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Stand down: literature has defeated the Thought Police. Belgium's supreme court has defeated the mischief-making of the whining PC brigade. Tintin is not banned. Huzzah!
The badness of the bad faith involved in the commentariat's discussion of this issue, the relentlessness of their categoric elisions, the unpleasantness of their crowing over the victory, should come as no surprise. This was never, at root, about banning. Yes, Bienvenue Mbutu Mondondo was applying to the court to have Tintin in the Congo declared unacceptable under the Belgian race relations law. However, he had made clear for years that he would be satisfied if, as in Britain, the book was published with a visible warning, a reminder of the context in which it was written (maybe even of the toxic ideology enshrined within). What Mondondo wanted was an official recognition that this text was a spitting in his face. That it came down to what was always clearly a nuclear option was due to the steadfast refusal of the publishers to countenance this - and thereby take responsibility for what they publish. The Belgian establishment went to cultural war, & it did so not for free speech, but for their right not to apologise for racist slander.
When human rights lawyer David Enright asks for the book to be sold as an adult work, while explicitly, repeatedly, stressing that he does not advocate banning it, nonetheless, cometh the resentment-spewing dissemblers in the comments insisting that he is supporting 'censorship'. This is a degree of point-missing so great it is hard to believe it is not performative.
(Indeed, an astoundingly small proportion of arguments 'for free speech' & 'against censorship' or 'banning' are, in fact, about free speech, censorship or banning. It is depressing to have to point out, yet again, that there is a distinction between having the legal right to say something & having the moral right not to be held accountable for what you say. Being asked to apologise for saying something unconscionable is not the same as being stripped of the legal right to say it. It's really not very fucking complicated. Cry Free Speech in such contexts, you are demanding the right to speak any bilge you wish without apology or fear of comeback. You are demanding not legal rights but an end to debate about & criticism of what you say. When did bigotry get so needy? This assertive & idiotic failure to understand that juridical permissibility backed up by the state is not the horizon of politics or morality is absurdly resilient.)
There are a very few attempts to insist that Tintin au Congo is really not racist, but this is a hard line to take, given its shameful cavalcade of j***aboo grotesquerie & preening white supremacism. How then, can that, the key issue, the racism of a book that shows stupid, rolling-eyed & thick-lipped Congolese unable to string coherent language together or add 2 & 2, worshipping a white boy's dog, considering him a 'big Juju man', be avoided?
i) One may admit that aspects are unfortunate, but simply refuse to engage with the question of racism.
One commentator, who proudly proclaims his predisposition to find against liberal do-gooders (& does so, though on utterly confused grounds), is forced to admit the book is 'shockingly patronising & insensitive'. He simply ducks, however, the key question of whether it is racist. Similarly, Guy Staggs in the Telegraph stresses only that 'campaigners claim that Tintin in the Congo causes offence': indeed they do, & one might think the rightness or not of that claim is germane to the issue. Forlorn & unexamined, however, it goes, as Staggs segues blithely to allowing, questions of race ignored, that the book is not 'a good read'.
As if that is what we were talking about. (This - It's Not Racist It's Just Not Very Good - is a sort of evil-twin variant of the more common How Can Little Black Sambo Be Racist I Read It As A Child & I Loved It & What's More I Understood Sambo Was The Hero (cf also How Can I Be A Sexist I Love Women In Fact I Prefer Them To Men aka How Is That Racist Having Natural Rhythm Is A Good Thing) position.)
ii) One can insist that the book's attitudes 'reflect its time', as the court held.
There are two interesting points about this ultra-common defence for every undeniably racist (sexist, homophobic, &c) text in existence. The first is that it is historically bogus. Such ideas, like all ideas, were - are - contested. Certainly & obviously the mainstream shifts, the balance of forces alters, but the implicit or explicit claim that there were no dissident voices on supremacist agendas is a lie. To claim that everyone talked like Tintin about the Congo back in the day is (whatever other serious political arguments we may have with them) to slander, say, Felicien Challaye, Albert Londres, the French Socialist movement that declared at its 1907 conference that colonialism 'relies on violent conquest and institutionalises the subjection of Asiatic and African peoples'.
The second point is that even if these attitudes do 'reflect their time' in the sense of reflecting a then-more-mainstream agenda, so the fuck what? The point about attitudes is that they change, in response to struggle, to a battle for ideas. The question here is whether or not Tintin au Congo is racist. Which it is. That may perhaps in part be because white supremacism was less contested back then - just as well we're not back then, then, isn't it? & that instead we live in now, when the resistance of those deemed unable to add 2 & 2 has forced the recognition that this kind of shit is shit. These days a 'collective synapse' should kick in 'forged by mass movements … that have forced a lot of people, particularly white straight men, to have a clue.'
iii) Insist that Hergé was not racist.
Ah, intent. You unfalsifiable talisman of airy exoneration. This is the second twanging string to the Belgian court's bow, the outraged insistence that the artist was no racist, had no intent to 'create an intimidating, hostile, degrading or humiliating environment'.
The great advantage for its deployers of this defence is that it is completely unprovable either way. Which is why, whatever one's opinions of their actual bona fides, it is generally strategic to focus on what a person said or wrote, rather than what they think or are.
Which is exactly what Mondondo & Enright do. Their claim is that this book is racist. Because it is. Intent shmintent: whatever Hergé intended, are these disgusting sub-minstrel figures 'degrading'? Anyone who denies that the answer is yes is a fool or a knave.
There is the absurd hyperbole, to turn a victimiser's culture into a victim. In his effort to derail the issue, Staggs insists that the 'trump' of racism is 'used to blot out any part of our cultural heritage that might cause embarrassment.' 'Blot out'. Right. Who, after all, could forget the monstrous erasure performed by Stalin on Trotsky, by putting a warning sticker on him & refusing to shelve him alongside The Gruffalo? The Tintin Vanishes. Quick, conjure images of book burning! First they came for the Boy Reporter & shelved him alongside Persepolis & Sandman, & I did not speak out, because I was not a Boy Reporter, &c.
Staggs must surely then be full of contumely for anyone who was willing not merely to provide context for but to actually alter the sacrosanct ur-text: this would be capitulation to the Thought Police. Someone like, er, Hergé, who decades after the book's first publication, revisited & reworked it, expressing embarrassment for the earlier version. Almost as if returning to shameful work in the light of new understandings was a civilized thing to do. (Though the rethink was both wholly inadequate & appears to have been as much to do with anxiety about hunting as about the racism.)
