text:
© 2002-2017
Encyclopaedia Metallum
Best viewed
without Internet Explorer,
in 1280 x 960 resolution
or higher.
Raise no objections, put down your Deep Purple, your Judas Priest, your Metallica, your good-fucking-God-no Led Zeppelin, this album is it. Black Sabbath created metal with three songs on the debut, but Paranoid is 100% metal, every song clawing at your mind, tearing your sanity to the brink of madness, scaring the shit out of your parents.
It's not without weakness, hence the 88 (it's not even close to their BEST album), but it's their greatest. After this, they could've just sat back and ended their career, two pieces of revolutionary noise beyond all criticism under their belts. Instead, they made a good fifty more classics (songs not albums, although it seems that way sometimes) that your life would not be complete without. Thank them. Get down on your knees and worship these fumbling stoned gods of metal. Now, onto the actual content.
The band has advanced a frightening degree from record one, eschewing the outdated and awkward suite-based songs of the debut for tight, focused genius, riffs, leads, fills, and lyrics that will be burned into your brain for eternity. In all the came before, there was nothing to account for "Iron Man", that opening sledge, a non-musical scream of agony and rage that spiritually fathered extreme metal. Can you imagine listening to those first thirty seconds in 1970, with only a few noisy Cream concerts and insufferably dull Zeppelin plodders to prepare you? And after that, what a song! Black Sabbath gives us TWO monstrous riffs that every aspiring guitarist must learn, and a fearsome break, lessened only by the fact that it is somewhat similar to that of "Black Sabbath" and "War Pigs". If there was ever a riff designed to liquefy the brains of the impressionable youths, it's the opening howl of "Iron Man".
Speaking of "War Pigs", it's got a great bid for greatest heavy metal song ever. It's epic, almost progressive in scope, those wide-yawning spaces filled only by an impassioned Ozzy giving us the first metal protest song, oh lord yeah! And oh lawd, testify to the mad air drumming godliness of those Bill Ward fills, like nothing on earth 'til Rush's "Tom Sawyer" a good dozen years hence. Brilliant jammy break too, Iommi soloing like mad while that perfect rhythm section scowls and lopes along underneath. Plus, it's Side 1, Track 1 of metal's crowning album, making it quite the standard bearer through the accumulating ages of rust and disgust.
"Paranoid" is galloping proto-speed, as UltraBoris pointed out not the high metal science of "Highway Star", but looked upon favourably by metal heads everywhere. That starting gun of a riff, fading into the maddeningly sing-songy melody is the stuff of metal legend. I mean damn, I know every word of that song, like some sort of mantra or rap to the metal cause; more specifically to the cause of metal, which must've been the result of brain damage. It's burned into my brain. Gotta love that bubbly bass tone and behaved drumming, plus one of Iommi's more fun lead breaks.
"Planet Caravan" (given an able, if uninspired, cover by Pantera in later years) is a mellow 'trippy' number, feeling like a cool balm on your pressure cooked brain before "Iron Man" gives you another scalding. Illegible singing by Ozzy, subterranean drumming and guitar, this song is all about bass. Good, unique, track, and perhaps an indicator of Sabbath's future experimentation on later songs like "Spiral Architect" and the Technical Ecstasy record.
Alas, "Electric Funeral" is just weaksauce, a plodding and limp-wristed metaphor for nuclear war. Still, an able update of the doomy power demonstrated on "Black Sabbath". Ozzy's voice is much too faded out and electronic though.
"Hand of Doom" is brilliant, Geezer Butler giving the track its name with his unholy bass work, Bill Ward afire with alchemical genius in that fast break, Ozzy Osbourne really top-flight despite the barebones lyrics he's working with. Tony is of course Tony, but he's actually made somewhat peripheral here by the power of the rest of this band.
"Rat Salad", is a fair instrumental, nothing really special save for more percussion pyrotechnics. [To the person who said this track ripped off "Moby Dick", this came out first pal]
Finally, "Fairies Wear Boots", a lumbering stoner metal classic, the final gem on an album full of them. The lyrics are hilarious, either as a 'harrowing' tale of the stoner who cried wolf (or fairy in this case), or as a biting send-up of the English skinhead movement. Either way, chunky riffery and a nice almost staccato rhythm, particularly when it starts picking up towards the end. This is one of those tracks that makes you appreciate the Ozzy years. I mean, can you imagine Ronnie James Dio singing this? If you can, try to stop laughing/crying. It's another big piece of the metal puzzle, but if lacks the depth of the other crunchy classics on here in some way, really a bit too loose and ill-constructed.
Stand-Outs: "War Pigs", "Hand of Doom", "Iron Man"


text:
WASHINGTON — Federal aviation officials urged air carriers yesterday to voluntarily take steps to reduce the risk of cargo fires caused by overheated lithium batteries, an indication of regulators' growing concern about the threat posed by air transport of the batteries.
The warning follows last month's crash of a
The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged publicly for the first time in yesterday's safety directive that the
The safety directive urges air carriers to ask shippers to identify bulk battery loads in shipping documents. It also recommends stowing battery shipments in cargo compartments in the belly of planes, where there are fire suppression systems. There are no fire suppression systems required in the main cabins of cargo or passenger planes.
Since the early 1990s, there have been dozens of incidents of batteries igniting in flight or during cargo handling. But exactly what triggered many of the fires is not well understood.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hill Democrats split on tax cuts
As Republicans held firm to a no-new-taxes mantra, congressional Democrats returned to the Capitol on Monday, divided over a strategy for resolving the standoff over the expiring Bush tax cuts. (See: Democrats angry over Obama tax deal talk)
House and Senate Democratic leaders said that they were waiting to hear from members Tuesday during the first caucus meetings of the lame-duck session, but that nothing may become clear until all sides sit down with President Barack Obama on Thursday. (See: Obama arrives home to new reality)
Story Continued Below
Underscoring the absence of party unity, House liberals and progressive groups stepped up their campaign against cutting a deal of any kind with Republicans to temporarily extend the tax cuts for high-income earners — even though the White House has said it's open to compromise. (See: President Obama ready to deal on Bush tax cuts)
But moderate Democrats had their own ideas, too. Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor questioned whether it was wise to permanently renew any tax breaks, given the extent of the national debt. Meanwhile, at least two other Senate Democrats floated compromise proposals. (See: Dems alter plan on Bush tax cuts)
Republicans, however, weren't showing any interest in alternatives.
"Leaving everything like it is for the next two years is the best approach," Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said. "Just leave everything like it is. Let's deal with this issue over the next few years."
Corker and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said they weren't interested in an alternative offered Sunday by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to renew the tax cuts for people earning less than $1 million, rather than $250,000.
"You shouldn't raise taxes on anyone in economic times like these," said Barrasso, a member of the Senate Republican leadership.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) proposed ending the tax cuts for wealthier individuals and redirecting that $65 billion into new business tax cuts aimed at spurring private sector investment.
But with Bush tax cuts set to expire Dec. 31, it's unclear whether Congress would have enough time to reach any consensus on where to direct those new business tax cuts, a Republican Senate aide said.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said raising the income cutoff to $1 million was "certainly one option on the table," but that there were several options in the mix. The Maryland Democrat said the House needs to know what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) can pass through the Senate.
The issue won't be resolved this week. Democratic aides said that they hope to make progress in figuring out which direction their members want to take and that they need to hear from the president, but the negotiations would continue into December.


text: 01-59382 – DaimlerChrysler Corp. Healthcare Benefits Plan, et al. v. Durden, et al. By: dmc-admin June 5, 2006 Open the PDF in a new window Lawyers Weekly No. 01-59382 Michigan Lawyers Weekly ERISA – Surviving Spouse Determination – Choice Of Law 1:00 am Mon, June 5, 2006 Full-text Court Opinions dmc-admin


