text:
This is an archival or historical document and may not reflect current policies or procedures.
September 2011
In This Issue:
Agency Executive Wins "Service to America" Medal
Diane Braunstein received the 2011 Citizen Services Medal from the Partnership for Public Service at this month's Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals ceremony. The Heyman Medals pay tribute to outstanding public servants who have made contributions to the health, safety, and well-being of Americans.
Ms. Braunstein, now Associate Commissioner for International Programs, oversaw the development of the Compassionate Allowances program, which fast-tracks benefits for Americans with the most serious disabilities. The legacy of Ms Braunstein's work with Compassionate Allowances will expand access to disability benefits to Americans with the most severe disabilities, while reducing the backlog of disability applications as well as the burden on the private sector.
Learn more about Compassionate Allowances, and Diane Braunstein's award, by reading the press release at www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/pr/2011-service-to-america-medal-pr.html.
January Retirees Should Apply Now
If you or your clients are looking to retire in January 2012, now is the time to apply. The best place to apply is online at www.socialsecurity.gov. It's so easy!
In most cases, as soon as an application is submitted electronically, that's it. There are no forms to sign or paperwork to complete. In rare cases when we need additional information, Social Security will contact you. You're always first in line when you go online at www.socialsecurity.gov
We're an online leader in Spanish, too!
Social Security is a leader in providing information and services online in both English and Spanish.
The www.segurosocial.gov website features more than 100 public information pamphlets, leaflets, and fact sheets in Spanish. It also allows visitors to sign-up for direct deposit, and locate their nearest Social Security office.
One of the best features of the site is the Retirement Estimator located at www.segurosocial.gov/calculador. The Estimator allows users to receive an instant, personalized estimate of future retirement benefits in Spanish.
More exciting services are coming soon to Social Security's Spanish-language website. Stay tuned to www.segurosocial.gov.
Open Season for Medicare Prescription Drug Program
The next open season for enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug program will run from October 15 to December 7. Newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries, and current beneficiaries who are considering changes to their Medicare plan, should mark their calendars for October 15.
The Medicare prescription drug program is available to all Medicare beneficiaries to help with the costs of medications. Joining a Medicare prescription drug plan is voluntary, and participants pay an additional monthly premium for the coverage.
While all Medicare beneficiaries can participate in the prescription drug program, some people with limited income and resources also are eligible for Extra Help to pay for monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-payments. The Extra Help is worth about $4,000 per year. Learn how to apply online for the Extra Help at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10525.html.
Learn more about Medicare at www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/medicare.htm.
At Social Security, we are committed to transparency, participation and collaboration in our communications with the public. In support of President Obama's UN General Assembly presentation on his global Open Government Partnership Plan, we published a summary of our own efforts and achievements in this arena. In it, we describe how Social Security is sharing more data, expanding opportunities for public dialogue and participation, and using technology to collaborate in ways we could not have imagined a few years ago.
See the summary at www.socialsecurity.gov/open.
Subscribe to Social Security Update today and you'll always be in the know when it comes to Social Security news. All we need is your e-mail address.


text:
- Text Size:
- ASmall Text
- AMedium Text
- ALarge Text
An Orange County man was arrested Thursday on charges of possessing child pornography.
David Riddle, 33, is being held at the Orange County Jail on six counts.
Officials said they executed a search warrant on Riddle's home on Perdido Drive and found several full-length videos of child pornography on his computer.
Riddle is being held on a $1,600 bond.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Now more than ever, we need your support! Become a Supporting Subscriber today.
BBC America Video - Doctor Who: The Weeping Angels
Don't blink! Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat and star Matt Smith explain the treachery of the Weeping Angels, the Doctor's returning foes.
Catch Doctor Who on BBC America Saturday evenings at 9/8c


text:
B&Bs in Paris-Disneyland, France
Choose from our range of B&B's in Paris-Disneyland. View photos of B&B's in Paris-Disneyland and read bed and breakfast reviews. To find a B&B in Paris-Disneyland in the right location for you, view all of the Paris-Disneyland B&B's on the map and book online.
Paxton Resort & SpaRue Jospeh Paxton, Marne-la-Vallee, BP 49
Enjoy a relaxing stay at the Paxton Resort & Spa, Paris, only 10 minutes away from Disneyland Paris and 5 minutes away from the �Valle d�Europe� shopping mall, �La Vall�e Village� outlet shopping and the Sealife aquarium. The hotel is 30 minutes away from Paris� city centre and easy to reach by direct RER train connection. Paxton Residence Hotel offers ideal accommodation for tourists and business travellers, thanks to the nearby RER station of �Bussy Saint Georges� (2 minutes...More Details about Paxton Resort & Spa
- From:
- price per room per night


text:
Send an article to a friend by filling out the form below. Fields marked with
*are required.
Article Title:
Improving Situational Awareness
By David J. Roberts, Senior Program Manager, IACP Technology Center
Month of Issue:
September 2011
Article Description:
* Your Name:
* Send this Article to:
Add your own personal message:
*Enter your email address:
What would you like to send?
Please verify that you are human:


text:
on January 23, 2013 - 11:56 PM
Age really is just a number for people like Dealia Hughes.
The Buffalo resident lived on her own until she was 99. She cooked her own meals, shopped for her own groceries and handled her own finances.
From memories of driving one of the first cars in America to her job as a "Rosie the Riveter," Hughes has lived through milestones in American history that many people can only read about.
She now lives at HighPointe on Michigan, a health care facility, where staff, friends and relatives threw her a 100th birthday party Wednesday afternoon that was full of flowers, cards and well-wishes, including a birthday card from President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
"I'm amazed she's as sharp as she is and looks as good as she does," said partygoer Larrone B. Williams, president of the Fillmore-Glenwood Block Club, who met Hughes about nine years ago when she lived in that community.
These days, Hughes entertains HighPointe staff and residents with her stories, but her memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Sometimes it falters, or past events become cloudy.
Fortunately, some of her relatives and friends who have listened to her stories for decades have been keeping records of them.
One of Hughes' earliest memories, for instance, was watching soldiers arrive home from World War I in 1918.
"She told me that story, too," said Hughes' niece, Bonnie Elliott, in a telephone interview.
Elliot lives in Pennsylvania, and her mother, Lee Harvey, is Hughes' 87-year-old sister. Elliot and Harvey could not make it to the party, but Elliott sent a large bouquet of flowers.
Born in Union, S.C., Hughes attended a one-room schoolhouse from first through eighth grades, with about 30 other children. She graduated from Sims High School.
Her earliest means of transportation was a neighbor's mule, but she remembers driving a Ford Model T.
"In those days, 25 cents worth of fuel would last three days," Hughes said.
At 17, she married William "Jack" Hughes, who, like many Southerners, went to Buffalo to find factory work. When he landed a job at Bethlehem Steel, he sent for his wife.
One of the most memorable jobs she had was during World War II, when women were hired to build airplanes because many men were away at war. Hughes was a riveter for the Curtiss-Wright plant on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga.
"Her job was to put rivets on the C-41 and C-46 cargo airplanes," said Tresie Coggins, Hughes' friend for the past 20 years. She also put gas and brake pedals in the planes, and boasted to Coggins that she never had one bad inspection.
Another job was as a wedding planner, including the daughters of John Lord O'Brian, for whom the building that houses the University at Buffalo Law School is named. She also worked as a cashier in an Allentown antique store for 25 years.
"She read the newspaper from cover to cover," Elliott said. "And when we called her on the phone, she knew all the world events."
As for her secret to a long life, Hughes said: "Go to bed early. Get up early. Don't drink and don't smoke."
email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
- In-Flight Menu DLC Trailer
- Accolades Trailer
- The Dawning Skies - Part 2
- The Dawning Skies - Part 1
- Launch Trailer
- Extended Play 1
- SpikeTV Trailer
- Post-Launch DLC Trailer
- Pre-Order Trailer
- Combat Ready: Mission 01 (Tutorial) Gameplay
- E3 2011 Xbox 360 Games Montage Trailer
- E3 2011 Trailer
- Level Up Dubai 2011: The Shark Trailer
- 108th Task Force Trailer
- Theatre of War Trailer
- Gameplay Trailer
- Behind The Game
- Announcement Trailer
- Heads-up: October 2011 Part 1
Ace Combat Assault Horizon
Dramatic and realistic storyline - Written by New York Times Best-Selling military author Jim DeFelice, players will be immersed in an enthralling war drama spanning multiple real-world locations.
Steel carnage - Incredible destructive detail and visual effects for every explosive attack, with aircraft shredded, enemy troops annihilated, buildings shattered, and machines bleeding their oil.
All-new aircraft to pilot - Experience split-second manoeuvring and positioning, pinpoint targeting, hover attacks and other diverse gameplay with the introduction of the Attack Helicopter, Door Gunner, Bomber and Gunship.
Revolutionary "Close-Range Assault" system - Delivering high-speed acrobatics, dizzying one-on-one encounters, satisfyingly visceral low-altitude aeronautics, and high-flying death from above.
ACE COMBAT online reinvented - Completely reworked online modes, with new features including the new "Close-Range Assault" system.


