text:
Volvo Car Corporation is rewriting the rulebook on how we will use our cars in the future with its 3CC prototype being unveiled to the public for the first time at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum in Shanghai, October 12-14. From the outside, the Volvo 3CC has an iconic funky-cool tapered shape designed to make a dynamic statement that nonetheless is unmistakably Volvo. Under the hood is an electric powertrain that quietly propels the Volvo 3CC to a governed top speed of over 135 km/h (85 mph) and delivers zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration in approximately ten seconds – with zero emissions!
Just 3899 mm long, 1624 mm wide and 1321 mm high, the Volvo 3CC has dimensions similar to a classic 2-seater sports car – but that is where similarities end. For the sporty vehicle packs a surprise: a unique two-plus-one configuration, providing seating for two adults in the front and a unique rear seat solution for an additional adult or two children.
This 3-seat configuration provides a unique experience with regards to the occupants' communication, unprecedented rear occupant's comfort and all-around visibility for all passengers.
"With the Volvo 3CC, Volvo Cars is pioneering a new way of looking at mobility so future generations can enjoy the same freedoms the car has given my generation. We believe it is necessary to show new ways to reduce pollution and congestion," says Lars Erik Lundin, Vice President & General Manager of the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center VMCC.
The Volvo 3CC is the brainchild of the designers, engineers and business people at the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center think-tank in California. Their task was to create a `future-proof concept´ that would enhance sustainable mobility. A car not only fuel-efficient, versatile, comfortable, and safe, but also exciting to drive and look at.
"We want to connect in a positive way with consumers so that they say 'I want to be seen in this car'," Lars Erik Lundin explains. "We want to add emotional value to people's lives by offering an environmentally compatible car that appeals to all the senses, and which people want to drive."
Despite its compactness, the Volvo 3CC has been designed to feel spacious through organic lines, and light colors. Inside, the fixed eye plane ergonomics and low profile A-pillar create a sense of openness aided by three transparent panels in the roof. As the doors open by swinging upwards, a floating dash panel slides forward to ease ingress and egress. A unique sliding seat system also assists ingress and egress to the rear seat. The pedals also adjust for individual requirements.
But Volvo Car Corporation's aim was not just to make the 3CC look good – they also wanted to deliver on overall sustainable mobility goals by providing excellent efficiency. Volvo has achieved this objective through good aerodynamics on a compact footprint, lightweight body materials, and an electric powertrain.
Volvo opted to give the Volvo 3CC a high strength steel space frame and composite sandwich floor panels for safety and lightweight. The outer body is a bonded one piece carbon fibre shell. The resulting chassis rigidity and its innovative suspension also give the car great handling characteristics.
"The double floor used to house the electric energy storage makes the concept future-proof in that the layout can be adapted for the most appropriate powertrain in the future, whether it be petrol, diesel, biogas, or hybrid electric," explains Ichiro Sugioka, Science Officer at VMCC in California. "In Shanghai, we are demonstrating the electric powertrain, one of the most challenging to package into a vehicle, to highlight its potential where there is abundance of renewable energy that can be converted to electricity."
Meticulous wind tunnel tests resulted in an enhanced aerodynamic efficiency that is 30% better than the new S40 sedan.With a potential driving range of over 300 km (180 miles) under certain driving conditions, the torque-to-weight ratio is roughly comparable to the powerful T5 model, but available over 0 - 3500 rpm. In typical driving conditions, about 20 percent of the energy can be recovered by regenerative braking.
This performance is achieved using a drivetrain specifically designed for the Volvo 3CC, although it too is a prototype. The electric power comes from lithium-ion cells identical to those used in modern laptop computers that are packaged in the thin sandwich floor.
Front wheel driven, the Volvo 3CC at Shanghai has double wishbone front and rear suspension. The front suspension includes horizontally mounted adjustable coil over shocks that give a low hood line. The rear suspension includes vertically mounted adjustable coil over shocks. Due to the vehicle's lightweight and the power of the regenerative electric braking, unassisted brakes provide good stopping power. The 3CC uses Michelin Pilot Sport 215/45 ZR18 tires that are normally found on supercars for utmost performance.
The interior of the Volvo 3CC offers dynamic ergonomic positioning for both driver and front passenger. Unique solutions include replacing instrument panel toggles with proximity sensors that are activated by a finger as it gets to within 5 mm to adjust lights, climate, and audio system.
"Rather than refining existing cars and technologies for new markets, Volvo has listened, questioned and speculated about the future and developed this all new concept," says Lex Kerssemakers, Senior Vice President of Brand, Product & Business Strategy. "We think the Volvo 3CC opens a door into that future and we will develop the concept further."
Source: Volvo


text:
Chicken Wings
Hubby and I were planning on spending the evening watching NFL. And he had been craving chicken wings for a while. He ordered some last weekend and wasn't impressed, so he was still looking to satisfy that craving. We trekked out in the 6″ of snow we got and headed to grab groceries for the week and decided to make chicken wings for dinner. The only thing missing was some cold beers!
I followed a recipe from Mrs Sac's Purple Kitchen, except used a different sauce (those B-Dubs sauces are awesome though!)
Chicken wings – from Mrs Sac's Purple Kitchen
2.5 lbs chicken wings, rinsed, dried, separated, and wings discarded
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tbsp garlic powder – I didn't measure, just sprinkled some on
3-4 tbsp butter, divided
about 2 tbsp vegetable oil
BBQ sauce – I used Nance's hot wing sauce (hot for hubby and mild for me)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with tin foil and non-stick spray.
Spread out wings on the baking sheet, drizzle a little vegetable oil over them and turn to coat. We just tossed the wings in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Lightly season wings with salt, pepper, garlic powder on both sides. Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, turn over and baking for an additional 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat approximately 1 cup sauce and 3-4 tbsp butter in saucepan (separate if using different sauces). Heat till simmering and mixture is reduced.
Remove wings from oven. If there is a lot of liquid on the tin foil, drain off, or replace and spray with non-stick spray. Pour sauce on wings and turn to coat. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, sauce will become like a glaze. Enjoy with ranch, bleu cheese & celery sticks.
One Response to "Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole"
I love comfy clothes, comfort foods, and casseroles that reheat well! 🙂 This casserole is right up my alley with the Mexican-inspired spices. Oh, and avocado!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
US Media Angrily Marvels at the Lack of Muslim Gratitude
"One prominent strain shaping American reaction to the protests in the Muslim world is bafflement, and even anger, that those Muslims are not more grateful to the US. After all, goes this thinking, the US bestowed them with the gifts of freedom and democracy – the very rights they are now exercising – so how could they possibly be anything other than thankful? Under this worldview, it is especially confounding that the US, their savior and freedom-provider, would be the target of their rage."
- Login to post comments
For centuries the Middle Eastern people have lived under third world economics. Clans formed into units, those with the wealth of more camels suppressed those whom have a few camels. They live under poor conditions and all they can hope for are 62 virgins. Their conditions are not much unlike our own; suppression of the masses, degradation, rules, laws, regulations, no hope and prosperity only for the wealthy, a chance at personal freedom is taken away and a chance at creating wealth of their own is also taken away. Then there are the mullahs and other religious leaders whom, by some form of coercion, manage to a degree, to influence the leaders; probably through the fear of the power the mullahs have over the population in relationship to Allah! Ergo, why shouldn't they have a passion to strap on a bomb and blow up innocent people . Sixty-two virgins is better than nothing. This image is planted, as a seed, into their minds until they can fully imagine this as a truth and they proceed on the course that makes the best sense to them. This is my thought regarding the issue. Maybe I am wrong and maybe not. It would be nice to hear another perspective to what I have presented.
- Login to post comments
USA Today:
- "...How can people the USA helped free from murderous dictators treat it in such a way?..."
The pomposity of that statement sez it all. "...Get the hell off my property..." is the message. "..We refuse to argue with stupid.." The history of US psychopaths in the Middle East toward Arabic people is egregious at best, criminally bestial on down the scale.
Pat Buchanan wrote a column on the Lew Rockwell page this morning that highlights Yankee boorishness:
- Osama bin Laden in his declaration of war against (the US) gave three reasons as his casus belli.
His first reason for war was the presence of U.S. troops on the soil of Saudi Arabia, sacred home to Mecca and Medina.
His second was the U.S. sanctions on Iraq then said to be causing the premature deaths of as many as 500,000 Iraqi children.
Third was U.S. support for Israel, seen in the Arab world as a colonial implant to humiliate them and deny to the Palestinian people their right to a nation of their own.
Megalomania, I think, is the illness that defines those who dispatch and maintain US "troops" on the ground in those parts of the world.
- Login to post comments
I concur with Sam,
Someone says that the State solution to such and such problem isn't working, we are in real trouble, what are we going to do about it. The essay "Freedom Has No 'System" very nicely answers with the equivalent of "What do you mean 'WE', Statist?"
Such an approach puts the burden of freeing oneself (or some "Noble" cause or "Burning Issue") onto the Statist. It UNDERSCORES the fact that the Statist has NOT bothered to think of solutions that do NOT involve **enslaving other people**.
**As pointed out in the article: "…[watch] my fellow humans squirm when asked to think like a free people…".**
Freedom Has No "System"--Challenge the premise. THERE IS NO "WE"! http://zerogov.com/?p=2334
There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.
PT Penn Teller http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/119929.html
- Login to post comments
The following link addresses how and why it IS customary law that ACTUALLY keeps order and NOT Govt; It also shatters the myth that government must define and enforce "the rules of the game".
I recommend: "Enterprise of Customary Law" Mises Daily: Friday, June 29, 2007 by Bruce L. Benson http://archive.mises.org/6795/the-enterprise-of-customary-law/
I got this response:
"Those who refer to [customary law keep] failing to notice that [they're] referring to businesses in a dispute who otherwise want to do business so they look for a quick resolution".
"A better analogy is be victim to pirates on international waters: either you have enough firepower to repel themselves or you're at their mercy. Since there's no international law then they have nothing to fear from killing you and even if they steal everything and let you live there's no one to complain to rather you just suck it up and move on". ~ Gil at http://mises.org/preview/6177/The-Economic-Irrationality-of-the-State#ID...
[Summed up: There is no alternative (TINA) to being a victim to pirates on International Waters AND to Statism] (SARC Intended).
My response:
Nope. In the Straits of Malacca, South China Sea and Indonesian waters, insurance rates have increased drastically, routes altered, and some freight companies have hired onboard security guards. A 2004 study explains
"These guards … are being deployed discreetly, because the legal status of armed guards on board commercial vessels is not clear under international law. …If the guards use deadly force, they and their employers may be criminally liable. Yet the policy is pursued because it is working; numerous, potentially deadly piracy attacks are being thwarted on a daily basis by the mere presence of armed guards, who, working in groups of four to eight per ship, often do not have to fire even a single shot in order to keep the pirates at bay. Ship owners also favor hiring armed private security guards because the practice may help them negotiate better insurance premiums.
It goes on: "The deterrence effect can also be achieved when pirates know or expect that the ships' crews themselves carry firearms. Pirates deliberately avoid Russian- and U.S.-flagged ships, for example, because they believe that many of them carry small arsenals for protection." Incidentally, the crew of the US-flagged Alabama was not armed — and yet was still able to get the better of the four Kalashnikov-armed hijackers. This heroism is individual and team based, autonomous.
A business-oriented, personal responsibility-friendly, insurance rate-enhancing approach will never be recommended, suggested, or condoned by statists types
Whether the drug war, the poverty war, the war on terror, or the war on piracy — for our government, it's always first things first. Establish the moral high ground of the state, centralize decision-making, bureaucratize and internationalize the legitimate policy discussion, drum fear and uncertainty into the hearts of markets and populations, demonize the "enemy" and smear as co-conspirators any individual actors offering non-state solutions, and make the erstwhile victims as helpless as possible.
Solutions for the Pirate Problem
by Karen Kwiatkowski
The Art of NOT Being Governed, by James C. Scott.
(Anarchy: The Unknown Ideal)
Bionic Mosquito
- Login to post comments


