text:
The Witcher 2 patch 1.1 removes DRM
The splendid RPG's first big patch has launched to strip out its SecuROM DRM, increase performance, enable invert mouse, and more. No progress is without setbacks, though.
As promised, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings developer CD Projekt RED has released the first patch for its recently-released wonderful fantasy RPG. It's a doozy too, with changes including removing its SecuROM DRM and performance boosts of up to 30%. Unfortunately, it's launch hasn't been entirely smooth.
"Our goal is to make our fans and customers happy and to reward them for buying our game and DRM schemes does not support our philosophy as they might create obstacles for users of legally bought copies," said RED development director Adam Badowski. "Our approach to countering piracy is to incorporate superior value in the legal version. This means it has to be superior in every respect: less troublesome to use and install, with full support, and with access to additional content and services. So, we felt keeping the DRM would mainly hurt our legitimate users... We felt DRM was necessary to prevent the game being pirated and leaked before release. This purpose has been served, so we are pleased to let our users enjoy the full freedom of game usage they deserve."
The Witcher 2 will be updated automatically to version 1.1 on Steam, though some users are finding themselves facing a monster 9GB download. For those who have bought elsewhere, the auto-updater is currently not working so there's a hodge-podge of different patches depending on where you are and where you bought it.
There's also a problem with redeeming the items retailer-specific bonus downloadable content, so you'll need to e-mail RED for a work-around if you're having trouble with that.
With the patch out the door, RED says that "by the end of next week you can expect some more free stuff available online." All The Witcher 2 DLC, expansions aside, will be free. The developer's also working on improving the registration servers and launching new forums.
RED also says to watch out for its online conference on June 2, which promises "exciting new announcements." RED has said that there's some sort of Witcher-y project for consoles coming.
Here's the full patch notes for version 1.1:
- The process of installing and activating the game is now easier and more stable. SECUROM copy protection has been removed entirely, making the game DRM free!
- The "Troll Trouble" DLC package is included in the patch, bringing to an end any and all problems related to downloading this content.
- Problems related to downloading other free DLC have also been resolved. The game launcher now correctly detects and updates specific modules.
- Game efficiency has been improved. Game now runs 5-30% more efficiently and game loading has been accelerated. Efficiency increases will vary depending on system configuration and game version. Owners of boxed versions of The Witcher 2 are likely to notice the greatest improvements.
- Bugs causing the game to crash, especially while saving game progress or loading saved games, have been corrected.
- Movement key mapping has been expanded to include cursor (arrow) and number pad keys.
- Options have been added for inverting the X and Y axes of the mouse.
- NVidia 3D Vision Surround now works correctly with the game.
- The hardware configuration auto-detect function has been corrected, resulting in improved game efficiency.
- A bug preventing the completion of the "Blood Curse" quest has been corrected.
- After beating the GOG.com penitent monk in the mini-game, the relevant link now displays correctly.
- GOG.com credits have been corrected.
From The Chatty
Alice O'Connor posted a new article, The Witcher 2 patch 1.1 removes DRM.
The splendid RPG's first big patch has launched to strip out its SecuROM DRM, increase performance, enable invert mouse, and more. No progress is without setbacks, though.


text:
In my post about James Foley's execution at ISIS's hands, I made some predictions about Obama's eventual statement. Let's see how my prediction matches with reality. First, my prediction:
Obama will eventually issue a bland, fairly affect-free statement, either through a spokesman or through a brief appearance on the White House lawn (no questions from the press, please). In an anodyne tone, he'll say how sad he and the American people are at the news. He'll promise to issue strongly worded condemnations of the killers. He'll assure us that the killers are aberrant and have nothing to do with the good Muslims around the world. (God forbid he castigates the bad Muslims who rejoice under such names as ISIS, al Qaeda, al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hamas, etc.). Lastly, Obama will promise an investigation along with the rote words that "we'll bring these killers to justice." And then it will be over. That will be it.
Looking at Obama's actual statement, it seems that I underestimated the man — and not in a good way. His statement was, if possible, worse than anything I imagined.
While I predicted that Obama would express sadness on his own behalf and on behalf of the American people, it turns out that Obama, still a legend in his own mind, felt called upon to speak on behalf of the entire world:
Today, the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of Jim Foley by the terrorist group ISIL.
Jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world.
The world is shaped by people like Jim Foley and the overwhelming majority of humanity who are appalled by those who killed him.
I don't want to be too pedantic, but I do feel it's incumbent upon me to point out that large swaths of the Muslim world aren't appalled at all by "Jim's" death but are, instead, quite pleased. (And am I the only one who finds bizarre Obama's faux familiarity with a man he never met, who died with a dignity that at least deserves the respect of his full name?)
Anywhere that there is radical Islamism and/or anti-Americanism you will find people celebrating the slaughter. Perhaps Obama has forgotten the spectacle of Gazans handing out candy when Americans died on 9/11 or of the 2000 Ramallah lynching that saw Muslims joyfully bathing their hands in the blood of murdered Israelis soldiers:
So, no, Mr. President, the entire world is not "appalled," and a big part of America's problem lies in the fact that (a) you refuse to recognize that reality and (b) you think you speak for the world.
As I also predicted, Obama did issue a strongly worded condemnation of the killers, but he combined it with the second part of my prediction, which was his assurance that the killers, despite rejoicing under a name with the word "Islamic" in it, despite dedicating their acts to Allah, and despite self-identifying as Muslim are, in fact, not Muslims at all:
Let's be clear about ISIL. They have rampaged across cities and villages killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can, for no other reason than they practice a different religion.
They declared their ambition to commit genocide against an ancient people. So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. ISIL has no ideology of any value to human beings. Their ideology is bankrupt. (Emphasis added.)
Does Obama actually believe this mush-brained babble? Does he actually think he's the one who gets to define what constitutes Islam? If it's good and harmonizes with his hard Left values, it's Islam; if it's bad and actually follows the word of the Prophet, and dedicates all acts to its religion, than Obama gets to say it's not Islam. Obama seems to be arrogating an awful lot of godlike power to himself there.
What Obama should have done was to call on those humanists who practice Islam to join with him to call out those who have hijacked the religion to the most barbaric ends. The problem, of course, is that Obama may not want to reveal that, in answer to such a call, he might have ended up with a Muslim protest against radical Islam that looks just like this:
And lastly, as I predicted, Barack Obama promised that at some point in the future, America would finally begin to get angry and quite possibly do something, maybe:
The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. We will be vigilant and we will be relentless. When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done and we act against ISIL, standing alongside others.
Aside from vague promises that American would be vigilant, relentless and "see that justice is done" (or, according to my prediction, "we'll bring these killers to justice"), Obama actually demanded more from Middle Eastern nations than he did from himself:
From governments and peoples across the Middle East, there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so that it does not spread. There has to be a clear rejection of this kind of nihilistic ideologies. One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century. Friends and allies around the world, we share a common security and a common set of values that are rooted in the opposite of what we saw yesterday. And we will continue to confront this hateful terrorism and replace it with a sense of hope and civility.
I don't know about you, but considering that Islamism that has swept the Middle East on Obama's watch; considering the aid he gave this Islamism, whether backing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, or weaponizing Muslims through illegal gun-running in Libya; and considering that Muslims and Arabs will always back the strong horse, which Obama is not, I do not see any of those nations heeding his call. In fact, the only nation that was born heeding his call — that would be Israel — is the nation to which he is most obviously hostile.
Obama's speech was, in a word, dreadful. Or appalling. Or disgraceful. Or awful. Or, or . . . well, you know what I mean. It was not the speech of a leader, and most certainly not the speech of the leader of a country that once was the most powerful country in the world.
Can you imagine Franklin Roosevelt, a good Leftist who dreamed of a socialist structure in America, making such a mealy-mouthed statement if the Nazis, in 1940, had brutally, and publicly, executed an American citizen? I can't even begin to create a satire, not only because I'm not good at that type of satire, but because my mind simply won't bend to that kind of alternative history.
Obama then capped this utterly un-serious, meaningless, disrespectful (good ole "Jim") speech by turning around and, with a big smile, yelling "Fore."
Has there ever been a more feckless man in the White House? And has there ever been a more dangerous time in our nation's history, when a manifestly deadly enemy has clearly announced its intention to kill us and destroy our nation, even as our leader refuses to acknowledge that enemy's existence? And, moreover, even as our leader gets out his fiddle and plays away, watching the world burn? If we've ever been at greater danger, not just from an enemy abroad, but from a Fifth Column leader at home, you'll have to remind me, because my mind's drawing a blank.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Agreement Enables Flextronics to Licence ARM Cores to Third Parties
SUNNYVALE, CA AND CAMBRIDGE, UK— Nov. 14, 2002 – Flextronics Semiconductor, a business unit of Flextronics, (NASDAQ: FLEX), the leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider, and ARM [(LSE: ARM) (NASDAQ: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor technology, today announced that Flextronics Semiconductor is the first Partner to participate in the new ARM Approved Licensing Program. This new program will enable Flextronics Semiconductor to license specific ARM® core technology to their customers.
ARM has introduced this new licensing program to enable Partners such as Flextronics Semiconductor to license ARM core technology, thereby providing their customers with end-to-end services. The cores that can be currently licensed through Flextronics include the ® core, the ™ core and the ARM946E™ core and this offering will be expanded in line with the products to be offered through the ARM Foundry Program.
"We have developed this new licensing program to enable even greater access to the industry-leading ARM architecture," said Mike Inglis, EVP, Marketing, ARM. "Flextronics is our first licensee in this new channel and as a global industry leader, they have extensive manufacturing, design and technology expertise to bring to OEMs worldwide. Our Partnership with them in this new program will further increase momentum and open new markets to both parties."
Since July 2002, Flextronics has been a member of ATAP™, the ARM technology access program. As a member, Flextronics' ASIC design centers in Niwot, Colorado (US) and Oak Ridge, Tennessee (US) have been providing design services utilizing the ARM core for their OEM customers.
"Having the ability to license ARM cores directly to our customers will enable Flextronics to further penetrate this valuable market," said Glen Wiley, VP of Semiconductor Technology, Flextronics. "By dealing with one party for core technology, design and manufacturing, Flextronics' customers can lower their costs while improving time-to-market."
About Flextronics Semiconductor
Flextronics Semiconductor, a business unit of Flextronics, provides ASIC products and IC design services. ASIC products include full system-on-chip (SoC), standard cell and gate array ASIC (digital, analog, and mixed-signal); IC design services include FPGA (field-programmable gate array) conversion, ASIC retargeting and backend IC design capabilities. Flextronics Semiconductor has design centers worldwide that work with customers to deliver system-level solutions in silicon, increasing functionality and reliability while reducing cost. For more information, please visit Flextronics Semiconductor at www.flextronics.com.
About ARM
ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance, low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals, and system-on-chip (SoC) designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at www.arm.com.
ARM and ARM7TDMI are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. ARM922T, ARM946E and ATAP are trademarks of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM and NASDAQ: ARMHY); its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan; ARM France SAS; and ARM China.


