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Repair Program
Die Loadiing and Repair Specialists
Our innovative repair program for heat shrink die assemblies and screw plug assemblies provides a unique solution for reusing valuable components.
This cost effective and time saving system starts with semi-finished blanks already in stock which drastically reduces lead times.
How it Works
When you set up a repair program through the LinkTool Group, we will stock replacement items for your punch or die assemblies at our facility in order to provide you with the most efficient turnaround possible– allowing you to minimize downtime and keep your business running smoothly.
When we receive your used dies, we disassemble, inspect, and replace only what is worn; then resize after the assembly process. Replacing only failed components and reusing those that are still in good condition saves you time and money.
Then, final inspection by our highly experienced quality technicians will ensure that all specifications are met.
Our goal is to help you maximize your production. Let us customize a repair program for you so you are prepared for the inevitable. | {
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Most Popular Articles
S.C. earthquake rattles Newton residents
Earthquakes are so rare in Georgia, many Newton County residents didn’t realize they felt the effects of one Friday evening, instead attributing the brief shaking of their homes to strong winds, tornadoes, trains, a sonic boom and even a car crashing into a garage.
A 4.1 magninute earthquake outside of Edgefield, S.C. – near the Georgia border, about 30 miles north of Augusta – shook homes across parts of three states around 10:23 p.m. Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, but no damage or injuries have been reported.
Jody Nolan, deputy director of the Newton County Emergency Management Agency, said Saturday he hadn’t heard of any damage.
Residents, however, had plenty to report about their experience through social media, which is how most news organizations first learned of the storm.
"Ground trembled and shook the house here in Newborn. I thought it was a tornado., because it rained really hard and got real windy and noisy right before the ground and house started shaking, and in less than 10 seconds the rain and wind stopped and so did the shaking," Nancy Cronic said on The News’ Facebook site, saying the experience was similar to the tornado the town experienced a few years ago.
Amy Kimble Boyd said she felt it while in her daughter’s room above the garage, but her husband on the other side of the house didn’t feel a thing.
"I thought someone had hit our garage or that I was losing my mind!," Boyd said on Facebook.
Porterdale resident Vicky McEachern Atkinson thought it might have been a sonic boom – the noise made by the shock wave of an aircraft traveling faster than the speed of sound.
"Doors popped and roof shook. Thought it must be a sonic boom. Didn’t know it was an earthquake till this morning," she said.
Kaylin Calhoun said the quake "rattled the sconces on the wall of my bedroom; it was kinda freaky."
However, Ragen Maloy Cantrell was one of the few who said she identified the sensation of an earthquake immediately.
"Knew right away, when I heard that telltale rumbling, what was happening – heard my dishes vibrating, but only felt a slight shimmy - lasted about 10 seconds," Cantrell said on Facebook. "Lived in Japan for two years, so we’ve been through some strong earthquakes - strongest one was 6.5 - now, that will effectively relocate some furniture!"
Smaller earthquakes are are felt once every year or two, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with moderately-damaging earthquakes hitting the region of the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee once every few decades. The largest earthquake in that region was a magnitude 5.1 earthquake in 1916.
USGS geophysicist Dale Grant said this was a large quake for the area. Residents reported feeling the quake as far west as Atlanta and as far north as Hickory, N.C., each about 150 miles from Edgefield.
William Doar, with the South Carolina Geological Survey, told Columbia, S.C.-based WLTX that the size of the earthquake was fairly rare, noting the state usually only gets 1 and 2-magnitude quakes.
"Every decade or so we get one of these bigger ones. ... The way the crust is, the actual rock, the land that we have on the East Coast, doesn’t leave us susceptible to lots of big earthquakes," Doar told the TV station.
The largest earthquake ever recorded on the East Coast was a 7.3-magnitude quake near Charleston in August 1886 that killed at least 60 people. | {
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Living Lei Chic: TOR Boutique
April 12, 2012 at 1:49 PM HST - Updated June 26 at 5:26 PM
(HawaiiNewsNow) - You may be familiar with TOR jewelry, but now the beautifully handcrafted pieces have a new home in a Kailua boutique! At TOR Boutique you can find plenty of TOR's signature pieces, but Owner Caroline Hay also filled the space with her own discoveries, including items she fell in love with during a trip to Bali last November. Dig through thick, colorful, handmade cotton scarves that can double as sarongs; jewel-toned embroidered bags with braided handles and pom poms, sewn by a native tribe... TOR Boutique is located at 45 Hoolai St. in Kailua, (808)282-5678. A grand opening and preview sale will be held this Thursday, April 5 from 3-8 p.m. For more information, visit TOR Boutique on Facebook or shop TOR Jewelry online | {
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Seven held over family death fire
Seven men have been arrested in connection with the deaths of a mother and her three children who were killed in a house fire.
PUBLISHED: 19:44, Wed, Sep 25, 2013
The scene of the fire in Wood Hill, Leicester [PA]
Leicestershire Police said the arrests came after officers executed warrants at several properties in the Leicester area.
The men were detained in connection with the fire in Wood Hill on Friday 13, in which Shehnila Taufiq, 47, her daughter Zainab, 19, and sons Bilal, 17, and Jamil, 15, all died.
A force spokesman said the men, aged 16, 18, 20, 21, 24 and two 19-year-olds, remain in police custody while inquiries continue.
Detective Superintendent Kate Meynell, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: "We appreciate that a number of residents may have been concerned with the police presence this morning, and we would like to thank the local community for their understanding and patience as officers carried out these warrants.
"This morning's activity was part of the ongoing investigation into the four deaths in Wood Hill earlier this month.
"We would also like to encourage anyone with information regarding the fire who has not already spoken to the police to contact us."
Kemo Anthony Porter, 18, of Browning Street, Leicester, has been charged with murdering the family and is due to appear at Leicester Crown Court at a later date.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Leicestershire Police on 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. | {
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Understanding Hormones
Understanding Hormones
What are hormones?
Hormones are chemical messengers that carry important “to-do” instructions to organs in your the body. This test will measure whether or not your active “call to action” hormone levels are adequate.
Why test my hormones?
When your hormones are out of balance important “to-do” messages don’t get sent and this leads to poor organ function. Poor organ function leads to disease symptoms and chemical imbalances.
Do You Relate?
Trouble falling asleep or waking up in the night?
Less able to handle stress?
Feeling anxious?
More difficulty making decisions?
Increased criticism of self and others?
Obsessive thinking and worrying?
Uncharacteristic memory loss and foggy thinking?
Fatigue?
Low Libido?
Depression?
What is hormone testing?
Only saliva testing measures the “active” levels of hormones in your body. There are several hormones to consider measuring based on your symptom picture. If you have fatigue or anxiety or a hard time handling stress Dr. Neale may consider measuring your stress hormone cortisol. If you have a decreased libido or increased libido, heavy menstrual bleeding, difficulty loosing weight, brain fog, difficulty staying focused, infertility, or emotional lability Dr. Neale may consider measuring your sex hormones progestorone, estrogen, and testosterone. Talk with Dr. Neale to discuss which hormone test panel that is appropriate for your individual symptom picture and if Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) is the solution for you.
How do you test my hormones?
You and Dr. Neale will work together to determine which hormone test panel is appropriate for your symptom picture. You will be given a test collection kit to take home with you. Then on a specific day of the month Dr. Neale will select, you will collect a small sample of your saliva. You then mail in the kit and once your results are in, Dr. Neale will arrange a follow up appointment to discuss your hormone levels and recommend treatment.
What are the benefits of testing your hormones?
Once you know what underlying hormone imbalance is causing your symptoms it is just a matter of adding natural treatments and lifestyle adjustments to correct it. Hormones play a vital role in the protection of the cardiovascular system, the brain and central nervous system, bones, muscles, skin, eyes, and most tissues in the body. | {
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CC: I want to congratulate you, first of all, on
getting your own star in the Hollywood WALK OF FAME.
ALAN MENKEN: A little bit like an out-of-body experience. [laughs] It was
a trip, I'll tell ya. It was pretty amazing.
CC: There are under 2400 total stars out there, and there are
less than 100 stars that are dedicated to composers, so that already puts
you in rarefied air. What does it mean to you know that it's a couple
days' removed?
ALAN MENKEN: Wow, I didn't even know those facts. That's fabulous. It makes me feel special and great. Sometimes it feels
unreal, because I just do what I do, and those moments where I get to feel
that people really like it - it's a wonderful thing. You don't always get
those moments. A lot of the times you get the critics, and the cynics,
which is just the way it goes, but it's nice that life has the other side
of people, when they really give you that kind of a moment. It's really
special.
CC: You had composer RICHARD SHERMAN, who wrote the
unforgettable song, “It's A Small World”, speak. How did that come about? Did
you choose him?
ALAN MENKEN: I did. I thought it would be so appropriate to have Richard
be the one to give the speech, because I feel like I've got to follow in
the footsteps of the SHERMAN BROTHERS at DISNEY. It's my DISNEY work that
is primarily responsible for me having that star. Richard has been so
gracious, warm and supportive in ways that you never would've necessarily
expected. I'm very touched that he did that.
CC: Now you've had
at least a decade of a working relationship with HOWARD ASHMAN.
Had he been able to be present, what do you think he would've said about
you and to you during that ceremony?
ALAN MENKEN: I would've presumed that Howard would have had one up there
first or at the same time. I think Howard would've expressed his pride in
our accomplishments and he probably would've said something that would've
made me break down and cry, because he was so smart, perceptive about
people, and compassionate. It's a big loss in my life, losing a writing
partner. It's been about 20 years since he's been gone.
CC: It's a shame that he doesn't have a star there, but I believe he will.
ALAN MENKEN: It's true, you're right. In fact, they should do that
tomorrow. In fact I hadn't even thought about that. You keep telling me
a lot of things I haven't thought about. He should have a star and they
should do that. It's hard when you're gone; there's probably nobody
lobbying for you to have that.
CC: Yes, I believe it'll happen someday. He should be placed very close to
you, hopefully the next star right over. Second star to the right will be
HOWARD ASHMAN.
Let me ask you about your most recent
project, which is TANGLED. I've listened to the soundtrack and
what amazes me is that, every time out, you're able to capture something
that makes it a totally entertaining listen; both the songs and the score. The first question that
comes to my mind is that you've been at this for a while, from THE LITTLE
MERMAID, which was the revival animated feature, now up to TANGLED, which
is a 3D-animated film. How has the process of writing music for these
DISNEY features changed for you, if at all?
ALAN MENKEN: The changes that happen aren't really linear. They're more
cyclical. You go from periods where people are very supportive of
musicals, to periods where people are very wary of musicals. You simply
have to adjust to those circumstances accordingly. I guess the main
difference is that I'm simply older and more experienced. Obviously, I
have a greater sense of what I do well, and what I should do. But with
that said, when you pair me with young directors, they might not want me
to be in my comfort zones. A lot of times people will say “let's move Alan
out of his comfort zone, because we want something different”. I love and
appreciate that. So the main difference is that when I come into the room,
I carry a lot of extra weight with me. I'm sort of the “grand old man”.
Some of these people may think to themselves: “Is Alan going to be the
800-lb. gorilla in the room?” or “Is ALAN going to be difficult?”, only
because I've done this a lot. It's often important for me to get off my
high-horse and allow people to feel that it's okay for us too be working
on their first musical; for me to be in there with them and discovering
along with them. So it's a challenge for me too.
CC: Is it becoming an increasing challenge because of your storied
career and all the awards that you've won?
ALAN MENKEN: The only increasing challenge is the fact that right now, at
the age of, dare I say, 61, I have probably more going on in my career
than almost ever had going on before. There were periods like MERMAID and
BEAUTY where I was juggling a lot of things, but now I'm juggling a lot of
things that are all going into production; mostly stage things right now.
There's a lot on my plate. The challenge is trying not to get exhausted to
be honest. I haven't had a good vacation in a while, and that's upsetting
to me. But I do feel responsible I feel like I want to get my projects to
a place where they're in some form of completion before I walk away from
them.
CC: This time you're working with GLENN SLATER as the lyricist. You've
worked with him before on THE LITTLE MERMAID, The BROADWAY production in
2008.
ALAN MENKEN: And I worked with him on HOME ON THE RANGE, SISTER ACT and
LEAP OF FAITH.
CC: How is that collaborative effort?
ALAN MENKEN: It's great. Glenn is a brilliant collaborator. He's
dramaturgically very smart. He's probably a bit younger than me. Somewhere
in the vicinity of 15-20 years younger. He's beginning to be a very
sought-after lyricist. He just worked with ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER on the
sequel to PHANTOM in London. I think he's working with DANNY ELFMAN on a
project called HOUDINI, and yet Glenn has not had his breakthrough “hit”.
As his friend and collaborator, I'm so hoping that this is a project where
he'll get the recognition he deserves. He's really smart and a good
collaborator. He's very hard on himself, like HOWARD ASHMAN and STEVEN
SCHWARTZ, two people who are very bright and very hard on themselves.
They're very intense, and Glenn is also in that mold.
CC: When the time crunch is on, and you're working on a project
like TANGLED, how do you divide your time amongst writing the songs versus
the score? I would imagine that you write the songs first because you have
to score the picture later on.
ALAN MENKEN: Yes. It's pretty much separated by year or even more. In the
case of this project, the song production took us all the way to late
spring of this year. Simultaneously were were finishing this whole
production by doing spotting sessions for the scoring sessions. One went
right into the other. This came right down to the wire, and they are very
different processes.
CC: When you're working on a DISNEY feature - and this probably isn't
exclusive to DISNEY features-, is there one key that you have to nail, or
that you have to get a hold of, which opens up the door to all of the
other songs, cues and themes that you have to write?
ALAN MENKEN: The main keys to figure out are: #1, dramatically, the
mechanism by which the story will be told through song, and #2, the
dominant musical vocabulary which will be used to tell the story through
song, and why. I ask myself why that vocabulary, and how does it inform
the story? Audiences should in some ways be in on what you're doing, if
not on a conscious level, then at least on a sub-conscious level. They
should say, for example, “Ah, that reminds me of the 60's, and that kind
of energy. I understand it and it feels right for this”. And if you've
done your job well, it'll come across. If you haven't, people well say
“Strange choice”.
CC: In your opinion, where does TANGLED fit amongst all of your DISNEY
works?
ALAN MENKEN: Honestly, I can't tell you. It's too fresh. There are things
about it that put it up there with the best of them. It's the 50th
animated release. It's the 1st 3D-CGI musical. It's a very contemporary
sound, and it was maybe one of the hardest puzzles to solve as far as
making it work as a musical, because of the nature of the story. It took
so much adaptation and so much work to make a story that was compelling.
We're still on the first blush of seeing how people react to it, and so
far the reactions are pretty good. If you were to ask me 8 months ago, I
would've said “Oh my God. I don't know if this is even going to work”. But
it really came together. A lot of credit for that goes to the directors
who are just fabulously talented.
CC: And, working with MANDY MOORE and
DONNA MURPHY, how was that?
ALAN MENKEN: And ZACHARY LEVI too. They're wonderful. They're so
professional and so talented, into what they do, forth-coming with ideas,
and working with them is just great.
CC: Do you still find
the DISNEY feature a challenge, or are you looking to being involved more
in Broadway, doing more there, or are you up for more DISNEY, if they've
already offered it? Are you still game for the DISNEY feature film?
ALAN MENKEN: There's literally no experience in my life that tops, or even
equals working on a DISNEY animated musical. It really is for me, an art
form that has defined my career now. I love them. I devote as much of my
own soul and energy into these as I do to any stage musical. The door by
which they enter is our culture, and it's such a wonderful one. I love doing them and I would keep doing them forever if they
keep coming my way. That said, my career is more than just animated
features. I have lots of stage musicals and other film projects that I'm
doing, and I do want to have my career grow beyond simply being a composer
for animated films, but it is the top. It's no question. I don't think
there will ever be another medium that will be more associated with me
than animated musicals. | {
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} |
11.02.2015 - Trend Micro Virus Definitions - 12.127.50
The Official Pattern Release or OPR is Trend Micro's latest compilation of patterns for identified viruses. It is guaranteed to have passed a series of critical tests to ensure that customers get optimum protection from the latest virus threats. | {
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} |
Dr. Amy L. Diede, MD
Family Medicine
Dr. Diede's Overview
Dr. Amy L. Diede graduated from the University of North Dakota College of Medicine in 1995. She works in Apple Valley, MN and specializes in Family Medicine. Dr. Diede is affiliated with United Hospital. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Tag Archives: West Sacramento
Authorities can call your cell phone in emergency
[adrotate group=”4″]
FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — DEC 28, 2011 —
By Steve MarschkeNews-Ledger Editor
If you have a telephone landline in West Sacramento, you’re probably already in the city’s emergency calling program. It’s part of a regional system that lets authorities reach you with a recorded message in case of a major emergency.
But those of you with cell phones can register those numbers with the system as well.
The system “is intended to be used for large scale phone calling in the event of a disaster like a flood, fire or so forth,” said Sergeant Nathan Steele of the West Sacramento Police Department. “Generally speaking, most land lines in the city have been entered.”
[adrotate group=”9”] The system can target neighborhoods, and has been used to warn residents of a fleeing felon on the loose nearby, or to get the word out when an “at risk” person has gone missing. It could also be used to help get the word out if an evacuation is needed, automatically dialing homeowners in an affected area.
You can match your cell phone number to your address for the system by going online this link at the West Sacramento Police Department: click here.
Copyright News-Ledger
McGowan to run again
Michael McGowan: Representative of West Sacramento and Clarksburg on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors (courtesy photo)
FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — DEC 21, 2011 —
By Steve MarschkeNews-Ledger Editor
West Sacramento’s Mike McGowan announced this month he will run to defend the Yolo Board of Supervisors seat he has held since 1993. He has also just been named president of the California State Association of Counties – which is now involved in serious negotiations with the administration of Governor Jerry Brown as Brown tries to tackle state debt.
[adrotate group=”9″] “The primary issue now is ‘realignment’ and reform, and what might happen if the planned $6 billion (in new state cuts) are triggered,” said McGowan. “Counties are really an extension of the state, and we are the folks who implement a whole lot of federal and state programs – like welfare, food stamps, indigent health. In a city, the functions are primarily police, fire and public works, sewer, water and garbage. . . We (counties) have to do that in our unincorporated areas, but we have to provide state services as well.”
The governor proposes to shift more duties from the state to the counties, and the struggle is over making sure that enough revenue comes along with it.
‘Realignment’ is a fancy word for shifting more work to the counties,” said McGowan. “We want to make sure the money will be there, too.”
McGowan said he thinks that local agencies can serve their communities better on a lot of fronts than the state, so in principal, “realignment” could work well.
“I think it depends on the funding,” he said. “I believe locals are really better at identifying a problem, because we live in it, we’re here.”
And how’s Yolo County doing on the whole?
McGowan said he and his fellow board members, fortunately, have shared a common vision for development. As a former West Sacramento mayor (the city’s first, actually) McGowan saw growth as the city’s friend. It’s different for the county.
[adrotate group=”10″] “There’s a strong buy-in from the average citizen in Yolo of what we’re trying to do here,” he told the News-Ledger. “One of the best things about Yolo County is what hasn’t changed. We haven’t developed much at all in the unincorporated area, and have stayed true to the notion that development should occur in the cities. When you leave any city limit in Yolo County, you are immediately in the country. There’s no blur.”
After almost 20 years on the board, McGowan sees himself as something of the “grayback gorilla,” he said. He’s been involved in health administration, Native American casino issues, water rights from Conaway Ranch, and more.
“It is busy. I love it.”
To comment on this article, please visit the same article at our sister website, www.WestSac.com.
Support local journalism, and see all our articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento.
You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to [email protected] (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).
Copyright News-Ledger 2011
OPINION: whether to answer ‘just a few questions’
NEWS-LEDGER — DEC 21, 2011
EDITORIAL
The local school board has approved a contract with a political consultant to explore a new school bond or parcel tax in West Sacramento. The measure would seek to raise funds to build a performing arts center at the new high school, and to start a new technical education center for some of the district’s non college-going students.
A new ballot measure would probably also fund other projects around the district – partly out of widespread need for things such as facility repair, and partly out of a political strategy to get as many community members as possible to “buy in” to a new bond measure. Typically, in a new bond measure, there’s a little something for everybody – something for the high school in Southport, and something for parents of a kid in the second grade in Broderick.
[adrotate group=”7″] WUSD’s consultant will conduct interviews to try to determine community concerns and also to explore the campaign politics likely to surround a ballot measure for November, 2012.
This news is a reminder about political surveys and interviews in general: things are often not what they seem when someone is interviewing you for the political issue or campaign of the day. And, merely by participating, you may end up accidentally helping a political effort you oppose.
Often, when a survey company calls you, you aren’t told exactly who they’re working for. But even when you are told (as you presumably will be if you’re picked for one of these WUSD school bond interviews), your answers will probably be used in ways you don’t foresee.
A few comments about campaign surveys in general:
Some surveys are known as “push polls” – under the guise of asking for your opinion, the surveyor is asking you carefully crafted questions designed to push you in the direction they want you to go: “Would you support Measure Q if you knew it would cost this city over 4,500 jobs?”
Well, you may have been in favor of Measure Q before you got that phone call. But now, they have you wondering. There may be no factual basis at all to believe that Q would cost anybody a job – but now, you’ve got that job-killing idea stuck in your head.
Political surveys can also be designed to figure out how to get a campaign around your defenses, and the defenses of voters with like minds to yours. By answering questions from a survey commissioned by one of these people, you may help them figure out how to better craft their campaign – and defeat your own point of view.
So be careful when you pick up the phone and agree to answer “just a few questions.”
——————————————————
When a discount liquor store applied for a permit to take over the former Blockbuster Video site at West Capitol Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard, the News-Ledger objected.
West Capitol has a troubled reputation already for crime, drugs and alcohol. There are plenty of other liquor-vendors on the same block. And the site was just too prominent, facing one of the city’s busiest intersections and viewed by just about everybody heading to the nearby city hall, community center and city college campus.
The city planning commission evidently had some of the same concerns, giving the liquor store a thumbs-down.
Instead, a Chase bank branch has just opened at the location, boasting a spiffy and attractive new façade. Now, Chase is one of those American mega-banks whose mortgage lending practices helped create the economy we’re in today.
That begs the question: would that streetcorner’s image have been better off with the liquor store?
To comment on this editorial, please visit the identical article at our sister website, www.WestSac.com.
Copyright News-Ledger 2011
New K9 training facility open
FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — DEC 14, 2011 —
Dogs practice climbing over & around obstacles — and taking on the ‘bad guys’ —
On command, the police dog goes after handler Nick Barreiro, who is wearing protective clothing. The officer will shortly be looking for a police dog of his own, as he is scheduled to become a K9 team member in 2012. (Photo by ERIC HARDING, www.ebharding.com)
[adrotate group=”12″] By Steve MarschkeNews-Ledger Editor
Police dog teams from the region celebrated the opening of a new West Sacramento K9 agility training course on Nov. 30 with a demonstration of their dogs’ skills.
The dog training park is at a fenced, grassy facility on Oak Street, near Home Depot. And it features refurbished equipment largely thanks to the Wyotech auto repair trade school in town, which turned the needed metalwork into something of a class project.
Officer Roger Kinney – partner of “Zar,” the Dutch shepherd – said the whole project cost upward of $20,000, and took a lot longer than he expected.
“There are 14 pieces of equipment, including ladder-climb, wall jumps, a teeter-totter to test balance, culverts to walk through, barrels to jump over – these are things similar to what these dogs may encounter on the street,” said Kinney. “We put down 6,000 square feet of sod, and it’s fenced, with cameras around. I started this in October of 2010 and thought it would take two months to do, but it took 13 months.”
FAR LEFT: Zar bounds off a barrel on the new agility training course for K9s in West Sacramento (Photo by ERIC HARDING, www.ebharding.com)
The property belongs to the city (part of a public works operation) and it used to be a grassy field with old K9 training equipment on it. The land was graded and sodded, with sprinklers and Trex decking material added where needed. The old equipment was disassembled, rebuilt, sandblasted and powdercoated.
“We didn’t skimp on anything,” said Kinney. “It’s the nicest agility course in the whole area. When I’m retired as a dog handler, it will still be going strong.”
Who will maintain the training facility?
“The field is maintained by the Department of Probation – people arrested for drunk driving and so forth come out once every couple of weeks and mow it and keep it nice.”
[adrotate group=”9″] Kinney and Zar are one of two K9 teams currently on duty in West Sacramento. The other team is made up of Officer Dave Stallions and “Champ” – who are scheduled to cycle out of K9 duty to be replaced by Officer Nick Ferrero and a dog yet to be selected.
“We go to any calls of violence, whenever a K9 is on duty,” explained Kinney. “Certainly, we go to any call with a weapon involved. The dogs can locate somebody who is hiding, and they can run very fast if the suspect decides to flee that way. I live in West Sacramento, so if something happens (when I’m off-duty) I can usually be anywhere in the city with Zar in around ten minutes.”
“When a suspect is hiding, we make an announcement when we show up,” added Kinney. “We’ll say ‘Police K9 is here – come out now or get bit.’ Only about five to ten percent of the people decide to get bit by a dog. Fully 90 or 95 percent that are hiding will come out and surrender.”
Zar – who happens to be a mild-mannered socialite when not chasing a bad guy – his trained for other duties, as well.
