text:
April 25, 2014
The No. 4 Virginia baseball team nearly dug its way out of an early eight-run hole but fell a run short in a 9-8 loss to Radford Wednesday evening at Davenport Field. Virginia (30-4) saw its five-game win streak come to an end.
Down five runs entering the ninth inning, Virginia scored four times in its last at-bat and put the potential winning run on first base before coming up short. UVa gave up three first-inning runs and six more in the second in falling behind 9-1.
Virginia finished with eight hits, with Derek Fisher picking up two, including a towering home run which cleared the scoreboard in right-center field in the sixth. Jared King added a pair of hits for the Cavaliers.
Making his first start since undergoing elbow surgery eight months ago, Artie Lewicki pitched the first inning and took the loss. He gave up three runs (two earned) and a pair of hits while on a strict pitch count. Trey Oest relieved Lewicki in the second inning and was tagged for six earned runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning.
The Cavaliers hit the road again this weekend (April 12-14) for a three-game series in Atlanta against No. 17 Georgia Tech.
The comments sections of Newsplex.com are designed for thoughtful, intelligent conversation and debate. We want to hear from our viewers, but we only ask that you use your best judgment. E-mail is required, but will not be displayed with comment.
As a host Newsplex.com welcomes a wide spectrum of opinions. However this is a site that we host. We have a responsibility to all our readers to try to keep our comment section fair and decent. For that reason The Newsplex reserves the right to not post or to remove any comment.
If you have any ideas to improve the conversation or this section let us know. Send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.
powered by Disqus


text: Ice Tea Sunburst on flame maple top, contoured mahogany body, rosewood fretboard with dot inlays, smaller vintage style frets, 50's style round fat neck profile, two great sounding Lollar humbucking pickups, weighs 8.0 pounds, perfectly balanced so you can play it all night, incredible build quality. Collings electrics are hard to get so we begged the factory to get this. It was made for a rock star that never picked it up. A shame for him but great for you as it's absolutely amazing. Comes with a new deluxe Ameritage hard case. Retail $4200 $3780

subset: commoncrawl


text:
By MIRANDA BAINES
The East Carolina Agriculture and Education Center on Kingsboro Road turned into an episode of "Shark Tank" Thursday morning.
A group of Edgecombe County teenagers presented their business ideas to a panel of "sharks," and asked them to invest in their proposed businesses. Visionaries of the "House of Fun" and ultimate winners of the competition asked the sharks for $500,000 to start their business.
"What are your qualifications? Why would I give you half a million dollars?" one of the sharks, Traci Dixon, asked the presenters. After some negotiation, the sharks and teenage entrepreneurs came to a deal – a $200,000 investment in exchange for 40 percent of the business.
"The purpose is getting kids off the street, getting them out of trouble, also giving them something to do while their parents are out shopping," said William Edwards, a Tarboro High School graduate who worked with Marquon Pettaway, a Tarboro High student, and X'Savius White, a SouthWest Edgecombe High School student on the "House of Fun" business plan during the weeklong entrepreneurial boot camp hosted by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Office of Edgecombe County.
The teenagers outlined for the sharks their plan for the "House of Fun," which would include a go-cart track, a dune buggy track, a slam ball court, a tumbling room with trampolines, an arcade room and a Chick-Fil-A to satisfy the teenagers' appetites. Edwards said he would like to actually open such a business in a community building, and have adults on site to mentor the teens using the facility.
"We'll have leaders there telling them right from wrong," he said.
The teenagers had to present their business plan to a group of "bankers" earlier in the week.
"I learned it's not easy to get a loan," said White. Pettaway learned some lessons about business investment, as well.
"You've got to have a lot of money to start a business," he said.
A business plan for a clothing store "21 and Up" earned second place in the "Shark Tank" competition.
"Ten percent of our proceeds we're going to give back to charity," said "21 and Up" entrepreneurs Nyla Green, a student at Rocky Mount Academy, and Jackiyah Knight, a student at Tarboro High.
"We're both into fashion, so it just seemed like a cool idea," said Green. She said the store would sell "simple, everyday-type clothes for juniors." The high school student said the camp has given her a greater appreciation for her father, Lamone Green's, operation of his downtown Rocky Mount embroidery business.
"Alexis' and Candace' Beauty Salon," envisioned by Alexis Arnold, a rising 12th grader at Tarboro High, and Candace Lynch, a rising 9th grader at North East Carolina Prep School, earned third place in Thursday's competition.
"We'll have people in there catering to you," Arnold told the sharks, outlining the salon's customer service plan. When the sharks asked about their credentials, Arnold told them she has learned the art of hairstyling from her aunt, who owns a beauty salon in Rocky Mount, and that Lynch is just beginning cosmetology school.
After the business pitches, one of the sharks, Art Bradley, director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Office of Edgecombe County, had some words of advice for all the young entrepreneurs:
"Find something that you have a passion in and work toward it," he said. "Small business entrepreneurship is a great thing, particularly for our county. We don't have a lot of large industries coming in."
Another shark, Rev. Richard Joyner, pastor of Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, encouraged the teenagers to build business partnerships now that could last a lifetime and continue to pursue their business plans.
"Keep brainstorming, because there is another big market out there waiting," he said. Dixon, of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Office of Nash County, advised the teenagers to combine their motivation with the education they will need to start a business.
"I'm excited to see if any of you all decide to take your idea to the next step," said Jamilla Hawkins, community and rural development agent for the Edgecombe County branch of the N.C. Cooperative Extension. To her, having the tools to become an entrepreneur is important in today's economy.
"They'll become self-reliant and be able to generate their own income and if they're very successful, create more jobs," she said. This is the first summer the cooperative extension office has hosted the entrepreneurial boot camp for county teenagers.


text:
Anna Maria Amcats
What We're Reading
- »Talaat hopeful journey leads to NFL
- At 6-6, 275, Adham Talaat is dominant for Gallaudet and in the ECFC and hopes to continue his career at the next level.
- »Unbeaten Gallaudet aims for NCAA's
- This year's Bison are dispelling more than a few perceptions with a shot at the first NCAA berth for a men's team in school history.
- »For Gallaudet, long bus rides the norm
- After about the fifth or sixth hour of a 450-mile slog of a bus ride to Castleton, Vt., last week, an NFL defensive line prospect did not curse his college-football fate or wonder why he couldn't just get on an airplane for a game that far away. One student athlete?s horror story is Adham Talaat's life experience.