text:
1993-1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Rear Shock Absorber Pair for Models (excluding Up Country Suspension) (Monroe Sensa-Trac) Monroe 37082MNSSP00377-663622
Part Details
- Front / Rear Location: Rear
- Quantity: Pair
- Product Line: Monroe Sensa-Trac
This part replaces:
- Monroe 37082
- New
Monroe® Sensa-Trac® Rear Shock Absorbers: 37082
Fits: Both LH (Driver Side) & RH (Passenger Side)
Location: REAR
Vehicle Type: All
Premium Shock with Innovative Technology
The Monroe® Sensa-Trac® shock absorber with PSD (position sensitive damping) and the Safe Tech™ system combines our exclusive precision tapered grooves in the pressure tube with application engineered valving and Fluon banded piston to improve the ride, handling, and safety characteristics of the vehicle.
These features allow the Monroe Sensa-Trac passenger car shock absorber to adjust more rapidly to changing road and weight conditions than any other available shock absorber.
The result: enhanced control with uncompromised ride comfort.
- All Weather Fluid: Contains special modifiers to reduce friction and ensure smooth rod reaction.
- Full Displaced Valving: Tuned specifically for each application, this valving automatically adjusts to road extremes to provide consistency and ride comfort.
- 1-3/16" Bore: Larger bore than most shocks to provide more efficient and consistent control.
- Fluon Banded Piston: Works with the existing groove tube technology to enhance responsiveness to changing road conditions.
- Unique Groove Tube - PSD: Precision tapered grooves in the pressure tube perform like an additional stage of valving for optimum ride tuning.
- Nitrogen Gas Charged: For improved ride and handling, helps maintain tire to road contact by reducing aeration.
- 1/2" Diameter Piston Rod: Nitrocarburized rod* for long service life.
- Special Seal: "Self-lubricating" fluid seal designed to retain gas without excessive wear or friction.
* On non-dust shield units only.
Lifetime Warranty
This item is backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty. In the event this item should fail due to manufacturing defects during intended use, we will exchange the part free of charge (excludes shipping charges) for the original purchaser. Please keep your invoice for proof of this warranty.
Vehicle Fit
- 1993-1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Rear Shock Absorber Pair for Models (excluding Up Country Suspension) (Monroe Sensa-Trac) Monroe 37082
Part #: MNSSP00377
Ships Same Day for orders placed by 5 P.M. ET
Free GROUND SHIPPINGCheck Shipping Rates
Brand #: 37082
We're here to help
Call Toll Free
hablamos español:
Customer Feedback
"Thanks for the fast reliable service. Great price, and the headlights were as good as oem or better!!! Keep up the good work..."- Dwuan M.
Read More


text:
Participate in This Event or find another event
Friday, April 29, 2016
6 PM - Midnight
Harnett County Governmental Complex
309 West Cornelius Harnett Blvd, Lillington, NC Map it
Already a participant?
Log in here
34 teams and 621 participants have raised $93,579.82
Total above may not reflect all participants, teams, and donations
THANK YOU...to all of our team captains, team members, sponsors, caregivers and survivors for making this year a HUGE success! Although we have not reached our goal of $119,000 we are still working towards that. Our deadline to reach goal is August 31, 2016. If you and or someone you knows would like to donate please feel free to do so online or contact our Event Lead Tammy Erickson.
Teams that are planning to host Summer fundraisers please let your ELT know so that way we can support you. Again, THANK YOU for all of your hard work and dedication.
Important Forms
- Click here if you need an Offline Registration Form
- Click here if you need a Luminaria Form
- Click here if you need a Meeting Calendar
Remember or honor a loved one who has battled cancer with a luminaria tribute bag »
Connect with others and find resources to help you participate in the Relay For Life movement »
Event sponsored by:
Top Participants:
Top Teams:
Top Companies:
Contact Morgan Sills:
(910) 591-6505


text:
G.W. Blunt White Library
Fishermen's Memorial and Record Book - Procter, George H
A Musical Fisherman. His First Violin. Early Struggles. His Cruise in The Rival. Shipwrecked Yankee fishermen Giving Concerts in the Provinces
Page 1 of 5 Next >>
* Funding for digitization provided by: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation


text:
on January 1, 2013 - 1:05 AM
They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.
The school shooting in Connecticut on Dec. 14 raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?
For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder.
But after the grief and fear fades, psychiatrists say most of Newtown's young survivors probably will cope without long-term emotional problems. "Kids do tend to be highly resilient," said Dr. Matthew Biel, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
And one way that younger children try to make sense of trauma is through play. Youngsters may pull out action figures or stuffed animals and re-enact what they witnessed, perhaps multiple times.
"That's the way they gain mastery over a situation that's overwhelming," Biel said.
Nor is it unusual for children to chase each other playing cops-and-robbers, but now parents might see some also pretending they're dead, added Dr. Melissa Brymer of the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.
Among the challenges will be spotting which children may need professional help.
Newtown's tragedy is particularly heart-wrenching because of what such young children grappled with – like the six first-graders who apparently had to run past their teacher's body to escape to safety.
There's little scientific research specifically on PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, in children exposed to a burst of violence, and even less to tell if a younger child will have a harder time healing than an older one.
Overall, scientists say studies of natural disasters and wars suggest most children eventually recover from traumatic experiences while a smaller proportion develop long-term disorders such as PTSD.
In Newtown, most at risk for longer-term problems are those who saw someone killed, said Dr. Carol North of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who has researched survivors of mass shootings.
Right after a traumatic event, it's normal to have nightmares or trouble sleeping, to stick close to loved ones, and to be nervous or moody, Biel said.
To help, parents will have to follow their child's lead. Grilling a child about a traumatic experience isn't good, he stressed. Some children will ask a lot of questions, seeking reassurance, he said. Others will be quiet, thinking about the experience and maybe drawing or writing about it, or acting it out at playtime.
Before second grade, their brains also are at a developmental stage some refer to as magical thinking, when it's difficult to distinguish reality and fantasy. Parents may have to help them understand that a friend who died isn't in pain or lonely but also isn't coming back, Brymer said.
When problem behaviors or signs of distress continue for several weeks, Brymer says it's time for an evaluation by a counselor or pediatrician.
North advises getting children back into routines, together with their friends, and easing them back into a school setting.
Children as young as first-graders can benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy, Georgetown's Biel said.
Finally, avoid watching too much TV coverage of the shooting, as children may think it's happening all over again, Biel added.
Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.


text:
Before you head out to see the latest movie blockbuster this summer, check out Forbes' list of Hollywood's highest-paid actors.
Hollywood's highest-paid actorsUPDATED 11:57 AM CDT Jul 22, 2014
CommentsThe views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.blog comments powered by Disqus


text:
Steve Lewis/Durango Herald file photo
In a defense torn up by injuries, the constant has been Phil Odell.
The Fort Lewis College senior linebacker has been as steady as they come, not only this year, as a defense beset by injuries looks for much-needed continuity, but for the last four.
The proof is in the numbers.
Odell leads FLC and is eighth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with an 8.7 tackles-per-game average and 52 total, becoming just the seventh Skyhawk to top the 300-tackle plateau.
He led FLC last year with 101 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles.
He led FLC in tackles and was third in the RMAC as a sophomore with 84.
Admittedly, part of that tackling prodigiousness has to do with his position. But it�s also got plenty to do with the Show Low, Ariz., native�s dedication to film work and a motor that hasn�t gone unnoticed by head coach Cesar Rivas-Sandoval.
�Now he�s just really trying to take his game to another level and make those around him better, and he has, but it�s tough for guys like him ... when the pieces are kind of falling off a bit from kind of the injury perspective where you have the chance to be better, but the stars aren�t lining up that way right now,� Rivas said.
Comfort level has a lot to do with it this year. Since his freshman year, Odell has bounced around between safety and every linebacker position available, filling gaps whenever and wherever the coaching staff and his team needed.
This year, he�s found a permanent home in the middle of the Skyhawks� defense, and he couldn�t be more thrilled.
�It�s been real nice; I�m not going to lie about that. It�s been real nice,� Odell said. �I can focus on what I need to do. ... Coming out the end of the week, I know exactly where I�m going to fit (within the defense).�
But his worth to the Skyhawks, despite their winless record to date, isn�t necessarily best measured statistically.
With the defensive backfield and already-thin defensive line struggling with the injury bug, not to mention a lack of size, Odell has been the anchor, with Rivas calling him �our Tim Jenkins on defense� in a nod to the Skyhawks� prolific starting quarterback.
Odell�s also been instrumental in the development of younger linebackers, such as sophomore Andrew Kline and redshirt freshman Dakota Kay, among others.
Kaulana Waalani-Arroyo, who like Odell moved from defensive back to linebacker this season, said Odell�s love of film work has rubbed off, and playing alongside the senior gives him an added level of comfort.
�First thing he does is just make life easier by being Phil,� said Waalani-Arroyo, grinning underneath the bars of his facemask. �He does a lot of things, knowing the fact that he can cover and fill holes just as good.�
Odell, for his part, said that playing alongside a younger crop of linebackers has been a revelation, a reminder of a time not so long ago when he was the carefree youngster just looking for someone to hit and hit hard.
As a senior, he�s hoping to make a drastic turnaround as FLC hits the final four games of its schedule � starting at 1 p.m. today against winless Western State at Ray Dennison Memorial Field � but not just for himself and his fellow seniors.
�That�s four wins on this season, but starting out as far as turning this program around on the right direction, that means they�re starting out 4-0 going into next season,� Odell said. �For these younger guys, that�d just be a boost that I can�t even explain for them.�


text:
Top Definition
A pwnedhome is a house in which all things in it have been designed to operate via a computer terminal, either locally or on the internet. It usually results in the total annihilation of the house and all of its surroundings.
E.T. pwnedhome
додав night_vision 17 Квітня 2009
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
This is what happens when your house sets on fire because the vents (which you installed a home automation system on) didn't work.
Man, that house is so on fire...it's totally a pwnedhome.
додав Ecclectic 08 Квітня 2009