“Are you sure he’s a police dog?” is a question Officer Kinney is used to hearing, after Zar starts schmoozing with the public. Here he gets some face time with a young student at Bridgeway Island Elementary School. Unlike some K9s, Zar doesn’t need a muzzle to mingle. (photo by Ruth Pagano, West Sacramento Police Department)
Zar will search houses and cars to find drugs,” added Kinney. “He can also locate evidence – if somebody tosses a gun in the bushes, he can look for that.”
It was apparent watching work at the demonstration on Nov. 30 that Zar was having fun, going after a “suspect” in a padded suit with joy, a wagging tail, and obvious relish.
“It is absolutely a game to them,” said Kinney. “But Zar does know the difference between work and play. I would say he just gets more excited when it’s real. Once, he had a guy beat him really bad with a stick, opening a wound on his head. I had to take him to the vet – but Zar’s tail was still wagging, as if to say, ‘I’m OK!’”
K9 exercises at the new training field in West Sacramento (photo by Eric Harding)
Support local journalism, and see all our articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento.
You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to [email protected] (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).
Copyright News-Ledger 2011
LOCALS IN UNIFORM: Redlich & Hall
[adrotate group=”10″] FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — DEC 21, 2011 —
Air Force Airman Marti R. Redlich graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Redlich earned distinction as an honor graduate.
She is the daughter of Kelly and Martin Redlich of West Sacramento.
She is a 2003 graduate of River City High School.
During the eight-week program, Hall completed a variety of training which included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety. An emphasis was also placed on physical fitness.
Hall is a 2009 graduate of River City Senior High.
[adrotate group=”9″] Support local journalism, and see all our articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento.
You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to [email protected] (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).
Copyright News-Ledger 2011
Riders bearing gifts: West Sac horse club makes a toy run
West Sacramento Trail Riders Association riders line up in front of Station 45’s ladder truck in Southport (photo courtesy of W.S. Fire Department)
[adrotate group=”7″] FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — DEC 21, 2011 —
About 25 riders on horseback from the West Sacramento Trail Riders Association trekked to Fire Station 45 on Lake Washington Boulevard on Dec. 11 bearing gifts.
Altogether, about 30 people affiliated with the horsemen’s club visited the station for hot chocolate and coffee. They brought along dozens of toys for a firefighters’ toy drive, earmarked for local kids whose Christmas needs a little bit of brightening.
“Station 45 served hot coffee and chocolate to the riders, and our horses were decorated for the holidays,” reported Charyl Silva, a local chiropractor and equestrienne.
How many toys did the group contribute?
“Target gave us 10 percent off our purchases and our club spent $300,” said Silva. “Individual riders also spent their own money. Altogether, it was dozens of toys.”
The toy ride is an annual holiday tradition for the group, which is based out of Southport.
Support local journalism, and see all our articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento.
You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to [email protected] (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).
Copyright News-Ledger 2011
Lady Raiders defeat Monterey Trails
[adrotate group=”4″]
Katie King, a junior playing for River City’s varsity team, goes up for the shot, Katie was one of the high scorers with 14 points. Photo by DE’ONNA JACK
[adrotate group=”7″] FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — DEC 21, 2011 —
On December 13, the River City High School girls basketball team hosted Monterey Trails. Only j.v. and varsity squads played, so the RCHS freshmen had the night off. Both RCHS Teams were victorious. The final score in the junior varsity game was 55-30 in favor of the Raiders, and the RCHS varsity won 61-45. Raider girls basketball will be back home again on January 4, 2012 when the team hosts Woodland.
Makaila Robinson, a sophomore in action for the JV squad Photo by DE’ONNA JACK
Support local journalism, and see all our articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento.
You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to [email protected] (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605). | {
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} |
How to make it
Pre-heat oven 425
Place 1 pie crust in the bottom of pie pan.
Mix sugar,flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.
Stir in apples and lemon juice. Make sure they are coated well.
Put in to pie crust.
Pour caramel over apples, then sprinkle with nuts. You can use more or less than the whole jar of caramel. Depends on how much of that flavor you want in your pie. I use about 3/4 of a jar and its not over powered by the caramel.
Cover with second pie crust.
Cut slits in the top of the crust. Brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar before you bake to make it pretty;)
*Cover the crust edges with foil or a crust gaurd to prevent them from burning.
Bake for 35 to 45 min. should be a nice golden brown when done.
Let it cool to room temperature for caramel to firm up,or eat it hot with ice cream and drizzle the hot caramel from the pie pan over the top. Either way it is soooo good! | {
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New book in the library : The genome generation
The genome generation
The year 2001 marked the moment when scientists first read the 3 billion letters of DNA that make up the human genome. This breakthrough begged questions such as What have we learned about evolution?How has it changed the way we practice medicine, grow crops, and breed livestock? and Is the genomic revolution an overhyped flop? Answering these and many other queries, this account covers revolutionary genetic developments in areas as diverse as medicine, agriculture, and evolution. From Botswana to Boston and from Australia to Mexico, the contributors to this work reveal what it means to be part of the genome generation. | {
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Judge backs city of Sacramento in arena lawsuit
A Sacramento judge issued a tentative ruling Thursday that a lawsuit challenging the city’s arena financing plan is premature, favoring the city’s argument that no final deal has yet been struck between the city and the Sacramento Kings to build the downtown facility.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene Balonon set a hearing for 1:30 p.m. today to allow both sides up to 20 minutes to present their arguments before issuing a final decision.
The lawsuit, filed in May, alleges that the city is trying to conceal the true amount of its investment, or subsidy, in the $448 million downtown arena project.
City officials and the Kings owners agreed earlier this year to an arena financing “term sheet” that requires the city to invest $258 million into the deal. City officials contend the term sheet merely establishes a process and framework that will lead to a definitive agreement, after further negotiations. Officials have said they expect to sign a final deal with the Kings in 2014. The city would own the arena; the Kings would operate it.
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Sacramento attorneys Jeffrey Anderson and Patrick Soluri argue in their lawsuit that the city is hiding the true nature of the deal, including a subsidy that is higher than the published $258 million. They contend the deal amounts to an illegal giveaway of city funds.
In his tentative ruling Thursday, Balonon indicated the lawsuit is premature because the term sheet is non-binding and doesn’t force the city to enter into further transactions.
“The Court has sustained (city’s) demurrer ... because Plaintiffs have not shown any action that is ripe for the Court’s review,” Balonon wrote.
Plaintiff attorney Soluri said he disagreed with the judge’s ruling, pointing out that the city already has spent money on arena consultants. Soluri said he wants the court go-ahead to depose people with knowledge of the arena plan in hopes of showing that the city is conducting a backroom deal.
“We are obviously going to challenge that tomorrow at court,” he said of the judge’s tentative ruling. “We have alleged specific allegations of fraud and misconduct. Should taxpayers have to wait a full year to have the right to challenge this fraud?”
Assistant City Attorney Matthew Ruyak said city officials are pleased with the tentative ruling, but will reserve further comment until the court issues its final ruling. | {
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} |
At 15:32 05/08/10, Ognyan Kulev wrote:
>Isn't direction implied in xml:lang which is part of the core XML spec?
No. This was considered for html, but the problem is that there are too
many languages written with Arabic, Hebrew, and other RTL scripts, and
some of them (the rarer ones) may not yet have a code, so it would be
difficult to implement this in a browser. That's why it was rejected.
Regards, Martin. | {
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} |
This app was released in this year’s Shmoocon’13 by Intrepidus Group. You can get the app from the Google play store. This app as the name suggests is an android security learner app, there are deliberate vulnerabilities in this app from bad logging to intent manipulation. There will series of blog posts which gives a walk through of each lesson.
Challenge Overview
OSIRIS Lab at NYU Tandon
The OSIRIS cybersecurity lab is an offensive security research environment where students analyze and understand how attackers take advantage of real systems. This approach gives our students a unique perspective and a proper foundation that allows them to master any area of security at the NYU School of Engineering.
Github: osirislab Twitter: osirislab
Theme available on Github. | {
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} |
Download
Member Rating
This Photo Set
(44 votes)
Alisha
Your Rating
This Photo Set
Alisha
Feel free to express your thoughts, feelings or ideas, but please do it in a fair and friendly manner - not only when commenting on the models, but also when responding to fellow contributors. Thank you.
Alisha, it is wonderful to see another of your galleries and I love the early shots in this set with you in some lovely lingerie. Any garments that show a pretty girl's bared bottom are very exciting for me. It is such a turn on to see your sweet buttocks. I love those tan lines.
Alisha, you are gorgeous from all angles but I especially love shots like this with your beautiful bottom bare and lovely. Your buttocks look so soft and shapely. I do love those tan lines that suggest we are very privileged to see images of your sweet naked bottom.
Alisha, when you smile you are more gorgeous than ever. I think this is the only pose with a look of pleasure on your pretty face and it is lovely. You are such a beautiful girl. Please enhance your beauty by engaging with us in this way. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
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Biron Signs One-Year Deal
“Marty had a strong finish to last season and we look for him to solidify into a top NHL netminder,” said Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier. “He has experience as a starter in the NHL and we look forward to his continued development with our organization.” | {
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NiteTalk: Miami Symphony Maestro Eduardo Marturet Gets Romantic
Published at 8:27 AM EDT on May 9, 2011
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Anyone who had the privilege of catching the Miami Symphony Orchestra's "Death and Resurrection" concert at Gusman Center a couple Sundays back will know the Maestro is a master at making magic. This weekend, MISO will be closing out its season with three shows of the most beautiful music ever created. Niteside got conductor/composer Eduardo Marturet to fill us in.
Before we get into what's coming up, I'd like to thank you for your recent Gusman Center performance, It was positively transcendent! Thank you! The idea of Death in music is always a tricky one; when performing a Requiem no matter how strictly metaphorically one takes it is always an emotional gamble. That is why I decided to follow it by the idea of Resurrection but instead of going on the serious and obvious path by performing Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony" (which would have been an overstatement if we think that another of his symphonies was performed at the Beach the same weekend). I decided, instead, to program a gorgeous diva [Eglise Gutiérrez] singing a most exquisite repertoire. The result was a perfect combination of sacred and profane, yin and yang, sadness and joy, which, after all is what life is all about, and, ultimately being born again!!!!
Well, those who missed it will have three last chances to catch MISO this weekend. Can you first tell us a quick bit about the Romantic Finale? After rebirth what else is better than a Romantic ending? That's what life should always have: A Romantic Finale! For ours we're presenting Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture," Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor" and Dvorak's "Symphony No. 8 in G Major." On Friday we'll be at the Gusman UM; on Sunday we'll be at New World Center.
You've twice now went on record with Brahms, but of the three composers do you have a particular favorite? The Rachmaninoff "Piano Concerto Nº2" is without a doubt the ultimate romantic classical work of all time!
In between Gusman UM and New World Center, MISO will be presenting the same program in a rather unusual setting. Care to fill us in? Yes, it's called Music in Unsuspected Places, and it takes place at Miami International Airport. We'll be performing those selections from Brahms, Rachmaninov, and Dvorak as passangers arrive at MIA's Terminal J, an extravaganza which honors the touristic side of Miami.
How'd that all come about? MISO's special guerrilla concerts!!!
Is there anything else we need to know before you go? Don't you dare to miss it !!!
The Miami Synphony Orchestra's Romantic Finale will be performed Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 13,14 and 15 at Gusman UM, Miami International Airport and New World Center. For more details call 305-275-5666 or log on here. | {
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} |
What are you looking for?
Borderlands The Pre-Sequel Review
Pumpkin sup mates! Today I want to talk about the recently released Borderlands 1.5. Borderlands the Pre-Sequel (BLPS), as the name states, tells the story between Borderlands and Borderlands 2, mostly explaining how Jack ended up becoming Handsome Jack, the evil Hyperion mastermind. The game is set up on Pandora's moon, Elpis, and the huge Hyperion moon base Helios.
Once again we have the choice between four new vault hunters; Athena the Gladiator, Wilhelm the Enforcer, Nisha the Lawbringer and Clap-Trap the Frag-Trap. Each one of them has a unique special skill that have nearly nothing in common with the previous 2 Borderland games, like Athena having a bullet absorbing shield which when charged can be thrown in a Captain America fashion or Wilhelm using his drones to give cover and support to the group.
Now to the actual review. If you expected the same huge improvements delivered by Borderlands 2 over Borderlands...WRONG. Let me explain.
Yesterday Stealthkilla and I beat the End-Boss and finished the first Walkthrough being now level 26. We only did 3-4 side quests, since there will be enough time to do them all in True Vault Hunter mode. I may have to update this review after reaching lvl 50 because I'm just starting to get into it.
It starts slow, but it gets better.
2K Australia took the job of making the best possible out f the Pre-Sequel of Borderlands 2, a game that had a fantastic script, hilarious voice acting and was overall a never ending enjoyment (89 points on Metacritic). Pretty difficult to top that you may think, well you are right, but 2K Australia tried it anyways.
When you first spawn in the game, somewhere in Helios, you are instantly in the middle of a shootout, your Echo device gets activated and you start shooting grunts because some Clap-Trap unit told you so. Where am I? Why am I shooting this people? Will I get a story driven tutorial like in the previous games? No, the game assumes you know how to move and shoot so its skips it and tells you to follow the little robot and go help Jack, who is pinned down two rooms ahead. You somehow manage to put the pieces together from the intro trailer and go help Jack. Helios is under attack so you escape to Elpis being shot out of the main gun of the moon base, which is kinda cool.
One main aspect of the script that irritates me is how they built it up. From previous Borderlands (and yes, I can't avoid comparing them, since they look identical) you were used to being constantly in motion with the story. With that I mean that things happened while you were walking/driving around, every other minute you had a conversation going on with a character or there was an event of some kind. Even though it is still partially present in BLPS, the whole story involving a quest is told you as you take or deliver the quest, so you have to stand there and listen. You cant even start walking to the next objective meanwhile because the Waypoint doesn't load until the next step of the quest. This happens way to often, not mentioning the quest objectives being 1000km apart from each other.
It gets to the point where you stop actively listening to the story because you are just looting some containers or jumping around to pass the time. Another thing that I found somehow strange is, since the Australian team of 2K made the game, and most of the voice actors are Australian, it seems that Elpis is exclusively inhabited by aussies. Its not by all means a game breaker, but you notice it right away.
Another thing you learn pretty quickly is, because there's a switch/button that activates something doesn't mean it will activate shit. There's ALWAYS a reason why it doesn't work, always, and you will have to run all the way back to turn on a generator that also doesn't work, so you need to spend another 15min just to search for some part to repair the generator and open a goddamn door. Even near the end of the campaign, Jack is counting down for an explosion (not gonna spoil anything) and Stealthkilla goes "It wont work" and bam! countdown stops at 1... Fucking made in china bullshit.
I still have to say that the story itself is very original, it makes sense as a whole, and even explains why some little details are the way they are in BL2, there were a few "aaaaaah THAT's why" moments throughout the campaign. The graphics are still the same as in BL2, of course overworked to fit the moons appearance, and they made a great work to make the whole thing alive through world events etc.
New Classes, same gameplay.
As I mentioned before there are four new classes to the Borderlands series. Even though I only have tested two of them I studied their skill trees and ended up a little confused. Let's start with Wilhelm, the Enforcer, since it is the one I have on level 26 now. You could say it is the successor of Roland and Axton. He doesn't have a stationary turret, but two drones, Wolf attacks and Saint heals you and accelerates shield recharge. The skill tree lets you customize your gameplay to more damage with the drones, more damage by yourself or getting a higher healing potential out of Saint. Pretty basic.
Athena is the Gladiator of the group, with shield and sword. Stealthkilla one hits me with her in every duel. She is able to absorb all incoming damage with her shield, charge it this way and throw it right into the enemies face with the absorbed damage as a bonus. Her skill trees are focused on the shields capabilities, one is for melee and the third one works around a buff called Maelstrom. This buff, depending on the skills chosen from that tree, increases mostly elemental damage. She is like a mix between Zer0, a siren, and Captain America.
Those two so far have solid main skills and specific skills to favour one specific type of gameplay. Nisha the Lawbringer is the precision type of character. She has a main skill makes her go full aimbot. By using the skill she is able to auto aim and switch between enemies with one single click and she gets increased everything during that time. They somehow tried to nerf it not giving the damage bonus to snipers and RPGs. I can understand that this skills wants to reflect that she is a very skilled gunslinger, but auto aim? Her three trees are mostly focused on gun damage; one works with a buff that works somehow like Maelstrom from Athena, the second one upgrades the main skill and the last increases everything that does ouchies.
The last class is a fan favourite, but that no one will end up using, not as a first character at least. Yes, I'm talking about the Frag-Trap. As the description says, his main skill "VaultHunter.exe" is classified as Malware. Well somehow... The skill/software he uses analyses the situation and loads a different module depending on what's happening around you, but there's still a randomizer in play. He has about 10 different modules at the beginning, and other modules can be unlocked by skills in any of the three skill trees. It also gives you full health and shields. I have only played about 3 hours with my Crap-Trap and I have to say, the skill just doesn't work for me. For example, one of the skills is a stationary turret, but since you never know what you'll be going to get, most of the time I am behind cover, press F for the health and suddenly there's a turret in front of me facing the wall. Or you need some extra firepower (one of the modules is the gunzerker skill from BL2) and you get a Psycho axe in your hands or a rubber duck floatie around your waist (deflects bullets). You can't really use his skill tactically. At least he is still as annoyingly funny as we know him.
Nothing new from the gameplay mechanics department. Well, that's actually a lie. There's one little detail that changes the gameplay significantly when outside or a zero atmosphere environment. Low gravity. Early in the game you get an Oz Kit, a force field helmet that lets you breath (duh!) and also lets you jetpack jump and slam into the ground. These helmets come with its own stats like elemental damage when slamming or airborne bonuses. Indoors its still the same, shoot at everything with a red health bar, and since there's artificial gravity you mostly can't jump high enough to slam.
They added an new type of weapon with its correspondent ammo, laser guns. From slow rate of fire concentrated laser shots up to one constant beam of death. They also created a new elemental type called Cryo (or frost) that slows down enemies up to the point where they completely freeze. This replacing Slag from BL2, since in BLPS they are still testing with it and its not being used by the weapons industry yet.
The one thing that really went south are boss fights. Well actually you cant really call them boss fights, more like badass fights maybe, they have a little bit more health and that's it. Not only are there only about 5 bosses, they also are way to weak and easy to kill. The only boss fight that really was entertaining and somehow challenging was the campaigns end boss, I really enjoyed that one, I'd even leap over and say it is as good as against The Warrior from BL2.
Please change for the True Vault Hunter mode.
Even though there are things I don't completely agree with in this game, I didn't lose hope yet.
This game's main gift is the fact that there are gazillions of different weapons in the game, it's impossible for you to get the same weapon twice. But there's something different in BLPS in comparison with the other two Borderlands... where's the loot? I mean, where's the good loot? We are now both Stealthkilla and I at level 26, we have killed every boss and finished the campaign so far. Do you know how many epic drops we have seen? About 5, 3 of them from the end boss. How many legendaries? None. The only legendary item was the quest reward for killing the end boss, a legendary head for our character... yay! I really really hope to see more shiny stuff being dropped in the second walkthrough, and much tougher enemies.
That's about everything I can say so far, still more that half of the game to go so, maybe the game ends up satisfying all my expectations and becomes as addictive as Borderlands 2 back in the day. One can only hope...
Summa Summarum
New story, new environments, new classes, new gun types and air combat (low gravity, jetpacks and slamming are just awesome) makes this a worthy third part of the Borderlands franchise. Even though, they could have worked a little bit more on the script and implemented more different gun models, since lots of them look exactly the same as in Borderlands 2. I know, it takes place between BL and BL2 so it makes sense, but it lacks a bit in that department. The rest is pretty okay, as soon as you get a few hours into it you feel like playing any Borderlands again, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Do I think it is a good game? Yes. Do I think it is worth 60.-? Not yet, this could have perfectly been a 30.- add-on to Borderlands 2, judging from the new content they delivered. But hey, again there will be a Seasons Pass with DLC Packs dropping every few months. So, at the end, its totally worth buying.
My rating: 8 broken doors out of 10
Cheers
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We picked it up again. Back in 2013, in the middle of our DayZ craze, Stealth and I were trying out some of the different new zombie survival games that were popping up through the Steam Early Access Program, one of them was 7 Days to Die. Also another seemingly good choice was The Dead Linger, with its 360 km2 map (compared to the 225 km2 of DayZ), but the pre-Alpha had nothing more to offer than flat landscape, a few buildings and some utterly retarded zombie IA. Glad we didn't invest more than 5 bucks in that game, because it got shelved in 2015 any ways. 7 Days to Die on the other hand had something appealing to me with it's sandbox base building survival thingy going on. "DayZ with Minecraft elements in it?" - I was thinking - "Gotta try that out".
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We picked it up again. Back in 2013, in the middle of our DayZ craze, Stealth and I were trying out some of the different new zombie survival games that were popping up through the Steam Early Access Program, one of them was 7 Days to Die. Also another seemingly good choice was The Dead Linger, with its 360 km2 map (compared to the 225 km2 of DayZ), but the pre-Alpha had nothing more to offer than flat landscape, a few buildings and some utterly retarded zombie IA. Glad we didn't invest more than 5 bucks in that game, because it got shelved in 2015 any ways. 7 Days to Die on the other hand had something appealing to me with it's sandbox base building survival thingy going on. "DayZ with Minecraft elements in it?" - I was thinking - "Gotta try that out".
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Cops & crime: Manchester's election-year problem
EDITORIALOctober 16. 2013 10:57PMCrime in Manchester (as in most cities) spikes every summer. It’s as predictable as kids lining up at Cremeland, bikers returning to Laconia, and guys showing off their tattoos at Hampton Beach. Just as predictable: in a municipal election year, someone will present the recurrence of this annual pattern as a sudden and unexpected rise in crime that requires an immediate remedy.
Positioning themselves for next month’s election, aldermen on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution stating that “city officials should be pursuing every opportunity to hire additional police officers, including applying for grants and funding through COPS or other applicable government programs.”
And here we go. The question, as always, is not whether Manchester could benefit from more officers on the beat. It could. The question is whether the city can fund those positions. It cannot. Applying for federal grants is no solution. As a condition of receiving the short-term grants, the city typically must promise to continue funding the positions for a specified period of time after the grants end. Such terms put the city in the position of having to raise taxes.
Tuesday’s resolution was proposed by Aldermen Dan O’Neil and Patrick Arnold, naturally. O’Neil never misses an opportunity to swell city union ranks, regardless of the cost, and Arnold is a candidate for mayor desperately in search of a message. Amazingly, he has settled on crime. He pretends that this summer’s seasonal spike represents an “epidemic” of violence. Or worse, he is an alderman who doesn’t know that crime swells in the summer and drops in the fall. | {
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DOT proposes new reg to protect bus passengers in rollover crashes
Performance requirements would reduce risk of ejection
The U.S. Department of Transportation'sNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a new federal motor vehicle safety standard to protect motorcoach and other large bus passengers in rollover crashes. The proposal aims to improve the structural design of large buses to ensure that passengers are better protected in a deadly vehicle rollover by ensuring that the space around them remains sufficiently intact and the emergency exits remain operable.
New vehicles must pass test
The standard would establish performance requirements that each new motorcoach and large bus must meet when subjected to a dynamic test in which the bus is tipped over from a raised platform onto a hard level surface. The proposed standard would:
Require space around occupant seating positions to be maintained to afford occupants a survivable space in a crash;
Require the seats, overhead luggage racks, and window glazing to remain attached to their mountings during and after the test; and
Require emergency exits to remain closed during the rollover test and operable after the test.
Modeled after European regs
Both the proposed test procedure and performance requirements are closely modeled after the European regulations for large buses. In a separate rulemaking action to improve safety even further, the Department is planning on finalizing requirements later this year for stability control technologies in these vehicles, which would help prevent rollovers from occurring.
Stricter oversight
“Approximately 700 million trips are taken on commercial buses each year. Raising the standard for a motorcoach’s durability, in the event of a crash, is critical to saving the lives of the passengers inside,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro. “In addition to taking critical steps to improve the structural design of buses, we are committed to further increasing motorcoach safety through stricter oversight, in-depth investigations into high-risk companies, and by ensuring that drivers are properly licensed and medically fit for the job.”
NHTSA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking can be viewed in the Federal Register and members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal for 60 days. NHTSA is proposing a compliance date of three years after publication of a final rule. Click here to view the NPRM.
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During this 60 minute, informative webinar presented by Safety Products Group, makers of BlueWater Rooftop Safety Solutions, and Fabenco In-Plant Safety Solutions, the issue of rooftop fall protection and prevention will be addressed. What is actually up on your facility’s roof that may be a fall hazard? What should you look for the next time you or one of your contractors is up on the roof to stay safe? What steps can you take to ensure your company and its people are always protected on your roof? | {
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Friday, April 18, 2008
Tattoos & Zoos
Wednesday was our playgroup's fourth annual zoo trip. The boys were as excited as always, but it was Adriana who was especially fun to watch. Since she had no recollection of ever being there before and because of her love of animals, she took it all in with a great amount of wonder. At the turtle exhibit, where there were about forty completely adorable baby turtles, little ducklings were swimming in the water almost close enough to touch. After reading over and over that ducks say "quack", I loved Adriana's wide eyes as she herself heard the ducklings quack. You'll have to forgive my lack of photos, but carting three little people around a hilly zoo without the prescence of Daddy is about a much as one lady can handle. Here are the two somewhat pathetic ones I managed.
