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Surprise! Obama budget panel might work
Washington commissions are usually political punchlines. Even President Barack Obama has mocked them in past. Yet his much-hyped deficit commission is a symbol of White House plans to fix America's long-term budget problems. Actually, it kind of is the White House plan, it kind of is the fiscal strategy.
And maybe skepticism over the commission is overdone. Erskine Bowles, the panel's Democratic co-chair, surprisingly favors big spending cuts over huge tax increases. That may be the best policy, but looks like increasingly savvy politics, too. Such an approach makes a deal with Republicans — and therefore real results – a bit more likely.
Bowles, a North Carolina investment banker and former Clinton White House chief of staff, is suggesting a cap on overall government spending and revenue of 21 percent of gross domestic product. The federal government currently spends 25 percent of GDP and takes in 15 percent as revenue, though both numbers are a bit distorted by the recent recession. By 2035, according to the Congressional Budget Office, spending could leap to 35 percent of GDP with revenue at 19 percent. By those numbers Bowles is suggesting that some 90 percent of the gap should be closed by cutting the spending side of the ledger.
The economic logic is sound. Spending cuts tend to be less injurious to growth than tax increases. Few countries have escaped debt traps through austerity alone. Canada is often pointed out as an example of successful austerity. But its 1990s economy also had an export boom thanks to a weak currency and more trade with the United States. Emphasizing reduced spending over higher taxes is even one of the fiscal ten commandments of the International Monetary Fund:
Strong growth has a staggering effect on public debt: a one percentage point increase in potential growth – assuming a tax ratio of 40% – lowers the debt ratio by 10 percentage points within 5 years and by 30 percentage points within 10 years, if the resulting higher revenues are saved. An acceleration of labor, product and financial market reforms will thus be critical. …
This will require a bias towards (current) spending cuts, as spending ratios are high in advanced countries and require highly distortionary tax levels. Some cuts should be no-brainers: for example, shifting from universal to targeted social transfers would involve significant savings, while protecting the poor. Containing public sector wages – which have risen faster than GDP in several advanced countries in the last decade – will be necessary.
All this would, of course, require massive restructuring of social entitlements. In return, other panel Democrats would demand higher taxes — a supposed "no go" zone for Republicans. But perhaps such a heavy bias toward spending cuts could pry loose a couple of GOPers if tax increases focused on eliminating breaks rather than raising rates.
Then again, tax increases of any sort might not be necessary, assuming spending cuts. If the economy grows somewhat more like it has through the 20th century than what is assumed by dreary CBO forecasts, that alone would reduce projected budget deficits by 25 percent in 2035.
Bowles is a dealmaker. And he's been here before, leading political negotiations in the mid-1990s that helped create a string of balanced budgets. He just might pull off the trick again.
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
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Big L Music Songs & Pictures
Raised in Harlem's uptown sector "Danger Zone"----139th Street and Lennox Avenue, Big L was faced with the temptation's of the streets. Instead of living the street life he chose rap as a way out. His first ever crack on wax came in 1992's "Yes You May (Remix)." Since then Big L has blessed the mic countless times with lyrics like no other.
In 1993 he signed with Columbia Records and released one of the illest records of underground hip-hop. The record was the vinyl, promo-only "Devil's Son." That song was quickly banned from radio, due to such lyrics as: "I pistol whip the priest every Sunday." With hardcore lyrics made for the fans and not radio, Big L proved himself as one of the kings of the underground. In 1995, still with Columbia, He released his debut album "Lifestylz Ov Da Poor & Dangerous." The album was commercially ignored, but praised by the source who gave it 4 mics. The album was a lyrical masterpiece, and an underground success. That album put on a few now big name rappers, such as Jay-Z, and Cam'ron. After that album was released, L was dropped from Columbia.
Even after being dropped, L was rising in the game. He, along with Show, AG, Buckwild, Lord Finess, Fat Joe, OC, and Diamond, formed the group D.I.T.C. (Diggin' In The Crates). They began popping up on mixtapes all around, and Big L was showcasing his lyrical ability on a whole new level. Concerts in Amsterdam, and Japan proved to others that Big L and D.I.T.C. were now worldwide and ready to blow up. Big L was now on the verge of releasing his best work. He got in the studio and recorded "Ebonics" a breakdown of street slang. That single was blowing up the streets, and people were starting to notice L. Unfortunately his success was cut short. Big L was murdered on the very streets where he grew up. He was shot 7 times in the head and chest on February 15, 1999.
In August of 2000 Big L's posthumous, sophmore album "The Big Picture" was released. Half the album was completed before his death, and half after his death. This album recieved more respect in terms of sales, and rotation. The album went gold, and was the first of his albums to do so. Collaberations on the album include Guru, D.I.T.C. and rap vets like Big Daddy Kane and Kool G. Rap as well as the late Tupac Shakur.
Although Big L is no longer with us, His essence is still felt in the rap game, from his smart lyrics, to his deadly metaphors and his freestyling ability, Big L has opened the doors for a wave of rappers such as Mase, Jay-Z, Cam'ron and McGruff. Through his music Big L lives on, and should never be forgotten.
Source : harlems-finest.com
Big L Discography
Released: 2002-06-04Buy album
Released: 1995-03-28Buy album
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subset: commoncrawl


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Scottish Citylink's CitylinkAIR service has today (Friday 1 July) welcomed five brand new coaches to its fleet on what is the routes third anniversary.more
We are supporting Maggieâs Highlands; the unconditional practical, social and emotional support network for cancer sufferers, their relatives and friends.more
4th March 2011
Scottish Citylink has brought some good cheer to T in the Park fans by announcing a credit crunch-busting price freeze on coach tickets to this year's festival.
The festival bill was announced on Tuesday 22nd Feb with Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay and Foo Fighters heading up the talent across the weekend. They will be joined by the likes of Blink 182, Pulp, The Script, My Chemical Romance, Brandon Flowers, Beady Eye, Tinie Tempah, Tom Jones and many, many more. Organisers DF Concerts promise this year's event will be the biggest and best yet.
T in the Park is now in its 18th year and has become one of the most popular music festivals in Europe, attracting up to 85,000 gig goers per day over the weekend.
As an extra sweetener for music lovers travelling to the festival between 8 and 10 July, Scottish Citylink has decided to keep coach ticket prices in line with last year.
As official T in the Park transport provider, Citylink will offer direct services to the festival from across Scotland and return journeys to and from the site in Balado for £26 from Glasgow and £22 from Edinburgh.
Given the size of the logistical operation to transport so many music fans to Perthshire, people to purchase a coach travel package at the same time as they buy their festival tickets.
Nicola Campbell , Maketing Manager for Scottish Citylink, said: "T in the Park is one of the highlights of our year. It's fantastic to have been part of the success of the festival since its early days and to have built a strong relationship as the festival has grown.
"We want passengers who travel with us to enjoy themselves from the very start of the weekend, which is one of the reasons we have decided to freeze our prices.
"Travelling by coach is the most economical, hassle free way to get to T in the Park and we are encouraging people to book up as early as possible to ensure their travel plans are taken care of and they can concentrate on having a good time"
Citylink has recently comcluded a deal which will see it continue as the official transport partner for T in the Park until at least 2014.
To book a ticket, or find out more, please call 0871 266 33 33, or visit www.citylink.co.uk
Issued by the BIG Partnership on behalf of Scottish Citylink Coaches Limites.


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Students at the nine public universities or colleges that will not be able to start school because their campuses are flooded out after Hurricane Katrina will be allowed to enroll at other state institutions without paying addition tuition or other expenses, officials said Friday.
Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Savoie said that about 41,000 students will not be able to attend their schools "for the foreseeable future." Savoie said he could not say when the universities would re-open or whether some could be shuttered for the entire fall semester.
"It just depends, " he said, adding the damage varies at each institution. Nunez Community College in Chalmette (Katrina photos: The early days in St. Bernard ) remains under about 10 feet of water, while only 25 percent of the campus at the University of New Orleans experienced water damage.
Because many students at the public universities live nearby, the ability to re-open schools will largely depend on when people move back, Savoie said.
Students who need to find out about enrolling at other public universities in Louisiana should call 1-866-415-2269. They will be able to keep all state
financial aid, including the TOPS scholarship program.
Questions about aid can be directed to 1-800-253-5626 ext. 1012. The state has also established a web clearinghouse for this information at www.regents.state.la.us
The schools that will not be opening up sometime next week are: Southern University at New Orleans, the University of New Orleans, Delgado Community College, Nunez Community College, the LSU Health Sciences Center, and four technical colleges: Jefferson, West Jefferson, Sullivan and Sidney Collier.


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ROBERTSDALE, Alabama -- Robertsdale High School held its commencement ceremony for 256 graduates at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 19, at J.D. Sellers Stadium.
The valedictorian was Trista Phelps, daughter of Scott and Renee Phelps, and the salutatorian was Logan Mitchell, son of Susan and Teddy Mitchell. Jalen Law, class president, gave the welcoming address.
The Class of 2014 Awards night was held on May 15 in the school gym. The baccalaureate ceremony was held on May 18 at Robertsdale First Baptist Church.
At the end of the ceremony, the seniors gathered in the end zone to have the traditional Bear Dance, in which the graduates formed a circle, then tossed their hats in celebration.


