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NEW YORK – Since a Led Zeppelin reunion is out of the question, Jimmy Page has done the next best thing — re-mastered the band's entire catalog.
As a producer on the recordings, Page had many studio takes in his possession. After spending the last few years listening to hundreds of hours of music, nine freshly mastered studio albums will be released in chronological order, three at a time. The first set arrives Tuesday.
In addition, each album includes a companion disc of music previously unheard to give fans "an extra perspective," Page said.
The legendary guitarist sat down recently with The Associated Press to talk about the rereleased recordings, the band's legacy and if he'll ever work again with Robert Plant.
AP: When you started Led Zeppelin, you essentially wanted to build a new version of the Yardbirds.
Page: The Yardbirds sort of disbanded, and I was disappointed because I thought what we were doing was really good. I thought we were really onto something. I thought I was really onto something with these ideas that I had. I was using acoustic in that band. ... But we were caught up in that singles tract, which was so destroying, really. We had to deal with these silly songs where on the flip side of the single, there'd be something that we did ourselves that was more reflective of the band's character.
AP: Did you ever imagine Led Zeppelin would get as big as it did?
Page: I played guitar all my life, all the way through the Yardbirds, but I knew that for me this was going to be a guitar vehicle, because that's what I wanted it to be. There is no way I would play guitar like a tour de force like I did in Led Zeppelin. John Bonham, phenomenal drummer, young man with his technique, but do you think he would ever have the opportunity to play like that in another band? Of course he hadn't. And the same with John Paul Jones — superaccomplished musician, but he'd never had the chance to play like that. Or Robert (Plant). And so these four musical equals, because they were — they were all stars in their own right — could actually play and the synergy that they had was second to none. That's all there was to it.
AP: After John (Bonham) died (in 1980), tell me why you decided to not continue with the band?
Page: It would be a bit dishonest; it would be totally dishonest. So it took time, a time to be able to reconsider doing anything like that. But of course, we did do it and we did it well. (They reunited in 2007 at the O2 Arena in London.)
AP: Will you make music with Robert (Plant) again?
Page: Robert seems really keen on just wanting to make music on his own without any of his previous band members. It seems quite apparent because I've seen him with these projects that come and go during the period where I've been dealing with this project, with the exception of the O2 and Celebration Day (when they reunited). ... That's all right because it is what it is. I certainly have some really good ideas.
AP: How did Led Zeppelin control its music as opposed to the label?
Page: It was being paid for, paid for at this end (points to himself), so it wasn't like going to a record company (and) saying, 'Can I have an advance?' At that point, being the guitarist of the Yardbirds after they folded, they wouldn't have been too encouraging. The only way to do it was to get your own album, and then go to the record company, because when you do that, you can make certain stipulations. That was pretty unusual in those days. It wasn't done like that.
AP: Will you go back into the studio?
Page: I haven't recorded the material I got because I haven't had a unit due to all the comings and goings of these albums. ... I want to be seen playing this new material, say next year.


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Four states sued the federal government Tuesday, claiming that the new $10,000 limit on state and local tax (SALT) deductions is an "unconstitutional assault on states' sovereign choices." The suit, which names Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, acting IRS commissioner David Kautter and the United States of America among its defendants, was filed in the Southern District of New York.
The four states — Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and New York — assert that the SALT deduction cap, which was created in the Republican tax bill signed into law in December, violates the Sixteenth and Tenth Amendments. The Sixteenth Amendment, adopted in 1913, facilitates the federal government's collection of income taxes, while the Tenth Amendment, which is part of the Bill of Rights and was ratified in 1791, states that all powers not explicitly delegated to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states.
The suit claims that the unlimited SALT deduction is protected by the Constitution, and that the effort to limit it unfairly targeted states with higher local taxes. "This cap is unconstitutional - going well beyond settled limits on federal power to impose an income tax, while deliberately targeting New York and similar states in an attempt to coerce us into changing our fiscal policies and the vital programs they support," said New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood in a statement.
According to a press release from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the deduction cap will cost New York residents $14.3 billion in higher tax federal tax payments this year, and $121 billion between 2019 and 2025.
The suit, which has been expected for months, received little support from legal and tax experts in the hours following the announcement. Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation tweeted, "The New York-led lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the SALT deduction cap is very creative but not very convincing. (That's being polite.)" In a rapid-fire analysis on Twitter, University of Iowa law professor Andy Grewal wrote, "If this lawsuit succeeds, I will post a video of myself eating every single page of the Internal Revenue Code, one-by-one."

subset: commoncrawl


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Science Daily — Let's say a college student enters a classroom to take a test. She probably already has an idea how she will do on the test, before she even takes out a pencil. But do animals possess the same ability to think about what they know or don't know?
A new study by researchers from the University of Georgia, just published in the journal Current Biology, shows that laboratory rats do. It's the first demonstration that any non-primate knows when it doesn't know something, and it could open the way to more in-depth studies about how animals--and humans--think.
"This kind of research may change how we think about cognition and memory in animals," said Jonathon Crystal, an associate professor of psychology in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Crystal's co-author on the paper is Allison Foote, a graduate student in the department of psychology at UGA.
Researchers have believed for some time that people and non-human primates are capable of "metacognition"--reasoning or thinking about one's own thinking. There have been studies on birds about this kind of thinking process, but results thus far have been inconclusive. The new study is the first that shows a non-primate species has metacognition--a proposal that may well be controversial.
The study involved what is called a "duration-discrimination" test--offering rats rewards for classifying a signal as either short or long. As in most such tests, the "right" answer led to a large food reward, while a "wrong" answer led to no reward at all. The twist, however, is that before taking the duration test, the rats were given the chance to decline the test completely. If they made that choice, they got a small reward anyway.
"If rats have knowledge about whether they know or don't know the answer to the test, we would expect them to decline most frequently on difficult tests," said Crystal. "They would also show the lowest accuracy on difficult tests that they can't decline. Our data showed both to be true, suggesting the rats have knowledge of their own cognitive states."
It's easy to find out when humans believe they know or don't know the answer to a task or test. You just ask them. With non-verbal animals, it is necessary to used experimental conditions in which a subject can demonstrate knowledge of a cognitive state through its behavior.
The tests asked the rats to discriminate among a number of responses. Sometimes, the choices were relatively easy, and the rats were able to make a choice that generated a large reward. But often, the choices were quite difficult, and the animals faced a dilemma: Should they continue and take a chance on the test with the risk of no food reward, or should they just bail out and take the small, but guaranteed reward?
One part of the problem, for example, was presenting the rats with a sound and asking them to determine if it was "short" or "long." When the sounds were near the extremes of either end, discriminating was easy. But for sounds with durations in the mid-range, the rats found it extremely hard to know if they were "short" or "long." So what should they do: Guess and possibly be wrong, or simply refuse to take the test and get a small reward?
"Our research showed that the rats know when they don't know the answer to a question," said Crystal.
The results of the just-published study present a dilemma for those who had previously believed that only primates could achieve metacognition. But it also presents a rodent model that should allow researchers to understand better what animals are "cognitively sophisticated" and why.
The research will also open new lines of inquiry about the underlying neural mechanisms of this ability. Reflecting on one's own mental experiences is a defining feature of human existence, and the demonstration of metacognition in rats suggests that this type of cognition may be widespread among animals. Does it mean, for example, that rats are "conscious," and could that also be true of other non-primates?
The research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Georgia.


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The Pension Crisis in Cities
01-17-2013The Pew Center on the States issued a study this week that sheds further light on our municipal pension problems, a political crisis with strong Arendtian overones. Where most studies have focused on the enormous problems faced by states, this one focuses on cities:
Cities employing nearly half of U.S. municipal workers saw their pension and retiree health-care funding levels fall from 79% in fiscal year 2007 to 74% in fiscal year 2009, using the latest available data, according to the Pew Center on the States. Pension systems are considered healthy if they are 80% funded.
The growing funding gulf, which the study estimated at more than $217 billion for the 61 cities in the study, raises worries about local finances at a time when states are also struggling to recover from the recession. Property-tax revenue dipped during the housing crisis, straining city finances amid a weak national economy.
The reason to pay attention to the problems in cities is that cities have even less ability to solve their pension shortfalls than states. The smaller the population, the more a city would have to tax each citizen in order to help pay for the pensions of its retired public workers. The result is that either cities get bailed out by states and lose their independence (as is happening in Michigan) or the cities file for bankruptcy (as is happening in California).
Also this week the NY Times ran a story about San Bernadino, one of three California cities to file for bankruptcy as a result of their pension obligations. It is a stark reminder of why we should care about public pensions:
Five months after San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy — the third California city to seek Chapter 9 protections in 2012 — residents here are confronting a transformed and more perilous city. After violent crime had dropped steadily for years, the homicide rate shot up more than 50 percent in 2012 as a shrinking police force struggled to keep order in a city long troubled by street gangs that have migrated from Los Angeles, 60 miles to the west. … "The parks department is shredded, the libraries similarly," [the mayor] said. "My office is down to nobody. I've got literally no one left."
A similar fate is befalling other California cities that are in bankruptcy:
Stockton, Calif., which filed for bankruptcy in June, has followed a similarly grim path into insolvency, logging more homicides last year than ever before. In Vallejo, Calif., which filed for bankruptcy in 2008, cuts left the police force a third smaller, and the city became a hub for prostitution.
As I have argued, the pension crisis is not arcane policy or economics. It is a crisis of politics and government. It came about because municipal and state governments offered irresponsible contracts to public employees. There is no way these contractually guaranteed pensions can be paid. By refusing to face up to this fact now, we are making the problem worse. The result will be the hollowing out of local government services across the country. Police forces will be decimated. Public libraries and fire stations will close. Parks will fall into disrepair. All in order to pay full pensions to retirees. This of course won't happen. Cities will refuse to do it, as they have in California and elsewhere. The result will then be bankruptcy, which comes with its own tragedies.
For anyone who cares about government and wants government to succeed, the pension problem must be addressed, for it threatens not only economic disaster, but political cynicism beyond even today's wildest dreams. Across the country, teachers, policemen and firemen, not to mention civil service employees and others, will see their promised pensions shrink precipitously. Not only will this devastate retirement nest eggs for millions of people, it will fray the social contract—pitting young against old and taxpayers against public employees. This is already happening.
What is more, the pension crisis will likely further erode local control over our lives. As municipalities go bankrupt they turn to states. As states go bankrupt, they turn to the federal government. Bailouts come with strings and ever-increasing levels of bureaucracy. For those who understand that our federal system was designed to thwart the establishment of sovereignty by dispersing power through competing levels of governance, the pension crisis has the potential to radically disempower local governments and further the amassing of federal power already long underway.
There may not be pretty or easy solutions, but ignoring or denying the problem is no longer an option. It is time for those who care about government and freedom to engage the pension issue and insist to our legislators that we act to treat pensioners with respect but also preserve the power of local governments to support rich and vibrant political institutions.


