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Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.
He already has a billion followers.
Now, Pope Benedict XVI will join the Twitter-sphere, tweeting from a personal account along with the world's celebrities, leaders and ordinary folk.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi made the announcement Thursday, saying details about Benedict's handle and other information will come when the Vatican officially launches the account, perhaps before the end of the year.
The 85-year-old Benedict sent his first tweet from a Vatican account last year when he launched the Vatican's news information portal, aimed at the world's 1.1 billion Catholics. The new Twitter account will be his own, though it's doubtful Benedict himself will wrestle down his encyclicals, apostolic exhortations and other papal pronouncements into 140-character bites.
Benedict, who writes longhand and doesn't normally use a computer, will more likely sign off on tweets written in his name.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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Glass Half Full: Encouraging Signs for Purdue Basketball in Defeat?March 1, 2010
Call me crazy.
(I prefer "misguided optimist", but I've heard worse.)
Look me in the eye and tell me the glass is half empty.
(Although I still won't believe you.)
Drop my favorite team in the rankings.
(Well, actually, please don't...but...you're going to anyway. I get it.)
I'm still not throwing in the towel.
It's true: I may the most naive, delusional fan in the history of college basketball, but I'm not writing off the 2009-10 Purdue Boilermakers just because their star forward has exchanged his pair of high-tops for a pair of crutches.
Yes, even after watching one of the ugliest, devoid-of-offense, miserable basketball performances Purdue's Mackey Arena has ever seen, I remain convinced that the Boilers still have a trick or two up their sleeves in March.
I understand that after Robbie Hummel's knee injury forever changed the Boilermakers' season outlook, Sunday's 53-44 home loss (which likely cost Purdue a chance at the outright Big Ten championship) may not seem like a place to find encouragement and renewed hope.
But I did anyway.
Maybe I was looking too hard, giving my favorite team way too much benefit of the doubt, and falling for the occasional mirage in an overwhelming desert of offensive futility.
Oh well.
I still refuse to give up on the 2009-10 Purdue Boilermakers.
I believe because of Chris Kramer. You know Kramer: the 6'3" guard-turned-power forward that drips defense, toughness, and leadership. He's the guy that played a team-high 36 minutes against the Spartans and spent most of that time guarding a player five inches taller than him. Kramer's the defender that took charges on back-to-back Michigan State possessions in the second half to try and rally his team to victory.
It's true that he's not big enough to play forward. (You can't coach size, right?) But the gritty senior is strong enough, tough enough, and determined enough to make an impact at any position on the floor, even Hummel's.
I believe in Purdue's half-court defense. The Boilers' calling card has always been their man-to-man defensive intensity, and it didn't disappoint Sunday. Purdue forced 24 Michigan State turnovers without Robbie Hummel. Let me type that again. The left-for-dead, Hummel-less Boilermakers forced last year's national runner-up into 24 turnovers. That's two dozen of the kind of miscommunications, mishaps, and stupid decisions usually reserved for Wile E. Coyote and whoever tried to hunt down Bugs Bunny.
How's the old saying go? "6'8" forwards from Valaparaiso with silky smooth jump shots win championships?" Or was it something like, "Defense wins championships"? Hummel may be in street clothes (which is all the media is focused on right now, and understandably so), but Purdue still has its defense.
I believe in the Boilermakers' jump shooters. This is the toughest one to justify right now, because they collectively took yesterday off. How else do you explain the nation's then-No. 3 team shooting 30% from the floor? Still, despite Purdue laying an egg at the offensive end of the floor against Michigan State, the Boilermakers have enough talent on the perimeter to put the ball in the basket.
That may mean Ryne Smith and Mark Wohlford need to play more minutes. It might force D.J. Byrd and Chris Kramer to take open shots. (Did you hear that, Chris? You can take open shots!) It could (and should) motivate Lewis Jackson and Kelsey Barlow to take an extra thousand jumpers a day in practice. But the Boilermakers are one solid three-point shooter away from spacing the floor, giving E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson some room to operate, and making teams pay for doubling Purdue's inside-outside tandem of stars. I'm convinced that guy's on the roster somewhere.
And of course, I believe in Matt Painter. See, I remember five years ago when he took over for Gene Keady and the Boilermakers didn't have much talent. Actually, let me correct myself: they didn't have ANY talent. But even then, Painter found a way to scratch out a few victories by teaching his team how to adapt, how to scratch and claw for every loose ball, and how to out-tough the opponents.
Now that he has a talented roster to work with, whether that be promising freshmen (like Kelsey Barlow, Patrick Bade and D.J. Byrd), All-Big Ten performers (like Johnson and Moore), or experienced, battle-tested seniors (like Kramer and Keaton Grant), I have faith that Painter can figure out the right buttons to push, the right rotations to employ, and the right plays to call to help Purdue overcome the loss of their most valuable player.
Rebounding can be taught and improved. Shooting skills can be honed. Offensive execution can be sharpened. Personally, I like the fact that the Boilers nearly pulled off a win against one of the conference's elite despite being outrebounded 44-16 and failing to hit the broad side of a barn offensively. Those stats should add up to a blowout loss.
Oh, and don't forget: the Boilermakers have two games this week against the worst two teams in the Big Ten (3-13 Indiana and 3-13 Penn State) to continue working out the kinks of post-Hummel life. Judging Purdue on only its first outing without its star...after just a couple of practices...and against the Big Ten's reigning powerhouse...seems shortsighted to me.
But then again, maybe I'm crazy.
Without Hummel, maybe Purdue doesn't have enough talent left on its roster. Or enough playmakers on offense. Or enough frontcourt depth. Or enough rebounders. Or enough free throw shooters.
March will make it painfully obvious, one way or the other. After all, I can envision a scenario where Purdue doesn't win another game this year (although it hurts me to even think about). I can also picture a script that lets the Boilers use the next week to figure it all out, rally around their injured star, and begin a magical, legendary run.
I don't know for sure how it will play out...
...but don't rip up those Final Four tickets just yet.
(You can always give them to me instead.)

subset: commoncrawl


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Torres Injury Rattles My Faith
Every time I start buying into the Sandy Alderson Mets being different than the Omar Minaya Mets something happens to bring things back into focus. This time it's Andres Torres.
Torres tweaked his already hurting left calf during yesterday's opening day win over the Braves and will be placed on the disabled list. Kirk Nieuwenhuis will be called up to take his roster spot and Ruben Tejada will be moved into the leadoff spot while Torres is on the shelf.
Torres hurt the calf 16 days ago and took some time off. He just resumed game activity on Monday and proclaimed himself ready for the season. Perhaps I'm jaded from the Minaya years but it seems to me that a player saying he's ready isn't enough. I don't pretend to know how the medical and training staff work but I'd have felt more comfortable if someone on that side of the operation would have made that proclamation. If we learned anything from the Minaya years it's that players, who are competitive by nature and want to get back into the game as soon as possible, should not be taken at their word when they say they're ready to return.
I really don't know if this is what happened in this case so I don't want to sound accusatory. I'm just saying it seems eerily similar to what happened during the Minaya era. And we can't have that.
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The village gave its name to Stilton cheese. Previously the most widely accepted explanation was that the cheese came down to be sold at the coaching inns in Stilton. Daniel Defoe in 1722 described the village as famous for its cheese. Traditionally it was thought that supplies were obtained from the housekeeper at Quenby Hall, Hungarton, Leicestershire, near Melton Mowbray, and were sold via her brother-in-law to travellers in Stilton's coaching inns, namely The Bell or The Angel. Subsequent research has led to claims that the cheese did originate in the village in the late 17th or early 18th centuries, before any contemporary references to its production in Leicestershire.
Today Stilton cheese is made in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The manufacturers of Stilton cheese in these counties applied for and received Protected Geographical Status (PGS) in 1996 so that production is currently limited to these three counties and must use pasteurised milk, which can be drawn from many counties within the central belt of England. Recent evidence indicates that it is unlikely that [Stilton] would have been a centre for selling of cheese unless cheese was also made in the area. Furthermore the original recipe for a cream cheese made in Stilton in the early 18th century has since been discovered and since more than one type of cheese was usually made, it is possible that a blue cheese was also made in the area.
Research Tips


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12:11pm: Hopson's salary will be about $1.44MM next season, rather than $2.5MM, Lloyd now says (Twitter link).
10:45am: The Cavs have signed Turkish league swingman Scotty Hopson, the team announced. The deal was originally reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). It'll run through the rest of the season, and it's non-guaranteed for 2014/15, Lloyd tweets.
The Cavs used their room exception to accommodate the contract, which is worth $2.5MM next season, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He'll receive a prorated portion of the room exception this year. The room exception actually allows for a salary of up to $2,743,125 next season, but it's unclear if he's receiving that much. In any case, the inflated contract creates some trade flexibility for the summer, as Lloyd explains in a full piece. Hopson's contract can be used as trade ballast to allow the Cavs to acquire a larger contract, and since the deal is non-guaranteed, Hopson's new team could simply waive him in that scenario.
The 6'6″ Hopson went undrafted out of Tennessee in 2011, and he's conducted his pro career almost entirely overseas. He hooked on with the Heat's summer league team this past offseason, but he didn't wind up in an NBA preseason camp. He's averaged 10.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game with Anadolu Efes in Turkey this season.
The signing fills what had been Cleveland's final open roster spot. The team cycled through three players on 10-day contracts before settling on Hopson, as our 10-Day Tracker shows. Seth Curry's 10-day deal with the team ended just last night, and Lloyd reported that the team didn't intend to re-sign him.


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Johns PKI/Splash News Online
My, what big eyes you have, Katharine McPhee! The smoldering Smash star made a bold beauty statement on the red carpet in New York City last week, sporting exaggerated winged eyeliner at a party celebrating the grand opening of the New Balance Experience store. The dramatic look, complemented by minimal makeup and a simple bun, really made her eyes pop.
McPhee is one of several leading ladies to work the look lately: Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba and Olivia Wilde have all tried the cat-eye look, and that extra bit of black liner is practically Lauren Conrad's trademark beauty move.
But tell us: What do you think of the winged eyeliner look? Would you try it for a night out? Or do you prefer to keep your eyeliner on, well, your eyelids?