text:
More than a feeling in Boston
By Rachel Lavine
Villager photos by Ramin Talaie
State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer seemed to be enjoying himself.
For a Democratic political activist, going to the Democratic National Convention is the equivalent of a pilgrimage. This year especially, Democrats have been looking forward to the convention as a place to get energized and organized in the fight to win the White House for their nominee, Senator John Kerry. And this years convention more than meets these expectations or, in the words of former State Senator Catherine Abate, an early Kerry supporter and a delegate: Were going to win.
Weve only been here a few days but here are some of my initial impressions and experiences:
The D.N.C. doesnt officially start until Mon. July 26 but already the parties associated with the event are in full swing. We kick off the convention by attending a benefit on behalf of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, an organization dedicated to eradicating hate crimes and established in the memory of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old murdered because of anti-gay hate. We speak to Judy Shepard, Matthews mother, a soft-spoken and self-effacing woman who seems both pleased and somewhat overwhelmed by the massive attendance at the event. Howard Dean is the headlining speaker and his passion and rhetoric practically elicit a call and response from the crowd. Congressmember Barney Frank, who is one of the Massachusetts politicians who may run to fill Senator John Kerrys seat if hes elected president, is also there, along with many delegates, D.N.C. members and political activists.
We have to get up at the crack of dawn the next morning to collect our D.N.C. credentials a daily task and begin the political schmoozing in the hallways of the hotel. We start the substantive political part of the day by going to the L.G.B.T. Caucus meeting. Its being held in the Sheraton a massive complex that seems to serve as a hub of both political organizing and commerce the halls are filled with incredible displays of sloganeering T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers all tempting to the many political junkies congregated there. While there we run into Congressmember Jerry Nadler in the halls searching for the Womens Leadership Federations no C.A.R.B. lunch as in no Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld and Bush.
The L.G.BT. Caucus room is packed. From the podium, New Yorker Jeff Soref, a D.N.C. member and major leader and donor in the gay community, tells the crowd that this is the most diverse and inclusive convention in the history of the party: there are a historic number of openly L.G.B.T. delegates; 40 percent of the delegates are people of color and about half are women. The front row is lined with New Yorkers: Assemblymember Daniel ODonnell; Councilmember Christine Quinn; Fred Hochberg, New School University dean and D.N.C. member; Alan van Cappelle, Empire State Pride Agenda executive director; and Emily Giske, a Villager and D.N.C. member.
In the crowd, I spot two Community Board 2 members, Brad Hoylman, president of Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats, and Melissa Sklarz, one of 12 transgendered delegates at this years convention. Roberta Achtenberg, former assistant secretary of HUD and one of the top out-lesbian appointees in the Clinton administration, describes the nature of this years platform document and how it was constructed. The platform, which was drafted after hearing from hundreds of people, is much shorter than in previous years and paints in broad strokes an affirmation of the Democratic Partys values and goals. Among other statements including one in support of our servicemembers, the platform speaks to honoring and respecting a safe workplace, to fighting the scourge of H.I.V./AIDS and to recognizing full inclusion of lesbian and gay families that seek equal responsibilities, benefits and protections.
Al and Tipper Gore re-created The Kiss
What were most eagerly anticipating is the convention itself. When we get to the Fleet Center, we see that it is closed off for at least a quarter of mile and surrounded by barricades and new fencing. Security is very high but also very efficient and we move through the various checkpoints with relative rapidity. We do wonder what will happen in New York for the R.N.C. Bostons Fleet Center is at the edge of the city and theyve shut off what would be the equivalent of several city blocks. Once inside the convention, we try to find the seats to which our green tickets entitle us, but weve gotten there too late around 7:00 and end up sitting in vertigo-inducing seats a few rows from the back.
We are, however, thoroughly enjoying being in the main room where all the action is occurring and get to witness one of the funniest live moments of the convention which epitomizes much of the zeitgeist of the first night. Officials sought to take a group picture of the entire convention, exhorting delegates to stay still and focus gaze on the digital clock right past Fox News cameras. The mere mention of Fox News a news venue known for its partisan reporting elicits a wave of spontaneous catcalls and laughter from the assembly.
Indeed the whole evening feels engaged, focused and proud: of our leaders past and present, of our platform and its planks of inclusiveness, respect and responsibility and of the diversity of not only the Democratic Party, but the United States itself. There is a profound sense of unanimity of purpose of the absolute necessity to win in November. Assemblymember Deborah Glick noted, Every convention has its own culture and atmosphere. This year there is a common understanding that the time to debate within ourselves is not now. The time to debate with ourselves is after we win.
For many, Former President Bill Clintons speech was the first nights highpoint.
And the lineup for the evening is terrific all of the living past Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and someone who was almost president, Al Gore. The message, as Abate notes is, Democrats are finally parading our past leaders because were proud of them and what they stand for. And the hallmark of the evening is one of positive diversity: the evenings other speakers include the nine women U.S. Senators, Latino Governor Bill Richardson and openly lesbian Congressmember Tammy Baldwin. There is a prominence of women at this convention, notes Abate, Democrats are recognizing the importance of the womens vote. When women vote, Democrats win.
We see most of the speakers from our aerie in the sky but are eventually rescued by a friend who has managed to get access to a suite with a direct view of the stage Rob Reiners box. All of the speakers are great but the electricity in the air really begins to get charged when Al Gore speaks powerfully reminding the crowd of how we lost the last election, what we lost along with that election and how critical a Democratic victory is for the entire world.
Shortly thereafter, Reverend David Alston, a minister from South Carolina who served in Vietnam and on the gunboat under John Kerrys leadership, speaks. His speech is truly one of those moments of truth to power. Reverend Alston tells the crowd about the perils and cruelties of war and of its occasional necessity. But he argues that when you go to war, you want to know you will have a leader who understands the nature of the danger we face and how to beat it. Rob Reiner is going crazy behind me: This is it! They cant beat us on this issue! This is the critical issue for this election and our turning point!
Many of the speakers mentioned 9/11, but it is left to Hillary Clinton to talk about the impact of that day and that tragedy upon the entire nation. She tells the crowd that she toured the World Trade Center site the day after the attacks and felt that she stood at the gates of hell. And she talks about the critical federal funding for rebuilding that New York is still not receiving and the grave security deficiencies we still have. Then she moves into a rousing rally of support for John Kerry, noting to the laughter of the crowd, I think I know something about good leaders. The New York delegation wildly waves I Love Hillary placards during her speech. Immediately afterwards, one of the most beautiful moments of the convention occurs as the lights are turned off and the Fleet Center becomes a basin of shadows lit by thousands of tiny flickering lights. A 16-year-old boy plays a violin solo of Amazing Grace while the crowd stands utterly silent in memory and tribute.
Then it is time for the main speaker: former President Bill Clinton. While he speaks you can feel a palpable longing for his presidency. Clintons speech in my view will go down in history as one of the great political speeches of all time. It will be remembered not only for its passionate eloquence but its masterful detailing of the case against the Bush administration and for Democratic values of pluralism and fairness. Or, in Clintons words, an argument of behalf of a belief system that holds that America is a better place when everyone has a chance to realize their dreams. Clinton speaks with conviction on behalf of John Kerrys candidacy, noting that In a time of great change, he has two very important qualities: an insatiable curiosity and a willingness to hear the views of those who disagree with him.
Speaking in support of John Edwards, Clinton declares that he will help those who are left out and left behind. However, that which exemplifies the tenor of Clintons remarks and draws the strongest applause from the assembly is his statement that Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.
Lavine is the Democratic State Commiteewoman for the 66th Assembly District.
View our previous issues
Report Distribution Problems
The Villager is published by
Community Media LLC.
The Villager | 487 Greenwich St., Suite 6A | New York, NY 10013
Phone: 212.229.1890 | Fax: 212.229.2970
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Written permission of the publisher must be obtainedbefore any of the contents of this newspaper, in whole or in part, can be reproduced or redistributed.


