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When you use your credit card to pay for groceries, your focus is likely to be how much you are paying for the items in your cart. But each time you swipe your credit card, the business you are patronizing has to pay a fee to the credit card company, called an interchange fee. The fee [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation, How Credit Cards Work
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Most Americans have an active stake in one issue that might be easy to overlook in the midst of the 2012 Presidential campaign: policies affecting our day-to-day use of credit cards. Between the incumbent President, several contenders for the Republican nomination, and a Libertarian candidate, it can be tough to keep track of the various positions [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation
The number isn't as catchy as 911 or 411, but for beleaguered credit card holders, 1-855-411-CFPB (2372) could end up being a financial lifeline. In case you don't know what that last phone number is, that's the direct toll-free hotline to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the brand new Federal agency launched on July 21. If [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation, How Credit Cards Work
A curious reader recently wrote in to the CardRatings.com Ask the Expert feature to ask: "Are some states better than others when using a credit card?" Geoff Williams responds: Interesting question and kind of open-ended, so I'm not quite sure how to answer it for you, but let me give it a whirl. Do you mean is [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation
The Credit CARD Act of 2009 was enacted to curtail abusive practices by credit card issuers and protect consumers from out-of-control fees and interest rates that seemed to fluctuate daily. But is the CARD Act the firewall consumer advocates wanted, or just a new way to be completely confused by the fine print? Well…both. There are [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation
No. 5 Most-Viewed CardRatings.com Article of 2011* When the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act was ushered into law, it was heralded as a way to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices by credit card issuers. But while the new law provided some consumer benefits, many finer points of the CARD Act are complex and [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation, Top Articles
No. 4 Most-Viewed CardRatings.com Article of 2011 Whether you loved the idea of the Credit CARD Act of 2009 (full disclosure: I'm a fan), or you thought it was yet another overreaching law, with the two-year anniversary just behind us (it was May 22), it's become apparent to industry and personal finance experts that there have [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation, Top Articles
In a 5-4 decision that affects anyone who carries a credit card or signs a cell phone contract, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 27 that companies can require customers to waive their right to participate in a class-action lawsuit, the Los Angeles Times reported. The ruling in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion overturned an earlier [...]Categories: Credit Card Legislation
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hmm i don't like her eyes
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hmm i don't like her eyes
Big Black? Average size.
I want to fuck her! She is so beautiful
Her voice is UNBEARABLE !!!
I love her fucking eyes
i love you sophie
her voice wasnt doin it for me.i know guys really dont give a shit about that kind of stuff but as a woman i was a little put off by it.
i love you sophie dee!!! i love you big butt and you big blue eyes
she looks better with dark hair
Sie hat ja ein billiges Schloss, da passt ja jeder Schlüssel rein! ;-) Ich hab' ja den Masterkey, der in alle Schlösser passt :D
I think she scream too much.... I am a women and I dont scream like that I make sexy sounds but thats too much... and too much makeup

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Definitions for evasiveɪˈveɪ sɪv
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word evasive
Princeton's WordNet
deliberately vague or ambiguous
"his answers were brief, constrained and evasive"; "an evasive statement"
avoiding or escaping from difficulty or danger especially enemy fire
"pilots are taught to take evasive action"
Tending to avoid speaking openly or making revelations about oneself.
Directed towards avoidance or escape; evasive action.
Webster Dictionary
tending to evade, or marked by evasion; elusive; shuffling; avoiding by artifice
Origin: [Cf. F. vasif. See Evade.]
Images & Illustrations of evasive
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If you're looking to improve your pottery skills, but can't get to a class or a workshop, online ceramics videos can be the next best thing. But sifting through the hundreds of videos on other video sites to find quality pottery instruction, can be time consuming and frustrating. That's why the Ceramic Arts Daily pottery video archive is so helpful. Our editors have personally vetted all of the videos we post to make sure each one is informative, educational, and inspirational. Our growing collection of pottery videos also provides previews at some of the more in-depth instructional DVDs available in the Ceramic Arts Daily bookstore.
Tips for Throwing a Perfect Tall Cylinder
November 20, 2015
Not only does Adam Field go over his meticulous carving techniques on his new DVD, Precision Throwing and Intricate Carving, but...
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Creating Expressive Features in Animal Sculptures
November 13, 2015
People have been using clay to tell stories since the dawn of history. Lisa Naples tells stories in both her functional pots and ceramic sculpture. In her...
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Creating Interesting Surfaces through Layering and Good Composition
November 6, 2015
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Glaze Trailing Beautiful Surface Designs
November 4, 2015
As most any potter will tell you, glazing is probably the most challenging part of making pottery. It takes a lot of practice and experimentation to get it right...
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A Homemade Clay Tool Makes Building a Graceful Slab Bowl Easier
October 30, 2015
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Combining Stamped Underglaze Decoration with Shellac Resist to Create Gorgeous Layered Surfaces
October 23, 2015
A few weeks ago, the lovely and talented Erin Furimsky spent a few days here filming a DVD on layered ceramic surfaces, which will be out in July. I...
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How to Make a Lovely Folded Vase with a Clay Slab
October 16, 2015
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Pottery Video! Tips for Strong Joints on Slab Built Pottery
October 9, 2015
I am happy to announce that the lovely Lisa Naples's DVD Flat to Functional: Handbuilding and Slip Decorating, is making its debut to the world today. Lisa is a consummate...
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Put Your Best Foot Forward: Suze Lindsay Shares Two Techniques for Handbuilt Feet
October 5, 2015
Historically, I have been more of a thrower than a handbuilder. I love handbuilt pots, but haven't quite gotten there with my handbuilding. One thing I have struggled with...
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How to Use Wax Resist and Ceramic Underglaze for Fine-Line Inlaid Decoration
October 2, 2015
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In case you haven't been following along, here's the major conflict so far: El Prez and Olivia used to have A Thing, then he had A Thing with former aide Amanda Tanner, and now Olivia is trying to keep a lid on the story. Unlucky for her, Intrepid Cub Reporter Gideon has started sniffing around, making Olivia's life way harder. This week we see Olivia dealing with a rape case while also bunking down with Amanda, teaching Gideon to heel, and fending off the creepy advances of not one, but two White House denizens. Let's get to it.
The case o' the week centers on Travis Harding (hey, it's Zach from The O.C.!), the playboy son of super-rich CEO Sandra (JoBeth Williams), a good friend of Olivia's. Travis is on trial for rape but can't be bothered to show up for court, let alone stop soaking himself in booze and cavorting with blondes in hotel rooms. Olivia and the Dream Team know that in a case like this, where it comes down to "he says, she says," perception equals reality, and the jury and the public (and me!) see him as an entitled rich boy who thinks he can get away with anything. The girl pressing charges, Helen, is basically a saint on paper, according to Abby--American U grad, barely drinks, holds a vague, saintlike job at a nonprofit that helps special needs kids. The one catch: She's massively in debt, so Olivia tells Sandra their best bet is to settle. The dream team offers Helen $9 million, plus another half a million to the charity of her choice, but Helen refuses, asking how many millions it would take Olivia to forget the experience of being strangled and raped, to not wake up every morning wanting to kill herself. Kerry Washington is pretty great at playing the subtle beats of Olivia's uncertainty; she believes Travis is innocent, but Helen's graphic descriptions and obvious distress pull at her conscience.
Their next strategy is to make sure Travis shows up in court, dressed in a cheap suit so he doesn't seem so 1 percent-y. As Harrison helps him dress, Travis shows the first concern all episode as he realizes he might actually go to jail. He suggests offering Helen even more millions, because "they always take the money in the end." Harrison gets Worried Face as he realizes this might not be Travis's first rodeo, so to speak. The Dream Team dig into Travis's financial records and find out a few years ago he gave an Arlington waitress named Rachel $600,000 and a Mercedes S-Class. Olivia suggests they track her down to figure out the deal, but Abby fills in that they can't--she killed herself a couple of years after the payout went through. Turns out it was her best friend who found her body. Her best friend from American U. Helen. Yikes.
Olivia debriefs Sandra and Travis that he isn't guilty of the particular crime he's on trial for, and since Rachel had dropped the charges he'll definitely go free. But that doesn't erase the fact that he basically destroyed another human being, Olivia points out. Mommy Dearest, shocked, asks Travis if it's true, and he immediately fesses up. "You always told me to fix my mistakes," he says. "So I handled it."
The next day in court, the defense attorney, who totally sounds like Wallace Shawn, viciously attacks a crying Helen on the stand, basically calling her a money-grubbing slut. Olivia is so disgusted, she leaves the courtroom and finds Mommy Dearest on a bench outside. Sandra reflects on how she managed to produce such a shitty kid. Both women in this scene are great at selling the regret and remorse and internal conflict of conscience involved here. Olivia tells Sandra it's not her fault who Travis turned out to be.
