text:
Tagged: Jose Ceda
9-11-11 PNC Park #1,500
Sundays usually are rather uneventful. Typically, there isn't batting practice since its a day game that follows a night game. However, today was another lucky Sunday at PNC Park – both teams would take a full batting practice.
For the first half hour, fans aren't allowed to enter the seats. For whatever stupid reasoning, season ticket holders are allowed in from Monday-Saturday, but not Sundays. As a result, I stood behind section 141.
And got Ross Ohlendorf to toss me my first ball of the day.
Ohlendorf, a right handed pitcher, was wearing a glove on his right hand and throwing balls into the ball boy left handed. His toss to me was left handed and it just barely cleared the gate. Ross is the friendliest Pirates pitcher when it comes to toss-ups. I really hope he gets his season turned around so he can get some positive momentum going into next year.
Ross tossed up another ball that was right to me, but it hit the gate. An usher walked over and picked up the ball and pocketed it, right in front of six fans who were five feet from the ball.
At 11:30 when the stadium opened, rather than set up shop in left field, I went searching for easter eggs.
I found ball #2 in left field under a bleacher:
Ball #3 along the first base line in the handicapped seats:
And ball #4 a few feet away from my third ball.
I then realized that I was now on 1,499 career baseballs, so I made my way over to the Pirates dugout to try and get a player to toss me #1500. If you read this blog regularly, you may recall my 1,000th ball came last year in Cleveland via the glove trick.
The last Pirates group contained Matt Hague, Gorkys Hernandez, Jason Jaramillo, and Pedro Ciriaco. Once they finished their round, it marked the end of batting practice. On his way into the dugout, I called out to Pedro Ciriaco and asked if he minded tossing me a ball that was directly in his path as he approached. He obliged and flipped me a well worn filthy ball for #1,500.
Here it is:
After batting practice, Amy took this cheesy picture of me and the ball:
Anyhow, moments after I snagged that ball, the Marlins pitchers were finishing up their tosses down the right field line. I threw on my Marlins gear and headed over. It helped that I was *the* only fan there. Not even were any Pirates fans asking for balls. As a result, Clay Hensley threw me ball #6:
and Jose Ceda tossed me ball #7, even though he had seen me get one from Hensley. "You already got one," he said. "Yes," I replied, "it's up to you if you want to give me another one." Ceda stared at me awkwardly for a moment then threw me the ball.
At 12:00 I headed back to left field and caught a ground rule double off the bat of Jose Lopez here for ball #8.
By the way, there was a special 9-11 logo painted onto the field. Unless you're under 10 years old, I'm sure we all remember where we were on September 11th 2001. I was a junior in college at Washington & Jefferson and woke up hearing some bewilderment next door. "Those are people jumping from that building!" Someone was yelling. I turned on the TV and watched it all unfold.
Game: 8 balls (1 hit, 4 thrown, 3 found)
Season: 381 balls (159 hit, 83 thrown, 87 device, 52 found)
Games: 71 games
Career: 1,503 balls
Attendance: 19,071
Remaining games to reach goal of 413: 5 (maybe 6 if I do an away game next weekend)
Needed to reach goal: 32 (6.4 per game)


text:
In a sign of our changing times, a forthcoming white paper out of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton school bears the title, "OMG My Boss Just Friended Me."
The study will add to the small but growing body of academic research into how online relationships between colleagues inform, and are informed by, face-to-face interactions at the office.
Eager to hear the results before they are officially published, I asked professor Nancy Rothbard, who worked on the study with researchers Justin Berg and Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, the obvious question: So? Should you and your boss be friends on Facebook?
The answer, of course, is not simple. Among the team's findings was that people weren't just uncomfortable getting friend requests from their bosses; even requests from their subordinates felt awkward.
"It was just the asymmetry of hierarchy that made people uncomfortable," Rothbard said.
When it was the bosses who reached out on Facebook, participants in the study appeared to equate them with their parents. They had the same dilemma over whether to add them as �friends' or not. And they used the same logic to arrive at their ultimate decision.
The boss's gender plays a role in an employee's willingness to accept the invitation. In one experiment, Rothbard found that participants were more likely to accept Facebook friend requests from female bosses when the women disclosed more information about themselves online. When male bosses disclosed more information about themselves, however, participants were less likely to want to virtually connect with them.
"It's the creep factor," Rothbard said.
Gender, it seems, may not only influence how likely work colleagues are to connect online but also how likely it is that such connections will help their career. A separate study, conducted by marketing firm Russell Herder in October 2011, found that almost a third of men in their sample said that being online friends with their manager helps them do their job at least somewhat more effectively. Only 15 percent of women connected to their supervisor said the same.
Rothbard's research also has found significant upsides to effectively bridging the divide between life in the office and life on the Internet. In a separate study she is working on, she found that people seen as "integrators" ultimately are viewed as better performers in the workplace. This means that someone who successfully blends their personal online image and their professional in-person image could get a boost on the job.
"There's basic research in psychology, all around face-to-face, that shows that - provided that the exchange of information is appropriate - the exchange of information leads people to build stronger bonds with each other," Rothbard said. "If I share more with you, you like me better. And if you share more with me, then I like you better. It's a cycle."
But doing that well online is harder than doing it in person. It's not just a matter of keeping embarrassing photos or hot-button political views off your online profile. There's another, more systemic challenge, according to Rothbard. We don't receive the bounty of feedback cues from an online audience that we do face-to-face - the nods, the eye rolls, the glances at the clock - that subtly help us tailor the amount and type of information we choose to share.
Yet as more people come of age on Facebook, the line separating personal and professional relationships is becoming more ambiguous.
In the Russell Herder survey, more than 20 percent of about 1,000 online respondents said they are Facebook friends with their work supervisors, and nearly half of those employees were the ones to initiate the friend request.
Not surprisingly, the survey showed a distinct correlation between comfort levels and age. Seventy-two percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 34 said they are comfortable being Facebook friends with their bosses, whereas mid-career workers between 35 and 54 tended to think connecting with their bosses on Facebook would be "inappropriate."
"To me, it's obvious that social networking will become part of the workplace," said Dan Schawbel, a 28-year-old personal branding consultant. His company, Millennial Branding, conducted a study in November that found the average young professional is already connected on Facebook to 16 coworkers.
Schawbel joined Facebook in college and has 5,000 Facebook friends - the maximum number the site allows per user (such users are called "whales") - and considers the site mainly a professional networking tool. "The relationship with work is going to change drastically. Eventually, in 10 years, you're just gonna be connected to everyone all the time, including your boss."
Kirsten Dixson, also a personal branding expert, agrees that social media are vital. "Every single professional needs to be on LinkedIn and leveraging it," she said.
But where Schawbel sees a certain liberation in being connected at all times, Dixson takes a more cautious attitude toward blending professional persona and social-media identity.
"We didn't grow up with this," said the 43-year-old, who joined Facebook in 2008. "Many people I work with, senior executives, don't feel Facebook should be part of their professional mix. . . .They're trying to keep that separation of the personal and professional."
Whether it's even possible to sustain that separation in the long term is up for debate. In the meantime, Rothbard takes the question of whether there's an advantage to be friends with your boss on Facebook and asks it another way:
"Does it matter if people feel closer to you? Yes."
And, she added, "If you're able to do that and manage it really well, there's huge upside."
Gregory Thomas contributed to this report.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
So, I decided to take the plunge and design some miniatures using a 3d drafting program. First off, I started with something easy... a set of 25mm miniature bases... the first set have a number of different symbols of Chaos on them.
My next project is to make a number of different tech looking miniature bases, all of them for 25mm scale miniatures (although they will also work with the 28mm scale that Games Workshop and a few other places have been using), although they're predominantly for Chaos 6010 tabletop games.
After that, I plan on designing vehicles, I really want to get a few vehicles that I haven't seen elsewhere, like a dune buggy, and a few futuristic cars and trucks...
Feel free to check out my stuff, I'll be posting more things as they are completed: http://www.sculpteo.com/en/s/simoncrowley75/


text:
You would like to install Linux/BSD Os but windows partition is taking up your whole hard disk space. Or you don't want to pay money to resize hard disk partition (tools like partition magic costs money). Not to worry you can resize partition with KNOPPIX Live Linux CD.
RESIZE PARTITION with Knoppix Live CD
Step #1 : Visit official Knoppix site and download live CD.
Step #2 : Burn Knoppix Live CD to DVD/CD media
Step #3 : Boot from CD
Step #4 : Boot into Knoppix > Open terminal > type command qtparted >
Step #5: Follow on screen instructions to resize your windows partition
Update: We are updating this howto. Please come back later or browse all our latest tips & tricks from home page. You may also try out following softwares for resize windows partition :
- SystemRescueCd
- BootitNG
- Ntfsresize (for NTFS partitions)
- GParted
Related articles:
- Maximum Partition size supported by Linux
- Mount remote windows partition (windows share) under Linux
- The importance of Linux partitions
- Restore Debian Linux Grub boot loader
- Series: Understanding UNIX/Linux file system
- Polish language by seaman


