text:
The official announcement has happened along with the official site on RockBand.com going up, so here's the summary of the game and its features:
Take Control Of The Whole Band
Rock Band Blitz brings the excitement of a full band experience right into your hands! Music gaming pioneers Harmonix are introducing an all-new way to experience your favorite songs with an over the top, addictive, controller-based gameplay experience – no instrument peripherals needed! Rock Band Blitz comes bundled with over 20 songs, and works instantly with any of the 3500+ Rock Band songs. Get your controller, load up your favorite power-ups, and get rocking!
You Control The Action!
Rock Band Blitz is an all new way to experience your favorite Rock Band tracks - no instrument peripherals required: it's just you, the music, and a controller.
Insane Gameplay-Changing Power Ups
Take your scores to the next level with over-the-top, arcade-style power ups! Fire off the "Bottle Rocket" to explode gems in the distance, or chase down the "Flame Notes" for valuable bonus points. With over 10 unique power-ups, there are dozens of combinations to choose from for endless replayability!
Compete With Your Friends
Take your former bandmates on to prove your dominance on the best songs music has to offer! Grapple for position on the leaderboards and chase your friends' scores as you play on the in-song dynamic leaderboard ladder!
The Largest Music Library in Gaming
Rock Band Blitz comes with over 20 songs new to the Rock Band franchise, from some of music's biggest artists! Rock Band Blitz is also instantly compatible with your existing Rock Band music library, including content from the Rock Band Music Store, as well as tracks exported from Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and more!
Added Value For Rock Band 3 Players
Rock Band Blitz's songs are also immediately compatible and playable in Rock Band 3, where players can experience these hits as a full band, using compatible guitar, microphone, drum, and keyboard peripherals!
The All-American Rejects – "Kids in the Street"
Avenged Sevenfold – "So Far Away"
Barenaked Ladies – "One Week"
Blink-182 – "Always"
Collective Soul – "Shine"
Elton John – "I'm Still Standing"
Fall Out Boy – "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me'"
Foster The People – "Pumped Up Kicks"
Fun. ft. Janelle Monáe – "We Are Young"
Great White – "Once Bitten Twice Shy"
Iron Maiden – "The Wicker Man"
Kool & The Gang – "Jungle Boogie"
Living Colour – "Cult of Personality"
My Chemical Romance – "Sing"
P!nk – "Raise Your Glass"
Quiet Riot – "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)"
Rick Springfield – "Jessie's Girl"
Shinedown – "Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)"
Tears for Fears – "Shout"
They explain here why they went with two gems instead of three from the Frequency/Amplitude games:
So if Blitz isn't like Rock Band, is it another skin on the classic Frequency gameplay? Not exactly. Notably, Blitz uses just two gems on each runway instead of three. "We went through a lot of prototyping, many different ways of beat matching with a controller," Nordhaus said. "That included three gems; that included some ideas of shifting the stick back and forth while you smashed gems, almost copying what you do with a guitar controller on the joypad controller.
"There were two reasons we settled on two: one was that the modern controller is better suited to two instead of three, as you mentioned with Frequency and Amplitude. But I think a more fundamental reason is that the choice was to let you focus a measure or two down the track as you play through and let you strategize about what your'e doing to do. And we found that if we took a little mental load off the beat matching and made it just a little bit easier to comprehend, you had the mental space to think about the strategy of what you're going to do to maximize your score."
Edited by FriskyTanuki, 18 July 2012 - 07:49 PM.


text:
BISSELL, William Harrison, a Representative from Illinois; born in Hartwick, Otsego County, N.Y., on April 25, 1811; attended the public schools, and was graduated from the Philadelphia Medical College in 1835; moved to Monroe County, Ill., in 1837; taught school and practiced medicine until 1840; member of the State house of representatives 1840-1842; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Belleville, St. Clair County, Ill.; prosecuting attorney of St. Clair County in 1844; served in the Mexican War as colonel of the Second Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses and as an Independent Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1855); chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1854; elected Governor of Illinois in 1856 and served from January 12, 1857, until his death; died in Springfield, Sangamon County, Ill., March 18, 1860; interment in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Father: Luther BISSELL b: 17 JUN 1773 in Litchfield Co., CT
Mother: Hannah SHEPARD b: ABT 1782 in Litchfield Co., CT
Marriage 1 Emily Susan JONES
Marriage 2 Elizabeth Kintzing KANE b: ABT 1807
RootsWeb.com, Inc. is NOT responsible for the content of the GEDCOMs uploaded through the WorldConnect Program. If you have a problem with a particular entry, please contact the submitter of said entry. You have full control over your GEDCOM. You can change or remove it at any time.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Shopping Checklist: Cordless Phones
• Standard features
An LCD screen, caller ID, redial and call waiting should all be standard features. Make sure you double-check what the phone offers.
• Range
The longer the range, the farther you can walk away from the base station with a cordless phone. If you have a large house then a long range is ideal, and an out-of-range warning may be useful too.
• Multiple handsets
Many phones can have up to three or four handsets linked together. Some can be purchased separately, while others are bundled together in a sales package. Be sure to check that the phone supports multiple handsets as you may need to purchase one at a later date.
• Pager button
A pager button is ideal, and most cordless phones should include it. This button is located on the base station or charging dock and pressing it sounds an alarm on the phone. It offers a quick and easy way of locating the handset's whereabouts.
• Backlit keypad
An often-overlooked issue is a backlit keypad, which is a blessing for night-time calls. Not all cordless phones have a backlit keypad, so check this before you buy.
• Answering Machine
Some cordless phones come with an answering machine as one of their features. This bumps up the price of the handset considerably, so if you don't need one, then be sure to let the sales assistant know this.
• Ringtones
Current cordless phones should offer at least five ringtones, though many offer up to 20 or more. Be sure to check the volume of the ringer on the phone, as ringtones that are too quiet can pose problems in large households. Some newer cordless phones also offer polyphonic ringtones.
• Phonebook
A cordless phone should also have a phone book, with a minimum of 10 or 15 entries. This allows you to store commonly dialled phone numbers.
• Speakerphone
Check if the phone has a hands-free speakerphone. This allows you to have a conversation without holding the phone to your ear, so it may be ideal when cooking or cleaning around the home.
• Accessories
Ask what accessories come in the package. Some phones may include an extra battery, handset or a headset.


text:
High-ranking officials of the Vatican Bank (Istituto per le Opere di Religione (I.O.R.)), spooked by last week's international stock market plunge and the possible spread of Europe's debt crisis, returned to Rome yesterday from their summer holidays to attend emergency meetings associated with the sudden meltdown of the world's financial markets. Of major concern to the Vatican and its Bank are the countries of Italy and Spain, the third and fourth-largest economies in the Euro currency zone, both facing bankruptcy and a possible financial bailout similar to that of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
The Vatican Bank is seriously affected by the plummeting global markets, and it is only one of hundreds of international financial institutions owned by the Catholic Church that have already felt the shockwaves of a possible world financial collapse. At one time, the Vatican controlled more than ninety of Italy's 180 credit, banking and insurance institutions, and had large involvements with the Rothschild of Britain, France and America, shareholdings in the Hambros Bank, the Credit Suisse in London and Zurich, the Morgan Bank of New York, the Bankers Trust Company, and major interests in the Bank of America.
The Vatican Bank, under the papacy of Pope John Paul II, became the source of sensational international scandals amidst dubious financial dealings that involved the loss of billions of Vatican dollars in an ill-fated counterfeit securities scheme instigated by the Holy See in partnership with the New York Mafia. To this day, the Vatican Bank remains the target of numerous lawsuits, a major one filed by Holocaust victims over the Holy See's alleged possession of millions of dollars worth of Nazi gold, believed by many to have been used to mint Vatican Euro coins.


text:
Brunswick County, NC (WWAY)- The deadline for North Carolina Counties to finalize their budgets is quickly approaching. Even with funding questions due to the struggling economy, few people showed up to share their opinions at the Brunswick County public hearing.
The Brunswick County budget was just one of ten public hearings on Monday's agenda. But even with a packed schedule there were plenty of open seats at the County Commissioner meeting.
"I would rather people come to the commissioner's meeting and express their frustration, if they have them, instead of in the barber shop or in the beauty shop, or in the grocery store," said Mary Earp of Brunswick Senior Resources Inc.
"This is the first time for me and expected that the room would be absolutely packed," said Carol Phelps of Brunswick Family Assistance. "I was thinking that I might not get a seat."
Just a handful of people showed up to share their thoughts on the Brunswick County budget. Most said they were happy the county did not have to layoff any employees and no furloughs will be included in the upcoming budget. Commissioners managed to provide some money for most of the non-profit organization requesting funding, but some representatives say they're surprised they weren't given the full amount they requested.
"We're serving the low income people," said Phelps. "And if we have to cutback our services it means they're going to go to the local and county governments looking for help, looking for food, looking for help with the rent, the utility bills, and all the other financial assistance that we give."
"The money's not here," said Earp. "It's tight times."
Some county residents showed up to represent their communities and stay informed on the upcoming budget. Even those who didn't speak were concerned more people didn't attend the meeting.
"I wish there were more people interested," said Lewis Dozier of Supply. "That's the only way were going to get and maintain better government."
All county budgets must be finalized by July 1st. Brunswick County commissioners will vote on a final version at their next meeting June 21st.


