text:
ALTAMAHAW � Upon the ending of a chaotic main event that seemed determined to never end, John Moore wiggled out of his car in Victory Lane, helmet still on, head-and-neck restraint device in tow.
He was more than ready to celebrate a win five years in the making.
The Pelham driver broke through for the first Late Models victory of his career Friday night at Ace Speedway, capitalizing at the culmination of the 100-lap feature, a marathon that required endurance and good fortune.
�We�ve been so close for so long. And we finally got it,� he said. �We started in the back and worked our way up to the front, and just got the opportunity. The doors opened up there.
�I didn�t think I had a car good enough to win. We were just there in the right time.�
Moore, in his fifth year of competition in Ace�s premier racing division, extended the parity that has reigned, becoming the fourth different winner of four Late Models races at the track this season.
He vaulted from third position to the front with four laps remaining and held on from there, despite two more caution periods � the ninth and 10th of the grinding night, stops and starts that pushed the race time past the 90-minute mark.
�We got us one, finally. It�s been a long time coming,� Moore said. �That�s a tough race right there. It was just so long.�
This could have played out as a storybook victory for Thomas Scott, the young driver from Corbett Ridge, who led 57 laps, hunting what would have been his first career Late Models victory.
But Burlington�s Dean Fogleman chased him down during the closing stages and after several laps of stalking Scott, started to squeeze ahead with six laps left. Fogleman bobbled on the backstretch while trying to complete the pass, creating another side-by-side battle with Scott.
The duel climaxed on the 96th lap, with contact from Scott�s No. 8 Chevrolet sending Fogleman�s No. 71 Chevrolet spinning coming out of turn four. That dramatic sequence prompted Ace officials to hit Scott with a black-flag penalty.
Moore, the ultimate beneficiary with Scott and Fogleman wiped out, took exception, too.
�Dean probably should�ve had it won, from my perspective on it,� Moore said. �But Thomas had different plans. I guess he was just going to wreck everybody to win the race. You can�t race like that.�
Kernersville�s Brad Kurth placed second. Burlington�s R.D. Smith finished third, followed by Raleigh�s Ryan Gray in fourth and Snow Camp�s Gary Causey in fifth among the battered 17-car field.
Fogleman ended up 10th after the run-in with Scott, who finished 12th.
Moore�s No. 4 Ford started 11th and picked its way forward, receiving a dented panel on its passenger side, one of the many bruises sustained by the cars in this attrition-filled event.
Kurth, in search of what would have been his second career Late Models victory at Ace, led the opening 37 laps, until Pelham�s Barry Beggarly worked his No. 82 Chevrolet underneath on the backstretch, seemingly seizing the lead.
Contact erupted, though. And Kurth�s No. 9 car, which appeared to be the initiator, went spinning out. Beggarly�s car limped into the pits soon thereafter with a steering issue.
Burlington�s Robert Turner had moved his No. 13 Chevrolet into second position by the midway point. But he had to retire on the 60th lap due to rear-end problems.
McLeansville�s Dustin Rumley, who�s getting married today, hustled to the speedway to make the feature after participating in pre-wedding festivities Friday night.
He missed qualifying, started in last position and climbed all the way to second position, despite right-side damage that left a body panel flapping on his No. 88 Chevrolet.
On the 73rd lap, contact collected Rumley and Trey Hutchens, who were batting for fourth position. Rumley ended up seventh, behind Eden�s Bobby Griffin, who finished sixth.
After that caution period, the eighth of the night, Scott led, with Fogleman and Moore in pursuit � and still more wildness brewing.
-- In the 25-lap Mini Stocks race, Advance�s Jason Tutterow picked up his first career victory at Ace in wholly dominating style.
His No. 22 car led the final 20 laps and, by the end of the caution-free event, pulled away to a commanding advantage that covered more than half of the four-tenths mile race track.
Walkertown�s P-Nut Vernon came in second. He started at the front of the 10-car field and led the first five laps. Mocksville�s A.J. Sanders placed third.
-- In the 20-lap X-treme Cars race, Garner�s Michael Neal overtook Keith Brame with nine laps remaining and went on to capture his first victory of the season.
The fiery Neal celebrated in trademark fashion, pounding the roof of his No. 11 car in Victory Lane and then hopping up there and standing triumphantly.
Gibsonville�s Brame finished second after leading four laps during the middle portions. Burlington�s Robbie Church took third. He led the opening seven laps, before apparent contact from Brame knocked him out of the lead.
The race contained four caution periods, including a scary red-flag situation when Harold Jones and William Jones wrecked together on the high side of the track, between turns one and two. William Jones� car briefly went airborne during the grinding collision.
-- Friday night�s other winner at Ace was Silver Valley�s Danny Brewer, who swept the 15-lap Street Stocks races to collect his third and fourth victories here this season.
He conquered a green-white-checkered ending in the first race. In the nightcap, Brewer passed Phillip Crouch for the lead with less than two laps remaining.
Here are Friday night�s results from Ace Speedway:
Late Models (100 laps): John Moore, Brad Kurth, R.D. Smith, Ryan Gray, Gary Causey, Bobby Griffin, Dustin Rumley, Clint King, Jonathan Smith, Dean Fogleman, Kevin Flores, Thomas Scott, Coy Hedrick, Trey Hutchens, Robert Turner, Barry Beggarly, Wesley Thomason.
Mini Stocks (25 laps): Jason Tutterow, P-Nut Vernon, A.J. Sanders, Billy Radford Jr., Mike Herron, Phillip Wright, Kevin Brown, Sharon Botts, Kenny Myers, Wendi Sheek.
X-treme Cars (20 laps): Michael Neal, Keith Brame, Robbie Church, Barry Wilson, Billy Scoggins, Trey Brame, David Walker, Brian Obiedzenski, Mike Loomis, Brian Hatch, William Jones, Harold Jones, Richard Jones.
First Street Stocks race (15 laps): Danny Brewer, Bobby Grimes, Jeremy Clay, Dean Garner, Phillip Crouch, Larry Isenhower.
Second Street Stocks race (15 laps): Danny Brewer, Phillip Crouch, Bobby Grimes, Jeremy Clay, Dean Garner, Larry Isenhower, Adam Welch.
X-treme Cars heat race (12 laps): Billy Scoggins, David Walker, Trey Brame, Mike Loomis, Brian Hatch, Harold Jones, Richard Jones.
Late Models qualifying: Gary Causey 15.673, Thomas Scott 15.713, Brad Kurth 15.795, Dean Fogleman 15.810, Clint King 15.822, Robert Turner 15.830, Barry Beggarly 15.858, R.D. Smith 15.901, Trey Hutchens 15.941, Bobby Griffin 15.954, John Moore 15.970, Ryan Gray 16.001, Jonathan Smith 16.179, Coy Hedrick 16.320, Kevin Flores 16.399, Wesley Thomason 18.893.
Street Stocks qualifying: Danny Brewer 18.042, Bobby Grimes 18.314, Jeremy Clay 18.341, Larry Isenhower 18.405, Dean Garner 19.386.


