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Farron Cousins | April 29, 2011
By Farron Cousins • Friday, April 29, 2011 - 11:12
Environmental groups in the state of Florida are working overtime this week in an attempt to stop a bill from passing the Florida Legislature that would give corporations the green light to destroy the environment. The bill, HB-991, would make it easier for corporations to obtain permits for things like mining, manufacturing, and razing an entire ecosystem for companies doing business in Florida. Audubon of Florida, 1000 Friends of Florida, the Sierra Club, the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Nature Conservancy and the National Parks Conservation Association have joined forces this week, urging people to make phone calls to their representatives in an effort to stop the bill.
What makes that bill so dangerous is that it shifts environmental burdens from corporations to citizens. If passed by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature, the bill would no longer require a company to prove that their activities would not harm the environment or nearby residents. Instead, residents who say that companies are polluting or otherwise destroying the environment will have to prove to the state that these things are happening.
The Florida Sierra Club lays out the major provisions of the bill:
The bill limits local regulation of mining, affirms that groundwater can be contaminated by landfills, allows increased development in wetlands, reduces regulation of beach armoring projects, and excuses owners of underground tanks from protecting groundwater from leaking fuel, while greatly diminishing the rights of citizens to challenge environmentally harmful projects.
The bill stacks the deck against citizens who challenge permits, even if harmed by the permitted activity. Current law requires the applicant and the agency to defend the issuance of permits and is very specific in the order of presentation of evidence and arguments in hearings. The bill shifts the complete burden on those persons challenging permits and therefore reduces the rights of citizens to protect themselves.
They go on to list more ramifications:
- Deprive citizens of due process when they try to challenge permits that will hurt the environment
- Shift the burden of proof to citizens in challenges rather than leaving it with the applicant who currently has the burden of showing they are in compliance with all permit requirements
- Preempt localities from regulating the environmental impact of mining activity (one of the most disruptive land uses imaginable)
- Exempt phosphate mines from the development of regional impact process.
- Reduce the information agencies are allowed to request when processing permit applications
- Put into statute that groundwater can be contaminated down to the base of the aquifer all the way out to the property line
House Republicans and business groups are selling the bill as a "job creator" – a tactic that is playing out well in a state that has lost over a million jobs in the last few years. However, their cries of "job creation" are clearly just a smokescreen, as Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott recently turned down $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money to build high speed rail from Tampa to Orlando, a project that was projected to create 20,000 permanent jobs, in addition to thousands more construction jobs that would have been needed for the project. If job creation was the real agenda, this project would have been greenlighted in a heartbeat.
So what is the real motivation behind the push to remove environmental protections? To understand the answer to that, you have to look at the man who sponsored HB-991 – Republican Jimmy Patronis from Panama City. Patronis rode into office in 2008 on a wave of corporate cash. The maximum allowance for campaign contributions at the time was a paltry $500 per donor, but that didn't stop Patronis from pulling in more than $125,000 from corporate interests.
Among Patronis's top donors are those who stand to gain the most from the passage of HB-991, including Koch Industries' subsidiary Georgia Pacific, Florida Phosphate (a mining company), the Florida Association of General Contractors, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Patronis also pulled in the maximum $500 allowance from material manufacturing companies, crop production companies, pharmaceutical companies, steel manufacturers, and various other contracting companies.
All of these industries that helped put Patronis in office stand to make huge gains under the proposed laws. A debate on the bill is scheduled for April 29th, and you can bet that these corporate interests will be standing by, waiting to write more checks for their favorite Florida congressman.
paul_s replied on Permalink
Constantly saying "The sky is
Constantly saying "The sky is falling!!" is a great way to get the public to tune out. This article falls into that category.
pw replied on Permalink
Really Paul, perhaps you
Really Paul, perhaps you could illuminate us with your solution to inaction on Climate Change. Perhaps we should just talk about rainbows and sunshine while human existence on this planet collapses.
So you people are moraly bankrupt.
paul_s and 'silly name who cannot formulate a proper response', as if we needed more evidence.
'Just more and more nonsence {sic} every day in a desperate attempt to frighten the weak minded into believing the failed AGW myth.'
The problem for you is that science backs the facts of the mechanisms of GHG warming and the results of research by dedicated and courageous people gathering data in a variety of hostile and dangerous environments lead to strong evidence to support the facts that demonstrate that the globe is warming.
Another problem for you is in the highly visible evidence that weather patterns are responding to changes in climate as this warming continues.
You really must have your head up 'seventh rock from the sun' to continue to believe the nonsense that you spew. The alternative to that is that you know that you are throwing up nonsense and are thus lying through your teeth as well as contaminating them.
The irony is that once sea levels rise most of Florida will be under water and nobody gains. Before that Florida is right in the line of fire from the effects of a stronger hydrological cycle. Perhaps when disaster strikes the federal government should say no to any request for relief aid. After all that is what the bozos seem to believe in; 'small government' and 'no taxes'. HTF do you think such is financed? Not by donations by the likes of the Kochs.
Don't be such kochheads people!
More ideological BS
'Sea level rise is slowing.'
Who says?
'And that is from a very moderate rate that has been fairly constantfor 10,000 years.
The old horror story about sea level rise has been debunked over and over again for years.'
Well then how come sewa level is still rising?
We have been over this question on other threads here and youdrop in with a new sock puppet at try to give out the same ol', same ol'!
'Try reading some Recent Science. Even NOAA, NASA and the (discredited) IPCC all say that sea levels will rise a few inches in the next 90 years.
That is about the amount as the last 90 years.'
And whose science would that be? Come on name names and quote chapter and verse and don't cherry pick quotes as is the usual same ol', same ol'.
'And the Latest Science does not support CAGW.
Our current, Normal climate patterns are mostly the result of Natural ENSO cycles which are driven by Solar heating. The bigest feedback just happens to be clouds. you know.'
Ah! Ha! Now I am getting the feel from whom you source but lets have a name just to be sure eh!
ENSO driven by solar heating? Thats an interesting one considering the solar insolation has been lower for a while.
Methinks you are mistaking cause and effect.
Clouds are a feedback, negative and positive depending on type and where. Now can you differentiate?
That is another clue as to your source of pseudo-science.
Now be a good lad and study some real science.
Religion and CAGW give you away.
Your references to 'religious scriptures' and CAGW betray the ideological idiocy that is driving your responses.
Please note that I am arguing from the POV of evidence based science and not faith pinned on grasping at straws. The sort of waterlogged straws already sinking under their own weight and then you come along and cling on to them, the only way is down. You just don't seem to have the capability to distinguish science from pseudo-science and the best you can do is skate around pointed questions by avoiding giving direct references that support your wild conjectures.
Oh! Hang on a mo', I have just contradicted myself. That last statement implies that you do know that your sources may be less than reliable and are afraid to expose them to scrutiny because that would undermine your position. This can only mean that you are deliberately telling porkies.
First off the bat:
'Go read your own religious scriptures. The IPCC reports.'
And of course you are familiar with those then so you should have read the following from the Technical Summary of the Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability section of the FAR pp. 41-42
Coastal systems and low-lying areas
Since the TAR, our understanding of the implications of climate
change for coastal systems and low-lying areas (henceforth
referred to as 'coasts') has increased substantially, and six
important policy-relevant messages emerge.
Coasts are experiencing the adverse consequences of hazards
related to climate and sea level (very high confidence).
Coasts are highly vulnerable to extreme events, such as storms,
which impose substantial costs on coastal societies [6.2.1, 6.2.2,
6.5.2].Annually, about 120million people are exposed to tropical
cyclone hazards. These killed 250,000 people from 1980 to 2000
[6.5.2]. Throughout the 20th century, the global rise of sea level
contributed to increased coastal inundation, erosion and
ecosystem losses, but the precise role of sea-level rise is difficult
to determine due to considerable regional and local variation due
to other factors [6.2.5, 6.4.1]. Late 20th century effects of rising
temperature include loss of sea ice, thawing of permafrost and
associated coastal retreat at high latitudes, and more frequent coral
bleaching and mortality at low latitudes [6.2.5].
The unavoidability of sea-level rise, even in the longer term,
frequently conflicts with present-day human development
patterns and trends (high confidence).
Sea-level rise has substantial inertia and will continue beyond
2100 for many centuries [WG1 AR4 Chapter 10]. Breakdown
of the West Antarctic and/or Greenland ice sheets would make
this long-term rise significantly larger. For Greenland, the
temperature threshold for breakdown is estimated to be about
1.1 to 3.8°C above today's global average temperature. This is
likely to happen by 2100 under the A1B scenario [WG1 AR4
Chapter 10]. This questions both the long-term viability of many
coastal settlements and infrastructure (e.g., nuclear power
stations) across the globe and the current trend of increasing
human use of the coastal zone, including a significant coastward
migration. This issue presents a challenge for long-term coastal
spatial planning. Stabilisation of climate is likely to reduce the
risks of ice sheet breakdown, and reduce but not stop sea-level
rise due to thermal expansion [B6.6]. Hence, since the IPCC
Third Assessment it has become virtually certain that the most
appropriate response to sea-level rise for coastal areas is a
combination of adaptation to deal with the inevitable rise, and
mitigation to limit the long-term rise to a manageable level
Now I'll leave you to study the Physical Science base that supports those conclusions.
Then you write:
'Now for everyone else who Can read… Go lookup any (ANY) actual sea level record.
NO that does not include the play station model outputs.
Look at any actual measured record.'
'And while you are at it, look up the corrolation {sic}data on Sunspot cycles and ENSO cycles… it will amaze you. Don't take my word for any of it. Go find out for yourself… Its all available.'
You are still evading the challenge to cite sources for the evidence to back your statements.
I have a hunch about some of your sources so I'll point you to some corrective treatment:
Cherries Jubilee
Review of Spencer's 'Great Global Warming Blunder'
Oh, and this one has been recently doing the rounds in the denial-sphere a paper by Houston & Dean which has already been challenged elsewhere here at Desmog
So What?
Now before replying again it would seem you have much homework to do, and some!
Well that exposure to the truth
brought forward a fine cough and splutter of rabid froth.
And you would make a good creationist, same methodology - run away from facts when they prove you are not telling the truth (as in particular with your IPCC quote).
I have exposed you as a fraud who pours out a Gish Gallop of unsupported rhetoric. Hence the lack of citations to sources. This is accompanied by hand waving away sources of scientific truths which are inconvenient for your arguments.
You write about crap at Tamino and Deltoid and then have the gall to accuse us of using smear tactics. Wow! The hypocrisy – another creationist trait.
And guess what, more people are waking up to the truth about AGW and also the effects this is having on weather patterns and the biosphere, so that is another delusion of yours.
Here bozo check out this:
Interactive Map: Extreme Weather Across the Nation
Please tell me how this is happening when all Milankovich factors are at their minimum for solar insolation increase and solar activity has been low (and Svensmark's GCR hypothesis cannot rescue your meme here because it does not take into account all factors).
Boy, WRT sea levels, because any rising may or may not have slowed does not mean it has stopped, but then I have already told your other sock puppet that, far from it as ice melt accelerates we could be in big trouble.
A glacier in the Andes (I will leave you to find out which one I could be alluding to – time you did some real work), like many others, has lost ice mass more rapidly that scientists predicted only six years ago. Only a few may have gained depth depth but not necessarily mass as new snowfall is less densely packed.
WRT Greenland and Antarctica as glacier tongues and ice shelves become unstable and break away this releases the mass of ice in the glaciers behind to accelerate in flow. You really are clueless ain't you, and you cannot even spell my name correctly. I guess language isn't your strong suit but then neither is your science and rational thinking. You have a narrow view which cannot comprehend the many factors from the many disciplines of science which come together to prove that AGW is a reality and how it comes about.
osama bin dead ... replied on Permalink
Lionel, don't confuse Bastard with facts. Deniers can't handle them, can't produce them, can't look them up, can't read them and can't debate them. All they can do is deny them.
Yeh I know
but one cannot let BS stand else the casual visitor may think that these idiots may have a valid POV. And such deniers are idiots because we are talking about their future too and that of any descendants who have the misfortune to come from such a simple minded lineage.
One can excuse ignorance but not blind prejudicial ignorance.
You cannot respond
because you cannot offer cogent arguments, arguments backed by facts. All you can offer is rhetoric and false accusations.
Those who use inflammatory sock puppets tend to censor themselves.
'no matter… nobody pays attentention {sic} to this shitty little propaganda rag anymore.'
So. Why are you here?