Speaking of disappointing men, El Prez is in fine form this week. We first see him sleeping peacefully as FLOTUS checks her e-mail and sips coffee. When he wakes with a start, we find out she canceled his morning appointments (including one with NELSON freaking MANDELA) because the poor widdle Prez was up all night pacing, so she thought he deserved a chance to sleep in. He helpfully reminds her that he's the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD and has more important things to worry about than his beauty sleep (although Tony Goldwyn's eyes do look a little puffy).
Meanwhile, Amanda is sitting in HQ's conference room while the Dream Team gapes at her through the window like they're at the aquarium and she's Myrtle the Turtle. They're voting over whether to keep her on as a client, but Olivia tells them it's not up for discussion, and that Amanda will be staying with her while they try to weather the potential media storm. AWKward.
Gideon the Intrepid shows up at HQ, in a suit but minus the stubble, which makes him way less cute. Quinn freaks, but he says Olivia invited him there. Il Papa lays it out for him: He has no story because he's still stuck reporting on how the cherry blossoms are so late this year (FALSE), so as soon as he gets something juicy on Amanda all the vet reporters will snatch it right from under him. But if he keeps mum for 72 hours, she'll throw him a bone on Amanda's background, and maybe even a quote. He jumps all over the deal like a dachshund on a Snausage.
Back at Il Papa's apartment, Olivia asks Amanda whether she has proof of her affair with El Prez, because she'll need it if it comes down to "he says, she says" (sound familiar?). Amanda admits she does, but she's not willing to share it yet (I'm calling it now: It's totally a baby). Olivia then asks her what her end game is. "Do you want money? Do you want to stay in Washington? Do you want your job back? You have options." Amanda counters that she wants one meeting with El Prez. Alone. Ominous chords.
Olivia goes to see Cyrus and asks him to set up the meeting. Fifteen minutes, then the problem goes away for good. Cyrus says he'll make it happen. "We made a President together," he says. They talk about how she used to be his work wife (aww), then he tells her El Prez isn't sleeping. What's Olivia supposed to do about it? She settles for telling him she isn't either as she walks away.
Back in Cyrus's office, El Prez comes in, gushing about some wounded vets he met earlier that day. I can't tell if he's supposed to be completely naive, as Cyrus seems to think, or if he's so hard-boiled that this whole lovesick puppy idealist persona is a total affectation, and his creepy molester personality is the real deal. Anyway, in this scene the latter wins, as Cyrus has apparently received an e-mailed copy of an audio tape of El Prez "moaning with a White House aide." Ew. Cyrus immediately assumes that since Olivia is representing Amanda, it was obviously her who sent the tape and she's trying to blackmail him. El Prez looks like he might pass out.
Olivia and Quinn walk in on Amanda finishing up a heated phone conversation in Olivia's kitchen. She tells them Gideon won't stop calling her, which Olivia says means he knows something juicy. Quinn offers that she thinks he likes her and would be willing to take one for the team by going on a date with him to find out what he knows. Rough life. In typical spastic Quinn fashion she makes plans to meet him at a bar later.
Stephen and Olivia are in her office, and he's pointing out her amazingly massive conflict of interest in the Amanda Tanner case. As if on cue, Olivia gets a call from FLOTUS, who strong-arms her into attending a state dinner that night. Stephen looks smug.
Quinn heads to the bar for her "date" with Gideon, with a little help from Huck, who bribes the bartender into giving Gideon "three fingers of booze" in every drink and Quinn only virgin margs. Um, that seems wildly creepy, especially in an episode with a subplot involving date rape. Anyway, it's all for nothing, as Gideon can tell Quinn is just there to pump him for information by the fact that she's wound so tight she's basically a human Slinky. He proposes turning their sham date into a real one, and Quinn looks charmed, but then asks why he broke his deal with Olivia. Downing his third margarita, he says he never did. "I want that quote." Hmm.
At the state dinner, Olivia, looking super hot in a backless white dress, dances with Billy Chambers, who hits on her this way: "I'm trying to figure out how I can sexually harass you and get away with it." Nice, Billy. FLOTUS swoops over and cuts in, and it's become pretty obvious she's doing her damndest to get El Prez and Il Papa to interact. They dance, and he's just a disaster, and Olivia keeps hissing at him to stop looking at her. Instead he tells her to meet him at "their spot," and leaves his own state dinner. Probably no one will notice. Right? Instead, enter Cyrus, who tells Olivia she's "getting played by the best politician in the world," and that the Amanda meeting is off. He then finds El Prez in the "spot" and tells him basically the same thing about Olivia.
Olivia shows up at Sandra's door and says she changed her mind: It is Sandra's fault that Travis turned out awful, because Sandra keeps cleaning up his messes. Olivia tells her she needs to make her son face his own wrongdoings. Hello, pot? It's kettle. They head to Olivia's office, where they meet Travis. Sandra tells him he should turn himself in, which Trav is having none of. Showing a scary lack of remorse for the fact that he caused a woman to KILL HERSELF, he suggests that instead he'll go to Europe for a couple of years until things blow over, then come back and run the family company. Sandra, looking infinitely sad, says that won't cut it. Enter the cops, who drag Travis away.
At the White House, El Prez is sulking. He asks FLOTUS why she invited Olivia to the dinner. "Because I know you needed to see her," she says. "Tonight you'll sleep like a baby." Ooh, look who finally got interesting.
At HQ, Olivia's figured out a way to protect Amanda, after all. Rather than giving Gideon access to her, she's giving him an exclusive on Sandra turning in her son and resigning as CEO. Quinn follows her out and tells her Gideon never called Amanda. "I don't think Amanda's telling you everything," she says. THERE IS TOTALLY A BABY. If there's a baby, you guys owe me $5 each.
Olivia heads to her apartment to confront Amanda, who pathetically says El Prez is mad at her and that she doesn't need 15 minutes, just five. Olivia says she knows Amanda feels like a crumpled big Mac wrapper thrown to the curb, but she still needs to tell Olivia everything. And boom goes the dynamite: "I'm pregnant," Amanda says. Feel free to send those Lincolns to the office.
So what did we find out from this episode? FLOTUS most likely knows about Olivia's affair with El Prez, and El Prez knows she knows, if he didn't already. Olivia knows about the Presidential Fetus but not about the sex tape. Cyrus knows the opposite. Billy knows nothing about women. And we all learned a valuable lesson: Never have sex in the White House, because someone will tape you.


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American political history is littered with examples of politicians who ran for their current office as well as another office in the same election. Paul is not the first Kentuckian to seek re-election to his current post concomitantly seeking the presidency or vice presidency.
Before you turn off your mind and go into pre-Thanksgiving mode, take our latest Week to Week news quiz and see what you know about the world. Here ...
As the Koch brothers and their ultra-wealthy cronies think they've figured out, a little chicken manure goes a long way when it comes to misleading voters into supporting the GOP.
The rich always vote for themselves. They go for their self-interest, their tax breaks, their liability escapes (think Wall Street). Meanwhile, they've relentlessly instructed the non-rich that they too must vote for the rich.
The Green News Report is also available via... ...
After losing in 2012 Mitt Romney stated that he is done running for president... but this is 2014 and rumors are swirling. Before too much is made of Mitt Romney chances in 2016, it is important to realize that history is very much against there ever being a President Romney.
I am convinced that most rank-and-file right-wing Christians are sincere and not cynical in the politics they embrace. Yet they have been so egregiously misled that even though they might be sincere, they are sincerely wrong according to the most fundamental moral and ethical imperatives of the Bible.
Rep. Paul Ryan was in town last week, and he did a round of interviews on talk radio shows, hoping to find an audience hungry for his new book, which essentially explains how the Tea Party can grab actual control of things.
Ironically, Speaker Boehner resorted to the American justice system to sue President Obama, the very system he has worked relentlessly to underfund for indigents. Instead of suing Obama, he should start fixing the system he and his colleagues broke.
Republicans should explain poverty using more words than "single mother" and "culture." The unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, a town with 75 percent African-American citizens and double the poverty rate of Missouri, is a testament to the economic segregation faced by black citizens.
Focusing on issues of character and choice, when discussing poverty, suits conservatives because it emphasizes the causal role of "agency" rather than "structure" in the creation of social problems.
In every election cycle, voters witness the spectacle of an underdog candidate challenging an incumbent elected official to participate in a series of debates. This is usually a starting bid, with the underdog hoping the incumbent will engage in at least one debate.
The biggest problem with Ryan's plan, besides its potential to become a bureaucratic nightmare, is that it was tried once before under President Bill Clinton in 1996 with welfare reform and was met with mixed results.
