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Thursday's Hamilton County Commission meeting began a little later than usual because Mayor Claude Ramsey and nearly all of the county commissioners were at a ceremony announcing a major Volkswagen supplier was coming to Chattanooga.
"I can tell you that what you saw this morning, you'll see more out of that company and you'll see more opportunities," Mr. Ramsey said.
Gestamp Corp., a Michigan subsidiary of Gestamp Automocion, announced it would build a $90 million plant at Enterprise South industrial park.
The company will purchase the land for the plant from the city and the county, Mr. Ramsey said. The commission is expected to vote Wednesday on the sale.
City Councilman Andraé McGary is using Facebook to become more transparent with his constituents.
Mr. McGary posted a video of himself on his page. He is asking for people to watch the video, ask him a question and comment on the page. Then on Tuesday he will come back with answers to any questions concerning the council or the mayor's office.
"Come back later next week and see if I answer your question in my next video," he writes. "Feedback is always welcome. Peace."
During City Council committee meetings Tuesday, questions were raised about what would be printed on a set of billboards advertising air pollution control.
Council Chairman Jack Benson directed his question to Mayor Ron Littlefield, who was sitting in the audience.
"Mr. Mayor, you don't know about anything about those beer boards, uhmmm, billboards?" he asked.
The audience laughed.
"No, I don't," Mr. Littlefield replied.
Later on it was learned that the billboards would encourage people to drive and mow less.
knowles wins achievement award
The National Association of Counties has awarded Hamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles' office a 2009 Achievement Award, according to a news release from the office.
The award recognizes Mr. Knowles' office for making marriage records available online.
"I am thankful to NACO for highlighting this extra dimension of service we are offering citizens," Mr. Knowles said in the statement. "My staff and the county's professional IT Department worked hard to make local marriage records available on the Internet."
Take Root, an urban forestry project in Chattanooga, has won the 2009 Governor's Environmental Stewardship Award, officials said.
The award recognizes voluntary actions taken by organizations and individuals to protect and improve Tennessee's natural environment.
Take Root, led by City Forester Gene Hyde, planted more than 600 trees across Chattanooga in the winter and spring months.
Compiled by staff writers Cliff Hightower and Matt Wilson
E-mail Cliff Hightower at email@example.com
E-mail Matt Wilson at email@example.com


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British Education Centre
Location: 51B AMOY STREET, Singapore, Singapore, 069877, SingaporeOur exciting and interactive course leads to the London Teacher Training College Diploma in TESOL. Study in our excellent central TEFL / TESOL training centre - qualified and experienced native English speaker trainers. Teach English, change lives.
Phone: 63364602
Phone: 63364602
Choose from our 8-week morning class course, 12-week evening class course and 4-week intensive course options for the Diploma in TESOL. Enjoy our great resources and 1000+ volume library. The experience of our trainers in teaching English, also in administration of schools, enables you to really understand what it is to be a teacher in a variety of teaching situations. We assist you to find a teaching post and we offer free use of our teaching facilities to allow you to start your own education project. Probably the best TEFL / TESOL course in the region.
Visit British Education Centre

subset: commoncrawl


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John P. Kotter; Dan S. Cohen
|Format: Hardcopy Black & White
|Also Available In:
|English PDF
|List Price: $7.46
|Source: Harvard Business Press Chapters
|Publication Date: Jun 17, 2002
|Product #: 4679BC-HCB-ENG
|Discipline: General Management
|Length: 19 p, English Hardcopy Black & White
After short-term wins have been achieved, and momentum built, leaders must continue to maintain a sense of urgency about change and not declare victory prematurely. This chapter describes how some organizations have tackled the challenge of keeping energy and urgency up through wave after wave of change.
This chapter is excerpted from "The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations."
To help you formulate ways to maintain urgency around change while aggressively ridding yourself of work that wears your organization down.
Implementing strategy; Leadership; Organizational change; Organizational management


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WATERLOO, Ontario — The United States, no more but no less than other countries, tends to make self-centered assessments of other countries' policies. This is one reason Washington missed the Iran factor as the most likely explanation for Saddam Hussein's deliberate ambiguity about a weapons-of-mass-destruction capability.
Washington may be committing a similar error with respect to Iran's nuclear motives. Iranian security concerns are focused as much to the east on Pakistan as to the west on Israel. Iran's quest for nuclear weapons may be aimed at meeting the Sunni threat — not just the Israeli threat.
Of course, like most other countries, Iran's security policy is driven by multiple motives. Also like others, while it may hope for the best, Iran must be prepared for the worst. Since Iraq was attacked and occupied after having disarmed, other countries who have reasonable cause to fear a U.S. attack have a powerful incentive to acquire nuclear weapons to deter such an attack.
Given the long and lamentable history of Western interference and intervention in Iranian affairs, coupled with the continuing bellicose rhetoric directed at the Iranian regime, Tehran cannot discount an armed attack. Moreover, with so many of its neighbors nuclear armed — Israel to the west, Russia to the north, and Pakistan, China and India to the east — any prudent Iranian national security planner will most likely recommend an acceleration of the country's nuclear program.
China embarked on a deliberate act of proliferation to Pakistan in 1982 with the transfer of weapons-grade uranium and a blueprint for making a bomb that China had already tested. Pakistan's first nuclear test was carried out for it by China during Benazir Bhutto's prime ministership in 1990. This is why Pakistan was able to respond to India's nuclear tests in 1998 within a fortnight.
Pakistan's nuclearization in turn set the stage for Iran's program to acquire urgency. Pakistan has the world's fastest growing nuclear arsenal today. In ignoring and dismissing India's warnings of a China-assisted weaponization program by Pakistan, Washington set the stage for India's — and Pakistan's — overt nuclear breakout in 1998.
In neglecting the Pakistan factor as a driver of Iran's nuclear policy, Washington may be reducing its leverage over Iran's actions. In projecting the threat from a potentially nuclear Iran to Israel, the West assimilates the problem into its nonproliferation agenda and keeps open the last resort possibility of a pre-emptive Israeli attack on Iran.
This is no reason for the rest of the world to leave it to the Western countries to lead the negotiations in both the International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.N. Security Council.
The aggressive Iranian posture in the Middle East is in part a reaction to its fears of being overwhelmed by Sunni countries around it. Iran is the Shiite island surrounded by Sunni countries, both Arab and non-Arab. Iraq is a Shiite-majority country, but the years of Sunni rule under Saddam Hussein and the ambiguity of Americans in finalizing the government in Iraq around its Shiite majority is looked at with great suspicion by Iran.
The decade-long Iran-Iraq war, when Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein's minority Sunni regime, was supported by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia among other neighboring Arab countries. The West politely ignored Iraq's aggression and even the United Nations imposed a moral equivalency between the perpetrator and victim of aggression. Iran has not forgotten all that.
Pakistan, the world's only Muslim nuclear power, is an immediate neighbor of Iran. So is Afghanistan. Tehran is opposed to Taliban domination of Afghanistan, at the expense of the sizable population of Hazaras, who are Shiite.
The growing nuclear arsenal of Pakistan, with Chinese help, poses two kinds of danger to Iran: The first is the possibility of Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of Taliban or al-Qaida, both of whom are anathema to the Iranians, as much as they are to India and the West. Iran harbors suspicions that Pakistan could be the provider of last resort of nuclear material and weapons to Sunni countries hostile to Shiite Iran. After all, Libya tried to buy nuclear weapons from the infamous Abdul Qadeer Khan syndicate, backstopped by Pakistan's armed forces, and the same group was accused of helping the Iraqi search for WMD.
If the Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons is seen as a search for security in a hostile Sunni region, and not just as the desire to destroy Israel, it opens up possibilities of solutions other than the one based solely on the current approach.
Countries in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf fear the nuclearization of Iran as they form the first line of attack of a Iranian nuclear weapon. But they are not quite ready to publicly oppose Iran's nuclear ambitions as long as Israel has nuclear weapons.
Innate caution and the ambivalence of the gulf countries loaded with emotional hostility toward Israel make it expedient for them to leave the issue to be handled by Washington. They should be brought into an active involvement in the dialogue process with Iran, which is currently restricted to the U.S. and EU countries, just as Japan and South Korea are integral partners in the six-nation dialogue process with North Korea.
If Iran is to be dissuaded from the nuclear weapons path, a realistic assessment of its threat perception is essential. It needs reassurance against Sunni hostility as much as against Israeli and Western threats of invasion and regime change.
Few Western powers covered themselves in glory in the 20th century either in their understanding of or in their influence over Middle Eastern countries. A continued failure to grasp the security calculus behind Iran's interest in nuclear weapons will fail to check proliferation.
Prakash Shah is a former Indian ambassador to the U.N. and a U.N. special envoy to Iraq. Ramesh Thakur is a political science professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a former U.N. assistant secretary general.


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Angelina Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, and her partner Brad Pitt took time out this week for a journey to Syria, where they met with Iraqi refugees as well as the Syrian President.
After speaking with a mother named Hoda, who had once been kidnapped for ransom along with her son, the star of The Changeling told her, "There's a lot of suffering in this part of the world; you're a very brave and strong woman for putting this behind you for the sake of your children."
Though the kids didn't join Brad & Angelina at the refugee camp, they were apparently along for their trip to the Middle East. Later in the day the couple returned to Amman, Jordan, where they were spotted bringing their 1-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne to Licky Licious Ice Cream Shop for a special treat.


