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Ray's Take Selling your home is one of the biggest financial transactions you'll probably make. It's a time to stay cool and realistic. However, most of us have a big emotional investment in our homes alongside a significant financial one. You probably selected it because you loved it, were excited to move in and built special memories there.
Potential buyers only want to know what they'll get for their money. Your professional real estate broker can point you in the right pricing direction by providing detailed information about home sales in your neighborhood, taking into account size, age and other details.
However, you need to listen. A recent survey revealed that 75 percent of homeowners think their agent's suggested price is too low. If you're working with a professional agent, she knows the market better than you do. Overprice your home and it could sit on the market a long time. In frustration, you'll lower the asking price. Then bargain-hunting buyers will smell an opportunity and make offers that are lower still.
Setting a realistic price generates interest in buyers and other agents. Then it's all about the marketing. Most buyers house-hunt online first. Including lots of attractive photos of your home inside and out can be a real plus, especially if they brightly show off your home's best features.
Get a professional home inspection before your home is on the market and take care of any problems in advance. Waiting till later could cost you more or make a deal fall through. Ask your agent for tips on how to stage your home to make it more appealing to buyers. Make sure your home is ready for viewing at all times – it needs to be accessible when buyers are. When we were selling our home in 2008, we moved to an apartment. Young kids have a hard time understanding why they can't make a mess!
However, if the price you set isn't realistic in the first place, all the marketing in the world is unlikely to help you sell.
Dana's Take A lot of people turn to a relative or good friend who is a licensed real estate agent to help them sell their house. The thinking seems to make sense: Why not turn to someone you trust when making a transaction this important?
Well, it might work out sometimes, but there are a lot of potential problems ahead. As the proud homeowner, you might get your feelings hurt when someone you know well says your house is worth less than you thought, or advises you to paint over those lime-green walls or store away cherished memorabilia.
On the other hand, your agent could grow to feel that you are imposing on him with demands for services or concessions that go beyond a professional relationship. Certainly friendships have broken up over less.


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College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History
In June 2017, a Religious Studies Companion Document was added as a Supplement to the C3 Framework. It is included in the downloadable pdf file of the Framework.
What are the guiding principles?
The C3 is driven by the following shared principles about high quality social studies education:
- Social studies prepares the nation's young people for college, careers, and civic life.
- Inquiry is at the heart of social studies.
- Social studies involves interdisciplinary applications and welcomes integration of the arts and humanities.
- Social studies is composed of deep and enduring understandings, concepts, and skills from the disciplines. Social studies emphasizes skills and practices as preparation for democratic decision-making.
- Social studies education should have direct and explicit connections to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.
What are the instructional shifts for social studies?
The C3 Framework, like the Common Core State Standards, emphasizes the acquisition and application of knowledge to prepare students for college, career, and civic life. It intentionally envisions social studies instruction as an inquiry arc of interlocking and mutually reinforcing elements that speak to the intersection of ideas and learners. The Four Dimensions highlighted below center on the use of questions to spark curiosity, guide instruction, deepen investigations, acquire rigorous content, and apply knowledge and ideas in real world settings to become active and engaged citizens in the 21st century.
C3 Framework Organization
|Dimension 1: Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries
|Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Tools and Concepts
|Dimension 3: Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence
|Dimension 4: Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action
|Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries
|Gathering and Evaluating Sources
|Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions
|Developing Claims and Using Evidence
|Taking Informed Action
Connections to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies
The C3 Framework changes the conversation about literacy instruction in social studies by creating a context that is meaningful and purposeful. Reading, writing, speaking and listening and language skills are critically important for building disciplinary literacy and the skills needed for college, career, and civic life. Each of the Four Dimensions are strategically aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies.
Why do we need the C3 Framework?
There are a number of motivating factors that inspired this work:
- Marginalization of the Social Studies – The loss of instructional time at the elementary level and the narrowing of instruction in response to multiple-choice, high-stakes testing has significantly impacted time, resources, and support for the social studies. The introduction of the Common Core provided an opportunity for social studies educators to re-frame instruction to promote disciplinary literacy in social studies in such a way as to allow social studies to regain a more balanced and elevated role in the K-12 curriculum.
- Motivation of Students – Children and adolescents are naturally curious about the complex and multifaceted world they inhabit. But they quickly become disengaged when instruction is limited to reading textbooks to answer end-of-chapter questions and taking multiple-choice tests that may measure content knowledge but do little to measure how knowledge is meaningful and applicable in the real world. The C3 Framework addresses this issue in fundamental ways.
- The Future of Our Democracy – Abundant research bears out the sad reality that fewer and fewer young people, particularly students of color and students in poverty, are receiving a high quality social studies education, despite the central role of social studies in preparing students for the responsibilities of citizenship. Active and responsible citizens are able to identify and analyze public problems, deliberate with other people about how to define and address issues, take constructive action together, reflect on their actions, create and sustain groups, and influence institutions both large and small. They vote, serve on juries when called, follow the news and current events, and participate in voluntary groups and efforts. Implementing the C3 Framework to teach students to be able to act in these ways—as citizens—significantly enhances preparation for college and career.
Collaboration is Key
For these reasons and many more, thousands of social studies experts, curriculum specialists, teachers and scholars from across the nation, and the following organizations have been involved in the development of the C3 Framework.

subset: commoncrawl


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Stunner. Despite the major tax increase passed in November, California revenues fell well below projections.
The Daily Dose reported:
California State Controller John Chiang has announced that total state revenue for the month of November 2012 fell $806.8 million, or 10.8% , below budget.
Democrats thought they could hammer "the rich" by convincing voters to pass Proposition 30 to create the highest state income tax in the nation. But it now appears that high income earners have already "voted with their feet" by moving themselves and their businesses out of state, resulting in over $1 billion shortfall in corporate and income taxes last month and the beginning of a new financial crisis.
Passage of Proposition 30 set off euphoria and expectations of higher spending for public employees. The California Teachers' Association (CTA) trumpeted: "California students and working families won a clear victory today as voters clearly demonstrated their willingness to invest in our public schools and colleges and also rejected a deceptive ballot measure aimed at silencing educators, other workers and their unions."
State bureaucrats immediately ramped up deficit spending far beyond the state's $6 billion annual tax increase, with the Departments of Health Services and Developmental Services increasing this month's spending by over $1 billion versus last year. The lower tax collection and higher spending drove the State's deficit after the tax increase to $2.7 billion for the first 5 months of this fiscal year.


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In a bizarre attempt to make Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wearing a hoodie at a recent Wall Street meeting into a racial issue, on Thursday's NBC Today, attorney and panelist Star Jones decried the supposed "hypocrisy" of it all: "...when we talk about Mark Zuckerberg, rich white guy, wearing a hoodie, we call him brainy and self-confident....But when a young black kid walks down the street in a hoodie, that's ghetto." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Moments later, she made it clear that she was referring to Florida teen shooting victim Trayvon Martin: "...what I'm saying to you is, is you're having a discussion about an article of clothing where two months ago, that article of clothing was looked at as negative."
Even fellow liberal panelists, advertising executive Donny Deutsch and NBC medical editor Nancy Snyderman, thought Jones was completely off-base. Deutsch immediately dismissed her assertions: "Whoa, whoa....Okay, first of all, I don't know why this is a black/white issue....I love you like a sister, but you do this a lot....this is not a racial issue." Jones declared: "...don't interrupt me about an issue that means something to me and to the rest of the world."
Deutsch was probably referring to a May 2 panel discussion with Jones, in which she claimed that an ad by conservative PAC Crossroads GPS attacking President Obama for being a celebrity was somehow racially motivated: "...what worries me is that it's another attempt to paint Obama as an 'other.'" Deutsch countered: "I hope this is not a black/white issue....Star, you're misreading."
On Thursday, Snyderman joined Deutsch in criticizing Jones: "Star, you're – you're whacked out right now." Jones shot back: "No, you're not – you're just not living in the truth. There's a difference."
Here is a transcript of the exchange:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Let's move on to Mark Zuckerberg, speaking of sweating, sweatshirt, hoodie, thanks for the segue. So here he is, this is the big week of the Facebook Initial Public Offering. He goes to Wall Street, meets with these high rollers, these big investors, and he's wearing his uniform, the hoodie and jeans.
NANCY SNYDERMAN: Who cares?
GUTHRIE: I'm going to start with our branding guy. I know it's his brand, but should he have worn something more suited to the occasion?
DONNY DEUTSCH: First of all, it wouldn't have made a difference. Second of all, no. That you just said it, it's his brand. It's Steve Jobs and the black – the whole Facebook essence is, "We are this exclusive billion-person club that's thumbing our nose at the rest of the world." If all of a sudden he showed up in a suit and tie, you go, 'What? This is not Facebook.' They would lose the patina of, 'We are something special.' So I actually think, although I find him incredibly annoying, I just – something about him, I just want to go like this to his nose, I don't-
GUTHRIE: Okay, alright.
NANCY SNYDERMAN: He did put on a sport coat when he met the President in a private setting.
DEUTSCH: Right.
SNYDERMAN: And he was basically told to because, you know, that's out of respect of the office of the presidency. But having lived in that part of California, there is this feeling that, you know, you east-coasters do whatever you want, but guess what? We're making things happen out here and we are the nonconformists.
GUTHRIE: Can you be true to you're brand, but occasionally know that a situation requires something?
STAR JONES: Wait, Savannah, do you even see the hypocrisy here? That when we talk about Mark Zuckerberg, rich white guy...
DEUTSCH: Oh, no.
JONES: ...wearing a hoodie, we call him brainy and self-confident. And he's the man making things happen. But when a young black kid walks down the street in a hoodie, that's ghetto. That's urban.
DEUTSCH: Whoa, whoa, okay.
JONES: That's negative. I just find it very interesting. Sorry.
DEUTSCH: Okay, first of all, I don't know why this is a black/white issue.
JONES: It's not.
DEUTSCH: You do – no, you do – I love you like a sister, but you do this a lot.
JONES: And you know what?
DEUTSCH: By the way, we're putting him down for wear-
JONES: No, no. You don't – don't interrupt me about an issue that means something to me and to the rest of the world.
DEUTSCH: But this is not a racial issue.
JONES: But what I'm saying to you is, is you're having a discussion about an article of clothing where two months ago, that article of clothing was looked at as negative. Think about it for a minute, Donny.
DEUTSCH: But we're looking at it as negative here for a different reason.
JONES: No, but you're not looking at it-
DEUTSCH: It's not like, "Oh, he's great because of a hoodie and the other guy's a criminal."
JONES: Excuse me, I read the New York Times, they called him brainy and self-confident.
SNYDERMAN: Yeah, but Star it's still-
JONES: And that's what that whole Silicon Valley thing is about.
DEUTSCH: Oh, come on, Star. Come on.
SNYDERMAN: Star, you're – you're whacked out right now.
JONES: No, you're not – you're just not living in the truth. There's a difference.
GUTHRIE: Well, let me throw something else at you really quick. Let's do it on the basis of gender. What if a woman's brand was to wear a certain kind of clothing, maybe hot pants for all I know, and she goes and takes meetings on Wall Street.
DEUTSCH: Now we're talking.
JONES: Of course.
GUTHRIE: Now Donny's interested. But, I mean, do you think there would be a double standard there?
SNYDERMAN: Of course there's a double standard.
JONES: Of course there's a double standard.
SNYDERMAN: Do you see – how do you think Sheryl Sandberg's going to dress on Friday? She's going to dress like the adult in the room. And she'll be there on time and he'll be late.
DEUTSCH: Personal experience-
SNYDERMAN: And guess what? They're going to go ahead and be phenomenally successful.
JONES: And he's going to get paid.