text:
Unlicensed drivers and those whose licenses have been suspended or revoked are nearly three times more likely to cause a fatal crash than licensed drivers, a DMV study found.
The study used crash data over a 23-year period and reviewed two-vehicle fatal crashes in which only one driver was at fault. It found:
–Compared to licensed drivers, those with suspended/revoked licenses or unlicensed were 2.6 and 2.73 times more likely to cause a fatal crash.
–The largest percentage of suspended/revoked and unlicensed drivers involved in the two-vehicle crashes reviewed were age 20 to 29.
–For drivers age 19 or younger in such crashes, the percentage unlicensed was almost four times higher than the percentage whose licenses were suspended or revoked.
The report, which looked at data from 1987 to 2009, said the at-fault rate for unlicensed drivers hasn't changed since a 1994 law that required proof of legal residency to get a driver's license.
That "suggests that unlicensed drivers who are ineligible to become licensed under this law are just as hazardous as drivers who are unlicensed for other reasons," the study said.
The report said its findings "strongly justify the use of countermeasures, including vehicle impoundment, to control S/R and unlicensed drivers and to reduce crashes caused by these drivers."
The DMV noted that a study done in 2002 found that at any given time during that year 1.9 million drivers had suspended or revoked licenses.
To read the report, dated last September, CLICK HERE.
Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter via @PDRoadWarrior
17 Comments
Nooooooooo, wouldn't want to impound the cars of those caught driving without licenses…. what a hardship that would be. How would they get their car the next day and continue driving unlicensed?
Brilliant study.
And this a surprise to Who! Maybe all those DUI Checks should be increased since they catch more unlicensed drivers than drunks.
yes of course. if you fail /ignore the law you are more likely to violate the law. We should also consider that the law for uninsured drivers have their vehicles impounded –
The cost and loss to government and legal drivers for losses and higher insurance rates .
I can tell you this is the same in most all countries including mexico (i live their) .
Firm enforcement for all who violate !!!!
Am I the only one concerned with this new trend of vehicles equipped with the super bright blue headlights? I'm sure they are great for doing a better job of lighting up the roads for the drivers of these vehicles but are blinding to the rest of us who face an oncoming vehicle or must cope with the blinding light in the rear view mirror. Isn't there a safety issue involved here?
Remind me again why some are against impounding cars of unlicensed drivers?
Our country is now led by a government amok with the worst corruption since our founding. We now have a citizenry bent on anarchy with little hope for redemption.
ANARCHY; noun; a state in which there is widespread wrongdoing and disregard for rules and authority.
Near Antonyms: law, law-abidingness, lawfulness, legality, legitimacy, rule; calmness, harmony, order, orderliness, peace, peacefulness, quiet, tranquility. source: Merriam-Webster
Fred, thank you for your comment. I thought I was the only person who felt the "blue lights" are a hazard to other drivers.
Tell that to local law enforcement, who decided it was mean to impound cars of people they caught driving w/o a license. I hope this changes their mind. I doubt it, because that doesn't go well with being a sanctuary city.
Unlicensed drivers are more likely to be in an accident? No kidding! Were we all thinking there was no reason to license drivers? Perhaps we invented drivers licenses just for fun.
Now, if our police could just start impounding cars and enforcing our licensing laws without being attacked as racists or for being biased against illegal aliens driving illegally. Apparently it is now considered biased against criminals if you enforce laws when they break them.
Also note that some would argue that the study says "The report, which looked at data from 1987 to 2009, said the at-fault rate for unlicensed drivers hasn't changed since a 1994 law that required proof of legal residency to get a driver's license." But the real question is that how many more undocumented individuals are here. i.e. 2% of 100 is 2. but 2% of 10000 is 200. So what is the volume increase there? Bottom line, if you want to drive, then abide by the laws. If you choose not to, then there are consequences, period. Laws are meant for everyone, whether there is a hardship or not.
The ultimate countermeasure is available to us. I've mentioned it many times before…just like to throw it out there once in a while in case the right person is reading…
Gasoline should be a controlled substance and only sold to licensed drivers of registered vehicles. Several different ways to implement this, from intrusive to simply sliding license through pump…but the fact that one can buy a vehicle, buy auto insurance (Cost u Less!), and buy fuel without being legally able to use any of said items is a bit of a joke…
I want to give kudos to Sheryl above…..
I teach Traffic School. This issue is H-U-G-E in class….would someone in our govt. both local & State get a clue?
JAIL these folks after 2 or 3 Driving on Suspended. If they kill someone…then JAIL for 10 years – deportation if they aren't legally here…
Very Simple – Break the Law – get a PUNISHMENT.
So, instead of taking measures to get them LICENSED so they know the law, you want them to stop driving?
Get a grip.
Whether you like it or not, illegals are PEOPLE with FAMILIES. They have to drive to feed their children and pay their rent.
Don't start with "ooh deport them." It's not going to happen. You're kidding yourself if you think that's ever going to happen. They're not going back to poverty and drug wars.
Instead of being stupid about this, get them licenses and we can all feel a little bit safer.
I guess common sense is a lost quality in racists and people who'd rather blame others than take control of their own freaking lives.
Rex, that's actually a pretty good idea. someone with a suspended license or no license has no business buying more than a gallon or 2 of gas… lawnmowers, weed eaters. Driving is a privilege not a right and if you can't follow the rules set in place by our society then you don't deserve to be driving.
To Fred, Rex Facktor and bungagunga:
I agree 100% with your comments! I used to be a courier in Santa Rosa and Sonoma, and sometimes It would be dark by the time I was done with my route. I'm never stoked about having to drive in the dark and being 'assaulted' by those ridiculous blue LED headlights on a regular basis not only made me hate my job but unlike regular lights, it took my eyes somewhat longer to get over that frightening blinding effect from those super bright LEDs. I swear to god whenever I had the misfortune of encountering those headlights, it always felt like my retinas were on fire!! I'm all for decent headlights but those blue ones should most definitely be outlawed!
@ A thought:
So let me get this straight, instead of punishing those who willfully and brazenly violate our countries and state's laws you would prefer to reward them as such, by licensing them "so we can all feel a bit safer."
Wow. Really? So if you commit a crime, we should just say, "No problem, here is how you avoid thatin the future, and oh by the way, let's ignore all the other laws you have broken as well."
Get a grip. Until we begin to actually enforce the laws we live under, then we are a joke as a society. Play by the rules and abide by the laws and you have no issues. Fail to do so and you suffer consequences. If you do not like the laws, make a choice, abide by them, move elsewhere or be prepared to suffer consequences if you are caught breaking them.


text:
by Kevin Kelleher, contributor
FORTUNE -- When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg walked out on stage at the company's annual f8 conference this month and started talking about identities, he got a good laugh from the crowd. "I want to start by focusing on key issues," he said at a stiff, self-conscious pace. "The first is the importance of authentic identity."
It was amusing because the Zuckerberg in this hoodie was none other than Andy Samberg, whose Zuck doppelgänger on SNL is a sleazier, cheesier and flakier version of the real thing. But it also drew laughter because Samberg -- and Facebook -- were poking fun at Google.
A few months ago, Google (GOOG) finally delivered its answer to Facebook, Google+, only to get mired in a controversy over online identities. Google began deleting profiles it felt weren't authentic: names spelled with too-cute punctuations, pseudonyms, even nicknames. As users protested, the definition of just what was and what wasn't acceptable seemed to grow even murkier. The bottom line seemed to be that Google only wanted authentic identities on its social service.
Facebook has its own issues with identity (and who that identity is shared with), but Google's rejection of pseudonyms ran counter to the very thing that made Facebook a success in the first place: creating a service and then letting users decide how they'll use it. Google was trying to do the opposite -- telling its users how they were supposed to use the service. Of course, Google has reasons for these demands -- how to you serve ads to a fabricated persona? -- but it overlooked the reality that, on the web, you build a site through a two-way conversation with your audience.
On the face of it, what Google wants isn't unreasonable: People behaving online as they do in the real world. In the real world, you may have what psychologists call multiple identities -- being a parent, but also a son or daughter, a worker, a spouse, a friend -- but all of these roles fit snugly under the same umbrella. And with Google+'s ability to easily arrange all of your friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances into customizable "circles," what need could there possibly be for someone to want a second, fake account?
This too is a reasonable enough question, but it overlooks another peculiar thing about the web: it's changing the way we present ourselves and see ourselves. It's the place where, famously, nobody knows you're a dog. Or, conversely, where you can be a furry. Online, identity has the potential to become complex, unstable and creative. It even makes it possible for people to have many more identities than they do in real life -- invented, pseudonymous or otherwise.
There are plenty of examples of people going online and pretending to be someone they're not in real life. The instances with the most notoriety involve some kind of fraudulent intent: Nigerian scammers posing as honest people in an hour of need, spammers with Twitter accounts, trolls empowered by anonymity.
There's no question that duplicity can be damaging on the web, but much more common -- if much less discussed -- are the instances of people who aren't acting fraudulently or even disingenuously. Many people chiding Google's anti-pseudonym policy point to activists who could only speak truth to power in anonymity.
But many pseudonymic and alternative identities have been taken up by people who aren't necessarily fighting censorship, but simply expressing themselves in new ways. There are bloggers like Tyler Durden and Fake Steve Jobs who discovered their voices behind a veil. Second Life, founded nearly eight years to the day before Google+ launched, may have fizzled but it let many people do trial and error with online alter-egos. MMPORGS have thrived where Second Life failed, becoming a multi-billion-dollar business. World of Warcraft alone has more than 12 million active players.
Google seems to ignore ample evidence that innocuous but nevertheless alternative identities are often a good thing. There's the evidence from history. From the Federalist Papers to Mary Anne Evans to Story of O, anonymity and pseudonymity have allowed culture to flourish.
Then there are studies by psychologists that suggest that having too few identities can lead to depression and neurosis, or that multiple identities that don't conflict with each other can add to psychological well being. Again, the technical term "identity" is restricted to narrow social roles in psychological literature, but the web is in all likelihood changing this concept.
In other words, who is Google to say that the web shouldn't be a platform for George Eliot's successors to find themselves? Or that a retired widower shouldn't stave off loneliness by creating a new identity online?
To be fair, Google has offered (among other contradictory explanations) the defense that Google+ is not fully baked. And once it is, it will accommodate the kinds of subtleties that its critics are currently demanding. Here's Google VP of products Bradley Horowitz in a Wired interview:
"Google believes in three modes of usage—anonymous, pseudonymous, and identified, and we have a spectrum of products that use all three... Gmail and Blogger are pseudonymous – you can go be email@example.com. But with products like Google Checkout, you're doing a financial transaction and you have to use your real name. For now, Google+ falls into that last category."
That echoes something Horowitz wrote on his Google+ page when the controversy was in full flame: "Please don't misconstrue the product as it exists today (< 4 weeks since entering Field Trial) as the 'end state.'" And also an interview where another Googler, Joseph Smarr, made a strong case for Google just wanting to get its software to match the deeper nuances of social interaction: "We don't want to do it wrong so we'd rather wait until we get it right."
In other words, Google may just be keeping Plus on the "identified" level until it can make pseudonymous profiles work seamlessly. Until then, the Circles feature in Google+ remains a welcome addition. It allows users to set up groups of online friends that reflect our multiple roles in our offline lives -- at work, at school and at home. For many people, that will be enough. In fact, for many people, the idea of creating a synthetic self on the web will never be appealing.
But without the freedom to experiment with pseudonymous profiles, many others will be put off by Google+ -- which could be a problem as Google sees Plus as the social glue holding all its other services together. It's not surprising that the complaints over Google+ have come from people who are deeply involved in the web -- they have a stronger instinct for how the web is evolving.
And how it's changing us in turn. Just as the Internet has changed the way we interact and communicate, it has the potential to change how we see and present ourselves. We still don't know yet how exactly how our online selves will emerge as different from our everyday selves. But we'll only find out through trial and error. Only on Google, for now at least, there will be no experimentation allowed.
|Internet giant Sina caught in China porn crackdown
|Don't assume you're safe from Heartbleed
|Russia stocks fall as Ukraine crisis intensifies
|Water becoming more valuable than gold
|Will 7 Apples a day keep the bears away? - The Buzz