This week, Paul Ryan, who cashed federal support checks in the form of social security payments after his dad died, wants to stop federal support of the needy. Congressman Ryan would like to fund states with block grants replacing programs that he says don't work.
Paul Ryan is attempting to address poverty, once again. What he's really doing is trolling the media to write "compassionate conservative" columns about him (which, so far, doesn't seem to be working very well), to bolster his chances to get the Republican presidential nomination.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) extolled the anti-poverty effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and, in his new poverty prop...


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Museums, Tallinn County
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
You find 17 museum coupons, mainly of Tallinn, at kupongiraamat.ee/eng. So it is easy to decide where to go.
My favourite was the Mine Museum in an old gunpowder warehouse next to the Estonia ferry monument, but I am planning to visit the submarine Lembit soon as well.
For a tourist and a local the KUMU art museum in Kadriorg is a must. With a coupon you get a 40 EEK (2.6 EUR) ticket (normal 75 EEK)!
Other museums are quite inexpensive as well, except for the Open Air Museum. The Dominican Museum could be interesting for those who come from the new world. My other personal favorite is the Occupation Museum down from the Dome Hill. It is a modern glass building and you don't have to read the text from the wall, but instead look at the old things and check the movies.
St. Nicholas's Museum-Concert Hall has three of the four most important Medieval works of art in Estonia in all of on display.
Thru the centuries the building was renovationed a number of times and now includes things like the late Gothic St. Anthony's chapel and the Renaissance foyer.
St. Nicholas was the only church in Tallinn's downtown which remained untouched by the destruction of icons by the Lutheran Reformation in 1523. History has it that a member of the congregation poured molten lead into the locks of the church so the raging hordes could not get in and destry anything.
Estonia has a turbulent history, having been occupied twice in the recent past - once, briefly, by the Nazis and then for 40 years by the Soviet Union. The country declared independence in 1991 after 4 years of brave and peaceful protest by the people. In fact, the country is still in the process of recovery from those years of Soviet rule.
The story is emotional and inspiring and it is told in gripping detail at this highly recommended museum. Just 10 EEKs (50p) or free with Tallinn Card (see 'General Tips')
The theatre and music museum of Tallinn was founded already in 1924. In permanent collection there are more than 500 instruments, including some rare findings.Unfortunately the museum is covered very minimally and texts are mostly in Estonian. I think you really have to be enthusiastic about music and theatre to get something out of this museum. Otherwise I recommend you to skip the museum. Admission fee is 20 kroons. The museum is open from Thursday to Sunday 10.00-18.00.
Kiek in de Kök (Peep into Kitchen) in one of the most magnificent Towers of Tallinn. It was built in the late 15 th century. Kiek in de Kök is about 50 metres high and its wall thickness is 4 metres. There are six floors in this tower. This tower used to be a defensive tower and the first floor was used as an ammunition storage. Next four floors were cannon floors with 27 places for cannons.
The tower was renovated in 1958-1965 and it serves nowadays as a museum devoted to the history of Tallinn fortifications, with all exhibits labelled in English. The museum is closed on Mondays. Entrance fee is 50 kroons.
Built inside a 14th century merchant's house, this museum is a must-do activity.
The displays are fascinating and are all clearly labelled in English language.
The museums takes us right up to the present day with an exhibition on the top floor covering the occupation and telling the fascinating story of Estonia's move to independence from the USSR.
We watched a video presentation about the 'Singing Revolution' and the 'Baltic Chain 'alongside some Estonian visitors who were literally weeping with emotion.
A wonderful experience.
I can not give justice to this museum. It was only recently opened (June 2003) and guides you through the occupation of Estonia from 1939 to 1991 when they got independence. The price of a ticket is so cheap, about 60cent. The museum has many interesting artifacts including old cars, radios and even a phone box! The cafe is also very good. The building is very interesting architectually, it has a sloping floor in the cafe part.
There are televisions that play videos on each time point in Estonia and there is an English language option. I'd highly recommend a visit to the musuem to really get an understanding of Estonian history.
One of the best museums I have ever visited. It tells the story of Estonia's occupation and struggle for independance! (1940 to 1991)
Its very modern, well presented and extremely informative. Full of soviet stuff from radios to magazines and also 2 cars. If you had enough coffee you could watch the videos all day long. Ask the friendly staff and you can also watch the movies in a small cinema.
And at 5Kroons (30cents) this is not to be missed.
Exhibiting the history of shipping and fishing in Estonia. The collection of ships is unique. The museum is housed in a cannon tower, Fat Margaret, which was built from 1510-31. You can also enjoy one of the best views of old town and the harbour from the tower roof. Fat Margaret was built to protect the side of the town near the see and make a memorable impression on visitors who journeyed into port.
Museum is newly reopened and gives a good information about Tallinn's history from the beginning of it's time until today ! The nuseum is housed in medieval merchants dwelling and already that You have to see.
Today the city prison (14th century) houses a compact exhibition on Estonian photography. The first camera arrived in Tallinn just one year after debuting in France and the art developed quickly. Don't miss the contemporary exhibitions and shop in Fotokelder Lee. Recently installed a new permanent exhibition, Jokes at a Fairground
One of the best-loved museums in Tallinn, the City Museum shows the city's historical developments from medieval times through the 20th century. After an extensive renovation, the museum reopens March 15.
New evidence shows that the first Estonians arrived here 11,000 years ago from the south, not 5000 years ago from the east. The museum's own scholars will show you the evidence for this, along with artefacts chronicling the earliest history of the Finno-Ugric tribes.
Housed in the Great Guild Hall, the museum's exhibitions cover Estonia's earliest history with text in Estonian, English and Russian. The building itself (built 1407 - 1410) is significant as the home of Tallinn's union of wealthy merchants.
When you're visiting Tallinn you must to go to the our museums. We have many different museums in the Old Town.
Old churches. We have like Catholic, so and Eastern Orthodox churches. They are greats.
The museums of health, nature, applied arts.
'Estonian maritime museum'
Visit the Maritime Museum in the medieval cannon tower known as Fat Margaret. Learn about the history of Estonian Shipping, fishing and naval affairs. Buy maritime souvenirs, original prints and publications. Enjoy one of the best views of old town and harbour from the tower roof.
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Krysten Ritter: Losing My Virginity in High School Wasn't "Very Pleasant"
Krysten Ritter isn't looking to tie the knot anytime soon, but she is off the market.
The sexy star of ABC's Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 gets personal in the November issue of Playboy. Not shying away from topics of sex, nudity and relationship, Ritter, 30, hold nothing back -- just like her character "the B."
PHOTOS: Fall TV's rising stars
"He was so angsty and bad. He was a real bad boy," Ritter tell the magazine of her high school boyfriend. "His name was Damian, but my parents called him 'Demon.' Our first time was in his parents' van before basketball practice. I don't remember it being very pleasant."
Ritter also doesn't have a very pleasant view on marriage, but she doesn't blame her parents divorce for that.
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"I was never the little girl who dreamed about a wedding or a big white dress. It was never my thing, but I don't think I'm sour on marriage," she says. "I just don't know if I'm the type. Marriage seems scary to me."
And she's perfectly content in her current relationship. "I'm in a serious relationship. We have a dog together. We live five minutes from each other. It's heaven. I think that might be the key: separate houses, separate bank accounts. Why mess with that?"
The She's Out of My League actress is pro-nudity, however.
"I was down for it," Ritter says of appearing nude in the pilot episode of Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. Then, on the day I was supposed to actually be naked, I was like, Aw, sh--. I didn't like to be in my underpants in front of all the crew guys. You catch them looking and you're like No! but I got a Mystic Tan, so that made me feel less naked . . . a good tan is the key to being able to wear a bikini."
