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1601 Sansom St, Philadelphia, PA | Directions 1910339.950519 -75.167366
Sun. 10:30am - 10pm, Mon.-Thurs. 7am-10pm, Fri. 7am-12am, Sat. 10:30am-12am
Neighborhoods: Center City, Center City West
Yummy – I really enjoyed the veggie selection. The food is quite tasty. I will come back for more.
My favorite place for lunch – There is only one negative about Pita Pit so I'll get it out of the way to start with- they're a bit pricey. Not unreasonable, but maybe a dollar more than I'd normally spend on lunch. That said, everything else about Pita Pit is top shelf. High quality ingredients, great flavor, totally customizable ordering, and great service. If you're looking to eat healthy you can keep your order lean and chock full of veggies. The wheat pitas are delicious but you can even go fork style and cut down on the calories yet again. And believe me, you'll still be full at the end of your meal! Their falafel is some of the best in the city and their buffalo sauce has a nice kick. There is nothing on their menu that I've been disappointed by, I have faith that everything they make is tasty. Keep up the great work guys!
Amazing food...healthy too! – Friendly employees, speedy service, fresh ingredients....what's not to like? The pitas are stuffed with any combination of ingredients you want. Big ups to the chipotle sauce and the falafel they have. The chicken, falafel, and veggie steak always make for a good base especially for Vegetarians. Oh, and I almost forgot about the smoothies - which are equally tasty and come in any number of combinations. Once again the falafel is amazing.
You gotta get the buffalo chicken pita – The buffalo chicken pita is great. They are very quick, and moderately friendly. My only complaint is that sometimes they smother the chicken in buffalo sauce and other times they barely put any on. Its annoying having the sauce drip all over you and equally disappointing for their to be so little buffalo sauce you cannot taste it. The preparers need to work on uniformity.
Fresh and healthy take-out til 3am! (on Fri and Sat) – This is the best place to go for a quick take-out sandwich. I frequently order pita pit for lunch or dinner since I love the build-your-own sandwich menu, which includes everything from standard chicken and turkey to falafel and hummus. The variety of condiments, cheeses and sauces to choose from is also impressive. The delivery service is usually fairly quick and friendly, and the price is what I'd expect to pay for a sandwich (~$6). The fact they're open til 3am is also a huge bonus, though I've never ordered anything that late.
Since I like to eat healthy, I appreciate the nutrition info online and that most sandwiches can be made healthy and to suit your preferences/needs. The only downside is that the some of the meat isn't always the best (especially the roast beef) - not bad, but not always freshest there is. But it's never stopped me from ordering, I love this place!
First visit to Pita Pit ... It's a Keeper! – Loved my sandwich: fresh, well seasoned meats, cheese, even the spinach was green and fresh. Can't beat the speed, freshness and having a sandwich made-to-order ... a pretty darned good value. I'm planning on working my way through the menu!
i wish there were 6 stars... – ummm this is probably the best lunch spot in the city. the food is always fresh, always fabulous and always filling. the holy 'F' trinity of a great meal. i love stopping in the store because the staff is so awesome, and i like looking at all the pictures on the wall, but when i cant, i know the delivery team will keep my pitas safe and warm (or cold) on the perilous journey to my home. give it a shot, i know you'll love it.
Pita restaurant provides sandwiches with grilled meats, falafel, vegetables and more, as well as a build-your-own sandwich station. – In Short
Hungry pita lovers flock to the restaurant for a selection of inexpensive pitas made to order. Locals can walk into the colorful restaurant and select from a variety of fresh ingredients including steak, chicken and hearty vegetables. Guests can opt for turkey, club, Philly steak, roast beef, Black Forest ham, Souvlaki, Gyros, Seafood and B.L.Ts, to name a few. Patrons can top off their pitas with extras including double meat, extra bacon, hommus, chips, cookies and Baba Ganoush. Salads are also offered ranging from Chicken Caesar, Greek, Garden to Julienne salads. Fresh pitas, fast service and hearty portions keep customers coming back.
It's all about the food! – If you like fresh food served up fast with a friendly smile this is the place. Lots of menu choices and excellent smoothies to wash it down. Prices are low, quality high so for me it's a great value.
Amazing freshly prepared pita's anyway you'd like them!! – This little slice of heaven allows customers to customize there own pita creations for a perfect meal to satisfy even the biggest hunger! The employees there are very polite and attentive and the restaurant itself is very clean and has a fun atmosphere. I would highly recommend the Pita Pit to anyone. It's absolutely worth a stop in. Once you do you're hooked!!!
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posted 10/30/2012 by
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other articles
by Sean Cahill
Wrestling has been on the upswing in the last two years. For those who are not hardcore wrestling fans, a minor history lesson is in order before diving into
. The 2000s were not very kind to wrestling as a whole, ratings-wise, and that can be blamed on a number of factors: The end of the Monday Night Wars, the PG-era being uninteresting, loss of the biggest stars in the business, etc. Last year, that changed on June 27, 2011, when CM Punk, the cover athlete for
, went on live television and aired his grievances. That promo kick-started new life into the
and, therefore, kept CM Punk from leaving the biggest company in the industry as he was on his way out the door on July 17. Now, eighteen months removed from that night in Las Vegas, wrestling is experiencing excellent buy-rates for its Pay-Per-View events and improving numbers for their weekly shows. On top of that, after the reboot of their long-running video game last year, I can happily say that the franchise is headed in the right direction with
Last year,
went back to the drawing board with the franchise and started from scratch. The game was raw around the edges, but had plenty of promise for the next chapter in the franchise. The result is a gameplay system that has improved and is much easier to utilize.
utilizes its
Predator 2.0
system by taking all of the moves and simplifying them so that any wrestling fan can pick up and play the game with relative ease. Getting used to the grappling and move system can be tricky at first, but the combinations don't require multiple button presses if one doesn't want them to, especially with the ability to create a move list straight from scratch. The moves that are performed by the wrestlers are very smooth in most cases, though camera switches can hide some of the random pauses in between move reversals or moves requiring a player to dash at another one, such as the running neckbreaker that my created character utilizes.
The gameplay system is based around each wrestler having a set amount of damage and hit points that can be taken throughout the match, though the trick to this is that there is no life bar or hit point gauge to look at. It simply has to be judged by how slowly a wrestler moves and what portion of his/her body is being favored. If a character takes substantial attacks to the midsection, the wrestler will show it by holding his/her ribcage when not attempting any kind of move. Sprinting also slows down throughout the matches as hit points dwindle, making running attacks much harder to pull off in the latter stages of matches, which adds a nice challenge to determining just how long one can wait before actually attempting a pinfall that won't be kicked out of, or a submission that will result in a victory. I'm also a big fan of how the special matches are done, such as Falls Count Anywhere matches that can go into the dressing room area and finding random objects along the way to throw opponents into.
There are some downsides, as it is to be expected with games that are still freshly rebooted, even if it is the second generation. Characters still move somewhat awkwardly around each other, especially if it's a match involving more than just two characters. Royal Rumble matches are a war of attrition if a high number of wrestlers end up in the ring. Throwing characters into the corners or off the ropes result in one of two things: The running character literally running in place for a few seconds before the AI realizes that it isn't going to happen, or a completely random glitch takes over and the character ends up either quickly running around the obstacles or other characters to get where he or she is supposed to go. Camera angles are also a big gripe of mine as a lot of the switches make very little sense. Using the Royal Rumble, once again, everything starts out well with a fixed camera angle to see the entire ring. At the end of the match, however, the angle zooms in far too much, basically making it impossible to see how far from the ropes the characters are, which is important in elimination matches such as the rumble. The camera angle switches in other matches I can deal with, but the unnecessary zooming in and out gets frustrating and annoying.
