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Digital branding starts in your inbox.
It's something you take for granted, something seemingly trivial, even mundane. When executed thoughtfully, however, it makes a splash. It says, "This guy is sharp — I want to work with him!"
What is this opportunity, obvious but overlooked? It's the bookends of your emails: your address and signature block — often, the first and last thing your recipients will see. For better or worse, your email bookends are powerful purveyors of your brand. What are yours conveying about you?
Consider just the address. As the Oatmeal has observed, the domain you choose is like a Rorschach test, betraying your sophistication, or lack thereof. A few examples:
Until recently, my accountant went by the moniker firstname.lastname@example.com. In retrospect, it's easy to see why no one I referred to him ended up as a client: his email address was telling the world, "I can't be taken seriously." (While each address here derives from a real one, I've tweaked each one to spare the owner embarrassment and spam.)
Similarly, when I needed a reference and the HR woman couldn't get a former colleague on the phone, I was asked if my contact had an email address. He did — but firstname.lastname@example.com doesn't exactly scream credibility. I politely told the recruiter I'd contact Bobby directly and ask him to call her.
Years after savvy netizens had moved from an email address issued by their Internet service provider (ISP) to a free service like Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo, a colleague still clung to her @verizon.net inbox. By sticking with a provider favored (by default) by digital rubes, Rachel was announcing to the world, "I talk the talk, but I don't walk the walk."
Don't be Rachel the Rube. Your digital footprint is your calling card. If you're still employing an email address you got in 1996, bite the bullet and switch to your own domain (like JonathanRick.com).
David All founded the (recently shuttered) David All Group. His email address: email@example.com. This me@me syntax sends two messages: (1) "I work for myself," and (2) "You're talking to the boss."
A colleague, who with her husband runs a website agency, goes by her nickname rather than her full name. Hence her address: firstname.lastname@example.com. This lets people know, "I work for a casual small business."
My friends at Chief, a branding agency, send emails from @mybigchief.com. This choice is exactly right. If you pop in to Chief's headquarters, you won't find the Chieftains wearing suits; this is a place where they write on the walls and hold meetings on couches. So while @mybigchief.com may not reel in a stodgy client, it's the perfect way to bait the brands Chief wants to work with.
Your Email Signature
By using a credible, compelling email address, you establish brand equity. Yet perhaps more important is what happens when someone opens your email. Here, your signature block offers a golden opportunity to distinguish yourself. Again: what brand are you broadcasting? A few examples:
For years, I eschewed an email signature (unless pitching a blogger). I was so turned off by the MySpace-ish trend to exhibit a parade of colors and a quote in large text that I planted my keyboard in the opposite direction: I used nothing. To my mind, I was acting on the KISS principle — Keep It Simple, Stupid — but what others heard was, "Don't call me; I'll call you." (Indeed, your brand isn't what you say it is. It's what they say it is.)
A young lawyer I know does something that makes me cringe. In her email signature, Abby lists her law school and college, each followed by the year she graduated. But after you've hung your diplomas on your wall, is citing them in your everyday emails necessary? Is it even beneficial? If it were me, I'd prefer to be judged on my accomplishments, not my age or alma mater.
How you end your email is not an academic question; it can fuel new opportunities. That's why a friend who runs a video production agency harnesses social media to supercharge his signature. Tom begins with a call to action: "Check us out!" He continues with links to his website, his social media channels, and his latest blog post. Taken together, these four small steps proclaim, "I'm socially savvy."
A crisis communications company isn't the kind of outfit you'd expect to be active on seven social networks. Yet for Levick, practicing what you preach is paramount. That's why every Levicker's email signature includes these seven icons, together with links to Levick's website and blog. This all comes after Levick's logo and tagline, which comes after the sender's job title, office phone, mobile phone, fax number, and address. At least you won't see a disclosure notice. Wait, you will — 70 more words. (Disclosure: I consult for Levick.)
Overkill? Certainly. The thing is, the Levick signature block is visually stunning. That's because it wasn't an afterthought, but an integral facet of the firm's rebranding. For example, not only do Levick's emails share the same red, gray, and black color scheme of its website (which is branding 101), but not even the traditional blue for hyperlinks is allowed to intrude on this uniformity (branding 201). In fact, Levick guards its brand so keenly that its email template is centralized in its IT department (instead of letting each employee create his own). As a result, nobody at @levick.com goes rogue (by, say, admonishing recipients to "think twice before printing this email").
For these reasons, Levick's email signature achieves an impressive trick: it communicates a cutting-edge embrace of technology without undercutting the firm's gravitas.
Your Brand
Whether you know it or not, a brand is trailing you everywhere you click. But your brand isn't only what appears when your name is Googled, how you stage yourself on LinkedIn, and what you tweet about. Your brand also encompasses what you — and most people you know — no doubt spend unending time keeping up with: your emails.
Indeed, digital branding starts in your inbox. After all, more people likely view your emails than view your social media posts. That makes your e-bookends — your email address and your signature block — prime real estate on which to build your brand.
You can do a number of things to own this brand, or you can sit back and let casual decisions define it for you. You can brand yourself, or you can be branded.
The choice, as always, is yours.
Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn, where I brand myself daily.
A version of this blog post appeared in Fast Company on February 25, 2013.


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I am a new java programmer.so i need help from you about the process that i can do better in java programming.Actually you have to show me the way.
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I am a new java programmer.so i need help from you about the process that i can do better in java programming.Actually you have to show me the way.
Hello shawon,
Welcome to the Java Programming Forums.
Java is very complex. Its going to take dedication and lots of reading/practise to learn.
The best place to start is at the Sun Java Tutorials. Its exactly where I started..
The Java Tutorials
Read all about the basics. Try to write your first "hello world" program and post back here when you get stuck.
Please use [highlight=Java] code [/highlight] tags when posting your code.
Forum Tip: Add to peoples reputation by clicking the button on their useful posts.
Thanks .I am succesful to run first program.But for academic study it is important for me to know about static & it's use,restriction.Actually u have to give me idea with a code.wish ur reply soon.
The static keyword denotes that a member variable, or method, can be accessed without requiring an instantiation of the class to which it belongs.
In simple terms, it means that you can call a method, even if you've never created the object to which it belongs! Every time you run a stand-alone application (which requires a static main method), the virtual machine can call the main method without creating a new application object. Of course, unless the application's methods are all static, you will need to create an instance of it at some point.
With regard to member variables, it means that they can be read from, and written to, without creating an object. You may have noticed that many classes create constants that can be read, without creating an object.static final int VERSION = 2;
Static member variables are shared by all instances of the class to which they belong. When writing classes, this can be a handy feature. Consider the following example, where a counter is used to track how many myObject instantiations have taken place.public class myObject { static int objectCount = 0; public myObject() { objectCount++; } public String toString() { return new String ("There are " + objectCount + " objects"); } }
Being new to Java your probably finding this quite hard to understand. There is lots and lots of information out there. Id suggest looking through Google because you will find a lot of indepth explanations that will save us both time. Read as much as you can, try different examples until you truely understand what static means.As each new myObject is created, the counter increments. If you were writing an Internet server application, you could track how many concurrent connections existed (remembering that you'd have to include in the destructor or at the end of the connection code a decrement to your count). When used correctly, static member variables and methods can be quite useful!
It all comes together quite nicely once you start writing your own code..
There are some free SCJP ebooks on this site that will be really worth reading and will help you alot in your study.
Please use [highlight=Java] code [/highlight] tags when posting your code.
Forum Tip: Add to peoples reputation by clicking the button on their useful posts.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cape Cod Commission and IBM Collaborate on 'Smart Cape Cod' Initiative
Project Aims to Improve Environmental Management, Create Economic Opportunity, and Engage Citizens Using Next-Generation Smarter Systems
BARNSTABLE COUNTY, Mass. (November 19, 2010) – The Cape Cod Commission and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a collaboration, dubbed "Smart Cape Cod," to deploy sophisticated technology for more efficient management of physical infrastructure, protection of natural resources, and enhanced opportunities for economic growth across the region.
This initiative is intended to help Cape Cod execute its Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, which promotes the use of technology solutions for renewable energy, environmental science, and marine/coastal industries, among other regional priorities. It highlights the need to address choke points in physical infrastructure – such as insufficient telecommunications capacity, variable electric power, and lack of wastewater treatment facilities – that limit options for economic development.
"Cape Cod faces significant planning challenges," said Paul Niedzwiecki, Executive Director of the Cape Cod Commission, "but the solutions can create economic opportunities. This type of investment creates new jobs, drives economic diversification, and enables efficiencies in government, ultimately providing taxpayers with higher quality services."
The Commission and IBM, together with regional collaborators, aim to develop and implement a set of pilot projects to demonstrate the value of smart systems that utilize real-time information, connectivity, and advanced analytics for addressing the Cape's infrastructure.
"We anticipate working closely with the Cape's renowned research institutions, regional business organizations such as the Cape Cod Chamber and the Cape Cod Technology Council, and our government partners," Niedzwiecki said. "The Smart Cape Cod initiative will accelerate economic development plans and maximize the benefits of the $40 million investment in the OpenCape(1) broadband network and infrastructure."
The first phase of the Smart Cape Cod initiative, which will be completed by spring 2011, will focus on designing a Strategic Information Office and a Center of Excellence for Water Resources. The Strategic Information Office will guide the use of data, information, and technology for program management and policy making, developing standards for data management, primary data collection systems, and algorithms for the meshing of data sets. The Center of Excellence for Water Resources will assess critical issues relating to water quality and management, centralizing water information and stimulating technology development needed to monitor and improve water quality and manage water and wastewater.
"Cape Cod's commitment to deploying a broadband infrastructure, its strong base of academic institutions, its entrepreneurial business community and the critical linkage between environmental management and the region's economic prosperity all contribute to the region being a natural choice for an innovative project of this nature," said Sharon Nunes, VP, Smarter Cities Strategy and Solutions, IBM. "IBM's vision for a Smarter Planet is to help communities deploy smarter systems that drive tangible benefits in the near term and greater prosperity over the long term. Fulfillment of this vision hinges on working with forward-thinking communities like Cape Cod to seize new technical capabilities, ingenuity, and coalition-building skills to drive transformative change."
Cape Cod, a peninsula with 15 towns along 560 miles of Massachusetts shoreline, relies on a sole source aquifer for its drinking water and on its ponds, bays, and coastal zone for much of its economy. Since the 1970s, the Cape has seen enormous rates of growth in resident and summer populations, causing strain on the region's infrastructure and natural environment. Data and information, better collected, managed, and disseminated, will inform decision making to help retain the region's assets and vitality.
For more information about the Cape Cod Commission, visit www.capecodcommission.org.
For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com/smarterplanet
(1)OpenCape is deploying a state of the art broadband network and regional co-location data center to establish a reliable high-speed communications network to support the economic, educational, public safety and governmental needs of the southeast Massachusetts region.
Media Contacts: | ||
Paul Niedzwiecki, Executive Director, Cape Cod Commission | Jenny Hunter, Media Relations, IBM | |
email@example.com | firstname.lastname@example.com | |
508-362-3828 | 510-919-5320 | |
Source: IBM
Related Links