With his reference to 'any part' of culture, Staggs encapsulates another bullshit argument: the slippery slope. That if you allow that this should be adapted, or even contextualised, or shelved differently, then everything that 'might cause embarrassment' (again the ducking of the question of whether such embarrassment - or rage - is justified) will be threatened, & everything will end up banned.
That no one has suggested this is irrelevant to him. Indeed, what is suggested, rather, is that in the case of controversial art, we have a thoughtful discussion about what is & is not appropriate in what circumstances. Mondondo advocates no measures with regard to any other Tintin book, no matter their depictions of Africans, nor any other classic deep-structured by racism. If any such argument does come up, we will discuss it on its merits. There is no slippery slope.
There will be hard cases & grey areas, yes. Of course. We are intelligent people: we can work it out. No originals will ever be 'blotted out', lost from memory for researchers, especially in this era of digital archiving. Just as Sunflower the Pickaninny Centaur is not forgotten, despite Disney's best efforts, nor Agatha Christie's original title of And Then There Were None. Nor is anyone saying such questionable figures may never be used - the question, rather, is what you do with them. Bluster, nostalgia & resentment being pitifully inadequate.
Indeed, Staggs' Everything Will Be Banned argument is not only bogus, but reversible. The totalitarian logic it imputes to his opponents lies, instead, with him. Mondondo has not suggested that everything embarrassing be blotted out. Staggs, however, does insist that nothing, no matter how repulsive, should ever be even contextualised, let alone, sometimes, even, in certain contexts, adapted. He is the totalitarian. He must, by this logic, wish to live in a world where any black child - any child - excited to see Fantasia must be shocked by (no warning allowed!) & suffer through Sunflower, must wander into bookshops to be faced with mass-selling books calling them N****r in the title.
It is a strange, depraved morality that chooses relentless fidelity to racist texts over consideration of the day-to-day lives of children & others. Or to put it another way, 'fuck you people, we care about our little n****r dolls more than we care about you'.
These are not merely debates about old texts. The golliwog, for example, has recently been invoked not merely in a peculiar & doggedly unapologised-for sneer at a young black man, but, without caution or rigour, by feted & hip artists, one of whom announces that the figure is reclaimed. As if no racist calls any black child golliwog any more.
No, this is not only about children (adults having just as much right to expect not to be degraded by the culture that surrounds them) but it is, absolutely, about them. Mondondo started his action out of concern for his young nephew. Enright requested the reshelving because of the thought of his children seeing themselves reflected through this vicious distorting mirror. Is that really such a bad standard to adopt, at least as a starting point? To suggest that we should not treat as innocent cultural slurs that make life harder for children? (PDF) Is it harder or easier for a traveller child to go to school the day after Jimmy Carr's 'gypsies stink' gag? To get a bus under one of Channel 4's astonishing new posters? Is it a good day when a Congolese child chances upon a contextless Tintin au Congo alongside Miffy, or a bad day?
We have established that this is not censorship, not banning. Nor is it Thought Policing, nor political-correctness-gone-mad. What if it is, at a bare minimum, basic fucking decency? Civilisation?
On the Enid Blyton bulletin boards, warriors bemoan the PC Brigade taking from them the N-word &, above all, the golliwogs. Just as Hergé's defenders must, to be rigorous, turn their ire on Hergé, so Blyton's shock-troops must loath & detest her daughters: they it was who decided to remove those much-missed racist caricatures.
'My sister & I came to the conclusion in the 80s that because of the multicultural society we now had, that the gollis should disappear from the books. … [W]e felt that it was not right in this day & age to use them if they were considered to be a parody of part of our population.'
Spin? Post-facto justification? Off-handed extemporisation? We can't know. But whatever spurred such words & thoughts, it's striking - it's shameful - that the 30-year-old apolitical polite good neighbourliness of Blyton's own daughters shows more concern for people's feelings, more pragmatic understanding of the problems & politics of culture, than any of today's huffing defenders of the Boy Reporter, or 'post-ironic' revivalists of slanders.
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text:
'I see one! I see one!' Easter egg hunts fill the calendar
Published: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 8:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 8:19 p.m.
TUSCALOOSA | "Here comes Peter Cottontail Hoppin' down the bunny trail ..." and so wrote Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson in "Peter Cottontail," that most popular of Easter songs.
The bunny trail will be a busy place here in coming days, with a number of Easter egg hunts scheduled.
Here's what we have on the list so far:
Tuscaloosa's One Place will hold a free Easter egg hunt at Jaycee Park, 701 Kicker Road, in Alberta from 2-4:30 p.m. today. There will also be food, bounce houses and free kids activities. Bring an Easter basket.
First United Methodist Church will hold its annual Easter egg hunt at 4 p.m. today at Annette N. Shelby Park, 1614 15th St.
Alberta Baptist Church and College Hill Baptist Church will co-sponsor an Easter egg hunt at Jaycee Park in Alberta from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. March 23.
The Battle-Friedman House, 1010 Greensboro Ave., will be the site of an Easter egg hunt from 3-5 p.m. March 24. Hosted by the Junior Tuscaloosa Belles. Activities include the egg hunt, visits with the Easter Bunny, games and prizes and a raffle for adults.
First Wesleyan Church will hold Easterfest 2013 from 10 a.m. to noon on March 30 at Snow Hinton Park on McFarland Blvd. E. The whole community is invited to the city's largest hunt, with more than 20,000 Easter eggs. Free lunches, games, bounce houses, climbing wall, etc. Live band will be playing as well.
First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa will hold its "Easter Eggstravaganza" event from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on March 30 at the Government Plaza Park on Sixth Street in downtown Tuscaloosa. The free event includes lunch, egg hunts, bounce houses and other family activities.
Northport Baptist Church will hold its annual Easter egg hunt at 10:30 a.m. on March 30 at the Robert Cardinal Shelter at Airport Park.
Northridge Baptist Church will hold a community-wide Easter egg hunt at 1 p.m. on March 30 at the church, 4115 Watermelon Road in Northport.
Safe Haven Church will hold its annual "Easterfestibration" from 9 a.m.-noon on March 30 at Hillcrest High School, 300 Patriot Parkway.
University Church of Christ, 1200 Julia Tutwiler Drive, will hold a "flashlight" Easter egg hunt at the church for elementary school-age children from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on March 20. An Easter event will also be held for preschoolers at the church from 9-11 a.m. March 31.
Greater Faith and Victory Baptist Church in Alberta will have an Easter celebration on March 30 at 2101 East 10th St. from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. An Easter egg hunt will be held, and there will also be games, face painting and food.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.

