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"Elves and humans, the last Of the races, Left alive 'Graciously' and 'Mercifully' By the dragon-kin over lords.
For now. but how long will such peace be able to be maintained? The two Races are already at each others throats, starting minor riots and battles.
that's were we all come in, well the rest of the people are more concerned with their civil disputes and wars, that they don't even try to acknowledge the real threat of the dragons.
Now, you probably don't know much about the dragons, the Kings and Politicians keep there very existence from ever reaching the ears of the public.
They came about 300 years ago, from the ground, yes, the ground.
they razed the land, killing the dwarves, half the elves, and most of the animal-folk.
For some reason they allowed the rest of the elves and the Humans.
anyway, the went back undergorund, or so they say.
but maybe they haven't, maybe there still out there, manipulating us in our lives.
the year is 2020
we Are the Grey Dragons. our job is to kill. Mostly dragons."
- Lucan, Leader of the Grey dragons, and your new mentor
Terrible intro, I know, unless you liked it.
Hang on, give it a chance, it'll be fun.
The setting is 2020, more or less like the current age, but fantasy like, so we have elves and magic and stuff.
1. No Godmodding.
2. Ask if you want to do anything special with your character, You probably can.
3. Please don't whine...
Race( you CAN be dwarves and animal folk:
Basic Statistics
you have 20 stat points to spend on these, distribute them evenly, or put everything into one
they all start with at least 2 points in them for free, you can't move these to other slots. You can get more later, and these do affect what weapon choices you have, agile people can dual wield and are better with ranged, magic can use magic, strength allows unarmed and two-handed.
they also will affect in game events, so its recommended that you save these somewhere
Strength = 2
Aglility = 2
Endurance = 2
Cunning= 2
Magic = 2
Will (magic resistance)= 2
Bio (if you want)
Other important details:
Please join, if you want to have fun, atleast.
Also, I really would like to have atleast one orc, Dwarf, and animal-folk.
(Always open, we can make a cool intro for your character if you join after we start!)
How can I make you happy?


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731014 10673513522
In Stock!
This batting tee is a must-have for your budding baseball star. The tee features an adjustable height design ranging from 20 to 32 inches, perfect for a growing athlete. The home plate is made of durable rubber and has an anti-tip design, ensuring that even if the tee is struck it will stand upright. Kids stick the ball on top and can practice their best swing again and again! The best part–no pitcher required! The batting tee is all kids need to have a blast, whether playing with friends and family or practicing to become the next all-star.
For ages 8 and up.
• Adjustable-height batting tee
• Adjusts from 20 to 32 inches high
• Constructed of rubber
• Anti-tip, spring-based design for stability
• Tons of baseball fun with no pitcher required
Height adjusts from 20" to 32"
730906 In Stock!
730162 In Stock!
303 - Outdoor Play Toys -
378 - Active Play Toys, ages 9-12 - Active Play Toys
385 - Active Play Toys, ages 12+ - Active Play Toys
390 - Gifts $25-$50 -
393 - Boys Gifts -
394 - Girls Gifts -
657 - Shop All Ages 9-12 -
658 - Shop All Ages 12 and up - 12+ years old
936 - 9 years old -
937 - 10 years old -
Delivery time estimates do not apply to personalized, large or heavy items (over 20lbs.) that require special shipping, items shipped directly from the manufacturer, or out-of-stock items.
Delivery estimates only apply to the contiguous United States. Saturday, Sunday and national holidays are not considered business days for these estimated transit days.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mon Cheri Short Dresses
Stunning and always classic, Mon Cheri Short dresses create an effortless, haute-couture look that is chic and fashion forward. With intricate beading, tasteful designs, and a plethora of fabulous styles, Tony Bowls Shorts will ensure you look runway ready for your special occasion. Trendy and youthful, this line will always keep you in the spotlight as the starlet of the night. Edressme is an authorized dealer of Mon Cheri Shorts.


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April 28, 2010 BY Aaron Hope
Nike has gotten carried away with World Cup fever, but even the Swoosh didn't create an entirely new design to celebrate the quadrennial global soccer tourney. Enter the Puma JB2010, named for Johannes(B)urg, South Africa (and we'll leave the rest to you to figure out). Both pairs of these new hightops go with the Puma favorite red/yellow/green palette, with the white pair a shout out to Ghana, while the black joints were inspired by Camaroon. These will likely be available in the US soon, since they just touched down at the FLAUGE store on the Japanese e-mall Zozotown.
Filed under: Lifestyle Sneakers Puma Upcoming Sneakers


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Neo-Giallo Thriller CITY OF LUST Coming to DVD & VOD July 1
About the FilmCity of Lust is a modern day Giallo film produced by Soft Cage Films, a not-for-profit art organization based out of Chicago.
World traveler and Writer/Director David A. Holcombe draws heavily from his serious involvement in both the Chicago film community as well as experimental theater.
The film uses many unconventional techniques and offers a claustrophobic atmosphere, sharp compositions, and radiant colors. City of Lust has been described by critics as being "smart, risk taking and edgy".
Synopsis: Arianna is a young woman who moves to the city to escape a traumatic family life in the suburbs. She works as a cosmetologist and is showing early signs of formaldehyde poisoning. New to the city and lonely, she reaches out to a female sex line operator. They agree to meet and soon begin a volatile relationship. An altercation at work results in Arianna losing her job. Then, people in her life begin to turn up dead. With Arianna's health, career, and new relationship all disintegrating before her eyes, how much longer can she, and those around her, survive?
Official Trailer and More Informationhttp://braindamagefilms.com/dvd/horror/suspense-thriller/city-of-lust/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUECbfD7804


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Ask Health Experts and Get Answers to Your Health Question ASAP
Hello. Thank you for coming to JustAnswer with your question, and welcome.
What allergens did you have mild reactions to?
As you are probably aware, it is the season for allergies caused by pollens. The morning hours are the time that pollen counts are usually highest.
Another thing you might think about: You pick up pollens throughout the day in your hair, on your clothing and on your skin. So at night you are more exposed by breathing in these pollens that are in your hair, get onto your pillow, and in your sheets. The result is that you wake up with worse allergy symptoms.
Showering and washing your hair before going to bed can help reduce exposure to those pollens while you sleep.
Use eye moisturizing drops to wash out your eyes periodically during the day and just before bed. Use saline nasal sprays to help clean the pollen out of your nasal passages before bed.
Air conditioning, rather than open windows can help, if that is possible.
Frequently washing your bed linens and using a dryer to dry rather than hanging out will help keep the pollen counts in your bed down.
And since you cannot totally avoid the allergens that bother you, you might also give some thought to making sure your diet is healthy. Try to avoid junk or fast foods (as yummy as they may be) and opt for whole foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean protein and dairy and the good fats) to support your body while it is being stressed.


text: Rod Lamkey, Getty Images Why Stores Can't Ruin Thanksgiving in Maine By Paul Wolfe November 13, 2014 A lil info in case ya didn't know. Read More Category: Articles, Local News, Maine, Politics Tags: Black Friday, Blue Laws, holiday Shopping, maine, shopping, Thanksgiving Send to a friend! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr!


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Keith Olbermann has been fired by Current TV, the network announced Friday. He will be replaced by former New York governor and CNN host Eliot Spitzer.
"We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before," explained Current TV in its statement.
"Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it."
Olbermann responded to this tersely worded statement by threatening to sue. "It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently," he said in a statement distributed by his manager.
"To understand Mr. Hyatt's 'values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty,' I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee. That employee's name was Clarence B. Cain."
"Keith's termination is baseless," his lawyer Patricia Glaser says. "We will sue them for their improper conduct. They made a bad decision. They can expect a bad result."
Olbermann also released statement, an apology to viewers for joining Current which he says was a "sincere and well-intentioned gesture on my part, but in retrospect a foolish one".
"Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff," the statement writes.
"Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract."
Olbermann had hosted "Countdown" since June. His short TV-term began with fanfare, but ended, as many of Olbermann's previous jobs have, with deep acrimony on both sides.
According to the Huff Post, Spitzer, who had his own short-lived stint as the host of "Parker Spitzer" on CNN, began hosting his show, "Viewpoints," immediately on Friday night. He didn't mention anything of Olbermann or his somewhat unusual arrival to the post at the top of the show.
Politico writes that Olbermann started created troubles for Current after he had not participated in the network's coverage of the early primaries. Although he appeared in later broadcasts, reports appeared detailing Olbermann's unhappiness with the technical limitations of his New York studio and lack of input into Current's programming decisions.
Olbermann, often citing medical issues, also began missing some days of work, something that apparently was used against him in his firing. One of the people who had filled in for him, ironically, was Eliot Spitzer.
It was also announced Friday that Olbermann is to appear on David Letterman's show on Tuesday to discuss his departure.


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Is March too early for planting veggies?
March 5, 2013
Nevada weather is teasing us again with a few sunny warm days followed by days of freezing temperatures. The warm days make me want to get my garden started; and I think, "Surely, it's time to plant kale, chard and other greens." I have to tell myself "Wait."St. Patrick's Day (March 17) is the traditional start date for cool-season gardens in Northern Nevada. Very hardy crops such as English peas, snow peas, sugar snap peas, cabbage, kale, broccoli, lettuce, spinach and turnips can be planted from seed mid-March through May 1. Onion seeds, plants or sets can go in too.Semi-hardy vegetables are planted April 1 to May 1 and include cauliflower, parsnip, radish, Swiss chard, broccoli plants, Brussels sprouts plants and cabbage plants. Beets and carrots can be planted through June. Potato seed pieces can also go in the ground at this time.A word of caution about suggested planting dates: pay attention to the weather forecast each day. If you have lived here awhile, you know that we get surprise freezes at almost any time of the year. If freezing temperatures are reported, put a 3 to 4-inch layer of mulch or straw over the tops of any emerging plants to protect them from frost damage. Many of the very hardy and semi-hardy plants can survive a freeze, but their growth may be slowed as they recover from the shock.For those of you new to the area, don't be seduced by periods of warm weather. We will still have random freezes and cold spells that can damage plants, even though we say that the average last frost date is May 15. Don't think you can plant your frost tender (corn, green beans) or cold sensitive (cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash) plants before the last freeze, unless you protect them with some kind of season extension devices.Season extenders include floating row covers or frost blankets, hot caps, low tunnels covered in plastic, hoop houses, walls-of-water or plastic covers such as old plastic liter bottles or milk cartons with the bottoms cut out; even upside trashcans. Of course, trashcans and other light impermeable covers have to be removed daily after the day warms up to let the sun in and put back on at night as long as it is freezing.If you plan on a 90 to 120 day growing season; watch the weather; cover plants when needed, your vegetables should yield a bountiful harvest.JoAnne Skelly is the Carson City/Storey County Extension educator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and may be reached at email@example.com or 887-2252.