text: On Mon 04 Jun 2012 at 13:15:48 -0400, Dan B. wrote: > Miles Fidelman wrote: > >> - you might check your drive maker's web site for hardware-specific >> diagnostics > > I do have a diagnostics CD, so I can try that too. How about?: Create a partition on USB stick. Format it ext2/3/4. Mount the partition on /mnt. Install GRUB to the MBR of the stick grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sdX and copy the grub.cfg on your hard disk to /mnt/boot/grub. Boot from the USB stick. Observe and record.


text:
He's back at it!
People who know me know that I belong on the Trail. I've thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail (twice),the Pacific Crest Trail and the mighty Continental Divide Trail. I've hiked many of the long trails here in Michigan including being the first to hike both the Ironwood Trail and the Great Lake To Lake Trail. My next big adventure will be the Israel National Trail starting in February 2017.
The purpose of this blog is to keep anyone who is interested informed of my progress and to encourage those who are able to support me in this endeavor.
Friday, November 9, 2012
My Next Adventure
I gotta get back on the trail. Follow me at wolverineshoretoshore.blogspot.com
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text:
A Forney man is thankful for his Valentine's Day gift: a new heart.
Sid Hobbs had always been a fighter, but after suffering a heart attack on New Year's Eve his family found out in order to keep fighting, Hobbs would need a heart transplant.
"There's a lot of really heartfelt conversations that happen in moments like that. You don't want to leave anything unsaid," said Hobbs' son, Scott Hobbs.
Scott Hobbs said his father has battled heart problems for the better part of 10 years, including doctors putting in a pacemaker and stents.
But after rigorous tests, Scott Hobbs said doctors concluded Hobbs would continue to have serious problems without a new heart.
Hobbs was put on the transplant donor list. His family thought it would be weeks or months before he would be a recipient.
But all of that changed on the morning of Feb.14, Valentine's Day, also National Donor Day.
Doctors at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas called Hobbs saying his heart was ready and he would be in a life-changing surgery in a matter of hours.
His daughter, Tiffany Wood, realized the significance of the day.
"Very, very early this morning when we found out the surgery would happen at 7 o'clock and I thought, 'Oh my goodness! It's 2/14 in 2014, it's Valentine's Day! What a better day to get a heart than on Valentine's Day. It's perfect,'" she said.
After hours of surgery, doctors declared the transplant was successful.
"It means he gets to see our kids grow up and play with the grandbabies and enjoy several more years of his life. I'm so grateful for that," Wood said as she was fighting tears.
Scott Hobbs said his heart goes out to the family of the donor.
"As far as what we've experienced today, it fills your heart with humility. Because we knew the fact we could celebrate was coming directly at the grief of some other family. We pray for them as we pray for [our father's] recovery and God bless them wherever they are," Scott Hobbs said.


text:
|21 May 2011
Win 7 Ultimate 32bit
Sort of, and you will have to try it first, but there is a trick using Task Scheduler to create a shortcut that will always run an app as admin with no UAC prompt.
Elevated Program Shortcut without UAC Prompt - Create
But also see,,,
Run as Administrator
|My System Specs
|23 May 2011
Are you sure his PC is win7 HP? GPedit is only available in Pro and up.
That is correct. My mistake. He had XP and that is when I was messing with the group policy and I must have thought it was windows 7 so I was mistaken. I have tried to deny him access to write on his HD so he can't delete anything, but this messes up the recycle bins. I have sucessfully denied his write access to just the desktop and cleared the taskbar and applications and everything is working fine, with one problem. He still can get windows explorer open ?somehow? I took away paint because I saw he can get to browse in the file menu but there are no other applications that browse so I can't figure out how he get's it open.
Please if anyone has a solution to prevent windows explorer from launching on windows home premium please let me know. Group policies are not available. I also found that windows explorer will launch on broken shortcuts also. Thank you all very much. I know with all the highly skilled people on this forum I trust someone has a solution.
|My System Specs
|23 May 2011
Win7U 64 RTM
Unless there is some 3rd party software to suit your purposes, your best bet may indeed be via limiting user accounts and priviledges. As long as you have a system image backup, you have a safety net and can easily return to your original state (just make sure that you create the bootable CD/DVD for whatever imaging software you use in case you lock yourself out of the system or priviledges).
You could start here:
Permissions - Allow or Deny Users and Groups
Pay serious attention to the warnings:
I would recommend that you create a restore point before making changes to a file, folder, drive, or registry key permissions. This way if you make a mistake and lock yourself out (access denied) of the item, you will be able to do a system restore at boot and select the restore point to undo the mistake.
And you can create a restore point, but be warned that we see a lot of posters who try a system restore after changing permissions to no success, so a system image is crucial.
At any rate, as you follow the tut, you can see that you can deny users access to files and programs.
My suggestion would be (again, after creating your system image):
1. Right click on C:\windows\explorer.exe
2. Choose the Security tab
3. Under the Group or user names section, click the Edit button
4. Add your user account (i.e., Jeremy/Admin, whatever your account is named...it may well already be there, but make sure that your account is present and has full permissions [don't worry about the Special Permissions item] before you make any changes!)
From here, follow the tut to deny access to your son's user account. The tut and the other links I previously posted will give you more info.
I've never tried to deny a user access to Explorer.exe, so I'm not sure how it will work out, but you have nothing to lose if you have the system image.
If you do try this, please let us know how it works out. It's not as much work as it may seem. It's just about getting up to speed on different techniques. Once you get the hang of it, you can start buttoning down your son's account.
|My System Specs
|23 May 2011
Windows 7 Pro. 64/SP-1
Well I will be the bad guy. If a person will not use the the computer as instructed, then just take the computer privileges away, period. If a person won't drive the can as they should just take the keys away, done. Their will always be some sort of get around (back door way) of anything someone does to the computer to stop someone from doing something. Hit me, beat me up or what ever. This is the only way I know how to stop it when a person is computer savvy and has access to the computer.
|My System Specs
|23 May 2011
Well his account needs to be able to read & execute explorer.exe or you just get a pretty blue screen. But I think that's really really close. If I can now just figure out how to say copy explorer.exe to explore_2.exe and shell the explorer_2.exe at startup that would probably do exactly what I am looking for. Searched for 'explorer.exe' in regedit and not finding what I thought I would. Thank you for your help I know the solution is out there. Sooner or later this will have to be solved by somebody.. I know there are alot of people that think the solution is not to let kids play with computers but there is tons of software for this very small age group and kids won't go away.
|My System Specs
|28 May 2011
The best solution is a third party application found here: Make Any PC Kid-Friendly It's a 14 day trial but it works as advertised.
|My System Specs
|31 May 2011
Windows 10 x64
Learn about LUA + SRP ... software restriction polices. All my friends and families machines are setup this way. Total lockdown. Now in your case, you also want to restrict explorer from accessing the internet. The best way to do that would be to add a policy of using only a proxy which does not exist.
|My System Specs
|31 May 2011
Debian Squeeze Stable 64-bit
You cannot child proof anything. Any teen can use a Linux boot disk or Linux installed on USB to get what they want online, and if you try to put up a BIOS password they can just clear the CMOS or take out the battery for a few minutes. They can also browse freely from their phones by setting up a temporary Wi-Fi ad-hoc network.
|My System Specs
|31 May 2011
i would say deepfreeze would be best, anything he does will be undone after a restart
|My System Specs
|31 May 2011
8 Pro x64
You cannot child proof anything. Any teen can use a Linux boot disk or Linux installed on USB to get what they want online, and if you try to put up a BIOS password they can just clear the CMOS or take out the battery for a few minutes. They can also browse freely from their phones by setting up a temporary Wi-Fi ad-hoc network.
I don't think the OP needs to worry about that just yet
|My System Specs
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On the Engineering Windows 7 blog this week, Microsoft again noted that it was planning to give the public a Release Candidate of Windows 7 before the final version is ready. In other words, there is not going to be a "Beta 2," and the public would only see one public beta build: Windows 7 build...
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text:
Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich Adorably Answer Questions for Teen Girls
The delightful Rookie Mag regularly asks its teen readers to send in questions to "Ask a Grown Woman" and "Ask a Grown Man" and then gets grown women and grown men to answer them. I wish this had been around when I was 14, but oh well. I had Sassy — I got by.


text:
Detail Information
- Preventing and detecting oral cancer. Oral health care providers' readiness to provide health behavior counseling and oral cancer examinationsGustavo D Cruz
Public Health, New York University College of Dentistry, Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, New York, NY 10010, USA
J Am Dent Assoc 136:594-601; quiz 681-2. 2005..The authors conducted a study to examine oral cancer prevention and early detection practice patterns in a population-based random sample of practicing oral health care professionals in New York state...
- Oral cancer prevention and early detection: knowledge, practices, and opinions of oral health care providers in New York StateSangeeta Gajendra
Bureau of Dental Health, New York State Department of Health, USA
J Cancer Educ 21:157-62. 2006..The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, practices, and opinions of dentists and dental hygienists in New York State regarding oral cancer prevention and early detection...
- Implementing a Smoke-free Campus: a Medical Center initiativeSangeeta Gajendra
Community Dentistry and Oral Disease Prevention, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester, Box 683, 625 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
J Community Health 36:684-92. 2011..The extended timeline of 1 year was appropriate for overcoming fears, biases, and barriers which then enabled "buy-in" and support from leadership as well as employees...


