text:
Last Minute Wine Ideas for Thanksgiving
OK, so you know it's late to be just now looking for wines for Thanksgiving. What were you thinking? Well, never fear, finding a great wine for...
New Holiday Food & Wine Traditions
It's getting to be that time of year when everything seems to be dedicated to stuffing -- from our tummies to stockings…to our skinny jeans! What if the...
Pasta and Wine, Part One
October is National Pasta Month. And of all the Italian culinary products, pasta best exemplifies Italy's dynamic personality. Sauces vary as do the...
Wine & Food is Art, Not Science
Wine should always be enjoyable and approachable. It's an intimidating subject to many people, but it doesn't have to be. So when it comes to pairing...
Brazilian Cuisine is Begging for Wine
Wine is not the first pairing that comes to mind when you're talking about Brazilian cuisine. Coffee, fruit drinks, cachaça, and beer are all more...
Unpretentious Wine Pairings: Cheese Product
Sorry, turophile. One day you may find yourself trapped in a big, scary, artisanal food desert. Fear not, for there is a silver lining. Such a case scenario...
Your Italian Easter Recipe Box
Easter is a huge event worldwide, eagerly looked forward to as warmer and longer days approach. In Italy, Pasqua, Easter, is a holiday that is more important...
Unlikely Wine Pairings: Ethiopian Food
The first time I had Ethiopian food was back in high school twenty years ago, and I drove my little white pickup truck to Midtown which, at the time, was the...
Wine & Chocolate Pairings (in a Love Emergency)
The middle of February has long been a time to celebrate love. The ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals to honor fertility and marriage. The fourteenth...
How to Pair Wine with Super Bowl Foods
Super Bowl XLIX will be played on February 1, 2015 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It's too early at the time of writing to pick...
TV Dinner and Wine Pairing Guide
I once spent 48 hours making a sauce from scratch. It was a classic Sauce Robert that started with a tray full of bones and vegetables. The compound sauce...
Holiday Dessert Pairings
This is an action-packed few weeks full of parties, dinners, and lots of celebration. And along with all the festivities come the desserts: cookies, cakes,...
Neapolitan Christmas Dishes and Wine Pairings
Christmas in Naples is truly worthy of the word abbondanza, or abundance, where preparations for feasting are readied weeks in advance. The kickoff is always...
Nonconformist Oyster & Wine Pairings
Like many foodies, I adore oysters on the half shell. One of my first jobs working in a professional kitchen as a kid, after I was promoted from the pot...
Unpredictable Food & Wine Pairings
In America tomorrow is the big day: Thanksgiving. Of course most of us will roll out the traditional recipes and ingredients, with turkey taking center stage...
5 Wines to Pair with Indian Food Classics
The best Indian food I ever had was when my friend Aman's parents would visit from Ahmedabad and his mother would cook wonderful meals for us. Beautifully...
Your Thanksgiving-Appropriate Cocktail Menu
When it comes to keeping cocktails seasonal, most people think of summer as the season of greatest bounty. Fruit hitting the peak of ripeness, daiquiris...
When Wine Gets Saucy: Top Tips & Recipes
The art of turning wine into sauce. Nothing uplifts a mundane meal more than a great sauce. Sauces make plain sautéed chicken pop, punches up grilled meats...
Halloween Candy & Wine Pairing Extravaganza
It's Halloween time once again—time for costumes, time for candy, and why not also make it time for a glass of wine? If you think a glass of vino with a...
How to Pair with Great Wines!
This is of course a bit biased, and I didn't even include three of my favorite wines, Bordeaux, Chianti, and Barbera, but the point here was to try and...
Search Articles
Best Wine Deals
$27.9924% offTwo Hands Cabernet Sauvignon Sexy Beast Mclaren Vale 2011
$18.0928% offRutherford Ranch Sauvignon Blanc 2011


text:
Samir Awad was sixteen years old when he was killed. It was mid January last year, and after completing a science exam he had walked to the separation wall that cuts through the land of his home town of Budrus. According to the friends he was with, Israeli soldiers fired a stun grenade at the boys and shot Samir in the leg. Then, as the teenager tried to run away, they fired a bullet to his head, at close range, and killed him.
14 months have now passed since Samir died. As of yet, no-one has been held to account for his death.
The teenager's family is demanding justice. This month, Samir's father Ahmad Awad and Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem submitted a petition to Israel's High Court demanding that the Military Advocate General (MAG) charge the soldiers who killed Samir, or close the file on his case.
"We know there will be a long wait," Ahmad says, "but we hope the soldier who shot him will be punished."
The petition, explains B'Tselem's Sarit Michaeli, is "procedural": it condemns "the inexplicable and unacceptable foot dragging" that has characterised the Israeli investigation. The rule of law, it asserts, is seriously damaged when poor investigation and a lack of action allows the army to kill with impunity.
In Budrus, Samir's family hope that their push for accountability can help protect other young people from violence. "Now the Israelis will not take responsibility for what they have done," Ahmad Awad told Palestine Monitor. "I am worried for my other sons. The soldier who killed Samir has not been punished, so he is free to shoot other children."
This kind of impunity, says B'Tselem's Michaeli, "is almost universal for cases of killings." Prosecutions, she told Palestine Monitor, are "very, very rare." In a report last year Yesh Din stated that, since September 2000, the Israeli courts made indictments in just 21 cases relating to the death of Palestinians, and convicted only 16 soldiers of offences. During the same period, some 5,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied territories.
"Here, we all know that we cannot trust the Israeli court to deliver justice," says Ayed Morrar, a leader of Budrus' Popular Committee. "When a Palestinian young boy throws a stone at Israeli soldiers, he will be in jail for five to six months at least. It's enough for just one soldier to say he saw him. Then compare that to a soldier who kills a child in cold blood. He is jailed for just one month, if he is jailed at all."
"Samir was killed 16 months ago," Morrar continues. "Since then, so many young kids here have been sent to jail. But the soldier that killed Samir is still free."
The absence of charges does not appear, in this case, to be due to a lack of evidence. According to media reports, the military possessed surveillance footage of the incident, and an initial inquiry found Samir had been shot in contravention of open fire regulations. According to Amnesty International, which highlighted the tragedy in a recent report on excessive use of force in the West Bank, Samir's death "could amount to extrajudicial or wilful killing," a war crime under international law.
The reason for the apparently perpetual delay, according to the MAG, is the 'complexity' of the case. But B'Tselem state that this regularly cited 'blanket claim' of complexity 'is dubious', and should not be used to hamper efforts to bring those responsible for the deaths of Palestinians to justice.
Although the Awad family are determined, they are far from optimistic about the prospects for justice. If past cases are anything to go by, the likelihood of Samir's killers ever being held to account is slim. Toward the end of last year, the MAG closed two high-profile investigations into the killings of Bassem Abu Rahme, in Bil'in, and Mustafa Tamimi, in Nabi Saleh. Both men died after being shot at close range by tear gas canisters. Despite clear video footage of Abu Rahme's shooting - and the fact that it was viewed by cinema audiences around the globe in the Oscar-nominated documentary Five Broken Cameras - the MAG claimed there was "insufficient evidence" to make a decision about his death.
According to Saleh Hijazi, a researcher at Amnesty International, cases like these are extremely worrying. "These investigations are neither independent, nor transparent, not effective," he explains. "They contribute to impunity, which allows the violence that is taking place in the West Bank to continue."
In the Awad family home, Samir's mother Sodiqia knows this only too well. "We are not alone. Families were losing their children before us and they will after us," she told Palestine Monitor. This year, she says, she visited another son, Abed al-Rahem, who is currently incarcerated in Israeli jail. There, she met another mother, from Jalazone camp, who, like her, had seen one son imprisoned by Israeli forces and another killed "in cold blood," both in the same year.
"Went I went to the prison I saw that there are thousands of prisoners, suffering very long prison terms bravely and patiently. I believe we can learn from them," Sodiqia added.
"This case is very tough, and it will take a long time until it is finished, but we must continue to work and struggle long and hard for our freedom."
Back to Top

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mariners send shortstop Ryan to Yankees
Defensive standout relegated to bench role this year behind rookie Miller
SEATTLE -- The Mariners announced during Tuesday night's game against the Astros that the club traded shortstop Brendan Ryan to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later.
"It's an opportunity for [him] to go somewhere and compete," manager Eric Wedge said. "They were interested in him, so that was the move we made."
Ryan, who is regarded as one of the finest defensive shortstops in the game, was acquired by Seattle on Dec. 12, 2010, in a trade from St. Louis. He appeared in 351 games for Seattle, batting .215 with 48 doubles, six triples and nine home runs.
The emergence of rookie shortstop Brad Miller this season had relegated Ryan to a part-time role. Since July 1, the 31-year-old Ryan has started just 12 games at shortstop. He batted .192 with three home runs and 21 RBIs in 87 games for Seattle in 2013.
If the Yankees make the playoffs, Ryan would be ineligible for postseason play. New York is two games behind the Rays for the second Wild Card in the American League.


