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EY announces finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2012 Award in the Utah Region
Utah, 17 April 2012 – Ernst & Young LLP today announced the finalists for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2012 Award in the Utah Region. The awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Award winners will be announced at a special gala on June 7, 2012 at The Grand America Hotel.
The finalists are:
- Kyle Bateman, Vice Chairman, Action Target, Inc.
- Addison Sovine, Executive Vice President, Action Target, Inc.
- Tim Sullivan, President & CEO, Ancestry.com
- Alan Martin, CEO/Founder, Campus Book Rentals, Inc.
- Sean Collins, Chairman of the Board, Costa Vida
- Dave Rutter, CEO, Costa Vida
- Eric Baughman, CEO, Cytozyme Laboratories, Inc.
- Steve Baughman, President, Cytozyme Laboratories, Inc.
- Bob Wheaton, President, Deer Valley Resort
- Garett Robertson, CEO, Deseret Health Group, LLC
- Ken Bretschneider, Founder, DigiCert, Inc.
- Frank Davis, CEO, Food for Health International
- Jeffrey Smith, CEO, Ingram Medical
- Ted Broman, President, IntegraCore, LLC
- Brent Allen, Executive Vice President, Med One Capital
- Larry Stevens, President & CEO, Med One Capital
- Dan Caffee, CEO, Neutron Interactive
- Shaun Ritchie, President & CFO, Neutron Interactive
- Jeffrey Edison, Principal, Phillips Edison Company
- Jeffrey Johnson, CEO, Progrexion
- Stuart Orgill, Co-Founder, Qualtrics
- Ryan Smith, CEO & Co-Founder, Qualtrics
- Scott Smith, Co-Founder, Qualtrics
- Kirk McGary, Founder & CEO, Real Property Management
- Jeffery Palmer, President/CEO, RIMPORTS (USA) LLC
- Erin Trenbeath-Murray, Head Start Director, Salt Lake CAP Head Start
- Brad Caldwell, President/CEO, SecurityMetrics
- Jason Budge, Owner, Shelf Reliance
- Steve Palmer, Owner, Shelf Reliance
- Jana Francis, Founder & President, Steal Network
- Eric Bjorklund, President & CEO, Utah Youth Village
- Jeremy Christensen, CEO, Valley Services, Inc.
- Bruce Remund, Owner, VMI Nutrition
- Jeff Reynolds, Owner, VMI Nutrition
Now in its 26th year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries throughout the world.
Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the EY National Entrepreneur Of The Year Program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the EY National Entrepreneur Of The Year Overall Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 17, 2012. The awards are the culminating event of the EY Strategic Growth Forum®, the nation's most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the United States by SAP America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
In the Utah Region, local sponsors include Automatic Data Processing, Inc., Corporate Staging Resources, Deseret News, Digital Bytes Production & Design, Diversified Insurance Group, Scherzer International, Strong & Hanni Law Firm, The Summit Group Communications and Utah Business.
Contact Information
To make reservations for the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards Gala on June 7, 2012, contact Teresa Michel of EY at 801-933-8407 or firstname.lastname@example.com by May 31, 2012. Tickets are $150 per person or $1,500 per table. For more information about the program, please visit www.ey.com/us/eoy/Utah_Region.
About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries.
About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 152,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.
EY refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit www.ey.com.
This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, a US client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.


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Heredia, Alonsoa; Davis, Charlesa; Amin, Mohammed N.a; Le, Nhut M.a; Wainberg, Mark A.b; Oliveira, Maureenb; Deeks, Steven G.c; Wang, Lai-Xia; Redfield, Robert R.a
Objective: The M184V mutation in the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase gene is frequent (>50%) in patients, both in resource-rich and resource-limited countries, conferring high-level resistance (>100-fold) to the cytosine analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors lamivudine and emtricitabine. The reverse transcriptase enzyme of M184V HIV-1 mutants has reduced processivity, resulting in reduced viral replication, particularly at low deoxynucleotide (dNTP) levels. We hypothesized that lowering intracellular dNTPs with resveratrol, a dietary supplement, could interfere with replication of M184V HIV-1 mutants.
Design and methods: Evaluation of the activity of resveratrol on infection of primary peripheral blood lymphocytes by wild-type and M184V mutant HIV-1. We assayed both molecular clones and primary isolates of HIV-1, containing M184V alone and in combination with other reverse transcriptase mutations. Viral infection was quantified by p24 ELISA and by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Cell viability was measured by colorimetric 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays.
Results: In virus-infectivity assays, resveratrol did not inhibit replication of wild-type NL4-3 (resveratrol EC50 > 10 μmol/l), but it inhibited NL4-3 184V mutant (resveratrol EC50 = 5.8 μmol/l). These results were confirmed by real-time PCR analysis of early and late products of reverse transcription. Resveratrol inhibited molecular clones and primary isolates carrying M184V, alone or in combination with other reverse transcriptase mutations (resveratrol EC50 values ranging from 2.5 to 7.7 μmol/l).
Conclusions: Resveratrol inhibits HIV-1 strains carrying the M184V mutation in reverse transcriptase. We propose resveratrol as a potential adjuvant in HIV-1 therapy, particularly in resource-limited settings, to help control emtricitabine-resistant M184V HIV-1mutants.
© 2014 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
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Archive for the 'the stage' Category
Three Notable Female Vocal Jazz Discoveries
Since I run my design biz from my home office, I have the freedom to follow my musical whims throughout a workday. But, I tend to craft a pretty predictable soundtrack. Almost without fail, I start the day with the equivalent of aural wallpaper: low-key, instrumental, classical music (ie: KDFC, or an iTunes playlist). It helps me focus, and offers just the right flavor and vibe to support my work, as I find my daily mojo.
Around the time 11:30 – noon rolls around, I normally make a switch over to jazz. I've grown to love 1.FM, Adore Jazz, a primarily vocal jazz station offered on iTunes. By the time 4pm hits, I'm usually on my way to pop, rock, bluegrass, or dance. Unless it's friday, in which case I make that transition much earlier. But I digress…
Adore Jazz has introduced me to a slew of artists I'd likely not otherwise know. For that I am very thankful. I wanted to share and highlight a few of the best discoveries. Perhaps you jazz/vocals aficionados already know these singers well, but they feel to me to be unjustly under the radar, and were certainly outside of my mainstream. I'm not sure why this is so, as I've quickly grown to consider them some of the finest, certainly of the contemporary crop.
Stacey Kent
In trying to describe Stacey Kent to a friend, I likened her to a modern-day Blossom Dearie. She has an impossibly sweet tone. Coming from another artist, it could threaten to be cloying, but her delivery is so honest, it never rings false. She feels very much a product of a different time (ie: 50s-60s)…not only calling to mind Blossom, but also Astrud Gilberto.
Stacey, a Jersey girl, has been nominated for a Grammy, so I suppose she's hardly a best-kept secret, but I've never heard another vocal-phile reference her, or heard her recordings in another venue or on a different station.
jcm's Top 10 Best LIVE Performances of '10
It's that time again! I'm serving up my second annual Top 10 LIVE Performances of the year. It's a follow-up to my '09 list. Sadly, there are no Broadway shows on this list. I plan on remedying that in 2011!
1. Die Walküre, San Francisco Opera (Details)
This production offered one of the finest casts that could possibly be assembled for this opera (and The Ring) in the current operatic landscape. The production said some new things, and offered a few fresh perspectives, but didn't try too hard, or overshadow the score. Maestro Runnicles is a Wagnerian master, and he and the orchestra rose to the occasion again. Yeah, I was a "Supernumerary" in the production, but I was able to watch much of it from the orchestra during rehearsals, and even accounting for my bias, this would still takes my top spot. Enjoy my full review here.
2. Scalpel! The Musical, Brava Theatre (Details)
Can you say fun? It had me at the opening number, with countless heals and drag runway walks. It was the first show I've seen in the Brava, and I immediately loved this venue…the warm lighting, the urban ambience, and the straight, raked seating offering direct views. Even with all the camp and hijinks, the entire cast was completely committed to the material. This was the second mounting of the show, and my fingers are crossed that it returns yet again. Apparently, there was a bit of a curse on the production, with multiple cast injuries (including a very unfortunate broken leg for leading man, Mike Finn), but they pushed through, with some quick and fortuitous replacements and prevailed. Picturing Sara Moore as "poop-raking" TV reporter Kitty Kelly ("Hardballs" host) still makes me laugh.
3. Heidi Melton: Salon at the Rex, The Rex Hotel (Details)
To hear Heidi Melton plead in spoken french AND debut her chest voice was alone faint-worthy, and positively scintillating. And, to hear her in repertoire much outside her core operatic rep and comfort genres was a treat (ie: Irving Berlin and Kurt Weill cabaret, and Korngold songs). Her rendition of Berlin's "Always" left not a dry eye in the audience. (Her Noe Valley Chamber Music Recital a few weeks before was also very beautiful). No thanks to the Adler "Future is Now" concert, which was on the same night, the recital was over all too soon (evidenced by a jcm quotation here and here)! I stuck around and imbibed and dined at the bar…I wanted to savor the spell Heidi had cast.