This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Krysten Ritter: Losing My Virginity in High School Wasn't "Very Pleasant"
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text:
Reviews Index
Reviews Index
by the title of the work reviewed
|the work's title
|the review's title
|• Comment by Night
|• Comment by notreallyatroper
|• Let it in
|• Oh, yes, EarthBound!
|• Presentation is part of content, and this proves it
|• The ''[[Music/{{Smile}} SMiLE]]'' of video games BOING!
|• EarthBound's Long-Forgotten Big Brother
|• Its a decent game.
|• The Yin of Earthsong
|• Sect's review
|• Bear with it.
|• A continual favorite
|• One of Ang Lee's best
|• The Greatest Black Comedy I've Ever Seen
|• Eat Lead, but don't eat too much of it
|• Defender of the Future is actually a pretty good game.
|• Comment by Anonymous
|• A review of Season One
|• After a while...
|• From comments
|• Impressive start with different results
|• Now has its own page
|• From comments
|• Excellent
|• This was pretty good.
|• Not for Everyone
|• Comment by {{@/Troppers}}
|• A very funny and imaginative series of shorts
|• Ed-straordinary
|• If it smells like an Ed. (part 1 and 2, if you go that way.)
|• Slightly disappoint-ed
|• Slightly disappoint-ed: the finale (spoilers).
|• A hilarious gag dub of one of Cartoon Network's best series
|• hard to define
|• Good but predictable
|• Live. Die. Repeat. And Worth the Rewatch.
|• My Thoughts on the Special Edition
|• Marlee Cross' review
|• Eh...
|• Eh...
|• Solid story and gameplay, with a few critical flaws.
|• Ultimately never goes anywhere
|• Review by {{Tropers/Belphegor}}
|• Comment by Nani
|• Clearly Not For All
|• Too Atrocious To Be Offensive.
|• What the hell.
|• Listen to them Now. NOW.
|• Interdimension Travel Metal
|• Doc Astaroth's review
|• "Just because you don't understand something, doesn't mean it isn't awesome"
|• After the first season...
|• Aims for the middle - Hits it perfectly
|• Great Americanized Story of Holmes
|• Pilot Review
|• Reviewing the pilot
|• Danel's review
|• From comments
|• I enjoyed it a little. But I'm not you.
|• There's A Good Show Hiding In Here...
|• 2/5 awesome, 3/5 sappy
|• A Bizarre, Yet Memorable Christmas Classic.
|• Couldn't finish watching this sleigh reck
|• Quality content, a few consistent spelling errors
|• A Potentially Good Series Overloaded With Narm and Cliches
|• A so-called Cult Classic
|• enjoyable, if you can tolerate certain aspects
|• It's like a food fight shonen-style. With only tomatoes. And naked girls. In a spaceship!
|• Postmodernist Deconstruction in Elfen Lied
|• The series that made me cry
|• Too much fanservice; too little characterization. (Anime)
|• Two episodes in, and I've stopped watching it.
|• You cannot turn away...
|• Your mileage may vary: Oh so true here
|• A published brainstorming session
|• A real mixed bag.
|• Clint Eastwood
|• Deceiving Quality
|• El Goonish Shive
|• El Goonish shive: From a Fan's Perspective!
|• Flawed, but enjoyable
|• Good for casual
|• Take the bad with the good
|• The curious case of EGS
|• The First Few Arcs From The Point Of View Of A Newcomer
|• Why is there so much hatred
|• A festering heap of adequacy
|• Elizabethtown
|• Wonderful singer everyone seems determined to ruin
|• Regulus Arcturus Black
|• Quite nice, but don't expect too much from the community
|• Died too soon
|• Quaero's review
|• Slightly dulled creepiness and frustratingly hard, but still fun
|• Covers familiar themes but other movies did it better.
|• Frustratingly Predictable
|• An unsigned review
|• An unsigned review
|• Controversial
|• Embers
|• Has some interesting parts, and many bad ones
|• Like any of the characters in ATLA?
|• Outshines all other fiction; Published or otherwise
|• Take It With a Grain of Salt
|• When it's good, it is very good and when it isn't...brrr
|• Dies the Fire, Pimps the Pagan Excessively
|• Final Ending: Ambiguous, but Satisfying
|• This game is too good to have the flaws that it has
|• A Very New Concept Done Well
|• Good when demonstrating her skills correctly.
|• Sorry, EA. I just can't do it.
|• Awesome game
|• From comments
|• Almost Original Flavor
|• Almost perfect
|• op's review
|• Oh noes Coop has to face the ultimate evil
|• Great Story
|• A book for its time.
|• A Long Wait, But Not Long Enough
|• A very good study of psychology and military strategy
|• Good Film Burdened By Unanswered Questions And Mary Tzu
|• Interesting premise, objectionable morality.***Spoilers***
|• Marvelous
|• Wow.
|• Season 1
|• The Sun Emperor's review
|• By @/{{Jisu}}
|• By @/{{NeoCrimson}}
|• By @/{{OpMegs}}
|• By @/{{Sneebs}}
|• By swtrooper42
|• Bloated, Emotionless, and Poorly Written -- A Triumph of Awful Prose
|• A World All It's Own
|• Blue World - A SurprisinglyImprovedSequel if ever there was one.
|• This game is SoOkayItsAverage
|• It has a lot of potential, but...
|• A sick, sad story that will haunt you long after reading
|• Lovely work.
|• From comments
|• An unsolvable puzzle of dualities
|• Odd brand of Canadian Facism
|• Enjoyable, but glitchy
|• op's review
|• FireLizardInABottle's review
|• Jetfire's review
|• Very good
|• Niobe
|• Epic: Building a movie uniquely
|• Not as Epic as the title promised.
|• Epic
|• Tedious Over Time
|• A Disney Movie in Videogame Form
|• Beautiful Story Presentation, Very Unpolished Gameplay
|• Warren Spector Presents: SoOkayItsAverage Mickey
|• Clever, but is it intended to be?
|• Epic, but with some flaws.
|• Review for Epilogue - Outstanding Loki Fanfiction, Best I've Ever Read
|• Massively sad, incredibly dark
|• I really don't get it.
|• Not great, but better than a lot of Youtube's other popular stuff
|• While his popularity moves up his videos decline in effort
|• A new take on 'fix it' fics
|• Comment by Equivalent Exchange
|• Awful
|• Comment by Anonymous
|• Setting Fatigue, Thy Name is Erfworld
|• The best comic no one's ever heard of
|• A very lovely way to experience some of the brothers Grimm's lesser known fairytales
|• Better than it Seems
|• It's not bad
|• From comments
|• From comments
|• Meh. But a fun "meh."
|• By @/SirRandomUser
|• By Captchacritter
|• That feel
|• meh
|• Espgaluda II for X-box 360
|• Riverscryr's review
|• Steve the Corn Muffin's review
|• Better than expected
|• From comments
|• From comments
|• Happy nightmares, dearies...
|• Comment by Marlee Cross
|• Eternal Return
|• Eternal Sonata 360 - main points review
|• Eternal Sonata PS3 - a very flawed game
|• Higurashiblood98's review
|• Above and Beyond
|• Excellent show, guaranteed 100% daily dose of CMOH
|• You'd be surprised
|• As a fan of the original, I liked it. (SPOILERS)
|• Hoo boy.
|• Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Immersive Truck Sim
|• Less Political Voting, Less Style, But Plenty of Snark- the 2009 Contest
|• mysterynovelist2010's review
|• DKN117's review
|• DKN117's review
|• Nivenus' review
|• Universalperson's review
|• Willbyr's review
|• Amitakartok's review
|• Maltani's review
|• Comartemis' review
|• Steve The Corn Muffin's review
|• How to NOT write a crossover.
|• Tacitus' review
|• The Best Worst fic ever
|• [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/ChrissieMcNapkins McNapkins's]] review: This is bad. Very very bad.
|• CrypticMirror's review
|• OP's review
|• Nexus Blue Dragon's review
|• [[Tropers/EvaUnit01 EvaUnit01]]'s review
|• Amazing
|• Caellach Tiger Eye's review
|• Clendy 82's review
|• Much better than you might think (spoilers)
|• Nerdorama's review
|• Right kind of wrong
|• Sneebs' review
|• Some flaws, but still very good.
|• UltraSonic007's review
|• Wow...
|• LavanyaSix's review
|• Could have been decent, but the character bashing turned it to crap.
|• Horrible
|• @/ThinksTooMuch's review
|• Recommendable
|• No good
|• Outer space meets supernatural horror
|• Shock Value, but falls short of genuine terror
|• All these other reviews are years old, so a fresh look
|• EVE Online
|• Eve Online- The Sandbox With Mines
|• Stay away if you value your sanity.
|• karma: a review of ever17
|• One of the best Visual Novels ever, if you can forgive the translation
|• Sword scene - Danielle's epic scene cut from video & dvd releases
|• Realistic Portrayal of Character Flaws Effect on Relationships
|• A great game that's fun for kids!
|• If you read one series by applegate, read this one.
|• Silly and cute.
|• Every Thirty Days Review
|• crap game
|• Great potential, but deserves more attention
|• Great, fun show, with hilariously-nasty characters
|• just perfection
|• When it's good, it's great. When it's bad, it's almost unwatchable.
|• Annoymous review from the comments section
|• Comment by Tropers/PurplePeopleEater
|• Review by Tropers/SgtFrog1
|• Comment by lastcrazyhorn
|• Comment by dune
|• Comment by Marlee Cross
|• Everyman HYBRID
|• Everyman Hybrid
|• Good for what it is
|• Not Bad!
|• Comment by chibiaries
|• I guess this home-made band wrote this page about themselves.
|• Tropers/StudiousJones's Review
|• op's review
|• Looking at Evil Phineas
|• Hooo boy....
|• LaughingMad and Disturbing rolled in one
|• Nightmare Fuel
|• Nightmare Fuel x20
|• Not every plan is flawless
|• Evil Zone love
|• A Very Inventive Game
|• Look out for the slow-moving killer robot before it telegraphs its attacks!!
|• Credit to the Mind
|• [=71TheRoman=]'s review
|• An alternate point of view...
|• Gets better as time goes on
|• Wavers between inane and obnoxious
|• Comment
|• Seriously Awesome
|• Why Brian K Vaughan is an asshole. (SPOILERS)
|• Interesting Premise, Lousy Theme
|• Zelda meets Metal Gear
|• Comment by nettlemace
|• From comments
|• Review by Tropers/BlueHedgehogJunkie
|• op's review
|• 71TheRoman's review of Eyes Wide Shut
|• CrazyAwesome
|• My Review! Ya-Ha!
|• The greatest sports manga ever... for 27 volumes.
|• The Gurren Lagann Of Sports Manga
|• The Unexpected Touchdown
|• Without exaggeration, my favorite manga.
|• Comment by Anonymous
|• Comment by [=CheapSugar=]
|• Definitely worth a quick read.