text:
- Comments
Wag.com is offering 30% off one item with coupon code THIRTYWAG. Maximum discount is $20; some exclusions apply. First time customers only. Shipping is $5; free shipping on $49+.
Welcome to Ben's Bargains. Please Register, Sign in or Sign in with Facebook
Already a member? Sign in below.
Registration takes seconds! Once registered you�ll have members only access to:


text:
Course: Appetizers
Products: Toaster Ovens, Ovens
For more great dip recipes, visit our Everyday Good Thinking Blog.
Serves: 8-10
Return to Listing
All the latest from Hamilton Beach® direct to your inbox!
Sign up for discounts, recipes, product info, and more.
Email Address:
Invalid Email
Sign Up
You're all signed up! Thank you for your interest in Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc.


text:
ALL MATTRESSES ARE BRAND NEW IN PLASTIC WITH FULL MANUFACTURE WARRANTY. CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO APPLY ONLINE FOR THE NO CREDIT CHECK FINANCE. WE ALSO HAVE VISCO MEMORY FOAM MATTRESS, COOL GEL MEMORY FOAM BEDS, PILLOW TOPS, EURO TOPS, TWIN SIZE, FULL SIZE, QUEEN...More info Email a friend
Brand new couch in its original package. Item is currently kept in storage under A/C. The color of the couch is dark brown and material is faux leather. Item was originally purchased at El Dorado Furniture. Please contact me to schedule an appointment to...More info Email a friend
MIRROR WITH DARK GREEN WOOD FRAME SIMULATING A FRENCH WINDOW, 22-3/4"W X 33"HMore info Email a friend
Hardwood Dining Table with 6 chairs FOR SALE. (Rectangular table)3-piece bedroom set. Includes: 1 mirror. 1 6-drawer dresser. 1 night stand with 2 drawers. *Formica cover.All together: $150. Each item can be bought individually. Table: $100 (OBO) Bedroom...More info Email a friend
Great kids room computer desk great shape.More info Email a friend
EVERYTHING IS IN STOCK AND READY TO BE DELIVERED ASAP.We are selling some of our inventory at discounted price for people who contact us via Craigslists.The LED Cubes - Changes color with remove control, wireless 8 hours battery life, and easy to store. ...More info Email a friend
Great occasion!!!I'm selling IKEA furniture in perfect condition, used only for 18 months. Selling because I'm moving.The items can be sold separately (except for the chairs, that I'm selling them as a set of 4).* 4 chairs IKEA Ingolf in white color (original...More info Email a friend
Mission Oak Bedroom Set. Includes King headboard, 2 nightstands and video chest armoire.More info Email a friend
MUST SELL REAL WOOD entertainament unit. $700 obo Originally bought for $6000Dimensions: Height: 102 inches (8.5ft) Width: 125 inches (10.5ft) Depth: 40 inches (3.5 ft) Fits 50" screen TV Sliding CD/DVD/Book racks Hidden compartments Plenty of shelf ...More info Email a friend
Selling 4 piece real leather (camel color) living room set. -sofa/couch -love seat -chair -ottomanNO tears in the leather. $350 for the set! Willing to sell separately at $100 a piece (sofa, love seat or chair) and the ottoman at $50.Located in Miami Lakes...More info Email a friend