text:
Steamboat briefs: Police Department to host a SWAT team conference
September 17, 2012
Editor's note: The dates of the training have been corrected below.
The Steamboat Springs Police Department will host a SWAT team conference and training from Saturday and Sunday on Colorado Mountain College's Alpine Campus. Bogue Hall will be used for the training exercises and will blocked off from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each of those days.
Officials have asked people to stay away from the training site, which approximately 60 law enforcement officers from local, county, state and federal agencies will use for SWAT exercises. According to a news release from the city, loud noises from simulated gun shots and small explosions will be heard from Bogue Hall during the duration of the training and tactical exercises. For more information, contact Detective Dave Kleiber at 970-879-4345 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Fundraiser to help parents with sports fees is Friday
A crab feast fundraiser is Friday at the Steamboat Springs Community Center. Seatings are at 5 and 7:30 p.m. The cost is $45 for crab, corn on the cob, salad, bread, iced tea and lemonade. Beer, wine and desserts will be available for purchase.
Proceeds will go toward helping single parents cover sport fees. Purchase tickets by Wednesday at Columbine Granite, Freshies or Elk River Pet & Ranch. For more information, contact Laura Case at 970-846-7841 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Moose is Loose tournament Wednesday at Rollingstone
The Moose is Loose golf tournament starts at 12:15 p.m. Sept. 19 at Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club. The cost is $133 and includes greens fees for 18 holes, two carts per team, beverages and the awards presentation at Slopeside Grill. Proceeds benefit the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club scholarship fund. Teams of five must include at least one female. Register by sending team name, team captain's name and captain's phone number, and team members' names to email@example.com.
Recommended Stories For You
Community Health Fair events at medical center
Yampa Valley Medical Center will host a series of community health fair events in September and early October. The Community Health Fair is Oct. 6.
During the September blood draw events and the October Community Health Fair, the following low-cost blood tests will be available: health profile, complete blood count, PSA (men only), and hemoglobin A1C (helpful for managing diabetes). Registration and payment information for all events can be found at http://www.yvmc.org/healthfair.
The senior blood draw for adults 60 and older is from 7 to 10 a.m. Friday. Participants can register online or can walk-in with cash or check.
Early blood draws for adults 18 and older are from 7 to 10 a.m. Sept. 25, 26 and 27. Individuals must pre-register and pre-pay.
The Community Health Fair is 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 6. Available at the Community Health Fair will be low-cost blood tests, education and free screenings, including for allergies, asthma, blood-clot risk, lung function, skin and many more. For more information on any of the events, visit http://www.yvmc.org/healthfair.


text:
Under 18 Pan Munster Conference 4 League Round 1.
Sat 8th October 2016 O'Dowd Park Tralee.
Tralee RFC. 41 - Killorglin. 5.
Tralee RFC under 18's season got off to a great start with a well deserved victory over neighbours Killorglin, in nice playing conditions in O'Dowd Park Tralee. With just about 5 minutes gone on the clock, Joseph O'Connor, {who won an inter pro with Munster Under 18 Clubs along with Joe Quilter last month} touched down after some great hands from Cian Hill, Liam O'Malley and Mikey Lyne. This set the tone earlier on. Soon afterwards Joseph Benjamin bulldozed his way over the line to score our second try, which Joseph O'Connor converted to give us a commanding 12 to nil lead after just 12 minutes of play. Twin brother Stephen Benjamin scored another soon after, which Joseph converted. Just before half time Joe Quilter scored a well taken try in the corner to leave us up 24 to nil at half time. Head coach Alan Boyle was able to empty the bench in the second half and further scores came from Captain Mikey Lyne, Joe Quilter again and Eoin O'Malley. The visitors did breach our line once in the second half but overall, Head Coach Alan Boyle, was pleased with his troops. He said after the game 'I suppose you are always nervous on the opening round of the league but fair play to the lads they put in a good performance today. We had some good movements and our handling of the ball was top class and we used the space well today. The few pre season games stood to us as well. Ciaran Carmody's good work is paying off with the lineouts improving every week and scrummaging strong. Back to training again on Monday and looking forward to the next round on Sat 22nd'.
Thanks to Amanda & George for their help also.
Team and Panel; Robbie Murphy, Jordan O'Shea, Stephen Benjamin, Joseph Benjamin, Chris Lowe, David Boyle, Tim Kelleher, Mikey Lyne {capt}, Liam O'Malley, Cian Hill, Eoghan O'Buachalla, Joe Quilter, Joseph O'Connor, Paul Lenihan, Hugh Healy, Eoin O'Malley, Jack Dolan, Dylan Savage, Conor Murphy, Donal Dillane and Lochlann Morrison.


text:
© 2002-2017
Encyclopaedia Metallum
Best viewed
without Internet Explorer,
in 1280 x 960 resolution
or higher.
I picked up this single for $3 and it's worth every penny yet not worth a penny more. I heard "Into Your Light" on the CD channels on my satellite and I loved it, but I did not know if I loved the band. So I went into FYE one summers day and saw it there for $3 and though "Eh, what the Hell?" and I picked it up.
There are 3 versions of the track "Into Your Light" on this CD. The album and the single versions are the same, but have the album version has a longer into (I will get to the third one in a bit). The intro is very symphonic with no metal instruments being used then it goes into the very melodic verse. Liv starts to sing like an angel and you almost go into a trance with the combination of her angelic singing and the steady bass. Then once hey have you sucked into their world, they hit you right in the face with metal. The guitars are melodic, but incredibly heavy. The drummer does some nice double bass work that fits the riff 100%. The chorus is very catchy, heavy, melodic and almost… moving. The emotion in Liv's voice truly needs to be heard to get the full effect of this song. The song bounces between the trance like verse and heavy chorus and it's over. Awesome track and must be heard.
Now, the b-side to their debut album "Lovelorn" is the beautiful track "Leaves Whisper". I have no idea how this did not make the album because this is awesome! This track is almost very melodic and slow, but undeniably heavy. The verse is very beautiful with the great guitar work and angelic singing. The lyrics are about nature (as expected with a title like that) and are incredibly beautiful. Then a slow riff hits for the chorus and Liv sings accordingly. The drums are awesome and match with what's going on 100%. The verse again and is the same as before but something special happens right before the chorus. It's just synth, drums and Liv singing and the way this sounds is very beautiful. When Liv sings the line "Who calls on you now?" it's something that is hard to describe. It's so full of emotion and almost fills you with emotion. Then the chorus repeats a few times and the song is over. My favorite song from this single and maybe my favorite Leaves' Eyes song.
And now for the third version of "Into Your Light", the acoustic remix. Now, take out everything but the vocal track and replace it with acoustic guitars. This song to me is completely different from the regular one besides the obvious reasons. This song has a completely different atmosphere to it, an almost mournful atmosphere. The whole thing is good, but there is not much to say about it. Good track, but not great.
There is a nice multimedia section if you pop this into your computer. It has a nice screen saver and each track with a slide show of pictures of the band complete with lyrics.
You have to pick this up if you can find it for the price I did. If your wanting to check out this band, but don't want to buy a full length, this is a great place to start. Even if you have all of their EPs and full lengths, get this to complete your collection or just for the one amazing track. Bottom line, get this!


text:
For my third day at the Theatre Communications Group National Conference I decided to move from the more politically-oriented sessions to a morning session on new play development and an afternoon session on teens in theatre.
The discussion on new plays began on ways to support playwrights financially (this sounded about as supportive as the commissions most composers get, i.e., not enough to live on while you're working on the piece). However, shortly after, the facilitators asked how many playwrights in the room were looking for theatres to show their work, and how many theatres were looking for new plays.
The room exploded! Hands went up all over, and a fascinating list, put up on an easel for all to see, ensued. What was particularly interesting was not the presence of playwrights, but the excitement of theatre directors who were looking for new plays. Many represented smaller theatres, like The Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco, but there were also larger ones such as the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. One was reminded here (painfully) of the difference between theatre and visual arts, and music: enthusiasm for the newly created is so much more prevalent in the other arts. This situation would need a much longer discussion, but one that I think we in contemporary music need to work on perhaps even more strongly than we do now.
The next session I went to was possibly the very best: "Fostering the Next Generation of American Theatre Audiences." The session was facilitated by Hallie Gordon, of Steppenwolf Theatre, who ran it tightly, so that almost everyone in the room of 60 people who wanted to speak had the opportunity to do so. The primary speakers were a group of about fifteen students, ages about 15-18 (more young women than young men), who were in theatre programs in Chicago (Goodman and Steppenwolf) and Berkeley (Berkeley Rep). There was a short film on the Berkeley Rep that focused on their programs for attracting a teenage audience, especially those who never had gone to theatre.
All three theatre programs had acting classes, special information sessions on the plays being given, and student-run productions overseen by Teen Councils at the theatres. Many of the teens came from neighborhoods (both urban and suburban) that either didn't have theatre programs or didn't offer theatre on the level that the repertory theatres did. Not all the teens in the room planned to go on to professional theatre, but all agreed that the experience had been a major one.
They talked about having to deal with today's emphasis on grades, and that their experience in the teen theatre programs helped them refocus, finding support in values that they believed in more than those of achievement. They loved the feeling of a theatre "family" that resulted from working on productions together. They also had suggestions about how to interest more teens in theatre, and how to get them away from their computers or iPods. Some of them suggested that their friends could be drawn in by getting them to go first to the big shows, like Wicked; the idea was to persuade them to try something a little more adventurous next. Peer pressure can work here.
I found that attending the Conference was a fascinating experience, and I'm very happy to have been able to report on it.