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Drivers back blanket ban on mobiles
Half of drivers admit they cannot resist the temptation to look at their device when stationary or in slow-moving traffic.
Some 66 per cent think the only way to stamp out mobile phone use behind the wheel is to block them completely while driving.
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWorryingly, reading texts, checking social media profiles and viewing emails is now more common than taking or making a phone call.
The study of 1,000 UK motorists for Continental Tyres' Vision Zero - a commitment to reduce road fatalities worldwide - found that 11.3 million drivers are likely to be using a mobile phone illegally.
Continental Tyres' safety expert Mark Griffiths said: "Our research reveals that drivers know that their use of phones is illegal, distracting and dangerous yet they cannot help themselves.
"Nearly half, 45 per cent, told us they struggle to be digitally disconnected and 28 per cent felt that so many people now checked their mobile in traffic it had become normalised."
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOf those that admitted to breaking the current law, 31 per cent said they had done so in the last month.
Professor John Groeger, a specialist in driver psychology and author of 'Sharing the Driving' for Continental Tyres said: "It is really interesting that motorists want an enforced solution rather than to curb their own behaviour - yet there is no such system currently being promoted in the UK.
"It is imperative that we find a way to resolve this as the 'switch cost' - the critical time it takes us to shift our concentration from a task like reading a text to again fully engaging in driving is so important in reducing accidents."
Even with the additional safety features being added to cars, motorists believe the illegal use of phones when driving is decreasing road safety.
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOne in three think the situation is getting worse and another 26 per cent think advances in safety through new technology is being cancelled out by our unwillingness to put phones out of reach.
Mark Griffiths of Continental Tyres added: "There are enormous strides being made in autonomous vehicle technology to deliver even greater safety.
"Yet our study identifies that we are unsure about allowing cars to take even more control of driving. But when we recognise our obvious failing in relation to the use of phones we do want technology to step up and save us from ourselves.
"It points to the fascinating, probably unique, relationship we have with our cars and how the development of technologies is reshaping that."


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Daily Inspiration
My Time is My Own
My times are in thy hand.
~ Psalm 31:15
Men are not angered by mere misfortune but by misfortune conceived as injury. And the sense of injury depends on the feeling that a legitimate claim has been denied. The more claims on life, therefore, that your patient can be induced to make, the more often he will feel injured and, as a result, ill-tempered.
Now you will have noticed that nothing throws him into a passion so easily as to find a tract of time which he reckoned on having at his own disposal unexpectedly taken from him. It is the unexpected visitor (when he looked forward to a quiet evening), or the friend's talkative wife (turning up when he looked forward to a tête-à-tête with the friend), that throw him out of gear.
Now he is not yet so uncharitable or slothful that these small demands on his courtesy are in themselves too much for it. They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption 'My time is my own'.
Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright.
Lord, I give you every hour of my life. Amen.
~ C.S. Lewis, from "The Screwtape Letters"
Daily Devotion Mobile: Main Page


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Well, we didn't hit 50 comments so we only have one prize up for grabs, but it was lots of fun! Thank you all for all of your comments and shares, it's good to know you all are happy to see me blogging! I'm going to try to do it more often (I know, I know, you've heard that before…)
So, without any further ado, we have a winner! I plugged all the comments, facebook posts, instagram shares and tweets into a spreadsheet then had my number-picker (that would be RR) pick a number between 1 and 48 and he chose…
Number 24!
comment number 24 is our winner! Congrats to Kerryb! I'll be emailing you! Thanks again to everyone – you made my 12th blogiversary awesome!
Up next – I'm working on a shop update that will go live tomorrow afternoon/evening. I'll have some new spring prints along with a very limited Snoopy St. Patrick's Day print! Why tomorrow evening? Because, in case you didn't know, beginning tonight at sunset and continuing until tomorrow night at sunset, it is 'National Day of Unplugging' which I was unaware was a thing until I heard about it in the news this morning. It sounds like a good idea, though, doesn't it? I'll be cutting back, myself, until tomorrow!


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Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Output Formats
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Blender can render still images and video to many different file formats. Here is an alphabetical list:
- AVI Codec - AVI codec compression. Available codecs are operating system dependent. When an AVI codec is initially chosen, the codec dialog is automatically launched. The codec can be changed directly using the Set Codec button in AVI Codec settings.
- AVI Jpeg - AVI but with Jpeg compression. Lossy, smaller files but not as small as you can get with a Codec compression algorithm. Jpeg compression is also the one used in the DV format used in many digital camcorders.
- AVI Raw - Audio-Video Interlaced (AVI) uncompressed frames.
- BMP - Bit-Mapped Paint is an early lossless format.
- Cineon - format produced by a Kodak Cineon camera and used in high-end graphics software and directed toward digital film.
- DPX - Digital Moving-Picture eXchange format; an open professional format (close to Cineon) with meta-information about the picture; 16-bit uncompressed bitmap (huge file size). Used in preservation.
- FFMPEG - Fast Forward Moving Pictures Expert Group is a collection of free and open source software libraries that record, convert and stream digital audio and video in numerous formats. You must have the proper codec installed on your computer for Blender to call it and use it to compress the video stream through FFMPEG, but there are preset formats to choose from, such as DV, SVCD, and DVD.
- Frameserver - Blender puts out frames upon request as part of a render farm. The port number is specified in the OpenGL User Preferences panel.
- HamX - Blender's own self-developed 8 bits RLE (Run Length Encoded bitmap) format; it creates extremely compact files that can be displayed quickly. To be used only for previsualization of animations (Play button).
- Iris - the standard Silicon Graphics Inc (SGI) format used on Unix OS machines.
- JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group (name of the consortium which defined it), an open format that supports very good compression with little loss of quality. Only saves RGB value. Re-saving images results in more and more compression and loss of quality.
- MultiLayer - an OpenEXR format that supports storing multiple layers of images together in one file. Each layer stores a renderpass, such as shadow, specularity, color, etc. You can specify the encoding used to save the MulitLayer file using the codec selector (ZIP (lossless) is shown and used by default).
- OpenEXR - an open and non-proprietary extended and highly dynamic range (HDR) image format, saving both Alpha and Z-depth buffer information.
- PNG - Portable Network Graphics, a lossless image format often used in web design.
- QuickTime - A proprietary multimedia framework for video and images.
- Radiance HDR
- Targa
- Targa Raw
- TIFF - Tagged Image File Format created by Aldus for desktop publishing.
If the selection seems daunting, here are pointers:
If you need transparency in your images (i.e., an alpha channel that allows any part of the rendered image to have varying degrees of opacity), or you will be compositing, you generally want to use:
- Multilayer
- OpenEXR
- Targa
Of the above four formats, you will find that PNG and Targa images can be opened and edited by most any bitmap editing application, such as GIMP or Photoshop. However, OpenEXR and Multilayer offer more options within Blender, and may produce smaller, lossless files.


