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2016 Rantfest Podcast
The show makes a return for the end of 2016! Join Tom, Paul Hopwood and Natalie Newell as we have a good old fashioned rant about this terrible year, find the show on iTunes or listen here.
The show makes a return for the end of 2016! Join Tom, Paul Hopwood and Natalie Newell as we have a good old fashioned rant about this terrible year, find the show on iTunes or listen here.
So, the QED conference is all done and dusted for 2016, and I think it's fair to say I had a blast! There are various other reviews and musings on QED 2016 out there already, but seeing as I spent most of my time outside of the main room (due to a combination of competing interests and general lethargy I only managed to sit through two of the main talks) I thought I'd add my voice to the satisfied cacophony.
Before I start I should say that I got to talk to plenty of friends old and new, but I managed to miss lots of people who I wanted to catch up with. So, if I don't mention you in this blog or miss out on your talk/event, please don't take it personally!
My personal highlights all came on the Friday. I managed to get the day off work so turned up promptly for the start of the Skepticamp (kudos to Chris Higgins for getting it all organised). I enjoyed all the morning talks, especially the one that concluded the session by addressing cannibalism. After that, we went for lunch. Unfortunately lunch took a bit longer than expected, so I missed the first couple of talks of the afternoon session. I really, really hate doing that so unreserved apologies to the speakers I missed.
I delivered the penultimate planned talk, regaling the audience with the story of wisdomofchopra.com, a Deepak Chopra quote generator I made in an evening that was later used in an academic study of bullshit receptivity. Before I started I asked for a cheer from everyone not from the UK, and I'm happy to say that I got a very enthusiastic response! I was worried that the whole Brexit ugliness would put people off travelling to the UK, but as it happens I was informed that the weak pound has some advantages. I'm pretty sure my talk was well received and it was definitely the right audience, it's not everyday that I put up a slide containing a block of code and get a laugh without having to explain it! So, onto my first personal highlight. We got 5 minutes of Q and A, and the first questioner at the end of my talk was kind enough to inform me that the study that used quotes from wisdomofchopra.com won an IgNobel prize! I really wasn't prepared for that, I'm not sure whether to feel pride or shame!
Once the Skepticamp was wrapped up I needed to check in to my hotel. Oh dear. I was only paying £30 a night so I wasn't expecting much, but as soon as I got in I noticed the Christmas decorations. Not a good sign. Neither was the handwritten one on the wall explaining that the decorations were up because a film crew was filming a Christmas show there. I mean, I was hardly tripping up over rigging or anything. Apart from that, the carpets were worn, wallpaper was peeling off, but it worked as a place to crash so not all bad.
After that I headed to the much anticipated Friday night pub quiz, hosted by QI elf and former show guest (yes, I used to have a show!) Stevyn Colgan. I'm a bit of a quizzer and this one was top notch, but then again I would say that because my team, "Breakfast means breakfast", managed to win the bloody thing! We paraded our trophies around the hotel in triumph, superb!
Following that I headed for the mixer, chatting with skeptical friends from all over the place, late into the night.
Probably a bit too late into the night. I got up at a reasonable time but spent too long picking over a full English breakfast so I managed to miss the first talk. Never mind I thought, I was guaranteed a front row seat for the "Dental woo" panel. Dentistry is a subject that doesn't get that much press in the skeptisphere, and despite being in a zombie-like state I enjoyed hearing about fluoridation scares, the problems with dental research and a particularly disgusting demo of oil pulling. Don't worry, despite it's rather terrifying name, oil pulling just involves swilling cooking oil around your mouth for a bit. Revolting, but probably not that dangerous.
Following the panel we were all spoilt for choice, with no more that FIVE things to chose from! I plumped for a live "Skeptics with a K" recording. The room was packed so I slotted in at the back somewhere. I couldn't see much but it's audio init? I managed to embarrass myself by asking a nonsensical question and almost falling off my chair. Looking forward to hearing it when it comes out as a podcast. :/
After lunch I sat my arse down in the film room to "enjoy" a screening of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, the creationist propaganda film by Ben Stein, the bloke from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". Thing is, if I was watching it at home on Youtube, I'd switch it off after 10 minutes in a minor fit of rage. However, watching it with two dozen others felt like a form of group therapy, with everyone throwing their heads in their hands and screaming "noooooo" in unison. Don't get me wrong, the film is absolute unrelenting shite, but I somehow feel richer for having experienced it.
From there I moved on to the "Skeptical Activism Under the Microscope" panel. There have been quite a few skeptic wins in recent times, and it was good to note these wins as well as consider how things can be done better in future. Following that was the keynote from Dr Karl, who offered the audience a whistle-stop tour of various moments in science, both serious and silly. I particularly enjoyed the dig at the bloody stupid "paleo" diet!
For the first time ever I didn't go to the gala dinner as I dilly-dallied with my booking and of course the dinner sells out in 24 hours. However, instead I hooked up with a bunch of Norwich skeptics/Last Tuesday Project contributors for a very pleasant curry. Nice to make a joke about Little Melton that didn't fall on deaf ears! I also got to meet Natalie Newell from A Science Enthusiast (amongst other things) and I got the chance to personally thank her for giving me the opportunity to design the flag for the Confederacy of Douchecanoes (long story).
We sauntered into the evening entertainment and managed to miss the Ockham awards, but took our seats in time to witness the annual worshipping of the cloth chicken, before taking part in a huge card trick which worked for nearly everyone. The first act, Grace Petrie can consider myself a new fan. I loved her songs, especially one called "Ivy" which really hit home with me. We were then entertained by a great set from magician Dave Alnwick, I can't wait to see him do his thing in Liverpool next month! Comedian Tiernan Douieb brought the evening to an end, but I couldn't hear that much of his set thanks to the dickheads at the back who decided to have a loud obnoxious conversation. Thanks for that guys. Anyway, I retreated to the bar to have some more quality conversations and before I could say "Wait, what time is it?" it was past two again. Whoops!
So once again I didn't wake in the best states of mind. I checked out of my dank hovel, but the weather had reverted to the Manchester default of "heavy rain". After a quick detour into a newsagents for a Mars Bar breakfast, I arrived at the hotel tired, hungover, hungry and soaked through. I stumbled into the middle of Cara Santa Maria's talk and attempted to tune in, but after five minutes and a mention of the Bechdel test I gave up and went in search of coffee, which I somehow failed to find.
Following that I was originally planning to go to the magic workshop hosted by Dave Alnwick, but I figured that it would be packed following his triumphant Saturday night spot. Added to that, my hand eye coordination has always been sub par, so wanting to make the least amount of effort I plumped for the showing of the original Ghostbusters, a film which I realised I have never sat down and watched from beginning to end. And guess what? I was the only person who did! It was great, I took in the film, stuffed my face with free popcorn and just took the chance to relax. Good stuff! I was also keeping one eye on Twitter and saw all the reactions to Sally Le Page's talk about duck reproduction. I was quite glad I wasn't there as I didn't feel up to that, it was too early for 15 foot high genitalia.
Feeling recharged, I set off for the final two panels of the conference. These were easily the most interesting ones for me. The first was entitled "The march of unreason" and it saw QED dabbling in politics for the first time. There was so much to discuss in regards to the Brexit referendum and politics in general that it barely scratched the surface, I'd love to see more of this sort of thing in the future. In the Q and A I asked why politics was a taboo subject in skepticism and I wasn't exactly satisfied with my answer. I'm a strong believer that politics and politicians should definitely fall under the umbrella of skeptical enquiry. After all, if there is one subject that is full of bullshit, it's politics!
Following that was a panel on "Legal Name Fraud", a form of legal woo (you might have seen the anonymous billboards throughout the UK). This was the panel I learned the most from. People have tried to explain the "Freeman of the land" stuff to me before, but it always makes my brain explode. This panel explained everything patiently and concisely, and thanks to Geoff Whelan I have a whole new rabbit hole to get lost in!
The event was concluded with a talk from Meirion Jones about his investigation into fake bomb detectors, which for me was a familiar and utterly tragic story, a poignant note to end on. After all the congratulations had died down I quickly escaped and just about managed to make the train and hurried back to my family, so sorry if my departure seemed rather abrupt.
Overall this was a great QED. I'm looking forward to next year, but I think I'll book a different hotel!
QEDcon, the biggest skeptical weekend of the year, is very nearly upon us and boy am I excited! The main event is sold out, which means over 600 skeptics from all over the world in one place. I can't wait to see everyone, especial people who I have befriended on social media and finally get to meet in real life!
Before the main event is the Skepticamp, a series of short talks starting at 11am on the Friday. I'll be there giving a talk about the slightly unusual story of wisdomofchopra.com so it would be great to see you there!
Sadly, due to the quagmire that is British politics, this could be one of the last QEDs where the UK is still in the European Union. I tried my best to get people to vote remain, I really did, so as a nod of apology to my European neighbours I've had a t shirt printed which features the word "sorry" translated into all 24 EU languages. I've used Google translate and I've already been told the Finnish is wrong, so I'm packing a couple of Sharpies so people can make corrections!
Really looking forward to seeing everyone, should be a barnstorming weekend!
UPDATE: David McNally has now officially resigned, according to the club's official website
It's not often that my worlds of skepticism and Norwich City fandom collide, so I'm not going to skip the opportunity to write about them when they do!
Right now, it isn't the best of times to be a Norwich City fan. Although the victorious trip to Wembley for the Championship play off final was under a year ago, this season they have struggled in the Premier league. They are currently mired in a relegation battle, and barring a major change in fortune look set for a swift return to England's second tier.
As you might expect, some fans are not at all happy about this situation, with a fair amount of ire being directed at David McNally, the current chief executive of Norwich City Football Club (for the record, I think he's been great for Norwich and I want to see him stay). After yet another "played quite well but couldn't score and let in one goal" type of performance in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, a disgruntled fan decided to send an angry tweet to McNally and he replied with this (since deleted) tweet:
Cue social media meltdown. Facebook was full of discussion about the tweet and "McNally resigns" started trending in Norwich. The local press, including the Eastern Daily Press and sports paper The Pinkun ran the story, wondering whether the news was genuine. After several tense hours of fan speculation, McNally tweeted the following (also since deleted):
Now, this is a good example of why skepticism is so important. Broadly speaking, skepticism is about questioning and investigating claims rather than just taking them at face value. Traditionally these claims include "alternative medicine works", "vaccines cause autism" or "ghosts exist", but it's a broad church (or at least it should be) so let's apply some skepticism to McNally's "resignation" tweet. First of all, let's look at the possibilities as to why this tweet would appear:
When analysing the possibilities, you have to consider which are the most like and which are the least likely. For me, the possibility of David McNally resigning on Twitter is incredibly unlikely for so many reasons. First of all, the man is a professional, he wouldn't make such a momentous announcement through his personal social media accounts and without first consulting the rest of the Norwich City board. It would be completely out of character. Also, it's not unknown for David McNally to be a little tongue in cheek at times, which lends evidence to the idea that his tweet was a bad joke. His account being "hacked" is also a possibility, but again unlikely. Given how unlikely it was that his resignation was genuine, it came as no surprise to hear that he didn't mean it.
In conclusion, I think McNally deserves a little slap on the wrist for this. It was a bad joke and an unprofessional thing to do. But for everyone else, the lesson is this: don't take all tweets at face value, and don't believe something just because it's in the paper. On the ball city!
The other night I had the pleasure of giving yet another Ignite Liverpool talk, this time entitled "How did the First World War start?".
I've always had an interest in modern history, and the excellent (although exceedingly long!) series by Dan Carlin called Blueprint For Armageddon was the inspiration for this talk. Ever since I first heard about it at school, I've never heard a good explanation as to how the First World War started until recently. In this talk I had just five minutes to tell the story and I think I got all the key facts in with one exception: the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The story of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand contains the most extraordinary coincidence, so allow me to give some background. In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand is heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, set to take over from his elderly father Franz Josef. Imagine Prince Charles but popular and powerful. He goes to Sarajevo to observe military maneuvers. Now if you know your geography, you might be thinking that Sarajevo, capital of modern day Bosnia, is quite a long way from Austria. Well that's true, and various people from neighboring Serbia weren't too keen on a foreign power meddling in the Balkans. A group conspires (a genuine conspiracy, they do happen!) to kill the Archduke. One of the conspirators is the infamous Gavrilo Princip.
The Archduke and his wife Sophie get into an open-topped car and start on a procession through the city. The Archduke is in full military garb and sticks out like a sore thumb. The conspirators line the route, and one of them emerges from the crowd and throws a bomb at the car. The bomb misses, goes off and injures a bunch of people. Everyone panics and the royal couple get away. The conspirator who threw the bomb attempts to kill himself by biting on a cyanide pill and jumping in the river. Trouble is, the cyanide pill doesn't work and the water is only a few inches deep, so he gets caught by the authorities pretty quickly. The rest of them drift away, with Princip ending up in a cafe.
Meanwhile, the Archduke and his wife Sophie consider what to do next. Now, you'd think that as they were nearly killed and people want them dead, so they'd get out of there and go back to Austria as soon as possible, right? Well, not quite. The Archduke wants to go and visit the wounded in hospital. So they get back in the open-topped car, the Archduke still in his military garb, and set off for the hospital. There's just one problem: the driver doesn't really know the way. They take a wrong turn, but instead of carrying on and finding a different route, the driver decides to stop and reverse the car. As he does this the engine stalls, leaving the royal couple totally exposed. It just so happens that car has stalled outside a cafe. The very cafe that Gavrilo Princip has gone to. He gets up, takes out his gun, and the rest is history.
I find this coincidence absolutely incredible, because of course it started a complex chain of events which resulted in the start of the First World War. Amazing how so much history was changed by a coincidence and the actions of one man.
I'd like to finish by recommending a couple of things: firstly, if you are in the Liverpool area, come along to the next Ignite! It's penciled in for the next Star Wars day (May 4th naturally). Secondly, if you go along to Ignite Liverpool or catch up later with their YouTube channel, why not donate to them via Patreon?
If you've been following the Labour leadership contest, you might have noticed this parody of Tony Blair's Comment Is Free piece doing the rounds:
You may think it's photoshopped, but it's very simple to make something like this, and I'm going to show you how to do it! Start by opening up Google Chrome (you can do this in other browsers but I find Chrome to be the easiest), then go to any site you choose. Find the text you want to change, then right click it and select "Inspect element".
When you click "Inspect element", you will see some code at the bottom of the screen. Don't be scared, it's just HTML, the language patented by Sir Tim Berners of Lee back in 1662. With any luck, the text you want to change will be right in front of you, so just change it and you're done!
Once you know this simple trick, you can have all sorts of fun messing around with all kinds of sites! Have fun!
By the way, I didn't do anything to that last one, it's a real post on Natural News.
Now, I've had an interest in the work of one Deepak Chopra for some time now, having invented wisdomofchopra.com, a site that generates quotes in his own almost-inimitable style. So, imagine my sarcastic joy when my brother Ed presented me with a copy of Leela, Deepak's very own Wii game! I had to try it out, so take a look at the video below:
The game is just a series of minigames, each one based on a "chakra". As you can probably guess, it was filmed on my phone so the quality isn't great and you can barely hear the game, but you get the gist of it. Also, we ran out of both recording time and battery life so we may never know what the final chakra minigame is like!
I wasn't expecting much from it, but apart from being based on the evidence-free "chakra" explanation of how the body works, it's surprisingly low on bullshit. I didn't even hear an utterance of the word "quantum"! I can't say I'd recommend going out of your way to get the game, but the navel chakra game is good fun. Cheers again to Ed for the game!
Well, I successfully completed my flag challenge! I managed to name all 80 flags that were put before at the most recent Ignite Liverpool. Hopefully the video will be available soon if you need some proof!
Of course, it's not too late to donate, so if you are suitably impressed with my efforts and would like to donate to the Liverpool Women's Hospital, you can do so at my Just Giving page.
I had set a target of £500, and thanks to your donations the total currently stands at over £800! It would be absolutely fantastic if that could go past £1,000. Thank you all so much!
As you may know, our daughter Rosalind was born 10 weeks early on March 11th 2015. Everyone at the Liverpool Women's Hospital did an absolutely fantastic job and she is now safely home. The least I can do is try and raise some money for the hospital, so to donate to my "Ignite Liverpool Flag Challenge" please follow the link below!
Ignite Liverpool Flag Challenge
Update: thanks to everyone who has donated so far. As some have already noted, 20 falgs would be a bit too easy so it's been upped to 80, so I've got to identify one flag every 3.75 seconds!
Allow me to explain: I'm a passionate amateur vexillologist. I run a campaign to find a new flag for Liverpool, I've given a talk about the flags of the former Soviet Union to the Flag Institute, and I've done several talks on flags for Ignite Liverpool. So, for my next Ignite "talk" I will be given 5 minutes to identify
2080 flags of the world, and I'm being sponsored for each one I get right! If you want proof that I've completed the challenge there will be a live stream of the event, a YouTube video, or of course if you are in Liverpool you could turn up to Leaf on July 15th 2015 and watch it live!
You will be able to donate at any time before, during, or after the event, so please visit the Just Giving page and donate what you can! Thanks!
I think Rosalind will thank you for it!
Wow, it's been quite a fortnight in the Williamson household! For those that listen to the show, you'll know that myself and Celia were expecting our first child, due on May 19th 2015. Well, after a routine checkup a couple of weeks ago, the doctors decided that our baby needed to be delivered early and Rosalind Florence Williamson was born the next day on March 11th 2015 and taken straight to the Special Care Baby Unit. So far she's doing very well and Celia is absolutely fine! We visit her every day and we are incredibly grateful to all our friends and family who have supported us. Everyone at the Liverpool Women's Hospital have been absolutely wonderful, and we are very lucky to live in a country with excellent socialised healthcare! Love the NHS.
In case you were wondering, Rosalind is named after Rosalind Franklin, a great scientist whose work was vital for the unraveling of the structure of DNA. Florence is the city where I proposed to Celia. Sorry if you are feeling a bit queasy right now!
Obviously my extra curricular projects such as the show and flagforliverpool.org will have to wait for now, but I am planning on dropping in to qedcon.org so see you there!
Oh alright then, one picture of Rosalind!


