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You've all heard the claim that we aren't really atheists, we are just mad at god. (Or you will see such things as "so and so claims to be an atheist.")
Today, though I saw an argument in chat with a theist, and someone else's account of an argument they had out in public, and I stopped to wonder if maybe we aren't sometimes encouraging this line of bullshit, albeit unwittingly.
What happened in both cases was the atheist began recounting all the sorts of horrible things Yahweh is portrayed as doing or believing or commanding. In one case, I saw the atheist say "why should I love god when he won't love me back?"
The problem with this sort of thing is we usually don't take care to phrase our remarks to make it clear that god is a character of fiction. When discussing the misdeeds of Yahweh we tend to fall back on a convention we use when we talk about a fictional character in a book. We refer to him by name and talk as if the guy was real and the book was not fiction, for example, "In George Orwell's 1984, Winston Smith was arrested for thoughtcrime," not, "In George Orwell's 1984, the character Winston Smith..."
We know what we mean, because we both know Winston Smith (or god) is fictitious. But they don't know god is fictitious.
Talking this way with someone who believes the fictional character is real might cause him not to understand you are just following the convention. Your phrasing sounds to him like you accept god as real, he "knows" god is real, so he assumes at some level you think god is real.
What I am suggesting here is that you ever want to bring up how nasty this being is, you make it clear that you don't think he exists, make sure you put "fictitious" (or equivalent) in every other sentence at least, and not let them think for a minute that you assume the existence of god.
Yes I know that when you just said you were an atheist this shouldn't be necessary, but obviously many of these people don't understand atheism in their guts, so don't let their paradigm default you into a "believer but mad at god" box.
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That's an interesting thought.
It contrasts strikingly with (but is not inconsistent with) with the mechanism behind Xians anger with us; i.e., the anger flowing in the other direction. It is been suggested that the Xian hostility towards atheists for "rejecting god" actually is much like the reaction they would have towards us rejecting them. In other words, when we say their hypothetical god is hypothetically an evil immoral murdering thug, they react as if we had accused them of such things. Darkmatter 2525 on youtube did a video on this, and while of course it is extremely hazardous to psychoanalyze an entire group of people, his thought is that since god is basically made up and invariably a reflection of the believer's (inventor's!) own personality, we basically really are rejecting them when we "reject" their god.
None of that contradicts your idea though, about our anger in the other direction, towards the more extreme of "god's" followers, and their mis-perception of its nature. But your statement reminded me of this and I thought I'd throw it out there.
Nicely said. I will definitely keep that in mind. I never gave that any thought.
I agree. I've often thought the very same thing myself, that we may be unwittingly encouraging this thought. I've tried to stay away from comments like that, and try to point out that there is nothing in the sky to be mad at as far as a deity goes. On the flip side of the coin, could these people simply be pandering to what the religious will listen to? I mean, if they won't accept that atheists do not believe in gods, maybe they'll at least accept that we reject them because we're mad at them? I don't agree with this at all, but maybe that's what is happening?
Asserting that one is 'mad at god', has a background assumption that, 'there is a God to be mad it still!' Accusing someone of being 'mad at God' allows them to continue in there belief in that existence and denigns the opinion of the other as having any validity or possibility of truth.
In short, such an assertion is for the theist, not for the atheist!
The atheist is just fine, thank you! When you tell a theist of your disbelief/non-belief, you are doing them a favor, to help them reflux their underlying assumptions, help them maintain their belief in the inharent corrupt nature of reality, and to find one more 'soul' that demands saving(but will frustrate them to no end). Atheists can be part of the preservation of theism, just by playing head games with them!
I was guilty of this once. Thankfully, I caught it and now I think of god as an object of sorts. :3
Normally I'm not "mad" at anyone; be that as it may, true-believers from any group who tout their evangelism piss me off very often.
The problem is that many are mad at God about some past event. There is evidence of that even on this site . So please dont try to hide or mask it by saying it in another way.
How can anyone be angry at a non-existent being? I'm not angry with Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny either --
Being "Mad" at a concept is a waste of energy and time; be that as it may, I am not pleased with the people who keep promoting invisible friends and beating us over the head with their book and cross, and simply want to be left alone and allowed to be myself. With that said, my born-again bride for the past 46-years does just that and after many of her co-religionists pissed me off with their "witnessing" she started telling them I was a non-believer and to leave me alone. Mutual respect is all it takes.
Sadly, I wish this true. After years of trying to figure it out, it seemed that culture was at falt, not the abstract term 'god'. Being mad at a pronoun seems to be a real streach.
We will not help you to continue the belief in the abstract object, that you use term 'god' to refer to. You can continue to believe if you wish. The universe is a very big place, it does not seem to have stopped you from believing so far. You can even continue to read commentaries, creationist ramblings, or watch your favorite evangelist on TV or tape. There are many good christian colleges, where your belief will never be challenged, and coming up for fresh air will never be necessary.
If it is any consolation, I do feel a twinge of spirtuality at times. Maybe my science training is slowly coming full circle. ;p).
Not angry because there is no god, no allah, no fairies, no santa, no elves, no goblins, no angels, but I detest the myriad of psychics, priests, archbishops, popes, evangelicals, and all the other parasties and charlatans taking advantage of gullible fearful people. There are new ever loving con men filling people with even more fear, every day, who sell your particular brand of god, whilst, of course, making lots of money.
This particular god, your god, tells an angel that we are being overtaken by aliens. Good story don't you think - should be made into a movie.
If you really believed in your god, and wanted to keep his 'good name', why aren't you out and about, exposing the many thousands of con men for jesus like Benny Hinn, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Rick Warren, Richard Cohen, Marshall Summers. There are hundreds if not thousands of these leeches.
Do even just a little bit of research, for a change, and instead of asking inane questions on this site, go forth and do good work in jesus name, and expose and spread the word about these con men.


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IVstudios wrote:Or, if you really want to work on one sheet of paper: scan one half, flip it over and scan the other and line up the two pieces in Photoshop. This can be tricky and you'll have to clean it up a bit to get rid of any lines or color inconsistencies, but isn't too difficult.
IVstudios wrote:I assume the reason you prefer the larger paper is because it's easier to paint big than small.
IVstudios wrote:Back in college we'd tape the edges of the paper to a board using a low tac tape. Less messy than glue, but it reduces your workable area a bit.
VeryCuddlyCornpone wrote:then place a book or other heavy object on top
RobboAKAscooby wrote:VeryCuddlyCornpone wrote:then place a book or other heavy object on top
Another reason every artist should have a nice big anatomy book
IVstudios wrote:There was also one person in the class who had this nifty pad of watercolor paper where each sheet was glued to the one below it. Sort of like a pad of sticky notes but on all the edges instead of just the top. Not sure where they got it but it was quite nice.
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There's a shakeup afoot on "The Voice" and it's coming with the help of Chris Martin. Coldplay's frontman will mentor the teams led by Shakira, Usher, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton as part of Battles: Round Two, a revised format on the hit NBC singing competition.
The Battles: Round Two will begin Monday, March 31 and pit the remaining artists (the winners and the stolen contestants) from each team against one another to perform a song. Both artists have to sing for their coach's approval to move forward to Playoffs. Each coach will have the chance to steal one more contestant.
MORE: "The Voice" battles begin
U.S. & World
NBC said Martin advised each of the performers on vocal techniques, stage presence and the importance of tailoring songs for their own strengths and personality.
Martin joins fellow "Voice" season six mentors Jill Scott, The Band Perry, Aloe Blacc and Miranda Lambert.
"The Voice" goes live on Monday, April 21 with the Top 12 contestants competing for viewer votes. The Instant Save also returns when the show goes live.
(E! and The Voice are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)


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Dogs May Elicit More Empathy Than Some People
Adult crime victims drew less sympathy than kids and puppies in study
SATURDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- People may feel more empathy for dogs than for some of their fellow humans, a new study finds.
When it comes to victims of violence, people may be less disturbed by the suffering of human adults, who are considered capable of taking care of themselves, the study suggests. Meanwhile, children, puppies and full-grown dogs are perceived as dependent and vulnerable.
The study involved 240 men and women. Most of the participants were white college students between 18 and 25 years old.
In conducting the research, Jack Levin, a distinguished professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University, and study co-author Arnold Arluke, a sociology professor at the school, randomly gave one of four fictional news stories to each participant.
The scenarios involved the beating of a 1-year-old baby, an adult in his 30s, a puppy or a 6-year-old dog. After reading the story, the participants rated how much empathy they had for the victim of the attack.
More empathy was shown for the child, the puppy and the adult dog than the adult human, the study revealed. Surprisingly, the participants had about the same amount of empathy for the child as they did for the puppy.
The study is scheduled for presentation Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in New York City.
"We were surprised by the interaction of age and species," Levin said in an association news release. "Age seems to trump species when it comes to eliciting empathy."
The authors noted the findings would likely be similar if the study had involved cats instead of dogs. As family pets, they said, dogs and cats often are assigned human characteristics.
Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has more about empathy.
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