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Women aren't aware of heart disease and stroke risk
The Heart and Stroke Foundation 2011 Stroke Report warns that stroke awareness is dangerously low among all women, especially among women from Canada's largest visible minorities — people of Chinese and South Asian descent.
The polling found that women are not aware that stroke and heart disease are their leading cause of death.
For Canadian women overall, 53 per cent are unable to identify that stroke and heart disease are responsible for one in three deaths, while the number for women of Chinese and South Asian origin is 84 per cent.
"Heart disease and stroke are the leading cause of death in women. The real tragedy is that 80 per cent of strokes are preventable, whether you're a man or a woman," said Dr. Frank Silver, Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesman.
Stroke affects women and men of all ages. More than 50,000 strokes occur in Canada every year, one every 10 minutes. About 300,000 Canadians live with the effects of stroke. In Canada, stroke kills 32 per cent more women than men.
Women's awareness of stroke warning signs is poor.
Stroke warning signs and symptoms are: sudden loss of strength/numbness in face/arm/leg, even if temporary; sudden difficulty speaking/understanding/confusion, even if temporary; sudden loss of balance, especially with other signs; sudden trouble with vision, even if temporary; sudden severe/unusual headaches.
Women also had low awareness of stroke risk factors, which include: high blood pressure; smoking; high cholesterol; obesity; stress; family history; physical inactivity; age; heart disease; diabetes; excessive alcohol consumption.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation has launched two stroke apps to help Canadians lower their stroke risk. These are the My Heart&Stroke Health Check Recipe Helper Smartphone app and the My Heart& Stroke Blood Pressure Action Plan app.
For more information see www.heartandstroke.ca/mobileapps.


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This week get to know a new member of My developerWorks in this interview with Brian Benz. He's an XML enthusiast who's also a blogger, author, and entrepreneur. Learn more about Brian in the interview below and you can also find more about him here: Brian's My developerWorks profile - Blog - Twitter
What was your first job?
I started work quite young - my first job was at 14 working in a ski shop installing bindings and lots of maintenance work that ski shops don't do anymore due to product improvements. Is that far enough off topic?
How did you get started in the IT industry?
I always had an interest in computers. My first computer was a commodore 64 with a cassette drive. In 1980/81 I developed a few functions on an Apple II using Applesoft basic, but that was just a hobby. My first real paid tech job was in London, UK, in the early 80's programming and maintaining business functions on IBM System 32, 34 and 38. In my spare time I started automating some tedious manual tasks on what was an unused novelty in the office at the time - an original IBM PC using Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase. The more I worked on the PC, the faster I could do my job, and the more spare time I had to figure out how to automate more tasks – I was hooked!
What are you currently working on?
Several client projects, building some XML, Lotus Notes and Data Analytics products, setting up 2 new companies and Web sites (http://www.benztech.com and http://www.datavida.com), creating a new XML format for sharing unstructured data (http://www.udml.org), and working on an update to the XML Programming Bible.
What's the most fun project you've worked on?
Definitely creating UDML. It's nice to work with a clean slate and do something that you think could make life easier for a lot of people.
What are a few of your favorite development tools and why?
The absolute best tools I've ever worked with are the Altova suite of tools, especially XMLSpy (http://www.altova.com) . Anyone who works with XML, SOA, or even standards-compliant Web content development should try these tools and see why for themselves. Other than that, Eclipse tools are what I work with the most, plus Microsoft Visual Studio, SharePoint Designer, InfoPath, and IBM Lotus Domino Designer.
Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
Not a gadget person per se, but I love my iPhone. The apps and music functions let me connect to my music library, friends, social networks, and the Web in ways that I haven't with other phones. It's actually changed my life in a few ways, all for the positive.
How do you use developerWorks?
Mostly to connect with my fellow developers and share tips and advice. Like most geeks these days, I don't know everything, but I know where I can find everything quickly. developerWorks is definitely one of the resources I use to learn quickly when I need to.
Are you a blogger? Author? On Twitter?
My blog is Software Soapbox at http://ww.softwaresoapbox.com.
I've published three books - one for IBM and two for Wiley. Also many magazine articles and presentations. My full list of publications can be found at my personal Web site at http://brianbenz.com
I'm also on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbenz, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bbenz , FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Benz/1412015686, and FriendFeed at http://friendfeed.com/bbenz.
What are some of your favorite Twitter accounts to follow?
It's a mix of tech, local news, and fun. Aside from @developerworks, I also follow @craignewmark, @davewiner, @forkflylasvegas, @edbrill, @cnnbrk, @WholeFoods, @jowyang, @dsearls, @TechCrunch, @CaesarsPalace, @happn_in_vegas, @xbrlblog
Thanks Brian!
Blog Authors: Valerie Skinner 060000VKGS is part of the IBM developerWorks team, getting to know the real developers who make up the My developerWorks community and exploring the world of social networking. I'm enjoying learning what makes developers tick! I'm very interested in exploring online communities and social media and understanding real world application - how they can help people solve problems and work together.
Inteview with Brian Benz, author of the XML Programming Bible
vskinner 060000VKGS Tags:  mydw xml brian_benz interview 1 Comment 4,126 Views


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Not really sure of the category...an emerging story that I will continue with if feedback is good.
Gage Malone sat silently in the dark corner, surveying the dimly lit tables. People seemed to disappear and reappear in and out of the brighter lights of the hall. The only clue to his existence was the occasional orange glow from the Cuban cigar. Each pull momentarily bit his tongue before it was caressed with the salty-sweetness from the ground tobacco. The spicy smoke curled beneath his...Read On
Avg Score: 5 |
Views: 5,366 |
Words: 1,628 |
Tags: bdsm voyeur exhibitionism group bi-sexual
| 1 Comment
A friend asked me to set up a mfm for her. I did one better.
A few years ago, a friend of mine wanted to have a mfm, including dp. I told her I would set it up for her. To give a visual, Janice is 5'4". She has a very large butt as well as large breasts. She defines "bbw". She has both pierced nipples and a hood ring. Despite 2 kids, she has a very tight pussy. Sexually, there is pretty much nothing that she will not try (except for bi - she...Read On
Added: 07 Jul 2011 | Category: Group Sex |
Avg Score: 4.75 |
Views: 15,827 |
Words: 1,819 |
Tags: mmfm oral anal squirting dp
| 3 Comments
A poem I wrote long ago, about lust and longing
What would it be like to touch you? To pull you close and hold you? The desire makes my heart burn. Yet, I can not. What would it be like to feel your breath upon my cheek? To hear you breathe, the whisper of your sighs? The thought of this excites me. Yet, I can not. What would it be like to undress you? To expose your breasts to the light? To feel the soft skin,...Read On
Added: 18 Sep 2012 | Category: Love Poems |
Avg Score: 4.71 |
Views: 1,464 |
Words: 191 |
Tags: love lust longing desire forbidden
| 2 Comments
A poem about a former lover.
I look at you, I feel so strong; how could my lust, be so wrong? I see you move, right close to me; I want to melt, when you dance and swing. you come to me, I stretch my arms; I feel your body, oh so warm. I feel your breasts, press into me; your blue eyes shine, and me they see. I feel your lips, upon my neck; I shudder, but, my passion's checked. come to me, I pull...Read On
Added: 15 Aug 2012 | Category: Love Poems |
Avg Score: 5 |
Views: 1,587 |
Words: 250 |
Tags: love lust oral sex desire memories of you
| 1 Comment
A short poem about being free
The Promise (of your blossoming) to see you explore, learn, excite yourself to open your horizons, to see you feel those things kept inside your hidden desires your deepest thoughts when you are alone in the dark in the night that only you know to see you experience those things to feel to taste to...Read On
Added: 07 Dec 2010 | Category: Love Poems |
Avg Score: 5 |
Views: 1,410 |
Words: 134 |
Tags: lust poem
A fantasy story I wrote for a friend years ago.
Gillian had been my best friend almost since I had known her. When we met, I was dating her best friend, Diane. Diane had confided in me early on that she wanted to have sex with another woman. We were fortunate enough to achieve that goal, several times. I was lucky enough to be present every time. A few months after Diane had her first f/f experience, she began to talk about Gillian. She...Read On
Added: 27 Nov 2010 | Category: Love Stories |
Avg Score: 5 |
Views: 4,373 |
Words: 5,180 |
Tags: m/f ff
| 2 Comments
My first story from a woman's perspective, about a hot woman who blows a gay bartender
It was just one of those nights. I was really horny, but not in the usual sense. I had this craving. I've had it before and I will have it again. I wanted to suck cock. Granted, I may have been a little buzzed, but that's not an excuse. I've been to bars many times. But this time, the desire to feel a cock in my mouth, getting harder, longer, spitting its pre-cum, and ultimately...Read On
Added: 25 Jun 2013 | Category: Oral Sex |
Avg Score: 4.33 |
Views: 6,605 |
Words: 1,881 |
Tags: oral sex gay bar woman
| 4 Comments
A true story that happened in 2003.
Gillian and I were lovers years ago, albeit briefly. Because of a variety of situations, we were never able to fully consumate our lust for each other, that is until last May 10, 2003. In the meantime, we did, however, remain friends. I wrote this in 2003, shortly after this happened. As I sit here and write this, Gillian has now left my life. I look at the pictures over my desk, and one...Read On
Added: 08 Jun 2011 | Category: Straight Sex |
Avg Score: 4.67 |
Views: 4,764 |
Words: 2,629 |
Tags: friends lovers oral anal straight sex
| 1 Comment
After weeks on the road, Jim comes home to Susan
Oh my God! Jim thought to himself, the last few weeks have been very grueling. It wasn't just the 15-hour work days, it was also the non-stop traveling. Having just arrived home from yet another trip, Jim felt the grime of the day's travel sticking to his body. On top of that, he had seen his wife Susan for only a few minutes here and there. Walking silently into his room, Susan was...Read On
Added: 04 Dec 2012 | Category: Straight Sex |
Avg Score: 4.5 |
Views: 3,323 |
Words: 1,073 |
Tags: m/f love passion shower
I take my girlfriend to a swinger's club and get to see her get pleasured by a big cock.
The first part of this story is true and happened a few months ago with my now-ex. The second part is what I hoped would have happened. Fact: We got to the swingers' club fairly early in the night. There were a few couples and quite a few single males. There were 2 women dancing on a stage, with a guy in a thong. Being one for attention, she wanted to join them on stage, and did....Read On
Added: 04 Jul 2012 | Category: Wife Lovers |
Avg Score: 4.86 |
Views: 9,421 |
Words: 1,626 |
Tags: sharing exhibitionism
| 3 Comments