text:
NRHM Haryana Recruitment Notification 2014-Apply for 504 posts of Medical Officer
National Rural Health Mission Haryana (NRHM Haryana) Panchkula has given a notification and invited applications from the eligible candidates for the recruitment of Medical Officer posts. More details regarding these posts like educational qualification, age limit, how to apply, procedure of selection, last date of application etc. for Recruitment of NRHM Haryana Recruitment Notification 2014 are mentioned below:
Details of the vacancies of NRHM Haryana:
Total no. of vacancies: 504 posts
Name of the posts: Medical Officer
Educational Qualification:
Candidates those who want to apply for these posts should have a MBBS Degree, Internship completion certificate, permanent registration and preference will be given to the candidates having PG degree/Diploma and Rural service.
Important Dates:
Last date of application: 31-03-2014
How to Apply:
Eligible and interested candidates can send their duly filled in application to Director General Health Services, Haryana, Swasthya Bhawan Sector-6, Panchkula-134109 on or before 31-03-2014.
Click Here for Complete official Notice.
This Notice has been Issued by:
National Rural Health Mission Haryana (NRHM Haryana)
Click Here for Complete official Notice.
This Notice has been Issued by:
National Rural Health Mission Haryana (NRHM Haryana)


text:
Lake Tyers, coastal lake in Gippsland, on the eastern coast of Victoria, Australia, near the northeastern end of Ninety Mile Beach. The lake consists of two main channels; the eastern half curves northeasterly into the interior for about 10 miles (16 km), and the western channel extends northwesterly about 5 miles (8 km). Lake Tyers opens into the Tasman Sea to the south. The lake was named for Charles James Tyers, a surveyor who was appointed commissioner of crown lands in 1842. The nearby township of Lake Tyers, together with 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares), was an Aboriginal reserve until 1971, when Sir Rowan Delacombe, the governor of Victoria, assigned ownership of the property to a trust of 5,000 Aborigines. Tourists visit Lake Tyers for fishing and boating.
Keep Exploring Britannica
We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind.
- Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience.
- You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.
- Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources.
- At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.)
Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.
Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article.
Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed.
There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later.


text:
One in critical condition after overnight Saginaw shooting
Sun, 01 Sep 2013 21:30:02 GMT —
One man is in critical condition following a large fight that ended in a shooting. Police says around 2:45 Sunday morning they responded to South Park and East Genesee Avenue. A 27 year-old was struck in the back. He was treated and released from the hospital. The second victim, a 29 year-old was struck in the chest and is in critical condition at an area hospital.
The shooting is being investigated by the Michigan State Police and the Saginaw Police Department. The departments are still interviewing witnesses regarding the shooting and the investigation is on-going.
Anyone with information about this incident should call CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-800-422-JAIL or download and use the MyPD app on a smartphone.


text:
National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation
Fourth Revised Volume No. 1
Contents / Previous / Next / Main Tariff Index
Effective Date: 08/01/1997, Docket: RP97-398-000, Status: Effective
Original Sheet No. 437 Original Sheet No. 437 : Effective
23. TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE COST ADJUSTMENTS ("TSCA") (Cont'd.)
(c) "Current Adjustment" set forth on Sheet No. 8 hereof shall
be determined by subtracting the Current TSCA Unit Rate
from the Current TSCA Unit Rate contained in the
immediately preceding quarterly filing hereunder; provided,
that the initial Current TSCA Unit Rates hereunder shall be
determined on the basis of the Current Transportation and
Storage Costs.
23.4Unrecovered Transportation and Storage Cost Account
(a) Seller shall establish and maintain an "Unrecovered
Transportation and Storage Cost" Account for the collection
of TSCA costs under Rate Schedule EFT as a subaccount of
Account No. 186. This Account shall be segregated between
Transportation and Storage Reservation and Commodity Costs.
Each month this Account shall be (a) debited by Seller's
actual Transportation and Storage Costs, and (b) credited
by the actual revenues received attributable to the TSCA
reflected in Seller's rates. Such credits shall be
determined by multiplying (i) the actual Reservation and
Commodity billing units under Rate Schedule EFT for the
billing month by (ii) the Current TSCA Unit Rates and TSCA
Adjustment, in effect for that month.
(b) Commencing with the effective date of this TSCA provision,
all Transportation and Storage Cost refunds received by
Seller, applicable to transportation services performed
during the period this Section 23 remains effective, shall
be credited to this Account.
(c) Each month this Account shall be debited (in the event of a
debit balance) or credited (in the event of a credit
balance with interest, calculated by utilizing the
procedures set forth in Section 154.305(h) of the
Commission's Regulations on the prior month's ending


text:
- Home
- Events & Programs
- About ASA
- Who We Are
- Land Conservation
- Resources
- Support ASA
|Nov 29, Managing Your Woods ----------------------------------------
|Dec 4, State Farmland Protection Grant Informational Workshop in Greenwich ----------------------------------------
|Dec 5, State Farmland Protection Grant Informational Workshop in Troy ----------------------------------------
The value given in a report prepared by a professional appraiser that provides an estimate on the fair market value of the property or conservation easement. A "qualified" appraisal is one prepared to substantiate the value of a donated property or easement, and meets Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements.
The sale of a property or easement to a qualified organization for an amount less than the appraised fair market value.
A legal agreement between a landowner and a qualified organization that restricts future activities on the land to protect its conservation values.
The difference in appraised value between the property without a conservation easement (the "before" value) and the same property with a conservation easement (the "after" value). The value is on land only, not residences and structures.
In real estate, the price that a willing buyer would pay a willing seller for a property offered for sale on the open market, when both have reasonable knowledge of all relevant facts and are not under undue pressure to buy or sell.
The inspection of an easement property to check for compliance with the conservation easement terms. Conserved properties are visited on a regular basis, at least annually.
The purchase of land use rights in the form of a conservation easement.
All the activities performed by the land trust to ensure that its obligations as easement holder are upheld. Some examples include monitoring conserved properties, assisting easement landowners with questions, handling notice and approval requests by landowners, enforcing the terms of the easement, building landowner relationships, and meeting with new owners who purchase conserved lands.
A property that is donated in fee simple to the land trust. Depending on the conservation attributes of the property and other factors, it may be held by the land trust, sold subject to a conservation easement, or sold with no conservation easement. If sold, the funds are used by the land trust to further its mission.
The Latest NEWS
Patrick and Peggy McLenithan donate their development rights on Happy Kids Farm to ASA. "I couldn't see it destroyed. It would have eaten my soul. This land is meant to be farmed." - Patrick
"Preserving the agricultural heritage of our community and keeping this land available for farming in the future has always been our goal." – Carleton Philpott
"We live in a populated area and we are really happy to know that this land will be here, capable of producing food forever." – Annie Metzger


text:
Lebanon's economic revival to be slow
S&P said it continued to observe structural imbalances in the financial sector stemming mainly from sharp growth in lending
Follow >
Click here to add Beirut as an alert
Disable alert for Beirut,
Click here to add Standard & Poor as an alert
Disable alert for Standard & Poor
International rating agency Standard & Poor's said Lebanon's path to recovery over the next few years will be slow, but maintained a stable outlook of the country's banking sector. "[S&P] anticipates that real GDP growth will recover only gradually from an estimated 1.5 percent in 2011 to 5 percent in 2014, after an 8.2 percent average from 2007-2010," a statement by S&P said.
The rating agency dismissed the possibility of any quick rebound in growth rates, as regional and local instabilities continue to take a toll on the country's various economic sectors. "We do not expect growth to match pre-2011 rates in the medium term, since they mainly resulted from a convergence of several key factors, including political and macroeconomic stability, and the global low interest rate environment, which drove capital inflows into Lebanon," the statement added. However, S&P maintained the country's Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment at relatively stable "group 8."
BICRA is scored on a scale from 1 to 10, ranging from the lowest-risk banking systems at group 1, to the highest risk at group 10. Other countries in BICRA group 8 include Argentina, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Nigeria, Tunisia and Uruguay.
Lebanon's scores on the two main BICRA components, however, reflect discrepancies between risks on the national economy and banking industry. The report said risks on the Lebanese economy remain very high placing the country in the second most risky group 9. The banking industry in Lebanon scored far better, placed in group 6, which reflects overall stability and less acute risks. The overall position – group 8 – reflects the combination of the scores of the two components. "The growing instability in Syria, and the uncertainty associated with Lebanon's extended political transition during the first half of 2011 are weighing negatively on investments and main business sectors such as tourism and financial services," S&P said.
The industry risk score – group 6 – is based on their assessment that the country still faces high risks in its banking institutional framework and competitive dynamics, coupled with "intermediate risk" in funding. S&P said it continued to observe structural imbalances in the financial sector stemming mainly from sharp growth in lending. This is particularly due to the growth in finances made to the construction sector, which has consistently exceeded overall growth in GDP, the report said.
Imbalances in the countries' financial accounts also put strains on the banking sector, said the report. "Lebanon's average current account deficit in 2008-2011 – representing an estimated 20.7 percent of GDP – is a weakness, in our view, for the banking system, where financing relies highly on continued investor confidence," it said.
Despite the lower medium-term GDP growth prospects, the report considered Lebanese banks' ability to settle problematic loans, and the private sector's ability to navigate through political crises as highly positive. This was reflected in the better score given to the industry. Citing an example, the report said the average ratio of non-performing loans and coverage by provisions improved to 4.1 percent and 60.5 percent respectively in 2011, from only 19.9 percent and 42.5 percent back in 2002.
S&P classified the Lebanese financial authorities as supportive of the banking sector. It acknowledged the government's swift and decisive actions to prevent contagion risk or breaches in confidence. "Still, we believe that the government's limited financial flexibility would constrain its extraordinary support to the banking sector in times of stress," the report highlighted.
The report noted that the banking sector's competitive landscape has become nearly overcrowded, but at the same time said it remained largely concentrated around a dozen stable banks.
Top Headlines
- Jordan secures EU finance for socioeconomic and environmental programs
- US, EU protectionist policies may be a blessing in disguise for GCC suppliers
- Dubai to Doha: How far can you stretch your dirham?
- Tunisia 2020 investment conference: 145 mega projects on offer
- GCC tax on expats' income and remittances would be highly regressive: IMF