text:
Tuttle's Grocery & Market Inc. in Woodsboro, Texas Adds U-Haul Truck & Trailer Rentals
WOODSBORO, Texas (Dec. 31, 2012) — Tuttle's Grocery & Market Inc., located at 207 2nd St., recently added U-Haul truck and trailer rentals to the grocery stores business.
Families needing the finest in moving services now will have increased convenience and a shorter distance to travel when moving, which not only will make their move easier but also will have the positive effect of reducing the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. U-Haul partnering with business owners across North America to increase convenience for customers while helping our environment is just one of the programs that support U-Haul Company's Corporate Sustainability initiatives.
Tuttle's Grocery & Market Inc. can now offer its customers a variety of moving equipment and supplies designed specifically for moving household furnishings, including moving vans, open trailers, closed trailers, furniture pads, appliance dollies, furniture dollies, tow dollies and auto transports. Tuttle's Grocery & Market Inc. also will offer sales items to protect their customers' belongings and make moving easier, such as heavy-duty boxes, which are made of up to 90 percent recycled content and are available in a variety of sizes.
"U-Haul is proud to be partnering with a quality independent business such as Tuttle's Grocery & Market Inc.," exclaimed Michael Whittington, president, U-Haul Company of Corpus Christi. "Tuttle's Grocery & Market Inc. is a great example of the type of successful business relationship U-Haul has established in order to build and maintain a strong network of more than 15,000 independent dealers across North America."
For more information or to get a truck rental in Woodsboro, call 361-543-4411 or visit www.uwebconnect.com/tuttlesgroceryandmarket . Business hours of operation are: Mon. - Fri. 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sat. 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.
About U-Haul
Joanne Fried
Kelie Budd-Hale
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 602-263-6194
Website: uhaul.com


text:
I have a very stupind question. How do I post a image to critique? do I insert a link to another site? My first critique, sorry.
6 Replies
Hi fishbelly,
You need to right click the image that you have posted somewhere on the internet (e.g flickr) and select COPY IMAGE URL.
Next come here and paste that link. Before and after the link put a ! and BINGO! the picture should appear.
Like so:
Thanks wotto. I feel silly.
Don't feel silly everyone has to learn stuff at some point. Happy to help.
you can also upload in Photobucket your image and copy paste the HTML to the site you want it to be posted…:D
O.k., I think I figured it out. Thanks Guys. Let me know what you think. Any comments or criticisms are appreciated.


text:
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Javier Lopez waited a long time for free agency. He was 33 years old. Hed missed qualifying the previouswinter by just five days of service time. He knew left-handed specialists always were prized by deep-pocket teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox.When you buy a Rolls-Royce, you dont skimp on the options. So it caught everyone off-guard when the Giants signed Lopezto a two-year, 8.5 million contract one day after the World Series ended. I know it surprised me, said fellow left-hander JeremyAffeldt.
Affeldt prepared for his 5 million option to be turned down. Theywerent going to spend close to 10 million on two left-handed relievers, were they? But a few hours later, Affeldt received word. He was coming back,too. Its the ideal scenario, Lopez said. We were bothexpecting itd be one or the other. Its a lot of money to commit to two guysand we understand that. We were keeping in contact and seeing how thenegotiations were going. Once the Giants stepped up with a multiyear deal in linewith his market value, Lopez lost all interest in playing the market. He hasbeen a part of six major league organizations. He didnt want to join a seventhjust for the thrill of chasing a few more dollars behind Door No. 2 assuming they were out there. You know what it was? The high of 2010 lingered for me,said Lopez, who gave up one hit and one walk in nine appearances that magicalpostseason. This was a special group of guys and I knew so many of them wereunder team control. Playing here is something I really enjoy. Its really toughto keep a bullpen together and the Giants have done a great job with that. Tobe able to show up and fall into the same rhythm was a major factor in wantingto come back. Giants GM Brian Sabean said the impetus to throw cash atboth lefty relievers was simple: The bullpen is a deciding factor with all the tight,one-run games within the NL West. Closer Brian Wilsons uncertain elbowplayed into the decision, too. Willy at the end of the year crashed and burned, Sabeansaid earlier this month. We went conservative with his rehab, and the bullpenwas one of our strengths the last three years. Not knowing if Willy would be atfull strength at the beginning of the year, how could we weaken that bullpen? Affeldt and Lopez pitched in a lot of high leveragesituations. We didnt want to break that up, and we didnt think (Dan) Runzlerwas ready to take over for one of them. As its been pointed out, the Giants could have let bothrelievers walk and used that money to sign Carlos Beltran. But they had noassurance that Beltran would want to return. At minimum, Sabean knew the All-Staroutfielder would want to wait until deeper into the offseason to flesh out allmarket possibilities. Thats a timeline that didnt fit the Giants, who couldnteternally hold up trades for Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan. And Lopez was ready to do business. Obviously, you want to set yourself up for the best dealout there, Lopez said. But a lot of it is being comfortable, too, and Ive beenthe new kid in school. Its the way of life as a reliever, and its not alwaysthe best feeling. It doesnt hurt to play in front of a packed house, either. Youll often hear players say they work their whole careersto get to free agency. But there are no guaranteed roses at your feet. Take Cody Ross, the 2010 NLCS MVP. After a stressful winterof negotiations, he ended up signing a one-year, 3 million deal with theBoston Red Sox. Hell go to Fenway Park, hoping to put up numbers and puthimself in a better position for next winter. Ross could have returned to the Giants, where he'll always be cheered. The club had reached out to him on a one-year dealearlier in the offseason, but he wanted three. Thats a mistake a lot of players make, said Bochy, answering a general question about free agency without mentioning Ross. They want to play itout. I dont want to mention names, but it ends up being detrimental to theirsituations. Its all about being where you want to be. Javy wanted tobe here, Brian was very fair and we got it done. I think thats the way itshould be more often. The Giants bullpen was second in the majors with a 3.04 ERA, and it wasn't just a pretty number. Lopezand Sergio Romo allowed Bochy to get favorable matchups in the late innings. Affeldtshard stuff played against either lefties or right-handers, making him aversatile piece. Theyre vital to our success, Bochy said. Javycomplements Sergio so well and Jeremy I can use in the seventh, eighth orninth. Having two left-handers, you arent worried about when to fire your onebullet. They have great stuff and theyve had tremendous success.Whether managing a bullpen or entering free agency, the key is knowing when to pull the trigger.


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Israel's Finance Ministry Proposes New Tax for Developers Who Delay Construction
The 'delayed construction levy' is meant to add several thousand new homes in the short term and to push housing prices down.
Builders would face a new tax if they delay construction due to economic considerations, as part of a Finance Ministry plan to increase the housing supply...
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text:
it Out in Writing
Getting to know patients for the first time and then
watching some die has a powerful effect on medical students.
These three found their outlet at their laptops
By Dan Munoz, Troy Madsen and Michelle A. Petrovic
and Desires
Heart failure is a serious and growing problem. When drugs
don't work, devices implanted in the heart do.
By Anne Bennett Swingle
Send it to Epstein
Prostrate cancer cells are among the toughest to analyze.
Pathologist Jonathan Epstein has deciphered more than anyone
else in the world.
By Janet Farrar Worthington


text:
SHR on Hip-Hop, Phat and Portion Control
Check out SHR talk about Hip-Hop, Phat and Portion Control right here.
Let's face facts: in the world of hip-hop, how much we eat isn't on the forefront of what is being discussed when the next blunt is being rolled. Guys like Rick Ross proudly sport man-breasts in video shoots—the kind of breasts that trans-gendered individuals pay big bucks to get. Look, I'm not interested in cutting down Mr. Ross or anyone else in rap. I want to uplift the hip-hop race and spread words of encouragement. How much you and me and she eats has a profound effect on the lives of ALL OF US. If you don't take care of yourself, you might wind up in the hospital. And if all you eat is the fare on the Dollar Menu, it's probably because you're poor. And if you're poor, you probably can't afford health insurance (which is like, most of America), and if you can't afford health insurance, we all wind up paying for your trip to tubes-up-your-ass land. Plus, you know, the medicines are all way over priced because they've gotta supposedly pay for all of the research that went into creating those tiny little bite-sized miracles.
Hip-hop: finding a way to make health more of a priority is in order, and we've got to look at the way we consume food and the consequences of said consumption. We've gotta step up and take some responsibility here. I'm not telling you to lay off the Dollar Menu. I'm just saying that you might wanna not hit up the Dollar Menu every day, twice a day. Sorry, Ronald. Not tryna knock your hustle or anything, but hip hop has been poppin' and lockin' in your commercials for far too long and now our bellies are locked into a senseless war that is based on fat, not phat.
Enter 80 Bites, an app that encourages you to do just that: take eighty bites of food a day. The philosophy here is that 80 Bites is all you need to live a healthy life. It's a radical concept, and if it's too radical for you, the bigger message is: STOP EATING SO MUCH, YOU GREEDY BASTARD. Ok, ok, "greedy bastard" might be a bit harsh. Think about those around you—your loved ones and the tax payers. Think about yourself, too. Your quality of life. There's so much to live for. You deserve a break today.
And P.S.: if you're on Rick Ross' team, don't just nod your head in an effort to eat off of his plate and stay in good grace. Encourage that man to get in shape. Because if he doesn't, he might not be around to feed you much longer. Rap has lost too many greats on account of being out shape. Buffy from the Fat Boys R.I.P. Big Pun R.I.P.
Head over to the 80 bites website for more info.