text:
The Burgundian Model
When it comes to California Chardonnays, the vineyard can make all the difference
Bruce Schoenfeld
From the Print Edition:
The Best Places to Gamble, Sep/Oct 02
(continued from page 2)
As at Peter Michael, Turley looked to Burgundy, and single-vineyard wines made as an expression of the terroir. "Helen was a wonderful benchmark to set the tone for how we wanted to make the wine," says Mary Colhoun, who owns and runs Landmark with her husband, Mike. "She's very Burgundian in the approach that everything is single-vineyard and terroir, terroir, terroir. We liked that approach, except that we decided to blend."
Even a neophyte can see the contradiction. Admiring terroir-based wines but deciding to blend is like saying that you loved a certain recipe for beef Bourguignon except that you decided to replace the beef with monkfish. One can only hope that Turley was sitting down when the Colhouns told her of their plans to intermingle her site-specific cuvèes. "She participated in our selection of the blends and would give her opinion," Mary Colhoun says. But within three years, Turley was gone.
Today, Landmark purchases grapes from as many as 25 vineyards, then begins its blending process. Yet, its wines are malolactically fermented and aged in 100 percent French oak from top coopers, just as in Burgundy. No aspiring Burgundian could possibly condone such a process, yet superb wines are usually the result. "Whatever combination of sources it takes to make the wine the best it can be, that's fine," says Colhoun. "We're not wedded to any methodology."
Creamier than Peter Michael Chardonnays will ever be, the Landmark Overlook and Damaris Reserve releases are uniformly balanced, lush, ripe and giving. And that's exactly what the Colhouns were aiming for. "[We wanted] something that's silky-smooth on the palate," Mike Colhoun says. "A lot of white wines have a tendency to bite back, and we don't want that harshness."
I played a little game with Eric Stern, Landmark's winemaker, asking him how Burgundian he considered his wines on a scale of one to ten. One meant pure Californian and ten pure Burgundian, and instinctively he settled in at about a seven because he's a cultured, worldly man and admires the finest white Burgundies as the most noble expression he has encountered of the Chardonnay grape. But it soon became clear that he'd made a value judgment, equating typical California Chardonnay with "bad wine" and white Burgundy with "good wine." Most California winemakers who aspire to top quality will say the same; it's the vinous equivalent of racial profiling.
The fact is, as Stern quickly admitted, a cheap, random village wine from Burgundy is just as likely to be undrinkable as overoaked, mass-produced California Chardonnay from a hot valley floor. And California turns out plenty of small-batch, very expensive and very good wines that are about as Burgundian as the Beach Boys.
One of them is Journey, the limited-release cuvèes from Matanzas Creek. A blend of grapes from two vineyards, it costs $95 a bottle, and only 250 cases of it are produced in the years that the wine is made. As with the Peter Michael Chardonnays at the opposite end of the stylistic spectrum, nothing about Journey is left to chance. "Tasting through all the Journeys when I just got here, there is definitely a flavor profile in common that they were striving for," says Matanzas Creek winemaker Even Bakke, who left Landmark to replace Parker last year. "The two vineyards they were getting the fruit from have a very distinct flavor profile. But where Bill and [co-winemaker Susan Reed's] philosophy and mine differ is, I'm trying to minimize my impact on the wine."
And just as Sir Peter Michael decided to create a California winery to replicate the white Burgundies he loves, there are wineries constructed with the goal of producing the finest possible California Chardonnays, Burgundy be damned. Ferrari-Carano sits in a salmon-colored faux Italian villa that was dropped into its Dry Creek landscape in 1997. Don and Rhonda Carano are well-known hoteliers in Reno, Nevada. Outsiders may know the family name from Glenn Carano, Don's son, who played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, or from Don's work as a gaming lawyer and Nevada state legislator. (The Ferrari part of the winery name has a family connection, but it mostly just sounds good.)
The flamboyant Caranos are as Nevada as Sir Peter Michael is English countryside. You wouldn't expect their wines to be demure or restrained, and they aren't. "We have a house style," says Ferrari-Carano winemaker George Bursick. "We approach wine making knowing what clones to plant, what yeast strains to use in order to encourage certain blocks of plants to create certain flavors -- all of that. This isn't the kind of thing where we throw up our hands and say, 'Gee, I hope it turns out like last time.'"
Ferrari-Carano's Chardonnays are known for flavors of exotic, tropical fruits such as mango and papaya. The initial 1985 release offered those flavors and the buttery-mouth feel of many of the better California Chardonnays, and it became a model for the vintages that followed. "The '85 was hugely successful," Bursick says. "It established us as apart from the pack, and what we've done over the last 15 years is build on that style to make it even better."
You must be logged in to post a comment.


text:
For your information: This message has appeared because we've noticed your browser doesn't fully support all functions of this site. For further information please click here.
Click and Collect available
Vase Included
This vase full of pretty pink and white flowers really is the perfect gift. It's ready to display, easy to look after and is full of colour and texture. The single large headed rose takes centre stage and is beautifully complemented with a mix of favourite flowers.Featuring pink large-headed rose, pink germinis, white spray chrysanthemums and pink spray carnations with eucalyptus and salal presented in a curved glass vase with pink sisal collar.
(1294 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Reviewed by 1294 customers
Sort by
Displaying reviews 1-10
Back to top
Previous | Next »
By Luciouslin
from Lincolnshire
Best Uses
This was a gift for my Mother in Law and she was absolutely delighted with the presentation.
Bottom Line Recommend to a friend? YES
Was this review helpful? Yes / No
- You may also flag this review
Cannot remember!
By Ian McK
from Denholm Hawick Scottish Borders
My sister was delighted with the flowers
By scottie159
from NORFOLK
Beautiful flowers and chocolates delivered to a family member, they were fresh, long lasting and a lovely quality vase came with them, my family member was over the moon and commented on just how long they lasted.
beautiful flowers and vase. so colourful
By lennox
from Edinburgh
Delighted with arrangement and it gave great pleasure to my sister.
By kitz
from kent
they were for my mum to say thank you and she absoutley loved them
A nice bunch
By humpy
from sidcup
Lovely flowers - a week on still look great.
Perfect Pink
By Willis
from Blandford
Beautiful flowers exceptional service
By Denise Hooper
from Bourne
Delivered within 1 hour of placing order wow!,,,
Beautiful arrangement
By Mazza
from Gloucestershire
Beautiful arrangement, more than pleased. Recipient over the moon, thank you so much interflora, will definitely use you again.
Wonderful Service
By Kevc38
from Penrith
Delivered within an hour of buying, wonderful bouquet
(476 reviews)
Reviewed by 476 customers
We were disappointed
By karen
from Bristol
We ordered the large bouquet and there were only about 2 roses and a few carnations, two white flowers and then one large pink flower, the rest was greenery and there wasn't much of that, it looked tiny and nothing like the usual arrangement sent.We were very disappointed it wasn't worth the money.It has made me nervous of ordering from Interflora again.
Bottom Line Recommend to a friend? NO
birthday flowers that didnt last a day
By mike
from liverpool
considering i only picked up the flowers saturday day time there almost dead now, and for the price i paid for them i am dissapointed
By Disappointed
from Canada
I ordered a large pink arrangement in a pink vase. The flowers that were sent were not the same and presented in a red vase. I was very disappointed that the flowers I had chosen were not sent. However the flowers that were delivered were nice and the recipient was pleased with them.
Birthday surprise
By Ladympc
from London
Mother in law was delighted - it was for her 92nd birthday
recipient said flowers were beautiful
By Matron
from Care Home
Flowers were lovely and vase a bonus gift.
Anniversary angels
By Mel
from Kingston
Very helpful with my order and fantastic quality.Thank you so much
Very Prompt Service...
By Kunal
from Dubai UAE
It was a beautiful experience to order flowers online from Interflora.. the most amazing feature i can recollect (as heard frm my girlfriend) is the quality of the flowers.. the presentation and the box of chocolates.. all that bundled together made tht evening very special as it reached right on time i expected. Brilliant job to your team.. im sure to be a loyal club member soon.. P.S. Please update your address book with few new post codes and address. :))
By MARGARET
from ABERDEEN - SCOTLAND
Although I did not see the flowers myself my friend called to say that they were beautiful
By mariner7
from Glenrothes
wonderful display of fresh flowers with interesting scent, beautifully presented
Perfect birthday gift
By Boo1982
from West Sussex
I ordered flowers as a surprise for a friend's birthday. My friend loved the flowers including the vase that the flowers came in and the overall presentation. The arrangement was beautiful and definitely worth the money.


text:
I love SAI.
It's less complicated than Photoshop and I think it's better for beginners.
I was wanting to ask when would be the best time for me to buy programs such as Photoshop or something which I can colour render my manga images. There is a link below to my critique thread if you want to see my progress.
Also if I was to start colour rendering what would be a good program to use taking into consideration i've had genuinely no experience apart whatsoever :L
Thanks in advance for any replies ^_^
I love SAI.
It's less complicated than Photoshop and I think it's better for beginners.
SAI is my favorite. then the GIMP fo the rest.
My Story Thread
If you took the time to read this, you can just call me Al, or Stan.
I've been using GIMP. It's free, similar to Photoshop, and I find it easy to use.
Ok I'll download that and try some rendering and post them up onto my thread, i'll also go look into SAI thanks for all the replies ^_^
Last edited by Demonfyre; 05-25-2012 at 05:59 PM.
Yeah SAI is best . But also use photoshop also because it gives various brushes for making various effects that will come handy .
I use photoshop because honestly it has the best tools. Sai was terrible now that I look back on it, I'm pretty glad I decided to give Photoshop another go.
Nothing against Photoshop but the only problem is the £500* bill :L what is the price range for SAI?
[I didn't purchase it]
I've been using Photoshop since I was seven years old. I tried to use SAI and it was awful. /shrug
Just my opinion, though. XD


