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Next Up -- Chapter 5: "Katrina Comes Calling"
{ click on images to advance the story }posted Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 leave a comment or trackback
On the edge of my gas-lift…
Is it just me, or does the character of Leo seem to have a really weak stomach? He was throwing up in the first panel and now he looks kind of motion-sick. Nice art there, he looks really shaky. I got sort of queasy.
This a well told tale Josh.
So James, who's got the weak stomach here: Leo or you? Were you made quesy by thinking about being stuck in the car for nine hours, or by being slobbered by Leo & Michelle's dog, Chloe? Heh.
Thanks for checking in!
Well, I'm sure Chloe is very nice. Credit your excellent art. I get nausea just from hanging around people that are nauseous. Nice job. Really like the characters.
Josh, this is an incredible work. I, too, cannot wait for the next installment. My brother lives on East 2nd St in Long Beach, MS. His house took 3ft of storm surge but at least there was a house to repair. Everything to south of 2nd St is gone. Like I had never, ever, seen gone. Thanks for telling the story. Americans are too quick to forget.
Hi, I just wanted to say that your work has captivated me. It is amazing how quickly the atrocity of those days fades from memory. Bravo for opening the wound and reminding us, in a uniquely personal way, of the horror that these people, these families, this city, faced. When we forget these things we become complacent, we stop paying attention to whether our governments (local, state, and federal) are keeping up their end of the bargain: we give them tax money and comply with laws and they keep us safe and ensure a continuous civil society. I have to give props too that you did not forget that the entire gulf coast was devastated by this storm, not just New Orleans. I hope you have an email list to let us all know when you finish chapter 5!
Amazing work.
Yes, please let me know when Chapter 5 is available. Beautifully drawn and constructed narrative. I look forward to seeing where it goes…
I just want to say that this effort is amazing. When I read a chapter, my stomach tightens like it did during the storm and I remember how crazy it all was. This is a record. This is a record of what everyone went through. And sometimes it really hurts to read about it. But thanks for writing it. Thank you so much.
Thanks, everyone, for your encouraging comments. It means a lot — and especially to hear from those of you who lived through Katrina.
I don't what else to say except that you really captured the moment(s) here. My family was going through some of these issues during Katrina, though they did not have damage because they were outside of N.O. Me, I just sat here helpless in California. I turned into a mental case just staring at my monitor each day watching the WWL web feed.
Thank you for this excellent work of art and history.
Hi, I picked up one of your comics that you signed at the AME in NOLA last week and liked it so much I wanted to read your other work. But some things don't make sense– why does the black kid fill his tub with water before he evacuates? He won't need it!
Otherwise this is an excellent comic, it looks just like New Orleans and is so realistic… a lot of the rest of the country doesn't understand why anyone would stay behind and thinks those who did were foolish, or that it's stupid for the city to even exist here. Hopefully this will give them some perspective… I can't wait to see where your story is going with this, I'm only up to Chapter 4 right now.
Anyway thanks for writing this and taking the time to come back for the media expo!
Hey Albonie, Thanks for checking out A.D. and for your kind comments. As far as why Kevin filled the tub, he was expecting that he'd only be gone a couple of days, and in case the water was turned off or there was no power, having some extra water in the tub would be a valuable asset. As it turned out, though, you're right: they didn't need it. Since their whole house was flooded.
This is a story that needed to be told. And it's still not over. But it's sad that such an overwhelming tragedy is forgotton.
Love the drawing style Josh and it's obvious that you are a master story teller. You put a lot of work into this and it shows.
Can't wait to read the rest…
Best Wishes,
Chris Stefano
This particular scene for me is the best one in the whole comic book.
It is in fact very overwhelming, I believe many families were in this exact situation, and all the responsibility relied on parents since children were younger and not mature enough to predict what was going to happen next.
Living your home, your belongings your memories and material stuff its certainly something very challenging.
His father response its harsh and determined, and thats what makes this scene so dramatic, because the boys were expecting another answer.
The detail and thruth-ness that is given to us through this illustration is great and makes the moment come to life and sinks in the sense of what happened, when this happened.
Great detail and rawness. Showing how in a sense the people of N.O. weren't fully prepared for what was coming as none of us ever are for what is put in front of us.
awesome comic.
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text:
What can one do on a day such as this other than walk through the slush and ice and snow and view the tree and shrub breakage in winter's aftermath and then ponder the cleanup required?
What can one do on a day such as this other than walk through the slush and ice and snow and view the tree and shrub breakage in winter's aftermath and ponder the cleanup required?
When Mother Nature does the pruning, her saw is delicate snowflakes and little icy raindrops that fall so softly. But they pack a big punch, for she really is the iron hand in the velvet glove.
Storms are her way of pruning. An unfeeling parent, she simply disposes of the old, the weak and the imperfect to make space for new plants, which teaches us a tough lesson.
Understanding why trees and shrubs break during snow and ice storms is the first step toward preventing future damage.
Quite simply, when the weight on the ends of branches or bent tops is more than the tensile strength of frozen stems and trunks can bear, they break.
Ice and snow are heavy. The weight multiplies with each new quarter-inch layer. Weak or unbalanced branches crack and fall. Wind compounds the problem.
The most vulnerable are fine-twigged plants like azalea and dogwood, or fine branched trees. The close-growing twigs hold more snow and ice and therefore carry more weight.
Remember where your snow covered branches are bent to the ground, for those are the ones that need to be shortened or lightened when the careful spring pruning is done. Write it down and take a photo.
For now, let sun and rain gently melt off the snow and ice, drop by drop. Do not bang the branches with shovels or sticks.
If the snow is light, a gentle pull at the end of a branch will dislodge some. But gently. If given a chance, the stems will eventually spring back upright. Not all at once, but gradually they will straighten.
Do necessary safety pruning as needed, but remember that when plant parts are frozen solid, they're very fragile, like brittle glass.
Broken-off branches of early bloomers like forsythia and cherry can be brought indoors now and forced into bloom. Willow, too.
Check for potential damage and for safety to the house or overhead wires. For seriously damaged or worrisome trees, call a Certified Arborist to assess the damage and the tree's future growth potential. Don't let just anyone with a power saw attack your storm damage.
A properly trained arborist can often salvage a hurt tree and identify dangerous trees and limbs that need attention or cabling wires.
Expert pruning can restore the center of gravity to an unbalanced tree, or lighten the load so it will better withstand the next storm.
If any trees are leaning on wires on the street, notify the electric company.
Ruth S. Foster is a landscape consultant and arborist. More gardening information can be found on her Web site: www.mothersgarden.net.

subset: commoncrawl


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Engineers and safety officials are inspecting all stages at the Ultra Music Festival after part of a giant screen fell and injured three workers.
The workers were hoisting up one of several LED screens at the main stage of the electronic dance gathering Thursday night when it fell.
Lt. Ignatius Carroll, a Miami Fire Rescue spokesman, says one person was critically injured. Another was seriously hurt, and a third sustained minor injuries. All were stabilized after being taken to the hospital.
City engineers, fire rescue officials and Occupational Safety and Health Administration representatives are reviewing all the stage setups as a precaution. Carroll says all three agencies must sign off before the festival begins.
The festival is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Friday. It is expected to draw 330,000 people.