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Salesforce.com Cloud Architect
- Recruiter
- Request Technology-Anthony Honquest
- Location
- Salary
- 75000.00 - 145000.00 USD Annual
- Posted
- 14 Feb 2013
- Closes
- 21 Feb 2013
- Sector
- Technology
- Hours
- Permanent
*Must have a Bachelor's Degree*
Prestigious Professional Services Firm is seeking 2+ year implementation specialists. Must be experienced in requirement gathering and design, process mapping and gap analysis. This position has functional responsibilities for full life cycle software implementations. This is CRM/Cloud implementations. Manager level openings are available for individuals with 5+ years experience and require PM/Lead experience on full life cycle implementation. Excellent communication skills and job stability are required.
Role Description
We are seeking Salesforce.com Cloud Professionals to work with the business process and development teams to design, implement and deploy Salesforce.com Cloud applications to a wide variety of clients at the enterprise level. Candidates for this role should possess knowledge of salesforce.com application, data migration, and integration capabilities. Additionally the candidate should have the ability to uncover business requirements, develop a technical strategy, and be able to create and effectively demonstrate solutions that address customer requirements.
Key Responsibilities May Include:
- Providing solution leadership and guidance
- Supervising process and functional design activities
- Creating functional requirements as an input to application design
- Developing detailed end to end functional designs for business solution components and prototypes
- Facilitating iterative working sessions
- Supervising application build, test, and deploy activities - onshore and offshore
- Planning and execution of data conversion activities (eg, test data)
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree
- 2+ years of requirements gathering and design, including process mapping and gap analysis
- 2+ years Salesforce.com implementation experience
Preferred Skills
- Salesforce.com Sales Cloud implementation experience
- Salesforce.com Service Cloud implementation experience
- Force.com implementation experience
- Salesforce.com Certifications (Admin, Sales and Service Cloud Consultant)
- Experience with Veeva, Oracle-Siebel, NetSuite, SAP or Workday
- Customer relationship management (service, marketing and/or sales)
- Agile experience
- Supervisory experience