Around our house, Monday evening are called "Three Men and a Little Lady Night". It's my chance to go grocery shopping and run errands all by myself. During a recent one, Daddy was giving Adriana a bath and came out to find that boys had hatched a plan to give themselves their own tattoos. It was one of the moments where prior to discussing the infraction of house rules, a camera was necessary. Since it was Daddy's first time with the Nikon d80, I thought it was only fair that he get his very own watermark. | {
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Microweber is an open source drag and drop CMS. The core idea of the software is to let you create your own website, online shop or blog. From this moment of creation on, your journey towards success begins. Tagging all along will be different modules, customizations and features of the CMS, among them many specifically tailored for e-commerce enthusiasts and bloggers.
Fat-Free Framework is an open-source web framework distributed under the GNU General Public License and hosted by GitHub and Sourceforge. The software seeks to combine a full featureset with a lightweight code base while being easy to learn, use and extend. | {
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Quantifying Comcast's Monopoly Power
from the merger-scrutiny dept
Comcast is a monopoly. The question is, how much of a monopoly is Comcast, and how much of a monopoly will it be after it absorbs Time-Warner Cable (TWC)?
To help quantify market influence, economists use the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), a metric that is calculated by adding the squares of the market shares of every firm in an industry. HHI produces a number between 0 (for a perfectly competitive industry) and 10,000 (for an industry with just one firm).
For HHI calculations, the question becomes: a percentage of what market? Discussions of the Comcast-TWC merger have often noted companies' shares of both the broadband and cable TV markets are comparable. Although their market shares in Internet and TV are similar, the difference in importance between the two markets cannot be overstated. Residential broadband is how every person reaches the Internet. In time, the Internet will become the way to reach almost all content.
By contrast, cable television is close to being an anachronism. Companies like Netflix, Amazon and YouTube (Google) already provide most of what cable television offers. In addition, new technology—Internet technology—allows much greater flexibility in the content consumers choose. Consumers do not need to subscribe to individual channels or watch advertisements—at least not to the extent they used to.
Because of how important the Internet is, the Comcast-TWC merger is primarily about broadband, not cable television. So the question is, what share of the high-speed Internet service will Comcast have? According to Free Press, Comcast-TWC would have 47% of truly high-speed broadband service. This figure is extremely conservative. It ignores that the Comcast-Verizon duopoly has many methods at its disposal—most importantly, dividing up geographic markets ("I'll take Philadelphia, you take New York") and dividing up entire industries ("I'll take residential broadband, you take wireless").
Comcast's CEO has admitted that Verizon FiOS is Comcast/Time-Warner's only competitor in high-speed Internet service. And, Comcast has admitted that it has 40% of the high-speed broadband market. Comcast-TWC would have a subscriber base that reached 70 million, and, according to CableTV.com, Comcast-TWC service would be available to 70% of the United States. According to WSJ, More than 61% of consumers would have one cable company serving them.
These figures do not take into account regional dominance, which means that they dramatically underestimate the limited consumer choice and market consolidation across industries. Competition (or lack thereof) in geographic markets is extremely significant. Here, by Comcast's own admission, pre-merger Comcast and Time-Warner did not compete in any markets.
In addition, Comcast's national market share does not take into account market share in related markets—which present additional anticompetitive harms, but are not factored into the HHI calculation. For Comcast, its market share ignores its interest in Hulu, NBC Universal, and other content industries. In addition, Comcast ties its high-speed broadband connections to cable television and landline phone service—another factor not taken into account in the HHI calculation.
Recall that markets with a Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) between 1500 and 2500 are problematic; above that, the market is consolidated. Therefore, Comcast's admission of 40% market share automatically puts the Internet service market into the middle category of a "moderately concentrated" industry. In other words, without factoring in the market share of Comcast's competitors, and using Comcast's own figure, there is still limited competition in high-speed Internet service.
This market share calculation also ignores the effect of dominating local markets, the tying of television and phone service, and the business interest in competing content industries. In short, a raw calculation of market share ignores market power.
Comcast has argued that—regardless of the competitive landscape in Internet service and cable television—the merger will not result in "merger-specific" harm. That is, the Internet may already be monopolized, but allowing it to acquire Time-Warner Cable will not make it any worse.
When analyzing merger-specific harm, antitrust law puts substantial weight on whether a "significant" competitor will be eliminated and how the merger will affect market concentration:
Mergers resulting in highly concentrated markets that involve an increase in the HHI of between 100 points and 200 points potentially raise significant competitive concerns and often warrant scrutiny. Mergers resulting in highly concentrated markets that involve an increase in the HHI of more than 200 points will be presumed to be likely to enhance market power. The presumption may be rebutted by persuasive evidence showing that the merger is unlikely to enhance market power.
According to conservative estimates, Time-Warner has about 13% of broadband customers in the U.S. That means that the increase in HHI resulting from the merger is 169 points. According to the Merger Guidelines, Comcast's acquisition of Time-Warner Cable would "raise significant competitive concerns and warrant scrutiny," even if Comcast didn't have dominant market share (which it does). Scrutiny of the deal reveals that Comcast-TWC would have significant leverage in other industries: cable television, content (such as sports), and phone service.
Acquisitions involving a firm with a majority stake are almost always anti-competitive, because, by definition, they occur in a concentrated industry and result in the largest firm gaining market share. When a merger between smaller competitors occurs, it is less likely to be anti-competitive. The best examples of this distinction between dominant-firm acquisitions and non-dominant firm mergers are the Comcast-TWC, Sprint-T-Mobile, and AT&T-DirecTV transactions.
Comcast and Time-Warner are the two largest firms in both residential internet service and cable television. By contrast, Sprint and T-Mobile are second-tier competitors, with the third and fourth highest market share in the mobile market, respectively. And the proposed consolidation of AT&T-DirecTV, like the Sprint-T-Mobile transaction, does not result in the elimination of a significant competitor; rather, it unites companies that primarily operate in different, though related, industries.
The AT&T and Sprint transactions still require scrutiny. With AT&T and DirecTV, there is a concern that AT&T will leverage its position in the wireless and broadband industries to expand DirecTV's U-verse video service. And, Sprint's acquisition of T-Mobile has raised concerns that consumers will see higher cell phone bills because T-Mobile will stop undercutting prices and paying to buy out its customers' contracts. Still, because AT&T and Sprint do not have market power across multiple markets, the acquisitions of those companies pose a lesser threat to consumers.
By contrast, a Comcast-TWC transaction unites companies that dominate across multiple markets. A more liberal, and perhaps more accurate, way to calculate Comcast-TWC's market share is to reverse-engineer it by subtracting its competitors' share from 100. Susan Crawford, citing Verizon, calculates that FiOS serves 14% of the country. Tim Wu calculated that Verizon FiOS has 8% market share (Google Fiber has 1%). (Crawford and Wu may both have calculated accurate figures. Crawford was calculating "coverage" or "service" area; Wu was calculating actual subscribers.)
Comcast and Time-Warner's combined market share in the extremely important Internet service market could be 75% or more. Comcast's competitors may have less than 10%, depending on how you define "high-speed" broadband. It doesn't take a mathematician or an antitrust scholar to know that consumers are losing. In sum, a straightforward application of antitrust law says the merger is in a highly concentrated market posing an extraordinary danger to consumers.
Re: Competition?
Yes, I think you're correct that there are a lot people who want high-speed residential hook-ups that have one choice, and it is Comcast or TWC. After the merger, these people will have one choice.
Regional market power is important, which is why I wrote
"These figures do not take into account regional dominance, which means that they dramatically underestimate the limited consumer choice and market consolidation across industries. Competition (or lack there of) in geographic markets is extremely significant."
Re: Competition?
How can it be less than zero? It can always get worse.
There is the concern about market share and what that does to the industry and their customers. Considering that internet access has become a de facto requirement in todays society, one can easily see why a monopoly of said resource could become problematic. If the monopoly abuses their market position, it may become necessary for regulation similar to a utility. If the government chooses not to or is unable to regulate, then the consumer will definitely suffer.
Re: Re: Competition?
How can it be less than zero? It can always get worse.
What is zero? I don't know what you're referring to here.
If the monopoly abuses their market position, it may become necessary for regulation similar to a utility. If the government chooses not to or is unable to regulate, then the consumer will definitely suffer.
I agree with you to a certain extent: regulation as a utility is one choice. However, the main point about monopolies is that they don't need to abuse their market position. Monopolies by their nature hurt consumers by charging more than the equilibrium price, which is at their marginal costs. Instead, monopolies charge a monopoly price.
In economic jargon, the monopolist gets a "monopoly surplus," consumers get a "consumer deficit," and the broader economy gets a "deadweight loss."
Re: Competition?
"A current TWC subscriber would be moving from a TWC monopoly in service to a Comcast monopoly in service."
Well, yes. But residential subscribers aren't the only customers. Internet companies are also customers.
Suppose that Facebook has a project to install a super connection between their servers and Internet providers. If there's seven internet providers with each under 20% of the market, the project is tricky to do.
But if Time Warner Comcast had 40% of the market, Facebook can choose to connect to them only and ignore the rest of the internet providers. This is a huge advantage for TWC, and kills their rivals. In addition, TWC could set a very high price for the deal, whereas in a less concentrated market each provider has much less bargaining power.
Re: Re: Re: Competition?
- I was replying to the following statement found in the post to which I responded.
"I don't think that subscribers are facing less choice due to the merger - they already have no choice"
"they don't need to abuse their market position"
- I agree, a monopoly doesn't need to abuse their position in order for it to hurt the consumers, but they usually do and it becomes much worse. And why do they do this? I don't know, because they can?
When calculating the change in Comcast HHI by absorbing TWC, you noted a Comcast HHI increase of 169 in the broadband market (because TWC market share = 13% and 13^2 = 169). But, your description of the HHI suggests the HHI change under consideration could be much larger than that.
As an example, assuming Comcast's market share for broadband was 10%, the current HHI of Comcast (CC) would be 10^2 = 100, and we already stated the current HHI of TWC as 13^2 = 169, for a total HHI of the two companies being 269. Given a merger, the new HHI for the new CC market share without TWC would be (10+13)^2 = 529. And the effective change in HHI for the entire broadband market because of the merger would be the new CC HHI minus the old CC and TWC HHIs (529 - 100 - 169 = 260). Looking at a range of different values for whatever CC's current market share might be (I don't know it), the corresponding HHI, the new HHI based on 13% increase from TWC, and what the change in HHI would be:
CC MS, CC HHI, pre-merge HHI*, merged HHI*, HHI increase
0%, 0, 0+169 = 169, (0+13)^2 = 169, 0
10%, 100, 100+169 = 269, 10+13)^2 = 529, 260
20%, 400, 400+169 = 569, (20+13)^2 = 1089, 520
50%, 2500, 2500+169 = 2669, (50+13)^2 = 3969, 1300
80%, 6400, 6400+169 = 6569, (80+13)^2 = 8649, 2080
* HHI total for just the CC and TWC components
If Comcast had about a 3.8% market share and bought out TWC, there would be an HHI increase of about 100. If they already have a market share of more than 7.7% the HHI increase would be more than 200. And the greater Comcast's market share is, the more the HHI increase due to a merger would be (a nifty feature of the HHI since there's more monopoly concern when a major player buys out a competitor than when an outside investor buys/replaces a current market competitor).
In any event, your calculations look right. There's a lot of difficulty in calculating HHI here because of how you define the market. I used the most conservative methods possible, to demonstrate that even giving Comcast the benefit of the doubt, the TWC acqusition hurts consumers.
W M Conlow
These Guys Ain't AT&T
If the Comcast/TWC merger happens, we'll have an even worse situation than AT&T. AT&T had a fair excuse. They were in charge of the entire telephone communications network in the US. They produced the hardware, they managed the network, and, frankly, did a pretty good job of it. If something broke or your service stopped, the technicians were on site right NOW, getting it fixed. A bit expensive, perhaps, but it worked well.
Comcast/TWC has no such excuse. This is a simple power grab.
Each provider, now, is a monopoly within it's own market area. Merging them will not change anything except the name. The markets will still be under monopoly control.
I see no good reason for this to be allowed. If anything, both companies should be broken up, a'la AT&T, into regional companies..
The fact that Comcast can legitimately argue that Comcast and TW don't actually compete despite both being so large and dominant in their markets should lead to charges of collusion rather than approval of their merger.
Monopoly is monopoly is monopoly
There is no way for them to sugar coat this.... after they combine bad things will happen, far too many mergers are allowed in the first place... after they merge a team of people will be assembled to break them apart again
Re: Re:
Politely though, that is a rather basic squaring error. You can't just square the difference - it has to be the difference in the final products [i.e. 10%^2 vs (10+13)%^2]. If we want to make a strong case that this is monopoly behaviour, no matter the nitty-gritty, we need to get our maths right, especialyl if it's just likely to get drowned out by the maths of small brown envelopes...
Re: Re: Re:
Politely though, that is a rather basic squaring error. You can't just square the difference - it has to be the difference in the final products [i.e. 10%^2 vs (10+13)%^2]. If we want to make a strong case that this is monopoly behaviour, no matter the nitty-gritty, we need to get our maths right, especialyl if it's just likely to get drowned out by the maths of small brown envelopes...
I'm pretty sure that that is the same "squaring error" that HH addressed. The issue is not the math being wrong, but that I ignored Comcast's market share in analyzing merger-specific harm. I should have been clearer.
But the reason I did that was because in making my "strong case" I wanted to use the most conservative figures (i.e. most Comcast-friendly) possible. The result is that the math shows the merger has the potential to harm consumers.
Completely flawed argument
It is well known that the DOJ must look forward towards competition and not just backward in these merger cases. With Wireless increasing speeds dramatically and good old DSL working on new technology to increase their broadband speeds substantially, the broadband competition will be plentiful and much much different than is written in this article.
Math Error
quote from your article: "According to conservative estimates, Time-Warner has about 13% of broadband customers in the U.S. That means that the increase in HHI resulting from the merger is 169 points."x^2 + y^2 does not equal (x + y)^2 If Comcast has 40% of a market, an HHI of 1600, and stands to gain 13%, its resulting share is 53%. By your math, the resultant HHI would be 1600 + 169 = 1769. The actual HHI would be 53^2 = 2809, a significant difference.
Re: Math Error
This has already been discussed above. But I'll explain again:
For the purposes of merger-specific harm, I have assumed Comcast has 0 market share, which is obviously not accurate. I did this for three related reasons: 1) to give Comcast the benefit of the doubt, and 2) calculating HHI with precision is extremely difficult if not impossible, and 3) again, being extremely conservative, I've only considered the company's market share for the HHI calculations--Comcast for the industry calculation and TWC's for the merger-specific calculation.
I'll explain all three using your examples:
x^2 + y^2 does not equal (x + y)^2
You are absolutely right. Except that x^2 + y^2 does equal (x + y)^2 when X is zero. For purposes of calculating the merger-specific harm I have ignored Comcast's market share, i.e. assumed that X is zero. Accordingly, I wrote "according to the Merger Guidelines, Comcast's acquisition of Time-Warner Cable would "raise significant competitive concerns and warrant scrutiny, even if Comcast didn't have dominant market share (which it does)." But I guess I didn't make this point clearly enough..
On the second point,
If Comcast has 40% of a market, an HHI of 1600, and stands to gain 13%, its resulting share is 53%. By your math, the resultant HHI would be 1600 + 169 = 1769. The actual HHI would be 53^2 = 2809, a significant difference.
You are absolutely correct that if Comcast has 40% market share and acquires a firm with 13% market share its new market share will be 53% and the change in will be > 169. However, your HHI calculation of 2809, would still be incomplete. You're only calculating the 53% of the market purportedly owned by Comcast-TWC. What about the other 47% of the market?
More importantly, the 40% and 13% figure are from two different sources. According to Comcast, Comcast has 40% of the high-speed broadband market. And, according to Reuters, Time-Warner Cable has 13% of the general broadband market. These figures are apples and oranges, which is why I didn't use them together in the same calculation. The best evidence of multiple figures that are available is from the Reuters article citing TWC's 13% market share gives Comcast 23% market share. The market I am interested in is high-speed broadband. (There are different ways of defining that, but suffice to say that "high-speed" is relative.)
Because there is no reliable way to calculate HHI, I used Comcast's admission of 40% market-share for the HHI calculation for the industry generally. And I used the best figure available for TWC's market share to figure out the change in HHI, which is 13%. These figures, in addition to being conservative on their own, ignore all other companies' market share. For the merger-specific change in HHI, that means even ignoring Comcast's share. | {
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HTC Desire 620, an orange and white budget phone
HTC comes with a more affordable mid-range Desire device. It is called Desire 620 and has a 5-inch screen, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 4G LTE connectivity. This runs on Android KitKat and features a 720p display. You should know that it looks terrific in your hands and the two-tone plastic body really goes along, even if it is a mid-range phone.
Rumors are saying that it will be in UK stores next year. Until now, O2 is the only network that declared they have plans to stock this device. Unfortunetly, no price have been announced for now, probably it will be unveiled in the beginning of the year. However, the giant manufacturer has declared that Desire 620 will have an affordable price.
HTC Desire 620 has the same design scheme such as other devices from this range, for example Desire 820, which was unveiled earlier last year in Berlin. You will find Desire 620 in three different colors: white with orange, two-shade grey and white with blue. This design is very catchy, funny and attractive and it surely helps the company stand apart of other mid-range and cheap phones. The white and orange model looks really nice.
Desire 620 is 150mm long, 73mm wide and 9.6mm thick. With a 5-ich display, it means that this device is not a small phone. You will have some difficulties stretching your thumb to type with just one hand. It is recommendable to use both hands for a better typing. Talking about its resolution, the Desire 620 has a 1,280×720 pixel resolution, one step back from HTC Desire Eye, which has 1,920×1, 080 pixels. Don’t need to worry because it is sufficient to make the Android Interface look nice. Desire Eye and Desire 820 also come with a plastic body and they feel very durable and sturdy. Maybe Desire 620 will feel similarly.
This device comes with an 8GB storage, not such a big storage unit, but you can use the microSD card slot, which will help you upgrade up to 128GB. It also has a 2,100mAh battery, an 8-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel selfie camera.
Angel Libby is one of our top authors for the entertainment and movies sections.She is very passionate when it comes to writing about the latest premieres and movie reviews.You can contact Angel by dropping her an e-mail at [email protected]. | {
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The XSetDeviceFocus request changes the focus
of the specified device and its last-focus-change time. It has no effect
if the specified time is earlier than the current last-focus-change time
or is later than the current X server time. Otherwise, the last-focus-change
time is set to the specified time CurrentTime is replaced by the current
X server time). XSetDeviceFocus causes the X server to generate DeviceFocusIn
and DeviceFocusOut events.
Depending on the focus argument, the following
occurs:
If focus is None , all device events are discarded until a new
focus window is set, and the revert_to argument is ignored.
If focus is
a window, it becomes the device's focus window. If a generated device event
would normally be reported to this window or one of its inferiors, the
event is reported as usual. Otherwise, the event is reported relative to
the focus window.
If focus is PointerRoot, the focus window is dynamically
taken to be the root window of whatever screen the pointer is on at each
event from the specified device. In this case, the revert_to argument
is ignored.
If focus is FollowKeyboard, the focus window is dynamically
taken to be the window to which the X keyboard focus is set at each input
event.
The specified focus window must be viewable at the time XSetDeviceFocus
is called, or a BadMatch error results. If the focus window later becomes
not viewable, the X server evaluates the revert_to argument to determine
the new focus window as follows:
If revert_to is RevertToParent, the focus
reverts to the parent (or the closest viewable ancestor), and the new
revert_to value is taken to be RevertToNone.
If revert_to is RevertToPointerRoot,
RevertToFollowKeyboard, or RevertToNone, the focus reverts to PointerRoot,
FollowKeyboard, or None, respectively.
When the focus reverts, the X server
generates DeviceFocusIn and DeviceFocusOut events, but the last-focus-change
time is not affected.
Input extension devices are not required to support
the ability to be focused. Attempting to set the focus of a device that
does not support this request will result in a BadMatch error. Whether
or not given device can support this request can be determined by the information
returned by XOpenDevice. For those devices that support focus, XOpenDevice
will return an XInputClassInfo structure with the input_class field equal
to the constant FocusClass (defined in the file XI.h).
The XGetDeviceFocus
request returns the focus window and the current focus state.
Not all input
extension devices can be focused. Attempting to query the focus state of
a device that can't be focused results in a BadMatch error. A device that
can be focused returns information for input Class Focus when an XOpenDevice
request is made.
An invalid device was specified. The specified device
does not exist or has not been opened by this client via XOpenInputDevice.
This error may also occur if the specified device is the X keyboard or
X pointer device.
BadValue
Some numeric value falls outside the range of
values accepted by the request. Unless a specific range is specified for
an argument, the full range defined by the argument's type is accepted.
Any argument defined as a set of alternatives can generate this error.
BadWindow
A value for a Window argument does not name a defined Window.
BadMatch
This
error may occur if an XGetDeviceFocus or XSetDeviceFocus request was made
specifying a device that the server implementation does not allow to be
focused. | {
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Reviews of this business
(1)
Overall review sentiment
Top 3 sentiment words
Overall review sentiment
Rating distribution
Other reviews from the web
(1)
dont go there for hope!
Average Rating
40
Didnt even check our credit or show us how to get us into our 1st dream home! Was told to come back in one year with 10,000 dollars and better credit! What kinda of stuff is that? thats not how to get business and if i had 10,000 it definately wont be walking back into his office! | {
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The sacrifice of “six million Jews” was being talked about before Hitler rose to power. A photocopy from the American Hebrew dated Oct. 1919, speaks openly about a holocaust of six million Jews before declaring “Israel is entitled to a place in the sun”!!
The evidence is in and it’s irrefutable: scientists have discovered traces of hi-tech explosives in the WTC debris. Which means the UK/US/Israel will have to stage another event on the scale of 9/11 to counter the brushfire this report will ignite
Research into particle physics is revealing a world full of almost magical qualities. Could it be that this mysterious, puzzling world is in fact the world of the spirit – the spiritual world that saints and mystics throughout history have sought to explo
The Talmud expounds some of the most virulent racism, as these extracts plainly show. However, as a reader points out not all Jews are influenced by it, or even read it. Only the ultra religious study it, the rest haven’t a clue. We leave you to decide
Just about every year on the eve of the national holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, the mainstream media in the United States usually puts forth numerous articles about the large Jewish involvement with Dr. King and the equally large Jewish involvement with the Black American Civil Rights movement in general. Not surprisingly, the mainstream media’s description of this phenomena is seen through rose-colored glasses. Jewish influence in Black American affairs is portrayed as overwhelmingly selfless, altruistic, charitable and humane. But is this really true? Let’s take a look.
The Nation of Islam, a Black religious group, published a very important study of Jewish involvement with the Black slave trade. Entitled The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews (SRBBJ), it is a well documented and well argued book, and the authors attempt to make this clear from the very beginning: “The information contained herein has been compiled primarily from Jewish historical literature. Every effort has been made to present evidence from the most respected of the Jewish authorities and whose works appear in established historical journals or are published by authoritative Jewish publishing houses.” The Black American expert on the slave trade, Dr. Tony Martin, has endorsed the book, as he has made it assigned reading in his courses. I have investigated at least some of the sources and they do indeed check out.
In the book’s “Introduction,” we read: “Deep within the recesses of the Jewish historical record is the irrefutable evidence that the most prominent of the Jewish pilgrim fathers used kidnapped Black Africans disproportionately more than any other ethnic or religious group in New World history and participated in every aspect of the international slave trade.” Further on it is written: “Most have always assumed that the relationship between Blacks and Jews has been mutually supportive, friendly and fruitful–two suffering people bonding to overcome hatred and bigotry to achieve success. But history tells an altogether different story.”
Not surprisingly, Jewish-Zionist groups, and those allied with them, have attempted to blacken the book’s reputation. Unable to refute its thesis, they resort to smear tactics. But Black Americans would do well to heed SRBBJ’s advice. The relationship between Blacks and Jews they write, “is a relationship that needs further analysis…Hidden and misunderstood, it is indeed time to reopen the files and reconsider, The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews.”
Black American intellectual Harold Cruse and California psychology professor Kevin MacDonald have also chosen to fearlessly scrutinize Jewish involvement in Black affairs. Both have written some very insightful analyses of the question: Why were Jews so disproportionately involved in the Black Civil Rights movement? In their books (Cruse, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual; MacDonald, The Culture of Critique) they have noted that many Jews want a racially integrated society because it provides an adequate environment for their long term policy of non-assimilation and group solidarity. Many Jews view white/Euro-American nationalism as their greatest potential threat, and they promote racial integration precisely because this presumably dilutes Euro-American power and lessens the possibility of developing a powerful and cohesive Euro-American movement that stands in opposition to Jewish interests.