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Physiotherapy Links contains an archive from the original Physiobase.com Physio Library. In this new home we welcome you to add your own physiotherapy related links.
This section is for all you PTs out their to add your physiotherapy practices and clinics.
The section deals with interesting physiotherapy related organisations.
The section contains links to the various registration and educational recognition boards around the world. This includes ACOPRA, FSBPT and the HPC.
This section contains links to many of the world's physiotherapy associations and interest groups. Please look to see if your association is here. If not "Submit us a Link" using the navigation bar above.
This section contains links to various Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy schools around the globe. Please feel free to submit your school link today


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Inez Wong
Secondary character | |
Inez Wong 王伊內茲 Wáng Yīnèizī | |
Date of birth | Before 2979 |
Species | Human |
Planet of origin | Mars |
Profession | Owner of Wong Ranch |
First appearance | "A Flight to Remember" (1ACV10) |
Voiced by | Lauren Tom |
Inez Wong is a rich human who owns the western hemisphere of Mars together with her husband Leo. They farm buggalo at their ranch.
Inez is similar to her husband being selfish and greedy. She is also overly concerned about Amy's choice of Fonfon Ru and was obsessed with getting a grandchild. Apparently, she cares more about having grandchildren than the happiness of her daughter. As soon as their Buggalo were stolen, Inez claimed she wanted to divorce Leo indicating that she only married him for his money (3ACV10).
Inez married Leo Wong, a rich owner of a majority of Mars, and they had a daughter, Amy, in 2979. While Amy went off to study at Mars University and becoming an intern at Planet Express, Inez has stayed at Wong Ranch breeding buggalo. In 3010, she protested against Proposition ∞ after her daughter started a robosexual relationship with Bender (6ACV04).
Inez and Leo had a habit of meddling in Amy's life frequently trying to get her together with a man in the hopes of getting grandchildren. They disapproved of Amy's relationship with Kif Kroker (3ACV10), even though they were the ones who found him (1ACV10).
- Leo Wong, husband
- Sir Reginald Wong, Leo's paternal ancestor who bought Mars from its natives with a bead.
- Amy Wong, daughter
Additional Info
- She is one of the few characters on the show other than Amy voiced by Lauren Tom.
- She often describes Kif as "squishy".
- Leo and Inez paid off Dean Vernon for Amy's acceptance to Mars University.
- Both Leo and Inez have a strong desire to have grandchildren.
- Zoidberg spent a day or two as the Wongs' "son".
- In her first appearances, Inez was shown to be able to speak perfect English in spite of her intense Asian accent, but this trait later disappeared (3ACV10).
- She has only appeared twice without her husband (US#034, BG).
- Inez, along with her husband and daughter, speak Cantonese and English, with Mandarin occasionally slipping in (6ACV04).
- Counting the opening sequence from Bender's Game, she is one of few non-primary characters to appear in all 4 films.
Inez: Oh, my Amy's sweet little girl again! This is like a mother's dream. Bad dream, that is! At this rate, I'm never going to get a grandchild!
Leo: Maybe she not grown up but she sure grown out! She fat!
Amy: Dad, if you're gonna make fat jokes till I get cute again, I'm just gonna stay in my room.
Leo: Stay in room? You so fat, you gonna stay all around room!
Inez: Come on, Amy! Pick a male human already! [There is a line of men standing near the porch.] I want to be a grandmother nine months from five minutes from now.
Amy: Cut it out, Mom! I'm not interested in any of these gross, ugly losers.
Fry: [Walking up.] What about this gross, ugly, smelly loser?
Leo: Fry! What you doing here?
Fry: I'm here to rescue Amy, uh... from her robosexual desires. [He winks.]
Amy: If I understand you correctly, I've seen the error of my ways? [She winks back.]
Leo: Look at all that awkward winking.
Inez: It must be love.
Amy: My parents may be evil, but at least they're stupid.


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R. had a work meeting in Ramallah. She planned to return home, to East Jerusalem, with M., her partner, who works in Ramallah. They reached the Hizma checkpoint, east of the Pisgat Ze'ev settlement, where there is a permanent Israel Defense Forces post that checks all travelers heading to Jerusalem. You are forbidden to take this route, said the soldiers. Only your husband is allowed. Take the Qalandiyah checkpoint route.
R. and M. have been married for about 10 years. He is a Palestinian, born in East Jerusalem, an Israeli resident. She has an ID card from the territories. She has a permit to be in Jerusalem, at home, with her children and spouse.
As soon as they were married they applied to the Israeli Interior Ministry for "family unification." Despite promises, including written promises, she is still waiting for the residency document. They've been through a lot of Kafkaesque travails as a result, but the new prohibition against going home together shocked even them. They thought it might have been a soldier's whim, but a news item in Haaretz last Friday made clear to them that it is a military order, signed by Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, commander of the IDF in the Judea and Samaria region. The order forbids Palestinians from entering Israel via any route other than 11 special crossings that were allocated only to them – and they can only cross those on foot. Palestinians are not allowed to drive inside Israel. The order also prohibits Israelis from bringing Palestinians into Israel through passages designated for Israelis only.
At the Hizma junction, which is for Israelis only, the "seam administration of the Defense Ministry has not yet hung the signs that it already hung on the road leading from the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem. The signs are hung alongside the road and at the military checkpoint, and say, in Hebrew and Arabic, "Passage is for Israelis only. Transporting and/or movement of people who are not Israelis is forbidden through this passage."
The yellow signs explain who is an Israeli. The definition is in the major general's order, and is the standard definition used in military orders declaring "a closed military area" to Palestinians, where only Israelis are allowed to enter. "An Israeli," says the order and the sign, "is a resident of Israel, someone whose residency is in the region [meaning the occupied territory – A.H.] and is an Israeli citizen [a settler – A.H.] or one who is eligible to become an immigrant according to the Law of Return-1950 and someone who is not a resident of the region but has a valid entry permit to Israel [a tourist – A.H.]
A military source confirmed to Haaretz that a decision has been made to allow Palestinians who work for international organizations to travel, with their foreign co-workers, through two passages designated for Israelis only "instead of making them go to the ends of the earth" to passages designated for Palestinians only. The problem with the separate passages is not only that they are remote and distant, as the military source admits; the problem is not only the wasted time involved in reaching those passages, the revolving doors that suddenly are locked, the humiliating crowdedness, the alienating technological devices or that most of the "passages" effectively legitimize more land expropriation and annexation of Palestinian territory to Israel. The problem is that they are another building block in the policy of separate development for Jews and non-Jews, another expression of the mentality that cloaks itself in security but whose real purpose is to preserve the hegemonic privileges of Jews, at the expense of the Palestinians in the territories conquered from them.
This policy of separate development of two demographic groups in the same territorial region – the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army is the sovereign – began with the first settlement. It continued and deepened as the settlements proliferated and grew into separate demographic-territorial pockets where Israeli law, which does not apply to the original inhabitants of the area, is in force.
The residents of those territorial pockets also won extra rights, which are denied to the native neighbors and the non-Jewish citizens of Israel. Like the right to choose where they want to live, on both sides of the Green Line. Protected by the superiority of the ruling military force, territorial borders were set and bureaucratic limits were placed that a priori limit the separate development of the native Palestinians: The area available to them is gradually shrinking, water quotas are dwindling in comparison with what is made available to Jews, freedom of movement is limited, and economic development is shackled and controlled.
With time, and with international accommodation and the increase in the number of Israelis who benefit from the system, the settlements are being transformed from "Israeli territorial pockets" to Jewish territorial contiguity, in which there are poor, rights deprived, over croweded and inferior "populated pockets" of the Palestinians.
A comparison between flourishing Pisgat Ze'ev on the lands of Hizma and Anata with Hizma and Anata, hemmed in and suffocating behind a horrendous cement wall, proves that the policy of separate development began long before the suicide bombings and the rise of Hamas.
AMIRA HASS writes for Ha'aretz. She is the author of Drinking the Sea at Gaza.


