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Cardiff Airport board member Andrew Sargent stands down after serving two-year termPosted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: Airline & Route News, Cardiff Airport, European Aviation News, UK Aviation News, Uncategorized, Wales Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News | Tags: Cardiff, Cardiff Airport, Roger Lewis, Welsh Rugby Union Roger Lewis Leave a comment
11:12, 6 April 2015 By Sion Barry
Andrew Sergent believes the airport is in good shape and welcomes the appointment of Roger Lewis as its next chairman
Non-executive of Cardiff Airport Sargent has stood down from the board after completing a two-year term.
He leaves after playing a key role in recent negotiations that has seen Flybe significantly expanding its routes at the airport – which is expected to add a further 400,000 new passengers over the next few years.
He was appointed to the board in 2013 following the acquisition of the airport by the Welsh Government for £52m, minus professional advisory fees, from Spanish firm Abertis.
Mr Sargent was appointed due to his expertise and strong track-record in change management and strategy in the airport sector.
He advised the Civil Aviation Authority on the introduction of NATS ( National Air Traffic Services), and later led the transformation programmes, post and pre-acquisition, at leading UK regional airports Bristol, Luton and Newcastle.
He said: "During the last two years I am proud to have been able to propose, initiate or influence a number of important enhancements to Cardiff's operating strategy and structure.
"There are positive changes for all to see, not least of which are the improvements to customer service, operations, and the beginning of a long and much needed journey to reduce the cost base.
"All this must not only continue, but accelerate. However, I decided some weeks ago that two years was as much as I was prepared to give this and wrote to Welsh Government on March 30th to confirm that I did not wish my name to go forward for retention."
Chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union Roger Lewis has been confirmed as the next non-executive chairman of the Rhoose-based airport.
He will take over from Lord Rowe-Beddoe in November.
Mr Lewis will have a direct input into the appointment of a new chief executive of the airport as well any new board members. All board members see their two-year terms expire this year.
The other non executives are David Goldstone, Geraint Davies, Margaret Llewellyn and Philip Ashman.
Mr Sargent said: "I welcome the announcement that Roger Lewis will be the new chairman and wish him and the airport team well.
"What Cardiff needs now is a combination of sound investment, tough decisions and belief in a clear, focused future as an integral part of the Welsh aerospace industry."
The airport, which currently handles just over one million passengers a year, is operated by a holding company at arms length from the Welsh Government.
Sourced from walesonline
Tunisian tourist board reassures trade following attackPosted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Accidents & Incidents, Airline & Route News, Cardiff Airport, European & World Tourism, European Aviation News, Holidays, Passenger Advice, UK Aviation News, Uncategorized, Wales Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News, World Aviation News Leave a comment
By Hollie-Rae Merrick | 25 March 2015 at 08.37 GMT
The Tunisian tourist board will meet with agents over the coming months as it looks to provide reassurances about travelling to the country in the wake of last week's terrorist attack that claimed 23 lives.
Eighteen tourists were killed in the attack at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, including 12 MSC Cruises passengers, among them Briton Sally Adey, and five Costa Cruises passengers.
The tourist board's call for continued support came as several cruise lines, including Holland America Line, Costa and MSC, pulled Tunisia from itineraries.
The tourist board said Tunisia was still the perfect option for a beach holiday, with the resorts of Port El Kantaoui and Hammamet safe.
Sami Tounsi, trade manager for the Tunisian National Tourist Office, said 90% of bookings to the destination from the UK were made through the trade, so support from agents would be key.
"The UK is the second-largest European market to Tunisia and we've had steady growth year on year," he said. "Last year was a record one, with 425,000 UK holidaymakers making it to Tunisia. This year we were expecting 460,000."
Tounsi said the attack would affect Tunisia, but he hoped it would be only in the short term. "Tunisia must stay out of the news if it wants tourism to bounce back," he added.
The tourist board said it planned to run roadshows to meet agents and to reassure them.
Michael Edwards, Intrepid Group UK and Europe regional director, said he believed "some tourists are going to think twice" about travelling to Tunisia following the incident.
Thomas Cook and Cosmos Holidays said normal booking conditions would remain unless Foreign & Commonwealth Office advice changed.
Thomson and First Choice have cancelled excursions to Tunis until the end of the month, but are monitoring the situation.
Red Sea Holidays, which is operating to Tunisia for the first time this year, reported no "dramatic" impact on sales.
Sourced from Travel Weekly
Confusion surrounds new Egypt visa rulesPosted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Airline & Route News, Cardiff Airport, European & World Tourism, European Aviation News, Passenger Advice, Tour Operator News, UK Aviation News, Uncategorized, Wales Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News, World Aviation News | Tags: Egypt, Egypt ministry of tourism, Egyptian State Tourist Office, travelling to Egypt, Visa Leave a comment
By Juliet Dennis | 25 March 2015 at 08.30 GMT
New regulations are expected on May 15 as part of a security crackdown to deter terrorists from travelling to Egypt.
The UK office of the Egyptian State Tourist Office said talks were ongoing, with exact details due at the end of this week.
But Egypt ministry of tourism spokeswoman Rasha Azaizi said anyone booking a trip independently, and not being met by a ground-handling agent, would need a visa in advance.
Holidaymakers booking through an operator will not be affected, but it was unclear whether tourists who book flight-only or accommodation-only through an agent would continue to be able to obtain a visa upon arrival.
"These changes will just apply to independent travellers," said Azaizi. "Those people handled by an operator or local ground-handler will not be affected: they need to be met by a ground-handler because that's who will get the visas for them at the airport."
She was adamant there would be no major impact for trade business from the UK.
Andy Tomlinson, director of Sutton Travel in Sutton Coldfield, said more travellers could even be encouraged to book via the trade.
He said: "It could work in favour of operators and agents. But it is still up in the air in terms of who needs it [a visa in advance].
"I was worried about DIY packages we put together ourselves, but our clients are met on arrival by a ground-handler."
Discover Egypt director Philip Breckner said: "As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't affect our customers, but it is confusing."
Visas are not required for UK visitors travelling to the Red Sea resorts of Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba for up to 15 days, and there was no indication this would change.
Sourced from Travel Weekly
Tui Group sees 'significant rise' in online bookings for summer 2015Posted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Airline & Route News, Cardiff Airport, European & World Tourism, European Aviation News, Passenger Advice, Tour Operator News, UK Aviation News, Uncategorized, Wales Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News, World Aviation News Leave a comment
By Phil Davies | 25 March 2015 at 08.27 GMT
Tui Group today reported strong demand for summer mainstream holidays and a "significant" rise in online bookings.
Online booking levels for summer 2015 are up 12% year-on-year with 46% of the group's mainstream programme sold – in line with this time last year.
Unique holidays account for almost three quarters of all mainstream bookings for the coming summer, up by three percentage points.
Overall summer bookings are up by 1% with average selling prices also up by 1%.
"Based on current trading, we remain confident of delivering full year underlying operating profit growth of 10% to 15%'" the Thomson and First Choice parent company said in a trading update this morning.
Tui Group chief executives of TUI Group, Friedrich Joussen and Peter Long said: "Winter 2014/15 is closing out as expected, with our mainstream programme almost fully sold and higher average selling prices in most source markets.
"We are pleased with summer 2015 trading, with continued strong demand for our unique holidays and a significant increase in online bookings.
Hotels & resorts are performing well and cruise sales continue to grow, with the launch of Mein Schiff 4 this June and improved fleet performance by Hapag-Lloyd.
"Accommodation Wholesaler is also delivering another year of double-digit TTV growth.
"We are continuing to implement our strategy post-merger, and will articulate this in further detail at our capital markets update on 13 May 13.
"We are on track to deliver a first half result ahead of last year on a like-for-like basis, and remain confident of delivering full year underlying operating profit growth of 10% to 15%."
Europe's largest travel group saw winter 2014/15 closing out "as expected," with higher average selling prices in most source markets, up 1% overall.
Sourced from Travel Weekly
Germanwings flights cancelled as crews 'refuse to fly' in wake of crashPosted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Accidents & Incidents, Aircraft Engineering/Manufacturing, Airline & Route News, European Aviation News, UK Aviation News, Uncategorized, Wales Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News, World Aviation News Leave a comment
By Phil Davies | 25 March 2015 at 08.24 GMT
Germanwings flights cancelled as crews 'refuse to fly' in wake of crash
Passengers were left stranded as Germanwings crews refused to board similar aircraft to the Airbus A320 which crashed in the French Alps killing all 150 people on board.
