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Re: st: doubt on Mata using multiple loops
"Joseph Coveney" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Re: st: doubt on Mata using multiple loops
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:49:22 +0900
Gioia de Melo wrote:
I have problems linking two matrices with for and if.
Matrix X is of n*5, in the first column it identifies firms, columns 2:5
identify firms that are connected to firm in column 1. I need to create a
symmetric matrix A nxn that has 1 in cells between two firms that are
I run this program but it does not alter A although it does not point any
[mata code omitted]
Thank you for your help.
If I understand your dataset correctly, then the mata function below should
work. You can see whether I understood your data structure (firm connections)
by examining the listing that the do-file does with the toy dataset it creates.
As a data-integrity check, the function will optionally give you values greater
than one if your dataset contains redundant connections (duplicate data). The
values shown in the returned matrix are the tallies of duplicate connections.
The option is on by default.
I haven't checked the code in order to see whether it works correctly
as-intended, but you can at least get an idea of how to do loops more
efficiently than what you showed. I used a single loop in order to go through
the firms one-by-one. This would be slower than a colon operator, but I suspect
that a colon operator requires creating a second n-by-n matrix inside the
function, and so using the one loop trades-off some speed for memory efficiency.
Joseph Coveney
version 11.0
clear *
set more off
set seed `=date("2010-03-15", "YMD")'
local firm_tally 20
set obs `firm_tally'
generate byte firm_nr = _n
// Each firm may be "connected to" up to four of the others
quietly forvalues connection = 1/4 {
// A value of zero means the firm is unconnected
generate byte connected_to`connection' = ///
floor((`firm_tally' + 1) * runiform())
replace connected_to`connection' = 0 ///
if connected_to`connection' == _n
list , noobs abbreviate(15) separator(0)
mata set matastrict on
real matrix function getConnectedFirms(| real scalar show_duplicates) {
show_duplicates = (args() == 0) ? 1 : show_duplicates // Opt-out
real matrix Results
Results = J(st_nobs(), st_nobs(), 0)
transmorphic colvector Firms
Firms = (.)
st_view(Firms, ., 1)
real rowvector Connections // Can't transpose a view
Connections = (.)
real scalar connection_nr, firm_nr // Indexes
for (connection_nr=2; connection_nr<=st_nvar(); connection_nr++) {
Connections = st_data(., connection_nr)'
for (firm_nr=1; firm_nr<=st_nobs(); firm_nr++) {
Results[firm_nr, .] = Results[firm_nr, .] :+
(Firms[firm_nr, .] :== Connections)
if (show_duplicates) {
else {
return(Results :> 0)
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/


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subset: commoncrawl


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Review: All About Brian Robbens Respark The Romance
When I heard that superstar relationship guru, motivational speaker, and Amazon.com bestselling author Brian Robbens had a new book – or should I say a new series of books – you can bet I was excited.
You see, I've been following Robbens' work for years, as he's helped out literally hundreds of men and women from across this country and beyond – and, now with the use of the internet and his many websites, he's helping men and women from all around the world.
He's helped single men and women get into relationships and he's helped men and women in relationships to stay in relationships. But now, Brian Robbens is taking on an even greater challenge: men and women in long-term committed relationships.
Over And Over Again, The Attraction Is Lost
There are a lot of names for it: the seven year itch, battle fatigue, or the dreaded euphemism "just getting comfortable with each other" – but no matter what you call it, it means one thing: the relationship has gone stale and it needs work.
Men in relationships may start to notice that their women aren't the same hungry, libidinous powerhouses that they used to be in the bedroom, and women may start to notice that their men aren't the swooning, romantic gentlemen they used to be on dates. In his new series Brian promises a solution to this serious problem.
[Make Sure To Check Out: 15 ADVANCED RULES To Create Strong and Healthy Relationship]
What Is This eBook All About?
It's one of the most comprehensive, the most carefully researched, the most scientifically proven, and certainly the most well written book about re-kindling romance and sexual appetites ever published on the internet. Robbens' prose is truly masterful as he delivers scintillating, imaginative, exceptional words of wisdom. He truly has met several men and women in his life, and it comes across.
He has deep insights about the inner workings of men and women you won't find in your average, garden variety supermarket checkout aisle "How To Seduce Women" guide or "Ten Tips To Drive Your Man Wild" article in some cheesy girl's magazine. These are specific, actionable, and entirely sensible tips that will make you wonder in amazement.
Men And Women Are Different, You Know That Right?
Men and women are different. We all know it, and it's clear just by looking at it. But it goes deeper, too. They think differently and feel differently, too. And of course, they act differently in relationships, with different needs, wants, and desires.
The author knows this fact very well, and so he's devised two entirely separate guides to help out both genders with the specific issues they have in relationships. His guides are sensitive to the different relationship needs each gender has, and the different expectations they have of the other gender as well.
In conclusion it has to be said that Respark The Romance can help you to bring romance, passion and sexual desire back into your relationship, doesn't matter what age you are. A huge factor for success with that is that you are willed to change your relationship to the better. – resparktheromancereview.org
For men, you can guess what that means. It means sex, and that means finding a way to make your woman attracted to you again. Robbens teaches you how to master his Sexual Arrousal Control, where you'll be able to control your woman like a wild dog.
His Who Moved My Sex Toy technique turns you into her object of desire. And Robbens' Sexual Rubber Band trick will mean she's always coming back to you for more. There's also the 30 Second Thumb Trick, which, suffice it to say, is a ladies' favorite.
Save Your Relationship With Respark The Romance System
And women? Well we all know what women want. Flowers, chocolates, hugs, talking, sharing, and being honest with each other. Brian Robbens' Respark The Romance for women is your complete guide to getting back that lovey dovey feeling you both had at the beginning.
You'll find out about Robbens' revolutionary Emotional Turbulence Formula, which explains how and why relationships change over time, you'll get his Quick Start Romantic Black Book which contains keyboard shortcuts to a better life, and his extra special secret notebook to Unleash His Hidden Passion.
There Are Some Minor Negatives
But of course, no guide is perfect. Every rose has its thorn, and every day its early morning. As an established reviewer, I always find it important to take a look at both the positives and the negatives of a thing I'm reviewing – but boy did Robbens make it tough!
This guide is so amazingly good that I can't imagine anyone not benefiting from it. That being said, there is one group of people who might not find anything beneficial in it. You see, almost all the advice in the books is for men to help them with women, or women to help them with men.
[You Might Want To Read: Improve Your Sex Life And Become A Better Lover With These 14 Tips]
What about the men in relationships with other men, and the women in relationships with other women? Even though they represent a comparatively small percentage of the market share for relationship guides, don't they need advice too?
But the advice contained in these guides is so incredibly insightful and clever, that I wouldn't be surprised if gay men and lesbians could find advice in here that applied to them and their partners too.
Besides that, my only problem is that it's only available as an ebook. That means there's a whole group of people who might not be able to benefit from it – people without computers! Senior citizens have relationship problems too, and so do other people who don't know how to use computers or don't have access to them.
Hopefully one day this book will be available as a deluxe hardcover with a beautiful dust jacket. That way everyone can enjoy it – and I can proudly display it on a shelf where it belongs, and lend it to all my friends so they can benefit from its wisdom as well.
Final Verdict – Should You Get This eBook From Mr. Robbens?
I really can't recommend this book to the extent that it deserves. It has so much great actionable advice, as well as many, many stories about people just like you who could use some advice – and then it gives that advice!
Verdict? – Download Now, Simple As That
Whether you're a man or a woman, you'll see real results with your relationship by reading this book, then talking with your spouse about your problems, listening to what they have to say, and trying to alter problem areas and work on your relationship together. After all, a good relationship requires trust, communication, love, respect, and Brian Robbens to teach you some special tricks.


