text: Short Sleeve Woven Trim Shrug Black Style: 570111481 Out of Stock Love it? Everyone else did too. This item sold out! Use our search tool, chat online or call 1.877.948.2525 to find something equally desirable. Timeless shrug gets twice as nice with twin layers of wispy silk and grosgrain touches. Stretch fit. Cropped open-front sweater with short ruched sleeves. Grosgrain and woven trim. 100% rayon. Machine wash, cold. Imported. Approximately 15.5" at back and 17.5" at front. Read More… Share on Facebook Tweet Pin


text:
Broken Ties- A Pokémon Fanfiction
Characters: Red, Green, Leaf, Gold. Some minor characters like Lance included.
Universe: HGSS, but characters are older. Gold is fourteen and the Kanto trainers are all seventeen-ish.
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Edit (20/05/12): Made changes in age, edited the spelling of some places that was really ticking me off. Rewrote a few parts, deleted some as well. Fixed some formating errors.
They still see each other sometimes, of course- periodically, occasionally, just enough times to assure Green that Red had not killed himself yet- but it was almost as if that with each passing day, the gap that was between them grew ever more wider than before.
It had not always been this way of course. Once upon a time, they had dreamt of the whole world- two little kids with a girl called Leaf, the closest of friends, united by a common dream: to be the greatest of the great, to etch their names in history. To be champions, all. The question of who would be stronger never arose- it was a topic that they never really talked about or thought about.
What hadn't been in the planned agenda: the break in their friendship bought by too many issues of the personal kind as they grew older, the split of their vision. Leaf had never been strong enough on her own, always overshadowed by the two imposing trainers that stood beside her and left the region. Green had lost his title within an hour of getting it to Red, and Red had abandoned all of his earthly relations for an isolated, frozen world cut off from the rest of them.
Sometimes Green wonders why they even bothered. He was managing Viridian Gym now, a considerable downfall from the Champion's throne, something that still somewhat irritated him when it was brought up though he's changed, and was not quite the egotistic, arrogant teenager he had been when younger.
But what had been the use of all that show anyway? In the end, like everything else, it meant close to nothing at all. Red had beaten him. Red had always beaten him, and his place in life was evidence of that failure which he had no choice but to accept upon.
On Sundays he would climb Mt. Silver, as the air was too frigid for Pidgeot to fly through.
Red would be waiting at the peak of the damned place as usual. Sometimes Green would laugh sardonically to himself at the irony of it all- what, Indigo Plateau wasn't high enough to satisfy the stuck up? When someone finally comes with enough skill (that is, not Green) to defeat him, would he fling himself off?
It's a question he doesn't ask because he knows it's just bitter speculation on his part. There should have been no shame in losing the first and final battle of his time as Champion to someone like Red, because he was not sure if anyone had ever beaten him no matter how hard they try. Green is not a fatalist, but it becomes his personal philosophy to see each person as with something like a limit- somewhere they climb until they can't climb higher. It's the natural talent he lacks, and he had spent his entire childhood on the road trying to convince himself he had the means to surpass his best friend turned enemy turned rival turned something to see it all go down in shambles.
"Something" is what he uses to describe the relationship between him and Red now when he has to. He wasn't sure what that was anymore, and he can't think of anything that doesn't start with ex- in front, so he sticks with "something". He just hopes one day that Red won't be his ex-something as well.
"Don't you ever get sick of just standing there?"
No response, as usual. After all those years, Green still feels angry when he's just plain ignored like that (not ignored, he knew but…), though it's not quite as bad as before when he wanted to sink his fist into a particular someone's face out of frustration. Red seems to drift off more into distance each time he visits him.
He tries a different sentence: "Why the hell are you even standing there like some stupid bastard who just fell into some sort of semi coma standing up? Don't you miss anyone? At all?"
Green lingers for a few moments, staring at the back of the other man's head- of messy black hair half hidden under that battered old hat that had been there since the beginning of their journey across Kanto. He sighs, drops his load of groceries like he does every week and sets off to leave only to return next Sunday for the cycle to repeat itself. It's become somewhat of a routine of sorts in a sense, something that he doesn't think about much anymore before doing.
He takes two steps back before a quiet voice, hoarse from underuse, surprises him and asks him to stay.
Green is too stunned to refuse.
"Where the fuck were you? I know you're lazy but you generally pick up your phone!"
The morning greets him with an obnoxious ring of his Pokégear and a shrill female voice at the other end of the line. He almost hangs up on it, but then he realizes that it's Leaf and not another one of his annoying female stalkers. Green is still half asleep when she yells something else to him, but he rubs his eyes and snaps a snide comeback back with a dose of his usual bite.
"I was with Red." He says after that, "He-"
"Red?" Leaf's voice raises a pitch, "You mean he's actually down from that mountain?"
"No, he's not. I was just making sure he didn't die from malnutrition by dropping off some food like usual, and it dragged on longer than planned."
He almost heard the sigh on the other end, "You've pissed him off?"
"Hardly. He never says anything anyway."
The conversation continues for another twenty minutes or so, mostly about nothing of importance. Talk of this kid from Johto who was steadily rising through the trainer ranks, Leaf's own stories of Hoenn, chidings at Green's new workaholic lifestyle before he says, "Leaf- it's eight and I have to open up the Gym. I don't exactly want to find this huge lineup of snotty bastards to beat up outside my door, complaining."
"Like always, the diligent Green Oak leaves his poor friend Leaf hanging on the other side of the world."
"Sure I do."
"Look, Green…" she says softly before he ends the call, "take…take care of him, okay? He's been through a lot too, like we all have."
For some reason, he could not explain the knot in his stomach as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat down when he responded. He pushed it to the back of his mind. Didn't need to dwell on petty matters like that.
"I know."
The feeling does not dislodge itself. Green's trainers notice how he's in a rather black mood but doesn't question him for it. The challengers go home with nothing as usual, after Eevee wipes the floor with most of them.
At first, the rumors of the new reformation of the Team Rocket organization were dismissed as just rumors from a few people who had nothing better to do with their lives then stir up gossip. Then, an attack on Azalea Town proved them all wrong. Suddenly, the League was as weary as mice again, because even though the thing was naught but a trifle, it was confirmed that it did indeed happen under the R of the Rocket slogan, which meant that a menace- Giovanni- could have returned to its head from his exile.
"They wouldn't dare." Green said to Lance as they walked out of an entirely pointless meeting between the Gym Leaders and Elite Four (without the Champion, but no one bothered to point out the obvious), "Red drove them off three years ago for good. Their stupid organization was disbanded, for god's sake."
The dragon tamer sighed, "But that was three years ago, Green, and three years is a long, long time to be considered for possible recovery. Red vanished off a few months after he became Champion. Why would they fear someone who is no longer there? It's quite obvious that he is considered to be the only threat to their ambition." He paused, frowning, "It's quite possible they consider him dead in all senses."
"He's not dead Lance- a mute misanthrope thriving in a frozen hell of a mountain yes, but not dead."
"They don't know that." The older man replied, "And it has been three years. Things could have changed for the better or for the worse. I'm personally praying that it's not the latter in store."
So then Green contemplates as he flies on Pidgeot back to Viridian City, with Lance's words still echoing in his head. Three years. Had it really gone by so fast? Had it really changed so much?
The crossed out days tell him that it is Sunday again, after a week of endless paperwork, challengers, and now Team Rocket to fill up its hours. He climbs Mount Silver with his pack and supplies, Eevee wrapped around his neck like a scarf- but warmer. Green does not pause to backtrack or look around for directions anymore because he had done this much too often now (enough times to find a few shortcuts), so they manage to scale it in a few hours or so with a brief rest in the middle.
It is not the first time that Green has asked himself how his old adversary could manage to live in such a place wearing only shorts like as if he was standing in the middle of a freaking heat wave. Was he never cold? Or was it because he denied himself warmth?
Red, he didn't think, was the type to take his own self into consideration- maybe not out of deliberate neglect, but rather because of his apathy and indifference to everything around him…maybe that yellow rat of his being an exception. Leaf had said years before that he would be the first to die on a deserted island if no one was there to remind him to sleep or eat. Green looks back on it and smirks at the irony and the semi truthfulness of the statement.
"Hi." He says flatly once he sees the familiar form of Red, looking out at empty space past the mountain like he always did. For once, it wasn't snowing- although really, it was the middle of April. That didn't say much though. Mount Silver defied weather trends and replaced it with a pick of hail, frost, or snow. Green did not like the endless white of the blizzards, although he knew Red had. It was so easy to lose yourself in the storms and watch, waiting for something that would never come.
He brushes a stray auburn lock out of his face and goes up to the raven haired, gingerly walking, as if the ground could burn. Looking out also, jaded eyes were obscure as he then asks:
"So, what's so interesting about this crappy landscape anyway? I can't see much of value."
Green did not expect an answer (it was a sarcastic, rhetorical question) - or maybe, just a monosyllable because that was how Red talked if he really had to even before his retreat to the roof of the world. What he gets is a pull of the brim of the trademark hat down to shadow crimson eyes and an equally oblique answer.
"To each his own."
He shrugs at the comment, drops off his load and turns to leave- but before that, the same hand grabs his wrist, and once again, Green finds himself in the cave next to a fire made by Charizard. They don't talk still. Green finds his attempts at small talk utterly useless, and just like last time, they sit around, not meeting each other's' eyes.
That night, Green dreams.
It's somewhat odd because he doesn't dream much anymore, and if he does, they're generally forgotten when he wakes up and he does not think much on them anyway. But- this time, he does dream and he does remember- remembers his undertakings in the plane of his unconscious thought- and when he wakes up, it is in a cold sweat and in anxiety he had not felt in such a long time he cannot recall the last.
Green is not a coward, nor one that avoids confrontation of something out of fear or lack of will, but seeing Red there one day when he went up to the summit of the mountain not alive and standing but dead and buried under the snow with his lifeless eyes staring up into his own was something that keeps replaying and replaying in his mind after he broke the surface of the dream, and haunts his conscience for the rest of the night.
Coffee does not help. Eevee raises concerned eyes at her trainer's endless pacing in his small apartment.
It's not that he didn't want to leave Mount Silver ( but he doesn't, not really ), it is the fact that he no longer can leave it that bars Red from seeking the comforts of civilization beyond his isolation from the rest of the world. After spending so much time alone and away from everything else, he had developed a fear of sorts that prevented him from stepping down onto the level ground beneath.
He likes to think of the place as his own kingdom in a way, a place that evaded change and time and intrusion from the unwanted that may shatter the balance of the delicate equilibrium he had built. Here, standing above the rest of the world, he can properly think and drop the mask he had been holding so closely to his face he had almost forgotten how to put it down.
Red is not fond of speaking. He finds language heavy on his tongue and unneeded for personal purposes. He communicates by motions of the hand or simple, florid body language that no one else could read easily, not being used to him. He finds it more preferable, because there is more to be discovered when everything is not too straight forward and undemanding, and silence was always a golden thing that he found endless value in whilst in such an environment. The winds and the flurries of snow fill the void of his unspoken words, and he finds a strange acceptance in the cold air, frigid enough to numb, but warm enough to also not.
When he attained all that he was after, Red had wondered if that was all there was to it. But then, he realizes that he had done in all senses, hardly anything at all.
Because the only reason why he even walked out of Pallet Town and took his first steps in the grassy thrush of Route 1 was the desire for some sort of acknowledgment from the person he had once called his friend, some sort of hope that one day, they would walk together as promised, equals, but together. That hadn't exactly worked out, and would remain something that he knew he would never have. What more was his discovery of how pointless everything had been. The fact that Green ended up blaming the loss of everything he had worked towards on him (Red doesn't blame him for doing that), the fact won't even look at Red properly anymore, let alone speak to him after the loss of his title to one that never even wanted it in the first place after a mere hour upon having it.
The visits were a surprise at first, around a year after he had found solace in the pinnacles of Mount Silver. Green turned up, with food and other things that Red hadn't laid eyes on in what seemed like an eternity that he had almost forgotten the uses of.
But when Green looks at him, he becomes almost scared, because his eyes are empty- and even had there been an iota of resentment, the Champion would have been less so- but there isn't, and there's nothing, and Red doesn't know what to say because he's afraid now that they've come face to face after years of no contact. He did what he did most when faced with such situations. He retreated back in his own world and shut away what he didn't want to directly meet.