text:
YANKEES: Brett Gardner hits walk-off home run to win it for the New York Yankees, Mariano Rivers blows another save
NEW YORK >> Mariano Rivera stood on the mound, looking down at his cleats. Somehow, he'd let yet another lead slip away.
Never before had baseball's all-time saves leader blown three straight chances.
Silenced by a pair of Detroit home runs, the fans at Yankee Stadium soon perked up. Brett Gardner homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tigers 5-4 Sunday for their first series win in more than a month.
Rivera has a record 643 saves, but had never failed three in a row in 1,087 previous relief appearances. His troubles began in Chicago, where he gave back a lead to the White Sox.
"At least it's the first time, you know what I mean?" Rivera said. "I just try to go out there and do my job. The last three opportunities, I haven't done it. So we have to continue battling and get better. Have to keep working and eventually it will happen."
Rivera blew both save chances in this series. Gardner provided the winning hit in both games.
"Mo's bailed us out a few times," Gardner said. "It didn't matter if it was me or somebody else, we just needed to get a win today and I'm glad we made it happen."
Rivera (3-2) gave up another homer to a limping Miguel Cabrera, plus a drive to Victor Martinez in the top of the ninth. The solo shots made it 4-all and turned Alex Rodriguez's first homer of the season into a footnote.
But Gardner connected off Jose Veras (0-5). The feisty center fielder flipped his batting helmet to A-Rod just before reaching the plate, then jumped into a cluster of teammates at home.
"To Martinez, that ball was just laying right flat up. And also with Miguel," Rivera said. "You're facing professional hitters. If you don't put the ball where you need to, you're going to get hit."
On Friday night, Rivera gave up a two-run shot to Cabrera, who fouled two balls off his leg before launching the tying drive. Gardner won it in the 10th with a single.
Manager Joe Girardi is hardly going to start worrying now about the 43-year-old pitcher generally regarded as the best closer ever.
"It's not like you forget how to pitch in a week," Girardi said. "It's impossible."
Alfonso Soriano homered for his 2,000th hit in the fourth inning. He connected off Justin Verlander, as did Rodriguez.
"All great pitchers have one thing in common: they attack you and throw strikes," Rodriguez on why he's had success against Verlander -- four homers in 28 at-bats.
Rodriguez, who has missed most of the year while coming back from hip surgery, hit a leadoff homer in the second. His 648th career home run pushed him past Stan Musial for fifth on the RBIs list with 1,951.
"It was a tremendous homer by A-Rod," Pena said. "Justin Verlander threw a great inside pitch and he used his hands and sometimes you just have to credit the hitter."
Lustily booed Friday night in his season debut at Yankee Stadium, he quickly turned fans around Sunday with a soaring shot to left field that made it 1-all. Rodriguez drove in one more run with a single down the first base line in the third.
"Felt good to get the first one out of the way," Rodriguez said. "Today was a step in the right direction."
Late lineup-addition Brayan Pena homered in the eighth off Yankees setup man David Robertson, cutting Detroit's deficit to 4-2.
Pena played for Alex Avila, who was placed on the 7-day concussion list after the game. Avila was hit in the mask by a foul ball Thursday but played Saturday. He was in the initial lineup Sunday.
On a glorious August afternoon in the Bronx, the Yankees avoided dropping to .500 for the first time since April 13, improving to 59-57. Taking two of three from the AL Central leaders gave New York its first series win July 5-7 after an 0-5-3 stretch.
Gardner started a long-distance double play to end the eighth inning by leaping against the center field wall to catch Torii Hunter's fly and preserve the 4-2 lead.
Prince Fielder had an RBI single in the first off Andy Pettitte, the eighth straight game the lefty allowed a run in the opening inning. That's the longest such streak by a Yankees pitcher, according to STATS research back to 1920.
Rodriguez made a stellar play in the eighth when he reached deep behind third base on Austin Jackson's grounder and threw to second to nail Jose Iglesias for the first out.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland disputed the call, and TV replays appeared to back him up.
Leyland was back on the field one batter later. Shaken after catching Hunter's fly, Gardner flipped the ball to Soriano. The left fielder threw the ball to shortstop Eduardo Nunez, who tossed it to second baseman Robinson Cano. Cano easily tagged Austin Jackson, who stood confused on second base.
"As I lowered my head as I rounded back to make sure I stepped on second base, I saw the ball on the ground so I thought it hadn't been caught," Jackson said. "Sometimes you have no way of telling what's going on behind you. It happens sometimes. He made a great catch."
Half the team met Gardner at the dugout steps to congratulate the center fielder. They all pounced on him after his homer.
NOTES: Verlander gave up seven hits and four runs in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one. ... Rodriguez was given an error in the third on Martinez's slow roller that he ran in for but couldn't scoop with his glove. ... Rodriguez's two hits were his first off a right-hander in 25 at-bats dating to last year's playoffs. ... The Tigers recalled C Bryan Holaday from Triple-A Toledo after the game.


text:
We have nothing special to do this long weekend. We just happened to drop by at Pondok Indah Mall and found this Vintage Week that presented an Indonesia Flea Market (March 27-30). They sold many unique yet beautiful stuffs. Mostly handmade product with its awesome signature. They also provided some art workshops.
I found this cute-flowery-glasses box, made from used milk carton box, a product of Sawo Kecik. Love lots of products here. I just can't get enough of this vintage.


text:
Auto Publishers Price Starting at
*Based on model year EPA mileage ratings. Use for comparison purposes only. Your atual mileage will vary, depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle, driving conditions, battery pack age/condition (hybrid only) and other factors.VIEW OUR INVENTORY
Efficient; stylish; practical; available plug-in hybrid drivetrain; available all-wheel drive; available turbocharged V6
The 2019 Ford Fusion receives a minor face-lift heading into the new year. Both front and rear facias are new along with a bold new grille design and more aggressive trunk lid adding focus to the new LED taillights. Ford's Co-Pilot360 system has also been integrated adding voice-activated navigation, Sirius XM and TrafficLink for live traffic updates. This year's plug-in Hybrid Fusion Energi has a better battery that's good for 25 miles of all-electric cruising, an increase of nearly 20 percent. Last, the Fusion Titanium and Hybrid models now have adaptive cruise control (with stop-and-go), while all SE and above Fusions benefit from 4G LTE Wi-Fi and Sync 3 with an 8-inch touch screen.


text:
Do Dinosaurs Still Exist
Eskin Kuhn's Excellent Adventure
I had been overseas for 12 months and took a 30 day leave before reporting to Camp Lejeune, NC in early March, 1971, to finish my hitch in the Corps.
Upon arrival there I learned of voluntary duty available in Cuba ; and being much fonder of duty in the field rather than garrison duty ,I went. I have never regretted the decision.
It was probably about mid-March when the C-130 prop plane arrived at the Naval Air Station, Quantanamo Bay, Cuba. From the NAS we travelled by boat along dense jungle lined canal to the Naval Station and site of the Marine Barracks.
I was not stationed to the Barracks; but to 2nd Battallion, 8th Regiment (reinforced), H&S Co., 106mm recoiless rifle platoon.
Reporting there at the point was preceded by a long jeep ride past rather desolate looking terrain. of
Most of the buildings there were white painted wood; but the 106 Plt. was quartered in the large yellow metal building where the guns were stored, the Jeeps lined up outside.
This was a hardship duty station, for which we were compensated an additional $2 per day ! I sometimes ran, even the obstacle course, for entertainment in the evenings ; but all in all, it was good duty.
I had been in Cuba for perhaps 4 months and the SeaBees were engaged in constructing new barracks for us. It was a shame to see what I considered the end of an era when the old wooden buildings were dozed.
We were engaged during the day in physical training, close order drill, gun drill, cleaning and maintenance, classes and other sundry routine common to service life, including a break for lunch with its attending rest period or free time.
"It was during such a free time period, in the middle of the day, that I was outside and witnessed the Pterosaurs."
It was a beautiful, clear Summer day, hot ( but we were pretty well acclimated to that), still; most of the platoon was in the new barracks "hanging out". I was looking in the direction of the ocean when I saw an incredible sight. It mesmerized me!
I am an artist with sharp eye for detail;and was determined to drink in the visage before me for future recording on paper. I saw 2 Pterosaurs (or Pterodactyls...what's in a name?) flying together at low altitude, perhaps 100 feet, very close in range from where I was standing, so that I had a perfectly clear view of them.
The rythym of their large wings was very graceful, slow ; and yet they were flying and not merely gliding, like turkey vultures do here in Ohio.
The rate of their wings was more like that of crows, perhaps a little slower; but very graceful. The structure and the texture of the wings appeared to be very similar to that of bats: particularly in that the struts of the wings emanated from a "hand" as fingers would ; except that a couple of the fingers were short (as for grasping) and the other ran out to the tip of the wing, others back to the trailing edge of the wing to stretch the wing membrane as a kite would.
The Pterosaurs I saw had the short hind legs attached to the rearwardmost part of the wing, and they had a long tail trailing behind with a tuft of hair at the end.
The head was disproportionately large, with a long crest at the back, long bill, long neck with a crook in it. The chest of the creatures was similarly prominent, protruding forward like the prow of an old ship.
The vertebrae of their backs was noticeable, mostly between the shoulders. I would estimate their wingspan to be roughly 10 feet.
It has been 30 years now since I was there, memory fades, even for something so startling as that. I recall running to a barracks as they were well past me, grabbing Sgt,Cunningham by the arm and trying to drag his reticent self outside to witness them and corroborrate my sighting, but by the time I could get him outside they were gone.
I rotated back to the States not long after that; and for the rest of my tour I never saw them again. Eskin C. Kuhn
The height I stated as about 100 ft and the range very close, the wingspan roughly 10 ft. I recall that immediately afterward I could not positively discern the size of the creatures or the altitude of their flight, precisely because there was no known point of reference visible within the frame of space they were observed to occupy.
In clear skies it is very difficult to determine distance or height, even clouds are hard to judge, try this yourself. The height of the birds may have been no more than 40 ft or 50...it was impossible to tell with any degree of certainty.
The size of the creatures was a little easier to judge, but not much, their span could have been 8 ft or 12 ft, with a body length of perhaps 30 to 40". That part has to remain a guess. They came in from the direction of the sea and flew inland.
In Cuba we swam a great deal on weekends. A group of us once explored some coast line and saw several caves. In one we entered we disturbed a large number of bats.
Some of the guys saw sea turtles. I got very close to a large barracuda once (it is a humorous story). On another occasion I saw 3 of the men in our platoon swimming far out past our sanctioned area, and they were in the center of a circle of barracuda of perhaps a hundred or more feet in diameter ( tougue in cheek...measuring again).
The barracuda looked to be evenly spaced in a perfect circle with our friends in the very center. We watched as they swam to the edge of the circle and then shot through the gap of the barracuda to reach the safety of the nearly shear, rocky face of the coastline ; where they scrambled out.
Cuba is a land of mystery and many secrets I feel sure. If ever we reestablish trade with Cuba I should like to revisit Gitmo. Surely someone else there has seen such things.
I don't know why I made a rather obvious mistake...the "hands" of the Pterosaurs were strange, in that the "thumb and next two digits" were short - as depicted -but the other 2 were extremely large stretching as spars to brace the wing.
I have only depicted one such "spar" and I can only attribute that to my youth and lack of artistic discipline. I recall observing how those digits and spars radiated from the same "hand" but size was quite disparate.
National Geographic portrays pterosaurs as without the tufted tail; and to be generous,perhaps there were a variety which looked that way... but it would not have flown with the effortless grace the two I saw exhibited...
slow,pause, glide, slow flap and rise, etc.
There is no mistaking what I saw, it was middle of the day during our free time, a work day, no booze, no drugs, bright sun and full visibility with vision I wish I still had, eyes that qualified me as Expert Rifleman and the Pistol shot in the Marine Corps.
I saw what I saw...wish others would go there and see the same.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 37 38
Please Support the Research of S8int.com!
Since 2002, Chris Parker has done the majority of the research and writing of articles for s8int.com. If this site has been an encouragement to you, please donate to support Chris's ongoing research. (S8int.com is not incorporated and your donations may not be tax deductable.)


