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SURF: Sweetwater Surf Shop Defends Title Winning Oakley Surf Shop Challenge Mid-Atlantic Region
April 14, 2014
Sweetwater Surf Shop Defends Title Winning Oakley Surf Shop Challenge Mid-Atlantic Region
For all of the latest information including photos, video footage, results and more, check out surfshopchallenge.com.
Press Release from GrindMedia
KITTY HAWK, NC, April 14, 2014 – Eleven teams gathered last weekend at Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, North Carolina to battle for a trip to the National Championship of the Oakley Surf Shop Challenge at a yet undisclosed location in Central America. Eckner Street greeted competitors with clean and contestable one-to-three-foot surf with nippy water conditions. Picture perfect weather in the 70s were enjoyed by spectators and teams alike, as performances were nothing short of very entertaining for all.
The Oakley Surf Shop Challenge's format is very unique allowing two shop employees and two shop team riders to formulate their "team" working together as they compete against other shop teams in a one-hour heat only allowing three waves per rider. Each team is granted a "double whammy" guy allowing one score to count twice, they each have a tent or "box" they cannot leave in that hour and all must return before the heat horn sounds or a 5 point deduction is taken off of their total heat score. Every rider and score posted is crucial for their overall score, making this format a competitor and crowd favorite alike. After three heats total, four teams battle it out in the Finals hoping to secure their free ride into the national showdown.
Heat one showed team Whalebone looking solid until the latter part of the heat where team Duck Village Outfitters's Juan Carlos dropped a solid 8 on his backhand with a backup score from double whammy surfer Jeffrey Myers celebrating a victory with heat totals as follows: 28.61 to 25.84.Heat two saw a close battle with OBBC taking the win and Surf City securing second place 22.44 to 21.86.In heat three, reigning champs Sweetwater Surf Shop took the nod as competitive elite Ben Bourgeois practically double whammied the team straight into the Finals.
"Conditions for the Finals were extremely tough with small and inconsistent surf," said event standout and Finalist Juan Carlos. "Everyone had a great vibe in the water and we performed to the best of our abilities".
With Mother Atlantic literally taking a 30-minute siesta in the Final, very few scores were given as the clock ticked away proving this Final would be won on strategy rather than sheer performance.
Sweetwater's Benny B dropped a high 8 to be double whammied, stirring the pot with little to any time left for an honest rebuttal.
With under five minutes remaining, DVO's Jeffrey Myers threw in some tactical defense on both team 17th Street and team Whalebone with only one chance to match Benny B's 8,a low seven was double whammied falling just short of the score needed to take down the defending champs!
"Definitely some tough conditions but we just stuck to our game plan and at the end of the day it worked out," said Sweetwater's Benny B."Tag team can be tricky, and you can't be too greedy, so we just made sure whoever was in the water tried to keep checking the tent and do what the team was telling them. We even made some guys paddle in to save time. There were some really good teams but at the end of the day, I think we played a smart heat and got the W!"
Final Results:
1) Sweetwater Surf Shop 28.71
2) Duck Village Outfitters 26.06
3)17th Street Surf Shop 14.19
4)Whalebone Surf Shop 10.10
The complete 2014 Oakley Surf Shop Challenge calendar:
• March 28-29 – Southwest – Seaside Reef, Cardiff, Calif.
• April 8/9 – Southeast – Ponce Inlet, Fla.
• April 11/12 – Mid-Atlantic –Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, NC
• May 2 – West – San Clemente, Calif.
• May 15/16 – Hawaii – Ala Moana Bowls, South Shore, Haw.
• July 23/24 – Northwest – Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, Calif.
• Aug. 11 – Northeast – Manasquan Inlet, Manasquan, NJ
• TBD – National Championship – Central America
For all of the latest information including photos, video footage, results and more, check out surfshopchallenge.com.
Special thanks to title sponsor Oakley, media sponsor SURFER Magazine and co-sponsors New Era, Futures Fins, Watermans Sunscreen and Banzai Bowls, without which the Surf Shop Challenge series would not be possible.
About Surf Shop Challenge
Originally conceived to provide a fun and competitive format for the hardcore surf shop riders, the SURFER Shop Team Challenge was one of the most popular and exciting Southern California contests of the early 1980s. Through the years the contest has evolved, growingintoseven qualifying regional events around the country and culminating ina national championship abroad. The underlying principles, however, have remained the same. The Oakley Surf Shop Challenge is still about giving back to the shops, the true backbone of the industry and the heart of the sport of surfing. Each year the competition level rises, the stakes become greater and the prizes become bigger.
About Oakley, Inc.
The global leader in performance sunglasses, goggles and prescription eyewear, Oakley also offers technical and lifestyle apparel, footwear, watches and accessories. The company was created for athletes who see impossibility as just another challenge, and their dedication inspires Oakley to seek out problems, solve with innovation and wrap invention in art. Exceeding the limits of possibility for more than thirty years, Oakley serves the demands of world-class athletes with unbeatable technologies including High Definition Optics® (HDO®). Additional information is available at oakley.com
About SURFER
In 1960, SURFER Magazine began as the original. After a long history of delivering provocative and insightful editorial features, revealing interviews and award winning state-of-the-art photography, SURFER remains the authoritative voice of the surfing world and thus earned the moniker "the bible of the sport." The SURFER brand has also grown to include Surfermag.com, Fantasy Surfer, and the SURFER message boards. All of these assets combine to make the SURFER network the most current and reliable channel of information to the surf community. The magazine is published by Source Interlink'sGrindMedia, which reaches more than 22-million active sports enthusiasts through an integrated network of magazines, online properties, events and television programming. To learn more, visit surfermag.com
About GrindMedia
Source Interlink Media's GrindMedia is the world's largest action/adventure/outdoor media company reaching more than 45 million engaged consumers every month through its print, online, mobile, TV/video and events platforms. Among its 29 leading media assets are brands such as GrindTV.com, SURFER, SURFING, TransWorld SKATEboarding, Bike, POWDER, TransWorld Motocross, Snowboarder, Canoe & Kayak and more. Delivering significant reach across both action sports enthusiast and various in-market consumer audiences, GrindMedia also produces more than 40 leading events and webcasts such as Surfer Poll Awards, TransWorld SKATEboarding Awards, Powder Video Awards, Lowers Pro and EnduroCross. GrindMedia is also the exclusive action and adventure sports content provider for Yahoo! Sports.To learn more, visit grindmedia.com or visit grindtv.com.
Media Contact:
Dawn Hamilton
KHPR for Grind Media


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Google Chromecast apps are now downloadable outside of the US, suggesting that the company may be preparing for an international release.
According to Engadget, users across the world - including the UK and Canada - have successfully downloaded the TV streamer's iOS and Android apps.
With the imminent launch of the Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat, the move hints that Google may be preparing to launch its $35 dongle outside of the US, where it was released in July.
When plugged into a TV's HDMI port the dongle allows users to stream content from smartphones, tablets and computers when connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
The Chromecast recently began unofficial international shipments via Amazon.com, which expanded its delivery zones - although certain apps such as Netflix were unable to function.
> Google Chromecast review: Is this the televisual bargain of the year?
Watch a promotional video for Google Chromecast below:

subset: commoncrawl


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- Want more images or videos?Request additional images or videos from the seller
Steve McCurryRabari Shepherd, Rajasthan, India, 2009 - Colour Photography
- ArtistSteve McCurry (1950, American)
- Creation Year2009
- DimensionsHeight: 20 in. (50.8 cm)Width: 24 in. (60.96 cm)
- Medium
- Movement & Style
- Period
- Condition
- Gallery LocationLondon, GB
- Reference Number1stDibs: LU886781612
Shipping & Returns
- Shipping$100 Front Door Shippingto anywhere in the world, arrives in 2-4 weeks. We recommend this shipping type based on item size, type and fragility.Delivered to the first available dry area outside of your house or building (front door, porch, landing area, garage, etc.).Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return Policy
A return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
About Steve McCurry (Artist)
Steve McCurry is an American photographer who gained international acclaim for his arresting portrait of a young refugee known simply as Afghan Girl. Originally published on the cover of National Geographic in 1985, the photograph shows a young Pashtun orphan, later identified as Sharbat Gula, who was living in a refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, during the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan. The image is emblematic of McCurry's work, which has brought him to war zones across the globe. Rather than focusing on the violence of the battlefield, McCurry seeks to capture the human face of conflict, distilling what is universal and recognizable in each portrait.
McCurry was born in Philadelphia and attended Penn State University, graduating cum laude with a degree in theater arts in 1974. After several years working at a newspaper in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, he left to work as a freelancer in India, where he honed his skill for capturing unguarded moments in daily life. Just prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in 1979, he crossed the border from Pakistan into Afghan rebel–controlled territory, wearing native garb to disguise himself, with rolls of film sewn into his clothing. The photographs he took there were among the first in the world to document the conflict, and his work was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal for "photographic reporting from abroad."
Over the course of his career, McCurry has documented daily life alongside conflicts in Cambodia, the Philippines, the former Yugoslavia, Beirut, Iraq, Afghanistan and Tibet. Though his photos depict serious and sometimes frightening situations, his ability to connect with subjects and capture something of their personalities allows his images to transcend the documentarian distance of wartime journalism. The results are real portraits that happen to be set in tough situations. Welder in a Ship Breaking Yard, Mumbai, India (1994), for instance, reveals only the subject's eyes, but they're so intently fixed on McCurry's lens that they seem to express volumes. Monk Running on Wall (2004) shows a young monk defying gravity as he skitters along an exterior wall of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, China, over the heads of his friends. Like a Baroque painting, McCurry's picture captures a moment of dynamic action that reveals something instantly recognizable in a subject from another part of the world.
- By Steve McCurryLocated in London, GBCategory
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- By Steve McCurryLocated in London, GBCategory
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text: An unpretentious 3* that serves a great buffet breakfast and is ideally located right on the Place Centrale above the Ecurie restaurant, which is run by the same family. The hosts Hugo and Celine are friendly and the atmosphere relaxed. Slightly outmoded in places but with some nice artefacts to add character. There is a delightful little wellness area on the top floor with Turkish bath, sauna, treatment room and relaxing zone with great mountain views.