text:
Our research groups are involved in projects across a wide range of traditional subjects such as synthesis, catalysis and spectroscopy, This research ultimately leads to discoveries in new molecular magnets, plasmonics, battery technology, medical imaging agents and applications for 3D printing.
We provide a truly dynamic research environment. At any time we have about 40 academic staff, 120 research students and 40 research assistants and fellows, all working in close collaboration with industry in the UK and internationally.
We host a range of RCUK and industrially-funded research projects, and several research fellowships.
We are a member of ScotCHEM that brings together seven universities in Scotland. ScotCHEM is committed to excellence and to providing the highest quality postgraduate education and researcher experience. The umbrella structure of ScotCHEM encompasses West CHEM, a dynamic research environment which links the chemistry research schools of the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.
The School of Chemistry is proud to have been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze award in November 2014, which was renewed in April 2019.
Research areas
Our research encompasses traditional organic, inorganic and physical chemistry and is organised into the following research groupings:
- Chemical Biology and Precision Synthesis
- Chemical Photonics
- Complex Chemistry
- Energy Conversion and Storage
- Heterogeneous Catalysis
- Supramolecular, Electronic and Magnetic Systems
Illustrative research topics
- Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis
- Computational theory
- Sensing, imaging and diagnostics
- Oxidative stress and cancer
- Anti- microbial, viral and parasitic drugs
- Synthetic biology
- Synthetic methodology and total synthesis of natural products
- Inorganic biology
- Synthetic systems and hybrid devices
- Ultrafast chemical physics
- Photonics and metamaterials
- Solid-state NMR
- Photochemistry and chemical dynamics
- Visualisation and manipulation of chemical structures
- Biomaterials
- Microporous solids
- Single molecule magnets
- Sustainable energy and hydrogen storage materials
- Conjugated and non-conjugated polymer synthesis, photovoltaics.
Study options
|MSc (Res)
Entry requirements
2.1 Honours degree or equivalent
Required documentation
Applicants should submit:
- Transcripts/degree certificate
- Two references
- Name of potential Supervisor
English Language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English.
Fees and funding
- £21,920 outside EU
Prices are based on the annual fee for full-time study. Fees for part-time study are half the full-time fee.
Additional fees for all students:
- Re-submission by a research student £525
- Submission for a higher degree by published work £1,315
- Submission of thesis after deadline lapsed £340
- Submission by staff in receipt of staff scholarship £765
Depending on the nature of the research project, some students will be expected to pay a bench fee (also known as research support costs) to cover additional costs. The exact amount will be provided in the offer letter.
Alumni discount
A 10% discount is available to University of Glasgow alumni. This includes graduates and those who have completed a Junior Year Abroad, Exchange programme or International Summer School at the University of Glasgow. The discount is applied at registration for students who are not in receipt of another discount or scholarship funded by the University. No additional application is required.
Funding for EU students
The UK government has confirmed that EU nationals will remain eligible to apply for Research Council PhD studentships at UK institutions for 2019/20 to help cover costs for the duration of their study. The Scottish Government has confirmed that fees for EU students commencing their studies in 2019/20 and 2020/21 will be at the same level as those for UK students.
2019/20 fees
- £21,020 outside EU
Prices are based on the annual fee for full-time study. Fees for part-time study are half the full-time fee.
Additional fees for all students:
- Re-submission by a research student £500
- Submission for a higher degree by published work £1,250
- Submission of thesis after deadline lapsed £320
- Submission by staff in receipt of staff scholarship £730
Depending on the nature of the research project, some students will be expected to pay a bench fee (also known as research support costs) to cover additional costs. The exact amount will be provided in the offer letter.
- View a full list of our current scholarships
- Download the College of Science & Engineering: postgraduate research funding flyer 2019-20
You will be part of a Graduate School which provides the highest level of support to its students.
The overall aim of our Graduate School is to provide a world-leading environment for students which is intellectually stimulating, encourages them to contribute to culture, society and the economy and enables them to become leaders in a global environment.
We have a diverse community of over 750 students from more than 50 countries who work in innovative and transformative disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields. An important part of our work is to bring our students together and to ensure they consider themselves an important part of the University's academic community.
Being part of our Graduate School community will be of huge advantage to you in your studies and beyond and we offer students a number of benefits in addition to exceptional teaching and supervision, including:
- A wide-ranging and responsive research student training programme which enables you to enhance your skills and successfully complete your studies.
- Mobility scholarships of up to £4000 to enable you to undertake work in collaboration with an international partner.
- A diverse programme of activities which will ensure you feel part of the wider-research community (including our biannual science slam event).
- A residential trip for all new research students.
- The opportunity to engage with industry-partners through training, placements and events.
- Professionally accredited programmes.
- Unique Masters programmes run in collaboration with other organisations.
- State-of-the-art facilities including the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre and the Kelvin Nanocharacterisation Centre.
- Highly-rated support for international students.
Over the last five years, we have helped over 600 students to complete their research studies and our students have gone on to take up prestigious posts in industries across the world.
How to apply
Identify potential supervisors
All Postgraduate Research Students are allocated a supervisor who will act as the main source of academic support and research mentoring. You may want to identify a potential supervisor and contact them to discuss your research proposal before you apply. Please note, even if you have spoken to an academic staff member about your proposal you still need to submit an online application form.
You can find relevant academic staff members with our staff research interests search.
Gather your documents
Before applying please make sure you gather the following supporting documentation:
- Final or current degree transcripts including grades (and an official translation, if needed) – scanned copy in colour of the original document
- Degree certificates (and an official translation, if needed): scanned copy in colour of the original document
- Two references on headed paper (academic and/or professional).
- Research proposal, CV, samples of written work as per requirements for each subject area.
Submitting References
To complete your application we will need two references (one must be academic the other can be academic or professional).
There are two options for you to submit references as part of your application. You can upload a document as part of your application or you can enter in your referee's contact details and we will contact them to request a reference.
Option 1 – Uploading as part of the application form
Your references should be on official headed paper. These should also be signed by the referee. You can then upload these via theOnline Application form with the rest your documents to complete the application process.
Please be aware that documents must not exceed 5MB in size and therefore you may have to upload your documents separately. The online system allow you to upload supporting documents only in PDF format. For a free PDF writer go to www.pdfforge.org.
Option 2 - Entering contact details as part of the application form
If you enter your referees contact details including email on the application form we will email them requesting they submit a reference once you have submitted the application form. When the referee responds and sends a reference you will be sent an email to confirm the university has received this.
After submitting your application form
Use our Applicant Self Service uploading documents function to submit a new reference. We can also accept confidential references direct to firstname.lastname@example.com, from the referee's university or business email account.
I've applied. What next?
If you have any other trouble accessing Applicant Self-Service, please see Application Troubleshooting/FAQs.
If you are requested to upload further documents
Log into the Applicant Self Service and scroll down to the Admissions Section. The screenshot below indicates the section on the page, and the specific area you should go to, highlighted in red:
Documents must be uploaded in .jpg, .jpeg or .pdf format and must not exceed 5MB in size. There is a maximum 10MB upload size for all documents with the application.
Once a decision has been made regarding your application the Research Admissions Office will contact you by email.
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You can accept your offer through the Applicant-Self-Service by clicking on the 'Accept/Decline link' for your chosen programme under the 'Admissions Section' at the bottom of the Applicant Self Service screen. You can access the Applicant Self Service by using the link, username and password you used to apply and selecting the "Self Service" button below your application.
Please make sure you accept your unconditional offer within 4 weeks of receiving your offer. If you are an international student your CAS will not be issued until you have accepted an unconditional offer.
If you are made a conditional offer
If you accept a conditional offer then the offer status on Applicant-Self-Service will change to 'incomplete' to indicate that the application is incomplete until such time as all the conditions are met.
Your offer letter will list all the conditions that apply to your offer and you can upload the required document(s) through Applicant Self Service. If you have met the conditions satisfactorily, you will automatically be sent an unconditional offer.
If your application is unsuccessful
If your application is unsuccessful then we will send you an email to inform you of this which will outline the reason why we have been unable to offer you a place on this particular programme. Please note that your application status will be updated to 'Cancelled' on Applicant Self Service if the offer is rejected.
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If you want to defer your start date, please contact us directly at firstname.lastname@example.com. We need authorisation from your supervisor before we confirm your request to defer. Once we have this we will contact you by email to confirm.
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After you have accepted an unconditional offer you will receive an email nearer to the start of your studies to tell you how to register online using the University's MyCampus website, the University's student information system. That email will provide you with your personal login details and the website address. Please ensure that your email address is kept up to date as all correspondence is sent via email. You can update your email address through the Applicant Self Service Portal under the Personal Information section.
Contact us
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International Students
- Advice on visa, immigrations and the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) can be found on our International student pages
Our top ten city
A 2019 TimeOut survey places Glasgow in the top ten cities in the world. Ranked between Berlin and Paris, Glasgow was voted number one for both friendliness and affordability.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Troopers setting is Text complete!
No, really, the text is complete!
No, it is!
Look! See the Troopers Setting column? It's only got graphics and stuff in it.
This is a big thing for me. There was a lot to write and it's there. It's over 20k words, split almost in half between players section and GM section and about 37 pages. It's going to probably be about 45 once I get all the graphics in. I even have a plan for the front cover - a Mark 8 forcing its way through a Mex colony while there's a firefight in the foreground.
Really like using Trello for capturing stuff.


text:
I can't say why, in what must've been the '80s, I watched so much "Firing Line," that erudite William F. Buckley Jr. debating society meetup that aired on PBS, I think, way back. Michael Kinsley, later of Salon.com, the L.A. Times editorial pages (albeit briefly) and now Time magazine, was the moderator.
Who wants to play the part of WFB Jr.?