But Red is human too, and he does have wants of companionship of some sort apart from his Pokémon, beloved as they were- so he does not relocate to some other abandoned place that someone's overlooked. Now that he had rediscovered what it meant like to be around another, he finds out that he does not hate it too much either, awkward as it may be. And sometimes- sometimes he would wonder just what would have happened had they done things differently before, so now they weren't three almost strangers who still talked (by that, he meant Green and Leaf. Red wasn't a part of it- he never really had been) on occasion. When those times came, it would be too hard to further hypothesize and think, so he doesn't- and Red does berate and loathe himself at times for that, but it was to avoid any more regret and other emotions he didn't want to bear. If anything, Red tried to steer his thought processes away from those two things as much as possible on the account that if he lets himself lose hold onto reality and enter the world of what if's and what could have been's, then he would never be able to pull himself out.
Red is not a sentimental person by any right, but neither is he a masochist, and he prefers to keep it that way.
Leaf phones a few weeks later with news that she had completely beaten the Hoenn league's Gyms, and that people should seriously stop underestimating Jigglypuff and Ditto if they didn't want their asses kicked. Green laughs at this (snickers at the irony, because Ditto and Jigglypuff ordinarily were hardly useful, but like he and Red, Leaf is not an ordinary trainer) and agrees with her thought on the matter.
"How are things going on at your end?" she asks, "Besides of course, your monotonous routine through daily life, being Gym Leader and all."
"Oh, fine here, dandy there. Um…maybe not dandy there, now that I look at it. Some fucker decided to well- can you believe it, re-establish Team Rocket in Johto or some crap like that. I don't think there's much to worry about though," he adds as Leaf gives a startled 'really?' over the speaker, "It reminds me more of a children's mob without the leader. I mean, it's kind of pathetic in all rights without Giovanni there to lead."
There is a pause before Leaf says anything, "How do you know if Giovanni isn't there, Green? Agents? Infiltrates-"
"The tried to take over Goldenrod's radio station some time before to try and bring back their boss. It failed- and I heard that some kid- I think the same one who did the honors in Azalea- chased them off again."
"A kid? How old is he?"
"I don't know, okay? I hardly pay attention to things like that that doesn't directly concern me. I'm doing peachy over here, having to deal with an entire line of weak challengers daily and paperwork when I'm not."
She sighs softly, contemplating, "It seems like Red all over again, hey? Fighting off the Rockets, earning a name he never really wanted." ('That you wanted, not him' is unspoken, but it passes between them clearly.)
"And how the hell do you know that? Frankly- I don't think this kid's even an ounce of Red. Anyone can deal with a stupid mod of idiots who don't even have a clear chain of command. I don't think the world will ever see anyone like the mute bastard again. Pray that we don't either. Mount Silver's going to be over populated if not."
"Yeah, I know but…things don't always turn out as expected, do they?"
No, he agrees- they don't.
Those are the words Green is carrying in his mind as he lands from Pidgeot's back onto the old, dirt path that ended up winding itself into the old houses of Pallet Town, his old home- having barely changed in all the years passing. The place unnerves him in many ways though- because it's simply here where all of it began and the sense of deja-vu that he feels as he walks through the narrow streets and handful of buildings haunts him as it comforts him. The fact that Red's house is beside his doesn't help. Seeing Delia and hearing those awkward, worried questions about her son sometimes opens up pockets of guilt he wasn't aware existed within him. His grandfather, he still feels some resentment towards- and their relationship was hardly a friendly one still. If Green had any reasons at all to visit Pallet, it was because of his sister, and because out of the obligations that politeness (that he doesn't care about, but had to comply) demanded that he must.
Whenever he does visit, he slips around in an alleyway around the town so that he may avoid the main streets and houses and the people that he did not want to see. Hardly anyone knew about that particular path, actually. It was something that he and Red and Leaf had discovered when they were little and used for sneaking out to play when they weren't allowed to.
Daisy ushers him in when he knocks after welcoming him with a hug, despite the fact that Green always insists that he is too old for such things. She pours him jasmine tea (his favourite, as well as hers) and chats enough to cover his share of the conversation too. It's usually about trivial things that both of them don't really care about- whom and whom had a new baby, bizarre recipes that Green doesn't comment on, Professor Oak's research and how it was going. Sometimes she would ask about how things were going at the Gym while looking at him concerned, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Despite the fact that both of them were in their twenties, he would always be her little kid brother that had to be fussed over. Sometimes it annoys him; sometimes it amuses him- the former more commonly felt, obviously.
Interactions with his grandfather:
"Hello, Green." (Spoken without looking up from his work.)
"Gramps." (He hadn't gotten out of the habit yet of calling Oak something else.)
"How are you doing?" (Detached air, both of them knew that he hardly cared.)
"I'm fine. And you?" (The exchange irritates him, as so pointless it was.)
"My research is going well." (An expected answer; he knows that Green will not ask beyond.)
"I see." (Not much to say otherwise. Both of them don't want extended conversation.)
"I trust that you've talked to Daisy? She misses you." (Dismissal, end of the useless small talk.)
"Yeah, I know. I'll talk to her." (Green understands Oak's intentions with the sentence.)
"Goodbye." (Hardly a minute's worth of chat. Both of them are somewhat relieved.)
And with Delia, he hardly knows what to say to her besides small comments and a shrug or a nod here and there whilst sitting awkwardly in her house (Red's home) listening to her lightheartedly talk, barely veiling the black underneath the veil of words and facades. Green is more uneasy around her then even with his grandfather, and the forced words and smiles he occasionally adds to the conversation makes it even more awkward for him.
"And my son? Do you- have you heard from him?" her gaze would widen then as if in silent plead. Green would notice then how much older she looks with the bags under her eyes and the lines of worry on her face. He, although he hated himself for not being able to drag the miserable shit down from Mount Silver, hated Red more for doing this to his mother out of all people possible.
"He's fine, really. I drop off provisions for him once a week. He'll be back soon…I… uh…promise."
But the same conversation repeats itself too many times to still be of truth, and both of them knew that the only purpose it still has to serve is offering some hope, as false as it may turn out to be. Still- false hope was better of course, then nothing at all.
"Your mother's worried about you," Green says to Red sometime after, "Don't you ever care?"
Red doesn't respond. He pulls his hat lower, something that Green notices he does if he doesn't want to answer a question or something like that in general. It angers Green though, and it takes everything he has to not punch the other across the face- to beat some rationality in him. He had never grown up around a proper family. His mother and father abandoned him and his sister with Oak when he hardly even knew how to talk and flew to Unova, never to be heard from again after.
"You know, sometimes, I really wish you'd just find some sense in that fucking head of yours. She knows you're alive at least."
But Red is more than old enough to make his own decisions, and Green knows that perfectly well- and also that it was no place of his to mind the other's personal life. They are, after all- seventeen and not the children they once were.
The explosion on Cinnabar was not a surprise because the civilians had been evacuated some months before , but the destruction that it wrought was- and left the entire island barren, scorched, and utterly devoid of the previous life it had hosted.
Green visits the place after it had cooled down, and still found it hard to accept the new Cinnabar as the place that he had known before, even if there is something that resembles an eerie solace, a calm that surrounds the island now that there's hardly anything remaining. There's a Pokécenter that had been built to house trainers passing by but nothing beyond that. The waves and quiet are almost relaxing to his overworked mind. Was this perhaps how Red saw Mount Silver as?
He decided to stay awhile- to use some of the vacation days he had saved up and never bothered to use, and the nurses at the center were most eager to offer him some lodging. Green had hardly lost his looks, or charisma with the ladies- and his Gym Leader status to add, enables a lot to be done.
Then, after some days, a person finally stops by when he was looking out at the sea.
"Who are you?" he says, dubious in response to the wide, cocky grin (not unlike his own when he was still travelling) that came with the salutations. The boy was around fourteen, he guessed, wearing one of those baseball caps- yellow with black stripes- backwards on messy black hair and worn clothes that only said that he was either a trainer, or a really dirty individual, "My name's Green. I was once the Kanto Champion, although it was short-lived thanks to Red... Anyway, take a good look around you..."
He ignored the other's stunned face at his discovery and cut off the words that he was going to say with a sweep of the arm at the wasted landscape behind him, "A volcano erupts, and just like that, a whole town disappears. We can go on winning and losing in Pokémon, but if nature so much as twitches, we can be overwhelmed in a second... That's the way it is."
"I'm Gold." The words were smooth, blunt, and carried an air of self-importance with them that Green wasn't sure if he liked or not, "Pleased to meet you, Gym Leader Green. I was wondering if we could have a match or something. They say you're the strongest one in all of the regions in the Pokémon League."
Green smirks and almost laughs, "But, anyway, I'm still a trainer. If you want to battle me for real, show me how many Kanto Badges you've got."
All eight from Johto, seven from Kanto; he was impressed, but that didn't mean he showed it on his face. A nagging feeling pulls at the edge of his mind. Could this be that boy that forced Team Rocket to disband again by himself in Johto? He didn't know, and he didn't ask- although the suspicion lingered.
"Alright," Green says after a moment's thought, "Come to the Viridian Gym. I'll be waiting for you!"
He summons Pidgeot from its pokéball and jumps onto its back, ordering it to fly back to Viridian City. For some reason, he's looking forward to the match he had promised to the kid.
"I hear your challengers are complaining that you aren't there at the Gym."
Green rubs his temples before responding to Leaf's comment, "I was gone not even for a week. Isn't it normal to have a break of some sorts?"
"Yeah, I suppose. Say, what were you doing anyway?"
"At Cinnabar Island looking at the ruins of the place. And guess who I met?"
"…who, Green? A hot chick or something? Or whatever it is you're erhem... into these days."
Green scowled, but understood the jest, "Oh, for god's damned sake, quit screwing around. No, it was a guy. He challenged me…I think he's that person from Johto that everyone's been talking about lately. Has every badge from Kanto as well- except for mine. I don't intend him to take it easily."
"Good luck," Leaf says, "I daresay you might need it."
What Leaf had said was right. In all but ten minutes, Green's entire team of six is knocked out- even Eevee, his trump card in such matches. Gold has two of his Pokémon fainted and his Typlosion barely standing, but he wins so Green gives him the badge and a sarcastic round of applause.
"Good job," he says to the challenger, "that was better than what I had in a long time. I think you're almost as good as Red."
Almost. Not better, almost. Green's still not sure if anyone's as good as Red in that regard.
He defeats the Elite Four too. It comes as a shock to all, and pretty soon- Gold's name makes the headlines of every single trainer's magazine and newspaper.
Sunday comes so Green climbs Mount Silver again with the usual heavy load on his back. It's unnaturally cold that day, and he couldn't help but notice how even Red- despite the years of extreme starvation, isolation, and battling against the freezing weather- shivers a little despite being used to it all. He sits closer to the fire and out of some pity on his part, Green tells Eevee to go and wrap itself around Red's neck this time, substituting a scarf that warms the other up a little. He still fails to understand at times how Red- a former delicate, pretty mama's boy could endure this kind of environment for so long without any catastrophe.
"Green," it's so quiet it's almost a whisper. How long last since he had formed a sentence properly in his mouth? "Why are you even still bothering to come here every week?"
It's ironic that being the quiet one, Red would be the first to break their silence.
"Oh I don't know," Green replies, a faint frown on his face, "maybe because the view's nice? Maybe because I have nothing better to do? Maybe because I don't want to see my ex-rival dead?"
The words "and truthfully speaking, I don't even know if I would care anymore if you decided to kick the bucket now." Pass between them though unspoken.
"What are you doing here anyway? It's been years, Red- years! Haven't you had enough of this?"
There is at least a full minute's worth of silence, filled by the crackling of the flames before them. Then, just as Green thinks that Red is not going to respond, he does, but even more quietly then before and the other has to strain to even make out the words.
"Waiting, Green. I'm waiting."
It was their last meeting on Mount Silver.
It's a few days before someone else comes up to the summit of the mountain that isn't Green. He couldn't be older then fourteen, Red decides, but it hardly matters. The boy looks determined, with a Typlosion loyally following him- and reminds Red slightly of himself when he was not yet Champion. He doesn't say anything before he calls Pikachu out from its battered pokéball. Words aren't necessary anymore in such situations like this one.
Five minutes, he predicts, five minutes until all will be over, and Red goes back to waiting, in his realm of ice and snow.
First of all- thank you guys so much for reading this, and I hoped you enjoyed it. Second of all, I would very much like it if you would be as kind enough as to drop a review. Critique is always appreciated as I am still learning how to write well.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Discuss Afghanistan Cocktail Party
Future of Books
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Who's Going
Loading your connections...
3 of your friends are going. Share it to get more people on board! Share
Sara Haughty
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
Luke Picard
London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom
Rick Vespucio
Florence, Italy
Florence, Italy
Event Details
On November 6, we held a live online discussion with an English class in Afghanistan. http://skypeafghanistan.eventbrite.com. This event will replay the readings by the Afghan students from the Nov. 6 event during a casual cocktail party.
Proceeds will go toward development of an eLibrary for Afghanistan and future online events between the US and Afghan people.
Location TBD, but will likely be near the Orange Line in DC or Arlington.
Have questions about Discuss Afghanistan Cocktail Party? Contact Future of Books
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Add to my calendar
Future of Books
Researching Web 3.0 to foster a culture of creative individuals