text:
Is this Street? Lots O Images
Started Dec 6, 2012 | Discussions thread
Shop cameras & lenses ▾
I concur with Charles, shoot what you like and disregard labels. Just worry about making strong images which portray what you want to say, either about your local environment, a visual statement, more general statements about people and the society in which they live. If you can do that without necessarily having people in the shot, then go for it without trying to fit a narrow definition of what "street photography" should be.
dkloi's gear list:dkloi's gear list
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For this season I am hoping to find a good 130mm rear hub that I can use with spacers and a cog for singlespeed. I'm interested in finding either a lightweight bolt-on cassette hub, or a lightweight QR hub and converting it somehow. I have lots of questions regarding such, and am not entirely sure it will be worthwhile, but I think it might be.
Basically I'm tired of the crappy freewheels that I put on my flip-flop hub, and I think a cassette hub may have a better seal than the add-on freewheels. Plus, I think with the right hub, it could weigh less.
So my questions are:
-is there a good lightweight bolt-on hub that I've somehow missed?
-would it be possible to buy a longer axle and replace it on a Dura-ace hub? The 7700 "looks" like I could do that, but I haven't taken one a part.
-Could I do it to a dura-ace 7800, or a Campy Record? That would be super light/awesome.


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Submited by- Sitagita Team on 12 Oct, 2011 HEALTH AGING & DISEASES
0 Comment(s) Avg Rating 294 Reads 0 Likes Tweet
Submited by- Sitagita Team on 20 Dec, 2012 HEALTH WOMENS & KIDS HEALTH
It is a myth that men only face the problem of hair loss; the problem is common in women also.... It can be very frustrating to see the hair getting thin daily as this can affect the way one looks... is responsible for hair loss as it usually is a combination of many factors. Hereditary reasons are one... of the main factors which cause thinning hair. The same pattern of hair loss is seen in people who have... parents or grandparents with a problem of hair loss. Exposure of hair to dust, pollution Read More...
0 Comment(s) Avg Rating 3717 Reads 0 Likes Tweet
Submited by- Sitagita Team on 13 May, 2011 BEAUTY & FASHION SKIN CARE & BEAUTY TIPS
Removal of unwanted hair is one of the most popular cosmetic treatments in recent years for women... as well as for an increasing number of men. While most of us have a reasonable amount of body hair growth... of excessive hair growth. Today there is an eternal quest amongst young women to have smooth arms and legs... always and they are looking for ways to reduce the hassle of hair removal on a regular basis. Thus more... and more women are opting for high-tech procedures like intense pulsed light and laser hair removal Read More...
0 Comment(s) Avg Rating 1596 Reads 0 Likes Tweet
Submited by- Sitagita Team on 21 Sep, 2011 HEALTH AGING & DISEASES
the person has blond or red hair and blue, green or gray eyes. When the skin is sun sensitive, or it hasAbout Basal Cell Carcinoma Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer that can be found all over the world. This type of cancers usually do not spread to the other parts of the body, but it does have the potential to cause damage by growing and invading surrounding tissues. There... Read More...
0 Comment(s) Avg Rating 189 Reads 0 Likes Tweet
Submited by- Sitagita Team on 07 Mar, 2011 RELATIONSHIPS WEDDINGS
0 Comment(s) Avg Rating 912 Reads 0 Likes Tweet
Submited by- Sitagita Team on 09 Jul, 2013 ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
It was the comedy-drama film Vicky Donor that did well not only for then debutante Ayushmaan Khurrana but also for actress Dolly Ahluwalia. The actress, who essayed the role of the distressed mother of sperm donor, has left everyone asking for more of her antics. So much so that director Shashant Shah has roped her to play the lead heroine in his next Bajatey Raho. The Bollywood director wanted... Read More...
0 Comment(s) Avg Rating 135 Reads 0 Likes Tweet
Hair removal forms an important part of the beauty regime. The modern times have given rise... to a wide range of attires and in most of them different parts of the body remains exposed. Therefore, hair.... There are various forms of hair removal techniques and most of them have there own set of advantage... and disadvantages. The most common body parts that often pass through the various hair removal processes... are the arms, the legs, the armpit and the upper lip. As there are several processes for hair removal Read More...
0 Comment(s) 2744 Reads 0 Likes
Countless numbers of women are secretly suffering from improper removal of hair extensions, braids..., braiding hair extensions, add-on hair, fusion, bonding hair glue, weaves and dreadlocks. Add-on hair should be worn for enhancing beauty-not because of self inflicted balding and hair damage. Salons and retailers that sell wigs, hair glue, hair attachments, braids, extensions and add-on hair or retailers... if they sell wigs, hair attachments, braiding hair, extensions and add-on hair.Salon professionals or home Read More...
0 Comment(s) 1062 Reads 0 Likes
All you require is a little bit of creativity and innovation to style your short hair. Yes may... be the choices are limited but you can definitely style your hair. It is not always that you can do different... things for your long hair. If your hair is on the longer side of short hair then use curlers or rollers... to get sweet curls. Curly bob hair style can look very cute. But it is important to ensure that the style... your hair some texture. You can give your hair a straight look or a messy look Read More...
0 Comment(s) 2196 Reads 0 Likes
0 Comment(s) 6168 Reads 1 Likes
0 Comment(s) 1702 Reads 1 Likes
1. Massage the Scalp with pure coconut oil. This will also help for growth of hair. 2. Apply... a steam -towel- wrap for 15 minutes and wash the hair with a shampoo. 5 Apply a paste of fenugreek... the hair with it. 7 Crush the leaves of five petal hibiscus flower and take the juice. Wash the hair.... After 30 minutes wash the hair with a herbal shampoo. Do the steam -towel- wrap for 15 minutes Read More...
0 Comment(s) 2048 Reads 0 Likes
Sexiest girl in Grand Masti is
|Kainaat Arora
|61% | 61 votes
|Karishma Tanna
|9% | 9 votes
|Bruna Abdullah
|13% | 13 votes
|Sonalee Kulkarni
|6% | 6 votes
|Maryam Zakaria
|3% | 3 votes
|Manjari Fadnis
|7% | 7 votes
|Total Votes: 99
|View all Polls


text:
Greenbriar Elementary School
Public School | Grades PK-5 | Fort Worth ISD
Ft. Worth, TX 76134
(817) 814-7400
About This School
Greenbriar Elementary School is located in Ft. Worth, TX and is one of 79 elementary schools in Fort Worth Isd District. It is a public school that serves 612 students in grades PK-5. See Greenbriar Elementary School's test results to learn more about school performance.
In 2011, Greenbriar Elementary School had 18 students for every full-time equivalent teacher. The Texas average is 15 students per full-time equivalent teacher.
In 2011, Greenbriar Elementary School had 18 students for every full-time equivalent teacher. The Texas average is 15 students per full-time equivalent teacher.
Student Ethnicity (2011)
Students (2011)
Students Per Teacher (2011)
Female/Male (2011)
54% 46%
Subsidized Lunch (2011)
District Spending (2010)
$8,788per student
See All Test Scores
Grade 3 Math Performance
TAKS Results
write a review
Greenbriar Elementary School Reviews
By a Former Student on
My experience at Greenbriar was amazing. I loved every single one of my teachers because they were there to help whenever I had any type issue. Especially Mrs.Bailey, Ms.Moss, Mrs.Jones, and Mrs.Hoffman. I am currently a 10th grader at O.D.Wyatt HS and Greenbriar taught me a lot
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text:
The politics of congestion mitigation
Most research on congestion overlooks the political context of traffic congestion and congestion mitigation policies. While failed congestion policies around the globe are products of misguided premises and flawed analyses, they are also the products of political processes that emphasize highly visible congestion relief projects and programs over actually relieving congestion. Accordingly, this paper makes and defends four propositions. First, that public officials tend to exaggerate the consequences of (widely unpopular) metropolitan traffic congestion for political gain. Second, that (widely popular) public transit investments are unlikely to meaningfully reduce congestion. Third, that public officials can cynically use congestion as a rationale for funding for high-profile, politically-popular transportation (and, increasingly, public transit) projects. And fourth, that the experience to date suggests that various forms of transport and parking pricing offer the best hope for meaningfully reducing congestion in the coming years.