text:
Everybody be safe, have a happy...and...
'cookieChoices = {};'
BEIRUT — Deadly clashes erupted in Syria on Friday as activists estimated that 500,000 protesters filled the streets to demonstrate against the government of President Bashar Assad. Activists said 32 people were shot dead as Arab League officials continued monitoring the situation on the ground.
One Arab League monitor told an angry crowd that his team's job was only to observe, not to help them remove Assad, live video on Al Jazeera showed on Friday.
"Our goal is to observe ... it is not to remove the president, our aim is to return Syria to peace and security," he said, speaking over a loudspeaker from a podium at a mosque filled with protesters in the Damascus suburb of Douma, where Friday also saw troops fire tear gas at protesters who threw rocks at them.
But the observer, who did not give his name, said he promised to convey the protesters' sufferings.
"From what I have heard there is blood being shed," he said. "That is for sure."
A team of around 60 monitors has already arrived from a delegation that should ultimately number 150 and is expected to inspect Syria for about one month. They will check whether Assad's forces are implementing a peace plan that calls for an end to a crackdown on anti-government revolt.
Activists say they believe many monitors are pro-government or that they feel it is too difficult to communicate with the team away from government escorts. Inside the Douma mosque, the restless crowd seemed suspicious of the monitors.A speaker from the mosque tried to calm the audience, pleading with them to let the monitor speak. But a man immediately broke the silence, shouting "My son is a martyr, they killed him," rousing chants of "With blood and soul we will redeem the martyrs."
The monitor, who asked the audience not to film him but who was broadcast on Al Jazeera Live, said: "We as monitors are not supposed to speak but the situation has forced me to say something: We are monitoring the elements of the protocol signed between the Arab League and the government."
The protocol requires that Syrian forces withdraw from cities and release detainees believed to still number in the thousands.
More than 5,000 people have been killed as the government tries to crush the protests. It says it is fighting Islamist militants steered from abroad who have killed 2,000 members of the security forces.
Labels: MR
In 2008, the youth vote helped sweep Barack Obama into office. Americans 18-29 spread the word on social media, energized fundraising and went to the polls.In 2012, the youth vote is moving on and throwing those omnipresent "Hope" bumper stickers and t-shirts in garbage bins.Not because of apathy. Not because another candidate generates more enthusiasm. Not because of his character. Not because they think voting is pointless. The 18-29 vote is up for grabs in 2012 because youth can't afford cars to put bumper stickers on and those t-shirts are worn out from too many days sitting on the couch unemployed.The sobering reality: just 55.3 percent of Americans between 16 and 29 have jobs. And earlier this year, Americans' student loan debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time ever.Rather than develop a lasting initiative to help young unemployed Americans, the President launched "Greater Together" – a campaign tool that offers community forums rather than jobs. Rather than provide a bailout to those crushed by the burden of educational loans, his student debt relief program was pathetic – only reducing interest rates by a measly 0.5 percent.No wonder less than half of Americans 18-29 approve of Obama.
December 28, 2011, 12:10 p.m.
Labels: MR
America is not the embodiment of hope, but the abandonment of one kind of hope in return for another. America embodies the spirit of creative destruction, selecting immigrants willing to turn their back on the tragedy of their own failing culture in return for a new start. Its creative success is so enormous that its global influence hastens the decline of other cultures. For those on the destruction side of the trade, America is a monster. Now China has become an agent of creative destruction as well, the consequence of its partial adoption of the American model. China indirectly brought about the so-called Arab Spring, by driving up world grain prices and pricing the Arab poor out of the world market for food. Chinese pigs will eat before Arab peasants; food insecurity (if not actual starvation) undermined the Arab dictatorships.
Iranian resentment is understandable. They recall the Brontosaurus in an old Far Side cartoon, standing at the dais addressing an auditorium full of dinosaurs: "The climate is changing, our food supply is dwindling, and we have a brain the size of a peanut. I'd say we're in trouble." Islam is a religion of traditional society, of iron constraints and unquestioned hierarchies. By teaching Iranian girls to read, the late Shah set off a cultural chain-reaction: fertility has fallen from 7 children per female a generation ago to just 1.5 today, a catastrophic decline unparalleled in demographic history. And mosque attendance is down to only 2% by some estimates. Creative destruction has burst in upon Iran and turned its society inside-out. The mullahs still have all the money in Iran's hydrocarbon monoculture, and almost all the guns, and they will do anything necessary to turn the clock back. Their world is disappearing in front of their eyes. They have nothing to lose.
Of course, the mullahs would have nothing without the global economy; after oil, Iran exports nothing but pistachios and carpets. Without foreign oil companies, the mullahs could not drill, pump, or ship their hydrocarbons. The whole apparatus of Iranian Islam is a theme park, an Shi'ite Disneyland funded by oil revenues, perpetuating a barbaric society that could not feed itself without global demand for the natural resources that, by unlucky accident, happen to be located in Iranian territory.
Mullah Paul voices the same fear and resentment in its milder American form. He has in common with the Iranians a desire to make the world go away, and a fixed idea that an evil conspiracy brought about all the problems. Ron Paul isn't an Iranian, to be sure; he's just the closest an American can come to thinking like an Iranian without actually moving there.
Creative destruction felt good in the United States as long as the rest of the world parked its savings in our real estate market — a total of $6 trillion flowed in from overseas between 1998 and 2007, the equivalent of a whole year's output of the U.S. economy. And as long as America was swimming on foreign savings, and home prices were rising, Americans saw no need to save. Our good fortune, to be sure, did not derive from an economic accident, but rather from the fact that America's political system and free markets made us the world's best venue for investments. Now we have competition. We're no longer the only game in town.Read more »
Labels: MR
The Hizbullah terrorist organization is in hot water over a scheme to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in multi-national drug trafficking revenues.
According to a report published by the World News Tribune, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization is using American banks and other financial institutions to process money earned from trafficking in South America.
The complaint filed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice, charges Hizbullah with using the money to buy used cars in the U.S. for transport to West Africa, where they are then sold, mostly in Benin.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bhara noted, "It puts into start relief the nexus between narcotics trafficking and terrorism."
According to a British security source, Hizbullah also sets up straw companies in African and Arab countries which then sell vehicles and/or other goods. Hizbullah operatives also steal passports, which are then used to cover terrorists as they travel the world to raise money.
However, some intelligence sources are questioning how much of the funds are actually being used for the day-to-day operations of the terrorist organization, and how much is going to line the pockets of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
American intelligence sources quoted by a Saudi newspaper said the group's secretary-general is worth some $250 million -- and the bank accounts of his deputy, Sheikh Naim Qassem, and other top terror officials may total as much as $2 billion.
The money is allegedly laundered through a complex chain of accounts around the globe using pseudonyms. Millions of dollars are periodically funneled from the accounts of Hizbullah leaders or those of their wives, to those of senior members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the sources said.
The money is then transferred back to Hizbullah from the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the source said.
Labels: MR
Labels: MR
Labels: MR
Labels: MR
Egypt raids foreign organizations' offices in crackdown
Three U.S. groups are among those raided. Activists say the army is using the ruse of foreign intervention to stoke nationalism and deflect criticism of abuses.Reporting from Cairo and Washington—
Egyptian security forces on Thursday raided the offices of 17 nongovernmental organizations, including three U.S.-based agencies, as part of a crackdown on foreign assistance that has drawn criticism from the West and threatened human rights groups and pro-democracy movements.
The move appeared to be part of a strategy to intimidate international organizations. The ruling military council has repeatedly blamed "foreign hands" for exploiting Egypt'spolitical and economic turmoil. But activists said the army was using the ruse of foreign intervention to stoke nationalism and deflect criticism of abuses.
Egypt police raid civil rights groupsEgyptian police stormed the offices of at least six western and local democracy and human rights groups that have called for greater transparency and accountability, seizing computers and files and confining some staff inside premises.Interior ministry forces and judiciary officials under the command of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) conducted simultaneous raids yesterday on the National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute and Freedom House – both American-based non-profit groups – and numerous Egyptian civil society groups that expose torture, corruption and abuses of power."The military police accompanied with one member of the general prosecutor's office suddenly attacked our office," said Helmy Rawy, head of the Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory, an organisation that critically assesses Egypt's military expenditures."They took all the documents and all the computers. It's a new campaign against freedom from the Scaf, against civil society in Egypt. They don't want anyone to raise their voice for freedom."WSJ:
Egyptian Raids on U.S. Groups Draw IreCAIRO—Egyptian security forces seized computers, printers and documents from offices of at least 17 nongovernmental organizations Thursday, including three American groups, further straining the fraying ties between Egypt's interim military leadership and its allies in Washington.The U.S. said it was "deeply concerned" about the raids. It raised the specter of clamping down on funding to Egypt's powerful military, one of Washington's closest military allies in the Middle East.Special-forces units of the Egyptian military, accompanied by state prosecutors and uniformed and plainclothes police officers, searched the offices of human-rights and pro-democracy groups in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Among the offices raided were those of Washington-based Freedom House, National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute. Security officers seized papers and hardware, forbidding the NGOs' employees from leaving or making phone calls.
Labels: Always On Watch, Blogging, commentary, First Amendment, silencing voices
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced today that an anti-Muslim Internet hate site that contained a number of threats of violence targeting mosques, including the comment "I want [Muslim] blood on my hands," has been taken down by its hosting company.Of course, CAIR has never acted to have any Jihadi site (calling for war on Infidels and Jews) taken down, have they?
CAIR said visitors to "Bare Naked Islam," hosted by WordPress.com, now see the message: "barenakedislam.wordpress.com is no longer available. This blog has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service."
[NOTE: "Bare Naked Islam" was one of the major promoters of the campaign to pressure Lowe's to drops its ads from TLC's "All-American Muslim."]
Last month, CAIR called on the FBI to investigate the threats of violence targeting mosques posted on the blog and urged WordPress.com to remove it for violating the hosting company's terms of service (TOS), which prohibit blogs that "contain threats or incite violence towards individuals or entities." Articles and comments posted on "Bare Naked Islam" urged attacks on and desecration of American and European mosques.
Labels: Blogging, CAIR, silencing voices
Fox reporter Trace Gallagher was discussing the recent "nurse-ins," where mothers — in response to a fellow mother being asked not to breastfeed at a Target store — descended on stores across the country to breastfeed their babies in public. And after he wrapped up his report, Kelly offered a personal anecdote.
"You know, I got a lot of thoughts on this, Trace," she explained with a smile on her face. "Let me just put it this way: I used to feel a lot differently before I had babies and you're breastfeeding; they need to be fed and then sometimes they don't like the cover. And before you know it, you're Megyn Kelly and you're showing your breasts to a whole plane."
Gallagher responded by laughing and clapping his hands — which is about all he could do at that point.
You can watch her tell the story below:
Labels: MR
Bachmann made the revelation during a radio interview with WHO-AM RADIO on Thursday morning. But that wasn't the only gun-related news she discussed. She also talked about how she's a concealed carry permit holder and how she's actually set to go on an upcoming bird hunt with Rep. Steve King.
"Hey, I'm a pretty good shot, I got to tell you," she said, later adding, "I learned how to hunt here in Iowa from my dad. I went through gun safety when I was 12. … And I scored the best in my class of any of the men, too, in that class."
So why does she like the AR-15 so much? "Because you can be so accurate with it."
"I love it. I love it, it's a great gun. I like being accurate, and that is a great gun."
You can listen to her describe her love for the AR-15, as well as the size of her magazine, below:
Labels: MR
Labels: MR