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After a harshly critical audit detailing Reeds Creek Elementary School District's use of funds was delivered to the Tehama County Department of Education in August 2012, the 2012-2013 Tehama County Grand Jury reported that the district has improved its financial practices, but should still be monitored.
The Grand Jury submitted to Tehama County Superior Court its annual report, which included an investigation into Reeds Creek Elementary School, a kindergarten through eighth grade school in west Red Bluff.
The Grand Jury's investigation included a review of the findings of an audit authorized by the Tehama County Department of Education in February 2012.
The audit
Initiated in April 2012, the state's Fiscal Crisis and Management Team's extraordinary audit of Reeds Creek School District reviewed a sample of transactions from the district's from 2009-2012.
It found poor accounting practices by the district's staff, including the use of public funds for ?questionable? purchases that could have been construed as gifts, a lack of records and receipts for purchases and loose management of Associated Student Body funds.
The audit group found that in its testing of 94 transactions in the 2009-10 fiscal year, documentation for 90 of them couldn't be provided by the district.
The FCMAT highlighted three of those transactions, which totaled $3,500 paid to Sacramento Kings Account Executive, Season Ticket Sales.
The audit noted that without supported documentation, the FCMAT couldn't find out what the payment was for, and inquiries to staff went unanswered.
Jacob Hosler, Reeds Creek School's principal and superintendent from Aug. 1, 2008 to May 31, 2012, said Friday that payments to the Sacramento Kings were part of a sports fundraiser in which he worked with the Kings.
He said that payments made to the Kings were for 300 tickets at $19.50 apiece.
Hosler said that students from Reeds Creek School, in cooperation with students from Lassen View Elementary School District, sold the tickets at a price of $25 apiece, netting Reeds Creek School more than $1,000 for its sports program.
Additionally, he said, as a perk for working with the Kings students from both schools traveled to Sleep Train Arena, formerly Arco Arena, where they played basketball games against each other on the arena floor, and high-fived members of the Kings and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Other questionable purchases, the audit noted, included staff appreciation lunches, parties for staff, flowers for the district chief business official's mentor, student of the month lunches at the Elks Club, Kiwanis Club and Association of California School Administrators, sports uniforms embroidered with an individual's first name and other items of clothing that went to students or staff.
The audit states that 620 articles of clothing were purchased between Dec. 14, 2010 and May 2, 2011, totaling $7,243.22.
These purchases, the audit notes, could have been considered gifts of public funds.
It said the district's board could set guidelines for allowable gifts and awards to staff, but the board didn't provide the Fiscal Crisis and Management Team with its own policy.
?During my time (at Reeds Creek School) we did have two extraordinary audits from FCMAT,? Hosler said. ?During those audits, one of the items that was stated in both of their investigations was that the district needed to review, and make current, district policy per (education) code.?
The audit also found, in a sample selection of the school's transactions, that Hosler ?approved his own reimbursement requests in 13 of 14, or 93 percent, of the reimbursement payments made to him using the general fund accounts payable process,? during fiscal year 2010-2011.
The audit found no evidence that a third party with power to deny the reimbursements reviewed the requests.
Hosler was placed on administrative leave Feb. 2, 2012 and was ultimately replaced by Dane Hansen, as Reeds Creek School's superintendent and Jennifer Brockman as the school's principal.
?I had glowing evaluations from the board,? Hosler said. ?During my time as superintendent and principal I followed district policy as it was stated at the time.?
Additionally, the district used its revolving fund account to quickly process reimbursements to Hosler, according to the audit.
It was a practice, the audit says, that should have raised concerns with the district's chief business official, Ron Fortenberry, and the district board.
Further, the audit notes, on three occasions Hosler received mileage reimbursements for picking up hockey equipment donated to the district.
Hosler was reimbursed in May 2009 and November 2010 after successfully pursuing donations from the Tehama County Police Activities League Sharks and Parks program.
In December 2011 Hosler was reimbursed $236 for mileage associated with picking up hockey equipment for the district.
However, the audit states Hosler ?acknowledged that he did not deliver this equipment to the district.?
The audit also found that Hosler was paid a $100 per day stipend through the district's payroll system for chaperoning eighth grade students during trips to Washington D.C. He was reimbursed $400 and $600 in May 2010 and June 2011, respectively.
The audit states that while the chief business officer obtained approval from the board's president for the June 2011 payment, ?the district's employment contract with the former superintendentprincipal does not provide for the payment of a stipend of this nature.?
The audit states there was no indication of board or third party approval for the May 2010 payment.
The audit further states full board approval should have been sought for the payments.
The FCMAT report noted that Hosler maintained that he followed the certificated employees' contract.
Also critiqued was the district's loose management of the school's Associated Student Body funds and tangled relationship with a booster club.
The FCMAT review found that cash raised and used for ASB related clubs weren't recorded in a timely fashion, and staff became ?overwhelmed? with the high volume of fundraising activity and expenditures in which ?little to no detail? was provided.
The district also made deposits from its general fund into the ASB account to make up for shortfalls in fundraising, the audit stated.
The audit noted that during a scheduled May 23-27, 2011 trip to Washington D.C., $7,500 was drawn from the district's general fund on May 24 and deposited into the ASB account after Hosler emailed Fortenberry that trip's budget could be short $2,500.
On May 27, 2011, the audit report states that the eighth grade ASB account was $1,196.37 in the black.
Without the $7,500 deposit, it would have been $6,303.63 in the red.
At the time of the audit there was no record that the district funds were repaid, according to FCMAT's report.
The Fiscal Crisis and Management Team concluded that there was evidence that ?fraud, mismanagement and misappropriation of the district's general fund and ASB resources and assets may have occurred,? and recommended that Tehama County Superintendent of Schools Larry Champion notify the Reeds Creek School district board, the state controller, the superintendent of public instruction and the local district attorney.
Hosler said, ?During my tenure at Reeds Creek I worked very closely with the governing board, the Tehama County Department of Education and FCMAT to make sure we were doing right by kids and most importantly following the letter of the law as it's stated in (education) codes.?
The Grand Jury noted that it approached the Tehama County District Attorney's Office in December 2012 to inquire if it was conducting its own investigation. The Grand Jury reported that the district attorney's office had conducted its own investigation and no charges were filed.
?I enjoyed my time working as an administrator for Reeds Creek,? Hosler said. ?Statistically, I feel like I accomplished quite a bit during my tenure.
In both 2010 and 2011 our district had the greatest growth in (Academic Performance Index) in all of Tehama County.? He added: ?In 2009, we
were amongst the 10 lowest performing schools.
And in 2011 we were among the top 10 performing schools in all of Tehama County.?
The Grand Jury's findings The Grand Jury's own investigation, which included a review of FCMAT's audit, into Reeds Creek School District concurred with the audit that past discrepancies were evident.
The Grand Jury noted that recommendations from the audit are being implemented in a timely manner and the school's staff has taken steps to restore financial management.
Some corrective measures put in place by the district, the Grand Jury noted, include the overseeing of the district's chief business official by the department of education's business services division.
Two signatures are required on all checks.
Large and long-term expenditures must be approved by the Reeds Creek District Board.
Receipts are required for everything and so is preapproval of all purchase orders.
School trips are limited to one day.
The Grand Jury noted that staff is being trained on handling money and budget training for the district board is being conducted.
Debit cards have been rescinded in favor of debit cards from department of education, which imposes stricter usage controls.
The district safe is to be locked during business hours and all booster club money is to be handled only by the club.
?We are pleased to see the report that the process initiated has led to the resolution of any perceived anomalies in the financial practices of Reeds Creek School,? Champion said.
?We wish to commend the board, the administration and the staff of Reeds Creek School for the prompt action to the inquiries from the county office of education, the extraordinary audit and the FCMAT review.?
The Grand Jury recommends that the county's department of education monitor Reed Creek School's timely implementation of recommendations made in FCMAT's audit report.
?It's our obligation,? Champion said, ?and it's one we take very seriously in our county.?
Andre Byik can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 111 or at email@example.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @TehamaSports


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Mixed English Holly Wreath- 16"
Mixed English Holly Wreath is made with only green and variegated holly. Enjoy it in a window or as a centerpiece. Our perfectly handcrafted live holly wreath will be the little darling of any home!
Available in 16" and 20"
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
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Renaissance Kanazawa Junmai
Yesterday I drank some really enjoyable sake called Renaissance Kanazawa. It's classified as a junmai, meaning that it's been polished down to 70% of the original weight. This brew is just the right amount of sweet. I liked the nose, surprisingly enough – usually sakes don't seem to have much of a nose, or it's […]Read the rest of this entry »


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Earlier this month, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne told USAToday that he considers Sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck the President of the team. The 11 year veteran also added that he believes he is the team's Vice President and that the Colts are Luck's team.
"At the end of the day, he's our leader. He's been more vocal this year and rightfully so. I'm the vice president. I'm not the president. It's his team."
While Wayne may consider himself the Vice President of the team, Andrew Luck has a different view of the veteran wide receiver.
During an appearance on ESPN's Mike and Mike, Luck said he still defers to Wayne.
"I still defer to Reggie Wayne as the leader of our offense," Luck said. "But I think as a quarterback there's a natural progression of leadership, the older you get. I definitely feel more inclined this year to share my opinion if I feel like it's necessary, or to talk in front of the guys, or what have you. As a quarterback you assume a natural leadership role."
Luck added that because the team's new offensive coordinator is his old Stanford offensive coordinator, he expects to lead in teaching teammates the new offense.
"Not that it's easier, but there's definitely a much higher comfort level," Luck said. "We are technically in a new offense, but I — having played with it in college — makes it so much easier to help teach it, and that is a big part of playing the position."
Luck is definitely just offering the politically correct answer but it is good to see that he still has respect for the team's veterans.
Luck needs to continue to grow and become the team leader that defers to no one else.
Surely, that will come in the future.