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Volume (Year): 11 (2004)
Issue (Month): 3 (July)
Pages: 299-302
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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Shoup, Donald C., 1999. "The trouble with minimum parking requirements," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 549-574.
- Shoup, Donald C., 1997. "Evaluating the effects of cashing out employer-paid parking: Eight case studies," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2qw4w2s1, University of California Transportation Center.
- Taylor, Brian D., 2002. "Rethinking Traffic Congestion," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2fb4t8wd, University of California Transportation Center.
- Levine, Jonathan & Garb, Yaakov, 2002. "Congestion pricing's conditional promise: promotion of accessibility or mobility?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 179-188, July.
- Shoup, Donald C., 1997. "Evaluating the effects of cashing out employer-paid parking: Eight case studies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 201-216, October.
- Stopher, Peter R., 2004. "Reducing road congestion: a reality check," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 117-131, April.
- Brownstone, David & Ghosh, Arindam & Golob, Thomas F. & Kazimi, Camilla & Van Amelsfort, Dirk, 2003. "Drivers' willingness-to-pay to reduce travel time: evidence from the San Diego I-15 congestion pricing project," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 373-387, May.
- Wachs, Martin, 1994. "Will Congestion Pricing Ever Be Adopted?," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt98r1z5rj, University of California Transportation Center.
- S L Handy & D A Niemeier, 1997. "Measuring accessibility: an exploration of issues and alternatives," Environment and Planning A, Pion Ltd, London, vol. 29(7), pages 1175-1194, July.
- S L Handy & D A Niemeier, 1997. "Measuring Accessibility: An Exploration of Issues and Alternatives," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 29(7), pages 1175-1194, July.
- Golob, Thomas F., 2001. "Joint models of attitudes and behavior in evaluation of the San Diego I-15 congestion pricing project," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 495-514, July.
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Oklahoma Sooners
Photos: Names to know, class grades and more: Breaking down Oklahoma's 2013 recruiting class
Photo: Courtesy of Central East High School
Instant impact: Defensive back. Hatari Byrd, a four-star recruit according to rivals.com, has already said he'll start at safety as a freshman. That alone makes defensive back the instant-impact position. Ahmad Thomas, a three-star recruit according to rivals, also has the on-field awareness to contribute immediately. The question is whether he's physically developed enough.
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text:
Chart Watch Extra: A Run On Whitney
[Photo: Tony Barson/WireImage]
[Photo: Tony Barson/WireImage]
By comparison, Michael Jackson charted with 49 songs and 14 albums in the week after his death in June 2009 (counting his work with the Jackson 5). But Jackson died on a Thursday, so he had three full days to ring up sales. (Nielsen SoundScan's tracking week ends Sunday night.) Houston died on a Saturday, so she had just one full day to ring up sales.
Houston's catalog of songs sold 887K digital copies during the week, up from just 15K the previous week. Her catalog of albums sold 101K copies. Billboard's Keith Caulfield reports that the album tally is greater than Houston's album sales for all of 2011 and the first five weeks of 2012 combined (97K).
"I Will Always Love You" sold 195K copies this week, almost all of it in the wake of her death. This brings the song's digital sales total to 1,105,000. That's probably less than you assumed, but bear in mind that Houston hadn't been "hot" in years.
"I Will Always Love You," which was certified for sales of 4 million physical singles in January 1993, is Houston's first digital million-seller. Her next four biggest digital hits (not just this week, but counting their entire runs) are: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (583K), "Greatest Love Of All" (371K), "How Will I Know" (300K) and "I Have Nothing (287K).
Amber Riley sang "I Will Always Love You" on a Valentine's Day-themed episode of Glee on Tuesday night. That version will chart next week. Houston's other most popular songs in the wake of her death (and their rankings on Hot Digital Songs) were: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (#25), "Greatest Love Of All" (#32), "How Will I Know" (#46), "I Have Nothing" (#53), "Saving All My Love For You" (#65), "One Moment In Time" (#74), "The Star Spangled Banner" (#75), "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (#81), "I'm Every Woman" (#85) and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" (#87).
Houston's other top albums were her eponymous debut album (#72), The Bodyguard soundtrack (#80), her final studio album I Look To You (#118), her sophomore album Whitney (#122) and The Preacher's Wife soundtrack (#183).
Houston's greatest hits album is #1 on Top Catalog Albums. This is the seventh time in the Nielsen SoundScan era that an album has zoomed to #1 on the catalog chart in the week after (or the first full week after) the artist's death. The other instances, working backwards, were Amy Winehouse's Back To Black in July 2011, Michael Jackson's Number Ones in June 2009, Johnny Cash's 16 Biggest Hits in September 2003, the Bee Gees' One Night Only in January 2003 (following the death of Maurice Gibb), Aaliyah's One In A Million in August 2001, and the Grateful Dead's Skeletons From The Closet in August 1995 (following the death of Jerry Garcia).
[Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage]
[Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage]
Some people don't know that Dolly Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You." The country star took it to #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1974 and again in 1982 (when she sang it in the movie The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, in which she co-starred with Burt Reynolds).


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Protesters target foreign shopsComment on this story
More than 100 people were arrested in Botshabelo after residents looted and destroyed foreign-owned shops, Free State police said on Friday.
Constable Consolation Mokoale said the police were helping foreigners to evacuate their shops in Botshabelo, east of Bloemfontein, on Friday morning.
She said three shops were burned down in protest action which started on Wednesday.
The trouble apparently started after the Mangaung metro municipality started removing hawkers from a shopping centre.
Various roads in Botshabelo were blocked with stones and other objects during the protests. – Sapa
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Regulatory Failure by the Numbers
Bradley, Robert L., Fulmer, Richard W., Freeman
Between the current financial mess and the debate over carbon dioxide emissions controls, there is a lot of talk about regulation these days. We are told, for example, that the recession would have been prevented if proper regulations had been in place. While it is true that (by definition) the "right" regulations would have prevented bad and ensured good, it is also true that had an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent dictator been in charge, the recession would have been avoided as well. The problem, of course, is that God didn't run for president during the last election.
Enacting the right regulations is somewhat simpler than electing an omni-everything being to run the world - but not by much. As evidence, consider all the bad regulations that sot us into this mess in the first place. Also consider the oft-heard argument that financial regulators needed to "get out ahead of the innovators." Clearly, a job for the omniscient. There is, after all, a reason why the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk preceded the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Any time government regulators try to do much more than lay out the basic rules of the game, unintended consequences and moral hazards rear their ugly heads. The following list of pitfalls, adapted from our book Energy: The Master Resource, is offered as a caution to regulatory enthusiasts.
1. Laws and regulations may institutionalize the tragedy of the commons.The rule of capture (which stated that oil belonged to whoever pumped it out of the ground) and related regulations led petroleum companies to drill as many wells as possible in order to get the oil before their competitors could. By encouraging companies to drill otherwise unnecessary wells, the rule led to wasted resources and sometimes to reservoir damage.
Groundwater in the United States is still a commonproperty resource. Because no one owns it, no one has an incentive to conserve it. Farmers in California, enjoying subsidized water prices, have been growing water-intensive crops such as rice and cotton in desert areas despite endemic water shortages.
2. Special interests lobby the government to get their products or services mandated by regulation. The mandated use of ethanol in automotive fuel is an example. In the United States most ethanol is made from corn. Farmers who grow corn and companies that make ethanol from it have heavily pressured Congress to require its use. As a further subsidy the government has banned imported ethanol even though it can be purchased from other countries for less than it costs to make it here. One unintended consequence has been an increase in food prices. As the price of corn has risen, so has corn-based animal feed and with it the price of beef, milk, chicken, and eggs.
3. Regulations can create (or destroy) entire industries overnight. The use of such power adds uncertainty and risk to the market. If risk reaches unacceptable levels, investors put their money elsewhere. The concentration of political power in Washington forces companies to lobby Congress and the White House for protection against its arbitrary use. Corporate lobbying, in turn, increases people's distrust of the system.
4. Regulations are often the result of compromise. After concessions have been made to this powerful representative or that influential senator, the resulting law or regulation may be very different from the original proposal and have far different consequences. Politics may be "the art of the possible," but what is politically possible may be neither practical nor environmentally friendly.