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BROWNING BPS Magnum Stalker Shotguns The Browning BPS 12 gauge Stalkers stock and forearm is complete with a non glare matte finish, weather resistant black graphite fiberglass composite material. It features a black recoil pad and an invector plus choke system, bottom loading and ejection and top tang safety. SPECIFICATIONS:Mfg Item Num: 012212205 Category: FIREARMS - SHOTGUNS Action :PumpGauge :12 GABarrel Length :26"Capacity :3 + 1Chamber :3 1/2"Length :47 1/4"Weight :8 1/4 lbsDrop :1 1/2" @ Comb & 2 1/2" @ HeelStock :Black SyntheticFinish :Blue
**Note: These items may ship to us directly from the manufacturer - there may be a delay for delivery. If you are interested in purchasing a Browning gun that shows as out of stock, we may still be able to find it from one of our many sources. Please email us for more information.


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Hello everyone,
I have a few questions that are driving me nuts...firstly, I have DI on Xbox 360, when I "Download" toy boxes from the DI website, these toy boxes appear with a White cloud beside them. I then press the download (Y) button and the cloud turns green with a tick inside, does this mean the toy box is mine to keep forever ?
Also, I have a limit of 300 slots, is there anyway to expand this beyond 300 ? I have a further 70ish toy boxes I want to play (These currently have a White cloud beside them) so what will happen come 3rd March...will these disappear ?
Lastly, is there a way to save the toy boxes to my hard drive ?
I really need basic straightforward answers as I am not infinity savvy.


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Dr. Mike is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and co-founder of the well-known RealAge.com website, along with Dr. Mehmet Oz. He is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute of the Cleveland Clinic and health expert on Oprah.
Dr. Mike hosts the popular YOU The Owner's Manual Radio Show here on RadioMD.com, and on radio stations nationwide.
You can also visit his latest partnership with Dr. Oz at YOUBeauty.com.


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Hello Guys.
I'm a HUGE fan of ROTK/SAN8 and have played 8,10,11 and 13.
8 has always been my favourite for the PS2. I learnt that KOEI released an updated version of the game on PC and managed to locate the game.
Unfortunately the game is only in Chinese and I am unable to locate an English Patch for it. Has another managed to source an English patch for the PC version of ROTK/SAN8?
Thanks guys!


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Place the dried cherries, juice and sea salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the flame to low. Simmer 10 minutes until the cherries are soft. Add the dissolved kuzu, stirring constantly until thick. Set aside while you prepare the crust.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Dry roast the oats for 4 to 5 minutes until slightly browned and they release a nutty aroma. Next, dry roast the flour for 2 to 3 minutes. Combine all dry ingredients. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together to form a ball of dough. Roll out the dough on baking paper. Place the crust in a 9 inch removable bottom tart pan or a pie plate. Press the crust into the pan forming edges around the pan. Spread the cherry filling in the crust. Sprinkle the sliced almonds around the edges of the tart pan on top of the filling. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 20 minutes or so before cutting. Remove the bottom of the tart pan. Slice and serve.
Per serving - 408 calories, 12 g fat (26% calories from fat), 5 g protein, 74 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 205 mg sodium


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1972 Chevy Super Cheyenne - Goin' Postal
Hot Rod Style
We have all been asked that ridiculous question from at least one high school guidance counselor or teacher: "If you had a million dollars what would you do with it?" As if by addressing this question it would map out what our future profession should be, and how to attain it. In reality, most people decide their career by utilizing three methods: follow their dreams, follow in their parents' footsteps, or simply try on everything and see what fits. For the most part, the best we can hope for is a job we like and a hobby we love. As for Gary Garret Jr., of Lewisville, Texas, he ended up with the best of both worlds.
Gary Jr. chose method No. 2-he followed in his father's footsteps by joining the U.S. Postal Service. Although they share the same profession, it's not the only thing the two have in common. Gary Jr. also shares his father's love of hot rods. Even though Gary's profession may be notorious for mental breakdowns and for inspiring the "Going Postal!" phrase, it has allowed Gary to engage in two of the activities he enjoys most: building hot rods and spending quality time with his old man. Over the years the father-son combo has teamed up for multiple creations, including their latest project.
Early one morning while making his rounds (yeah, I threw some Cash in there), Gary spotted an old Chevy truck along his postal route. The old girl appeared to be in decent condition, other than some slight body damage on the right rear quarter-panel. Further inspection brought delight to Gary: he discovered the Chevy was still sporting its original paint and interior, and the odometer checked in at just over 56,000 original miles. After some mild negotiation, Gary was the new proud owner of a 1972 Chevrolet Super Cheyenne.
The first order of business was the chassis. "Gary squared," meaning the father/son duo both named Gary, chose to stick with the stock frame and simply modify it. First they outfitted the chassis with a custom trans crossmember for their fresh Turbo 350. Then the stock rear springs were swapped for a set of Coil Spring Specialties drop springs to bring the rear 4 inches closer to the pavement. Up front, the Garys also equipped the frame with Coil Spring Specialties 1-inch drop springs and 2-inch drop spindles. Since they planned on concealing the exhaust pipes, they made openings in the frame to house the pipes and also mounted a 16-gallon fuel tank outback behind the rear axle. With the frame intact, it was time to shift focus to the powerplant. They decided on an '89 Chevy 350, with a few modifications of course. Gary Jr., an accomplished mechanic, fitted the 350 with a Holley 700 double-pumper carburetor, Federal Mogul 10:1 pistons, and a Comp Cams Magnum 292 cam. He also added Chevrolet cast aluminum valve covers and a Barry Grant air cleaner to bring life to the engine compartment. The exhaust system uses Dynomax headers and Flowmaster mufflers. Adding some personality to the truck, the exhaust now exits from the body in front of the rear wheels, similar to a NASCAR vehicle.
With the undercarriage complete, it was time for a facelift on the exterior. After the repairs were made to the rear quarter-panel, they proceeded to remove and shave the cargo light and gas filler. They also removed the stock trim and swapped to one-piece windows. When it came to the paint scheme, the Garys decided that sometimes the best way to teach an old dog new tricks is to seek out foreign influence. In this case, they decided to spray the old Chevy with a combination of Acura NSX Indie-Yellow and GM Arctic White. For the finishing touches, Jr. and Sr. had the bumpers re-chromed and installed a custom roll pan in the rear.
Inside the Super Cheyenne the Garys went with black-and-white vinyl and fabric-nothing special, yet timeless and just right for the truck's attitude. However, they did install custom black-and-white door panels. Other keynotes include a new Vintage Air unit and a tachometer-they also removed the ashtray. After four years and countless hours in the garage, the father and son tandems Chevy was finally complete and ready for the road. Along with creating the latest addition to the Garys' collection, they also showed the rest of us a whole new way to "Go Postal!"