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Aiming to become the Google of Russia, Yandex has announced the release of Yandex.Kit, practically its version of Google mobile services. This kit packages up all of the apps and services that Yandex offers into one neat bundle that manufacturers can then slap on their Android devices that have not undergone Google's certification process.
Android might be a free and open source operating system, but the final product that commonly lands in users' hands is not just the pure Android platform found on the Android Open Source Project or AOSP. More often than not, expecially in the case of certified devices, the user experience is completed by a number of Google apps and services, like Google Play Store, Gmail, Maps, and more. These components, which comprise the so-called Google Mobile Services, are not included in AOSP, leaving smaller device manufacturers to scramble for sometimes less than par alternatives.
Now Yandex is offering an entire Android ecosystem that comes complete with almost everything that Google also offers. Bundled with the Yandex.Kit firmware are apps such as Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Mail, Yandex.Browser access to Yandex's own search engine, and, of course, its very own Yandex.Store. It also has the fancy 3D Yandex.Shell homescreen launcher.
Probably one of the best things about Yandex.Kit is that it is being offered for free with no certifications required. Yandex is even allowing manufacturers to rebrand the components under their own names, though it recommends using what it believes to be a more recognizable Yandex brand. Huawei and Explay are expected to showcase smartphones bearing Yandex.Kit at MWC 2014 next week.
SOURCE: Yandex


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My Problem
Had to upgrade my G4 Cube!
My Fix
Perfect! I feel like a brain surgeon!
My Advice
Make sure you get the right tools and follow the right guides! I know a website :-p
Product Details
This size bit is also available in our popular 54 Bit Driver Kit & 26 Bit Driver Kit, carefully designed to include the most common and often hard to find driver bits used in electronics repair. This driver is also a part of our Pro Tech Screwdriver Set.
Repair Stories
- 11/11/2015
Had to upgrade my G4 Cube!
Perfect! I feel like a brain surgeon!
Make sure you get the right tools and follow the right guides! I know a website :-p
- 07/19/2017
I broke a headphone jack off in the Kindle
A co-worker of mine actually did the repair. He said the step-by-step instructions and photos made this repair so easy.
Get the screwdriver, the tool to open the Kindle, the instructions and an extra set of hands. I opted to not separate the top from the bo . . .
- 02/26/2016
Music is my life. I've learned I can access it through my phone. To be polite to those around me, I use headphones and my phone's headphone jack.
One day, out of the blue, my phone only provided me with my fix through my right earbud. I cussed out the previous night's drunk me. I originally bla . . .
- 12/03/2015
Headphone jack connection became flaky. Typically only on channel would work (i.e. sound only out of left speaker)
Followed "Samsung Galaxy S III Headphone Jack/Speaker Assembly Replacement" guide. Repair was very quick, cheap, and effective.
The #0 Phillips seemed a bit too big for the screws. It . . .
- 11/24/2015
Battery needed replaced
Everything went well following the guide.
- 09/20/2015
Dropped the phone and the speaker stopped working
Success! The new speaker assembly works like new and I have sound again. I should have been more careful taking the back off because I knocked two clips off - it still fits back in place but has a small creak to it.
You DO NOT have to remove the batter . . .
- 09/11/2015
I was working at Starbucks when my friend Carlos saw me and came over to give me a hug. I knocked a whole bottle of Soylent on my keyboard. Eek.
It took about two hours total. I was going extra slowly because I had not worked on a Macbook before. If I should need to do it again, god forbid, it could . . .
- 08/28/2015
A friend of mine has young children that were playing on their friends iPad and, after some elevated excitement, managed to drop the iPad. The bottom corner hit the ground and the digitizer shattered.
The repair was initially difficult with the standard tools recommended. The plastic tools bend too e . . .
- 08/27/2015
it was headphone jack was beoke
1/3rd the price of visiting the Apple store.
Your online videos show how to fix a 'perfect' screen that has no cracks at all. In reality, it's MUCH more difficult than what is demonstrated in your guides. My iPad was shattered into a million tiny shards. Those little guitar picks were helpful, but no . . .
Show more


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GVK Group chairman GVK Reddy said, With the experience of Mumbai and Bangalore airports, we will now be consolidating our airport business both in India and overseas.
Interacting with newspersons on the eve of inauguration of the airport, he said that the immediate focus is on commissioning the operations in the T2 terminal within four weeks.
Thereafter, as we stabilise the operations in the new terminal, we get into finalising plans for setting up of GVK Skycity. The tenders for development of GVK Skycity have been called for and we are seeing good response. We expect to finalise them within three to four weeks. This enables us to part monetise some of the assets as per the contractual obligations, he said. Both Mumbai and Bangalore are doing well the latter will see an investment of close to R10,000-12,000 crore in next five years, he said.
While the current capacity in the Mumbai airport helps to handle around 35 million passengers, it will go up to 42-45 million with the new terminal. In the case of Bangalore airport, it currently handles 13 million passengers, which will initially be expanded to 20 millionand later to handle 35-40 million within three years with an outlay of R12,000 crore.
Meanwhile, Reddy said that the company has plans to divest stake in the airports vertical. With the completion of both Bangalore airport expansion and Mumbai T2 terminal, it now paves way for us to bring down the debt levels. Several companies are in talks for acquiring a stake and we hope to conclude the process in the next few months, Reddy said.
When asked about bidding for other airports in the country, Reddy said that they have established themselves by executing and handling two of the best airports in the country and now they are looking at bidding for at least two of them when they come up for the process.
On Navi Mumbai airport bid process, he said that GVK has the first right of refusal and they will exercise it. We are better placed than anyone else as incumbent operator to execute the project. It is expected to come up during the year, Reddy added.
(The correspondent was invited to Mumbai by GVK)


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WBEZ News
Revisiting Diamonds from Sierra Leone: Environmental, Disaporic, and Historical Contexts
Diamonds from Sierra Leone have long been viewed negatively around the world. Why? Africans struggled for the control of mining rough diamonds and selling the gems during and after the civil war in that country from 1991 to 2002. Africans forced other Africans through violence and coercion to mine the gems, hence the terms "blood" or "conflict diamonds." Moving forward into the twenty-first century, many jewelers around the world will only sell conflict-free diamonds. Do potential buyers know this? In response to this question, Dianne Glave, Emory University Hospital, will explore what jewelry--including diamonds--means in the African diaspora, and whether one should buy or not buy diamonds today.
Recorded Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at DePaul University.


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Bernice Jessen passed away peacefully on Aug. 8, 2012.
Bernice was preceded in death by her husband, Donald A. Jessen (1993); great-grandson, Willy Schroeder (2004), and Sophie. She is survived by her son, Don Butler and his wife, Nancy; granddaughters, Melanie (Randy) Schroeder; Melissa (Richard) Severance; and Monica Perme; great-grandchildren Andrea Schroeder; Grant, Anna, and Jack Perme, and Sophie Two.
Bernice was a long-time member of various Methodist churches, most recently (1976) First United Methodist Church of Stillwater. She had many volunteer jobs and enjoyed her time, especially at Wilder Forest and Good Samaritan Society in Stillwater.
From childhood well past her 90th year, Bernice played the piano. She and her husband enjoyed boating since they moved to Minnesota in 1946. She was intensely curious, and was drawn to reading, painting, and the arts.
Bernice will be remembered for a faultless sense of humor. She could show you how to make a petunia hug your nose, introduce you to Santa Claus in a peanut, separate one rock from another by personality and make you believe you would find gold in a pile of sand. Bernice loved life in its dearest detail.
A funeral service is 1 p.m. Tuesday at Bradshaw Celebration of Life Center, 2800 Curve Crest Boulevard on the northwest corner of Minnesota Highway 36 and County Road 5 in Stillwater. Visitation is one hour prior to the service. Burial is at Fairview Cemetery. Memorials are preferred to Wilder Foundation.
2800 Curve Crest Blvd., Stillwater, 651-439-5511
Bernice Jessen
Bernice Jessen passed away peacefully on Aug. 8, 2012.