text:
Caston Wednesday Ju Jitsu Club
Infant Gradings
6th July, 2016
Event Description: The children from the Caston Ju Jitsu Club will be grading during their normal lesson.
Date: 6th July, 2016
Time: 18:00-19:00
Location: Honbu Dojo, The Street, Caston, NR17 1DD
Age range: 4-8 years of age
Dress code: Please ensure that the children are dressed in their Ishin Ryu Ju Jitsu uniforms and belts.
Last Booking Date: 22nd June, 2016
Presentation Date: 13th July, 2016
Special Instructions: We have always extended a warm welcome to the parents, grandparents, and family of our children. Please feel free to bring your video recorders and cameras to record this special event for your children.


text:
Mechanisms of post‐transcriptional regulation of plakophilin 1 (PKP1) expression and its role in carcinogenesis
Tina studied Biochemistry at the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg. As a PhD student she investigates the posttranscriptional regulation of p120-cell contact proteins by microRNAs. The members of the p120-catenin subfamily of armadillo proteins are essential for cell-cell contact formation. Besides this function in cell-cell adhesion, they participate in various signaling pathways. Their deregulated expression with up- as well as down-regulation has been connected to cancer and metastasis. Because of this it is important to understand how their expression is controlled at the post-transcriptional level by microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins. For example the RNA-binding protein FMRP associates with and inhibits the translation of the p0071 mRNA. In this way FMRP can regulate the actin cytoskeleton in fibroblasts and neuronal cells via the armadillo protein p0071.
Supervisor: Prof. Hatzfeld
Phone: +49-(0)345-5573836


text:
I first started taking pictures in sixth grade when the principal, Miss Gustafson, asked for a volunteer photographer. She explained that the volunteer photographer would get in free to all sporting events, and the rest is history.
Even though I was using a Canon SLR in sixth grade, my first pictures really were just snapshots of the sports team and crowds.
In high school and college, my photography became more serious. I endeavored to understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Then throw in there film speed, film type, lenses, filters, and even film processing methods.
After college, I tried to develop a photographer's eye for composition. Sometimes that meant sitting in the same spot for several hours waiting for just the right combination of things—light, weather, people (or lack thereof), etc. Sometimes I would take a picture and then go back several times over the next weeks and months, hoping to get a better picture.
Them days are gone………………………..
In today's world of Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom, Corel Paintshop Pro, and many other digital photo software editing programs, I think I have come full circle, back to taking snapshots with my Canon 550D. I'm more interested in getting the picture and then making something out of it when I get back home. I think someone calls it "Photographic Art."
For example, here's a picture of two pigs sleeping at the San Diego County Fair:
It's a cute picture, but I thought it could be better if I removed the bars from their pen, not to mention the food dish and the butt of the black pig in the other pen. I even thought about that while at the Fair because I took a picture of sawdust which I thought would be good to replace the bars with:
First I removed some sawdust from the pigs, as well as a few pigskin imperfections, by simple cloning, which Photoshop makes real easy. I cloned out some feathers from on top of the sawdust as well.
Then I masked the bars and deleted them. That left me with a huge blank space behind the pigs' heads, but Photoshop also makes it pretty easy to insert just about anything into a picture.
Here is the result:
Isn't it a lot better picture without the bars in there?
Lets you focus on the two pigs, especially the smiling pig, obviously in the midst of sweet dreams.
What you see at Russel Ray Photos might not be what you get. I just can't be trusted.
Need a unique gift? Check out Photographic Art!
Visit Photographic Art by Russel Ray Photos at Fine Art America.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend James Frimmer, Realtor, CDPE
If you're looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that's me!


text:
ROCHESTER — The following are the arrests reported by the Rochester Police Department for service from Nov. 3 to 8:
Saturday, Nov. 3
8:36 a.m. — Jenika Senter, 23, of 17 Winter St., Apt. 1, is charged with burglary.
3:32 p.m. — Christina Demanche, 37, of 29 Chestnut St., Apt. 5, is charged with willful concealment at Hannaford.
9:35 p.m. — Darren Allen, 26, of 29 Grove St., is charged with driving under the influence.
Sunday, Nov. 4
8:26 a.m. — Michael Robert Jouvelakas, 23, of 3 Glenwood Ave., is charged with second degree assault, simple assault and obstructing report of crime or injury.
9:23 a.m. — Jason Dean Cole, 31, of 7A Felker St., is charged with two counts of simple assault.
Monday, Nov. 5
1:54 p.m. – Kevin A. Trefethen, 26, of 76 Goldrush Lane, is charged with three counts of child pornography (Internet).
2:37 p.m. – Andrew J. Cameron, 26, of 203 Salmon Falls Road, is charged with criminal mischief and burglary.
2:46 p.m. – Cody Guile, 18, of 2 Riley Ave., is charged with failure to yield.
Tuesday, Nov. 6
9:11 a.m. – Duane Howard, 44, of 77 High St., Somersworth, is charged with willful concealment at Cumby's on Milton Road.
9:38 p.m. – Alan B. Cornish, 57, of 38C Summer St., is charged with open container, after police are called about a man sleeping on the ground near Friendly's.
11:13 p.m. – Dana Edward Andreason, 48, of 121C North Main St., is charged with obstructing report of crime or injury and three counts of simple assault.
Wednesday, Nov. 7
1:04 p.m. – Nancy Brown, 51, of 9 High St., Somersworth, is charged with driving after suspension.
Thursday, Nov. 8
2:44 p.m. – Duane Howard, 44, a Rochester transient, is charged with criminal trespass (at Hannaford), and with resisting arrest and contempt.
Rochester arrest log
ROCHESTER — The following are the arrests reported by the Rochester Police Department for service from Nov. 3 to 8:


text:
We use cookies to give you the best possible online experience. See our cookie policy for more information on how we use cookies and how you can manage them. If you continue to use this website, you are consenting to our policy and for your web browser to receive cookies from our website.
This flu season, protect yourself, protect others
Your flu + COVID-19 questions answered. Plus smart, simple advice from a Medical Director on vaccines and protecting yourself from flu in the time of COVID-19.
Don't let stress be your new normal
Introducing Wysa — brought to you by Aetna, an innovative app that's FREE to our members and gives you confidential emotional support anytime you need it.
Staying well starts at home
Use our telemedicine service (vHealth) to speak to a doctor if you're stuck at home or can't travel. And our online well-being resources to help with any fear and anxiety you're experiencing. We'll help you stay well.
Welcome to Aetna
A faster, easier way to access self-help tools and professional services to improve members overall well-being.*
Cancer: count on us for support
We have created this Cancer support resource to promote prevention, early intervention and treatment strategies. Everyday choices matter.
Never forget your user name again
We're updating your online account to use an email address as your username. You'll be asked to make the change when you log in.
International Health Insurance
Award-winning international health insurance for you and family – we'll help you find a plan that meets your needs.
Destination Guide: India
One of the fastest growing economies in the world, and the largest democracy, India is expected to overtake China by 2028 as the world's most populous nation.
A leader in global health benefits
Award-winning cover to nearly 900,000 members worldwide including individuals and families, small to large businesses, and governments.
Aetna International Mobile Assistant
Get your Aetna Mobile Assistant App to view your plan information, find a doctor and even submit a claim.
Advice for Aetna International customers and members
For individuals and families
Round the clock support for you and your family
- Pre-trip guidance to help with your next move
- Access to Aetna's team of clinicians
- 24/7 assistance via toll-phone, fax or email
- A simple way to pay your premiums online
For brokers
Fully supported solutions for you and your clients
- Health care plans tailored to your clients
- Mobile Assistant to support your clients
- Secure information & tools at your fingertips
For employers
Providing peace of mind for you and your staff
- Comprehensive health care for your employees
- Flexible portfolio of plans and optional benefits
- Secure information & tools at your fingertips
Why choose Aetna International for expat health insurance?
Powerful, secure, comprehensive, and local – learn how Aetna International has you covered.
Building a Healthier World
Explore the world around you and get information and insight from our resource centre.
Get the 'Scoop' on your health plan's features
Let us show you how to get the best out of your health plan. Meet 'Scoop', the friendly visual narrator of our quick start video guides. In each short video guide, Scoop will introduce you to the benefits of the tools and services that are available to support your health care journey. Check out the video guides, below.
Start by telling us where you're accessing your care:


text:
NETGEAR for
Sign In
MyNETGEAR® Account
Welcome back ~#name#~!
Access your NETGEAR
Sign up and enjoy these benefits!
Cart is Empty
more items in your cart
4G LTE Advanced / Contract
Be confident knowing you can connect with friends and family using the latest in 4G LTE and WiFi technology. This powerful device will last up to 16 hours and will even give your smartphone a boost when it's low on battery.
Power on, connect and surf! Accessing the Internet is easy, and so is managing your connection. The intuitive color touchscreen lets you view data usage, update WiFi passwords, manage WiFi devices, and more.
Easily stream videos or games, or download high-res photos from the cloud. The AT&T Unite Pro supports 4G speeds and offers simultaneous Dual-Band WiFi technology for a fast and smooth online experience.
Track your data use by month and by session to ensure you stick within your data plan and allowance. Data usage is visible directly from the touchscreen or through the AirCard App which is a complimentary download for smartphones and tablets.
Share your WiFi with others without sharing your password by creating a Guest WiFi network. Even block unwanted WiFi devices directly from the AT&T Unite Pro touchscreen.
With a battery that outlasts your laptop, and high-performance 4G LTE technology, you can count on the AT&T Unite Pro to keep you connected wherever you go.
Charge your smartphone or small portable USB device using the Battery Boost feature.
Keep the family entertained while at the cottage or on a road trip. Bring WiFi with you so your family can stream videos, look up directions, or even check Facebook status updates even in the car.
Often out visiting clients? Bring WiFi with you to access online tools or make use of downtime in between meetings. Having WiFi all the time can help you stay productive even when you're not in the office.
Busy juggling your family's schedule? Catch up with email in between errands, or shop online while waiting for your kids. Stay organized and efficient despite having a hectic day.
Enjoy the spontaneity of retired life knowing your WiFi is just as flexible as your schedule. With a mobile hotspot, your WiFi goes wherever you go and lets you instantly connect your tablet, laptop or other WiFi device to video call your family or look up points of interest as you tour the country.
If you are continuing your studies while you work, you need the ability to access online schedules, assignments, and material from wherever you are.
Manage your AirCard mobile hotspot from the convenience of your smartphone or tablet. This complimentary app from NETGEAR is available for iPhone, iPad, Kindle, and Android® smartphones and tablets.
The AT&T Unite Pro is a powerhouse mobile hotspot suited for the most demanding road warriors.
If you're a traveler for business or leisure, the ATT Unite Pro 4G LTE Mobile WiFi Hotspot is a nice little friend to have along with you for the ride. The Unite Pro is small, fits in your pocket and once you turn it on, there's minimal need to even look at it throughout your travels. The service is reliable and very handy for when you're in transit or staying in places where you might not have the best speeds or internet access at all.
This device would be invaluable on school trips or when students are away from the classroom and expected to create content, keep up with homework, and conduct online research.
Not only does the AT&T Unite Pro by NETGEAR help military families stay connected while away but it's also great on road trips in the car to visit family back home.
Having a personal WiFi network connected with 4G LTE is quick, secure and eliminates the need to pay hotels for an unsecure connection. Operating all aspects of the Unite Pro was easy with its color touchscreen and simple layout.
This has given my life a boost for sure with the WiFi to keep me connected and BatteryBoost to refuel my smartphone. It is on my must have list to take with us on our vacation.
If you're looking for a great on the go internet option that's MUCH more reliable than just rigging up your phone as a hotspot, I HIGHLY suggest grabbing an AT&T Unite Pro by NETGEAR Mobile Hotspot!
…we were moving through various areas so it was impressive to see it maintain not only its speed but connection as we moved through various towns and cities.
I had several meetings lined up and of course the hotels were not offering wifi in the conference rooms, but did offer an extremely slow version in the lobby. No thanks. I whipped out my wifi hotspot device, powered it up and was speeding through my emails, keeping up with social media and more. Every time I went to use it, it was completely reliable and turned on quickly.
Added to your cart.
Join our list for
10% off
your next purchase
Please enter a valid e-mail address
You are already on our list. Only first-time subscribers are eligible for this promotion.
10% offer valid for one-time use on a single item only. May be applied to all NETGEAR products, excluding services and Meural products. May not be combined with other offers. Limit one promo code per customer. You can unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.
Your 10% off is on its way.
You'll also be the first to access NETGEAR offers and updates.
Interested in ?
Sign up and we'll keep you updated.
Please enter a valid e-mail address.
You are already on the list. We'll notify you shortly.


text:
Because many non-global zones share files with the global zone through the use of loopback file system read-only mounts (usually /usr, /lib, /sbin, and /platform), you must use a global zone backup method to back up lofs directories.
Do not back up the lofs file systems shared with the global zone in non-global zones. An attempt by the non-global administrator to restore lofs file systems from a non-global zone could cause a serious problem.


text:
What is a Car Loan?
A Car loan is a type of loan that normally used to purchase New car or Used car, commercial vehicle etc. Car loan is usually having two types:-.
New Car Loan:-
Your search for a car loan is over! Bringing home the car you've always wanted. We offers the most convenient and affordable solution for your new car loan requirements. Apply for car loans and get up to 100% financing for your car. With our easy application process, quick processing of documents and speedy disbursal of loan and pocket friendly rates. You will be driving your dream machine sooner than you could imagine. While you drive your car home we will take care of all paper work. All we wish is you enjoy your long drive in your new car.All major Bank and NBFC Provide Car Loan in Faridabad.
Used Car Loan:-
A used car loan is a loan that is given to a person who is willing to buy used cars/pre-owned cars or if anyone is having a car and want to get loan by mortgaging there car although the car is used by that person only. Used cars just not offer value for money but also help you to get some instant cash on a very reasonable rate and this facility is availed by both salaried and Self-employed.
Used car loans are having the following features
How much EMI do you have to pay?


text:
|Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6b garden, I've circled August 5th as the day when it finally rained, and the extreme drought loosened its grip on my garden just a little bit.
I'm not ready to declare August a new spring but there are signs that we are going to recover from this drought after all.
One of the best shrubs right now is Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'. It is doing quite well, all things considered, and adds a nice touch of bloom to one corner of the garden.
|Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'
The Joe Pye weed, Eupatorium dubium 'Little Joe' hasn't quite decided what height it should be.
|Eupatorium dubium 'Little Joe'
False aster, Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank' isn't quite as showy as last year.
|Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank'
The rare Short's goldenrod, Solidago shortii, seems to have paid no attention to the drought.
|Solidago shortii
Elsewhere in the garden, there's quite a bit of drought damage and clean up to be done. Someone commented a while back asking to see pictures of Plopper's Field before and after the drought.
Here's what Plopper's Field looked like three months ago, when thoughts of breaking all-time heat and drought records were far from my mind.
|Plopper's Field - May 13, 2012
And this is what Plopper's Field looks like now after three months of record breaking heat and drought.
|Plopper's Field - August 13, 2012
Around in the front of the house, I'm still quite impressed with Buddleia davidii Lo & Behold™ 'Blue Chip'.
|Buddleia davidii Lo & Behold™ 'Blue Chip'
One last bloom to share... Rosa 'Radsunny' stayed green thoughout most of the drought, but was a bit stingy with its blooms. Now with the rain, it is starting to bud up quite nicely.
|Rosa 'Radsunny'
What's blooming in your garden in mid-August? I'd love to see and read about whatever it is that brightens your garden on the 15th of every month.
Please join in with your own Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post. Just post on your blog about what is blooming this month in your garden and then come back here and leave a link to your blog post in the Mr. Linky widget below along with a brief comment to entice us to virtually visit your garden.
The rules for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day are simple... no rules! You can include pictures, lists, no lists, common names, botanical names, whatever you'd like to do to showcase your blooms. You can post early, you can post late. We are grateful for whatever you share with us. Thank you, and all are welcome!
Now, say it together with me...
"We can have flowers nearly every month of the year." ~ Elizabeth Lawrence


text:
Beachy, Wood give Braves rotation options
CHICAGO -- Heading into the second half of the regular-season slate, the Braves have options with their pitching staff, ranging from the Majors down to the Minor Leagues.
Brandon Beachy was slated to make another rehab start on Friday night for Triple-A Gwinnett against Indianapolis, his third since being shut down for a few weeks in June in a bid to return from Tommy John surgery last year. A day earlier, Alex Wood started for Gwinnett and picked up a win in his first start at the Triple-A level, going five innings and allowing just one run on three hits.
After getting into 16 games as a reliever and making one start for the Braves, Wood was sent back to the Minors to get stretched out in case he's needed as a starter down the stretch. There's been speculation that Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez might opt to slide the 22-year old Wood into the rotation and move Kris Medlen back into the bullpen -- or do the same thing when Beachy is deemed ready to return. At this point, Gonzalez said he just likes having those options.
"You think you've got too many starters and the next thing you know, three days later, you're looking for more pitching," Gonzalez said. "I think at this time of year, having guys like [Wood] and Beachy gives you a lot of depth."
Gonzalez said there is no timetable for Beachy's eventual return and they're evaluating his status on a start-to-start basis. Gonzalez also bumped Julio Teheran up a start, one ahead of Medlen, at the back of the rotation for the start of the second half.
"Just trying to give some guys some extra time," Gonzalez said. "This time of year, everybody that can will get a couple extra days and [pitching coach] Roger [McDowell] and I felt like we needed to give some of those guys a couple days of rest."


