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Question: Should I put shredded paper in a paper bag or plastic bag for recycling?
Answer: Shredded paper can be placed in your yard waste cart. It breaks down and can be turned into compost along with the other yard waste. Be sure to place it loose in your cart (no bags) and cover it with some of the yard waste so it won't blow out of the cart if the lid is raised.
Otherwise, take your shredded paper to the Recycling Center in Loveland or at the Larimer County Landfill and place it loose in the office paper roll-off bin. Again, don't put it in a paper or plastic bin and throw the whole bag in. It's all paper and goes to the Recycling Center to be baled. But if you enclose it in a plastic bag that bag has to be manually pulled apart and also might accidentally get baled with other paper.
Very little paper really needs to be shredded. Tear off the information you consider confidential and shred it, then put the rest in with your recycling. Marking through information with a marker can also protect any information you might fear will be seen by others. Once the paper goes into the recycling process the ink gets washed out.
If you do compost at home, use the shredded paper in your own garden. Or offer it to a neighbor who composts.
If you have comments or questions, email email@example.com or call 498-5772.


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Jump to navigation Jump to search
Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) in the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday in the Julian calendar. It was the year that saw the beginning of what became known as World War I.
- Thoughts and pictures come to my mind, . . . thoughts from before the year 1914 when there was real peace, quiet and security on this earth—a time when we didn't know fear. . . . Security and quiet have disappeared from the lives of men since 1914.
- Konrad Adenauer, Cleveland West Parker, January 20, 1966, p. 1. Quoted in the article How We Know We Live in the "Last Days", in The Watchtower magazine, April 1, 1967.
- Since 1914 the world has had a new character: a character of international anarchy.
- H. R. Trevor-Roper, British historian said in 1954. Quoted in the article When Will God's Will Be Done on Earth?, in the The Watchtower magazine, February 1, 1971.
- Everything would get better and better. This was the world I was born in. . . . Suddenly, unexpectedly, one morning in 1914 the whole thing came to an end.
- Harold Macmillan, Stated in 1980 former British prime minister. Quoted in the article The Kingdom and "a Holy Place", in the The Watchtower magazine, September 15, 1982.

subset: commoncrawl


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In my never ending quest to rediscover the old dives of my childhood — yes, I frequented bars in my high school days; one of the advantages of working real jobs with real men — was the discovery of quaint places that were friendly and welcoming.
Unlike today, where it's a gooferment regulated expensive hustle.
Beer in high school was 20 cents; 10 cents if you had id. It was as cheap as soda. The bars then would turn a blind eye to age. And you'd get bounced forever if you were "rude". BUt I digress. When I went into my regular place, the regular tender made a big deal of proofing me. Wonder how he knew? And I got the "legal" price.
But I digress.
I happened to try the "Mad Fox Brewing Company" in Fairfax for "dinner".
And, incomes a patron buying a 'growler' of beer.
Boy, did that bring back old memories.
My father-in-law didn't care for canned or bottled beer; said it gave him gas. So every night, and I mean every night after the family dinner, he go downstairs to the tavern with his ceramic / metal container. I was informed is was a "growler". Conveniently, the tavern was located next door to the apartments. A while later, he'd return with a growler full of draft beer.
When the growler was "dirty". (It had to be cleaned and seasoned. Never learned what all that was.) He'd get cardboard ones. But they deteriorated quickly.
SO, any way, as much as I try to escape the past, it seems to haunt me.
Girls basketball on TV too.
Just in case I might forget.


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- Riding Mower Safety
- Walk Behind Mower Safety
- Single Stage Snow Thrower Safety
- Two Stage Snow Thrower Safety
Single Stage Snow Thrower Safety
Before you start your engine for the first time this season, check out these general safety and maintenance tips. Remember to thoroughly review your operator's manual or engine manual before doing any maintenance work.
Winter Safety Facts:
- Shoveling snow may cause a quick and sometimes dangerous increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
- Dehydration is just as big an issue in the winter months as it is in the summer. So stay hydrated.
- Shoveling snow is like picking up weights, it's a lot of work.
- When shoveling snow, cold air can make it harder to breathe, which adds extra strain on the whole body.
- Shoveling snow can be considered vigorous activity even for healthy, college-aged people.
- Researchers have reported an increase in the number of fatal heart attacks among snow shovelers after heavy snowfalls.
- The sooner you start clearing after a snowfall the better. As snow sits for several days, it compacts and becomes heavier.
If the snow thrower was folded up for compact, convenient storage, unfold it and securely tighten all the hardware.
Identify the type of snow thrower you have - whether it is a single-stage or a two-stage machine - and reference resources, such as your operator's manual, engine manual or this website, to maintain and prepare your snow thrower for safe operation throughout the winter.
Gather your resources: Review your Operator's Manual and Engine Manual. These resources provide safety and maintenance information specific to your unit.
General Tips
- First time of the year starting: If the unit has been sitting for a long period of time with fuel in it, there is a possibility that the fuel is poor and needs to be purged through the system. Make certain fresh fuel was added and slowly and deliberately prime the unit as specified by the engine manufacturer. This should flush the broken down fuel and possible debris through and get the fresh fuel flowing.
- Change your oil and spark plug at the beginning of each season.
- Even if it doesn't snow, throughout the season, regularly run the unit once a month to circulate the fuel.
- Proper Tire Inflation: To properly inflate your tire and prevent over-inflation, use a manual pump or portable electric tire inflator. Never use an air compressor. Snow thrower tires are low volume, low psi tires. Air compressors are high volume, high psi machines capable of over-inflating a tire possibly causing it or the rim to burst.
- Never attempt to repair a unit while the engine is running. Turn off the engine and wait for the unit to come to a complete stop before you begin any repairs.
- Visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site to obtain industry-wide information and updates BEFORE you prepare and operate your snow thrower for the season. This is a place to identify if there are any safety releases or recalls that need your attention prior to, or in tandem with, preparing the snow throwers for the season.
Snow removal from your driveway and sidewalks can be quick and efficient when you know how to approach it safely and with consideration. Here are a few easy steps to keep you efficient and safe:
|Know which way the wind is blowing.
The first step in throwing snow safely and efficiently is to throw snow with the wind, never against it. Implementing this practice will ensure safe visibility of what is in front of you and can prevent re-doing the same areas over again. Wind directions change as you are throwing snow so be sure to adjust your approach accordingly.
|Plan in advance where the snow is to be accumulated.
Snow accumulation may get very high over a winter season, depending on your area. This height can present safety and security issues, so care needs to be taken to avoid any problems.
|Decide on a pattern to clear snow.
Your best pattern should be determined by wind speed and direction, how powerful your machine is (how far it is capable of throwing the snow), and the moisture content of the snow. Bear in mind that your goal is to throw the snow one time only.
|Review the safe operating practices of your snow thrower at each snow season.
As with any type of power equipment, carelessness or error on the part of the operator can result in serious injury. Our operator manuals provide an Important Safe Operation Practices section that contains important training and preparation information. This section of our manual also provides safe practice information as it relates to proper operation, maintenance and storage of your unit along with safe handling of gasoline and other safety knowledge. These safe operation practices should be reviewed at the beginning of each snow season.
- These smaller units are generally powered by 110 volt electric motors, and are best for clearing sidewalks, patios and confined areas. An extension cord is required to provide the electricity from the house to the snow thrower, and it is important to review the operator's manual(s) to identify the required extension cord gauge. Always use an extension cord rated for OUTDOOR USE.
- Make certain the extension cord is removed from the unit and rotate the auger, or rotor, one or more rotations, making certain there is no obstruction or debris.
- If equipped, make certain the rubber portion of the auger is not worn out and in need of replacement. If it is, review the operator's manual(s) for replacement.
- Observe the extension cord and make certain it is in good condition for the season. Connect the extension cord to the unit and then to the house. Operate the unit in accordance with the operator's manual(s) to make certain it is ready for the season. Disconnect the extension cord and set it aside.
- Snow Tip: If there was a noticeable change in performance the prior year, chances are the rubber portion is worn to a point where the unit will not throw the snow properly. In general, you should not see a gap of more than 1/2 inch between the auger and the auger housing.
- Gas powered single-stage snow throwers are ideal for areas that receive light to semi-moderate snow falls, and are good for clearing driveways that are no larger than a single-car, up to two-car width, and a few car lengths long.
- Many of the gas engines powering these single-stage snow throwers today are 4-cycle and run on the same fuel you put into your car, making it convenient to pick up fuel while filling up your vehicle.
- The engine oil, like your automobile, is separate of the fuel. It is filled and monitored at a separate location or by a dipstick. If you have not done so already, review the engine operator's manual for this procedure.
- There are also single-stage units that are powered by 2-cycle engines that require the gas and oil to be mixed at a given ratio. It is very important that you make certain you do not use straight gas to fuel a 2-cycle engine since the engine will be permanently damaged if you do.
- Many times the mix ratio is embossed on the fuel cap, but it is best to review the operator's manual(s) for clarity on how to achieve the correct ratio.
- For 4-cycle single-stage units, put in some fresh fuel and check to make certain the oil is at the proper level.
- For 2-cycle units, mix up the correct ratio of fresh fuel and oil in a separate fuel container and then fill the tank.
- The spark plug should be changed before each season.
- Review the engine manufacturer's manual and snow thrower manual(s) if necessary for spark plug maintenance. Generally speaking, remove the spark plug, make certain the spark plug gap is set properly and install the new spark plug.
- To observe that the engine pulls over smoothly and no rodents have created a nest while in storage make certain the ignition key is removed, if equipped, the throttle is in the stop or off position and slowly pull the recoil starter. If you have unwanted visitors, clean the unit or contact your local dealer for assistance.
- Make certain the rubber portion of the auger is not worn out and in need of replacement. If there was a noticeable change in performance the prior year, chances are the rubber portion is worn to a point where the unit will not throw the snow properly. Review the operator's manual for replacement instructions.
- Observe the bottom scraper and make certain it is not worn out. Some models have reversible scrapers that can be removed, flipped 180 degrees and reinstalled. If not, review the operator's manual for scraper replacement instructions.
- If your snow thrower is equipped with an electric starter, locate the electric starter cord and make certain it is in good condition for the season.
- Connect the cord to the electric starter and then to the house. Operate the electric starter in accordance with the operator's manual(s) to make certain it is ready for the season.
- Prime the engine as directed and fully choke the engine. If it is equipped, move the throttle to the fast position and either push the electric start button or pull the recoil. If the unit attempts to start, open the choke slightly. If the unit does not attempt to start, repeat the steps above.
- Most single-stage snow throwers have a safety engagement bail that engages and disengages the auger. Slowly close the safety engagement bail to the handlebar and make certain the auger engages and rotates. Release the bail from the handlebar and make certain the auger disengages and stops completely.
- While the safety engagement bail is engaged, test the auger by tipping the unit forward and tilting the auger to the ground. If the auger continues to rotate and not slow down, it is working properly. If the auger slows down, adjust the tension to the belt and repeat the above step. Review the operator's manual for correct adjustment. If the auger slows down and the adjustment does not work, the auger belt may be worn. Review the operator's manual for belt replacement. If the auger does not stop rotating when the bail is released, the auger belt or the adjustment is not working. Consult your operator's manual or a professional repair technician for assistance. Never attempt any repair or adjustment while the engine is on. Turn it off and wait for all moving parts to stop.