text:
As soon as you start the new action, Photoshop will begin recording your actions, however you can stop and edit your recording at any time. At the bottom of the Actions palette you'll see a row of buttons, bearing icons that will be familiar to anyone who has ever used a video or tape recorder. The square button is Stop, the round button is Record, and the arrow-shaped button is play. There is also a button to delete a recording step, or indeed the entire recording, if you want to start over at any point.
Now you are ready to begin your process recording. Open an image, and using the Image > Image Size menu option, resize the image to the required size, in this case 600 pixels wide.
You'll see that the action you just performed has appeared in the Actions palette, as Image Size.
Next, save your image to a new folder. Don't save it to the folder it started in, or Photoshop will overwrite your original images with the resized ones. If you're planning to put the images on a website you can reduce the JPEG quality a bit to produce smaller file sizes. I find a quality setting of eight is about the best compromise between size and image quality.
You'll see that this action too has been added to the Action palette. You can click on the arrow symbol next to the recorded action to open up all the parameters that have been saved. This is useful for checking for errors in long sequences.
When you've performed these actions, click on the Stop button on the Action palette to stop the recording.


text:
by: Explore Cuisine
WHY WE LOVE: Explore Cuisine's Ready-to-Eat meals are non-gmo, gluten-free and filled with protein packed beans and savory sauces, from sun-dried tomato to red tomato and coconut curry. All 3 varieties are high in protein, fiber and iron and low in sodium, carbs and fat.
TIPS: Just pop in the microwave and you've got a delicious, gluten-free meal packed with protein in just one minute!
Black Bean Spaghetti with Mild Thai Red Curry: Organic Black Bean Spaghetti, Coconut milk, Cane Sugar, Red bell pepper, Dried red chillies, Fresh ginger, Garlic, Salt, Shallots, Tapioca starch derivative, Fresh coriander, Lemongrass, Kaffir lime, Galangal, Coriander seeds, Cumin, Cardamom.
Edamame Fettuccine with Thai Coconut Sauce: Organic Edamame Fettuccine, Coconut Milk, Fresh Coriander, Lemongrass, Red bell pepper, Cane sugar, Salt, Shredded coconut, Galangal, Kaffir lime leaves, Tapioca starch derivative.
Soybean Spaghetti with Sun-dried Tomato Sauce: Organic soybean spaghetti, coconut milk, sun-dried tomatoes, sunflower oil, garlic, salt, extra virigin olive oil, mint, oregano, acetic acid, basil, black cumin, citric acid, ascorbic acid, cane sugar, chili powder.
NUTRITION FACTS: See label images.
ONLINE: Amazon, ExploreAsian.com (use code bestowed for $5 off your order)
IN STORE: Store Locator


text: I got the front and back mats a few weeks ago and I have to say that they wonderful. The front mats clip right in to the stock pegs and do a great job catching all the Alabama sand I track in the car after PT in the morning. The back ones do not cover the entire rear floor but they do fit quite well into the rear wells and I think they will hold up nicely. I will most certainly be taking those suckers out of the car if the insurance company ends up totaling it.