text:
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 9 and 10 among this week's PlayStation Plus bonuses
US PlayStation Plus members will receive free copies of Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 this week. As detailed on the US PS Blog, this week's update also opens the God of War: Ascension multiplayer beta to members, provides a 50% discount on gorgeous strategy game Eufloria, and offers a free piece of DLC […]
Mega Man 9 headlines
Mega Man 9 releasing on PSN today
The US PS Blog brings confirmation that Mega Man 9 is to hit PSN today. There's a movie after the break.Still no news on the rest of the update, which should include WipEout HD. Hurry up, SCEE.
Mega Man 9 confirmed for 360 and PS3
According to the IGN movie after the link, Mega Man 9's been confirmed for both Xbox Live and PSN. The old skool platformer was thought to be WiiWare-only. Watch it to the end. Thanks, Blerk and Kotaku.
Capcom details Comic Con showing, promises exclusive RE5 trailer
We're not that bothered about missing E3 this year, but we do wish we were going to Comic Con. Capcom's detailed its showing at the San Diego event, taking place just after E3, and it sounds "fun". Aside from the enjoyable aspect, the firm's promising an exclusive Resident Evil 5 trailer, so that's a good […]
Mega Man 9 to cost $9.99
Well, more or less. GoNintendo managed to sift through Famitsu's Japanese-flavored website and discover Mega Man 9's launch price: 1,000 Wii Points, aka $10.Mega Man 9 is set to hit Japan's iteration of WiiWare in September, but Capcom has yet to narrow down a release date outside the land of the rising sun. If the […]
First Mega Man 9 footage appears
After the break. We know next to nothing about Megaman, so we've kind of ignored the fact that a ninth game's been announced. Consider it ignored no longer. If ancient-looking WiiWare platformers are your bag, you're in luck. See for yourself. It's out in September. Thanks, Hero of Canton.
Mega Man 9 going to WiiWare
According to the latest issue of Nintendo Power, Mega Man 9 will be a WiiWare game. It's a 2D affair harking back to the NES days, apparently. There's a ton of information in this NeoGaf post, should you care.
Mega Man 9 latest


text:
Classes are currently being taught online. All physical facilities are closed to the public at this time, and employees are working remotely.Please visit
dcccd.edu/coronavirus for additional information and to
find contact information for various departments.If you need additional assistance, please visit
My Community Services and our
Community Employment Resources.
Software developers, computer programmers, iOS engineers ... whatever title they go by at work, it's safe to say "coders" are today's rock stars. So much so you probably know many of them by name: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Marisa Mayer (Yahoo), Chris Bosh (The Miami Heat).
But while the programming industry has become sexy and mainstream, with plenty of lucrative job opportunities, it still lacks one thing: skilled employees.
In this video, the team at Hour of Code sat down with the magic makers to find out what programming is and why anyone can do it.
This video was produced by
Hour of Code, a nationwide initiative by
Computer Science Education Week and
Code.org to introduce millions of students to computer science and computer programming.
Just like we use instructions to play a board game, computer programs and mobile apps rely on instructions to operate. These instructions are known as source code. Source code is written by programmers in languages such as C++, Java, and Objective-C.
Writing a computer program is both creative and logical. Much like designing a tree house, or choreographing a dance, when a programmer writes a new computer program they must break down the project into a sequence of steps. Some call programming a form of engineering, while others argue it is art.
"The stuff that computer programs are made out of is ideas and imagination," explains George Driscoll, head of the programming department at North Lake College. "And there is no limit to your imagination."
Today computer programs help us tackle everyday responsibilities — from corresponding and sending mail, to shopping, banking, travel, and even job searching. Computer programs solve problems while also allowing users to complete tasks more efficiently.
To write a computer program, students must first learn a new language. Every college is unique in choosing which computer language to teach students first, but the most popular choices among educational institutions are Python, Java, MATLAB, C, C++, and Scheme. Among job boards, that hierarchy changes, with job postings asking for skills in various flavors of C (including C++ and C#) and Java.
Among mobile app companies, employers may look for device-specific languages on your resume, such as Swift (a language created by Apple to create mobile apps).
It's been said that a program will always do what you tell it to do, and sometimes what you want to do. The trick then, says Driscoll, is to learn how to tell it to do what you want it to do.
"Programming is not for everyone," Professor Driscoll explains, "But you have to try it first to see if it's a fit for you. You will never know until you try."
So where can interested students try out programming? Driscoll recommends the hands-on class "Programming, Logic, and Design," also known as "ITSE 1429." It is offered at all seven colleges of DCCCD. This foundational course teaches students to write a program for a computer in C++. Once they have mastered the fundamentals of programming, students are asked to apply their knowledge to control a robot's movement through a series of challenges. The course also prepares students for object-oriented programming, a type of programming paradigm often used in modern programming languages.
Do you want to build cool stuff? Influence tech? Change the world?
Learn to code!
The colleges of DCCCD offer
classes, certificates and degrees that can help you build your coding skills (also known as "programming skills"). You can learn to create, design, write and update computer programs or software using programming languages such as C, Objective-C, C++, C#, Java and Visual Basic.NET.
You can build your programming skills by taking a few classes (credit or non-credit), earning a certificate or finishing your associate degree. From there you can move straight into the workforce, or transfer to a four-year college or university to major in Computer Science. Many students choose to transfer and continue their studies. This advanced problem-solving allows graduates to become fluent in additional programming languages before seeking employment.
There is currently a shortage of skilled programmers. The U..S Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that between 2012 and 2022 there will be 1.4 million job openings in computer science, but only 400,000 graduates will qualify for those jobs. Job prospects are best for programmers who have knowledge of a variety of programming languages.


text:
Women's Panoramic
The Tubbs Women's Panoramic Snowshoe offers a more precise fit for all-day comfort.
Select Size Size Chart
The Tubbs Panoramic women's snowshoe is poised for optimal floatation in fresh snow. This shoe's flexible DynamicFit™ and reliable Boa® closure system deliver uncompromised security, and our Cobra Traction design will grip unexpectedly icy terrain. Don't turn around early – tackle local trails and reach winter vistas on the Tubbs Panoramic.
Included: One pair of snowshoes.
Women's Panoramic
The Tubbs Women's Panoramic Snowshoe offers a more precise fit for all-day comfort.
Product Zoom
|Optimal Load*
|Surface Area
|8" x 21"
|4.2 lbs
|80 - 150 lbs
|136 in²
|8" x 25"
|4.5 lbs
|120 - 200 lbs
|178 in²
|9" x 30"
|4.6 lbs
|170 - 250 lbs
|234 in²
*Optimal Load refers to the total weight of the user plus anything they are carrying, such as a pack, equipment, etc. Recommended loads are based on light, dry snow conditions. Powder snow may require a larger snowshoe.
- Features:
- Weight/Pair: 4.5 lbs/2.04 kg (25")
- Sizes available: 21, 25, 30
- Frame:
- Pro-Step™ Frame
- Decking:
- Soft-Tec™ Decking
- Articulation:
- R2™ Revolution Response
- Control:
- DynamicFit™ Binding
- Traction:
- Cobra™ Toe Crampon,Tubbs Heel Crampon
- Uses Boa:
- Yes
Fit-Step Frame
The innovative and biomechanical aluminum Fit-Step™ frame, designed with a slightly upturned, rounded tail, reduces muscular skeletal impact on hip, knee and ankle joints by 10%.
RII Revolution Response
Energy efficient and effective, RII delivers shock absorbing lateral flex and quick side slope responsiveness to maintain a natural foot position in all conditions. Full step rotation allows the tail of the snowshoe to drop, shedding snow and allowing the toe crampon to bite deeply.
DynamicFit Binding
The DynamicFit binding integrates the Boa Closure System with the comfort of EVA foam to produce even pressure distribution around your boot, creating precise fit and optimized control. Releasing the binding is as simple as pulling up on the Boa dial.
Cobra Crampon
The carbon steel Cobra™ toe crampon, located under the ball of the foot provides constant penetrating contact in variable snow conditions. Jagged tooth construction improves grip on packed snow and ice.
SoftTec Decking
Tubbs SoftTec™ decking provides durable, lightweight flotation.
Active Lift 16°
ActiveLift™ 16° heel lift reduces calf fatigue and Achilles tendon strain on steep ascents.


text:
North America
New York
Bellaire map
Switch map
Satellite view
Vector map
Weather forecast
Apple map
Google maps
Open street map
Esri map
Yandex map
Temperature labels
/* first 4: ca-pub-6790680921474958 */?>
Bellaire map (New York / USA), satellite view. Share any place, address and postal code search, ruler on Yandex map, live weather. Street list of Bellaire. Streets, squares, buildings, landmarks and more on satellite map of Bellaire: restaurants, bars, coffee, hotels, banks, gas stations, parking lots, cinemas, groceries, post offices, markets, shops, cafes, hospitals, pharmacies, taxi, bus stations etc. North America online.
Bellaire map


