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"People with disabilities are perfectly capable of having sex, having romantic relationships, and having one-night-stands."
When you Google documentary filmmaker Alexander Freeman, you'll find an attractive and impressive young artist. This writer, director, producer, and editor has been awarded Best Screenplay at the 2013 BOSIFEST in Serbia and his films have been chosen for Official Selection at the 2013 10th European Film Festival. Alexander was also born with cerebral palsy. His excellent 2013 feature documentary, The Last Taboo, probes inside the compelling lives of six individuals with various physical disabilities and shares their stories about finding intimacy, love, and sexuality. Nerve spoke with Alexander about the making of his film, his first ever sexual encounter, and challenges of being seen as sexy.
The Last Taboo is an extraordinarily moving film. What made you want make this documentary? Did you have a specific underlying issue with your sexuality?
I actually get this question a lot. At the time I was thinking about making The Last Taboo, I was struggling with my own sexuality. And I was very frustrated because I felt like no one was really seeing me in that way. I was feeling like a lot of people were doubting me. I felt like a lot of people were afraid of taking that first step and seeing what was possible. So in the summer of 2008, I met this girl who I was getting very close with and we went through a lot together. I think she saw that part of me that really hadn't been discovered yet.
Was she able-bodied?
Yes, she was.
In the documentary you say, "In order to understand yourself, you have to be able to experience the touch of another person." How old were you when you were first touched like that?
I was 21. So, I was in the middle of kind of a really weird transition in my life because I was transferring to a new school, and so she said that she wanted to come up and visit me at my school. She was really the first that really explored my sexuality. We were very close in a way that I hadn't got close to anyone before. So it really got me thinking about how people with disabilities are not seen as sexual. I realized it was a really big problem. I became determined to open people's minds up to the idea of getting involved with people with disability after my own experience.
It put this idea in my head and between 2008 and 2010 it's all I thought about. I decided to make a documentary that would really give voice to many people so that the world could know that not only is it possible, but that people with disabilities are sexy and are real and deserve to have the same sexual and romantic relationships as anybody else. During that time I didn't have the resources to make the film that I wanted, so in 2011 I transferred to another school, a film school. That's where I got a lot of the resources and that's where I was able to make the film that I had been thinking about for the last couple of years.
You interviewed a lot of people with a lot of different disabilities. What would you say was the overarching challenge of those you spoke to — was it to be seen as sexual, was it purely physical challenges?
That's a good question. I think the challenge is actually with able-bodied people. Because I think that it really has little to do with the disability of the person. I think it's that we are constantly getting barraged by the images and the messages in the media and we are told what we should find attractive. Constantly. So I think that a lot of people have a certain image of what a person should look like and what a certain person should feel like. I think that people don't normally associate people with disabilities as sexual because it doesn't quite match up to what they have in their minds.
So, really the challenge is getting able-bodied people to forget about every single thing they've been told by their friends or by the media and getting them to take a moment and say, "You know what? I'm going to see where this goes and I'm going to step outside of my comfort zone. I'm going to allow myself to go out with this person."
So, you're saying able-bodied people have to change.
I think more able-bodied people have to ask that question to themselves and be open to having relationships with people who might not line up with the guidelines that they have in their minds. It has nothing to do with the person's physical ability or challenges at all. People with disabilities are perfectly capable of having sex and perfectly capable of having romantic relationships and perfectly capable of having one-night-stands. We are capable of all of that. It's just the challenge is getting people to acknowledge that and say, "Yeah, you know, why not?"
Did any of the people that you interviewed have a sexual relationship with their aids? Did any make use of sex surrogates — like in that movie The Sessions?
Yeah! They did. There were two girls in the film, Erin and Lauren. Erin was actually the partner of Lauren but she was also Lauren's aid. I didn't get to interview any surrogates, although I am going to make a new film dealing with that. So, Erin was both the partner and aid of Lauren. There's actually a part in the film where they talk about, "Is it okay for an aid to help someone with masturbation?" But, you know, there must be lines that are drawn so that it's clear when the person is aiding the person or when they are doing – other things.
The Last Taboo: A Documentary (2013) from Alexander Freeman on Vimeo.
But what do you think?
My opinion on that is that it's a difficult issue, because on one hand the person is working for the other person with a disability. But there are certain ethical questions about that. My opinion is that if it's okay with the aid and the person with the disability, then I don't see anything wrong with it. My other feeling is, look, if there are certain things the person with the disability can't do or that they need help with, then I would say that it's fine to help out with things like that. I think your average able-bodied person [not just aids] should also consider this question of "Is this person sexual?" I think that people should take the first step and find out what is possible. Find out if they need help with that. I think more able-bodied people need to just go for it.
What about more recent depictions in the media. Do you think the prominence of RJ Mitte from Breaking Bad doing huge modeling campaigns has impacted the image of people with disabilities?
I do think that the presence of RJ Mitte in Breaking Bad is a wonderful first step to integrate people with disabilities into mainstream media and I was very impressed when I learned that RJ Mitte really does have cerebral palsy, but we need to see more characters like this.
Since making the film, have you felt better about your sexuality? Have you had more sexual experiences since the woman in 2008?
Yes [laughs]. I have. After the making the film, I just felt a great release unlike anything I have felt before. It felt very freeing to put this documentary out there. As a result of making the documentary, I actually had another experience with a woman very recently. We actually met because she saw the documentary and contacted me.
Oh wow.
You know, it's something that I was kind of hoping would happen [laughs]. I didn't actually think it would happen. It was kind of surreal. So she contacted me and I had more sex because of it. But this one was different because it was much more than one experience. We kind of got into a brief relationship. She saw another side to me that the first woman didn't. It went way deeper than my first experience. I was not thinking that that would happen at all.
Now I know what it's like to be with a woman and now I know what it's like to be in a relationship and that was something that I was really looking for. Unfortunately, we are not together anymore. But I really feel because of that it really validated myself. It really gave me the confidence that I needed. So I think as a result of this experience, I know what to do and what not to do now.
What types of things do you know how to do? Do you find certain types of sexual positions work best for you?
I definitely think doing it in my chair is great because it gives me stability and a lot more control over my body. Lying on my side and doing it from behind my partner is good. Also I've found that the shower works really well because my partner is able to be on top of me.
Are there any tools that people with disabilities use in the bedroom that we might not know about?
No, personally I haven't used any tools.
But you feel totally confident now.
I feel completely confident more than I ever have before. She was also able-bodied. They were both able-bodied. Did you hear that?
Yes! Two able-bodied women.
I really want to thank her and the girl who gave me my first experience. I really want to thank them so much because they saw who I was. They saw what I could do. They saw the potential. I think that most people need to do the exact same thing. I really think most people need to say, "Look I don't care that you have a disability. You are sexy, and you are fun, and you are a great guy or a great girl. I don't care. I'm going to go out with you. I am going to explore this side to you." That's what more people need to do.
That's so great to hear. Are you trying to meet anyone new? Online dating, maybe?
Yeah. I'm hoping to meet someone new. I'm not normally a fan of online dating. I was hoping that I'll have more [laughs] experiences and more opportunities like this.
Hey, some other girls might go on your website and see your picture and contact you again.
Hopefully. She actually said in the email, "I love your documentary. By the way, you're really cute." That made me feel wonderful. I'm hoping more people will take more initiative.
The Last Taboo was co-produced by Anne Scotina, Andrew Graham, Alexander Freeman, and Gabriella Iarrobio. The Last Taboo was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2013 BOSIFEST in Serbia and was chosen for Official Selection at the 201310th European Film Festival: Integration You and Me in Poland. The Last Taboo is also being distributed by Community Channel, a United Kingdom based channel covering 98 percent of homes in the United Kingdom. His work can be found on alexanderjamesfreeman.com and outcastproductions.biz.


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I LOVED mnb suggestion to run a blind application process!
I LOVED mnb suggestion to run a blind application process!
Last edited by YNOTNOW; September 4th, 2011 at 03:30 PM. Reason: ADD
[QUOTE=lackawanna #1;787049]
Getalife123 - Perhaps you should learn how to spell Superintendent correctly and become educated yourself before you bash people!
A simple typo....so what? Looks like YOU are trolling to pick a fight, urajoke.
Many of us are very disappointed in the reality show of the LSD employment agency that has replaced OUR once grand educational institution called Lackawanna High!
We will meet you at the polls this May for a show-down at the LA corral.... THE People voted down the 2011 Budget because they want OUR schools' family and friends monopoly to end.......and WE know this sent the powers to be reeling or they wouldn't have sent it back to the voters for another vote! HA! The LA School Budget was voted down 2X---NOT just once but TWICE, we might even have made history with that one! The money is there, just spend it more prudently is all WE ask.
They must Have struck a nerve and be onto something or YOU would NOT be offended by Getalife's statement of THEIR opinion on who should be held accountable for the black hole of uneducated kids coming from those halls!
Anyone EMPLOYED with TENURE by the LSD should have been hollering their heads off for decades about OUR beloved LA Schools steady spiral down into a ranking of "troubled schools". How SAD and EMBARRASSING to say the least! OUR failed school system affects EVERYONE in and from Lackawanna......LOTS of generational families still live here! And then where do some of THEIR kids go to school?-----OUTSIDE of LA, that's where..... because THEY do NOT want THEIR kids associated with the declining education! What an insult! The Charter School is hiring like crazy...................I wonder why?!?
Last edited by andreahaxton; January 23rd, 2012 at 10:59 AM.
Andrea, why dont you go get a Job at the charter school if the are hiring so much, with your so called qualifications you should be a shoe in for anything you apply for. Oh forget it you like welfare better. Only some one of you status could feel fulfillment by voting down a budget that hurts the kids and nothing more than cost people thier jobs. The people have spoken, your correct, they have spoken very loudly that they dont want YOU representing them, they and i are sik of you self cenetered egotistical bull****! How much school taxes do you pay?
LA School trolls can't dispute OUR arbitrary rankings done by Business First......should be out soon, maybe March. All schools are scored the same so no blame can be on Business Firsts' findings about us.
"No Child Left Behind"........HA! Lackawanna didn't even get out of the starting gate, OUR whole district was "Left Behind"! An almost $45mil Budget for appr. 1800 kids?!?
Who is kidding who?!? I am sooo glad Gov. Cuomo is getting onto the "troubled schools"!
So lets see...the budget gets voted down TWICE and no sports get cancelled, more aides get hired, but teachers get laid off.
Makes sense to me. Keep the ranking at 98 but hey, the football team won.
And that folks is why there will NEVER be change in Sunny LA!
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subset: commoncrawl