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New therapies sought for triple-negative breast cancer
Have you heard of triple negative breast cancer? It lacks the three main hormone receptors including estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and the human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2).
Researchers have found that it's more common in younger women and in African-American women. It's also more commonly diagnosed in women who have BRCA positive breast cancer.
The approach to treating triple negative breast cancer is different because of the lack of the presence of hormone receptors. Hormonal therapies that are frequently given to treat hormone-receptor positive breast cancers, such as tamoxifen (which blocks the ER) and aromatase inhibitors (which reduces the production of estrogen), don't work for triple negative breast cancers.
Triple negative breast cancer is usually sensitive to chemotherapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy given prior to surgery) is recommended to shrink the tumor prior to surgery. Survival rates improve greatly if it responds well to chemotherapy prior to surgery.
For some women, triple negative cancer doesn't respond well to chemotherapy -- this is where the challenge comes in for oncologists. If a tumor continues to grow even with chemotherapy treatments, new strategies are needed.
It's frequently treated with combination chemotherapies (anthracyclines and taxanes are common) along with surgery. Surgical options include lumpectomy with radiation or mastectomy (some women may receive chest wall radiation after a mastectomy). If the cancer returns, taxanes may be used again or other drugs that have been shown to be effective.
Xeloda (capecitabine) and platinum containing chemotherapies such as cisplatin and carboplatin can be highly effective. This is especially true for breast cancer tumors that have a mutation (such as BRCA mutations).
The theory is that these particular tumors are defective in the way in which they repair damaged DNA. Platinum containing drugs are DNA-damaging drugs and therefore may work better for women with BRCA mutated cancers.
Newer therapies include Ixempra (ixabepilone) and Halaven (eribulin). They target the cancer cell's ability to grow and divide. Additional studies will continue to look at the best way to target and treat triple negative breast cancer.
Researchers know that there are still many challenges to treating it as each person may have unique genetic and molecular features. Oncologists and researchers are discovering that combining therapies to target a variety of growth pathways may be the best approach.
For more information on clinical trials that are offered for triple negative breast cancer, visit, www.cancer.gov or www.breastcancertrials.org.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/expert-blog/triple-negative-breast-cancer/bgp-20090306


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The ticking time bomb that has defined the intersection of print and digital publishing went off over the past few weeks. It's not the fault of any executive, technology or business model. It's simply the beginning of a new cycle of magazine content and delivery. It you love magazines, it's all about discovery and great […]
The ticking time bomb that has defined the intersection of print and digital publishing went off over the past few weeks. It's not the fault of any executive, technology or business model. It's simply the beginning of a new cycle of magazine content and delivery. It you love magazines, it's all about discovery and great value right now. If you don't like magazines, this explosion increases the chances that you just might change your mind.
Think about this: We're coming off a week in which one of the world's biggest publishing companies (Time Inc.) tried to sell its library to another of the world's biggest publishing companies (Meredith). The deal fell apart. And in the same week, another global giant (News Corp) announced that its newly spun-off publishing division will get a $2.5 billion cash infusion, some of which will spawn a new WSJ.Money print magazine, and some of which will go to digital newspaper publishing.
This mass change, growth, and implosion is the reality for publishers over the next few years. It's print vs. digital, and a game of survival of the fittest. Behind the scenes, some publishing executives are clinging to the vision that print will still be the best business magazine model for the right content and the right audience. And then others are seeing the dramatic changes with the long-term view that digital models will win out. This is happening faster than most people think.
Also on Appolicious
Go beyond the parades and legends, and you will find a world of new content about Ireland on Zinio. Check out a more authentic Ireland in this Guest Post.
In the middle is one constant truth: Magazines want subscribers. And, the most profitable subscribers are those found on digital platforms. That's why consumers have seen an uptick in aggressive ads for apps that represent a magazine, or an entire publishing company. It's also why they have seen more aggressive efforts from iTunes, Google and even Zinio.
So how does this turn into a survival guide for the magazine lover? It's a great time to be a magazine consumer. And believe it or not, it's a great time to be a publisher.
Tip #1: You can find more: Essentially whatever interests you now has a digital magazine to go with it. Global barriers are gone. Auto fans can now find more than 500 magazines to fill their interest. Wedding fans can find over 150 choices digitally. All can be read on any device at hand.
Tip #2: Now reading can happen anywhere: Android, Blackberry, iPhone or PC. What device you have no longer matters. What does matter is, when you are in the middle of a conversation and want to show the person you are speaking to a visual example of what you need, you have a magazine's newsstand right at your fingertips.
Tip #3: The savvy shopper gets the deal. While the digital magazine marketplace explodes, many publishers are making it even more attractive to try digital content by dropping prices. For example: Zinio recently launched our Spring Cleaning program, which gives consumers up to 50% off on a slew of design, decorating and gardening titles. You will see more of these kinds of deals available throughout the year, changing with the seasons.
Tip #4: New world meets old world. Magazines, even in digital formats, offer something long forgotten by the web: long form editorial. And now, digital magazine publishers can marry that with Twitter feeds and other social networks, right inside the pages of a magazine. It's pretty amazing.
Tip #5: Publishers are not sitting still for this. And this makes consumers happy.If you're a publisher, it is a time of transition and on the other side of transition is opportunity. Sometimes we get caught up in the cool technology that allows content exploration, international editions and even the entire process that makes magazines accessible anywhere anytime. And lately we're caught up in this print vs. digital debate. But when you look at the basics of what publishing companies are doing, it's all about making content accessible. There's an urgency to that process now because consumers are in flux. The business is in flux. Consumers are watching new subscription deals and new membership models come at them with speed and volume.
This time is fantastic for magazine consumers, publishers and even skeptics. At Zinio we are thrilled to be a vital part of it, but the most important thing is that we are making content available to the consumer as they want it, when they want it. Because after all it's all about you, and you, the customer, are always right. Share your favorite digital magazine survival tips.


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Section 9.1, "Transaction Types" introduced optimistic
transactions. In order to prevent one optimistic transaction from
blindly overwriting the changes made by a concurrent transaction,
JDOR versions your objects. The
version element
dictates what form this versioning takes.
version element appears just after the
inheritance element in a mapping document. Only
the least-derived mapped classes in an inheritance hierarchy use the
version element. The element has the following
strategy: The version strategy. We review
the standard JDO strategies in the following sections.
Vendors may define additional non-standard strategies.
Kodo does not define any non-standard version strategies, but does allow you to plug in custom strategies of your own. The Reference Guide's Section 7.10, "Custom Mappings" documents version customization in detail.
Kodo also allows you to define multiple lock groups for fine-grained control over optimistic versioning. See Section 5.8, "Lock Groups" in the Reference Guide for more information on lock groups.
column: The column that holds the
version value. Not all version strategies require a column.
As with other elements, the
column attribute
can be replaced with a nested
column element.
As its name implies, the
none version strategy
performs no versioning at all. Using concurrent optimistic
transactions under this strategy is dangerous.
version-number strategy stores a
monotonically increasing version number in the column indicated by
column attribute/element. When a dirty
object's database record is being updated, the JDOR implementation
checks its in-memory version number against the database version
number. If the database version is higher, the implementation
knows that another transaction has modified the object since the
PersistenceManager last read its
state, and it aborts the transaction to preserve data integrity.
If the version number is the same, on the other hand, the
implementation increments the number and proceeds with the flush.
version-number strategy is the fastest,
most efficient, and most accurate version strategy. Its only
drawback is that it requires a dedicated database column. If you
are mapping to legacy tables you might not be able to use it.
date-time strategy is exactly like the
version-number strategy, but it timestamps
each update rather than storing an increasing integer. This
strategy is mainly present to support existing tables that use
time-based versioning. We do not recommend it for new schemas,
since it is theoretically possible for two updates to happen so
close together that they have the same timestamp.
version-number strategy is a
better choice. In addition to being slightly more efficient,
it does not suffer from these sorts of timing failures.
state-comparison version strategy does not
require a database column. It works by comparing the last-read
values of your object with the database on flush. If any values
in the database don't match the recorded last-read value, then
some other transaction must have concurrently modified the data,
and the flush is aborted.
Unfortunately, the
state-image strategy is much
more memory-hungry than other strategies, because the JDOR runtime
has to store the last-read values of all modified fields. It also
results in more complex
UPDATE SQL statements as
the JDOR implementation verifies that no column has been changed by
a concurrent transaction. Finally, it suffers from the following
Only simple, exact field values can be used in state
comparisons. If a commit only changes a
float or
field, subsequent commits will not detect any difference
in the object's version, because these fields are not
compared. Thus it is possible for one transaction to
unknowingly overwrite another.
If two concurrent transactions make changes to fields that
reside in a disjoint set of tables, the second transaction
may overwrite the first. For example, if one transaction
modifies a
instance by only changing fields mapped to
CNTRCT.SUB, and a concurrent transaction modifies
the same instance but only changes fields mapped to
CNTRCT.TRIAL_SUB, one transaction might
overwrite the other.
Due to these shortcomings, we only recommend using the
state-comparison strategy when performing optimistic
transactions on legacy tables without a version column.
Here is our model with version columns added:
And here is our updated mapping data. We made sure that all
version strategies are represented for illustrative purposes. Note
that as an unmapped
subclass-table type,
Contract does not declare a version. Its
direct subclasses
Subscription and
LineItem, however, each define version
TrialSubscription does not declare
an additional version on its
table, because it joins down to its superclass table. We have
also continued to consolidate our mappings; this document leaves out
default inheritance and discriminator mappings.
Example 15.10. Version Mapping
<?xml version="1.0"?> <orm> <package name="org.mag"> <sequence name="ArticleSeq" datastore-sequence="ART_SEQ"/> <class name="Magazine" table="MAG"> <version column="VERS" strategy="version-number"/> <field name="isbn"> <column name="ISBN" jdbc-type="char" length="15"/> </field> <field name="title" column="TITLE"/> ... </class> <class name="Article" table="ART"> <version column="UPD" strategy="date-time"/> <field name="id" column="ID"/> ... </class> </package> <package name="org.mag.pub"> <sequence name="AuthorSeq" factory-class="Author$SequenceFactory"/> <class name="Company" table="COMP"> <datastore-identity column="CID" strategy="autoassign"/> <version strategy="none"/> ... </class> <class name="Author" table="AUTH"> <datastore-identity sequence="AuthorSeq"> <column name="AID" sql-type="INTEGER64"/> </datastore-identity> <inheritance> <discriminator column="CLS" strategy="class-name"/> </inheritance> <version strategy="state-comparison"/> ... </class> </package> <package name="org.mag.subscribe"> <sequence name="ContractSeq" strategy="transactional"/> <class name="Contract"> <inheritance strategy="subclass-table"/> ... </class> <class name="Subscription" table="CNTRCT.SUB"> <inheritance> <discriminator value="1"> <column name="TYPE" jdbc-type="tinyint"/> </discriminator> </inheritance> <version column="VERS" strategy="version-number"/> <field name="Contract.id" column="ID"/> ... </class> <class name="LifetimeSubscription"> <inheritance> <discriminator value="2"/> </inheritance> ... </class> <class name="TrialSubscription" table="CNTRCT.TRIAL_SUB"> <inheritance strategy="new-table"> <join column="ID"/> <discriminator value="3"/> </inheritance> ... </class> <class name="Subscription$LineItem" table="CNTRCT.LINE_ITEM"> <version column="VERS" strategy="version-number"/> <field name="Contract.id" column="ID"/> ... </class> </package> </orm>