text:
GUANGZHOU, China — GAC Motor, China's fastest-growing automaker, will present its elite vehicle lineup featuring its existing sedan, SUV, minivan and NEV at the 2018 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), which demonstrates the brand's sincerity and determination to enter the North American market. A brand-new sedan model and a concept car will also make their world debuts on GAC Motor's press conference which held on January 15.The NAIAS will be on from January 13 to 18, 2018 at the Cobo Center in Detroit.
Three-time participating as the only Chinese automaker in the NAIAS has gained widespread interest for GAC Motor and has also allowed it to be more familiar to local consumers as well as to better understand their needs. GAC Motor's exhibition at 2018 NAIAS will feature high-end models including the GA8, GS8 and GM8, which provided safe and reliable service for attendees at the Fortune Global Forum 2017 as the event's official service vehicles.
Most notably, GAC Motor will debut the GA4, an all-new signature sedan at 2018 NAIAS. This GA4 is a mainstream sedan model built on GAC Motor's own A-Class sedan platform, which is designed and positioned as a family sedan of quality and charm. Also, GAC is to release its first compact new-energy concept SUV designed for the North American market, called the Enverge, to unfold the company's cutting-edge technologies and tremendous potential in the fields of vehicle electrification, networking and intelligent system. The new cars are widely expected by the industry professionals, trade media and consumers.
As GAC Motor releases its new vehicles, the brand's product lineup is more comprehensive than ever, paving a path for GAC Motor to further explore global markets while demonstrating the company's advanced and upgraded capabilities in R&D, manufacturing and quality. By focusing on building high-end models and elevating travel experience, GAC Motor aims to define future mobility with products of supreme quality and personalized design.
"GAC Motor is proud to unveil our bold additions to the fields of SUVs, sedans and minivans at NAIAS," said Yu Jun, President of GAC Motor. "As we execute on our strategy of becoming an automaker with a global reach, we will continue to design products that will meet the different needs of customers worldwide."
In 2017, GAC motor met its target of annual sales volume of 500,000 for the year in China, with a 37.2% year-on-year increase, blazing a path of high-quality and sustainable development. As a highly-trusted brand, GAC Motor has received top quality ratings from JD Power for five consecutive years. This honor is recognition of its efforts to redefine and reimagine what Made-in-China means. The company's presentation of its complete product lineup at 2018 NAIAIS will be a showcase for its strength as an international automaker.
"GAC Motor will present an update to its strategy in the US market around brand, marketing as well as product at the NAIAS, offering a new blueprint as the company moves towards officially entering the market in 2019," said Yu. "The American market has the strictest standards, laws and regulations, so entering it is a challenge as well as test for GAC Motor's quality, technology and R&D capabilities. We believe that entering the North American market will drive GAC Motor to improve its R&D, product quality, brand influence and business management, while enabling us to integrate global resources in developed markets and further facilitate internationalization."
It is also worth noting that GAC Motor is to hold an on-campus recruitment fair and a social recruitment fair. Information as shown below:
Campus Recruitment
13:30 January 12, 2018(Friday)
Conference & Event Services-Pendleton, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Add: Michigan Union, 530 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
To apply: email@example.com
Social Recruitment
13:30 January 13, 2018 (Saturday)
Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center
Add:400 Renaissance Dr, Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI 48243
To apply: firstname.lastname@example.com
For full details: https://event.liepin.com/t/1514435513775/
About GAC Motor
Founded in 2008, Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor CO., LTD (GAC Motor) is a subsidiary of GAC Group which ranks 238th among the Fortune Global 500 companies. The company develops and manufactures premium quality vehicles, engines, components and auto accessories. GAC Motor achieved a 37.2% year-on-year increase in 2017, and now it ranks the first among all Chinese brands for five consecutive years in J.D. Power Asia Pacific's 2017 China Initial Quality StudySM (IQS). The company built a production and sales volume of 500,000 vehicles in 2017 and aims to reach 1,000,000 vehicles by 2020.
For more information, please visit:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GACMotor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gac_motor
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gac_motor
Source: GAC Motor


text:
Configuring Certificates for Virtual Machine Connection
Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2
These procedures are intended for advanced users; required steps include editing the registry. You should perform these steps only if the default behavior of Hyper-V does not meet the needs or policies of your environment.
One security issue that Hyper-V was designed to address is better protection against "man in the middle" attacks (sometimes referred to as MITM). Use of trusted certificates can help protect against MITM attacks. When you use the Virtual Machine Connection tool or a custom application that uses Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) ActiveX controls, Hyper-V uses a single-port listener that utilizes trusted certificates for server authentication. (This does not occur when you use the Remote Desktop Connection client, because it does not use the single port listener.) As explained later in this topic, under certain circumstances Hyper-V issues a self-signed certificate that is then used for server authentication. As an alternative to this approach, you can configure Hyper-V to use a different certificate, such as one issued by a certification authority (CA).
During a MITM attack, a malicious party listens and intercepts communication between two parties, then injects information into the communication stream, without the knowledge of the two communicating parties. This information triggers some action that amounts to a security breach.
Certificate requirements and selection
Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management Service (VMMS) requires that a certificate meet all of the following criteria to be considered a valid certificate. The certificate must have:
A valid certificate chain, which is connected to a trusted root certificate
A "Subject Name" that matches the FQDN of the machine
A purpose of "Server Authentication"
A private key file that includes 'read' access for the Virtual Machine group security ID (SID).
When VMMS starts, Hyper-V searches for an existing, valid certificate to prepare for future communication requests. If one is not found, Hyper-V generates a self-signed certificate in the VMMS certificate store. The search for a certificate occurs as follows:
First, Hyper-V checks the registry for the thumbprint value of a certificate, under \HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Virtualization\AuthCertificateHash. Hyper-V uses this value to try to locate a matching certificate.
If no matching, valid certificate is found, Hyper-V checks the certificate store of the computer.
If no valid certificate is found in the certificate store of the computer, Hyper-V checks the VMMS certificate store, under Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management Service (VMMS).
If the VMMS certificate store does not contain a certificate that is valid for use with Hyper-V, VMMS generates a self-signed certificate in its service certificate store.
Deploying a certificate issued by a CA
If you do not want to use a self-signed certificate, you can obtain a certificate issued by a certification authority (CA) and then deploy that certificate to use with Hyper-V. The following steps assume that you have obtained a certificate from a CA and stored it in the certificate store of the computer account of the server running Hyper-V.
To deploy a certificate issued by a CA
Prevent Hyper-V from generating a self-signed certificate by adding a registry key.
Open Windows PowerShell.
Run the following command:
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Virtualization" /v "DisableSelfSignedCertificateGeneration" /f /t REG_QWORD /d 1
Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.
Check the VMMS certificate store for a self-signed certificate and delete it if it exists.
Open the Certificates snap-in.
Open Microsoft Management Console. Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
Under the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
Under Available snap-ins, click Certificates.
Click Service account, and then click Next.
Click Local computer and then click Next.
In the Service account list, select Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management and then click Finish.
In the navigation pane, expand Certificates. Expand vmms\Personal and then click the Certificates folder.
In the details pane (center pane), right-click the certificate and click Delete.
Expand vmms\Trusted Root Certification Authorities and click Certificates. Find the copy of the certificate that you deleted in the previous step and delete it from this folder.
Close the Certificates snap-in.
Find the thumbprint value of new certificate that you want to deploy.
Open the Certificates snap-in again to load the certificate store of the computer. Select Computer account, and then complete the wizard to load the certificate store.
In the Details pane, double-click the certificate and then click the Details tab.
Select Thumbprint. If it does not appear in the list, set Show to <All>.
In the text box below the list, copy the hexadecimal value.
Paste the string into a text file for use later in this procedure.
Open or switch back to Windows PowerShell.
Find the private key file of the certificate.
Copy the following string and replace thumbprint_value with the string value you copied in the previous step.
$certs = dir cert:\ recurse | ? { $_.Thumbprint -eq "thumbprint_value"
}Run the command.
Run the following command to obtain a certificate object:
$cert = @($certs)[0]
Run the following command to obtain the private key file name of the certificate:
$location = $cert.PrivateKey.CspKeyContainerInfo.UniqueKeyContainerName
Run the following commands in the order shown to modify the access control list (ACL) so that the Virtual Machine group security identifier has read access. Text in quotes in the following commands represents literal values, not placeholder text, and should be included as shown in the command strings.
$folderlocation = gc env:ALLUSERSPROFILE
$folderlocation = $folderlocation + "\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys\"
$filelocation = $folderlocation + $location
icacls $filelocation /grant "*S-1-5-83-0:(R)"
Verify that the Virtual Machine group has read access to the certificate.
Switch back to the Certificates snap-in to view the certificate store of the computer account.
In the Details pane, right-click the certificate, click All Tasks, and then click Manage Private Keys.
Under Group or user names, select Virtual Machines.
Under Permissions for Virtual Machines, verify that Read is set to Allow.
Run the following commands to set the registry key to the hash value of the certificate:
$thumbprint = $cert.Thumbprint
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Virtualization" /v "AuthCertificateHash" /f /t REG_BINARY /d $thumbprint
If the version of Hyper-V is earlier than the one included in Windows Server 2008 R2, perform the following steps:
Run the following commands:
Net stop vmms
Net start vmms
Switch to or open Hyper-V Manager. Save the state of each running virtual machine and then restore each one.


