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|Quick thoughts on the Savard situation
|08.10.10 at 5:06 pm ET
It's been a long day for the Bruins, as news hit today that the NHL is indeed investigating center Marc Savard's seven-year, $28.05 million extension. The deal is perceived to be a "retirement contract," as it pays the 33-year-old veteran half its money in the first two years of the deal and the other half over the following five years, which makes for a much more affordable $4.007 million cap hit.
Hours after the news broke, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli came out with a statement in which he said that the investigation has been ongoing and that he had met with NHL lawyers as recently as last week. With the Bruins' cap situation up in the air and the team risking the loss of Savard, it might be a little too much to keep track of. Here's what we've learned today, and what it might mean for the Bruins.
– This investigation has been going on for a while, and by a while, we mean since Savard's contract was registered with the league in the first place way back in December. This means two things. First of all, this isn't some new development for the Bruins. Maybe it was the magical cap relief they were expecting all along when they made signings that in total would put them more than $3 million over the salary cap (Savard's cap hit is $4.007 million).
Secondly, it really dents the validity of rumors that the team was working on trades to move Savard out of town this offseason. In addition to there being zero concrete or validated reports of the Bruins and another team discussing a deal for the center, would it really make sense for the Bruins to shop a player knowing full well that the NHL was intent on voiding his deal? That would make the Bruins look awfully bad as a prospective trade partner for any team in the future.
– Savard is not the only one. The only reason the news came about was because Savard's investigation was listed in the footnotes of arbiter Richard Bloch's rejection of Ilya Kovalchuk's appeal. In noting why the NHL was correct in rejecting the winger's 17-year, $102 million contract with the Devils, Bloch also listed Marian Hossa, Chris Pronger and Roberto Luongo as players also being investigated.
– Yes, the Bruins have been looking to save money off the cap (they're right up against it even when factoring in the $3.5 million they will get in relief to begin the season thanks to Marco Sturm's long-term injury status), but there's no way Savard's contract could be viewed as the one that's weighing them down. In fact, the only reason this deal is being investigated is because it is so team-friendly that the NHL is trying to prevent deals like this from being made going forward.
Both Savard and Tim Thomas ($5 million cap hit in each of the next three seasons) have starred in offseason trade rumors, but their values to the team should not be overlooked. If the team does end up losing Savard for nothing, it would seemingly be a huge loss for the Bruins.
The Bruins have released a statement from general manager Peter Chiarelli regarding the league's investigation of the seven-year, $28.05 million contract extension center Marc Savard signed with the team in December. Here's what Chiarelli had to say.
'We are cooperating fully with the League in its investigation of the Marc Savard contract extension. The League informed us upon their registration of the contract on December 1, 2009 that they would be investigating the circumstances surrounding this contract. From that point on, they commenced their investigation and it has been ongoing since then. On August 4th, I met with two League appointed lawyers as part of the investigation. We will continue to cooperate with the League in any future investigative proceedings if necessary and we will have no further comment on the matter at this time.'
Savard will make nearly half of his contract's money in the next two seasons, with the other half being spread out over the following five seasons. As a result, despite making $7 million per year in 2010-11 and 2011-12, he will have a cap hit of just $4.007 as a result of cap numbers in the NHL being determined by total money divided by years. If the deal is ruled as not being in compliance with the CBA, it will be voided and Savard will become an unrestricted free agent.
|Savard's deal under investigation
|at 1:45 pm ET
Bruins fans have wondered all offseason whether center Marc Savard would be back in Boston next season, but this probably isn't what they had in mind. Savard, who signed a seven-year contract extension last season, could have his deal voided by the league as it is currently under investigation.
In rejecting Ilya Kovalchuk's greivance with the league for deeming his 17-year, $102 million deal with the Devils bogus, arbiter Richard Bloch listed in the ruling's footnotes that similar contracts that have already been registered with the league will be under investigation.
These so-called "retirement contracts" that have thrown the league for a loop are made when teams, in an effort to lower a player's cap hit, tack on extra years at minimal dollars. A player's cap number in the NHL is determined by dividing total dollars by the number of years, so even in guaranteeing more money in the early years (such as Savard's $7 million in the first two seasons of the deal, which starts in the upcoming campaign) by adding years at low money, the hit is brought down dramatically (Savard's cap hit will be $4.007).
Here is an excerpt from the ruling, which was leaked by Team 1200 radio in Ottowa:
It is true, as the Association observes, that the NHL has registered contracts with structures similar to the Kovalchuk SPC PA Exh. 8 reflects a list of 11 multi-year agreements, all of which involve players in their mid to late 30's and early 40's. Most of them reflect reasonably substantial 'diveback' (salary reductions that extend over the 'tails' of the Agreement). Of these, four such agreements, with players Chris Pronger, Marc Savard, Roberto Luongo, and Marian Hossa reflect provisions that are relatively more dramatic than the others. Each of these players will be 40 or over at the end of the contract term and each contract includes dramatic divebacks.
[…] The apparent purpose of this evidence is to suggest that the League's concern is late blooming and/or inconsistent. Several responses are in order: First, while the contracts have, in fact, been registered, their structure has not escaped League notice: those SPCs are being investigated currently with at least the possibility of a subsequent withdrawal of the registration.
The Bruins are in a tight spot cap-wise, but in voiding the contract the NHL would let Savard become an unrestricted free agent, which would mean the Bruins would receive nothing for him. His cap hit is very team friendly given his production, and with the 2010-11 season Nathan Horton's first in Boston, one would think the Bruins would like to at least catch a glimpse of what the two could do playing together.
Additionally, it could be interesting to see what would come of Savard being a free agent. He's heard his name in trade rumors all summer and could be willing to test the market if he doesn't feel he'll be a top forward with the Bruins in future years.
|Krejci on the wrist, the wing, and the rumors
|07.23.10 at 7:17 pm ET
In this offseason, just about anybody on the Bruins could speak to media members and have their hands full. After all, with big names added, bigger expectations for the upcoming season, and enormous questions about the roster, a Q and A could go on for hours if both sides have the time. Make that player a young star recovering from a playoff-ending injury and it's no different.
Center David Krejci took some time to speak with reporters after signing autographs for youngsters at the first Bruins summer camp on Friday. He first fielded questions from kids who took part in the camp. After handling such toughies as, "What position do you play?" and, "Who broke your wrist?" Krejci put aside the youngster's mispronunciation of Prague ("Praig" was a good one) and touched on his offseason, the state of the Bruins, and his excitement to be 100 percent again.
Krejci will have his final procedure for what is hopefully a long time next Friday when he has the screws removed from his right wrist, which was broken by Mike Richards in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Flyers. Though the first surgery on the wrist happened under unfortunate and unusual circumstances, Krejci is far less concerned with this one.
"They're not even going to put me to sleep, they're just going to make little holes in each side and just take the screws out and that's how it is," Krejci said.
The 24-year-old actually spoke rather highly of getting the screws removed, as their absence will leave just his large scar as the only evidence of the injury that shook the Bruins' postseason.
"I can't wait for [the surgery], because after it, a week or two after it, I'll go on the ice and I'll be able to start lifting heavy weights and I'm really excited for it," Krejci said. "It's been a long time and I can't wait to go out there and get back on the ice and just back in the games and everything."
While Krejci's wrist has been a popular topic in the offseason, perhaps nothing in the last week or so has grabbed more attention more than the status of right wing and Krejci's good friend Blake Wheeler. The two-year veteran filed earlier this month for arbitration, and by the looks of things, that's where the process is headed.
Agent Matt Keator, who represents Wheeler and defensemen Mark Stuart and Zdeno Chara, told WEEI.com Friday that the only update on the situation is that the "tickets for Toronto [the site of his Tuesday arbitration hearing] are booked." The two sides have not made progress in trying to avoid arbitration. Wheeler is currently on his honeymoon and therefore might not be hung up on his contractual status, but a question regarding whether Krejci and Wheeler have kept in touch yielded an interesting answer.
"We're pretty good friends, and yeah, we talk once in a while. I just went to visit [him] a couple weeks ago. I went to his place in Minnesota, but I'm not going to say anything," Krejci said. "We're friends and whatever we talk [about], it's just between me and him."
While something is bound to happen with Wheeler, whether he be re-signed prior to Tuesday, granted or declined what the arbiter awards him. The same can't be said for center Marc Savard, who has been the centerpiece of the rumor mill around Boston. With Tyler Seguin in tow, the Bruins have a surplus of high-level center icemen but not enough money to sign all 22 men for their roster (Seguin and Wheeler remain without contracts. What does Krejci make of the talk that's out there?