text:
Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder got married to his long term partner, Joanne, in a surprise ceremony this weekend.
Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder married his long term partner Joanne this weekend.
The frontman - renowned for his wild ways and partying lifestyle - tied the knot in a surprise ceremony surrounded by family and friends, held directly after the christening of the couple's ten month old daughter, Lulu, at St Charles RC Church in Manchester.
The wedding guests hadn't been told ahead of the event, and believed they were only attending the christening.
Shaun's manager, Warren Askew, said: "Congratulations to Shaun and Joanne on their wedding. It was a surprise to everyone after the baptism of Lulu, but was a really lovely day."
47-year-old Shaun - formerly renowned for his 'bowl' haircut and penchant for sportswear - looked dapper for the day in a blue suit, tie and parted hair, with a blue tinted pair of spectacles.
Shaun's post Happy Mondays band, Black Grape will appear for a special one off show on April 1 in London, and the singer has admitted he will have to use an autocue machine to remember the words.
He said: "I've got an autocue so I don't sing the wrong lyrics at the wrong gigs. "It's not cheating as everyone uses one. How does someone who has written hundreds of songs remember them all?
"If you'd written The Godfather you wouldn't be able to read it to somebody without the book."


text:
Edit Article
wikiHow to Set up an Mp3 As an Alarm With Windows Vista or XP
One Methods:TestingCommunity Q&A
The screech of a standard alarm clock in the morning can be annoying. Instead of putting up with that, the following is how to set it up in Windows so that an mp3 file will open on a schedule, particularly as an alarm to wake you in the morning time.
You can use the Task Scheduler program in Windows Vista, or Scheduled Tasks in Windows XP, or a third-party program from a site like download.com, in order to open an mp3 on a schedule like an alarm clock.
1Find the Search box after opening the Start Menu
2Type 'Task Scheduler' into the Search box
3Click Task Scheduler when it shows up
4After Task Scheduler opens, click Task Scheduler Library on the left
5Click Create Task or Create Basic Task on the right.
also there is a Help button in case you have a question
- You might use the Run button on the right if you want to test out the alarm/task/mp3; in order to use the Run button you must check the 'Allow task to be run on demand' button under the Action tab
- You can test the alarm with a nearby time before you depend on it to wake you in the morning
Community Q&A
Ask a Question
200 characters leftSubmit
- the 'Wake the computer to run this task' option under the Conditions tab does not power up your computer, but only wakes it from the Sleep state.
- for an mp3 alarm, the mp3 is considered the Action and the time/date on which it rings is called the Trigger.
- play with the Daily and Weekly options
Article Info
Categories: XP Instructions
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 3,530 times.
Is this article up to date?


text:
Millions of people have been taking low doses of aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes, but now there's new thinking that may change that.
Some medical experts, both in the United State and in the U.K., have come to the conclusion that too many people have been taking low-dose aspirin. New guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Health Services Task Force are giving more clarity about who should be taking it.
Dr. Jon Hallberg, medical analyst for All Things Considered, spoke to MPR's Tom Crann about the guidelines and why they've changed.
Tom Crann: Who was taking aspirin previously under these recommendations?
Dr. Jon Hallberg: A lot of people, and the last time the recommendations were updated in 2002, it said that men over 40 and women over 50 who were at higher risk -- and it was sort of vague as to what that meant -- could or should be taking low-dose aspirin. So we were really preaching that gospel and putting people on aspirin, and it turns out probably millions of people are on it that don't need to be on it.
What does aspirin actually do? A lot of people think it's a blood thinner, but it isn't really, is it?
That's right. We always use that term, but that sort of implies that we're diluting the blood, and that's not the case at all. It's making the blood less sticky. There are elements in blood called platelets, and this is sort of anti-platelet therapy. It doesn't stop them from working altogether, but it reduces the effectiveness of that, so that you're less likely to have a clot. And a clot is what causes the majority of heart attacks and the majority of strokes.
We're talking about a low-dose or baby aspirin, and it was marketed that way for adults. What are the risks even with this low dose of aspirin?
Because it makes the blood less sticky, we are more likely to bleed. And if people have a tendency toward ulcers in the stomach, for example, they could have bleeding ulcers.
Aspirin has two effects. It has the anti-platelet part, but it also is an anti-inflammatory medication. And prostaglandins, the sort of chemical that cause inflammation, also protects the stomach lining. Aspirin can't tell the difference between those two functions, and so it makes the stomach more susceptible to its own hydrochloric acid, and it can cause great irritation.
You were taking low-dose aspirin and then you stopped. Why?
I was in my early 40s. I was following the guidelines, figuring that as a guy over 40 I was at higher risk, even though if I do the calculation, I really wasn't. I thought, 'For a third of a penny a day, why not do this?'
But after about a year of the therapy, I started getting reflux. My stomach was more irritated than it should've been. I stopped the medication, and the symptoms went away.
Is the concern, then, that the risk of stomach inflammation is greater than the benefit of the aspirin?
Exactly. What we're trying to do with all of these people is do something called primary prevention. We're trying to prevent a stroke or heart attack from happening. The trouble is you don't want the intervention, the aspirin use, to cause any problems. Frankly, it's already a pretty low-risk event for most of us, of having a stroke or heart attack in our younger ages. And many people in their 50s or 60s or even 70s are at relatively low risk. So you don't want to do something that's going to cause more harm than good.
When we talk about high risk for heart attack and stroke, what does that mean?
There's some debate about this. To help us get a handle on this and not go with a gut level feeling, tools have been developed. And these tools are basically calculators that calculate your risk for having a stroke or a heart attack. And they're easily available online.
I have one actually on my iPhone that I tap into when I'm meeting with patients. And you plug in things like gender, age, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and those kinds of things. And it gives you a range. It'll say, 'This person has a 7 percent risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years.' That's a 0.7 percent risk per year. That's a relatively low risk.
And then high risk starts to kick in around 10 or even 20 percent, and that's where some of the debate is. If someone has a 20 percent risk of having a heart attack, they're high risk. In that case, the benefits probably out weigh the risks of being on an aspirin a day.
There's also a difference here in the recommendations for men and women. What's the difference, and why?
This is where the U.S. researchers and the British authorities differ a little bit. The studies suggest that men probably benefit more from aspirin used to prevent heart attacks, and women probably benefit more from taking aspirin to prevent stroke.
And why is that?
Well, it's just based on research. It's basically what they found. And there's some thought now that, 'Is it possible that platelets act differently in men and women? Is there a sort of genetic difference between the two groups?' And I think that's something that's going to be explored. I mean there seems to be some fundamental differences. The Brits say no. The Americans say yes.
So, someone comes into the clinic, and they wonder, 'Should I be taking this aspirin dose? Am I at risk?' What goes into that calculation?
We'll certainly look at lifestyle and family history, but then I'll actually pull out a calculator and plug in the numbers, and see what the total score is. Based on that, we'll have a further conversation. It's never a slam dunk, but I think that if someone's at high risk, we'll talk about putting them on aspirin.


text:
is try to make a situation better and not react to things that have happened but respond to them in the right way. And my training as a quarterback: you're always thinking about the following play and what you have to do in executing your assignment. And also my Christian beliefs-there's something to treating people the right way and the way you want to be treated. So, all of that has kind of evolved into my style. It's probably not for everyone, and it's different than a lot of people. But it's who I am. I think my players know it's genuine.
Pages: 1 2


text:
My Nonprofit Reviews
171 profile views
1 reviews
Review for Miami Heart Research Institute Inc, Miami, FL, USA
I have co-chaired two years in a row the Heart of a Chef event to raise awareness on heart healthy eating. We have held the event at the Museum of Science so as to make it a family event and thus educate children as well. Tremendous community support and turnout is a hallmark of the event.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
raising the awareness of public school children.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
We need to raise more funds to expand staff and therefore expand the services it offers.
Role: Volunteer & I co-chaired two events.