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Rowan names Mandayam head of South Jersey Technology Park
Rowan names Mandayam head of South Jersey Technology Park
A professor of electrical and computer engineering, Mandayam, of Pitman, most recently served as chair of Electrical & Computer Engineering in Rowan's highly ranked College of Engineering, holding that position from 2006 to 2011.
As executive director of the Mantua Township-based Technology Park, he manages the facility, which is a collaborative effort between the State of New Jersey and Rowan University to lead the economic revitalization of the region through an integrated strategy of technology transfer initiatives. The Technology Park is home to sponsored research labs and the Rohrer College of Business Incubator, among other operations. As associate provost for research, Mandayam is responsible for promoting, supporting, administering and facilitating the research, scholarly and creative activities of all faculty, staff and students at the University.
A native of India, Mandayam earned a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from Bangalore University, India. He also earned a master's degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in electrical engineering (communications and signal processing) from Iowa State University.
He joined the Rowan faculty in 1997. Prior to coming to South Jersey, he was an assistant professor and research associate at Iowa State and an assistant lecturer at the R.V. College of Engineering in Bangalore. He also has served as a research consultant for GE-Global Research, John F. Welch Technology Centre in Bangalore, and a research associate for The National Academies, at NASA Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.
Mandayam is an active researcher and directs the Imaging and Virtual Reality Lab in the Technology Park, which has secured more than $4 million of research funding and houses Rowan's Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, known as a CAVE®. He has published more than 80 papers and has served as the advisor for more than 20 graduate students. He is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and a senior member of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and is currently the vice president of publications for the IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Society. He chairs the annual IEEE Sensors Applications Symposium, which is an established forum for sensor users and developers. He has been active on many academic and other committees at Rowan, where he has a long history of service.


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BIC Worthington Chrome Two-Piece Roller
Rated 5 /5 based on (1)
Laser Engraved See Description
1 customer reviews
5/5 stars
Published 6/15/2013 by Will (Minneapolis, MN)
Great quality pen. Writes as good as it looks, and for a great price. Quality pen
0 out of 0 people found the following review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
1 reviews


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Call us today
(508) 222-0154
64 Pleasant St Attleboro, MA 02703
Our Services
Contact Us
Full Service Fuel Oil • Ice • Heating & Air Conditioning Service in Attleboro, MA
Attleboro Ice & Oil
has been serving the Attleboro area since 1884. We are a
full service heating oil company
that prides itself on being your one stop shop for your home heating and cooling needs. We are licensed and insured to repair, replace and service your oil fired boiler, furnace and air conditioning systems. From our retail location you can buy bagged, block or dry ice, refill your propane tanks, and get fresh spring water.
Full Service Heating Oil Service
Furnace & Boiler Service
Installation of Heating & AC Systems
Ice & Dry Ice Sales
Propane Refill Station on our property
Spring Water Machine on our location
24-Hour Emergency Services Available | Licensed, Insured, & Bonded | New England Fuel Institute Certified


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MCLEAN, VA—Hilton Worldwide launched "Operation: Opportunity," an initiative to provide extensive support to United States military veterans and their families, including the hiring of 10,000 veterans at the company, in the next five years.
The company also will donate millions of Hilton HHonors points that veterans may redeem for free hotel stays while seeking jobs, both within and outside the company.
"Hilton Worldwide has been strongly committed to supporting military veterans and their families since our founding nearly a century ago by Conrad Hilton, a U.S. Army veteran who served in World War I," stated Christopher J. Nassetta, presidentCEO, Hilton Worldwide. "We are very proud to build on this legacy with 'Operation: Opportunity.'"
Additionally, the program includes: an exclusive military rate that will be available starting in September for leisure hotel stays, and that will offer a discount between 10% and 15%, valid at participating hotels across the country for active and retired U.S. military who book with a special rate code and present a valid military I.D. at check-in; a dedicated military career website, www.hiltonworldwide.com/military careers, which can match military skills with complementary open positions at Hilton Worldwide; a team member resource group for veterans at Hilton Worldwide, which will launch later this year to promote professional growth; and a campaign to build program awareness among veterans.
The Hilton HHonors hotel stays will be for use in the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii for veterans to pursue job opportunities in any industry. They will be granted to facilitate job interviews, skills training or certification and other job-seeking activities.
To help distribute these stays, Hilton and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) have established a public/private initiative. NASWA is an association of publicly funded state workforce agencies that administer employment services, job-training programs, unemployment insurance laws, employment statistics and labor market information. NASWA will distribute HHonors allocations to these agencies, which then will provide the stays to veterans and their families through 2,651 American Job Centers.


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This add-in requires one of the following applications:
Need help finding your version?
When this add-in is used, it
Tube Feed displays the list of YouTube videos from your selected channel as a vertical strip of video links and screen captures. It also allows you to specify the number of videos you like to see in the app part. If you have background color preferences, you can set them in the app part as well


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Element Fact
Platinum, Pt
Atomic number: 78
Atomic mass: 195.078(2)
Natural abundance: 0.01 ppm
190Pt (189.959930) - 0.01%
192Pt (191.961035) - 0.79%
194Pt (193.962664) - 32.9%
195Pt (194.964774) - 33.8%
196Pt (195.964935) - 25.3%
198Pt (197.967876) - 7.2%
History and Production
From Spanish platina, meaning silver. Its use as ornamental artifacts have been realized by the Indians of Ecuador well before the Spanish conquest. However, its elemental nature was first discovered by A. de Ulloa, a Spanish astronomer, in 1736 in the gold mines of what is now Colombia. His report on the discovery was not published until 1748, due to the unfortunate incident of his ship being fallen victim to privateers and finally captured by the British Navy.
Meanwhile, in 1741, C. Wood discovered the metal from a sample brought from Colombia. It became known as 'white gold' but the term in now used to refer to Au/Pd alloy. It is recovered commercially from anode slimes in the electrolytic refinement of copper and nickel. It is also recovered from sperrylite (PtAs2) from Sudbury, Ontario. It is used in a variety of applications where corrosion resistance is of importance such as wires, electrical contacts and laboratory vessels. It is used as jewelry and also in dentistry. It alloys with cobalt to make powerful magnets.
It is also an important industrial catalyst for sulfuric acid productions and petroleum cracking.
Physical Data
It is silvery-white in appearance, malleable and ductile. It has a very small coefficient of expansion similar to that of soda-glass. It is usually found (0.01 ppm) as native with other platinum metals in nickel and copper ores.
Interatomic distance: 274.6 pm
Melting point: 1768.4°C
Boiling point: 3825°C
Thermal conductivity/Wm-1K-1: 71.6 (27°C)
Density/kgm-3: 21450 (20°C)
Standard Thermodynamic Data (atomic gas)
Enthalpy of formation: 565.3 kJ/mol
Gibbs free energy of formation: 520.5 kJ/mol
Entropy: 192.4 J/mol K
Heat capacity: 25.5 J/mol K
Electronic data
Electronic configuration: [Xe] 4f14 5d9 6s1
Term symbol: 3D3
Electron affinity: 205.3209 kJ/mol Electronegativity (Pauline): 2.20
Ionization energy (first, second, third): 864.384, 1791.06, - kJ/mol
M.C. Usselman, 'A secret history of platinum', Chemistry in Britain, Vol. 37, December 2001.


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Following her work experience with On The Wight in the summer, journalism student Rosie Saban, returns for our annual recap. Ed
We've reached the end of 2012, so the time has come for a brief recap of the 12 unique and news-filled months.
Kicking off with January, here is a selection of the articles brought to you by On the Wight, ranging from hard-hitting to a little bizarre:
Like every new Isle of Wight year, for many, it started less with a bang, and more with a brrrrr as hardy Islanders braved the chilly depths in Sandown.
It may seem like a minor change to some, but January 2012 saw a big green leap forward for many Islanders with the changes to rubbish collection and broader recycling.
Others saw less of a leap and more of a green stumble as disorganisation prevailed with collection of recyclables.
Out on the water
Generosity was the name of the game when the RNLI started the year with an anonymous trust donation of £285,000 towards their £1million appeal to help with the new Cowes lifeboat station.
Us Islanders are more adept on the water than most due to our watery surroundings, but Islander Brian Thompson (pictured) went above and beyond this year, smashing the world sailing record.
Boost for business
A new venture was welcomed to Cowes as the new £14.8 million GKN/Rolls Royce aero engine pre-production plant was officially opened.
In one of the more ironic charges made by police this year, an Isle of Wight tax advisor was charged with tax fraud.
Wightlink upped their fees for those that turn up without booking by more than 100%.
Country pickles
The Isle of Wight made another appearance on Countryfile when Jules Hudson presented a series of features from the Island.
And last, but by no means least, January saw the return of the revered and lauded Pickle Wars to Gurnard for the 11th year.
Tuesday, 1st January, 2013 10:30am
By Rosie Saban
ShortURL: http://wig.ht/2ani
Filed under: Cowes, Events, Gurnard, Isle of Wight Jobs, Isle of Wight News, Law & Order, Manufacturing, Ryde, Isle of Wight, Sailing, Sandown, Swimming, Top story, Tourism