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The ultimate bolt-on protection for your water-cooled R1200GS. Touratech's Expedition Long skid plate offers an ultra strong stainless steel sub-mount, 4mm thick aluminum construction with corrugated channels for extra strength, replaceable polyamide nylon sliders, low profile design, and complete uninterrupted coverage from the front of the engine to the rear wheel.
The R1200GS water cooled boxer is made to be ridden off-road, but has no frame underneath the motor to protect it from hazards on the ground. The exhaust manifolds, which are routed under the engine, are also exposed, making the skid plate a true necessity. Touratech has raised the bar by engineering a skid plate with 3 levels of impact-absorbing protection for your R1200GS liquid-cooled engine.
Expedition Long Skid Plate Design:
The foundation of the Expedition skid plate is a 4mm Stainless Steel reinforcement plate which is engineered to absorb and disperse impact forces by linking together 6 solid mounting points on the aluminum skid plate and 5 on the motor. The rear "tower" mount is made of stainless steel and extends upwards, bracing the plate to the subframe of the motorcycle.
The next level of protection comes from the heavy gauge 4mm aluminum skid plate engineered with corrugated channels for maximum strength and stiffness. The broad coverage of the Expedition skid plate protects the exhaust and engine case on the R1200GS 'water boxer'. The 6 mounting bolts are recessed in the channels for added protection and ease of service. The front of the skid plate extends upwards enough to protect the GS's vital oil filter and cooler which are left exposed from the factory.
The Expedition Skid Plate is finished with high-strength, fiber-reinforced polyamid nylon sliders that absorb impact and provide a sliding surface for negotiating obstacles. The rails also protect the bolt heads from rocks and other ground hazards.
Touratech's Expedition Long Skid Plate offers complete and unprecedented protection for your R1200GS water boxer engine. The heavy gauge stainless steel mounting plate absorbs impact while supporting the oversized 4mm contoured skid plate which has integrated polyamid nylon rails that absorb impact, protect bolt heads and provide a sliding surface for overcoming obstacles.
-Heavy gauge 4mm aluminum construction with stainless steel reinforcement
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-Not compatible with skid plate extension part # 045-5145
Dimensional weight listed
Touratech R1200GS WC (13-16)|ADV WC (14-16) Expedition Skid Plate (Long)
Produced by Touratech of Germany


text:
Deceptive PerceptionThe eyes no longer see.
The tongue no longer tastes.
The nose no longer smells.
The body no longer feels.
The ears hear.
The ears hear.
The ears see.
The ears taste.
The ears smell.
The ears feel.
The ears talk.
The ears listen.
applesncinnamon 26-30, F 4 Responses 1 Dec 22, 2010
maybe am just dumb or not pay enough attention but does this means to listen to whats going on or something like that? to pay attention maybe? listen and block the rest of the sences? If you listen to someone u can talk by doing it maybe. I amm still thinking about it lol. :P
:-) tar, I think it'll just hit the spot!!
:-) This is great... applesncinnamon, do you mind if i share this poem with a friend of mine?? - he's a serious muso like me, but has been dealing with severe clinical depression for years (with music his lifeline), and I think he'd love this!!


text:
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text:
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 05:24 PM
NYC Liberal (17,953 posts)
CNN Poll: Americans less optimistic than four years ago
Washington (CNN) - A majority of Americans give President Barack Obama a thumbs up on the job he's doing in office, but according to a new national poll they are less optimistic about the country's future than they were four years ago when Obama won the White House for the first time.
A CNN/ORC International survey released Monday indicates that 56% of the public thinks the country will be better off four years from now, with four in ten saying it will be worse than they are now.
Fifty-two percent approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, with 43% saying they disapprove. Obama's approval rating is virtually unchanged from his pre-election approval rating of 51%. And it's changed little this year: Since February the president's approval rating ranged between 49% and 52% in CNN polling.
"The generation gap that was evident in presidential vote still remains, but the gender gap has vanished, at least temporarily," Holland said. "President Obama's approval rating is 58% among younger Americans, but a majority of older Americans disapprove of Obama. But Obama's approval rating among men and women is exactly the same - 52% among men, 52% among women."
7 replies, 892 views
Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum
Replies to this discussion thread
|7 replies
CNN Poll: Americans less optimistic than four years ago (Original post)
|NYC Liberal
|Nov 2012
|Nov 2012
|NYtoBush-Drop Dead
|Nov 2012
|Nov 2012
|NYC Liberal
|Nov 2012
|Nov 2012
|Nov 2012
|Nov 2012
Response to NYC Liberal (Original post)
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 05:26 PM
spanone (96,352 posts)
1. are these the same cnn pollsters that said romney was going to win the election?
comedy news network
Response to spanone (Reply #1)
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 05:30 PM
NYtoBush-Drop Dead (490 posts)
3. lol!
Maybe we could get Nate to poll it.
Response to spanone (Reply #1)
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 05:47 PM
1StrongBlackMan (31,849 posts)
5. Yeah ...
Well there is that. But you should believe them this time ... after all, the American public is being fed a non-stop fiscal cliff diet.
Response to spanone (Reply #1)
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 07:02 PM
NYC Liberal (17,953 posts)
7. LOL exactly what I thought.
Response to NYC Liberal (Original post)
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 05:27 PM
sadbear (4,340 posts)
2. We have a better picture now of just how much bush fucked the country.
This shit is more serious than we thought.
Response to sadbear (Reply #2)
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 05:38 PM
jwirr (39,215 posts)
4. And many of us were expecting too much too fast. We now know better.
Response to NYC Liberal (Original post)
Mon Nov 26, 2012, 05:52 PM
markpkessinger (7,221 posts)
6. This doesn't really surprise me at all...
... Four years ago, much of the country thought, or certainly hoped, we could make a fresh start. But we've all been slapped upside the head by the political reality of endless GOP attempts at obstruction and by widespread voter ignorance concerning the substance of the issues before us. So that hope has been tempered by a hard dose of reality. Yeah, and?
Actually, I get a kick out of these polls that try to measure mere affect as if it were something politically significant or real. I mean, if people feel optimistic when there isn't much reason to be terribly optimistic, is that really a good thing? Seems to me that both unfounded optimism and unfounded pessimism are unhelpful as we try to grapple with real issues.


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Exclusive Photo Coverage: THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY's Opening Night Cake!
The Bridges of Madison County, the new musical based on the best selling novel by Robert James Waller, opened last night, February 20, 2014, at 8:00 PM at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street). Four-time Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara reunites with Bartlett Sher, the Tony- winning director of South Pacific and The Light in the Piazza, for a stunning new musical by the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning team of Marsha Norman and Jason Robert Brown. O'Hara is joined onstage by Steven Pasquale ("Rescue Me", reasons to be pretty). BroadwayWorld was backstage with the cast last night and you can check out the opening night cake below!
The lead producers of The Bridges of Madison County are Jeffrey Richards, Stacey Mindich, and Jerry Frankel. They are joined by Gutterman Chernoff, Hunter Arnold, Ken Davenport, Carl Daikeler,Scott M. Delman, Aaron Priest, Red Mountain Theatre Company, Independent Presenters Network, Libby Adler Mages/Mari Stuart, Caiola Productions, Remmel Dickinson, David Lancaster, Bellanca Smigel Rutter, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Will Trice, with Warner Bros Theatre Ventures and TheShubert Organization.
Tickets can be purchased at the box office of the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, by visitingTelecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. For more information about The Bridges of Madison County and to sample the music, visit www.BridgesOfMadisonCountyMusical.com.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride
Backstage Opening Night Cake for 'The Bridges of Madison County'


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Upcoming Conferences and Events
SBD/Issue 5/Classified Advertisements
SBJ In-Depth: The Fight Game
Published September 18, 2009
This issue will look at the state of boxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling. Each sport is facing an increasingly competitive landscape for market share, eyeballs, and sponsorship and media dollars. This in-depth report will focus on what each sport is doing to grow revenues and increase its fan base, and where it sees growth opportunities. How are they positioning and differentiating themselves is today's crowded marketplace? Publishing Date: October 12 Close: September 28 Materials Close: September 30.
For information on advertising, contact National Ad Director Julie Tuttle at 212-500-0711 or email@example.com.