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Hurricane Sandy: Latest Storm Headlines
Sandy strikes Monday Effects from Hurricane Sandy intensify Monday
Landfall: Likely early Tuesday AM in southern or central New Jersey.
Eyewall redevelops: Satellite trends show Sandy's eyewall has reformed. Sandy's eye is clearly visible Sunday night.
Some intensification? Warm water and jet stream energy may intensify Sandy before landfall
Triple Whammy: 5-11 ft storm surge; 15-20 ft waves, full moon high tide at 9pm EDT Monday for New Jersey, New York & Long Island
10 Million in the Dark? 10 million may lose power according to John's Hopkins University estimate (and that number may be low…)
60 million+ people affected in the "megalopolis" of NYC, Baltimore, Philly, Washington D.C. & Boston by Sandy's wrath
800 mile wide monster 40+ mph winds from Maine to Georgia
60 mph winds & 15-25 foot waves on Lake Michigan? as Sandy's northerly "fetch" pounds the south shore
"Blizzacane" 2 to 3 feet of snow and blizzard warnings for the Appalachian Mountains
NYC Subway System flood threat? a 6 to 11 foot storm surge on in Manhattan may flood a portion of NYC's Subway System
Multi-Billion Dollar Disaster? Irene caused 15.8 billion in damage. Sandy has the potential to exceed that total
NOAA did what?? No "Hurricane Warnings?" I'm aghast at this decision by NOAA & NHC…more below
Sandy Micro Update:
Thanks to Bill Endersen for keeping us up on the latest developments with Hurricane Sandy this weekend. I posted some pretty hefty blogs recently that fully describe the unique, even unprecedented character of Hurricane Sandy.
These are great reading if you want some deeper background on the storm, but way too time consuming (several hours each) to keep up with during the storm's rapidly changing "landfall evolution."
So I'm going to transition to a more headline driven approach the next few days, with supporting links so you can dig deeper into each aspect of this historic storm.
I'll also give you my latest synopsis and perspective on what's unfolding.
Here's the Sunday night version.
Latest Trends:
Sandy is showing (disturbing) signs of intensification…or at least better organization Sunday night. The inner core of the storm is getting better organized…more intense and more symmetric. Sandy's eye has refromed. You can see this clearly on the enhanced IR floater loop.
Sandy is still feeding off water over 25C, and beginning to absorb an injection of energy from the jet stream, cold front and upper air low pressure trough digging over the eastern USA.
Sandy's will actually deepen over the next 24 hours, with pressure falling below 950 millibars at landfall. That's the equivalent of a Category 3 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
Landfall: Near worst case scenario
NHC places official landfall in southern New Jersey…near Cape May or Ocean City.
Sunday night's NAM run brings it farther north and closer to New York City.
Either scenario is bad news for New York & Long Island. Southerly winds will drive a huge wall of water, a storm surge of 6 to 11 feet into New York Harbor at high full moon tide Monday night.
Waves of 15 to 20 feet are possible on top of the higher ocean surface for almost 24 hours. These waves will batter, severely test and possibly breach shoreline defenses.
Slow & Huge:
Sandy will slow down as it reaches shore Monday night. This is not good. This will increase the duration of pounding on the shoreline, and increase rainfall totals inland.
Sandy is huge, near record in size for a hurricane. With tropical storm force winds extending out 520 miles from the center, damage will be widespread. Trees in leaf will fall, and power lines will go down with them in at least a dozen states.
No Hurricane Warnings??
My jaw literally dropped when I heard this.
Because Sandy is transition into a "Post Tropical Cyclone" NOAA will not issue any Hurricane Warnings anywhere north of North Carolina for Sandy!
That means that even though a Category 1 Hurricane with 75 mph winds (and Category 3 central pressure) is forecast to slam into the East Coast Monday night, there will not be any Hurricane Warnings in effect at the time.
As a meteorologist who spends 365 days a year trying to painfully explain the difference between watches, warnings and constantly changing NWS definitions to listeners I am floored.
This is Hurricane Sandy. The effects on 60 million residents of the eastern USA will be that of a hurricane. People need to prepare for a hurricane, not a "post tropical cyclone." How do you even prepare for a "post tropical cyclone" anyway? Does NOAA have a "post-tropical cyclone" preparedness guide?
This may be the most blatant case of a "distinction without a difference."
NOAA and NHC have really dropped the ball here. The most important thing is to convey a sense of urgency and preparation to the public in advance of a dangerous storm.
Expect repercussions, and changes to official NWS "policy" after this one.
What the experts are saying:
WxUnderground's Jeff Masters:
However, the destructive potential of the storm surge was record high: 5.8 on a scale of 0 to 6. This is a higher destructive potential than any hurricane observed since 1969, including Category 5 storms like Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Camille, and Andrew. The previous highest destructive potential for storm surge was 5.6 on a scale of 0 to 6, set during Hurricane Isabel of 2003. Sandy is now forecast to bring a near-record storm surge of 6 – 11 feet to Northern New Jersey and Long Island Sound, including the New York City Harbor. This storm surge has the potential to cause many billions of dollars in damage if it hits near high tide at 9 pm EDT on Monday. The full moon is on Monday, which means astronomical high tide will be about 5% higher than the average high tide for the month. This will add another 2 – 3″ to water levels. Fortunately, Sandy is now predicted to make a fairly rapid approach to the coast, meaning that the peak storm surge will not affect the coast for multiple high tide cycles. Sandy's storm surge will be capable of overtopping the flood walls in Manhattan, which are only five feet above mean sea level. On August 28, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene brought a storm surge of 4.13′ and a storm tide of 9.5′ above MLLW to Battery Park on the south side of Manhattan. The waters poured over the flood walls into Lower Manhattan, but came 8 – 12″ shy of being able to flood the New York City subway system. According to the latest storm surge forecast for NYC from NHC, Sandy's storm surge is expected to be at least a foot higher than Irene's. If the peak surge arrives near Monday evening's high tide at 9 pm EDT, a portion of New York City's subway system could flood, resulting in billions of dollars in damage. I give a 50% chance that Sandy's storm surge will end up flooding a portion of the New York City subway system.
TWC's Bryan Norcross:
And in a possibly related cog-slipping development, the National Weather Service decided NOT to issue a Hurricane Watch for the Northeast coastline… are you ready for this… because it would be confusing to switch from that to a Coastal Flood Watch and a High Wind Watch after the storm – which will come ashore with hurricane-force winds – morphs into another kind of storm according to the meteorology dictionary.
Whether the missing Hurricane Watch sent the Mayor off-kilter, we'll see. But the criticism came hot and heavy… enough that the Weather Service wrote up a big media release to explain why the clearest possible communications is a bad thing.
I grant that a technical reading of the "rules" says that you can't put up a Hurricane Watch and a Coastal Flood Watch and a High Wind Watch at the same time. But I'm betting the rules didn't envision a super-mega-combo freak of a storm slamming into the most populated part of the country. When all hell is breaking loose, sometimes you've got to break a few rules to do the right thing.
There will be a whole lot of talk about this when the storm is over. Hopefully that will result in a communication policy that meets the world-class standards of the forecasting that goes on at the Hurricane Center and at Weather Service offices all over the country.
The bottom line… let's all get on the same page. The forecast calls for a massive, destructive storm to affect tens of millions of people. If the forecast is wrong, hooray. But so far it's been right, and the odds are this is going to be really bad for a lot of people. Everybody's goal should be to be sure that as many people as possible are as ready and aware as they can be.
Bottom Line: We are about to watch an unprecedented, slow motion weather disaster unfold in the eastern USA, with damaging effects from Maine to North Carolina and as far west as Chicago with pounding surf and 20-25 foot waves on Lake Michigan.
Stay tuned as we track the twist and turns of Hurricane Sandy as she turns for the coast Monday.


