart Interactively
Two charting principles we hear all the time are,
- Sort your data in a meaningful order before plotting it.
- Show only relevant information, not everything – because un-necessary information clutters the chart.
Today we will learn a dynamic charting technique that will mix these two ideas in a useful way. I call this a Top X chart.Continue »


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For the second year in a row, accounting students from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business took home first place in the student case study competition at National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) National Convention & Expo, held in Washington, D.C., June 18-20, 2014.
Dr. Progyan Basu has been selected for the 2014 Undergraduate Studies Faculty Fellows at the University of Maryland.
Research presented at the third annual Journal of Accounting and Public Policy Conference in College Park, Md., shows how the expectation of a safety net — which comes with strings attached — actually reins in shareholders and managers with limited liability.
Savvy investors separate wishful thinking from meaningful facts in earnings statements
The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business celebrated students in the Accounting Teaching Scholars (ATS) program at an annual reception and dinner on April 17, 2014. ATS is part of the Smith School's Undergraduate Fellows Program.
The Robert H. Smith School of Business has expanded its reputation as a research and knowledge hub with top-25 showings in three recent worldwide rankings.
On March 28, 2014, at the North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Bethesda, Md., students, faculty and business professionals met for the third annual Smith School Business Summit. This year's theme looked at innovation as an essential building block for the prosperity and survival of corporations. With more than 600 registered attendants, it was the largest Summit yet.
Smith School of Business Professor Lawrence A. Gordon recently co-developed a formula to determine how much a company should invest in cybersecurity. Now, he targets University of Maryland honors students with this innovation.
His course, Accounting and Economic Aspects of Cybersecurity, introduces financial management principles to a discipline grounded in computer science and engineering.
Congratulations to the Top Graduating Seniors in each major for 2013-14! We will honor these seniors at our 14th Annual Robert H. Smith School of Business Undergraduate Awards Dinner later this semester.
Dean's Leadership Award: Stephanie Graf
Accounting: Kristen Ballou
Finance: Hrach Kelejian
Information Systems: Miles Dickinson
International Business: Claire Moriarty
Management: Sara Ali
Successful businesses thrive on innovation. It's the key to a competitive advantage and should be part of every business strategy and strategic vision.
Discover ways to jumpstart your innovation strategy in 2014 and beyond. Join us for the third annual Smith School Business Summit, presented by the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business on Friday, March 28 at the Marriott North Bethesda.


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Enabling Research in Evolutionary Biology
Our focus is on the evolution of hardware and parallel computer architectures as well as on the evolution of molecular sequences.
We understand Bioinformatics as a discipline that develops algorithms, models, and tools that help Biologists to generate new biological insights and knowledge. We try to bridge the gap between the world of systematics and the world of high performance computing.
Due to the increasing descrepancy between the pace of molecular data accumulation and increase in CPU speeds (which is much slower), which we call the "Bio-Gap" we feel that the time has come to establish parallel computing as standard technique in Bioinformatics.
Applications are now open for the 7th summer school on computational molecular evolution organized by Nick Goldman, Aidan Budd, Ziheng Yang, Laura Emery and Alexis Stamatakis. The application deadline is November 14.
For further info and to apply on-line please visit the course page.
ExaBayes: A fast and scalable Bayesian inference tool for normal computers and supercomputers.
It is as fast or faster (on DNA data) than MrBayes and we demonstrated parallel scalability of up to 32,000 cores for it on the Munich supercomputing system: SuperMUC.
For more details, please visit the ExaBayes page.
The latest version of RAxML can be found at Alexis github repository.
RAxML questions, help & bug reports: please use the RAxML google group
There is finally a new manual available for RAxML version 8.0.X. You can get it here
We are always looking for student programmers (HiWis) and students interested in doing bachelor/master theses projects with us. If you are interested please send an email to Alexis at Alexandros dot Stamatakis at h hyphen its dot org
Our contribution:Alexis developed the initial version of the ExaML software for phylogenetic inference on supercomputers and applied for the computing time on the SuperMUC HPC system. Andre carried out the partitioning, phylogenetic analyses and some post-analyses on the SuperMUC using ExaML.
Our contribution:Andre developped software for rogue taxon analysis and applied it to the datasets. Alexis developed the initial version of the ExaML software for phylogenetic inference on supercomputers and applied for the computing time on the SuperMUC HPC system. Simon and Fernando carried out the phylogenetic analyses on the SuperMUC using ExaML. Tomas and Paschalia substantially contributed to the dating analyses.