text:
Obama to Tap Kerry for Sec. of State
Updated 10:46 a.m. -- Massachusetts senator and onetime Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry will be nominated this afternoon as the next Secretary of State, NBC confirms.
Kerry, who has been considered the overwhelming frontrunner for the job since Susan Rice withdrew herself from consideration, is likely to face few hurdles during his Senate confirmation.
First elected in 1984, Kerry served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy and became a famed demonstrator against the Vietnam War. Since his failed presidential bid in 2004, he has risen to prominence as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, going on high-profile visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan and helping to negotiate an arms treaty with Russia.
Kerry also served as President Barack Obama's stand-in for Mitt Romney for debate preparation during the 2012 campaign.
Rice faced vehement opposition from some Senate Republicans who questioned information she presented in the immediate wake of the Benghazi consulate attacks in September. Faced with a bruising potential confirmation battle, she withdrew herself from the running for the Secretary of State post on December 13th.
If confirmed, Kerry will replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has indicated she will step down from the post early next year.
White House officials tell NBC News that Kerry will be the only new member of the president's national security team to be named today. Controversy continues to swirl over Obama's rumored favorite for the next Secretary of Defense, former Republican senator Chuck Hagel, whose comments about Israel as well as past stances on LGBT issues have rankled those on both sides of the aisle.
But administration officials say they are not "backing off" Hagel as a potential pick, although no final decisions about the Defense or top CIA posts have been made.
For the original story:
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Labor rush to trump tax cuts
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"Most of it will go toward child care so I can go back into the workforce" ... Cathy Bensley with Bryanna, Bradley and David Nathan yesterday. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
The Labor Party is planning to extend the Government's $14.7 billion budget tax cuts with further relief for lower income earners, as the Coalition makes contingency plans to hold an election within the next couple of months.
In particular, people earning $30,000 to $52,000 are likely to be promised tax cuts by Labor.
Signalling a pre-election tax- cut auction between the Coalition and Labor, Mr Latham said: "We want to broaden the tax relief and make this package fairer and make it more productive for the Australian economy.
"There are a lot of people out there on those income bands $30,000 to $52,000 who are getting stuck in, having a go.They want to work more and work harder and they are not going to get any incentive and encouragement out of this budget."
Although Mr Latham is not expected to reveal full details of Labor's tax cuts in his speech replying to the budget tonight, he will outline the general direction of cuts for lower income earners.
Labor Party sources said that the plan was to produce a much bigger tax relief package than the Government's.
This would be on top of the tax cuts offered to middle- and high-income earners by the Government in the budget, which Labor has agreed to support.
Even though Labor will support these tax cuts, Mr Latham criticised them, saying four out of five taxpayers who earned less than $52,000 a year would miss out.
But Labor's attack was blunted by two embarrassing mistakes.
The shadow treasurer, Simon Crean, said 8.5 million families did not receive a cent from the budget tax cuts - a claim that the Treasurer, Peter Costello, rejected in Parliament when he tabled 2001 census figures showing that the number of families in the country was 4.9 million.
And Mr Latham, asked on radio how much more money he and his wife would receive from Mr Costello after the budget, said: "I don't think we get anything . . . we're part of the 60 per cent of the country that has been forgotten in the budget."
This gave Mr Costello an opportunity to lampoon Mr Latham in Parliament, saying: "A leader of the Opposition last time I looked was paid more than $52,000 [the level which attracts tax cuts]."
Labor sources argue that Mr Latham thought he was being asked whether he and his wife would receive family benefits.
The Government meanwhile wasted no time pushing its budget family measures through the lower house. The legislation, introduced without notice on Tuesday night, was rushed through yesterday with less than an hour's debate. It now goes to the Senate.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, and Mr Costello blitzed the airwaves to sell the budget, which contained an unprecedented $37 billion in family, tax and superannuation measures.
Economists are divided over whether the big-spending budget will bring unnecessary stimulus to the economy and increase the pressure for an interest rate rise.
Some warn that the tax cuts and new family assistance payments will provide a bigger than expected boost to consumer spending that may worry the Reserve Bank. Others believe the extra spending power will help offset the confidence-sapping effects of the housing downturn.
As Labor works on its tax policy, its options for giving relief to those earning less than $52,000 a year will be costly.
One way to deliver a saving to all taxpayers would be to lift the tax-free threshold of $6000. But this would be very expensive, with a $1000 rise costing $5.8 billion over four years, says the consultant Access Economics.
Labor has already announced alternative spending policies worth about $8 billion with offsetting savings, and so could have difficulty finding new savings to fund extra tax relief.
Mr Costello indicated that it was too early for the Government to contemplate extra tax relief for those earning under $52,000.
When asked if he would try and deliver further tax cuts, he said: "Can't we just savour the 24-hour period [since the budget tax cuts were announced]. If you are eating the meat pie, don't think about the custard tart."
The shadow assistant treasurer and revenue spokesman, David Cox, said that 2.8 million families and single adults in NSW - about 78 per cent of the total - would receive no tax cut because their taxable incomes are below $52,000.


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Joo Chiat road - red light district?
Trip Start Mar 27, 2006
95Trip End Dec 03, 2006
Map your own trip!
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Where I stayed
We left the German guy we were sharing a room with in the YMCA hostel exactly where we found him - in his bed. In fact the first two nights we were staying there he spent the whole day in bed then would disappear in the evening and come in at about 8am and spend the rest of the day in bed like a beached whale. He said he had been there about 10 days, and wouldn't have been surprised if he hadn't seen daylight in all that time. Admittedly I'm not one to talk as before I came traveling my life consisted of crawling out of bed for breakfast when most people were finishing a days work.
So anyway we checked into a hostel called the Betel Box yesterday on Joo Chiat road which is away from the main city centre of Singapore. This is similar to the first place we stayed in Singapore, with 14 to a dorm. The staff are really friendly and there are loads of facilities like free Internet, free breakfast, free tea and coffee, free DVD rental, a million free travel guides to read, snooker, table football and god knows what else. Definitely worth staying in if your in Singapore for any length of time. After checking in we headed towards the beach which we eventually found. It's quite nice but it seems that every beach we come across since leaving Thailand doesn't really compare. Still a beach is a beach and spent the rest of the day there watching all the fitness fanatics running and roller blading up and down. Last night we went out to go looking for a pub as we had walked past loads in the day on the way to the hostel. It took a while to realise that they weren't exactly pubs or kareoke bars in the sense that we expected and I suppose it should have clicked earlier with them all having blacked out windows and signs saying visa/mastercards excepted here. Although it doesn't say so in any of the guides I've read on the Internet I'm pretty sure this is the red light district of Singapore. It's definitely not geared for tourists in the same way Thailand is with the girls standing out on the street literally dragging you in. It says that any foreigners must have there passports on them if they want to enter, I can only guess this is so they can take it off you and charge ridiculous amounts when you want to leave. So sufficed to say we weren't about to learn the hard way (can't really see what other way you could learn about it) about the Singapore sex scene and didn't venture in any of them.
Today it has got to be the most humid it has been, although seem to be saying that everyday. Definitely to hot to do anything and really tempted to pop back to the YMCA hostel to use there pool.


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Microsoft Word Stories December 2, 2014
Microsoft Word Stories August 27, 2014
Dropbox has today slashed its pricing and doubled the maximum storage space from 500GB to 1TB. Up until yesterday, you'd have been paying $500/year for 500GB; today you can pay just $120/year (or $99/year when paying annually) for a terabyte.
The new deal finally brings Dropbox into line with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, with Apple's new iCloud pricing – which includes iCloud Drive – also looking to be broadly similar … expand full story
Microsoft Word Stories August 11, 2014
Microsoft Word Stories December 19, 2012
Google made some announcements today regarding its work with the Quickoffice team since acquiring the company in June. On top of noting work to take advantage of Quickoffice conversion technology in Google Docs, Google launched a free version of the QuickOffice iPad app exclusively for Google Apps for Business customers today. There are also free iPhone and Android versions of the app for creating and editing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files coming to Apps customers in the near future:
Converting old files to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides is the easiest way to share and work together, but perhaps not everyone you work with has gone Google yet. To complement what you can do with Google documents, we're also making it easier for you to make quick edits to Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files without conversion. Starting today, the Quickoffice iPad app is available for free to all Apps for Business customers, and iPhone and Android versions are on the way.
Vice President of Google Enterprise Amit Singh welcomed the announcement on his Twitter account: "Customers can now get Quickoffice for free. No need to license microsoft for your ipad."
[tweet https://twitter.com/aksingh77/status/281531037249581056] expand full story
Everyone can use an Echo Dot: Just $50!
Microsoft Word Stories March 21, 2012
Google Docs can now spell check
threw through the Web.
Software Engineer Yew Jin Lim took to the official Google Docs blog this afternoon to explain how the Internet is helping Google Docs get smarter. The ambiguous and ever-adapting Googlebot is able to crawl cyberspace and adapt to words. The resulting action enables Google to improve suggestions during misspelled queries in Google Search. Well now, the same process is applied to Google Docs…