Re-live the Attitude Era
I am always grateful that my high school years were spent during the peak of the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars. I have been a fan of wrestling since I was about eight years old when I watched Macho Man Randy Savage (R.I.P.) win the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania IV in the tournament and I was hooked from that day on. In high school, I latched on to a group of friends that shared my love of wrestling and Monday night became "wrestling night" at my house. Anyone and everyone was invited, and I can recall having a dozen people at my house just to flip back and forth between "Raw is War" and "Monday Nitro" for three hours. Because of the immense popularity of that era of wrestling,
includes the
Attitude Era
mode, which is essentially a history lesson in the WWF vs. WCW war in the mid to late 90s.
Attitude Era
mode is a series of events throughout the Monday Night Wars, allowing a player to cover all of the major happenings as possible that start with the formation of D-Generation X and all the way until the demise of WCW. One of the biggest parts that I love about this mode is the historical achievements that can be met in order to unlock the enormous list of items and characters that are available as a player progresses through the mode. For example, one of the matches that a player relives is the infamous
Hell in a Cell
match between Mankind and Undertaker. As most any wrestling fan can recall, the match started on top of the cell with Undertaker tossing Mankind off of the cell and through the announcer's table. Everyone watching thought the match was over just a minute or two into it, but Mankind came off of a stretcher and the match continued. In order to progress through this match, the player has to follow the historical accuracy perfectly. It isn't just about winning a match. It's about making sure that a player relives history.
There isn't much of a downside to this mode, other than perhaps it takes away from the roster of today by bringing back the old wrestlers in a mode that could have been used on other parts of the game. Otherwise, the Attitude Era mode is enjoyable, albeit perhaps a bit short as it is limited in simply being stuck with what is handed to a player instead of making the old matches from history, though that's what the next mode is all about.
WWE Universe
This is the mode that contains the true meat of the title. The
WWE Universe
mode is basically the player's chance to have free reign over running the WWE today. Customization is at a new level as a player can decide what wrestlers are on what brands, what the brands are called, and how each and every card goes night after night. Last year, one of my gripes was that the
mode started off in January instead of after
when the brands go through a full draft and storylines basically start from scratch. This year, it was addressed and the
mode does indeed start in April right after the biggest show in wrestling. This gives a player the true chance to adjust the roster as he or she deems fit, create new wrestlers, stables, tag teams, and shows. It really is impressive just how deep the
mode truly goes, especially after unlocking new titles and wrestlers to use throughout the entire mode itself, but it isn't all good news.
While I applaud THQ and Yuke's for their attention to detail in the
mode this time around, there have been some changes that I'm not too fond of, such as the difficulty of creating title matches unless the CPU seems to deem it worthy. There is a ranking system for each title, and the CPU tends to pick the matches for Pay-Per-Views based on those rankings. Attempting to change a title match and replacing one character with another results in the match being turned to just a regular matchup that doesn't involve the title, which is quite irritating as it takes some of the customization out of the version. Another problem is an issue that carried over from last year to this year: Switching out of titles. I know I'm not alone when I say the current WWE Championship Belt is one of the ugliest things in the existence of wrestling, so I was hoping that I would be able to swap it out for one of the old school titles, whether it was the old "Winged Eagle" from the 1990s or the Undisputed Championship Belt from the 2000s before WWE allowed John Cena to turn it into a belt with "bling" on it. The primary titles cannot be swapped out for a different one, even if it meets the criteria of it being a World, Major, or Minor title, and that is unacceptable in a game mode that is touted as having complete control.
Creating just about anything.
Creating a wrestler really took on a new level of enjoyment with last year's version, and on my list of items I wanted to see improved, it was the list of names, nicknames, and titles that could be used with created wrestlers. The list of names has expanded from about 15 pages to 100 pages of various names and gimmicks that can be used. While some are pretty cheesy and generic, there are plenty of combinations of names for anyone to use. This is a great addition to the game, but what I still do not understand is how there can be 100 pages of names, why is the list of "announced" names only 15 pages? There are two different lists for this: The name that the ring announcer gives to the crowd, which can be pretty awful with the way the tone of the voice changes, especially if using the full four slots to give a name such as "The Punisher" Matt Michaels, just as an example. After the announcer list, there is the list that is used by Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, which is just as short of a list. For next year's title, I don't think it's too much to ask for a list that is the same on all fronts.
Besides the creation of wrestlers, move lists, and entrances, an addition that I am enjoying is the ability to create storylines. Pro wrestling fans know it isn't just about the matches. It's about the extra things, such as run-ins, interference, outside fighting, etc. There has to be a reason for a face or heel turn, and the creation of a storyline gives the satisfaction of being able to do this. The tutorial that comes with the first setup of the storyline honestly isn't enough to really help a player and they may need to go through the tutorial several times before it becomes easier to setup the entire scenario. I can see someone getting a bit burnt out on this since it takes quite a bit of effort to just set up one storyline, but the satisfaction is worth it in the end when it all comes together.
Final Thoughts
There is no question in my mind that
is an improved product over last year's edition. The player models are sharper, the moves are crisper, and the depth of creation and storylines certainly gives players what they want and need out of these modes. The
Attitude Era
mode is a great flashback in history that any fan of the Monday Night Wars is sure to enjoy, but I wonder if the young gamers of today that aren't old enough to remember this will truly appreciate what that mode gives them, given that it's been over 15 years now since the start of the battle between WWE and WCW. Still, THQ and Yuke's are headed in the right direction, and I can say that this wrestling fan has enjoy his time with the game, and will continue to do so for quite some time.
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Missouri household income drops in 2012
ST. LOUIS (AP) - New U.S. census data shows that Missouri is one of just two states where median incomes fell in 2012 from the previous year, as many residents continue to grapple with a slow-to- recover economy.
Median household income in the state was $45, 321 last year. That's a 1.6 percent decline from 2011. Nationally, the median income for U.S. households in 2012 was $51, 017. That figure remained flat after two previous annual declines.
The federal Census Bureau also reported a statewide poverty rate of 11.7 percent. But for single mothers with dependent children, the poverty level hovers around 44 percent.
Statewide, nearly 270,000 of the 1.5 million families who participated in the annual American Community Survey reported household incomes under $24,999.
Fed likely to slow bond buys despite tepid economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring is soft. Pay is barely up. Consumers are cautious. Economic growth has yet to pick up.
And yet on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to take its first step toward reducing the extraordinary stimulus it's supplied to help the U.S. economy rebound from its deepest crisis since the Great Depression.
If it does, the Fed will likely spark a debate: Has the economy strengthened enough to withstand the pullback?
The answer might not be clear for months.
The Fed is meeting this week at a time of deepening uncertainty about who will succeed Chairman Ben Bernanke when his term ends in January. On Sunday, Lawrence Summers, who was considered the leading candidate, withdrew from consideration.