text:
Jeff McMahon, Contributor
I cover green technology, energy and the environment from Chicago.
America's leading freight railroads are plotting their return to passenger service as Amtrak faces a threat from privatizing politicians in Congress, a former Amtrak CEO said in Chicago Wednesday.
"This is a difficult time for Amtrak," former Amtrak Chairman and CEO Tom Downs told about 70 people gathered at a rountable hosted by the Metropolitan Planning Council. "One branch of the Congress has said that it's time to phase out Amtrak."
Republicans in the House of Representatives have pressed to cut Amtrak funding in the federal transportation bill, and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently said in a TV news interview that he would eliminate Amtrak's subsidy, among other programs:
"Of course you get rid of Obamacare, that's the easy one, but there are others: Planned Parenthood, we're gonna get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrak, I would eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, both excellent programs, but we can't afford to borrow money to pay for these things."
via ABC News.
As a result, Amtrak has not seized upon opportunities for expanding passenger service in the United States, said Downs, who now serves as chairman of the North American Board of Paris-based Veolia Transportation.
"I think the corporation [Amtrak] tends to be more conservative and risk averse when the atmosphere is perceived to be risky. So while there may be interest, I'm not sure there's the right climate for them to be aggressive."
The private railroads, meanwhile, are not so shy.
"All of the Class Ones are now getting back into the the passenger rail service," Downs said, naming Union Pacific, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe, and Norfolk-Southern:
Downs led Amtrak from 1993-98. He has also served as executive director of the Federal Transit Administration, a White House fellow to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, president of New York's Tri Boro Bridge and Tunnel Authority, director of the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, among other roles.
U.S. Poised For Passenger Rail Boom
High-Speed Rail Critics Imperil Economic Growth, Bombardier President Says
White House Comes Out For Street Cars
This railroad operation of railroad passenger service is out of the blue. The railroads want control – something different. Does each of those railroads have the specialized passenger marketing, service, equipment, and other expertise of Amtrak? Is privatization a way around the covenants of the Amtrak law that protect the service to the public? Currently, the railroads and Amtrak negotiate service and improvements as equals – privatization would subordinate passenger needs and utility.
The public needs and deserves a voice and advocate for service schedules and reliability. This is possible with Amtrak and the regional commuter authorities. If the public needs a train from Chicago to Springfield for a 10:00 am meeting or session; 10:30 am won't do it. If the best time to leave Chicago is at 5:30 pm, a 5:00 pm train could miss half the market; and a 6:00 pm train gives the competition a 30-minute head-start.
Tom Downs hardly is neutral in his position with Veolia, a private rail passenger service contractor not saddled with Amtrak's fixed infrastructure costs and in competition with Amtrak for operating contracts. The public-supported services are operated on a cost-plus basis with fares and subsidy established usually by a regional public authority; while it's privatized, it isn't "profitable" except for Veolia. This also says something about the lack of transparency of Amtrak costs, even with public authorities, and treating those authorities like a goose laying a golden egg; and I speak on experience with the Valparaiso commuter service.
Beside, the UP took a little less than a billion in public funds to get this far on the Chicago – Saint Louis Corridor; and the rest of the $2 billion was slated for a second main track and positive train control. Other railroads have benefited by public investment for passenger service as well. Is it right to turn over public investment without compensation and without a say in service?
The budget for Phase I of Chicago-St Louis is roughly $1.3 billion when all the funding sources are combined.
I am shocked at this piece of news. It did seem a bit odd that UP was being so accommodating in Illinois while actively stonewalling any talk of HSR in California. I assume the Class Is only want control so they can adjust the schedules as they see fit. Otherwise it would be a huge drain on their budgets.
Also – it's ironic that less than a week after this article, FEC announced their billion-dollar plan to run private hourly service in Florida.
Mr Harney, with all due respect, what right does "public investment" have to run on private rail lines, the owners of which have no say in the matter?
The very way Amtrak is run is ridiculous. Amtrak is the result of your "public need" argument.
Those who wish to make profit are going to run trains at times people need them, in order to make money to keep the business alive and employees employed. A public company like Amtrak which runs in the name of the "public need" doesn't serve the public very well, and loses money hand-over-fist.
If private railroads wish to build passenger rail – more power to them! I, for one, love rail and look forward to companies like this re-investing in the industry. But this "public need" nonsense is a bunch of claptrap, the outcome of which is Amtrak.
I have nothing against the Class I railroads getting back into providing passenger service. However, competitive passenger service does require separation of freight and passenger traffic, both to avoid scheduling conflicts and to maintain track conditions for the higher speed passenger rolling stock.
If the private sector wants to develop regional routes, than fine, let them publicly propose alternatives to Amtrak expansion.
However, in the long run, I'd prefer to see our railway network modeled more like our highways, airways and waterways. Government should own/maintain/upgrade the tracks & right-of-ways. The private sector can own/operate & schedule the appropriate rolling stock.
I love railroads. But I wonder how well they can do when for much of the nation you need to rent a car once you arrive.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I think intermodal travel is efficient and great fun, but I don't think most Americans feel as we do. Also, I would guess that your intermodal adventure took about 8 hours door-to-door, about double the car time. Compare this to taking a trip from Paris to say, Burgundy, the San Luis Obispo of France. That trip is probably faster by TGV and regional transport than by car. It's going to take a whole ecological change to make trains work well: improving the inner cities, reducing crime, local transit, re-urbanization. My favorite bridge technology would be e-bike sharing systems once you get to town.
If the need to rent a car was an issue, we would have no airports in this country. In fact, it's worse for the airlines than the trains, since in many cases train stations are right downtown. Airports are almost always several miles outside of downtown.
I just spent the first 3 months of the year working on a web project for a client in Portland. When it came time for us to deliver our final presentation to him yesterday, he was delayed an hour in getting to Bothell, WA, because he took Amtrak. The freight trains have priority right of way, and the poor dumb passengers have to sit on the sidelines and wait for them to pass before they can resume their trip. Amtrak doesn't advertise this fact to riders. It's been going on for years. I know because in the 80s I took the train from Philly to NYC for the first leg of my trip, and I'll bet the same thing happened to cause the delay that made me too late to catch my flight to Hawaii from JFK. Don't take the train if you have to get somewhere on time; it's just not dependable. Passengers don't pay as much as freight shippers, so passengers are screwed.
That's actually not correct. Freight trains do NOT have priority over Amtrak; never have! The freight RR's however have played games for the last 10 to 15 years to find ways to give freight priority and Amtrak never had the standing to do anything about it. However, that all changed in 2008 when then President Bush signed a couple of bills regarding Positive Train Control and other things. Those bills actually established standards that the Freight RR's must maintain or suffer substantial fines from the Federal Railroad Administration.
As for your trip, back in the 80′s Amtrak owned the tracks between NY & Philly. So there is no way that an Amtrak dispatcher would have given a freight train priority over an Amtrak train.
Finally, delays are a fact of life. Planes can be late, trains can be late, and drivers can easily get stuck in traffic. If one positively, absolutely has to be someplace at a specific time, then one must simply plan to leave earlier so as to ensure that they arrive on time.
Doubt you were delayed by a freight train while riding between PHL – NY….How did you get from Penn Station to the airport? (Of cource, now you can get off at the Newark Airport stop and use the monorail link righ to the terminal.)
Amtrak between Philly and NYC is all NEC and purely Amtrak's domain, not Class 1 RRs'. I ride the NEC everyday between Baltimore and DC and have had minimal problems. Yes, there are periods where problems seem to cluster and I hrrumph when it's announced my train's running late but no system's perfect – flights are constantly delayed/cancelled, road traffic happens. The RRs shouldered the country during WWII and were never compensated properly or had access to war-time resources to maintain their infrastructure; and never recouped fully afterwards – in part because road construction was so heavily subsidized and trucking provided that unfair advantage post WWII. Same for airlines since that time. It's time to return national focus on the system and redevelop it into a world-class transportation alternative. One way to help Amtrak do so is to allow it access to the express freight market, a historical angle for passenger system subsidization that dovetails with its fast forward travel schedule. Another way is to subsidize passenger rail travel to the same extent we do passenger auto travel via highway construction/maintenance, especially considering the greater efficiencies rail offers.
BP Bohn,
While I agree with much of what you wrote, I do have to correct one thing. The RR's were compensated for their war efforts after WW II. The Fed marked the debt owed by the RR's for all the land grants given them many years earlier as they were building out across this country, paid in full.
I believe your comment is factually erroneous. As I understand it, Amtrak has track priority over freight trains. I ride Amtrak a lot and it appears to me that we always get priority.
I should add: No doubt even though Amtrak gets priority it is to be expected that they get delayed by freight traffic. It takes time for a freight train to proceed onto a siding to allow an Amtrak to proceed.
Look out America, here come trouble. If railroads want in on passenger service, it can only mean it is because they are getting a ton of money and immunity in exchange. Take note of the recent politically engineered sunrail corridor in Central Florida. The railroads (CSX) got overpaid for a stretcc of 61 miles of rail and got immunity from liability by way of indemnity agreements with the State of Florida and the taxpayers got left holding the bag. Goota love thaose deals engineered in backrooms and boardrooms-that is so long as you are a Coproration and not a citizen.
Actually CSX got less than they should have for that stretch of track; around the same time that the price was being negotiated between Florida & CSX, BNSF sold a lower class track to the State of Washington for more money per mile. The FRA rates the track by class based upon the top speeds permitted, signaling, and quality of the track.
Florida got higher speed, better class track for less per mile than the State of Washington.
As for the liability thing, this is how all RR's operate in this country. If BNSF derails a train while running on UP's tracks, BNSF pays for their train's damage and UP pays to fix the tracks. If NS train runs into an Amtrak train, Amtrak pays to fix its train and any lawsuits by passengers. NS pays to fix its train and the track.
Heck, about 5 years ago or so when Amtrak's Auto Train derailed in Florida due to CSX's bad track work and killed a few people, Amtrak paid the lawsuits. CSX paid to fix its track. Amtrak under the standard agreements between all RR's in this country paid to fix its trains and any claims from passengers injured.
And no one in Florida should have been at all surprised, since this is exactly the same agreement already in place between the State of Florida, Tri-Rail, & CSX down in the West Palm-Miami corridor. The entire liability thing was a political red herring started by a few politicians looking for a way to stop Sunrail.
Initially the lawyers jumped all over the issue, which is why Sunrail was defeated the first time around in the State legislature. Then the lawyers did some research and quickly realized that there was no benefit to them, they still couldn't sue for more money in the case of a passenger rail accident with CSX no matter what the agreement, so they dropped their opposition. It was only when they thought that they could win a huge suit against CSX if there was an accident that they opposed the deal. When they learned that the Federal cap of $200 Million applied no matter what, they no longer cared.
Besides, under the agreement, CSX won't be moving many freight trains over the Sunrail tracks. So any liability is very limited.
Passenger and freight have a long tradition of co-existing successfully, though it does require adequate infrastructure and committed dispatching. A fast train mixed among slow freights does require more capacity — however it is unnecessary to separate trains except points of conflict. This might mean more passing tracks, but both freight and passenger trains can intermingle on the same tracks.
Enter Your CommentI will be happy if the major railroads once again control passenger service. I for one would say that amtrack is almost unlawful. The government gave a subsidy to amtrack, which caused any other passenger service to be unprofitable. Amtrack then was suddenly the only passenger service left. That makes them a monopoly. Monopolies are illegal in the U.S. When Standard Oil became a monoply, they were broken up. I feel amtrack should be as well.
First, there is no such company as Amtrack. There is only Amtrak, no C.
Second, Amtrak is wholy owned by the US Government. The US DOT holds all the voting stock in Amtrak in trust for Congress and We The People.
So if it's "unlawful", something that I disgree with, to give Amtrak a subsidy; then it also must follow that it is illegal to give airlines which are privately owned a subsidy. There goes the air traffic control system and many other things associated with air travel. It would also be illegal to give highways a subsidy, so there go our highways. In just the last 3 years the Fed has provided $62 Billion in subsidies to the highways. That's $20B more than Amtrak has received in 40 years!
Finally, subsidies to Amtrak didn't put other private passenger rail companies out of business. Subsidies to roads & planes are what caused the freight RR's to want to discontinue passenger rail. They couldn't compete with the subsidized competition and wanted out. Creating Amtrak was the solution to letting the freight RR's off the hook for running a now money losing operation. An operation that was now losing money because people could travel more cheaply using the other Government subsidized forms of transportation.