text:
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
awesome book movie looks horrific
the movie stinks
It is the most horrific horror
want to read it
i saw the movie
Please do not use your real name.
© 2015, Boy Scouts of America. All rights reserved.


text:
Grant Green, Commissioner, Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan
Click below to hear the interview
Jump to main content.
Sponsored By:
Host Tom Temin brings you the latest news affecting the federal community each weekday morning, featuring interviews with top government executives and contractors. Listen live from 6 to 9 a.m. or download archived interviews below.
Thursday - 7/15/2010, 10:31am EDT
Click below to hear the interview
By Meg Beasley
Federal News Radio
As U.S. forces begin exiting Iraq, the State Department is struggling to find the best way to continue their diplomatic mission without military support.
According to the Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC), while DoD and State deserve credit for their efforts to plan an orderly transition of responsibilities, their efforts leave cause for concern.
"The Pentagon may be ready, our concern is the State Department's readiness to take this on because it does involve a huge number of contractors, certainly unprecedented in the department's history, and it's going to be a very complicated management and administrative mission," says commissioner Grant Green.
The bipartisan commission, established in 2008 to study wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, recently returned from a fact finding mission in Iraq. The group published a report of their findings on Monday.
CWC identified over 1,000 responsibilities that will need to be addressed when DoD leaves, many of which State is not prepared to assume.
"When you get into security issues, these are things that even if State had 100,000 more people, they're just not trained or capable of doing," says Green.
The commission says the transition is complicated by the fact that most of the functions rely on long standing DoD relationships with the Iraqi government that have few, if any, parallels at State.
In peaceful, stable countries this transition is usually eased by relying on the host nation to provide emergency and security needs. In a turbulent situation like Iraq, however, the exit of the military means State will have to rely on contractors for those functions.
There is debate about the use of contractors for what some see as inherently governmental functions, but State doesn't have many options.
"You use contractors, you leave some military to do selected things after the drawdown, or you down size the mission in some ways. Some combination of that may have to be the answer," Green says.
The commission also found management and oversight to be obstacles. According to Green, current weaknesses in contract oversight are expected to worsen as the number of contractors increases. For example, there are currently 2,700 security contractors in Iraq. CWC expects that to rise to 6,000 - 7,000.
The instability of the Iraqi government is another significant problem. Green says many of the decisions State and DoD are trying to make rely on a host government that is able to make those decisions and because that government has not been finalized, many decisions aren't being made.
Green says the goals of the special report were to draw attention to the dilemma and encourage DoD and State to work with the Iraqi government to find solutions. The report recommended:
Green says CWC is planning another fact finding trip in September or October, once the agencies have had time to implement the recommendations.
"The clock is moving. We've got a year and a half or so and the military will be out. Unless there is a change, State has got their hands full," says Green. "I don't want to imply that they're not doing things, but a year and a half is not a lot of time."
Meg Beasley is an intern with Federal News Radio


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29 July 2013 18:55 [Source: ICIS news]
MEDELLIN, Colombia (ICIS)--Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) has awarded Bureau Veritas Argentina a contract to supervise work on its ammonia and urea plant in central Bolivia, the state-run hydrocarbons firm said on Monday.
The scope of the contract involves the supervision, control, verification and approval of deadlines and quality from the start of the project until its conclusion, YPFB said.
Proposals were also received from Switzerland-based Foster Wheeler and Venezuela's Inelectra International, the company said.
According to YPFB, Bureau Veritas is putting together a team of specialists from Bolivia, Argentina and overseas who will shortly be transferred to the offices of Samsung Engineering in South Korea. Samsung won an $844m (€633m) contract in August last year for the engineering and construction of the plant.
The award follows YPFB's announcement on Friday that work will begin at the plant in September.
The plant, in the town of Bulo Bulo, Cochabamba department, will have an estimated capacity of 650,000 tonnes/year of urea and 420,000 tonnes of ammonia, and demand 1.4m cubic metres (mcm)/day of natural gas.
Operations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2015.
($1 = €0.75)
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Asian Chemical Connections


text:
The birds were abandoned by firms involved in contract farming scam
The Erode district administration is scouting for buyers in Andhra Pradesh for hundreds of emus that were abandoned by firms involved in the contract farming scam.