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Ching Off to Good Start at Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
Alina Ching had two birdies and a double-bogey on the front nine, then did the exact same on the back nine.
Feb. 13, 2012
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge Round 1 ResultsPALOS VERDES, Calif. - Freshman Alina Ching of the Pepperdine women's golf team had an impressive first-round showing at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge on Monday, as her even-par 71 has put her into a tie for seventh place.
Competing against a powerhouse field at the par-71 Palos Verdes Golf Club, the Waves are in seventh place as a team after an opening-round 300. All 15 teams are in Golfstat's top 50, including 10 in the top 25. The Waves, ranked 34th, are currently ahead of seven higher-ranked squads.
Ching (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) had two birdies and a double-bogey on the front nine, then did the exact same on the back nine. The score of even-par was her best round of the season.
Freshman Somin Lee (Denver, Colo./Overland HS) is tied for 29th place at 75, sophomores Liv Cheng (Auckland, New Zealand) and Grace Na (Alameda, Calif./Alameda HS) are tied for 48th place at 77 and senior Kaitlin Drolson (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) is tied for 65th place at 81. Competing as an individual, sophomore Danielle Gillaspy (Santa Maria, Calif./St. Joseph's HS) is tied for 71st at 82.
Lee had three birdies during her round, while Cheng, Gillaspy and Drolson each had one.
Play continues with the second round on Tuesday, and the third and final round on Wednesday.
Team Scores: 1. UCLA 284; 2. Duke 292; 3. Denver 295; T4. Florida State 296; T4. Ohio State 296; 6. USC 297; 7. Pepperdine 300; T8. Arizona State 302; T8. Michigan State 302; T8. Florida 302; 11. Colorado 303; 12. Oregon 304; T13. Wake Forest 310; T13. Oklahoma 310; 15. UC Davis 312.
Top Individuals: 1. Rachael Walton (Denver) 67; 2. Lindy Duncan (Duke) 69; T3. Susana Benavides (Ohio State) 70; T3. Alejandra Cangrejo (Duke) 70; T3. Lee Lopez (UCLA) 70; T3. Maria Salinas (Florida State) 70.
Pepperdine Scores: T7. Alina Ching 71; T29. Somin Lee 75; T48. Liv Cheng 77; T48. Grace Na 77; T65. Kaitlin Drolson 81; T71. * Danielle Gillaspy 82.
* playing as an individual


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University of Georgia's main and science libraries will stay open two hours longer - until 2 a.m. - Sundays through Thursdays beginning this week as part of student leaders' ultimate goal to have a 24-hour study space on campus.
The decision to extend library hours past the current midnight closing time came at the request of several student groups, said UGA Provost Arnett Mace.
Keeping the library open longer starting Wednesday will cost more money, but only a modest amount, Mace said.
The plan originally was proposed by a university-wide general education task force that proposed a set of UGA policies to increase academic rigor at the university. The recommendations included creating a plus-minus grading system, increasing the number of Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes and requiring students to write more and longer academic papers.
"Eventually we want to have a 24-hour study facility on campus," said Student Government Association representative Kathryn Bowers, adding that student leaders estimate a $40,000 per year price tag to keep the Student Learning Center open round the clock.
"This is a step in the right direction," especially for freshmen who are required to live on campus and want more quiet study places through the night, Bowers said.
In 2003, UGA opened the $43 million Student Learning Center, which includes meeting, study and classroom space, all of which are heavily used, according to both UGA students and administrators. The center closes at 2 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Library closing hours will remain at 9 p.m. on Fridays and 7 p.m. on Saturdays.
© 2017. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


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On Noel's Youth floor, you will find a safe community of love and acceptance. Join us as we tackle life's tough questions and work on strengthening our faith by digging deep into the word of God. Youth gatherings involve community building through fun activities, sharing common meals, and nurturing our faith through learning, discussion, and service. Come find your niche as a member of Noel Youth. There's always a place for you!
Literary arts club! begins september 6!
1st Wednesday of each month during the school year, 5-6pm., Youth floor
1/2 hour of writing related activity followed by 1 hour of book review.
Umyf (United methodist youth fellowship)
begins on august 20!
sundays, during the school year, 5-7pm, youth floor
United Methodist Youth Fellowship is our weekly get-together as a Christ-centered community. This time is designed for us to build deeper relationships with each other through fun, crazy, and thoughtful activities. Whether it's a paint war or working on a service project, UMYF is where we build Christ-centered relationships with one another through fun, fellowship, and service.
youth band/choir
sundays, during the school year, 4-5pm, youth floor
Youth band brings together our youth interested in vocal performance with those interested in furthering their instrumental talent. Combining their musical gifts, our youth band practices throughout the school year preparing performances for worship services and other church events!
sundays 9:15am
Our youth sunday school is a wonderful atmosphere for youth to learn more about how our lives are part of the grander narrative of God's story. Exploring the Bible as God's story allows our youth to see the unique value of their own life story and the lives of others.
Confirmation Class
sundays 9:15am (certain times during the year)
ur confirmation class, designed for 6th and 7th grade students, teaches the principles of the United Methodist church, preparing them to confirm their faith in Jesus Christ and join the United Methodist Church. Confirmation is a wonderful experience that allows the youth to explore the intricacies of faith and the details of the United Methodist tradition in a fun-filled experiential manner.
Youth Missions
Each summer our youth participate in two big mission trips:
Weekend of the Cross
Weekend of the Cross is a city-wide service weekend for low-income families needing house repairs.
senior high summer mission trip
The summer mission trip is a week-long opportunity for our youth to serve others in unique and meaningful ways while learning about different cities and cultures across the United States.
other activities
We also offer a number of other activities throughout the year! We offer free ACT Prep courses and math tutoring as needed to assist our youth who aspire to become better students. For more information about any youth activities, contact Youth Director, Kalena Hanke.
Boy Scouts Troop 15
Troop 15 is the oldest troop in Northwest Louisiana, founded by its chartering organization, Noel Memorial UMC. In the Boy Scouts of America, all boys, regardless of their religious preference, are welcomed.
Stay in the Loop
For updates and information about other ongoing activities, events, and opportunities for Youth:
For more information, contact Kalena Hanke, Youth Director, or call the church office at 318.221.5207.


text: Hi Guys, Well I have a facelift a3 with no fog lights on the front, I have managed to source both front fogs, fog lamp grilles, both the connectors for the front fogs and the headlamp switch for the interior. What I need to do now is make up the wiring with your help , Would someone be so kind to get me the wiring diagram for the front fog lamps? That should be enough to guide me in to making the loom. I am aware you can buy the loom from kufatec but I don't think 39euros is justified for 2 connectors, some wiring, a relay and a relay holder. I'm sure I can build it for cheaper and that is my mission, in return I will be sure to do a guide for any other members looking to do the same. Many thanks, Sulaiman


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Pet Adoption Event
Sunday Jul 6, 2014
Albuquerque Rail Yards
777 1st St SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Contact:City of Albuquerque
Website: Click to Visit
More events at Albuquerque Rail Yards
Celebrate Independence Day weekend with artists, farmers, dogs and cats.
Adopt at the Rail Yards Market and give a pet a home. A Community Partnership Event hosted by Animal Welfare, Animal Humane and sponsored by ASPCA.


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A fascinating research I look forward to reading
LSE PhD student Zahrah Nesbitt-Ahmed researches domestic workers, a.k.a. househelp/housemaid/houseboy, in Lagos: My research is an account of the lives of male and female domestic workers in Lagos, Nigeria. It looks at the forms of control they experience in their daily interactions with their employers, as well as the multiple ways they respond to such… Read More »


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Of two controversial traffic circles proposed in Ahwatukee Foothills, one will become permanent, while the other will be removed later this month, a Phoenix transportation appeals board ruled Tuesday.
The five-member appeals board - consisting of representatives from several city departments, including Neighborhood Services, Planning and the Fire Department - voted unanimously to reject appeals filed by several neighbors against each of the roundabouts, said Kerry Wilcoxon, Street Transportation Department spokesman.
"We didn't have a lot of people show up," he said.
One appeal had attempted to overturn the city's approval in July of a permanent roundabout, with a price tag of up to $350,000, at East Equestrian Trail and South Appaloosa Drive. The money would come from a transportation bond issue approved by a city-wide vote in 2006, Wilcoxon said.
Officials are planning to host a neighborhood meeting about the project during the week of Sept. 27, although an exact date and time has not yet been determined, Wilcoxon said. Design work is expected to begin soon after, with construction possibly beginning next summer, he added.
The second appeal challenged the decision to remove a temporary traffic circle at 36th and Coconino streets. The temporary roundabout, which has been in place for more than a year, is slated to be removed this month, Wilcoxon said.
Neighborhood residents had petitioned Phoenix to install the two roundabouts because of problems with speeders. Supporters of the Equestrian/Appaloosa roundabout barely managed to reach the threshold of 61 signatures needed from neighborhood residents to push through the permanent traffic circle, officials have said.
Support for the one at 36th and Coconino streets fizzled out with no petition having been filed to make it permanent.
Contact Writer: (480) 898-7914 or firstname.lastname@example.com