subset: commoncrawl


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Larry Calvin Laughter, 53
Published: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 4:29 p.m.
EDNEYVILLE - Larry Calvin Laughter, 53, of Edneyville passed away at his home Wednesday, November 28, 2012.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2 PM Monday, December 3, 2012 in the Kirby Memorial Chapel of Shuler Funeral Home with the Reverend Craig Garren officiating.
Shuler Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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PARKERSBURG - Council members and city officials reviewed Parkersburg's proposed 2013-14 budget Tuesday evening during a three-hour budget hearing.
The nearly $26.3 million budget is an increase of about $525,000 from the previous year, but Mayor Bob Newell said it contains few new expenditures.
Newell began Tuesday's hearing reviewing the city's revenue streams, departments and expenditures.
Article Photos
Photo by Michael Erb
Parkersburg City Council members John Rockhold, left, and J.R. Carpenter, right, listen during opening roll call of Tuesday's budget hearing.
The proposed budget contains $765,000 in pay increases due to reclassifications and raises. Newell said those increases are being paid for with existing funds saved through attrition and elimination of positions and reduction of the city's debt service.
Newell told council members while he anticipates the city's user fee will be a topic during the budget review, he warned losing the nearly $2.3 million in revenue would lead to a loss of both personnel and services.
During the review, Councilman John Kelly questioned what he called "underestimated" revenue numbers, saying they did not accurately reflect money coming in to the city. Newell disagreed, saying the conservative estimates helped keep the city from anticipating non-existent revenues.
"We can project the revenue high and hope to God it comes in that way," Newell said. "We don't operate that way."
Kelly pointed to the city's $1.4 million carryover fund.
"I don't believe a $1.4 million carryover is where we ought to be," he said. "I think we need to hold the numbers a little tighter than that."
Newell said that carryover is necessary to operate the city during the first quarter, before revenues begin to come in to the city.
"On July 1, we do not really have $26 million to spend," he said. "That fund is to carry us over during the first quarter."
Kelly also questioned the purchase of four SUVs by the police department, saying he would favor more cruisers instead.
"I would like to decrease the number of 4-wheel-drive vehicles in the city," he said, citing the cost to purchase, fuel and maintain the large vehicles.
Parkersburg Police Chief Joe Martin said the vehicles would allow the department to cycle three existing SUVs into another department. Those vehicles have 80,000-110,000 miles.
Martin said while he could use more cruisers, the SUVs have additional uses, such as surveillance and taking officers to training.
"There is a need for those types of vehicles," he said.
Newell said the heavier vehicles were first purchased by the city for emergency response during inclement weather.
Kelly requested a price comparison between the SUVs and cruisers.
Council will meet again Tuesday in regular session.


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In honor of Small Business Week (May 20-26), we're offering Small Biz Daily Deals. Each day from the @UPS Twitter account, we'll highlight a UPS small business customer.
Online shoppers can take advantage of deals on the food you'll need for the grill, outdoor gear and flowers delivered right to your front door. Many of the customers are also offering free shipping with special promo codes.
White Flower Farm has a special on Casa Blanca Lily bulbs: order 1 dozen and get the 2nd dozen half price.
White Flower Farm is a small business in Connecticut that has flowers and plants from all over the world. They count on UPS to transport their delicate deliveries.


text: Hello, I have just started Diet Chef. For the last (nearly) 3 weeks I have been on Weight 2 Go which was good but had a limited variety so I have taken the plunge and subscribed to the 4 month plan. So far on that diet I had lost 1st in 3 weeks so I am hoping for 1st each month. Ambitious I know but you gotta aim high right? According to my BMI profile I need to add around 1000 kcals a day to the diet chef meals to loose 1-2lbs a week but 90% of the reason I chose this kind of diet is because I am terrbile at planning so will see how I get on with less kcal than required. If I feel I am loosing weight too quickly I'll add extra kcals as required. What sort of times a day do you guys take your meals? One of my problems is I sleep alot so find it hard to space out meal times to get them all in.


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Eye-One Match
Version: 3.6.3 || Release Date: 2009-10-19 || License: Freeware
Developer: Gretag Macbeth |
App Owner: almehag
Eye-One Match is the driver software for GretagMacbeth's Eye-One lineup of color management devices including the Eye-One Display 2, Eye-One Photo.
Required OS: 10.4
Tags: icc , colormanagement , graphics
3 Opinions
If you use this, please switch now to the free, upgraded version from X-Rite: i1Profiler. http://osx.iusethis.com/app/i1profiler
i1Profiler is universal, is free, and will work with your compatible Eye-One Match hardware.
3.6.2 version released
Still not a Universal Binary. It's half way 2009, guys! Lucky for Gretag Macbeth Snow Leopard can install Rosetta as an option.


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There have been rumors for months on the future of "Dancing With the Stars," possible changes in judges and prospective celebrities. Tonight, Season 16 began and promptly dumped all of the rumors. The judges are the same and the new crop of celebs -- and some new dance pros -- promises enough fancy footwork to amaze.
The cream rising to the top tonight were Kellie Pickler with Derek Hough, Zendaya Coleman with Val Chmerkovskiy, Victor Ortiz with new pro Lindsay Arnold, Aly Raisman with Mark Ballas, and Jacoby Jones with Karina Smirnoff. I pick Kellie, Zendaya and Jacoby to be the Top Three at the end of the season.
Kellie and Derek had the luck to dance first but their cha cha cha really dazzled with such smooth moves and shaking hips that it seemed like Week 6, instead of Week 1. Host Tom Bergeron called it "a stunning start" and all three judges oohed and aahed over the pair, giving them a total of 21. Zendaya and Val drew the contemporary style that's new to the show, but they were awesome. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said Zendaya had a "maturity unexpected in a 16 year old," and head judge Len Goodman kept it short and sweet: "That ... was ... great!" The pair received a total of 24, the high score of the night.
Victor and Lindsay danced the foxtrot, and although he has a lot of room for improvement, Victor has a winning smile and appealing personality that ought to carry him far. "For a heavy hitter, you are surprisingly light-footed," said judge Bruno Tonioli. But the first of several boos rained down on Len when he called their dance, "uneventful." The pair's total score was 18 but I expect higher scores in their future. Aly Raisman showed off her personality, rhythm and grace when she danced the cha cha cha with Mark, but perhaps someone should have taken a closer look at her costume beforehand. The neckline was so low that it looked like she might fall out of her dress at any moment -- if the idea was too make her look more sexy, I think it was inappropriate, even for a show where the motto is "less costume, the better." The connection between Aly and Mark is apparent and I'm sure she will only get better. Their score was a total of 21.
Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff had the final dance of the night and they rocked the house with their cha cha cha. For someone who couldn't rehearse until one week ago due to surgery, Jacoby did a great job. The judges called him on his foot placement and lack of technique, but his moves and grooves really brought out his personality. Their total score was 20.
Big surprises for me were Andy Dick and Wynonna Judd, both of whom I thought would be out in the first weeks. Both seemed interested and eager, and their stories of overcoming challenges were appealing. Andy and new pro Sharna Burgess danced a foxtrot that was smooth and romantic. Bruno described Andy as having "skittish charm" and Carrie Ann thought it was "quite charming." However, Len's alter-ego, Mr. Grumpy Pants, made a reappearance, saying Andy had the "fluidity of a robocop," to a hefty chorus of boos. Their total score was 17. Wynonna was very nervous, but partner Tony Dovolani brought out the best in her during their cha cha cha. She started relaxing when she began singing along with the music, but she will need to really let go to see her score go up. All of the judges thought she did a good job but needed to "go for it, to really work it." The total for the pair was 18.
It was a pleasure to see how well many of the other couples -- Dorothy Hamill with Tristan MacManus (contemporary), Ingo Rademacher with Kym Johnson (contemporary), Sean Lowe with Peta Murgatroyd (foxtrot) and Lisa Vanderpump with new pro Gleb Savchenko foxtrot) -- did with their dances, although all of them confessed to being incredibly nervous. It will be interesting to see how well they do next week with a new set of dances, and there may be more surprises in store for the audience.
While I was pleased to see that the judges mostly kept the scores real, the biggest shocker of the night was how bad D.L. Hughley and Cheryl Burke danced and how harsh the judges were on them. Neither D.L. nor Cheryl seems really interested in dancing this season, and their apparent lack of practice showed it. Wooden, robotic D.L. made Season 10's Kate Gosselin look graceful and talented in comparison, and even Cheryl's sexy spins and dips around him couldn't help. And if the pair indeed has the quickstep next week, D.L.'s goose is definitely cooked! However, the judges' total scores of three 4's for the pair were just too low -- it's only week 1, for goodness sake!
And what's with Len? He's supposed to be in a "honeymoon glow" as a newlywed, but instead became Mr. Grumpy Pants part of the time. The audience was quick to let him know that they didn't agree with his remarks as they showered him with boos on several occasions. Len is supposed to be tough to please, but it doesn't help the celebs become better dancers with meanness, instead of help.
The celebrities, pros and their scores:
Zendaya and Val -- 24
Kellie and Derek -- 21
Aly and Mark -- 21
Dorothy and Tristan -- 21
Ingo and Kym -- 20
Jacoby and Karina -- 20
Sean and Peta -- 19
Victor and Lindsay -- 18
Lisa and Gleb -- 18
Wynonna and Tony -- 18
Andy and Sharna -- 17
D.L. and Cheryl -- 12
What did you think about the start of Season 16? How did you rate the celebs? What about the judging?
Copyright © 2012 by Bay City News, Inc. ... republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