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APCNews – May 28 2009 – Mobile phones in Benin, demise of Africa policy site
APCNews – May 28 2009 – Year X Issue 101
The news service on ICTs for social justice and sustainable development
In Benin, no one seems to find it strange that in order to communicate with another mobile operator, you have to carry up to five SIM cards. This situation, which has started to change in recent years, is due to years of cronyism and corruption in the past. APCNews explores the state of telecommunications in the African country from a rights perspective. Next month, APC's ground-breaking Africa ICT Policy Monitor website will be taken offline as the editors focus on original analysis of the African policy landscape to be published through the quarterly newsletter Chakula. But as we say good bye to the monitor, a new internet rights initiative goes online: the radio version of the APC internet rights charter in Spanish.
Benin: Where mobile users carry 3, 4, even 5 SIM cards to make a call
CALGARY (LC for APCNews) – The telecoms situation in Benin is unique. The array of mobile telephone enterprises established during Mathieu Kérékou's regime has resulted in the average Beninese owning three, four, or even five SIM cards for their daily communication needs. Facilitated by corruption and skyrocketing prices, it was not until the arrival to power of the new president Yayi Boni in 2006 that reform in this sector began. Despite the current progress and lower prices, networks remain segregated and there is still much to be done in relation to ICTs and the standardisation of the telecom sector in a legislative and regulatory environment that is open to investment. APC investigates to find out more.
APC says goodbye to the Africa ICT policy monitor site
JOHANNESBURG 20 May 2009 (Chakula for APCNews) – Since the APC Africa ICT Policy Monitor started in 2001, significant inroads into raising the profile of the need for progressive ICT policy approaches in Africa have been made. The need for a portal like the Africa ICT Policy Monitor that collects and organises news and resources on a vast array of issues has diminished, but APC's policy programme's Africa wing will continue to report on issues of strategic importance through Chakula, a periodic newsletter.
Internet rights charter goes audio in Latin America
MONTEVIDEO (AL for APCNews) APC and the Latin American Association for Educational Radio (ALER) have launched an audio version of the APC Charter on internet rights in Spanish, available on the web in the form of podcasts.
New APC member May First / People Link : Redefining the way non-profits use the internet
CALGARY (LC for APCNews) – May First/People Link, a New York collective, has been hosting websites and providing technology solutions and support to the city's non-profits since the late '90s. They have doubled in size since 2005 to about 250 members – without government or foundation funding. During the US Social Forum 2007 they provided all the technology for the event and are in the middle of planning for the next USSF. Find out more about APC's newest member.
Agriculture in the global South
12 women's projects putting IT to work
Your subscription
This newsletter can be seen in html here:
If you wish to receive the html version of the newsletter, you need to unsubscribe here:
and then subscribe again here: http://www.apc.org/en/pubs/newsletters/archive/APCNewsHTML
APCNews is produced by APC – a worldwide network supporting the use of internet and ICTs for social justice and sustainable development since 1990. Sister news services APCNoticias and APCNouvelles offer original coverage in Spanish and French.
Write to apcnews [at] apc [dot] org.
More information: http://www.apc.org/en/pubs/newsletters/listing
Some rights reserved: CreativeCommons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2009

subset: commoncrawl


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From FedoraProject
Revision as of 07:45, 4 October 2008 by Chicagonpg (Talk | contribs)
My name is Shaun Mallette and I have been using Fedora since Fedora 5, I started using open source three years ago. I have been into computers since 1992 but once I found out about linux and open source I never looked back to anything else. I'm a big supporter of linux and open source. I live in Portage, Indiana and I'm part of the local LUG(LUGIN).
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- IRC: chicagonpg on freenode; spotted on #fedora-ambassadors or #linuxcranks
- Fedora Account: chicagonpg
Activities within Fedora
- I belong to the Fedora Ambassadors , and am a representative for NorthWest Indiana, USA.
- I am starting to help with the Fedora News Beat Fedora Weekly News


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See the rest of our Bobo Choses AW16 collection here.
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Exhibitions & EventsCalendar Item
Image Details
Friday, October 12, 2012 – Sunday, October 21, 2012
(France/2011—directed by Daniel Auteuil)
Twenty-five years after rising to international acclaim in Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, Daniel Auteuil returns to the world of Marcel Pagnol for his first work as director with this enchanting new version of Pagnol's 1940 classic, The Well-Digger's Daughter. Auteuil stars as the eponymous well-digger Pascale, a widower living with his six daughters in the Provence countryside at the start of World War I. His eldest, Patricia (the luminous Astrid Bergès-Frisbey), has returned home from Paris to help raise her sisters, and Pascale dreams of marrying her off to his loyal assistant Felipe (Kad Merad). But when her relationship with a wealthy young pilot (Nicolas Duvauchelle) causes an unforeseen rift in the emotional landscape, Pascale is left to contend with the difficult consequences. An exquisitely crafted, richly sun-drenched melodrama, set to a haunting score by Academy Award-nominee Alexandre Desplat (The King's Speech, Moonrise Kingdom), Auteuil's directorial debut recaptures the warmth and humanist spirit of Pagnol's inspired original. In French with English subtitles. (105 min.)
"Best of all, Daughter marks a return to fine, old-school French moviemaking, the kind of classically well-made movie that unrolls like a beloved tapestry. It's the kind of film they don't make anymore, only here it is." –Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
The DFT's Crystal Gallery Café will be closed during September and the first two weeks of October due to glass and metalwork restoration of the café's three monumental windows. Please excuse our dust while we complete this exciting project, the finished work will help to preserve the historic ironwork window frames of Samuel Yellin, and give visitors a beautiful view of the night sky and midtown museum campus along John R. During construction, beverages and light snacks will be continue to served on the ground floor in the central Loggia space near the theater entrance.
Friday, October 12 at 7:30 PM