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To add some fun to our Home for the Holidays week, we thought we'd give YOU the chance to add your two cents to the mix! On each site, we've got a question we'd like you to answer. Share your thoughts below in the comments, and then hop over to visit the other sites!
The day after Thanksgiving our family cut down our Christmas tree from a nearby farm, and retrieved the box of holiday decorations from the basement. In our home, this also means bringing up our library of holiday books we've accumulated over the years.
I spread them out on our living room rug while the kids played outside, and had the fun of watching as they "discovered" the books after coming in:
I'm not sure I can pick just one favorite, but here are a few of our top choices: The Nativity, Apple Tree Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy, and A Little House Christmas Treasury.
So that's our question today: What's your favorite holiday read-aloud?
Looking forward to reading your responses, and discovering some new titles!


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Dateline: Italy— Investigators in Naples are looking into the possibility that pizzas in the famed city are being baked with wood stolen from a local cemetery. "Pizza, one of the few symbols of Naples that endures … is hit by the concrete suspicion that it could be baked with wood from coffins," wrote Italian daily Il Giornale . Neapolitan pizza is traditionally cooked in a stone oven over an oak-wood fire. The newspaper reports that local police believe criminals may be offering smaller, low-end pizza shops a cheaper alternative. "A gang might have set up a market for coffins sold to hardhearted owners of bakeries and pizzerias looking to save money on wood," Il Giornale said. Naples' historic graveyard has long been a target for thieves. Last year, some 5,000 flowerpots were looted from the cemetery grounds. Dateline: Massachusetts— A father has been caught allegedly trying to trade his baby daughter for some beer outside a gas station convenience store in Chicopee. Chicopee Police Sgt. Christopher Lareau told WWLP-22 News that 24-year-old Matthew Brace of Northampton offered his 3-month-old daughter to a maintenance man working outside the Pride gas station in exchange for two 40-ounce beers. The incident took place at around 1 p.m. last Monday. The infant's mother, 31-year-old Wendy Arsenault, was inside the convenience store at the time. Brace put the baby in the worker's truck and said, "For two 40s, you can have her." The worker then called police. Officers found Brace hiding behind a trash container trying to dispose of the baby's stroller. According to news reports, the parents are on public assistance and have been living at a nearby Econo Lodge. Arsenault later told WWLP-22 she was buying cigarettes at the time and knew nothing about Brace's business deal. Brace was not arrested but was summoned to court on charges of reckless endangerment of a child. The baby is now in state custody. Dateline: New Jersey— A group of high school students almost got a free trip to an amusement park instead of the ride to school they were expecting. Officials say a school bus driver who showed up early accidentally collected 30 Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School students instead of the seventh and eighth graders he was supposed to pick up and take on a field trip to Six Flags Great Adventure. The students boarded the bus around 7:45 a.m. last Wednesday morning but became concerned when the driver passed their school and got onto the New Jersey Turnpike. Several of them called their parents. The scrupulous students told the driver they weren't supposed to be going to an amusement park and eventually convinced him to turn around and take them to school instead. Dateline: Georgia— How bad are our country's economic woes? About 180 county employees in suburban Atlanta are being asked to return thousands of dollars in bonuses they received—16 years ago. Gwinnett County's chief financial officer, Aaron Bovos, calls it a project to "clean up receivables and to eliminate outstanding obligations." According to the county, employees weren't actually supposed to get bonuses to their paychecks back in 1994. Authorities blamed the overpayments on a "payroll anomaly" caused by the county adjusting employees' payroll cycles. More than $39,000 was paid out, and now the county wants it all back. Employees can fork over a cash payment or apply the money to vacation time. Dateline: Florida— A Daytona Beach woman has been arrested after allegedly assaulting a drive-through worker at a fast food restaurant with a Taser over a lack of condiments. Melanese Asia Reid and her friend Katrina Mari-Alyce Bryant placed an order at the drive-through window of a Wendy's restaurant last Monday morning. When the drive-though attendant failed to include the requested mustard and mayonnaise packets, the two women became verbally abusive and used what was described as "discriminatory language." Reid then tried to slap the worker. The worker deflected the blow, which only seemed to make the customers madder. Reid and Bryant responded by parking their car and entering the restaurant armed with a pink stun gun. Reid began chasing the worker around the store, while Bryant cheered her on. Reid was unable to get a clear shot, and the women left after the manager threatened to call police. Unwilling to leave it at that, the two women went home and later called the Wendy's store to complain about their continuing lack of condiments. The manager tricked the women into saying where they were, and police tracked them down. Reid is now charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and Bryant is charged with being a principal to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.