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Secret transcripts of the leaders' debate show that the veteran party and army leaders, headed by Deng Xiaoping, were enraged when the students went on hunger strike and erected a statue of "the goddess of democracy".
One said he was revolted by the statue, calling it "neither human nor demon".
Extracts will be published in New York tomorrow as the Tiananmen Papers, edited by the Andrew Nathan and Perry Link. They suggest that there was a real chance of peaceful dialogue between the party and the students until the prime minister, Li Peng, and other hardliners took advantage of the crisis.
"We can't confront the students with inflammatory or antagonistic propaganda anymore ..." the moderate politburo member Li Ruihuan argued earlier in the crisis.
"We should take a sober look at what has caused the strong rebellious streak in the popular mood in recent times. We said there would be no inflation, and then in fact inflation came."
Another, Tian Jiyun, urged "effective measures to clean up government and to accelerate our steps towards democracy."
The documents - amounting to about 15,000 pages in English - are said to have been brought out of China on computer disc by a disaffected official who wishes to "open up the question" of what happened in June 1989.
Some China specialists believe the operation is backed by reformers who want to tilt the balance against the hardliners, including Mr Li, before important party and state congresses in 2002-03, when new leaders will be selected.
The events of June 1989 are still not discussed in China, and many younger Chinese have no clear idea of what happened. Revelations published abroad are likely to circulate on the internet, despite official attempts to block access.
The documents confirm that Mr Li fully earned the epithet of "Butcher of Beijing" for the June 3-4 massacre.
He alarmed the aged leaders by telling them that Taiwanese and CIA agents were manipulating the students, and describing the mainly peaceful protest against the army as a "counter-revolutionary riot".
On June 3 he argued that the troops should be "authorised to use any means necessary to deal with people who interfere with the mission [of occupying Tiananmen Square]".
Deng, although he had officially retired from office after promoting China's post-Mao economic reforms, had the final say as the crisis developed.
Professor Nathan says in an introduction that at first Deng "seemed willing to consider anything, so long as the students were somehow cleared from the square in time for [a visit by the] Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev". But the students announced their hunger strike and their protest spread to other provinces, completely over-shadowing the intended diplomatic triumph.
Deng then denounced the democracy sought by the students as "western-style stuff", and said the unrest would lead to civil war. "If our one billion people jumped into multi-party elections we would get chaos like the 'all-out civil war' we saw during the [1966-76] cultural revolution."
A politburo standing committee meeting at his home on May 17 was divided by his proposal to declare martial law. The moderate party secretary-general, Zhao Ziyang, warned: "One more big political mistake might well cost us all our remaining legitimacy."
Deng and the elders, entitled to intervene in the event of a committee stalemate, had no hesitation in approving martial law.
"Give them no mercy!" the retired general Wang Zhen exploded. "These kids don't know how good they have got it. When we were their age we lived in a forest of rifles and a rain of bullets ... If the students don't leave Tiananmen on their own, the People's Liberation Army should go in and carry them out."
Mr Zhao quickly became the scapegoat. He was secretly replaced by the Shanghai party boss Jiang Zemin, now president and supreme leader.
Though the troops were ordered to fire only in the last resort, they deliberately shot protesters and bystanders as they moved towards the square that evening. They seem not to have fired in the square itself, but many were killed on the approach roads.
"Infantrymen led the way, firing into the air," the army reported to the leaders. "Then the soldiers - with the first two rows in a kneeling position and those in back standing - pointed their weapons at the crowd."
"At 10.30pm, under a barrage of rocks, the troops opened fire."
The documents make it clear that the senior leaders were kept fully informed, contrary to speculation at the time. The state security ministry reported that "some soldiers lost their self-control and fired wildly as people shouted 'fascists' and threw stones".
The documents put the death toll in the region of 200 - fewer than most estimates, though independent scholars no longer believe claims that "thousands died".


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It's also very bright and flashy. You can chain attacks, use combos, or just mash to heart's content, and different weapons come with different attack speeds and combos. But the combat's really only as involved as you want it to be, though it's very rewarding the better you get at it.
The final bit of customisation you can enjoy links directly back to your unique ability to change your own fate. It's basically a card system, not unlike a Tarot, where you choose a given Fate, and get access to some boosted abilities. However, you unlike different Fates as you advance through the talent trees, meaning you'll usually be able to really focus on a certain play-style. Some of these even make changes to basic abilities, like turning your dodge into a damage-dealing teleport.
Choose your own
Outside of the combat, though, some of the game's quests, and the world of Amalur itself, are quite interesting. One early chain of quests really impressed me, as it involved becoming King of a whole faction – there's no drip-feeding here, and like the constant amount of treasure and cool gear you'll need to pawn off, the game gives you some very satisfying storytelling rewards, too.
But as you explore the wider world, the limits do start to get annoying. We mentioned Skyrim earlier, and if there's one area where Reckoning compares poorly it's in terms of exploration – there really isn't any. Instead, you're blocked and channelled all over the place, forever seeing interesting spots that you can never get to. The fact that there's no ability to jump from anything other than appointed spots makes this even more glaring, as you'll constantly find a mess of low obstacles that cannot be overcome.
The game's engine and art style are also obvious hints that this was meant to be an MMO. The environment's very open, with obvious hubs around the place, and none of the clutter you'd expect in a modern singleplayer game. It's pretty enough, but it's hardly pushing the boundaries of game design, and if anything it all looks a little too derivitive of other big name franchises - but that's fantasy for you. There really are only so many ways you can draw a wolf or a bear or a troll.
Too, you often end up with a companion for a given part of a quest, which again makes me think of classic escort quests in MMOs. If anything, it's the best way to describe the game is World of Warcraft without the World bit. Similarly, while every NPC is voiced, the player isn't, which seems a glaring omission.
When it excels, Reckoning delivers fantasy action better than almost any other game we can think of – it's a Diablo level of smoothness. And there's a lot of content to get through, so if you're looking for a single game to take up a mess of time, this is a top choice. But it's not quite all there; the missing MMO part of the game exists almost like some cognitive ghost, informing and shaping Reckoning despite not being present.
But it's not going to stop us playing – at least until the enduring pull of Skyrim exerts its frosty presence over us again!


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Hey, look! Box Brown posts his minicomic 'Sock' online
After finding out about Box Brown's comics here at Robot 6 last year, I've been following his work intently. And now I get the opportunity to show off a little gem of a story Brown just posted online for free. It's a short Brown wrote and illustrated called "Sock" about a teenage boy getting drunk and trying to hit on a girl, and being sucked into a sidebar conversation with his nerdish friend. In true Brown style he finds a way to work talk about pro wrestling, but I'm not complaining … brother.
Brown is offering "Sock" as a print minicomic for sale online and from his convention appearances, so I was shocked to see him put it online for free — but hey, it's great comics so I can't turn it down.
- Ad Free Browsing
- Over 10,000 Videos!
- All in 1 Access
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Download Aapka Dost apk free for Android smartphone
Posted by GPC Dev in Entertainment | Dec. 21, 2012 | 0 Comments
Apk file size: 0 bytes
Aapka Dost is your new friend in the city. It stays with you when you are in a search of restaurant that excites your taste buds.
It keeps you in touch with your "Not To Miss" Events. Lets you know how far you are from your destination.
Music Lovers can enjoy Live Radio while driving or roaming around.
Users have access to their profile and booked tickets. One can search a particular event or restaurant or movie through the list or entire app.
App is integrated with "Paypal Express Checkout", so its highly secure, safe and easy to use.
GPC Dev part of our Entertainment and have average installs from 100 to 500. Last Update Dec. 21, 2012. Google play rating is 0.0. Current verison is None. Actual size 0 bytes.


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WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A private comment by a U.S. diplomat, captured by Russian eavesdroppers and posted on YouTube, is "unacceptable," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday.
Victoria Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European affairs, has apologized for using an expletive regarding the European Union while discussing Ukraine with the U.S. ambassador in Kiev, the State Department said.
Nuland "has been in contact with her EU counterparts, and of course, has apologized," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters after an audiotape of an intercepted 4-minute phone conversation appeared on the Internet.
In the Jan. 25 recording, Nuland and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt candidly discuss the composition of a possible new government to replace the pro-Russian Cabinet of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
The recording was put anonymously on YouTube Tuesday under the Russian headline "Puppets of Maidan," a reference to the square in Kiev occupied by anti-government protesters.
Dmitry Losukov, an aide to Russia's deputy prime minister, posted it on Twitter Thursday, calling it "controversial."
A Merkel spokeswoman said the chancellor found Nuland's comments and criticism of the EU "absolutely unacceptable," the New York Times reported. The spokeswoman said Merkel has a high opinion of the role played by Catherine Ashton, the top EU official for foreign affairs, in Ukraine talks.
The White House, which had refused to confirm the recording's authenticity Thursday, pointed to Losukov's action as an indication of Russian involvement, but it said it was not accusing Moscow of taping the call.
"I think it says something about Russia's role," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Psaki said the United States considers the posting of the recording "a new low in Russian tradecraft" but said she had no information about who posted it.
The New York Times, which reached Nuland in Kiev, said she seemed amused by the incident.
"It's all part of the job," she told the newspaper.
Pyatt posted a picture on Twitter of the two of them laughing as they read the Russian official's Twitter message.
"Enjoying Dima's tweet here in Kyiv," Pyatt wrote, referring to Loskutov.
The Washington publication the Hill reported Nuland's criticism was in the context of praising U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for choosing an envoy to deal with the political crisis.
In the tape, Nuland said the U.N. envoy will "help glue this thing and to have the U.N. glue it. And you know, [expletive] the EU."
"Exactly," Pyatt can be heard replying, the Hill reported. "And I think we got to do something to make it stick together, because you can be sure that if it does start to gain altitude the Russians will be working behind the scenes to torpedo it."