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Kahle, Ralph and Kührt, Ekkehard and Hahn, Gerhard and Knollenberg, Jörg (2005) Physical limits of solar collectors in deflecting Earth-threatening asteroids. Aerospace Science and Technology, 10 (3), pp. 256-263. Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/j.ast.2005.12.004.
Full text not available from this repository.
Official URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6VK2-4J5T4YG-1-3&_cdi=6110&_user=100058&_orig=search&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F2006&_sk=999899996&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkzV&md5=8bbe7996f50486d51bb5a4dc542038b1&ie=/sdarticle.pdf
This paper investigates the physical limits of a solar collector for orbit deflection of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) on a collision course with Earth. For decades of warning time a small change of NEA orbital velocity Δv by a few mm/s might suffice to alter the collision path into an Earth fly-by and consequently avert a local or even global catastrophe. In principle this can be achieved by a spacecraft that carries a large solar collector. The latter focuses sunlight onto the NEA surface in order to vaporize surface material, hence transferring a continuous momentum to the NEA. We model evaporation process and vapour expansion to show that the functionality exists. From the analysis of focussing misalignments and collector degradation we find that a considerable operational effort is required to maintain operating conditions. The most important result is that the collector lifetime is limited to only a few minutes. Therefore a solar collector might only be applicable to NEAs with size ‹ 250 m if Δv ‹ 0.1 mm/s is required. We also discuss capabilities for the prolongation of collector lifetime and hence an increase of NEA application size range.
|Document Type:
|Physical limits of solar collectors in deflecting Earth-threatening asteroids
|9 June 2005
|Journal or Publication Title:
|Aerospace Science and Technology
|Refereed publication:
|In ISI Web of Science:
|Page Range:
|pp. 256-263
|asteroid, orbit deflection, solar collector
|HGF - Research field:
|Aeronautics, Space and Transport (old)
|HGF - Program:
|Space (old)
|HGF - Program Themes:
|W EW - Erforschung des Weltraums
|DLR - Research area:
|DLR - Program:
|W EW - Erforschung des Weltraums
|DLR - Research theme (Project):
|W - Vorhaben Asteroiden und Kometen (old)
|Berlin-Adlershof , Oberpfaffenhofen
|Institutes and Institutions:
|Institute of Planetary Research
Space Operations and Astronaut Training
|Deposited By:
|Dr.-Ing. Ralph Kahle
|Deposited On:
|05 May 2006
|Last Modified:
|14 Jan 2010 20:45
Repository Staff Only: item control page


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Turkey, a non-eurozone country with a warm climate, attractive coastlines, low cost of living and easy access from the UK and Ireland – is an attractive option for holidaymakers and second home buyers.
But it is not only demand for coastal holiday homes around the likes of Marmaris and Bodrum that has foreigners interested. Savvy investors are turning their attentions to rapidly growing cities such as Istanbul, the economic powerhouse of the country, which has a significant housing deficit.
Situated on the Bosphorus Strait it is the only city in world that spans both Europe and Asia. Conservative estimates put the population at 13m and present housing stock has reached capacity. With over 400,000 new inhabitants arriving each year to work or study – the megacity is exploding.
"The success of Istanbul's property market is a simple matter of supply and demand," says Steven Worboys, MD of Experience International.
It is estimated that 250,000 new homes per year will be required until 2015 according to the Real Estate Investment Trust Association to meet the demand generated by foreign as well as domestic investment.
This undersupply coupled with a government scheme to replace older homes is driving the market forward. And reports are promising for this 2010 European City of Culture.
Earlier this year, Channel 4's A Place in Sun predicted Turkey would be one of the top five locations for property investments in 2010.
The Financial Times listed it as a Top 10 place to safely buy residential or holiday homes. Price Water House Coopers and the Urban Land Institute rank Istanbul as the number one City Development Prospect in 2010.
"Property prices are undervalued so there's an opportunity to make good money in Istanbul - up to 40 per cent profit - in the next two years for a well-chosen off-plan investment," says David Richardson, of Property Sun Turkey.
"But for most foreigners, I'd recommend a medium-term, five-year investment strategy as capital gains tax is nil after that period."
Scheduled for completion in 2011 Tulip Turkuaz is a 1700 unit development in the Bahcesehir district of Istanbul. The project is 15 minutes' drive from Ataturk Airport and 25 minutes from two main financial districts - Levent and Maslak.
Designed by internationally renowned architect and ecologist Ken Yeang, known for his eco-friendly buildings, there is an emphasis on bio-climatic facilities. Solar-energy, natural light channels and low energy electrical fittings are some of the 'green' features that should also help reduce energy bills.
Companies situated in the Bahcesehir area include logistic firms and car manufacturers such as Mercedes. With more firms on the way adding to the city's expanding middle-class - it is expected local executives would be potential tenants.
Tulip is a joint venture between two government housing development associations – (TOKi and Emlak Konut ) and Dutch property group Van Herk.
The project is under the guarantee of construction completion by the Turkish government. At a recent press conference, Turkish cabinet minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis backed the development saying: "We welcome British investment in our country and we are confident that those who buy from this scheme will become ambassadors for Turkey."
Prices start from £48,000 for a one-bedroom, 70 sq m apartment to £201,000 for a four-bedroom apartment at 290sq m. A guaranteed net rental yield of 6 per cent per annum for the first five years of ownership is available with a choice to opt-out and switch to a rental management firm after three years.
So far, 40% of the development has sold and all units are expected to go long before completion. Closer to the town centre Crystal Heights is another option. Experience International is selling a selection of one and two bedroom apartments and three bedroom duplexes, with prices from £45,000.
Purchasing property in Istanbul is relatively straightforward with no restrictions on UK ownership.
* Source: The Belfast Telegraph
- More about:
- Euro Area
- Istanbul
- Middle East
- Property