Summers' withdrawal followed growing resistance from critics. His exit could open the door for his chief rival, Janet Yellen, the Fed's vice chair. If chosen by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate, Yellen would become the first woman to lead the Fed.
For months, the Fed has said it will slow its $85 billion-a-month in Treasury and mortgage bond purchases once the outlook for the job market has improved substantially. Those purchases have been designed to keep long-term loan rates low to get people to borrow and spend and invest in the stock market.
Super-low rates are credited with helping fuel a housing comeback, support economic growth, drive stocks to record highs and restore the wealth of many Americans.
Few think the Fed will significantly reduce its bond purchases — not now, anyway. Many economists think the Fed will announce when its two-day policy meeting ends Wednesday that it will slow its purchases by $10 billion — to $75 billon a month.
The pullback is expected to come from the Fed's Treasury purchases. It will likely maintain the pace of its mortgage bond buying to try to keep home-loan rates down to sustain the housing rebound.
Some had once expected a sharper first reduction in the Fed's purchases of around $20 billion a month. But that was before the government said that job growth was only modest in August and that employers added many fewer jobs in June and July than previously thought.
So why do economists think the Fed will reduce its stimulus for the economy at all?
In part, some Fed officials don't think the bond purchases are doing much good anymore. And they feel that by continuing to flood the financial system with cash, the Fed might be raising the risks of high inflation or dangerous bubbles in assets like stocks or real estate. Just the mention of a slowdown in bond purchases spooked investors. Some fear that the Fed's ultra-low-rate policies distorted the prices of some assets.
In addition, the Fed eventually needs to sell its vast investment portfolio, which is on track to top $4 trillion next year, without upsetting markets. The more the Fed expands its portfolio, the harder and more perilous the eventual sell-off could be.
And because the Fed has been raising expectations that its pullback will start as soon as September, some Fed officials may worry that defying those expectations would rattle investors.
Finally, there's Bernanke's expected departure in January. If the Fed is going to slow its stimulus, officials may not want to wait until their last meeting of the year in December, just before a new chairman takes over. That's, in part, why some think a pullback in bond purchases will be announced Wednesday.
"Bernanke may well want to have a bond-reduction program in place before a new chairman comes in," said David Wyss, a former chief economist at Standard & Poor's and now an economics professor at Brown University.
All that said, it's possible the Fed will choose not to slow its bond purchases now. In recent public remarks, some Fed officials have sounded uncertain that the economy and the job market have improved enough.
Once the Fed announces its decisions Wednesday, it will issue updated forecasts for the economy and Bernanke will hold a news conference.
Analysts expect the Fed to downgrade its economic outlook for 2013 from its previous forecast in June. That forecast estimated that the economy would grow at a still-sluggish annual rate between 2.3 percent and 2.8 percent this year. Through the first six months of 2013, the economy has grown at a much slower 1.8 percent rate.
Many think the Fed will try to cushion the response to a pullback in long-term bond purchases by stressing it has no intention of raising short-term interest rates anytime soon. The Fed has said it expects to keep its benchmark short-term rate near zero at least until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent — as long as the inflation outlook remains mild.
The unemployment rate is now 7.3 percent, the lowest since 2008. Yet the rate has dropped in large part because many people have stopped looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed — not because hiring has accelerated. Inflation is running below the Fed's 2 percent target.
Any long-term reassurances from the Fed could face skepticism from investors who know that a new chairman might alter its policymaking. In addition, up to five new officials could join the Fed's seven-member board next year.
The Fed has struggled at times to send a clear message about its likely timetable for changing policies. Yet in recent months, the Fed and Bernanke have been explicit that a pullback in bond purchases would likely start by year's end and perhaps by September.
"This is the market's consensus view, and Fed officials are the ones who have guided the market to that consensus," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "At this point, the Fed doesn't want to jumble its communications."
Investors have sent long-term rates up in anticipation of a slowdown in purchases. Since Bernanke first hinted in May that a pullback was likely by year's end, the rate on the 10-year Treasury note has jumped from 1.63 percent in early May to 2.89 percent.
And long-term mortgage rates have surged more than a full percentage point since May, an increase that's made home-buying more difficult for some.
David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors, foresees the Fed cutting back on its purchases at a rate of about $10 billion at each meeting between now and mid-2014.
Even by that timetable, the Fed's stock of Treasury and mortgage bonds will grow: The investment portfolio will likely near $4.5 trillion by next summer. It's now a record $3.66 trillion — a four-fold increase from its level when the financial crisis erupted five years ago.
Even after new bond buying winds down, the Fed plans to keep reinvesting its bond holdings. It just won't be adding to its stockpile. It will still be providing extraordinary support for the economy.
And yet some economists remain unconvinced that now is the time to slow the purchases.
"Interest rates have already gone up as a result of their just talking about bond reductions," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University's Martin Smith School of Business. "If they actually began cutting bond purchases, that would push interest rates up more and damage the economy."
Wyss thinks Bernanke's imminent departure is the main factor.
"If this were a decision based on economics, I think the Fed would wait, but given the politics of a new chairman having to go before Congress for confirmation, that could be an argument for moving now," Wyss said.
Missouri and Illinois jobless rates move in opposite directions
The jobless rates in Missouri and Illinois are moving in opposite directions.
Despite adding 4,600 jobs in May, Missouri's rate climbed to 6.8 percent from 6.6 percent in April. For the first time in several months, the government sector added jobs.
In Illinois, the unemployment rate fell in May to 9.1 percent. It was the second straight monthly drop after a series of increases earlier this year. State officials says that May's decrease was due in part to gains in construction employment.
Illinois' jobless rate still remains much higher than the 7.6 nationwide unemployment rate for May that was reported earlier this month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Gov. Quinn says economy depends on pension reform
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Gov. Pat Quinn says the Illinois House should act quickly to approve a pension-reform package because the state's economy depends on it.
House Speaker Michael Madigan's plan to increase employee contributions and trim benefits is scheduled for a House vote Thursday.
Years of state underfunding of pension accounts has left Illinois $97 billion short of covering future obligations.
The Democratic governor says the liability grows by $17 million a day. He says Illinois' economy won't fully recover until reform is approved.
But union representatives told a House committee Wednesday the opposite is true. Illinois Education Association President Cinda Klickna says cutting pension benefits takes away money retirees spend in local communities and especially hits teachers who don't have Social Security benefits.
Missouri Senate sends tax credit overhaul to House
The Senate's 27-7 vote Thursday sends the bill to the House, where it already faces some opposition.
House Speaker Tim Jones has said senators "over-reached" by significantly lowering the amount of tax credits available for the construction of low-income housing and the renovation of historic buildings. But Jones likes provisions in the Senate bill that create new tax credits for air cargo exports, computer data centers and investors in high-tech, start-up businesses.
Gov. Jay Nixon praised the bill Thursday for containing "long-overdue reforms" to tax credits.
A similar proposal to overhaul Missouri's tax credits failed during a 2011 special session.
In his first State of the Union address since winning re-election, Obama conceded economic revival is an "unfinished task," but he claimed clear progress and said he prepared to build on it as he embarks on four more years in office.
"We have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and we can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is strong," Obama said in an hour-long address to a joint session of Congress and a television audience of millions.
With unemployment persistently high and consumer confidence falling, the economy remains a vulnerability for Obama and could disrupt his plans for pursuing a broader agenda, including immigration overhaul, stricter gun laws and climate change legislation.