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The Best Food And Drink In South Dakota For 2019
The Best Food and Drink in South Dakota
South Dakota is one of the best states to visit as a family. Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, the Corn Palace, and the Black Hills all make for lasting family memories. And with all those tourists clogging I-90 between Souix Falls and Rapid City, they're going to have to find a few places to eat. Find out the details in our second annual guide to the best food and drink in every state.
Dining options in the Mount Rushmore State aren't limited to tourist traps, though. It's also a hot bed of biker bars thanks to the annual Sturgis rally, so we knew where to start our search for the state's best dive bar. And perhaps not surprisingly, many of the best things to eat in South Dakota are meat-centric.
Over the course of the past year we've honored everything from its best hot dogs and brunch spot to its best bar and craft beer in our comprehensive and wide-ranging lists and rankings, compiled through extensive research and with input from a wide network of site contributors, bloggers, journalists, and chefs.We've compiled these into individual slideshows celebrating the best food and drink in every state, and you can find our South Dakota gallery ahead.
Best Airport Restaurant: SkyDine (Sioux Falls Regional Airport)
South Dakota's airports are relatively small and, therefore, there are fewer dining options. At Sioux Falls Regional Airport, however, once you go past security you'll find SkyDine, a full-service restaurant that specializes in wood-roasted pizza but also has the usual American fare such as burgers, salads, sandwiches, loaded fries, nachos, and more.
Best All-You-Can-Eat Deal: Sanaa's Gourmet (Sioux Falls)
Sioux Falls is the last place you'd expect to find a restaurant that serves some of America's finest vegetarian and vegan cuisine, but Sanaa's Gourmet, run by chef and cookbook author Sanaa Abourezk, has been doing just that for more than a decade. Abourezk serves a full lunch and dinner menu of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-inspired dishes with a gourmet twist (along with a full gluten-free menu) along with a 10-item buffet for Friday night dinner and Saturday lunch and dinner. The buffet varies each week based on what's fresh and in-season, but expect dishes including chicken shish tawook, tabbouleh, kibbeh, hummus, eggplant kufta, muhummara, falafel, saffron basmati rice pilaf, and a variety of breads and soups. There are always plenty of gluten-free and vegetarian/vegan options, every item is cooked daily from scratch, they use only organic untreated flour and fresh-ground spices, and Abourezk can often be found doing most of the cooking herself. Add on the low price of the buffet ($11.95 for Saturday lunch and $15.95 for Friday and Saturday dinner), and you've got yourself a true winner.
Best Bar: Full Throttle Saloon (Sturgis)
The self-proclaimed world's largest biker bar is a sight to behold, particularly during the annual summertime Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, when tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts descend on this South Dakota town to drink beer — lots of beer. The Full Throttle Saloon, created by Michael Ballard, is an adult playground replete with the Flaunt Girls (a burlesque dance troupe), little person wrestling, a burnout pit for bikes, a mechanical bull, a zip-line, a body paint area, and numerous concerts featuring big-name bands. There's also a cabin area, open June 1 through the last day of the rally, and theme nights to add to all the shenanigans.
Best Beer: Pile O' Dirt Porter, Crow Peak Brewing Company (Spearfish)
Don't worry, this beer from Crow Peak Brewing Company doesn't taste like a pile of dirt, it was just named after one. The only earthiness you'll get from this brew is a slight herbal bitterness, but that's to be expected from any well-balanced beers. Instead, Pile O' Dirt has robust espresso and flavors that are similarly bold: dark malts, chocolate, roasted coffee, mild smoke, and brown sugar.
Best Brunch: Phillips Avenue Diner (Sioux Falls)
This retro diner may have that old-fashioned malt ship vibe, but the food served here is no gimmick. Crowds flock to this Downtown Sioux Falls destination on a daily basis, but the wait for a table gets especially long on the weekends. Arrive before 11 and you'll be able to select from a wide variety of breakfast specials including house-made corned beef hash, berry-topped Belgian waffles, banana bread French toast, a huevos rancheros burrito, house-made biscuits and gravy, and breakfast poutine (fried potatoes topped with cheese curds, bacon, tomatoes, gravy, and a fried egg. And after 11 the entire lunch and dinner menu becomes available (along with plenty of breakfast favorites), opening up possibilities like fried cheese curds, pork wings (made with the shank), salads, pot roast dip sandwich, hot mashed potato and fried chicken wrap, seven burgers, meatloaf, chicken and waffles, and a Tater Tot hotdish. Diners don't get much better than this, folks.
Best Burger: JL Beers (Various Locations)
JL Beers is a beloved local chain, with seven locations in North Dakota along with three in Minnesota and two in South Dakota. And with 40 beers on tap, a fun and welcoming vibe, and some truly great burgers, it's not surprising to see why it's so popular. More than a dozen burgers are available, made with never-frozen beef; The Original hamburger Stand Burger, topped with only pickles and special sauce, is definitely enough to satisfy a craving, but you might as well go all-in and try the JL Burger (topped with grilled onions, cheese, special sauce, and two patties); the Rajun Cajun (pepper jack, Cajun lime sauce, grilled onions, and Cajun seasoning); or the Not Just a Nutter Burger (fresh peanut butter, red pepper jelly, diced jalapeños, raw onions, and lettuce).
Best Chinese Restaurant: China Luck (Rapid City)
Straight ahead, well-made Chinese-American fare was tough to find in South Dakota before China Luck opened several years ago. You'll find all the classics here: sesame chicken, fried rice, lo mein, Mongolian beef, sweet and sour pork, all prepared with skill and at very reasonable prices. There's also a lunch buffet that's a big hit with the locals.
Best Chocolate Shop: Chubby Chipmunk Hand-Dipped Chocolates (Deadwood)
This quirky chocolate shop has something for everybody, from smooth, handmade truffles to beautiful chocolate-covered caramels. They're perhaps best known for "the ice box nugget," a 100 percent chocolate replica of the largest gold nugget ever found in South Dakota.
Best Coffee Shop: Pure Bean (Rapid City)
Pure Bean lives up to its name, using exclusively ethically sourced green coffee beansthat are carefully roasted for the smoothest and most perfectly balanced cup of coffee. The convection heat used on the air-roasted beans also means that there are lower levels of the acids that tend to give you an upset stomach. It's also the perfect place to have a study session or to catch up with a friend, with benches and couches for customers to sit on.
Best Cupcakes: The Cake Lady (Sioux Falls)
If you've got a hankerin' for something sweet, this is the place to go. The Cake Lady does a touch of everything, but the cupcakes are certainly standouts. It offers fresh-batch cupcakes in a rotating catalog of flavors daily and even creates artisanal event cupcakes to make your momentous occasion a little sweeter.
The Best Cupcakes in Every State
Best Doughnut: Jerry's Cakes and Donuts (Rapid City)
Two words: Oreo doughnuts. This is all the explanation you need to understand why this family-run doughnut shop is such a resounding success with a keen, intensely loyal clientele: Even Hillary Clinton took the time to try one of these famous creations when she was visiting.
Best Farmers Market: Black Hills Farmers Market, Rapid City
The Black Hills Farmers Market is open Saturdays from May to November, selling locally grown vegetables, herbs, house plants, baked goods, and granola. With more than 40 vendors attending the weekly market, there really is something for everyone.
Best Food Truck: Backyard BBQ (Sioux Falls)
Like its northern neighbor, South Dakota has limited options when it comes to food trucks, but fortunately some brave entrepreneurs are entering the industry. Backyard BBQ has gained the respect from South Dakota residents by serving delicious barbecue out of its always on-the-move mobile location. The truck, which sells lunch but can also be booked for private events, serves a range of barbecue treats like smoked chicken sandwiches, St. Louis-style ribs, brisket, pulled pork, molasses baked beans, mac and cheese, and cornbread. Backyard BBQ, which also operates two brick-and-mortar locations, also serves up some terrific chicken wings. Think you can handle the heat? Go with their "flaming" or "mango habanero" sauce options.
Best Fried Chicken: Cluckin' Good (Sioux Falls)
Ben Weiland spent 17 years turning out spectacular fried chicken at a restaurant called Bob's Café (which opened as Ray's in 1951) before closing up shop in 2017 and moving to a larger space across the street, which he dubbed Cluckin' Good. Thankfully, the fried chicken on offer here is exactly the same, and just as good, as it's always been. Chicken here is done the old-fashioned way, just as it was in 1951, and it's crispy, juicy, and just about perfect. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Best Grocery Store: Lynn's Dakotamart
Throughout the state there are 10 Lynn's Dakotamart locations stocking the necessities and basics. "Great selection, good prices, helpful people," Daniel Hoey said on Google.
Best Hotel Restaurant: Legends Steakhouse (Deadwood)
Located in the 1903 Silverado Franklin hotel in downtown Deadwood, Legends Steakhouse is a must-visit restaurant for those in town. The homey and elegant restaurant serves steaks dry-aged for a minimum of 21 days (top yours with crab and hollandaise, a lobster tail, or jumbo shrimp), and its slow-roasted bone-in prime rib is also incredibly popular. The classic steakhouse menu of escargot, Caesar salad, lobster, and cheesecake also has no shortage of creative surprises, like apricot-glazed duck wings, marinated beef tips with veal balsamic reduction, and shrimp crêpes with white wine cream sauce.
Best Ice Cream Stand: SDSU Dairy Bar (Brookings)
"Love taking the kids to get a Whirl-a-Whip! The fountain sodas are great and the gift shop has some really unique items," reads one review of this Stanley creamery.
Best Italian Restaurant: Boticelli (Rapid City)
A warm and inviting family-owned Black Hills destination, the 21-year-old Botticelli was run by Michelle Peregrine for 16 years before she handed the keys to her daughter, 33 year-old chef Aleaha Ghere, last year. The menu has a nice selection of bruschetta (including one that changes seasonally); pastas (including house-made ravioli and pappardelle bolognese); chicken dishes; steaks (including one topped with roasted garlic, gorgonzola, mushrooms, and red wine demi-glace); and, in a nod to the region, bison osso bucco.
Most Outrageous Restaurant Dish: Monster Nacho Challenge, Overtime Sports Grill & Bar (Sioux Falls)
As far as over-the-top nachos go, Overtime Sports Grill & Bar has a monster platter that patrons can eat for free if they eat it all within 45 minutes. The Monster is made of a pound each of chips, seasoned ground beef, waffle fries, and cheese, as well as 4 ounces each of black olives, jalapeños, onions, and tomatoes.
Most Romantic Restaurant: Minerva's (Sioux Falls)
The original location of longtime Sioux Falls favorite Minerva's hits all the right romantic notes: White tablecloths and well-spaced tables in a spacious dining room, plenty of dark woods and cozy nooks, arched mirrors, chandeliers... the list goes on. Since 1977, couples have been flocking to its upscale dining room for hand-cut steaks aged in-house, fresh seafood, pastas, and specialties including crab artichoke bake and a seafood-stuffed crêpe.
Best Pancakes: Tally's Silver Spoon (Rapid City)
Tally's Silver Spoon can trace its origins back to the 1930s, but today it's a creative and modern restaurant serving unique locally-sourced dishes devised by chef Benjamin Kinkel. The breakfast offerings are fairly straight-ahead, however, which is great news for pancake lovers. The pancake recipe (which hasn't changed since the 30s) results in perfectly light and fluffy, golden brown pancakes, which can be smothered in bananas, blueberries, or strawberries; stuffed with blueberries or chocolate chips; or served with eggs and bacon, ham, or sausage. However you take them, they're going to be pretty much perfect.
Best Pizza: Thatzza Pizza (Aberdeen)
This Aberdeen gem is turning out some truly fantastic slices, custom pies in four sizes, and creative pre-designed ones. Choose from a wide variety of toppings or take your pick from super-creative styles including Spaghetti Pie (spaghetti, sausage, tomato sauce, parmesan, and mozzarella); Hot Ham and Cheese (Canadian bacon, white cheddar, mozzarella); Chili (chili, onions, and jalapenos); Taco (chicken or ground beef, refried beans, hot sauce, olives, tomatoes, white Cheddar, mozzarella, and crushed tortilla chips); and even Pot Roast (shredded roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, red onions, and black pepper).
Best Restaurant for Breakfast: Baker's Bakery & Café (Custer)
A quaint little restaurant in a quaint little town located in Black Hills National Forest about an hour's drive from Rapid City, Baker's opens at 6:30 a.m. daily, and during the tourist season it gets absolutely packed. Their motto ("You'll love our buns!") is admittedly pretty tacky, but it's true: The homemade rye, wheat, sourdough, and black rye breads and cinnamon buns are delicious. Just about everything on the small but creative breakfast menu is delicious as well: breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, biscuits and country sausage gravy, a breakfast burrito (with eggs, sausage, hash browns, salsa and cheese and smothered in homemade green gravy), and loaded omelettes are all spot-on. The newest menu item, avocado toast, is a welcome nod to the health-conscious.
Best Sandwich: Cheesesteak, Philly Ted's Cheesesteaks (Rapid City)
You might not expect to be able to find Philly-quality cheesesteaks in the Black Hills, but thanks to Philadelphia native Ted English, who opened Philly Ted's in 2001, you can. English starts with a fresh-baked loaf from a local bakery and loads it with thin-sliced griddled steak and your choice of cheese and onions. Nearly 20 specialty steaks are available, but the classic is as good as it gets. Okay... maybe you should add some bacon to it.
Best Soup: Chicken Pot Pie, Bobkat's Purple Pie Place (Custer)
Purple Pie Place is a Custer institution in the shadow of Mount Rushmore, and its homemade pies are the stuff of legend (and yes, the whole restaurant is purple). If you're in the mood for something savory before your piece of bumbleberry pie, go for the chicken pot pie, which can certainly be considered a soup in this case because it isn't in a pie crust. It's rich and hearty with bug chunks of chicken, peas, and carrots, and you've gotta love the chicken-shaped pastry on top.
Best Steakhouse: Cattleman's Club (Pierre)
Steakhouses are not known for being inexpensive so we reconnect with our most expensive restaurant in the state for its best steakhouse. Cattleman's Club is exactly the type of steakhouse you'd home to find while ambling through South Dakota. Celebrating its 31st year, this legendary steakhouse goes through an average of 60,000 pounds of USDA Choice beef a year, and is located on an expansive tract of land overlooking the Missouri River. Today it's run by founder Myril Arch's daughter, Cindy, and the menu has changed little over the years: 8-, 12-, or 16-ounce top sirloins; 10-, 16-, or 20-ounce prime ribs; and 24-ounce porterhouses, T-bones, and bone-in ribeyes, rubbed with seasoning and grilled. The restaurant is also one of the best places to sample the South Dakota regional specialty known as chislic, deep-fried chunks of sirloin sprinkled with house seasoning.
Best Tacos: Sabor A Mexico (Rapid City)
Believe it or not, you can find great tacos just a stone's throw from Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills' Rapid City. Just head down East North Street until you reach the small and unassuming Sabor A Mexico, where you'll find Michoacán-native Ana Line Munoz cooking her traditional family recipes in the kitchen. Scratch-made salsas, tamales, and sopes are definite crowd-pleasers, but make sure you sample some tacos, especially the chicken mole, with a labor-intensive sauce made by hand by Munoz. For more states, check out our ultimate guide to the best food and drink in every state for 2019.


