text: Brown's Tropical Carnival Natural food is a vitamin-nutrient-fortified food and treat, all-in-one! This super premium gourmet food is specifically formulated for the daily dietary needs of hamsters and gerbils and is jam-packed with a medley of delicacies including striped sunflower seeds, peanuts, green peas, raisins and pumpkin seeds. It also helps stimulate the natural foraging instinct to help relieve cage boredom. It's simply a natural fit!Our Price: $30.90


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Pull your mind out of the gutter. I'm not talking about women.
One of the reasons that I bought the Bacchetta was to encourage myself to ride farther. The pain of the saddle was a major hindrance plus the effects of too much pressure in that area from long trips.
So I've been taking the Giro 20 out for longer and longer rides. First week around Pinnacle Mountain, then the next week to Lake Maumelle. This week I rode all the way around Lake Maumelle for a mileage of 53.54. I rode my age!
One thing I like about Little Rock is that from West Little Rock the rural countryside appears very quickly. One thing that is not so nice is that we are in the Bible Belt and there are few stores open on Sunday beyond the Little Rock city limits.
But it was a beautiful ride down State Highway 300. Rolling hills up to Natural Steps. Then at Roland it smoothed out and became flat farmland. The road took a little jog at Roland and I stopped under a big oak tree in front of a yard littered with bicycles. The homeowner came out and got into his car. As he drove by he stopped to give me directions. He told me how to go to Wye mountain. Mountain? The map only listed it as Wye.
Five miles down the road I found a convenience store. It was closed. There were drink machines outside, but it wouldn't take my dollar, and I only had 95 cents in change. Finally I tricked one of the machines into taking the bill and got a water.
After a rest I rode on, passing a family with a lot of nice cars in the yard. A 64 Falcon done wonderfully, a 240 Z and others. They were painting a large V8, and waved at me as I passed. Recumbent bikes don't pass through there too often.
A little while later I saw a dog off to the side. Barking and running at me. I down shifted and cranked on the wattage. That and a car following me kept me safe.
I began to find that the mountain part of Wye mountain was for real. The road wound up and up. It was thick forests and silence. At one point after minutes of solitude, a car started to pass me and suddenly a huge truck and a Mustang came downhill around the blind corner at high speed. Everyone hit the brakes. Shortly after that another corner became so steep and so banked that I had to go to the left side of the lane just to make it through the corner.
Finally I crested Wye Mountain and got to Highway 113. It was now rural, but very nice houses. I was hoping for a pretty straight descent. But no! Some real nice curves where I got to test the high speed cornering. And then a long series of tall, steep rolling hills. And then I got that nice descent. At one point I had taken the lane and was in top gear. I had to jam on the brakes to make it through a 30 corner. Hoo hah!
After that it was more rolling hills. At the end of them I was going through a large sweeping curve surrounded by forests and saw a fox running up a hill and away from the road with what looked like a squirrel in its mouth.
I was finally back to Highway 10 that would take me back to Little Rock. But I was running out of water. As I crossed over a bridge that spanned Lake Maumelle I noted the irony of so much water,(Lake Maumelle is Little Rock's water supply) but I had none to drink.
The rolling hills became a real hurdle. I knew that there was a marina up ahead where I could get water and food. But I didn't know how far it was. I pushed up the hills and coasted down them.
Finally about 5 miles later, I saw the marina and rode down the hill to it. Ah! Heaven.
But not too soon. Even though I watched the clerk enter 60 cents for a Seven Up and a dollar for a water. The register insisted that this added up to $8.61. He tried it several times and I cracked open the Seven Up while waiting.
The Marina was nice. I flaked out in a chair, just inhaling liquids. The local dog came up asking to be petted, and a few moments later the marina store owner came out to comb his fur.
I heard people talking about "him coming down from Wye Mountain" and realized that they were talking about me. I was surprised. I hadn't told anyone about where I was riding. In a few minutes the clerk came out and began asking questions about the Bacchetta. He, the owner and I discussed the Giro and riding it.
After a good rest, I was refreshed and ready for the final leg back home. I was tired, but I was surprised at the gears I was able to maintain. Slowly the scenery became more and more suburban. I had packed two fresh bottles of water and drank most of them on the way home.
After a shower, I got on Mapquest and looked up the mileage. Surprise. I rode my age!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Armin's guestmix for Group Therapy radio!
Arising from the 450th episode of Trance Around the World, is a new chapter for Above & Beyond. The UK trio decided to rename their weekly radio show into Group Therapy radio, representing the connection and bond between them, the music and the audience. After last week's first episode, no one less than Armin van Buuren is invited to be provide the first Group Therapy guest mix!
This Friday, November 16th, Armin will provide a smashing guestmix, so be sure not to miss this! Tune in from 7 PM (GMT) and check www.aboveandbeyond.nu/radio for more info!


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|Have Any Of You Ever Been In An Air Accident? posted Mon Nov 10 2003 17:37:54 by 7774EVER
|Can Any Of You AA Folks Help My Brother Out? posted Tue May 17 2005 00:00:45 by GoCOgo
|What Is The Oldest Aircraft You Have Been On posted Tue Apr 20 2004 08:18:36 by GREATANSETT
|The Most Empty Flight You Have Been On! posted Wed Jan 21 2004 16:15:00 by Alespesl
|Any Of You Feel Dizzy On Takeoff? posted Wed Nov 26 2003 21:44:09 by MEA310
|A/c You Have Been On Most... posted Wed Jan 9 2002 16:40:56 by Vs744
|Any Of You Ever Been In A Semi-plane Crash? posted Sat Jan 5 2002 23:27:26 by Airplanetire
|How Many Of You Have Been To Damascus Int'l? posted Thu Oct 11 2001 22:01:19 by 777-500ER
|Scariest Airplane/Airline You Have Been On? posted Tue Jul 31 2001 20:55:47 by Pilotallen
|How Many Of You Have Been To Airshows? posted Fri Mar 30 2001 14:21:05 by Thom@s


