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Reese Witherspoon is a Blue Beauty
Reese Witherspoon (in Rodarte and Fred Leighton jewels) walks the red carpet at the 2009 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter held at the Sunset Tower on in West Hollywood on Sunday (February 22).
Also pictured below is Reese, presenting the Oscar for Best Director at the 2009 Annual Academy Awards held at Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday (February 22).
10+ pictures inside of Reese Witherspoon, the blue beauty at the 2009 Oscars…


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Superior 1/2004:170 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection - Heritage 5/2015:98161, $16,450- Stack's/Bowers 8/2016:3055
Bob R. Simpson Collection - Tom Bender Collection
Ron Guth: The 1839-O Half Dime boasts a hefty mintage of over one million coins, yet among the early dates of this type, it remains a rarity in Mint State. According to the PCGS Population Report (as of December 2011), the 1839-O Half Dime is only slightly less common than the 1838-O and the 1840-O, both of which have lower mintages (substantially so in the case of the 1838-O) and only incrementally smaller mintages in Mint State.
Among the Mint State 1839-O Half Dimes, MS-63 is the median grade. In addition, PCGS has certified only four examples in MS-64, two in MS-65, and none finer.
© 1999-2018 Collectors Universe NASDAQ: CLCT

subset: commoncrawl


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Ryan Seacrest in Talks to Take Over VH1 Soul
VH1 Soul, a spinoff of MTV Networks' VH1 channel, is a digital cable and satellite network aimed at fans of soul and R&B. So, it's understandable that some people were surprised when news broke that Ryan Seacrest may be taking over the network.
According to reports, the 'American Idol' host, along with live entertainment company AEG, is in talks with the Viacom-owned company to potentially acquire the channel.
While some reports claim the deal is far from being finalized, others state "talks are in an advanced stage."
Seacrest was sure to make it clear that any network deal he was a part of wouldn't result in a Ryan Seacrest channel, à la OWN. "It will not be branded with my name or my face, which many people will be happy about," he said in an interview.
With that said, Seacrest would serve as an influential partner, offering his producing skills, his connections to talent and potentially some on-air contributions.
So what does that mean for the channel's content which features music from artists like Maxwell, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu? Only time will tell.


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With bases loaded in the 5th inning, Eddie Mamut hit a sacrifice fly and with two outs freshman catcher Kahmari Rabsatt doubled in two more runs. In the 6th inning, leadoff batter Patrick Kelly singled, Kevin Schnick singled and Danny Valentin doubled scoring two runs. Rabsatt then singled, driving in Valentin.
Center fielder Julien Bello-Kovacevic made a leaping catch at fence to save a run in the top of the 7th inning, as Kevin Schick (2-0) pitched another complete game allowing no earned runs, five hits and striking out seven.


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Race day dilemma: Where to park in Durango?
In an effort to simplify parking on race day, organizers of Durangos opening USA Pro Cycling Challenge stage developed a parking shuttle plan.
Free parking will be offered at four locations with free shuttle service to the downtown area.
Free parking will be available at the Durango Mall on the south end of the city; at Durango High School and La Plata County Fairgrounds on the north, at Twin Buttes to the west and at Fort Lewis College on the east.
Free shuttle buses run from those parking lots to the Transit Center downtown.
From there, spectators can walk to the race course or take a shuttle to the Fort Lewis College campus.
The shuttles, which will include local school buses and other resort buses, will include a host or hostess to answer questions, direct visitors to downtown locations and provide historical tidbits.
The free shuttles to and from the parking lots will run continuously from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.
Parking in the downtown core will be limited severely by street closures for the race.


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CMU Track and Field Competes at Prairie Fire Invitational
GALESBURG, IL -- Central Methodist women's pole vaulter Stephanie Atkinson tied the a school record in her event Saturday, highlighting a busy day for the Eagle women's and men's track and field teams in the Prairie Fire Invitational hosted by Knox College.
Saturday marked the first meet of the indoor season for Central Methodist. Atkinson's pole vault of 3.2 meters tied Central Methodist's indoor record, set by Lizz Platt in 2003.
Also on the women's side, the Eagles' Kate Fulton won the high jump after clearing 1.6 meters. Fulton is a two-time All-American in the event. Lexie Wilt won the shot put with a toss of 12.52 meters.
The Eagles' Kaitlyn Emig finished second in the 60 meter hurdles in 9.97 seconds.
In men's action, the Green and Black claimed the top spot in nine events Saturday, including the top two spots in the 800 meter run. Bryan Groeper won the event in 2:05.68, while Corey Schoene was second after crossing the finish line in 2:07.80.
Bryan Lechner and Austin Boedeker placed first and second, respectively, in the 60 meter hurdles. Lechner won with a time of 9.10 seconds. Boedeker posted a finish of 10.03 seconds. Lechner also won the long jump with a leap of 6.60 meters.
The 4x200 meter relay team of Cameron Blanton, Marcus Lavergne, Derek Musgrove and Colton Carrier took the top spot with a time of 1:35.08. The 4x400 relay team of Lechner, Lavergne, Schoene and Groeper also placed first overall in 3:40.46.
Musgrove also took first in the triple jump with a mark of 12.71 meters.
Dilan Simons placed first in the shot put with a toss of 14.79 meters and weight throw with a mark of 14.60 meters.
Kiefer Smith won the pole vault after clearing 4.4 meters.
Dakota Jones earned a second place finish in the 400 meter dash with a time of 54.01 seconds.
Central Methodist takes its full squad for the first time this season to the Snowbird Open on Saturday, Jan. 19. The meet is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. CT.


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Andrew Lloyd Webber ruined everything
The running joke among theatre-goers was that the emperor wasn't wearing any clothes
Anne Wentworth 2:30 p.m., Oct. 17
Recreate "Yellow Tulips" while sipping wine or cocktails. Supplies (canvas, paints, brushes, apron) included. No experience necessary. Registration required.
2400 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego, 92101
Get directions
Please log in to submit event corrections


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Amitabh Bachchan
At 71, Amitabh Bachchan has romanced the silver screen for more than four decades. He has also successfully hosted seven seasons of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The megastar has also made a considerable fanbase on Facebook and Twitter. He also made India proud by carrying Olympic torch in London last year.india Updated: Oct 25, 2013 12:59 IST
At 71, Amitabh Bachchan has romanced the silver screen for more than four decades. He has also successfully hosted seven seasons of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The megastar has also made a considerable fanbase on Facebook and Twitter. He also made India proud by carrying Olympic torch in London last year.
Big B also ventured into Hollywood, albeit in a cameo appearance in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby.
So what if his gamble of playing an underworld don turned politician in Ram Gopal Varma's Department (2011) did not pay off at the box office, his role of Prabhakar Anand in Aarakshan (2011) got him critical acclaim and moderate success. Be it Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap or Paa, roles are being exclusively written for the star.
Amitabh Bachchan got to experiment a lot in this second innings. Barring films like Mrityudata, Lal Badshah and Suryavansham, Big B seldom went wrong with the choice of films. In fact, fresh and experimental scripts are being written exclusively for him. And certainly that's not just because he has ruled Bollywood for more than four decades, it is because Amitabh with his boundless energy is raring to reinterpret himself as an actor with each film.
People who worshipped his larger-than-life image wouldn't have imagined that he'd enter their television sets through Kaun Banega Crorepati. But he did. And for everybody's surprise swayed everybody off their feet (including his critics) with his new avatar as a TV host.
Top 10 landmark movies
Amitabh Bachchan was relaunched as angry young man of Bollywood with Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer. Inspector Vijay Khanna became the new youth icon.
Considered to be one of the greatest films in Indian cinema, Sholay directed by Ramesh Sippy became memorable for every actor who featured in it, including Amitabh Bachchan.
The actor played a double role in the film - one as Don and the other as Vijay. The film was later remade by Farhan Akhtar that featured Shah Rukh Khan.
Shehenshah: Amitabh made a comeback after a three year hiatus with this film.
Agneepath: The film portrayed Amitabh Bachchan in the legendary role of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. The movie though not commercially successful was critically acclaimed. Amitabh Bachchan went on to win National Award for the film.
Baghban: The film had Amitabh and Hema Malini as a lead couple. The two exuded wonderful chemistry on screen. Needless to say it was a hit at the box office.
Black: Big B played the role of a teacher in the film. The movie directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was critically acclaimed. It got Bachchan a National Award.
Bunty Aur Babli: Amitabh Bachchan plays a cop in this film, though not an angry one. In fact he shook his leg to Kajrare song with now daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.
Sarkar: Directed by RGV, Amitabh played the title role in Sarkar. It also starred Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, Katrina Kaif, Anupam Kher, Supriya Pathak and Tanisha Mukherjee.
Paa: Amitabh Bachchan created history by playing son to his son Abhishek in the movie. The actor played a 12-year-old boy suffering from a rare genetic disorder called progeria. The film got him his third National Award.
1969: Best Newcomer National Film Award for Saat Hindustani
1971: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Anand
1973: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Namak Haraam
1976: Filmfare Best Actor Award for Amar Akbar Anthony
1978: Filmfare Best Actor Award for Don
1984: Padma Shri
1990: National Film Award for Best Actor for Agneepath
1990: Filmfare Best Actor Award for Hum
1991: Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
2000: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Mohabbatein
2000: Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 at the Filmfare Awards
2001: Padma Bhushan
2004: Filmfare Best Actor Award & Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for Black
Winner, National Film Award for Best Actor
2007: Knight of the Legion of Honour, by the French Government
2009: National Film Award for Best Actor for Paa
Quote Room
"I do not consider myself Hollywood material. My participation in The Great Gatsby is a friendly gesture for (director) Baz Luhrmann - it's less than a blink-and-miss appearance." - Hindustan Times
"OK!! HERE IT IS : Have been invited by London Olympic Organizing Committee to carry the torch in the relay tomorrow... Honored to be asked to carry the Olympic Torch in London at Southwark around 10:30 AM !! A proud moment for me and country." - Twitter
"I sometimes feel that I have been born to attract controversy. Whatever I do becomes controversial." - Sunday (1987)
"She (Aishwarya) is not like a friend but a friend. In fact she is my daughter and not daughter-in-law. If you are noticing us together on every occasion it's because situation demands so. Neither Aishwarya nor me are self-appointed detectives trailing each other." - Glamsham
"Marketing and promotional acts have introduced new business practices to get that first week's full house, recover money, and move on. We remember even the interlude music of the songs from the '50s and '60s. We do not remember the songs of today's films. Or maybe they do! Maybe the younger generations do! Maybe this generation registers what it chooses to, and moves on. Maybe we have gone irritably slow. This generation talks and thinks faster. My grandson of 8 teaches me how to install my BlackBerry and my iPad. Maybe I am the wrong person to be answering a question (on change). Who knows!" - Hindustan Times
"Professionally I have never ever attempted to change a single comma, once the script is with me and I have signed on the dotted line. That is beyond my professional ethics. I had no reason to doubt, being in the company of such great writers as Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Khawaja Ahmed Abbas, Salim-Javed, Prakash Mehra, Kadar Khan, Prayag Raj, Shukla, Gulzar and many other renowned personalities. What they wrote remained final. What I get today also remains final -- my professional conditions prevail." - Hindustan Times
"As for romancing nubile women on screen, I have no choice. I must play roles commensurate with my age. There have been exceptions. KANK (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna) had me playing a happy, fun-loving lothario; Nishabd was about a disturbing relationship. Ironically, the only time I have been kissed on screen, note, I have been kissed, not of my own desire, has been in two films that I did in my 60-plus years – Black and Nishabd!" - Hindustan Times
On Kaun Banega Crorepati
"When we were just starting in 2000 and I had agreed to do the show, I never thought it would continue for 12 years. KBC has been a moving and extremely satisfying experience for me."
On granddaughter Aaradhya:
"She hasn't started speaking yet but she pulls my beard. She knows that this man with beard is special. We adjust our timings according to her. I make sure I get enough time to play with her."
- Hindustan Times
First Published: Aug 18, 2012 16:55 IST