text:
- Currently Unavailable
Features high impact ABS custom injection molded shoulder caps for maximum protection. Warrior's tough single density protection foam offers cushioning throughout the pad. Reinforced sternum protection. Durable outer nylon construction. Patented Hitman shoulder cap design for greater range of motion without sacrificing protection or comfort. Adjustable waist straps with D-ring adjustments for an excellent fit no matter your size.


text:
Definition of tabular in English:
1(Of data) consisting of or presented in columns or tables: a tabular presentation of running costs
More example sentences
- The numbers of observed micronuclei are presented in both tabular and graphical form but the data appear to be inconsistent between the two forms of presentation.
- Results using this scoring metric are presented in a tabular format to facilitate strain comparison.
- As you would expect, you can sort the data easily by clicking on the head of each column and present them in tabular or map form.
2Broad and flat like the top of a table: a huge tabular iceberg
More example sentences
- At the edges of Antarctica, where plains of ice spread across the ocean and float on it before breaking off, most of the icebergs are tabular - flat on top, horizontal in configuration.
- Bars migrate downstream, producing tabular cross-stratified sands, and these merge to give sand flats covered by rippled and planar-bedded sands developed during flood stages.
- It is present in tabular masses 10-50 feet thick.
2.1(Of a crystal) relatively broad and thin, with two well-developed parallel faces.
Example sentences
- However, also known are thin tabular crystals that are yellow to golden in color and more than 2.5 cm.
- Colorless crystals tend to be more tabular with modifications by the dipyramids and other forms.
- The crystals range from pyramidal to tabular and are dark blue to nearly black.
tabularly adverb
- Example sentences
- The output of the circuit will be be displayed both tabularly and graphically for a specific sequence of inputs.
- Character sets are shown tabularly, in addition to lists arranged by coded character value.
- Throughout the module, students develop, graph, and solve linear equations verbally, tabularly, graphically, and symbolically.
Words that rhyme with tabularincunabula
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: tabu|lar
Definition of tabular in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
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= trending


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A great burger is a beautiful thing. It's a dish that absolutely relies on the quality of the ingredients, from the fresh-ground meat to the glorious bun, with enough structural integrity to withstand the juiciness of the patty and toppings without hurting the roof of your mouth.
Nearly every week sees the launch of yet another amazing new burger place in the East Bay, where the beef is grass-fed, the toppings are genius and the ambience decidedly hip. Of course, not everyone evaluates burgers based on steer provenance and umami flavor vectors. Sometimes, you just want a good, honest burger, with minimum frills.
So we're offering up a mix with a little something for everyone, a list that includes Oakland's over-the-top Umami, Albany's creative Grazzy and Walnut Creek's all-American Habit.
Address: 747 San Pablo Ave., Albany
Contact: 510-526-2999; http://grazzyburgers.com
Hours: Open for lunch and dinner daily
Burger tab: $40.10 for two burgers with fries, a salad and a soda
Grazzy is the type of casual field-to-fork eatery where you can pop in for burgers at lunch or linger over appetizers and ambience. That's because it's a bright, airy sit-down joint with walls covered in scenic photos of America's greatest natural wonders. There's also a taproom with 32 local beers and another 100 by the bottle. We'll leave the brews for another review.
What you need to know about the grub: Grazzy sources only organic grass-fed beef, organic turkey and cage-free chickens for its one-third pounders and offers gluten-free buns for an additional $1.50. They use rice bran oil in their fryers, which might explain the clean crispy-crunch of their Dino Chips, a mix of kale and potato chips ($4), and french fries ($4). Order any one of the nine burgers ($8.50-$10), and you get fries as well.
Standouts on our visit were the Merguez Lamb Burger ($10) made with Moroccan spices and, oddly enough, an 80:20 ratio of beef to lamb. We loved how the yogurt mint sauce complemented the heat from the harissa ketchup. The Bacon & Blue Burger ($10) was also delish: a beef (or turkey) patty topped with crumbly blue cheese, bacon, crisp butter leaf lettuce, tomatoes and caramelized onions with lemon garlic aioli. Both burgers arrived piping hot, but the wait was a little long for a quick lunch.
For people who don't eat red meat, they have a good selection of burgers: chicken, salmon, portobello and one we'll definitely try next time called Black Bean Fiesta ($9), a vegetarian patty made with black beans, sweet potato and brown rice topped with pico de gallo, preserved lemon, guacamole and cilantro lime aioli. Yum.
If you're feeling salad-y, Grazzy offers six ($6 half; $9 whole), including a cabbage and jicama slaw with a Southeast Asian vinaigrette. You can wash it down with one of their old-fashioned sodas ($3), such as the sweet Butterscotch Sasparilla, a 16-ounce organic Straus milkshake ($6.50) or homemade kombucha on tap ($4). Lunching late? You can order from the taproom menu, which includes everything from mini lamb tacos to spicy chicken wings, starting at 3:30 p.m.
-- J. Yadegaran
Umami Burger
Address: 2100 Franklin St., Suite 2190, Oakland
Contact: 510-899-8626, www.umamiburger.com
Hours: Open daily for lunch and dinner
Burger tab: $32.50 for two burgers and smothered fries
Umami Burger, a growing chain founded by Adam Fleischman five years ago in Southern California, takes its name from the unofficial fifth flavor group -- the savory flavor found in meats, cheeses, mushrooms and cooked tomatoes.
These are pricey burgers -- the cheapest is $11 -- but for that money, you can be sure you're going to get a belly full of flavor. Start with the Original ($12), which gives you all the umami flavor you can handle with a six-ounce patty, shiitake mushrooms and roasted tomatoes, with a parmesan crisp and caramelized onions to boot.
The Hatch Burger ($11) has roasted green chiles and a garlic aioli, but both flavors were a bit muted by the strong beef flavor of the patty. If you're looking for a spicy sandwich, it may leave you reaching for the hot sauce to kick it up a notch.
Unfazed by the gender-specific name, my wife polished off the Manly Burger ($12), stacked with beer cheddar, bacon lardons and smoked-salt onion strings. Consider ordering your burger a bit more well done than you're used to; we both asked for medium and got burgers that were completely pink in the middle.
Where Umami really shines is in its trio of Truffle'd burgers. The Truffle Especiale ($14) is a heavenly concoction with truffle butter, truffled arugula, a parmesan crisp and a fried egg. No burger is complete without fries; a standard plate of Thin Fries ($3.50), enough for two, can be topped with add-ons such as truffle fondue and short ribs and gravy. Alternatives include onion rings ($4.50), sweet potato fries ($4) or fried pickles ($6.)
If you're craving an elite burger experience that'll stretch your expectations of what a burger can be, Umami Burger will give you something to savor.
-- D. Jimenez
The Habit
Address: 1504 Geary Road, Walnut Creek and other locations
Contact: 925-296-9672, www.habitburger.com
Hours: Open daily for lunch and dinner
Burger tab: $18.61 for burgers, fries and sodas for two
It seems odd to talk about a Habit charburger immediately after an Umami creation. But if you recoiled at the very thought of a truffle butter-topped burger, this one's for you.
Of course, if you didn't grow up in Santa Barbara, you may be eyeing the word "charburger" with some trepidation, too. It's a thing back in my hometown. Basically, they're grilled burgers. Done badly, of course, they are indeed charred burgers. Fortunately, the Habit Burger Grill, a Santa Barbara-based chain, does those charburgers as the gods of surf, sand and sea intended: simply, honestly and topped with fresh lettuce, caramelized onions, melty cheese and a tad too much mayo.
We're not talking gourmet burgers here. There's no grass-fed beef, arugula or aioli -- it's not Roam Artisan Burger (personal fave). But if you're a fan of, say, In-N-Out or Five Guys Burger and Fries, looking for a reasonably priced all-American burger, this is a good one. In fact, it narrowly edged out both chains in a recent Consumer Reports survey of the nation's best fast-food burgers.
The Habit's claim to fame is the Char Meal ($7.05), a straightforward charburger, fries and soda. It's perfectly fine. Well, avoid the Minute Maid pomegranate lemonade at the soda squirter; it's vile. But the burger is fine -- and the Santa Barbara variation ($5.75), a double char with avocado on grilled sourdough, is even better. They do other variations on the theme, including a barbecue bacon, a mushroom Swiss and a teriyaki charburger with grilled pineapple. Don't eat red meat? There are veggie, chicken and tuna steak charburgers, too. And like any self-respecting burger joint, they do fries -- regular or sweet potato ($2.65) -- which are nicely crisp but underseasoned, much like In-N-Out's, where ketchup isn't a condiment, it's a requirement.
Bottom line? If In-N-Out is your idea of burger heaven, you'll love this.
-- J. Burrell


