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September 12, 2001
LOS ANGELES — Economists with the UCLA Anderson Forecast say the national economy is probably at the beginning of a recession that is likely to be brief and mild, but could be sharper and prolonged because of very disappointing corporate profits and the collapse of business spending on equipment and software.
Despite the tragedies that occurred in Washington and New York Tuesday, September 11, Edward E. Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast and economics professor at UCLA Anderson, believes that the crisis is not the catalyst for the imminent recession and will not have any long-term consequences.
"It's easy at this moment of distress to overestimate the economic impact," Leamer said. "But such disasters rarely have extreme economic consequences."
In his September report, Leamer poses the title question: "If It Isn't a Recession, What is IT?" His answer is: "It's a recession."
Leamer argues that two quarters of negative growth is a symptom, not the definition of recession. The definition of recession is a substantial, sustained period of unwanted idleness of capital and labor. The recent rise in the unemployment rate and the fall in capacity utilization in manufacturing are decisive symptoms of this increased idleness. Given this increase in idleness, it doesn't matter whether the second quarter growth rate is 0.7 percent or 0.2 percent or is revised again to a negative number.
Leamer also addresses what he considers a second commonly reported fallacy — that consumers are keeping the economy going. Instead, Leamer offers a detailed statistical breakdown that demonstrates that the economy is actually being kept afloat by spending increases by state and local government.
"All the hype about the consumer keeping the economy afloat ignores the fact that the growth in consumer nondurable expenditure is off $22 billion and the growth in consumer durables is off $3.2 billion and services are off $8.6 billion," Leamer said.
Leamer further states that without the "$18.8 billion increase in state and local government expenditure, the second quarter GDP growth number would have come in negative."
The Long-Term National Forecast
Leamer's report also includes the UCLA Anderson Forecast project's annual long-term forecast. Long term projections of GDP growth depend on separate projections of population growth, labor force and productivity. According to the reports, the real question mark is the projection of productivity.
"We think that the high productivity [of the last half of the 1990s] came from high pace and is not sustainable into the future. We call for productivity growth to revert partly to the disappointing numbers of the 1970s and 1980s, giving us numbers like 1.8 percent instead of the 2.5 percent that we had in the Internet Rush," the report states.
Slowdown Seen in California
In the quarterly California report, Senior Economist Tom Lieser significantly revised the forecast presented in June, which primarily focused on an impending power crisis in the state. In contrast, the current report elevates the significance of the weakness in the national economy and the global slump, with less emphasis on the electricity situation.
"The [power crisis] is in the process of being converted from a short-term crisis into a longer-term vexation which will nag us with a combination of higher energy prices, shakier public credit, bankrupt public utilities and fewer choices in how state revenues will be expended," Lieser said.
The national economic forecast, along with reports on the California economy, was presented during the UCLA Anderson Forecast Conference on Wednesday, September 12 at UCLA Anderson. The program featured three panel sessions focusing on the tech booms and busts of the past, and experts from the biotech, nanotechnology and communications industries.
The UCLA Anderson Forecast is the most widely followed and often-cited forecast for the state of California, and was unique in predicting both the seriousness of the early-1990s downturn in California and Southern California, and the strength of the state economy's rebound since 1993.
For further information on the UCLA Anderson Forecast, please visit forecast.anderson.ucla.edu.


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ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse CSGN.VX said on Thursday it does not expect to have any material issues in relation to a global investigation into rigging of benchmark interest rates.
The Zurich-based bank said it is cooperating fully with the investigations, adding it will vigorously defend itself against civil lawsuits relating to Libor, calling them "factually and legally meritless with respect to Credit Suisse".
Credit Suisse also said it was cooperating with the U.S. and Swiss authorities to seek a settlement to an investigation over allegations it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes, but said it could not give any information on timing.
It noted it had already made provisions of $325 million to settle the case in 2011.
Reporting by Emma Thomasson

subset: commoncrawl


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U.S. uses 'diplospeak' to evade tough truths on Ukraine, other crises
By now, most people know that Russian President Vladimir Putin took over the neighboring Crimea region of Ukraine and formally annexed it after a hastily called referendum there that drew outrage from across the globe.
U.S. officials don't dispute what happened _ they saw the Russian celebration of the "return" of Crimea and heard the challenge to Western domination in Putin's speech _ but the official government lexicon hasn't caught up to the facts on the ground. The State Department's latest verbal twist is to refer to Putin's land grab as an "attempt" at annexation, to underline U.S. opposition to a move it considers illegitimate.
Such language causes eye rolling among foreign policy specialists, some of whom harbor more serious concerns that the empty wording also signals a lack of policies that factor in the uncomfortable realities of places such as Ukraine, Syria, Egypt and China.
"Isn't this already a fait accompli? It's already taken," a reporter pointed out at a recent State Department briefing where spokeswoman Marie Harf defended the use of "attempted annexation" for the Crimea crisis.
Professional Russia watchers say they know that a degree of diplomatic protocol is needed in describing the events in Ukraine, but they also question whether a policy of willful blindness signals that the United States was caught off guard and couldn't formulate a policy that dealt with a more belligerent, expansionist Russia.
Regional specialists complain that the United States had taken its eye off European security in favor of a seemingly more urgent global terrorist threat that focused foreign policy on the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since a boom time in the 1990s with joint democracy-building projects, some analysts say, U.S. engagement with Russia had waned so much that it's become clear in Putin's defiance how little sway Washington now holds with Moscow.
"I wonder about our ability to even influence government through other channels," said Adele Lindenmeyr, a historian of the Soviet Union who teaches at Villanova University in suburban Philadelphia. "Maybe that's why we seem to be throwing up our hands and saying our response will be that nothing's changed since March 16."
Calling what happened in Crimea on that day an "attempted" annexation is only the latest in a long-standing practice of using curious descriptions and euphemisms to mask U.S. foreign policy failings or to sidestep controversial topics.
At a different briefing this month, the same spokeswoman, Harf, balked at descriptions of a million-dollar, U.S.-funded social media program in Cuba as covert or secret, even though an Associated Press report exposed a "byzantine system of front companies using a Cayman Islands bank account" and other practices to shroud the U.S. involvement in building an opposition forum.
"Discreet" was the word Harf preferred.
In another example of hair-splitting, Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land can be "illegitimate" but never "illegal" in diplomatic parlance . The word "drone" is so taboo that AP reporter Matt Lee asked State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki last month whether she was "able, physically, to use the word 'drone.' "
"I do like the ring of 'remote-piloted aircrafts,' " Psaki shot back, to laughter in the briefing room.
"How about in relation – can I get you to use it in relation to bees?" Lee pressed.
"To bees? Drone bees. Yes."
"Diplospeak," as it's sometimes called, is by no means exclusive to the Obama administration. Two decades after mass killings in Rwanda, shame lingers in Washington over the Clinton administration's decision to order spokespeople to avoid saying "genocide"; talking points allowed only that "acts of genocide may have occurred." The watered-down version was intended to temper public demands for U.S. intervention in a conflict that left nearly a million Rwandans dead within 100 days in 1994.
U.S. officials still tread gingerly when it comes to the g-word, swatting away questions of whether Rwanda-size genocides are unfolding in the Syrian civil war or in North Korean prison camps. When asked whether Syria was a crisis on the scale of Rwanda, then-State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said, "We have to be careful, in general, in making broad comparisons." United Nations officials, however, counter that _ in the magnitude of suffering and not just death tolls _ Syria poses the greatest humanitarian challenge to the international community since Rwanda.
The U.S. brand of diplomatic doublespeak has come under scrutiny recently because revelations by anti-secrecy groups and high-profile leakers have shown the world how the United States spies and eavesdrops on even its close partners and uses highly unflattering language to describe allies, as well as foes, in in-house reports and on telephone calls.
"The WikiLeaks revelations have thrown some diplospeak statements into sharp relief when they have allowed comparison between diplomats' classified communications to Washington with what they have said in public. But those who listen carefully to the public utterances of diplomats can usually interpret what is intended behind the words," former Ambassador William Rugh, a 30-year Foreign Service officer who served in six Arab countries, wrote in an essay about the use of U.S. diplomatic language in reference to the Arab Spring uprisings of recent years.
The most notorious diplospeak case of those transitions involved the Egyptian military's ouster last summer of the country's first democratically elected president. U.S. officials took such pains to avoid calling it a coup that Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" called it "going Kama Sutra on the English language, bending words into all kinds of exciting, exotic positions before reaching a climax of meaninglessness."
Funny, sure, but some policy analysts say the jokes about the linguistic contortions cloud a more serious point: A coup determination would've triggered a review of the billion-dollar annual U.S. aid package to Egypt because such assistance must be suspended in the event of a military's overthrow of an elected leader. If they could avoid the coup label, officials' reasoning went, they could continue a longtime alliance that's especially valuable as the regional status quo crumbles in the aftermath of the Arab revolts.
The Obama administration's formal stance, reached after weeks of review, was that it would review aid but had no legal obligation to make a coup determination and therefore wouldn't. Or, as "The Daily Show" explained with mock incredulity: "So that's our strategy? We think we can get around our own coup rule if we can just manage not to use the word 'coup'?"