text:
NEW ORLEANS — Just like last season, Matt Ryan had the Atlanta Falcons achingly close to a late go-ahead touchdown against New Orleans at the Superdome.
Once again, they could not finish the deal.
Rookie safety Kenny Vaccaro deflected Ryan's fourth-down throw for tight end Tony Gonzalez into the hands of safety Roman Harper for the clinching interception in the end zone with 43 seconds left. The Saints held on for a 23-17 victory.
The painful ending was eerily similar to a year ago. Saints cornerback Jabari Greer knocked down Ryan's fourth-down pass for Roddy White from the 2 to preserve a 31-27 New Orleans victory. Only that time, the Falcons were 8-0 and headed for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. This time, they fell a game behind the Saints in a division that has not had a repeat champion since its formation in 2002.
"Any time you lose it stinks, and certainly today it stinks that we didn't get the outcome that we wanted," Ryan said. "We gave ourselves a chance, and we just fell short. The biggest part of being a professional is being able to move on. There's 15 more to go and lots of ball to be played."
Ryan, who drove the Falcons 77 yards to the New Orleans 3 on their final possession, started to celebrate when his third-and-goal pass reached running back Steven Jackson at the goal line. But the ball bounced off Jackson's hands even before Saints linebacker Ramon Humber hit him.
"When my number is called, I expect to make the play," Jackson said. "I dropped the ball. It wasn't the easiest catch, but I'm not a person to make excuses."
The fourth-down pass was not as close, and the Falcons for the lost seventh time in their past eight games in New Orleans.
Ryan passed for 304 yards and two touchdowns and Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 357 yards and two TDs.
Saints coach Sean Payton enjoyed his latest win against his NFC South rivals in what was his regular season return to the sideline from his bounty ban.
"It was just important to get the first win," Payton said. "You try to compartmentalize each week, each game, and we played a good team. We fought hard, especially late in the game."
Atlanta is 3-12 overall against New Orleans in the Payton era.
"It was hard for us last year, and it's no easier to swallow this year," Atlanta center Peter Konz said. "But in a game like this, you know you can win. We know what we have to build on, and it can be a positive experience going forward."
Atlanta's offensive line allowed three sacks, with second-year player Lamar Holmes making his first career start at right tackle in place of Mike Johnson, who had a season-ending knee injury in training camp. Still, Ryan had plenty of time on the final possession as he completed five in a row to give Atlanta a first-and-goal at the New Orleans 7.
He was 1 of 4 from there, connecting only on a dumpoff to White for a 4-yard gain on second down. On fourth down, Gonzalez said he was the second option behind wide receiver Julio Jones.
"Give them credit, they made the play," Gonzalez said. "The ball was up in the air and I liked my chances, but we were just a fingertip away."
New Orleans' defense gave up a pair of 50-yard plays, the other on a pass to Harry Douglas, but also produced pressure regularly.
The group also produced a momentum-changing turnover when Malcolm Jenkins stripped Jones and Harper recovered, setting up Marques Colston's 25-yard TD catch, which tied the game at 10 in the second quarter.
Brees gave the Saints the lead for good in the second quarter with a 7-yard pass to tight end Jimmy Graham.


text:
As we strive to extend the reach of our tax dollars, partnerships are key. And from the perspective of the park district, there is no more significant partnership than the one we share with our school district. This values-driven partnership allows both agencies to provide essential classroom space for after-school programming administered through the park district, and maximizes fields throughout town for our growing and active community.
On the ballot this May is a bond renewal measure to continue funding for facilities development of our school district, allowing them to make numerous critical improvements to aging structures and add a middle school and elementary school to meet rapidly expanding enrollment pressures.
As we rallied last fall and passed a bond for parks, let's support our school district with a yes vote. Let's reaffirm a key partnership that has maximized our tax investment and served our community so well.
Ruth Williamson


text:
Clean and lean
Discussion in 'Paleo / Primal - Diaries' started by livvy1970, 10 March 2014 Social URL.
- Popular Forums
MiniMins.com is a weight loss support community helping each other on their weight loss journey. We have a multitude of forums, from Slimming World and Exante, to Success Stories. Click the logo at the top right to return to the forum home page at any time.
- Similar Threads - Clean lean
- Replies:
- 5
- Views:
- 1,093


text:
I was struck by a recent Associated Press article in which an "insurgent" in Najaf is quoted saying, "We will defeat you. We are fighting for our faith; you have no faith."
more Baker columns
How is it we, who talk incessantly as a nation about God and prayer and belief, are perceived by this Muslim as having no faith?
In Sunday school this past week, we happened to be reading an essay by one of the foremost scholars of Islam in the world today, Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr. We learned Islam bears many similarities to Christian thinking - including the dying to self, which Jesus preached, the oneness of God, the doctrine of free will and complete surrender to God. In Islamic thinking, God permeates all of nature. It is this reverence toward creation as the manifestation of God I find so compelling.
My father, an artist, had great reverence for the human body. After years of rendering nudes, he felt the body was holy. And incongruously, when the photos of Abu Ghraib came out, I was reminded of how beautiful and sacred the body is. Modesty has to do with the sacredness of the body, not with denying the beauty of the body. Modesty is a real value in Islamic countries. As revolted as we are by revelations about Abu Ghraib, for many Muslims the torture was worse than death.
One Iraqi commentator states: ''The torturers at Abu Ghraib and other prisons chose sexual degradation because they knew that nothing would hurt and appall Iraqis and Muslims more than those horrible, sadistic acts. To Iraqis, death is infinitely better than being raped or sexually abused. There are things worse than death itself and those pictures portrayed them.''
Many Americans are ignorant of Islam, associating it only with terrorists, who distort Islam through fundamentalism. We are ignorant of the practices of Islam, and we often feel superior. We are astonished and affronted when Islam attempts to assert its own identity and civilization, rather than accept the capitalistic Western model in which the profit motif reigns supreme. We, after all, have God on our side.
Someone once said that what you spend time thinking about is your religion. I worry not so much that our culture is being taken over by religion, but that our religions are becoming overly determined by American materialism. In certain strains of fundamentalism, religion is seen as a sort of insurance policy.
The theory of Armageddon and the rapture was first cobbled together in America by 19th century preachers out of a patchwork of grassroots movements. It sought, among other things, to preserve the racial purity of "old stock white" Protestants during waves of immigration, and it grew with the perceived threat of scientific theories like evolution. The tenets of this new orthodoxy include "the insistence upon the necessity of a conversion experience through faith in Jesus Christ alone, the accuracy of the Bible in matters of science and history as well as theology, and the imminent physical return of Christ to the Earth where he would establish a millennial reign of peace and righteousness." (From an essay by Grant Wacker, Duke University Divinity School).
Because the religion encourages certainty and anti-intellectualism, it conveniently short-circuits any self-reflection on its own origins. And today, perhaps even more than 100 years ago, the complexity of the world makes such absolutism attractive.
If this were merely a kooky fringe movement, one could write it off. But the problem is, this movement with its sideshow mentality is squeezing out many mainstream, more centrist, religions. Eighteen percent of Americans believe in the rapture, and 40 percent of the inner circle of the Bush administration claim to believe in it. While doing research for this column, an ad popped up on my screen advertising the ''Left Behind'' series and offering to give me the five proofs of the imminent Second Coming.
The first proof: "The return of the Jewish people to Israel is the super sign of the prophecy. The Bible predicts over and over that the Jews must be back in their homeland for the Event."
Rick Perlstein in the Village Voice reports White House staffers regularly meet with Christian fundamentalists. The problem, he says, is "not that George W. Bush is discussing policy with people who press right-wing solutions to achieve peace in the Middle East, or with devout Christians. It is that he is discussing policy with Christians who might not care about peace at all - at least until the rapture."
It seems inconceivable that the lives of thousands of innocent people in Iraq and the Gaza Strip may be of less importance to policy makers than trying to make current events fit a crackpot scheme.
It is this reductionism and fantastical thinking that is walking around claiming to be true religion. There is nothing in it of openness to the sacred, or of the mystery of life. Perhaps if Christians were more focused on the teachings of Jesus, if we were struggling more with our own demons instead of projecting them out onto other human beings, if we were more concerned for the healing of the world than in grabbing our own ticket to heaven, we might be recognized as people of faith.
Sara Baker ican be reached at email@example.com.
© 2017. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


text:
Need help? Check out our Support site, then
Back to WordPress.com Forums
- Member Since
- August 26, 2012 (5 years)
- Website
- http://like2think.wordpress.com
User Activity
Recent Replies
- Rendered Latex code seems to be below line. User last replied: 5 years ago. Most recent reply: 5 years ago
Threads Started
No more topics posted.