There is evidence that supports their viewpoints. If the primary motive of the Jewish groups that were involved in the Black American Civil Rights movement was to promote racial equality and racial integration, then we should expect they would promote racial equality and ethnic integration in Israel just as ardently as they promoted it in the United States. But this is not the case. For the most part, the Jewish groups that were working to create a racially integrated society in the US were the same Jewish groups that were and are ardent supporters of the ethnically segregated, apartheid state of Israel where racial segregation and Jewish supremacism are enshrined in law. The Jewish scholar, Uri Davis, has written a book, the title of which says it all–Israel: An Apartheid State.
If there is ever to be harmony between the races in the United States, then we are all going have to literally lay “all of the cards on the table.” That is to say, Blacks and whites, Jews and non-Jews, are going to have to discuss these racial problems in an open, honest and forthright manner, free of name-calling and emotional outbursts. And the reasons for Jewish involvement in Black affairs has been, for the most part, surrounded by taboos, and “off-limits” for discussion. It is about time that Black Americans–and all other Americans for that matter–break down these taboos and reconsider Jewish involvement in Black American affairs.
Jewish Involvement in Black American Affairs Part 2
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Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Who's that Kaiju?! This week's Kaiju Big Battel:
Fighto Fantasy mystery is an enemy you'll encounter in the game's first
area. This one will be a little harder to guess than last week's Dusto
Bunny reveal! Check back Friday for the shocking truth!
Friday, March 25, 2016
Now entering the ring... it's Dusto Bunny! Congratulations Corbin
S.B. for being the first to identify the floppy hero's silhouette.
In Fighto Fantasy, Dusto Bunny helps keep our Hero Headquarters in
order, even though he's a bit of a slob. In combat, he plays a support
role, using his meditation and sick dance moves to heal and buff his
allies, but he can punch with the best of them when he really needs to!
Dusto Bunny has a couple of elemental attacks that involving tossing
dirt in the enemy's eye. The wise, filthy hare will be an essential part
of your party.
We're very happy to (re)introduce Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy! Written and designed by Super Walrus Games with graphics by Soda_piggy and music by Glock & mr8bit, this title is a turn-based RPG that brings the giant monsters of Kaiju Big Battel into a 16-bit role playing world along the lines of the SNES Final Fantasy games.
Designed for Kaiju fans and newcomers alike, Fighto Fantasy takes
American Beetle, Silver Potato, and more on a quest through time and
space as they work to undo damage caused by the evil Dr. Cube, who has
begun rampaging through history. With seven main playable heroes (and a
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Keep watching this blog and the Super Walrus Land Facebook page for
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How do you break into video game localization?
How do you break into video game localization?
So, Nicolas Caink asked me a million dollar question: “How one can break into video game localization?
I've been playing video games since I could use a controller basically. It's such a pity now that I lack of time to play with all the work I have. I miss them so much, that would be a dream come true to localize my first one! Any advice to break into the field?
But since I ended up tweeting my thoughts away for 2 whole hours, I figured it would make sense to post this on my blog too (with some edits and additions, of course). 🙂
Ok, first of all, I hardly consider myself a guru or someone who made it, so I always recommend to take any kind of free advice with a grain of salt.
Some things that worked for me might not work for you. Even after 7 years in the translation and localization game, I’m still learning something new every single day.
Second of all:
There's no such thing as overnight success in this industry. Just like there are no hacks, tricks, shortcuts, cheat codes or workarounds to get quick results.
Click to Tweet
Just good old hard work multiplied by time invested into professional and business growth.
If you want to transition into video game localization expect your journey to be slow, full of obstacles and probably not as exciting and glamorous as game localization sounds.
So, before you jump head-first, do a reality check: is this something you want to pursue?
There are probably a lot of much better (and higher-paying) fields out there (legal, medical, military, government) that will probably result in much higher income and sometimes less stress.
However, if you live and breathe video games like I do, here are some things that you might find useful when it comes to “breaking into the industry” (or at the very least getting your foot into a slightly open doorway).
First things first: be active and proactive! Things don’t just land magically on your lap. You need: social media presence, some sort of website or blog, a solid business and marketing plan (so, yeah, the usual boring stuff of any business venture).
You will also need a lot of TIME and PATIENCE. Remember: there are no quick results here. Just the grind that pays off over time. The length will largely depend on your efforts and ability to analyze, change and adapt.
You will also need (surprisingly) THE SKILLS. And they better be O.U.T.S.T.A.N.D.I.N.G because (again, surprisingly) gamers don’t like mediocrity and they can be pretty vocal about it (for example, in Russia we have a YouTube show dedicated to bashing poorly localized games with hundreds of thousands(!) of views, which means that gamers DO CARE about localizationand they want QUALITY). So be sure to hone your craft at every opportunity you have.
Video game localization is a wild fusion of literary, technical, marketing and sometimes legal translation, so you’ll need to master all of those types of translation if you want to succeed. And it’s a very long process that takes years of practice.
Experience and love for video games also play a key role in what’s considered as “making it” in the industry. Getting your first experience might be hard, but not impossible. You can check out game localization jams, for example, where you can showcase your talent and creativity and snag a first place or an honorable mention with a link to your website or online page.
Or you can reach out to #indiedev folks who don’t have much of a budget to localize their game and offer your professional services on a pro-bono basis (for a testimonial for your website or a mention in game credits and possible referrals in the future).
This will help you get your first experience and really see if video game localization is something you’d like to pursue full-time.
Just remember if you’re doing volunteer or pro bono work: it should be ON YOUR TERMS, so be sure to have that in mind before you start your adventure. And, of course, steer clear off people who’re demanding or manipulative. 🙂
Another constant in your game localization business should be sales (once you get a bit of experience and master your translation skills to a good level). It’s the most daunting task for me, but it’s impossible to grow and to succeed without sales.
Be sure to dedicate as much time to it as humanly possible (even in the busiest of times). You’ll thank me later. The nature of the job means that sometimes you’ll have clients that have one tiny game in years, so I’d recommend you to somehow secure a more constant flow of work.
You can love or hate translation agencies, but the fact is: about 65% of my income last year was from game localization firms (agencies that specialize exclusively in video games). They offer multiple ongoing projects and can load your work schedule pretty quickly.
While my direct customers (game developers and studios) only appear in my inbox once in a blue moon (which is obvious because, well, they spend most of their time making their games before localizing them).
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Diabetes: Coffee May Have Bigger Effect on Your Body Than Thought: Study
Posted March 21, 2018
By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, March 15, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Coffee has been tied to many health benefits. Now, a small study suggests a daily java habit may affect the body's metabolism more extensively than thought.
The study, of 47 adults, found that heavy coffee consumption -- four to eight cups a day -- altered blood levels of more than 100 metabolites. That refers to a broad range of chemicals that change after eating or drinking.
Many of the effects were expected, researchers said, but a few were surprising.
For example, coffee cut levels of certain metabolites related to the endocannabinoid system -- the same system affected by marijuana. This reduction is the opposite of what happens when you take pot, the researchers said.
What does it all mean? That's not clear.
But many studies have found that coffee drinkers typically have lower risks of various diseases than nondrinkers do, explained Marilyn Cornelis, the lead researcher on the new work.
"But most of those studies are just looking at associations," said Cornelis, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "They looked at people's self-reported coffee intake and their risk of disease."
This study, she explained, tried to "get more at the mechanisms -- the biology that might be underlying those associations."
The findings, published March 15 in the Journal of Internal Medicine, come from a clinical trial that involved 47 Finnish adults. All were habitual coffee drinkers.
Researchers had them abstain from coffee for one month, then drink four cups per day the next month, and eight cups a day the following month. Blood samples were collected at the end of each month.
But her team also spotted some previously unknown effects. Besides the endocannabinoid changes, there were shifts in certain metabolites related to the steroid system and fatty acid metabolism. The steroid system includes cholesterol and hormones such as testosterone and estrogen.
Whether there are implications for people's health, however, is unknown.
"We hope that this will be hypothesis-generating," Cornelis said. Future studies, she explained, could dig into the connection between coffee and endocannabinoid metabolites, for example -- to see whether it helps explain why coffee drinkers have lower risks of certain diseases.
The endocannabinoid system helps regulate a range of body functions, Cornelis noted. These include blood pressure, sleep, appetite and calorie-burning. Coffee has been linked to better weight control, and it's possible, she said, that its effects on endocannabinoids play some role.
She said the effects of coffee were the opposite of what you'd expect with marijuana -- which is a famous trigger of the "munchies."
For now, though, it's hard to know what to make of the findings, said Angela Lemond, a spokesperson with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She was not involved with the research.
The study was small, Lemond said, and it set up an artificial situation where people went from no coffee to four cups a day, then jumped to eight daily.
"That's going from zero caffeine to about 400 milligrams a day, then 800," Lemond pointed out.
Right now, Lemond noted, U.S. dietary guidelines say that adults can safely consume up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day -- or, roughly, what these study participants downed in month two.
But if you do drink that much coffee, you should not load it with cream and sugar, Lemond stressed.
"You also need to look at your total day," she said. "People often don't realize what their caffeine intake is from sources like soda or tea."
Beyond that, Lemond said, people should think about caffeine's impact on their anxiety levels or sleep problems.
If you drink coffee in lieu of sleep, she noted, that's a problem. "So many people are sleep-deprived," Lemond said. "Even if there is a health benefit from coffee, that sleep deprivation will cancel it out." | {
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This is a KVM86 problem (and why VESAFB_PM is a separate option). The
vesafb(4) driver needs to be ported to the in-kernel x86emu before this
option and the hardware scrolling code can function reliably. | {
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Microsoft Looking For A Few Good iPad Users… To Study
0
Companies do all kinds of studies all the time for all sorts of reasons. Seeing as the iPad is currently one of the hottest devices on the market, it should be no surprise that companies want to know about how users are using it. Even if that company is Microsoft.
Yes, Apple’s rival has created a Facebook event calling for iPad owners to come to Microsoft’s Redmond campus between July 16 and July 21 for a study. Specifically, it’s Microsoft’s User Research group and they want people for chunks of two hours to apparently survey how they use the device. A follow-up note indicates that it’s student iPad users that Microsoft is specifically interested in here.
So what do they want to study about the iPad? Who knows. ZunePad? But as one commenter on the Facebook posting notes, “This gonna be a hard study, since most of the people who bought ipad are apple fanboys and apple regular customers their point of view is, um, damaged.”
A “Microsoft gratuity item” is being offered in exchange for participating. Oh goody. Here’s to hoping it’s a Courier.
Here’s the description:
Microsoft User Research is looking for iPad owners for an upcoming study to get feedback. This study will be two hours long and will take place on the Microsoft Redmond campus with a number of dates and times between Friday, July 16th and Wednesday, July 21st.
In appreciation for your time, each participant will be offered a Microsoft gratuity item.
If you are interested, please respond to the questions below to [email protected] with the subject line “iPad”:
• Name/Age
• Phone Number
• Job Title/Company
• Are you employed full time?
-OR-
• Are you a student?
• Do you own an iPad? | {
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Barbarella Bar
Fonda Memories
Barbarella Bar Opens in Silver Lake
Predicting the future is tough, but odds are it involves a 10-ounce martini or two.
Welcome to Barbarella
Bar, officially open tomorrow in Silver Lake.
The name might remind you of a certain attire-averse space heroine, but the owner admits she liked the sound
of the word more than the actual movie. So as a whole, the low-key bar isn't exactly a tribute to life in
40,000 A.D. But she did put her girls in bustiers.
It's not another velvet-rope scene, which is fine by you—just a come-as-you-are addition to your
Eastside arsenal with leather booths that already look lived in, a small firepit outside and, if you want
it, some Brown Rice Spaghetti or an organic burger.
And as for those martinis, on the long list you'll find a Ginger Cucumber and, for her, a Jane
Fonda (read: Cosmo). But there are also a couple dozen glistening kegs behind glass, filled with
everything from Allagash White to a Triple Karmeliet. (The only brew in a bottle is the
Chimay.) Before long, you can expect happy hour to start at 4pm. | {
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Place Maps/ Imaginary Maps Communal area is castle with "village" as individual homes. Also, pond!
When we left our heroes they had just managed to get inside Harpshield Castle. A band of Orcs were currently camped in the castle and were likely to defend their position if challenged. The Half-Orcs in the party and the
The Black Ice Tower map was originally created as part of the D&D Encounters adventure Legacy of the Crystal Shard. Join the inhabitants of the North in their struggle against the sinister influence of Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard | {
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You are here
Mag. Krista Ann Rothschild
Adjunct Professor
Current position:
Adjunct Professor, Webster Vienna Private University
Background and Facts
Mag. Rothschild was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In 1993, she received her B.A. in Psychology at Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University). Her senior year she was the Student Body Vice President and graduated Cum Laude, in addition to receiving other honors and awards:
During her exchange year in 1994, she met her husband and decided to stay in Vienna. Mag. Rothschild received her Austrian degree “Magister der Naturwissenschaften” (Magister in Natural Sciences) in Psychology in 2000, from the University of Vienna. Her thesis focused on chronic and acute back pain patients and how they deal with stressors: “Salutogenesis and Back Pain: Sense of Coherence as an Influential Factor for Recovery.” Her Diploma Examination covered Clinical and Health Psychology as well as Tests and Assessments. In 2002, she completed the post-graduate licensing as a Clinical and Health Psychologist. She is currently completing a post-clinical training in Child, Youth & Family Psychology.
Her main interests are psychological testing and diagnostics. Mag. Rothschild has a passion for top quality psychological tests and embraces a credo of providing fair assessments in one's native language. This area has expanded to include consultations based on assessment results. A second concentration is working with people enduring physical ailments, for example, pain patients. Her work as a Cardiopsychologist assisting heart patients who are hospitalized because of a heart attack, bypass surgery, pacemaker & deliberator implantations, angioplasty or other cardiovascular problems exemplifies this concern. She is currently splitting her time between both offices as well as with her students and family. Mag. Rothschild is married with two children. | {
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You are watching Suzuka Episode 24 in High Quality English subbed. Suzuka Episode 24 is from Suzuka (2005) (F) anime series. If you enjoyed Suzuka Episode 24 please share it with others! Please note that this Episode is hosted on a third-party video sharing website, and it is not affiliated with Chia-Anime.tv. | {
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Two 8th graders from St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Academy will represent Woodhaven at the Victorian Society of New York later this month when they give a presentation on the ongoing restoration of the historic Wyckoff-Snedicker Cemetery on 96th Street.
Brooke Fernandez and Samantha Zavala will be giving a preview of their presentation at a meeting of the Woodhaven Cultural & Historical Society on Tuesday, March 7. The free and open meeting takes place at the Avenue Diner at 91-06 Jamaica Avenue at 7 p.m.
The Colonial-era Wyckoff-Snedicker Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Woodhaven’s original settlers. Many of their names are familiar even to today’s residents: Wyckoff, Lott, Eldert, Ditmars, Van Wicklen.
Subject to long periods of neglect over the past century, this historic spot was almost lost forever when St. Matthew’s closed in 2011.
But when it reopened as All Saints Episcopal Church, the Woodhaven Cultural & Historical Society formed a partnership with the new church, led by the Reverend Dr. Norman Whitmire, Jr., to restore this piece of land.
The Dutch settlers who settled in southern Queens used to drive their carriages all the way to the New Lots Reformed Church in Brooklyn, which is where they also used to bury their loved ones.
But that was quite a hike in those days and nearly impossible in bad weather. So in the late 1700s, the Wyckoffs and the Snedicker families each donated a plot of land between their farms and established a local burying ground.
Over 200 residents of early Woodhaven were buried there until 1900, when the cemetery ceased to be active. Over the next century, the cemetery was not only largely forgotten and neglected, it fell victim to vandalism, which was described in detail in an editorial in the Leader-Observer:
“In one corner is a rubbish heap and all about you can see evidence of long-standing neglect. Weeds are high and unkempt, and the place has an air of desolation.
“It isn’t much of a commentary on the kindness and respect of Woodhaven, nor does it suggest much reverence for the past.
“Other towns erect memorials to their founders, but Woodhaven hides their bones and heaps them with dirt and neglect and desecration.”
That description was written way back in 1934, and not much changed over the next eight decades.
But the cemetery’s fortunes changed back in July 2014 when a group of residents and students began the long, hard task of clearing out and maintaining this historic piece of land.
Many of the oldest tombstones are still erect and legible, and tell the story of how rough life could be during the early days of Woodhaven.
Many of the people buried in our cemetery died young and, sadly, many of them are children, making this project the right and decent thing to do.
The group meets on the second Saturday of every month and, weather permitting, will meet for the first time of 2017 at 9 a.m. on March 11.
Last year, the group concentrated on clearing out a section in the back of the cemetery that was filled with roots and rocks, and we will be planting grass seeds there during our first visit of this year.
Volunteers are welcome and always appreciated. Tools, gloves and light refreshments are provided.
But even if you just want to see the cemetery, feel free to drop by and one of the students will give you a tour.
This has not only been a terrific green project for residents of the community, but under the leadership of St. Thomas teacher Patty Eggers, it has been a great research and learning project for the students.
There have been dozens of students who put in long hours on some very hot days and in some very cold weather, and Samantha and Brooke will not only be representing Woodhaven at the Victorian Society, but all of their fellow classmates as well.
We hope you’ll come out next Tuesday to support these two students, both hard workers and really great kids. We thank them for their efforts and know that they’ll do a remarkable job representing Woodhaven not only later this month, but for many years to come. | {
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Monthly Archives: July 2009
Yesterday I taught my 6 AM yoga class, lifted weights with Tim at the gym, spent an hour with Holosync. Then I took a 30 minute killer Spin class with Amy, ate lunch, did some housework while listening to the This American Life podcast, showered, and taught my 5:30 yoga class.
This morning I put on some Cat Stevens and yoga-ed into this blue, beachy-feeling morning, and now I am heading out to run steps or hike up the killer hill in order to break my Mandatory Sweat of The Day before my noon class in Wellsboro.
Life feels full and good and sweet.
It is high summer and the daisies are blooming wild in the fields. This weekend there is a Growers Market and on Sunday I will spend some time in Ithaca reconnecting with my dear friend Zee.
As I write this, Mojito mint is blooming in a planter on the deck, alongside two kinds of parsley. The tomato plants have baby tomatoes on them, and the pepper plants have baby peppers, too.
In the evening, after dinner, we “Walk the Yard.” “Walking the Yard” gives me a chance to check on things and to tell them how much I appreciate and love them: the day lilies, the sweet woodruff, the purple hosta flowers, the soft pinkness of the sky after the sun has set.
Walking the Yard at day’s end is a lullaby, a soft sigh, a fitting end to a perfect summer day.
Yesterday morning, in prep for my ‘Krashtanga” class I did the Primary Series. Halfway through the standing sequence I realized that I had lost it. I had lost my practice.
After so many months practicing Ashtanga with Christine 4 mornings a week, this past May I was finally able to grab my toe in Ardha Baddha Padmotanasana, rest my chin on my knee in Marichyasana A, and even sustain a straight legged Padahastasana.
But now, after only 2 measly months of no Ashtanga, I couldn’t do any of it. Or barely.
And I wanted to cry. I felt like I had let myself down.
I dragged myself home, sat in the hot tub and made a little vow that I would get it back. I would devote some time every day to the Primary Series until I could do the whole thing, if not perfectly, at least respectably.
When I went to class last night I told my class about my lost practice. I told them how hard this practice was, but that with time and attention and discipline, it could be done..
Then we began. It was hot and I was relentless. We did vinyasas between each side of every pose. Everyone was sweating, but hanging with it. At some point in the practice everyone of us fell over, including me, but I could sense a teeth-gritting persistence in that (very warm) room.
When we got to the last pose,Tolasana, we did Kapalabhati until our arms and our lungs gave out, then we all sank into a deep, heart-thumping savasana.
After class, a few people wanted to know if we could do this more often, maybe get together and work towards greater proficiency. They loved it, they said.
So that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to work towards mastery in something that’s really, really hard.
I just got finished reading The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer. Nothing new in this book in terms of content, but what clarity!
Now, I am an avid reader of spirituality books. I’m a big fan of Krishnamurti and Eckhart Tolle, for instance, but there is always something opaque in these books for me; something key that I seem to get while I’m reading, but if you asked me to explain it to you five minutes after I put the book down, I really couldn’t. I’d be blithering some confused nonsense and just wind up handing you the book with a, “Here, read it for yourself.”
That’s why this Mickey Singer book was such a rare and yummy find for me because he tells stories and uses metaphors to explain complicated concepts like fear, but in a fresh, alive way that allowed me to get it, and then be able to share it with others.
(I love that.)
For example, he tells this story about a dog. A dog who lives in a fenced-in yard. The dog knows the limits of his freedom. The limit is the fence.
Then one day the dog’s owner puts in an electric fence. The dog is outfitted with a special collar and the old fence is taken down. The dog goes out into the fence-less yard and takes off, but is immediately zapped by the collar. Whoah.
But each day this brave dog inches closer to the zap point and begins to realize that even though he’s getting a little bit zapped, he’s still alive. Then one day he just braves the full frontal ZAP! charges through, and is free forever!
Mickey Singer says this is what fear is. It’s fear of getting zapped. We all live inside the electric fence, afraid of the zap. The zap can be fear of anything: failure, ridicule, you name it, whatever keeps us safe (and boring and trapped) in the yard.
But if we want to be free, we have to be willing to take the ZAP. It won’t kill us to fail or be laughed at.
And the payoff?
Our complete and utter freedom.
I think this is very cool.
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Now her ordeal will take a dark turn for the worse when she is raped by Nathan Curtis’ sick friend Neil.
Schoolgirl Bethany - played by Lucy Fallon in the ITV soap - will be manipulated into going on a date with her evil boyfriend's pal, but will be taken into the bedroom by possessive Neil as Nathan watches - refusing to help her.
The harrowing ordeal will leave Bethany devastated and unable to understand why Nathan allowed it to happen.
"She does end up with sleeping with Neil and it's more because she is is saying no, I'm not that kind of girl and he just lays her on the bed and then she's crying," actress Lucy revealed of the scene that was difficult to film.
"She goes out for a drink with him and thinks he's really nice, and they come back and then she's sat with Neil and he keeps trying to put her on his knee and she's a bit like, 'Ooh, this is really weird'.
"And then he says let's go into the bedroom. He picks her up and takes her into the bedroom.
"She's looking at Nathan and they've planned that if she feels like she's unsafe or she wants to get away from Neil then she'll rub her ear and as she walks passed [Nathan] she's rubbing her ear but Nathan just turns away from her."
"She's saying no to him, she's saying, 'I've got a boyfriend' but I think that because she's so in love with Nathan she just does what he wants her to do."
brave ruth
CAN'T STAND IT
WEEKS OF BETRAYAL
Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson 'were cheating for more than a MONTH'
"The morning after he says I'll make you some breakfast. She doesn't know whether he knows or not, she's confused. She comes home and he's on the phone to Neil and he says, I know what's happened and you did good. She's really confused." | {
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Recent Projects
About WDS|A
Graceful, well made objects and spaces of utility and beauty speak to the human soul. Your home can be your place of refuge and rejuvenation, your place to celebrate with friends and family, your well organized base of support for everyday life.
At WDS|A we use our design skills to give expression to your creativity, memory and aspiration, exploring together the materials, spaces and patterns of living that speak to you.
Traditional, modern or eclectic, large or small, in every architectural project we seek to enrich shelter and security and create places we want to be, places we want to share, places of ease and comfort, the places people love and remember.
We can help you get started with a Needs & Options Consultation, and we can provide full architectural services when you are ready to change your environment. Let us help you develop a personally meaningful project! | {
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Want to grow your business in China?
Are you getting your share of the large yearly growth of online and mobile shopping, trading and information gathering in China? If not, it's probably due to lack of or poor visibility on the internet to Chinese market.
If you are serious about China, you need to be visible on the Internet in China!
Most overseas websites cannot be seen in China. It is a straight forward process to correct this using Access to China products and services.
We have a unique understanding of the practical and legal web issues, restrictions and requirements in China and how to help companies have optimum web visibility there. We have over 16 years’ experience serving international companies working in China. We are proud to offer a credible, competitive and guaranteed service to our clients.
Our company was founded to help business be seen in China on the internet and to give software companies access to the Chinese market.
This month we see the start of our own Cloud Hosting Services in China. We believe this is a first for an overseas company in China.
Our knowledge and advice is free. Our Chinese Cloud Hosting Services is available when you want to make a start in the Chinese market. | {
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Two years after the terror of Sept. 11, so much is clearer than it was. The world is unruly. Evil is in the eye of the beholder. Dangers lurk everywhere.
But so much is murkier, as well. Who is our enemy? Who are our friends? And, as vexing as any question our society faces, what price are we willing to pay to preserve American freedom?
Any price ... correct? Maybe. It's not as simple a proposition as it sounds-because, for starters, national surveys have consistently demonstrated that many Americans don't even understand the freedoms they enjoy.
Oh, they can flash back to grade-school civics and mouth something about, say, freedom of religion and the press. But polls show that a majority of Americans believe the press has too much freedom. And let's just say that Islam isn't exactly enjoying a bull market these days.
Meanwhile, who really ponders the significance of the right to peaceably assemble, or the other basic liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights? In fact, the organization chartered to protect those fundamental rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, is widely demonized. The first President Bush used the ACLU as an epithet to smear his liberal opponent.
So who, then, to remind Americans about the priceless gift of freedom? Why, the Advertising Council! Yep, those nice folks who remind us not to drive drunk and not to set forest fires, our foremost experts in altering behavior by belaboring the obvious. The latest call to action:
"Freedom. Appreciate it. Cherish it. Protect It."