text:
on February 18, 2013 - 1:00 AM
, updated February 18, 2013 at 7:23 AM
Chuck Hagel isn't everyone's idea of a great defense secretary. Fair enough. Some previous positions and statements have caused consternation in some quarters, though it is peculiar that, on the political front, most of it is coming from the former senator's fellow Republicans. That's a good one on its own: A Democratic president nominates a former Republican senator for defense secretary and Republican senators howl.
But now it's gone beyond howling. Republican senators are willfully breaching a barrier of conduct that will further wreck Congress' ability to do the nation's work and, incredibly, all but guarantee that Democrats will someday return the favor. Such is the state of national politics. It's all about show and never mind the consequences. It is a standard of conduct that is neither responsible nor conservative.
Specifically, Republicans filibustered Hagel's nomination last week, not simply rejecting a president's choice for his cabinet – virtually unheard of on its own – but even denying the vote, itself. Had Republicans discovered something new and troubling about Hagel that demanded this delay, that would be defensible. But such was not the case.
Rather, Republicans were demanding more information about the only issue their minds can process these days: the September attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
They want to know exactly what President Obama was doing at that time, which is irrelevant to the current issue and of ongoing interest only to Republicans who are desperate for a way to gain traction against a resurgent Obama. This isn't the way to do that. In fact, this kind of adolescent gamesmanship helps explain why Republicans lost not only the presidency last November, but seats in both the House and Senate.
And it is gamesmanship. Consider: The problem at Benghazi flowed not from the Defense Department, but from the State Department. If Republicans were really looking for answers on Benghazi, they would have held up John Kerry's nomination for State, not Hagel's for Defense. They didn't. Kerry's nomination sailed through the Senate without a hitch.
That's not the only issue behind Republican kookery on this nomination. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is often-enough a voice of reason in his party's Senate caucus, is already anxious about a potential tea party challenge in 2014.
He is upending important Senate traditions for no better reason than to protect his flanks, demonstrating to the rabid portions of his constituency that he can be as foolish as any tea party congressman they can name. It's not the kind of recommendation one would typically put on a resume, but then, these are peculiar times.
Congress is on a brief break, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already scheduled another vote for Feb. 26. Graham, who has clothed his cheap objections in patriotic finery, has announced that he will continue seeking to block even a vote on Hagel's nomination.
We hope other Republicans will think again before continuing down this path. Someday, there will be another Republican president and a Republican Senate considering important nominations. Today's Republicans might want to give to Obama the kind of deference they would expect then. And if that doesn't matter to them, they could try just thinking about the country, which needs a new secretary of defense.


text:
on January 6, 2013 - 12:12 AM
Who could have forecast last summer that, potentially, the most entertaining game of the NFL playoffs would involved two exciting rookie quarterbacks?
Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks and Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins will be the focus of attention today when their teams meet in an NFC wild-card game in Landover, Md.
The game also matches teams utilizing the newest in offensive fashion. Both quarterbacks operate much of the time out of the "Pistol" formation, running the read-option that takes advantage of the running ability of each.
In the AFC matchup, old wounds will be reopened when the Indianapolis Colts play the Ravens in Baltimore, which was the home for the Colts from 1953 to 1983 before the move to Hoosierland. Baltimore fans never have forgiven the Irsay family for taking away their franchise. By now, though, the Colts have played more games in Indianapolis than they did in Baltimore, 487 to 440. Indy has a 4-3 all-time record against Baltimore, 2-0 in postseason games.
Colts coach Chuck Pagano will be facing the defense he coached last season.
A thumbnail look at today's games:
Colts at Ravens
TV: Ch. 4, 1 p.m.
The line: Ravens (-7)
The scoop on the Colts: A wholesale shakeup of the organization after a 2-14 season produced a surprising playoff season. Indy drafted QB Andrew Luck with the first pick in the draft, but almost as valuable were astute selections of WR T.Y. Hilton, RB Vick Ballard, TE Toby Fleenor and WR-KR Lavon Brazil. Luck had ordinary statistics (76.5 passer rating, 23 TDs, 18 INTs), but was effective late in games, especially at home. Ballard ran for 814 yards. Veteran Reggie Wayne led with 106 pass receptions and a 12.8 average. Hilton backed him with 50 catches for a 17.2 average and seven TDs. The Indianapolis defense gave up 28 passing touchdowns and opposing ballcarriers averaged 5.1 yards per attempt.
The scoop on the Ravens: If Baltimore loses, it may mark the end of an era for the Ravens. Veteran LB Ray Lewis, who has been out since Oct. 14 after triceps surgery, may play today. This week he announced that he will retire after this season. ... When QB Joe Flacco is effective, the Ravens usually are. Baltimore finished 3-4 with two of the wins by three points. Three of the losses were to playoff teams, however. Flacco had an 87.8 passer rating and threw 22 TDs with 10 INTs. His completion percentage was 59.7. ... Anquan Boldin led the team with 65 receptions for a 14.2 average but more dangerous on deep throws was Torrey Smith, with 49 catches for a 17.4 average and eight touchdowns. Durable RB Ray Rice ran for 1,143 yards and a 4.4 average with nine touchdowns. ... The Baltimore defense isn't as fearsome as it once was but Lewis' return should provide an emotional lift and safety Ed Reed has been making big plays throughout his career. Besides Lewis, OLB Terrell Suggs, DT Haloti Ngata and S Bernard Pollard, all who were held out of last Sunday's loss at Cincinnati, are expected to play today.
Outlook: Colts have been getting by on inspiration and Luck's late-game magic. Baltimore, 20-13.
Seahawks at Redskins
TV: Ch. 29, 4:30 p.m.
The line: Seahawks (-3)
The scoop on the Seahawks: Wilson and defense have been the story of Seattle's remarkable rise. Seattle made the playoffs in Pete Carroll's first season (2010) and upset New Orleans. Only 14 players are left from that team. ... The Seahawks allowed a franchise-low 245 points, holding opponents under 20 points 11 times. ... Wilson passed for 26 TDs with only 10 INTs. He had a 100 rating and completed 64.1 percent. He also ran for 489 yards and four TDs, three of which came against the Bills in Toronto. Sidney Rice and Golden Tate has seven TD catches each. Ex-Bill Marshawn Lynch was third in the league with 1,590 rushing yards and a 5.3 average. ... The defense got All-Pro level play from rookie LB Bobby Wagner, CB Richard Sherman and rookie DE Bruce Irvin and hard-hitting S Earl Thomas.
The scoop on the Redskins: Coach Mike Shanahan still has his amazing touch with the running game. Washington led the NFL in total offense (6.131 yards). Of that, 2,709 came on the ground with a team average of 5.2 per attempt. An unsung rookie, Alfred Morris, finished second in the league in rushing (1,613, 4.8 with 13 TDs), the latest example of Shanahan getting maximum production out of running backs who appeared to have ordinary credentials. Griffin had a sensational season for a rookie, completing 65.6 with 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions. His rating was 102.4. He also ran for 815 yards, a 6.8 average and seven TDs. RGIII has a variety of targets to throw to including Pierre Garcon, Santana Moss (7 TDs) and Leonard Hankerson.. ... Ex-Bill Jim Haslett's defense ranked only 28th in the league but was tough (No. 5) against the run and effective enough during Washington's seven-game win streak at the end of the regular season with blitzing compensating for a lack of rush from the front four.
Outlook: Should be fun, but Seattle's defense should carry the day. Seahawks, 31-20.
email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
one who sits around lookin at playboys while eatin slim jims
Philip Gevese is the sexiest man(but first u have to bail him out of jail where he gained 50 lb. off of bread and water)
by Shmu June 02, 2004
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
Top Definition
A word created to define James Hetfield of Metallica. It was realised that no other term was quite as unequivocally correct, so was assigned to him by numerous Metallica fans...mainly female ones.
1. James Hetfield is blatantly the sexiest man alive.
2. "Who is the sexiest man alive...James Hetfield, you say?"
2. "Who is the sexiest man alive...James Hetfield, you say?"
by hetfield-for-prez April 11, 2004
A definition originally made for Gerard Way the lead singer of my chemical romance. He IS the sexiest man alive yet other men have been close.
It's Gerard not Gerald!
by helena venom April 25, 2005
three words to describe the epitome of male perfection, or, to put it bluntly, the man you want to screw the most. also see Johnny Depp
JOHNNY friggin' DEPP!!
by Gisizzle July 23, 2004
A term for someone who you think could be the hottest person alive... and is technically untrue unless you have seen/met every single living man.
Johnny Depp, and Billie Joe Armstrong
Johnny Depp, and Billie Joe Armstrong
Teeny Bopper: "Like... OMG! He is like, the sexiest man alive!"
"He has got to be the sexiest man alive..."
"He has got to be the sexiest man alive..."
by Sarah Hayne March 10, 2005
A phrase commonly used to describe James Hetfield, lead singer and rhythm guitar player of the band Metallica
James Hetfield is the sexiest man alive, especially in his tight leather pants.
by Amber November 17, 2003
Someone who is ah muh gah, hottttt! In other words, Oliver Sykes, the lead singer of Bring Me The Horizon, an amazing metal band. :)
Bob: Who do you think is the sexiest man alive?
James: You.
Bob: O_O
James: You.
Bob: O_O
by Kayliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii May 04, 2008
a man who's tall dark and handsome...a guitar god...wonder who that could be?
um....KIRK HAMMETT!!!!!!
by Sam April 11, 2004


text:
Sources: U.S. House, EPA, Growth Energy
quote: What needs to be considered is corn is a switch crop, so every other year, the corn that is grown isn't even edible, so it is wasted.
quote: We only have so much farmland, and if you could grow ethanol corn for bigger money then why bother with another food crop? So is our plight.


text:
This Guide is your "passport" to sharing the Live from Antarctica 2 experience with your students. It provides all an educator needs to know to implement Live from Antarctica 2 successfully in a wide variety of grades and subject areas. Most importantly, it provides Activities which allow your students to simulate, in class or at home, the research they'll see on camera or on-line. The Guide and videos also point students to the on-line resources which enable them to know the researchers much more personally than would be possible through a textbook or any other medium.
Teacher's Guide on the Web
Order Teacher's Guide and/or Videos
PDF file for the Adobe Acrobat Reader (1.7 MB)
| From The Field | Video
Information | Researcher Q & A |


text:
Top Definition
A gummy musket is when a person who chews a lot of gum (Nicorette,Dentine,etc) routinely swallows it rather than spit it out when spent. Subsequent bowel movements often result in the gum getting matted in the ass hair as a result of wiping. Removal of embedded gum is difficult and painful.
I jerked out a gigantic tuft of ass hair on account of a gummy musket.
ayon kay wolfbait51 ika-17 ng Abril, 2011
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?