Officials are busy contacting livestock traders in the neighbouring State, where there is some demand left for the meat of the flightless birds that are native to Australia.
Authorities have contacted more than 50 traders via email and planned to advertise in local language dailies in Andhra Pradesh to attract more traders to participate in the upcoming auctions to sell the emus.
In the previous auction held in March, only five traders participated. Of them, three were from Andhra Pradesh. The birds that were once claimed to fetch Rs. 20,000 each, were sold for Rs.1,350 at the auction.
"We want more traders to participate in the upcoming auctions as we have a large number of birds to sell. The increased participation will fetch higher prices for the birds," District Revenue Officer S. Ganesh said.
The officials are contacting the traders directly and also through email.
The administration had taken over 10,000 birds under its maintenance after they were abandoned by the promoters of private emu firms in August last year when the scam came to light. Of them, about 7,000 birds belong to Susi Emu Farms and 2,000 to Queen Emu Farms.
The birds were kept at eight different places in the district and the Revenue Department along with officials from the Animal Husbandry is taking care of the birds.
A little over 1,900 birds of the Perundurai-based Queen Emu Farms will be up for sale in the next auction along with 415 birds belonging to Gobichettipalayam-based NS Agro Farms and Hatcheries.
Auctions are being conducted based on the directions of the special court for Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial establishments) Act in Coimbatore. The revenue from the auction will be deposited with the special court and later distributed to investors.
Police sources said emu promoters, who promised staggering returns for the investment made in the contract farming of emus and lured thousands of people to join their get-rich-quick schemes, swindled over Rs. 500 crore.
Keywords: livestock traders, emu trade


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11.04.05 - By Wray Edwards: QUESTION: HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE THAT A WORLD-CLASS CHAMPION BOXER CAME TO THE SCALES FOUR AND ONE/HALF POUNDS OVER-WEIGHT TO DEFEND HIS WBO JR. LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP?
You would think that a serious, professional prize fighter would watch his weight like a hawk prior to such an important event. You would think that his trainer, his conditioner and his manager would all keep vigilant watch over such an important factor. The seventh day of March was anything but lucky for 22 year-old Michael Anchondo. To his utter surprise he missed his assigned weight at weigh-in, and lost his belt as the bell rang for his bout with 28 year-old Jorge Barrios.
This trusting young man was thrust into a no win situation, losing thirty thousand dollars, and his belt, all because of seventy-two ounces of body weight.. Thats a fine of $ 417.00 per ounce. Additionally his opponent could become champ by winning, while Mike could only qualify (at best) as the number one challenger if he prevailed. Once you read below about specific events which led up to this debacle, you will probably re-examine any assumptions you might have formed about how it happened and who was at fault.
Driving west, leaving the scrambling tizzy of the eastern Florida resort coast, one turns south on highway 27 then right across the barren wetlands of the state. After ten minutes or so a big red sign appears on the right announcing your arrival at the Miccosukee gaming resort. To the right of the main entrance is a large, white Quonset building where special events are held. Last Friday night the attraction was boxing.
The main event was between Michael Anchondo and Jorge Barrios. The under-card fights were a mix of excitement and boredom with the lighter weight, four-rounders being the most entertaining. When we finally got to the big one, which was featured on ESPNs Friday Night Fights (delayed by a goofy baseball game) it was short and sweet for Barrios. For Anchondo it was another story. It was, in fact, far more interesting because of the controversy surrounding the mysterious overweight condition of Anchondo.
Eastside Boxing has been told that Anchondo was conditioned by a man named Francisco Pancho Valdez. Previously, Valdez had been associated with a fighter named Ponce De Leon who, we were told, was instrumental in bringing Pancho to the notice and hire of Golden Boy Promotions. At the start of training for this fight Anchondo was in California under the supervision of Norman Wilson and John David Jackson. His weight was carefully watched by everyone (including Mike) every day by orders of the staff physician.
About half-way through his training Mike was moved by Team Freedom to a Vero Beach ocean-side mansion to train with Buddy McGirt. His conditioning was to be under the supervision of Valdez the Same Valdez who has ties to Golden Boy, the principle agency for Barrios management in the U.S. One might ask why would Team Freedom trust a Golden Boy associate to help prepare one of Team Freedoms fighters for a match with Jorge, a Golden Boy fighter?