text:
Silver Linings Playbook
Release Date: December 25th, 2012
Actors: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence
Director: David O. Russell
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: R
Current Location: Limited Theaters
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: R
Current Location: Limited Theaters
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
To continue our holiday movie reviews, we have one of the best romantic comedies I've ever seen. Silver Linings Playbook is a great dramedy that combines bipolar craziness with sexy dancing. It very well may be Bradley Cooper's best roll. He's known for The Hangover, but in this movie it's clear he has some great drama skills.
I think the breakout was Jennifer Lawrence. We all know her as Katniss from The Hunger Games and it's clear she's a brilliant actress from Winter's Bone. But if she doesn't win an award for Silver Linings Playbook then she will be robbed! She completely transformed into a slutty, emotional girl. Her chemistry with Bradley Cooper is undeniable. Loved it all the way through!


text:
Image copyright:
Please sign in to comment. Don't have a profile? Join now! Joining is absolutely free and no personal information is required.
Just logged in to upload tonight's set and saw your msg . . . I hope you have a wonderful supper and a truly enjoy evening . . . thank you . . . :D)
You're a dear. I'm always amazed at your memory. I have an early supper date with my younger honorary granddaughter. Be back later. (((HUGS))) for a good night. You should be in bed by the time I get back.
Thank you Ardy . . . I try and post a pink one for you most nights and I remembered to reduce the no of pieces on this one with it being more open . . . ;D)
(((HUGS))) back . . . :D)
Good evening, Su. In this one I see tiny snowmen flexing their arm muscles over their heads around the tiny center flower. As you may have guessed 1146 is my favorite tonight. 1144 is full of weird red bugs against a lovely green background. Interesting set. Thanks, Su. Here's wishing you a good night and sending warmed hugs (((HUGS))).
A smaller, 25 piece version of this puzzle is available on


text:
I really like the Mocha/Sepia/B&W version. I think it forces me to focus on the emotion, content & textures in the shot more-so than the color version does. Again, as others have mentioned, I don't know how the judges would view it, but the B&W/mocha version grabs me.
My 2 cents.


text:
ACParadise Network: American Cosplay Paradise American Cosplay Experience American Cosplay Snapshots
Cosplayer Sana > Costume of Syaoran (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle)
- Most Recent Photo
- 06-01-2010
- Series
- Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
- Character
- Syaoran
- Special Variation:
- Art Book
- Year Completed:
- Construction Difficulty:
- Costume worn at:
- A-Kon 2009
About this Costume
- Construction Details:
Syaoran has been my favorite CLAMP character since Cardcaptor Sakura was dubbed and on tv on Fox Kids back in 1995 XD Actually, he's my favorite character period. So when I saw that he would return in CLAMP's latest manga, Tsubasa Chronicles, I had to get it and oh my god did I love the design. So I decided to be close to the art book as possible. As you all already know, CLAMP's outfit designs are RIDICULOUS (aka CLAMPish) so it was pretty difficult to do right. The only things Im missing are my cape and staff (which I have not made yet...still...)
Add a Comment


text:
UPDATE! Kaleidescape is coming back to the CEDIA 2017 custom electronics show in a big way this week to unveil a new solution that bridges its older Premiere disc-based HD media players with its latest 4K-Strato players that download up to Ultra HD Blu-ray quality movies with HDR from the company's cloud-based Movie Store. […]
Entries Tagged as '4K Ultra HD movie servers'
Kaleidescape Returns To CEDIA With `Co-Star' Linking Kit For Legacy Devices
September 6th, 2017 · No Comments · 2160p, 4K Flat Panel, 4K Front Projection, 4K LED LCD, Blu-ray Discs, Digital Media Receivers, electronic program guides, HDMI, HDR, LCD Flat Panel, News, OLED, UHD (4K) Media Players, UHDTV, Ultra HD Blu-ray Players
Tags:4K downloads·4K movie players·4K Ultra HD·4K Ultra HD movie servers·Alto·Encore·Kaleidescape·Kaleidescape Costar·Kaleidescape M Class·Kaleidescape Moive Store·Premiere·Strato


text:
YNet News
September 20, 2012
Could the United States be behind a move to sabotage power lines at Iran's nuclear facilities? The Daily Beast on Wednesday suggested that US Special Forces, which have been training for operation inside Islamic Republic for years, could already be on the ground .
On Monday, Fereydoun Abbasi, Iran's vice president and the chief of its nuclear energy agency, said that power lines between the city of Qom and the underground Fordo nuclear centrifuge facility were blown up with explosives on August 17. The power lines leading to Iran's Natanz facilities were blown up as well, he said.
According to the report in The Daily Beast, The US military been studying Iran's infrastructure closely, and in 2009 discovered a weakness in Iran's electrical grids that made it vulnerable to a cyber attack.
But Abbasi's disclosure indicates opponents of the Iranian program are targeting the country's electrical grid and are doing so on the ground, via a physical explosion as opposed to a cyber attack.
This article was posted: Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 2:17 am