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Baton Rouge ( BAT-ən ROOZH; from French Bâton-Rouge 'red stick') is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties in other U.S. states. Since 2020, it has been the second-largest city in Louisiana after New Orleans; Baton Rouge is the 18th-most-populous state capital. According to the 2020 United States census, the city-proper had a population of 227,470; its consolidated population was 456,781 in 2020. The city is the center of the Greater Baton Rouge area—Louisiana's second-largest metropolitan area—with a population of 870,569 as of 2020, up from 802,484 in 2010.
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Home>News Center>World | ||
US announces plan for troop realignment U.S. President Bush's plan to restructure U.S. military forces abroad includes bringing two Army divisions home from Cold War-era bases in Germany, and increasing the U.S. presence at bases in countries like Poland, Romania and Uzbekistan, Pentagon officials said Monday.
Bush said the realignment would bring up to 70,000 troops — and about 100,000 family members and civilian workers — back to the United States within a decade. More than 200,000 U.S. troops are now stationed overseas, a majority of them in Europe. Pentagon officials said the realignment also would close scores of U.S. military installations in Europe to consolidate forces at larger bases. At the same time, the United States would make greater use of training and logistics bases on the soil of its new allies, said three top Pentagon officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. The moves are meant to give the military greater flexibility and a quicker reaction time to deal with the smaller military engagements that Pentagon planners foresee during the war on terrorism and beyond. Democratic critics said Bush's plan would place more troops further from potential battlefields and wear out soldiers with more frequent training overseas, away from families. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said Bush's plan "will significantly undermine U.S. national security." Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry was asked by reporters for his reaction to Bush's move as he finished a bike ride near his family's retreat in Ketchum, Idaho. He replied: "It's a great day for ride. Fabulous." He said later he had not seen the president's televised address. In Germany, the two heavy armored divisions will be replaced with one brigade, a unit roughly one-third the size of a division's 15,000 or so troops. Instead of tanks, the replacement unit will be outfitted with new Stryker vehicles, the smaller, lighter and faster armored vehicles that are a key part of the Army's future strategy. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other administration officials have frequently discussed the realignment with allies. Rumsfeld, who proposed the changes before the 2001 terrorist attacks, reassured Kremlin officials over the weekend in Russia that the U.S. moves into former Soviet and Warsaw Pact territory are not a threat to Moscow. The United States has had about 1,000 soldiers in Uzbekistan ever since the war in neighboring Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It has no soldiers permanently based in Poland and Romania, although it conducts some training exercises with those countries. The changes would not directly affect the 150,000 troops involved in or supporting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both divisions based in Germany have seen action in Iraq, where the U.S. military presence increasingly relies on National Guard and Reserve forces. Some German officials were dismayed at the troop shifts, which would cause multimillion-dollar holes in economies near U.S. bases. "Base closures would hit us very hard," said spokesman Ole Kruse in the city of Wuerzburg, home of the 1st Infantry Division. Underscoring the delicate balancing of military needs and diplomatic maneuvering, Bush administration officials offered few details of the realignment plans Monday — and did so only on condition of anonymity. They said any major shifts would not begin until at least 2006 and possibly later. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the three Defense Department officials and one State Department official who briefed dozens of reporters at a Pentagon news conference had to remain anonymous. The officials involved are all closely involved in the planning and negotiating involved. The officials said the United States planned no new, major overseas bases. Poland has offered several bases for training, and U.S. officials are talking with Turkish officials about using the Incirlik air base, where allied planes patrolling the former "no-fly zone" over northern Iraq were based. The U.S. officials refused to discuss plans for troop shifts in Asia. U.S. and South Korean officials previously said about one-third of the 37,000 American forces in South Korea will soon leave. The United States and Japan are discussing possible changes for the more than 40,000 troops in Japan, but the officials would not say whether that involved increasing or decreasing the number. Bush announced the plans in a speech to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Ohio, a state he wants to win in November. Bush cast the shift as both a way to make the military more flexible and to give troops and their families more stability. "Our service members will have more time on the home front, and more predictability and fewer moves over a career," Bush said. However, stepped-up use of training bases overseas could mean more short-term rotations for troops as their families remain in the United States. And some U.S. civilian and contract workers at shuttered European bases would lose their jobs, the Pentagon officials said. Clark said increased overseas training would put further strain on a military already stretched thin by Iraq and Afghanistan. "It will increase the burden on many military families, as troops will be separated from their families during more frequent and unaccompanied deployments to Eastern Europe," Clark said. The Pentagon officials said Bush announced the reorganization plans now so they could fit in with the next round of U.S. military base closures, set to begin next year. Decisions made then will determine where the returning overseas units will be based. |