Valdez had been calling during the conditioner selection process to try to get on as Mikes conditioner. Does it seem prudent to hire a conditioner with such an apparent conflict of interest? For some reason a conditioner nick-named DJ, with no connection to Golden Boy, was passed over in favor of Valdez. Possibly Mikes trusting nature and his familiarity with Valdez affected his choice. Couldnt Team freedom see the potential danger in that? Didnt it occur to them?? Why not?
Originally Anchondo was with Golden Boy, but did not renew his contract because he felt that De La Hoya was not directly involved enough with his fighters. Oscar is said to have been rather displeased with Mikes choice, thus setting the stage for potential conflicts in the future. De La Hoya, whose reputation was variously sullied by an extremely controversial decision win over Felix Sturm prior to his double-contract fight with Bernard Hopkins, and an ill-fated attempt to beat (some say rip-off) the boxing reality show The Contender to TV screens, could not be reached for comment.
Anchondo took up residence in the mansion with his grandfather and Valdez to begin his final training for the Barrios fight. He trained at Buddy McGirts Vero Beach Elite training facility. Valdez was exclusively in charge of Anchondos weight supervision to the extent that Mike was told not to even look at the scales, and his weights were taken at another location. Elite was said to have been told to refrain from ever weighing Mike at the training site. Presumably Mike was weighed at the mansion by Valdez. DJ said he tested the scales and they were accurate, but Mike was told not to look, so he was out of the loop on that issue.
Mike lives with his L.A. area step-parents who adopted him when he was just six years old after seeing him in a sort-of pee-wee boxing exhibition. Mike is very young (22), trusting and well-liked. He was so astonished (shocked) when his weight was as far off as it was, that he insisted another set of scales be brought in to verify the first reading. Is that the reaction of a guy who was trusting others to keep watch on his weight? - Probably. Additionally, just ten days before the weigh-in Mike was an astonishing FOURTEEN pounds over; a large figure for a feather-weight.
Therefore he was set on a course of weight-loss regimens which included three-hour stints in a sauna, every day, for three days before the fight. In fact someone had to step in a put a stop to this insanity before Anchondo was irreparably damaged. Also the day before the fight he was seen at a local fitness center on a high-incline treadmill for at least one hour.
Additionally, several observers, including Mikes parents, stated that Valdez had called the room and asked to come up. When he arrived he gave Mike a handful of pills to take possibly diuretics. The above is a certain prescription for exhaustion and electrolytic imbalance. Mike was observed later to be very dehydrated and pale.
This writer sat at the apron as Anchondo entered the ring looking weak and not ready. Those who want to blame Anchondo for this mess should consider the possibility that he may be too trusting
even gullible, but it is quite probable he was either duped or horribly miss-managed, possibly even (in the opinions of many) to the point of negligent liability. Persons who contract to perform tasks which are quite doable, and fail to come through with no plausible excuses, are in breech, and are commonly required to compensate those they have failed to properly serve, causing great loss or damage.
The rest is history. None of this takes away from Barrios great condition and performance. He was dominant and powerful in his repeated and effective assaults on Anchondo. Mike was repeatedly floored and, each time, crawled toward his corner. When Buddy had seen enough, he waved to the ref and entered the ring to protect and hug his beaten fighter. Mike was crushed. He was given oxygen and tended to in the corner for several minutes as Jorge celebrated with his crew, and the very vocal Argentinean fans.
Considering the weigh-in problems and the very dangerous weight-loss machinations to which Mike was subjected, it is a miracle he lasted as long as he did. One must ask, was Valdez just completely incompetent or was there a more troubling reason for Anchondos problems? Either answer should be great cause for concern. Valdez is said to still be in the employ of Golden Boy. How could they possibly hire and have faith in a man who seemingly miss-managed Anchondos pre-fight weight controls? Valdez was seen at the fight. If yours truly had so radically failed to be properly responsible for one of a fighters most important conditioning factors, I would not even consider showing my face at the fight.
Anchondo is six years younger than Barrios and will certainly have more opportunities to rise through the ranks. He would be wise to buy himself a set of scales, and no matter whom his future conditioning trainer is, he surely should keep an eagle eye on his weight. He must know by now that Valdez was a horrific choice as a conditioner. A man who through negligence, incompetence or possibly even through design, in the opinions of some, cost Mike $30,000.00 and his championship belt, ought not be on his next short list for a conditioner.