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|Doyle, Tenn.
|High School:
|White County
2012-13: Allison made appearances for the Golden Eagles in three tournaments this fall… posted a stroke average of 86.43 for the seven rounds… her low round for the season, 79, came during the second eighteen holes at the Waynesville Golf resort. In the spring, Allison competed in four events and earned her first top-25 finish as she carded an 82+78=160 at Tech's Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate. She was named the team's Most Improved Player for the year.
High School: Lettered all 4 years; named District 6AAA Player of the Year sophomore, junior, and senior years; placed 2nd in the district tournament as a junior then won the district tournament as a senior and led the Warriorette team to a district title; Back to back state tournament appearances junior and senior years; placed 2nd in the annual Early Bird tournament as a sophomore. Graduated number nine in her class with a 4.0 G.P.A
Personal: Daughter of Terry and Andrea Geer... Full name is Allison Cayce Geer... Born on September 7,1994... Majoring in Nursing


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Bedell Bridge State ParkApril 19. 2011 9:33PM
Bedell Bridge State Park, located along the Connecticut River, is 38 acres in size and a great place for picnicking, fishing, or boating. A Fish and Game boat launch is located within the park.
The park was the site of a historic two-span covered bridge, the second longest in the country. The Burrtuss bridge, which connected New Hampshire to Vermont, was destroyed by wind in 1979 and is no longer there.
Location: Route(s) 10 & 25, Haverhill
Phone: 603-323-2087
Activities: Picnicking, fishing, boating
Amenities: Picnic tables, boat launch
Operation Schedule: Early May to mid-October
Acreage: 38 acres
NH State Parks Website
NH State Parks Pet Policy


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42 U.S. Code § 6955 - Marketing policies, establishment; nondiscrimination requirement
§ 6955.
Marketing policies, establishment; nondiscrimination requirement
In establishing any policies which may affect the development of new markets for recovered materials and in making any determination concerning whether or not to impose monitoring or other controls on any marketing or transfer of recovered materials, the Secretary of Commerce may consider whether to establish the same or similar policies or impose the same or similar monitoring or other controls on virgin materials.
(Pub. L. 89–272, title II, § 5005, as added Pub. L. 96–482, § 21(c)(1), Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2346.)
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


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Refers to how individual owners of a business pay taxes on income derived from that business on their personal income tax returns. Pass through taxation applies to sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S-Corporations. This is opposed to traditional, or C-Corporations, where the company itself pays corporate taxes on income the corporation derives.
See also


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Thermaltake Vi-on 3.5 Hard Drive Enclosure Review
In a world where bigger and better seems to mean things keep getting smaller and smaller, is there a need for big bulky hard drive enclosures? Let me paint you a picture. You're riding your bike, hit a rut and eat it. "Oh #$%@!" you say to yourself, "I forgot I had my jump drive in my pocket." You remember backing up all of your work and pictures off your PC before formatting your PC's hard drive. You reach down into your pocket pulling out the crushed remains of your new 32 GB jump drive.
In a world where things are getting smaller and people aren't getting smarter, maybe, just maybe, convenience and portability isn't as important as being able to know exactly where you put your beloved data back up device. Hard drive enclosures like the Thermaltake Vi-on have been out for awhile and most IT employees use a combination of both thumb drives and hard drive enclosures for portable data backup. Thumb drives, while convenient, still do not hold enough storage to fully replace hard drive enclosures.
I can here you saying "I am not an IT worker, why would I need a backup enclosure?" The answer is simple, you have pictures, songs, documents, and other personal files that may not be the end of the world to lose for others but mean the world to you. The thought of losing these can be alleviated by backing them up on an enclosure. What other purposes could you have? Well, let's say you have two computers and want a similar song, game, movie, or anything else for that matter on your second PC. All you have to do is plug in the drive, copy over the files, and put them on your second computer. Are all enclosures created equal? That is what we are here to find out. Let's check out the Thermaltake Vi-on hard drive enclosure and see how it stacks up next to the competition.
Closer Look:
The Thermaltake Vi-on hard drive enclosure's packaging seems quite substantial for such a small item. The graphics on the packaging show exactly what the internal fan does for the system's temperature regulation, along with all of the specs and features found in this particular unit. The box mentions a three year warranty, which we learned from the movie Tommy Boy is important for customers to see. The design work is very quality, some packaging I have seen reeks of cheesy design; if I saw this box on a shelf I would buy this product.
Opening the packaging reveals why the packaging is as large as it is for such a small item. The Thermaltake Vi-on hard drive enclosure is well protected in its packaging. Due to the large pieces of foam used it is definitely secure. I think a person would be hard pressed to open one of these to find it damaged in shipping.
Like some of the other Thermaltake products, the Thermaltake Vi-on comes with the fancy wiping cloth. Also included in the packaging are USB, eSata, power, manual, and installation instructions.
Let's check out the enclosure a little closer now.


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Officials expect 50,000 people, including thousands of left-wing extremists, to partake in a protest in Cologne with the aim of shutting down the far-right AfD's party conference. Source The Local
GEFIRA provides in-depth and comprehensive analysis of and valuable insight into current events that investors, financial planners and politicians need to know to anticipate the world of tomorrow; it is intended for professional and non-professional readers.
Yearly subscription: 10 issues for €225/$250
Renewal: €160/$175
The Gefira bulletin is available in ENGLISH, GERMAN and SPANISH.
The Italian Ministry of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, announced on Saturday that Italian police officers would be sent to patrol the French border to prevent the French sending migrants over the border, after protesting against an episode on Friday in Clavière, despite being described as routine by France. Source Le Figro
The facts would go back to Thursday, and would have taken place in a class at Edouard-Branly high school in Créteil, according to Le Parisien. On the video footage filmed with Snapchat and published on social networks, we can see a high school student pointing a gun a few centimetres from a teacher's face. Source Actu17
Two large global wealth managers have imposed restrictions on staff travel to China after a UBS Group AG employee was detained, underlining the challenges of capturing business in a country where fortunes are growing the fastest on the planet. Source Bloomberg