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David Mead
Listen to David Mead
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Play Now
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Genres: Alternative/Indie, Folk, Instrumental, New Age, Pop, Rock
David Mead is an American singer-songwriter known for writing songs in classic pop music style and possessing a unique, high voice. Born in 1973 in Syosset, New York to David Mead Sr. and Sheryll Mead, he moved often during his childhood, mostly residing within the Southern United States. He eventually settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where he spent the early part of his career in bands such as Verdant Green and Blue Million. Mead became a guitarist and backup vocalist with Nashville-based band Joe, Marc's Brother. The founding members of that band amicably encouraged Mead to pursue a solo career due to differing artistic visions. Reluctantly, he began to perform on his own around Nashvi...
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In the summer of 2005, the "smugglers" and perhaps, also the "Mafia", in spite of the intimidations of the Italian authorities, began moving to Italy, to Turin, where they are building a factory with a production capacity of 50 million cartons per year (10 billion cigarettes).
The opening of this new plant in Italy, in the European Community, was decided for reasons of a fiscal nature, determined by the destination markets of the goods.
Yesmoke cigarettes, in fact, it will be available in shops of the European Community. So, production in Europe was an obligated decision.
"How in the world can you hope to produce cigarettes in a country like this?" the skeptics immediately asked. Italy, in fact, is the "free hunting preserve" of Philip Morris.
Philip Morris has freewheeled in Italy for over 30 years: it swept over the country with contraband and it has a bill to pay of billions of dollars in tax evasion. What's strange is that we never hear anything about it.
But Yesmoke is used to speaking out, because we believe there is nothing more constructive than truthful and open conflict. And we expect this is about to begin very soon; in fact, Italy is the ideal country for it.
The Turin factory will be a copy of the plant of a multinational, with the same machinery used by Big Tobacco, in all the production phases.
It will be autonomous in all its tobacco treatment processes and in the production of filters, and it will even have its own in–house printing plant.
It will be the only cigarette factory present today on the Italian territory. But different from the factories of multinational producers that are rigorously top-secret, Yesmoke's factory will have its doors open for guided visits.
Italy is a country where the power of the tobacco multinationals is absolute and undisturbed. We are all anxious to see what's going to happen!
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Open to handholding the stressed sectors, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said government will work out a strategy to assist industry segments reeling under the impact of economic slowdown.
"If the economy improves and growth improves, the sectors (which are not doing well) will recover. But in the meanwhile we will have to do some handholding and try to help these sectors recover", he said while addressing a press conference after meeting the heads of public sector banks here.
The government will have to look at rising Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) sector wise and find ways and means to help them, he said, adding the "NPA is reflection of the slowdown in the economy".
The NPAs of the public sector banking group has increased by 0.98 per cent in the one-year period ending September 2012 mainly on account of the stress being faced in sectors like infrastructure, steel, construction, textile, food process and telecom infrastructure, the Minister said.
On the positive side, Chidambaram said housing and automobile sectors have been doing well on back of decline in EMIs.
The Minister said government would soon finalise capital infusion for the PSU banks and the beneficiaries would include Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra. The government had proposed to inject Rs 15,000 crore of capital in the PSU banks.
Referring to the issue of new banking licences, Chidambaram said he had written to the Reserve Bank to initiate the process of issuing guidelines and start accepting the licences pending approval of the Banking Regulation Amendment Act by Parliament.
Stating that slowdown is a temporary phenomenon, the Minister said the "situation is not alarming" and would improve with recovery and bad loans would become standard accounts.
"A bit of handholding (is needed) to help the sectors or the industry or the unit to tide through this difficult period...and when the economy recovers, these accounts will indeed become standard accounts", he added.
India's economic growth rate has slipped to nine-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12 and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects it to decline further to 5.8 per cent in the current fiscal. The first quarter of 2012-13 recorded a growth rate of 5.5 per cent, while the figures for the second quarter will be released later in the month.
The latest Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data showed 0.4 per cent contraction in factory output in September on account of dismal performance of manufacturing and capital goods sectors. The industrial output again entered the negative zone after showing a 2.3 per cent growth in the previous month.
Referring to the issues concerning farming sector, Chidambaram said all Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) would be converted into ATM cards and that agriculture sector credit disbursal target of Rs 5.75 lakh crore, up from Rs 4.75 lakh crore in the last fiscal, would be met.
A new draft of the credit guarantee scheme would be placed before the cabinet in the next seven to ten days, the Minister added.
On the issue of NPAs in the banking sector, Chidambaram said RBI guidelines permit restructuring of loans.
"Just because an account has become an NPA, does not mean that it cannot be restructured. In fact it (RBI guidelines) allows for restructuring of an account. I think all the chairpersons are sensitive to this matter and am sure we will see through this difficult period (till) the economy recovers and the accounts become standard accounts", he added.


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The government's consultation process has concluded.
The submissions received will be used to develop a consultation paper which will be released in early 2014.
The Department of Justice and Attorney-General is leading a review of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2003 (the Act).
A review of Queensland's births, deaths and marriages registration laws could see more transactions conducted online and improved access to records.
The purpose of the legislative review is to identify ways to modernise the Act, simplify its operation and ensure that it is adequately meeting the community's needs for the registration of life events. The review is also aimed at improving access by community members and others to information held by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to make this information easier to release and use.
Process for the review
A consultation paper will be released for public comment in early 2014. To inform the development of the consultation paper, key stakeholders are invited to identify areas for improvement in the legislation as part of this initial round of consultation.
Further opportunities to comment and provide feedback will be provided throughout the review and following the public release of the consultation paper.
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* This is a video tutorial. Scroll down to watch the video.
I know it's not Christmas time yet but with it being only 5 months away, it's hard not to start talking about it. There are a lot of fun things to do around Christmas time and a lot of great memories. That being said, a lot of people like to turn those memories into a fun christmas themed video for everybody to enjoy. Is there an easy way to create a Christmas themed video if you only have something as simple as iMovie to edit with? That's where iMovie 11' comes in.
iMovie 11' gives you the option to not only create themed projects with iMovie themes, but themed movie trailers as well. Inside the themed movie trailers you have a Holiday themed trailer that is perfect for that Christmas video you are trying to create. The great thing is that by converting the trailer to an actual project, you get all the freedom that you get with any other project you create in iMovie.
This tutorial video will quickly show you how you can create a Christmas themed video in iMovie:
iMovie Christmas Theme Video Tutorial
Now that you understand how to create an iMovie Christmas Theme in iMovie 11' you can begin planning for that video you are wanting to make this Christmas.
Here are a few steps to remember from this tutorial video:
iMovie Christmas Theme Steps
1. When creating a new project, choose Holiday in the movie trailers section of themed projects.
2. After creating the project, click on file and then choose convert to project.
3. Begin making any changes you want to your christmas themed video.
Just like that you have created that Christmas video that you always wanted!


text:
Question of the Day: Is The Springfield XD-S The Next Big (Little) Thing?
Springfield Armory claims their forthcoming XD-S is "noticeably unnoticeable." And I'm sexily unsexy. The Croatian gunmaker's new compact .45 goes up against the 9mm Glock 26 (a.k.a., "baby Glock"). Although the single-stack XD-S is slimmer than the Glock—and who isn't?—the Springfield's a six-shooter while the Glock 26 holds eleven rounds (with one in the pipe). As does my similarly-sized carry gun: the .45 Glock 30. Not the Springfield sees it that way. The XD-S's print ad declares "The .380 was a cute fad. NOW SPRINGFIELD ARMORY GETS BACK TO BUSINESS." Apparently, the XD-S offers the "concealability of a micro-pistol" (.9mm?) with "knock down power." So, are pocket .45s the new .380, or is the compact nine still da bomb? [Click here for TTAG's XD-S preview.]56


text:
See our on-line Stock
Products Catalog for detailed product information on the
hydraulic pumps we
Eaton Vickers®
V10 & V20 Series
V10 & V20 Series
Vane hydraulic pumps
Time proven dependable, durable, quiet
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integrated flow control valves simplify system design and
Specifications: Max. continuous pressure up to 2500psi.
Displacement: Up to 2.59 in3/ rev. Speed Range: Up to 4800rpm.
Eaton Vickers®
V & VQ Series
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The V/VQ series vane hydraulic pumps are
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Eaton Vickers®
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Vickers VMQ hydraulic pumps are the
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Eaton 420 Series
Series Piston hydraulic pumps
Eaton's new mobile equipment piston hydraulic pump design sets the
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Lifts, Wheel Loaders, Backhoe Loaders, Construction Equipment, Earth
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Up to 2650 rpm. Pressure rating 280 bar continuous, 320 bar
Eaton Vickers®
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One of the most widely known industrial open circuit piston
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Eaton Vickers®
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Eaton Vickers®
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The M Series Piston hydraulic pump family was designed as a quiet,
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Eaton Vickers®
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Eaton Gear pumps
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Speed Range (Max.): 2250 to 4000 RPM. Rated Pressures: 3000 to 3500
Hydraulic Supply Co. is located in Florida
and Georgia, and is an Eaton Premier Select distributor.
See our Company
Overview to find out more about us.
Our on-line Stock
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Click on "Order On-line" for browsing product categories, checking price and quantity on hand, order entry and much more.
See our Contact
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text:
ARM's close collaboration with the foundries on next generation processes is paying off.
Globalfoundries says that an ARM chip made on its 14nm finfet policy delivers twice the power efficiency of its 'super low power' (SLP) 28nm bulk process, says the foundry.
The comparison was done using an IC containing dual Cortex ARM A9 cores.
"Early collaboration on manufacturing process technologies allows us to identify and address SoC design challenges and reduce risks to adoption by our mutual customers," says ARM's Dipesh Patel.
At the moment the best processes being used by anyone to make ARM cores are 28nm, and ARM CEO Warren East says: "It's too early to say when customers will move to 20nm."
ARM-GoFo's 14nm finfet IC represents the process generation after 20nm.
"Our deep collaboration with ARM is continuing to pay off as we work together to optimise ARM IP for our process technology," says GloFo's Mike Noonen.
Track libraries
Other findings from the 14nm implementation included: ARM processors on 28nm-SLP typically use 12-track libraries, however on the14nm process higher performance and more energy-efficient ARM processors can be implemented using 9-track libraries.
At constant power, the frequency achieved with 14nm technology based implementation (using 9-track libraries) is expected to be 61% faster than the frequency achieved with 28nm-SLP technology based implementation (using 12-track libraries).
At constant frequency, the power consumed by 14nm technology based implementation is expected to be 62% lower than the power consumed by 28nm-SLP technology based implementation.
The performance-power efficiency of IC made on the14nm process (expressed as DMIPs/milliwatts) is expected to be more than twice that of the 28nm-SLP technology based implementation, while using half the silicon area.