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text:
▪ wBW Reviews Home
▪ Owner Comments (Below)
▪ wBW Motorcycle Battery & Charger Reviews
See Also:
▪ PulseTech Solar Battery Charger Review
▪ Quick Cable iStart Power Pack Review
The Solar Joos Orange is a portable solar battery charger.
It's designed to charge cell phones, tablets, GPS units, MP3 players, digital cameras and more.
It's a very rugged unit with a polycarbonate and metal body and encapsulated or "potted" solar cells.
The charger has one rather strangely located hole, which can be used to secure (lock or chain) the unit.
However, attaching it to a motorcycle luggage rack, to the luggage itself or to the upper part of of a top box is difficult.
The charger really needs a few D-rings or some other type of attachment system to make it more useful both on the bike and off.
The charger is waterproof rated to NEMA 6P, which provides some degree of water resistance (it can be left out in the rain).
The Solar Joos Orange charger takes about 12 hours of full sun to reach a 100% charge.
It can also be charged from a powered USB port.
Very small red and green blinking LEDs give some indication of the state of charge and the current status of the unit, but the lights can be confusing, because if no LEDs are blinking, that can mean either a full charge or zero charge.
The mini-USB port seems relatively weak and should be used with care and owners have complained about this issue.
It's very difficult to provide an accurate estimate of charging times due to varying amounts of sunlight.
But in my experience over the last 4 months in my latitude in winter weather, it takes about 2 days of full sun to completely charge the Solar Joos Orange unit.
Unfortunately, getting two full days of sun during the winter of 2013-2014 is a miracle.
The full charge then provides enough juice to bring two smartphones from around 10-20% charge to full charge.
The Solar Joos charger comes with two USB cables and a handful of USB/port adapters. One cable is use for charging a device from the Solar Joos charger, while the other cable is used to charge it from a powered USB port.
The second (white) cable can also be used with a free app that is available for download.
The app shows the state of the battery, current charging rates and more.
But the app is not available for smartphones or tablets, which is very strange, considering that the charger is sold as a highly portable unit for rugged outdoor use like camping, boating, motorcycling and more.
Overall, the Solar Joos Orange solar charger works well and has been reliable. Whether it really helps the environment is questionable. You'll need patience, because it takes a couple of days worth of sunshine to bring it up to full charge.
But, the Solar Joos charger may be the only solution for small device charging when no electricity is available. As long as you have a few sunny days and your device doesn't need a top-up in as long, you should be OK.
I was looking for a solar battery charger I could take on motorcycle trips and backwoods treks because I wanted an easy and free way to keep my cell phone, GPS and camera charged up and ready to go.
Solar panel technology has improved quite a bit over the last decade, although not nearly as much as some would have hoped.
But the technology advances have led to the introduction of quite a few portable solar chargers, although many of them are too clumsy for motorcycle use or outdoor trekking.
My criteria included small size, rugged build quality and, of course, fast charging (both ways). As it turns out, you can get A and you can get B, but C is a goal yet to be reached by any of the current batch of small, portable device chargers.
So I searched around and read a bunch of reviews and decided on the Solar Joos "Orange" charger.
I had never owned a solar charger before, so I had to depend on what the online masses have said about it -- always an iffy proposition because you never really know how the product is going to perform for your specific requirements until you fork over the dough and tear open the box.
(Editor's Note: See the webBikeWorld PulseTech Solar Battery Charger Review)
One of the features that impressed me was the rugged build quality of the Solar Joos (pronounced "Juice") charger -- an important feature for motorcycle use and/or off-road knocking about.
It sure is rugged -- it's probably twice as heavy, maybe twice as thick and 30% bigger than most of the other small solar portable device chargers (SSPDC, a new acronym?).
The charger measures 145 mm by 218 mm and it's 20 mm thick, or 5-3/4" by 8-5/8" by 3/4" thick in old money. This is a lot bigger than the other solar chargers I considered.
The Solar Joos charger tips the scales at 702 grams, or 1 lb., 8-3/4".
The body is heavy-duty polycarbonate covering what appears to be a metal backbone or skeleton. It's put together with nice-looking metal Phillips head and hex screws and the metal frame is perforated along each of the sides, I assume for cooling purposes, since the charger is designed to be placed in the hot sun.
The solar array is epoxied into the unit and recessed by about 2 mm to keep it protected. In the rear, two fold-down arms snap firmly into position through three detents to hold the solar array at an angle to the sun.
The charger comes with two USB cables; one is for connecting the device to be charged, and it comes with 4 different types of connectors.
The other USB cable is white and it is used only to connect the Solar Joos charger to a computer, either for charging via a powered USB port or to connect the charger to use the free Solar Joos "myJOOS" software, a free app that runs only on computers or laptops and not smartphones or tablets.
I'm very surprised that, considering the market and the demographic for this type of device solar charger, that the company doesn't also provide a smartphone app.
Who wants to carry a laptop out in the field to check your solar charger battery life?
Fortunately, the app really isn't necessary, as long as you can remember the somewhat confusing red/green LED light signals, which I'll describe in a minute.
The Solar Joos Orange charger is rated using the NEMA, or National Electrical Manufacturers Association Enclosure Type (.pdf) rating of 6P rather than the IP ratings motorcyclists are more familiar with.
With regards to water resistance, a 6P rating is defined as "provide(s) a degree of protection with respect to harmful effects on the equipment due to the ingress of water (hose directed water and the entry of water during prolonged submersion at a limited depth)".
Again, I think the USB port cover is the weakest link here. I would absolutely not feel comfortable in dipping the charger into water, dropping it overboard or hitting it with water from a hose.
I'd really like to see a stronger USB port cover, because the current design barely grips the body of the charger and I'm not sure at all how anyone could say the device is waterproof.
The mini-USB port is covered by a rubber stopper on one end.
It's a bit flimsy and I think they should have at least mounted the attached rubber (or silicone) strap so that it is anchored on the top, rather than the bottom of the charger, so that rain or water would drip down over the strap and the plug for better protection.
The plug isn't a very good fit into the recess covering the USB port, so you have to be careful to make sure it's tight (or as tight as you can get it) to prevent water from entering the USB port, which is probably the weakest link in the chain.
That said, I have definitely left the Solar Joos Orange charger out in the rain, snow and ice many times. As long as it's angled up on the deployed feet and the USB port cover is as secured as it's possible to make it, I've had no problems.
I've also left the charger outside overnight in temperatures down to -16 C (4 F), brought it in the house in the morning and plugged in my cell phone for a charge.
Solar Joos says the Orange charger uses the "highest efficiency commercially available monocrystalline solar cell with silicon nitride, anti-reflective coating solar cells connected in parallel".
The battery is rated for 1,000 charge cycles and puts out 3.7 Volts.
It has an owner-replaceable lithium-ion polymer battery (definitely a good feature) and the charge time is rated at 20Wh (5400mAh).
The time to go from zero to a full charge is claimed to be 12 hours of direct sunlight or 8 hours when connected to a powered USB port.
I think that's about right, because here at about 39 degrees of north latitude, it takes about two full days to bring the charger up to a full or nearly so charge, and that's placing the charger out facing the sun first thing in the morning, around 7:00 a.m.
Don't forget, you also have to take into account sun angles during the day and passing clouds.
The Solar Joos Orange charger has a big 20 mm hole at one end that's supposed to be the security feature; you can put a cable or wire tie or something through there to secure the charger to hold it and prevent theft.
It's kind of a strange feature, although it works for theft prevention, it doesn't work very well for securing the charger to, well, anything.
I really wish there were maybe four D-rings on the charger, two on either end, that could be used to strap it down to a piece of motorcycle luggage, a luggage rack or top box.
My original idea was that I'd be re-charging the solar charger whilst riding and have power to charge my smartphone or GPS at night. I envisioned having the Solar Joos charger attached to the top of the top box.
But as it is, it's pretty difficult to attach the charger to anything, although many owners have done so by placing the straps over the white part of the top of the charger.
I have to say, I haven't messed around all that much with strapping it down, preferring instead to lay the charger out in the sun when I'm not riding.
There are two tapped holes on each of the long sides of the charger; these are metal and designed to hold an accessory reflector that supposedly helps to speed up the charging.
It probably wouldn't be too difficult to rig up something to bolt into the threaded holes that could hold a set of D-rings or angle brackets or something to hold the charger. One of these days, I'll have to try it.
If you're not going to use the myJOOS software app, it's important to understand the red and green LED light indicators and what they're telling you about the Solar Joos charger.
The weirdest thing in my opinion is that when the lights aren't blinking at all, it means both no charge or a full charge. That's just plain strange. You look at the LEDs, they're not blinking. Is the thing fully charged or fully depleeted?
Instead, they should have made it so that something like both the red and green lights blink maybe once every 5 seconds or so when full and nothing blinks when it's empty.
The "nothing happening" thing has occurred more than once when I went out in the evening after a full day and didn't know whether the thing was fully charged or something had happened and it never charged at all.
Otherwise, while it's in direct sunlight, the red light blinks 7-8 times fast and then you watch for the green light to tell you how much charge has been accumulated:
You can also attach a device and it will charge as the Solar Joos charger is also charging. It does take a pretty powerful, clear amount of sun to get the thing percolating.
On a cloudy day or even if a cloud passes over, the red light will blink slowly, which indicates "low light charging mode". It's not really clear what that means or if the charger is really pushing any juice into the battery when it's in this mode.
The battery doesn't charge in normal indoor room light and it takes a couple of powerful LED flashlights, like two of the Clearwater 800 lumen LED flashlights (review) or the mind-bending Fandyfire UV-S5 flashlight (review) to get the green LED to blink.
I've been using the Solar JOOS Orange charger for several months to keep my cell phones and other devices charged. It's easy enough to use -- open the box, put the charger out in the sun and that's it.
The only real issue is that it takes a couple of days of full sunlight to bring the Solar JOOS charger up to 100% capacity.
Although it doesn't need to be at 100% to charge a device (but I've found that it should at least have 20% or more battery charge indicated before attaching a device).
I've left it out in rain, snow and sleet with no problems; just be sure that the USB port plug is inserted.
My original plan of attaching it to the motorcycle sort of fell by the wayside at this point, but I haven't given up hope just yet. I've tried attaching the Solar JOOS charger to the luggage rack with limited success.
I plan on trying to fettle together a D-ring or some type of attachment system using the four threaded holes in the charger.
The best use of the Solar JOOS charger is to carry it along and deploy it at base camp. Having a solar charger really does come in handy, like during our recent power outage after a severe ice storm.
If you're planning a long off-road adventure, the Solar JOOS charger may even be a lifesaver, or at least you can listen to music on your MP3 player as you're scouring the woods looking for berries.
wBW Motorcycle Battery & Charger Reviews | Maintenance & Repair Articles
Also: iStart Portable Charger Review | PulseTech Solar Charger Review
|wBW Review: Solar JOOS Orange Solar Charger
|Available From: Solar JOOS
|List Price: $149.00
|Colors: White/black
|Made In: China
|Review Date: March 2014