text:
|Tai Chi Kids: Fun & Focus
Event Type: Branch Program
Age Group(s): Children
Date: 1/30/2014
Start Time: 6:30 PM
End Time: 7:15 PM
Registration required. Learn basic Tai Chi movements, mind-body strategies and working with props in order to reinforce muscle memory. Healthy snacks will be served.Library: Castle Pines
Location: CPN Master Association Event Hall
Other Information:
Research has shown a positive correlation between practicing Tai Chi and coping with ADHD, over-stimulation and anxiety.Contact: Cherie Ellingson
Contact Number: 303-791-7323
Status: Closed
|Please Note


text:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Chris Rainey is waiting for a second chance.
Or maybe it's a third one.
Rainey, a fifth-round draft pick in 2012, was arrested in January and charged with one count of simple battery. The incident cost him his job with the Steelers, who waived the rookie a few hours after the news broke. He eventually pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct.
Still, it was his second arrest in less than 30 months. He pleaded guilty misdemeanor stalking while attending Florida in 2010.
Rainey was back in Gainesville on Tuesday, watching former teammates take part in Pro Day. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin were on hand for the workouts, but it was unclear whether Rainey spoke with them.
"I guess they probably wanted to teach everybody else a lesson or something," Rainey said. "That's how I look at it."
Rainey was a promising return man and a third-down back as a rookie. He ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns last season. He also caught 14 passes for 60 yards and returned 39 kickoffs for a 26.5-yard average.
The Steelers, though, seemingly had a zero-tolerance policy with him because of his past.
He expects to sign with another team, possibly after free agency and the draft.


text:
Data mart outsourcing
Discussion of services that analyze large databases on an outsourced basis. Related subjects include:
- Data warehousing
- SaaS (Software as a Service)
- 1010data
- (in The Monash Report) Verix
- (in Text Technologies) Text mining SaaS
Departmental analytics — best practices
I believe IT departments should support and encourage departmental analytics efforts, where "support" and "encourage" are not synonyms for "control", "dominate", "overwhelm", or even "tame". A big part of that is:
Let, and indeed help, departments have the data they want, when they want it, served with blazing performance.
Three things that absolutely should NOT be obstacles to these ends are:
- Corporate DBMS standards.
- Corporate data governance processes.
- The difficulties of ETL.
|Categories: Business intelligence, Data mart outsourcing, Data warehousing, EAI, EII, ETL, ELT, ETLT, Predictive modeling and advanced analytics
|4 Comments
Clarifying SAND's customer metrics, positioning and technical story
Talking with my clients at SAND can be confusing. That said:
- I need to revise my figures for SAND's customer count way downward.
- SAND finally has a reasonably clear positioning.
- SAND's product actually seems to have a lot of features.
A few months ago, I wrote:
SAND Technology reported >600 total customers, including >100 direct.
Upon talking with the company, I need to revise that figure downward, from > 600 to 15.
Eight kinds of analytic database (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this two-part series, I outlined four variants on the traditional enterprise data warehouse/data mart dichotomy, and suggested what kinds of DBMS products you might use for each. In Part 2 I'll cover four more kinds of analytic database — even newer, for the most part, with a use case/product short list match that is even less clear. Read more
More on Sybase IQ, including Version 15.2
Back in March, Sybase was kind enough to give me permission to post a slide deck about Sybase IQ. Well, I'm finally getting around to doing so. Highlights include but are not limited to:
- Slide 2 has some market success figures and so on. (>3100 copies at >1800 users, >200 sales last year)
- Slides 6-11 give more detail on Sybase's indexing and data access methods than I put into my recent technical basics of Sybase IQ post.
- Slide 16 reminds us that in-database data mining is quite competitive with what SAS has actually delivered with its DBMS partners, even if it doesn't have the nice architectural approach of Aster or Netezza. (I.e., Sybase IQ's more-than-SQL advanced analytics story relies on C++ UDFs — User Defined Functions — running in-process with the DBMS.) In particular, there's a data mining/predictive analytics library — modeling and scoring both — licensed from a small third party.
- A number of the other later slides also have quite a bit of technical crunch. (More on some of those points below too.)
Sybase IQ may have a bit of a funky architecture (e.g., no MPP), but the age of the product and the substantial revenue it generates have allowed Sybase to put in a bunch of product features that newer vendors haven't gotten around to yet.
More recently, Sybase volunteered permission for me to preannounce Sybase IQ Version 15.2 by a few days (it's scheduled to come out this week). Read more
Stakeholder-facing analytics
There's a point I keep making in speeches, and used to keep making in white papers, yet have almost never spelled out in this blog. Let me now (somewhat) correct the oversight.
Analytic technology isn't only for you. It's also for your customers, citizens, and other stakeholders.
I am not referring here to what is well understood to be an important, fast-growing activity — providing data and its analysis to customers as your primary or only business — nor to the related business of taking people's data, crunching it for them, and giving them results. That combined sector — which I am pretty alone in aggregating into one and calling data mart outsourcing — is one of the top several vertical markets for a lot of the analytic DBMS vendors I write about. Rather, I'm talking about enterprises that gather data for some primary purpose, and have discovered that a good secondary use of the data is to reflect it back to stakeholders, often the same ones who provided or created it in the first place.
For now I'll call this category stakeholder-facing analytics, as the shorter phrase "stakeholder analytics" would be ambiguous.* I first picked up the idea early this decade from Information Builders, for whom it had become something of a specialty. I've been asking analytics vendors for examples of stakeholder-facing analytics ever since, and a number have been able to comply. But the whole thing is in its early days even so; almost any sufficiently large enterprise should be more active in stakeholder-facing analytics than it currently is.
Read more
|Categories: Analytic technologies, Business intelligence, Data mart outsourcing, Fox and MySpace, PostgreSQL
|4 Comments
Infobright blog update
I often offer that, if a company puts up a sufficiently good blog post, I'll link to it. Well, I just noticed that Infobright CEO Mark Burton (somewhere along the way he seems to have dropped the "interim") put up an excellent post last month.
Highlights on the market share/sector side include: Read more
|Categories: Columnar database management, Data mart outsourcing, Data warehousing, Infobright, Log analysis, Market share and customer counts, Open source, Web analytics
|1 Comment
Netezza Skimmer
As I previously complained, last week wasn't a very convenient time for me to have briefings. So when Netezza emailed to say it would release its new entry-level Skimmer appliance this morning, while I asked for and got a Friday afternoon briefing, I kept it quick and basic.
That said, highlights of my Netezza Skimmer briefing included:
- In essence, Netezza Skimmer is 1/3 of Netezza's previously smallest appliance, for 1/3 the price.
- I.e., Netezza Skimmer has 1 S-blade and 9 disks, vs. 3 S-blades and 24 disks on the Netezza TwinFin 3.
- With 1 disk reserved as a hot spare, that boils down to a 1:1:1 ratio among CPU cores, FPGA cores, and 1-terabyte disks on Netezza skimmer. The same could pretty much be said of Netezza TwinFin, the occasional hot-spare disk notwithstanding.
- Netezza Skimmer costs $125K.
- With 2.8 or so TB of space for user data before compression, that's right in line with the Netezza price point of slightly <$20K/terabyte of user data.
- That assumes Netezza's usual 2.25X compression. I forgot to ask when 4X compression was actually being shipped.
- I forgot to ask, but it seems obvious that Netezza Skimmer uses identical or substantially similar components to Netezza TwinFin's.
- Netezza Skimmer is 7 rack units high.
- In place of the SMP hosts on TwinFin Systems, Netezza Skimmer has a host blade.
- Netezza (specifically Phil Francisco) mentioned that when Kalido uses Netezza Skimmer for its appliance, there will be an additional host computer, but when it uses TwinFin for the same software, the built-in host will suffice. (Even so, I suspect it might be too strong to say that Skimmer's built-in host computer is underpowered.)
- Netezza also suggested that more appliance OEMs are coming down the pike specifically focused on the affordable Skimmer.
|Categories: Data mart outsourcing, Data warehouse appliances, Data warehousing, Netezza, Pricing
|2 Comments
Infobright notes
I had lunch w/ Bob Zurek and Susan Davis of Infobright today. This wasn't primarily a briefing, but a few takeaways are:
- Infobright now has >100 paying customers.
- Typical database size is from the low 100s of gigabytes to the low single-digit number of terabytes.
- Agile development is at or approaching two-week release cycles.
- Like Kickfire, Infobright has a multi-year deal with MySQL that insulates it against many potential Oracle/MySQL shenanigans.
- From an industry perspective, Infobright's customer base sounds a lot like other vendors':
- Data mart outsourcing/online analytics
- Log files for websites
- Telecommunications
- Financial services
- OEM, especially in the markets cited above
- "Hey, we're beginning to see the occasional energy deal"
- A few random others
- Infobright is seeing some household-name customers, who surely have big-name analytic DBMS products, but who also have a policy that open source is the default choice, and if open source can get the job done then the favorite closed-source choices aren't used.
- Infobright has the usual open-source community story — lots of involvement and engagement in the forums, but contributions are limited mainly to connectivity, utility scripts, etc. (Maybe some national language translation too; I'm not sure.)
|Categories: Analytic technologies, Data mart outsourcing, Data warehousing, Infobright, Investment research and trading, Kickfire, Log analysis, Market share and customer counts, MySQL, Open source, Telecommunications, Web analytics
|7 Comments
What Nielsen really uses in data warehousing DBMS
In its latest earnings call, Oracle made a reference to The Nielsen Company that was — to put it politely — rather confusing. I just plopped down in a chair next to Greg Goff, who evidently runs data warehousing at Nielsen, and had a quick chat. Here's the real story.
- The Nielsen Company has over half a petabyte of data on Netezza in the US. This installation is growing.
- The Nielsen Company indeed has 45 terabytes or whatever of data on Oracle in its European (Customer) Information Factory. This is not particularly growing. Nielsen's Oracle data warehouse has been built up over the past 9 years. It's not new. It's certainly not on Exadata, nor planned to move to Exadata.
- These are not single-instance databases. Nielsen's biggest single Netezza database is 20 terabytes or so of user data, and its biggest single Oracle database is 10 terabytes or so.
- Much (most?) of the rest of the installations are customer data marts and the like, based in each case on the "big" central database. (That's actually a classic data mart use case.) Greg said that Netezza's capabilities to spin out those databases seemed pretty good.
- That 10 terabyte Oracle data warehouse instance requires a lot of partitioning effort and so on in the usual way.
- Nielsen has no immediate plans to replace Oracle with Netezza.
- Nielsen actually has 800 terabytes or so of Netezza equipment. Some of that is kept more lightly loaded, for performance.
|Categories: Analytic technologies, Data mart outsourcing, Data warehouse appliances, Data warehousing, Netezza, Oracle, Specific users
|6 Comments
Sybase IQ business notes
As specialized analytic DBMS go, Sybase is near the top of the charts both in age (Sybase IQ was first introduced in the mid 1990s) and adoption. That's even more true, of course, if we restrict the discussion strictly to columnar DBMS, aka column stores. Basic Sybase IQ adoption claims include:
- >1500 users
- >3000 installations (Sybase has variously cited 2.1 and 2.5+ as the installation/user ratio)
- At least ~50-60 installations with >5 terabytes of user data
Note that 98% of Sybase IQ installations are under 5 terabytes; the heart of Sybase IQ's business is the sub-terabyte data warehouse market.* Read more
|Categories: Analytic technologies, Data mart outsourcing, Data warehousing, Investment research and trading, Sybase
|3 Comments