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The Orioles have a later reporting time today after last night's debacle. May as well let the players catch a few hours sleep before they try to catch a fly ball.
Former Orioles left-hander Bruce Chen is starting for the Royals, which means manager Buck Showalter will break out his right-handed lineup.
Taylor Teagarden will catch today, and Showalter must decide whether to use Matt Wieters as the designated hitter or give him the day off. Lew Ford will start in left field. Mark Reynolds most likely will start at first base.
You know who will be starting at third base. That's a slam dunk.
Does Robert Andino get the start at second base over Omar Quintanilla?
Chen is 2-2 with a 5.26 ERA in five career starts against the Orioles.
Nick Markakis is 6-for-12 with two doubles lifetime against Chen. Adam Jones is 6-for-13 with a home run and five RBIs. J.J. Hardy is 4-for-8 with three RBIs. Reynolds is 3-for-5 with a double.
Tommy Hunter is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two career starts against the Royals, both at Kauffman Stadium.
Hunter has surrendered 26 home runs this season.


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Category: Music
Seller: IK Multimedia
Requirements: iOS 3.1.3 or later
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
File Size: 44.9MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $19.99
Age Rating: 4+
VocaLive bills itself as "The first professional vocal live performing and recording processor for the iPhone." That's something to consider, because although VocaLive is fun to use, it's not meant to just be for fun. It's very powerful and has a lot of features. As, such you're going to need a strong knowledge of audio to really get the most out of the app.
VocaLive serves as both an effects processor and a recorder. With your $20 purchase, you get one recording track. For an in-app purchase of $4.99, you can buy Recorder, which will expand this to four tracks for backing vocals and harmonies. I'm not sure I fully understand why IK Multimedia didn't just roll this in and charge $25 for the initial purchase, as only providing one track up front hamstrings the recording process. If you intend to use this for recording vocals, plan on spending $25. If you just want the effects, you're good at $20.00.
Now, let's talk about the effects. You get the pitch fix, choir, morph, de-esser and double vocal effects built into your purchase, along with seven studio effects: reverb, delay, parametric EQ, compressor, chorus, phazer and envelope filter. These can be used in conjunction with one another to create a rather impressive little portable vocal studio, provided you also have a decent microphone (which I'll get to in a bit).
To activate one of these, tap the FX button in the top icon row and then select the desired effect. Tapping Pitch Fix, for example, will pull up the pitch fix interface icon, which you can turn on and off with the button next to the icon. Tap the blue arrow to the right, and you get the full controller, which you can use to adjust the mode, scale, key, etc.
The button controls are fine, but the knobs are awkward to use. IK Multimedia compensates for this by allowing you to tap the knob and then adjust the setting by sliding or tapping the level indicator at the right of the interface, but there's little to indicate which knob is active. Adding a glow to the active knob would solve this problem and still fit in with the interface.
That minor gripe out of the way, you really can see just how powerful VocaLive is here. Select your key, select how much fixing you'll need, then sing away. Select soft, and you'll just get some barely distinguishable adjustments, provided you're close to begin with. Select hard, and you'll sound like Rebecca Black, but at least you'll be in tune. When you get a setting here (or in any of the effects) that you particularly like, you can save it as a preset for easy recall later on.
The other effects are generally handled the same way, and there are far too many to cover in detail here. I had a demo of VocaLive at Macworld Expo 2011 and another over the phone while working on this review. You likely won't have those options, but a downloadable PDF manual is now available at the IK Multimedia website.* Before, you could only access this manual by tapping the question mark icon inside the app. In addition, registering the app will give you access to their mobile website that offers details on VocaLive's many features.
When you're ready to record, VocaLive gives you a cassette recording interface to write into one track if you just have the $20 version or four tracks if you ponied up the extra $5. The interface is easy to understand here if you're familiar with tape recording, but again, you'll want to access the help options to work your way through the nuances. Once you've got it down, recording your own harmonies with the four track version is a joy.
Once the recording is done, you can export the track for additional processing or use in GarageBand. However, there's no direct integration with GarageBand; you'll have to export from one and import into the other, rather than kick it straight over from directly within the app.
I do want to make you aware of some other nice features, including vocal warm-ups and a metronome to help you prepare for your recording session or performance. You can also import your favorite songs and use the vocal cancel feature to basically go karaoke. Depending upon the track your using, VocaLive will range anywhere from okay to surprisingly effective at pulling off this trick.
And finally, you can record into VocaLive directly with your iDevice microphone, but that would just be silly. These are professional level features, so you should be using a quality external mic. IK Multimedia will, of course, recommend their iRig Mic, and I do to. Check out our iRig Mic review for full details.
VocaLive demands a lot of power out of your iDevice, and is therefore prone to crashes. During testing, if I powered down my iPhone 4 or iPad 2 and turned it back on before launching VocaLive, I never had a problem. If I forgot, it would occasionally shut itself down. That's something to consider, as it could kill an otherwise productive recording session.
Also, VocaLive needs an iPad version. The interface looks terrible in X2 zoom mode, but you'll want to do that anyway to make the buttons easier to use.
Still, whether you're aiming to record music, add cool effects to your podcasts or bring some impromptu karaoke to your next party, VocaLive can handle it. Consider it GarageBand for vocalists.
Buy VocaLive
* Update (4/18/11): After we posted the initial review, IK Multimedia pointed us to their downloadable manual and in-app help system. As such, we updated the review to reflect help availability, and altered our rating (originally 4 out of 5) to account for the removal of our main complaints in the original review.


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When I first learned of the concept of making your own fruit leather, I was completely wowed. 'That's the kind of thing you have to buy in the stores since you probably need special equipment,' I thought. Well, can you believe that all you need is an oven, parchment paper, and some sauced or pureed fruit? You don't even need a dehydrator! I had no idea it was that simple.
The preparation portion of making your own fruit leather can be really quick, too, if you have the sauce all ready to go.
Homemade fruit leather is so nutritious, much better than any commercial brands you could buy in a box as homemade roll ups have minimal ingredients. I also love that you know what ingredients are going into the food you are consuming!
You can use raw pureed fruit or sauced fruit to make your homemade fruit roll-ups. I have food processed nectarines with the skins on them for fruit leather. I've also made pear leather, apple pear leather, strawberry pear leather, and blackberry (with the seeds) pear leather. You can mix and match your choice fruits to make fun combinations!
Peel off, and use kitchen sheers or a pizza cutter to cut into edible segments. Great for gift giving, as a healthy snack or dessert. Below I used parchment paper to wrap them.
Homemade Fruit Leather in the Oven
- 1 3/4 C apple sauce (or the fruit sauce, or blended fruit of your choice)
- 1 T cinnamon, optional
- dash of cloves, optional
- dash of nutmeg, optional
- parchment paper
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
- Cover a lipped baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix all ingredients, and spread as evenly as possible on the baking sheet.
- The thicker parts will not dry as well, so really try to even the sauce out.
- Bake for 4-6 hours, rotating the pan every hour.
- Peel off, and use kitchen sheers or a pizza cutter to cut into edible segments.
Have you ever made your own apple sauce before? It's really so easy!!
And apple butter is just as easy, but requires just a bit more time.


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The Obama recovery is certainly creating plenty of jobs. Get 2 or 3 while you can.
Good news everyone. There are plenty of new jobs being created. And by plenty, we mean hardly any.
The headline numbers for the May jobs report are about what you would expect for a New Normal economy stuck in 2% growth mode: 175,000 net new jobs last month, the unemployment rate ticking up to 7.6%. No broad signs of acceleration; just the opposite.
It's a recovery. A recovery consisting of low end minimum jobs that the Gang of 8 Amnesty would swallow in less than 5 minutes.
And what kind of jobs are being created? As economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research points out, job growth was again narrowly concentrated, with the restaurant sector (38,100 jobs), retail trade (27,700) and temporary employment (25,600) accounting for more than half of the job growth in May. Baker: "These are all low-paying sectors. It is worth noting that the job growth reported in these sectors is more an indication of the weakness of the labor market than the type of jobs being generated by the economy. The economy always creates bad jobs, but in a strong labor market workers don't take them."
The Obama recovery is certainly creating plenty of jobs. Get 2 or 3 while you can.