Flights from Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and in Germany were affected in the immediate aftermath of yesterday's tragedy.
A mother and baby from Manchester were believed to have been on board flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf which was carrying 144 passengers and six crew.
Foreign secretary Philip Hammond said t was "sadly likely" that there were British nationals on board.
Pilots were said to be refusing to fly for "personal reasons" as concerns were raised about the A320 involved in the disaster – an aircraft built in 1991.
Several Germanwings flights were cancelled as it emerged that the aircraft involved in the crash had been grounded for an hour at Barcelona airport for repairs just a day before the accident.
Pilots and cabin crew expressed their concerns the crash may have been linked to a repair to the nose-wheel landing doors on Monday, The Telegraph reported.
Germanwings parent company Lufthansa denied that there was any link between the repair and the cancelled flights.
A statement last night from the low cost carrier confirmed that some flights had to be cancelled.
"Following the tragic accident on Tuesday, Germanwings reports occasional flight disruptions within its route network," the airline said.
"This is due to crew members, who decided not to operate aircraft following the reports on the accident of a Germanwings aircraft with 144 passengers and six crew members onboard."
Spokesman Thomas Winkelmann said: "We understand their decision."
The two pilots on the doomed flight had reported no sign of any problems before the aircraft disappeared from radar screens from its cruising altitude of 38,000ft before crashing into a remote mountainside at 6,500ft.
The aircraft went into a steady and rapid descent for eight minutes from halfway through its 90-minute flight from Barcelona.
Sixteen German schoolchildren returning home from a Spanish exchange trip and two babies were among the dead, who included 67 Germans, 45 Spaniards, a Belgian, and Turkish passengers.
The first of the A320'ss black box flight recorders had been recovered by last night, holding information about why it suddenly dropped out of the sky.
Airbus confirmed that the aircraft involved in the accident was orginally delivered to Lufthansa in 1991 and it had flown approximately 58,300 hours in some 46,700 flights.
To date, the entire fleet has accumulated some 150 million flight hours in over 85 million flights.
"Airbus will make further factual information available as soon as the details have been confirmed and cleared by the authorities for release," the manufacturer said.
"The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families, friends and loved ones affected by the accident of Flight 4U9525."
Sourced from Travel Weekly
Travel industry growth to outpace world economy, says WTTCPosted: March 24, 2015 Filed under: Airline & Route News, European & World Tourism, European Aviation News, Passenger Advice, UK Aviation News, UK Tourism News, Uncategorized, Wales Aviation News, Wales Tourism, Welsh Aviation News, Welsh Tourism News, World Aviation News | Tags: travel and tourism, Travel Industry, WTTC Leave a comment
By Ian Taylor | 24 March 2015 at 08.23 GMT
The travel industry will grow faster than the global economy this year, according to the latest World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) forecast.
The WTTC's annual economic impact assessment predicts travel and tourism will grow by 3.7% worldwide this year against a global economic growth forecast of 2.9%.
The Council forecasts the sector's total contribution to the world economy will reach $7,860 billion or 10% of global GDP, up by $280 billion on 2014, and travel will account for 9.5% of all jobs in the world "once all direct, indirect and induced impacts" are included.
The industry accounted for 277 million jobs worldwide last year, according to WTTC estimates.
WTTC president and chief executive David Scowsill (pictured) said: "Travel and tourism continues to grow faster than the global economy and is an enduring source of job creation and a driver of growth for every region in the world."
He added: "The sector has recorded strong economic growth in 19 of the last 20 years, providing much-needed economic stability at a time of global economic volatility.
"Governments looking for a sector which can create jobs and drive economic growth should focus on travel and tourism."
But Scowsill noted: "This industry requires the right regulatory environment in which to flourish, along with progressive policies on visa access, taxation, human resources planning, and sustainability."
In an interview with Travel Weekly, Scowsill hit out at the UK government for failing to address these issues.
He said: "The UK is not a good example of managing the sector."
The WTTC estimates the US and China as the two biggest travel and tourism economies in the world, with Germany now in third place, having overtaken Japan, and the UK in fifth.
The Council expects Russia to be the only G20 country to register a decline in travel and tourism growth this year, due to sanctions imposed by the US and European Union over the Ukraine.
The WTTC forecasts South Asia will see the highest travel and tourism growth in 2015 at 6.9% year on year, against growth in Europe of 2.4%.
However, Scowsill said: "The long-term prospects for our sector are very encouraging.
"Travel and tourism will continue to grow faster than the global economy and most other major industries."
Sourced from Travel Weekly


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and Beyond
Records relating to an area formerly known as New Netherland
through the early years of settlement, which includes
the Colonies of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania.
Question? Where was New Netherland?
The original area of New Netherland as described in historical records, was situated on the northerly coast (of America) in the latitude of 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42 degrees or there abouts coast wise, from Cape Henlopen to Cape Cod. It is bounded on the northeast by New England and on the southwest by Virginia. The coast runs nearly southwest and northeast washed by the ocean. On the north is the river of Canada, a larger river running far into the interior. The northwest sides, for the most part still unknown.
Or in other words........
New Netherland consisted of settlements mainly along the Hudson, Delaware, and Connecticut Rivers, which today are parts of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
Early settlements
(click on map for larger image)
New Netherland was not limited to only Dutch Immigrants, people of many countries settled the area. In the 1600's, the Dutch, English, Swedes, French, Germans to name a few, filled the northeastern coast of what is now the U. S., claiming parts, engaging in wars and making agreements to tracts of land that often changed hands. Disputes among the different governing nations, led to divisions of land. Sweden claimed part of the land on the south, the English were slowly moving in on the east, the French were claiming lands in the north and the Indians were reducing the number of inhabitants by massacres; New Netherland's boundaries were shrinking.
In 1664, the Dutch surrendered to the English and New Netherland was renamed New York after the Duke of York, the Kings brother. The Duke of York's proprietorship included what is known today as the States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont.
In 1673, New Netherland brought war against the English and reclaimed their land. The entire area was back in control of the Dutch until 1674, when, for the last time, reverted back to the English.
The Duke granted New Jersey to Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret, then later reassigned to William Penn. West Jersey was added to Pennsylvania in 1674, East Jersey in 1680, and Delaware in 1682.
New Jersey became a separate province in 1702.
Delaware was separated from Pennsylvania in 1703.
In 1688, proprietorships where dissolved and settlements were controlled under the Royal Crown of England. New York and New Jersey were combined with New England under Governor Andros. Vermont remained a part of New York until 1791.
(click on map for larger image)
The states/counties that contribute to areas settled in the former New Netherland:
In 1683, The Colony of New York was divided into 12 original counties.
As the state expanded, these counties were divided and additional counties were formed.
Following are the states/counties that contribute to areas settled in the former New Netherland.
(#11 Cornwall County and #12 Dukes County, were not part of New Netherland,
but part of the New York Colony, which ceded to Massachusetts).
1. Albany, largest geographical area. The areas settled at the time of New Netherland are nowNEW JERSEY
The original area of Bergen County, located in the northeast portion of the state, contained the early settlements of Pavonia, Bergen and Hackensack. Today this area includes Bergen, Hudson and part of Passaic County.
The southwest portion of New Jersey contributes in part to an area formerly known as New Sweden.
aka New Sweden 1637-1655, New Amstel 1655-1664
Although most historical references acknowledge this area as New Sweden, New Netherland was continuously battling over the land originally claimed as theirs. It is presented here for genealogical research, as it all ended up in the hands of the English anyway! The areas of earliest settlements of New Sweden are:
Delaware - New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties,
You may find answers to your questions by subscribing to the many mailing lists made available through Roots Web.
URL: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nycoloni
Copyright ©1999-2019

subset: commoncrawl


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|Too many loose ends and weak direction from Benson Gyles (in her feature film debut) waste the efforts of a talented cast. Chicago-based writer Sarah Maloney (Richardson) is doing a biography of Mary Swann, wife/murder victim of a backwater Ontario farmer, who secretly wrote poetry (and gets compared to Emily Dickinson). Sarah heads to Nadeau to meet with Mary's friend Rose (Fricker) and discovers she may have altered some of the published poetry but there's not much there to really care about. Based on a novel by Carol Shields.
|Directed by:
|Anna Benson Gyles
|Ann Scott, Christina Jennings, Shaftesbury Films, Greenpoint Films, Norstar Entertainment, Majestic Films International.
|Miranda Richardson, Brenda Fricker, Michael Ontkean, Sean McCann, John Neville, Sean Hewitt, Kyra Harper, David Cubitt, Geny Walter


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We attach a lot of meaning to coincidences. On the one hand, we see them as significant; on the other hand, you have the TV show detective pronouncing that he doesn't believe in coincidences.