text:
Discussion in 'Pistons and NBA' started by roscoe36, Aug 31, 2005.
Which young bencher will have the biggest impact this year?
I'm gonna go with Darko here. He's already shown that he has the talent and overall skills to play in the big leagues, albeit not consistently yet, and Joe D. said that Darko will get the time he needs to prove himself, so at least we know he'll be on the floor this season. The same can't be said for the likes of Dupree, Acker, Johnson or Delfino. Acker looked promising in the SL, so he's a good bet to crack the rotation over the other guys, at the guard positions and it's simply just a numbers game that will leave Johnson on the outside looking in. There's just too many bigs in front of him right now, I think he's going to find himself in the NBDL this season. Now JMax, in my mind at least, is another story. He looked like a beast in the SL and I have a feeling that if Darko doesn't bring his all come preseason JMax just might steal his spot as the 4th big off the bench (of course that's assuming DD is slotted as the 3rd.)
Gotta go with Darko... he's the only one sure to get decent minutes. He should blend in with the vets. Once the fans realize that he's a regular in the rotation they'll stop treating him like a freak. That was a big part of his anxiety on the floor.... OOOOh Darko touched the ball I think if JMax was given equal PT he would contribute more than DMC... I would love for him to earn the backup SF position.
Addition by subraction I honestly believe that not having LB here will be a positive bonus for the young players on the Pistons. I don't know how many people remember it but Delfino was apprehensive to come to the Pistons last year because he had read and heard rumors about how LB treated Mehmet Okur and Darko. LB's method of playing favorites and trashing certain players in the media isn't the correct approach to every type of player. I know many people don't like Delfino because of his "attitude" but you can't say that his concerns were unfounded. I think that Darko will definately get the 4th bigman spot and I can't see how people say that he hasn't "earned" it. He has played behind both Wallaces and Dyce, and Okur last year and for a #2 overall pick he has complained relatively little. He has worked hard in the weight room and built his physique and he has looked increasingly better as the time has gone on. He played 2 "decent" games to end the year last season after basically no real in game experience in two years. He will be asked to come in this season and pass the ball and play good help D. I really have a hard time believing that he can't fill that role. Everytime he has played alongside the starters he has responded positively. I expect a good season from the kid and expect that Flip will do a good job of building up his confidence and not giving up on him early. Should be a good season.
Ronald Poor old Dupree eh? Not picking up many votes is he?
Re - Dupree He isn't picking up many votes because he is the most likely to get the axe if Acker can make the cut, I think that Evans pretty much spells the end for Dupree as a Pistons. It's too bad, I really liked Dupree and felt like he could have helped us by getting Tay a bit of rest when he was playing 40-45 minutes per game in the FINALS.
Of all of them I think Delfino is most READY to contribute. Now there are questions about a bunch of stuff concerning Delfino. The deal with Delfino isn't about if he can but rather will he.
Gotta agree w/KGreg on this one. Delfino is the likely suspect. He's a natural shooter with a shooters mentality who has played in big games against real competition. He just has to hold it together physically and learn to bite his tongue. He should'a been the one last season based on the position and our depth problem. If he'd a spent less time crying, rubbing his eyes and running his mouth he wouldn't even be on the above list. I think this year he slides under the radar that's constantly scoping DMC and benefits the most from the incoming PG asissts. But my vote was for Maxiell cause I think he's gonna make a name off the bench on the D. I'm thinking he's gonna be slap happy like Big Ben from a short while back. The "X" factor.
I am going to go with Dupree because I think he will play more D than any of the other guys. I have heard that MAxiell is very short for a 4. Plus he and the others are rookies. Darko will continue struggle. I don't think Delfino has the athleticism. I thought he would be a poor man's Ginobli, but he is not that.
I'm going with J-max. This kid looks like the real deal. A workhorse on the boards and on defense. He will play a lot more than darko. Darko better impress this year .
Rickey Paulding I always liked Rickey Paulding in college! I would love to see him at Billups backup!!!!! Does Rickey Paulding get invited to camp? Does anyone How long do we keep the rights to drafted players that don't "make the team". How many others do we have playing overseas?
hi Ricky Paulding will probably not be invited to camp. I read somewhere that Dumars said its time to get a look at Paulding and either sign him or release him. Paulding did play quite a bit in the summer league, and I don't think he impressed anyone all that much. Not that he did not show some promise, just not enough compared to other players. Paulding is a shooting guard, not a point guard. He would have to be able to outplay guys like Delfino and Mo Evans to make the team. Don't see that happening. Paulding's best bet is to play overseas a couple more years, or hook up with the NBDL.
Maybe we could update this thread for the 2007-08 season
Or just look back and see how many people were wrong.
What was the correct answer?
It seems strange to me, but the correct answer was Carlos Delfino. PS. That will not be true this year.
That is funny, but correct. Maybe that is why it so funny.
I think the correct answer that is omitted, would be "none of the above".
Separate names with a comma.


text:
[SOCIAL MEDIA WATCH] You can learn a lot about MLS from Twitter or those who archive deleted tweets. Example: Portland Timbers president Merritt Paulson reveals some of the intricacies of the secret world of MLS player movement.
In a subreddit titled "Dsignated Player vs League DP vs MLS Fund Player - Thanks Merritt!" by the poster
"IRraymaker" on Reddit, an edited twitter exchange -- since deleted -- between Paulson and Portland free-lance writer John Nyen examines some of the terminology of
MLS player moves.
It comes up because of the impending arrival of Uruguayan forward Santiago Gonzalez to Montreal as what was described as a
"impact DP player."
Paulson said there was a new category of player -- MLS Fund player -- like the Timbers young Argentina forward Maximiliano
Urruti, whose rights were purchased by the league with its own funds -- hence the name -- and loaned to the club.
Paulson acknowledged that the transactions are "well outlined to
clubs/owners but confusing structure and has not been well explained to public/fans."
Paulson, who gave the caveat that the views were his and not of the league, added that "MLS is not
'mature' yet. still growing/changing. Sometimes good reasons behind full explanation. but increased transparency impt."


text:
Pacific Rim - 2nd TV Spot
Reported by Outsiders - 2013.05.28
The newest TV spot for "Pacific Rim" hints that humanity has "one last chance" to strike an offensive attack on the gargantuan monsters that have sprouted out of the ocean. In one scene, actor Idris Elba, playing a military Lieutenant who leads the brave crew of Jaeger pilots, makes the alarming report that his soldiers has only "one final assault" to give everything they got. It's clear that humankind is teetering on the brink of extinction. And yet, the end of the world has never felt so electrifying, thanks in part to filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who has cooked up an awesome visual treat for the eyes. What better way to spend this summer than watch a colossal battle royale between fist-flying robots and jaw-snapping leviathans -- in 3D, no less. Color us, excited.
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanitys resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroesa washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankinds last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
Oscar nominee Guillermo del Toro is directing Pacific Rim from a script by Travis Beacham. Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Mary Parent are producing, with Callum Greene serving as executive producer.
The film stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day , and Ron Perlman. The ensemble cast also includes Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Clifton Collins, Jr., Burn Gorman, Larry Joe Campbell, Diego Klattenhoff, and Brad William Henke.
Del Toros behind-the-scenes team includes Academy Award®-winning director of photography Guillermo Navarro, production designer Andrew Neskoromny, editor Peter Amundson, and costume designer Kate Hawley.
Slated for 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on July 12, Pacific Rim is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
MORE movies NEWS
AboutEntertainment News International (ENI) is the popular culture network for fans all around the world. Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!
SitesAction Figures
Star Wars
|© 2017 Entertainment News International - All images, trademarks, logos, video, brands and images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies and or owners. All Rights Reserved. Data has been shared for news reporting purposes only. All content sourced by fans, online websites, and or other fan community sources. Entertainment News International is not responsible for reporting errors, inaccuracies, omissions, and or other liablities related to news shared here. We do our best to keep tabs on infringements. If some of your content was shared by accident. To have it removed right away, please [ Contact Us ].


text: Ah! It turns out my town has just put its "municipal code" online. 987 pages of it... a search shows that "discharging a firearm" is regulated, but the words "blade" or "knife" return nothing, and there are only three hits on "firearm" and none for "gun." So it looks like there never was a city blade length restriction.


text:
Results 1 to 1 of 1
- Join Date
- May 2006
- Posts
- 306
Military boots, Thunderhead 125s, Limbsavers
Bellville Intermediate Cold Weather Boots-
Brand new, never worn. Size 10.5 and comes with two sets of coldweather inserts. These boots retail for over $129.00.
Will sell for $50 TYD
"The 10-inch-tall upper on the ICW Boot is all leather to give you durable wear resistance in abrasive conditions. Inside the boot is 200-gram insulation to keep your feet warm and comfortable. On the bottom is a polyurethane mid-sole and a durable lug rubber out-sole for excellent shock absorbency and traction."
Addison Steel Toe boots-
Size 10.5 brand new never worn. Retails for $109.00 will sell for $40 TYD
Leather: Black Full Grain Military Leather
Lining: Pig or Cowhide Linings
Outsole: Vibram High Abraision Nitrile Rubber
Lightweight Cushion Midsole and Heel Wedge
Padded Leather Collar
Full-Length Removable Polyurethane Comfort Orthotic Footbed
Genuine Goodyear Welt Construction
Also, I have Thunderhead 125s (5 each) - used but in good shape, have all blades and collars- $20TYD
Limbsavers for splitlimb bows- $8 TYDNew Breed Archery-Genetix 28.5"/ 60lbs & 365gr. = 285 FPS
New Breed Archery- Eclipse 65/28.5" & 370gr. = 291 FPS
Bowtech- 82nd Airborne 28.5"/ 60lbs. & 325gr. = 327 FPS
Strother Archery- SR-71 28.5"/65lbs. & 370gr. = 303 FPS
Similar Threads
thunderhead 100By steve bear in forum Arrows, Vanes, broadheads and arrow building componentsReplies: 1Last Post: 09-12-2008, 09:54 PM
WTB-limbsaversBy RiverRob in forum WTB: Want to Buy Archery ItemsReplies: 2Last Post: 03-20-2008, 11:41 PM
This is the result of our military being stretched to thinBy Southernfryedyankee in forum Jokes ForumReplies: 5Last Post: 03-12-2008, 02:44 PM
Deterioration of the US MilitaryBy Wheely in forum Jokes ForumReplies: 6Last Post: 03-09-2008, 06:00 PM
WTT NEW Bowsight,NEW whisker biscuit,NEW NAP thunderhead broadheads+By Southernfryedyankee in forum Archery Equipment Accessories - Buy Sell TradeReplies: 3Last Post: 10-04-2007, 08:35 PM