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Metal News for May 13, 2006
Last updated on September 20, 2017 at 1:05 AM ET
We post metal news every day, throughout the day, covering thousands of metal bands including underground and unsigned bands. You are currently browsing the news archive, but you can also find news by band.
14 news articles posted on this day.
Legion of the Damned Announce New Bassist
Dutch thrashers LEGION OF THE DAMNED (formerly OCCULT) have posted the following message on their official web site:
"During our last tour, bass player Twan Fleuren left the band because of family matters. After having spoken with Twan, we all decided that it was best for him to focus on his family and leave the band. Within no time we found a new member in Harold Gielen, who complements the band perfectly. He also plays the guitar in MANGLED and INHUME. Harold already joined LEGION OF THE DAMNED on the last day of the tour at the 013 venue in Tilburg and you'll definitely be seeing more of him in the future. We wish Twan Fleuren all the best in life and we welcome Harold Gielen to our line-up."
LEGION OF THE DAMNED's debut album, "Malevolent Rapture", was released in January 2006 via Boomer Entertainment/Massacre Records.
"Rebel Meets Rebel" Adds To Dimebag's Legacy
Launch Radio Networks reports: In stores [since Tuesday, May 2] is "Rebel Meets Rebel", an album featuring the last completed recordings by slain PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. The disc was recorded over a four-year period by Abbott, his brother and drummer Vinnie Paul, PANTERA bassist Rex Brown and country singer David Allan Coe. Vinnie Paul told Launch that the CD is a tribute to his late brother's talents. "It was a cool record, you know," he said. "It was just something that was really cool and something that's gonna add to Dime's incredible legacy that he already has. It's got some of the most stellar guitar work he's ever done in his entire life on there, and it was a fun record to make and it makes me feel like I'm still workin'with him right now. It's just one more thing that he did that's amazing, you know."
Darkane Give Post-Tour Update
Sweden's DARKANE have just returned from being on tour in Europe with Sadus and Glory Blister. Here's the official update from DARKANE guitarist, Christofer Malmström:
"We had a great time and the audiences were fantastic! After returning home to our hometown Helsingborg, we played a show here and filmed it with 9 cameras for a possible DVD. We are gonna listen to/watch the results within the upcoming days and see if it´s worth working on (mixing the sound and editing the video). If it´s good we might release it later this year together with extra material from our career. We've always brought a video camera on tours and studio recordings, so it might be a lot of fun to watch."
Live photos of DARKANE in Switzerland can be viewed in the "Gallery" section at metalpics.ch
Communic Set US Release of Sophomore Album
Nowegian metal band COMMUNIC are receiving praise in Europe for their sophomore album, "Waves Of Visual Decay." Waves Of Visual Decay will be released in North America on June 27th. You can download an MP3 of the track "Under A Luminous Sky" from this album at Nuclear Blast's site.
Sun Descends Forced To Cancel European Tour
New York City thrashers SUN DESCENDS have been forced to cancel their previously announced European tour due to accusations that were levelled against the trek's projected headliners, IMPALED NAZARENE, regarding their alleged neo-fascist views and lyrical content. IMPALED NAZARENE had to call off a portion of their European tour that was supposed to feature SUN DESCENDS in the support slot alongside MASTER.
Commented SUN DESCENDS vocalist Mem von Stein: "This has been a very hard blow for the band psychologically and financially. However, we refuse to give up and we will try to come and play in Europe before this year is over. We deeply regret these circumstances and want to state this situation occurred without us being at fault. We started working on new material for the follow-up to 'Incinerating the Meek', and are even considering recording the new SUN DESCENDS album in Germany."
Dry Kill Logic Return From UK Tour, Enter Studio
Dry Kill Logic just got home from touring England where they were reportedly blown away by the fan support and turnout. Playing to sold out crowds and wild kids every night, Jason Bozzi commented that, "It's good to see that kids still know how to dive off the P.A. systems."
From Wolverhampton, Cliff Rigano wrote, "Hey everybody! We're 4 shows into this tour and I can't even BEGIN to explain how amazing it has been so far! These shows have been off the wall and all the kids there have been INSANE!!! This is our first proper UK/Euro tour, and we are already planning our return - we should be back on tour in Europe in November!"
Upon landing down at JFK, DKL headed right into the studio to finish recording their upcoming album with Eddie Wohl and Rob "Goat on the Half-Shell" Caggiano of Scrap 60 Productions.
Dry Kill has also been busy with a side project called The Magellan Comlex. An official announcement on that matter is expected next week as well as the June release of The Magellan Complex, an EP/DVD tribute to the fans.
Pork Pie And Gorillas: Kane Of Fall To Grace
Fall To Grace out of Los Angeles, California has quickly started the big climb to the top of the metal heap and doesn't seem to be letting up soon. This is a band that sidesteps playing down the extreme and instead plays up the beauty of a well-written song. I rarely find myself ever listening to a band that is frankly way too far from the brutal path, but I will be the first one to stand and defend the honor and accomplishment in the art that Fall To Grace is presenting to the music world. I went to their drummer, Kari Kane, in attempt to get into the mechanics of this impressive metal unit. More...
Brutal In Seattle: Brandon Eckert Of Burnt Shadows
The bowels of Seattle, Washington have regurgitated up, Burnt Shadows, one of the more chilling and eerily death-sounding extreme metal acts in metal's underground today. It is an act that revisits the murder cry and blast beast of Acid Bath, while channeling the downright haunting thrash of Slayer. The band is made up of Brandon Eckert on vocals, Craig Saner on guitar, also including Dan Moore on guitar, Dave Moore playing bass and Tony Mitchell hitting the drums. They have made a serious impression on me from the first moment I heard their tracks on Myspace, and I am pleased to be taking a few moments with their extremely gifted singer, Brandon Eckert.
Onslaught To Play One-Off UK Date With Testament
Reformed classic British thrash outfit ONSLAUGHT will play a one-off date with TESTAMENT and XENTRIX at Bradford Rio's on June 3. This will be the only U.K. date that TESTAMENT will be playing with ONSLAUGHT and XENTRIX. It will be ONSLAUGHT's last U.K. appearance before going off to record their new studio album.
ONSLAUGHT will enter the studio the first week of July to begin recording their fourth CD, "Killing Peace", tentatively due in September via an as-yet-undisclosed label. The band's current lineup includes Sy Keeler (vocals), Nige Rockett (guitars), Steve Grice (drums), James Hinder (bass) and the group's latest addition, guitarist Alan Jordan (ex-MIRROR MIRROR, FRANKENSTEIN). Songtitles set to appear on the album include "Destroyer of Worlds", "Pain", "Tested to Destruction", "Burn", "Shock and Awe", "Prayer for the Dead", "Twisted Jesus", and "Killing Peace".
ONSLAUGHT recorded three albums in the late 1980s - including the underrated "In Search of Sanity" (1989, Polydor), featuring ex-GRIM REAPER frontman Steve Grimmett - before calling it a day.
Disfear Kick Off Tour w/ Rumpelstilskin Grinder
Sweden's DISFEAR performed the first show of their North American tour in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church with label-mates RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER and others on Friday, May 12. From there, the crust-rock destroyers will be hitting major cities in the North, East, Mid-West and Canada with fellow label mates MISERY INDEX along with Strong Intention and more during the course of the tour. A complete listing of DISFEAR tour dates can be found below.
This is DISFEAR's second North American visit since the release of their Relapse debut, Misanthropic Generation. Upon returning home from this tour, they will finish up work on the follow-up album to Misanthropic Generation that is expected to see a late 2006 / early 2007 release via Relapse.
Currently confirmed Disfear tour dates are as follows: More...
Andromeda Announce More Live Dates
Swedish quintet ANDROMEDA have lined up the following dates in September:
Sep. 9-10 - Raismesfest - Raismes, FRA
Sep. 11 - Noveau Casino - Paris, FRA
Sep. 12 - Spirit of 66 - Verviers, BEL
Chrome Division Sets Release Date For Album
Led by DIMMU BORGIR's Shagrath on guitar, CHROME DIVISION features Eddie Guz (The Carburetors) on vocals, Ricky Black on guitar, Luna (Ashes To Ashes) on bass, and Tony White (Minas Tirith) on drums.
Recorded at Panzer Studio in Oslo, Norway, the band's stripped down, groove-laden debut album, Doomsday Rock 'N Roll, is set to be released in North America on August 8th. You can view photos of the band in the studio here.
Blind Guardian Photos w/ New Drummer Online
Marking the live debut of BLIND GUARDIAN's new drummer, Frederik Ehmke, several photos from the band's May 5th show in Rijssen, Holland have been uploaded here
BLIND GUARDIAN's recently issued single, entitled "Fly," was released in North America on April 18th. The group's new studio album, tentatively entitled of Twist In The Myth, is due later this year.
Bleed The Sky Offers Update From The Road
Bleed The Sky guitarist Kyle Moorman offers this update from the road while on the Jagermeister-sponsored tour with Ill Niño, God Forbid, Silent Civilian and Eyes Of Fire:
"This is the BEST tour we've been on! We've done two shows in New York City and Boston and both nights were awesome. We're always pushing ourselves to be better, to find new stuff to do on-stage, to give it our all for our live shows, and crowds like that definitely give us the energy we need to do that! Cristian [Machado, lead singer for Ill Niño] has watched our set every night. It's very flattering to have someone appreciating our music like that, and we're still on the road with our great friends in Silent Civilian. They REALLY helped us out when the transmission on our van blew up in Albuquerque by taking a lot of our gear in their trailer so we could make it home. I'll say it again: This is the BEST tour we've been on!"
Navigate forward or backward through each day of news below:


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Hi, I'm Liraz, co-founder of TurnKey Linux, an open source project developing a free virtual appliance library that features the very best server-oriented open source software. TurnKey Linux appliances are ready-to-use solutions that get you up and running in minutes on a virtual machine, bare metal or in the cloud.
We've been big fans of MindTouch for a while now. We use MindTouch Core internally and on our development wiki and love it, so we were excited when Aaron (MindTouch's CEO) invited us to guest blog and spread the word about what we're trying to achieve at TurnKey Linux and why you should care.
The project recently celebrated its one year birthday with a major release batch featuring:
- 25 new additions to the TurnKey Linux virtual appliance library, including a MindTouch Core appliance. This triples the size of the library to 40 appliances, and we're just getting started!
- more build formats: appliances are now available as VMDK with OVF support, an installable Live CD, and Amazon EC2 AMI.
Read more about our 2009.10 release here.
Over the last year the project has grown by leaps and bounds and is still picking up steam. It seems like only a short while ago we were excited about our 10,000th download. Now we're fast approaching our 100,000th download!
Let's back up a bit. Here's the story: the largest Linux distributions have over 23,000 packages which are free for both commercial and non-commercial uses, including updates. However, currently it can still take considerable skill and effort to cherry-pick the right components and glue them together into a compelling solution.
We've pre-integrated a collection (40 so far) of open source based solutions for nearly every need. Need a turn-key file server? Domain controller? Or maybe a web development framework (e.g., LAMP, Rails, Tomcat), content management system (e.g., Joomla, Drupal, WordPress), or a messaging solution (e.g., Zimbra)? And let's not forget MindTouch!
Our top 10 most popular appliances last week:
Plus, if we don't have just what you need appliances can easily be customized and extended using TKLPatch, a simple appliance modification mechanism that allows everyone to join in on the fun and satisfy the long tail of special needs. New appliances can be built quickly as patches to the closest starting point in the library.
It's easy because even our most basic appliance, TurnKey Core includes all of the standard features such as SSL support, AJAX web shell, and a rich web administration interface. In just 110MB.
Sound good? Come on and give it a try. And tell us what you think. TurnKey Linux has a friendly open source community that's ready to listen in and eager to help!