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Prism & Silverlight: Part 1 - Taking Sketched Code Towards Unity
- Posted: Oct 27, 2009 at 3:29AM
- 34 comments
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Is the lack of audio planned? I mean, I don't mind but this looks somehow strange without audio?
Great video! Very nice to see good software design practices demonstrated in an easy-to-learn video. I was wondering what screen capture software you use to make these?
Interesting will have to view this later and see if it helps.
from my view right now we have a rainstorm of bits coming out and no really clear directions.
ADO Entitiy framwork
linq to this that and the other....
just to name the first few that come to mind
and then add Azure (sp?) and prism and unity
Ah we need some UNITY in a really big way right now.....
while beeing able to chose is mostly a good thing when you have so many and so little idea which ones to spend time with it's hard to
get focus on any one thing.
also after the way linq to SQL has been sidelined it now makes me ask what other cool stuff that's in the works today will be droped next year? it's very very frustrating to try and pick the winner like it's a lotto when it's my time and money and my rep on the line.
There should definitely be audio ... I haven't had any problems.
I used Expression Encoder 3 Screen Capture - try it yourself from here http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Encoder_Overview.aspx - the standard version is free and will let you record up to 10 mins of screen capture.
No, there's definitely meant to be audio - as a silent movie this is going to be a major flop
Yeah, just noticed, on the headphones earlier on I couldn't here the audio at all. Now I can hear it but it is really silent I found this to be an issue across c9 in general lately. Anyway, this looks like a great series, gonna have a late night tonight!
Comment removed at user's request.
Comment removed at user's request.
This is the good stuff. I've previously used Prism in conjunction with Unity to create composite WPF clients in this manner, but it's useful to see a run through of the whole process (disclaimer .. I watched the first 40 minutes or so .. will continue with it tonight). It's tackled at a refreshingly rapid pace whilst remaining clear and entirely comprehensible too. Bravo.
Gah! I keep getting MEDIA FAILURE errors as it loads
All wallpapers are from http://www.wallpapers-room.com/ and cycled every so often via Windows 7
Wonderful videos Mike. The 'live coding' style of presentation works far better for me than a cut and paste, pre-packaged format that seems to be all too common. Keep up the good work!
Thanks - will try
Looks great Mike - many thanks - looking forward to watching these on my trip to Belfast this week.
On a download point - for those trying the zune format download - none worked for me; the Zune player complained that all the files were corrupted (using the latest Zune software); download the wmv files instead which worked fine (but were bigger).
Where do I get the lifetime back, I spent on this video ? ;o) I didn't expect a Webcast that has nothing at all to do with unity ...
Ah, apologies if it wasn't useful to you. As I said "we start off with some fairly basic code which we move towards dependency injection and Unity". I didn't feel that just starting off and saying "Right, here's Unity" would necessarily work for everybody and so this video is really just the starting point for the code that we manipulate in the next three videos.
As I say - one way to view these is to start with video 10 and then work back if and only if there's something that needs more explanation. The other way is to treat videos 1-9 as a set that make (hopefully) sense together.
How can I download it and watch it on the train or plane?
The audio did not work in VLC for me, but did work in WMP 11 (fyi, I have the Expression 3 suite installed...)
Thanks for this Mike. It was the series that got me from reading about to using PRISM & MVVM.
The journey from monolithic to composite app matches a battle we've had at Pentagon and this has helped us loads in pulling all the technical strands together.
A brilliant learning resource. Once again, thanks.
Audio is there. Definitely.
You are a great teacher, It is really a great series. I am right now in #6. and it has helped me a lot to understand prism. Thanks a lot.
Please do update (or create new) videos with the latest Prism build.
Thank you.
Hi Mike,
can you pplease provide complete set of code from begining till end. I liked your way of explaining the modular apporach.
This is the best explanation that I could find to learn about Prism and Unity. Thank you for all your effort and the great tutorials you have posted.
Wow! What a wonderful, concise and very fluid setup... Not understanding why I would want to use Unity at the beginning of this video, I'm now seeing it's value! Great Job! Very Professional. Wish you were my prof in university!
Winston Pang mentioned that all of the iPod versions were the same. Actually, they are all different, but when imported the MP4 files into iTunes they all have the same title which makes it difficult to determine the order in which to watch them. I compared the times from the web versions and changed the titles accordingly and then re-synced to my iPad.
That aside, I believe that these are excellent sessions. I really appreciate that these start at a very basic level and slowly bring the user into the actual goal of the presentation. I have already recommended this to my co-workers.
Hi Mike,
Really Great explanation!! I was trying my implementation in the same way, but there is some problem while configure the container from App.config file, there is "The given assembly name or codebase was invalid. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131047)" error shown at run time. However the references are accurate. Can you please explain more about the unity container app.config file?
Santosh Dubey
I am not able to load video since 30 minutes, can anybody tell me what is the issue?
Mike, thank you so much for these videos - they've been immensely helpful to me so far. However, I am facing a problem with your sample and I was wondering if you could share your thoughts with me on that:
At the end of your 3rd video "Modularity with Prism", the code should be divided into modules and the Program.cs should run them with the manager. I am fairly sure that my code matches yours, but upon debugging the app, the loading of the first module CalculatorCommandParsingModule throws an exception with the message:
"An exception occurred while initializing module 'Parsing'.
- The exception message was: Could not load file or assembly 'Interfaces, Version=188.8.131.52, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified."
Now, interfaces is referenced from the CalculatorCommandParsing library and everything build with no error.
Any ideas?
Thank you very very much.
Amazing presentation and structuring... Great Job altogether...
Fantastic videos. I really learnt a lot more faster with the live code presentation.
Thanks a ton!!!!
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Posts for July, 2009
J.C. Penney to open in Kenosha County
Grand opening festivities for the new J.C. Penney store in Pleasant Prairie are scheduled for July 31. The store will open for business July 26.
The 101,000-square-foot store is in the Shoppes at Prairie Ridge at 10225 77th St., a new retail center. This is one of Penney's freestanding stores, with a 1,500-square-foot Sephora shop inside and American Living brand center.
Crabtree & Evelyn: Bankrupt
Crabtree & Evelyn, the maker of high-end soaps and lotions, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday in federal court in New York.
The company said it plans to continue to operate the business as usual and will honor gift cards. Crabtree & Evelyn has one store in Wisconsin, at the Pleasant Prairie outlet mall. Products also are sold at many stores around the state.
Here's a link to a story from The Associated Press.
Kohl's: nation's 24th largest retailer
Kohl's department stores, with annual sales of $16.4 billion, ranks 24th on the National Retail Federation's new list of the Top 100 retailers in the U.S.
Menard, based in Eau Claire, is number 50, with annual sales of $7.5 billion; and Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. is 89th, with sales of $3.8 billion.
The list ranks retailers that are based in the United States or have sizeable operations here. The NRF changed its method for calculating revenues this year, so the rankings aren't comparable to last year's list.
But Wal-Mart is still number one, no matter how they do the math.
Oconomowoc Sentry to close
The Sentry store at 630 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Oconomowoc will close at the end of the month, the store's manager confirmed Thursday.
The store is owned by BKT, a partnership that also operates Sentry stores at E. Oklahoma and S. Chase avenues in Milwaukee and in Waukesha at the Fox Run shopping center and on Meadowbrook Road.
"The 2008 Wisconsin Ave. road closing was poorly planned and destroyed downtown business for most of the year, and it has never recovered," they said. BKT also noted increased competition outside of the downtown, and said residents who learned to use the bypass highway during the road construction never returned to downtown shopping. »Read Full Blog Post(4)
New Waukesha Pick 'n Save to open this month
Grand opening events are scheduled Monday, July 20, for the new Pick 'n Save store on W. Sunset Dr. in Waukesha.
The store is in the Shoppes at Fox River development on the southwest side of the city, just east of W. St. Paul Ave. The center includes a Target store that will open at the end of this month.
Also opening soon is the Wauwatosa Pick 'n Save on N. Mayfair Rd, a few blocks south of Mayfair Mall. That grand opening is set for Sept. 14. »Read Full Blog Post
More Britney in Kohl's Candies ads
Britney Spears will appear in the fall ad campaign for the Candie's brand, which is sold exclusively at Kohl's.
Spears signed on as this year's Candie's girl for the spring campaign, and she's extended her contract for the fall. The new ads will include clips from Radar, Spears' new music video.
The TV ads will start later this summer. Print ads will appear in the September issues of fashion magazine.
Dunham's closing in Grafton
Dunham's Sports in Grafton will close its doors, according to the store manager. No closing date has been announced.
The store is at 220 Oak St. It is one of 17 Dunham's locations in Wisconsin. Other area Dunham's stores are in Cudahy, West Allis and Brookfield. (4)
Christmas in July at Sears, Stein Garden
Thinking about buying a Christmas tree this week? Maybe some lights or ornaments?
Me neither. But the Christmas in July thing has spread beyond the annual Hallmark Cards collectible rollout to Sears, and locally to Stein Garden Center. Both Sears and Stein are selling artificial trees on their web sites this month.
Here are links to Sears' and Stein's Christmas in July web sites. The Sears site even has holiday music. »Read Full Blog Post
Coming soon: Michael Jackson merchandise
Five Guys Burgers coming to Brookfield Square
Five Guys Burgers and Fries continues to expand in the Milwaukee area. The newest location will be at Brookfield Square, near the entrance to the food court, at the west side of the mall.
The restaurant is expected to open in early fall, according to mall manager Scott Oleson.
Other Five Guys locations are in Delafield, Pewaukee and Bayshore Town Center. (9)
Waukesha Target to open July 26
The new Target store at the Shoppes at Fox River in Waukesha will open Sunday, July 26. The new retail center is on the southwest side of the city, on Sunset Dr. just east of St. Paul Ave.
The store will be among 23 new stores that Target will open this month across the country. It will offer an expanded grocery section with fresh meat and produce. Only 25 Target stores in the U.S. have this fresh food area, which the company introduced this year on an experimental basis. The Target store that opened in Sun Prairie in March was the first in Wisconsin to get the fresh food department.
Barnes & Noble rolls out e-book store
Barnes & Noble has launched an e-bookstore, www.bn.com/ebooks, that will sell electronic books for $9.99.
Customers will be able to download 700,000 books onto a variety of electronic devices, including iPhones, iPod touch, Blackberry smart phones, laptop and desktop computers.
First-time users also will have the opportunity to download classics such as "Little Women," the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and others for free.
New Sam's Club opens in Kenosha County
Grand opening ceremonies for the new Sam's Club in the Town of Somers will start at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, July 23.
The store, at 3300 Brumback Blvd., replaces a Sam's store at 6200 Regency Dr. West., which opened in 1992. The opening festivities include free samples and face painting.
Wal-Mart's $9 back-to-school list
When Wal-Mart announced their list of $9 back-to-school specials Tuesday, the company said some of the deals won't be available in Wisconsin and a few other states that outlaw selling below cost. I report on it in a story today.
I haven't had time to take the list to a Wal-Mart store to check on what might be available, and how much difference there is on prices in local stores. Here's a link to the list.
Grocery deals in Waukesha
Store openings are a great time to find bargains, and there are two on Waukesha's southwest side this week.
The new Target store at the Shoppes at Fox River has a grand opening scheduled for Sunday, July 26, but the store opened quietly on Wednesday, to give the clerks time to practice with smaller crowds.
I visited this morning, and I'll have a full report in Saturday's paper. The big news about the Target store is that it's one of a few Targets in the country with the new fresh food area. It's a new format that's sort of halfway between a regular Target and a Super Target. »Read Full Blog Post
What to buy, or not, at dollar stores
ShopSmart magazine has advice for dollar store shopping in its September issue. And these days, a lot of people are becoming acquainted with dollar stores.
The story, which you can see online, compares prices at dollar stores with Wal-Mart, Target, CVS and Walgreens. On the buy list for dollar stores: aluminum foil, gift wrap and cotton rounds. Not to buy: tissue paper.
The story also warns about unsafe products that the magazine's testers found at dollar stores. (1)
New stores at Bayshore
Luci, a women's clothing boutique with locations on N. Water St. and in Shorewood, will open a third location at Bayshore Town Center in August.
The shop has taken a one-year lease in the space recently vacated by Everything But Water, after the swimsuit retailer went bankrupt. Opening is set for August 13.
Mall manager Chris Jaeger said Luci's owner decided to take a chance on Bayshore after reading my recent story describing the trend of local independents going into malls on temporary leases. »Read Full Blog Post
Fall clothes in stores too soon?
Women's Wear Daily has a great report Wednesday on a meeting of American fashion designers in New York on Tuesday. (I won't put up a link because WWD.com is a paid-subscription Web site. If you have a subscription, you've probably seen this.)
According to the report, the meeting turned into a gripe session on the problems of the fashion industry, particularly all the discounting going on these days. One problem designers identified is the retail cycle, which puts clothing in the stores before the consumer can actually wear it. The clothes are slow to sell, and the stores mark them down. By the time the season starts, women can get the clothes on sale.
Designer Donna Karan said the whole thing was confusing to shoppers, according to WWD. I don't think it's confusing at all. I'm happy to get things on sale, and I'm guessing most women feel the same way. »Read Full Blog Post(9)