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I was quite surprised to find that there was no sheet music category in the general music section... I know that there's one in the FMA music section, but I thought it would be nice to have a place to find non-fma sheet music...
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Alright! Here we go! I'm looking for: Advent: One-Winged Angel. If anyone has the FFVII AC piano book, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could scan that song for me! And Cloud Smiles, if you're generous and feel like being nice! I'm in the process of convincing a band teacher to let us play both songs for my last concert, and I have a friend who's a compositional genius - if I were to give him an mp3 or both songs and the piano music, he'd put together the rest of the score!
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Feb 4 2007, 10:02 PM
Kal Rommel
One Winged Angel Piano There's One Winged Ang...
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The New Fullmetal Alchemist
Oh my gosh, thank you so much, Kal! Why can...
Feb 6 2007, 09:36 PM
Kal Rommel
Thanks New! -ambush glomp- I played it well ...
Feb 7 2007, 09:17 AM
The New Fullmetal Alchemist
Aww, that's too bad... I'm sorry! Was...
Feb 11 2007, 08:15 PM
Kal Rommel
I got it from Ichigo's It's alright. I...
Feb 11 2007, 08:29 PM
Abstruse Eulogy
Also, feel free to post your own compositions in h...
Feb 22 2007, 06:21 PM
The New Fullmetal Alchemist
Ah, will do. Don't have much, I'm afraid ...
Feb 24 2007, 09:25 PM
Abstruse Eulogy
Plenty. But I'll let others share theirs first...
Feb 27 2007, 03:17 PM
The New Fullmetal Alchemist
@ Abstruse Eulogy - Haha! I think it may be s...
Feb 27 2007, 10:07 PM
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Okay, this is gonna take some patience to read. It...
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The New Fullmetal Alchemist
HOLY CRAP! I may not know too much about g...
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But of course http://www.fileupyours.com/files/76...
Feb 28 2007, 06:48 PM
The New Fullmetal Alchemist
Wow, Abstruse - I must say, hearing the actual thi...
Feb 28 2007, 08:56 PM
Abstruse Eulogy
You can download guitar pro it'll make things...
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The New Fullmetal Alchemist
Both of us? Alright, if you insist. EDIT: 15 da...
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Abstruse Eulogy
YOu could always pirate it borrow the program key ...
Feb 28 2007, 09:18 PM
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Hahahaaa! So I could... Tell you what, if I...
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Abstruse Eulogy
Here are 9 songs that are pretty much completed: ...
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Holy crap! Wow... I'm assuming these ar...
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Abstruse Eulogy
all but one that one's a secret~
Feb 28 2007, 09:31 PM
The New Fullmetal Alchemist
Oh? Is that one a bomb then? And I'm going t...
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It's not a bomb... but it's about 22 minut...
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Wow... that's definitely a long song... I...
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Triss Hawkeye
I've written some music for my Music course at...
Mar 3 2007, 02:22 PM
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Hey, Triss! I can't wait to hear what you ...
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Anyone got scores for Igor Stravinsky's 'R...
Mar 15 2007, 05:49 PM
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Oooh, the Rite of Spring is very good. Don't h...
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Sorry, Triss, I don't. Also, sorry it's ta...
May 1 2007, 08:53 PM
Does anyone have any sheet music for stuff by My C...
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I know this is a bit belated, but thank you very m...
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"We've said from the start that Michigan would not be replacing lost federal dollars with state dollars due to sequestration and that still holds true. We support getting the nation's fiscal house in order, though across-the-board cuts like this are not the way to go about it. We took a much more thoughtful approach here in Michigan in putting the budget in balance."
Gov. Rick Snyder
The State Budget Office announced today that there will be no layoffs of state workers due to the implementation of sequestration cuts. The budget office estimated that there will be program cuts of $150.5 million in fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
The total program reductions for fiscal year 2013 are estimated at $59.2 million. An additional $92.3 million in reduced spending is projected for fiscal year 2014.
The sequestration cuts range for departments across the state. In the Department of Human Services, the annual allowance for children's clothing will be eliminated. Previously, the $137 per child clothing allowance went to 21,000 children each August. The Department of Community Health will reduce funding for programs programs aimed at serving seniors, nutrition services, and injury and disease prevention.
Education funding reductions will total over $54 million. Schools district will face sequestration cuts next school year in areas such as special education services, Title I funding, career & technical education, after-school programs, teacher quality grants, and other grants. School districts will need to adjust their budgets this summer to compensate for reduced federal revenues at the beginning of the next school year.
Most of the sequestration cuts come by way of reductions of federal grants to local entities. In the current fiscal year, 42 percent of Michigan's state budget comes from federal funds, which comes to approximately $20 billion of the $48.2 billion state budget.