text:
A new album demands a new haircut.
So says Toronto R&B-pop star Shawn Desman, whose latest disc, Alive, comes out Feb. 5, and thus he's currently sporting a new 'do.
"I feel like everytime I come out and people see me, I have to put out this new crazy hairstyle, it's my thing," said Desman, who's got a mini-Mohawk of sorts this time around, in an interview with QMI Agency.
"So in between the albums, it's cool, because I just do whatever. I just let it grow. I feel like just putting out an album, it's not enough. You want people to be interested in what you're doing and you want to get them involved. Also, it's for me, it's almost challenging myself too like, 'What am I going to think of next?'"
Desman, whose Canadian tour in support of Alive starts Feb. 7, explains the difference between his last striking haircut and his new one.
"The sidewalk that I had before (my last album 2010's Fresh) was really really short so it went from one side of my head to the other side. So this one's like long. You know what I call this one? It's like Astro-boy. This is my 'Astro-boy' look."
Like the Japanese Manga cartoon character?
If you say so, Shawn.
Shawn Desman Canadian tour dates
7-Feb-13 Montreal – The National
8-Feb-13 Ottawa – Centrepointe Theatre
9-Feb-13 Oshawa – Regent Theatre
12-Feb-13 Hamilton – Convention Centre
14-Feb-13 Mississauga – Living Arts Centre
15-Feb-13 North Bay – Capitol Centre
16-Feb-13 Kirkland Lake – Northern College
17-Feb-13 Thunder Bay – The Outpost
18-Feb-13 Dryden – The Centre
20-Feb-13 Saskatoon – The Odeon
21-Feb-13 Medicine Hat – Esplanade Theatre
22-Feb-13 Edmonton – Empire Ballroom
23-Feb-13 Vancouver – The Venue
24-Feb-13 Kelowna – Community Theatre


text:
I swore I wouldn't watch any more unauthorized music biographies after the last few (Kiss, Eminem, and Korn) but I like Nirvana too much to pass up the opportunity to take a look at Teen Spirit: The Tribute to Kurt Cobain. This film suffers from the same fatal flaw that all other unauthorized rock docs suffer from: The total lack of music by the artist in question. Music itself is both the vehicle and the message and any musician worth anything doesn't need photo ops, videos, interviews, and documentaries to tell their story. The songs themselves do it and Nirvana exemplified this more than most.
From the delicate turns of phrase Kurt Cobain used in his lyrics to the soft-loud dynamic lifted from the Pixies to the brutal raw power mixed with beautiful melody broadcast in their live performances, Nirvana really embodied everything that can go right with music even as Cobain's inner demons tore him apart. There is nothing that Teen Spirit can say that will define the man and the band better than, say "About a Girl", "Something in the Way", "Rape Me", or "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"
Having said that, Teen Spirit is by far the best of the four unauthorized bios I've reviewed. The interviews (as usual, with people on the periphery of the band's career: A photographer, an editor for The Village Voice, a SubPop publicist) are actually more enlightening than usual. There's the usual vagueness early on as no one clearly articulates what it was in Aberdeen and Seattle, Washington that set the stage for such extraordinary music (only Cobain and bassist Krist Noveselic would be able to do that) but once the talk turns to Nirvana's public record, their recorded output, their influence on fans, and their reaction to success, the interviewees become much more interesting. They discuss what an odd couple Nirvana and fame were and make Teen Spirit surprisingly engaging.
The most important material is the modest selection of archival interviews with the band, sometimes painful reminders that Cobain's 1994 suicide was foretold in his public unease with the life he had chosen for himself. Hindsight's a bitch and there are a number of cringe-worthy moments when Cobain expresses doubt and disgust with himself that, at the time, seemed like just another grungey dismissal of mainstream culture. Of course, we now know that these were the the cracks showing through. One particular interview, apparently taken at an MTV Video Music Award ceremony, shows Kurt at his most sickened, talking about how they had sold out to the music video channel in order to keep selling records. He (and the rest of the band) had a wicked wit that only helps mask what must have been an unbearable sense of self-loathing. I'm no more qualified to speculate on Cobain's motivations than the folks interviewed in Teen Spirit, but Cobain seems to be saying that the life of a superstar rocker is a life not worth living. The film is grateful that he was able to leave a few songs behind at least, but without those songs played here the point becomes purely hypothetical. As a tribute to Cobain's talent, Nirvana's mournful unplugged CD still makes a much more moving and gut-wrenching experience.


text:
The NBA is bringing in a dress code requiring players to wear sports coats and lose the bling-bling.
NBA players walk with more jingle than St. Nick.
Reaction was swift.
For instance, gold dropped $2.50 on the money market, but it's probably just a coincidence.
Allen Iverson was getting his do-rag in a knot, but the Raptors say they aren't concerned.
Which is understandable when you remember they haven't got anything left to lose considering every team in the league undresses them as it is.
Not sure what Mike Tice is running: A football team, or a house of ill repute.
Either way, he's not getting the bounces.
On second look
Went to a Raptors game this week.
Didn't barf.
Maybe things are looking up, after all.
There's Jose Calderon passing the ball. So that's what a point guard looks like.
Who knew?
Vince who?
Charlie Villanueva and Chris Bosh could turn out to be everything -- given time -- that Tracy McGrady-Vince Carter promised but failed to deliver.
Not great inside, but at least this team tries to penetrate. In other words, the game strategy consists of more than an in-bounds pass and a prayer from 25 feet.
Dare they dream of .500?
General manager Rob Babcock may not be the next John Wooden or Red Auerbach, but maybe he can be the next, uh, John Ferguson Jr.
Leafs winning. Argos winning. Blue Jays setting attendance records. If this keeps up, smarty-pants columnists are going to run out of punchlines.
The patron saint of lost causes: Former Detroit Tigers manager Alan Trammell interviewing for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays job.
As job satisfaction goes, this is right up there with walking barefoot over hot coals.
Wasn't that a lovely performance from Bill Romanowski on 60 Minutes?
Poor sap got teary talking about how he couldn't face going back to clean out his locker.
He was on the show to talk about his steroid use, but darn if he didn't just have a book to sell, too. What a coincidence ... and that'll be $25, please.
Save your money, not to mention sympathy.
Romanowski never had sympathy for the players whose fingers he broke, whose knees he took out, or for teammate Marcus Williams, whose face he smashed so severely Williams will never play again.
Yet there's no remorse for using steroids. In fact, he says he'd cheat again. The book, like everything in Romanowski's life, is a self-serving tome of epic emptiness.
No life lessons. No insights, unless you count the fact he had 20 concussions. Not that there was ever anything up there he could've hurt.
Remember when people said book burnings were a bad thing?
Well, they were a bit hasty.
Michelle Wie, 16, was disqualified from her first golf tournament as a pro because of a rules violation, costing her a $53,126 US paycheque.
First off, the Sports Illustrated writer who squealed on her should really pick on somebody his own size.
I mean, talk about stealing candy from a baby!
Kids are right ... you can't trust anyone over 18.
Then there is the punishment. It far exceeds the crime -- or the intent. I know they have rules. But rules are just arbitrary lines in the minds, set by people who have no imagination.
I mean, like other kids her age who make a mistake, couldn't the LPGA have just sent her to bed early, or made her stand in the corner wearing a dunce hat until recess time?
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on rookie Raymond Felton promising the Charlotte Bobcats (18-64 last season) would make the NBA playoffs: "He stars in the upcoming sitcom, Everybody Laughs At Raymond."
Bud Geracie, San Jose Mercury News: "NFL Films already has the title for one team's 2005 highlight video -- Minnesota Vikings: Naked Bootleg."


text:
Intuit and Microsoft will create new Web applications to automate a number of tasks for small businesses, the companies said Wednesday.
Those include time-consuming tasks like tracking expenses or managing documents, the companies said.
The applications will be sold to small businesses through Intuit's "App Center."
The companies plan to integrate the technology of Windows Azure, Microsoft's system for building software that runs over the Internet, with Intuit's Partner Platform, which lets developers build applications for businesses QuickBooks financial software.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Shares of Intuit Inc. fell 70 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $31.03. Shares of Microsoft Corp. fell 64 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $30.46.