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By all accounts, Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas is one of the most endangered Senate Democrats facing reelection – so much so that Republicans are lining up to challenge her.
On Saturday, US Rep. John Boozman jumps into the crowded GOP primary field – the 10th candidate – in hopes of defeating Senator Lincoln in November. In some polls, Representative Boozman already leads Lincoln by double digits. Even lesser-known candidates have large leads against her. A poll this week shows Lincoln with a 27 percent approval rating – bad news for an incumbent.
"Lincoln continues to trail most of the GOP candidates and her job numbers remain anemic," says Jennifer Duffy, a senior analyst at The Cook Political Report. "She was forced to push back on rumors about two weeks ago that she would retire because her poll numbers are so weak."
During her two Senate terms, Lincoln has strived to be a fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat. She hails from a state that has a Democratic statehouse and congressional delegation, but that historically votes Republican in presidential elections. In the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama lost Arkansas to Republican John McCain by 20 percentage points.
Interest groups on the Democratic side continue to target her on myriad fronts – the environment, healthcare reform, the Employee Free Choice Act, gay and lesbian issues. Even local farmers want her to be more supportive of them rather than big agriculture.
Earlier this week, Lincoln danced on a political high wire at the Senate Democratic Policy Committee Issues Conference in Washington when she urged President Obama "to push back on ideological extremes at both ends of the political spectrum," according to Lincoln's news release.
A prickly exchange with Obama
She also said that one of her constituents "fears that there's no one in your administration that understands what it means to go to work on Monday and make a payroll on Friday."
In turn, Mr. Obama pressed back, cautioning Democrats against wanting to return to the Bush administration's agenda.
"If our response ends up being, you know, because we don't want to – we don't want to stir things up here, we're just going to do the same thing that was being done before, then I don't know what differentiates us from the other guys," Obama said.
When asked if the question and answer session with Obama would be viewed as positive or negative in the campaign, Lincoln campaign spokeswoman Katie Laning Niebaum said, "She does not view the question-and-answer session through a campaign lens."
Obama's strong words toward the moderate faction of his party hit Lincoln directly.
Lincoln often voted with the GOP
She has long been the deciding vote on controversial issues even before healthcare reform appeared on the agenda. During the Bush administration, Lincoln often sided with her Republican counterparts. Even when she didn't, she teetered on issues.
One memorable fence-sitting episode was during the debate on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In the end, she voted against drilling. Later,she teamed with a Republican counterpart to propose weakening the Endangered Species Act.
This week, Lincoln hedged on "Don't ask, don't tell" involving gays in the military, saying she wanted more input from military leaders before deciding her vote. As the Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman, Lincoln, who grew up on a farm family, also targeted Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal, saying she opposed cuts to farm programs – especially subsidies.
She was one of only three Democrats who recently supported a resolution by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Such alignments have put Lincoln in an imperiled position especially with her base. Ms. Duffy says she is as vulnerable as Senate majority leader Harry Reid.
Don't count her out
But Janine Parry, director of the Arkansas Poll at the University of Arkansas, says not to discount Lincoln just yet.
"This point shouldn't get lost in the rush to declare 2010 to be the watershed election that will, finally, advance competitive two-party-ism in Arkansas nine months before it occurs: She has loads of cash, and it shows no sign of letting up," says Ms. Parry. Lincoln finished the year with $5 million in her campaign account.
Parry says Lincoln's deep ties to the agriculture community also shouldn't be ignored.
Rumors percolate that Lincoln could draw primary opposition from other Democrats. But that hasn't happened yet, and filing for office ends in early March.
"It's very hard to tell whether Lt. Gov. Bill Halter will decide to challenge Lincoln in a primary," Duffy says. "While it must be a very tempting prospect, national Democrats are undoubtedly working to convince him to stay out of the race."
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|Browse our catalog on your tablet with Google Catalogs
Have a tablet? Now you can browse our catalog with the free Google Catalogs app!
The Google Catalogs app will provide you with a rich, engaging way to interact with your favorite aquarium supply catalog! Flip through digital pages of our Fall catalog, discover inspiring products and photos, save products that catch your eye and create collages to share with your friends.
The free Google Catalogs app is available in iTunes for iPad and in Google Play for Android tablets. Look for the MarineDepot.com catalog in the "pets" category. Now you can shop and buy right through the catalog!


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The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged a father and son in Lexington, S.C., with operating a fraudulent investment program designed to illegally profit from the deaths of terminally ill individuals.
The SEC alleges that Benjamin S. Staples and his son Benjamin O. Staples deceived brokerage firms and bond issuers and made at least $6.5 million in profits by lying about the ownership interest in bonds they purchased in joint brokerage accounts opened with people facing imminent death who were concerned about affording the high costs of a funeral.
The Stapleses recruited the terminally ill individuals by offering to pay their funeral expenses if they agreed to open the joint accounts and sign documents that relinquished their ownership rights to the accounts or any assets in them, the SEC says.
"The Stapleses exploited the tragic circumstances surrounding a terminally ill diagnosis and turned the misfortune of others into a profit-making enterprise for themselves," said Kenneth Israel, director of the SEC's Salt Lake Regional Office that investigated the case, in a statement. "The Stapleses deceived brokerage firms and bond issuers by casting themselves as survivors of a joint ownership situation when the deceased had no legal ties to the bonds at all."
According to the SEC's complaint filed in federal court in Columbia, S.C., once a joint account was opened and they had sole control, the Stapleses purchased discounted corporate bonds containing a "survivor's option" that allowed them to redeem the bonds for the full principal amount prior to maturity if a joint owner of the bond dies.
"Following the death of one of their terminally ill participants, the Stapleses redeemed the bonds early by citing the survivor's option to the brokerage firm and misrepresenting that the deceased individual had ownership rights to the bond," the SEC says. "Their illicit profit was the difference between the discounted price of the bonds they purchased and the full principal amount they obtained when redeeming the bonds early."
According to the SEC's complaint, the Stapleses operated what they called the Estate Assistance Program from early 2008 to mid-2012. They recruited at least 44 individuals into the program and purchased approximately $26.5 million in bonds from at least 35 issuers. The Stapleses required the terminally ill individuals to sign three documents: an application to open a joint brokerage account with them, an estate assistance agreement, and a participant letter. The latter two documents required the participant to relinquish any ownership interest in the assets in the joint account, including the bonds that the Stapleses later purchased. The SEC alleges that after a participant died, the Stapleses wrote a letter to the brokerage firm where the joint account was held and asked that the bonds be redeemed under the survivor's option.
When cashing in after a client's death, "The Stapleses did not inform the brokerage firms or bond issuers that the deceased program participants had signed the estate assistance agreements and participant letters relinquishing all ownership interest in the bonds," the SEC states.
The SEC says that it is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, financial penalties and permanent injunctions. The SEC's complaint names a different son of Ben S. Staples — Brian Staples, also of Lexington, S.C. — as a relief defendant for the purposes of recovering $400,000 in illicit profits that were transferred to him. Brian Staples had no active role in the scheme.
Check out CCOs Under Fire: When Enforcers Get Burned by Regulators on ThinkAdvisor.


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ACC M5: 10.29.13 EditionPosted by Matt Patton on October 29th, 2013
- Run the Floor: Michael Rogner released his ACC preview and it's worth a look. It can be biting (poor Paul Jesperson), but it's a good read to catch up on all the teams around the conference in one place. The most interesting question raised in the preview is about Florida State's defense. One argument for why the Seminoles suffered last season is that their front line was very young. This year the seven-footers are all a year older, but it's unclear if one is ready to take charge of the paint. It may be another bizarro year in Tallahassee for Leonard Hamilton's team where his offense is better than his defense — especially if Ian Miller stays healthy.
- AP (via Fox Sports): Brian Gregory is a little noncommittal about Georgia Tech's potential success this season. He sounds optimistic but quickly points out that the Yellow Jackets have a ways to go. One thing that you should know about his team is that they are talented. Not stacked like some teams in the league, but better and more experienced than you might think. Unfortunately, that was also true of Gregory's Dayton teams that always seemed to have an offensive ceiling. Georgia Tech is definitely moving in the right direction as a program, but if it's not significantly better offensively this year, there will be cause for concern.
- CBSSports.com: Yesterday morning, it was unclear when we'll know about PJ Hairston's suspension. According to Roy Williams the decision should be made before the season opener in two weeks. He also offered this gem of a Williams-ism when asked about Hairston's status:
"Well crap, the NCAA made a decision on (Texas A&M quarterback) Johnny Manziel in frickin' two days… It's not all my choice kind of thing. I really don't believe I'll suspend him for half a game either."
- AP: Brad Brownell is finding his silver lining in that next season the Tigers will return all their best players. That's because he doesn't have any seniors. Brownell is right, though — this is the turning point where Clemson becomes his program. But he's also in a tough spot this season because the team relied so heavily on Devin Booker and Milton Jennings last year. KJ McDaniels is a very good player, but Booker was criminally underrated on both ends of the floor. Continuity may end up being great, but Brownell needs standouts for Clemson to get to the next level in the ACC.
- Duke Report: Non-Duke fans may want to avoid this interview with Christian Laettner (don't worry, the video below is still awesome), who now has a basketball academy where he goes around doing coaching clinics for teams across the country (the best part that fits his personality perfectly: He offers a discount to teams in Kentucky and Connecticut because of the pain his buzzer beaters caused). Laettner offers advice to the incoming freshmen and talks noncommittally about moving up to coaching. He also douses Mike Krzyzewski in praise throughout the interview. It's a good but a little over the top read.
EXTRA: Uncle Drew is back and still awesome.


