text:
N810 maemo device program open for submissions
Keeping the good tradition, we want to offer the new Nokia N810 Internet Tablet to the most active contributors of the maemo community, as soon as possible and as affordably as possible. The N810 maemo device program starts *now* with 500 discount codes entitling their fortunate owners to get a device for 99€ (or equivalent price in other currencies).
The call is addressed not only to open source programmers, but also to designers, documentation writers, community supporters, maemo evangelists, bloggers… In order to apply go to your maemo profile (same login as the so-called Garage account) and make your request there. Please read carefully the instructions, terms and conditions.
Some time next week we will provide more details about the selection process, but this is the basic you need to know:
- Contributors apply themselves through their maemo profiles. No invitation is needed. Please don't send us extra emails, they won't help you.
- Nokia & related professionals stay out. In case of doubt don't ask: apply.
- Open contributions & community involvement are the main rules to select the winners, but newcomers can get merits by proposing creative ideas requiring such device (open source and non-profit are a must).
- The 500 discount codes will be distributed the same day the N810 is available for purchase in the online Nokia shops.
I 've worked for a SIP stack to connect Asterisk with my Nokia 770 ... I'd like to continue this Job on N810 . Christophe
You're looking for open source programmers, but also designers, documentation writers, community supporters, maemo evangelists and so on. I think I can give my little contribute in these fields also without a N810. Best regards
I am going to suscribe to have a N810. Will you read the reasons I want one if I wrote them in french? (I don't speak english very well)
English I am a young programmer and blogger I have long been a passionate and fantastic maemo Nokia 770 mythical and the first tablet that has been baked by nokia (I made many sacrifices in order to buy! ! Students are always without money! !) . I have faced in the extreme and testing of hardware components built by me and software script To increase functionality. On my blog, there are several articles of my projects both hardware and software, I love advertise events maemo and internet tablet nokia. Always follow the community Planet of maemo I noticed is that of Italians there. I am one of the first and only "maybe" To deepen the very platform maemo 4.0 and touch the beautiful nokia n810 but I do not have the economic ability to take a price Full 399 Euro. I would be very nice to receive a bonus to purchase $ 99 to Discover new hardware and create a new and large Italian community on maemo platform. I Efforts to publicize the beautiful way to involve my university (Unical-University of Calabria) and young programmers like me! ! I could also participate in creating solutions translations of howto for the new n810 and its predecessors. Moreover community are all in English and Italian, and many people who do not know English do not participate actively in the community planet, instead of with a fork in Italian planet can participate in Italian language Some of my posts nokia n800 770; http://rafanto.wordpress.com/?s=nokia+770&searchbutton=go%21 ITALIAN VERSION Io sono un giovane programmatore e blogger mi sono appassionato da tempo a maemo e al fantastico e mitico nokia 770 il primo tablet che è stato sfornato da nokia ( ho fatto tanti sacrifici per poterlo acquistare!! gli studenti sono sempre senza soldi!!) . Mi sono cimentato nell'uso e nella sperimentazione estrema di componenti hardware da me costruiti e software script per aumentare le funzionalità. Sul mio blog ci sono parecchi articoli dei miei progetti sia hardware che software, amo pubblicizzare gli eventi di maemo e degli internet tablet nokia. Seguo sempre la community Planet di maemo è ho notato che di italiani non c'è . Io sono uno dei primi e degli unici "forse" ad approfondire molto la piattaforma maemo 4.0 e toccare con mano il bellissimo nokia n810 ma non ho la possibilità economica di prenderlo a prezzo pieno a 399 Euro. Secondo me sarebbe davvero bello poter ricevere un bonus per acquistarlo a 99$ per poter scoprire il nuovo hardware e creare una nuova e numerosa comunity italiana sulla piattaforma maemo. Io mi impegno a pubblicizzare il bellissimo sistema per coinvolgere la mia università (Unical - Università della Calabria ) e giovani programmatori come me!! alcuni dei miei post sul nokia 770 e n800 http://rafanto.wordpress.com/?s=nokia+770&searchbutton=go%21
Quim Gil> Thanks ... i'm sorry english isn't my native language and i ve don't understand very well. But i ve apply it now :)
So for those have the same problem like me don't use the direct link, i don't know why but login don't work with firefox. Go to http://maemo.org and then log in into your account and then you can ask for a ticket by clicking on a button 'apply' on your profile information.
When you edit your profile there's a button on the top right-hand side that you should click to apply for the device. You then fill out details, reasons why, etc.
I'd missed this as it was partly hidden under the floating toolbar thing (my own fault for having moved it over that side I suppose).
That's why I asked the question :)
Thank you for a brilliant device that is rare example of a company responsive to customer demand. I luv to see how easy it is to add location based applications around the GPS subsystem like a maps / twitter thingy. So ya throw me one.
I have tested many applications on N800 and N810. I love this gadget very much but unfortunately i don't have one with me. I would like to have one and use it to bring awareness in the student community.
i doesn't understand very well how can i ask for a device ? and where ?
Hi Benoît and the rest of people commenting here. Can you please READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT above? It is explained there i.e. where it says "In order to apply go to your maemo profile"
If you comment here but don't apply there your comment is worth nothing. If you apply there and comment here you comment still worths nothing (sorry) since what counts is the application.
As said plenty of posts above, having a thread with 500 comments is just senseless. Thank you.
PS: what are the maemo profiles for? I will blog about this one of these days - now they are useful for the device program.
I just want to say thanks to offer Developpers opportunity to get at lower price an n810. It's help all the maemo community to get more open source softwares.
I've created my Maemo profile, but it doesn't actually do much (atm - I see your comment about extra things being added).
For the time being should we all extol our virtues on our own websites and provide a link to them via the Maemo profile?
I'd love to have one; Unfortunately I still don't have a x86 platform to develop maemo stuff on, so I'm bound to python. (Hint: provide x86_64 sbox and maemo packages for ubuntu!) On the upside, the wife should be getting one soon. I've two projects that would need some updating for the new platform.
Plus I have something cooking specially for mobile devices; more on that later ...
Good work on the best Internet Tablet yet, can't wait to have one. Miss you guys! Cu around.
With My friend we have tested N800 and we are fall in love with it. We started to develop some aplications for it. I don't have my own so i want to ask you to get one.
As I am a commuter I believe this piece will help me in many ways, in time connection (GPS), passion and so on.
I have tested many applications in N800 and N810. I love this gadget very much but unfortunately i don't have one with me. I would like to have one and use it to bring awareness in the student community.
Thank a lot, Quim Gil.
Quite bad my country (Thailand) is not in that list. :( However, I will try to contact my American friend for this then. T.T
By the way, this program is really great. Many developers have skill but has no money, for example, student, like Johannes Höhn said.
I'm Symbian application developer. I'm studying hard in Maemo now. I wanna port my Symbian applications to Maemo and I have started porting process in emulator already and I wish to test them in real device like N810. This program may help me.
Really thank for this program. :)
I am interessted in getting a N810 for my development. Frank from Munich, Germany.
Yes, the program is limited to Nokia online shops and they are present only in some countries. Sorry about that, this is all we can offer. There are services out there that provide a US address to buy stuff and then they ship to you, but I have no idea how reliable they are.
Brazil and other countries will have tablets for sale at some point but since they don't have Nokia online shops they are not covered by this progra. Our apologies again, from maemo there is very little we can do on that side. btw for a list of countries where the N810 will be sold check my totally unofficial list at http://flors.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/what-the-nokia-n810-means-for-maemo-developers/#comment-99
And to all this people saying "please include me" I will insist just once more: please apply, posting here a comments doesn't count and in fact doesn't help. :)
Please include me as a developer and test in ESA headoffice of a Globle Corp.
Good idea. With this, people with few money, like students, can afford an device for development, too.
I'm a Maemo user and blogger from Manaus. I really want one.
Too bad it's so localised in where applicants can come from. I really enjoyed the 770 program since I couldn't have got one any other way, even if I was able to afford it and it was good fun hacking for it.
Also, if you want to apply for the program... just apply. Having +500 comments here makes no sense. Thanks!
Unfortunately, it seems the link provided is down at the moment...
I'm from Manaus, Brazil developing with Maemo and Mozilla stuff. I really appreciate a N810 to improve the development in this platform.
You must be logged in to make comments.