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What makes Halo so special?
What makes Halo so special?
As those of you who are familiar with my writing will know, I love Halo, and I have tried numerous times to explain what makes it such a great game. I have also spent some time highlighting the crippling design faults in other very popular games, which prevent me from enjoying them. The more I think about it though, the more Halo seems to share many of these design peculiarities, and so I ask my self, why am I never bothered by them in Halo.
If I start a campaign level in Call of Duty 4 (This applies to most, but not all of them), I immediately feel annoyed that the game has thrown my into a situation which doesnt seem to make sense to me. I dont know what my goals are, and I dont know what parameters to expect things to go by. Let me explain. As far the goals are concerned, since its a pretty standard FPS, I expect my goal to have something to do with killing the enemies shooting at me, but there are a number of possibilities within that. Am I supposed to kill them all, assuming there are a finite number of them? Or are they respawning, in which case, how am I supposed to stop them respawning? This second question is where the problem of the games parameters is introduced. Supposing one parameter is clear: that enemies will always respawn, until you do x to stop them (in reality, the game offers no such consistency, but lets supposes for now that it did). Firstly, how do I stop them? Often there is an invisible boundary which, when crossed by the player, triggers the enemies to stop spawning.
It goes without saying, that this is a very unrealistic and unintuitive phenomenon. We can guess that it is designed to force the play to approximate a familiar battle scenario where one side has to constantly push up for one reason or another, rather than simply sitting back and picking off all of the enemies until the path is clear. Without delving into the limitations of this system, lets except that this could potentially lead to some fairly interesting gameplay scenarios.
The important thing here is that it is very much a computer game device, and for it to achieve the effect I imagine it desires, the system around it must be crafted with that in mind. This means you cant just craft the rest of the game to communicate to the player based on the game world acting like the real world, when you have this core which is so unlike the real world. When such a device as respawning enemies is introduced, I expect videogame parameters along side it. If a game says, push forward against respawning enemies to push their spawn points back, I say, fine, but what are the parameters. Can I get blown up at any moment by artillery from a few miles away which I could do nothing to avoid, as in real life? Surely not. And indeed the game says, No, of course not, rest assured that as you are pushing up, employing good tactics, running from cover to cover, you will not be randomly blown up through no fault of your own.
Ok good, I say, now what can I expect of these invisible barriers? If barrier x stops enemies spawning from spawn point X, then surely barrier x must come a Suitable distance before spawn point X, such that I, the player, can get to it knowing that I am not running right into the incoming waves of enemies. Im not saying that such a game would be bad, thats a different matter, but for me to make informed decisions on how to play, I must know that one or another sort of parameter exists on this subject? Alas, dear reader, Im afraid that no such parameter exists in Call of Duty 4. Often the spawn points on the enemies front will be pushed back when you get within, say, 10 meters of them, but sometimes you can get within a couple of meters of the room from which they are conspicuously waltzing. How can the player make an informed decision now on what strategies to employ when they dont know what parameters they are dealing with?
Ok, I say, despite this major blunder, the majority of the game may still be playable. At least you were apt enough not to throw in random artillery strikes. Now what other parameters can I expect to shape my strategies around? Can I expect to have always 1 clear enemy front to attack? Or if there are to be more, can I expect them to be clearly stated? Surely if the game revolves around me pushing up against enemy spawn points, then I must know roughly where these points are that I am to push against?
No, says the game, Spawn points may pop up at any time from any position. Poor player, you might as well do away with any hope of strategy, for while you may think you are doing the right thing to deal with the enemy in front of you, this may turn out to have the adverse effect when enemies start spawning from your left and your right.
What am I to do then? I ask. Am I to push against each one of these spawn points one after the other? How can I even plan this when I dont know where the respective invisible boundaries are for each, nor whether you might decide to throw in another spawn point at any time.
Dont get me wrong, reader; I am not particularly complaining that I find the game difficult; rather I tend to push through it rather quickly. This, however, is not down to my skill (aside from the moment to moment skill of aiming accurately and ducking out of fire when a few shots come my way). On the contrary, I feel I am just clumsily stumbling towards victory with a few deaths on the way, without any real understanding of why. This is because the game rarely gives me the information I need on which to base effective strategies.
Of course the reality is much worse still, because not even the premise of pushing up against spawn points is consistent. Sometimes, believe it or not, the enemies do not respawn, but the player is given no indication as to when. Once again, he cannot know what strategies to employ: should he push up, assuming the enemy is respawning, or stand back and pick them off, assuming there is a finite supply?
Now let us look at Halo. Obviously there is no spawning in Halo, most enemies exist in the level from the beginning, and those who make their entrance in dropships, from pipes and such, come in a limited supply, so every one that the play kills, is one less they have to worry about. If we look more closely however, we might think that similar problems of a lack of information might exist. If you enter one of Halos many large battle scenarios for the first time, you dont know where the snipers are, you dont know where all of the pockets of ground troops are, or which are going to jump into vehicles, you dont know where the reinforcements are going to come from until you see the drop ship approaching, which may be too late. Say, for example, that you are in one of these battles, and you find yourself near a building with your shield almost down and some elites firing their plasma rifles in your general direction. Do you go into the building? You dont know, is the answer. You dont know whether or not there are a couple of grunts waiting to finish you off the moment you step in. So there you have a lack of information resulting in the player not being able to make an informed decision. So why do I restart with nothing but glee after being finished off by the grenade which happened to rebound off the explosion of another from a good 20 yards off, which flew, unexpectedly, into the doorway just as I entered?
When that happens, instead of being frustrated at dying, perhaps without even making a mistake, I am simply grateful for the rock solid laws which govern the Halo universe, and appreciative of the scenarios which develop naturally from them. Here we have a scenario which is perfectly understandable by the player: you are in a battle, contained in this single open space, where most objects are governed by a certain consistent set of physics. You are up against a finite number of enemies, you do not know where all of them are, or what they are going to do, since all of them are governed by dynamic AI, but use your wits soldier, to kill them all, before restocking and advancing to the next arena.
But whats so different in COD4? Could we not equally say, You are in a battle, contained in this single open space, where most objects are governed by a certain consistent set of physics. Spawn points will pop up in various locations and it is your job to get near enough to the spawn points for them to deactivate. Once you have deactivated all of the spawn points, you may advance to the next battle. No, the enemy AI is not very dynamic, but you can deal with them nevertheless.? Indeed, I see why not, and when I imagine such a game, it seems like quite an enticing proposition, if in need of a little adjustment. So why cant I stand COD4s single player mode? Perhaps I have been underestimating the impact of the narrative and style of both of these games. Undoubtedly, Halo has terrific core mechanics, which allow for far more depth and mastery then those in COD4. Also, there is undoubtedly room for improvement in the structure I identified earlier, with the spawn points randomly popping up, and the invisible boundaries placed with no consistency. But I dont think that these are what make me put the game down in disgust after every short play session. I fancy it may be the narrative which makes me refuse to engage with the gameworld. It is made very clear that you are simply one soldier in a unit, and not a high up one at that. Also just from our general impression of the sas from TV and what not, we have an idea of a very tight, coordinated team, who know exactly what theyre doing and why theyre doing it (I dont mean in terms of the politics). So when Im dropped into a battle with a load of superiors who seem to know what theyre doing, I do not expect to be left to my own devices in leading them against randomly occurring spawn points. When were fighting through the streets in Iraq, and were being shot at from the 1st floor of an overlooking building, I do not expect to go alone, and of my own appointment, into the building full of enemies, and take them all out as they spawn from the bloody bathroom. When Im a genetically improved super soldier named Mastercheif, however, I do.
As Im writing, though, I dont believe it, that something seemingly so trivial could have such an impact on the game. What do you think?
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Re: What makes Halo so special?
i think this article could be better titled 'what makes finite enemies so special' with halo as an example.
a possible flaw in your article is - the player would not know, in either game, whether enemies were finite or produced by spawn points and thus infinite, from just playing the game.
i would say the average fps player always assumes enemies are finite and would never ask himself 'where's the invisible barrier to stop enemies from spawning'.
i think a more interesting question is - does the use of spawn points enhance or destroy the *illusion* or player's perception of finite, advancing enemies.
the illusion is what's importance since a player would not know, apart from researching the game, whether spawn points were used or not.
i personally didn't know halo had finite enemies. now that you've told me, i still think halo was a crap game!
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What makes Halo so special
I would agree that it was a great turn around for them this year but lets see what happens in the coming months??? I wonder whats next since Halo 3 is finally out and since Im sure this is no spoiler. Master Chief and Cortona are floating in space somewhere so where does the story go from here. I here a bunch of Halo 3 hating going on since its not a cheap as Halo 2 and skill counts more than tricks or glitches.
I wonder?
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What makes Halo so special
Lolli youre special cause you are ordinary
I think Im ordinary too but its what the ordinary people do to make others feel special that makes the ordinary people special lol
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TCF Collections:
- 2010
- 6:15
Last Words from Hopi High
By Brett Myers
For nearly a thousand years the Hopi people of Arizona have lived on the same three mesas and for all that time they've spoken the Hopi language. But now elders and youth alike say the language is dying. (more)
- 2012
- 3:04
- Canada
Bing Fu is Not Blue
By Julia Grant
Bing Fu is an ESL teacher in Toronto, and she tells her story about misunderstanding a word in spite of looking it up in the dictionary. (more)
- 2011
- 5:53
99% Invisible: A Designed Language
By Roman Mars
What would it be like if, in addition to our native languages, we could communicate across cultures in a neutral second language? (more)
- 2003
- 27:39
- South Africa / UK
The Last Voice of an Ancient Tongue
By ABC Ulwazi
Elsie Vaalbooi was the last speaker of !Auni, the ancient language of South Africa's first peoples. Producer Siven Maslamoney tells the story of how languages die and how Elsie's people have been driven to extinction. (more)
- 2012
- 3:00
- Bolivia
How to Realize that Far-off, Poverty-stricken, Deathly Ill, Brown People Are Your Neighbors, too
By Mateo Hinojosa
From visceral empathy to intellectual understanding to emotional compassion, find out how you can realize that far-off, poverty-stricken, deathly ill, brown people are your neighbors, too. (more)
- 2008
- 2:51
By Joan Schuman
"Cicatrix" resonates in regenerative acts, resiliency, rootedness, and irreparably damaged nerves as it tries to imagine one woman's language of war. (more)
- 2012
- 2:04
- Sweden
Black Coffee
By Joanne Lam
A personal musing about estrangement and its effects on language, cultural identity, and the meaning of home. (more)
- 2013
- 3:00
For Maine's Francos, Food Memories Are Bittersweet
By Laura McCandlish
Three Franco-Americans in Maine still have an appetite for their culture's humble cuisine, which isn't esteemed like fancy French food. (more)
- 2015
- 60:00
Re:sound #211 The Pulled From the Pages Show
By Multiple
This hour: audio stories inspired by the written word, be it a novel or a comic book. (more)
- 2005
- 28:40
Hearing Voices
By John Wynne
Hearing Voices is a compelling and adventurous exploration of languages on the verge of extinction. (more)
- 2013
- 3:00
When you are 4 all you want is some sweet sweet YUM
By Euan McAleece and Ossian McAleece
A conversation with my four-year-old son about what would be his favourite dinner and what flavours he would like in it. (more)
- 2010
- 59:30
Re:sound #132: The Lost Show
By Various
This hour: looking for the intangible. What's lost and what might be found.
Co-produced by Jacob Anderson. (more)
- 2013
- 3:15
Three Bitter Stories of Food and a Cruel Song
By Laurence Courtois
Three stories in French: poison, horrible cookies and a cannibal. (more)
- 2014
- 18:36
- Belgium
Senza Parole
By Katharina Smets
Rustle of cardboard and tin foil. Polka dots. A curious island in the middle of the Seine. (more)
- 2012
- 2:48
- France
Pink Pong
By Daniel Martin-Borret
Louise tries to teach me singing, and Philip speaks about silence and writing. (more)
- 2012
- 2:46
- Japan
Yellow Short Pants
By Julien Clancy
Daily life can be tough for a foreigner living in Japan but luckily Ueko and Hitomi, my neighbors from down the road, are always on hand to offer advice....even when it involves a missing pair of yellow shorts. (more)
- 2015
- 3:05
Why they scream
By Tika Simone
By the end of the century half of the world's languages will no longer be spoken, this is one scream of resistance. (more)
- 2013
- 1:08
- Ireland
Language Bites!
By Colette Kinsella
You may have been a "freelancer," or hired one, at some point in your work life, but have you ever wondered how the term originated? (more)
- 2013
- 3:34
Umami English
By Jane Weston's English class
How to prepare the best English class in Paris. (more)
- 2004
- 7:33
By Pamela Z
The origins of Geekspeak lie in a 1995 artist residency Pamela Z participated in at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. (more)