text:
Tired of bogus software patents? So are we! To combat these annoying and often dangerous legal weapons, EFF has launched the Patent Busting Project to take down some of worst offenders.
We need your help! Take a look at the Most Wanted culprits on our list, and let us know if you have any leads on technology that predates them (called "prior art") that we can use to challenge their validity. Click on a patent to find out more.
Network gaming system
System and method of creating digital recordings of live performances
System for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence
Method and apparatus for implementing a computer network/internet telephone system & Voice internet transmission system
System and method for generating, distributing, storing and performing musical work files
System apparatus and method for hosting and assigning domain names on a wide area network.
Internet test-taking method.
Automatic message interpretation and routing system
Audio and video receiving and transmission system
System and method for automatic access of a remote computer over a network
More About the Patent Busting Project
I. The Problem
Every year numerous illegitimate patent applications make their way through the United States patent examination process without adequate review. The problem is particularly acute in the software and Internet fields where the history of prior inventions (often called "prior art") is widely distributed and poorly documented. As a result, we have seen patents asserted on such simple technologies as:
- One-click online shopping (U.S. Patent No. 5,960,411.)
- Online shopping carts (U.S. Patent No. 5,715,314.)
- The hyperlink (U.S. Patent No. 4,873,662.)
- Video streaming (U.S. Patent No. 5,132,992.)
- Internationalizing domain names (U.S. Patent No. 6,182,148.)
- Pop-up windows (U.S. Patent No. 6,389,458.)
- Targeted banner ads (U.S. Patent No. 6,026,368.)
- Paying with a credit card online (U.S. Patent No. 6,289,319.)
- Framed browsing; (U.S. Patent Nos. 5,933,841 & 6,442,574.) and
- Affiliate linking (U.S. Patent No. 6,029,141.)
II. The Harm
The harm these patents cause the public is profound.
Unlike most technologies, software and the Internet have attracted a vast number of small business, non-profit, and individual users — each of whom has adopted and built upon these resources as part of their daily interaction with computers and the online world. From open source programming to online journaling to political campaigning, the average citizen is using new technology online and on her desktop as often as any traditional company.
With this increased visibility, however, comes increased vulnerability. Previously, patent holders had only targeted competing companies. These companies have established legal departments and outside counsel and are thus able to defend against illegitimate patent threats. Now some patent holders have begun to set their sights on the new class of technology users — small organizations and individuals who cannot afford to retain lawyers. Faced with million-dollar legal demands, they have no choice but to capitulate and pay license fees — fees that often fund more threat letters and lawsuits. And because these patents have become cheaper and easier to obtain, the patentees costs can be spread out quickly amongst the many new defendants. Our patent system has historically relied on the resources of major corporate players to defeat bad patents; now it leaves these new defendants with few if any options to defend themselves.
Illegitimate patents can also threaten free expression. More and more people are using software and Internet technology to express themselves online. Website and blogging tools are increasingly popular. Video and audio streaming technology is ubiquitous. E-mail and Instant Messaging have reached users of all ages. Yet because patents can be anywhere and everywhere in these technologies, the average user has no way of knowing whether his or her tools are subject to legal threats. Patent owners who claim control over these means of community discourse can threaten anyone who uses them, even for personal non-commercial purposes. We lose much if we allow overreaching patent claims to reduce the tremendous benefits that software and technology bring to freedom of expression.
III. The Project
So how do we confront these problems? Both the Federal Trade Commission and National Academy of Sciences have issued a series of recommendations for reforming the patent system, each of which provide a useful start. However, there is no guarantee that these reforms will be adopted or that they will be considered on any specific timeline. To help fill this gap, EFF is launching a Patent Busting Project to take on illegitimate patents that suppress non-commercial and small business innovation or limit free expression online. The Project has two components:
A. Documenting the Damage
In the coming months, EFF plans to launch various technical efforts to document the harm that these patents are causing to the public interest. The efforts will include:
(1) Identifying the worst offending patents;
(2) Documenting the prior art that shows their invalidity; and
(3) Chronicling the negative impact they have had on online publishers and innovators.
EFF plans to explore numerous approaches to achieving these goals, including inviting contributions from the public; building on the successful information-gathering and public education of the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse; and collaborating with organizations such as the Internet Archive, the Public Patent Foundation, and various technology law school clinics around the country.
B. Challenging The Patents
Once it has identified some of the worst offenders, EFF will begin filing challenges to each in the form of a "re-examination request" to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. These requests create a forum to affirmatively invalidate patents rather than forcing technology users to await the threat of suit. Under this procedure, EFF can choose particularly egregious patents, submit the prior art it has collected, and argue that the patent should be revoked. EFF will collaborate with members of the software and Internet communities as well as legal clinics and pro bono cooperating attorneys to help in these efforts.
IV. Additional Resources and Contact Information
For more information on the project or to make a donation, contact:
Daniel Nazer
Staff Attorney
Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents
Electronic Frontier Foundation
815 Eddy St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 436-9333 x 149


text:
You're right, indeed I'm not even bothering playing his bs stuff like APB or frikkin Kageki.Novice wrote: DEFCON7
life has only 3billion seconds.
care only worthy men.
This guy could have got Gamest record at Continental Circus with some more effort, too bad he has a giant cow dung in his brain and prefers to upload a fake score at World Rally 2 made on a broken version of MAME with his secondary account.


text:
Taylor (HLS 1932) tried to be fair, but in assessing how well each school instructed students "in the regular tools of the lawyers trade—legal technique, in other words," he gave what I think of as the standard HLS line on YLS:
I'm pretty well convinced that the honors lie with Harvard. Most of the well-known men at Yale are men who are themselves bored with the law & have turned experimentalist. They're brilliant enough, & their writings are worth reading, but they are too interested in explaining to you how the law is a very different thing from what most people think, & how there really isn't any such thing as law anyhow. Now this is all very well & worth knowing, but you don't practice law by telling a client or a judge that his traditional concepts are all screwy. Defective as the tools of the law may be, you've got to be familiar with them & know how to use them. I think the system & faculty at Harvard does this much better.Waldron, not all that surprisingly, chose Harvard.
(For more of the same, see Spencer Tracy's wisecrack to Katherine Hepburn in "Adams Rib" (1949)--"Is that what they taught you at Yale?"--and Laura Kalman's Legal Realism at Yale. Thanks to David Warrington for the heads up and transcription!)
Image credit: Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress


text:
Business mogul and cosmetics brand owner Keyshia Ka'oir was spotted doing some shopping at upscale fashion stores Versace and Neiman Marcus in Bal Harbour. For her shopping trip, the KAIOR brand owner styled in a pair of Christian Louboutin Thigh High Lace Up Boots paired with a red top and black jeans. Ka'oir accessorized her outfit with red sunglasses and a classic oversized Chanel bag. I respect a hard-working educated woman. Keyshia turned her 15 minutes of fame into a multi-million dollar empire. Her cosmetics bring in millions annually. What is your opinion on her outfit?
Pics via Keyshia Ka'oir Instagram
Follow me @donbleek88


text:
This specific ISBN edition is currently not available.View all copies of this ISBN edition:
In this book, we have hand-picked the most sophisticated, unanticipated, absorbing (if not at times crackpot!), original and musing book reviews of "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats". Don't say we didn't warn you: these reviews are known to shock with their unconventionality or intimacy. Some may be startled by their biting sincerity; others may be spellbound by their unbridled flights of fantasy. Don't buy this book if: 1. You don't have nerves of steel. 2. You expect to get pregnant in the next five minutes. 3. You've heard it all.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
(No Available Copies)
If you know the book but cannot find it on AbeBooks, we can automatically search for it on your behalf as new inventory is added. If it is added to AbeBooks by one of our member booksellers, we will notify you!Create a Want


text:
- Description
DetailsThe Hall 20 is a quality indoor mailbox. It boasts a 0.7mm electro zinc plated steel door with anti-theft internal incline. The Hall 20 is the smallest of the 3 sizes in the Hall range and is designed to be installed into small areas such as university campuses, etc where large amounts of units are required
- Additional Information
Additional Information
Weight kg 2.0000 Product Range Hall 20 Mailboxes Call for Price yes Brand JOMA List Page Bullet 1 N/A List Page Bullet 1 N/A List Page Bullet 3 N/A bullet1 Superb space saving unit-Front retrieval bullet2 Multiple colour options available bullet3 Many optional extras available bullet4 Internal only use bullet5 Either wall fixed, freestanding or recessed applications bullet6 anti theft internal incline bullet7 0.7mm electro zinced steel door bullet8 Manufacturers 2 year warranty bullet9 No bullet10 No Colour aluminiumpaint External Depth mm 250 External Width mm 240 External Height mm 120 Door Width mm N/A Material Steel Post Box Orientation Horizontal Size Small Letter Slot Height mm 24 Letter Slot Width mm 205 Number of Letter Slots 3 to 20 N/A Features A4 Post Box Product Category Commercial Postboxes Location Indoor, Outdoor Post Box Mount Wall Mounted, Post / Stand Letters In / Out No Security Ratings N/A Insurance Rating N/A Locking Type N/A Fixings N/A Fittings N/A Fire Rating N/A Weight N/A Capacity N/A
- Reviews


text:
The companion doll (an optional purchase) was a Monogram Doll called Magnetism. All I can say about this one is that the photographer did a fabulous job. The lighting and posing are excellent. The sculpt was screened with a closed mouth. The wig appears to be the 'default' low pony tail style with a side sweep of forehead covering hair. Or perhaps it is rolled under into a fancy bun. I can't tell. I like the frosted gold eyeshadow. Below on the right (or the 2nd down) is Dania Zarr in Optic Clash from the 2009 FR convention. It looks like there's a game of "Monkey See; Monkey Do" going on here. If a movie star wore any one of these gowns to a red carpet event, she'd be on the worst dressed list pretty fast.
|Mattel's Silkstone Barbie "Stunning in the Spotlight"
Pink and black and mermaid gowns are so yesterday. Tonner came up with modern and classy uses of pink and black in the first two outfits below created for Antoinette. The third, created for Tyler, works with the fabric to create interest.


text:
Apple chief executive Tim Cook received a lifetime achievement award from his alma mater Auburn University and gave a speech which touched on racism and LGBT rights.
The 13-minute speech, which is available from the university on YouTube, told of Cook's personal experience of seeing cross-burning in Alabama and said that most discrimination was "rooted in fear," according to the video. Cook also voiced his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which ensures employees will not be discriminated against by gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender.
These values have also recently guided us to support legislation that demands equality and non-discrimination for all employees, regardless of how they love. This legislation, known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. I have long believed in this, and Apple has implemented protections for employees, even when the laws did not. Now is the time to write these principles of basic human dignity into the book of law.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe


text:
Bulging bellies: Myotis makes meal of meanies
DRAWING BY DEBORAH DERR McCLINTOCK
Q. Let's hear it for bats as an all-natural pesticide. Just how many insects can one hungry bat eat in a night? –B. Stoker
A. A single little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) such as found throughout North America can consume 300 to 3,000, says Penn State biologist Michael Gannon. A nursing mother little brown bat eats more than her body weight– up to 4,500 insects. A colony of 1,000 little brown bats, as found in a house attic, eats 2,600 pounds of insects in a summer. Now if you do the math, taking the average mosquito at about six milligrams, then 1,000 mosquitoes weigh 6 grams. Given 454 grams to a pound, you're talking hundreds of millions of insects being consumed by just a single colony of bats.
Q. When a company sells life insurance, it in effect is betting that the person will live a long life; the person bets on dying prematurely. That's fine for a company insuring large numbers of people, but can such a plan ever go wrong on a small scale? –M.O. Omaha
A. In the mid-1960s a French lawyer struck a deal with his countrywoman, Jeanne Calment, that seemed mutually advantageous– he bought her apartment for a low monthly payment, no money down, providing her with a small pension for her later years, with the understanding that he would not move in until her death, says Bart Holland in What Are the Chances?
Calment was a native of Arles and had met Van Gogh when she was 13. By the time Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in 1927, she was 52. So the deal-striking woman was already near 90. The lawyer made payments to her regularly, and after doing so for 30+ years, he died at age 77. His family inherited the agreement, continuing payments until she died at age 122, the oldest on record at the time and 45 years older than the lawyer had been at his death!
Q. What are the chances of seeing a double rainbow? Is any place better than any other to find them? –J. Garland
A. Actually, "double rainbows" aren't all that rare, says University of Wyoming atmospheric scientist Robert D. Kelly. For the primary rainbow, water droplets refract the sunlight into its constituent colors just like a prism, with the light entering a drop and reflecting once internally off the surface before leaving: refract-reflect-refract.
Secondary rainbows involve two internal reflections– refract-reflect-reflect-refract–so they're fainter than primary rainbows and appear outside the primary bow with colors reversed. (All rainbows appear opposite the sun, the sun behind your head.) Two other double bow features: the sky will appear darker in the area between the two arcs and brighter inside the smaller, primary bow.
Best observation places are away from visibility obstructions and where isolated thunderstorms occur with areas of clearing for the sun to break through to the rainshaft, adds the University of Arizona's Benjamin Herman. The central plains or southwestern U.S. are good bets, and quite good if you persist for a 2-week period of summer.
Q. When a desert sand dune gets noisy, what sound does it make– so loud it can stop conversations of anyone nearby? a) singing b) squeaking c) whistling d) roaring e) booming? – T. E. Lawrence
A. All of the above have been attributed to "acoustical" dunes over the centuries, with some accounts comparing the sounds to distant thunder or musical instruments, says DesertUSA.com. "Booming" dunes can be heard in the Sahara Desert, parts of the Middle East, Chile, and the Hawaiian Islands.
Even plain beach sand will squeak when compressed with the feet or poked with a stick. How the sounds are produced is not clear, but they occur when hot dry closely packed spherical sand grains of nearly identical size slide over each other, as during a dune avalanche. The stationary sand underneath apparently acts as a sounding board or amplifier to produce the enormous volume.
One good observation point in the U.S. is Nevada's Sand Mountain, whose two dune summits stand about 390 feet (120 meters) above the desert floor. To really appreciate the total effect, climb to a crest and slide down the steep slip face.
"Going down with an avalanche is sort of like riding an escalator, ankle deep in sand. As the sand begins to vibrate, the sound becomes quite loud, like a low-flying B-29 bomber or squadron of World War II vintage fighter planes."
Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at email@example.com.


text:
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's problems have reappeared right where they first began more than a year ago: in the streets.
Follow a precarious period that saw martial law, Mr. Musharraf's resignation as Army chief, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a general election, and months of political maneuvering, tens of thousands of protesters from across Pakistan, led by prominent lawyers and political leaders, arrived in Islamabad Friday to again demand that the judges of the Supreme Court, whom Musharraf dismissed last year, be restored.
A return of the sacked judges threatens to bring down Musharraf, who has been unsuccessful at consolidating his rule as a civilian president after quitting his Army post last November. At the time of their dismissal, the judges were poised to declare Musharraf's rule unconstitutional. But the president isn't the only one feeling the heat from the street demonstrations. The new government, which won the recent election in part on promises of reinstating the judges, is also under pressure to deliver.
"In the preelection scenario, getting rid of Musharraf was the focus of the movement, and the restoration [of judges] was being demanded of him as well," explains Khalid Rahman, director general of the Institute for Policy Studies, a policy think tank in Islamabad. "In the post-election scenario, the target remains President Musharraf – people still want him out – but the movement is now pressuring the new parliament to fix the problem."
The lawyers' rally comes four months after a general election in which Musharraf's loyalists were swept out of the legislature and the late Mrs. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party formed a shaky coalition government under a hostile Musharraf. The demonstration, which the local media has dubbed an epic sounding "long march," started in the port city of Karachi on the Arabian Sea and reached the capital, almost 1,000 miles to the north in the foothills of the Himalayas, after five days. The motor caravan pulled in several thousand people en route despite summer temperatures that reached 120 degrees F. at some points. Local media estimated at least 50,000 demonstrators were entering Islamabad on Friday afternoon.
"Not many in the movement like to talk about this, but there is some fatigue setting in with the lawyers now," says Babar Sattar, a practicing lawyer who has been involved with the movement. "But the at the same time, there is a much stronger presence of civil society and political parties."
The lawyers, who are now in the 15th month of street protests, says Mr. Sattar, are coming to realize that street agitation alone will not be enough to bring about long-term change. "The backing of political parties is important, because this movement needs to have a political strategy and support."
The march, a red carpet of sorts for the "who's who" in the anti-Musharraf camp in Pakistan, is being led by lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, once a close aide to Bhutto. It also includes ex-military personnel, activists, and working professionals from secular civil society groups, political opposition leaders – including Islamists – and even Mr. Sharif. Sharif, the man Musharraf overthrew to first come to power almost eight years ago, returned to sweep large section of the country in the election earlier this year and has been pressuring his coalition partner, Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, to take concrete steps to reinstate the judges. "President Musharraf is too weak to play any role – he is already on his way out," Mr. Ahsan said in an address during the long march. "It is parliament which will have to play its role now."
Musharraf's collision course with the judiciary was set in March last year, when he fired the chief justice, who had developed a reputation as a populist and activist. He had challenged Musharraf's policies on secret detentions in the course of fighting the war against terrorism, exposed cases of government corruption, and taken on more pro bono cases than any judge before him. When a street movement managed to have the top judge reinstated and also threatened to overthrow Musharraf, the general struck preemptively and declared a state of emergency. He replaced a majority of the judges in the Supreme Court with loyalists.
Some in Pakistan hoped the new government would be able to remove Musharraf from power or at least reinstall the judiciary, who could do the job. But a fractured and internally unstable new government was unable to deliver on these expectations as the People's Party began warming toward the president. Now, thousands of people led by lawyers loyal to the sacked chief justice are back on the streets.
The marchers were reaching Islamabad Friday afternoon and the government had cleared the route for the march after initially setting up imposing roadblocks in the capital. "The government," says analyst Khalid Rahman, "must offer at least the appearance of supporting the change," which the protesters are demanding, "if they are to retain some legitimacy."
"I don't think it's an objective of the movement to overthrow the new government," says Sattar, the lawyer. The movement now has allies in the legislature who are applying their own pressure to have the judiciary restored and Musharraf removed, he says, but there must be a resolution soon. "It might have to be a compromise, but if no middle ground is found either, the temperature will keep rising."


text:
See what questions
a doctor would ask.
Knee lump: A palpable lesion located anatomically on the knee. See detailed information below for a list of 16 causes of Knee lump, Symptom Checker, including diseases and drug side effect causes.
» Review Causes of Knee lump: Causes | Symptom Checker »
The following medical conditions are some of the possible
causes of Knee lump.
There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor
about your symptoms.
See full list of 16 causes of Knee lump
» Review Causes of Knee lump: Causes | Symptom Checker »
Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Knee lump, as listed in our database. Visit the Symptom Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.
See full list of 501 Symptom Checkers for Knee lump
Review further information on Knee lump Treatments.
Real-life user stories relating to Knee lump:
More Knee lump animations & videos
Some of the comorbid or associated medical symptoms for Knee lump may include these symptoms:
See all associated comorbid symptoms for Knee lump
Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:
Research the causes of related medical symptoms such as:
Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Knee lump:
Read more about causes and Knee lump deaths.
Leg cramps at night a classic sign: The symptom of having leg muscle cramps, particularly at night, is a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes. However, there are also various other causes. See causes of leg cramps or misdiagnosis of...read more »
Read more about Misdiagnosis and Knee lump
Other ways to find a doctor, or use doctor, physician and specialist online research services:
The list below shows some of the causes of Knee lump mentioned in various sources:
See full list of 16 causes of Knee lump
This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Knee lump. Of the 16 causes of Knee lump that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:
See the analysis of the prevalence of 16 causes of Knee lump
The following list of conditions have 'Knee lump' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.
Select from the following alphabetical view of conditions which include a symptom of Knee lump or choose View All.
Ask or answer a question about symptoms or diseases at one of our free interactive user forums.
Medical story forums: If you have a medical story then we want to hear it.
See a list of all the medical forums
Medical Conditions associated with Knee lump:
Lump (342 causes), Knee symptoms (149 causes), Leg symptoms (2751 causes), Limb symptoms (3592 causes), Joint symptoms (1430 causes), Bone symptoms (2907 causes), Skeletal symptoms (4109 causes), Musculoskeletal symptoms (6264 causes), Swelling symptoms (3730 causes), Arm symptoms (1619 causes), Body symptoms (5672 causes)
Symptoms related to Knee lump:
Knee pain (122 causes), Swollen knee (25 causes), Skin lump (36 causes), Infection (1293 causes), Bakers cyst, Sebaceous cyst, Ingrown hair follicle, Varicose vein, Malignancy, Skin cancer (45 causes), Fracture, Haematoma, Ganglion (11 causes), Callus formation
Doctor-patient articles related to symptoms and diagnosis:
These general medical articles may be of interest:
See full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis
Tools & Services:
Medical Articles:
Search Specialists by State and City
By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use. Information provided on this site is for informational purposes only; it is not intended as a substitute for advice from your own medical team. The information on this site is not to be used for diagnosing or treating any health concerns you may have - please contact your physician or health care professional for all your medical needs. Please see our Terms of Use.
Copyright © 2014 Health Grades Inc. All rights reserved. Last Update: 13 August, 2015 (0:30)