text:
I have some very very good condition Oakley Valves that are the Juan Pablo Montoya Edition, in that they come in a box with his mug on and there's an etching of his signature on one of the lenses. They are these glasses in the advert. There is a very very tiny scratch on one lens that in no way whatsoever can be seen when wearing them and you have to look very very close to even see the scratch but I mention it only to save any hassle with the buyer. They are boxed but I can't find the soft cloth they came in but I have a Nike glasses soft cloth which is more than good enough for them. Asking £40 posted and no offers at this price either. Email in profile and picture to anyone who asks.
Classifieds - For Sale
FS Oakley Valve glasses - Juan Pablo Montoya Edition.
Go on then, send a pic or two, address in profile.
Pics on the way and please let me know if you've got them or not.
Pic one
Pic two - scratch is in the shaded area near the nose bridge
Topic Closed
This topic has been closed to new replies.


text:
More Choice, Less Crime
Previous research debates whether public school choice improves students' academic outcomes, but there is little examination of its effects on their nonacademic outcomes. We use data from a nationally representative sample of high school students, a previously developed Tiebout choice measure, and metropolitan-level data on teenage arrest rates to examine how public school choice affects students' propensity to be arrested or to join a gang. Adolescents in metropolitan areas with more public school choice are less likely to be associated with criminal activity, suggesting that the benefits of public school choice extend outside the classroom. © 2011 Association for Education Finance and Policy
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Volume (Year): 6 (2011)
Issue (Month): 2 (April)
Pages: 246-266
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text: A bill introduced Wednesday in the Nebraska Legislature would make it a crime for an HIV-positive person to engage in sexual activities without first revealing his or her HIV status to a sex partner, the Omaha World-Herald reports. The bill would make knowingly exposing someone to the virus a felony assault. It also would make it a crime for HIV-positive people to donate blood, sperm, organs, and other tissue, except as materials for scientific research. Those found guilty of violating the law could face a jail sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $25,000. The bill was introduced by state senator Lowen Kruse, who said he had worked with the gay advocacy group Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund to ensure that the bill did not unfairly target men who have sex with men. More than half of all states have laws making it a crime to knowingly expose someone to HIV or to deliberately try to infect someone with the virus. The Nebraska bill is expected to be debated in legislative committees in the coming weeks.


text:
On August 1, 2015, the Indian Central Authority made changes to its adoption system to make it a smoother process and more transparent. Since the 2011 Indian adoption guidelines, there has been slow progress in finding families for children, so the Indian Central Authority has decided to make changes so that more children can find families more quickly.
Dillon International has been placing children from India since the 1980s. Dillon's adoption program from India had been put on hold, but we are very happy to have begun accepting families into the program again in 2013.
Children still become available for adoption in India primarily because of the extreme economic disadvantages of their birth family or the social stigma of single parenthood.
Children available for adoption reside in orphanages throughout India and have a broad range of special needs. Common needs include missing an eye or ear, hearing loss, cerebral palsy, ADHD, atrial septal defect (a repairable heart condition), cleft lip/palate, and kidney problems. Children younger than 3 typically have more serious conditions.
Parents' Ages (if married)
Parent's Age (if single)
For families from India: Families with NRI status, which means that one spouse is a US citizen and the other spouse obtains a valid Indian passport, will have their adoptions treated on-par with a domestic Indian adoption.
Length of Marriage
Children in Family Prior to Adoption
Psychological Evaluation
Child's Gender
Want to see how this compares to other countries' requirements? Look at our country comparison chart.
Learn even more in the Adoption Guide.


text: Evening all, I'm in the midst of buying an A6 avant 1.8T tip auto, picking it up on Tuesday. I'm all over the place with cars, I've traded a Jeep Cherokee 3.7L V6 for this one, and it'll be my second Audi. Mind you, that was my third Jeep. I had an A4 avant 1.8T sport quattro before, about 3 years ago, fabulous wagon - I miss it every day. Almost as much as I miss the DC2 Integra Type R I had before it. Like I said, all over the place with cars. I love them, and I always want something different! This A6 is hopefully going to do duty as our family bus, and I'm looking forward to getting more than 20 mpg - unlike the Jeep. Good site this, see you around


text:
Get a free shipping quote.
Gorgeous Palomino mare with flaxen mane & tail; Great for beginners; safe for kids; super sweet personality; very calm & good natured; loves people; we have been using her as a trail riding horse for people/kids in our group that don't know how to ride; she is very gentle & well-behaved; she loads, ties, stands for farrier; she'll go through creeks & over logs; 1 of the most trustworthy horses we've ever had!
Variety of super horses for all needs, broke to ride, gentle, great dispositions!
Avoid Scams and Fraud - Potential areas of fraud: wire transfer, moneygrams, money orders, cashier checks, shipping, escrow, "transaction protection", "guarantee". Check out the Buyer Safety section for more info.


text:
ACParadise Network: American Cosplay Paradise American Cosplay Experience American Cosplay Snapshots
Cosplayer Adnarimification > Costume of Prince Gumball (Adventure Time with Finn and Jake)
- Most Recent Photo
- 01-20-2013
- Series
- Adventure Time with Finn and Jake
- Character
- Prince Gumball
- Year Completed:
- 2012
- Construction Difficulty:
- Costume worn at:
- Anime Fest 2012
- Anime NebrasKon 2012
- FanimeCon 2013
About this Costume
- Construction Details:
First time making those types of Sleeves too!!! That was interesting and frustrating. They didn't turn out like I wanted them too but they still look pretty nice. They are stuffed with polyfil.
The collar is just craft foam (because I didn't have interfacing T_T ) wrapped in purple fabric and hand stitched onto the shirt. The "Jewels" I used stainedglass paint and created the jewels you see. The light blue is just the charm I wanted to use (I should have painted those gold but I like the light blue)
The crown is constructed with craftfoam and covered in modge podge then spraypainted gold. It attaches to the wig via 2 hair clips.
The PINK fabric is all stretch COTTON. ITS SO FREAKIN comfy! I honestly can't remember the name for the purple fabric but it was expensive but I needed this exact color. Oh the super light pink is actually reverse side velveteen!!!!
- Personal Thoughts:
- PRRRRIINNNCEEEE GUUMMMBBBAAALLL. That's all I have to say.
Wig Details
- Wig Brand
- Cosplay-Wig
- Wig Name
- Custom Bob
- Styling Time
- Wig Quality Rating
- 4 / 5.00
- Styling Notes
- The two "Round bits" are styrofoam balls wrapped in wig hair then as I cut the wig I saved some of the excess hair and created the hairline at the front. This was my first time making a hairline and wrapping hair around balls (XPP)
Add a Comment


text:
Darn Rain!
I am getting restless. The second Saturday, I got up and it is lightning out. I will ride in some rain, but avoid the lightning.
Last week, got up dressed, loaded the bike on the rack to head for the club ride.....Bam Lightning.
Just looked outside today....again lightning!
Last weekend, fine- I used it to tune up my bike. This weekend I guess I will have to get out the new trainer I bought yesterday. I just cant bring myself to put 60+ miles on the trainer.
Oh well, had to vent.
Rain??? Get over it :)
Try todays forcast for Dayton if you dont want rain....
"...Snow will continue across the warning area today. The snow is forecast to taper off this afternoon. An additional 2 to 3 inches of snow is expected today with total snow accumulations of 8 to 12 inches by 5 PM. Northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph today will cause blowing and drifting of snow and near whiteout conditions. .."
You get NO sympathy from me, pal :)
Definately no sympaty needed. I was just griping and moaning. If it were not lightning I would have been out there riding in it.
I am originally from Cleveland OH - Miss the snow. I was up there for the white Christmas this yeare. Loved it. Then again I did not have to deal with it on a daily basis. I think I would definately get cabin crazy.
I got the trainer together, time to hit it.
I could stand rain, I guess I don't have any choice, its snow or rain, what can you expect, common keep it coming:D :D
Feel free to send as much of that rain as you like over here. At the moment riding is becoming quite an expensive proposition due to the lack of rain over the last two years and the need to refill with bottled water because everything else has dried up completely.
Chris isn't it sick you are completely surrounded by water, but have a shortage.. I know de-salinization plants are extremely expensive to build and run so not feasible but that might be changing in the near future. I know here in California we are in a constant droubt nothing near to what you have there, but the are thinking of going the de-salinization plant, since supposedly it has became alot less expensive past couple years.
I know that the cold, miserable rain can be depressing, but it's got to be better than -17C (about 2 below zero F). I'm so sick of this &^*&^&%$ cold!
Plenty of time for miserable rainy weather in march and april.
<em>Definately no sympaty needed. I was just griping and moaning. If it were not lightning I would have been out there riding in it. </em>
Heh heh, no worries. Actualy, I'm jealous :D
I'm South of you about 50 miles on a little Island :)
Last night, duing our 10 mile commute we had absolutely torential rain.. wind blown so bad it stung my face.. and thunder loud enough to seriously distract ones riding... all at 1:30 AM. Needless to say it was not fun LOL
I went out and mada a few mile trip to Wally World to pick up a gift for my nephew's birthday today. You talk about getting some wierd looks from autos. I'm sure there where more than one "look at that fool" said from one to another but I just had to get in a short ride. Don't know of a better way to do it than save gas and get some exersize at the same time. I have set this bike up to be my commuter when the weather lets up just a little bit. I have finally got the light ready and working and I'm setting on GO! I hope to boost my miles and save gas at the same time.
Anothe thread was talking about using a back pack and it is working out great for me so far.:D
I actually prefer snow to rain. Less humid. However, for the last few days, we had highs of -15 to -20°C. Nice for rides/commutes/whatever that last less than 1 - 1.5 hour, but not for very long rides.
Oh! We miss snow. We had a good storm in early November (or late October?), but nothing significant since. Each time people in Ohio, the Adirondacks or Maine get 10-15 inches, we get... 10-15 mm (i.e. 1/2 inch)! So there must be a good 10 cm on the ground. Only!
Well, now you can be jealous...
Tomorrow morning is supposed to be about 45 degrees and sunny. I managed to get ahold of a few people from my club and we are going to go on a 60 tomorrow.
(By the way, 60 minutes is about all I can handle on the trainer without going bonkers!
As far as alternatives go, you might have a case re: desalinisation. Surely can't be more expensive than some ideas I've heard mooted over here (trying to turn rivers inland for one). Personally I'd like to see them better utilise existing water supplies first. The amount of water we could save through, for example, more efficient irrigation practices...
I'll shut up now as I don't want to take over this whole thread.
P.S. I'm one of those crazy people who actually thinks rain is preferable weather for riding.
I'll trade you two feet of snow for six inches of rain. Also trade you our mid-20's for your mid-60's. We can trade back in mid-April when it finally turns to decent weather around here. Brrrrrrrr. Winter sucks!
This winter had been worse to me, mostly because we had a very mild early winter, and now that it should be starting to warm back up we are getting cold and snow. It is snowing here again this morning, very cold and windy. I know you people up north are used to it, but here in the south we should be having better weather by now. My solution for today is to go to an indoor skatepark with my kid and hang with the scuzzy little BMX'ers on my mountain bike :)
BTW- no rain riding for me, either road or mtn bike. It's too hard to get all that water and crud cleaned out of all the bearings. Ity's okay if it starts after I get out, but I rarely leave in rain.
Sleet and Freezing rain here. 2-3 inches of snow later. Not only can't I ride I can't even go outside for a walk and get some fresh air!
And I can't even go skiing because the roads are too treacherous!
We are at a Level 3 travel restriction. Only people allowed on the roads are emergency personnel. We have about 8 inches of snow on top of the 6 inches we had on the ground. It has been snowing since I got up and has not let up. Looks like a long day of snow.
Riding in the rain would be a welcome relief.
I'd take rain any day
It's been freezing cold here since Octoberish...and these past few months have been nothing but -15C to -30C weather with a heap of snow
Cold. Empty. White. Grey....uuuh...please summer come
Mike...too bad it doesn't snow...could cross train skiing or boarding. Fresh powder here in the Sierras. Skiing is great. Can't wait to get out my bike though.
We ended up getting another unforecasted 3" snow today. Wasn't too bad inside that heated bike park though :) I was actually not the only old geezer there today heheh, usually I am 25 or so years older than the next oldest person. Funny how that works, when I am the only old geezer I usually end up being buds with all the kids, but when there are more of us I think we just get in their way.
I think everybody is getting sick of winter. That is, everybody but those lucky enough to live in a place where winter is a good thing, like in the mountains.
I learned today that riding semislicks in the mud is an extremely dangerous idea. My grips came off, my tires weren't hooking up, and my discs weren't performing well. It was a great ride :D
It rained hard ALL DAY LONG.
|All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:19 PM.