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And that's about it really. In fact all the problems start happening when you let lending banks do anything much more than this.
In a monetary system there are two main ways of setting up a banking structure. You can either have an 'in specie' system where the central bank issues actual liabilities and assets in the denomination currency to back the banking system (also known, inaccurately, as 'full reserve'), or you can have an 'insured' system where the central bank promises to issue actual liabilities and assets when certain events happen. For the rest of the time they remain 'contingent'.
This is what a commercial bank's balance sheet looks like in an 'insured' scheme:
Insured Deposits are those covered by the country's deposit insurance scheme (here in the UK it is 100% of the first £85,000 per person). All other deposits are uninsured or 'bailed in'.
Bank Bonds are corporate bonds issued by banks, issued on the money markets usually as traded securities. Examples include Permanent Interest Bearing Shares (PIBS), or Bank Subordinated Bonds. These differ from the 'fixed rate bonds' that you hear banks selling, which are really just a form of term deposit.
Preference Shares are very similar to bank bonds but have a lower claim on the banks assets and therefore should pay a high interest rate to offset the risk. They are also classed as equity instruments rather than debt instruments.
Ordinary shares are the normal shares/common stock in the bank and which receive the bank's variable dividend payment.
If a bank's lending turns out to be bad and the loan section therefore shrinks, then the losses accrue to the right hand side of the balance sheet from the bottom upward. Ordinary shareholders lose out first, then preferred shareholders, all the way up to insured depositors.
Any other magical powers ascribed to 'in specie' systems are either due to hidden policy changes, (which can be just as easily be applied to an 'insured' system), a misunderstanding of how banks or money things actually work on the part of those making the claims, or (mostly) just plain political propaganda.
'In specie' and 'insured' systems are operationally identical. You can transform the balance sheet of one into the other. Nothing substantive changes. That's why MMT has always been agnostic on the subject.


text:
We have built the strongest portfolio of usability
and user experience methodologies.
Learn what made Usability Sciences the company it is today.
The fastest, most productive route to continuous site improvement.
Understand how target market users of your site, app, or device, interact with it, where they are successful and where they encounter difficulties using it.
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Obtain feedback from your customers around the globe without the cost or need to travel by conducting in-depth, one-on-one sessions remotely.
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Provide a seamless experience by understanding how customers interact with your brand's touch points – email, in-store, mobile, tablet, desktop, social, etc.
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Provide insight for designers with mental models of each persona, comprised of up to 20 keys to how they think and react to site ideas.
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Meet the international customer in their location for in-depth, international usability testing.
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Work with an in-house recruiting team that targets your customer base ensuring a quality usability testing experience.
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The Wrong Mentality: Last month, I wanted to buy a video game. I looked it up online at Amazon, but then thought, we're already out running errands and my wife wants to go to Target. I wonder if I could get it there. So I went to Target's website on my phone and found that… read more
Every so often we feature user experience based reviews of everyday items. With that being said, back in November, I had a very successful Black Friday and got myself a new receiver and remote control for my home theater (online, of course, no way I'm fighting Black Friday crowds for any deal). Now lots of… read more
Four Best Practices for Category Pages This blog is the first in a 3-part series of posts we will be releasing over the course of this month. While some of these best practices may seem obvious, we still come across several retail websites who don't implement these crucial features, which can diminish the chances for… read more
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"From beginning to end, everyone I interacted with from Usability Sciences was professional and thorough. I was impressed with the testing technology, the methodology and especially the team that led the project. This is one of the most impactful pieces of research I have ever delivered to my team. Thank you!"
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"USC managed tight timelines and a client team that was tough to wrangle, But more importantly, the quality of the work was exemplary. It's work I would hold up as "the way we should do things" and share as a case study across the organization."
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text:
FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — The operator of Frederick Memorial Hospital is threatening to fire 14 workers who refused to get flu shots.
The Frederick News-Post (http://bit.ly/ZY57zD ) reported Friday that the Frederick Memorial Healthcare System told the hospital's 2,800 workers during the summer that they had to get the free shots.
The policy also applies to volunteers, physicians and contractors. It's aimed at protecting patients, workers and their families.
Employee Health Manager Barbara Christoff says the deadline for getting shots is Friday. Workers who don't comply could be terminated on Monday.
Christoff says 52 employees have been granted exemptions for health or religious reasons. She says they must wear protective masks within 6 feet of patients during flu season.
Information from: The Frederick (Md.) News-Post, http://www.fredericknewspost.com