text:
New Stüssy book celebrates cover art of UK label Greensleeves
London-based DJ and graphic designer Alex Newman (aka DJ Al Fingers) was approached by clothing label Stüssy to produce a mix CD back in 2008. Two years later he has delivered not just the commissioned mix CD but a book which showcases the first 100 record sleeves released by UK reggae and dancehall record label Greensleeves, plus a range of limited T-shirts that display elements of some of the record sleeves included in the book…
London-based DJ and graphic designer Alex Newman (aka DJ Al Fingers) was approached by clothing label Stüssy to produce a mix CD back in 2008.
Two years later the mix CD is ready and it features 56 tracks from UK reggae and dancehall label Greensleeves' back catalogue – but the project has grown in that time to include a book that Newman has put together on the record label's history and which showcases the first 100 record sleeves released by the label (including gems such as Scientist Wins The World Cup, 1982, shown above). The project also includes a range of limited edition T-shirts and pin badges for Stüssy that display elements of some of the record sleeves included in the book…
"When you do a mix that is going to be sold commercially, you obviously need to clear the rights to use the music," says Newman of the project. "I decided that approaching just one label would make things much easier so I got in touch with one of my favourite UK labels, Greensleeves, to see if they would let me use music from their catalogue," he continues. "Greensleeves is one of the greatest reggae labels of all time and Stüssy has always been strongly influenced by reggae, so the combination seemed to fit."
"After Greensleeves had given the go ahead, Nick Bower, the guy who originally commissioned me at Stüssy, said that they'd like to do some tees to go alongside the CD, so I started sending him jpegs of classic Greensleeves album cover art. When he realised that I'd written a couple of books before, he suggested we do a book too. It just seemed to grow naturally like that. Because I'd been sending him the cover art pics, I said, right let's do a book on the covers! At first it was going to be 16 pages, but by the end was about ten times that. There were just too many classic covers to feature – and too much history of the label that had never been told before."
Newman met up with the founders of Greensleeves (Chris Sedgwick and Chris Cracknell) – and began to document the history of the label – which began life in 1975 as a record shop in West Ealing before the owners realised they wanted to specialise in Jamaican music and release music on their own label. Being a graphic designer, Newman was also a big fan of the label's record sleeve design – much of which is attributable to one man, Tony McDermott, who remains Greensleeve's main cover designer to this day and, as Newman's' new book, Greensleeves; The First 100 Covers, reveals, McDermott has helped shaped the record label's aesthetic since its inception in 1977.
Knowing from first hand experience what a gargantuan effort is required in putting a book together, we can appreciate that this project really has been a labour of love for Newman.
Here are some spreads from the book (which features a foreword by Paul Simonon of The Clash) and some of our favourite Greensleeves covers included therein – along with an extract from Newman's interview with Greensleeves record cover designer Tony McDermott:
Above: Vernon St Hilaire's photograph showing Capital Letters signing recording contracts at the Greensleeves Shepherd's Bush shop with the label's founders Chris Sedgwick (far right) and Chris Cracknell (third from right) in 1979.
Al Fingers: How did you start out in design?
Tony McDermott: As a kid I liked drawing. I'd draw all the time, like lots of kids. My dad was keen on the idea of drawing so there was always paper and pens in the house.
AF: Was your dad an artist?
TM: Well, he was a keen amateur artist, but he just encouraged us to draw. There was also that business at school – who was the best drawer in the class. Even at that age it gets you some kudos.
Left hand page: Englishman by Barrington Levy (GREL 09), 1979. Design: Bloomfield / Travis. Photography: Alain De La Matta. Right hand page: Big Showdown – Scientist v Prince Jammy (GREL 10), 1980. Design: Tony McDermott.
AF: Where did you grow up?
TM: In Oldham, just north of Manchester. Later, I moved to London and from 1978 to 1981 I trained in graphic design at the London College of Printing. Around that time I began doing cartoons for Black Echoes magazine. I was very into music; mainly soul and funk, but also reggae, which fed into that.
AF: Tell me more about the Black Echoes comic strip.
TM: It was a weekly cartoon strip called Shades. That was the name of the lead character, a know-all, been-there-done-it-all character. After seeing that, Greensleeves asked me to do some cartoons for the front of the Jah Thomas Stop Yuh Loafin album.
So I did that and they thought I had an idea of how things should look that they weren't getting from some of the other people they were using. They asked me to do some more sleeves, and I started doing covers in general for them. The first few were the Scientist series. They were more cartoon-style, especially the earliest of those, the Big Showdown album, which was much more like the cartoons I'd done for Echoes – more comic cartoon.
AF: There's a lot of detail in many of your illustrated covers, they must have taken a while to do.
TM: Yeah, a couple of weeks each time, definitely, of intensive drawing and inking.
AF: For the Scientist series did you have contact with him and suggest ideas, like: "This is what I'm going to do, are you into it?"
TM: No, funnily enough never. It didn't work that way with Scientist. He was just treated by the producers as being an in-house engineer and if it wasn't him then it would have been somebody else who'd have mixed those tapes. In some respects, his persona and image was really built by the releasing companies.
AF: So Greensleeves came up with the titles, like Scientist Wins the World Cup and Scientist Encounters Pac-Man?
TM: Yeah. I thought the first title, Big Showdown, suggested a boxing match, so we had a boxing ring on the cover. We're talking about the LP era here, where the impact of album cover art was far stronger; it just pulled people in. Greensleeves then determined the following titles. The next was Heavyweight Dub Champion and the notion was that Scientist had beaten Jammy's, or not necessarily Jammy's, but all comers, and was the all-conquering hero. So that cover followed on with the boxing theme. Then it got to a point where I'd be having discussions with Chris Cracknell and we'd be trying to think of what was happening in the world, what were the current fads, and we came up with Space Invaders. Space Invaders had just arrived in pubs in this country, the start of the video-game era, and we thought that was pretty wacky so we went with that. Scientist Meets the Space Invaders was the first of the themes where we said, "Let's choose a subject and see if we can work it." Next in the series was Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires. Chris came to me and said: "We've got this idea, how about vampires?" I don't even know where they pulled it from. It wasn't like horror films were particularly big at the time.
AF: I thought Scientist would have come with the concept, I mean that album for example has horror sound effects all over it…
TM: But a lot of that was added afterwards. I think there may have been some effects on it already that made Greensleeves think it might lend itself to that, but a lot was added post-production. They may have been added by Scientist, but the commission would have gone back to Jamaica: "We're going to call it this… so maybe you can add in sound effects to that degree." So Scientist wasn't thinking "scary" or "vampires". Greensleeves brought the concept to him. After that, World Cup and Pac-Man were again what was happening at the time. I remember there was a tentative notion that we would do a cricket one as the cricket world cup was on at that time, but by the time we got round to it, that had been and gone. There could have been loads of them.
AF: I noticed Kevin Keegan and Glenn Hoddle on the World Cup cover.
TM: Yeah, let me think who else was there? Ray Wilkins could have been. They weren't all named players but there were a few recognisable ones, certainly Kevin Keegan.
AF: I heard that Scientist wasn't into was the Pac-Man sleeve, because it looks like he's being defeated.
TM: Well, not really because it's called "Encounters", and it's left "to be continued…" It was never meant to be the end of the series. If you look at the back cover (below), the end of the cartoon strip says: "Is this the end of Scientist…" but the full expectation was that six months down the line or a year later we'd be coming up with the next concept album. However, markets and trends moved on, so things changed. We never had any intention to disrespect him, although we found out later on that he felt that way. Really, it was never the intention.
Above left: Mister Yellowman (GREL 35), 1982. Design: Tony McDermott.
Above right: Hugh Mundell (GRELL 36), 1982. Design: Tony McDermott. Photography: Roger Cracknell.
Above left: On The Rocks by Wailing Souls (GREL 59), 1983. Design: Tony McDermott. Photography: Tim O'Sullivan.
Right hand page: Forward (GREL 60), 1983. Design: Tony McDermott.
AF: Around that time you also did the first twelve-inch bag with the illustrated crowd scene (shown above).
TM: Yeah, I think we started using that around 1979. They didn't want a standard disco bag, and I came to them with a few concepts, but that was one of them. I guess it was this notion of doing a kind of history, but also a journey, taking reggae from Jamaica in the late 1950s/early 1960s through to Shepherd's Bush in 1979.
AF: What is the band at the very top?
TM: Well, the characters aren't all famous, but at the top it's definitely the Wailers. So the Wailers actually appear twice. A Wailing Wailers at the top wearing black ties and white shirts, and then further down as Bob Marley & The Wailers. But, I mean, they could have been any generic vocal group. There were a lot of them around – The Gaylads, The Techniques…
AF: I recognised Johnny Rotten on there. Who's the other white guy?
TM: Oh yeah, that's Joe Strummer. Because those two were the big promoters of reggae within punk circles. At least, that's certainly how it seemed to me as an observer.
Above: Two more of McDermott's proposed ideas for the label's "disco bags" which would house 12″ singles. The idea with both is that the white circular space in the middle would be cut out to reveal the record's label. Nice!
Left hand page: Mouseketeer by Eek-A-Mouse (GREL 65), 1984. Design: Tony McDermott. Photography & tinting: Sue Lanzon. Right hand page: 100 Weight Of Collie Weed by Carlton Livingston (GREL 66), 1984. Design: Tony McDermott. Photography: O'Neil Nanco
Left hand page: Wa-Do-Dem by Eek-A-Mouse (GREL 31), 1981. Design: Tony McDermott.
Right hand page: DJ Clash by Nicodemus / Toyan (GREL 32), 1982. Design: Tony McDermott.
AF: Your work seems to be generally quite informed about the music and the whole scene. Did you used to go to dances?
TM: I used to go to dances regularly enough to know what was going on, certainly in terms of fashion and style. Also, I was living near Vauxhall at the time, so even just on the streets, people were walking past wearing the fashions all day long. I was across the road from Southbank Polytechnic and on the estate I lived on it was all around me. I'd probably gone to dances more regularly in Manchester, though.
AF: Did you ever go to Jamaica to get involved in any of the cover shoots?
TM: No – there were opportunities, but things would always happen at the last minute and I never made it out there.
Left hand page: Fire House Rock by Wailing Souls (GREL 21), 1981 – sleeve design by Tony McDermott.
Right hand page: Sons Of Thunder by Dr Alimantado (GREL 22), 1981. Design: Tony McDermott. Photography by Anthony & Marcia
AF: For the albums were you usually sent a rubbish photograph and that's all you had to work with?
TM: All the time. I think it's a parallel to the music in a sense – needs must. If somebody sends you a rubbish photograph you just have to work harder. If somebody sends you a brilliant photograph then I tend to want to leave it alone and put minimum typography and design into it. In later years, since the digital era especially, it's been much more that way. We get much better photographs these days. Sometimes on a project nowadays a photographer will send you three or four hundred photographs of an artist for one project. Talk about going from one extreme to another! But yeah, back then I would receive really poor photographs. Take the Fire House Rock photograph for example (see above spread, left). It was so out of focus, both front and back cover. When we reissued it they rang me about it from the printers to say: "You do realise that photo's out of focus, don't you?" I said: "It's been out of focus for thirty years, don't worry about it!" But I wouldn't want to offend the photographers. Sometimes they were working under really difficult conditions. I mean, I've set up photo sessions where I've spent days getting it ready and had everybody on board from stylist, to make-up, to all kinds of stuff and the artist will turn up and say: "You've got ten minutes." These are artists who don't see the need to be photographed, they think it's a waste of time… it's a power play really. They have an attitude, a bit like in the punk era, that the labels are a necessary evil, to be tolerated at best. So the notion that the shoot's set up by the label, again they're like: "Well I'm going to give you the bare minimum cooperation I can." And that's usually because the advance hasn't been paid yet!
Above left: The Very Best Of Wailing Souls (GREL 99), 1987. Design: Tony McDermott. Photography: Eye & Eye.
Right hand page: People Of The World by Burning Spear (GREL 100), 1986. Design: Michael Hodgson. Illustration: Scott Baldwin
AF: Were there many times when an artist or producer would come back and say: "I'm not into that cover"?
TM: A couple of times artists came back and they'd have a general comment which was: "I don't want no cartoon of myself, I want a photograph." I would say that, from the early 1980s onwards, that was increasingly the mood amongst artists. They didn't want illustrations of themselves any more.
AF: So that's really the reason you went that way, design-wise?
TM: Yeah, because of demand. The artists didn't want it. It was an ego thing, especially because they felt they had more control of how they looked in a photograph. They would know what they were wearing, they could show off their jewellery, their new hairstyle. Also I think Jamaica has always looked to America to see what they were doing and US covers were using more photographs, especially in the early 1980s. Hip-hop covers began to show artists posing on the cover with all their jewellery in their penthouse with their fine girls and stuff, so in Jamaica, as much as there's a tug towards roots and culture and pan-Africanism, there's that tug towards being aspirational as well: people wanting to project themselves as people who are successful. Fair enough, I wouldn't argue with that.
Above left: Big Ship by Freddie McGregor (GREL 39), 1982. Design: Tony McDermott. Photography: Tim O'Sullivan.
Right hand page and below: Hi Yo, Silver Away! by The Lone Ranger (GREL 40), 1982. Design Tony McDermott
AF: A lot of your covers feature interesting type. Do you have a strong interest in typography?
TM: Yeah, the illustrations tended to have the type incorporated, in which case they were hand-lettered. While I was doing my graphic design degree the people teaching typography virtually put me off the subject, so it took me a while to get into type and really enjoy it.
AF: You must have used a lot of Letraset?
TM: In the early days, yeah. Letraset was a big part of it back then. Detailed text you'd use photoset or IBM set, but for headline fonts you'd use Letraset. A lot of time was spent in the Letraset showroom. And lots of money spent there, too. Letraset used to be damned expensive. For doing body copy, you'd always run out of a's and e's, because they'd only give you so many letters in an alphabet and once you'd done ten credits you'd suddenly realise you hadn't got any y's left, or you needed another d! It was around £10 a sheet for Letraset back then, which was a lot of money. The budget for an album may have been around £200 all in, so another £20 for Letraset seemed like a lot.
AF: The Greensleeves Rhythm Album series has a very iconic look to it. Tell me about those.
TM: Yeah, that series is approaching ninety now. They were meant to be throwaway bulletins, capable of being produced very quickly. Because it was supposed to take from three to four weeks from the point a producer would turn up with tapes to the album being released on the streets. We were producing around twenty in a year and nobody wanted to get involved with photographs for those albums. The first few were abstract illustrations; they weren't supposed to be thematic. We'd have kept them that way as well, but the producers themselves then started coming to us wanting something more literal to the subject matter. We tried to resist it, but often they said: "It's got to have this on it." Overall, I had great fun doing that series, though.
AF: In general how have people compared your later work to your early work?
TM: Well, it's strange. An awful lot of people tell me they love the sleeves I did twenty-five years ago, but seem to have a different relationship with the photographic sleeves. A lot of people liked the rhythm albums. I think people appreciate graphics more if it's more obviously graphically generated. But the truth is, some of the photographic sleeves have taken as much if not more work to get the final image right in Photoshop. Some of the Greensleeves Sampler sleeves, involving cars, girls, interiors, etc, have taken vast amounts of work to get to where they are, but at the end of day, because it looks like a unified photograph, people would never know that you've got three different girls from three different photographs, a background that they were never in, all merged and combined. People just accept it for what it is and think that's how it was done in the first place.
AF: That means you did your job! For me, one of the biggest pressures on a print designer is whether the product is going to come back from the printer looking good. Have you had many disasters there?
TM: Really big mess-ups haven't happened that often. I do remember one time, though. It was a Freddie McGregor twelve-inch single for Jetstar. I'd put quite an accurate cut-out guide for his head – you know, Freddie's a dread, he's got locks. But the printer obviously didn't look at the instruction, it was quite a dark print, and they just did what they thought and gave him an afro. They printed five thousand. It was a joke! It was a proper big afro, too. I don't know what they were thinking… "Oh yeah, he's a black guy, he's probably got an afro…" Jetstar were horrified, I was horrified, and they didn't have the time to redo it, so it just went out in a plain bag.
"[This cover] was a lot to do with Godzilla," explains McDermott. "Big things clashing over cities. I was given the title Two Giants Clash, so it just felt right to stick them over an urban environment bashing into buildings. It was that whole King Kong, Godzilla thing. Looking at it now, I like that cover, but I'm not mad about the lettering."
Above: UK reggae artist Gappy Ranks models one of the nine limited edition Stüssy T-shirts that sport elements of Greensleeves record cover art. Photograph: Al Fingers
To read the full interview with McDermott, track down a copy of Greensleeves: The First 100 Covers, ($40 / £70 – the mix CD comes with the book in the UK) published by Stüssy Deluxe. The book is available from Stüssy stores and stockists (including Urban Outfitters and Size?) and also from here: stussy.com/direct-us/deluxe-greensleeves-book.html
Creative Review subscribers will find a selection of McDermott's Greensleeves album covers (as shot by Angelo Plantamura specially for the book detailed above) in the forthcoming September issue of Monograph.