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Have Relationship Questions? Ask a Counselor for Answers ASAP
For Kate McCoy Hello Kate, I'm just following up on my two previous questions, which I assume you can still see. Again, I'm feeling unsure of how this relationship is developing, and need your "interpretation" of some of the things this lady is doing. Basically, since December, I have been trying to touch her a lot more at work and when we go out, such as on the arm, shoulder, and back. When we have been out, several times I have put my arm around her shoulder to emphasize a point I am making, and then let my arm drop to her waist, and we continue walking with my arm around her waist for maybe 5 to 10 seconds. She has never given any sign that she was uncomfortable with this. On the contrary, on two occasions she has tilted her head over so that it was resting on my shoulder as we walked, again for maybe 5 seconds. Once after work when she was feeling down, I took her hand as I talked, and held it for maybe 10 - 15 seconds. She didn't try to take her hand away, but lifted her other hand and held mine with both of hers. A few days later, again she was dealing with issues with her ex., and as we talked I ran my hand through her hair several times, then let my hand rest in her hair at the base of her neck. She showed no sign of discomfort nor of wanting to move away. Another step in the last weeks has been her arranging or texting me for us to meet on Saturday for a drink at midday, which turned into a 3-hour lunch the second time. We've never met up at weekends before (unless in a group), and as before she asked me to keep these "dates" a secret. Finally, we agreed to go into the office on Good Friday to deal with some backlogged issues, and I took her out for lunch afterwards - significantly, this time she told her best friend that she was having lunch with me. To my knowledge, this is the first time she has admitted to her friend that we have been together alone (i.e.. not within a group). The following week she was super happy, and repeated a slightly odd behaviour; when we have been insulting each other (in a friendly way) she takes a step towards me, and gives me a body check - almost a shoulder charge. It would be enough to knock me over if I didn't see it coming. She's done this a few times before, once in an elevator when I really had the feeling she was waiting for me to kiss her - but that could just have been me! Last night we were supposed to go to a sushi restaurant with her best friend, but she had to cancel when her baby sitter fell through; so I went out with her best friend anyway, and she told me how so many of our clients think that my friend and I are either married or in a relationship already; then she said maybe my friend and I should just get married anyway to dispel all the speculation! I think she was being flippant, as she didn't return to the subject. Can you tell me what her behaviours say to you? I'm really worried that she just regards XXXXX XXXXX a really good friend, and nothing more. I guess if I just continue to slowly escalate the touching and the invitations to go out, there will come a point where she would make it clear that she doesn't want to go any further? She is very aware that her job depends on me, (actually, she is my employee) and I know she would be scared of offending me. It's very complicated! She is 37, I am 52. Thank you so much for your opinions, I appreciate it.
Hi Kate,
thank you for the explanations! I appreciate it.
I think there may have been a little misunderstanding with the lunch date and the failed dinner date. The woman I have the relationship with is called "J.". Her best friend, who also works in our office, is called "L.". So far, J. has asked me to keep almost all of our 1-on-1 meetings a secret from L., because she was concerned that L. would make an issue out of getting too close to the "boss". A while ago, L. actually asked J. if she thought it was "healthy" to have such a close relationship with me!
Anyway, as far as the Good Friday lunch went, that was the first occasion when my lady J. actually told her best friend L. that I was taking J. out to lunch. For me, this represented a significant development, because J. was finally admitting to someone that J. and I were having a "date" as opposed to just a few drinks after work. She didn't say how L. reacted.
The other issue was last night, when I was supposed to be taking both J. and L. out for dinner. My lady J. decided not to come when she had trouble with her babysitter, and there seemed to be some tension in the air between J. and L. So the three of us went for a quick drink after work, then my lady J. had to leave, and her best friend L. and I went round a few other bars, then went for dinner. This was the point at which L. told me about so many clients assuming that J. and I are already in a relationship, and that maybe J. and I should just get married to stop the speculation. L. herself is already married with 2 small children. I hope I explained that a bit better! One thing is certain - L. is at least a little jealous of my lady J., because J. attracts a lot of attention wherever she goes.
One other thing that's happened twice, that I found almost unnerving; on 2 occasions J. said she felt something in her hair and asked me to look. Both times, when I looked and then ran my hand through her hair slowly to check, she looked down, nodded her head slightly forwards and to the side, towards my hand - almost like an old labrador when you rub its ear. I was startled, because I expected her to keep looking at me as I checked her hair, but both times there was that drop of the eyes, and the head movement. It didn't happen the last time, but my hand was resting in her hair for a good 15 seconds, at the base of her neck, as we talked. This was in a public bar, whereas the other 2 times we had been alone.
Sorry for the long posts - just trying to explain circumstances! This has been a long, slow road, and at times it's felt like 2 steps forwards and then 1 step back. Each time J. shows a bit more interest, the following week she's a bit quieter, then maybe 2 weeks later something will happen that takes the relationship up a notch again. Then a step back, then a while later up 2 notches again!
I'm pretty sure J. is interested in me, but what's holding her back now is letting the relationship out into the open. Her ex. has already seen us leaving work, me with my arm around her, and he gave J. a hard time about that, so it's not easy for her.
I think my next step is to directly ask J. out for dinner on her own (after all, I've just taken her best friend out!), and at that time try to discuss how we can see each other more, without affecting our working relationship. I don't want to ask her directly if she likes me, for two reasons; first, it looks "needy", and second, it doesn't give her a way out. On the other hand, if I talk about wanting to see her a lot more because I enjoy being with her (I've already told her this), then she has the chance to agree up front, but simply make herself "unavailable" if she doesn't want to take things further.
What do you think?
Many thanks once again, I really appreciate your opinions.


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BEST WESTERN Clearlake Plaza2
3440 E Clearlake Avenue, Springfield, 62702-6210
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Located right on Interstate 55, this pet-friendly Springfield, IL hotel offers clean rooms, friendly service and a location near Springfield University, Saint John's Hospital and the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Guests traveling for work can enjoy easy access to the area's businesses and organizations - including Saint John's Hospital and the State of Illinois offices. Traveling to and from this Springfield, IL hotel is easy with the Capital Airport just six miles away and easy access to the Amtrak train station.
Located just two miles from Downtown Springfield, both leisurely and corporate travelers will enjoy that the Illinois Best Western is near the Abraham Lincoln Museum, Springfield Convention Center, Lincoln Library, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Lincoln Park, White Oaks Mall, Abraham Lincoln Home and a local Springfield golf course. Those visiting students or faculty at the area's schools will have just a short commute - Springfield University and Lincoln Land College are just ten miles away from this Illinois Best Western. Families staying at this Springfield hotel delight in visiting the nearby Knight Action Amusement Park and Robinson Zoo. Feel right at home in the spacious rooms at this BEST WESTERN Clearlake Plaza hotel with generous amenities. The charming, clean rooms at this Springfield, IL hotel offer high-speed Internet access, a coffeemaker, a desk, cable satellite television and more. Get the perfect start to each day at this Illinois Best Western with a complimentary continental breakfast, including coffee, juice, bread and sweet rolls. Fuel for all of your planned activities comes easy with six restaurants located near this Springfield, IL hotel. Guests of this Springfield, IL hotel can also enjoy the convenience of having free parking, an indoor pool and an exercise. For an affordable trip to Springfield, IL, reserve a stay at the BEST WESTERN Clearlake Plaza.
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Tom's World Famous Guitarsa will present a master clinic featuring Jack Dent of Jack Dent Guitars and Daniel Seriff, player extraordinaire. They will discuss the full workings of how a guitar functions. This will be a 3 hour event including performances and informative knowledge that can be applied to your own instruments. A must see for players and guitar enthusiasts alike!
Here is a brief summary of what will be covered.
types, origins, age, growing climate, types of cut,
solid, ply, what's available.
BODIES .....resonance, shape, carved tops, bookmatching,
solid vs split, hollowed, harmonic pick-up placement,
binding, finish.
NECKS ....types of wood, size, shape, fingerboards,
neck-through, headstocks, inlays, fret spacing & scale,
fret slotting, fret size, compound radius, truss rods,
neck wood vs body wood.
everything you ever wanted to know and more!
Jack Dent and I fret using two completely different methods!
hammer & press-in, fret types, leveling & dressing,
crowning & addressing fret edges, loose frets.
neck relief, truss rod adjustments, action, radius,
intonation, pick-up adjustment, trem systems.
gonna tell you what the real facts are!
There is not as much mystery here as you would think!
Jack, Dan and Tom will answer any question you might have!
for more info and online tickets
Tom's Guitars here!
Daniel can be found in many places at the same time
and Jack Dent Guitars