Animated Holiday Greeting: from jcm to you!
Dear Readers & Friends,
Please click on the image or link below (and kindly turn up your volume) to enjoy my holiday greeting to you:
"Winter Gifts"
Many blessings & best wishes to you and yours!
Soprano Rhoslyn Jones' Official Website Launched!
Enjoy the newest in my "Diva Website Series" (that's tongue-in-cheek…well, perhaps it shouldn't be?):
www.rhoslynjones.com just went LIVE!
Visit this new website to keep up and connect with San Francisco Opera Merola & Adler alumni, "The delicious diva," soprano Rhoslyn Jones. Experience her amazing artistry, musings, repertoire, acclaim, and don't miss out on her upcoming performances!
Your clicks will also help her site more swiftly climb to the top of the search engine results…so, thanks for clicking around!!!
(I designed and built it on the squarespace.com platform.)
Dramatic Soprano Heidi Melton's Official Website Launched!
I'm ecstatic to announce the launching of Heidi Melton's Official NEW Website!
Click on the image or link below to visit her site. Once there, review her upcoming performances (book your flights!), sample her incredible artistry (via multimedia), read her blog musings, and more! She's taking the opera world by storm. GO HEIDI!
I designed and built the site from start to finish (using the SquareSpace platform). It's an honor be her friend, FANatic, AND web designer.
A Koken's "Butterfly": Chapter 2
The Adventures of…
"Look! Up on the stage! It's a samisan, it's a parasol, it's SUPER-KOKEN!
Slower than a drifting glacier, more stealthy than a leopard on the hunt.
Able to spin the turntable in a single hook."
Further Feats: 40 minutes of standing in a demi-plié, 6 child's poses, 30 minutes in a forward yoga lay, 16 turntable rotations, 1 death-defying silk drop catch, and more!
But, don't all superheroes have baggage? Thus, I deliver my diagnosis of the Koken: In need of treatment for OCD and chronic inefficiency. These Kabuki-inspired characters in San Francisco Opera's Madama Butterfly (of which I am 1 of 6) unfailingly offer up perfectly aligned prop placement and table settings, and impossibly measured, controlled movement. SICK!
From a serious perspective, I love exploring and learning different kinds of movement (and dance). Ours requires us to be very in sync, and move nearly as one, in an energized, yet internalized way (like the Tai Chi we trained in). It's been the best workout I've gotten in ages (boy, those pliés are GREAT for the inner thighs!). I'm also savoring the meditative, spiritual practice I'm experiencing through the incredible presence this technique requires.
Given that our all-black costumes are very much like those of a ninja, our presence lends an air of intrigue and gravitas to the unfolding of the proceedings.
Demystifying Illusion & Stagecraft (WARNING: SPOILERS)
I'm amazed at how transforming the art of illusion and stagecraft are, when used so masterfully. Up-close and unlit, the set shows its almost 30 years, and doesn't really "sing"…BUT, when lit, and from the house, it emerges full bloom into a seemingly living and breathing world. The fiber board panels with overlapping green carpet look like REAL stone and earth. The perforated metal panels that up-close look too thick and heavy-handed, appear exactly like paper screens. GENIUS!
The technological trick that enables the crew to rotate the turntable a calculated amount each time is a crafty system that includes UV painted numbers on the TT rim, that when black-lit from the side are visible only to the offstage crew. This ensures exact placements every time. WOW! Yes, the cat's outta the bag, the Koken only pantomime the TT rotation, but it's still a workout to make it look real, with right degree of physical tension.
"Toi Toi Toi" on SFO "Butterfly" Opening Night!
Inspired by a comment from La Cieca on one of my recent facebook statuses…here is the opening of my greeting to all my fellow Koken, cast, and creative staff tonight, on Opening Night of San Francisco Opera's Madama Butterfly:
Creating Kabuki Illusions in San Francisco Opera's Upcoming "Madama Butterfly"
Honored & Humbled
I'm about to embark on one of my most exciting stage opportunities to date. Tomorrow night I dive into rehearsals for the San Francisco Opera production of Madama Butterfly. It's the acclaimed 1982 Harold Prince (Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, etc.) production from Lyric Opera of Chicago, most recently seen in LOC's '08/09 season.
I'll be one of six Koken, a Kabuki-style performer and stage assistant/
attendant. Traditionally, their duties include assisting the leading cast with properties and costumes, helping create special and supernatural effects to propel and enhance key plot points, and acting as puppeteers. Although done discreetly, all of this is done onstage, in plain view.
From Behind Black Cloth
We'll be clothed in all-black costumes, including a robe with cloth belt, partially transparent, veiled hood, cloven boots, and gripper gloves. They are not unlike tailored, ninja costumes to my eyes. In my surfing (aka research), it seems as if our costuming may more accurately define us as a Kurombo (meaning "black fellow," for the costumes), rather than a Koken (meaning "assistant"). They serve the same function, but are typically costumed differently. Read more about Kabuki and Koken history here, here and here.
Apparently, in this production, the Koken are onstage for most, if not all of the performance. There are extended sections in which only the Koken are onstage, including a 30-minute ritualistic pre-show, involving the set up of various props, which will also be repeated at intermission.
The production also features a turntable that rotates over 25 times in both directions. The Koken connect sturdy hooks on thick ropes to slots on the turntable to simulate its turning. Thank goodness this one is ALL illusion! (Although, it sounds like I'm going to still have to have really good knees.) I don't want to reveal any of the other illusions, lest I spoil the surprise element. There is an effective, almost jewel-box-like intimacy to this production, as you can see in the photo above, perhaps necessitated by the turntable.
Tai Chi Preparation
In order to help us master the specificity of movement required, we will be training in Tai Chi. with Cory Chan of Kei Lun. Training in a 700+ year old Chinese martial arts practice for a Japanese-themed opera, you ask? (I asked the same thing.) Well, I'd never done Tai Chi, but the small sampling of it I got in the audition whet my palate, as it seems the perfect balance of meditation and dancer-like movement. It's a great way to really "get in" one's body, and the intricate sequences will help prepare the mind for the staging sequences that will be asked of us.
Our Production
Performances are October 12th through November 27th. Buy tickets here. Our cast will include Svetla Vassileva / Daniela Dessì (Cio-Cio-San/Butterfly), Stefano Secco (Pinkerton), Quinn Kelsey / Brian Mulligan (Sharpless) and recent Adler grad Daveda Karenas (Suzuki). Nicola Luisotti / Julian Kovatchev will conduct, and SFO regular Jose Maria Condemi will direct this remounting.
Here goes…I'm ecstatic! How lovely to be able to add a Puccini opera to my previous experiences in a Verdi, Wagner and Philip Glass opera. This opera has never been one of my favorites (other than the few obvious musical highlights), but I'm sure this experience will spark a new love affair with the score.
I leave you now with arguably the most famous selection from the opera, sung by a legendary Cio-Cio-San:
My Favorite Divas of This Generation
My responses to La Cieca's quizzes and inquiries are often worthy fodder for re-posting here on jcm. Her current call for nominees is for "your favorite opera diva of this generation," from which the surpreme list of ten will be crafted.
The acceptable career range is onstage between 1980 and 2010, BUT I took it upon myself to discluded any divas who had a large part of their primes BEFORE 1980 (begrudgingly discluding the queens of my Diva Totem: Price, Caballé, Ludwig, etc.), because they are really Golden Age holdovers, NOT really divas of THIS generation. For each the notable attributes are highlighted.
Here goes…they are essentially in order of my nomination, but I felt they were just too equal to assign a number to. Which of your favorites, or other truly deserving divas (OF THIS GENERATION!) have I left off?
Ileana Cotrubas
Limpid tone, truly affecting pathos.
Agnes Baltsa
Blazing coloratura, firm tone, balls-out ferocity.


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Sherwin Williams. Criteria for our GreenSure Designation
*Our products that carry the GreenSure designation offer maximum performance, long-term durability and were designed and manufactured taking steps to reduce environmental impact and to meet or exceed the most stringent regulatory requirements. For more information visit
for the minimum requirements our products must meet to be designated as GreenSure.
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company to perfect a 'green' paint, Rodda takes pride in its exceptional Horizon zero VOC interior and low VOC exterior sustainable paint lines. Exhibiting outstanding performance this product is not only easy on you & the environment it is made to last, saving you time, effort and precious raw materials. Mother Nature would be proud of this environmentally friendly paint. Bonus benefits include its near odorless application, extreme washability, excellentsplatter resistance, and high coverage rates making painting with it, and maintaining it yourself, a breeze while minimizing adverse or irritating indoor air quality.