text:
Deepika Padukone, who made a dream debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the 2007 movie "Om Shanti Om", reunites with the superstar on screen for "Chennai Express" and says the two are closer now.
"I feel Shah Rukh is still the same. He is as talented as he was (then). Now I have got even closer to him than before. You never get bored with him! He always makes me feel special," Deepika told IANS.
The actress is busy juggling commitments for her two films, "Chennai Express" and "Ram Leela".
"For 'Chennai Express', we are shooting in the outskirts of Mumbai, and 'Ram Leela' will be shot in Mumbai, Gujarat and Rajasthan," she said.
"Ram Leela" is a project by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and Deepika features opposite Ranveer Singh in it.
Bihar Election Results 2020 - Catch the latest news, views and analysis here
Deccan Herald News now on Telegram - Click here to subscribe


text:
NEW YORK, N.Y. - In this year's Oscar nominations, the director's seat was the hot seat.
In the now heavily analyzed awards season, unequivocal snubs have become less common as the field is more accurately predicted. But on Thursday morning, the motion picture academy provided the genuine article: a somewhat shocking and unexpected brush off to one whom it so recently exalted: Kathryn Bigelow.
The director of the Osama bin Laden chase film "Zero Dark Thirty" had been widely expected to land her second directing nomination, with a strong chance of repeating her historic 2009 win for "The Hurt Locker" over James Cameron and a little, blue-people movie called "Avatar." But alas, Bigelow was not among the names read Thursday morning, leading to inevitable speculation that Bigelow and the film were diminished by the many objections to the movie's much-debated depiction of torture.
Instead, the director nominees were Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln"; David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook"; Ang Lee for "Life of Pi"; Michael Haneke for "Amour"; and Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
Mouths were agape all over Hollywood. Aghast hordes wielded pitchforks on Twitter around the world.
The category could have very possibly (and many expected it to) include Bigelow, Ben Affleck for "Argo," Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained" and Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables" — all of those films best picture nominees. Hooper, Affleck and Bigelow were all nominated by the Directors Guild, presumably the faction of the academy that knows something about directing.
But the Oscar nominations clearly shook up prevailing thoughts about this awards season, which is moving at a slightly different pace this year with nominations coming earlier and before the Golden Globes are handed out Sunday. The message Thursday was that "Lincoln," with a huge 12 nominations, is the clear front-runner and that it's not "Zero Dark Thirty" or "Argo" as the main competition (when a film's director isn't nominated, it rarely wins best picture), but "Silver Linings Playbook" (eight nominations) and "Life of Pi" (11 noms).
That made it one of the least predictable Oscar mornings in memory, with considerable boosts for "Silver Linings Playbook," ''Amour" (five nominations), and "Beasts of the Southern Wild" (four nominations).
The eight for Russell's film included the rare feat of nominations in all four of the acting categories: Bradley Cooper (actor), Jennifer Lawrence (actress), Robert De Niro (supporting actor) and Jacki Weaver (supporting actress). The latter two were not favourites.
Haneke's "Amour," too, is an oddity in Oscar history: the first foreign language best picture nomination since Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2001. Its five nominations includes a nod for the 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva — the oldest actress ever to receive a best actress nomination.
Made for less than $2 million, the "Beasts of the Southern Wild" has now completed the arc many predicted, from Sundance darling to Oscar hit. Actually, it did even better than its fans hoped, earning not just best picture, but nominations for director Zeitlin and its young star, Quvenzhane Wallis — the youngest best actress nominee ever. (Again, it was a day for the record books.) Still, Zeitlin could also be considered a snub: He composed the film's beautifully lush score.
The case of "The Sessions" was just as surprising. In a film about a guy in an iron lung, it's usually the guy in the iron lung who gets an Oscar nomination. But it wasn't John Hawkes' widely hailed performance that earned a nom, but Helen Hunt, who plays a professional sex surrogate helping him lose his virginity.
Though the best picture category this year boasts films that have largely fared well at the box office, arguably the year's most popular film, the Bond flick "Skyfall" (with more than $1 billion in tickets globally) was not among them. It reaped five nominations in cinematography, music and sound categories, but nothing in the above-the-line awards.
The French foreign language submission, "The Intouchables," seemed a sure thing, considering it was one of the biggest hits ever in France. But it came up empty-handed, suggesting the choice was wrongheaded when the country could have instead chose the more critically adored "Rust and Bone" or "Holy Motors." Marion Cotillard's performance as an amputee in "Rust and Bone" was another unexpected snub for best actress.
And then there are countless other quibbles a moviegoer could fairly make. Were Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" (handsomely shot in 70mm) and Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" not two of the best films of the year? Wasn't Jason Clarke ferocious in "Zero Dark Thirty"? Wasn't Rachel Weisz dreamy in "The Deep Blue Sea"? How about the wry James Spader in "Lincoln"? Was anyone more fun to watch than John Goodman in "Argo" or Michael Shannon in "Premium Rush" or Javier Bardem in "Skyfall" or James Gandolfini in, well, anything?
And then there's Denis Lavant's hailed performance in off-the-wall "Holy Motors." His character, after all, shared the name of the Academy Awards' statuette.
But this year, even Oscar was snubbed by Oscar.
Follow Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle


text:
Happ aiming to get down to business in '14
Blue Jays southpaw hoping to benefit after tweaking of mechanics
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- After a disappointing start against the Angels on Sept. 12, J.A. Happ went to manager John Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker in search of something -- anything, really -- to get him back on track.
Happ's season had already been derailed by injuries, specifically the severely sprained right knee he sustained when he went down after being struck in the head by a line drive on May 7 at Tropicana Field. In eight starts after his return, the left-hander went 2-4 with a 5.36 ERA. The final straw was that outing against the Angels, as he gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Happ said on Wednesday that he could remember telling Walker and Gibbons, basically, "I want to try to get over the hump."
"I was just battling through some tough games and I felt like I was so close and the results weren't necessarily matching up to the way I was doing things," Happ said. "I needed to take a look and see if there was anything I could change to just try to turn the tides a little bit."
Their suggestion was a slight alteration of Happ's mechanics, moving his arm slot down a few inches from the over-the-top delivery he had been using. Happ said he was willing to give it a shot, and so far, he and the Blue Jays have been encouraged by what they've seen.
It's a small sample size that may not truly represent what Happ will be in 2014, but in his final three starts, Happ posted a 2.33 ERA and struck out 16 batters while walking seven in 19 1/3 innings. Happ said his first bullpen session of the spring went well, too, and Gibbons believes it will help out the 31-year-old lefty when he starts facing hitters.
"It's freeing my arm up, and my arm's working a little bit better. I'm not fighting myself trying to get over the top with my higher arm slot," said Happ, who figures to be Toronto's fourth starter this season. "It's something we're working on, I worked on it all offseason, starting to feel more and more comfortable. I like the way it feels as far as it feels a little more free.
"It just feels like my arm works a little bit better. It's out here and it feels like it's coming out with a little more ease. It feels a little more fluid, I guess."
Happ noted that he didn't want to make too big of a deal out of what he changed, as it seems like everyone reports to Spring Training with a new pitch, delivery, stance, approach and so on. He even joked that his arm might only feel fresh and his delivery more fluid because it's the first week of Spring Training.
"We're going to try to go with it," Happ said. "I think the coaching staff's on board, definitely. I think they like the direction it's headed."
The idea behind the change was that Happ's over-the-top delivery often caused him to miss too high or low. That either left Happ's pitches right where hitters want it, or so low that they could recognize it was out of the strike zone in time to take the pitch for a ball. By throwing from a lower angle, Happ can focus more on his location within the strike zone and force hitters to make a quicker decision.
"I like everything I see about it," Gibbons said. "Happ's big thing has always been command issues, walking guys or falling behind in the count. His problems were either up or down. Guys who come right over the top, that's where they run into trouble. We dropped him down just a little bit and now all he has to worry about is in and out.
"I thought he looked 100 percent better at the end of last year and then he looked good again [in the bullpen on Tuesday.]"
Something else looked good and "felt great" in that side session: Happ's knee. He threw off a mound for the first time on Tuesday without supportive tape on his knee, having been cleared to do so during his physical when pitchers and catchers arrived, and reported back with no issues.
Happ said several times last year that he was fortunate to have avoided a more serious injury when Desmond Jennings' line drive struck him just behind his left ear, and he said on Wednesday that he was glad to put even more time between himself and those injuries over the offseason as he prepared for this year.
"I feel good about where I'm at," Happ said. "I feel good. If I go out there, stay healthy and execute, I'm going to help the staff out. I feel good about my spot there."


text:
Developers Are Rapidly Taking Advantage of the Parallel Processing Power of NVIDIA GPUs to Deliver a Faster, More Immersive Visual Computing Experience
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- By harnessing the parallel processing power of NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GPUs and DirectCompute, a new technology in Windows 7, developers can take the power of graphics processors and make it available for general-purpose computing and create cutting-edge digital media applications.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020613/NVDALOGO)
Today, NVIDIA demonstrated leadership in the GPU computing revolution by receiving Windows Hardware Qualification Lab (WHQL) certification for a driver supporting DirectCompute and Windows 7. With hundreds of applications that take advantage of the power of NVIDIA GPUs in development or already available, DirectCompute enables more than 100 million users of GeForce GPUs to run applications optimized for DirectCompute so they can spend less time waiting and more time creating and sharing content with friends and families.
"Windows 7 combined with applications that take advantage of the new DirectCompute technology have the potential to transform the personal computing experience for millions of customers using GPUs to turbo-charge scenarios in digital media applications," said Mike Ybarra, general manager for Windows Product Management at Microsoft Corp. "We've already seen some applications come to market that take advantage of the GPU, Windows 7 and DirectCompute will make it even easier for developers to write applications and deliver these benefits to millions of additional customers."
In addition to multimedia content, Windows 7 is proving to be a powerhouse platform for gaming too. Windows 7 and NVIDIA SLI(R) technology will deliver the fastest gaming platform in the world, exceeding the performance of previous operating systems by up to 14% across top gaming titles(1). Windows 7 also adds GPU accelerated H.264 high-definition video playback to Windows Media Player, enabling smooth playback with low CPU utilization.
In recognition of this, the world's largest PC vendors, including HP, Dell and Acer, have selected GeForce GPUs to help lead the transition to Windows 7. Shipping systems incorporate a variety of NVIDIA GPUs, including the newest GeForce GT220 and G210 GPUs, all of which fully support DirectCompute.
"People want to create multimedia content and share it with their friends and families in an instant," said Michael Scheschuk, Dell director of consumer products. "Dell PCs with Windows 7 can harness the power of GPUs to help make that happen. For example, Windows 7's DirectCompute feature makes it easier to share personal videos with drag-and-drop support for transferring high-definition videos to portable media player devices. Multimedia enthusiasts using Dell PCs with NVIDIA GPUs can experience a dramatic increase in video processing speed, which translates to minimal computing delays and more time to share memorable and immersive experiences with friends and family."
DirectCompute will be distributed as part of the DirectX 11 API and is supported by NVIDIA's current lineup of DirectX 10 GPUs. Windows developers who are interested in learning more about developing with DirectCompute and NVIDIA GPUs can get more information at www.nvidia.com/directcompute.
Consumers already running a GeForce GPU with Windows 7 can download the new WHQL-certified drivers supporting DirectCompute directly from www.nvidia.com/drivers later this week.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the graphics processing unit (GPU) in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from portable media players to notebooks to workstations. NVIDIA's expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. Fortune magazine has ranked NVIDIA #1 in innovation in the semiconductor industry for two years in a row. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.
(1) Average performance increase, tested across a variety of top PC games using NVIDIA SLI on Windows XP vs. Windows 7
Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, features, impact and capabilities of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, WHQL drivers for DirectCompute and Windows 7, and NVIDIA SLI technology; are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: development of more efficient or faster technology; design, manufacturing or software defects; the impact of technological development and competition; changes in consumer preferences and demands; customer adoption of different standards or our competitor's products; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended April 26, 2009. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on NVIDIA's website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
(C) 2009 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, SLI, Quadro, and Tesla are trademarks or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.
Web site: http://www.nvidia.com/