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Journal of Creation 15(2):52–53, August 2001
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Is the 'erets (earth) flat?
With regard to James Holding's paper, Is the 'erets (earth) flat?1 I have never said or implied that the Bible 'teaches' either that the 'firmament' is solid or that the 'earth' is a flat disc. Rather, I believe both are divinely inspired concessions to the views of the times, as Deuteronomy 24:1–4 and 21:10–14 are concessions to the ethics of the times (Matthew 19:8/Mark 10:5). This later interpretation of Matthew 19:8/Mark 10:5 is part of mainstream evangelical theology and was greatly employed by Calvin. I am simply understanding Scripture in the light of this Biblical revelation.
As to Holding's main point, he lifts all the relevant OT verses out of their historical context and some of them out of their Biblical context; and then assumes that if he can get rid of the OT evidence which infers the earth is flat, we have the right to read in a spherical globe as the meaning of the word 'earth' in the OT. But there is not a single OT verse which infers that 'earth' in the OT is a spherical globe. Holding is rationalizing away the relevant Biblical evidence, and then dragging in the concept of a spherical earth from modern science and reading it into the text. That is exactly what concordists do with the 24-hour days of Genesis 1, the creation of the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day, etc.
Holding's only positive Biblical case for a spherical earth is a caption to a picture which cites Luke 17:34–35 and Matthew 24:40–41 (NT verses, not OT) and says these verses do 'not make sense if the world was flat. On a flat earth, the sun would rise on everybody at the same time. You would not expect to find people in bed, while others were out in the field'. [Ed. note: even if Seely were right, which is questionable as Holding shows below, this diagram was inserted by the editors so they, not Holding, are responsible for any error.]
But, neither passage says that some people were in bed while others were out in the field. Matthew 24:40–41 does not mention anyone being in bed. Luke 17:34–35 mentions two people being in bed and two others grinding grain. Only v. 36 (which Holding does not cite) mentions two men out in the field; and that verse is widely acknowledged to be a textual addition to Luke, not part of the inspired original (and hence rejected by the NIV among others).2
As for Luke 17:34–35, 'the passage refers to the period just before dawn when some people are still asleep and others are up early to perform their tasks'.3–5 And, this could well apply to men in the field as well.
So Holding's positive Biblical case that 'earth' in the OT can refer to a spherical earth is resting on a single NT text which is from a considerable different time period, is probably not part of the inspired original, and can be explained other ways. Holding's position is, therefore, no different in principle from that of those who rationalize away the contextual meaning of Genesis 1 and put in its place the finding of modern science.
Paul H. Seely
Portland, Oregon
UNITED STATES of AMERICA
- Holding, J.P., Is the 'erets (earth) flat? Equivocal language in the geography of Genesis 1 and the Old Testament: a response to Paul H. Seely, Journal of Creation 14(3):51–54, 2000.
- Bock, D., Luke 9:51–24:53, Baker, Grand Rapids, p. 1443, 1996.
- Marshall, H., The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, p. 667, 1978.
- Ellis, E.E., The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, p. 211, 1974.
- Bock, Ref. 2, p. 1438.
JP Holding replies:
Paul Seely tells us that he has 'never said or implied that the Bible "teaches" either that the "firmament" is solid or that the "earth" is a flat disc.' I find this disclaimer curious in light of statements in his original articles such as, 'the language of Genesis 1 suggests solidity', 'the historical-grammatical meaning' is such, 'Gen. 1:17 also testifies', etc. If this is not saying that the Bible teaches these things, then what is it saying?
Seely's comparisons to ethical concessions are without merit. There does exist a hierarchy of morals, wherein under certain conditions one moral imperative may supersede another (which is not the same as saying that morality is subjective),1 but there is no corresponding hierarchy of scientific data. It's a category mistake–moral statements are in the imperative mood, i.e. about what is permitted and forbidden; propositions about the Earth's shape are in the indicative mood, and are either true or false. Despite his obfuscations, Seely is claiming that the Author of truth inspired a false teaching.
Another important point is that Scripture itself teaches that some moral imperatives were concessions, but there is nothing in Scripture countermanding the alleged scientific errors claimed by Seely. So his views have baneful implications for the doctrines of the sufficiency of Scripture and that Scripture is its own best interpreter, which are foundational to Seely's own denomination (Reformed)!
It is clear from Seely's vague and generalized comments that I lift 'verses out of their historical context', etc.—without providing any specific responses!–that he has completely missed the point of my articles concerning the use of equivocal language in Scripture, or else is unable to provide a response. He is as before unable to distinguish properly between adaptation to human finitude and accommodation to human error. It is tempting to ask how he could have missed this point about equivocal language, which was in the very title of both my responses to him, in light of his own equivocation above!
That said, we could of course argue that the people in bed were sick during the day while others were grinding grain; or perhaps the word (κλίνη klinē) used by Luke indicates a couch for eating or reclining; or perhaps it was early when some people were up and others were not—but an implication of a spherical earth is certainly possible.
In conclusion, Seely has done nothing to defend his original thesis.
JP Holding
UNITED STATES of AMERICA
Related Articles
- Norman Geisler makes a good case that such graded absolutism is consistent with Scripture, Christian Ethics, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, Part 1, 1989.
- If Luke 17:36 were not part of Luke's autograph, then it must have been incorporated by a later scribe from Mt. 24:40. This means that the teaching and context were part of the autographs of the NT as a whole, so reflect Jesus's teaching accurately. For more explanation on such textual considerations, see White, J., The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust the Modern Translations? Bethany House, pp. 154 ff., 1995.
- Wright, NT, The New Testament and the People of God, SPCK, London / Fortress Press, Minneapolis, pp. 422 ff., 1992.


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Following the recent government advice, George Street Social is now closed until further notice. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and would like to thank our friends, neighbours and customers for their support at this difficult time. We hope to be back trading as soon as we possibly can.
We will be checking emails regularly, so if you have any queries please contact us at [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
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A woman who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for DUI manslaughter in May 2011 has been resentenced by order of the Florida�s First District Court of Appeal.
FORT WALTON BEACH � A woman who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for DUI manslaughter in May 2011 has been resentenced by order of the Florida�s First District Court of Appeal.
Franziska Schroff will serve a four-year minimum mandatory prison term, then spend two years under house arrest and another nine years on probation.
Read the ruling. >>
Okaloosa County Circuit Court Judge William Stone ordered the sentence at a hearing Tuesday.
Stone originally suspended all but 30 months of a 15-year sentence for Schroff, who was driving under the influence when she hit a utility pole and killed a passenger in her car.
Schroff was 20 on Oct. 12, 2010, when she and co-worker Robyn Jade Rogers, 22, left work to go to the Red Door Saloon.
Schroff wasn�t old enough to drink, so Rogers bought shots and they drank them in the bar�s restroom before they left, according to law enforcement reports.
Schroff, whose blood-alcohol level at the time of the wreck was 0.154, veered off U.S. Highway 98 in Destin and hit a utility pole near the Donut Hole about 4:30 a.m., according to reports. Rogers, of Fort Walton Beach, was killed in the crash.
Schroff told investigators she thought she and Rogers were being followed and ran off the road when she looked back.
At her first sentencing hearing, Stone weighed Assistant State Attorney Angela Mason�s argument for 10 years in prison against defense attorney David Oberliesen�s plea to allow Schroff to remain free and do good by speaking to young people about the dangers of drinking and driving.
�It doesn�t matter what I do here today. There�s going to be pain for everybody involved,� Stone said in issuing the original sentence.
The state attorney�s office appealed the sentence, arguing that DUI manslaughter carries a state-dictated minimum sentence of four years. The appeals court agreed.
Under terms of her probation, Schroff�s driver license will be permanently revoked and she will have to speak to groups of young people six times a year and show them a photograph of Rogers.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.


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|Body Region:
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These exercises should only be performed after evaluation by a qualified medical professional and under their instruction. Should you experience pain or discomfort while doing an exercise, stop immediately.
Your starting position is on your hands and knees on an exercise mat. Your weight is evenly balanced. Keep your stomach muscles activated and keep your back straight. Raise your right arm forward, finishing with your arm in line with your body. Send energy all the way up your spine and out through your arm and hand. Relax and return to the starting position. Repeat with the other arm.


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Forum Post: Stopping the TPP: A Victory in the Global Revolt Against Corporate Domination
Posted 6 years ago on July 10, 2013, 3:47 p.m. EST by LeoYo
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Stopping the TPP: A Victory in the Global Revolt Against Corporate Domination
Wednesday, 10 July 2013 09:20 By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Truthout | News Analysis
We are in the midst of an epic battle between the people of the world and transnational corporations. Wealthy governments and corporations are merging in a global system in which private corporations have absolute power over your life. This is a battle the people can win and when we do it will show that we can defeat corporate power on issue after issue.
The 1999 battle in Seattle to stop the World Trade Organization (WTO) from granting increased power to transnational corporations and the negative consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created broad public awareness about the ways that 'free trade' hurts people and the planet. As a result, in the past few decades, the WTO has effectively been unable to move forward with its neoliberal economic agenda. And the United States was forced to move to smaller country-by-country trade agreements, many of which were stopped by public pressure.
The Obama administration is currently mired in an ambitious project to accomplish both the continuation of the WTO's agenda and a restructuring of NAFTA in ways that place corporate property rights over protection of people and the environment. Using the friendly term, 'partnership,' the administration is negotiating a sweeping free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which could potentially involve the entire Pacific Rim as well as a sister agreement with European nations. This is being done largely in secret and in a way that subverts the democratic process. Former US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who now has a lucrative job in the private sector advising transnational corporations for the law firm Gibson Dunn, said that if people knew what was in the TPP, there would be no way to get it signed into law. As he told one interviewer, if the text were made public negotiators would be walking away from the negotiations because they would be very unpopular.
The new US Trade Representative, Obama's classmate Michael Froman who worked at CitiGroup, and the more than 600 corporate advisers involved in writing the TPP, have direct access to the text of the treaty, but members of Congress have only limited access and the public and media are excluded. Recent calls for transparency by members of Congress have been denied, so the extent of what we know comes from leaks.
We do know that the TPP is less about trade and more about entrenching corporate property rights. It will establish a judicial system that gives corporations greater power than sovereign nations and bypasses the democratic process. The TPP will affect the global economy so that corporations control all aspects of our lives from wages, food safety, the price of medications and our rights to clean water and air to Internet freedom and more.
The breadth of this corporate power grab may also be its downfall because it is an opportunity for solidarity. A broad coalition of organizations from the entire North American continent in solidarity with groups in other Pacific Rim nations are working together to demand transparency and a democratic process for the TPP. These groups are calling for an end to the failed model of free trade and for a new type of trade that honors the rights of people and the planet.
Corporate Property Rights and Profits Come First
Protests in Seattle in 1999 were successful in stopping the WTO meetings being held there. The next set of meetings took place in Doha, Qatar, a place of highly restricted access, in 2001. The Doha Round still has not concluded because the member nations have not been able to come to a consensus, particularly because of the unwillingness of the US to give up agricultural subsidies.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and it's sister, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP, known as "TAFTA"), are the Obama administration's response to the failure of the WTO. These two treaties will aim to not only give multinational corporations all of the deregulation and legal rights they sought through the WTO, but are intended to go even further. With the inclusion of Canada and Mexico, the Obama administration will live up to its promise to renegotiate NAFTA, but not in the way that he alluded to during his 2008 presidential campaign.
In 2008, candidate Obama said on multiple occasions that one of the first things he would do as president would be to 'fix' NAFTA so that there was greater protection of worker rights and the environment and so that corporations would not be able to undermine laws that are in the public's interest. Perhaps his true intentions were mistakenly revealed by a senior economic adviser to the campaign, Austan Goolsbee, who informed the Canadian government that Obama's rhetoric on NAFTA should be understood as "more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans." After his inauguration, Obama dropped any action on trade including negotiation of the TPP which had started under President Bush. Then he announced in late 2009 that the US would participate in trade talks with Pacific Rim countries. Since then, there have been 17 rounds of negotiations, and the 18th is scheduled for this month in Malaysia. Reports from negotiators are that the Obama administration is pushing hardest for an agreement that would strengthen corporations and increase their profits even if it meant the people suffered.
The general tone of the TPP negotiations is typical of the US approach to other nations when it comes to the economy. The US dominates the agenda, with allies when needed, and bullies smaller nations into accepting provisions that will harm their population. Civil society groups are invited to the rounds of talks, but in reality, they do not have influence over what is included. "Stakeholder" briefings, where civil society groups can ask questions of the trade representatives, are a lesson in evasive non-answers. Mostly, the inclusion of civil society is to give the appearance of an open process. How can stakeholders participate when the contents are secret, except for leaked sections?
As an example of harmful policies, through leaked text it is known that the TPP gives pharmaceutical and medical device corporations the ability to 'evergreen' their patents and prevents governments from negotiating fair prices. This keeps the price of medications and other necessary health goods high and prevents generics. Similar provisions in other free trade agreements raised the cost of medications by 20 percent or more resulting in a negative impact on public health. These provisions will make life-saving medications unaffordable and increase disease and death, particularly in poorer countries, all so that corporations can make unreasonable profits. They will also undermine top public health systems in Japan and Australia.
Another example is the investor rights provision which will allow 'foreign' investors to sue a nation if their laws interfere with trade, allowing corporations to sue in trade tribunals for loss of "expected profits." This means a corporation will be able to sue a nation if a labor, environmental or consumer protection law decreases the profits the corporation planned on making. The trade tribunal will be staffed by judges who are mainly corporate lawyers on temporary leave from their corporate jobs. Essentially the United States will be giving up its national sovereignty to foreign investors, as will other countries.
Will this legal right be abused? It already is. Kristen Beifus of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition tells us that a corporation, Lone Pine Resources which is incorporated in Delaware, is suing the Canadian government for $250 million. It passed itself off as an American corporation in order to sue, but it is headquartered in Calgary and does all of its business in Canada. Lone Pine Resources is suing because it spent money to set up a fracking operation in Quebec, but then a fracking moratorium was passed. Richard McIntyre, who serves as the US Trade Representative for the Green Shadow Cabinet, states that agreements such as the TPP are not really about trade at all. They are designed to protect the property rights of foreign investors in a way that works outside of the traditional legal system. Corporations can make claims against governments in a way that bypasses the democratic process. In effect, this will give a corporation the power to force a country, particularly smaller countries, to change its laws. Countries will learn that they cannot pass laws in the public interest without expensive litigation.
Suppose a country has an environmental or labor protection law in place. Under the TPP, a corporation will be able to sue that country for loss of expected profits if the law means it must do things like pay higher wages, comply with work safety provisions clean up toxics in the environment or handle its waste safely. The country will then face a choice of paying millions of dollars or changing its law. Poor countries, such as Vietnam, will not really have a choice because they cannot afford to pay an expensive fine.
McIntyre concludes that the current free trade process is really a debate about property rights and corporations having more rights than people. Although there are labor and environmental standards in free trade agreements, McIntyre calls these a "hollow victory" because they are very vague and there is no way to enforce them.