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New Zealand 22-0 Australia, Rugby Championship
Deans: Wolves are at my door
ESPN Staff
August 25, 2012
New Zealand dominated the Wallabies at Eden Park © Getty Images
Australia head coach Robbie Deans admitted the wolves would be at his door following the Wallabies' 22-0 defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park.
Fly-half Dan Carter kicked five penalties and a conversion while Israel Dagg scored the game's only try as the All Blacks claimed back-to-back wins over Australia in the Rugby Championship, retained the Bledisloe Cup and nilled the Wallabies for the first time since 1962.
Asked if there ''would be now more wolves at your door in Australia?'' He said: ''No doubt. We're not the No.1 side in the world, and it's pretty evident who is.''
Deans added: "It's not about me. It's about the team and what we do," he said. "We are at the front end of the Rugby Championship, and we now reset our sights on South Africa and Argentina. It [his future] is the last thing on my mind at the moment. It's about the team. We have to now pick it up and carry on.
''It was an outstanding performance by the All Blacks. They gave a masterclass in rugby. I don't think any side in the world would have stayed with them tonight, including ourselves, obviously. The All Blacks are relentless, so well-conditioned, and no matter which channel you go down they're at you. To give it credit to our group, it was remarkable that we only leaked one try."
Captain Will Genia added: "We got touched up. We got taught lessons in many facets of the game," Genia said. "We weren't clinical enough. You've got to give them credit. They put pressure on you and forced us into making mistakes."
The All Blacks' victorious skipper Richie McCaw highlighted his side's defensive display in nilling the Wallabies and hinted the Kiwis would be expecting further improvements as they continued their pursuit of the inaugural Rugby Championship title.
"It was not perfect, but we'll take it," McCaw said. "(We've got) the Bledisloe Cup for another year. I'm very proud with the way the guys did their work. I thought we showed what we were made of when we didn't have the ball."
"With guys like Will and Quade, they are top footballers. If you allow them room they can be pretty dangerous. You got to have good mindset, get up and knock them over. I thought there was a period there were we defended our line well and got the turnovers. I think you get into trouble if you attempt to create turnovers from nothing."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Communication error please reload the page.


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Food Fight
Kenn Nesbitt
It started off so innocent
when someone threw a bun,
but all the other kids decided
they should join the fun.
It instantly turned into
an enormous lunchroom feud,
as students started hurling
all their halfway-eaten food.
A glob went whizzing through the air,
impacting on the wall.
Another chunk went sailing out
the doorway to the hall.
The food was splattered everywhere—
the ceilings, walls, and doors.
A sloppy, gloppy mess was on
the tables and the floors.
And so our good custodian
ran out to grab his mop.
It took him half the afternoon
to clean up all the slop.
Text © Kenn Nesbitt, reprinted from When the Teacher Isn't Looking published by Meadowbrook Press. Illustration © Mike Gordon. Any copying or use of this poem or illustration without consent is unlawful.


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The Door To Doom
Near the Yacht club, between it and the construction site.
Photo 2 in a photo essay. Slightly edited for saturation, brightness/contrast, and levels.
The river gets contaminated mostly the urban runoff, trash blown away by the wind, or plastic that people just leave everywhere. Runoff can also include chemical contaminants from fertilizers, pesticides, motor oil, and other things that get washed into storm drains when it rains. Many places get most of their pollution during the rainy season. Though on most days the beaches and coastlines are in excellent condition, it is not quite perfect. While it is not as bad as Los Angeles or Orange County, where 1.5 million people get sick each year, there are a lot of places that are not the healthiest for people. 11th grade students on the Davidson-Scherer team from High Tech High Media Arts tested the waters of many areas, including the San Diego Rivermouth and a site at Fashion Valley, which is along the river. They found on October 12, the San Diego Rivermouth nearly exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for E. coli levels but on November 2 it actually did. And on October 27 the total coliforms level at Fashion valley exceeded the EPA standards.


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Comment #2 Saturday, July 19, 2014 4:42 PM
Thank you neone6. Sometimes updates can be a little tricky. I just do them and hope for the best.
Comment #3 Saturday, July 19, 2014 7:32 PM
Always cool colors and design from you. Great work from me also.
Comment #10 Tuesday, July 22, 2014 12:02 AM
Your welcome TheAngeldove. Thank you for your comment.
Comment #11 Tuesday, July 22, 2014 8:19 PM
How do you get the small icons on the left of the taskbar?
Comment #12 Tuesday, July 22, 2014 10:13 PM
bnorcutt those are the quicklaunch buttons. I'm running 8 and did a search on how to bring the quick launch back into 8. If you are running 8, I can give you the link. If not, I believe in 7 they appear a little larger.
Comment #13 Wednesday, July 23, 2014 7:47 PM
Got it. Thanx!
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Let's celebrate our famously hot local tomatoes, shall we?
(Images by Kara Shavo unless otherwise credited.)
Want to volunteer at the festival? Click here to sign up for a shift and a job:
Heirloom Tomato Tastings
The event will feature side-by-side tastings of commercially bred and raised tomatoes vs. locally grown heirloom varieties. Tasting is free and open to all ticketholders!
|Image: EDonohue
Tasty Food & Drink by Top Artisan Producers
We'll also have music, food (including the Bone-In Artisan Barbecue on Wheels truck!), a cash bar with SC-brewed beer and more, a special early potluck, compostable party supplies wherever possible, games (see below), a Homegrown Tomato Contest and more!
The fabu kids art area courtesy of S & S Art Supply on Main St. returns!
Love S & S like we do? Join them in their emergency fundraising efforts!
The Return of Tomato Bobbing and Tomato Skee-Ball!
Tomato bobbing was a huge hit with the kids (and some adventurous adults) last year, and we were blown away by the popularity of the Chuck the Commercial Tomato Toss (a.k.a. Tomato Skee-Ball)!
Advance Discount Tickets
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Supporter tickets for 4:30pm tomato potluck are $20 (advance only; see below). Children under 12 free. We do expect pre-sale discount tickets to sell out, so hop on it today!
Tickets available online here:
Special Tomato Potluck for "Supporters" at 4:30pm
Also available (in advance only) is a special Supporter Ticket for $20. Supporters have the option to participate in a pre-festival Tomato Potluck Dinner from 4:30 - 5:30PM. Supporters bring a potluck tomato dish to share! Pre-sales for these tickets will end on Friday, July 15.
Enter the Homegrown Tomato Contest!
We'll be giving prizes in categories like "Best Red Tomato," "Best Non-red," "Best Unusual," "Best Small Tomato" and "Best Grown by a School/Church/Community Garden." To enter the Homegrown Tomato Contest, email or call Ryan Nevius at 803-381-8747 or firstname.lastname@example.com
Free 9pm Film Screening: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
Bring your camp chairs and picnic blankets; when it gets dark, we're going to show the legendary cult film, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! Screening is free and a very casual affair.
The Venue: City Roots Urban Sustainable Farm!
We have once again rented City Roots Urban Sustainable Farm, located at 1005 Airport Blvd Columbia, SC 29205 (adjacent to the Hamilton/Owens Downtown Airport). Come see the chickens and pesticide-free vegetables growing right in our city!
Join us!
Do you love tomatoes, music, good food + drink and old time festival fun? Passionate about living a sustainable lifestyle here in the Midlands and beyond? Come celebrate local food and the TOMATO, champion of the home garden!
Buy your tickets, you famously hot tomatoes, you. Why not?
See you there!


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I have now received 2 separate emails from fellow shoppers and heard from 2 store employees about a
new problem that has been occurring in the couponing world. I never really thought I needed a separate post about this, but I keep hearing about different issues. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but you may want to read my previous posts on Ethicial Couponing, Courteous Couponing and Illegal & Inconsiderate Couponing.
The "new" problem? Returning products for the sake of making money.
Let me first say that I don't think you should not be able to return a product for something you purchased using a coupon. Maybe you purchased the wrong item, realized you didn't need/like the item or have any other legitimate reason for returning something. I'm talking about when you make a purchase with the intent of returning the item to get back more than you paid.
A couple of examples:
- You go to the store and purchase a Swiffer Duster and refill. You use a buy a duster, get a free refill coupon. You go back and return the duster just because you wanted to get the refill free.
- You head to Walgreens and purchase a bottle of Baby Magic Body Wash advertised as "free after Register Reward". You later return the baby wash and keep the Register Reward because you only wanted the RR.
Again, I'm talking about when you go to the store and purchase the item just to be able to keep the Register Reward or to get free swiffer dusters.
Please remember that stores DO notice when people are doing this. Yes, the store is still getting reimbursed for the value of the coupon by the manufacturer. However, verification may be made against the number of coupons redeemed and the quantity of an item the store purchased*. Further, we don't want stores to view coupon users as seeking to take advantage of coupon policy. We
want need stores to continue to be coupon friendly.
Additionally, we don't want stores to start making shoppers jump over hurdles to return an item. Yes, we have already seen changes in many store coupon policies as a direct effect of a certain coupon show. Let's not add to more negative changes.
*Read more about the Life Cycle of a Coupon
Please remember to use your "big girl words" for any comments whether you agree or disagree with this post.


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Promoting French in Europe
The Europe of 27 is made up of 202 regions and 23 official languages shared by 493 million citizens, of whom 70 million are French speakers and 12 million are learning French. This mosaic of peoples, cultures and languages is a living laboratory of cultural and linguistic diversity on a global scale.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is fully aware of the issues at stake and is actively engaged in promoting both multilingualism and the French language in Europe.
MAE policy is to encourage our European partners to develop compulsory teaching of two modern languages in their national education systems and, more specifically, to consolidate bilingual French education schemes in secondary and higher education. This it does through cooperation on in-service teacher training: accreditation of examiners for French certification of French as a foreign language, based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and the use of digital technology, all designed to make the teaching of French more attractive.
The multiannual plan for French in Europe
If French is to remain a language of international communication, its position within European Union institutions must continue to be assured. In 2002, France signed a Multiannual Action Plan for French in Europe with the French-speaking Community of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the International Organisation of la Francophonie (OIF). If French is to be used more widely within the EU, then it must be taught to non-French speaking civil servants transferred to Brussels from member States and, in view of possible enlargement, to those from EU neighbours.
French teaching is provided in national capitals and in Brussels itself, for specialist audiences; interpreters and translators, administrators, diplomats and civil servants, naturally, but also for journalists and students at diplomatic academies working closely with European institutions.