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|Project by fotoman54
|posted 04-10-2011 04:47 AM
|1948 views
|4 times favorited
|7 comments
This is my first dresser and did I learn a lot. It is for my new grandson coming in July and has to get shipped across the country hope it makes it okay. I got the idea from the Woodsmith Magazines Cherry Dresser. It is made from birch plywood, pine draw fronts, and a poplar top. I used a dark cherry stain for the top and knobs, and a cherry gel stain for the rest of the case. It has a couple of coats of poly on it and am in the process of adding more.
-- Rob, Washington State
7 comments so far
#1 posted 04-10-2011 06:57 AM
You did a great job using the woods you did! Beautiful work!
-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings
#2 posted 04-10-2011 09:21 AM
Very nice. I like the color combination.
-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.
#3 posted 04-10-2011 12:24 PM
Very nice work Rob! I didn't thing you could get the birch p/w and pine to come out so even during the staining process….. And good luck with that whole shipping process too! I've gotta do an Indianapolis to Houston shipment and think it may cost more than the project itself!
-- I don't know what this is going to be like, but there's only one way to find out..........
#4 posted 04-10-2011 05:14 PM
That looks Good, well made and stylish combination of color and proportions, thanks for sharing
-- It's Mic Keep working and sharing
#5 posted 04-10-2011 11:23 PM
#6 posted 04-11-2011 12:45 AM
Great work. I like the dark cherry top.
-- "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed", John 8:36
#7 posted 04-14-2011 10:59 PM
Rob thats a nice looking dresser.
Have your say...
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Okay, I know I've committed a big faux pas by not sending out my wedding thank yous yet. The worst thing is that I've already had more than one person call to make sure I got their gifts. I thought I'd never be one of those laggers, but I didn't expect our pictures to come back so late. And, now that our thank you cards will be getting out there about the same time as our belated honeymoon, I can only wonder if we should have sent our honeymoon pictures with our thank yous.
Then I came up with another idea–sending out a wedding picture with our thank you cards and a honeymoon picture with our marriage announcements.
I picked the Monogram Stripe photo thank you cards in Meadow to match our wedding color theme.
This Bold Bloom Marriage Announcement may be perfect for our honeymoon picture in Greece.


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Following the UCI's decision to change the Hour Record regulations, Trek Factory Racing and Fabian Cancellara are announcing that the project to attempt to break the record has been suspended for an undetermined amount of time.
General Manager Luca Guercilena: "At this point we need to assess the situation. We've invested many resources, both human and financial, to prepare for an attempt and we need to evaluate in which way, if any, we proceed. We are satisfied that the UCI has now stipulated clear regulations about the Hour Record, as there was already some speculation about it, but we need to examine what it means for our project, which so far has been focused on breaking the Merckx record."
"But above all, we need to look at the athlete here", says Guercilena. "For Fabian, the idea of attempting the hour had a historical motivation all along. The record of Eddy Merckx has inspired him to step into this project. It takes great character to contemplate fitting this feat into his normal race program. The nature of 'the hour' has changed now because the historical perspective has changed."
Fabian Cancellara: "The whole appeal of the hour record for me is that you are competing against riders from the past. I would have loved to race Eddy (Merckx) in the Classics, or in a time trial, but it's not possible. The hour record has this charming side to it that I like a lot. Now it's going to be different. I'm not against technological innovation, everyone knows that. It's why I spend so much time testing road bikes with Trek. And it's also why we've invested time and money in developing the best Merckx style bike."
"We had some plans semi-ready but right now we need to think about the whole project again", continues Cancellara. "We will discuss everything within the team and with Trek."
To conclude, the team and Trek Bicycle support the UCI's President Brian Cookson when he speaks about the modernization of the UCI Equipment Regulation. Technological innovation has a place in cycling – it was Trek Bicycle's exact motivation to own a WorldTour team.


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I recently replaced our W2003 domain controller with a W2008 R2 domain controller. I followed all the adprep forestprep stuff etc. everything seems to be working fine after a couple of weeks except for one issue. The new Dc is also the DNS server and DHCP server for the local Lan. The scope and options on the DHCP server is the same as before. some PC's are randomly getting an invalid IP address for the DNS entry.
The PC picks up the correct IP, mask and GW but some random other IP address for the primary DNS IP and doesn't pickup the secondary DNS IP address at all.
Should get the following
192.168.1.xxx IP
255.255.255.0 Mask
Primary DNS IP
Secondary DNS IP
What it actually has is
192.168.1.xxx -> Ok
255.255.255.0 -> Ok
DNS IP Primary -> 192.168.1.143 - Not Ok
DNS IP Secondary -> nothing
Ipconfig /all
followed by
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /registerdns
all no help
I end up assigning a static config and then everything works fine.
Thanks in advance.
13 Replies
Jan 30, 2013 at 8:28 UTC
do you have multiple NICs on the new DC? If so, check to see if one has that address. Also check to see that your bindings are correct
Jan 30, 2013 at 8:31 UTC
try the DHCP find utility, it searches for rough DHCP servers on the network
it has come in handy for me on several occasions
I have seen a few malware infections that can cause this issue too
Jan 30, 2013 at 8:59 UTC
DC is a VM with only one NIC hence no bindings to config.
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:00 UTC
That is a handy utility I wasn't aware of, Thanks. No bogus DHCP servers found however. I will run a Malware scan but, I assigned a static setup then cleaned up the active leases from some random iphones etc and then took the PC off the static and it pickup the correct info. Could it be something that happens when the DHCP server is running out of addresses?
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:19 UTC
Could it be something that happens when the DHCP server is running out of addresses?
Not that I can think of. Usually if you don't have avail IPs in your scope, your DHCP client will revert to a 169.254.x.x IP with no DNS settings.
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:32 UTC
That has been my experience as well 169.254.x.x it is so random...
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:36 UTC
I think that there is something on your network that is hosting DHCP services - it may be intermittent, it may be a misconfiguration on a workstation with a hypervisor on it. Something caused this.
Any chance that 192.168.1.143 was assigned to a known system and you looked at the system to see how it was connected to the network and what services were running on it?
Doesn't the ipconfig /all state the IP address of the DHCP server? I didn't see that before.
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:42 UTC
what's the ping result to .143?
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:47 UTC
I am not sure what the .143 device actually is. No host name etc it is def not a PC. Still digging... ;-)
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:48 UTC
C:\Users\administrator.xxxxxxx>ping 192.168.1.143
Pinging 192.168.1.143 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.143: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.143: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.143: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.143: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.143:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 3ms, Average = 0ms
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:53 UTC
Can you get a mac address for it and trace the cable?
Jan 30, 2013 at 10:07 UTC
try to http into it. If it's a rogue wireless ap, router, etc, at least it will be easy to find if you get an auth page in a web browser.
Jan 30, 2013 at 11:04 UTC
do a ping -a 192.168.1.143 to see if you get a dns response back
do a arp -a to get your mac address of the ip
then use http://www.pcworld.com/article/224900/Find_Mac_Address.html 30 day free trial to find the device
good luck
This discussion has been inactive for over a year.
You may get a better answer to your question by starting a new discussion.


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Rand Paul Gets Booted From Prime Time Debate, Decides To Be Petulant About It
Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina have both been bumped from Thursday's prime-time Fox Business-hosted presidential campaign debate, and instead of acting, you know, presidential about it, Paul has opted to get petulant. Fox moved Paul and Fiorina to the "undercard" debate, but Paul, affronted by having to play by the same rules as all the other candidates, has decided to boycott it instead of participating.
According to the latest polls, Paul is attracting a grand total of three percent of Republican voters, two percent in Iowa, and four percent in New Hampshire. The qualification for the debate is that the six leading candidates are guaranteed a place on the stage, plus any candidate who was polling in the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire. Paul and Fiorina don't meet those requirements, so off they (finally) go.
But Paul thinks that this is unfair, telling the Washington Post, "I'm not willing to accept a designation as a minor campaign. We've raised $25 million. We've gotten on the ballot on every state. It's kind of ridiculous to arbitrarily rate the campaigns based on national polling." Oh, sure. Who cares about the will of the people? It's donors who really matter in an oligarchy democracy.
In a GOP race that's been marked by candidates acting like total babies, Paul's whining really isn't much of a surprise. Fiorina hasn't commented, but it appears she'll be self-preserving better than Paul and taking her place in the undercard debate.
[Washington Post]
Send me a line at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Accident At Work: AFLAC
For taking care of those who may be affected by accidents at work, majority of the States have placed in their statutes provisions to compensate such of those who may be affected by such accidents. The medical treatment compensatory clauses make them eligible for the reimbursement of medical costs as medical bills, prescriptions and at times the travel costs to the hospital and return. The limiting provision could be that they would have to undergo first the treatment with a company's doctor for the initial 30 days and should extended period of treatment and recuperation are needed, based and backed by a written report, they would be entitled to outside treatment and expenses. These are normally covered under what is known as 'supplemental insurance'. Supplemental insurance products aim at relieving the financial distress of the policy holders arising out of injuries in the process of work and ill-health.
The best ever known name in the supplemental insurance is AFLAC. AFLAC was incorporated in 1973 in Georgia. Ever since inception, it has been focusing and marketing supplemental health and life insurance, policies. Besides all the States in the USA and District of Columbia, the company operates in Japan also. The supplemental insurance products covered by it are:
- Accident/disability plans including short-term disability plans,
- Sickness and hospital indemnity plans including hospital intensive care plans
- Fixed-benefit dental and vision care plans
- Cancer expense plans
- Long-term care plans and life insurance products
AFLAC policies are available both for individuals and business establishments.
How AFLAC Policies Work
Whereas the major medical insurance players pay the doctors and hospitals, AFLAC pays cash benefits directly to the policyholders to cope up with their daily expenses arising out of disabilities due to injuries and or incapacitating health. Depending upon the nature of policies such payments also include mortgage utilities and child care. AFLAC is also better best known for its payroll deduction insurance coverage and by doing so it directly disburses cash benefits to the policyholders suffering an accident and or illness.
AFLAC lives true to its motto that 'We've Got You Under Our Wing' by protecting the policy-holders from the on slaughter of financially debilitating hurricanes that can hit individuals at any point of time, thus relieving them from stress and enabling to focus on recovery. For the last 55 years it has been doing so proving its insurability in the market and while proving to be commercially successful it has also shown that it is socially responsible too.
Seeking Legal Help
Seeking legal help is a logical step that is not only desirable but essential as the affected individuals would have to comply with complicated procedures even to determine the nature of disability that has been caused by the injury. State attorneys are better bet for such legal help as the provisions of the law vary from state to State. Above all the disclosure requirements are strict enough that non-compliance of even minor provisions would go against the interests of those workers if they have not sought timely legal help.
Talk to a Lawyer
Want to talk to an attorney? Start here.
How It Works
- Briefly tell us about your case
- Provide your contact information
- Connect with local attorneys