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Grown Ups (UK - BD)
Marcus goes away with Adam Sandler and his friends and feels a little left out
Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider star as old school friends who all meet up again at their old basketball coach's funeral. After catching up, they all decide to spread the ashes of their coach at the old lake house together. So taking all their families along, the group reminisce about old times and how different they all are now—all while chuckling, ripping into each other's faults and watching Kevin James get hurt.
Grown Ups feels an awful lot like Sandler wanted more of the same after making Funny People to me. Funny People was a delight, with Judd Apatow mixing some of his and Sandler's old stories with a genuinely moving and enjoyable story. Sadly Grown Ups misses that target by quite a way and comes down to a one note affair that consists of a forced plot and this group of comedians riffing for over long scenes to break it up a bit.
The cast, the majority of who I've enjoyed in various other movies, are a little too clique-y in their relationships on screen for me. I enjoyed the laid back approach to the story but I sometimes felt as if I was missing out on the in-joke. I get that their jokes were funny (sort of) but I didn't really get trail the riffing went on most of the time and it just felt a little bit forced rather than friends naturally taking the piss out of each other.
As the set pieces flow out in the expected nature trails, water parks, family meals etc., the laughs are more miss than hit. The odd cameo raises the bar (Steve Buscemi's supporting role all but steals the show) and the odd touching moment works, but generally everything feels undercooked and Grown Ups starts to rely on tried and tested movie clichés and one liners to close sloppy scenes as opposed to utilising the cast's comedy range.
Really Grown Ups felt like Sandler was trying to pack in as many hark backs to his childhood, teenage years and "good times" as he could. All the cast seem like they're on the same page and they too are in on the agenda of reminiscing on "the good ol' days". This isn't a bad thing and in lots of ways it's what made Grown Ups work better than it should but weirdly despite all of this the story is just too run of the mill to love, the character are too thin and one note and somehow it feels like the cast are enjoying themselves enough not to worry if the audience are as well.
Grown Upsglows throughout with that Sony HD shine much akin to the other Sandler comedies on Blu-ray. It's almost totally unnatural but there's no denying the transfer looks pretty great in HD (even if it's not to everyone's tastes). The colours are vibrant to the power of ten with skin tones looking almost orange, grass greens looking like something out of a sci fi, and there's so much lighting, everything has a reflection, even some of the wood surfaces.
All of this is obviously intentional to give the audience that warm fuzzy feeling of friends and family having a good lake house weekend together, but for the sake of all the colours and uber sharpness there seems to be something amiss in regards to real detail. Everyone's face barely has a wrinkle and the backgrounds are so full of colour that they can sometimes become a blurry mesh of greens and bright white sunlight.
Overall Grown Ups looks fantastic within the realms of its style choices and it really is a show room show off style disc that TV salesmen like to use to highlight the basics of what HD can do (mainly due to the poppy colours) but for people who like natural looking filmmaking this could be a little to sugary sweet for their tastes.
Grown Ups is pretty straight forward with the front speakers doing most of the work with the dialogue. There's little in the way of rear speaker action outside of the odd piece of music or forced atmospheric but honestly there's not much going in this lifeless DTS-HD Master Audio track. Again this is obviously all by choice as the movie is about the friends and family catching up and not about any action, so criticising the track on what it isn't ever going to do seems a bit harsh. That said the word 'bland' springs to mind.
The commentary with Dennis Dugan gets the job done in the commentary department providing everything you'd expect (in jokes, cast info and the riffing of scenes etc.). It's a perfectly listenable track but with a cast like this I couldn't help but think the disc was missing a very obvious cast commentary.
There are ten deleted scenes (10:15 HD) that add a few extra character bits as well as a few more lukewarm laughs.
'Laughing is Contagious' (04:08 HD) is a collection of clips showing the cast and crew falling apart on set intercut with the everyone talking about how much fun filming the movie was. It's pretty one note with no real direction outside of the chuckling and that follows through to the 'Gag Reel' (03:49 HD).
'Riff-O-Rama' (04:37 HD) focuses on how the cast of comedians were allowed to just chat on screen and how director Dennis Dugan simply had to point the camera. This is followed by a long scene with the group sitting in garden chairs just riffing off each other. It sort of highlights what the movie was good at but what works for five minutes was never going to carry a 100 minute movie.
'Dennis Dugan: Hands on Director' (04:38) gives the director a bit of a spotlight and shows how he got in on the films good times while 'The Lost Tapes of Norm MacDonald' (06:46 HD) features the bit character "Geezer" and a collection of scenes (that aren't in the movie).
'The Cast of Grown Ups' (07:08) has the cast telling us about each other's characters loaded with plenty of mutual pats on the backs once again intercut with clips to show all the fun.
'Buesy and the Monkey' (03:24 HD) features a Gary Buesy scene with... you guessed it, a monkey (amongst other bits) which leads us into the trailers for Eat Pray Love, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Smurfs, and The Social Network.
I didn't not like Grown Ups—in fact I could find myself easily watching this again when it starts showing on TV because it's a dead easy watch—but it's nothing compared to comedies I love with the same themes. In the end the movie comes off as a slightly more adult Cheaper by the Dozen, something that is inoffensive enough. Hard-core Sandler fans will more than likely eat it up as honestly this is no worse than most of his filmography and I know there's a faction out there that love Sandler's humour, but for me I only really enjoyed the laid back approach from the cast and the all too short moments where their time together on screen actually worked.
As for the disc, it's packed full of candy floss features that you'll gobble down before you know it and an uber glossy transfer that will look vibrant to the point of insanity on your flatscreens. So all in all what' you'd expect from most high profile comedies on Blu-ray.
* Not a guarantee. The above images are taken from the Blu-ray release and resized for the page. Full-resolution captures are available by clicking individual images, but due to .jpg compression they are not necessarily representative of the quality of the transfer.
Review by Marcus Doidge
Chris Gould Editor Join Date: May 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7,171
Given the film's shortcomings, I decided to compensate with the screen captures as best I could.
Marcus1138 Contributor Join Date: June 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 910
And what a fine job you've done.
Workshed101 Member Join Date: January 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 165
Im buying this based on the screen captures.
Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over
Disc Details
Release Date: 17th January 2011
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Blu-ray Disc
RCE: No
Video: 1080p
Aspect: 1.85:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: Yes
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English, DTS-HD Master Audio 51 French, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 German, English Audio Description Track, Dolby Digital 5.1 Turkish
Subtitles: English, English HOH, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Turkish
Extras: Commentaries, Fesaturettes, Gsg Reel, Trailers
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider
Genre: Comedy and Drama
Length: 102 minutes
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I was on NetHope's web site reading about their latest work and came across this great new initiative that NetHope, Anita Borg Institute and Accenture have joined forces to create.
It is all about connecting women with other women through IT who work in IT, from the 'Western world' to the 'Developing world'. Love it, and I have registered my interest in becoming a mentor.
As I progressed through my IT career, I didn't do it without the support of others around me and strong mentors.
Unfortunately or well fortunately, as my personal career mentors have been fantastic and still are, most of them have been male. It's a male dominated industry, IT! But on the occasion a female role model came along, I would take up the chance to discuss and pick their brains on how they got to where they were and how they did it.


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Battered by a sex-abuse scandal that cost their beloved football coach his job, the Penn State faithful united in support of their school and the alleged victims Saturday but were broken-hearted again when their team came up short on the scoreboard.
For a while, it seemed as though the game might end poetically, as the proud Nittany Lions battled back from a 17-0 deficit to get within three points of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
As Penn State drove down the field in the final seconds, a young woman in the student section summed up the thoughts of thousands: "Come on, State, you deserve this," she yelled, drawing applause from her peers.
Turning to a friend, she...


text:
|Customer Service | Your Account | Help Center | Phone: 1-877-314-7575
|Charts | Headsets | GPS | Transceivers | Flight Bags | Pilot Training | Flight Sim | Pilot Gifts | More...
● More products from Garmin Aviation
Garmin aera 510 Portable Aviation GPS (Americas)
Featuring crisp 4.3-inch QVGA wide-format displays with touchscreen interface, Garmin's aera series of GPS portables are the perfect fly/drive navigation solution. All four aera models come with preloaded automotive maps, a built-in terrain/obstacles aviation database, Garmin's patented Panel Page, and more. So, you can transition smoothly from runways to roadways with the aera model that best matches your needs and budget.
Consider the aera 510
In the Air, It's a "Mini-MFD"
Reach New Levels of Awareness
Garmin aera 510 Aviation Features:
Garmin aera 510 on the road
Garmin aera series: It's the ultimate fly/drive option.
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The LeSean McCoy/Giants back-and-forth is the gift that keeps on giving this offseason.
If you need a quick refresher, a couple weeks ago, McCoy Tweeted that Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora was soft and overrated.
Umenyiora was in no mood to let that jab go, responding by calling McCoy a Chihuahua, a poodle, a little girl, a Twitter gangster (my personal favorite), Lady Gaga and a woman.
Giants wide receiver Steve Smith, who is scheduled to be a free agent, then got into the mix, posting a photo of the Giants' last Super Bowl win and the Eagles' empty trophy case.
And now, Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck has chimed in.
Joining Mike and Mike in the Morning, Tuck said he and his teammates take issue with McCoy's Tweet.
"Yes, we will take that personally," Tuck said. "He might want to watch some film before he starts talking about a defensive end of Osi's quality. I don't know where he would say something of that nature because obviously I think Osi's stats back up the fact that he's a pretty good NFL football player."
It probably is beside the point, but McCoy in a roundabout way was probably complimenting Tuck when he called Umenyiora the third-best defensive lineman on his own team. In other words, he was saying Tuck is better.
Tuck also had a problem with McCoy using Twitter to relay his message, rather than addressing Umenyiora face to face.
"I honestly think social media has made people cowards," Tuck said. "Where I'm from, if you had a problem with somebody, you said it to their face and that was it. I think now people are hiding behind computers and smartphones to get out something they got on their chest...
"I don't know what's gotten into these young guys. It is what is is. I think Osi handled it the right way, and we'll handle it on the football field when we get the opportunity."
That opportunity will come on Sept. 25 in a Week 3 matchup at the Linc (assuming, you know, that there's football), and again on Nov. 20 at the Meadowlands in Week 11.
Earlier Wednesday, I took a look at roster turnover since the Eagles lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl 39.
You can follow Moving the Chains on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.