text:
fle I heard an answer to his wailing for me or for his companion - it didn't matter which. Very soon a second cry came from another direction, and still one more from the third point of the compass. By this time one had reached the tree and I fired killing him. Hastily reloading, I was just in time to fire as the second one responded to the first one's howl; he fell dead; then the third arrived and shared the same fate. Having allowed the first one to live as a decoy, his turn came last; then I descended and looked over my work - four full-grown bears lay dead at my feet."
To corroborate this statement I will say that I saw one of them on the hooks in front of a butcher shop in Stockton, and the other three went to San Francisco on the same boat that I did. I met the hunter on the street about a week later and he told me that he realized seven hundred dollars for his bears. I do not make the statement as a bear story, but as a bare fact.
The preceding pages were written a


text:
A depleted Blackhawks team couldn't overcome its battle with the Edmonton Oilers and their ally, the flu bug, Saturday night.
With leading goal scorer Patrick Sharp and Tuomo Ruutu too ill to play and joined on the sidelines by fellow winger Jason Williams, who is out with a groin injury, the Oilers defeated the Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout in front of 16,839 at Rexall Place. The loss dropped the Hawks' record on their current six-game road trip to 2-1-2 but earned them a point in the standings.
"I don't think it was the best game we've played but it was nice to get that point," said Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith, whose goal at the 11-minute, 18-second mark of the third period tied the score 2-2 and sent it to overtime. "We came on toward the end, and at the end of the day points are important. There are lots of guys who are injured and we've got a lot of guys who are sick and even a lot of guys who are playing with the flu. Good teams find a way to come together when you have injuries and sicknesses like this."
The Oilers' deciding scores in the shootout were by rookie Sam Gagner and Shawn Horcoff over Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who stopped 29 shots during the game. The Hawks were 0-for-2 in the shootout.
"Heck of a game," Hawks coach Denis Savard said. "We played a strong team game and we played really hard and we had lots of chances. It was a good hockey game."
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead when Jim Vandermeer scored his second goal of the season 43 seconds into the second period. With rookie Kris Versteeg providing traffic in front of Dwayne Roloson, Vandermeer blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line into the net. Fellow defenseman James Wisniewski picked up an assist.
Ales Hemsky's seventh goal of the season tied it 1-1 with 7:47 remaining in the second. Hemsky took a pass from Denis Grebeshkov from behind the net and tapped it past Khabibulin.
Marty Reasoner took a pass from Kyle Brodziak and fired a one-timer past Khabibulin with 13:58 remaining in the third period to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead before Keith scored his fourth goal of the season as Adam Burish battled in front of the Edmonton net.
Ruutu missed the Hawks' morning skate with the flu but Sharp was hit with his illness shortly before the game and was sent back to the team hotel.
"The boys battled hard and had a good effort," said Hawks defenseman Brent Seabrook, who had four shots on goal and a game-high four hits. "It wasn't the outcome we wanted but we got a point and I think everybody showed their true colors. We really battled and played hard. It's tough playing with new guys and new linemates for our forwards but I think they all played really well. It's tough losing guys an hour before the game."
The Hawks conclude their road trip Sunday night in Vancouver against the Canucks.
Ruutu and Sharp remained in Edmonton and will join the team in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks will make a game-time decision on whether they'll play. For insurance, the Hawks called up Petri Kontiola from Rockford of the American Hockey League and he will join the team in time for the Canucks game.


text:
The 17th Conference of the Parties — also known as COP17 or the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference — kicked off today in Durban, South Africa – despite echoing doubts cast by the world's media outlets about the ability of the conference to succeed. Heading into the conference, the Chinese negotiator stated publicly that he's "not very optimistic" about the meeting, Canada is rumored to be backing out of the Kyoto Protocol in just a few weeks, the United States is warning that if China doesn't budge it won't either, and the European Union is shouting above the fray that even ratifying the Kyoto Protocol across the board isn't enough — we need more regulations. The nearly 200 nations gathered have until December 9th to reach an agreement that has a chance of stalling global emissions, halting rising sea levels, staving off increasingly intense weather, stopping droughts and preserving our place as citizens of this planet we call Earth.
Ahead of the start of the talks, media chatter became increasingly heated as the richest nations of the world kept pointing fingers at their neighbors to place blame on the stalled talks in 2009 and 2010. Some smaller nations are pushing hard for a treaty to be signed — the Alliance of Small Island States and the United Arab Emirates are two — and others are saying that if the richest nations got rich off of cheap energy then how is it fair to block others from the same success. The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997 at a United Nations Climate Change Conference in Kyoto, Japan — it was signed by the United States delegate to the conference but never ratified by the US government — represents the only legally binding international emissions targets currently in effect, and it's set to expire next year. Scientists around the world have been warning that global climate change is imminent and inaction will secure the demise of the human race. Sadly, going into COP17 in Durban, inaction seems to be the word of choice when describing the major players in the talks – 2020 is the closest date being thrown around for the start of emissions targets.
Much of the unhappiness with the Kyoto Protocol and other climate deals that have been set forth revolves around the disparate way that developing nations are treated compared with developed nations. Countries like Russia, Canada and the United States feel that countries like China and India needs to be held accountable as the behemoth global emitters that they are, and that the Kyoto Protocol must be thrown out and replaced with more equitable legislation. Jonathan Pershing of the United States responded to questions about China by saying, "the structure of a legal agreement in which we are bound and those economies are not is untenable. It will not solve the problem. It will not be accepted in the United States." To the public — at least the public that believes in climate change — the stalemate is infuriating. EU negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger is pushing for a deal, for he believes if the world walks away from another COP conference empty handed, "people will lose confidence in this traveling circus."
+ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Photos by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change


text:
February 01, 2013 02:00 ET
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 1, 2013) - Nautilus Minerals Inc. (TSX:NUS)(OTCQX:NUSMF)(AIM:NUS) ("Company" or "Nautilus") announces that the admission of its common shares to trading on the AIM market of London Stock Exchange plc ("AIM") will be cancelled with effect from 7:00 a.m on March 8, 2013 (GMT). The last trading day on AIM will be March 7, 2013. The Company will continue to maintain its listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX").
This decision to cancel has been made following a careful review of Nautilus' listing on AIM by the board of directors of the Company ("Board"). The principal reasons for the Board's decision relate to the lack of liquidity in the Company's shares on AIM and the cost of maintaining the listing on AIM. The Board considers that the costs incurred to maintain the listing of the Company's shares on AIM now exceed current and potential future benefits the Company could obtain from the listing. The Board looks forward to the continued support of its shareholders though its TSX listing.
Further information on cancellation of AIM listing and termination of DI register
Computershare Investors Services Plc, acting in its capacity as Depositary in respect of Nautilus' Depositary Interests ("DI"), which are the Company's securities listed on AIM, and each of which represents one common share), will be writing to all DI holders today to advise as to the process for the termination of DIs (see Links section below to obtain a copy of the letter to DI Holders). The termination of DIs is a separate event to the cancellation of the AIM listing. All DIs will remain valid after the cancellation of the AIM listing, up until the termination of the DI register.
In accordance with the deed constituting the DIs, DI holders will be given 90 days' notice from today of the termination of the DI register ("Notice Period"). During the Notice Period, DI holders may transfer their holding to the Canadian based depository ("Canadian Depository") operated by the Canadian Depository for Securities Limited ("CDS"). An updated holding statement of Nautilus shares will then be issued to former DI holders. Once the shares are transferred to the Canadian Depository, they will be tradable through the facilities of the TSX. This process can be completed quickly if all documents received are valid.
To transfer your holding, DI holders should contact the global transactions team for Computershare. Please e-mail !firstname.lastname@example.com or phone Suzanne Schofield on +44 1534 281869. Beneficial shareholders who hold shares with a UK Broker in CREST should contact their broker if they wish to sell/transfer their shares.
If shareholders wish to sell their DIs before the transfer to the Canadian Depository, they must do so prior to the date of termination. Once the Notice Period has expired, DI holders will automatically be transferred to the UK Branch Certificated Share Register in Jersey ("Jersey Register"). Subsequently, following the termination of the Jersey Register, former DI holders and certificated holders on the Jersey Branch Register will be transferred to the Canadian Register and a certificate of holding will be issued to the holder as recorded on the DI/Branch register.
The Company will continue to maintain its listing on the TSX and, as such, cancellation of the AIM listing is not conditional upon shareholder consent.
Timetable of Events
For more information please refer to www.nautilusminerals.com.
About Nautilus Minerals Inc.
Nautilus is the first company to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposits. Nautilus was granted the first mining lease for such deposits at the prospect known as Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, where it is aiming to produce copper, gold and silver. The company has also been granted its environmental permit for this site.
Nautilus also holds more than 500,000 km2 of highly prospective exploration acreage in the western Pacific; in PNG, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga, as well as in international waters in the eastern Pacific.
A Canadian registered company, Nautilus is listed on the TSX:NUS and AIM:NUS stock exchanges and OTCQX:NUSMF. Its corporate office is in Brisbane, Australia. Its major shareholders include Metalloinvest, the largest iron ore producer in Europe and the CIS, which has a 21% holding, global mining group Anglo American, which holds an 11.1% interest and MB Holdings, an Oman based group with interests in mining, oil & gas, which holds a 16.9% interest.
Neither the TSX, London Stock Exchange, nor the OTCQX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Nautilus Minerals Inc. (Toronto)Investor Relations+1 (416) 551 firstname.lastname@example.com Securities LimitedNominated adviser: Alastair Stratton/Stuart SkinnerCorporate broking: James Black+ 44(0) 20 7260 1000Dahlman Rose & Co., LLCChristopher R. WeekesDirect: +1 212 372 57661301 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10019
See all RSS Newsfeeds


text:
Platinum and palladium will return to the biggest shortages in at least a decade this year as strikes and safety stoppages in South Africa and falling sales from Russia cut supplies, Johnson Matthey Plc said.
Labor disputes in South Africa will help cut platinum output to the least since 2000 and leave the market short by 400,000 ounces, the most since 2002 and compared with last year's surplus of 430,000 ounces, London-based Johnson Matthey said today in a report. Palladium supply will lag demand by 915,000 ounces, the most since 2000 and compared with 2011's glut of 1.26 million ounces, on lower output from mines and stockpiles in Russia and record usage from automakers.
Unrest over pay erupted into fighting and deaths at Lonmin Plc's Marikana mine and spread to other operations this year in South Africa, the largest platinum producer. Miners in Russia are extracting less palladium from rock at a time when state inventories are probably almost depleted, Johnson Matthey said. Manufacturers are using more of the metal in pollution-control devices as sales, particularly for gasoline models, increase.
"It's unlikely that supplies of either platinum or palladium are going to rise," Jonathan Butler, publications manager at Johnson Matthey, said in an interview in London. "We're assuming that demand is going to remain robust for both metals. Overall, we're positive on investment demand, that conditions will remain favorable."
Platinum Price
Platinum traded at $1,582.25 an ounce by 2:11 p.m. in London for a 13 percent advance this year. It will average $1,625 in the next six months, trading between $1,400 and $1,800, Johnson Matthey said. Palladium, at $616.50 an ounce, will average $650 in the period, remaining above $550 and climbing as high as $750. It's fallen 5.9 percent in 2012.
The metals' performance this year compares with a 2.2 percent decline for the Standard & Poor's GSCI gauge of 24 commodities and a 7.4 percent advance for the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities. Treasuries returned 2.7 percent this year, a Bank of America Corp. index shows.
Platinum supply will drop 9.9 percent to 5.84 million ounces on a 12 percent slide in South Africa, which will account for 73 percent of global output, according to the report. In May, the company had forecast a surplus this year. Palladium supply is expected to drop 11 percent to 6.57 million ounces as mine output slips 6.3 percent in South Africa and 3.9 percent in Russia, the biggest producer of the metal.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