text:
You Look Better When Other People Are Around You, But Why?
We now have scientific proof that you look better when other people are around you, yes you! But why?
I bet you're thinking you look better in a crowd of people when those around you are less attractive, surely that's the key right? Surround yourself with people who are less attractive than you…not quite.
Not matter how you look, hot or not, you will look better in a group of people than if you're standing alone says the study. As for why, it's a bit confusing. It has to do with the way your brain processes images. You see, when you are in a group setting, your brain blends everyone's appearance. This creates an "average" effect. When a person approaches a group of people, your brain will become part of the "average face".
The study did suggest that making sure you were the better looking in the group, bumps you to the top of that "average face" thing.
To recap, anyone looks better in a group of people. And if you are the best looking in the group, you will become "above average" looking. And in a group of people, according to the study, you look better than you really do.
Vodka almost always makes everyone look better. That's not in the study by the way, just personal experience, lol.
[Via: The Date Report]


text:
Sorry! This item is sold out. There's always a chance we'll restock, so check back soon or send us a message.
A milky white ceramic cup is brushed in black stokes, offering a roomy, versatile size perfect for beverages both hot and cold.
- 11 oz.
- Approximately 3" wide x 4.5" tall
- Ceramic
- Dishwasher and microwave safe
- Made in Japan


text:
Welcome to WebmasterWorld Guest from 220.127.116.11
Forum Moderators: open
And I saw some sites have "Fast Flip" on their pages! I've searched the Google API, but not have any information.
Anybody know about API "Fast Flip"? Please help me!
[edited by: tedster at 5:43 am (utc) on Jan. 29, 2010]
[edit reason] added interview link [/edit]


text:
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The Northam All Suites Hotel is located in Georgetown, a popular tourist destination in Penang Island that is home to a mix of old and new architecture and tradition. Cathedrals, mosques, temples, government offices, shops, and cafes are all part of this city's multi-cultural charm. A visit to the narrow alleys and mazes of the city leaves visitors with a feeling of stepping into the past.
The hotel is ideally located within walking distance from the old business district to the east and the growing tourism and commercial district to the west.
Overview: Impiana KLCC Hotel...a Business Class Hotel in Kuala Lumpur With FREE Broadband Internet Access!


text:
Hot temperatures close some Fargo schools this week
FARGO – Fargo Schools Superintendent Jeff Schatz checked out several of the district's elementary schools on Sunday.
Temperatures inside buildings ranged from 85 to 90 degrees.
That's too high, according to Schatz. With hot temperatures expected to continue for much of the week, he decided classes would be canceled today through Wednesday at five of the district's elementary schools.
Affected schools include: Clara Barton, Horace Mann, Lewis and Clark, McKinley and Roosevelt.
Schatz said the district took the step to protect students and staff from excessive heat in buildings that are not fully air-conditioned.
He said families were notified by an automated calling system that sent the news to parents' phones.
Classes began in Fargo last Thursday.