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Crushed Car #6
Detail of crushed and compressed metal from junked car, near Cadillac, Saskatchewan, Canada
View the full collection by Paul Edmondson: www.purephoto.com/PaulEdmondson
Paul is known primarily as a landscape photographer of the American West. He is drawn toward the places where humans and the natural environment intersect. An avid outdoorsman, Paul lives with his family in Seattle, but is equally at home in the wilderness.
Recent Awards:
2016 PDN Photo Annual
2014 PDN Photo Annual
2013 PDN Photo Annual
2012 American Photography
2011 Communication Arts Photo Annual
2010 Communication Arts Photo Annual
2010 PDN Photo Annual


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These pages contain links to collateral, documentation, sample code, technical whitepapers, demos and viewlets, Internet Seminars, and discussion forums directly relating to Oracle products. For marketing and sales-related information, see the corporate site.
See also:
Oracle Cloud: The new Oracle Cloud offers a complete, open, and hybrid cloud for your business.
oss.oracle.com: Explore free and open source software from Oracle (including hosted Linux projects)
Oracle Software Web Browser Support Policy


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DAYTONA BEACH , Fla. — Last season, Darrell Wallace Jr. found speed and a victory.
DAYTONA BEACH , Fla. — Last season, Darrell Wallace Jr. found speed and a victory.
This season, his goal is loftier — a championship.
Even though it will be just Wallace Jr.'s second full-time season in the NASCAR Truck Series, Wallace and his team owner, Kyle Busch, believe a title is well within reach.
The 2014 season gets underway with Friday night's NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
"I hope Darrell's well prepared for it. I think that getting the experience of being a rookie in the sport lends yourself to a lot of learning," said Busch, whose Kyle Busch Motorsports organization will field Wallace's No. 54 Toyota.
"It gives you the opportunity to make a few mistakes here or there and try to learn from those mistakes. I think later in the year we saw that Darrell was a lot better racer and he started finishing races a bit more consistently."
That consistency turned into a victory last fall at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Wallace's first in the series. It was also the first time an African-American driver had won a race in a NASCAR national series race since Wendell Scott's win in the Cup series in 1963.
Wallace, 20, ended his first season in Trucks eighth in the series standings, with one win, five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 22 races.
"I definitely have to get more than one win here and have to perform better and finish races," Wallace said. "The first part of the season last year we didn't do too good of a job at doing that — at finishing races.
"We had the speed right out of the gate – finished fifth at Martinsville and then we go to Charlotte and that was our big one where we wrecked out right there at the end and then go to Kentucky and wrecked out early."
With Busch entered in many of the Truck races running in companion to Cup races, Wallace's mistakes were in plain view of his team owner.
At times, Wallace said the mistakes were painful and embarrassing. They were also a learning experience.
"I hated having a wrecked-up race truck around him because I'm much better than that and I wanted to show him that I had it in me to finish races and compete with him," Wallace said.
"There were plenty of times that we were faster than him. A lot of times people say that if you're beating Kyle, then you're winning the race. Now, I know we can beat him and I know we can finish the race."
A strong run in Friday night's season opener — a race which has featured its share of big wrecks – would get Wallace's season started off in the right direction.
"Darrell needs to be competitive every week and try to figure out what it is to be up front," Busch said. "We watched it last year with (Matt) Crafton — Crafton won one race, but he finished top-10 every single week until like the last four races of the season.
"If you can do that and have a couple wins in there and what not then there's no reason as to why Darrell can't be a champion in the Truck Series this year."


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Dog rescued from frozen lake
Authorities search for dog's owner
Volunteer firefighters rescued a dog that was stuck in the frozen Bessemer Lake in Lawrence County on Sunday.
"We tried to get the dog to come to us from that area, but there was still some ice that he could not break through, so that was when our member responded with the boat. They got the boat in (the lake) and got around the ice and broke through some of the ice," said Bessemer Fire Chief Jim Nelson.
The firefighters used oars to break through the ice and attached a leash to the Labrador retriever before leading him to shore.
"He's an older dog, but he's in really good shape. He's not malnourished. He's in really good shape, he'd have to be. To (be able to) swim that long, he has to be," said firefighter John Cracraft.
"It feels good. It feels good to be able to save the dog. It made everybody feel good," said Nelson.
Rescuers said the dog has no tags, just a chain, and they want its owner to come forward.
"I can't see any dog drown. I just can't see it," said Cracraft.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Bessemer Fire Department at 724-667-8391.


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Authorities are investigating after a security issue arose on a JetBlue flight from Providence to Orlando on Saturday evening.
JetBlue officials originally said the flight originated in Hartford but later said it departed from Providence.
According to a JetBlue spokesperson, a flight crew found a note containing a bomb threat while cleaning the plane at the gate in Orlando. All passengers had left the plane when the note was discovered.
U.S. & World
Orlando police responded to a bomb threat at the airport shortly after 8 p.m., according to NBC station WESH in Orlando.
JetBlue said there are currently no security-related issues with the plane and that the incident did not affect other flights at the airport.
The airline said it notified authorities.
Officials at Bradley Airport said they were not aware of any problems, and Orlando Airport personnel have not returned a request for comment.


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So I am happy to see this concert headlining Jamiroquai in August.
This would be incredibly terrific to see them in Chiba, Tokyo, Japan!!
but I am also really happy to see Jamiroquai lined head to head with Rihanna!
This is the singer I said should duet with Jay!
but unfortunately he is sandwiched between Rihanna & Kesha!
and Pitbull! but still would love to see them all!


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garden city (in city planning)
garden city, an ideal, self-contained community of predetermined area and population surrounded by a greenbelt. As formulated by Sir Ebenezer Howard, the garden city was intended to bring together the economic and cultural advantages of both city and country living, with land ownership vested in the community, while at the same time discouraging metropolitan sprawl and industrial centralization. The open layout of the garden city has had a great influence on the development of modern city planning.
The garden city was foreshadowed in the writings of Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, and James Silk Buckingham, and in the planned industrial communities of Saltaire (1851), Bournville (1879), and Port Sunlight (1887) in England. The term garden city was introduced in Howard's book To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (1898); it was revised (1902) under the title Garden Cities of To-morrow (reedited by F. J. Osborn, 1946). Howard organized the Garden-City Association (1899) in England and secured backing for the establishment of Letchworth (1903), designed by the architects Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin, and Welwyn Garden City (1920), designed by Louis de Soissons. Neither community, however, was an entirely self-contained garden city.
The idea spread rapidly to Europe and the United States, but it commonly resulted in residential suburbs of individually owned homes. Under the auspices of the Regional Planning Association of America, the garden-city idea was more fully realized in the community of Radburn, N.J. (1928–32) outside New York City designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright. Most of these satellite towns, however, failed to attain Howard's ideal, since local industries were unable to provide employment for the inhabitants, many of whom commuted to work in larger centers. The congestion and destruction accompanying World War II greatly stimulated the garden-city movement, especially in Great Britain, where the passage of the New Towns Act in 1946 led to the development of more than a dozen new communities based on Howard's idea. The idea was revived in Britain on a smaller scale in 2014 as part of attempt to ease a housing shortage.
See F. J. Osborn, Green-Belt Cities: The British Contribution (1946). M. H. Smith, History of Garden City (1963); W. L. Creese, The Search for Environment (1966).