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A First Step Towards A German Synlbd: Constructing A German Longitudinal Business Database
One major criticism against the use of synthetic data has been that the efforts necessary to generate useful synthetic data are so in- tense that many statistical agencies cannot afford them. We argue many lessons in this evolving field have been learned in the early years of synthetic data generation, and can be used in the development of new synthetic data products, considerably reducing the required in- vestments. The final goal of the project described in this paper will be to evaluate whether synthetic data algorithms developed in the U.S. to generate a synthetic version of the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) can easily be transferred to generate a similar data product for other countries. We construct a German data product with infor- mation comparable to the LBD - the German Longitudinal Business Database (GLBD) - that is generated from different administrative sources at the Institute for Employment Research, Germany. In a fu- ture step, the algorithms developed for the synthesis of the LBD will be applied to the GLBD. Extensive evaluations will illustrate whether the algorithms provide useful synthetic data without further adjustment. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide access to multiple synthetic datasets similar to the SynLBD at Cornell to enable comparative studies between countries. The Synthetic GLBD is a first step towards that goal.
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
|18 pages
|Date of creation:
|Feb 2014
|Contact details of provider:
| Postal: 4600 Silver Hill Road, Washington, DC 20233
Phone: (301) 763-6460
Fax: (301) 763-5935
Web page: http://www.census.gov/ces
More information through EDIRC
References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Hethey, Tanja & Schmieder, Johannes F., 2010. "Using worker flows in the analysis of establishment turnover : evidence from German administrative data," FDZ Methodenreport 201006_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
- Jörg Drechsler, 2012. "New data dissemination approaches in old Europe -- synthetic datasets for a German establishment survey," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 243-265, April.
- Ron S Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2002. "The Longitudinal Business Database," Working Papers 02-17, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
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Every year since my oldest kids were very little, we've made a big deal out of decorating for the holidays.
Not the decorations themselves, so much. Our holiday decór is a hodgepodge collection of items my husband and I bought or were given when newly married, rare newer purchases, thrift-store finds, the kids artwork, and a few simple crafts.
But setting up all those treasures? For the younger kids in the family, it's the official kick-off of the season. And I love it, too — getting to transform the house from autumn to Christmastime, from everyday to festive and magical.
At some point soon after Thanksgiving — never soon enough for the kids! — we pull all of the red and green bins out of the basement and look through them. Even though we've been using a lot of the same decorations for years, there are always "oohs" and "aahs" of surprise when the kids pull out a forgotten favorite.
The process usually takes a couple of days. With Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole playing in the background, we first arrange all of the table decorations, like the advent calendar, Santa figurines, and nativity scene. The kids and I arrange and rearrange until everything looks just right to everyone's eyes. (I long ago learned that I can't try to "fix" anything while they aren't looking, because they always notice.) After that we enjoy a treat — cocoa and popcorn, for example — and watch a holiday movie.
Later that week, we get the tree. While my husband starts the process of stringing it with white lights, I begin slowly unwrapping dozens of glass balls, small porcelain figurines, and an assortment of popsicle stick and cardboard ornaments from their tissue paper rest. The kids are always so excited to hang "their" ornaments — the ones they've brought home from school or church, or made here at home — amid the shiny metal and glass ornaments we've amassed over the years.
Our home's Christmas decór will probably never grace the cover of a home design magazine, but I'm fine with that. To me the beauty is all in the experience of creating a holiday together, one well-loved piece at a time.
Check out the story of our family's holiday decorating tradition here!


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The black widow spider is one of the many creatures found at The Colorado
Plateau Museum of Arthropod Biodiversity at Northern Arizona University. The
museum houses more than 250,000 arthropod specimens, primarily from the western
United States and Mexico. The major goal of the museum is to make the
collection more relevant to ecologists, especially those working on projects
related to issues of conservation and biodiversity. Museum staff help
researchers identify insects, spiders, and other bugs. Photo: IDEA Lab
All Images Worth 1000 Words ->


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A theoretical study on a novel planar waveguide surface Plasmon Biosensor is presented in this paper. The proposed biosensor has a configuration similar to the Otto excitation mechanism for surface Plasmon polaritons. The performance of the device with respect to key system parameters such as gap - width and device length is investigated using an eigenmode solver with perfectly matched layers (PML). Device resolution of 2.3×10-6 RIU has been demonstrated for an aqueous analyte.
©2009 Optical Society of AmericaFull Article | PDF Article
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Woman accused of trying to get children to kill her in-laws
Posted March 4, 2013
Greenville, N.C. — A Florida woman surrendered to Pitt County authorities on Monday on charges that she tried to persuade her children to kill her in-laws.
Leticia M. Silva, 31, of Lakeland, Fla., is charged with four counts of first-degree solicitation to commit murder. She was being held in the Pitt County jail under a $5 million secured bond.
Investigators said Silva contacted her children in December and asked them to kill their grandparents. The couple lives in Pitt County and has permanent custody of the children.
The grandparents learned of the alleged plot last month, prompting the Pitt County Sheriff's Office to investigate. The children revealed that Silva mailed a knife to them, authorities said.


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LONDON (Aug. 26)
Jewish sources in the Soviet Union report that applicants for exit visas at Czernovich have encountered a new type of difficulty–the Soviet version of "Catch-22." They are asked by the local ovir to submit their university diplomas but when they try to get a certified copy from a notary public, they are told that a copy can not be made unless they declared a reason for wanting a copy. When they say that they want a copy in order to take it with them to Israel, they are told that they can not have a copy unless they produce their exit visa. One of the victims of this "Catch-22" situation could not even have a copy made in Moscow. But a notary public in Leningrad did make a copy.


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KAI RYSSDAL: Here's the caveat emptor question of the day. If you buy something on eBay and it turns out to be a fake, who's fault is it? Tiffany and Co., the fancy jewelry store, is suing the online auction site for not doing enough to stop the sale of knockoffs. A federal judge began hearing arguments today.
And Marketplace's Amy Scott reports, the case could change the rules for online commerce.
AMY SCOTT: Tiffany says the "overwhelming majority" of jewelry bearing its name on eBay is fake. Yet Tiffany's attorney told the court today, eBay has "simply turned a blind eye." Not so, says eBay. The company says it spends more than $10 million a year removing counterfeit goods from its website. EBay encourages trademark and copyright holders to report infringements. Susan Scafidi teaches law at Fordham University. She says if Tiffany wins its lawsuit, eBay and sites like it will have to do a lot more.
SUSAN SCAFIDI: Any online retailer who offers a platform for other sellers now has to think really hard about who's allowed to sell.
Ronald Berk would welcome more policing by eBay. He's CEO of jeweler Judith Ripka. Berk says he's got about half a dozen cases pending against counterfeiters at any one time. But he says it's unrealistic to expect a third party, like eBay, to detect every forgery.
RONALD BERK: As a result of that, we have a team of employees who regularly surf the eBay website, and as soon as they recognize something which we suspect to be counterfeit, we immediately notify eBay, and eBay is pretty responsive.
Tiffany has done its own sleuthing too. In 2003 and 2004 employees scoured the site for fakes. They managed to shut down almost 19 thousand auctions. But the 170-year-old jeweler says automatic screening by eBay would work better and cost less.
In New York, I'm Amy Scott for Marketplace.