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The innkeepers at Blueberry Cove Inn, Narragansett, RI invite you to their world of innkeeping. This is a behind the scenes look at their version of innkeeping.
Monday, May 16, 2011
To change or not to change, please answer the question
I have the itch again. In 35 years Dave has never understood why he might come home and find a room completely turned around. I like to migrate furniture. Ask my mom, as a teen I rearranged my room frequently much to her horror.
The focus of my discontent is the Glen Room. Don't get me wrong, it is a perfectly sweet room. Guests have said nice things about the room. No one has ever run from it screaming in horror. It is a comfortable room with a traditional motif.
But I wonder if it is too sweet or too traditional. Is it time to move away from toile and the antique dresser? Is the stained glass too pink? Are the green walls too unfashionable? Is there a great way to deal with the slanted exterior walls and lower ceiling that hasn't come to mind?
I love the comfy red checked settee but that TV has always been awkwardly placed on the dresser. Now that the Glen has a LCD TV maybe it should be wall mounted? The antique oak dresser with harp mirror is nice and roomy but showing its age. Unfortunately the windows and the 11 degree slant of the walls limit the furniture placement.
Help me out here. Should I leave it alone? Make it more modern? Go for a mid-50s retro/Madmen look? Does it need a shelf like the one in the Shells Room? Paint all the furniture purple? Mirror all the walls like a fun house or gym?
Share your thoughts folks. As an incentive to tap into your inner interior designer, if I run with your idea I'll give you two free nights (Sun. to Thurs.) this year in the newly designed room.
But, shhhh, let's surprise Dave with this one.
Innkeeper Seely
3 comments:
I'm not even close to being an interior designer, but I always loved shabby chic. You have many nice elements in the room, like the settee and the bedspread. I think wall-mounting the TV would be nice, especially if you can find a way to keep it out of view some of the time. A fresh coat of cream paint. Don't know if you're up to painting the furniture, but having them all whites or creams instead of browns would be nice. Maybe some new lights around the bed.... As for the uber-modern idea, I like to visit B&Bs to relax, not to feel like I'm at the disco. :)ReplyDelete
When I look at the photos, the walls actually seem blue rather than green. Maybe you want a fresh coat of paint? I'd still go with green (it is a relaxing color and it goes with everything) but I'd pick out one with less of a blue undertone. Somehow it has an 80s feel to it.ReplyDelete
I like toile a lot, but if you want something different you really can't go wrong with a solid bedspread that has some texture in it. Add a few throw pillows, too!
Unless the stained glass is a real antique or a family heirloom, I'd lose it and put something else over the bed. (If you keep it, get rid of the dry flowers--they are just dust collectors. I'm assuming that's what's on top of the mirror?) Maybe you could do 6 or 8 photos with a related theme set up in a grid--all the same frames. Ooooh, how about some black and white photos of light houses? You could work the nautical theme throughout the room.
And I'd make the frames black. One thing the room lacks is that touch of black that designers say 'anchors' a room. If you can paint the metal part of the wall sconces black, that would look nice. You could also do the same to the post of the lamp behind the chair.
Is there any way to angle the bed where the settee is? Or would your guests be clocking their heads on the slanted walls?
You know what I'd do before anything? I'd measure the room and map it out on graph paper. And make little scale silhouettes (like a rectangle for the bed) to move around. That way you can do all the muscle work in your head first.
Whatever, I hope you have fun redecorating!
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MOUNT VERNON, N.Y., Sept. 2, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Key Digital®, an award winning (CES, InfoComm, CEDIA, NAHB) manufacturer of leading-edge technology for HDTV applications, introduces the brand new Phantom Series KD-HD2x1ProK and KD-HD4x1ProK HDMI Switchers with Audio D-Embedder and 4K support for the upcoming CEDIA EXPO 2014 in Denver, Colorado. These products are designed for commercial and residential applications. As leaders in digital video technology, Key Digital® produces a variety of HDMI switchers to provide solutions to installers of commercial and residential A/V systems.
The KD-HD2x1ProK and KD-HD4x1ProK both have digital switching 2/4 HDMI inputs to 1 HDMI output. They have the capability resolution support for SD, HD, and VESA up to Ultra HD/4K. With the capability to pass 3D stereoscopic signal formats. Each comes with control capability through pushbutton, IR Sensor, Serial IR, and RS-232 control.
The KD-HD2x1ProK and KD-HD4x1ProK both support de-embedded audio from the HDMI input and send it to the external digital or analog audio outputs. These HDMI switchers de-embedded analog audio via 3.5mm stereo port, supports 2 channel analog audio and uses SPDIF format and supports 2 channel PCM, Dolby DTS for digital audio. Today's installers need reliable, easy, and fast integration of video and audio in commercial and residential applications. This is why the KD-HD2x1ProK and KD-HD4x1ProK come with a Limited Lifetime Warranty.
For more information on how Key Digital® is revolutionizing digital video transmission, visit http://www.keydigital.com. Key Digital® will be exhibiting at CEDIA 2014. For more information click here or visit us at Booth 420.
Key Digital Industry Leadership
Mike Tsinberg, Founder and President of Key Digital®, is a holder of 40 HDTV patents.
- "Father of DVD" - Developed architecture and system software for world first Digital Video Disk (DVD) MPEG2 based authoring system—key DVD enabling technology
- Participated with Emmy Award Winner for DVD technology development
- 2009 Inductee by HDTV by the Academy of DTV Pioneers (CEA) - Top 200 Pioneers
- SMTPE Fellow
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About Key Digital®
Key Digital® is an award winning (CES, InfoComm, CEDIA, NAHB) developer and manufacturer of leading-edge technology for HDTV applications, delivering total video systems solutions. The company manufactures a wide range of digital video processing and video signal distribution solutions as well as control systems marketed broadly to the HDTV community, such as digital video and audio processors, switchers, distribution amplifiers, cables, adapters, and more. For more information, visit our webpage at http://www.keydigital.com.
CONTACT: Masha Lakhter Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Phone: 914-667-9700 ext. 211 Cell: 917-701-3238 Fax: 914-668-8666
Source: Key Digital


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Millennium Falcon
Han Solo acquired the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a high-stakes sabacc game. Some versions of the story note that at the time Lando owned a used starship lot and had specifically bet "any ship on [his] lot". Han cunningly claimed Lando's own heavily souped-up custom job of a YT-1300 which had been carelessly left with the other ships. The Falcon itself was a chop job from the start--having been cobbled together from two scrapped ships in a Nar Shaddaa junkyard. Since it had been pieced back together, more than one previous owner had worked on improving the design to match some vision of perfection. As a result, any given component on the ship was unlikely to be joined to components made by the same manufacturer. Under Han, speed became the ship's raison d'etre. Solo pushed the ship to its limit and beyond, going so far as to equip his ship with specialized devices to streamline it while it was in a tachyonic state.
The Millennium Falcon was first seen on episode IV, as an old Obi-wan and Luke walk into the hanger, followed shortly by a Stormtrooper squad. Going by timeline, you can see the Falcon in episode 3, there is a scene that shows the senate building dotted by spacecraft and you can see the Falcon come in and land(it is the 'Falcon. just under a different name at that time. the name she had then was "stellar envoy". at that point she was a stock light freighter, and hadn't been extensively modified yet. her purpose there was to receive instructions,and a device from a group of Jedi for the purpose of restoring the honor or something of the republic. This is all explored in the new book, "Millennium Falcon" in which the Falcons past is traced. StarWars.com had an article on it for awhile confirming the rumors.)


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A decision by the Federal Reserve to expand its bond buying next week is likely to prompt policy makers to rewrite their 18-month-old blueprint for an exit from record monetary stimulus.
Under the exit strategy, the Fed would start selling bonds in mid-2015 in a bid to return its holdings to pre-crisis proportions in two to three years. An accelerated buildup of assets would also mean a faster pace of sales when the time comes to exit -- increasing the risk that a jump in interest rates would crush the economic recovery.
"There is certainly an issue about unwinding the balance sheet" in a way that "is effective and continues to support the recovery without creating inflation," St. Louis Fed Bank President James Bullard said in an interview in October. The central bank might have to "revisit" the 2011 strategy, he added.
The Fed is already buying $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities to boost the economy, and policy makers meeting Dec. 11-12 will consider whether to purchase more assets. John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, has proposed adding $45 billion of Treasury securities a month.
The bigger the balance sheet, "the riskier the exit becomes," Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said during a Nov. 20 speech in New York. "That is something we need to think carefully about."
Krishna Memani, director of fixed income at OppenheimerFunds Inc., said a too-rapid sale of assets risks disrupting the $5.2 trillion market for agency mortgage debt.
Finding Ways
"They have to find ways of unwinding the balance sheet without dumping all of it in the marketplace," said Memani, who oversees a bond portfolio of about $70 billion, including about $6 billion of mortgage-backed securities.
The central bank has been extending the maturities of its assets with Operation Twist, a program to replace $667 billion of short-term debt with the same amount of longer-term bonds that expires this month.
A decision to expand purchases could push the total assets to $4 trillion by the end of 2013, said Michael Hanson, a senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Corp. Total assets stand at $2.86 trillion, up from $869 billion at the end of June 2007.
"The more they add to the balance sheet, the longer it will take to normalize," said Hanson, who worked on designing tools that will be used in the Fed's exit strategy as an economist in the monetary affairs division at the Board of Governors in 2009.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Just read this article on psfk – it talkes about how a Chines innovation – very small mobile phones that look like car keys are becoming a big problem in prisons.
From psfk: "Tiny cellphones that look like key fobs for high-end cars are becoming a big concern over at the UK. It seems that the China-made small mobile phones are being marketed towards prison inmates.
The Times reported that the miniature cellphones have been smuggled into prisons, where they are illegal since they can be used by inmates to direct criminal activities from the inside. Possession of a mobile phone inside a prison is a criminal offense with a two-year sentence and a fine."
Just goes to show anything can be abused for sinister purposes. That's why we have Batman.