And we're, like, duh. But we'll certainly entertain any effort to make the principles come alive, especially if it will enlighten the fools who, for instance, burned Dixie Chicks records because their lead singer dissed the president. Sadly, no such luck.
Three spots record testimonies of immigrants who fled hellish political repression in Cambodia, Armenia and Ukraine (under Stalin). The tales of prison and genocide abroad are unassailable arguments for American freedom-but not necessarily stirring ones. For the complacent majority, dulled by the American blessings of security and affluence, the object lessons will waft by, like all the familiar pieties, too remote and foreign-sounding to break through.
Part of the problem is the story-telling, which is flat despite the jarring editing and sound-design gimmicks punctuating the narratives with split-second images of the Statue of Liberty, the Constitution and other icons of American freedom. Mainly, though, we don't need to put faces on liberated victims of foreign evils. We need to dramatize why those evils are so remote.
The Ad Council tried that in last year's pool of spots, portraying a Bizarro World America where federal agents troll for suspects in public libraries. The irony was that what was meant to be Twilight Zone fantasy had already come to pass, courtesy of the civil-rights-eroding Patriot Act. The audience didn't seem to notice. Polls reveal the public's approval for some of the terror war's harshest measures-proving the price we are willing to pay to preserve our freedoms is the erosion of those freedoms themselves. | {
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Republished by Active in an A4 large format this magnificent comic explores immigration and activities against border enforcement. This is another Carrie Mackinnon production.
Aminullah – Carrie McKinnon – review.
Subtitled 'more tales of migration', this collection of deeply moving vignettes, coupled with accounts from the frontlines of resistance, and largely presented in graphic novel form, pulls no punches. In the title story, panels sometimes seem to be arranged in not-quite-linear order, and this serves to disorientate the reader well, mirroring the confusion and all-pervading insecurity infesting every moment of Aminullah's fraught and dangerous journey from Afghanistan to Paris. The handwritten text and occasional spelling mistake only exarcerbate the profound sense of dislocation as we move on to Iran and Greece, and the lo-fi illustration style featured throughout only adds to this, making the reading of Aminullah a thoroughly jarring experience, giving it the feel of a smuggled document. The second half is taken up by the author's accounts of resisting a mass deportation from a refugee prison in England, and then of further hands-on solidarity work in and around Calais, the text here type-written for increased clarity, asking the reader, well, you have all the facts now, you've no excuses, what are you going to do about it? It's a very current story, but a timeless one too: the ubiquity of oppression and exploitation, from British mainstream political inhumanity, to the above-the-line barbarity of the Tehran regime, to European Neoliberalism's cynical exploitation of those fleeing its foreign proxy wars in order to bring cheap fruit and vegetables to your table. Five stars. | {
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This work describes the software architecture development based on the SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) model. It permits to solve the cooperation problem throught eterogeneous domotic devices and their remote control. An abstraction layer was created to permit a phisical and behavioural description of domotic devices. In this way is possible to have an homogenous and indipendent vision of the beneath technologies. | {
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2012 Qupe Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard Marsanne "Doux" - 375ml
This stuff is nectar! Rich and sweet with peaches and flowers
and spices in the aromas. The drying concentrates the sugar but, also
the acid, so it has a refreshing, crisp finish. This is an ideal wine to
match up with peach desserts or summer fruits, but also goes great with
winter fruits like apples and pears. It is also a great compliment to many
cheeses. I like to drink it young, but I’m sure it will age for many years. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
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Gilad Shalit and the Rising Price of an Israeli Life
Gilad Shalit's military ID from 2005.Credit
Michal Chelbin and Oded Plotnizki for The New York Times
On the afternoon of June 27, 1976, Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France flight originating from Israel and directed it eventually to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, where most of the non-Israelis on board were immediately released. More than 100 hostages remained, 83 of whom were Israeli. They were held for the next six days, until an elite team of Israel Defense Force commandos freed them in the famous raid known as Operation Entebbe. The name of the mission became synonymous with Israel’s refusal to give in to the demands of terrorists and its willingness to go to extraordinary lengths, and risk many lives, to free Israeli hostages.
Despite Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s final decision to use a military operation to rescue the Entebbe hostages, recently declassified documents tell a more complex story, one that reveals Rabin’s doubts about the mission and exposes the inescapable dilemma, which has only intensified over the years, at the heart of Israel’s policy toward its own captured citizens. We now know that even as the raid was being planned, the Rabin government was making contact with various international middlemen to obtain a list of the hijackers’ demands, and Rabin himself privately said he was willing to release the 53 prisoners the terrorists had named. During the secret discussions prior to the Entebbe operation, Rabin, who agreed to the mission after much persuasion by intelligence and ministry planners, effectively established the principle that is still followed by all Israeli leaders facing hostage situations: if the necessary intelligence is available and the operational circumstances allow, force — even a great deal of it — will be used to free hostages; if not, Israel will negotiate a prisoner exchange.
Rabin signed off on the Entebbe plan only after intelligence agents assured him that aerial surveillance showed Ugandan soldiers guarding the terminal where the hostages were being held, indicating that the building was not booby-trapped. (These same documents also reveal the orders to follow if the commandos ran into Idi Amin himself. “He isn’t a factor,” Rabin said. “If he interferes, the orders are to kill him.” To which the foreign minister, Yigal Allon, added, “Also if he doesn’t interfere.”)
Amos Eiran, who was then director general of Rabin’s office, told me recently: “On the morning of the operation, Rabin summoned me and went over the wording of the resolution he was going to propose to the cabinet on the subject of the operation. He was wearing a dressing gown and was very tense. He accompanied me to the elevator and said: ‘Prepare for me a draft letter of resignation. I give the operation a 50-50 chance. If it fails, I’ll accept all the responsibility and resign.’ I asked, ‘What will you see as a failure?’ and he replied, ‘Twenty-five or more dead.’ ” When the mission was completed, three passengers and one Israeli soldier were killed.
Thirty-five years later, many who took part in Operation Entebbe at the highest levels were also involved in the negotiations to bring home Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was abducted by Palestinian commandos on June 25, 2006, and whose capture has consumed Israeli society for the last five years. Shimon Peres, then Israel’s defense minister and now its president, signed the pardons for the Palestinian prisoners who were released in exchange for Shalit. Ehud Barak, a planner of the Entebbe raid, is today Israel’s defense minister. Tamir Pardo, who is currently the chief of Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad — and whose support helped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu push the Shalit deal past skeptics in his administration — was the communications officer for the commander who led the raid in Entebbe. That commander, Yonatan Netanyahu, was the only Israeli military casualty of the operation, struck by a bullet while advancing with his men toward the terminal where the hostages were held. In the command bunker in Tel Aviv, when Peres learned that Yonatan Netanyahu had been killed, he told those present that Israel had lost “one of most wonderful people there has ever been in this country.”
It was at the antiterrorism foundation established by the Netanyahu family in honor of Yonatan’s memory that his younger brother Benjamin began his career. In 1986 he edited a book titled “Terrorism: How the West Can Win,” which argued intensely against negotiating with terrorists under any circumstance. In one of the two articles he contributed to the book, Netanyahu wrote: “This is a policy that in effect tells the terrorists that we will not give in to your demands. We insist that you free the hostages. If you do not do so peaceably, we are ready to use force. We are offering a simple exchange: your life for the lives of the hostages. In other words, the only ‘deal’ we are prepared to do with you is this: If you surrender without a fight, you will stay alive.”
Today, when explaining how he, of all leaders, could sign the agreement that marked a new record of acquiescence to a terrorist organization — the release of 1,027 prisoners, many of them with Israeli “blood on their hands” — Netanyahu falls back on the policy that was laid down by Rabin in the deliberations leading up to Entebbe: the intelligence and the operational circumstances left him no alternative but to make a deal.
“We had no choice,” a source close to Netanyahu told me after Gilad Shalit returned home. “There were innumerable other possibilities for exerting pressure which resulted in nothing. Bibi would have been happy to try and rescue Shalit in a military operation, if that would have been possible, but the intelligence community could not locate him. In the end, the question was whether to leave Gilad rotting in a pit in the Hamas prison or to take a bold decision. That’s what Bibi did.”
Gilad Shalit grew up with his parents, Aviva and Noam, and his brother and sister in a small community in western Galilee, not far from the Lebanese border. At school, Gilad loved math and sports, and he possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the American N.B.A. He joined the army in 2005 as a teenager and, despite a marginal health classification, was accepted into a combat unit that was dispatched in the spring of 2006 to protect the Israeli communities along the border of the Gaza Strip.
On June 25 of that year, Gilad, then 19, was one of the crew of a Merkava tank deployed near the border fence at the southern end of the strip. A squad of eight Palestinian commandos burrowed beneath the fence and split into three groups when they emerged, targeting an observation tower, an empty armored personnel carrier that the Israelis had placed as a decoy and the tank in which Shalit was stationed. They crept silently forward, eventually taking the Israelis by surprise. One of them fired a rocket that hit the tank and wounded its commander, and in the firefight that followed, two Israelis were killed. Shalit and one other soldier at the tank were wounded. The other wounded soldier caught a blurred glimpse of Shalit being dragged away by the Palestinians, who escaped back through the border fence, on which Shalit’s flak jacket was later found hanging.
Within days, Israel launched a series of heavy bombardments on Gaza, code named Operation Summer Rains, destroying the power station and cutting off electricity to tens of thousands of people there. Dozens of Hamas officials were arrested, and Israeli troops shut down the borders in order to search Gazan neighborhoods for Shalit. Hamas responded with volleys of rockets fired at Israeli settlements, to which the Israelis retaliated with even more bombardments.
According to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, in the fighting that continued until a cease-fire was reached on Nov. 26, 2006, 416 Palestinians were killed (5 Israelis were also killed, one by friendly fire). The cease-fire endured on and off until late 2008, when clashes broke out between Hamas and the I.D.F. along the Gaza border. Israel then launched Operation Cast Lead, an extensive invasion of the Gaza Strip that resulted in 1,390 Palestinian deaths, 700 of whom were Hamas, 454 of whom were women and children. This was followed by yet another cease-fire, one that appears to be disintegrating now, in the wake of Shalit’s release.
The Gaza Strip, where Shalit was held, is very small and densely populated and is surrounded almost entirely by Israeli ground and naval forces. Gaza itself is subject to constant aerial surveillance by drones and is rife with informers and collaborators with Israel. Finding Shalit became a top priority for Israel’s intelligence agencies, which soon received information on the precise location at which he was being held: a fenced private residence on the outskirts of Gaza City. Planning for a rescue operation was under way when Israeli intelligence learned that Hamas, in cooperation with Iranian intelligence, had planted false information in order to lure Israelis into raiding the booby-trapped house. The operation was called off, and Shalit’s location was never established. It is very unlikely that we will ever learn where he was held. The degree to which Gaza, unlike the West Bank, is opaque to Israeli intelligence has profound implications for future operations there. The inability of Israeli intelligence to discover Shalit’s place of captivity in a small space that is an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv was a profound failure, one to which the departing heads of Israel’s three security organizations — Mossad, Shin Bet and the military — all admitted when they retired this year.
On July 12, two and a half weeks after their son’s capture, Noam and Aviva Shalit met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who told them that he had information indicating that Gilad was alive and well. The parents asked if he had precise information on where their son was being held.
“We are doing everything to find him,” Olmert replied, “but I am sorry to say that so far we have no solid, unequivocal information.” The Shalits implored Olmert not to stage a military rescue operation that would endanger the life of their son and the lives of other soldiers, even if the necessary intelligence was obtained.
As Olmert was explaining to them that he was not prepared under any circumstances to enter into negotiations with Hamas, his top military aide handed him a message saying that two more Israeli soldiers had been abducted, this time by the extremist Shiite militia Hezbollah, on the Lebanese border. (Olmert denies discussing the possibility of a military rescue with the Shalits or his negotiating stance with Hamas.)
Olmert ordered a full-scale war to free the two soldiers and to show Hezbollah that, as the common Israeli expression goes, “the boss has gone crazy” — that Israel would respond disproportionately to abductions. The Lebanon war lasted a month and became a humiliation for Israel, failing to cause significant long-term military or political damage to Hezbollah and failing, too, to recover the missing soldiers.
Three weeks after the two men were seized, the Israeli Defense Forces produced a report saying that one of them had been killed and the other received grievous wounds and was in all likelihood dead, but withheld this report from the prime minister for reasons not clear to this day. It is speculated that it was either neglect or the desire from elements in the higher ranks not to provide Olmert a reason to stop the operation. In a strange circumstance, I happened to be the one who informed Olmert’s staff of the report, when I visited his office on the last day of the war. Though Olmert says that he knew that the soldiers were killed from the start, the fact that such a report existed and that the prime minister had learned of it from a journalist caused a public uproar in Israel when it became known a year later.
I have covered Israeli hostage and M.I.A. cases for more than 15 years, including the covert ways in which Israel’s powerful espionage agencies operate to bring soldiers home alive or dead. Over that time, the issue has come to dominate public discourse to a degree that no one could have predicted. Israeli society’s inability to tolerate even a single soldier held in captivity results in popular movements that have tremendous impact on strategic decisions made by the government. The issue has become a generator of history rather than an outcome of it.
Why this is the case is difficult to say, because it requires a plumbing of the Israeli psyche. Certainly, part of it has to do with a Jewish tradition that sanctifies life, and with the necessity for Jews of a proper burial. And part, too, is rooted in the tradition expressed by Maimonides, that there is no greater religious duty than the redemption of prisoners — a powerful idea in a country whose citizens are required to be soldiers. As Noam Shalit emphasized, there is an “unwritten contract” between the government and its soldiers.
On the day Shalit was released, the country held its breath. Service in banks came to a halt because clerks could not stop watching the live video of Shalit’s movements, from Gaza to Egypt and then from Egypt to Israel. All over the country, banners and signs were hung, welcoming him home. Gilad was everyone’s son, everyone’s brother. To Israelis, his release was arguably the most significant event of the last 10 years. The exuberance at his return drowned out whatever protests existed of the deal that was made to bring him home.
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Israel is still adding up the cost of winning the release last month of Gilad Shalit, shown here in one of the life-size cutouts that proliferated by the thousands throughout the country.Credit
Michal Chelbin and Oded Plotnizki for The New York Times
It is hard to fathom the price Israel paid for Shalit without placing it in the context of previous prisoner swaps, originally with Palestinian organizations and later with Hezbollah. The first to grasp how sensitive Israeli public opinion was on the issue of hostages and M.I.A.’s — and therefore what a powerful weapon abduction could be — was Ahmed Jibril, the leader of a faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In 1979, Israel reluctantly agreed to its first disproportionate exchange with a guerrilla organization when Jibril insisted on getting 76 P.L.O. members in exchange for one hostage.
Jibril’s greatest success came in the mid-1980s, when in exchange for three Israeli soldiers he demanded the release of 1,150 prisoners. The group included some of the most infamous terrorists held by Israel, including Kozo Okamoto, a Japanese Red Army member who participated in the massacre of 26 people at the arrivals hall in Lod Airport in 1972. In the wake of Jibril’s demand, Israel attempted to put counter-pressure on him by kidnapping his sister’s son, Murad al-Bushnak, whom Israeli agents lured to Beirut with promises of a weekend of sex, drugs and gambling. Instead, Bushnak was captured and taken to an underground interrogation cell, where he quickly gave up the phone number of Jibril’s home in Damascus. A senior intelligence officer dialed the number and made Jibril a simple offer: a quick swap, without anyone knowing, of Bushnak for the three Israelis. Jibril calmly upped his price to include his nephew.
If Jibril served as the inspiration for terrorist organizations, on the Israeli side it was Miriam Grof, the mother of one of Jibril’s Israeli captives, Yosef Grof, who became the model for the families of abductees. Without any experience in dealing with the media, Grof instinctively created strategies that have been used repeatedly by relatives of Israeli P.O.W.’s and M.I.A.’s. She grasped that public pressure on the government is a result of being aggressive and proactive: you make demands, not requests; you focus on what is important to you, not on the good of the country. One former high-ranking member of the I.D.F. recalled her saying that half the country could go up in smoke, just as long as her Yosef came home safe.
Eitan Haber, a respected military correspondent who later became a senior aide to Rabin, told me: “It is difficult to explain, but only someone who met that woman could understand how she filled everyone with a deep, blood-boiling, paralyzing sense of shame. We are speaking about three very tough men [Rabin, Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, the foreign minister] who had no problems saying no, but simply could not stand up to Mrs. Grof. What tipped the scales was not her tears or screaming or her teeth-grinding — all of which I remember clearly — it was the whole package. There was something menacing about her that threatened that the world was coming to an end. Her aggressiveness was not of this world. She broke them all down.”
In large part it was Miriam Grof’s battle for her son that allowed Jibril to get his deal: 1,150 Palestinian prisoners were freed, one of whom was the wheelchair-bound Sheik Ahmad Yassin, who later founded and led Hamas, the same movement whose suicide attacks exacted an enormous and bloody toll on Israelis, and the group that would one day capture Gilad Shalit.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah learned from Jibril’s tactics and perfected them. In January 2004, 435 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for the corpses of three Israeli soldiers killed in an ambush on the northern border, as well as one live hostage, Elhanan Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum was a shady businessman and a colonel in the reserves, who of his own free will went to meet Hezbollah agents who lured him to Dubai with the promise of a lucrative drug deal. In Dubai, his contacts sedated him, packed him in a crate and sent him via Iranian diplomatic mail to Beirut, where he was held in solitary confinement for more than three years.
The 2004 deal was led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who more than any other Israeli leader stood as the symbol of Israel’s aggressive stance toward terrorism. Assaf Shariv, Sharon’s media adviser and later Israel’s consul general in New York, told me: “Sharon was wounded in combat in Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, left behind in the field and almost became a prisoner himself. He recalled that moment as a deep trauma and was haunted by visions of the bodies of Israeli soldiers and those taken captive in Jordan during the ’50s. He vividly remembered and gave horrific descriptions of them. He said of Tannenbaum, ‘I don’t care what he did, but I am not about to leave a Jew in the hands of those Arabs.’ I am sure that if Sharon had been prime minister during the last few years, he would have signed the deal for Shalit long ago. It turns out that even the toughest have their weak spots.”
In the asymmetrical war between Israel, with its powerful military and sophisticated intelligence apparatus, and the much weaker guerrilla groups who operate from places like Gaza, where daily life is one of constant deprivation, it is not hard to see how the latter have used Israel’s sensitivities regarding its citizen-soldiers to their advantage.
In September 1997, Hadi Nasrallah, the son of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in a skirmish with Israeli troops. The Israelis hoped that with his body in their hands, negotiations for the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah would accelerate. Yaakov Perry, the former head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, was in charge of the case at the time. “We were optimistic,” he told me when we recently spoke. “We thought it would bring a solution closer, but Nasrallah was indifferent. He instructed his men not to put his son’s name at the top of the list and to treat him the same as all the other fallen militiamen. Later I heard that when Hadi’s coffin arrived in Lebanon, his father lifted the lid, glanced at the body of his beloved son and closed it. Not a muscle in his face moved.” The president of German intelligence at the time, August Hanning, who mediated an eventual deal between Israel and Hezbollah, told Perry in bewilderment that although Nasrallah grieved deeply for his son, “the body is another matter. You Israelis have a very unusual attitude on this matter.”
The “sensitivity” of Israel to the body issue has led to the absurd situation in which Israeli soldiers occasionally find themselves risking their own lives — some have been killed in the process — in efforts to extricate the bodies of their comrades from battle, so that those bodies won’t become bargaining chips for future negotiations.
Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror served as a senior officer in military intelligence for decades and today serves as national security adviser to the prime minister. “I believe that it is right to endanger the lives of soldiers in operational actions in order to bring about the release of a living hostage or to get information,” Amidror told me in an interview in 2009. “But the important principle is not to conduct any negotiation for the bodies of abducted soldiers or for living hostages. Israel has trapped itself in an impossible position, in which it sacrifices vital security interests in order to return hostages or their bodies, and this exceeds all the limits of reason. If, for example, it was clear to Hamas or any other organization that we do not pay anything and do not negotiate, the motivation to kidnap would be significantly lower.”
Two days after Shalit’s abduction, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared in the Knesset that he and his government were “dealing with only one matter” — securing the release of Shalit. Olmert’s capitulation to Hezbollah’s demands for the remains of the two soldiers set a precedent for the high price to be paid for the bodies of Israeli M.I.A.’s. The weight of these deals made bargaining for Shalit’s freedom nearly impossible.
Because the Israeli government refuses to speak directly to Hamas, negotiations in the months following Shalit’s capture were mediated by senior officers of Egyptian intelligence, who at the time had an office in Gaza (they were expelled when Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip in 2007). In December 2006, an outline of an agreement was reached, under which Israel would free 450 Hamas prisoners from a list that would be agreed upon by both sides. In a second phase, after Shalit was repatriated, Israel would release another 550 prisoners (making a total of 1,000), whom it would select itself. The only point of contention was over who was to be included in the first list. For reasons that are not clear, Israel insisted that Hamas draw up the initial list. When it did so, predictably including the names of its most prominent prisoners — figures the Israeli government had vowed never to release — negotiations immediately came to a halt and remained there for the next two years.
Then, in late December 2008, while Shalit languished in an unknown location in Gaza and after the cease-fire was broken, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead. The stated goal was to liberate communities close to Gaza from missiles that were being fired on them from the strip, and the Olmert government took pains to say that the operation was not intended to win Shalit’s freedom. And yet, immediately following the operation, Israel announced that there would be no new cease-fire with Hamas — that border crossings with Gaza would not be opened and supplies designated for the population would not be allowed through — until the Shalit problem was solved.
In March 2009, negotiations between Israel and Hamas were held in Cairo, under the auspices of the Egyptian intelligence agency. Hamas insisted on the release of many of its top prisoners and, with few exceptions, refused to agree to their deportation from the West Bank, another major sticking point, as Israel feared that the released prisoners would embark on another wave of terrorism. Meir Dagan and Yuval Diskin, the chiefs of the Mossad and the Shin Bet respectively, opposed any deal. They produced data showing that 45 percent of those released in previous prisoner exchanges returned to terrorist activity. One example was a member of Islamic Jihad, Luay Saadi, who was arrested in September 1999 for providing logistical assistance to terrorists in the West Bank. According to Shin Bet, after his release in the January 2004 Tannenbaum deal, Saadi set up a widespread terrorist network that led to the deaths of 30 Israelis and the wounding of 300. He was assassinated by Israel in 2005.
There were a few dozen names on the Hamas list that the intelligence chiefs had vowed would never be released. One of these was Abbas al-Sayad, who dispatched the suicide bomber who blew himself up at a Passover seder at the Park Hotel in Netanya in 2002, killing 30 people, most of them senior citizens, and wounding 140. “People like that should never see daylight as free people,” Diskin, the chief of Shin Bet, said.
Olmert deliberated, and just before he left the prime minister’s office, in April 2009, he decided that the cost was too high to set so many murderers free. The deal collapsed.
On his last day as head of the Mossad, on Jan. 6 of this year, Dagan invited a group of reporters for an unprecedented visit to the organization’s headquarters, perhaps the most secret and well-fortified installation in Israel. We were driven there in a vehicle with blacked-out windows, then carefully searched before entering the building. During this meeting, Dagan sharply criticized the proposed deals for the release of Shalit. “Two hundred thirty-one Israelis were slaughtered by those freed in the Tannenbaum exchange,” he said. He recalled how in 1995 he informed a family that their son had been killed during an operation north of Nablus. “How can we go back to that woman and tell her that the man who killed her son and who was planning to murder many Israelis is being released, after he was sentenced to life imprisonment and after we told her he would never be released? What do we say to her?”
As negotiations for his son’s fate dragged on, Noam Shalit grew increasingly angry. Noam is an introvert, an industrial engineer for the Israeli company Iscar. His twin brother, Yoel, was killed in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but Noam refrained from joining anti-government demonstrations at the time. By June 2008, though, immediately after the deal with Hezbollah for the two Israeli bodies, Noam emerged as the commander of an army of demonstrators and a growing protest movement. Advertising and public relations executives offered their services to him free. The country was flooded with posters, billboards and one marketing gimmick after another. At one point, Israeli citizens were offered the chance to “write a letter to Gilad” in a special font that was based on Gilad’s own handwriting. Numerous demonstrations were held in the center of Tel Aviv under the slogan “Asking for Gilad’s Forgiveness,” and on Facebook, hundreds of thousands of Israelis replaced their profile picture with a photograph of Shalit. At one point, a “prison cell” was set up in a TV studio, windowless and cramped, similar to the one in which Gilad was presumed held. Local celebrities vied to take hourlong turns sitting inside it, to feel what it would be like in his shoes — all of which was broadcast live.
Like Miriam Grof before him, Noam Shalit galvanized the nation. “Olmert is a political hack,” he told me during one of several conversations I had with him in 2010, in the protest tent that he and Aviva lived in on a sidewalk near the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. They sat there on white plastic chairs for more than a year, shaking the hands of tens of thousands of well-wishers who made the pilgrimage to visit them. The prime minister’s security detail did not dare to expel them from the site.
“This is a man who has never really understood the dangers of being captured behind enemy lines,” Noam said of Olmert. “I told Olmert that bringing my son back alive is not a real estate deal.”