text:
Today I'm bringing back an old post from last spring. I originally posted this project on my old site Sunbutter & Jelly, and I wanted to get it back up on my blog to share with you! This is a super easy dollar store DIY. Using some spray paint and an x-acto, I turned these little plastic figures into photo / place card holders. I love the finished product, they add playfulness and humor to our decor!
Pick out the plastic animals of your choice.
Use an utility knife or x-acto to cut a slit in the top of the animal.
Be sure to cut deep enough to hold a card or pic, but don't cut all the way through.
In a well ventilated and protected area, spray color of your choice.
Let dry, and then they're ready to use!
You can even use them for place card holders. How cute would these be for a kids birthday party!?
And don't forget to stop by and vote for me COM Top 25 Creative Moms of 2013!


text:
We have had gorgeous fall weather here the past couple of weeks and so I went ahead with my original idea for a Girl on Fire activity for activity days. We roasted hot dogs and did tinfoil caramel apples. Over the past couple of months we had discussed what we wanted to become, being missionaries and good examples, so this time we talked about being who God created us to be and not trying to be someone else or lowering our standards to fit in.
This quote was the inspiration for our activity. I picked up 97cent candles at Walmart and tied on the tag. It coordinates with the Look For S'more printable I shared last week. I've added the PDF file for Set the World On fire HERE and a print as well.


text:
(CNN) -- A British couple kidnapped by pirates was released after more than a year in captivity, their family said in a statement Sunday, but would not comment on a reported ransom payment.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized from their yacht on October 23, 2009, just after they set sail from the Seychelles Islands for Tanzania.
The Chandlers landed in Kenya late Sunday afternoon, said Abdurraham Omar Osman, Somali government spokesman. The couple's family also confirmed their arrival.
"Throughout the protracted discussions with the pirates it has been a difficult task for the family to get across the message that these were two retired people on a sailing trip on a small private yacht and not part of a major commercial enterprise involving tens of millions of pounds of assets," said a statement issued by the couple's family.
"Thankfully, common sense prevailed and a solution was obtained for their release in the last few days. There will be the inevitable questions of how their release was achieved," the statement said. "The family believes it would be irresponsible to discuss any aspect of the release process, as this could encourage others to capture private individuals and demand large ransom payments, something that we are sure none of us wants."
A ransom of about $750,000 was paid for their release, local elders in Somalia said. They did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The family statement Sunday said the Chandlers' relatives "would like to thank those in the Somali community especially, both locally and in the UK, who did so much to help secure their release."
"They are physically and mentally doing well, and excited to be alive," said Mohamed Aden, a local elder in Adado. "Paul and Rachel Chandler are safe and doing fine.They have had a good shower and they are eating breakfast."
Aden was one of the key elders involved in helping secure their release.
The couple is "in good spirits although very tired and exhausted," the family statement said. The two will have medical checks in Nairobi and then fly back to the United Kingdom, it said.
"We cannot yet be certain how the difficulties that they have had to endure in recent months will have affected them physically and emotionally," the family statement said. It asked that the couple be allowed time to readjust as they return to their family and friends.
"Paul and Rachel Chandler's release is tremendous news," British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement. "Their long captivity is over at last. We will ensure that they are reunited with their family as quickly as possible. I unreservedly condemn the actions of those that held the Chandlers for so long. Kidnapping is never justified. I am grateful to all those who have worked so hard to bring the Chandlers safely out."
Last year, Paul Chandler pleaded for their life in a two-minute video broadcast on Britain's Channel 4. He was surrounded by armed men pointing weapons at him.
At the time, Chandler said the captors could kill them if a $7 million ransom were not paid.
"We are concerned that these people will lose patience and will not feed us -- and I have no doubt that they will not hesitate to kill us, perhaps within a week or so of now if there is no response," he said. "So, please somebody get in touch. Otherwise we just sleepwalk to a tragic ending."
Last year, British officials have refused to pay a ransom or negotiate with pirates. Officials have said doing so would only encourage more kidnappings.
"The government will not make substantive concessions for hostage takers, including the payments of ransom," the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement.
Pirates have been very active off the east coast of Africa in the past several years, operating out of lawless Somalia.
It was unclear who paid the ransom, but a local elder told CNN that the Somali diaspora in England played a key role in raising the funds.
CNN's David McKenzie and Bharati Naik contributed to this report.


text:
Fruit is not off-limits for people with diabetes. It has too many good things going for it such as fiber and nutrients, as well as its natural sweetness. So, what are the best fruits diabetics can eat? It is the most common question which arises in the minds of diabetics as many of them believe that they can't eat fruits as all fruits contain all sugar content.
But there are lots of healthy fruits which do not increase the blood sugar levels, and these fruits can be truly said to be the best fruits for diabetics.
Characteristics of healthy fruits for diabetics
With eating healthy fruits diabetes can be controlled. Fruits having these two essential features are mainly considered as the most beneficial and healthy fruits for diabetics:
1.. Low Glycemic Index
Fruits with low glycemic index (GI) are good for people having type-2 or prediabetes. Glycemic Index (GI) is a scale (0-100) used for ranking how quickly a carbohydrate-containing food will digest into glucose in our blood. High glycemic index fruits break down quickly whereas low glycemic index fruits break down slowly and produce a small change in our blood glucose and levels of insulin. Low glycemic index fruits release the glucose slowly into the blood which avoids the sudden rise in blood sugar levels. It is an important factor in diabetes management.
2.. High Fiber Content
Fruits especially rich in fiber are good fruits for diabetics as they have a low glycemic index. Fibers present in these fruits slow down the absorption level of sugar in the bloodstream.
List of the best fruits for diabetics
The best and healthy fruits for diabetics are listed below:
1.. Avocados
My first choice is always avocados. I have already written a detailed article about avocados as they are one of the best foods to control diabetes. If you haven't read that article yet, click here.
Avocados are considered as one of the diabetic superfruits. They are rich in various nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. They are an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acids, and they have low sugar content. They are also an excellent source of energy and dietary fiber.
2.. Apples
Apples are one of the healthiest fruits a person can eat. They are high in fiber and vitamin C, and they are also low in calories, have only a trace of sodium, and no fat or cholesterol. They are also incredibly rich in important antioxidants which may help in controlling diabetes.
3.. Oranges
Oranges are also one of the best fruits diabetics can eat. Oranges, particularly navel oranges have a low glycemic index and provide importantly healthy nutrients such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins. They contain a high amount of dietary fiber, which helps control blood sugar levels. They also contain significant amounts of antioxidants.
For prediabetics, navel oranges are considered as the best choice in fruits because they help in reducing risks of developing type-2 diabetes.
4.. Strawberries
Strawberries as one of the fruits for diabetes have a low glycemic index which makes them a natural choice for diabetics. Strawberries contain high amounts of antioxidants which are found to be helpful in treating type-2 diabetes. Another advantage of eating strawberries is that they contain fewer carbohydrates as compared to most other fruits.
5.. Guavas
Guavas are fruits with low glycemic index and high fiber content. Eating guavas keep your blood sugar levels steady and also provide energy. Guavas are one of the richest sources of vitamins which are beneficial for diabetics. Guavas also help ease constipation, which is a common diabetic complaint and can even lower the chance of developing type-2 diabetes.
6.. Kiwi Fruits
Kiwi fruits are one of the best fruits for diabetics to eat. Due to fiber and fructose found in kiwi fruits, the glycemic index is extremely low, means eating this fruit will not increase blood sugar levels significantly. Kiwi fruits are also low in fat content that aid in gaining weight. The weight of diabetics needs to be regulated all the times so that their diabetes will also be controlled. Kiwi fruits are also rich in potassium and antioxidants which help to protect the blood vessels and heart.
7.. Pears
Pears contain a natural fruit sugar called "Levulose", which adds to the sweetness of the fruit and this fruit sugar is easily converted to energy in diabetics. Pears are low in calories and carbohydrates which are suitable for diabetics. Pears are high fruit fibers and are helpful in reducing blood sugar and body weight.
Eating pears on a daily basis could help control blood sugar levels to the point that prediabetics don't need medication.
What are other best fruits diabetics can eat?
Besides these listed fruits, there are lots of other fruits that are low in calories, low in glycemic index, and, high in fiber content. Now, it's your turn to tell us what are other best fruits in diabetes that people can eat without any fear of increasing high glucose levels.