text: peoplefoundry 0 Report post Posted February 5, 2014 Hi all, we are looking for a Javascript front-end (UI) superstar to join a very exciting global SaaS vendor. Their Dev team are based in York, and ideally we are looking for people from that area or the UK, but will entertain applications from very talented Javascript people further afield. If you are experienced in client-side controls for stuff like charting, grids, drag & drop, wiring up etc then please do get in touch:http://www.thepeoplefoundry.com/jobs...eveloper-york/Many thanks, Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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My film CRY FOR BOBO plays another film festival, more than eleven years after it was made. Feels good that I'm about to have another movie on the festival circuit…
The fest is this one, The Totally Illegal Film Festival, curated by Scout Tafoya, who has had the brilliant idea of not only programming my short, and Mark Cousins' charming, personal flaneur-film WHAT IS THIS FILM CALLED LOVE?, and Dan Sallitt's delight THE UNSPEAKABLE ACT, but of reassembling the programme of the 1968 Cannes Film Festival — the one which didn't happen due to Les Evenements.
So residents of Pennsylvania and visitors to that great state can have the pleasure of seeing what the residents of 1968 missed. I gather Scout has scouted up practically everything, save for the Menahem Golan entry, which even Menahem Golan himself couldn't supply a copy of.
(Interesting to think of young Golan in those days as a budding arthouse director, and interesting to speculate that the festival's cancellation may have cut short this career, leading instead to his becoming an exploitation maven and short-lived movie mogul. When Golan was co-running Cannon films, he produced Jean-Luc Godard's KING LEAR: FEAR AND LOATHING, with a deal memo signed on a restaurant napkin — perhaps he was grateful for JLG's intervention sending him off in this direction.)
The '68 festival would have included Richard Lester's PETULIA, whose commercial prospects were dunted by the resulting damage to its release schedule, along with fascinating rarities like Frank Perry's TRILOGY, Alain Resnais's JE T'AIME, JE T'AIME, and Miklos Jancso's THE CONFRONTATION, plus numerous movies that have fallen out of the collective critical consciousness altogether. Should make for a fascinating time capsule.


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Sanitation Markets: Using economics to improve the delivery of services along the sanitation value chain, 2012.
Sophie Trémolet. SHARE.
In summary, a number of actions could be undertaken based on these findings:
- Make the case for investment in sanitation;
- Channel financing more effectively and increase the effectiveness of public funding;
- Foster demand for sanitation at all levels of the value chain;
- Influence the restructuring of the provision of transport services for on-site sanitation, particularly by formalising small-scale private providers,
- Estimate the value of the various sanitation by-products and identify ways of monetizing such value in a sustainable manner through reuse.
In order to support future actions, key areas of research should be explored, including:
- Improve the estimates of the benefits of investing in sanitation and compare the benefits with the costs of sanitation in a broader range of countries and local contexts, as well as evaluate the cost-effectiveness of alternative investments;
- Identify the most effective financing mechanisms, including ways of attracting new resources into the sector (e.g. from beneficiaries) and via re-use and overcoming the affordability constraint;
- Identify ways of stimulating demand and overcome information asymmetry for households, entrepreneurs or even the government;
- Identify ways of organising service provision and scaling-up of small-scale entrepreneurs.
Sanitation economics research has a critical role to play and should be fostered. On this basis, budding and ineffective sanitation markets can be transformed into thriving markets where the full value of sanitation by-products is fully realised and reinvested into the system so as to foster increased investments and generate efficiency gains.


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We loved FastMac's TruePower MacBook Pro batteries at CES and MacWorld, which kept us going long after the standard MBP battery would have given out. That's why we recommend these FastMac MacBook batteries MacBook owners that need backup power for the road.
They come in both white and black models to fit your color, and run only $99.95, $30 less than the $129 the standard one costs. You can pre-order now, which will ship in about 30 days. There's nothing like popping in a freshly charged battery when you're low on juice and hearing, "Sir? Please, your wife's having a sonogram and I think that's interfering with our systems."


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There are a lot of myths about condoms, so make sure that you are aware of the facts before you have sex.
Check for the CE mark
MYTH: It's safer if you use two condoms.
TRUTH: No it isn't. Using two condoms at once is a really bad idea, whether it's two male condoms or a male and female condom. It increases the chances of them ripping. Only use one at a time.
MYTH: Condoms break easily.
TRUTH: No they don't. To avoid a condom breaking, you need to put it on carefully, ensuring there's no air bubble at the end. Be careful of sharp nails, jewellery or teeth. If the condom won't roll down, it's the wrong way round. Throw this condom away and start again with a new one as there could be semen on the tip of the previous condom.
If a condom breaks and you're not using any other contraception, go to a clinic, pharmacist or doctor as soon as possible and ask about emergency contraception. You'll also need to get tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
MYTH: Condoms are the only type of contraception I need to think about.
TRUTH: No they're not. Condoms can provide protection from STIs and unintended pregnancy. But to ensure the best protection, it is recommended that you and your partner use a condom and another form of contraception. There are many different types of contraception that can be used, including the implant, injection, coil or the pill. It's worth exploring all options.
MYTH: You need extra lube. Vaseline is good.
TRUTH: No it's not. A bit of extra lubrication is good but don't use anything with oil in it as it can dissolve the condom – that includes baby oil, Vaseline and hand cream. Lipstick has oil in it too. Use a water-based lubricant, such as KY jelly or Durex Play from a pharmacy.
MYTH: Condoms make me less sensitive.
TRUTH: Using a condom doesn't have to spoil the moment. They can make some men last longer before they come, which is good news for both of you. There are many different sizes, shapes, colours, textures and flavours of condoms, so enjoy finding the one that suits you both best.
MYTH: Condoms cut off my circulation.
TRUTH: No they don't. A condom can stretch to 18 inches round. There are many different shapes and sizes that you can try.
MYTH: My girlfriend is on the pill, so we don't need condoms.
TRUTH: Yes you do. The pill does not protect you or your partner from STIs. Also, if your girlfriend forgets to take a pill, has been sick or has been using antibiotics, the effectiveness of the pill is lower and she could still get pregnant.
MYTH: If I ask to use a condom, my partner will think less of me.
TRUTH: Insisting that you use a condom suggests that you know how to take care of yourself and shows that you know what you want, which can be very sexy.
MYTH: You don't need a condom if you're having oral sex.
TRUTH: Yes you do. You should use a condom for oral sexbecause gonorrhoea, chlamydia and herpes can be passed this way.
MYTH: You have to be 18 to buy condoms.
TRUTH: No you don't, you can buy condoms at any age. You can also get them free at any age, plus confidential advice, from community contraception clinics (formerly family planning clinics, sexual health (GUM) clinics, further education colleges and young people's clinics.
MYTH: I don't need a condom – I only sleep with nice people.
TRUTH: STIs don't know or care if you're nice or not. The way someone looks is no indicator of whether they have an STI. Many STIs don't show any symptoms, so you could infect each other without even knowing it.
MYTH: If it's a condom, it's safe.
TRUTH: Not necessarily – novelty condoms aren't safe. Always choose condoms that carry the European CE or Kite mark, which is a recognised safety standard. Also check the date on the packet, because condoms don't last forever.
Information Courtesy "http://www.nhs.uk/"


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Ted Aljibe / AFP - Getty Images
A museum employee displays some of the shoes of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, next to her portrait at the shoe museum in Manila on Wednesday.
Romeo Ranoco / Reuters
Workers do minor repairs on shoes belonging to former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos in a shoe factory in Marikina city, east of Manila on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012. The shoes, which were part of a display at the Marikina Shoe Museum, were repaired by the city government of Marikina, shoe capital of the Philippines, after they were damaged by floods brought by southwest monsoon rains last month.
Read more: Neglect ruins Imelda Marcos' vast shoe collection
Romeo Ranoco / Reuters
A volunteer cleans shoes of former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos on display on Wednesday.