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Gershon Baskin, a Jewish peace activist, became the unlikely negotiator for Shalit's release.Credit
Michal Chelbin and Oded Plotnizki for The New York Times
He added, with uncharacteristic intensity: “Olmert had the nerve to look me in the eye after I said he wasn’t doing enough to free Gilad and say, ‘I don’t have a contract with any citizen of Israel that says that if he is taken prisoner I have to rescue him.’ That statement expresses a lack of understanding of the issue in all of its implications, not only on the fate of my son, but of far broader matters.” (Olmert says that he understood the Shalits’ request, but he adds: “As a prime minister, there are additional perspectives that I’m in charge of. There are things I will not do as prime minister of the state of Israel.”)
In the summer of 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu, who replaced Olmert in late March, decided that the Egyptian mediation was ineffective and enlisted German intelligence to negotiate a possible deal for Shalit. Over the next year and a half, the senior German agent in the Middle East, Gerhard Conrad, shuttled numerous times between Israel and Hamas. Under heavy secrecy, with the Israeli military barring publication of his name and photo, he moved around Tel Aviv, astonished that the billboards and the media campaigns on behalf of Shalit were having such a significant effect.
As reported by the German journalist Holger Stark of Der Spiegel, by late 2009 Conrad believed that he had managed to broker a compromise deal, but it was rejected by Netanyahu. He had set a limit to what he would agree: most of the freed prisoners would be deported and not allowed to return to their homes in the West Bank, and none of the names on Hamas’s “V.I.P. list” would be released.
More than a year went by, and the negotiations remained deadlocked. In January of this year, it seemed as if the Egyptian government under President Hosni Mubarak might succeed in pressuring Hamas into a compromise, but then came the Arab Spring. Suddenly there was no one to talk to in Cairo, and Hamas halted the negotiations.
Beyond the directors of the intelligence agencies, there were also Israelis who were opposed to making a deal with Hamas, mainly the families of victims of terror or members of the extreme right. In late 2009, when Conrad had almost closed a deal, dozens of families of victims gathered outside the prime minister’s office to protest against the release of killers. One of them was Yossi Mendellevich, with whom I spoke the week after Shalit was brought home.
Mendellevich described how, on the afternoon of March 5, 2003, he was talking on the phone with his 13-year-old son, Yuval, who was riding a No. 37 bus home from school in the port city of Haifa. “I cracked a joke, and Yuvie laughed and said: ‘Dad, you are so funny. I love you.’ Then there was a sound like an intake of air, like whoosh, and we were cut off. I didn’t think anything of it, because there were big problems with cellphones in Haifa at the time. About half an hour later, I got a call from someone asking if Yuval had come home, and I began to worry. Then I understood.”
Line No. 37 wasn’t chosen by chance. In the early afternoon it is one of the busiest bus routes in the city, carrying students from seven different schools. At 2:15 p.m., Mahmoud Kawasme, a Hamas member from Hebron, boarded the bus, moved to the center and detonated the explosives he was carrying. Seventeen people were killed, many of them schoolchildren, and more than 50 were wounded. Yossi Mendellevich identified Yuval’s body in the morgue. Soon afterward, he began waging a struggle against releasing terrorists.
The day after the Kawasme bombing, Israeli security services arrested four Hamas members who recruited him and sent him on his mission. Each of the planners was sentenced to 17 life terms. They were not meant to ever leave prison, but they were among those released in the Shalit deal. I have spoken with Mendellevich several times over the last few years, but he has never sounded so broken as he did in this recent conversation. “I am happy for Gilad and for his family,” he said, “but then I see the picture of Yuval, and sadness envelopes me again. You have seen a thing or two in your life: look at this picture of him. Sometimes you can see his innermost thoughts — the purity, the clarity, a kind of thing that is truly good. That is what he was, and my longing for him is as strong as the sense of loss that tears me apart.”
I asked him if he would like to kill the four who planned the bombing that killed his son, now that they are free.
“Not I,” Mendellevich said. “I am a good boy. A confirmed conformist. I don’t even own a gun. I have not done what some other families have done and put a prize of $100,000 on their heads. But children don’t get on buses armed with guns, and there are law-enforcement agencies that are supposed to keep the criminals and killers off our streets. Now those same agencies go and turn the killers loose to come back to the streets, and this after they have become more extreme and more skilled, in the luxurious conditions they were kept in, in our prisons.”
I asked him what should have been done. How should Shalit have been brought home?
“No effort was made to put any pressure on Hamas,” he said. “Not to mention a military rescue operation. Today there isn’t a military leader with the guts to order a rescue operation or a commander in the army with the guts to recommend one. It’s possible to get to any place. The I.D.F. has proved this many times, but in the Shalit case, they simply never tried, out of fear that soldiers would be killed on the way.”
In the spring of 2011, Netanyahu brought in a man named David Meidan to be his representative in the Shalit case. Born in Egypt, Meidan came to Israel as a child and has served for years in the Mossad, most recently as commander of the organization’s Tevel (“universe” in Hebrew) division, which coordinates operations with the intelligence services of other countries. Meidan was one of Meir Dagan’s favorites, although he had a radically different perspective on the question of prisoner exchanges.
Negotiations were at a dead end when Meidan took over the post, and he immediately began looking for new directions. “A lot of people offered themselves as mediators,” he told me in a conversation in mid-October. “When there is so much ‘intelligence noise,’ the problem is how to isolate the one thing that is likely to produce results. Both in my previous job and here I kept a sensitive ear open to try and identify that thing.”
That thing, improbably, turned out to be an American-Israeli peacenik named Gershon Baskin, who moved to Israel in 1978 to form an N.G.O. devoted to coexistence between Jews and Arabs and who had been a vehement critic of Netanyahu’s for the past 15 years.
Six months before Shalit was abducted, Baskin was at a conference in Cairo, where he struck up a friendship with a professor at the Islamic University of Gaza, a member of Hamas whose name Baskin requested not be published. In the days after the abduction, when Israel launched Operation Summer Rains, the professor phoned Baskin and yelled: “Do something! Your government is bombing us nonstop. There’s no water and no power.”
Through the professor, Baskin was put in contact with Ghazi Hamad, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister, and it was this relationship, which took place largely through computer chats over a number of years, that ultimately led to the Shalit deal. Starting days after the abduction, through a relentless series of text messages, e-mail and phone calls, Baskin tried to convince the Olmert government and all other parties involved that he could help broker a deal. For years he was rebuffed as a nuisance by the Israeli officials dealing with the case.
The first message Baskin received from Hamad said that Hamas would free Shalit in exchange for an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, a total cease-fire and the release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners. In an effort to make sure Olmert personally received the message, Baskin approached Olmert’s daughter, Dana, who agreed to speak to her father. Hamas wanted to know who Baskin’s channel to the prime minister was, so he told them about Dana. Shortly after, a senior Israeli intelligence official shocked Olmert by telling him that his daughter’s name had been mentioned by Hamas operatives. Out of concern for Olmert’s daughter’s safety, a member of Olmert’s staff called Baskin into his office and told him not to involve Dana. For the next five years, until David Meidan decided to take his call, Israeli intelligence rejected Baskin’s offers to help. But Baskin phoned Meidan the day he took the job. “Give me three weeks to get organized,” Meidan told him. “I don’t even have an office or a secretary.” Of their first meeting, Baskin said, “He explained to me that Netanyahu had come to a decision, against his own principles, to bring Gilad home.”
Meidan says that it was almost inconceivable that he would enter into a dialogue with the peacenik who said he could mediate a deal on Shalit, but because there was nothing to lose, he decided to try an experiment to see if Baskin’s channel of communication could be trusted. He asked Baskin to convey a message asking Hamas to prove that Shalit was still alive.
On June 14, Baskin and Hamad communicated via chat messages, Baskin speaking on behalf of Meidan and Hamad on behalf of Ahmed Jabari, the commander of the armed wing of Hamas, who was holding Shalit. Jabari’s is also the first name on Israel’s list of terrorists to be assassinated.
“There is no knowledge of how Gilad is for more than one and a half years,” Baskin wrote, “and Jabari or anyone else should not expect Israel to be serious about releasing 450 prisoners without exact knowledge on whether or not he is alive and well.” Baskin communicated that there were two ways to establish proof of life. The first was a visit by the International Red Cross, in exchange for which Meidan agreed to grant family visits for Hamas prisoners in Israel who had not seen their families for more than four years. Conveying Meidan’s sentiments, he wrote, “a humanitarian gesture in exchange for a humanitarian gesture” and underscored that this was “a technical nightmare for Israel” but that Meidan was willing to ensure it would take place. The second option was a video showing that Shalit was alive.
Israeli intelligence tracked Baskin’s messages and found that the pipeline was reliable and accurate. For the next two months, Baskin transmitted the messages to Hamad without any embellishments, and Hamad passed them on precisely to Hamas leadership.
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Gilad Shalit’s parents, Aviva and Noam.Credit
Michal Chelbin and Oded Plotnizki for The New York Times
Meidan reported to Netanyahu: “It turns out that Phoenix” — the code name assigned to Baskin by the intelligence community — “is telling the truth, and our messages are going straight to Jabari.” Netanyahu gave his approval for the secret communication to continue. (A spokesman for Netanyahu declined to comment on any details of the Shalit release, referring me to his public statements.)
“After five years,” Baskin recounted, “this track was now official. I would go to sleep with my mind working on creative ideas — on what I would say to Ghazi, on a proposal for reaching a compromise. My mind was consumed with the negotiations. I was essentially conducting direct negotiations between the government of Israel and Hamas.”
In Israel, only the prime minister, the defense minister, the army chief of staff, Meidan and his team and the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet knew of Baskin’s involvement. It is strange, even unimaginable, that in the end it was a tenacious peacenik without a budget or agents who succeeded where such powerful intelligence agents had failed. “Someone from Egyptian intelligence told me that I hold each conversation five times,” Baskin says, “one for each of the spy agencies listening in on us.”
The process was made more difficult by the total lack of trust between the two sides. Here are extracts from a chat between Baskin and Hamad on July 25:
Baskin: “Is there any possibility that Jabari will authorize you to meet me in a third country other than Egypt?”
Hamad: “Gershon, he authorized me and give me full support but he is very sensitive to anything related to something given to Israel. He still have no trust with Israel. . . .”
Baskin: “Did he authorize you to negotiate?”
Hamad: “Hamas is afraid that can be used against them, direct contact with Israel. . . .”
Baskin: “Netanyahu has the same problem with direct contact with Hamas.”
In the end, thanks to Baskin’s persistence, Meidan persuaded Netanyahu to agree to send Hamas a vague message conveying readiness to compromise. This did not happen in a vacuum: Under intense domestic pressure — among other things, the country’s health care system was on the verge of collapse — Netanyahu was desperate for a positive development. Hamas also had its reasons for moving ahead — the Arab spring was exerting considerable pressure on the organization’s leaders in Damascus, who feared for their future if President Bashar Assad of Syria fell.
On July 14, Baskin received a message from Hamad saying that Hamas was offering a final resolution on the matter. Baskin faxed the document to Meidan, who as a cautious intelligence officer refuses to work with e-mail.
The Israeli negotiating team was surprised by the document. It promised there would be no further demands from the Palestinian side. Hamas promised to carry on from the point reached by Conrad, the German mediator in February 2011, with amendments that were less drastic than had been anticipated. “These are not simple demands,” Meidan told Netanyahu, “but with this we can begin to work.”
Meidan, who in the Mossad had been in charge of Israel’s secret-intelligence ties with Egypt under Mubarak, invited the ousted president’s successors, who were much closer to Hamas than Mubarak had been, to oversee and safeguard the negotiations. He informed them that he was even prepared to meet Jabari in person if necessary. Later, Netanyahu ordered him not to meet Jabari, and the two, who spent dozens of hours during the negotiations on opposite sides of the same wall, with the Egyptians shuttling messages between them, saw each other only in a corridor.
From Israeli intelligence it emerged that there was unrest within Hamas leadership, with some arguing that the matter would have been long settled had Jabari not refused to bend. Meidan called Baskin from Egypt and said: “Get in touch urgently with Hamad and ask him if Hamas is Ahmad Jabari’s private business, because with his nonsense and games he is going to jeopardize the whole deal. Ask Jabari how it is that the whole organization, including the heads of the political wing, are scared of calling him to order.”
“The most difficult time,” Baskin recalls, “was two weeks before the agreement.” The Egyptians had placed a comprehensive draft agreement on the table, containing all the details. The Hamas representatives evaded giving an answer. “Suddenly, no one was getting back to me and all of my contacts were avoiding my calls,” Baskin said. “The terrible thought crossed my mind that perhaps Hamas did not really want to sign the agreement because they could not really carry it out — that Gilad was no longer alive.”
What was actually taking place was an internal dispute within Hamas. The political leadership was forcing the Egyptian proposal on Jabari, who wanted to continue stringing the Israelis along.
Ultimately, it was Israel that made the supreme compromise in agreeing to release terrorists whom it had vowed never to set free. While half of Hamas’s V.I.P. list remained in prison, those who were released were collectively responsible for the deaths of 600 Israelis and for wounding thousands. Some of them had been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison. German intelligence was amazed by these concessions, which Netanyahu himself had said he would never agree to.
Now Shalit is home, and Israel can only wait to see if the gamble Netanyahu took with the country’s security was justified or whether, as the deal’s opponents claim, the release of so many killers will encourage even more kidnappings and fuel the flames that are perpetually smoldering in the Middle East.
To a certain extent, the entire history of Israel’s prisoner exchanges prepared the country for this moment. Alongside the chronicles of regional security and Jewish tradition, it may have been a profound and bewildering sense of impotence — that Israel, with its mighty military, its legendary Mossad and its resourceful Shin Bet, is forced to stoop before its enemies — that led the masses into the streets to express their rage at the government and to demand that they bring Shalit home. It was clear that Israel would have to pay the price either way, the argument went, so why wait? Next time, said analysts firmly, a new set of clear rules would need to be devised; but this time, with Shalit languishing in jail for years without any alternative on the horizon, it must be signed before it was too late.
In 2007, a special commission was set up to determine a set of clear criteria to be followed in future prisoner exchanges. In order to protect negotiations on the Shalit deal, its details were not published, but I was told by a source in the ministry of defense that they include a warning against paying an exorbitant price to terrorist organizations in order to bring prisoners home, that the guiding principle should be bodies for bodies and small numbers of imprisoned terrorists for living hostages.
Perhaps this commission was asking Israelis to evoke an attitude that was more prevalent before the first Lebanon war of 1982 and the economic boom of the mid-’80s. It was the attitude in which one Israeli was willing to sacrifice himself for the collective, and in which the collective accepted this sacrifice. Looking back 35 years, it is undeniable that a shift has occurred in Israeli society. It is doubtful, when the time comes, that politicians will be able to resist public pressure and give up whatever is necessary, whatever percentage of the nearly 5,000 Palestinian prisoners still held in Israel, to bring the missing home.
There is perhaps some larger hope, though. After the deal went through, David Meidan reported to Netanyahu on the exchange and mentioned that he noticed a change in Jabari: he was wearing civilian clothes as opposed to the customary military uniform, appeared to be taking better care of his appearance, all of which softened his usual stern image. Meidan said to Netanyahu, “Something interesting is happening to Jabari.”
He also said that he believed the Egyptian-mediated channel established between Israel and Hamas for the negotiation could perhaps be used for other deals, and that from a point of total mistrust in April, a fragile mutual trust had been built between the two parties after the Shalit deal.
Others in Israeli intelligence believe, or perhaps hope, that the fact that the deal went through may indicate that Hamas’s stance is becoming more moderate, that the Arab Spring and the fall of Mubarak, with whom Israel shared a cold peace, might not pose as great a peril as Israel thought.
This fragile optimism, of course, will die immediately if one of the released prisoners takes part in the killing of Israelis, a fate that some intelligence officers say is inevitable. For now, though, the 80 percent of Israelis who supported the Shalit deal continue to rejoice. He is, as it is said there, everyone’s son. And will be until more fighting claims more lives and another soldier will take Gilad Shalit’s place in Israel’s collective conscience.
Correction: November 13, 2011
An article on Page 34 this weekend about Gilad Shalit, an Israeli solider who was returned to Israel recently in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, misstates the sex of one of his siblings. He has a brother and a sister, not two brothers.
Ronen Bergman is a political and military analyst for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. He is the author of “By Any Means Necessary: Israel’s Covert War for Its P.O.W.’s and M.I.A.’s.” | {
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Chicago Bears linebacker Lamarr Houston discusses his stellar game against the San Diego Chargers in Week 9, the improving Chicago Bears defense, and preparing for St. Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley in Week 10.
Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Lamarr Houston shares his opinion about the possibility of the NFL testing for HGH in the 2013 season and whether he thinks the Raiders can be competitive in the AFC West.
Nicole Zaloumis and Mark Kriegel find out what it takes to get ready for an NFL training camp when athletic trainer Travelle Gaines and Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Lamarr Houston stop by the studio. | {
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In a move that could only be viewed as a step in the right direction, Sprint has just made a major move in the battle against bloatware. It's newly-unveiled Custom Branded Device Program is being introduced just as prepaid carriers are beginning to see something of a resurgence. In a nutshell, the initiative enables its MVNO partners (carriers like Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile) to customize white-label Android phones. In case you needed to hear it another way, it'll give those partners the ability to "completely de-brand devices from Sprint." Of course, this opens the door for said partners to litter these phones with their own software, but it also provides an option to see phones in a manner that Americans rarely see unless they opt for pricier global (and unlocked) models.
Sprint is hoping that the program will allow its MVNO partners -- carriers who sell phones under their own brand but actually rely on Sprint's network for service -- to "have greater, and potentially quicker, access to a large selection of completely de-branded marquee Android handsets out of Sprint and Boost Mobile device inventory with volume pricing included." Presently, Sprint has three devices available for this program -- LG Optimus G, LG Mach and Sprint Flash -- but additional devices are expected to be added by the month's end. Perhaps most interestingly, we reported back in July of 2011 that Sprint was making a "conscious decision to scale back bloatware on smartphones." Here's hoping that decision is soon realized. | {
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INFRARAVE RECORDS
The momentum, intensity, and monstrous tech house rhythm by mix mc infrarave records portugal!!!
100% Dime for Real :
Another stomping performance from none other than Mix Mc aka Infrarave!!!
This time round he shows his epic capabilities at Studioinfrabunker!!!
Another huge collaboraction project coming up...just keep a lookout for it!!!
Hands in the air. Smiles all round. Get ready for Relentless Tech House Sounds...Active Infrarave 2011:
Soy productor, editor y comercializador de proyectos musicales en cuanto a dance, techno y electrónica se refiere...
Si sueñas con entrar al competitivo mundo de la música, contactame...
I am a producer, publisher and distributor of musical projects in terms of dance, techno and electronic referred...
If you dream of entering the comp...etitive world of music, contact me...
Eu sou um produtor, editor e distribuidor de projetos musicais em termos de tecno, dança e electrónica referida...
Se você sonha em entrar no competitivo mundo da música, entre em contato comigo...
My studio is down right now but you just reminded me how much I love to Produce, & Remix. I will be posting music as "soon" as we're uP & running again....
in facebock: mix mc infrarave:
"INFRARAVE RECORDS"
Sharing stuff and adding some electronic addicted friends to this group - and everything is going to be alright...
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_186240351417146&ap=1,[email protected]
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mix-Mc-Infrarave/116686211740652
minimal,techno,tech house... group to promote the DJs and music producers électronique. he would be grateful to add members to better promote our music;-))
google: "mix mc active infrarave 2011"
e-mail: [email protected]
msn: [email protected]
skype: mix mc infrarave
http://www.myspace.com/mixinfrarave
http://www.emoxion.com/mixmcinfrarave
http://mixmcinfrarave.official.fm
http://www.wix.cominfrarave/mix
http://twitter.com/mixmcinfrarave
http://mixmcinfrarave.slide.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/mixmcinfrarave2010
http://mixmcinfraraverecords.blogspot.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/3274886
http://underrrreview.blogspot.com/2009/11/infrarave.html
http://soundcloud.com/mix-mc-infrarave
http://www.quepasa.com/mixmcinfrarave
INFRARAVE is a promoter, who was born based on the progress of electronic technology, giving rise to the new era that today we are faced with the era of electronic music.
1992 was the date it started its activities in the field of dance music, with dedication to complete projects of an emerging culture, the culture of dance music always constant basis with the idea of promoting development and growth of this same culture.
Today INFRARAVE, continues to work in a conscious public and the needs of the market and it has as a central concern the promotion worldwide of its artist MC MIX and innovation!
Thus contributing to the development and growth of dance music from a global perspective.
That is why the project work INFRARAVE occupy such an influential in the dance music scene, international, knowing you can count on a large number of followers, who give him the true greatness. | {
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How To Spot Fake News
January 2017Words by Mr Adam Welch
Two businessmen reading the financial sections of their newspapers, London, 1925. Photograph by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
On Wednesday 11 January 2017, Mr Donald Trump – you know, the President of the United States of America – pointed at a reporter from CNN (one of the country’s most respected broadcasters) with the damning accusation: “You are fake news”. He was referring to a dossier, reported upon by CNN and released in full by Buzzfeed, that contained many claims about Mr Trump’s relationship with Russia. There was no real evidence to support these claims, hence the indignant response. Later, on Sunday 22 January, White House aide Ms Kellyanne Conway appeared on NBC’s Meet The Press and stated that the White House press secretary Mr Sean Spicer had described audience numbers at Mr Trump’s inauguration with “alternative facts”. NBC anchor Mr Chuck Todd said, “look, alternative facts are not facts. They’re falsehoods”.
This is where we are right now. Whether we’re calling it fake news, alternative facts, misrepresentations or plain old fibs, we’ve suddenly become aware that not everything we read and see out there, on TV, on the internet, in print, is strictly speaking, 100 per cent… true. Of course, the concept of “fake news” is one that was talked about following the 2016 presidential election – in which credible-looking but ultimately untrue stories about both candidates were circulated by a variety of outlets on social media – but this is not exactly a new problem. In fact, governments, advertisers, journalists and independent voices on the internet have long been twisting the facts to get their messages across, not always in an entirely honest fashion. The difference now, according to neuroscientist Mr Daniel Levitin, is that there’s just so much confusing information out there. “In the current information age, pseudo-facts masquerade as facts, misinformation can be indistinguishable from true information, and numbers are often at the heart of any important claim or decision,” Mr Levitin says. “Bad statistics are everywhere.”
It’s an apt time, then for the re-publication of Mr Levitin’s book A Field Guide To Lies And Statistics, an engrossing volume of advice about how to think critically and scientifically about the things we are told by governments, the media, and even our friends. Covering everything from graphs and diagrams (and how to cheat with them) to probability and logic, to when and how to evaluate the worth of expert opinions, it functions as a helpful toolkit for dissecting news stories and claims, with the aim of finding that ever-elusive quality: the truth. Below, we’ve collected just a few of Mr Levitin’s tips for seeing the facts clearly – if you want a complete dose of his wisdom though we recommend ordering a copy of the whole book, which is out now from Viking. | {
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Oak Leaf Pillow
From my new line of "Sorry there is no Bird on this Pillow", mid century, inspired collection of pillows created from my recent drawings. I just had a full knee replacement and plenty of time in my mid-century modern west elm furnished living room.I had plenty of time to do some reflection and realized my bird pillows would not quite go with my own decor. I have a great love for nature and native plants. Since my husband is a landscaper, who only uses native plants for his rain gardens, we have plenty of books and resources around our house that I could use for inspiration and models for my daily drawings. When I recouped from my surgery and was able to return to my studio, I took my sketchbooks full of my designs and began my pillow designs. I love the sense of high quality felt that I have in many colors to use as the background shapes and then the drawing is all freehand machine stitching.
This sweet little pillow is completely inspired by the dishes my grandmother had when I was a child. I just found this dish that I had to buy to remind of those amazing meals that my grandmother cooked for us with all of the entire food pyramid included. The two panel dish always had two cooked vegetables presented to us to eat.
Since this is a custom pillow you can select color of base, the one show here is simply canvas, and you can select the color for each plant felt components. Or been if you have a design from an inspired dish or item that you want me to use for a felt or freehand machined drawn design!
And then you can add your choice of framing: piping, ball fringe or even fringe!
This price is for a 12" pillow but other sizes can be made, simply convo me for the price.
Back has an envelop closure. Comes with a removable high quality pillow form
Allow up to three week for delivery.
Shipping & Policies
Shipping from United States
Processing time
1-2 weeks
Customs and import taxes
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Payment Options
Secure options
Accepts Etsy gift cards
Returns & Exchanges
I gladly accept returns and exchanges
Just contact me within: 14 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 30 days of delivery
I don't accept cancellations
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
The following items can't be returned or exchanged
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
Custom or personalized orders
Perishable products (like food or flowers)
Digital downloads
Intimate items (for health/hygiene reasons)
Conditions of return
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value. | {
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Assuage Spa-Naples 2 Year Anniversary Party
Can you believe it has been 2 years? Get your friends together and join us in Ft. Myers for our 2 Year Anniversary Celebration. We will have FREE Chair Massage, Hors D’oeuvres & Wine, and a Meet & Greet with Your Favorite Staff and Skin Care Representatives. We will also be doing a balloon popping special. Come in anytime during party, and pop a balloon for a chance to win FREE services and special offers. All you have to do is show up to win. | {
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Marijuana seized from boat near Sunset Cliffs
San Diego About 1,400 pounds of marijuana was seized from a boat and two smuggling suspects were arrested early Saturday near Point Loma.