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Q With the economy picking up and school back in session, the Page Mill Road exit off south Interstate 280 in the morning is a real mess. Regular commuters have mostly learned to ignore the paint striping on the exit and usually create two lanes, but it still backs up onto the freeway for a long ways, with jerks stopping on the freeway (!) in the next lane over trying to push into the exit line.
A total rework of the intersection is needed, but it seems that at the cost of some paint, the striping should be changed to reflect what commuters do anyway, and the exit markings on the freeway should be extended to control traffic better and discourage dive bombers.
Ted Panofsky
A Your recommendations are good ones, and there is finally some hopeful news on this exit that drivers have been yelping about for nearly two decades. Santa Clara County and Palo Alto have funded a feasibility study to look at potential short- and long-term solutions. One interim step is to install a traffic light at the end of the exit and get rid of the stop signs now to hopefully eliminate the backup on the southbound offramp. This study could be done by Christmas and work could begin in 2014.
Then the various agencies will work on an overall redesign of the exit. This will take a few years, perhaps, but help at last seems on the way.
Q I read the column about the traffic lights on the Bayfront Expressway but was disappointed because it talked only about the University Avenue approach. My complaint is from the west on the expressway coming from Marsh Road in Redwood City. Any hope for these lights to be timed better? The worst one is the Willow/Bayfront intersection. It takes at least three cycles to clear that light daily.
Cathy Kirby
A Min-the-Caltrans-Signal-Man says he'll get his folks on it in a week or so.
Q I am going to commute from Castro Valley to Redwood City taking the Highway 101 exit at Woodside Road. I need advice on the fastest way to go. Fortunately, I have a flexible schedule and get on the road anywhere from 9 to 10 a.m. and I leave the office between 5 and 7 p.m. I've also considered starting the trip as early as 6 a.m.
I may take the Castro Valley exit off Interstate 580 due to heavy traffic on 238, and then take side streets to either Highway 92 or the Dumbarton Bridge, which is not too bad. But the onramp from 92 to 101 south tends to be a bottleneck any time I take it. The same is true during the evening commute. Also, Woodside Road gets pretty congested at points, so I'm hoping to find a back road to the 101 or either bridge.
Can someone help?
Deneen Allmond
Castro Valley
A Folks, a fellow commuter needs our advice getting from the East Bay to the Peninsula. Any suggestions?
Q Gary, I beg to differ with you on your answer to finishing the resurfacing of Interstate 80 between Dixon and Vacaville. I drove it the other day, and it is the same rough, busted-up piece of road it has been for years. Much to the ire of the have-to-drive-over-the-speed-limit group, I camp out in the middle lane through that stretch because the potholes in the slow lane are large enough to eat my Mini Cooper. Try again?
Deborah Maus
A Your comment surprised Vince-the-Caltrans-Man, who had been told work was done. He dialed the project manager, and you were right. Last month crews finished installing new concrete slabs that replaced cracked or damaged pavement on that stretch. But a bigger project that will overlay the existing pavement with asphalt could be under way this winter.
Q As a FasTrak holder, I am always disappointed to find on my commute home that the Antioch Bridge has one lane for carpoolers only, and two lanes shared by cash and FasTrak users. The purpose of having FasTrak is to not sit in a line with cash-paying customers. Why not have one lane for carpoolers, one lane for FasTrak and one for cash only? Maybe if those cash-only folks have to sit a bit longer, they might be tempted to get FasTrak.
Sandra Heubner
Rio Vista
A Your idea makes sense to me, but I bring bad news. There used to be one lane each for cash-paying customers, FasTrak users and carpoolers during the afternoon commute. But the cash lane backed up badly and bridge officials decided to go with two cash/FasTrak lanes. Complaints about the current configuration have dropped, so they are not considering going back to a FasTrak-only lane at this time.
Q We have noticed lane closures along Moorpark Avenue at the Interstate 880 overpass near Valley Medical Center. What does this construction entail and how long before this is completed?
Michael Ahn
San Jose
A Two projects are under way. The overpass is being sandblasted and painted, and that should be done around Oct. 19. Further east between Thornton Road and Bascom Avenue, Valley Medical Center is adding a light on Moorpark. This will remove some street parking eastbound before Bascom, where parked cars often blocked the right-turn area.
Q Mr. Roadshow, what can you tell us about the Devils Slide Tunnel? We were under the opinion that it would be open on Labor Day. What happened?
Fran and Cliff Lawrence
A The targeted opening remains December. Keep your fingers crossed.
Q When will Tioga Road in Yosemite close for winter?
A It all depends on snow. Last year park officials kept it open until mid-January, which is extremely rare. Typically, the pass is closed before Thanksgiving.
Q What traffic project is occurring on Hale Avenue between Tilton and Main streets in Morgan Hill? I see new sidewalks going in, but do they plan to repave that section of road? It could sure use it. And are there plans to pave Monterey Road between Metcalf Road in San Jose and the Morgan Hill city limits? They did a great job repaving the area near Blossom Hill Road.
Paul Arguelles
A Morgan Hill will soon begin repaving Santa Teresa/Hale from north of Laguna Avenue to West Main Avenue. This will include a rubberized asphalt overlay, pothole repairs, minor widening of the shoulder to support bicycle use, drainage and various pedestrian improvements. This should be done early next year.
San Jose completed a slurry seal job on Monterey Road between Bernal and Metcalf, but there are no plans to work south of Metcalf.
Join Gary Richards for an hourlong chat at noon Wednesday at www.mercurynews.com/live-chats. Look for Gary at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com or 408-920-5335. The fax number is 408-288-8060.


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Dear Past,
Thank you for the lessons.
Dear Future,
I am ready.
Happy New Year to All.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Happy 2014
Posted by Diane Vogel Ferri at 5:33 PM No comments: Links to this post
Labels: inspiration, New Year's Day
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Coexist With Christmas
Coexist with Christmas
Like a bird singing in the cold of night,
when multitudes of angels
crawled and hovered above
God walked into the world with a child in His arms.
The shepherds gave a reception, the stargazers
brought gifts to the harbinger of heaven,
the wise men momentarily lost their wisdom
to seek the sunshine of His face.
Then he grew under our sky, under the same loving Eye,
drank the planet's water, browned in our sun,
for a brief moment – an alien in this world
just as you and I.
In this earthly rotation: blossoms break forth,
summer scorches, leaves fly, snow flies
to bring us to this annual déjà vu,
when hearts thaw and generosity
puffs out its proud chest, and we rush
in the frenetic, glorious mess of holidays.
Now, in this moment – coexist
with the reality of the day.
When the first wet snowflake touches
your windshield, and you are singing
with the radio about roasting chestnuts,
hear the bird singing in the night,
sense God waiting to greet you
when the celebration is over,
give the midwinter gift of forgiving yourself,
and cast the remnant of your heart to Him.
Diane Vogel Ferri
Posted by Diane Vogel Ferri at 11:09 AM 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: Christmas, Diane's poems, faith
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


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Project Joints: Swiping Away Surgical Infections
They go in hoping surgery will fix their problem, but come out with a potentially deadly dilemma. Every year 300 thousand Americans get a surgical site infection. A recent report found they're the most common healthcare-associated infections in the US.
Now, a new prevention program is helping cut those numbers.
Marilyn Fedor had a bad hip—so she got a new one.
Due to the fact that bacteria that's already on a patient's skin can get into an incision and cause infections doctors started prepping Marilyn for surgery 14 days before the operation. Doctor Brian Tonne says if hip and knee replacement patients get an SSI, typically their implant has to be taken out and they're put on IV antibiotics.
Orthopaedic Traumatologist and Joint Reconstruction Doctor Brian Tonne, MD at the University Of Tennessee Medical Center told Ivanhoe that it, "typically takes six to eight weeks before that joint replacement can then be put back in."
Now "project joints" is reducing that risk. Patients go through an educational class before their hip or knee replacement. Then, "they receive a nasal swab; we can then find out if they carry staph bacteria," Doctor Tonne, MD, explained.
For the final three days before surgery, patients use a special anti-bacterial anti-septic soap.
"You scrub your whole body down from the neck down and then they said to do your leg, my bad leg for three minutes," Hip Replacement Patient Marilyn Fedor, told Ivanhoe.
And clippers are used at the surgical site instead of razors, to help keep bacteria out of the body.
The University Of Tennessee Medical Center's infection rate for knee and hip replacements was almost two-percent before project joints. Now, "it has dropped to approximately point-five percent," Doctor Tonne said.
Project joints is currently in hospitals in eight states and is expanding to facilities in five more states. The doctor says right now, the program is only being used for patients getting hip and knee replacements, but the goal is to use it in other joint replacements and orthopedic procedures.
SURGICAL SITE INFECTIONS: After surgery, some people can develop infections at the site where the surgery took place. These infections are known as surgical site infections (SSI). SSI's can be superficial infections, affecting the skin around the surgery site, or can be more serious and dangerous infections affecting the implanted material, tissues, or organs near the site. If the infection is serious enough, it can spread throughout the body, making it potentially life-threatening. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/ssi/faq_ssi.html)
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: If you have just had surgery, make sure to keep the site clean. There are symptoms which may point toward an infection, which include:
- Redness around the site
- Cloudy fluid draining from the site
- Fever
If you experience any of these symptoms after surgery, tell your doctor immediately. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/ssi/faq_ssi.html)
PRECAUTIONS: You, your doctor, and your friends can help prevent an SSI from occurring. Taking precautions like not smoking, avoiding the use of a razor around the surgery site, and telling your doctor about any health issue you have can all decrease your chances of developing an SSI. Your doctor should also avoid shaving the area with a razor, but also should be properly washed and cleaned before and after surgery. Asking your friends and caregivers to wash and disinfect their hands before and after seeing you can help your chances of avoiding an infection. Also, do not let anyone but you, your doctor, or a trained caregiver touch or clean your wound. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/ssi/faq_ssi.html)
TREATING AN SSI: If you do develop an SSI, antibiotics are the most common treatment. If the infection is serious enough, then surgery may be the only option. Doctors can go back into the surgery site and manually clean up some of the infected material. Sometimes even the implanted material has to be removed in order for the infection to clear up. Doctors are now stepping up their precautionary measures in an effort to avoid treatment. Programs like Project JOINTS are active in eight states: Arkansas, New York, Maryland, Michigan, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Oregon. (Source: www.ihi.org/offerings/Initiatives/ProjectJOINTS/Pages/ExemplarHospitals.aspx)
For More Information, Contact:
Brian Tonne, MD
Orthopaedic Traumatologist and Joint Reconstruction
University Orthopaedic Surgeons
University of Tennessee Medical Center
Copyright 2013 by Ivanhoe Broadcast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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It's almost the New Year and time to ring it in! They say how you spend your New Year's Eve is how you will spend the rest of the year. So if you want to welcome the new year right, ring it in with an ethical twist. Today we have a delicious organic and fair trade cocktail recipe complete with champagne. This recipe also works great for New Year's Day brunches, as it is traditionally a morning drink. Not only will this recipe taste delicious to your guests, it will feel good going down. So start your year off right with an organic drink. Happy New Year!!
Organic Lemon Rose Bellini
You have many sources for organic champagne including Brut Nature Champagne and Proseccos. Check out this handy organic champagne guide for more choices. For Fair Trade vodka, we suggest you look for FAIR, made from Fair Trade certified quinoa. You should be able to find organic raspberries at your local farmer's market, natural foods store, or grocery store. These locations should also carry organic lemon sorbet. We suggest using Natural Choice Foods Organic Lemon Sorbet. Now to make the drink…
In a cocktail shaker, add the vodka and sorbet. Shake these ingredients thoroughly and then add in the champagne. Stir, do not shake after adding champagne. Strain into a champagne flute and top with raspberries. Repeat for each drink served.


