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Brave New World (2011)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Brave New World is Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio's new movie which gives a lot of room to discuss Aldous Huxley's work, and how happiness can be manipulated by political power.
Brave New World for Hollywood as Aldous Huxley feud ends
As reported by The Sunday Times, when Leonardo DiCaprio was a young boy, he used to play hide-and-seek in the overgrown gardens of a Hollywood Hills mansion owned by the family of the visionary British author Aldous Huxley.
Now, 30 years later, the star of Titanic and The Aviator is paying back the hospitality by putting his Hollywood muscle behind the first big-screen production of Brave New World, Huxley's most enduring novel.
The Universal Studios movie, which Sir Ridley Scott wants to direct, has become possible only because years of wrangling over the terms of Huxley's will have finally been settled, his granddaughter Tessa confirmed last week. "There is now nothing stopping this film," she said.
America, which claims the Surrey-born author as one of its own, appears to be on the brink of a Huxley revival.
Until her own death at 96 last December, Huxley's Italian-born widow Laura maintained the Mulholland home as an open house where she became friends with George DiCaprio, the actor's artist father.
"Laura and I were friends, and Leo was friends with Laura's ward Karen: they were toddlers playing together in these rambling old gardens with an empty fish pond and wild flowers everywhere," DiCaprio, 64, recalled last week.
"Laura always wanted a film made of Brave New World, but the technology was not there to make it look convincing. It is a vast futuristic world to put on screen, packed with many ideas which made it tough for some studios to deal with. And there were also family issues," he said.
These issues hinged on the terms of Huxley's will. It left 80% of future royalties to Laura and 20% to his son Matthew by his first wife Maria, which on Matthew's death passed to his two children Trevenen and Tessa.
They expressed what family friends call "disappointment" with this arrangement, and made it clear they enjoyed "termination" rights, which meant they could stop any film. Studios were not willing to risk that.
The Huxleys' literary agent, Georges Borchardt, who also represents Ian McEwan and the Tennessee Williams estate, has negotiated a fresh, undisclosed royalty deal with the younger Huxleys, which has cleared the way for the movie.
Tessa Huxley, 54, said last week that she remembered playing as a small child with her grandfather in the house on Mulholland. She added: "I know my grandfather would be very pleased that his ideas were about to reach a new audience around the world."
Brave New World 2011 trailer: Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio movie trailer
Brave New World: Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio video commentary
Ridley Scott, DiCaprio travel to "Brave New World"
As reported by Reuters, Ridley Scott is going back to the futurism. The "Blade Runner" director is joining forces with Leonardo DiCaprio to take on one of the most highly regarded dystopian works of literature, Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World."
The studio has brought on "Apocalypto" scribe Farhad Safinia to write the script; he's expected to be working shortly. Scott has mentioned casually in interviews that he's interested in the 1931 novel, whose film rights are owned by DiCaprio's Appian Way production company, prompting a flurry of rumors on sci-fi and other blogs over the past year.
Brave New World 2011: Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio pictures
Brave move for DiCaprio and Scott
BBC wrote that DiCaprio will produce and star in the adaptation of Aldous Huxley's 1931 novel, a prophetic work set in a seemingly perfect 26th-Century world.
Sir Ridley, who worked with DiCaprio on Body of Lies last year, will direct the film, The Hollywood Reporter has said. His previous forays into science-fiction, 1979's Alien and 1982's Blade Runner, are considered classics of the genre.
Huxley's 'futurist' novel, written in 1931 and published the following year, has been adapted for several televised movies but has yet to make it to the big screen. Set in a world divided into five castes, it tells of a psychologist from a lower caste who becomes infatuated with a woman from a higher order.


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Our role is to assure the safety and environmental sustainability of Unilever products and their manufacturing processes.
We're always looking to connect with those who share an interest in a sustainable future.
Get in touch with Unilever and specialist teams in our headquarters, or find contacts around the world.Contact us

subset: commoncrawl


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Warm sunshine delivers a much-needed respite after a long, gray winter, and there's no sensation more thrilling to many drivers than toggling a switch on a vehicle console and setting a chain of events into motion.
With a whir and a series of clicks and thumps the top of the new Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet lifts up, folds like canvas origami and tucks itself neatly away.
The CC, as it's more commonly known, is one of the latest — and one of the more unusual — entries into the convertible market this year. It's a segment that has seen some surprising innovations in recent years.
That may be critical to maintain demand, industry analysts say. There was a time when the convertible was one of the dominant automotive body styles, but in recent decades it has become little more than a minor niche. Some forecast a revival, but others warn that as fuel economy becomes ever more critical, many motorists will have to abandon the idea of driving "al fresco."
Nissan's CrossCabriolet has generated a fair bit of controversy. Some have called it a stroke of genius, while others are wondering whether it's the answer to a question nobody has asked.
The original Murano five-door broke with tradition. Instead of trying to make the Murano look like a conventional SUV, Nissan opted for a decidedly curvaceous exterior. The CC gets a canvas top — indeed, it has the largest convertible roof on the market.
"We think there's a small but viable market for a convertible like the CrossCabriolet," especially in sun-challenged segments of the country like the Northeast, said Mike Drongowski, Nissan's senior product planning manager.
Innovations like the hardtop convertible also have been aimed at building demand in regions where convertible sales traditionally have lagged behind the Sunbelt States. A hardtop design offers several advantages. Vehicles are quieter when a top is up and offer more protection against break-ins, among other things.
Demand for models like the BMW 3-Series and Infiniti G hardtop convertibles has generally exceeded expectations, but the hefty cost and extra space required to store a folding metal roof has convinced many carmakers to stay with traditional canvas designs instead.
The number of convertibles on the market has risen modestly in recent years, with new offerings like the Murano CrossCabriolet and the upcoming Fiat 500 convertible, among others, hitting showrooms.
Still, the recent growth in the number of convertible offerings is a far cry from the 1950s and '60s when a convertible option was the norm and nearly as common as coupe and wagon body styles.
Indeed, the ragtop nearly vanished by the late 1970s, in part due to tightened federal safety regulations for cars. But it wasn't safety that nearly killed the convertible, notes automotive historian Jim Wren.
Instead, the culprit was poor sales.
The near-fatal blow to convertibles, Wren contends, came in the form of the interstate highway. After the establishment of the interstate network Americans began to drive faster, and as a result convertibles were no longer comfortable rides.
What's more, by 1972 three-quarters of all cars sold in the U.S. came with factory air conditioning, rendering convertibles less desirable.
But it proved harder to keep the ragtop down, so to speak, than anyone might have imagined. Starting in the mid-1980s a few convertible offerings — starting with the Chrysler LeBaron — made a comeback.
Today, the ragtop redux is a small segment of the automotive market. Indeed, North American sales of convertibles peaked at just 247,519 units or 1.5 percent of total vehicle sales in 2005, according to research firm IHS, plunging to just 112,914 or 1 percent of sales in 2009.
The sharp decline outpaced the overall slump in the American new car market, with cash-strapped motorists resisting the added cost of purchasing a convertible option. Ford, for example, saw sales of its convertibles slip from nearly a quarter of Mustang sales in the mid-1990s to barely 13 percent of Mustang sales in the first quarter of 2011.
But now that the U.S. car market and the economy have started to recover there are signs of life in the struggling convertibles segment.
U.S. sales of convertibles rose more than 9 percent to 122,949 units last year, according to IHS, and the research firm forecasts demand for convertibles could nearly double to 223,224 by 2015 — a pace of growth that would outstrip the overall automotive recovery.
Or perhaps not, warns IHS analyst Aaron Bragman.
"The problem [with driving a convertible] is that when you have the top down, fuel economy drops," he said. "That could become more critical as mileage becomes more important" to the average American motorist, Bragman added.
There's no easy way to overcome the added aerodynamic drag of having the top down, Bragman said. It's "why you don't see any hybrid convertibles" and likely won't see any battery-electric vehicles with convertible tops, he added.
But even with gasoline at $4 a gallon, the lure of the open air continues to beckon some. And car manufacturers will likely spotlight innovations like the hardtop convertible, which can improve aerodynamics when the top is up.
So while the convertible will never rebuild the demand it had in decades past, few expect it to vanish entirely.


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Georgia Schedules Public Meetings Regarding Hunting Regulations
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division will hold eight public meetings across the state to accept public input for consideration in the development of hunting regulations for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 hunting seasons. Public input is an important and valuable part of this process. The Department is interested in input that seeks to simplify regulations and encourage the recruitment of young hunters and retention of existing hunters.
Proposed changes to hunting regulations will be considered by the Board of Natural Resources in May 2011. Those interested are encouraged to bring these meetings to the attention of others that also may be interested in participating.
All meetings will begin at 7 p.m. on the following dates and at the following locations:
January 3, 2011
- Albany Technical College-Kirkland Conference Center (1704 S. Slappey Blvd., Albany, GA)
- Little Ocmulgee State Park (80 Live Oak Trail, Helena, GA); Conference Room
January 4, 2011
- Augusta Technical College Auditorium (388 Tech Drive, NW, Thomson, GA
- The Colonnade Center (264 Catoosa Circle, Ringgold, GA)
January 5, 2011
- College of Coastal Georgia Auditorium (3700 Altama Ave., Brunswick, GA)
- Georgia Forestry Commission (5645 Riggins Mill Rd., Dry Branch, GA)
January 6, 2011
- Franklin Springs City Hall (2135 East Main Street, Franklin Springs, GA)
- Smyrna Community Center – Banquet Hall (200 Village Green Circle, Smyrna, GA)
Any participant at a meeting may present data, make a statement or comment, or offer a viewpoint or argument, either orally or in writing. Statements should be concise to permit everyone an opportunity to speak. Participants must register upon arrival and notify the registering official of their intent to give a statement. Those unable to attend a meeting may submit written statements by January 14, 2011. Statements should be mailed to:
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Wildlife Resources Division
Game Management Section
Attn: John Bowers
2070 U.S. Highway 278, SE
Social Circle, Georgia 30025
These meeting sites are accessible to people with physical disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Brandon Anderson at (770) 761-3045 no later than Dec. 27, 2010.
For more information on the scheduled public meetings, visit the Wildlife Resources Division Website at www.gohuntgeorgia.com or contact the Hunter Services at (770) 761-3045.