text:
Two weeks ago, the same group of mothers sang Governor Mark Dayton's praises for having an open conversation about medicinal marijuana, as their sick children arguably could benefit from it. Dayton eventually decided to oppose an effort in the legislature to legalize medicinal use and sale of marijuana, but the Democrat offered a solution to the moms. According to their press conference yesterday, it was to find a local pusher.
Needless to say, the moms are no longer singing Dayton's praises:
These parents had picketed outside the governor's residence two weeks ago, and were unexpectedly invited inside. There, they told the governor their stories. They say they were shocked when the governor suggested they can buy pot illegally on the street, or in another state, to treat their children.
"That's absurd," said Jessica Hauser of Woodbury, whose her 2-year-old son has intractable epilepsy. "And to have the top official in Minnesota suggest that to my face when I am looking for compassion and a thoughtful solution. It's just completely offensive."
The marijuana controversy is bubbling just below the surface at the Capitol, where supporters say there are enough votes in the House and Senate to pass it. But frustrated lawmakers carrying the bill believe it faces a veto from Dayton.
The governor does not deny he told at least one of the parents to buy illegal pot off the street. However, he said in a statement Wednesday that he does not advocate breaking the law.
"But as a father, I understand parents who would do anything possible to help their children," the statement said.
Golly, if only a father had a way to allow those moms to buy marijuana safely and legally! Like, say, if that father was a governor of a state in which his party controlled both chambers of a legislature sympathetic to legalization …
No matter how one falls on legalizing use of marijuana for any purpose, Dayton's response is sheer nonsense. As a father, Dayton feels compassion, but as a governor Dayton apparently admits that marijuana might be useful and at the same time wants moms to risk jail and violence to get it. Er, what? Had Dayton told them that he was convinced marijuana had no medical value and that they shouldn't give it to their children at all — a supportable position — then that would at least be defensible. Dayton wants it both ways, though, and in the process manages to get it wrong in every direction.
Contrast this with Chris Christie in New Jersey, who knows how to stay on message. Christie allowed for medicinal use in the state, but has drawn a firm line on further legalization:
During Gov. Chris Christie's "Ask the Governor" program on New Jersey radio station WKXW-FM 101.5, he was asked by a caller whether the governor would consider legalizing marijuana to bring more tax revenue into the state.
"Mike, I love you, baby, but it ain't happenin', not while I'm governor," Christie said to the caller.
Christie said that he understood the argument for more revenue, but said that it was wasn't an "even exchange."
"I don't believe that legalizing an illegal drug for purposes of governmental profit is something that we should be doing. I believe that this is a gateway drug into other more serious drugs, I think it sends a wrong message to our kids and I don't think it makes anybody a better or more productive person," he said.
Will Dayton's fumble provide an opening to legalization? It's tough to say; legislators think they have the votes for a "strongly bipartisan" approval, but probably not enough to overcome a Dayton veto. If the state GOP were better organized, this episode would put a dent in Dayton's 2014 re-election hopes, but it's not so it won't … unfortunately for those of us who live in Minnesota.


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Tag Archives: 409A
Don't "Defer" Compensation
By Joe Wallin Many times I have seen the following happen: a company is running out of money. In order to keep going, the team is going to have to take pay cuts. The Founder & CEO tells the team–"We'll … Continue reading
Posted in Startup Law, Taxes Tagged 409A, Defer, Payroll Deferrals, Section 409A 54 Comments


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So for a clustered environment - how would this work with your apps?
what about your own custom .NET apps? Would there be a special way to develop them? I know that you can say create a simple Hello world app, and cluster that but they wouldnt be something you could see interms of the UI or anything, so they would effectively need to be developed as a Windows Service perhaps or even as a standard Console app which runs and not wait for user input but you wouldnt see any output from it (unless you redirect output to somewhere else)
What im getting at here is... for those who have experience or developed a cluster application in .NET, how did you do it and what are the things to be aware of?
For example we have the cloud service - fundamentally its built on clustering - if there is an outage, another node takes place and service is resumed as normal but we dont really see much of that downtime.