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2005 SOS 5th and 8th grade Math. Non smoking home. Barely used.
$40 each includes Media Rate shipping within the lower 48 states.
Julie Wilkinson in OKlahoma
FS SOS 5th and 8th Math
Are your children done using their curriculum? Trade it to someone else!
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SOS 5th and 8th
Can you tell me what year these are? Thanks.
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Saturday, December 20, 2008
Prince Lasha (1929-2008)
Prince Lasha passed away on December 12 in Oakland. His funeral was today.
A teenage friend of Ornette Coleman's in Fort Worth, Texas, Lasha started out on alto. He befriended Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane early in his career. Lasha would record with Eric Dolphy and, perhaps most notably, with Coltrane's rhythm section on the 1963 LP "Illumination!"
Click here to hear "Nuttin' Out Jones" (a Lasha composition) from that session. Lasha blows fire from his clarinet.
Prince Lasha only made a handful of albums as a leader. The easiest one to find for downloading is "Inside Story," a 1965 recording featuring Herbie Hancock in his youthful prime. Click here to hear "Kwadwo Safari." Lasha starts on flute before switching to sax.
(Amazingly, CBS Records wouldn't release "Inside Story" when it was made. The German label Enja put it out in the '70s.)
The virtual disappearance of Prince Lasha has been a longtime riddle for jazz fans. Seems he spent the '80s and '90s as a real estate agent.
Saxophonist Odean Pope collaborated with Lasha on a 2005 disc called "The Mystery of Prince Lasha." Even before that, Pope had composed a tribute to him. Click here to hear Pope's 1999 track "Prince La Sha."
To read a long and interesting biographical interview with Prince Lasha from 2005, follow this link to AllAboutJazz.com.
8 comments:
I,m the unspoken of son of prince lasha i,m RONNIE STARR i,m on his record labels license as vice president... i and his long time friend alistarr mckloskey will be contacting the necessary people for arrangements i,m pissed cause m,y fathers dead and i didnt even know until it was to late and missed the burial ...further more i don,t even know what happened ..if or Shauwnette moffette is out there someone get him my number he knows who i am 620 222-1373 anybody with any info for me please call anytime i,m on the west coast in oakland p;ease and thank u father and god for your music i will carry it on untill were together again
- December 21, 2008 at 1:18 AM
- DeAngelo Starnes said...
That was some baad ass shit, Dave. That's one of my favorite jazz sounds, too. Love that. Gonna order some as a Kwanzaa present to myself. Thanks dawg.
- December 21, 2008 at 10:13 AM
- chuckdafonk said...
You picked some of my favorite Prince Lasha songs. 'Congo Call' was my favorite and we just were working with Prince Lasha on a new version. I loved that man.
- December 21, 2008 at 5:04 PM
- Undercover Black Man said...
^ Chuck da Fonk! Welcome to my spot. I remember you from the old rec.music.funky days.
- December 21, 2008 at 5:18 PM
Mister star Your post is in the porest taste,you do a grave dishoner to the memory of this great and loved man and your gread and selfish motives prevented you from saying anything worthy of this mans memories,I like anyone who knew and loved the man will miss him dearly and carry his memories, all the laughter, all the dreams he shared close to our hearts and not like some type of pig use a message board about his death as a way to blow your own horn, shame on you and I am sure you will receive all you have EARNED , I miss you prince Steve
- December 25, 2008 at 4:20 AM
I'm the granddaughter of Prince Lasha. I will miss him very much. however I did get the chance to spend time with him before he passed. I will forever have the memory of when he told me:"Listen to take time to feel". I will never forget his smile and his positive attitude even wile in the hospital. He was a fine man. I'm so glad I share his blood.
xoxo always, LaToya Lawsha
- December 25, 2008 at 10:47 PM
- Undercover Black Man said...
^ Thanks, LaToya. My thoughts are with your family.
- December 27, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Dear Sweet Prince, I miss you so and will always live with the new spirit you shared with me. I listen to your music daily. My sincere condolences to everyone who loves you. We all will miss your beautiful style and elegance.
- January 8, 2009 at 10:07 AM


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The 16-year-old star of the Oscar-nominated "War Witch" has been granted a visa to travel from Congo for the Academy Awards.
The film's distributor, Tribeca Film, said Wednesday that Rachel Mwanza (MWAHN'-zuh) will be able to attend upcoming award shows, including Sunday's Oscars.
"War Witch," directed by Montreal filmmaker Kim Nguyen (WIN), is nominated for best foreign language film as Canada's submission.
Shot entirely in the Congo, Mwanza was cast despite no prior acting experience. She had been living at her grandmother's house and on the streets before Nguyen picked her to play a child soldier caught up in an unspecified African revolution.
Mwanza won best actress at both the Berlin Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival last year. "War Witch" opens in New York theaters March 1.


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Malcolm is talking from a different context. Archaya Mahayogi Shridhar Rinpoche is talking about a different context (his point is not 'things are real, yet dream-like'). I am perfectly fine with describing everything as illusory as it is true that everything is unreal (as long as it is not mistaken to mean a dream that ceases and changes to an alternate or underlying absolute reality like Brahman upon waking up), or describing everything as like an illusion (as long as it is not being mistaken with a realist view of things being real yet resembling an illusion). As I wrote recently:Lotus_Bitch wrote: Damn, I really am confused. Thanks for posting this (Malcolm isn't a Loppon for nothing.) Do you think it completely undermines the whole article? I'm guessing the answer would be yes, huh?
Also, I beg to differ that the blog is complete nonsense. It has a bunch of articles from different traditions and different masters (some of ChNN's stuff is on there) and from people in the real world who has direct insight into Buddhas teachings. Though, not everyone would agree, but whatevs.
Can you post a link to the thread you quoted from?
To taiyaki: I think Namdrol/Malcolm was very insistent that it (what is empty) is not 'like an illusion' but really what is empty is 'illusory'. He made the comment that 'like an illusion' is still a realist POV. He has some good points there. Indeed 'like an illusion' should not be mistaken to mean something is real yet dream-like. It is pointing out that what appears is utterly empty of any real existence.
However, 'like an illusion but not an illusion' also points out that our perceptions are not something fabricated or projected in a way that they cease after 'waking up', as if when we 'wake up', we find an alternate or ultimate reality that transcends or lies beyond the appearances. There is in fact no ultimate reality beyond appearance, though there is the ultimate truth of emptiness, which is inseparable from luminous clarity and the appearances/display. Your awakening does not alter your pure sensory experience which pretty much goes on the same way (they are certainly not like a dream that disappears when you wake up), except now you are no longer projecting false imputations, and you are truly 'tasting' the vividness/luminosity of everything without any projection of self/Self.


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Using Tracking Bugs
Handling tracking bugs in Bugzilla
Parent Bug
Let's imagine a situation where a security flaw was found in yoyodine package. A member of Fedora Security Response team enters it in bugzilla under Security Response Team. Then he requests a CVE identifier for the issue. As he found the mention of the bug while reading a public mailing list, he creates a public bug. When he gets the CVE for the bug, he adds it to the begining of the Summary line and sets an appropriate alias=CVE number.
- Parent bug is entered in the Security Response product
- Parent bug's subject begins with the CVE
- Parent bug is publicly viewable
- Parent bug has an alias=CVE
- Parent bug is assigned to the Redhat Security Response team
- Parent bug has a Security keyword set
Tracking Bugs
As the bug obviously affects yoyodine package, he triages it and finds that it affects all supported Fedora releases, and also EPEL. He creates appropriate tracking bugs (with a script). Later it is found out that the vulnerable code is reused in foobar package that is present in EPEL5 (common situation with xpdf code). He adds appropriate tracking bug.
- Tracking bug is depended on by / blocks the Parent bug
- Tracking bug is entered into respective Product/Component/Version where the flaw needs to be addresed
- Tracking bug is assigned to the default owner of the bug reports for a certain component
- The description of the tracking bug doesn't contain information about the flaw, but rather refers to the Parent bug and describes how to handle the flaw
- Tracking bug has a Security and the SecurityTracking keyword set
The situation then looks like this:
(public, alias=CVE-2007-9999) |- #111111: CVE-2007-4631 Yoyodine stack overflow via a long do_nothing() argument [rawhide] | (group Fedora Project Contributors, component=yoyodine) |- #222222: CVE-2007-4631 Yoyodine stack overflow via a long do_nothing() argument [F15] | (group Fedora Project Contributors, component=yoyodine) |- #333333: CVE-2007-4631 Yoyodine stack overflow via a long do_nothing() argument [F14] | (group Fedora Project Contributors, component=yoyodine) |- #444444: CVE-2007-4631 Yoyodine stack overflow via a long do_nothing() argument [EPEL5] | (group Fedora Project Contributors, component=foobar)
Handling CVE bugs by maintainers
for each tracking bug (refers to a single branch):
- if the version in this branch is not affected, close this particular tracking bug
- otherwise commit the fixes and create a new build
- create a new update request in bodhi
- refer to the Parent bug and the Tracking bug
- select Close bugs when update is stable
- don't explicitly refer to the CVE from in the notes text box, the reference is implicit created by referring both bugs
That's all. The rest will happen automatically.
Handling Tracking bugs in bodhi
- Bodhi is able to identify if a bug is a tracking bug and doesn't include it in the new package announce mail.
- Bodhi closes the tracking bug, and in case all other bugs that Parent depends on it also closes the Parent.
- To keep track, Bodhi adds comments to both Parent and Tracking bug.
- Bodhi includes the bug belonging to Fedora Project Contributors in the mail.
- Bodhi closes the bug only in case all bugs it depends on are closed and it is not in NEW state.
- Bodhi includes the Summary of the bugzillas rather than just the number, so that reference to CVE is visible in the mail.
- Bodhi adds comments to the bugs when the update is created, and pushed to testing, not just when it gets live.
The References section in update announce mails looks like:
References: [ 1 ] CVE-2007-4727 FastCGI header overrun in lighttpd's mod_fastcgi https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=284511


text:
Grey's Anatomy Scrubs
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- 37 Inch 5 Pocket Lab CoatMen's Lab Coats$44.99 - $52.99ITEM #914
- 30 Inch Consultation Lab CoatMen's Lab Coats$50.99ITEM #0916