"I have actually no idea. I have no idea, that's all I can tell you," Krejci said of Savard. "I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know that he's getting traded or whatever [rumors] say. I have no idea. He's with us right now and that's how it is.
"You want to see the best players, the good players, the good guys in the dressing room," he added. "We want them to be back, and he belongs to one of these categories and you want him back."
The one thing Krejci does seem to have the utmost confidence in is his return to the ice. Though he has yet to skate this offseason, he noted that he doesn't skate during the offseason anyway. After his surgery he will head home to the Czech Republic for about a month and hit the ice as he gears up for training camp on September 17.
"I'll go on the ice mid-August and my wrist might be a little weaker at the beginning of the camp, but we still have like two and a half months before the season starts, so I'll be definitely 100 percent for the first game," Krejci said.
This offseason has seen a lot go right for the Bruins, be it the offensive additions or the buildup to Prague. With Marco Sturm's knee expected to keep him out for a good portion of the season, health remains a factor that shouldn't be overlooked. With Krejci back and ready to go, the team maintains offensive stability that came and went last season. Krejci just hopes the Bruins make it back to the big stage that is the NHL playoffs and have a better result this time.
"We had not many people [believing] in us [last season], but we kind of [snuck] in to the playoffs and I think we were playing great hockey. Whatever happened happened and, you know, these things happen," Krejci said. "We've just got to learn from these mistakes and hopefully it's going to get us stronger and next time we'll be in that position where we'll know what to do."
|Slow free agency to blame for slowed trade market
|07.19.10 at 3:41 am ET
The Bruins had plans to be active in the trade market throughout the offseason, and as anyone who's seen their current cap situation could infer, they would have been in far better shape had they been able to move contracts out as they brought new ones in. Yet in all their moves thus far, they've crept closer and closer to that $59.4 million cap ceiling with moves still left to be made.
Dennis Wideman and Nathan Horton's annual cap hits were essentially a wash, with Horton ($4 million) making slightly more, but the $1.1 million Gregory Campbell will earn in each of the next two seasons, in addition to multiple re-signings made by the Bruins, has left the team looking at just over $500,000 to sign both Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin, neither of which could be had for such cheap money.
Though the Bruins clearly are in a predicament, it's tough to blame them. In fact, it could be argued that they have actually done the best with the situation the offseason has put them in, with free agency in particular preventing them from potentially making a deal they may be interested in.
Though Ilya Kovalchuk has gotten plenty of attention for still not having signed a deal, the fact of the matter is that the high-scoring winger is not alone is prolonged free agent status. Alexander Frolov, Lee Stempniak, Marty Turco, Paul Kariya and Maxim Afinogenov are just a few of the big names that remain on the market 20 days into free agency.
As a result, general manager Peter Chiarelli said last week to expect the Bruins to be "relatively quiet" as they wrap up Wheeler and Seguin. This means that anyone who has been strung along by each murmur of a rumored deal including Marc Savard or Tim Thomas may be disappointed. Read the rest of this entry »
|Thornton-Cooke the top fight of '09-'10?
|07.13.10 at 7:16 pm ET
…Yikes. It appears that's what NHL.com thinks. The league's website put together a few videos of what it deemed the top fights of last season that it had on Tuesday, and it led off with the scuffle between Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton and Matt Cooke of the Penguins in the ultra-disappointing March 18 3-0 loss at the Garden.
The game was one that Bruins fans had on their calander as the day the Bruins would exact revenge on Cooke and the Penguins for taking center Marc Savard out of the equation with this dirty hit to the head, one that was deemed legal by head NHL disciplinarian and now father of a Bruin Colin Campbell (Gregory Campbell is his son). Read the rest of this entry »
|VOTE: What to do with Savard?
|07.01.10 at 1:56 pm ET
The offseason has been full of trade rumors for the Bruins, with center Marc Savard and his $4 million cap hit getting plenty of attention. Though the team has made offensive improvements by acquiring Nathan Horton and Tyler Seguin, would moving Savard be in the team's best interest? Vote here.


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text: History and Impact of Title VI on Language Learning in the U.S. Elaine Tarone CARLA, University of Minnesota America needs more foreign language expertise Foreign language ability ='soft power' (Armitage & Nye 2008, Heyman 2008, Center for Strategic & International Studies: CSIS) Insistence on English is arrogant. Not all those we need to communicate with know English (Gates 2009). English is only one of several world languages (e.g. Spanish and Chinese) Languages like Arabic, Persian, Russian and Korean are critical to our security Foreign language expertise continues to be as central to the national interest as math and reading. CAL Surveys 1987, 1997, 2008 (two Title VI-funded) CAL Survey: Languages Studied 1997, 2008 We need increased foreign language study in U.S. schools K-12 Foreign languages are not tested in NCLB: lower priority (Nancy Rhodes, CAL) Recession increasing foreign language class cuts nationwide (Education Week, Mar 4 2009) Children learn foreign languages best in elementary schools, so these trends bode ill for the national capacity in the future History of Title VI and Language 1958 National Defense Education Act (NDEA) 1961 Fulbright-Hays Act 1980 Higher Education Act (HEA) 1992 HEA Reauthorization Fifty years of foreign languages studied and supported by Title VI Between 150 and 200 languages have been taught and/or supported by new materials, assessments, and pedagogical tools, with funding from Title VI programs >75,000 FLAS fellowships for individual study of languages Less commonly taught language courses offered at postsecondary level through NRCs Curricular materials and assessments developed through IRS and LRCs for use in teaching less commonly taught languages K-16 teachers of many languages have been trained by LRCs in workshops, conferences and intensive summer institutes Focus on Five Title VI Programs FLAS fellowships National Resource Centers (NRCs) International Business Education & Research (CIBER) International Research & Studies (IRSP) Language Resource Centers (LRCs) FLAS Fellowship Languages In just the last 3 years, between 2005-2007, 5,927 FLAS fellowships have supported university students' study of 125 languages in either academic-year or intensive summer programs (IRIS, 2009): *Akan, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic (incl Modern Standard, Egyptian, Tunisian, Sudanese, Moroccan), Armenian, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Bamana, Bambara, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Buryat, Cakchiquel, Cantonese, Catalan, Chatino, Chinese (incl Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Dan, Danish, Dogon, Dutch, Estonian, Ewe, Finnish, French, Fulfulde (Pulaar), Gaelic (Irish) , Ganda (Luganda), Garifuna, Georgian, German, Greek, Gikuyu, Guarani, Gujarati, Haitian Creole French, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, and more … Icelandic, Igbo, Indonesian, Inuktitut, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Khmer, Kongo, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lao, Lingala, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malagasi, Malayalam, Mandinka, Maori, Marathi, Marshallese, Maya (incl Yucatec Maya, Mam Maya), Mbundu (incl Loana), Mixteco, Mongolian (Halh), Nahuatl, Nepali, Newari, Norwegian, Pali, Pashto, Persian (incl. Farsi), Polish, Portuguese (incl. Brazilian Portuguese), Punjabi (Lahnda), Quechua (incl Cuzco, Ayacucho), Quiche, Romanian, Russian, Rwanda, Samoan, Sanskrit, Scots Gaelic, Serbo-Croatian (Serbian), Shona, Sinhalese, Somali, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Sunda, Swahili (incl. Kiswahili), Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tai (Northern), Tajiki, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Turkmen, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uygur, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yiddish, Yoruba, Zapotec, Zulu Most Frequently Studied FLAS Languages, 1958-2009 (IRIS, 2009) National Resource Centers (NRC) Currently, 125 National Resource Centers, located at 50 universities in 25 states and D.C. In addition to educating students & K-12 teachers about world areas, they dramatically expand access to language instruction, supporting instruction in a total of more than 150 languages at their university campuses. Many of the "much less commonly taught languages, such as Xhosa, Kazakh, and Maya, are not offered in any government institute but only at Title VI centers and their summer intensive language institutes." (Wiley, 2001: 20) National Resource Centers Offer academic year classes and summer institutes at several proficiency levels in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) like Pashto, Tagalog, Swahili, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Korean, Kurdish and many more. Leverage the universities' investment of their own resources (Wiley 2001). Because of them, universities: Co-fund NRC-supported LCTL courses, and Add institutional funding for LCTL courses, as these grow to meet minimum enrollments Example: U Minnesota's 3 NRCs Fund all third-year LCTL courses whose enrollments fall below college minimum: currently, Turkish, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian (with the U supporting first and second years of these languages). Offer supplementary funds for teaching materials for all LCTL teachers, including those supported by UMN. Offer summer language courses: in 2008, Vietnamese, Hmong (2 levels), Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean Administer FLAS fellowships for LCTL study: 26 in last 4 yrs, >50% for study abroad, to enable students to move to more advanced levels of LCTL study than is possible at UMN. International Program Learning Abroad Center: earn program credit for FL study abroad ( NAFSA's Paul Simon award for 2009). Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) Located in business schools on university campuses, to prepare students to do business in contexts where they MUST know the language to compete Teach less-commonly-taught business languages: Arabic, Catalan, Farsi, Filipino, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, Wolof Students taught: 1989 to 1995: 16,522 1989 to 2002: 108,817 1989 to 2006: 181, 541 Is the language instruction good? Have you ever had trouble learning a language because of poor instruction or poor materials? Money spent for poorly taught, ineffective classes is money poured down the drain. The effectiveness of any language course depends on the quality of its teaching materials & assessments and the teaching methods used by its instructor. Supporting Effective Language Instruction: IRS and LRC LRCs, often supplemented with IRSP funds, develop teaching resources and in-service teacher education to support the effectiveness of the language classes offered nationwide in schools and universities, through FLAS, by NRCs and CIBERs. LRCs produce: Materials: books, audio-visual, computer resources Language proficiency assessment measures & procedures Inservices for language teachers on effective methods Research documenting what works A dissemination infrastructure to make materials, resources and information widely available to teachers & students International Research and Studies Since 1959, IRSP has offered grants for the development of language teaching materials, and projects such as the development of language assessment measures, surveys and research studies. Projects: for example, CAL national K-12 foreign language surveys in 1995 and 2006; research on innovations in elementary school foreign language teaching. International Research and Studies Materials: for example, instructional modules for Arabic, Persian and Turkish in the middle schools; online translation modules for Japanese and Arabic; Chinese literacy instructional materials; computer-adaptive tests in a variety of languages. Language Resource Centers (LRC) 1990: LRC program established: 3 centers. Mission: improve the nation's capacity to teach and learn languages effectively. 2009: 15 LRCs, leading applied linguists and SLA researchers. Focused on effective materials, assessments and teacher preparation. The LRCs hand out fish ... … and teach to fish. Locations of the LRCs LRCs Today, the LRC network provides teaching resources, workshops, and support for language teachers (both university-level and K-12), whose expertise sustains the effectiveness of the language classes offered by the nation's K-16 system. That infrastructure also disseminates resources and information to language teacher educators, program administrators, and language policymakers. Search the LRC website: http://nflrc.msu.edu Material Series for Specific Languages • Handbooks for students of Middle Eastern languages • NMELRC @ BYU • Introduction of strategies and resources for students studying Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish Materials for Specific Languages Learners' Reference Grammars, and the Let's Speak Series NALRC @ Madison Swahili, Amharic, Shona, Zulu, Asante-Twi, Kikongo, Somali, Akan, Hausa, Sesotho, & more Material Series for Specific Languages • Intermediate Reading & Listening Modules and Podcasts • CelCAR @ Indiana University • Mongolian, Pashto, Tajiki, Uyghur, Uzbek Material Series for Specific Languages • Digital Media Archives • LARC @ San Diego State University • Lesson at different levels include video, audio, and activities • Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mayan, Portuguese, Spanish Language Materials for K-12 • Business Language Packets for High School Classrooms (French, German, Spanish) • CLEAR @ Michigan State University • Downloadable PDFs that focus on business content Online Tools to Create Materials • Rich Internet Applications • CLEAR @ Michigan State University • Online programs for recording, uploading, mixing, and interacting Teacher/Instructor Guides • The Essentials of Language Teaching • NCLRC--George Washington University, Center for Applied Linguistics and Georgetown University • An on-line guide to essential principles and methods of FL instruction Teacher/Instructor Guides How does a teacher effectively respond to the diverse needs of the learner? National K-12 FL Resource Center @ Iowa State • How do teachers vary instruction and assessment in order to be responsive to the needs of all students? Teacher/Instructor Guides • Corpus Portal • CALPER @ Penn State University • Provides quick and easy access to all corpus-related materials developed by CALPER. Teacher/Instructor Guides • Content-based Language Teaching through Technology • CARLA--University of Minnesota • CoBaLTT provides online resources that help foreign language and immersion teachers create content-based lessons/units using technology to enhance students' language proficiency and content or cultural knowledge. Language Materials & Assessments • LinguaFolio Online K-12 assessment MOSAIC Content-based lessons in social sciences in French, Japanese and Spanish • CASLS @ University of Oregon Directories of Resources • The LCTL Database • CARLA @ University of Minnesota • A database of where Less Commonly Taught Languages are taught in North America. Includes over 12,500 listings for over 300 languages. Directories of Resources • Orient Yourself: Online Catalog of Study Abroad Opportunities in East Asia • NEALRC @ Ohio State University • For American students to access information about East Asian institutes and American institutes that offer study abroad programs in East Asia, as well as scholarships and financial aids for study abroad. Journals and Newsletters American Council on Immersion Education Newsletter archives • The Culture Club e-magazine • Global Connections annual newsletter • Heritage Language Journal online blind-refereed journal • Intercom email service • Language Documentation and Conservation peer-reviewed journal • Language Learning and Technology online peer-reviewed journal • The Language Resource monthly e-newsletter • Reading in a Foreign Language online peer-reviewed journal • South Asian Language Blog • South Asian Language Pedagogy and Technology online peer-reviewed journal Journals and Newsletters • South Asian Language Pedagogy and Technology • SALRC-University of Chicago • Online peer-reviewed journal Journals and Newsletters • Language Learning and Technology • CLEAR @ Michigan State University & NFLRC @ University of Hawai'i • Online peerreviewed journal Journals and Newsletters • Heritage Language Journal • NHLRC-UCLA & UC Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching • Online peer-reviewed journal Title VI programs, including FLAS fellowships, NRCs, CIBERS, IRS & LRCs, have been fostering expertise in foreign languages in the nation's schools & universities, K-16, since 1959. And yet too few Americans have been able to benefit from these programs. Efficient use made of limited funding. But Title VI Programs like Title VI need more funding and programs be expanded to have more the supportmust if they are to truly address widespread impact on the nation's foreign language nation's need for FL expertise in the 21st expertise, building on its capacity in the K-16 century. school system.


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Find Hotels in Zutphen
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Chapter 6
That night, as I wandered through the streets that were swathed in the familiar darkness, the moon had hidden her face behind a chalky veil. All of the colours I had become accustomed to still danced around me, yet they had paled through my excitement and intent to see Jacoby again. The flasks were knocking against each other more often that night; I was halfway between walking and flying. I did not stop to look at my reflection in the shop window. I knew I was close. So, when not so much later my eyes took in the form of the familiar figure, I broke into a run.
"Steady, Ayla, where's the fire?" Jacoby enquired jokingly as I collided with him.
"Sorry, Jacoby," I breathed, having virtually emptied my lungs of the more than slightly necessary oxygen, "I'm just excited to see you."
Jacoby laughed, then suddenly stopped, and began to squint.
"What happened to your cheek, Ayla?"
My stomach did another flip.
"I fell down some stairs."
Jacoby tilted his head to the left slightly, folded his arms, and began to shake his head, tutting under his breath.
"You're not fooling me, Ayla. Tell me the truth."
There was a long pause. Jacoby had never seemed so serious before. But he was my only friend, and friends, I knew, shared secrets.
"I was punched."
The fact that I felt better having said this came as pleasant surprise. Then I furrowed my brows and asked,
"How could you tell that I wasn't being truthful?"
Jacoby sighed and replied,
"You always bite your lip when you lie."
For a while, we sat in a comfortable silence, save the occasional pulsing whirr of a passing vehicle. Without warning, Jacoby stood up, and I mimicked him. He broke the silence.
"There are some people I would like you to meet."
I only nodded in reply, then followed him dutifully through the complex maze of alleyways. It was darker here, and much colder. I began to feel a little apprehensive. Jacoby sensed this, and said, "Don't worry, Ayla, you're in good hands." I loosened up a bit as I saw shadows dancing on the wall, visible only by the bright light that was exuding from around the corner. It grew a little warmer too. Jacoby led me towards the light, and what met my eyes caused my eyes to widen.
There were eleven of them all together, settled around a small fire. I could identify newspaper, dried leaves, and even litter, all cobbled together to feed the flames. As they flickered, the eyes of those sitting around it were illuminated, and in the same wide shape that mine had made when I had first seen them. These people were like Jacoby, lost and hungry, and without shelter. I allowed myself to think of the term that they were all branded with.