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Mike Whitney
February 24, 2017 "Information Clearing House" – "Counterpunch" - The war party is back in power and the odds of normal relations with Russia have dropped to zero.
The appointment of Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster to the position of national security adviser indicates that Trump has done an about-face on his most critical foreign policy issue, normalizing relations with Russia. General Michael Flynn– who recently stepped down from the post following allegations of lying to Vice President Mike Pence –was the main proponent of easing tensions with Moscow which is a position that had been enthusiastically embraced by President Donald Trump. But McMaster does not support normalizing relations with Russia, in fact, McMaster sees Russia as a "hostile revisionist power" that "annex(es) territory, intimidates our allies, develops nuclear weapons, and uses proxies under the cover of modernized conventional militaries." So, what's going on? Why has Trump put a Moscow-hating hawk like McMaster in a position where he'll be able to intensify the pressure on Russia, increase the provocations and, very likely, trigger a conflagration between the two nuclear-armed superpowers?
The appointment of McMaster is an attempt by Trump to placate his enemies in the Intel agencies and foreign policy establishment. Trump is signaling to his adversaries that he will cooperate in carrying out their strategic agenda provided they allow him to finish his term. Trump doesn't want to end up like Flynn nor does he want to do battle with the all-powerful deep state operatives who can launch one demeaning propaganda blitz after the other followed by years of excruciating investigations leading inevitably to a lengthy and humiliating impeachment that leaves Trump a broken, discredited shambles. That's not how Trump wants to end his career in politics. He wants to end it on a high note, riding a wave of burgeoning affection and love.
That's why he picked McMaster. The neocons love him, the liberal interventionists love him, the media loves him and the entire political establishment loves him. Everyone loves him. He's the "warrior-scholar" who 'speaks truth to power' and writes futuristic books on 'generation warfare', 'information superiority' and 'predictive battlespace awareness' all of which delight his devoted admirers. The downside of McMaster is that he is a hard-boiled militarist with a driving animus towards Russia. Judging by his writing on the topic, I would expect a broader and more lethal conflict to flare up in either Syria or Ukraine as soon as he gets settled in his new job.
Bottom line: The removal of Flynn has convinced Trump that powerful elements within the national security state have him in their crosshairs. As a result, Trump has relinquished control of foreign policy and handed the whole mess over to gladiator McMaster who will coordinate with Sec-Def General James Mattis on a new strategy to deploy US troops to East Syria and West Iraq to establish a permanent military presence in "occupied" Sunnistan. (The area will also be used for natural gas pipeline corridors connecting Qatar to the EU) The strategy in Ukraine will focus primarily on luring Russia into a long and resource-draining war that will further depress the ailing Russian economy precipitating political instability, social unrest and regime change. That is the hope at least, that Russia's wars abroad will lead to the ousting of Vladimir Putin.
Here's a few clips from a presentation McMaster gave at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on May 4, 2016. They help to clarify the man's ominous world view:
"…what I'd really like to talk to you about is (the) period we're in right now, a period of increasing risks…risks to our nation, to our allies, and really all of humanity……….
globally – the situation in connection with U.S. vital interests and security – .. is changing really in a direction that's going to raise additional challenges to the U.S. and U.S. national security…. what we're seeing is a shift in geopolitics in a way that imposes great dangers and has elevated the risk of a major international military crisis to the highest level in the last 70 years. A number of scholars are writing about this – Jakub Grygiel and Wess Mitchell in particular in their great recent book "Unquiet Frontier," where they describe revisionist powers, Russia and China in particular on the Eurasian landmass, that are surrounded by weak states which are now becoming battlegrounds, areas of competition at the far reaches of American power." ("Harbingers of Future War: Implications for the Army with Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster", The Center for Strategic and International Studies)
We have discussed the "pivot to Asia" ad nauseam in this column. McMaster's comments help to underscore the fact that the struggle to control the "Eurasian landmass", the center of economic growth for the next century, is at the heart of the US imperial crusade which is now entering a new and more dangerous phase.
McMaster: "I also think Margaret MacMillan's great essay written in 2014 making the analogy between 2014 and 1914, and really making the point that geopolitics is back; maybe our – what we might call our holiday from history in the post-Cold War period is over."
So in McMaster's mind, another global conflagration on a par with World War 1 is now in the making. Unlike most people, he sees this as a challenge rather than an apocalyptic event that should be avoided at all cost.
McMaster: "I think what might have punctuated the end of the post-Cold War period is Russia's invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Now, this was – this was not really a new development in terms of Russian aggression. I think you can go back to the denial-of-service attacks on the Baltic states in 2007, certainly the invasion of Georgia in 2008."
McMaster is extremely well read and follows the news closely. He knows that Georgia attacked South Ossetia and that Putin –who was at the Olympics at the time– merely responded. Why is McMaster deliberately misleading his audience about the details? And why doesn't he explain how the elected government of Ukraine was toppled in a CIA-State Department coup? Those facts are readily available to anyone who has seriously researched the incident.
It seems obvious that McMaster is twisting the truth to make his case against Russia.
"…even though it may have been apparent at least since 2008 that Russia was changing its geostrategic behavior … what we're seeing now is we've awakened to, obviously, this threat from Russia, who is waging limited war for limited objectives – annexing Crimea, invading Ukraine – at zero cost, consolidating gains over that territory, and portraying the reaction by us and allies and partners as escalatory."
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The "threat from Russia"? In other words, NATO is not responsible for its relentless push eastward expanding its grip on all the former Soviet satellites in east Europe, deploying its tanks, heavy artillery, troops and missile systems right onto Russia's doorstep. No. Instead, Russia should be blamed for its fictitious invasion of Crimea.
McMaster is basing his argument on fake facts and a convoluted interpretation of events that doesn't square with reality. Russia is the victim of US-NATO aggression not the perpetrator.
McMaster then offers a remedy for so called 'Russian aggression': "…what is required to deter a strong nation that is waging limited war for limited objectives on battlegrounds involving weaker states … is forward deterrence, to be able to ratchet up the cost at the frontier, and to take an approach to deterrence that is consistent with deterrence by denial, convincing your enemy that your enemy is unable to accomplish his objectives at a reasonable cost rather than sort of an offshore balancing approach and the threat of punitive action at long distance later, which we know obviously from – recent experience confirms that that is inadequate."
"Forward deterrence"? This needs to be clarified.
What McMaster is saying, is that, instead of threatening to retaliate at some time in the future, the US should use 'deterrence by denial', that is, make it as hard and as costly as possible for Russia to achieve its strategic objectives. By defeating ISIS in Eastern Syria and establishing permanent US military bases, McMaster intends to prevent Russia from restoring Syria's sovereign borders which is one of the primary goals of the mission. The "safe zones" that Trump has talked about recently, fit perfectly with this same strategy as they undermine Moscow's efforts to reunify the state and bring the conflict to an end.
This appears to be the plan that McMaster will pursue as national security adviser. Expect US ground troops to be deployed to Syria as soon as the details are worked out.
More from McMaster:
"… what Russia is employing…is a sophisticated strategy…that combines conventional forces as cover for unconventional action, but a much more sophisticated campaign involving the use of criminality and organized crime, and really operating effectively on this battleground of perception and information, and in particular part of a broader effort to sow doubt and conspiracy theories across our alliance. And this effort, I believe, is aimed really not at defensive objectives, but at offensive objectives – to collapse the post-World War II, certainly the post-Cold War, security, economic, and political order in Europe, and replace that order with something that is more sympathetic to Russian interests."
The Russian strategy employs "criminality and organized crime" to effect "perception and information"?
This is just more demonization of Russia intended to make the case for war. Putin does not want a war with the US nor does he want to "collapse the post-World War II order… and replace that order with something that is more sympathetic to Russian interests."
Putin is a firm believer in capitalism and still participates in the G-20 and WTO. What Putin objects to is the US using its extraordinary power to topple regimes it doesn't like spreading death and instability across the planet. That's what he opposes, the persistent meddling that undermines global security. Is that so unreasonable?
"So what do all these conflicts have in common is they're about the control of territory, people and resources. ….what we need is that synergy between the joint force, where our forces have the capability and the capacity to deter conflict and, if that fails, to resolve conflict in our interest – to protect our security and our vital interests. And that may entail imposing outcomes without the cooperation of the enemy, and that has significant implications for the Army in particular."
In other words, we are going to continue to fight for oil and markets (our "vital interests"), we're going to go it alone if necessary, and if somebody tries to stop us, we're going to annihilate them.
Isn't that what he's saying?
You know it is. There's not going to be normal relations between Russia and the US on McMaster's watch. The man believes we are in a life or death struggle with an evil enemy that wants to do us harm. That's not the basis for building peaceful relations. It's a justification for war.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at [email protected].


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President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century
Random House Trade, June 2013. Trade Paperback. Used - Good. Item #270443
In 1901, as America tallied its gains from a period of unprecedented imperial expansion, an assassin's bullet shattered the nation's confidence. The shocking murder of President William McKinley threw into stark relief the emerging new world order of what would come to be known as the American Century. The President and the Assassin is the story of the momentous years leading up to that event, and of the very different paths that brought together two of the most compelling figures of the era: President William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist who murdered him.
The two men seemed to live in eerily parallel Americas. McKinley was to his contemporaries an enigma, a president whose conflicted feelings about imperialism reflected the country's own. Under its popular Republican commander-in-chief, the United States was undergoing an uneasy transition from a simple agrarian society to an industrial powerhouse spreading its influence overseas by force of arms. Czolgosz was on the losing end of the economic changes taking place--a first-generation Polish immigrant and factory worker sickened by a government that seemed focused solely on making the rich richer. With a deft narrative hand, journalist Scott Miller chronicles how these two men, each pursuing what he considered the right and honorable path, collided in violence at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
Along the way, readers meet a veritable who's who of turn-of-the-century America: John Hay, McKinley's visionary secretary of state, whose diplomatic efforts paved the way for a half century of Western exploitation of China; Emma Goldman, the radical anarchist whose incendiary rhetoric inspired Czolgosz to dare the unthinkable; and Theodore Roosevelt, the vainglorious vice president whose 1898 charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba is but one of many thrilling military adventures recounted here.
Rich with relevance to our own era, The President and the Assassin holds a mirror up to a fascinating period of upheaval when the titans of industry grew fat, speculators sought fortune abroad, and desperate souls turned to terrorism in a vain attempt to thwart the juggernaut of change.
Praise for The President and the Assassin
"[A] panoramic tour de force . . . Miller has a good eye, trained by years of journalism, for telling details and enriching anecdotes."--The Washington Independent Review of Books
"Even without the intrinsic draw of the 1901 presidential assassination that shapes its pages, Scott Miller's The President and the Assassin [is] absorbing reading. . . . What makes the book compelling is [that] so many circumstances and events of the earlier time have parallels in our own."--The Oregonian
"A marvelous work of history, wonderfully written."--Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World
"A real triumph."--BookPage
"Fast-moving and richly detailed."--The Buffalo News
"[A] compelling read."--The Boston Globe
One of Newsweek's 10 Must-Read Summer Books
Originally published in hardcover in 2011.
Used Book
Price: $8.00


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The Brazilian supermodel gave birth to little Vivian Lake in December and took to Facebook to post a picture of her cradling the adorable tot.
Alongside the photograph, she wrote: "Love is everything!!! Happy friday, much love to all. (sic)"
Gisele already has three year-old son Benjamin with husband Tom Brady and after Vivian's birth she spoke of her joy about having another baby.
She said: "We feel so lucky to have been able to experience the miracle of birth once again and are forever grateful for the opportunity to be the parents of another little angel.
"Vivian Lake was born at home on December 5. She is healthy and full of life."
The 32-year-old catwalk beauty went on to thank her fans on behalf of her and her family for all their congratulatory messages.
She added: "Thank you all for your support and well wishes. We wish you and your families many blessings."
Tom - who plays football for the New England Patriots, who are based in the Greater Boston area - also has a five-year-old son, John, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.