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A major overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system is headed to the White House after final congressional approval of a $63 billion bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration for the next four years.
The bill, the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, aims at making air travel more efficient and safer, while avoiding tax increases for passengers and carriers.
At the core of the bipartisan bill is the provision that will allow the FAA to fund the Next Generation Air Transportation System, commonly known as NextGen. This project will transition the nation's decades-old air traffic control from one based on radar to one based on GPS satellites.
The new technology's precision in locating planes in the sky will allow for a greater number of airplanes to be flying at a given time. It will also open the possibility for more direct, fuel-efficient routes.
"The bill modernizes our antiquated air traffic control system and moves us one step closer to a more efficient and effective use of our national airspace," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Dallas, who is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Hutchison, along with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, had aggressively pushed for the bill, which will virtually impact all major airports in the country including the Houston Airport System.
The bill, approved by a 75 to 20 vote, will require the FAA to expedite the implementation of performance-based navigation procedures at major airports, allowing the airlines to improve on-time performance and fuel efficiency, and reduce aircraft emissions and noise, according to Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines.
The federal government had already deemed improvements at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport a priority. In October, the Obama Administration included the airport in a group of 14 infrastructure projects around the country selected to be completed within 18 months.
Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport is the 7th busiest airport in the U.S. for total passenger traffic and international passenger traffic. More than 700 flights take off from this airport every day. More than 40.4 million passengers used the facility in 2010.
The bill cleared the House last week and is now headed to the White House, where President Obama is expected to sign it.
Before the bill's passage on Monday, the FAA had operated under 23 short-term bills since 2007. A dispute among lawmakers this summer resulted on a two-week-long partial shutdown of the agency. The interruption sent 4,000 federal workers on furloughs, halted runway construction and cost the government nearly $350 million in uncollected ticket taxes.


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Today the Cubs officially introduced new signing Kyuji Fujikawa, because any time you can lock up a 32-year-old middle reliever who's never pitched in the MLB for two years and $9.5 million, you have to pull the trigger. Fujikawa met with the media at Wrigley Field, and though he speaks a decent amount of English, he felt more comfortable answering questions through a translator.
And because these are the Cubs, this happened:
There may have been a miscommunication between Fujikawa and his translator when Fujikawa was asked about the possibility of being traded from the Cubs this year if the team struggles.
"It's up to the team, I don't care," Fujikawa said via translator.
Fujikawa quickly interrupted his translator to clarify that no, he wants to stay with Chicago even if they're terrible, and yes, he's in this to help his young teammates get better. Let's wait until he sees Starlin Castro leisurely jog out a ground ball for the 18th time, and see what he says then.
[CBS Chicago, h/t Chris]


text:
Before approving Food Stamps, determine the INS status of noncitizen unit members who are applying for benefits for themselves and are willing to provide INS status information.
NOTE: For a noncitizen unit member who is unwilling or unable to provide INS status information, do not ask about the member's status. The person is an ineligible unit member whose INS status does not
have to be verified. The rest of the unit can qualify without that member.
INS documents are the primary source of verification. But a noncitizen who does not have proper INS documents, can explain why, and provide other INS documents or statements verifying their INS status.
A noncitizen whose status is questionable is ineligible, unless the unit is entitled to expedited service. Determine eligibility for the rest of the unit.
When proof of INS status is provided, verify the status through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), except for a trafficking victim (see WAG


text:
A Roth IRA can help you plan for your retirement and increase your investment options for your future retirement. Unlike the Traditional IRA, the Roth IRA contributions are not tax-deductible; rather, earnings and qualified distributions are tax-free. It's simply the smart way to invest in your future.
Fixed Rate: You may choose from 1-year, 18-month, 2-year, 2.5 year, 3-year, 4-year, or 5-year terms, which pay a fixed rate of interest for the length of the term.
Variable Rate: You may choose from 24, 36 or 60-month terms. Additional deposits can be added to variable IRAs in increments of at least $100. The rates on variable IRAs are indexed to the yields on Treasury Securities with matching maturities and are adjusted monthly.
There are substantial penalties for early withdrawals of principal. IRS penalties may also apply. (Consult your tax adviser).


text:
BAGHDAD (AP) — Attacks across Iraq, including a series of bombings targeting shoppers in a Sunni neighborhood in the country's capital, killed at least 16 people Saturday, authorities said.
The deadliest attacks struck Baghdad's predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Dora. Saturday morning, police said two bombs exploded on busy commercial streets, killing four people. That night, police said three more bomb blasts in the same area killed five people and wounded 10.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, though Shiite militants have retaliated in the past for Sunni insurgent groups killing their own. The Sunni-led violence, part of a series of stepped-up attacks since last year, aims at undermining Iraq's Shiite-led government ahead of a crucial vote later this month.
Outside of Baghdad, police said a suicide bomber killed five soldiers and wounded eight at a checkpoint in Mishada, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the capital. Also Saturday, police said a roadside bomb killed two soldiers on patrol and wounded five people in Tarmiyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad.
Health officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.
Last year, Iraq weathered its deadliest bout of violence since it pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008. United Nations figures show that violence killed 8,868 people in 2012.
Saturday's attacks also come as Iraq is heading toward a crucial parliamentary election on April 30, its first since the 2011 U.S. troop pullout.
More than 9,000 candidates will vie for 328 seats in parliament, but there will be no balloting in parts of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, which is engulfed in clashes between security forces and al-Qaida-inspired militants. The militants have seized and are continuing to hold parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, and nearly all of the nearby city of Fallujah.


text:
You must register to post or download hacks.
If you are having any issues, shoot us an email, Contact MPGH Support.
As always, have fun and enjoy your stay!
- MPGH Staff
hey its me hady on cf na with you on the clan XD got banned from herer too XP
Dual-Keyboard Member


text:
Continuing Supporting Memberships benefit the work of The John Birch Society by building a solid financial base. This consistent monthly support allows the Society to better plan and budget.
This gives you the opportunity to download the donation form, which you may use to mail in with your generous monetary donation.
This gives you the opportunity to learn more and request a Free Pan Your Estate DVD.


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The Legend of Zelda is a digital journey, but this particular journey transcends the digital. And it transcends the console, too.
The paper effects you see off the computer (iPhone, iPad, etc) screens were rendered on Final Cut after the video was taken, but everything else is simply a matter of syncing up the individual videos on their respective devices. Must've taken quite a bit of effort to make sure they came out just right. You can check out the behind the scenes video to see more about how it was made.
The Legend of Digital Zelda [YouTube via Viral Viral Videos]