text:
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Johnny Miller choked back tears. Dan Hicks shook his hand and thanked him for "a great ride."
With that, NBC's 20-year run of televising the U.S. Open was over.
A handshake, those held-back tears and a highlight montage marked the end of the network's final broadcast — for another 13 years, at least — of golf's national championship.
NBC had televised the U.S. Open every year since 1995 at Shinnecock Hills with the love-him-or-hate-him Miller as its lead analyst.
The U.S. Golf Association's 12-year deal with Fox Sports begins next year.
Producer Tommy Roy had said the only mention of the farewell would come during the sign-off Sunday. He kept his word, and NBC left most of the sentimentality out of the broadcast.
Instead, during the round, the network kept its focus on the renovated Pinehurst No. 2 course and, of course, on Martin Kaymer as he rolled to an eight-stroke victory for his second major title.
Kaymer's daylong dominance meant the only question left unanswered was how NBC would handle its farewell.
After the trophy presentation, the network cut to Hicks and Miller — the 1973 U.S. Open winner at Oakmont — for some brief analysis of the German player's performance.
Then, it was time to say goodbye.
Calling the tournament "the highlight of my career," Hicks said he "had the best seat in the house with the best analyst that has ever done this game."
Miller appeared to choke back tears.
"I believe there's a time and a season for everything," Miller said. "There have been a lot of great memories, lot of great champions, lot of great moments, and I've had my share."
"Partner," Hicks said, shaking Miller's hand, "thank you for a great ride."
After rolling the credits, Hicks said his final farewell, calling it "an honor and a privilege to document our national championship of golf for all of you. We'll never forget how much fun this 20-year ride has been. Good night from Pinehurst."
Then came a highlight montage, starting with Corey Pavin — who won the 1995 U.S. Open, NBC's first of its two-decade run — ending with Kaymer and including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and, of course, Payne Stewart, who won the first U.S. Open at Pinehurst in 1999.
And then the U.S. Open was officially out of NBC's hands.
Under a deal that runs through 2026, Fox takes over next year at Chambers Bay outside Seattle with Joe Buck doing play-by-play and Greg Norman filling Miller's role as chief analyst.
Fox Sports will deliver 146 hours of USGA golf, including at least 70 hours of its three biggest events — the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open. The other hours will be spent on amateur competitions, such as the U.S. Amateur and the new U.S. National Fourball Championship.
At the time the Fox deal was announced last year, Miller — whose contract with NBC runs through 2015 — said "you can't just fall out of a tree and do the U.S. Open.
"I guess the money was more important than the performance," he added. "No way they can step in and do the job we were doing. It's impossible. There's just no way. I wish Fox the very best."
Before this U.S. Open began, Roy insisted the network would not "mail it in" because it's "not in our team's DNA.
"We're giving maximum effort to deliver our best shows yet," Roy said.
Despite those efforts, NBC's final U.S. Open wasn't entirely perfect.
The man who drove analyst Roger Maltbie's golf cart during the third round faces four charges after an incident on the course with a North Carolina Highway Patrol officer.
Tommy Lineberry was charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer, felony hit and run, driving while impaired, and resisting, obstructing and delaying a law enforcement officer. A state trooper said he ignored instructions to stay put, then hit the officer with the golf cart on the 11th hole.
He was released from a local jail after posting bail later Saturday night, officials said. NBC Sports said it was aware of the incident but declined further comment.
Out on the course, Miller came through with plenty of his usual blunt, biting commentary.
Miller called the course's trademark turtleback greens "over the top," said they need to be redone to Donald Ross' original design and said Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore — leaders of the recent renovation — "didn't want to touch them because they're sacred."
Miller also urged 25-year-old Rickie Fowler — who always wears orange on Sundays out of pride in his school, Oklahoma State — to "bench the orange outfit" after he chipped from a bunker during his bogey on the 11th.
That came a few holes after Fowler, playing in the final group of a major for the first time, lined up a birdie putt on the sixth. At the time, he was seven strokes back.
"I keep waiting for the Sunday charge from this generation of golfers. Haven't seen it," said Miller, famous for his 63 in the final round of his victory at Oakmont.
At the next dozen U.S. Opens, he'll have to watch for it on Fox.
Follow Joedy McCreary on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joedyap


text:
Length: 1:53 By: GoToMeeting
Using HDFaces in your GoToMeeting sessions. Get more information at https://link.gotomeeting.com/webcam-desktop-help
Lock your GoToMeeting session to avoid attendee overlap.
Length: 1:11 By: GoToMeeting
How to sync Outlook with your GoToMeeting account. Get more information at https://link.gotomeeting.com/outlook-plugin-help
Length: 3:13 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Web App - Chrome Instant Join
Join a GoToMeeting session instantly with Chrome. Get more information at https://link.gotomeeting.com/web-app-help
Length: 2:42 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting - Boosting Customer Loyalty
Creative ways to boost customer loyalty.
Length: 2:36 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Co-organizer Training
Invite a co-organizer to assist with, or run, your GoToMeeting session. Get more information at https://link.gotomeeting.com/coorganizer-help
Length: 2:13 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Meeting Spaces Quick Tip
Learn how to use GoToMeeting's Meeting Spaces. Get more information at https://support.logmeininc.com/gotomeeting/help/public-meeting-spaces-beta-g2m020027
Length: :48 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Adding a Company Logo Quick Tip
Add a company logo to GoToMeeting account. Get more information at https://support.logmeininc.com/gotomeeting/help/set-product-defaults-in-admin-settings-g2m500002
Length: 1:13 By: GoToMeeting
Learn to record, and share, your GoToMeeting sessions. Get more information at https://support.logmeininc.com/gotomeeting/help/recording-and-playback-faqs-g2m050012
Length: 3:23 By: GoToMeeting
Learn about InRoom Link with GoToMeeting. Get more information at https://support.logmeininc.com/gotomeeting/help/inroom-link-for-video-conference-rooms-and-systems-g2m220010
Length: 2:11 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Android Screen Sharing - Quick Tip
Sharing your screen with an Android device. Get more information at https://support.logmeininc.com/gotomeeting/help/share-your-screen-android-g2m090045
Length: 1:08 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Cloud Recording - Quick Tip
Quickly learn to use Cloud Recording with GoToMeeting.
Length: 1:36 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Transcripts - Quick Tip
GoToMeeting Transcription and the Smart Meeting Assistant.
Length: 2:33 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting Call Me - Quick Tip
Learn about GoToMeeting's "Call Me" feature.
Length: 1:33 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting - Business Messaging Overview
Learn all about our new Business Messaging with GoToMeeting.
Length: 3:04 By: GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting - Enable Business Messaging
Enable Business Messaging on your GoToMeeting account.
Length: 1:17 By: GoToMeeting


text:
Actually wrote:Understandable, certainly. Anything that is truly unique is, of course, huge amounts of work for the team...
I look at truly custom items, as the reward for a lenthy quest, that a given PC figured into in a major way. I completely understand that the power of these items are less imporant then the prestige they bring.
On a side, one of the coolest DM rewards I've ever given out, on Avlis or PnP, was to Mari and a few other PC's. They got a plaque and a small flower planted in honor of an short adventure I ran for them. It's forever a part of Elysia now, although I'm not sure how many people know about it or where it is... However I know for them, the fact that it's there, means more then how many people know about it.
Well, I know I'm a powergaming scumbag and all, so maybe it's just me?
Well you are on the "Powregaming, cheating scumbag who's not worthy to lick Stranngs nut sack" list. (For anyone who didn't get it, that is a joke)
I'd say in your case it's a combonation of two factors. One being part of HUGE plotlines. Those don't have a reward that matches up to the epic level of the plot line... The major rewards go to the major players in those plots, it has to be that way, or else we'd have a serrious ballance issue.
The other, not being there at the end of the plot line.
But all in all I think the idea of spreading the loot out though out the whole event, rather then the hoard at the end is a good idea. I know some DM's do this, but I think we should all do this, where it makes sense. Also the idea of replacement expendables is a good one.