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Environmentalist Stick-Up
This is one of the most incredible things I have seen in a while. I will describe the video, but it is only a bit over a minute long and you should definitely watch it.
The clip below is an outtake from the environmentalist movie "Crude", which purported to document the environmentalist's case against Chevron in Ecuador. Apparently, between takes of earnest and un-selfinterested environmentalists saving the world from greedy corporations, these self-same environmentalists discussed lying about the science and duping the courts in order to score a big payday for themselves.
The video is doubly interesting because, as Anthony Watts explains, the woman in the video taking money to make up untrue findings was recently confirmed to the NAS, where there is a good bet that we will see her as the source for "evidence" that fracking is contaminating groundwater. These three folks are all the subject of a civil suit from Chevron but all three should be subject to criminal charges for fraud and conspiracy.


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Calling all Lancashire school choirs!
Now going into its third year, Last Choir Singing is a competition for Lancashire based junior schools. Battling it out at a series of regional heats, winning choirs go through to a Grand Final, with the winner receiving £1,000 towards music equipment for their school. The runner-up receives £500 and winners of the regional heats are each given £250. There are also awards for Most Artistic and Best Newcomer.
Imagine an audience of thousands, a live radio recording, an international vocalist, teenage pop idols, and, best of all, performances from junior school choirs who just couldn't be more excited to be singing. Sounds impossible?
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThis was the dream of True Bearing Chairman, George Critchley. His vision became a reality in 2015 at the Last Choir Singing heats and finals.
'I was totally overwhelmed,' said George. 'Not just at the sheer volume of entries, but at the enthusiasm and passion of all those competing. I had a vision to create something amazing but this was beyond my dreams. To do this two years in a row has been totally remarkable, and we intend to keep on going; we're constantly thinking of ideas on how to make the event bigger and better.'
George Critchley co-owns True Bearing, a firm of Independent Financial Advisers based in Chorley. His employees are equally as passionate about the Last Choir Singing competition, all giving up their own personal time to help with the competition.
George explained; "I wanted to give something back to the community that has supported us over the last 13 years. The major reason for doing this is the sheer pleasure the children get out of it. Their joy is infectious. It really is heaven on earth!"
To enter Last Choir Singing visit: lastchoirsinging.co.uk, call 01257 260011 or email: [email protected]


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The ATR-72 turboprop operated by UTair took off at 7:40 a.m. from Tyumen, a regional centre in Siberia about 1,700 kilometres (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, heading for the oil town of Surgut, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) away.
The plane came down in a field about three kilometres (two miles) away from the Tyumen airport, breaking into three sections upon impact. Part of it was destroyed by a fire that burned at least six people to death, said Sergei Kiselyov, the police chief at the Roshchino airport in Tyumen.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but investigators said evidence so far points to a technical failure of the French/Italian-made twin-engine aircraft. They noted that witnesses reported seeing smoke coming from its engines as the plane came down and said the pilots had tried to return to the airport.
The federal Investigative Committee said while equipment failure appeared to be the most likely cause of the crash, pilot error or mistakes by traffic controllers had not been ruled out.
All of the 39 passengers and four crew on board were Russian, according to a list by Utair.
"One survivor stood up on his own and waited until he was given medical help and only then felt worse," Kiselyov told the state news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia has seen a string of deadly crashes in recent years. Some have been blamed on the use of aging Soviet-era aircraft, but industry experts point to a number of other problems, including poor crew training, crumbling airports, lax government controls and widespread neglect of safety in the pursuit of profits.
Pilot error was blamed for a September crash in Yaroslavl, a Russian city 250 kilometres (150 miles) northeast of Moscow, that killed 44 people, including a professional hockey team.
Pilot error and fog also were ruled the main causes of a crash in April 2010 that killed Poland's president and 95 other people as their plane was trying to land near Smolensk, in western Russia.
The ATR-72 has been involved in several accidents in past years.
Most recently, one went down in bad weather in Cuba in November 2010, killing all 68 people on board. Cuban aviation officials said the investigation showed there was nothing wrong with the aircraft.
In August 2009, an ATR-72 flown by Bangkok Airways skidded off the runway and crashed into a building after landing in stormy weather on the Thai resort island of Samui, killing the pilot and injuring seven people.


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Allegro CL |
ANSI Common Lisp 2 Syntax
2.1 Character SyntaxThe Lisp reader takes characters from a stream, interprets them as a printed representation of an object, constructs that object, and returns it. The syntax described by this chapter is called the standard syntax. Operations are provided by Common Lisp so that various aspects of the syntax information represented by a readtable can be modified under program control; see Chapter 23 Reader. Except as explicitly stated otherwise, the syntax used throughout this document is standard syntax. |


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White Sails Became Me
Legacies get passed down in many different ways. Some in the form of antiques, letters, money or anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.
Close your eyes, listen to the wind blow, feel the breeze and the smell of the salty air: Journey me as we take a journey along with our author as he takes us to the many places around the world. His legacy, his passion for the sea, creating model ships and his maritime career are all part of his heritage and legacy that he is passing down to his family and now his readers. Welcome aboard and enjoy the seafaring journey as author Nicholas Starace II, invites you into his life.
Sharing his life, his memories and his beginnings with the reader and describing his feelings towards his father, grandfather and his upbringing that made him the strong-minded, hardworking, humble man he is today.
The story begins with an incident that would frighten and dissuade many from flying. Terrorism is not new to us. It has been around for more years than we care to think. Planes are hijacked, bombed and towns are fire bombed and cars are blown up all over the world. Every time you go overseas, or even to a shopping mall you take the chance of coming in contact with such horrors. Our author reminds us at the start of his memoir of an incident that would forever change his perspective on life, his marriage and his goals. Pan American Flight 80 was bombed as he sat just a few rows ahead of the man who did it. A man who thought nothing of putting explosives under the seat of a young Japanese child and killing him and injuring so many others. But, with all of the snags on our justice system it took forever to sentence him. Even more frightening is this same man will be released in a little over two years and deported hopefully not going to try and do this again.
Memoirs always start at the beginning so let's take a journey back in time with our author and see where his life began and learn where it started and how he came to the present.
It all begins in Brooklyn and his life growing up getting to see the Dodgers play, Jackie Robinson and my favorite place to go every Sunday, Coney Island. I never saw Luna Park because that is before my time, but I loved the boardwalk, play miniature golf and watching my sister and mom go on the rides. I love and still love Coney Island as the author describes his memories there I smile and think about mine. He moves on to tell how he became so interested in a maritime career and the many disappointments along the way. Parents often preprogram their children with what they expect of them as a person, respect, honesty and hard work, plus what they want them to be. I should know since my mom chose my career when I was four and I never regretted it.
Being doctor was what his father wanted for our author, but sailing the seas and learning how to man ships, tankers and more was his dream and heart's desire. Finally entering the right school and going on many journeys, the reader enters the world of travel and learns the many hardships, dangers and exciting experiences he endured until her finally graduated and fulfill his dream. Encouraged at a young age by his grandfather, Nicholas learns how to create and build ships by hand and the power of the sea.
The author recounts many experiences away from home on different ships and his love of England and living in the United Kingdom. Each event described every journey he takes on each ship allows the reader to understand more fully his love of the sea, maritime work and why serving our country in the navy was so vital to who this man became. Yet, some things remain the same and others change as the months apart put some strains on his marriage. Ronnie became the head of the household and took on more responsibilities for running her family than most women would. As the author and his family return from the life in England you can feel the strain on him and his desire to reunite with the sea and his uneasiness with life as it presented itself.
Traveling to the four corners of the world and back many times you can feel the excitement in the author's voice as he undertakes each new job, every new opportunity and learns the secrets of each foreign country and enjoys engulfs himself and his family in their history and culture. Families need more than luxuries, wealth and important jobs, They need understanding, quality time spent together understanding of each others needs and differences which was definitely lacking in many instances involving the author and his relationship with his wife and his son Nicky. Many tragedies befell this family starting with a slow deterioration of his 34-year marriage to Ronnie when circumstances and instances that could not be rectified ended in their getting a divorce. But, no loss is greater than losing a child. His eldest son Nicky dies at age twenty- six after living with schizophrenia since the age of 14. Understanding the author's mindset and his life awakening tragedies you need to read for yourself in order to understand how he comes full circle with a true understanding of how precious life is and what is really important. Too many losses follow that of his son and one that befalls him is a true turning point in his life as you experience the sadness, the frustrations of a man battling a deadly illness hoping to win.
From Normandy to the many sites he visited that reminded him of the many wars we fought and the countries that were involved, the people he meets and the tours he takes, the author realizes that life is too precious and he would rethink his priorities and learn to live his life, volunteering, teaching his grandson's how to make model ships and much more that life's journey can offer.
Life sends us many messages when we least expect them. From his journeys around the world and return trips Japan, England and many other places that he holds dear the one that stands out for him is his visit to his mother's home town and visiting her old oak tree and feeling her warmth and presence. Take the trip, visit the places, close your eyes and envision the detailed descriptions of war torn cities, countries and the majesty of the world and read this memoir of one man who definitely fulfilled his dreams in many ways. Seafaring naval officer, miniature ship creator, model, actor, award winner, volunteer and much more which would make his mother proud of what her son accomplished and his father's words of praise. Read this informative and historically filled memoir and take the trip that I have already traveled along with author Nicholas Starace II Families are precious and life is too short to only focus on your career, your wants and your needs. The one thing I think the author learned and came full circle with is time. You can't get it back was its gone. Dedicating his life to the maritime industry and proud of his accomplishments after graduating from Kings Point, he learns that there is still so much more to his life that is just as meaningful. Welcome to your beginning as life still holds even more for you: Nicholas Starace II.
This is a great memoir for anyone that enjoys reading about the sea, naval experiences and wants to relive the past and enjoy learning about the present.