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Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White told lawmakers Tuesday that the agency was "focused" on completing a fiduciary duty rule proposal and that "it's important for me to get to wherever we are going on that [rulemaking] as quickly as we can."
Since the July 5 close of the comment period on the costs and benefits of a fiduciary rulemaking, White (left) told members of the Senate Banking Committee that she has met with senior officials at the Department of Labor regarding collaboration on both agencies' fiduciary rules and has directed staff "to engage more" with DOL "to make sure they understand [the SEC's] perspective" on its fiduciary rulemaking, particularly the impact of the DOL's fiduciary rule proposal on broker-dealers.
However, White stressed at the hearing, titled, "Mitigating Systemic Risk in Financial Markets through Wall Street Reforms," that while the agencies are collaborating, they will proceed independently.
Related story: SEC fiduciary rule unlikely in Dodd-Frank's third year
The DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration's Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, released July 3, states that a reproposal to amend the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act will come in October.
While White said that the SEC is focused on the fiduciary rulemaking–which is not a mandatory rulemaking under Dodd-Frank–she noted the "full plate" of Dodd-Frank and the JOBS Act mandated rules that the agency must wade through and act on.
To ensure completion of both Dodd-Frank and JOBS Act rulemakings, White said that she has created "parallel" teams at the agency to focus on rulemakings under each law. White said that the sheer volume of Dodd-Frank rulemakings as well as the fact that some are more complex than others and need to be worked on jointly with other agencies has delayed action on some. However, she said the agency "is making progress" on various "front burner" issues like derivatives, the Volcker rule, crowdfunding and money market funds.
Action on fiduciary rulemaking, however, could be stymied by the arrival of the two new SEC Commissioners–Kara Stein and Michael Piwowar–who were confirmed by the Senate Banking Committee on July 18. Industry officials say full Senate confirmation of Stein and Piwowar could come this week, before Congress breaks for its August recess.
White noted that the two new SEC Commissioners could hinder completion of the agency's rules on money market funds, which she said could likely be released in a "month or two."
The SEC on June 5 proposed two alternative reforms to money-market funds. First, to require that all institutional prime money-market funds operate with a floating net asset value (NAV). Second, to employ a "fees-and-gates" approach in which a nongovernment money fund imposes a 2 percent liquidity fee if the fund's weekly liquid assets fall below 15 percent of its total assets.
White said at the time that the two reforms could be adopted separately or combined into a single reform package. "The two alternative approaches in today's proposal target the common goal of reducing the incentive to redeem in times of stress, albeit in different ways," she said.
As to the SEC's equity crowdfunding rules, White said that the agency is working to ensure that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's rules governing crowdfunding portals are released simultaneously with the SEC's equity crowdfunding rules.
See also:


text:
*Tap Tap* Is this thing still on?
I've been very busy lately between holidays, preparing for classes, and recovering from the plague. I've barely had time to play, let alone write blog posts. In fact, I really don't have time to write this blog post, but it felt important enough that I made some time. But only enough for a quickie.
By now you've probably heard about today's hotfixes, specifically the three affecting us the most:
Secondary Stats
- The Haste stat is now 11.1% more effective. For example, characters at level 100 now receive a 1% increase per 90 Haste (up from 1% per 100 Haste).
- Sacred Duty now causes the Paladin to gain 30% (up from 5%) more of the Haste stat from all sources.
- Glyph of the Alabaster Shield now increases Shield of the Righteous' damage by 3% (down from 10%) per stack.
The third change there is just a DPS nerf, which is probably warranted simply because Alabaster Shield was far and away the best DPS glyph we could use while tanking (Harsh Words is an even larger gain, but not really advisable while tanking anything relevant). Not much point discussing that change further.
The first two are big though. If you've been following this blog, you'll recall what I said in November about why haste was underperforming:
I think the biggest reason haste is weak this expansion is entirely unrelated to class mechanics. It's actually fairly simple: the rating conversion got nerfed, hard.
A simpler fix would be to modify that rating conversion for prot paladins, either directly in the game data or (more likely) indirectly by increasing the rating boost granted by Sacred Duty. If Sacred Duty suddenly increased haste from gear by 30% rather than 5%, haste would be back in business.
In later tests on Maintankadin (with a significant amount of assistance from Ashaton), we determined that even 30% wouldn't quite be enough on its own. Sacred Duty would need to be around 40% to push haste ahead of mastery under all circumstances.
It seems like Blizzard agreed. Haste must have been underperforming for a lot of classes to warrant an 11.1% buff to the rating conversion. Combining that with a 30% Sacred Duty is effectively the same as a 44.44% Sacred Duty, more than enough to push haste up to be our most preferred stat. So our attunement finally matches the stat we want.
How to Homebrew A Sim
To illustrate that, I ran some sims for the six currently-viable talent combinations – any combination of Seraphim or Holy Shield with any of the level 75 talents. The first sim here is pre-hotfix. In the second sim, I applied a spell data override to artificially buff Sacred Duty to 44%. In case you'd like to know how to do this yourself, here's a quick tutorial. First, here's the spell_query entry for Sacred Duty:
This tells us that the 5% bonus to haste is stored in effect #1, which is effect id 233413. If we want to change that to 44%, we can override the base value using the code:
This can be placed anywhere in the simc file or the text of the Simulate window.
Here are the two reports:
Pre-Hotfix (Sacred Duty at 5%)
Post-Hotfix (Sacred Duty at 44%)
And here are the scale factors generated from each sim:
As you can see, haste performs much better post-hotfix than before, at least according to scale factors. That said, scale factors are notoriously unreliable because they rely on the assumption of local linearity, which isn't often obeyed. For example, we've seen before that haste's value can be all over the place with Seraphim because of odd breakpoint interactions. It's far more reliable to look at scaling plots, which is why both of those sims contain said plots. Let's look at those.
(As an aside, I have plans to implement a more robust scale factor algorithm in SimC some time soon-ish, but that takes time, which it's clear by now I don't have!)
From experience, we know that haste performs better in HS_DP than in HS_SW. In fact, HS_SW is generally the absolute worst case for haste, so let's look at that first. Here's what the scaling plot looks like for HS_SW before the hotfixes:
To read this plot, you have to understand what the sim is doing. It's running a bunch of simulations with +X of each stat and plotting the result. Thus, the line for bonus armor represents the result of a bunch of sims with -500, -450, -400, …, +400, +450, +500 bonus armor artificially applied. It plots the results of those sims as a continuous line. Since adding bonus armor reduces your TMI (making you more survivable), this line has a negative slope – in other words, it goes down from left to right. The steeper that slope, the better the stat is at reducing TMI and thus the better it is at helping you survive.
So in summary, the closer to horizontal the line is, the worse the stat is; conversely, the steeper the line is, the better the stat is.
It's clear here that bonus armor has the steepest slope, which is why it generates really large (negative) scale factors. That's why we covet bonus armor items so much. The yellow line for mastery is the next-steepest, and as we know by now mastery is our dominant stat when we're using Holy Shield. The rest of the stats have slightly shallower slopes, and the absolute worst of them here is haste.
This is how we know haste is the worst, even if the scale factor calculations occasionally suggest otherwise. Local fluctuations can cause an anomalously high scale factor when you're only looking at ranges of +/-175 stats, but if you generate a plot like this you'll see the long-term behavior of each stat very clearly. Generally speaking, that long-term behavior is what you care about, because a variety of factors (variable latency, player reaction time, player error, having to break rotation to do other things, time off target, etc.) tend to smooth out the local fluctuations you see in simulations.
Now let's look at that plot from the post-hotfix sim:
We actually see a local fluctuation in the haste curve immediately to the left of zero, which would lead you to believe that haste is still bad. But if you look at the whole plot, you can easily infer that's not the case. Above zero, the slope of the plot is much steeper, second only to the bonus armor line. And if you keep looking farther in the negative, you see that the haste line gets steeper again. If we continued this plot for more negative values, we'd see the haste line catch back up to (and overtake) mastery.
And remember, this is the worst-case scenario for haste. HS+SW generates the weakest haste values. If we instead consider something like HS+HA:
The haste line is very clearly the second-steepest here, putting it solidly ahead of the other secondary stats (except bonus armor, of course).
The Seraphim plots are a little weirder thanks to a few factors. For example, if we look at Seraphim+HA, we get this plot:
It looks like haste is great on one half of the plot and terrible on the other. On the other hand, if we look at Seraphim+DP, we get a different story:
Haste is pretty clearly ahead of the pack here. Again, I think this long-term behavior is what we care about with Seraphim simply because it fluctuates so much based on somewhat questionable breakpoints (i.e. how many GCDs or ticks of X or whatever else happens during the fixed 15-second Seraphim buff).
Stat Priority
In any event, this change pretty clearly accomplishes what it set out to do. Haste is going to jump from last-place into first-place amongst the non-bonus-armor secondary stats. For pretty much every talent selection, you'll want to prioritize haste. What you go for after that will depend on your talents – with Holy Shield, you may favor mastery, with Seraphim you may favor critical strike. Though a haste/mastery focus won't serve you poorly for any talent combination, so if you want to be able to swap back and forth between talents freely that may be the most versatile strategy.
DPS values may be worth considering as well. To give you some idea of how that works out, here are the DPS scale factors for HS+DP (the most popular spec) and Sera+HA (arguably the most common spec for mythic progression):
As you can see, this change also vaults haste to the front of our DPS priority.
So my summary of stat valuation here is
Bonus Armor > Haste (to 50%) > Crit (Seraphim) >= Mastery > Crit = Vers > Multistrike > Haste (above 50%)
That "to 50%" is important now that we're getting so much haste from Sacred Duty, so it's worth considering that 50% haste cap in more detail.
The 50% Haste Cap
Because the GCD is capped at 1.00 seconds, there's a limit to how much haste is useful. After we reach 50% haste, it stops reducing the GCD of abilities affected by Sanctity of Battle, though the cooldowns of those abilities are still reduced. However, the majority of haste's value comes from that GCD reduction. This means we only want enough haste to get us up to 50%, because anything after that is better off as a different stat.
There are two raid buffs that increase our haste multiplicatively. The first is the 5% haste raid buff, and the second is Heroism/Bloodlust, which gives 30%. To figure out how much haste we want, we need to account for both Sacred Duty and those buffs.
If we have X haste rating on our gear, it will turn into 1.30*X haste rating on the character sheet. So for example, 1000 haste rating from gear (or from Seraphim) will show up as 1300 rating on the character sheet. We'd divide that by 90 to figure out how much percentage that gives us – in the case of Seraphim, it's 1300/90, or 14.44% haste.
To figure out how much haste we have after raid buffs, we'd have to convert that to 1.1444 and multiply by the value of the raid buff, which is 1.05. So if we started with no haste on gear and just Seraphim active, we'd end up with 1.1444*1.05=1.2017, or 20.17% haste. If someone popped Bloodlust, it would take us to 1.1444*1.05*1.3=1.5621, or 56.21% haste, well over our cap.
For us, it's more useful to work backward from 50% overall haste to figure out what rating we want to stop at. Since the bonus from Sacred Duty is included in the character-sheet values, I've given both "raw" and "character sheet" rating values on the table below.
|Character Sheet
|No Buffs
|Raid Buff (5%)
|Emp. Seals (15%)
|Heroism Only (30%)
|Hero+RB (36.5%)
|Hero+ES (49.5%)
|Hero+RB+ES (57.0%)
Note that the Seraphim values on the table are just 975/750 less than the associated buff value. For example, if it takes 3858 character sheet haste rating to hit 50% with just the Raid Buff active, it takes 975 less (or 2883) to hit it while Seraphim is also up. So if you want to hit 50% during Seraphim in that case, you'd stack 2883 and be below the cap the rest of the time.
The raid buff is active in these sims, so we really only need 3858 haste rating on the character sheet to hit the cap. The profile only has 688 character-sheet haste, so we're well below that. Even with Seraphim active, we have plenty of headroom for more haste. However, we'll always be over the cap during Heroism, with or without Seraphim active.
What this table really tells us is that we should stop stacking haste when we hit 3858 character-sheet haste rating, or about 42.87%. That's a pretty steep target, so it's not clear we'll be able to reach it even in Tier 18. We'll have to see how much ilvl inflation takes place from T17 to T18 and beyond to see for sure.
This does, however, mean that you'd be well over the cap during Seraphim or Heroism. Note that TMI is fairly insensitive to that – your worst spikes tend to come when you don't have either of those active, so it's going to value haste highly if it's helping you stay alive outside of those buffs. I think this is the more useful valuation of survival, though, because you don't plan around the periods of the fight that can't kill you.
That said, if it offends your sensibility to be "wasting" (and I use that term very loosely here) haste rating during Seraphim, the table tells you what targets to aim for. Between 2883 and 3858 rating, you'll be "wasting" some of the haste rating granted by Seraphim, so you could stop at 2883 and start focusing on other stats.
Again, I don't think we'll get there any time soon, but worth throwing out there, primarily for those that are considering ways to push their DPS higher. If you're going over the cap during Seraphim, then that haste is wasted from the perspective of doing more damage.
Note, however, that the DPS scale factors provided earlier in this post automatically include the reduction inherent from heroism. In other words, haste is still our best DPS stat despite the fact that it provides almost zero extra DPS during heroism in this gear set.
TLDR Summary
1) Even a "quickie" Theck blog post is 2300 words.
2) Haste rules the roost. Stack it up to 50%, being aware of the haste-cap limits provided in the table earlier in the thread.
Happy hasting!