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text:
|2010-04-02, 14:12
|Link #13422
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Moe Land
Age: 37
So literally now our Inner Moka is a Tsun-Tsun...later on she'll be a Dere. Cool.
R+V really brings in the some of the best MILF's in manga's. We really need to see the manga version of daddy Starbucks. If he looks like Tsukune or similar to the anime version.
These are chapters where I want ANOTHER ONE ASAP!
|2010-04-02, 14:27
|Link #13425
Beef Fried Rice
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Chicago
I don't see how Tsukune can see Moka being tainted just because her mom looks like her. She needed to have had sex with someone or else Moka won't exist. Babies don't come from storks
|2010-04-02, 22:38
|Link #13427
Senior Member
Hmm, for some reason, now I'm reminded of an ero-game called Mama Love were the two main female characters are Moka and Kokoa look-a-likes. And now that it's been revealed that Moka's mom looks just like her outer self, suddenly that game's premise becomes more plausible.
Spoiler for nsfw:
|2010-04-03, 00:19
|Link #13429
#1 Akashiya Moka Fan
Well, what's the mother exactly like? I'm going to suscribe to the theory that Moka and her mother look very close because that's the appearance the more gentle vampires have a tendency to favor... or something along those lines
|2010-04-03, 04:46
|Link #13432
Senior Member
|2010-04-03, 09:46
|Link #13433
Team Spice and Wolf UK
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: England
Age: 30
As I just put in one of the other rosario threads, I hadn't actually realised there was a manga thread, so with a few edits I'll join this one....whoops!
Originally I wasn't so keen on the second season, after reading the first few chapters, because it seemed like stuff had taken a step backwards from how things were at the end of the first 'season'. I think some poor translation probably didnt help either. OK well I've revised my opinion, after the first 5-8 or so of the second season, it does seem to get a lot better, and the storyline seems to have gone down a more mature route. Theres also more hints towards Tsukune/Moka's future together which is great because Im a sap for a love story hehe
Not to mention I like Inner and Outer Moka, so I hope for the merged personality ending, we don't know 100% (or its not been revealed in the part I'm up to) where O.Moka came from, so I tend to favour it being the side of 'true' Moka's personality that was hidden/overriden by her stronger vampiric traits, so in essence, O.Moka is I.Moka's gentle side which was usually buried away beneath the pride, and vampiric upbringing (remember the comment to Kokoa that her family values strength above all else? With an upbringing like that, it'd be easier for your 'weaker' traits to become submerged/hidden). The rosario effectively sealed off the more vampiric side of her personality, allowing the kinder side to flourish as its own personality, and thus it would make sense the two sides could blend back together, which from a few spoilers I've seen without meaning to, seems to be beginning to happen anyway, as both sides are showing more 'other' Moka style traits.
Personally I'd really like that ending, because I don't want a Harem ending, I'd like some resolution, and with deepest respect to the other characters, bar PERHAPS Mizore (if Moka was taken out of the picture), I really do feel Moka is the right person for Tsukune, both in personality and physical terms (he is a somewhat human/vampire hybrid after all now) and he's obviously far more deeply, more emotionally involved with her than any of the others, and really has been since day one. Much as the others don't want to recognise it (although Kurumu pretty much has), they know that Tsukune has all but made his choice anyway. I think for example the scene where he asked Moka to be with him forever after the Ghoul incident, the fact she was the only one he had really spoken about with his parents about on the phone (and had mentioned wanting to introduce them) or the small night-time scene at the end of the Sun-senpai arc are all clear signs of this. One of these days he'll probably actually manage to kiss her without someone else getting in the way [or being bitten because Moka is hungry]!
I mention Mizore because I think given what we know now, I think she'd be the best second choice, while she's a little strange sometimes, she obviously still cares deeply for Tsukune, she's shown surprising amounts of restraint against forcing herself on Tsukune given what we now know about the multiple time limits she's running up against that the others don't have (hell the one time she did almost, she even said this could just be for one night if it was what he wanted), and on a few occasions she's shown more compassion/empathy towards Tsukune and his feelings than Kurumu and Yukari have, which I'd say is kinda important in any sort of relationship.
I guess it really was a case during those opening sections that the mangaka was perhaps feeling thier way around where they wanted to take the story in the near future, and perhaps doing some preliminary work for anyone who hadn't read the story before so it was established that Tsukune is still relatively human and...mostly outmatched... unless he 'awakens'. Roughly up to chapter 22 now, with 28 translated out, and the 29th now out as raw so should be soon....gah its gonna be a long wait for this to finish with the monthly releases!
Spoiler for some personal thoughts:
Last edited by tyranuus; 2010-04-03 at 10:05.
|2010-04-03, 11:24
|Link #13435
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Poland
Age: 32
Spoiler for My speculations on the things you mentioned Tyranuus:
Going back to the discussion about chapter 29 ...
Spoiler for Chapter 29:
Last edited by Chris38; 2010-04-03 at 11:50.
|2010-04-03, 12:49
|Link #13436
Team Spice and Wolf UK
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: England
Age: 30
On your point on part A/E
I wonder if the Mangaka is planning to end this season around chapter 40 as well, so both halves of the series are identical length, the series certainly seems to be moving towards some big events/unveils etc this time round. Hopefully we're not that close to the end though.
|2010-04-03, 12:59
|Link #13437
Senior Member
It's prbably something to do with Tsukune's kindness. If Moka's mother acts just like outer Moka, then we can say that "kindness" of another soul is the key to taking the rosary off. And it seems that the "type" of kindness is also a factor since Kurumu couldn't take it off when faced with those ogres back in season 1.
Seems that the seal on Moka is very complicated and involves a lot of seemingly unnecessary clutter for just a power seal. But if there is a memory/personality/soul seal there too, then I can see just how things would get that much more complex for the seal mechanics.
|2010-04-03, 13:01
|Link #13438
Chicken or Beef?
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Seattle
Age: 36
Season 2 is just a clever naming convention, as S1 ended due to circumstances and not because the story called for it.
|2010-04-03, 13:46
|Link #13439
Team Spice and Wolf UK
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: England
Age: 30
As I said I hope the manga continues for a while yet (although the month-ish wait per volume is going to get painful once I've finished the current batch, as I read pretty quick and I've read S1 1-40 and S2 1-22 in about 2 days..doh...at least 29 should be translated soon)
|2010-04-03, 14:49
|Link #13440
Tastes Cloudy
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Snake Way
Age: 30
both the pairing and that picture, I havent seen any new ones in a while.
|action, comedy, ecchi, harem, monogamy, romance, shounen, supernatural, tsumoka romance, vampire
|Thread Tools


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Hooksett School Board meeting contentious
HOOKSETT - Infighting on the Hooksett School Board in recent weeks led members of the public to decry the situation at the board's meeting Tuesday, where they issued a plea for a returning focus on education.
Several parents, most of whom identified themselves as supporters of Jen Leger, former opponent of recently seated board member John Lyscars, spoke at the public input of the board's April 16 meeting to criticize what they saw as petty infighting on the board. Parent Jack Sweeney spoke to what he saw as a lack of "professionalism, back room dealings, arrogance and bizarre behavior" on the board.
"What I have seen, read and heard is this board focusing on issues having nothing to do with educating our children," he said. "I've seen such arrogance from elected officials who (have) forgotten that they're here to serve the people who elected them, and not their own personal agendas."
Jess Lapaglia was a similarly disheartened parent.
"At the beginning of this meeting, I was embarrassed to sit in this room, as many of you may have been embarrassed to be in front of the room," she said. "I would like the board to be focused on education. I understand that there is politics that comes along with this ... but I would just like (to) make sure that we stay focused on education, and especially the high school issue."
The parent's pleas, some of which went so far as to accuse board members of "bullying," were not immediately successful Tuesday, however, as the board began what was one of the most bitter meetings it has seen in some time.
The board's troubles were apparent from the start, when board members wishing to respond to the public comments set off a number of flare-ups over procedural questions.
The night was relatively quiet and civil from there, however, until a discussion on the possibility of allowing administrators to participate directly in the meetings in a collaborative fashion (as currently, questions from to board to administrators must be directed through the superintendent) revived old allegations of "bullying."
"When I first came on to this board two years ago, that was the relationship that the Hooksett School Board had with the administration ... but because of behavior that has occurred at this board of bullying of staff members, that's not the way we are now," said Chair Trisha Korkosz.
"I'm not directing it at a certain person."
Vice Chair David Pearl, who weathered accusations of bullying under the previous chair Dana Argo over the quantity of e-mail inquiries to staff members, immediately called a "point of order."
"Are you going to start accusing members of this board of bullying? I'm very surprised when you understand we're in a school district, and that's a very serious word," said Pearl. "I would remind you that this board voted that in fact there was not bullying on this board, and it's irresponsible for you to start saying these things and not speaking to the motion."
The height of the tensions, however, was over a discussion on digitizing the board's policies, an already contentious debate which inspired much of the despair in the earlier public comments.
The issue began when a motion was made by Lyscars at the board's April 2 meeting to request that the superintendent scan all of the board's policies and place them on their website. The motion ultimately failed, due to concerns that the action would place an unnecessary burden on the superintendent's office.
At this point, Lyscars took the project up on his own, informing the board of his intention to scan the policies on his own and post them on his personal website.
Korkosz responded to this notice informing Lyscars that such an action would place him in violation of six school board policies, largely dealing with a member's undermining or subverting the will of the board, as well as a policy implying that the divulging of information gained "by virtue of his official position" could be grounds for removal from office through a court petition.
Ultimately, Rich Girard of the Rich Girard Show issued a right-to-know request for the policies and provided them to Lyscars, who uploaded the electronic files to his site.
During the discussion on April 16, Pearl stated that state law overrode any policy Lyscars may have violated, as the board's policies were public documents and their dissemination could not be hindered by any board vote under RSA 91-A, the right-to-know law.
Lyscars went further, however, arguing that that board's vote was not regarding the posting of the policies at all, but rather on the question of having the superintendent do the work. As a result, he argued that his private action was completely outside of the board's vote.
At several points, the discussion broke down into near anarchy. Board member Cheryl Akstin pressed several times for the discussion to be dropped, eventually stating that Lyscars was pushing not so much for an apology as a "humiliation" of Korkosz.
Lyscars stated that it was "easy for" her to say as it was his integrity that had been challenged by the accusation, and as such he would not be satisfied until Korkosz detailed the specifics of his violation as he "might have to give an apology" himself, or apologize for the mistake.
Korkosz continued to maintain he belief that Lyscars had violated the policy, but after continuing pressure she ultimately issued an apology for the e-mail.