Still, fresh off a convincing re-election win, Obama made clear in his remarks that he was determined to press his political advantage against a divided, defensive and worried Republican Party. Numerous times he urged Congress to act quickly on his priorities — but vowed to act on some issues on his own if they do not.
Obama also announced new steps to reduce the U.S. military footprint abroad, with 34,000 American troops withdrawing from Afghanistan within a year. And he had a sharp rebuke for North Korea, which launched a nuclear test just hours before his remarks, saying, "Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them further."
In specific proposals for shoring up the economy in his second term, an assertive Obama called for increased federal spending to fix the nation's roads and bridges, the first increase in the minimum wage in six years and expansion of early education to every American 4-year-old. Seeking to appeal for support from Republicans, he promised that none of his proposals would increase the deficit "by a single dime" although he didn't explain how he would pay for his programs or how much they would cost.
In the Republican response to Obama's address, rising GOP star Marco Rubio of Florida came right back at the president, saying his solution "to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more."
Sen. Rubio said presidents of both parties have recognized that the free enterprise system brings middle-class prosperity.
"But President Obama?" Rubio said. "He believes it's the cause of our problems."
Still, throughout the House chamber there were symbolic displays of bipartisanship. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., arrived early and sat with Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., just returned in January nearly a year after suffering a debilitating stroke. As a captain in the National Guard, Duckworth lost both her legs while serving in Iraq in 2004.
A few aisles away, the top two tax writers in Congress, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., sat together.
But as a sign that divisions still remain, three of the most conservative Supreme Court justices skipped Obama's speech. Six of the nine attended. Missing were Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito.
Jobs and growth dominated Obama's address. Many elements of his economic blueprint were repacked proposals from his first term that failed to gain traction on Capitol Hill.
Standing in Obama's way now is a Congress that remains nearly as divided as it was during the final years of his first term, when Washington lurched from one crisis to another.
The president implored lawmakers to break through partisan logjams, asserting that "the greatest nation on Earth cannot keep conducting its business by drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next."
"Americans don't expect government to solve every problem," he said. "They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can."
Yet Obama offered few signs of being willing to compromise himself, instead doubling down on his calls to create jobs by spending more government money and insisting that lawmakers pay down the deficit through a combination of targeted spending cuts and tax increases. But he offered few specifics on what he wanted to see cut, focusing instead on the need to protect programs that help the middle class, elderly and poor.
He did reiterate his willingness to tackle entitlement changes, particularly on Medicare, though he has ruled out increasing the eligibility age for the popular benefit program for seniors.
Republicans are ardently opposed to Obama's calls for legislating more tax revenue to reduce the deficit and offset broad the automatic spending cuts — known as the sequester — that are to take effect March 1. The president accused GOP lawmakers of shifting the cuts from defense to programs that would help the middle class and elderly, as well as those supporting education and job training.
"That idea is even worse," he said.
Obama broke little new ground on two agenda items he has pushed vigorously since winning re-election: overhauling the nation's fractured immigration laws and enacting tougher gun control measures in the wake of the horrific massacre of school children in Newtown, Conn. Yet he pressed for urgency on both, calling on Congress to send him an immigration bill "in the next few months" and insisting lawmakers hold votes on his gun proposals.
"Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress," he said. "If you want to vote no, that's your choice."
Numerous lawmakers wore green lapel ribbons in memory of those killed in the December shootings in Connecticut. Among those watching in the House gallery: the parents of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, shot and killed recently in a park just a mile from the president's home in Chicago, as well as other victims of gun violence.
On the economy, Obama called for raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 by 2015. The minimum wage has been stagnant since 2007, and administration officials said the increase would strengthen purchasing power. The president also wants Congress to approve automatic increases in the wage to keep pace with inflation.
Looking for common ground anywhere he could find it, Obama framed his proposal to boost the minimum wage by pointing out that even his GOP presidential rival liked the idea. He said, "Here's an idea that Gov. Romney and I actually agreed on last year: Let's tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, so that it finally becomes a wage you can live on."
Obama also renewed his calls for infrastructure spending, investments he sought repeatedly during his first term with little support from Republicans. He pressed lawmakers to approve a $50 billion "fix it first" program that would address the most urgent infrastructure needs.
Education also figures in Obama's plans to boost American competitiveness in the global economy. Under his proposal, the federal government would help states provide pre-school for all 4-year-olds. Officials did not provide a cost for the pre-school programs but said the government would provide financial incentives to help states.
Among the other initiatives Obama is proposing:
— A $1 billion plan to create 15 "manufacturing institutes" that would bring together businesses, universities and the government. If Congress opposes the initiative, Obama plans to use his presidential powers to create three institutes on his own.
— Creation of an "energy security trust" that would use revenue from federal oil and gas leases to support development of clean energy technologies such as biofuels and natural gas
— Doubling of renewable energy in the U.S. from wind, solar and geothermal sources by 2020.
— Launching negotiations on a free trade agreement between the U.S. and European Union
Obama also called on Congress to tackle the threat of climate change, another issue that eluded him in his first term. The president pledged to work with lawmakers to seek bipartisan solutions but said if Capitol Hill doesn't act, he'll order his Cabinet to seek steps he can take using his presidential powers.
Taking a swipe at those who question the threat of global warming, Obama said, "We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science - and act before it's too late."
Tackling voters' rights issues, Obama announced the creation of a commission that will seek to make it easier and faster for people to cast ballots on Election Day. He used as an example the story of 102-year-old Desiline Victor, a Florida woman who waited in line to vote for several hours during the November election. Victor attended Tuesday's speech as a guest of the first lady and was applauded heartily by the lawmakers.
Obama also called on Congress to pass legislation giving the government more power to combat the rapidly growing threat of cyberattacks. And, as a down payment on that, the president announced that he has signed an executive order to fight electronic espionage through the development of voluntary standards to protect networks and computer systems that run critical infrastructure.
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Stay radiant with winter skin care tipsTired of dull and lifeless skin? Help is at hand! Makeup artist Beth Carter speaks with Easy Does It Host Ereka Vetrini to share her winter skin care tips.
For many women, their skin gets flaky and dry winter after winter. Carter explains that in the winter months, it's much cooler-and often windier as well. Plus, she adds, "you're in and out of areas that are heated indoors." These factors combine to dry skin out.
Related: Smart tips for fixing dry winter skin
The key to avoiding this problem, says Carter, is to stay moisturized. "First of all," she says, "you need to use a cream or lotion-based cleanser." She suggests applying the cleanser in an upward and outward motion. "We don't want to drag our skin down in any way," she explains.
The next step in a winter skin care routine is exfoliating, which allows the moisturizer to penetrate more effectively, says Carter. She adds that by the time women turn 30, they should be exfoliating more often, and they should always be using an eye cream as well. As you age, she says, "your skin's natural rejuvenation process slows down. So where your skin used to fall off naturally and rejuvenate itself, it now needs that extra help. You need to remove and slough off the dead skin cells so that you can get to the new and fresh, healthy, dewy skin cells."
Related: Dermatologist-approved skin care tips for hands and feet
You'll need to find the best exfoliating product for your skin type. "Some people like the traditional scrub, other people like something that's more of a chemical, like a Retin-A, which is by prescription," says Carter. She adds that you may also want to investigate an over-the-counter Retinol cream as another option. She says that you want to find something that's going to rapidly exfoliate your skin and "give you that baby-born skin that you're looking for."