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Sephiroth's famous sword in FF7 is a weapon that you never get to use. The closest you'll see is an item called "Masamune" that you can earn in the Gold Saucer, though it serves no use other than as a collector's piece. For whatever reason, FF7's popularity has caused it to endure enormous scrutiny since its release. In the case of Sephiroth, the favorite criticism among naysayers is that Sephiroth has no real character. While this may or may not be true, Sephiroth has a grand style and aura about him that few other villains are able to replicate. And it translates into how the game explains his weapon of choice. In the early stages of the game, Sephiroth is hyped up as an infallible soldier whose strength is so unreal that only he is able to wield the masamune. For the most part, this is true. The first time the party sees the sword, the president of Shinra is impaled on it. Later during Cloud's flashbacks to his days of working with Seph, we see Sephiroth slicing enemies to bits with it like nothing. But the most famous of all masamune sightings is the end of disc 1, when Sephiroth skewers Aeris like a shrimp. Since Final Fantasy 7, in large part due to how awesome everyone thought Sephiroth and the masamune were, oversized swords have become a mainstay in the RPG genre. And though you never actually equip the masamune for yourself, it is a video game weapon and thus qualifies for the list.
After beating Resident Evil 4 for the first time, a little bonus mission called Assignment Ada is unlocked. Assignment Ada is a small event in which you control Ada through the first three areas of the Island in an effort to collect 5 Plaga Samples for Albert Wesker, thus proving beyond a doubt that Ada was in league with Wesker through the entire game. Once Assignment Ada is cleared, the Chicago Typewriter will be available for purchase from the Merchant for the bargain price of 1 million pesetas. Given how easy Assignment Ada is, it's as if Capcom *wanted* us to have a free ride through subsequent playthroughs. That's because once you buy the Chicago Typewriter, no enemy in the entire game will pose any challenge. This quasi-tommy gun deals 100 damage per shot at an automatic firing rate. To put that in better perspective, the basic handgun that you started your first playthrough with does 1 damage per shot. Virtually every enemy in the entire game will die in one Typewriter hit, and bosses won't take much longer. Typewriter-fueled replays through Resident Evil 4 can be as short as 3 hours long. The best example of the raw power of the Chicago Typewriter comes against Salazar's Right Hand. Unless you freeze him with nitrogen and blow him up with a rocket launcher afterwards, he's almost impossible to kill on a normal playthrough due to his 800+ health. With the CT, it won't even take 10 bullets to kill him.
A ton of lists have mentioned Turok 2's Cerebral Bore, and for good reason. It is THE most repulsive weapon in the first person shooter genre. By now, any regular readers of these list know what the weapon does. When you equip it, a scope appears on the screen. If an enemy whose head makes a good target shows up, the scope will lock onto its head and begin flashing red. The Bore then gets fired. Unless the enemy is smart enough to dive underwater (and it won't be), the bore will inevitably lock onto the enemy's skull and begin its work. It sucks out all of the brain matter from the poor bastard's skull before ultimately blowing up. Even with the now-primitive N64 graphics, the Bore's effects on the poor suckers they attach themselves to is sick. However, the Bore is not without its fair share of weaknesses. For starters, it's a horrid weapon to use against groups of enemies due to the lag after each shot, as well as it only killing one enemy at a time. You'll also not encounter the Bore until the latter half of the game, and you'll always have a very limited ammo supply for it. But against singular enemies, almost no weapon in any FPS title matches the raw power of the Bore. Besides, for aesthetics purposes, no weapon list is complete without the Bore on it :)
The Hurly Gloves aren't overpowered statistically; rather, they demonstrate how overpowered Bowser *himself* is. Every fan of Bowser secretly wishes that Bowser would get the better of Mario one of these days, and we actually got our wish during the intro movie of Super Princess Peach. But a decade earlier, Super Mario RPG gave us Bowser fans all we could ask for. In the beginning of SMRPG, Bowser's Keep gets taken over. Bowser has no choice but to assist Mario once he learns that Mario plans on kicking the invaders of Bowser's Keep out of the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser joins the party rather late and has a limited array of weapons, but one weapon in particular stands out from all others in game: the Hurly Gloves. When Hurly Gloves are used in battle, Bowser picks up Mario, plants a Mario Doll in his place and proceeds to launch Mario himself at the enemies a couple times. Other weapons and attacks in the game may do more damage, but none of them are funnier to watch. Honestly, is there anything better than Bowser using MARIO as a weapon during impromptu teamwork? Bowser isn't lightning in a bottle and an earthquake in a can for nothing! Bowser and Mario have since regained their stance of being mortal enemies, but they were the best of teammates for one glorious moment.
As everyone who has ever played a Mega Man game knows, Mega Man gets the boss's power in some way after it dies. Boss attacks can be used against one another for a boss weakness loop that appears in every game. But imagine a Mega Man game where you could literally use one weapon against almost every enemy and boss for the entire game. The Metal Blade in Mega Man 2 was so god-awful overpowered that future Mega Man games had to make a conscious effort to tone down the damage output if you used the "wrong" weapon against a boss. Almost all of the robot masters in MM2 took a lot of damage from the Metal Blade, most famously Metal Man himself. While fighting Metal Man during the robot master rematch section of the Wily stages, one Metal Blade was all it took to off Metal Man. For the others, it didn't exactly take much more of an effort. It isn't until the Wily bosses that the Metal Blade becomes less viable, though the sheer power of the weapon extends past simple boss weakness. Blades are unbelievably cheap to use. You can fire well over 100 of them before blade energy runs out, and enough energy recovery items exist so that running out of Metal Blade use is impossible. And in perhaps the biggest display of overpowering to end them all, the Metal Blade fires in eight directions and can go through most walls. There is literally no enemy in the game that can avoid the Blades unless they're behind a thick wall or have immunity. Thankfully, the madness ends by the end of the game where you have to use other methods to kill the final few bosses.
To appreciate how amazing the Yoshitsuna is in Disgaea, one must first realize how difficult a Yoshitsuna is to get a hold of in the first place. In Disgaea, there is what's known as the Item World. Very rare items (legendaries) have 100 floors to them. To make a long story short, if you go all the way down to the 100th floor, an Item God exists that will hold a legendary item of the next rank up. The game is nice enough to let you take a break after every 10 floors in the item world, but going all the way down to the 100th level of a powerful item is very difficult due to how strong the enemies become. Now, the highest rank in any weapon type is 40. The Yoshitsuna is the Rank 40 sword, and it is not found through any conventional means. No enemy will ever carry it. No bonus gauge will ever release it. The only way to get a Yoshi is to go to the 100th level of the Rank 39 sword, a Cosmic Blade. Legendary Cosmic Blades are found in one of two ways: one, you go through the item world a bunch of times and pray that it appears either on an enemy or in a bonus gauge; or two, you enter the map where you fight Marjoly a few hundred times until one of the Majins is carrying a Legendary Amano Hahakiri, which is the Rank 38 sword. At the bottom of an Amano Hahakiri, the Item God MAY be carrying a Legendary Cosmic Blade. Guaranteed Item God setups only happen in rank 39 items, so the best you can hope for is to escape from the Amano at level 99 and reset a few hundred times until you get what you want. Many a Disgaea player have horror stories about how long it takes to acquire a Legendary Cosmic Blade, which single-handedly convinced NIA to put better weapons and armor on their enemies in Disgaea 2. Eventually, after a ton of hours are poured into the game, you'll be strong enough to go to the bottom of a Legendary Cosmic blade and steal a Yoshitsuna from the Item God there. And by the way, you'll need either a few thousand levels on a Thief or a captured high-level monster if you'll want any chance of stealing these weapons at will. The light at the end of the tunnel is that the Yoshitsuna is worth the effort. It is by FAR the most powerful weapon in the game, adding 1000 to all non-attack stats, 4000 to attack, 2 move and 20 jump. At level ONE. A Yoshitsuna leveled to 100 is about the most overpowered weapon you'll ever see in a strategy RPG, and as an added bonus it can attack enemies from 5 panels away. This eliminates those annoying counters, but by the time you have a level 100 Yoshi it likely doesn't matter. You would literally have to lose on purpose in order to die after finding one of these things. In fact, you would have to be a saint to even let most enemies get a single attack in.
Turok 2 makes it's second appearance on the list, but with a weapon that no fan of the game seems to talk about. When Turok 2 weapons come up, everyone always talks about the Cerebral Bore, Nuke or Scorpion Missile Launcher. Why the Shredder gets no love is beyond me, because it's easily the best weapon in that entire game, perhaps even in all FPS games period. For lack of a better term, the Shredder is an upgraded shotgun that, um.... shreds through enemies like nothing else because the shots bounce off of walls once the shotgun is upgraded. Normal shells will bounce off of walls and enemies into a million little lasers that go all over the place for a little bit. Those annoying rooms filled with a ton of small enemies become jokes with one or two normal shredder shots. Explosive shells enable the shredder to take care of just about everything else. When fired, a giant laser rips trough everything in its path. Pretty much any normal enemy dies in one or two direct shots (complete with trademark post-death Turok gore, and the shredder causes plenty of it), but the true beauty of the shredder comes with firing an explosive shell off of a wall. If done just right, all you'll see is this giant laser bouncing off of walls at light speed and just ripping through every enemy in the room. Few things in Turok 2 are better than an entire room of enemies having their legs all torn off by one bullet. The shredder the best weapon to use in that game with auto-aim turned off, because missing the enemy actually works better than hitting them straight on. And on top of everything else, every boss fight in the game, including the Primagen, becomes a joke if you're accurate with this thing.
Everyone has trouble with RE4 Mercenaries when they first start, mostly because Leon sucks against most of the stronger enemies. But thankfully, and without any work at all, there is a SWEET way to get revenge on those high-powered mercenary jackasses once you unlock Jack Krauser. During the main game of RE4, the fight between Leon and Krauser is perhaps the longest and most difficult battle in the entire game. Once Leon reaches the end of the struggle, a one on one fight to the death begins against Krauser, with a time limit to boot. The catch is that Krauser had prior accepted Las Plagas into his body, allowing him to turn his arm into an angel wing of razor-sharp death. If Krauser manages to land his leg sweep-wing stab combo, it's game over for one Leon Kennedy. The beauty of all this is that Jack Krauser is one of the five characters in Mercenaries, and you'll be able to transform his arm while using him. It might not seem like such a big deal at first, but it won't take long for you to notice that Krauser's arm one-hit-kills EVERYTHING in ANY level in Mercenaries. And not only that, but it's collision detection is broken as all hell. Giant groups of enemies facing normal Mercs all get sliced in half at a whim when Krauser shows up. It's quite a sight, especially when you carve through the Bella Sisters, Garrador, J.J. and Salvador X in one shot. If only Leon or Ada could pull something like that off...
Few other weapons in all of gaming scream out "Alright jackasses, game over" to the enemies more than the Crissaegrim does in Symphony of the Night. Now in fairness, you'd have to go well out of your way to find one without aid of a walkthrough. It's only found via one enemy's rare item drop, and the drop rate on it is unbelievably low. Unless you're actively trying to fill every area in the Librarian's Bestiary while playing, finding the Crissaegrim by accident is almost impossible. The only viable way to get a Crissagerim in any acceptable amount of time is to boost your luck stat like nothing else and then start killing Schmoos in the Inverted Library. When you finally see the Crissaegrim drop and equip it, you'll experience why it's so hidden. Alucard doesn't really swing the sword; rather, four little sword-like energy beams pop out at blinding speed and rip through everything in front of Alucard. Given how fast Alucard can attack with it, virtually no enemy in the entire game will be able to touch him after you find one. If you're insane enough to farm two of these swords, you'll be able to kill any enemy you choose without even looking at the screen. Alucard can attack so fast with two Crissaegrims that the framerates of the game can't fully keep up, and enemies will actually take less damage than they should. Not that it really matters, given that one hit from this thing is enough to take out most non-bosses --- and you get four with each swing. Dracula's worst nightmare ceased being sunlight and garlic the moment Alucard picked up his first Crissaegrim.
If you're playing a multiplayer game of Perfect Dark against anyone that knows how to use a Farsight and they find one first, just quit. You can't win. That's because the Farsight is an alien sniper rifle that can see and shoot through walls, and can hit you anywhere, from any spot on the map. It only takes one shot to kill you (unless you have a shield, in which takes it'll take a STAGGERING two hits... oh the horror), and its secondary mode is an auto-lockon feature that makes finding hapless saps on the other side of the map a breeze. All it really takes to win a match with a Farsight is to camp by the Farsight ammo spawn. If there's only one, it's almost impossible to lose unless you have awful aim. There are only three viable counters. One is a Laptop Gun, but deploying the Laptop Gun as a sentry turret requires you to live long enough to find a Laptop, then to get close enough to throw it onto a favorable spot. Two is cloaking, which is the one counter that reliably works because of a cloaked character not showing up on radar. The one problem with this is that you still have to kill the one with the Farsight while cloaked, and the invisibility effect on the Cloaking Device/RCP-120 doesn't last forever. Most people are also smart enough to look at your screen to see where you are in case you get close, and the Farsight is just as powerful while used normally, so you're normally stuck trying to kill from a distance. Furthermore, cloaking stops once you start firing a weapon. Lastly, there's the Farsight itself, though this relies on the map having more than one spawn point for it. These multiplayer fights always turn into one or two people camping by the Farsight spawns, and everyone else running around like ants in a sad attempt to counter. That's because the Farsight is damn near unbeatable, hence why no other weapon before or since is better.
Weapons come in all shapes and sizes, and have been around since the beginning of video games. Some weapons however stand head and shoulders above the rest in either raw power or how well we remember them after seeing them. I'm sure few if any people reading this will agree with the list, but that's half the fun in writing them :)
List by UltimaterializerX (02/14/2007)
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#1 – Which of the Two Broke Girls has the habit of calling every guy she dates babe even if it is date #1. She started this a few years ago when she was dating a few guys at once and was afraid she would call the person by the wrong name.
#4 – Which big celebrity couple of 2011 broke up because the guy could not stop hooking up with their threesome partner?
#5 – Speaking of threesomes, this celebrity couple consisting of a former Disney star and her very good looking actor boyfriend have talked about a threesome but cannot decide on someone.
#6 – Oh, one more threesome story. JFK and Frank Sinatra had a threesome with which actress. No, not Marilyn Monroe.
#8 – Just because your wife is "due" does not mean you can't spend some quality time in a strip club with your friends.
#1 – Beth Behrs