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Airfare to St. Kitts & Nevis
Frequent service into the country makes finding discount airfare into St. Kitts & Nevis possible, but it's still not easy. The main entry point is the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport just northeast of Basseterre on the island of Saint Kitts. There are quite a few options for getting there, with many more in high season.
Which airlines have flights to St. Kitts & Nevis?
US Airways and Delta have flights into the islands in season, but American Airlines tends to dominate this route. American flies directly from Miami and other hubs, as well as from their main Caribbean hub in Puerto Rico. From Puerto Rico they use their commuter subsidiary American Eagle for the frequent flights into St. Kitts.
XL Airways flies from London, and Skyservice flies from Toronto in season. Overall, American Airlines usually has the most service and the lowest airfare.
Saving money on your flight to St. Kitts & Nevis
The peak season and highest prices through the entire region are found during the weeks from Christmas to early January. If you want to come then, then booking well in advance is your only hope. If you have flexibility you can usually get lower airfares in early December and in April. And if you are coming on short notice your best bets are usually flights on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, since weekends tend to fill up first.
For more information on St. Kitts & Nevis, check out BootsnAll's St. Kitts & Nevis Travel Guide.


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Comment #2 Tuesday, December 11, 2012 11:08 AM
Good , but Could ve been insanely good.... You should worked with it even longer I think.
Comment #3 Tuesday, December 11, 2012 12:45 PM
Got tired... was a week of going back to it with more ideas!! Hell .. It was getting gaudy!
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text:
Decision makers
- Walmart
- Doug McMillonPresident and CEO, Walmart International
- Bill SimonPresident and CEO, Walmart U.S.
- Robson WaltonChairman of the Board of Directors
- Fred Bedore
- Mike DukePresident and Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Speak Out Against Walmart's Cruelty to Pigs
Do you think it's acceptable to cram an animal into a crate so small she can't even turn around, lie down comfortably, walk, run, play, or engage in other basic behaviors? Walmart does.
In fact, the pork sold at Walmart comes from factory farms where pregnant pigs spend nearly their entire lives locked in narrow, metal gestation crates—cages barely larger than their own bodies.
How do I know? Because I've seen it with my own eyes. I am an investigator with Mercy For Animals, and for more than two months I worked undercover at Christensen Farms, a factory farm that supplies pork to Walmart. The misery and abuse that I witnessed at this factory farm will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Thousands of pregnant pigs were confined to barren metal crates barely larger than their own bodies. These pigs could not turn around. They could not walk. They could not even lie down comfortably. I saw pigs with open wounds and bloody pressure sores from rubbing against the bars of their metal cages or lying on hard concrete. Pigs would constantly ram their heads against their tiny stalls or spend day after day, hour after hour, biting the bars of their cages out of frustration. These intelligent and social animals would go insane from boredom and stress.
While all of the abuses I witnessed at Christensen Farms were horrific, the use of gestation crates for pregnant pigs is perhaps the cruelest factory farming practice in the world. In fact, gestation crates are so cruel they have been banned in nine US states, as well as in the entire European Union.
Recognizing their inherent cruelty, major food providers, including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Chipotle, and major grocery retailers, including Safeway, Kroger, Kmart, Costco and Whole Foods, have all started demanding their suppliers do away with these cruel crates. But Walmart continue to support blatant animal abuse by selling pork from suppliers who confine pigs in tiny crates.
I am asking that you help the pigs whose suffering I witnessed, as well as the millions of others across the nation who are subjected to similar abuses. Please take a moment to sign my petition urging Walmart to do the right thing and demand their pork suppliers stop confining pigs in cruel gestation crates.
Thank you.
Undercover Investigator
- Walmart
- Walmart
- President and CEO, Walmart International
Doug McMillon
- President and CEO, Walmart U.S.
Bill Simon
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
Robson Walton
- Fred Bedore
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Mike Duke
- President and CEO, Walmart International
Doug McMillon
I was shocked and horrified by the animal abuse recently documented on hidden camera by Mercy For Animals at one of your pork suppliers. I expected better from your company. The video shows pregnant pigs locked in narrow gestation crates so small they are unable to even turn around, walk, lie down comfortably, or engage in most other natural behaviors.
The treatment of pigs at your supplier is absolutely unacceptable. Common sense tells us that animals with legs should be able to walk, run, and exercise.
Your company has the power and the ethical responsibility to require your pork suppliers to phase out these inherently cruel gestation crates. Many of the country's largest grocery retailers and fast-food restaurants, including Costco, Safeway, Kroger, Kmart, McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's, have already done so. Further, nine US states have banned pig gestation crates.
What are you waiting for? It is time that your company takes a stand against animal abuse by ending the sale of pork from suppliers who confine pregnant pigs in these outdated and barbaric crates.
Until your company decides to do the right thing, I will be taking my business elsewhere.
Mercy For Animals started this petition with a single signature, and won with 645,229 supporters. Start a petition to change something you care about.
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TEHRAN, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Iran has made "good progress" in addressing outstanding issues surrounding its nuclear program.
"We are making good progress in resolving the remaining outstanding issues of the past," said Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Association.
Iranian officials said they disclosed to ElBaradei information on a "new generation" of centrifuges used to refine uranium more quickly than their predecessors during his mid-January visit to Tehran.
ElBaradei said his final report on the Iranian nuclear program will provide information on the development of centrifuges and enrichment activity at the Natanz nuclear facility, the FARS news agency reported Monday.
The nuclear chief side stepped questions about the impact his report would have on additional U.S.-backed sanctions imposed on Iran.
"The agency can carry out inspections and give guarantees about the past and the present, but we cannot read future intentions," he said.


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WASHINGTON — More than 350 economists have a signed a letter to President Barack Obama calling on him to nominate Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen to be the Fed's next chairman. The letter is designed to draw attention to Yellen amid signs that Obama is leaning toward nominating his former economic adviser Larry Summers.
The letter, whose signers include economists with past ties to Obama, says Yellen understands the relationship between monetary policy and economic growth. It says she possesses a "nuanced understanding" of labor markets and that she has demonstrated an ability to hear all points of view.
Obama is expected to announce his nomination as early as this month. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's term ends Jan. 31, 2014.
The White House declined to comment on the letter.