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Deposit or Bank Transfer on our BPI Account
Account Name: Rosalie Flores.
Account No: 1089 2872 82
Pay with PayPal, & Major Credit Cards
Note: Payment made via Online (Paypal, Credit/Debit Card) charged 5% service fee .
Send Money through Xoom or Palawan
Please, Don't hesitate to ask. We will answer your questions and help you with your itinerary in Cebu tour.
Message us on FB messenger: Click bottom Right FB logo.
Call us: 0917-520-7191
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One of the questions that bugs every international student studying MS or MBA in USA is: "after I graduate, what should I do ? Should I look for a full time job after MS or Should I take up consulting career?" I was in the same boat few years ago. Consulting seems very attractive to many people for a number of reasons. I will try to explain some of the pros and cons of Consulting jobs and explain the new H1B rules impact a little bit.
Consulting Job after MS / MBA:
International students have big dreams to earn dream dollars and pay off all their loans back home and credit card bills here in US. The way most of them think is, the sooner I get out of my debt, the better. So, what is the quick way to make money ? Few suggest, consulting career is best…if you work on H1B visa and as a consultant you can make more money. The grass looks greener always on the other side, lets look at some of the pros and cons of Consulting career.
Pros of Consulting Jobs after MS :
- You get to work in different companies
- Experience of work culture of different companies
- You have the opportunity to understand various business scenarios
- You learn the standards and practices of different companies.
- You gain more knowledge as you are challenged with different problems for different business situation.
- Your communication skills improve as you interact with people working in different work cultures.
- You may make a little more money. It is arguable though if you really.
- Your professional resume and value increases because of variety experience.
- Less responsibility as a consultant
- If you work in expenses paid project , your expense will be paid by client, so your living expenses are very less.
- You may have choice to choose your interests and get training in that area and then pursue that career.
- You have the opportunity to see many places and meet more people as you may travel a lot depending on project.
Cons of Consulting Jobs after MS :
- You may not have a stable job all the time; you may be on bench for a while depending on the market demand and time of the year.
- May involve lot of travelling if you keep changing projects too often. If you hate travelling, then it is not a good thing.
- You cannot plan your personal life well, as you do not know where the future job is. For instance, you want to learn an art or anything.
- You may not be able to plan higher education like MBA or any education because location is not stable
- New H1B rules not favorable for consulting jobs unless you work for big consulting companies like Deloitte, TCS, Infy, Cognizant, Wipro, etc.
- If you work on terms of getting paid only when you work, then you are losing money when not working. This can add up and your average salary might become low.
- You are constantly challenged with lot of problems, you have to be willing to spend time and solve problems instantly.
- You will have to be smart and have good communication skills otherwise you will have hard time working with clients.
- Your green card process is in jeopardy sometimes, if you switch consulting firms at wrong times.
- If you do not have proper contacts, you may have hard time to find a job
- If there is a recession like now, you are the first one to be terminated.
- There is a lot of job risk all the time, nothing is taken for granted. Your contact will be on many clauses and can end anytime.
I can keep on writing…but I tried to put in some points that I think are important.
New H1B Rules 2011 impact?
As most of you know, USCIS passed additional H1B rules or guidelines in January of 2010. You may read below articles for more info.
- Flash News : Additional requirements for filing H1B Visa petition for 2011. USICS releases additional Employer Employee relations Memorandum
- New H1B visa petition filing guidelines and requirements for 2011 quota and New guidelines for H1B visa Extensions
Anyways, the new rules are not favorable for consulting. Because, it eliminates the concept of Job-shop. I explained the consequences in detail in the articles listed above. The clear point is, F1 students cannot go to small consulting companies that do not have any on-site implementations because of the new H1B rules which come in effect from 2011 H1B quota. The options for getting into consulting for F1 students are only through big Consulting companies like Accenture, Deloitte, Cap Gemini, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, etc. In all reality, if you join any of these companies, you are in fact joining as a full time employee to these big consulting companies. You may not get all the benefits like making extra money that you thought of in consulting…But, you do get the consulting experience ! So, it is up to you to decide on what you really want to do…
I plan to write a similar article on Full time job Pros and Cons and how it can be good for F1 students. Stay tuned !
Image Credits : http://www.flickr.com/photos/bpedro/25436202/


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BMMS is a program that selects the largest RAM expansion with Memory Mapper as Main-RAM.
So BMMS is more efficient than the usual "universal POKE"*. It allows to run software that do not take account secondary slots or using without asking question the Memory Mapper in main RAM.
BMMS sets the segments in order 3, 2, 1, 0 for MSX1s.
The fast compression toolkit that offers decent compression for MSX, as used in Bombaman.
AuroraMSX found this small package in the deep dark dungeons of his mailbox. It contains a color fade routine for GraphSaurus PLx palettes to be used in BASIC. Source code and an example is included, so give it a spin!
This is the Dante 2 course as it was available on the FutureDisk disk magazines. It covers all aspects of the Dante 2 RPG builder in plain text files. The course is in Dutch.
The GFX9000 library provides a basic sets of routines that are very useful to develop your own GFX9000 programs. It also supports the new g9b graphics format for GFX9000.
Package contents:
- G9klib v0.7 (G9k library including sample project)
- V9BMP v1.1 (BMP & tim viewer for gfx9000. Also can make non compressed g9b files.)
Screenshotter is a tool for making automated screenshots/videos with the openMSX emulator.
Solid VBasic Compiler + linker for MSX DOS. This enables the generation of .com files from .bas files.
This file adds Z80 syntax highlighting in texpad. TNIASM's pseudo-instructions are supported as well. The file can easily be converted to correctly highlight pseudo-instructions of other compilers, like SjASM.
Z80 Runner is a rapid prototyping tool to cross-develop, test, debug and profile assembly routines before using them in production code.
- source level debugging (stepping, running, breakpoint-support)
- cycle and code size counting
- profiling (counting total and delta cycles between steps / breakpoints)
This is the full source code to the game Zombie Near by nanochess that was published as cartridge by Matra (MSX) and Collectorvision (Colecovision), it includes several platforms, the main one is MSX, there are also Colecovision, SVI and Memotech ports. Includes unfinished ports to Atari, C64 and ZX Spectrum.


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Vanilla Nutmeg Sugar Cane
Burn for up to 3 hours at a time. Allow melted wax to reach jar edges to prevent tunneling. Extinguish flame by dipping wick into melted wax. Never leave a burning candle unattended, near drafts, or within reach of pets and children. Allow wax to cool before handling. For best results, trim wick to 1/4" after each burn.
Handpoured and crafted from natural soy wax, our proprietary blend of Cinnamon, Vanilla Bean, and Tea Leaf fragrance oils, and a cotton wick.


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Get A Free Consultation
It is difficult, at best, to provide "upfront pricing" concerning the cost of flying a project. Over the past few years, it is more than apparent that each and every project is different from any project that has come before it. Most individuals do not truly understand the steps necessary to evaluate a project and the information necessary to make a firm, guaranteed bid to fly that project. Therefore, Hover Visions gathers criteria based flight information in an effort to provide a firm, guaranteed price for your project. Making contact with us at Hover Visions is a great first step in the process of gaining a cost estimate for your shoot. Information is gathered, a free-of-charge inspection of the site is performed and the cost is forwarded to the client for their acceptance or denial. No follow-up marketing calls and/or endless emails are employed to pressure your decision; you wish for us to perform the aerial work for you, for the price we have quoted or you don't. It's just that simple.
Contact Us for Questions or a Free Consultation
To discuss Drone Services. All it takes is a phone call to discuss our Aerial Drone Services! We will listen to your ideas and provide you feedback and make a plan to get you what you want!
(918) 798-2837
Main Office
Tulsa, OK 74145
Cushing Office
3003 East Eseco Road
Cushing, OK 74023


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Total Fitness: ULTRA WOMAN
'How did you prepare for your first Ultra run?' My friends asked one night when we saw each other at at a bloggers' event sometime in October. It was exactly six days after I fought my way to a well-deserved podium finish in my maiden foray into the crazy world of UltraRunning (to the uninitiated, Ultra Running is going beyond the 42km marathon) and yet apart from the unsightly tan line – which, at that time, was already starting to peel making it even more unappealing but I was not minding it much because I must admit that weird-looking tan line has become a blockbuster hit of a conversation starter – I was feeling great! Not to say I didn't suffer the brunt of Mt. Pinatubo's unforgiving heat, rocks, sand, and what-not because damn it I DID, but I bounced back from the unpleasant aftermath quite fast. Yes, I'm some kind of an android like that.
And no, I did not train for it. Not even for a day. Because up until two days prior to the race when Dennis the Running Pinoy told me that he signed me up for the race and got me my own first aid kit from Watson's, I was not sure I would even do it. I was in Malaysia at that time and would only return to Manila at 6PM the day before the actual race. I did NOT even get to enjoy the luxury of sleep because I had to gear up and pack my race essentials very quickly soon as I arrived home from the airport in order to meet up with fellow runners at midnight. The race venue is roughly three hours away from Manila and gun start is at 5AM. I only had time for a shower and a heartfelt prayer for safety and survival. Before braving the 1st PAU Mt. Pinatubo 50k Trail Challenge, my running resume consisted mainly of two 5k, four 10k, three 21k races, one full marathon, and sporadic solo runs here and there to try and keep my waistline looking steady and narrow at 23 inches. So you see, there isn't much there for anyone to be able to ascertain that I'd even make it. But I am, first and foremost, a lioness. If there's one thing I have in abundance of (apart from the very obvious charms), that would be my nerves of steel. The minute I got Dennis' email confirmation on my Mt. Pinatubo registration, I knew I had to finish it. The how's, why's, and what ifs were all a-jumble in my head at that point but all that didn't matter. I was going to finish the race – strong.
Before gun start, my fellow racers and I were happily trading playful banters and taking photos. Every now and then we would confer with the support crew to reassure ourselves that they would be right where we need them to be stationed at any point during the gruelling 10-hour cut-off race. Apart from very few people, I did not know anyone else there as I have not really been visible at any of the competitive races because of my work and travel. Surprisingly, I was not at all nervous. Perhaps because at that point, I was still in the dark as to how the whole race will unfold. Had I even the slightest hint, I'm sure I would quake in my feet a little.
At exactly 5:00 am, Sir Jovie aka Bald Runner officially opened the race and the 60+ runners including myself confidently took to the half-paved road of Sta. Juliana in Capas, Tarlac at the base of Mt. Pinatubo. It was very dark and neither I nor Dennis had headlamps on so we had to rely on gut feel and chance to keep our feet off potholes which could lead us to unwanted injuries and what-not. The paved road did not even cover a kilometer in my estimation because even before my feet could get used to the uneven path, we were running on sand (far cry from the powder-soft sand of Boracay, mind you), crossing rivulets, and getting our feet very wet in the process.
**For full stories, grab a copy of Total Fitness January to February 2011 issue in bookstores and newsstands near you.