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If you think the sun might be setting a microsecond or two earlier tonight, it's not your imagination. Rather, it would be your supernaturally honed senses. CNN reports that the magnitude-8.8 earthquake that struck Chile last week may have affected the length of the Earth's days. According to preliminary calculations, each day may be 1.26 microseconds shorter.
But don't set your clocks back just yet. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second and not perceivable to the human senses. The discovery is the work of Richard Gross, a geophysicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Goss used a computer model to determine how the massive Feb. 27 Chilean earthquake may have affected the Earth. Apparently, the tectonic event shifted the Earth's axis, or the way it is balanced. Via NASA, Gross revealed that the earthquake should have moved Earth's figure axis by 2.7 milliarcseconds. This is just about 8 centimeters, or 3 inches.
Scientists liken this event to the moves of a figure skater. When a figure skater pulls in her arms, she spins more quickly. The axis shift has redistributed the planet's mass — therefore, it is spinning more quickly, albeit at a non-perceptible rate.
This is not the first the time Earth has shifted as the result of a major global event. The length of a day last changed in 2004, when the magnitude-9.1 Sumatran quake shortened it by 6.8 microseconds. Benjamin Fong Chao of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., explained the process in 2005. As he told CNN, "Any worldly event that involves the movement of mass affects the Earth's rotation."
Last week's Chilean earthquake shortened the Earth's spin, even though it was not as powerful as the 2004 Indian Ocean quake. Experts report that the Chilean quake was located in Earth's mid-latitudes, which makes it more effective in shifting Earth's axis. This fault also dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the Sumatra event.
Will this new time change stick? Gross says that data on the Chilean quake is still being refined, so his calculations may change.


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Weekend Confirmed Episode 27
Weekend Confirmed Ep. 27 - 09/24/2010
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Weekend Confirmed comes in four segments to make it easy to listen to in segments or all at once. Here's the timing for this week's episode:
Whatcha' Been Playin: Start: 00:00:00 End: 00:34:27
Whatcha' Been Playin and Cannata-ford a New Game: Start: 00:35:53 End: 01:04:20
The Warning: Start: 01:05:30 End: 01:45:06
Music Break featuring Ongaku's "Good Times" Start: 01:45:06 End: 01:47:30
The Front Page: Start: 01:47:30 End: 02:23:31
Music Break this week features Ongaku ("music" in Japanese) from Lisbon, Portugal, with the track "Good Times". Influenced by Yellow Magic Orchestra, disco, heavy funk, and synths, he's currently focused on making some tracks and finishing a degree in animation. For more check out Ongaku on MySpace or Soundcloud.
Original music in the show by Del Rio. Get his latest single, Small Town Hero on iTunes and check out more at his Facebook page.
Jeff can also be seen on The Totally Rad Show. New episodes come out weekly on Tuesday.
Our Official Facebook Weekend Confirmed Page is coming along now so add us to your Facebook routine. We'll be keeping you up with the latest on the show there as well.
Glad to have you all back together!
This work day is gonna fly by quicker.
Civ V is really great. For me, it just feels so different than Civ IV because the flow of expanding and such is so different. The combat is MUCH improved. I will definitely be spending many hours on this.
Is it just me or is Gran Turismo 5 the only major PS3 exclusive coming out this Holiday now that LBP2 is early 2011......
Now time to listen to the Show.
I think it is. Honestly, Im not really sure if this year was the strongest for PS3 Exclusives. GoW 3 was great and all, but Its the only one I can think of off the top of my head that was really universaly great. Heavy Rain got middling reviews, Mod Nation was decent, LBP 2 is next year, and I dont think I can really think fo anything else. While 360 had Halo Reach, Alan Wake, Mass Effect 2 (still 360 console exclusive for this year), and I think thats it. Yeah, both consoles didnt have massive Exclusive year this year,but thats because most of the great games this year were multiplatform.