After you've exfoliated, you'll want to moisturize, using a moisturizer with SPF in the daytime. You may not need a heavier moisturizer for the winter months, depending on how dry your skin gets. "If you're seeing a difference in your skin from summer, then definitely take it up a notch Get a very rich night cream. You can slather it all over at night, and it'll soak up," Carter says. "In the day, you can go on with your light moisturizer…and you don't have to feel greasy while you're working or out with the kids."
For your lips, Carter suggests brushing them while you're brushing your teeth to get rid of some of the dead skin. She then recommends keeping a petroleum-based and alcohol and fragrance free balm by your nightstand or in your kitchen. "That will really help keep all the moisture in," she says.
Finally, Carter suggests avoiding using very hot water on your skin. Instead, she says, use tepid water. "It won't pull the moisture out of your skin as severely as hot, hot water," she says. Carter also recommends doubling up on water intake and cooking with olive oil so that, she notes, "you're hydrating from the inside out."
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Winter Skin Care Tips to Keep You Looking Radiant All YearBy Team Mom Staff | Team Mom – Tue, Jan 8, 2013 2:26 PM EST
Stay radiant with winter skin care tipsTired of dull and lifeless skin? Help is at hand! Makeup artist Beth Carter speaks with Easy Does It Host Ereka Vetrini to share her winter skin care tips.
Check out more Team Mom videos:
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Hailey-Hailey disease
Other Names for this Disease
- Benign chronic pemphigus
- Benign familial pemphigus
- Familial benign pemphigus
See Disclaimer regarding information on this site. Some links on this page may take you to organizations outside of the National Institutes of Health.
Your Questions Answered
1 question(s) from the public on this disease have been answered. Submit a new question.
Can prenatal genetic screening be done for the ATP2C1 responsible for Hailey-Hailey disease? If so, how who you advise a couple to move forward if they were wanting to conceive a child free of this genetic disorder? The mother is the gene carrier. Click here for answer


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Chicago Board of Elections meeting April 8th, 2014: This video proves that we are correct in many of our "comments to the ISBE rules" which we recently submitted to the ISBE. Tomorrow, we will be at the ISBE (Illinois State Board of Elections) Board meeting to follow-up on these rules.
A key point here is that the legislature will be tweaking the law to address flaws that our work uncovered. This is not necessarily good news.
The issue is out-of-precinct ballots and the affidavit the provisional voter must make. Defend the Vote maintains counting out-pf precinct ballots that have a false affidavit verifying the voter lives in the precinct is problematic and likely unlawful. General Counsel Scanlon says the State's Attorney would likely not investigate...
Stay tuned. We have much more to say about this. The summary report linked below provides a good summary of the issues.
The full text of our comments:
A summary report of the comments:
We located the text to the House Bill HJRCA52, the so called voter suppression amendment pushed by House Speaker Madigan. Madigan's Bill passed the Illinois House on Tuesday with a bi-partisan vote of 109-5. It now moves to the Senate. Speaker Madigan apparently believes that people in certain classes could be denied the right to vote under his decades of leadership as the House Speaker.
Speaker Madigan states: "The intent of this constitutional amendment is to provide in Illinois, constitutionally, that voter-suppression laws would not be permitted," said Madigan, D-Chicago. "Some might say, 'Well, today in Illinois, you don't need this. Voter suppression wouldn't happen in Illinois.'
"We don't know that," Madigan continued. "We don't know what the future holds. What we do know is we can constitutionalize the protection of the right to vote."
The reality is, the right to vote is already protected.
Illinois does not suffer from a problem of voter suppression. We suffer under a thousand pages of contradictory election law; laws written under Madigan's leadership which all too often provide insufficient security protections over the vote.
I have not had time to really think through the many implications of the proposed constitutional amendment. It could provide a duty to election officials in Illinois to provide a ballot in minor dialects of languages. Imagine the burden, and to misstep is a violation of the voter's Constitutional right!
The problem in Illinois elections is not voter suppression...
When proposed by legislators, a constitutional amendment needs a super majority of both bodies of the General Assembly. Constitutional amendments are only successful if voters vote "yes" by a 60% super majority vote of all those voting on the question or a majority of voters casting a ballot for any office in that election. The proposed provisional voting rules would also force out-of-precinct Illinois voters to vote "No" on the amendment.
Legislatures should focus on the security of the vote. When votes are stolen, it violates the civil rights of all voters. Here's a thought; add the right to an honest election to the amendment!
We will write more on this in the coming days. We have posted the amendment below.
Last July the Illinois General Assembly passed HB2418. This bill added a couple of sentences to the Provisional Voting Law (ILCS 10/5 18A) that is worded to permit the counting of votes for federal and state candidates which are cast provisionally as 'out-of-precinct' ballots. Rule 218 is the set of rules written by the Illinois State Board of Elections to implement these changes. Provisional voting has always been restricted to residents voting within the precinct in which they reside.
Why this new rule was tossed into HB 2418 permitting people to vote outside of their resident precinct remains unexplained. The impact of it, Defend the Vote warned voters in Illinois about this in the article "It's Kinda of a Disaster Waiting To Happen". Our analysis, however was just completed on Monday, March 31st. We delved deeply into every aspect of the Law (18A – Provisional Voting) and the JCAR 218 Proposed Rules written by the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) in order to submit comments to JCAR (Joint Committee on Administrative Rules) and the ISBE.
Provisional Voting in Illinois
Comments to Part 218 – Counting of Provisional Ballots
Summary Statement:
This analysis is written to provide public comment on the proposed rules in Part 218 (Counting of Provisional Voting) found in Title 26 Chapter I: State Board of Elections. These proposed rules are known as JCAR 260218-1404328r01. The proposed JCAR rules were written by the Illinois State Board of Election. They are currently under Emergency Authorization by action of JCAR on March 19th, 2014. The Illinois State Board claims these rules are authorized by the passage of HB 2418 in July of 2013 and can be found in 10 ILCS 5/18A-15(b)(1).
Sharon Meroni
March 19, 2014
Provisional Voting – Comments for the March 19th JCAR
This filing relates to the Emergency Rules which were implemented for the March 18th Primary election in Illinois. Due to the timing, this is a cursory review. The JCAR meeting is at 10am March 19th, on the morning after the election. A more complete review will be forthcoming shortly.
These are the notes from the 4 County Assessment conducted in Cook, Lake, Kane, and McHenry counties to test the new provisional voting rules.
The notes are uploaded on Scrib and can be read by clicking on the READ MORE.
This video was made by Argonne National Laboratory to demonstrate just how fragile the seals protecting the voting machine's memory devices are. This red seal is called a 'tamper resistant seal.' Tamper resistant seals should (but frequently do not) show when they are disturbed. 'Tamper evident' seals do show if they were disturbed. Defend the Vote is asking Chicago, Suburban Cook County, and election jurisdictions across the state, to replace these vulnerable red seals for "tamper evident" seals.