text:
|Welcome to the MANGA Forum.
|You will have to register before you can post: log in or sign up at the top of the page to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
With the plethora of live action anime films, it seems they've added Gatchaman to the list. I was watching Starz Edge the other day and they had this great history of Manga called "Anime: Drawing A Revelution" which mentioned Speed Racer, Gatchaman (Battle Of The Planets), Dragonball Z, Akira. I'm hearing rumors of live action Evangelion too. Woohoo!
I believe they dropped the live action Akira project. Not sure how well that'd transalete anyway.
noooooooooooooooooooo i love akira y now y i must die now lol i hate myself lol
>.<yuniko>.<its aswome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>.<


text:
on December 17, 2012 - 10:33 AM
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (PG-13): A decade later, director Peter Jackson and his team happily revisit Middle-earth, adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 novel, which told of events preceding "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and was written with children in mind. (They're doing it in three films, also.) Though some kids 10 and older will get right into the film and enjoy it with no nightmares likely, the PG-13 rating remains appropriate, as it was in Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films. Long and complex, yet always engaging, the new film spins a ripping, fantastical yarn of bravery and camaraderie versus darkness and evil. The atmosphere may be lighter and funnier than in the earlier films, but the mayhem gets heavy, with creatures such as Goblins, Orcs and Trolls losing heads and arms in battle, and the more humanlike Hobbits and Dwarves facing life-threatening danger. Jackson's new high-speed 3-D film technique looks almost like videotape at times, and thus more realistic and potentially scary for younger kids. In a prologue, we learn of the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor and how it was destroyed by a dragon. Then we cut to the benign world of the Hobbits and meet old Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). Writing his memoirs, he recalls an adventure from his early years. We flash back to him as a young Hobbit (now played by Martin Freeman). Gandalf (Ian McKellen) the wizard, along with a boisterous contingent of Dwarves, visit Bilbo. The Dwarves' leader Thorin (Richard Armitage) wants to take back Erebor, and Gandalf thinks the diminutive Bilbo will make a great addition to the team. Bilbo declines at first, but then decides he needs an adventure. He doesn't realize how often he'll risk his life. Nor does he expect to meet Elf royalty, or a creature as odd as Gollum (Andy Serkis), who has been driven mad by a gold ring with magical properties, his "precious."
Battle scenes in which the Dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins fight the giant, vicious Orcs, gross Trolls and cave-dwelling Goblins involve beheadings, lopping off of arms, and runnings-through with swords. Little if any blood flows, but the mayhem is definitely PG-13-worthy. Gross humor about smelly behinds and loogies seems worse in 3-D! Characters smoke pipes, drink and refer to a woodland wizard who "eats too many mushrooms." Serkis' Gollum, computer-enhanced, bug-eyed and insane, continues to be a scary screen creation.
"Playing For Keeps" (PG-13): George (Gerard Butler), the protagonist in "Playing for Keeps," is a handsome former soccer star who can't seem to fight off the advances of single and married moms. Thus this marginally amusing film is not quite for middle schoolers. It has no explicit sexual situations, but it's full of implied ones, some involving marital infidelity. Most of the characters are either reprehensible or dull. Even though he's broke and divorced and just coaching their kids' grade-school soccer team, George is irresistible to all those women, the most glamorous of whom (Catherine Zeta-Jones) wraps her legs around him and the richest of whom (Uma Thurman) removes her panties (nudity only implied) in front of him. The one-time Scottish sports hero only moved to this Virginia suburb to be near his ex, Stacie (Jessica Biel), and their 9-year-old son Lewis (Noah Lomax). Determined to show Lewis he's now a dependable dad, and to win back the newly engaged Stacie, George decides to coach Lewis' soccer team.
In addition to all the implied sexual liaisons and infidelities, adult characters use crude language and mildish profanity and drink beer and wine.


text:
|Stay Safe after the Storm
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kyla Kruse, 217-546-6815
Stay Safe after the Storm
Tips for Avoiding Hazards after Severe Weather
(SPRINGFIELD, IL) — Tornadoes and storms with high-speed winds, heavy rains, and lightning can be frightening events. After a storm, your first instinct might be to return to life as usual, but safety is as important after the storm as it is during the storm.
"People may feel a sense of relief after a severe weather event," says Molly Hall, director of the Safe Electricity program. "It is important that people know the dangers that linger after a storm and know how to stay safe."
Safe Electricity recommends the following safety precautions:
For more information on avoiding electrical hazards, visit SafeElectricity.org.
# # #
The Energy Education Council is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting electrical safety and energy efficiency. Established in 1952, the Council is headquartered within the University of Illinois Extension, and serves as a forum for diverse utility and energy organizations to collaborate on the mutually vital issues of efficiency and safety. Learn more at www.EnergyEdCouncil.org.


text:
on March 18, 2013 - 10:47 PM
LOCKPORT – Filippo Inglima, the former owner of Italian restaurants in Buffalo and Lewiston who is under federal indictment on federal drug charges, pleaded guilty Monday in Niagara County Court to a misdemeanor count of sexually abusing a teenage girl.
Inglima's plea to second-degree sexual abuse will likely send him to the Niagara County Jail for up to a year. It will also guarantee his deportation due to the nature of the charge, according to Assistant District Attorney Robert A. Zucco. Inglima is an Italian citizen living in the United States under a visa.
He is also facing significant prison time after being indicted three years ago on federal drug charges.
In the sex abuse case, Inglima, 46, of Thornwood Drive, Wheatfield, pleaded guilty Monday to one of the most serious of nine counts he had initially faced.
He admitted to Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas that he had sexual contact with a girl under age 14 in July 2004.
Zucco said the abuse started when the girl was 13 in Inglima's Wheatfield home and continued until 2005. A final incident occurred in July 2011, when the victim was 20, according to the indictment, and took place at Villella's Restaurant in downtown Niagara Falls, where Inglima had worked.
The defendant previously owned Villa Fortunata's on Center Street in Lewiston and Filippo's on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo.
The top count of first-degree sexual abuse was dismissed as part of the plea, which, Zucco said after court, did not involve any brutal force, although Inglima is accused of twisting the victim's arm. He said the abuse happened over a lengthy period of time.
Farkas previously signed a one-year restraining order barring Inglima from any contact with the victim.
The judge also warned him Monday that one or both of his two adult daughters had been "causing problems for the victim" and that they could face harassment charges if the contact with the victim continued.
"The plea was discussed with the victim and her family, and is based on the dependency of the charges in federal court and the belief that those charges will result in significant prison time," Zucco told the judge.
Inglima's attorney, Marc D. Grossman, said his client was aware that, no matter what happens in federal court, by taking a plea to a sexual abuse, he will lose his visa and face deportation back to Italy.
In the federal drug case, a grand jury named Inglima among 24 defendants in a 35-count drug indictment in November 2009.
The indictment alleges he was part of a ring that imported more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana from Canada and conspired to distribute more than five kilos of cocaine.
Most of the defendants have pleaded guilty, but Inglima's case is still open, said Barbara J. Burns, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo.
email: email@example.com


text:
Systemwide Events Calendar
Spring FootholdsApril 27, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Manoa Campus, Prime Time in the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre
April 24, 25, 26, 27 at 8pm; April 28 at 2pm
Work of student choreographers and dancers is displayed in this year-end dance finale!
Post-Show Rap: Fri April 26
Ticket Prices: $12 to $16; UH Mānoa Students with valid ID: $5
Ticket Information
$12 to $16; UH Mānoa Students with valid ID: $5
Event Sponsor
Kennedy Theatre, Manoa Campus
More Information
956-7655, firstname.lastname@example.com, http://www.hawaii.edu/kennedy/
|Saturday, April 27
|The Wellness Center - Fitness Class Schedule
Maui Campus, Pilina Bldg., Wellness Center
|Writing Retreat
Windward Campus, Hale 'Ākoakoa 107/109
|UHM Preservation Week
Manoa Campus, Hamilton Library Lobby
|2013 ACM Awards
Manoa Campus, Art Auditorium
|UH Cello Ensemble
Manoa Campus, Orvis Auditorium
|Spring Footholds
Manoa Campus, Prime Time in the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre
- Highlighted dates have scheduled events.
- Select the date to view all events for that day.