text:
Story highlights
- It can be difficult to recognize a romantic room at first glance
- Romantic decor engages the senses and makes its occupants look good
- Modern interpretations of Victorian interiors inspire romantic nostalgia
It's Valentine's Day, and you want that dining room, that study -- that bedroom -- to feel romantic.
Even interior decorators don't tell clients, "'Romantic?' Oh, I got it, you just sit here and I'll make a romantic room," said Karin Tehve, associate chairperson of interior design at the Pratt Institute.
That's because in decorating, there's no such thing as a "romantic style," she said. There isn't a formula for a romantic room or a checklist of the most breathtaking features.
But romantic rooms do exist, she said. They're the spaces that speak to another time or place, or that help you forget about your iPhone, the bills or the socks you lost in the laundry. Romantic decorating, she said, is less about scattering some heart-shaped objects around a room than about "the idea of making a particular place where a loved one can feel special."
So this month, as you leaf through the Valentine's Day issues of home decor magazines featuring "romantic" homes, don't expect the romance to jump at you with flowers and diamonds.
That's because the romance is in the details, said Veranda magazine editor-in-chief Clinton Smith.
"A romantic room today is one that slowly reveals itself over time," Smith said. "It might not hit you immediately, but the longer you're in a room, you'll start picking up on little details that might not be really obvious at first glance.
"As with a lover, a romantic space will definitely seduce you and often sweep you off your feet, or at the very least take your breath away."
Start with candlelight
That's Smith's criteria to call a room "romantic" in Veranda, but he's the first to admit that his magazine's photos of idealized interiors lose some luster when they're rendered in two dimensions.
In a magazine, it's hard to capture the warm embrace of good lighting, he said -- and the best for a romantic room is candlelight.
"There's a reason for the stereotype about candlelight being romantic," said Tehve of the Pratt Institute. "It's extremely flattering."
Interior designer, author and scholar Thomas Jayne said it's the designer's job to make the person occupying the room look good.
"I used to work with Sister Parish. She famously lined the lampshades with pink lingerie so they would give off a flattering glow," he said.
"No one looks appealing, romantic or attractive in an uncomfortable situation. Harsh lighting and blank, white walls is proof of that point."
Pay attention to details
Romantic rooms help people feel good, too, said Veranda's Smith. That's hard to get across in photographs, but there are clues, he said.
"Never underestimate the power of $10 roses at the grocery store," Smith said. "It's those little things that really let the other person (someone you're in a relationship with or just a house guest) know that they're important."
Romantic rooms elicit emotion, he said, and the return of farm tables in dining room decor inspires communal feelings.
"I think a dining room can be the most romantic room in the house. And by romance I don't mean just a couple dining together, but when they're having friends over." He added: "It's this sense of feeling special, like you belong and making a connection with one another."
Tehve agreed: "I often think about where food is being served. (Where) we take care of ourselves as sensuous beings and not just brains. Those rooms can be very romantic."
Conveniences also make people feel good in a room, Jayne said. Thoughtfully placed surfaces to set down a drinking glass, a small box of a loved one's favorite chocolates and a cashmere throw to defend against chilly weather are all little ways a designer or a homeowner can lend a room some romance.
"A little bit of sentiment is important," for a room to feel romantic, Jayne said. "Make an effort. Have some bonbons."
Let a room take you far away
Getting transported far away by a room, Jayne said, is also romantic. "Think of French doors opening to the garden, the view of the ocean, the mountain cabin; I think it's more about the actual location than the decoration a lot of the times.
"Even mad passion in a hayloft is considered romantic."
A room that transports a person to another time can also feel romantic, Smith said.
"It definitely slaps you in the face if you walk into a 19th century Victorian castle," he said. "With shows like 'Downton Abbey,' (Victorian) design and decor has been romanticized."
The Victorian era was the first time that homes became truly private, Tehve said, because people left their homes to work during the Industrial Revolution. Decor that pays homage to Victorian style reflects centuries of tradition but can still work in a modern setting, she said.
Despite all the hallmarks of a romantic room, there has to be room for the person and their preferences, of course.
"'What is romantic?' is an extremely important thing for all of us to consider," Jayne said. "It makes the essence of life. It furthers our relationships. It is an extremely good thing to have a sense of history and a sense of sentiment and a sense of romance."
What's the most romantic room you've ever been in? Share your thoughts in the comments, on Twitter @CNNLiving or on CNN Living's Facebook page.