text:
RCI Drag Race and Pro Street Fuel Cells
Made of high-strength polyethylene, RCI Fuel Cells are built to the highest specs. They have an aircraft-style flush mount cap assembly, -8AN outlet fittings, -8AN rollover vent fitting, and a 2" sump (Drag Race Cells) or flat bottom (Pro Street Cells). With many sizes available, you're sure to find a fuel cell that's right for your application. Awesome quality and value is what you can expect from RCI.Features
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text:
The School of Arts and Sciences
English (UG)
Full Name: Paul Hauptmann
Instructor of English
B.A., Florida Atlantic University; M.S. and additional studies, Nova Southeastern University.
Prior to coming to PBA, Mr. Hauptmann taught middle and high school English for eleven years in Broward County, Florida. He also has worked as an adjunct instructor at Broward College. Mr. Hauptmann has been a department and textbook chairperson in his past teaching experience and has served on various curriculum committees. He is currently pursuing a doctorate at Nova Southeastern University. His interests include reading, creative writing, and sports.


text:
Peace Corps in the Park
Hoyt Field
8 to 10 p.m.
Montague Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
Serving in the Peace Corps is a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture, learn a new language, and have the experience of a lifetime. Come cheer on the Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteer softball team, and speak to one of the players who is also a Peace Corps Recruiter! Have your questions answered, and gain tips to guide you through the application process. Also ask questions to other Returned Peace Corps Volunteers between innings - find out about communication, safety, and the Peace Corps experience through other volunteers' eyes.
About the Peace Corps: Read more or watch a video about what it's like to be a Volunteer including what Volunteers do, where they go, and the many benefits of Peace Corps service. Or apply now to begin your life-defining experience.
Stay Connected: Sign Up for E-Updates || Facebook || Twitter || YouTube || Flickr || Tumblr || LinkedIn
For questions about this event contact Katrina Deutsch
If you require a reasonable accommodation when attending a Peace Corps event, please contact the recruiter identified in the "for questions about this event" section of the event listing. Please provide the details of the reasonable accommodation you are requesting.
Last updated May 26 2014
Reference #18463


text:
In the past month or two, I have become very interested in a new musical artist, Austin native Charlie Gore. My friends have greatly enjoyed his music, and their interest encouraged me to look into Charlie's music. I have seen him perform twice, and each performance was very good. Charlie has excellent guitar playing skills, accompanied by a talented voice to deliver his lyrics.
Charlie Gore graduated from McCallum Highschool, and then attened the University of Texas A&M. Charlie graduated from A&M and is now writing and performing in many venues around Texas. Charlie performs his own original songs, as well as covers that he has cleverly composed. Some of these covers include Usher's "Dj Got Us Fallin In Love Again", T-Swift songs, Bieber's "Baby", and a funny yet awesome cover of Rebecca Black's "Friday" (this version is actually good and totally ipod worthy). Charlie's original productions show his potential to grow into a very popular artist. His songs range from a sorrowful tone to a happy and simply feeling good tone. he has produced one album titled "Everything We Need", and he is currently working on his second album which ought to be finished in a few months. Not only is Charlie a very talented artist, but he is also just a cool guy to be around and to socialize with. If you attend one of his performances, this will be noticeable pretty quick. He will involve you in the performance with stories, audience choruses, and laughs from funny moments. Charlie knows that he is performing for a crowd, and he works hard to satisfy and please his audience. His fan base is growing, and the number of gigs he is performing is rising. This summer Charlie will be playing all over, so add him on Facebook, twitter, or Myspace to keep up with him and his music.


text:
Kidapawan City, Philippines – Three bystanders were wounded, one of them severely, when an improvised explosive device (IED) blasted on a national highway in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province, around 10:30 p.m., Wednesday, police reports said.
Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, provincial police director of Sultan Kudarat PNP, said the bomb was fashioned from a 60-mm mortar using a cellular phone as triggering device.
The bomb, he said, was placed near the 'rotonda' in Tacurong City, a few steps away from Tacurong Fitmart, one of the malls in the city.
Citing witnesses' account, Balquin said minutes before the blast, a white van stopped near the site and later sped off towards the highway in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.
Wounded were Jessa Dizon Marcelino, 23, of Purok-11, Abadilla Subdivision; Christian Jay Vino Gabaon, 26, of Block-3, Canos Subdivision , Purok-11; and James Biernes Salinda, 26, of EJC Montilla Street, all in Poblacion, Tacurong City.
Of the injured, Marcelino was seriously hit, initial reports said.
Marcelino and the other victims are treated at the Tamondong Hospital in Tacurong City.
Balquin said the Scene of the Crime Operatives, together with elements of the Explosives and Ordinance Disposal Team in Sultan Kudarat, continue to conduct post-blast investigations. (Malu Cadelina Manar)


text:
Artist's Statement
I think everyone in our research team has been deeply humbled by the ceremonies we have been invited to watch and to participate in. My life has been changed forever by the friendships I've made and the things I have seen while working with Dr. Flanders Crosby in the field. It has been an incredible honor for Progressive Media Alaska to be a part of this project, and I would really like to make note that none of the work I have featured on this site would have been possible if it were not for the incredibly talented and generous staff I am blessed to work with at Progressive Media Alaska.
I think that the reason I continue to commit so much to this project is because, ultimately, I really want to share with others what it has been like for me to work with the people I have met through this project in Perico, Agramonte and Havana. Video and photography will never sufficiently convey what it is truly like to be there with them, but these are the best tools that I have at my disposal. I hope that as you look at the galleries, perhaps you might find something which prompts you to consider your own connection to all that which is greater than us. However you want to name it.
In Cuba and in video from Africa, I have seen phenomena in consciousness that I previously did not concretely believe in. I have tried and tried to rationally understand things that occurred while we were attending religious ritual in Cuba, and I just can't do it. No combination of words could explain where this project has led me.
The only thing I can firmly understand is that after what we have been through together, and the way that what happens in ceremony has confronted us all with the deepest and most exalted potentials of the human spiritual condition; after all of this –- I consider the Cuban side of this research project to be a part of my family. The friendships I have developed with Roberto, Melba, Norma, Mario and Lazi are something special to me that can't be described or photographed. I find myself passing my days wondering when and what it will be like when I am blessed to see them again.
Thank you to everyone in Cuba who shared with us your homes and your faith, and thank you to everyone back at home who supported our commitment to this work and who forgave the many late nights and countless weeks away.
To learn more about Progressive Media Alaska please visit or contact us at www.progressivemediaalaska.com


text:
Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's family and friends paid respects to the late actor in a wake last evening in New York City.
Philip Seymour Hoffman's partner Mimi O'Donnell was spotted with their three children at the wake which was held at Frank E Campbell Funeral Home on Madison Avenue.
The 'Capote' actor's mother Marilyn O'Connor was present as well, reported the New York Post.
Some celebrities such as Joaquin Phoenix, Cate Blanchett, Justin Theroux, Michelle Williams and Ellen Burstyn also came to pay respects. Amy Adams attended the wake with her fiance Darren Le Gallo, while Blanchett was joined by husband Andrew Upton. Williams also visited O'Donnell the day before.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, passed away on February 2 due to apparent drug overdose. According to a statement released by his representative, the family will hold a memorial later this month.
The actor's funeral will take place today at St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Manhattan.