text:
Error creating thumbnail
|This article describes a commodity traded on a commodities exchange. View articles referencing this commodity.
Uranium is a metal whose most well known commercial use is as fuel for nuclear power plants, which provided around 16% of the world's electricity in 2007.[1] (Other uses include counterweights for helicopters, ammunition and radiation shields. The exact use depends on the specific isotope.) Nuclear power is slowly making a comeback as an electricity source of choice in the U.S. market. At the middle of 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had received 17 applications for combined construction and operating licenses (COL) for 26 new nuclear reactors.[2] Also, in June of 2009 there was evidence of growing U.S. government support; the Energy Department said it would invest $18.5 billion in federal loan guarantees to four U.S. firms to help build a new generation of nuclear reactors.[3]
Nuclear power is also likely to be key to the ongoing emergence of such economies as China and India,[4] seen in their goals to double their nuclear capacity within the next 5-10 years.[5] On the supply side, uranium production has been growing at a snail's pace, the major players have started locking up long term supply, and Russia and the U.S. have slowed down their refined uranium sales programs.[6][7] As a result, demand for uranium has outstripped supply for every year since 1989.[8] Despite all this, uranium prices fell 40% from October 07 to March 09.[9][10] The global financial crisis is to blame - nuclear power plants represent huge capital investments, and demand for electricity is driven by business activity. With cheap credit a luxury of the past, raising billions of dollars for projects that won't start earning for at least six years has become very difficult.[11] Still, expecting the nuclear industry to partially recover, analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg in April of 2009 forecast that uranium prices will rise 30% by the end of the year.[12]
The chart at left shows continuos front-month futures prices for Uranium traded on the NYMEX.
Uranium Futures contracts are traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange under ticker symbol UX and are delivered in every month of the year. (For more information on commodity tickers, check out the commodity ticker construction page.)
Uranium spot prices have increased dramatically since 2003, when the commodity was under $10 per pound. Its peak spot price in 2007 was over $125 per pound and have since fallen to $50 as of November 2008.
Most utility companies secure a significant percent of their uranium fuel through long-term (i.e., multi-year) contracts with companies such as CCJ. These contracts are often priced in accordance to market conditions with uranium spot prices (i.e., short-term purchases for uranium within one year).
Every year since 1985, the world's consumption of uranium has been greater than its production.[18] In 2008, uranium producers met only 66% of worldwide demand. To help meet this shortfall, reprocessed uranium and plutonium from the dismantling of Russian and U.S. nuclear weapons has been used.[19][20] The World Nuclear Association estimates that uranium mining will need to increase by almost 300% in the next two decades.[20] The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics estimates that uranium prices will rise 22% from $46.4 in 2009 to $56.7 in 2010 due to the widening gap between uranium supply and demand.[21] NYMEX Uranium futures for December 2010 are in the $48.50 range.
As of January 2009, there were 436 nuclear reactors operating worldwide and a total of 115 reactors under construction or planned for completion by 2020.[22] The demand for processed uranium continues to rise as countries throughout the world increase their reliance on nuclear energy for electricity:
Nuclear energy is expensive. Said in 2005 by the CEO of Dominion Resources, "A new 1,400-megawatt nuclear power plant is going to cost about $2.6 billion. It is going to take 6 1/2 years to build. While you are building, you have to issue equity, you have to service that equity. You have to issue bonds; you have to service the bonds with interest. You don't have any money coming in. You have an average of $1.3 billion out for 6 1/2 years that is not earning anything."[23]. This was said 2 years before the credit crunch, and 3 years before the credit collapse. Now, the cost of borrowing $2.6 billion is going to be much higher. Furthermore, with economies across the globe slowing down, demand growth for electricity is falling off. The combination of the two makes nuclear power plants a bad investment, which is why uranium prices have been falling at a record pace - from $138 in July 07[24] to $45 in October 08.[25]
New nuclear power plants are very safe,[26] and in a bid to combat global warming and keep up with soaring demand for electricity, countries are rushing to build nuclear power plants. As of October 2008, there were 439 nuclear reactors in operation that generate about 15% of the world's electricity.[27] In September 2007, 16 were under construction, 34 were on order and 86 were proposed.[28] A year later, 26 were under construction, 99 were on order, and 232 have been proposed.[27] That uranium prices have fallen 40% from October 2007 to October 2008, shows that the market expects large delays and cancellations.
In 2009 Indian reactor demand for uranium was estimated at about 3 million pounds and is expected to rise to as much as 10 million pounds in 15 years.[29] India has 17 reactors operating and six under construction, and another 23 reactors are expected to come on line in the next eight years. China has 11 reactors operating, 16 under construction and 35 new plants expected to come on line within the next eight years. China's uranium demand is expected to grow 4-6 times by 2020, as the country increases its annual installed nuclear power capacity to 40 million kilowatts from 9 million present.[30] The sharp increase in the demand for uranium from India and China will continue to raise the price of uranium.
As the price of coal and natural gas increase, electricity production based on traditional sources of fuel becomes more expensive. Nevertheless, nuclear energy is still the most expensive of the three.[31] Several things could change that. One, government incentives have and will continue to make the construction and operation of select nuclear plants profitable. Two, the implementation of carbon taxes or a carbon trading scheme (as President Barack Obama has suggested)[32] would make nuclear energy significantly cheaper than fossil fuels.[31]
Wind, hydroelectric energy, and solar energy all compete with nuclear power for a share of the alternative energy market. In 2008, production costs were 8.8 cents (U.S.) per kilowatt hour for nuclear, 7.4 cents (U.S.) for coal, and 10.6 cents (U.S.) for natural gas.[33] Though renewable energy sources will need to become more affordable and more widely adopted in order to become a more serious competitor to uranium, advances in technology are making investment in renewable energy more attractive.
|Fixed Cost (cents/kWh)
|Variable Cost (cents/kWh)
|Total Cost (cents/kWh)
|Natural gas
|Energy return on Energy Invested
|Coal-fired power plant
|Nuclear power
|Hydroelectric power
|Wind power
|Natural gas
With every passing day coal power, wind energy, hydroelectricity and solar power all become more cost efficient and eco-friendly. Nuclear energy is still the cheapest renewable source of energy.[35] That lead won't last forever though. New technological developments are making the most viable of the competition, solar energy and wind energy, cheaper every year.[36] However, it'll take a very long time until widespread reliance on alternative energy will be possible. Even the most optimistic projections by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) don't see more than the addition of a couple gigawatts of renewable energy capacity over the next ten years.[37]
As the importance of securing renewable sources of energy rises, uranium is becoming more valuable. China is involved with long term deals that would effectively take Kazakhstan and some African countries out of the uranium production market.[38] Russia has stopped selling its uranium at market prices, and is now building up large stockpiles for future use.[39] Russia has also started signing deals with Australia, one of the two largest producers of uranium in the world.[8] China isn't leaving Australia for Russia though, having made a multi-billion dollar deal themselves.[39] Although these deals will take large supply off of the market, it will also take large demand with it. However, in a market where demand outstrips supply, these deals will take out a higher percentage of supply than demand, pushing the price of uranium upwards.
Because nuclear weapons contain ultra-enriched uranium, a single ton of military high-enriched uranium is equivalent to 350 tons of uranium oxide.[40] Since 2000, uranium from the U.S. and former countries of the USSR has provided 13% of the world's uranium requirements.[40] However, Russia's supply is slated to end around 2013,[7] and the U.S. has started to downsize its uranium selling program.[6]
Traditionally 20-40% less than consumption (last 25 years), production is closing the gap enabled by positive pressures on uranium prices (which directly affect the rate at which new projects are developed) and declining inventory supplies/sales. Between 2007 and 2010 primary production rose 25%.[17]


text:
Manifolds (110400, 110401, 110402)
Ensure that every plant in your irrigation system receives the same amount of water and fertilizer, regardless of location, for a uniform, high-quality crop. Netafim™ offers the highest level of technology available.
• Patented pressure differential system maintains uniform flow rate at different inlet working pressures, ensuring exact distribution of water and nutrients.
Manifolds (110400, 110401, 110402)
• Flat manifolds are ideal for field applications because the low-profile design and durable construction resists damage from field workers.


text:
In Coalinga, Calif., at one of the group's annual meetings, Jesse Curlee, association president, told some 130 growers and others Supima competitors recognize the American producer can grow Pima cotton of better quality at a lower price than anyone in the world.
He said the Phoenix-based association will promote American Pima in a multiple outreach. "First, we will continue direct mail contacts, the heart of Supima. Here is where we really try hard to develop relationships with textile mills and their customers, the apparel manufacturers and retailers. We also try to visit every customer at least once a year, either at their location or our office," he said.
The association will continue licensing of the Supima logo, at a fee of $1,000 per year. "The benefit," Curlee said, "is when we license someone to use the Supima trademark, the product has to be made entirely of American Pima cotton grown by a member of the association. That prevents mills from using Egyptian or other extra long staple cotton.
Among the 28 domestic licensees, are Eddie Bauer, Ralph Lauren, and many labels less recognizable, and the list is growing. Abroad, 68 manufacturers, representing all nations which buy American Pima, are in the program.
Curlee said the licensing fee idea sprang from the nearly daily inquiries about Supima licensing the staff had to field. "Because of the time we are putting into this and the legal costs involved, we decided to charge a $1,000 annual fee for a license. We were apprehensive about the amount, since we didn't know how much to charge at first, but virtually no one has stopped being a licensee because of the annual fee."
Trade shows regular
Another activity, intensified in the last five years, is participation in trade shows, such as Heimtex in Germany or Interstoff Asia, where the association staff sees many clients at a single location. The association links with Cotton Council International and Cotton Incorporated at these events.
Although prospects for the Pima crop are good this year, the textile industry is depressed. "The U.S. textile industry is in crisis and in the worst shape of any time in the last 30 to 40 years. Fifty plants have closed this year alone, a number closed in 2000 and more are on the brink of closing. Textile industry employment is down 10 percent, or more than 60,000 jobs, and fiber consumption is down 30 percent," he said.
Domestic consumption of Pima has risen from about 70,000 bales about 10 years ago to 120,000 bales. Although American cotton is being used, much of the manufacturing has moved abroad.
Curlee was optimistic about exports, noting some 200,000 bales are committed, while many customers hold until Egyptian prices are revealed.
Growers will likely agree, he said, that the major improvement needed for the cotton industry is to narrow the wide spread between prices of Pima and San Joaquin Valley cotton.
"This is not great for Pima. It's good we have a strong price, but over time, when the price differential is so great, mills will be tempted to make goods from Upland rather than cotton that may cost twice as much."
Curlee said the association has taken out trade advertisements to counter Egyptian overtures to the home fashions market. "We felt we had to get out the facts about our Pima cotton and the facts about Egyptian cotton. One is that all the Egyptian cotton sold is not extra-long staple."
He praised catalog merchant Lands End for doing more than any other to promote Supima to the public over the years. The Swiss spinning company Buhler also promotes Supima, using the logo on its business cards.
To augment the advertising by its clients, the association is shopping for an agency to handle a three-year ad program in various home magazines.
The campaign will also help blunt the emergence of government-supported logos from both Egypt and China, who seek to imitate Supima's success via trade publication ads.
Tranquillity, Calif., grower John Pucheu, Jr. was recognized at the conclusion of his three-year term. The new chairman is Bill Lovelady, a grower from Tornillo, near El Paso, Texas, current vice chairman, and former chairman of the National Cotton Council.
Noting the association is involved in more than its primary focus of promotion, Pucheu said legislation for a Step 2 entitlement for Pima cleared the U.S. House Ag Committee for debate in the House the first week of September. He said the association seeks to get a similar bill through the Senate.
Another goal is maintaining the Pima loan and ensuring it has a floor. "In the 1996 farm bill, our loan was capped at 79.65 cents, which values grade 2, 1-7/16-inch even, at about 82 cents a pound. But unlike Upland cotton, Pima did not have a floor. The average loan cannot go higher under the present farm bill, but it can go lower."
Both issues are important to Pima growers, he said, to provide a safety net for growers during these difficult times.
Matt Laughlin, Supima executive vice president, said the Pima industry, which entered world markets in the mid-1980s, showed it can react to the world market and produce 500,000 to 600,000 bales for export, although it could produce more. He predicted California will continue to supply about 90 percent of the U.S. Pima output.
World production of extra-long staple cotton is responding this year to a 32 percent stocks-to-use ratio, the lowest in six years. The International Cotton Advisory Committee predicts a new crop of 3.04 million bales, the largest since 1993, and off-take for the 2000/2001 marketing year is expected to be more 3.1 million bales, the highest in eight years.
Egyptian crop
Egypt is expected to produce a total ELS output of about 450,000 bales, close to the 460,000 forecast for U.S. Pima exports and building a stage for aggressive marketing.
American Pima lint, cleaner than the handpicked Egyptian growths, has some advantage, but the Egyptians will be highly competitive because of narrowing prices between their Giza 70 class cotton and American Pima. The high-quality Egyptian fiber once brought a premium of 15 to 20 cents more per pound, but last year the lead shrank to about five cents, Laughlin said.
Another issue for the industry is feeding of Pima seed, hampered by fears of gossypol toxicity to dairy animals. Steve Carnes, Supima's director of field services, said reports documenting the practice as safe will be released soon for publication in dairy and feed publications.
In 1999 the association committed $225,000 to research nutrient and chemical composition of Pima seed in a series of projects by the University of California, Texas A&M University, and USDA. The overall effort was the largest investigation of Pima seed and dairy cows ever done.
"We know that Pima seed is as good as, if not better than fuzzy (Upland) seed, in most cases," said Carnes. "The best thing we found was none of the cows died from gossypol poisoning. The recommended level is four pounds of Pima seed per day."
The controversy over feeding Pima seed stemmed from cow deaths in El Paso, after Pima seed was fed to them at rates of up to 12 pounds per day.
Carnes said the association's next step will be promotion of feeding Pima seed and educating nutritionists and dairymen about the practice.
USDA reports say California Pima growers have 204,000 acres, although other estimates range to more than 230,000. USDA forecasts California yields at 1,271 pounds, up from the 1,109-pound average of the past five years. California growers say, despite weather reversals at planting, many late-planted fields have since caught up in maturity.
Other Pima acreage estimates are: Texas, 17,000; New Mexico, 7,000; and Arizona, 6,000.