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Add a touch of luxury vintage to transform any look into something truly special.
As worn by Holly Willoughby on ITV1's Dancing on Ice
A Tiffany Rose favourite, this beautifully made, diamante, pearl, bead and sequin sash looks fabulous with almost anything.
Most popular amongst our pregnant brides, the sash sits beautifully under the bust, accentuating your waist and has luxurious silk ties for fastening around the back, offering a perfect fit every time.
Versatile: Sash-it-up, create a choker, hair piece or even shoulder straps for your favourite party dress.
Our Diamante Sash is also available with Blue Silk Tails.
Length approximately 101cm.


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Acupuncture, an alternative medical modality that dates back to 3000 B.C. China, has been shown to be effective in treating sports and performance injuries, many types of pain, headaches, stress and other chronic conditions. The Center for Integrative Medicine offers acupuncture at our location in Broadview Heights at 2001 East Royalton Rd.
To schedule an appointment for acupuncture treatment through the Center for Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine, call 216.448.4325.
Allergy specialists offer comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for both adults and children. Although the most effective treatment for allergies is eliminating or decreasing exposure to the allergen, medications, such as long-acting antihistamines, may be helpful. In some cases, allergy shots or allergen vaccines may be necessary to bring symptoms under control.
An audiologist is available on-site to assess and treat hearing problems due to chronic ear infections, ruptured eardrums, trauma to the eardrum, inherited conditions or diseases of the inner ear.
Cancer Services
Independence Family Health Center was designed with our patients in mind. The state-of-the-art facility features individual treatment rooms, reflecting the privacy needs of patients and families. Specialists offer a full range of treatment options, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and coordination of care with other specialists.
Radiation therapy techniques include using Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT). This localization process combined with special computer software improves the accuracy of treatment and reduces the exposure to healthy tissue.
Independence Family Health Center
Medical Oncology:
Monday - Thursday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Radiation Oncology:
Monday - Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
(24 hour answering service on weekends )
Our cardiologists diagnose and treat heart diseases, such as coronary artery disease, valvular disease and rhythm disorders. Complex cases are referred to Cleveland Clinic's Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute, which is nationally ranked and recognized as the global leader in cardiovascular care.
Colorectal Surgery
If detected early, colorectal cancer can be successfully treated. Specialists offer endoscopic procedures to diagnose colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, familial colon diseases and non-malignant colorectal conditions. Routine colonoscopies can help in the early detection of both colorectal polyps and colorectal cancer.
Our dermatologists manage a variety of skin, hair and nail diseases, including dermatitis caused by a wide range of allergens; fungal infections; and the damaging effects of prolonged exposure to the sun.
The endocrine system is a major control system of the body, regulating temperature, metabolism and other processes. Specialists at Cleveland Clinic provide care to people with endocrine disorders such as diabetes mellitus; obesity; osteoporosis and related problems of androgen excess (such as acne and menstrual irregularity); hypoglycemia; and glandular dysfunction of the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, ovaries and testes.
Endocrine Surgery
The Endocrine Surgery Department offers diagnostic testing, comprehensive treatment options and minimally invasive surgery for diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and endocrine pancreases, as well as neuroendocrine and metastatic tumors to the liver. Other specialty services include clinical workup, ultrasound or ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of endocrine glands, and surgery for complex problems or re-operative endocrine neck surgery.
Express Care Clinic
Express Care Clinic provides individuals 6 and older walk-in convenience for treatment of common health problems. And with expanded hours, we're making it easier than ever to get the care you need when you need it.
Express Care addresses the following common health problems:
- Cold and flu symptoms
- Ear and throat infections
- Minor back pain (without history of trauma)
- Minor bumps and cuts
- Seasonal allergies
- Shoulder pain (without history of trauma)
- Skin rashes
- Simple sprains and strains
- Sinus infections
- Urinary tract infections
- Upper respiratory tract infections
Express Care Clinic Hours
Monday - Friday: 6 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Patients 6 and older
Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Our plastic surgeons offer the latest techniques in facial cosmetic surgery.
Fit Youth Program
This program is for children ages 7-16 years who are serious about wanting to lose weight. Specifically designed for children and their parents, the group will meet once a week for 90 minutes. The program will last for 12 weeks. Group leaders include a psychologist, dietitian and exercise physiologist. In addition to losing weight, the program will help your child develop new eating and exercise habits. This program will teach you and your child to change the things at home affecting eating and exercise habits. Your child will learn to communicate effectively about his/her weight control.
A variety of upper endoscopic diagnostic procedures are offered in order to identify the causes of abdominal or chest pain, nausea and vomiting, heartburn, bleeding and swallowing disorders. More accurate than X-rays, endoscopy can also help identify inflammation, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), ulcers and tumors. Lower endoscopy is used to evaluate stomach pain and intestinal bleeding, as well as to detect polyps in the colon that may lead to colon cancer.
General Internal Medicine
Our internal medicine staff provides comprehensive services for adults, such as diagnosing and treating health problems that require prompt attention, conducting general physical examinations and performing screenings, which may detect health problems early.
General Surgery
Our board-certified general surgeons provide evaluation and treatment, including minimally invasive surgery, for a broad range of medical problems, such as hernia repair and gall bladder removal.
Geriatrics is a medical subspecialty that focuses on diagnosing and treating conditions that lead to disease and disability of older adults. A geriatrician is a medical doctor who is specially trained to identify and address the multiple, interacting medical conditions, medications, social situations, emotional and psychological problems that older adults may face. A geriatrician focuses on quality of life issues, such as preserving or improving the physical and mental function of older adults. Geriatricians develop a plan of care that considers the whole person--incorporating each person's unique characteristics, medical conditions, medications, values and preferences.
Providing the most technologically advanced, compassionate medical care to patients with neurological diseases is the primary mission of Cleveland Clinic's Department of Neurology. The Department of Neurology is subdivided into the following sections, each one covering a specific area of neurological subspecialization:
- Cerebrovascular Diseases, Neurointensive Care and Interventional Neurology
- Epilepsy
- General Neurology
- Headache
- Mellen Center/Multiple Sclerosis
- Movement Disorders
- Neuromuscular Disorders
- Pediatric Neurology
- Pediatric Epilepsy
Nutrition Services
Registered, licensed dietitians assess patients' nutritional needs and help them achieve nutritional goals. Often patients are referred for counseling when a medical condition warrants a change in nutrition and/or diet. Medical conditions may include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes management, heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, irritable bowel syndrome and other gastrointestinal disorders, pregnancy, premenstrual syndrome and weight problems.
Obstetrics / Gynecology
Obstetricians and gynecologists offer specialized care for women, including comprehensive prenatal care, preventive health screenings and general gynecology. If necessary, the expertise of other gynecologic specialists is available in areas such as infertility, high-risk obstetrics and gynecologic cancer. A board-certified mental health specialist offers counseling related to women's issues or issues surrounding infertility at the Beachwood Family Health and Surgery Center.
Our ophthalmology staff diagnoses and treats all types of eye disorders, including cataracts, glaucoma and problems associated with chronic conditions such as diabetes. Patients also can access routine eye care. A pediatric ophthalmologist is on staff to address the unique needs of young patients. We also provide optometry and contact lens service.
General and pediatric orthopaedic care, sports medicine and spine care are offered. Patients with orthopaedic problems related to the hands and upper extremities, or feet, ankles and knees can access specialty care from our staff. Arthroscopic knee, hand and foot surgeries are performed in the state-of-the-art outpatient surgery centers in Beachwood, Lorain, Marymount and Strongsville, or at Cleveland Clinic's main hospital campus.
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Our otolaryngology staff provides expert care of snoring and other sleep problems, sinus conditions, ear infections, throat problems, hearing disorders and many other conditions of the ear, nose and throat.
We understand the special needs of young patients. Our pediatricians offer complete care for newborns, infants, children and adolescents. We encourage the healthy growth and development of children by emphasizing the importance of healthy lifestyles and educating parents and children on safety and accident prevention. We are available for problems that require prompt attention, such as fever, earaches and injuries, as well as preventive checkups, school physicals and immunizations. If necessary, we team up with Cleveland Clinic pediatric specialists from Cleveland Clinic Children's.
For adult patients with foot and ankle problems, podiatric specialists provide comprehensive diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. Most often, problems can be treated using non-surgical methods. When necessary, however, surgery is performed by physicians specializing in foot and ankle procedures. And most surgeries can be performed in our convenient outpatient surgery centers, making it possible for most patients to go home on the same day of surgery.
Psychologists provide individual, group or family counseling for a variety of common problems. If appropriate, they refer patients to other specialists and community resources.
Pulmonology specialists treat pulmonary and respiratory problems. Related conditions such as chronic bronchitis with acute exacerbation and emphysema are also treated.
Our staff is dedicated to providing complete, state-of-the-art diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for adults affected by diseases such as arthritis, bursitis, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome and vasculitis.
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Spine Center
Experts in back, neck and spine care diagnose and treat people with back problems, including workers with job-related injuries or strains, injured weekend athletes and persons with arthritis or osteoporosis. Patients also can get second opinions regarding the appropriateness of back surgery, which Back and Neck Center experts have found can be avoided in all but a small percentage of patients with low back pain.
Sports Medicine
Our Sports Health program is designed to give the highest possible quality of care to all sports enthusiasts, both amateur and professional. This means high school athletes and weekend warriors are cared for by the same sports medicine specialists who treat the Cleveland Cavs and Indians.
Our board-certified urologists provide the latest in diagnostic and treatment techniques for a wide range of urologic conditions in adults and children. These include kidney disease, bladder control, prostate disorders, sexual dysfunction, male infertility, cancer (testicular, bladder, adrenal, prostate and kidney), chronic urinary tract infections and obstructions, and birth defects such as undescended testes and hypospadias.
Vascular Surgery
Vascular surgeons specialize in the diagnosis and management of carotid artery disease, aortic aneurysms, and poor circulation to the legs and abdominal organs. Acting in close cooperation with vascular medicine specialists, cardiologists and radiologists, our vascular surgeons provide comprehensive services for all types of peripheral vascular disorders, including the new technology of catheter-based intervention, as well as traditional surgical treatment for aneurysms and obstructive arterial disease.
Wound Care
Wound healing is an intricate and complex process. Wounds can result from an injury or a disease process. Independence Family Health Center has physicians who specialize in chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), diabetic foot problems, lower extremity ulcers, venous insufficiency, venous stasis, leg ulcers, debridement of skin and wound.