Jacoby cleared his throat, and announced,
"Everyone, this is Ayla." As I examined their pale, dirty, hungry faces, Jacoby tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "What are you thinking?" I turned to face them, coughed to clear my throat, and exclaimed,
"Jacoby, I think we're going to need more soup!"


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Anna: Exam! Ten Minutes! Crap!Mature
There was a soft tap on my bedroom door in the early hours of the morning that it made me jump. I leapt out of bed where I hadn't been sleeping and I opened it to find Ali standing in the doorway, tears were brimming her beautiful eyes and she was twisting her fingers in a nervous way.
"Save it Ali, I don't want to hear it"
"Tough, I need to talk to you, even if its just to say I'm really sorry about the way I acted" she said sobbing slightly and brushing away a tear. "I should have said those things and when you left I should have come after you!"
"Then why didn't you?" I asked thinking in my mind that the reason she hadn't was because she was getting cosy in a bed with another woman.
"Because I was scared of loosing you, I didn't want to argue anymore, please Anna I am truly sorry!" she begged and slowly I found my will beginning to weaken, I pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head.
"I forgive you" I whispered, "Just don't do it to me again" I said and I could feel Ali nodding her head against my shoulder.
After a hearty full English breakfast which Ali insisted on cooking to make up for her behaviour I curled up next to her on the couch. We were watching nothing in particular on the TV, some rubbing about how cider went from being an Apple to being in the bottle, something which neither of us found very enticing and it wasn't until Ali got off the couch unexpectedly that I shifted my gaze from the TV to look at her.
"Whats wrong?" I asked my brow furrowed, she swore loudly and rushed to her room to get dressed.
"Ali? Whats up?" I called through the door, she wrenched it open and pulled me inside with so much force that I wouldn't have been surprised if my arm hadn't been pulled from its socket.
"My English exam is in ten minutes and I had completely forgotten about it!"
"Oh no!" I exclaimed bashing my forehead, "If you have forgotten about it, so has Cara since she hasn't come back yet!" I said pulling my phone out of my pocket and bashing the buttons.
"Come on Cara pick up!" I muttered angrily every time the phone rang. I swore very loudly myself when her answer phone kicked in and when the beep sounded said very frantically,
"Cara you have an English exam in ten minutes, Ali almost forgot about it and I hope you are not preoccupied enough to have forgotten too!"
I bashed the end call button hoping that she was already at the exam and dreading the consequences of if she or Ali missed the exam or failed. Neither me, Ali or Cara had put in as much work as we should have done as we had all been too preoccupied with our relationships and it might already be too late to start working our butts off now. I was fortunate enough to have a whole two weeks until my Psychology exam which gave me at least some time to prepare.
"Do I look okay?" Ali asked picking up her bag and smoothing down her hair,
"You always look good" I said giving her a quick kiss before she bolted for the front door. I tried Cara again and got no answer which either meant she was at the exam or not.
Practically home alone (Aside from Matt) who we hardly ever saw anyway I made my way upstairs to try and prepare for my psychology exam .


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News By Tag
Industry News
Industry News
Overland Expands Strategic Relationship With Sphere 3D
Overland Partner Sphere 3D Acquires V3 Systems, Creating New Purpose Built VDI Appliance and Software Defined Storage Solution
Sphere 3D recently announced a definitive agreement to acquire V3 Systems, Inc., of Salt Lake City, Utah. V3 is the creator of the Desktop Cloud Orchestrator™
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), "The rapidly changing virtualisation landscape continues to have a significant impact on storage systems. In 2010, 41.8% of external storage systems' capacity was attached to virtualised environments. IDC expects 2014 to be the crossover year in which more storage capacity will be shipped to virtualised environments than to non-virtualised environments -- a good chunk of this capacity will be for desktop virtualisation infrastructures."
"We expect the combination of the joint technologies of Sphere 3D and V3, along with the Overland NAS platform, to create a unique value proposition that satisfies pain points in today's growing market. This new level of flexibility creates an opportunity to deliver new business value to our customers, including faster time to deployment, reduced complexity, increased performance, as well as cost efficiencies that go right to the bottom line," said Eric Kelly, President and CEO of Overland.
V3, Sphere 3D, and Overland have been working closely together for several months and Overland began shipping the V3 Systems products in December 2013. In addition, pursuant to the existing agreements between Overland and Sphere 3D, the parties intend to deliver and provide support for both Sphere 3D's existing and newly acquired V3 product suites through Overland's extensive global network of channel partners and service providers. Peter Tassiopoulos, CEO of Sphere3D, said, "I couldn't be more excited with the blended solution we have created with Overland and V3. Overland's massive global reach will enable us to create the market penetration velocity needed to deliver our solution through a proven and trusted partner."
Sphere 3D's purchase of the V3 product portfolio is subject to various closing conditions, including the completion of due diligence, financing conditions, receipt of approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and various other conditions customary of a transaction of its nature. Sphere 3D has notified Overland that the closing is expected to occur on or about February 28, 2014.
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Hotel Certosa Di San Giacomo
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... area with canals to bring in running water—and to top it off, it's free to visit! It's turning out to be a great day, despite the rain. 1176. Entering a Fantasy World (Italy 153) Atrani, December 30, 2011 Day 068: 2.0, 2 hours The road winds along the coast practically clinging to the side of the cliff, sometimes only one lane wide, so cars have to take turns to go through. It's definitely not a stretch of road you can really appreciate ...
"You can't walk to there!"
... monstrosities. It is a beehive of activity. The beach has the potential to be spectacular, but isn't! We backtracked into town for lunch down by the water. Fresh seafood was in the market stalls all along our walk back. Our waitress spoke some limited English, so we asked her the best route to walk to Vietri. She was appalled and said we should take the bus! What is it with these Italians? They ...
Shopping and People Watching in Sorrento
... restaurant, Delfinos, in Marina Grande. As it was dark and getting a bit chilly we caught a cab there and back. It was another amazing meal, we both had pasta for starters, Gs with lobster which he loved. We then both had a red snapper again filleted at the table with potatoes and garlic broccoli. Yum, would definitely come back here any ...
Myles Away From Home: Visiting a Volcano
Pompeii is a awesome city because of its amazing history. There was an Earth quake 17 years before the eruption of Vesuvius which caused the sea level to go away from the city. And the 2 days before Vesuvius erupted there was a celebration of the fire god then came a norther ...
Went to Naples. Ate all the pizza.
... example of a typical Napolitan building that looks like nothing from the outside but is jaw-droppingly beautiful inside. There is so much we didn't have time to see so I will definitely be back for another visit in the future.
We've had another busy week at work, mostly helping out in the R&D (research and development) kitchen with Vincenzo. We've been making samples of passata in glass, canned spaghetti and various canned ...


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The Community Foundation of Western Nevada instituted the 100% Board Giving award program in 2008. The purpose of the program is to recognize nonprofits with boards that demonstrate their commitment to their nonprofit's excellence by providing personal financial support for operating.
2015 List of 100% Giving Board Award Organizations
While time and talent on the board are necessary, board members' personal financial contribution to the nonprofits they serve is crucial.
In 2008, just 13 nonprofits were able to nominate their boards for this award; that number has grown each year. In 2015, 100 organizations proudly display this award.
Each organization is given a certificate to share with their board—emblazoned with a gold star for each year they've earned the award.
Congratulations to all 2015 Giving Board members who support their chosen cause and the mission of their organizations by making an annual gift. You understand your role as a board member, and you are commended for your commitment.


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Item: GNN023
Features a blend of five plant-based protein sources
15 g of protein per serving
Delicious banana flavor
Vegan friendly
1.8 lbs (810 grams) Pwdr
Serving Size 1 Scoop (26 g)
Servings Per Container 30
|Amount Per Serving
|% Daily Value
|Calories from Fat
|Total Fat
|2 g
|Polyunsaturated Fat
|0.5 g
|Monounsaturated Fat
|0.5 g
|Total Carbohydrate
|5 g
|Dietary Fiber
|1 g
|5 g
|15 g
|220 mg
|Proprietary Plant Head Protein Matrix
|20 g
|Pea Protein Isolate (Pisum sativum) (seed)
|Whole Grain Brown Rice Protein (Oryza sativa) (seed)
|Whole Algalin Protein [Dried Chlorella Algae (Chlorella protothecoides)]
|Hemp Protein (Cannabis sativa) (seed)
|Cranberry Protein (Vaccinium macrocarpon) (seed)
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
† Daily Value not established.
Other Ingredients: Natural Flavors (with other Natural Flavor), Evaporated Cane Sugar, Plant Gum Complex (Cellulose Gum, Xanthan Gum), Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) (leaf), Medium Chain Triglycerides.