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August 29, 2013Syria
Any external military intervention in Syria in response to government use of chemical weapons will require persuasive arguments to prove legitimacy, says CFR's Matthew Waxman.
May 10, 2013Syria
Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States will hold the Syrian government accountable for the use of chemical weapons on civilians. CFR's Matthew C. Waxman highlights three sets of conside…
February 6, 2013Terrorism and Counterterrorism
A leaked government document has recharged the controversy over the use of lethal force against U.S. citizens. CFR's Matthew C. Waxman highlights three legal considerations.
April 26, 2012Elections and Voting
Civil liberties will present the winner of the 2012 U.S. presidential elections with challenges related to counterterrorism powers and practices, as well as challenges related to privacy rights, says…
January 24, 2012Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament
The European Union's embargo on Iranian oil may bring Iran to the negotiating table but is unlikely to halt its controversial nuclear program, says CFR's Matthew Kroenig.
November 8, 2011Iran
CFR's Matthew Kroenig discusses the newly released IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program.


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JF Ptak Science Books Post 1627
I uncovered a few interesting documents this morning from The American Council, Institute of Pacific Relations (in 1944 at the address 744 Jackson Place, N.W., D.C.) relating to collecting opinions on Japan and the Japanese, right at the height of the war. And this is what the American Council was doing--prep work to assess the extent of public opinion on the treatment of Japan post-war, which entailed reviewing existing polling data (from Gallup) was well as conducting their own original research. [These documents are available from our blog bookstore, here.]
The "first" issue (so far as I can determine) was perhaps the most aggressive:
Is Japan incurably warlike?
The question was asked of an undefined group over three periods of time (February 1942 to June 1943) for both Japan and Germany, the statements the respondents having to choose from being: "always want war", "too easily led" and "do not like war" at three different times, from February 1942 to June 1943. From Feb '42 to June '43, people's opinions that the Japanese "always want war" went up from 48% to 62%, while for the same time the same question regarding the Germans stayed about the same, 22%. The Gallup Poll for June 1943 reported that for 75% of the respondents only 8% of the folks thought that "we can get along" with the Japanese, while 67% favored our chances with the Germans.
Get along with them or not, or feeling that they are war-like or not, had little to do with the opinions of people (reported by the National Opinion research Center, August 1942) who thought that reparations should be paid, and paid hard, by the Axis powers across the board, "as much as it is possible to get out of the Axis countries, even if it breaks them".
The following two papers came a little later, closer to the realization that victory was coming, that the war would be over, that victory would be taken--probably at the end of 1944 or the beginning of 1945, when position statements were more circumspect than the earlier public opinions. "Expert Opinion on Post-War Treatment of Japan" was more understanding when speaking to the post-war existence of Japan, stating in a number of different ways that "there should be no attempt to keep Japan permanently repressed" and "the Japanese people must work out their own political salvation". Also that there would be no "continuing burden of reparations payments...as done with Germany after the last war".
The overall feeling of this and the following document ("The Treatment of Japan") can be found in the section "Teaching Japan a Lesson": "United Nations effort should be directed toward demonstrating to the people of Japan the advantages of making peace rather than the penalties of losing a war". The issue regarding the Emperor and whether or not he should or could stay--an issue that would stay with high command right through the second week of August 1945.


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Interior retooling its fracking rule
The Interior Department is hitting the reset button on its landmark attempt to regulate fracking on federal land.
The department Friday announced that BLM "is making improvements to the draft proposal in order to maximize flexibility, facilitate coordination with state practices and ensure that operators on public lands implement best practices," according to department spokesman Blake Androff.
BLM will issue the new draft by March 31 and then seek additional comments. It received more than 170,000 comments on the first proposal it rolled out in May.
Outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar predicted at the time that a final fracking rule would be issued by the end of last year. The comment period for the first draft closed in September.
Instead, BLM has been writing revisions to the draft, responding to concerns raised in the comments, and those revisions will be sent to the Office of Management and Budget next week for review. After OMB looks it over, the new draft rule will be published and available for public comment.
The updated draft will maintain the three main parts of the initial draft, according to the department. That includes requiring operators to disclose chemicals they use in fracking on public lands, updating well standards to verify that the fluids used in wells are not escaping, and confirming that oil and gas operators have a water-management plan for handling fracking fluids that flow back to the surface.
The industry reaction to the news of a rewrite was positive.
"API asked the administration to reconsider the rules, and we welcome this move as a positive first step," American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Jack Gerard said. "However, the real test will be in the substance of the re-proposal. We hope the administration will recognize the strong oversight provided by existing state and federal regulations and take sufficient time to review the many thoughtful comments provided by the oil and natural gas industry and others."
The Obama administration has received a torrent of interest in its attempts to institute first-time federal controls on fracking — with both BLM and EPA looking at setting standards.
The issue has even sparked the interests of Hollywood, most recently in the Gus Van Sant movie "Promised Land" starring Matt Damon.
Industry officials and Republicans like Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) have sought to keep fracking under the control of the states.
"Conflicting or duplicative federal requirements would delay development of abundant domestic oil and natural gas and threaten jobs and revenue to the federal treasury, without providing additional environmental protection," Gerard said.
Interior estimates that roughly 90 percent of the wells drilled on federal and Indian lands use hydraulic fracturing.
"As we continue to offer millions of acres of America's public lands for oil and gas development, it is important that the public have full confidence that the right safety and environmental protections are in place," Androff said.
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 5:07 p.m. on January 18, 2013.