Defend the Vote has publicized the fact that the Dominion/Sequoia voting systems used in Chicago and Suburban Cook County have never passed the error testing requirements set out by the 2003 Voting Systems Standards as required by Illinois Law, and that there are HAVA compliance issues with these machines. (Yes, it's sad but true; machines used nationally to count millions of votes were never federally certified.) We have challenged the validity of the current Illinois State Board of Election's certification of these machines, and assert these machines cannot be recertified in Illinois before the November 2014 Governor's elections. We alerted various authorities of these deficiencies and made sure to let budget departments so they can prepare to fund new equipment this Spring.
Defend the Vote raised the question of the Edge2Plus's and the related WinEDS voting system's certification with Howard Crammer, a VP from Dominion. To date, he has failed to produce any official document proving that the voting systems used in Chicago and Suburban Cook County have been certified by the EAC as passing Federal error testing requirements. The EAC is the government body that does this certification.
Judges of Election – Just how important are they to the security of your vote? For in-precinct voting, which is done on Election Day, probably the most important security measure for the overall integrity of the vote, is to have a strong bi-partisan Judge of Election team. In Illinois, election judges are assigned by the two dominant political parties based on pre-set legal formulas in a 2:3 ratio. When the political party fails to select the election judge, the election jurisdiction can (must) do so.
The way these positions are staffed in Illinois is to have the Party Chairman of each County approve the election judges. Generally the Committeemen in each precinct, township, or ward appoints the election judges. State-wide, the process to select election judges does vary somewhat depending on if it is a city or county based election jurisdiction. (i.e., Chicago is city-based, Suburban Cook is county-based)
The Republican or Democrat Party Chair also has a duty to build a "Supplemental Chairman's List" which contains extra election judges to fill in at the last minute. The election jurisdictions have a legal duty to go to these lists first when there are vacancies.
Can anyone get a fraudulent ballot in Illinois? The short answer is yes, and there are few if any safety measures to prevent or detect this kind of theft.
Here is just one flaw in the system. During every election, Defend the Vote is contacted by voters who report they were prevented from voting or had to vote on a provisional ballot because the poll book showed someone had already voted for them. As part of our goals for 2014, we have decided to research how frequently this occurs.
When we start an investigation, we look at many aspects of the problem to gain the needed information. Most importantly of all, we ask questions.
For example, does the State of Illinois or any of the 110 election jurisdiction keep track of voters who claim that someone voted for them? This can be a difficult question to answer because unless otherwise dictated by federal or state laws, each election jurisdictions sets their own policy; but we have come to suspect that no one keeps track of this type of voter fraud.
Defend the Vote has recently uncovered startling evidence that proves the voting systems used in Chicago and Suburban Cook County are not legally certified in Illinois. Voting systems are defined by Illinois Law as follows: "'Voting system' or 'electronic voting system' means that combination of equipment and programs used in the casting, examination and tabulation of ballots and the cumulation and reporting of results by electronic means." (10 ILCS 5/24B-2)
Voting systems in Illinois must be certified by receiving approval from the Illinois State Board of Elections. Most voting systems are given "Interim Approvals" which lasts for a maximum of 2 years. Each Interim Approval is based on the version of the voting system that has been tested and approved.
Chicago and Suburban Cook use the Dominion/Sequoia WinEDS system, which has multiple versions of its 5 components. These 5 components include: WinEDS - the election management system that records, compiles, and reports vote totals from any election; Edge2Plus - a Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machine that produces an electronic ballot with a paper ballot recorded as a scroll inside the machine; Insight - an optical scanner that records the vote from paper ballots given to the voter; and the HAAT (Hybrid Activator, Accumulator, and Transmitter) which consolidates, tabulates, and transmits voter data. In addition, a 400c optical scanning machine is used to process absentee ballots.
Over the last year, Defend the Vote has been researching the election systems in Chicago and Suburban Cook County.
We have uncovered startling evidence that proves the voting systems used in both jurisdictions are not legally certified in Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Elections' refusal to acknowledge our claims was in full evidence during the October Board meeting, when none of the officials had a word to say after our testimony; but silence can be as telling as words. If we had no grounds to be challenging the election systems, wouldn't they have told Defend the Vote to stop wasting their time?
Explosive Letter Detailing the Illegal Use of Voting Systems in Illinois
Today Defend the Vote has filed a formal complaint about the election equipment in use in Chicago and Cook County, asserting with documentation that Federal elections in November 2012, the Special Congressional election (Jesse Jackson's District), and the Consolidated Primary and the Consolidated General elections in 2013 were all conducted on illegal voting systems in Illinois.
Our objection lists significant issues which prevent further use of any part of the Dominion/Sequioa WinEDS 4.0 voting system for use in any election in Illinois. Defend the Vote also asserts that the Illinois State Board of Elections has knowingly permitted uncertified voting systems to be used in multiple elections in Illinois by Chicago and Suburban Cook County election authorities.
Our findings include:


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HP Officejet Pro L7590 All-in-One Printer support
Troubleshooting Print Quality Issues
This document offers solutions to resolve print-quality problems for HP All-In-One products.
Colors on printout are wrong or fade in and out while printing
The most common problem is that the colors fade or are not correct. This usually occurs when the print cartridge is low on one or more colors of ink.
To verify that the ink is running low, check the estimated ink levels by following these steps:
- Click Start , click Programs (click All Programs in Windows XP), click Hewlett-Packard , select the all-in-one product folder, and then click HP Toolbox .
- In the Printer Toolbox, select the Estimated Ink Level tab. Replace any ink cartridge that has one or more of the colors of ink low or empty.NOTE: The HP Officejet D and 7100 series should never be allowed to completely run out of ink. Running completely out of ink could cause severe damage to the printheads and ink delivery system.
If the estimated ink levels look OK, follow these additional steps:
- Print a self-test page by following these steps:From the front panel of the all-in-one, press Menu (or Setup).Press the Right Arrow key until the display reads Print Reports , and then press Enter .Press the Right Arrow key until the display reads Self-Test Report , and then press Enter .
- Examine the colors on the test page.
- If the colors on the test page are not correct, review an HP document with information on the topic (buu02176) (in English) to learn how to clean the print cartridge and print carriage. If the problem cannot be corrected, replace the print cartridge.
- If the colors on the test page are correct, continue troubleshooting with the remaining steps.
- Open the print properties before printing. Click File , click Print , and then click Properties from with the application you are printing from to open the Print Properties.
- Check the Advanced tab and verify that no color adjustments have been done in the print driver. Click Factory Settings and OK to return the settings to the factory defaults.
- Verify that the proper paper type is being used and that this paper type has been selected in the Paper type setting on the Setup tab of the Print driver settings. If there is an off color tint when printing on some photo papers, try selecting Plain Paper as the paper type.
- Assign a color management profile to the all-in-one. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Click Start , click Settings , and then click Printers (in Windows XP, click Start , then click Printers and Faxes ) to open the Printers folder.
- In the Printers folder, right-click the HP all-in-one printer icon and then click Properties .
- Click the Color Management tab.
- Click Add to see the list of available color profiles.
- In the Add Profile Association box, select Diamond Compatible 9300k G2.2.icm .
- Click Add and then click OK . Print the file again. If the application you are printing from does not print in color, use Microsoft Paint to print a document containing colors.
- Try printing again and see if the colors are better.
- If the colors are just slightly incorrect, try using color adjustment settings on the Advanced tab of the Print Properties.