The first thing to understand is that everything is a coincidence.
All a coincidence is, is two events happening at the same time. In that sense, everything is a coincidence because whenever one event is happening, a near infinitude of other events are happening at the same time.
What we CALL "a coincidence" is two events happening at the same time TO WHICH WE ATTACH SOME MEANING OR SIGNIFICANCE.
Some meaningless coincidences exist against astronomical odds. Let me think back to two events I can correlate in my mind. Here's one. I remember getting home from a movie, turning on the TV, and learning that Princess Di had been killed in a traffic accident. Clearly, it happened while I was watching the movie.
Now, what are the odds against Princess Di dying while I was watching a movie? They are so great that the odds against that correlations must be in the billions if not trillions to 1. Yet, that isn't an interesting coincidence. Coincidences with much better odds turn out to be more interesting, such as running into an old girlfriend who was back in town for a visit in the movie theater lobby.
Think about coincidence and you'll see it's a concept you probably should have thought about before.
Once you understand the nature of coincidence, you can catch people misusing the concept all the time. For example, theists will use the existence of humankind and other life on Earth demonstrating the existence of God due to the astronomically high odds against it.
What I hope I've shown is that things happen all the time against astronomical odds and that this fact in a particular case really proves nothing at all.
In the case of life popping up in a universe that, so far, seems largely barren of it, one has to bear in mind that as long as it's possible for life to exist, however difficult it may be to come into existence, we now know that there are at least billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars, so that as long as life is possible at all, it's almost certain to happen somewhere at some time, even if we'll never where and when.
Views: 1067
You posted this while I watched a TV show with detectives. Clearly, this cannot be coincidence. *dum dum duuuum!*
Ah, yes, but paradoxically anything that cannot be coincidence is also coincidence.
Coincidentally enough.
They are more like opposites. The butterfly effect basically states that a relatively minor action in one place can have huge effects somewhere else. The way you set your dinner table causes the destruction of a galaxy far far away. That is the opposite of coincidence which is simply two unrelated things happening at the same time. Sometimes seeming significant but most of the time not.
BTW, when the whole chaos theory/butterfly effect thing came on the scene was overwhelmed with guilt thinking that perhaps some minor thing she did was having serious consequences elsewhere that she would never be aware of.
That's a prediction, prognostication, or prophecy, but not a coincidence. Why? Because they are temporally separate. They don't coincide.
It would have been a coincidence if he had made those predictions just as they were coming true. But then, of course, they would have been a lot less interesting.
This video really had a impact on my life. Enjoy!
Discussion is now featured.
One word:
I like to point out a hypothetical incident where a pebble tumbles down a hillside (due to random chance from erosion) and happens to plunk straight into a gopher hole. What are the odds of that happening? Well, if it happened, then 100%. Now if you want to sit by the hill and wait for the next pebble to tumble down to see if it lands in the gopher hole, then the odds of a successful observation are astronomical.
Statistics don't apply to individual events - they describe the distribution of numerous events. Selecting one of those possible outcomes and waiting for it leaves you facing long odds. Noticing an event that has already occurred gives you 1 out of 1 or 100%.
The same as for everyone and about equal to the odds of winding up in Valhalla.
Well, one can take a shot at determining the likelihood of something that hasn't happened, but once it happens there's no point. It's happened and the "odds" are 1/1. Not interesting.
I'm just recalling probably the greatest interesting coincidence of my life. Back decades ago when I was married, my wife worked at a software development firm and due to limited space, almost all employees shared an office with another employee. Only bigwigs got offices to themselves.
She shared an office with a man named Josh. He and his wife became occasional dinner partners, sometimes at their place and sometimes at ours.
The company chose a four-week period in July, I believe, and required everyone to take their vacation then. Dates were staggered in a way to keep the company approximately half-staffed during July. It turned out that she and her office mate got the same 2-week period.
Her parents were visiting us at that time so we rented an RV and took a trip that included a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. We parked and spent an hour or so walking around. When done, we were in the parking lot approaching our RV when my wife stopped in her tracks and pointed saying, "I don't believe it!" I looked and there was Josh and his wife who had just arrived to visit the cemetery. They were as astonished as we were.
We had decided our itinerary on a short notice and so my wife hadn't discussed our itinerary with Josh, and he affirmed that he hadn't mentioned it to her. But even if he had, it would have taken some coordination to bump into him and his wife in the parking lot at a particular moment.
Arlington National Cemetery gets 4 million visitors a year, which is about 11,000 on an average day, though I imagine July is one of the heavier months, so let's say it was probably closer to 15,000 on that day. Not only did we have to be in that location on the same day but at the same time and parked in locations that had us using the same aisle.
Once it happened, the odds were 1/1, of course, but I wonder what the odds against that coincidence would have been beforehand.
** Reverend Bayes discovery show statistics which do apply to single events
The statistical theory of probability certainly applies in contexts in which it is physically impossible or logically impossible to provide a well-defined measure of a single event happening. Statistical mechanics among the "classical" theories of physics can represent the first and quantum mechanics can represent the second.
However, another branch of probability theory called Bayesian Statistics does assign probabilities to individual events -- and does so in a coherent and convincing manner.
Bayesian analysis simply does not show up in elementary accounts of statistics -- but in principle it is not difficult to understand. Just look it up and you'll see.
A related aspect is that some people don't have a good grasp on math and probability. A die has a 1 in 6 chance of rolling each number. Roll it 6 times and some people think you should get one of each number. Wrong - it isn't a perfect correspondence - the 1/6 probability only works for sufficiently large numbers (assuming the die is not uneven).
And the reverse is true also - many people don't grasp large numbers well or how frequently a low probability event could occur. "Oh, that's a 1 in a billion chance of that happening to me." First of all, 1/1000,000,000 over what period of time? 1/1000,000,000 each day means that it potentially happened 7 times today (if there is a perfect correspondence) across the world's population or 2555 times in a year. Now if it's 1/7000,000,000 per year then the average would be once per year for 1 person (out of the Earth's population). So a 1 in a billion chance per day makes it a not uncommon occurance contrary to what too many people think.
For me, when I notice a coincidence, my basic response is "Oh, that's cool." Because it's interesting but not really significant of anything.
@Roger, Using those numbers, the chance of dozens or hundreds of parts failing is excellent, unfortunately. With a perfect correspondence, a thousand parts are likely to fail. Fortunately, they know their math and build in redundancy and ways for the failures to be circumvented. But, yes, the astronauts are brave men and women.


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Flight delayed by terror alert? Watch World Trade Center
A Yahoo! News top tip
You know how it is - you're at Heathrow en route to New York when an announcement comes over the Tannoy that some blokes have been arrested for buying three cans of lighter fluid in one go at their local corner shop and, accordingly, the entire UK is on Defcon al-Qaeda/Taliban Critical Red and you'll have to wait three days in the airport before being allowed onto a plane in nothing more than your underwear having been biometrically swabbed, packed through a millimetre-wave body scanner and relieved of your toothpaste.
So, what's the best way to pass the time while you consider how close you came to fiery airborne death? Just hit the Yahoo! News website where its contextual advertising machinery can offer the perfect solution:
Yup, and if you're still twiddling your thumbs, try Airport '75 (tagline "Something hit us... The crew is dead... Help us, please, please help us!") or Airport or even Airport '77 and, just before finally boarding your flight, Alive. ®


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Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a role in many important body functions. It is best known for working with calcium in your body to help build and maintain strong bones. Vitamin D is also involved in regulating the immune system and cells, where it may help prevent cancer.
Your body stores vitamin D and can make it when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D is also found in some foods, mostly ones like milk that have been fortified with vitamin D. There are two forms of vitamin D: ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). Some research suggests that cholecalciferol is better at raising levels of vitamin D in the blood.
In children, a vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets, a disease that results in soft, weak bones. In adults, many people may not be getting enough vitamin D, especially those who live in northern areas (like the northern half of the U.S.) and the elderly. People with dark skin do not absorb sunlight as easily as those with light skin, so their risk of low vitamin D is even higher. One study of childbearing women in the Northern U.S. found that 54% of African-American women and 42% of white women had low levels of vitamin D.