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As I closed Cecily Wong's Diamond Head, I sat a moment, reflecting, tears running down my cheeks. I was not ready for it to end. I found this novel to be a quiet one mostly, an inside look at a family's successes and failures and how decisions made by one person come to impact others, sometimes across generations. It's a theme I find myself drawn to again and again in novels.
Cecily Wong does not write in a linear fashion; her story is told in flashbacks, not always in order, spanning the early 1900's up until 1964. It works well for this novel; Wong weaves the various narratives and time periods together expertly. Diamond Head has a strong sense of place. I could feel the magic of Hawaii when Lin Leong, Frank's wife, first sets foot on the island on Oahu. Cecily Wong brings both China and Hawaii alive with her words as she shares the story of the Leongs with her reader.
The story of the red string of fate binding together true love partners runs throughout the novel in one form or another. And in that way, Diamond Head is very much a love story, albeit a tragic one more often than not. It is also the story of family and of the choices we make--or don't make--as well as of redemption. The talk of fate weighs heavily on the pages; it weighs on the characters, like the knots that form in the red string when they stray from their fate, how it can hurt and punish. Each of the characters in the novel has their own story to tell, and, through the women, we get to know not only the stories but how they are interconnected. I liked that the reader gets the opportunity to know each of the women from their own perspectives as well as from each others.
At various points in the novel I wished for different fates for the characters, that they could have made different choices, seeing the direction their choices were likely to lead. And yet, had they made different choices, would their circumstances been better? Many times, the characters thought so--which in an of itself is sad. There were a lot of regrets, guilt and sacrifice. Within that though, there was also joy and hope.
I ached for Lin, the abuse she suffered as a child to the betrayal she suffered later in her life. My heart broke for Hong who lost the love of her life. I suffered with her during her long journey to her husband's brother's house with her shoes falling apart, hunger eating away at her, admiring her strength all the while. I wrung my hands and cried with Amy as she had to make the hardest decision of her life: a choice between love and family. And I felt Theresa's anguish for what she was going through, alone. I also felt for the men in the novel: Bohai and his brother Kaipo, and their father, whose mistakes reverberated long after his death.
The novel is told over the span of many decades, touching on the Boxer Rebellion in China, the tensions in the country at that time, through the beginning of World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor up through 1964. As a lover of history, I would not have minded a deeper look into the history of Hawaii itself during the stretch of time encompassing the story, but so much else was going on in the lives of the characters, I am not sure how it would have been fit in.
I found Diamond Head to be beautifully written, and the characters intricately drawn. I was swept into the story and into the lives of the characters, caring about them and dreaming along side them. The ending did seem a bit abrupt on one hand, at least where one of the characters was concerned, but for some of the characters it was quite satisfying. My tears were testament to that.
Rating: (Very Good)
Many thanks to the TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to be a part of this book tour. Copy of book provided by publisher for an honest review.
© 2014, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.


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Gursev Singh Kalra
Foundstone, A Division of McAfee
Gursev Singh Kalra serves as a Principal Consultant with Foundstone Professional Services, a division of McAfee. Gursev has done extensive security research on CAPTCHA schemes and implementations. He has written a Visual CAPTCHA Assessment tool TesserCap that was voted among the top ten web hacks of 2011. He has identified CAPTCHA implementation vulnerabilities like CAPTCHA Re-Riding Attack, CAPTCHA Fixation among others. He has also developed open source SSL Cipher enumeration tool SSLSmart, OData assessmeht tool Oyedata and CAPTCHA Provider Impersonation tool clipcaptcha. He has spoken at conferences like BlackHat, ToorCon, OWASP, NullCon, Infosec Southwest etc...
Sessions with this speaker
- BRIEFING | Attacking Odata


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Scenes from Sing 2014
The sixth and final night of All University Sing for 2014 concluded Saturday, and for the second year in a row, Kappa Omega Tau came away as the year's top group.
[PHOTOS: Gallery featuring more than 100 photos from this year's performances]
The Baylor Lariat described KOT's act, "The Battle Within," as "the most compelling concept of the night," "the epitome of effective storytelling," and "precisely why people keep coming back to Sing year after year." Apparently, the judges agreed; KOT was followed by Delta Delta Delta (second place) and Alpha Tau Omega (third place).
Those three groups will be joined at this fall's Pigskin Revue by Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Sigma, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Pi Beta Phi/Phi Kappa Chi. Pigskin is, as always, slated for Homecoming weekend; this year's Homecoming is the weekend of Oct. 30-Nov. 2.
(For the uninitiated, All University Sing is a Baylor tradition dating back to 1953. This year's event featured 17 seven-minute Broadway-style acts from 19 student organizations, all competing in front of judges, family and friends.)
Sic 'em, Sing stars!
You might also like:
* Scenes from Sing 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008