text:
Sunday's Super Bowl, power outage aside, was yet another compelling example as to why the NFL is the superior brand by far over any other top sporting draw – MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA basketball, BSC college football, etc. It was a focal point of interest like no other – even the commercials were watched to be a source of entertainment (are commercials always supposed be entertaining in some way?). It was a happening.
It wasn't always that way. I grew up in a generation in which Super Bowls were much more likely to be blowouts as they were close games. That continued until a little more than the last decade, as the salary cap and full-blown free agency have allowed teams to make more radicals climbs and drops in their success rate.
For almost 20 years, from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, it seemed almost inevitable that the best-run franchises were going to be in the postseason. It was impossible to imagine the playoffs without Dallas, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh and Oakland dominating their divisions. Sure, some team would make a run here and there, but when the big boys came out to play, it was the same usual suspects that got rounded up.
What followed was a period of conference dominance. After the AFC had ruled the roost for a decade from the mid-1970s when the Steelers were the big deal into the mid-1980s, the NFC was viewed as the weaker conference. It was a title its teams didn't like and one that wouldn't last. From the time the Bears pounded the Patriots after the 1985 season for the next decade-plus, the "real" Super Bowl was the NFC Championship Game. The mantle got passed from the Bears to the Giants to the Cowboys to the 49ers to the Packers, but it always stayed in the NFC.
When Baltimore won its first Super Bowl following the 2000 season, there had been 35 Super Bowls played. Of those, only six times (approximately once every six years) was there a game decided by six points or fewer. In 22 of those 35 games, a team won by 11 points or more. In 10 of those 35 (about once every three years), the winner pounded the loser into submission by 21 or more points. The Super Bowl was relevant as an event, but not as a game. Back then, all that many hard-core fans had at the end of the year was the hope that the Pro Bowl would be a good time. Suffice to say, a lot has changed since then.
With the advent of full free agency, technological advancements that allow team decision-makers to see every snap most college players take if they choose to, and a larger salary cap that allowed teams to better absorb monumental spending errors, the competitive balance increased to a point that the Super Bowl was clearly anybody's game. In the first 35 Super Bowls, 20 of them were decided by 14 or more points. Most were technically over by the third period. In the last 12 Super Bowls, only one has been decided by more than 14 points. Now the team that is hot at the right time can win.
In the first 35 Super Bowls, the favorite almost always won – and won big. In the last 12, not only have eight of those games been decided by six points or fewer, five of them have come down to a three-point game, including Sunday night's win by the underdog Ravens over the 49ers.
Not only have the games been close, but the teams that have eventually hoisted the Super Bowl trophy have done so against some stiff odds. The Ravens (10-6 and losers of four of their last five games) were one of the teams viewed as most likely to lose at home on wild card weekend against a motivated Indianapolis (11-5) team getting Chuck Pagano back on the sideline. After putting away the Colts, the Ravens' reward was going into Denver to face the top-seeded Broncos and Peyton Manning. Although an improbable finish kept the dream alive against Denver, the Ravens were double-digit underdogs against both Denver and New England and won the Lombardi Trophy.
It would seem that has become the norm. Getting a bye week isn't all it's cracked up to be. Over the last three seasons, all three Super Bowl champions have had to play four games to win – Green Bay from the No. 6 seed in 2010, the Giants as the fourth seed in the NFC last year and the Ravens from the AFC's fourth seed.
It's no so much about how hot a team is throughout the year. It's how hot they are in January.
John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.
Holler: Game now as good as the event
Patriots Insider Top Stories
Potential Roster Cuts for the PatriotsCurtis Barrett of Patriots Insider discusses the Patriots roster and who could be surprisingly cut or traded, which is something we've seen many time during the Belichick era.
Patriots Insider05/31/2017
New England Patriots have Four Roster IssuesThe New England Patriots have four roster issues which could derail their Super Bowl hopes in 2017. Can they survive an injury at quarterback, tight end, linebacker or the interior…
Patriots Insider05/30/2017
2017 New England Patriots Team OutlookSenior Fantasy Football Expert Shawn Childs goes in-depth covering every Fantasy aspect of the 2017 New England Patriots!
Scout FantasySunday at 12:40 PM
Tom Brady's Top Five Clutch MomentsRelive the Top 5 most clutch moments from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's career, including his amazing comeback performance in Super Bowl LI.
Patriots Insider06/13/2017


text:
Site Map
Doner Products manufacturers, suppliers & dealers
Are you looking for Doner Products? IndustryStock.com's search engine will not only help you find relevant results for Doner Products but also related products and services. The contact details of all listed Doner Products manufacturers and dealers are freely accessible to all users.


text: Rotan is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. It has the pristine beaches, great seafood, classy cocktail bars and luxury hotels like the rest but where the island really stands out is with its wildlife.The crystal blue waters allow you to see the weird and wonderful sea creatures that inhabit the local waters while the Marine Park is the place to head for daily diving and scuba trips. Aruba Dutch owned Aruba is situated in the southern Caribbean Sea. Its crystal waters and white sandy beaches are much like the hundreds of others in the area but it excels in the architecture of its towns. The Dutch influence is particularly evident in the capital Oranjestad with some parts looking more like European Amsterdam than the Caribbean. SOURCE Thomas Cook


text:
Paul and I (Rebecca) began to correspond through Catholic Match in
February of 2005. Communication was slow at first and it wasn't until
May of 2005 when we swapped our actual email addresses. The phone calls
started shortly afterwards. I liked Paul because we shared a devotion
to Our Lady of Lourdes. I related to him as a person who believed in
serving people through his profession as a nurse. We just seemed to be
a really good match.
Paul and I lived about two hours apart. He
drove to Kalamazoo for our first date on June 11, 2005. And the rest is
history. We went kayaking, camping, and bike riding. We have gone to a
Bruce Springsteen concert. We have had a wonderful time.
January 3rd of 2006, Paul proposed to me when I was in the perpetual
adoration chapel of my church at 4:00 am. Our wedding date is on
September 16, 2006. I am excited to start a new life and family with
Paul. God has certainly blessed us.


text:
April 28, 2007
PITTSBURGH - The Pitt baseball team (19-17) dropped a 9-4 game to New York Institute of Technology (13-18) Saturday night at Trees Field after a more than three-hour rain delay.
"NYIT played an outstanding game today," Pitt Head Coach Joe Jordano said. "They out-hit, out-pitched and all-around out-played us. Today's loss shows us that we have to play good baseball all the time, everyday, if we're going to be competitive.
"I think having the whole week off hurt us, but we need to learn from tonight's loss and come back tomorrow ready to play hard."
The teams were supposed to play a doubleheader Saturday, but with the rain delay, game two will be played Sunday at noon as part of a doubleheader to complete the three-game series.
Starting pitcher Rob Brant (JR/Mansfield, Pa./Mansfield) suffered the loss for the Panthers giving up five runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work. Bears' starter Joe Esposito nearly earned a complete game shutout, pitching 8.2 innings in the win giving up four runs on six hits.
NYIT's second baseman, Brian Smith, had an outstanding performance batting 4 for 5 with five RBI and one run scored. Peter Parise (SR/Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led the Panthers with two hits on the night, including an RBI double in the ninth inning.
NYIT struck first in the third inning on a Kraig Binick RBI single, driving in Smith. In the fourth, the Bears added two additional runs on a Smith double, giving NYIT a 3-0 advantage.
Pitt tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run inning. Catcher Nick Mullins (JR/Brick, N.J./Brookdale CC) drove in the first run on a single to left field. Danny Lopez (FR/Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) then doubled to left center, driving in Dan Williams (JR/Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal Academy) from second. The final Pitt run in the fourth came on a Sean Conley (JR/Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) sacrifice fly to center field, bringing home Mullins.
NYIT added two runs in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings to take a commanding 9-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the ninth.
A Pitt rally fell short in the ninth as Parise doubled to left field, driving in pinch hitter Chris Warner (SO/West Seneca, N.Y./South Carolina) from third base. The Panthers left two on base in the final inning, falling by a score of 9-4.
The three-game series against NYIT will conclude Sunday, beginning at noon at Trees Field with a doubleheader. All action in the series, can be followed live on Gametracker on www.PittsburghPanthers.com.
Final Season Notes: Panthers Conclude 2017 Season
Manny Pazos Signs with Seattle
Mitchell Selected by Kansas City in MLB Draft
Mattson Drafted by Los Angeles Angels
Falk Tabbed by Oakland in MLB Draft
Skip Talk: Jordano Discusses 2017 Season


text:
In politics, winning the argument matters. Often it is impossible to determine exactly who has won the argument, but MPs do look at the evidence and they do change their minds. Which is why Case Not Made (pdf), a report from the leftwing pressure group Compass, could be significant. Lord Mandelson is justifying his plans for the partial privatisation of the Royal Mail entirely on the findings of the 167-page Hooper report published in December. In Case Not Made, Compass tries to show that Hooper was wrong.
In his introduction, Neal Lawson, the chair of Compass, says:
Royal Mail is simply not the failed and failing organisation portrayed in the Hooper report. Furthermore, the European comparators [Richard] Hooper uses, most notably Germany and the Netherlands, are not the shining examples of efficiency he claims. The German system is profitable because it charges its customers more, not because it is more efficient. The Dutch system derives its "efficiency" on the basis of an operation in a small, flat country. Our Royal Mail is not just the lowest priced service in the EU but is also still profitable.
Case Not Made claims that:
• 88% of Royal Mail revenues are from activities that are price-controlled. The equivalent figure for Deutsche Post (DP), its German counterpart, is just 37%
• The UK has 6% more post boxes than Germany (115,000 instead of 109,000), despite having a population that is 25% smaller
• Many European postal services only deliver five days a week, not six
• The Royal Mail delivers 153 items per employee, the same as its Dutch counterpart TNT. DP manages 187 items per employee
• The cost to the Royal Mail of delivery is 27p per item. The equivalent figure for DP is 40p and TNT 43p.
Commenting on Case Not Made, the Labour MP John Grogan said: "This critique of the Hooper report will alarm all Labour MPs. There are clearly no grounds for the part-privatisation of Royal Mail. We need a dynamic alternative but within the public sector."


text:
Printable View
Gino, there are no words, you and Phil have nailed it, nice work :thumbsup
Only three words, Oh my God!!!!!!!!, CONGRATULATIONS friend
Me again, this is a seriously impressive display, it doesn't even seem right calling it a 'replica' as its dead on!! I had the pleasure of meeting Phil the sculptor of the head a while back, he is a highly talented and extremely modest guy and the combination of his skill plus Gino's eye for detail and dedication to accuracy are simply mind blowing, again very well done :thumbsup
Thanks guys.
off the hook Gino, blown away
I honestly thought I was looking at production stills of Ray Park.....amazing work.
:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:t humbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup
What more can be said?
Wow, that is a think of beauty!!!
I want one *drool*
Thanks for the kind words everyone.
I'll be taking a ton of new pics and adding them to SWP once the new eyes are finished.
PS, Julie, I need as set of your awesome ESB fett braids!!
Absolutely spot on Gino!!! Spot on.
Any advice on where you got the costume? Make up techniques???
WOW!! just wow!!!
I have seen some amazing things in my life.
This particular display just knocked a lot of them down the list....it's uncanny. It's eerie. Heck, it's downright scary. Amazing detail. Utterly amazing.
Thanks everyone.
I'll be taking some more pics this next week with the new eyes as long as you guys don't get bored of seeing them.
Holy cow, that's awesome work! I thought it was Ray Park at first. Amazing...
Here's another one.
That really looks great!
O_O Nothing to say.......
Did you kidnap Ray, I dont think you could get any more closer :lol Great job, Fantastic work!
this is amazing!!! you really nailed it!!!
great make-up job!!
You could be his twin!
First of all, am I reading this correctly? Is the head a sculpture? Because it looks completely real!!!! This is outstanding, just unbelievable work!!!
Yeah, me too. I thought the head was a real person until I bothered to read the post. Amazing. Your work is the gold standard, Gino. We need to see if we can get you working with LFL. I think you know their archive better than they do.