That's important because researchers are beginning to find that low levels of vitamin D may be linked to other diseases, including breast and colon cancer, prostate cancer, high blood pressure, depression, and obesity. The evidence doesn't prove that too little vitamin D causes these conditions, but that people with higher levels of vitamin D are less likely to get these diseases.
Getting the proper amount of vitamin D may help prevent several serious health conditions.
Vitamin D helps your body absorb and use calcium, which you need for strong bones. Getting enough vitamin D throughout your life is important, since most bone is formed when you are young. For post-menopausal women who are at higher risk of osteoporosis, taking vitamin D along with calcium supplements can reduce the rate of bone loss, help prevent osteoporosis, and may reduce the risk of fractures.
Other Bone Disorders
Vitamin D protects against rickets and osteomalacia, softening of the bones in adults. Seniors who live in northern areas and people who do not get direct sunlight for at least 45 minutes per week should make sure they get enough vitamin D through fortified milk and dairy products. Or they can take a vitamin D supplement or a multivitamin with vitamin D.
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People who have low levels of vitamin D are at greater risk of falling, and studies have found that taking a vitamin D supplement (700 - 1000 IU daily) may reduce that risk. In seniors, vitamin D may reduce falls by 22%.
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The four parathyroid glands are located in the neck. They make parathyroid hormone (PTH), which helps the body store and use calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D is often used to treat disorders of the parathyroid gland.
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
In population studies, people with low levels of vitamin D seem to have a high risk of developing high blood pressure than those with higher levels of vitamin D. However, there's no proof that low levels of vitamin D cause high blood pressure in healthy people.
Evidence about vitamin D and blood pressure has been mixed. When people with kidney disease or an overactive parathyroid gland (hyperparathyroidism) develop high blood pressure, low levels of vitamin D may play a role. But another large study found that taking vitamin D and calcium supplements did not lower blood pressure significantly or reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure in postmenopausal women. If you have high blood pressure, you should follow your doctor's advice about whether vitamin D might help.
There is some evidence that getting enough vitamin D may lower your risk of certain cancers, especially of the colon, breast, prostate, skin, and pancreas. This evidence is based mostly on studies of large groups of people, population studies, and doesn't prove a connection between taking vitamin D and lowering your cancer risk. Laboratory studies show that vitamin D may have anti-cancer effects in test tubes. But no human studies have directly measured whether taking vitamin D lowers cancer risk.
Some research suggests that postmenopausal women who take calcium and vitamin D supplements may have a lower risk of developing cancer of any kind compared to those who don't take these supplements. But a large study of more than 36,000 postmenopausal women found that taking calcium and vitamin D supplements did not lower their risk of breast cancer.
One study suggests that taking calcium and vitamin D supplements together may reduce risk of colon cancer. Population studies suggest that people who have higher levels of vitamin D in the blood have a lower risk of developing colorectal cancer. But again, the evidence isn't entirely clear. Another study examining postmenopausal women who took calcium and vitamin D supplements found that they did not have a lower risk of colorectal cancer. In addition, researchers don't know how much vitamin D you would need to take to get any potential benefit.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
SAD is a type of depression that happens during the winter months, when there's not much sunlight. It's often treated with photo (light) therapy. A few studies suggest that the mood of people with SAD improves when they take vitamin D. Talk to your doctor about whether vitamin D might help your treatment for SAD.
Population studies find that people who have lower levels of vitamin D are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who have higher levels of vitamin D. But there is no evidence that taking vitamin D can help prevent or treat type 2 diabetes.
One study found that giving infants doses of 2,000 IU per day of vitamin D during the first year of life may help protect them from developing type 1 diabetes when they are older.
Heart Disease
Population studies suggest that people with low levels of vitamin D have a greater risk of developing heart disease, including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure compared to people with higher levels of vitamin D. Low levels of vitamin D may increase the risk of calcium build-up in the arteries. Calcium build-up is part of the plaque that forms in arteries when you have atherosclerosis and can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Other population studies show that people with lower levels of vitamin D are more likely to have risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol.
However, one large clinical study found that taking 200 IU of vitamin D along with 500 mg of calcium twice per day did not reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Population studies have found that women who take at least 400 IU of vitamin D daily lower their risk of developing MS. And higher levels of vitamin D in the blood seem to be associated with a lower risk of developing MS in white men and women, although the same may not be true of African American and Hispanic men and women. However, this does not mean that vitamin D supplements will help prevent or treat MS in people. Further human studies are needed.
Population studies have found that people who have lower levels of vitamin D are more likely to be obese compared to people with higher levels of vitamin D. One high-quality study also found that postmenopausal women who took 400 IU vitamin D plus 1,000 mg calcium daily for 3 years were less likely to gain weight than those who took placebo, although the weight difference was small. Women who were not getting enough calcium to start with (less than 1,200 mg per day) saw the most benefit.
Overall Mortality
Population studies suggest that people with lower levels of vitamin D have a higher risk of dying from any cause.
There are two dietary forms of vitamin D:
These are naturally found in foods and are added to milk. Not all yogurt and cheese are fortified with vitamin D. Food sources of vitamin D include:
Your body make vitamin D when your skin is exposed to the sun. The color of your skin affects the production of vitamin D. A fair-skinned person may need only about 45 minutes of sunlight a week to get enough vitamin D, while a person with dark skin may need up to 3 hours.
Clouds, smog, clothing, sunscreen, and window glass all reduce the amount of sunlight that actually reaches the skin.
In northern areas, it is hard to get enough vitamin D from sunlight during the winter, so people living there may need to take vitamin D supplements. In the U.S., people who live above a line running from Los Angeles to South Carolina may not get enough vitamin D in winter.
Vitamin D is included in many multivitamins. It can be found alone as softgel capsules, tablets, and liquid in over-the-counter strengths from 50 - 1,000 IU. Higher doses are also available, but it is best to ask your doctor what the safest, most effective dose for you would be. For those who have trouble digesting fat, vitamin D injections are also available by prescription.
Recommended dietary allowances for vitamin D are listed below. Seniors and people who don't get exposed to much sunlight may need to take supplements. Seniors may be at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency because, as we age, the body does not make as much vitamin D from sunlight, and it has a harder time converting vitamin D into a form it can use.
If you are concerned about your vitamin D levels, ask your doctor whether you should take a supplement, and how much.
Note: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends 400 IU of vitamin D daily for breastfed infants until they are weaned and drinking at least 1 liter of whole milk or formula fortified with vitamin D. The AAP also recommends that children and teens who drink less than 1 liter of milk a day take 400 IU of vitamin D.
Ask your doctor before giving a vitamin D supplement to a child.
Because of the potential for side effects and interactions with medications, you should take dietary supplements only under the supervision of a knowledgeable health care provider.
Taking too much vitamin D can cause several side effects. However, scientists don't all agree on how much is too much. The National Institutes of Health has set the maximum tolerable upper limit at 1,000 IU daily for infants 0 - 6 months, 1,500 IU daily for infants 6 months to one year, 2,500 IU daily for children 1 - 3 years, 3,000 IU daily for children 4 - 8 years, and 4,000 IU daily for anyone over 9. Ask your doctor to determine the right dose for you or your child.
Side effects may include:
You cannot get too much vitamin D from sunlight, and it would be very hard to get too much from food. Generally, too much vitamin D is a result of taking supplements in too high a dose.
People with the following conditions should be careful when considering taking vitamin D supplements:
If you are currently being treated with any of the following medications, you should not use vitamin D supplements without first talking to your health care provider.
Atorvastatin (Lipitor) -- Taking vitamin D may reduce the amount of Lipitor absorbed by the body, making it less effective. If you take Lipitor or any statin (drugs used to lower cholesterol), ask your doctor before taking vitamin D.
Calcipotriene (Dovonex) -- It's possible that taking vitamin D supplements and using calcipotriene, a medication applied to the skin for psoriasis, could cause calcium levels to get dangerously high in the blood.
Calcium channel blockers -- Vitamin D may interfere with these medications, used to treat high blood pressure and heart conditions. If you take any of these medications, do not take vitamin D without first asking your doctor. Calcium channel blockers include:
Corticosteroids (prednisone) -- Taking corticosteroids long-term can cause bone loss, leading to osteoporosis. Supplements of calcium and vitamin D can help maintain bone strength. If you take corticosteroids for 6 months or more, ask your doctor about taking a calcium and vitamin D supplement.