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How do we know that ants count their footsteps? We'll find out in this Naked Scientists Question and Answer show, as well as ask if rubber soles really protect you from electric shocks, if hair will clean itself when you don't, and why a layer of shaving foam stops the mirror from steaming up. Also, the spores that fly on smoke rings, new ways to capture carbon, pain free vaccine patches and the vaginal gel that could block HIV transmission. Plus, Meera investigates vintage computers and in Kitchen Science, Dave discovers how popping candy gets its pop!
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Creation of New Public Highways (Section 38 Agreement)
Where, as part of a development, it is proposed to construct a new estate road for residential, industrial or general purpose traffic the normal legal means by which the road becomes a public highway is via an agreement under Section 38 of the Highways Act 1980.
Once the new estate road construction has been completed and has satisfactorily attained its provisional maintenance period (usually one year from opening for public use) it is adopted by the Local Highway Authority as a public highway. "Adoption" means that the Local Highway Authority takes over all future responsibility for the highway works and that it becomes part of the public highway with all inferred rights.
We negotiate Section 38 Agreements with the Local Highway Authority's engineer on behalf of our Clients, plans showing all elements of construction and specifications are provided. These plans and details will be of the same type as those required for highway improvement works under a Section 278 Agreement. Similarly a bond will be required between the developer and the Local Highway Authority to ensure that the proposed works can be satisfactorily completed in the event of any default or unforeseen occurrence.
Local Authority engineers will inspect the work on site at key construction phases and we are often involved in general setting out and day to day site supervision. Work would be expected to be subject to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM 2015).
Sanderson Associates have vast experience of acting on various different developments and for many Clients with regard to Section 38 agreements.


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Come visit El Calafate! Expedia makes it easy to book El Calafate tours and find the best attractions. We have a broad selection of things to do in El Calafate for you to browse through and learn about all the most popular activities. It's easy to find all the must-see El Calafate sights by looking though our list of all the most popular El Calafate attractions.
Whether you travel to El Calafate in the spring, summer, fall or winter, Expedia makes it simple to find endless El Calafate vacation ideas for any season. You can explore local things to do and popular tourism spots in El Calafate, then book a flight, rental car and hotel all with ease.


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Last Comic Standing Winner Felipe Esparza's Film I'm Not Like That No More and Q&A
* Additional fees apply. No coupon or promo codes necessary to enjoy the displayed discount price.
The last date listed for I'm Not Like That No More was Thursday August 26, 2010 / 8:00pm.
Currently at The Montalbán
Swan Lake Musical: Tchaikovsky's Ballet Finds New Life
- Full Price:
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Swan Lake -- a daring new musical adaptation of Tchaikovsky's iconic ballet -- is coming to the… More
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Featured review from Goldstar Member
view more less of this review
Unfortunately, there were a lot of technical problems at the screening, so we did not get to see the entire film. This had nothing to do with the movie itself, but with the DVD copy and player. I went to support a friend who was in the film, so it was disappointing not to be able to view the entire movie :(
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The actual movie was funny. There were some scenes with editing issues, but the concept was great and Felipe's jokes are hilarious!! I followed him on "The Last Comic Standing" and I really relate and appreciate his comedy...I went to support a...continued
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Felipe did a great job at transforming his jokes onto screen form. Better yet, the cast did a great job of delivering. Bravo!
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I enjoyed the event for the most part but the dvd or whatever kept stopping and starting which kind of killed the laughter, so I left early.
About the film
Felipe Valenzuela is your typical lazy live-at-home 30 year old son. He shares his home in an extended Mexican-American family – father, mother, grandmother, brother, sister-in-law, sister, and little brother. His family members are just as dysfunctional as Felipe except for Claudia who is going to grad school at UCLA.
Felipe's life revolves around his family and two buddies. He wants to do better in life. He wants to lose weight. He wants to face up to his fears. Unfortunately, Felipe cannot get over the obstacles life has put in his path. By accident, he meets Jill Idleberry. She is an old high school classmate. They get reacquainted in the most unlikely circumstance. From that chance reunion, Felipe decides to turn his life around – inside him, he says, "I'm not like that no more."


text: Former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt interviews for spot on Cowboys staffFormer Arkansas and Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt has met with the Cowboys about a job on their staff for next season. According to Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com, the Cowboys interviewed former University of Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt recently. Nutt w… (more)Sources: dallasnews.com profootballtalk.com


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To download this product, you'll need Garmin Express.
This pocket mounted transducer uses very narrow beams and low/high frequencies to send depth and temperature as well as sonar return data to your Garmin Marine Network.
A pocket version of the Airmar R599LH, this 2 to 3 kW barewire bronze transducer has a maximum depth of 10,000 ft; an operating frequency of 28 to 60 kHz and 130 to 210 kHz; and a beamwidth of 9x23 degrees and 4 to 8 degrees. The pocket mount is installation dependent.
Transducer kit comes with installation instructions. Follow the instructions carefully to avoid damaging your boat.
This transducer is not ideal for shallow water fishing.
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Into The Wild
November 30, 2009
We explore the Quarterlife obsession with Into the Wild and the story of Christopher McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp. Music by Scott Merrick and the Last Frontier Band as well as The Buffali. Major spoiler alerts inside. Go read the book or watch the movie first!
Poor Little Rich Kid: Life Among Have Nothing Snobs
November 30, 2009
From 1999 – 2003, I attended New College of Florida (NCF). A liberal arts college with a history of rigorous academics fueled by personal passions, throwing legendary parties that attracted triple the school's entire enrollment, and angering conservative talking heads who have heard of it (not many),NCF is a unique little institution. Like many of its graduates, I dearly love my alma mater, New College of Florida. I've loved it ever since I was in second grade and my grandmother and mother took me to visit the campus – I remember ending our tour on the bay and sitting in the shade of large stained glass domes that were someone's thesis project. My love only grew when I was eight years old and received a letter from the admissions board suggesting that perhaps I should wait until I completed elementary school to apply again. (They also refunded the application fee I submitted and complemented the markers, crayons, and stickers I had used to make my first attempt at applying extra fabulous.) On graduation day, there was no prouder graduate that me to be joining a larger family of novo collegian alumni.
However, though I always felt like I belonged at the place, I noted quickly that there were a large number of people who didn't feel that I belonged. The first lesson I learned at New College wasn't about American Literature or Ancient Cultures or Art History. No, the first lesson I learned at New College was about social dynamics. Mainly, it was my sudden emersion in a group of people I like to call "have nothing snobs" – or HNSs for short. These are not garden variety hippies and vagabonds. These are people who purposefully throw out all their possessions – save for maybe a brand-new Volkswagen Bug or Apple computer – and live as if they had nothing while sleeping nightly with the security blanket of family wealth and support. They replace their material wealth with passive judgment for those around them who live, in their estimation, menial lives. Though I was always on the lower end of the economic spectrum growing up, my compulsory schooling had exposed me to several run-of-the-mill snobs. You know, the type that had compact disc players when everyone else was still listening to cassettes and would roll their eyes and sigh loudly whenever someone wore knock-off brand tennis shoes in their presence – as if the sight of cheap factory stitching was literally straining them physically.
HNSs are different. They may have started out with a set of parents who set the silver spoon in their mouth, but they now disown the spoon, and everything that comes with it, for a life filled with dreadlocks, rope sandals, and a holier-than-thou attitude save for the religious overtones that usually accompany that sort of thing. Their lawyer and doctor parents fret over their sloppy appearance, their grandparents worry that they are becoming bisexuals, and their friends back home really miss them at the annual Christmas mixer. Meanwhile, you find them at a drum circle that's, "totally going to change the whole way you see the world, man."
So, yeah, they're stoned, too.
They eat out of garbage cans, calling themselves freegans, while simultaneous biting the hands that fill those cans with caustic words about consumer waste and the death of true community. Obviously, eating in the school cafeteria – with food cards each student was required to purchase – was a large contributor to the downfall of decency and goodness. They sit and complain about how their parents, "don't get it," and what and idiot their mother was when she tried to make a vegan cake and dared to use refined, white sugar. Bitch!
HNSs don't do a lot of things. They don't shop, watch television, talk on the telephone, or go to the movies – social action doesn't leave them time for such trivial things. They don't recognize the stupidity that is organized religion and they scoff many common social practices as they aren't part of "the machine." Most importantly, though most don't have jobs that pay in things other than hugs and warm fuzzies, those on the docket wouldn't be caught dead working for anyplace that couldn't be described as "quirky" – – or at least any place that would make them stifle their individuality by forcing them to cover up their Che Guevara tattoo. My Hertz Rental Car uniform now produced the same reaction that my off-brand sneakers had just a few years before. These snobs may swear off deodorant, but they obviously didn't lose that yacht club classism.