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[Narrator] At some point, older adults who live at home may require services that go beyond what friends, family, and local programs can provide. That's when facility-based long-term care can play an important role. The most common types are nursing homes where much of the focus is on medical care.
[Linda Velgouse] Nursing homes provide 24-hour housing, health care, and personal services, supervision 24 hours a day, and most nursing homes also provide rehab services. [Narrator] Many facilities provide several levels of care in one location. They are called continuing care communities. The Lincolnia facility in Northern Virginia provides both assisted living and independent living. Assisted living is housing that provides some supervision as well as help with personal care, meals, and activities. It does not generally provide health care.
[Charles Woznak] Assisted living – we help them with tasks of daily living, be it taking their medicines or getting dressed, brushing their teeth. We prepare three hot meals a day, provide two snacks.
[Narrator] Assisted living residents usually live in their own apartments or rooms and share common areas.
[Mary Louise] Living quarters are all the same as you see it here. We share a bathroom and we share the basin. We have our own bed. We have our own TV, our own radio, and our own privacy.
[Narrator] A typical day for someone in assisted living might go something like this.
[Carolyn] You get up at the crack of dawn and we walk on down, get our medicine, then we come down and have breakfast. Then I take my morning nap which is until about 11 o'clock. Then I stay down here pretty much for the rest of the day. We do activities. [Narrator] Independent living at a continuing care facility is for people who can still live on their own and don't require the level of care provided in assisted living. Roberta has lived independently at Lincolnia for over 20 years.
[Roberta] I came here with my husband because my husband was diagnosed as having cancer and I knew that as time went on I was going to need help caring for him. So both of us agreed that the thing to do was enter a senior citizen home and sell our double-wide mobile home over in Chantilly. So that is what we did, and I've never been sorry.
[Carolyn Martin] Independent living allows our residents to live their life with freedom of choice, being able to prepare their own meals. They can set their own design of living, whether it be a living room area, with a sofa bed or if they have their own bedroom set, their own furniture.
[Narrator] Those who live independently can still enjoy the activities and opportunities for companionship that a continuing care facility offers.
[Roberta] Sometimes I will eat here in my apartment. Sometimes I will go down to the dining room in the recreation center and have dinner there. And it's always nice to be able to sit down and chat with my neighbors. I really enjoy that a lot.
[Narrator] Social and recreational activities provide opportunities for people to interact with one another, which can help reduce isolation and loneliness.
[Resident] You meet nice people here and they take you to meet other people that are nice.
[Resident] Keeps you from being lonely.
[Narrator] If you are considering a long-term care facility, a good rule of thumb is to first make sure the facility is licensed and then pay a visit in person before you make a decision.
[Linda Velgouse] First off, go to a facility and kind of just get a feel for what that facility is and talk to people there, either to the administrative people, to staff, get a sense of it. And also, talk with friends and family who've already had experience with long-term care and that will help you to make decisions and get information.
[Narrator] For more information about facility-based long-term care, contact the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116. Or visit www.eldercare.gov. You can also contact your local area agency on aging.


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Posted 6 years ago
(3 items)
2 Rare Antique Porcelain Enamel France Street Signs. The colors are dark blue and white - the white circles in the pictures is the camera flash. Each sign measures 15 1/2" x 9 3/4" and are made with a solid steel plate. The raised white porcelain letters and border are easily felt. Both are in good condition with a few small scuffs on the edges. The French / English translations are: Rue De La Croix (Road of the Cross) & Rue Du Parc (Park Road). These are rare - none on ebay. Does anyone know the approximate age and value of these? Thanks.


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My previous post on tactile digital play was about a few new gadgets that blur the line between digital and analog, allowing for physical manipulation to control an on-screen app. Then there's the other approach: taking a digital property and turning into a physical toy or game. These game adaptations have their roots in the app world but are are almost completely analog — no iPad required.
Before I get into the specifics, it's worth asking why these games exist. Why would you take a physics-based puzzler like Angry Birds (which, of course, uses its own tweaked version of physics) and turn it into an actual toy (which uses real physics and is therefore much harder)? Why take an arcade game that uses your smartphone's accelerometer and touch screen, requiring reflexes and dexterity, and attempt to replicate that in the world of cardboard and dice? Continue Reading "Tactile Digital Play, Part 2: App-Based Board Games" »