text:
GFOA is always on the lookout for news items that will be useful for finance professionals, research that might help you do your job better, and legal and regulatory updates you need to know about. Check the GFOA news page for the updates and any relevant GFOA announcements, and see the GFOA Newsletter archive for back issues of our weekly electronic newsletter.
2014 President and Incoming President Address
Below are links to view the GFOA President's Address and the GFOA Incoming President's Address at the 2014 Annual Conference in Minneapolis.
IRS Ruling Imposes New ACA Penalty
A recent IRS ruling will likely discourage employers that had planned to end their health-care obligations by sending employees to the exchanges.
GFOA Elects New Executive Board Members
Robert W. Eichem, Chief Financial Officer, City of Boulder, Colorado, became GFOAs new president at the associations annual business meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 20, 2014.
Also at the business meeting, the associations members elected a new GFOA president-elect and five new members-at-large, who will each serve a three-year term beginning immediately.
President Obama Signs DATA Act
In early May, President Obama signed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (Public Law No. 113-101), which amends the eight-year-old Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act to make federal agency spending data "with more specificity and at a deeper level than is currently reported" available to the public, according to the administration.
GFOA Alert: The MA Rule and Issuers
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given final approval to a rule which takes effect July 1, 2014, defining the term municipal advisor (MA), and has produced supplementary Frequently Asked Questions about the rule. The SEC Municipal Advisor Rule specifies activities which will be covered by the Dodd-Frank Acts imposed fiduciary duty of a municipal advisor to its government client, may result in the need for underwriters to receive new written representations from issuers, and may limit the manner in which underwriters and other professionals interact with issuers. While the Rule does not regulate issuers directly, there are numerous indirect implications.
GFOA Members Encouraged to Oppose Permanent Extension of Internet Tax Freedom Act
The House of Representatives is considering a permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (H.R. 3086). The GFOA strongly opposes this measure because it would cost states and localities millions of dollars in revenue in the coming years, as more services that are subject to traditional taxation transition to the Internet.
GFOA Provides Advocacy Tools on Marketplace Fairness Act and Municipal Tax Exemption
As Congress returns home to their congressional districts for the month-long August recess, the GFOA and its state and local coalition partners are gearing up for what is expected to be a busy fall session, with federal action on comprehensive tax reform and the Marketplace Fairness Act projected to increase. GFOA members can help ensure positive outcomes for maintaining the tax exemption on municipal bond interest and enactment of the Marketplace Fairness Act (HR 684) by meeting with their Senators and members of Congress over the month-long August congressional recess.
Best Practice of the Week - Guidance for Affordable Care Act Implementation
Recently, the White House announced that 8 million Americans have signed up for private health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Approximately a third are younger than 35 years old, and the costs of the expansion are reportedly less than expected; for instance, the administration predicts that Medicare and Medicaid costs in 2020 will be $180 billion less than 2010 estimates. Many governments are looking for more information about complying with the act and making sure their health-care benefit is sustainable.
SEC Seeks Further Enforcement of Municipal Securities Issuers through Self Reporting
On March 10, 2014, the SEC announced a new program aimed at compelling government bond issuers to self-report violations of federal securities laws. While the SEC is prohibited from regulating government issuers under federal law, the commission can file enforcement actions against municipal issuers for misrepresentations about the prior compliance of bond offerings with continuing disclosure obligations.
Citizens Still Love Libraries
According to a report from Pew Research that describes nine groups of Americans to reflect patterns of engagement with public libraries, public library users and proponents are not a niche group 30% of Americans aged 16 and older are highly engaged with public libraries, and an additional 39% fall into medium engagement categories.
MSRB Outreach Campaign Highlights EMMAs Tools for State and Local Governments
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has launched a Putting EMMA to Work for You campaign to raise mid-sized municipal issuers awareness of the importance of communicating with investors and complying with their disclosure obligations. The Electronic Municipal Market Access website is a resource for evaluating municipal finance options, complying with disclosure requirements and communicating with investors.
Pension Systems Collaborative Effort Already a Game Changer
In what industry participants have termed a game changer, the Orange County Employees Retirement System, working in collaboration with investment professionals from other public pension plans, has created an innovative platform that will provide small and mid-sized public pension plans with superior access to the industrys leading private equity partnerships. Bundling public pension assets through an unprecedented joint procurement process opens new doors to achieving superior portfolio returns in what heretofore has been an inefficient and costly asset class for many.
100 Largest Public-Sector Pension Systems Total $3,191.5 Billion
For the 100 largest public employee pension systems in the country, cash and security holdings totaled $3,191.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, reaching the highest level since the survey began collecting data in 1968, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Cash and security holdings had a quarter-to-quarter increase of 4.2%, from $3,061.6 billion last quarter, and a year-to-year increase of 12.5%, from $2,836.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Measuring the Impact of Sprawl
Sprawl versus compact development its a complicated dichotomy, and a crucial argument in the study of sustainable urban development. Measuring Sprawl 2014, a new study from Smart Growth America that analyzes development patterns in U.S. metropolitan areas and counties, is looking to see which communities are more compact and connected and which are more sprawling, and examining how index scores relate to life in that community.
Public Plans Database Provides Comprehensive Information
The Center for State and Local Government Excellence and the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College have partnered to develop the Public Plans Database, which contains comprehensive financial, governance, and plan design information for 126 state and local defined benefit plans, along with additional data on state defined contribution plans. The database represents more than 85% of total state and local government pension assets and members.
U.S. Treasury Department Forms New Municipal Issuers Oversight Unit
Beginning in mid-May, the U.S. Treasury Department will increase its monitoring of state and local government bond issuers through a new unit. The new Office of State and Local Finance will monitor and report on municipal issuers and market factors and conditions that contribute to stress in the municipal market, including public pensions. The office will also organize and propose federal policy solutions to address their concerns in these areas. Leading the office will be Kent Hiteshew, who is leaving his current position as Senior Managing Director of J.P. Morgans Housing Finance Group.
Jurisdictions Can Leverage Medicare to Lower OPEB Costs
Many municipal governments can use Medicare to lower their OPEB costs, according to Moodys Investors Service. As retiree health costs increase with the aging of the workforce, retirement benefits present an increasing credit risk for many U.S. municipal governments.
Local Government Procurement Gets Innovative
Local governments are in a better position to make innovations to the procurement process than states, according to GovTech. New York City has initiated reforms aimed at shortening the procurement cycle and bundling similar contracts, while Oakland County, Michigan, developed a program that allows other governments to use its technology.
Report Looks at Need for Road Repair
State departments of transportation are spending more money building new roads than maintaining the ones they have, despite the fact that financial liabilities are mounting and conditions are not improving for Americas drivers, according to Repair Priorities 2014, the latest report by Smart Growth America and Taxpayers for Common Sense analyzing road conditions and spending priorities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
CBO Study Finds Some Benefits to P3 Partnerships in Highway Construction
Research from the Congressional Budget Office indicates that there are slight benefits to public-private partnerships in highway construction. The CBO concluded that private financing will increase the availability of funds for highway construction, but only in cases in which states or localities have chosen to restrict their spending by imposing legal constraints or budgetary limits on themselves.
Arts Groups Help Rebuild Detroit
Despite Detroits well-publicized woes, many see the city as a good place to start a business, according to the New York Times. Many groups are employing innovative methods of rebuilding the city, including a transplanted entrepreneur and writer whose project, Write a House, is providing free houses (for $500 a month) to writers. Another group, Young Detroit Builders, will remodel the homes, paid in part by crowdfunding and a matching grant from a non-profit.
Marketplace Fairness Act Update: House Holds Hearing on Internet Tax Issues
On March 12, 2014, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Exploring Alternative Solutions to the Internet Sales Tax Issue, during which committee members discussed core issues that they would like to address in developing House legislation that would enable state and local governments to collect taxes on online retail sales. The hearing was significant in that it was the first action that the House Judiciary Committee has taken on this issue since the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Marketplace Fairness Act (S 743) in May 2013.
Milestones for GFOAs CAFR, Budget Programs
The GFOAs Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting program has reached a major milestone 4,000 submissions. Its an impressive rate of growth, up from 800 submissions 20 years ago.
Hints for More Sustainable Communities
Municipalities plans for sustainability vary widely, but there are a number of steps most local governments can take to improve their strategies for urban development, according to Triple Pundit.
GFOA Comments to Federal Agencies: Proposed Bank Liquidity Requirements Could Have Harmful Impacts
On January 31, 2014, the GFOA provided comments to three federal agencies about proposed regulations that could harm state and local government debt issuers. The proposal is intended to make banks more resilient and capable of weathering periods of fiscal stress without direct government intervention by requiring banks to maintain a designated level of high-quality liquid assets. As drafted, however, the proposal fails to classify municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets.