text:
What exactly does it take to lose the faith of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences?
For a couple of weeks now, the Cambridge institution has been under siege amid allegations that its longtime president, Leslie Cohen Berlowitz, has committed a litany of offenses, the major one being claiming a doctorate from New York University that she never earned.
Berlowitz was placed on paid leave from her $598,000-a-year job while her tenure is being investigated by the law firm of Choate, Hall and Stewart. They keep getting more to look into: The latest report by the Globe's Todd Wallack indicates that she was made a fellow of the academy under curious circumstances, which were covered by rewriting a months-old press release.
The academy is a surprising setting for a scandal. Founded by John Adams, it is best known for its annual tradition of electing scholars and other luminaries to join its ranks. It also produces a quarterly magazine and sponsors research. It is highly influential in the community of brand-name thinkers, even if most of us are only vaguely aware of it.
Berlowitz has responded to the allegation of resume inflation by blaming her staff. Though the claim that she got a PhD from New York University appears on multiple grant applications, she has argued that is was somehow inserted by her employees and that she had no knowledge of it. That's an odd defense for a notorious micromanager who, by all accounts, rode herd over the unlucky souls who worked for her.
Actually, Berlowitz herself implied in a letter written for her 50th high school reunion that she had gotten a doctorate, though she stopped short of saying she had finished it. The notion that her presumed degree was just a misunderstanding is hardly credible.
The academy has responded to the crisis at an 18th century pace. While Berlowitz is on leave, the lawyers are investigating. There is no timetable for completing the investigation, much less making a decision on her future. Her bosses seem content to let events unspool as slowly as possible.
That's a mistake, but not a big surprise. The academy's board is following in the tradition of many a nonprofit board, unaccustomed to challenging the people they supervise. They are busy people, and Berlowitz apparently is their friend. They deeply believe in process, and they feel no evident sense of urgency. This will all be sorted out, someday. What's the rush?
Berlowitz is not granting interviews, but has released a statement maintaining her innocence and professing her devotion to the academy. In Nixonian fashion, she accepted responsibility, but not blame.
"I never intentionally misrepresented my accomplishments to obtain an improper benefit for the Academy or for myself," Berlowitz said in the statement. "I accept responsibility for any materials that may have left an incorrect impression of my record. I recognize that the current debate has become a distraction for the Academy. This is deeply troubling to me. I remain devoted to the institution and want to see its good work continue."
Let it be noted that Berlowitz has her defenders. She has been a prolific fund-raiser and has raised the profile of the institution. She appears to have managed that partly by handing out memberships to rich people like Bob Kraft and Liberty Mutual's Ted Kelly, who will never be confused with serious researchers.
But despite her achievements, in an academy with a serious academic pedigree, her phony doctorate is a mortal blow to her credibility.
If Berlowitz is really concerned about the academy, she does have one available act of grace: She could quit. That would bring an end to the "distractions" she frets about and allow the academy to regain its bearings. Surely she knows it's probably too late to save herself. There's still time to spare the academy.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @Adrian_Walker.


text:
Although our chromosomes are relatively stable within our lifetimes, the genetic material found in our mitochondria is highly variable across individuals and may impact upon human health, say researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital.
Genomes are changing, not just from generation to generation, but even and in fact within our individual cells. The researchers are the first to identify the extent to which the editing processes of RNA code can vary across a large number of individuals.
"Mitochondria are the power stations of our cells, and the more power a cell needs, such as a muscle cell, the more mitochondria it has. Mitochondria are organelles in our cells with their own genetic code, separate from the DNA in our chromosomes, and the many mitochondria in the same individual can have different genetic mutations," explained Alan Hodgkinson, who is first author of the study. "The many mitochondria in the same cell can have different genetic mutations. Our research helps us to understand how variable mitochondrial RNA processing can be and what the possible consequences of that might be on health." By way of example, the researchers have found an association between the level of modification of RNA and our basal metabolic rate -- the rate at which we are able to convert food into energy to power our bodies. The findings add extra layers of complexity to our understanding of how genetics influence our health.
The study was made possible thanks to the participation of nearly 40,000 Quebecers in the CARTaGENE initiative. CARTaGENE is one of the world's most comprehensive banks of genetic information: in addition to genetic information, participants share their health history, residential information, ethnicity, languages spoken and their family history of disease. Philip Awadalla is Director of the CARTaGENE initiative and lead author of the study. "The people of Quebec want to take part in science," he said. "This program is unique in the world. Other initiatives are taking place, but they aren't as comprehensive. Elsewhere, researchers are able to recruit 5% of the people they invite. Quebecers' collaboration rate is five times that." CARTaGENE's data and samples are available to the local and international research community.
The researchers looked specifically at mutations in the RNA of the mitochondria. If DNA is the printing press that determines the functions of a living organism, RNA is the print that it leaves behind. And just like with a printing press, sometimes the print (known as transcription) is slightly different from the press. "We looked at the variation within and across individuals in the mitochondrial RNA. This is the first survey of mitochondria-wide RNA variation at a population level," Hodgkinson explained. "We used the data of 1,000 participants in the CARTaGENE initiative, making this the largest RNA sequencing in the world to date. With this kind of depth of information, we've identified a vast array of fine-scaled differences not just between individuals but also within individuals -- and that's the power of the data. But within that, we focused on one specific signature that we found really interesting -- the signature in the sequencing data that represents the modification of RNA at important sites." "The other world first here is an unprecedented level of resolution -- we're not only capturing change happening at the DNA level, now we're capturing "epiphenomena" happening at the RNA level. We can compare across individuals to see how variable different individuals are within themselves," Awadalla added.
Many other factors are at play in determining the variation in the transcription of mitochondrial RNA. "Your DNA is mostly found in the nucleus of each cell, and there is interaction between products from the genome of the nucleus and the genome of the mitochondria to create cellular energy -- they're not completely separate," Hodgkinson explained. "We find an association between variation in a nuclear gene -- the DNA that's from your chromosomes -- with the level of modification in the mitochondrial RNA. The resulting modifications may impact cellular energy production, but there is much more work to be done to confirm and fully understand these processes."
While the mechanisms at work in our body may offer couch potatoes a handy excuse, the actual outcomes in terms of our health may not be deterministic. "It makes sense that we would see an association between mitochondria and metabolism rates, because mitochondria are the power packs of each cell. We have determined that our genome's ability to modify itself is partly hard-wired -- the open question is how does our genome react to exposures in the environment?" Awadalla said.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Universite de Montreal. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Cite This Page:


text:
Antara, Banjarmasin. Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country and has a vast variety of herbal plants, spawning about 40,000 traditional medicines.
The president director of herbal medicine maker PT Sido Muncul, Irwan Hidayat, presented the 40,000 odd traditional medicines to 200 physicians at a health seminar at the Swiss Bell Hotel, Jakarta, on Saturday.
Nearly 50 percent of the total herbal medicines were found in Kalimantan forests and the rest from other regions in Indonesia.
Many plants used for the medicines are now on the brink of extinction due to large-scale legal and illegal logging in the country over the past few years.
Sido Muncul can only cultivate approximately 1,200 types of medicinal plants, which are difficult to find in Indonesia today.
"We are very concerned about this condition. Fewer Indonesian citizens seriously care about the survival of medicinal plants currently on the brink of extinction," he said.
According to recent research, some traditional herbal medicines are able to strengthen antibodies. For example, Tolak Angin, used for the common cold, has been recognized as a medicine and no longer a herbal medicine.
Some doctors are convinced that traditional herbal medicines can cure some disease, but they are hesitant to prescribe them.
Dr Dharma, a member of the Indonesian Physicians Association, said he was unable to write prescriptions for herbal medicines. Instead, he recommends his patients use herbal medicine for certain diseases, but does not write out a prescription for them.
In Korea, hospitals are allowed to use herbal medicines.
"A patients in an advanced countries are given the chance to choose whether they want herbal or modern medicines," Dr Dharma said.