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Event Overview
A New Breed of 5K
Everyone knows the west coast is the best coast, that's why Tough Mudder 5K Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway is gonna be the most epic bash of the 2020 season. Only an hour from downtown San Francisco, you and your muddin' crew will cruise over grassy knolls and take in expansive beautiful vistas before you get wild at the Mudder Village Festival.
3 Miles, 13 Obstacles
Tough Mudder 5K is pulling out all the stops for an epic bash so fun you'll have no choice but to have the time of your life. It all starts and ends in our Mudder Village Festival with killer live entertainment, epic games and challenges, authentic local eats, and a never ending-supply of Mudder Nation camaraderie. After you're done crushing the course, the good times keep rolling with a frosty cold finisher beer and your new best friends from course.
Sonoma 2020
Event Experience
Epic action. Legendary party.
Stuff you'll get
Other ways to participate
Join the Tough Mudder community, there's a spot for you here.
Step 1: Crew up and save big on a one of a kind experience.
Step 2: Enjoy epic group chats All. Year. Long.
- Mudder Village Pass
Cheer on your Mudders and enjoy our action-packed Mudder Village Festival
Volunteer and join 'probably the best team on the planet'.Learn More
- Tough Mudder Classic NorCal
Want More Mud? Sign up for Tough Mudder Classic NorCal
Ever thought about running a Tough Mudder for free? Find out how you can join a team to take on a Tough Mudder and fundraise for a great cause.Learn More
Manage a charity? Are you looking to gain more participants to assist in fundraising? Look no future, Tough Mudder is here to help.Learn More
Mudder Passes
Don't want to stop at just one event? Get more Mudder action and big savings when you buy a Two-Pack Pass or Season Pass.
Good for any two Tough Mudder 5K or Tough Mudder Classic events anywhere across North America.Learn More
Good for every single 2020 North America Tough Mudder 5K and Tough Mudder Classic (as low as $21 per event). Buy now, choose later.Learn More
Tough Mudder 5K Event Day
Want to run the course at the same time as your friends and family? Make sure to create your team no later than two weeks before the event (two Monday's prior). If you do not create or join a team by this date, we will not be able to guarantee the same start time for you and your teammates.
Need help on how to create or join a team? Complete your account setup here. Then follow these instructions to create/join a team or manage your team.
Start Times
Please arrive 45 minutes before your assigned start time to ensure you can park, check in, drop your bag, and get to the Warm Up Zone 20 minutes before your start time. START TIMES WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. For more info, visit our FAQ page here.
PLEASE NOTE:Due to high demand, some participants have been assigned a different start time than requested. Please do not contact us directly as we will not be able to accommodate changes.
What to Bring
1. A valid photo ID*
Don't forget it in your car.
2. Active.com Participant Ticket*
Print it or have it ready on your phone. Registration confirmation is sent from [email protected] or you can login to Active.com to access your ticket. Complete your account set up here .
3. Card (preferred) or Cash
For bag drop, food, and (more) beer.
*Items 1 and 2 are necessary to enter event.
What to Wear
At all events, we suggest wearing normal running shoes – spikes and cleats are strictly prohibited. Dress in comfortable clothing (or a costume that will make you more stylish on course) and bring dry clothing to change into once you're done.
If it's cold, gloves are recommended. If it's hot, sunscreen is a necessity. No matter what the weather is, make sure to come hydrated and take advantage of water stations on course.
Bag Drop
If you don't plan on traveling home muddy, you'll probably want to bring a change of clothes. Stop by the bag drop tent to store your belongings while you're on course. $10, Card (preferred) or Cash.
Mini Mudder
Mini Mudder is a 1-mile muddy obstacle course designed for Tough Mudders-In-Training. Start waves will be every hour on the hour from 9am - 11am and 1pm - 4pm. Sunday, waves will be at 9am, 10am, 11am, and 1pm. Children must be at least 42 inches tall and accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.
Hotel & Travel Deals Coming Soon.
Parking details coming soon.
Bag Drop
$5 online or $10 onsite - Save time and money by purchasing in advance.
Here's how to purchase:
1. Log into Myevents.active.com
2. Click "Purchase Merchandise"
3. Having trouble? Follow these instructions to purchase your parking pass
Shop official Tough Mudder gear on site. We have a merch tent in Mudder Village full of everything you need. In the meantime, beat the crowds and shop online at the Tough Mudder Gear Shop
We've got your back. In 2020 all events will have designated Solo Runner Wave so you can meet other lone wolves, form a muddy pack and get goal-crushing.
How to Join Pre-Event
Step 1
Register for your event.
Step 2
Once registered, navigate to My Active Events and select "Join Team".
Step 3
Search the team names below based on which event/day you are registered for:
Solo Runners 5K Saturday
Solo Runners Classic Saturday
Solo Runners 5K Sunday
Solo Runners Classic Sunday
**Note team search is case sensitive.
What to Do on Event Day
Whether pre-registered for our Solo Runners Wave or not, identify yourself as a solo runner on event day. How you ask?
Step 1
Show up on site at event day ready to kick ass and make new friends on course.
Step 2
Go through registration and let our staffers know you are running solo. Get a special "Solo Runner Wave sticker" and find your new teammates at the start line.
Step 3
Make sure to high five your fellow solo runners and finish stronger than you started, with new Mudder friends.


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anyone think these will be "shelf sitters"?
BTW, that's not the ROTS Vader, is it? That looks more like the Throne Room (saber throwing) Vader from the Saga/OTC line. Yes? Or maybe I just haven't looked at my ROTS Vader close enough, but his pose and cape seemed to be more neutral than that
Since this is a preorder, I wonder if the figs in this set will be the pegwarmers that are sent back in a few months??? Kind of like KB did with the SAGA 4-packs a while back.
I'm cool with the Royal Guard (since that's essentially an OT army builder there, and VHTF one at that),
To someone who wants to give a kid a collection "starter" the Silver Vader is sorta like, "What the f**k, why isn't my Vader black?" and to the regular collector it's "I gotta get all these other f**king figures again AND pay $50 just to get ANOTHER Silver Vader?!"
You know what I was thinking? What if all of the non-Vader figures are random, like the KB four packs during SAGA?
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When booking a flight, each adult can only take one child aged between 2 and 11 years old and one infant aged less than 2 years old or only one infant aged less than 2 years old.
The hold and cabin baggage allowances for children (aged 2-11 years) is the same as that for adults. If you are travelling with a child aged between 2 and 5 years, you can still carry your buggy (fully folded) or child seat, when used in flight, completely free of charge.
The hold baggage for children under the age of two is one 10Kg item (when travelling on tap|basic, tap|classic, tap|plus, tap|executive or tap|top executive) in addition to a folded buggy, child seat or basket. If travelling on tap|discount, you can only carry a folded buggy, child seat or basket. Find out more information about hold baggage here.
We do not recommend travelling with babies during the first seven days after birth. In an emergency situation, please contact us so our medical services can assess the situation.


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Five out of 15 high school districts in San Diego County are not yet on track to have a 90 percent graduation rate as of 2020, a U-T review has found.
The five are Escondido, Fallbrook and Grossmont union high school districts, and the Mountain Empire and Vista unified school districts.
The remaining districts are above 90 percent already or are on track to get there, according to new state data.
In San Diego County, 78.4 percent of students who started high school as ninth graders in 2008 earned diplomas last year — about a percentage point better than the prior year's rate. The county's high schools are on par with the state's 78.5 percent graduation rate that is similarly up from last year.
The five districts that are lagging:
• Mountain Empire is struggling to reorganize its sprawling rural district, which includes a single comprehensive high school serving 445 students living within 700 square miles in and around Pine Valley, where families have been slow to recover from the state's fiscal crisis. The class of 2012 graduation rate of 63.6 percent is down by nearly eight percentage points from 2010.
Superintendent Steve Van Zant said the district recently started a program allowing struggling Mountain Empire High School students to make up classes on campus without having to transfer to an alternative school, a change he hopes will lead to more diplomas.
"We are trying to catch these kids as freshmen and sophomores," Van Zant said. "Sometimes it takes a couple of years for these programs to bear fruit."
• Escondido's 81.7 percent graduation rate has dropped about two percentage points since 2010. If the downward trend continues, the district will be well below the state's 90 percent goal by 2020.
Superintendent Edward Nelson said the district is mining the state data in an effort to find out why more students aren't leaving high school with a diploma.
"To try to throw a solution out there without knowing the problem would be like spinning our wheels in the mud," said Nelson, who noted that the state data does not jibe with district trends showing an increase in students enrolling in rigorous courses.
"To assume we would continue a downward trend is incorrect," he said. "There is no way in the world we would let that happen."
• In the eastern stretches of the county, Grossmont educators are grappling with a 76.7 percent graduation rate that is down about two percentage points from the prior year.
The district is looking to increase graduation rates by working to better educate an influx of Chaldean refugees who starting enrolling in Grossmont schools after moving to El Cajon from Iraq in 2008. The students arrived with little schooling and no English skills.
• In Fallbrook, the graduation rate has blipped up and down in the past three years to 84 percent with the class of 2012, a decrease of more than two percentage points from the prior year.
Earlier this year, Fallbrook started assigning at-risk students to 30-minute lunchtime tutorials to get them back on track for graduation under a program officials hope will lead to fewer dropouts. Meanwhile, educators are working to revamp outreach efforts for struggling students by perhaps adopting programs that have been successful in nearby districts, such as San Marcos, said Superintendent Dale Mitchell.
"We are going to take a closer look at the data to find ways to improve," said Mitchell, who added that the graduation rate drop in Fallbrook has been "statistically insignificant."
It's not surprising that Fallbrook is looking to San Marcos for guidance.
The San Marcos Unified School District's graduation rate of 96.6 percent was bested in the county only by Coronado's 97 percent rate.
San Marcos tracks student progress closely and assigns struggling students to intervention programs before a problem can get out of hand. The district also offers credit-recovery programs at comprehensive schools.
San Marcos' numbers are striking because its student demographics are considered challenging: 48 percent qualify for subsidized lunch and 19 percent are English language learners.
Districts schools face potential sanctions by the federal government for falling short of graduation goals and other targets.