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Suspended in a bucket at the top of a ladder truck more than 100 feet above the Town of Newburgh, Cronomer
Valley Fire Department Chief Andrew DeGraw peered at a community that's changed over the years.
Where 20 years ago, the department had about 100 active members, they now have about 65. The reasons vary from people having to work more to get by, to not working in the area at all, according to fire officials.
"More people work outside the community," said DeGraw, explaining the lower numbers of firefighters. "I think everyone is in a bind."
Over the weekend, more than three dozen local fire companies tried to reverse that trend.
They joined nearly 600 fire companies around the state, taking part in Recruit NY 2013 —the latest effort by the Firemen's Association of the State of New York to bring more volunteers into the fold.
Residents would be hard-pressed to handle emergencies without these volunteers.
Only Kingston, Middletown, Newburgh and the Stewart Air National Guard have paid firefighters. The other nearly 200 volunteer fire departments in Sullivan, Ulster and Orange counties are served by more than 4,000 unpaid residents.
They keep the myriad trucks, cars and pumpers going 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
They battle home blazes and building and brush fires, rescue cats and dogs, pump out basements, pull victims from smashed cars and do dozens of other things.
How many calls did they answer in 2012 across the region? More than 40,000 by a conservative estimate.
On Sunday, at the Good-Will Fire Department on South Plank Road, firefighters and possible recruits got to slice through the metal of a junked car with pneumatic shears, blast buckets and barrels with a high-pressure water hose and try on rubber boots, gear and oxygen tanks.
Chief Ray VanInwegen, a third-generation firefighter, said the best way to gain new recruits is to let them try a slice of the life for themselves.
By 1 p.m., about seven had shown up interested in joining. Of those, he hoped three or four would become firefighters. Though his department has enough firefighters now, the future is a concern, said VanInwegen.
"The biggest thing is training," said VanInwegen, who said firefighters go through more than 100 hours of training in the first year.
Michael Congelosi, second assistant chief of the Neversink Fire Department in Sullivan County, said that, like many departments around the state, they've seen "some decline" in membership in recent years — and he understands why.
"Many people are working two or three jobs, trying to make ends meet," Congelosi said. "There's a lot of training involved (when you're a firefighter). Time is a factor."
While the numbers aren't down to the point that they can't do the job, Congelosi said, "If we had a few more hands, that would be great."
Monticello fire Chief Mark Friedland said recruiting often "goes in spurts." They got four or five applicants in last year's recruitment effort, but only two became department members.
To be sure, being a volunteer firefighter is different from volunteering with, say, the local Little League.
There is danger, and not just the kind you'd expect, such as running into a burning building.
For instance, last Christmas Eve in Webster, a City of Rochester suburb, for reasons that remain unclear, a man set fire to a house and car, then fired a gun at responding firefighters.
Two firefighters were killed and two more were wounded, along with an off-duty police officer, before the man shot and killed himself.
In March, firefighters and police thought they had a similar situation in Shokan, Ulster County. They initially believed shots were being fired, possibly at them, and waited before approaching a burning barn. The shots later were said to be caused by ammo overheating.
Firefighters and potential firefighters think about the dangers.
"They're not brushing it off; They're being more cautious in their response," said Jim Burns, president of FASNY. That said, Burns said he's heard that in Webster, the incident actually spurred more firefighters to join.
Focus groups conducted by FASNY show the diminishing recruitment of firefighters has less to do with a rogue gunman and more to do with what most expect a firefighter will one day face: Running into a burning building. Burns said that when asked, both civilians and firefighters said they fear running into a burning building.
Sidney Zimmerman, 23, had volunteering on his mind Sunday — not life-threatening dangers, when he visited the Esopus Fire Department's open house.
"I see it as a business. There is always going to be risks," he said.
Esopus Fire Chief Mike Cafaldo Jr. said he hopes to pick up a couple of new recruits from Sunday's open house. With 35 active members, he could still use another 10-15 to answer the 200-250 calls the department gets a year.
FASNY's Burns said that young people often need to move away from where they grew up in order to find a job.
Some local departments are trying to recruit volunteers right out of high school, in the hopes they'll come back to the community after college.
Last week, Neversink's Congelosi joined representatives from the Woodbourne, Grahamsville and Claryville fire departments in speaking to juniors and seniors at Tri-Valley High School about joining their local fire department. Congelosi also represented Loch Sheldrake, which didn't have someone available to go to the school.
Monticello's Friedland, whose department also has a number of 16- to-18-year-old members, said they serve more as support staff, and they don't go into burning buildings. But he also said that many of the department's regular firefighters began at that age.
At the Cronomer Valley firehouse, Brandy Anderson, 16, of Newburgh got geared up and ready to climb 100 feet on the department's highlighter-yellow aerial truck.
Anderson's reason to be a firefighter was pretty simple.
"It's the fact that one of these days, you might be able to save someone's life," said Anderson.
-- Staff writer Paul Brooks contributed to this report.


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Hi, this is my setup:Gigabyte Ds3-L Q6600 2gb OCZ platinum ddr2-800120gb 7800rpm sata320mb 8800gts sound blaster audigy 2 zsstock fanIm wondering what if any level of overclocking is safe to run with stock cooling...?
Dear OC'ing Community,
I'm coming to you since I see all over the place people and reviewers OCing their R7 CPU to 3.9ghz, 4.0ghz, while I can't succeed in having anything decent (even 3.7ghz fails me)
First of all, my Rig:
AsRock X370 Gaming Pro (bios 1.60)
RAM: 2x8GB Corsair 3000mhz XMP (v5.30)
R9 Fury
PSU: Corsair RM1000x
W10 64b
When testing stability, I run 1 hours OCCT, Cinebench 15 multi and single thread.
About my BIOS tweakings, let's start from UEFI default:
OC Tweaker, set:
CPU Frequency, manual from 3700 to 3900
tried both RAM at auto (no modification) and with XMP enabled (all figures on Auto respect the RAM manufacturer specification except that RAM frequency is at 2933mhz, but that is normal).
Voltage Mode: tried Stable Mode and OC mode.
CPU vCore: Fixed @ 1.35v (I don't want to exceed that level)
CPU LLC: tried from Auto to any LLC down to 3
SOC voltage: tried Auto or 1.1
SOC LLC: tried from Auto to any LLC down to 5
Windows boots under any of those scenarios. Cinebench 15 runs under any of those scenarios.
Temps are fine under any of those scenarios (max CPU 50C from Mobo Sensor, 82C from CPU sensor)
OCCT doesn't pass 1 hour at 3800mhz and 3900mhz. vCore is very stable (it just oscillate 1 notch) but I get a black screen and sound off after a while.
OCCT 3700mhz 1 hours passes. Everything is fine @ 3700mhz, except that sometimes when booting the computer, it kind of bootloop once or twice before reaching the BIOS, and then everything is stable once Windows is loaded.
When @ stock frequency, nothing is changed in the BIOS except RAM under XMP, nothing weird happens...
I kinda find hard to believe I can't OC stable even to 3700mhz with 1.35v (should even be an overshoot of voltage for that frequency)... Can you help me figuring out:
what am I doing wrong?
if there is something else I need to do?
if I'm having a faulty hardware?
Thank you a lot for your help.
Hi, this is my setup:Gigabyte Ds3-L Q6600 2gb OCZ platinum ddr2-800120gb 7800rpm sata320mb 8800gts sound blaster audigy 2 zsstock fanIm wondering what if any level of overclocking is safe to run with stock cooling...?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)


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Kevin Dineen, who coached Canada's women's hockey team to a gold medal at the Sochi Olympics, has returned to the NHL as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Dineen was head coach of the Florida Panthers for two-plus seasons before being fired last fall.
In addition to winning gold in Sochi, the 50-year-old led Canada's under-18 men's team to a bronze medal at the world championship in Finland in April.
Dineen was teammates with Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville from 1984 to 1990 when they played for the Hartford Whalers.
Dineen replaces Jamie Kompon, who became general manager and coach of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks, filling the void left by Mike Johnston when he took the head job in Pittsburgh.
Copyright AP - Associated Press


text:
Brighton Township plane crash victim identified
Pilot still hospitalized in critical condition
BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – At approximately 8:30 Saturday morning Troopers from the Michigan State Police - Brighton Post were dispatched to a plane crash in the
area of 2600 Toby Drive, Brighton Township, in Livingston County.
A caller to Livingston County Central Dispatch stated they heard the plane engine and it sounded funny and then the plane crashed. The plane, a Aeronca 7AC, single engine propellor driven, had just taken off from the Brighton Airport.
The place crashed into a swampy wet lands area approximately one half mile from the Brighton Airport. Members of the Brighton Area Fire Department along with a Trooper and a citizen were able to break through the brush surrounding the swamp land area and then waded and swam to the plane crash site. Responders located two occupants in the cockpit area of the plane.
The pilot has been identified as 79-year-old Walter Davenport from Brighton Michigan. The female passenger who was killed has been identified as 56-year-old Ana Ortega from the country of Costa Rica.
Additional First Responders utilzed axes and chain saws to cut a path to the edge of the swamp water. Brighton Area Fire Department personnel used a rubber raft and a rope system to ferry additional supplies and personnel to the crash scene.
Davenport remains hospitalized in critical condition at the University of Michigan Hospital.Two investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were on scene conducting a preliminary investigation. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be responding to the scene for a more detailed investigation regarding the crash of the airplane. Responding public safety agencies included Michigan State Police -Brighton Post, Brighton Area Fire Department, Livingston County Central Dispatch, Livingston County EMS, Federal Aviation Administration, University of Michigan Survival Flight.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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If the Warriors' Stephen Jackson is Bruce Leroy, the mystical martial artist who possesses "the glow," then who is the evil Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem?
The Warriors guard waxed philosophical about his game on Bob Fitzgerald's KNBR-680 San Francisco radio show on Sunday. And in trying to describe it, he turned to the classics, as many of us often do.
"Yeah, you know it's like, I don't know if you've seen the movie Last Dragon, there's a guy whose name is Bruce Leroy, and at the end of the movie he got to the point where he worked so hard on all of this kung fu and watching Bruce Lee movies, that he got the glow. That's how I feel right now. I feel like I've got that glow in my game, so I'm at peace with it right now."
Sadly, the rest of the Warriors are remarkably less illuminated; Golden State is 21-42, 29 1/2 games out of first in the Pacific Division, looking to miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
But Jackson is having fun, averaging 21.1 points per game, nearly six games above his career average. He went on to reveal in the radio interview that during coach Don Nelson's show on KNBR earlier last week, he had called in with a fake southern accent pretending to be someone named "Billy from Oakland," and spent two minutes praising "that guy Stephen Jackson."
"I was surprised he didn't catch on, because I talk to coach a lot on the phone and he knows my voice," Jackson said. "And I spent a long time praising myself, but coach did say, 'Well, you've got all the turnovers too,' so he didn't totally go for it."
And don't even pretend that you don't know that there's a The Last Dragon remake in the works, with Samuel L. Jackson as Sho'nuff.
Stephen Jackson Compares Himself To Bruce Leroy Of The Last Dragon [Sports Radio Interviews.com]