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Josh Baldwin
Josh Baldwin is a songwriter and worship leader with Bethel Church and Bethel Music. Josh joined the Bethel Music Collective in 2014 and regularly leads worship at Bethel Church and with Bethel Music Worship Nights tour domestically and internationally. In August 2015, he and his family made the cross-country move from North Carolina to Redding, California. Joshs leadership creates an inviting atmosphere of celebration and his songs point to the trustworthy nature of God as Friend and Father. His song Praises is featured on Bethel Music's recent album Have it All (2016), and his upcoming solo album is slated for a May 2017 release. Joshs greatest motivation as a worshipper and songwriter is the desire to connect with the Fathers heart and usher others into the presence of God. Both Praises and You Deserve It All (from his solo project Rivers), have become popular worship anthems among churches around the world. There is much more to come from this creative, devoted leader. Josh and his wife Sheila enjoy adventuring, hosting, and raising their two amazing children in Redding, California.


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Our department needed two discontinued drive modules for our servers. Code Micro delivered on time. ...
Mark E.
Citi Corp


text:
In an energetic defense of the Obama administration's controversial use of drones to target leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda networks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan called drone strikes not only "ethical," but "wise."
Brennan's presentation at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington on April 30 was intended to pull back the curtains on the administration's drone policy. Brennan called individuals who are part of Al Qaeda or its associated forces "legitimate military targets." According to Brennan, "We have the authority to target them with lethal force, just as we [targeted] enemy leaders in past conflicts."
Defending drone strikes, Brennan said that as a matter of international law, the United States was in an armed conflict with "Al Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks." He said, "There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat."
"This conduct remains unlawful," Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell of the University of Notre Dame Law School wrote in an e-mail from London. "The administration has added arguments to their case, but these remain deficient," she said. "Despite this fact, one year after the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Obama administration has escalated the killing." O'Connell is the outgoing vice president of the American Society for International Law.
Charles Schmitz, of Towson University in Baltimore, Md., who is a specialist on Yemen, pointed out that a major flaw in the U.S. drone strategy is that the strikes stoke public anger that threatens to undermine support for internal antiterror campaigns in Paki-stan and Yemen. Schmitz argued that drones "have not been effective in stopping the Al Qaeda insurgency" in Yemen.
"Al Qaeda's success on the ground has been a result of the Yemeni government's political crises that pit military units against one another and create distrust amongst Yemeni citizens," he said. More attention to resolving the political crisis in Yemen, he argued, would be a better use of U.S. resources than continuing a drone campaign that merely "bolsters Al Qaeda's argument that the Yemeni government and other Arab governments are puppets of the U.S."
Brennan said U.S. drone strikes were ethical because they hit targets that "have definite military value" and attempt to limit "collateral damage." He said drones can be a "wise choice" because they can reach targets over difficult terrain, strike quickly and "dramatically reduce the danger to U.S. personnel, even eliminating the danger altogether." He argued that drones also reduce the danger to civilians, "especially considered against massive ordnance that can cause injury and death far beyond their intended target."
Both O'Connell and Schmitz said, however, that the use of drones far from areas of armed conflict and when specific threats to the U.S. homeland remain difficult to perceive was indeed a violation of international law. They said the strikes themselves were much harder on noncombatants than Brennan suggested.
"The U.S. arsenal is dominated by the Reaper drone that can carry 500-pound bombs," said O'Connell. "That is what the U.S. is dropping on communities in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan, where the U.S. is not engaged in armed conflict. Since 2002, nearly 3,000 people have been killed in these three countries through drone attacks. Neither international law nor morality supports such killing."


text:
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888 / Middlesex / England)
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Beam sends six-grain spirit to limited outlets
Jim Beam is known mostly for the consistency of its standard version of bourbon. That's one reason it is such a favorite with cocktail makers for such standards as a Manhattan.
Now, the company has come up with a new six-grain expression called Jim Beam Signature.
It is beign tried at the moment as a product available only through what is known as "travel retail" -- in other word, European duty-free shops at 29.99 Euros.
It is made from a blend of spirits distilled from corn, barley, wheat, triticale, rye and brown rice. (And, no, Start Trek fans, triticale is not the same grain used in the immortal episode "The Trouble With Tribbles.")
The limited-production spirit -- 13,800 bottles of the six-year-old, 89-proof spirit, to be precise -- is, says a gramatically-challenged company statement, "a result of us mingling different bourbons together. Each were made from a standard bourbon recipe (high percentage of single grains). For instance, we distilled a high wheat, small grain bourbon; a high triticale, small grain bourbon; and a high brown rice, small grain bourbon. Each were barreled separately then mingled together prior to bottling."
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text:
Landmark Balsams Grand Resort remains shutteredBy BOB HOOKWAY
Special to the Union Leader
October 13. 2013 8:51PM
ERROL — It's been nearly two years since a pair of North Country businessmen succeeded in buying the closed Balsams Grand Resort and Hotel in Dixville Notch for $2.3 million, promising to restore the landmark property and return the hotel and large dining room to their former grandeur.
But The Balsams remains shuttered, and the new owners' May 2012 auction emptied it of everything from dinner plates to ski-lift chairs. Some pre-construction demolition has taken place, but owners Dan Hebert and Dan Dagesse and the company they formed, Balsams View LLC, seem no closer to achieving their goal to return large-scale seasonal employment to Coos County.
Hebert and Dagesse do not return phone calls and seldom talk publicly about their plans unless required by the permitting process to do so.
Attracting the funding needed for their plan — they have acknowledged through a spokesman — is the challenge.
The estimated price tag for the renovation started at about $20 million; it stood most recently at $35 million.
Townspeople wary
The property and its prominent red-and-white, Swiss-style buildings stand in the distance off Route 26, roughly halfway between Colebrook and Errol. In the latter town, about 12 miles east of the hotel, most people, including town officials, are wary of giving their views on the future of The Balsams. Two of the three Errol selectmen did not return messages. The third issued a terse "no comment" and hung up.
"It's a sad situation," said Luc Cote, longtime owner of the LL Cote Store in Errol, which stocks sporting equipment. "It's one thing to say you're going to spend $35 million. They don't put their own money in. I don't know what the idea was; maybe they were hoping a gambling bill would pass. But from day one, I've said it's not going to happen," said Cote, regarding the overall project.
Cote, 59, added that attempting to resurrect The Balsams and restore it to its former glory is not a sound plan, considering the former two-season resort's financial history."The Balsams never made money. It lost $5 million a year. Mr. Tillotson ran it as a hobby. It didn't work (financially) for 50 years, what makes them think it'll work now?"
At the Errol General Store, owner Bob Ouelette said he's willing to believe the project would eventually go forward. "We've lost a lot up here at the north end of the state," he said.
No progress
In March, the Coos County Planning Board granted Balsams View a building permit. The owners hoped that go-ahead would prompt a "white knight" equity lender to come forward with some financing, according to spokesman Scott Tranchemontagne.
But in an e-mail message early last week, Tranchemontagne said that hadn't happened, and there had been no progress on the project since. Tranchemontagne did not respond to an e-mail Friday seeking comment on several other issues.
Fred King, Coos County treasurer and a member of the county planning board, said he has known Hebert and Dagesse for years, and had been well-acquainted with the hotel's longtime owner, Neil Tillotson.
"I haven't heard a word, one way or the other, for a long time" about the project, he said Thursday.
King, a former state senator, acknowledged that the wealthy Tillotson hadn't relied on Balsams income, and his ownership had been, "maybe a hobby of his." Tillotson, who died in 2001, was also very glad to have provided some 300 seasonal resort jobs to the area, King said.
If things do go badly for the owners and a new Balsams never sees daylight, King said there are "enough logs on that land to bail them out."
But the larger issue is will New Hampshire ever see a restored and functioning Balsams under Hebert's and Dagesse's ownership?
"I have faith that they'll make it work, if anybody can," King said.
Real estate Labor Dixville Notch Top Section Stories Business Headlines


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Windows Essentials 2012 suite reached end of support on January 10, 2017.
As of January 10, 2017, Windows Essentials 2012 is no longer supported on Windows 10, and is unavailable for download.
Windows Essentials 2012 included Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Family Safety and the OneDrive desktop app for Windows. Already installed applications will continue to work as they do today.
Any websites offering free downloads of Windows Movie Maker are not offering sanctioned Microsoft products. Be cautious as these products may contain viruses or hidden costs.