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Today, as I write this, marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of America's Civil War, with the bombardment of Fort Sumter .
I recently took my 13-year old nephew to visit our nation's capitol, including visiting Robert E. Lee's house at Arlington National Cemetery, and a day wandering the battlefield at Gettysburg.
The National Military Park Museum at Gettysburg is not to be missed, by the way. Not only does it give you a clear and thorough understanding of the 3-day battle that took place there, but the photos and relics on display give us a fascinating glimpse into what life must have been like back then.
It wasn't really that long ago. My grandmother was born in 1899. The last Civil War veterans died in the 1950s. My grandmother would have encountered many a Civil War veteran in her younger days.
So, what did they eat in the 1860s? How did they eat? Most people lived on farms or in rural areas, so they grew, shot, foraged, or fished their own food.
Many people didn't have stoves. Many cooked their meals over an open fire in a fireplace or hearth. Which is all the more reason why I was so surprised to find a recipe for "Maccaroni Cheese" in a collection of Civil War recipes (Civil War Recipes: Receipts from the Pages of Godey's Lady's Book) along with recipes for okra soup, indian pudding, gumbo and brown bread.
Mac-n-cheese in the 1860s, really?
Really! Turns out that our founding father Thomas Jefferson helped popularize "maccaroni" in our country, "maccaroni" being a general term he used for pasta. And according to Wikipedia, versions of macaroni pasta with cheese and butter were published in cookbooks as early as the 14th century.
According to the Civil War Recipes book, the following "maccaroni cheese" recipe first appeared in Godey's Lady's Book magazine in 1861 (circulation 150,000). It's only one sentence long, and as you will see, is wildly open for interpretation:
Boil the maccaroni in milk; put in the stewpan butter, cheese, and seasoning; when melted, pour into the maccaroni, putting breadcrums over, which brown before the fire all together.
How much milk? What kind of cheese? How much cheese? What seasoning?
Well, if recipes are guidelines, then this recipe isn't much more than just that, a guideline.
For our interpretation, we use 2 cups of milk for every cup of elbow macaroni pasta. We use equal amounts of pasta and cheese, and use cheddar for the cheese. The seasonings we use are nutmeg, pepper, and cayenne. Mace would have been commonly available in the 1860s, nutmeg is more often used now. Pepper and cayenne would have been widely available too.
The result?
A triumph!
Actually, it's kind of hard to go wrong with mac and cheese, but we had never cooked the macaroni directly in milk before, so didn't quite know how it would work, or if the proportions were right. For us 2 cups of milk for every 1/4 pound of pasta worked fine.
Update 1-27-12 I've discovered another recipe from Godey's published in this blog. The author says that Parmesan cheese would have been more common to use in a mac and cheese from this era. Good to know!
Civil War Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
You must use whole milk for this recipe. If you use low fat or non-fat milk, the mixture may curdle.
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1/2 pound elbow macaroni pasta (2 to 2 1/2 cups)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups, packed, grated cheddar cheese (about 1/2 pound)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Nutmeg
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- Cayenne (optional)
1 Cook the macaroni in milk: Heat the milk in a large saucepan until steamy. Stir in the dry macaroni pasta. Let come to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Pay attention while the macaroni is cooking in the milk as the milk may foam up and boil over if the milk gets too hot.
Cook the macaroni for 15 minutes or until done. The macaroni should absorb almost all of the milk.
2 Make the sauce with butter, cheese, spices: Preheat oven to 400°F. As soon as the macaroni is close to being done, melt the butter in a separate saucepan, stir in the grated cheese, black pepper to taste and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
3 Mix the sauce and cooked macaroni: Once the cheese has melted, pour the sauce into the macaroni and milk mixture and stir to combine. Taste and add salt if needed.
4 Top with breadcrumbs and bake: Place macaroni and cheese mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle lightly with cayenne (if using). Bake in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
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Dutch Economics journalist Willem Middelkoop on the feeble basis of our monetary system
by Daan de Wit
This article is the fifth part of the series: Interviews with Willem Middelkoop. Earlier writings and audio can be found here in both English and Dutch. [1-2-3-4-5]
Following the two interviews on the precarious state of the economy and the unavoidable fall of the dollar, Willem Middelkoop and I decide to dig deeper into these issues. Middelkoop manages quite well to convey enthusiasm for a subject which on the surface seems to revolve around tedious numbers. For a subject that was so boring in school, Middelkoop brings it to life by placing everyday economic reality into a larger perspective. It's then that the numbers come to life, and it's then that you begin to understand why everything revolves around money in this world. It's also then that you learn how to look beneath the surface.
Years of self-study by someone who out of sheer curiosity wanted to know just exactly what was going on with all that money resulted in an independent, unacademic look at the fundamental elements of our daily existence: money, finances, economics. Middelkoop has been a journalist from the very beginning - before he made his transition to the financial world, he was a photojournalist for the Dutch daily Het Parool. That observant eye makes him a nice partner for a conversation.
It's July 18th, a warm summer evening in Amsterdam, the wine is chilled. I turn on the recorder and begin the conversation with the fundamental question of what money is. Memories from high school Economics 101 float to the surface as Middelkoop talks about bartering. The uncreative cartoons in the study books, the non-communicative teacher, the scribbling on the chalkboard - it all flashes before my eyes. It made the subject of economics inaccessible for me, and I was someone who had more of a knack for language as it was; this didn't exactly culminate in a love of calculations and economic models.
But as a result of the first two discussions with Middelkoop I once again find myself on the edge of my seat as soon as the conversation comes around to the economy. By way of the simplistic question of what money is, we quickly find ourselves at the concept of bartering and so that people wouldn't have to trade via the mutual exchange of goods, they went in search of a valuable unit of exchange. Okay, so then what?
Willem Middelkoop:
"Then there is really only one thing that fits the bill, and those are the precious metals. Throughout the last 4000 years, gold has been regarded as having a fixed value in almost all cultures. Whether you look at the Pharaohs or the Incas, that gold could be found everywhere. So it seemed to meet all the basic requirements that a unit of exchange had to quite nicely. Because gold presented practical problems when transporting it (heavy) and with small transactions (pay with gold flakes?), paper money was developed as a logical alternative. But of course you had to be able to exchange that paper for gold, and that gold had to actually be stored somewhere, otherwise you'd never accept that paper money. These days we think of it as normal to accept paper money, but back then you wouldn't just go and sell your cow for paper."
Later on the people who issued those certificates realized that they could distribute more certificates/banknotes than were actually represented in gold.
"Those goldsmiths found out that at the most, five to ten percent of the population came to collect that gold. And that is actually the basis of our current monetary system."
So in order to avoid quickly getting into trouble, you could issue ten times the value of your gold supply - and it's lucrative to boot.
"What we see today - quite a big leap from the year 1200 up until now - is that the entire financial system revolves around this one fundamental idea. Basically, we issue much more money than we can actually answer for. They do this in Japan, they do this in China, we do it here in Europe and they do it in America. Most money is created out of nothing, and in this way we create immense prosperity."
And so you're thinking, "that can't be good".
Middelkoop confirms this thought by way of an example from the period around the year 1720, when John Law, "a clever Scotsman", got the monopoly on the creation of money from the French regent in exchange for the financing of wars.
"That lasted for 12 years. This gave rise to an enormous boom, the greatest prosperity in France. Everything was possible, there was no end in sight - just like today. Law began creating money out of nothing, just like we are doing now, but then at a given moment that system fell apart and he had to flee the country. He reportedly fled across the border with a cart-load of gold."
Many times monetary systems have broken down.This already happened two hundred and twenty times, says Middelkoop. There have been 220 different monetary systems which were backed by insufficient amounts of gold and silver, which were in fact unsecured, and those systems collapsed at a certain point in time. There comes a point when the confidence in paper money starts dropping in such a waythat the system collapses. Middelkoop points to a number of recent examples: the ruble crisis, the crisis with the Argentinian peso, and the introduction of a new peso in Mexico in 1993. The collapse of monetary systems is not a phenomenon limited to any one time period, be it that the period we are living in stands out.
Willem Middelkoop:
"All of us have chosen to switch on that printing press. All these different countries, all of these different power blocks, have decided to allow the value of their currencies to shrink more and more. The dollar has already lost 95% of its buying power in a hundred years; at the same time no one wants to find themselves in a situation where their currency is so strong that their export position is endangered. Let's say that the dollar were to continue to drop in value - in other words become cheaper - then the euro would get more and more expensive, which would put our export position in danger because our products would simply become too expensive.
So what are we seeing now? Japan, China, Europe, America - instead of trying to keep their currencies as strong as possible - something that used to be desirable - they are all going out of their way to keep them as cheap as possible. The reason is that the bankers and politicians are all afraid of a serious recession, especially after the collapse of the stock markets in 2001, 2002 and 2003. We all have to keep the economy on track, and we all want to protect our exports, so actually we're participating in a kind of World Championship of Monetary Depreciation. Countries are deathly afraid that they'll lose their competitive edge, so they try to protect their exports by keeping their currencies weak."
Middelkoop calls it a World Championship because it's occurring on a global scale, as opposed to earlier times.
"In the past you did find these unsecured monetary systems on a per country basis, or in a specific region. But what's happening now has really never been exhibited before."
The successful policy of Europe to issue the strongest currency has been undermined by the power of the dollar and the decision to abandon the gold standard. Even the Swiss franc is no longer backed by gold.
"In the past a fairly large percentage of the money, around forty percent, was backed by gold. You could not simply turn on the printing press. Many wars had the aim of capturing another country's gold. Once you came into possession of the gold, you could create more wealth, and you could distribute more money. But that's been completely turned on its head."
Daan de Wit:
"When Nixon abandoned the gold standard, that's when things went wrong".
Willem Middelkoop:
"Yes, then it really went wrong. But it actually began prior to that, in 1944. Taking advantage of the fact that they emerged the great victor in the Second World War, the Americans thought: "
If we can now convince the world that all currencies should be backed by the dollar instead of gold, then we"ll be in a very, very strong position from the outset. Then we'll be the only one who can print that dollar, and everybody will have to accept that dollar - it will be the official world reserve currency."
During the Bretton Woods Conference, America "sold" us that financial system. At that time, America had to promise that the dollar could always be exchanged for gold."
As a government, you had the guarantee that your dollars could always be traded in for gold. Even though Middelkoop is all too well familiar with this story, he relates it with enthusiasm. He explains that the system worked fine until the 1960's, at which point the Vietnam War had to be financed.
"At that point the printing presses started to roll in America, and de Gaulle, the French president who had always been so opposed to this dollar system, began to exchange massive amounts of dollars for gold, along with other European countries. America saw Fort Knox emptying out (the vast American gold reserves are stored in Fort Knox)."
Richard Nixon, president of a country that at the end of WWII was in possession of the largest supply of gold, summoned his advisors together in August of 1971. Their verdict was clear: break the pledge assuring that dollars could be exchanged for gold. In the years following this decision, the value of the dollar was cut in half, while the price of gold rose from $35 to $700 per ounce. In the late 70's and early 80's, the free-falling dollar threatened to push inflation through the roof.
In order to restore faith in the dollar, the Federal Reserve intervened and raised interest rates to what are now almost unimaginable heights - 16, 17 percent. The strategy was successful - confidence in the American currency was restored. In the meantime things are changing again.
Willem Middelkoop:
"The whole world is chock-full of dollars and the value of the dollar continues to slide. We've now gotten to the point that people are beginning to have doubts about a system that is creating unlimited amounts of dollars. And meanwhile even the Rabobank has published a study [PDF] which maintains that we now find ourselves at the beginning of the end of the dollar era. it's now a question of time, at most between ten and twenty years, before the entire dollar system has to be replaced by a new system."
HUMO magazine interviewed [3457-50] Joseph Stiglitz, the man who was chief economist for the World Bank in the late 90's, and who won the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics. He speaks of the collapse of the global financial system as a real possibility:
Stiglitz: "It wouldn't be the first time: Bretton Woods, the monetary system that was set up after the war, fell apart at the beginning of the 1970's. The question now is whether or not the same thing will happen with the current system."
HUMO: "But you write that that's not really the question; the only question is when it will happen."
Stiglitz: "Things that can't last, don't last, I once heard someone say. How much longer can the massive U.S. trade deficit last - it's borrowing about 3 billion dollars every day - while at the same time China is experiencing a trade surplus of almost 500 million dollars per day? that's not sustainable. The question is whether or not enough people can realize this in time, so that a remedy can be found before everything falls apart. Then we're all going to be standing around in shock. But this has actually been demonstrated many times before."
Daan de Wit:
"It seems like the same mistake is made every time."
Willem Middelkoop:
"It's extremely tempting for governments to create money out of nothing. A government always has a budget that has to be financed. Often times governments want to wage war, and that costs a lot of money. So what could be more convenient than having a printing press at your disposal that you can just crank up at will? If you read up on contemporary history, you see that it actually happens all the time. Even the Romans saw to it at a given moment to make their silver coins a little smaller, with a little less zinc and a bit more copper. Compare that with someone who makes good sausages, and each year puts 5 percent less beef in them. You"re not going to notice this in the first year, and not in the second year either, but by the third or fourth year you"ll be thinking: "These are some lousy sausages". There has always been a kind of genuine need for politicians and bankers to devalue their currency, so as to issue more money than you have. In this way you can distribute gifts, and you can finance your projects."
Daan de Wit:
"There's no such thing as a free lunch. Ultimately, everything has to be paid for."
Middelkoop nods in agreement and says that at a given moment in time it's going to be:
"...pay back time. There comes a time when people begin to lose their faith in a currency."
"...we're seeing this now, it's starting to happen with the dollar. And now there are various countries which have recently announced plans to shift their currency reserves away from the dollar and in the direction of euros. Russia has said this, the United Arab Emirates has said this, and South Korea too". it's a sliding scale, in which the pace of change starts out slowly. "But at a particular moment you reach a kind of "tipping point", and all of the sudden the currency crashes and everyone is falling all over each other in order, as in this case, to dump the dollar, and now there"s really a very serious fear of this happening.
A documentary from VPRO from last year on this problem was entitled The day the dollar falls.In the program, Cees Maas, chief financial officer for ING bank, said that at a meeting of the IMF in Washington where all the bankers had come together, the conclusion had been reached that if the dollar crashes they really won"t know what it is that they"re supposed to do either. He said that he is definitely still afraid of that happening. In short: There"s quite a lot that we can control, and there"s quite a lot that we can neutralize, but if the currency that the system is based on suffers a crisis in confidence, then we're done for."
Daan de Wit:
"Could we not then transition to a strong currency, like the euro for instance?"
Willem Middelkoop:
"There again the euro is actually backed in large part by the dollar. Everything is way too intertwined with everything else. At the moment that the dollar (i.e., the World Reserve Currency) crashes, then every currency will have a lot to endure, every currency will be affected by the fall of the dollar."
Middelkoop explains that in that case the entire financial system could in fact topple. A complete implosion of our capitalist system is not at all inconceivable. Insiders such as Jim Rogers and Marc Faber expect this system to grind to a halt within the next fifteen to twenty years.
The American-based Indian professor Ravi Batra predicted as far back as the 1980's that communism would collapse under its own weight before the end of the 20th century. In his opinion the same thing will happen to the capitalist system before the year 2025. But it's possible that it could meet its fate within ten years, or if we're unlucky, within five. Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, estimates that there is a 75 percent chance of a major crisis within five years.
In order to prevent this, a responsible global financial policy would have to be carried out. But according to Middelkoop good intentions are the first things out the door when budgets need to be hashed out or when wars have to be financed; at the moment that reserves would need to be replenished, those very reserves get looted.
He points to an article about a report by Professor Laurence Kotlikoff, a former advisor to President Ronald Reagan, which Kotlikoff wrote for the Federal Reserve. His central thesis is that, technically speaking, the United States is already bankrupt.
"America has 66 trillion dollars in unsecured financial obligations. Technically speaking you're already broke at that point. All you can do of course is prolong the current situation. Or you can opt for the well-known "flight forward"."
it's not only in the U.S. that people are living beyond their means. We're doing this in Europe as well. The so-called Zalmnorm, which mandates that the European federal budget deficit be held under three percent, has been abandoned for the time being, though it's still being adhered to more or less.
Also done away with is the regulation requiring that the amount of money introduced into the European Monetary Union (thus money created out of nothing) can't exceed 4.5 percent annually.
"Without giving too much attention to it, it was decided after the crash of the markets to abandon that ceiling. This was necessitated by slumping markets, and it was supposed to be temporary, but it's been going on for years now and we never hear anything else about it. And now if you look at how much money is being added to the European Monetary zone each year, it's up above 8 percent. While the economy is growing at a much slower pace. Anyone with a high school economics class under their belt knows that that's going to bring on monetary depreciation. And we're doing that to stimulate the economy, and because the Americans are doing it as well."
Economics journalist Willem Middelkoop on the feeble basis of our monetary system. Middelkoop (left ) is an investor and freelance economics reporter for RTL Z. He edits the free email-newslette rInveztor Nieuwsflash, a column for De Scopist and a column for Inveztor. The interview [MP3, 8 Mb, part one of the third interview] was held in Dutch. This above article was translated into English by Ben Kearney.