text:
CANANDAIGUA — With current Ward 2 councilman David Winter officially resigning — effective Oct. 31 — the race to fill his seat will be an uncontested one.
Ian Boni, 33, of Phoenix Street will be seeking his first term at City Council. If Boni wins the election, he could potentially join council before Jan. 1. The next City Council meeting is Nov. 7 — two days after elections — and council could vote appoint a new councilmember at that point, Mayor Ellen Polimeni said. Since elections have not yet taken place, no vote is planned at this point, she added.
In a letter from Winter that Polimeni read during the beginning to the Oct. 24 Planned Unit Development (PUD) meeting, the former councilman stated he will be moving to Tennessee for a new job opportunity and said he was grateful for his time on council.
Winter's name will remain on the ballot.
Boni is the owner of Mitchell Realty Group, on Niagara Street and he is a Phoenix Street landlord. Additionally, he served on the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, and is in a local band.
City Council members received a salary of $4,735 in 2013 and serve two years terms.


text:
Best for CC? The choices listed don't matter as much as:
1. Having a CC weap. on you (1st rule in a gunfight.. bring a gun)
2. Carrying the weapon you train with (muscle memory is everything)
3. Training for shot placement (more important than caliber, and bullet type) and achieving consistent results (COM or CNS)
4. Maintaining your weapon properly
5. Using a holster/carry method that allows ready access, comfort and secure retention (level II and above not needed for civilians)
6. Matching your carry method to your attire. And your attire to carry.
Far too many of these posts focus on gun and ammo selection. So long as these are quality purchases, your hardware is much less important than your skills. In the right hands, even a .22 can be an adequate carry piece. Get proper training, then practice.


text:
We have a great selection of men's clothing from loungewear to t-shirts and sweaters from brands such as Criminal Damage, Addict, Animal and so many more. So what are you waiting for? Give your wardrobe a new lease of life!
Men's Clothing
IL2L stock a range of men's clothing, specially selected to compliment our range of leather jackets. Browse our range of T shirts, collared shirts and more.


text: Do you like to glow in the dark? Looking for a fun and easy way to jazz up your holiday wear this year but aren't quite sure how? Join us to learn the basics of everyone's favorite glowing embellishment, the electroluminescent wire.In this workshop, we will cover how EL wire works, how to assemble a working length of wire, how to attach it to clothing and beyond. Each student will assemble a short working length of EL wire, so make sure to bring a garment to class to attach it to!Open to ages 12 and up. Soldering experience helpful but not necessary.Cost: $60Register today by clicking here!