text:
USC Week: Players Not ReturningPosted by AMurawa on July 3rd, 2012
In last year's injury-marred campaign there were nine different players who saw some time under head coach Kevin O'Neill. Of those nine players, one little-used senior graduated and two underclassmen (who each earned more than 50% of the available minutes) transferred out. A fourth player, one of those who missed the season with an injury, also transferred out, while a fifth chose retirement from basketball due to his own injury. All three of the transfers saw the writing on the wall, with the host of new players and guys returning from injury ready to eat up their minutes. When all is said and done, none of these players that the Trojans lose will be difficult to replace, but we'll fill you in on their details in the order of importance to the program.
- Alexis Moore – Moore came to USC in the class of 2011 as a solid recruit with a bright future ahead of him. But while earning more than 24 minutes a night primarily because he was one of the last guys standing, Moore struggled mightily shooting the ball, hitting just 28.3% of his three-pointers and – a far worse sin – hitting just 29.1% of his two-pointers. Throw in the highest turnover rate (turnovers on more than 20% of all possessions) on a team whose only offensive strength was the ability to not turn the ball over and it is no surprise that Moore and USC parted ways after just one season. Moore will wind up playing in the Ivy League at Penn, eligible in 2013-14 after sitting out a year, and should fare much better at that level of competition with a couple of years to grow into his new role.
- Garrett Jackson – Jackson spent two seasons under O'Neill and earned some quality minutes in both years. As a freshman, he shot the ball well and chipped in on the glass and defensively but took a step backwards as a sophomore in nearly double the minutes. Part of the problem was that the 6'6" wing was asked to play as more of a power forward due to injuries, and Jackson wasn't ever the type of guy who seemed to be an athlete on the Pac-12 level. Jackson will wind up at St. Mary's with eligibility beginning in 2013-14, where he will probably spend a couple of years contributing off the bench for the Gaels.
- Curtis Washington – A 6'10" power forward, Washington's Trojan career boiled down to two seasons, 11 minutes, and zero points. He missed all of last season after a shoulder injury in USC's ill-fated trip to Brazil and after the season decided to transfer to Georgia State. He's another guy like Jackson who likely wound up at USC only because it was desperate for bodies, as he was regarded as a mid-major-type talent out of high school albeit with high upside due to his size and frame. Given some good health and improvement, he could have an impact in the CAA over the remainder of his eligibility. Read the rest of this entry »


text:
Jewelry Boxes - Midnight Blue
Made using recycled paperboard these small Midnight Blue gift boxes are perfect for small earrings, pins, and charms. Each box comes with a cotton insert.
* Disclaimer: Sold out items will be removed from the website, however delays can occur. We will contact you if an item is sold out and cannot be filled on your order. Closeout items cannot be returned. Due to color variations in monitors and printers, including settings and lighting, actual color may vary. For a true color representation, please call 800-824-2247 or email email@example.com for actual sample(s).


text:
Journal Article
© Oct 2005 Volume 3 Issue 2, Editor: Charles Despres, pp65 - 138
Look inside Download PDF (free)
We are not only in a new millennium, but also in a new era: the knowledge era. Sustainable competitive advantage is dependent on building and exploiting core competencies. The resource‑based view (RBV) of the firm defines a strategic asset as one that is rare, valuable, imperfectly imitable and non‑substitutable. Knowledge is seen as a strategic asset with the potential to be a source of competitive advantage for an organization. In this paper, we provide a model that examines how and why knowledge management (KM) can be used to create competitive advantage from the RBV of the firm.
Keywords: Knowledge management, KM, knowledge management systems, KMS, resource-based view of the firm, RBV, sustained competitive advantage
Journal Issue
Volume 3 Issue 2 / Dec 2005 pp65‑138
View Contents Download PDF (free)
Keywords: Absorptive capacity, Capabilities, Case study, Coach, Computer-mediated communication, Developing countries, Dynamic learning, Email, Information and Communication Technologies, Innovation, Intangible Assets, Intellectual Capital, Inter-organizational project team management, Knowledge creation and sharing, Knowledge Economy, Knowledge management (KM), Knowledge management systems (KMS), Knowledge transfer, Lotka-Volterra system, Organizational Learning, Organizational receptivity, Organizational Relation, Resource-based view of the firm (RBV), Sustained competitive advantage, Virtual team


text:
Oak skrifaði:Hvaða nzb index síðu eru menn að nota og hvað er svona besti bang for the buck news server?
Mig vantar þetta líka þar sem nzbmatrix var að hætta
NZBMatrix skrifaði:The End...
It is with our regret to announce that NZBMATRIX has closed.
We have had to make this decision due to a very large takedown request from a company called Wiggin LLC. These represent the following: Federation Against Copyright Theft Limited ("FACT"), Paramount Home Entertainment International Limited; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Limited; The Walt Disney Company Limited; Twentieth Century Fox Film Company Limited; Universal Pictures (UK) Limited; Warner Bros. Entertainment UK Limited.
As everyone is aware we are DMCA/Takedown notice compliant, and always have been.
Once this notice is completed we are left with an impossible task of policing our indexing bots. Even then it won't stop there, there will be follow-up notices etc.
Coupled with this is problems with payment providers, we have been through pretty much everyone out there, in the end they all pull out.
There are massive server/bandwidth costs to pay, with the payments in-stability this is a very hard task.
NZBMATRIX has never been the subject of any legal issues or threats.
Also the Usenet Indexing scene is going through some changes, with content being removed from pretty much every provider its making the existence of an indexer irrelevant if the content does not even exists anymore.
So it's time for us to bow out...


text:
The Sikh Organisation for Prisoners Welfare (SOPW) is now a major project under the charity Sikh Relief. Sikh Relief is a registered charity in the UK, and aims to expand and continue on from SOPW. This website is dedicated the the Prisoner project SOPW and SIkh Relief are both run by the same dedicated volunteers and managment. SOPW aims to work towards to achieving a right to a fair trial for those, who have been illegally imprisoned and tortured in India. The charity is an independent and non-politically aligned organisation which strives to mainstream human rights principlesand successful rehabilitation of political prisoners back into society.
SOPW upholds and implements the three main Sikh principles of Kirat Karna (honest work and actions & to remain dedicated and motivated), Naam Japna (evolution of one's spirituality through meditation) and Wand Ki Chakna (helping and sharing with others). Therefore, SOPW's modus operandi is to support prisoners who approach the charity for legal, medical, familial or economic difficulties and upon careful review and consideration of individual cases, a decision is then made to assist in whichever capacity and means necessary.


text:
Arbitration Process
There's a lot of buzz about Ryan Howard's contract situation. Newspaper stories, talk radio topics and message board fodder.
As has been published, Ryan's side has submitted a $10 million figure, the Phillies are at $7 million, which matches the largest contract ever for a player in his first year of arbitration.
Howard is eligible for arbitration for the first time as a "super-two" player. Generally, a player needs three years of service time in the majors to be eligible. Ryan has two years and 145 days which makes him eligible under the "super two" rule in which he ranks in the top 17 percent of players with more than two but fewer than three years of service. (182 days constitute a baseball season and determine service time).
Service time is part of the baseball process that was negotiated by baseball and the players' union a long time ago. So, arbitration is part of this process.
Players with six years of major league service then are eligible for free agency. Ryan will be eligible after the 2011 season. That also means he will be eligible for arbitration in 2009, 2010 and 2011. By being a "super-two" player, he has four years of arbitration as opposed to three, which is the norm.
As Pat Gillick indicated earlier this week, "We'll continue to probe as we did a year ago to get a multi-year deal. We're open and will make every attempt to get something done prior to the hearing. Ruben (Amaro Jr., assistant GM) is handling it and he's had discussions with Ryan's agent."
Once figures are exchanged, the sides can continue to negotiate up until they walk in the door of an arbitration hearing which involves both sides and a three-person panel. In addition, some multi-year deals have been completed following arbitration decisions. Hearings this year will be scheduled in St. Petersburg, FL, between February 1 and 21 (Ryan's been set for the 20th).
The arbitrators will listen to each side and make a decision. There is no middle ground.
Perception has it that the hearings turn into a battle field. As Gillick explained in the Daily News this week: "The hearing is not anything like what it's portrayed. All it is is a difference of opinion on numbers. That's all. The club thinks its number is appropriate, the player thinks his number is appropriate. That's all there is. I don't see it as a problem."
Bottom line: at some point the contract will be settled and the Phillies look forward to having Ryan in the middle of the lineup for 162 games and many more years.
3 Comments
some how i believe the phillies will screw this whole thing up. the phils should already have a ten year multi million dollar deal done,but as usual with this ownership they will look to find a cheap way out.prediction after 2011 ryan howard will either be david ortizs replacement in boston,or wearing blue pinstipes not red in new york.why?because winnig teams spend money,want to bes don't
Let's remember he only has played two full seasons in the big leagues. What will he demand after five seasons to sign if he gets the higher amount in arbitration? He also set a record in strike outs last year, but he still had a good season not trying to take anything away from him. Yet you have to figure in injuries noting Mo Vaughn, Albert Bell, and others who ended careers early in New York and Baltimore.So yea, it is a very hard decision to make on how much you can give a player with only two years of service.
Phillies Brass needs to get off their butts and stop counting their money! I like what firstname.lastname@example.com said.. Because it's the truth.. Winning teams do spend money period… And my opinion as fare as Mo Vaughn, Albert Bell.. These guys are even in the same class as Howard. Lets face it. Yes Howard strikes out alot but still in the Two years 145days he has been in the bigs! He still over the past two years has hit .300avg was the fast'est player ever to get to 100HR voted an allstar in his first full year.. Won 2005 ROY and 2006 MVP in concective years! My point is the kid puts up numbers and alot of people dont realize for a big man what a good defensive player he really is.. It's real simple! Without Ryan Howard in the middle of the Phillis lineup. That lineup is nothing because it would change everything the way teams pitch the Phillies now! Howard has made everbody on that team around him better! Without Howard Utley dose'nt see the picthes he see's now, Jimmy Rollins Dose'nt get the picthes he gets. And look how it impacted Burrell Last year When Charlie put him in the 3spot.. Burrell saw pitches as big as beach balls coming at him and what a second half he had.. Why? Because the way opposing pitchers Fear Howard! I have been a diehard Phillies Fan since 1963, and have seen alot of phillies since that time.. And there was Nobody who impacted a game nor their lineup like Howard does and a close second to Michael Jack Schmidt.. I can see Boston and the Yankee's and even the Dodgers because Joe Torre Loves this kid Licking at the chops, to get a hold of this kid.. Gillick you better sign him way before arbitration and not ruin this kids confidence! Because he deserves it! A player like howard only comes around maybe every two decades! Show this kid that the Phillies want him around for a long time. Give him the long term deal he deserves.. So all the great Phillies Fans can see many more penates & world series champs for many years to come… GET IT DONE!