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KELSO, Wash. (AP) — Police say a woman was trying to back her car in into the drive-through lane of a Jack in the Box restaurant in Kelso, Washington, when she crossed over a median into a water meter and shrubs, sideswiped the menu board and caused $18,000 in damage.
Authorities say the 21-year-old woman tried to flee Monday and fought with employees until police arrived.
The Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/1o065Iw) police found she was "extremely impaired" and had arrest warrants for drunken driving and driving with a suspended license.
Information from: The Daily News, http://www.tdn.com


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35 Months x
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By using the comparison engine at FinanceAcar, businesses and personal KIA car shoppers can find the best finance offers for a new SPORTAGE 5dr 4x4 1.6 GDi 1. Deals are gauged for you by finding the lowest cost for the vehicle (from dealers) and pairing it with the cheapest finance terms (from top UK providers) to offer you the lowest possible monthly payment. We always show the cheapest monthly finance price first which includes delivery to you from a KIA main dealer as well as a full KIA warranty.
Our unique system not only delivers the cheapest KIA finance deals for personal and business SPORTAGE 5dr 4x4 1.6 GDi 1, it also ensures that you find the right finance package for you. Car leasing, such as PCH is in most cases, the cheapest method of financing a new vehicle over a short leasing period, but it's not the best choice for every driver. If your objective is to own the car after 3 or 4 years, then a PCP or hire purchase agreement would be advisable. FinanceAcar provides consultation at every stage, outlining the pros and cons of each car finance package -- you can find out more about personal car finance in our definitions section on personal car finance options. FinanceAcar not only offers the best car loan pricing, but we also offer the lowest SPORTAGE 5dr 4x4 1.6 GDi 1 hire purchase pricing.
FinanceAcar are uniquely positioned in providing inexpensive KIA SPORTAGE leasing deals for UK residents. Every one of our new SPORTAGE 5dr 4x4 1.6 GDi 1 leasing deals originate from top UK finance companies and dealers and our search engine seeks out the lowest price possible for the KIA you have selected. Simply select your preferred deal above to continue.
Our exclusive cheap personal contract hire (PCH) and 5dr 4x4 1.6 GDi 1 (PCP) offers are the perfect solution for individuals seeking a new KIA. We have listed these deals one above the other and ranked them according to their monthly price to make your comparison easier.
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1. approximately 8 in every 10 new cars supplied by dealers are not bought with cash but are actually funded by a monthly payment using car finance?
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You can learn more by reading about the pros and cons of personal car finance options or business car finance options or use our FAQs.


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15w, 4d. These days, almost without fail, after hearing "Congratulations!" on this third baby, I get asked in a hushed voice with a sideways glance, "So, was it planned?"
I don't think that I was ever asked whether either of my first children were planned, so this has caught me off-guard. In fact, just last night at a friend's barbecue, I heard the question from two separate people within just five minutes.
What is it about a third baby that makes people not only wonder if it was planned—but also give them the nerve to ask such a personal question? Is it that we've just tipped the balance in favor of kids vs. adults in our household? Is it that there was just two years between our first two kids, as opposed to the almost four years between our second and third? Or is it just that people feel comfortable asking all kinds of inappropriate and personal questions of pregnant women? I really don't know. But for the record, yes, this baby was very much wanted and (mostly) planned. But if it wasn't, how and why should that matter to anyone else?
What kinds of inappropriate questions did you get asked during your pregnancy?


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Brand New X5 34mm Series
This is our stage 5 in the Fingerboard trucks design. We made a new mold size 34MM and improved the stress points from our previous versions, making the X5 the most advanced truck made to date.
The stainless steel axle also has longer thread so you can use a larger variety of wheels without wobbles. These wider trucks have a lower center of gravity making your setup more stable on pop, grind and landing.
Take your Fingerboarding to next level!!
Extra resistent
AutoBlock V2
Vitton bushings
Low maintenance
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Fits all wheels
Color: Chrome hanger plus a blue baseplate.
AutoBlock nuts included!
Each set comes with:
- 2 Complete Trucks
- 4 AutoBlock V2 Nuts
- 8 Hexagonal Screws
- 1 Ykey II tool
- Ytrucks stickers
Made in Portugal.
For assembly instructions please read on Blog section:
"Ytrucks Deck Assembly"


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In many high schools Fridays are celebrated by putting freshmen in garbage cans or stuffing them in lockers. It's amazing how creative the upperclassmen can get actually.
I used to look forward to stripping down the frosh and making them form sexual pyramids on top of each other until the administration turned gay and called it "hazing".
by Lis May 07, 2005
Known by sophomores, juniors, and Seniors as the greatest day of the year. Celebratory rituals include (but are not limited to): Trashcanning/dumpsterizing, turtling backpacks, and flagpole ducttapings.
Dude, Happy Freshman Friday!
I know, I've had this day marked on my calender for weeks!
Lets go trashcan some fresh meat!
I know, I've had this day marked on my calender for weeks!
Lets go trashcan some fresh meat!
by Rmilkman September 03, 2008
Freshman Friday is when asswhole sophmores, juniors, and seniors fuck with freshman. You no the average throwing them into trashcans and pushing them into lockers. Also and in so schools since the girls dont get the physical abuse the men get, they usually agree to have sex with a upper classmen in exchange for not getting physical hurt ya thats all
by The All-American Badass August 23, 2011


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Taking responsibility for training when your boss won't
How can we get sound tactical training when our bosses won't send us? Sometimes, we have to train ourselves
One of the greatest benefits of writing for PoliceOne is that I have the opportunity to talk with officers from all over the country. We talk training and tactics and there is some really good stuff out there that cops are doing, and some healthy discussions take place. But unfortunately, there is a flip side to some of these conversations as well. There are cops that cannot get the training that they want because they have a boss who won't send them.
We all know that it can sometimes be a battle to attend any training that is not required. It seems logical that if an officer talks with his boss and says, "I have a weakness, and I would like to attend 'X' to learn more and correct this," that a supervisor should be tripping over his desk to get you to the training you need.
That's not always the case though, is it?
Many agencies are beginning to be run like corporations; training must be part of an overall strategic plan and coincide with mission statements and visions. If that training has anything to do with hurting bad guys, protecting yourself off duty, or trains you to take action that doesn't use the words "outreach" or "partnership" you may have a battle on your hands.
In some places, it's much more of a battle to attend training that benefits the officer than to attend training that benefits the department. Unfortunately, most officers in this situation give up on asking for these tactical training classes simply because they get tired of the same old response (candy coated variations of the word "no"), leaving these officers more vulnerable to being the victim of an attack.
No matter where you work, when you put on that badge you do not know what the day is going to bring. We need to be prepared to face anything that might come our way. This includes mental, physical, and tactical preparation. It is always 100 percent our own job to take care of mental and physical preparation because if we don't personally take care of those two things, the tactical part is useless.
But how do we polish the tactical part? How can we get this training when your boss won't send you? Whose responsibility is it to train us?
If you work for an agency that provides (and encourages) good tactical training opportunities, you are very fortunate. For the officers whose departments simply will not send them to the training they need, there is a second option.
We train ourselves.
I know several officers will disagree and will say, "I ain't doin' this job on my own time and my own dime." Some will gasp, "What? Train myself?!" Others will just dismiss the idea: "That's just BS!"
I agree, our employers should be making this training available and sending us, but whose life is on the line when we fail because of using poor tactics or inadequate training? That would be us, the front line officer.
Like many rural cops, I came out of the academy, learned how to do everything with a partner officer and "call for backup" was the cure for when things were likely to go bad. I was promptly then assigned to work 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. as a lone deputy covering 1,000 square miles.
I was in pretty good shape and had my head in the game, but was really nothing more than a 21-year-old punk kid with a badge and a belly full of fire. I knew nothing about officer survival and I made far too many tactical errors to count. Sure, I went to the annual defensive tactics and firearms update to keep my LE certification, but never had any opportunity to learn the real tactics that would keep me sharp and safe. Fortunately I recognized this, and the first "survival training" I received was reading Charles Remsberg's The Tactical Edge on my own time (surprisingly, I found it at a Northern Wisconsin library). That was it, everything else was learn as you go.
In today's world we have Internet sites like this one, online video sites like this one, and other ways for an officer to read up and study pretty much any topic they would like to learn about. Add to that, e-mail subscriptions and Internet forums where officers around the globe can talk shop and tactical issues easily and there is simply no excuse anymore for us to be clueless about anything. Even watching reality cop shows and paying attention to officers and bad guy's tactics can provide some benefit — not much, but some.
If there is a survival/tactical topic that you feel you need to put some polish on and the boss doesn't think it's important enough to send you, think about trying to get there on your own dime. Learn about weapon retention, edged weapons, body language, and the long list of other topics that will help get you home safe. As the officer on the street, it is important that we make sure we don't have any weak spots in our tactics. If you do, get rid of them any way you can, even if it means doing it on your own time and money.
Your life — or the life of one of your fellow officer's — might depend on it.