- If you are using refilled or remanufactured print cartridges, try replacing them with a new genuine HP print cartridge. Differences in the inks, contamination of the ink, or damage to the print cartridge may cause poor print quality. HP will not support any print quality problems caused by refilled or remanufactured print cartridges.
Faded or grainy lines in printout
Perform the following steps to reduce or eliminate faded or grainy lines:
- Print at a higher quality setting.
- Verify that the paper you are printing on will lay flat. Paper that is not laying flat can cause banding when the paper transitions over the rollers or cause the print cartridges to scrape across the surface of the page. Check the top sheet of paper by removing it from the all-in-one and placing it on a flat surface. If the paper does not lie flat, bend it in the opposite direction to straighten it.
Print has white streaks
This problem will occur if the print settings are incorrect or if the ink cartridge is low on ink or has clogged nozzles. To correct it, perform the following steps:
- Try printing with a higher Print Quality setting.
- Try cleaning the print cartridge from the Maintenance utility by following the steps below:
- On the all-in-one front panel, press Setup (or Menu) repeatedly until "Maintenance " displays, then press Enter .
- When "Clean Cartridges " displays, press Enter .
- At the end of the cartridge cleaning cycle, a page will print. Examine the page to determine if the problem is corrected.
- If the problem still exists, clean the cartridge following the directions below in the "Clean under the cartridges and the carriage " section below.
- Verify that the ink cartridge is not low on ink by checking the estimated ink levels as indicated in the "Colors on printout are wrong or fade in and out while printing " section above.
- Replace the print cartridge for the color that is not printing correctly.
Printout appears fuzzy or jagged
- Verify there is not another object near the HP all-in-one product that is producing vibrations that are being transmitted into the unit by the surface that the unit is resting on.
- Run a print alignment from the help section of the all-in-one software or from the print driver properties.
- This problem can also occur when using low quality paper. The paper does not absorb the ink correctly resulting in this problem. Heavier weight papers will be less likely to have this problem.
Ink bleeds or smears
Ink bleeds and/or smears through graphics and text.
Use the proper paper setting
Ink drying time varies depending on the type of paper being used. Transparencies and higher-quality paper such as photo papers take longer to dry after printing. Match the paper type being used in the Setup tab of the Print Settings or the Copy Paper Type under Copy Setup in the menu.
Increase the ink drying time
- From the application being printed from, click File and Print .
- When the Print dialog box appears, select Properties or Setup .
- In the Print Settings window, select the Advanced tab.
- Adjust the Extra Drying Time slider in the lower-right corner toward More .
- Try the print job again and adjust if necessary.
Reduce the amount of ink used
- From the application being printed from, click File and Print .
- When the Print dialog box appears, select the Properties or Setup button.
- In the Print Settings window, select Advanced .
- Adjust the Ink Volume setting to the left one level.
- Try printing the document in Fast mode.
Is the paper too thick or damaged
Card stock in excess of 60 pound weight or curled paper may cause the bottom of the ink cartridge to come in contact with the paper. If this happens, the print will smear and the cartridge may become damaged.
Clean under the cartridges and the carriage
- Turn the HP all-in-one product on and lift the top cover.
- After the print cartridges have moved to the left of center, unplug the power cord from the back of the printer.
- Remove the print cartridges from the carriage and place them on their sides on a scrap piece of paper.CAUTION: Once the print cartridges have been removed, make sure they are not outside of the printer more than 30 minutes.WARNING: Keep print cartridges out of the reach of children.
- Dip a clean cotton swab into distilled water and squeeze any excess water from the swab.
- Grasp one of the print cartridges by the sides or top. Clean around the outside of the nozzle plate. Do not wipe or touch the nozzle plate (the shiny rectangle on the very bottom of the cartridge).
- Clean the other print cartridge in the same manner.
- Hold the print cartridges up to the light to inspect for fibers on the face and edges. If fibers are still present, clean the cartridge again.
- Dampen a lint-free cotton cloth with distilled water, fold it over a few times and slide it under the bottom of the carriage. Slide the cloth to the left and right when inserting it under the carriage to ease insertion. Continue sliding the cloth to the left and right to remove excess ink and fibers from the underside of the carriage.
- Replace the print cartridges, plug the power back into the HP all-in-one product and align the cartridges.
Paper is curling because too much ink is being applied
Some papers cannot absorb enough ink to work correctly at all print settings. Verify that the correct paper type is selected in the print properties and then do one or both of the following to correct the problem.
- In the print properties, reduce the Print Quality setting one level.
- To reduce the amount of ink being applied to the page, do the following:
- From the application being printed from, click File and Print .
- When the Print dialog box appears, select the Properties or Setup button.
- In the Print Settings window, select Advanced .
- Adjust the Ink Volume setting to the left one level.
- Replace the ink cartridge with a new one.
Edges of print are cut off or a white border around the printout
Inkjet printing requires greater print margins to keep ink from being sprayed into the printer. Printer damage will occur if ink is inadvertently sprayed into the print mechanism and usually gets deposited on printouts as smears or blotches. The HP all-in-one product automatically adjusts the printable region so this will not occur. The print margin values are given in the table below. Adjust the margin, header or footer settings from within the application to accommodate these requirements. In most applications (such as Word), these settings can be adjusted from the Page Setup feature under File menu.
Print and copy margins
|U.S. Letter, legal and executive
|1.8 mm
(.07 inches)
|11.7 mm
(.46 inches)
|6.4 mm
(.25 inches)
|1.8 mm
(.07 inches)
|11.7 mm
(.46 inches)
|3.4 mm
(.13 inches)
|3.2 mm
(.125 inches)
|11.7 mm
(.46 inches)
|3.2 mm
(.125 inches)
3 x 5
4 x 6
5 x 8
|1.8 mm
(.07 inches)
(.46 inches)
|3.2 mm
(.125 inches)
Meaningless characters print during computer power cycle
There are two possible reasons for this problem.
Other drivers putting signals onto the parallel port
Another device driver, such as a printer, external drive, or application that uses a software key, is sending information out onto the parallel port. Some devices leave files on the computer even if the software is uninstalled. Check with the manufacturer of any other devices or programs that access the parallel port of the computer for information on how to completely remove the drivers or how to disable the components that access the parallel port.
Grounding issues
The PC's hardware is generating signal noise and sending it down the bidirectional lines of the communication cable. The HP all-in-one product receives the electrical signal and tries to interpret it as a print job. Plug the HP all-in-one product power supply directly into a wall outlet. If the problem continues, verify the outlet is grounded properly (some older buildings do not have properly grounded outlets).
Print does not cancel right away after the Cancel button is pressed
After Cancel is pressed, there may be a slight delay before the print job is canceled. During this period of time an error may occur if a new print job is attempted. The length of time before the print job cancels is directly related to the size and complexity of the print job. The larger and more complex the print job, the longer it takes to cancel, sometimes several minutes may pass.
The delay is a result of clearing the print job out of the print queue. For large and complex print jobs such as large spreadsheets or presentations application slides, it will be much quicker to manually cancel the print job than to wait for it to clear. To manually clear the print job after Cancel has been pressed:
- Click Start , Settings , and Printers to open the Printers folder.
- Double-click the HP all-in-one product icon. A window will open showing the print jobs queued for the unit.
- The print job that was canceled will still show as "Printing " in the status section. Highlight this print job by clicking it.