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Organisations that store data in the cloud could find themselves in legal trouble if the privacy of Australian citizens is compromised as the result of a breach. That's according to Anthony Bendall, acting privacy commissioner at the Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, who recently spoke at a cloud computing event. "The threat to information privacy from cloud computing largely comes from an organisation's lack of control," Bendall said, adding that cloud service providers are "agents of the client agency or organisation--even if there's a contract between them," and if a data breach occurs, "the client agency or organisation remains responsible, and the enforcement of the Australian privacy legislation will apply," CSO reports.
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Instrument maker John Tewksbury showed participants how to make and personalize a renewable-frame drum. All it takes is wood, plastic wrap, paint and decorations, and your own imagination!
Asia After Dark: Asian Soundscape begins in about an hour and includes a live performance by acclaimed digital media artist and musician DJ Spooky and instrumentalists Danielle Cho and Jennifer Kim. Also on the program, instrument-maker John Tewksbury and cross-cultural percussionist Steve Bloom, follow by curator-led exhibition tours. Listen. Watch. Create….then dance!
This Sunday, take an imaginative stroll through London's Chelsea neighborhood and learn about the history of DC's waterfront. Join Maya Foo, curator of Whistler's Neighborhood: Impressions of a Changing London, and Lee Glazer, associate curator of American art, at 1 pm in the Freer for a tour of the exhibition followed by a 1.5-mile walking tour of the Southwest Waterfront. The free tour will be conducted by Cultural Tourism DC, rain or shine. Register now!
The tour will shed light on the parallels between the Southwest Waterfront, a neighborhood currently in transition, and nineteenth-century Chelsea, a mixed-income area that was affected by the Thames Embankment project. Both neighborhoods are situated along riverfront property, making the land attractive for real estate development.
The Chelsea Embankment, which was part of the larger Thames Embankment project, was a major public engineering feat that resulted in improving river navigation and the city's sewage system. It also changed the topography of the waterfront by reclaiming acreage from the river where public gardens and pedestrian walkways were later established. Redevelopment also occurred with the demolition of historic buildings, which created space for expensive mansion blocks—apartments that were intended for the upper classes. The poor were displaced and many were forced to live above storefronts in small, cramped apartments with other families.
The diminutive works in the exhibition are coded with social issues, including childhood poverty and overcrowding. Whistler, however, did not intend for these works to promote social change. The etchings were not mass produced and were not meant for a wide audience. While documenting the poorer sections of Chelsea, the artist was attracted to the geometric forms created by architectural elements, such as window panes and doorways.
Register now to join us on Sunday!
In anticipation of Asia After Dark: Asian Soundscape, Bento caught up with acclaimed digital media artist and musician Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky. He will perform at F|S on Friday evening, playing music set against 1940s black-and-white films featuring Asian American pioneer actress Anna May Wong.
Bento: As the first DJ in residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, can you tell me what it's like to score for a museum, a place that's known primarily for visual arts?
DJSpooky: Everybody likes to think of museums as places of "permanence"—but it couldn't be further from reality. Shows change all the time; collections come and go. I like to think the performance I'm doing at the Sackler is essentially about the constantly changing landscape of digital media. It's also a musical homage to how people perceived one of the principal figures of the beginning of the last century. It's always cool to play with history. Anna May Wong is super cool!
B: As an artist and musician, what inspires your creativity?
DJS: Fun! Everything serious should be seriously fun!
B: Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming performance here and why you chose to rescore the Lady from Chungking, starring Anna May Wong?
DJS: If you've seen Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, if you've seen Roman Polanski's Chinatown, you get the vibe—mysterious, Oriental exotic; yeah! Gangnam style, from the 1920s! That's why I thought Lady from Chungking would be a cool film to present as a dance party film. Mystery + history … keep it movin'!
B: When did you first become interested in Asian cinema?
DJS: Everybody from Wu-Tang Clan on over to Hendrix's incredible album covers based on Indian mythology, to even more pop-influenced material like David Bowie's China Girl: That's all stuff in my record collection. When I was growing up listening to mix tapes, everyone put clips from Chinese and Japanese films on their mixes. It just made everything sound cool. The dynamics of Kurosawa, the intensity of Bruce Lee, the surrealness of Beat Takeshi, and of course, the wildness of Takashi Miike … plus Lucy Liu … that's the vibe. I guess I was like an American kid of the last 40 years, immersed in the subtle influences of both pop cinema and arthouse material.
B: As a native Washingtonian, was the Smithsonian an important part of your childhood?
DJS: The Smithsonian museum system was always a portal into a different world, where you could easily drift into the way that they reflected so much history, and so much of the way the world's complexity is part of the American experience. As a kid, I could imagine them as worlds unto themselves. You could get lost and wander in them for hours, if not entire days. That was the beauty of growing up in DC—you had the entire world at your figertips. It's experiences like going to Antarctica to write a string ensemble work that made me realize how much the museums of DC gave me the ability to think of the immense horizons DC kids have access to. It's a great situation.
B: Can you tell us what's next for DJ Spooky?
DJS: After I do my show at the Sackler, I have concerts in Korea and China mid-October. I'm also finishing my next book with MIT, about apps. It's called The Imaginary App.
Get your Asia After Dark tickets here.
Dear Freer and Sackler Galleries:
Last month, I proposed to my girlfriend, Maria, in front of your Chinese scroll Mandarin Ducks under Blossoming Plum Tree. A year ago, Maria had traveled from Venezuela to visit her brother in DC, and made a special trip to the Freer to see the painting.
When she was younger, Maria had read a story of a princess who had lost the love of her life. Each day, the princess would walk to a pond and watch a pair of Mandarin ducks who would never leave each other's side. One day, during the winter, she saw one of the ducks alone, and the duck cried as if it was a human.
Understanding the symbolism of the ducks that mate for life (friendship, loyalty, fertility, and wedded bliss), last summer Maria took a picture of her reflection in the glass that protects the painting. We met three months later. Over the winter, we went to the Freer and took a picture of our reflection in the glass. On Sunday, August 12, the day we got engaged, we took our second picture there together.
Thank you,
Claudia Chang, professor of archaeology at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, is director of an international field research project on the archaeology of the Iron Age in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Throughout the exhibition Nomads and Networks: The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan, on view in the Sackler until November 12, 2012, Claudia will share tales from her ongoing fieldwork with us on Bento.
All week the weather reports have predicted rain, but we have mostly had glowering skies, occasional winds, and some thunder grumblings. Today we quit before our break time because a rain came, but it was short-lasting. Steppe weather usually comes from the northwest, where the storm clouds gather and then blow against the high Tianshan Mountains.
The crew was happy to leave early today. It's been a long dig season. Most archaeological projects in Kazakhstan are located in remote mountain, desert, or steppe areas where a field camp is set up, and the project lasts for 3 to 6 weeks. We're now into the 9th week of excavation.
I refer to what we do as "garage archaeology." We pick the crew up every day at 6:30 am with the Uhas Microautobus, drive less than 3 km (1.9 miles) to the site with our equipment, and then work until 12:15 pm. It is a short day, but usually packed with so many activities that even the high school students who work with us sometimes comment on how fast the morning hours pass. Then we drive from the site to the place where we store the artifacts and park the bus in the garage.
After weeks of hard decisions, such as over which pieces of fallen mud brick wall to destroy and which to keep because they could be parts of walls, tandoor ovens, or floors, we have now found two large rooms in front of the upper mud brick platform and a large storage pit to the west of the platform. There are successive layers of packed mud brick flooring. A week ago, we broke out the three archaeological picks we brought from the US. They are the preferred tools for smashing the mud brick and adobe fall.
Olzhas asked yesterday, "When are we going to find gold?" The fact is that in settlement sites such as Tuzusai there is no gold to be found. Today we found a tiny piece of bronze, about the closest we'll come to any kind of precious metal. It is indeed difficult for us to believe that the kurgans, with such rich burial inventories as the Issyk Golden Warrior, actually come from the same Iron Age period as a settlement site such as Tuzusai.
But today we did find an elite artifact on the second floor of the mud brick platform: half of a bronze bracelet. That's an amazing find, probably the most incredible find we've had. When Alec found it, he turned to show it to me. Later I said, "Years from now you'll be able to go to the Kazakh State Central Museum in Almaty and point to the bronze bracelet on display and say, 'I found that in 2012!'"
Claudia Chang, professor of archaeology at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, is director of an international field research project on the archaeology of the Iron Age in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Throughout the exhibition Nomads and Networks: The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan, on view in the Sackler until November 12, 2012, Claudia will share tales from her ongoing fieldwork with us on Bento.
The weather has turned hot and has baked out a lot of the archaeological contexts. The dust from 2000-year-old crumbling mud brick gets on our clothes and covers all the finds on the site. This week I wrote an email to our ceramic specialist and asked her how we could remove the thick white carbonate found on many of our sherds, obscuring the painted designs and slip. She says that soaking the pottery pieces in a vinegar solution will help remove the carbonate layer. I also asked her if she knew how to reconstruct some of the broken pots we have found. She asked me if I just wanted to piece together the pots so we could get a count of the number of whole vessels or if I thought the pots should be restored as art objects.
This is an important question. Many of the objects on display in the exhibition Nomads and Networks have been curated and preserved as 'art objects.' Most were probably found in excellent condition when removed from the soil, but others might have required careful restoration and preservation techniques. Excavated artifacts have a life of their own. They are from the same time period and cultural origins as the settlement site of Tuzusai, yet our ceramic inventory is much more variable. We have large storage vessels with splashes of red paint, cooking vessels, bowls, jars, cups and plates. There are ceramic disks with a perforated center hole used as spindle whorls and large broken pot pieces with repair holes. Obviously household artifacts can be quite different from those found in burials. Burial inventories, unless robbed or disturbed, are often sealed contexts containing whole pots, sacrificial animals, daggers, finely fashioned plaques of gold that were sewn onto material. A settlement site, or a place where people actually lived, is filled with the debris and trash that is left behind when the settlement was abandoned.
The life of an artifact, like the beautiful double ribbed ceramic kettle found on the surface of the mud brick platform is amazing. Three weeks ago we found a large double ribbed kettle on the mud brick platform. We have been debating whether or not the deeper levels below the platform were the living surfaces associated with the house. Two days ago Lyuba carefully dug around a rim sherd of the same double ribbed kettle that had fallen 40 cm below the platform. We often find little treasures in the cracks and crevasses of architectural features. This week someone found two tiny fragments of bronze in a post hole. Think about a tiny piece of jewelry or a penny that falls through the floor boards of an old house. Household archaeology is made up of the debris and the small 'forgotten things' of everyday life. The archaeologist who finds a tiny fragment of bronze in a post hole or a broken pot on a floor of a house, or in the associated trash on a living floor, is ever curious about the history of such objects.
The artifacts associated with elite burials of the nomadic aristocrats, such as the sacrificial horses with their leather masks and antler horns found in Tomb 13 at Berel in the Altai, or the Golden Warrior with his plaques of gold sewn on his kaftan, leggings, and tall hat, you might also consider the everyday objects found at a Tuzusai. These artifacts include broken pots, remains of past meals such as animal bones and charred seeds, and even a favorite stone polished with a hole drilled into it, worn as a pendant or used as a sharpening stone.
As the days get hotter we have found a way to use a parachute as a shade. In this photo note the contrast between our parachute used as shade and the ancient mud brick architecture at Tuzusai.