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ESOC swings into action for Rosetta swingby
Rosetta ground controllers generally lead a quiet life shepherding their 3-tonne spacecraft on its 10-year trip to rendezvous with a comet. But with a payload check-out this month and Mars and Earth swing-bys in 2007, activity at ESOC for several cooperating teams is becoming intense.
The two 2007 gravity assists are part of three Earth fly-bys and a Mars fly-by that will usher the spacecraft to a 2014 arrival at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, where it will deploy a probe to make a spectacular comet landing.
ESA's Rosetta spacecraft and lander are on a usually quiet, 10-year journey to meet Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, scheduled for May 2014. Ground controllers at ESOC, ESA's Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, typically only communicate with the spacecraft once per week to test communications.
But since September, the flight control team has been intensely focused on a series of manoeuvres designed to direct the spacecraft towards a vital Mars swingby, scheduled for 25 February 2007. The Mars gravity assist will be followed in turn by an Earth swingby (the second since launch) on 13 November 2007; one more Earth swing-by is scheduled for 2009. In addition, Rosetta instruments will be checked out and test-pointed this month in preparation for a planned 36-hour observation campaign targeting the asteroid Lutetia, scheduled for 2-4 January 2007.
"We knew Rosetta was not perfectly lined up, so we conducted thruster burns on 29 September and 13 November to be in position for February's Mars gravity assist. We're on track now and will make our closest approach to Mars on 25 February," said Andrea Accomazzo, Spacecraft Operations Manager (SOM) for Rosetta. Accomazzo joins the Rosetta team as of 1 December after serving as SOM for sister spacecraft Venus Express.
The burns, using Rosetta's manoeuvre thrusters, generated a change in velocity of 31.9 metres per second and 0.1 metres per second.
Mars swing-by slows craft for later Earth encounter
Rosetta is scheduled to make a very tight, 250-km swing-by of Mars on 25 February 2007, now estimated for 01:58 UTC. The Mars gravity assist is designed to slow the spacecraft down and position it for a subsequent Earth swingby eight months later.
"The overall change in velocity predicted from the Mars swing-by on 25 February is -2.19 km per second with respect to the Sun," says Trevor Morley, Flight Dynamics specialist for Rosetta at ESOC. "The Mars swingby is really a means to get the conditions right for the two future Earth swingbys to pump up the orbital energy," he says.
Flight dynamics plays vital role
For the two manoeuvres on 29 September and 13 November, we had great support from the flight dynamics team here at ESOC.
The complex series of planetary gravity assists needed for Rosetta underlines the vital role played by Flight Dynamics scientists working at ESOC.
These specialists are responsible for calculating spacecraft trajectories and attitudes, and they use sophisticated analytical tools to calculate such fundamental quantities as a spacecraft's speed, direction, location and orientation.
"Experts in the areas of orbits, optimisation, attitude monitoring, command generation and quality assurance cooperate as a single team to provide Rosetta flight dynamics support to the flight control team and the scientific community," says Morley.
Dynamics calculations rely on data from a number of sources, including range and Doppler information generated by the ground stations that receive radio signals from a spacecraft, as well as information from onboard star trackers and Sun sensors that can report a spacecraft's orientation with respect to (apparently) fixed distant stars and the Sun.
The task is made more complicated by the fact that sensitive instruments must be kept pointed away from the Sun, while solar panels must usually be kept facing the Sun. Furthermore, some spacecraft are spin stabilized, meaning they constantly rotate, so the star field seen by a star tracker also constantly rotates.
"For the two manoeuvres on 29 September and 13 November, we had great support from the flight dynamics team here at ESOC, who do all the detailed calculations on duration of burn, as well as the ground station support people," said Accomazzo. "For the instrument check-out on 27 November, we also worked closely with the Science Operations Centre at ESTEC," he added, referring to the SOC located at ESA's Technology and Research Centre in The Netherlands.
Communications with Rosetta are carried out via ESA's 35-metre deep-space antenna at the New Norcia ground station, in Australia, part of ESA's ESTRACK global network of stations.


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Return man Quadree Henderson cleared waivers and re-signed with the Giants on a practice squad contract Wednesday, according to sources, one day after the team released him to activate defensive lineman RJ McIntosh.
Henderson, an undrafted rookie out of Pitt, recorded the Giants' longest punt return since 2015 in his NFL debut in Atlanta a few weeks ago (21 yards).
He added a 19-yarder against Washington prior to the bye and was averaging 7.8 yards per return and taking care of the ball, after the Giants had burnt through several unsuccessful returners and were averaging a paltry 2.8 yards per return prior.
The Giants waived him anyway, despite coach Pat Shurmur saying Henderson was coming along as a receiver learning the system, too.
Corey Coleman is a candidate to handle punt return duties on Monday Night at San Francisco, if it's not Jawill Davis coming back from a concussion.
Odell Beckham Jr. also goes back on occasion.


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SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Broadmark Realty Capital Inc. (NYSE: BRMK) (the "Company"), a real estate investment trust providing financing for the acquisition, renovation and development of residential and commercial properties, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a common stock dividend of $0.12 per share. The dividend will be payable on January 15, 2020 to stockholders of record as of December 31, 2019.
The dividend amount reflects the period from November 15, 2019 (the day following the closing of the business combination with Trinity Merger Corp.) through December 31, 2019. The Company currently intends to declare and pay monthly dividends with the timing and amount determined by the Board of Directors.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made herein are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "may", "should", "would", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "seem", "seek", "continue", "future", "will", "expect", "outlook" or other similar words, phrases or expressions. These statements are based on the current expectations and are not predictions of actual performance. In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and uncertainties that relate more broadly to the Company's overall business, including those more fully described in the Company's filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and speak only as of the date made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by law.
About Broadmark Realty Capital
Broadmark Realty Capital Inc. (NYSE: BRMK) offers short-term, first deed of trust loans secured by real estate to fund the acquisition, renovation, rehabilitation or development of residential or commercial properties. Broadmark Realty Capital manages and services its loan portfolio across a variety of market conditions and economic cycles.


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What Is a CDP & How Does It Differ from Other Audience Data Tools?
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are hot: the category first appeared on Gartner's Hype Cycle this past July and is already expected to reach $1 billion revenue by 2019.
Publishers have been early adopters of CDPs, which offer unique advantages for finding the right content for each subscriber. (SourceMedia, for example, uses its CDP to convert unknown users to known using a series of targeted content and messaging). But many in the industry don't understand what a CDP is and how it differs from other audience databases, notably data management platforms (DMPs). Let's try to reduce that confusion.
Definitions first. The Customer Data Platform Institute, which I founded in 2016, defines a CDP as a "marketer-managed system that creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems". That's open to lot of interpretation. In more concrete terms, what CDPs do is:
- Gather all customer data in one place. That's the "persistent, unified customer database" part of the definition. It distinguishes CDPs from systems that store data without linking items related to the same customer (like many "data lakes"), that gather customer data on the fly (like many behavior-based personalization products), or that hold just an anonymous cookie ID plus audience attributes (like a Data Management Platform). The CDP stores all details down to the level of web pageviews, email clicks, purchases, payments, and content selections. And it stores personal identifiers so data can be assembled into a single customer view and so messages can be directed at known individuals. One of the reasons that publishers have eagerly adopted CDPs is that detailed, personally identified data is exactly what they needed for content recommendations and individual-level ad targeting, two key profit drivers.
- Allow other systems to use the assembled data. This distinguishes CDPs from systems that build a single customer view for their own use, including many recommendation engines, personalization tools, and email platforms. Access can range from direct queries against a database table, to periodic file exports, to calls to an Application Program Interface (API). Sometimes the external systems read raw CDP data and sometimes they read data that's pre-summarized and reformatted. Whatever the technical details, the key point is the CDP data isn't locked away where no other system can use it.
- Make data relatively easy to manage. "Relatively" is slippery weasel of a word, but bear with me. If anyone tells you they can build a persistent, unified customer database without any technical skills, just back away slowly, turn, and run for the nearest exit because they're either dishonest or deluded. CDPs reduce the technical workload by using innovations such as "schema-less" data stores that ingest data without pre-defining its contents. They also contain prebuilt components, such as identity matching processes, that save time over building similar software from scratch. The net result is that CDPs can build and update customer databases much faster and with many fewer technical work-hours than conventional systems. This in turn means that marketers can request changes more freely because the cost of each change is so low. It's hard to quantify the difference without looking at specific situations, but it's quite realistic to expect changes that took weeks in a conventional system to take days or just hours with a CDP.
You're probably skeptical of these claims. You should be. You'll need some quality time with a CDP vendor to be convinced. But just suspend disbelief for a moment to imagine what you could do with a CDP if it actually performed as promised.
CDPs support two main applications. The first is analytics: by bringing together all customer data, cleaning it, creating a unified customer view, and making the result available to other systems, the CDP lets your analysts spend less time on wrangling data and more time creating value. This isn't a little benefit: analysts spend as much as 80% of their time finding and preparing data.
The second application is execution support. CDPs can feed data to fulfillment systems, websites, email engines, call centers, ad networks, and even data management platforms to support segmentation, personalization, campaign management, and content recommendations.
But there's more. Quite a few CDP systems include their own analytical and execution applications. This further increases deployment speed and value provided.
In short, CDPs are different from your existing fulfillment systems, CRMs, data lakes, DMPs, and old-style marketing databases. They combine detailed data, low cost, and unprecedented flexibility to create value throughout a publishing operation. It may sound too good to be true. But it's surely worth some time to find out.
David Raab is a consultant specializing in marketing technology and analytics. His clients include major brands in publishing, retail, financial services, telecommunications, technology, and other industries. His early career was spent in magazine circulation and direct mail continuity marketing. He is founder and CEO of the Customer Data Platform Institute.