text:
Dear Editor: If you care about your children's education, it's important that you know about Common Core and ask your legislators to repeal it before it's too late.
Dear Editor: If you care about your children's education, it's important that you know about Common Core and ask your legislators to repeal it before it's too late.
Local control of your children's education is eroding quickly. Standards are dumbed down; various types of sensitive, non-academic data will soon be collected about your child, and shared with the federal government and special interests without parental knowledge or permission; and if the Alabama legislature doesn't repeal Common Core in the next two weeks before the legislative session is over, it will be almost impossible to extricate ourselves from this catastrophe. Parents, teachers, local boards of education and legislators will lose control over education policy in Alabama to outside entities.
Common Core is the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's transformational education reform. In President Obama's Blueprint for Education Reform, he states this is a plan for a re-envisioned federal role in education. Well, the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution puts the states in control of education. Are we willing to lose that? The Blueprint also states that priority will be given to states that adopt Common Core and use technology to address student learning that include principles of a universal design for learning.
I would implore you to call your legislators and ask them to vote to rescind these common standards. Call the House (334-242-7600) and Senate (334-242-7800) main numbers; the operator will record your vote.
There is a site, www.auee.org, that can provide additional information and videos.


text:
Ted Sorensen
Ted Sorensen
A Life at the Edge of History
Release Date: 5/6/2008
LIST PRICE: $27.99 (you save $5.60)
Main description:
In this gripping memoir, John F. Kennedy's closest advisor recounts in full for the first time his experience counseling Kennedy through the most dramatic moments in American history.
Sorensen returns to January 1953, when he and the freshman senator from Massachusetts began their extraordinary professional and personal relationship. Rising from legislative assistant to speechwriter and advisor, the young lawyer from Nebraska worked closely with JFK on his most important speeches, as well as his book Profiles in Courage. Sorensen encouraged the junior senator's political ambitions—from a failed bid for the vice presidential nomination in 1956 to the successful presidential campaign in 1960, after which he was named Special Counsel to the President.
Sorensen describes in thrilling detail his experience advising JFK during some of the most crucial days of his presidency, from the decision to go to the moon to the Cuban Missile Crisis, when JFK requested that the thirty-four-year-old Sorensen draft the key letter to Khrushchev at the most critical point of the world's first nuclear confrontation. After Kennedy was assassinated, Sorensen stayed with President Johnson for a few months before leaving to write a biography of JFK. In 1968 he returned to Washington to help run Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign. Through it all, Sorensen never lost sight of the ideals that brought him to Washington and to the White House, working tirelessly to promote and defend free, peaceful societies.
Illuminating, revelatory, and utterly compelling, Counselor is the brilliant, long-awaited memoir from the remarkable man who shaped the presidency and the legacy of one of the greatest leaders America has ever known.
Review quote:
"Ted Sorensen has given us a very welcome up close and personal view of life and politics at the side of John F. Kennedy. There are fresh insights and enduring lessons for this and future generations to study and embrace. And painful memories of what we lost."
Review quote:
"Ted Sorensen's Counselor is that rare gift to history: an account of mighty events by a participant who stood at their heart, and a writer masterful enough to make us understand them as well."
Review quote:
"Ted Sorensen's words inspired a generation, and his counsel and judgment helped steer our nation through some of its most difficult hours. This gripping, candid memoir illuminates a revered era in American history. Sorensen has written a book that will be cherished for generations."
Review quote:
"This is an important book, and it's also a poignant one. As Jackie Kennedy once said of a speech that Ted Sorensen gave about her husband, it captures not only the soul of John Kennedy but also the soul of Sorensen. This clear-eyed but loving memoir is fascinating."
Review quote:
"With eloquence and honesty, Sorensen takes us on a tour of many of the most important moments of the second half of the American Century, from who wrote 'Profiles in Courage' to the Cuban Missile Crisis to Dallas and its terrible aftermath. This is an illuminating and engaging book."


text:
Gas Prices Force New Mexicans To Cut Back, AAA Says
Gas Prices Force New Mexicans To Cut Back, AAA Says
The rising cost of gas has forced New Mexicans to cut back in several ways, according to a new study by AAA.
Right now, the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.81. The New Mexico statewide average is 15 cents below that at $3.61
AAA said a recent survey of its New Mexico customers found that 82 percent are cutting back on unnecessary driving and 50 percent are eating out at restaurants less. Other ways to cut back include not taking a spring vacation, putting less money into savings and spending less on entertainment.
Last year, 41 percent of New Mexicans surveyed by AAA said that gas prices were affecting their household budgets. This year, that number has shot up to 59 percent.


text:
A little too much adventure
Watching kids cycling to school, and seeing big yellow buses with lights flashing as they make their early morning routes inspires me to reminisce about my misspent youth, when I would return to school with mixed emotions.
When I was 13, my friend Brian and I were allowed to venture out on our bicycles to spend the summer fishing and camping without supervision. The freedom was euphoric.
The following year, our plans were mundane compared to what really happened. That summer had the makings of an adventure novel. We left the suburbs of St. Louis the day after school let out and pedaled our bicycles down old Route 66, the only highway at the time that went in the direction of Meramec State Park near Sullivan, Mo.
We hugged the shoulder of the road and prayed that a sleepy driver in a speeding 18-wheeler wouldn't turn us into a stain on the asphalt. After two days of hard riding, we decided to treat ourselves to a burger at a truck stop.
A trucker at the next table eyed us suspiciously.
"And what kinda rig are you boys drivin'?" he asked.
"Bicycles," I replied. "We're riding bicycles."
"Now where in the world are you goin' on bicycles out here in the middle o' God's country? You aren't runnin' away are ya?"
"No," I replied. "We're just goin' fishin' on the Meramec."
We talked for a few minutes and he said that if we wanted to go another hundred miles we could do some serious fishing in the heart of the Ozarks on the Big Piney River.
"It's wild down there. You gotta watch out fer bears. It's not a family campground," he said. "It's undeveloped national forest."
That got our attention. He was talking about the wilderness. The Big Piney River flowed through a national forest where true adventurers went fishing. There were no noisy families, picnic tables or barbecues. This was the real thing.
He offered to give us a ride within three miles of the river and we accepted, breaking our parent's number one rule: Do not accept rides from strangers. It was also against the law for anyone under 16 to hitchhike. Technically, we did both.
Nonetheless, we rode in a big rig, and nothing was cooler than that. On the way, we heard a radio announcer say that the police were looking for two men in a blue Ford pickup with a driver's side front fender painted with red primer. They were suspects in a foiled armed bank robbery.
"Good luck findin' those boys," the truck driver said. "They're holed up somewhere in a thousand square miles of rough country."
The trucker dropped us off and we headed down the rocky road as he instructed. Riding our bicycles was nearly impossible, so we walked most of the way, and pushed the bikes.
We pitched our tent amongst some trees above the riverbank and marveled at the isolation. We didn't discuss it, but I think we were both worried about bears and other large critters. We slept like dead men and awoke to the sounds of the forest greeting the day.
When we crawled out of our tent, not a hundred yards upstream we saw a blue pickup with a red front fender. It perfectly matched the description of the truck on the radio.
We quietly packed our gear and made our way to the rocky road without incident. We saw one of the men on the riverbank fishing, but we didn't know if he saw us. I took note of what he was wearing.
We all but ran the three miles to the main highway. With hearts pumping to the max, we eventually flagged down a farmer in a truck who was nice enough to drive us to a telephone seven miles down the road. There, we called the police.
Although they took our information seriously and apprehended the bank robbers, they treated us as if we were runaways. Our biggest fear was that our parents would learn of our run-in with the bank robbers and bring our search for adventure to a screeching halt.
Much to the credit of the Missouri State Police, they never did call our parents. I don't know if they couldn't be bothered, or if they appreciated our tip, but we were allowed to continue with our summer of adventure, growing up in a system we can't understand.