The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sea Otter intercepted a small boat, known as a panga, after a citizen called authorities about 6:40 a.m. to report that it was beached at a cave in the Sunset Cliffs area, and two men appeared to be unloading items.
San Diego police and lifeguards also responded. Bales of marijuana were found on the panga. Two suspects, both Mexican citizens, were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. | {
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson emerged from an hour long meeting this afternoon with Gov. Robert Bentley calling Bentley a "decent man who I think wants to do the right thing."
Jackson, along with several dozen others, met with Bentley and Secretary of State John Merrill to talk about the state's decision to close 31 driver's licenses offices, all of them in rural communities with about half of those in majority black counties.
The decision to close the offices has ignited a firestorm of protests over concerns the action will make it harder for blacks to get the most common form of ID, a driver's license.
Alabama in one of a number of states that require a photo ID to vote. The decision to close the offices has caused some to fear the effort is aimed at suppressing black voting by the time the March party primaries role around. Other fear that reducing the opportunities to get a driver's license will just add another burden onto the residents of poor and isolated places already struggling in a hosts of areas from the need for better schools, health care, public transportation, access to grocery stores and many other needs.
Rep. Terri Sewell has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the closings.
The closings of the offices along with some state parks, National Guard armories, ABC stores and other moves came after the Legislature passed a new General Fund Budget that did not provide level funding for a number of state agencies, many of which were left having to cut their budgets from 5 percent to double figures.
Jackson said he thought progress had been made in the meeting with Bentley."He absolutely does not agree this is a voting issue and he said he would never do anything to hurt the ability of Alabamians to vote and I think he believes that in his heart," said Jackson. "Our position is that, 'okay's say we agree it is only a driver's license issue.' That's still a serious issue in these communities. And these communities - white and black - need to be able to have reasonable access to obtaining a license and when you have to drive an hour or longer to take a test that's an issue."
Jackson said Bentley agreed to meet again with the leadership of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency - which recommended the closings due to the small number of people using the offices - to take another look at the closings.I'm satisfied we made some progress today. We will keep talking and watching," said Jackson.
Bentley's response came from Jennifer Ardis, his communications director."Gov. Bentley listened to the concerns raised today by Reverend Jesse Jackson," said Ardis in an email. "Secretary Merrill explained the options for citizens to receive a photo ID in order to vote. Gov. Bentley and the Legislative Black Caucus agreed to work together to find solutions to further fund driver license offices in Alabama's rural counties."
Jackson also said he urged Bentley to take another look at expanding the Medicaid program in the state. About 1 million Alabamians - most of them poor, children and the elderly - depend on Medicaid for their health. Through the federal Affordable Care Act, known better as Obamacare, the federal government will initially pick up most of the tab for expanding the program, a move that could pump several billions of dollars into the state.
Bentley has to date refused to expand Medicaid saying the state system has been so broken that the additional dollar would largely be wasted without improving care.
But Jackson said he believes Bentley is in the process of reconsidering that decision.
"He's a doctor and a governor and I think he understands both the economic benefits of expanding but also the health care benefits as well," said Jackson. "I know he has been in on-going talks with the federal government regarding expansion and I think he is carefully and cautiously moving toward expansion but he is not there yet."
Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery who is chairman of the House black caucus, was also in the meeting and emerged calling the meeting a positive one."I think we had a good meeting, a very informative meeting," said Knight. "I think we brought some things to the governor's attention that we can work on. But I don't want to be premature. I think the ball is in the governor's court right now and we will see. | {
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Belabumbum
Here’s a little bit of fun for you all! In honor of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and Belabumbum have paired to give you the opportunity to win a beautiful teal camisole and panty set.
Create a “Pin Your Best Teal” Pinterest board (be sure to include Belabumbum)and when you are done tweet @OCNA and @Belabumbum with a link to your board. Make sure to use the hashtags #TopToBottom and #WearTeal.
At the end of September they will select 3 winners to receive a free camisole and panty set in their size of choice. This set is really cute! So get to pinning!!! | {
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Ten individuals set out to find themselves in an alienating world, filled with heartbreak, deception, and tragedy. With so much at stake, these strangers struggle to overcome their fates and find their place in a frequently harsh and unforgiving world | {
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Whitelaw, Wisconsin Debt Negotiation - The Way It Works Approaches To Discover The Right Agency
Have you been struggling with consumer credit card debt? Is your income lower than your regular financial debt? Managing overdrafts? Are the stacks of unopened and outstanding monthly bills just piling up? You could make this bad dream stop by getting in touch with a great debt settlement agency in Whitelaw, Wisconsin.
Things To Know About Debt Negotiation And Managing Debt Settlement By Yourself
Debt settlement is the process of calling creditors, individually, and arranging to repay less than the balance you owe them. You can even work with experts to take care of the agreements for you. If a collector will accept lower than how much money you owe them, it's known as a settlement. Your chances are better to get a lower sum if you're way behind on payments and don't have the resources to pay them back fully. You're even more likely to obtain a debt settlement agreement when it is clear that you've struck a challenging spot financially, particularly if this transpired through unforeseen hardship.
For anyone who is considering consumer bankruptcy options, you want to give some sincere thought to debt settlement to start with. You can evade a lifetime of damage by evading filing bankruptcy. Creditors are very mindful that they will receive very little or nothing at all if you seek bankruptcy relief, so they are more ready to accept the idea of a debt settlement. After you resolve an account in this manner, you'll no longer owe the collector or creditor. You'll pay them lower than the total amount you initially owed , and will also be considered a paid account. You will not get any more collector phone calls once it's been resolved.
Any type of debt can be negotiated. The idea is to ensure that your debt gets paid and your creditors get something, whether it be student loan debt, credit card debt, or medical debt. If you're not prepared to give up your possessions (like home and vehicle), it'll be more difficult to get these bad debts resolved. The IRS is not obligated to settle, but it is common for them to do this. Student loan negotiation isn't as common as other forms.
Negotiation will probably influence your credit standing. That is something that all the credit reporting agencies will know about. The information from the settlement deal will remain on your report.
You're able to work out a lower settlement deal amount yourself or you can deal with a debt settlement organization. The latter is favored for an individual who is not familiar with negotiating debt, or for someone that does not like to jump on the phone and take action himself. Many find the task to be irritating and scary. Many people are just nervous about trying to do it with no experienced support. You may not even have the time to handle it by yourself. It might be best for you to employ a debt negotiation organization to carry out the hard work on your behalf. Consumer debt and contact with creditors will impact everyone in different ways, and you may favor the idea of speaking to creditors personally. Just do not go into something thoughtlessly. Seek information before making the calls or before choosing someone to help you. This can be the best way to stay away from companies with lots of complaints reported against them and those that need upfront service fees. You should definitely opt for a respectable company.
Speak to your creditors when you first encounter financial difficulty. Personal contact on your part is the best strategy, if you are able to do this. Always keep a record of each conversation, phone call, e-mail, or correspondence among you and the creditors. Debt negotiation companies are the better option if you really lack the time, confidence, or capability to get it done on your own.
Always ask for a written copy of the arrangements, and you'll want to study them diligently. You will need a prepared arrangement of every negotiation that you've made. Keep this information for your records. If a question arises, you'll have them. You may need them once you file income taxes.
Make Sure That Do it Yourself Debt Relief Is The Most Effective Solution For Your Situation
Many people have reported success with DIY debt negotiation. All you have to do is phone the credit card provider's customer service office. However, more often than not, a credit card company is only going to work with a person who is way behind on his payments and who would like to make just one one time payment. There isn't any repayment plan alternative. The credit card company will want you to make a single one time payment.
It is possible to avoid investing in a debt negotiation service by doing your own debt settlement. This is also an effective way to be in control of the entire process of debt negotiation.
Advantages Of Using Specialized Debt Settlement Solutions
More often than not, working together with a professional debt settlement organization is more advantageous. They have got long-standing associations with creditors, and this makes it possible to find much better deals. That's not as simple to accomplish when you're doing the job by yourself. Then there is the benefit of acquiring a single monthly instalment that goes through them before reaching the credit card companies. It's a very easy approach.
Doing the work without any help may be less advantageous than working through a reputable debt settlement company. To pay for their service, the debt negotiation organization is going to take a portion of the savings of the financial debt. A better agreement with a negotiation service may include a larger bulk settlement that winds up with up to fifty percent of the current account balances. Debt negotiation agencies have usually developed associations with the credit card companies, so that they can arrive at negotiations at a better rate than a consumer who's going to be working on their own. Credit card companies are more prepared to settle credit card debt in order to avoid making more written off financial debt, that's already high with the overall economy.
The Downsides of The Debt Negotiation Method
Impaired credit rating: FICO ratings can drop with a debt settlement. This could be eliminated through a paid in full document from the collector. The score increases again as balances are settled. You'll find opportunities with most debt negotiation services to help you to raise your credit score.
Lawsuit potential: If a debt goes unsettled, there's always a possibility of lawsuit. Within the debt settlement process, the balance of the debtor will remain in default. Legal actions are a possible problem for as long as the debt is in default. A lump sum payment is commonly the only way to negotiate consumer debt for less than what is owed.
Consumer debt eligibility: Moreover, the specific bad debts of the consumers themselves can have an effect on the negotiations' success. Debt settlement will not benefit many types of personal debt. For instance, you can't anticipate seeing any respite from domestic judgments, tax liens, or student loan debt. Many creditors even firmly resist debt settlement.
Issues with income taxes: Because debt negotiations are claimed as taxed income, many want to avoid the solution. But, the IRS doesn't make people claim the specified debt if the taxpayer was in an insolvent state at the time when the collector forgave debt.
Selecting The Right Whitelaw, Wisconsin Debt Negotiation Agency
Will the organization bill you anything prior to reducing your debt?
You have to consider this prior to deciding on which debt negotiation organization you want to deal with. Don't apply with a debt settlement organization that has any kind of large price prior to their work in decreasing debt. One small fee, or something like an application fee, is commonplace. Do not pay anything more than that .
Are there complaints submitted with the organization? Are there a lot of grievances? What's their Better Business Bureau status look like?
You can find out plenty about a organization's past by checking online. Based on what past clients have reported, you will get a good idea of how the organization works. You can also check with your State Attorney General and the local chamber of commerce to see if grievances have been filed against them.
Is the debt settlement service included in the American Fair Credit Council?
The American Fair Credit Council has as its goal the promotion of good methods in the debt negotiation business.They work to assure protection for potential customers from questionable debt negotiation service processes. Companies are required to follow strict rules to be in the AFCC. They include disclosure and carrying out practices that boost achievement and excellent customer experience.
Has the method been discussed with you? Have all your questions or concerns been responded to?
Before you actually enroll in a debt settlement plan, you should be provided with all of the necessary information on the way the debt negotiation method functions. There are many solutions, like credit counseling, bankruptcy, and debt consolidation. You have to be informed of each one of those. Be suspicious if the company customer sales representative is working to push their plan on you without going through each option you've got. They should be seeking to do what's in the interest of the client, not just make money.
Will you observe the improvements online?
Transparency is crucial when you use a debt negotiation company. The consumer has to know what is being done on their behalf and have easy access to account standing. In many cases, debt negotiation agencies aren't that big and are not going to have the tools to present consumers with this type of details. You need to deal with one that is able to make this happen.
To observe settlement offers, communicate with customer service, access balances, and monitor improvement, you've got to be working with the ideal company.
You'll want to understand these elements to help make the best decision. Never choose any plan that will not provide these superior levels of technical services and customer care. Only opt for companies with a great reputation.
Working with a debt settlement service can take most of the heaviness from your shoulders and is much more valued by individuals who have had to complete the task by themselves in the past. If you wish to handle all the outstanding debt without having the anxiety and without committing a considerable amount up-front, this is a good option to suit your needs. | {
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If you are looking for a guaranteed issue life insurance policy for people ages 45 to 85, at more competitive rates, from a life insurance carrier that has a Superior rating for financial strength, United of Omaha may be the option for you. | {
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Speed up Web Page Loading Using Google Page Speed
The easiest way to improve your website’s conversions may have less to do with SEO and your content and more to do with how fast your pages load. Internet users have a short attention span, and won’t wait for your pages to load when the next site is just a click away. Fortunately, you can fix your web page loading times with the help of Google Page Speed.
Website loading time is one of the most important performance elements of a website. It has been said, according to a study at Peer1, that there is a “loss of one third of the visitors who abandon the site” after four seconds of website loading time.
Graph: % of visitors retained vs. Website loading time:
What is interesting is that there are almost no visitors interested in waiting for your website to completely load after 25-30 seconds. Loss of visitors translates to losses everywhere, including sales, other income revenues, subscribers, readers, etc.
This is how critical website loading time is. Instead of drastically focusing on other aspects such as SEO, any smart webmaster should FIRST focus on improving website loading times before trying to solve other problems.
Here is a case study:
Website average loading time: six seconds
Average monthly visitors: 1000
Conversion rate: 1%
Average profit per sale: $10
Visitors retained at 6 seconds (estimate): 50%
Visitor loss due loading time: 100% – 50%: 50%
Visitors retained: 1000 x 50% = 500
Average conversions: 500 x 0.01 = 5
Monthly profit (average) = 5 x $10 = $50
Website average loading time: less than five seconds
Visitors retained: 1000 (no visitor loss due to slow website loading)
Average conversions = 1000 x 0.01= 10
Monthly profit (average) = 10 x $10 = $100
As you can see from the above example, it is possible to double website profit simply by improving website loading times.
{mospagebreak title=Introduction to Google Page Speed}
Google Webmaster Tools recently added a new site feature called “Site performance.” You can access your site performance data by logging in to your webmaster tools account, and then going to Dashboard à Labs à Site performance.
You will be provided with the average number of seconds it takes your website pages to load. For example, the above screenshot says that it takes 5.2 seconds for a particular website’s pages to load on average. This is slower than 75% of the sites online. This result practically screams that the website needs to improve its website loading performance.
One of the key features of Site Performance is “Page Speed,” a Firefox plug-in that can provide suggestions to help you make your website load fast. By default, Site Performance does provide suggestions for improvement based on the “Page Speed” tool. First, you need to install it by clicking the "install" button at the bottom of Site performance.
It is also suggested that you install Firebug before installing Page Speed, because it is a pre-requisite. Downloading Firebug will make it possible to use the Page Speed tool in a Firebug console (see below for details).
How to use Page Speed to analyze performance using a browser
Once installed, you can start using Page Speed by following the steps below.
The red exclamation marks are serious problems. For the purpose of illustration, we will only tackle the most pressing problems/actions, which are enabling Gzip compression, and some JavaScript optimization tips like optimizing the order of styles and scripts.
Enabling Gzip Compression. This works by compressing the output to the browser instead of sending the uncompressed file, which is heavy. See the illustration below:
If it is compressed, it will be retrieved very easily by the browser — in short, the page loading time should improve.
There are different ways to implement GZIP compression. It can be done either in .htaccess or PHP. For simplicity, we will implement GZIP compression using PHP to make the process easy to understand.
There are basically three types of files that you need to compress for efficiency. These are HTML-related files, JavaScript files and CSS files. For illustration purposes, we will be using WordPress, since it accounts for the majority of the CMSs used; however, the principle discussed can be applied to any platform. To compress HTML, follow the steps below.
Step 2: Using your favorite PHP editor, open the file and copy à paste the code below to the top most part of the script:
if (substr_count($_SERVER[‘HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING’], ‘gzip’)) {
ob_start("ob_gzhandler");
}
else {
ob_start();
}
So that the new index.php will now be:
<?php
if (substr_count($_SERVER[‘HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING’], ‘gzip’)) {
ob_start("ob_gzhandler");
}
else {
ob_start();
}
/**
* Front to the WordPress application. This file doesn’t do anything, but loads
* wp-blog-header.php which does and tells WordPress to load the theme.
*
* @package WordPress
*/
/**
* Tells WordPress to load the WordPress theme and output it.
*
* @var bool
*/
define(‘WP_USE_THEMES’, true);
/** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */
require(‘./wp-blog-header.php’);
?>
This code loads the call back function ob_start to facilitate sending gz-encoded data using PHP and compresses the content before sending it to the browser, which accepts gzip-encoded data. Save and upload it to the WordPress root directory. You can use this tool to make sure your compression is working.
{mospagebreak title=GZIP Compression for CSS Files}
To compress CSS files, you need to determine the heaviest CSS files. If you compress them, you save some significant kilobytes in loading. For the test website, default.css is the heaviest. Looking at the source code:
It starts by loading the PHP GZIP handler, which will do the compression and then tell the browser it is a CSS file. Upload gzipCSS.php to the same directory as default.php, for example:
You can perform the same process with the rest of your heavy CSS files; the same concept can even be applied to JavaScript.
{mospagebreak title=Optimizing the Order of JavaScript and CSS}
Optimizing the order of JavaScript is simple. You will need to cluster all JavaScript together as one group if possible, and let them execute first, before loading the CSS. This will benefit from any parallel loading of scripts which have an effect on loading speed. For example, if before it was: | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Can American Democracy Survive
“Which world is ‘natural’? That which existed before or the world of war? Both are natural if both are within the realm of one’s experience.”
Czeslaw Milosz, The Captive Mind, 1953
It was a political eternity ago.
In 2016, several political commentators (myself included) warned about the potential consequences of electing a presidential candidate who relied on authoritarian tactics and appeals — mass rallies of adoring crowds, nationalist slogans, race-based electoral strategies, and promises of strong leadership and repressive policies to solve the country’s problems. As the popularity of that candidate, Donald Trump, rose, there was serious alarm that America’s citizenry might choose an outcome damaging to American democracy and world security.[1]
The country’s political parties, leaders and elites did not unite in favor of the democratic, albeit flawed, alternative to a demagogic candidate running on a chauvinist and nationalist platform — as happened in France in 2002 and again in 2017. Instead, most Republican Party leaders, including those who had expressed great opposition to Trump’s candidacy in the party’s primaries, reversed positions, embraced his candidacy, and adopted Trump’s positions. Most “Never Trump” conservatives who continued to oppose the candidate would not align behind his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton (although some did).
Trump’s victory, determined by a close and unpopular outcome, was greeted with both shock and acceptance. According to tradition, it was the only possible reaction. The serving president from the opposition party welcomed Trump to the Oval Office, signaling a peaceful transition to power. The editorial boards of America’s newspapers, nearly all of which had advocated Trump’s defeat, now appealed to readers to accept the electorate’s decision. That the “will of the people” in a presidential election was so distorted by its antique Electoral College system — with the “winner” losing by nearly 3 million votes in the national tally — had no bearing on the matter. Nor the fact that republic’s Founders had established this unusual system to protect against the people selecting an inexperienced, unfit demagogue to national office. Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017.
How should we evaluate the last two years? Have the authoritarian dangers been realized? Can American democracy survive?
The New Normal
In The Captive Mind, Czeslaw Milosz pointed out that one’s experience determines what is “natural.” The extremes of what he endured as a captive citizen in Warsaw during the horrendous Nazi occupation in World War II became normal for his daily existence and what came before was not more or less “natural.” And, as during the war, this became the case with the subsequent political rule. His country’s takeover by Soviet communism and Stalinist repression became the “natural” order of things, one to which intellectuals and non-intellectuals alike became captive and accommodated in various ways.
Trump’s presidency has not resulted in war (at least not yet); nor has a traditional authoritarian takeover of power been undertaken. Congress has legislated. Courts have ruled. Citizens have demonstrated. The media has reported. State, local and special elections took place in which the opposition party made gains. The warning about Trump as an “authoritarian” or any comparison with Milosz’s observation of the normalization of the extreme might appear absurd.
Yet, is it? The historical abnormality of Donald Trump’s presidency is an accepted fact and thus “natural,” leaving a permanent imprint on the country’s national experience. Politics and media revolve around his constant lies, his erratic and crude behavior, and his “populist” and disruptive policies. All of it overwhelms the political senses on a daily basis, a situation everyone has become a captive to and thus must accommodate.
In this setting, quite a lot has become “natural.”
The president of the United States organizes mass rallies in which he regularly divides the country into (mostly white) supporters and (mostly non-white) opponents; attacks the media as “enemies of the people”; praises political violence and encourages political imprisonment; accuses a conspiratorial “deep state” of organizing against his election and presidency; uses racial slurs, maligns ethnic groups, and vilifies immigrants; attacks the opposition party as treasonous; expresses personal affinity with and even love for murderous dictators; claims credit for saving the country from nuclear war, national disaster, and civilizational decline; and elicits sequential chants of mass appreciation for his leadership and personal identification with the nation (“Trump, Trump, Trump” and “USA, USA, USA”).
What else is “natural”? Trump treats any challenge to his authority or rule as a threat meant to delegitimize him and disenfranchise his supporters. Most notably, he has promoted conspiracy theories involving the former president, his former Democratic opponent, his own top officials, and a “deep state” cabal within the FBI, Justice Department, and intelligence agencies — all allegedly collaborating with the enemy media. Supposedly, they each separately and/or together plotted illegal and treasonous acts to sabotage his election and, secondly, his presidency. Indeed, the Special Counsel’s office investigation into Russia’s intervention in the 2016 election was engineered by these conspirators to carry out a “witch hunt” against Trump (by investigating the many connections between his campaign and the Russian government). And, instead of directing the Republican-led Congress to investigate election interference by a hostile foreign power, Trump has asked them to investigate ever stranger variations of these “deep state” conspiracy theories. [2] Meanwhile, public trust in the election system, federal law enforcement and U.S. intelligence agencies have been effectively undermined.
In Trump’s speeches and statements through social media and the general media, it is now also normal for the president to spread misinformation, lies and conspiracy theories in a manner framing the country’s political reality and discourse around falsehoods. While the general media seeks to maintain its independent role as “fact checker,” it is unable to keep pace with a president insistent on creating his own alternate reality. Its task is made more difficult by the rise of an effectively pro-state media and monopolistic social media platforms that as often as not regenerate false information, news and commentary.
Such clearly authoritarian phenomena — and more — are now an entrenched part of American democracy.
Minority Rule as “The Will of the People”
Democracy is based on the consent of the governed, which is generally determined by a majority or at least a significant plurality that obtains majority public support to govern. Donald Trump, however, asserts that the minority support of the population he received in the 2016 election (46 percent of those who voted) grants him a mandate to act as he likes and to transform radically both domestic and foreign policies and long-standing institutions without consideration to the large majority of the electorate who voted against him (54 percent) or the plurality that voted for his major party opponent (48 percent).
Since his election, Trump’s support in national opinion polls generally has been less than his 2016 result despite a favorable economy that usually boosts presidential approval ratings. The policies Trump has imposed by executive order, such as a weakening of the Affordable Care Act and environmental and labor protections, or those enacted by Congress, such as the tax cut that largely benefitted corporations and the wealthy, have been opposed by clear majorities in national polling. Some, such as separating thousands of immigrant children from their parents at the border and imprisoning them in cages, were opposed by a substantial majority.
Donald Trump is not unaware of these facts. Yet, at no point has he acted to increase that base of support by adopting less extreme positions, stances or policies. Instead, Trump aggressively seeks to maintain the capacity to govern with a consolidated minority base of the citizenry, intensifying his most demagogic and xenophobic appeals with the approach of the mid-term elections.
Legitimation, Accommodation, Consolidation
The nation’s strangest political accommodation, thus far, is to a presidential electoral result in which a hostile foreign power played a significant role affecting the outcome on behalf of a preferred candidate who advocated policies favorable to that foreign power.
The U.S. Intelligence Community determined that the Russian intelligence services, at the direction of Vladimir Putin, carried out a massive active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton and in favor of Donald Trump. Its findings are confirmed by the Senate Permanent Committee on Intelligence. The Special Counsel’s office has issued multiple and detailed indictments detailing the extent and reach of Russia’s intelligence agencies and their surrogate actors. The full extent of the Russian government’s efforts to influence the election, American politics, and American policy have yet to be revealed, but there is strong indication that the influence operation had a determinative impact.[3]
The reaction to all this, before and now, has been strangely muted. The issue still under investigation is not whether Russia may have succeeded in determining the outcome of the election, nor even that Trump campaign officials sought to collude with the Russian government in the effort. Both of these things are generally accepted. The only issues of significance at this point are whether or not the Trump campaign consciously acted to “collude” or “conspire” with Russian government officials in the effort and if there was any obstruction of the investigation. It is unclear—indeed doubtful—that even this would impact Republican support for the president.
Authoritarian political figures, currently and in history, can only assume and exercise power with the aid of institutions that legitimate and accommodate them. And they can only continue to exercise and maintain power through a full accommodation of their power. The Republican Party’s accommodation came early and is now full.
After Trump announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in June 2015, he was repeatedly dismissed as a serious candidate by party leaders and criticized for his bigoted views, racist statements, crude and impolitic behavior, and “anti-conservative” platform against immigration, free trade and foreign intervention. Yet it soon became clear that Trump had built a base of popular support within the Republican Party based precisely on those views, statements, behaviors and positions. Worse, Trump’s popularity grew with the extremism and authoritarian style of his pledges (to ban all Muslims from the country; deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants; appoint only generals and corporate executives “to get things done”; among others).