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This Scale-Tec retrofit grain cart scale kit includes the following:
- 2 Compression Load Cells/Weigh Bars
- 1 Hitch Load Cell/Weigh Bar
- Hitch Requirement (Your KINZE cart may already have a Swivel Hitch receiver. If it does not have a swivel hitch receiver you will need to purchase a hitch receiver with the kit. Scale-Tec has hitch receivers available. Use photos below to determine what you need.)
- Cables, Wiring and Junction Bank
- All weldments and bracketing
- Hardware
- Does not include indicator (see indicator options for appropriate indicator for your operation)
- NOTE: Due to the Grain Cart design and the KINZE manufacturing process, the grain cart may require shims to make the scale weigh accurately. The only way to know if your particular Grain Cart will require shims is to install the scale system first and test the system to ensure accurate weight with at least 6,000 pounds of grain. If accurate weight is not displayed shims may be required for load cell placement.
- NOTE: FOR 2012 Models of the 900, 1100, 1300 and 1500 please call Scale-Tec regarding this model year of Grain Cart.
Advantages to utilizing a scale kit on your grain cart:
- Measure crop yields
- Compare individual fields, soil types, seed hybrids, fertilizer types, tillage equipment and methods
- Know the exact weight of grain going into and coming out of on-farm storage
- Measure share-cropping shares
- Keep your road loads legal weight
- Measure crop damage for insurance documentation
- Document each and every load
- Provide peace of mind, eliminating guesswork
- Save time by weighing in the field vs. hauling to a platform scale
- Make more informed decisions for managing land for best performance and profitability
Verify you are ordering the correct items for your grain cart:
Product Specs
|Product Number
|Model Number
|Hitch Type
|Hitch Size
|Axle Type
|Axle Size
|S/N, YEAR, or End Cap Type


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SAN DIEGO -- Sprint said Tuesday it will offer four new devices this fall for high-speed LTE networks, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet and the LG Optimus G smartphone. Pricing was not announced.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 with a 10.1-in. screen. (Photo: Samsung)
The Galaxy tablet runs the Android 4.0 mobile operating system, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, and features a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, two cameras, including a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 7,000 mAh battery.
Sprint noted the devices will have on-device encryption and VPN access to ensure secure business uses.
The LG Optimus smartphone with a 4.7-in. display (1280 x 768 pixels), runs the Snapdragon S 4 Pro quad-core processor, and includes a 13-megapixel, rear-facing camera. It also has 32 GB of internal memory and runs Ice Cream Sandwich. Sprint didn't indicate an upgrade path for either the tablet or phone.
Sprint also announced it will sell the LG Mach smartphone, which includes a physical Qwerty keyboard and a 5-megapixel camera.
Finally, Sprint said it will carry the Sprint Plug-in Connect Tri-mode USB that works like an Ethernet cable. The USB 2.0 device supports transitions between Sprint 3G CDMA, 4G LTE and WiMax networks by plugging the USB connector into any USB port in a laptop or other device.
Sprint said it has LTE available in 24 cities with 100 more cities getting the faster network in "coming months."
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is email@example.com.
See more by Matt Hamblen on Computerworld.com.
Read more about mobile/wireless in Computerworld's Mobile/Wireless Topic Center.


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text:
Wolverine World Wide names first chief merchant officer
Footwear firm Wolverine Worldwide has appointed veteran Levi's and Nike merchandising and branding expert Angelo Ng as the company's first chief merchant officer.
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Eric Schmidt, after ignoring Oracle chief Larry Ellison's comments about Google and its chief being "evil" last week and stealing from his company, finally took to Google+ to voice answer the comments.
The Google chairman decided to write a few paragraphs addressing Ellison's views. From Google+:
We typically try to avoid getting dragged into public battles with other companies. But I've gotten a lot of questions about Larry Ellison's claims that Google "took [Oracle's] stuff". It's simply untrue -- and that's not just my opinion, but the judgment of a U.S. District Court.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Schmidt goes on to cite the 2012 patent and copyright infringement case where Google wasn't found to have violated Oracle's patents. Instead, Schmidt mentioned that Oracle's attempt to patent "using the 'structure, sequence and organization' of APIs, the language that allows different computer programs and systems to talk to each other" was overstepping by attempting to copyright an idea.
"This case goes to the heart of the current and much-needed debate about patent reform. Patents were designed to encourage invention, not stop the development of new ideas and technologies," Schmidt wrote.
Schmidt finishes up by saying he knows all this because he was made to testify at the trial.
It's all written very civilly and coolly, but it's obvious Schmidt wouldn't have written such a piece if he wasn't annoyed at all the notice that Ellison's comments were given. Schmidt, who also is the very public face of Google, could also be defending Google chief Larry Page, who may not want to join the the public sparring.


text:
June 2006
May 2006
The Next Leap in Video Games Made by Nintendoby Antauri
Like all big names, Nintendo started small. In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi, the great grandfather of today's Nintendo president, founded Nintendo Koppai, to sell his special playing cards called "Hanafunda". Starting from 1969, Nintendo Co. Ltd., under the rule of the current president, began to produce toys and games. As the years passed, Nintendo grew bigger and bigger. Also, it started developing different games and platforms for them to run on. Some of these are the Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Visual Boy, Super Game Boy, Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Pokemon and many others. Now that video games look more real, Nintendo wants to make them feel as real. In order to do so, Nintendo unveiled the next leap in video games with its upcoming Wii home console. This new console will allow users to manipulate the actions of the video game character.
February 2006
1 (3 marks)


text:
While it's often thought to be acceptable to haggle at car lots and flea markets, most consumers assume prices at retail stores are nonnegotiable. However, with the economy in a downturn, retail shoppers may be more ready to bargain.
While it's often thought to be acceptable to haggle at car lots and flea markets, most consumers assume prices at retail stores are nonnegotiable.
However, with the economy in a downturn, retail shoppers may be more ready to bargain. I visited stores at Lisbon Landing and in Putnam last week on a buying experiment to find out how much money could be saved using different bargaining strategies.
The people interviewed for this story did not know it was for a news story until after I attempted to negotiate a lower price.
On my first approach at Lisbon Landing, I was not successful.
Browsing around at Famous Footwear, a shoe store, I eventually made an attempt at negotiating the price on a pair of Anne Klein black leather boots. The boots were stylish, but not something to wear going into the summer. The box already was marked down, but because it was merchandise the store probably wants off the shelf, I took a chance. I approached the store manager, Jennifer Fleming.
"Can you reduce the price on these boots at all — since they're out of season?" I asked.
I got nowhere with that. Fleming told me the managers have no say over pricing. She must wait for price changes to come through the computer from corporate. Although there was a pretty good sale going on at the time (buy one pair at full price and get a second pair half off), Famous Footwear does not offer price matching if you find shoes they carry priced lower in a competitor's ad flier or online.
Match online price
The opposite was true when I approached Olympia Sports for a discount on footwear. Although my simple request for a lower price was declined, the assistant manager encouraged me to look anywhere online for proof of the same sneakers being sold for less. Rather than buying the shoes online and paying shipping and handling charges, she said, print out the page and bring it into an Olympia store where it'll match the price.
My experiment yielded better results at The Home Depot. I gravitated toward a vast display of backyard gas grills. The store had many models available with assorted features and in a wide range of prices. A clerk was readily available on the aisle, so I summoned him for assistance.
"I'm wondering if there's any flexibility in the prices on these grills?" I asked.
I don't think he expected that to be my first question.
"Um. ... Which one? You mean, can I lower the price?" he answered.
I nodded while pointing to a $799 Charmglow Gourmet Grill. After a brief silence, he offered me a 10 percent discount.
That was a significant savings. Plus, he added free assembly, although he told me that service is normally included.
The Home Depot salesman explained it's more common for price reductions to be granted on items that are damaged or on floor models.
Most stores will allow for price cuts on imperfect merchandise, including the Tractor Supply store and Pier 1 Imports. After speaking with a store employee at Pier 1, I learned that pointing out a flaw is the only way to get a price break there.
At the new Tractor Supply Co. in Putnam, assistant manager Bob Morelle immediately questioned my reasoning when I made a straightforward request for a lower price on a garden bench swing with a green canopy. It was priced at $229.
"Why?" he countered. "There's nothing wrong with it."
When I revealed I was haggling in an experiment for a news story, Morelle informed me that bargaining attempts are not uncommon in his store.
"Farmers try to haggle in here all the time," he said.
He wouldn't grant me a discount on the swing — or even on a beautiful piece of Montana Silversmith jewelry — but he did tell me all of the store's employees have the OK to give price breaks to customers in certain situations.
Volume discounts
Those include not only damaged items, but bargaining is encouraged in cases when someone is willing to buy a large quantity of items. Using grass seed as an example, Morelle said he would offer a 5 percent discount for buying multiple bags.
In today's economy, shopping locally is affected by consumers accustomed to comparing prices online. There's greater competition with fewer dollars available to spend. As a result, retail stores may be more willing to negotiate to make the sales.
Although haggling may be uncomfortable for those not used to bargaining, the more it's put into practice, the easier it gets. If you don't ask for a discount, you're not going to get one.
A shopper has nothing to lose.
Reach Karen Norman of The Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin at 860-425-4237 or email@example.com. Karen's blog, "The Auctioneer's Wife," covers online and local buying and selling — including auctions, flea markets and tag sales.
The Home Depot: Charmglow Gourmet Series Oven Grill, discounted 10 percent from $799 by simply asking.
Linens -N- Things: Two bronze table lamps; I was able to get 20 percent off the $49.99 sticker price on one lamp -- the highest priced item -- just for asking. Shades were sold separately. I checked their Web site and they offer a 20 percent coupon online for a single item as well.
Wal-Mart: Televisions: No negotiations on flat screen televisions, but older models they plan to discontinue are negotiable.
Olympia Sports: Nike Air sneakers: If you find the same pair the store carries online for a lower price, print out the page from the Internet, and the store will give it to you for that price. You'll save on shipping and handling, too.
Famous Footwear: Anne Klein black leather boots: Original price was $150, but it was on clearance for $50. But no prices are negotiable in the store.
Pier 1 Imports: Dinner plates by the piece: I asked for a discount if I purchased a large quantity of dinnerware, sold separately. No prices are negotiable unless something is damaged.
Sears Essentials: Digital camera: $149; prices are not negotiable, but if you bring in a competitor's flyer or an online printout, the store will match the price.
Tractor Supply Co.: Weston Collection Farm Scene Canopy Swing; $229, marked down already from $268. No deal. But the store will negotiate if an item is damaged or flawed. Also, the store may a 5 percent discount if you buy a large quantity of any item (grass seed, for example) if you ask. All clerks have the OK to negotiate a little bit with good reason.
However, they will not sell an item at a lower price with an online printout showing the same item at a lower price. The reason given was that items are often sold cheaper online because the difference is made up in shipping charges.