I harbored some resentment toward the HNSs for a while. I hated them for bursting the bubble of my utopia with their spoiled attitudes and barbs of judgment. However, one Christmas, I had an epiphany. Sitting behind my desk at the rental car agency on Christmas Eve like some dejected Ebenezer Scrooge, there wasn't a customer in sight. I decided to break protocol and call my mom on the company phone. I missed her so much and it was really jerking my chain that all the HNSs were probably at home right now complaining to their moms and dads about how the tofu in the cafeteria wasn't certified fair trade. However, once I got on the phone with my mom, I couldn't stop talking about them. The hippie who picked his toe jam with his feet on the desk in my American Literature class, the girl who slapped me on the back of the head for hurting the soul of a tree by driving a thumbtack into it, the couple who sang Lauren Hill songs in the nude on their balcony to show the ridiculousness of consumer culture . . . I couldn't shut up about them. My mom listened as I rattled on and said, "You're sure meeting some entertaining people." That was the truth – staring me in the face. As chaffed as I was by them, they gave my college life flavor and a particular brand of absurd variety that really couldn't be achieved in any other circumstance.
Additionally, for as annoying as HNSs were, they seemed to provide just the right anti-establishment backdrop for my dearly loved school to exist. They marched into self-righteousness with enough rigor and enthusiasm to allow the rest of us to become sometimes inspired. The luxury they had of spending entire semesters with loads of free time not spent doing laundry or punching a time card, allowed them to do some good works in the community themselves. The often secret promise from the parents to support – financially and emotionally – their junior Marxist should he or she run into some trouble, made the HNSs feel so comfortable taking risks that they were able to lead the marches, sing the chants, and really give it a go at sticking it to the man.
HNSs may have made some of my moments uncomfortable at points. Their misunderstandings of actual poverty often lead to pretty comical irony. I can't imagine college without them.
So you're moving here, right?
November 23, 2009
I didn't realize until I got to California that one of the major tasks in moving across the country is harassing everyone you know to move too. I had a few friends out west and typically every couple of times we talked I would get the "so, when are you coming to visit" or "want me to start looking for apartments for you?" questions. I wasn't in a position to move until I graduated my MBA program. But once in possession of my rockstar business degree, I knew I wasn't going to thrive in tiny central Florida.
So I packed my bags and drove across the country. I had prepared myself for the time change and having to switch to a far better phone plan in order to maintain my friendships (which was really just an excuse to get a phat new phone). But I wasn't prepared to start asking everyone I knew to come visit. Somehow or another I started hearing those sentences pour out of my mouth…"So, you wanna come for Christmas?" "I have a couch you can crash on." and "Why don't you schedule your layover through Oakland?"
I have wonderful friends here who keep me completely busy, but something about having your far away friends and family come visit really makes it home. There is an acknowledgement that this is where your new life is that gives you a final sense of belonging. So the next time your west coast friend calls for a chat and slips in the "wanna come live with me" line, just know that you're a valued part of that person's life. Then book a ticket to come visit.
Could I? Would I? Should We?
November 23, 2009
FWB – Friends with Benefits – You think it will not be awkward in the morning…but whew!
Roses are red
Violets are blue
With no questions about an "us"
You do me and I do you!
Relationships are complicated things. If not, we would have every friend we ever made, kept up our revenge lists, wouldn't screen calls, alcohol would have no more use in society, Facebook would be an internet graveyard and the ultimate could come to pass…
That one could just be friends with the ability to boink like rabbits with no pressures about past, present and future consequences. Or as it is better known Friends with Benefits.
Questions abound regarding the infamous relationship concept. The obvious up side is the rush, thrill of openness, the so called apparent lack of strings attached. And to be perfectly clear, the so called benefit is sex. The benefits are NOT harmless flirting, sexting, dirty phone talk, teasing, casual skinny dipping, etc.
Here are the top three of those questions:
Could've? Would've? Should've?
Let us say you have a friend you really like maybe even horn dogging for? But, you are not into the whole relationship addition to your hectic quarterlife world. That's cool; nothing wrong with that. But, could you approach this person with the idea of taking it all the way without taking the two of you all the way to something more emotional, or causing some irreversible change in the relationship? Would you and your friend be able to handle the lack of commitment, muster the sensitive detachment and be able to give and take without any other feelings but friendship?
Hara Estroff Marano, Editor-at-Large of Psychology Today, states, "The thing about friends with benefits is that, often, only one person gets all the benefits."
With that in mind, final question: should you go through with benefiting…what will the next morning be like? What will your relationship turn into? Will there be more, deeper questions about you, him or her and if what you shared really matters?
FWB right or wrong? Up to you and your partner. Quarterlifers are in a time of their lives where defining their selves; what they want from others is paramount to future growth and happiness. Relationships are an integral part of life. How far and what you need from them is something you have to decide for yourself.
Remember! Could I? Would I? Should We?
Twenty-something Twi-hard
November 17, 2009
I'm about to divulge something terribly embarrassing. Not only have I read all the Twilight books, I've read them twice and enjoyed them thoroughly. It's one thing to love Harry Potter. There is literary validity to JK Rowling's work- she's a good writer who knows how to tell a good story. Stephenie Meyer, on the other hand, weaves a story about an obsessive teenage girl and her creepy stalker immortal vampire boyfriend. It's not good writing, and its not particularly a good story. But I read them, and come Thursday, November 20, 2009 at Midnight, I'll be sitting next to many teenagers and twenty-somethings watching the second installment of the Twilight movies.
I'm not proud, but I've come to terms with being a Twi-hard. It all started because I needed something to read while I waited for Harry Potter 7 to come out. My true addiction- I needed something to quell the years of waiting to find out how the ultimate battle between good and evil would end. So a friend recommended Twilight. It sounded innocent. Vampires, teenagers, werewolves…what could be the harm? Four books later and I curse myself for ever starting.
When I was a teenager, I read everything Anne Rice ever wrote. Between 1984 and The Scarlet Letter I managed to become obsessed with the lives of Louis, Lestat, Claudia, Vittorio, Memnoch (the Devil), Armand…well you get the picture. For a teenage girl who is awkward, a little socially inept, and who may or may not have had her heart crushed by mortal boys, there is something enticing about a boy who is in to only you, and will be for centuries. I like to think that I've matured since then. I know a lot more about who I am and about myself in relationships. So now that I no longer lust for the beautiful sparkly boy who never ages and thirsts for my blood- why would a twenty-something woman like Twilight?
There are plenty of things about the books (and soon the movies) that I don't like. I think that the dynamics between the relationships are based on huge imbalances of power. I don't believe in the instant insanity love that these kinds of books profess and think that promoting that can be harmful. I don't believe in giving money to the Mormons- which is what you end up doing when you purchase Meyer's books. What the books DO do for me is remind me of how far I've come.
Bella, the main character of the series, is fairly average, despite having a vampire for a boyfriend and a werewolf for a best friend (Team Jacob people- you'll never get your way and you know it). But as stupid and creepy as the sparkly boy standing over her bed can be, Bella's thoughts are truly those of a 17 year old girl. Obsessive at times, and ridiculous at others I saw my teenage self in her.
Book 2, New Moon, is the best of the series in representing her pre-quarterlife pain. I've fought with the other Twi-hards about the validity of book two (no mocking allowed if you've ever had a conversation in Klingon, debated Spiderman v. Superman, or analyzed the psychological development of the Alien creature from movie 1 to 4). But, it was in book 2 that I really got hooked. Stephenie Meyer steps out of her fanfic storytelling to get straight to the gut pain of what it is to be a teenage girl. Granted, her pain is over a boy- like most teenage drama- but it is no less real. That pain, the crippling, earth shattering, paralyzing pain of loss hit me at time in my quarterlife when I was feeling many of the same emotions as Bella.
Being in the middle of my job search, I certainly feel some of that pain resurface at times. Part of the terror of a quarterlife crisis is feeling like you're taking a step backwards. Feeling those out of control moments can bring back memories of fighting with your parents, the stress of calculus, or a significant other who broke your heart.
No matter how much pain your twenties brings- it is never the same as actually being in your teens. There are joys that come in your twenties that you can't imagine in high school. There are pains that are so much more complex, but that also come from having greater, wider experiences.
I like Twilight because I can remember what it was like to be that girl while recognizing that I am not her. Going through a quarterlife crisis is certainly a struggle, but could never be as stupid and painful as being a teenage girl with a sparkly stalker boyfriend who can't grow facial hair.
November 9, 2009
We're talking about amigos, buddettes, bro's, etc…and maybe for this article more of those in the relationship toxicity department. Here is an interesting, no one ever needs to know fact; the quarterlifers in their childhood Jurassic Park fetish first coined the term Friend-a-saurus. To them, she was the awkward, unattractive girl in a college coed friend group out for ladies' night in which she precedes to rooster block every male in the club.