Congratulations to Barrios for his valiant training effort, and condolences to him in regard to his recent family losses. Many thanks to Veronica Paysse at NGM Advertising, and the great staff at the Miccosukee Resort for their kind services to Eastside Boxing for our coverage of the fights. Also the Florida Boxing Commission officials and Judges were very helpful to the assembled media.
We hope that Mike and Jorge will both continue in earnest with their boxing careers so that we may enjoy their exciting talents in the future.
Photos (c) Wray Edwards
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Doggystyled wife gets her loose assholed fingered and fucked
Loose Wife Fingered And Fucked
Submitted: 39 months ago by Jason52k
Views: 12731 Duration: 01:05
4 Comments
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I'm a cervix checker but I am weirded out by how things look and feel down there so I haven't got the nerve to check the location of my cervix. So, I started feeling better and most likely over did myself and ever since yesterday, my perenium feels heavy. And I feel like there is something right inside my vagina that I didn't feel before and its bothering me.. ugh. Im 3 weeks pp. Is this normal? What do I do?? Should I try to look or feel for my cervix to see if thats what it is? I'm scared. I'm a little swollen today too.
I didn't have any issues with pelvic prolapse of any kind, but suspected it during thsi pregnancy. My OB confirmed a very slight prolapse, but said we wouldn't know the extent until after baby. However, she said that it is very common to have a slightly prolapsed uterus while the pelvic floor muscle heal after birth. Then some story about how her cervix was so low right after birth and went back etc. Regardless, after much time on the pelvic prolapse thread here at MDC, I made an appt with a specialist who cant see me for a couple months.
So of course i am obsessing now, as I would love to start running and other things asap but not wanting to hurt anything if there is something abnormal.
So my question, or favor, for anyone open to checking....how high is your cervix now? For those that were cervix checkers before pregnancy...is it the same height now as it was then? Thank you for feeding my obsessing until I see the doctor.
I just read this today about how doing Kegels might not help with prolapse issues at all:
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We met with the West End favourite at the London Palladium where she is currently starring in the new musical by Harry Hill
After her performances at the WhatsOnStage Awards launch and concert, Cynthia Erivo has become somewhat of an office favourite. In fact, since appearing in shows including Lift and The Color Purple, she has won the hearts of theatregoers across the country.


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FMLY Fest assembles dozens of musicians for DIY weekend
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The cover just about says it all. Rather unlike the refracted, abstracted mirror ball of 2000's Vocalcity, Luomo's new album, The Present Lover, looks like a Revlon ad from the '80s. Vocalcity subjected 15-minute house tracks to the dot-dot-dash of Germanic semaphore glitch music; The Present Lover is polished and clipped to near radio-friendly lengths. It retains the first album's detached couture hauteur, a glamour born of steely industrial girders as much as well-defined cheekbones. Luomo main man Vladislav Delay may have produced glassy ambient in a former life, but the eddying dub-scapes that anchored Vocalcity have been replaced on his latest by house's traditional concussive warmth and bright top-end. As such, Delay skirts a kind of opulence that threatens to sour into nouveau-riche posturing--but if this is music for Banana Republic (as some wags are likely to claim), then it's a zero-gravity one on a Venusian moon.
On the near weightless "Body Speaking," the anonymous female singer's voice glints like drips of mercury streaking against endless space. The title track quavers mid-song like heat rising off a blacktop, then Delay decides to play a guitar solo on his synthesizer, notes buckling and warping, creeping across the bars like hot wax. Vocalcity standout "Tessio" is transformed into a jaunty weeper, prickly Spanish guitar recalling Madonna's "Deeper and Deeper," the singer beseeching "Baby, it's okay/We'll make it better." Whereas the vocals on Vocalcity swirled phonemes, inhalations, and snatches of phrase to suggest song form, they're positioned center stage here, albeit still phased/fazed by hazy production and often heard nearly at a whisper. Delay only falters when he reaches back for the glitches he left behind.
Most of The Present Lover is unabashedly gorgeous and moistly melancholic, but its emotions are ambiguous, as cold and opaque as an ice sculpture, even as they breathe and pulse. It's an uncanny simulacrum, not only of mainstream house, but also of emotionality in pop music. This is digital disco for live humans. Or maybe the other way 'round.
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