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SAIC and incumbent Serco both suffered serious data breaches in 2011.
The board that oversees the Thrift Savings Plan has tapped Science Applications International Corporation to manage TSP technology and record keeping over incumbent vendor Serco Inc., with a contract valued at up to $227 million for the next six years.
The award to SAIC came after both it and Serco experienced significant data breaches in 2011, exposing the personal information of military health care beneficiaries and current and retired civilian feds, including social security numbers and addresses.
Serco was among 130 companies to express an interest in the technology and enterprise support services, or TESS, contract, after solicitation documents were posted in January. The company was hit with a cyberattack in July 2011 that led to "unauthorized access" to accounts of as many as 123,000 TSP participants and other recipients of TSP payments. Serco had partnered with IBM for its failed bid on the new TSP contract.
For months after Social Security numbers and other personal information of TSP participants were compromised through a Serco computer, neither Serco nor the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board were aware of the breach until the FBI informed the company in April 2012. Serco then told FRTIB, which publicly released news of the attack in May 2012.
The compromised machine resided on a Serco-owned network dedicated to TSP operation, and as of July 2013, there was no indication the intruders tried to divert funds or commit financial fraud.
Alan HiIl, Serco's senior vice president for corporate communications and government relations, portrayed the contractor and TSP as "the victims of a sophisticated and targeted cyberattack." When pressed, he acknowledged they could have taken more security precautions.
FRTIB beefed up its security requirements in the new contract. The board did not say whether the Serco breach was one of the reasons it chose SAIC.
SAIC and the Defense Department both face multiple lawsuits seeking $4.9 billion in damages related to the theft of backup computer tapes containing sensitive health information of 4.9 million TRICARE beneficiaries. The tapes were stolen from an employee's car in September 2011.
Arnold & Porter LLP of Washington and Reed Smith LLP, SAIC's attorneys in the TRICARE cases, filed a motion to consolidate the eight cases, which were filed in four district courts, and to transfer the proceedings to the District Court for the District of Columbia.
In the last reported action in the TRICARE lawsuit, a May 31 hearing at the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Washington, SAIC lawyers argued for a trial in Washington while Ben Barnow, a Chicago lawyer representing TRICARE plaintiffs, argued for a trial in Texas. The SAIC lawyers said Washington was the logical place to hold the trial as most of the witnesses were in the immediate area. Barnow said 61 percent of the plaintifs were covered by the Texas suit. There has so far been no ruling on the venue.
Meanwhile, on Aug. 1, President Obama nominated Deborah Lee James, president of SAIC's technology and engineering sector, as secretary of the Air Force.
The FRTIB contract with SAIC is for two base years with three options (two years, one year and one year) for a possible total of six years. The total potential contract value if all options are exercised is $224.5 million plus phase-in costs of $2.5 million. The phase-in period will begin Oct. 1, 2013, and contract performance will begin Feb. 1, 2014
Aliya Sternstein contributed to this story.
(Image via Maksim Kabakou/Shutterstock.com)


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April 5, 2014
There are so many in business here … who are involved with Jeff Smith and are coining money from the sporting element, that they willingly tolerate Smith's influence in civic affairs. His word is the law!
Thomas Whitten, Skagway hotel proprietor
—Alias Soapy Smith, p. 514
1676: Sudbury, Massachusetts is attacked by Indians.
1775: American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott, ride though the towns of Massachusetts giving the warning that "the British are coming."
1818: A regiment of Indians and blacks are defeated at the Battle of Suwann, in Florida, ending the first Seminole War.
1846: The telegraph ticker is patented by R. E. House.
1847: U.S. troops defeat almost 17,000 Mexican soldiers commanded by Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo, during the Mexican-American War.
1861: Colonel Robert E. Lee turns down an offer to command the Union armies during the Civil War, instead, joining the Confederacy.
1877: Charles Cros writes a paper that described the process of recording and reproducing sound. In France, Cros is regarded as the inventor of the phonograph. In the U.S., Thomas Edison gets the credit.
1895: New York State establishes free public baths.


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Post by Shivalika K.
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Posts to Out of My Hat are just my thoughts on varied subjects from politics, religion, parenting, magic and life in general. Please feel free to comment on or share any of the material found here. Just note the source and, when possible, provide a link to Out of My Hat.
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Well here it goes… I can finally talk about it in complete detail. Everything here is too chaotic to make up and should I be lying about anything in this note, God will smite me in a most excruciating manner.
In October, 2007 I started to have these back pains. Nothing important, or so I thought at the time. As the months progressed, they started to get worse. In about late May to early June, 2008, the back pains became so severe that I couldn't even move without feeling that sharp, agonizing torture. To describe the feeling, did you see the movie X-Men: Origins? The part when Sabretooth grabs the teleporting guys spine? Yeah that's what it felt like every day.
I finally went to the doctor. You know what he said? He took an x-ray and said that I had gas. So I took some Gas-Ex but the pain was still there. I went back and the Doc then said that I was constipated. So I cleaned out my system. Yeah it's gross but it's part of the story and I'm trying not to leave out any details, and this is too extreme. You can't make any of this up. It didn't work so I went back and this time the Doc sent me to ER to get an MRI. The Doc at the ER said that he didn't think I needed to go through an MRI. He said that I had a torn abdominal muscle and gave me some Motrin 800 to relieve the pain until it heals.
I then went off-island on a trip to LA to accompany my girlfriend while she takes care of some affairs. I know how she is when it comes to telling people about what she does when she goes to LA, or this certain thing about her, but don't worry, it's something really legit, no shopping sprees or anything like that. Well anyways while I was out there the pain never went away. It actually seemed to get worse as each day passed. I couldn't even sleep in a bed. I would just curl up on the chair or push the chair to the side of the bed and try to sleep that way, with my legs resting on the side of the bed.
I came back and went back to the doctor. He said that something must really be wrong for the pain to still be there at that intensity. He then called in a personal favor to a colleague of his who runs the nearby radiology center to keep the clinic open for me (it was around 7pm) so I could undergo a CT Scan. When I went in for the scan, I couldn't even lie down, let alone keep still with the IV tube for the contrast stuck in my hand. I stayed still as long as I possibly could. The scan wasn't finished but I just couldn't stay still anymore. I started to sit up, pulling the IV tube out, and bled on the table. From the scans that they were able to take, it turns out that I had a spinal tumor on the thoracic 10 vertebrae. The technical report sounded like this: Patient underwent a CT Scan and a destructive osseous lesion involving the thoracic 10 vertebrae and is suspicious for malignancy with an infectious process less likely.
After the scan I was immediately sent to GMH (Guam Memorial Hospital) for four days. While I was there a needle biopsy was done. At first the sample of the tumor that was taken was diagnosed as a hyperparathyroidism induced "brown tumor", which turned out to be another misdiagnosis. It was recommended that I be sent off-island for further evaluation and possible surgery with a neurosurgeon.
By the time I left the hospital, I was no longer able to use my legs. I was home for about a week trying to get affairs in order to get to a hospital in the mainland. I left Guam on 16 August, 2008, and arrived in LA to go to Good Samaritan Hospital. I was scheduled to have a meeting for a consultation with the neurosurgeon on the following Tuesday, but I was in so much pain that I went straight into their ER from the airport. I was admitted right then and the following day I had my emergency surgery.
During the surgery, as the surgeon cut into the tumor, I bled on the table. It was then that they discovered that the tumor had developed its own circulatory system and latched itself onto mine. As this happened I went into cardiac arrest induced by spinal shock and was clinically dead for 2 minutes. The surgeon had no choice but to seal the tumor and reconstruct my spine. He place in two rods, three plates, and 8 pins to stabilize my spine. I was in surgery for a total of about 18 hours. Only less than 30% of the tumor was removed.
After the surgery, I was told by my neurosurgeon that I was never going to be able to walk again. I spent a lot of time coming to the conclusion that I would never have the life I had, that things would never be the same again. I also found out that the correct diagnosis of the tumor was a "giant cell carcinoma", technical term "osteoclastoma". These tumors are common but only in elbows, knees, fingers, ankles, and toes, not in someone's spine. This was the first recorded case in medical history.
I then underwent 26 sessions of radiation therapy to try to shrink the tumor, all the while going through intense physical and occupational therapy, to try to gain the use of my legs and/or to learn to live with my new disability. The radiation was able to shrink the tumor, but within less than a month the tumor was back to its original size. Another problem came up when I developed radiation-induced esophagitis. Basically that means that the membrane that separates my throat from my stomach has been burned through radiation, now making me bulimic and anorexic, not by choice. It wasn't fun at all...
I came back to Guam, tumor and all, to try to find some sense of normalcy. When I thought things couldn't get any worse, my girlfriend, or fiancée at the time, broke up with me. So I lost my education, my legs, my career, my love. What more could I lose? But then I spoke too soon. I got news from my doctor in LA that the tumor has become cancerous and that it is going to kill me in time. How much time? Does it really matter? All I want to say is to shut up and stop complaining about how your life sucks, there are people out there who have it exponentially worse than you. As for me? I'm not complaining, I'm merely giving you a reason for self-evaluation to see if you're life is REALLY as bad as you think it is.
As of right now, I'm now pretty much independently mobile. No wheelchair, no crutches, no cane, no assistance, no problem! I've been able to pick myself back up after falling so hard. My life has taken a new direction, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Just different. I can resume where I left off in all aspects of my life, and I am completely grateful for this second chance. I guess my point is that the only person that keeps you from accomplishing anything... is you.
Once again, nothing in this note was made up. Everything is 100% legit. I've experienced every kind of suffering imaginable; physical, mental, emotional, existential. I know for a fact now on what to expect if I should ever be condemned to hell. The only thing I hope for when my time comes can be summed up as:
I was alive... I didn't merely exist...