- Click the Document menu option and select Cancel Printing .
- Close the window.
Print is not straight
There are a couple of conditions that can cause the print to be skewed on the page. Review the information below.
- The rear access door or two-sided printing accessory not being in the locked position is the most common reason for skewed or crooked printing and copying.
- Remove and then replace and lock the rear-access door or two-sided printing accessory.
- Examine the rollers on the rear access door or two-sided printing accessory. They should turn freely. Clean the rollers if they do not turn freely.
- Reinstall the rear access door or two-sided printing accessory. Verify that it is fully locked in place.
- Print another self-test page to determine if the problem is corrected.
- If the rear access door is in the locked position but the problem remains, clean the paper pickup wheels.
- Remove the paper from the paper tray.
- Remove the rear access door or two sided printing accessory.
- Disconnect the power cable from the back of the all-in-one.
- Locate the three paper feed rollers as indicated below.
- Take a lint free cloth and make it damp with a little water. Too much water may damage the electrical circuit in the unit.
- Clean the rollers with the cloth. With the power cable disconnected, the roller can be turned by hand.
- Allow the rollers to dry for a few minutes and then reinstall the rear access door. Make sure that it is completely locked in place.
- Put the paper back in the input tray and reconnect the power cable.
- Print another self-test page to determine if the problem still exists.
- Proper loading and handling of the paper can minimize skew. Make sure the paper is loaded evenly against the right wall of the main paper tray.
- Make sure the paper width and length adjusters fit snugly against the left and bottom edges of the paper stack so the paper is being fed "squarely" into the printer.
- Use envelopes with rectangular flaps rather than triangular flaps.
- Load only one type of paper or transparency in the input tray. Some types of paper and preprinted forms or letterhead can impact print skew.
- Remove the rear access door and clean the rollers with a damp cloth. Turn the knob on the rear access door a quarter-turn counter clockwise to the unlocked position to release the door. Remove the rear access door and clean the rollers with a damp cloth. It is possible to manually turn the rollers either direction with fingers.
- If the HP two-sided printing accessory is attached (optional on some products), verify the clean-out door of the accessory is fully closed and latched.
Problems printing from the secondary operating system of a dual boot computer
The HP all-in-one product cannot be installed on both operating systems of a dual boot computer. For all-in-one products using a parallel cable, install an alternative printer driver on the secondary operating system. The following drivers will work:
- The HP Deskjet 970 series (may be available through the Add Printers Wizard)
- The HP Deskjet 895 series (may be available through the Add Printers Wizard)
- The HP Deskjet 550C series (available through the Add Printers Wizard)
For USB only all-in-one products, there is no solution and there is no compatible print driver.
HP Officejet Pro L7590 All-in-One Printer
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text:
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text:
I just watched this ted talk by Stefan Sagmeister:
He espouses how the practice of sabbaticals taken regularly throughout your working career increase your overall productivity.
I couldn't agree more.
In fact I would go FURTHER than that. He has a great graphic where he takes 5 years from his retirement and spreads them out through his working life, but my question is what about the other direction?
Why do all your learning from ages 0 - 25, why not do what seems to have been my experience (and others I know) and take 7 years from your educational career and spread them over the course of your working life? Then for example you could work for three years, take one year out for education, work for another 3 years and then take another year out on sabbatical, this seems like a far more sensible way of proceeding through life.


text:
I suppose, in the end, we have to recognise Blair was right about one thing: we have to win enough votes to win an election before we aim to do anything else. And in a world such as ours, to draft our appeal in terms of socialism, whilst guaranteeing a certain weight and moral validity, will hardly win any prizes for attracting the sensibilities of those whose votes make the difference between a lying halfway house of a Coalition government (as per the current one) on the one hand, and a proudly declamatory and transparent offering of tone and style (as per a future Labour one, perhaps) on the other.
Maybe we do need to accept that manifestos are vague pitches which most usefully encapsulate broad intentions – intentions which should be judged and perceived from such generous perspectives. If we look to such a proclamation of promises with the beady eye of "will you, won't you" conditionality, deception and disillusionment will inevitably be our lot.
We have to be more realistic to our political class. We have, ourselves, to be far more generous to what they can deliver.
I know saying this will not make me popular. Even so, I feel it now needs to be said.
We need to give our politicos space to preach a better world – even as we know they will deliver a less good.
Instead, I think it is elsewhere we need to focus our attention – our attention, not our ire. This wave of history lapping at our feet – in particular with respect to its technological aspect – is driving our society towards a self-taught self-help socialism of determined communities, where both large and small companies and organisations various make their livings off the backs of a renewed focus on such a contextualised individualism (perhaps with every craftsperson's right and precedent – "Artisans of the world, unite!" – to back up the way they conduct their commercial activities). In my own case, I find myself teaching people across the globe the ins and outs of my mother tongue. I feel myself to be, in a way, a victim of the zero-hour generation – and yet, at the same time, I think that I number amongst the very same generation's most blessed of all. Whilst I am still healthy, whilst I can still live my life in a reasonably independent way, this life is perfect for me: variety of timetable, customers and content make my work and life balance quite adequate. And in my case, I have to admit, even as I accept I am suffering the curse of labour instability, that I have never been happier in this life.
I also have to recognise that without the infrastructures of the corporations, mainly American, which I have occasion to lambast most of my days, I would not be able to teach in that global context which makes my working-life so satisfactory.
So it is, then, I would like to suggest the following: if we are to continue, in our very British body politic, to have the kind of rather spurious game that pitching competing political manifestos against each other involves, maybe we should look mainly to the goal of refashioning the aforementioned tone and style through the selfsame hoary old sequence of political "promises", this time understood by us voters in as kindly a way as we can still manage.
If Ed Miliband could just see his way to seeing our job, as a political party wishing to govern, in the light of an environmental concern (environmental, that is, in the sense of space – not in the sense of ecology), and even to seeing it as a trip, an excursion, a journey rather than a destination in itself, we could maybe, just maybe, aim to develop our electoral process to the point where instead of concentrating on the aforementioned spurious manifestos of what we should and won't do, we could spend our time using them to honestly develop, promote and sell an appropriate tone and style for the future.
After all, leadership is so often a question of enabling others: not micromanaging their integrities, their actions and their personal contributions out of existence but giving them the freedom to lead themselves.
Precisely for the spurious political reasons and expectations I mention, Ed Miliband's Labour Party is now being expected to provide swathes of detailed solutions to a flurry of truly serious problems afflicting the country.
In reality, the political debate we choose to hold should be quite a different one: Ed Miliband's Labour Party should be saying that in a self-learning and self-empowering generation of virtual connectednesses – even where this generation has been, and is being, persistently confused by all kinds of commercial and state-sponsored activities (both disgracefully illegitimate as well as clearly rather more sincere) – a new kind of socialism, a socialism which already exemplifies itself although we choose not to name it thus, a socialism which looks to connect evermore intelligent participants, a socialism which curiously – quite individualistically – self-engenders … this socialism I poorly describe must be the self-taught self-help philosophy on which we decide to build a better Britain.
We should not be expecting of Labour the answers to our problems. We should be expecting of Labour the recognition that we are the answers.
And in and through such a profound recognition, our political parties – all of them – could show us they have the courage to ultimately accept the implications of such a humongous shift in the dynamics of British political process.