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Cooking from the Glossies: Walnut-Crusted Pork Chops with Autumn Vegetable Wild Rice Recipe
Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jameson are two of my favorite cookbook authors, so when I saw that they had created the cover recipe for the October issue of Cooking Light—Walnut-Crusted Pork Chops with Autumn Vegetable Wild Rice—I knew I had to make it for this week's Cooking from the Glossies post. Besides, I'd been looking for an interesting and new way to prepare wild rice, one of my favorite fall staples.
While the results were hearty, salty, and juicy (more on that in a bit), I first want to point out that there was a typo in the print version of the recipe. The photo clearly depicts a large, bone-in pork chop, while the ingredient list calls for 4-ounce boneless chops. The bone isn't the issue, but the weight is: a 4-ounce piece of meat is a tiny portion, even by "lite" standards! Knowing it had to be wrong, I asked my butcher for 7-ounce boneless chops. (This turned out to be a wise move—Cooking Light has since revised the recipe on their website, and now it calls for 8-ounce bone-in chops. You can use whichever you prefer.)
But back to actual dish. In combination, the Worcestershire-sage marinade and ground walnut crust infused the pork with an herbaceous, nutty-caramel flavor. Normally I salt everything (even canned soups), but my chop was perfectly seasoned. The wild rice accompaniment was a toasty fusion of flavors: sautéed mushrooms, sweet chunks of apple, and crisp pieces of bacon. I substituted spinach for the Swiss chard which was fine, but I also skipped the jalapeño, which I won't do if I prepare this dish again. It needed just a bit more spice.
This is a super dish for a Sunday night. It feels both casual and special, and it's definitely festive. It also takes a fair amount of time to prepare: The pork chops have to marinate for half an hour, and the recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked wild rice, which means you have to make it in advance.
Adapted from Cooking Light.
- Yield:makes 4 servings (about 379 calories and 15 grams of fat each)
- For the pork:
- Four 8-ounce bone-in center-cut pork chops, trimmed (or 7-ounce boneless chops)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup walnuts, finely ground
- 1 bacon slice
- 1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
- For the rice:
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup diced carrot
- 2 teaspoons diced, seeded jalapeño pepper
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 1/2 cups finely trimmed chopped Swiss chard
- 1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
- 1 cup chopped peeled Granny Smith apple
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
- 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
To prepare pork, place chops in a shallow dish; drizzle evenly with Worcestershire. Combine salt, sage, and black pepper in a small bowl. Reserve 3/4 teaspoon salt mixture. Add walnuts to remaining salt mixture; toss well. Press walnut mixture onto both sides of pork chops. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Cook bacon slice in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add pork chops to drippings in pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Add 3/4 cup chicken broth to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 6 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from pan.
To prepare rice, heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and next 3 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; cover and cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in reserved 3/4 teaspoon salt mixture, chard, mushrooms, and apple. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until carrot is tender. Stir in rice and 1/2 cup broth. Bring to a simmer; cook, uncovered 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in bacon.
Place 1 cup rice mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1 pork chop. Drizzle each serving with pan drippings, and sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon parsley.


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We The People need to join together to fix what is broken in Washington DC and get government back to following the Constitution of the United States of America.
Why I Do Not Like The Obamas
by Mychal Massie on January 5, 2013 in Daily Rant
During the 3 1/2 years of World War II that started with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, and ended with the surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945, the USA produced 22 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 48 cruisers, 349 destroyers, 420 destroyer escorts, 203 submarines, 34 million tons of merchant ships, 100,000 fighter aircraft, 98,000 bombers, 24,000 transport aircraft, 58,000 training aircraft, 93,000 tanks, 257,000 artillery pieces, 105,000 mortars, 3,000,000 machine guns and 2,500,000 military trucks.
The 4th of July is supposed to be a celebration of our independence from coercion and tyranny... a celebration of our personal liberty. But with each passing of Independence Day, I see us slipping further towards tyranny with less personal liberty.
Washington Is Broke. For another 4 years. Not only fiscally ($16.4T in debt), but politically and morally. We can thank the low-information voters (the dumbasses that can't even name the VP) and the socialists (they know they are, but won't admit it publicly) for voting for 0bama. We can thank the moderate squishy liberal Republican (in name only) voters (if you voted for Romney in the primaries, I'm talking about you) and the establishment GOP/RNC (think Rove, Priebus, Anusiz) for forcing the moderate squishy liberal Romney on us, as if he'd do any better then McCain. Yeah, the loser to the loser.
I've been saying this for years, but this email probably explains it better and more clearly. This is a clarification to remind us all of the correct facts.
Remember on October 9, 2007, 11 months before our "economic crisis" occurred (that was actually created), the Dow hit its highest point ever, closing at 14,164.53 and reaching 14,198.10 intra-day level 2 days later? Unemployment was steady at 4.7%. But things were already being put in place to create the havoc we've all been experiencing since then. And it all started, as this email explains, on January 3, 2007.
I'm sure you've all seen the news about Obama's new desecrated flag design... that he's hawking to raise funds for the mansion he wants to move into in Hawaii... in January 2013. In light of this, I've created a few images to show how I feel about this. Feel free to download and share. Click on images to view full size and download.
Obama personally endorses desecrated flag
I have come to the conclusion that we no longer need to convince Ron Paul supporters to come over to the dark side in order to beat 0beyme. Between 0beyme beating himself (he'll have low voter turnout) and the addition of Ryan to the GOP ticket (VP picks do matter this time) we're going to have a Reaganesque landslide. They are now irrelevant. They can go ahead and write-in Ron Paul or vote for Gary Johnson. They can spend the next 8 years knowing their vote made absolutely no difference... again. They will prove once again that they can't punish the GOP.
There, I feel better already knowing I no longer need to argue with them. Now I can focus on taking back the GOP from the elitists and taking back the USA from the communists. Don't you feel better now, too? :)
Now get off your butt on Nov 6th and vote Romney/Ryan!
New design: Obama's Solyndra
Get it at my Cafepress store