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"Offer this up to the book club and—what the hell—serve chocolate."—People
"Pitch-perfect . . . [encompasses] everything you've ever felt, but couldn't put into tangible words."—Chicago Tribune
"Hard to resist . . . funny and occasionally heartbreaking."—Entertainment Weekly
"Berg at her tart best . . . There is plenty of lemony snap to brighten the sweetness that flows through The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, a book that shows how well this writer understands women's wants, strengths and foibles."—Hartford Courant
"Reading The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted is a lot like eating comfort food: it offers great satisfaction. . . . Berg understands the need we all feel to break free of strictures . . . and how small rebellions can lead to understanding."—New York Post


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NEWS- Revolving door: '02 CHS attacker nets 10 felony charges
Five years ago, when a band of Charlottesville High School students went on a rampage against white and Asian UVA students, there were some who urged calm, arguing that the perpetrators were young and able to clean up their act. For at least one, however, that didn't happen.
Since beating up students in early 2002 when he was a football player at CHS, now 22-year-old Vernon Howard has maintained a lengthy, but mostly nonviolent rap sheet. That changed December 16, when he allegedly fired a couple of rounds into a car in downtown Culpeper.
According to the Culpeper Star-Exponent, Howard, in a light blue minivan, had an argument with three people. He left the scene and returned on foot 20 minutes later with a handgun, which he fired at an occupied vehicle. No one was injured.
He was arrested in Charlottesville December 20 and charged with 10 felony counts, including malicious wounding, shooting in the commission of a felony and at an occupied vehicle, charges that could add up to more than 30 years in prison.
"That's a bunch of time," says Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Chapman, whose office has prosecuted Howard numerous times. Howard has been convicted of distribution of marijuana, obstruction of justice, and three times for driving on a revoked license.
"It's disappointing someone who has been before the court is back again," says Chapman. "Either he hasn't benefited from the services offered and punishment imposed, or he wasn't adequately sentenced."
At the time Howard was sentenced in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court to nearly six months house arrest in 2002 for taking part in four assaults that left UVA students with a broken cheekbone, a concussion and bruises, some citizens in the community felt he'd gotten off lightly.
"I think it's unfortunate Judge Susan Whitlock didn't deal with him more severely," says Charlottesvillian Kevin Cox, who believes Howard wouldn't be sitting in jail now "if he'd been held accountable for violently attacking people.
"I was shocked at the lenient sentence," continues Cox. "I was in the courtroom that day."
Cox wasn't surprised to see Howard arrested for multiple felonies. "He assaulted a friend of mine, a young woman who was selected because she was a young white woman," he says. "It was definitely a hate crime."
In 2002, the community rallied to support the mostly black Charlottesville High students who targeted UVA students in five assaults.
At his June 4, 2002, sentencing, a seemingly repentant Howard told the judge, "What I did was uncalled for. A lot of things in my head were wrong."
Outside the Charlottesville General District Court October 5, 2004, after an appearance for driving without a license, Howard told the Hook, "My mind is f***ed up."
But to those who thought he'd gotten off too leniently in 2002, Howard had a message: "Tell 'em to deal. Tell 'em to kiss my a**. You can quote that."
Ben Bateman, one of Howard's victims from five years ago and now a graduate student at UVA, isn't surprised at the latest charges. "He didn't get punished at all for the multiple attacks," says Bateman. "He got let off, and now he's a recidivist."
Bateman, too, was in court in 2002 when Howard was sentenced. "The point I made over and over is if he'd attacked one person, maybe he was a first-time offender. But it was spread over different nights and different victims. He wasn't a first-time offender."
Howard is being held without bond and faces a February 7 preliminary hearing in Culpeper. He has a pending case in Charlottesville General District Court for making threatening phone calls.
Former CHS football player Vernon Howard spent Christmas in jail for allegedly firing a gun at an occupied car in Culpeper.