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Louisiana Grills Country Smokers TG-300
Louisiana Grills Country Smokers TG-300
TG-300 is the smallest smoker in Louisiana Grill's Country Smokers line. The tabletop body has short legs and no wheels. At 26.5" H x 36.5" W x 19.5" D weighing 94 pounds it is big enough to smoke a turkey and small enough to transport in a truck or van. Keep in mind; wherever you go with the TG you need access to electric power. In 2014 it underwent significant upgrades. The new controller, (shown above), is a huge improvement from the previous dial controller which had no thermostat, hence no way of easily setting and holding temps steady. BE SURE TO GET THE 2014 MODEL. We do not recommend older Country Smokers that have no thermostat.
The new Country Smoker controller toggles between set temp and meat probe temp. Set it and forget it, the thermostat will maintain cooking temperature just like your indoor kitchen stove. As a safety feature the meat probe can be set for your desired target temp. When internal meat temp rises within 10⁰ of the target, the controller automatically drops the smoker down to 170⁰ to avoid overcooking. So if you're cooking at 225⁰ and looking for an internal meat temp of 200⁰, when the meat hits 190⁰ the controller switches to the holding temp of 170⁰.
The Arched Flavor Guard, (above) is unique to LGs. Unlike flat diffuser/drip plates found under the grates of most pellet smokers, the Flavor Guard with sliding broiler plate is a 14 gauge curved metal sheet that conforms loosely to the shape of the hood, cresting in the middle of the cook surface and dropping off in the front and back of the cook box. LG feels this design presents a larger surface for meat drippings to sizzle and enhance flavor. The Flavor Guard has a section over the fire pot which can slide out of the way to expose large, slotted openings that allow meats to sear over open flame. This feature, previously optional, is now standard for all Louisiana CS smokers. Some other pellet manufacturers have their own versions of this "sear zone". They kinda-sorta work, but fire pots are small and don't crank enough intense radiant heat over a large enough area to do serious searing. They will, however heat up griddles, cast iron pans, or cast aluminum GrillGrates for conductive searing. You can do a nice reverse sear using the flat side of a GrillGrate on this system.
Instead of a chimney, Louisiana Grills uses a row of holes at the back located several inches above the cook surface. The Grease bucket hooks underneath the smoker rather than off to the side like most other brands. Options include a hopper extension and side shelf. All Louisiana Grills have porcelain coated steel grates.
$699 Manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), actual price may vary.
Where To Buy (Buying from these suppliers supports this website):
Primary Function:
Wood Pellets
Primary Capacity:
300 square inches ( about 14 burgers )
Main Burners:
Manufacturer claims that all or practically all of this device is made in the USA
Review Method:
Looked Closely At It
We have seen this product up close and we have also gathered info from the manufacturer, owners, and other reliable sources.
Please read this before posting a comment or question
1) Please use the table of contents or the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help, then please post your question on the appropriate page.
2) Please tell us everything we need to know to answer your question such as the type of cooker and thermometer you are using. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can't help you. Please read this article about thermometers.
3) If you post a photo, wait a minute for a thumbnail to appear. It will happen even if you don't see it happen.
4) Click here to learn more about our comment system and our privacy promise. Remember, your login info for comments is probably different from your Pitmaster Club login info if you are a member.


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There's a light chop on the Lake this afternoon but it's nothing we can't handle. I'm trying to look cool while drinking a diet Coke although I'm struggling a little to get the can to hit my mouth. The Captain cuts the engine and we heave forward for a second and then it smooths out considerably. In a moment there is little more sway than if I were sitting on my front porch swing.
My friend and I are engaged in a deep but hypothetical discussion on States' rights and the structure of the United States within the confines of the Constitution. Neither of us have gone to law school (he's an electrical engineer) and for that matter neither of us are U.S. Senators in the year 1861 so I have to admit, it's a pretty bizarre conversation. I think we just do this kind of thing to put each other through the mental paces, the way we used to do many years ago when we were college roommates. We're on a fishing charter somewhere off of the sand bar, an annual "birthday gift" my buddy gives himself even though his birthday is in January. The moral of this story is if you need an excuse to go fishing, make one.
As pressing as the Tenth Amendment seems right now, we are interrupted by the piercing exclamations of the Captain. "Roof rod! Roof Rod!" The mate comes scrambling and stumbling over deck chairs and a cooler climbing up to get the Ugly Stick rod mounted above us as it does its thing, bent over sharply but never breaking. I take a half step to the side and smile while I watch him grab the rod and pull it down. He thrusts the pole into my hands like a hot potato and I couldn't be more shocked if he had handed me a rattlesnake. In an instant I go from amused spectator to quarterback on game day.
Instinctively I pull up to set the hook, but that's a pointless gesture seeing how this hog has already pulled the hook on through and is headed for Davy Jones' locker. I pull in the drag with my thumb while my right hand turns the crank one, two turns. "Fish on!" somebody is shouting but all I can hear is the line stripping off the reel as the voice in my head (which for some unknown reason is Jackie Mason) screams, "What are you doing, bringing the drag in? What do you want, to snap the line? Let it out, for Pete's sake, let it out!"
With all this commotion in my hands and in my head, I become aware that at this moment, everyone else on the boat is doing the exact same thing and we have hit the walleye bonanza! I've never seen them hit like this all around. Somebody pinch me!
They say there's nothing happier than an airplane full of tourists heading to Las Vegas. Whoever said that hasn't been on a Lake Erie Walleye Charter lately! In 1983 the Walleye really bit. Charter captains recognized how special it was while it was happening, and they knew it would likely never happen again. Well, it happened. Thirty years later we are having a Walleye run they'll talk about for years to come. 2013 is the Year of the Walleye.
You might wonder what makes the catch better this year than any other year. The spawn has most to do with it and depending on weather, the success of spawning can vary greatly. Water temperatures that rise too quickly cause the Walleyes' eggs to hatch prematurely. By the same measure a long period of cool weather in the spring can delay or impair hatching. As fry Walleye feed on microcrustaceons, a cold snap after the hatch can suppress their numbers so walleye starve. Depending on the strength of the hatch and their survival rate, the walleye catch can very up to 100 fold year to year, according to the department of natural resource. And just as quickly as they rise, so may they vanish, with one walleye year-class dominating, while fish a year younger or older may be scarce.
After the spring months when the water warms, walleye move to feeding areas while species like panfish, trout and bass usually prefer cooler waters. After spawning, their bodies are depleted and Walleye want to do nothing more than gorge themselves. During the late summer months they'll go deep into cool dark waters and spend less time feeding. So, if you're crazy about walleye, and I mean lots of big, big walleye, you need to get yourself out on the lake right now. Get outdoors!


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03 Jan, 2010
Review of Burger King's King Krinkz French Fries (Ep276)
Posted by: Gregory Ng: The Frozen Food Master
What is this? An episode of Grub Grade? Imagine how psyched I was to see a Burger King product in the supermarket freezer aisle! The Frozen Food Master takes on "The King" as I review the Burger King's King Krinkz French Fries.
The Frozen Food Master reviews this product, shows you how it looks, tells you how it tastes, and gives you the lowdown in this episode of Freezerburns.
Nutrition Facts:
Serving size: 3oz (84g)
Servings per Container 1.5
Calories: 210
Calories from Fat: 110
Total Fat: 12g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 390mg
Total Carbohydrate: 31g
Dietary Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 0g
Protein: 3g
Price: $1.49
FreezerBurns is a video frozen food review show on a mission to deliver you real in-depth frozen food reviews and to make frozen entrees even better with fresh ingredients. Gregory Ng is the Frozen Food Master and acts as frozen food chef, critic, and guinea pig.
Follow Freezerburns on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freezerburns
Like Freezerburns on Facebook: http://facebook.freezerburns.com
Download the Freezerburns iPhone App: http://app.freezerburns.com
Buy Freezerburns merch: http://freezerburns.spreadshirt.com


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Convention Calendar
Conduit 2013 Science
Convention Calendar
Conduit 2013 Science
Fiction & Fantasy Convention
Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City downtown
Attendance • 350
Runs through • Monday
Congress for the New Urbanism
2013 New Urbanism Congress
The Grand America
Attendance • 1,500
Runs through • June 3
Economic Calendar
New economic numbers to be released this week include:
U.S. stock and bond markets • Closed for Memorial Day
S&P/Case-Shiller • Index of home prices for March and first quarter
Conference Board • Consumer confidence index for May
Labor Department • Weekly jobless claims
Commerce Department • First quarter gross domestic product
Freddie Mac • Weekly mortgage rates
Nat'l Association of Realtors • Pending home sales index for April
Commerce Department • Personal income and spending for April
IPOs Planned
Initial public offerings as provided by Renaissance Capital, Greenwich, Conn., (ipohome.com) and SEC filings, include:
Epizyme Inc. • Cambridge, Mass., 4.3 million shares, priced at $13 to $15, managed by Citigroup, Cowen & Co., and Leerink Swann. Proposed Nasdaq symbol EPZM. Business: Biotech developing therapeutics for patients with genetically defined cancers.
Kamada Ltd. • Ness Ziona, Israel, 5.6 million ordinary shares, priced at $11 each, managed by Morgan Stanley and Jefferies. Proposed Nasdaq symbol KMDA. Business: Provides plasma-derived protein therapeutics mostly in Israel and the U.S. Stock trades on the Tel Aviv exchange.
Utah Events
Workshop • The University of Phoenix will host a free workshop to help Utahns navigate specialized software and recent software updates from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the South Jordan Learning Center, 10235 South Jordan Gateway. Participants will learn about optimizing operating systems for increased performance, the difference between operating systems and what version or software works best for PCs, Macs, tablets and SmartPhones. To register go to http://utahcareerworkshops.eventbrite.com.


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Posted 5 years ago
(470 items)
This is a box my Dad had for many years the wood is darker that these shots i lightened these to show the work.Very solid also still opens and closes, I wonder if this is Walnut wood. Possibly from India/China in ww11.Because in 1960s we lived in Thailand and i remember this from theN I was only 6 yrs old and in Thailand there is not wood like this to hard for the heat. Or Victorian from his father in 30s. any know?


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- Not to be confused with Dragonslayer Armour.
- For the Dark Souls variant, see Ornstein's Armor.
The Dragonslayer Armor is a chest armor piece in Dark Souls III. It is part of the Dragonslayer Set.
In-Game Description
- Golden lion armor associated with Dragonslayer Ornstein, from the age of gods, and imbued with the strength of lightning.
- In the dragonless age, this knight, who long guarded the ruined cathedral, left the land in search of the nameless king.
Found in the area past the Nameless King.