text:
Part 2 of my little look into the Batman Annual. I wanted to really make this a detailed explanation, but sadly, time isn't on my side. Instead here are some of the remaining pages, and layouts so you can see the transition between the two.
Again, we play with the whole "circles" theme with Freeze's googles in panel 1. Originally I had freeze in panel 3 but felt a big open room, with the sky showing through the glass and a solitary shot of Nora in the tube would be better. I wanted it to look like a trap. I based the room off Bruce Wayne's penthouse in The Dark Knight film.
Again, notice how Peter's color make this simple page sing. Adding some fog over the line art gives it more depth. Color artists, take note and DO THIS. Seperate your foreground, middle and background.
Big batman shot. In the script, it simply called for a shot of batman breaking through glass as a splash. I didn't really have a great idea for it, but thought more of a hunched over Batman ready for battle would look better.
Excellent colors again.
Fight sequence activate! This was a fun page. I redrew batman 3 times in the final panel. I finally got what I want and I feel the pose flowed well into the next page.
Layouts. Notice the pose in panel 3 is different.
The Ice effect Peter uses here really makes the page glow. Also note the colors he is using. Blues, as the cool, and reds/purples for the warms. Really makes the blue color pop.
Biff bam Boom!
You'll notice I changed the layout a bit here on this page. I wanted you, the reader, to get the sense that Freeze walks past Batman's frozen body toward Nora's pod. It didn't work in the layout, so I made panel 4 bigger, and did two smaller panels at the bottom. These are the kinds of things you need to think of when you are layout out pages. Will the audience get lost? I saved panel 6 for another page.
Love how Peter uses the RED on Freeze's face here. Most colorists wouldnt do something like that, but his face REALLY pops because of it and looks angry.
This page is one of my fav's. I love the final panel with Batman fighting freeze from the past.
My fav panel of the entire book is panel 5 here with Batman looking back. Peter also uses yellow here. Look at how that pops!!
This was one of the toughest pages of the book. Making Freeze look sad was tough. Again, having a fellow like Peter on colors gave me a ton of confidence. You can see I left alot of his face white. I simply used lines and allowed him to paint the shadows. The finished product looks excellent.
Well, thats it! If you want to see the end of the book you'll need to go an get yourself a copy! This book was a blast to work on and I was so thankful to get this opportunity. Hope you all enjoyed this little look into the Batman Annual! I hope to do something similar in the months ahead when DETECTIVE COMICS 13 and so on are released!


text:
I'm planning to follow this tutorial in order to allow my subscribers to add images to comments (actually a custom post type called "Replies").
Wordpress filters
<img> tags by default (except for the admin).
Will my Wordpress site be vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) if I allow img HTML tags in my comment section?


text:
Browsing Working papers by Author "Crone Jensen, Elisabeth"
Now showing items 1-2 of 2
Barriers and Success Factors in the Establishment and Continuous Development of NGO-Business Partnerships in DenmarkCrone Jensen, Elisabeth; Thusgaard Pedersen, Janni; Neergaard, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7812
Files in this item: 1Working_paper_02_2009.pdf (1.565Mb)
Casanova, Lourdes; Crone Jensen, Elisabeth; Sloan, Pamela; Gradillas, Maria; Hockerts, Kai (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This report summarizes selected findings of a three‐year research effort undertaken by INSEAD, Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Bocconi University, and the Leon Kosminski Academy. It is part of a larger European Commission‐funded study, entitled "RESPONSE". This project has aimed at understanding how multinational firms see their responsibility towards society and how this is aligned (or not) with the expectations of their stakeholders. Preliminary findings were developed in a final report which was presented at a conference in autumn 2007 at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (please find link in the appendix). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7120
Files in this item: 1wp csr 2008-06.pdf (1.271Mb)
Now showing items 1-2 of 2


text:
Google now has a way for people to find loved ones in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. The Google Person Finder allows people to post and search for relatives or friends.
MORE: Typhoon Survivors Storm Rice Warehouse Amid Growing Desperation
Not only can individuals search for people, but the press, non-governmental agencies and other groups can also update the database with information, according to the Google site. Websites can also embed the Google Person Finder into their sites or even use its open source software to create their own Google Person Finder after any disaster. Launched in 40 languages, it can be hosted in most countries.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
The Google Person Finder was created in response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, so victims could contact loved ones. It also stemmed from websites created after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which also helped people connect with friends and relatives in the affected Gulf states. Now, instead of searching in several registries to find missing loved ones, Google has created on central database that accepts data from other agencies or sites.
The gadget gives users two choices: "I'm looking for someone" and "I have information about someone" which leads them to type in the name of the person. All information is made publicly accessible. A mobile version is also available.
While the reports may only be that a person is alive, for those looking for any information on loved ones, the site may give them some peace of mind.


text:
We're all guilty of entertaining the occasional pro cycling fantasy, no matter how recreational our riding. We clip in, coast down the street, and suddenly Phil Liggett is narrating the blow-by-blow of our suburban spin. Sure, it's childish, but so is riding a bike. It's also harmless, and as the old adage goes, fantasies are fine as long as you don't act upon them.
Then again, your marriage counselor probably hasn't laid eyes on the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4 Red. Short of moving to Monaco and putting an Italian doctor with a dubious doping history on speed dial, there are few things that'll make you feel more pro than this race-ready rig. Specialized has always practiced the trickle-down effect, first testing its products in the pro peloton before unleashing them on John Q. Public, and the SL4 comes with an impeccable pedigree, winning 2012 races like the Tour of Flanders, the Olympics, and the three-week Vuelta a Espana.
Naturally, the 2013 version – now available to order – comes fully loaded with all the trappings you'd expect from a Pro Tour ride: carbon deep dish Roval rims, SRAM Red components, and a wafer-thin Toupé saddle that's somehow still capable of keeping your keester comfortable no matter how punishing the ride. You can even order the frame in Team Saxo Bank colors to feel like two-time Tour de France champ Alberto Contador…if that's your thing (hey, man, we're not here to judge). But what really makes the SL4 stand out is its construction. Specialized approached the design with two typically opposing objectives: decreased weight and increased stiffness. Miraculously, it succeeded at both. By tapering its beefy head tube and molding the bottom bracket and chain stays – the highest stress point on a bike – into one carbon fiber unit, Specialized's engineers were able to achieve a 19-percent increase in stiffness-to-weight ratio over its previous Tour de France–winning rides.
So what, exactly, does that feel like? Fast. But we could have told you that without even riding it. One of the defining characteristics of a Specialized road bike is its curved top tube, a design flair that creates smaller triangles in both the front and rear of the frame; meaning even a gargantuan 61 cm (the largest size in its stable) looks nimble. And it feels even nimbler. Whether we were weaving in and out of Manhattan traffic, climbing and then descending the highest four-season road in Vermont, or powering out of corners on our local criterium course, the SL4 felt explosively quick and responsive. So quick and responsive, in fact, that the only bobble we experienced was when the tail whipped out from underneath us during a sprint, the result of sharp, increased force being transferred directly from our pedal stroke to the road. In the bike-designing game, stiffness equals speed, and Specialized has taken that to heart. So remember, no matter how pro the SL4 makes you feel, it's important that you're the one controlling the bike, not vice versa. [$8,500; specialized.com]
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!


text:
Aww, Marlowe. <3Hawkwind wrote:Marlowe
On topic, given the general reticence about sexuality in Tolkien's work, I find a character making a noisy fuss about the evils of homosexuality far more jarring than any lgbt character peaceably going about his/her/zir life. A shake of the head or a quietly raised eyebrow won't bother me, however.
OOCly, I suspect there's also a level on which I mind IG sexism less because it's easier for me to assume it's just RP, especially since it is explicitly treated in the canon. Prejudiced feelings about homosexuality, unfortunately, are still sufficiently common even in the Western world that I can't help worrying what I see IG comes as much from the players as from their characters. This, in turn, tends to make me feel OOCly uncomfortable & unwelcome, even if often unwarrantedly so.
(Also, Marlowe!)


text:
images of black and white photography by Nobuyuki Taguchi photographer based in
It's inspired by Kaushal Parikh Photography
I'v been to Warwick Castle over the bank holiday.
I'm taking pictures nowadays, however this is from last year.
I wish I could have taken more shots that day...
It is December and Christmas is just around corner.


text:
Having this item in your inventory allows you to collect items that can be turned in for tickes once a month at the Darkmoon Faire. You may get your guide from several NPCs on the island and do not need to pick up a new one each month.
The following items can drop while carrying a Guide:
- Soothsayer's Runes - raiding
[quest: Tools of Divination]
- Imbued Crystal - five man dungeons bosses
[quest: A Curious Crystal]
- Monstrous Egg - five man dungeon bosses
[quest: An Exotic Egg]
- A Treatise on Strategy - five man dungeon bosses
[quest: The Master Strategist]
- Ornate Weapon - five man dungeon bosses
[quest: A Wondrous Weapon]
- Mysterious Grimoire - five man dungeon bosses
[quest: An Intriguing Grimoire]
- Fallen Adventurer's Journal - PvP
[quest: The Captured Journal]
- Captured Insignia - PvP
[quest: The Enemy's Insignia]
- Banner of the Fallen - PvP
[quest: A Captured Banner]
These items will only drop if you have the Guide in your inventory. If it is a dungeon drop, all players carrying a Guide may roll on the item. Raid drops are looted by everyone with the Guide. PvP items are looted individually by clicking the bodies of fallen enemies. It is important to note that these items will only drop while you are doing level-appropriate content. You can no longer farm low level bosses to earn particular ones.
The items are Bind on Use and can be traded or purchased off the auction house.