Typical Amino Acid Profile^
Suggested Use: As a dietary supplement for adults, mix one (1) scoop with 10-12 fl. oz. of cold water, coconut milk, almond milk, or your favorite beverage. Additional servings may be used to meet your daily protein requirements.
NOTICE: Use this product as a food supplement only. Do not use for weight reduction.
WARNING: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. Do not use if safety seal is damaged or missing. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking any medications, planning any medical procedure or have a medical condition, consult with your healthcare practitioner before use.
Protect from heat, light and moisture. Store at 15-30°C (59-86°F)
2.13 lbs
Features a blend of five plant-based protein sources
15 g of protein per serving
Delicious banana flavor
Vegan friendly
If you are looking for a great tasting protein that is vegan friendly, Genceutic Naturals Plant Head Protein Banana may be just what you are looking for. Plant Head Protein features a proprietary blend of five plant-based proteins, including pea, whole grain brown rice, hemp and more. Each serving delivers 15 g of protein. No soy, dairy, lactose, artificial ingredients or preservatives. Non-GMO Project Verified.
"With my personal 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee, you have nothing to lose and great savings to gain."
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If you are dissatisfied for any reason, we'll give you a full refund and pay return shipping.
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1.8 lbs (810 grams) Pwdr


text:
ED Magedson – Founder
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Teleten Marketing3250 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, California U.S.A.
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Everything went well for the next couple of months. At least, everything went as well as it possibly could. Edward and Rosalie continued to work on their relationship, still fawning over eachother, and I picked up a few extra shifts to get away from them. Working, all though it completely stressed me out sometimes, helped me clear my head.
Jake somehow managed to convince me to give him my phone number. He claimed it was in case of an emergency. Even though that was practically a lie, I gave it to him anyway. He deserved credit for trying. Harold still thought he needed training, so we often had the same shifts together, and Jake usually followed me around like a lost puppy, asking questions that he already knew the answers to. I couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or flattered.
Aside from being constantly pestered by Alice and her incessant reminders about the upcoming school dance, and Edward growing increasingly distant, nothing had changed.
On a Thursday afternoon, Esme came home unusually early, huffing as she carried her bags through the door.
"Oh, good, I was hoping to catch the both of you here," she said, while pulling her hair into a ponytail and kicking off her shoes.
"Hey, Mom," Edward mumbled, looking over at her lazily. We both were completely lounging on the couches in the living room, watching reruns of an old sitcom that wasn't really funny.
"How was your day?" I asked, peering over the edge of the sofa. My hair was falling out of my bun, loose strands of hair covering my face. Esme leaned over, brushed my bangs back, and kissed my forehead. She sat down next to Edward and sighed as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek.
"Oh, it was just a day," she replied, chewing her lip nervously. Edward gazed over at her.
"What is it?" he asked, hesitant.
"I need the both of you to do me a favor," she started.
"Sure, anything you need," I said, sitting up and beginning to refix my hair.
"Well, as you both know, your father and I - er, Carlisle and I - are going to a conference this weekend in Portland. A colleague of his, Leah, is going as well, but she needs someone to watch her child, so I volunteered you two to do it." She flashed us a quick smile and fussed with her blouse. Edward shot up in alarm.
"Mom!" he exclaimed. She threw her hands up, ready to argue.
"I wasn't thinking when I offered! And it's only for two days..."
"Two days?" he cried.
"Oh, come on Edward, it can't be that bad. I mean, how old is she?" I asked, trying to be optimistic.
"Well, she's almost three."
"Esme!" I cried, joining Edward's side of the argument. "Two?"
Esme put her hands on her hips and glared at us. "You're both seventeen years old, you can handle this responsibility. I'm sure you can afford to sacrafice one of your precious weekends, and don't try and tell me you're working, Bella. I know you aren't. And Edward, you can put your social life on hold for a little while."
"But, I don't know anything about babies, and why would she trust two complete strangers with her child?" he whined.
"Honestly, she's two. Not six months old, and Leah will provide you with a very extensive list of certain instructions and phone numbers. She hasn't been in town very long. She has no family here, and this conference could be the pinnacle of her career. Most of watching her is just a combination of maternal instincts and common sense. Between the two of you, there should be no problems. Leah will be bringing her by tomorrow around five. I expect the both of you to be here. No excuses."
"Ugh," Edward sighed, putting his head in his hands.
"Whats her name?" I asked, my palms sweaty.
"Her name is Emily," Esme said, standing up from the couch. "I'll order takeout tonight."
"Babysitting?" Emmett burst out laughing, spraying sandwich bits everywhere. "Oh my god, your life totally sucks."
Alice smacked his arm and scowled. "Shut up, Em. Imagine if Mom made us do that." She took a bite of her salad and chewed quickly. "You know this means you can't go dress shopping this weekend, right? We don't have much time left."
"Yes, Alice," I sighed, "I'm well aware of that fact. Three weeks is more than enough time for you to find a dress, and I'm not going, so you're welcome to find something without me."
Alice groaned and rolled her eyes. "We'll talk about this later."
The rest of the day went by too quickly. My stomach churned nervously the entire way home. Edward was brooding while he drove. "Are you as nervous as I am?" I asked.
"How bad can it be? I mean, we only have to make sure she doesn't eat potting soil or jam her fingers into any electrical outlets," he replied sarcastically.
"We have to feed her, and bathe her, and put her to bed, and -" I started to list.
"I know, Bella," he said hotly. "My mom obviously trusts us, I'm sure we'll be okay. Spongebob works wonders for kids from what I hear, and we have gummy bears and fruit roll-ups."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," I mumbled. I still raced into my room and hid anything dangerous valuable in the closet as soon as we got home. Without a doubt, Edward did the same thing. Because I still had a couple of hours to kill before Leah came over, I decided to bake a few things, some snacks for Emily to munch on that weren't processed in a factory.
I preheated the oven and pulled out the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, beginning to mix everything together. When I finished, I set the bowl aside and began to mix together some sugar cookies, tossing in some rainbow sprinkles for aesthetic purposes. When I was scooping chunks onto the baking sheets, Edward came up behind me and dipped his finger into the bowl, scooping out a large chunk and eating it immediately.
"Yum," he said, going for seconds. I smiled and swatted his hand away.
"Dont eat too much. Chances are, you'll get sick and I'll be stuck doing this all alone." In the back of my mind, I knew I shouldn't have been so nervous. I'd babysat many times before, and I was good with kids. I was more worried about Edward not being able to handle it. He wasn't terrible with kids...he just wasn't 'Edward the Purple Dinosaur'.
Just after the cookies had finished cooling on the rack, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Esme called as she hurried down the stairs. She'd come home early again to pack for the trip. Moments after that, an adorable little girl, sporting blond pigtails and a teddybear, tumbled her way into the kitchen, almost knocking into me.
"Emily!" I heard someone, obviously her mother, call. Seconds later, a tall woman bearing a striking resemblance to the little girl hurried into the kitchen and scooped her into her arms.
"I'm so sorry," she huffed. "She's so excited. You must be Bella." Leah extended her hand toward me and I grasped it.
"I am, you must be Leah," I said with a smile. Emily buried her head into Leah's shoulder, making her tiny pigtails bounce.
"I am, and this is Emily. Emily, say 'hi' to Bella," she encouraged. Emily picked her head up off of Leah's collarbone and peered at me for one second. She grinned and then buried her face again.
"Edward!" Esme called. "Leah and Emily are here!" She popped into the kitchen, emulating an unnatural ammount of energy for five o'clock in the evening. "Oh, Bella, you made cookies," she said with a smile. "Bella is fantastic in the kitchen."
When Edward came downstairs, Leah handed over several lists of telephone numbers in case of emergencies, explained their daily routines and any odd quirks Emily had. She also gave us details about her favorite foods and anything else we could possibly know about her, like the fact that she was almost potty trained, but not quite there yet. She'd also brought along a crib, high chair, and car seat for our conveniences.
"She doesn't normally sleep in a crib, but I couldn't fit her bed in my car. be fine though," Leah explained. The baby was happily chewing on a cookie when she kissed her goodby an hurried out the door.
Carlise and Esme soon followed, leaving the three of us to ourselves. I'd been mentally preparing myself for pure hell the moment the parents left, but Emily was perfectly content slobbering on freshly baked goods.
"The cookies were a good idea," Edward commented, maneuvering awkwardly around the little girl who was perched on our countertop.
"She's pretty quiet," he mumbled, pulling a waterbottle out of the fridge. A few hours later, we both realized just how wrong he was.