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WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. - A 35-year-old man is facing an indeterminate sentence in prison after pleading guilty to murdering a cyclist in Mount Vernon last year.
On Monday, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino announced that Bobby Jackson of Manhattan pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment for his role in a shooting near the intersection of Third Street and Second Avenue that took the life of a 42-year-old man last April.
According to Scarpino, shortly before 5:30 p.m. on April 17, Jackson's victim was riding his bicycle on East 3rd Street when Jackson spotted him and began jogging toward him. After chasing him for two blocks, Jackson fired multiple shots at the victim, one of which struck him in the back.
The bullet entered the victim's back, "ripping through his kidney, colon, liver and a major artery to the lung." He proceeded to fall from his bicycle, hit his head on the concrete pavement and died within minutes. Scarpino noted that at the time of the shooting, there were multiple pedestrians on the street, including a woman pushing a baby in a stroller, who were all in the line of fire.
Jackson remains remanded to the Westchester County Jail. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, May 16, where he faces an indeterminate sentence. The maximum term must be life in prison, and the minimum term may be not less than 15 years, nor more than 25 years, according to Scarpino.
In a statement following Jackson's arrest, Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas commended the detectives and police department for swiftly apprehending their suspect following an intensive investigation.
"I commend the hard-working men and women of the Mount Vernon Police Department for their swift action in making an arrest in the senseless murder of Charles Smith. Special thanks go out to our skilled police officers who conducted a thorough investigation and, once again, showed how critical they are to keeping our streets safe," he said.
"It is our prayer that the family and friends of Mr. Smith can take solace in the commitment of our police department to remain vigilant and deliver justice. Our community stands with the Smith family in their time of grief we are working to end gun violence in our city."
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Recent progress in simulation methods for the manufacturing industry has reduced the need for expensive test hardware which could be used free of charge in manufacturing. Using manufacturing simulation tools starting at the design stage helps to optimize product development and corresponding manufacturing systems. Whenever there is the need for an early design input in order to ensure quality and manufacturing costs virtual manufacturing methods will have a profitable chance.
For the case study "E-Coat Simulation" STAR-CCM provides an improved workflow from CAD-data and meshing to E-coat deposition as well as modeling of fill and drain behaviors in vehicle paint shops. Simulation results provide the design engineer with answers to questions such as "Is the E-Coat providing corrosion protection in all the cavities?" or "Is there a corrosion risk based on air bubbles or paint ponds?"
The combination of an implemented fast algorithm with the chance of describing customer developed material properties by field functions allows best fit to complex chemical material behavior. Customized material development is kept inside customers. Based on process knowledge we are also providing multiple simulation support.
An overview of future manufacturing simulation topics will be given.


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This event occurs daily, every 1 day(s).
2 Yellow Leaves (Yellow Leaves), 1928 Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 1/8 inches Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Georgia O'Keeffe, 87.136.6
Drawn from the Brooklyn Museum's renowned American art collection, this exhibition features 57 paintings and sculptures that highlight changes in American art and culture during the fascinating half-century from 1910 through 1960. The works of art on view were produced by leading artists of the day, including Georgia O'Keeffe, Milton Avery, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Rockwell Kent, Joseph Stella, Grandma Moses, and Norman Rockwell. Complementing the Delaware Art Museum's own holdings, American Moderns explores how American artists engaged modernity by creating cubist experiments, images of modern structures, Americana, and stylized renditions of traditional subjects such as landscapes and still-life arrangements.
American Moderns, 1910–1960: From O'Keeffe to Rockwell has been organized by the Brooklyn Museum.
The Delaware Art Museum presentation of this exhibition is generously supported by the Johannes R. and Betty P. Krahmer American Art Exhibition Fund, DuPont, and individual donors.
Additional support is provided by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Free with museum admission
New Castle County
We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of this information. However, you should always call ahead to confirm dates, times, location, and other information.


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Andy FantuzCanadian Football League
Wide Receiver
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News | Stats | Stat vs. Team | Targets | Injury | Depth Chart | Roster
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|NFL | Andy Fantuz heads back north of border
Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:04:48 -0800
Free-agent WR Andy Fantuz (Bears) has signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
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|| Source: thesidelineview.com - Adam Caplan
|Bears | Waive 14 players
Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:32:55 -0700
The Chicago Bears have waived FB Eddie Williams, WRs Andy Fantuz, Onrea Jones and Jimmy Young, OG Johan Asiata, OT Josh Davis, C Alex Linnenkohl, DE Jake Laptad, LBs Chris Z. Johnson, Tressor Baptiste and Deron Minor, CBs Antareis Bryan and Ryan Jones and P Spencer Lanning.
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|| Source: ChicagoBears.com - Larry Mayer
|Bears | Expected to give Andy Fantuz shot at making team
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 06:14:31 -0700
Chicago Bears WR Andy Fantuz is expected to be given a legitimate opportunity to make the team during training camp.
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|| Source: ESPNChicago.com - Jeff Dickerson
|Bears | Andy Fantuz impresses
Tue, 14 Jun 2011 07:42:45 -0700
Former Canadian Football League WR Andy Fantuz, who signed a futures contract with the Chicago Bears Feb. 4, participated last week in the team's unofficial offseason workouts led by QB Jay Cutler, according to an NFL source. Fantuz drew considerable praise from a few players in attendance at the workouts. Fantuz was said to display impressive athletic ability and good hands while running routes.
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|| Source: ESPNChicago.com - Jeff Dickerson
|Bears | Speed may be determining factor in Andy Fantuz's future
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:09:01 -0700
Chicago Bears WR Andy Fantuz's future with the team may be dependent on how his speed compares to the speed of other players in the NFL.
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|| Source: Chicago Tribune - Dan Pompei
|NFL | Andy Fantuz had offers from several teams
Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:11:53 -0800
Chicago Bears WR Andy Fantuz said he received offers from the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers but decided to sign with the Bears, reports Brad Biggs, of the Chicago Tribune.
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|| Source: Chicago Tribune - Brad Biggs
|Bears | Andy Fantuz signed to future contract
Fri, 04 Feb 2011 11:03:37 -0800
The Chicago Bears have signed WR Andy Fantuz (CFL) to a future contract, reports Brad Biggs, of the Chicago Tribune. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
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|| Source: Chicago Tribune - Brad Biggs
|Bears | Andy Fantuz works out
Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:07:39 -0800
The Chicago Bears worked out Canadian Football League WR Andy Fantuz Wednesday, Jan. 12, according to Adam Caplan, of FOXSports.com.
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|| Source: FOXSports.com - Adam Caplan
|Lions | Fantuz skips workout, signs with Saskatchewan
Fri, 19 May 2006 22:40:17 -0700
Ryan Pyette, of the London Free Press, reports undrafted rookie free agent WR Andy Fantuz (Western) didn't make good on a recent invitation to work out for the NFL's Detroit Lions. He turned down the opportunity because he was feeling under the weather and was concerned he wouldn't be able to compete at full capacity. He has now signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, who drafted him in the CFL Draft.
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|Lions | Team giving UDFA Fanutz a tryout
Tue, 02 May 2006 14:58:46 -0700
The Canadian Press reports the Detroit Lions are giving undrafted rookie free agent WR Andy Fantuz (Western Ontario) a tryout at their minicamp this weekend. If he impresses Lions' coaches, he could be offered a contract as an undrafted free agent. "We're still talking to other teams about maybe signing," Fantuz said Tuesday, May 2. "But for now, this (going to Lions camp) is the plan."
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Candia sessions shine some light on SB2 controversyBy Brendan Clogston
Union Leader Correspondent
February 16. 2013 10:56PM
Two deliberative sessions in Candia this month underscored what some believe to be a big flaw in the SB2 form of government.
Both sessions drew few voters. At one, a proposal to pay for the closure of the town's incinerator site was amended from $100,000 to $1, and a petition to set specific hours for the Town Clerk's Office was amended to allow the clerk to set the hours "as necessary," with the motion offered by the clerk herself. Another amendment to abolish the town's Conservation Commission was amended to become a vote of "continued support" in the body.
Something similar happened at the town's Feb. 11 School District Deliberative Session, when a petition warrant to reduced kindergarten from a full-day session to a half-day session was amended to include language indicating that the warrant was "advisory" and "non-binding"
"You take away the fundamental right of the people of this town to make the decisions on what happens with their money and in their school," said Judith Szot, the petition's organizer, at the time. "By putting in that sentence, they are taking away the right of the people to petition their government, and I think that's wrong."
Critics say poorly attended sessions are vulnerable to special interests.
There were between 70 to 90 people present at the town session, and about 40 at the school session. For Szot, this is particularly troubling with respect to petition warrants.
"When you change a petition, you take the petitioners' voice away," said Szot. "If a group of citizens puts in a petition, and you've got 99 signatures on it, and 25 people change that petition in a way that it means the opposite, that denies the citizens their right to have their issues decided by the people of the town. ... I think it's a flaw in SB2. We need to have something in the RSAs that says you can't change a petition warrant article. If you don't like it ... organize a campaign and have the petition voted down."
Currently, amendments to petitions and to warrants presented by the selectmen are treated no differently under the law. Szot plans on encouraging her representative to draft legislation precluding such changes to a petition warrant.
Some see no problem with SB2.
"That is what SB2 was built for and what it allows you to do," said Town Moderator Clark Thyng. "I imagine there are those in Concord who are saying it's working just how it's supposed to.''