text:
Call us Greece, only with increasingly funnier names for each crisis.
"Debt ceiling," "fiscal cliff," now "sequestration."
The race to each deadline, all that amping up of drama, Democrats railing about the incalculable looming damage to the fragile recovery of the economy, Republicans drawing "firm" lines in the sand and then backing off at the last second ... or maybe after tonight's deadline this time.
Oh, and each crisis is dumber than the last. The relevant image here is the movie "Blazing Saddles" when the sheriff threatens to shoot himself in the head, played over and over.
"Son of Debt Ceiling" is scheduled for May, by the way, after whatever strange new moniker will be given to the government running out of money later this month.
All of these crises were manufactured politically. So this is less about threatening to shoot ourselves in the head and more about primarily the House Republicans shooting themselves constantly in the foot while crying about that meanie Obama making them do it.
Given how ridiculous that bunch has been, they actually are helping the country begin to see straight, end the ugly run of the tea party movement, and maybe - yes, I'm way too optimistic - crack a window for the possibility of statesmanship to begin to work on our big challenges intelligently, prudently, practically.
It's a tough thing when a political body does all it can to stop the recovery from the Great Recession. Bad enough when the stated aim of the party leadership is not to make a great country greater, but to hold the president to one term for the lowest political reasons. Um, fellas ... you lost. Even Karl Rove finally figured out this much.
I used to think the Democrat nuts were even worse than the Republican ones, but I'm rethinking that now.
These made-up crises won't stop until the Republicans no longer run the U.S. House. They still seem to think they can tag the president for blame, but why are they playing roulette with the country's ultimate well-being in such a tender time?
How do they not understand that playing this game only keeps giving the president a stronger and stronger hand? That's the irony in all this. They don't realize they keep dealing aces to that hated Obama, and he's much sharper than the guy he replaced.
The Republicans are acting even dumber than the names of these crises, and seem oblivious to the fact.
We're not in fact Greece. We don't really need to gin up crisis after crisis to get in our own way.
The only real crisis is the GOP's self-inflicted one.
Editor and Publisher Don Rogers can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or 970-748-2920.


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text:
- Apr 20:
- Purdy: Sharks win, but series far from over
- Apr 20:
- Sharks notebook: In twist, injuries help Brad Stuart stay fresh
- Sharks crush Kings, take 2-0 series lead
- Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart thrilled by how good he feels
- Sharks hoping for better success on faceoffs in Game 2
- San Jose Sharks, L.A. Kings sticking with same lineups for Game 2
SAN JOSE -- By the end of a goal-giddy night, all four Sharks lines had scored at least once against Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick in a 7-2 Game 2 rout.
That was crazy enough against a stud net-minder like Quick. But what truly tested the limits of believability was that San Jose's fourth line of Mike Brown, Andrew Desjardins and Raffi Torres got everything rolling with two second-period goals that pulled the club out of a 2-0 hole.
Brown, who netted the first 4:25 into the period, hadn't scored a goal since Dec. 2. Torres, who nailed the second less than five minutes later, scored one goal in the five regular-season games he played all season, and that came on March 2.
And Desjardins, who had two assists precisely once in 81 regular-season games, made like Joe Thornton and flicked a pair of fine set-up passes for both scores. The captain himself was impressed.
"Where we want to go, everybody's going to have to be a leader throughout these playoffs," Thornton said. "And tonight their line just played great and won us the game."
The unusual scoring binge notwithstanding, Desjardins thought his line with Brown and Torres was only doing what it was supposed to do with the Sharks facing such a tough uphill climb after the opening 20 minutes.
"The job of any fourth line is to come in and create momentum for your team," he said. "Lay the body and be effective that way, and if you can chip in, you chip in. Tonight, we were fortunate enough to get two goals."
Brown, who scored his first-ever postseason goal and was named No. 1 star for the first time in his NHL career in any game, said the goal that broke the spell against Quick was all set up by his line mates.
"Torres and (Desjardins) were on the forecheck and the puck went into the corner," he said. "I just kind of creeped to the middle and he found me. It was a great pass, a great play, a great forecheck and I just put it in on the one-timer."
Desjardins deflected any notion that he is blossoming into a top-flight playmaker.
"I'm pretty much a tracking kind of guy," he said. "But we're all here for a reason. We all have some skills, so when we have the opportunities, we need to chip in. You get the bounces sometimes."
Coach Todd McLellan isn't surprised that his fourth line has shown some scoring potential, even though Torres only joined Brown and Desdardins in the postseason and their individual numbers don't really suggest an offensive juggernaut in the making.
"The way they play, they complement each other," McLellan said. "They're fast. A lot of players who play in that role are bigger and maybe can't move as quickly. But these guys are fast, and they hug pucks a lot, and they want to play together, which is a great thing.
"They also have a sense, I believe, that everybody around them believes in them. They feel good about going out on the ice and we feel good about having them out there."
Torres, who gives the fourth line greatly enhanced physical mustard, has formed an almost instant bond with Desjardins and Brown, and thinks they can be a force for San Jose, even if they're not scoring every game.
"I thought Brownie had one of the best games I've ever seen him play, and Desi was great with puck," Torres said. "He's got a lot of skill and it shows in practice. So it's great to see those guys get rewarded."
Torres loves playing with Desjardins and Brown and said they've struck up a quick rapport. They're constantly communicating when they're off the ice.
"Fourth line guys have to keep talking to each other, letting each other know what we see out there, especially in our zone," he said. "We can do this, we can do that, and just try to feed off each other's energy."
Kings coach Darryl Sutter said that even beyond the scoring, the depth of San Jose's attack throughout the game was the major difference.
"I think their (James) Sheppard and Desjardins lines dominated in the second and third period," Sutter said. "We didn't have an answer for that. I think you scale out when you start going against third and fourth lines. It's clear that our important players against those guys have to do a better job. That's clear."
Follow Carl Steward on Twitter at twitter.com/stewardsfolly.