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"For his incisive theoretical contributions to the understanding of the behavior of hydrogen in semiconductors and heterostructure energy band diagrams and the exceptional exposition of this work in the scientific community."
Background:Chris G. Van de Walle is a Principal Scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. He received his Ph.D. in 1986 from Stanford University, where he was awarded the F. E. Terman Prize from the School of Engineering. Before joining Xerox PARC in 1991, Dr. Van de Walle was a postdoctoral scientist at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York (1986-1988), a Senior Member of Research Staff at Philips Laboratories in Briarcliff Manor, New York (1988-1991), and an Adjunct Professor of Materials Science at Columbia University (1991). Dr. Van de Walle develops and employs first-principles techniques to model the structure and behavior of semiconductors. He has performed extensive studies of semiconductor interfaces (including the development of a widely used model for band offsets) and of defects and impurities in semiconductors, with particular emphasis on doping problems and on the role of hydrogen. In recent years he has focused his attention on wide-band-gap semiconductors. Dr. Van de Walle has published over 160 research papers, has four patents, has given more than 50 invited talks at international conferences, and has chaired three conferences. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and the recipient of a Humboldt Award for Senior US Scientist.
Leonard Feldman (Chair), Patricia M Mooney, Alan Reginald Bishop, Ellen Williams, Dan Dahlberg


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WASHINGTON (AP) - Twice during today's inaugural parade, President Barack Obama and his wife have given spectators the extra bonus they were hoping for. The Obamas left their limousine and walked along part of the parade route, waving and responding to cheers from the crowd.
During the second walk, near the White House, the crowd roared as the Obamas passed in front of bleachers, waving and smiling. Michelle Obama occasionally clapped her hands when she wasn't holding hands with the president.
Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, also left their limousine to acknowledge the crowds.
Some spectators who weren't along the route where the Obamas walked said they were happy anyway. Regina Thomas of North Carolina arrived at 6 a.m. to catch what amounted to a glimpse of Obama through tinted windows as his limo rolled by. But she said it was worth it.
Obama, Michelle Blow Kisses to Spectators on Pennsylvania Ave.
Copyright NECNMIGR - NECN


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Facebook opens vote on policy changes, addresses privacy concerns
The site's proposed policy changes are officially open for a vote. Think it's a farce? The company's calling in an independent auditor.
Nation Facebook has officially opened its polls. So from now until noon on December 10, Facebook's billion-plus members will be able to vote on a number of proposed policy changes as to how Facebook governs its site. These include how Facebook handles your data, and a plan to abolish the social network's practice of allowing users to vote on policy changes in the first place.
The proposed changes, rolled out just over a week ago, have led to plenty of criticism from privacy advocates, who urged CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reverse course on the whole thing.
And as a result of feedback and after consulting with regulators, Facebook is changing the language to parts of the policy proposals, particularly the sections about what Facebook wants to do with data it collects from Instagram and what it shares with its affiliates. Facebook's vice president of public policy and marketing, Elliot Schrage, highlighted the key points in a post. He wrote:
- Ownership of your content. A number of the comments suggested that we were changing ownership of your content on Facebook. We're not. This is not true and has never been the case. Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our SRR. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been. We're not proposing to change this key aspect of how Facebook works.
- Privacy controls. In our latest set of updates, we proposed to add language reminding you of the difference between privacy settings (which let you decide who can see what you post anywhere on Facebook) and timeline visibility preferences (which impact how things show up on your timeline but don't impact other parts of Facebook, like news feed, relationship pages, or search results). Some people asked if this means we're removing controls you currently have over who can see the things you post. We are not. We simply added this language to further explain how these privacy settings and timeline preferences work. In response to your feedback, however, we're adding additional language to remind you that you can delete things you post or change the audience at any time.
- Advertising policies. We've always been clear that we are able to provide free services by showing you ads that are relevant to your interests, and we use your posts - including pages you like - to help show these ads. We proposed new language to make it clearer that those likes and posts include topics like religion or political views. This language does not mean that we are changing our Advertising Guidelines, which prohibit advertisers from running ads that assert or imply sensitive personal characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. We've added additional language, including a link to our guidelines, to this proposal to make that clearer.
This vote comes after 20,108 people commented in English on Schrage's original post about the proposed changes. In total, Facebook received about 89,000 comments during the seven-day period that ended Wednesday.
In April 2009, Facebook instituted its own democracy of sorts through a vote that was put before but largely ignored by Facebook's 200 million users at the time (665,654 votes were cast). But the company now argues that the system no longer makes sense because Facebook has become so large and is a publicly traded company, faced with a range of regulatory issues. That 2009 policy says that site governance changes automatically go to a broader vote once a post about the proposal receives 7,000 "substantive comments," which is easy to achieve with more than a billion users.
For the people's vote to become binding, however, Facebook requires "more than 30 percent of all active registered users" to participate. Facebook is doing its part to push people to the polls. The company says it's sending out an e-mail blast to all its members, and it's releasing an app -- built by a third party, and developed on the Facebook platform -- specifically for voting. Concerned it's all a sham? Facebook says its bringing in an independent auditor to ensure an accurate vote count.
It's hard to imagine the Facebook public affecting the outcome of this. Since Facebook instituted its current system, only two issues have gone to broader votes. And both failed because not enough people voted. The first time was when Facebook proposed the policy it now wants to undo. The second time was in June, when Facebook put to a vote a change in its privacy policy, but only 342,632 of its roughly 900 million users at the time even voted. And the vote now under way would require a turnout of about 300 million people.
That means this is all but certain to be the last vote that Facebook puts to its users. While some people told Facebook they were "concerned that by ending the vote mechanism" they were "losing control of the ability to shape policies that govern Facebook," according to Schrage's post, the company is sticking with its plan to kill the voting system (unless, that is, 300 million people tell it otherwise.)
You can read all the details about the changes here, and place your vote here.