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Repost from American Jewish World Service
Washington D.C. – American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and a coalition of advocacy and human rights organizations met with White House officials today to ask President Obama to appoint a Special Envoy for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples within the U.S. Department of State.
"As the scourge of state-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBT people spreads, it is imperative that the United States take a strong diplomatic stand in demanding the equal enforcement of human rights," said Ruth Messinger, president of AJWS, the leading Jewish international development and human rights organization. "We appreciate the willingness of the White House to meet with us and our allies during what is becoming an increasingly dangerous time for LGBT people across the globe."
Members of AJWS staff were joined at the White House by representatives from the Council for Global Equality, National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Amnesty International USA, Human Rights First, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Continue Reading


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Prosciutto and Gruyère-Stuffed Chicken Breasts (Adapted from CL)
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 ounce prosciutto, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ounce (about 1/4 cup) shredded Gruyère cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each)
salt and fresh ground black pepper
30 saltine crackers (about 3/4 of a sleeve), finely ground
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons canola oil
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add prosciutto - cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in rosemary and garlic - cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and scoop mixture into a bowl - set aside and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in cheese.
Create a pocket in each chicken breast by cutting a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each piece. Stuff about 2 tablespoons of the prosciutto mixture into each pocket, lightly pressing the filled part of the chicken breast to spread the filling out. Season chicken with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
In a shallow dish, spread out cracker crumbs.
In another shallow dish, add flour - season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
In another shallow dish, whisk together egg and mustard.
Dredge each piece of chicken into the flour, making sure to shake off any excess. Dip each into the egg mixture, allowing any excess to drip away. Coat completely with cracker crumbs.
Place pan back over medium-high heat and add oil. Place chicken into the pan - reduce heat to medium and cook until each side has brown and the chicken is fully cooked, about 8 to 10 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before serving.
Makes 4 servings.
Just found the recipe? Click here to see where we talked about it!
Monday, May 16, 2005
Prosciutto and Gruyère-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
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One woman dead, one woman blind, one woman forced to carry to term pregnancy she did not want. A raped underage girl detained to ensure the legal cut off passes. Not because there were no facilities to carry out the terminations, not because the law made such procedures illegal. Not in a low income country, but in the European Union. Women in Poland receive the double whammy of restricted access to sexual education and effective contraception combined with the social opprobrium with regards to pregnancy termination on any grounds, including medical or rape.
Health professionals can refuse to provide optimal medical care to their female patients citing their conscience, which allows them to watch a pregnant woman die from a treatable disease (Ulcerative Colitis). Health professionals can betray patient confidentiality on national media. Health professionals can bring in a priest, instead of following the protocols for cases of rape. Health professionals can allow a mother of two to go blind by refusing her a legal, medically justified abortion. In Poland, a pregnant woman ceases to be a patient. The perceived welfare of the foetus takes unquestionable precedence and leads to substandard treatment for the mother. As the result sometimes both the mother and the foetus perish (as in the untreated Ulcerative Colitis case).
I have just listened to a presentation at the GLOW 2013 conference citing a father from a low income African country 'I would rather argue with a policeman, not a doctor. Everyone is frightened of the doctors. If you say anything to them they say 'Have you ever seen a doctor in court?'' Sounds familiar? Poland frequently features in cases brought to the European Courts for non-enforcement of the legal framework in relation to provision of abortion, but what happens to the scores of the health professionals on the ground who fail to follow the basic tenets of their profession (e.g. working within the legal rules and protocols, maintaining patient confidentiality)?
For every publicized case of a woman denied proper standard of healthcare in 21st Century Europe, there are scores of others that do not hit the headlines and suffer the consequences of the non-provision of services they are entitled to. The Polish girl-child is well educated and can look forward to life of civic freedoms and good opportunities, but even though clean facilities are available, the health professionals are trained, and the per capita income is good, she will not be provided with optimal medical care when the need arises. Not if she happens to be pregnant.
Further useful links:


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April showers won't just bring May flowers, but leaking wet basements too if homeowners don't maintain good outside drainage conditions. Wet basements are one of life's biggest headaches, yet waterproofing is generally easy to accomplish.
When basements leak, people panic. The trouble, however, can usually be traced to the drainage conditions around the outside of the house. If too much water is allowed to collect in the soil around the foundation it will naturally leak into the basement through the walls, or even up through the center of the floor.
Use the following basement waterproofing tips to make sure you won't end up with an indoor swimming pool you didn't count on:
Good Gutters – Roof drainage is, by far, the number one cause of basement leakage. Since roof surfaces are as large as the house, they can collect lots of water in heavy rainstorms. What happens to that collected water can make the difference between a wet and a dry basement.
Properly designed gutters should have at least one downspout for every 600 – 800 square feet of roof surface. Gutters must be kept clean. Dirty gutters fill up and the water overflows directly where you don't want it to be: near the foundation. Most importantly, make sure the ends of the downspouts are extended to discharge at least 4 – 6 feet from the foundation. Spouts which discharge too close are like big hypodermic needles that are injecting water into the basement.
Sloping Soil – Next to gutter problems, the angle of the soil around the foundation perimeter can also cause drainage headaches. The soil should slope away from the house to keep rainfall from collecting against foundation walls. Soil should slope downward 6 inches over the first 4 feet from the foundation wall. Thereafter, it can be graded more gradually but should never allow water to run back towards the house.
If your grading needs improvement, use clean fill dirt (not top soil) to build up the soil around your house. Tamp the soil down to the correct slope and finish with a layer of top soil and grass seed to prevent erosion. Or, just use stone or mulch. Whatever the top layer is, be certain the slope is established with the fill dirt, or else the water will just run through the more porous material and into the basement, defeating your waterproofing efforts.
Other Culprits – Use common sense to check for other detriments to good drainage. For example, homeowners who build brick or wood planters next to the foundation keep water against the building, where leaks can occur. Heavily overgrown bushes and trees can also prevent good drainage and lead to foundation leaks.
Following these simple basement waterproofing guidelines will solve 99% of wet basement blues. The improvements are inexpensive and can usually be done yourself or with a little help from your friends.
However, be warned of waterproofing contractors who attempt to "scare" homeowners into an expensive drainage system. Most are not needed! One unsuspecting home owner recently attempted to solve his leaky basement by calling in waterproofing contractors. Besides telling him his foundation would crumble without a water proofing system, they offered quotes ranging from $7,500 – $20,000. These were outrageous expenses, even if the system did need to be installed – which it did not.
Instead, following an inspection, we were able to instruct him on how to correct his outside drainage and basement leaks and easily waterproof the problem for under $500 – and he avoided getting the soaking of a lifetime!


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Old tram. Arc de Triomphe baroque style on Praca do Comercio. Lisbon, Portugal
Filename: bm19-515-1547.jpg |
Size: 3529x5315
Copyright: Per Karlsson, BKWine Photography
administration, arc, arc de triomphe, arch, arch of triumph, architectural, architecture, area, bkwine, black, bm19-515-1547.tif, building, car, cityscape, dark, darkness, de, flood, floodlight, government, illuminated, illumination, land, land transport, light, light up, lighting, lisbon, lit, municipality, night, night-time, of, old, old-fashioned, oldfashioned, open, open area, piazza, place, plaza, portugal, portuguese, rail, rails, scene, square, street, street car, street scene, streetcar, streetscape, streetscene, structures, tracks, traditional, tram, tram way, tramway, transport, transportation, triomphe, triumph, up, uplit, urban, way


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Does the SCV repair scale proportionally for time and resources?
This question suggests that repair speed varies from building to building, but what about multiple SCVs repairing the same building?
Assuming I have 2 Bunkers that have 50% life and 2 SCVs to repair them. Is there a time or resources difference between:
- 1st SCV repairs 1st Bunker and 2nd SCV repairs 2nd Bunker.
- Both SCVs repair 1st Bunker then 2nd Bunker.


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Select your country
Versatile detail sander for sanding difficult spots and hard-to-reach placesThe SKIL 7110 detail sander is ideal for sanding difficult spots and other hard-to-reach places like in corners and against edges. Its 240W motor and orbital action make sure you get the job done quickly and conveniently. The variable speed enables you to match the speed to the job, so you get optimal sanding results on different materials. This detail sander is supplied with a vacuum cleaner adapter for connecting your vacuum cleaner, as well as three sanding sheets so you can start working right away.High performanceThe 240W motor and orbital action make this detail sander the ideal tool for fast and smooth material removal in corners, against edges and in other hard-to-reach places. For cleaner working the detail sander is supplied with a vacuum cleaner adapter which can be connected to all standard-size vacuum cleaner hoses. Variable speed for sanding different surfacesWith the sander's variable-speed function the speed can be matched to the job. That's handy when you're sanding a painted surface for example. When you select a lower speed, the paint doesn't get too hot so there's no smearing of the paint or clogging of your sanding sheet. Handy features for extra working comfortThe ergonomic design features a minimised tool diameter in the grip area, making it comfortable to hold during your sanding job. The on/off switch is located on top of the tool so it can easily be controlled by both right- and left-handed users. This detail sander is supplied with a vacuum cleaner adapter and three sanding sheets.