Digoxin (Lanoxin) -- a medication used to treat irregular heart rhythms. Taking vitamin D if you take digoxin may cause levels of calcium to get dangerously high in the blood.
These drugs may raise the amount of vitamin D in the blood:
Estrogen -- Hormone replacement therapy with estrogen seems to raise vitamin D levels in the blood, which may have a positive effect on calcium and bone strength. In addition, taking vitamin D supplements along with estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) increases bone mass more than ERT alone. However, that may not be true if you also take progesterone.
Isoniazid (INH) -- a medication used to treat tuberculosis.
Thiazide -- A diuretic or water pill that helps your body get rid of too much fluid. It can increase vitamin D activity and lead to high calcium levels in the blood.
Vitamin D levels may be lowered by the following medications. If you take any of these medications, ask your doctor if you need more vitamin D:
Antacids -- Taking certain antacids for long periods of time may alter the levels, metabolism, and availability of vitamin D.
Anti-seizure medications -- these medications include:
Bile acid sequestrants -- used to lower cholesterol. These medications include:
Rifampin -- used to treat tuberculosis
Mineral oil -- Mineral oil also interferes with absorption of vitamin D.
Orlistat (Alli) -- a medication used for weight loss that prevents your body for absorbing fat. Because of how it works, orlistat may also prevent the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin D. Doctors who prescribe orlistat tell their patients to take a multivitamin with fat-soluble vitamins.
Aloia JF. Clinical Review: The 2011 report on dietary reference intake for vitamin D: where do we go from here? J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Oct;96(10):2987-96. Epub 2011 Jul 27. Review.
Autier P, Gandini S. Vitamin D supplementation and total mortality: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med. 2007 Sep 10;167(16):1730-7.
Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Dawson-Hughes B, Staehelin HB, Orav JE, Stuck AE, Theiler R, Wong JB, Egli A, Kiel DP, Henschkowski J. Fall prevention with supplemental and active forms of vitamin D: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2009 Oct 1;339:b3692. Review.
Bjelakovic G, Gluud LL, Nikolova D, Whitfield K, Wetterslev J, Simonetti RG, Bjelakovic M, Gluud C. Vitamin D supplementation for prevention of mortality in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Jul 6;(7):CD007470. Review.
Braun J, Sieper J. [Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis]. Orthopade. 2001;30(7):444-450. German.
Brawley OW, Parnes H. Prostate cancer prevention trials in the USA. Eur J Cancer. 2000;36(10):1312-1315.
Cashman KD. Calcium and vitamin D. Novartis Found Symp. 2007;282:123-38; discussion 138-42, 212-8.
Gallagher JC, Fowler SE, Detter JR, Sherman SS. Combination treatment with estrogen and calcitriol in the prevention of age-related bone loss. J Clin Endocrin Metabol. 2001;86(8):3618-3628.
Giovannucci E. The epidemiology of vitamin D and cancer incidence and mortality: a review. Cancer Causes Control. 2005 Mar;16(2):83-95.
Glendenning P, Zhu K, Inderjeeth C, Howat P, Lewis JR, Prince RL. Effects of three monthly oral 150,000 IU cholecalciferol supplementation on falls, mobility and muscle strength in older postmenopausal women: a randomised controlled trial. J Bone Miner Res. 2011 Sep 28. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.524. [Epub ahead of print]
Grant WB, Garland CF. A critical review of studies on vitamin D in relation to colorectal cancer. Nutr Cancer. 2004;48(2):115-123.
Harris SS. Vitamin D in type 1 diabetes prevetion. J Nutr.2005 Feb;135(2):323-325.
Holick MF. Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):362-371.
Hypponen E, Laara E, Reunanen A, Jarvelin MR, Virtanen SM. Intake of vitamin D and risk of type 1 diabetes: a birth-cohort study. Lancet. 2001;358(9292):1500-1503.
Jänne PA, Mayer RJ. Chemoprevention of colorectal cancer. N Engl J Med. 2000;342(26):1960-1968.
Kampman E, Slattery ML, Caan B, Potter JD. Calcium, vitamin D, sunshine exposure, dairy products and colon cancer risk (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 2000:11:459-466.
Kimball SM, Ursell MR, O'connor P, Vieth R. Safety of vitamin D3 in adults with multiple sclerosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep;86(3):645-51.
Li YC, Qiao G, Uskokovic M, Xiang W, Zheng W, Kong J. Vitamin D: a negative endocrine regulator of the rennin-angiotensin system and blood pressure. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2004 May;89-90(1-5):387-392.
Masoumi A, Goldenson B, Ghirmai S, et al. 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 interacts with curcuminoids to stimulate amyloid-beta clearance by macrophages of Alzheimer's disease patients. J Alzheimers Dis. 2009 Jul;17(3):703-17.
Melamed ML, Michos ED, Post W, Astor B. 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Aug 11;168(15):1629-37.
Mitri J, Muraru MD, Pittas AG. Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2011 Sep;65(9):1005-15. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.118. Epub 2011 Jul 6. Review.
Mordan-McCombs S, Valrance M, Zinser G, Tenniswood M, Welsh J. Calcium, vitamin D and the vitamin D receptor: impact on prostate and breast cancer in preclinical models. Nutr Rev. 2007 Aug;65(8 Pt 2):S131-3.
Muir SW, Montero-Odasso M. Effect of vitamin d supplementation on muscle strength, gait and balance in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011 Dec;59(12):2291-300. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03733.x.
Ng K, Wolpin BM, Meyerhardt JA, Wu K, Chan AT, Hollis BW, Giovannucci EL, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Fuchs CS. Prospective study of predictors of vitamin D status and survival in patients with colorectal cancer. Br J Cancer. 2009 Sep 15;101(6):916-23.
Oudshoorn C, Mattace-Raso FU, van der Velde N, Colin EM, van der Cammen TJ. Higher serum vitamin D3 levels are associated with better cognitive test performance in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2008;25(6):539-43.
Pfeifer M, Begerow B, Minne HW, Nachtigall D, Hansen C. Effects of a short-term vitamin D(3) and calcium supplementation on blood pressure and parathyroid hormone levels in elderly women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001;86(4):1633-1637.
Reichrath J. Will analogs of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (calcitriol) open a new era in cancer therapy? [Review] Onkologie. 2001;24(2):128-133.
Reginster JY. Calcium and vitamin D for osteoporotic fracture risk. Lancet. 2007 Aug 25;370(9588):632-4.
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Welsh J. Vitamin D and prevention of breast cancer. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2007 Sep;28(9):1373-82.
Wilkinson RJ, Llewelyn M, Toossi Z, et al. Influence of vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D receptor polymorphisms on tuberculosis among Gujarati Asians in west London: a case-control study. Lancet. 2000;355(9204):618-621.
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Yin L, Raum E, Haug U, Arndt V, Brenner H. Meta-analysis of longitudinal studies: Serum vitamin D and prostate cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol. 2009 Dec;33(6):435-45.


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PARIS, July 11 (UPI) -- Suha Arafat, widow of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, intends to sue the French government, demanding an investigation into his 2004 death, her lawyer says.
Arafat, 75, died in a French military hospital outside Paris. Her attorney, Pierre-Olivier Sur, says Suha Arafat only wants to uncover the truth about her husband's final illness, Radio France International reported Wednesday.
"Suha Arafat and her family want the truth and nothing but the truth," Sur told a free British newspaper, the Metro. "There is no question of any ideological or political exploitation."
Arafat was already seriously ill when he was flown to France. Teams of doctors had come to his home on the West Bank and had failed to diagnose his illness.
Immediately after his death in November 2004, Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian foreign minister, said the French doctors had "completely ruled out poison."
Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language broadcaster, reported Swiss experts recently found traces of radioactive polonium on Arafat's clothing. The substance is lethal and was used to kill Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy, in London in 2006.
An Israeli expert told The Jerusalem Post polonium found at the levels the Swiss experts reported could not date from the time of Arafat's death and must have been planted. The expert said polonium has a short half-life.


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Exhibitor Cineworld is due to open four more cinemas following an increase in box office takings in 2012.
Cineworld box office was up 3.9% to £251.6m compared to 2011, according to the company's financial statement for 2012.
Admissions dropped 1% year on year to 47.8m but the 5% hike in average ticket price per admission to £5.26 (2011: £5.01) and a higher average retail spend per person at £1.72 (2011: £1.69) contributed to the increase in box office.