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Why I had to reject Hollywood
Piper Laurie was abused by Ronald Reagan, bedded by Mel Gibson and turned off by the Oscars even though she was a nominee three times. She tells Nicki Gostin about her life as a disillusioned movie star
By the age of 17 Piper Laurie had achieved her childhood dreams of movie stardom. She was awarded a seven-year contract with Universal Pictures which entailed chaperones, a beautiful wardrobe, leading roles opposite stars like Tony Curtis and Ronald Reagan, and participating in publicity stunts concocted by the studio, such as the bizarre "Piper Laurie - eats nothing but flowers," which involved her giving interviews while noshing on a plate of prettily arranged petals.
But Laurie discovered that the roles offered to her were flimsy and shallow. Six years into the contract she was sent a script for a Western starring World War II hero Audie Murphy. The female part was a "prop and just barely that, possibly the worst part they had ever handed me", she recalls. It was the final humiliation and Laurie did the unthinkable. She broke the contract and moved to New York in the hope of working on stage and performing in substantive material.
This journey is recounted in Laurie's memoir entitled, Learning to Live Out Loud. It is a deeply honest look back at her life, including love affairs, an illegal abortion and the sacrifices she made to follow a career on her own terms.
Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs in 1932, the grand-daughter of Russian- and Polish-Jewish immigrants to the United States. She laughs now at how non-Jewish her screen name sounds but says that a name change was something any aspiring star might have to accept in 1950s Hollywood.
"Besides, I never really liked Rosetta," she adds. "I thought it was very old fashioned. Today it seems ridiculous that I changed my name to Piper Laurie, but in those days it didn't."
She grew up in a traditional Jewish home with Hebrew lessons at the synagogue, although Laurie admits she does not attend anymore. "I'm observant in my own way at home; sometimes I light candles on Friday night."
For a large chunk of her early childhood her parents placed her and her older sister in a children's home, which they both despised. "I never did find out why they sent us there," she says. "I could only surmise. I think they were under a lot of pressure, no money, and my sister was sick all the time. I think they just saw it as an opportunity to get a rest for themselves. It caused me to go deeper into myself to find things, to survive emotionally. It helped my imagination to flower which ended up being a gift."
Still a teenager she was cast as Ronald Reagan's daughter in Louisa. Desperate to appear experienced and worldly she agreed to a date with her older co-star which resulted in him taking her virginity. It was, to put it mildly, a disaster. Reagan accused the 18-year-old of being "abnormal" because she didn't have an orgasm. "There's something wrong with you that you should fix," he said harshly.
"It was absolutely stupid of him," says Laurie. "He was ignorant of the fact that it was my first time. I wanted to be so sophisticated. Everyone was a virgin in those days till they got married, but I was adventurous and I was infatuated and I didn't want to say I was a virgin."
After the momentous break with the studio Laurie moved east and began appearing on live television shows and on stage. Eventually she landed a role opposite Paul Newman in The Hustler, which resulted in an Academy Award nomination. The nomination, however, was "meaningless" to her. She did not even attend the ceremony. "I was angry at the whole system," she says.
While she was living in New York she became pregnant. "It was terrifying," she concedes. "I thought my life was over. I couldn't talk to my parents, they would have disowned me. I think if I'd had the baby my life and my career would have been over."
Eventually she found a sympathetic doctor who agreed to perform an abortion in a hospital. Interestingly, the event was so traumatic Laurie cannot remember where it happened. "I have erased in my mind where that place was," she says. "It's gone from my conscious mind."
Once again she was unhappy with the roles being offered so she basically quit acting, moved to Woodstock in upstate New York with her husband, Newsweek writer Joe Morgenstern (the two met when he was assigned to interview her) and their baby daughter Anna. She became an accomplished sculptor.
But a serious back operation caused her to re-evaluate her life and she decided that it might be "fun" to give acting a try again. That is when director Brian DePalma called offering her a role in a new horror film he was directing called Carrie. Laurie recalls: "I was just laughing between takes. It was fun to play so mean."
It was an amazing comeback movie that garnered another Oscar nomination although the paycheck was small - $10,000 dollars (the film has grossed around $34 million). Laurie claims that it has never bothered her except on one occasion. "I do remember picking up my daughter from a play date with the daughter of the producer of Carrie. He invited me into his mansion and said: 'Let me show you the home that your wonderful performance built'. That annoyed me."
Other juicy roles followed including one opposite a very young Mel Gibson in his first movie, Tim. The two played lovers and one night after production wrapped Gibson knocked on his older co-star's door and the two shared a passionate night together.
Laurie sounds mystified when discussing Gibson's travails - his troubles with alcohol and allegations of antisemitism. "It's very sad and I can't really believe it," she exclaims. "I don't know where that came from - some naughty spirit. It's like he wanted to be a bad boy but I can't explain it. It's not the person I knew. The alcohol or drugs must have released something. It's very hard for me to believe that's who he really is."
In 1981 Laurie got divorced and relocated to Los Angeles. She received her third Academy Award nomination for Children of a Lesser God in 1986. A slew of TV appearances followed in shows like Twin Peaks, Frasier and ER playing George Clooney's mother. She describes Clooney as "completely charming. I thought he would have a big career but I didn't know how big. That was a delightful surprise."
Today she still enjoys working but admits the roles offered are again boring and one-dimensional. Asked to choose her favourite movie, she demurs. "It's impossible to choose," she protests. "I guess the ones that allowed me to do my work fully. Those are my favourites."
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RED LODGE — A Joliet man accused of infecting his unsuspecting partner with HIV denied a felony endangerment charge Wednesday in Carbon County District Court.
Peter Clifton Northcutt, 52, pleaded not guilty to the criminal count during arraignment before Judge Blair Jones.
The charge alleges that Northcutt failed to disclose his medical condition to a man identified in court records as T.V., who later contracted HIV. Northcutt and T.V. had a three-year sexual relationship, according to court records.
The criminal charge against Northcutt is uncommon in Montana, Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon said, but similar cases have been filed in other states.
Nixon said he understands that some Montana prosecutors may have filed similar charges in sexual-assault cases in which the victim contracted a sexually transmitted disease. It is unclear, Nixon said, if there is a prior case in Montana involving transmission of the virus that causes AIDS.
Northcutt is also awaiting trial on charges related to a shooting incident in July 2011 at his residence on Joliet-Fromberg Road.
In that case, Northcutt faces two counts of felony assault on a peace officer and aggravated animal cruelty. Prosecutors say Northcutt shot toward two officers sent to check on his welfare, then shot and killed 55 husky and husky-mix sled dogs kenneled on the property.
A trial in that case is set for April 8 before Madison County District Judge Loren Tucker, who took over the case from Jones after Northcutt's defense attorneys requested a different judge.
During the arraignment on the new charge Wednesday, Jones told Northcutt and his attorney, Paul Matt, that he has asked that Tucker preside over both pending criminal cases.
Northcutt agreed to proceed with his arraignment before Jones, who then set bond at $50,000, the amount Northcutt posted last month after he was arrested on a warrant.
Nixon, the prosecutor, raised several issues during the brief arraignment but said the legal matters would have to be decided by Tucker later. Among those issues were a request to seal any court documents that include the full name of the victim.
Nixon said the victim's name is well-known to Northcutt. Matt, the defense attorney, said he did not oppose keeping the records confidential.
On another matter, Nixon said the prosecution may question whether Penny Strong, Northcutt's attorney in the shooting case, can represent Northcutt in the new case. Strong may be a witness in the endangerment case, he said.
According to court records, Strong was interviewing T.V. in February as a witness in the shooting case. During the interview, she asked T.V. if he knew Northcutt had HIV.
T.V. told Strong he did not know of Northcutt's diagnosis.
"When did you first hear?" Strong asked the man.
"Right now in this office," he replied.
T.V. took a test for HIV the next day and learned a few days later that he had contracted the virus.
T.V. told investigators that he met Northcutt in the fall of 2005 and the men began seeing each other in February or March the next year. A year later, the men began living together, and the relationship ended in about October 2010.
Court records state Northcutt's medical records show he has tested positive for HIV since 1997 and for AIDS since 1998.


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POLICE have named a Penrith teenager who died in a road collision last night.
Robin Hewitt, 19, of Milner Mount, was a back seat passenger in a car that hit a tree just before entering Eamont Bridge on the B5320.
Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash involving a silver BMW, which happened around 11.25pm.
A spokesman Mr Hewitt's family had been informed and were being supported by specially trained officers.
The driver, a 23-year-old man from Penrith, and a second passenger, a 20-year-old man also from Penrith, were taken to Carlisle Infirmary for treatment.
The driver has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and will be interviewed by police when he is discharged from hospital.
Police are not looking for anyone else or any other vehicle in connection with the collision at this time.
The road was closed overnight for an investigation and reopened this morning.
Officers are keen to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the collision, has any information that can help police or who may have seen the BMW being driven just before the collision took place.
Anyone with information should contact the road policing unit on 101.


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