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Campaign of the Month: September 2012
A Manifestation of Chaos
Coryn Lightborn
an eager advancer of narrative content
Human (P), Bard (P) 15th Medium Humanoid (Human) Alignment: Chaotic Good [Pelor] Hit Dice: 15d8+15 (84 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: 30' (6 sq) (light enc.) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. AC: 27 (+7 Armor, +4 Shield, +2 Dex, +2 Natural Armor, +2 Deflection), Touch 14, Flat-Footed 25 Saves: Fort +9, Ref +14, Will +13 Abilities: Str 14, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 26 Base Att/CMB/CMD: +11 / +13 / 27 Single Attack: Whip +1 Deadly, Dispelling: +14 melee (1d3+3/20) Shortbow +1, Designating(Greater): +14 ranged (1d6+1/20/x3) Full Attack: Whip +1 Deadly, Dispelling: +14/+9/+4 melee (1d3+3/20) Shortbow +1, Designating(Greater): +14/+9/+4 ranged (1d6+1/20/x3) ==| FEATS |== Point Blank Shot, Arcane Strike, Craft Wondrous Item, Reach Spell, Additional Traits, Discordant Voice, Forge Ring, Gifted Adept Trait, Magical Lineage Trait, Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Precise Shot. ==| SKILLS |== Acrobatics +2, Appraise +7, Bluff +8, Climb +6, Diplomacy +8, Disable Dev +19, Disguise +8,Escape Art +2, Fly +2, Heal +2, Intimidate +8, Linguistics +21, Perception +19, Ride +3,Sense Mot +1, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +20, Survival +1, Swim +3, Use Mag Dev +15,Perf:Oratory +26, Perf:Act +16, Perf:Comedy +26, Perf:Dance +16, Kn:Arcana +14, Kn:Dungeon +14, Kn:Eng +14, Kn:Geo +14, Kn:History +14, Kn:Local +14, Kn:Nature +14, Kn:Nobility +14, Kn:Planes +14, Kn:Psionics +14, Kn:Religion +14, Cr:Alchemy +3, Cr:Wpnsmith +23. ==| BARD (P) SPELLS |== Spells per Day: (8/7/12/7/6/4; save DC 18+spell level): Level 0 - Detect Magic, Flare, Know Direction, Light, Lullaby, Message, Read Magic, Resistance, Spark, Level 1 - Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Cure Light Wounds, Ear-Piercing Scream, Feather Fall, Hideous Laughter, Touch of Gracelessness, Undetectable Alignment, Vanish, Level 2 - Acute Senses, Blindness/Deafness, Blur, Cure Moderate Wounds, Glitterdust, Hold Person, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Sound Burst, Level 3 - Arcane Concordance, Blink, Charm Monster, Confusion, Dispel Magic, Glibness, Haste, Jester's Jaunt, Level 4 - Break Enchantment, Cure Critical Wounds, Dimension Door, Echolocation, Freedom of Movement, Hold Monster, Sonic Thrust, Level 5 - Bard's Escape, Cloak of Dreams, Heroism (Greater), Shadow Evocation. ==| Languages (x18) |== Common, Elvish, Orcish, Draconic, Dwarven, Gnomish, Halfling, Old Oerridian, Undercommon, Celestial, Infernal, Abyssal, Sylvan, Goblin, Giant, Ignan, Auran ==| Racial Traits: Human (P) |== Bard favored class: bonus spell known: 3xCantrips 3x1st 3x2nd 3x3rd 3x4th Bonus Feat: One extra feat at Level #1 Skilled: Gain 1 extra skill point at each level ==| Class Features: Bard (P) 15th |== Concentration check: 1d20+25 Cantrips: You can cast your Cantrips at will Bardic Knowledge: +7 to all knowledge skills. Make any Knowledge checks untrained Versatile Performance (Ex): Substitute skill check by a performance check: • Comedy (Bluff, Intimidate) • Oratory (Diplomacy, Sense Motive) • Dance (Acrobatics, Fly) • Act (Bluff, Disguise) Lore Master (Ex): Can take 10 on any Knowledge skill that has at least 1 rank • 2/Day, take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a std acion < OO > Jack of All Trades (Ex): Use any skills, even if skill requires training Bardic Performance: requires a swift action to initiate: • Rounds per day: 40 • Countersong (Su): Counters magic that depend on sound (max. 30') • Distraction (Su): Counters magic that depend on sight (max: 30') • Fascinate (Su): Up to 6 creatures (max: 90') Will DC25 • Inspire Courage (Su): · +3 morale bonus on attacks & weapon damage · +3 on saves vs charm & fear effects • Inspire Competence (Su): Ally gets +5 on skill check (max: 30') • Suggestion (Sp): as the spell, vs 1 fascinated creature; Will DC25 • Dirge of Doom (Su): Enemies become shaken (max: 30'). Persists as long as you play, and the creature is within 30' • Inspire Greatness (Su): 3x Targets, +2d10 HD, +2 atk, +1 Fort (max: 30') • Soothing Performance (Su): Similar to Mass CSW, CL15 (4 rnds, 30'). Removes fatigued, sickened, and shakened conditions • Frightening Tune (Sp): Frightens creatures within 30', Will DC25. Lasts as long as the target can hear your performance • Inspire Heroics (Su): 1x Targets, +4 vs Saves, +4 AC (max: 30') ==| Conditional Bonus - Bard (P) Class |== +4 on Saves vs Bardic Performances, sonic & language effects [Well-Versed] Gifted Adept Trait: Dispel Magic as CL+1 Magical Lineage: Use Metamagic on Touch of Gracelessness ==| EQUIPMENT |== ARMOR WORN: Mithral Shirt +3 Benev., Determ.. SHIELD: Mithral Buckler. Handy Haversack, Masterwork Thieves' Tools, Efficient Quiver, 60xArrow 440xArrow Elixir of Teleportation, Masterwork Artisan's Tools ==| MAGICAL ITEMS WORN |== Cloak of Charisma +4 Necklace of Personal Composure Tunic of Careful Casting & Wisdom +2 Gloves of Arcane Striking & Intelligence +2 Tremor Boots Ring of Wizardry II (Bard) Ring of Protection +2 & Sustenance Belt of Physical Perfection +2 Cloak of Resistance +3 Amulet of Natural Armor +2 Brooch of Shielding ==| MONEY |== Platinum:730 Gold:98 Silver:9 Copper:10. ==| TOTAL CHARACTER VALUE |== 210,869 gp. ==| CHARACTER STATUS |== Add Whip +1 Deadly, Dispelling to the Carried Gear section (BACK worksheet) Add Shortbow +1, Designating(Greater) to the Carried Gear section (BACK worksheet)
Coryn Lightborn grew up as the thirteenth of fifteen children in a quite large and influential family from Dyvers. His mother and father were very loving, intelligent, and kind. He had almost all of the amenities of life provided for him. His parents proved pious followers of Pelor and provided a wonderful childhood for Coryn and his many siblings. His father was a merchant who dealt in magical items and resources, and his mother was a talented daughter of a noble family from the region. Although they are not as high on the social scale as nobility, the combination of wealth and noble blood allows them the advantage of moving in many circles. Moreover, the reputation for talented performers, magic-users, and persuasive but intelligent businessmen garners them begrudging but amiable respect.
Because the Lightborns were, indeed, a pious family, they sent Coryn to the temple of Pelor for studies and upbringing in the Pelorian faith. It was soon realized that although he was a fairly intelligent boy, his potential for learning and knowledge were not as great as his endearing qualities and good taste. At times he even seemed to foolishly drift into contemplating an overarching music or song to the universe, which were tolerable but unwelcome deviations from the standard approach of the professors.
However, he met with enough support to be directed to the College of the Unsung, a bardic college founded by the gnome Floganor, who it was rumored had met and conversed with many fey creatures and underground folk. He was a refined master of many arts, but his quirks and oddity lent themselves well to Coryn's idiosyncrasies. And so he came to study the primary art, the art of narrative. From narration the foreground stabilizes and motion is fully realized. And Coryn was thus taught not just an idea but a way of life involving total commitment to a mere pattern of communication, in which he was to seek the beauty defining the appearance of things and present it in a noble fashion. One further step technicality was required by Floganor, who stubbornly said: "None can represent experience for others without speaking from the voice of his own experiences and representations unto himself. Before you can narrate you must enter into your own story and participate, absorb and experience, and in this way you will become an unsung bard, and what you have heard in the story of your life you may convey in the story you seek to tell by first admitting that you are a part of the true story. Your own life, therefore, is nothing more than a brainstorming process for communicating the greater story and beauty you recognize. Go, therefore, and journey long ere you cease and pass into the telling stage of your song."
After these words, Floganor literally disappeared from Coryn's sight. Since then, he has spent his time in many adventures, at times defending the kings and justice, at other times helping the poor and saving the lost, sometimes entering into dastardly environments under disguise as a thug or rogue, other times scouting lands for the seeds of potential adventure. In passing through Keoland, rumors greeted his ears of great warriors, mystical priests, and powerful mages, striving against a host of never-before seen enemies enslaving the land. He is inspired, if possible, to be a part of a story that will shape his understanding of the world around him.