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Editor's note: This article is from a two-partseries that originally ran in the February 2013 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine. All rights reserved.
The following dialogue is based on a presentation given by Katerina Steventon, PhD, (KS) at the Anti-Ageing Skin Care Conference on June 12, 2012, in London. It establishes a conversation with Steve Barton (SB), a skin biologist with Skin Thinking Ltd., to discuss concerns and perceptions of British consumers related to skin care. Barton has extensive experience working with marketing teams to improve communication of skin care benefits to consumers by initiating communication between the consumer and the product developer.
KS: As a skin care consultant promoting skin health, my credibility stems from achieving results and alleviating skin concerns. The challenge is to find products that truly deliver visible benefits; there is not a single brand on the market that can address all skin types.
SB: You make two good points. I agree that credibility and satisfying (all) consumer needs are vital for sustainable success in cosmetic development; credibility with dermatological professionals and regulators is also present. However, I do believe visible benefits are being delivered to our consumers, and your struggle to find products that "truly deliver visible benefits" may be reflection of a "clinician's" view. This has encouraged "clinical testing" on cosmetics, which, by definition, target (overall) appearance with no requirement for clinical change. This is further complicated since consumer self-assessment includes both emotional and rational judgments; some degree of "placebo effect" is evident for cosmetics. On the second point, the consumer's needs comprise diverse characteristics under the skin aging umbrella. Developers work hard to understand the consumer's needs, but satisfying all these needs, even within one range, may be an unreasonable expectation. While this is difficult, companies now advertise products tested on a range of ethnicities.
Facial Skin Care
KS: The British facial skin care market has a value of approximately £1 billion (£0.88 billion in 2010), and is still growing despite the recession. Consumers pay attention to aging concerns in uncertain economic times, and the anti-aging category is strong. Launches with anti-aging claims, as defined by Mintel, are rising in the U.K., but usage of anti-aging skin care is lower in the U.K. than in the rest of Western Europe. The target group of consumers for anti-aging skin care is age 35+, specifically 45–65. Consumers are looking for these essential claims: moisturization (90%), anti-aging (32%) and radiance (6%). Desirable claims include "green, ethical, sustainable and botanical" with certification.
SB: Another challenge for a [product developer] is the definition of anti-aging skin care. Are all anti-aging claims the same? By analogy, hair conditioning was only credible as something separate to shampooing 30 year ago, but conditioning shampoos are common in today's market. Consumer experience has made this credible, but conditioners offer consumers more intensive sensory and objectively measured results. All facial moisturizers could be defined as anti-aging, as the majority will improve skin hydration and condition—key components of improving the signs of skin aging.
Like hair conditioners, there are high performance skin products that are desired by many consumers. The [product developer] must determine what type of anti-aging the consumer expects, be it protection, maintenance, improvement, dullness, wrinkles or uneven pigmentation.
The summary of the "essential claims" demonstrates the diversity of cosmetic end-points, and consumers will define these differently. These are rarely mutually exclusive or independent end-points, so "targeting" this with technology is rarely precise. Likewise, the techniques chosen to assess aged skin are rarely direct measures of one characteristic. [Product developers] have to decide which aspects to test and communicate to their consumers—simplifying the message and fulfilling expectation is a skill.
The "desirable" claims highlighted, again, have a strong emotional connection. The [product developer] often struggles to fulfill these needs without compromising on sensorial and performance criteria.
Aging Demographics and Society
KS: Skin is a visible organ of emotional expression and social communication. Skin condition impacts the perception of others and an individual's self-esteem. Aging baby boomers have grown old in a society fascinated with youth, beauty and celebrity. Dissatisfaction with facial appearance can cause distress, low self-esteem and compromised relationships. Our society views visible aging differently from internal diseases. Aging women, in particular are paid less attention and visual contact, making them feel invisible. They perceive greater pressure to look youthful at work, despite age discrimination legislation. Exposure to the ideal images in the media is detrimental at times to greater self-monitoring such as during menopause.
SB: This issue has received a lot of attention lately. We should continue to explore changing consumer needs and attitudes to skin aging, appearance and health since the emotional component of anti-aging is as important as the technological. It is also clear that within these issues there is a broad range of responses in consumers, as some strive for perfection (whether idealized in their own minds, society or advertising) while others will accept the inevitability of skin aging. The challenge for the [product developer] is how to fulfill these needs, demonstrate success and communicate this by connecting to the consumer's emotional needs.
Skin Types and Concerns
KS: There is little consensus on skin type definitions in the scientific community. British women are least likely to report dry skin compared to other European women. While 16% say they have dry skin, 38% report they have normal skin (50% > 65+) and 28% report combination skin. However, many women incorrectly diagnose their skin type. Women with oily skin (6%), prone to negative perception in the society, demonstrate better judgment in assessing their skin type. Up to 40% of the adult population suffers from low level acne. Cultural differences play a role in skin type assessment; however, other influencing factors include seasons, smoking, stress, nutrition, medication, hormonal changes and inadequate skin care routines.
SB: Without clear definitions of skin types, this should not be surprising. From a technical standpoint, dry/oily/combination/normal give only directional guidance to potential solutions. There have been some attempts to improve on this. As the industry learns more about changes in skin condition with time, geography and ethnicity, brain-skin interaction and the genetic component of skin aging, the industry's knowledge of consumer expectations and the ability of a product to fulfill consumer needs lags behind our knowledge of the potential routes to changing their skin. There is a need to simplify processes of skin aging to improve expectations for better defined consumer subgroups.
The British Skin Care Consumer
KS: The characteristics of the U.K. skin care market are pragmatism, comfort and convenience. The British skin care culture is low key and convenience driven. Time constraints dominate, making cleansing wipes and all-in-one products popular. However, there is a high penetration of moisturizers in the U.K. market with 86% of consumers using a face cream and 48% using an anti-aging cream. As British women do not understand the importance of a night cream, only 34% use it. People ask for no-hype claims and informed choice, as they want to make an independent decision. Cognitively, they consider the data on efficacy important but skin care choice is an emotional decision. Relaxed, comfortable and convenient product concepts are successful. Also, slow-paced Internet retail experience and personalized advice are valued.
SB: So we agree that the balance between communicating on both emotional and rational bases is important for [product developers] and marketers who want to fulfill consumer needs and increase their market share.
KS: It is important for the skin care industry to encourage consumers to consider themselves worth cosmetic expenditure. Skin care should be seen as a healthy activity rather than a frivolous vanity, and the industry has to avoid offering consumers the deception that aging can be stopped when it can just be experienced differently. The preventive role of skin care and good habits are difficult to enforce, and it is important to start teaching children early.
Performance Benchmarks
KS: British consumers want to resolve all concerns, often without understanding the cost and risk involved. Cosmetic procedures, including surgery and injectables are a fast growing business, with £1.3 million procedures bringing in £2.3 billion in the U.K. in 2010. However, the recent implant crisis shows that the risks have been downgraded and there are issues with realistic consumer expectations. Skin care can never be as effective as radical surgery. Airbrushing and enhanced images that mimic the effect of surgery are false promises and are damaging to the skin care industry. The realistic targets include matching the efficacy of retinoic acid, the benchmark prescription therapy for fine wrinkles, and endorsement of skin care routines that deliver noticeable, small differences in reducing skin concerns.
SB: Recent agreements between Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association (CTPA) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the U.K. have clarified the use of pre- and post-production changes in advertising images. While consumers may compare their skin care to surgery, a review of consumer expectations of "surgical" procedures suggested that people prefer subtle alteration. This may be supported by L'Oréal's Laser Renew, a product presumably trialed versus laser resurfacing, a less invasive form of "surgical" intervention.
KS: The U.K. consumer responds to media coverage of new launches. A good example is the third party endorsement of Boots Protect & Perfect Serum on the BBC's Horizon in March 2007. The trial has been critiqued by the scientific community; however, the consumer demand brought Boots significant commercial success at the time. Two papers published since the TV program show a significant increase in fibrillin-1 deposition in six months and clinical improvement in facial wrinkles after 12 months (6 month, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial with a further 6 month open phase) compared to the vehicle and vehicle projection, respectively. This was the first clinically proven product that brought a step change in consumers' expectations.
SB: Cosmetic [product developers] have a long history of utilizing dermatologist's view of the processes in skin and its changes with age; however, the prevailing view of dermatologists is that cosmetics only providing temporary improvement in skin dryness or protect from UV damage using high SPF products. Accepting this dialogue requires agreement on standards of proof and scientific methodology, focusing on clinical outcome. Can cosmetic performance be tested in a clinical trial? The choice of placebo for placebo-controlled studies is also a challenge, with no real definition of a cosmetic placebo.
Boots was confident that the Protect & Perfect product could influence some skin aging factors from in vitro studies. This hypothesis was tested in a biopsy study investigating fibrillin expression with positive results that were eventually shown on the BBC program. The goal of this study was not provide clinical proof; the consumer (and press) made this extrapolation. Rather, the biopsy study provided the confidence to go into this clinical trial.
[Product developers] often find themselves in this position with new ingredients from suppliers that are formulated in bland bases. Amidst the surge in use of the Protect & Perfect product, there was some negative reaction. Interestingly, some [conusmers] who had changed from their usual routine to the serum, or started using the serum alone, found that it was not as good as their usual moisturizer. This was not surprising to [product developers] since it had not been formulated as a moisturizer. The serum was intended to deliver a more intense benefit and serve as an adjunct to a moisturizer.
It was clear that the message consumers heard was "the first 'clinically proven moisturizer' rather than the first product to have been tested in this manner. The overall lesson here is the need to ensure that simplifying the communication does not leave some important consumer needs unfulfilled. Education and clear advice at point of sale help this process, which is difficult when a product is selling at a rate of one every 10 seconds.
KS: Other long-term efficacy studies such as a double-blind, randomized, controlled, split face study, a comparison of a skin care product and a prescription treatment and a double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial followed the Boots trial. Some consumers ask for claims substantiated by an independent, blinded, long-term clinical trial with subjective views of the participants and clinical expert grading and objective scientific data obtained by non-invasive measurement. Initially expensive, this strategy drives commercial success. It differentiates between products with similar benefits, which is important in a purchasing environment without a dedicated sales consultant.
SB: I am interested in your statement that some consumers ask for claims substantiated in complex ways. I would suggest that they are looking for increased confidence, and cosmetic products offer the range of "confidence surrogates" that you describe.
This leaves the product developer with the challenge of identifying novel ways of saying the same thing—this product will help improve the signs of aging in your skin. [Product developers] are driven to use complex skin assessment methods that rarely measure the identified cosmetic characteristic directly. In panels, volunteers are often selected by age group even though the particular signs of aging are more relevant. The data is then analyzed with a view to arriving at a population mean effect, when it is known that sub-groups and responses will differ. Using these methods and relating the measure to the cosmetic end-point therefore requires a skill in communication to the consumer. The industry is driven in this direction in part as a response to regulatory controls, where a single model (often a clinical trial) is the most trusted model. [Product developers] need to engage more with the regulators and their advisors to better understand the burden of proof.
KS: The level of evidence required depends on the target consumer group. Sometimes a good case study relates to the consumer better than a clinical trial. Visual clues to "see how a product works" are always important. Irrespective of data, consumers want to test the products for themselves. As demonstrated with the Boots example, a third party endorsement by skin care experts, dermatologists and celebrities (to a lesser degree) is successful. The online community with independent reviews and blogs is also powerful and increasing in popularity.
SB: In the U.K., the CTPA/ASA guidelines are good first reference to understand the differences in required level of evidence. The cosmetics industry is self-regulated, so it must go to some lengths to support claims. The same cannot be said for advice sources on cosmetic products. I cannot be the only developer who has carried out intensive studies on statistically valid numbers of subjects and obtained statistically valid results only to hear that a self-appointed expert on cosmetics has tested the product on 10 people and found it lacking. Underlying such opinion, there may be some useful insights. [Product developers] should know their consumers' needs and engage with "independent" reviewers and consumer advocates to find out more.
Scientific Communication and Training
KS: My recommendation to the skin care industry is to communicate differently with the consumers. Communication of complex scientific issues in the media in a short space of time is difficult, but it is important to focus on claims related to well-being and self-esteem promoting skin health. Educating journalists to write competent, scientifically correct, independent articles is key. Peer group driven advertising and awareness of celebrity overuse means encouraging real personalities to share their experiences in social media. Training staff to increase their expertise and revisiting skin analysis with charts, handheld devices or imaging booths leads to higher compliance, customer loyalty and repeat purchase. This will require consolidation of instrumental methods and devices to compare results easily, for the consumers not to get discouraged by the overall complexity.
SB: Having been involved in such initiatives over the last 10+ years, I can only agree. My experience is that there need to be clear objectives and identification of the target customers and their needs. The major challenge is to create realistic expectations arising from such initiatives. This is particularly important in the context of the devices employed. Some do not directly measure cosmetic concerns. In the past, devices have done little more than provide the store advisor with more credibility, and the time spent using them is rarely rewarded financially. Those adopting such methods need to have clear expectations of the business benefits.
The Life-long Process of Skin Care
KS: I also recommend promoting skin care as a life-long process. Skin care delivers benefits if viewed as an enjoyable journey to youthful appearance and skin health. It is important to focus on the quality of the experience, not the age-defying end results. Anti-aging skin care should address the onset of specific concerns in the consumer's 40s or earlier. Improving consumer compliance can be achieved with attention to sensory benefits as well as packaging, formulation, texture and fragrance. Seeing ourselves look better helps us to feel better. Skin care has a role in building self-respect, self-esteem and personal stability.
SB: This idea supports my earlier comment that treating all anti-aging products as a single entity does not help the industry or the consumer. Most [product developers] have a clear view of the complexities of addressing skin through the ages, as well as the different ethnic, genetic and societal factors that influence attitudes of consumers to how they see their skin. What the cosmetic industry knows about aging skin and how to use this knowledge for today's consumers may be different for future generations. The debate we've had here will continue.
Katerina Steventon, PhD, of FaceWorkshops, is an independent consultant to the skin care industry and the general public. She holds a doctorate in transdermal absorption and has more than 20 years of experience in skin research at companies, including Shiseido, Juvena/LaPrairie, and Smith and Nephew Wound Management. Her consultancy provides objective recommendations to consumers on personalized skin care routines and facial treatments, and her column, "Consumer Perspective," will provide readers with unique insight on this commercial/scientific interface. [email protected].