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AUGUSTA, GA. — This is not what Phil Mickelson normally says after the opening round of the Masters: "I've got some issues."
Yet that was Mickelson's state after Thursday's opening 4-over-par 76 at Augusta National Golf Club, matching his worst first-round score in any of his 22 Masters.
"I actually played well, and I just made a lot of little mental errors," Mickelson said. "I made a lot of little mistakes around the green."
The three-time Masters champ may have been among a tightly bunched group of leaders if not for two holes. At the par-4 seventh, the mess started innocently enough, with his second shot at the back of the green. But he blew his chip past the pin to the fringe on the other side of the green, then ran another chip a good 10 feet past the hole. From there, he three-putted, and the triple bogey dropped him from even to 3 over.
On the back, he found disaster at the par-5 15th. His last bogey at this hole came 14 years and 46 rounds ago. But he laid up short of the water that guards the front of the green, then hit his third shot in the drink anyway. The resulting double bogey left him blank-faced and dropped him to 4 over.
"I was really off today," he said. "It was very disappointing."
Since Fred Couples turned 50, he led the 2010 Masters after the first round, led the 2012 Masters at the midway point and hasn't finished outside the top 15. So Thursday's opening 71, which left him tied for 12th, was hardly surprising, even at 54, even in his 30th Masters.
"I love the course, and I need to keep playing like I am," Couples said. "When that day stops, then I can be a sacrificial lamb around here and just walk around. But really, personally, I feel like I can play this course." . . .
Bernhard Langer, the 56-year-old two-time Masters winner, was nearly as good, holing a long par-saving putt on 18 for an even-par 72. . . .
Jason Dufner, winner of the most recent major — last year's PGA Championship at Oak Hill — suffered through a miserable back nine . After opening with nine straight pars, he made a double bogey at 10 and a bogey at 11. He came to the par-5 13th 3 over and put his third shot over the back of the green.
From there, disaster. His fourth ran past the pin and down the embankment, just short of Rae's Creek. He then tried to hit a lob back to the pin, but the ball caught the edge of the green and rolled back down the slope into the water. He walked 20 yards back for what was his seventh shot, put that past the pin and two-putted for a quadruple-bogey 9. That provided the backbone for his first-round 80. . . .
Luke Donald, the former world No. 1 from England, played his third shot on No. 9 from the greenside bunker but left the ball in the bunker.
He then touched the sand with his club — a violation because players are not allowed to ground their club in a bunker before they play a shot from the bunker — and was assessed a two-shot penalty, leaving him with a quadruple-bogey 8 en route to 79.


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Email firstname.lastname@example.com to schedule an appointment with us during the show!
Visit booth B-45,46 to receive your free two-day WorthPoint accounts – use them online or on our iPhone/iPad app right from the show! We will also be handing out one hundred 30-day free trials of our MarksandLibrary.com platform to the first 100 attendees (and a few other surprises…)!
We can't wait to meet you there! Get your tickets today: http://shop.palmerwirfs.com/
Palmer Wirfs (also known as the Portland Antiques Show) is America's Largest Antiques and Collectibles show providing over 1400 booths with a diverse collection of fine antiques and collectibles from paintings, militaria, elegant glass, vintage trunks, movie memorabilia and so much more.
Find out what WorthPoint members have to say about us….
"It's always a good idea to know what an item is worth before you sell it. I've been using WorthPoint to find out what some things are going for."
— Will
Yard Sale Survivalist
"The possibilities with your website are absolutely endless and I do not see how we survived without it for this many years. In the first week of having your program, I would conservatively say that it has made us more than $4,000 in profit. We are members for life and I have gone out of my way contacting other dealers and telling them about your site."
— Todd Townson, owner
River Region Coin & Collectibles
Prattville, Ala.


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The addition of blinkers for the first time helped It's a Dundeel to victory over highly regarded Proisir in the Randwick Guineas (Aus-I) March 16 at Warwick Farm.
Better known for his late-kicking style, It's a Dundeel was fitted with blinkers to help him stay in touch with the front-runners as he shortened up for Guineas, and the plan worked to perfection. He added a second goup I win to his record.
Jockey James McDonald had It's a Dundeel ideally positioned closer than usual to the pace, and the High Chaparral colt willingly struck for the lead entering the stretch. He repelled a determined challenge from Proisir from the 200-meter mark to win by a half-length.
Pacesetter Tatra finish three lengths back in third, while favorite Rebel Dane finished fourth after racing with the leader early in the quality field of 10.
It's a Dundeel was timed in 1:35.14 for the 1,600 meters (about one mile) and snapped a three-race winless stretch that included a seventh-place finish as the favorite in the AAMI Victoria Derby (Aus-I) last November at Flemington.
A New Zealand-bred colt, It's a Dundeel launched his racing career with five consecutive wins capped by the 2000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) Spring Champion Stakes (Aus-I) over Proisir in October at Randwick.
His Victoria Derby loss was bookended by runner-up finish in the M. V. Mitchelton Vines Vase (Aus-II) Oct. 27 and a third behind last season's Australian champion 2-year-old Pierro and Rebel Dane in the Hobartville Stakes (Aus-II) March 2 following a three-month layoff. He was fresh and ready to race in the Guineas.
"He feels so strong much stronger and he put himself in the race and showed a real good turn of foot," trainer Murray Baker told Australia's Associated Press about It's a Dundeel.
It's a Dundeel is out of the Zabeel mare Stareel. His grandam is 1993 New Zealand champion filly and classic winner Staring.
Coolmore's Irish-based Australian shuttler High Chaparral has 2010 Randwick Guineas winner Shoot Out as well as the top-notch So You Think among his South Hemisphere-bred progeny.