text:
In his 36 years of filmmaking, David Lynch has never been more fearless or more fearsome. As many filmmakers age, their obsessions remain the same, and their technique petrifies. Lynch's tenth feature film, Inland Empire, encapsulates many of his compulsive themes and images, but also develops them and his overall filmmaking aesthetic. In a sense, he's no longer filmmaking at all, having repudiated film in favor of digital video (Inland Empire was shot on the consumer-grade Sony PD-150). By pushing himself and his very medium further and further, Lynch risks failure and humiliation, but achieves a purity that plays as a kind of graceful delirium. His films aren't for everyone, but they are unique, creative, and transportive—after the haunting, brain-teasing Inland Empire, every other film looks mundane by comparison.
Many will brand Inland Empire graceless, throw up hands and declare the wildly ranging narrative meaningless, call the Emperor naked...and while it's tempting to call them impatient and unadventurous, one can't entirely blame them for eschewing a three-hour mindfuck. But as crazy quilted as Inland Empire is, in a way, Lynch has never been more direct; to see the film is to mainline his consciousness. Like "The Emperor's New Clothes," Inland Empire constitutes folklore from "the Baltic region"; it also frames—like Lynch's last film, Mulholland Dr.—a story from "Hollywood, California—where stars make dreams and dreams make stars." And as with most of Lynch's films, something very close to a coherent narrative is discernable if the brain can deconstruct Lynch's shuffle play: Inland Empire is another Lynchian supernatural thriller, judiciously spackled with dream logic.
Described in its publicity only as the story of "A woman in trouble," Inland Empire concerns successful actress Nikki Grace (Laura Dern) and Susan Blue (Laura Dern), the character Nikki comes to embody on the job of her new film, "On High in Blue Tomorrows." Or is it Susan who—in her troubled imagination—comes to embody Nikki? The unified characters go through so many iterations of self and setting that it's difficult to know how many women we're seeing, which is largely the point of the identity-bending trilogy Lynch began with Lost Highway, developed with Mulholland Dr., and blows apart with Inland Empire.
Dern's guises include the classy and upper-class professional actress, a beat-down, Southern-accented housewife trafficking between her cramped Inland Empire(?) home and the upscale manse of her illicit lover (Justin Theroux of Mullholland Dr., also doubled as an Hollywood actor), and a streetwalker on Hollywood Boulevard—presumably Sue's last stop. To paraphrase Chaka Khan, she's every woman--or at least every woman the Hollywood collective unconsciousness will allow. And in narrative terms, it's entirely possible that Dern is only one woman—to deconstruct further, a woman named Laura Dern—wandering through all of these gender roles. The Bard wrote, "one man in his time plays many parts," and indeed Nikki/Laura gives new meaning to "getting lost in a role." (A read-through scene echoes the power of Watts' audition scene in Mulholland Dr..)
Whereas Lynch has been accused of mistreating his actresses (such critics single out Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet) or enjoying the degradation of his female characters (from Rossellini's Dorothy to Sheryl Lee's Laura Palmer to Naomi Watts' double-actress Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn), Inland Empire may be Lynch's most empathetic treatment of women. Whether consciously or not, Lynch has answered feminist critics in recent years by getting in touch with his anima instincts, no longer sympathetically depicting blankly victimized women to fuel plots about naive Hardy boys, but now trailing terrified Nancy Drews on their amateur investigations: tragic and redemptive journeys of self-discovery.
Most of the women of Inland Empire—including a Lost Girl (Karolina Gruszka) in Poland; Julia Ormond as Theroux's wronged wife; and a chorus of lip-synching, dancing prostitutes who teach Susan to see through a slip darkly—suffer from the machinations of men (though Lynch vets Grace Zabriskie and Diane Ladd briefly turn up as witchy women). Again, Inland Empire advances a principal theme of Mulholland Dr. by implying male-dominated Hollywood's responsibility for "creating" and abusing feminine character, then discarding it after use. At one point, Dern collapses at the Walk of Fame star of Dorothy Lamour—given her name, a good choice to represent the manufactured personality of the screen actress.
Inland Empire also explicates the power of stories, from folktales (or urban legends) to movies to rumors to visions to dreams to the unfolding narratives of our own lives. In recent years, Lynch has adopted the role of a travelling preacher or rainmaker, stumping for TM and his own artistic independence (evinced by DavidLynch.com and the essentially self-distributed new film); all the while, he has reminded his audience to experience his films through trusty intuition. Lynch put his money where his mouth is by filming Inland Empire piecemeal over a period of a couple of years, writing each scene just before running out to film it and trusting the story to take shape.
The finished product appropriately begins with a Muse-like invocation of the auteur's beloved sight and sound: a narrow shaft of projected light and an acetate disk recorder. The refrain "There are consequences to our actions" is both a truism for Susan's real-life dilemmas and a groaner pun for the art of the actress and the director (the thrice-appearing "AXXoN N" graffiti may also be a call to "Action"). Jeremy Irons plays the onscreen director, a man tiptoeing around a purportedly cursed Polish screenplay; "On High in Blue Tomorrows" is a remake...get it?
In Lynch films, screens, stages, and paintings are all doors of perception ("Do you want to go in?" one character asks. "Are you looking for an opening?"). But which door to open, and what will emerge: the lady or the tiger? (In this case, the "tiger" is a Phantom played by Krzysztof Majchrzak.) The escapist role of entertainment emerges as the locked-up Lost Girl sadly watches TV and Susan/Nikki runs face-to-face with a cinematic projection of herself. Mad with mistreatment, neither woman can maintain the illusory distract: the Lost Girl sees herself and Susan/Nikki on the TV, and Susan/Nikki has a showdown with a phantasmic projection of herself, a hall-of-fame fright for Lynch. The unjustly neglected performer of 2006, Dern outdoes herself in a virtuosic display of expressionistic acting.
And did I mention the human-size rabbits starring in a metaphysical sitcom? One is voiced by Naomi Watts and another by Scott Coffey, who directed Watts in the raw digital film Ellie Parker. At first, Lynch's experimental embracement of digital is likewise rough around the edges, but instead of going back and reshooting the awkward bits—the signs of a talented digital amateur at play—Lynch forges on until the viewer is ready to bite his tongue for ever doubting the director would relocate his visual instinct. Inland Empire brims with surprising and scary images. A combination of practical lighting effects, delicate camerawork, and judicious digital "after effects" give Lynch a look that marries the best of his yesterdays in short films and the handmade debut Eraserhead to his today of artful shadow-voids and shrieking strobes. Where will he go tomorrow?
[For Groucho's interview with Laura Dern, click here.]
David Lynch and the folks at Absurda have pulled out the stops for this truly special edition of Inland Empire. Actually, they've put back the stops, when it comes to "chapter stops," an oft-requested, oft-denied feature for Lynch's films on DVD. Lynch understandably insists he intends his films to be watched from start to finish, but acknowledging the length of the film and the habits of home viewers, Lynch has relented and encoded Inland Empire with 39 chapter stops, with no "Scene Access" menu or insert listing. (Lynch explains all this in an interview segment on Disc 2.)
The film's presentation requires some explanation. Because Inland Empire was shot on a consumer-grade camera and blown up to 35mm, the image is purposefully shifty—the untrustworthy picture is part of the experience. For this and future films, Lynch embraces "jaggies" and other digital artifacts, new ways of playing "hide and seek" with visual information. So the DVD transfer accurately renders the image seen on theatre screens, and reflects the director's intent and active approval. Likewise, the DVD soundtrack is impeccable, no surprise since it comes direct from the Lynch compound.
The surprises come on Disc 2, with its treasure trove of bonus footage. Of primary interest to most will be what Lynch calls "More Things That Happened." It's Lynch's way of building a wing on to the film: 75 minutes of cut footage fluidly edited together (with 16 chapter stops). Though the footage holds little in the way of crystallizing plot hints, it yields a lot more of the battered-woman monologue, among other tricks or treats.
As on his homegrown Eraserhead special edition, Lynch sits down to tell "Stories" (41:38), or rather free associate on 19 subjects. The best story on the disc comes during a (smoke) break in the action in the "Quinoa" segment (20:04), in which Lynch instructs viewers on how to rustle up some Quinoa with broccoli and amino acids (that's right: the David Lynch cooking show...). Lynch also includes twelve minutes and twenty-one seconds of "Ballerina" footage, glimpsed briefly in Inland Empire. The disc's most revelatory extra doubles as a teaser for the upcoming documentary Lynch: dubbed Lynch 2 (30:10), the footage reveals Lynch at work on Inland Empire. Though it's edited to obscure many details of the process, there's much to be gleaned by sorting through what we get.
A "Stills" (7:17) compilation plays over an ambient sound loop, with 73 chapter stops to facilitate flipping through the images—many of the pictures are simply screen captures from the film, but many are behind-the-scenes shots. Lastly, Absurda includes three trailers for Inland Empire, each approximately one minute in length. The feature has close-captioning but no English subtitles; the extras, unfortunately, have neither. No self-respecting Lynch fan can live without this two-disc extravaganza, a steal at prices under $20.
Review gear: |
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer


text:
TORRANCE, Calif., July 10, 2012 — Scion announced pricing today for its 2013 tC Release Series 8.0 (tC RS 8.0). Only 2,000 of the specially equipped sports coupes will be made and they will be available at dealer showrooms later this month. The tC RS 8.0 will be on display in the Scion pit area at the next round of Formula DRIFT in Monroe, Washington on July 22-23.
The 2013 tC RS 8.0 commands attention as it comes exclusively in Absolutely Red exterior paint with contrasting gloss black side view mirrors and matching black 18-inch alloy wheels. The tC's aggressive exterior is further stylized with a unique five-piece body kit that was inspired by Troy Sumitomo of Five Axis that includes front and rear lower valences, side skirts and a rear spoiler.
To give the car even more attitude, the tC RS 8.0 comes with a couple of performance parts from Toyota Racing Development (TRD), including lowering springs and an exhaust system that is integrated into the center of the rear lower valence.
The interior of the tC features sporty seats that are wrapped in texturized black fabric with red stitching. The red stitching continues on the leather wrapped steering wheel. Each car comes with an individually numbered badge commemorating the unique model. When equipped with a six-speed automatic, the tC RS 8.0 features race-inspired steering wheel mounted paddle shifters for both sporty and convenient shifts.
The limited edition model will carry a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $21,815 and $22,865 when equipped with a six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmission respectively. The MSRP does not include a delivery, processing and handling fee of $730. DPH fee for vehicles distributed by Southeast Toyota (SET) and Gulf States Toyota (GST) may vary.
Get a closer look at the tC RS 8.0 by visiting: http://www.scion.com/tCRS or by watching this detailed video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1U6BN75Ohg.
Warranty and Complimentary Scion Service Boost
All Scion models are covered by a 3-year/36,000-mile limited warranty and a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. The tC comes standard with Scion Service Boost, a complimentary plan covering normal factory-scheduled maintenance for two years or 25,000 miles, whichever comes first, and two years of 24-hour roadside assistance.
Media Contacts
Scion Public Relations
Craig Taguchi310.468.3282
[email protected]
Media Web site:http://www.scionnewsroom.com
Public Web site:http://www.scion.com


text:
April 12, 2012
Free showing of '12 Angry Lebanese' April 16
A free showing of the documentary "12 Angry Lebanese" will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday, April 16, in the Little Theatre of the K-State Student Union.
Through the process of creating an adapted production of "12 Angry Men," 45 inmates in Lebanon's Roumieh Prison learn about their own humanity. The documentary examines the power of the arts to heal and rehabilitate.
Discussion and questions will follow the presentation and will be led by Sally Bailey, the documentary's associate producer and professor of theater.


text:
Kanye West has revealed that Jay-Z's hotly anticipated Blueprint 3 will be an "anti Auto-Tune album".
Anyone who's heard West's 808s and Heartbreak will know that he's an avowed fan of Antares' software, but it seems that Jay's not so keen. However, rather than writing a withering critique of the world's most famous plug-in, his 'anti' stance simply involves him not using it.
Speaking to MTV News, West - who's working with Jay-Z on the Blueprint 3 - said: "We actually removed all the songs with Auto-Tune off of his album to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album, even though I released an album that has all Auto-Tune!"
- Level up your vocals with the best autotune plugins
Gym shoes
He went on to draw this curious analogy: "It's music; it's just sonics. I like Auto-Tune so I do it, but you want the other thing - like you'll wear a suit to a wedding and gym shoes to a basketball game.
"I think it's a perfect moment for Jay to provide some gym shoes to a basketball game right now."
No release date for the album has been set, though we do know that it won't be coming out on Def Jam, as Jay-X confirmed his departure from the label last week.


text:
In this article we'll explain a common problem that you find in many CMS applications, and forum software. By default these type of applications typically give visitors the ability to comment on your posts, or add to your forum discussions without registering for an account. Or in some cases they will require an account, but no manual verification to prove that visitor is a human.
This can lead to spam bots attempting to use your site to boost their own search engine rankings, by leaving comments on your site linking back to their site. This might not seem like a huge deal, but it can have multiple negative effects if left unattended.
First, your own site's search engine rankings could be negatively affected if you have a large amount of spam content on your site. Additionally there could be a large amount of resources wasted on the server to be able to parse all of those spam comments out of your database again and again.
Install CAPTCHA | Deter spam bots from registering accounts on your site by implementing a CAPTCHA system which stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart". |
Moderate accounts | User registrations for your forum or CMS should be reviewed from time to time to ensure they aren't being used for spam purposes. |
Clean-up spam | Purge spam content from your database periodically. This can be done either directly through your application, or if the spam is more extensive sometimes directly removing the spam from your database using phpMyAdmin is a better option. Application level clean-up
Direct database clean-up with phpMyAdmin |


text:
Ozg offers the complete
registration, license and regulatory services for new and existing NBFC, Mutual
Benefit Company / Notified Nidhi Company / Microfinance NBFC, Multi-State,
Cooperative Bank etc.
Ozg services can get you the complete solutions for
your credit & investment business viz. Consultations with Experts, Share
Accounting, Saving Schemes, Investment Destinations, Business Expansion-MLM models, Deposits
of various types like Term Deposit, RD, FD etc. as permitted by
the current regulatory practices of State and Central Govt and RBI.
For more info contact to concerned Ozg ID –
Meeting By Appointment Only – Book it online at ozgcenter.com/appointment
Phone # 09811415837
Website: www.nidhicompany.com
Website2: www.nbfc.in


text:
Someone in our group tonight mentioned the iconic Christine Keeler photo of the 1960's. I knew which photo he meant, the one of Christine Keeler in a chair, but my 21 year old son asked what photo was referred to and who Christine Keeler was.
Here is 30 seconds of history and photography, my lad..