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Shell Rethinking North Sea Project
Late yesterday, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) said that it plans to "reassess the development plan" for its joint venture with the U.K. division of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) for the Fram oil and gas field in the North Sea. The company said that "early assessments have shown unexpected results."
Shell owns 32% of the joint venture and is the field operator. Fram was cleared for development last October and, at that time, the companies expected production to reach 35,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent using a floating production storage and off-loading (FPSO) rig. That is not a huge project by Shell's or Exxon's standards - Shell's production totaled about 3.2 million barrels a day in 2011 and Exxon's topped 4 billion barrels a day. But it is a decent size and is located in an area that is not subject to the turmoil of many of the major companies' wells.
There is no indication in Shell's announcement of whether the "unexpected" results were good news or bad. Generally speaking, though, if the initial drilling showed a better-than-expected result, Shell almost certainly would have said so.
Shell stock is up about 0.6% in very early trading this morning, at $65.54 in a 52-week range of $60.62 to $74.09.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities, Oil & Gas Tagged: RDS-A, RDS-B, XOM


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Stop politicians from pretending to be your local newspaper
Sign the petition to end this and other deceptive campaign practices
Deceptive campaign practices risk misleading the public during elections.
Political parties have been using misleading formats—like pretending to be local newspapers—to gain votes. Full Fact has seen this happen consistently at previous elections and you can help stop it happening again this time.
These tactics are misleading to voters and risk undermining trust in the important institutions that protect our democracy—the local press, and the electoral system itself.
You can play a critical role as we head towards the next general election. Now is the time to make your voice heard and help end deceptive campaign practices.
Political parties should commit to honest campaigning practices by pledging not to use deceptive campaign practices that risk misleading voters and undermining trusted independent media institutions by no later than the announcement of the next general election.
Sign the petition to demand political parties end these deceptive campaign practices.
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Diana Teran, co-owner of La Tauna Tortillas, said she and her husband, Francisco Moreno, work various hours in their home to make their vegan tortillas. They started selling them at the Santa Cruz Farmers' Market, and now sell them at the Food Conspiracy Co-op and Sprouts. The La Tauna best-seller is the olive-oil tortilla, but the slightly spicy chiltepin version comes in a close second. In Tucson, the concept of vegan tortillas usually means no lard—and, therefore, no taste. "We started off wanting these to be healthy, but they had to taste good," Teran said. For more on La Tauna, go totheir website.
A meteor is going to hit the planet tomorrow. Where in Tucson would you go for your final meal?
Sher-E-Punjab. It's a mom-and-pop Indian restaurant. It feels so homey, and you can tell the food doesn't come out of a can. Plus, you just walk in, and it transports you. It's one of my favorite restaurants in Tucson.
Our new robot overlords want to ban alcohol. Where would you want to have your final drink?
I don't drink alcohol, so I can't think of an alcoholic drink. My final drink would probably be water. With the robots coming, I'd want to have a drink of water, at peace in my home. I know it's boring. I used to drink caffeine, but gave it up. I'm just a water-drinking person.
Global warming has increased outside temps to 130 degrees in the summer. Where do you go to cool off?
I would definitely take a short drive to Madera Canyon and enjoy the much-cooler weather. It's so close, and not many people know about it. Also, the change in temperature is so amazing. I love to go up there when it starts to get hot.
Aliens have landed in your backyard and say: "Take us to your leader." Where in Tucson would you send them?
I would direct them to City Hall and let Mr. Rothschild deal with them. He's the mayor; he's got to take care of us. It's his job, right?
The mole people are invading the surface world through a tunnel that opens in your backyard. What local business would you turn to for help?
Casa Concrete, so they can pour concrete over my entire yard. That way, (the mole people) have no access to my property. I would also redirect them with a map to end up at City Hall, and let Mr. Rothschild deal with them.
If a zombie apocalypse were to happen in Tucson, what shopping center would you like to hole up in?
El Con Mall. It's not very crowded. First, I'd have the whole place to myself. I like it there, and there's food, so I'd be able to eat.
What Tucson band or musician would you want to write the soundtrack to the end of the world as we know it?
I would chose Los Changuitos Feos (de Tucson). They are a youth mariachi group. I really like the kids and how they are working. There's a lot of creativity and talent there.
If you had only one sunset left in Tucson, from where would you watch it?
From the roof of my house with my family.


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Playlogic announces Sudoku BallTM – Detective
• Publisher: Playlogic International
• Developer: WhitebearAmsterdam/New York, 24th of November – Today, Playlogic Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq OTC: PLGC.OB), an independent worldwide publisher of entertainment software, announced that it will publish Sudoku Ball™ – Detective on Wii, DS and PC in Q1, 2009.
About Sudoku Ball Detective
Sudoku Ball is a revolutionary new take on the popular Sudoku puzzles. The Sudoku Ball™ consists of 6 interlinked Sudoku puzzles mapped on a 3D ball. The ball can be twisted and turned with the easy to use interface. The numbers are entered by using the stylus, Wii Remote or mouse.
In Sudoku Ball™ – Detective, you take the role of a detective in a small town where a murder has been committed. It is up to you to find the murderer by completing different styles of Sudoku Ball puzzles. The puzzles represent separate stages of the investigation, like searching for clues, picking locks, investigating evidence in the lab, and chasing your suspect!
Sudoku Ball™ – Detective is inspired by the popular Cluedo game as well as English detective stories surrounding Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie and Midsomer Murders. On top of the storyline, players can compare their scores in the numerous extra puzzles in different gameplay modes.
The easy controls ensure players can concentrate on the puzzles as they delve deeper into the mystery!
• Unique Sudoku Ball™ feature for a brand new puzzle experience
• Challenging and engaging story mode with 20 levels
• 3 difficulty settings from beginner to expert
• Stand-alone Sudoku Ball™, Story puzzles and original Sudoku modes with over 240 Sudoku's in total.
• Compare your best scores with friends and family
• Easy to learn and play
• Distinctive art style


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TechRadar Verdict
- +
Good picture quality
- +
- +
- -
Warmer than normal look to video
Why you can trust TechRadar
The Optoma EW536 is a DLP projector that comes in a square and boxy black plastic housing. The combination of matt and gloss black gives it a stylish look, while the built-in lens and zoom ring mean it's safe to carry around.
Unlike the Epson EB-W10, which has focus and zoom rings side-by-side, the Optoma has a zoom ring on the top of the unit, while the focus is hidden away on the front of the device. This may initially prove unusual for first-time users, but we didn't have any problems getting a sharp and focused image.
This projector's 2800 ANSI lumens rating meant that under test conditions images were extremely bright. So much so that we found dropping the projector down to eco-mode still kept images bright and sharp. The added bonus of doing this is that you'll find the projector runs quieter.
The EW536 has an HDMI socket and two VGA ports, so you'll be able to connect either two laptops, for switching users during a presentation, or an additional external monitor, which will be especially useful in schools. You'll also find the standard S-Video, Video and Audio ports common on all projectors.
The default image size of 1280 x 800 pixels makes the EW536 a 16:10 aspect ratio projector. This means that higher definition laptop screens will gain vertical border lines onscreen. However, this isn't duplicated on the projected image.
Under test conditions we found images to be sharp and crisp. We particularly liked how sharp the black and whites looked in presentations. DLP projectors tend to have a warmer look when running video and this was very much the case here, as this proved a great all-round machine.
The Optoma EW536 is a powerful and highly practical DLP projector. Its image quality was more than acceptable, and with a quiet fan and reasonable array of ports, it's ideal for classroom, meeting room or home use.
Follow TechRadar Reviews on Twitter: http://twitter.com/techradarreview