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SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio –- The Shaker Arts Council will host a fundraising party from 6:30 to 10 p.m. April 11 at the historic Van Sweringen mansion on South Park Boulevard.
Tickets are $95, and SHAC will use the money to open a permanent gallery space to showcase work by local artists.
There will be tapas by Shaker chefs and caterers, wines, entertainment by pianist Madeline Levitz, a presentation by Cleveland Museum of Art Deputy Director August Napoli Jr. and a silent auction featuring items made by Shaker artists.
Reservations are required. Call 216-916-9360 to reserve a spot. For more information, go to www.shakerartscouncil.org.
'Legalize Democracy' film viewing set
A viewing of the film "Legalize Democracy" will be at 7 p.m. April 16 at the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Community Building, 3450 Lee Road.
The 28-minute documentary examines the history of the relationship between corporations and social movements in the U.S. with interviews and historical legal and constitutional documents.
The film is produced by Move to Amend, the national coalition seeking a Constitutional Amendment to increase democracy by establishing that only human beings, not corporations, have constitutional rights and that political money is not equivalent to political speech. Voters in Cleveland Heights passed a similar initiative in November. Discussion will follow the film, including restarting the Shaker Heights Move to Amend group.
For more information, visit movetoamend.org, or call 216-381-9350 or 330-928-2301.
High school publications win Golden Crown
The Shakerite and shakerite.com recently received a Gold Crown for excellence in scholastic journalism from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
Both are written by and for Shaker Heights High School students. They were among 66 student newspapers, websites, yearbooks and literary magazines to receive the highest honor during an awards ceremony at Columbia University. More than 1,200 publications in the nation were eligible.
Email reporter Chanda Neely with news tips and information about events in Shaker Heights.
Follow me on Twitter: Follow @ChandaNeely


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The Automated ScoreBook
Wagner at Howard
Mar 07, 2014 at Washington, DC (GW Softball Field)
Score by Innings R H E
Wagner.............. 130 40 - 8 9 0
Howard.............. 500 00 - 5 7 2
Umpires -
Start: 4:10 pm Time: 6:20 Attendance: 40
The Automated ScoreBook
Wagner at Howard
Mar 07, 2014 at Washington, DC (GW Softball Field)
Wagner starters: 1/lf T Rauscher; 6/2b T Beeson; 24/ss K Parker; 9/rf A
Beasley; 11/dh K Matteoni; 16/c B Bott; 25/1b M Moore; 2/3b M Goodale; 10/cf B
Tredway; 17/p S Bedker;
Howard starters: 12/rf BALLARD,I.; 1/ss ESTES,Sade; 24/p LAWRENCE,D.; 7/2b
NORMAN,Inaya; 20/dh POINDEXTER,M; 17/cf DAVIS,A.; 15/c GAMMONS,J.; 2/3b
HENDERSON,D.; 21/1b STINSON,A.; 11/lf TURNER,A.;
Wagner 1st - T Rauscher struck out looking. T Beeson
flied out to cf. K Parker walked. K Parker advanced to second on a passed ball.
A Beasley walked. A Beasley advanced to second on a passed ball; K Parker
advanced to third. K Matteoni singled, advanced to second on the throw, RBI; A
Beasley advanced to third; K Parker scored. B Bott lined out to ss. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Howard 1st - BALLARD,I. homered to left field, RBI.
ESTES,Sade singled to left field. ESTES,Sade advanced to second on a passed
ball. LAWRENCE,D. walked. NORMAN,Inaya out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt;
LAWRENCE,D. advanced to second; ESTES,Sade advanced to third. POINDEXTER,M
walked. DAVIS,A. walked; POINDEXTER,M advanced to second; LAWRENCE,D. advanced
to third; ESTES,Sade scored. GAMMONS,J. grounded out to 3b, RBI; DAVIS,A.
advanced to second; POINDEXTER,M advanced to third; LAWRENCE,D. scored.
HENDERSON,D. singled, advanced to second on the throw, RBI; DAVIS,A. advanced
to third; POINDEXTER,M scored. STINSON,A. singled, RBI; HENDERSON,D. out at
third lf to c to 3b; DAVIS,A. scored. 5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1
Wagner 2nd - M Moore doubled. BALLARD,I. to cf.
DAVIS,A. to rf. M Goodale reached on an error by 3b. B Tredway singled, bunt; M
Goodale advanced to second; M Moore advanced to third. T Rauscher reached on a
fielder's choice; B Tredway advanced to second; M Goodale advanced to third; M
Moore out at home 3b to c. T Beeson singled to left field, 2 RBI; T Rauscher
advanced to second; B Tredway scored, unearned; M Goodale scored. T Beeson
advanced to second on a wild pitch; T Rauscher advanced to third. K Parker
grounded out to ss, RBI; T Beeson advanced to third; T Rauscher scored,
unearned. A Beasley grounded out to p. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1
Howard 2nd - BALLARD,I. flied out to lf. ESTES,Sade
grounded out to ss. LAWRENCE,D. singled to right field. NORMAN,Inaya flied out
to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Wagner 3rd - K Matteoni grounded out to ss. B Bott
walked. M Moore flied out to cf. M Goodale struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Howard 3rd - POINDEXTER,M walked. DAVIS,A. struck
out looking. POINDEXTER,M out at second c to ss, caught stealing. GAMMONS,J.
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Wagner 4th - B Tredway singled to left field. T
Rauscher out at first c to 2b, SAC, bunt; B Tredway advanced to second. T
Beeson homered to center field, 2 RBI; B Tredway scored. K Parker reached on an
error by 1b. A Beasley homered to left field, 2 RBI; K Parker scored, unearned.
LAWRENCE,D. to dh. POINDEXTER,M to rf. DAVIS,A. to lf. TURNER,A. to p. K
Matteoni flied out to cf. B Bott singled through the left side. M Moore flied
out to rf. 4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Howard 4th - HENDERSON,D. doubled to right center.
STINSON,A. singled, advanced to second on the throw; HENDERSON,D. advanced to
third. BALLARD,I. flied out to rf; HENDERSON,D. out at third rf to 3b. M
Goodale to p. A High to 3b for S Bedker. STINSON,A. runner left early.
STINSON,A. runner left early. STINSON,A. runner left early. STINSON,A. runner
left early. STINSON,A. runner left early, out at second ss unassisted. 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Wagner 5th - M Goodale grounded out to 2b. B Tredway
grounded out to 2b. T Rauscher singled through the left side. T Beeson grounded
out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Howard 5th - ESTES,Sade grounded out to 2b.
LAWRENCE,D. struck out looking. NORMAN,Inaya struck out looking. 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.


text:
Professor receives award for outstanding contributions to nursing research
Oct. 24, 2013 - Cynthia Barrere, a professor in the School of Nursing, received the Virginia A. Henderson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing Research at the annual meeting of the Connecticut Nurses' Association on Oct. 23.
The award recognizes Barrere for her research expertise as well as the impact her leadership in nursing research has had on the state, regional and national levels. The award also recognizes Barrere's achievements in creating an atmosphere among colleagues, faculty and students that inspires scholarship and research.
Barrere joined the Quinnipiac faculty in 2004. She holds a doctorate in medical sociology from the University of Connecticut. She holds master's degrees in sociology and nursing from the University of Connecticut and a bachelor's degree in nursing from Western Connecticut State University.
She currently holds leadership positions in the American Holistic Nurses Association Research and Grants Committee, and the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses.
The Connecticut Nurses' Association is the professional organization of registered nurses in Connecticut, a constituent member of the American Nurses Association.


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[Cool Stuff was not allowed to attend a significant event at InterDrone 2016 due to the circumstance of his being born a boring male. However, rather than just cry in his Vailima for being excluded, this author was asked by Cool Stuff to attend the event on his behalf, to take notes and write a feature story.
As an IT professional, and a techie nerd (Yup, always going for the latest iPhones, iPad Pro 12", etc.) this author is a self-admitted Coolio, who reads Cool Stuff.
A Sony Handicam, a Canon Rebel, and a big screen TV have been excellent family gifts the past decade. Yuneec is blowing away those classics with their just debuted "Breeze" user-friendly drone, their CEO calls a "Flying Camera".
The "Breeze" will go everywhere with you indoor and outdoors... so as with your favorite pet, better think of a personalized cute name for this new best friend.
Aspiring lawyer and published author Lynn Pulou-Alaimalo has done it again: A continuation of her Aiga Series has hit the market, entitled "Pintail Foundation".
The publication is the second book of the Aiga Series, which was launched in 2015 with "Lovefolds of Our Upbringing".
When I was a child, my parents hit me with a salu. A salu is the hard part of the coconut leaf — you take away the leaf and tie them together, just like a whip. Most Samoan families had a salu around the house. It was meant to be for cleaning rubbish, but was always used for punishment whenever a belt was not to hand.
Nanuk will be highlighting cases big & small at InterDrone, a major 2nd year convention/educational seminars/gathering of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV aka Drones) professionals and aficionados in Las Vegas this week.
Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga's nomination of Robert Ho Chee, as the first Commissioner of the Office of Financial Institution was introduced Wednesday in both the Senate and House. A confirmation hearing in both chambers is set for next Monday morning.
In his nomination letter to lawmakers, the governor said Ho Chee, until his recent designation as acting OFI commissioner, had been working as an assistant treasurer for Treasury Management in ASG since 2013.
Who would Australia's greatest Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Phil Adams fly? Qantas of course! He insisted... but I told him, "Mate, your Qantas Mates don't fly to Salelologa."
Thanks to campaign ads during this political season, the Samoa News suggested I add an extra lua tala to my paycheck to look for some Cool Stuff in Australia, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Tonga, Fiji and Savaii.
Best Buy is a prime supplier of Cool Stuff's stash of goodies. Why Best Buy? Their quality, their huge inventory, their customer care, and American Samoan, Edgar Gebauer.
The depiction of a Polynesian character in a Disney film has prompted anger across the Pacific islands, with one New Zealand MP saying the portrayal of the god Maui as obese was "not acceptable".
Jenny Salesa, who is of Tongan heritage, shared a picture on her Facebook account which said Disney's rendering of Maui in the film Moana resembled a creature that was "half pig, half hippo".
The 12th Festival of Pacific Arts kicked off last Sunday (Saturday in American Samoa) with thousands of island residents, dignitaries and visiting nations in attendance at the opening ceremony in the Paseo Stadium in the village of Hagatna, Guam.
Heavyweight boxing contender Joseph Parker was the victim of a...
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) -- Two days from judgment by the voters, President...
The Criminal Justice Planning Agency (CJPA) has been awarded, for the...