text:
Sir John Everett Millais, one of the three principal founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood along with William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, displayed precocious talent at a young age, gaining the reputation of a child prodigy. At the age of eight, Millais won the silver medal of the Society of Arts, which drew further encouragement from his parents who moved to London in order to provide increased training for their son. However, despite the numerous years he spent attending Royal Academy schools, upon meeting Hunt and making the acquaintance of Rossetti, he joined with his friends in an artistic alliance that shunned the art world's contemporary rigid conventions, such as "subdued colors" (Millais 14) and pyramidal compsition. This desire to counter the principles advocated by the Academy in favor of a fresh naturalistic art ultimately led to the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. PRB aesthetics, thus, stemmed from the artists' "resistance to academic rules of representation and composition" (Codell 120) and their admiration for the art critic John Ruskin's "emphasis on the truth and beauty to be found in nature, and the purity of the earlier Italian masters" (Bennett 5). Millais emerged as the most talented artist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which followed Ruskin's ideal of picturing nature in its likeness and wonderment. Though Millais initially included detailed renderings of nature to augment the poetic nature of his figurative paintings, he later devoted himself increasingly to landscape as he noted that "'you can so completely please yourself as to what you do in landscape; you have only yourself to satisfy'" (Spielmann 58). Therefore, his great ability to create photographic representations of nature and the various ways in which Millais incorporated nature in his works act as elements that contribute to his enduring legacy as a distinguished and renowned artist.
Millais's involvement with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood created lasting influences that permeated the works that Millais produced during his career. For example, Millais and the other Pre-Raphaelites harshly criticized the convention of using "subdued colors" in artworks. The Academy in return denounced their use of a bright palette, declaring that these colors appear "crude and vulgar," and supported an inoffensive color scheme (Millais 14). However, as Millais notes the ignorance of men who will not include such colors as bright green in their works, he declares "God Almighty has given us green, and you may depend upon it it's a fine color" (Millais 14). Thus, the Pre-Raphaelites sought to paint using bright, illustrious colors and eliminated the incorporation of shadows with the intent of illuminating the entire painting, which often gave an impression of flatness (Landow).
In addition, the hard-edge photographic realism of the early Pre-Raphaelites developed as a direct contradiction to the conventions of the Royal Academy. The Academy supported neoclassical theories of representation that involved giving impressions of a particular object rather than pointedly expressing each detail. However, the Pre-Raphaelites considered attention to natural detail a critical element of painting. Hence, by painting each object, including those that traditionally did not merit much worthiness, with meticulous attention to detail as well as using a bright color palette, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood successfully abandoned the conventional notion of chiaroscuro. Therefore, the two most important and obvious components of Pre-Raphaelite naturalism include "minute detail and and bright color with a minimum of shadow" (Landow).
A work that clearly displays Millais's superiority in creating photographic representations of nature is John Ruskin, Esq., a portrait that Millais created of the man that singly provided the most influence to the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Ruskin idealized the faithfulness with which an artist should represent naturalistic detail, and the Pre-Raphaelites' desire to maintain this faithfulness in their works won the support of the art critic. Millais successfully creates a photographic representation of Ruskin himself. Ruskin is depicted with a posture that appears natural, which reflects Millais's careful studies of anatomy and expression (Codell 121). The facial features of Ruskin appear individualized as careful brushstrokes portray and highlight Ruskin's complexion and the natural lines that outline each aspect of his face. Millais also devotes time to integrate elaborate details to the accessories of the figure, such as the clothing and the hat Ruskin carries. The meticulous coloring that Millais applies to the pants as well as the curves of Ruskin's hat to accentuate the realism of the portrait clearly reflects PRB and Ruskinian ideals.
Not only does John Ruskin, Esq. contain a photographic representation of the figure of Ruskin, but it also provides a depiction of a landscape that appears so precise that the background in itself merits discussion. Here, Ruskin is portrayed standing by the Fall of Glenfinlas, and "with rare conscientiousness, Millais has rendered every detail in the scene, so that the geologist cannot find a flaw in his rocks, or a botanist mistake lichen, plant, or flower" (Spielmann 98). The background appears to act as a scientific study of nature; for example, Millais highlights each crevice in the rocks, the bubbles and splashes created by the stream of water, and each branch and leaf that fill the background behind Ruskin. Thus, the presence of microscopic details indicates the technical mastery that Millais possessed, which he utilized later on in his career when producing his pure landscape paintings. However, the lack of chiaroscuro and the minute attention to detail even to those items in the foreground and corners of the painting (such as the slab of rock upon which Ruskin stands) help create the impression that the figure of Ruskin seems pasted onto the background. Yet, despite this problem that often plagued the Pre-Raphaelites, John Ruskin, Esq. clearly remains true to the ideals of PRB naturalism, especially when observing the landscape in which Ruskin is depicted.However, Millais's landscapes and reproductions of nature do not merely serve as tributes to geology and Ruskin's teachings, but they also enhance the messages and symbolism that Millais sought to convey in his typologically symbolic works, such as The Blind Girl. Millais fuses elements of both figurative and landscape paintings in order to create The Blind Girl. Although the figures of the two girls depicted along the side of the road clearly act as the main focus of the painting, the landscape and various objects of nature that Millais employs appear indispensable to the work. In The Blind Girl, Millais continues to abide by the Pre-Raphaelite notion of creating photographic representations, and the result reveals painstaking attention to detail and a light source that evenly highlights all aspects of the colorful painting. For example, the hair of the younger girl who turns away from the viewer to observe the rainbow actually appears to incorporate individual strands, which enhances the realistic nature of the figure. The outfits that the girls wear also display exquisite detail as Millais carefully depicts the rips and tears as well as the threading in the skirts of the two girls.
Again, like John Ruskin, Esq., the emphasis on realism as endorsed by the Pre-Raphaelites extends beyond the focal subject into the landscape. Millais paints the individual blades of grass and weeds near the blind girl's hand with meticulous care as well as the butterfly that rests on her cloak. However, unlike John Ruskin, Esq. in which every inch of the canvas involves the same level of painstaking detail, in The Blind Girl, Millais seems to subtly depart from complete minuteness. As the viewer's eye moves away from the foreground that the two girls inhabit, the landscape's details become increasingly less fastidious though Millais successfully gives off the impression of precisness that pervardes John Ruskin, Esq..
Moreover, Millais uses the background to explain the meaning of his work. The double rainbow in the background that emerges from Millais's landscape serves as a symbol of beauty that the blind girl cannot witness in her current state but will be able to encounter in another world perhaps as a reward for her suffering. Thus, the presence of the rainbow and the butterfly emphasize "the full affliction of loss of sight and the supreme consolation of the Divine promise" (Spielmann 31) and how "Christ will raise the girl with new and better vision" (Landow). In addition, the overall landscape lends The Blind Girl a hopeful mood despite the rain that appears to have previously prevented the two girls from continuing their route. Though the dark clouds still cover the expanse of sky in the background, the warm light that envelops the two girls and begins to stretch towards the town and the fields by which they sit suggests a sense of calm, comfort, and beauty. Therefore, it appears that the landscape serves as a method for Millais to saturate the painting with mood and emotion as well as to offer more clues to understand the religious and biblical allusions of the work rather than merely acting as a means to create photographic representations of nature.
Moreover, Millais's embedding of nature in his paintings concerning romantic, tragic love like Ophelia also indicates the importance of backgrounds in conveying this particular theme that often engrossed the Pre-Raphaelites. Millais realizes Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, in his meticulous interpretation of Ophelia's death. Millais takes a surprising route by depicting Ophelia as she drowns to her death, sinking slowly in the pool of water that increasingly envelops and will eventually completely overwhelm her body. The expression on Ophelia's face as well as the placement of her hands reflect the Pre-Raphaelite interest in the study of anatamy and expression more so than the positioning of Ruskin on John Ruskin, Esq.. Her slightly open mouth imparts a sense of eroticism, which highlights the beauty of the figure. In addition, the blank stare of her eyes shows how Ophelia has resigned herself to the situation and subsequently, her death. Furthermore, the careful attention paid to the Ophelia extends beyond her body to the elaborate embroidered dress that she wears. The viewer can perceive the exquisite nature of the dress's intricacy embroidery, particularly on her bosom, as well as the folds in the gown as it becomes submerged underwater.
However, as in The Blind Girl, the solitary figure of Ophelia itself does not communicate the effect that Millais strives to create, but rather, the detailed landscape that surrounds the dying Ophelia helps to augment the tragic nature of the situation. Millais conceives a lush, green background that includes the following flowers: violets, pansies, and poppies The painstaking details that Millais endows on these flowers, which float on top of the water as Ophelia slowly releases them from her grasp and line the edge of the pool, emphasize the conception of fragility that they generally represent (Codell 136). For example, violets represent the "faithfulness, chastity, death of the young; pansies as love in vain and thought; poppies as death" (Codell 136). Therefore, though Ophelia has not yet died in the specific moment that Millais chooses to render, the presence of the flowers foreshadows the doomed destiny of Ophelia. Additionally, the landscape of greenery that encloses the location of Ophelia's inevitable death appears to play an accompanying role to this tragedy. Setting Ophelia's death against a natural backdrop that would ordinarily appear beautiful indicates how Millais desires that the viewer comprehend the atypical, tragic essence of this youthful woman's suicide and death. The immaculate detail with which Millais paints the tall vegetation near Ophelia's head, the branches of the shrub along the bank, and the algae that floats alongside her dress all appear to show how she will be engulfed by nature upon her death. The background also seems to intensify the solitude in which the death occurs. No living being but the plants and trees exist to witness Ophelia's suicide. Therefore, Millais uses the landscape of Ophelia to heighten the effects of the tragedy caused by failed romantic love.Ultimately, Millais's ability to reproduce nature with meticulous attention paid to even the most minute details as well as his interest in naturalistic studies later culminated in his pursuit of painting pure landscape paintings "between 1870 and 1892, during the mature phase of his artistic career" (Helmreich 149). Millais's first pure landscape painting, Chill October reflects his attempts to pursue nature solely and not use it as a mere background to highlight and strengthen the figurative subjects that dominated his art work earlier in his career. After its exhibition at the Academy, Millais became further recognized by admirers and enhanced his popularity as critics noted and praised his immense versatility (Baldry 56). Despite achieving additional fame, Millais's pure landscapes did not only return positive responses. Rather, others charged that his landscapes seem to exist only as painted photographs that do not capture emotion or create a sense of atmosphere. Ruskin himself, in an essay published in 1859, proclaimed that "Millais lacked the inventive power of Turner while possessing stronger powers of observation" (Helmreich 158). Drawing from J.D. Harding's theories regarding landscapes, Ruskin explains that "'the landscape painter must always have two great and distinct ends: the first to induce in the spectator's mind the faithful conception of any natural objects whatsoever; the second, to guide the spectator's mind to those objects most worthy of contemplation, and to inform him of the thoughts and feelings with which these were regarded by the artist himself'" (Landow). It remains clear that Ruskin nor other critics denounced the masterful techniques of representation that Millais unequivocally possessed, which had been duly noted during the course of Millais's career. Yet, Millais's ability to convey emotion through landscape alone appears to was highly doubted by many.
Similar criticism streamed in from other sources besides one of the original mentors of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. For example, Baldry also notes that Millais's landscapes lack "the imaginative insight into poetic subtleties which accounts for so much in the work of a master like Turner" despite the brilliance with which Millais is able to carefully depict nature (Baldry 57). Baldry goes even further to suggest that Millais hardly ever attempted "the touch of fantasy, of actual unreality, by which the inspired landscape painter seems to suggest more truly the real spirit of nature" nor did he ever succeed (Baldry 61). Therefore, Ruskin and other critics appear to claim that Millais did not fulfill the requirements of being a master landscape painter due to his inability and unwillingness, as Baldry charges, to evoke emotion and feeling in his pure landscapes.
Although many critics have charged that Millais's landscape paintings merely reflect an imitation of nature, others argue that poetic feelings actually do resonate within these works and that Millais does not merely transcribe nature onto a canvas (Mancoff 14). This seems to correlate with William Holman Hunt's assertion that the intent of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood does not solely involve "offer[ing] prosaic, static transcriptions of natural objects" (Codell 120). Millais himself remains consistent when offering his support of Hunt's statement that Pre-Raphaelite naturalism does not simply act as a study of surface details; rather, Pre-Raphaelite naturalism acts as a study of change to capture the "complex field of shifting forces: emotional, psychological, social and historical" (Codell 133). In responses to the criticisms that accused Chill October of existing only as a photographic representation of nature, Millais countered that he "'chose the subject for the sentiment'" (Codell 140). This statement in itself suggests that Millais would naturally desire to convey this sentiment rather than simply transferring the view with the techniques that involve immaculate, meticulous details. In fact, Millais expressed dissatisfaction and unhappiness with painting in microscopic detail due its time-consuming nature (Codell 141). Thus, Pre-Raphaelite naturalism does not seem to merely embody the painstaking detail with which artists such as Millais utilized to create their paintings. Rather, it also inherently involves an emotive element, according to the two of the principal founding members of the Brotherhood, Hunt and Millais. Therefore, the pure landscape paintings of Millais also appear to possess this element despite stinging acknowledgements that they only serve as exact blueprints of nature.
In Chill October, the sheer expanse of landscape that fills the canvas appears to create a mood of melancholy while portraying the transience of life that also embodies other works by Millais. The absence of figures allows the viewer to concentrate solely on the full landscape, which remains in stark contrast from Millais's earlier use of landscapes to accentuate the subject at hand. For example, one cannot deny the significance of the background in Autumn Leaves. By depicting the leaf-gathering and burning session at sunset (Ruskin lauded this portrayal, calling it "the first instance of a perfectly painted twilight" [Walker Art Gallery catalogue, 42]), Millais emphasizes how the youthful nature of these girls are also at the mercy of the transience of life. The sun that sets over the landscape acts an indicator for the sunshine of life that will inevitably set over the life of each of these girls. However, despite the importance of the background of this meaning "is conveyed largely through the young girls, whose frail beauty is accentuated by the setting" (Helmreich 153), whereas the landscape in Chill October alone illustrates this theme.
In Chill October, however, Millais does not rely upon figures to reveal the transience of life through melancholic beauty. The palette of yellows, greens, and browns that Millais uses to recreate a view of Scotland near Perth and Dunkeld (Helmreich 151) perpetuates this somber mood. Moreover, Millais portrays a view in which the wind blows to the left. The brown marsh grasses in the foreground of the painting follow the course of the wind as do the dark trees in the background. The steady movement caused by the window indicates that life is not static, but rather always in motion. Thus, this furthers the suggestion that Chill October seeks to evoke transience. The uprooted tree trunk that lies in the bottom left corner of the canvas also appears to "signify death and loss" (Helmreich 153). However, the painting does not solely depict death and loss but actually appears to impart hopefulness as well due to the beauty of the scene and the sense of calm that envelops the landscape. In addition, the autumnal setting of Chill October contributes to the mournfulness and suggests a "transience of beauty" and life, which clearly invokes the theme that Millais explores in Autumn Leaves (Helmreich 153). Therefore, it appears upon observation that many of Millais's pure landscape paintings reflect the notion of transience and mortality that often embed his figurative paintings, such as Autumn Leaves and The Vale of Rest. Yet, in Chill October the landscape serves as the prime vehicle for communicating meaning and expression. Despite arguments that Millais's pure landscapes are solely photographic representations that involve meticulous attention to detail by renowned critics such as Ruskin, it appears that there, in fact, exists an emotive element that these unfavorable responses.
Another example of a pure landscape painting that seems to discount criticisms that Millais lacks the talent to convey "the real spirit of nature" (Baldry 61) is Dew-Drenched Furze. Millais again uses autumn, a season that evokes the feeling of transience and reminds viewers of nature's mortality, for the setting of his painting. However, unlike Chill October, Dew-Drenched Furze appears to focus more on the hopefulness that nature provides rather than its transience. The color palette that Millais utilizes appears similar to the one used in Chill October, but he paints with lighter versions of these same colors, which brightens the landscape. Moreover, the light that shines over the landscape emanates warmth and calm that allows the viewer to perceive Millais's advocacy of nature's inherent hopefulness. In addition, the dew that soaks the branches and the reeds reminds the viewer of morning, which elicits a sense of new awakening. These elements combine to create an ethereal sense of beauty, and Millais appears to evoke the hope that new life will always emerge in nature. Therefore, Millais does not seem to be the landscape painter that merely transcribes landscapes and lacks imaginative qualities, but he appears to create evocative portrayals of the scenes of the outside world.
Exploring Millais's works that incorporate landscapes as well as those that involve landscapes alone reveals Millais's innate talent in successfully capturing individual elements of nature and then fusing these elements into an entire canvas. Millais clearly carries out the two predominant components of Pre-Raphaelite naturalism--the application of minute details and a bright color palette with minimal shadows--with much success. Despite allegations that he lacks the ability to evoke feelings in the absence of figures in his pure landscape paintings, the way in which he utilizes backgrounds in his typologically symbolic pieces as well as his works involving tragic love and the transience of life In addition, observing Chill October and Dew-Drenched Furze indicates that Millais does not endeavour to merely create photographic representations using the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of hard-edge realism, but that he also seeks to convey meaning through his backgrounds and landscapes. Therefore, Millais expresses the poetry and grandeur of nature through Pre-Raphaelite naturalism not only in his figurative, thematic paintings but also in his pure landscape paintings that he created later on in his career.
Baldry, A.L. Millais London: T.C. nd E.C. Jack; New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1908.
Codell, Julie F. "Empiricism, Naturalism and Science in Millais's Paintings." John Everett Millais: Beyond the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Ed. Debra N. Mancoff. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. 119-147
Helmreich, Anne. "Poetry in Nature: Millais's Pure Landscapes." John Everett Millais: Beyond the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Ed. Debra N. Mancoff. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. 149-179.
Landow, George P. "J.D. Harding and John Ruskin on Nature's Infinite Variety." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 38 (1970). The Victorian Web.
Landow, George P. "Pre-Raphaelites: An Introduction." The Victorian Web.
Landow, George P. "Rainbows: Problematic Images of Problematic Nature." Images of Crisis: Literary Iconology 1750 to the Present. Boston and London: Routledge, 1982. The Victorian Web.
Landow, George P. "The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple and Pre-Raphaelite Compositional Themes." William Homan Hunt and Typological Symbolism. New Haven and London: yale UP, 1979. The Victorian Web.
Mancoff, Debra N. "John Everett Millais: Caught Between the Myths." John Everett Millais: Beyond the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Ed. Debra N. Mancoff. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. 3-19.
Millais, Sir John Everett. "Thoughts on Our Art of To-day." Millais and His Works. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1898.
Spielmann, M.H. Millais and His Works. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1898.
Walker Art Gallery. Millais: an Exhibition Organized by the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and the Royal Academy of Arts. London, January-April, 1967. Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery; London, Royal Academy of Arts: 1967.
Wood, Chrisopher. The Pre-Raphaelites. New York: Studio/Viking, 1981.
Last modified 21 December 2004