text:
Fund Goal and Approach
The fund seeks to maximize total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income. To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in fixed-income securities of U.S. and foreign issuers rated investment grade or the unrated equivalent as determined by The Dreyfus Corporation. These securities include: U.S. government bonds and notes, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, convertible securities, preferred stocks, inflation-indexed securities, asset-backed securities, mortgage-related securities (including CMOs), and foreign bonds.
Typically, the fund's portfolio can be expected to have an average effective maturity and an average effective duration of three years or less. The fund may invest in individual fixed-income securities of any maturity or duration. Average effective maturity is an average of the maturities of the bonds held by the fund directly and the bonds underlying derivative instruments entered into by the fund, based on their dollar-weighted proportions in the fund, adjusted to reflect provisions or market conditions that may cause a bond's principal to be repaid earlier than at its stated maturity. Duration is an indication of an investment's "interest rate risk," or how sensitive an investment or the fund's portfolio may be to changes in interest rates. Generally, the longer a fund's duration, the more it will react to interest rate fluctuations and the greater its long-term risk/return potential.
Credit ratings are determined by independent rating organizations that analyze and evaluate a bond issuer's, and/or any credit enhancer's, credit profile and ability to repay debts. Based on their assessment, these rating organizations assign letter grades that reflect the issuer's, and/or any credit enhancer's, creditworthiness. AAA or Aaa represents the highest credit rating, AA/Aa the second highest, and so on down to D, for defaulted debt. Bonds rated BBB or Baa and above are considered investment grade.
For additional yield, the fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in fixed-income securities rated below investment grade ("high yield" or "junk" bonds) to as low as Caa/CCC or the unrated equivalent as determined by The Dreyfus Corporation.
The fund will focus on U.S. securities, but may invest up to 30% of its total assets in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers (i.e., securities issued by companies organized under the laws of countries other than the U.S. or securities issued by foreign governments), including those of issuers in emerging markets.
The portfolio managers buy and sell fixed-income securities based on credit quality, financial outlook and yield potential. Fixed-income securities with deteriorating credit quality are potential sell candidates, while those offering higher yields are potential buy candidates.
Although not a principal investment strategy, the fund may, but is not required to, use derivatives, such as options, futures and options on futures (including those relating to securities, foreign currencies, indexes and interest rates), forward contracts and swaps, as a substitute for investing directly in an underlying asset, to increase returns, to manage interest rate risk, to manage the effective duration or maturity of the fund's portfolio, or as part of a hedging strategy. The fund may enter into swap agreements, such as interest rate swaps and credit default swaps, which can be used to transfer the interest rate or credit risk of a security without actually transferring ownership of the security or to customize exposure to particular corporate credit. To enhance current income, the fund also may engage in a series of purchase and sale contracts or forward roll transactions in which the fund sells a mortgage-related security, for example, to a financial institution and simultaneously agrees to purchase a similar security from the institution at a later date at an agreed-upon price.
An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. It is not a complete investment program. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money.
* Interest rate risk. Prices of bonds tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect bond prices and, accordingly, the fund's share price. The longer the effective maturity and duration of the fund's fixed-income portfolio, the more the fund's share price is likely to react to interest rates. For example, the market price of a fixed-income security with a duration of three years would be expected to decline 3% if interest rates rose 1%. Conversely, the market price of the same security would be expected to increase 3% if interest rates fell 1%.
* Credit risk. Failure of an issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of a bond, can cause a bond's price to fall, potentially lowering the fund's share price. The lower a bond's credit rating, the greater the chance � in the rating agency's opinion � that the bond issuer will default or fail to meet its payment obligations. Although the fund invests primarily in investment grade bonds, the fund may invest to a limited extent in high yield bonds. High yield ("junk") bonds involve greater credit risk, including the risk of default, than investment grade bonds, and are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer's ability to make principal and interest payments. The prices of high yield bonds can fall dramatically in response to bad news about the issuer or its industry, or the economy in general.
* Liquidity risk. When there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities in a timely manner at or near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the fund's share price may fall dramatically, even during periods of declining interest rates. Investments in foreign securities tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities. Liquidity risk also exists when a particular derivative instrument is difficult to purchase or sell. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid (as is the case with many privately negotiated derivatives, including swap agreements), it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price.
* Market risk. The market value of a security may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment generally. A security's market value also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry, or factors that affect a particular company, such as management performance, financial leverage, and reduced demand for the company's products or services.
* Foreign investment risk. To the extent the fund invests in foreign securities, the fund's performance will be influenced by political, social and economic factors affecting investments in foreign issuers. Special risks associated with investments in foreign issuers include exposure to currency fluctuations, less liquidity, less developed or less efficient trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, political and economic instability and differing auditing and legal standards. Investments denominated in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that such currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the value of these investments held by the fund. Securities of issuers located in emerging markets can be more volatile and less liquid than those of issuers in more developed economies.
* Non-diversification risk. The fund is non-diversified, which means that the fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. Therefore, the fund's performance may be more vulnerable to changes in the market value of a single issuer or group of issuers and more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a diversified fund.
* Portfolio turnover risk. The fund may engage in short-term trading, which could produce higher transaction costs and taxable distributions, and lower the fund's after-tax performance.
Please see prospectus for additional Risk Details.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. Download a prospectus, or a summary prospectus, if available, that contains this and other information about the fund, and read it carefully before investing.


text:
Wednesday, Mike Gagliardo, conductor and director of the Etowah Youth Orchestras will give a program titled "Symphony 101" at the Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun County to coincide with the Knox Concert Series' next offering, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra of Israel on Jan. 25. Then it's double the entertainment Friday and Saturday when the Jacksonville Opera Theatre presents musical monologue "Let's Talk" followed by the one-act operetta, "Trial by Jury."
'Symphony 101' talks composers
Gagliardo's talk at the library last January gave an overview of the symphony's basic elements. This Wednesday at 2 p.m., he will focus on one subject — the role of conductors.
Conductors are interpretive artists, according to "How to Listen to Music" by Aaron Copeland. To a small degree their personality and philosophy is reflected in the music they present, the author explains.
"But their work is largely based on their knowledge, what they have studied and from their area of expertise," Gagliardo adds. "There are conductors that only conduct Baroque, for example. There are some that conduct only contemporary music."
Gagliardo will also share his knowledge on "Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Opus 95, From the New World" by Antonin Dvorak, which the Israeli orchestra will perform Jan. 25. Dvorak, a Bohemian, came to New York in 1892 as director of the National Conservatory and lived in America until 1895. American in spirit, his most famous work was completed in 1893, according to "Great Symphonies" by Sigmund Spaeth.
To help create future audiences, Gagliardo is assisting Knox with their outreach education program, giving talks on composers and orchestras to students at Anniston, Wellborn, Saks and Oxford high schools.
JOT operetta next weekend
"The Golden Age of Opera is always the present," the late music critic Herbert Kupferberg once stated.
"Trial by Jury," JOT's next production, is firmly rooted in the present. The story takes place in present-day America, although it was written as a spoof on the British judicial system. Jilted by her lover, the plaintiff, played by Noya Levy, has taken him to court for breach of promise. The jury has been coached by the court to side with her, in order to be "fair and impartial." The accused, played by Dylan McCombs, offers every possible legal argument, including a proposal of marriage to both his former lover and his new attachment. The judge (LaRue Bowman) has reached his high office by marrying a rich attorney's daughter and doesn't know bigamy from burglary. All the while, "silence in court!" is shouted in vain.
Nathan Wight, director of operatic activities at JSU, describes the show as "all music, no dialogue."
"It's about 30 minutes long, fast-moving and very worthwhile to see," he said.
JOT recently presented the opera "Romeo and Juliet." However, since its founding in 2003, the theater has primarily performed operettas, which have basically the same components as opera, if less complex, and contain more singable and memorable melodies, Wight explained.
Written in 1875, "Trial" was the first collaboration by Gilbert and Sullivan and was considered a hit, according to Kupferberg's book, "Opera." The English librettist-composer team went on to turn out a series of well-known works, among them "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "The Mikado."
Directed by Debra Mantua, the performance will take place Jan. 17-18. at 7:30 p.m. in the Performance Center in Mason Hall at Jacksonville State University.
As a prelude to "Trial," JSU senior Ellen Abney will deliver a one-woman show about a singer running late for her own recital. Accompanied by pianist Kathy Gregory, Abney will sing and talk to her audience from a script the performer calls "clever and funny."
Explains Wight, "We wanted to showcase Ellen's talent before she graduates."
Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults, seniors and military. To purchase tickets, call 800-838-3006 or order online at jacksonvilleopera.org.