Compromise can also result in laws so vaguely worded that they can be interpreted in any number of ways. In the end it is left up to regulatory agencies and the courts to decide what a bill actually means. Their interpretations may be very different from the original intentions of the bill's proponents.
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, for example, stated that only new factories and power plants would have to meet the tighter emissions standards imposed by the act. …


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latest news
adidas by Stella McCartney debuts Spring/Summer 2016 collection at World of Stella McCartney event in Dubai
Introducing this season's sensational Spring/Summer 2016 collection against the vibrant backdrop of Dubai, adidas by Stella McCartney showcased a fusion of performance and style at the World of Stella
adidas Introduces New Premium Training Collection adidas Standard 19
A premium collection of adidas training pieces, inspired by adidas' heritage, a set of 32 standards central to the German brand's DNA. adidas Standard 19 states simply: "Functionality, fit, weight, ae
adidas by Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2015
Marking its 10th Anniversary in 2015, adidas by Stella McCartney moves into Fall/Winter with a collection that celebrates a decade of ulimate performance and style enhanced by cutting-edge technology.
adidas by Stella McCartney celebrates ten years of performance and style in Seoul
In celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the collaboration of adidas by Stella McCartney, the designer visits the first women's adidas concept store in Seoul to meet with top clients and fitness
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From Run to Yoga or Swim, the new adidas by Stella McCartney collection continues to push the boundaries of performance and style. Discover the collection here!
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Performance Pop! Introducing adidas StellaSport: a brand new range for action girls
adidas StellaSport, Stella McCartney'in kreatif direktörlüğünde daha genç bir kitleyi hedefleyen yepyeni bir adidas performans kategorisi koleksiyonu. Ocak 2015'te piyasaya çıkan koleksiyon; sportif s
Nicole Winhoffer is the new Global Trainer for adidas Women
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8:00 PM ET, March 13, 2010
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California
Top Performers
Long Beach State: C. Ware 19 Pts, 4 Reb, 2 Ast, 5 Stl, 1 Blk
UC Santa Barbara: O. Johnson 20 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Blk
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Former Rating Analysts and the Ratings of MBS and ABS: Evidence from LinkedIn
John (Xuefeng) Jiang
Michigan State University
Isabel Yanyan Wang
Michigan State University
K. Philip Wang
Michigan State University - Department of Accounting & Information Systems
January 2015
Using professional profiles posted on LinkedIn, we identify 391 rating analysts who previously work in the structured finance divisions at Moody's, S&P, or Fitch and later join issuers of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS) from 1997 to 2007. We find that MBS and ABS sold by issuers that employ more former rating analysts experience larger subsequent downgrades. Further analyses indicate that these analysts may influence initial MBS and ABS ratings through their specialized knowledge in the area of structured finance. Finally, we find that investors of AAA-rated securities do not seem to discount this type of rating inflation.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 47
Keywords: Credit Analysts, Rating Analysts, Credit Ratings, Mortgage-Backed Securities, Asset-Backed Securities, MBS, ABS, Financial Crisis, LinkedIn, Revolving Door, Moody's, S&P, Fitch
JEL Classification: G1, G21, G24, G28, L1
Date posted: May 28, 2014 ; Last revised: April 22, 2015
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Posts filed under 'housing'
The Freedom of Less
A member of the family is house hunting. His goal is to find a well priced home with a minimum of five bedrooms and four bathrooms. So far he seems most interested in houses with at least 2500 square feet.
A few of the houses have been more than double the size of mine, which always seemed quite reasonably sized at 1600 square feet.
I wonder if our little family will move one day. The schools in our current district are all poorly ranked, which means we will most likely have to shell out $15,000 to $20,000 for private school if we decide to stay. Do we move to a new neighborhood with better schools and higher home prices or do we stay put knowing that tuition rates for two children will easily cost us more than the price of a new home?
I don't know. What I do know is that I will not be tied to huge mortgage payments. I would prefer to discard half of our possessions and live in a smaller home than to live in a larger home and spend the next thirty years paying it off.
Right now my husband and I are only four years away from the final mortgage payment on our primary home. Four years from now, with our home paid off, my husband can rethink his career path.
He can continue to run his own business or he can quit his current line of work in search of something more rewarding. I've been out of the workforce for three and a half years and will most likely will remain that way for at least five more. When my youngest son marches off to kindergarten I can decide exactly how I want to spend my days.
Do I return to a career in software development or do I look for a more meaningful, but much lower paying position? I don't know. What I do know is that I cannot make that decision if I move and tie myself to a huge mortgage payment.
When shopping for a home it is easy to lose sight of the all the lifestyle factors that exist outside of the walls you want to live in. A large house with a big mortgage payment might seem like an okay idea now, but what happens fifteen years from now when you are unhappy with your line of work and looking to do something different?
I know that I would happily choose less over more. I would choose a smaller space and fewer possessions for the freedom of future possibilities.
Would you?
Would You Throw a "Mortgage Free" Party?
If you were about to pay off your mortgage would you throw a party to celebrate? It's an interesting question for me. Although my last post may have been viewed as bragging, (at least I received one email letting me know it was perceived that way), I am not usually one to toot my own horn in real life.
When I purchased my beach house I didn't tell my close friends or family. While my husband and I have worked hard to secure our finances I also know that we have been quite fortunate in life. I certainly didn't want my success to make anyone else feel bad, so I kept my home a secret for nearly a year.
When I finally leaked the news to my close friends they were thrilled for me. If they were envious of my success they certainly didn't show it, nothing in their body language gave any sign of animosity or jealousy.
When I make new friends and meet new people I almost never tell them my husband and I own a home in North Carolina. I feel like people would view me differently and not in a good way. When it does come up in conversation I always downplay the details. I tell them our house is only one story and a bit farther back from the beach than most. I try to be modest and fear that a mere mention of my beach home will be perceived as bragging.
While I would absolutely love to throw a party to celebrate the end of a mortgage I'm not sure that other's would be so quick to celebrate alongside me. If you were invited to a mortgage free party would you be happy to celebrate with the homeowners or bitter that you weren't in a similar predicament? Given my current situation I would be happy for my friends and family, but if my finances were in a not-so-fortunate state I'm not sure how I would feel about it.
I am extremely open about my finances on this blog, but only a few of my close friends know about it. I hate the idea that people would perceive me differently if they knew how much I owed and how much I was worth. In fact that's the primary reason I blog anonymously.
What about you? As you write the last check to your mortgage company would you consider throwing a party to celebrate?
If You Had the Money Would You Buy Your Child a House?
Last week I asked my readers if they would accept a gift from their parents. I wrote the post after learning of a friend who is about to receive a beach home from his folks. I appreciate the honest comments and emails that were sent to me. I wonder if I shouldn't have also asked the opposite question, which is would you buy a large gift for your children?
I stumbled across an interesting article this weekend about Mick Jagger who, despite his wealth, does not believe he should buy homes for his three adult children. According to a recent CNN article, "Those who know Jagger well — including his oldest daughter, Jade, say that he strongly believes that children ought not think themselves entitled to their parents' money and that they have to make their own way in life."
His daughter Jade went on to say, "I was never a trust-fund child. Dad's got a healthy attitude toward work. You have to look after yourself."
So what do you think? If you had a lot of money, like Mick Jagger, would you buy properties for your children?
I imagine my husband and I will amass quite a bit of wealth throughout our lifetime and I want my son to understand that a lot of hard work and planning went into our bank accounts. At this point in time I can't imagine buying him a home. I want him to experience the joy and pride of making it on his own. I also don't want him to think that life is a cake walk.
Debt. To the Tune of $600,000.
I'd like to say I don't have any debt, but for now my desire and reality are not one and the same. $600,000 is an enormous amount of money and it's roughly how much I currently owe. In fact, it's such a large sum that it's difficult to wrap my head around.
How on earth do I owe so much money and did I ever think I would be this indebted? Well the debt is made up of two mortgages. No credit card debt, student loans or debt of any other kind. Just two simple, fixed rate mortgages.
The first mortgage is on our primary home. The second is on a rental home near the shore of North Carolina. The first house was purchased when housing costs were relatively low. The second was purchased at the height of the housing boom. Despite buying when prices were high I don't regret that decision in the least. In fact, I'd do it all over again if I had to.
People often ask me about owning a second home. I tell them to buy a place you'll love and want to visit often. My beach home is a place of physical and spiritual healing. Despite it's hefty price tag I can say without a doubt that it's brought my husband and I closer together and made for a healthier marriage. After all, you have to communicate when you spend six hours driving to the beach next to one another.
When we had two high paying jobs paying the mortgages was never an issue. Now that I'm considering staying home with my son things will get a bit trickier. I know we could sell our beach home to help me stay home, but that would be a last resort. In fact, I'd be more inclined to sell my primary home then to cut ties with North Carolina.