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Town Square
topic: "Romney in Woodside for fundraiser" reviewed for accuracy
Original post made by Palm Reader, Menlo Park: Downtown, on Nov 20, 2012
Was a very long series of posts with great participation and many, many claims. Shall we review a few for accuracy?
-- menlo observer "So get ready for a Romney presidency. People have grown really tired of Obama's whining and complaining. He is just an irresponsible feckless fool who won't fool the electorate twice."
Bold prediction. How did it work out?
-- pogo "Perhaps Obama supporters who should consider changing candidates. I kinda like Romney's chances with 3 months to go..."
Chances are....?
-- hank "I for one, will be glad when Obama is turned out of office on November 6. Obama's socialist redistribution of wealth scheme has not been well received by the American Public. ...will allow us to do is Unamerican and will be repudiated by the majority of voters come November 6."
What did Sarah Palin say about reFudiation?
-- hank "Obama is toast! But libs take satisfaction in Obama winning California. You can use that to ease the pain of the electoral college repudiation of Obama when it votes in Governor Romney as the next President of the United States."
How's that Romney transition team doing?
-- hank "Only 96 days until the American public votes Obama out of office. I wonder If Obama will have to return the Nobel Prize for failing to keep his promise to the Nobel Prize Committee to change the USA into a Socialist nation."
Oh, Hank.... face it, all that visceral hatred means that deep down, in the dark recesses, late at night, you harbor these strange thoughts.... it's okay Hank, let them out! Be free!
-- pine view "Pogo, what will Romney do differently than George W Bush and Dick Cheney?"
That one never got answered, did it? By ANYONE!!
-- pogo "Be careful what you wish for, Governor Dewey."
Dewey got 330 electoral votes? Did he win the second term by 4 million votes, also?
-- pogo "I don't hear any Republicans saying they are unhappy with their candidate."
Ahem. Look around. Web Link "Evangelical leaders and conservative activists have a simple message for establishment Republicans about Mitt Romney's failed presidential bid: We told you so."
-- rock and hard place "... I believe that in this election cycle Governor Romney is the best choice."
Even the GOP disagrees with that. Now.
-- pogo "This will probably be a very close election and we will all be up very late on election night waiting for final results from Ohio or some other swing state."
Not so much. Wasn't it called by 9pm?
-- bottom line "It's safe to say that Obama is toast."
Marmalade, butter or dry?
-- hank "Romney has it all over Obama... It is just so difficult for them to face the fact that their socialist hero is about to take a drubbing... Now, Romney will take over from Obama in January"
Saw a photo of Romney pumping gas in La Jolla yesterday. Still looked very sad. probably because he believed the crap that GOP party officials like Hank were peddling.
-- hank "It is too late for Obama. The democrats wouldn't be in this situation if Hillary got the nomination... And now you are going to lose the White House. It serves you right. Turn out the lights the party's over!"
Sorry. Didn't catch that last part. The party is awfully loud... say what? oh yeah, at the party we were discussin hank's vote for Hillary in 2016.
-- hank "It is not going to be pretty for the Democrats, at the national level, this time around."
cue a little West Side Story: I feel pretty, oh so pretty, so pretty and gaaaaayyyy!! Hope you like my singing, Hank.
-- meg "Perhaps it is time to ask Hank and others the defining question of our time - Mr. Lawrence, do you believe the president is an American?"
Was not answered, was it?
-- get real "I just want to know when we can start celebrating the dear leaders accomplishments."
You may proceed. By all means.
-- hank "And that is making Obama a one term president. And I am going to help make that happen. Just not in California."
Oh dear, Hank, you weren't trying to use that GOP software program, ORCA, were you? Try looking at the other side to do it correctly. When we were making our calls, our software worked and yours blew up in your face. Or were you using paper print outs?
Arguably, these silicon valley and chi-town geeks, gays, misfits and nerds won it for Obama. theatlantic.com "When the Nerds Go Marching In; By Alexis C. Madrigal" Web Link
And Romney's "let's outsource it" style for GOTV software lost it for Romney when the software imploded.
Hey Hank -- who built it themselves? The Democrats! Who outsourced it and had it blow up in their face on election day?
Romney and team.
Ain't schadenfreude a b****?
Speaking of schadenfreude, how about this one: Mitt Romney's final popular vote percentage keeps shrinking. he is currently at 47.56%. If it shrinks just a bit to 47.49%, it rounds down to 47%. He is a hair away from only having 47%, with only 10 states having certified their vote by Nov 19. New York is still counting, as are all the western blue states. Obama had a 4 million vote lead and counting, larger than Bush's 2004 margin. Web Link
47% for Romney.
Wasn't the number 47 a well used number by Mitt Romney?
Mitt claims 47% of Americans are takers and useless; Mitt gets 47% of the vote.
But then, schadenfreude usually is....
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
Comments (13)
a resident of Atherton: Lindenwood
on Nov 20, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Mr 47% is at 47% ?
a resident of Hillview Middle School
on Nov 20, 2012 at 2:28 pm
So many really bad assertions and claims. Was it any wonder Romney thought he had a chance, rather than the blowout he took?
Read Doonesbury this week about math.
a resident of Atherton: Lindenwood
on Nov 20, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Nice try, Palm. You'll never have those 'prognosicators' defend their claims, even if they could take off their rose tinted Romney lens.
Don't worry though, in 20 years, Texas becomes a swing state and its game over for the GOP.
a resident of Woodside: other
on Nov 21, 2012 at 5:29 am
Hey guys, there was an election. Obama won. Romney lost.
Perhaps it is those supporting the winners who should get over it...
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on Nov 21, 2012 at 8:52 am
The so-called 'accountability' crowd detests it when they are held, you know....
a resident of Portola Valley: other
on Nov 21, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Accountability? Never!
How about this pack of rhetoric and lies? No wonder Rmoney lost and the whole party got beat up. The only one to come out ahead is the guy who wasn't running for office - Christie.
"When his holiness, the Oblama, comes to town all must move over because of his awesomeness. Change is in the air and BO will soon be voted out. By the way can we compare BO's business record to Mitt? Oh that's right BO has never started or worked in a business; nothing to compare. Who cares what the tax returns say, BO is wealthy and Mitt is wealthy; move on. What has either done for me lately? BO has done NOTHING but add to my taxes. Mitt says he his going to reduce taxes. I vote to give Mitt a chance. BO had 3+ years and so far he created high unemployement, a weak economy and massive tax hikes. Time to move on and let him make $100k / speech at the next climate change, global peace, we all need to be better world citizens gas bag festival."
a resident of Woodside: Woodside Glens
on Nov 21, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Web Link
The Rose Garden
THE PRESIDENT: Well, good afternoon, everybody. (Turkey gobbles.) (Laughter.)
They say that life is all about second chances. And this November, I could not agree more. (Laughter.) So in the spirit of the season, I have one more gift to give, and it goes to a pair of turkeys named Cobbler and Gobbler. The American people have spoken, and these birds are moving forward. (Turkey gobbles.) (Laughter.) I love this bird. (Laughter.)
Now, I joke, but for the first time in our history, the winners of the White House Turkey Pardon were chosen through a highly competitive online vote. And once again, Nate Silver completely nailed it. (Laughter.) The guy is amazing. He predicted these guys would win.
I want to thank everyone who participated in this election. Because of your votes, the only cobbler anyone's eating this Thanksgiving will come with a side of ice cream. And for that, our winning turkey can thank his stellar campaign team led by Steve Willardsen, who is the Chairman of the National Turkey Foundation and raised this beautiful bird at Miller Farm in Harrisonburg, Virginia. So here's Steve. (Applause.)
a resident of Menlo Park: Sharon Heights
on Nov 22, 2012 at 10:23 am
Happy Thanksgiving, 'pardoner', and to all the readers.
While fun to mock the loony fringe that kept insisting that Romney would somehow win in a landslide (despite the structural Obama advantage in the electoral vote) let's look at the posters who were able to see past their particular echo chamber and view multiple sources, best of which were the aggregators. (sp?)
There were several threads that included predictions; numerous posters came pretty close. My listing of the predictions by RCP and Nate Silver did not count as a personal prediction; I only posted their prediction. Anyone who predicted over 300 votes for Obama then came down to whether they picked Florida's 29 votes correctly. For most out here, that was a coin flip, I feel even those on the ground in FL didn't know.
In several of the prediction threads, many posters referred to the aggregators, those posters tended to be closest. Posters who did not offer any reasoning for their guess, or offered a single data point (such as "Gallup, or Ras, gives Romney a 4 POINT LEAD!") fared the worst. Among those that referenced one aggregator or another: Pogo, apparently an RCP 'fan' who consistently called for a tight race, and Peter Carpenter, who appeared to prefered Silver's 538.
Poster Mark above refers to this week's Doonesbury -- fabulous, simply fabulous, right down to the hokey msnbc portrayal. Web Link
Poll numbers, monthly BLS job statistics, basic climate science, basic biology... skewering the 'unskewers' one at a time.
Now I'm rambling, waaaaay off topic...
My 'perfect election night coverage' rant.
The most frustrating? MSNBC. So close yet SO far from watchable. Mathews, Sharpton, Schultz made it literally unwatchable. The other networks were more watchable just for the absence of those buffoons.
My fantasy team? Rachel Maddow hosts Steve Schmidt (her regular GOP go-to, the campaign manager for McCain) and Michael Steele (former RNC head.) On her left would be Chris Hayes, a remarkably bright and likable lib (imo.)
Alternatively, bring in Chris Wallace from Fox to host and scoot Maddow over next to Hayes. Not sure if I would bring anyone else from Fox. Would've included Rove in days gone by, but he clearly has gone off the rails. Maybe CNN's Cooper to do remotes.
No cute blonde eye candy in my lineup (I suppose Cooper fills that void for some.) One night every four years, I can live without Megyn.
Enjoy your bird, or your tofu-urkey if that's your choice. Thanks for reading.
a resident of Menlo Park: Belle Haven
on Nov 24, 2012 at 12:07 pm
For fans of irony...
Romney is standing at 47.503600% of the popular vote, with a few million more votes to be added, mostly from western states and the Sandy-struck states, mostly blue.
That will soon put Romney at 47.49% or less, which rounds Romneys vote down to 47%.
The 47 percenter gets 47% of the vote.
In the meantime, the presidents margin of victory now exceeds 4 million votes.
Don't know what I enjoy more:
- reading the silly extremist predictions missing by so much
- or Romney getting 47% of the vote
Thank you Plam Reader. I appreciate you're holding the fringe and their noise to account.
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on Nov 26, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Mr Treller - nice post.
Rufus - thanks.
For those playing at home... Mr 47% is now at 47%! Technically, Romney is at 47.48%, but we can now all round it off to 47%. Web Link
With California and New York each having another million ballots each to count, it seems a sure thing that Romney ends with 47% of the popular vote, matching his 47% outlook of America.
Sweet irony.
Anyone surprised that the so-called 'personal responsibility and accountability' crowd don't seem to want to own their own statements?
Yeah, me neither.
a resident of another community
on Nov 30, 2012 at 4:26 pm
How about in those other sections where conservaticves claimed Romney was going to take Wisconsin with Paul Ryan and scott Walker leading the way?
Wisconsin becomes 21st state to certify its results:
Barack Obama 1,620,985
Mitt Romney 1,410,966
Obama by 7%
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on Jan 2, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Final numbers are in. Barack Obama broke 51%, beating MR 47%
@BarackObama 65,899,557 (51.06%), @MittRomney 60,931,959 (47.21%)
That makes only one president to get 51% of the vote twice, since Ike.
Your president and mine, President Barack H Obama.
The only one.
Web Link
a resident of Menlo Park: Felton Gables
on Jan 3, 2013 at 5:59 pm
some peeps never learn
"At noon today, I introduced the first bill of the 113th Congress to repeal Obamacare in its entirety."
— @MicheleBachmann via
(Portion removed.)
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Cherries and Berries
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One more week to vote!
Don't forget to cast your Readers' Choice ballot online. Voting ends May 29th. Stay tuned for the results in the July 19th issue of The Almanac.


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Your summer snaps
5:30 AM Sunday Dec 30, 2012
It is nearly the end of 2012 and the masses are descending on festival hot-spots around the country to celebrate the New Year. Whether you're at Rhythm & Vines, Coromandel Gold, a vineyard on Waiheke or the back yard with the kids - we want to see your favourite summer snaps. Send them to us here.