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Fosscomm (Free and Open Source Software Communities Meeting) is an annual conference for Free and Open Software. It's organized from the Greek open source community for the Greek open source community in a different city of Greece each year. It's an annual meeting for people who love open source technology, beers and party!
Of course the Greek openSUSE Community couldn't miss this chance for having fun, drink beers, meet new people and talk about the technologies that openSUSE 12.3 has and the magnificent openSUSE Conference at Thessaloniki.
Read more at openSUSE News


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Key Features
- 900 lumens output (total).
- 50 lumens per watt.
- 2x 3*3W LED.
- 10-1000 Lux light sensor.
- 180° rotational movement.
- Graphite finish.
- IP Rating: 54.
- To be Code compliant this light is required to be fitted with appropriate control systems (time switches).
- Dimensions: 170mm(H) x 270mm(D).
Code for Sustainable Homes Credits
This exterior light can help contribute towards gaining your 2 ENE6 External Lighting credits.
- 1 credit - all external space lighting, including lighting in common areas, is provided by dedicated energy efficient fittings.
- 1 credit - all security light fittings are designed for energy efficiency and are adequately controlled such that: all burglar security lights have a maximum wattage of 150w and movement detecting control devices (PIR) and daylight cut-off sensors.


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You can use either creamy or crunchy peanut butter in this recipe depending on your preference. I love the crunchy peanut butter because of, well, the crunch. I thought it would offset the mushy banana and melted chocolate chips nicely. If you're anything like me, you still have some leftover Easter chocolates that you forgot about, so I chopped them up and threw them in these cookies. Chocolate chips would work just as well too.
When you begin to mix the wet and dry ingredients, it will take a while to come together (at one point, I was even using my hands) but keep at it! After a while, it will come together and you will have a nice, creamy batter.
These cookies are heavenly. They fall in that category between cookie and cake; the inside is chewy and soft and the outside is slightly crispy. And these cookies will stay soft for days (not that they'll be around that long...). Plus, they have some of the most delectable flavors around - peanut butter, chocolate, and banana - all in one cookie! For those of you that get turned off by peanut butter cookies (myself included), do not fret - the peanut butter taste isn't that strong. The cookie isn't terribly sweet, which is a great and terrible thing at the same time because you can literally eat them for breakfast. And then again for dessert. And in between lunch and dinner. And breakfast and lunch. Believe me, you'll be letting your bananas go ripe just for an excuse to make these cookies!


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Top VendorsView all listings More Vendors
AwardsView all awards
Pretty Brussels Wedding Photos by Sandra Regier
This lovely wedding has me gazing in awe at each and every beautiful image from Sandra Regier.
BlogsView all blogs
Wild Lark Studio to Launch a Flower Farm to Support Toronto Weddings in 2014Read More
One of the biggest challenges for floral design duo Ashleigh and Leah from Wild Lark Studio has always been sourcing local flowers. They are after all based in Toronto, which doesn't necessarily have the longest growing season for things like | read more…
The Original Wedding Soiree 2013Read More
The Original Wedding Soiree: signature cocktails, high tea, bridal beauty bars for pampering and make-up! What a perfect way to spend a Sunday!
Sweet Church Wedding Video From Kenzerama ProductionsRead More
Friends, family and fun! That is the perfect recipe for a great wedding!
Video Inspiration
We're hand picking videos every day and adding them to our library of wedding videos and films. Beautiful, Funny, Romantic and more we love em all.


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So, today at Flipside, Linda posted for Wordless Wednesday, St. John's Wort, a beautiful yellow bloom. I offer, no worts, but, a weed, a pretty weed. Found this growing near our home when we were out seeking a pulled pork sandwich. The sandwich was yummy and the weed was pretty.
* Photo darkened to highlight the flower detail, flower actually sunny yellow.
** More yellow over at Reflection's Flora and Fauna today.
*** And, once again, I fail again at Wordless Wednesday, think I fail every week. LOL
Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence


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Outdoor Adventures
February 25, 2013
- Melissa Stone
Though our students choose from 28 majors and more than 30 overseas and off-campus programs, almost all of them have one pursuit in common: College Outdoors. Our program, one of the largest of any similarly sized college in the country, takes 9 out of 10 students into the wilderness of our diverse region.
College Outdoors (2011-12)
Total trips: 99
Participant spots filled: 1266
Opportunities for:
- trip leaders: 195
- assistant leaders: 64
- student coordinators: 65
College Outdoors
While whitewater rafting and sea kayaking are the most popular outings, the program offers a taste of the unusual as well, such as clinics in igloo building and Northwest ancient forest ecology. In addition to offering fun outdoor adventures, the trips provide leadership opportunities, inspire group communication, build community, and enhance decision-making skills.
A scholarship program, funded by the student government (ASLC), now makes the program even more accessible to Lewis & Clark students.
College Outdoors More Program Photos


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Nov. 4, 2013
I'm very pleased to announce that Daniel Harding and Jack Followay, Jr. have joined PCPartPicker!
Daniel (aka living180) is an expert Python programmer, and he'll be focusing on making sure PCPartPicker is operating smoothly and efficiently. He'll also help me with feature development throughout the site, as well as finding and fixing up the copious amounts of bugs I've introduced into the system over the last few years.
Jack (aka BoyScout) is also a seasoned developer, and he'll initially be working on… wait for it… the mobile version of PCPartPicker. He will also be helping with front-end features and our new benchmarking initiative. Jack is an avid builder, even going so far as to install a custom PC in his car!
I'm very excited to have both Daniel and Jack join the team! Both bring a wealth of experience and enthusiasm. Good things are ahead!


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Celeb Marriage Proposals: How Do Stars Pop the Question?
Find out how Rachael Ray, Jason Biggs and LL Cool J sealed the deal
On screen, Ryan Reynolds had no choice but to put a ring on it (Sandra Bullock coerced him!) in The Proposal. But for these stars in their off-screen lives, no charades were involved – and in one case no ring, either – when the big question was popped just a nude beach and a sports car to help set the mood.
Jason Biggs, married to Jenny Mollen: "I proposed twice. I proposed once spontaneously – I didn't even have a ring. I used an earring. We were in St. Martin. I just bought her these earrings and I took one out of her ear and proposed to her with it. And then I got a ring and did a more formal proposal on Valentine's Day in Big Sur. It was really cool."
Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, married to Michael Nilon: "We broke up for three months. I went to a movie premiere and he [was there], hoping he would see me and I was hoping I would see him. At the end of the night we didn't see each other and I thought he left but he was waiting for me. He came up to me and asked, "Will you marry me?" And I was like, Yes!"
Real Housewives of New York City's Simon van Kempen, married to Alex McCord: "We were on a nude beach and I rolled over on top of her and said, 'Nothing would make me more happy than if you would spend the rest of your life with me.'" McCord added: "And I remember I said something really inane like, 'Oh, that sounds good.' "
John Cusimano, married to Rachael Ray: "We were supposed to have moved into a new apartment that was being renovated. It wasn't going to be ready for another four months. The first thing I was going to do in the new apartment was give her the ring. But that wasn't going to happen, so I just reached into my bag, I threw the ring at her." Said Ray: "I thought it was a key ring, because I was always losing the keys to the apartment."
LL Cool J, married to Simone Smith: "I drove my Porsche 110 m.p.h. and wouldn't slow down until she said yes!"
• Reporting by SHRUTI DHALWALA, LAURA HAHN, JEFFREY SLONIM and MICHELLE WARD


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The Naples Monitor. (Naples, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 30, 1908
Description: Weekly newspaper from Naples, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: July 30, 1908
Creator: Kesseler, C. A. & Kesseler, C. W.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Newspaper
Partner: Atlanta Public Library


text: This event has passed. Remembrance, our familiar worship experience, will refresh your spirit all over again. Featuring His Praise quartet, the third Sunday of each month will be a day you look forward to at 6:00pm in The Davis Chapel. Come and worship, singing the hymns and choruses you remember. + Google Calendar+ iCal Export Details Date: June 21, 2015 Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Event Categories: Featured, Remembrance, Worship Arts Event Tags:Everyone Organizer: Christ Wesleyan Church |Recurring Event (See all)Every month on the third Sunday until April 17, 2016


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Super Tim necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 67 diseños de 15 diseñadores freelance.
My new training company needs a funky logo.
Elite Learning Systems
I need a logo to represent my company.
We produce training and learning materials for students 18 - 25 and young corporates. These are students who want to learn faster and be more sucessful. They are sick of wasting their time and want to feel success like they never have before. The logo should symbolise improvement, getting the most out of life and success.
I want something fresh which symbolises the new opportunities we give students who use our products. We teach students how to learn faster in whatever field they choose. We make a difference to their self-confidence and their abililty to succeed.
The learning techniques we teach rely on improving the way you use your brain and process info to achieve your goals. We help you get where you need to be.
- Our brand is for those who only want the best, who need to get more out of life, its fun and it's no bullsh1t. I need a combination logo with symbol and text - it can be intergrated together, or side by side or top/bottom. Strong colours, prefereably deep blue / green - looking for simple and cool like the solutions we offer.
- A boring combination of words :)
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
UTS Library asked about
2. What type of bookmarks or information guides would you like the Library to display, or do you prefer to search the Library website?
2 Question Survey - October 2012
2 answers
55463 views
2 Question Survey - October 2012
I use the website search - good that everything in one place. not sure what form bookmarks or info guides would take and what they would add. gut feel is website preferred.
I use the library website