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For anyone who has followed theater in the Baltimore-Washington region over the past four decades, many of the most thrilling experiences have been created by actress Tana Hicken. The skin stretched over her tall, lean frame had a telegraphic quality to transmit the smallest shifts in emotion, and her soprano voice could be cottoned with kindness or barbed with cruelty. Whether you saw her in the title role of "Hedda Gabler" at Center Stage, as Emily Dickinson in "The Belle of Amherst" at Artscape, or as Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion of Winter" at the Everyman Theatre, you could not forget her.
Such experiences will not come again, for Hicken died of myositis, an autoimmune disorder, at age 70 on Aug. 17. It's a great loss.
In the 1998 production of "The Lion in Winter," for example, she played the French-born queen who was estranged from her English husband, King Henry II. The two spouses were battling over which son would inherit the kingdom. Hicken's Eleanor emerged as a quite formidable opponent when she spit out insults at her husband and topped them off with a torso-rattling laugh. But she was far more dangerous when she was soothing her sons in a maternal voice or seducing her husband in a romantic voice. Hicken, revealing her own acting skills, made us see how easily those emotions could be faked.
"The Belle of Amherst" is a one-woman show, but when Hicken wrapped herself in a New England shawl and scarf, she made us aware of every family member and visitor in her house just from her reactions: her shy self-protectiveness, her avid ambition, her amused tolerance.
Both the above shows were directed by her husband Donald Hicken, head of the theater department at the Baltimore School for the Arts and one of the region's top freelance directors. To be in their presence was to share the pleasure of their smart and playful jousting. That give-and-take extended to their rehearsals.
Tana and Donald Hicken at the Everyman Theatre's gala in 2013.
"If you want me to try a role another way," Tana told me in 2006, "I'm all for that. As an actor, I can do a role so many different ways. Then we can look at them all to see which is best. That's what acting is: the dissection of every second of action. That's why so many shy people like myself become actors. Once you've gotten control of every second of action, there's no reason to be shy. The stage becomes the safest place in the world."
"A good example is 'The Glass Menagerie,'" Donald added. "I was asked to direct it as a co-production for the Round House Theater and Everyman, but I didn't know if anything new could be done with it. Tana said, 'Well, let's read it,' and as she reads it, I'm hearing this Amanda I've never heard before. I asked, 'What do you think of her?' She said, 'This is a woman who's fighting to save her family.' I thought, 'Here's a reason to do another production of this play; here's an approach that's not just another version of the Southern bitch on wheels.'"
Tana grew up outside of Boston and Donald outside of Buffalo. They met at the Hartford Stage Company and moved to Baltimore in 1975 to work at Center Stage. They lived for more than 20 years in the city and have been living in Sparks since the late '90s. But Tana soon learned that, until very recently, the acting opportunities were far greater in Washington than in Baltimore. So she spent much of the 1990s and 2000s commuting to D.C. and acting at Arena Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre.
"The only place an actor can make a living in Baltimore," she claimed in 2006, "is at Center Stage, and they have no interest in building a company. I couldn't afford to keep working at Everyman and turning down work that paid three times as much at the Shakespeare Theatre. But I think of Washington as a place to work—and to demonstrate—not as a place to live. Baltimore is my home."
Latest Baltimore City Paper
A memorial service for Tana Hicken will be held September 15, at 7 p.m. at the Everyman Theatre.


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Many conservation and monitoring efforts are redundant, inefficient or ineffective, according to the winner of the 2018 Wiley Next Generation Ecologist Award.
"Conservation decisions are only as good as the data that underpin them," says Ayesha Tulloch, an applied ecologist and ARC DECRA Fellow at the University of Sydney.
To understand where we might best apply management actions to protect or restore ecological communities, we need to predict the condition of entire systems over near-future timeframes.
However, many ecologists don't know what data are available to do ecological forecasting, and what timeframe of forecasting is required to inform their problem.
"Much of my research has focused on improving how we track change in ecological communities, and how we predict responses to human actions such as livestock grazing, invasive predator control and fire management," she says.
For example, satellite-derived maps can help track changes in ecosystems over time – and this monitoring can be used to inform management decisions, as well as progress towards national and international biodiversity goals such as the Aichi Targets. However, big data are not a panacea to all management and monitoring problems.
Readily available satellite data on the extent of natural habitats has high return on investment for assessing progress towards "reducing loss of natural habitats and degradation" (Aichi Target 5) but low benefits for informing on the conservation status of threatened species, which is better-informed by trends in species' populations over time.
"Governments and land management agencies tasked with tracking environmental change need to be able to calculate costs and benefits of data collection and analysis to ensure investment in informative, efficient monitoring programs, and my research helps them with that," says Ayesha.
Through her research on the past effectiveness of management, Ayesha has provided efficient, repeatable approaches for NGOs, academia and governments to choose what to monitor and how, enabling better-informed ecosystem assessments and effective feedback for action on declining ecosystems. She now wants to expand this research towards predicting the future.
"Being awarded the 2018 Wiley Next Generation Ecologist Award will help me to advance my research goals as well as initiate a collaborative network of like-minded ecologists interested in progressing iterative ecological forecasting science in Australia," says Ayesha.
She will use this $3,000 award to deliver a workshop to inform early-career researchers about ecological forecasting, and to write a review paper highlighting the current state of ecological forecasting in Australia.
Ayesha will present the Wiley Next Generation Ecologist Plenary at the Ecological Society of Australia Conference in Brisbane on Thursday 29 November 2018.


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The Spa at Fearrington is a day spa located in Fearrington's English-inspired Village Center. The Spa uses luxury products, like Elemis, De Le Terre and Essie, in our treatments and also offers these brands for sale at our adjacent spa boutique.
Massage options include:
The Elemis Swedish Massage is a 60 minute classic massage that increases circulation and encourages relaxation through a combination of long, smooth massage strokes.
The Elemis Well-Being Massage is a 60 minute Aromatherapy massage with ancient healing techniques combined for sublime relaxation to help alleviate stress and ease aching muscles. Tailored to each individual, light body brushing prepares your skin for a glorious massage provided with your choice of Elemis aromatherapy oils.
The Elemis Peaceful Pregnancy Massage is a 60 minute treatment Performed with pillows thoughtfully placed to mold to every bump, mothers-to-be are restored to optimum wellness. An intuitive and relaxing massage hydrates skin that is expanding to accommodate a growing baby.
Gift Card includes a 60 minute massage, tax and service.
Add your preferred treatment to your bag and enter your gift message in the NOTES section.


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Happy New Year everyone! I'm starting the year 2017 off describing the process that we used for shortlisting designers for the bond project. On all projects we typically receive 10 – 20 submittal packages from interested designers. Since we cannot interview all the teams that submit, we will shortlist up to six teams. Below I will describe the shortlisting process that we went through to determine which designers to interview on the bond project. Continue reading
Category Archives: stakeholder registry
015 Interview with Wake Technical Community College CIP Manager
Last week I sat down with Todd Manning PE, CCM, PMP, PEM, LEED AP for lunch and to talk about project management. He supervises the facilities project managers in the design and construction department at Wake Tech Community College (WTCC). His group is currently managing over $200 million worth of projects on the multiple WTCC campuses.
[Q] How does WTCC manage projects in each of the design and construction phases? Is there a project manager (PM) for the design phase that hands it over to a construction manager during the construction phase? Continue reading
008 Interview with Corporate CIP Project Manager
Kent Mitchell is a registered architect and project management professional with over 28 years of experience in the design and construction industry. He has worked in both the public and private sectors and is currently a business lead and senior project manager of capital projects for Syngenta.
[Q] On your latest project, how many stakeholders do you have?
[A] I have a lab project in design phase that I have +/-50 stakeholders.
[Q] What is Syngenta's process for hiring consultants?
[A] Our procurement business partners issue Requests For Proposal to pre-qualified AE teams. We would generally short-list the firms and invite 2 or 3 firms to interview. The Syngenta selection committee might consist of 6 or more cross-functional decision makers who vote on the firms. The selection is based on multiple criteria, not just low bid. Continue reading
007 Stakeholders- A Resource or a Constraint?
Given and Find
Scott, Julie, and I looked at our next homework problem, in the grey study room of the Engineering Sciences Building. The problem: "The velocity of a particle undergoing rectilinear motion is v(t)=3t2+10t m/s. Find the acceleration and the displacement at t=10 s, if so= 0 at t=0." It was 1990, and we were in Engineering 101. As studious freshmen, we focused on the task at hand, as we had been taught, we wrote down Given, left a large empty space and then wrote Find. Under Given, we wrote down our parameters (Newton's laws of motion) for helping us to solve this problem: acceleration is the derivative of velocity over time, and the integral of velocity with respect to time is displacement. Voila, we solved for the answer and finished our homework so we could go get a drink…of Pepsi, we were under 21.
Working with Constraints
Unlike Newton's laws of motion, the stakeholders and the guidelines that serve as design parameters (givens) for campus projects are not as straight-forward. And, as you can imagine, Continue reading