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College of Agriculture and
Natural Resources
College of Engineering
and Applied Science
Skip to Main Navigation. Each navigation link will open a list of sub navigation links.
WRESE Program Chair, Scott Miller
Dept 3354
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-4274
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
The WRESE PhD program is designed to enhance the UW strategic planning goals in a variety of ways. Notably, the emphasis on water-related teaching and research programs at the graduate level will:
|Link and amplify the use of existing faculty expertise and research facilities associated with water resources
|Link students to international programs of post-graduate instruction, such as HydroEurope, and HydroAsia, and regional programs surrounding Wyoming
|Produce more graduates with advanced degrees directly related to water-resource science, engineering, and management
|Substantially help recruitment of high-quality graduate students in water-resource disciplines
|Facilitate faculty in departments not offering Ph.D. degree related to water resources the opportunity to participate in a Ph.D. program that does Facilitate comprehensive, and at times innovative, curricular opportunities
|Enable students to pursue thesis research under a thesis adviser in a department differing from the student's undergraduate-degree major (e.g., a science major student advised by an engineering adviser)
|Substantially help recruitment of talented faculty, and research experts, in water-resource disciplines
|Promote inter-program collaboration between water-resource disciplines, UW's Program in Ecology, Haub School & Ruckelshaus Instutue for Environment and Natural Resources.
WRESE Program Chair, Scott Miller
Dept 3354
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-4274
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Sponsor message.
Sundae Sessions: Home Brew, State Of Mind
11:23 PM Sunday May 13, 2012
Home Brew perform State Of Mind from their self-titled album that debuted at No. 1 on the New Zealand album charts. This is the fifth of seven songs performed at York Street Studios for the Sundae Sessions.
Follow Hugh Sundae on Twitter to get links for future sessions and other entertainment content on nzherald.co.nz


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I've been to quite a few countries and learned some interesting things about different cultures with UK-based author Kate Furnivall.
In her novels, she has taken me to Malaya and the South China Sea aboard The White Pearl, to Russia with The Jewel of St Petersburg and in her latest novel, Shadows of the Nile, I've been transported to Egypt.
Shadows of the Nile is set in 1932 and tells the tale of Jessica Kenton and the search for her brother, who has vanished. In her quest to find him, she meets ruthless men who would think nothing of killing. Luckily, she has someone watching her back.
The story goes back and forth in time and is totally absorbing. There is a character named Georgie in this story who is truly captivating. There's romance, danger, wealth, poverty and unconditional love.
I asked Kate some questions.
How did you research Georgie's character?
I struck lucky. Around the time that I was developing my ideas on Georgie's character, autism became the flavour of the month in the British media.
So I watched a series of in-depth documentaries on young people with the condition, and their comments and behaviour patterns were immensely revealing, invaluable to me. I had read books about it, learned about their need for order, their logical minds, their aversion to being touched or to certain colours. But to see the daily struggle they and their families face was deeply touching.
For first-hand experience I visited a special school and spoke to carers, teachers and parents, as well as to the pupils themselves.
It was enormously important to me that Georgie, like these children, should not be defined by his autism. I wanted him to be a lively and interesting character in his own right who just happened to have autistic tendencies, in the same way he happened to have blond hair and blue eyes. He became very real to me and I grew to love him dearly.
What comes first when planning a novel - the characters, the plot or the setting?
Place comes first for me. Closely followed by my main character, and then the plot. Place is dominant in my books, a living, breathing presence.
How important do you think characters' names are?
Very important. The name has to conjure up the person. Some names are soft, some hard and spiky, some playful. Georgie's name came to me instantly, as did Jessie's, but Tim's and Monty's eluded me for some time.
How do you choose their names?
Trial and error. I try a name for size on a character and see if it fits. If not, I trawl for more, particularly through the credits of television programmes.
Sometimes characters arrive fully formed with their names already tattooed on their forehead. But that is rare. Names have to be easy on the eye on the page as well as on the ear. I tend to choose ones that have no connection with real people for me. I like them to be fresh inside my head.
Describe a typical day when you are in the middle of writing a book.
I hate to admit it, but I do much of my best writing in bed. I know that makes me sound bone idle, but it's all the unconscious stuff that has been churning away in my head overnight I need to transfer to the page while still in bed, without being distracted by dishwashers or mice entrails that the cat has sicked up. I leave domestic details to the afternoon.
I start between 6am and 7am, working intensively. At 8am, my husband brings me herbal tea in my special Siamese cat bone china mug - no other cup will suffice if I am to write. But once I've got the words flowing, I shower and move to writing at my desk.
My study has a huge window that catches the morning sun and looks out on my magnolia tree and the village church. So I often work to the sound of church bells. I have a light lunch with my husband, play with the cat and then in the afternoon I continue work for a couple of hours, but the intensity has gone. Sometimes I just fiddle, revising what I've written that morning and jotting down ideas for future scenes. Or I just stare out of the window. Worse, I waste time messing about with emails. About 4pm I take myself off for a walk along the beach, even in the rain. Inspiration often strikes on those solitary walks on the sand.
Evenings are meant to be for relaxing, good food, friends, wine, a book, or maybe the cinema, but often I end up wading through yet more research books. When I'm in the middle of writing a book, it's hard to let go.
You are obviously well travelled. Tell us where you have been.
I love to travel, to immerse myself in new places and in ideas and lifestyles that are poles apart from my own. It is part of a writer's insatiable curiosity about people and the world around them. Before I took to writing, I'd knocked around most of Europe and had driven coast to coast across America. I particularly love to travel by road or rail. It's the best way to really see a country, stopping off at unexpected places. My 2000-mile [3200km] trek by road through eastern Europe and Russia provided me with a wealth of material for my Russian books. It is truly a different world, even now. My trip to Egypt was also breathtaking when I was doing research for Shadows on the Nile, especially as I landed in Cairo slap-bang in the middle of the 2011 revolution, which added a whole new dimension.
But the area of the globe that I have yet to visit is New Zealand and Australia. I would adore to explore their abundant delights and I hope to do so on a book tour one day soon.
What is the first book you remember reading?
Proper grown-up book? No pictures? It's Heidi by Johanna Spyri, closely followed by What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. Strong feisty girls, tomboys at heart, who learned from adversity. I spot them popping up in my own heroines.
How do you celebrate when you finish a book?
I celebrate by doing nothing. Literally. My brain goes on strike and I laze around blissfully in my dressing gown for days on end, watch any rubbish on TV and grovel to my friends for having neglected them. Oh yes, I also discover that I have a husband in the house, too.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I walk beaches. Paddle miles. Collect debris from the sand. The incessant sound of the sea both soothes and excites me. The salt air cleanses the clogged passages of my mind and makes me want to own a dog again.
But I also like to get out there and meet my readers. Book-signings I love. Readers' comments focus my mind.
What's next on the agenda?
I am very excited about the next book. It is set in the Bahamas in 1943, when the Duke of Windsor was Governor and the brutal murder of one of the world's richest men occurred in Nassau under very strange circumstances. My heroine, Dodie, fights to clear the name of the man she loves, and is dragged into a dark and frightening world.
A research trip to the Bahamas?
A hardship, I know, but someone has to do it!
Shadows of the Nile
by Kate Furnivall,
Hachette, $36.99
We have one copy of Shadows of the Nile to give away. Send your name and contact details to email@example.com by February 14.


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The Hope College faculty at their final meeting of the academic year on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 honored President and Mrs. Bultman on the occasion of their retirement from service to the college. It was also announced that the faculty will make a monetary gift to the college's Faculty/Staff Minority Scholarship in honor of the Bultmans.
A Resolution of the Hope College Faculty
WHEREAS, James Bultman has served Hope College as President for thirteen years; and
WHEREAS, James Bultman has been connected to Hope College for parts or all of the last seven decades, a relationship dating back to 1959; and
WHEREAS, James Bultman has participated in the interviewing and hiring of 117 of the full-time faculty currently listed in the College Catalog; and
WHEREAS, James Bultman has taken the primary leadership role in fund-raising for the creation and completion of the academic buildings Martha Miller Center for Global Communication, A. Paul Schaap Science Center, and DeVos Fieldhouse; and
WHEREAS, James Bultman has taken the primary leadership role in fund-raising for the updating of Lubbers Hall and Graves Hall; and
WHEREAS, James Bultman has taken the primary leadership role in enhancing the co-curricular facilities VanAndel Soccer Stadium, DeVos Fieldhouse, Wolters Softball Stadium, and Boeve Baseball Stadium; and
WHEREAS, James Bultman continues to raise funds for the development ofthe academic buildings the Kruizenga Art Center, the concert hall/music facility, and the addition to the Engineering wing of VanderWerf Hall; the development of co-curricular facilities the Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center and the Vande Poel-Heeringa Stadium Courts; and
WHEREAS James Bultman continues to raise funds for ninety new endowed student scholarships, multiple endowed professorships, an endowed curator position, and multiple funds to promote student-faculty collaborative research; and
WHEREAS James Bultman has served as the leader and public face of two capital campaigns, which, in conjunction with other advancement initiatives, have raised $296 million in cash and pledges since 1999; and
WHEREAS, Martie Bultman has faithfully served the college for thirteen years, building relationships with Hope constituencies; traveling to promote Hope's mission near and far; and being the quintessential model of grace and hospitality to all members and guests of our campus community; and
WHEREAS, Martie Bultman has shown unflagging support for Hope students through attendance and participation at a multitude of academic and co-curricular events and by serving as advisor to Mortar Board; and
WHEREAS, James and Martie Bultman have been, in full manner, actively involved in all aspects of student life; including attending athletic events, attending artistic and academic performances and exhibitions, attending daily chapel and Gathering services, dining with students at Phelps and Cook Halls; and encouraging and modeling a disciplined Christian life and tireless work ethic; and
WHEREAS James and Martie Bultman have diligently worked as a team to promote and develop Hope College as the best liberal arts college that is simultaneously exceptional academically and vibrantly Christian; be it
RESOLVED that the faculty of Hope College, on this day April 24, 2012, hereby acknowledge, with wholehearted and genuine gratitude, James and Martie Butman for their many contributions on behalf of the faculty, their success in gathering the necessary financial and human resources to deliver an exceptional educational program, their presence at countless academic and co-curricular events, and their indefatigable energy and effort in furtherance of Hope's noble mission.