The exhibitor has a box office market share of 24.7% in the UK.
The company is on track to open four new cinemas:
- a nine screen cinema in Wembley;
- a six screen cinema in St Neots;
- a new ten screen cinema replacing its existing cinema in Gloucester;
- it will take over the IMAX cinema at the Glasgow Science Centre.
Food and drink sales are the second most important source of revenue for Cineworld representing 23% of total revenues.
Total retail revenues were marginally better at £82.3m (2011: £81.6m) and net retail spend per person improved 1.8% in the year to £1.72 (2011: £1.69). However, "other income" fell 8.2% to £22.3m (2011: £24.3m).
The largest single element of Other Income is screen advertising revenue. According to the exhibitor the drop is due to the depression in the advertising industry, the" softening" of 3D glasses sales and the removal of booking fees.
In line with the results the Board proposed a 7.3% increase in the full year dividend for 2012 to 11.8p, which continues the year on year growth in dividends every year since 2008.
Stephen Wiener, chief executive officer of Cineworld Group plc, said: "I am delighted with the overall progress made in 2012, with revenues up and a strong increase in profits, with adjusted EPS up 10.4% from 2011. It has been a busy year for us: we completed the conversion of our projection estate to digital, opened a new seven screen cinema in Aldershot and expanded the IMAX screen concept to eight cinemas. The culmination of the year's activity was the acquisition of Picturehouse. Picturehouse is an exciting, complementary brand which operates in a separate market to Cineworld's Cinemas and brings further growth opportunities to the Group.
"The new year has started well and in line with our expectations. There is an attractive release schedule for the year which we expect to play well with our differentiated programming strategy. In addition, there is little in the way of major events to distract cinema goers."


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Bravo's resident matchmaker Patti Stanger has called off her engagement to long time beau Andy Friedman.
Patti, star of the Millionaire Matchmaker confirms to Life&Style magazine that her one year engagement to Andy, whom she has dated a total of over 6 years now, is now off.
"I want a kid now and Andy doesn't," Patti, 49, tells Life & Style about why she and Andy, 52, have decided to go their separate ways. "My dealbreaker has always been kids."
Patti and Andy initially set a 2010 wedding date, but continued to push back their plans when Patti couldn't get Andy to commit to raising a family.
"Ever since our first date, he knew I wanted kids, and then something along the way changed," says Patti.
But Patti is keeping her chin up and hasn't given up on love. "A good guy is out there for me, I know it," adds Patti, who is open to being a stepmom or adopting. "A life without kids has no meaning to me. I think the most important job in the world is being a parent or stepparent!"
Not really surprised at this as it simply took too long for Andy to propose to Patti, and from what I've heard, the longer it takes a man to propose, the less likely the relationship/marriage is going to work out. Plus it was obvious there was trouble in paradise when she kept on saying she was too busy to plan her wedding. Millionaire Matchmaker is actually my favorite Bravo show, and it just seemed like Patti broke all of her own rules when it came to Andy. I question if he genuinely loved her, because when you love someone, you don't string them along for over six years, only to have things end this way.


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Zoom in on a quaint little town, Gilbert, Texas. It's the kind of place where diner waitress Doatsey Mae (played by Jorja Ursin) knows everyone's order by heart. Miss Mona runs the "Chicken Ranch," the local brothel that has been a community bedrock for as long as anyone can remember.
Zoom in on a quaint little town, Gilbert, Texas. It's the kind of place where diner waitress Doatsey Mae (played by Jorja Ursin) knows everyone's order by heart. Miss Mona runs the "Chicken Ranch," the local brothel that has been a community bedrock for as long as anyone can remember.
Politicians love to fume about its immorality while they patronize the establishment and take their cut of the profits. That is, until wildly popular TV personality Melvin P. Thorpe and his band of watchdogs make it their personal crusade to close the doors.
This is the dramatic setting for the musical classic "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," now on stage at the Hendersonville Little Theater.
In the HTL production, Ashley Summerrow deftly sings his way into the opening narration, once again proving that Hendersonville has the talent base to pull off a full-scale musical production.
Playing a role made famous by Dolly Parton can be daunting, but Margaret Pennell deftly plays Miss Mona, the kind but savvy madame, with a blend of sensuality and maternal guidance.
Beth Norris' Jewel, Mona's right hand, is a confident, voluptuous alto who boldly balances and harmonizes with Pennell's Mona. As always, Kai Elijah Hamilton, this time as teetotaling, cocaine-addled Melvin P. Thorpe, brings exuberant energy to the stage. And the cast keeps up.
I was deeply impressed with the directorial guidance of Jim Walker. He pushes the cast to embrace the comedic elements without becoming caricatures.
With a production this ambitious, the array of passionate contributors are too numerous to list. But some set themselves apart. Choreographer Shari Azar — herself a cameo performer — hits the mark perfectly with challenging numbers that fully utilize space and talent. People at the local Council on Aging thrift store have been scouting for costumer Anne Huske's more than 100 bedazzled costumes since May.
The band, framed within the design of the creatively dense set, is another highlight. A few of the musicians — most notably drummer Robert Walker, who plays the vibrant Governor of Texas with his oily charm and impeccable comedic timing — doubled as cast members. Miles Rice, Ashley Summers, Sam Teague and many of chorus members slip beautifully between multiple roles.
"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" debuted in 1978 based on a brothel that stood in Texas for more than 100 years. I'm not sure, however, that the musical has stood so steadfastly. The plot feels on the verge of provocative, but despite a cast and crew's valiant effort, the script never quite pushes past the fluff. The show is a string of splashy musical numbers strung together by a thin plot.
What the show lacks in narrative, the production made up for in enthusiasm. I was incredibly impressed with the vocal and musical talent of the cast.
Once you walk into the theater lobby, you have entered Mona's Chicken Ranch, where girls lounge is long white nightgowns and cowboys peruse the goods. Hendersonville Little Theater invites you to become citizens of Gilbert, Texas, and to cast your vote on the question of whether to continue its dubious tradition. So get your tickets!


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Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Effective January 1, 2013, the Court will no longer issue deficiency notices for failure to comply with Local Rule 9013-4 (certificates of service). If a document is filed and it does not have a separate certificate of service as required by Local Rule 9013-4 or fails to comply with any other portion of this Local Rule, the Court will enter an order striking the document.
Also effective January 1, 2013 a minimum of $100 must be paid to the court upon filing a case with an application to pay the remainder of the fee in installments.


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That'll Be the Day" is a classic early rock and roll song written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison and recorded by various artists including The Crickets and Linda Ronstadt. It was also the first song to be recorded — albeit only as a demonstration disc — by The Quarrymen, the skiffle group that subsequently became The Beatles. Although Norman Petty was given a co-writing credit on it, he was not actually involved in the composition, but only in the production of this well-known recording.
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Do you know the Darne side-by-side double gun? This decidedly unusual shotgun, truly unique in its action design, has had small sale and distribution in the United States despite its several virtues and, in view of its quality construction — even in the lowest-cost grades — its moderate selling price. In point of fact, there is as far as I can determine, no difference in quality of workmanship metal-to-metal fit, jointing of wood and metal, polishing and finish of all components-between the lowest-priced Darnes and the highest.
There is, though, good value in the extra-cost versions — stocks of better-quality, fancier-figure walnut, a greater expanse of finer-line checkering, plus various degrees and extents of engraving. There is a basic design difference, too, but a relatively unimportant one — removal of the barrels is made a little easier on the higher grades, but that's a matter, mostly, of convenience.
It's the action of the Dame that sets it apart from all other shotguns. An action that, at the same time, makes it one of the trimmest and streamlined of shotguns, yet the basic design of the action was evolved some 80 years ago — Darne guns of that age look, in their essential form and style, identical with their latest productions. One could, I suppose, look on this adherence to long-established form and design elements in two ways — one, that the makers of the Darne have resisted change and modernization, remaining locked into the original concept through inertia or worse. Or it might be said that, once having brought the Darne design to its ultimate development, the makers looked on their efforts and found them good, even perfect, virtually.
I hold to the second view, for offhand I can't think of anything that could materially improve the current Darne design — not and keep the Darne design intact. O, there are those who would like the safety repositioned — it's on the left side of the action — but there are some shotgunners who prefer through-bolt safeties to top-tang types. There is another Darne aspect, a style point, that isn't completely to my liking, and that's a stock form Darne furnishes — and one that is, I'll admit, quite popular in Europe.