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It's hard to converse with people who mumble or whisper. There are two parts to a conversation: Speaking and listening. When we are having a conversation with God, listening is more important than speaking. Psalm 85:8 says, "I will listen to God the Lord. He has ordered peace for those who worship Him." The nation of […]
It is probably true that you will be asked to be a part of a memorial service or funeral at some time in your life. There are specific things which I have observed from pastors who are successfully able to capture the essence of the person and still glorify Christ in a funeral sermon or eulogy. Here are some of those things which you may find helpful.
First, find a hook. This is something about the person that seems to embody their personality or mission in life. It may be a phrase, a sentence or an observation. Most often this should come from the family. In trying to find a hook for one man that I had never met, every person I spoke to said, "He was a good man." I kept trying to find something else about this man until I realized: This was a truly good man and that was what family wanted to said about him.
Interview as many members of the family as possible to be able to grasp what is meaningful to them. Ask probing questions. What is the thing you remember most about Phil? What did he do during his free time? Tell me a little bit about his life. When did he become a Christian?
Everyone has some humor in his or her life. Try to find it and use it.
The deepest, most moving memories are best wrapped with a glimmer of humor, if possible.
Don't be afraid to share deeply personal things that the family has given you permission to share. This is a time for them to hear their words echoing back to them in a positive message of hope.
Use a Thesaurus in finding different words to express what you want to say. Don't limit yourself or your imagination in your sentence structure or your vocabulary.
- Use Scriptures to say the things you desire to say about the resurrection. Then don't forget to speak about the hope of the resurrection of Christ in each sermon or eulogy. That, after all, is why we have sermons at funerals.
- Keep it short. Limit yourself to a maximum of 10 minutes of sermon. I also try to limit the Scripture readings to five to 10 minutes. Intersperse the Scriptures throughout the service. Find my favorite Scriptures here.
Remember, above all, you are speaking the heart of the family and the heart of Christ. When the two are in harmony, it's a wonderful union. When they are divergent, God will help you to find ways to honor both.
God loves the broken hearted and desires to heal those who grieve. It is a wonderful opportunity to show the love of Christ to people who are wounded and hurting.
If you are sharing with a family of a mentally challenged person who has died, this is especially important to remember and acknowledge their grief. God wants to touch this family in a real way and you can be His instrument.
Here is a eulogy that hopefully will help you to see how these steps can be put together.
Leslie Ann
The Apostle Paul writes in the Holy Scriptures that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Proverbs reminds us that a merry heart is as good as any medicine. On December 19, 1972, God gave to us an ambassador of laugher and giggles when Leslie Ann was born to Priscilla.
Raised in a strong Catholic family, faith and commitment to the Lord were the backbone of her existence. As a natural outgrowth of that love for the Lord, her first communion was a joyous time shared with her mother, grandparents, her Uncle Jack, his two children and the community of believers.
Later, as Leslie matured into adulthood, reaching out became an anchor of her commitment to the Lord as she endeavored to share her faith. Each Christmas at Special Gathering, we collect gifts for the Haitian children. Leslie was the first one to bring her gifts. But she didn't stop there. Sunday after Sunday, she would bring toys and school supplies for the young children who have so little.
Of course, Leslie understood the value of money. The best presents she received were always money or gift cards. No birthday was complete without a card filled with big bucks. Yet, she never totally comprehended the complete concept. After obtaining her first job came the wondrous first paycheck. Excited by this new found wealth, Leslie wanted to put it in the bank as the first installment toward buying a new Corvette. Somehow the fact that it was only $4 escaped this young financier.
Leslie had a knack for remembering names and addresses. She remembered the full name of everyone she met. But phone numbers were her specialty. She spent hours on the phone with her various boyfriends. Mark from New Jersey was her first real boyfriend. For more than ten years, they conversed every evening until it was time for them to go to bed. Last July, when Leslie and her mother went back to Jersey, Mark begged them to come back in the spring because he needed a date to the prom. "You know my girl's down there with you," Mark told Priscilla pensively.
Though she seldom complained, at times her disability would hinder her from doing the fun activities that the other family members enjoyed. One day, Elaine, her step-sister-in-law, could no longer take her mournful expression as the other young adults scooted around on jet skis.
"I'll take you," Elaine volunteered. Leslie was in her mid-twenties but not too old to giggle. Unfortunately, in her enthusiasm, Leslie leaned too far and tipped over the jet ski. In an effort to save herself, Leslie quickly grasped the closest thing to her–which was Elaine's throat.
Her mother was following her in a boat. She and the driver of the boat scooped Leslie up from the water within a few seconds. And Elaine is still thankful.
Leslie never liked being left behind. And she didn't like losing when she played games. After her great nephew, Colin, was born, she would spend hours coloring and playing games with him. He was her little buddy. But her competitive nature didn't die easily and she didn't enjoy losing, even to him.
Vincent, Colin's dad and her cousin, was two years younger than she. He, naturally, was her big buddy. As children the cousins etched together a life-long bond. They spent hours building towers with blocks. After the construction was felled, they would head for the hallway and a ball game. For Leslie, the fun with Vincent was never in the game or the competition but in the giggling.
About ten years ago, after moving from Jersey, Leslie began attending Special Gathering. Later, she joined the choir. Her commitment to the choir was remarkable and we came to lean heavily on her strong–though never pitch-perfect–voice.
Every Saturday evening, she'd ask her mom, "Do I need to wear my choir uniform to Special Gathering?" Her mom would explain that the choir wasn't singing at another church, only practicing. "Are you sure?" Leslie would enquire suspiciously.
One of Leslie's favorite songs was a selection from our choir. Often before practice, we would sing it as our prayer.
Change my heart, Oh, God.
Make it ever true
Change my heart, Oh, God,
May I be like you.
You are the potter, I am the clay
Mold me and make me.
This is what I pray.
Change my heart, Oh, God.
Make it ever true.
Change my heart, Oh, God.
May I be like you
As Leslie slipped into eternity last Saturday, I believe she met the Lord giggling. You see, her disability and pains are gone. She isn't hurting or afraid anymore. (show the crystal bowl and the paper cup)
On the Friday evening that Leslie was admitted to the hospital, she was in agonizing pain. Her stomach had ripped and her lungs were full of pneumonia. She would code three times before they could get her into surgery. Fighting frantically to save her life, the technician began taking X-rays. Explaining to her what they were doing, the tech said, "We are going to hold up this piece of metal and take your picture."
Leslie weakly nodded her understanding. As the technician put up the metal sheet to her chest, ready to click the X-ray, Leslie said, "Cheese" and grinned for the picture. With each X-ray she said, "Cheese" and smiled. As we remember Christ's ambassador of giggles, we cannot weep for her, though we will often shed tears for ourselves. She would demand that we gratefully grin and say, "Cheese."


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Remembering Awatovi
|High spirits in the plaza at New Awatovi in 1939. Photo by Hattie Cosgrove. PM 2004. 184.108.40.206.
The Story of an Archaeological Expedition in Northern Arizona, 1935-1939
Through 4/30/2009
Now online!
Awatovi, on Antelope Mesa, is one of the first villages of the Hopi mesas in northeastern Arizona. The area's early history is shared by several Puebloan peoples, though Oowatovi (as the Hopi spell it) was a Hopi village by the early 1500s.
Remembering Awatovi goes behind the scenes of the last archaeological expedition of its kind at this ancient site. Part history of archaeology and part social history, the exhibit reveals what the archaeologists found in the village of Awatovi, with its beautiful kiva murals, and how the archaeologists lived in "New Awatovi," the camp they built for themselves beside the dig. The written and photographic records of "New Awatovi" add a new dimension to the discoveries of the dig itself.
Available from Peabody Museum Press
Remembering Awatovi: The Story of an Archaeological Expedition
in Northern Arizona 1935–1939
By Hester A. Davis.
2009 Bookbuilders of Boston New England Book Show winner. General trade cover.
For more items from our collection, click here.


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Pig Wheels is very, very fired up about 2 new riders. Ben "The Barbarian" Gilley and D.J. Chavez are now among the many satisfied Pig Wheels riders. Hell yes! Pig just keeps getting better and better!
How fun would it be to combine the talents of all the Pig Wheels team into one person? It'd be incredibly ugly, I can tell you that. It'd be able to leap large buildings. He could French kiss 203 girls at one time and drink 2.7 gallons of beer in a second! What else could it do? Send in your best ideas to firstname.lastname@example.com . The best answer will get his grill put up on the www.pigwheels.com site. Not to mention all of the stickers you'll get.
Pig wheels is chaulk full of good news today. We'd also like to introduce you a couple of innovative progressions in wheels design. First is the new Prime cut, it's a double-sided groove cut that reduces the weight of the wheel by a whopping 12%! And protects the graphics. Mixed with a new urethane formula that gives a harder wheel the resists flat spotting and improves traction.
Secondly, we are proud to release the new Gutter cut. A deeper sigle-sided groove that reduces weight by 16%! And protects the graphic. The offset bearing seating gives you more truck grinding area, protects the nut and axel and eliminates axel slippage. Another new urethane formula gives it a harder feeling wheel that resists flat spotting and improves traction.


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ATLANTA -- January 9, 2013 -- AirWatch, the global leader and innovator in mobile security and the largest Mobile Device Management (MDM) provider, announces standalone Mobile Application Management (MAM) and administrative flexibility for the complete range of mobile device ownership models, including BYOD. The AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solution delivers industry-leading MDM, MAM, Mobile Content Management (MCM), Mobile Email Management (MEM) and BYOD management.
Enterprises and educational institutions enabling BYOD programs require a combination of flexible mobile management options based on device ownership, role and security risk level. AirWatch provides the industry's broadest capabilities to ensure regulatory compliance, minimize internal risk and guarantee end-user satisfaction and privacy. AirWatch supports corporate dedicated or shared devices with full management, personal devices with full management, and now, personal devices with standalone application management. In addition, AirWatch already offers the Secure Content Locker to securely distribute and share content. The Secure Content Locker features the most advanced security and audit capabilities and is tightly integrated to the AirWatch MDM solution or as an independent module. By enabling BYOD, organizations empower their end-users by providing access to VPN, WiFi, email, contacts, calendar, apps and content, all with the comfort of complete security inherent with AirWatch MDM.
The AirWatch app wrapping engine allows developers to add proprietary AirWatch security features to internal apps without writing any additional source code. With injected code, developers benefit by not spending time coding for additional features. The AirWatch wrapping engine allows for forced authentication, enforcement of passwords, compromised device detection, prevention of copy/paste from the app and disablement of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and camera.
Additionally, the AirWatch MAM solution allows IT administrators to manage internal, public and purchased apps across employee, corporate or shared devices in organizations. Lastly, the AirWatch MAM solution gives developers multiple options to manage internally developed apps by using advanced security and management capabilities available through the AirWatch Software Development Kit (SDK).
The AirWatch SDK provides developers with additional app management functionality, all of which can be controlled from the AirWatch console: seamless LDAP/AD user authentication, compromised status and jailbreak detection, certificate provisioning, geofencing, custom application branding, reporting and analytics, application health and diagnostics, dynamic server-side configuration and provisioning of apps, and defining custom settings for apps.
AirWatch customers enjoy the benefits of internal, enterprise app catalogs to recommend public apps, push apps directly to devices, inform employees of useful apps and provision specific apps, based on organizational role.
By building internal mobile apps and managing with AirWatch MAM, AirWatch customers are providing convenience and flexibility to their associates, especially in BYOD management scenarios. For example, aviation companies are building unique apps to allow collaboration among cabin crews on preferred routes and schedules, and retailers are building apps to allow employees to bid on preferred work shifts.
"AirWatch has a proven track record of industry-leading product innovation, but we've also led the market with transparent pricing, flexible deployment options and now a combination of options to meet the evolving trends for BYOD," says John Marshall, president and CEO, AirWatch. "Enterprises now have a variety of deployment scenarios, and AirWatch is the first enterprise mobility suite to offer commercial solutions that align with product requirements."
- Watch a video on AirWatch's Mobile Application Management
- Watch a video on BYOD and AirWatch
- Watch a video on the AirWatch Secure Content Locker
About AirWatch
AirWatch is the global leader in mobile device security and management (MDM) systems, and, with 5,000 customers and nearly 1,000 global associates, is more than twice the size of any other MDM company. Having no outside capital, AirWatch is predominately funded by operating cash flow, resulting in an estimated install base four to five times larger than any other MDM provider. The largest customer base, combined with the largest research and development team in the industry, allows AirWatch to provide the broadest functionality at the lowest cost. This, combined with a scalable high-availability architecture, results in virtually every mobility project with more than 20,000 devices being managed by AirWatch. Examples of this market leadership include the top four global Fortune companies, nine of the top 10 US retailers, six of the top 10 global airlines, the top four global energy companies, six of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies, seven of the top 10 global CPG companies, three of the top five US medical device companies, five of the top 10 global luxury goods companies and two of the top three global hotel groups.
Victor Cooper
Tel.: + 1 404.478.7500
Email Contact