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London Bird Club: Mike Alibone on Birding Israel
Monday 26 February, 7:00pm
Birding Israel explores this small, Middle Eastern country's dramatic habitat diversity and its influence on the distribution of many birds, along with the importance of its geographical position as a key migration flyway for some of the world's most vulnerable species. The talk includes an overview of the key birding sites, providing an insight into the birds which are likely to be encountered during autumn, winter and spring and highlights recent regional conservation initiatives for migrants, wintering and breeding birds.
Entry £2 (free for under-18s and students)


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TUCSON – Arizona scored nine runs on nine hits while limiting Southern Miss to just a pair of hits in Arizona's season-opening 9-0, five-inning victory Friday night at Hillenbrand Stadium.
The Wildcats (1-0) were led by shortstop Kellie Fox and pitcher Kenzie Fowler (1-0), two players forced to redshirt the 2013 season. Fox, in her first game in Arizona uniform after transferring from UCLA, doubled, tripled and drove in four runs while supplying stellar defense at short. Fowler, in her first start since May 26, 2012, allowed just two hits and struck out two batters in four innings of work.
The nine-run season-opening victory was Arizona's most lopsided victory since a 13-0, five-inning triumph over Western Michigan in 2010.
Hallie Wilson, who went 2-for-2 in the game, Chelsea Goodacre, Kelsey Rodriguez and Lauren Young also drove in runs for Arizona; Rodriguez plated a pair while going 1-for-2.
Freshman Michelle Floyd made her Wildcat debut in the circle, working a perfect fifth inning to preserve the UA victory.
Courtney Rodriguez and Alex Lavine went a combined 3-for-3 from the eight and nine spots, respectively, in the batting order, giving Arizona much needed production from the bottom of the lineup.
In addition to Arizona's nine hits, the Wildcats took advantage of three Southern Miss errors in the game.
Southern Miss (0-1) starter Samantha Robles (0-1) pitched all four innings and allowed nine runs, eight earned in the contest. Robles walked two and did not strike out a batter.
In her first at-bat in an Arizona uniform, Fox doubled home Wilson, who singled to begin the game. Goodacre and Kelsey Rodriguez added RBI groundouts to give Arizona a 3-0 lead after one inning.
Arizona added runs in the second and the third. Wilson singled home a run in the second and Young grounded in a run in the fourth to give UA a 5-0 lead.
Arizona broke it open in the fourth when it loaded the bases with no one out. Fox tripled off the right-centerfield wall to empty the bases and then was brought in by Kelsey Rodriguez's single to push the score to 9-0.
Floyd entered to pitch the final inning and worked a 1-2-3 fifth to preserve to 9-0 run-rule victory for Arizona.
The two teams meet again Saturday at 2:00 p.m. before concluding the series Sunday at 11:00 a.m. MST.


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Unique Occasion Gifts and Awards - Stay it in Crystal
It's not always easy to pick the perfect gift for someone. Trust us, we understand. To that end, our catalog of fine crystal gifts is suitably broad so that there's a gift or award just right for the occasion. From employee recognition to achievement awards to teacher awards, we have labored to bring the lustrous essence of crystal to bear in our personalized gifts. Take a quick look through the corporate recognition awards or wedding and anniversary gifts - whatever your choice, we at Crystals Buy are sure you will be impressed.
Rosewood Plaque with Glass - X Large$65.00
As low as: $45.00This sleek, clean, earthy, and professional item Rosewood Plaque with Glass - X Large is great for awards. Comes in small, medium, large, and X large sizes (this size is X Large).
- Material: Wood and Glass
- Dimension: 12" x 10" x 1"
- Imprint Area: Maximum size
- Packing: Box
- Item cost does not include Engraving/Etching, it applies separately


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Started this discussion. Last reply by Krista Jones Apr 27, 2012. 3 Replies 0 Likes
Hi Moms!I am blogging about all the joys and chaos of raising toddling twins, and also about our journey to find and get help for our daughter with Nystagmus, a rare visual impairment.I appreciate…Continue
Hey mama... Please take the time to pass by my blog mommydiariesbynix.blogspot.ca and i will definitely check out your blog too!!!
This site has been just amazing for connecting with fellow bloggers and learning a thing or two! Happy Blogging
Hi there and welcome from The Girlz Korner in upstate New York where you'll find light, witty and rather entertaining articles on every topic imaginable from beauty, health, fashion, parenting, sex and everything else in between. So if you get a chance to kick back and exhale, if only for a brief moment, we'd love to have you. Hope you enjoy your stay :) http://www.thegirlzkorner.com
Hi Ashleigh! Welcome to the club and feel free to check out my blog: Swanky Baby - swankybaby.net. I'm looking forward to checking yours out too
Welcome to MBC! We are glad to have you here. We look forward connecting more with you here. I'm a Super Mama who has a family friendly blog. I also have a weekday blog hop called Exposure 99%.Come find out for yourself! This weekday blog hop helps you get more dedicated readers and blog followers. Hope you link up weekly. If you have any questions about how to link up do not hesitate to let me know.
Visit me @ One moment in time, I'll sure return the love :-)
Kindly stop by at Giveaway Junkies on facebook and become a member which you will benefit..
Hope to see you there :-))


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My fiancee and I want this sentence fragment inscribed on our wedding bands: "and the two shall become one flesh." From Mark 10:8. When I look up the latin vulgate version this fragment would read as "et erunt duo in carne una..." Is there anything goofy about that? I know in english we can quote sentence fragments and it sounds fine but I was wondering if there was anything strange about how it would read in latin. it will have the standard "..." to show that its just a fragment.
Any thoughts? Suggestions?
Thanks in advance for any help.


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Legislative Roundup: House votes to raise age of majority in criminal system from 17 to 18, acts on inmate 'good time,' push polls, home poker
January 08. 2014 7:16PM
CONCORD -- The state would not bill hikers for the cost of their rescue if they purchase a "Hike Safe" card under a bill the House passed Wednesday.
The bill begins to address the issue of how to pay for hiker rescues that has plagued the Fish and Game Department for years, as well as lawmakers who have tried but failed to address the problem.
The Fish and Game Department is largely funded by the fees collected for fishing and hunting licenses. But the cost of rescues falls mostly on the department, so instead of funding replenishing wildlife and fish species, some of the money pays for the rescues.
The department's budget for rescue costs often is exceeded and officials have consistently asked lawmakers for another source of funding to pay for the rescues.
But budget writers have been reluctant to use state general fund money to pay for the rescues and instead have proposed other methods to no avail.
The state can charge hikers for the cost of the rescue, but most do not pay the bill.
Under House Bill 256, hikers would be able to purchase "Hike Safe" cards which would allow card holders to escape state charges if they need to be rescued. The cards would cost $25 per person or $35 for a family.
People holding fishing and hunting licenses or who register snowmobiles or other off road vehicles would also be exempt from rescue charges under the bill.
The bill now goes to the Ways and Means Committee for further review before the House takes a final vote.
House kills tax credit for filmmakers
The House killed a bill that would have established a business tax credit for motion picture production done in the state.
A motion picture company would receive a tax credit if more than 50 percent of expenses or shooting time is done in the state.
House budget officials said the provision could cost the state as much as $100 million in tax credits.
After looking at tax credit programs in other states, the House Ways and Means Committee concluded the 40 states that offer similar credits received little or no economic growth with few new jobs created.
The committee voted 17-2 to kill the bill, which the House did.
House OKs workers comp payments increase
The House approved an increase in what injured workers receive while they recover from their injuries.
House Bill 439 increases workers compensation payments from 60 to 66.67 percent of an injured worker's salary.
The 6.67 percent increase returns compensation to what it was 20 years ago, two-thirds of an injured worker's salary.
According the Rep. William Infantine, R-Manchester, the state has the lowest payment percentage in New England.
He notes increasing medical costs have more impact on what employers pay for workers compensation than salary.
"We should not penalize the injured employee because of increased medical costs," Infantine said in a message to House members from the Labor, Industrial, and Rehabilitation Services Committee, which voted 16-3 to pass the bill.
Charter schools
The House sent mixed messages on two bills that would have changed the way the state regulates and funds charter schools.
House Bill 424 would have required the State Board of Education to approve any charter school that meets application requirements, to state where an application does not meet requirements and to provide technical assistance with the applications.
The bill was introduced after the State Board declined to approve any new charter schools in 2011 when money was not appropriated to pay for any new applications.
The House killed the bill on a 162-138 vote, largely down party lines.
The House gave initial approval to House Bill 435, which would have provided additional state money for charter schools. The vote was 177-124.
The bill would give charter schools an additional $1,000 per student which supporters said would help stabilize finances for some schools.
Charter schools currently receive about $5,000 per student, while traditional public schools receive about $3,450 per students.
Opponents argued traditional public schools face many expenses charter schools do not such as special education out-of-district placements and transportation costs.
But bill supporters say charter schools do not receive local tax dollars to help cover their costs as traditional public schools do.
The bill was sent to the House Finance Committee for further review before a final vote.
House raises age of majority in criminal system
Without debate and with an overwhelming majority, the New Hampshire House Wednesday gave initial approval to a bill raising the age of majority in the state' criminal system from 17 to 18.
The vote was 324 to 17, moving the bill to the House Finance Committee for a review of the financial impact, which in this case would reduce corrections costs.
The bill received unanimous, 15-0, support in the House Children and Family Law Committee last year and was retained until the current session.
The committee wrote that numerous studies show "a physical lack of brain development in 17-year-olds," and, in states where 17-year-olds remain in the juvenile system, there is a "lower rate of recidivism because these young offenders get age-appropriate services in the juvenile system."
The committee also noted that federal laws require the separation of inmates under 18 from those over 18 and require a chaperone for younger inmates while in common areas.
House revamps state 'push poll' law
The House voted unanimously Wednesday to revamp the state's law regulating push polls, a frequently-used and sometimes controversial campaign tool.
Under the guise of a poll, campaign organizations or special interest groups sometimes make coordinated calls to voters to give negative information about an opponent.
State law requires the entity making the call to identify itself or the candidate it is calling on behalf of.
To try to distinguish push polls from legitimate message testing polling, Senate Bill 196, as amended by the House, seeks to clearly define a push poll.
The bill defines a push poll "a series of like telephone calls that consist of more than 2,000 connected calls that last less than two minutes" in presidential, gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and U.S. House elections; more than 500 connected calls in Executive Council, state Senate and local elections; and 200 connected calls in elections for state representative.
The bill does not change the current law's mandate for the caller to provide an identifying disclaimer on each call.
The bill also defines "bona fide survey and opinion research" as the "collection and analysis of data regarding opinions, needs, awareness, knowledge, views, experiences and behavior of a population, through surveys, interviews, focus groups polls and other means of research. No sales, promotional or marketing efforts are involved in such research, the bill clarifies.
The state Supreme Court currently has before it a challenge to the provision of the law that applies to federal elections.
The case stems from a civil suit filed by the state's Attorney General in 2012 against the 2010 campaign committee of former U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass.
The bill must now go back to the Senate to consider changes to the original bill made by the House.
House supports 'earned time credits' for education, rehabilitation
The House Wednesday passed without debate a plan to allow the state corrections commissioner to grant "earned time credits" to prisoners who participate in educational and rehabilitation programs.
There was no debate on the House Bill 649, which passed as part of the House's consent calendar.
Under the bill, prisoners would receive one-time reductions in their minimum and maximum sentences of:
- 90 days for a GED
- 120 days for a high school diploma
- 180 days for an associate's degree
- 180 days for a bachelor's degree
A prisoner can receive a reduction of up to 60 days for vocational, mental health, or "Family Connections" programming.
House votes to legalize home poker games
The House voted Wednesday to allow home poker games under certain conditions.
According to House Bill 459, poker games may be held in a private residence as long as there is no "rake," the house takes no compensation from the prize poll, no admission fee is charged, no one receives anything of value for conducting the game except their won winning as a player and the game's odds to not favor a "house" or any player.
There can be no house bank and the game may not be advertised to the public.
The bill now moves on to the state Senate.
— Garry Rayno, State House Bureau, contributed to this report.