text:
Forms Jobs
Recreation and Parks provides activities for people of all ages through recreation centers, parks, greenways, pools, historical sites, golf courses, and other facilities. As you begin to fill in your family calendar, don't forget to include the recreational opportunities the city is offering this season. We look forward to seeing you in our parks and programs!
Check out our 2014 Spring/Summer Edition of our WePLAY Magazine![pdf/7.3kb/24p]
The portion of Salem Creek Greenway between South Main and Vargrave streets will be closed in early February for construction of the Salem Creek Connector. The closure is estimated to be in place for 18 months.
Greenway users will be detoured around the construction zone by using Salem Avenue, Rams Drive and Vargrave Street. The detour route has a completely connected sidewalk network for pedestrians. Improvements are being made along the detour route to make it better able to accommodate bicyclists:
A map of the detour route will be posted online at DOT.CityofWS.org. Other sections of the Salem Creek Greenway remain open and will not be affected by construction. The Salem Creek Connector is a new, four lane road that will run between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and the intersection of Research Parkway and Rams Drive. Salem Creek Greenway Detour Map [pdf/1.06mb/1p]
Winston-Salem Recreation & Parks and Janice Price-Black have formed a partnership/collaboration to educate children about the world of Performing Arts. This collaboration will offer young people, the community, and daycare centers classes in ballet technique, lyrical, liturgical dance, Tap, private Voice, Musical Theatre, and beginner piano. The Performing Arts Program will begin February 3, 2014, and will be located at The ML King, Jr. Center on 2001 Pittsburg Avenue Winston Salem. Registration is going on now. Early registration is strongly advised.
Performing Arts Program Flier [pdf/30kb/1p]
Performing Arts Brochure [pdf/30kb/1p]
Performing Arts Registration Form [pdf/30kb/1p]
Inclement Weather Information
6:30 p.m. at Miller Park Amphitheater: Outdoors - Queen Street ne...
Receive E-Mail Notification When New Information is Posted on this PageAs a member, enjoy the benefits of MyCityofWS, including your choice of newsletters, and notifications about events and site updates. Login and Manage Your Subscriptions Now.


text:
Two world famous athletes from Albany now have streets named after them.
Phoebe Putney Hospital unveiled Ray Knight Way and Nancy Lopez Lane on Phoebe Property off Meredyth Drive Thursday afternoon
The two were married for 28 years. Knight is an Albany native who is a former MLB All Star and World Series MVP. Lopez is a Hall of Fame Golfer with 52 professional wins.
They say they're humbled by today's honor. Knight said, "I just feel a part of the community, and I don't feel special, but today I feel special. It's a great honor to look up and see your name on a sign."
Lopez said, "It's just very special. You never really think about that happening to you. It's very humbling to say there's a street named after me."
Knight and Lopez also said it was special that they were honored together.
Copyright 2013 WALB. All rights reserved.


text:
The daughter and brother of noted Havana dissident Oswaldo Payá said Thursday the Spanish politician convicted in his death told them that another vehicle rammed his car and caused the fatal crash in Cuba last summer.
Angel Carromero "confirmed the events that we had already alleged," Rosa Maria Payá Acevedo told El Nuevo Herald by phone after a Madrid news conference in which she revealed text messages that she said indicated Cuban security agents caused the crash.
Payá Acevedo also demanded an international investigation into the "probable murder" of her father and noted that her family is still considering whether it will file a lawsuit against Cuba in a Spanish court. Her father was a Spanish citizen.
Oswaldo Payá's brother Carlos and Regis Iglesias, representative of Payá's Christian Liberation Movement in Spain, said they also were at the meeting on Tuesday with Carromero and confirmed the daughter's version.
Carromero, on parole in Madrid while serving the four-year sentence imposed by a Cuban tribunal for vehicular homicide, has said nothing publicly about the case. A prosecution video showed him stating that the car he was driving ran off the road but making no mention of any ramming. Friends have said his memory has been fuzzy but improving because of the painkillers he received at a Cuban hospital after the crash.
Payá's daughter and brother said Carromero told them another vehicle caused the July 22 car crash near the eastern city of Bayamo. Aboard were Carromero, Payá, dissident Harold Cepero, who also died, and Swedish politician Jens Aron Modig.
"He confirmed to us that the car in which they were traveling was rammed and forced off the road," she said. The Spaniard added that unidentified men in a third car stopped at the crash and drove away the two Europeans while the Cubans remained at the crash site, she said.
"We don't know what happened to my father and (Cepero) … but hours later they were both dead," she said. Cuba says Payá died immediately in a single-car crash caused by Carromero's speeding, and that Cepero died a few hours later in a Bayamo hospital.
Payá, one of Cuba's most respected dissidents, was known to be followed by Cuban state security agents almost everywhere he went. Cuban officials have published photos of Carromero's damaged car, a body on the ground next to it and a damaged tree.
Speaking on what would have been her father's 61st birthday, Payá Acevedo also made public what she said were copies of text messages sent by Modig soon after the crash to a fellow Christian Democratic Party member in Stockholm.
"Angel says a car pushed him off the road," said one message written in Swedish. Others, in Spanish, say "Help!" and "Surrounded by militants" – apparently military.
Carromero and Modig, both 28 and activists in the youth wings of conservative parties in their respective countries, were visiting Cuba to meet with Payá and hand over cash assistance for dissidents, according to the prosecution version.
The Spaniard was allowed to return to Madrid under a Cuban-Spanish treaty that allows citizens of both nations to serve prison sentences in their own countries. Modig left Cuba shortly after the crash and has said only that he was sleeping before the car went off the road.
Payá Acevedo said she will soon fly to Sweden for meetings with Christian Democratic Party officials and hopes to meet with Modig.


text:
A tribute to the home of the Green Bay Packers! The Lambeau Field Gold Coin Mint features an exclusive and numbered 8 x 10 photo of the Packers' home turf, triple-matted in a 13 x 16 wood frame under glass with 24K gold-flashed commemorative team and NFL coins. Coins measure 1 1/2" dia. Individually numbered certificate of authenticity is matted between both coins. Limited edition of only 2,500. Officially licensed by the NFL. Proudly made in the USA by The Highland Mint.
Order Yours ONLINE! Ready... set... hut-HUT!
Please Note: This item is shipped directly from the factory. To see the expected shipping date, please add to your Shopping Cart. Sorry, no express shipping available. We are unable to ship factory direct items to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or APO or FPO addresses.
Lambeau Field Gold Coin Photo Mintfrom The Highland Mint
You qualify for a free gift. It will be added to your cart automatically.
Shop Similar Items
to find something that we have now or that can be backordered.
If you would like to be notified when we have this item available for sale, click
and enter your email address to receive an email notification.


text:
Prescribing decisions have become tied to potential therapeutic benefits and the total "Patient Experience"
The question should be: How do you simplify and identify the moments that mean the most to customers?
Social media marketing has the best reach and results when it is part of a larger digital marketing strategy
Now is the time for insurers to invest in differentiating their brand among younger and healthier people
Insights are often confused with findings and even worse, strategies. We have to know the difference
Thoughtful PR counselors preach the virtues of ensuring a company's point of view be part of a negative story
As customers use Triple Aim to drive healthcare quality, pharma will need to develop integrated offerings
Brands that put the user first when building digital assets experienced a 50% drop in user errors
Here are a few suggestions on how to learn more about the people you'll be spending considerable time with
Remember when it felt good to say you worked in pharma? How to get the people who benefit from our products to recognize and articulate the value they receive


text:
Eddie Van Halen in Los Angeles in the "guitar room" of his home. Please note there is a $75 delivery surcharge on this item.
Archival Pigment Print
Richard E. Aaron was named one of the "10 Best Rock Photographers in the World" by Modern Photography Magazine. Among the credits to Richard's name is the first rock and roll cover photograph for Time Magazine.
Rock Paper Photo Collection