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Cadillac Repair Questions? Ask a Mechanic for Answers ASAP
Hello and thank you for using justanswer.
Start by disconnecting the negative battery cable.
Remove the serpentine belt.
Insert a breaker bar into the tensioner (6) and turn clockwise to release tension on the belt.
Remove the radiator.
Disconnect the wiring from the alternator.
Remove bolts securing alternator to the engine
Remove alternator from the engine.
Reverse procedure to reinstall.
u state i should remove radiator? it looks as thou i need to drain radiator and remove water pump so i can remove alternator, there is not enough room to remove alternator by itself. also how do you remove back seet to get access to battery? im looking for more step by step instructions
The water pump does not need to be removed.
To get the back seat out, grab under the front edge of the lower seat cushion and push in and up to release the catches. Then remove lower seat cushion from the vehicle.
Remove trans cooler line clamp from radiator.
Remove transmission cooler pipes from radiator.
Disconnect engine oil cooler pipe from the radiator.
Unplug wiring from fans.
Remove the two bolts from the fans and lift fans from the radiator.
Remove radiator hoses from radiator and remove upper brackets securing radiator, then tilt radiator back. Remove the bolts securing the condenser to the radiator.
Then lift condenser off the radiator mounting ears.
Then remove the radiator from the engine compartment.


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Test-drive a Brow Lift at home
NancyM on 23 Jan 2009 at 9:22am
I recently tested out Bring it Up Instant Lifts for a virtual brow lift; that is, see how close I could get to the results of an eyelift or brow lift surgery using the Bring it Up product.
While skeptical, there is something compelling about Bring it Up founder, cosmetologist Denise Horton. Ms. Horton has been down the cosmetic procedure path and was inspired to create Bring it Up after a not-so-great experience with an injectable (one that's not specifically mentioned on the Bring it Up site, but sounds an awful lot like Botox.)
Not one to be self-conscious, I figured I'd throw them on and wear them out about town. They worked.
Now, you won't achieve the results of cosmetic surgery. But if you want a subtle lift then this might be for you.
You apply the Bring it Up adhesive strips much like a band-aid: peel off the backing, press one-half on, pull, and press on the other half. They're really more invisible than I anticipated—especially if you've got bangs.
Of course, if you are considering a Brow Lift or eyelift, you need to speak with your plastic surgeon. Only he or she can advise you on the results you want to achieve. But for a glimpse at the possibilities (or a non-surgical alternative) Bring it Up Brow Lifts have my vote. And I'll be checking out Bring it Up Breast Lifts soon, too.


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Stream Scott Weiland's Christmas Album in Its Entirety
There are moments in life that leave you scratching your confused head until it bleeds. One of those moments for me was when I first heard about Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland's desire to record a Christmas album. It was like trying to understand the movie plot to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or why the Detroit Lions continued to keep Matt Millen employed for as long as they did. Well, Weiland's holiday project, entitled The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, will hit stores on October 25. However, impatient fans can stream the whole album now.


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I'm growing tomatoes for the second summer in a row, this year four huge plants that began with leaves, then flowers, now green tomatoes, larger every day. I keep checking on them, every time I'm outside, with the dog, to get the paper, about to go for a walk, impatiently waiting for them to ripen, to be ready to eat.
Most times, I pull away a few dead leaves–there are bunches of them–even though I have no idea if this is a good thing to do. I just want to help them along, do whatever I'm supposed to to make them redden. Last year, I'll be honest, I took the slew of my roma tomatoes inside too soon, mainly because I'd planted them near to the house (for easy watering) but also near a sprinkler head, which the plant grew over and then felt the effects of every day, making a whole side of it die of saturation. Bringing them in seemed the right thing to do then, the way to preserve them all from being ruined.
With this year's group, every time I pull away leaves, feel the branches of the vines between my fingers, I walk away with the most delicious smell that lingers on my hands. It's a mix of dirt and leaves and fresh, new-formed fruit all in one, the smell of tomatoes, the smell of summer.
It will probably be a few weeks, maybe a month? before my tomatoes are ready, and I'm just guessing this since I have no legitimate knowledge of how long tomato plants take to ripen. One thing's for sure: I'll be the first to notice when they're ready.
Meanwhile, though, a girl's got to get her summer tomato fix when she wants it (plus, I'm entering a contest). So I made the following pasta dish, as simple as a dinner can be really, one night after getting home from work. It's quick, it's easy, it's built on fresh, healthy ingredients that are as natural as they are packed with flavor.
Tomato Pasta Salad
based on a recipe I read at Last Night's Dinner
Your choice of pasta (I used angel hair)
Olive oil
Sweet tomatoes
1/2 to 1 ball of fresh, good-quality mozzarella
Fresh basil
Minced garlic
Cook the pasta on the stovetop, as directed on its packaging. When finished, drain and toss it with olive oil (be generous), sliced tomatoes, large chunks of sliced mozzarella, big pieces of fresh basil and bits of minced garlic.
I also baked up some garlic bread to go with it. Perfection!


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The city of La Vergne is virtually for sale as homes are flying off the market within days, and sometimes hours, of being put on the market.
So far this year, Bob Parks Reality reports closing on more than 240 houses, which is an increase from last year.
"I have situations where homes are under contract before I can show them to my clients," realtor Robert Carroll said. "It's definitely a hot market right now."
In one neighborhood, a home was on the market just two days before it sold.
Another buyer put her house on the market and had an offer in four hours.
Carroll said his clients seem to be more confident in the economy and are more comfortable making the commitment to buy a home.
"Houses are going really fast, so if someone sees one that they really like, they don't have a lot of time to think about it," he said. "If they want to buy, they need to go ahead and put a contract on it."
One of Carroll's clients spent several months looking for a home, but it took less than two weeks to sell their own.
Gerald McAlister lives in the Knollwood Drive area, where a number of homes are for sale.
The home next door sold in just two days.
"It makes me think my property is worth a lot more than when we were in a recession," he said. "It's a good time to sell."
The city of La Vergne told News 2 the housing boom is one of the more positive results from improvements to infrastructure, public safety and quality of life.
La Vergne purchased its fire department earlier this year. The city plans to hire 11 new firefighters with the money the city would have paid the for-profit company that was running the department.
"It is all coming together and we are really happy to welcome people to La Vergne," city spokeswoman Kathy Tyson said. "We are in a great location for people to come to."
Tyson said being able to attract more retail is also helping the city become a more attractive location for people to purchase homes.
"We have Walmart coming soon, we are hiring 11 new firefighters and we have the lowest crime we have had in a decade," she explained. "It does help the city, but more importantly, it is just a great place for families and other people to come and live."
According to Zillow.com, a real estate Web site, home values in La Vergne are expected to increase by around 4.5 percent over the next year.


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Update older Quine- tics bullet pullers (and copies/clones) with this universal chuck. Takes .22 thru .45 caliber cases and releases quickly; no need to remove the cap. Same as supplied in current model.
Mfr Part: CA100
Caliber: Universal
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It's Indiana State Fair Season…and it's the Year of the Coliseum…which means we have tickets to give away to YOU!
Listen all week for your chance to score tickets to see Lynyrd Skynyrd, American Idol Live, and Hunter Hayes!
Lynyrd Skynyrd with Jamey Johnson: July 31st, 7pm
American Idol LIVE: August 6th, 7:30pm
Hunter Hayes w/Dan+Shay: August 9th, 8pm
Good luck!


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After the big PS4 event earlier today, Sony Boss Shuhei Yoshida was on hand for many members of the press to ask him some big questions. While he wasn't exactly forthcoming with big answers, Yoshida did speak candidly about some concerns gamers had prior to the unveiling (like the blocking of used games) and some that arose after the event.
One the major questions gamers had after the event was why Sony didn't show a console? It was a PS4 event, yet there was strangely no PS4 in sight.
Obviously, this isn't the first time that a major console has been unveiled, but the device itself has not been talked about. Just look at what Nintendo did with the Wii U — they showed the new controller first, then let gamers take a gander at the console.
That same approach is being employed by Sony now, who wanted the focus in terms of hardware to be on the DualShock 4, Sony's newest iteration of their iconic controller. Because the presentation spent a good deal of time talking about the PS4's 'Share' feature, it was important that Sony show off the controller to better illuminate how sharing content works.
And, according to Yoshida, they still want to have more new stuff to show gamers in the future, perhaps at E3 2013. While the DualShock 4 isn't as big a leap as the Wii U gamepad was compared to the Wii-mote, it's still packaged with some new cool features. And so Sony decided to make this first unveiling more about the controller, new games, and a few new services, rather than actually showing off the PS4.
Here's specifically what Yoshida told Kotaku about the unveiling strategy:
"As far as the DualShock 4 is concerned we wanted to do the live demo. And we were like, yeah, we have to show the controller, because it's awkward not to show the controller when someone is doing a demo. And also the feature that the DualShock 4 has, the share button, is a very key idea behind the design of the PS4… We really wanted to explain what we've done with the DualShock 4, but as far as the system itself we have to keep something new for later. Otherwise you'd get bored."
For all we know, the PS4 design hasn't been finalized. However, Sony better start thinking about that quick, because Holiday 2013 is going to come sooner than they think.
Did you find it strange that Sony did not show off the console? Do you think the DualShock 4 was a more important showpiece?
Sony's PS4 will hit store shelves this holiday.
Source: Kotaku


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and they were naked? How much did you see? What did you do?
Most Helpful Girl
Yes. Even tho in my family we're very careful to knock, my brothers weren't shy. They worked out a ton and took good care of themselves so they felt extremely proud of their bodies. They never closed their doors if they were naked. Walking back from the shower they sometimes didn't bother putting clothes on. We got used to it pretty quick and it stopped being a big deal.
Me and my sisters were the opposite. No one ever say saw naked by accident, even each other. Seeing each other nude on purpose, is another story.00|00|1
Ever see them hard?
Would you ever do anything with your brothers I have 2 sisters


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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers have loaned defenseman Erik Gudbranson and forward Mike Santorelli to the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League.
Santorelli is scoreless in three games this season, and has 55 points over his 177-game NHL career.
Gudbranson has not yet appeared because of injury this season. The 21-year-old who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 draft by the Panthers had two goals and six assists in 72 games as a rookie last season.
The defending Southeast Division champion Panthers are off to a 1-5 start, the worst in the NHL. They play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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:lol: I think that's great! I read an earlier post you made about isolation...sounds like you've made a connection in your town! She learned that males can have lupus too and you didn't make her feel like an idiot, plus you met someone in your area who is nice and concerned for others. Win win situation.
I'm a terrible speller...always have been and I'm much worse when the brain fog kicks in. There are days I'm so spaced I cant remember how to put my socks on. It's okay to laugh about it here...but out there it could mean my job. There are alot of folks who dont understand.