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September 22, 2005
| News
The California Assembly passed the California Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005 (SB 484). Now only Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to sign the bill for it to become law.
September 1, 2005
| Article
California Assembly Speaker pro tem Leland Yee introduced legislation that would establish minimum safety standards for pedicure equipment and ensure that salons have procedures to ensure proper, safer, and sanitary operation of pedicure spa equipment. T
August 24, 2005
| News
At least nine nail salons have been named in a lawsuit over pedicure-related infections that have afflicted salon clients in California's Santa Clara County, according to San Francisco's CBS 5 News.
June 29, 2005
| News
Paula Abdul was once again in the spotlight, only this time it was because of an infection she contracted at a high-end salon and not for her "American Idol" antics.
June 24, 2005
| News
After learning about the numerous amounts of clients who were contracting bacterial infections and leg lesions after visiting salons, California Assembly Speaker pro Tem Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/Daly City) knew he had to do something, especially since many of the cases were being reported in the Bay Area, where he is located.
April 1, 2005
| Article
More than 130 people in the San Jose, Calif., area have reported bacterial infections after receiving pedicures at several salons. Of those people, 19 have been confirmed to have a bacterial infection.
February 1, 2005
| News
Several San Jose, Calif.-area nail salons are currently under investigation after more than 50 people were affected by a bacterial infection after receiving pedicures.
November 1, 2004
| Article
What proposed changes in California could mean for the industry.
October 1, 2004
| Article
This is not the first time the board has been under assault, undergoing sunset reviews in 1997 and 2002 that resulted in name changes and changes in oversight.
August 1, 2002
| Article
After last year's bacterial outbreak in a Watsonville, Calif., salon, the California Bureau of Barbering and Cosmetology laid out cleaning regulations for salons using whirlpool pedicure footspas. Use this step-by-step guide to make sure you are getting your footspas clean enough to protect your clients.
January 1, 2002
| Article
If you're a nail technician in California, you'd better dispose of your nail files after using them on your clients, even if the file manufacturer claims they can be disinfected.
November 1, 2001
| Article
Nail files are being closely scrutinized in California, and manufacturers and nail technicians are crying foul. Is the state's regulating agency being fair in its seemingly sudden crackdown on proper file disinfection?
June 1, 1998
| Article
May 1, 1997
| Article
Last year, the DCA indicated, among other proposals, that it might lower educational requirements for cosmetologists.
June 1, 1995
| Article
California nail technicians recently receive a letter from a group of professional nail polish manufacturers describing what toluene, a solvent use in nail polish, is and what health effects it can have if user is overexposed.
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|2012-10-29, 05:36
|Link #37841
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
@ Senpai - Well, more like it's because of Mood Whiplash. I wanted to write a draft where Kazuma, Byaku, and Natasha's younger sister are trying to escape into the forest, but it just ends up making Byaku look jelly since Kazuma flirts without meaning to.
|2012-10-29, 05:42
|Link #37842
I am no one
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Inside your head
^ Wat
Actually, that would be good, I don't even know how to put emotion into draft anymore, the worst one of course the Rom com, the reason why I was unable to write the goddamn crossover properly.
|2012-10-29, 06:21
|Link #37843
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
@ Senpai - Long story short: Byaku makes it clear that she likes Kazuma, but he rejects her based on various reasons such as lifespan, not being able to feel love, clone issues and etc etc. Byaku gets jelly, however, when Kazuma seems to turn right around and flirt with Natasha's younger sister without a single sense of irony.
Get it?
|2012-10-29, 06:50
|Link #37846
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
@ Senpai - She's just as much a human as Kazuma is. He's not even actually flirting, mind. He talks with her alot since she's a walking info dump and he offers to give her a piggy back when she complains she's tired because they can't really afford to stop. He never offers Byaku the same offer on account of her being able to fly if she so much as thought about it, but she still gets pissy.
Oh, and most of Kazuma's excuses except the lifespan one are BS.
|2012-10-29, 07:15
|Link #37847
Just another Idiot
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Delusion world
Any way, like I say before: Depends on the creator of the armor
> D.I.Y. kind have wires sticking out
> Military kind usually go for simple design
> research prototype may be even simpler unless it is super prototype (then you use cool of fiction to make it cool)
Last edited by agetreme; 2012-10-29 at 08:02.
|2012-10-29, 10:43
|Link #37848
I am no one
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Inside your head
Hmm, probably do someting with Metal Wolf in spite of Blitz' objection, namely that it use a copy of every player's battle data over the course of three month, but most particularly, Dan, true elite mook indeed.
|2012-10-29, 15:09
|Link #37849
Just another Idiot
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Delusion world
See if you can get it
Spoiler for Joule Shepherd:
Is it too much for a hidden joke? (Can anybody even get the joke?).
Hint: It's in the name
Because it is a joke, I don't think I need to explain it....just an off-hand comments of stuff...
Meanwhile, other joke which you can enjoy:
Kyrios Machines inherited Aquarian Era's philosophy which happened to be:
Learn from Success.
What so bad about it? They never learn from their mistake.... result in very dangerous Bleeding Edge technology......
(Think I should change the title to Cores Of Bleeding Edge(CoBE): Escape from ISA!)
Prologue title: Invitation to Cake Party.
Chapter 1: Boxed him up and Shipped him out (Might change...Even though I kind of like that title)
Filler (In case I feel lazy to update): Six days of Joule Shepherd/introduction to Aquarian era's technology.
Interim Story (Will find a way to integrate it into chapter 1): Meet the pilot.
|2012-10-29, 16:08
|Link #37850
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Their Thunder Crash armor has shoulder, chest, back and torso protection, but no side body protection. For the legs, there's armor on the front of the legs; thigh areas and shins. No protection on the back thighs and calves (other than semi-skin tight leggins made out of Kevlar like material). As for the arms, there's really no armor plating, but there's sleeves that are made out of Kevlar like material.
Last edited by DarkJak2050; 2012-10-29 at 19:31.
|2012-10-29, 23:14
|Link #37852
Just another Idiot
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Delusion world
If you want to go for realistic, then go simple because Military don't do fancy stuff.
|2012-10-29, 23:20
|Link #37853
I am no one
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Inside your head
The diamond amongst the rocks indeed, doesn't mean the rock is bad, just that total hopelessness is not my cup
|2012-10-29, 23:42
|Link #37855
I am no one
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Inside your head
^ I mean it was as good as the darker segment of the story overall, most fic writer have hard time switching the mood properly without sacrificing the story's quality (especially bad writer like me)
|2012-10-29, 23:49
|Link #37856
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
DARK Future is supposed to have a giant downer ending, but I can't see it happening now that it's been bleached in Rom-com. Doesn't help that all my silent protagonists end up turning into deadpan snarkers.
How do ypu keep a character quiet and untalkative when it's so boring to do so?
|2012-10-30, 00:45
|Link #37857
I am no one
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Inside your head
^ I dunno, especially if they also unable to express anything.
Duke Togo of Golgo 13, for example... simply because he's so badass and so invicible that people keep watching, even though I think it's boring (40+ years as of now). To reiterate, he keep the same flat face when having sex, and THEN have some police find him in that state.
|2012-10-30, 01:14
|Link #37858
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Dude, their Thunder Crash armor is not powered. It's just armor for protection purposes. It does not enhance their fighting capabilities in anyway; other than protection. It's basically conventional armor but on a higher level and it offers no protection whatseoever against an IS.
The Silverbacks are the full body power armor they'll be using against the ISes. And when I mean by full body, I mean by they're fully encased in armor; their whole body's protected in armor. It enhances their fighting capabilities and has far superior protection than their Thunder Crash armor. Look here:
Thunder Crash armor: Non-Powered, yet higher level conventional semi-full body armor.
Silverback: Full body power armor, with far superior protection and fighting capability enhancements.
Basically, they're moving on from their Thunder Crash armor to the Silverbacks.
What I implied for the Silverbacks in their Beta Phase is how we as humans, first start out.
We all start out practically the same in the beginning; but as we grow older, we all grow differently from one another. Now apply that to the Silverbacks in the Beta Phase and when it gets out of it.
And you know what, forget about what I asked about getting designs for the Silverbacks (Out of Beta Phase) from you guys...
Didn't know that asking designs from you guys would cause this much trouble. And possibly taking this whole thing off topic...
Last edited by DarkJak2050; 2012-10-30 at 01:27.
|2012-10-30, 01:42
|Link #37859
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
@ Jak - Again, if you want advice, make things clear. Don't complain about others giving advice when you never specifically state things. At no point in your earlier posts do you say "It's how WE as humans start out."
Asking for advice and then complainign when you don't get the exact results you want is pointless. If you're already leaning on an exact result that you want, then its pointless to ask.
@ Senpai - Indeed, its very hard. Not too long ago I made characters who simply communicated with "..." in every conversation.
|fanfic ideas, fanfiction, ff.net, harem, is fanfic, warning fanfic spoilers, wincest
|Thread Tools


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Nazi-era Rape, Murder Case Reopens Old Polish Wounds
Probe into 71-year-old case involving rape and murder of 20 Jewish women spotlights Poland's mixed record during Holocaust.
Poland has just reopened a 71-year-old case involving the rape and murder of 20 Jewish women.
In the 1941 case — in the midst of World II, and two years after the Nazi invasion of Poland — six Poles allegedly beat the Jewish women to death with metal-tipped clubs outside the hamlet of Bzury, in northeastern Poland. Government prosecutor Radoslaw Ignatiew hopes to prosecute the killers, if they are still alive. He also hopes to discover the identities of the women and the location of their graves.
"There is no doubt that the murderers were Poles," Ignatiew told Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's largest newspaper, speaking of the newly reopened rape and murder case. Ignatiew represents the Institute of National Remembrance, which was established in 1998 to prosecute crimes committed during Nazi and Communist rule.
The women were taken from the ghetto established by the Nazis in Sczczuczyn, six miles from Bzury, on the false pretense that they were needed to tend a vegetable field. After they were raped and beaten to death, their bodies were dumped into pits in a forest.
These facts were brought to light with the recent discovery by Barbara Engelking, head of the Center for Holocaust Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences, of documents related to a 1950 government investigation of the Bzury murders. In a trial held back then, one man was convicted and sentenced to death. But according to court records, he was never executed and died in prison. Engelking's discovery has sparked the re-opening of the inquiry.
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Dalwhinnie is Scotland's highest malt whisky distillery and is also one of the remotest. It is located in the small village of Dalwhinnie in the central Highlands and stands at 326 metres (1070 feet) above sea level. The distillery was founded in 1897 by a trio of local businessmen and and many thought they were mad to choose the remote location in the Grampian mountains. Infact, they built Dalwhinnie at the crossroads of the two major trading routes in Scotland at that time - one running from Inverness to Edinburgh and the other running from Fort William to Aberdeen. The village grew up around the distillery and today attracts 25,000 visitors a year, despite its remoteness.
The current owners are Diageo, the global drinks company. They have placed Dalwhinnie in their 'Classic Malts' range, which showcases a definitive whisky from each of the whisky producing regions of Scotland. Dalwhinnie represents the central Highlands in the range and this has helped push the single malts in to the world's top 15 for sales, despite its small annual production of only one million litres a year. The core range reflects this and is limited to this 15 years old and a 'Distiller's Edition' which is 17 years old and has been matured in Oloroso sherry casks for the last two years.
The colour is golden and the nose is very promising and aromatic. It is packed with honey and vanilla with some sweet cereal grains coming through. On the palate, this is liquid gold - heaps of honey, a touch of something floral (think of heather), gorgeous vanilla, a hint of citrus (imagine orange and orange oil especially), something herbal (think of fresh green grass) and a lovely grainy maltiness. The finish is long and rounded with the sweet honey and vanilla becoming more sugary (imagine caramel) with just a hint of some heathery peat at the end. This is an extremely good dram that is sweet but without being over sweet and cloying in the mouth. It has a succulent yet refreshing quality that balances the sweetness and it would be a great whisky to have if you enjoy sweet dessert wines such as Sauternes or Tokaji. A bottle should cost around £30. I think Diageo were right - this really is a 'Classic Malt'. An excellent malt whisky.