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When I featured a post about a country home in New Jersey a couple weeks ago and mentioned that it was near Charles Lindbergh's former house, a lot of people showed particular interest in the Lindbergh house so I thought I would devote an entire post to the storied home.
The house is famous for being the site of the 1932 kidnapping of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh's and Anna Morrow Lindbergh's 20 month old son, Charles Junior.
Baby Charles was taken from his nursery on the second floor – presumably through the window and down a rickety ladder which was left behind at the site.
The toddler was missing for 2 months, then tragically, in May of 1932 his battered, decomposing body was found in a ditch only a couple of miles from the Lindbergh home. You can read more on the kidnapping and subsequent events here.
I have read a couple of books on the kidnapping because it is such a tragic, intriguing and – many would argue – possibly unsolved case. A German-born carpenter (Bruno Richard Hauptmann) was tried and convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Jr. and executed in 1936.
However, there are many competing theories that persist to this day; one being that Hauptmann was merely an innocent scapegoat or a peripheral figure in the crime that some other person committed. Some investigators and historians even go so far as to say that Charles Lindbergh himself was responsible for the death of his first-born son. According to many historical accounts, Charles Lindbergh was one weird bird.
In any case, my heart feels heavy for the little boy who was lost, but he is in a better place now… so the house where the kidnapping took place holds the most fascination for me.
Located in the once rural area of East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, the sprawling two-story French-country style home was newly built in 1932 when the kidnapping occurred. The house was situated on 700 acres of wooded land and cleared fields. Charles Lindbergh wanted a place that was far from the public eye, very private and had enough cleared property for an airplane landing strip.
The property near Hopewell, New Jersey fit all the criteria – and, it was very difficult to find, courtesy of numerous winding and branching country roads. Today, the area is populated with homes, farms and country estates, but back in the 1930's it was quite isolated.
While the house was under construction in 1931, the Lindberghs spent most of their time at Anne's parent's estate in Englewood, New Jersey, which incidentally, looked a lot like the house Charles Lindbergh had built.
Charles and Anne drove out to their Hopewell house (which they named Highfields) to spend the weekends when it was nearing completion.
In fact, Charles Lindbergh and his wife, son and a handful of servants had just barely moved in prior to the kidnapping. That is what makes the kidnapping so baffling – no one other than very close associates and family members knew where Charles Lindbergh's new house was. Even for those people, it was difficult to find the house, let alone know what room the baby was sleeping in.
The interior of the mansion was newly decorated at the time of the crime but had little furniture.
The large home had 23 rooms as well as an attached 3-car garage.
During the investigation, the Lindbergh house became command central for the detectives who worked the case. Apparently, they even slept there, along with various other guests whom Charles Lindbergh invited over to help with the investigation.
There are only a handful of grainy old photos of the interior of the house that were taken by investigators shortly after the kidnapping.
Below is the window where the kidnapper(s) reportedly exited with the baby:
And this is the actual crib from which baby Charles was taken during the night of March 1, 1932…
The nursery was on the second floor and many historians question the validity of the theory that a single man could climb down a thin ladder with a sleeping child under arm on a cold, windy and rainy night.
You can see images of how the nursery looks today at the following Flickr website here. (material is copyrighted so I can't reproduce the images on this blog).
It is a house with a haunting history, and it is sad that the Lindbergh's never really got to enjoy their dream home in rural New Jersey.
Besides the Highfields estate, Charles Lindbergh was fortunate enough to live in several other beautiful homes in his lifetime. Here are just a couple that I was able to dig up…
Charles Lindbergh's college rental house in Madison Wisconsin:
Charles Lindbergh lived in the basement apartment of this house during his second year at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In the second semester of that year, Lindbergh's grades were so bad, his advisor suggested he drop out of school before he flunked out. Lindbergh left UW to attend flying school. The rest is history.
– from: http://www.avweb.com/
Charles Lindbergh's childhood home in Little Falls, Minnesota:
The home is now publicly owned as part of a state park in Minnesota – it was donated by the Lindbergh family in 1931 in recognition of Lindbergh's father Congressman Charles August Lindbergh .
Charles A. Lindbergh State Park is a 569 acre (2.3 km²) Minnesota state park on the outskirts of Little Falls. The park was once the farm of Congressman Charles August Lindbergh and his son Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator. Their restored 1906 house and two other farm buildings are within the park boundaries.
– from: http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites
You can tour the home today — still decorated with its original family furnishings and possessions.
See here for interior photos of Charles Lindbergh's boyhood home in Minnesota.
Charles Lindbergh's "Long Barn" retreat in Kent England:
Frustrated by the unrelenting media attention on his home and family life after the kidnapping, Charles Lindbergh took his family and fled secretly to England in 1935.
The family eventually rented "Long Barn" in the village of Sevenoaks Weald, Kent, England. … At the time of Hauptmann's execution, local police almost sealed off the area surrounding Long Barn with "orders to regard as suspects anyone except residents who approached within a mile of the home." Lindbergh later described his three years in the Kent village as "among the happiest days of my life"
Long Barn is believed to date from the mid-fourteenth century and has hosted many other famous people over the centuries (including the likes of Virginia Woolf, Vita Sackville-West, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks).
Today, the most famous Lindbergh residence – Highfields in New Jersey – still stands. The site of the infamous Lindbergh kidnapping is now a residential treatment center for male juvenille offenders.
In 1933, just over a year after his son's disappearance and murder, Charles Lindbergh gifted his Highfields estate near Hopewell to the state of New Jersey.
If Charles Lindbergh revisited his former home in East Amwell Township today, he would probably be pleased. When he gave Highfields to the state on June 29, 1933, he stipulated that the estate be used to help boys, and that's what is happening there.
The Albert Elias Residential Group Center is home to 20 boys, ages 15-17. These boys have gotten into trouble and the state is using the rural setting and a new way of life to rehabilitate them. The place is staffed with teachers and social workers, not corrections officers.
– from: http://blog.nj.com/lindbergh – article by: By John Curran
Although there are few public photos of the inside of the Lindbergh home today, anyone from the public can request a private tour of the facility – see here for more details.
At first I was disappointed that the Highfields estate was being used as a juvenile offender's home, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.
The fact that the fated home now serves to help rehabilitate troubled boys is a tribute to the home's unique, albeit tragic, past.
Intrigued by the Lindbergh kidnapping case? See the following websites for all the details:


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Summer intern for NTSB apparently confirms list of racist joke names for crew members of crashed plane
A summer intern with the National Transportation Safety Board is in big trouble after he apparently erroneously confirmed the names of the crew members of Asiana flight 214. The flight crashed while trying to land at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday.
Those names turned out to be racist jokes, ones that fooled an Oakland television station enough to broadcast them on the air.
During its noon newscast Friday, KTVU-TV read the four names on the air and showed an accompanying graphic. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, it soon became clear that the names were fakes and possibly meant to make fun of the fact that many of the passengers on Saturday's crash were Asian:
"The first name — "Captain Sum Ting Wong" — should have been a give-away that something really was wrong. But [co-anchor Tori] Campbell kept reading… "Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, Bang Ding Ow."
The station later issued an apology:
"KTVU general manager Tom Raponi said 'We are reviewing our procedures to ensure this type of error does not happen again.' "
Read the station's full apology here.
The NTSB was also apologizing Friday, saying that a summer intern had "acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft."
It was not clear from the press release what the fate of the intern was, but the NTSB statement added: "Appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that such a serious error is not repeated."
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the KTVU co-anchor. The co-anchor is Tori Campbell.
Mobile users unable to see the video, click here.
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Star formation in the vicinity of the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre
Dr. Mark Wardle, Macquarie University
The disruptive tidal field near supermassive black holes overcomes the self-gravity of objects that are less dense than the Roche density. This was once expected to suppress star formation within several parsecs of Sgr A*, the four million solar mass black hole at the centre of the Galaxy. It has since become apparent that things are not this simple: Sgr A* is surrounded by a sub-parsec-scale orbiting disk of massive stars, indicating a star formation event occurred a few million years ago. And on parsec scales, star formation seems to be happening now: there are proplyd candidates and protostellar outflow candidates, as well as methanol and water masers that in the galactic disk would be regarded as sure-fire signatures of star formation. In this talk, I shall consider how star formation can occur so close to Sgr A*.
The stellar disk may be created through the partial capture of a molecular cloud as it swept through the inner few parsecs of the galaxy and temporarily engulfed Sgr A*. This rather naturally creates a disk of gas with the steep surface density profile of the present stellar disk. The inner 0.04 pc is so optically thick that it cannot fragment, instead accreting onto Sgr A* in a few million years; meanwhile the outer disk fragments and creates the observed stellar disk. The isolated young stellar objects found at larger distances, on the other hand, can be explained by stabilisation of clouds or cloud cores by the high external pressure that permeates the inner Galaxy. A virial analysis shows that clouds are indeed tidally disrupted within 0.5 pc of Sgr A*, but outside this the external pressure allows self-gravitating clouds to survive, providing the raw material for ongoing star formation.