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Our Privacy Policy has been updated. By continuing to use the Adelaide Film Festival website, you are agreeing with the terms and conditions in our Privacy Policy.
thecollins.com.au | 233 Victoria Square, Adelaide | (08) 8237 0760
A nod to the roaring 1920s, The Collins blends classic charm with modern sophistication. Step inside and imbibe on a mix of hand-selected spirits from around the globe and a playful list of bespoke cocktails crafted by our mixologists. Evoking the spirit of prohibition, house made ginger beers, tonics and sodas take centre stage, reinforcing The Collins philosophy of unique cocktails coupled with presentation perfection. Open every night (except Sunday) with a DJ on Friday and Saturday evenings.
yalumba.com | 40 Eden Valley Road, Angaston, SA | (08) 8561 3200
Established in 1849, Yalumba is Australia's most historic family owned wine company. It remains fiercely independent and extremely progressive through the generational ownership by the Hill-Smith family. Yalumba's longevity and success is a result of patience, collaboration and progressive thinking. There is foresight to embrace the natural terroir to craft wines with individual character and a sense of purpose, a spirit to reinvest in the land upon which it operates and knowledge to behave as a leader in the industry.
adelaidecasino.com.au/restaurants/madame-hanoi/ | Adelaide Casino, North Tce | (08) 8218 4166
The elegant, sophisticated interior of French-Vietnamese bistro Madame Hanoi feels worlds away from bustling North Terrace and features a striking two-storey portrait of "Madame Hanoi" by acclaimed local artist Emma Hack. The menu features a blend of uniquely Vietnamese and unmistakably French dishes in Madame Hanoi's famous style. From small bites to shared feasts, there are flavours to suit all tastes.


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Natural materials and warm colours with many classical details determine the exterior of Stijl & Zo. A typical atmosphere of the past on the outside and contemporary luxury and comfort on the inside.
The exclusive veranda apartments are located halfway between the cosy village Nes and the North sea beach.
The exclusive veranda apartments Stijl & Zo are very spacious (90m2) and have a sheltered South facing terrace. All the apartments have free Wireless Internet access.
The spacious living is sunny and bright and connects seamlessly with the luxurios open kitchen, which is fully equipped with dishwasher, fridge with freezer, combi-oven, ceramic stove and Senseo coffee machine. The couches are comfortable and the dining area spacious and suits four people easily.
The veranda apartments all have a Panorama flatscreen TV and audio system. Each apartment has its own infra-red sauna.
Further, every apartment has two bedrooms with two single boxspring beds and single duvets. The luxury bathroom has double basins, walk-in shower and a separate toilet. Also present is a cot (1) and a high chair (1).
In the basement a washing machine, dryer and solarium can be found.
These apartments are suitable for up to 4 people.
For more information or questions, please feel free to contact us.
Metz verhuur & beheerStrandweg 219163 GK Nes Ameland
+31 (0)519 543 436