text:
LucasArts has kept much of its latest Indiana Jones adventure, The Staff of Kings, shrouded in mystery, but at a recent press event in London it took the shackles off and allowed us some much-needed hands-on with the Wii version. Not only that, but LucasArts' voice director David Collins was on hand to give us even more details on the whip-cracking adventure.
VideoGamer.com: The game is being developed by A2M. Who came up with the story?
David Collins: LucasArts came up with the story a few years ago. It was a collaboration between several people. There were some key producers and team members at LucasArts, including vice president at the time Peter Hirschmann, and what they would do is meet in strike teams and come up with that story, and then they would take it to George (Lucas). He's the master storyteller. So getting his input, he just has this insight that nobody else has, obviously it's his universe. We pushed hard to make new characters, new adversaries for Indiana Jones, new friends of his that you're introduced to, like Maggie O'Mally, the love interest, she's a photojournalist from Ireland. Archie and Susie Tan, who are Chinese from San Francisco, they help you out. An old professor of yours, an archaeology professor named Kingston has gone on looking for this (Staff of Moses) before you have and so you are looking for him as well. Then you see Magnus Moeller, who used to be a student with you, and now of course is working for the other side. We're very careful about when we set it. We're set in 1939, a year after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so it's right in that historical backdrop. Basically we had that story outlined, we had all that ready to go, then A2M started to build the game.
VideoGamer.com: Is meeting George Lucas to get story approval an incredibly nerve-racking thing?
DC: I'm sure it is. I wish I could say I was invited into the room! To be clear, George Lucas is a very busy man. They put out a press release saying he's working on a World War II movie which they're calling Red Tales right now. Of course while we were in development on this, he was in development with Steven Spielberg on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We were able to go to him every once in a while but he also tries to give us a certain amount of autonomy in order to build these games. But we were lucky on this one to be able to get his input. Those meetings... I mean I helped set it up! I mixed the trailer for the thing, or some pre-visualisation movies for that, as well as Star Wars: Force Unleashed. And we would go in and basically talk to him about these projects. The feedback that they got, I mean you just can't get it anywhere but the source. It really helps. I think that's why in those cinematic moments that you see it just feels very Indiana Jones. The idea of him always being up against insurmountable odds and always trying to do the right thing, but not necessarily in the neatest way, it really comes across in The Staff of Kings.
VideoGamer.com: Is it Harrison Ford's voice?
DC: It's not. In all languages we have a Indiana Jones sound-a-like, for a variety of reasons, and some of which honestly I'm not even privy to. It's mostly availability, time, he's a very busy man. Having a sound-a-like in there means we can go to him with any pick-ups any time we need to, or go through the tutorial and get a lot of variations of 'press the A button'. So it worked for us to have a sound-a-like. It's John Armstrong, he was actually the voice of Han Solo in Star Wars: Empire at War. He's from that same area of the Midwest, the Chicago area, he just has that sort of swagger to him. Indiana Jones is a huge loveable character and so we wanted to be true to that feel.
VideoGamer.com: Have any of the cast from the films been involved in the game?
DC: There aren't any real characters from the other films because we created a bunch of new characters.
VideoGamer.com: I was just thinking about unlockable characters from past films...
DC: Right. Oh, probably... well shoot, I can't... there are a couple but I can't tell you about those! We're not talking about them yet. Almost told ya! But there are some actors that if you're a fan of Star Wars and Indiana Jones that you will be familiar with. And we did a lot of casting here out of London, and actually did a lot of recording here.
VideoGamer.com: You said fans of Star Wars...
DC: In that you would recognise some of the actors...
VideoGamer.com: Not that there might be Star Wars characters in this game?
DC: Not that... I don't... I'm sorry I'm a little deaf!
VideoGamer.com: It's OK, I have a very quiet voice!
DC: (Laughs) That's good!


text:
Developers of DTC Genetic Testing Are...
Quadruple Helices Appear To Have Role...
Wall Street Decline Takes Its Toll...
LC-MS Gains Favor Due To the...
On February 22, an FDA advisory committee voted 20 to 2 in favor of Vivus' anti-obesity drug Qnexa, concluding that its weight loss benefits outweighed its potential risks. While not bound by committee recommendations, the FDA will consider the guidance during its review, scheduled for April 2.
The committee decision marked the end of a long road for Qnexa, which had been rejected by the agency in September 2010 in a 10–6 vote. The reason was not a lack of efficacy but its side effects including serious birth defects and heart problems.
Should the drug be approved, some analysts predict that Vivus' stock could climb into the $30s. The company's shares had fallen as much as 60% to $4.90 last year after a previous FDA panel voted against the drug in July 2011. The stock surged 78% on the latest positive recommendation and went as high as $21.50.
In clear evidence that a rising tide floats all boats, the news about Qnexa boosted shares of the other two late-stage obesity drug development firms—Orexigen Therapeutics and Arena Pharmaceuticals. Orexigen's stock jumped nearly 18% to $3.78, while shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals rose 17% to $2.12.
The seemingly more hospitable regulatory environment could indeed ease the approval path for Arena's lorcaserin and Orexigen's Contrave. Both remain in development after earlier setbacks.
One of the questions raised during the February Qnexa panel was whether Vivus should conduct a pre- or post-approval cardiovascular (CV) outcomes study. In commenting on the panel outcome, Leerink Swann biotechnology analysts Steven Yoo and Joshua Schimmer, M.D., said that while several members of the panel expressed some concern about the ability to initiate and complete a post-approval CV outcomes study, "we believe that a CV outcomes trial will likely be a requirement for obesity drugs but only as a post-approval commitment."
Vivus says it designed and developed the drug to decrease appetite and increase satiety. Phase II and III data to date has shown that patients taking Qnexa experienced statistically significant weight loss, glycemic control, and improvement in cardiovascular risk factors when used in combination with a diet and lifestyle modification program.
Qnexa combines two existing drugs, the stimulant phentermine approved for short-term use as a weight loss drug and on the market for about 50 years, with topiramate, marketed by Johnson & Johnson for about 16 years as Topamax to treat epilepsy and migraine headache.
Arena's lorcaserin unlike Qnexa does not combine existing drugs, a company spokesperson said It is an NCE thought to act as a selective serotonin 2C receptor agonist. The serotonin 2C receptor is expressed in the brain including the hypothalamus, an area believed to be involved in control of appetite and metabolism.
Clinical trial results have shown that individuals taking the drug lost 5.8% of their weight after a year compared to 2.5% for those taking a placebo. The difference failed to meet the 5 percentage point criterion set by the FDA. But 47% of those taking lorcaserin lost at least 5% of their weight, compared to 22% of those getting a placebo, a result that just exceeded the FDA standard that twice as many people on the drug as on the placebo lose 5% of their weight.
In 2010, the FDA issued a complete response letter (CRL) to Arena for lorcaserin. Nonclinical issues identified by the agency included diagnostic uncertainty in the classification of mammary masses in female rats, unresolved exposure-response relationship for lorcaserin-emergent mammary adenocarcinoma, and unidentified mode of action and unclear safety margin for lorcaserin-emergent brain astrocytoma, the company reported.
With regard to clinical issues, the agency stated that the weight loss efficacy of lorcaserin in overweight and obese individuals without type 2 diabetes was marginal. It recommended that Arena submit the final study report of the trial called BLOOM-DM (behavioral modification and lorcaserin for overweight and obesity management in diabetes mellitus).
Arena resubmitted the NDA last December, and the agency assigned a PDUFA date of June 27. And on March 2 the company announced that it had filed an MAA with the EMA.
Orexigen was the third company to receive a CRL for its anti-obesity candidate, Contrave. The CRL, issued January 31, 2011, noted a single approval deficiency related to cardiovascular safety. The agency asked Orexigen to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cardiovascular outcomes trial prior to approval.
On February 6, the company said that it reached an agreement with the FDA on an SPA for the outcomes trial. The objective of the study will be to demonstrate that Contrave does not unacceptably increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.
If the FDA follows the committee's February 22 recommendation on Qnexa, the approval would make it the first new prescription drug for weight loss to reach the market in 13 years. Obesity drugs have proven risky business for pharmaceutical companies. Following previous setbacks, the industry has been reluctant to invest in their development.
In 2010, FDA announced that Abbott Laboratories' had voluntarily withdrawn Meridia from the market. The agency said that the advantage of a relatively small weight loss did not outweigh the heightened risk of heart attack and stroke associated with the drug, which had been withdrawn from European markets in January 2010.
The previous withdrawal of the two key ingredients used in the fen-phen obesity drug caused Wyeth (now part of Pfizer) to set aside about $21.1 billion to pay claims of individuals who had used the anti-obesity drug and suffered heart damage. The company recorded a $4.5 billion charge in 2004, resulting in a $1.32 per share loss for the company in the fourth quarter of that year.
Three years ago the FDA, citing the risk of suicidal thoughts and depression, declined to approve rimonabant (Accompli or Zimulti) from sanofi. Merck & Co. and Pfizer then abandoned their development plans for drugs with a similar mechanism of action. Rimonibant works by selectively blocking the cannabinoid-1 receptors resulting in central and metabolic peripheral effects that decrease food intake.
A September 2011 report from Decision Resources found that physicians and patients alike consider the weight-loss efficacy of the market leaders—Roche's Xenical, GSK's OTC version of orlistat Alli, and the generic agent phentermine—to be unsatisfactory.
The study concluded that the obesity drug market will increase more than sixfold over the next decade, increasing from $420 million in 2010 to $2.6 billion in 2020 in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and Japan. The report expects the market growth to be driven by the rapid uptake of novel emerging agents and the high prevalence of obesity.
Vivus could be the first to deliver on the promise of new medications to treat obesity. On February 29, the company said that it expected to raise more than $200 million through a share offering ahead of the April PDUFA date.
"We view this move as a smart one by Vivus," Cowen analyst Simon Simeonidis commented. "Despite what we view as a high probability that Qnexa gets approved by the April 17 PDUFA, we believe it's the prudent and conservative move for the company to take advantage of the substantial move in the stock to significantly strengthen the balance sheet, especially given the potential launch of Qnexa in the U.S."
Even if Qnexa does win over the FDA next month, it will have to win over the marketplace and likely have to satisfy a post-approval evaluation of its impact on CV risks. Its clinical performance and potential for profits coupled with the path that lorcaserin and Contrave take will shape whether or not drug developers and investors renew their interest in the obesity space.
To save this item to your Favorites,
log into GEN Select.
We'll be sure to take you back here after you do.
Not a member of GEN Select?
To comment on this article,
log into GEN Select.
We'll be sure to take you back here after you do.
Novum Pharma recently raised the price of an acne cream by over 3,900% in less than a year-and-a-half and Mylan increased price of EpiPen from $100 to $608 . Do you think pharmaceutical companies need to be subjected to price controls?
Be sure to add [email protected]
to your Address Book or Safe Senders List.
here for instructions.
If you have any questions about your subscription, click
here to email us or call at (914) 740-2189.
You may also be interested in subscribing to the GEN magazine, an indispensable
resource for everyone involved in the business of translating discoveries at the
bench into solutions that fight disease and improve health, agriculture, and the
environment. Subscribe
today to see why over 60,000 biotech professionals read GEN to
keep current in the areas of genomics, proteomics, drug discovery, biomarker discovery,
bioprocessing, molecular diagnostics, collaborations, biotech business trends, and
© 2016 Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News All Rights Reserved