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post #16 of 21 Old 05-25-2009, 01:40 AM
I think you could pull it off if you had that color somewhere else on your car too, like a window sticker or vinyl decal or something. Maybe the color could be muted a bit? Maybe you could find black lugnuts? I've seen a lot worse out here in S. CA, that's for sure.
Stroked and stoked!
post #17 of 21 Old 05-25-2009, 10:54 AM
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Wow that just screams attention.
post #18 of 21 Old 05-25-2009, 02:56 PM
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Have you decided not to do this? I hope you don't...
355 awhp fp green six speed wagon in Corvette Atomic Orange
post #19 of 21 Old 05-25-2009, 03:16 PM Thread Starter
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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theres a local powder coating place around town that im going to go to and see if he can powder coat the stock rims which are the rims on the front of the car to gold. ive done alot of looking on google for pics of wrx with orange and gold rims and gold rims look a lot better. thanks for everyones 2cents on the rims.
post #20 of 21 Old 06-17-2009, 07:48 PM
BLAH! Go black or leave them alone. If you're in love with it, it's your car, but orange really screams, "Too much money, no idea what to do with it!" Black rims look really sweet tho.
post #21 of 21 Old 06-17-2009, 08:25 PM
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I wouldnt do it
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Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Habitat and Distribution: Found across Alaska and Canada south along outer coasts of the United States, the gulf coast and great lakes region and large rivers and water bodies across the interior.
Size: 33-43 inches long; 7-15 pounds; wingspan 7-8 feet. Females are larger than males.
Wild Diet: Primarily fish (especially salmon); also waterfowl, herons, small mammals, and carrion
Predators: Bald eagles have no natural predators. Chicks are usually well guarded, but an unguarded chick may be taken by a hawk, raccoon, or great horned owl.
Reproduction: Bald eagles mate for life. Mated pairs add material to their "aeries," or nests, every breeding year. Females usually lay 1-3 eggs a few days apart and these are incubated for about 34 days. Both parents hunt and offer food to the eaglets for about 12 weeks until they are able to leave the nest. Fledglings stay near their parents for another few months, learning how to hunt and fly. Usually only the largest of the chicks will survive.Behavior: Bald eagles are solitary outside of the breeding season. To hunt, a bald eagle perches high in a tree overlooking a water source, using its excellent eyesight to scan the area for movement. When it spots a fish, it flies over the water's surface and snatches its prey with powerful, textured toes and sharp talons. Bald eagles are also known to steal fish from the talons of another bird and may scavenge on carcasses of deer, elk, or beached marine mammals. Because they require open water to hunt, they may migrate seasonally if they live in a place where water freezes over in the winter.
IUCN Status: Least Concern
Bald eagles were brought to near extinction. In the mid-1900s, crops were sprayed with the pesticide DDT, which washed into streams and rivers where it was consumed by fish. Bald eagles ingested those fish and started laying eggs with soft shells that were easily crushed in incubation. The federal government has since outlawed the use of DDT in the United States and has provided protection to bald eagle nesting sites, allowing bald eagle populations to recover. Because this species is widespread and its population is now increasing, it has been reassigned as Least Concern.
Did you know?
- Bald eagles are good swimmers. If a bald eagle latches on to a fish too heavy to lift out of the water, it may swim a great distance to shore, dragging the fish onto land to eat it.
- The bald eagle's name comes from an old English word, "balde," meaning white.
- Eaglets are born light gray then turn brown. When they are 4 to 5 years old, they develop their normal white heads and tails.
- Little bumps on the bottom of their feet, called "spicules," help them get a good grip on their prey.


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LAND HO, INC. is America's Premier Land Wholesaler. We offer a wide variety of properties across this great nation. Whether you're looking for building lots, waterfront property, scenic ranches, wooded campsites or vast acreage, Land Ho has the right parcels for you at prices you won't believe!Some of the merits of owning land are:
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Consider allocating a portion of your assets to land. Statistics demonstrate that a well diversified portfolio reduces overall risk.
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Whenever there is doubt, that creates another step on your staircase. Doubt is telling you that you need to take another step. Each time there is an...
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Take Another Step
March 12, 2009
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March 11, 2009
Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week began six years ago, somewhat as a whim. I've spent most of my professional life—over the last thirty years—editing, archiving, and presenting the...
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The Taking Of Patty Hearst
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Photo that defined an era: US heiress Patty Hearst robbing a bank.
Photo: Supplied
* * *1/2
(M) Nova (digital)
An iconic image of the 1970s is of Patty Hearst, beret on head, gun in hand, posing in front of a symbol of a multi-headed snake: an American heiress and student, who, shortly after being abducted, apparently aligned herself with her captors, the self-styled Symbionese Liberation Army.
She renamed herself Tania, after Che Guevara's girlfriend, and joined in bank robberies and other revolutionary acts.
Robert Stone's documentary focuses not so much on Hearst, but on the phenomenon and the spectacle, and on the activists who kidnapped her and found ways to force the American media to broadcast their political affirmations and demands.
Two SLA members, Russ Little and Mike Bortin, who were involved before and after the kidnap, talk frankly about the organisation and its members, and there is ample, revealing archival footage that gives a vivid, immediate picture of events.
Little was an early adherent, who, by the time of the kidnapping, was in jail, charged with the murder of a black high-school superintendent. Bortin was a sympathiser who helped shelter some members of the group.
They give critical views of the organisation and its members, most of them high-achieving, middle-class, white students, male and female, who took revolutionary names and planned their missions, with the aid of an older black recruit, a prison escapee who reinvented himself as Field Marshal Cinque.
Stone sets a context for the contemporary disillusionment and radicalisation of a generation, without resorting to any undue psychological speculation about individual motives. At the same time, he makes it clear that the organisation gravitated towards violence and murder, and there is a sense of the SLA's ad hoc planning, its quasi-militaristic stylings and fantasies and the rhetoric exemplified by its slogan, "Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people!".
It's a dispassionate, distanced portrait that includes the use of clips from films such as Che (starring Omar Sharif) and Costa-Gavras' State of Siege, as well as Zorro and Robin Hood (used for sardonic effect), to suggest the SLA's world view and vision.
The kidnap of Hearst - granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst of Citizen Kane fame - was intended, at first, to be used as a way to bargain for the release of Little and a fellow-prisoner from jail.
Some critics of Guerrilla suggest that it fails to address the mystery of her apparent conversion, but others have attempted to do this. Stone's version makes for an extraordinary, bewildering narrative.
He follows up, in inevitably limited fashion, the aftermath: how various SLA members have been found, tried and jailed, decades on, for crimes including murder, and - he makes clear, without labouring it - how different is Hearst's fate. Her abduction and its spectacle remain haunting episodes in American history. Stone's film presents them in intriguing, non-judgemental detail.
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text:
Intro: "A Fox Orlando affiliate described Neo-Nazis as 'a civil rights group' on a television broadcast and online. The group of Neo-Nazis, known as the National Socialist Movement, has been conducting armed patrols of the streets of Sanford, Florida, the town where Trayvon Martin was shot dead."
Neo-Nazis have been patrolling Sanford, FL, where Trayvon Martin was killed. (photo: Violent Extremism)
Fox Affiliate Calls Neo-Nazis 'A Civil Rights Group'
09 April 12
Fox Orlando affiliate decribed Neo-Nazis as "a civil rights group" on a television broadcast and online. The group of Neo-Nazis, known as the National Socialist Movement, has been conducting armed patrols of the streets of Sanford, Florida, the town where Trayvon Marting was shot dead.
The Fox Orlando affiliate, WOFL, aired a shockingly uncritical report of the group's activities. The Fox reporter introduced the group by saying, "There's another civil rights group in town." She also conducts an interview with the group's leader, Jeff Schoep, without challenging any of his claims about the nature and mission of the group. Watch it (via Little Green Footballs):
An article with a brief summary of the segment first appeared online with the headline: "Civil rights group patrolling Sanford." (It was subsequently removed without explaination.)
The Southern Poverty Law Center has more details about the group:
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is one of the largest and most prominent neo-Nazi groups in the United States. The group is notable for its violent anti-Jewish rhetoric, its racist views and its policy allowing members of other racist groups to join NSM while remaining members of other groups. Until 2007, NSM members protested in full Nazi uniforms, now traded in for black "Battle Dress Uniforms." [...]
The group openly idolizes Adolf Hitler, described in NSM propaganda as, "Our Fuhrer, the beloved Holy Father of our age … a visionary in every respect." NSM says only heterosexual "pure-blood whites" should be allowed U.S. citizenship and that all nonwhites should be deported, regardless of legal status. As Schoep put it: "The Constitution was written by white men alone. Therefore, it was intended for whites alone."
The Fox reporter, Jennifer Bisram, includes none of the group's Nazi ties or incindiary history in her report. She concludes: "They say they are just a civil rights group tyring to protect people in case things get out of hand. They say they intend to follow all the Florida laws while patrolling."
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What do you expect?
When government permits a gang of thugs like the Black panthers to intimidate voting places or put up million dollar bounties with out getting prosecuted as they deserve - your giving cart blank for other a*holes to do the same.
Great (sarcastic) more fools.
What do you expect?
When government permits a gang of thugs like the Black panthers to intimidate voting places or put up million dollar bounties with out getting prosecuted as they deserve - your giving cart blank for other a*holes to do the same.
Dude - a group of 5 guys that can only afford 3 uniforms does not a party make. Coffee clatch is their best case scenario. Nice try at deflection - but no ceegar. Blaming the victim is sooo yesterday, can't you guys come up with a new mindless meme?
Promoting racism along with the proliferation of gun ownership is a recipe for disaster.
Blaming the victim is Dr. Goebble's finest contribution to the art of propaganda.
The media did not jump all over the Trayvon Williams story. It was brought to public attention by a few obscure but persistent journalists.
It's essentially Divide & Conquer for the domestic population. Think about it - whenever you see secretarian violence on the news, it's a direct result of colonial policy, be it the British (Northern Ireland, the Partition of India, Palestine) or America (Iraq, Columbia). Now the plundering is moving onto the people at home, why wouldn't they use the same tactics??
The really funny part is that most of Fox News viewers are probably now calling the neo-nazis a civil rights movement. White racists need rights too -- don't they. How else are they going to spew out all that hate and violence?
Sometimes I wonder what America is coming too.
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27 May 2017
'This Is Off the Map': Former Intelligence Officials Say the Reported Kushner-Russia Plan Is Unlike Anything They've Ever Seen
28 May 2017
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So this fellow, Antoine Yates, was keeping a tiger in his apartment in New York because he was lonely. The tiger was his only friend, he said.
However, Antoine was also living with an alligator - presumably just as flat mates, sharing expenses and chores.
New York police believe that Antoine previously roomed with a lion. And a llama. And wasn't there a goat mentioned, too? How those relationships ended, Antoine isn't saying (not until he gets a movie deal, anyway). How he came to live with various beasts at close quarters, he isn't saying either. I figure there's nothing to explain.
I once lived in New York, for three years, where I made seven generous friends - a category of person who offers me food more than once - and four of them ran their loungerooms like farmyards. Or zoos.
Consider Lydia, and her two-metre boa constrictor, which was always getting out of its tank - or Lydia's bed - and wrapping itself around the legs or necks of visitors. Or molesting the free-range turtles that made tremendous pools on parquetry floor. I can't remember the snake's name, or the name of Lydia's boyfriend who turned a strange lavender colour whenever he was being strangled.
What I best recall is the way Lydia sighed whenever she had to remove the snake from somebody's throat. It was as if she'd found a kitten scratching the sofa again. "Ooh, come on, you."
Such bonding with beasts seemed to be happening in every New York neighbourhood. Lydia lived in a nice place, on the upper east side of Manhattan. My friend Joseph was from the upper-upper reaches, in Harlem (where Antoine Yates made a home with his pal the tiger).
Joseph lived with his girlfriend and her little monkey, of the sort popular with organ grinders. The monkey's name was Chi-Chi, and it's a shame I can't recall the girlfriend's name because Joseph loved her very much. Not that he ever told me so - but Chi-Chi was a biter, a thief, a hoarder of rotten vegetables, and a bad tempered thrower of turds. She was a very pretty lass, Joseph's girlfriend. Whenever she giggled, he giggled. He wouldn't have cared if she'd owned an elephant.
Back then I was living in a tenement building, down on the Lower East Side. There was an old man called John with white hair and sparkling eyes who kept the boiler going in the winter, changed the locks when necessary, and fixed loose bricks and shaky fire escapes with a bucket of mortar. He was the "super" and he lived rent-free with 12 cats in one room.
One of the cats had a body nearly a metre long, but the old man got upset if you suggested it was a puma or cougar or something. It was very old, the big cat, gone in the hips, spent most of the time under John's bed. They'd been best friends for a long time. I guess John worried about people complaining to the police.
But it seemed that everybody in the building already knew about it - including six newly arrived Chinese men who lived in bunk beds in a room upstairs. They used to make roaring sounds in the stairwell, in the hope that "John's lion" - as they called the ailing beast - might roar back at them.
Living in the building next door was a man I always called Mr Garcia, and his name was something like that. Both Mr and Mrs Garcia had lisps and other troubles - so I could never be sure.
Mr Garcia kept a goat (which he milked) and a chicken (that gave him an egg every couple of days). Save for a rare and barely-there giggle in the back of its throat, I never heard the goat make a noise. Most of the time it just stood in the rear doorway that opened to the alley they had turned into a garden - and where there was a bed of straw.
The chicken, however, was a menace, a soiling squawker - and clearly Mr Garcia's favourite. I first met them in a park, man and chicken - actually, a concrete plain planted with dead trees, where Latino church people in brightly coloured clothing often came to pray for the soul of the city. On the day I met Mr Garcia, there was nobody else around - just him and the chicken, which he pushed around in a stroller. They were out hunting, for rats, with an old revolver.
This was nearly 20 years ago, when Antoine Yates was still a boy and yearning for a puppy or hamster. Which he may have later fed to something much bigger.
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text:
Driven by rage against her tormentors, the 19-year-old telephone operator who was allegedly gang-raped in Mumbai's Shakti Mills compound on July 31, requested the judge conducting the trial to allow her beat up the men who raped her. The request was, however, turned down by the court.
"The survivor was examined on Wednesday. While deposing, the survivor was weeping continuously. Later the court ordered that curtains be put between her and the accused, after which she continued her deposition," said special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
Nikam said that at one point during the deposition, the girl became emotional and asked the court for permission to beat up the accused. "During the deposition she said that the accused had assaulted her during the rape and hence she requested the court that she be allowed to get even by beating them up. However, the court turned down the request," Nikam said.
The telephone operator was allegedly gang-raped by four men and a juvenile. Three of the men are also also involved in the gang rape of a photojournalist in the same abandoned mill compound on August 22.
The survivor was passing through the compound with her would-be husband towards the railway station when she was waylaid and raped by the accused.
Following the deposition of five witnesses, principal sessions judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi on Wednesday recorded the deposition of the gang rape survivor and her mother.
The girl has identified the accused and her deposition will continue on Thursday. The court also recorded the deposition of her mother.