text:
One of the main feature of Temple Run 2 is the powerups, power ups, or power up. How to unlock and get Temple Run 2 Gem Bonus power up? What is the explained Temple Run 2 level upgrades for Gem Bonus power up? Temple Run 2 by Imangi Studios is the sequel of Temple Run and has improved gameplay, new abilities, better powerups, addictive level up system with getting-harder goals and objectives to accomplish, special boosts, save me feature, scary gorilla, and various temple scenes such as forest, ziplines, and mines. Below are the details and explanation for all levels all upgrades of Temple Run 2 Gem Bonus power up:
(If you know any additional Temple Run 2 Gem Bonus power up tips, guide, and cheat, kindly share it below)Temple Run 2 Gem Bonus Power Up:
Gem Bonus: Instant 2 gem bonus. Requires Level 10.
Besides Temple Run 2 Gem Bonus power up, you can view List of All Temple Run 2 Powerups / Power Ups or find more Temple Run 2 guides, tips, walkthrough, wiki, help, cheat, and other useful discussion threads at Temple Run 2 game forum.


text:
New campaign to get some 200,000 women into Saudi labor market
In a bid to get some 200,000 women into the Saudi labor force, the Ministry of Labor is launching an ambitious registration and employment campaign during the next six months.
According to Arab News, unemployment among women was estimated at 21 percent. A recent study has indicated that some 92,000 women working in Riyadh represent only six percent of the total work force. The study showed that the greatest percentage of unemployed women workers - 97.6 percent - is in the 30-39 age group.
Some 200,000 unemployed women are inclined to benefit from the ministry's campaign. Some of the jobs that have been identified for Saudization for women are receptionists, tailor-shop and wedding-hall employees, nutritionists, governesses, marketers, secretaries, photographers, beauticians, caterers, and hospitality and amusement park employees.
The newspaper said the employment campaign would be carried out in stages.
The upcoming move follows a similar campaign by the ministry to register unemployed Saudi men, which came out more than 180,000 less than the 300,000 figure issued by the General Statistics Department, according to Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi.
Top Headlines
- Unibrow invasion? Saudi beauty salons on standstill after labor raids
- The heartbreaking problem of forced child labor in Syrian refugee camps
- Saudi women change direction and aim for public transportation
- Saudi as world human rights watch? Now they accuse Myanmar of 'ethnic cleansing'
- "There is not one law in Saudi Arabia that regards violence toward women as an illegal activity": what's really behind Saudi's domestic abuse problem?


text:
The 'official' word is the Calgary Stampeders won't make the playoffs this season.
Editors at the The Official CFL Magazine have predicted the Stamps will finish fourth in the West Division behind B.C., Edmonton and Saskatchewan.
"That's amazing," said Stamps quarterback Henry Burris with a chuckle.
"Is it that guy from the U.S. still doing it? I guess he has his own personal thoughts on it. I don't think he's been out at training camp. What do you expect from a guy from Edmonton?"
True, the magazine is produced in the City of Champions.
But contributing editor Murray Greig believes league parity combined with an improved Roughriders squad will leave Calgary out of the post-season party.
Saskatchewan pilfered the defunct Ottawa franchise in the dispersal draft, picking up starting quarterback Kerry Joseph and receiver-returner Jason Armstead.
"Good luck to them," Burris said of his former team.
"Kerry has a lot of ability and he's a good quarterback but he's moving into a new system.
"The thing for him now is getting used to the atmosphere and the players. It's something he has to grow into."
Burris vowed the Stamps won't be out of the playoffs.
"Really, it's going to be a toss-up this year," Burris said.
"Every team is a couple of injuries away from struggling.
"As good as teams start out, the back end is where it counts.
"That's where we'll find out what happens."
Defensive lineman Randy Chevrier likes being labelled as an underdog because it's easier to exceed expectations.
"In any league, there's always predictions and what do they mean at the end of the year?" Chevrier said.
"Nobody looks back and admits they were wrong.
"If they predict us fourth, that's good for us. Maybe the writers predict us fourth but the other teams don't think of us as a fourth-place team.
"Maybe they won't take us seriously then."
On paper, any team in the West could win the division.
Stamps linebacker John Grace said until teams step between the lines, anything is possible.
"Predictions are for you guys," Grace said. "For us as a team, we have to go out and play to the best of our ability.
EXTRA POINT: Practice had a much higher tempo yesterday as head coach Tom Higgins tried to shake off the rust in the last full session before tomorrow's final pre-season tuneup against the visiting B.C. Lions. For the first 15 minutes of team drills, the offence went into a no-huddle mode.