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adatr wrote:The mojo review talks to this notion that the general public aren't interested in these raw unpolished Gems on the raw sessions disk
The reviewer mark blake makes the point it is intriguing for a music fan to hear an unpolished , not over produced queen. It's the raw sessions mKe this product is his opinion
TheHero wrote:Latest review:
Glide Magazine: QUEEN 'NEWS OF THE WORLD' BOX SET IS A STUNNER
https://glidemagazine.com/197257/queen- ... um-review/
Defend yourself, I bring catastrophe
TheHero wrote:Exactly. The raw CD is meant for hardcore fans, while there are other things in this box meant for the general public.
TheHero wrote:Rolling Stone Magazine: 10 facts you didn't know...
Rolling Stone wrote:
1. The album was primarily recorded in the same studio where the Sex Pistols were finishing Never Mind the Bollocks, leading to some memorable encounters between the two bands.
Rolling Stone wrote:
3. "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" were both inspired by a particularly raucous Queen concert.
Rolling Stone wrote:
5. Brian May's guitar solo on "We Are the Champions" was a last-minute addition to the track.
Rolling Stone wrote:
6. Brian May drew upon his physics education to create the massive stomping and clapping sounds on "We Will Rock You."
Rolling Stone wrote:
8. "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" is the only song in the entire Queen catalog to be recorded in a single take.
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Latest media releases
Growth in Swiss industry eases.
The second half of 2000 saw a gradual slowing of the Swiss industry's expansion. According to the latest UBS survey, the easing in momentum is likely to continue in the first months of 2001. Despite the slowdown, however, growth should continue at a good level.
Having got off to strong start in 2000, growth was slowing in the Swiss industry during the second half of the year. This trend is likely to continue in the first quarter of 2001, as the UBS December survey of approximately 300 industrial companies shows. This quarterly survey, which has been conducted since 1975, has proven to be a reliable indicator of short-term trends in the Swiss economy. The latest survey suggests very strongly, however, that the economy will remain buoyant. The UBS business cycle indicator, which acts as a trend barometer for GDP, indicates a growth rate of 3.1% in the final quarter 2000 and 2.6% in the first quarter 2001.
Domestic demand loses momentum
As had been forecast in September, the industrial sector moved significantly off its rapid growth pace in the October to December period. Export demand was more or less in line with the high expectations of the survey participants, but the forecasts for demand in Switzerland were not met. Overall, however, about half of those polled reported an increase in orders, production and sales compared with the prior-year period. No more than one company in six reported a decrease in any of these key items. With production still expanding, industrial plants are humming along at 90% capacity utilization. The number of persons employed is also continuing to rise. With the exception of the textile industry, all sectors had more staff on the payroll at the end of 2000 than they had a year earlier. During the October to December period alone, 30% of companies increased their headcount, while only one in eight had to reduce staff numbers. The pressure on prices has eased, and sales prices mostly remained stable. On balance, the earnings situation improved at 17% of the companies surveyed.
Foreign demand eases
Bulging order books and the continued high work backlog in the final quarter of 2000 point to continued growth going forward. According to this upbeat outlook, company forecasts for the first quarter of 2001 show a clearly positive balance of "increases" over "decreases" across the full range of indicators. Although exporters are significantly less optimistic than hitherto, they are still more confident than companies focused on the Swiss market, with the latter expecting incoming orders to grow at essentially the same rate as in the prior quarter.
Sales prices are set to rise sharply due to the high rate of capacity utilization and the increasing tightness of the labour market. Nevertheless, earnings will improve only slightly, as higher personnel costs and the rising cost of raw materials will weigh on profits. With the exception of the textile and paper industries, all sectors plan to hire more personnel in the first quarter of 2001.
Highly diversified picture across sectors
With the exception of chemicals/pharmaceuticals, watchmaking, and timber & furniture, all sectors experienced a distinct slowdown in business growth in the final months of 2000. Bringing up the rear on a cross-sector comparison were once again the industrial sectors of textiles and paper. Alone amongst the sectors, paper reported business down compared to the prior year. For the first quarter of this year, textile manufacturers are forecasting orders, production and sales to be below average, while the paper industry is expecting demand to pick up. Scepticism is being voiced in the metals and electrical engineering sectors, which are predicting a downturn in foreign demand. The export-oriented sectors of watchmaking and chemicals/pharmaceuticals are still the most confident. In addition, a relatively dynamic trend is expected in the food, paper, and construction sectors, all of which are focused chiefly on the Swiss market.
UBS business cycle indicator and Swiss GDP
(% change year-over-year)
Data (%)
Zurich / Basel, 2 February 2001


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The capital markets environment remains strong overall, but is less dynamic than the cyclical high reached in 2015. Record-low unemployment rates and healthy property fundamentals have kept the Inland Empire as an attractive market for investors. Capital flows, however, have shifted to secondary and tertiary markets as investors explore alternative sectors and regions for higher yields. Overall, volume remains elevated and pricing is stable.
Tight pricing and limited availability of investable stock dampened total acquisitions activity in Los Angeles, but activity in the Inland Empire picked up from last year. In H1 2017, investment reached $3.3 billion, a year-over-year increase of 6.1%. Individual asset sales, the best indicator for investment momentum, jumped by 15.0% year over year. Much of this investment was driven by strong activity in the office, industrial and hotel sectors, while some of those gains were offset by a slowdown in multifamily investment (-43.1 % year over year). Private buyers were the most active in the IE market, accounting for 63% of the total, and looking for value-add opportunities.
After gradual cap rate compression since 2010, local cap rates have largely stabilized in H1 2017, with prices holding relatively firm. The multifamily and industrial were the only sectors to remain nearly unchanged, while retail and hotel cap rates widened. The general outlook for cap rates and returns on cost in the second half of 2017 is for continued stable pricing.The consensus is that if rates do change in H2 2017, they are more likely to increase modestly.


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The Conference was organized by the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, which was created in 2002 by an informal World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) coordinating group in Johannesburg, South Africa. Comprised of individuals from governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Global Forum serves as a platform for cross-sectoral information sharing and dialogue on issues affecting oceans, coasts and islands, with the goal of achieving sustainable development in these areas. The event brought together over 430 participants from 71 countries representing governments, UN and other international agencies, NGOs, industry, oceans donors, organized science groups, and networks of museums and aquaria.
In attendance were James Oliver (IUCN GMP Project Officer), Elizabeth De Santo, (IUCN WCPA-Marine MPAs Coordination Officer, based in IUCN-US Washington DC office), and Lindsay Aylesworth (Marine Fellow, IUCN-US). James and IUCN colleagues Lucy Emerton (Head, Asian Regional Environmental Economics Programme) and Mark Smith (Water Management Advisor) organized a pre-conference workshop on Payments for Ecosystem Services in collaboration with GEF IW-Learn. Elizabeth, Lucy and Mark led breakout sessions to help participants think through the process of assigning economic values to ecosystem services, which included a role-playing negotiation exercise. Lindsay served as rapporteur for the pre-conference workshop and promoted Sailing to Barcelona at the conference.
During the conference, participants heard presentations by high-level officials and engaged in topical panels and discussion sessions on three major themes: (i) achieving ecosystem management and integrated coastal and ocean management by 2010; (ii) climate, oceans and security: addressing impacts in vulnerable ecosystems and in vulnerable coastal communities, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS); (iv) and the governance of marine ecosystems and uses in areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
Elizabeth represented IUCN WCPA-Marine in a panel organized by the CBD Secretariat on Next Steps in Assessing Progress in Halting Marine Biodiversity Loss by 2010. Her co-panelists included Marjo Vierros (UNU), Nicole Glineur (GEF), Chua Thia-Eng (East Asian Seas Partnership Council, Philippines), David Johnston (OSPAR) and Hon. Moah Idechong (Congressman, Palau). Elizabeth gave an overview of IUCN WCPA-Marine's work towards facilitating the process towards CBD targets, namely increasing awareness/capacity and sharing information.
Afterwards, James, Elizabeth and Lindsay visited the Nha Trang Bay MPA, the first comprehensively developed and managed MPA in Vietnam. Its establishment was supported by the 2001-2005 Hon Mun MPA Pilot study, which was co-financed by GEF, DANIDA, IUCN and the Government of Vietnam. The project was implemented by the Ministry of Fisheries, Khanh Hoa Province, and IUCN. James, Elizabeth and Lindsay were warmly welcomed by Mr. Kinh Truong, Director of the Nha Trang Bay MPA Authority, and Ms. Hoa Nguyen, Head of the Community Development and Education Awareness Team. For further information on this successful project, see http://www.nhatrangbaympa.vnn.vn/