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An emerging function of clinical analytics is to match patients to the right services at the point of need. One method to perform this matching is to use predictive analytics. We will share how Allina Health has employed a strategy of quasi-real-time risk score calculations based on various data sources available in an enterprise data warehouse to pair patients with those services, including the development and implementation of a readmission predictive model. Then, we will lead a discussion on how risk score calculations were operationalized via automatic calculations and the deployment of in-memory dashboards to make interventions actionable prior to patient discharge. Through this session you will able to gain insight on the developmental, operational, and measurement stages of deploying real-time predictive modeling in today's healthcare setting and how these tools can be implemented while focusing on all elements of the triple-aim; patient experience, care quality, and cost minimization.
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text: You are a knowledgeable business owner and an expert in your field. But what about your retirement future? What will you tap for the income streams that all together comprise your nest egg?Big picture- I own a business. So I understand the day-to-day intensity of being so involved with the details that it can be easy to lose the vision of the big picture. What is your goal with the business? Where are you based on your 5 year plan? How close are you to selling or are you expanding, adding workers or additional locations? And what about your personal goals? Have they gotten sidelined as you advance the business or are you staying focused?Biz and personal – Take a step back and get more detailed in your personal and business planning. Take a day or a weekend and go away and really relax and think about the things you hope to achieve. As a small business owner I know that the Syversens and Norumbega Financial are hard to separate. But pull the two entities apart and examine where you are and where you want to be. And set up your goals and plans to achieve them.Investment plan – Besides a savings cushion what are you investing in for your future? Work with an advisor who can guide you in finding the right investments with the amount of diversification that is right for you and your risk and goals. Consider investing in a personalized mix of stocks, bonds, and alternatives to avoid the all eggs in one basket scenario..Taxes- Involve your tax expert in pre-tax benefits like SIMPLE IRAs for the firm or other tax-advantaged options for you as an individual. And work with advisors who keep you current on changes in regulations.\Succession- What happens with the business when you want to retire or you can't work? Do you have a written succession plan? Do you have insurance products to fund the transition if necessary? Have you updated this information regularly? Does it need updating? Your sudden loss could rip their lives of your loved ones apart. And though in retirement you may have more time to transition, having a clear and well-considered plan is the best policy.Take time to get your personal and business under control and then you will be more ready for every situation with all your bases covered.Citations:http://www.fpanet.org/docs/assets/2-15-07smallbusiness.pdf Marion Syversen, [email protected]ck out our website that includes weekly streaming videosWWW.NorumbegaFinancial.com Disclosure:Only securities and advisory services offered through Wall Street Financial Group, Inc. Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Wall Street Financial Group, Inc. and Norumbega Financial are separate entities, independently owned and operated.


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Our goal is to help those that need help. Our listings include as many halfway houses / sober living facility locations as possible for our users. Many of the in patient treatment center halfway houses offer low income and sliding scale payment programs.
On the details pages of each listing we try to provide as much information as possible as to the type of treatment assistance you can receive at the specified treatment center location. Many are simply sober living halfway houses, while others are also christian alcohol or drug treatment. We also provide location websites and phone numbers for these halfway houses. Give them a call directly to obtain complete information and applications for treatment.
Our list is by no means inclusive and is always growing. If you know of any halfway house in Mesa that we do not have listed below, please help contribute by Adding a New Halfway House Here.
560 South Bellview Street
Mesa, AZ - 85204
(480) 461-1711
The Center for Hope (CFH) is a unique and nationally recognized Best Practice program that provides housing and treatment services to pregnant and parenting women. CFH offers long-term support and residential services to pregnant women in need of a safe and structured environment to address their physical, mental, and emotional health needs. CFH offers group and individual counseling, parenting prRead more
732 W Dana Ave
Mesa, AZ - 85210
(480) 461-1033
Provides transitional halfway housing for recovering substance abusers. Services include Christian counseling in substance abuse. $135/initial week, $125/week thereafter; reduced fees and multi-week discounts available * Call for updated fees as they are subject to change.Read more
3771 East Brooks Farms Road
Gilbert, AZ - 85298
(480) 988-3376
Halfway House Location:
11.99 miles from Mesa
10505 North 69th Street Suite 1100
Paradise Valley, AZ - 85253
Halfway House Location:
15.90 miles from Mesa
4222 E. Thomas Road, Suite 150
Phoenix, AZ - 85040
(602) 553-7300
Halfway House Location:
16.35 miles from Mesa
New Arizona Family, Inc., (NAFI) was established in 1970 to provide residential and outpatient treatment programs for low-income adults who are seriously mentally ill or chemically dependent. NAFI operates a residential addiction and recovery program that serves indigent women and their children. NAFI also provides extensive outpatient services to ...Read more
316 N 11th Way
Phoenix, AZ - 85006
(602) 254-5434
Halfway House Location:
18.14 miles from Mesa
Tony Paskalakis, who saw a need for housing the homeless alcoholic or addict who sincerely wanted to change his life, started our program in 1968. Since our foundation, we have operated Hope House....Read more
4520 North Central Ave Suite #600
Phoenix, AZ - 85012
Halfway House Location:
19.93 miles from Mesa