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A WIDNES woman who made her neighbours lives hell by throwing late night drunken parties has been evicted.
Melissa Bradbury, aged 24, was thrown out of her Hale Road flat after Halton Housing Trust, Cheshire Police and neighbours gathered enough evidence to end her reign of terror.
Residents described living near her as a nightmare as they were subjected to 12 months of noise, threatening behaviour and excessive parties.
One neighbour was physically assaulted by her.
Arguing, screaming and shouting could regularly be heard coming from her flat which was in a block shared with 11 other tenants.
Despite being issued with an acceptable behaviour contract, Bradbury continued to break the rules of her tenancy agreement.
Anti- social behaviour officer at the trust, Alf Bean, said: "At Halton Housing Trust we are committed to stamping out anti-social behaviour in our homes.
"An eviction is always the last resort and we made a number of attempts to work with Miss Bradbury before the eviction, which she continued to ignore. This included extending her starter tenancy by a period of six months.
"Despite this, she continued her unacceptable behaviour with total disregard for those around her, even physically harming one of her neighbours. Customers living at Hale Road gathered together enough evidence which finally led to her eviction.
"All of our customers have a right to feel safe in their own homes and this eviction hopefully sends a strong message out that we do not tolerate ASB on our estates."


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Lost's Space-Time Backstory: Lost Season 5, Episode 6
Jack got his wish this week: He's back on the islandand he brought the whole gang along for the ride. After delivering them back via one very unlucky Ajira Airways flight (piloted by Frank Lepidus, whoin the show's coolest example of course correction thus farwas supposed to pilot the ill-fated Oceanic 815), last night's episode of Lost, "316," finally outlined just what all the time travel means and how it happens. Time travel guru Michio Kaku chimes in with a special post discussing his thoughts.
After four seasons following the harrowing exploits of the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 on and off their island, last night's episode of Lost, "316," dropped a huge piece of the jigsaw puzzle into the laps of the show's devotees.
Dharma Initiative scientists learned that unique pockets of electromagnetic energy exist at various points around the world, forming a network of tunnels through space-time. The Los Angeles-based station in which Mrs. Hawking and the castaways are standing, the Lamp Post, is itself constructed over one of these pockets. The most important gateway was a strange island, but efforts to find it proved futile--until one scientist decided to look for the island not where it was, but where it was going to be. By devising a series of equations, he was able to predict where the island would be at certain points in time, opening up windows that would allow people to get there. The island could not be found because it only appeared at certain points in space-time. This is the reason why the island appears and then disappears.
Is all this Hollywood mumbo-jumbo or is there any science to this delicious nonsense?
The "electromagnetic" origin of these time-connecting passageways doesn't make much sense scientifically (nor does having a huge pendulum mark one of the gateways, or the scenario that the survivors must duplicate the circumstances of their original plane crash), but what is feasible is that the Dharma scientists have stumbled on some "exotic matter" on the island. According to Einstein's equations, exotic matter is a mysterious substance that has anti-gravitational properties-it falls up rather than down. In the past, scientists have unsuccessfully searched for exotic matter since it is believed that if any had existed on the Earth billions of years ago, it would have been repelled by gravity and floated off into outer space.
But exotic matter is the Holy Grail of relativistic physics because it has an even more fantastic property: the ability to open gateways in the fabric of space and time. These gateways are called "wormholes," and they connect two points in space and time. With enough exotic matter, one can travel back to any point in space or time. The scientists of the Dharma Initiative could have found enough exotic matter on the island, perhaps a meteorite, to create a laboratory-the Orchid Station-which can serve as the entrance to the wormhole. In principle, these portals can connect different points in space as well as time. For example, this would explain how an entire island can move through time.
To make sense of Lost, think of time not as a superhighway, that unerringly takes you from one time to another, but more like a meandering river. According to Einstein, time is like Old Man River, speeding up and slowing down as it meanders through the cosmos. The new wrinkle on all this is that exotic matter can make the river of time form whirlpools and even fork into two rivers. When one enters the Orchid Station and enters the portal, one enters a whirlpool in time and is swept back into the past.


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Member since 7/30/2012
- 1 total post
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Questions from thomas811
Should I Have Otoplasty Revision with the Same Doctor? (photo)
I had otoplasty over a year ago and my Dr said he could give me the effect I wanted but didn't. The top my ears bend, you can clearly see it in my photos .Now he says he'll try... READ MORE


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Influential NASA Astronauts and Chief Space Scientist Chat With NPR
On Tuesday, NASA astronauts Cady Coleman, Serena Auñón, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, and NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan visited NPR headquarters to discuss women in STEM, space exploration, and more. People were able to send in questions via the hashtag #NPRSpaceJam.
Check out some of the highlights from their chat below:
On describing the experience of being in space
Samantha Cristoforetti: "I felt instantly at home in space. Visually, we understand the main thing about being in space is that you're weightless. And that's also sensationwise what you feel the most, of course. I loved it from the beginning. ... Of course, I was very clumsy, I couldn't move around elegantly — that came several weeks later, but I felt fine. I felt great. I enjoyed so much that feeling of being light, of being able to own that space in the three dimensions. Especially for the first weeks or even months, I just enjoyed going to eat on the ceiling or hanging out on the wall."
On working in space exploration
Cady Coleman: "I've been there a little longer and I think there's a balance between what you decide you're going to change and how you can change it. Spacewalking in the suit, it's particularly large and bulky, and I'd say that's the place where, at least for me, being in shape is important in terms of ability and confidence. I wouldn't always get invited to the spacesuit meetings. Guys of equal size or just a little bigger would get invited, so I would just show up and say, 'Oh you must have forgotten to invite me.' ... It used to surprise them that I had the spacesuit capability and I'm very proud to be qualified in a spacesuit. There's ways to change things, just by showing up and doing your job."
On the best depictions of space in the media
Cady Coleman: "I actually loved the 'Gravity' movie. ... There's a lot of things that are in terms in physics inaccurate, but to me it's about where they take you. The fact that I regret very much I can't take all the people that I love with me. And I think that that movie not only gives them the view but the feeling of having the view. Now I'm looking forward to seeing 'The Martian.'"
On surprising space discoveries and realizations
Ellen Stofan: "The fact that there was water once on Mars is not surprising; we've known that for a very long time. But our Curiosity rover has told us that water was stable on the surface for about a billion years. We're really excited about that because that's enough time, we think, to make it likely that life evolved on the planet. ... It's the place that we can send humans to go and hopefully find evidence that there is life beyond the Earth.
[But] if you're ever interested in sailing on an alien sea, Titan would be the place to go. Titan is a moon of Saturn. It rains but the rain there is not water. It's liquid methane and ethane, so basically liquid gasoline. That's because it's so cold out of the orbit of Saturn. There are seas; you could send a boat there someday and float on them and figure out what they're made of and if — by a small chance — anything is actually living in those seas."
On food cravings while traveling in space
Samantha Cristoforetti: My biggest craving was a big salad with a lot of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and nuts.
Serena Auñón: One day I hope they're able to get warm oatmeal chocolate chip cookies up there. That would be awesome.
Cady Coleman: I missed things that were crunchy. Things like potato chips would get smushed and then they'd be just crumbs and would be impossible to eat. You'd have a cloud of potato chips.
You can check out more highlights from their discussion with NPR here.
Get to know NASA Astronaut and MAKER Cady Coleman in the video at the top of the page, then continue to learn more by checking out her exclusive MAKERS story here.
NEXT: Learn About Mae Jemison, the First African-American Woman to Travel in Space »
Related Stories:
• 50 Years of Women in Space
• Women in Space Documentary
Photo Credit: Taylor Hill/Getty Images