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ELYRIA — Wilma Workman brought a painting of her son to place at the traveling half-scale model of the Vietnam Memorial on Saturday.
She said she's conflicted about how she feels about seeing the replica of the wall in her hometown or the name of her son, Calvin Coon — a 19-year-old Marine from Elyria who died in combat in 1968 — carved in it.
Workman said she appreciated the ceremony Saturday, which brought hundreds of veterans of Vietnam and other wars, along with family members and friends, to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1079 to pay their respects and remember the fallen.
"But it brings back too many memories," she said. "It just brings back memories. It was a bad war."
Bill Seagraves, executive director of VFW of Ohio Charities, acknowledged the controversial war, which claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers, when he spoke to the crowd gathered under the spring sun Saturday.
"You fought an unpopular war. You did a great job," he said.
Saturday's event included several speakers and a ceremony honoring prisoners of war and the missing in action, a reading of the names of 98 soldiers and sailors from Lorain County killed during the war and other honors for those whose names were on the wall.
Sam Felton Jr., who earned the Navy Cross during the war, told the crowd that he was pleased to see so many of his "grizzled brothers" from the war gathered to honor those who didn't make it home.
"We're not as young and fast as we used to be, but we still came out to pay our respects," Felton said.
He urged people to remember the sacrifice of those who fought in the war.
"Over the course of the Vietnam War, innumerable acts of heroism, sacrifice and courage occurred," he said.
Ed Manuel of Elyria said after the ceremony that he served in Korea during the Vietnam War, but Saturday's ceremony hit especially hard for him.
He said he had just learned that his grandson, Jake Masters of Elyria, had been wounded Friday while serving with the Army in Iraq. Manuel said he didn't know the details, but his grandson is now in Germany recovering from his wounds.
"It means a heck of a lot," he said as he left the wall.
Manuel wasn't the only person at Saturday's ceremony thinking of Iraq.
Dave Tollett, the father of Sgt. Norman Lane Tollett, who was killed in Iraq in 2007 while serving with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne, said he was honored that so many of the soldiers in his son's unit came to Elyria this weekend to remember his son.
He said the wall meant more to him because of losing his son.
"When you lose one, the names on those walls get a whole lot bigger," Dave Tollett said.
South Carolina native Terrence Washington, who served with Lane Tollett, said he was impressed with the respect Lorain County residents paid to soldiers.
"I'm in awe," he said. "... Where I'm from, it's not really a big deal being in the military."
Carlis Morrow of Birmingham said he served in Vietnam in 1970 as a cook in the Army National Guard. He said he's visited the permanent memorial in Washington, D.C., twice and the moving wall once before.
This was the first time, he said, that he was able to walk the entire length of it.
Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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In a zany new competition, your wildest howl could get you a free trip to the home of Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter of the famous masterpiece, The Scream.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for – a free trip to Norway?
In a zany new competition, your wildest howl could get you a free trip to the home of Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter of the famous masterpiece, The Scream, which shows a figure howling in agony against a dramatic backdrop of swirling waters and a fiery orange sky.
Inspired by the 150th anniversary of Munch's birth, who was born in Adalsbruk, Norway, on 12 December 1863, tourism authority Visit Norway has launched a Scream Your Way to Norway campaign. Entrants are encouraged to submit video clips of their version of The Scream – their best ear-splitting or blood-curdling shriek – for a chance to win a free trip to the country or one of a bevy of Scandinavian goods, including a Setesdal sweater or Svalbard anorak.
Visit Norway will then edit the submissions into the world's longest scream film to commemorate Munch's birthday. As of publication time, the video is 20 minutes long and includes a range of hilarious and agonizing screams, including a screaming goat and a climber standing atop a jagged pinnacle, howling in triumph. The final film will be screened when the competition closes on 28 February.
Here's how it works: entrants can scream, shoot and submit as many videos as they please. "Short and sweet, screaming for a couple of seconds is fine," Visit Norway advised. "We are looking for creativity."
Production quality is up to entrants; there's even an option to upload a video straight from your laptop's webcam. The contest operates on a sliding scale, so the more entries submitted, the bigger the award gets. If there are 250 entries, there will be two trips awarded; if there are 3,000 entries, five trips will be awarded. A "scream of the day" is also awarded, with prizes including Raggen wool socks. Check out the contest promo video and a selection of submissions on Visit Norway's YouTube page (we recommend having some earplugs or a bottle of painkiller nearby).
Screaming for a trip to Munch's homeland is, of course, a fitting way to commemorate the artist's 150th year, but it's not the only way. The Munch Museum and the National Gallery of Norway, both in Oslo, are organising retrospectives of Munch's work, available for viewing from June to October. Munch enthusiasts can also visit New York's Museum of Modern Art to view an 1895 pastel-on-cardboard version of The Scream, which sold at auction last year for $120 million and is on loan at the museum through the end of April. Munch painted four versions of his famous painting between 1893 and 1910, and there are two of the originals on view at the Munch Museum, one at the National Gallery of Norway and one at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.


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A teenager described on Sunday how he took the controls of a light plane for more than half an hour after the pilot passed out during a joy flight over rural Australia.
Troy Jenkins, 19, said the single-engine Cessna 150 was only 10 minutes into a flight from the New South Wales state farming town of Forbes on Saturday afternoon when the pilot Derek Neville, 61, lost consciousness.
Jenkins said he had taken the controls before while flying with Neville, a family friend. Jenkins flew circles around Forbes airport at a steady altitude of 610 meters (2,000 feet) for around 45 minutes before the pilot came to.
I'm glad he didn't have the fish. It's a whole different kind of flying altogether now.


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For 3 weeks leading up to Birth Day I had had prodromal labor, enough to keep me up at night, sometimes timing contractions as close as 5-10 min apart. They would always fizzle out after about 90 minutes though. I cleaned my kitchen a half dozen times during the middle of the night those weeks! I had never had prodromal labor nor have I ever gone past due, so facing it for the first time I wore myself out physically and emotionally. It all came to a head when I was exactly 41 weeks pregnant and 1 day and feeling like I would be pregnant forever. Everyone I saw everywhere (we live in a very social smallish town) couldn't believe I was still pregnant. I was so uncomfortable. That evening I went to the pool (feeling ridiculous in my suit that I didn't feel fit very well) and feeling like I couldn't sit well or do anything anymore, I jumped in the lap lane and decided to swim a dozen slow breast-stroke style laps, hoping maybe it would help. That night before going to bed, though, all the physical and emotional drain caught up to me and I cried to my husband feeling like everything was just terrible. I could barely even explain how I felt, I just cried and cried!! My husband listened, got me a small glass of wine, and after I calmed down we went to sleep.
Well only 2 hrs after falling asleep I awoke to a big contraction. I realized I had also started leaking fluid. I got out of bed even though my husband knowing the prodromal labor I'd been having actually encouraged me to go back to sleep, and started timing contractions 2-5 min apart. They were easy to breathe through but they did require me to stop and pay attention to them. Well after only 20 min of this my husband who did finally join me decided he was calling the midwife! I couldn't believe it and asked him to just wait for 1 hr to see if they would pass. I was so worried still about everything just stopping. But he refused and we called the midwife who also encouraged me after hearing me breathe through a contraction to head to the birth center right away. I still was in disbelief, and I knew the contractions were only 30 sec long, AND still easy to handle, so I remained uncertain on how the night would end. Well we got to the birth center, jumped right in the tub, and the contractions were remaining 2-3 min apart, but lengthening, plus I was feeling their intensity more and more. However I was still able to laugh in between them and feel completely clear-headed, and I *never* would say they hurt compared to my 3 other labors.
After being at the birth center for 45 min and drinking a LOT of water (I came in a bit dehydrated), I got out of the tub to use the bathroom, where my water broke :) It was then that I *finally* realized that this was really labor!!! I felt a small urge to push in the bathroom but STILL could not believe it would already be time to push that soon after arriving...so I went back in the tub, however on the walk back I had a huge transitional contraction, and the midwife looked at me and said "tell me where you want to go!" I said back to the pool, where she told me I could push. I replied, "seriously?!?! I can push already?!!" And she responded "well if you feel the urge!" Of course I did, but I was still in la-la land that the time had finally come to have my baby!! Pushing my baby girl out was real work, b/c like I mentioned the contractions seemed so easy this time, but 6 minutes later after 2 pushes she joined us!
It was the longest warm up, easiest labor, and hardest pushing I've ever done in 2.5 hrs (from start to finish). B was born at 8 lbs 10 oz at 2:30 am, 1 hr after arriving to the birth center.
ETA: I make a point to talk about the prodromal labor and emotions it brought out b/c for me, when I was going through it, it helped hearing other mamas stories about how frustrating all those starts and stops can be, and that I was really doing work--it wasn't just plain "false" labor. The midwife in retrospect really believes my baby was just a tad off in her position which stopped labor all those times, and she also believes my doing laps that night in the pool helped her adjust herself in the womb to make labor finally successful.
I'm a home birth midwife and I see this type of labor often. In my heart I keep thinking, "Okay, when this thing starts going for real, it's going to go fast!" Most times it does, but sometimes it doesn't. I tend not to say anything to the woman though, because I'm afraid if I'm wrong it is going to be a real let-down. Would it have been helpful for you to hear, "Sometimes this means when your active labor starts, it could go real fast, so try to bear this early labor because it means a great active labor is ahead of you!" --even if it turned out not to be a fast labor?
Actually, yes it would have been helpful, to me anyway. I wonder what other moms would think since that is a tricky situation, maybe if its more likely to be not a first time birth than chances are even greater for a quicker delivery when real labor arrives? For me, anything at that point to help describe what I was going through would end up helping things in the end, b/c I felt like the midwives thought I may be making the prodromal labor up (even though they NEVER ever indicated that--it was definitely a mental struggle I put myself through).
For me my 2 previous labors before this one had actually been fast also, so I had already predicted a quick delivery. I honestly think had I been able to have another homebirth this time, she would have been born far sooner than 2.5 hrs!! There's something about having to get in the car and drive somewhere--even when that somewhere is the loveliest birth center on the planet--and having to get settled in again that I'm quite sure slows my progress a little. With my homebirth the midwife arrived exactly 20 min before I pushed my 3rd child out ;)
With my 4th I had prodromal labor for a week or more, even though I was not overdue it really messed with me body and soul. But when labor came it was short- 3.5 hours!
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Congratulations! Thank you so much for this story. As I sit here, nearly a week overdue and having had prodromal labor for the past two weeks already, I am D-O-N-E DONE! It's nice to hear that things worked out so well and so quickly for you in the end.
Congratulations again and thanks for sharing! I'm glad that your active labor went so quickly and so well for you. I had a longer warmup and much shorter active labor/pushing with my second.
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KARACHI, March 9: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday directed the provincial police officer to deploy police commandos for the protection of the complainant and other witnesses in the Shahzeb murder case.
The lawyer for the complainant filed an application in the court seeking protection for the complainant and other prosecution witnesses.
However, it was brought to the notice of the counsel that a direction in this regard had already been issued to the inspector-general of police and according to a report of an additional IG eight policemen had been deployed for that purpose.
The complainant admitted the same before the court on Saturday. However, he stated that eight policemen were not sufficient to provide protection since there were around 50 witnesses in the case besides aged policemen had been attached to them for security.
Thereafter, Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon of the ATC-III directed the IG of Sindh police to deploy members of the special services group (commandos) for the protection of the complainant and other prosecution witnesses.
The case was fixed for the evidence of witnesses and eight prosecution witnesses were present before the court to record their testimonies on Saturday.
However, two of the four defence counsel did not turn up and one of them sent an adjournment application through his junior on the grounds that lawyers were observing a strike to express solidarity with the judiciary. Thus, the case was adjourned till March 11.
Shahrukh Jatoi, Nawab Siraj Ali Talpur, his younger brother Nawab Sajjad Ali Talpur and their house servant Ghulam Murtaza Lashari have been charged with killing 20-year-old Shahzeb and using criminal force with the intent to outraging the modesty of the deceased's sister in Defence Housing Authority on the night of Dec 24.
A case (FIR No.591/12) was registered against the accused on the complaint of the deceased's father Aurangzeb, a deputy superintendent of police, at the Darakhshan police station.