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Commentary: be afraid of these people
In the age of Stieg Larsson, whose heroine Lisbeth Salander breaks into her enemies' computers on a daily basis, hackers have been granted unprecedented cultural deference.
Anonymous, one of the hacking groups currently under investigation, describes its members as "hactivists". When the group disabled Visa's homepage last year, after the credit card company boycotted WikiLeaks, a "spokesman" compared it to protesting outside the credit card company's offices.
Not all hackers are so politically minded. Ryan Cleary, the British teenager arrested yesterday, is allegedly part of an Anonymous splinter group called LulzSec, complete with its own logo. The rationale behind Lulz's increasingly audacious hacks is more anarchic than political.
If the police want to stop these groups, they will have to penetrate murky online chatrooms and…


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Buckeye Restaurant Guide & Dining Reviews
Featured Review
This place is only open for Breakfast 6:00 am and Lunch they close a 2:00 pm the food is really good. The service is excellent it's clean and the staff is friendly. I eat here about once a week the prices are good and so is the food.
Check out the Best Buckeye Restaurant Reviews
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Amado's Mexican Restaurant
"Make very nice FOOD"
Captains Fish And Chips
"Manager owner is not friendly,puts down other establishments and food is not tasty."
La Placita Cafe
"We have gone to this restaurant about 5 times. The first time the service/food was okay. Then everytime we have gone back the service is non existant. You set yourself and wait forever for someone to come and take y... "
Love's Country Stores
"This is a good place to stop by and have a sandwich (Subway) or chicken (can't think of the name of the chain). There is a big selection of fountain drinks. I like browsing through the store, you never know what you... "
La Placita Cafe
"The chips and salsa were very good, fajitas were adequate. Tortillas were not great. The service...well, it is a gamble. Twice I've had really good servers, but the other five or so times I've been here they were ... "


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Flat Rock Village Council meets at 9:30 a.m. today at the Flat Rock Village Hall.
Flat Rock Village Council meets at 9:30 a.m. today at the Flat Rock Village Hall.
Laurel Park Town Council will have an agenda work session at 2 p.m. today in the Laurel Park Town Hall.
Laurel Park Board of Adjustment meets at 4 p.m. today in the Laurel Park Town Hall.
Western Carolina Community Action Board of Directors meets at 6 p.m. today at the Etowah Lions Club, Etowah.
Mills River Town Council meets at 7 p.m. today in the Mills River Town Hall.
Mills River Agricultural Advisory Committee will meet at 9 a.m. Friday in the Mills River Town Hall.
How to Create Your Own Personal Health Record program with Jean Sitton, RN, BC, BSN, MHS, of Pardee Hospital's Case Management Department will be 1:30 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Pardee Health Education Center. Reservations: 1-866-790-9355.
Hendersonville Area Computer Society will present a program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Opportunity House. Information: HACS.org.
AMBUCS, a national organization dedicated to creating mobility and independence for people with disabilities, will meet at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the Vocational Solutions meeting room, 2110 Spartanburg Highway. Information: 692-0911.
Hendersonville Area Computer Society will present a program from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Henderson County Library, Kaplan Auditorium. Information: HACS.org.
Western North Carolina Quilters Guild will meet at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe St. After the Holidays Sale, with a variety of fabric, books and tools. Guests and visitors welcome. Information: 891-7180, www.WesternNCQuilters.org.
Local author Leanna Sain will speak on her sequel "Return to Nowhere" at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at Henderson County Public Library's Kaplan Auditorium.
Henderson County Family YMCA Aquatic's Family Fun Day will be 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Water volleyball, sharks and minnows and other family activities for members and non-members alike. Free to members, $5 per family for non-members. Information: 692-5774.
Lunch in the Sea, for ages 4 to 6, will be Wednesday at Team ECCO's Ed-venture Center. Cost: $5. Bring lunch and beach towel to eat while fish watching, followed by a craft. Adult must attend with child. Fee only for child. Information: www.team-ecco.com, 692-8386.


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Research Topics
Asbjørn Hróbjartsson
Affiliation: Det Nordiske Cochrane Center
Country: Denmark
Detail Information
- Powerful spin in the conclusion of Wampold et al.'s re-analysis of placebo versus no-treatment trials despite similar results as in original reviewAsbjørn Hróbjartsson
Hróbjartsson, The Nordic CochraneCentre, Rigshospitalet, Department 7112, Blegdamsvej 9, DK 2100 Copenhagen Ø
J Clin Psychol 63:373-7. 2007..95 (95% confidence interval = 0.88-1.02) versus odds ratio 0.99 (95% confidence interval = 0.81-1.23). Thus, B. E. Wampold et al.'s conclusion was not substantiated by their data, and is best characterized as powerful spin. ...
- [What is the effect of placebo interventions? A systematic review of randomized clinical trials with placebo treated and untreated patients]Asbjørn Hróbjartsson
Afdeling for Medicinsk Videskabsteori, Københavns Universitet, Panum Instituttet, DK 2200 København N
Ugeskr Laeger 164:329-33. 2002..Placebo treatments have been reported to help patients with many diseases, but the quality of the evidence supporting this belief has not been rigorously evaluated...
- [A new scientific source of bias: SILLY bias. Analysis of citations of BMJ's Christmas articles]Ulrik A Felding
Det Nordiske Cochrane Center, Rigshospitalet, København Ø
Ugeskr Laeger 171:3784-9. 2009..Thus, we document a new type of bias in medical research: Serious Idiopathic Loss of Ludic ironY (SILLY) bias, both in citation practices and in metaanalyses...
- Disagreements in meta-analyses using outcomes measured on continuous or rating scales: observer agreement studyBritta Tendal
Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Dept 3343, Blegdamsvej 9, DK 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
BMJ 339:b3128. 2009..To study the inter-observer variation related to extraction of continuous and numerical rating scale data from trial reports for use in meta-analyses...
- Reporting on blinding in trial protocols and corresponding publications was often inadequate but rarely contradictoryAsbjørn Hróbjartsson
The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
J Clin Epidemiol 62:967-73. 2009..To compare the reporting on blinding in protocols and articles describing randomized controlled trials...
- Divine intervention? A Cochrane review on intercessory prayer gone beyond science and reasonKarsten Juhl Jørgensen
Dept 3343, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, DK 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
J Negat Results Biomed 8:7. 2009..The review fails to live up to the high standards required for Cochrane reviews...
- Data extraction errors in meta-analyses that use standardized mean differencesPeter C Gøtzsche
Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
JAMA 298:430-7. 2007..It is not known how reliable such meta-analyses are...
- Ghost authorship in industry-initiated randomised trialsPeter C Gøtzsche
Nordic Cochrane Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark
PLoS Med 4:e19. 2007..The prevalence and nature of ghost authorship in industry-initiated randomised trials is not known...
- [Constraints on publication rights in industry-initiated clinical trials--secondary publication]Peter C Gøtzsche
H S Rigshospitalet, Det Nordiske Cochrane Center, DK 2100 København Ø
Ugeskr Laeger 168:2467-9. 2006..These facts were not noted in any of the trial reports. We found similar constraints on publication rights in 44 protocols from 2004. This tight sponsor control over industry-initiated trials should be changed...
- [Selective reporting of positive outcomes in randomised trials--secondary publication.. A comparison of protocols with published reports]Asbjørn Hróbjartsson
H S Rigshopitalet, Det Nordiske Cochrane Center, University Health Network Toronto, Department of Medicine
Ugeskr Laeger 167:3189-91. 2005..Selective reporting of positive outcomes is associated with bias...
- What are the main methodological problems in the estimation of placebo effects?Asbjørn Hróbjartsson
Department of Medical Philosophy and Clinical Theory, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute, Blegdamsvej 3, DK 220 Ø Copenhagen N, Denmark
J Clin Epidemiol 55:430-5. 2002..The effect of patient-provider interaction can similarly be assessed by comparing manipulation of the patient-provider interaction with no manipulation. In both cases bias due to lack of double-blinding is a potential problem...
- Conflicts of interest at medical journals: the influence of industry-supported randomised trials on journal impact factors and revenue - cohort studyAndreas Lundh
The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
PLoS Med 7:e1000354. 2010..We investigated industry-supported trials' influence on journal impact factors and revenue...


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hi ppl,i know someone might be sick of such post abt how to softmod wii.
erm..i am a total wii noob,my wii is 3.4U and i have encounter problems install IOS or neogrammer.
all the result are error,i was wondering if anyone could give me a full detail to softmod and without using twilight hack.
Hello and welcome to the wiihacks community.
You have joined the world's largest Wii modding and forum community. To help you access the useful and relevant information available on this site, it is strongly recommended that you first look at this special site index: Wiihacks Ultimate Index.
Make sure you read the rules of this site. There are a number of tutorials and guides available to assist you. Many of our new members find the tutorial for softmodding any 3.1-4.1 Wii particularly useful. Make sure to either look through the site tutorials and guides or use the search function before asking questions. While the moderators, staff, and members of this community are willing to help you, some effort on your part to read, research, and follow the rules is expected. To get the best response to your question(s), post in the associated forum areas. This is very important as inappropriate posting could get you restricted to the reading room or even banned. If, after looking at the tutorials and trying to search, you still need help or just want to post a very basic type of question, go to the http://www.wiihacks.com/wiihacks-newbie-corner/.
Wiihacks also has a chat room on irc://irc.uicn.net/wiihacks . After reading the iRC rules, please feel free to join in the light-hearted chats and activities. While any IRC client can connect to #wiihacks on the UICN , there are tutorials to help you connect using either ChatZilla or mIRC.
If this site and our members have provided substantive help, you can Donate to the forum and get a nice banner under your name and gain access to the donator forums.
Follow the link to softmod your Wii. Read the tutorial a few times very carefu;;y and good luck. Enjoy your stay with us.


text: Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. Two species are included in the genus Iguana: the Green Iguana, which is widespread throughout its range and a popular pet, and the Lesser Antillean Iguana, which is endemic to the Lesser Antilles and endangered due to habitat destruction. The word "iguana" is derived from a Spanish form of the original Taino name for the species "Iwana". Wikipedia