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AUBURN, Alabama -- A softball, accidentally smacked on a line drive into the back of Michael Goodlett's head at the end of a P.E. class as a kid growing up in Moulton, made sure he never takes a concussion lightly.
Goodlett woke up the next morning seeing double.
His mom, a nurse, rushed Goodlett to the hospital, where doctors discovered he had suffered a subdural hematoma, a mass of blood putting pressure on his brain. Back then, in the days before CT scans, identifying the exact location was no exact science, and Goodlett says doctors had to drill multiple holes in his skull to find the source of the pressure.
"I've been conservative with concussions for a long, long time, just because of my personal history," Goodlett, who has been Auburn's team doctor since 1993, told AL.com on Tuesday. "I might lead the world in doing CTs, but I'm not going to miss a subdural."
Two weeks ago, the NCAA released new guidelines on the diagnosis and management of sport-related concussions, suggesting schools make their concussion plans public, sit athletes with concussions for the rest of the day and build gradual programs for returns to both athletics and academics, in part as a response to the lawsuits filed by the NCAA in recent years.
Auburn's concussion management policy, released to AL.com in an open-records request Tuesday and subsequently published to the school's website, is much more thorough than that.
Under the direction of Goodlett, Auburn's concussion policy requires all athletes to provide concussion history, sign a statement promising to immediately report head trauma and undergo education before the start of every season.
The policy also requires that Auburn athletes in nearly every sport record a baseline ImPACT test prior to the start of practice. A computer-based test, ImPACT measures an athlete's reaction time, processing speed and verbal and visual memory, setting a baseline for the athlete's normal brain function.
If an athlete then suffers a concussion, the athlete not only has to undergo ImPACT testing, but also the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 2, a standardized cognitive test, and balance testing, in addition to strict monitoring of other symptoms.
Once an athlete no longer has concussion symptoms, the team physician - Goodlett, in Auburn's case - builds a supervised protocol of steps for return to play.
In practice, though, Goodlett, Auburn head trainer Clark Pearson and the rest of the athletic training staff have to account for all of the variables presented by concussions.
On Saturdays, Goodlett and Pearson roam the sidelines, taking care to watch the action from different spots on the sideline in an effort to get every sight line covered.
Both men aren't just looking for big, helmet-rattling collisions.
A concussion can occur on just about any play.
"The thing we really don't understand is you can have a huge helmet-to-helmet hit, and they're fine, and then you can have a little rotation, with a little trauma, and they're concussed," Goodlett said. "It's not just the obvious big hits that everybody in the stands sees."
Between possessions, Goodlett and Pearson both check each player coming off of the field for signs of altered behavior, and Auburn's upperclassmen are taught to look for the same signs and report possible concussions to the training staff.
"The toughest part is when you do the exam and it's normal, you've seen this tremendous, could've-cracked-your-helmet-open impact, and it's normal, and they don't have a concussion," Goodlett said. "That's when you have to kick it into overdrive to make sure."
But once a player shows any signs of a concussion, he's coming off the field. An injury that's notorious for presenting symptoms late, concussions often present only small symptoms at first before developing obvious ones later.
"Our motto is, if it's a doubt about a concussion, you've got a concussion, and you're out," Goodlett said. "Because sometimes it can look pretty equivocal, and the next day, they've got headaches, and it's obvious, anybody in the world would know they've had a concussion."
In addition to being held out of athletic competition, any athlete who suffers a concussion also receives a letter outlining reduced academic participation -- including the possibility of missing class -- from Goodlett to his or her professors. Depending on symptoms, even something as simple as watching a film or texting can provoke post-concussion symptoms.
In Goodlett's words, though, identifying a concussion is the easy part.
"The hard part is determining when they're over it," Goodlett said. "Even with the ImPACT testing and all the other stuff that we do, there's no perfect test."
Developed in the early 90's and updated over the years, the ImPACT test provides a baseline, but there is still room for error. For example, if a player doesn't understand the initial instructions when his reaction time is tested before the season, it can slow his reaction time and skew the baseline test. In other cases, if a player doesn't give maximum effort on the initial test, it can skew his results after a concussion.
"ImPACT is a tool, but you've got to take it with a grain of salt," Goodlett said. "I've had athletes that literally couldn't stand fluorescent lights that could ace an ImPACT."
Before Goodlett allows an athlete to return to play, he has to see everything - an athlete's symptoms, the ImPACT test, the balance and cognitive tests - return to normal.
And even then, Goodlett has seen athletes at Auburn who were forced to give up their sport due to concussions. In some cases, an athlete gets a second concussion -- or more than two -- and the road to recovery takes so long that he or she is forced to retire early.
"At the end of the day, we're not going to take a chance at starting to deteriorate your intellect, much less CTE and all that stuff that comes down the road," Goodlett said. "Every time we have more than one concussion, we start worrying about that."
No matter the protocol or the policy, the fact remains that concussions affect each individual differently, and there is no test that definitively answers whether or not an athlete has a concussion.
"That's really the tricky part, is in the return-to-play progression, we know they've gotten back to a normal exam, they fill out all the symptom sheets, they're normal, they're back in class," Goodlett said. "But at the end of the day, you don't know that they're normal until they get back out there and start playing. That's the part that we all seek that we don't have. It's kind of the Holy Grail."
Until that test arrives, Goodlett's conservative approach is the only way he can see to protect athletes from an injury he knows all too well.


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An updated lohit-oriya-fonts package that fixes OpenType rules for presenting conjunction characters in Qt-based applications is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
The lohit-oriya-fonts package provides a free Oriya script TrueType and OpenType font.
Bug Fix
- Oriya script is an abugida or alphasyllabic writing system and, when certain consonant glyphs would otherwise be written adjacent, applies rules for replacing the glyphs with a single, ligatured conjunction character. The OpenType version of Lohit Oriya did not, previously, apply these rules correctly when the typeface was used in an application built using the Qt application framework (eg OpenOffice or KWrite). With this update, these rules act as expected, and conjunct symbols appear properly when the OpenType face is used in Qt-based applications.Note: this bug did not present if the TrueType face was used in Qt-based applications, nor did it present in applications built with the GTK+ framework (eg AbiWord and gedit) if the OpenType face was used.
Users should upgrade to this updated package, which resolves this issue.


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Ask an Eye Doctor and Get an Answer ASAP
Hi, I'm online now and would be happy to help you with your question.I understand what you are asking. I am very sorry that you have had so much trouble with your diabetic eye disease. Thank you for the opportunity to give you this answer. To answer the first part of your question, which I understand to be your fear of further vision loss caused by laser treatment, you should understand that it would be very rare indeed for a similar, laser caused vision loss to occur. However, I would hope that you are under the care and treatment of a fellowship trained retina specialist. If you are not, I would still recommend that you get a second opinion. As to your other questions, if you have diabetic retinopathy, there are no available eyedrops or alternative medicine therapies that are documented to resolve the diabetic hemorrhages. Please concentrate your energy on allowing highly trained retinal specialists advise and manage your eyes. I hope that these answers have covered what you needed to know this morning. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. Best wishes.
That doesn't really answer my question. I need to talk to someone who is talented in the alternative treatment area. I have had help with bilberry and DMSO in the past. I'm not looking for something the AMA has approved.


text:
Hilary Duff is finding it difficult to leave her baby and it's easy to see why!
The new mom left her son Luca at home Wednesday night to enjoy a date night with husband Mike Comrie -- but it wasn't easy.
Duff, 24, and Comrie, 31, went to a Colplay concert together at the Hollywood Bowl. After the show she tweeted, "So nice to have a night out but we miss monkey!!"
The proud mom shared an adorable new photo of her growing "monkey." Baby Luca is now one month old and getting cuter by the day.
And Channing Tatum's wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, agreed! She commented on the photo Duff posted, tweeting, "omg he is so cute I can't take it!!"
Duff tweeted back, "Thanks!! me either!!!"


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Fried Rice
- 3 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil, divided
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 cups cold, cooked Lotus Foods Bhutan Red Rice, or brown rice
- 2 cups cold, cooked jasmine rice
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 tbsp. soy sauce
Heat a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot enough to instantly evaporate a drop of water. Add 1 tbsp. of oil to wok, tilting to coat surface; heat until very hot. Add eggs; when the edges begin to bubble, push the eggs to the center of the wok until completely cooked, breaking into small clumps. Season with salt; transfer to a covered bowl. Add remaining oil to wok; heat until hot. Add rice and garlic, stirring to coat with oil until heated through (about 3 min.). Stir in remaining ingredients and cooked eggs; serve immediately.
- Add 1/2 lb. leftover cooked shrimp, chicken or pork tenderloin along with the rice.
- Add 1/2 cup cooked carrots, broccoli, green beans or fresh pineapple chunks along with the rice.
- Substitute (or add) 1 tsp. fresh gingerroot for the garlic.
- Add toasted sesame seeds, peanuts or almonds to garnish.


text:
Back to Basics: Thriving in a Down Economy
These are challenging economic times; learn how you can not only survive, but how you can thrive!
Increase Sales to Existing Customers
Add Value Pricing
Attract Customers from your Competitors
Cut Operating Costs ¢ THE RIGHT WAY
Reduce Financial Costs
Join the N.C.C. Chamber of Commerce, speakers and a panel of experts who will provide you with the tools you need to apply a systematic, step-by-step approach to assessing your operations and taking DECISIVE ACTION to meet the challenges of thriving in a down economy.
What: Back to Basics: Thriving in a Down Economy
Where: NCCCC Headquarters
When: Tuesday, April 7 2009 from 8:30 AM TO 12:00 PM
Cost: Members: $35, Non Members: $50
What can you expect from this event?
Register online for the event now!
- 2009 Delaware Budget Address
- Seeking success by getting creative: Creative Choice Realty


text:
Happy Birthday Blog!!
4 years ago by
Happy Birthday to uuuuuuuuuuuus !!!!
Guess what Emily told me yesterday. TODAY IS THE BLOG'S B-DAY !!! My blog is fucking 7 years OLD !!!!
Which means : WE'RE ONE CAT YEAR !!! WEEEEEEEEYYY !!! (???)
Guys, soon we're gonna be able to put a sign saying "Garance Doré, since 2006", no ?
So I just wanted to say thank you for reading and commenting and being here and for sharing this wonderful story with me.
You've have made me happy everyday for seven years and I am so thankful, I am totally gonna explode!!!
That's it for now, we're totally popping the champagne even if it's 11 am.