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How hard can it be to fill up a one-page form that asks for simple things, such as your name, age, address, telephone number and sundry details that you would have at your fingertips? Take the case of the know-your-client (KYC) form that asks for these and a few more details; nothing, of course, that you wouldn't, or shouldn't, know. As per capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)'s guidelines, if you wish to invest in a mutual fund (MF), you must be KYC-compliant. In other words, you need to fill out the KYC form and have it approved by any one of the five KYC registration agencies (KRAs). But looks can be deceptive. This simple and innocuous looking form can raise havoc in your investing life.
Devitoma Kar, 31, a homemaker based in Rupnagar, Punjab, found this the hard way. On the back of rising equity markets in October 2012, Kar tried to open an MF investment account with Fundsindia.com. She was particularly interested in investing in gold MFs. Along with the account opening form, she duly filled out the KYC form (since she was a first-time MF investor) and sent it to the portal along with a copy of her residence and identity proofs. Weeks later, her KYC was rejected.
She later found out that there was another KYC form— in her name—pending at one of the KRAs; unless she filled and completed that form, her new KYC (through Fundsindia.com) would not go through, she was told by an email that Fundsindia.com sent her almost a month later. "I had no idea what the other KYC was; I did not know what to do," Kar told us over telephone from Rupnagar, where she now lives at the Indian Institute of Technology campus with her husband who teaches there. It took Kar three months to sort out the mess; in January 2013, her Fundsindia.com account was finally ready, allowing her to invest in MFs.
Like Kar, many investors face different problems in getting their KYC done. And it's not even about filling a wrong detail here or leaving a blank there. Despite filling out details diligently, there is still a chance that your KYC application gets rejected. One of the biggest problems that investors face is because of lack of coordination among various KRAs. Here's what it means.
In October 2011, Sebi said that if you wished to invest in the stock markets, either through a stock broker, MFs or portfolio management services and so on, you needed to do your KYC, just once. This single KYC would have to be done "in-person" but will be valid through all such stock market intermediaries. Further, Sebi also allowed some firms to set up KRAs so that you—the investor—do not have to do KYCs again and again. These KRAs would store your KYC records and would share your KYC record among them (as multiple KRAs are allowed to be set up). The idea: Do a KYC with any intermediary who will then approach any KRA that it has tied up with and upload your details. Then if you approach another intermediary, it should be able to pull out your earlier KYC and confirm your KYC status.
KRA inter-operability is a distant dream
At present, there are five KRAs—CAMSKRA (set up by Computer Age Management Services (Cams), one of the two largest registrar and transfer agents to service MFs); CDSL Ventures Ltd (CVL, a division of Central Depository Services (India) Ltd); NSDL Database Management Ltd (NDML, a subsidiary of National Securities Depository Ltd); DotEx International Ltd, a unit of the National Stock Exchange; and Karvy Data Management Services Ltd.
Last year, Sebi also mandated the intermediaries to upload your KYC records on the centralized system (through any KRA). Here's where Kar's—and apparently many other investors'—KYC got stuck. Kar had opened a demat account with a stock brokerage firm in 2010 and forgot about it, eventually. In 2012, Sebi instructed intermediaries to upload their existing clients' KYC details in the KRA system in a phased manner. Mainly stock brokers were affected by this as KYC was mandated long back to open demat accounts. Kar's existing KYC details with her stock broker (done when she had opened her stock broking account) also got uploaded at NDML Ltd (a KRA). "But it turned out that my KYC done at that time was incomplete. When I tried to do a (fresh) KYC with Fundsindia.com last year, my new KYC clashed with my existing KYC (which was already uploaded) and things came to a halt. After a lot of back and forth, I was forced to close my stock broking account, make my earlier KYC redundant and then fill up a new KYC form all over again. Then, my KYC got approved," she says.
Fundsindia.com typically uploads its clients' KYC detail on CVL KRA. If inter-operability works in true spirit, CVL KRA should be able to accept the remaining details, irrespective of which intermediary (Kar's earlier stock broker or Fundsindia.com) submits the KYC documents afresh.
Apart from this, if your KYC is done, you should also be able to check your KYC status at any of the KRAs' websites and get a confirmation. For instance, if your KYC application gets registered with one KRA, your status should show "KYC Complete" on all KRA websites. "Unfortunately, many times this does not happen. If the KYC process is efficient, the investor should be able to give KYC documentation through any KRA. Isn't that what a uniform KYC meant to do?" says Rajesh Krishnamoorthy, managing director, iFast Financial India Pvt. Ltd.
"Inter-operability (connectivity) between the five KRAs is still in process; it's not yet complete. This is a big problem, but we expect it to be resolved soon," says Srikanth Meenakshi, director, Fundsindia.com.
The problem compounds when you submit your KYC application form at the time of investment, only to be rejected later. One of Shashank Joshi's (a Mumbai-based MF distributor) client's KYC got rejected almost 15 days after she had submitted her KYC and investment application forms. Once the KYC got rejected, the fund house refunded her money. "In the meantime, if the market moves sharply, the investor loses out," says Joshi. Like Kar, Joshi's client had opened a stock broker's account in 2008; her stock broker subsequently uploaded her KYC records that turned out to be incomplete.
When any change means trouble
When Kolkata-based Paromita Haldar Roy got married in 2009—she subsequently took up a job at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.—she chose to retain both her maiden name (Haldar) as well her husband's last name (Roy). Her plans hit the roadblock when she tried to open a salary bank account in her new job, at HDFC Bank Ltd which did not allow her to use both her names. That's not all. When she tried to apply for a ration card, she was told to put one of the two names in brackets. Her voter identity and Aadhaar cards accepted both her names. Finally, she opened her bank account that does not carry her maiden name. "As a result, my full name appears differently in my office, bank account, Aadhaar card and the ration card," says Haldar Roy.
But can banks insist on only one last name and not two, like in Haldar Roy's case? "No. the account holder has a choice to use her maiden name, married name or both these names or she can even use neither, provided she submits a relevant document such as a marriage certificate as proof," says a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) spokesperson, who did not want to be named.
As part of your KYC, you also have to submit proof for your residential address, both current and permanent. But what happens if you don't own a house and stay in a rented accommodation? Hari Unnikrishnan, 32, a professor, wanted to open a bank account with South Indian Bank in Bangalore when he moved there in 2012. As part of his KYC, he had to submit a residence proof. Unnikrishnan had a problem. Since he lived with his friend in Bangalore, the rent agreement was not in his name. It's only when he requested his college to write a letter certifying that he teaches there, that his KYC was complete and he was allowed to open a bank account. "Three months later when I took a place on rent, I took my rent agreement and updated my new address on it," says Unnikrishnan.
That is not all. The slow enrolment of Aadhaar numbers has meant that some banks still do not accept Aadhaar as a valid proof. Those who wish to open a savings account have to either produce a ration card, a rental agreement or a utility bill as proof of address. This, in spite of RBI allowing banks to accept Aadhaar cards issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as a valid address proof for opening a new account, in December. Before the December notification Aadhaar was just considered as a proof of identity and not an address proof as bankers were confused after a previous RBI notification said lenders have to "satisfy themselves about the current address of the customer by obtaining required proof of the same…"
What should you do
Says V.N. Kulkarni, chief counsellor, Abhay credit counselling centre: "The recent rise in threats related to terrorism has put KYC in the spotlight and unlike western countries there is no single social security number here, hence the emphasis on documentation."
Kulkarni specifies that there are six different identity proofs accepted by banks, according to RBI regulations. They are Permanent Account Number, Aadhaar, voter identity card, passport, identity cards issued by central or state governments and driving licence. For address proof, there is electricity bill, telephone bill or rent agreement.
"For young workers and students who may not have a residential proof, banks accept a letter from the company in which case the statements will be sent to the office of the person," says Kulkarni, who also adds that "ration cards are also not accepted as address proof by banks because of an increase in number of duplicate cards and a government notification debarring the acceptance of ration cards". However, many banks claim that they accept ration cards.
As we cut through the KYC noise and clutter, hope comes from finance minister P. Chidambaram. "It's important that the KYC norms within a market regulator should converge and become one set of KYC norms. The next step is to converge the KYC norms of different regulators," he said at a press conference in Mumbai last week when he mourned why retail investors get scared from investing in financial instruments. And when he blamed this on why it is easier for investors to invest in gold ("there are no KYC norms in buying a gold coin") instead, little wonder the audience gave him a big round of applause. "Life must be made simple," said Chidambaram.
Vivina Vishwanathan contributed to this story.


text: I have a VC Encore NC 1450, manufactured in 2009, which is installed in a fireplace. Because of the weight of the stove and its position in the fireplace it is not practical to replace the damper gasket through the flue collar opening as recommended by the manufacturor. I wonder if anyone has ever changed the damper gasket by removing the Damper Housing through the inside of the stove?? From the diagram of the stove it appears there are four bolts holding the damper housing to the back of the stove and the gasket which needs to be replaced is on the back side of the damper housing. Is this a feasible way to change the damper gasket or does the damper lever hold the housing in such a way that it can't be removed without removing the damper from the damper rod? Are there nuts on the end of the four bolts that will fall inside when they are remove or are the bolts going into tapped holes in the stove back? Is there gasket material between the damper housing and the stove back or is it cemented to the stove back? Any other thoughts on how to change the gasket. Please see parts 10, 42, 11 & 12 for reference on page 32 at the link below. http://www.thenaturalabode.com/house_appliances/downloads/wood_stoves/Encore_manual.pdf Thanks in advance for your help.


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An Olympic Push to Ease Border Rules
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: March 20, 2007
Worried about trade, tourism and the success of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, several states and Canadian provinces are pressing the Department of Homeland Security to ease some restrictions planned for the increasingly tight border between the United States and Canada.
One goal is to delay the start of a measure that will require people entering the United States by land or sea to show a passport. The rule has been scheduled to take effect as early as January 2008, but the department has the latitude to delay it until June 2009.
In addition, officials in Washington State say they are in final negotiations with the Homeland Security Department to create an ''enhanced driver's license'' that could be used instead of a passport to cross the border. State officials expect to announce soon a pilot program to give Washington residents who are United States citizens the option to apply for the new license. It would cost about $40, compared with the $97 fee for a United States passport, and it would be the size of a regular driver's license. New York and Michigan are pursuing similar programs.
The new passport requirement is part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which was passed by Congress in 2004. As part of the initiative, in January the United States began requiring United States citizens and anyone else returning to the country by air from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean to show passports.
By January 2008, the same requirement could apply to ground travel. For now, the department says it intends to stick with the 2008 start, even as political pressure and logistical hurdles to put the program in place appear likely to delay it.
''There are a lot of moving pieces, and we certainly can't nail down a final date when the notice of proposed rulemaking has not been made yet,'' said Kelly Klundt, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Homeland Security Department. ''The goal is January of 2008.''
For now, Canadians and Americans entering the United States from Canada by land or sea must show a government-issued photo ID and proof of nationality, like a birth certificate. Customs agents do not always require proof of nationality, however, and showing a driver's license is often enough to get through.
The efforts to delay the new rule and to find alternatives come as confusion has increased about what exactly will be required to enter the United States from Canada and when those requirements will take effect.
They also come as Washington State and British Columbia hope more than ever to convey an image of cross-border unity. The Winter Games are expected to be a boon to much of the Pacific Northwest, which many people throughout the region have long viewed as having distinctive cultural and economic ties that transcend national boundaries.
''The governor believes that implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative would create tremendous economic damage to the state, and Premier Campbell feels the same way,'' said Antonio Ginatta, a policy adviser to Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington, referring to Premier Gordon Campbell of British Columbia. ''We're too closely tied together to build a fence between us.''
The plans for the passport requirement are separate from the Homeland Security Department's plan to require states to begin issuing standardized, tamper-proof driver's licenses, known as Real ID. That effort has met fierce resistance from many states, and last month the department said it would not penalize states that did not meet the designated start date for issuing the new licenses, May 2008. The department has said it will extend the deadline for some states until December 2009.
The department also appears to be bowing to some pressure on the passport requirement for crossing the border from Canada. This year, it said it intended to allow United States and Canadian children 15 and younger to enter the country without a passport.
Of the 422 million travelers who legally entered the United States in the 2006 fiscal year, according to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, about 75 million came from Canada by land. About 234 million came across the Mexican border.
Still, officials in Canada have been focused intensely on the passport issue, particularly in light of a decline in American tourism there since the Sept. 11 attacks.
''Canada actually asks us like once a week, 'Do you have a final date yet?' '' Ms. Klundt said.
Members of Congress from states including Michigan, New York and North Dakota have joined Canadian provincial leaders in asking to delay the passport requirement, but officials in Washington State and British Columbia have cast the issue as particularly urgent in light of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Lines at the border crossing here in Blaine, at the terminus of Interstate 5, are longer since scrutiny increased after 9/11. While wait times can be less than 20 minutes, others last hours. Many fear that adding the passport requirement will only make the wait longer.
Canadian officials say they worry that some United States citizens will decide against visiting Canada out of concern that getting back into their country could be difficult. And officials in Washington State worry that visitors to the Olympics might decide not to extend their visit into Washington.
While Washington State's enhanced driver's license would not work for non-Washington residents, officials here hope it will be part of a larger rethinking of ways to expedite passage across the border without jeopardizing security. The license would include technology enabling it to be read electronically, although travelers who have them still could face interviews and inspections.
A program already in use, called Nexus, allows travelers the department considers to be low risk to get electronic cards that permit expedited travel. Extensive documentation is needed to get a card. The State Department also plans to introduce a license-size identification card that could be used instead of a passport in some cases, but it is not clear when it will be ready.
British Columbia hopes to introduce an enhanced driver's license of its own, one that would eventually be recognized by the Homeland Security Department. But even as some Canadian leaders want to delay the passport requirement and create alternatives, they also say they want clarity on what the changes will be.
''It's certainly critical for the Games that we have these issues tested and operational,'' said British Columbia's minister of state for intergovernmental relations, John van Dongen.
Photo: Lines at the border crossing from Surrey, British Columbia, to Blaine, Wash., have grown longer since the tightening of security after 9/11. (Photo by Don MacKinnon for The New York Times)
Maps of Washington highlighting Blaine: The 2010 Winter Games will be in Vancouver, British Columbia.