text:
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, June 30. CAL Aquatic's Nathan Adrian talks about winning the 50 free at the USA Swimming national championships, and what can be improved to go faster.
Adrian talks about having to get up and race the 100 freestyle on the first day of the meet, and how the three days between the 100 and 50 freestyles left him twiddling his thumbs.
Men's 50 Free Recap: Nathan Adrian vaulted to the top of the world with a near-lifetime best in the men's splash-and-dash as he charted a meet-record time of 21.47. He matched Garrett Weber-Gale's record 21.47 from 2008, and came up just .01 from Adrian's own personal record of 21.46 from the 2009 World Championships. Adrian's time moved him ahead of James Magnussen's 21.52 from Australian Nationals to lead the world as the top sprinter on the planet heading into Barcelona.


text:
Protecting the Herd
Obtain Vagash's Fang.
We heard the cries in the middle of the night. Then this morning, sure enough, the herd was missing two rams. That dastardly beast known as Vagash has been preying on our livelihood. With Ironforge's troops already spread thin, there is no one to keep Vagash at bay.
Perhaps you are brave enough to seek out the beast and slay him. Bring me one of his fangs and I will reward you. Vagash lurks just above the ranch here, but be warned, he is deadly.
You will be able to choose one of the following items:
|Rancher's Trousers
|Hard Leather Tunic
|Vagash Pelt Vest
You will also receive:
- 700 experience
- 4 20 (if completed at level 100)
- 250 reputation with Ironforge
- 250 reputation with Gnomeregan


text:
by Kevin Beck
How you're built, how you run, and how well you recover all affect your training load.
by Duncan Larkin, Published Apr. 15, 2013, Updated Apr. 15, 2013 at 10:42 AM UTC
The answer may not be straightforward.
by Mario Fraioli, Published Jan. 4, 2011, Updated Jan. 4, 2011 at 10:38 AM UTC
This week, Dr. John Berardi discusses healthy eating habits for your body type.
Stay up-to-date on the latest running content.
Click to Subscribe
© 2014 Competitor Group Inc. All Rights Reserved


text:
Rubber-stamping Islamic chaplains?
National | CHAPLAINCY: A suspicious and tangled trail of schools and accrediting agencies surrounds the case of James Yee-detained on suspicion of espionage-but the question remains: Is political correctness at the Pentagon to blame for lax security?
Mystery continues to shroud the case involving Army captain James Yee. He's the Muslim Army chaplain detained on Sept. 10 for possessing classified documents related to suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban "enemy combatants" being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (WORLD, Oct. 4). Federal investigators early this month were keeping the lid on details of their evidence pending formal charges.
One of the elements in the mystery is the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (GSISS) and its role in the Yee saga. It is a small Muslim school that trains Sunni imams and chaplains for the military, prisons, hospitals, and university campuses. Located in an industrial park in Leesburg, Va., it offers a three-year master's degree, requiring 90 credit hours. Its president is Taha Jabir Alalwan, a U.S. resident since 1984 who holds a Ph.D. from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the Islamic world's most prestigious school.
GSISS reportedly has been on the Pentagon's list of approved schools since 1991. The Pentagon requires chaplains to have 72 credit hours (down recently from 90) of graduate theological education at a recognized institution-or, more recently, the "equivalent" of such. Normally, equivalence means that a recognized school would examine a candidate's transcripts from a school of lesser standing and attest to their validity. The approved school would then pass along its findings to the faith group's chaplaincy-endorsing body in a "letter of equivalency."
GSISS did that for Mr. Yee. A former Lutheran, the studious, soft-spoken Mr. Yee graduated in 1990 from West Point. As a cadet, he also served as a volunteer worker with the evangelical Young Life ministry on the side. Mr. Yee left the Army in the mid-1990s, following missile-defense duty in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War and his conversion to Islam. He went off to Syria to spend four years studying Arabic and Islam. He married a Syrian woman. Most of his studies, he told people back home, were at the Abu Nour Foundation's university in Damascus, the country's most important Islamic school.
Home from Syria, he returned to active duty, this time as an Army chaplain-with the help of the letter of equivalency from GSISS and endorsement by the Arlington, Va.-based American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council (MAFVAC), a project of the American Muslim Council. The AMC and a sister organization, the American Muslim Foundation, are advocacy groups that have been under federal scrutiny for alleged financial ties to terrorist organizations, an accusation its leaders have denied repeatedly.
Some initial news accounts following Capt. Yee's arrest reported he had received his training at GSISS. Mr. Alalwan, GSISS's president, denied the school had anything at all to do with the chaplain. Another administrator later acknowledged the school had issued a letter of equivalency on Capt. Yee's behalf, based on his studies at Abu Nour.
The letter's acknowledgment raised more questions days later when officials at 5,000-student Abu Nour told an Arab reporter for Associated Press in Damascus that the school had no record of Mr. Yee having been a student there. They said he may have audited some classes or weekend lectures, but he most certainly was never a registered student, they insisted.
If that is so, then what transcripts or other documents, if any, did GSISS examine to reach its decision about equivalency? Administrators did not return WORLD's calls seeking an answer.
An Egyptian-born expert on Islam and the Middle East suggested to WORLD that Abu Nour officials were lying, for Islam teaches that Muslims cannot offer evidence against other Muslims in court cases in non-Muslim countries. However, other observers pointed out that the denial hurt, not helped, Capt. Yee; they believe Abu Nour is telling the truth. If so, then exactly what was he doing those four years in Syria and possibly elsewhere?
In interviews, some veteran military chaplains, both active and retired, raised additional questions: Why did Syria allow someone from West Point to spend four years there, apparently unsupervised? How could Capt. Yee pass the security check required of all U.S. military officers, given his sojourn in Syria and marriage to a foreigner? Did the Pentagon blink and just allow his "Secret" security status at West Point to carry over to the chaplaincy? (As a chaplain, he wouldn't have been subject to the more rigorous "Top Secret" clearance.)
Officials tightened security at Guantanamo following the arrests of Capt. Yee and, on similar allegations, two Muslim interpreters at the base, one an airman with the Air Force and the other a civilian physician. All three allegedly carted classified documents from the base, including letters from prisoners. Authorities were investigating the extent of possible links between the three men.
The Yee case caused a ruckus on Capitol Hill, where Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) for months had been calling for a review of how the Pentagon picks chaplains, especially in light of national security concerns. The Pentagon said no such review was necessary. But as pressure mounted, it announced on Sept. 25 it would review the chaplaincy program after all, including requirements for individual chaplains and for the faith groups that endorse them.
The unanimous consensus among the chaplains WORLD interviewed: It's long overdue.
"The Pentagon's uncritical commitment to multiculturalism has led to this problem," declared James Hutchens, a retired Army general and former deputy chief chaplain who now is a Presbyterian pastor in Arlington. "They've created a double standard, with looser chaplaincy requirements for some faith groups but not for others."
He and other chaplains argued that Muslims, Mormons (whom the Pentagon consigns to Protestant chapels), Christian Science adherents, and other non-traditional, non-trinitarian groups (including "witch"-oriented Wicca) are getting a free pass. The "equivalency" alternative, which doesn't necessarily require an advanced theological degree or even formal ordination, was created to accommodate such groups. The mainstream chaplains said they want to see the educational and security requirements reviewed and applied equally to all groups.
The multiculturalism also has led to disproportionate representation. For example, the 12 Muslim chaplains (seven Army, three Navy, and two Air Force) serve a constituency numbering fewer than 4,300-a ratio of one chaplain for less than 400 constituents. Catholic and Protestant chaplains have much higher ratios. Yet each chaplain theoretically is assigned to minister to all military personnel, giving minority-group chaplains much greater proportionate influence than their mainstream colleagues.
The chaplains WORLD interviewed believe Muslims pose potential security risks, given the requirements of Islamic teachings on all Muslims. They said they can see how Capt. Yee could have gone over the edge in offering spiritual counsel and comfort to the detainees at Guantanamo.
Several also expressed concern about the growing number of foreign priests the Catholic Church is importing to fill shortages in the chaplaincy ranks. Here, too, they said, the Pentagon has lowered standards and compounded the double-standard problem.