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FilemanagerPro can manage your files in your phone and memorycard. Also you can edit for example .TX...Read more
FilemanagerPro can manage your files in your phone and memorycard. Also you can edit for example .TX...Read more
Handy file manager for Symbian^3 touch screen, facilitating the file management...Read more
SExplorer is a simple file explorer. It allows: Browsing of C: D: E: and Z: with file sizes. Opening of files according to their file type (e.g. .txt in Notes application). Renaming of files and directories. Copying and moving files of files and directories. Deleting files and directories...Read more
SysExplorer is yet another file and system explorer for the Symbian OS platform. Developing this may look weird as some other excellent - sometimes free - alternatives already exist on the market. However, none of those alternatives meet all of our requirements so we decided to go with our own solution...Read more
Rocknscroll Rocknscroll app is a program that gives you an interesting way of navigating the menu of your mobile device. To move the cursor you can just turn your Smartphone in one direction or another...Read more
X-Plore app is a good file manager from, which has never acquired a real competition...Read more
NDrop - A Dropbox application which offers file upload, file download, folder creation, folder deletion etc. It uses OAuth based authentication which is highly secure. Folder and file names are archived to local memory so you can browse without network connectivity...Read more
DropBox client for symbian...Read more
Active File is a FREE program to browse all folders and files on your mobile phone. · File management with 2 panels (File manager similar to Total Commander)...Read more
NetQin Mobile Guard increases performance speed and minimizes the power consumption. As mobile devices adopt more and more PC capabilities, performance speed and power consumption become critical issues...Read more


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Strona Polskiej Sekcji IEEE
AINA 2018 - IEEE 32nd International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA) occurring within your section. The conference is scheduled to be held in Krakow, PL on 2018-05-16 to 2018-05-18 with IEEE Computer Society
AUTOMOTIVE_SAFETY2018 - the 2018 XI International Science-Technical Conference AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY to be held on or about 18-Apr-2018, in astá , Slovakia
BGC Geomatics - the 2018 Baltic Geodetic Congress (BGC Geomatics) to be held on or about 21-Jun-2018, in Olsztyn, Poland
CN - the 2018 25th International Science Conference on Computer Networks (CN) to be held on or about 19-Jun-2018, in Gliwice, Poland
COE - the 2018 XV International Scientific Conference on Optoelectronic and Electronic Sensors (COE) to be held on or about 17-Jun-2018, in Warsaw, Poland
EEM 2018 - 15th International Conference on the European Energy Market (EEM) occurring within your section. The conference is scheduled to be held in Lodz, PL on 2018-06-27 to 2018-06-29 with IEEE Power & Energy Society
FedCSIS - the 2018 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS) to be held on or about 09-Sep-2018, in Poznan, Poland
ICMCIS - the 2018 International Conference on Military Communications and Information Systems (ICMCIS) to be held on or about 22-May-2018, in Warsaw, Poland
IIPhDW - the 2018 International Interdisciplinary PhD Workshop 2018 (IIPhDW'2018)
i-MITEL - the 2018 Innovative Materials and Technologies in Electrical Engineering (i-MITEL) to be held on or about 18-Apr-2018, in Sulecin, Poland
ISEMA - the 2018 12th International Conference on Electromagnetic Wave Interaction with Water and Moist Substances (ISEMA) to be held on or about 04-Jun-2018, in Lublin, Poland
MIKON - the 2018 22nd International Microwave and Radar Conference (MIKON) to be held on or about 15-May-2018, in Poznan, Poland
MIXDES - the 2018 25th International Conference "Mixed Design of Integrated Circuits and System" (MIXDES) to be held on or about 21-Jun-2018, in Gdynia, Poland
MMAR 2018 - 23rd International Conference on Methods & Models in Automation & Robotics (MMAR) occurring within your section. The conference is scheduled to be held in Miedzyzdroje, PL on 2018-08-27 to 2018-08-30 with IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, IEEE Control Systems Society
MT-ITS - 5th IEEE International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems IEEE MT-ITS
NLC - 27th National Lighting Conference – Lighting Technology 2018 NLC
PAEE - the 2018 Progress in Applied Electrical Engineering (PAEE) to be held on or about 18-Jun-2018, in Koscielisko, Poland
Federated Conference On Computer Science And Information Systems, September 3-6, 2017, Prague, Czech Republic [zobacz]
20 Krajowa Konferencja Biocybernetyka i Inżynieria Biomedyczna, September 20-22, 2017, Kraków, Poland [zobacz]
PPAM 2017 - Parallel Processing and Applied Mathematics, September 10-23, Lublin,Poland [zobacz]
SPSympo 2017 - Signal Processing Symposium, September 12-14, Warszawa, Poland [zobacz]
SPA 2017 Signal Processing Algorithms Architectures Arrangements and Applications, 20-22 September, Poznań, Poland [zobacz]
FedCSIS 2016 – Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems September 11-14, 2016 , Gdańsk, Poland [zobacz]
EEEIC 2016 – 16 IEEE International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering June 7-10, 2016 , Florence, Italy [zobacz]
CN 2016 – Computer Networks June 14-17, 2016 , Brunów, Poland [zobacz]
AIPR 2016 – The Third International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Recognition September 19-21, 2016 , Łódz, Poland [zobacz]
SPA 2016 - IEEE SPA: Signal Processing: Algorithms, Architectures, Arrangements and Applications September 21-23, 2016, Poznan, Poland [zobacz]


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Starbucks: Best Part-Time Jobs In Retail -- Or Overrated?
One of the disadvantages to most part-time jobs is the lack of benefits. But Starbucks Corp. doesn't discriminate, providing the ubiquitous coffee chain's 95,000 part-timers with full health insurance benefits.
For many who lost full-time jobs during the Great Recession and got part-time gigs at Starbucks, that's been a lifeline, providing them continued access to medical care and prescription drugs that they might otherwise have lost. And that -- along with stock options -- are among the reasons why the company is on many "best places to work" lists, including the World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere, a Manhattan-based think tank that promotes business ethics.%VIRTUAL-hiringNow-hospitality%
With nearly 150,000 employees, Starbucks does a lot of hiring. On any given day in the U.S. and Canada, the company hires 140 new staff -- or more than 80,000 people each year. CareerBuilder, an AOL Jobs sponsor, lists some 500 Starbucks jobs.
Still, says Marissa Andrada, who heads up human resources for Starbucks in the Americas, the company's employee-churn rate is roughly half that of the average retailer. (You can apply online at Starbucks.com or start your search here.)
If you're really eager, stop in at your local Starbucks and apply there. Andrada told AOL Jobs that store managers and other employees actively seek out potential employees among customers and are eager to speak with anyone "who has the energy and the passion for coffee and the passion for connecting with customers."
What's the interview process like at Starbucks? A random sample of Glassdoor reviewers' responses suggests that the company asks some pretty standard interview questions. Among those noted:
- Tell me a situation in which you failed?
- What would you do if a customer complained about something that was really good?
- How would you deal with an angry customer?
More:9 Jobs For Creative People
A commenter on career-site Glassdoor who reports interviewing for a barista position in Mesa, Ariz., offered a bit more insight, saying the "process was very relaxed and my interviewers made it very easy and comfortable."
The contributor says the most difficult question asked was about personal weaknesses or dealing with being wrong. "When I was asked, I gave my most honest answer and was respected for it. I was not judged, but instead they confided in me their mistakes as well so we could share the humiliation as a group and not as two interviewers singling out a potential employee."
Starbucks' culture is akin to working with your friends and family, Andrada says, noting that the company refers to its employees as "partners." When recruiting, the company seeks out people who have a need to connect with customers and co-workers, she says. "We look for those partners who create an engaging environment and who can really share a passion for coffee."
Still, the sheer volume of Starbucks staff and the nature of retail work nearly assures that some employees -- both current and former -- won't be happy. And there are no shortage of message boards and websites devoted to complaints about working for the company.
One example, posted on the online forum ihatestarbucks.com by a commenter named C2, says there is no upside to being promoted to shift supervisor at Starbucks. But C2 notes several "bad" things about the job:
- Insignificant pay raise.
- More work.
- More responsibilities.
- 40 hours every week.
- Lack of scheduling flexibility.
A lack of a flexible schedule is a concern shared by another commenter, "PerkyPolly," who adds that she (presumably) doesn't like, "Being held accountable for everything but not being able to do anything about lazy baristas who like to show up late."
PerkyPolly does, however, see some upside to the job: "You have a stronger voice, looks good on a resume."
More:The Best 50 Places To Work In 2012Even the appealing health insurance benefit has prompted complaints. Some workers who claim to have worked at Starbucks say they weren't able to maintain their health benefit because managers deliberately shortened their work hours. (To be eligible for health coverage, employees must work a minimum of 20 hours a week, or 240 hours during a quarter.)
Andrada says that she isn't aware of instances in which managers deliberately cut workers' hours to deny them access to health coverage. She also says that offering health benefits to part-timers is an effective recruiting tool that will remain in place despite the ongoing implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which some refer to as Obamacare.
Many people also complain about the pay. Baristas earn an average of $8.77 an hour, based on 784 responses on Glassdoor's site. That amount doesn't include any tips that baristas might earn, as well as any cash bonuses or stock options. Shift supervisors earn a bit more -- an average $10.29 an hour, based on 372 responses, while store managers, who are paid salary, earn about $44,000, based on an average of 341 responses on Glassdoor.
Andrada says Starbucks looks at overall compensation -- not just hourly wages or salaries. In addition to pay and the previously mentioned health benefits and stock awards, the company also offers tuition reimbursement, a matching-gifts program for employees' charitable contributions and perks, such as in-store discounts and free coffee.
Despite these concerns, Starbucks employees appear fairly positive about working conditions, according to Glassdoor. More than 1,700 reviews from users who say they are or were Starbucks employees give the company an overall rating of 3.6 stars out of 5.
One former Starbucks "barista" from Glen Ridge, N.J., said working there was "an upbeat, challenging learning experience," adding that the company is supportive and looks at out for its employees. "They have what's called a Cup Fund that you can apply for if you are suffering a financial hardship. I applied when I was struggling to pay the rent and they helped me out," the former employee wrote on Glassdoor.
The worker adds, however, "You have to clean the bathrooms, and it can be a fairly disgusting job."
Ultimately working at a Starbucks store is a retail position, and employees can find interacting with customers to be sometimes a challenge. As blogger Winona Dimeo-Ediger, a former Starbucks worker, wrote on The Frisky: The experience "was definitely a difficult, fascinating and educational one."
Don't Miss: Companies Hiring Now
More From AOL Jobs
- Most Undesirable Job In America?
- 8 Employers Buck Outsourcing Trend, Bring Jobs Back To America
- Starbucks Baristas Set To Become Bartenders