text:
This is what I'm working with now. I want to continue to grow out my length, but I have to do something so I'm not just wearing it up all the dang time. That's so boring and I'm over it. So, now I need your help! Suggestions? Ideas?
Source: longhairstyleshowto.com via Allison on Pinterest
I really really love this style, but again I don't have the time or the inclination to curl/straighten/blow out to achieve a look like this every day. There are some days I just need a really easy wash and go style that won't frizz out and look dumb! lol
Or do I just go for something like this that doesn't require much change from what I currently have and wouldn't take much time each day to style...
Source: longhairstyleshowto.com via Taylor on Pinterest
So, whatcha think? Bangs or no? Long layers or no? Help a sista out would ya?!
Oh and we'll talk about my grey's and coloring next time, m'kay pumpkins?! ;)


text:
Amber At Home Hardcore Swinger Nude Picture Gallery. Visit the Official Site of Amber Lynn Bach For Free Videos
(Click Here)
A little info about Me:)
Just a few things you might want to know...
Yes I run my site :)
Yes I am a real swinger
Yes it is me that will answer your email/Instant Message
Yes I love cum in my pussy and on my face
My favorite car is the Chevy Camaro
I will add more. If you want to know something more about me...just ask!!
Click here for more Free Pics and Videos
Check out the Babes of Aziani.com


text:
|Forum Rules
|Firearms Safety
|Firearms Photos
|Lost Password
|Email Changes
|Today's Posts
|Mark Forums Read
|Thread Tools
|Search this Thread
|May 16, 2012, 11:47 AM
Join Date: February 20, 2012
Posts: 35
WTB - Colt 2nd Gen Limited Editions Revolvers.
Colt Limited Editions 2nd generation.
C1121 BSE 1851 Navy, B/CCH/Si, B engraved, gold banded two-gun set.
C1121 CDC 1851 Navy, B/CCH/NI BS/Sq TG, Engraved, cased set.
C1122 S2B 1851 Navy, B/CCH/Br, B engraved, gold-banded.
C1131 1851 Navy, B/CCH/silver rounded trigger guard.
C1132 1851 Navy, B/CCH/brass rounded trigger guard.
C1770 CES 3rd Model Dragoon, B/CCH/Br B engraved w/one piece ivory.
Same as above but with bright nickel finish.
C1770 MN 3rd Model Dragoon, B /CCH/br Bright mirror high polish blue.
Same as above with one piece ivory grip.
Same as above with bright nickel finish and one piece ivory grip.
C1770 S2B 3rd Model Dragoon, B/CCH/Br, B engraved, gold-banded.
C1770 CSE 3rd Model Dragoon, Statehood Custom Edition, High polish B/CCH/Gold plated BS/TG, two piece ivory grip.
F1101 1851 Navy, B/CCH/Si, with blank cylinder.
F1200 MN 1860 Army, Full bright nickel w/one piece ivory grip.
F1200 ICE 1860 Army, Interstate Special Edition, Cased set containing one antique gold plated 1860 and one antique silver-plated 1860 with accessories.
F1200CES 1860 Army, B/CCH/Br B engraved w/one piece ivory.
Same as above but with bright nickel finish.
F1200 LNK 1860 Army, full electroless nickel finish.
F1200 LNKS 1860 Army, electroless nickel finish with case, accessories, and shoulder stock.
F1200 EBO 1860 Army, Butterfield Despatch special edition, B/CCH/Br, cased with spare cylinder.
F1202 CTF 1860 Army, B/CCH/br, Limited edition cased w/accessories.
F1203 XFC 1860 Army, Full nickel w/ivory or full nickel w/ebony grip;
or full nickel with ivory and C engraving.
F9005 – S Same as Cavalry Commemorative but with C suffix SN.
F9005 SPL Same as Cavalry Commemorative but is gold inlaid.
Same as above but has B abd C level engraving.
F1310 1861 Navy, Stainless Steel.
F1400 MN 1862 Pocket Navy, Full bright nickel w/one piece ivory grip.
F1400 CES 1862 Pocket Navy, B/CCH/br, B engraved, one piece ivory grip.
Same as above but full bright nickel.
F1500 MN 1862 Pocket Police, Full bright nickel w/one piece ivory grip.
F1500 CES 1862 Pocket Police, B/CCH/br, B engraved, one-piece ivory grip.
Same as above but full bright nickel.
F1600 1847 Walker, B/CCH/Br 2921 with five digit SN.
F1700 YVE 1st Model Dragoon, B/CCH/Br, Yorktown Victory Cased set.
F1740 EGA 3rd Model Dragoon, B/CCH/Br, gold inlaid in French fit case.
Freak Dragoon, barrel and cylinder in the white, no inlays.
Also interested in Klay Associates, Inc., American Historical Foundation, and the Heritage guilt.
|Thread Tools
|Search this Thread


text:
Manchester woman taken to hospital after husband backs into her with SUV
January 05. 2013 10:58PM
MANCHESTER - A Manchester man backing his SUV out of a parking space when he hit his wife, sending her to the hospital, police said.
Remy Casimir 50, told officers he didn't realize his wife, Marthe Casimir 59, was behind his vehicle when he was backing up in the rear parking area at 496 Kimball St. just before 2 p.m., according to police Lt. Michael Hurley.
Marthe Casimir was taken to Catholic Medical Center to be treated for a broken arm and a hip injury.
Alcohol and speed were not factors in the accident.
The accident remains under investigations.


text:
Doris Rowan, 93 - January 04, 2014Doris Grace (Malcom) Rowan, 93, of Gothenburg passed away Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at Hilltop Estates in Gothenburg.
Services will take place at Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow the service at the Gothenburg Cemetery.
A visitation will be conducted at Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel of Gothenburg on Wednesday, Jan. 8, from 1 to 8 p.m. with family members present from 5 to 7 p.m.
Rowan was born Feb. 3, 1920, in rural Custer County to Ernest and Mary (Anderson) Malcom. She grew up on a Custer County farm and attended Grade School 225 in Custer County.
She also attended Redfern Table School in Custer County and then Cozad High School.
On Nov. 9, 1937, she married Walter Rowan at her parents' home in Custer County. To this union, three children were born.
Rowan and her husband farmed for a few years in Custer County and later moved to a farm northeast of Gothenburg, where they raised their family.
Following her husband's death, she moved to Gothenburg where she resided and worked at Parkview Villa that was owned and operated by her son, Bob.
Her first loves were her husband and family, according to family members. She always put her children above anything.
Rowan attended the Church of God in Cozad where she was an member. She served as the church pianist for numerous years, was a youth group leader, a Sunday School teacher and served as president of the Women of the Church of God.
She loved church hymns, family said, and she and her husband would often sing for funerals and other events.
?Rowan was also active in her community making quilts and afghans. She belonged to the PVC and Women's Extension Clubs in the Gothenburg community. She was also very active in helping her son operate Parkview Villa. She was known as "the Boss" and helped until the age of 87.
She enjoyed playing Rook, and would stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing with friends and family, said family members.
Rowan was preceded in death by: her husband, Walter Rowan in 1986; five brothers—Arvin Malcom, Walter Malcom, Robert Malcom, Alvin Malcom and Glen Malcom.
Survivors include: her two sons—Bob (Jean) Rowan of Omaha and Ted (Linda) Rowan of Jeffrey Lake near Brady; her daughter, Katherine (Chuck)Belden of Gothenburg; nine grandchildren—Bruce Lambertus, Rick Lambertus (Jody Haughs), Lisa (Lambertus) Harris, Tamara (Belden) and Todd Ekart, James (Ashlee) Belden, Kirk Rowan, Kristen (Rowan) and Jarred Rickertsen, Michaela (Rowan) and Murray Fletcher, Nicole Rowan (Brian Putnam), David (Jennifer) Rowan Starr; 16 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren; brother, Paul Malcom; numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorials are suggested to the Central Plains Home Health & Hospice, 300 E. 12th St., Cozad, NE 69130 and Parkview Villa.
Latest Headlines
- Gothenburg native releases first novel
- We all need help from a friend
- Monsanto hosts 6th annual Safety Day program
- Brady places champ and runner-up at State FCCLA
- Swedes continue conference domination
- Dancing With The Stars changes venues
- Middle-of-the-Pack Finishes For Swede Boys and Girls
- Girls Show Support for Teacher's Cancer Fight


text:
Red Carpet Manicure hits the runway at NYC Fashion Week
NEW YORK — To see what's hot for fall/winter 2013 and how nail is meeting fashion with the help of Red Carpet Manicure, DSNTV went backstage at Noon by Noor at New York Fashion Week to talk with celebrity manicurist Elle. So what are some of the hottest nail trends, and which shades of Red Carpet Manicure graced the nails of runway models? Watch the video below.
Costco sued over diamond engagement rings
NEW YORK — Jewelry maker Tiffany & Co. is suing Costco Wholesale, alleging that the club retailer falsely marketed diamond engagement rings as coming from the New York-based jeweler, according to published reports.
News media reported that Tiffany filed suit against Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco in the Federal District Court in Manhattan.
Tiffany said in its lawsuit that it found Costco salespeople sold rings as Tiffany in the stores, but not online, but that the jeweler had never sold its jewelry through the retailer, though Costco does sell jewelry from other high-end suppliers such as Cartier.
According to reports, Costco had not commented on the matter at press time.
Like this story? Find us on Facebook for more insight, analysis and the latest in drug store news. Join the conversation.
Views of economy improve, but gloom persists, Nielsen study finds
NEW YORK — More than half of consumers around the world say the world is in an economic recession, according to a new study by Nielsen.
According to the Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, 71% of North Americans said they were in a recession in the fourth-quarter of 2012, but this represented a drop in 15 percentage points from the fourth-quarter of 2011, representing the largest drop in negative sentiments about the economy of any area.
"North America is slowly, but steadily heading in the right direction," said Venkatesh Bala, chief economist at Nielsen's Cambridge Group division. "Compared with a year ago, North America showed progress toward recovery with a six-point year-on-year consumer confidence increase, driven mainly by a three-point increase in a positive job outlook, up from 37% in [fourth-quarter] 2011 to 40% in [fourth-quarter] 2012. With continued weakness in Europe and uneven growth in Asia, it may well be that with a brighter job market, the U.S. serves as the critical engine of improved global economic activity in 2013."
Nevertheless, while sentiments in North America had seen significant improvement, bad feelings about the economy were still lower in Asia and Latin America, with 48% and 50% of respondents in those respective areas saying the economy was in recession; those figures represented declines of four and three percentage points compared with third-quarter 2012, respectively. But Europeans' view was still dimmer than North Americans', with 75% saying they were in recession, unchanged since the third-quarter, while 73% of people in the Middle East and Africa said they were in recession, an increase of one percentage point over third-quarter 2012.
Like this story? Find us on Facebook for more insight, analysis and the latest in drug store news. Join the conversation.