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It's the story of her life
Marriage almost destroyed Elizabeth Gilbert. The American author had a nervous breakdown and was suicidal after divorcing her first husband.
Still in her early 30s and terrified of committing to another relationship, she decided at the time to pursue that great middle-class antidote to torment: overseas travel.
After eating herself silly in Italy, searching for enlightenment in India and finding romance in Bali, she wrote her hugely successful 2006 memoir Eat Pray Love.
Written with raw honesty and tender humour - and later adapted to film starring Julia Roberts as Gilbert - Eat Pray Love struck a chord with women disillusioned by the expectations of marriage and motherhood. It earned Gilbert a near cult following of 10 million (predominantly female) readers and made her wealthy and famous.
Gilbert, who had never wanted children of her own, ended up marrying the older ''Brazilian guy'' she fell in love with in Bali, but this came about through unexpected circumstances.
Jose Nunes (called Felipe in Eat Pray Love) was just as keen as Gilbert to avoid marriage after divorcing his Australian wife of 20 years. However, while trying to enter the US with Gilbert on a multiple visa, Jose, an Australian citizen, was detained by homeland security officers. They advised him to marry Gilbert if he wanted to join her in the US.
Gilbert wrote about this in Committed, her 2010 sequel to Eat Pray Love that begins with a historical exploration of marriage and ends with their wedding in the US in 2007 after Nunes got a valid visa in Sydney.
Today Gilbert, 43, is enjoying the fruits of her adventures, living with Nunes, 60, in Frenchtown, a small community on the Delaware River in New Jersey where they run a Balinese imports store.
Her second marriage, she says, ''is quite lovely''. The day after their wedding she woke up feeling as if they had just been before a firing squad but, after finding there were no bullet holes, thought, ''This is fine.''
She went into her first marriage without thinking, she says, and paid a great price. ''So I almost over-thought the second, to the point I may have obsessed over it,'' she says, laughing. ''But I find, oh, it's really quite a nice thing to do as a full-grown adult when you have established your identity … Your agenda is nothing more than that you would like nice companionship with somebody … and you know how not be a terrible pain in the ass to someone.''
Neither has given up travel and their first destination in 2013 is Australia, where Nunes has two grown-up children and one grandchild in Sydney and Canberra. It will be their fourth visit here in the past eight years and Gilbert will talk at literary events at the Australian National University on January 10 and at the Opera House on January 19.
But the Australian connection runs deeper. The idea for Gilbert's latest book, a novel called The Signature of all Things, to be published next year, came from a 1784 illustrated edition of Captain James Cook's voyages called Cook's Journeys, which belonged to Gilbert's great grandfather.
Cook has more significance for Australia than the US, she says, but she considers the book a stunning talismanic object.
''After a while, you get an instinct, like a water diviner,'' she says of her writing. ''When that book was put in my hands, it sent a shiver up my arm. I didn't know what that meant at the time but I knew I would be remiss not to investigate what it meant.''
Gilbert's novel is about a 19th-century family whose livelihood comes from the botanical commerce trade. It follows two generations of the Whittakers as they make their way in the world during the intersection of science, botany, trade and the beginnings of the debate about evolution. The main character's father was a botanical assistant on Cook's final voyage to Hawaii, where Cook was bludgeoned to death.
Gilbert grew up in a world of books. Raised on a farm in Connecticut by ''back-to-the-land'' parents, she and her older sister, Catherine, now an acclaimed young-adult novelist, amused themselves by reading, inventing stories and staging plays.
When she tired of children's stories at age 13, Gilbert asked her father if she could read one of his books. He handed her Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. ''It was an epic moment in my life,'' she says.
Gilbert spent years as a magazine journalist before her first book, Pilgrims, a short story collection, came out in 1997. Her second, Stern Men, published in 2000, was a novel. For the next 12 years she wrote non-fiction, continuing her examination of manhood in The Last American Man, her 2002 warts-and-all biography of an unconventional character called Eustace Conway.
Gilbert says it's no accident she has returned to writing fiction. After Committed, she felt she did not want to write memoir again.
''Some day I may return to it,'' she says, ''but for the moment I am very happy writing about lives that aren't mine.''
■ Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert is published by Bloomsbury.
■ Elizabeth Gilbert will be in Australia this January talking about life after Eat Pray Love at two exclusive events. On Thursday, January 10, 6pm, at the National Library of Australia Theatre for an ANU/NLA Canberra Times literary event, in conversation with Gia Metherell. $10. Bookings: 6262 1271 or nla.gov.au/bookings. At the Sydney Opera House, in conversation with Caroline Baum, on Saturday, January 19, 6pm. Bookings: (02) 9250 7777


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National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS)
From 1976 to 2014, NIDA supported the Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG), a network of local drug abuse experts who reported semiannually on drug trends and emerging issues in sentinel sites including major metropolitan areas and some states around the United States. The CEWG is no longer active but CEWG reports are available on this site. The final CEWG reports are from June, 2014. In August, 2014, the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) was established. NDEWS will continue to monitor drug trends in many of the same sentinel sites as the CEWG using many of the national and local data sources that have been utilized by the CEWG however NDEWS will also report on drug trends across the U.S. as new issues emerge. NDEWS Sentinel Site profiles describing drug abuse trends and emerging issues will be available starting in the summer of 2015. For questions, please contact Dr. Marsha Lopez. To contact NDEWS: Erin Artigiani
Reports and Publications:
- Meeting Reports (Archives)
- Assessing Drug Abuse Within and Across Communities - A Guide for Developing Epidemiology Workgroups
- CEWG Region Report: Drug Abuse in Baltimore MD and Washington D.C., June 2013 2:17 1 of
- NIDA TV Spotlight: Heroin in the Twin Cities 1:09 2 of
- CEWG Region Report: Drug Abuse in Philadelphia, June 2013 2:09 3 of
- CEWG Region Report: Drug Abuse in Detroit, Wayne County, and Michigan, June 2013 2:48 4 of
- NIDA TV Spotlight on the Iraqi Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) 3:43 5 of
- Emerging Trends: "Syrup," "Purple Drank,""Sizzurp," "Lean" 1:46 6 of
- NIDA TV Spotlight on Carol Boyd: Prescription Drug Abuse in Youth 2:54 7 of


text:
April 23, 2009
In the middle of January Grundfos' factory in Fresno, California began using 68,641 sq foot of solar panels to supply a large part of the electricity used at the factory. In three months this implementation has generated 563,000 kWh and spared the environment 299 tons of CO2.
This corresponds to taking 60 cars off the roads for an entire year or planting 84 acres of trees.
Before the end of June the plant is expected to generate more than 1 million kWh, which will save the atmosphere an additional 227 tons of CO2.
In this way we have used a hitherto vacant area to reduce our effects on the environment and our expenses on electricity. At the same time we have helped to promote an innovative business model where Suncorp Corporation has delivered the solar panels in co-operation with a finance corporation.


text:
Everyone who cares about how they attending knows that the key to acceptable looks is demography affliction of your skin. Application the appropriate cleanser, moisturizers, exfoliates and added derma affliction articles for their derma blazon and situations are the accoutrement for able derma care. Over the years, humans accept acclimated whatever was on the shelf at the abundance to amuse their needs, but abounding of those articles are abounding of chemicals that could in actuality wind up damaging your skin. That's why switching over to accustomed adorableness articles can advice you yield even bigger affliction of your skin.
Traditional adorableness affliction articles accept been a aggregate of chemicals and preservatives that took a arrangement of approaches to derma care. These chemicals acclimated to be activated on animals for toxicity, capability and a advanced arrangement of added affidavit until the ASPCA and added beastly rights groups created about a common animation adjoin the practice. A affairs point for abounding of these companies is to accept "this artefact not activated on animals" on their labels. But this begs the question, if it's too alarming to analysis on animals, what are we accomplishing application it as adorableness care?
Fortunately for us, a lot of companies accept taken this to affection and accept developed accustomed adorableness food with a abundant saner, safer approach. The best allotment of this access is the actuality that these articles don't accept the chemicals and preservatives that acceptable articles do. That's because they are fabricated from all accustomed sources and they do the aforementioned jobs their counterparts do. Not alone are humans acumen that these accustomed articles to the job as the others, but aswell can do it better. And clashing acceptable products, abounding humans see aberration in their derma searching and activity bigger and healthier. It doesn't amount if you're talking about powders and blushes, cleansers, exfoliates, scrubs and masks or even astringents and sun block, accustomed articles do aggregate safer and abounding times, with bigger results.
Thanks to companies who advance accustomed bloom products, you don't accept to accident your derma by application actinic based articles any longer. Accustomed adorableness food gives you the aforementioned arrangement of accoutrement to yield optimum affliction of your derma after accepting to be anxious about any accident that chemicals can cause. When it comes to abundant derma care, yield a attending at all the accustomed derma affliction articles and you'll be afraid at just how abundant bigger your derma looks and feels.
Natural adorableness articles are acceptable added and added accepted and boilerplate as added humans acquisition they are generally added affable on their skin. Andi Beark believes in demography affliction of herself and loves application accustomed facial affliction articles everyday.


text: On Android OS system, default apps keep working automatically in the background in favor of OS stability and better system performance. Such apps are displayed in the process list even after the user ends apps with the Task Killer.1. Task Killer will end an application.2. Services necessary for phone operation are run automatically in the background and displayed on the list, although the applications are not run (i.e. applications that need keep running).3. When you run any functions on the phone, the service internally called will in turn call relevant process, which will be displayed on the list (i.e. applications called along for fast driving and safe program running).4. A particular operation will automatically call relevant processes, which are showed on the list. The processes vary depending on applications. Some apps needed for background tasks will be displayed on the list even when they are ended.When you set the Task Killer to Auto Kill the entire items, functions necessary for daily use (e.g. Kakao Talk) will be forcefully ended, causing trouble.


text:
I know my limits. I don't always obey them, but I know them.
I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong.
Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
Walter Bagehot
Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.
William Charles Dement
The best things in life are free. The rest are too expensive.
Life is like a very long TV show, without a remote control.
All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them.
Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got.
Art Buchwald
The most fun things in life are either immoral, illegal or they make you fat.
I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.
That's the secret to life... replace one worry with another....
I live my life one weekend at time, for those two days nothing else matters, I am FREE.
You come into the world with nothing, and the purpose of your life is to make something out of nothing.
Henry Louis Mencken
In life, we must find happiness. I've been looking everywhere and still haven't found it.
The hardest thing to find in life is happiness - money is only hard to find because it gets wasted trying to find happiness.
I don't need a psychiatrist to prod into my personal life and make me tell them all my secrets, I have my friends for that.
The most important thing in life is not knowing everything, it's having the phone number of somebody who does!
I think I've discovered the secret of life, you just hang around until you get used to it.
Stupidity is far more fascinating than intelligence, after all intelligence has it's limits.
Life is the dash between the birth date and the passed away date.
Cool Funny Quotes
CoolFunnyQuotes.com © 2020