text:
The annual crime report for Endicott shows what police are seeing on the streets.
It's a look at reports of crime and arrests for 2007.
Police Chief Michael Cox says a lot of the hype about rampant crime was just a perception.
"People see one or two isolated incidents and then rumors and speculation cause it to grow and it becomes that speculation," says Cox.
The numbers do show some slight increases.
Last year police had about 16-hundred criminal complaints, up almost 3 percent.
There were 13-hundred arrests, up about 5 percent from 2006.
The department's focusing on what it calls "quality of life issues," like more arrests for disorderly conduct.
"And bring back the village to a time or a place when the residents and the visitors that come here truly find it enjoyable and it's a place where they want to come to live and work and play," says Cox.
Police hope to tackle drug crimes with a new "street crimes team."
It will target lower-level crimes like selling marijuana.
Amy Burgess owns Frame to Please on Washington Avenue and thinks police are doing a good job.
"I feel very safe here. It's a great little community. I have had no problems here, I'm happy to be here," says Burgess.
Melissa Miller agrees.
She moved to the village from Binghamton.
"I feel safer in Endicott than I do in Binghamton. You can walk around down here now and no one bothers you," says Miller.
"I think the village is fairly safe. Being a lifelong resident of the Village of Endicott, I would say I have more concerns today than I did 15 or 20 years ago," says Peter Olevano of Endicott.
Police hope to ease any concerns as they hit the streets to fight crime this year.
Chief Cox says there's been an effort to get the community more involved.
Last year the department brought back the civilian police academy.
Several neighborhood watch groups also formed to keep an eye on crime.


text:
The death of a 6-year-old Terrytown girl on Sunday has been ruled a homicide, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has booked the girl's father with murder.
Bella Lopez was pronounced dead Sunday shortly after 2:30 p.m., after paramedics found her wet, naked and not breathing at her family's apartment in the 1900 block of South Forest Lawn Drive in Terrytown. Deputies and paramedics were called to the apartment by her father, Miguel Lopez, who called authorities and told them the child was not breathing, said Col. John Fortunato, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. Paramedics found she had bruises on her arms, legs, neck and head.
Detectives began questioning Lopez, 35, who said his daughter had been acting strangely for days. He said he undressed her and took her into the shower. Authorities did not say why Lopez placed his daughter in the shower, but in his 911 call about her breathing problems, he said the issue was "spiritual," Fortunato said.
After questioning Lopez, deputies decided to book him with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and took him to the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. The victim's death was initially ruled unclassified.
On Monday, Fortunato said the Jefferson Parish coroner's office completed an autopsy and determined that the child died from head trauma, and ruled the death a homicide. Lopez was rebooked with second-degree murder, and his bond was set at $500,000.
At the Lopez's apartment complex, a neighbor said the family was quiet, and there were no indications of problems. Miguel Lopez along with his wife and three children, one boy and two girls, lived at the complex for about two years, said Bertha Dugas, who lives in a nearby unit. She said the Lopez family had relatives living near the complex, and the children would often visit with their grandmother while their parents worked. Dugas said she never saw any indication there were problems at the home.
"They were very good people," said Dugas, who added a balloon and candle to a small memorial outside the family's apartment. "You don't know what's going on behind closed doors. ... I don't understand."
Relatives of the victim and suspect declined to speak about the incident.
According to court records, Miguel Lopez previously lived in Irving, Texas, and was wanted for failing to appear in court for several traffic tickets. Officials at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center also said he had an outstanding attachment for cruelty to a juvenile prior to his arrest Sunday.
Allen Powell II can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or 504.826.3793.


text:
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Primary sclerosis cholangitis (PSC) is a common complication of ulcerative colitis that affects about 1 in every 20 people with the condition.
PSC is where the bile ducts, which are small tubes that are used to transport bile (digestive juice) out of the liver and into the digestive system, become progressively inflamed and damaged over time.
PSC does not usually cause any symptoms until the condition has progressed to an advanced stage. Symptoms can include:
There is no direct treatment for PSC but medication can be used to relieve many of the symptoms, such as itchy skin.
People who have ulcerative colitis have an increased risk of developing bowel cancer (cancer of the colon, rectum or bowel), especially if the condition is severe or extensive.
The longer you have ulcerative colitis, the greater the risk is:
You will probably be advised to have a colonoscopy every few years to check that no cancer has developed. The frequency of the colonoscopy examinations will increase the longer you live with the condition.
To reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer, you should eat a healthy, balanced diet including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. It is also important to take regular exercise, maintain a healthy weight and avoid alcohol and smoking.
Taking your aminosalicylates as prescribed should also help to reduce your risk of bowel cancer.
Osteoporosis is a common complication affecting an estimated 15% of people with ulcerative colitis.
Osteoporosis is a condition that affects the bones, causing them to become thin and weak. The condition is not directly caused by ulcerative colitis, but develops as a side effect of prolonged steroid use.
Though the risks associated with steroid use are well known, in some people, long-term use of steroids is the only way to control the symptoms of ulcerative colitis.
There are a number of medications, such as bisphosphonates, that can be used to strengthen the bones.
You may also be advised to take regular supplements of vitamin D and calcium, as both of these substances have bone-strengthening effects.
Toxic megacolon is a rare and serious complication that occurs in approximately 5% of cases of severe ulcerative colitis. In severe cases of inflammation, gases can get trapped in the colon, causing it to swell. This is dangerous as it can send the body into shock (a sudden drop in blood pressure), can rupture (split) the colon and can cause infection in the blood (septicaemia).
The symptoms of a toxic megacolon include:
Toxic megacolon can be treated with intravenous fluids, antibiotics and steroids. At the same time, a tube will need to be inserted into your rectum and colon so the gas can be drawn out and your colon decompressed.
In more severe cases, a colectomy will need to be performed.
Promptly treating any symptoms of ulcerative colitis before they become severe can help prevent a toxic megacolon from developing.
Continue to next section: Preventing ulcerative colitis