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"Are you carrying the fire?" the boy in The Road asks of the adults around him, most often his father. Cormac McCarthy uses the question to highlight the thin line that separates right from wrong, good from bad, in a deteriorating world. It's a world and a story that seems to bear a lot in common with The Last of Us.
As we approach its release I can't help but wonder if Naughty Dog still has that magical spark of storytelling and meaning that lifted Uncharted from run of the mill third-person shooter to something of substance. Is it still carrying that fire? Continue Reading "The Last of Us Trailer Expands Story and Sets Release for May 7, 2013″ »


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| U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the United States Attorney
Southern District of California
United States Attorney
Carol C. Lam
For Further Information, Contact:
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sanjay Bhandari (619) 557-7042,
Jason A. Forge (619) 557-7463,
and Phillip L.B. Halpern (619) 557-5165
Wife of Former Congressman Agrees to Forfeit Proceeds From Home Sale and Pay IRS More Than $1.6 Million in Taxes, Penalties and Interest
United States Attorney Carol C. Lam announced today that United States District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw issued an Order resolving the forfeiture action filed against the Rancho Santa Fe home of then-Congressman Randall Cunningham and his wife Nancy. Pursuant to this order, Mrs. Cunningham will forfeit her entire interest in the proceeds from the sale of the Cunninghams' Rancho Santa Fe home — including $760,000 in equity predating Cunningham's unlawful activities. In addition, Mrs. Cunningham also signed a closing agreement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in which she admitted committing civil tax violations and agreed to pay more than $1 million in taxes and more than $600,000 in penalties. Rather than return to Mrs. Cunningham the $760,000 in equity not derived from criminal activity, the government will apply these funds directly to her outstanding tax liability.
The United States filed this civil forfeiture action during the summer of 2005 in order to protect the public's interest in the Cunningham home, which had been financed with more than $1 million in bribe proceeds. On March 3, 2006, former Congressman Cunningham was sentenced to serve 100 months in custody based on his conspiring to commit Bribery, Honest Services Fraud and Tax Evasion. While the forfeiture case was pending, the United States Attorney's Office consented to the sale of the Rancho Santa Fe home, which resulted in approximately $2 million in proceeds that were placed in escrow pending the resolution of forfeiture case.
As part of his plea agreement, Mr. Cunningham forfeited his entire interest in these proceeds. Mr. Cunningham also agreed to pay to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) more than $1.6 million in taxes, penalties, and interest.
United States Attorney Lam stated, "Today's order returns nearly $2 million to the public fisc, and ensures that the Cunninghams in no way profit from the sordid conduct that occurred in this case."
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Daniel R. Dzwilewski commented, "The government will continue to ensure that assets obtained as a result of criminal activity will be repatriated to the American public."
"Failure to report income from any source is a serious matter," said Kenneth Hines, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation. "Individuals who disregard the U.S. tax code will be aggressively pursued."
Case Number: 05cv1450-DMS(AJB)
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division Defense
Criminal Investigative Service


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ALAFCO, the Kuwait-based international aircraft leasing company, is to acquire 12 Airbus A350s with options on a further six, becoming one of the first leasing companies to select the new jetliner.
Deliveries of ALAFCO?s A350-800s are due to begin in the third quarter of 2012.
?In acquiring the new Airbus A350, we are investing in emerging technologies that will set the character of the industry?s future,? says ALAFCO Chairman and CEO Ahmed Alzabin. ?Our studies show that the A350, which will carry the Airbus hallmarks of cabin comfort and economy into a new decade, is the right aircraft for many of our customers in the Middle East and around the world.?
ALAFCO has a diversified portfolio of commercial aircraft that includes the A320 and A300/A310 Families. Its main shareholder is Kuwait Finance House.
?Sustained growth in Middle East traffic plus a commitment to the long-term mean that ALAFCO is well placed to profit from increasing demand for our new Airbus A350,? says Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer Noël Forgeard. ?And in featuring technologies and techniques that we pioneered on the Airbus A380, the A350 benefits from an impeccable pedigree.?
Airbus? new A350 comes in two versions ? the A350-800 selected by ALAFCO, which can fly 253 passengers up to 8,800 nm/16,300 km, and the larger A350-900, which can seat 300 passengers on ranges of up 7,500 nm/13,900 km. Both versions feature the best economy in their class, as well as the lowest maintenance costs.
Both versions also feature a more spacious passenger-pleasing cabin with larger windows and greater headroom. In addition, passengers will be able to benefit from other Airbus advances, such as email connectivity and mood-lighting.
With a new composite wing and a fuselage made of aluminium-lithium, which give it an airframe comprising up to 60 per cent new materials, plus a new cabin and up to 90 per cent new manufacturing part-numbers, the A350 will have an unassailable advantage when it comes to fuel consumption and seat-mile costs ? as well as cash operating costs. The A350 will also retain full operational commonality with the current Airbus widebody long-range fleet by keeping most of their systems, allowing it to benefit from the ?family effect?, complementing the current leading A330/A340 family, with which it shares the same type-rating.
Airbus is an EADS joint company with BAE Systems.


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Vegetable Beef Stew for Two RecipeRead Reviews Be the first to add a review
4 3 4
"I love pot roast, but since I live alone, I find it easier to cook stew meat," Roberta Young writes from San Diego, California. "I cook 3 pounds of lean beef stew meat or a roast I cut up myself…whatever's on sale. Then I make my recipe for Beef Stew Mix (recipe also in Recipe Finder), divide it up in three containers and freeze. You can alter the seasonings, if you wish." Roberta uses one portion of the versatile mix to make hearty Vegetable Beef Stew.
- 1-2/3 cups beef broth
- 2 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
- 1 medium onion, cut into small wedges
- 1 celery rib, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 batch Beef Stew Mix, thawed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- In a saucepan, combine the broth, carrots, potato, onion and celery. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Stir in beef mix. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into stew. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Yield: 2 servings.
Originally published as Vegetable Beef Stew in Cooking for 2 Fall 2006, p64
Reviews for Vegetable Beef Stew for Two
Please Log In or Join to add a rating and review.
Click stars to rate
Any changes to your rating or review will appear where you originally posted your review
Reviewed Nov. 8, 2011
"I have made this many, many times from the Beef Stew Mix called for. It is not only handy but tastes good too. Once the mix is made it only takes half an hour to put a home made beef stew and dumplings meal on the table.Sometimes I add green beans or peas and always a pinch of dried oregano."
Reviewed Mar. 8, 2010
"I can't find the recipe for the beef stew mix. Otherwise I would try it."
Reviewed Dec. 30, 2009
"It looks like home cookin to me and that is the best kind of food. Brings back memories of when I was a child."