Friend-a-saurus is just a label, but does indeed describe a friend most of us have. The rest of the above night's story might have gone like this…she had your best interests at heart, knew that dude was no good, you were on the rebound anyways and since you two have been girlfriends since ya got your periods together back in 7th grade…well she is your sister; always has your back.
What other ¼ life friends are out there? Are they indeed just labels? Or do such peg them exactly. Fortunately we have the Friend-thesaurus.
Phony Promise Breaking Bitch – PPBB. Self explanatory.
Houdini – Always disappearing. Somehow they are still your friend, but you cannot even remember the last time you hung out for something outside of a random lunch of chicken tenders at the campus student center. Note to self: Was she my Freshman Orientation roomie?
Born Again, Again and Again Christian (or insert any religion or fanaticism) – Makes a stance on everything religious. Somehow she was also able to reinvent the Delta house night where nothing ever happened.
LGBT…ABCXYZ – Whatever the vogue initials of gender identification, simply two kinds. One is just a normal guy or gal, like you and I & pretty darn cool. The other uses every opportunity as a platform to propagate their sexual choices.
Shrink – Analyzer. Advisor. Anal-retentive About…YOU. This can be a good thing. And a best friend should have aspects of someone you could spend couch time with.
Theater/Drama Queen – Everyone has one. And if not…it is you!
Soprano/Gangster – Humor them til they get their ass kicked.
Daredevil or Dare-Demoness. Either way they seem to always find a way to always put their physical, fiscal or emotional lives at risk…with you sometimes along for the ride.
Gossip Girl – Do I have to explain this one?
Copycat – Okay. We get it. You want to be like me or the gang. Enuff! If you have one of these, tolerate'm. It's flattering and a times, can inflate your own sagging ego. But, if they touch your patented massage move, time to bring in mediation.
The Caretaker – Can act like your parent or babysitting keeper. And everyone has a need to share personal triumphs and tragedies.
Loner – No cliché campus killer wannabe. They just prefer alone time with you and only you. Not a groupie and not a member of the posse. (See: My best friend might be gay for me)
Envious – Don't jump to conclusions, you might just be this friend. Think about it?
Pass-Agg – Passive Aggressive or Jekyll and Hyde.
Comedian – Always makes ya laugh. This can be good/bad. Sometimes life can get serious and we do not need stand-up, but just a good hug or someone to pound a few with. (And by "pound a few" I mean beer, not what you were thinking ya perv. And you know you were…look up Friends With Benefits.
Weird Named Girl – In diversity days, we all have one. You try to introduce them, roll your "Z" Mess up and from then on everyone at the party thinks she is a refugee from some Balkans religious war and wonders why she does not wear a one of them thar funny looking scarves.
Cell Phone Phil – Never actually see, but just might "get you" better than anyone else on the planet.
BFF – Please!
Facebook Friend – Really? Get out more often.
Feminazi – Penis equals Darth Vader's light saber.
Really Nice Guy/Girl – Patient, tolerant, symphathic and friendly. Available to talk at any time, about anything and not capable of anger. Love them, but almost want to punch'm in the throat. Especially if it is that douche bag who plays the slow ballad songs on his acoustic during the party. Oh, yes! Pour out your soul Keith. Girls love you Keith. You are so cool Keith. Umm…sorry. Nothing but good vibes for ya bro!
Apathy Upperclassmen or the guy still in Marketing five years after graduation – They used to be your social leaders. Now it is just sad.
Horny Duo – Sometimes friends come in twos. This couple are always together, playing house, sleep-overs, giggles, tickles…just makes ya want to blow chunks!
Zealot – Always has an intellectual or moral orgasm for the flavor of the month cause. Probably had the hipster arty Obama poster on his dorm door or cubicle wall.
Pimp Masta' – Thinks life is only for picking up "ho's." Good news. He will get what'c coming to him when he meets the life ruining Mrs. Pimp Masta.
Confused Ex-Goth – Doesn't know what to do. They get off on being "out" of the popular scene, but discovered at college they are below average weird scale. Cannot give up black, but cannot give into the idea of Greek rushing. Out of college she works at a book or music store. Good luck with her ecstasy addiction.
And that is just a sampling…be on the look out for Friend-thesaurus II.
Day of the (Please Let It Be) Dead
November 4, 2009
I'm calling for an end to it. My first Halloween weekend in Oakland and I see the downfall of our generation walking the streets. Scores of sexy nurses, sexy super heroes, sexy pirates, and sexed up little red riding hoods on every corner. I want to call an end to this trend. Can we please kill the sexy store bought costumes?
I remember every halloween costume I've ever had. My very first one was a store-bought plastic clown suit and mask and my second one was a generic super hero girl in the same plastic mask vein. Every one after that, my mom made. I remember going to Jo-Ann Fabrics and looking through the pattern books to find something I wanted to be. I got to be She-Ra, Daisy Duck, a dancing bear in a tutu, Cleopatra, and a cowgirl. I feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up in a house where that was part of my experience. But as adults, we need to take a stand against store bought slutty costumes.
It's not so much the objectification aspect or the downgrading of women in the workforce by turning every occupation into "Sexy _____." It's just a shameful lack of creativity. Store bought costumes don't take any effort. This year I was a piece of tuna sashimi. It wasn't a terribly recognizable costume, but while standing in line to get my roller disco skates I would hear a whisper of "Oh! She's sushi!" and smile. But I was proud that I made it and that it didn't have "Sexy" in the title (granted, I could have been sexy sashimi).
I worry that we've become lazy. As a kid, I got to be things I really wanted to be. The competitive nature of halloween, to have the best costume, drove me to find something awesome that I could be. Slutty consumer is not an aspiration. But it could be a really creative homemade costume with the right fishnet stockings.
Job Searching Sucks….But It Doesn't Have To!
November 2, 2009
The joy of unemployment is that you have an incredibly wide open schedule in which to accomplish goals. The terror of unemployment is that you have an incredibly wide open schedule in which to push your goals to the side, lay around in your pajamas, eat macaroni and cheese, and watch tv. Battling this issue isn't a matter of willpower- its a matter of strategy.
When you were in school or working, you had a regular schedule, or at least a group of tasks that needed completed by certain points. Job searching is no different, just more abstract. So first things first. Take some time out and write a schedule- an incredibly detailed schedule. The hardest thing to do when you're unemployed is to get out of bed and think to yourself "now what?". Having a schedule gives you something to fall back on. If done well, you never have to worry about what's next on your plate.
Here is a typical day (Friday, to be exact) from my 'funemployment' schedule:
7- wake up, check internet
7:30- eat breakfast
8- work out, shower
9- review job files
10- follow up with jobs
11- read job related book
12- lunch
1- search for new jobs, apply or add to file
4- recap week, plan next week
6- Friday!
I don't adhere to it strictly (I did sleep in til 8:30 today) but it gives me a guideline on what to accomplish. Many of my days have empty blocks. That enables me to move things around or schedule interviews as they arise. Reevaluating your schedule occasionally is important. If you find you can't do three hours of job searching, break it up with working out. Maybe waking up early doesn't do it for you and you decide to work later. That's fine! Keep checking in with yourself to see what you need in order to find a job and stay sane.
It's also important to schedule life things and fun things. Now is the perfect time to get some of those things done that you couldn't while you were working. Get your teeth cleaned, get an oil change, go to the thrift store that is only open on Thursdays from 1-3. Take advantage of your flexible schedule while you can. I also make sure to schedule time to watch my favorite show, update the website, or volunteer. By having those fun things in place, the work looks less daunting and the fun things become rewarding.
I didn't schedule it, but in that 8-9 block of working out and showering is getting dressed. Just like the schedule, getting dressed is important. If you find yourself with a scheduled day where you're just going to be working on the internet and getting your resume in order, you still need to put on real clothes. Laying around in your sweats is wonderful- but reserve it for a weekend. It keeps your mind alert to the fact that you're actually accomplishing things. It also makes the transition back to working easier if you've maintained the morning rituals. I don't wear a suit to work on the internet. Most days are jeans and a sweater, but I am far more prepared when I don't just roll over in bed, grab the laptop, and start the day (I must confess, I often work in my sock monkey slippers).
For those days when you're stuck at home, plan an outing. Once you've accomplished what you needed to do, get out. Go to the grocery store, the library, walk your dogs, walk yourself, get some ice cream, see a movie- just get out. Nothing starts the downward spiral of depression more than going to bed realizing that you never saw the sun and you haven't breathed fresh air since last week. Looking for a job is a job, and you have to treat it as such. Everyone takes breaks from work, otherwise we'd all go mad. Make sure you're taking those breaks and visiting civilization.