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As a teenager, I was obsessed with the 60s. It started with the music—first classic rock like the Beatles and Rolling Stones, but I quickly moved on to the protest songs of the day—Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Crosby Still Nash and Young, Pete Seeger. From there, it was only a small jump to focus my attention to people like Martin Luther King and groups like the Students for a Democratic Society and the Black Panthers.
I think I was so focused on these people because they were a part of something bigger than themselves. They were a part of a movement that would be remembered forever. I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself, but I didn't know what that could be.
I didn't see those same things happening among my generation—no Marches on Washington, no sit ins. My generation's idea of dissent was watching Jon Stewart each night. I thought I'd never be able to be a part of something as historic as the social movements of the 1960s. I would pose these silly hypothetical questions to my friends and myself: "If you were alive in the 60s, would you have gone to Woodstock?†"Would you have gone to the Chicago riots in '68?† "Would you have been a hippie, would you have burned your draft card?"
Really, I think I asked these questions because the one I really wanted to ask was: Why don't we have a social movement on the scale of the 1960s?
But then I went to college and studied the work of Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank, read the writings of development economists Jeff Sachs and Bill Easterly, and became involved in various campus groups—from divestment campaigns to environmental justice organizations to a local soup kitchen. It was there I realized I had been asking myself the wrong questions, focusing on the wrong things.
By focusing on comparing my generation to that of the 60s, I missed out on all the different components of change happening around me, around the country, around the world, each day. I graduated and began work in the nonprofit sector, where I realized there were so many different approaches, programs and even products to help make the world a better place. Each sector, and each organization had a role in what I like to call the "social change ecosystem.â€
Our movement didn't look like marches on Washington, or people taking to the streets. Our movement is expressed in growing volunteer rates, consumers wanting businesses to give back to society, and a young generation more committed to social impact through their professional careers. No matter the sector, no matter the organization, there is a movement of people working to make a difference. The daily stream of content on Social Earth that highlights positive and innovative developments around the world is but one manifestation of this movement.
However, there is an interesting paradox here: The people who work in the different components of the social change ecosystem don't really get along. People in business are distrustful of government and don't have much respect for those in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit employees harbor a lot of vitriol for the business sector, and get frustrated when working with government. Government agencies, trying to satisfy the needs of all their constituents, don't have time for the demands of specific organizations.  (Obviously, these are generalizations, but if you have ever tried to work across sectors, there is truth to these observations.)
When I discovered this paradox, needless to say, I was frustrated. Here we were, all working as a part of this great social movement, but no one wanted to talk to each other!  Out of this frustration, I started a site, UnSectored, to explore the notion that the best way to create change is together. The site posits that social change is the responsibility of all individuals, organizations, and sectors, and that we must work together to get it right.
So far, we have come up with more questions than answers. But one thing is sure: This "unsectored†idea resonates with people. They understand that the main goal of any organization or group of organizations should be to leave society better off—not to make money, not to develop more small and innovative electronics, not to maximize shareholder value.
People understand that no one sector has all the answers and that we must work together to accomplish our goals. As I have quickly found in my short career in the nonprofit and social enterprise sectors, on a whole, organizations have decided not to collaborate to pursue that goal we all want: To make the world a better place. Instead, they resort to activities focused on single organization goals and short-term time horizons beholden to their bottom lines.
There are exceptions, of course. The Obama administration has created a White House Office of Social Innovation that has given birth to things like the Social Innovation Fund, which combines public and private funds to scale up community solutions. Social Impact Bonds, first developed in the UK, is an innovative financial model where the government ensures financial returns for private investors if a nonprofit can achieve outcomes in a certain time period.
There is hope. But the reality is our institutions do not reflect our true nature. Humans are naturally social—we want to work together. But our organizations remain sectored. We sacrifice the potential for more effective results—greater change—by following our usual way of doing business.
Whenever I think about this issue, I'm reminded of a quote that is way too overused. Recognizing that, I'm going to use it here:
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
However, I'd like for you to think about this quote in a slightly different way. Typically, it's interpreted, "change has to start with you.†I agree with that interpretation, but I think the meaning goes deeper than that. I think it's saying: "Create a world that reflects our true nature.â€
It is our nature to work together. It is our nature to want to make a difference. Now we must implement that not only in our individual lives, but in the extension of those lives: Our families, our careers, our institutions. How do we build a world where we all work together to make a difference?
Unfortunately, this is just another question in my journey. I don't know the answer, but I do know we can find it. Together. Please continue this conversation with me, either here or on UnSectored.
Photo credits: ccstbp, archives.gov


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Written on: 17/11/2008
Good Points
none !
Bad Points
everything !
General Comments
i never knew there was so many bassetts refreshers lovers like myself out there! i feel exactly the same as everyone else! I was horrified when i found the new refreshers, i have been an addict for years now and they are my comfort food! They got me through my GCSEs and AS levels along with bad break ups! now i am in my final Year of A-levels and i just don't know what i am going to do without them, please bring back the old refreshers!


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Best Shots Advance Reviews: ARCHIE #631, ALPHA GIRL #2
Archie #631
Published by Archie Comics
Written by Dan Parent
Art by Dan Parent, Rich Koslowski and Digikore Studios
Letters by Jack Morelli
Review by Erika D. Peterman
'Rama Rating: 8 out of 10
Betty and Veronica who?
It takes quite a romance to make a love triangle that's more than 70 years old seem irrelevant. But that's precisely what happened when Archie and Josie and the Pussycats guitarist Valerie rocked each other's world in 2010, marking the first interracial relationship in Archie Comics history. This was no bland nod to progress, either. Writer/artist Dan Parent made their courtship sweet, believable and, dare I say it, pretty hot. After years of being a card-carrying member of Team Betty, I'm all about this new direction.
Valerie and Archie parted ways when the Pussycats hit the road, but she's back in town and the sparks continue to fly. While Veronica fumes, Betty faces reality. "I'm not sure he's our Archie anymore." But wait! There's more. As Valerie's family settles into their new Riverdale digs, we're introduced to her cute brother Trev, whose presence sets off a nifty chain of events I sure didn't see coming. Real surprises in an Archie book? Believe it.
Archie Comics seems to be genuinely invested in the Valerie-Archie romance. In issue #633, we'll see a possible future in which they marry and have a daughter. But for now, Parent simply allows the two to pick up where they left off. Cartoon hearts feature prominently, and the characters are so permanently snuggled on a park bench that Jughead quips, "I thought a new statue had gone up." Parent makes it all so adorable that you'd have to be hard-hearted to resist. Plus, Valerie's touring lifestyle could make for some good storylines as she and Archie deal with occasionally being apart. It will also be interesting to see how Trev's character develops in future issues, especially in light of the aforementioned plot twist.
As an illustrator, Parent has a style that's simple, clean and classically "Archie." I really appreciate the fact that Valerie isn't a photocopy of Betty and Veronica, colored brown. Parent took the time to give her slightly different features and hair, and a style that's a little bit edgier than Betty and Veronica's. He definitely has a way with character expressions. I'm thinking of one panel in particular where Valerie fixes Archie with the Icy Glare of Death after he talks about Betty a little too fondly. Digikore Studios provides bright, cheerful colors that pop.
With lighthearted laughs, a touch of drama and plenty of teen romance, Archie #631 is good clean fun.
Alpha Girl #2
Written by Jeff Roenning and Jean-Paul Bonjour
Art by Robert Love, Dana Shukartsi and Diego Simone
Lettering by Drew Gill
Published by Image Comics
Review by Vanessa Gabriel
'Rama Rating: 3 out of 10
Imagine if were a grindhouse film, met , or Pee Wee from rolled up an issue of … and smoked it. These are the things I think of as I read Alpha Girl, but Alpha Girl #2 isn't quite any of those things. Faced with a zombie apocalypse caused by a perfume gone wrong, this campy, intentionally gratuitous tale of a 17-year-old girl tries really hard to be fun.
Alpha Girl #2 is just another day in the life of Judith. The darling, foster-home bred, chain-smoking protagonist with the sleek A-line cut black hair works at the local book mart. Immediately, things go from "normal" to seedy, as her co-worker inquires whether or not her urine is diluted. She is selling it to him. But that is just part of Judith's charm. To supplement her income, Judith is in the business of selling bodily fluids to the highest bidding pervert or just friends in need of some clean pee. The story about her festive entrepreneurial skill is punctuated by a bunch of rabid women on the loose, ripping out the jugulars of men within splatter range. As infrastructure and sanity go to hell, the reason Judith is to become Alpha Girl is set into motion.
Alpha Girl #2 starts with a clear trajectory as it focuses on developing the main character. As the momentum picks up and the story attempts action sequences, the pacing becomes disjointed when switching from first-person narrative to third. There are panels that cut to seemingly random moments where I'm not sure why they are relevant to the story or how exactly we got there. I found myself wanting to keep reading, hoping that there would be some payoff. I didn't get much in the way of satisfaction. For a book that doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, it was proving to be a lot of work just to make sense of things.
While the story leaves some things to be desired, Robert Love's stylized, quirky art is quite enjoyable. It is the redeeming quality of Alpha Girl #2. The overtly gratuitous plot is tempered by the colorful, expressive, cartoonish art. From Love's pencils to Diego Simone's color, the art of Alpha Girl #2 is fun and excessive, successfully.
My only gripe about the art is the cover. The cover image is a snapshot of a potential moment from the story that seems completely out of context. It does nothing to sell the book. It would play okay in an interior panel, but on the cover it just seems odd.
How did Alpha Girl's world come crashing down? A cosmetics company's attempt at placing pheromones in perfume turns women into raging zombies. I sense an attempt at a powerful allegory here, or not. A young girl who's had a tough life is being set up to probably kick some major zombie ass. Perhaps, she will develop into something other than a pixie not-so-dream girl cliché, or not.
I am certain there is an audience for this book. I am also sure that said audience would enjoy it. Does that make it a good comic? Not necessarily. The creators of Alpha Girl get an Anarchist "A" for effort. I can sense the desire to make this story stand out and be entertaining. But compositionally, the comic misses its marks.Got a comment? There's lots of conversation on Newsarama's FACEBOOK and TWITTER!


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Coneysthorpe win Yorkshire Seniors Table Tennis title
4:02pm Wednesday 28th May 2014
4:02pm Wednesday 28th May 2014
CONEYSTHORPE won the Yorkshire Seniors Table Tennis Club competition in Hull.
The Ryedale side defeated Leeds 6-3 and Dewsbury 5-4, before they beat Hull 5-4 in a pulsating final.
Martin Lowe won seven out of his nine sets, with the two he lost both going to five games.
Ashley Hodgson won five from nine, and 15-year-old James Rule won four from nine.
The triumph came hot on the heels of Coneysthorpe 'A's division one title triumph in the York & District Table Tennis League.
The team won 19 and drew one of their 21 matches to finish 16 points clear of runners-up York RI 'A'.
Coneysthorpe 'B' finished third a further 32 points adrift with a record of played 21, won 12, drawn two and lost seven.
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