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Ellington Financial LLC Announces Expiration and Final Results of Exchange Offer
OLD GREENWICH, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ellington Financial LLC (NYSE:EFC) announced today the expiration and
final results of its previously announced exchange offer to certain
eligible holders of its outstanding 5.25% Senior Notes due September 1,
2022 (the "Existing Notes") for up to $86,000,000 of a new issue of
5.50% Senior Notes due September 1, 2022 (the "New Notes"), issued by
the Company's subsidiaries EF Holdco Inc. and EF Cayman Holdings Ltd.
along with other Company subsidiaries that may be added as issuers, and
guaranteed by the Company.
The Company has been informed by the information agent for the exchange
offer that as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 6, 2019, all
$86,000,000 of the outstanding principal amount of the Existing Notes
were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn. As a result,
$86,000,000 of New Notes will be issued upon the closing of the exchange
offer, which is expected to occur once all closing conditions are met.
The New Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act, or any
state securities laws and, unless so registered, may not be offered or
sold in the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption
from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable
state securities laws. The exchange offer was not made to holders of
Existing Notes in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance
thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or
other laws of such jurisdiction. This press release does not constitute
an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase any
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve
numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from the
Company's beliefs, expectations, estimates, and projections and,
consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as
predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements are not
historical in nature and can be identified by words such as "believe,"
"expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "continue,"
"intend," "should," "would," "could," "goal," "objective," "will,"
"may," "seek," or similar expressions or their negative forms, or by
references to strategy, plans, or intentions. Examples of
forward-looking statements in this press release include, without
limitation, statements regarding the closing of the exchange offer. The
Company's results can fluctuate from month to month and from quarter to
quarter depending on a variety of factors, some of which are beyond the
Company's control and/or are difficult to predict, including, without
limitation, changes in interest rates and the market value of the
Company's securities, changes in mortgage default rates and prepayment
rates, the Company's ability to borrow to finance its assets, changes in
government regulations affecting the Company's business, the Company's
ability to maintain its exclusion from registration under the Investment
Company Act of 1940; and other changes in market conditions and economic
trends. Furthermore, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties, including, among other things, those described under
Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 15,
2018 which can be accessed through the Company's website at www.ellingtonfinancial.com
or at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov).
Other risks, uncertainties, and factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those projected or implied may be described
from time to time in reports the Company's files with the SEC, including
reports on Forms 10-Q, 10-K and 8-K. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
About Ellington Financial LLC
Ellington Financial LLC is a specialty finance company that invests in a
diverse array of financial assets, including residential and commercial
mortgage-backed securities, residential and commercial mortgage loans,
consumer loans and asset-backed securities backed by consumer loans,
collateralized loan obligations, corporate equity and debt securities
(including distressed debt), non-mortgage and mortgage-related
derivatives, equity investments in mortgage-related entities, and other
strategic investments. Ellington Financial LLC is externally managed and
advised by Ellington Financial Management LLC, an affiliate of Ellington
Management Group, L.L.C.
Ellington Financial LLC
Investor Relations,
& Co., for Ellington Financial LLC
Amanda Klein / Kevin
FitzGerald, 212-257-4170