And speaking of civilization, go volunteer. This is so good for you while you're unemployed for a myriad of reasons. First, volunteering gives you a sense of accomplishment. If you didn't get a call all week and got nothing but rejections, knowing that your favorite non-profit was happy to see you and couldn't have gotten that mailing out or cleaned their storage space or built that house without you lessens the blow. You can also volunteer for a company in your area of interest. See if that design firm wants an extra hand on Wednesdays or if that boutique could use some free web design. You never know when a volunteering gig could turn into a full-time gig, especially if you're showcasing your skills. Volunteering also helps you meet people. You could gain new friends or even new employers through your temporary volunteering experience. Finally, if you're truly unemployed, volunteering gives you a current reference and fills in that gap in your resume. While it won't necessarily disguise that you're unemployed, it will let future employers know that you weren't just sitting on your butt eating Cheetos all day. Unless, of course, you swung a volunteer gig with Cheetos.
See that hour of "read a job related book"? That one is a saving grace because it keeps you fresh on your skills. If it takes you six or ten months to find a job, some of the things you were good at are going to take some time to get back. If you stay current with your industry you can hit the ground running when an employer finally says 'yes'. It also breaks up reading straight from a computer for eight hours a day and gives you a break that is still productive. I make sure to get in a comfortable chair with some tea and make it an experience.
But don't stay in that comfy chair too long. Choice of workspace can make a huge difference. If you're able to work laying in your bed under the covers, then congrats. However, much like showering and changing clothes, sitting at a real table or desk to participate in your job search changes your mental approach. Some days you have to get out of the house and work somewhere else or go stir crazy. Try the library before the coffee shop. Scones and lattes are awesome, but are far better as a reward motivator if they aren't sitting next to you while you work.
If you fall off the funemployment bandwagon and spend a day in bed reading trash novels or obsessively watching Lost (all of which are instant watch on Netflix *cough*), don't let it wear on you. One day lost to the unemployment gods isn't the end of the world. That being said, if you start to schedule a three hour block of "America's Next Top Model" marathons instead of resume or skill building, you may need to reevaluate your schedule.


text:
Mary Wagner
ANN ARBOR, MI and RESTON, VA, (May 12, 2003)comScore Networks, Inc. and ForeSee Results today announced a partnership to deliver a competitive intelligence capability for measuring customer satisfaction across competitive websites. This new strategic management tool combines the widely recognized customer satisfaction methodology employed by ForeSee Results with the industry-leading survey and continuous-measurement technology developed by comScore.
Using the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) used at the University of Michigan, ForeSee Results has developed a model that scientifically quantifies the elements that drive online customer satisfaction with links to future buyer behavior and the financial performance of a brand.
Through its proprietary and patent-pending technology, comScore continuously and confidentially captures the complete details of Internet surfing and actual buying activity across its Global Network of more than 1.5 million representative Internet users. The comScore database combines industry-endorsed random digit dial (RDD) sampling methodologies with massive population samples across key home, work, university and non-U.S. locations.
comScore's continuous view of Web-wide activity enables it to precisely target consumer surveys and seamlessly integrate the resulting attitudinal data with its rich database of passively observed behavior. comScore and Foresee Results' combined offering enables clients to extend the reach of the ForeSee Results methodology beyond the view of each client's own website and to create benchmarks among competitive websites on a site-specific basis. For the first time, clients can directly survey visitors of virtually any website, including competitive sites, using the ForeSee Results model deployed via comScore technology.
This approach also allows targeting based on specific online behavior, such as browsing patterns, purchasing activity, and other criteria such as demographic characteristics. For example, an online travel site could measure satisfaction among high-income travelers who priced an itinerary on the client's site, but left the site and booked a trip with a competitor.
"Many marketers enjoy the strength of comScore Survey Solutions in helping understand the attitudes of previously elusive consumer segments across the entire Web," said Michael Phillips, vice president of comScore Survey Solutions. "The ForeSee Results methodology reinforces this capability by quantifying the impact of competitive customer satisfaction using the accurate, credible ASCI methodology that has long been published by the Wall Street Journal and other trusted sources.
ForeSee Results' methodology measures the drivers of online customer satisfaction, overall satisfaction, and what users are likely to do as a result of their Web experience. In addition, ForeSee Results determines the impact that incremental changes to a website will have on overall satisfaction and future behavior of users. This information allows companies to not only gauge current performance, but also identify strategies that will deliver the largest returns based on improvements in customer satisfaction.
"ForeSee Results and the ACSI have for years reported key strengths and weaknesses of our clients' own businesses as measured by customer satisfaction," noted Larry Freed, President and CEO of ForeSee Results. "We're delighted to work with comScore to add a competitive dimension to our analysis. The end result reveals important opportunities and threats that our clients can address to improve customer satisfaction and maximize customer loyalty and market share."
About comScore Networks
comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior. This capability is based on a representative cross-section of more than 1.5 million global Internet users who have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their Web-wide browsing, buying and other transaction behavior, including offline purchasing. Through its patent-pending technology, comScore measures what matters across the entire spectrum of surfing and buying behavior. This deep knowledge of customers and competitors helps clients design more powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as Microsoft, Kraft, The New York Times Company, Best Buy, Verizon, Nestlé, Wells Fargo & Company, GlaxoSmithKline, and Orbitz. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
About ForeSee Results
ForeSee Results is the market leader in online customer satisfaction management and specializes in converting satisfaction data into user-driven web development strategies for retailers. Using the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) developed at the University of Michigan, ForeSee Results has developed a model that blends innovative technology, statistics, and economics to scientifically quantify the elements that drive online customer satisfaction and their link to future behaviors like likelihood to purchase, return to the site, or recommend the site to a friend. ForeSee Results was co-founded by Compuware Corporation, a multi-billion dollar software and IT services company, and CFI Group, an internationally-recognized market research consulting firm founded by Dr. Claes Fornell. www.ForeSeeResults.com
Sarah Allen 202.535.7800 email@example.com


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Fishing the week of the 6th
Just begining to toss a fly around and need some tips on places in the Smokies to go and flies that should be used this time of year. Also hear alot of talk about Abrams Creek, sounds like good times?
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Energy geopolitics - Apr 16
Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
The End of the World as You Know It
…and the Rise of the New Energy World Order
Michael T. Klare, TomDispatch
Oil at $110 a barrel. Gasoline at $3.35 (or more) per gallon. Diesel fuel at $4 per gallon. Independent truckers forced off the road. Home heating oil rising to unconscionable price levels. Jet fuel so expensive that three low-cost airlines stopped flying in the past few weeks. This is just a taste of the latest energy news, signaling a profound change in how all of us, in this country and around the world, are going to live -- trends that, so far as anyone can predict, will only become more pronounced as energy supplies dwindle and the global struggle over their allocation intensifies.
Energy of all sorts was once hugely abundant, making possible the worldwide economic expansion of the past six decades. This expansion benefited the United States above all -- along with its "First World" allies in Europe and the Pacific. Recently, however, a select group of former "Third World" countries -- China and India in particular -- have sought to participate in this energy bonanza by industrializing their economies and selling a wide range of goods to international markets. This, in turn, has led to an unprecedented spurt in global energy consumption
... What this adds up to is simple and sobering: the end of the world as you've known it. In the new, energy-centric world we have all now entered, the price of oil will dominate our lives and power will reside in the hands of those who control its global distribution.
In this new world order, energy will govern our lives in new ways and on a daily basis. It will determine when, and for what purposes, we use our cars; how high (or low) we turn our thermostats; when, where, or even if, we travel; increasingly, what foods we eat (given that the price of producing and distributing many meats and vegetables is profoundly affected by the cost of oil or the allure of growing corn for ethanol); for some of us, where to live; for others, what businesses we engage in; for all of us, when and under what circumstances we go to war or avoid foreign entanglements that could end in war.
This leads to a final observation: The most pressing decision facing the next president and Congress may be how best to accelerate the transition from a fossil-fuel-based energy system to a system based on climate-friendly energy alternatives.
(15 April 2008)
Introduction by editor Tom Engelhardt.
A summary of current books on America's role: After America: Is the West being overtaken by the rest? (New Yorker). Energy supplies are not mentioned. -BA
Iraq opens door to foreign contracts at major oil fields
Damien McElroy, Telegraph (UK)
Foreign oil companies are poised to enter Iraq later this month after Baghdad signalled it was prepared to sign five oil field services agreements covering its biggest fields.
Five years since the US and Britain toppled Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, there have been few forays by oil's major players into Iraq, even though the country accounts for almost 10pc of world reserves.
A violent insurgency forced most oil companies to keep executives responsible for Iraq outside the country. Most are based in the Gulf.
Despite lack of foreign involvement in oil production, Iraq has returned to pre-war export levels of 2.5m barrels a day.
The two-year service contracts that have been negotiated would see British, American and Australian oil companies supply equipment and expertise that would boost output by hundreds of thousands of barrels at each field.