text:
Cincinnati Art Museum Art Climb celebrates official opening today
One of Cincinnati's most historic landmarks has received a breath of fresh air.
One of Cincinnati's most historic landmarks has received a breath of fresh air.
A recount in Wisconsin's largest county demanded by Republican President Donald Trump's election campaign ended Friday with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden gaining votes. After the recount in Milwaukee County, Biden had a net gain of 132 votes, out of nearly 460,000 cast. Overall, Biden gained 257 votes to Trump's 125.
Men plead innocence following arrest in 2017 as State Department demands release
A South Korean court has sentenced the operator of a vast online sex trafficking ring to 40 years in prison in a case that outraged the nation. Cho Ju-bin, 25, oversaw a group of 38 accomplices who befriended and then blackmailed at least 74 women into sharing explicit videos that were then posted in pay-per-view internet chat rooms. Sixteen of the victims were less than 16 years old, the age of consent in South Korea. The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday found Cho guilty of violating laws to protect minors from sexual abuse and of making a profit from producing and selling abusive footage, Yonhap News reported. Indicted on 14 criminal charges, including inducing another person involved in the trafficking ring to rape a teenage girl and concealing more than £70,000 in criminal proceeds, prosecutors had initially demanded a life sentence on the grounds of the "irreperable damage" Cho had caused his victims. They had also requested that he be obliged to wear an electronic monitoring device for 45 years. In a petition to the court, one of the women said Cho, who had worked in an orphanage and adopted the online name "The Doctor", was "evil" and deserved a 2,000-year prison term. Passing sentence, the judge said: "The accused has widely distributed sexually abusive content that he created by luring and threatening many victims." Media reports have suggested that some of the video clips showed a group of men raping a teenage girl in a motel room, while others included images of the word "slave" cut into a woman's body. One video showed girls "barking like dogs", the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper reported. Cho operated the chat room on the Telegram messenger service, with at least 10,000 people accessing the site and paying as much as £1,000 for access. Authorities have been tracing people who used the site and have identified serving police officers and teachers as among the users. Cho's arrest in March sparked fury across South Korea after prosecutors initially refused to name the suspect before his trial opened. Within days, more than 5 million people had signed petitions on the home page of Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, demanding that the authorities withdraw his right to anonymity. A committee of senior judicial officials, a psychologist and a psychiatrist weighed the public's right to know and took the unprecedented step of naming Cho. He was then brought out in handcuffs from a police station in central Seoul to face the public. "I apologise to those that I hurt", Cho said. "Thank you for putting a brake on the life of a devil who could not be stopped." South Korea's Ministry of Justice has been the target of criticism for its failure to deal with the growing use of technology to carry out sex crimes, with one ministry official admitting that the case had been "a disaster" and apologising for its "lukewarm response" to online sexual abuse cases.
Democrats once dominated Koochiching County in the blue-collar Iron Range of northern Minnesota. "We've got to see if we can get the Democratic Party to moderate and accept the fact that rural Minnesota is not getting more conservative," said Bakk, who announced last week that he would become an independent after serving 25 years as a Democrat. The party lost House seats in the Midwest, and Democratic challengers in Iowa, Kansas, Montana and North Carolina Senate races, all once viewed as serious threats to Republican incumbents, fell, some of them hard.
Pair arguing about killing of top Iranian nuclear scientist
Economic and domestic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic could wipe out 25 years of increasing gender equality, new United Nations data suggests. Lockdowns, job losses, school closures and dwindling income from the coronavirus have seen women take on significantly greater shares of housework and childcare. Employment and education opportunities are likely to be lost and women may suffer from poorer mental and physical health. "Everything we worked for, that has taken 25 years, could be lost in a year," the UN Women deputy executive director Anita Bhatia told the BBC. Women's new burden of care posed a "real risk of reverting to 1950s gender stereotypes", she said.
There's a reason why North Korea has remained quiet about the United States presidential election, The Associated Press reports.South Korean lawmakers were briefed by the country's National Intelligence Service on Friday, and one of the issues reportedly addressed was Pyongyang's anxiety about the incoming Biden administration. The briefing's contents could not be independently verified by news organizations, but Seoul's spy agency alleges North Korea has ordered overseas diplomatic missions to refrain from provoking the U.S., reportedly warning its ambassadors there will be consequences should any of their acts or comments rattle folks in Washington.One South Korean lawmaker said the NIS believes North Korea is nervous that the friendly relationship between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be rendered moot when President-elect Joe Biden steps into the Oval Office in January, so the government apparently wants to ensure tensions remain relatively at ease for now. The NIS does expect North Korea will hold a military parade around the same time as Biden's inauguration as a show of force, although they've done so with Trump in office, as well. Read more at The Associated Press.More stories from theweek.com Make America Laugh Again 7 cartoons about America's COVID Thanksgiving Trump says he knows whether he'll attend Biden's inauguration but keeps decision private
Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine Cava calls decision 'deeply frustrating'
Ethiopian forces have launched the 'final' assault on the capital of the country's northern Tigray region, the prime minister said on Thursday. Devastating fighting is expected as military officials claim they have surrounded Mekele, which has roughly the same population as Liverpool, with tanks and artillery. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2019, commands one of Africa's most powerful armies, with tens of thousands of soldiers, Russian made MiG fighter jets and powerful artillery units. Set against the federal forces are the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a regional government with battle-hardened fighters and strong military leadership. A civil war has been raging across the northern, mountainous region of Africa's second-most populous nation since November 4th, when Mr Abiy suddenly sent federal forces in to crush the TPLF government.
French authorities have suspended police officers accused of assaulting and racially abusing a Black man in Paris, after CCTV footage of the incident was released and caused an outcry. The music producer, who has identified himself as Michel, was beaten at the entrance to his studio. French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted by France's BFM TV as being "very shocked" by the CCTV and mobile phone images, which were obtained by the LoopSider news outlet and made headline news on French channels. The officers involved were suspended pending investigation at the interior minister's request. Michel told reporters he'd been walking in the street without a face mask, against French COVID-19 rules. When he saw a police car he went into his studio to avoid getting a fine. But the police followed him inside and arrested him, violently. The video purports to show them kicking and beating him, and he says they hurled racial abuse at him too. They then leave, and throw a tear gas canister into the studio. As anger grew, French soccer stars added to the chorus of condemnation. Kylian Mbappe tweeted that the video was "intolerable" and his fellow Les Bleus striker, Antoine Griezmann wrote: "My France is hurting." The alleged attack on Michel risks inflaming racial tension, and fuelling criticism of a draft law that would limit journalists' ability to show images of French police officers at work. The prime minister's office said on Thursday (November 26) it would set up an independent commission to propose a new draft of the legislation. Some "BlackLivesMatter" protests broke out in Paris in June, a month after the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in the United States. The movement resonates in France, in particular in deprived city suburbs, where rights groups say accusations of police brutality, often against people with immigrant backgrounds, remain largely unaddressed. And Paris police were already under fire this week after social media photos and videos showed officers hitting protesters as they cleared out an illegal migrants campsite in a central Paris square.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and President Donald Trump late Friday appealed a federal judge's ruling suspending service changes and requiring aggressive steps to ensure ballot deliveries ahead of the November presidential election, the Justice Department said. The government said it was appealing U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan's preliminary injunction orders issued in late September in a pair of legal challenges.
White rice contains less fiber, protein, and other key nutrients compared to brown rice. As a result, white rice has fewer health benefits.
For a brief moment when he saw the tree his father had planted in the Sudanese refugee camp many decades ago, the old man forgot the knives and explosions which had forced him to flee Ethiopia a second time. "My father planted this tree when we lived here before," said Gebrehiwot Gidey. "It was 10pm when we arrived at the camp, but I could see the tree in the dark. I went up to it and kissed it. I was so happy to see it was still here." In the Eighties, tens of thousands of people like Mr Gidey fled a ruthless Marxist dictatorship and a vast famine in Ethiopia across the mountains into the scraggy wasteland of Eastern Sudan. Mr Gidey, a 60-year-old man from the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, lived for years with his family near the border in Um-Rakoba camp. He built a house for himself there and married his wife under the tree his father planted to provide shade from the harsh desert sun. Eventually, when it was safe, Mr Gidey returned to his home in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region. But now the weathered farmer has had to flee to Um-Rakoba once again.
'This defendant terrorised an entire family by threatening to kill African American parents and their four children'
Monday seemed like the end of President Donald Trump's relentless challenges to the election, after the federal government acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden was the "apparent winner" and Trump cleared the way for cooperation on a transition of power. On Thursday, after a Thanksgiving evening conversation from the White House with troops stationed overseas, Trump abruptly pivoted to angrily alleging — still without any evidence — that "massive fraud" was behind his defeat. Speaking to news crews gathered to watch the traditional holiday conversation with the military, Trump denounced officials in battleground states he'd lost as "communists" and "enemies of the state."
The 21 travellers were bound for the UAE - which has already stopped issuing visas to Kenyans.
As Germany passed the grim milestone of 1million coronavirus infections on Friday, the lustre of its success against the first wave was somewhat faded. In the spring, no major country in Europe was as effective at containing the virus, and Britain and others could only look on in envy. But the second wave has engulfed Germany along with the rest of Europe, and there is no more talk of a "German exception". Daily new infections peaked at 23,648 last week — fewer than the 33,470 recorded in the UK on Nov 12, and far fewer than France's bleak Nov 7 record of 86,852. But unlike in other European countries, where advances in treating the virus have resulted in fewer deaths, Germany has experienced a higher daily toll in the second wave. It recorded its highest 24-hour toll since the pandemic began on Wednesday, with 410. The previous record, set on April 16, was 315. Compare that to the UK figures and it is almost as if the roles have been reversed. Britain also recorded its highest toll of the second wave on Wednesday, with 695. But it saw 1,172 deaths in 24 hours on April 20. So has Germany got its response wrong this time, or has the virus just caught up with it? In part, there may simply be more deaths this time because there are more infections, say scientists.
In a now-deleted tweet, Tim Murtaugh attempted to mock the media for projecting Joe Biden as president-elect by sharing a doctored headline declaring 'President Gore' in 2000
At least 270 Syrian families have left a north Lebanon town, as hostility towards them mounted over a murder allegedly committed by a Syrian national, the UN refugee agency said Friday.
Robert O'Brien's airplane crew was also not allowed to enter Vietnam and had to spend the night in Thailand, Bloomberg reported.


text:
|Next Up at City Council
|Coming Down the Pike
|What Happened?
|Meet the Team
|Contact Us
Please review our Code of Conduct rules before posting a comment to this site. Report Abuse, please include specific topic and comment for the fastest response/resolution.
Posted by: Ronald Peterson - May 01, 2009 09:06 PM
Given the context of debate on this subject, I believe Commissioner Fritz is right, to help oneself to gain a voice within the greater community is something many people need.
In review of the passge of this ordinance its my opinion that the No Sit Portion of this Ordinance Is Regretfully a Regressive Measure against the Homeless Community, I appeal to our City Commissioners To Repeal this portion only, there are many who would say the Lie portion is also against the homeless community, in my opinion it is not. When you see someone who is of Fragile condition ( not just homeless ) but unable to continue Physically, there has to be some form of acknowledging it as a call for help, which if we use the Lie Ordinance as against us takes that safety net away, there is only 1 possible way to sunset the whole ordinance and in reality I dont see the Homeless Community as being able to comply with that, and it is if We / I as being homeless will assist any Fragile ( every Fragile ) in need an to commit themselves to cooperate with our Police Force to gain the needed assistance they deserve, that is the only possible way, there is a different portion that goes with this as well, seeing someone abuse someone of Fragile ability an stepping up to correct that problem by contacting the Police as to relieve the Fragile person of abuse / I know my grammer is poor an hope you have the patience to see past that, thank you for your time Ron Peterson
Post a Comment (Sign-In Required)


text:
Hear from our advisors
"I can say without a doubt, that we wouldn't have gone
through the growth we have without their help."
—Joe Perry, President of Aviso Financial
Expect to be surrounded by a team focused on delivering growth solutions for your business. But don't just take our word for it—hear from Joe Perry. He's experienced an efficient transition and executed multiple successful acquisitions since joining the firm.


text:
You better bust out your hot pink crop tops, all the magenta taffeta within in 50 miles, and get ready to dance because Ty Ty is back in the sequel to Life-Size. Yes! Ms. Banks will dust off her acting chops and practice perfecting her Smize (jk it's already perfect) to once again wow us as Eve, the doll that comes to life to terrorize a fresh-faced Lindsay Lohan in the best movie Disney ever made. (And I'm including Pixar, too. I am.)
Disney Channel's development executives Michael Healy and Nikki Reed are in talks with screenwriters about the sequel. When the original movie aired as part of ABC's Wonderful World of Disney in 2000, it pulled in 13.6 million viewers. The movie has been in rotation on the Disney Channel with its most recent four telecasts averaging 2.4 million viewers, according to the network.
Because Banks is the titan of business that she is, she'll also executive produce, and because she's also an irrepressible egomaniac (GOD BLESS), she'll squawk my favorite song Be a Star again! I'm pretty sure there's no better news in the world, so let's all meditate on this for a moment and get really, really happy. And, for real, no matter how hot of a hot mess this has the potential to be, you know it can't touch Liz and Dick. Lohan, seriously, try to get in on this, maybe Tyra can save your career? Submit to the queen!
Shine bright, shine far, don't be shy, be a STAR!


text:
Digital Bear Consulting was founded in April 1997 with the purpose of bringing small and medium sized companies to the internet. We offer a diverse range of services matching the diverse skills of our team. We began in 1997 in Livermore, California - a short drive away from Silicon Valley - then moved the business in 2009, relocating to Manassas, Virginia.
Check our services page for details on what we provide. Here is the short version:
- Research, data mining, and data analytics.
- Web site design and maintenance.
- Software development.
- MultiValue (Pick) Operating Environment maintenance and development.