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Town Square
War on Women: Real or Imagined?
Original post made by Cindy Cross, Parkside, on May 7, 2012
Abortion, Planned Parenthood funding, and equal pay for women in the work force are just a few issues that have come center stage in the debate concerning women. The catalyst was Rush Limbaugh's comments in February about Georgetown University Law Center student Sandra Fluke who appeared before House Democrats explaining the need for mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives. Limbaugh did offer an apology, but the genie was out of the bottle. Many conservatives came out to support Limbaugh, while many found his words offensive and unnecessary.
One agency the GOP has their sights on is Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a non-profit agency that provides gynecologic services which include birth control, screening for breast, cervical and testicular cancers; pregnancy testing and pregnancy options counseling; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; sex education, menopause treatments; vasectomies, tubal ligations, and abortion.
Mitt Romney has vowed to get rid of Planned Parenthood. "Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that." This would be devastating to poor and middle class women who depend on Planned Parenthood for their reproductive needs such as cancer screenings, preventative care, and birth control.
The sticking point for the GOP is abortion. Any association with abortion overshadows all the other services Planned Parenthood provides. "Getting rid" of an agency that provides poor women access to birth control could potentially back-fire on the GOP in the long term by a population explosion down the road. Setting aside abortion and birth control, Planned Parenthood provides valuable services that women would have no access to if Romney is elected.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a bill prohibiting tax money from funding non-abortion services by Planned Parenthood, and many other GOP controlled states are following suit. Texas attempted the same route, but U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel issued an injunction stopping Texas's defunding until he can schedule a trial and hear arguments on the issue.
Here are other issues effecting women around the country, to name a few:
• Wisconsin Senator (R) Glenn Grothman recently sponsored legislation that repealed the state's 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which paved the way for victims of wage discrimination to have their day in court. According to Grothman, "You could argue that money is more important for men. Women were often more focused on raising children than earning money." Governor Scott Walker signed the bill into law in April.
• Grothman also proposed a bill that would declare single moms a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.
• Maryland Republicans ended all county funds for a low-income kids' preschool program, because, they reasoned, women should be home with the kids, not out working.
According to a Pew Research poll, Obama leads by 20% with women voters. In 2008, 43% of women supported John McCain, where only 30% support Romney. This is a huge gap for Romney. Is Romney pandering too much to the far right who support the Scott Walker and Glenn Grothman measures concerning women? Or are women who support Romney waiting to show up en masse in November? Either way, the GOP needs to find a way to attract women who are more centrist and not keen on setting the clock back to 1950.
Comments (14)
a resident of another community
on May 7, 2012 at 11:34 pm
These are dark days for the republican party with their war on everything except the banks and Wall Street brokers. So it comes as no surprise that they are treading down this path against women, which to some extension, follows their path of treating minorities as second class citizens. I think the best example for where the republican party stands in today's culture is in the one hit wonder Ted Nugent. An angry white male who who couldn't sell out a high school dance auditorium, yet speaks loud and clear for an out of touch party that thinks the women's rights should be decided by men - old out of touch white men!
a resident of Parkside
on May 8, 2012 at 8:54 am
SteveP is a registered user.
Wow, John...not a rock and roll fan and apparently no alive in the 80's either. Here's some news for you John, Ted Nugent is not a politician, any more than George Zimmerman is a spokesperson for the democrat party.
On a related note (women's rights), this week, Muslim Day was organized at the state capitol: Web Link
No doubt in recognition for that religion/culture's contributions towards women's rights. No mutilations were have reported during this event.
From the article: "Monday's lobby gathering in Sacramento isn't tied to the national election. But it does reflect a realization that if you don't speak out, you can get run over."
a resident of another community
on May 8, 2012 at 9:28 am
Heck, stevepee is right. When it comes to women's rights we're better than the Muslims for goodness sakes! How many Muslim wife own two Cadillacs for heavens sake? That's gotta be saying something. Let's continue to set the bar low enough so that pregnant women in most states who can't afford to travel out of state for an abortion will think twice before getting pregnant again. And down with Planned Parenthood. Rush is right. Women who seek birth control assistance are nothing but sluts. Well, not really sluts. But their sexual licentiousness is putting a great strain upon taxpayers in this country.
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on May 8, 2012 at 3:18 pm
PP is a non-profit organization and not an agency of the government, nor an agency of any other group or corporation. The use of the word agency there is curious, is the author trying to make people believe PP is an agency of the fed govt, or just mistaken?
PP also receives $75 million to provide family planning assistance to low-income women, money that its opponents say only frees up funds for abortions. PP has an overall budget of over $1.1 billion.
Cutting off that funding wouldn't "get rid of" PP in any way.
Cutting off the funding and providing it to another non-profit that can provide the same services without providing abortions would not damage women's health one iota.
Web Link
Sandra Fluke is a Georgetown Univ law student, and there is no organization called "Georgetown University Law Center"
Sandra Fluke is not just a student. She is a political activist, and past President of "Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice" Web Link
A Republican organized a hearing and invited five clergymen to testify about being forced (by a controversial rule implemented by the Obama Admin) to provide contraception benefits to employees. The purpose of the hearing was to hear from clergy, and the hearing was "not about reproductive rights but instead about the administration's actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience"
Ms Fluke was added by Democrats at the last minute as a witness, to testify about free contraception for college students. When she was rejected as a witness, the Democratic campaigns sent out no fewer than seven emails in a five day period to beg for campaign money.
Web Link
Web Link
This event was the invention of the phony "war on women". the purpose was purely political.
Not ironic at all is the fact that a poor college student like Sandra Fluke could go to an organization like PP and get cheap or free birth control, and if she wants to have sex with multiple partners, she would never have to go looking for a taxpayer-funded abortion.
a resident of Parkside
on May 8, 2012 at 3:35 pm
The mushhead Rush Limbaugh couldn't have twisted the facts any better.
Churches aren't agencies that belong to govt either. Yet they get funded for all sorts of things. Repubs don't want to challenge this, however. Because the sick misogynist creeps only want to attack women's ability to gain health care (including birth control aids), they invited a bunch of misogynist religious white men ("experts" on women's health issues, not) to testify about the horrors of birth control as being part of health care for women.
Fluke is a student at Georgetown Univ Law School. She is a political activist. So what? So are the old religious white guys who Repubs stacked so shamelessly on the panel.
Efforts to restrict women's access to health care is hardly a phoney war. It constitutes a direct assault upon women, and especially poor women who don't have money to cross state or nat'l boundaries to attend to their health care needs.
The sicko creep above, casts aspersions against Ms. Fluke because "she wants to have sex with multiple partners." In fact, how many partners one has has no bearing on one's felt need for health care in the form of birth control. Fluke's own situation is a bit more complicated, because her birth control needs are bound up with other physical needs.
Fluke was testifying in order to make the argument that Georgetown, as part and parcel of offering students a health care package, should not exclude birth control needs as one and the same with health care needs.
The sicky above hears about sex and can't get sex out of his mind. Like Rush, he insinuates that Fluke is sexually "loose" and therefore an abomination who doesn't deserve health care.
That said, I offer my thanks to the sick mushhead above who so amply demonstrates how Republicans are waging war against women. Many thanks.
a resident of Foothill High School
on May 8, 2012 at 5:36 pm
There is, indeed, a war on women. Left radicals with the President of America as their representative successfully convince women that they are nothing but brainless sex machines discriminated by white straight men and not capable of surviving without strong government supervision. The rest of the country, including independently thinking women, fail to prove them wrong; to show that women are not as stupid as professors of liberal arts schools are.
If the polls are correct and not a Pravda style media representation of reality, the majority of women agree with the left.
Of course, kids are the ones who is getting hurt most.
a resident of Dublin
on May 8, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Janna is a registered user.
Somewhere around thirty states have GOP sponsored abortion bills. There's even one that claims women are pregnant even before they've had their cycle. Now I seem to remember something called Roe v. Wade which allows women to have abortions and under what time constraints and circumstances. These state sponsored bills are proposed for what reason? To put more restrictions on women. Cause you know we are just too stupid to manage our own reproductive rights being the lesser sex and all. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little from writing that last part.
I think the above poster, facts (as if he had any) is a Rush wannabe sicko. Elizabeth, you are so right on!
a resident of Parkside
on May 8, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Thanks Janna, and I agree. The GOP is crawling with sick old white men who think they still have a claim on our bodies. (And then there is poor Anna, who I feel very sorry for.)
Anything involving reproduction or sex immediately has them going into the sewers of their minds, culling up all things lurid. Their inability (or downright refusal) to recognize birth control as a woman's health issue speaks to just what kinds of moral dinosaurs remain at the core of the Republican Party. Theirs is a sickness that needs to be pointed out. Mark my words. This shall not help them at all come election time. Do they actually think we don't think about and know about our own bodies and health needs? Staggering!
a resident of West of Foothill
on May 8, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Cindy, you bring up alot of great information for all of to think about. The GOP would love all women to crawl back to the 1950's and never question anything that might affect their rights. Lets not let that happen. Planned Parenthood serves the community for women and men alike. P.S. Mr Mittens you make my skin crawl with your woman hating comments. You need to crawl back under that rock from which your slithered.
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on May 9, 2012 at 8:40 am
"Cause you know we are just too stupid to manage our own reproductive rights being the lesser sex and all. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little from writing that last part."
Thanks for pointing out the obvious...good thing someone in govt is looking out for you. Makes one wonder how you got by this far without more govt assistance.
"Let's continue to set the bar low enough so that pregnant women in most states who can't afford to travel out of state for an abortion will think twice before getting pregnant again."
How about just thinking once....therein lies the problem, troll.
a resident of Dublin
on May 9, 2012 at 9:04 am
Janna is a registered user.
The problem, mittens, is that you and most of your republican friends are misogynists. End of story. Let's start legislating what you can do with your penis and then we can have a semi-balanced debate about reproductive issues.
a resident of Vintage Hills
on May 9, 2012 at 7:39 pm
This whole war on women is just a fake and stupid situation created by liberals as a way to discredit republicans. Both sides do it, remember the GOP and their ludicrous war on Christmas? Wise up, people, don't be tools in the political fights.
a resident of Danbury Park
on May 10, 2012 at 6:52 pm
a resident of another community
on May 15, 2012 at 10:57 am
jimf01 is a registered user.
The voters have apparently seen right through the DCCC and Obama 2012 ginned up "War on Women".
Web Link
The newest CBS-NY Times poll shows that Mitt Romney now leads Obama 46-44 among women in the latest poll.
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you know with the media stacking the deck for the anti gun crowd we need and effective tool to support the constitution and the second.
i was just thinking
"boy that outdoor meet really went down the tubes QUICK!"
you know the government has its LISTS and god forbid you end up on one.
we need our own LIST of the businesses that support the 2nd and the constitution.
those that will not support the constitution and the 2nd we need to stop spending our hard earned $$ there.
businesses that either don't support the 2nd need to be boycotted. and possibly picketed as well.
this can't turn into extortion --like give money to support the NRA--
it has to go like all they have to do is sign a statement saying the support the 2nd--??
the pro gun people are making a list and checking it twice--don't be a naughty dirty gun grabbing communist! sign here to support your constitutional rights and the right to bear arms!
any thoughts?