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Notable CDs
Music | New or recent pop-rock releases
The Next Day
By David Bowie
Bowie has now been releasing "comeback" albums for longer than he released the albums that defined wherever it is he's coming back to. But this much-ballyhooed effort is impressive. Musically, it sounds like a logical extension of the impressionistic-yet-hooky art-rock of Lodger (1979) and Scary Monsters (1980). So why does the cover art paste over the cover art of "Heroes" (1977)? More important, why are three of the session's catchiest tracks available only to those who purchase the limited-edition Japanese deluxe edition?
Fire It Up
By Joe Cocker
The title track of what's arguably Cocker's best album since 1982's Sheffield Steel proves that anthemic brotherhood rock, done right (i.e., soulfully and guilelessly), still has a place in the jaded, over-saturated communal SoundCloud. The rest proves that the individual strands of a done-right anthemic brotherhood-rock anthem, lovingly extracted and incubated, can, in their own right, push emotional buttons worth pushing. As for the salubrious effects of Cocker's 35 years of sobriety on a voice that once seemed destined to blow out, they're palpable.
Need You Now
By Plumb
After 16 successful years in the crossover-CCM game, Tiffany Arbuckle Lee doesn't need to prove her modern-rock bonafides. Yet prove them she does. Whether beginning "Say Your Name" by asking "When does a scar become a tattoo?" or judging the judgmental in "Unlovable," she cuts to the quick. And, as if to prove that sometimes good intentions pave heavenly roads, she has named the album Need You Now not to confuse Lady Antebellum fans but to help bear the burdens of the Sandy Hook Elementary community.
Second Coming
By Stryper
This album isn't a "comeback." That distinction, such as it was, belongs to 2009's Murder by Pride. Rather, it's a "flashback," an opportunity for the most famous and successful Christian heavy metalists ever to re-record cuts from their back catalogue with renewed vigor and aplomb. So how does refurbished, evangelical '80s metal sound 30 years past its sell-by date? To quote the title of Track One, "Loud n' Clear." Of course, then as now, "Deep n' Wide" would've been preferable. But obviousness has its place.
Forget Justin Bieber. When it comes to contemporary pop, the Justins who matter are Timberlake and Hayward. Not that either of them matter much. Although the former's latest album, The 20/20 Experience (RCA), has debuted atop the Billboard album chart and is not without its Michael Jackson–channeling, R&B-genre-mashing charms, it's ultimately shallow. And although the latter's latest album, Spirits of the Western Sky (Eagle Rock), extends his legacy as the Moody Blues' cliché-prone, symphonically inclined lead singer with dignity, it's ultimately dull.
What makes them interesting to consider together is what they have in common: cutting-edge recording technology as audio steroids. Send Timberlake back 40 years, and he'd be dismissed as a flimsy sail in the tempestuous winds of disco. Send Hayward back, and there's no way he could've managed the two dance-club remixes of the Moody Blues' "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" that end his new album with a bang.


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Parmesan Peppercorn Breadsticks Recipe
These crisp breadsticks are just like the ones served in restaurants. When entertaining, use them as a garnish on plate chargers. When guests sit down to dinner, they have an immediate treat!—Mary Beth Jung, Hendersonville, North Carolina
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 package (1/4 ounce) quick-rise yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or thyme, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
- 3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/4 cups water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1. In a large bowl, combine cheese, yeast, salt, sugar, rosemary, pepper and 2 cups flour. In a small saucepan, heat water and oil to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
- 2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
- 3. Preheat oven to 400°. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Divide each half into 12 pieces. Roll into 12x1/2-in. strips; place on greased baking sheets. Beat egg white and cold water until foamy; brush over strips. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- 4. Bake 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.
- 5. For tender breadsticks, serve the same day. Or let stand, uncovered, at room temperature for 1-2 days to dry breadsticks to a cracker-like consistency before packaging. Yield: 2 dozen.
Nutritional Facts
1 breadstick equals 89 calories, 2 g fat (trace saturated fat), trace cholesterol, 206 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic Exchange: 1 starch.
Reviews for Parmesan Peppercorn Breadsticks
© 2016 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC


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Dexter, welcome! I'm ever so glad you came her and shared these linocuts--first because this is something vastly different than we have ever had posted here at the Guild, and secondly because these are so inventive, creative, and well done! Wow! I just keep looking at them--there's so much interest to each one! These are really, really, neat.
What gave you the idea to create these sorts of visualizations? Do you do other sorts of mapping too? I'd like to hear a little more about their creation. Very intriguing work!


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The Freethought Society is kicking off the 2013 Pennsylvania State Atheist/Humanist Conference, being held the weekend of September 14th and 15th at the Embassy Suites Hotel (9000 Bartram Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) with its world-reknowned and unique Friday the 13th Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center and Anti-Superstition Bash extravaganza!
The legendary Friday the 13th Anti-Superstition Bash will start the weekend-long conference at 7:00 PM in the Grand Ballroom. Party guests at the Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center will be entertained in a number of ways poking fun at superstitions. There will be games that mock irrational beliefs, dancing under ladders, a mirror breaking ceremony, a bowling game to level Leprechauns, costumes, and more, along with prizes throughout the evening.
A DJ will play anti-superstition themed songs, and live singers will entertain everyone. Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Nurses and Doctors will assist guests through an interactive anti-superstition museum. An official Miss Fortune Teller will be delivering fake predictions. Caricature artists will be creating humorous souvenirs.
Joe Nickell, author and skeptical investigator of the paranormal, will autograph his books throughout the evening. Jamy Ian Swiss, magician and Senior Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation, is the Master of Ceremonies and will present an amazing show at 10 p.m.
The 2013 Pennsylvania State Atheist/Humanist Conference continues on Saturday, September 14and Sunday, September 15 with over 25 speakers that include former pastors/now atheists Teresa MacBain and Jerry DeWitt.
See the website below for a complete listing of weekend speakers and entertainers.


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Thomas Keller Considering Opening Another New York Restaurant
The chef says a "historic project" is percolating.
The venerable French Laundry turns 20 years old this summer, Per Se is now 10, and amidst these double-digit anniversaries, Thomas Keller hints there are even more projects in the pipeline. The fine-dining chef and restaurateur tells Vegas Seven he's been working on a New York City restaurant that is part of a "historic project." No further details are available, but Keller recently morphed Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center into Bouchon Bakery & Café, adding dinner service to the mix. [Vegas Seven via Eater]


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Author: Krish Kandiah
Date: 01.05.2010
Category: Truth and Pluralism
New beginnings in apologetics and evangelism – a personal journey with Lesslie Newbigin Dr Krish Kandiah
It felt like a hurricane had swept through the mental furniture of my Christian faith and displaced everything I was used to. And yet the chaos left in its wake strangely seemed to feel more appropriate, more alive, more like home. On that one and only face to face encounter with an elderly gentleman in a crowded lounge in Birmingham I experienced something unforgettable that sent me off on a journey. Fifteen years later I am still on that journey as I seek to present the gospel more effectively and engage with contemporary culture. Lesslie Newbigin, evangelist, ecumenist, bishop, thinker, writer and without doubt the most significant missiologist of his generation, continues to have an enduring impact not only on my life but on missional theology and practice one hundred years after he was born. Beginnings A proudly conservative evangelical student worker with Universities and College Christian Fellowship at the time I admit to having been somewhat sceptical when my team leader invited Lesslie Newbigin to speak to us. Back then I was devouring the classic North American apologetic texts as a result of listening to the book recommendations on cassette recordings of Ravi Zacharias: William Lane Craig's "Apologetics – an introduction" (Craig 1984), Norman Geisler's "Christian Apologetics" (Geisler 1993) and J.P. Moreland's "Scaling the Secular City" (Moreland 1987) . I felt confident that I could provide rock solid arguments for the existence of God, humiliating anyone who dared challenge me as my model was the approach carefully expounded in the appendix of Zacharias' "Can Man live without God" (Zacharais 1994, 181ff). I was also more than happy to systematically conclude my apologetic demolitions with a traditional four-point gospel summary complete with memorised proof texts. Little did I know that what Newbigin was to talk about for the following four hours would shake my confidence in that system to the core and reboot my whole thinking on evangelism, mission and the church.
At that time – the mid-nineties – all our training seemed to revolve around "postmodernism" and it was on that topic that Lesslie Newbigin had been invited to speak. As the frail elderly gentleman sat in front of us reading his typed script with a ruler that acted as a magnifying glass, it was hard to imagine that he could know and minister to the 'postmodern' student scene better than us. He had studied at Cambridge back in the 1920's and 30's and was very clearly part of the Student Christian Movement even working for them briefly. But on that cold morning in Birmingham, we literally sat at the feet of a world-class missiologist and listened to an alternative exposition of the history of western culture, the central significance of the doctrine of election, an epistemic humility that undercut the post-modern critique without regressing to modernist foundationalism and a bad Latin joke on the transition from Cartesianism to consumerism (Cogito ergo sum transformed to Tesco ergo sum).
Newbigin spent the rest of his life searching out answers to that question. Answers that I discovered as I immersed myself in his extensive writings – some two hundred and fifty books, journal articles and pamphlets - during my doctoral study at Kings College London on the subject of Lesslie Newbigin's theology of evangelism. Answers that I continually test out in when I get evangelistic opportunities across the different racial and age groups in the church, in the community, in the media and on university campuses. These answers crystallised in my mind into five key areas, which I believe are vital foundations for the church as we seek the conversion of the West.
Click through to the link above to read the rest of this article - which was originally published in the journal: Anvil.
Keywords: lesslie newbigin, missiology, evangelism
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Even as talks to resolve border disputes are moving at a snail's pace, India and China have fast-tracked their business engagements with an eye on stepping up investments and strengthening trading ties.
As a step in this direction, New Delhi will host the second India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue on Monday, which will bring together policymakers and business leaders of the two countries together. The business engagement programme would also see close to 10 MoUs being signed in areas of infrastructure, energy efficiency, information technology among others.