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Bluelight technology&wellsee solar wind generators series products have a spike in sales in October, In order to promote the development of photovoltaic industry and meet the needs of our fresh and old customers,wuhan wellsee new energy industry company as a professional manufacture of solar controller has lauchs 2 models of three stage charge and discharge solar controller with high speed USB data transfer function WS-SC2440U/WS-SC2470U.These two new products can be applied in all kinds of solar panel and lead-acid battery (charge curves of other batteries can be customized),MCU(Microprocessor control unit) is with PWM(Pulse Width Modulation) procedure. They can provide high speed optimal charge voltage¤t from the PV panel according to the type of battery and power supply condition
WS-SC2440U/ WS-SC2470U is researched according to latest technical standard communication protocol and voltage technical standard. It continues the success of three stage charge and discharge controller, the new function is with LCD screen display for monitoring charge discharge voltage,current and power counting in real time. Meanwhile the product is with USB port used for charging mobile phone or tablet pcs,three-phase power consumption can be adjusted. Newly U-series products adopt pwm technology, makes it to be a kind of low loss series connection controller.
New generation three stage charge and discharge solar controller WS-SC2440U/WS-SC2470U is with features as follows:
•clearly showed Multifunction LCD display, show the run data of connected equipment and working condition in the mode of number and words.
•USB port for charging the mobile phone or tablet pc.
•Auto recognition and show the type, model number and related data information of connected equipment.
•navigation function button, convenient operation, direct observation, speedy
•can finish the real time monitoring of connected controller,remote charging,load switch, the data scan and modification of equipment parameter,charging control parameter,load control parameter
•real time display and voice alarm for fault information of connected equipment
•low voltage cut and battery voltage when restore the connection dc output load terminals can be set
•Intelligent temperature compensation
Wellsee new energy new product three stage charge and discharge solar controller WS-SC2440U is with the current degree:20A,30A,40A,WS-SC2470 is with the current degree:50A,60A,70A .automatic recognition input voltage 12v/24v/48v,it is mainly applied in solar photovoltaic system to coordinate the work of solar panel,battery and load. Besides with the overload protection, battery overcharge protection,short circuit protection,reverse discharging protection, reverse polarity protection, thunder protection, low voltage protection functions of regular solar controller, Wellsee solar three stage charge and discharge controller is totally different from other controllers with three stage charging mode:it charges by battery charging characteristic curve and adopts to intelligent three steps charging mode "constant current- constant voltage and limited current-Purling floating".Three-stage charge mode uses constant current charging at the beginning and the end, and uses constant voltage charging in the intermediate stage. When the current is decayed to the set value, it switches from the second stage to the third stage. This mode can make the outlet minimum to protect the battery better and really charge the battery fully.
It is worth mentioning:ws-sc2440u ws-sc2470u can be used for all kinds of solar panel and battery,
with industrial standard MCU and pwm variable duty cycle function. Dynamically adjust PWM parameters according to the battery type and charging real condition, can get high speed best charging voltage and current from the PV panel, increases charging efficiency and avoid overcharging, effectively protect the life of the battery. In addition, added with overall protection ,overload protection(with automatic recovery),overcharge,short circuit protection,thunder protection,reverse discharging protection,reverse polarity protection(with automatic recovery),low voltage protection ect functions. Making the whole solar power system with high security and efficiency operation.
Wellsee new energy produces international high standard Chinese independent brand wellsee solar controller, hitting overseas markets. Changing the passive situation of china solar charge discharge controller in foreign market is a great goal to wellsee.As the constant breakthrough of photovoltaic industry technology in our country, the research and application of wellsee solar charge controller will be more and more perfect along with the improvement of theoretical study and production technology, play a important role in national economy and people's daily life.
Welcome foreign and domestic customers join us as agents and play orders


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The Independent Games Festival China - which will take place alongside this November's GDC China in Shanghai - has opened its call for submissions and is accepting indie game entries from the pan-Pacific area from now through September 10.
Following its success from previous years, GDC China will once again host all three main elements of IGF China, including the IGF Summit, the IGF Pavilion, and the prestigious IGF Awards.
Now in its fourth year, the IGF Summit at GDC China will feature sessions from some of the world's top developers, while the IGF Pavilion will showcase some of the region's best independent and student games.
And of course the IGF Awards - which are split into both Main and Student competitions - will honor the many talented developers in the pan-Pacific area.
The 2012 IGF China Main Competition will give out awards and cash prizes in five categories, including:
- Best Game (RMB20,000 ~ $3,150 USD)
- Best Mobile Game (RMB10,000 ~ $1,570 USD)
- Excellence in Audio (RMB5,000 ~ $780 USD)
- Excellence in Technology (RMB5,000 ~ $780 USD)
- Excellence in Visual Arts (RMB5,000 ~ $780 USD)
The Student Competition, meanwhile, will offer two awards, for Best Student Game (RMB10, 000 ~ $1,570 USD, 1 Winner) and Excellent Student Winner (RMB3, 000 ~$470 USD, 2 Winners).
Finalists -- who will receive two All Access passes to attend GDC China and the IGF awards ceremony on November 18, 2012 -- will be chosen by a panel of expert jurors including Kevin Li (CEO, TipCat Interactive); Monte Singman (Founder/CEO, Radiance Digital Entertainment); Xubo Yang (Director of Digital Art Lab and Assistant Professor; Shanghai Jiaotong University's School of Software), Haipeng Yu (Producer, Tencent Shanghai), and jury chairman Simon Carless, IGF Chairman Emeritus and EVP of the GDC shows, Gamasutra, and Game Developer magazine.
Last year's event saw 112 high-quality entries from regions including Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Serbia and Montenegro, India, and more. Winners included titles like Best Game recipient Pixel May Cry (Feng Li, China), Void (DigiPen Institute of Technology, Singapore) for both Excellence in Technology and Best Student Game, and Pixi (DigiPen Institute of Technology, Singapore) for Excellent Student Winner.
Key dates for IGF China include:
- September 10, 2012- Submission Deadline
- September 28, 2012- Finalists Announced
- November 17-19, 2012 - Game Developers Conference China 2012
- November 18, 2012 - IGF China Awards Ceremony (Winners Announced!)
- November 17-19, 2012 - IGF China Pavilion @ GDC China
GDC China will take place at the Shanghai International Convention Center from November 17-19, 2012. For more details on the show, please visit GDC China's official website or the information and submission pages for IGF China.


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Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi Selling England Home for $4.3 Million
If you thought the Osbournes had a nice house, you should see where Tony Iommi lives. According to the Birmingham Post, the Black Sabbath guitarist has put his Lapworth, Warwickshire, home on the market and the residence is reportedly going for a cool £2.6 million, which is about $4.3 million in U.S. currency.
Remember that MTV show 'Cribs'? They covered just about every rapper on the planet, with a good amount of rock musicians too, but the Tony Iommi edition would have been amazing. The six-bedroom home was built way back in 1905 and takes up 8,000 square feet. Iommi's house also has a room to play pool, a stunning home cinema, a purpose-built recording studio and massive front and back yards containing a fountain and sculptures.
As for why Iommi has put his UK house on the market, a 2012 interview where the guitarist spoke of potential changes to his life after being diagnosed with lymphoma may point to the answer. "Maybe we should get a smaller house," Iommi told the Birmingham Mail. "Maybe it's time to scale down anyway and try to live more of a peaceful life."
Regardless of why Iommi is selling the hundred-year-old home, for the right price, you can live in the house of a metal god! To check out a full gallery of pictures of Tony Iommi's Lapworth home, click here.


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Rae Romano loves the Outer Banks. When her partner Jan was alive, they spent many happy summers in a cottage near Corolla. Jan was an artist whose paintings are popular items in the local art galleries. Jan would paint and Rae would wander along the beaches, stopping to photograph the area's natural beauty, especially the wild horses that roam the beaches and sand dunes.
But as much as she loves this place, Rea wasn't sure she could ever return to it after Jan's death. As Outer Banks Recovery opens, Rea has taken the plunge and is on her way to their cottage when her car veers off the road after a close encounter with a truck. Luckily for Rae, Sheriff Michaela Knight sees the accident and stops to help.
Rea and Michaela feels an immediate attraction, something that is unexpected and unsettling to Rae. Jan was the great love of her life and she can feel Jan's presence in the cottage and on the beach. It seems like a betrayal of what they had to begin again with someone new. But Michaela is persistent. She and her dog Thor show up regularly, and they work their way into Rae's heart. But Rea fears being hurt again. Having lost Jan, she couldn't survive loosing another love. And Michaela's job is not just about traffic accidents, underage drinking, and careless swimmers. There is real danger in policing, even in a remote location like the Outer Banks. When Michaela puts her life in danger confronting thieves who have killed and stolen some of the island's wild horses, Rea fleas. Can Michaela woo her back?
Check this title's availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.