This particular Darne stock has a semi-pistol grip — a long, sweeping form, with rounded end, that looks much like the type found on vintage Browning autoloaders. I'd bought my first Darne some 25 years ago, at which time this stock style was common and popular on a number of shotguns. I didn't know much then, either, though of course I thought I did.
I've used that Darne a good bit over the years, but in this job there's almost always a new shotgun to try out, sometimes several a year or season — and in recent years more than ever. For that reason I've used the Darne less and less, but that's also true of some three or four other smoothbores I own — the shorter seasons in recent times account for some of that, too.
During all that long usage I've never had a moment's trouble with the Darne — nothing ever broke, nothing malfunctioned.
Visit to St. Etienne
I'd always wanted to visit the Darne plant in southern France (I can't think of any arms factory I wouldn't like to see), but I'd never done more than pass through that area on previous visits. Last year, however, knowing that I'd be returning to that section of France from Budapest, to spend a few days with Raymond Caranta (our Continental editor), I planned a call on Darne. Caranta lives at Aie-en-Provence, only a short drive from St. Etienne, site of the Darne factory.
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The general manager for Darne, Jean Bruyere, made Raymond and me welcome and escorted us on a tour of the buildings and shops. I don't know what, exactly, I expected to find, but I've got to say that both of us were hardly prepared for what we saw! Imagine a one-story, long and narrow shop — perhaps 50 feet wide and maybe 400 feet or more deep. The ceilings, about 20 feet above us, were dark with the soot and grime of years. Down either side of the long room, high above the workers, ran shafting and pulleys — lots of pulleys.
Leather belts, small and large, fell to the machines, driving them. Here was a shop where Samuel Colt, Philo Remington or Oliver Winchester would have felt at home. The slap and clatter of the belts and pulleys would have been familiar music. The lighting was dim, the corners dark — one had a sense of what the oil-lamped factories of a century earlier might have been like.
There was a touch of progress, if that's the right word. Standing in one area were two ultra-modern machines — high speed, tape fed automated milling machines. An incongruous sight, to be sure, but both were in operation. These new tools, with others perhaps to follow, may — one day — see the Darne factory a fully up-to-date plant, but for now the Darne shotgun is still fabricated, fitted and finished by hand. Men wielding files — and women, too — are there in force, particularly at a long row of benches in the final fitting and assembly stages.
Make no mistake, I've not described the Darne plant to criticize or deplore — far from it. An old pappy myself, and one who has always delighted in the genuine excellence that trained and dedicated hands can produce, I was gratified — if surprised — to view the Darne approach to gunmaking. Quality of materials and workmanship, close attention to the perfect assembly of even minor components — these are the norms at Darne.
As I've said, Darne guns are not highly expensive, even in the embellished grades. Some $500-$750 will buy their top model, I believe; compare that with certain English and Italian shotguns! No, what puzzles me — now that I know how they're made — is how they can be sold at such attractive prices.


text:
The Sims
|The Sims
|Life simulation
|Maxis (2000–06, 2012–present)
The Sims Studio (2006–present)
|Electronic Arts
|Will Wright
|Microsoft Windows
Windows Phone
Various consoles
|First release
|The Sims
February 4, 2000
|Latest release
|The Sims 4: Spa Day
July 14, 2015
|See below
|Official website
The Sims is a life simulation video game series, developed by EA Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the best-selling video games series of all time. As of September 2013, the franchise has sold more than 175 million copies worldwide.[1]
The series was created by Maxis, before the series being moved to The Sims Studio between 2006 and 2008. The Sims Studio then reintegrated into the new EA Maxis label in 2012.
The games in The Sims series are largely sandbox games, in that they lack any defined goals (except for some later expansion packs and console versions which introduced this gameplay style). The player creates virtual people called "Sims" and places them in houses and helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires. Players can either place their Sims in pre-constructed homes or build them themselves. Each successive expansion pack and game in the series augmented what the player could do with their Sims.
- 1 Development
- 2 Main series
- 3 Other Sims titles
- 4 Other media
- 5 Legacy
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Game designer Will Wright was inspired to create a "virtual doll house" after losing his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991 and subsequently rebuilding his life.[2][3] Replacing his home and his other possessions made him think about adapting that life experience into a game.[3] When he initially took his ideas to the Maxis board of the directors, they were skeptical and gave little support or financing for the game. The directors at Electronic Arts, which bought Maxis in 1997, were more receptive, primarily because the success of SimCity and they foresaw the possibility of building a strong Sim franchise.[2]
Will Wright has also stated that The Sims was actually meant as a satire of U.S. consumer culture.[4] Wright also took ideas from the 1977 architecture and urban design book A Pattern Language, American psychologist Abraham Maslow's 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and his hierarchy of needs, and Charles Hampden-Turner's Maps of the Mind to develop a model for the game's artificial intelligence.[2]
Main series[edit]
The Sims[edit]
The Sims is the first game in the series. Developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, it was released for Microsoft Windows in February 2000. The game uses isometric projection and features open-ended simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons ("Sims") in a suburban area near SimCity. Seven expansion packs and two bonafide deluxe editions with exclusive content have been released for this game. It was repackaged in several different formats and different versions of it were released on several different platforms. By March 22, 2002, The Sims had sold more than 11.3 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling P.C. game in history, surpassing Myst.[5] The original game, all seven expansion packs, and the two exclusive deluxe edition content packs constitute the first generation of the series on the PC. All PC releases in this generation were developed by Maxis.
The Sims 2[edit]
Electronic Arts released The Sims 2 on September 14, 2004. The sequel, developed by Maxis, takes place in a full 3D environment as opposed to the dimetric projection of the original game. Sims also age through six life stages from infancy to old age and subsequent death. Another major feature is the aspiration system. Each sim exhibits wants and fears according to their aspiration and personality. Consequently, the level of the aspiration meter determines the effectiveness of a sim at completing tasks. Aspiration points are acquired through the fulfillment of wants, which could, in turn, be used to purchase aspiration rewards. In addition, the game features clear days of the week with weekends when children can stay home from school, vacation days when adults can take time off work.
The Sims 2 is set some 25 years after the original game. For instance, the Goth family has aged significantly with Bella Goth mysteriously vanishing "dying" in the 25-year period. Because the entire game has progressed from 2D sprites to 3D models, all content in The Sims 2 had to be created from the ground up. Due to this, The Sims 2 was not made backwards-compatible with any content from the first generation of the main series. However, some objects and features from the original series were remade for this sequel.
Electronic Arts released eight expansion packs and nine stuff packs for The Sims 2. Over 400 exclusive items were also released for this game via The Sims 2 Store. In addition, exclusive items including pre-order items were released over the life cycle of this generation. All of these releases constitute the second generation of the main series.
The Sims Studio was created in 2006, and between then and 2008 the development of the franchise was slowly handed over to the new studio from Maxis, with the former studio now focusing its resources on its next project — Spore.[citation needed]
The Sims 3[edit]
Electronic Arts released The Sims 3 to retailers worldwide and available by digital download on June 2, 2009.[6] The sequel, developed by The Sims Studio, was announced by EA in November 2006. The game is set 25 years prior the original game, and features an open, seamless neighborhood, improved tools for sim creation, enhanced build and buy mode functions, and the introduction of wishes and goals. The game also introduces a new form of directed gameplay through small, step-wise goals presented as opportunities which the player may choose to pursue or refuse. The Sims 3 sold 1.4 million copies in the first week, making it the largest release in PC gaming history at the time.[7] The game has sold over 10 million copies worldwide since its release.
EA announced on April 8, 2009 that Will Wright, who designed the original game, had left Maxis to run Stupid Fun Club, an entertainment development studio founded in 2001 to develop "new intellectual properties to be deployed across multiple fronts including video games, movies, television, the Internet and toys".[8]
In 2013, an EA restructure saw The Sims Studio reintegrated with the revitalized EA Maxis label, and since the 9th expansion of The Sims 3, University Life, which was released in March 2013, the Sims franchise was back in development control of EA Maxis, including expansion packs and new developments, with The Sims Studio operating inside EA Maxis.
Eleven expansion packs and nine stuff packs were released for the third generation of the series. In addition, many items are available online for additional fees at The Sims 3 Store. The core game and its associated releases constitute the third generation of the main series.