text:
Investors hit the sell button today as worries about global tensions and more bad news out of China overshadowed good news on the U.S. economy.
The Dow fell more than 230 points, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also were off by more than 1%. All three indexes were up in earlier trading.
Wall Street is waiting to see what happens in Sunday's Crimean referendum on joining the Russian Federation, and what that outcome may mean for markets.
In addition, China announced that retail sales and industrial production were both worse than expected and that helped add to worries that the story out of China won't be a good one for investors anytime soon.
European and Asian stock markets finished Thursday mostly lower due to the worries about a slowdown in China.
"For China, the question is whether the [government] authorities are in control of the slowdown, or if it starts controlling them," said Simon Smith, chief economist at FxPro.
The China and Ukraine concerns overshadowed a report by the U.S. government that retail sales in February were up 0.3%. This was the first increase in three months as consumers bought more autos and clothing. On the jobs front, initial unemployment claims fell by 9,000 to 315,000, a three month low.
Related: Fear & Greed Index moves back to neutral
But even with the broader market lower, several high-profile stocks gained ground.
Fuel cell maker Plug Power (PLUG) was sharply higher after releasing fourth quarter results. Although the company reported a loss, CEO Andy Marsh said he believes that orders for this year will be nearly four times 2013's total orders.
The stock has surged since disclosing a big order from Walmart last month. But it -- as well as rivals FuelCell Energy (FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) -- are highly speculative companies.
"$PLUG Be careful on this -- major bear flags all around. Retail may be propping this up, but institutions can take it down easily," said StockTwits user PowerKing
But danbetz didn't think the run in Plug Power was done yet. "$PLUG good news is we have great diversity of opinion here, this makes a market and plug stream proves the bull market is far from over," he wrote.
Amazon (AMZN) rose after saying that it would boost the annual cost of its Amazon Prime membership by $20 a year to $99. Investors seemed relieved that the price hike was not as steep as it said it could be just a month ago. The stock was the top gainer in CNNMoney's Tech 30 index Thursday.
But one trader thought the price increase was a bad move "$AMZN 20 bucks is a big hit! all hikes suck..subscriber growth @20 million..some will bail..incomes are down. not a good time," wrote Thorgood.
Herbalife (HLF)was sharply lower following a sell-off on Wednesday after the Federal Trade Commission said it's investigating the multi-level marketer. Shares are down nearly 27% so far this year. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has been a loud critic of the company, calling it a "pyramid scheme".
There was a sweet treat for owners of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) this morning. The company reported a strong outlook for sales and earnings. Shares were up slightly today, and are up more than 30% over the past 12 months. Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) was lower Thursday, but the stock is up nearly 40% in the past year.
In-flight digital entertainment provider Gogo (GOGO) was down despite reporting a smaller than expected loss, and beating revenue estimates in the fourth quarter. But the stock still had some fans today.
"$GOGO Solid company, great growth potential, still ramping up revs. Those who sold will be sorry this time next month," said ajohnke on StockTwits.
Shares of discount retailer Dollar General (DG) shares were lower after reporting weaker than expected sales in the fourth quarter. Dollar General blamed the bad winter weather.


text:
Our Group organises 3000+ Global Conferenceseries Events every year across USA, Europe & Asia with support from 1000 more scientific societies and Publishes 700+ Open Access Journals which contains over 50000 eminent personalities, reputed scientists as editorial board members.
The University of Tunis was originally founded in October 1945. This is one of the prestigious universities in the Tunisia with a collection of near about 28,000 students and an academic staff of 1,300 members.
The institute offers the best knowledge and expertise in the major areas of the humanities, pharmacy & nursing, management, medicine, science and engineering. Many internationally reputed scholars and experts found a place in this institution working with dedication and academic commitment. The institute is known for its unique studies taken up from the societal perspective. The institute remains truly international by attracting 70% of students and 40% of staff outside Tunisia. Ability of the University of Tunis can be estimated from the type of students it produces year after the other whose expertise are much sought after by the governments, industries, corporate and Media.
The strength of the institute lies in its ability to produce the true, genuine and unique research works where its students and staff pursue research and academics with passion and at most dedication. The university ranks good in the world and is known for its Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Faculty Student ration and relations, International Faculty, International Students and Citations per Faculty.
The following is the list of scholars from University of Tunis who contributed and/or serves as editors for one or more OMICS International journals and conferences
The following is the list of articles by scholars from University of Tunis that are published in OMICS International journals.
The following is the list of proceedings by scholars from University of Tunis that are published in OMICS International journals and conferences.