By the time it was 8:00, Emily had managed to dump a cup of grape juice all over herself, flick macaroni and cheese along the entirity of the wall, and hurl chicken nuggets at me and Edward.
"She's a demon!" Edward exclaimed as I scrubbed caked cheese off the wall in the dining room. I shot him a glare and quickly glanced at Emily, who was kicking away in her high chair.
"Do you really have to say things like that? She's right there, Ed. And she's probably only acting out because she's insecure without her mom here. Haven't you noticed how she keeps calling me 'mama' and then throwing something at me when I don't magically turn into Leah?"
He stared at me, silently, before shuffling over to Emily and plucking her out of her seat. Though he looked uncomfortable, he held her against his chest, swaying slightly. My heart lodged in my throat as I watched her slowly relax in his arms. After a few moments, he carried her over to the living room, where he flipped on Nick Jr.
"Maybe you should get her bath ready?" he asked softly. I was dumbfounded. Digging through one of the many diaper bags Leah had dropped off, I marveled in Edward's drastic behavior change. Once I got ahold of the baby wash, I hurried upstairs to get everything ready for her, suddenly feeling incredibly calm. She cooperated while we gave her a bath, only fussing when I had to rinse water over her head to get the shampoo out of her hair.
"Look at these pajamas I found for her," Edward said, laughing as he walked into the room. He held up a pink onesie with teddy bears all over it. After carefully drying her off and changing her into her special night time diaper, I helped her into the clothes and carried her to my room where Edward was snapping her crib together. She reached for her blanket as soon as she saw it draped across the foot of my bed.
"Bug!" she cried. Like every child, she'd come to know her baby blanket by a special name, which just so happened to be Bugaboo. It was difficult getting her to bed. Emily was terrified of falling asleep without her mother there. Everytime her eyes would flutter shut, she'd startle herself away and cry out for mama. It eventually took us calling Leah and letting Emily hear her voice before she fell alseep.
Edward excused himself from the room while I changed into some more comfortable clothes, returning in his own pajamas and bearing two plates of finger foods.
"I thought you might be hungry," he whispered, dimming the lights in the room. "I know I am."
I nodded and eyed the plate, my mouth watering. "Thank you," I mumbled, patting the spot next to me on the bed while shoving a mini corndog into my mouth. He scooted next to me and chewed on his food slowly.
"Would you mind if I stayed in here with you tonight?" he asked, his voice quiet.
"Huh?" I squeaked.
"I don't really feel comfortable leaving you alone with Emily tonight."
My eyebrows pulled together in confusion and I swatted my bangs out of my eyes.
"Oh, you don't think I can handle it?" I hissed, irritated. Edward placed his hand on my shoulder to steady me.
"No, I don't think you would have any problems handling it. I just don't feel like it's very fair if I leave you alone with her and she keeps you up. Leah did say she wakes up a lot throughout the night."
"Oh," I said softly, instantly regretting my mini blow up. "Thank you."
We finished eating together, and I couldn't help but glance nervously at Edward every ten seconds. It wasn't like we hadn't ever slept in the same bed before - we'd grown up together. Knowing that he was in a serious relationship with an inhumanly gorgeous girl, knowing how out of control my feelings for him were, knowing we'd never be anything more than friends, all of those factors were more than likely contributing to my anxiety.
I crawled under my thick blankets and felt his hand graze across the exposed skin on my stomach, sending shivers down my spine.
"I haven't asked Rosalie to the dance yet," he whispered, rolling over to face me. I looked over at him, surprised to find his eyebrows knit together.
"Why not?" I mumbled. Rose had seemed perfectly at ease when Alice was blabbering on about her plans for an after party and what type of corsage she wanted.
"I don't know," he answered. "I'm not sure if she really wants to go."
"Oh, trust me, Edward. She wants to go. What are you waiting for?" I pulled the blankets tighter around my shoulders.
"I'm not really waiting for anything, Bella. I think she's just assuming we're going together." He sighed and shifted around.
"Is that a bad thing?"I asked.
"No, it's not a bad thing. I just don't know whether I should ask her or assume she knows we're going together."
My heart sank. "You should ask her," I advised, pretending to yawn so the conversation.
"Goodnight, Bella," he whispered, kissing my forehead gently before rolling back over.
"Goodnight," I whispered back, closing my eyes and slowly settling into a light slumber. It felt like I had just fallen asleep when I was startled awake by a sharp, piercing cry. I jumped out the bed and hurried over to the crib, picking up Emily before her cries escalated.
"Shh," I comforted. "It's alright, you're okay." I held her against my shoulder while she whined, rubbing her back mechanically until she fell back asleep. Then I slumped back to the bed and curled into a ball, exhausted.
I woke up because my legs were completely tangled in the sheets. When I realized that I was also stealing the majority of the blankets, I did my best to rearrange them over Bella's tiny frame, not being very successful. With a sigh, I climbed out of the bed and pulled the blankets over her. Just for good measures, I looked over at the crib in the corner of the room and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Emily standing up, her tiny hands laced through the bars.
I shuffled over to her and picked her up. She felt so tiny in my arms, so breakable. It was ludicrous how such a fragile, innocent little girl could be such a... liability at all times.
"What are you doing up?" I whispered. "Can't sleep, huh, Emily?" She just stared at me. "Yeah, neither can I."
This time, Emily pointed over at the bed. I looked over and saw the alarm clock. It was 2:47 am. "Yes, it's early in the morning," I stated. She squirmed in my arms and pointed again, popping her thumb into her mouth.
"Oh, you mean Bella?" I asked. Emily smiled at buried her head into my chest. "She's pretty, isn't she?" I asked.
"Pretty!" Emily shouted.
"Shh!" I said quickly, wanting to cover her mouth before she made any more noise. "You'll wake her up, silly girl. And you should go back to sleep, too." Clearly not understanding, she bounced in my arms happily, her blond curls framing her face.
"No, Emily," I said, trying to sound firm. "Sleep."
It took almost an hour before I got her back in the crib. I knew I should have been tired, but I just didn't feel like it. Emily had this way of making you think. I gazed over at Bella, sleeping soundly, only occasionally muttering something, her hair fanned out across the pillow and her shoulders. She looked so peaceful, but at the same time, terrifyingly vulnerable, like the weight of the world would suddenly come tumbling down and crush her. I felt the sudden urge to hold her in my arms, to cradle her and keep her safe. If only I could tell her what I knew, then everything might make sense to her. I just didn't have it in me to do it.
It was only lately that Bella seemed so lost. Ever since her birthday. I wanted nothing more than to be able to fit the tattered pieces of her life together. I wanted to be the one to make everything okay for her. It was obvious, at least to me, that she was not okay, and every time she said she was "fine" was a lie. She'd been throwing herself into that back breaking job waitressing - a job she didn't even need - and completely throwing herself into her school work when she wasn't working.
We hadn't spent any quality time together lately, though I couldn't blame Bella for that. Rosalie and I had spent almost every day together, always going out on some form of a date. Whenever I'd get home after being with her, Bella would either be asleep or busy doing something spectacular, like cooking up a masterpiece in the kitchen or studying until she fell asleep on top of her textbooks.
I ran my fingers through my hair and shook my head. Get a grip on yourself. It's Bella, she's not going anywhere. After crawling back into bed, I wrapped my arms around my pillow and forced myself to go back to sleep knowing that I wouldn't be much help tomorrow if I didn't get any rest tonight.
"Emily! No!" I was startled awake by Bella's frantic cry and I felt her body lurch out of the bed. I popped open my eyes, panicking, and saw Bella grab the small child, who was perched dangerously on the edge of the bars, trying to climb out.
"Are you crazy?" she hissed. "God, you probably don't even understand what I'm saying. No climbing," she ordered. "Use your words. No climbing." I sat up and moved forward just as Bella slumped back onto the bed with Emily in her arms.
"Everything okay?" I asked, scooting closer to her. She growled and looked over at. me.
"No. She just tried to dive off of her crib onto the floor." She ran her fingers through Emily's tangled curls. I looked over at the alarm clock.
"Well, it is 8:30, Bells. She's probably been up for a while," I tried to reason. Bella shot me a glare and I cringed.
"Well...if it's any constallation, you're hair looks wonderful like a hay stack," I said, flashing her a grin.
"Thanks," she said dryly. I reached over and put my arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, I'm just kidding. Relax," I said smoothly. "She's been ready to party since 2:30 this morning."
"Seriously?" she asked. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
I shrugged and stretched out my arms. "It was no big deal. I was up anyway."
"Because...?" she asked. "Edward you have bags under your eyes. You need sleep."