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OK, my wife is a 49ers fan---not real hardcore, but a fan none the less. So we came up with this friendly marital bet---should the 49ers win next week, I will be changing my avatar on here to a 49ers logo, as well as on my Facebook and Twitter pages. I will keep it up for a week, since I am a man of my word.
When I told her that she will have to change her profile pic on facebook to a Giants logo/pic, she said that would not be a problem for her, since she does not hate the Giants---go figure!?!?!?!? I wonder if I could come up with another stipulation---any thoughts?
I think she is just saying that, just to keep a harmonious home environment--LOL!!
I posted this here, not sure if this is a smack talk topic or could be post in the Talk about Giants forum


text: This is my first year that I have had a set of season tickets in my name. I know of a couple games that I can't make it this year, so I want to put them up for sale. Does anyone know when the "ticket Exchange" will usually start listing those games? I noticed that there are tickets to buy through this service, but when I called the ticket office, they told me it was just brokers who have theirs listed since they have it set up another way. Season ticket holders will be able to do it soon. (This conversation was back in May.) I am prety sure I know what to do. I click manage tickets, and then select the game I want to sell. Right now though, the only thing listed is the draft party tickets from last may.


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Leave It to Beaver
From Wikiquote
(Redirected from Leave it to Beaver)
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy (sitcom) that ran from 1957 to 1963. It is about the Cleaver family, starring:
- Beaver (Jerry Mathers) as the youngest son
- Wally (Tony Dow) as the oldest son
- June (Barbara Billingsley) as the mother
- Ward (Hugh Beaumont) as the father
|This TV article is a stub. You can help Wikiquote by expanding it.
Season One[edit]
Season one features Wally and the Beaver being in Grammar school.
Quotes from Season One:
- June: "I got a call from your principal's office. Do you know why I would need to go to the principal's office?
Beaver: Wally must have done something bad.


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Freewheeling Fun on the Adriatic Coast
Battaglin USA • Rimini, Italy
Escape Kit
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- Or, a Six-Night Stay for One Non-Cyclist in a Four-Star Rimini Hotel ($840 - $1,199)
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- Daily Breakfast, Dinner, and Snacks
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In addition, cyclists will ride each day with a professional guide on organized routes for $1,320 from now to May 7, 2012 or September 1, 2012 to June 15, 2013; $1,740 from May 8 to May 14, 2012 (Giro d'Italia Premium Week); or $1,500 from June 15 to September 1, 2012. You don't have to bike, though—non-cyclists also are welcome for $840 from now to May 7, 2012 or September 1, 2012 to June 15, 2013; $1,199 from May 8 to May 14, 2012 (Giro d'Italia Premium Week); or $959 from June 15 to September 1, 2012.
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Bring your own set of wheels or rent high-end carbon road bikes for an additional $300—simply specify your bike size at time of booking.
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Pedal up hills and coast into valleys along many of the same routes followed by the Giro d'Italia. Explore a side of Italy tourists rarely see as you pass beneath lush olive trees and above dramatic beaches on a scenic ride. You'll even hit the brakes at a local winery and farm for tastings and an Italian cooking class after one of your rides.
When you cross the finish line, refuel with snacks. Then, shift gears to rest or take part in optional activities before heading to the spa and health center. Every afternoon, a sauna session, Turkish bath, or dip in the whirlpool will help clear your airways and work toxins out of your muscles; you'll also have a ten-percent discount toward all spa services.
Reconvene for dinner with the rest of the chain gang, then spend evening free time on a Tour de Rimini. The city's best boutiques and designer shops line the Corso d'Augusto, but bi-weekly markets offer a more eclectic mix of local wares. Though famous for its beaches and nearly 200 discotheques, Rimini also boasts historic sites like the Arco d'Augusto, built by the Romans in 27 BC.
Get ahead of the pack on this week's freewheeling trip through Italy for an Escape that will keep you on the edge of your banana seat.
For additional information, view the sample itinerary and watch this video from the Travel Channel.
"Rimini's nine-mile stretch of sand along the Adriatic Coast once attracted holiday crowds. But the birthplace of Fellini has been reborn as Italy's bling party capital, drawing style-conscious Romans to its raging club scene."-- The New York Times
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What has happened to our nation?
Where have all the sensible people gone?
We are suffering from a binge on entitlements, a hangover from the dysfunction of government, and a chronic case of crabs in every office of government in the land. We praise idiots because they entertain us in movies, they play doctors and lawyers and politicians, and then we think they can solve our woes because they acted the part once. What kind of idiocy breeds this kind of logic?
We have politicians who believe themselves above us, above the law and above reproach. They demand the respect due them because of the office they hold, all the while forgetting that it is an office of responsibility, not power. Decrees abound, from the minds and mouths of fools with no understanding of the issues. They posture and primp, speaking words full of sounds but devoid of any meaning.
We are told that we have no idea what is right; so we must be lead, by force if need be, to the trough of understanding where we will be shackled for our own well-being. These same elites tell us that for too long, we have run amuck without the benefit of their hand to guide us. We have caused ourselves harm, and now it must be made right by the proper masters of our fates. They demand obedience and loyalty on pain of shame at the least and death at the most. If we speak out or ask why, we are marginalized. We are said to be in poor mental health, given to fancy and irrational thinking and ultimately a danger to ourselves and to society at large. We must be brought under control before the nation suffers irreparable harm.
Conform, conform, conform… And like rats in a maze, people search for the reward of conforming to the system set before us.
I will not conform. I will not divide my soul for a crumb, nor will I ask permission to think as God has given me sovereignty over my own mind and my own actions. If it means my life to live free of intrusion, so be it, though it not be my desire. My life I will give to speak the truth as it is, not as I am told to think.
If your life is so short of value that the comfort of conformity is your guiding principle, then may your life be long and filled with unfulfilled dreams. And when at the end of your time you find the empty hole where your spirit once rested, let it be the only place in which to shed your tears of regret.
Though I may die, yet may I live: in the sound of the wind, the lightning in the night sky and the crash of waves upon every shore…for my body may be no more, but none but Hashem can quench my spirit.
Photo Credit: marsmet 541 (Creative Commons)


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Stay connected with us to get the latest health and fitness news, innovative workouts, healthy recipes and wellness tips.
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STARTING POSITION: Sit in the machine, with your back and sacrum flat against the machine's backrest. Place your feet on the resistance plate, and adjust your seat and foot position so that the bend in your knees is at approximately 90 degrees with your heels flat. Knees are parallel and your toes are lined up with your knees. Lightly grasp any available handles to stabilize your upper extremity. Brace your abdominal muscles to stabilize your spine. Do not allow movement in your low back throughout the exercise.
Slowly exhale while pushing the resistance plate away from your body. Keep your heels flat against the resistance plate and avoid any movement in the upper extremity.
Continue to straighten your legs until the knees are straight but not locked. The heels should still be pressed firmly into the plate. Do not round the low back, lock-out your knees or allow your butt to lift off the seat pad.
Pause briefly then slowly return to your starting position in a slow, controlled manner. Do not allow your upper thighs to compress your ribcage. Repeat the movement.
Exercise Variation: Single-leg press.Repeat the same exercise, but use each leg independently Improper technique can lead to injury. Control the extension phase by keeping your heels in contact with the plate and avoid locking out your knees. During the return phase, control the movement and avoid compressing your upper thighs against your ribcage.