text:
(Adds Sunoco, Carlyle Group and others)
May 18 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals, involving U.S., European and Asian companies were reported by 2000 GMT on Wednesday.
** A n affiliate of H yatt H otels C orp < H . N > is buying three hotels in C alifornia that will carry the company's S ummerfield S uites brand, H yatt said on W ednesday. [id:nn18285582]
** Constellation Brands Inc would evaluate an acquisition of Australia's Treasury Wine Estates if the newly independent Treasury was up for sale, Constellation's C hief E xecutive said on Wednesday. [ID:nN18283410]
** Oil refiner Sunoco Inc said on Wednesday it would sell a chemicals plant in Philadelphia to Honeywell International for about $85 million and take a charge of $125 - $150 million. [ID:nN18241536]
** General Mills plans to buy a controlling stake in French yogurt maker Yoplait for 810 million euros ($1.15 billion), securing its U.S. distribution rights to one of the best-selling global yogurt brands. [ID:nN18240834]
** Private equity firm Carlyle Group and its Brazilian partner may raise $1 billion with the sale of stock in CVC, a Brazilian tourism company, the newspaper Valor Economico reported on Wednesday. [ID:nN18261000]
** Clearwire Corp has chosen Ericsson ERICb.ST to take over management of its high-speed wireless network to help it cut costs, the service provider said on Wednesday. [ID:nN18242063]
** Caixa Economica Federal, Brazil's biggest mortgage lender, is in talks to boost its stake in Cielo to at least 10 percent to expand in the lucrative card payment processing market, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters. [ID:nN18192502]
** The chief executive of Canadian grain handler Viterra declined to comment on Wednesday on his company's possible interest in acquiring GrainCorp , a leading Australian grain handler that market watchers see as a takeover target. [ID:nN18254863]
** Diversified U.S. manufacturer Tyco International Ltd is closing in on a $110 million acquisition of an unspecified target, Chief Executive Ed Breen told investors on Wednesday. [ID:nN18253809]
** HealthSouth Corp , a leading U.S. operator of rehabilitation hospitals, said it will sell six of its long-term acute care hospitals to LifeCare Holdings Inc for $120 million, and will use the proceeds to pay off debt. [ID:nL4E7GI26F]
** U.S. private equity firm TPG has pulled out of a potential consortium that was to have bid for a 25 percent stake in Malaysian lender RHB Capital , sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters. [ID:nL4E7GI2EY]
** Insurer Allstate Corp said it agreed to buy Esurance and Answer Financial from White Mountains Insurance Group for about $1 billion. Allstate will pay about $700 million plus the tangible book value of the companies at the close of the deal.[ID:nL4E7GI226]
** Spanish infrastructure group Abertis has sold its car parking and logistics units to a consortium led by investment group Torreal in a 400 million euro ($571 million) deal. [ID:nLDE74H06J]
** Poland's plan to raise as much as 1.44 billion zlotys ($523 million) selling its stake in Bank BGZ flopped on Wednesday when it raised just 312 million zlotys selling only a third of its 37 percent holding.
Market players said the government had a difficult time finding buyers for BGZ, controlled by Dutch lender Rabobank , because of its relatively lacklustre performance and demanding multiples.[ID:nLDE74H08T]
** British oil services and engineering group AMEC said it had agreed to buy U.S. engineering firm MACTEC for $280 million in a bid to boost its presence in North America. [ID:nLDE74H070]
** Suedzucker , Europe's largest sugar company, is to buy a 25 percent stake minus one share in British commodities trading company ED&F Man for $255 million as part of a capital increase. [ID:nLDE74H0G2]
** Nobel Learning Communities Inc , which operates a chain of preschools, elementary and middle schools, said it agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Leeds Equity Partners for about $124.7 million. [ID:nL4E7GI21R]
** Susanne Klatten, Germany's richest woman, bought a blocking minority stake in SGL Group to keep Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE at bay in a tussle over influence at the carbon fibre specialist. [ID:nLDE74H0CS]
** Shareholders in Tully Sugar Ltd, one of Australia's largest remaining independent sugar millers, have voted for a proposal to scrap a 20 percent ownership limit, opening up the prospect of a new round of restructuring in the country's sugar industry. [ID:nL4E7GI028] (Compiled by Aditi Sharma and Aniket Basu in Bangalore)
Reuters Breakingviews is the world's leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day. A global team of about 30 correspondents in New York, London, Hong Kong and other major cities provides expert analysis in real time.
Sign up for a free trial of our full service at https://www.breakingviews.com/trial and follow us on Twitter @Breakingviews and at www.breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors.


text:
Odds are really good that none of the dogs you'll ever know will develop tetanus. So, why have I chosen to write about this disease? Blame it on Facebook (FB). For those of you who use FB, when I describe the vegetative trance one can enter while scrolling through a FB news feed, you know exactly what I'm talking about. This is the state I was in when I happened to scroll past a photo of a Labrador'ish-looking dog whose facial expression appeared pretty much just like the dog pictured here. This very classic photo pulled me right out of my FB trance.
The text accompanying the photo was a plea for help in the way of "Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my dog?" The FB poster indicated that her vet had already examined her dog a few times, but there was still no diagnosis. Even with baytril (an antibiotic) and pain medication on board, her dog was steadily getting worse. Her dog was still able to walk, but appeared very stiff.
I don't usually get involved in requests for a "photo diagnosis." A single photo can usually translate into a dozen or more diagnoses. However, this particular photo was classic- a textbook case of tetanus. And, I knew that, without appropriate treatment administered just as soon as possible, this dog would be doomed. I felt a moral obligation to respond.
I posted a comment letting the FB poster know that her dog likely had tetanus and was in need of intensive therapy. I encouraged her to seek help ASAP, ideally by way of an emergency hospital, or veterinary specialist such as an internist or criticalist. I asked if the dog had a recent wound that would have allowed the tetanus organism to gain entry.
The response arrived within seconds. Sure enough, a week or so ago the dog had been limping due to a cut on his toe. She thanked me profusely and let me know that she would get help for her dog right away. I wished her the best of luck and our FB conversation ended.
The cause of tetanus
Tetanus is caused by Clostridium tetani, a soil bacterium that can enter the bloodstream via a wound, most commonly on the foot or in the mouth. Puppies can develop tetanus because they chew on sticks and other soil-contaminated goodies, and they have open wounds in their gums created by the loss of baby teeth.
The clostridial organism produces a toxin called tetanospasmin that binds to nerve cells and interferes with the function of a particular neurotransmitter (a chemical released from a nerve cell that transmits an impulse) responsible for inhibiting muscle contractions. Disabling this inhibitory neurotransmitter results in relentless muscle spasms.
Tetanus symptoms usually begin around the face and eyes. Dogs lose their ability to blink accompanied by changes in facial features. This classic facial appearance (the one that prompted me to respond to the FB post) is referred to as risus sardonicus.
With time, symptoms become more generalized throughout the body ultimately resulting in a spastic paralysis- the dog is unable to move at all because of muscle rigidity. Without appropriate treatment, death occurs due to paralysis of the muscles responsible for breathing.
To see a dog with tetanic symptoms, have a look at this video. Not to worry, this video has a happy ending.
There is no simple test for diagnosing tetanus. Rather, the diagnosis is made based on symptoms and the history of a wound that allowed the clostridial organism to gain entry into the bloodstream.
Treatment and prognosis
Clostridium tetani is an anaerobic bacterial organism, meaning that it thrives in environments devoid of oxygen. A wound festering beneath the skin surface is an ideal incubator. For this reason, it is important to treat the wound (if one is found) where the bacteria gained entry. This involves debridement- opening the wound and removing as much infected tissue as possible.
Appropriate antibiotic therapy is imperative. Penicillin-related drugs work well against the clostridial organism and, at least initially, they are typically administered intravenously. With improvement, oral antibiotics are appropriate. (Baytril, the antibiotic the FB dog was being treated with, is ineffective against Clostridium tetani.)
Additional treatment is dictated by the severity of symptoms. Muscle relaxants are commonly administered along with medication to reduce anxiety. If the dog is unable to eat because of "lock jaw", nutrition is provided by way of a feeding tube. And if the dog is unable to move, intensive nursing care is required.
Dogs with tetanus are usually super-sensitive to stimuli, and sights and sounds can intensify muscle contractions. For this reason, these dogs are often sedated and kept in a dark quiet room during the recovery period. Long-term treatment- up to a month or more- is often required.
The prognosis for tetanus is good, assuming the dog receives early intervention and aggressive treatment. As with most diseases, the earlier the diagnosis is made and treatment started, the better the prognosis.
Dogs are not routinely vaccinated against tetanus because they are so much less susceptible to this disease than are other species such as horses, livestock and people. This being said, it does make sense to thoroughly clean even minor wounds, particularly those on the feet.
How the story ends
So, how did things turn out for the dog I "met" on FB? I sure wish I knew. Silly me, I failed to note the woman's name and, because we are not FB "friends", I am at a loss as to how to find her again. I suspect things turned out well, and I'm glad my FB conversation prompted me to teach you about tetanus!
Best wishes,
Nancy Kay, DVM
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine
Author of Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life
Author of Your Dog's Best Health: A Dozen Reasonable Things to Expect From Your Vet
Recipient, Leo K. Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award
Recipient, American Animal Hospital Association Animal Welfare and Humane Ethics Award
Recipient, Dog Writers Association of America Award for Best Blog
Recipient, Eukanuba Canine Health Award
Recipient, AKC Club Publication Excellence Award
Become a Fan of Speaking for Spot on Facebook
Please visit http://www.speakingforspot.com to read excerpts from Speaking for Spot and Your Dog's Best Health. There you will also find "Advocacy Aids"- helpful health forms you can download and use for your own dog, and a collection of published articles on advocating for your pet's health. Speaking for Spot and Your Dog's Best Health are available at http://www.speakingforspot.com, Amazon.com, local bookstores, and your favorite online book seller.