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Go here to find help from fellow players with technical issues and to post your bug reports for Hitman: Absolution.
complete contracts but dont...
20th May 2018, 19:49
This is the official forum for the Hitman: Absolution game.
© 2016 SQUARE ENIX LTD. All Rights Reserved
SQUARE ENIX and the SQUARE ENIX logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
Square Enix Limited, Registered in England No. 01804186 Registered office: 240 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NW.


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Search results in category ORANGE COUNTY SKATEPARKS
- Pay To Skate Skateparks (3)
- Skateparks (20)
- Street Plazas (1)
Found 20 records | Page 1 of 2
Expectations and hopes were running high for this park. The park that surrounds this skatepark held some great skate history. For any Sadland local who sessioned the planters, the thought of a real skatepark here was a perfect idea.
phone: view phone714-765-3373
website: Official Site
A small skatepark packed with fun mini-ramp transitions a fun box,pyramid,ledges,banks,flat rail and a small kidney bowl.
The Buena Park skatepark was constructed using a mix of prefab quarter pipes, concrete stairs, ledges, a pyramid, manual box, and some rails.
phone: view phone714-562-3860
website: official Site
This is a really well rounded park with something for everybody.
The Cypress Skate Plaza features an 8 stair with a rail in the middle, ledges, and a lot of flat
phone: view phone714-229-6780
website: Official Site
e-mail: send an e-mail
A fun skatepark with mellow transitions plenty of street obstacles from big to small.
phone: view phone909-396-5694
website: Offical Site
The Etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest is 62,000 sf of skate able terrain. The layout of the park flows together to offer up some of the longest rides possible through a variety of terrain. It is the largest free public skatepark in Amercia. Stop on by!
phone: view phone(949) 916-5870
website: Official Site
e-mail: send an e-mail
Nice little public park. Great for the locals and street guys. Lots of little hips to blast airs over.
phone: view phone(714) 738-5369
website: Official Site
e-mail: send an e-mail
The Garden Grove Skate Spot features various cityscapes such as a Las Vegas marble bench, Jersey barriers, a Hollywood stair bank and quarter pipe.
One of the original public skateparks built in Orange County. Nothing over 18".
© Copyright Socal Skateparks 2001- All Rights Reserved.


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AXIS 212 PTZ-V Network Camera
Full overview and instant zoom - without moving parts
Discontinued product. Supported until 2019-09-01.After this date, please see the support documentation.
As long as the product is within the warranty period you will be supported.
- Full overview
- Vandal-resistant
- Instant pan/tilt/zoom
- No moving parts
- Maintained resolution
Excellent protection against vandalism
The AXIS 212 PTZ-V Network Camera has a vandal-resistant casing with metal base and durable cover that provides effective protection against tampering as no part can be forcibly moved.
Video surveillance in demanding environments
A full 140° field of vision provides video of the entire monitored area. Conventional PTZ cameras can view only one part of the whole video scene at a time.
The AXIS 212 PTZ-V Network Camera is perfect for indoor surveillance or premises up to 150 m2 (500 sq ft), such as shops, reception areas, banks, server rooms and other places where you need to see the whole area and have the possibility to zoom in for detailed inspection and monitoring.
Dancing Moose Montessori School
Dancing Moose Montessori School advances education with network videoRead the full story
All software isn't compatible with all products, please refer to the data sheets for compatibility information.
AXIS Companion
The market's easiest video surveillance solution optimized for small systems
AXIS Camera Station
The ideal solution to meet the needs for active surveillance of mid-sized installations
Security as a service
A full range of cloud-based surveillance and security services from Axis partners
Specialized software from Axis partners
Customized and specialized solutions from Axis partners, for any system complexity and size
Power over Ethernet
Cables and connectors
Press release
Declaration & statement
Third party software licenses INTEGRITY CHECKSUM


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The insurer of a construction company hired to repair Glendale slopes after the 2005 mudslide has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the city, claiming the contractor was underpaid for excavation work that turned out to be much more intensive than what was advertised.
Hartford Fire Insurance Co., which filed the lawsuit Nov. 1, is seeking $450,000 in damages -- nearly as much as the city agreed to pay the contractor, Remedial Civil Constructors Inc., in 2009.
The lawsuit comes as the city continues to deal with the aftermath of the mudslides that destroyed homes along Gladys Drive and Glenmore Boulevard after the heavy rains of 2005.
When Remedial Civil Constructors began construction, it found more work than originally described, according to the lawsuit filed this month in the Central District Court of California. There was more soil to excavate and a deeper retaining wall to fix, work that cost more than the $425,000 Glendale agreed to pay in an October 2009 contract, according to court records filed by the company.
City Atty. Mike Garcia said officials tried to resolve the spat, but both sides were "too far apart to reach an agreement."
"We will continue to seek resolution," he said by email Monday. "But if we are not successful, we will defend vigorously because we believe our position is supported by the contract and the law."
According to the lawsuit, Glendale withheld $150,000 from the construction company for not finishing the work on time.
This isn't the first time city officials have been faced with a legal fight as a result of the mudslide. The city paid out nearly $15.4 million for damage claims and attorney's costs from residents displaced by the disaster several years ago.
Since then it has been settling legal affairs, recouping $1.1 million from its insurer, $200,000 from an engineering consultant, and $98,500 from a Pasadena law firm that worked on mudslide matters.
The city also garnered $700,000 in September after auctioning off five damaged parcels of land it got through settlements with affected residents.
Hartford Fire Insurance Company is demanding a jury trial, according to court records.
Glendale auctions off land damaged by 2005 mudslides
City gets $200K in storm-damage settlement
-- Brittany Levine, Times Community News
Follow Brittany Levine on Google+ and on Twitter: @brittanylevine.