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Argument preview: The Court considers the Confrontation Clause again
Under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, a criminal defendant has the right to cross-examine any witness who testifies against him. In limited circumstances, witness statements can be presented at trial even when the witness is unavailable for cross-examination. In Davis v. Washington (2006), the Supreme Court held that a statement by a witness is "non-testimonial" "" such that the Confrontation Clause is not violated if a defendant cannot cross-examine that witness "" if it is "made in the course of police interrogation under circumstances objectively indicating that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency."
On October 5, in Michigan v. Bryant (09-150), the Court will consider whether a statement made to police officers by a shooting victim who later died was properly admitted at the murder trial of respondent Richard Bryant.
In 2001, Detroit police officers responding to a call found Anthony Covington lying beside his car at a gas station with a gunshot wound in his abdomen. In response to questioning, Covington indicated that he had been shot six blocks away and thirty minutes before by a person named "Rick," and had driven himself to the gas station. He gave the address of Richard Bryant's residence as the scene of the crime. Covington was eventually taken to a hospital, where he died several hours later. At Bryant's murder trial, Covington's statements to police were admitted as "excited utterances," and Bryant was convicted.
Bryant appealed his conviction on the ground that the prosecutor's use of Covington's statements at trial violated his Confrontation Clause rights. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld Bryant's conviction, but the Michigan Supreme Court reversed. The state filed a petition for certiorari seeking review of the state court's decision; the Court granted the petition on March 1, 2010.
Michigan's arguments
In both its petition and its brief on the merits, Michigan asserts that the "ongoing emergency" required by Davis is not limited to the crime itself, but instead also extends to other emergencies resulting from that crime, including "situations in which the declarant or officer is in danger, either due to a medical emergency or because the perpetrator poses a threat." Here, Michigan contends, Covington's wound created an ongoing medical emergency. Moreover, even after paramedics were dispatched, another emergency persisted: an unknown, armed perpetrator who posed a further threat to the officers, the victim, and the public in general. To assess the level of danger and effectively defuse it, the police needed to know at least whether the shooter was in the vicinity, whether he intended further violence, and whether he had shot anyone else. Their interrogation of the victim about the nature and location of his shooting was intended to elicit that information; indeed, the victim's statements in response to the police questioning helped law enforcement officials to capture the shooter.
In the state's view, whether a statement by a witness was made to "meet an ongoing emergency" turns on the circumstances under which the interrogation happened, rather than on the substance of the statement. Thus, a statement is classified as "testimonial" if it is "given with a view toward recording the declarant's version of events that have already transpired, for purposes of memorializing them." By contrast, Covington's identification of "Rick" and the place of the shooting was a "spontaneous statement" made during, and as part of, the emergency.
Bryant's arguments
In his brief on the merits, Bryant counters that an emergency is "ongoing" only if a crime is in progress. In particular, he emphasizes the facts of his case: Covington had told police that the shooting had occurred nearly thirty minutes ago, several blocks away. Nor did the actions of the police reflect any sense of any emergency on their part: the police did not draw their weapons or attempt to secure the gas station, they did not call for assistance until they reached Bryant's residence, and they did not attempt to question anyone other than Covington at the station. The only emergency that had existed was the shooting itself, and that crime had concluded by the time the police arrived at the gas station.
Bryant criticizes the state's interpretation of an "ongoing emergency" "" as extending to situations in which a perpetrator is still at large "" as overly expansive; in his view, it could exempt from cross-examination any witness statements made under police interrogation while a perpetrator is still at large. Instead, he contends, an inquiry into whether a statement is testimonial should turn on the substance of the witness's statement and his motivation for providing the statement, rather than on the questions he was asked or the circumstances in which he was questioned. Thus, a witness statement is testimonial if it merely provides a narrative of past events and does not seek assistance to meet a current or imminent threat. In this case, because Covington simply narrated facts about past events only, without seeking help from police, his statements were testimonial.
In its last case involving the Confrontation Clause "" its 2009 decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, holding that the admission of laboratory reports prepared by a state forensic analyst, without testimony from the analyst, violated the Confrontation Clause "" the Court was closely divided in a somewhat unusual line-up: Justices Stevens, Souter, Thomas, and Ginsburg joined a majority opinion by Justice Scalia, while Justice Kennedy wrote a dissent that was joined by the Chief Justice and Justices Breyer and Alito. With the retirements of Justices Stevens and Souter and the recusal of new Justice Elena Kagan (who as Solicitor General was counsel of record in an amicus brief on behalf of the United States), the views of Justice Sonia Sotomayor "" who has served as both a prosecutor and a trial judge "" may play a key role in the disposition of the case.


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Start Slideshow
- Alfalo Gasperini Trump Towers RioAs part of the redevelopment of Rio de Janeiro for the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games, Alfalo & Gasperini Arquitetos have designed five glittering garden-lined Trump Towers. With lushly planted terraces on each floor, the complex appears like a blur of green from afar. The green towers are part of a $10 billion plan to revitalize the Porto Maravilha neighborhood - other features include a new public transport system, bicycle paths, and other infrastructure improvements.1
- Alfalo Gasperini Trump Towers RioThe mixed-use Trump Towers would bring shops, restaurants, wellness centers and office space to the area near the waterfront.2
- Alfalo Gasperini Trump Towers RioEach of the towers will be around the same size, but their facades feature varying triangular patterns that cut away to reveal the green terraces within.3
- Alfalo Gasperini Trump Towers RioAt night, the lights from the building's interior will create a green glow as the terraces are illuminated.4
- Alfalo Gasperini Trump Towers RioThe Trump Towers will also feature a rainwater capturing system and an on-site wastewater treatment system.5
- Alfalo Gasperini Trump Towers RioThe zig zag triangular patterns of the façade were inspired by the Copacabana boardwalk and shoreline. But the patterns don't just serve as ornamentation - they also function as an integrated louver system that reflects sunlight while allowing just the right amount of daylight to illuminate the interiors.6
- Alfalo Gasperini Trump Towers RioThe Trump Towers will add to Rio's skyline, and serve as the pinnacle of the massive redevelopment along Francisco Bicalho Avenue.7


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Extra Inches! Simple Rules!
Generic "Women's Magazine", "shocking" report, amazing diet supplement!
"Surprise him with a new body!"
"Weird" fruit! "Holy grail of weight loss!"
And yes, I have asked Facebook to "don't show me posts like this."
Related Post: You don't get to choose your ads, the problem with online advertising.
Related Post: Can gendered advertising affect change?