text:
Latest material and obvious savings: Hiring definitely makes sense - and not just for occasional skiers. Even ski cracks with their own equipment can put the season's latest models thoroughly to the test before buying. Whether you're strapping on your skis for the day only or going on a two week skiing holiday with kit and caboodle - the Intersport dealers have just the solution for you.
At Intersport you are looked after by experienced sports specialists, who test everything that goes on their shelves - even when it comes to rental equipment. And because we at Intersport know from personal experience that a day in the snow is that much more fun with the right equipment, expert advice is part of the deal. In short: Renting saves you money and gives you the assurance that you are off to the slopes with perfectly maintained skis of optimal length.
This is what you can expect from us:
- State-of-the-art equipment
- Exchange of skis within the same rental category free of charge
- Book easily worldwide: www.intersportrent.com


text:
Salem stumped by Carrollton
Quaker struggles continue in 42-6 loss
September 15, 2012
SALEM — The Salem Quakers found themselves in a familiar situation at half-time Friday at Reilly Stadium. Unfortunately, it was a little too similar to to their home opener a week ago....
No comments posted for this article.
Post a Comment
You must first login before you can comment.


text:
Subtitle 13 BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS
09.13.08 Continuing Professional Competency Requirements
Authority: Business Occupations and Professions Article, §§15-314(f), 15-315, and
15-316, Annotated Code of Maryland
Notice of Proposed Action
The Board for Professional Land Surveyors proposes to adopt new
Regulations .16 and .17 under COMAR 09.13.08 Continuing Professional Competency
Requirements. This action was
considered by the Board at a public meeting held on May 2, 2012, notice of which was published in 39:8 Md. R. 590 (April 20, 2012).
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this action is to add new regulations to allow land
surveyors who are licensed as professional engineers to use CPC credits earned as a condition of renewal of their engineers license
towards the surveyors CPC license requirements and also to accept
credits earned by surveyors in other states as meeting the CPC requirements in Maryland as long as the credits meet certain criteria
established in the regulations.
Comparison to Federal Standards
There is no corresponding federal standard to this proposed action.
Estimate of Economic Impact
The proposed action has no economic impact.
Economic Impact on Small Businesses
The proposed action has minimal or no economic impact on small businesses.
Impact on Individuals with Disabilities
The proposed action has no impact on individuals with disabilities.
Opportunity for Public Comment
Comments may be sent to Pamela J. Edwards, Executive Director, Board for Professional Land Surveyors, 500 N. Calvert Street, Room
308, Baltimore, MD 21202, or call 410-230-6262, or email to firstname.lastname@example.com, or fax to 410-333-0021. Comments
will be accepted through December 17, 2012. A public hearing has
not been scheduled.
Open Meeting
Final action on the proposal will be considered by the Board for
Professional Land Surveyors during a public meeting to be held on
January 2, 2013, at 500 N. Calvert Street, Third Floor Conference
Room, Baltimore, MD 21202.
.16 Dual Licensees.
A licensee who maintains current licenses in the State of Maryland
both as a professional land or property line surveyor and as a
professional engineer shall comply with the CPC requirements set
forth in COMAR 09.23.06 applicable to licensed professional
engineers, except that a minimum of 1/3 of the units earned shall be
gained from the qualifying programs on a land surveying subject as
set forth in Regulations .03 and .05 of this chapter.
.17 CPC Units Earned in Other States.
The Board will accept CPC units earned for activities completed
in other jurisdictions, provided that the activities and programs are
consistent with and comply with the requisite criteria set forth in this
chapter and the licensee otherwise fulfills all other applicable license
renewal requirements of this chapter.
State Board for Professional Land Surveyors
Return to the DLLR Services home page
Questions or comments regarding the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation may be directed to
Questions or comments regarding the DLLR website may be directed to email@example.com.
Updated December 11, 2012


text:
on December 4, 2012 - 12:11 AM
, updated December 4, 2012 at 6:28 AM
Six NHL players will sit face-to-face with six NHL owners today. Ryan Miller hopes he's one of those players.
It might give him a better idea of how, or if, the lockout will end.
"I can't make sense of what the owners truly need because they want everything," the Buffalo Sabres goaltender wrote Monday during an exchange of text messages. "That is why it seems like the finish line is moving."
Miller is part of a large group of players who are gathering in New York City as negotiations resume between the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association. In a new dynamic, six owners and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly will meet with a half-dozen players and union special counsel Steve Fehr. The leaders of the respective sides, Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr, will not take part.
"I don't entirely agree with leaving the heads of negotiation out of this because they are paid to make a deal," Miller wrote. "But if it gets more owners involved then so be it."
Owners Ronald Burkle of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mark Chipman of the Winnipeg Jets, Jeffery Vinik of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Larry Tanenbaum of the Toronto Maple Leafs will join regular league negotiators Jeremy Jacobs of the Boston Bruins and Murray Edwards of the Calgary Flames at the table. The NHLPA has not yet announced which players will take part in talks.
"A lot of guys want the opportunity," Miller wrote. "I hope we all get a better feel of what each side truly needs. On our side anyone can talk to the media or attend meetings, so I am hopeful that having more owners join the conversation we can get somewhere and break up this monopoly 4-5 owners have had on deal making.
"I am really disappointed that no moderate owners have stopped the madness. Hopefully they will after the board of governors convene."
This figures to be another important week for the labor stalemate. In addition to today's gathering, the NHL's Board of Governors will meet Wednesday. Plus, more games are expected to be canceled Friday if a collective-bargaining agreement is not in place.
"There has been a deal available for months," Miller wrote. "We all expected things to fall into a negotiation after reaching 50/50 [with regard to splitting revenue] but it hasn't. The owners want too much from us and we have to make a stand. We appreciate the chance to play in the NHL but we have to protect our players."
The sides have gotten closer in terms of finances, but contracting rights have become a major roadblock. The NHL's most recent proposals would increase the age for free agency, limit contract lengths and control how much salaries fluctuate from year to year.
The plan, in theory, would put a drag on players' second contracts. "I am confused by the hard line on contracting," Miller wrote. "My only guess is Gary wants to limit general managers so he won't have anymore loophole type surprises in this CBA. I understand that position to the extent you don't want contracts to cripple a team, but they are really taking away team building as a skill. Skilled GMs will have to identify how to balance a budget instead of building a well-balanced winner.
"What I haven't heard anyone talking about is the fact that under the NHL proposal the NHL becomes a two-tier salary league. The middle class is gone and that means shorter careers and in my opinion mediocre hockey."
Last month, Miller told Toronto's Globe and Mail that the lockout has been more about "brand suicide" than negotiating. He figures the NHL believes that everyone will just forget about the lockout once games resume.
"I think they are counting on people to have short memories," Miller wrote. "Just like politicians who flip-flop on an issue, the owners believe the fans will return and be caught up in hockey …[and] everything forgiven or at least forgotten once pucks drop."
email: email@example.com