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Danny Danon Poised to Be Elected Head of Likud Central Committee
Despite deep ideological differences with Netanyahu, projected winner Danny Danon pledges to fulfill his role in a 'statesmanlike' manner.
Members of the Likud Central Committee go to the polls on Sunday to choose the...
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text: Operate self-propelled Cherrington Model 950 walk-along beach cleaner/sand sifter via tethered remote control. Features center-wheel hydraulic depth control and settings. Joystick steering with independent rear-wheel drive allows maneuverability around trees, walls, and cabanas. Use with 3 interchangeable screens to remove rocks, debris, seaweed, bird droppings, cigarette butts, encroaching grass, and small roots.


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Artist description:
okay this is for a friend she requested it. i think this one turned out pretty good hehe enjoy :P
Java Draw Created Jun 27, 2010 460 x 640px Unless noted Copyright 2010 miki-san.
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x_Ianju Jun 27, 2010
gaia? xD
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NCL skyward
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Does any body out there know what ever happened to the Skyward. We took our honeymoon aboard her and had a blast.
One of the things that I remember was that the walls were paper thin, w/ viertually no sound proofing. The first night that we were aboard, we were about to make whoppy when the newly wed couple in the cabin beside us started in. I think that we heard every sound!!! After realizing the lack of sound proofing, we were very discreet in our love making. During the cruise, we became very good friends w/ the couple in the cabin, but of course, we never mentioned that we could here them. What was so funny is the last day on board, we were to have packed everything except what we needed to get ready for the day of disembarkation. My wife and I had already showered up and were just about to leave the cabin when the people lady next door sd to her husband," honey where is the shampoo"? With that he said, " shoot I packed it". Once I heard that, I whispered to my wife, do you want to have some fun and she said O.K. I took our shampoo and placed it outside of their cabin and knocked on the door and went back inside of our cabin. You could here the wife saying "honey, some body is at the door. With that you could here th door being opened. His wife then asked " who was it". With that I am assuming that he must have showed here the shampoo, because she exclaimed , Oh my god and then silence. When whey saw us in the restraunt, they turned a couple shades of red.


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The European Economic and Social Committee played a very active role in the run-up to the Rio+20 Conference, and during the conference itself, facilitating broad civil society dialogue and input. EESC president Staffan Nilsson is determined to push implementation of the UN conference results at EU level, and to give civil society a pivotal role in framing the Sustainable Development Goals.
Since Rio, the Economic and Social Committee has wasted no time: a series of follow-up events have been held over the past few weeks, in the conviction that, as Mr Nilsson has often remarked, "the road from Rio is at least as important as the road to Rio". The EESC intends to make Rio+20 the starting point for a new world economic order, based on sustainability.


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If your child is living with someone other than a parent, and you want that person to be able to make medical and educational decisions for the child, consider naming a Caregiver for the child, instead of a Guardian. This process does not take away any of the parent's rights to make decisions, but allows the caregiver to make educational and medical decisions without talking to the parent first. This is a much simpler process, and no forms need to be filed in court. The permission is good for up to 2 years. You will need a new one every 2 years.
If you are caring for a child and need to make more than just educational and medical decisions for the child, you must be named guardian. A guardian is a person chosen to make all decisions for a child, just as a parent would. You can be named guardian of a child if the child's parents are unable or unavailable to care for him. If the parents do not agree to the guardianship, you can only become guardian if the court decides that the parents are unfit to care for the child.
A guardian is different from a caregiver, because when a child has a caregiver, either the caregiver OR the parent can make decisions for the child. When a child has a guardian, ONLY the guardian and NOT the parent can make decisions.
Guardians and Caregivers of Minors
- Guardians of Children and Other Non-Parent Caregivers
- Who Can Request a Guardianship of a Minor? Who Can Become a Guardian?
- Where Do I File for Guardianship of a Minor?
- What Forms Do I File for Guardianship of a Minor?
- The Guardianship Process
- Getting Help with Filing for Guardianship
- After You Are Named Guardian of a Minor
- More Information about Caregivers and Guardians


text: Deal 28 clicks $26.95 - $71.80 off Vita-Vision Receive $26.95 - $71.80 off Vita-Vision. Your two cents Share GET DEAL Did this coupon work for you? YES NO Share this exclusive offer with others! Copy this link and share it anywhere Copy Tweet Share Add comment Leave the community your two cents … Your name


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Contained Places
The Province of Alessandria (Italian: Provincia di Alessandria) is an Italian province, with a population of some 430,000, which forms the southeastern part of the region of Piedmont. The provincial capital is the city of Alessandria.
With an area of it is the third largest province of Piedmont after those of Cuneo and Turin. To the north it borders on the Province of Vercelli and to the west on the provinces of Turin and Asti. It shares its southern border with Liguria (provinces of Savona and Genoa). Its south-east corner touches the Province of Piacenza in Emilia Romagna, while to the east it borders on the Lombard Province of Pavia.
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Since Petco Park opened in 2004 it has been a second home for the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies have a career mark 24-6 at Petco Park, including a 2-2 mark last season.
Starting Monday night the Phillies visit Petco Park for three games with staff aces Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels making two of the three starts.
Lee will pitch Monday night's opener (7:10 p.m.) against the Padres Eric Stults.
Philadelphia is 5-9 over their last 14 games and has been above .500 only one day all season. Dominic Brown, who is hitting .279 with 19 homers and 50 RBI. First baseman Ryan Howard is hitting .282 with 10 homers and 41 RBIs. Philadelphia has the worst team earned run average (4.23) in the National League.
The Padres made both a roster and lineup change Monday.
The Padres recalled left-handed reliever Tommy Layne from Triple-A Tucson and sent right-hander Miles Mikolas back to the T-Padres. Layne gives the Padres a second left-hander in the bullpen against a Phillies team deep in left-handed hitters.
And the Padres flip-flopped Chase Headley and Carlos Quentin in the batting order. For the first time, Quentin will hit in the third slot ahead of Quentin. Headley will also be hitting in the cleanup spot for the first time this season.
Although rookie second baseman Jedd Gyorko is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, Padres manager Bud Black said Gyorko won't be returning until he plays a couple rehab games with Single-A Lake Elsinore. Gyorko ran the bases for the first time since he suffered a right groin strain on June 9.
First baseman Yonder Alonso said he hopes to return around July 1. He received positive news Monday when he had the non-displaced fracture to the third metacarpal bone in his right hand examined.
PHILLIES (326-40) at PADRES (38-38)
Time: 7:10 p.m. Game: 1 of 3
TV: Fox Sports San Diego
Radio: 1090-AM, 860-AM (Spanish)
Today's matchup
Philles LHP Cliff Lee (9-2. 2.53 ERA)
Lee vs. the Padres: 1-2 career, 4.99 ERA in five starts.
Lee at Petco Park: 0-1 career, 1.93 ERA in two starts.
Lee, 34, will be making his 90th start in his third season with the Phillies. He is 39-23 with a 2.80 ERA for Philadelphia. The 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner has a career record of 134-80 with a 3.53 ERA in 299 games (295 starts). Lee hasn't faced the Padres since the 2011 season. Lee has won his last seven decisions. He ranks ninth in the National League in ERA and is tied for fourth in wins.
Padres vs. Lee:
Kyle Blanks: .000 (0-for-3, 2 SO)
Pedro Ciriaco: .500 (2-for-4, SO)
Chris Denorfia: .364 (4-for-11, 2B, SO)
Jesus Guzman: .333 (1-for-3, 2B, SO)
Chase Headley: .444 (4-for-9, 2B)
Nick Hundley: .250 (1-for-4, 2B, 2 SO)
Mark Kotsay: .250 (2-for-8, 2 BB)
Carlos Quentin: .125 (1-for-8, 2 SO)
Will Venable: .000 (0-for-4, 3 SO)
Padres LHP Eric Stults (6-5, 3.25 ERA)
Stults vs. the Phillies: 0-1 career, 12.00 ERA in one start.
Stults at Petco Park: 7-2 career, 3.18 ERA in 13 starts (3-1 this season, 2.90 ERA in six starts).
Stults, 33, is 4-3 over his last 10 starts with a 2.31 ERA. His ERA over his last 10 starts is the ninth-best in the National League since May 2. The Padres are 9-6 in his starts this season and 19-10 since he joined their rotation last season.
Phillies vs. Stults
Kevin Frandsen: .000 (0-for-5, BB)
Ryan Howard: 1.000 (2-for-2, 2 HR)
Humberto Quintero: .000 (0-for-1)
Jimmy Rollins: .500 (1-for-2)
Chase Utley: .500 (1-for-2, 2B)
Starting Lineups:
Philadelphia Phillies
1.Jimmy Rollins (S), SS -- .261-4-24
2.Chase Utley (L), 2B -- .263-7-25
3.Michael Young, 3B -- .287-4-18
4.Dominic Brown (L), LF -- .276-19-50
5.Kevin Frandsen, 1B – .280-3-11
6.Delmon Young, RF -- .220-6-17
7.John Mayberry Jr., CF -- .250-5-18
8.Carlos Ruiz, C -- .227-0-2
9.Cliff Lee (L), .259-0-1
San Diego Padres
1.Logan Forsythe, 2B -- .319-2-8
2.Chris Denorfia, CF -- .279-5-24
3.Carlos Quentin, LF -- .262-8-23
4.Chase Headley (S), 3B -- .224-6-25
5.Kyle Blanks, RF -- .269-8-27
6.Jesus Guzman, 1B -- .230-3-13
7.Yasmani Grandal (S), C -- .210-1-8
8.Pedro Ciriaco, SS -- .308-1-3
9.Eric Stults (L), LHP -- .100-1-3
Looking Ahead
Tuesday: Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (6-4, 3.56 ERA) at Padres RHP Jason Marquis (9-2, 3.59 ERA), 7:10 p.m.
Wednesday:Phillies LHP Cole Hamels at Padres to-be-announced, 7:10 p.m.
Thursday: Off.