"I wasn't tired," I lied. She stared at me, silently demanding the truth. "I just had a lot on my mind and was up thinking, then Emily kept me company for a while."
Bella sighed and stood up. "I'll watch her for a few hours. Go back to bed," she ordered. I stood up in protest.
"No, really, I'm not tired. But I am hungry. How about breakfast?" I asked, quickly changing the subject. She sighed and agreed, thumping down the stairs while Emily sang a happy song that was unrecognizable. Just before I was going to follow them, my cell phone rang, buzzing on the nightstand.
"Hello?" I asked, holding the receiver to my ear.
"Hi, Edward. This is Leah, I'm just calling to check in, is everything going okay?" she asked.
"Absolutely," I answered, quickly. "Bella and Emily just went downstairs to make some breakfast."
"Oh, that's great ," she sighed into the phone. "Has she been causing any problems?" she asked, sounding nearly hysterical.
"Not at all," I lied. "She's an angel, and we haven't run into any problems." The conversation ended shortly after that and I hurried downstairs to help with breakfast. I found Bella standing in front of the griddle with pancakes forming on them. Emily was on the counter next to her with her hands submerged in the batter bowl, an adorable grin on her face.
"Um...Bella?" I asked, careful not to startle her.
"Yeah?" she replied, pleasantly.
"You do realize that she's elbow deep in pancake batter, right?" I asked.
"Yup," she replied, twrirling her spatula. "She wanted to be my helper."
"Okay," I said, biting my cheek to keep from laughing. "How about I go clean her up while you finish?"
"Sounds great," she replied shortly, and I plucked Emily off the counter and carried her while she wiped her fingers all over my shirt, giggling at the stains.
That was how the rest of the weekend went.
By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, Bella and I were exhausted. Leah thanked us over and over again when she came to pick Emily up, raving at what a wonderful job we did. To be honest, watching her wasn't a bad experience at all, it was just tiring. I collapsed the moment I hit my pillows after that, only waking up the next morning to Bella's soft knocking on the door.
I groaned and rolled over, burrowing my head into the down comforter.
"Edward?" she inquired, slowly cracking open the door. I grunted and shook my head, stubbornly.
"Do I really have to get up?" I complained. "Can't you get my dad to write us a note or something?"
"Er, no," she said, shyly. "But I made breakfast, and you've still got some extra time. Maybe you should take a shower, it'll wake you up," she suggested. I looked up at her and offered a small smile. She turned to leave, almost making no noise.
"Bella?" I asked, trying to get her to stop. She looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. I sat up, letting the covers fall from my shoulders and looked directly at her, trying to work past the grogginess. "Thank you."
"For what?" she asked.
After getting ready and driving us to school, I decided I'd take Bella's advice and ask Rosalie to the dance. I wasn't really looking forward to going, at least, not with Rose. She was great in every aspect, but she just wasn't the girl for me. That much I could tell—she was a good distraction. And, of course, she agreed without hesitation when I casually asked her.
School was especially boring for a Monday, and our lunch hour wasn't very eventful. Alice babbled happily, buzzing with excitement while announcing her party and shopping plans. Rosalie chimed in, throwing her ideas out there, and then they both dragged Bella into it, making her promise she'd go with them. I saw her shoulders wilt, but she agreed after a heavy argument.
"Why don't you and Emmett go as friends, Bella?" Rosalie threw out there.
"I actually have a date," Emmett said, talking for the first time the entire break.
"With who?" Alice demanded. "I'm your sister, why don't I already know this?"
Emmett rolled his eyes. "I'm going with Lauren." The table got quiet. He peered over at Bella, who was ripping her napkin into shreds. "Sorry, Bells," he said, reaching over and squeezing her shoulder.
"It's okay, Em. Don't worry about it," she said, quietly. I felt a rock drop into the core of my stomach as I saw her face crumple. By the end of the day, I so desperately wanted to check on her, to make sure she was okay. I spotted her waiting at my car, playing with the necklace I'd given her on her birthday.
"How was the rest of your day?" I asked, pulling her into a hug. She shrugged in my arms.
"It was fine, yours?" she asked, walking around the car to get inside.
"It was boring," I replied sliding into my seat. We drove home in silence, steady raindrops plopping on the windshield.
"Bella, are you sure you want to go to the dance?" I finally asked. She looked startled.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Actually, I'm thinking I might ask friend of mine to go with me as my date," she said, staring out the window. Now I was the startled one.
"Oh, who?" I asked, trying to delay my response to not sound too concerned.
"His name's Jake."
Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update, I was on vacation and couldn't get to a computer. The website doesn't let me upload files from my iPhone, so I couldn't do anything until I got home. Anyway, please let me know if you have any questions.
Just thought I would let everyone know: Edward DID NOT confess any form of undying love towards Bella in this chapter. He's simply being very protective. I thought you guys might like to see Edward's perspective for a change.


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Supply problems with an important veterinary sedative have prompted the Government to permit alternative products to be imported.
Supply problems with an important veterinary sedative have prompted the Government to permit alternative products to be imported.
Two acepromazine (ACP) injections made by Novartis Animal Health will not be available in the UK from January 2011.
In response, the VMD has temporarily permitted the import of Calmivet acepromazine solution for injection from French company Vétoquinol.
VMD director of operations John FitzGerald said: "Acepromazine is an important sedative for vets to carry out surgery, so for the health and welfare of animals it was important we allowed an alternative similar product to be imported."
Novartis has told all recent buyers about the unavailable products, which are ACP Injection 2mg/ml solution for injection Vm 12501/4124 and ACP injection 10mg/ml solution for injection Vm 12501/4125.
In France, Calmivet is licensed for use in dogs, cats and horses not for food-production. UK vets are advised to check doses before administering Calmivet because it is only available as a 5mg/ml injection.
The recommended dose rates (mg per kg bodyweight) in France differ to those licensed for ACP products in the UK. For clinical reasons vets may prefer to use these products in accordance with the UK dose rates for ACP injectable products, adjusting the dose volumes appropriately.
More information is available at the VMD's website.


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By F. W. Burleigh — March 20, 2015
For insight into the workings of Muhammad's mind, consider Chapter 33 of his Koran, entitled "The Confederates."
This is one of the chapters Muhammad composed in Yathrib (later called Medina) where he fled after his Meccan compatriots determined they needed to kill him to preserve their way of life.
The chapter is like a wild theme park ride that races in and out of numerous topics. In the 73 verses that make up the chapter, Muhammad covers the following, using the God-voice he adopted for the Koran: He recaps a recent battle with the Meccans and excoriates people who were afraid to fight and die for him; he gloats about his extermination of the men and boys of one of the Jewish tribes of Yathrib, the confiscation of their property, and the enslavement of their women and children; he authorizes himself to take as many wives as he likes, permits himself to marry the wife of his adopted son, forbids himself from taking any more wives after he has taken as many as he likes, but allows himself sex slaves.
As the verses of this "revelation" continue, Muhammad imposes full body and face cover for women when outside the home, threatens people with humiliating punishment in the afterlife for annoying him, threatens to murder his critics, prohibits the practice of adoption, and dishes up images of sadistic torture in Hell awaiting people who don't believe in him. He also praises himself as a "lamp spreading light," and holds his behavior as a "beautiful pattern" for people to follow if they want to score well with Allah.
Among the verses is a celestial advisory that he must be obeyed:
Despite their tediousness, it is worth exploring some of these verses because, in addition to providing evidence of his strange mentality, they also show that his Koran was like a blog in which he commented on the happenings of the moment. The happenings of the moment recorded in Chapter 33 had to do with war, sex, and Muhammad's betrayal of his adopted son.
In the war part of these verses, Muhammad covers the Meccan assault on Yathrib that came to be known as the Battle of the Trench, so named because of a three-mile defensive trench he dug around vulnerable parts of the valley to fend off the attackers. By the time of this battle, he had been waging war on the Meccans for almost five years. The two major battles of Badr and Uhud had already been fought.[1]
The Battle of the Trench was the third major fight, which took place in A.D. 627. The Meccans attacked with an army of 12,000 warriors, drawn from numerous tribes who were itching for payback for all the harm Muhammad had caused them. But they were unable to get beyond the trench and finally gave up after a fierce windstorm leveled their encampments.
Verses 9 to 25 recap the action, but most are Muhammad's diatribe against cowardly or fake believers who he was certain would have betrayed him had been given the opportunity. But he declares that Allah did not provide them with the opportunity because he sent the windstorm that disheartened the invaders and sent them packing. The battle was a test of faith of the believers who held firm, and Allah knows how to reward those who hold firm in their faith.