text:
Would you like to save as your currency permanently or for this visit only?
the calmness
We arrived a 3.30 in the morning (by ferry) and the lady at the reception welcomed us in a very friendly way.
Location was excellent and staff friendly, and view from our window was nice. Room was clean. Room smelled bad.
Wanted to explore Kolka Headland and Baltic coast: by staying for one night achieved this and saw more of Latvia. (The lady in charge) worked in hard for my stay by removing the bathroom door etc to make it wheelchair accessible. Hard to find, as it was positioned off the road and surrounded by blocks of flats.
Ability of hotel management to arrange prolongation of our reservation during City Day. Very poor arrangement of breakfast - problem with city centre connection because of bridges repair, problem with cofe-maker, problem with table cleanness, etc.
The hotel staff during the breakfast was indifferent to guests request to provide decent breakfast. The hotel restaurant's environment and tables were not clean and not ready to serve customers that morning. The selection of food was poor and did not keep 3* hotel level. In general the hotel location and services provided should be rated as 2* stars hotel.
Free wireless Internet works very well. It looks nice from the outside but the furniture is from the 60s, in its worst sense. Everything worn down, dirty carpets. Feels more like a cheap motel.
Very clean hotel with good quality food. Within walking distance of the beach and a short walk into the old town.
Tatiana was especially helpful in giving us excellent information about travel options. She seemed to enjoy helping us and was very informative. Thank you!
Tea/coffee in the room. All very clean and nice, big room, perfect location.
Hotel is in very nice location, hotel staff is very kind and room was very clean. Price (it might be overpriced), no breakfast included.
nice personnel ready to help and give information, nice room and comfy beds, tea coffee and tea pot in the room, very pleasant flies in the room and no fan (
Calm, free parking, close to the beach and green area
The rooms were clean and very nice. Very close to the beach- approx. 5 minute walk. Kettle and coffee/tea in the room There was no phone in the room, no bottle opener. Very basic.A long walk to city centre and old town
Big comfortable rooms in a pleasnant wooded area. Good food and excellent beer!


text:
Long Distance Service
Long-distance phone service is provided to each full-time, employee through the use of a unique Forced Authorization Code (or FAC). This six-digit number is yours for your entire employment at the college. It is extremely important that you DO NOT give this code to anyone, as you are responsible for all calls made with your code. If you receive a telephone statement that contains questionable charges, you should notify the Office of Information Technology immediately. This will allow your FAC to be canceled and a new one issued. The office will investigate the suspicious calls and issue a credit if appropriate.
Long-distance rates are currently $.15 per minute for out of state calls, and range from $.10 to $.24 per minute for instate calls (instate rates are based on time of day; evenings being the least expensive whereas out of state calls are charged on a flat rate regardless of distance or time of day). Each employee is issued a monthly, itemized phone bill that is billed directly to your FAC, not to the telephone extension from which the call was placed. This feature eliminates any confusion about the person responsible for the calls.
Payment of Phone Bills
Payment is due by the 20th of each month and should be made by check and mailed to box 1713. Unpaid employee bills for long distance calls are subject to the same penalties, as any other bills owed to the college. The college also reserves all rights and remedies relative to delinquent accounts to which it is otherwise entitled under law including removal of phone service. It is important, therefore, that you keep your account current.
Credit Card Usage
Employees are able to use calling cards provided all account/billing information is to their home phone number/address.
Employees are provided with both local and long distance telephone service through the campus telephone system and ARE NOT permitted to open any personal telephone accounts using their office phone number as a bill to address.
Should this happen, the employee will be liable for any charges billed to the college, the account will be canceled and an administrative fee will be charged to the employee.


text:
Approx. 9 hoursStart time
Start time: 0830h (8:30am)
Duration: Approx. 9 hours
Your hotel in Hua Hin or Cha Am area.
Please mention your hotel name and address or flight details at the time of booking. If you do not have this information now, please contact the local activity operator 24 hours prior to the start of the tour with these details.
Your hotel in Hua Hin or Cha Am area
For nature and adventure lovers, the Pa-La-U Waterfalls is the ideal destination for a perfect family getaway.
You will be picked up from your hotel in either Hua Hin or Cha Am area and taken in a private air-conditioned vehicle for a trekking and swimming tour to the beautiful Pal La-u Waterfalls. The Pa-La-u Waterfalls stand at the south end of Thailand's biggest national park - Kaeng Krachan National Park.
The Pa-La-u Waterfalls are situated within the Pa-La-u forest, outside of Hua Hin town, and are among the biggest in Thailand. The Pa-La-u Falls are actually two waterfalls, the Pa-La-u Yai and the Pa-La-u Noi, which cascade down 15 tiers of rock.
Journey past lush countryside and flourishing pineapple plantations to get to these spectacular waterfalls, situated in the heart of verdant rainforests. The forest is over a thousand years old and filled with rare wild animals. After trekking through the thick jungle, swim and relax at the third level of the waterfall.
A picnic lunch and some refreshments will be served afterwards.
At the end of the tour, you will be dropped back to your hotel in Hua Hin or Cha Am area at around 1700h (05:00pm).
Please call the tour operator at least 24 hours prior to start of the tour to reconfirm the departure details.
Pattaya hotels outside the City Centre area : Ambassador Jomtien, Botanic Resort and Pinnacle Jomtien / Golden Beach are subject to a surcharge of approx USD 11 per person per way payable directly
Supplement charge of approx USD 17 net / trip for Pranburi area payable directly
Guide also available in other languages with supplement charge payable directly
The confirmation voucher includes the local activity operator's contact details and local telephone numbers at the destination. They will happily answer any logistical questions you may have
Be spellbound by the city that inspired symphonies, serenades and…singing bulls?!
The post The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Salzburg appeared first on The Guidebook - isango!.
From cuddling baby monkeys to racing motorbikes, South America has it all
The post Volunteering through South America – A Workaway Guide appeared first on The Guidebook - isango!.
Seduce your senses and tantalise your taste buds in the food capital of the world.
The post A Foodie's Fling In Rome appeared first on The Guidebook - isango!.


text:
So, what's so "great" about this chi–HOLY SHIT OH LAWDY DAT ASS!
More preview pics:
More preview pics:
DOWNLOAD (519 pics, 218.5 Mb) MIRROR LINK
Can't fap because the sets are either too big or too slow to download? No worries, a premium account will fix all of that!
As always, all photos & videos have been collected from various sources & all duplicates were removed. FAP HARD!


text:
Meal Type
Featured Videos
Featured Content
Featured Brand Sites
Product By Category
Tools & Info
Cooking Tips
Healthy Living
Your Kids
food&family Magazine
4 servings
Read MoreRead Less
Tap or click steps to mark as complete
In most recipes, a dried herb can be substituted for fresh but some conversions are necessary. As a general rule, you can use 1 tsp. of the dried herb in place of 1 Tbsp. of a fresh herb.
Prepare as directed, using instant brown rice and letting the finished dish stand (off the heat) 5 min. before serving.
Prepare using your favorite variety of cooking apple, such as Granny Smith, Rome Beauty or York Imperial.
Enjoy a variety of foods in this delicious low-calorie, low-fat meal. And as a bonus, each serving of this low-sodium dinner contains more than 1/2 cup vegetables.
* Nutrition information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients used.


text:
Amazon UK has increased the Super Saver delivery minimum spend to £10, but only on orders that don't contain the top selling categories on the site.
Any orders containing DVDs, Blu-rays, books, CDs, video games or software will still qualify for Super Saver delivery whatever the total cost.
Other orders that don't include any of the above will now have to spend a minimum of £10 in order to enjoy the free Super Saver Delivery.
"We wanted to let you know that Amazon.co.uk has introduced a £10 minimum spend to qualify for Free Super Saver Delivery in a number of product categories, effective July 23 2013", reads the Amazon UK letter to its customers. "Orders that include books, DVDs, Blu-rays, music, video games and software products continue to qualify for Free Super Saver Delivery with no minimum spend threshold."
As long as the order contains one of the aforementioned items, it will still be eligible for Amazon UK's free delivery service.
"Whilst the change will affect only a very small proportion of orders, it will allow us to offer you a significantly expanded selection of lower priced products."
Amazon UK has confirmed that Amazon Prime members won't be affect by the new rules and will still enjoy their next-day delivery for free.
"We continue to work hard every day to improve the delivery services that we offer. For example, Amazon Prime allows you to benefit from unlimited, One Day delivery on all orders with no minimum threshold for an annual fee of £49."
This may seem like a small change for Amazon customers, but anyone buying smaller products, such as a memory stick for under £10, will now face a £3.99 postage fee.
"This is potentially damaging for Amazon as there is likely to be resistance to this change from some customers, particularly for those infrequent shoppers who don't mind waiting a bit longer for their goods to arrive," said Neil Saunders, Conlumino analyst.
Next, read our pick of the best Windows 8 laptops, tablets, convertibles and PCs.