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John Grossi likes his view. Not only is his new 60,000-square-foot club located near a treed conservation area that can been seen through many of the 12,000 square feet of windows that surround his club, but Grossi can also see the stream of people — 5,500 so far — that are lining up to join the Gold's Gym Methuen, which is in Methuen, MA.
Part of the reason new members are streaming in is because of the cardiovascular areas set up throughout the club, all of which Grossi also has a clear view. Totaling about 5,000 square feet, the cardiovascular areas include a women's only area, an area on the first floor between the pool and basketball court, an area on the second floor that overlooks the whole site and another area on the second floor that wraps around the mezzanine and overlooks the entry area.
A lot of time and effort went into developing the cardio areas to give members, most of whom are baby boomers, a variety of views, equipment and intensity levels in their workouts. Having an effective cardio area or areas can be a major draw for the deconditioned baby boomers and other markets that are heeding the advice to get healthy through cardio workouts.
One of the elements new — and current — members want is variety; variety in views, equipment and location. Rudy Fabiano, owner of Fabiano Designs and architect for the Methuen club, says that one major way to offer variety is to establish several cardio areas. Larger clubs should consider setting up two to three cardio areas, each with a different feel to cut down on the boredom factor for long-time members, he says. Fabiano suggests a hard cardio area where the users can see all the machines and then an area that's softer in intensity in a plaza type setting. He's seen some successful enclosed cardio rooms including a few that are large, darkened rooms resembling theaters with large audiovisual setups.
"There's more anonymity, and you can zone into your own groove," Fabiano says about the darkened theater environment.
The 2,700-member, 25,000-square-foot Gold's Gym in Smithtown, NY, also has two cardio areas: an 1,800 square foot area on the first floor and a 1,000 square foot area on the second floor. The second floor cardio area is a loft-style setup overlooking an unusual stairwell and part of the first floor to the front door, says Susan D'Amodio, director of operations at the club.
The Smithtown facility has 65 pieces of equipment in the two cardio areas, including treadmills, ellipticals, upright and recumbent bikes, steppers and StairMaster StepMills. Grossi's club has about 120 pieces of cardio equipment, 30 of which are treadmills. He also has steppers, climbers and ellipticals.
To have an effective cardiovascular area, clubs must have treadmills, ellipticals, upright and recumbent bikes, stair climbers and rowing machines, according to manufacturers. Treadmills are still the most used product in clubs because users are the most familiar with them, says Mike Peszynski, facility layout support specialist at Life Fitness.
When it comes to determining how many pieces of equipment a club should have, it all depends on the type of club involved and the membership demographics as much as the number of members. Grossi, with 20 years of experience in clubs, uses his past experience to determine the quantity for each type of equipment in his club. D'Amodio also relies upon her experience in the business. However, she does say that it's a good idea to leave extra room in a cardio area for additional pieces of equipment if needed. Club owners and managers must continually monitor the cardio area to determine which pieces are the most popular and where lines form.
Grossi isn't afraid to change out his equipment, constantly searching for the latest release. However, he understands that members often have their favorite types of equipment, which means changing out equipment too often can be detrimental unless it involves newer models of the same equipment.
The general practice for most clubs has been to locate the cardio at the front of the club hoping it would attract new members. Peszynski says that the cardio area is less intimidating to new members than the strength training area, particularly since most people are familiar with cardio machines.
However, Fabiano disagrees.
"Although cardio is considered a user-friendly exercise that everyone outside the industry can relate to, cardio areas in general are pretty intense," he says, "meaning that when you first walk into the club, if you have cardio at the front, you are going to be confronted with an intense environment."
Walking into a club, a new member will see 40 to 50 people working on rows and rows of equipment that's making a lot of noise and that's focused in one direction. Fabiano says that could be a barrier and could intimidate new members.
Of course, the location of the cardio area may depend on the goal of a club. The biggest reason people use a facility is for cardio, Terry Woods, senior product manager at Star Trac Fitness says, so if the goal is to attract people from the street, then the club wants to put cardio first in the club, maybe even display the cardio area in a window to the outside. However, other clubs use the supermarket approach of getting members into the club and getting them to the back of the club to use the cardio, hoping that on the way in or out they will use the other equipment they see along the way.
"So, it depends on your goal," Woods says. "You want to keep them in the club as long as you can, so putting the most used part of the club in the back will help."
Both Grossi and D'Amodio's clubs keep the cardio areas toward the front and the free weight area in the back. Both facilities have an open design that allows an individual to see from one area of the gym to another without many barriers.
"When they walk into the club, it's all glass," Grossi says about his club. "They see the cardio. They feel the energy."
D'Amodio's club has a weight room in the same area as the downstairs cardio area, but the area is set on a deck two feet off the floor. Despite its higher initial expense, cardio decks offer advantages in terms of wiring, the flexibility of the equipment, and the ability of users to look over other equipment. However, decks put cardio users on display for the rest of the club, something not everyone enjoys.
Good equipment lay out is essential in an effective cardio area. If the club has TV monitors at the front of the cardio area, the equipment should be set up so that the taller machines are in the back and the shorter machines are in the front, allowing for TV viewing by all.
However, when it comes to whether equipment should be grouped by type or mixed up, the experts disagree. Equipment manufacturers often suggest that equipment be grouped by type because it makes for a more impressive statement to new members. New members who walk into a facility and see just two or three bikes together may think that's all the bikes a club has, not realizing that the bikes are dispersed throughout the cardio area.
"Keeping equipment together is helpful," says Woods. "People like to know where something is when they come in. If they have to go look for something, they look dumb."
Grossi keeps the cardio equipment grouped by product and manufacturer so that all of his Nordic Trac treadmills are together in one area while his Life Fitness treadmills are in another. Grossi groups the equipment like this to make it more impressive and to show new and current members the activity and excitement levels in the club.
"It's a great selling point," Grossi says. "It looks nicer, more uniform."
Besides, it's less expensive to group the treadmills together to take advantage of one height level for TV viewing and the need for outlets in certain areas.
Fabiano, however, prefers to mix and match equipment.
"I know that owners are product oriented and spend a lot of money on the equipment, but we have to resist the temptation to show what we've got and instead create a good atmosphere for the user," Fabiano says. "The hardest thing is to be the third treadmill in a row of eight treadmills," which he says can make members feel like sardines.
To reduce claustrophobic feelings and to improve safety, enough space must be allotted between machines and rows. Woods says that Star Trac recommends a minimum of 20 inches between products although the American with Disabilities Act recommends three feet between equipment. Peszynski suggests at least 18 inches between bikes and eight inches between treadmills, cross trainers and stair climbers.
However, the most important spacing is the space behind treadmills. Star Trac suggests two feet behind each treadmill to prevent people who fall off from hitting the wall or another person or piece of equipment. Peszynski suggests six feet from the back of the treadmill to the start of a new row. He also suggests 42 inches behind bikes, ellipticals and stair climbers (for wheelchair clearance).
Cardio area design not only should offer a safe and effective workout but also should provide a pleasant visual experience and a comfortable atmosphere. Because of the tendency for cardio equipment to face forward only and for users to look at a defined spot only, building up that area architecturally to distinguish it will make the gym more appealing, Fabiano says.
"The cardio area is an opportunity to do something nice architecturally," Fabiano says. "I think it's a mistake not to take advantage of the inherent different feeling that cardio gives you as opposed to free weights."
Windows to a great outdoor view can provide a greater visual element than any architectural design.
D'Amodio's cardio area does not include any window-facing machines, but Grossi's does, taking advantage of the view of the treed conservation area around the club. If they tire of the great outdoors, members can watch the televisions installed above the windows.
Lighting is a more important element in clubs than some owners may think. Fabiano suggests lowering the lighting level 20 percent to 30 percent in the cardio area.
"It helps bring the largeness of a cardio area down," Fabiano says. He also suggests uplighting rather than blaring overhead light, which can create glare on TV screens.
Fabiano suggests that the décor remain simple in the cardio area because of the large number and pieces of equipment in that area.
"You should think of cardio as sort of movie theater looking," Fabiano says. "You are a viewer in a cardio environment."
Flooring in the cardio area can be carpet, rolled free weight rubber or bamboo in higher-end clubs. Carpet reduces noise more than the other materials, but some owners say carpet is more difficult to clean the sweat and lint, and it must be replaced about every four years. The rubber flooring is easier to clean, but it doesn't reduce sound as well. Bamboo is a grass so the bamboo floor is ecologically sound. It is 30 percent to 50 percent more dense than wood and is easier to clean, but its ability to absorb sound is not as great as carpet.
Grossi had carpet installed in his cardio area because he says it looks nicer than rubber, which he says is too intimidating.
"Rubber belongs in the free weight area," Grossi says.
However, the Smithtown gym stays away from carpet in the cardio area because it causes friction with the machines, gathers dust, is hard to maintain, and oil from machines can stain the carpet. Instead, the facility uses rolled rubber flooring, which D'Amodio says is easier to clean and move equipment around on.
Both Grossi and D'Amodio say they wouldn't change anything about the design of their cardiovascular areas. They feel the setup works for their members and gives them room for additional equipment. They recommend that club owners who are building clubs or redesigning clubs think about future needs, including additional equipment. And, don't be afraid to go big with the cardio area.
That advice is even more valuable as baby boomers begin joining health clubs in growing numbers. They'll be making a beeline to the cardio area, says Grossi, because that is what they are familiar with. Having an effective cardio area now with room for expansion, ensures a club owner will be able to accommodate the crowd as it grows.


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PULASKI, N.Y. (WHAM) - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said an upstate New York man woke up in a panic after a snake fell from the ceiling above him.
On June 29, a New York State DEC officer was called to a home in the village of Pulaski, which is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Oswego.
The man who called reported that a large snake had fallen from the ceiling.
The officer later determined that the snake was a six-foot-long red-tailed boa constrictor and had escaped its enclosure in the apartment above the man who was sleeping. The snake then entered the ceiling and fell through into the apartment below.
The officer brought the snake back to its owner. The snake's owner legally had possession of the reptile.


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Yamaha 20 Series YRS-20BB Soprano Recorder Blue Translucent Essential Elements Recorder Book
Shipping international restrictions confirmation
Save by getting the Recorder Package!
This package features Essential Elements Student Recorder Book by Kaye Clements, Paul Lavender, and Charles Menghini and the Yamaha YRS-20B Blue 3pc Soprano Recorder!
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Yamaha C Soprano 3-piece Blue Recorder -- The Yamaha recorders are a 3-piece C soprano recorder, with Baroque-English fingering. Each recorder includes bag and fingering chart.
About The Book:
Essential Elements Recorder Classroom Method
By Kaye Clements, Paul Lavender, and Charles Menghini
32 pages
Designed for today's classroom, it includes easy-to-use technology features that enhance the learning experience for any teaching situation. It can be an effective tool for introducing or reinforcing general music concepts, as an introduction to ensemble performance or individual or small group instruction.
The proven pedagogy features one new concept at a time, careful pacing with reinforcement, rhythm raps, multicultural music, reviews, quizzes and Performance Spolights.
Note Progression: B, A, G, E, D, high C, high D, F, F#, Bb, C
- Over 130 songs
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|Brand Name
|Clements, Kaye Lavender, Paul Menghini, Charles


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Heyo! Tis' Cloverlord.
I have listed a bunch of discussions for each day for the upcoming week. Each day, I will update this post with all the questions asked. Newer ones will be highlighted.
If you can, please edit your posts each day with your past answers, and the new ones. Spoilers would be mega helpful for this. (You can do a spoiler by [spoiler@] remove the @! [/spoiler@] ).
TODAYS TOPIC: What do you like to do in your free time?
My answers:
1. Weirdest thing eaten: Sushi. Ate it with free will and regretted it momentarily.
2. Most fun thing I have done: Having a family water-balloon fight. The water balloons had weird stuff in them like milk, sugar, orange juice, etc.
3. I really enjoy my baby blue eyes from my dad and my nearly pimple-free skin complexion from my mother.
4. I would love to visit Dallas, Texas because I love being in the country and I have always had a thing for Dallas. Either that, or I would like to visit Japan as it sounds really nice to visit, plus, I could use a new perspective on things and Japan just might be able to give that to me.
5. My first pet was an orange cat that I named Sunny. Kind of common, but hey, I was three! I named it as you can see.
6. The most important person,I have changed to PEOPLE. Just so happens Growtopia gave me those people. Of course this keeps in my son.
7. I like to curl up with a good book or game a bit. I've been gaming quite frequently these days though.
Past discussions:
1. What is the weirdest thing you've eaten? Was it intentional?
2. Most fun thing you have ever done?
3. What is the best quality/favourite quality you've inherited from your parents?
4. Where in the world would you like to visit and why?
5. What was the first pet you had ad who named it?
6. Who is the most important person in your life?
-*-*-*- There will be no more discussions after this. -*-*-*


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Internationalization and Localization
Genshi provides basic supporting infrastructure for internationalizing and localizing templates. That includes functionality for extracting localizable strings from templates, as well as a template filter that can apply translations to templates as they get rendered.
This support is based on gettext message catalogs and the gettext Python module. The extraction process can be used from the API level, or through the front-ends implemented by the Babel project, for which Genshi provides a plugin.
1 Basics
The simplest way to internationalize and translate templates would be to wrap all localizable strings in a gettext() function call (which is often aliased to _() for brevity). In that case, no extra template filter is required.