(15 April 2008)
Paraguay hopeful eyes energy export prices
Jude Webber, Financial Times
Sitting in the sparse office where he is planning his bid for the presidency of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo picks up his campaign bible, a book called Itaipú: waters worth gold .
"Venezuela sells its oil at market prices, not cost price. Chile sells its copper at market price. We want a fair price for our electricity," says the former bishop, whose power-to-the-people message of charging more for his country's vast energy exports has dominated a race he hopes will end 61 years of one-party rule.
But Mr Lugo, who also preaches radical land reform in the world's fourth-biggest soyabean exporter, refuses comparisons with the region's most radical populists, Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Bolivia's Evo Morales, whose unpredictable styles and investment-unfriendly policies have polarised their countries and sparked civil unrest.
"The government of Fernando Lugo isn't going to be a one-man band but a collective," he told the Financial Times, alluding to the 10 parties, ranging from liberals to socialists, and myriad organisations that make up his Patriotic Alliance for Change. "I don't consider myself a leftist," he added.
But though he is the frontrunner, victory in the election on Sunday is by no means assured.
(15 April 2008)
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Obama forgives and condones Islamic terrorism 4
Q: When is a terrorist organization not a terrorist organization?
A: When Barry Obama says so.
This is from Front Page, by Daniel Greenfield:
You know the country responsible for killing hundreds of marines, which provided sanctuary to Al Qaeda and whose terrorist proxies helped give Al Qaeda the skills to carry out 9/11? They're no longer terrorists. Sure their terrorist groups currently control parts of Lebanon and Yemen, but they're not terrorists.
Because if Iran was a state sponsor of terrorism, then Obama letting them have the bomb might look bad. This way it's fine.
An annual report delivered recently to the US Senate by James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, removed Iran and Hezbollah from its list of terrorism threats, after years in which they featured in similar reports
In describing Iran's regional role, the report noted the Islamic Republic's "intentions to dampen sectarianism, build responsive partners, and de-escalate tensions with Saudi Arabia", but cautioned that "Iranian leaders — particularly within the security services — are pursuing policies with negative secondary consequences for regional stability and potentially for Iran".
The only time the report mentions Hezbollah is when describing it as a victim of attacks.
Lebanon faces growing threats from terrorist groups, including the al-Nusrah Front and ISIL. Sunni extremists are trying to establish networks in Lebanon and have increased attacks against Lebanese army and Hizballah positions along the Lebanese-Syrian border. Lebanon potentially faces a protracted conflict in northern and eastern parts of the country from extremist groups seeking to seize Lebanese territory, supplies, and hostages.
That clarifies that Obama no longer considers Hezbollah an enemy (not that he ever did). Instead it's an ally that is classed together with Lebanon, rather than a threat to it.
Here's what Obama chose to turn his back on.
"The worst part for me is that nobody remembers," Mark Nevells said last year on the anniversary of the Hezbollah bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.
A Marine had thrown his body in front of the truck to try and stop the vehicle. And afterwards, for five days, Nevells and other Marines had dug through the rubble for the bodies of the men they had served with.
One of the first Marines on the scene heard voices coming from underneath the rubble. "Get us out. Don't leave us."
The Marines lost more people that day than at any time since Iwo Jima and the number of Americans murdered that day by a terrorist group was a record that would stand until September 11.
And more of it still.
The Marines who died in the bombing were lucky. Another Marine did not die as quickly.
Colonel William R. Higgins was captured by Hezbollah, the terrorist group acting as Iran's hand in Lebanon, and tortured for months until his body was dumped near a mosque.
An autopsy report found that he had been starved and had suffered multiple lethal injuries that could have caused his death. The skin on his face had been partially removed along with his tongue and he had also been castrated.
Fred Hof, a diplomat who had been a friend of the murdered man, said, "I am one of a small handful of Americans who knows the exact manner of Rich's death. If I were to describe it to you now – which I will not – I can guarantee that a significant number of people in this room would become physically ill."
Like Higgins, William Francis Buckley, the CIA station chief, was also captured and tortured for months. On video tapes released by his Hezbollah captors, he was incoherent and his mind had been broken by the horrors inflicted on his ravaged body and his soul.
"They had done more than ruin his body," CIA Director William Casey said. "His eyes made it clear his mind had been played with. It was horrific, medieval and barbarous."
Robert Stethem, a Navy diver, was brutally murdered when Hezbollah terrorists took over TWA flight 847. The Iranian-backed terrorists, one of whom was Imad Mughniyah, beat and kicked him to death.
"They were jumping in the air and landing full force on his body. He must have had all his ribs broken," Uli Derickson, the stewardess, described. "I was sitting only 15 feet away. I couldn't listen to it. I put my fingers in my ears. I will never forget. I could still hear. They put the mike up to his face so his screams could be heard by the outside world."
Obama wants you to believe that the 47 Senators who stood up to him on Iran are traitors. The truth is he's the traitor.
And he is a terrorist. To condone acts of terrorism is to co-author them.
Spreading darkness 1
Barack Obama is intensely, emotionally, fervently pro-Islam. Under his leadership, the whole executive branch of the government works to advance and empower Islam in North Africa and the Middle East, and/or in the US.
In North Africa and the Middle East:
William Taylor, the State Department's Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions, is overseeing US aid to Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, and advising political parties on how to prepare for elections.
According to a report by Ryan Mauro –
When asked how the U.S. would feel if the Muslim Brotherhood won Egypt's elections, [Taylor] said, "I think we will be satisfied, if it is a free and fair election. What we need to do is judge people and parties and movements on what they do, not what they're called." The answer seemed to infer that critics of the Brotherhood are needlessly alarmed by the name of the group.
It gets worse. Taylor compared the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to Tunisia's Ennahda Party, as if that is a positive example to follow. "As long as parties, entities do not espouse or conduct violence, we'll work with them." He said there is undue fear of the Islamists. "This is something that we are used to, and should not be afraid of. We should deal with them."
It is hard to imagine a statement more frightening and naïve coming from a senior official.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian affiliate is Hamas, which the Brotherhood still stands by and has never condemned. … The leader of the Ennahda Party, Rachid Ghannouchi, likewise supports Hamas, terrorism and the killing of Israeli children. This certainly qualifies as espousing violence, to use the words of Taylor.
A look at Taylor's background shows he is a long associate of individuals tied to the Muslim Brotherhood and apologists of the Islamist group. Before taking his State Department post, he was the vice president of the U.S. Institute for Peace (UIP). It has a close working relationship with John Esposito, arguably the most prominent non-Muslim apologist for the Muslim Brotherhood, foreign and domestic.
Esposito defends the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and Sami al-Arian. He served as an expert witness for the defense in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation, which was found guilty of being a front for Hamas set up by the Brotherhood.
A trial in which Cair and ISNA were found to be "unindicted co-conspirators" with the Holy Land Foundation. Why, we wonder, do they remained forever "unindicted"?
[Esposito is also] the vice chair of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), the board of which has strong associations with the International Institute for Islamic Thought, another Brotherhood front. On April 28, 2010, Taylor's UIP sponsored a CSID conference that the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report calls "perhaps the largest public gathering of global Muslim Brotherhood leaders and U.S. government officials to date." Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the original founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, was there, as was Brotherhood members from Bahrain and Jordan. In May 2011, CSID held an event with a senior leader of Ennahda.
Taylor joins several other Obama administration officials who take a benign view of the Muslim Brotherhood or are linked to its American fronts.
The best example is the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, who … during testimony to Congress in February, [said] that the "term 'Muslim Brotherhood' is an umbrella term for a variety of movements, in the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has described Al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam."
There's Rashad Hussain, the [US] envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, who attended the aforementioned CSID event featuring Brotherhood leaders.
For the low-down on Rashad Hussain, see our post The trusted envoy, February 20, 2010. The Organization of the Islamic Conference, recently renamed the Organization of Islamic Co-operation is the body chiefly responsible for launching the "soft jihad" invasion of Western Europe. For more about it see our post Europe betrayed, February 11, 2010.
Then there's Dalia Mogahed, one of the members of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership. She is a close associate of John Esposito and is said to have been the "most influential person" advising President Obama on his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo. …
The State Department has teamed up with CAIR to host an event with the Syrian opposition. In January 2010, members of ISNA, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and Muslim American Society, all tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, were given briefings by the Department of Homeland Security including Secretary Janet Napolitano. A member of the Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council, Mohamed Elibiary, has Brotherhood associations and is a defender of the Holy Land Foundation. …
For more on Mohamed Elibiary, who leaked secret intelligence to which the DHS had given him privileged access [!], see our post National Insecurity, November 16, 2011.