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Daily Archives: July 28, 2015
Racism, Classism and Catcalling (or, #Feminism Is for Rich White Lesbians)
Time for a little of what feminists call "intersectionality." A video went viral in which a woman walking on New York City streets is catcalled or subjected to what feminists call "street harassment."
Allahpundit analyzes both the video and the phenomenon in terms of why do men do this? Before we address the particulars of that question, however, shouldn't we first ask, who does this?
It's a racist production about white women
not wanting attention from black and Latino men.
"The video also unintentionally makes another point, thatharassers are mostly black and Latino, and hanging out on the streets in midday in clothes that suggest they are not on their lunch break. As Roxane Gay tweeted, 'The racial politics of the video are f–ked up. Like, she didn't walk through any white neighborhoods?'" . . .
What makes these catcalls offensive isn't that they come from men. It's that they come from low-status men. Like an unconsented kiss from President Obama, if the catcalls came from George Clooney there'd be much less female outrage.
In fact, maybe these catcalls are a way of striking back at privilege
One of the ways I offend people — sometimes accidentally, but usually on purpose — is by calling attention to things which are true, but which we aren't supposed to notice. In the 21st century, it is difficult to tell where courtesy ends and political correctness begins, and there are more and more Things We Aren't Allowed to Say.
The Left's long-standing criticism of American culture (from the disciples of Herbert Marcuse, et al.) is that, supposedly, we are repressed, uptight and inauthentic because of our puritanical Anglo-Christian heritage. What went unexamined in the "Magic Negro" controversy (when Rush Limbaugh was excoriated as a racist for quoting a liberal commentary about Obama) was that black people have been used in popular culture as symbols of authenticity because of a sort of inferiority complex among white liberals. (Shelby Steele's White Guilt is a useful introduction to this phenomenon.) Some WASPs grow up with the feeling that they have no real culture, or that their own culture is actually the cause of the world's woes — the Genocidal White Capitalists Raping the Planet meme — and never recover from that deficit.
Things We Aren't Allowed to Say: English-speaking white people are the only Americans who are denied a right to ethnic pride.
There, I said it. Sue me.
You might believe, if you were an unthinking consumer of what is taught in the government education system, that before the arrival of a wave of Irish immigrants fleeing the 19th-century Potato Famine, that the United States was a vast Evil Hate Machine. But then came the Irish (sanctified by their victimhood), followed by the wave of Ellis Island immigrants (Italians, Jews, etc.) and, through their shared experience of suffering inflicted by the Evil Hate Machine, these non-WASP Americans — with the help of their loyal mascot-sidekicks, The Negroes — achieved the dream of A More Perfect Union.
In other words . . . VOTE DEMOCRAT!
Things We Aren't Allowed to Say: What is taught as "history" in the government education system is, in fact, a propaganda narrative indistinguishable from the liberal orthodoxy of the Democrat Party.
This orthodoxy extends privilege (yeah, I speak academese quite fluently) to the descendants of Catholics, Jews and other non-WASP immigrants, a sort of "Get Out of Whiteness Free" card, so they can exonerate themselves from the genocidal atrocity narrative of the American founding: "We didn't exterminate the Native Americans! We did not enslave African-Americans! My great-great grandfather was [insert Immigrant Nationality here] who came here with nothing! My ancestors were victims of the Evil Hate Machine, too!"
You're welcome, non-WASP Americans. My WASP ancestors did all that for you, so you could feel superior to me. Glad to help.
The Democrat Coalition and Its Contradictions
The Liberal Narrative of American History, you see, originated in the political rhetoric of urban Democrats in the 1920s, who assembled a pan-ethnic coalition in places like Chicago, Boston and New York by appealing to the interests (and prejudices) of the Irish, Italians, the Jews and other immigrant groups. "Vote Democrat," the Irish Catholic in Boston was told,"and we'll take money and power from those rich Yankee snobs and give it to you!"
In an era when All Politics Was Local — when there was no cable TV or Internet to call attention to these narrowly tailored partisan messages — the Catholic in Boston or the Jew in New York was unaware that, simultaneously, the Ku Klux Klan was campaigning in the Midwest with a different message. "Vote Democrat," the Indiana farmer was told, "and we'll do something about those Jews and Catholics and Negroes who are destroying The American Way of Life!"
From that kind of dishonest two-faced hateful divisiveness, the Democrat Party constructed the Great Liberal Consensus that elected FDR, Harry Truman, JFK and LBJ. During a span of 36 years (1933-69) Democrats controlled the White House for 28 years, interrupted only by the eight-year presidency of WWII hero Dwight Eisenhower, whose liberal "Modern Republicanism" was the chief target of William F. Buckley Jr.'s ire in the 1950s. (If you've never read Buckley's 1959 classic Up From Liberalism, you should buy it immediately.)
The Great Liberal Consensus was self-contradicting nonsense that produced bad policy and, when it finally unraveled during the debacle of LBJ's doomstruck presidency, the liberal intelligentsia were thrown into a state of permanent crisis from which they have never fully recovered. Behind their facade of hubristic liberal arrogance, Our Moral Superiors (as I have dubbed this intellectual elite) are deeply afraid that, at any moment, Americans will see through the Fog of Phony Bullshit from which Democrat electoral majorities are built.
We are "anti-intellectual," you see, if we refuse to accept at face value The Liberal Narrative of American History we have been taught by the government education system. There should be a sign in front of every public school in America: "Vote Democrat, Because the Teachers Union Needs More Money and Power." The hypocritical self-interest of government employees supporting the Party of More Government is another one of those Things We Aren't Allowed to Say, but if you want to know why public schools are more interested in teaching liberal attitudes than teaching facts and skills, it doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure it out.
"In the hands of a skillful indoctrinator, the average student not only thinks what the indoctrinator wants him to think . . . but is altogether positive that he has arrived at his position by independent intellectual exertion. This man is outraged by the suggestion that he is the flesh-and-blood tribute to the success of his indoctrinators."
– William F. Buckley Jr., Up From Liberalism (1959)
We have been indoctrinated, all of us, and recovering from that indoctrination is a process, rather than an event. Once you start noticing the Fog of Phony Bullshit, you become skeptical of the narrative, and the Democrat Party mythos of ethnos is one of the most obvious elements of that narrative: There are five A's in "RAAAAACISM!"
From that long but necessary digression, we return to the topic: A white woman targeted for "street harassment" by predominately black and Latino men on the streets of New York City.
C'mon, isn't that the message of this viral video? "Vote Democrat," the white woman is told, "and we'll protect you from the patriarchal oppression of the objectifying Male Gaze."
The implicit assumption of the Democrat Party's "War on Women" meme is that the sexist misogyny by which all women are allegedly victimized is officially endorsed by The Republican Party. Never mind the fact — as the viral video ironically demonstrated — that women's victimization is quite often perpetrated by constituencies of the Democrat Party coalition. Feminism is a left-wing political ideology that serves the partisan interests of the Democrat Party and, when feminists aren't busy offering to provide oral sex to Democrat men, they are busy accusing Republicans of being The Party of Rape.
It does not really matter whether you are male or female, black or white, straight or gay. The only thing liberals really care about is whether you vote Democrat, because the liberal's sense of self-esteem is dependent on his belief that, by voting Democrat and encouraging you to do likewise, he proves himself worthy as one of Our Moral Superiors. (Thomas Sowell's book The Vision of the Anointed explains this brilliantly.)
Androgynous Units of the 21st Century
So, for what it's worth, here's my two cents on the multicultural diversity of the New York City street harassers in the viral video: Males who have not been subjected to elite indoctrination in universities, and who have no direct investment in the bureaucratic regime of the suit-and-tie office job workplace, have not learned to be ashamed of their heterosexuality.
College education and professional careers in the 21st century require men to learn that women are oppressed by male sexual interest. The anti-male/anti-heterosexual ideology of feminism — Fear and Loathing of the Penis — has acquired hegemonic institutional authority in the elite culture of academia. We are no longer permitted to believe that men and women are different, or that their differences have any natural function. We are all supposed to be Ungendered Androgynous Units, except insofar as males are inferior to females, and if you are a normal male who has normal attitudes toward normal females, this makes you part of the heteronormative patriarchy.
It is astonishing how deeply some men have internalized this totalitarian feminist anti-male hate propaganda. A properly indoctrinated male nowadays must believe that merely to notice female beauty, to feel sexual desire toward women in a normal way, or to praise women in their roles as wives and mothers, is to participate in misogynistic oppression. Indeed, the properly indoctrinated male feels a duty to denounce you as a sexist if you merely point out that feminism is an anti-male/anti-heterosexual ideology. The belief system of lesbian Marxist baby-killers must never be questioned and, if a popular feminist celebrity is also an admitted child molester, well, how dare you call attention to that fact?
Outside the hyper-politicized precincts where feminist orthodoxy exercises hegemonic control, however, there are still males who have not yet been properly indoctrinated. They dropped out of high school or they couldn't afford to go college. Maybe they joined the Army or got a muscle-and-sweat job where Doing the Work mattered more than Having the Correct Attitude. Or maybe, as seems to be the case of the lower-class New York City men featured in the viral video, they just accepted their liberal-endorsed status as Authentic Victims and haven't bothered to wonder if there is anything wrong with their way of life.
One way or another, these men are not invested in the bureaucratic system within which feminist orthodoxy is uncontested. So when they see a good-looking woman, they react.
They are not repressed. They are not ashamed to be male. Their basic animal sexuality doesn't cause them any psychic conflict.
And I can totally relate to those brothers.
Back in the day, my man Bobby "The Hamp" Shearer and I used to discuss the great social issue of our mutual interest, Exactly Who the Hell Do These White Girls Think They Are, Anyway?
See, Bobby played football at Homewood High and his mother was a respectable middle-class school teacher. I was the product of an at least equally respectable socioeconomic background. By the time we got to college, however, we were both renegade outlaws. Let me tell you, buddy, we were on the hunt, and in the late 1970s it was Open Season.
Bobby and I became friends as the result of an incident in a biology class our freshman year, when somebody managed to steal the teacher's copy of the mid-term exam, so that class was adjourned and the test was delayed. At the Copper Penny pub (drinking age was 19 then in Alabama, but we all had fake IDs), Bobby told me he had been in on the test-stealing conspiracy and, as we laughed about the aftermath over beers, the topic of conversation drifted to Exactly Who the Hell Do These White Girls Think They Are, Anyway?
There was, at Jacksonville (Ala.) State University back in the day, a very clear social hierarchy. Atop this status pyramid were the Varsity Athletes, the Rich Frat Boys and their Hot Sorority Girlfriends. There was also the Baptist Campus Ministry — at that time, the largest student organization on campus — where Nice Boys and Nice Girls congregated and socialized. Then there was the Marching Southerners Band and its female auxiliary, the Marching Ballerinas. However, almost without exception, the Marching Ballerinas were also Hot Sorority Girlfriends, so that the ordinary male band geek had zero chance of scoring with a Marching Ballerina. (Of course, many male band geeks were gay, so the not-scoring-with-Marching-Ballerinas factor didn't bother them.) And so it was that Bobby and I found ourselves in the situation of renegade outlaws, on the hunt, trying to figure out how to get Our Fair Share of That Action on a state university campus where a substantial majority of the target population (and nearly all the really prime commodity) was off-limits to us for one reason or another.
Exactly Who the Hell Do These White Girls Think They Are, Anyway?
Bobby's problem as a black guy in Alabama during the long governorship of the Honorable George Corley Wallace was obvious enough, while my situation as a skinny long-haired rock-and-roll white boy was such that Bobby the Hamp and I had a lot in common.
The Objectivity of Renegade Outlaws
We were both profoundly antisocial, you see. Did I mention I used to be a Democrat? Never mind. The point is, Bobby and I shared a disrespectful attitude toward the status quo, and this became the basis of a friendship and many deep discussions about race and culture and, of course, Exactly Who the Hell Do These White Girls Think They Are, Anyway?
Renegade outlaws have an objectivity about the system of social status that any Ph.D. would envy. When I talk about the psychology of crime, I speak with the authority of experience, unless it behooves me to invoke my Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. I was multicultural and intersectional before it was cool and it so happened that Bobby the Hamp and I had a common interest but different aptitudes.
For some reason, I attracted a certain type of girl, usually named Donna or Tammy, who liked my Bad Boy Clown persona (and my skinny ass) and who hoped that I might be harnessed into the Acceptable Boyfriend role — not that her mother would approve of me, but her mother could be required to accept me. On the other hand, Bobby had remarkable success in playing the role of Latter-Day Mandingo to certain Hot Sorority Girls who felt an occasional urge to defy (quite secretly) the regnant social expectations of northeast Alabama during the long governorship of the Honorable George Corley Wallace.
Me and the Hamp, we knew the score, see? Beneath the veneer of respectable conformity, all kinds of things were happening back in the day — Things We Weren't Allowed to Say, but the truth was suppressed thenfor different reasons than it is suppressed now.
Too stubbornly proud to tug the forelock to Our Moral Superiors, I never once played the "Some of My Best Friends" card when hypocritical white liberals accused me of racism. Nor did I play the "Some of My Best Friends" card vis-a-vis accusations of sexism and homophobia, because I was never going to let those bastards have the satisfaction of forcing me to defend myself except on my terms, as it fit my own purposes and sense of personal honor. People who actually know me, my real-life friends, know who I am and what I believe, and no self-appointed Arbiter of Political Acceptability is ever going to intimidate me into silence.
No shame in my game, see, and it isn't my job to justify or defend how dudes in New York City play their game. Feminists can go find those guys and dox them — publish their names and home addresses, please — so we can find out whether they're registered to vote as Democrats or Republicans, and let the chips fall where they may. What the feminists want, however, is to convince women that somehow "street harassment" is a function of the heteronormative patriarchy, and the only way to fight it is (a) vote Democrat, (b) become a lesbian, or preferably (c) become a lesbian feminist Democrat.
Exactly Who the Hell Do These White Girls Think They Are, Anyway?
Hey, sweetheart: Don't try to run that three-card monte game on me. Before you can demand from me a denunciation of New York City street harassers, you'll first have to provide me with proof of your personal moral superiority, by which you claim the right to make such a demand. If it suits my interest to respond to your imperious demand, I might answer by saying that if (a) the First Amendment protects the right of Lena Dunham to show her ugly naked ass in every episode of Girls, then (b) the street harasser has a First Amendment right to express his admiration of a genuinely attractive woman. Note the "if . . . might" hypothetical structure of that sentence, darling, because if you want to have an abstract intellectual conversation, I'll be happy to converse. However, you don't actually want to have a conversation — certainly not an equal conversation — what you want to do is to make me into a Symbolic Scapegoat and say, "There! See? A white male heterosexual Republican said something sexist! Vote Democrat!"
What part of "fuck you" is so hard for you liberals to understand?
These hypocritical hate-hustling Democrats think they can get away with running the same hustle over and over again, because the rest of us are too dumb to figure out we're being hustled.
Once their hustle has been busted, however, they have to move their crooked game to the other side of town and try it again. So now their familiar game — "Vote Democrat, Because Whoever You Hate, We Hate Them, Too" — is targeted at a new audience of chumps. Herman Cain once wrote a book called They Think You're Stupid, the title of which is a perfect four-word summary of the Democrat Party's basic strategy. And, hey, you can't argue with success. After 214 years of lies, corruption and bad policy, Democrats are still open for business.
You want to talk about hate? When rich white lesbians start telling women to vote Democrat because of "street harassment," while at the same time refusing to denounce a celebrity pervert like Lena Dunham for diddling her own sister, you may fairly accuse me of hating that kind of shameless hypocrisy. But unless or until these feminists prove to me that they actually are Our Moral Superiors, they have no right to make any demands of me, or you, or any ordinary law-abiding American citizen trying to get along in the real world.
Don't let yourself get hustled. And if you're ever in Homewood, tell Bobby "The Hamp" Shearer his old buddy Spacey Stacy says hello.