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When exactly this blog died is hard to say. We know when it started though: drinking in a dugout one breezy late May night, with the 'Stache rounding the bases doing the hobbled Kirk Gibson routine while belting out the legendary home run call. We'd seen him do this a million times, but that didn't stop us from laughing.
Like all sports fans, we had tons of routines like this. Still do, actually - I'll always laugh when the 'Stache calls me in his Dave Wannstedt yinzer-etto, pretending I'm a blue-chip recruit and wanting me to come play "Big East football for the Panthers". We felt that we had enough sports-driven comedic energy lying around to start a Pittsburgh sports blog.
And so we did. We were funny, we were unorganized, we had fun. And now we're done.
What follows is the final commentaries from the writers of Doubt About It.
For anyone looking to start a blog, a few words of advice after having done this for a while:
1) Don't start a blog just to link to other blogs. Bring something original to the table. "Link Dump" is probably the most overused phrase on the internet.
2) Bring research. When blogs are at their best, they bring unique research to the table. Anyone can have an opinion. It's about how you back it up. We were at our best when Sam was making complicated graphs, IWTFTB was digging way down on the farm system for stats, and I was looking at Tom Barasso's Game-Clinching-Scenario GAA.
3) Don't mass e-mail stuff you've written to every single blog on your contact list. If you want to try and build up your readership, send a personalized email to the blog's editor. Mass e-mails begging for links make you look pathetic.
4) Blog because you love the sport/the team. Ad money, traffic meters, prestige...you're better off sticking your head in an oven. It'll be more productive.
We didn't always do these things, but we tried (I think). What we did do well is fill roles on the site. I had the longer feature stuff (that no one read), the 'Stache captured the voice of Steelers Nation, I Want To Fight Tom Brady was the wildcard, and Sam pretty much did it all. I realize quite well that it means very little in the larger scheme of things (what with wars going on, friends being laid off left and right...), but it was so good to know that the 'Stache would be there at the beginning of the week with the Stache Report and at the end of the week with a game preview; to know that IWTFTB could take a slow week (or month) and fire up a controversy; to know that Sam would be there to fix design problems, handle all inquiries about the site, respond to reader email, edit HTML, write and edit posts, and pretty much keep this blog breathing. Whatever he says in his own farewell, don't believe him. Sam drove this site. I've worked on innumerable projects with him, and his approach is always the same: complete investment, insatiable attention to detail, and an addiction having fun. Our e-mail exchanges from the summer of 2007 will never be deleted.
What else won't I forget about any time soon? Running into Jeff Reed at a bar and the unmentionable Hines Ward story from that night. The Stache telling Kendall Simmons that he looks like Rick Ross. Sitting at Sam's with the 'Stache until God knows what time after Game 6. There's all the behind the scenes stuff too - Sam ripping someone in the comments at 5am whilst hammered in NYC, being facebook friended by Pensblog Charlie and having him tell me about my ex-girlfriends (how Sam managed to keep from me that he is Pensblog Charlie I will never know), getting the call that our mysterious fourth writer had not only made a claim that he could beat up Tom Brady, but that he managed to get it linked on Deadspin (Will Leitch, I will never forgive you) and that our site was under siege.
We saw a Cup run, a Steelers playoff season, and another Pirates losing season. We also saw the world of blogging grow exponentially - this point really can't be overstated. We mistakenly thought we had "made it" in some sense when only a month into our existence, we were already getting tons of emails asking us to promote a new Pittsburgh sports blog or add someone to the blogroll. What we didnt realize was the unfathomable frequency that such blogs were coming into existence. So in addition to being thankful for a great few years in Pittsburgh sports, I think we're equally grateful to have been active in such an interesting time for online writing.
Notice how I keep using "we"? It's impossible for me to do otherwise. The reason this was so much damn fun was cause of the other three guys involved, not to mention all the readers and bloggers we met along the way. If there is any justice in this world, Seth somehow weasles his way into Smizik's spot. As for the ThePensblog...I mean, it's virtually impossible at this point to remember what the Penguins fan base looked like before they came along. The absence of Mike Lange on TV left a huge void for bizarre sayings/inside jokes/originality. I think the Pensblog filled it to a blissfully inappropriate degree.
Let the record show that I won the only season-long picks table, that IWTFTB and Sam's sleeper picks are in the hunt for the playoffs this year, that the 'Stache defeated Mel Kiper, and that my final tally on articles written is something like 689 Penguins articles, 20 Steelers articles, and a brief mention of Freddy Sanchez somewhere. Let it also show that there is no official reason that this is all ending. Infer what you will. Just know that it sucked for us to see the site unused these past few months and that it hurts even more to shut it down. But who would have imagined back in the dugout that we could even create something worth missing?
If DoubtAboutIt is going out, I'm going out hating, bitching, and telling Tom Brady that I want to fight him. Just the way I envisioned it.
I came to this blog world wanting to hold Pittsburgh sports accountable, athletes to ownership. Most importantly --- the Pirates, their front office, and of course the Nutting family. The latter being my main intention. Many of you probably don't even remember me as "In Search of Nutting's Chest", before my blog name became "I Want to Fight Tom Brady" in a change of heart...before I lured thousands upon thousand of readers to our blog with one silly post about a proposed boxing match with Tom Brady....
Surprisingly enough, my last words don't even squawk at the Pirate's organization. More than anything, I want to make one last wish on behalf of Jack Wilson. One day Jack, I hope you compete for a World Series ring... I keep my fingers crossed, wish you all the best, whether it's in Pittsburgh or New York----you deserve a chance.
For my complaints, lets talk Steelers football. Not sure how I went from hating on the Pirates to hating on the Steelers, but I'm here. So, we have 1) Ben Roethlisberger, 2) Bruce Arians, 3)Mike Tomlin.
Ben...you're full of yourself, you're complacent, you think you exemplify everything Pittsburgh stands for, but you DON'T. Stop acting like you're hurt every time you throw an INT, step into that blitzing linebacker for once, make the tough throw. It's a hard nosed city, remember that. Don't make god hit you with another car. Keep your head below the clouds...
Arians...you're dumb. Have you ever considered analyzing your play calling? Maybe correcting your mistakes? Ben has carried this team to it's current record and I don't think you deserve a spot on next years team. You should be coaching WRs this time next year...
Tomlin...you scare me. You can motivate, you can connect with your players, but I just don't think you have the coaching IQ. You let Bruce Arians continue to call the offensive plays. That's enough for me right there... I'm still trying to figure out why you went for that TD against the Cowboys. I get that you're close to the goal line, but you needed two scores. This isn't Madden '09 or some online sports betting game...sometimes you have to make the logical decision, you can't coach like you're a player on the field.
Anyway, go Penguins, go Steelers, pray to the lord that the Pirates make the playoffs in the next 50 years.
Wow… I'm surprised I remembered my Blogger user name and password.
Anyways, as everyone has probably realized, Doubt About It has come to an end. What Pat said about two months ago was true… we used this blog as a way to communicate with each other, but now that we're all in such close proximity and talk on a daily basis, it just didn't have the same cache.
Truth be told, this blog lasted longer than I ever dreamed. When we originally hatched the plan and it ultimately came to fruition, I thought it would last a couple months… maybe. But the months wore on, and we all kept churning out good material, and before I knew it we were approaching our one-year anniversary.
Now, if you look back you'll see that the majority of my posts revolved around the Steelers. It's no secret to anyone, including my fellow bloggers, that I live and die with this team. I love the Pirates, I enjoy the Pens, but the Steelers have and will always be my #1 team. I can truly say that writing each Stache Report was an enjoyable experience. After bad losses, they were sort of cathartic and gave me an avenue to vent… I suspect it was the same for you, the readers, considering how many more comments there were after losses than wins. I definitely enjoyed writing about the rest of the NFL as well, whether it was my unbelievably bad NFL preseason previews or weekly picks against the spread, or my surprisingly accurate NFL Draft projection (which, once again, I am required to mention that I indeed out-projected the great Mel Kiper). And when I felt the need to go the humor route, I always had fun with the Ask the GM: Dave Littlefield posts.
At this time, I would be remiss if I didn't give a quick shout-out to each of my fellow bloggers:
Sam: The glue that held it all together. Without him, this site would not have got off the ground and lasted as long as it did. And that's the truth. Great job, Sam.
Pat: An amazingly great writer. His posts had the ability to captivate you and make you really think. You combine that with his knowledge of all things Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers, and you have the total package.
IWTFTB: When we needed to lighten the mood at Doubt About It, he always answered the call. If he ever actually does fight Tom Brady, we will re-open the blog and have Harold Lederman give you live round-by-round scoring.
Also, a quick shout-out to the commenters. Without you, this blog would mean nothing to us. It was your comments and readership that drove us to create new material and keep you guys coming back for more. It truly has been a pleasure.
Well, I guess that's all. Once again, thanks to everyone out there who took the time to read our little blog. I enjoyed writing for it. Take care.. It's been fun.
Top 3 Articles That I wrote:
1.Big Ben Video Game
-Somehow the game got buggy after a few months of being online. I had a "I Want to Fight Tom Brady" game coming down the line, but it never was finished due to time constraints and the potential of a lawsuit.
2.When Would you Want to Be Born?
-No one read this thing, and it probably is stupid, but I put too much work in to it.
3.We Will Find a New Campaign.
-My favorite from the early days.
Top 3 Articles by the other guys:
Pat: Coutning Down the Best Lines in "Against the Odds"
Created the legend of Earl Mann and brought together a community of people who had no idea that others like them existed.
IWTFTB: I Want To Fight Tom Brady
Created the greatest comment storm in the history of the site. There's nothing better than pissing of Patriots' fans
The 'Stache: Can the 'stache Out Project Mel Kiper?
I still can't believe this didn't get more attention. The 'stache not only out-projected Mel Kiper, but every single talking head in the country. How much money does Kiper get payed a year?
First, I want to apologize to anyone who checked this site over the past couple months. We should've addressed this a long time ago. I'm the type of guy who still can't understand why my dad sold his 1983 Mazda, which smelled like rotting bananas, 13 years ago. I have a tough time letting go.
I won't go too in depth on my reasons for not posting, but it revolves around a combination of lack of new material and a realization that taking an hour or two (at least) every day writing things or following the latest blog war was not going to be beneficial to my actual job. Mostly the latter. Growing up sucks.
Anyway, I really liked how Will Leitch left Deadspin with the "Screw it, I don't need to hold back anymore" approach. So I thought I would finish up with some "exciting" behind the scenes tidbits.
- The Pittsburgh blogosphere needs more guys like Tec, Cotter, and The Pensblog Staff. These guys would be posting regardless of if anyone was actually reading. They're accessible and go out of their way to connect to their readers and their fellow bloggers. I'm sure I'm forgetting others, but these guys made the blogging community fun.
- The emails back and forth between my fellow bloggers were as fun to read and write as the actual posts. Especially at the beginning, there was an air of "Hey, we can make it big!" drive that made each email seem so important.
-I can't stand Mondesi's House. Don't get me wrong, Don is a great guy and helped us get our start. He is also one of the hardest working bloggers out there who has another "real" job. But the articles are self-serving and the purpose of the site seems just as driven by money and fame rather than the for the love of the game (rhyme unintended). Remember when he interviewed Art Rooney Jr.?
"For me, I've been lucky enough to have several memorable occasions that have helped put this site "on the map" to some degree."
Your blog was built on drunk athlete photos and top 10 lists. None of them memorable.
"As you may know, I bleed black and gold. It's quite a serious condition, although it's fairly common in our area. I love anything and everything involving Pittsburgh sports. It fuels my passion for this site, a passion that increases exponentially when realizing how many like-minded followers of these same teams can share in my words."
That entire paragraph was so over the top, so self-serving, cliche-filled that I had to take a breather before I could continue the first time I read the article.
"I've had the pleasure to meet a number of sports legends in my young life. Mario Lemieux. Dan Marino. Bill Mazeroski. Joe Montana. All up-close-and-personal."
Name dropping? Really?
"He then added that he was close friends with a professor named Richard Easton - the very same man whose encouragement during his challenging composition course helped inspire the writer you see today."
What was this article about again?
This was the worst offender, but almost every major piece, especially the Deadspin season previews, started with "Remember how awesome it was the last time I did this? Well, it was so awesome that I decided to do it again. " Its remarkable his Steelers' season preview this year wasn't a top 250 list in honor of Pittsburgh's 250th birthday.
-In the same way Lamar Woodley is that perfect hybrid LB/DE, Dejan Kovacevic at the PG is the ideal blogger/journalist. The guy works tremendously hard, uses his access in the right way, and may be the best writer at the paper. Who knows what's going to happen to the Post-Gazette, but a key component to their survival should be finding and retaining versatile writers like Dejan.
-Ditto for Seth at Empty Netters.
-If you ever start a blog, take it slow. At the beginning no one is reading, anyway. There was a time we were posting three times a day. This blog could've survived another 3 or 4 months if we would've just spread it out more.
We started this as a way to keep in touch with each other, and although we never made it into the blogger big leagues, it was easily one of the most enjoyable and addicting things I've ever encountered. There's a certain rush associated with that first link on Deadspin, when you see your sitemeter stats go nuts, getting called out by an astute commenter, or hearing how much a reader enjoyed a piece. There are definitely things I would have done differently, and maybe a few years down the line we'll try a restart. Who knows.
I want to end with a few cheesy words for my fellow bloggers. Lord knows they're the only ones reading at this point.
To I Want to Fight Tom Brady (formerly known as Pirate in Search of Nutting's Chest): Whenever you wrote an article it always seemed to stir up the crazies, and in blogging that's a valuable talent to have. The Tom Brady article will live in infamy. My only regret is that the fight never actually happened.
To the 'Stache: You were the heart and sole of our Steelers blogging, out kipper-ing Mel Kiper, and generally dropping knowledge on us week in week out. You kept this blog afloat last fall and as long as you could these past couple months.
To Pat: You brought credibility to the blog with writing that was worthy of a much more prominent platform. Honestly, you carried this thing. The emails over the summer of '07 often made my day. Hopefully our travails in setting this thing up will be useful in your next critically acclaimed blog, Run Off.
So I guess that's it. Thanks again for reading.
And so it goes. It hasn't been fun - it's been hysterical, and it's fitting that in these last words, Pat rambled on, the 'Stache got right to the point, IWTFTB ripped on people, and Sam was the only one who stuck to the predetermined format of picking favorite posts. All of our loose ends are tied up (though we'd love to know who Wieters was...like, seriously, tell us, so we can sleep at night... email@example.com ). Thanks to the friends who supported us, the readers who gave us help/gave us crap, and the bloggers/journalists/writers who helped the site grow. It's impossible to sum up this blog into one final sentence. A video we've used before almost seems more appropriate...
Don't do it...
Don't do it...
'Stache will kill you...
Don't do it...
Just say goodbye...