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Stream of consciousness: UVA gives Meadow Creek second chance
They're coming out. They're diversifying and multiplying.
They're beginning to sing a little more about seeing the light and wail a little less about paradises being paved.
The benthic macroinvertebrates of Meadow Creek have been laying low and dying out from high levels of pollution that curb the creek's ability to support various types of critters, including crayfish and dragonflies. Their reduced numbers suggest that the creek's ecosystem is headed down the tube.
Where did all the little guys go?
For over 50 years the once thriving creek has been funneled underground throughout the majority of its run through UVA, from Observatory Hill to its outlet near University Hall. At one time, the Grounds harbored several streams and ponds that were gradually destroyed over time. [For more, see the sidebar on the history of one special pond.]
"It was a wet, wet place, this university," says historian Coy Barefoot.
As the school expanded, Barefoot says, it drained its ponds and forced the creek into a series of gigantic pipes, known as culverts, to make way for the construction of more buildings and roads.
The result in 2003? A dirty creek with fecal coliform levels that have put it (along six other Albemarle waterways) on Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality's list of the state's "impaired" waters. Ewww!
It's not just little critters that suffer. As the culverts struggle to accommodate heavy rains, lowland areas, like the intersection of Emmet Street and Ivy Road flood, causing havoc for human pedestrians and drivers.
Perhaps fittingly, UVA, the very institution that first sent the creek underground, is in the process of giving the creek and its critters a new lease on life. The University's move to "daylight" or bring back above ground– Meadow Creek is receiving accolades even from those who don't call the creek home.
"Daylighting is certainly not common," says Robert Cooper of the State Department of Recreation and Conservation, who was responsible for approving the arena's stormwater plan. "It takes some stretching of the imagination to satisfy regulations in such a new and innovative way."
UVA landscape architect Mary Hughes expects "a huge visual change" in the Dell area across from Memorial Gym. Once the site of the home of UVA prof and grounds superintendant William Lambeth, the Dell has in recent years served as a boggy site for a bronze sculpture of two fighting deer.
The Dell will soon become the site of a stream channel and detention pond meant for the waters of Meadow Creek to run through. It is here, just south of Alumni Hall, that a 1,200-foot section of the creek is slated to see the light in the spring of next year as a part of UVA's storm water management plan for the new basketball arena.
The arena?
It might be over half a mile north of the Dell, but the arena site at Copeley Road is where the creek leaves University property and, depending on rainfall levels, it usually leaves pretty darn fast.
By the time it's traveled underground almost all the way through UVA, the water can also be pretty darn dirty.
In hopes of cleaning up the creek, addressing flooding issues, and managing the arena's stormwater, UVA looked to the alternative approach of using daylighting at two sites for part of the answer. Upstream, Meadow Creek will be daylighted at the Dell. Farther down the creek's watershed, a tributary of the creek is being moved at the new parking garage on Ivy Road. The dual projects, combined with extensive underground stormwater pipes at the arena, make up UVA's great hope in facing its stormwater woes with a "regional approach," in which several sites are incorporated into a single plan.
But there are woes.
Like many commuters who find themselves in the occasional wading pool at the Emmet and Ivy intersection, a central low point in the watershed, Hughes has seen first-hand the effects of forcing large amounts of water into a culvert.
Hughes remembers a manhole cover was shot up in the air, unable to hold back the creek's pressure. On any given afternoon after a hard rain, cars roll slowly through murky water collecting at the corner, with no worry of hydroplaning; it's more likely that one will need to caulk up his station wagon to float by the tennis courts.
In the past, like most large institutions, UVA has installed stormwater management mechanisms piece-meal, one project at a time. Culverts are largely utilized as a means to transport surface runoff and water from creeks and streams away from a given development. The upside is that buildings can go up, and roads can be paved on top of a creek rushing through a pipe.
The downside, however, is more insidious than it initially appeared. In 1996, UVA officials began realizing that this traditional way of managing their water was not only costly because of the numerous developments that were projected, but was also a severe detriment to the Meadow Creek watershed. When UVA began reviewing and adjusting its master plan in the mid-'90s, it looked to the expertise of three firms: Cahill Associates of West Chester, Pennsylvania, MMM Design Group of Norfolk, and Philadelphia-based Andropogon Associates to study the possibilities for managing the school's water resources.
The master plan outlines the University's acceptance of its responsibility for the creek's decimation, as well as its commitment to stripping the creek of its "ignominious distinction of having the worst water quality within the Rivanna watershed" at its outlet point from the University.
The initial recommendations materialized into the full-fledged endeavor the three-part project is today. But while that initial master plan got the wheels turning, it wasn't until plans for the new basketball arena a $130 million project to replace U-Hall– got under way that work on the daylighting of Meadow Creek really accelerated.
Whenever a new development is proposed, planners need a seal of approval from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, showing that the project takes into account how it will handle stormwater .
The master plan set out an ambitious alternative to manage stormwater, but the Meadow Creek project needed to be able to dip into the arena's large budget in order to begin the daylighting. Work on the waterways at the Dell and the garage site was partially absorbed under the umbrella of the arena project, led by VMDO Architects, once UVA hooked on to the regional approach that required all three sites working together as one organ.
"The project is happening right now," says Kennon Williams, of Nelson-Byrd Landscape Architects firm, "because the arena is happening right now."
Controlling water through daylighting farther up the watershed at the Dell, as well as at the new parking garage, is actually more important to the arena's stormwater plan then anything that can be done directly at the arena site.
UVA's project director, Dick Laurance, estimates that the cost of the Dell alone will reach seven figures, but a large part of that cost will be covered by the arena's budget.
During the construction of the parking garage on Ivy Road, an ailing stream located on the back of the property line was relocated and restored in a newly built channel. It sends the water underneath a fieldstone-veneered bridge, which assists the university's attempts to make the area an idyllic setting in which to park your car or perhaps have a picnic.
The water flows about 700 feet before it heads back underground to cross Emmet Street where it joins Meadow Creek. From there the creek enjoys a little light before meandering back across Emmet Street headed towards the arena site where it gushes out again near Copeley Road.
Both the Dell and parking garage sites will go a long way in offsetting the ugly appearance of parts of a campus blanketed constantly in orange construction safety tape.
Biohabitats Inc., an environmental consulting firm that designed the project's streams, and Nelson-Byrd Landscape Architects, the creators of the Dell's original schematic design, teamed up to develop the Dell as a full-fledged ecosystem. Leaning in the urban design tradition of linear parks based on corridors of flowing water like the famous "emerald necklace" parks in Boston, the Dell will be a feast for plant lovers and for Wahoos seeking some respite from exam stress.
Besides the beauty of a thriving creek, Dell dwellers will be able to also enjoy a small pond that will be the creek's resting point before it returns to pipe life in order to cross Emmet Street, surfacing again near Lambeth student housing to the north.
Williams emphasizes the Dell design's commitment to representing all the diverse native Virginia plant-life. The horticulture will largely be planted in three separate segments meant to correlate with three regions of Virginia; mountain, piedmont, and coastal areas.
Closer upstream, in the direction of Alderman Road, Williams projects a "mountain plant palette," complete with plants usually found in the state's upper elevations, namely green ash and hemlocks. Midstream, plantings might include those found in the Piedmont area, including Ironwood red maples and river birches. Towards the bottom of the Dell, coastal areas of Virginia could be represented by sweetbay magnolias and Virginia sweetspire.
While the open creek, the pond, and the plantings add to the overall beautification of the Dell, their real value to the creek lies in their healing properties.
Jeff Sitler, a UVA geohydrologist who handles the university's storm water compliance issues, praises the Dell project for enabling the creek to help itself through daylighting. "A stream in a pipeline is not much of an ecosystem," Sitler says. "By placing the creek back in its natural environment, processes take place that enable to creek to develop different plant life."
Sunlight maintains the plant life that feeds on the water's excess minerals. The water's microorganisms work to remove pollutants through chemical and biological processes. The pond aids in filtering out some of the water's impurities by slowing down the creek, thus allowing some sediment to drop within the pond instead of being carried downstream.
While UVA is eager to clean up Meadow Creek and its tributaries, being eco-friendly is also an efficient alternative to standard storm water management practices.
Engineers outfitted both the pond outlet at the Dell and the outlet of the creek's sister stream that runs in front of the new garage with special storm water control structures that will regulate the rate of the water leaving both sites to prevent flooding down at the arena site.
Storm water control structure may not sound too exciting, but it is actually a very recent advance in hydrotechnology, and working together, the structures link the respective sites they serve. Under normal conditions, Meadow Creek and its tributary will flow freely through both the Dell and the parking garage site. In the event of a downpour, which prior to daylighting would turn the Creek into a churning floodzone, the structure permits only a certain amount of water to leave, and forces water to back up temporarily into basin areas.
Steve Benz, an engineer with Judith-Nitsch Associates, worked to develop the storm water master plan and have it approved by Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation.
"This is a big step," says Benz, "in realizing some major improvements in water quality and regulation that effects all of Charlottesville, not just the school."
Benz says UVA's greener approach serves as a positive role model. Longwood University in Farmville is one school that is considering a plan like UVA's in the years to come. Other schools might jump on board after seeing the benefits of daylighting. The garage site has already been a site of study by students in the Architecture School, who have examined the careful design and relocation of a tributary there.
Professor Linda Blum, from the University's environmental science department, is hopeful about future opportunities at the various sites for data collection. While most of the labs in the department's introductory class are "hands-on", she regrets that the majority are merely demonstrations "that only simulate how field work is conducted."
While there are other instances of daylighting occurring around the country, many are within a strictly business setting, thus there is not a ready and committed research base in place to study the actual benefits of the alternative measure.
Hughes stresses the obvious opportunity for UVA as an institution of research, since "it plans to be here for 200 more years."
Hopefully some of the approach's ambiguities can be cleared up through such research. Cooper acknowledges the blind faith that the school must go on with such an unorthodox plan. "With a project like this, you can't really quantify in terms of pollutants removal; you just know that something good is being done."
From his experience, Cooper judges that the upfront investment will save UVA a lot of time and money in the future. "With 40-some odd projects that they will work on in the next few years," he says, "they certainly don't need to worry about doing everything on a site-by-site basis."
Daylighting, while hardly common, has occurred in several spots throughout the country as a way to preserve urban waterways from being completely destroyed. In some cases developers consider the innovative practice only to opt for a more traditional approach in the face of building costs and time restraints.
For instance, in northern Seattle, the Simon Property Group, owner of Charlottesville's own Fashion Square Mall, continues to battle with the city for a loosening of restrictions in its development of Northgate Mall. When the developer decided against daylighting, local environmentalists hindered the project by turning to that city in hopes of derailing the development they claimed was environmentally irresponsible.
Four years later, the development's struggles continue amid the resonating battle cries of its detractors, "Creeks or Concrete!"
Aware that some property owners elsewhere may be dragging their heels, many applaud UVA's resolution to spend a little more green to be a little greener.
"UVA is a great client to have," says Lee Mallonee of Biohabitats Inc. "Rarely do you get a client that lets you do things the way it should be done."


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WELEETKA, Okla. (AP) — Folks once settled in this sleepy central Oklahoma town to get away from the crime and hubbub of big-city life. Many residents didn't bolt their doors or draw their shades at night. Most here never worried about people like Kevin Sweat.
But then, on a dusty road northeast of town, Sweat shot 13-year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker and 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker to death, believing they were demons out to do him harm. The 2008 slayings went unsolved for years until Sweat's fiancee was murdered, and police questioned him in her death and connected the cases. Sweat pleaded guilty to all three murders Thursday.
Prosecutors dropped plans to seek the death penalty after Sweat agreed to waive his right to a jury trial. Sweat, who had lived with his fiancee in a neighboring county, faces life in prison, either with or without parole. He'll be sentenced later.
But even with the guilty pleas secured, some residents in this working-class town of barely 1,000 people doubted things would ever return to the way they used to be six years ago.
"It changed the whole town," said Jim Graffman, owner of Big Jim and Hoktey's Saloon, where a sole customer sat at the bar at midday. "You're careful taking the back roads because you have no idea what's going to happen.
"It made everybody aware that this type of thing can happen here," he said.
The sentiment was the same for Janet and Tim Wise, who, until learning that Sweat had pleaded guilty to the crimes, said they kept watchful guard over their grandchildren, fearing that the girls' killer was somehow still on the loose, living among the residents.
"We had to keep an eye on them at all times," Janet Wise said as she dined with her family at Outlaws Grocery and Diner, a popular meet-up for locals. She added: "I think whatever he gets, he deserves," after hearing about Sweat's guilty plea.
Wanda Mankin, the principal at the school where Skyla and Taylor attended, was dreading the start of Sweat's trial. It had been set to start Monday.
"This trial has brought all these feelings back in the open," Mankin said in an interview a few hours before Sweat's plea hearing. "Nothing you learn in college can ever prepare you for dealing with this kind of thing."
The murders of the young girls were just the first of several more tragedies to come for the town in a span of several years: a house fire that killed six people; the death of a beloved youth minister in an oil tank explosion; and another fire that tore through several downtown buildings, wiping out a popular café and three other businesses.
Today, the main drag is barely alive — a stretch of boarded-up businesses and overgrown, empty lots. A pair of stray dogs roamed the street, unconcerned about oncoming traffic because there's hardly any of it these days. In the businesses that are open, it is difficult to find patrons inside.
Many took to wondering aloud whether the town was cursed, though the girls' killings left perhaps the strongest impact.
"He killed two girls before they even had a chance to get started in life," said resident Sandra Wallace. "I mean, they were two babies."
On an unpaved, backcountry road, the memorial marking the place where the girls were killed showed its age Thursday. Faded and mud-caked plastic flower bouquets and stuffed toys sat near several crosses erected to mark the spot.
Taylor and Skyla had been walking along the road after a weekend sleepover. Taylor's house was nearby, and they had made the same walk dozens of times— if not hundreds.
Summer vacation was just beginning, and the best friends thought they would be taking those walks for years to come.