text:
Note to
our readers: We originally published the following commentary on
February 24, 2009. It lays out Joe's suggested five-step plan toward
recovery. We are now more than a year forward and we have yet to begin
step one, though there are some rumblings regarding a debate on mortgage
market reform.
doesn't matter what you do or say
Just forget the things that you've been told
We can't do it any other way
Everybody's got to rock and roll.
I'm a firm believer in the "KISS" methodology: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
So, when I think about the overall economy and the mess we are in, a
simple solution naturally pops into mind. I haven't been able to
discredit it, so I must share it with you. Please tell me if I go off
Step 1: Determine what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Without diving into actual solutions, several decisions must be made.
Unfortunately, Congress is dragging its feet as it does not want to kill
these cash cows, if at all possible, and every viable solution seems to
include doing so.
Step 2: Other large private institutions will determine how they fit
into the new mortgage market.
If you were the CEO of a Wells Fargo or a Bank of America and woke up
tomorrow with an undeniable desire to reenter the mortgage market in
force, you would not do so. Why? Because Fannie and Freddie make up
about 45 percent of the total market and until Congress points them in a
general direction, you will not step out in front. Fannie and Freddie
must take the lead, but other large institutions will surely follow as
there are tremendous fees to be made in this $13 trillion market.
Step 3: Housing prices will stabilize.
With a functioning mortgage market providing loans to qualified
borrowers in reasonable terms, home purchases will rise and home prices
will stabilize. Without a functioning mortgage market, home prices will
never stabilize at levels that require leveraged purchases.
Step 4: Consumer confidence will return.
Once home prices feel solid and perhaps even poised to rise at a
reasonable pace, consumers will return to the shopping malls and the
velocity of money will increase. This is the ultimate goal of all the
government bailout and stimulus programs today: to encourage consumers
to consume and investors to invest. Which brings us to the final step.
Step 5: Corporate profits rise, increasing investor confidence.
Completing this step will turn the current vicious cycle back into a
virtuous cycle. As consumers consume and profits rise, institutional
investors will begin putting idle funds to work in order to capture
excess returns that have been so elusive up to now. The desire to earn
excess returns is still out there, it's the opportunities that do not
I do not believe any one of these steps can occur without the previous,
which means the first step towards recovery is deciding how Fannie and
Freddie will fit into the new mortgage market. Congress has yet to have
any serious debate and Patrick Lawler, Chief Economist for Fannie and
Freddie's regulator, recently said it could be up to a year before this
issue is put to bed.
Let's hope step one isn't really a year away!Key Developments
Retail sales rose 1.6 percent in March, after a revised increase of 0.5
percent in February, the biggest gain in four months. Excluding auto
sales, retail activity posted a gain of 0.6 percent.
The consumer price index edged up 0.1 percent in March from the previous
month. Excluding food and energy, the core gauge was flat for the
month. On a year-over-year basis, CPI was up 2.3 percent, although core
CPI increased modestly at 1.1 percent over the previous year.
Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly fell in April to the lowest
level in five months. The University of Michigan preliminary index
dropped to 69.5 from a reading of 73.6 in March, due, in part, to slow
job recovery and health care legislation.
The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of SVB Financial Group, or SVB Asset Management, or any of its affiliates. This material, including without limitation the statistical information herein, is provided for informational purposes only. The material is based in part upon information from third-party sources that we believe to be reliable, but which has not been independently verified by us and, as such, we do not represent that the information is accurate or complete. The information should not be viewed as tax, investment, legal or other advice nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decisions. You should obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment decision. Nothing relating to the material should be construed as a solicitation or offer, or recommendation, to acquire or dispose of any investment or to engage in any other transaction.
SVB Asset Management, a registered investment advisor, is a non-bank affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank and member of SVB Financial Group. Products offered by SVB Asset Management are not FDIC insured, are not deposits or other obligations of Silicon Valley Bank, and may lose value.
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A female tech developer who outed men on Twitter for making what she described as inappropriate sexual comments at a Santa Clara technology conference Sunday is being hailed as a champion for women in technology.
But the backlash against Adria Richards has been brutal and swift. Richards, who is based in San Francisco, has been fired from her job as a "developer evangelist" at SendGrid, a Colorado-based email delivery company, according to tech blog VentureBeat. And she has received disturbing comments on her Twitter feed and violent images referencing rape and murder.
"Every woman who works in this industry, including myself, has stories like this or worse," said Catherine Bracy, who has worked in technology and written about Silicon Valley's struggles with diversity. "The vast majority of the time we just suck it up and stay quiet. And nothing changes.
"These events certainly will make women think even harder about speaking up when they encounter sexist or inappropriate behavior at tech events -- or even in the office -- in the future. Everyone in the industry should be concerned about that."
The uproar over Richards' experience at this month's PyCon conference comes after Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sparked a broader conversation about women in the workplace, a particularly hot topic in the male-dominated Silicon Valley tech industry.
No one at SendGrid returned phone calls from this newspaper Thursday, and Richards did not respond to tweets, Facebook messages or telephone calls from this newspaper Thursday. But her use of social media to air her complaints at the conference brought immediate results, and much of the backlash.
On her blog at butyoureagirl.com, Richards wrote that on Sunday "I publicly called out a group of guys at the PyCon conference who were not being respectful to the community."
A group of men had been sitting behind Richards inside the conference ballroom, making inappropriate comments in response to a speaker, Richards wrote.
"I was telling myself if they made one more sexual joke, I'd say something," she wrote.
She finally turned around and tweeted out a photo of the men that referenced comments they made about —'big' dongles.''
Richards tweeted her location in the ballroom audience and asked, "Can someone talk to these guys about their conduct?"
She then met with PyCon staff members, who escorted the men from the ballroom.
She later received a tweet back from PyCon that said, "Thank you @adriarichards for bringing the inappropriate comments to our attention. We've dealt with the situation."
In a sign that companies are taking complaints of inappropriate behavior seriously, Andy Yang, CEO of PlayHaven, a mobile-game company in San Francisco, wrote on his company's blog that it had fired an employee because of comments he made at PyCon.
"PlayHaven had an employee who was identified as making inappropriate comments at PyCon, and as a company that is dedicated to gender equality and values honorable behavior, we conducted a thorough investigation. The result of this investigation led to the unfortunate outcome of having to let this employee go."
Late Thursday, Twitter was still buzzing about the fallout. While some voiced support for Richards, others referenced a photo that had been posted of a bloodied and beheaded woman that implied Richards could be raped and murdered. Still others called Richards dumb, said "I hate you," and hoped that she would kill herself.
Aminatou Sow, co-founder of the TechLady Mafia group, wonders if the male-dominated tech industry will ever accept women as equals.
"This isn't the first time that a woman has heard a comment at a tech conference that makes their skin crawl," Sow said. "But we live in an age where we can broadcast these things far and wide and Adria had a platform. I think it's crazy that people at a tech conference would be shocked that this kind of behavior would be broadcast to the entire world."
Sow believes that Richards was acting on behalf of untold numbers of female technology workers who have endured even worse comments and behavior.
But after the publicity over Richards, Sow hopes even more women will call out similar behavior via social media.
"Somebody has to be at the forefront," Sow said. "It doesn't fix the problem. But it's important to realize a lot of women are really frustrated. Social media now gives us this voice and we're going to use it to our advantage."
Contact Dan Nakaso at 408-271-3648. Follow him at Twitter.com/dannakaso.