text:
Diamond Crumbles
Diamond Crumbles have a smooth chocolate filling that is a marvelous contrast to the crumb layers and crunchy chocolate pecan topping. Carrie Singh of Naples, FL developed this recipe.
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, divided
- 1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Directions, Reviews, Nutrition
BEAT butter in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat in flour, sugar and salt on low speed until crumbly. Press 2 cups of mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned on edges.
COMBINE 1 1/2 cups of morsels and sweetened condensed milk in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat until morsels are melted, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract. Pour evenly over hot crust. Add remaining morsels and chopped pecans to the reserved crust mixture; sprinkle over the chocolate layer.
BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into diamond-shaped pieces.
What did you think? Share Your Review »
52 Reviews
Thank you for reviewing this recipe.
diamond crumbles
these are very good and easy to make!
great for chocoholic
I make this often, the only thing I do different is instead of the almonds I use walnuts, because my husband does not like almonds.
Yummy and easy
This is a very easy receipe.
Excellent Recipe
Easy to make and everyone enjoyed them.
So glad to have this recipe back!
I lost this recipe long ago, or one very similar, not sure. But it looks the same, can't wait to try it again!!
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1/36 of Recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 36
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 190
- Calories from Fat: 100
- Total Fat: 11g (17% of DV)
- Saturated Fat: 6g (28% of DV)
- Cholesterol: 15mg (6% of DV)
- Sodium: 65mg (3% of DV)
- Carbohydrates: 22g (7% of DV)
- Dietary Fiber: 1g (4% of DV)
- Sugars: 14g
- Protein: 2g
- Vitamin A: 4% of DV
- Vitamin C: 0% of DV
- Calcium: 4% of DV
- Iron: 4% of DV
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.


text:
Banksters & Their Attorneys Panicking! $43 Trillion Lawsuit Now Officially In Federal Court & Moving Forward
|Anonymous Coward
User ID: 21549080
United States
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: Banksters & Their Attorneys Panicking! $43 Trillion Lawsuit Now Officially In Federal Court & Moving Forward
Pete is wrong on this, and his recent show starts to hint at it, about "Corruption in Alt Media"..... Because he has been conversing on the subject - I commend him that he has clearly been thinking deeply about what this all means.
Anyway - there is a pasteHTML site that is important to see about this, but I dont want to paste it for risk of being in trouble... Go find it- its here - or Google "pastehtml spire law"
The first kubuki link will show the common conspiracy-theorist response to the pasteHTML - but.... I read the pasteHTML and am really skeptical it is just 'character assassination' - mainly because the real thing.. that fake bar number.. the no LLP thing... James Fiedler is NOT the attorney on the case, Morrico or something is.. Some kid.... The fall guy I guess..
Anyway. Its a SUPER INTERESTING ACTUAL CONSPIRACY going on....
But the real conspiracy is the marketing and execution of the spire law 'lawsuit'
Anyway - i did hear the case is already dismissed - but the link claiming this lead to THIS thread, which does not show the case is dismissed......
Anyone know about that?
|Anonymous Coward
User ID: 169265
United States
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
User ID: 9523489
United States
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: Banksters & Their Attorneys Panicking! $43 Trillion Lawsuit Now Officially In Federal Court & Moving Forward
This guy is looking into it now:
Craig B Hulet?
KC & Associates
Investigations Research Associates
Political * Military & Security * Terrorism * International Relations * Business
"He has consulted over 35 major corporations, Congress, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives of the U.S. Department of Justice (formerly Treasury's ATF&E) now with Homeland Security;"
[link to www.kcandassociates.org]
Money laundering lawsuit against Fed could be tied to Obama staff shakeup
[link to www.examiner.com]
$29,000,000,000,000: A Detailed Look at the Fed's Bailout by Funding Facility and Recipient
There have been a number of estimates of the total amount of funding provided by the Federal Reserve to bail out the financial system. For example, Bloomberg recently claimed that the cumulative commitment by the Fed (this includes asset purchases plus lending) was $7.77 trillion. As part of the Ford Foundation project "A Research and Policy Dialogue Project on Improving Governance of the Government Safety Net in Financial Crisis," Nicola Matthews and James Felkerson have undertaken an examination of the data on the Fed's bailout of the financial system—the most comprehensive investigation of the raw data to date. This working paper is the first in a series that will report the results of this investigation.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive account of the Fed's extraordinary response to the recent financial crisis. It begins with a brief summary of the methodology, then outlines the unconventional facilities and programs aimed at stabilizing the existing financial structure. The paper concludes with a summary of the scope and magnitude of the Fed's crisis response. The bottom line: a Federal Reserve bailout commitment in excess of $29 trillion.
[link to www.levyinstitute.org]
He is doing interviews on the radio all over the country now. The law firm is real, the lawsuit is real. What you are finding is disinformation and a smear campaign.


text:
Broken 92 joining the team!
This jeep is almost as old as me! Hello all, this is my first post. I have more questions than answers right now, but that will change in time.
I bought myself a 92 4 cylinder standard, had some transmission issues but fixed them, and then had a perfectly running jeep! The only problem is now it wont start. It worked great for about two weeks after I got the master cylinder replaced. When I turn the key the lights turn on and I can hear the solenoid click but the starter does not engage. I took out and tested both the starter and alternator.
-check engine light
-new battery
-new spark plugs
-starter tested and works
-alternator tested and works
-starts when jumped
I'm not sure what could be wrong with my jeep. I could not get the engine light checked, shops nearby cannot check them for cars this old apparently. I've read on other forums that it could be the voltage regulator, which is often inside the alternator. I checked behind the battery as well, could not find anything. Im not sure what the next step is, I really want to get this beast running.
Any advice?
Hmmm. First Welcome to the forum. secondly you should post this over on the Yj forum section for responses. Good luck.
Welcome to the forum! :wavey:
/l ,[____],
l---L -OlllllllO-
()_) ()_)--o-)_)
http://r23.imgfast.net/users/2314/13...3032514546.gif and enjoy the forum!
Welcome Aboard! :wavey:
|All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:43 AM.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.1.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2017 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
vBulletin Security provided by vBSecurity v2.2.2 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2017 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.


text: Brad Kemp/ragincajuns.com [ Cajuns Respond, Dominate Aztecs, 9-2 By Jay Walker May 31, 2014 Strentz, Harrison lead 15 hit attack as Cajuns bounce back Read More Category: Local Sports Tags: college world series ncaa baseball regionals, louisiana's ragin' cajuns, mountain west conference, san diego state aztecs, sun belt conference, tony robichaux Send to a friend! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr!


text: The Leonard Lopate Show Published by The Leonard Lopate Show Christopher Walken Download this audio Want to embed this player? Use the code below. More info. <iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="130" width="100%" src="https://www.wnyc.org/widgets/ondemand_player/wnyc/#file=/audio/json/60306/&share=1"></iframe> Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email a Friend Christopher Walken talks about his acting career—he starred in such films as "The Deer Hunter," "Annie Hall," "Biloxi Blues," and "Catch Me If You Can," among others. He explains how he approaches his craft and discusses his return to Broadway in Martin McDonagh's black comedy "A Behanding in Spokane."


text:
This month's Pagan Families Flash Point is on sexuality. How do we foster healthy attitudes about sex in our kids?First, let's be clear on what we mean by "kids." For adolescents, sex and sexual identity are important issues, and adolescents themselves are in a special state, no longer children but not yet adults. The needs of adolescents for education and support around these issues are complex and deserve their own post (or really, their own book!).So, for the purposes of this post, let … [Read more...]
Top 10 Posts of 2013
This is an entirely unsystematic, unscientific, personally biased list of my top 10 favorite Pagan Families posts from 2013. It's obviously not all the good posts, or even all the great posts. It's not necessarily the most read or shared or commented on posts either. But I tried to include posts from all our regular (and irregular) contributors, and to represent the range of topics we now cover. From pregnancy to postpartum, from sex education to adoption, from spiritual practice with toddlers … [Read more...]
What Pagan Families Can Learn From Unitarian Universalists
Editor's note: I invited Michelle Mueller to share a guest post with Pagan Families on the Patheos site-wide theme of Passing On The Faith. I was especially excited to receive this post and discover how well it dovetails with other Pagan Families posts from the past week. What Pagan Families Can Learn From Unitarian UniversalistsBy Michelle Mueller, M.Div.I've been Wiccan (or at the least known that I was) since I was 12 years old. Like many of us, I started as a … [Read more...]
By SunweaverMy eldest daughter is starting seventh grade and with that comes the "Teen Living" class, which includes learning about peer pressure, interpersonal relationships, and a five-day sex ed course. By and large, I'm not opposed to this kind of thing. Becoming a teenager is difficult business and when schools pay attention to that fact, it can potentially make that transition much, much easier. I'm not even opposed to sex ed in school. It's important for young men and women to know … [Read more...]


text:
Energy Star Criteria Revision Process Officially Underway
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to stakeholders Monday announcing that is beginning a criteria revision for windows, doors, and skylights. During this process, EPA is inviting industry input, as well as updating research from the last criteria revision, which took place between June 2007 and April 2009, leading to the establishment of the current Energy Star criteria, which took effect in January this year.
EPA, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Energy, is considering a variety of adjustments to the criteria, writes Douglas W. Anderson, Energy Star program manager. The letter says initial topics for consideration, based on six guiding principles established for Energy Star program as a whole, include:
|► Significant energy savings can be realized on a national basis
|• Lower U-Factors in most or all climate zones
|• Adjust SHGC in some climate zones
|• Expand education on shading and orientation
|► Product performance can be maintained or enhanced with increased energy efficiency
|• Establish installation procedures to ensure product performance
|• Add minimum air leakage requirement
|• Require some form of structural testing
|►Purchasers will recover their investment in increased energy efficiency within a
reasonable period of time
|• Develop equivalent performance criteria for impact-resistant products
| • Consider industry proposals for a daylighting credit for skylights and tubular
daylighting devices (TDDs)
|►Energy-efficiency can be achieved with several technology options, at least one
of which is non-proprietary
|• Allow leeway in thermal performance for products being installed at high altitudes
|►Product energy consumption and performance can be measured and verified
with testing
| • Create/add a blind purchasing program through the National Fenestration
Rating Council
| • Resolve the outstanding conflict between the physical and simulation test results
for TDD U-factor ratings
|►Labeling would effectively differentiate products and be visible for purchasers
|• Maintain or enhance product and display unit labeling
|• Bring market share more closely in line with the 25 percent program target.
EPA has established a tentative timeline for the criteria revision, according to the letter. Its initial analysis and research is expected to take place between now and June 2011, with preliminary criteria to be published in July 2011. That will be followed by a stakeholder meeting in August 2011, followed two month comment period.
According to the timeline, comments will be reviewed and criteria finalized between October 2011 and February 2012, with the new Energy Star criteria for windows, doors and skylights set to be released in March 2012, with a final two week comment period before publication of the new program requirements in April 2012. EPA has set March 2013 as a tentative date for the new criteria to take effect.
"For its initial analysis, EPA will gather data on marginal cost, product performance, and production considerations," EPA's Adams notes. Anyone interested in discussing these or other issues with an Energy Star staff support person is invited to contact Joe Hart of D&R International at email@example.com or 301/588-9387.
The letter confirms much of what Adams outlined earlier this year, speaking at the Window & Door Manufacturers Association legislative conference in March.