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1 Finance offer based on a Mercedes-Benz Agility agreement. Vehicle condition, excess mileage and other charges may be payable. Guarantees may be required.
2 Payable if you exercise the option to purchase the car.
3 Includes optional purchase payment, purchase activation fee and retailer deposit contribution (where applicable). Orders/credit approvals on Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupé models between 15 October 2018 and 31 December 2018, registered by 31 March 2019, excluding Mercedes-AMG C 43 and non Mercedes-AMG models. Guarantees may be required. Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Some combinations of features/options may not be available. Please contact your Retailer for availability. Over 18s only. Credit provided subject to status by Mercedes-Benz Finance, MK15 8BA.
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Thanks to the super-duper peeps at Random House, I have 10 ARCs of Debbie Macomber's The Inn at Rose Harbor to giveaway. I'm geeked about this! Matchmakers first introduced me to Debbie's writing, and I have read so many of her books since then! Check out the excerpt below, and then enter for a chance to win an ARC of your own!
Here's a description:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber comes a heartwarming new series based in the Pacific Northwest town of Cedar Cove, where a charming cast of characters finds love, forgiveness, and renewal behind the doors of the cozy Rose Harbor Inn.
Jo Marie Rose first arrives in Cedar Cove seeking a sense of peace and a fresh start. Coping with the death of her husband, she purchases a local bed-and-breakfast—the newly christened Rose Harbor Inn—ready to begin her life anew. Yet the inn holds more surprises than Jo Marie can imagine.
Her first guest is Joshua Weaver, who has come home to care for his ailing stepfather. The two have never seen eye to eye, and Joshua has little hope that they can reconcile their differences. But a long-lost acquaintance from Joshua's high school days proves to him that forgiveness is never out of reach and love can bloom even where it's least expected.
The other guest is Abby Kincaid, who has returned to Cedar Cove to attend her brother's wedding. Back for the first time in twenty years, she almost wishes she hadn't come, the picturesque town harboring painful memories from her past. And while Abby reconnects with family and old friends, she realizes she can only move on if she truly allows herself to let go.
A touching novel of life's grand possibilities and the heart's ability to heal, The Inn at Rose Harbor is a welcome introduction to an unforgettable set of friends.
Read the excerpt, and then enter the giveaway to win an ARC!The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber (Preview)
Ready to enter for your chance to win an ARC of The Inn at Rose Harbor? This is an easy giveaway to enter! Just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below, and earn extra entries by Tweeting about the giveaway! Open to US addresses only.
Didn't win? You can preorder a copy by clicking the widget below. Available in print and digital.


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By Bridget Kelly
Catholic News Service
ROME — A couple of weeks ago on my way home from class, I passed a young girl who was impatiently tearing open a beautifully wrapped Easter egg. Her eyes instantly lit up as she anxiously bit through the unwrapped chocolate egg.
Soon enough I was able to understand her excitement as I watched her play with a small toy, which was located inside the egg. Fascinated by the young girl's enthusiasm, I decided to research the history of chocolate Easter eggs in Italy.
Representing birth, renewal and life, eggs have been given as gifts for centuries all over the world. Pastry shops in Italy have transformed this tradition through the use of chocolate. The Valzani Family owns a small pastry shop in Rome, which is famous for their delicious homemade chocolate Easter eggs. Virginia Valzani says the chocolate egg tradition began during the late 19th century in Europe and is still practiced today.
Bridget Kelly is an intern in the CNS Rome bureau while she attends Villanova University's Rome program.


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Events for 27/11/2017
See dates for opening times and events. br>REMEMBER: If a date is empty, it doesn't mean we're closed!
C.A.F.E Closed Today
We are currently open from Wednesday to Friday from 11am-4pm and 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10am-3pm. FOOD FROM C.A.F.E Are you planning a party, event of gathering? Why not consider C.A.F.E's catering options? Check our blog entry about what we offer: http://www.sunshineiarts.co.uk/catering-by-c-a-f-e/Find out more


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View from a holiday home for five people in the little town of Yport in Normandy1/16Best views
North coast of France | Wide sandy beaches and charming coastal resorts are strung together from Calais to Brittany. You can enjoy the view of the sea in these holiday homes.
Per week from USD 319show 75 offers
Beautiful natural-stone house for eight people with furnishings that are typical of the region, and a lake view in Normandy.2/16The best in the Normandy
Normandy | Would you like to know which holiday home or apartment is particularly worth spending a holiday in? Here we'll show you the accommodation in the Normandy, which has received the best reviews from our customers.
Per week from USD 283show 118 offers
With a view of the Eifel Tower: Cosy apartment for two people in the 16th arrondissment.3/16You, me and the Eiffel Tower
Paris | After you have climbed up the Eiffel Tower during the day and an artist at Monmartre has drawn a portrait of you in the evening you can feel like a true Parisien in your holiday apartment.
Per week from USD 762show 39 offers
4/16Vacation with your dog
France | With these holiday houses it is explicitely allowed to bring pets so that your faithful four legged friend can also enjoy a relaxing and eventful holiday.
Per week from USD 360show 10,805 offers
Holiday park at the foot of the Pyrenees in French Basque Country.5/16Take a carefree holiday
Southern France | Everyone can enjoy a holiday here to the fullest. Parents can relax while the little ones will find dozens of entertainment options.
Per week from USD 395show 5,807 offers
Luxurious villa for up to 10 people with an infinity pool and sea view near Golfe-Juan.
6/16Swim into the horizon
French Riviera | The low edge of the infinity pool makes it seem as though you can swim directly into the landscape.
Per week from USD 1,233show 20 offers
Holiday home for six people located directly at the beach near Moliets-Plage.7/16Take a holiday near a beach
Aquitaine | The south Atlantic coast of France is especially well-known for its elongated fine sandy beaches. With these holiday homes and apartments, you'll be 100 metres from the sea at most.
Per week from USD 469show 520 offers
Holiday home for max. 16 persons in Burgundy8/16Surrounded by vineyards
France | Many great wines come from France and the country is globally one of the most important wine growing areas. Would you like to spend a vacation on a vineyard?
Per week from USD 448show 38 offers
North coast of France | Best views
75 offers
Normandy | Top rated
118 offers
Paris | Cityappartement
39 offers
France | Vacation with your dog
10,805 offers
Southern France | Holiday in a holiday park
5,807 offers
French Riviera | Villas with infinity pools
20 offers
Aquitaine | Take a holiday near a beach
520 offers
France | Vacation on a vineyard
38 offers
Neighbouring holiday resorts Digosville
Property no. 217985
from USD 229for 1 week
Digosville, Normandy (Manche)
Holiday home for max. 6 personsApprox. 96 m², 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, pets are allowed (max. 1), TV, WLAN, washing machine, sandy beach approx. 5 km,


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remington wetech shaver
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Remington WETech Hyperflex
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Ultra X4 1050W Power Supply Review
Ultra Products manufacture a wide range of products including case fans and lights, enclosures, DVD products, hard drive coolers, memory, memory coolers and power supplies. Part of Systemax Inc., head office in New York, they are probably better known for their computer power supplies and were the first company to produce a fully modular power supply, the Ultra X-Connect 500W.
This time around OCC are taking a close look at a newly introduced power supply, the Ultra X4 1050W from Ultra Products. The Ultra X4 1050W is a fully modular unit with plenty of power and all the connectors needed to power any dual graphics card gaming machine. Let's take a closer look and see how well it performs.
Closer Look:
The packaging of the Ultra X4 1050W doesn't really follow any theme with its gloss finish and lavish use of colour photographs. The front panel carries an Ultra X4 logo which is repeated across all the other panels, a photograph of the power supply and illustrations showing all the connectors, types and quantities. Most of the text, in English and French, tells me this power supply could be mainly aimed at the USA and Canadian markets. The front panel also tells the prospective buyer that the power supply is 80 plus certified, uses active power factor correction, is quiet and fully modular.
The side panels, both with the Ultra X4 logo, provide information on the box contents and a few brief paragraphs describing the thermal protection and use of a 135mm fan, hassle free fully modular design and warranty policy again in both English and French.
The top of the box repeats much of the information given on the front panel and a plain black base.
Lift the lid and the first thing you see is the user manual. On the left is the top foam protector for the power supply with a cut-out containing cable ties, screws and the anti-vibration mounting gasket and on the right a black cardboard box containing the modular cable set.
Top foam protector removed to reveal the Ultra X4 1050W power supply in a protective plastic bag.
The plastic bag enclosed Ultra X4 1050W and box contents including user manual, anti-vibration mounting gasket, modular cable bag, cable ties and mounting screws. The modular cable bag as two compartments, both Velcro sealed with an X4 Power Supply logo in white text. Two types of power supply mounting screws are supplied, standard or thumb screw type.
The packaging of the Ultra X4 1050W offers good protection for transit but general information on the more technical aspects of the power supply are lacking. There isn't a features list which I'm sure most prospective buyers, or at least the computer enthusiasts, look for when buying a power supply. Everything needed is included in the box with one or two extras not supplied by some other manufacturers, anti-vibration mounting gasket and power supply mounting thumb screws if required.


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18 U.S. Code § 401 - Power of court
prev | next
§ 401.
Power of courtA court of the United States shall have power to punish by fine or imprisonment, or both, at its discretion, such contempt of its authority, and none other, as—
Misbehavior of any person in its presence or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice;
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 701; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title III, § 3002(a)(1), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1805.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on section 385 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Judicial Code and Judiciary (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 268, 36 Stat. 1163).
Said section 385 conferred two powers. The first part authorizing courts of the United States to impose and administer oaths will remain in title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Judicial Code and Judiciary. The second part relating to contempt of court constitutes this section.
Changes in phraseology and arrangement were made.
2002—Pub. L. 107–273 inserted "or both," after "fine or imprisonment," in introductory provisions.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


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|System: Xbox 360, PS3
|Dev: Mando Productions
|Pub: Ubisoft
|Release: June 12, 2012
|Players: 1-4
|Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p
|Cartoon Violence
With the Kinect, it's even worse. You have to make a slapping motion to use local powers and a sweeping motion to use line powers, and the Kinect just cannot detect either of these motions. Half the time you end up moving the camera accidentally, and the rest of the time you trigger powers without meaning to. You lift your hands above your head to use your ultimate power and flail around like an idiot to boost its effectiveness. Unfortunately, the Kinect barely recognizes when you are doing this, and it generally moves the cursor while you move your hands into position, which makes it hard to aim. But even through all this screwing up, you are still able to win more often than not with how low the game's difficulty level is.
Babel Rising has a couple extra modes that try to add some replay value to the experience, but fall short for the same reasons the main campaign does. You can play in competitive multiplayer, which tasks you with surviving longer than an opponent, or cooperative multiplayer, where up to four players all control a different element. Cooperative multiplayer is probably the most enjoyable mode in the game, but once again it falls short due to the incredibly low difficulty. There is also an endless survival mode, but the game already lasts long enough without being infinite.
Overall, I was not impressed with Babel Rising. Even though I saw serious potential for the game to be fun, I lost interest with it barely a half hour in. You honestly aren't missing anything by passing up Babel rising. You'll probably get more out of playing any random flash turret/tower defense game on Newgrounds.
Angelo M. D'Argenio
Contributing Writer
Date: June 18, 2012
Game Features:


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* (out of four)
I would rather let Justin Bieber punch me in the face for a week than spend another two hours watching "V/H/S."
Not only does this horror anthology feature the by-now done-to-death found footage concept, it does so with constantly shaking and twitching video content. A series of short films in which people encounter serial killers and evil spirits may inspire nausea. I just felt motion sick.
The mini-movies tackle settings such as unknowingly picking up a demon at a bar, a couple whose hotel room is infiltrated during a road trip, a misguided excursion into the woods and a party at which no one normal appears to have shown up. The directors, including Ti West ("The Innkeepers") and Chicagoan Joe Swanberg ("Nights and Weekends"), may call these genre exercises; I call them horror with zero original ideas. They only show an appreciation for stupid characters and gratuitous nudity, as the male characters' inclination to sexually assault or trick women into exposing themselves on camera feels anything but innocent.
Some people complained earlier this year that "Project X" featured obnoxious people. Those high school jokers are far more appealing than anyone here, with motivations and circumstances that are only mildly addressed. "V/H/S" has a few moments of tension but no real scares. I could not wait for it to end.
Watch Matt on "You & Me This Morning," Friday at 6:55 a.m. on WCIU, the U
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McKesson (NYSE: MCK) is one of the world's largest corporations and the leading company in the $252 billion pharmaceutical distribution industry, with revenue nearly reaching $109 billion in fiscal 2010.[1] McKesson distributes ethical and proprietary drugs, health and beauty care products, pharmacy hardware, and medical and surgical supplies throughout North America. McKesson also provides enterprise-level software solutions to hospitals and other healthcare organizations. In the past, McKesson operated on a buy/hold business model but recently shifted to a fee-for-service business model in order to eliminate the company's dependency for profit on drug price inflation.
A variety of factors have affected McKesson and others in the pharmaceutical distribution industry. The shift from branded to generic drugs as branded drugs lose their patents, thus allowing distributors to benefit from both higher profit margins and higher total sales by volume. Changes in health care policy--especially Medicare--can result in a larger volume of drugs being purchased, but threaten with cost controlling and transparency. As the U.S. population grows older, there will be a higher demand for pharmaceuticals. However, there is also the longer-term threat that providers and manufactures may one day be able to cut out the middlemen distributors.
McKesson has diversified outside of pharmaceutical and medical supplies businesses through its healthcare software and information technology offerings. Although this segment accounts for only approximately 2% of McKesson's revenue currently, it is by far McKesson's most profitable business. The market for healthcare IT is large and fragmented (the top 17 firms in the healthcare IT industry collectively hold only approximately 40% of the market), and there is potential for McKesson to build on its leading market share in this high-margin sector.
McKesson is a distributor of goods and services for the healthcare industry. The company generates its business almost exclusively in North America, with approximately 93% of its revenue generated domestically and the majority of international revenue coming from Canada. McKesson's operations are divided among three business segments:[2]
The overwhelming majority (95%) of McKesson's revenue is generated by this operating segment. Through the Pharmaceutical Solutions segment, McKesson distributes pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products to national retail pharmacies, independent retail pharmacies, and healthcare organizations and institutions. This segment also provides pharmacy equipment and management and operations solutions to pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies.
McKesson has refocused the Medical-Surgical Solutions segment on supplying products and services to higher-margin alternate-site healthcare customers, which include physicians' offices, surgical centers, clinics, and long-term care facilities. Margins in these alternate-site markets are more than double that of the traditional drug distribution margins of 1-2%. When McKesson consummates the divestiture to OMI, margins should continue to improve in the magnitude order of percentage points.
Provider Technologies is McKesson's smallest operating segment by revenue but generates the highest operating margin of all three segments. This operation provides a wide range of software and IT services for healthcare organizations such as hospitals, physician offices, homecare providers, and pharmacies. Examples of solutions include clinical management, revenue cycle management, automation, and enterprise imaging. McKesson also provides outsourcing services through this segment so that healthcare organizations can focus on providing care to their customers while McKesson takes over their information processing and systems operations
McKesson's customer based is comprised of healthcare organizations such as retail pharmacies, hospitals, clinics and homecare providers. The company depends heavily on a small number of customers; McKesson's ten largest customers account for approximately half of total revenue, and its top customer, CVS Caremark Corporation (CVS), generates about 11% of total revenue. Thus McKesson bears the risk of large revenue swings if a key customer leaves for a competitor such as Cardinal Health (CAH). Given that the company operates in a highly competitive industry, it is not uncommon for customers to switch distributors to get better prices or service.
In the past McKesson and the other pharmaceutical distributors, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, operated on a buy/hold business model under which a company would purchase drugs from manufacturers in large quantities based on what their own pricing models predicted would happen to the value of the drugs. Then McKesson would sell the drugs to its customers for--hopefully--a higher price than that paid for the drugs.
However, McKesson and its competitors have switched their business model to a fee-for-service (FFS) model. Distributors now have arrangements with manufacturers that provide fees and/or discounts to distributors for meeting certain levels and requirements. Although the shift to FFS has cut down on the influence of drug price inflation on McKesson's margins, price inflation still accounts for approximately 20-25% of McKesson's profits.
One of the most significant trends relevant to McKesson and other pharmaceutical distribution companies is the growing demand for generic drugs as patents on branded drugs expire.
Generic drugs have a compound benefit of being priced lower for consumers--leading to higher demand--and higher margin for distributors compared to branded drugs. Thus, while total revenue may decrease due to lower pricing, generic drugs allow pharmaceutical distributors such as McKesson to become more profitable from an absolute value and margin perspective. It is estimated that patents on nearly $70 billion worth of branded drugs will expire in the next five years, which could result in a large shift in the generic/branded drug mix in the pharmaceutical market and improve McKesson's bottom line.
However, there is no guarantee that the pharmaceutical distribution business can maintain profits as the market shifts towards generic drugs. Although currently the generic drugs have a positive impact on the distribution industry, there are concerns that competition between generics could hurt profits. When competition causes prices to collapse, absolute earnings begin to fall, and sometimes distributors earn less with generics than they did previously with the branded version. This key inflection point occurs when a generic drug's price is about 3% of its branded version's price.
Sometimes after a patent for a drug expires, one generic is given a six month exclusivity period. During this time period, prices do fall because of the branded version's competition with the single generic, but prices do not collapse. Six month exclusivity periods benefit drug distributors, and the majority of recent and upcoming generics have used them.
Take for example Prozac, a drug whose generic version was released in August of 2001:
As seen in this example, distributors can get much higher margins from generic drugs in the short term.
If distributors begin aggressively competing for the business of generics, profit margins will collapse on generic drugs. This circumstance would be detrimental to the entire industry, because generics already cause lower total market sales. Because the major players in the distribution industry understand this risk, it is unlikely that such a price war would occur.
The healthcare IT market is currently estimated to be worth approximately $20 billion. This sector lacks any dominant players and is characterized by intense competition and fragmentation. McKesson is considered the leader in healthcare IT with an estimated 22% share; however the top 17 firms in the market collectively control only 40% of the market. McKesson has steps towards consolidating its leading position by acquiring several healthcare IT companies that produce software and solutions for healthcare facilities. These acquisition targets include:
As a member of the healthcare industry, McKesson is influenced by healthcare policy adopted by the US government. If legislation is enacted that affects the pricing of drugs or the volume of medication and healthcare supplies purchased through Medicaid and Medicare, it greatly affects McKesson and the other pharmaceutical distributors. Medicare especially is relevant to McKesson's business because it covers approximately 20% of the US population; also, through Part D of Medicare the federal government expects to spend over $700 billion on prescription drugs in the next ten years. Changes in Medicare, particularly in prescription drug coverage are incredibly important to the pharmaceutical industry and distributors such as McKesson.
Another trend that may affect McKesson significantly is a change in the way Medicaid purchases medication for patients. Rather than using the average wholesale price for drugs as has been the practice in the past, Medicaid will begin using average manufacturer price to purchase pharmaceuticals. AMPs are significantly lower than AWPs, which could drive down margins on drugs and subsequently the profit McKesson makes as a distributor.
As the abnormally large "baby boomer" generation reaches senior citizenship a larger group of citizens will fall under the coverage of Medicare than ever before. Also, those who do not draw upon the benefits of Medicare are more likely to spend more on pharmaceuticals and other healthcare services than younger US citizens. Thus overall spending in the pharmaceutical industry is expected to surge significantly as the baby boomers age and retire, which could benefit manufacturers, distributors, and retailers alike.
Last year, Wal-Mart announced it would sell nearly 300 drugs for $4 in its Tampa Bay stores. Wal-Mart buys most of its generics directly from manufactures, leaving out the middlemen distributors. The retail behemoth plans to go national with the prices initially offered in its Tampa Bay stores. Wal-Mart's actions could spur its competitors to expand the purchasing a broader portfolio of generics directly from manufacturers. This risk, along with the possibility of more mail-order penetration, could damage the distributors' market.
However, distributors offer a range of services that are critical to both manufactures and providers, so disintermediation does seem very unlikely in the near future. Additionally, there has been a boom in biotechnology products; this should benefit distributors because these products are more complex to distribute (e.g., they have shorter shelf life and/or require refrigeration).
McKesson is one of three companies in a virtual oligopoly in the pharmaceutical distribution industry. McKesson's two competitors are Cardinal Health (CAH) and AmerisourceBergen Corporation (Holding Co) (ABC). Although these three companies dominate the pharmaceutical distribution market, McKesson holds a significant lead in the industry in terms of revenue (almost $93 billion as opposed to Cardinal Health's $81 billion and AmerisourceBergen's $61 billion). The three corporations all compete as distributors in the healthcare industry but McKesson competes directly with Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen in slightly different markets.
While McKesson and Cardinal Health and compete with each other in medical and surgical manufacturing, their other diversified segments mainly compete with outside competitors. These competitors include: Owens & Minor (OMI) and Henry Schein (HSIC) in the manufacturing segment and Cerner (CERN) , Eclipsys (ECLP) , Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (MDRX) , and Computer Programs and Systems (CPSI) in information technologies. AmerisourceBergen is considered more of a "pure" player distributor, and its diversification is pretty minimal.