text:
Just remember it is all Bush's fault.Quote:
Pieces of Marble Fall From Court Facade By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer
21 minutes ago
A basketball-sized piece of marble molding fell from the facade over the entrance to the Supreme Court Monday, landing on the steps near visitors waiting to enter the building.
No one was injured when the stone fell. The chunk of Vermont marble was part of the dentil molding that serves as a frame for nine sculptural figures completed in 1935. The piece that fell was over the figure of Order, near the peak of the building's pediment, and to the right of the figure of Liberty, who has the scales of justice on her lap.
A group of visitors had just entered the building and had passed under the pediment when the stone fell at 9:30 a.m. EST.
Jonathan Fink, a government attorney waiting in line to attend arguments, said, "All of a sudden, these blocks started falling. It was like a thud, thud."
Ed Fisher, a government worker, said some of the marble pieces shattered, spraying the terrace four floors below the pediment with smaller chunks of stone. A group of students from Columbus, Ohio, tried to pocket some of the fragments as souvenirs, Fisher said.
"A few of us attempted to. The police officers were like 'you have to put that back,'" said Sarah Rosenblum, 13, a member of the 8th grade class.
A short time later, workers loaded the roughly 40 pieces into plastic fruit crates and carried them away. Architects estimated a 12 inch by 10 inch piece broke off from the pediment, Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.
The weight of the chunk was not immediately available. However, a cubic foot of Vermont marble weighs 172 pounds, said Robert Pye, director of the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor, Vt.
Earlier in the morning, dozens of people had lined up in hopes of getting a seat for arguments inside the court a practice that is not unusual. Justices were back on the bench Monday following a two-week recess.
The fallen marble lay directly in the center of the path up to the court entrance.
The 70-year-old Supreme Court building is undergoing a $122 million, five-year renovation project, although it is unclear whether the accident was related to that work. The project includes an underground two-story police station.
On the Net:
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Maybe we can blame it on John Roberts? Alito?
I was surprised that any story like this from DC didn't include the phrase, "This is not believed to be the result of any terrorist attack." :smashfrea


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Natural Ways Help Reduce Protein in Urine for Kidney Disease2013-03-06 17:06
Protein in urine or proteinuria and kidney disease interacts largely. Generally, the healthy kidney is able to keep protein from leaking out of the body through glomerular filtering function and kidney tubule's reabsorbing function. Once kidney is damaged, a lot of protein will discharge from the body via urine that drives sufferers to find out natural ways to reduce protein in urine for kidney disease.
◆ Control the intake of protein
If kidney is impaired, excessive low-quality protein will increase kidney's burden largely. Therefore, moderate amount of high-quality protein is needed urgently. Egg white, lean meat, milk and fish are conducive for patients with kidney disease. Most often, one egg white, a glass of milk and 0.1 kg of lean is enough to meet your need of protein.
◆ Eat more fruits that are good for kidney
Patients with kidney disease are always suggested to consume more fruits, but not every fruit is suitable for you. The reason is that different fruits contain various nutrition that determine who can eat them. Here, we mainly recommend three fruits: cranberry, pomegranate and kiwi fruit. These fruits all can not only improve kidney function but also help remove wastes.
◆ Drink some herbal tea
Some herbal tea has been proven that they are good for our health. For example, 1 or 2 cups of nettle leaf tea is able to help improve kidney function and lower high creatinine level. Once kidney function is improved, protein in urine will be reduced, too.
In the last, one more thing needs to be noted that the above natural ways can help reduce protein in urine for kidney disease without bringing burden to the kidney or causing further kidney damage, but they are not cure to reverse the kidney disease. Therefore, the effective treatments to reverse kidney disease rather than reducing protein in urine should be sought.
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Any questions? Fill the form below. You will surely get the free medical advice from experts within 24 hours.
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text:
Enjoy a thoughtful evening read.
Enjoy a longer, more in-depth read.
White House solar panels are back at the First Family's residence, the Obama administration announced Friday. The White House solar panels cap off the Obama administration's week of energy and climate change initiatives, aimed at raising public awareness of the threats posed by carbon emissions.
Climate change poses threats to the extraction, production, and distribution of energy across the US, according to a new climate-change report from the Obama administration. Much of the challenge for the energy industry revolves around its reliance on water for cooling and production needs.
Ukraine violence escalated over the weekend and into Monday as pro-Russian militants clashed with Ukraine forces in the east and the Black Sea port city of Odessa. The threat of another natural gas shutoff intensified, too, with Russia and Ukraine failing to agree on terms for paying down Ukraine's gas debt.
The Supreme Court upheld a federal regulation Tuesday that limits the amount of air pollution that can cross state lines, handing a victory to the Obama administration's efforts to limit air pollution. The Supreme Court ruling deals a blow to the US coal industry, but the biggest hit is yet to come.
New Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine early this week did little to deter the world's leading energy firms from moving ahead with major oil and gas projects in Russia. That could change as Washington and Brussels mull broader sanctions on Russia's energy industry.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited Boston Tuesday to commemorate Earth Day at the New England Aquarium. Before heading to Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game, he sat down with the Monitor's David J. Unger to talk about the Ukraine crisis, oil exports, methane leaks, and his optimism about tackling climate change. Here are excerpts (edited for clarity):
The Ukraine crisis presents the country with an opportunity to boost its domestic energy production with the help of American expertise, says US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, in a Monitor interview. US experts will support Ukraine natural gas production and energy efficiency as part of a crisis support package announced Tuesday.
Diplomats from Russia, Ukraine, Europe, and the US agreed Thursday to steps that aim to deescalate an increasingly delicate situation in eastern Ukraine. Energy interdependency has helped tamp down tensions as the sides take a step toward settling Ukraine's natural gas debt.
Clean energy is off to a strong start in 2014, with global investment rising as prices for wind and solar power continue to drop. Renewables still hold a small share of total energy mixes, but clean-energy growth is picking up momentum.
Ukraine declared an 'anti-terrorist operation' Tuesday against pro-Russian militia in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Meanwhile in the West, Kiev courted its European neighbors for alternative fuel supplies that would boost its energy security.
While containing global warming will require substantial investment in cleaner sources of energy, much can be accomplished through energy efficiency, a new United Nations report says. More efficient cars, buildings, and appliances will play a crucial role in curbing the effects of global warming, the report found.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned western leaders Thursday of a potential shutoff of natural gas supplies unless Ukraine pays off the billions it owes for Russian gas. There are alternatives to Russian gas, but the cutoff Putin threatens is a worst-case scenario for Ukraine and broader Europe.
Ukraine again missed a payment deadline late Monday on the natural gas it buys from Russia. Ukraine's debt to Russia over natural gas has led to supply cutoffs before, but there are other ways to resolve a long-standing dispute.
It's not just dependency on Russian natural gas that poses problems for Ukraine, it's also Russia's virtual monopoly on the fuel for Ukraine's nuclear reactors.
Major oil and gas companies have an opportunity to lead the global fight against climate change, according to Christiana Figueres, the United Nations' climate change chief. Traditional energy firms say they are already cutting emissions, but Ms. Figueres offered both environmental and economic reasons for doing more.
Secretary of State John Kerry reaffirmed support Wednesday for a more diverse European energy supply as a response to Russia over the Ukraine crisis. Some have called for the US to wield its own 'energy weapon,' but the Obama administration has focused more on European solutions.
Russia is raising the price it charges Ukraine for its natural gas, and the interim Ukrainian government is upping the price of its own subsidized, domestic gas. Higher energy costs will hit Ukraine's economy hard during a delicate transition, but it could prove valuable further down the road.
Warming climates and rising incomes will lead to a surge in cooling-related energy use, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It's one of several ways global warming is set to alter global energy supply and demand.
Diversifying European oil and gas imports is no small task, but if Moscow's Crimean incursion leads to a tit-for-tat escalation in energy sanctions, Russia faces a far more difficult time quickly finding new customers than Europe does finding new suppliers.


text:
July 4, 2001 at 11:01 PM
Add to Delicious or Add to My Yahoo!
Dean Allen, who will soon grace our pages, has some advice: why suffer with generic quotes, when you can make a clearer and more attractive presentation by using the entities for real quote marks? The entities in question are ', ', ", and ". I'll let you sort the rest out.