text:
US regulators have charged a financial advisor with trying to sell $500bn of fake securities on LinkedIn, amid warnings to investors and advisory firms about the risks of buying through social networks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges [PDF] that Illinois-based Anthony Fields offered hundreds of billions of dollars in fraudulent securities through a few networking sites, including LinkedIn.
Fields, it is claimed, put bank guarantees and medium-term notes from financial institutions, including Credit Suisse, HSBC, BNP Paribas and RBS among others, up for sale on the sites, adding "if you are interested you can email for particulars".
The securities were, SEC alleges, offered through the firms Anthony Fields & Associates (AFA) and Platinum Securities Brokers, both of which were owned and operated solely by Fields.
Fields – who was at one time registered with the commission as a broker but had allowed his registration to lapse – is also accused of pretending that AFA had $400m worth of assets under management and a $50bn contract to trade US Treasury securities as well as falsely claiming that Platinum was a registered dealer.
SEC has not claimed that the alleged trickster made off with any cash, but said he had received interest from "multiple purported potential buyers".
"Fraudsters are quick to adapt to new technologies to exploit them for unlawful purposes," said Robert Kaplan, co-chief of the commission's enforcement division's asset management unit. "Social media is no exception, and today's enforcement action reflects our determination to pursue fraudulent activity on new and evolving platforms."
As well as charging Fields, the commission also issued two alerts to the financial world about investment advisory firms' use of networking sites.
The first warned investment advisory firms that are using, or want to use, the likes of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to advertise their services are still subject to federal securities laws, including anti-fraud, compliance and record-keeping provisions.
The second gave tips to investors on avoiding fraud on networking sites, including the time-honoured advice that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. ®
Sponsored: Ransomware has gone nuclear


text:
Computer model could help public health officials anticipate overreactions to disease outbreaks.January 14, 2015
MIT study identifies influenza viruses circulating in pigs and birds that could pose a risk to humans.May 10, 2013
MIT scientists identify a mutation that could allow the flu virus to spread much more easily.March 9, 2011
More than 6,000 people have been vaccinated so farJanuary 5, 2010
MIT Medical has administered almost 2,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine during two clinics this month — and more are in the works.November 30, 2009
Dr. Howard M. Heller, Chief of Medicine at MIT Medical, talks about how to stay safe while traveling, especially on airplanes. What about that recirculated air? And what are safe and unsafe ways to eat on the plane?November 20, 2009
A student-only seasonal flu clinic will be held as planned on Oct. 15October 9, 2009
No health risk in waiting a few weeks for a shot, says MIT Medical's chief of medicineSeptember 30, 2009
A 2-minute video in which Dr. Howard Heller, chief of medicine at MIT Medical, talks about the precautions you should take to avoid the H1N1 flu, and what to do if you think you have the flu.September 28, 2009


text:
Method To Liz Cheney's Madness
[Beneath The Spin]
Many observers have found Liz and Dick Cheney's fervent crusade to ensure that President Obama define terrorists as "enemy combatants," and the fight against terrorism as a "war" on terrorism quite curious.
Why would a former vice president break the long established tradition of fading into the woodwork to engage in a silly debate over semantics? Now we also have his daughter, Liz Cheney, attacking standards set down by the United States Constitution guaranteeing due process and equal protection under the law.
Liz Cheney has now branded attorneys who defended "alleged terrorists" the "Al Qaeda 7," and she's calling the United States Department of Justice -that's simply carrying out the prescription set down by the United States Constitution - "The Department of Jihad."
Could there possibly be a reasonable explanation behind such radical behavior? I think there is.
The Cheneys are engaged in a preemptive strike against the Obama Administration in general, and the Justice Department in particular, in order to stir up public opinion against the prospect that the Obama Administration will finally decides to prosecute Dick Cheney for war crimes - as the rule of law demands.
They're busily laying the groundwork to incite insurrection across this country to counter the application of the rule of law.
While the GOP is atrocious when it comes to governance, they're absolute geniuses when it comes to stirring up their base for war - and in this case, they're preparing the nation for an all out internal conflict. One can hear it in every speech as they sprinkle little gems like "secession," "socialist," and "government takeover" into the political dialogue and lexicon.
Thus, the threat that they pose to America makes Al Qaeda pale in comparison.
They started exactly one month after President Obama entered office when on February 21, 2009, the New York Post published a cartoon portraying President Obama as a chimpanzee being shot by the police. There was a lot of subliminal messaging in that cartoon. True to their usual method of operation, they began to dehumanize the enemy, just like they did with Saddam Hussein, by portraying the "enemy" - President Obama in this case - as a chimpanzee.
They then show the police shooting the president in order to prevent him from pursuing what they consider an unpopular initiative; at that time focus was on the stimulus.
By showing the police - respected authority figures - shooting the president, that's intended to lend legitimacy to the action.
I immediately recognized what was afoot, and I pointed it out in my article, "The Assassination Cartoon":
"That cartoon literally sent a message out to every deadbeat, and bigoted loser in the country that they can finally make something of themselves. They can finally find purpose in their previously miserable and lackluster lives by assassinating the President of the United States. Thus, what the New York Post is calling a meaningless joke is actually a clarion call to every bigoted fool in the United States. It says that there are people in this country who will consider you a hero if you bring violence against the president–and they know it. Can you imagine the hue and cry coming from Republicans if the New York Times had run a cartoon depicting the assassination of Ronald Reagan?"
I also pointed out that -
"We've had enough experience with neo-cons and radical conservatives where anyone with even an ounce of common sense recognizes that nothing is a joke with them–especially when they're out of power. They're dead serious, and they're desperate. Conservative Republicans know better than anyone that considering their atrocious eight years of governance, combined with President Obama's competence and responsible statesmanship, that the Republican Party faces an extremely bleak future. So they've gone to plan B, to eliminate Obama at all cost, and by any means necessary. As ugly as it seems, anyone who doesn't recognize that reality has blinders on.
"Look at the facts. Their proven method of operation is to demonize, dehumanize, then eliminate. When the neo-cons decided to exploit Iraqi resources instead of going after Osama, as was the intent of the American people, they first began to demonize, then dehumanize Saddam Hussein–a former ally--in order to prepare the American people to accept the idea that it was necessary to take him out."
If there was any doubt about my contention, however, it should have been immediately resolved when they trotted out the turncoat and perennial loser,
Alan Keyes. Keyes called into question President Obama's legitimacy as president. He referred to the president as "a radical communist." He went on
to say, "He's going to destroy this country and we've either got to stop him, or America will cease to exist."
He also indicated that since Barack Obama wasn't legitimately the president, if something wasn't done about it we were going to end up in "civil war."
Thus, these are people are clearly without limits, and have an absolute disdain for the United States Constitution. They're only concerned about one thing - power, and that's the only thing they respect.
So President Obama's inclination for compromise and appeasement is totally lost on them. All appeasement does is give the GOP the breathing room to engage in further calculation and plotting. Their strategy was clearly demonstrated in the healthcare debate. Even after the president allowed them to water down the bill, they voted against it. That's their method of operation. They're not interested it compromise - they want nothing short of complete control.
So when the president signaled Attorney General Holder that "we should look forward, not back," even though the president was obviously ignoring the rule of law to accommodate them, they didn't appreciate that. They didn't say, "Wow, this is a good guy;" they said, "This guy is weak - we're going to run all over him."
Had President Obama followed up on his campaign promise of change, on the other hand, and simply allowed the rule of law to play itself out, his entire base would still be behind him, and the Republican party wouldn't have dared engaged in the obstructionism that they are currently engaged in.
First of all, politics as usual wouldn't have flown in such an environment. And secondly, the roots of the Bush and Cheney corruption undoubtedly sank so
deep into the Republican party that in response to a DOJ investigation, a large percentage of the GOP would be too busy trying to cover their own butts, rather than engage in obstructing the president's agenda.
During a recent debate I was having on this issue a gentleman indicated that this was no time to investigate war crimes. President Obama has to pick his battles. I strongly disagree. First, I have to wonder if the gentleman would have taken the same position if one of the charges was that a member of his family was tortured and killed?
But beyond any personal or political issues, in any democracy, maintaining the rule of law must always take priority over everything else. Because without the rule of law, there can be no democracy, since a democracy is established by the rule of law.
After all, what's the sense of enacting healthcare reform, or any other law, if a precedent has been set that renders the rule of law meaningless?
For more commentary by Black Star News columnist Wattree see www.wattree.blogspot.com
"Speaking Truth To Empower."
Latest comments
Ann GarrisonFebruary 22,2018 @ 08:03 PM
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...


text:
Now that we've gotten a look at Windows Phone 8, The Verge has gotten ahold of a reported HTC roadmap that's giving some clues as to the specs and timing of the debut of Microsoft's next-gen operating system.
On the lower-end is the "Rio," not to be confused with the animated movie about a macaw in Brazil. Slated to drop in October (the most solid timeframe we've heard yet), it's got a 4-inch WVGA display, 5-megapixel lens with 720p motion capture, 14.4Mbps HSPA, 512MB capacity, and a Qualcomm MSM8227 chip. Next up is the Accord, no relation to the reliable Honda sedan, also due in October. This one is bigger, faster, and more powerful with a nice 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 screen, 8-megapixels on the camera, 1080p video capture, and 42Mbps HSPA+. It's also a gig of RAM and a speedier dual-core processor. The third member of HTC's 2012 Windows Phone party is the Zenith, in no way affiliated with the TV brand, expected sometime in the fourth quarter. This guy is the best-looking and biggest one of the bunch, with a 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display, 8-megapixel sensor with 720p, and 42Mbps. It's the mightiest of these gadgets, powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chip.
Now these are all rumors at this time, but if they're true, HTC has some nice gadgets waiting in the wings. If you want a Windows Phone, you should wait for devices running on the forthcoming platform to come out. And it looks like that's going to happen this fall. [The Verge]


text:
Nest to Share User Information With Google for the First Time
Nest Labs is set to share some user information with corporate parent Google for the first time since its February acquisition.
Matt Rogers, a co-founder of the smart-thermostat maker, said in an interview that Google will connect some of its apps to Nest, allowing Google to know when Nest users are at home or not.
The integration will allow those users to set the temperature of their homes with voice commands to a Google mobile app. It will also allow Google's personal digital assistant, Google Now, to set the temperature automatically when it detects, using a smartphone's location-tracking abilities, that a user is returning home.
Users will have to opt in for their information to be shared with Google, Rogers said. "We're not becoming part of the greater Google machine," he said.