And rewarded they were: After the invaders left, Muhammad attacked the only remaining Jewish tribe of Yathrib and ended up distributing their wealth to the faithful. When he arrived in the valley, half of its 20,000 population was Jewish, divided among three major tribes. By the time of the Battle of the Trench, Muhammad had forced out two of the Jewish tribes. Hoping to escape the same fate, the remaining tribe at first insisted on not taking sides during the Meccan attack, then agreed to aid the invaders, but then backed out of it. Muhammad used this as an excuse to behead all of the men and boys.
About this massacre, Muhammad has Allah say:
As with much of the Koran, substitute Muhammad for Allah and the real meaning comes through. What these verses mean in plain language is that the Jews surrendered after a three-week siege, hoping Muhammad would exile them as he had done to the other Jewish tribes, but he beheaded the men and boys — somewhere between 400 and 900 with 700 being the likely number of victims. He happily seized all of their wealth of farms, date plantations, fortresses, and homes, and he enslaved all of the woman and children. The booty was distributed among his followers who participated in the siege — minus the 20 percent cut he kept for himself. The likely reason he attacked the Jews was to seize their wealth to pay off his followers for the hardships they had endured during the Battle of the Trench. The fact they had briefly taken sides with the Meccans was merely the pretext.[2]
The chapter continues with blog entries concerning his marriage to Zaynab, the wife of Zayd, a slave whom he had adopted three decades earlier.[3] Muhammad added Zaynab to his harem after pressuring Zayd to divorce her. He lusted for her and wanted her for himself, his adopted son be damned. This marriage scandalized even some of the truest believers because it was considered taboo among the Arabs for a father to take the wife of his son. Muhammad made use of Allah to finesse the matter. To deal with his critics, he had Allah dissolve the practice of adoption and declared that not only was his adopted son no longer his son, but he had never been his son because adoption was a human invention and was displeasing to Allah. Therefore, Muhammad declared he was blameless in the matter. Moreover, Allah had granted him the right to marry Zaynab, "and Allah's command must be fulfilled." (Verse 37) When critics kept up their attacks, Muhammad threatened them with bloody murder: "They shall have a curse on them: whenever they are found, they shall be seized and slain (without mercy)." (Verse 61)
This amazing chapter continues with details about the wedding banquet with Zaynab. It so happened that his anger was sparked when some of the male wedding guests dallied after the banquet was over. This irked Muhammad to no end, perhaps in part because he was eager to sleep with Zaynab, and they kept him from her, but also because he suspected the men had lingered in order to ogle his bride. He composed Verses 28-34 that warn all of his wives to watch their behavior. Then in verse 59, he decides good behavior is not enough. His wives and all believing women from then on had to cover up so that no part of their body was on display outside of the home. Thus the inspiration for burka was born:
But still sulking from the fact that some of male believers — believers in the oneness of Allah and in Muhammad as his messenger, no less! — ogled his woman at the banquet, Muhammad has Allah take time out from ruling the universe to teach such people manners. In Verse 53, he scolds them for behaving in a way that was upsetting to him, and still fuming over it, his anger spills over into Verse 57 where he threatens hellfire as punishment for anyone who upsets him.
These verses don't have a firm order. A topic is taken up, then dropped, only to resume again in later verses. It makes it difficult to follow, even for people who know the details of Muhammad's life.
Three of the sequential verses (50-52) have to do with the wives that Muhammad allows himself, and in their blatantly self-serving way they are perhaps the most amusing lines of the Koran:
In the verse that follows, he allows himself to rotate among his wives however he pleases. In Verse 52, he tells himself it is not lawful for him to marry any more women after all the above have been married "even though their beauty attracts" him, nor to change them for other wives. However, he allows himself the option of taking slaves as wives.
The chapter is full of self-praise, selfies taken on a celestial selfie stick.
More self-praise can be found in Verse 56 wherein he advises believers to bless him and "salute him with all respect," because that is what Allah and Allah's angels do to him.
This is followed by a suite of verses that rail against people who refuse to believe that God talks to him, salutes him, and blesses him. He threatens infidels that they will pay for their lack of belief in him in blazing hellfire. "Our Lord! Give them double Penalty and curse them with a very great Curse!" he says in Verse 68.
The Koran is full of such self-regard and oozes with Muhammad's hatred for people who rejected him. But it is not necessary to read the entire book to realize it is the product on an extremely, shall we say, unusual mind.
Islam is all about Muhammad and his claim that God talked to him. His claim of communion with the divine was quite possibly brought about by epileptic fits caused by a malformed temporal lobe. The combination of his belief that he had a special mission, self-regard and fury towards those who do not conform to his edicts informs the faith he founded. Islam represents the institutionalized version of his vision.
All you have to do to understand the truth about the mind that created Islam and the ideology that is threatening the world is to read Chapter 33 of Muhammad's Koran, which means "Recital." Here is the Yusuf Ali translation of Chapter 33 (variously called The Clans, The Coalition, The Confederates)
F. W. Burleigh is the author of It's All About Muhammad, a Biography of the World's Most Notorious Prophet. He blogs at www.itsallaboutmuhammad.com.
[1] Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, trans. A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, 1955, pp. 450-460.
[2] Ibid., pp. 461-468.
[3] Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Darussalam, 2000, vol. 7, pp. 695-699. (The Tafsir is a 10-volume exegesis of the Koran by the 14th century scholar Ibn Kathir.)


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This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/04/2011 08:55 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/arkansas-highway-department/little-rock-arkansas-/arkansas-highway-department-unfair-hiring-pratices-little-rock-arkansas-725490. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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ED Magedson – Founder
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Bizstarters.comInternet United States of America
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This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/30/2013 04:58 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/bizstarterscom/internet/bizstarterscom-jeff-williams-my-experience-with-jeff-williams-from-bizstarterscom-and-hi-1006339. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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#1 REBUTTAL Owner of company
Responding to complaint by Milton
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, August 06, 2013POSTED: Tuesday, August 06, 2013
As the owner of a company that has worked hard for more than twenty five years to maintain a reputation for reliability and integrity, I would like to respond to this complaint against us.
The poster of this complaint attempts to combine two responses in one complaint - his evaluation of the value of the product he purchased and his disatisfaction with our customer service.
As far as the product usefulness goes, I can only say that we have sold hundreds of this ebook and we continue to receive position email comments on its usefulness. We work hard to make all of our products highly informative and practical.
Milton is certainly entitled to his opinion of the product. But, remember it is just that - only his opinion. By including these comments in his complaint on this site, he creates the appearance that the complaint is much more subtantial than it is. He appears to have wanted a soapbox upon which to stand to sound off and he found one.
Now, regarding his dissatisfaction with the speediness of our response to his request for a refund on his purchase. As we told him at the time, we were unable to initially find his transaction in our dailly credit card settlement logs and therefore we saw no proof that his payment was ever credited to our account. We told him this at the time. Because of the unusual nature of this transaction it requred almost 30 days to find out whether we had ever been credited with the purchase amount.
I would describe our response as cautious with no intent to deny the outcome desired by Milton, And, in fact by the time Milton escalated his complaint by threatening us we still had not seen his purchase enter our bank account and in fact we never did.
But, we issued the requested crecdit despite this lack of payment proof.
Perhaps we could have communicated more quickly at some point in the conversation and we apologize to Milton for the perceived delay on our part.
Jeff Williams
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- Michael Gilfix, Alva L. Couch
- 2000
Activities in complex networks are often both too important to ignore and too tedious to watch. We created a network monitoring system, Peep, that replaces visual monitoring with a sonic 'ecology' of natural sounds, where each kind of sound represents a specific kind of network event. This system combines network state information from multiple data… (More)
- Alva L. Couch, Michael Gilfix
- 1999
In an ideal world, the system administrator would simply specify a complete model of system requirements and the system would automatically fulfill them. If requirements changed, or if the system deviated from requirements, the system would change itself to converge with requirements. Current specialized tools for convergent system administration already… (More)
- Michael Gilfix
- 1999
Maintaining the integrity of large-scale networks is becoming an increasingly daunting task as networks expand at an unprecedented rate. The majority of present network monitoring and maintenance tools require a substantial investment in human resources to sift through vast quantities of information, to detect problems, and manually resolve them. Computer… (More)
- Michael Gilfix
- 2002
Disk quota systems exist to protect a limited resource and ensure that users can share it. However, existing quota management systems concentrate on controlling user privileges, rather than protecting resources. This paper suggests a new management model based upon a holistic view of resources and their controls. By acting upon a resource globally rather… (More)
- Linda Starke, George J. Annas, +18 authors Cleonice Tavani
- 1996
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