I'm happy that we don't owe any other money, but I would be happier if our overall debt weren't so high. It's interesting how my ideas change as I age. When I was working I thought nothing about paying those mortgages, but as my goals and desires change to focus on my son I look at those numbers and wonder what on earth I was thinking.
This post is part of Women's Money Week 2012. For more posts about debt see the Debt Roundup.
Has Anyone Applied for a Mortgage with ING Direct?
If anyone out there has applied for a mortgage with ING Direct would you mind posting your thoughts here. A very kind reader named Evy left me a comment, so I took a look this evening. Their mortgage rates are rock bottom but they are not fixed for the life of the loan. I'd love to hear from any of you that might have gone through the ING process and actually acquired a mortgage.
Failed: We Won't be Purchasing a Vacant Lot After All
I've spent the last two days looking over every nickel and dime in our bank accounts, determining exactly how much income we bring in on a monthly basis, (my husband is a contractor so income fluctuates), and figuring out how to cash out investments in an effort to collect a down payment.
After making sure that all of the pennies and cents added up my husband and I had a long conversation and decided to move forward with the purchase of a vacant lot in North Carolina. I called the real estate agent this morning with the full intention of submitting a bid. Unfortunately, less than thirty seconds into the call I was told the lot had already been sold. Apparently the property was foreclosed and the vacant lot went up for auction sometime earlier this month. I was shocked that the lot had already been sold, because the realty sign is still on the property and address is still listed in the MLS.
My husband and I have been thinking about this lot for over a year. When it was originally listed it was completely out of our price range. Not only was the purchase price overly inflated but our brokerage accounts had been slashed by the recession, so it would have been impossible for us to splurge on the purchase.
Buying a new property is always unbelievably exciting and a bit frightening all at the same time. There is an incredible amount of excitement in making the purchase and yet unbelievable fear that we haven't double checked all the numbers and that something or other would make us default on the property. I spent a lot of time over the past two days running the numbers to make certain we could afford the property and I am hugely disappointed that the lot has already been sold.
This time it seems we missed a golden opportunity. The lot was sold at auction for $100,000 less than the listing price. If we had known about the auction my husband and I would have been there in a heartbeat. It's one of those once in a lifetime bargains that we may never see again.
We are both very disappointed, but we can't change the course of events so we have to learn from our mistakes and move on from them. In the future if we are interested in a property we will contact the real estate agents and make certain that they are aware of our interests even if we don't immediately make a bid.
In the mean time we will continue to save money in the hopes that other opportunities will present themselves. They may not be as good as this one, but hopefully my husband's dream of owning waterfront property will eventually come true.
Fraudulent Loans Skyrocketed 42% this Year
Mortgage fraud will continue to reign in the mortgage industry as long as mortgage originators, (a.k.a: mortgage brokers), continue to work on a commission based pay structure. The commission based system is a breeding ground for dishonesty and fraud. After all, if a loan is successfully originated the broker will take home a commission check. If the loan is denied, (because the borrower's credit or financials are unsuitable to attain a mortgage), the broker will go home empty handed. In my opinion, the commission check provides a temptation for fraud that is too great for many mortgage brokers to pass up.
A video on CNN Money highlights this very issue. The video reported that fraudulent loans are skyrocketing because 'the problematic structure of the industry hasn't changed. Real estate brokers and mortgage brokers are still getting paid on commission and loan originators are still getting paid according to the volume of loans they do, not the quality. That's got the same kind of incentives and pressures that got us into the housing crisis in the first place."
When asked about the specifics of fraud the video reported that "people are lying about their income and also misrepresenting their job descriptions and there's also a lot more deception about outstanding debts, how much they owe and leaving them out altogether."
In truth there is very little reason other than human decency for participants in the loan origination process to remain honest. The borrower may forge employment or debt information in an effort to qualify for a mortgage or receive more favorable mortgage terms. The mortgage broker may turn a blind eye to the borrower's half-truths in an effort to earn a commission. By the time the loan is accepted and processed the lender is holding onto a risky mortgage, without understanding it's true risk. Without major reform to the pay structure of the mortgage process I believe fraud will continue to plague the mortgage industry. In my opinion the first step in mortgage reform is to alter the pay structure of mortgage brokers and loan originators.
Will Mortgage Rates Go Up or Down?
As I mentioned yesterday my husband and I decided to refinance our home. We considered waiting to see if rates would continue falling, but ultimately decided this was the right time for us. Of course it never hurts to find financial experts who agree with our decision. So I poked around the Internet and found the Rate Trend Index on bankrate.com. If you are considering refinancing your home anytime in the near future you may want to subscribe to the Rate Trend Index alerts.
For the week of January 24 – 30 the majority of polled experts believe mortgage rates will rise over the next 35 to 45 days. About one quarter think rates will fall and the rest believe rates will remain relatively unchanged.
Here are a few of the expert's comments:
- Rates have had an unbelievable run as of late. Anytime we have approached these levels in the past four years, we have been jerked higher in coming weeks, and I expect nothing different. If you haven't applied for a loan and/or locked your rate, do so now.
Jim Sahnger, mortgage consultant, Palm Beach Financial Network, Stuart, Fla.
- With the intent of stimulating the economy, the Fed has cut rates, and will most likely do it again. This will entice more international investors, boost consumer confidence, leading to higher rates.
Steven M. Levitt, vice president of mortgage lending, Guaranteed Rate, Chicago
- Mortgage rates have been in free fall. But how much longer can it continue? Bonds are overbought and mortgage rates could bounce back quickly.
Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst, Bankrate.com
Of course there are a few that think rates will continue to fall:
- The more the public hears about recession, the more likely it is to happen. The absence of inflation pushes mortgage rates down.
Dan Green, mortgage planner, Mobium Mortgage, Chicago
Since we have no idea what rates the future will bring my husband and I decided to go ahead and lock in our loan. I think it's wise to search for cheap mortgage deals right away. After all, 30 and 15 year fixed mortgage rates are close to reaching historical lows.
Let the Refinancing Begin
Torn over the idea of refinancing your home? My husband and I have been debating the issue for days. Should we wait for rates to drop even further or lock in on a low interest rate right now? Today my husband and I turned to the trusty Internet to find our answer.
First, using online mortgage calculators I ran the numbers on a 15 year $417,000 mortgage, (the maximum conventional loan amount), at various interest rates. As you can see below the total interest paid on a 4.75% mortgage is roughly $19,000 more than the interest on a loan at 4.25%. $19,000 isn't chump change but in terms of mortgage interest on a $417,000 home it's a relatively small number.
- 15 years at 4.75% = $166,840
- 15 years at 4.50% = $157,204
- 15 years at 4.25% = $147,660
Also we are currently paying roughly $2300 in mortgage interest each month on our current loan. In 8 months $2300 in mortgage interest is close to the $19,000 we'd save by waiting.
We've been putting aside money to help us shorten the life span of our mortgage for years. We originally signed on for a 30 year mortgage to make certain that we could afford our monthly payments. We purchased the house right after my medical problems began and my husband started a new job, but a few months after purchasing we became comfortable with the payments and began putting extra money aside to pay down the principal.
Since the day we signed the loan papers we've been counting down the years until it's fully paid. Today we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We locked in on a 15 year mortgage at 4.75%.
Do You Pay People For Things You Could Do Yourself?
As I was painting the kitchen walls a few weekends ago I realized that my husband and I rarely pay people for jobs that we can otherwise do ourselves. I will admit, particularly since my medical problems occurred, that my husband tends to do the majority of the physical labor around our house. He mows the lawn, trims the hedges, rakes the leaves, chops wood for winter fires, changes the oil in our cars, and fixes most minor electrical problems. He even makes minor home repairs like installing recessed lighting under the cabinets in our kitchen.
Thankfully my husband is quite handy but he's also interested in learning how all of the components of our house fit together. Whenever we have a problem with the house he investigates the issue. Now I know that some people aren't handy and others would rather spend time doing other things, but I have to say that my husband's tinkerings have saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars on home and car repairs over the years. We call plumbers and electricians to the house for big jobs, and of course from time to time you have to hire specialists, but otherwise my husband has convinced me it's usually not too bad to try to do it yourself.
There are so many jobs you can pay other people to do, clean your house (maid), walk your dog (dog walker), force you to exercise (personal trainer), paint your walls (house painter), not to mention actually repair your house (plumbers, electricians, general contractors). Honestly, if my husband weren't around I would certainly be more apt to hire plumbers, electricians, and landscapers, but I'd still clean my own house and paint my own walls. I've never tried to estimate how much money we save by doing things ourselves, but I bet in the five years since we've owned our own home, it's easily been thousands of dollars.


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