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E3 2013: DICE rolls into E3
Subject: General Tech, Shows and Expos | June 14, 2013 - 04:06 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: E3, E3 13, ea, dice
How could I resist?
I was surprised, the EA keynote -- usually an event which dances past, carefully not leaving anything like "an impression" on its way out -- stuck with me more than any other keynote. Sure, throughout the EA Sports segment I was cleaning my "office" and only modestly paying any level of attention, but I feel that DICE swept the show when they appeared. This, and the rest of the week brought good, bad, and awesome news for us PC gamers.
You have probably seen the Battlefield 4 multiplayer demo by this point. We linked to it, we discussed it. It seems like the destructibility found in the Battlefield 3 single player campaign was absent from the multiplayer not because of a technical reason but rather a design decision. Sure, we can see the radio tower collapse, but building destruction was quite simplified even when compared to Bad Company 2.
The Skyscraper collapse seems like it is a legitimate aspect of the game this time around and not just a baloney promotional piece. When the building collapses you can notice the control point disappear from the mini-map in the bottom left corner of the HUD. That gameplay element required quite a bit of design thought, even Bad Company 2 made buildings with Conquest flags indestructible. Maybe the harsh limitations on Battlefield 3 destructibility was more to keep unified game play between the PC and the 24 player-limited consoles?
Sadly, during E3 we have found that mod support will not be available for Battlefield 4. I must compliment GM of DICE, Karl-Magnus Troedsson, for his blunt honesty. It would be much simpler to kick your feet and say wait and see for something you know will never see the light of day; but, he gave us the straight answer. Sure, he said then engine is not ready for a public release but even then he admitted that it was not for our benefit. They do not have a good idea what boundaries they want to allow modders to access. While disappointing, at least it does not have a condescending tone like we experienced with Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 mod support requests.
Quoting from a PC Gamer interview:
Karl-Magnus Troedsson, DICE GM: We get that question a lot. I always answer the same thing, and then the community calls me bad names. We get the feedback, we understand it. We also would like to see more player-created content, but we would never do something like this if we feel we couldn't do this 100 percent. That means we need to have the right tools available, we need to have the right security around this regarding what parts of the engine we let loose, so to say. So for BF4 we don't have any planned mod support, I have to be blunt about saying that. We don't.
Moving on, though. As we know, Disney decided that LucasArts properties would be best left to the hands at EA. The internet simultaneously joy-teared at the thought of a Star Wars Battlefront title developed by DICE. Sure enough, Star Wars: Battlefront 3 is a thing, and it will be developed using the Frostbite 3 engine.
Still no word on an Indiana Jones titled based on Mirror's Edge. Heh heh heh.
Oh by the way, the announcement I am, by far, most excited for is Mirror's Edge. I absolutely loved the first game, despite its terrible dialog, for how genuine and intrinsically valuable it felt. It gave the impression of a passion project, both in gameplay and in narrative theme. Thankfully, the game is being developed and it will come to the PC.
We also found out that Mirror's Edge is planned to be an "open world action adventure title". Normally that would scare me, but, that was what we were expecting of the first Mirror's Edge before their linear bait-and-switch.
Cannot tell if good or bad... but we will see at some point in the future.
Can Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart bring balance to the Force?
Subject: General Tech | May 8, 2013 - 04:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Star Wars, obsidian, gaming, ea
Disney may have passed exclusive rights to EA for the Star Wars franchise but that might not mean the end of the world if Obsidian Entertainment's CEO has anything to say about it. Just as BioWare worked with Obsidian the idea of an EA and Obsidian partnership is not completely off the table. This might not full reassure those who still miss the old days of Black Isle and BioWare games but it seems that there is hope for the future of Star Wars games. Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN has a quick interview with Feargus Urquhart discussing his efforts to partner up with EA.
"We now live in a world where The Sims: Star Wars or Need for Speed: Tosche Station could become things. I'm not saying it's likely (though the former would not shock me in the slightest), but Star Wars is under new management, so who knows? For now, all we can say for sure is that BioWare, DICE, and Visceral are actively adding their own chapters to the space opera, but we won't see results from those initial efforts until at least mid-2014 – and much later, in all likelihood."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Time to Ante Up Again: Poker Night 2 Review @ Techgage
- Bone Hordes: Hellraid Teaser Trailer @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Old, Faithful: OpenXcom Is Near-Complete @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Xciting Stuff: X: Rebirth Pathfinding Dev Diary @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Wolfenstein Videogame Announcement Bingo @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
Medal of Honor: GPU Fighter
Subject: General Tech | November 7, 2012 - 04:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, ea, medal of honor, warfigher, 14th installment, frostbite
Medal of Honor is the game which just refuses to stop, with the arrival of Warfighter which is thie 14th version of this venerable series. It uses the DX11 Frostbite 2 Engine, the same as BF3, which is famous for needing high end graphics cards to get the most out of the effects available to the engine. [H]ard|OCP took three of the fastest AMD GPUs and three of the fastest NVIDIA cards to see how they fare against this new game. You may be pleased to hear all six cards could play at 2560x1600, it was only the MSAA settings which needed to be altered. Neither company was a clear winner, it seems that just about anyone with decent graphics capabilities will be able to play this game and experience the best the engine has to offer.
That is not what PC Perspective will be playing tonight on PC Per Live, we will be continuing our preferred choice of retro gaming with the original Battlefield 1942 game. It is now available for free on Origin, so if you want to play with us tonight you'd better start downloading it now! You should also think about tweaking the .ini files to enable resolutions that were not a choice 10 years ago!
"Medal of Honor: Warfighter uses the Frostbite 2 engine which was made popular by delivering realistic graphics and physics in Battlefield 3. We will be finding out if the image quality has improved or stayed the same compared to Battlefield 3, and what kind of hardware is needed to take full advantage of the game."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- X-COM Co-Creator Julian Gollop Making Chaos Sequel @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- David Braben Kickstarts an Elite Reboot @ Slashdot
- I Want Every Game To Be Made In The Sui Generis Engine @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Alan Wake PC Review @ eTeknix
- Assassin's Creed III Video Review by Kaeyi Dream @ HardwareHeaven
- Abduction Does Gorgeous Stealth In CryEngine 3 @
- Halo 4 Xbox 360 @ Tweaktown
- Halo 4 @ The Inquirer
- Halo 4 Review: Master Chief is Back @ TechSpot
- Street Fighter X Tekken (PS Vita) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
Happy Fun Time with Electronic Arts
Subject: Editorial, General Tech | October 1, 2012 - 01:36 PM | Chris Barbere
Tagged: editorial, ea, battlefield 3
You know, I used to love Electronic Arts. There was a time in my younger days where seeing their name emblazoned on a PC game box as I wandered the aisles of Electronics Boutique was all I needed to see to buy it. I can still remember the scrolling colors through the big "E C A" on my Commodore 64 as I anxiously waited for Bards Tale or Racing Destruction set to load. Ah...the good old days.
Sadly, that warm and fuzzy feeling is long gone, and over the years I've come to dislike just about everything about EA and what they've become. My most recent foray into the mess that is EA has killed any nostalgia I had for them. Let's walk through the fun.
I love the BattleField series of games, and have been an avid fan of them ever since the days of BF 1942. Some of my best memories of LAN parties were BF 1942. Whether it was driving like mad in a Jeep from one end of Wake Island to the other to try to stop a flag capture, or jumping into a T-34 in Kursk, it was about as much fun as I can recall having with a video game. Over the years I've picked up most of the BF incarnations and when Battlefield 3 came out, I picked up a copy on release day for my XBox. I generally like playing games on PC's over consoles, especially First Person Shooters, but I had a few friends that were playing on XBox and we all wanted to jump in and play together. Even though I'm awful using the controller to play, we had a blast, but after a few months we stopped playing.
Fast forward to the other day and the PcPer crew decides they want to play BF3 after the recent podcast. I definitely can't pass up the option to get in on some Battlefield goodness, so even though I've already forked over $60 for the game and another $20 for the first expansion pack to EA on my XBox, I'm stuck with having to buy another copy of the game, just so I can play on a different platform. Off to Amazon and another $35 funnels into EA's coffers. Two hours and a 10 GB download later the install starts and up comes...
Ugh...Origin...really? I can understand why EA wants its own online game distribution system, but c'mon! I already have a ton of games through Steam and everything works without a hitch. Origin is a mess and I've had nothing but problems with it in the past. I dislike using it so much that I won't buy a game if I know I have to install and use Origin to play.
But I digress. I've already thrown another $35 at EA and we're going to play tonight, so I guess I'll just deal with it. Hoping to fire it up and get my keybindings setup and a little bit of practice in I double click on the BF3 icon and a browser window opens. What in the heck? A browser? Where's the game? I close the browser figuring something is wrong, double click on the game icon again and up pops the browser. Jeezalou. I struggle for a few minutes trying to remember my ID and password for EA's site and when I finally do get in I'm looking at my stats page for my soldier. My soldier on the XBox. Clicking through the menus I vainly try to find a button that will let me launch the game when I notice a little drop down arrow under my Soldier name that says "BF3 XBOX". Click on that and there's "BF3 PC". Seriously? I have to start over and lose all my unlocks? My google-fu finds that there's no way to merge the two, because apparently EA doesn't understand the concept of a shared database.
Regardless, I eventually find a button labeled "Quick Match" and here we go...
Holy batsnots, seriously? In this day and age, I can't play a AAA title video game on my PC because my default browser is 64-bit? Good lord! I really don't want to change my default browser just to play this game, so I end up having to fire up a 32 bit version of Internet Explorer, copy and paste the link into that just so I can try to launch the game. Error message doesn't pop up, but now I apparently need a few plugins. At this point I had to replace my keyboard as the head bashing knocked a few keys off. Once I get all the plugins installed I click on the "Quick Match" button again and...
Still waiting...
Continue reading our editorial on the pains of Battlefield 3 on the PC...
EA Releases "Extended Cut" DLC for Mass Effect 3
Subject: General Tech | June 27, 2012 - 01:07 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: origin, mass effect 3, gaming, ea, dlc
Today Electronic Arts made the Extended Cut DLC available for users to download. Reportedly, it would wrap up plot holes, explain the Reapers further, and actually be influenced by all the choices that you made throughout the game.
I'll admit that I eagerly downloaded it and went in with high hopes for a better and more personalized (and meaningful) ending. I won't spoil it for you but the new DLC adds a couple cut scenes to each of the three traditional ending choices and even adds an alternate ending as well.
The download is a bit over 800 MB, and even around 10PM CST I was able to max out my Internet connection to download the full game and the DLC pack. To get the DLC, open up Origin, click on the "My Games" tab, then click on the little "i" icon in the lower left of the Mass Effect 3 icon. It will now open the Mass Effect 3 game details panel. In the upper right-hand corner, click on the "Shop for add-ons" button. Find the Extended Cut pack (free), and download it.
Once downloaded and installed, you will be able to start up the game and load a save just before you enter the Citadel in the final level. The steps needed to find and install the download were not as intuitive as the simple instructions EA provided, so I hope my path to the DLC will help you (I spent quite a few minutes trying to find the area they said to go to... may be related to a different version of the Origin client and me not being very familiar with the interface, but still).
Warning Spoilers after the break. You've been warned!
Future Frostbite Engine Based Games Will Require 64-bit OSes
Subject: General Tech | June 3, 2012 - 02:40 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: gaming, frostbite, ea, bf3, 64-bit
Last month, Johan Andersson posted on twitter a tweet that stated future Frostbite engine based games in 2013 would require a 64-bit operating system. The full tweet is shown in the image below. He suggested that it would be a good idea to upgrade to Windows 8, though it is difficult to judge sarcasm in text (hehe). That bit led to a big explosion of tweets as the Internet revolted against what they thought would be required: an x64 version of Windows 8. Mr. Andersson later clarified that any recent x64 version of Windows would be fine.
You can see the tweet on Twitter here.
The Windows 8 suggestion aside, I was very excited about the news that 64-bit Windows would be required. Currently, games are developed with both x64 and x86 versions in mind, which means that games are shackled by the limitations of the x86 (32 bit) operating system. As an example, Sins of a Solar Empire is a game that generally runs great from beginning to mid-game on large maps, but as players build up fleets of ships and have a lot of data to keep track of, the game starts to run out of memory and starts to chug–even when running the game on a 64-bit operating system. The CPU and GPU are not fully utilized, it is a RAM limitation as reported by a number of users and a situation I have found myself in numerous times as well.
32-bit operating systems (and I'm being general here) have a hard limit of about 4GB of RAM, from which the GPU, other expansion devices, and overhead steal a chunk of address space that the OS cannot use even if there is physically 4GB of RAM DIMMS in the system. With 2GB GPUs being common, that leaves a system running 32-bit OSes with 2GB of addressable system memory. From that, the OS can allocate programs, caching, and other system tasks to that 2GB of total available RAM. Modern games can easily hit 2GB or more of RAM usage, but on 32-bit systems they are severely restricted in how much they can use.
By requiring a 64-bit operating system, developers can focus on producing games that can make full use of RAM on modern systems. RTS and other strategy games are going to benefit the most, but even shooters like Battlefield (4?) will run smoother by being able to store as much data in RAM as possible without those pesky restrictions of 32-bit systems. Unfortunately, the upcoming Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion game will still suffer from RAM issues (though it is said to be managed better than previous releases) as it is being developed around the possibility of running on 32 or 64-bit OSes. Here's hoping that the next SoaSE game will require 64-bit OSes just like Frostbite engine games will.
The best part, aside from performance benefits of course, is that the majority of gamers will not have to do anything when these games come out as they are already running a 64-bit version of Windows. Even OEMs have started loading x64 versions on pre-built systems in the last couple years (since Windows 7 and RAM became so cheap). Most gamers will be able to jump right in and enjoy the benefits immediately because gamers are inherently required to have at least somewhat recent hardware to play the latest games.
In the end, requiring 64-bit operating systems is a good thing, and hopefully more developers will follow in DICE's footsteps. By freeing themselves from the limitations of 32-bit systems, they can focus on using gamers' hardware to the fullest–at least until games start using more than 8TB of RAM (which would require a new version of Windows anyway as Win 7 x64 (Ultimate/Pro) can only address 192GB).
No you can't be a Syndicate on your own, you need partners
Subject: General Tech | February 29, 2012 - 12:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ea, gaming, syndicate, co-op
If Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN makes allusions to a My Little Pony game being more like Syndicate than the new FPS version recently released then you know there is a problem. The single player has changed from a top down view of a living city in which you go about nefariously manipulating circumstances to put your Syndicate at the top of the pile you are now a grunt running and gunning and fighting boss battles. The review was not entirely negative once they tried the co-op mode which allows up to four friends to take on the AI on maps which are won by fulfilling mission objectives as well as slaughtering your opponents. Bonus points for basing these maps on themes recognizable from the original versions of the game.
"They're not entirely wrong, though it depends on the My Little Pony game. If it was squad-based game set in large, civilian-packed environments and documented a turf war between Ponies (presumably fought by throwing berries at each other or offering stern lessons on treating people nicely), it would certainly be a lot more like Syndicate than a first-person shooter with gigantic guns, infuriating boss fights, an underbaked psychic-hacking mechanic and a plot cobbled unegagingly together from over-familiar bits of The Bourne Identity, The Matrix, Robocop and Half-Life 2."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Diablo III: 20 Minutes of Game Play @ [H]ard|OCP
- Syndicate (PC) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Syndicate @ Kitguru
- The Darkness II @ HardwareHeaven
- Darkness II @ Kitguru
- Bridge Constructor PC Review @ eTeknix
- Waving A Flag For Turn-Based Combat: The Banner Saga @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Die Nasty: Bigpoint's A Game Of Thrones MMO @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Cloud Gaming: Microsoft Flight Is Out Today, Free @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- My first few hours with the PlayStation Vita
- FIFA Football (PS Vita) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
- SEGA Virtua Tennis 4 World Tour Edition (PS Vita) Review @ HardwareHeave
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss (U:GA) PlayStation Vita @ Tweaktown
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (PS Vita) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
Mass Effect 3 is Coming, Pre-Order Now and Get Battlefield 3 (PC) Free
Subject: General Tech | February 16, 2012 - 02:08 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: PC, mass effect 3, gaming, game, ea, bf3, battlefield 3
Update: Apparently EA has decided to pull the deal because it was too good of an idea :(.
The final installment in the Mass Effect trilogy is almost upon us, and for those itching to get a taste of Mass Effect 3 can now go and download the Mass Effect 3 demo for the PC via EA's Origin service. The demo delivers about an hour (they claim two hours, but I finished it in about an hour and I was purposefully taking it slow to take in the scenery and such) of Shephard battling against a (spoilers ahead) Reaper invasion.
Personally, from playing the demo I'm not convinced that it is going to live up to the hype, and it seems to be rather "dumbed down" compared to the first one. With that said, it was not terrible and I will likely pick it up if only to finish out the story. The story itself hits hard in the demo and I am excited for that aspect of the Mass Effect sequel, for example. If you have not already done so, check out the demo that's out now.
Anyway, if you do enjoy the demo and are getting pumped for the release this March, EA is currently running a rather good deal on Origin for those willing to Pre-Order Mass Effect 3 from the Origin store. According to EA, users who place a pre-order for Mass Effect 3 through the Origin store for any platform (including digital download, boxed PC copy, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3) before March 5, 2012 will receive a free digital PC edition of Battlefield 3 for free. The codes for BF3 will be emailed to customers when they become available.
As always, there are some caveats:
- The offer is only valid for those in US and Canada.
- You must pre-order through Origin and cannot be combined with any other discounts.
- You are not eligible for the free copy if you already own Battlefield 3 on Origin.
- The Battlefield 3 codes will be emailed no later than March 8, 2012.
That last one is a big one (for me anyway). Considering Battlefield 3 is already released, why can't those that pre-order ME3 get instant access to it? I was all for the deal at first as I have not yet purchased BF3 and if I could get it for free by pre-ordering a game I was likely to buy anyway it sounded like a sweet deal. Unfortunately, not being able to jump into BF3 to hold me over until Mass Effect 3 launched makes it less awesome. After all, once Mass Effect 3 releases, I'm not going to want to play Battlefield 3 anymore! Considering Battlefield 3 will likely still be approximately $60 on Origin in a few months, getting it free is still a good deal, but it's less of a impulse purchase knowing I might not get the Battlefield 3 code until after I have Mass Effect 3 downloaded.
It's there if you want it though, so go download the Mass Effect 3 demo and let us know what you think of it!
Battlefield 3 Sells 5 Million Copies
Subject: General Tech | November 1, 2011 - 04:15 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: PC, gaming, fps, ea, bf3, battlefield 3
As many readers of the site will know, the PC Perspective guys have been a "bit" interested in EA's latest multiplayer first person shooter (FPS) Battlefield 3. Ryan for one has been "testing" Battlefield 3 extensively since the game's release as he admitted on the latest TWICH podcast.
According to EA, the PC Per staff are not the only ones to enjoy the game (despite some game issues; I'm looking at you Origin) as Battlefield 3 has sold a whopping 5 million copies. It seems as though Battlefield 3 has emerged from the battle against stability issues to win the war and be a successful release. Battlefield 3's sales have also impressed Electronic Arts who claimed the 5 million copies have surpassed their "best expectations." Unfortunately, they have yet to release the numbers (that I want to see) concerning the percentage of sales of the PC versus the consoles.
Another bit of positive BF3 news is that almost 99 % of the game stability issues have been fixed. M ore information on the game issues can be found here. Until next time, feel free to hit up the PCPER BF3 platoon and play with some fun people!
Battlefield 3 Will Be Standard Definition Without Hard Drive Install
Subject: General Tech | October 20, 2011 - 11:00 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: xbox, PC, gaming, ea, dice, bf3, battlefield 3
Battlefield 3 is nearing its October 25th release date and information about each platform's release is starting to pour in. One notable piece of information concerns the optional hard drive install for the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield 3. We reported earlier that the FPS would come on two DVDs for the Xbox 360, and a BF3 producer had been quoted in stating that the DVDs could be installed to the system to enable "optional high resolution textures." At the time, I had assumed that the optional install would merely boost the (already) HD (high definition) image; however, according to Shack News the game will be only standard definition without the hard drive installation.
The PC will always have HD resolutions available, assuming your rig can handle it.
Executive producer Partick Bach explains that Battlefield 3 is based around a streaming texture engine where the terrain, textures, and content are all streamed in, and is a new way of doing things on the console (though not the gaming industry as a whole). Unfortunately, it looks like the concern many gamers had in regards to the Xbox 360's DVD drive not being able to stream high quality textures fast enough have been realized. Both the PC and the Playstation 3 on the other hand, are able to stream the necessary HD textures from the hard drive (PC) and Blu-Ray disc (PS3).
Mr. Bach further explains that because there are so many Xbox 360s with either no hard drives or (nearly useless) 4 GB drives, the company had to develop the Xbox version such that even a system with no hard drive could at least play the game, even at the expense of image quality. "You could call it a 'standard-def' version for the 360 if you don't have a hard-drive." What is still unclear is what exactly he means by standard definition. Whether that means the game will be limited to a 480p resolution without the optional hard drive installation or high definition (720p+) resolutions with relatively lower resolution textures is not certain (though likely the later rather than the former, if I had to guess).
What this means for Xbox 360 gamers, in the end, is that the game will be quite a bit more expensive than previously thought if they want the full experience after factoring in the cost of an (outrageously priced) Microsoft hard drive. Are you planning on buying the Xbox version?
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Added Yoon Sul's Video Slideshow to the site today -- be sure to check it out!
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A three-alarm fire ripped through a three-story building that includes a veterinary clinic on Kennedy Boulevard in Union City Tuesday morning, fire officials said.
The blaze, which was called in at 4:56 a.m., was placed under control at 7 a.m., NHRFR Chief Frank Montagne said.
One family, the owners of the Ambassador Veterinary Hospital on the ground floor, was displaced, Union City police said, noting the other apartments in the multi-family building appeared to be unoccupied.
The residents got out safely, as did some animals, Montagne said, although it was unclear if the animals were the family's pets or were being treated at the clinic. Attempts to reach the family were unsuccessful.
Montagne said two firefighters suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze in 19-degree temperature, when water on the ground quickly froze.
The blaze started in the rear of the building, Montagne said, and firefighters were greeted by heavy smoke and flames. The fire quickly went to three alarms because of the odd shape of the multi-roofed, century-old structure, Montagne said.
The building has a two-story brick façade with a glass enclosure above it, and behind that is a three-story, wood-frame residential area.
"There were multiple roof levels, so there was a lot of different areas for fire to travel," Montagne said. "Firefighters had to go through a side entrace to a narrow stairway. It was difficult to access."
The blaze started on second floor in a rear bedroom and quickly spread to the attic, Montagne said, noting the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
There was "severe damage" on the upper two floors, officials said, and the family will not be allowed to immediately return.