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International Student Orientation
September 5th through September 10th, 2019
International Student Orientation is REQUIRED for all students on an F-1, J-1, or other U.S. visa status (DACA/Undocumented students are not required to attend). There is no cost for this great opportunity to meet others member of the Carleton international community before New Student Week begins. U.S. residents and citizens who live outside of the U.S. before matriculating to Carleton are encouraged to attend but are not required to.
WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO BOOK YOUR FLIGHT FOR AN ARRIVAL INTO MINNEAPOLIS AIRPORT BETWEEN 8:00AM-2:00PM, DURING THIS TIME CAMPUS OFFICES ARE OPEN TO BETTER ASSIST YOU. (The airport is a 45 minute drive from campus, and time is also needed for you to collect your luggage.)
Once you have made your travel arrangements, please submit the arrival form by July 1, 2019.
Note: If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you must contact Liz Cody (firstname.lastname@example.com) by July 1st, 2019 to participate in the International Student Orientation.
The Office of Intercultural & International Life organizes a special International Student Orientation, which takes place before the New Student Week activities.
This Orientation is intended to provide international students with added time and exposure to life at Carleton College during a calm time before New Student Week. Some international students have language insecurities and some have no experience outside of their home countries; this is a time for these students to adjust not only to life at Carleton College, but also to completely different food, weather, time zone, and interpersonal communication.
Other goals of orientation include helping international students become acclimated to the United States, to the campus, and to the academic expectations of Carleton College. With the assistance College administrators and faculty, staff, and Peer Mentors the participants will receive help with:
- Opening a bank account
- Shopping for necessary supplies
- Introduction to immigration regulations
- Academic advising and support
- Public safety issues
- Health Education
- Introduction to computer and library facilities
- Intercultural adjustments strategies
Participants will tour Northfield and the Carleton College campus. There will also be time to shop and explore, and a one-day excursion to a place of cultural and historical interest in the vicinity of Northfield. There will be time for discussions about life in a foreign environment, and reports from returning international students on their methods of coping with adjustment to student life in the United States.
International Student Orientation is mandatory for all incoming international students and international exchange and transfer students.
U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, and Transfer Students
American citizens who have grown up abroad may wish to participate in the International Student Orientation. These students have typically lived outside of the United States for much of their lives and might have attended non-American school systems abroad. Though they may carry a U.S. passport or a green card, their concerns about student life in the United States parallel those of international students. While those students are welcome to participate, they should be aware that a small part of the program focuses in on the concerns of non-U.S. citizens, such as visa regulations. A number of Third Culture Kids or Global Nomads participate in ISO.
New Student Week
New Student Week is the time for all incoming students to begin to organize their fall course selection and get oriented to Carleton College and their new home in Northfield. New Student Week is free of charge and starts September 10th 2019!
We feel that students who have participated in the orientation have adjusted more easily to their new life:
To someone who has never visited United States, coming to Carleton was an exhilarating yet overwhelming experience. However, the International Student Orientation made me feel welcome and comfortable in my new home. The beautiful weather and the brilliant activities planned by our leaders, lifted my spirits and helped me to create bonds of friendships last to this very day. Meeting a bunch of 60 people from every corner of the world speaking around 45 languages in all, can be pretty exciting! Apart from the introduction to the working of academic departments and other faculty on campus, what made the International Student Orientation really worth it, was the glimpse it gave me of the Carleton culture. The significance of diversity, the open mindedness and frisbee, were just some of the things that I learned and which I knew would help me for the next few years. There was not a moment in that entire week, when I felt confused or unsure about being at the ISO, or even at Carleton. In that first week, I knew what the college meant to me and I was glad I was there.
-Yuvika Diwan, '13 India
There is no week in my life which was more packed than the Carleton College ISO. Aside from those highly relevant information sessions, there were those incredible times when we went to travel and enjoy the American culture while building truly comforting sense of camaraderie. I still remember vividly the amusements I had with my ISO friends about the catchy tunes of Mary Poppins, the bland American food (no offense!), and the novel items at Target. During my first few weeks, my ISO friends and ISO leaders are an inseparable part of my social life, and I think they will stay that way for all my four years at Carleton. Above all, ISO showed me that there is always a niche for everyone at Carleton. Whatever your interests and hobbies are, you are always appreciated for contributing towards the college's growing diversity.
-Rafadi Hakim, '13 Indonesia
For those who wonder what Carleton and its surroundings are like, ISO will take you on a tour of Carleton, Northfield and the Twin Cities. For those who want to start making new friends in college (outside facebook), ISO is the best place to start; have conversations over the table tops, when walking around town or during so many of the fun group activities. For those who are curious what the academic life at Carleton would be like, ISO will offer seminars by professors and tutors settle the curiosity. For those who are just curious about life, goals, the future, the many wonderful upper class ISO peers will be happy to talk to you about everything from the meaning of life, to the courses that you should take, to quirky facts about the profs. ISO makes transitioning from our old self to a new life, and its joys and challenges, a fun process. For those who miss home...there won't be time during ISO.
-Yiran "Robert" Guo, '13 China
ISO gave me the opportunity to meet other international students that had the same concerns as I. The activities planned for us throughout that week gave us a unique insight of Carleton by students who had been in our spots a few years back. We were also introduced to various resources that were meant to help us succeed at Carleton at all levels. At the end of that week, I felt a unique sense of community. I could see all around me people and places that were there to support me in all my future endeavors. Going to an American college was not as scary as it used to be anymore. My questions were answered, my worries were appeased, and I felt more confident. More importantly, I had learned that what makes Carleton special is that everyone around you seeks your emotional, social and academic growth and success.
-Gnagna Lam, '12 Senegal


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"Therefore," he added, "I strongly urge you to keep those prices at an absolute minimum."

But in a letter to authority chairwoman Michele Kelm-Helgen, Dayton expressed concern over a recent Minnesota Public Radio News report that concluded the Wilfs would likely be able to cover most of the $477 million without spending their own money. Instead, they could use the seat licenses, naming rights to the stadium and a roughly $200 million NFL contribution.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf should have to pay a large portion of the team's share of a new football stadium from their own pockets instead of using money made from fees charged to season ticket holders, Gov. Mark Dayton wrote Monday in a letter to the government authority supervising its construction.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority is in final negotiations with Vikings officials over use and development contracts for the $1 billion,Rams Jersey Super Bowl, downtown Minneapolis stadium. A financial analysis released last week by the authority found the Wilfs have sufficient personal resources to cover the $477 million team share.

The state of Minnesota and city of Minneapolis are covering the remaining $498 million in stadium costs.

More than half of NFL teams sell personal seat licenses,China Jerseys, though prices range widely depending on the market. Kelm-Helgen said she believed seat licenses at the new Vikings stadium should reflect that the Twin Cities is a smaller market.

In his letter, Dayton acknowledged that the stadium bill allowed seat licenses to be part of the team's financing. But, he wrote, "those revenues were not intended to replace the need for the team's owners to make a significant equity or capital contribution."

It's not the first time Dayton and the Vikings have tangled over the issue, with the governor repeatedly warning the team to keep prices for such licenses low. Dayton has grown increasingly critical of the Wilfs in recent weeks, particularly after a New Jersey judge found them guilty of fraud — a ruling that prompted a financial review the governor cited in his letter.

Officials hope to break ground on the new stadium in early November and begin using it in the 2016 football season.

Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley said the price of seat licenses is among a handful of items still at issue in the team's negotiations with the authority. "These licenses were discussed during the legislative process,Adidas Shoes Online Sale Australia, they were anticipated and authorized by the legislation,Cheap Fjallraven Kanken Backpack," Bagley said.

The Twins charged $1,000 to $2,Bouteille dEau Hydro Flask,000 annually for a small number of premium seats at Target Field, while the university charges season ticket buyers at TCF Bank Stadium an annual fee of $100 to $500. The fee is in addition to the cost to buy tickets.

As part of the stadium funding plan that lawmakers passed in 2012, the Vikings are allowed to sell personal seat licenses,Air Max Clearance Sale, which give the holder the right to buy tickets for specified seats in a stadium for any event, including NFL games. Personal seat licenses are common throughout the NFL and have been used as a way for teams to pay for new stadiums.

"I strongly urge you to negotiate a final financial agreement, which requires the Vikings' owners to provide a significant share of their financial contribution from their own resources, and not from Vikings' fans through the sale of expensive personal seat licenses," Dayton wrote to Kelm-Helgen.

Dayton also wrote that he believes the legislation gives the authority, and not the team, the final say on the maximum price for seat licenses. The Vikings' Bagley did not take issue with that interpretation, but both he and Kelm-Helgen said seat licenses were trying to find a mutually agreeable solution.

Dayton noted that the financial review of the Wilfs reportedly shows they "could finance their share of the stadium's costs with little or no revenues from stadium builder's licenses."