text:
This Strategic Report Analyzes & provides Insights into the Key Strategies, Plans & business outlook for Daimler AG for the year 2012 based on a comprehensive assessment of company's global business operations & strategic orientation against the backdrop of an evolving market landscape & industry backdrop; marked by significant global environmental turbulence amid difficult overall macroeconomic conditions emanating from rising uncertainty over the widening Euro-zone debt crisis as well as rising U.S. fiscal deficit, debt level & an unfavourable balance of trade situation.
This comprehensive report on Daimler AG will provide & will be useful for:
-- Incorporating Analysis as Vital Inputs into the Strategic Planning & Decision-Making Process
-- Comprehensive Strategic Assessment based on a relative assessment of Strengths & Weaknesses
-- Assessment & evaluation of degree of responsiveness to the external environment
-- Identification & Analysis of Imminent Market Opportunities & Emerging Potential Threats
-- Gaining access to Key Industry as well as Market Trends & Insights; crucial inputs for Decision-Makers
-- Identifying & highlighting areas for Potential Strategic Changes, Adjustments & Realignment
The analysis will be essential for those having strategic interest in the company or the industry & will be especially useful for key decision makers, top management of companies, suppliers, vendors, current & potential investors, industry & company analysts & those associated with the industry or the company.
The report is comprehensive yet concise & compact at the same time, built on the Microsoft PowerPoint platform; thus enabling & ensuring prompt and informed decision making. SHOW LESS READ MORE >
Section - 1
Business Snapshot
a) Founded
b) Headquartered
c) Business Segments
d) Employees
e) Revenues
f) Market Capitalization
g) Key Executives
h) Shareholding/Ownership Pattern & Structure
Section – 2
Financial Snapshot – Q1-Q3 2011 Vs. Q1-Q3 2010 & 2010 Vs. 2009
- Sales Revenues
- Gross Earnings
- Net Earnings
- Cash from Operations
Section – 3
Business Segments Snapshot - Q1-Q3 2011 Vs. Q1-Q3 2010 & 2010 Vs. 2009
- Year on Year Growth Rate
- Contribution to Revenues
- Profitability
Section – 4
SWOT Analysis
- Sources of Strengths
- Areas of Improvements
- Opportunities to Capitalize on
- Threats to Counter or Overcome
Section – 5
Key Strategies & Plans
Section – 6
Outlook for 2012
Section – 7
Key Industry Trends
Key Issues & Challenges
Risk Factors


text:
Apt No.
1 Bedroom
2 Bedroom
13th Street Small 2 Bedroom...
All listings
My Estimate Selection
Make a request
Email us your request
Type of Services
Website Policy
About Us
Contact Us
East Village Suite A
This New York apartment is located in the center of Manhattan. The Columbus Circle Deluxe is a beautiful, two bedroom, 3 room apartment that sleeps up to 6 people in the very centre of Manhattan – just two blocks away from Columbus Circle and Central Park. The apartment is very comfortable and cosy. Even though the apartment is very close to bustling Columbus Circle it is still extremely quiet with the windows facing the backyard.
The Columbus Circle Deluxe and the other apartments managed by our company are the only environmentally-friendly serviced apartments in New York. We are trying to have as little impact on environment as possible – the apartment is not perfect in this regard yet but it is getting there. We are using only eco-friendly cleaning supplies and recycled materials for all the paper and glass that we use in the apartment. We have signed a special contract with the electric company to ensure that we use only electricity generated by wind and water – it costs a little more but we think it is worth it! We also try to use as much recyclable materials as possible. Nowadays everyone has to be thinking about the impact on our planet, and it's the little things like this that start to make a difference. Please, read our tips on becoming a green traveller.
The apartment has one large bedroom with a big closet and one smaller bedroom, each has a queen size bed. The living room has a pull out sofa bed that can sleep up to 2 and HDTV with cable. The apartment also comes with free high speed wireless Internet access and free International calls to International landlines so you can keep in touch with your family and friends back home. The kitchenette is just the right size and has a stove with oven, pots and pans and a microwave. The building comes with an elevator and a coin laundry in the basement. Considering the location and the amenities, Columbus Circle Deluxe is one of the best apartments in our database in terms of value for money. We hope to see you in New York!
Create an online estimate by adding this accommodation to "My Estimate Selection". You need to select 3 apartments as reference in case your first option is not available.
Click on image for enlargement
View location with MapQuest
Policies & Disclaimers
Credit/debit card will be charged for ......... of the total amount due upon submitting your reservation request – (see Rental Conditions).
In addition to the agency fees you agree to pay reservation fee to the management company to secure your reservation, you agree to authorize Directloft / Directloft LLC. to charge you.
You must present a photo ID upon moving-in along with your credit/debit card. If you've reserved your apartment through a company, please present us with your invoice.
Requests for bed type and smoking preferences will be submitted to the hotel or property owner but are not guaranteed by Directloft.
By proceeding with this reservation, you agree to all terms and conditions, which include the Cancellation Policy and all terms and conditions contained in the Rental Conditions.


text:
LISBON - With less than a week before the election, Columbiana County commissioner candidate Joe Csonka was back before the board to again ask why they are waiting to fill the Emergency Management Agency director position.
Csonka, who is running against Commissioner Jim Hoppel, attended Wednesday's commissioners meeting still seeking a satisfactory answer for why they rejected the candidates recommended for the EMA position by their interview committee.
"Someone is not telling the truth," said Csonka, who appeared before commissioners in late August to ask the same questions.
The position came open this summer following the resignation of Darren Dodson. A review committee was appointed by commissioners consisting of long-time EMA employee Edie Dillard, who is currently serving as interim EMA director; a representative from FirstEnergy, which provides most of the EMA's funding; and the local representative from the Ohio EMA who is assigned to the office.
The committee interviewed about 20 applicants and provided commissioners with three recommendations. Following Csonka's August appearance before commissioners, Commissioner John Payne nominated Greg Carver for the job since he was ranked highest according to the FirstEnergy representative he spoke with. Payne is also up for election but his motion to hire Carver failed after neither Commissioner Mike Halleck or Hoppel would second his motion to bring it up for a vote.
Payne and Csonka are Democrats. Halleck and Hoppel are Republicans.
Csonka, who has made the issue part of his campaign, has said it makes no sense to appoint a review committee and then ignore its recommendations.
"They don't understand and I don't understand. It doesn't make sense," he said.
Csonka questioned the wisdom of continuing to delay filling the position. "This is an important position, and what if what happened in New York happened here? Where would we be?" he said.
Halleck reminded Csonka they have an interim director in Dillard, and she is doing an outstanding job, so much so that he is inclined to name her to the position permanently.
Halleck indicated he and Hoppel have decided to take their time in filling the position because they want to get it right.
"If something should go wrong, God forbid and hopefully it never will, we are the ones who have to answer. So it's incumbent on this board to get the best person we can," Halleck said.
Hoppel said they decided to continue the search because the review committee was less than enthusiastic about any of the applicants. "They indicated they were the best (of the applicants) but they were not totally satisfied with any of them," he said.
Csonka said the FirstEnergy representative told Payne the committee was satisfied with Carver. "Somebody must not be telling the truth," Csonka said.
Halleck told Csonka his problem is he is operating based on rumors instead of facts, a reference to a rumor Csonka shared at a candidate's forum last week. Csonka said fire chiefs told him commissioners were planning to name Sheriff Ray Stone to the EMA position should Stone lose his re-election bid, a rumor denied by Stone and Hoppel.
Halleck said it is easy to spread rumors and preceded to share one he heard about Csonka: That Csonka opposes naming Dillard to the EMA position because she is a woman. Halleck said he defended Csonka, telling the person, "I can't believe Joe is like that."
Csonka was outraged. "That's a (darn) lie. I've known Edie for 30 years and she is one of the best, hardest working people I know," he said, then firing back with a rumor of his own.
"Let's talk about rumors. I heard one that when Mary Smith was trying to be the EMA director that Jim said a woman would never have that job," Csonka said.
Hoppel defended himself immediately, saying like the Stone rumor, that one also was false. He said commissioners actually offered Smith the job for more money than her predecessor but she turned it down.
"You wanted to get another rumor in play, another political cheap shot you wanted to get into play," he told Csonka. "Do you think there are any rumors about you, Joe?"
"I'm sure there are," Csonka said.
"Have I brought them up? No, because I just figure it's a political cheap shot when you bring up rumors," Hoppel said.
Csonka turned his attention back to Halleck, asking him who were the people he had in mind for the EMA job. Halleck dismissed it as another rumor being spread by Csonka, but Csonka referred to a Sept. 9 newspaper story in which Halleck was quoted as saying he knew of some qualified people who were close to retiring and might be interested in applying.
While Halleck demurred on whether he had anyone specific in mind, he said it is no secret he believes you can sometimes find more qualified candidates for important positions through recruitment rather than taking applications.
"I have never denied that," he said.
"You just denied it a minute ago," Csonka said.
"If that's in the paper, that's close enough, I'll accept that," Halleck said of the comments attributed to him.
At this point Csonka said he was done debating commissioners. "I won't take any more of your time. We're not getting anywhere," he said.
Then Halleck acknowledged county Engineer Bert Dawson was in the audience and asked him if he had any business with the board. Dawson said he was there because he heard his name had been brought up at the candidate debates and he was there to defend himself if need be.
A short while later Csonka attempted to speak with Dawson, but Dawson told him, "I'm done with you," and left.
After the meeting, Csonka said he believes Dawson is upset with critical comments he made at candidate debates about county efforts in the early 1990s to get water service for the federal prison in Elkton. The county obtained funding for extending a waterline from Salem but left Salem in charge of who could have access to the water.
As a Center Township trustee, Csonka said he was frustrated because they lost a nursing home to East Palestine because Salem was unwilling to provide water service to the nursing home unless the owner annexed the property into the city. He said township residents with well troubles should have also been able to tap in.
Csonka said if he were a commissioner at the time he would never have agreed to the deal, unless property owners were allowed to tap into the water line without annexing into the city.
"I like Bert. He's done a lot of good for the county, but the truth is they dropped the ball on this. If he can't take someone saying he made a mistake, well, that's the way I operate," Csonka said.
Dawson said afterwards he was disappointed Csonka would use a nearly 20-year project as a campaign issue even after he explained to him how it all came about.
"I sat down with Joe to go over the what occurred so he would understand it, and then he goes out and distorts it at these campaign events," he said.
None of the current commissioners were in the office when the waterline project was approved, but Hoppel said it is his understanding county officials had no choice at the time.
"That's the only deal they could make to get water" to land the prison, he said, adding, "I checked into it (after taking office) and I didn't like the deal either."