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Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks co-star in a fast-paced cat and mouse game directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a true story. Catch Me If You Can has proven to be wonderfully entertaining.
In 1964, 16-year-old Frank Abagnale, distraught over his parents' divorce, ran away from home. He survived by successfully impersonating various respected professionals, among them airline pilot, college professor, doctor and lawyer.
By the time he was 20, when he was caught, he had cashed millions of dollars in phony checks. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Frank Abagnale, whom he describes as "a great, instinctual actor."
"His cons at times almost seem too good to be true and too obvious, but that's what he played with and that's the elements of any great magician, too: throw something in the audience's face while they do their sleight of hand move," said DiCaprio. "It's the art of misdirection that Frank Abagnale mastered; but that comes from a state of mind, too. He was ripped apart from his home. He came from a divorced home where he had to choose between his mother and his father. That propelled him out into the real world and made him feel that he didn't have to answer to anyone."
"The challenge, of course, is starting with a man who is already incarcerated, and then begging the audience permission to so sympathize with him that they don't want that first scene to come true," said director Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg, whose own parents split up when he was a teenager and is, himself, a divorced father, believes that aspect of Frank's life gives insight into his larcenous adventures. "I emphasized the divorce to try to give him a reason: trying to put his parents back together or his loneliness, because he was basically a boy on the run having to invent himself for the first time," he said.
"He came of age on the run, doing all these brilliant scams. So I thought the divorce almost excused some of the early things that he did. The other thing that i think excuses a lot of what he does [is that] he goes after the big banks that hurt his dad. He doesn't go after the 'mom and pop' stores. He always paid cash for groceries. He paid cash when he bought stationery to forge the checks. He always paid cash to the small stores because he didn't want to hurt anybody."
The real Frank Abagnale now works as a consultant to the FBI and top corporations, giving expert advice on how to prevent fraud. He admits a major concern of his was that the film not glamorize his escapades which he describes, today, as "illegal and immoral" "Obviously, as a kid, there was a lot of fun to it," he said. "To any 16-year-old, dating 25-year-old women is a lot of fun. What started to bother me was my conscience. For the first three or four years, I could always walk into a bank say to myself, 'This bank has a billion dollars, I'm going to go in and cash a $500 check. What do they care?' But when I got to be about 19 years old, I'd walk into the bank and realize that I had convinced this teller to break every rule and cash this check for me. When I walked out, I felt guilty about the teller who might lose her job and not be able to get a job at another bank. It was maturity and my conscience. I knew I would eventually get caught. It was just a matter of time."
Tom Hanks plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty, who is actually a composite character based on several investigators who eventually caught Frank Abagnale. Hanks acknowledges the moral ambiguity of having the scoundrel, no matter how affable, as hero. "I think it is a very accurate reflection of the morality of the world," he said. "We have an interest in Carl Hanratty pursuing him and we're going to be involved in that chase; but not only are we rooting for Frank Abagnale, I think we fancy ourselves as Frank Abagnale. He's not hurting anybody. All he's doing is taking from the banks. All he's doing is cheating on his taxes. This is the way it seems as though our ethics have evolved to this point. By and large we hope the white collar guys get away with ripping off the big corporations. We don't want the corporations to get away with it, but we do want the average Joe to pass a bad check."
Catch Me If You Can also features Christoper Walken, Martin Sheen and French actress Nathalie Baye. It is filmed in vivid 1960s style by cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and the musical score is by another frequent Steven Spielberg collaborator, John Williams.


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FG Mayor backs septic tank bill
Portlaoise's Mayor was the only Fine Gael councillor to support his Government's controversial regulations on septic tanks.
"I fully agree with the new bill," declared Cllr Matthew Keegan at Portlaoise Town Council monthly meeting last week. His was a lone voice.
All of his colleagues supported Cllr Alan Hand's call to oppose the implementation of the Water Services (Amendment) Bill which, among other measures, envisages a septic tank registration fee.
Opposing the new rules, his party colleague Cllr Kathleen O'Brien said: "People do not have any money."
Cllr Willie Aird: "It was handled very badly from a public relations point of view. People who can prove they cannot afford to do it (upgrade septic tanks) will have to get grants. It's only the people who won't do anything who are causing the problem."
Chairman Keegan said while he fully agreed with the bill, he disagreed with the emphasis on fines and charge rather than on incentives.
He added: "A lot of country people are happy to see this coming in. If your neighbour's tank is in bad order, it's poisoning your drinking water."
Also supported was Cllr Hand's proposal that grants should be available to those who might have to upgrade their sanitary systems.
Noting that Environment Minister Phil Hogan had reduced the registration fee from €50 to a "bargain basement" €5 euros for an initial period, the Sinn Fein councillor claimed the real difficulty with the bill was the lack of information and consultation. And, he wondered, had local authorities a sufficient number of staff to inspect septic tanks?
Deputy Co Manager Michael Rainey said there'd been no word on getting additional staff. But, he added, staff could be reallocated.
Cllr Caroline Dwane: "My concern would be for people who cannot afford to upgrade their septic tanks. They could face up to €5,000 in fines."
Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald: "People are genuinely terrified that they will be told their tank is not up to standard."


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CEO and President of CEF Ceyl Prinster Receives Award from Tim Padilla, Colorado/Southern Wyoming Division Manager at Wells Fargo. Photo Credit: Dave Anderson, InSync Photography + Design
Denver, May 1, 2018 – CEO and President of Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF) Ceyl Prinster is the proud recipient of the 2018 David E. Bailey Small Business Advocate Award by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. She was honored for her work to help entrepreneurs and small businesses at the Business Awards luncheon on Friday, April 27 at Infinity Park.
"Small businesses fuel our economy in Colorado. It has been a great privilege to help those companies gain access to capital that allows them to start, grow and thrive," says Prinster. "I am humbled by this honor and thrilled to be part of the vibrant, innovative and entrepreneurial business community here in Colorado." David E. Bailey was Prinster's boss at her first job as a small business lender at United Bank of Denver over 30 years ago, and was instrumental in helping her realize her passion for assisting entrepreneurs and small businesses. Prinster adds, "In a time when the finance industry was heavily dominated by men, he was a supportive and encouraging manager who was particularly helpful to women seeking careers in banking."
CEF is a non-profit lending source specializing in loans for small businesses and startups in the state of Colorado. CEF provides access to capital that impacts rural and urban communities in a unique way since their business customers create products and services that generate employment and economic development. CEF's lending programs touch various industries, business sizes, and locations in the state, making the nonprofit invaluable to business communities. The organization's lending guidelines are more flexible than traditional banks and it offers free business consulting services to all loan recipients, providing borrowers with the tools they need to help them succeed. For more information about CEF businesses and their success stories, visit: https://coloradoenterprisefund.org/meet-our-clients/.
An annual event, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce's Business Awards celebrate organizations from across the region that are leading in their field and making an impact in the community – writing the area's next chapter as a great community to live and do business. Other 2018 award recipients include: Coffee at The Point (Small Business); Hotel Engine (Start-Up Business); Gleam Car Wash (Green Business); Food for Thought (Small Nonprofit); Denver Urban Scholars (Large Nonprofit); and, Emergenetics International (Minority or Woman-Owned).
About Colorado Enterprise Fund
Founded in1976, Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF) provides loans up to $500,000 to finance small businesses and start-ups unable to obtain funding through traditional banks. CEF has dispersed over $75 million in startup and growth capital to almost 2,000 businesses, and created or retained more than 18,000 jobs in the state. A non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), CEF is based in Denver with lending services available statewide. For more information, visit:


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Secretary, 42, told she faces jail after admitting champagne-fuelled racist rant on train that was posted on YouTube
- Jacqueline Woodhouse, 42, abused passengers on the Central Line train
- Film uploaded to YouTube has been watched 200,000 times
- 'I used to live in England and now I live in the United Nations,' she said
- Sikh man on his way back from funeral who filmed it, said he put it on YouTube to ensure speedy justice
A drunken secretary has admitted hurling racist abuse at fellow passengers on the London Underground after a video of her appeared on the internet.
Jacqueline Woodhouse, 42, directed a drunken, expletive-ridden rant at passengers on the Central Line between St Paul's and Mile End stations on January 23.
The court was told that Woodhouse had drunk an 'unknown' quantity of champagne at a retirement party before getting on the Tube at 11pm.
She now faces jail, after police launched an investigation into a seven-minute long video of the verbal assault that was uploaded to YouTube.
Scroll down for video
Vile: A child in the Central Line carriage looks on as Jacqueline Woodhouse hurls abuse at other passengers
Foul-mouthed: Woodhouse was caught on camera making racist remarks as she travelled on the Underground
It has since been viewed more than 200,000 times.
Today at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Woodhouse, of Romford in Essex, admitted causing harassment alarm and distress to the Sikh man who filmed her - Galbant Singh Juttla.
The video clip begins with Woodhouse shouting in a thick Essex accent about 'foreign s*** heads'.
She turns to her passengers and asks: 'Where do you come from? Where do you come from? Where do you come from?
'I would like to know if any of you are illegal? I am sure like 30 per cent of you are.'
She then turns on the Pakistani man sitting next to her, who is singing his national anthem, and threatens to 'punch him in the face.'
'I wouldn't mind if you loved our country,' she adds.
She then turns to Mr Juttla's camera, as he assures her he would rather be listening to his music than to her.
Woodhouse pleaded guilty to one count of causing racially aggravated 'harassment, alarm or distress' by using 'threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour' after she was filmed by Galbant Juttla, right
'Oh look he's filming, hello,' she says. 'Hello government.'
She goes on: 'Why don't you tell me where you're from?'
He replies: 'I am British.'
She gets her phone out of her black handbag and looks as if she is filming him too.
Mr Juttla warns her: 'Watch what you are saying.'
She replies: 'I used to live in England and now I live in the United Nations.'
As he tells her to keep her mouth shut, informing her that she has had too much to drink, she becomes extremely agitated and starts screaming.
'It's not your country anyway so what's your problem?' she yells. 'It's been overtaken by people like you.'
The court heard that Mr Juttla decided to film Woodhouse after she started berating an unidentified black female. She then sat down between two men and began another barrage of abuse.
Woodhouse ignores the anger of other passengers as she continues her aggressive seven-minute tirade
Prosecutor Claire Campbell told the court: 'She then leaned towards the gentleman sitting next to her and said 'I will have you arrested because you do not live here'.
'The male pushed her away and she fell on to the adjacent seat.
'She stated: "I hope you are not claiming benefits and I hope you pay your taxes".
'Mr Juttla responded: "I pay more taxes than you, love".
'Mr Juttla pulled the emergency alarm fearing an escalation of events and to enable her to be removed from the train.'
Single father of two Mr Juttla, from Ilford, Essex, had been attending a funeral of a close family friend that day.
Ms Campbell said Woodhouse went to Mile End police station following a media campaign.
Woodhouse told police she could not remember the rant but recognised it was her in the video.
She attended court today wearing a black suit and white shirt. She sat in the court with her brow furrowed and her head bowed as the magistrate was shown the video clip.
Appalling behaviour: The court was told that Woodhouse had drunk an 'unknown' quantity of champagne at a retirement party before getting on the Tube at 11pm
Ms Campbell told the court that Woodhouse was fined following a similar offence on the Docklands Light Railway in December 2008.
Ms Campbell said Woodhouse verbally abused a male passenger while on a train to Stratford. She asked whether he had paid taxes, adding: 'I have had enough of it, why don't they go back to where they come from?'
Outside court Mr Juttla, who runs a print company, said: 'I found it very distressing.
'I uploaded it to YouTube because I thought that was the fast-track process to catching this person.
'I also needed to show the public that kind of person is out there and not to put up with this kind of behaviour.
'My kids have seen the video and they are disgusted by it. They don't expect for someone to shout abuse at their dad.'
Before officers asked him to take the video down, it had been watched 21,000 times. Since duplicates have been made, it has been watched by hundreds of thousands of people.
Spate of incidents: Police took Emma West into custody in December after a video (pictured) appeared on the internet showing a woman apparently abusing tram passengers
Mr Juttla added: 'She needs to be set an example of. People should look at what happens to her and say "we can't behaviour like this in the public domain".'
Woodhouse pleaded guilty to one count of causing racially aggravated 'harassment, alarm or distress' by using 'threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour'.
The prosecution offered no evidence on one charge of racially aggravated common assault.
Adjourning sentence, District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe said: 'Bearing in mind the level of abuse, the persistence of the abuse, the number of people on the train unable to leave without aborting their journey, and the children present, means that I think the court has to have a pre-sentence report.
'I make it clear that all options are open to the sentencing court, including committal or immediate custody.'
The judge imposed stringent conditions banning her from the Tube network and she was ordered to keep to a daily curfew between 10pm and 6am, which will be monitored by electronic tag.
She will be sentenced at the same court on May 29.
The video emerged after a spate of similar clips were uploaded on to the internet. Emma West was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence in connection with an incident on a tram in December.
Another video called 'Welcome to London' showed a woman holding a pink rose on the London Underground as she abused passengers.
Another was of a drunk woman who tried to punch a black passenger on a London bus, but ended up falling over herself then being thrown into the street.
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Arcane Caster's Fortitude Skill (lvl 2 - 5) reads as (for lvl 3):
"If hero loses 30% HP in 5 seconds, its Divine skill will activate instantly. The Divine Skill will not activate at any other time. Arcane Caster may not have already activated her Divine Skill. She must also already be in battle and can't be stunned or silenced."
As usual...not terribly clear. My understanding of this is that if you have Arcane Caster as a defending hero all other heroes will *only* cast their Divine Skill if they lose 30% of their HP in 5 seconds (is that max HP or current HP?) and if Arcane Caster has not already cast her Divine Skill and if Arcane Caster is not stunned or silenced when a different hero loses 30% of their HP in 5 seconds. Also, does "She must already be in battle" mean that she has to have been triggered/activated by an enemy (as opposed to idling in Heroes Hall)?
If that is correct, I don't get the point of the skill at all. It seems like it would do more harm than anything... If my reading is correct does that mean that if you are able to lure Arcane Caster out first and get her to cast her Divine then no other defending hero will use their divine at all during the entire battle?
[Chat(Android)] Arcane Caster Fortitude - Please Explain?
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Arcane Caster's Fortitude Skill (lvl 2 - 5) reads as (for lvl 3):


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Mayor's Office
Public Works and Utilities officials say recent storm damage is contributing to long lines at the Bluff Road Landfill, 6001 Bluff Road. Closing hours today are being extended to 5 p.m. Saturday hours are 6:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. (instead of 3 pm.), and Sunday hours are 6:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. (instead of noon).
"The extended hours this weekend will help us to accommodate the increase in material arriving at the landfill, "said Assistant Director of Public Works and Utilities Donna Garden. "We hope this will help to reduce wait times, but other factors limit the capacity of our landfill operations, so we ask for the public's patience."
Karla Welding, Superintendent of Solid Waste Operations, said the growth of the City has already put pressure on the landfill to purchase an additional scale and larger heavy equipment. "We will continue to do our best to accommodate the spike from the storms, but long-term we will need additional strategies and resources to deal with the growth in solid waste," she said.
Officials pointed out that many construction materials are readily recyclable. "Most of our local contractors already understand the value of recycling those materials," Garden said. "It helps the business's bottom line while helping to control long-term costs and extend the life of the landfill."
Contractors are also being encouraged to recycle building materials at these locations:
More information is available at recycle.lincoln.ne.gov.
The City reminds property owners to be sure they are dealing with reputable and insured contractors when repairing their homes. Ask to see insurance certificates, check references and make use of online resources like the Better Business Bureau.


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Festival marked by diversity of films and large crowds
The final day of the IrishFilmFesta took place on Sunday 30 March, ending the highly successful seventh edition of the festival. Entitled Belfast Day, all films screened over the course of the day were dedicated to Northern Ireland and its capital in particular.
The day began with Volkswagen Joe, the powerful 30-minute movie directed by Brian Deane and based on a play by Brendan McCann. Set in Northern Ireland in the dark days of 1981, a conflicted border-town mechanic is faced with an impossible decision and is forced to make a choice with dire consequences.
Volkswagen Joe was one of the highlights of the entire festival and later that evening it was declared the winner, deservedly, in the Live Action category in the short film competition.
The film's cental actor Stuart Graham, who attended the screening, said that the film evoked "enormous childhood memories" of growing up in Northern Ireland in the late 1970s/1980s, at a time when "two societies were living poles apart." Speaking of his role in the film, Graham said: "The chance to play a character who found himself trapped in the middle of that conflict was very appealing to me." However Graham qualified his remarks about the past by hailing the present "post-conflict generation which no longer lives in fear" and that it is now a "fantastically exciting time in Northern Ireland."
Then followed Reading Suggestions: Eureka Street, a lecture by Simona Pellis examining the 1996 novel by Northern Irish author Robert McLiam Wilson. The book focuses on the lives of two working-class Belfast friends, one Catholic and one Protestant, in the time before and after the IRA ceasefires in 1994.
The evening continued with Paul Kennedy's debut film Made in Belfast, at 18.00. The film was screened in the presence of its principal actor Ciarán McMenamin, its producer Stuart Graham (who also played the taxi driver at the start and end of the movie), and the Irish ambassador to Italy, Bobby McDonagh.
Jack Kelly (McMenamin) is a successful writer who returns to Belfast to bury his father, after eight years of isolation from the community he estranged with his best-selling memoir. The reception he receives is not what he is expecting and neither is the newly-cosmopolitan city he finds.
Speaking after the film, which was warmly received by a full house, Graham said that they "set out to make a film with very little money, with little time, but with a very good script and a bunch of very good actors." McMenanim agreed that the 13-day shoot was "insane" but said he "fell in love" with the script because it was "about things that Belfast is not normally associated with; Belfast is a modern city and a brilliant place to live. We have come a long way."
Graham said that for too long the film industry has viewed Northern Ireland "as having only one story to tell" and that it is "why it is really important that films like Made in Belfast get made because we have many stories to tell." Both actors praised their director Paul Kennedy, who was unable to attend the festival, and singled out Belfast's Lalor Roddy and Scotland's Shauna McDonald as representative of the high calibre of actors in the film.
The evening ended with the screening of the lively Good Vibrations which featured a gutsy lead performance by Richard Dormer. Directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn, the film chronicles the rebellious and unconventional life of Terri Hooley, Belfast's "Godfather of Punk", an instrumental figure in developing a number of the city's punk-rock bands, most notably The Undertones. The film also featured supporting roles by Jodie Whittaker and Killian Scott who starred in Black Ice, screened two nights earlier.
As the annual festival drew to a close, its artistic director and founder Susanna Pellis thanked the audience for being "so numerous for the entire four days."
The IrishFilmFesta took place from 27-30 March at the Casa del Cinema, in Villa Borghese.
Andy Devane
General Info
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Final day of IrishFilmFesta
Casa del Cinema, Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1 (Villa Borghese), tel. 06423601.