The Sims 4[edit]
Electronic Arts officially announced The Sims 4 on May 6, 2013.[9] At the time of the first announcement, there was little information available about the game short of a logo, some concept art and promotional trailers published to YouTube on August 20, 2013. The announcement did include that the game was in development by EA Maxis, including the Sims Studio teams.
Later on in 2014, further details on features and gameplay were announced. A release date of September 2, 2014 was announced at E3 2014.
As of July 2015, two game packs, one expansion pack, and two stuff packs have been released for the fourth generation of the series. Updates have added content that was previously absent due to time restraints or other reasons, such as basements, ghosts and pools. New careers have also been added.
Other Sims titles[edit]
The Sims Online[edit]
In December 2002, Electronic Arts shipped the Maxis-developed The Sims Online, which was later named EA Land. This online game recreates The Sims as an MMOG, where actual human players can interact with each other. This spin-off did not achieve the same level of success as the original. Reviews for The Sims Online were extremely lackluster. Many reviewers likened The Sims Online experience to an enormous chat room. On August 1, 2008, EA-Land's shops were closed permanently.
The Sims Stories[edit]
The Sims Stories is a series of computer games from The Sims series released in 2007–2008 that is based on a modified version of The Sims 2 engine. This modified game engine is optimized for play on systems with weaker specifications such as laptops. As such, its system requirements are lower than that of The Sims 2, but it can still be played on desktops. One feature of this game, if played on a laptop, is the auto-pause function, which stops and starts the game when the lid is closed and opened, respectively.[10] This series is introduced mainly for 3 segments of the market: those who wish to play The Sims 2 on their laptops (which usually have lower specifications); those who wish to engage in other activities such as instant messaging while playing the game, and; those who are new to the franchise. In addition to a Free Play mode with classic, open-ended game play, the games also contains a structured, linear Story mode where players are required to complete a series of goals in order to progress in the storyline. While Life Stories and Pet Stories each contain two separate stories, Castaway Stories contains one story that is double the length of any one story in the first two games. As an introductory series, major features are removed or modified from those in The Sims 2. For example, fears are completely removed in all three games, and the elder life stage is completely removed in Pet Stories. Officially, the save files from this series are not compatible with the main The Sims 2 games. However, players have experienced success at adapting some files.
Three games have been released to date.[11] There are currently no plans announced to continue this series.
MySims is series of console games created by EA exclusively for the Wii and Nintendo DS (with SkyHeroes being the exception). They feature Chibi-like characters (a tiny bit smaller and similar to the Wii's Mii avatars). The first game in the series was released in September 2007. It is also known for being the first Sim game released in Japan. MySims SkyHeroes, the newest addition to the MySims line of games, was released in September 2010.
The Sims Carnival[edit]
The Sims Carnival was a casual games brand of The Sims. It had two separate product lines. First, it was an online community of crowd-sourced web games. Second, it was a line of packaged game titles sold via retail stores and digital download.
The Sims Medieval[edit]
The Sims Medieval is an action role playing spin-off game released in 2011. It is set in medieval time, and although it is based on The Sims 3 engine, it plays very differently. Unlike the games in The Sims Stories series, The Sims Medieval is a new base game with its own set of expansions called adventure packs.
The Sims Social[edit]
Launched in August 2011, The Sims Social was a Flash-based game developed by Playfish for Facebook. EA announced the game was officially upgraded from Beta to Live status in a press release issued on August 23, 2011.[12] Due to negative responses from players, the game has shut down and was removed from Facebook permanently on June 14, 2013.
Console and handheld versions[edit]
The Sims era[edit]
The Sims is the first console release that shares the same name as the base game in the first generation of the main series.
The Sims Bustin' Out is the second title in The Sims console series. Bustin' Out was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance and N-Gage in the fourth quarter of 2003. As the title suggests, Sims can get out of the house to visit other locations such as Shiny Things Lab or Casa Caliente. There are two modes. Bust Out Mode which has mission based gameplay and Freeplay Mode which is open-ended gameplay very much like the original The Sims PC game. It was the second Sims game to not be on the PC; it was a follow up to The Sims, which was very similar to Bustin' Out, except the aims were shifted to getting job promotions and constantly fulfilling goals to get ahead in the game. The PlayStation 2 version also features the option to play online, though EA no longer supports it.
The Urbz: Sims in the City is a game focused on sims living in an urban setting, presumably within Sim City. The player must earn reputation and complete tasks for characters. It was released for Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. It featured The Black Eyed Peas as NPCs.
The Sims 2 era[edit]
The Sims 2, The Sims 2: Pets, and The Sims 2: Castaway have all been released for various platforms including the Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, and Nintendo DS systems. The Sims 2: Apartment Pets, considered a sequel to The Sims 2: Pets by Electronic Arts, was only released for the Nintendo DS.
In addition, EA has released several The Sims titles for the iPod nano (3rd and 4th generation), and the iPod classic and iPod (5th generation). Some of these titles include: The Sims Bowling,[13] The Sims DJ,[14] and The Sims Pool,[15]
The Sims 3 era[edit]
The Sims 3, The Sims 3: World Adventures, and The Sims 3: Ambitions were released for the iPhone/iPod Touch. In addition, The Sims 3 was also released for Android mobile systems. The Sims 3 was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS in October 2010, and the Wii in November 2010, and the Nintendo 3DS on March 25, 2011 in Europe. The 3DS version of the game was launched with the console. The Sims 3: Pets was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS.
The Sims FreePlay[edit]
The Sims FreePlay, a freemium version of The Sims for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android phones (and tablets) and Kindle Fire was released worldwide on December 15, 2011 for iOS devices, and on February 15, 2012 for Android. The game made it to Kindle Fire in October 2012 and to BlackBerry 10 on July 31, 2013. Unlike other Sims games, The Sims FreePlay runs in real-time and takes real time to complete actions. Players can progress through 52 levels and unlock new content, create up to 31 Sims, build town map buildings, complete goals to earn Lifestyle Points, plant, bake, go to job and school, get married and have a baby (and watch babies grow up), get pets, grow to elder and teach those young ones and much more.
The game is regularly updated with new content and has many events and competitions, announced at FreePlay's official Facebook page. Several updates for the game have been released.
Other media[edit]
Producer John Davis revealed on an interview that he is taking inspiration from John Hughes's 1985 film Weird Science for the movie adaptation.[16]
"What they realize is that they can scan their world in, because this is the most lifelike, real Sims game ever. As they are playing this, they are all of a sudden realising [that] what they are playing on the game is having an effect on the real world. So in effect, through the game, they are able to control their world. It's wish fulfillment, and obviously it turns against them."[17]
The success of The Sims resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series five world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "World's Biggest-Selling Simulation Series" and "Best Selling PC Game of All Time" for the original The Sims game, which sold 16 million units, 100 times EA's original projection of 160,000 units.
See also[edit]
- ^ "The Sims 4 and other upcoming games to watch".
- ^ a b c Seabrook, John (November 6, 2006). "Game Master: Will Wright changed the concept of video games with the Sims. Can he do it again with Spore?". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
- ^ a b "Inspired to make The Sims after losing a home". Berkeleyside. October 17, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
- ^ "Charlie Brooker's How Videogames Changed the World". Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ Walker, Trey (March 22, 2002). "The Sims overtakes Myst". GameSpot. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
- ^ "The Sims 3". GameRankings. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
- ^ Reilly, Jim (July 13, 2009). "The Sims 3 Dominating PC Software Sales". IGN. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
- ^ Terdiman, Daniel (October 7, 2009). "Will Wright speaks about his Stupid Fun Club start-up". CNET News. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
- ^ "Maxis Unveils The Sims 4". EA News. May 6, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
- ^ "About – The Sims Stories". The Sims 2 (EA). Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ "About The Sims Stories: Coming Winter 2008". Yahoo! Games. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ "Sims Social get "Live" Status!".
- ^ "The Sims Bowling for iPod". EAmobile.com. Electronic Arts. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "The Sims DJ for iPod". EAmobile.com. Electronic Arts. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "The Sims Pool for iPod". EAmobile.com. Electronic Arts. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "Producer explains 'Sims' movie concept". Digital Spy. September 22, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
- ^ "Producer John Davis Gives Updates on THE SIMS Movie, the Aliens vs. Predator Movies and Jason and the Argonauts!". Collider.com. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- The Sims at the Wayback Machine (archived June 3, 2002)
- The Sims at the Wayback Machine (archived February 6, 2001)
- The Sims at the Wayback Machine (archived November 9, 2000)
- The Sims at the Wayback Machine (archived October 8, 1999)