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My 11 calls for 5-40 pennzoil ultra. I have very minimal ticking. Man I am so confused about all the different stories about what oil is recommended for the 392. My dealer said either Mobile1 or Pennzoil Ultra as long as it is 5-40, and that is what the book and cap says. Sheesh.
My 392 calls for 0-40
I pulled this straight from the Dodge Challenger service manual:
6.4L engines. For best performance and maximum protection under all types of operating conditions, the manufacturer only recommends full synthetic engine oils SAE 0W-40 that meet the American Petroleum Institute (API) categories of SM or SM/CF. meeting the requirements of Chrysler Group LLC Material Standard MS-10725.
Too much thought is put into oil in my opinon. As long as you meet the weight, the API requirments, and Chrysler's requirments it doesnt matter what brand you use.
Not sure how that's relevant, Chrysler calls for 0w40 in all 392 engines and has updated/sent updates to dealers and owners stating such. The 5w40 recommendation was only during the period of time between when Chrysler switched to Pennzoil as their factory-fill and the time Pennzoil actually had a 0w40 to offer. During the 5w40 period there was no 0w40 Pennzoil product available, which was rectified this year.
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Q: How do I invest in socially responsible companies?
A: First, understand that the term can mean different things. A company may have many women in management and not produce firearms, but it might pollute the environment. It's hard to find completely objection-free organizations.
Still, you do have several options for socially responsible investing (SRI). You might, for example, invest in a socially responsible mutual fund.
- Students seeking sugar daddies for tuition, rent
- What's the top spelling 'mistake' in Washington state? The answer could make you sick
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- So the NRA sends a questionnaire to a Seattle state senator ...
Most Read Stories
As with most funds, not all SRI funds have above-average records. Still, some do, such as the Neuberger Berman Socially Responsive Fund (NBSRX), the Ariel Appreciation Fund (CAAPX) and the Parnassus Core Equity Fund (PRBLX).
Learn more about SRI investing and issues at ussif.org, socialfunds.com, csrwire.com and corpwatch.org.
Alternatively, seek out companies whose practices you approve of. You can research various companies' social track records at socialfunds.com/csr.
Check out these books, too: "Socially Responsible Investing for Dummies" by Ann Logue (For Dummies, $25) and "Investing for Change: Profit From Responsible Investment" by Augustin Landier and Vinay B. Nair (Oxford, $28).
Last week we listed some outstanding books on American economic history, and this week we add a few titles focused on more modern times. Each offers insights that can make you a better investor — or thinker.
"American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900" by H.W. Brands (Anchor, $18). This well-written and highly engaging book explores the lives and times of powerful capitalists such as J. Pierpont Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.
"Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World" by Liaquat Ahamed (Penguin, $20). Also rather international in scope, this book is about four central bankers — from the U.S., France, England and Germany — who played key roles in shaping global economic policy after World War I. Ahamed explains the Great Depression by "looking over the shoulders of the men in charge of the four principal central banks of the world."
"The Battle of Bretton Woods" by Benn Steil (Council of Foreign Relations, $20). In 1944, representatives from 44 nations gathered in New Hampshire to design a global monetary system. American Harry Dexter White and Englishman John Maynard Keynes "set out to create the economic foundations for a durable postwar global peace." This award-winning book covers an important, overlooked story.
Global energy production is booming, and one of the best ways to profit without being hurt by commodity-price volatility is to invest in the companies servicing and supplying the oil and gas industry.
Consider National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV), the world leader in providing major mechanical equipment for land-based and offshore drilling rigs. The company has more than 800 manufacturing, sales and service centers, and about 90 percent of all rigs carry some of its equipment.
National Oilwell Varco's first-quarter 2014 results featured its backlog of orders for rig-technology equipment hitting an all-time high of $16.4 billion (up 27 percent year-over-year), revenue rising 9 percent and net income jumping 18 percent.
The company isn't perfect, as it does face risks such as competition, and its profit margins have been shrinking a bit in recent years.
It expects a modest near-term slowdown, too. Still, National Oilwell Varco can benefit enormously from an anticipated spending spree worth hundreds of billions of dollars in new energy production infrastructure investment.
It also plans to standardize its equipment and infrastructure, which will help customers keep costs down without sacrificing timeliness when replacing parts.
National Oilwell Varco stock is fairly inexpensive, recently with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio near 14 and a dividend yield close to 2.4 percent.


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A led Zeppelin tribute band, Led Zepagain. This is acceptable since Led Zeppelin doesn't tour anymore
A Muse tribute Band?!? Seriously? These guys are still pretty new to the music scene and playing sold out shows! You are a cover band my friend!
There have been a lot of amazing bands that have come through that have been influential to people around the world and were the voice for generations. But as we all know, rockers get old, they retire, they die, and the band is no longer able to perform and write. However, a great band's music is never forgotten and their messages are carried into the next generation of music fanatics. People will form what is known as tribute bands to help carry on the music written by the artists that influenced their lives heavily. This is a great idea, to keep the music going when the artists can no longer do it. You pay tribute to the music that you love and keep it going for others to enjoy. However, you can't pay tribute to a band that is still writing, touring, and have their own fan base! That's like holding a funeral for someone who is still alive and kickin' it. It's not right to call yourself a tribute band in this situation! You are a cover band. That's not a bad thing. Playing your favorite artist's music is awesome, but you are not paying tribute to them because they are still alive and rocking out!
Let's pay tribute to a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit


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"It's more important than ever before that the public shows support for public education," said Christy Paulsgrove, Goliad Independent School District superintendent. "Board members face critical challenges in their roles as advocates, and they will continue to stand strong and guard against anything that takes away from our children and undermines our public schools.
"Even though we are making a special effort in January to show appreciation to our board members, we realize their many contributions reflect a year-round commitment. They generously give of themselves to ensure that decisions directly affecting our local schools are made by representatives of this community, people who are close to our schools and know our teachers, parents, and students. In these challenging times, they face difficult choices and shoulder critical responsibilities. Their ultimate goal is always focused on the future success of the children in our district."
Board members serving Goliad ISD are Bob B. Gayle, President (16 years); W.A. "Trey" Wimberly III, Vice President (seven years); Brandon Huber, Secretary (three years); Carlos Gutierrez, Trustee (11 years); Richard A. "Dick" Mollicone, Trustee (12 years); Robert De La Garza, Trustee (two years); and Destry Gruetzmacher, Trustee (two) years).
"Our district benefits from the contributions of the dedicated efforts of these local citizens who truly care about our kids. We applaud their willingness to serve as advocates for our children and the voice of public education," Paulsgrove said.