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Just how many jobs does President Barack Obama want to destroy in the name of going green?
According to a new report by The Center for Automotive Research, the number could be as high as 264,500 jobs lost just from new automobile fuel efficiency standards being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, the cost of a new vehicle could go up by nearly $10,000 and sales could be reduced by 5.5 million vehicles annually.
DBusiness pulls apart the report and finds that under the highest proposed mandate — which would raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) from 35.5 mpg in 2016 to 62 mpg in 2025 — the following effects would occur:
- The average increase in vehicle cost necessary to achieve the higher CAFE mandates range from $3,700 to over $9,000.
- The higher mandates will increase vehicle prices that exceed the savings in fuel costs (over five years), even if gasoline costs $6.00 per gallon (in 2009 prices) for most scenarios under consideration.
- Consumers will shun these technology costs by holding onto their used vehicles longer, especially if fuel prices are low (e.g., $3.50 per gallon), resulting in lower sales and a loss of automotive employment. Over 260,000 jobs may be lost if the highest mandate is passed and fuel prices stay low at $3.50 (2009 prices).
Hitting the 62 mpg average would be a challenge in and of itself. Analyst Sean McAlinden told Autoweek that attaining that standard would "require a market that's 64 percent plug-in hybrid." And given that the cost of vehicles would rise by an average of $9,970, McAlinden says that consumers would hold on to their old cars with lower fuel efficiency, defeating the purpose of the new regulations.
Environmentalists discount the report, calling it an "industry-advocate propaganda piece" — despite the fact that the center that authored it gets "78 percent of its funding from federal, state and local governments, foundation grants and proceeds from conferences," as The Detroit News' David Shepardson reports.
And the sky-high 62 mpg mandate aside, auto manufacturers already see problems with the significantly lower 34.1 mpg mandate set to hit U.S. automakers in 2016. Heritage's Nicolas Loris writes:
[T]he new government regulations become a problem if it forces car manufacturers to produce vehicles no one wants to buy. Gloria Bergquist of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said, "We have a hill to climb, and it's steep, so we will need consumers to buy our fuel-efficient technologies in large numbers to meet this new national standard."
Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of GM echoed Berguist's remarks saying, "We'll have to force a lot of hybrids, which people may or may not pay for."
That's the name of President Obama's game: forcing new regulations on American business and consumers whether they like it or not, no matter the price.


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KL Concrete Foundations
KL Concrete Foundations are the best concrete construction company in the Clermont area. That's a strong claim, but we fully stand behind it. We stand behind that claim because our team works hard every single day to make it a reality. Our team is made
KL Concrete Foundations, a Central FL-based concrete contractor that provides services for both residential and commercial customers, is located in Central FL. Concrete foundations for homes and businesses, driveways and sidewalks as well as garages and RV slabs, patios, A/C pads, or patios are some of the services we offer. We provide the finest installation, maintenance, and repair of all your concrete surfaces. And if that were not enough, we offer the highest quality concrete flatwork. So, whether you need your concrete stamped, colored, stained, or polished, our technicians can provide for your needs.
Clermont is a city in Lake County, Florida, United States, about 22 miles (35 km) west of Orlando and 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Leesburg. The population was 43,021 in 2020. The city is residential in character and its economy is centered in retail trade, lodging, and tourism-oriented restaurants and bars. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clermont is home to the 1956 Florida Citrus Tower, one of Florida's early landmarks.
Ardmore Reserve by Landsea Homes, Beazer Homes Park View at the Hills, Berkshire Park Neighborhood Pool and Playground, Cagan Crossings by Meritage Homes, Carver Shores, Chapin Station, Clarcona, College Park of Clermont, Cypress Ridge Elementary School, ERA Grizzard Real Estate - Clermont, Faith Neighborhood Center, Florence Lake Ridge, Florida Center North, Golden Oak, Greater Pines


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Pardon Commission under President continues meetings
"There are persons, who committed grievous crimes, among the appealers. It is our duty to study all appeals and respect them,†he said.
The commission is also expected to discuss the pardon of journalists, along with other appeals within ten days. The meetings will be over by Novruz holiday and the appeals will be summarized and submitted to the President's Office.
Armenian MP: If Zelensky decides to come to Armenia, then we have to accept it
People of Azerbaijan commemorate victims of Khojaly genocide-PHOTOLENT
Azerbaijani state and government officials visited Khojaly genocide memorial-PHOTO
32 years pass since Khojaly Genocide
Biden says US military to airdrop food and supplies into Gaza
Azerbaijani oil price nears $90
Venezuela to hold presidential election in second half of 2024, leader says
Milan beats 8-man Lazio in Serie A
UN Women calls war in Gaza "a war on women"
US president signs bill to continue funding federal government
Finland's new president Stubb takes office
EU unfrozen about two billion euros from its funds for Hungary
At least 19 injured after car plows into crowd in Poland
If EU suggests membership, Armenia will respond relevant to its interests
Armenian, Azerbaijani FMs agree on continuation of negotiations - Grigoryan
Russia's share in arms supply to Armenia falls below 10%
Turkish first lady welcomes guests, holds meetings with counterparts on sidelines of Antalya Diplomacy Forum
Eurozone inflation down in February, above expectations
Greek Defense Minister to visit Armenia next week
Azerbaijani FM participated in panel discussions of Antalya Diplomacy Forum
Azerbaijan, Albania abolish visa regime
Azerbaijani FM meets with Slovak counterpart
Le Monde: France considering possibility of allowing military units to cross border of Ukraine
Turkish, Armenian FMs meet
Kadri Simson: EU commitment to Azerbaijan is long-term, we are working with Azerbaijan on doubling our gas trade by 2027
Albanian Prime Minister: Azerbaijan taking over the torch of the COP can't be more revealing
US Ambassador speaks about importance of Southern Gas Corridor
Edi Rama: Southern Gas Corridor has made Europe safer
Presentation of "Qarabag FC - 30 seasons away" documentary held in Heyda Aliyev Center-PHOTO
10th SGC Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting was held in Baku, President Ilham Aliyev attended the event-PHOTO-UPDATED-2
Next meeting on Türkiye-Armenia dialogue to be held
Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama completes working visit to Azerbaijan
God Nisanov presented Azerbaijan's "Dostlug" Order in Moscow
Azerbaijan can count on EU's support regarding COP29 - Commissioner for Energy
President Ilham Aliyev had expanded meeting with Prime Minister of Albania
Commissioner: European countries expressed their collective ambitions to increase export of Azerbaijani gas
Azerbaijan to increase gas exports this year
Alexei Navalny buried in Moscow
Establishing Working Group for Azerbaijani-Philippine Interparliamentary Relations is underway
Azerbaijan to be main partner in electricity exports to EU in future, EU Commissioner for Energy says
Contract signed to build solar power plant in Azerbaijan's Jabrayil
10th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting went underway with sessions
Azerbaijani MoD: 36 260 ha of land cleared from mines so far-VIDEO
Prime Minister of Greece congratulates Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
Azerbaijani FM: Unity of Turkic world is of special importance in face of new challenges in world
Baku hosts 6th ministerial meeting on development and transmission of green energy
Türkiye to continue normalization process with Armenia in coordination with Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani FM informs his Russian counterpart on current state of peace process with Armenia-UPDATED-2
Hikmet Hajiyev: We will convey Azerbaijan's vision of further development of peace and cooperation in the region to Diplomacy Forum participants
Three documents were signed within 2nd Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting held in Baku -PHOTO
Azerbaijan, EU to accelerate process of granting PMI status to Caspian-EU Green Energy Corridor
Azerbaijan, Armenia are very close to normalize their relations - Turkish Foreign Minister
Azerbaijan, Albania sign visa waiver agreement
Azerbaijan to lay foundation of two power plants during COP29 eve


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Light and Motion Vis 1000 Trooper Black
Daily commuting requires equipment that provides superior performance, in any condition, day after day. Vis 1000 blends impressive power with a safety feature set unmatched in cycling lights. High visibility is paramount and the platform has dedicated amber sidelights that are distinct and easily recognizable by drivers, especially through intersections. City riders will appreciate the exclusive SafePulse beam, scientifically designed to provide the highest level of rider awareness without the risks associated with flashing lights. Easily mount on standard or oversize handlebars with a mount that provides enhanced grip and features quick release technology to remove in seconds. Reliable construction is unmatched in the market and exceeds the needs of daily riders. This is the only waterproof lighting platform with a certified IP67 rating - meaning the light is certified to withstand water immersion up to a depth of 1 meter. Commute with the added assurance knowing rain or shine the light will keep performing. Recharging is fast and efficient with the included Micro USB cable. Integrating state-of-the-art safety innovations with premium power, Vis 1000 is designed for the serious cyclist.
- 1000 Lumen Output certified to the FL-1 Standard with high powered premium CREE LED
- Visibility is enhanced with bright amber side lighting providing maximum safety through intersections and high-traffic areas
- SafePulse light pattern scientifically designed for maximum driver awareness of approaching cyclist without the inherent dangers of flashing lights
- Micro-peened reflector optimizes the beam pattern for road riders providing a smooth, even spot beam void of distracting hard edges
- Multiple power settings include a one-touch High/Medium toggle to efficiently decrease intensity when full power is not needed
- Multi-color battery indicator is driven by custom firmware to provide accurate battery status throughout entire runtime
- Mounting is simple and effective with ultra-grippy rubber ensuring light doesn't slip on regular or oversize handlebars
- Quick release allows the removal of the light in seconds while leaving the base mount on the handlebar
- Waterproof design eliminates the leading cause of bike light failure - water immersion
- Charging is reliable and efficient through with included Micro USB cable
- Lumens: 1000 (high), 500 (medium), 250 (low), 500 (SafePulse)
- Runtime (minutes): 90 (high), 180 (medium), 360 (low), 720 (SafePulse)
- Beam Angle: 20° (Spot)
- Charge Time: 360 min
- Fast Charge: No
- IP Rating (FL-1): 67
- Depth Rating (FL-1): 1 meter(s)
- Impact Resistance (FL-1): 1 meter
- Product Weight: 121 grams
- Product Dimensions: 1.2" x 1.2" x 4"
- Compatible Mounts: Bar, GoPro, Helmet
Part Numbers
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