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Sloan Center News
Barbara Berkman, Strategy Council member at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work, receives the ACS's 2012 Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Award
20 April 2012—Dr. Barbara Berkman has been selected by the American Cancer Society (ACS) Board of Directors to receive the ACS's 2012 Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Award.
Dr. Berkman is the Helen Rehr/Ruth Fizdale Professor of Health and Mental Health at Columbia University School of Social Work. She is also the P.I. and National Director of the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program. In recent years, Dr. Berkman has made a great impact as a teacher in GSSW's doctoral program and as a mentor for our junior faculty.
Having served on the ACS Research Council and other ACS committees for many years, Dr. Berkman brought a psychosocial perspective into a predominantly biologically-oriented research environment.


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Does your world revolve around your dogs? Then this design:My fashion philosophy if you aren't covered dog hair, your life is empty is the perfect fit for you! Wear this proudly and show the world how much you love your dogs! This Tank Top can be a real conversation starter and it might be the best way to surround yourself with dog loving people. Sometimes you don't need anything else in your life but dogs and dog lovers!
This is perfect for Birthday, Mother's day, Father's day, Christmas or any other special occasion.


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WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by THQ.It was released on October 26, 2010 in North America, October 28, 2010 in Australia and October 29, 2010 in Europe. The game is based on the two brands of WWE, Raw and SmackDown.
One of the main changes in the game is the incorporation of a new physics system that allows objects to be used more realistically, such as objects involved in the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. Tables now break differently depending on the impact placed upon them. Inside and outside the ring, ladders can now be rested onto the ring ropes and be broken in half. For the first time since the original WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw game, chairs can be thrown at the player's opponents.
The Hell in a Cell match was revamped with expanded cell walls, weapons underneath the ring, steel steps near the poles, and the removal of the cell door. In addition, new ways to exit the cell were introduced, such as barreling through the cage wall.
For the first time since WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, the player can roam freely around the backstage areas in the game's primary story mode, though the ability to roam during matches has not returned to the series. Moves and controls are modified to incorporate new options to perform during and after a move is executed. The strong grapple modifier has been revamped to allow the player to perform more powerful moves on the opponent as the player progresses into the match and wears down the opponent.There are new announce table moves like a moonsault from the ring to the prone opponent
- Download Free Smackdown Vs raw 2011 Full Game
- Click Below Link
- Download Here


text: Seller: d_rexcoins (14,081) 99.8%, Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 400983818239 Ancient Byzantine Empire, Bronze Ring with red stone. Ring size 7.75. Wearable. If you want to take advantage of the combined S&H discount do not send your payment until you receive an invoice for all your purchases. I will update the invoice automatically for up to 7 days. Payment is expected within 7 days. I will ship your item within 7 days of payment. GUARANTEED TO BE AUTHENTIC OR YOUR MONEY BACK.


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Which character do you think is better? Baldovino or Grudj? Baldovino has 8 power, 6 damage, an ability of minus 2 of the opponent's pillz, minimum 3 and is 5 stars. Grudj has 8 power, 4 damage, an ability of plus 2 pillz and is 4 stars. However, Grudj has a mission. Both characters are from the same clan, the Freaks, with a bonus of poison 2 minimum 3. They've the same power, same bonus, and similar abilities, but one has a mission, lower damage and is less stars, the other has more stars, higher damage no missions. So, again, which is better?
ZacharyThomas - Thursday 06/12/2012, 22:14
Colossus - Harbingers of Ares
"if you 7 pill Boldavino against a 7 pilled Tsuabme you will have 5 pills while your opponent has 3" Someone needs to look up tsubame's ability again. Grudj is better in most cases; however, is harder to 2ko with his clan. So imo Grudj>Baldovino in type 1/elo Baldovino>Grudj in type 2. In DT id go with Grudj for the faster placement you will get using lower star card since DT is full of 5star deck noobers.
ZacharyThomas - Thursday 06/12/2012, 22:16
Colossus - Harbingers of Ares
Also baldovino has a min. of 3 so is less useful last two rounds will grudj is not limited to this.
wasteroftime - Thursday 06/12/2012, 22:56
Titan - Open Casket
Elo... if the pick is between the two, then grudj by a long shot
Mr Intelijent - Friday 07/12/2012, 00:01
As the famous mexican child once said "Why not have both?"
subclavianHoA - Friday 07/12/2012, 07:08
Grudj>Baldovino in everything, unless you're one of those crazies that use freaks in T2
@Mr Intelijent:
Cuz having both is like buying two couches for your living room...one of them invariably becomes redundant, takes up valuable space, and drunk/broke friends see it as an open invitation to crash at your place
KitsuneKatsumi - Friday 07/12/2012, 08:22
Imperator - XiongDang
Baldovino's minimum actually does hinder him occasionally.
But the main problem is that 5* isn't optimal for a poisoner, and there is little justification for running a 5* Freak.
Freaks should be used in a 1/2 or a diminished 1/2 (3 characters). The Freak bonus will never make an actual difference in game mechanics more than once. Think of it this way: the first Freak in your draw has no bonus. The second Freak in your draw is the only one that has a bonus. If you get a draw with 1 Freak, you will have 1 character with no bonus. If you get a draw with 2 Freaks, which is the ideal, you still have 1 character with no bonus. And if you draw 3 Freaks, then you get 2 characters with no bonus. So your Freaks will often not have their bonus. The more you try to get your Freaks to have consistent bonus, the more you risk a terrible draw of 3 or even 4 Freaks in your hand.
For a 5* to be justified, it has to be a perfect combination of stats, ability AND bonus. Even the topend 5*s are worse than the topend 4*s if they don't have their bonus. This is why there are really no 5* Skeelz justifiable outside of Caelus.
In other words, 5* is too much of an investment on a character in a clan where you have to be viable without bonus. And also there are really no topend 5* poisoners.
That being said, Baldovino isn't just a poisoner. Baldovino is really awesome and terrifying and underrated. But you should not play him over Grudj because Grudj is the best Freak character.


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Here are my picks from the most recent nursing articles dealing with nursing research and evidence based nursing. Staff at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange and Children's Hospital of Orange County may be able to access some of these articles via the library's website.
1. A nursing clinical decision support system and potential predictors
of head-of-bed position for patients receiving mechanical
ventilation.(includes abstract); Lyerla F; LeRouge C; Cooke DA; Turpin
D; Wilson L; American Journal of Critical Care, 2010 Jan; 19 (1): 39-47 (journal article - research) ISSN: 1062-3264 PMID: 20045847 CINAHL AN: 2010530899
2. Breast cancer screening behaviors of African American women: a comprehensive review, analysis, and critique of nursing research.(includes abstract); Conway-Phillips R; Millon-Underwood S;
ABNF Journal, 2009 Fall; 20 (4): 97-101 (journal article - research, systematic review) ISSN: 1046-7041 PMID: 19927894 CINAHL AN: 2010522060
3. Do calculation errors by nurses cause medication errors in clinical practice? A literature review.(includes abstract); Wright K; Nurse Education Today, 2010 Jan; 30 (1): 85-97 (journal article - research,
systematic review, tables/charts) ISSN: 0260-6917 PMID: 19666199 CINAHL AN: 2010543404
4. Evidence-based practice: step by step. Igniting a spirit of inquiry: an essential foundation for evidence-based practice: how nurses can build the knowledge and skills they need to implement ERP.(includes
abstract); Melnyk BM; Fineout-Overholt E; Stillwell SB; Williamson KM; American Journal of Nursing, 2009 Nov; 109 (11): 49-52 (journal article - tables/charts) ISSN: 0002-936X PMID: 19858857 CINAHL AN: 2010536578
5. Cultivating quality. Shared governance supports evidence-based practice: the experience of perioperative nurses at Children's Hospital Boston can serve as a model for others.(includes abstract); Waddell
AWG; American Journal of Nursing, 2009 Nov; 109 (11): 53-7 (journal article - pictorial) ISSN: 0002-936X PMID: 19858858 CINAHL AN: 2010536579
6. Generalizability and transferability of meta-synthesis research findings.(includes abstract); Finfgeld-Connett D; Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2010 Feb; 66 (2): 246-54 (journal article - research) ISSN: 0309-2402 CINAHL AN: 2010539481
7.Walk the walk to reduce catheter-related bloodstream infections.(includes abstract); Hatler C; Hebden J; Kaler W; Zack J; American Nurse Today, 2010 Jan; 5 (1): 26-31 (journal article - CEU,
exam questions, pictorial) ISSN: 1930-5583 CINAHL AN: 2010546030
8.Leadership: the critical success factor in the rise or fall of useful research activity.(includes abstract); Henderson A; Winch S; Holzhauser K; Journal of Nursing Management, 2009 Dec; 17 (8): 942-6
(journal article) ISSN: 0966-0429 PMID: 19941567 CINAHL AN: 2010485576
9. Controlling bias in complex nursing intervention studies: a checklist.(includes abstract); Campbell-Yeo M; Ranger M; Johnston C; Fergusson D; Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 2009 Dec; 41 (4):
32-50 (journal article - questionnaire/scale) ISSN: 0844-5621 PMID: 20191712 CINAHL AN: 2010529009
10. Applying the Stetler Model of Research Utilization in staff development: revitalizing a preceptor program.(includes abstract); Romp CR; Kiehl E; Journal for Nurses in Staff Development, 2009 Nov-Dec; 25
(6): 278-86 (journal article - CEU, exam questions, research,
tables/charts) ISSN: 1098-7886 PMID: 19955975 CINAHL AN: 2010506957
11. Writing an appropriate methods section for a research article: procedure, instruments/measurements and analysis.Lambert VA; Lambert CE; Thai Journal of Nursing Research, 2009 Oct-Dec; 13 (4): 245-8
(journal article) ISSN: 0859-7685 CINAHL AN: 2010545155
12. Review summaries: evidence for nursing practice. Blood donor skin preparation with alcohol vs. alcohol plus any antiseptic for preventing bacteraemia or contamination of blood for transfusion.Jayasekara R;
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2010 Feb; 66 (2): 257-8 (journal article - abstract) ISSN: 0309-2402 CINAHL AN: 2010555036
13. Review summaries: evidence for nursing practice. Incentive spirometry for prevention of postoperative pulmonary complications in upper abdominal surgery.Jayasekara R; Journal of Advanced Nursing,
2010 Feb; 66 (2): 258-9 (journal article - abstract) ISSN: 0309-2402
14. Opportunities and challenges: wound and skin alterations of obesity.Zuelzer HB; Bariatric Nursing & Surgical Patient Care, 2009 Dec; 4 (4): 283 (journal article - abstract) ISSN: 1557-1459 CINAHL AN: 2010554679