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The constellations
Doubleday, Nov 1, 1988 - Nature - 411 pages
Describes the history, mythology, scientific aspects, and important stars of each constellation from Andromeda to Virgo
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This book combines several different methods of discussing the constellations and offers hints for locating them and some of their more notable stars. Further, it gives the mythological background for ... Read full review
one Two Bears and a Dragon
two Ursa Major and Ursa Minor
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absolute magnitude ALPHA ancient Andromeda apparent magnitude Arabic astronomical units atoms BETA Betelgeuse blue-white bright brighter called Cassiopeia center of mass Cepheids Cepheus circumpolar clouds color companion components constellation core degrees northwest diameter discovered Earth eclipsing emission EPSILON faint stars fainter fourth-magnitude galactic GAMMA gaseous globular cluster Greek Hale Observatories heavens helium Herschel hydrogen interstellar ionized known lies light years distant luminosity luminous lying Lyrae main sequence main-sequence star massive miles per second million miles Mizar naked-eye nebula northeast novae object observed optical optical companion orbit Orion parallax parsecs period Perseus photographic planetary Polaris primary proper motion protostar RA 12 h radiation radio red dwarf red giant Rigel rotation shell small telescope solar southeast southern spectral class spectral lines spectral type spectroscopic binary spectrum star's stellar subgiant Sun's supergiant supernova temperature Ursa Major variable velocity visible white dwarf Zeta


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James Cameron's keeping his options open, according to his longtime producer Jon Landau: He may not direct an Avatar sequel or Battle Angel next. Landau also explained to us how Cameron might do underwater motion-capture for Avatar 2's ocean scenes.
We were lucky enough to get several minutes on the phone with Landau, who's doing interviews in support of the new Avatar DVD and Blu-Ray release, coming out today. And Landau, who's produced several of Cameron's films, says that the director is still trying to choose among a few different projects for his next film. He might tackle Avatar, he might tackle Battle Angel, or he might jump on "some third, as yet unnamed project," says Landau.
There are two main factors that will go into Cameron's decision-making matrix on whether to do Avatar 2 next, according to Landau:
1) Cameron and Landau will sit down with Fox and see if they can "work out a common philosophy on the next film."
2) Which film project Cameron feels has the best script. Landau repeated the thing he's said a few times before: James Cameron has only made two sequels in his career (not counting Piranha 2) and in both cases, they were as good as the original, if not an improvement. He won't do an Avatar sequel unless the same thing is true. So he'll only venture into production on an Avatar sequel if he feels strongly that the script is excellent enough.
Cameron, of course, will be writing the script for the Avatar sequel. But he already has a script in hand for the adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita anime series, co-written by himself and Shutter Island writer Laeta Kalogridis. But Kalogridis also wrote another script for Cameron, The Dive, a non-science fiction project about two real-life free divers, Francisco Ferreras and Audrey Mestre. It's "a love triangle between Audrey, Francisco and the ocean, and ultimately the ocean took Audrey's life," says Landau.
But it's also a distinct possibility that Cameron might decide to direct another, as yet unnamed, science fiction project next, instead of any of those three films.
Fantastic Voyage:
Landau and Cameron are also on board to produce a new Fantastic Voyage movie, with Paul Greengrass in talks to direct. As with the 1966 film, it would involve a scientist shrinking five of his colleagues and injecting them into his own body to cure his potentially fatal brain condition. Cameron has said he's eager to use the imagery that new medical scans give us to present a cooler look inside the human body.
We asked Landau where that stands, and he says:
First and foremost, it's not a remake. It's a new story set in that world. It's a story that deals with the issues of today, the issues of individual freedoms and rights and all of those things. And paul is not officially on board yet, but we're certainly in conversations with him, and hopefully all of that will work out. We've had an art department on, already working and doing research and pulling together some incredible visuals. And I think that's the really exciting thing about this. Truly, the greatest wonder of them all, more so than mother nature on the outside, is the miracle of life on the inside. And I think we're finding some very exciting ways to depict that.
Motion capture underwater
So since Cameron has been saying the Avatar sequel will explore the oceans of Pandora, we were wondering how exactly he could use motion-capture for swimming sequences. Sam Worthington has said that doing mo-cap for swimming in the first movie was a nightmare, because he basically had to perch on a chair and make swimming motions. (Since the motion-capture rig couldn't get wet.) So if a lot of your action takes place in the water with the Na'vi, how do you film that?
Landau responds:
Well, I think we could put people in the water, and capture it in the water. We just didn't need to do that with this one. I think you come up with a different technology [for capturing motion in the water]. I mean, there are ways to do it where it's image recognition on the [actor's] body. I think what we did on this movie is we looked at what the script called for, and we came up with solutions for those. And we'll do the same thing on the next film. And look — the answer might not be [to capture motion] underwater, but we'll come up with something that works.
How to avoid making sequels and reboots?
Avatar is one of the few big science fiction movies in the past decade that's not a remake or sequel to an existing property. How does somebody go about getting a non-franchise picture into production, without being James Cameron with a string of hits behind you? We asked Landau, and he says:
Number one, it's about having a good script — a story that makes sense. [Also], not every science fiction movie needs to be on an epic scale. Those things don't necessarily go together. You can have small-scale scifi that works. I think a great example of that is District 9, and where there's a will there's a way. I think it comes back to story and character concepts, and what is the journey you take your characters on? I hope more people do it, because what science fiction offers is the ability to be a metaphor for the world we live in.
Landau, of course, was a producer on Solaris, the 2002 film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney — which was a remake, but was also an example of this type of small-scale, more thoughtful picture. And he says this proves his point. "As long as you do something on the right budget scale for its potential, you can get those movies made. We made Solaris very inexpensively. George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh worked way below their going rates on the film, to get that movie made."
The popularity of Avatar.
Now that the movie's coming out on DVD, the flood of fan remixes and tribute videos and bizarre screencap parodies can begin. And Landau says he can't wait to see what people come up with. He's already been thrilled by how people have embraced the movie, all around the world. People will approach him and offer to send him pictures of their children putting on Na'vi plays, and he's heard about a high school that put on Avatar Day in Florida.
And he feels as though the depth of the movie's world and its lived-in quality help people to become invested in it. "We were doing an original science fiction fantasy world that had a foundation under it. We weren't just coming in there and saying, 'Here's a creature and here's a plane. We don't really know how it flies, but it does.'"
Designers like vehicle designer TyRuben Ellingson (whom we interviewed here) made sure every single vehicle was actually plausible and could really fly. And creature designers like Neville Page (whom we interviewed here) concocted a whole believable ecosystem. For example, Page was working on the Hellfire wasp, an insect that we only glimpse briefly in the movie being eaten by a Direhorse. And he drew some concept art of five Hellfire wasps resting on a tree, with the five of them joined together to form a star-shaped camouflage. "This was not something we asked him to do. This was something that he just took the initiative to do."
And he says Avatar proves that you can use science fiction to talk about environmental themes without turning off viewers — as long as you don't preach. "It's not overt. There's no moment where somebody says, 'Here's the facts about the environment. Here's the facts about global warming.' Leave that to An Inconvenient Truth," says Landau. "This is storytelling. Jake Sully goes on a journey of discovery, where he chooses his path. All we are asking people to do is to open their eyes. We're not telling them how to think. We're letting them come to their own conclusions."
Cameron's love of difficulty:
James Cameron faced a lot of challenges making his early films, from budget issues on The Terminator to rebellious studio workers on Aliens. Now he's in a position where he can do whatever he wants, with whatever resources he needs — but he still creates huge challenges for himself, from the underwater filming of The Abyss to the technological challenges of Avatar.
So why does Cameron like to make things difficult for himself? Landau explains:
Look, I think Jim is the consummate definition of an explorer - that person who always needs to be going to the next frontier and he does it both in his art and his life, where he goes down and dives into the thermal vents of the ocean. He does it in his art, when he presses the technology forward and everything. That's who Jim is, and he needs that to thrive.
Avatar is out on DVD and Blu-Ray today.