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I love racing games enough that I'll enjoy just about any title you stick in front of my face. That said, those games that put forth a good representation of realistic professional racing are usually my preference. Arcade-y racers are always fun, but my heart guides me to ones where I have to think about the weight of a car as I brake, or where a track's racing lines mean more than the car's racing stripes. When the game's sense of realism is just enough to make me fully immersed, I'm in racing heaven. Take that realism overboard, though, and you've got a racer that's less approachable.
EA's Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is great in that it speaks to all types of racing game fans. There's a cool flashiness and high level of approachability that will appeal to casual racing fans, but there's also deep racing physics that lean more toward the sim side of things than any other game in the franchise. It's a satisfying, exciting mix that had me squeezing the controller so tight that it now squeaks. EA, you owe me a new PS3 controller.
Read on for our review of Shift 2 Unleashed.
Shift 2 Unleashed (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 [reviewed], PC)
Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
Publisher: EA
Released: March 29, 2011
I realize that coming out early with the word 'sim' in a review could easily scare off casual racing gamers, which seem to prefer the simpler, arcade-like gameplay of Criterion's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit over technical things like lap times, racing lines and suspension tweaks. Don't run off just yet -- I think those people will still enjoy Shift 2 Unleashed, as Slightly Mad Studios' approach is a bit different. The game's career mode starts out with shameless raw speed, making no attempts to ease you into things like other sim racers would. You'll immediately get into a Nissan GT-R and take to the track. In your very first time on the road the world flies by, you graze a wall, spin out and barely make it across the finish line. This sets the pace for Shift 2, which I applaud for being a steady challenge from beginning to end. No apologies are made, and that's what makes this game a lot of fun.
From that first run with the GT-R, the game will compute what kind of racing settings and assists you'll need for the rest of the game. You're free to change these, but I found that what the game gathered from my first run was pretty spot on. From there you're free to buy your own starter car and jump into any of the available events in Career Mode. You'll work your way up car classes and event types, slowly unlocking alternate race types. You'll eventually end up in many of the 100-plus cars, racing in beautifully rendered real-world tracks like Suzuka and Bathurst. You'll also cruise through Tokyo, Shanghai, London and more. You'll race to unlock events and other race types, like drifting. Each race will earn you money and experience points (XP). You'll be able to buy more cars, upgrade, tweak and tune to your heart's content.
The feel of Shift 2 is exciting. It's easy to tell that a lot of work went into the feel of the game. Everything is so stylistic and in-your-face that it makes the sim-y guys look a bit tame and boring in comparison. Everything is big and flashy -- the menus, cars, cut scenes, tracks and even the sounds. Cars howl, bark and growl on the track, making you feel like you're being tailed by a rabid pit bull. The sun hits you in your eyes right as you see a massive hairpin turn in the distance. You find yourself squinting and arching your neck to the side, like that would really help. You ease into the turn knowing that the guy on your tail could clip you at any time. You find that you're squeezing the controller so tight that your hands are white.
But, for as exciting Shift 2 is, there are a few issues that sometimes killed the buzz. Some of the presentation and menu function items are a bit rough around the edges. Loading times sometimes bogged down the responsiveness of menu screens. Other times, I found that there was no audible or visual confirmation for button presses and menu-item selections. There were too many instances where I wondered what the game was doing. Crashes and collisions were another issue for me. While fantastic and flashy, too much time is taken from the race for the sake of this flashiness. It feels like forever before you recover and get back on the road. Unfortunately, with the AI's tendency to want to clip you during the last lap of a critical race, these big, flashy, slow wrecks are quite annoying. On the same note, while the AI is mostly great with its aggressiveness, sometimes it's really cheap.
Shift 2 Unleashed looks outstanding. You're not getting the super-detailed car models or insane frame rates of the Gran Turismo or the Forza series, but they're still clean and attractive, and you'll find that they look less like something out of a car brochure and more like something you want to get into and go fast in. The tracks and environments are quite nice -- other racer makers could learn a thing or two from Slightly Mad on how to make attractive, inviting stages. The lighting and environmental effects are delicious. Sun flares, reflections and shadows show how much polish was put into the presentation. I thought the headlight work during night driving was particularly good. Seeing the headlights of a car behind me light up the road before me really put on the pressure during races. Oh, and car damage isn't just a bullet point on the box. In this game it's real, and it looks awesome, especially when car pieces go flying every which way.
There's little in the way of learning curve for Shift 2; most gamers will be able start racing immediately. If you're out to race and have fun for a couple of tracks, you likely won't find any major issues. If you're a sim racing fan and like to nitpick, I'm sure you'll find issue with the steering. The steering makes a lot more sense than it did in the first Shift game, which was really hard to bear during critical turns. They've cleaned it up a bit for this title, but I still found that turning into sharper curves still does not feel right. To me it feels like the weight of the car is not correctly figured into the steering, and too often that had me flying off the track when I felt my approach into a turn was good. Similarly, cars feel so light when letting off the throttle that I kept thinking of Nintendo's F-Zero space racer.
There's a bit of neat online functionality in Shift 2 for braggers. The game's Autolog function takes your scores and times and takes them online to leaderboads that can be tracked. You can reference friends' track times and even rub yours in their faces. You can recommend races and compare times, and the game makes it really easy to do so with cues after each race and automatic connectivity. Sadly, online races aren't very appealing. Most of my experiences were so laggy and glitchy that they were hard to enjoy. More than once I found myself driving through an opponent's car.
Shift 2 Unleashed is rare in that it gives you real cars in real locales, but also provides an intensity and excitement that other sim games can't offer. While the steering isn't as polished as it could be, you won't be thinking about that in the tense, white-knuckle, high-speed races that this game offers. Let loose for once: Shift 2 Unleashed is a hell of lot of fun.
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Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed reviewed by Dale North
Impressive effort with a few noticeable problems holding it back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
How we score: The destructoid reviews guide


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RBC.com | Français | | Contact Us
About RBC > Community & Sustainability > News >RBC recognized for outstanding support of AIDS research
June 20, 2013 - In the late 1980s, the world was still learning about the AIDS pandemic and stigma surrounded the disease. That's when Toronto philanthropist Bluma Appel knocked on the door of Allan Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Royal Bank. She convinced Mr. Taylor that the bank needed to find a way to help fight this disease. And, in 1993, Royal Bank became the first Canadian bank to provide significant funding to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR). Our donation of $ $300,000 over three years was considered a courageous act by a fairly conservative institution, and led the way for other large organizations to support the cause.
Now, RBC has been awarded CANFAR's Chairman's Award for our support of AIDS research for more than a quarter of a century.
"As one of our most valued benefactors, RBC's investment in our researchers has led to a better understanding of the impact HIV has on different communities across Canada," said Sherrie James, National Director of Development, CANFAR. "We wanted to honour RBC in this small way by recognizing the difference you've made in our communities."
CANFAR raises awareness to generate funds for research into all aspects of HIV infection and AIDS. This role is particularly vital, as Canada is one of a handful of countries with the brain trust, infrastructure and resources to make a significant difference in the global fight against AIDS. Since 1987, CANFAR has contributed over $18 million to fund more than 450 research projects at hospitals and universities across the country. For more information, visit www.canfar.com.