${_("Hello, world!")}

However, this approach results in significant "character noise" in templates, making them harder to read and preview.
The genshi.filters.Translator filter allows you to get rid of the explicit gettext function calls, so you can continue to just write:

Hello, world!

This text will still be extracted and translated as if you had wrapped it in a _() call.
For parameterized or pluralizable messages, you need to continue using the appropriate gettext functions.
You can control which tags should be ignored by this process; for example, it doesn't really make sense to translate the content of the HTML  element. Both


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Hey all, feel free to submit any feedback or bugs about the new mods on the PTS here.
Hey all, feel free to submit any feedback or bugs about the new mods on the PTS here.
Finn who is already a strong sup can ult with his spray(yes it's an ult because you can heal 3 targets in one turn, + yourself) will have even more healing to his kit in form of area weakness, to me this is really bad, it puts refreshing spray to a heal of 40x3 targets which is even stronger.
Meridian mod appears to be useless, the healing is already problematic even using reforge+10hp and ult +5hp , I've seen many games where your target still dies. So who would want to remove the +10hp mod to use that new mod?? I don't know to be honest.
My 2 cents on some of the proposed changes:
* (Berserker Charge) Single Minded - Increased damage to primary target. That enemy is followed this turn)
Ok mod because it can fix some poor positioning by Titus if your target gets unstop or haste and just moves away from Titus, leaving him standing still on the place and incapable of attacking anyone. Its not a mandatory mod but its a good option to have.
* (Dirty Fighting) Phase Blade - Can now be thrown through walls
Really, whats this? PLEASE GET RID OF THIS. This proposed mod is so stupid that its not even funny to begin with. Whoever came up with this "great idea" dont play the game for sure. How are we supposed to counterplay something like that?
Do you want a better idea for a dagger mod? Make a mod where a titus dagger can create 10, 15 or even 20 shields if used on an ally. Or make the dagger redirect 10, 15, or 20 dmg back to titus if he decides to use it on an ally (similar to orion's fate transfer but only for 10, 15 or 20 dmg). The downside of course would be a 3 points mods or a cooldown increase for the dagger skill. With that, at least support Titus could be viable and would provide strategic uses for the dagger instead of just daggering someone to prevent a dash or catalyst or just for damage.
* (Refreshing Spray) Flounder - Additionally weakens enemies hit for the turn. Generates 2 energy per enemy hit.
BAD, VERY BAD. Finn already has a long range healing that can mass heal his team and himself. For comparison, Su Ren could do the same (mass heal) but most of the time she has to cast her dash to pull that off. If anything i can see that as a more logical aplication to Su-Ren's heal, who has to expose herself into the front lines than to Dr Finn.
Better yet, leave that kind of effect away from healings. Healings must act as healings, not as some kind of debuff to enemies.
* (Martial Master) Toad Style - If 3 or more enemies are hit gain 10 shields next turn.
VERY USELESS MOD. Its almost a joke (in fact IT IS A JOKE). Su-Ren is not know for auto attacking too much, also there's better options for use on her primary like the +3 HP per enemy hit, or the mod that gives her more dmg if the enemy is hit by the tip of the rod. As a matter of fact you can run without any mods on her primary because she rarely attacks.
Take my word for Su's mod because i main her and i have more than 1000 games with her, so i know what im talking about.
If you want to give more options for mods to her i suggest you to create more viable mods to her dash or to spirit bend.
Here are some mod ideas for Su:
To her dash:
1- A mod that could provide +1 square range on her landing zone.
DOWNSIDE: Less heal / dmg OR 3 points mod (or both)
2- A mod that could provide an increase of +1 square range for her dash towards allies or enemies (or make the +1 square range just to dash towards allies).
DOWNSIDE: Less heal / dmg OR 3 points mod (or both)
To Spirit Bend:
1- A mod where Su gives unstopabble / root to an ally / enemy.
DOWNSIDE: The effect (of the might or weak) just works for one turn (instead of the usual 2 turns if no one gets hit) OR an increase in the number of turns until the skill is available again OR just make it as a 3 points mod.
2- A mod where Su gives +5, +10 OR EVEN +15 hp or shields to an ally.
DOWNSIDE FOR +5 OR +10 hp / shields: The effect (of might on allies) just last for one turn (instead of the usual 2 turns if no one gets hit) OR increase the number of turns until the skill is available for use again OR just make it as a 3 points mod.
DOWNSIDE FOR +15 hp / shields: No longer grants might to an ally. The skill cannot be cast on enemies (no longer weakens them) and costs 3 points mods OR increase for a 3 points mod and add a longer cooldown.
To be fair Su needs a buff on her base HP (+5 would be nice) or a buff that makes her primary viable (more range or dmg) because right now she cant contribute very well with dmg to her team compared to others supports like Finn, Khita, Helio and Aurora. Its either that or the proposed ideas that i gave to some of her mods.
Right now i dont know where she sits on a tier list, maybe she is a mid tier or a weak support for solo queue compared to her support peers. I know that i do wonders with her in solo queue, but that's because im experienced with her. She is not that friendly and could use some buffs.
* (Maul) Brawl - Damage increased by 4 and energy gains increased by 1
REALLY???? Again, whoever came up with this must be trolling or dont play the game at all.
Another BAD idea. JUST NO. But to be frank, i'd take more dmg any day than that annoying perma slow mod on his primary (crippling something i guess. I cant remember the name)
I think you devs should experiment with passives, just like what you did to Meridian with that mod (Crusader - Range of Reforge reduced by 2. Base movement increased by 1. ) That passive with base movement increased by 1 is a VERY NICE idea and should be expanded to every other lancer in the game. I'm not saying every passive have always to increase movement, but you should experiement with it. You should try a increased dmg (at the cost of movement), Increased Heal, more HP or so on.
You should incentive players to BUILD lancers around passives, because right now what we see is that everyone most of the time runs with the same builds everywhere.


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WHISTLER — An exhausted John Furlong said Sunday he is happy the arduous road to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics is virtually over.
Looking wan and tired, and occasionally downcast, Furlong told reporters at a closing press conference his energetic "blue jackets" — the volunteer backbone of two remarkable Games — may wish for another week of fun, but he certainly doesn't.
"I am just exhausted," he said.
The man who once told the 30,000 volunteers and staff of his Vancouver Organizing Committee to "celebrate your exhaustion," was doing that in the scant hours before the closing ceremony of the Paralympics.
Before the end of the night, he planned to again be on the move, this time on a flight to Georgia with Renee Smith-Valade, his communications vice-president, to attend the memorial of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luge athlete killed in a training accident Feb. 12.
The Games may be over, but the process of winding down the organization will take months. On Sunday, Furlong and some of his lieutenants outlined how some of that will happen.
Furlong said the process of organizing the Olympics and Paralympics had been a remarkable affair, one that had left him profoundly altered.
"I have an even greater appreciation today than I've ever had in my life about the power of a vision and about what happens when people pursue something with the kind of vigor you can. I think something pretty extraordinary has happened in the country and I am glad to have been a part of it," he said.
He also paid compliments to the blue jackets, whom he said represented "the greatest achievement" of the Games.
"The volunteers did things so well and in so many places from beginning to end that it is hard to put into words the contributions they made to the Games," he said.
The process of wrapping up the Games is already under way. Crews have already cleaned out three Olympic venues — GM Place, Hastings Park and the east Vancouver Convention Centre and returned them to their owners.
Over the course of the next month or two the rest of the venues, from Cypress to Whistler Olympic Park to the University of B.C.'s Thunderbird Arena, will be stripped of their posters and banners and temporary seating.
Terry Wright, Vanoc's executive vice-president of operations, said the items will either be returned to their owners — corporate sponsors and suppliers — or disposed of through the provincial government's auction system. Some material and memorabilia have been saved for museums or archives.
As early as Monday, Vanoc will start the orderly dismissal of up to 1,000 staff, who will hand in their tools and collect their final paycheques.
Some managers will stay on for a month or so, but only half a dozen are expected to still be employed as of June, when Vanoc has to give a formal debriefing in Sochi, Russia to the International Olympic Committee and the organizers of the 2014 Games.
Vanoc is also likely to declare a small surplus, said Dave Cobb, Vanoc's deputy chief executive officer. The organization likely will use most of a $22-million guarantee given to it by the International Olympic
Committee, he said.
"We have planned our project assuming we would be using the full amount from the IOC," he said. "We do expect to use certainly some of it, probably the majority of it, but that depends upon how things add up in the end."
Cobb said he expected there would be a small surplus left that would be put towards sport development in B.C. and Canada.
"We are very confident now we will be better," he said. "As we wrap things up we hope things will be a little bit more positive than we were expecting."
But he also said he doesn't think the IOC will be concerned about getting back any of its guarantee.
"The IOC is extremely pleased with how the Games went and I think if we used every dollar of that they would believe it was an excellent investment on their part."