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'Terrorist' recruiting efforts
A few days ago it was reported that a left wing radical group in Japan attempted to launch small explosive rockets, but luckily were thwarted by authorities.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan a right wing radical group, not thwarted by authorities, successfully launched explosive rockets, killing one "suspected terrorist," a 2-year-old girl. No explanation yet by the United States or its leader, Barack Obama, on the intentions or target of this coward's weapon, The Drone.
The extremist U.S. backers of this right-wing drone effort identified the little girl as Collateral Damage, but other sources claim that is (or was) not her true name. Identification pending, after notification of next-of-kin, and DNA identification of all the parts.
Additional "terrorist" recruiting efforts successfully increased dramatically after the attack.
A. Martin,


text:
BROOKPORT, Ill. - Dorothy Virginia Forthman Brown, 69, of Brookport, Ill., passed away Friday, February 7, 2014, at Lourdes Hospital at 6:40 a.m.
Dorothy was born February 5, 1945, in West Helena, Ark., to Fredrick and Bessie Forthman. She will be remembered as a loving mother who found great joy in spending time with all her family. She loved preparing meals for family gatherings, so her kitchen was a focal point of their home. Although she held several occupations during her life, her main work was that of a faithful and caring homemaker.
She is survived by her husband of fifty one years, Henry Brown of Brookport, Ill.; her daughter, Rita McIntosh and husband Jeff of Benton; her sons, William (Bill) Brown and wife Lorie of Brookport, Ill. and Jerry Brown and wife Leslie of Brookport, Ill.; her sisters, Ann Kennedy of Metropolis, Ill., Betty Bonner, of Paducah and Pearl O'Brien, of Brookport, Ill.; her brothers, William Forthman and wife Dean of Brookport, Ill. and James Forthman and wife Sandra of Brookport, Ill.; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Fredrick Theodore Forthman and Bessie Mae Pickett Forthman; her son, Bobby Lee Brown; and her brothers, Theodore, Murphy, Frank and Roger Forthman.
Funeral services are scheduled for Tuesday, February 11, 2014, at 11 a.m. at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah. Burial will follow at Pell Cemetery in Brookport, Ill. with the Revs. Trad York and Frank Forthman Jr. officiating.
Visitation will be held Monday, February 10, 2014, from 5-7 p.m. at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah.
You may leave a message of condolence and light a candle of remembrance at www.milnerandorr.com.
Check out these recently discussed stories and voice your opinion...


text:
Month: September 2010
Forbidden Lovers
No one can ever know… (via sissassy)
This kitty has impeccable taste
What a cool modern rug! And what a classic kitty! It's all very chic. (via arcadebrigade)
Contemplating Antigravity
If I always land on my feet… And toast always lands butter-side-up… Hmmmm… HMMM! (via sandy-nargles)
World's Tallest Cat is Even Taller Now
Scarlett's Magic, an F1 Savannah cat, has broken two records, according to the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records. Scarlett's Magic holds the records for Tallest Domestic Cat and Longest Domestic Cat. She measures 18.07 in. (45.90 cm.) tall and 42.72 inches (108.51 cm) long. Kimberly and Lee Draper own the cat, who held the …
Tabby Kitten Survives 70 Miles at 70 MPH
A furry hitchhiker huddled behind a skid-plate in the undercarriage of a big pickup truck survived a 70 mile trip in Washington last week. The 6-week-old female tabby has a bum leg but according to the truck's owner, Rod Thomas, has lots of spunk. I never knew she was there till I heard the faintest, …
What's black and white and read all over?
This cat! He's so worldly and classy. I want to go to his dinner party. (via akissinthedreamhouse)
I know the kitty is just yawning, but it looks like it's being dragged into the shadows by those monsters from the movie Ghost. (via )


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text:
Around the Region, March 21
Published: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 10:59 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 10:59 p.m.
Police seek 2 men in Williston store thefts
Williston police are seeking help from the public in identifying two men seen Sunday and Monday in a surveillance video committing what appears to be thefts at the Ace Hardware located at 54 SW Main St. in Williston.
Store employees were conducting routine review of surveillance footage, according to a written statement issued by Williston Chief of Police Dennis Strow, when they discovered that at around noon on Sunday and Monday, two men entered the store, removed hand tools worth more than $600 and departed the store without paying for the items.
Police are urging anyone who has information regarding the identity of the suspects to call 528-4991.
— Maru I. Opabola
Interlachen man killed in crash on SR 20, FHP says
An Interlachen man was killed Tuesday night when he lost control of his pickup truck on State Road 20, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Dead is Michael Stoeffler, 41, according to an FHP press release.
The accident happened at 8:43 p.m. on SR 20 east of Whippletree Court.
Stoeffler was driving a 2003 Toyota Tacoma east on SR 20 when, for undetermined reasons, he veered onto the south shoulder, swerved back and lost control.
Stoeffler was not wearing his seat belt and was ejected from the truck, FHP reported.
— Cindy Swirko
FHP reports Lake City woman killed in wreck
A 26-year-old Lake City woman was killed early Wednesday morning on U.S. 90 when her vehicle collided head-on with a tractor-trailer loaded with lumber, according to a report.
Lindsay Danielle Chace was heading east on the highway around 5 a.m. when her Kia Optima crossed the center line and collided with the westbound tractor-trailer near West Thomas Drive, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Kia and log truck went off the road and into the tree line. A Cadillac traveling behind the Kia was struck as the vehicles veered off the highway.
Chace was pronounced dead at the scene, the FHP reported. No other injuries were reported.
The truck's fuel tank ruptured and spilled a small amount of diesel fuel, closing the highway for cleanup until about 3 p.m.
— Staff report
Motorcyclist critical after Hawthorne Road accident
A motorcyclist is in critical condition at Shands at the University of Florida on Wednesday after a collision involving another vehicle in the 2100 block of Hawthorne Road.
Gainesville police responded to the scene after receiving multiple 911 calls from onlookers just after 4 p.m.
When officers arrived, the motorcyclist was lying in the roadway and was not wearing a helmet, according to a written statement issued by GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias. Police had not identified the cyclist or the driver of the other vehicle, who police said was not seriously injured.
— Maru I. Opabola
St. Johns County ranked healthiest in all of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — A new report shows that those living in St. Johns County in the northeastern part of Florida are the healthiest in the state.
The statewide county health rankings were released Wednesday as measured by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The county last on the list is Union County in the north central part of the state.
The study examines factors such as economic, social, behavioral, environmental, and clinical care.
Dr. John Armstrong is Florida's surgeon general and secretary of health. He says the study reminds residents that "there is no finish line in our efforts for better health across all counties" and the goal is to turn "Florida into the healthiest state in the nation."
The report can be found at www.countyhealthrankings.org.
— The Associated Press
Elevator lock broken when man was found in shaft
TAMPA — Officials at Tampa International Airport say a lock on the elevator door was broken when a passenger was found dead in the shaft.
Airport spokeswoman Janet Zink said they don't know if the lock had been tampered with, but that it did pass inspections in January.
Chad Wolfe arrived in Tampa from Atlanta shortly after midnight Friday. The 31-year-old's body was found later that morning after maintenance noticed problems with the elevator at the short-term parking garage.
Witnesses told police that Wolfe had been drinking on his flight and was "impaired and behaving erratically."
There is no evidence of foul play. Detectives are waiting for toxicology results from the Medical Examiner.
Wolfe was from West Newton, Pa.
— The Associated Press
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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A sort of logos quiz could not be missing in the list of the applications for the iPhone and iPad iOS, in which the Codespot developers challenge you to remember the name of many software. So the idea is the same as Logo quiz games you can download / purhcase at the Apple store.
The more you remember, the higher the result is in the game. Anyway, here you can take a look at all the answers for level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
Level 8
Level 9
Level 10
As you could see there are some of the most popular games: Zombie Farm, Fish world, Ice age village, Ham on the run, Global war, Fieldrunners 2, Jetpack joyride, Where's my Perry, Tower defense, Temple run and Plants vs Zombies.