"It's really hard to speculate on this right now because we're right in the middle of negotiations," said Kelm-Helgen, a former top aide to Dayton whom he picked to lead the stadium authority.


text:
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2014 Holiday Gift Guide: Swingline Red Cross Cut Shredder
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Family, Women, Men, Under $250,
The Swingline Cross Cut Shredder is one of our favorite office tools, so we're recommending it in our 2014 Holiday Gift Guide. Quietly and quickly chews through credit cards, paper clips, staples, and documents, creating a cross-cut confetti that helps protect personal information. Stack up to 60 sheets for automatic shredding. Made to match the infamous red Swingline stapler from Office Space.
You can pick up the Swingline Cross Cut Shredder now from Amazon starting at $118 for the 60-sheet model.
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Here's a look at the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship Belt
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Wearables, Design, Video Games,
We're given you a look at the upcoming WWE 2K15 video game, as well as a look at the limited edition WWE 2K15 Hulkamania Edition. Now, here's your first look at the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt. The company will be updating its logo to that of the one it uses for the WWE Network after SummerSlam in about two weeks, and updated the World Heavyweight Championship with the new logo. Belt collectors are already looking into getting their hands on replicas, and the WWE has discounted the replicas of the current World Championship belts.
Gallery: Here's a look at the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship Belt
5 kitchen gadgets to up your cooking game
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Design, Features, Smart Home,
When most people think about gadgets in the home, they focus on the living room. The thing is, while that 4K UHD TV may look great, there is a lot of fun you can have in the kitchen with the right high-tech tools. I wanted to bring you a look at a few kitchen gadgets that I'm a fan of that will add a flair of fashionable tech to this often-neglected room. Be forewarned--just like other gadgets, kitchen appliances can have a hefty price tag!
Click to continue reading 5 kitchen gadgets to up your cooking game
Gallery: 5 kitchen gadgets to up your cooking game
Apple posts video of OS X Yosemite redesign [Video]
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Design, PC / Laptop, Software, Videos,
Apple has posted the OS X Yosemite design video that it showed during the WWDC 2014 keynote, which shows a bunch of the new features and design elements found in OS X 10.10. In case you haven't seen WWDC (although you can watch the WWDC 2014 keynote video in its entirety,) this video covers the larger design language updates, and the more subtle changes to the dock, icons, traffic light buttons, etc. It also gives a look at the new AirDrop functionality, Finder, Messages, Notification Center, and all the rest of the OS X new hotness.
You can check out the video after the jump.
Click to continue reading Apple posts video of OS X Yosemite redesign [Video]
Gallery: Apple posts video of OS X Yosemite redesign [Video]
Beats Solo2 headphones: Redesigned for better sound and comfort
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Wearables, Design, Music,
Hot on the heels of the announcement that Apple is buying Beats, the company has announced the brand new Beats Solo2 on-ear headphones, the latest in the Beats by Dr. Dre line. Touting a newly-refreshed physical design alongside improved sound quality, Beats Electronics says that the new Solo2 model will offer "a wider range of sound and enhanced clarity." It's a good thing, too, as many have complained about the Beats by Dr. Dre line having bass-heavy sound that loses the highs and mids.
If wearing previous models of Beats headphones was something you found to be a chore, you should know that the Beats Solo2 has also been redesigned with a new look that's said to also be more comfortable thanks to better weight distribution and a memory foam-like material in the larger ear cups that should make them feel cooler and put less of a hard squeeze on your ear lobes.
You can pick up the new Beats Solo2 now. They're available in pink, grey, white, blue, and red for $199.
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Gallery: Beats Solo2 headphones: Redesigned for better sound and comfort
Samsung Galaxy S5 comes to Sprint in Copper Gold on May 30
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Design, Handhelds,
If you're a Sprint customer who is looking to get their hands on the Copper Gold Galaxy S 5, be ready, because May 30th is the day. In just one week's time, you'll be able to get the exclusive hue with its HD Voice and Sprint Spark features in select Sprint markets. Order online or over the phone, and you'll even get a matching Samsung HM1900 Bluetooth headset thrown in for free. Let's be honest though, if you really wanted a Galaxy S5, you probably weren't holding off on purchasing until the Copper Gold model came out, were you?
Gallery: Samsung Galaxy S5 comes to Sprint in Copper Gold on May 30
Pixelmator 3.2 'Sandstone' now available, here's what's new
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, PC / Laptop, Software,
Pixelmator's newest update, known as Sandstone, is now live in the Mac App Store and brings with it some cool new features, one if which is a new Repair tool that'll automatically fix and remove blemishes from areas of of image that you paint over using the tool. You can even remove whole objects from a photo. Nice, right?
One thing we've always loved about Pixelmator is how inexpensive it is when compared to a tool like Adobe Photoshop, while maintaining a professional feature set. Also included in Pixelmator 3.2:
- 16-bits per channel support: 16-bits per channel support offers the flexibility to make color adjustments that go to extreme lengths while keeping the image color rich and vibrant.
- Lock Layers: When creating large and complex compositions, layer locking makes it easy to protect layer content from any further changes so that you can freely edit the rest of your composition.
- Convert Selection into Shape: A handy new feature that lets you quickly and easily create all kinds of shapes from any selection.
If you already own Pixelmator, you can grab the update for free in the Mac App Store. If not, you can purchase it for $29.99.
Gallery: Pixelmator 3.2 'Sandstone' now available, here's what's new
URME Mask lets you wear someone else's face to avoid surveillance
Posted by Ariel Levin-Waldman Categories: Design, Misc. Tech,
Surveillance technology has gotten pretty impressive. Camera resolution combined with facial recognition means you can be identified just about all the time, and in many jurisdiction in the United States it is actually illegal to wear a mask in public if it is likely to cause concern. What is the average guy supposed to do to hide from the high tech eyes of a watchful government?
You can always try wearing someone else's face.
I promise it's less creepy than it sounds. Still pretty creepy though. The URME Mask, a realistically detailed 3D printed replica of the creator's face, comes to us by way of Indiegogo. Yes, you read that right, the entire premise of the URME is to make everyone look just like Leo Selvaggio, the Chicago-based artist that that brainstormed the idea.
And he is apparently not alone in thinking this. It's a little disturbing but he has more than doubled his originally asked for goal of $1,000. There are people out there willing to pay good money to wear Leo's skin.
Click to continue reading URME Mask lets you wear someone else's face to avoid surveillance
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Gallery: URME Mask lets you wear someone else's face to avoid surveillance
Monster set to debut a pair of Chanel-branded headphones
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Wearables, Design, Music,
It looks like Monster's next headphone collaboration will be with luxury fashion brand Chanel. After images of Swizz Beas and Karl Lagerfeld were posted to Instagram showing the two wearing a pair of unannounced headphones that incorporate the Chanel double C monogram, it came to light that they were a product of collaboration between Chanel and Monster. Makes sense, as Swizz Beats is a Monster ambassador. No word on pricing or availability has been announced yet, nor have any specs on the headphones themselves. That said, we'd venture to guess that anyone looking to pick up a pair of Chanel-branded headphones are likely buying them for the brand and not an amazing sound profile.
Gallery: Monster set to debut a pair of Chanel-branded headphones
LEGO Fairground Mixer 10244 brings the magic of the carnival home
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, Toys,
LEGO has announced one of its most impressive Creator sets yet in the Fairground Mixer 10244. Focused on recapturing the magic of the traveling carnival, where kids would ride on rickety, precarious contraptions while other would walk around carrying stuffed prized, popcorn, and cotton candy, the set succeeds in its goal.
LEGO unveiled the set this past weekend at the Sydney Brickshow in Sydney, Australia, bringing with it the nostalgia of days gone past. If you were around during the traveling carnival heyday, you know that it all begins with the trucks. That's how all those rides get moved from town to town, and that's how the LEGO Fairground Mixer 10244 operates as well. The entire set of attractions (and characters!) neatly tucks away into the LEGO trucks. Here's a look at what's in the set:
Click to continue reading LEGO Fairground Mixer 10244 brings the magic of the carnival home
Gallery: LEGO Fairground Mixer 10244 brings the magic of the carnival home
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.


text:
I am interested in the grammar of (Modern) German. My theoretical framework has always been a relatively uncontroversial version of Generative Grammar, whereby I envisage linguistic phenomena which are of general interest – independent of the theoretic background. Having studied and speaking several languages, I have always had a typological glance at German, comparing its characteristics to those of other idioms. So, I have worked on word order in German and detecting the similarities of "scrambling" with word order, agreement pattern, case assignment, and intonation in more or less unrelated languages.
Other phenomena I have looked at are clefting, word order effects in the left sentence periphery and apokoinu constructions.
Currently I am working on subordination, especially on the licensing of root phenomena (main clause characteristics) in embedded structures, and accordingly on the triggers for obligatory subordination features in dependent clauses.
My other specialisation is language critique and the grammar and sociolinguistics of substandard German. I have written a book against the bestselling popular language book by Bastian Sick 'Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod' with the title 'Sick of Sick?'. The authorship has made me appear in radio emissions, a tv talk show and at popular science conferences.
I am also a team leader (Germany) and member of the organizing committee of the International Linguistics Olympiad.