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Harrisburg sinkhole repair to cost more than $500K
City officials face dozens of other potential sinkholes
Harrisburg city officials talked Monday night about the financial effect of sinkholes.
The city's public works director said repairing the damage along North Fourth Street will cost well over a half million dollars.
City officials are trying to find money to pay for the repairs as they face dozens of other potential sinkholes.
City Council also wants to ask the police chief why the department was not able to keep burglars out of the homes of residents who evacuated while repairs were made.
"Very disappointed to know that they were left in the lurch without any protection," said council member Eugenia Smith.
"These people should not be treated any differently than Shipoke and Allison Hill or any other section of the city. They are our neighbors. Our job is to make sure we serve and protect everyone the same," said council member Susan Brown Wilson
City Council's public safety committee is requesting Congressional hearings on the aging infrastructure of cities and the financial hardships it creates.


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CHAMPAIGN, Ill.—The trail of damages after major storms such as Hurricane Sandy truly reveals the power of Mother Nature, and the remains can be devastating, especially for trees. Unprotected, trees are vulnerable to the storm's wrath, and the wounds might look fatal. However, even though major branches may be broken, foliage might be shredded, or the bark may be torn and gouged, trees have an amazing ability to recover from even the most severe cases.
The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) offers some post-storm advice to help you and your trees recover from this disaster.
Post-Storm First Aid:
Do not try to do it all yourself. If large limbs are broken or hanging, or if a ladder or overhead chain saw work is needed, it is a job for a professional arborist.
Assess the damages. Evaluate your trees carefully by asking the following questions: Other than the storm damage, is the tree basically healthy and vigorous? Are major limbs or the leader (the main upward-trending branch on most trees) branch still remaining? Is at least 50 percent of the tree's crown (branches and leaves) still intact? Are there remaining branches that can form a new branch structure? If you answered "yes" to the majority of these questions, there is a good chance for complete recovery. For assistance, hire an ISA Certified Arborist to determine the tree's conditions.
Stand trees back up. Many trees suffer friction failures that cause the tree's root system to lift out of the ground as the tree leans over. Uprooted trees are often unnecessarily removed under the mistaken idea that they cannot be saved. These trees can often be saved but are very dangerous. The tension caused by the roots still in the ground can cause the tree to snap back. Consult the service of a certified arborist if you are unsure about performing this work.
Beware of price gouging. Sometimes, less credible tree services will take advantage of storm victims. Good tree work by qualified professionals is not inexpensive, however, poor work, no matter the price paid, can cost you a great deal. Professional prices should include liability and workman's compensation insurance, as well as bucket trucks and equipment. It does not include heavier specialty equipment that may be needed such as cranes, loaders, etc., or hardware that may be installed in the tree.
Financial recovery is possible. Be aware that tree losses to your landscape, whether large or small, may be deductible from your taxes. Two steps must be taken to be able to claim this deduction:
1. Document the tree damage/loss with photos and an evaluation from a certified arborist who has experience appraising trees. Such a certified arborist will be able to provide you with an estimated dollar value for your loss.
2. Consult the services of a tax professional. You may be entitled to some financial relief through a provision in the tax code that allows you to deduct casualty losses from your income tax.
The time to prepare your trees for tropical storms is long before hurricane season. Steps such as pruning trees right before a storm can lead to hasty or improper tree care. ISA also provides some tips to help prepare you and trees for possible future storm damage.
Pre-Storm Preparation:
Look for potential hazards. Investigate the condition of your trees. You or a certified arborist should look for damage such as cracks in the trunk or major limbs; hollow, aged, and decayed trees; hanging branches; improperly formed branches; one-sided or significantly leaning trees; and branches that may potentially rub the house.
Know your tree species. Some species are more prone to storm damage. You should have a certified arborist evaluate your trees for hardiness and resilience. Being aware of which trees may succumb to harsh weather conditions will help you decide if you want to replace these potentially dangerous species.
Do not top your trees. Untrained individuals may urge you to cut back all of the branches, on the mistaken assumption that it will help avoid breakage in future storms. However, professional arborists say that "topping," the cutting of main branches back to stubs, is extremely harmful and unhealthy for your trees. Stubs will often grow back many weakly attached branches that are more likely to break when a storm strikes. Also, topping will reduce the amount of foliage, on which the tree depends for the food and nourishment needed for re-growth. A topped tree that has already sustained major storm damage is more likely to die than to repair itself.
Protect your assets. Trees may increase property value by up to 20%. Find out if your homeowner's insurance will cover any damage your landscape may sustain due to unnatural causes, and include the total value of your trees when listing your assets for coverage. A certified arborist can provide an estimated value by inspecting your trees.
Trees are dynamic, living things that require proper care. Hiring an ISA Certified Arborist who can assist you with pre-storm inspections and post-storm repairs can help avoid unnecessary loss of your trees.
The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), headquartered in Champaign, Ill., is a nonprofit organization supporting tree care research and education around the world. As part of ISA's dedication to the care and preservation of shade and ornamental trees, it offers the only internationally-recognized certification program in the industry. For more information, contact a local ISA Certified Arborist or visit www.isa-arbor.com. To find a Certified Arborist visit www.treesaregood.org.
Arborists offer advice for salvaging storm-damaged trees
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.—The trail of damages after major storms such as Hurricane Sandy truly reveals the power of Mother Nature, and the remains can be devastating, especially for trees. Unprotected, trees are vulnerable to the storm's wrath, and the wounds might look fatal. However, even though major branches may be broken, foliage might be shredded, or the bark may be torn and gouged, trees have an amazing ability to recover from even the most severe cases.


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VMware Basic Support is designed for non-critical applications and platforms that require support during normal business hours. Our global support centers have been strategically placed to provide you with fast and efficient access to the support center in your region. Each center is staffed with engineers that can provide industry-leading expertise in virtualization and years of experience supporting virtual infrastructure products in real-world customer environments. We are committed to delivering enterprise-class, worldwide support with a single objective in mind: your success.
|Basic Support
|Hours of Operation
|10 Hours/Day
|Length of Service
|1 or 3 years
|Online access to product updates
|Online access to product upgrades
|Products Supported [1]
|Support by Product Matrix
|Method of Access
|Response Method
|Remote Support
|Root Cause Analysis
|Available only with Business Critical or Mission Critical Offering
|Access to VMware Discussion Forums and Knowledge Base
|Max Number of Technical Contacts per Contract
|Number of Support Requests
|Target Response Times
Critical (Severity 1)
Major (Severity 2)
Minor (Severity 3)
Cosmetic (Severity 4)
4 business hours
8 business hours
12 business hours
12 business hours
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Chris F wrote:Back too, but that is from hours spent stripping old varnish from decking in back garden.
Surely as back would be the common one, it would have made more sense for elbow and arm could logically be combined?
Poo Stance wrote:So come on.....where this sympathy I was promised?
WeAreMemories wrote:Saturday at Gwenver I nearly did a Tom Carrol, as I went over the falls sitting on the nose of my board. Luckily it snagged the wetsuit material and only resulted in my cheeks being exposed, and no need for an anal-reconstruction. Cut my surf short tho, and also means I will be throwing away an O'Neill Psycho 1 summer suit with no ass-panel! Made for a fun walk up the cliff path to the car....
PapaWoolacombe wrote:Its all self inflicted so I don't deserve any sympathy... (like you bastards would give anyway )
Vince Noir wrote:PapaWoolacombe wrote:Its all self inflicted so I don't deserve any sympathy... (like you bastards would give anyway )
Im sure squelchy will in the form of a million smily faces
ATTMFKH wrote:right nut
surfjunkie wrote:ATTMFKH wrote:right nut
how did you injure your right nut?
Vince Noir wrote:^ Classic
Much like moutain biking and taking huge drops only to fall forward off the saddle and have your full weight down on one of your bollucks thats sitting over the frame
Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 19 guests