text:
About This Vinyl Collectible
Celebrating the upcoming launch of Monsters, Inc. in 3D, Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys are proud to announce the Monsters, Inc. Cosbaby (S) Series. Each cosbaby stands approximately 3 inches tall, capturing your favorite Monsters Inc. characters in baby form with unique designs, they feature joint articulations and detailed accessories.
Check out our Companion Products section on this page to see all of the Monsters, Inc. Characters!
Product Instructions / Assembly
Please note: some simple assembly is required.
- License
- Disney
- Type
- Vinyl Collectible
- Manufacturer
- Hot Toys
Additional Details & Dimensions
- Product Size
- 3" H (76.2mm)*
- Box Size
- 5.00" H (127mm) x 10.00" W (254mm) x 10.00" L (254mm)*
- Product Weight
- 2.00 lbs (0.91 kg)*
- Est. Shipping Weight
- 1.00 lbs (0.45 kg)*
- Dimensional Weight
- 3.0000 lbs*
- Int'l Dim. Weight
- 4.0000 lbs*
* Size and weight are approximate values.
Learn more
- 901993
- 4897011174907
© Disney/Pixar
Did You Know?
Some items are available only from Sideshow.com.
Shop with Confidence
Award-winning customer support with a 30-day guarantee.
What Collectors Are SayingLeave Feedback
Own it? Tell us what you think!
We love to hear from our collectors. Use the form here to leave product feedback and tell your fellow collectors about this piece.


text:
I was looking for a good example to explain global vs. local optimization, and lo, one fell right out of the twittersphere at me. It came from the Twitter engineering team themselves. Ed Ceaser (@asdf) and Nick Kallen (@nk) posted a blog entry recently, entitled "The Anatomy of the Whale". The entry discusses the team's efforts to track down a capacity problem that caused too many people to see the 'fail whale', Twitter's visual representation of a HTTP 503 Service Unavailable error. As the guys say:
"Discovering the root cause can be very difficult because Whales are an indirect symptom of a root cause that can be one of many components. In other words, the only concrete fact that we knew at the time was that there was some problem, somewhere."
It struck me then that finding a performance bottleneck is a fantastic example of a global process optimization problem. Any seasoned developer knows that the process for finding performance issues is real detective work. In my years as a developer, I learned to recognize performance blind alleys, or a red herring (to name but two clichés), such as investing time in optimizing one part of an end-to-end process. Ed and Nick offer the following great advice for any optimization effort: "Focus on the biggest contributor to the problem". Tracking down the biggest contributor to the problem is where the need for visibility comes in.
Gaining visibility into any process has a number of aspects:
Measuring local things credibly
Aggregating the local measurements into an end-to-end picture
Presenting the metrics visually to gain insight into their relationships
The twitter team describes this measurement data problem as:
"Debugging performance issues is really hard. But it's not hard due to a lack of data; in fact, the difficulty arises because there is too much data. We measure dozens of metrics per individual site request, which, when multiplied by the overall site traffic, is a massive amount of information about Twitter's performance at any given moment. Investigating performance problems in this world is more of an art than a science. It's easy to confuse causes with symptoms and even the data recording software itself is untrustworthy."
Visualizing the performance data, the Twitter team discovered that their problem was the decay in throughput of data being delivered during peak loads from their distributed caching subsystem, based on Memcached. Armed with this information, they tackled the problem in two ways: reduce the volume of calls to Memcached (they found 7 out of 17 calls to Memcached were unnecessary), and beef up the Memcached cluster.
There is further point to make about the Twitter blog post: it is another example of the Twitter team doing their engineering in public. This transparency gives them credibility (Amazon and Salesforce.com, are you listening?) and positively affects Twitter's relationship with their customers, potential paying customers, and investors. I have blogged about the work of the Twitter engineering team before. Their commitment to transparency continues to impress me. I'd rather hear my service providers saying "look we have a problem, here's how we measured it, and here are the steps we are taking to resolve it", rather than operate on a "Wizard-of-Oz-behind-the-magic-curtain" basis.


text:
With its long low coastline and large land area less than two feet above sea level, North Carolina is among the states most vulnerable to sea-level rise, a new federal report warns.
The new report focuses on the coastal states from North Carolina to New York where the rates of sea level rise are moderately high. The region has extensive coastal development, a high population and is likely to be at increased risk.
After Florida and Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas have the largest land areas threatened by sea-level rise.
"You're vulnerable," said Jim Titus, project manager for sea-level rise for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and lead author of the report, "Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region." "The people whose land could be permanently submerged aren't even flooded today."
A rise in sea level increases the vulnerability of development in coastal floodplains and diminishes the rate at which low-lying areas drain. It will result in a loss of wetlands in the mid-Atlantic.
Rising temperatures cause ocean waters to warm and expand, like water heated in a tea kettle. In addition, rising temperatures near the poles cause massive ice sheets to melt, adding to the volume of water.
The report predicts that coastal erosion will occur at higher rates as sea level rises. Particularly in the sandy shore of the mid-Atlantic coast, the report says, it is nearly certain that barrier islands, spits and coastal headlands will erode faster due to sea-level rise. The Outer Banks are particularly vulnerable.
Read the complete story at charlotteobserver.com


text:
Could you wait more than five years to take a shot at a whitetail deer, knowing it had grown from a healthy 2-year old into a true trophy?
Veteran hunter and writer Don Higgins did just that, tracking a buck on his Illinois farm for more than five years. It took patience and stealth, but the reward of watching it and learning its habits during that time was his payoff. The 12-pointer scored 176.
Higgins will be this Wednesday's special guest on Deer Talk Now, joining hosts Dan Schmidt and Brad Rucks of Deer & Deer Hunting on the live, 1-hour live webcast that airs at 12 p.m. Central from Deer & Deer Hunting headquarters. Mathews, Carbon Express and ICOtec present deer Talk Now.
Your questions for Higgins are critical to Wednesday's show, so send them in on the "Deer Talk Now" webpage now. Submit a question to be considered and you will join the pool eligible to win cool prizes that could include the Deer & Deer Hunting Lunar Calendar, Carbon Express Arrows, venison cookbooks and more!
For nearly two decades Higgins has authored numerous articles focusing on hunting monster whitetail bucks that have appeared in all of the major whitetail hunting publications. In 2006 he wrote his first book, Hunting Trophy Whitetails in the Real World, which sold out in less than a year. Higgins just recently released his second book, Real World Whitetail Icons … In Their Own Words.
Additionally, Higgins runs a whitetail and habitat consulting service that has taken him to numerous states. He has worked with many hunters and landowners to advise them on projects and help complete the recommended habitat improvements. Higgins and his wife, Robin, also work as a private contractor planting trees and creating wildlife habitat on government and private projects. Higgins's books, photos and more information can be found here on his site.
Deer Talk Now is a one-hour webcast every Wednesday beginning at 12 p.m. Central. Join the show each week here and be sure to visit our DTN Archives to watch previous shows with guests including Charles Alsheimer, Ted Nugent, Donald Trump, Mark Drury and more!


text:
San Andreas, CA
George Raymond "Ray" Stepp
George Raymond Stepp passed peacefully in his sleep on June 18, 2013 after battling with effects from a stroke which he suffered earlier this spring at the age of 92.
Ray was born in Hendersonville, N.C. to George and Jewell Stepp. He is preceded in death by his son Garry Richard Stepp. Ray is survived by his wife Margaret "Peggy"
Lucille Werner and his sister
Velma Beddingfield. He and
Peggy are the parents of two
sons Larry (Paula) and Garry
(deceased). He and Peggy have 11 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII in the South Pacific where he received his training as an electrician. While stationed in Alameda, he met his sweetheart Peggy, fell in love and married. They just celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary on April 1st.
Together they raised their sons in the San Francisco Bay area before retiring to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains that reminded him of his home in North Carolina.
His electrician career spanned throughout his lifetime. After retiring he continued serving in the Mountain Ranch community for several years. He was awarded Calaveras County Senior of the Year by the State of California.
Ray also loved serving as a Mason. Initiated in San Andreas at Calaveras Masonic Lodge in 1988 and was a 25 year member. George served as an officer for six years. He was very active on the Calaveras Masonic Hall association for may years. He was
presented with the Hiram Award in 1995 for his dedication to Masonry and Calaveras Lodge.
All of his life, Ray was known for his incredible work ethic and service to others. His children were the recipients of this ethic also.
Everyone who knows Ray, knows he loves to laugh and has an incredible sense of humor. His children and grandchildren are
grateful to him and the wonderful man he is.
A memorial service will be held on
Saturday June 29, 2013 at 11 am, United Methodist Church, 135 Laurel St Valley Springs, CA. Internment will follow at The Peoples Cemetery, 273 Cemetery Avenue, San Andreas.