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crash on launch
ScummVm version 1.8.1
Android Version 5.0.2
Game Version v0.0368 cd
Can you please help me?
Please try to use android-sdl port
It has full compatibility with all game engines.
Tested with Beneath a steel sky.
Thanks for your answer, okay.
I hope that the new version 1.8.1 will be working with this game soon


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- What is Business Aviation?
- Membership
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Oct. 21–23, 2014 • Orlando, FL
Orlando Hosts the World of Business Aviation in 2014 – Make Plans for Your Company to Exhibit at NBAA2014!
Join NBAA for the Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA2014) – the world's largest and most important business aviation event. Ranked as the fourth largest tradeshow in the U.S., NBAA2014 will feature over 1,100 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and services in the industry, nearly 100 side-by-side business aircraft at the static display, opportunities to network with 25,000 business aviation professionals and dozens of education sessions to ensure you are operating as safely and efficiently as possible.
Interested in exhibiting? There are still a few spots remaining. Review the exhibitor information and submit your exhibitor application today.
NBAA2014 Exhibit Application/Contract
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Get the latest news, photos and videos about the world's largest business aviation event. Learn more.
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Download the official NBAA2014 Mobile App for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphones and iPad tablets. Learn more.
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NBAA2014 is the perfect venue for companies who wish to gain access to more than 25,000 business aviation professionals – all at one time, all in one place. Continue.
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NBAA's Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition is the year's most significant media event for the business aviation industry. Learn more.
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NBAA2014 is a don't-miss event for students and educators with a passion for aviation Learn more.
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Browse the directory and floor plan, review the Buyer's Guide for exhibitors organized by products and service categories. View the directory
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Review the list of aircraft on display at Orlando Executive Airport (ORL) and inside the Orange County Convention Center. Review the aircraft list.
Review exhibit hours and the full schedule of events, including the complete list of education sessions and Professional Development Program (PDP) courses. Learn more
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Review the list of hotels in Orlando that are offering special NBAA2014 rates. Review the NBAA2014 hotels.
NBAA/CAN Soiree
The NBAA/CAN Soiree on Wednesday, Oct. 22 will feature entertainment by Three Dog Night, as well as live and silent auctions to benefit Corporate Angel Network (CAN). Learn more.
Register to attend NBAA2014 in Orlando though the secure online form. Register now.
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NBAA wishes to thank its generous sponsors for supporting NBAA2014.
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TAG | debate
Presidential Debate #1
4 Comments | Posted by gimme-five in Politics
Here's my question: What % of rhetoric of "change v. experience" will we hear as opposed to real cost-benefit issue debate? I predict 95% change v. experience rhetoric, 5% issues. Although that could be different, considering the bailout plan is on everyone's minds. Hopefully I can catch some of the debate… I have a big legal writing project due tomorrow.
I also predict that Obama has been itching to debate McCain for a while now. Whether one or the other is a better candidate for president, there is no question that Obama is the better orator. I would be surprised if anyone dubbed McCain the "winner" of a debate with Obama… he's going to need to win through other means if he will win…
Faking the Issues
Generally, candidates for any election in the United States do quite a bit of pandering. And generally, the pandering they do is a wholly illegitimate take on a given issue. One such issue that strikes me in particular is free trade. Politicians regularly attack free trade by claiming that trade takes away jobs from Americans, and that it is bad for the country, etcetera. They do so even though virtually 100% of economists agree that free trade helps a lot more than it hurts. Yet, somehow, politicians get votes by bashing free trade.
My question is: how in the world is this strategy successful? For instance, during the nasty Obama-Clinton primary debates, both candidates continually tried to one-up each other by bashing free trade. Obama is now backpedaling on that issue for the general election, which indicates he was probably just trying to pander during the primary. If that is the case, then why would he not respond to Clinton's anti-free-trade rhetoric with: "Your assertions are wrong. All economists disagree with you. Economists are trained to know whether free trade is good or bad. Would you want a professional bowler to act as your doctor when a doctor says the bowler is wrong? No. Would you want a doctor doing your taxes when a tax professional says the doctor is wrong? No. Would you want Joe Schmo down the street telling you how to set trade policy when all economists say he is wrong? Hell no."
Or, better yet, he could explain why economists think trade is so great. He could explain that, yes, indeed, there are some downsides to trade, but the upsides are much greater. He could explain the concept of comparative advantage once explained by David Ricardo and the basic idea of the source of wealth from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. It would be a glorious moment for Mr. Obama and the entire country. It would be a rare occasion when a politician actually explained the pros and cons of an issue in a debate, and then explained why his side prevailed. It would not be the generic politician's response to a question: say something incomprehensible and then throw as many buzz words and campaign slogans out to the crowd as possible. And significantly, it would require the opposing candidate to respond in a substantive manner.
How would someone respond to a clear argument about the benefits of free trade, an argument supported by an entire profession, followed by the question: if you disagree, please explain why?
If two candidates were in a debate, with one candidate pro-trade and the other anti-trade, and the pro-trade candidate explained the benefits of trade and uttered the "explain why" question, it would be a glorious moment of awakening in this country for several reasons. First, everyone watching the debate would learn about free trade – a topic most Americans are ignorant about. Secondly, it would be a rare occasion when a politicians in a major election actually debated the pros and cons of an issue rather than uttering buzz words and catch phrases to pander to whom he or she hopes is the majority voter. Finally, the candidate willing to actually debate the facts of an issue would likely be one of the smartest, most candid, and best candidates the country has seen for a long time.
The cynic in me says this would never work. The cynic in me says that Americans are too stupid to listen to real pros and cons of issues and figure out their own opinions – that is why buzz words and catch phrases at debates work so well. The cynic in me says that Americans would rather hear "I'll get the government out of your pockets" than "A study by this prominent professor shows that tax structure X is better than tax structure Y."
But I believe that this country is smart enough for real facts to come to surface in major political debates. Back in the revolutionary era, our founding fathers had nowhere near the kind of education that Americans have today. Even the worst educational systems in America today are miles ahead of anything our founding fathers had. Yet our founding fathers debated serious issues in politics, and people were very interested in knowing the cold hard facts. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that politicians in those days treated the voters with respect. They didn't try to pander the way politicians do today – they debated the theories of Locke and Montesquieu and argued passionately and intelligently. Regular citizens regularly read what the prominent politicians had to say and often wrote to the papers to voice their opinions. There are plenty of people out there today that would do the same, if today's politicians would treat them like adults and argue the issues, rather than trying to argue using empty dialect.
This article is not an endorsement of either Barack Obama or John McCain.


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Uncle Sam wants to extend a big wildlife refuge into San Joaquin County. That could mean getting something this county is shamefully short of: hiking trails.
Uncle Sam wants to extend a big wildlife refuge into San Joaquin County. That could mean getting something this county is shamefully short of: hiking trails.
Think about it. This county boasts four major rivers, the majority of the Delta, hundreds of miles of wide-open spaces ... and virtually no trail access to any of it.
"There are no places where people can go and walk more than a mile in the county, which is literally a crime against nature," said Sierra Club activist Eric Parfrey. "It is shocking."
Parfrey barely exaggerates. There are two places in the county where you can walk a mile or so: Caswell Memorial State Park, a nature squib on the south-county line, and Lodi Lake.
And, so? In a county with almost 1,400 square miles of land, that's a travesty.
Now the feds want to expand the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, a 7,000-acre swath of riparian woodlands, wetlands and grasslands, from Stanislaus County to a point west of Manteca.
Nature trails are secondary to Uncle Sam's goal. The main idea is to further restore a flyway and habitat along the San Joaquin River. But secondary is better than nothing-dary.
Even an afterthought is better than the total absence of trails from the government agenda in San Joaquin County.
The recent history of thwarted trails around here reveals that San Joaquin County is a bizarre black hole for trails.
The city of Stockton planned a riverfront trail from the channel head all the way along water to Buckley Cove. Property owners nixed it.
The county's 1992 General Plan called for a healthy web of cross-county trails that would give the public wholesome access to nature and exercise.
The wonderful plan included a hike and bike trail from the county's eastern boundary along the Mokelumne River to Lodi Lake; a trail the full length of the Calaveras River from Calaveras County to Stockton; one along the Diverting Canal; one around Mossdale; one along the Stanislaus River from Ripon to Vernalis; not to mention several regional parks.
Twenty years later, precisely none of those trails or parks has been built.
Why? Consider the fate of another trail, the Great Delta Trail.
In 2006, a state law mandated the Delta Protection Commission to design and build a "continuous recreational corridor trail network" through all five Delta counties. The trails would link to Bay Area trails, too.
Sounds great, right? So the commission set about acquiring the land - or getting support for using abandoned railroad rights-of-way - and promptly ran into a buzzsaw of opposition from ranchers and farmers.
Commission director Mike Machado recalled a recent commission meeting.
"One local landowner in the Delta got up and said, 'I'm all in favor of the trail in the Delta, as long as all the bikers and hikers are required to wear respirators and hazmat suits so I don't have to worry about any repercussions.' "
Added Machado: "He was serious."
This property rights fundamentalism, which falls somewhere between NIMBY and xenophobia, is the major reason San Joaquin County is the place trails go to die.
Which is not to say there are no valid concerns. Yet other counties find solutions.
In Sonoma County, trails skirting farms close during certain ag operations. Signs are posted, "Trail closed between X and X date (or X and X hours) for agricultural activity."
But Sonoma is liberal, some will say. OK, Fresno County is building a San Joaquin River trail. If anything, Fresno is politically to the right of Stockton.
It's a mentality. Elsewhere, it's "Can do." Here, its "Hell no." To everything.
San Joaquin farmers oppose the expansion of the refuge. They oppose regional parks. They oppose trails. They oppose the peripheral tunnels (I'm with them on that one). They'll oppose high-speed rail, you watch.
County supervisors utterly fail to balance the right to farm with the general public's right - its need, considering the obesity epidemic - to healthy outdoor recreation.
The supes have relinquished county planning to obstructive cranks who want the public to wear respirators and hazmat suits. None dare call it leadership.
Consequently, trails serving folks from the Sierra to the Bay all abruptly end at the San Joaquin County line. Did I mention the Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail?
"A huge failure," Parfrey cringed. "A lot of the Bay Area people couldn't believe folks in San Joaquin County cannot become part of this. That they were so overtly hostile to what was considered such a great idea."
Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at (209) 546-8270 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/fitzgeraldblog.