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A Border Patrol agent shot an illegal border crosser in the abdomen Tuesday morning northwest of Nogales.
The man who was shot, a 30-year-old from Nogales, Sonora, is being airlifted to a Tucson hospital. It's unclear if the injuries are life-threatening, said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada.
The Border Patrol called the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office at 9:40 a.m. to report the shooting, Estrada said. It's unknown when the shooting occurred, he said.
Here's what they know so far about what happened:
Agents in the Border Patrol's horse patrol were working near Walker Canyon in a remote area two miles northeast of Peña Blanca Lake when they came upon 12 illegal border crossers. The group fled from the agents and one got knocked down.
Shortly after, shots were fired.
The 30-year-old was shot at least once in the abdomen. Due to the remoteness of the location, the Border Patrol had to walk him out of the rugged area to a spot where a helicopter could land.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputies did not find any weapons or drugs at the scene and are still trying to figure what happened, Estrada said. The Border Patrol agent involved in the shooting hasn't given Estrada's deputies his account of the incident.
"We are still in the preliminary stages," Estrada said. "We don't know whether the victim attempted to assault or do something to the agent."
Deputies are currently interviewing the other 11 illegal border crossers apprehended by the Border Patrol. They hope to know more later today.
"We are hoping that through them, we can get a clear picture of what happened," Estrada said.
The Border Patrol confirmed that there was an officer-involved shooting in Walker Canyon Tuesday morning but spokesman Mario Escalante said the agency can't discuss any details, citing an FBI investigation that has already begun.
Stay tuned to Starnet for more updates.
Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or email@example.com.


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ShopRunner announced a new partnership with Alipay which will pave the way for Chinese online shoppers to buy directly from U.S. retailers' ecommerce sites.
IBM and DemandTec announced Thursday that the two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement for IBM to acquire DemandTec in a deal worth approximately $440 million.
DemandTec said Wednesday that The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. has selected DemandTec's Deal Management software service on the network.
Keynote Systems, which provides Internet and mobile cloud monitoring, announced that BJ's Wholesale Club is using various Keynote solutions for optimizing the performance of its website.
DemandTec, the collaborative optimization network for retailers and consumer products companies, announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Applied Intelligence Solutions, LLC (AIS), a developer of intelligent software solutions for the retail enterprise with a specific focus on softline retailers.
SuccessFactors said Wednesday that Stein Mart has deployed the SuccessFactors Business Execution Software Suite toward...


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[11 May 2005]
PopMatters Associate Music Editor
If there's anyone in the world who knows more about reggae than Steve Barrow does, they really need to get out more. Blood & Fire, the label that the Englishman co-founded in 1993, has fast become the premier source for top-quality reissues of long-sought-after Jamaican gems. The Rough Guide to Reggae, which he co-authored, is arguably the most thorough, and easily the most readable, book ever published on the subject. Barrow has stated that he wants vintage reggae to attain the same cultural status as vintage jazz and blues. He's the man for the job if there ever was one.
To help further his goal, Barrow agreed to helm the dub entry in the fine Rough Guides music series. At a generous 20 tracks, the result is the most essential single-disc, multi-artist collection of dub music to be issued to date. Drawing on the deep riches of his Blood & Fire catalog and not bound by the need to showcase certain new releases, Barrow gets straight to the core of some of the most original, influential popular music ever made.
When "dub plate" versions of reggae songs started to emerge in the early 1970s, a handful of pioneering producers were solely responsible for the new sound. Working in makeshift studios with simple, often homemade equipment, Osborne "King Tubby" Ruddock, Errol "ET" Thompson, Vivian "Yabby You" Jackson, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and their cohorts transformed simple rhythm tracks into mind-blowing, phantasmagorical adventures in sound.
Reggae's, and particularly dub's, influence on various forms of hip-hop, dance, and even rock, has been well-documented. But rarely has it been presented so vividly. Listen to King Tubby's/Keith Hudson's "Satia" alongside the Police's "Walking on the Moon", and you'll hear that the former could almost serve as the backing track to the latter. Or try listening to the sparse, skittering percussion of ET's "Wire Dub" and Maximillian/Inner Circle's "Down Rhodesia" and not getting the impression that you're hearing the genesis of drum & bass. In fact, such is the artistry at work that, despite being a quarter-century old, everything here sounds startlingly contemporary. That's a direct reflection of the producers, mixers, and backing musicians (many of whom are legendary in their own rights) involved.
The majority of the tracks on Rough Guide . . . are from King Tubby, which is appropriate, as he is generally recognized as the man who set the template for mind-bending dub. Bass drums sound like squishy raindrops. A single guitar chord or snare hit is looped and spun around the track like a boomerang. Vocals drop in and out of the mix like disembodied voices. On Morwell Unlimited's "Lightning & Thunder", Tubby uses reverb to create his own thunderclaps. The thunder turns to gunshots on Santic All Stars' "Shooter Dub". Motorboats and planes cruise through Ja-Man All Stars' "Dub Zone". Much of this music was recorded in what you could call "rough" parts of town, and the inner city vignettes played out in these mixes presage the sound effects that are so commonplace in today's hip-hop.
Also featured are dub versions of some early reggae standards. "Conquering Dub" is a take on Yabby You's "Conquering Lion", one of the most oft-versioned rhythms ever. The Abyssinians' classic "Satia Massa Ganna" provides the basis for two different interpretations, while Horace Andy's "Money Money (Is the Root of All Evil)" gets uprooted by Prince Jammy. Everything, regardless of the mixer, plays into the hazy, otherworldly King Tubby sound.
As can be expected, The Rough Guide . . . features immaculately-restored sound, as well as an introductory essay and track-by-track notes from Barrow, allowing you to become completely immersed in time and place. The exclusive reliance on the Blood & Fire catalog poses no problems except one, and it's what keeps this compilation from a "perfect" rating: there is only one Lee Perry track, and nothing from his and King Tubby's Blackboard Jungle Dub, arguably the most ambitious and well-realized dub record of the era.
Whether you're a collector who simply needs a consolidated, definitive single disc for easy access, or you're one of the many music fans who thinks of "dub" mixes as the annoying instrumentals that come on the B-sides of 12" dance singles, The Rough Guide to Dub is required listening.
Published at: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/various-roughguidedub/


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Voters are about to find something important in their mailboxes - ballots.
Believe it or not, election season is upon us. And for those who choose to vote by mail, it's time to mark your choices from a dizzying roster of local, state and national candidates, as well as statewide initiatives and local tax measures.
Ballots will be mailed Monday, and the primary vote is less than a month away.
Never fear: We're here to help.
The Sentinel presents a handy guide to the June 5 vote, which brings something novel to California's statewide elections - a voting system where the two candidates for state and federal offices who get the most votes, regardless of party, proceed to the Nov. 6 general election.
With the Republican and Democratic contenders in the U.S. presidential race all but decided, turnout is expected to be low. But that doesn't make June 5 a meaningless vote.
Two statewide propositions - one tinkering with state term limits, another adding a $1 per-pack tax on cigarettes - are on the ballot. So are local parcel tax measures to bolster school funding.
And in county Board of Supervisor races - three are on ballot, including two with open seats - candidates are campaigning to win a majority of the vote, which would end the election regardless of who comes in second.
Two school districts are asking voters to support parcel taxes that fund classrooms and support programs.
Santa Cruz City Schools is asking voters to renew existing parcel taxes by supporting Measures I and J. Scotts Valley Unified School District seeks approval for its new parcel tax, Measure K.
The 2012 primary vote is June 5, but vote-by-mail ballots will go out starting Monday. For more information, go to votescount.com or see the Sentinel's election coverage at santacruzsentinel.com/elections.