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Acta Cryst. (2012). E68, o3178 [ doi:10.1107/S1600536812042675 ]
Abstract: In the title compound, C17H14ClNO2, the p-chlorobenzyloxy residue assumes an E conformation with respect to the benzofuran system. The carbo- and heterocyclic systems make a dihedral angle of 47.99 (4)°. In the crystal, there are no significant intermolecular interactions present.
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The New York Jets win Game 1 of the Brett Favre Era, their arch rival's pretty-boy quarterback is likely done for the season, and Jets fans in the forum are obsessing (yes, I said obsessing) about Gang Green's backup kicking situation.
As Dave Hutchinson reported in The Star-Ledger, the Jets didn't have a kicker to fill in for Mike Nugent when Nugent strained a thigh muscle. Kellen Clemens, Ben Graham and Kerry Rhodes worked at kicking on the sidelines, but didn't work out too well.
"We've worked with different guys, but it's one of those things you never think is really going to happen," said [head coach Eric] Mangini.
That didn't go over too well with Jets fans.
Draft wrote: [Head coaches] do nothing but preparing for every scenario in terms of game planning....you have a punter on the team who kicks the ball for a living....that punter has a TON of standing around time over the summer, during the week, before games.... and how far a stretch is it for him to kick an extra point or chip shot field goal?
JerseyMo wrote: Somebody on the sideline wake up! We can not give away points because we didn't think the kicker was going to get hurt. Heck get somebody to drop kick it.
Jetsfanwv wrote: The bottom line is that there is little to no excuse to not having a contingency plan for a kicker going down. Ben Graham didn't wow anyone with his punting either.
Bob Bullock blogs in Jetstream:
I can't believe they had nobody else that could kick in an emergency. That was quite an oversight by Mangini and company.