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Kevin Drum gives a pretty thorough analysis of President Obama's open assault on the mainstream Democratic Party at yesterday's press conference, and declares that "programmatic liberalism is dead." I think that's more than a little exaggerated, but regardless, it's not a fair description of the policies at stake in Obama's lousy tax deal. The tax deal is fundamentally about whether the United States still believes it has a basic commitment to protect its most vulnerable citizens from harm. For so basic an intuition to be the subject of political negotiation should be abhorrent to anybody of any ideological stripe in today's United States. The deal is not a signal of strength or weakness on the left or the right, it is a symbol of rank political cynicism.
Protecting the most vulnerable members of society is not a liberal idea. It is the basic moral intuition of every philosophical and religious tradition but two: cruel interpretations of Friederich Nietzsche, and a brand of libertarianism far more radical than anything in contemporary American politics. Republicans were threatening to cut off unemployment benefits and a poverty tax credit for families with children. Let me emphasize: poverty relief for children.
These policies should never, ever be the subject of political negotiation. Obama could have raised a fuss, he could have publicly shamed his adversaries for threatening a basic moral building block of a decent society. Instead, he offered absurd giveaways to the rich that have not only been the ire of "the professional left," but of the mainstream Democratic Party for almost a decade. Nearly every Democrat in Congress is now wondering if a primary challenge will be the result of support for this deal. And Obama now has the gall to chastise "the left" for being outraged.
A decent society takes care of its poor. Committing to conservative political thinking does not require one to believe that the poor should suffer for no reason. The number of poor families in the United States has gone up dramatically during the worst recession since the Great Depression, just as the number of unemployed parents has skyrocketed. These problems are caused by major structural economic problems, not by laziness or recklessness on the part of families (and even if it were only the result of laziness or recklessness, a decent society would not take that out on the children of the lazy and reckless). Amid mass poverty, any policymaker should support poverty relief.
This is a moral intuition even more fundamental than the commitment to equality of opportunity—the root belief that a decent society does not let its members endure extreme suffering needlessly. It is not egalitarian, it is not Marxist, it is not socialist, it is not liberal. It is just something a decent society does. It can be described with economic language, but it is not fundamentally an economic problem, unless short-term poverty relief somehow results in total economic calamity. Needless to say, the United States faces no such crisis from aiding its poor.
But Obama did not make this case. He didn't even try. He entered a room with Republican leaders, and returned to declare they had been given everything they wanted.
Shortly before the deal was announced, Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story of The New York Times ran a numbers on how the Bush tax cuts affect Wall Street bonuses. For every $1 million in bonus payouts, they calculated, the Bush tax cuts allow Wall Streeters keep an additional $40,000 to $50,000 in income.
The price Republicans demanded for allowing the United States to participate in the basic moral foundation of every decent society the world over was $40,000 for every $1 million in Wall Street bonuses. That should be appalling to liberals and conservatives alike, and a President who does not go to the mat to shame his opponents under such circumstances is bound to lose respect among his followers.
Via a link to a prior post, Kevin defines "programmatic liberalism" as the Progressive Era of 1911 – 1919, the New Deal of the 1930s, and the 1960s. All of these involved significant restructurings of the United States government and its institutions. This is not the sort of thing under discussion in the tax debate. Not even close.
"Should the poor be sustained?" Is a much different question than, "Is it the proper jurisdiction of government to regulate X given recent events?" All kinds of ideological issues can play into regulatory questions. But for quite literally centuries, there has been a broad moral consensus about the right of the poor to live (this glosses over racism and sexism, of course). The "professional left" is not demanding new institutions or government functions. It's demanding that our society actually be a society.
And so Obama's assault on what he called "purist" and "sanctimonious" left cannot be viewed as anything but outrageous. MoveOn and DailyKos and FireDogLake are not actually demanding leftist positions on tax policy—their opponents are threatening outright brutality, and the President of the United States is not seriously challenging those threats. Obama's willingness to capitulate does reveal the man's fundamental human compassion—but it also portends serious dangers. The next major negotiation, as Matt Yglesias and Mike Konczal have emphasized, will be over raising the federal debt ceiling. If it is not raised, the United States will have no choice but to default on its debt, and the global economy will collapse. If Obama is willing to throw up the Bush tax cuts to preserve the basic moral foundation of society, then he will certainly offer anything to prevent mere economic Armageddon. With this deal, the President has signaled that whenever a difficult choice arrives, he will roll over.
Here's a leftist tax position: restore tax rates on millionaires to Johnson-era levels of 90 percent, and use that money to guarantee free college education for the children of families earning less than $50,000 a year. Nobody on the "professional left" is demanding that right now. We're demanding that the basic functioning of society not be ransomed away in the name of bigger bonuses, and that negotiations over economic and tax policy not allow the most vulnerable members of society to be used as bargaining chips.
So perhaps this is what Kevin means. Now that a Democratic president is willing to cave on negotiations about the moral foundation of society, liberals cannot hope for serious economic progress for several decades. I see things otherwise. Two years ago, pundits were forecasting the end of conservatism as it has been practiced for 30 years. "Liberal" thought is not dead. Our president is simply ineffective.


text:
So you purchased a fancy new smartphone or feature phone during the holidays and are now realizing that the new device is not living up to your expectations. To make matters worse, you are now locked into a long-term contract that will end up costing you thousands of dollars over the next two years. What […]
So you purchased a fancy new smartphone or feature phone during the holidays and are now realizing that the new device is not living up to your expectations. To make matters worse, you are now locked into a long-term contract that will end up costing you thousands of dollars over the next two years.
What to do?
For starters, the major cellular carriers are legally required to offer at least a 14-day grace period after purchase that will allow you to get out of the contract and not pay a triple-figure Early Termination Fee (ETF). If you're still within that window, which used to be 30 days on many carriers, return your phone and get out of that contract right away. Note that you will still have to pay an activation fee, which is typically less than fifty dollars. But that's a lot cheaper than a larger monthly charge or steeper one-time cost for something you no longer care to use.
Also, if you subscribe to a smaller or regional cellular carrier, there is a good chance that your plan is month-to-month and you are not locked into anything long-term. Check out the terms and conditions offered by your carrier and your personal contract to learn more.
If you have passed your grace period and are involved with a larger carrier, there are still a few options and strategies to pursue.
Pay attention to the fine print on your contract
Last year Verizon Wireless announced that it would be increasing the "regulatory fee" it charged subscribers from 13 cents per month to 16 cents per month. While this increase was negligible for virtually all subscribers, Consumerist.com, a subsidiary of Consumer Reports, said that even this small pricing change could render a contract void.
"It doesn't matter if it's $50, a penny, or in this case, 3 cents. It's still materially adverse," noted the report.
Not surprisingly, Verizon subscribers who called to get out of their contracts were met with resistance from customer representatives who said the price increase was immaterial. While more persistent subscribers had difficulty getting out of paying full ETFs, some users were awarded significant account credits while others were offered forgiveness on overage charges.
If your decision to return the phone and get out of the contract is because of a presumed defect or if your device has a poor network connection where you live or work, you might also have a way out. Point out the flaw to your carrier and if you are confident of your case and still not getting any cooperation contact the Federal Trade Commission or Better Business Bureau. Valid claims might convince the carrier that it is easier to get you out of the deal.
Consider trading your plan on the open market
Marketplaces exist that allow cell phone subscribers to try to get others to pick up the remainder of their contracts. Sites like Celltradeusa.com and Cell Plan Depot help those dissatisfied with their plans to see if there are any other takers. You will need to designate the carrier, manufacturer, model and specific plan details like minutes, data options, and time left on contract. You'll also, of course, need to share your monthly payment amount to see if there are bidders.
While these services typically take healthy commissions, they can be effective and may also save you significant money depending on how far along you are in your contract. Conversely, if you are looking to buy a new phone and don't want to commit to two years, there are many attractive partial contract options to choose from on these sites.
Live with your plan until it makes financial sense to pay the ETF
The ETFs vary from carrier to carrier, but they are all financially painful. This is particularly true if you own a smartphone with a data plan. There are a different set of fees for what the carriers denote as 'standard' and 'advanced' devices.
Clearly, the big four carriers do their best to discourage early termination. Though many will cut the fees by around $10 for every month you are with them, even towards the end of your contract, you will probably still face a minimum of around $100 to terminate the agreement early. In those cases, you may as well stay an extra month or two and see it out completely. That way, you might qualify for discounts on new, upgraded smartphones, with which your carrier will inevitably tempt you. After all, they want to do their darndest to keep you on board and sign-up for another two years.
AT&T's early termination fee is $325, minus $10 per month of service. As a real world example, if you've been using the phone six months then decide to end your contract, it will cost you $325 minus $60 (in addition to any fees you've accrued, of course).
Up until August of last year, Sprint's ETF was a slightly more palatable $200. But now it's up to $350. Even in the very late stages of your contract you will be expected to pony-up a minimum fee of $100.
Verizon, like Sprint, wants $350 if you end your contract early, minus $10 per month of service. Once again, unless you're at the very end of your contract, that's going to be quite a hit.
T-Mobile is the only carrier out of the big four to charge $200 for early termination. This fee will often be lower if you're getting closer to the end of your contract. It drops to $100 if you have only three to six months left, and $50 if you have less than three months remaining. T-Mobile offers one-year contracts on some devices, which some consumers may prefer, but the initial cost of your smartphone will usually be more expensive with this option.
Back in December 2009 and January 2010, the FCC did a survey because many consumers were still confused by complicated early termination fees. The results here make for interesting reading, and prove that some confusion still remains. Each carrier responded to the FCC's letters and they're available to download/read as PDF files. There is an FCC blog post entitled 'Early Termination Fees, Share Your Story'. It's a little old now, but perhaps could still be useful for some customers. The FCC also produced a PDF document entitled Early Termination Fees Made Simple.