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BREAKING - This new year is hitting the entire United States with an enormous surprise from the White House. House and Senate have endorsed and passed a bill to ban all social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Closed door meetings debating this issue have been going on, unknown to the public, for over a year now in order to prevent an uproar from the public. President Obama is currently reviewing the bill and it will go into effect immediately once he signs it, allowing entire social media sites to be blocked in the U.S. permanently.
The new law is intended to bring people back to more personal forms of communication and to cease the fanatic need to "share" everything. Americans will go back to communicate how we used to not so long ago - a time when you would have to call or email people individually to catch up and connections were usually more deep because of it rather than posting to cyberspace and waiting for people to "like" what you have posted.
When questioned, President Obama briefly stated, "People don't enjoy the moment they live in to the fullest anymore because they're too consumed viewing the moment through their cameras and posting to social media sites. If this country wants to move forward, we have to focus on bettering the individual and our values, a belief that has propelled this bill forward for the good of the nation. Just because we have the technology, doesn't mean it's good. Americans need to reevaluate their values if we want to be productive as a whole."
A study done by NYU student Cindy Matthews early last year on over 1,000 people ages 14-38 who use social media frequently has found that 96% of the respondents don't care about what their "friends" or "followers" have to say or post. The study revealed that the majority of people just want others to see their posts, and that they only really care about a handful of people in their social network which they get updates from in person anyways.
Critics of social media point out that these sites are forms of procrastination for the many, a means of lowering and heightening self-esteem for the young, and a tool of advertisement and promotion that businesses have done without in the past.
Members of The House and Senate have refused to comment on the violation of the First Amendment rights that guarantee freedom of speech and press which this law threatens.
Will this article be one of the last things Americans post to social media before the sites are blocked?
This story is developing and will be updated.


text:
The Thomas Bear Bag
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- A Thomas Bear-inspired faux fur bag, made in England and dressed up in jewels. Wear as a bum bag or carry crossbody.
- 25 x 10 x 36cm/9.8 x 3.9 x 14.2in
- Min. strap length: 43cm/16.9in
- Max. strap length: 63cm/24.8in
- Outer: 65% acrylic, 22% modacrylic, 13% polyester
- Trims: 100% calf leather; 100% lambskin; 100% sheep leather
- Lining: 100% viscose
- Adjustable belt strap
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- Made in England
Item 80085271
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text:
ENSAYO 2012: South Asian essay writing competition on international humanitarian law
20-04-2012 Event
Organized by the Centre for Advanced Study in International Humanitarian Law (CASH), RGNUL in collaboration with the ICRC, Regional Delegation for South Asia, New Delhi.
Event Info
Where: India
When: 20.04.2012-15.06.2012
Theme: Explosive remnants of war
What are explosive remnants of war?
Explosive remnants of war (ERW) is the term used to describe the wide range of explosive ordnance – unexploded or abandoned – that remains in an area after an armed conflict has ended. It includes artillery shells, grenades, mortar shells, submunitions, rockets, missiles and other explosive devices.
Why are ERW a problem that needs to be addressed?
Thousands and sometimes millions of pieces of explosive ordnance are regularly left behind after the end of an armed conflict. These include munitions that have failed to explode as intended after being fired or delivered (unexploded ordnance) or munition stockpiles left near battlefield positions (abandoned ordnance). Clearing these weapons has often taken years or even decades depending on the scale of the problem. Predictably, large numbers of men, women and children are killed or injured when they come into contact with these weapons before they can be safely disposed of. Many civilians mistakenly believe that ERW are harmless, when in fact they are often lethal and unstable, capable of detonating if touched or disturbed.
In addition to the casualties incurred, ERW hinder reconstruction, the return of refugees, the delivery of humanitarian assistance and other essential activities. ERW prolong the effects of war even after the fighting parties have agreed on a peace settlement.
The problem is not new. ERW have been a by-product of nearly every armed conflict in modern times. An estimated 84 countries are affected by ERW, and some have been grappling with the problem for decades. For example, in Laos, somewhere between 9 and 27 million unexploded submunitions remain, although hostilities ended in 1975. Around 11,000 people in Laos have been killed or injured by ERW, more than 30 per cent of whom were children. Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iraq, the Russian Federation (Chechnya) and Sudan are just a few of the countries seriously affected by ERW as a result of recent conflicts.
Even short-lived conflicts can result in a major ERW problem. During the armed conflict in mid-2006, Lebanon became littered with unexploded submunitions and other ERW. According to the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre in Southern Lebanon, over 35 million square metres of land are contaminated. Since the end of the war, more than 200 civilians have been killed or injured. In addition, thousands more civilians are denied access to their land, as the contaminated area covers approximately 26 per cent of Lebanon's arable land.
What is the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War?
The Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War is a new and important treaty of international humanitarian law. It was adopted by States party to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 28 November 2003 and is the fifth protocol to that convention. It entered into force on 12 November 2006, and as at April 2012, 76 States were party to the instrument. The protocol provides a systematic framework to minimize the dangers posed to civilian populations by unexploded and abandoned ordnance. This is the first international agreement to require the parties to an armed conflict to clear ERW once the fighting is over. The protocol does not cover anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines, as these weapons are regulated by other international agreements.
Although the rules of Protocol V apply only to conflicts that occur after its entry into force, States already affected by ERW when they become party are accorded "the right to seek and receive assistance" from other States Parties to address their ERW problem. In parallel, States Parties that are in a position to do so are obliged to help ERW-affected States reduce the threats posed by the weapons and to provide assistance for the marking and clearance of ERW, for risk education and for the care, rehabilitation and social and economic reintegration of ERW victims.
The Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War must be ratified by all countries and its provisions implemented as a matter of urgency in order to reduce the number of new victims each year. The spread of weapons capable of delivering huge amounts of explosive ordnance across great distances means that the problem will become even more acute unless the measures set forth in the protocol are universally applied.
The ENSAYO Essay Competition
The ENSAYO Essay competition is open to university students from the disciplines of Law, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Defence Studies, International Relations, Medical Sciences, Mass Media and Journalism from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Participants may choose to write on any topic within the ambit of the theme of the competition, that being "Explosive Remnants of War."


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Spanish Prisoners are Leo on guitar and lead vocals; Amberly on keyboards and backing vocals, Michael on drums, also lead and backing vocals, and James on bass and backing vocals.
I conducted this interview with frontman Leo:
Is the story to your song "Los Angeles Guitar Dream" based on any kind of personal experience? Or does its lyrical content come from an observation of someone else? Or purely from the imagination?
"Los Angeles Guitar Dream" was written when I spent a few weeks one summer living in Los Angeles with my girlfriend. She had moved there for an ill-fated internship at a record label that basically amounted to her working in their factory, taking orders, and sitting in traffic. I spent most of the trip driving around by myself, getting lost in LA, and wondering if all those who had flocked to LA found what they were looking for. I began to imagine this female character that had been promised fame and fortune but upon arriving, she got trapped in this really abusive relationship and ended up blaming this "dream of making it" for her personal situation. I get very caught up in the myth of LA, especially when it comes to movies. A lot of my favorite movies take place in Los Angeles and involve the city very deeply in their plots.
What sort of inspiration might lead to the creation of your song "Rich Blood?" Is some of the softer 60's soul music ever on your listening playlists?
I definitely love older 60's soul music- OV Wright is a particular favorite- but I wouldn't say that kind of music was inspiration for "Rich Blood." This song was more inspired by a lot of 4AD / Factory records- Cocteau Twins, the Durutti Column, OMD- music that puts a lot of emphasis on texture. It was my attempt at creating this really detailed atmospheric land for you to get lost in. The lyrics are very similar to "Los Angeles Guitar Dream" in that there is an unnamed act of violence and an underlying tension, which is why we placed the two songs next to each other on the album.
One would presume the song title "November Third" refers to a significant date. Can you shed some light on and explain a bit about what this song might be about?
Check out the band performing "November Third" live on the final night of CMJ- October 22, 2011
"Slow Decay" rises from the ether on cymbal rushes, clean slightly reverb enhanced guitars and crisp snarecrack. "Everything I write is a letter to the future," is one revealing lyrical turn, while the repeated (and therefore emphasized) refrain "else, else – something else" follows. The track ultimately devolves into less-defined atmospherics. Talk a little bit about what your mindset was when writing, then recording this song. What would you like the listener to experience when hearing it?
Listen in as the band performs "Slow Decay" live on the opening night of CMJ
- October 18, 2011
"Lipstick Under The Table" has a slow shuffling rhythm with alternating call and response style vocals. There are hints of funk guitar lines merged with additional atmospheric textures. Falsetto vocal segments continue the impression that an attempt at what has been commonly referred to as "soul music" is being made here. Is this a make out song?
I've never thought of it as a make-out song but I'd be thrilled if anyone was making out to any of the songs on this record. I think experiencing music with others is the best way to listen to music in any sense.
Some of the band "interests" listed are "rooftops," "the ocean" and "national parks." All are done outdoors. Even though you are city based in Brooklyn – do you consider yourselves the "outdoor type?"
I don't really consider myself an "outdoor type" even though I love the outdoors. I think I'm influenced by images of the outdoors and experiences I've had outdoors even if I don't spend much time actually out in nature. I've been camping once and frankly the experience sort of soured me on the activity- my best friend and I went for a few days with only one small flashlight and the battery went out the first night. In general I think I'm very influenced by my surroundings. I'm a very in-the-moment person, as opposed to a lot of musicians I know that are much spacier and live in their own heads. My brother is an architect and I think many discussions we've had make me much more aware of the space I'm in at all times. I need to be really comfortable with my home recording studio and everything needs to be set up just right before I feel creative. Having a window by my desk is invaluable.
Almost all of our recording is done at home- no clocks, no time limit. We feel pretty comfortable working on our own.
We recorded a few bass and drum parts at Seaside Lounge, where our bassist James works. Everything else was recorded and produced in one of our apartments, usually while drinking coffee. I like recording while not wearing shoes.
What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why?
It'd be great to have a nice, one channel preamp. Something like that the UA 610 I've coveted for a while.
Do you use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound?
I'm a huge guitar pedal geek. I've spent way too much time playing with various fuzz and overdrive pedals. My bandmates make fun of me for how many different pedals I've had over the years. I've actually had several pedals custom made for me in the past. I think having a good overdrive pedal / amp combination is one of the most important things for defining a band's sound. Specifically I like pedals by Fulltone and Throbak.
One of my favorite purchases is my 1982 Roland Juno 60- a very popular synth for very good reason. It's hard to make it sound bad. I'm a big proponent of buying a few pieces of gear and knowing them very well. It's very comforting to me that I can get whatever sound I want out of the Juno quickly. We've had a few digital synths with menus in the past and I never realized how much of an obstacle that is to creativity.
Amberly, James, Michael and the Croms_____________________________
Find out much more about Spanish Prisoners at these links:


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Q: I've read about pets left behind after foreclosures and people giving up their pets due to the economy. It breaks my heart and I want to help, but I just can't take in another dog right now. What can I do to help pets in my community without taking in another animal?
A: It can be difficult to ignore emails or Facebook posts about cute little pups and kittens in need of forever homes. In this down economy, the number of pets in need seems to be rising steadily. Just as I shared tips to help your favorite charity without writing a big check, there are ways to help pets without taking in another animal.
When Ami Ciontos (right, with a rescue named Basil) and her husband first laid eyes on their new home in southwest Atlanta, it was an instant love connection. The massive lot offered plenty of room for their dogs as well as any foster pets. Before they moved into the house, their space became rescue central for homeless dogs in a neighborhood under transition. But Ciontos knew that there would never be enough space to affect the number of strays, particularly pit bulls, roaming busy streets near her home.
"You are not going to solve the [pet overpopulation] problem with rescue; it's mathematically impossible," Ciontos says. "We have to educate people and help them do better."
To improve the lives of pets and people in her community, Ciontos created a nonprofit called the Atlanta Underdog Initiative, which promotes responsible dog ownership, educates the public about pit bulls and mastiffs, and works to alleviate pet overpopulation. Sometimes that means driving to a single mother's home to vaccinate a new litter of puppies after a busy work day; other times, it means driving teenaged neighbors to a nearby animal shelter so they can see the number of pit bulls in need of homes — and perhaps take steps to spay or neuter their young dogs.
"That's how we make the impact," says Ciontos. "We reach one person and they reach the next person."
Some welcome the help. Others don't. At times, even Ciontos can get overwhelmed by the sheer number of needy pets. On those days, she unplugs the electronic devices, reads a book or plays with her dogs.
Of course, not everyone has the time or the inclination to start a nonprofit or take to the streets and make a difference. There are other ways to help pets without creating your own 501c3. Atlantan Chris Mattox decided he would help pets by hosting a party — a big one. On July 23, Mattox and other bikers will take to the streets of Atlanta for the first Terminus City Ride to End Dog Fighting, followed by a massive party at a local restaurant.
"Not everyone likes benefits, but everyone likes a party," Mattox says of the event that will raise money for seven nonprofits that help pit bulls. "A lot of charities do a lot of good, but it's on a national scale and people forget about the person out vaccinating a neighbor's dogs because they don't have the money."
His daughter Sydney and her relationship with their rescued pit bull, Jax P. Snugglebear, inspired the idea.
"She sees all this stuff on TV and in newspapers that don't match what she sees in our house, and she can't equate the two," Mattox says. "She asked me what happens to the rest of them. That is heartbreaking. Not having an answer just doesn't help."
He focused his energy on raising $100,000 for seven local charities, including Ciontos' Underdog Initiative and Coalition to Unchain Dogs, which builds free fences for people who keep their dogs outside and lobbies for anti-tethering laws. Mattox chose the name Terminus City — Atlanta's original moniker — as a symbolic turning point for a breed and a city long connected to dog fighting.
"People want these great communities, but that doesn't happen until you do something," he says."If this was the end of the line, let's make it the end of the line and make change."
From ending dog fighting to reducing the number of homeless pets, there are plenty of opportunities to help animals in need across the country. The first step is to determine how much time you can donate.
"If you can afford one Sunday and that's all, just be honest about it," Mattox says. "Say 'I've got one Sunday. How can I help?' Any of these [nonprofit] groups will be glad to get the help."
As the event date approaches, Mattox has learned that even a killer party can be stressful. He patiently wades through countless conference calls, planning meetings and requests for sponsorship even though some ask whether it's all a waste of time.
"I just laugh and say, 'Maybe,'" he says. "But if they think that, then they don't get it. Some things you can't explain, some things are experiential — and until they have their own Jax they aren't going to get it."
Here are a few ways to help pets in your community:
Donate items: Old towels, pet toys, leashes and newspapers can be put to use in local animal shelters. Collect items from your neighborhood and then make a massive monthly donation.
Elbow grease: Sign up to volunteer at your local shelter. Most large facilities need assistance walking dogs, photographing adoptable pets, and simply providing human companionship.
Fill your social calendar: Check local event listings for fundraisers in your area. You may find a bike ride, dog wash or festival that fits into your schedule.
Pay it forward with your pet: The Delta Society is a nonprofit organization that trains people and their pets on the finer points of spreading cheer in hospitals, nursing homes and schools.
Search the Web: VolunteerMatch.org connects those who want to give back with those who have an immediate need for help. Simply enter "pets" and your city for a list of opportunities near you.
Inset photo of Ami Ciontos and Basil, a pit bull she took from the largest dog fighting raid in history in Missouri in 2009. She volunteered at the temporary shelter in St. Louis and brought Basil home once his owner signed him over. He has been placed in his forever home;
Photo of Ciontos at an annual neighborhood "bully" rally put on by Atlanta Underdog Initiative (both photos provided by Ciontos)


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Believe it or not, the Knicks' 41-point loss to the Celtics this Sunday has at least one fan fed up. This video from said disgruntled fan could be the new manifesto for Knicks fandom nation-wide. While it's probably in some part staged, everything "Billy" says is gospel.
Here's Billy on this season's particular disappointment:
For 13 years we ain't make the goddamn playoffs, and I ain't never spazzed about my goddamn Knicks. Because I already knew they were sorry! Isiah Thomas fucked the whole organization up! So if it we would've lost by 41 then, it would've been like "oh well, another day in the life of a New York Knick fan." But nigga we got talent!
Next, he turns his vitriol towards the players themselves:
Melo on down, no heart! "Why Melo?" Bitch, you the leader? Blame starts with your ass. Make somebody else better with your sorry ass. Amar'e? Bitch, you need Icy-Hot spray. Your motherfucking knees is shot! [...] Bargnani? I'm not blaming you, Bargnani. Because we brought you into this bullshit.
If you know some sad Knicks fans but don't want to spend money on any of the gifts we recommended for them, just forward a link to this video. It should provide a bit of catharsis.


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NH residents eligible for exclusive Sunday deal at Mount Sunapee
Online specials also available
Mount Sunapee has a great deal for skiing or boarding every Sunday afternoon for New Hampshire residents only.
You can ski or ride from noon until 4 p.m. for $39 with proof of residency.
The grooming crew and snowmakers have fixed things up nice after the past week's weather brought snow, rain and wind. On Wednesday, there were about 40 trails open totaling 166 acres and 12 miles of skiing and riding.
Sunapee's has online specials also, which are available Sunday through Friday through March 29, excluding Feb 17-22. For each parent who purchases a full-price, all-mountain, full-day ticket, one dependent child age 6-18 can ski or ride all day for free.
New this year, Family Values packages must be purchased by midnight the day prior to use. There are a limited number of Family Values packages available each day.