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Gilfer necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 133 diseños de 32 diseñadores freelance.
International Tax Institute
The International Tax Institute (ITI) is a provider of high level tax education and tax research. It does this on an international scale, however, ITI primarily focuses on delivering the unique and cutting edge tax education and research to the USA and South Afirca through its associations with Thomas Jefferson Law School (USA) and TAXtalk Publications (South Africa), respectively.
Our desired audience includes Business owners, tax practitioners, cpa's, attorneys and the like.
I have attached our current logo and our website is http://www.tax-int.org, where you will find out about all the programs that we offer. I have also uploaded a logo of an angel, which I would like to have incorporated into the design.
ITI educates people on tax issues. We do this using state of the art internet technologies, providing students with all their materials online, as well as weekly, live lectures via the internet.
I require a logo that is fresh but very professional. It needs to be in line with an institute of higher learning. I am thinking along the lines of a modern coat of arms containing the image of the angel and a scroll saying "solvere potentiam", which in Latin means unleashing potential.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Welcome to The Royal Oak Stambridge
The Royal Oak at Great Stambridge has lost none of its old charm, indeed the whole ambiance has been enriched by the new decor and furniture. The Tudor style is predominant, with blackened oak beams and whitewashed ceilings featured throughout the entire premises.
The spacious bar offers ample room to relax and enjoy a drink or two from the well stocked bar. The pub has access and toilets for disabled customers.
During the warmer months, you can take advantage of the large attractive garden with it's picturesque views overlooking a pasture with horses exercising.
The pub attracts a good cross section of customers including many Ramblers who frequently visit this part of the Essex countryside. A number of interesting places are close by, including the small hamlet of Canewdon where you can visit a famous haunted church.
A superb Trout & Course Fishing facility is located just down the road, whilst both Ballards and Rochford Golf Clubs are only a short journey away.


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Warren wrote:*steals candy from a little blonde girl*
*gives candy to little red-haired girl*
See? I'm good AND bad!
rkolter wrote:You're thirty-plus and offering candy to strange children. That's worse.
Warren wrote:rkolter wrote:You're thirty-plus and offering candy to strange children. That's worse.
When you frame it like that it just makes me sound sick....
That web thingy wrote:I Am A: Chaotic Good Gnome Thief Mage
Alignment: Chaotic Good characters are independent types with a strong belief in the value of goodness. They have little use for governments and other forces of order, and will generally do their own things, without heed to such groups.
Race: Gnomes are also short, like dwarves, but much skinnier. They have no beards, and are very inclined towards technology, although they have been known to dabble in magic, too. They tend to be fun-loving and fond of jokes and humor. Some gnomes live underground, and some live in cities and villages. They are very tolerant of other races, and are generally well-liked, though occasionally considered frivolous.
Primary Class: Thieves are the most roguish of the classes. They are sneaky and nimble-fingered, and have skills with traps and locks. While not all use these skills for burglary, that is a common occupation of this class.
Secondary Class: Mages harness the magical energies for their own use. Spells, spell books, and long hours in the library are their loves. While often not physically strong, their mental talents can make up for this.
Deity: Tymora is the Chaotic Good goddess of luck and good fortune. She is also known as Lady Luck, and also Tyche's fair-tressed daughter. Followers of Tymora believe in the tenent that, 'Fortune Favors the Bold,' and will throw caution to the wind and trust to luck to work things out for the best. Tymora's symbol is an unmarked silver disk.
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Pat LaFrieda Jr. can�t get enough chicken thighs. If his family business featured on the new Food Network series �Meat Men� orders 100 cases of boneless, skinless thighs, his supplier might deliver only 60.
That�s because consumers have discovered something chefs have long known about dark meat: �It was always the least expensive protein that you could buy, but it had the most amount of flavor,� LaFrieda said.
Thighs and drumsticks are climbing the pecking order as Americans join consumers abroad in seeking flavor that isn�t found in ubiquitous, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The poultry industry used to have trouble finding a market for dark meat, but changing domestic tastes and growing exports to countries that prefer leg quarters are pushing up prices and helping pull the poultry industry out of a deep slump.
Poultry industry experts agree TV food shows are helping to spur demand as chefs talk up dark meat and give home cooks new ideas. Dark meat is more forgiving than white and doesn�t dry out as easily, La Frieda said, so thighs are great on the grill, while ground dark meat works well shaped into burgers, stuffed into ravioli or stirred into a Bolognese sauce and served over pasta, he said.
�If you�re looking for what the next trend is ... always ask the butcher what he takes home,� said LaFrieda, whose company, Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors of North Bergen, N.J., supplies restaurants in the New York City area and along the East Coast.
Matt Monk, 29, of Birmingham, Ala., a customer service representative for Medicare, said he grew up eating chicken breasts because that�s all his mother would cook. He wasn�t introduced to dark meat until he moved in with his father in his teens.
�I like it because of the flavor,� Monk said. �It does not dry out like white meat. White meat, to me, it�s flavorless. Any flavor that comes from the meat, it has to come from me seasoning it.�
The convenience and greater availability of boneless, skinless thighs is another major factor in the dark meat craze. New, automated equipment makes it more economical to debone leg quarters, where the work once had to be done by hand.
Dark meat historically has been cheaper than white, but according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, wholesale boneless, skinless thighs now cost as much as breasts, and sometimes more. Both averaged $1.33 a pound in March, but thigh prices were up 15 percent from a year earlier, while breasts were up only 1 percent. Bone-in leg quarters averaged 53 cents per pound in March, up 26 percent from a year ago.
Melissa Dexter, 27, a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, said she noticed recently when buying both boneless breasts and thighs at Wal-Mart that the package of dark meat actually cost about 50 cents more. She said thighs are generally cheaper, though, and help stretch her budget.
�Growing up, whenever we had chicken, whether it was KFC or homemade, the breast meat was always dry,� Dexter said. �I always enjoyed the flavor, not just the juiciness, but the flavor coming out of the dark meat.�
For decades, producers made their money on the front half of the bird but lost money on the back half, said Bill Roenigk, senior vice president and economist with the National Chicken Council. That began changing in the 1990s as the industry found new markets in Russia, Asia and Latin America. While producers still lose money on dark meat, he said, the difference isn�t as great as it once was.
Domestically, chicken companies are becoming more innovative with new products such as chicken sausages, which are mostly dark meat, Roenigk said. At the same time, they�re seeing more sales to Hispanic and Asian immigrants, who have brought their food preferences with them.
At Whole Foods Market Inc., the dark meat trend has mainly shown up in sales of store-made chicken sausage, said Theo Weening, global meat buyer for the Austin, Texas-based chain. The varieties vary, but Italian and breakfast sausages are top sellers. Whole Foods had to scramble last year when sausage makers boosted production for the holidays and dark meat became hard to get, but things are back on track now, he said.
The No. 1 U.S. chicken producer, Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale, Ark., declined to provide sales figures before its earnings report next month, but a spokesman said it has seen strong growth with dark meat and is actively promoting it to �value-conscious customers.�
�Last year, we launched a line of chicken lunch meats, which are packaged deli-style for retailers,� Gary Mickelson said. �Other areas perfect for dark meat chicken include pizza toppings, ground chicken and smoked sausage. These offerings allow value-conscious customers to buy high quality, great tasting all-meat products, but at a lower price point.�
While companies wouldn�t release figures, other supermarkets and suppliers also said they�re seeing strong growth in dark meat sales.
Tim Wensman, an executive vice president for St. Cloud-based GNP Company, which supplies Gold�n Plump brand chicken to Midwestern supermarkets, said a line of chicken sausages it�s launching this month has already attracted strong interest.
Eden Prairie-based Supervalu Inc., the nation�s third-largest supermarket operator, has seen �double-digit� growth in dark meat sales at its Midwest and East Coast chains, spokesman Mike Siemienas said. He wasn�t sure why, but speculated that the mild winter led to an early start for the grilling season.
Nobody is ready to write off the boneless, skinless chicken breast, however.
�I think we�re still a white-meat nation when it comes to chicken,� said Tom Stone, marketing director for Bell & Evans Chicken, of Fredericksburg, Pa., which supplies dealers including LaFrieda and Whole Foods, and restaurants such as Chipotle Mexican Grill. While thighs are definitely in, Stone said he hasn�t seen demand grow as much for bone-in drumsticks.
�That�s great kid food,� he said. �Maybe it just hasn�t hit yet.