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Is Ka'ba an idol?
When I say Idol worshipping is wrong, people tend to defend themselves saying, "Oh yeah! Even you people worship an idol?"
"Whaat? What are you talking about? We are the ones who say NO IDOL WORSHIPPING!"
"Hmm..then what's that black big idol you prostate to?"
"Why do you want to pray in a fixed direction?"
"Wow! what a legitimate question :)"
"You have the right to ask such questions and I appreciate them too!"
"Ask more questions so that you get more clarifications!"
This is the most common, popular, famous, blah blah blah whatever u say, question they ask.
Yusha Evens (ex-Christian) once said that when he realized the faults in Christianity, he started reading about other religions. He went to a library, and got a book named 'All about Islaam' (Pretty much attractive isn't it?). He started reading n reading. You know what he read there? "Muslims are one who worship a black cubid in the middle of a desert!! (loooooooool :D:D:D:D). They kill the non-muslims wherever they find (erm..handsup i'm gonna shoot you hehe :D)"
He got scared and said "O my God! Thanks I didn't see a Muslim yet" (Oh! poor boy :D)
This went along few days. And one fine day, he started chatting with his friend (I don't know whether he was a close friend or a newbee). While chatting, that 'friend' asked him, "Do you know anything about Islaam?".
He said, "Oh Yeah! I KNOW EVERYTHING!!". (??!!)
"Okey! What do you think about it?"
"They worship a black cube. They kill whomever they see."
I guess that friend should have laughed till his heart because I did it when I heard this.
He asked, "What do you think about me?"
"Well, you are a nice person".
"I am a Muslim."
"I am a Muslim!"
He should have immediately realized that what he read in the book must be a manifest error, because he see his friend would never kill him. He started learning about Islam, from a 'practicing' Muslim and guess what HE IS A MUSLIM NOW! WORKING SERIOUSLY TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE TO OTHERS!
I know this is a bit off topic, but for those who wish to see his conversion story listen to this 'How Bible brought me to Islam':
I said all these things because, don't judge Islam through some idiotic ill mannered books which try to cover the burning sun. Ask a Muslim directly or go to a masjid near your place to learn about it!
Okey lets get back to the actual question.
a) Is Ka'ba an idol??
Lemme give you the difference between the ka'ba and an idol.
Ka'ba is a building. It stands upon a 25 cm (10 in) base, which projects outwards about 35 cm (14 in). It is approximately 13.1 m (43 ft) high, with sides measuring 11.03 m (36.2 ft) by 12.86 m (42.2 ft).
Ka'ba is the first masjid build on the face of earth, to worship God.
"Indeed, the first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at (Becca) Makkah – blessed and a guidance for the worlds." [AlQur'aan Chapter 'The family of Imran' 3:96]
People prayed inside the ka'ba. Are you ready to pray inside your idol? That's impossible isn't it?
Bilal (radhi allahu anhu) the mu'adhin (caller for prayer) of the Prophet's time used to STAND ON THE TOP OF THE KA'BA, to call people for prayer.
We did, BECAUSE IT'S NOT OUR GOD!!!
b) What about the black stone, you kiss it?
Okey, you say it's an idol, just because we kiss it? Then I will quote the statement of Caliph Umar bin AlKhattaab (radhi allahu anhu), the one to whom Shaitaan feared.
Sahih Bukhari Volume 2, Book 26, Number 675:
Narrated Zaid bin Aslam from his father who said:
"Umar bin Al-Khattab addressed the Corner (black stone) saying, 'By Allah! I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit nor harm. Had I not seen the Prophet touching (and kissing) you, I would never have touched (and kissed) you.' Then he kissed it and said, 'There is no reason for us to do Ramal (in Tawaf) except that we wanted to show off before the pagans, and now Allah has destroyed them.' 'Umar added, '(Nevertheless), the Prophet did that and we do not want to leave it (i.e. Ramal).'
You can get 3 solutions from this narration:
1) The Black Stone in itself doesn't possess any power. It can't benefit it can't harm.
(I don't think you believe your idol does not possess any power?)
2) They did that during the pagans time, to show-off that they too are powerful now. (You should read the entire history to know the atrocities of the pagans and how much they belittled their own people just because they said MY GOD IS ONE!)
3) We would never touch the stone except that Prophet (Peace be upon him) had done it.
Personally I am saying, when I go to Makkah I don't touch the stone. It's so crowd there. AND IT'S NOTHING WRONG IF YOU DONT TOUCH IT AND KISS IT! YOU KISS IT, YOU DON'T KISS IT..IT'S ALL THE SAME!!
c) Why do you pray in a fixed direction?
Since all your claims went futile, you are picking up on directions now?!
I don't see how praying towards ka'ba becomes an idol for you?
NOTE: We pray TOWARDS Ka'ba and not TO ka'ba.
(I guess you will not say the same to your idol, because you clearly know YOU ARE PRAYING TO THAT IDOL).
Praying towards a fixed direction, in rows and rows is an excellent way of organizing us. Lots of people converted to Islaam, just after they saw the prayer of Muslims in person. DO YOU KNOW THAT?
They wonder what an excellent system of prayer is this!!! You all are equal in front of your Lord, no matter white or black, rich or poor!
(Remember: What you see here is the top of the 3rd floor. The 1st and 2nd floors inside the masjid have been already filled!! And you will see people praying in the road if you are blessed being there. I wish you will get to go there one day, as a believer submitted to Him alone)
Actually, first God ordered us to pray towards Masjidul Aqsa in Jerusalem, and then the direction order came to Ka'ba.
If we worshiped direction as a God, we wouldn't be changing directions here n there. But we simply do it BECAUSE IT'S THE ORDER OF GOD!
Hey, even if there is no ka'ba WE WOULD STILL BE PRAYING TO OUR LORD in an uniform way.
d) See this picture, isn't it a 'shiva lingam'? (A shiva lingam is an idol of one of the Gods of Hinduism)


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Anim8or Community
- December 01, 2020, 07:16:09 pm
- Welcome, Guest
An update to Anim8or, v1.00b, is available with a few bug fixes. Get your copy HERE. See the "ReadMe" file for details.
Who made the best looking indoor render?
Total Members Voted: 23
Voting closed: June 12, 2009, 12:07:27 pm


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Automate your XenDesktop management
XenDesktop provides an SDK based on a number of Microsoft Windows PowerShell version 3.0 snap-ins that allows you to perform the same tasks as you would with the Citrix Studio console, together with tasks you cannot do with Studio alone.
Watch related videos on the Citrix Developer YouTube channel.
Share your ideas with us


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A new type of eating disorder is emerging where people are becoming obsessed with eating to improve their health. According to the Swiss Food Association, this new wave of nutritional obsession, known as 'Orthorexia' or 'Orthorexia nervosa', from the Greek "orthos" meaning right and correct, and "orexis" meaning appetite, is reaching worrying proportions.
In a quest to cure themselves of a specific disorder, or simply just taking healthy eating to extremes, orthorexics develop their own increasingly specific food rules. Working out how to stick to their self-imposed dietary regimen takes up more and more of their time and they are compelled to plan meals several days ahead. They tend to take a 'survival kit' of their own food with them when they go out, as they cannot eat readily available foods for fear of fat, chemicals or whatever their particular phobia might be. Sticking to their regimen takes strong willpower and they feel self-righteous and superior to people who do not have such self-control. "Someone whose days are filled with eating tofu and quinoa biscuits can feel as saintly as if they had devoted their whole life to helping the homeless" states Dr. Steve Bratman, the man who initially described orthorexia back in 1997. By contrast, if the orthorexic breaks their health-food vows and succumbs to a craving for a 'prohibited' food, they feel guilty and defiled. This drives them to punish themselves with ever stricter dietary rules or abstinence. This behaviour is similar to those who suffer from anorexia or bulimia nervosa, except that anorexics and bulimics are concerned with the quantity of food consumed whereas orthorexics are concerned with the quality.
We are now bombarded with information about what is 'good' and what is 'bad' for us all the time. Food scares and the organic movement have added to the complexity of decisions people need to make about the food they eat. Dr. Bettina Isenschmid, consultant for food disorders at L'Hôpital de l'Isle in Berne, believes that this focus on good and bad foods is problematic and fuels an increasingly neurotic relationship with food in modern western society. Health is now an important consideration for many Europeans when menu-planning . How do we get the right balance between eating healthily and healthy eating obsession?
As with most aspects of diet, moderation is the key. Changes in food choices should be made gradually and in a way that fits in with a person's tastes and lifestyle. Eating more healthily should have a positive effect on health without reducing the enjoyment of life or affecting relationships with others. To check if someone has healthy eating in perspective, or is becoming obsessed, try the 'Bratman Test for orthorexia'.
The Bratman Test for Orthorexia
Do you spend more than 3 hours a day thinking about your diet?
Do you plan your meals several days ahead?
Is the nutritional value of your meal more important than the pleasure of eating it?
Has the quality of your life decreased as the quality of your diet has increased?
Have you become stricter with yourself lately?
Does your self-esteem get a boost from eating healthily?
Have you given up foods you used to enjoy in order to eat the 'right' foods
Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat out, distancing you from family and friends?
Do you feel guilty when you stray from your diet?
Do you feel at peace with yourself and in total control when you eat healthily?
Yes to 4 or 5 of the above questions means it is time to relax more about food.
Yes to all of them means a full-blown obsession with eating
healthy food.
Orthorexia Nervosa isn 't common in India
but its growing like other eating disorders.
Let me end in a lighter (pun intended) note.
Thank you BUTTERCUP


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Cyber crime costs are accelerating. With organizations spending nearly 23 percent more than last year—US$11.7 million, on average—they are investing on an unprecedented scale. Yet, whether managing incidents or the disruption from them, current spend priorities show that much of this is misdirected toward security capabilities that fail to deliver the best efficiency and effectiveness.
Backed by eight years of research, this latest study from the Ponemon Institute and Accenture evaluates the responses of 2,182 interviews from 254 companies in seven countries—Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States. Find out the economic impact of cyber attacks in your country or industry and gain practical guidance on how to stay ahead of a growing number of cyber threats.
Average number of security breaches each year
Net increase in average annual number of security breaches
Highlights from the findings include:
|Organizations need to better balance investments in security technologies
|Investments must be assessed and potentially reallocated to higher-value security technologies.
|Compliance technology is important but don't bet the business on it
|Spending on governance, risk and compliance (GRC) technologies is not a fast-track to increased security.
|Organizations need to grasp the innovation opportunity
|Innovations are generating the highest returns on investment, yet investment in them is low.
$2.4 million
Average cost of malware attack spend and the top cost to companies
50 days
Average time to resolve a malicious insiders attack