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This a tougher question than it sounds. The simple answer is: The National Fire Protection Association Standard 211 says, "Chimneys, fireplaces, and vents shall be inspected at least once a year for soundness, freedom from deposits, and correct clearances. Cleaning, maintenance, and repairs shall be done if necessary." This is the national safety standard and is the correct way to approach the problem. It takes into account the fact that even if you don't use your Chimney Liners
much, animals may build nests in the flue or there may be other types of deterioration that could make the chimney unsafe to use.
The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends that open masonry fireplaces should be swept at 1/8″ of sooty buildup, and sooner if there is any glaze present in the system. This is considered to be enough fuel buildup to cause a chimney fire capable of damaging the chimney or spreading to the home. Factory-built fireplaces should be swept when any appreciable buildup occurs. The logic is that the deposit is quite acidic and can shorten the life of the fireplace. Chimney Liners Minnetrista MN
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Chimney Sealing & ResurfacingChimney caps have various functions. Almost all the flues require caps or terminations to protect the crown from rains to go inside. Rain can damage the fireplace and even ruin walls. These caps keep the birds away from building nests within chimneys. Moreover, This addition to your chimney is very important for metal chimneys because they are made up of two or three metal layers and have embedded air between them. In the absence of a custom flue cap, water and moisture can destroy metal. Mostly, caps are installed at the time of installation by the manufacturers. This is the best time to install the product because you don't need to check its size and shape moreover, It is usually made from the same brand and provide best protection to your home. Sometimes, you may require installing a new custom cap onto your flue when you face wind problems or draft, worn out caps and unavailability of original manufacturer's product. If you are facing high intensity of wind problems then your best choice will be of vacuum caps that are specially designed to help you in your draft (wind) problems. Professional sweeps can best describe your needs and can provide you with a custom solution. The best option about your new cap is to use the same brand as of your installed chimneys. Custom caps are alternative option in the absence of branded caps from the manufacturer of your metal flue. Some of the metal flues are of "air cooled" by venting them on the top. Be certain, not to close the venting slots of these metal flue solutions because that can lead to the house fire. You must choose special caps for these products that assure proper cooling. Cons of Chimney Caps: An improperly designed cap can lead to draft restriction and can reduce the draft. Caps with small screening become blocked due to creosote and soot after heavy use. Clogging of screen in caps leads to reduce performance of your fireplace. Sometimes, Creosote can collect into the caps that can run down outside of your chimney structure. This leakage can cause discoloration. occasionally caps can also blow off or can even destroy in heavy winds. Replacement or reinstallation of a new cap can cause additional expenditures to you. Pros of Chimney Caps: Chimney caps avoid from birds and raccoons to build nests into your walls. These caps protect your flues from moisture & rains to get inside your chimney and also keep the smell away from your home. These caps protect the crowns and shed ice from them and extend the life span of crowns. Moreover, these caps increase the draft especially in the region of heavy winds. In a nutshell, Chimney caps are very important for your chimneys and are available in various sizes including 8" x 8", 12" x 12" and 8" x 12" and are also available in other customized sizes, as well.
Chimney Repair - The 5 Most Common Chimney Issues and How to Fix ThemThere is nothing quite as comforting as a roaring fire on a cold winter day to warm your heart and your home. A fireplace is something your entire family can enjoy. But you need to make sure chimney repair and maintenance is done correctly in order to ensure your families safety. The Importance of Chimney Repair A chimney is designed to draw the smoke and gases produced by a fire up and safely out of your home. This is extremely important since some of these gases are dangerous. One of the most dangerous is carbon monoxide which in large enough doses can kill. A second important function of the chimney is to contain the excess heat from a fire until it can be vented to the outside air. Most of your home is combustible. If the chimney does not get this extremely hot air outside without leaks it can easily cause a fire in your home. This is why it is so important for you to make sure that any needed chimney repair is done correctly in order to keep you, your family and your home safe. Here are some important tips to ensure that your fireplace is working correctly and avoid some common chimney repair issues. Creosote Buildup Creosote is an oil that is produced when wood or other solids are set on fire. Over time the creosote can build up on the inside of your chimney. If there is too much buildup it can ignite and cause a fire in your chimney. Blockage Another common chimney repair issue is having a blockage in the flue of your chimney. This can be caused by debris from material dislodging in your chimney or even by animal nests. Blockages, even small ones affect the efficiency of your chimney in getting smoke, gases and heat out of your home. Cracks Or Holes In The Flue Some of the gases from a fire are quite corrosive and over time can damage your chimney flue and create the potential for blockages or even allow dangerous gases to seep into your home. Make sure that your flue gets an annual inspection to ensure that it is working correctly. Brickwork Problems Another problem is caused if the flue starts to leak and erode the masonry and brickwork around the exterior and require extensive chimney repair work. Too much of this can cause major structural damage which will make your chimney repair much more expensive. Chimney Cap and Chimney Crown The chimney cap and crown basically make up the roof of the chimney that surrounds the flue and keeps water and debris from getting into the chimney. If this is cracked or missing pieces it can allow water damage to the inside of the chimney and even damage the ability of the flue to channel gases and heat out of the home. This area also keeps animals, debris and weather out of your flue. Conclusion If you see any of these problems when you inspect your chimney, you need to see that any needed repair is made before the fireplace is used. While you may be able to fill small cracks, you should consult a professional for any larger issue. It is always recommended that you have your chimney cleaned, inspected and any needed chimney repair work done at least once a year to ensure its safe operation. To ensure the safety of your family make sure that you have carbon monoxide detectors in your home. These should be placed on each floor or at a minimum on the floor where your family sleeps. Check them regularly to make sure they are working properly to protect your family from even low levels of carbon monoxide. By taking care of any needed chimney repair as soon as you see it the costs for the repairs will be much less than if you let the problem get larger. Make sure that your chimney is inspected regularly and it will give you years of safe use.
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Comparing the standard of fielding for both tournaments is like chalk and cheese.
Comparing the standard of fielding for both tournaments is like chalk and cheese.
1. It allows some of the players who are either forced to retire or not picked for reasons best known to respective boards to be still part of the game. I so want Wasim Akram to join Chennai SuperKings and show the world that he could be an abolute king of the bowlers in another format even at this age. For me the best part of IPL was watching Hayden demolish the bowlers, something I am forced to miss in Official T20.
2. It gives a chance to players like Gilchrist/Warne to show their leadership skills, something our Cricket Administrators never allowed us to witness in last 20 years.
3. It brings accountability, If you do not perform you are fired, VVS Laxman was removed from captaincy, so were Dravid and Ganguly. John Buchanan is gone and that makes it a lot more competitive.
I can think of more reasons when I have time..
For the simplest reason that I could identify/root for a team, the Twenty20 WC is better. I have a single entity to cheer for and follow, whereas I have none in IPL. I enjoy watching IPL too, but I have no clear favorites and many of the players are simply unknown to me. So Twenty20 WC by a long shot for me.
IPL had better cheerleaders.
"I am very happy and it will allow me to have lot more rice."
Eoin Morgan on being given a rice cooker for being Man of the Match in a Dhaka Premier Division game.
WC. Get to see it.
Cricket Web's current Premier League Tipping Champion
- As featured in The Independent.
"Raab gives the 5pm press conference with the air of a man who strongly suspects theres a chalk penis drawn on his back, but is just going to butch it out by facing forward till the bell goes." - The Guardian's Marina Hyde on the UK's supply prime minister
Got to say, T20 games are 100 times more fun without the strategy break. Funny thing is, teams have lost momentum anyway after the 10th over without the break in the WC.
World Cup for me by miles. Don't like the franchise-thing and all the hullabooloo about slebs I'd never heard of, reminded me of Big brother, TBH.
The strategy break was just hideous too.
I think if I was Indian I'd of preferred IPL though, as I'd know all the characters on-and-off the pitch, if I could cheer on A James Hildreth or Michael Munday competing against the best in the world, I'd enjoy that.
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.
Walt Whitman
I watched both (well, just over half of the IPL) and for me it's the T20 WC every time. No ridiculous annoying 'DLF MAXIMUM'S' and no awful strategic time out half way through the innings to ruin the game. The standard of cricket's higher, and it's been far more exciting than the massively overkilled IPL. 1 other key factor, no bloody Ronnie Irani giving his bull**** opinions in the studio. He single handedly put me off watching the last half of the IPL. Such an annoying human being.
Originally Posted by CricinfoOriginally Posted by Cricinfo
******** commentators and DLF Maximum and city moment of success counter balance that factor
Enjoyed world T20 more because after a while IPL just seemed drag on for too long and wasn't as exciting as the first season..... i'm sure being back in India... it'll be much better.
I have a feeling that Cricket Administrators did allow us to see Gilchrist's leadership skills. Didn't he preside over Australia's first test tour win in India in many years? A tour that was probably longer than the IPL, too.
And I think players are dropped/fired if they don't play well in both the IPL and the T20. Although granted, the IPL is probably more ruthless as long-term building of the team is irrelevant as there is a new auction after three years. Therefore development of a player's career isn't so important.
Oh yeah, other reasons for T20WC:
- Pakistani players! Some of the best T20 players unable to play in the IPL for now and maybe for the forseeable future. (I think they're also not in the Champions Leagues this autumn)
- We get to see Mendis playing rather than Moises Henriques!
2. Warne, Hayden, Gilchrist, Symonds for Australia, guys like Kumble for India are head and shoulders above many people playing. So while the overall standard is higher, I'd have loved to see the Haydens and the Gilchrists and Warnes - all of whom are clearly better than anyone in the Aussie side right now, be in. Aussie lineup in this WC didn't do anything for me. Same thing with the Indian line up. I want to see the best of the best even if the overall standard is lower.
With that said, with a few minor changes, WC could certainly be a much superior competition. Actually, what I really want to see is that Champions League. If that takes hold, I would be very excited for it, and would prefer to either the WC or the IPL.
-My beliefs summarized in words much more eloquent than I could come up with
How the Universe came from nothing
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What is Antivirus?Antivirus software protects e-mail, instant messages, and other files by removing viruses and worms. It may also quarantine infected files to keep a virus from spreading on your computer and can repair infected files so you can use them without fear of damaging your computer or spreading a virus to others. What risks are involved? If your computer isn't fortified against the most recent viruses, you leave your system wide open for every bug, worm, and virus floating around the Internet. These debilitating bugs and viruses can cause your computer to malfunction. They may also make your computer vulnerable to identity thieves and hackers.
What can I do to protect myself? Install antivirus software on your computer and run daily updates. The campus provides free antivirus for staff and faculty work computers, and recommends free antivirus software for student and home computers.
How do I know if I have antivirus software on my computer? A computer with a properly installed antivirus software will generally prompt you to update the program every once and a while. If your computer doesn't ask you to update virus definitions, you may not have virus software properly installed.