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Am not a painter neither i sketch well but i do sketching for fun and share with my family members. I never thought it would be so much fun my family had together. You don't to worry on how good you are on sketch, just draw what comes in your mind and see how your family and Friends response towards it. Am sure you would love it and have an amazing experience on "my-sketch-roo" facebook.
Share your experience with all..


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Michael J. Gallagher, 59, is a health and safety coordinator for the county's public works department.
On his job application in 2004, Gallagher claimed he had earned an associate degree in fire safety at Cuyahoga Community College, according to a report released Monday by the county inspector general. In 2008, he applied for to the coordinator position, which required a bachelor's degree, or equivalent experience, and again said he had a degree.
The inspector general's office began investigating in September, after receiving a tip on its website, the report states. In October, Tri-C told the county that Gallagher had attended the college between 1977 and 1993, but had not received a degree.
In an interview with the inspector general, Gallagher said "claiming to have an associate degree was a 'white lie' because he has enough credits to obtain the associate degree but never petitioned the school to graduate," the report states.
Gallagher, who could not be reached for comment, is scheduled to retire Dec. 28. But the inspector general recommends Gallagher be considered for discipline, including firing.
"I don't think one has to do with the other. The facts as we discovered was that he was less than truthful not once but twice," county Inspector General Nailah Byrd said Monday. "Just because coincidentally this is when he comes up for retirement ... that's like apples and oranges for us. The facts show he should be disciplined."


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Census snapshot: racial demographics map
Posted: 10:42 AM EDT Oct 21, 2011 Updated: 10:49 AM EDT Oct 21, 2011
This map uses data from the 2010 U.S. Census to tell the story of the nation's changing racial diversity. Click on each state to compare how those demographics have shifted in the last 10 years.
The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Please be polite. Inappropriate posts and those containing links to other sites may be removed by the moderator. Desktop and mobile versions of this site use independent comment threads.


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Chase, Baker battle for District 32 State Senate seat
State Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Shoreline, said the recession may have been declared officially over, but added Washington state legislators still have a lot of work ahead of them.
If voters return her to Olympia as a state senator, Chase said her first order of business will be to study the latest financial projections available. Chase said recent figures show what had been sustained drops in revenue leveling off and "just barely starting to go up." She contends the projections that arrive in January, after the current election cycle, will be critical.
"They could really be a game changer," Chase said, whether the numbers are down or even slightly up.
On the other hand, Kenmore Mayor David Baker said Chase is trying to sell the "same old story."
"We need to spend what we have correctly," Baker contends, adding that no matter what the state's revenues are, what needs to be reigned in is state spending.
He listed the state's top priorities as education, public safety and transportation. While spending could be adjusted in all areas, outside those core areas, Baker believes the state has a lot of financial discretion it could and should be using.
"Here in Kenmore, we live within our means and I think it's time that the state learns to do the same," Baker has said in the past.
Baker and Chase are vying for probably the biggest local prize this election season, the District 32 State Senate seat about to be vacated by Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park.
After roughly 15 years in office, Fairley announced prior to the August primary she would be joining several other local incumbents in not running for re-election.
Baker and Chase have battled each other over their approach to economic issues going back to the summer primary. Chase long has been supportive of a proposed state income tax, pointing, as have others, to studies that show Washington's tax system is the most regressive in the country.
In other words, the argument goes, the state relies too heavily on sales and property taxes, the result being the poorest of the population pays the largest percentage of its income in taxes, while the state's wealthiest pay a far smaller percentage. Chase says the income tax would help address the tax regression, while Baker flatly rejects added taxes.
Addressing economic issues during the primary, Baker already was touching on the idea of revamping state priorities. He claimed some bureaucracies simply seem out of whack. More recently, admitting it wasn't an original idea, Baker said the state's Department of Health and Human Services could use some revamping leading to cost savings.
Infrastructure is another area in need of attention, according to Chase, who used the topic as an opportunity to criticize Baker. She said the state has been left to address flooding issues in Kenmore.
"The work could have been done by the municipality, but they chose instead to build a city hall," Chase said.
Baker shot back, saying the city he leads has and will continue to try and deal with flooding problems. As an example, he pointed to a project planned to deal with flooding along Stream OO56, which has hit the Harbor Village housing development hard on a couple of occasions. Baker said the work has been approved by the state and should get under way before the coming winter rains arrive in earnest.
On another infrastructure topic, Chase said she would continue to support rebuilding and improvements on State Route 522 in Kenmore. Chase claimed at one point she "saved their (Kenmore's) bacon," getting dollars for past 522 projects put back into the state budget. She said the project never may have gotten started without her support. Chase did seem to admit money for the last phase of 522 improvements may be hard to come by.
"But it's a priority," Chase said. "We'll do the best we can."
Baker argued the city has purposefully broken down the last segment of improvements — which carry a $23 million price tag — into smaller bites, gaining dollars whenever they become available. He said the city's lobbying helped make the work a priority in Olympia and even brought home federal dollars tentatively allocated by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
In August, in combined King and Snohomish county voting, Chase came out on top with 47.6 percent of the vote. Baker finished with 39.8 percent in what was a three-way race. Baker said should he overtake Chase and win a spot in Olympia, he intends to finish his term as Kenmore mayor, which expires at the end of 2011.
"There are other legislators who have done it and done it successfully, so I don't really see why I can't," Baker said of holding down two elected positions.
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A Bayonne woman and a New York accomplice have been charged with using phony credit cards and being in possession of $4,000 worth of stolen merchandise, The Jersey Journal reports.
The pair 30-year-old Natasha Jean of Bayonne and 33-year-old Rachel Herman of New York City were busted at the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus on Friday, July 20, police said.
Full Story from The Jersey Journal:
Bayonne woman, NYC accomplice held on unlawful credit card charges after Garden State Plaza shopping session


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YouTube video: Travis Pastrana, NASCAR, and parenthood
It's Travis Pastrana! What more do we need to say?
This video series of Travis is called Switching Gears. And below is the Season Premiere!
Red Bull says of this video: Amidst the craziness of Roush Fenway, rally cars, and other high octane hobbies, Travis finds out there's a baby Pastrana on board during season 2 of On Pace w/ Pastrana! Keep up with Travis and Lyn-Z as they enter into their scariest feats yet… NASCAR and parenthood.


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The Detroit News's Ted Kulfan reports that Red Wings forward Darren McCarty took a little inspiration from his colour commentator's debut on WXYT:
February 14, Detroit News: Darren McCarty is recovering from hernia surgery, but he earned a big assist Thursday and Friday by filling in on the radio broadcast. With play-by-play man Ken Kal out because of laryngitis, McCarty moved into an analyst role while Paul Woods did play-by-play.
"It was a lot of fun, exciting, and once we got into the groove, and doing it for the first time, I was happy with the way it turned out," McCarty said. "You think about things that you may want to do after your playing career ends. The broadcasting side, even when I was in junior, communications was something that was something on my radar."
McCarty told the Free Press's George Sipple that he experienced no first-timer's jitters:
February 14, Detroit Free Press: "I wouldn't say I was nervous. Once we got going, we got in a groove, and for doing it the first time, I was happy with the way it turned out. ... It's always nice to watch the game from the press box because you get to see plays develop, whether you're calling games or not."
After the Wings took a 1-0 lead Thursday night, McCarty quickly realized what comes natural to him as a player doesn't work on the air.
"We scored, and I sort of yelled and I said to Paul, 'I gotta get used to this.' " McCarty said. "I'm as Red Wing as it gets ... when you're hurt watching games on TV, you get excited. It's your team scoring, just like any other fan."
Woods gave McCarty passing marks.
"He did a good job," Woods said. "He jumped in there and was a big help. He brought up some good points. I enjoyed talking to him about hockey."
Woods suggested that McCarty, 36, play as long as possible before thinking about broadcasting.
"That's where it is," Woods said. "Stay on the ice. That's where the difference is made."
Something tells me that McCarty, who occasionally filled in as a radio host on WDFN in the past, may have a future in the media business, regardless of whether he cracks Detroit's stacked broadcast booth.