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Natalie Sarah birth of Bandung, 1 December 1983 becoming mualaf since June 2001 that, have stared CINTAKU DI RUMAH SUSUN with Anjasmara and Ramzi. Catching up then sinetron KAWIN GANTUNG production of Multivision Plus, DARI TEMEN JADI DEMEN and CINTA SMU.
Natalie Sarah alone is first child from six brother, and have blood clan of Aceh and of Batak. she married with man clan of Arab, Abdullah Rizal that goes at 6 April 2007 in Building Pewayangan Kautaman Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), and with one eyewitness nuptials of Chief of PP Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsudin. Nowadays both bestowed by boy, Habibi Abdullah Aziz
Previous of Natalie Sarah has married with so called man of Ryan Rahmat Ginanjar and bestowed by daughter, Navida Maurine. The Nuptials take place moment pass SMA and 'almost' unknown by media.
In still a very young age, this beautiful girl has been towards the top in popularity. With hard work, countless challenges of life successfully he cut down. He had decided not sink into clubbing. A brave man and could make his exasperation protective shitless. He wanted to vent his sexual fantasies are wild and exciting. No wonder if he likes to watch blue film as a reviewer. Then why did he also want to do striptease?
One Night Stand & Men 'Big Size'
Door carved wood in the living room looks like Alexandra's reluctance to shift when the palm of her hand touched some soft side. With the first dress, a beautiful woman shows nosed countenance full of confidence. It was more than enough to launch photocall.
Angelina Jolie was admitted admirer first time going out when it was still blue and white uniforms. Although dating puppy love style, this relationship lasted two years. That, too, including long-distance dating, because he continued his high school in Bandung, while his girlfriend in Jakarta.
From behind two white curtains over the bed, her figure looks like peeking shyly. This bed is in a room on the second floor of Alexandra's. Clothing he was wearing a low cut in the chest, making the top of a dense breasts look enticing. White skin looks more refined than the most delicate silk fabric though.
Body care for the ad stars 'image' is clearly very important. The owner of 160 centimeters tall and weighing 43 kg was revealed that the woman must really take good care of his body. This is important for the continuity as a partner remain, in order to avoid adultery.
This woman did not take usual path as other artists do. Sarah chose to pursue vocational education in schools of design. There, he was known as a student who has extraordinary talent in the field of image. Not infrequently the designs used by the teachers themselves.
When he graduated, woman born December 1, 1983 is invited by his friend to work as a designer. At that time the fate determine if he should design the clothes of a model for its fashion shows. "Suddenly I was invited to be extras in the soap opera," she exclaimed. Here, initial impressions from the trip in his career.
Nearly half of Sarah's face covered with black hair. From the sidelines of the hair, it appears that the clear eyes glowing ball of light. Like the pearl hidden in the sand, although closed unstoppable sparkle


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Thoughts R Full: KonMari time
Time for a mental break using the KonMari method?
You know how it is. Slivers of ideas – a collection of undeveloped blog posts you just can't let go of so they just lounge around cluttering up the place.
Tethering them is selfish, I guess. Or foolish.
Should either spend time them – or let them hyperdrive into another cranium.
OK. A showcase – like pet adoption day. Open season on some half-baked thoughts:
#1. Loonie or not, the moon getting laser treatments. (As it's "The Man in the Moon" instead of the Lady, this isn't about hair removal.)
There's a couple of laptop sized reflectors that were left on the moon during the "One step for Mankind" visit. Since there are no moving parts or batteries, these still function. Scientists in a New Mexico Observatory bounce laser beams off the reflectors on a regular basis. It's all about Einstein, gravity and gravitational pull in the universe. Their measurements are very precise.
Interestingly, the moon's orbit is moving away from Earth about 1 1/4 inches a year. So if you multiple your age by 1 1/4 you can figure out how the distance the moon has traveled away in your life time. (Don't worry I don't think it's anything you said.)
Intriguing. (Some of us are easily amused.)
#2. "Red and yellow kill a fella" used to be a warning about snakes. Who knew the meaning would writhe into a warning about fashion.
Wearing red hats or yellow vests in the wrong place is hazardous to your health.
Has anyone notified members of The Red Hat Society? You know, those who live by Jenny Joseph's poem? (the title of that poem should be a heads up for them?).
Seeing red over what fashion said. Red, the color of fire and blood – like "The Red Badge of Courage" oozing emotion and passion with hot, hot, hot alternating with the standard "stop". (Yellow's a flasher with "caution" or "yield" – no wonder when it is bipolar meaning both courage and cowardice. Tie a yellow ribbon around all that.
Micro aggressions are the new snakes in the grass in the cry of the beholder.
#3. The Bloody Valentine Experience at Creepy Hollow Haunted House.
Yep, nothing's more romantic than chain saw murderers, serial killers, and Black roses – with thorns, of course.
After years of vampires, "Walking Dead", slasher movies, and ennui, we've come to this.
The Valentine gift competition pushed by retailers has some bleeding dry in order to afford what is
expected mandated by their heart of hearts.
At least the Scream Queens are still using traditional Valentine red.
Whew. Clearing that bunch out wasn't so hard.
Who knew professional, certified KonMari consultants would be a career path?(There are actually 6 in this state.)
My mom could have been their national trainer. But instead of Marie Kondo's soul-searching with holding it up and asking "Does this bring me joy?" and thanking the object, the only question we were allowed was "Does someone else need this more than me?" A little different focus.
But as long as order is restored, in either room or mind, does it matter?
Freshly cleared space. Open range for new ideas.
(Any chance you might adopt one of those ideas? I'd feel better if they went to a foster home or something. They're all really good kids with lots of potential…)
Mindful that out of sight isn't really out of mind
Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge
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text: #PhobosMVP Home / Play, beat the record and win incredible prizes! Join #PhobosMVP / #PhobosMVP #PhobosMVP Jul 26, 2018 Manu Delgado Osuna No comments yet #PhobosMVP About the author: Manu Delgado Osuna Related Posts Play, beat the record and win incredible prizes! Join #PhobosMVP 26 julio, 2018 Gunstar Studio Phobos Vector Prime gets a new endless Survival Mode 5 julio, 2018 Gunstar Studio How to Model a Realistic Low Poly Spaceship 30 mayo, 2018 Gunstar Studio This is how Phobos Vector Prime has changed since we started working on it 7 mayo, 2018 Gunstar Studio Phobos Vector Prime is now available on PS4™! 12 abril, 2018 Gunstar Studio New Story Mode Trailer! 2 marzo, 2018 Gunstar Studio Leave a Reply Cancelar respuesta Your email address will not be published.


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Total Members Voted: 461
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Just imagine that he's running his contract down knowing he will never play again and doesn't want to take the pay from Everton
One angle no one is taking is the impact of this injury.He's been out for six months with a very serious hamstring tear.That on top of the leg break he had at the start of his career and I don't think there's much left in him.Can see it all going a bit Jack Wilshere for him.Id be very reluctant to give him a new deal. Just cash in, let him run it down. It's not real loss for us. Rooney is doing better than Ross ever did for us.
Makes me sad thinking about him playing for another club.
Worst bit is losing the song
.....we've got a diamond called Tom Davies
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Gregory K. Bell
Gregory K. Bell
Dr. Bell frequently testifies as an expert witness on damages in intellectual property, finance, and antitrust litigation in courts and arbitration proceedings in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Dr. Bell's business consulting engagements focus on the economics of business strategy, working with firms to develop sustainable competitive advantages in specific product markets. He has led numerous projects concerning game theory and competitive strategy, global launch strategy, product pricing and positioning, capital budgeting and real options, and cost-benefit analyses.
PhD, Business Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences/Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration
MBA, Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration
BA, Finance and Accounting, Simon Fraser University


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Tribe relies on Reynolds at third after roster move
PHILADELPHIA -- Mark Reynolds has done a little bit of everything for the Indians this season, and his willingness to do so has been of great help to manager Terry Francona. Now, one day after the Indians optioned 24-year old Lonnie Chisenhall to Triple-A Columbus, Reynolds' role has become a little more defined.
"He'll certainly get the majority of the time," said Francona, who had Reynolds penciled in at third base for the second straight day. "It's one thing to put him there sparingly, but you don't want to run him into the ground. That's part of what makes this team so much fun to manage.
"Mark is a perfect example. He has played first, he's played third and he's been our designated hitter. He's done it willingly. It makes it kind of fun."
Reynolds has hit .279 this year with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs. For the most part, he has done well in the 17 games he started at first, in which he has hit .331 with five home runs and 20 RBIs. In a smaller sample size at third, he has hit only .211 in seven games, but Francona sees those numbers improving with consistency.
"I think he likes third," Francona said. "I think in Spring Training, we asked him to play a game or two and he did it without questions because he likes it."
Of course, the Indians had hoped that Reynolds wouldn't have to play third this much if Chisenhall hadn't struggled mightily over 26 games, in which he hit just .213.
"He said he'd been worried since the first week about his run production," Francona said. "It kind of looked like that. It had snowballed on him. Now he goes to Triple-A and can take a deep breath, because he's going to be a huge part of this organization because he's young and he can grow.
"It happens. I went through it myself. You put too much pressure on yourself to do well."