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JavaOne 2010 Round-UpWednesday, September 29th, 2010
Overall, Caucho had a great JavaOne this year. Our talks went very well, the booth attendance was great and a number of people showed up at the meet-and-greet.
The first session we did was the Resin 4 Java EE 6 Web Profile talk titled "Resin: A Light-footed Java EE 6 Web Profile Platform". This was the first time Emil and I co-presented and I thought it went very well. The attendance was moderate but we had a number of good questions and a handful of folks asked for the slides/demo code afterwards. That same evening I did a CDI BOF with Dan Allen of Red Hat/JBoss and David Blevins of Apache OpenWebBeans/OpenEJB. The BOF was titled "Implementing CDI: Goals, Milestones, and Perspectives" and was well-attended. We had lively discussion around the current state of implementations, the CDI ecosystem as well as the future of CDI/Java EE. A lot of folks gave us positive feedback on the BOF, particularly on our plans going forward for Java EE.
My first talk for the second day of the conference was the Java EE testing talk with my EJB 3 in Action co-author Debu Panda titled "Testing Java EE 6 Applications: Tools and Techniques". It was a full house and the talk went very well although we ran out of time and could not demo JAX-WS/JAX-RS testing. The talk covered end-to-end testing along the entire Java EE stack including Servlet 3, JSF 2, EJB 3.1, JPA 2, JAX-WS and JAX-RS using existing and emerging tools like JUnit, HttpUnit, HtmlUnit, Cactus, Selenium, JSFUnit, embedded containers, embedded databases, Arquillian/ShrinkWrap, Resin JUnit integration support and soapUI. We got excellent feedback for the talk. It was only somewhat surprising that folks don't realize how robust Java EE testing is with the latest release and tools like Arquillian. Debu was in great form for the talk as usual. In the evening I did an EJB 3.1 BOF with Linda Demichael of Sun/Oracle, Mike Keith of Sun/Oracle, David Blevins of Apache OpenWebBeans/OpenEJB as well as Andy Rubinger of JBoss/Red Hat titled "Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) Community Discussion". The attendance was moderate but the discussion was very lively. It was very encouraging that we were more-or-less on the same page about the future direction of the EJB spec.
The last session I did for the conference was on Wednesday. It was a panel with Adam Bien, Emmanuel Bernard of JBoss/Red Hat, Krasimir Semerdzhiev of SAP, Roberto Chinnici of Sun/Oracle, David Blevins of OpenWebBeans/OpenEJB and Jim Knutson of IBM titled "Java EE 6 Panel: What Do We Do Now?". The panel was moderated by Alexis Moussine-Pouchkine of Sun/Oracle. He blogged about the panel here. It was a full-house and we had very lively discussion. I talked with several of the panelists afterwards and it was very encouraging that folks are actively thinking about what really should be done in Java EE 7 and mirrored what we are doing in Resin/CanDI.
The material for our talks is posted here.
A good number of folks stopped by at the Caucho booth to talk to us. We had an excellent location this year for the booth and people either saw us first or last. We can only hope we are that lucky next year! The meet-and-greet was good too and met up with a handful of friends including Andrew Schaefer and Ryan de Laplante. I also of course met up with the usual suspects from JBoss, SpringSource, Apache, Sun/Oracle, etc throughout the conference.
I have mixed feelings about the conference itself. The programming and organization was great but I could not help but feel that JavaOne was demoted. I think a lot of developers have this same sentiment and I hope Sun/Oracle will do better next time.


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(July 30, 2013)—The national nonprofit School Nutrition Association has bestowed upon the vice president of Ontario-based Gold Star Foods its National Industry Member of the Year Award.
Sean Leer became the 11th person to be honored with the award last month.
Throughout his 19 years of service in school nutrition, Leer has worked to help school nutrition programs increase efficiency, maximize the value of their USDA Foods entitlement dollars, serve the freshest, most nutritious food available and improve food safety and sanitation.
Leer helped lead Gold Star's initiative to increase local sourcing, link school meal programs with the farms supplying their foods and minimize the company's carbon footprint. Leer has worked with farmers, wholesalers and processors to provide local produce to over 1.5 million students each day.
As much as 72% of the produce the company delivers to schools is grown within 200 miles of Gold Star's home base.
With Leer's help, Gold Star has also overhauled its bakery products, switching to 100% sustainable, California grown wheat flour, which is milled and baked locally. The company now prepares all whole grain, low sodium bread products meeting both Alliance for a Healthier Generation and Healthier US School Challenge standards at no price increase for school districts.


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Injuries cloud the picture for Stanley Cup Game 6The Sports Xchange
June 23. 2013 6:57PM
Two key players were injured during the Chicago Blackhawks' 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruints on Saturday night in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final in Chicago.
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was taken to a Chicago hospital during the third period with an undisclosed injury. He was released Sunday and was cleared to travel back to Boston with the team.
"Patrice was discharged from the hospital Saturday night and will be flying home with the team this morning," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sunday.
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews sat out the third period with an upper-body injury after taking a hard hit to the head area on a check on Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk midway through the second period.
Bergeron's injury occurred late in the first period. He attempted to return to the ice in the second period but lasted only two shifts for 49 seconds.
Sportsnet reported that Bergeron might have injured his spleen. Bob McKenzie of TSN said Sunday that report wasn't valid.
"It's just an injury that wasn't able to let him finish the game," Julien said. "He may be in next game. I'm not going there."
If Bergeron is not able to return for Game 6 tonight in Boston, it would be a huge loss for the Bruins. He leads the team during the Stanley Cup Final with four goals and 19 shots on goal.
Toews sat on the Chicago bench during the third period as the Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead in the series. He had assisted on Patrick Kane's goals in the first and second periods.
"We're hopeful he'll be ready next game, upper-body," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll see how he is tomorrow. I checked on him a couple times there. I think he wanted to play, but we'll see."
The hit on Toews, who has two goals and 12 points in the playoffs, was reviewed by the NHL but on Sunday it was learned no supplemental discipline would be handed down for the apparent blow to the head.
"I'm pretty sure it was clean," Boychuk said.