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The following sections address considerations for planning user evaluations with users with disabilities.
- What do we mean by "evaluations"?
- Which disabilities should be included in user evaluations?
- How many participants should be included and when to engage?
- The use of personas
- How long should the sessions run?
- User location versus lab environments - pros and cons
- Resource constraints - the use of accessibility consultants
- Recruiting participants with disabilities
- Contacting users with specific disabilities
Lab environment pros Lab environment cons Evaluations at a user's location Remote evaluations via monitoring
What do we mean by "evaluations"?
For the purposes of this paper, the terms "user evaluation", "user testing" or "user studies" are taken to be sessions in which users are asked to interact with and use a product to identify any usability and accessibility shortcomings in that product. Ideally, suggestions for possible re-designs will also be generated. These sessions can be called many things, perhaps the most common name is "user testing". However, when working with the specific user communities addressed in this report, it is very important to ensure that the users are fully reassured that they are in no way being 'tested'. An important step towards achieving this is to ensure that the sessions themselves are not described as "user testing" sessions, hence this paper recommends use of the term "evaluations" when describing such sessions to prospective participants.
Equally, the term "tester" should be avoided to refer to the person running the sessions, and "Evaluator" should also be avoided since it is ambiguous and may also be interpreted to refer to the participant (the user). Consequently, the term "session administrators" should be used to denote those who plan, organise, run and observe the product evaluation sessions.
Which disabilities should be included in user evaluations?
The types of disabilities to include in evaluations are contingent on the product being evaluated and the known target audience. Time and funding may limit ability to hold sessions with disabled participants. It is sometimes not necessary to conduct evaluation sessions with every type of disability, but rather focus on those PwD who will be most impacted if your product is not accessible. For instance, if designing software with no auditory cues, it is not necessary to include deaf or hard of hearing users. The following table shows the kinds of difficulties users with specific impairments may encounter and the Assistive Technology that they may use.
|Cannot use the mouse for input, cannot see the screen or may need magnification and color contrast.
|Assistive Technology:
|Screen readers, Braille displays and screen magnifiers.
|Cannot hear audio, video, system alerts or alarms.
|Assistive Technology:
|Closed captioning, transcripts, ShowSounds - a Windows accessibility option.
|Limited or no use of hands, limited range, speed and strength.
|Assistive Technology:
|Alternate input (e.g. voice), access keys, latches that are easy to reach and manipulate, also single switches as alternatives to standard point and click devices, on-screen keyboards, operating system (OS) based keyboard filtering (e.g. StickyKeys in Windows).
|Difficulty reading and comprehending information, difficulty writing.
|Assistive Technology:
|Spell checkers, word prediction aids, reading/writing comprehension aids.
Here is an example of how users with different disabilities may be affected by a common graphical user interface activity, namely clicking on an on-screen button:
Consider a small button or icon on a software interface. Someone who is blind would not be able to see the button or locate it. Someone with low vision may be able to see that there is a button, but not be able to recognize the type of button or read the text on it. Someone with a motor impairment may be able to see it and recognize it, but may not be able to position the mouse pointer or keyboard focus over it. Someone with a cognitive impairment or learning disability may be able to see, recognize [note - assuming that it is not described solely by words and that the learning disability is not a literary one] and activate the button, but may not know what it does.
Next, consider a small button on a piece of hardware. Many of the same issues apply. Blind users may not be able to see or locate the button; low vision users may not be able to recognize it; motor impaired users activate it and cognitive impaired users know what it does.
The easiest way of identifying which users may be affected is to break down the interaction into its common component steps and think about what the user has to be able to do to complete that step, e.g.:
Software scenario example:
A dialogue box has popped up on the screen and you need to cancel it.
- Recognize that a dialogue box has appeared - either see it (vision) or hear the notification sound (hearing)
- Find the available buttons to choose between (vision)
- Distinguish between the buttons to choose correct one (vision, cognitive/learning)
- Decide which one to activate (cognitive/learning)
- Activate it (vision, motor)
Hardware scenario example:
The ATM is prompting you "Which account do you wish to withdraw your cash from?" You have to press the relevant (hardware) button to proceed.
- Read the prompt - (vision, cognitive/learning)
- Find the available buttons to choose between (vision, maybe motor)
- Distinguish between the buttons to choose correct one (vision, cognitive/learning)
- Decide which one to activate (cognitive/learning)
- Activate it (vision, motor)
The similarities between software and hardware activation of a button should be obvious.
Note that each of the principal impairment classifications (sensory, motor and cognitive) could potentially encounter a 'showstopper' accessibility difficulty in these scenarios. Also note that the use of assistive technology requires these steps to be gone through again and amended accordingly. For example, the use of screen-reader software in the software scenario removes the vision demands on the user, but replaces them with hearing ones.
Clearly evaluations with only one user group will only identify the issues for other users of that same group. If you only have resources to conduct evaluations with one or two users, one option is to find users with a range of impairments. Older adults, for example, may have limited dexterity (motor impairment) through arthritis, as well as low vision from age-related macular degeneration and slight hearing loss.
Keep in mind some users may require highly specialized or customized solutions to meet their needs. Such solutions may not necessarily be applicable or beneficial to users with lesser impairments. It is preferred practice to find users who should be able to use the product but are experiencing or are likely to experience unnecessary difficulties in doing so.
How many participants should be included and when to engage?
This too is a question with no definite answer. Given resource constraints, it is generally suitable to conduct evaluations with anywhere from three to five users, whether disabled or not. Practitioners suggest that a sampling size of five users often uncovers the majority of a product's usability issues.
Include one subject with a disability in each round of user evaluations, understanding that evaluations should be carried out throughout the product's life cycle. This ensures that required feedback is gathered along the way without having all users with disabilities participate simultaneously.
The use of personas
The use of personas during the design process is a helpful way of making users more real to User Experience practitioners and designers. These user profiles are fictional individuals representative of the target user group the product is being designed for, in turn they help put a name and face to the user and ensure they are being considered at every phase of design. While user group profiles are general, personas are specific, the more detailed a persona is the more useful it becomes to developers and designers.
Often personas have a name and a picture associated with them to help make them realistic. They also include attributes such as demographics, family background, personal and career goals, attitudes, expectations, educational history, job experience, and other "human" characteristics that developers and designers can relate to.
Much work has been done in defining user groups for products, and recently accessibility characteristics have begun to be included in the personas created for these groups. The same attributes listed above are included along with information on the type of disability, the symptoms and conditions associated with that disability, and the assistive technology used. Including accessibility in personas ensures that users with disabilities and their unique requirements are also considered during design. Since members of your target user group are exactly who should be included in your user evaluation sessions, it is beneficial to examine these personas prior to conducting your sessions.
How long should the sessions run?
Session length depends on the type of disability a participant has. Plan on more time for evaluations with users with disabilities as it may take participants longer to complete tasks than users without disabilities. A reduced task list is also recommended, as fatigue can be a factor with disabled participants. Indeed, it may take much more energy for a user with tremors to click through a Web application or prototype. Likewise, it can be exhausting for a screen reader user to listen to a busy interface be read aloud again and again.
Plan for fewer tasks and reserve a few tasks to add to the list, if time permits. Sessions should always be designed with this degree of modularity in mind, so tasks can be removed or added as time permits. Some participants may quickly accomplish all tasks while other participants may not but be considerate of energy levels nonetheless.
User location versus lab environments - pros and cons
There are advantages and disadvantages to conducting evaluations with users in a usability lab environment compared with at a user location. Likewise, there are pros and cons to running a remote user session in the participant's own work environment. These differentiators are even more significant when conducting evaluation sessions with users with disabilities.
Lab environment pros
A lab environment may be preferred for conducting evaluations for a variety of reasons.
It is easier to control the environment for evaluations in a lab. Session administrators can control interruptions and other aspects of the environment more easily, such as lighting and furniture positioning so session administrators have more room to maneuver and take notes. Administrators also have access to better recording equipment in a lab setting, with more advanced labs equipped with digital recording technology to capture the user's computer screen and movements as well as high quality audio. With more control comes a better chance of gathering consistent and meaningful data.
Lab environment cons
There are also drawbacks to evaluations in a lab environment:
- Participant travel to and from the lab may be difficult, and serve as a hindrance to recruiting.
- Lab environments need to be considered for physical accessibility as well - for example, ensuring there is an accessible restroom close to the evaluation rooms.
- Your lab may need to limit participants to those who use the assistive technologies that your lab has acquired. The corollary of this is that your lab may need to acquire more assistive technologies.
- The largest detractor from conducting evaluations in a lab environment is the simple fact that it is impossible to perfectly recreate a user's actual working environment in a lab setting.
- The most accurate usability feedback is gathered when watching users using an interface in their own work space. With users with disabilities, this is even more of a concern.
- Users with disabilities often have intricate, highly personalized set ups in their home and work environments. They may have personalized AT available at home, but it is not available to them in a lab. This may have a negative impact on their performance and, therefore, the accuracy of results if their hardware and software set ups cannot be recreated in the lab.
There are two types of remote evaluations that should be considered when you wish for a user to be in their own work environment for the session:
- Evaluations at a user's location with the administrator present at that location
- Remote evaluations with the administrator staying in the lab and monitoring the user in their environment
Evaluations at a user's location
Evaluations at a user's location allow the user to use the technology they are familiar with and this ensures that an inaccurate lab setup does not contribute to their difficulties during the usability session. It may be important to travel to a user's home or office and witness them using your product in their own environment, even more so for users with disabilities.
Examples of possible locations include the user's:
- home
- workplace
- local day-care center
- local school, college or university
Unfortunately it is difficult to conduct user sessions in a remote environment for a number of reasons:
- Sessions at a user's location usually cannot accommodate many observers.
Session administrator roles must be determined beforehand as will your protocol for handling interruptions, such as a doorbell or phone call that must be answered. Some users will not appreciate a large audience, so it is recommended only two session administrators be present for these sessions, one to sit with the user, and one to stay off to the side and take notes.
- Liability issues abound when conducting sessions at a user's home.
It is preferred and advised that you conduct sessions at a user's work place or rehabilitation center. If you must conduct a session at a user's home always bring another session administrator, never go alone.
- It is often harder to record a session at user's location.
Consideration will need to be given to using a tape recorder or portable digital video camera to capture user comments and the computer's audio and screen display respectively.
- The administrator has much less control over the evaluation environment in a user's location.
This includes lighting and requirements for the session such as a working Internet connection; much verification needs to take place with the user before the session to ensure the availability of these resources.
- Travel arrangements must be made.
Administrators will also need to plan and prepare for travel to and from the user's location when conducting remote sessions.
Remote evaluations via monitoring
Another form of evaluation involves the session administrator staying in the lab and monitoring the user in their work environment. Materials required for the evaluation sessions, such as URLs, can be sent to the user ahead of time. On the day of the session, users and session administrators can connect to Web conferencing sites, such as IBM E-meetings, and dial in to a toll free conference phone number. Session administrators can then listen to screen reader output over the phone and follow along to what the user is hearing as they navigate the product.
Think aloud protocol should always be followed, and one should note the session administrator will not have the benefit of seeing the user and his expressions during the session.
Resource constraints - the use of accessibility consultants
When limits in time, funding, or resources restrict administrators from running actual user sessions, the use of an accessibility consultant is advisable. Input from accessibility consultants cannot take the place of the feedback gathered from an actual user, so running sessions is preferred. However, if the evaluations session administrators are under a deadline or new to accessibility, these experts can provide advice on how to improve the interface and make it more usable and accessible in the interim. As with any usability evaluation, if it is deemed necessary to incorporate an accessibility consultant, notify and engage them early.
Recruiting participants with disabilities
Recruiting users with disabilities takes time, particularly because this user group is small; participants must be typical users of the product in addition to having a disability. Best results for recruiting are usually achieved if session administrators can reach potential users and request contact either by e-mail or phone. Organizations usually have electronic bulletin boards or e-mail lists established to communicate with their members. Often they will be accommodating and post a recruiting notice or forward an invitation to their constituents.
Here is a sample e-mail invitation excerpt to potential participants:
IBM's User-Centered Design team is interested in gathering feedback from blind or low-vision users of IBM Data Management products. These products include DB2, IMS, Content Manager, and WebSphere. If you have experience with any of these products and are interested in participating in usability sessions concerning the accessibility of future versions, please contact Joe Sacco directly at 408-463-2050 or at email@example.com.
IBM has always placed an emphasis on the accessibility of our products. You can help us make our products easier for people with disabilities to use by participating in these sessions. We look forward to hearing from you.
You should also consider each participant's assistive technology skills by asking them a few questions or by including a required list of skills in the invitation. For example, find out which assistive technologies they use (screen reader, magnifier, single switch, larger text size, color contrast, voice recognition, etc) and how skilled they are at using the technology (expert, beginner, average, and number of years used). Expert users may give you lots of good usability and accessibility feedback, but you may need to filter out feedback that is too advanced for most users or too costly to implement. Beginners may not provide you with sufficient feedback. You may need to limit participants to those who use the assistive technologies that your lab can provide for the user evaluations.
Good sources of local users include charitable organizations, social clubs, support groups, and vocational rehabilitation offices, which can be found in most towns and cities. Most local colleges and universities have specific offices for students with disabilities and these too can be an excellent resource for recruiting computer savvy participants. General resources for recruiting also include newsgroups, forums, and non-profit organizations. Specific disability groups have their own organizations established.
Contacting users with specific disabilities
There are numerous resources available to assist in contacting users with specific disabilities. The following table lists examples of some organisations that may be able to help in locating potential users. Please note, though, that this list is representative only and that there are many other organizations that may also be useful to contact.
|American Association of People with Disabilities
|Blind and Low vision
|A complete listing of mailing lists for blind organizations
|Deaf or Hard of Hearing
|Gallaudet University , the world's only university in which all programs and services are designed to accommodate deaf and hard-of-hearing students, offers programs in technology, digital media, computer science, information systems, and more. The college currently has over 2000 deaf and hard-of-hearing students
|Motor Impaired
|American Parkinson's Disease Association
|Cognitive/ learning impaired
|International Dyslexia Association
|Older Adults*
*Note: Older adults also commonly exhibit some degree of motor, vision and hearing impairment, albeit frequently minor. It is tempting to simply find the nearest residential home for older adults or people with severe disabilities as these are a ready source of multiple potential users in one place. Remember that the older the users you recruit, the more there will be an imbalance in the population between men and women as women typically live longer than men. You will need to decide whether it is better to recruit equal numbers of men and women, or proportionally more women to closer reflect the actual population distribution. If you have a business partnership with a company or organization that has employees with disabilities who will potentially use your software, you could inquire about involving those users in your evaluations.