text:
Enclosed Form
Lending natural beauty to anywhere it is displayed, this turned sculpture by Eric Reeves is one-of-a-kind. The walls of the turning are very thin and delicate, and exquisite to the touch. The finish is Danish oil (heat-rubbed into the wood), followed by hand-rubbing with a combination of carnauba and beeswax in a light solvent, leaving a very light and transparent quality.
- Turned from Mexican Rosewood
- Measures 3¼"h × 5"diam
- Signed and dated by the artist
- Item #54149
To see more by this artist, follow this link.
Additional Info
About the artist:
Eric Reeves is both a professor of English at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a woodturner passionately committed to his craft, specializing in intricate inlay designs and classic ogee profile turnings. His work is represented in fine galleries throughout the country. Eric returned to woodturning more than a quarter century after his introduction to the craft but he has turned the professional success of those intervening years to a distinctive advantage. The financial security offered by his teaching profession enables him to contribute all profits he realizes from gallery sales to local and national human service organizations. Eric's distinctive inlaying technique takes the form of setting a ring of one wood in a perfectly cut notch of another (complementary) wood, producing a seamless joint. The word ogee derives from the term for characteristic "s"-curves in the molds for ogives, or cathedral groin-ribs — in other words, it is ultimately an architectural term.
Hand-crafted in the U.S.A.


text:
Please only delete your own gameDestroy
Sample Game
create a place called "start" for your starting place
place start:"You are in a park. You see trees to the north and a path to the east" place trees:"You are in a Japanese garden." place river_edge:"The path ends at a river" place in_the_river:"You walk into the river and drown." start.path trees:north, river_edge:east river_edge.path in_the_river:east! image start:"images/park.JPG" image river_edge:"images/water.JPG" image trees:"images/trees.JPG"
You can use URLs for images. places are whole words starting with a lower-case letter
north, south, east, west will auto-fill their opposites, unless they end in ! then they are dead ends.
You can make a custom label for a path like: field.path mountain:"Go to the Mountains"


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The Coming Real Estate Bubble
Three-and-a-half years ago, my newly married household acquired an actual house, a 1,750-square-foot slice of paradise in Washington's Eckington neighborhood. In real estate euphemism, the house is what's known as "lightly renovated," the neighborhood "transitional."
"Lightly renovated" meant that some stuff had been done, most of it badly, but the HVAC dated from the Paleozoic, and the yard ... um, better not to speak of the yard, unless you're a Hollywood location scout looking for somewhere for your heroin-addict protagonist to bottom out.
"Transitional" meant ... oh, you can figure it out. We had gone north of H Street and east of North Capitol to the unfashionable precincts of the city's Northeast quadrant. The most common response, when we told people where we lived, was "Where the hell is Eckington?" The second-most-common response was, "Wow [rapid eye-blinking]. I could never live there. It's too far from everything." *
Now some of the same people who politely suggested we were crazy for buying so far east are lamenting that they can't afford to buy in our neighborhood. Lest you think this is schadenfreude, let me point out that some of these people are friends I very much want to live near me; I would even give up a little of my real estate price appreciation to make that happen.**
The point is, something insane has happened to Washington real estate prices in those intervening years. There's a feeding frenzy over single-family homes in neighborhoods that are barely within walking distance of a metro. This cri-de-coeur was recently posted on a local real estate blog:
Brookland and Edgewood are two neighborhoods even deeper into Northeast than ours.
My husband and I are in the process of purchasing our first home.
Our realtor has put a focus on the Edgewood and Brookland neighborhoods since it previously looked like you can still get a house for a reasonable price.
However we have been baffled by these two recent purchases.
Are we really looking at spending nearly $600,000 for an up and coming neighborhood? Have we missed some big announcement for something coming to the area? Are we ever going to find something in our price range of under $500,000 if we want to stay in the District?
We are becoming discouraged.
These seekers are not alone; I've heard this from a lot of people who want to buy a house. The bidding wars, which were common enough when we were looking, are now frantic: People are waiving inspections and practically any other contingency the bank will let them get away with, and also paying 20 percent to 50 percent above the asking price. I feel like I've seen this somewhere before ...
Of course, I can name reasons that prices should have zoomed up in 2012 and 2013. Washington's job market is far more insulated from economic vicissitudes than the rest of the nation -- indeed, the extra government spending creates jobs here (though not as many as you might think). So it's not necessarily surprising that more affluent professionals are trying to get their hands on the one thing Washington isn't making any more of: single-family homes.
But that doesn't really explain why the same buying frenzy is happening in San Francisco.
OK, tech billionaires. But what about New York, where you also hear the same stories about Brooklyn neighborhoods? Finance may not have suffered as much as you wanted, but the Masters of the Universe have not become richer, or more numerous, since 2008.
Of course, there's a nationwide housing recovery. But what you see, when you look at the S&P/Case-Shiller index, is that the recovery is uneven, even in urban areas.
For urban residents, S&P/Case-Shiller dramatically understates things, because it covers the whole metro area. %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%If you look at Trulia's (TRLA) estimates of price per square foot, you see things much more clearly: San Francisco, New York, Washington and Boston now have prices above their 2008 levels. San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago don't. Which is why occupants of the former cities are spending so much time complaining about the crazy cost of real estate.
Now, I thought we all agreed that in 2008, prices were too high, and there was a big bubble. What are we to think of even higher prices in 2014, when the economy has been staggering along on life support for six years?
I can tell a story about these cities in which they're somehow special and the money will just keep rolling in. But I can also tell a story in which people are paying more than they should for houses in my neighborhood on the assumption that today's $750,000 house will be tomorrow's $1.5 million retirement fund, even though incomes in D.C. can't really support an entire city's worth of seven-figure homes. I might even tell a story where today's ultra-low interest rates give several cities full of smart upper-middle-class professionals a badly contagious case of money illusion.
Which of these stories is correct? I'm not sure I know, and indeed, the answer may be different for different cities. But there are two things I do know: I'm very glad we bought our house in 2010. And I'm not going to count on any of our newfound equity until I see what happens when the Federal Reserve really begins to tighten up the money supply.
* Less common, but no less remarkable, were (from a cab driver) "I didn't realize anyone lived there" and (from a staffer at a liberal think tank) "I could never live there -- I have kids." As if we crazy denizens of Eckington might poison them when she wasn't looking.
** Cheap talk, of course, since we've no intention of moving.
See Gallery


text:
Shanna Warren began volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley in 2001, while working as a marketing director. That volunteer service changed the focus and direction of Warren's life so much that she left her marketing career to take a full-time position with the club, and in 2004 was named the organization's chief executive.
Warren, a part of the team that took the club from serving 75 youth at one location to more than 1,500 at 17 locations, was honored Saturday as the Zonta Club of Burbank's 2012 Woman of the Year.
Convening in the Starlight Ballroom of the Castaway, more than 225 Zontians and their supporters joined the club's president, Grace Farenbaugh, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and Mayor Dave Golonski to honor Warren for her leadership and commitment to the community.
Established in 1949 by the now-defunct Burbank Women's Club, the Burbank Woman of the Year program was taken over by the Zontians in 1996. Among the past recipients in attendance at Saturday's event were 1978 honoree Elaine Paonessa, 2001 honoree Joan Ortiz, 2008 honoree Lucy Burghdorf and 2009 honoree Barbara Howell.
Other notables who enjoyed the recognition luncheon included Vice Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy, Councilman Jess Talamantes, former Councilman Tim Murphy, Warner Bros. Vice President of Public Affairs Michael Walbrecht, Burbank Water and Power General Manager Ron Davis and Zontians Donna Anderson, Margarita Campos, Alisa Cunningham, Jennifer Wyatt, Brenda Lantieri, Sharon Cohen, Connie Llana and Nickie Bonner.
Since receiving their charter in 1936, the Zonta Club of Burbank has brought together business executives and professionals to advance the status of women. During the decades they have also raised and distributed more than $100,000 to local charities, funded 50 scholarships for high school students pursuing higher education, provided books telling stories of women's achievements to local elementary schools, made annual donations of blankets, toiletries and other supplies to the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, and established a Zonta rose garden at the Buena Vista Library.
DAVID LAURELL can be reached by e-mail email@example.com or (818) 563-1007.


text:
In the early hours of March 1st, 2014, Twitch Plays Pokemon came to an end. The thousands upon thousands of players had - over the course of nearly 400 hours - completed a single game of Pokemon. In the process, memes and religions and lore were birthed - and from that, fan art. So much fan art. So much incredible, brilliant fan art, all based around one of the weirdest and most compelling pieces of internet phenomena in recent memory (click here for a complete guide to the Generation 1 Twitch Plays Pokemon)
And we would like to remember the brilliant fan art created by sharing some of the best examples with you now. Enjoy!
via TsaoShin
via vaanrose
via inferno988
via wolframclaws
via circuitdruid
via throughspaceandtime
via Anna Earley
via Aeuma
via abalisk
via rifflesby
via yilx
via whoaconstrictor
via 兔伯
via engraven
via SessKaka
via skittycat
via FemJesse
via sesskaka
via heli0n
via stjh
via Frenzied Insanity
via Jeremy Ruihley
via abalisk
via biohazrdz
via OakWorks
via vaanrose
via Aeuma
via frickerdoodle
via rainbowhyphen
via anneuh
via WaffleofDeath
via JackKaiserArt
via omnitarian
via FemJesse
via hamigakimomo
via mallius
via dafuq-izdis-schitt
via kiyokon / Reddit