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The Unexpected Dump
Find out why she would ever consider doing this, the warning signs to look for before you become a victim of her cold feet, and how to get back in the saddle.
the initial shockWhy would she do this? How could she do this? These are questions you'll need to answer in order to go on, or even come close to approximating life again. If indeed she has left you with zero indication that she was planning to jump ship, you will have to sort out the anger, fear, frustration, and profound sadness that she left you with.
Fear not; here are some possible reasons for her departure you can contemplate, which may help alleviate the pain or at least clarify what happened (and help you sleep at night again).
Family reasons
Many times, it all starts and ends with family when it comes to marriage. As the prospective son-in-law, there are some serious expectations of your strength of character, attitude and treatment of your fiance. Think about whether you ever truly felt accepted by her family. Did you notice any perceptible change in attitude over the time you've been dating your girlfriend? Were you always served last at Thanksgiving/Christmas dinners? Were you ever inconsiderate or rude to her siblings?
Any and all these questions could have caused a ripple effect in her family that eventually caused them to view you as the "enemy" and a bad match for their daughter. Subsequently, her family could have pressured her to share their perception of you.
Social reasons
As you know, the very next group (after family) in her hierarchy of critical approval consists of her friends. As such, you'll need to think back and determine if her friends genuinely accepted you. Were you included in outings with her gal pals? Were you greeted with warmth or did they become quiet and aloof in your presence? The indicators of their disapproval may have even developed slowly over your relationship.
If so, you'll need to understand that you may have changed for the worse. But more on that later...


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JACKSONVILLE, FEB. 16, 2014 – A day after scoring 13 runs and picking up 21 hits in two games, the USF baseball team continued their hot start to the season banging out 19 hits on their way to a 12-1 victory over tournament host University of North Florida in the final game of the UNF Best Bet Classic played at Harmon Stadium.
The Bulls, coming off their second straight 35+ win season, finished the weekend 3-0 and outscored their opponents 25-6 despite leaving 31 runners on base over the weekend. They also out-hit their foes 40-to-20.
It is the third time under head coach Lelo Prado that USF has begun the season 3-0.
"I am really proud of our guys for this whole weekend," said Prado. "If we play every game like we did today, we are going to be tough to beat."
USF (3-0) picked up just two hits in the first three innings but erupted for a four-run fourth on five hits. Three consecutive singles to begin the frame was followed up by a Buddy Putnam sacrifice fly to give the Bulls a 1-0 advantage. Zac Gilcrease then drove in a run on a single down the leftfield line followed by a two-run single up the middle by Michael Arencibia to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
The fifth inning was much of the same as three straight singles started the inning before a Levi Borders fielder's choice, Putnam sacrifice fly and Gilcrease single all brought home runs pushing the USF advantage to seven.
UNF (2-1) picked up their lone run in the home half of the fifth on a Donnie Dewees RBI single through the right side.
The Bulls picked up two more runs in the sixth and seventh, the big blow a two-run double off the bat of Luke Maglich in the seventh. Vincent Leto capped off the scoring barrage in the ninth with a sacrifice fly that brought in Hayden Kelley (Tampa, Fla.), who began the frame with a one-out single up the middle.
The last time USF scored 10 or more runs in a game in back-to-back contests was last March 15-17 when they notched 11 runs in each game against Florida A&M.
After a tight first inning in which freshman Brandon Lawson walked three consecutive batters with two outs, the right-hander settled down to go five innings allowing one run on five hits. He walked just one batter over the final four innings while striking out one to earn his first college win. Michael Farley (Valrico, Fla.) tossed the next two innings allowing only one hit while Brandon Murray and Tommy Peterson also threw a shutout inning apiece.
All four pitchers USF threw on the afternoon were freshman who made their first collegiate appearance.
Maglich (3-for-5) and Daniel Portales (3-for-6) each had three hits in the ballgame. Eight of the nine starters in the lineup had at least two hits. Just two of the 19 hits USF had went for extra bases.
Corbin Olmstead (0-1) suffered the loss lasting only 3.1 innings as he surrendered four runs on seven hits and a walk. All but one pitcher for the Ospreys allowed at least one run in the ballgame.
Alex Merritt had the lone multi-hit performance for UNF going 3-for-4.
SOURCE: USF Athletics


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Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Fandango in Pacific Grove is one of the most popular restaurants in the area. It has gained a fine reputation over the years due, in no small part, to the expertise of chef and owner Pierre Bain, who runs this upscale restaurant with his wife Marietta.
Friends had invited us to stay overnight in their house in Pacific Grove, along with another couple, and had made a reservation at Fandango. The restaurant is about 10 minutes' walk away from our friends' house, so Fandango is a regular haunt for them.
My husband and I had the most wonderful evening with our friends. Food and service at Fandango are more than impressive—and all six of us enjoyed every single dish we chose. I had one of the specials on the menu—wild abalone that was unbelievably delicious.
As well as ordering wine from the menu, I took along a bottle for our friends to try—a DaVine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 ($45), cellared and bottled by Serene Cellars in Napa. This dark ruby beauty is loaded with wild blackberries, dark chocolate, cardamom and cassis. Roasted smokiness on the nose and a palate brimming with strawberry, currant, pomegranate and brown sugar make every mouthful pure pleasure. With its peppery flavors and a delightful finish of cherry jam and mocha accents, this is a bold and luscious wine to be reckoned with. My friends loved it and I was glad I had taken this dynamic wine to pair with such splendid food.
Operated by MJA Vineyards and owner Marin Artukovich, who is just as adept at growing superb coffee beans as he is at making fine wine—100 percent pure Kona on his plantation in Hawaii—other varietals made under the DaVine label are equally impressive. Head to the tasting room on the Westside of Santa Cruz and try MJA's other offerings as well. The tasting room is open daily from noon to 6 p.m. in the Swift Street Courtyard complex, and each tasting ends with an excellent cup of pure Kona coffee.
Happy New Year to you all.
MJA Vineyards, 328 Ingalls St., Santa Cruz, 421-9380. mjavineyards.com. Fandango Restaurant, 223 17th St., Pacific Grove, (831) 372-3456. Fandangorestaurant.com.
The Bench at Pebble Beach
Perched above the 18th green at Pebble Beach is a new restaurant called The Bench—a bright and cheery casual restaurant which has all been redone and replaces the rather dark Club XIX. I had a delicious lunch there recently and loved the bright open space of the new sun room. The Bench also sells wine on tap—four whites and four reds. I had a lovely Tangent Winery Albarino for $10 a glass. 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, 800-654-9300, pebblebeach.com.