text:
After a rough stretch, the Reds have now won their last two and they've won three of their last four. Today's game was particurlarly impressive because the Reds not only put eight runs on the board, but they also got a very solid start by Micah Owings. He gave up just one run on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts in six innings and the win pushed his record to 5-8.
There were plenty of hitting stars in this one. Brandon Phillips went three for five with three RBIS and three runs. Ramon Hernandez had three hits and three RBIs while Johnny Gomes belted a two run homer, his fourth of the season. In all, the Reds picked up fifteen hits and the only regular to not pick up a hit was Paul Janish.
The division is getting more and more interesting and the Reds are sitting right in the middle. They're in third place and they're 2 1/2 back of the first place Brewers and Cardinals. Of course they also sit just 2 1/2 games ahead of the last place Pirates in a division that has six teams seperated by a mere five games. Can you say, "anything could happen."
The Reds get a day off then Arizona comes to town. Bronson Arroyo gets the nod in the series opener and the Diamondbacks will throw Dan Haren. The Diamondbacks have really struggled and their in the midst of a five game losing streak. And outside of the Nationals, they're at the bottom of the National League.
The Reds haven't been winning much, but they've still managed to hang on to their 3 1/2 game deficit because nobody in the Central is playing particularly well. Last night, the Reds opened up their series with the Indians by getting squashed 9-2 and it was ace Aaron Harang who got pummelled. He gave up seven runs (five earned) on ten hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
Johnny Gomes had a pair of hits and he drove in a run in the loss. Brandon Phillips doubled and he scored once.
Homer Bailey gets the nod again in his fifteenth chance at sticking. He's pitched pretty well down in Louisville, so hopefully he'll finally be able to put something together for the Reds. Tomo Okha gets the nod for the Indians.
Interleague play is sitting well with the Reds. They lost their opener against the Blue Jays last night so that pushes their losing streak to three games. What's just is bad is everyone but the Cardinals are stinking it up in the Central so had we gotten a nice little winning streak together, the Reds could be in at least second place. But no, they even scored some runs (five) but it wasn't good enough. Now they have the Astros on knocking on their door trying to knock the Reds from their fourth place perch.
Micah Owings got off to a slow start and never really recovered in this one. There was no big inning by the Jays but they scored in four of the six innings that Owings threw. In all, he gave up six runs on nine hits and two walks with a strikeout in 5 2/3 innings. Maybe he lost becausehe wasn't allowed to hit.
Joey Votto made his return and he went one for four with a pair of strikeouts. Chris Dickerson went two for three with an RBI.
Tonight, it'll be Bronson Arroyo going up against Scott Richmond. Don't let that 8-5 record fool you, because Arroyo has struggled althoug his last start was a nice one.
It's a funny world. The Reds scored eight runs yesterday but lost. Today, they got a solid but not great start from Aaron Harang yet lost 4-1. The Reds got just six hits and two of those were by Johnny Gomes. The lone run came in the eighth inning when Brandon Phillips drove home Chris Dickerson with a sac. fly.
Aaron Harang fell to 5- 7 on the season despite still having a 3.66 season ERA. He gave up three runs on eight hits without a walk and seven strikeouts in seven innings. Nick Masset is now close to seeing his ERA go over the two mark after he gave up a run. Daniel Ray Herrera got the final two outs and he has a nice, even 2.22 ERA.
Fortunately, the Tigers took care of the Brewers here in Detroit. The Reds are back to .500, and they're in fourth place, but they're still just four games back of the now first place St. Louis Cardinals. Watch out for the Cubs though, although they're taking on a hot Tigers team.
The Reds took care of the Braves two game to three earlier this week and now they're keeping things going with a series opening win over the White Sox. Bronson Arroyo gave up two early runs but he pitched nicely after that and it allowed the Reds to get back into the lead. Brandon Phillips brought the big stick and he homered and drove in three runs. Jerry Hairston went two for three with a run and a double.
Arroyo improved to 8-5 on the season. He gave up two runs on two hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Francisco Cordero struck out two in a shutout ninth and he picked up save number 17.
Because the Cubs came back and won, the Reds still sit in fourth place. I'm not sure if the Brewers will finish their game with Detroit so that at least means we'll pick up a half game. Tomorrow it'll be Johnny Cueto against Clayton Richard.
Normally, seven runs wouldn't be big of a deal but this is your 2009 Reds. Yeah, they scored four of those in the eighth to lock up the win, but a win is a win and it once again pushed the Reds record into the winning variety and it slipped them a half game ahead of the Cubs for sole possession of third place. Oh yeah, it also snapped that ugly four game four game losing streak the Reds had.
Laynce Nix led the way with three hits and three RBIs. Of those three hits, two were doubles. Brandon Phillips also had a nice game and he went three for four with a walk, two doubles and two runs.
Aaron Harang's start got cut short because of the rain but he threw two shutout innings. Daniel Ray Herrera threw three shutout innings and he improved to 1-2. He's yet another reliever who's done his job and while his WHIP is a mediocre 1.35, his ERA is just 1.69. Speaking of ERA, Nick Masset finally gave up a run and his ERA is now north of one.
Micah Owings gets the start tonight. The Braves will throw Javier Vazquez. Don't let the 4-5 record by Vazquez fool you because this guy has been throwing well. 105 strikeouts versus 16 walks is just sick but this guy has been doing it for years.
The NL Central is quite a log jam these days. The Reds have dropped four straight, including a three game sweep at the hands of the Royals, yet they still sit just 2 1/2 games back of first place. Unfortunately, just four games seperate first from last and we're talking about a six team division here. The All Star break is a month away but things are definitely interesting here in Reds land.
It was another one run, five hit game as the Reds lost this afternoon. The Reds scored in the first, then never pushed a runner across the plate again. Jonny Gomes had the lone extra base hit with a double and Alex Gonzalez scored the lone run.
Johnny Cueto was roughed up but oddly, all five runs he gave up were unearned. He gave up seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts in six innings.
The loss pushed the Reds to an even 31-31. The Reds at least get a break from interleague as they host the Braves for three games. It's Aaron Harang against Jair Jurrjens in the opener on Tuesday.
You think I'd be used to this by now. We are two months into the season and it's not like the hitters have been lighting things on fire. Stll, five hits against isn't going to cut it and that's what happened last night. Heck, Albert Pujols drove in as many runs by himself then the entire Reds lineup.
Brandon Phillips doubled and scored a run in the loss. Laynce Nix singled, drew a walk and drove in one. Bronson Arroyo was touched up for five runs in 5 1/3 innings and while the pen did a nice job (namely Jared Burton, who threw two shutout innings), it wasn't enough.
So we're even at 1-1. Tonight it'll be Johnny Cueto going up against Kyle Lohse. Cueto's been good so hopefully he can keep it up.
Reds are dropping like flies. First Joey Votto hit the disabled list and now it looks like Edinson Volquez's problems continue. He was pulled after just one frames and it was a rough one to boot. Fortunately the pen did their job and the hitters came through (thank you Laynce Nix) to give the Reds the win. Mike Lincoln gave up a run but it was over three innings and he improved to 1-0. Nick Masset threw another shutout frame and then Arthur Rhodes and Francisco Cordero each threw a shutout inning each to close out the game.
Laynce Nix had the big hit. His two run double gave the Reds the lead in the fourth inning and they never looked back. Ryan Hanigan went two for four and he scored two runs.
The Brewers lost too so now the Reds sit just one loss back of the Cards and two back of the Brewers. There's still a lot of games left in this series and tonight it'll be Bronson Arroyo against Brad Thompson.


text:
Blowin' S#?t Up with Kevin Fowler — Episode Four [VIDEO]
The first episode of Blowin' S#?t Up with Kevin Fowler saw everyone's favorite Fowler use tannerite and his AR-15 to demolish a printer — that poor, poor printer. In episode two of his foray into controlled explosives, he destroyed both a watermelon and a cantaloupe, neither ever stood a chance. Then in episode three nothing got blown up, absolutely nothing. But in episode four, Fowler is back on track. Let's see what S#?t Fowler is blowin' up this time.
What happens when Kevin takes his AR-15 and shoots a wee bit of tannerite underneath an old Television set? You're fixin' to find out.
There we go, I love Blowin' S#?t Up with Kevin Fowler! Be sure to listen for Fowler's next single "Here's To Me and You" coming to KNUE radio very soon.


text: The Student Leadership and Service Celebration brings together the Cardinal Stritch University campus community in celebrating our students and recognizing their exceptional performance in the areas of academics, campus/community involvement and student achievement. This year's Student Leadership and Service Celebration will be on Wednesday May 4th in the Sister Kliebhan Conference Center. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a recognition program following.Please RSVP below. We look forward to seeing you at this event!


text:
Michael David Huber
Dr. Huber is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Nuclear Cardiology. He graduated from Loyola College in Baltimore before attending medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii and Cardiology Fellowship at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Before joining the Arkansas Heart Hospital Clinic, he was a staff cardiologist at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Germany where he cared for acutely ill soldiers sent from Iraq and Afghanistan. While at LRMC, he was the director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and of the Advance Cardiac Life Support program. Dr. Huber's skill set includes invasive, non-interventional cardiology, pacemaker implantation, nuclear cardiology, transesophageal echo, and IVC filter implantation.