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Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton sells luxury goods such as wine, clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics. Its namesake brands - including Dom Pérignon, Fendi and Marc Jacobs - are famous worldwide.
In addition to its luxury brand positioning, international diversity also helps it sustain growth regardless of economic headwinds. LVMH is vigilantly protective of its brands and has reacted aggressively to knockoffs and counterfeits of its goods around the world, especially in China. [1] LVMUY also recently expressed interest in acquiring Hermes. Hermes performed well in the past year with a 44% increase in operating profit, which beat Bloomberg analysts' estimates. However, Hermes is not interested in collaborating with LVMUY and wants LVMUY to sell more than half of its stake. LVMUY does not plan to sell the shares.[2]
LVMH was created in 1987 by the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy, creating a company with a wide and deep luxury product portfolio. LVMH is based in Paris, France, and owns world-class brands such as Hennessy, Dom Pérignon, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, Tag Heuer and De Beers.
As an organization, LVMH is divided into five distinct divisions with some brands operating in more than one: Wines and Spirits, Fashion and Leather Goods, Perfumes and Cosmetics, Watches and Jewelry, and Selective Retailing. Each division operates semi-autonomously resulting in a separate CEO at the head of each division that reports to a central Executive Officer that also serves as the chairman of the board of directors.
This division can be further two sub categories titled Champagne and Wines and Cognac and Spirits with brands such as Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon, and Hennessy.[4]
The major brands that comprise this division are: Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Donna Karan, Loewe, Marc Jacobs, Celine, Kenzo, Givenchy, Thomas Pink, Pucci, Berluti, Stefanobi, Rossimoda, and eLuxury.
The brands that comprise LMVH's Perfumes and Cosmetics portfolio include Christian Dior, Guerlain, and Givenchy. Many brands based in the Fashion and Leather goods division have also started product lines that have become managed within this division.
The majority of sales in this segment come from the Tag Heuer and De Beers brands.
The main stores that operate within this division are DFS, Miami Cruiseline, Sephora, and Le Bon Marche.
LVMH's brands target customers in the wealthiest ranks of the globe who buy luxury goods. Super-affluent (yearly income between $150,000 and $249,000) and ultra-affluent (yearly income greater than $250,000) made up 6 and 1.9 percent of the population respectively.[6] LVMH's brands cater to an affluent consumer who, despite a recession, still have more disposable income than middle-to-lower income individuals. This level of stability in sales is seen only in the top tier luxury retail market, and distinguishes LVMH from near luxury brands and retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF) and Nordstrom, which count on sales to aspirational customers from the middle class. This advantage has proven valuable as the U.S. and European economies slid into a recession. In addition, due to its luxury image the prices for LVMH's goods are higher than those of retailers such as ANF and Nordstrom. This means they make a higher margin per item sold, leading to higher profits.
LVMH's revenue is derived from operations spanning the globe, with the U.S. as its largest single contributor of revenue. This has proven important as the U.S. economy went into a recession in 2008.[7] These sales decreases were more than compensated for by revenue increases in LVMH's other regions, namely Europe, Asia (excluding Japan) and Australia. Higher sales in those regions have resulted in overall increased sales for the company.
LVMH competes in the luxury market with an array of small private and publicly held companies that make designer clothing, wine, watches, and other luxury goods. Unlike LVMH, most of these companies usually have only one brand in their portfolios. The most direct competitors to LVMH are Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), a French luxury holdings company that includes such brands as Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci, and Compagnie Financière Richemont, a Swiss luxury company that includes such brands as Cartier and Montblanc.


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Testimonials from Our Residents & Their Families
Four years ago we researched and visited a number of communities and from our perspective it quickly became clear that The Crossings at Bon Air was best for us! One of the first things that impressed us was the attitude, sincerity and friendliness of the staff. Four years later the family feeling still remains.
I've been here less than a year but I love it. Everything they promised before we moved in has come true. I love my room here and I can enjoy doing what I like to do… I can pursue my hobbies. I certainly like the people that work here. I am 100% content and I mean that with sincerity. I don't have any reservations about it.
It is so important to me to share how happy my dad is now that he is at The Crossings. My dad has some dementia, and I realize he requires special needs and care. The staff there have provided that for us. Also, when I first talked to The Crossings, I told them dad was quiet and did not want to participate in activities. However, since becoming a resident at The Crossings, dad has renewed social skills, and is now one of the Ambassadors for The Crossings. His physician was previously concerned that he had lost weight; however, since moving into The Crossings dad has gained weight and his physician is very encouraged over this.
For anyone looking for the place that is "good enough" for those you love, The Crossings is that place. Moving Dad to an Independent/Assisted Living facility was an extremely difficult decision for my family. The Crossings facility has been the answer to my prayers. The staff welcomed us with open arms. Dad felt as though he was at home when he arrived. The Crossings staff helped me with the move, including the smallest of details, such as locking down the elevators and removing boxes. The Community was there every step of the journey to ease my worries and her support didn't end when the move-in was complete. Andrea continues to reach out to Dad to make sure he is "OK" and checks in with me to make sure I am as well. She is the face of The Crossings. Her genuine personal approach is how we were able to get through a difficult time. Knowing my Dad is comfortable and feels at home at The Crossings means everything to our family.
I drove passed the building as it was being built. My daughter and I lived together, and the home was becoming too small for the both of us. The two major points for me choosing The Crossings at Harbour View, were the fact that I could afford the move, as well as being close enough to be able to see my daughter on a regular basis.
I have been living here at The Crossings at Ironbridge for 8 years and this is the best senior living community I've ever seen. What impresses me most is the care and competence of the staff and I commend the management. The community is superb and the menu is fantastic and delicious. The community is clean and inviting, which truly makes it feel like home.
My reason for moving here was that I was lonely. And I knew I needed a change. When I came here I fell in love with the place, as it brought back a lot of memories from the past. The staff was great and didn't treat me like just another "tenant," and that's the case even now. I wake up every morning feeling great because I know I have so many friends and so much to do! The only time I'm in my apartment is in the morning and the evening. I feel like I'm on a cruise ship! My children are also pleased knowing I'm here and happy as well.


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Alice Trevithick knows there are few good deals when it comes to the world of income taxes. But in that system of take, she found a place that gives.
Alice Trevithick knows there are few good deals when it comes to the world of income taxes.
But in that system of take, she found a place that gives.
Each year, she heads over to the Prince of Peace Catholic Church with important tax papers in hand and spends time with an AARP volunteer who prepares and submits her return at no charge.
"I've been doing this at least 10 years. I'm very pleased with the service," said Trevithick, a gray-haired widow from Ormond Beach. "They are all very helpful, willing volunteers who give their time, patience and knowledge."
Smiling, she added: "Oh, and did I say it's free?"
The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide Program, started nationally in 1968, provides IRS trained and certified volunteers at about 20 locations throughout Volusia and Flagler counties on specific days and times until the April 15 filing deadline. Another program sponsored by the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is overseen locally by the United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties and offers the same free service at 16 sites in the two counties.
Inside a rear building at the Ormond Beach church Wednesday morning, eight men and women prepared taxes in two rooms, helping a steady stream of mostly retirees who had either made appointments or simply walked in.
"We average more than 50 a day. We get people who live off Social Security to those who have investments in the hundreds of thousands. But lower- to middle-class people are the norm," said Al Heffner, the local site coordinator and a volunteer AARP tax counselor for 15 years. "Most of the people, a good 75 percent, are returnees for years."
He said the AARP program accepts people of all ages and incomes, as long as a tax return is not too complicated, free of time-consuming issues such as rental property or depreciating equipment. The United Way-run program specifically is aimed at helping individuals and families of low to moderate incomes.
Bob Solomon, a retired private accountant who worked for decades in Daytona Beach, called both the AARP and United Way programs a "good option for a lot of seniors."
"They are trained for simple returns. They can knock them out fast," said Solomon, who is not affiliated with either program. "But if they run into a problem, people have to go elsewhere."
Solomon said he never considered the free tax-preparation services competition, adding that most accountants "don't want those little returns."
Shelia Jackson, the United Way's Campaign for Working Families program coordinator the last three years, said the local VITA-sponsored program she oversees will prepare about 3,000 returns this year, up about 500 from 2012.
"It grows more and more each year," he said of the number of returns done. "What we're trying to do is keep people from going to predator lenders, or pay at places where they don't get all their money back. There are no fees."
John Holcomb, a volunteer tax consultant, helped establish the local program nine years ago, after hearing about VITA in other parts of the country.
"It seemed like a good thing to do for this community," he said. "The IRS had determined that $10 million in the area for earned income tax credits had not been claimed."
Holcomb said 23 volunteers at three locations in Volusia County provided the tax service that first year. This year more than 120 certified volunteers — people of different ages and working backgrounds — are helping retirees and economically challenged families at 16 sites in two counties.
"It's a perfect fit. The people appreciate it and the volunteers want to help," said Holcomb, a retired accounting and finance professional. "It is rewarding. Each of us does hundreds of tax returns. Obviously it's nice when they get a big return."
Holcomb has done tax returns at South Daytona's Piggotte Community Center since February. This year for the first time, both the United Way and AARP have joined forces at a site, splitting daytime and evening shifts on Thursdays.
"It's our first joint effort. I'd like to see more of it," he said. "It makes sense, since we can serve more people."
David and Jean Allen, retirees in their late 60s from Daytona Beach, spent about an hour with Holcomb earlier this week, hoping to find a way to lessen the tax blow.
"You keep good records," Holcomb said, going through a mileage log listing trips to doctors and the pharmacy — all deductible. "You don't want to give the IRS more than you need to."
But still, the Allens ended up owing money to cover a retirement account distribution, no fault of Holcomb's.
"This saves us a little chunk of money," said Jean Allen, who spent $128 on their return last year at a big box store. "He (Holcomb) was very polite and helpful, and took his time. Last year, it was rush, rush, rush."
Richard Ladd, 78, a semi-retired civil engineer, oversees one of the three AARP program's districts in Volusia County — the New Smyrna Beach area.
"Most of the people who come in are retired. But we don't even check ages," he said. "We can cover about 90 percent of the returns."
Ladd, a volunteer for 11 years, said the tax service is rewarding in very different ways for both preparers and participants.
"Most people are so happy someone out there is willing to do this, and do it correctly," he said. "And we save them money, maybe $200 to $500 on a return. That's why I volunteer."