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Cache la Poudre River, Fort Collins?
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Sidney, Nebraska
Posts: 480
Re: Cache la Poudre River, Fort Collins?
I live in Sidney Nebraska, only 100 miles east from Cheyenne and I go over there and to Fort Collins quite a bit. There is the Poudre, but like Larry said, it got hit HARD by fires this summer. I had to drive 30 miles up the canyon to get past the burn, and still didn't do so well. There's also the Big Thompson over by Loveland that fishes well, despite having a lot of fishing pressure. In the immediate Cheyenne area I haven't heard of anything...that might because I didn't look that hard because I don't want to spend $160 on an out of state license. If you're willing to drive about 180 miles, there is Grey Reef, which arguably holds some of the better trout fishing in the country. About 80 miles north east of Cheyenne is Torrington Wyo near the Nebraska border, and I know for sure of at least 1 nice creek over there that has a very healthy population of wild rainbows. If you venture over to Nebraska there are a lot of wild rainbow and brown trout fishing opportunities in creeks near Scottsbluff. If you go even further into Nebraska you'll eventually hit Ogalalla (180ish miles from Cheyenne), this is where I spend a lot of my time fishing for trophy sized rainbows, its also known for monster Wiper. So...within a 200 mile radius you have A LOT of good fishing opportunities. Once you get situated in Cheyenne we will have to see about meeting up and doing some fishing!
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Hey all,
I'm enjoying IW a lot more than I thought I would after playing the demo. I'm still kind of bummed out that so many of my favorite aspects of DX1 seem have to been tossed out the window for the sake of simplicity, but for the most part, I think the developers have done a decent job of creating an interesting, open-ended playing experience. The game just lacks the polish of minor details that helps to really emerge the player into the game's world.
One thing that's really been bugging me, though, is the apparent lack of the trademark Denton "non-lethal takedown." In DX1, it normally took several whacks of the baton to take down a NSF or MJ-12 trooper, but if you snuck up on them and delivered one, solid strike to the middle of their back, you could get a silent, one-hit knockout (or kill) with just about any melee weapon. I thought this feature was extremely cool, and it's sorely missed in IW. So far, I've been relying on a tactic by which I give them a good shock with the riot prod and then smack them in the head repeatedly with the baton. I guess it gets the job done just the same, but it's not nearly as badass (and what's with the riot prod, anyhow? That thing doesn't deliver nearly as strong a shock as it should). And it's not really silent, either; even a guard who's just been shocked with the prod will still yell out (though apparently no one hears him), and he'll still almost always draw his weapon on you before you can bring him down.
The one-hit takedowns of DX1 provided a tangible incentive for playing stealthily, which I feel is missing from IW. It allowed players to quickly and silently eliminate enemy resistance. Especially early on in the game, when your skill with weapons was generally pretty poor (another thing I'm missing in DX2--perhaps not necessarily a skill system per se, but some sort of measurable progression in weapon skill), being able to knock out a NSF trooper was a valuable ability, since even one of them could give you trouble. IW provides you with no such incentive.
If I might digress a moment, I'd like to make one more somewhat obscure observation before I call it quits: I just don't feel like nearly as much a badass in IW as I did in DX. JC had attitude, and he had quite a few well-written, intimidating, very cool lines of dialogue. IW perhaps provides a more open-ended approach to navigating obstacles (the ability to knock out laser trip-wires or block them with objects, for instance), but it offers much less appealing methods for dealing with adversaries. There were say many cool ways to fight in DX; if I came across a MJ-12 trooper guarding an office, for example, there were dozens of ways I could go about eliminating him. I could pump him full of lead, or blow him to bits, or scramble the nearby security bot, or turn the room's turret against him. Or, if I wanted to go about it stealthily (and non-lethally), I could throw a gas grenade into the room (which stuns in DX, unlike in IW) and then bring him down with tranqulizer darts while he's still under the effects of the gas. Or, one of my personal favorites, I could pepper spray him in the face and then prod him. Granted, you can do a lot of this stuff in IW too, but there just don't seem to be as many innovative ways to own biatches as I would have liked.
Okay, I'm done ranting.


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AMD A10-6800K Quad-Core Unlocked APU/Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-DS2 mATX MB/8GB DDR3 1600 Patriot Viper Xtreme Memory/2X LED Case Fan/Ultra Xblaster case w/450W PSU BarebonesItem#: B69-00166 | Model#: AD680KWOHLBOX Bundle
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Avocado and Pink Grapefruit Salad with CorianderPublished: November 2008
Ingredients2 Servings
- 2 pink grapefruits
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, cracked
- 2 cups
- 1 small avocado, halved, pitted, peeled
Using small sharp knife, cut off peel and white pith from 1 grapefruit. Cut grapefruit crosswise into 4 slices. Cut second grapefruit in half and squeeze enough juice to measure 3 tablespoons. Whisk juice, olive oil, and next 6 ingredients in small bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Toss greens with 2 tablespoons dressing in medium bowl and divide between 2 plates. Arrange grapefruit slices and avocado alongside and spoon remaining dressing over.
Photograph by Misha Gravenor Photography


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Ross Ainslie Bright Grey and Scottish Provident managing director, said: "Throughout last year the businesses went through a significant overhaul to enable us to compete in difficult trading circumstances and challenge the established players in the market.
"As well as enhancing the products across Bright Grey and Scottish Provident, we amalgamated the sales forces and carried out six months of concerted marketing and sales engagement to help advisers develop and strengthen their business.
"This sustained activity meant that we saw a very strong finish to the year, which I'm delighted to say we've continued into 2012."
And he added: "This year we're helping advisers sell more protection with support from Bright Grey's Magic Circle and Scottish Provident's Next Level campaigns, which give them the tools and marketing material to secure more business.
"It's going to be a year of unprecedented change for the industry with the introduction of RDR, the gender directive and I-E, but with these changes comes a huge potential for advisers to engage with and build their client base, and this year's marketing and sales activity will focus on these opportunities."
PVNBP figures are the present value of new business premiums.
The PVNBP figures are calculated as new single premiums plus the expected present value of new regular premiums.


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But I have to admit I'd missed the article by Mr Abbott himself in this disgraceful campaign (thanks to the reader who pointed it out) in which he attempts to offer, as reader PM notes, the JFK defense that it isn't up to Government to make moral decisions for people!
The only problem is that this defense, which effectively sees an absolute divide between Church and State, rather than our faith informing what we do in the public square, is that it is completely counter to the teachings of the Catholic faith.
As Archbishop Chaput put it, the principles articulated in President Kennedy's famous Houston speech were "sincere, compelling, articulate—and wrong." Like many others I suspect, I'm rather less convinced of the first three descriptors in the current case. But for those who want to give him the benefit of the doubt, consider what Mr Abbott actually said.
The JFK defense
Mr Abbott seems to think that governing is some morally neutral technocratic process that doesn't actually involve making moral choices - like say making laws that prohibit murder, and refuse to support it through taxpayer funding. He claims that:
"A minister's job is to implement the policy of the government and to administer departmental programs. It is not to make moral decisions for people. Governments should do what's best based on expert advice and keep prudent control over expenditure, as taxpayer dollars are not inexhaustible, but otherwise leave people to decide what's right for them.
And he then rejects any credit for his record when in Government:
"Contrary to myth, as health minister I never sought to restrict access to the morning-after pill, never sought to prevent the importation of RU486 and never sought to limit access to abortion."
In fact Mr Abbott then goes on to note that he even defended the use of taxpayer funding for IVF for older women! So how is directing my hard earned contributions to indulging the consumerist attitude to children not a moral decision exactly?
IVF is an attack on women as well as murder
One of the saddest aspects of this shameless campaign for power is Mr Abbott's failure to recognise that IVF is actually an assault on women. He comments in relation to his Chief of Staff, Peta Credlin's experience:
"I had some inkling of what IVF involved but hadn't really grasped the multitude of appointments, tests and, above all, injections: big needles, small needles, this drug, that drug. Then there was the roller coaster of raised and dashed hopes, month after month."
So why go through all of this?
Well, because many have this secularist notion that we can control every aspect of our bodies, even down to fertility.
We live in a society where people feel they are 'entitled' to a child, and for the Government to help them obtain one, no matter the circumstances. Yet a society that is also prepared to murder its unborn rather than allow infertile couples to adopt.
And where most of the true cost of all this pressure to be 'perfect', even down to the shape of our genitals, is borne by women.
Which is worst, the Liberals or Labor?
A few people yesterday suggested that Abbott's comments may be disappointing but Labor are, on balance worse on this front, because they are led by an atheist.
I'm not a Gillard/Labor fan any longer (I can't forgive them for reopening Nauru inter alia) but I can't say that this argument seems to hold much water on the face of it.
For all their failings (most of which can be attributed to the legacy of Rudd), at least Labor do actually recognise that funding and other decisions actually do reflect our moral choices, and at least occasionally try to do the right thing, for example in moving forward on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and reform of welfare to discourage the rort that was the Sole Parent Pension. Moreover, they've actually done a good job in managing the economy (thank goodness they've finally ditched that silly no deficit ever rhetoric) in a difficult international environment.
By contrast, the Opposition have consistently shown over the last two years that they reject the very foundations of our Constitution, through their rejection of the idea that legitimacy of Government depends on controlling the House of Representatives.
A judge found that assorted Queensland Liberals, led by the inimitable Mal Brough have actually attempted to pervert the justice system in a bid to oust the Speaker of the House.
They've adopted a 'just say no' attitude to all proposals, good and bad.
And they've made clear that their only moral compass is what will get them votes.
It is now absolutely clear that neither side is going to do anything positive on life issues unless we, the people, and can pressure them into doing so.
And since most of the time these issues are the subject of 'conscience' votes, we probably have to give a lot of weight to individual candidate views rather than worrying about which party we vote for.
Because at the party level, it's pretty much Hobson's choice as far as I can see...
PS A reader tells me that Mr Abbott is resident in the diocese of Broken Bay rather than Sydney, so no chance of his own bishop speaking up I guess (only nine months to go, though, before Bishop Walker turns 75!).
Still, that wouldn't normally stop the Cardinal speaking out on a matter of politics...


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Chrysler's Imported From Detroit™ trademark continues to inspire everyone who gets knocked down to get back up, to persevere even when it looks bleak, and to help others with that indefatigable Detroit Spirit. Chrysler is proud to partner with local organizations to help in their dedication to solving problems and lifting up the community. This month, we're taking a look at one of our Imported From Detroit partners, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan have been "saving lives" since 1926. For children who live with incredibly difficult family problems, poverty, failing grades or other situations through no fault of their own, the BGCSM serve as a "home away from home." With 13 club sites around Southeastern Michigan, the Boys & Girls Clubs serve an astounding 23,000 kids in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties.
Programming at BGCSM is centered on providing a safe haven in which children can participate in development programs, sporting activities, and events in order to help them grow into "responsible, self-reliant, and caring individuals." Instead of being alone or at risk after school – the hours in which many dangerous situations and destructive habits occur – children are given a place to develop.
Children who become involved with BGCSM are much more likely to graduate high school, college, earn more money, and less likely to drop out, use drugs, and become a teen parent. The results speak for themselves and we're proud that IFD and BGCSM are partners to positively impact local youth – and our future leaders.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Imported From Detroit merchandise go directly to Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan.
For more information and to learn about volunteer opportunities, please visit http://www.bgcsm.org/