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Wittenoom, Australia
A note to brave travelers wishing to walk along the lonely streets of Wittenoom, Australia's most notorious ghost town and the site of the country's largest industrial disaster that has claimed the lives of over 2,000 miners, visitors and former residents: Good luck finding it.
Situated in the vast landscape of the Pilbara region in Western Australia, Wittenoom has been virtually erased from the map with travel access cut off, government services and electricity severed and any indication that the once-prosperous asbestos mining town ever existed erased from roadway signage. And for those who do manage to find it, the Australian government recommends steering clear: "Travelling to Wittenoom presents a public health risk from exposure to asbestos fibres which may result in contracting a fatal disease, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis or lung cancer."
While the mine was shut down in 1966 after 23 years of business, it wasn't until 1978 that action to phase-down the town and relocate any remaining residents commenced. As of 2006, only a handful of residents remain.


text:
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text:
New Standard for America: 'It's Not That Bad'
I despise blackmail….it is the cowards way of profiting at the expense of someone's moral failure. Whatever we may think of the behavior of the one being blackmailed we should be equally outraged at those who would gleefully use bad news as a good investment.
Having said that, I also despise the steady lowering of acceptable public standards of behavior which is the result of our culture's embrace of relativistic thinking. The latest adherent to the "it's not that bad" mantra of morality is the New Jersey Pageant Board of Directors. Twenty-two year old Amy Polumbo, who is scheduled to represent the state of New Jersey in the Miss America Pageant later this year, was contacted by someone who told her if she didn't give up her crown racy pictures of her would be sent to the pageant committee. It turns out the despicable blackmailer picked the wrong victim and the wrong pageant committee. When word of the attempted blackmail leaked out, Miss Polumbo went on the offensive, refusing to give up her crown and vowing to publish the pictures herself after the pageant committee ruled on her case. The Committee looked at the pictures and agreed that although the pictures show her in "not a ladylike manner" they didn't rise to the level of requiring her to give up her crown. According to Mark Soifer, a representative for the Miss New Jersey pageant, the directors were unanimous in their decision.
I am glad the blackmailer was foiled and I applaud Amy Polumbo's refusal to be blackmailed but I am disappointed at the New Jersey Pageant Directors decision to lower the standard for contestants from respectable behavior to behavior that is "not that bad." But alas, that is the trend in our culture. I looked at the pictures and immediately the question came to my mind, "not that bad according compared to what?" Nudity would have been worse I suppose but how much worse? Two of the pictures show Miss Polumbo engaging in what can only be characterized as a drinking party with her friends. She is seen lifting, not a mixed drink or a beer or a glass of champagne, but a shot glass of what appears to be straight whiskey. Another photo shows her boyfriend biting her breast through her clothing while she smiles at the camera. She claims this particular picture was supposed to be a private moment but if that is true, someone should have informed the 25 or so people in the picture with her they should have gone home early. Another photo shows her with a different man (not her boyfriend) with his hand on her breast.
I suppose by today's agreed upon lowered standards these pictures are "not that bad." But I thought the purpose of pageant programs was to encourage a higher standard for their participants. By allowing Amy Polumbo to retain her crown the directors are endorsing her behavior as normal for a college student. Polumbo's mother, Jennifer Wagner, was said to be shocked when she saw the pictures but I guess after she had time to think about it her shock turned into "just normal college pictures." I wonder how many parents of aspiring Miss whatever's would be happy for their impressionable daughters to grow up and follow Amy's path to drinking parties and inappropriate sexual contact. Would most parents in America consider the pictures I have described as "normal college behavior?" Unfortunately for our culture's sake the answer is probably yes.
Polumbo defended her actions by admitting, "It's not in a ladylike manner. I'm not a robot. I'm a human being." Is that supposed to make us feel better? Are people who believe in a higher standard than engaging in irresponsible drinking and public simulated sex acts robots? I guess the new "not that bad" standard leaves us with the either or choice of being a robot or a human being. A robot is a mindless being which operates at the mercy of its programming. As human beings, we are supposed to have the moral capacity to rise above our basic instinctive programming. God has given us the ability to discern between right and wrong and the power to restrain ourselves from engaging in whatever behavior suits us at the moment. It is that ability that separates us from the animal (and the robot or mechanical) kingdom.
When Amy Polumbo found out her "not that bad" pictures would not cause her to have to forfeit her crown she said, "I want to thank the public. I also want to thank God for getting me through this." Since she introduced the idea of God into her situation by thanking Him for seeing her through her ordeal she might be interested to know how her assessment of His standards lines up with His Word. Timothy was probably about Amy Polumbo's age when Paul wrote to him, "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe" (1 Tim. 4:12 NASV, emphasis mine). That sounds like a much higher standard than "not that bad."
Dr. Tony Beam is Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville University in Tigerville, South Carolina.


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Robert LaPenta's 3-year-olds Miner's Reserve and Ice Box put in workouts Aug. 20 at Saratoga, with both colts from the barn of Nick Zito listed as possible for the $1 million Travers (gr. I) on Aug. 28.
With Calvin Borel aboard, Miner's Reserve breezed four furlongs in company with stablemate Gallant Fields, with the duo covering the distance in :48.35, ranked second among 31 work at the distance over the Oklahoma training track.
Zito has yet to commit Miner's Reserve to the Travers, wishing to assess the prospective field before making a final decision.
There are fewer question marks regarding the status of Ice Box, who took to the main track with Julien Leparoux in the irons. In company with Cool Coal Man, Ice Box breezed five furlongs in 1:00.09, the second fastest of 26 moves.
"It looks like he has a little more strength would be my guess," said Zito of Ice Box's condition following his sixth-place finish in the Haskell Invitational (gr. I). "It takes them a while to recover from (the Triple Crown) races. Hopefully he comes with a great run next weekend. If he runs to the Derby race he'll be right there."
Fly Down, trained by Zito for Richard C. Pell, is scheduled to have his final pre-Travers workout Aug. 21, either on the main track or the Oklahoma training track.
Training up to the Travers, Admiral Alex came onto the main track early in the morning for a six-furlong workout. With jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard, Admiral Alex started the first quarter in :24 2/5, passed three furlongs in :35 4/5, went five furlongs in 1:01 2/5, breezed six furlongs in 1:14.02, and then galloped out seven furlongs in 1:26 3/5.
"It was a beautiful work. He didn't break a hair," said owner-trainer Leon Blusiewicz. "He finished really well. He finished stronger than he started. That's what I wanted. Now, he'll just gallop into the race."
Admiral Alex will come into the Travers with just one start—a one-length maiden win at 1 1/8 miles at the Spa on July 31.
In addition, the Travers is expected to attract Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Super Saver , Jim Dandy (gr. II) winner A Little Warm, Afleet Again, Afleet Express, First Dude , Friend Or Foe , Steinbeck, Trickmeister , and possibly Pleasant Prince and Trappe Shot , who is also under consideration for the King's Bishop (gr. I).


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HARRIS COUNTY - Authorities have arrested a man suspected of shooting a Houston police officer at his Cypress home.
The Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force arrested Nelson Diaz late Tuesday night.
Investigators said they got a tip that Diaz was the shooter who busted down the door at the officer's home last Thursday.
That officer was shot in the leg during the incident. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Police said Diaz also had a warrant for aggravated assault in Georgia.
Officials said Diaz was one of two intruders during the home invasion. Police are still searching for the other suspect.
Copyright 2013 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Click Here to view this video.
RANKINGS: Class of 2014 - 2015 - 2016
It just so happens that Independence Day doubles as the birthday of four-star center Daniel Giddens. He got the fireworks started early by announcing his decision to attend Ohio State.
Article Continues Below
A product of Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler who ranks No. 37 in the class of 2015 Rivals150, the 6-foot-10 big men chose his birthday to make official what had long been suspected when he used his Instagram account to announce he would play for the Buckeyes.
Giddens also confirmed the news with Rivals.com.
"I love Columbus and University," said Giddens. "Coach Matta is a coach that I'm going to give my all to."
One of the premier big men in the rising senior class, Giddens has made his mark over the years as a sturdy defensive presence. However, if his recent play is any indicator of things, labeling him as just a defensive guy may be selling him short.
After hitting what seemed to be a bit of a lull in his development, the center has come to life of late. At the recent NBPA Top 100 Camp, he played much more aggressively on the offensive end than ever before. He showed that he can make 12 to 15 foot turnaround jump shots, ran the floor hard and looked bouncier around the rim than he has been in the past.
Physically ready to step in and compete in the rugged Big Ten conference, Giddens should provide a nice piece in the middle for Thad Matta and his staff as they continue to put together a very nice 2015 recruiting effort.
Giddens joins a class that already featured three members of the 2015 Rivals150. Shooting guard Austin Grandstaff from Texas ranks No. 30 overall and is one of the nation's deadliest shooters while fellow Texan Mickey Mitchell ranks No. 67 overall and is a hybrid four-star forward who can create off the dribble and has college ready strength. Rounding out the class is Ohio bred point guard A.J. Harris. Ranked No. 115 nationally, Harris is a tough as nails floor general who can stick a deep jumper and provides vocal leadership.
Eric Bossi is the national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
Click Here to view this Link.