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FALL RIVER — Jillian Zucco, 19, of Mattapoisett, was selected as Miss Fall River 2013 earlier this month from among eight contestants at the Somerset Middle School. In addition to the title and scholarships and prizes totaling more than $1,000, Zucco won the Talent Award. She will compete at the Miss Massachusetts Pageant at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester next June 28 and 29.
A freshman in the honors nursing program at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, she is a recipient of the Abigail Adams Scholarship, Chancellor's Merit Scholarship, and the University Scholarship and is a graduate of Old Rochester Regional High School where she was a member of the National Honor Society. She plans to become a med-flight nurse and emergency room nurse.
As a former member of the pop group, Varsity Girls, she performed with the Boston Pops and sang in arenas and on stages from Miami to D.C. to New York and Boston. She has also received many awards for her solo singing talents including recognition from the International Association of Jazz Educators for "Outstanding Musicianship." She has been very active in local and regional musical theater on a paid and volunteer basis.
An active community volunteer for years, during her year of service as Miss Fall River, she will highlight her platform "Choose A Cause, Make A Difference," promoting the spirit of volunteerism.
She is the daughter of John and Kelly Zucco of Mattapoisett.
Location, ST | website.com


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About Napier
The Hawkes Bay coastline stretches in an unbroken curve from Cape Kidnappers to Mahia Peninsula on the east coast of the North Island. The ranges to the west give way to rolling hills and plains. These plains provide much of the land used by the region's orchards and vineyards. A network of rivers which are much valued for fishing, swimming, canoeing and jet boating, crosses the plains.
Check out the Hawke's Bay Events Calendar to see what's on in Napier and Hawke's Bay.
Napier enjoys some of the highest sunshine hours (over 1300 per year) in the whole of New Zealand and has a warm, relatively dry Mediterranean climate with average highs in January of 24.4C (76F) and average lows in July of 14.1C (57F).
The coastal city of Napier boasts a magnificent harbour and port. From the lookout at the summit of Napier Hill, close to McHardy Lodge, a 360 degree birds-eye views of the city, harbour and countryside can be enjoyed.
Hawkes Bay has an array of activities and attractions to offer visitors to the area and is probably best known for its abundance (over 30) of award winning vineyards. Napier is a haven for the wine enthusiast who will be in seventh heaven. The vineyards also provide a range of unforgettable award winning dining experiences with creative menus accompanied by fine wines in wonderful settings. Check out excedptional dining experiences at Craggy Range, Elepant Hill, Clearview, Vidals, Black Barn and the oldest winery in New Zealand - Mission Winery .
In February 1931, Napier was levelled by an earthquake, and the Town Centre was destroyed and rebuilt in the popular Art Deco style of the time. Most of the Town Centre remains intact and has been recognised as architecturally unique by enthusiasts around the world. Napier and South Beach (Miami) are considered by many Art Deco enthusiasts as the two best preserved Art Deco towns in the world.
Napier is often referred to as the "Art Deco Capital of the World" and continues to amaze visitors with its unique, Art Deco buildings, walks and tours, shopping and events.Visitors come from all corners of the earth to see, feel, and experience this unique collection of heritage buildings and participate in the Art Deco celebrations.
The largest of all Art Deco events in Napier is the GEON Art Deco
Weekend in February. It includes over 200 events, hundreds of 1920s and
30s cars, aerobatic flying displays, steam train rides, a great Gatsby
picnic, dinner dance extravaganzas and free outdoor concerts to name a
few. Many thousands of guests and locals alike dressed in Deco style
bring glamour to the City streets. Feel the atmosphere, live the era of
mystique, if only for a few days. The celebrations are a major
attraction, a must see and do when visiting our lovely City and region.
Marine Parade close to the centre of the town epitomises the relaxed and fascinating attractions of Napier, with the spectacular beach and Pacific Ocean, the Art Deco architecture and Hawkes Bay Museum and Art Gallery, together with more modern attractions of the National Aquarium of New Zealand and the hot spa pools of Ocean Spa.
We also cannot forget one of the most photographed tourist attractions in the country, the statue called Pania of the Reef. Her statue in Napier is regarded in the same way as the Little Mermaid statue is regarded in Copenhagen.


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Women's Nike Detroit Tigers MLB Classic Track Jacket
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CLAYTON -- A captain with the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office will take over as the city's police chief at the end of November, officials announced this week.
Christopher Thorsen, a 26-year law enforcement veteran, will take over the post being vacated by the retiring chief, Dan Lawrence. After a 40-year career, including seven years as Clayton's top cop, Lawrence announced his retirement in July.
Thorsen, who served as Oakley's police chief for more than five years, has been a sheriff's captain since September 2010. He manages the sheriff's Basic Police Academy and oversees recruitment and retention for the department.
He has also served as a watch commander and was a member of the sheriff's SWAT team for 10 years.
"I'm blessed to be offered the opportunity to serve a community, which so highly values partnerships, demands the highest quality and offers such tremendous support for public safety," Thorsen said in a statement.
Added City Manager Gary Napper: "(Thorsen) clearly understands and has demonstrated what 'community policing' can mean and do for a community; expect to see Chief Thorsen out and about in our town as he serves in this new capacity."
Thorsen will assume the office on Nov. 30, the same day that Lawrence will step down. He will be sworn in during the Dec. 4 City Council meeting at the Clayton Community Library.
Contact Daniel M. Jimenez at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DMJreports.


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A helicopter was called to fly a driver to the hospital after she crashed this morning in Tobyhanna Township.
The driver crashed in the area of Mountain Top Drive and Bobcat Court in Emerald Lake shortly before 8 a.m. She hit her face on the windshield and lost consciousness, according to initial reports from the Monroe County Control Center.
Her condition is unknown.
Location, ST | website.com


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Topic: So many blessings!!!!!
After a day of posting venting posts I thought it would be appropriate to post some positive words. I Have so much to be thankful for, I have a wonderful supportive husband, four beautiful children who support me with their love actions and prayers. Two beautiful grand children which are a blessing from God. A father who prays for me daily. A brother and sister in law who care much and call to check one all the time. I also have a church full of prayer warriors who lift me in prayers daily.
So as you can see I am very blessed in my life!!! I also know have a we new family who care and understand what I am too g through. What more could a girl ask for!!!!!!
God bless,


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Pac-Man Championship Edition
The "Pac-Man Championship Edition" is the same beloved "Pac-Man" game played in arcades of the '80s but is updated with new features that former "Pac-Man" fanatics and new generations of fans alike will love. It includes new mazes that dynamically change shape during gameplay, six new timed game modes, new soundtracks and high-definition (HD) graphics.
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