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Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's readiness to hold a general election next month has sent shock waves through his Democratic Party of Japan, whose ranks worry the campaign will spell their doom.
DPJ Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi has led the resistance to an early dissolution of the Lower House, which people close to Noda say could take place next week, paving the way for an election on either Dec. 16 or 22.
Koshiishi, who should be Noda's right-hand man, has appeared unfazed by the recent flurry of speculation that Noda may hold the election soon despite the DPJ's slim chance for victory. The party, suffering badly in public opinion polls, holds a tenuous majority in the Lower House.
The DPJ's support rate fell to near 10 percent in a recent Kyodo News poll, lagging far behind the 30 percent showing support for the Liberal Democratic Party.
The idea of a Lower House dissolution before the end of the year surfaced within the DPJ last week, but Koshiishi told aides that this would be "impossible," according to sources close to him.
Noda promised the major opposition LDP and New Komeito in August that he would turn to voters "sometime soon" in exchange for their support in passing the consumption tax hike. The two parties cooperated and the bill was passed that month.
The prime minister told the Lower House Budget Committee on Monday that there is no change in his intention of "going to the people when conditions are right."
"He is eager to keep his promise," an aide said. But the promise is not the only reason Noda is ready to risk an early election.
One benefit would be going to the polls before emerging political forces such as Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's new party can field competitive candidates.
Meanwhile the "right conditions" Noda mentioned are beginning to move into place.
One concerns passage of the debt-financing bill for the current fiscal year through March. The bill is poised to clear the Lower House on Thursday now that the LDP has reversed its opposition to debating it.
The LDP has also shown willingness to agree to another of Noda's conditions, setting up a national conference on social security reform under legislation enacted in August.
The third of his three conditions is reform of the Lower House electoral system to address the vast vote-value disparity, which the Supreme Court has effectively deemed unconstitutional.
A senior DPJ official said it might be difficult for Noda to dissolve the Lower House while leaving the vote disparity issue unresolved.
As part of electoral system reform, the DPJ envisages cutting the number of Lower House seats elected from single-seat districts by five, bringing the total to 295, and taking away 40 proportional representation seats, leaving the total at 140.
Koshiishi has said the measures should be enacted together and shows no signs of budging. But the LDP has said a cut in the number of single-seat districts should come first.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, now head of the LDP, said in a speech Monday that a new budget for revamping the economy can only be crafted by a new government that has gained public support via an election.
The LDP is demanding that an election be held by Dec. 16 to leave room for a yearend budget compilation, which means the Lower House would have to be dissolved by Nov. 22 at the latest.
According to sources close to Abe, however, he is now apparently inclined to agree to holding the election Dec. 24.
If the ruling bloc-opposition negotiations on the issue drag on, Noda may be able to dissolve the Lower House by the end of December and hold the election early next year. In that case, the election date could be Jan. 20, according to some lawmakers.
Another factor that could lessen the chances of an election before the end of next month is Japan's participation in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks.
Noda has pledged to include the TPP issue in the DPJ's platform for the next general election, but this is drawing opposition within the ruling party.
Noda could miss the chance of a Lower House dissolution within this year and be forced to wait to do it in January and hold the election in February, lawmakers and pundits said.
If that is not possible, a Lower House dissolution would be difficult until the enactment of the budget, possibly at the end of March.


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After more than 10 years of fighting, the news from Afghanistan continues to be tragic. Within the last several days, six more of our troops and a female State Department official were killed.
Nothing has significantly changed in the country since our 2001 invasion, announced as a counter-terrorist campaign. Afghanistan remains an Islamic tribal culture that's defied foreign intervention for centuries. And for all practical purposes, the United States will effectively abandon the undertaking next year with no clear outcome or reasonable justifications for the gross expenditure of American blood and treasure.
The single most important aspect of military leadership, particularly for field commanders, is to have a clearly defined mission. Observing the dynamics of the war, one cannot ignore the history of mission-creep, muddled, obfuscated and confusing strategic and tactical concepts. This is not to demean or dishonor those who have sacrificed so much to follow the constantly changing orders of their superiors in a war that will ultimately be declared not worth the price and an exercise in futility.
More now than ever, my thoughts are with the soldiers who are still being deployed, knowing full well they might well end up as the last casualty as we withdraw. I found myself confronting that possibility some 60 years ago as the Korean War wound down.
North Korea's current strident belligerent posturing reminds me of my enlistment in the Army paratroopers at age 18 in the spring of 1953. A cease fire in the three-year struggle between North Korea and South Korea precipitated a major commitment of U.S. forces to defend the South — and a massive Chinese Communist involvement in support of the North — was being negotiated in Pyongyang, North Korea. The prevailing mood seemed to indicate the prospects for an armistice agreement were at hand.
So, when I headed for basic training with the 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Riley, Kan., in the fall 1953, I had no expectations of being sent to Korea. I already signed up, received an enlistment commitment to undergo Ranger Airborne Training and an assignment to a paratrooper unit after basic. In early 1954, I was sent to Ft. Knox, Ky., for advance infantry training (AIT) with the 3rd Armored Division. When word went out that one could take the test for admission to Officer Candidate School (OCS). I signed up with nothing to lose.
Meanwhile, despite the so-called negotiated cease fire, there were frequent skirmishes and other provocative incidents along the 38th Parallel between patrols from the North and South. The Demilitarized Zone, as it is today, was a war zone and a flash point for renewal of the major conflict.
Early one morning in the spring of 1954, I was called into the orderly room. The first sergeant handed me orders accompanied by, "Ayers, pack your gear, draw a weapon from the arms room, you're going to Korea."
I was dumbfounded. Apparently there was big trouble on the DMZ and emergency replacements from various units were being assembled ad hoc to bolster the troops stationed there. Less than 24 hours later, I was wedged into a C-124 Globemaster packed with young soldiers, none of whom I knew, in full World War II combat gear, for the seemingly endless flight to Seoul. It was a flight from hell, with only cold C-rations for food, the toilets overflowing; full airsickness bags everywhere and nowhere to lie down no matter how bad one felt. We were allowed out of the plane for a smoke break and to stretch only once when we landed in Hawaii to refuel.
Groggy from the extended trans-Pacific flight, we assembled on the tarmac after landing in Seoul in the early dawn. I had lost track of time. The NOO in charge called roll. My name, ending in A, was one of the earliest called. With my response, "Here", the NOO stopped. Pointing to a Quonset building across the tarmac, he barked, "Sgt. Ayers, report immediately to the operations office for orders." What orders? Why me?
So, I slung my M-1 on one shoulder, heavy duffle bag on the other, broke ranks and started across the ramp. Exhausted from the flight, it seemed a mile away. As I half stumbled along lugging my gear, my thoughts returned to what had been on my mind since leaving Ft. Knox. I always prayed when going into the unknown. The surprise orders to Korea where just that. Despite the occasional incidents at the DMZ, I believed the war was ending and, while I had no reluctance to perform my duty, I did not want to be the last casualty as my country pulled out of the still divided Korea.
I inverted my rifle, dropped the duffel outside the door of the building, my heart thumping, and went in expecting the worst. A master sergeant was at a desk. I identified myself with my dog tags and told him I'd been told to report to his office. He shuffled through a stack of papers.
"Ayers, you're going back to the Knox. There's been a screw up. You've been accepted at Officer Candidate School at Benning to report in July," he said, as he handed me the teletype order and added, "Gets some rest, get cleaned up in the transient barracks behind this building. Be back here for a commercial flight to the States by 0900 the day after tomorrow."
At first, there was only disbelief, numbness and a silent prayer of thanks. Seventy-two hours later, after a relatively comfortalbe Pan Am charter flight, I was in my bunk at Ft. Knox, head spinning with the events of the past week, but ready and eager to press on.
When I checked in at the orderly room Ft. Knox the first sergeant said, "It's best you don't discuss this mix up with anyone."
Following his instructions, I never learned what the emergency deployment was all about or what happened to the rest of the men.
The American people unanimously want our leaders to withdraw our forces in the coming months from an admittedly flawed counter insurgency, strategic and tactical foreign engagements. In earlier times, generals who would have advocated and been responsible for such colossal military blunders as Iraq and Afghanistan would have had their heads removed or been, at the least, asked to resign.
The question must be on the minds of all the troops in Afghanistan or those yet to be deployed there as the withdrawal is in progress, as it was in mine on the flight to Korea: Who will be the last casualty in this war of unresolved purpose. Lord, please don't let it be me.
Brad Ayers, a Stillwater native, is a regular contributor on these pages. He is a former Army Ranger, special operations officer having served with the CIA and DEA in a variety of covert and paramilitary assignments. He is 78 years old, semi-retired and resides in a wilderness area near Frederic, Wis.


text:
Commercial Resources
Turn off all unnecessary lights, especially in unused offices and conference rooms. Turn down remaining light levels where possible. Set computers, monitors, printers, copiers and other business equipment to their energy saving feature, and turn them off at the end of the day.
Conservation Tips Links
- Business Energy Audit
- California Energy Commission Summertime Energy-saving Tips for Businesses
- California Energy Commission Cold Weather Energy-saving Tips for Businesses
- Energy Efficiency and Demand Analysis
- Energy Saving Tips for Business
- Energy Star Business Improvement
- Energy Star Program for Business
- Renewable Energy Programs
- Savings by Design
- Self-Generation Incentive Programs
Outage Preparedness


text:
|Capital Market
|Capital Market
Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Funke Osibodu, has called on auditors and bank inspectors nationwide to embrace risk-based auditing as a way of abating the spate of high corporate failures witnessed in the country in recent times.
In her goodwill message at the annual conference of the bank's inspection department, held at its Corporate Head Office at Marina, Lagos, Osibodu recognised the department as one of the most important in any bank, stressing that inspection, as the last mile, should always strive to live up to expectations.
She observed that the banking system had become so porous because the inspectors, as the institution's last defence line, had not been as effective as they ought to be. She pointed out that the non-performing loan issue and bad debts in the entire banking system accumulated because the inspectors were preoccupied with the traditional auditing rather than risk-based auditing system.
According to her, risk-based auditing approach would further strengthen the business of banking, which was predicated on banking, and would give early warning signals before any loan becomes bad debt. Describing inspectors as men in black and tough people, she urged them to also wear their bullet proof vests by striving to be diligent and exhibiting the highest level of integrity in all their investigations even as they pursue any case of infraction conclusively.
The chief executive had postulated that the hallmark of good inspections does not lie in how many frauds they expose but on how many of such cases are nipped in the bud, emphasising that data integrity of any audit is its litmus test.
The conference observed that in the pursuit of traditional auditing, risk mitigants such as sectoral exposure limits, single obligor limits, loan approval limits, perfection of titles of securities for loan before disbursement, limits of insider lending and effective loan monitoring were not strictly investigated and monitored by inspectors
It also agreed that internal auditors should move from the traditional auditing, with all its drawbacks, to risk-based auditing in the current dispensation.
(Source: Guardian)


text: The VPS Convenience Store Group hosts its 29th annual Summer Swing Golf Tournament and Auction. VPS Convenience Store Group, operator of the Scotchman c-stores, hosts a golf tournament and auction on June 12-13 to benefit the Boy Scouts of America, Cape Fear Council. The dinner and auction will take place at the Holiday Inn resort