Obama's chief terrorism advisor, John Brennan, speaks alongside the president of ISNA. Another senior advisor to the President, Valerie Jarrett, was the keynote speaker at ISNA's 2009 convention. It has been reported that the Justice Department even blocked the prosecutions of at least two Brotherhood figures tied to Hamas. …
In the US:
This report comes from Creeping Sharia:
If you are a student of Islam, then you might have gathered that Islam has a doctrine of eternal hatred of Kafirs and their civilization. A student of Islam might also gather that after a 1400 year history of hostilities, murder, rape and enslavement that Islam was at war with us. But the White House, the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, FBI and CIA have informed us that this is not the case.
It started when Steve Emerson [expert on terrorism] and Steve Coughlin [expert on Islamic law] were going to give talks about political Islam to the FBI and Homeland Security . Then the White House informed them that not only were they not going to talk about the Islamic doctrine and history of jihad, but that henceforth, no Kafir could talk to any Federal agencies, unless they were vetted by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Now, Eric Holder, the Attorney General, has ordered a purge of all Department of Justice manuals and training of all material that will "offend" Muslims. …
U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton explained that FBI training materials that even remotely link Islam to violence will be banned.
"I want to be perfectly clear about this: Training materials that portray Islam as a religion of violence or with a tendency towards violence are wrong, they are offensive and they are contrary to everything this president, this attorney general and Department of Justice stands for," he told Muslim activists gathered at the George Washington University law school. "They will not be tolerated."
The president and the Department of Justice do not stand for critical thought, an examination of all sides of a problem. The White House wants to see that Muslims are never offended. Notice that the White House does not say that the Kafir analysts are wrong in their facts and data. Instead, they say that facts have no place at the table. Our government no longer stands for logical thought, but only wants to insure that Muslims are not offended by Kafirs. The way for Muslims to not be offended is for the Kafirs to keep silent. This is pure Islamic doctrine, Sharia law. …
Kafirs must not have knowledge of Islamic doctrine. Kafirs must not make their civilization attractive to Muslims. Kafirs must submit to Islam … This is why we are changing how our textbooks explain America because Muslims will read them. Islam must be praised and the West denigrated.
You might wonder why they would not want Kafirs to read the Koran. After all wouldn't they want the Kafir to read the wonderful Koran and become a Muslim? No, Islam wants for you to listen to a Muslim explain the Koran. A Koran reading Kafir might apply critical thought to the text and that would be a disaster. Only Muslims are allowed to know Mohammed and Allah under Sharia law. …
Now they deny truth. Next they will criminalize truth that offends Islam.
The mass media are helping the administration to lie about the nature of Islam.
How pro-Islam for instance, is ABC?
Here's David Wood to tell us:
Too dreadful to contemplate 0
Now he's wooing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood is one of the chief Islamic organizations driving the jihad against America and the rest of the non-Muslim world. It is not "moderate" or "secular" as Obama and his henchmen say it is. It's agenda is to destroy the United States, establish a world-ruling caliphate, impose sharia law, force Christians to pay for being allowed to live, wipe out the Jews, and keep women subservient to men.
Islam is the active enemy of the United States. And the president of the United States is on its side.
His heart is with Islam.
But, you might protest, he allowed the execution of Osama bin Laden. Yes, he did – reluctantly, we believe – because he had to seem to be against the most obvious and violent enemy who had plotted the 9/11 massacre of Americans. The order he gave to the Navy SEALs to kill bin Laden provides Obama with cover for his continuing support of the enemy and undermining of the country he was disastrously elected to lead.
An analogy would be if the British had elected Oswald Mosley, the Nazi-sympathizer and friend of Hitler and Goebbels, to lead them through World War Two.
Here is a timeline, from Investor's Business Daily, which traces the steps Obama has taken towards pleasing and finally embracing the Muslim Brotherhood:
2009: The White House invites [the Islamic Society of North America] ISNA's president to President Obama's inauguration ceremonies, even though the Justice Department just two years earlier had blacklisted the Brotherhood affiliate as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land trial — the largest terror-finance case in U.S. history.
2009: Obama delivers his Cairo speech to Muslims, infuriating the Mubarak regime by inviting Brotherhood leaders to attend.
2009: The White House dispatches top presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett to give the keynote speech at ISNA's annual convention.
2009: Obama appoints a Brotherhood-tied Islamist — Rashad Hussain — as U.S. envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which strongly supports the Brotherhood. [Its name was changed in June this year to The Organization of Islamic Co-operation – JB]
2010: Hussain meets with the Brotherhood's grand mufti in Egypt.
2010: Obama meets one on one with Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who later remarks on Nile TV: "The American president told me in confidence that he is a Muslim."
2011: Riots erupt in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Crowds organized by the Brotherhood demand Mubarak's ouster, storm government buildings. The White House fails to back longtime U.S. ally Mubarak, who flees Cairo.
2011: White House sends intelligence czar James Clapper to Capitol Hill to whitewash the Brotherhood's extremism. Clapper testifies the group is a moderate, "largely secular" organization.
2011: The Brotherhood's spiritual leader — Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi — is given a hero's welcome in Tahrir Square, where he raises the banner of jihad. Qaradawi, exiled from Egypt for 30 years, had been calling for "days of rage" before the rioting in Egypt. Before Obama's Cairo speech, he wrote an open letter to the president arguing terrorism is a direct response to U.S. foreign policy.
2011: The Brotherhood vows to tear up Egypt's 30-year peace treaty with Israel. Since Mubarak's fall, it has worked to formally reestablish Cairo's ties with Hamas and Hezbollah.
2011: Obama gives Mideast speech demanding Israel relinquish land to Palestinians.
2011: White House security adviser gives friendly speech to Washington-area mosque headed by ISNA's new president. 2011: Justice Department pulls plug on further prosecution of Muslim Brotherhood front groups identified as collaborators in conspiracy to funnel millions to Hamas. …
Frank Gaffney reports and comments at the Center for Security Policy:
Muslim Brotherhood fronts are routinely cultivated by federal, state and local officials. Representatives of homeland security, Pentagon, intelligence and law enforcement agencies frequently meet with and attend functions sponsored by such groups. … Individuals with family and other ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have actually been given senior government positions. The most recent of these to come to light is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff, Huma Abedin [wife of the former Congressman Anthony Weiner]. …
The Obama administration's efforts to "engage" the Muslim Brotherhood are not just reckless. They are wholly incompatible with the President's oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" and the similar commitment made by his subordinates.
In Gaffney's view, it's a step too far:
These officials' now-open embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood constitutes a geo-strategic tipping point … Instead of relying upon – let alone hiring – Muslim Brotherhood operatives and associates, the United States government should be shutting down their fronts, shariah-adherent, jihad-incubating "community centers" and insidious influence operations in America. By recognizing these enterprises for what they are, namely vehicles for fulfilling the seditious goals of the MB's civilization jihad, they can and must be treated as prosecutable subversive enterprises, not protected religious ones under the U.S. Constitution. …
The policy toward the MB in Egypt will, Gaffney explains, strengthen and encourage the organization in America:
By engaging the Ikhwan [Arabic for the Brotherhood] in its native land, the Obama administration is effectively eliminating any lingering impediment to the operations of its myriad front groups in this country. Even before Secretary Clinton's announcement, many of them have already been accorded unprecedented access to and influence in the U.S. government. …
The EU is following Obama's lead in embracing the MB.
Robert Spencer writes at Front Page:
Following quickly after the revelation that the Obama administration had resolved to establish contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, the European Union has announced that it, too, is interested in talking with the group. …
So why is the Western world rushing to talk to this malignant group? Why the determination to ignore and deny what it stands for and says it will do?
If the Western world is to survive the Islamic jihad onslaught, it will only manage to do so by decisively rejecting this fantasy-based policymaking. …
Even commentators like Spencer and Gaffney who see clearly what is happening and what must follow, do not confront the most obvious explanation for Obama's acting as he does towards this powerful spearhead of Islam, setting an example for others to follow, perhaps because it is "too dreadful to contemplate" as used to be said of nuclear war breaking out between the West and the Soviet Union.
The too-dreadful-to-contemplate answer is that this is not "fantasy-based policymaking", but policymaking with a view to achieving the very results that are being achieved: the slow but steady, step-by step conquest of the West by Islam.
We're saying that Obama wants Islam to succeed.
Melanie Phillips sees Obama's cozying up to the MB as capitulation. She writes:
The abject capitulation of the Obama administration to the forces waging war on the western world was laid bare a few days ago when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US now wanted to open a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood.
And she asks in bewilderment:
Why does supposedly arch-feminist Hillary want to 'engage' with a movement that would promote the mutilation of Egyptian women?
Whether Hillary Clinton and the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton understand what it will mean if Islam achieves its aim of world domination – the universal imposition of sharia law, dhimmification of Christians, annihilation of the Jews, the subjugation of women, a descent into another age of darkness – we don't know; but we suspect they simply don't allow themselves to think that those horrors could, let alone will, ensue. For them they would be too dreadful to contemplate.
As, perhaps, would be – for most Americans – the idea that a victorious Islam is the change Obama hopes for.