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British Power Boat Company
The British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats.
The company was formed on 30 September 1927 when Hubert Scott-Paine bought and renamed the Hythe Shipyard with the intention of transforming it into one of the most modern mass production boat building yards in the country. Together with his chief designer, Fred Cooper, the company produced many racing boats which won numerous awards around Europe, including Miss England II and Miss Britain III.
From 1930 the British Power Boat Company supplied seaplane tenders to the Air Ministry, commencing with RAF200, a 37-footer. The trials of this and other boats was carried out by T E Shaw on behalf of the Royal Air Force, and he and Scott-Paine worked together over the next few years. These tenders were powered by twin 100bhp Meadows petrol engines giving a maximum speed of 29knots (some of the later ones were fitted with Perkins S6M diesels).
The company marketed its own modified Napier Sea Lion engines under the name "Power" Marine Engines.[1]
On 3 August 1931 the factory burnt to the ground, but was rapidly rebuilt as the most modern and efficient boatyard in Britain. Motor Torpedo Boats with a hard chine were designed, built, and increasingly sold to the British Admiralty. Armoured target boats were also built for the RAF, proving very successful and cost-effective, together with tenders for Imperial Airways flying boats, and admiral's barges.
In 1939, due to the difficulties in obtaining British engines, Scott-Paine took PT-9 to the US to enable Elco to mass-produce PT boats using Packard motors.
During World War II the British Power Boat Company built large numbers of Motor Torpedo Boats, High Speed Motor Launches, and Motor Gun Boats (previously known as Motor Anti-Submarine Boats[2]), being credited with saving the lives of over 13,000 service personnel.
All unfinished contracts were cancelled at the cessation of hostilities and the British Power Boat Company closed in 1946.
See also[edit]
- ^ http://www.enginehistory.org/Napier/Bishop/NapierSealionMOTAT03.jpg
- ^ http://www.bmpt.org.uk/other_boats_history/Motor%20Gun%20Boats/MGB-81/index.htm British Military Powerboat Team
- Rance, Adrian (1989) Fast Boats and Flying Boats. Ensign Publications. ISBN 1-85455-026-8


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Gillieru Harbour Hotel
Select your stay dates to check availability at Gillieru Harbour Hotel
Gillieru Harbour Hotel
About the Hotel
Property Location
With a stay at Gillieru Harbour Hotel in San Pawl il-Baħar (Bugibba), you'll be convenient to Maltaqua and Malta National Aquarium. This hotel is within close proximity of Mediterraneo Marine Park and Ta' Cenc.
Make yourself at home in one of the 74 air-conditioned rooms featuring minibars. Rooms have private balconies. Wireless Internet access (surcharge) is available to keep you connected. Bathrooms feature showers, complimentary toiletries, and hair dryers.
Be sure to enjoy recreational amenities including an outdoor pool and bicycles to rent. This hotel also features complimentary wireless Internet access, an arcade/game room, and a television in a common area.
Enjoy a meal at a restaurant, or stay in and take advantage of the hotel's room service (during limited hours). Relax with your favorite drink at a bar/lounge or a poolside bar.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include dry cleaning/laundry services, a 24-hour front desk, and luggage storage. Free self parking is available onsite.
Hotel Facilities
- Arcade/game room
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- 24-hour front desk
- Free breakfast
- Free WiFi
- Television in common areas
- Laundry facilities
- Total number of rooms - 74
- Number of floors - 5
- Bar/lounge
- One meeting room
- Free self parking
- Restaurant
- Elevator/lift
- Poolside bar
- Luggage storage
- Outdoor pool
Room Facilities
- Balcony
- Hair dryer
- WiFi (surcharge)
- Air conditioning
- Room service (limited hours)
- Shower only
- Phone
- Minibar
- In-room safe
- Iron/ironing board (on request)
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Cribs/infant beds available
- Free toiletries
Hotel Policy
Mandatory Fees and Taxes
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property:
- Destination fee: EUR 0.50 per person, per night
We have included all charges provided to us by the property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.Show all hotel policy Show less hotel policy