At no point did Republican Party leaders and elected officials act decisively to stop Trump’s political rise. Nor generally have they acted to restrict his exercise of power once in office. Rather, just as in the election, he has gained more institutional support the more he has bent the Republican Party to his own image and platform.
The justifications for accommodating Donald Trump were many, but the initial one was the most consequential and led to all others. It was that Trump was not the candidate of the opposition party. House Speaker Paul Ryan stated the view of many Republicans that he supported anyone who “could prevent another Democratic administration.” Therefore, even a candidate transforming one’s own political party into a personal instrument for a new authoritarian politics — such a candidate was preferable to the opposition candidate winning.
As Czeslaw Milosz relates in The Captive Mind, a negative justification for accommodation is usually insufficient. Positive justifications are needed. Accommodation quickly turns into belief in “the new faith”; in the “historical necessity” of following the leader or party who defeats the political enemy. Thus, Trump became “exactly the right leadership for our time” (as Ryan later stated). Milosz pointed out the difficulty with such justifications: they are only the beginning of the accommodation process. One must start to accept all that the leader says and does and adopt the same rhetoric (“fake news,” “enemy of the people,” “lock him/her up,” “invasion of illegal immigrants,” “Democrat mob,” “evil”). Trump becomes not just the right leader, but the best leader: “potentially the greatest presidency in history for the American people” (as Senator Orrin Hatch stated). It is all (historically and ideologically) justifiable.
The Damage Thus Far
To review: There is widespread normalization of an authoritarian candidate, Donald Trump, gaining the presidency of the United States. His election is treated as the legitimate expression of “the will of the people,” despite his minority national vote and the possibly decisive intervention of a hostile foreign power. The leader of the government relies (more and more) on authoritarian methods and rhetoric to rule and has undermined the public trust in elections and important government institutions. A partisan Supreme Court is validating restrictive electoral practices favoring one political party. That historic political party is being transformed into a mass-based movement championing ethnic chauvinism, “nationalism,” and adoration of the leader. In Fox News and the Sinclair Broadcast Group (among others), there is the significant rise of a pro-state media given ever greater reach by the national government. The list is hardly complete.
None of this is “natural” for a modern democracy. All of the political behavior, actions, platform, and governance strategy of Trump, both during the campaign and as president, are familiar to those who study authoritarianism; they are common to past and current authoritarian leaders, not democratic ones. So, too, the accommodation and normalization of Trump’s politics and platform within the American system is more common to the rise of authoritarian regimes, not to the maintenance of democratic ones. We are becoming accustomed to the fact that authoritarian politics are now embedded in the United States, the oldest functioning democracy in the world. We should not be.
Perhaps more dangerous is that the world is being forced to become accustomed to all of it. Trump’s assertion of an America First doctrine is an integrative element of the nationalist and authoritarian platform he put forward as a candidate and is implementing through the executive power of the presidency. Trump has made America First a comprehensive doctrine to promote “national sovereignty” and “national interest” as the defining aspects for world order. It means the rejection of the rules-based liberal international order that was established and maintained by the United States and that has, notwithstanding many armed conflicts, kept the world peace for 70 years, greatly benefitting America’s security and prosperity. It also means (as elucidated in a National Security Doctrine) the return of an international system of national competition among Great Powers. In all previous history, such a system has led to worldwide conflict.
The U.S. is withdrawing from international treaties, bodies, institutions, trade systems, and arms control agreements and in doing so alienating itself from democratic alliances and leaders. Foreign policy is being re-oriented around the assertion of economic dominance and the management of Great Power relationships with Russia and China. In this effort, Trump has expressed affinity mainly for dictators as allies and a desire to form ententes and good relationships with dictatorships (such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and even North Korea). As a result, the United States is no longer “the leader of the free world” or a model for other nations that fosters democratic values and human rights. This is happening at a time generally when authoritarian governance is rising and democratic governance is receding.
Just as there has been accommodation to Trump’s domestic politics, there has been a general accommodation to Trump’s foreign politics within the Republican Party and among a large number of foreign policy analysts: that it is a necessary corrective to post-Cold War internationalism; that it is the re-emergence of the “normal order of things” (realism); or, more absurdly, that the liberal international world order will survive the U.S.’s withdrawal from it.
Trump’s foreign policy is giving rise to a world setting in which democratic alliances and relationships weaken, authoritarian alliances are formed, human rights are no longer defended or protected, liberalism is no longer valued, “illiberalism” (dictatorship) advances, and smaller nations or groups of nations must accommodate to a “nationalist” United States and to large revisionist powers challenging U.S. dominance. This is happening also at a time when certain global issues, such as climate change and the related issue of armed conflict and migration, challenge the international system as never before. The strategy is perilous, not just for the U.S. (which will be weakened in the pursuit of it) but also for current democratic allies. The result can only be greater international insecurity, a prospect that bodes ill when there are erratic, egoistic, impetuous, aggressive and revanchist leaders in power, many possessing nuclear weapons. While there is much debate on the subject, there is little political response.[4]
The Political Challenge Ahead
It is thus not alarmist to state that American democracy is in crisis and that, as a result, world democracy and security are both fragile. Authoritarianism is on the rise around the world and it is unclear if American democracy has the capacity to respond even to its own internal challenge.
Until recent weeks, it was widely expected that the opposition Democratic Party would make major gains in the 2018 mid-term elections, retaking the majority from the ruling Republican Party in the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate. There appeared to have developed a broad, national consensus rejecting both Trump and Trumpism. While the national election may indeed turn out to be a referendum on Trump, it is clear that early hopes of a “Blue tsunami” that could fundamentally transform American politics were wishful thinking. As the election nears, and Trump has “rallied the base” around his now-normalized authoritarian platform, the Republicans’ entrenched advantage has become clearer.
Even if there is a large national differential of voter support for Democrats over Republicans, the result is unlikely to be a decisive Democratic majority that could exercise real countervailing power (such as the two-thirds majority achieved in both houses of Congress by radical Republicans in 1866 during Andrew Johnson’s recalcitrant presidency). There may be significant gains for Democrats. But current non-democratic aspects of American democracy — extreme political gerrymandering, voter suppression, and voter alienation — along with the built-in anti-majoritarian aspects of America’s Constitution such as the Senate will limit gains. The Democrats ability to act as an effective check on executive power will be limited in kind. Worse, the entrenchment of an authoritarian mass base support for the Trump Party means that most Republicans who gain election in this term (with the exception of just a handful of states) will be ever more loyal and accommodationist to Trump’s authoritarian politics and platform. If the result is that a Republican majority is maintained, the danger of Trump’s authoritarian behavior and actions are greatly enhanced — and thus urgently to be acted against.
Regardless of the outcome, however, the challenge to American democracy will remain both large and ongoing. An authoritarian-minded and authoritarian-acting political figure has gained the power of the presidency and is changing the nature of the polity; his contaminating influence will not easily be dislodged. American institutions that once undergirded U.S. democracy to protect against such dangers — unions, civic organizations, religious groups, political parties that adhere to democratic norms— are weakened. The general society is divided both by partisanship and the authoritarian provocations of Trump and his party.
From past historical experience, we know what is necessary when a society is faced with an authoritarian challenge. Such knowledge has become obscured by partisanship, social divisions, and by the authoritarian provocations that are now permanently part of our daily lives. In fact, though, that knowledge has been put to use in the last two years of civic and even political reaction to the Trump era. The majority will has been expressed in many ways through large peaceful assemblies, petitioning of government, the increase in union organizing and labor action, the rise of ad hoc associations organizing broad civic and political opposition, the general success of new candidates of many types in elections, and the increased awareness of people of racism and misogyny and their effects. The citizenry has drawn on the strengths of American democracy in order to try to recapture it.
Still, anyone experienced with authoritarian and totalitarian political regimes and their rise can see the dangers ahead. It will be a difficult task to maintain the unity of a political majority around such a broad concept as defending U.S. democracy, achieving greater democracy, or even just preventing the consolidation of authoritarianism. It is an especially difficult task when that majority is made up of so many organizationally and ideologically disparate and differing parts and, additionally, is effectively stifled and limited by institutional means. The political forces promoting division will be high. Provocations that foster such division will be greater.
But whenever the task appears too difficult it will be important to remember the main lessons of those that have and have not overcome authoritarian challenges in the past. These may seem reductionist, but they are not. When challenged by authoritarian threats, democracy is achieved or saved when a pro-democratic majority acts with enough unity and purpose to overcome those threats without fracturing. Authoritarianism is achieved and consolidated when democratic majorities fracture, allowing authoritarians and their minority political movements to come to power. Only a united anti-authoritarian majority coalition determined to assert itself will save U.S. democracy.
• • •
[1] See my article “Trump and The Authoritarian Temptation,” July 5, 2016, The Shanker Blog. Many writers focused on the study of authoritarianism and totalitarianism made similar warnings, such as Anne Applebaum, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Jeffrey Herf, Robert Kagan, Timothy Snyder, among others.
[2] For a reasonable analysis of the total unlikelihood of the validity of these conspiracy theories see “The Tale of Two Narratives” by Gabriel Schoenfeld, Lawfare, October 18, 2018.
[4] For a full discussion on the changing world order, see The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World by Robert Kagan (Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 2018). It is summarized in the essay “Welcome to the Jungle” by Robert Kagan, The Washington Post, October 9, 2018.
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Eric Chenoweth was co-founder of IDEE and its original director from 1985 to 1987. He has been its co-director since 1994 overseeing publications and special programs. He is also a consultant for the Albert Shanker Institute and has worked on a variety of its projects, including as principal author of Democracy Web, an extracurricular resource that includes 12 chapters on basic principles of democracy and 36 country studies. He has written on human rights, democracy and Eastern Europe in a wide variety of English-language and foreign publications. | {
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How Do Hackers Easily Crack Your Strongest Passwords — Explained
Short Bytes: Apart from knowing the best methods to create a strong password, one should also be aware of the techniques used by hackers to crack them. The recent torrent of massive data breaches has made the jobs of hackers even easier as they are able to access the dumped data easily. In an explainer video, YouTube channel Computerphile explains the process of password cracking and the mistakes one commits while creating a new password.
Password storage and its encryption is a common question that’s often discussed in the cyber security world. At many occasions, when people mention encrypted passwords, they really mean hashed passwords. Unlike encryption, a password that’s undergone the hashing process, can’t be reversed using the same key.However, thanks to the leaked password hashes on the file-sharing websites and dark web, our passwords are less secure than ever. Some of the latest data breaches affected millions of LinkedIn and TalkTalk users.
For a hacker, getting access to these password hashes, extracting real passwords and using them to compromise the online accounts isn’t a tough task. Using the same technique, the hackers are now increasingly targeting the social media accounts of technology CEOs–Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Marissa Mayer–and Hollywood celebrities.
Well, even if you are using a super safe password that has been created using some advanced techniques, these massive breaches have made them unsafe.
This process has been explained in an exceptional manner by the YouTube channel Computerphile.
This cracking video shows a deep learning beast that uses 4 NVIDIA GPUs and a password cracking tool calledHashcat. Hashcat lets you do different types of password cracking. Thanks to these GPUs, Hashcat takes billions of plain-text passwords and hashes them using MD5 at a rate of 40 billion per second.
The presenter explains the process in detail and tells you the best practices that should be adopted while creating a new password. It’s always good to avoid small combinations and dictionary words in your password. I’ll also suggest you to keep changing your passwords from time-to-time. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Beth Camp Historical Fiction
Monday, October 24, 2016
#20 Tucson Mermaid
Tucson is an ordinary town of artsy suburbs -- if you look past the saguaro dotting the rolling, dry hills,ancient guardians that lift spiny arms to the sky.At night, the lights of baked adobe houses measureblocks of homes, while stars pierce the sky,white pinholes. My sister saw a mermaid oncewho swam in the canal. This could be no ordinarymermaid to be drawn to the desert.Maybe my sister followed a dusty trailalong the cement waterway to discover a fan-shaped shell, where no shell should be.Geologists remind us of a long ago inland sea;perhaps this mermaid searches for her family,lost in the desert, but stubborn,like some I know who seek comfort insidethose pretty beige adobe houses.Outside gray wolves howl, no respite for the mermaid.Maybe she rests near the saguaro at night,venturing out along the canal,searching and singing even today.
I discovered that Tucson celebrates the monsoon season in mid-August with 'Return of the Mermaids,' a community parade complete with mermaids of every description. So OctPoWriMo's prompt for today was 'fantastical'. See what others have written HERE. | {
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As the summer time approached, we were engaged in another holiday search; the destination was as usual France, so it wasn’t too far to drive, and we could enjoy the freedom of going anywhere we wanted, and anytime. We booked a camping site in a small village in Normandy called Le Brévedent. Normandy evokes a lot of familiarities, the most significant of them is, of course, the D-day landing sites. So our choice was made, that D-day beaches will definitely be the place not to miss. The first item sorted on the list, we were gazing through TripAdvisor and Visit Normandy websites to look for other attractions. There were many places to choose from — historic Caen and its patrimony related to William the conqueror, the famous Bayeux tapestry and other museums, the Riviera of Normandy Deauville-Trouville and Honfleur, picturesque small villages in Pays d’Auge region. Amongst all these difficult choices, almost by chance, I came across Basilique St. Thérèse de Lisieux, one of the most important places in France for Catholic pilgrimage. Our penchant for religious architecture made me tentatively put it on our list, although apart from looking at an elegant edifice almost reminiscent of Basilique de sacré-cœur in Montmartre, I had no idea about the place, its significance in Catholicism or what I’ll soon be discovering — an arcane connection between a remote catholic monastery in rural Normandy and me!
Spending most of my youth in Calcutta, the city is in my veins. A place I still call home, the city I’d not replace with any other place. In a world rapidly transforming at a lightning speed, it still didn’t bother me how Calcutta dug its heels in and held on to the character it portrayed for over last 300 years. The rickety facades along the bylanes of north Calcutta leading to an ocherous swathe we call Ganga, the fish markets of Gariahat where you desperately want to look close at the fish but don’t want the mud splatter on your new sandals, the central Calcutta with its confluence of nationalities and religions living in harmony and camaraderie, and to the swank South City shopping mall or affluent Alipore mansions — Calcutta has a vibe about it that I seldom found anywhere else. A perfect example of adopting a multilingual and multicultural personality without banishing its own inherent cultural roots and character, Calcutta is indeed a fatal attraction. And that attraction, or familiarity, is not just limited to India, but across the world. Apart from being known as the pearl of the British Empire in its heydays, and the perceived cultural capital of India, there is one person whose reputation has made the City of joy known to people from far corners of the world, not just amongst the intellectual circles, where most of the renowned Calcuttans belonged. That person is Mother Teresa, who’d soon be canonised as the Saint of the gutters. I don’t believe she cured the unknown Brazilian man long after her death, but she had nevertheless made miracles happen while standing by the poor and distressed population of Calcutta, who we never thought of while pontificating about the cultural richesse of our beloved city. Shadow under the lamp was a term we often used during our school years; Mother Teresa was the light to that darkness in a city where, despite old money from the Raj reigned, there were more and more people in poverty and destitution, especially during the war and after the partition.
It was during searching for her early life that I came across the name of Lisieux. Agnes wanted to be named after St. Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of the missionaries; and through her life she followed the footsteps of Thérèse, devoting her life to the service of thousands, and inspire millions. So as the opportunity came to visit Lisieux drew closer, it was no longer a tourist destination – marvelling at the awe-inspiring architecture of Basilique St. Thérèse de Lisieux, but it was a pilgrimage for me as well, of a different kind, of witnessing the place where the journey began for Thérèse, and therefore for Teresa, one of the greatest ambassadors of the city I always call home.
The surprise didn’t end there. Lisieux highlighted another connection to Calcutta that I never thought existed. Carmel school for girls in Jadavpur is one of many high echelon missionary schools in Calcutta that boasts of excellent educational standards and alumnae. My friends, ex-colleagues, relatives — I knew many Carmelites. In fact, my own cousin is a teacher there, the familiarity is that close. I often heard their alumnae be referred as Carmelites but the term never made me delve further into its origin. Not until I learned that Thérèse joined the Carmelite order in Lisieux, a thirteenth-century order originated from monasteries in Mount Carmel near Haifa. Voilà! It was the Carmelite missionaries who were inspired by the success of the order in Lisieux, and travelled the world and opened new convents. Carmel in Calcutta is one of them. Now, there were two reasons that Lisieux became a must see place, as a place that popularised the Carmel convents across the world, and above all, pay visit to the Basilique St. Thérèse de Lisieux and the shrine of Thérèse, and understand who this young lady was, who made a profound inspiration on young Agnes, beckoning her to come to Bengal. I almost felt a sense of belonging to Lisieux without even being there, through the connections it has with Calcutta.
Our travel to Normandy was a nightmare involving a broken down car, rain, lost day stranded in a hotel with the entire week in jeopardy…so on the second day, when we were told that the car won’t be looked at until another day, our decision was made. With a replacement car, when we crossed the Seine on the bridge of Normandy, our holiday had suddenly become a reality again! The closest resemblance I could think of is when you wait for a cricket match and it rains, the pitch and outfield were all wet and you keep hoping that the match doesn’t get cancelled and after a long wait the sun suddenly makes an appearance, and although curtailed, it’s all ready to go ahead again. We had to shorten out plans to fit all the things we wanted to see in three days rather than four, but Lisieux was only 16km away, and en route the nearest McDonald’s; hence, our plan to visit Lisieux didn’t change.
After our trip to the nearest shopping our first day in Le Brévedent, on our way back to the camping site that I first noticed the Basilica. It was getting dark and the sky was overcast as it only stopped raining a while ago, and I had no clue where we were. But just as I looked around our car, the silhouette suddenly jumped out into our view. In that dim background, on the hill on our left situated the structure I already felt familiar, yet it looked like a surreal dream. There are moments when you see something remarkable and wished you had a camera in hand, and all I had in my hand then was the steering wheel. Yet, that view will be stored in my mind for a long time, if not forever.
Basilique St. Thérèse de Lisieux
Two days later, on our way back from historic Caen, we decided to come to Lisieux. The eerie silhouette finally gained its shape, a shape that was familiar yet the size and grandeur was out of proportions from what was seen on a TripAdvisor page. The off white neo-Byzantine edifice was awe-inspiring, just as were the breathtaking intricate designs at the interiors and the crypt. The description of the building stops here as this is not a travelogue, and the rest can be found in any travel guide. On the contrary, it was my attempt to connect the dots in my mind, with a young Albanian nun starting her life of sacrifice and charity, her becoming an inseparable part of the persona of Calcutta, and therefore my existence and identity, and me standing there in the suburbs of a quaint town in Calvados country looking at the shrine of Thérèse, where this all began about 125 years ago. And another set of dots following the footsteps of the Carmelite monks, which would throw me much further back in history, at least 900 years and up to the genesis of Abrahamic faiths thousands of years ago.
The Crypt
Interior and Crypt
And there I was, teleported to the daily life of Thérèse in Alençon, to her life in the monastery in Lisieux…walking along the sections in the crypt detailing Thérèse’s life, it started to cast more light on the early life of Agnes, and a striking similarity between the aspirations of the two women, to serve the most deprived and forlorn strata of the population…
If I ever become a saint, I will surely be one of “darkness.” I will continually be absent from Heaven–to light the light of those in darkness on earth.” – Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
“I love the night as much as the day…I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. Yes, if God answers my desires, my Heaven will be spent on earth until the end of the world.” – Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
That was the revelation for me. My circle was complete. It became evident that these two extraordinary women took the same trajectory of life, making small changes to people’s lives that led to phenomenal transformations. I felt like Robert Langdon standing in front of the inverted pyramid in Louvre. I was standing at the place that spiritually inspired Agnes to come to Calcutta, the city she gave all her life to, and in turn transfused the traits of her self into the character of Calcutta that I imbibed. My pilgrimage was complete — the answer to “why of all saints, Thérèse de Lisieux?” had been found, as was the answer for who the Carmelite missionaries were.
Exhibition of Thérèse de Lisieux and her life
Explanation of the origin of the Carmelite Order
Mount Carmel
Exhibition of Thérèse de Lisieux and her life
Exhibition of Thérèse de Lisieux and her life
I think the natural curiosity would set me on the course for the Carmelites monks all the way to Mount Carmel in Israel. But let’s not go that far yet…let’s first wait for a discussion on Palestine!
Disclaimer:
I thought that this post would need a few disclaimers on my motivation for writing this, and here they are…
1. Is this religious post?
No, it is about nostalgia with me searching for the influences on Calcutta and its image outside West Bengal.
2. Does this make me feel more religious?
I’m as raving an atheist as I ever was. I have a hate-hate relationship with religion where I don’t know religion thinks of me but I’m all in to send it away to somewhere like Azkaban, banished forever from human contact.
3. Less religious then?
No, I never was religious to become any LESS religious.
4. Why then I still visit religious sites?
Because despite their religious origin, I see them as brilliant examples of architecture and craftsmanship, erected by ordinary men for the extraordinary greed and hunger for power for their rulers. The same applies to my interests in religious texts as well.
5. So, do I support Sainthood of Mother Teresa?
Yes and No. No, because her deed didn’t need a convoluted story to establish her miracles. She made miracles happen to the lives she transformed. Perhaps Vatican needs to reassess their policy what they treat as a miracle. Yes, because if she did this for her religion, she deserved the highest acclaim the church could proffer. And her contribution meant actually life changing transformations through care and humility, not phoney cures with lights passing through a photo or any such trash. | {
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Chicago Public Radio: Bias Suit Filed Against Illinois State Police
The Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has filed a bias suit against the Illinois State Police.
Kifah Mustapha was hired as an unpaid chaplain by the Illinois State Police, but his position was revoked shortly after.
Ahmed Rehab is with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He says the position was revoked because of a false anti-Muslim blog attacking Kifah.
REHAB: There was nothing that would prevent him from fulfilling this role. Except for the fact that somebody out there wished to smear him and the ISP was either too lazy or incompetent to actually sift through the smears and figure out that they were smears. And instead decided to drop him to avoid any controversy. That’s unacceptable.
A spokesman for the Illinois State Police said the department hasn’t yet seen the suit. | {
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Vein Procedures
Vein Procedures
Midland Surgical Associates uses the Dornier Medtech 940 Laser for the removal of spider veins. It is state-of-the-art technology for cosmetic vein removal. Dr. Don Crockett is trained in modern techniques to eliminate this venous disorder.
The Vein Procedures can remove these unsightly veins, eliminating redness from the face or blue and red veins from the legs. The procedure is done in the comfort of our clinic in 25-minute sessions.
Since insurance companies typically believe that treatment of spider veins is cosmetic and not medically required, these procedures are not usually not covered by insurance. Each session is $350, and most patients need two to three sessions to eliminate all spider veins in a treated area.
What are Spider Veins?
A “spider vein” or telangiectasia is a term used to describe the red or blue-colored, short, jagged lines just under the skin. They are small varicose veins located just beneath the skin, but they are different from what we normally associate with varicose veins, which are larger and bulge from beneath the skin. Spider veins, on the other hand, are small and smooth to the touch.
They can appear as linear, branch-like, or may look like a spider. They most commonly appear on the face and the legs.
Spider veins are a problem for millions of Americans and cause significant social embarrassment. In some cases, they may be related to an underlying medical problem known as venous insufficiency or reflux (backwards flow of blood in the veins).
In either situation, symptoms associated with spider veins range from itching or a dull ache to throbbing pain and bleeding. An ultrasound may be necessary to verify that there is no venous insufficiency.
Treatment of Spider Veins
Laser therapy is a popular method for eliminating spider veins. Advanced technology in laser treatment has allowed for better care of larger spider veins and varicose veins. The energy from the laser interacts with the hemoglobin in the blood in the vein and causes an irritation to the inner lining of the vein. This, in turn, causes the vein to close. The vein stops carrying blood and disappears with time. This does not cause any problems with blood circulation.
The majority of people who have laser treatments experience minimal discomfort and satisfying results. Sclerotherapy is another treatment used for the removal of spider veins. In this case, a sclerosing solution is injected into the vein, causing it to close. Sclerotherapy is sometimes preferred to remove spider veins on the legs.
Treatments using the Dornier Laser are done at four-week intervals to achieve optimal results. Special vein lights allow visualization of feeding veins that may not be visible to the naked eye and can lead to a recurrence if they are not treated. The special vein lights also make treatments quicker and therefore less expensive.
Recovering from Laser Treatment for Spider Veins
Laser treatment is done as an outpatient procedure, so you can go home the same day and return to normal activities. Some bruising occasionally results for a few days, as well as some swelling and mild pain. Non-prescription medication is usually sufficient to handle this discomfort, and swelling and bruising typically resolve quickly. | {
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PM to decide over AFSPA: Ansari
July 04, 2009 16:37 IST
Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who had served as the chairman of a committee which favoured withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, on Saturday said the prime minister would take a decision on the matter.
Ansari, during his stint as chairman of a working group on Confidence Building Measures, had recommended in 2007 that the act giving special powers to the armed forces should be revoked.
"The Prime Minister and the Central government will decide this issue. You leave it to them," Ansari said, when asked about the action taken by the government on the recommendations for repelling the AFSPA and the Disturbed Area Act (DAA).
However, he refused to further comment on the issue. "I am here to honour a national hero. This event is dedicated to him so our focus should be the event," he said, while unveiling the bust of Mahavir Chakra awardee Brigadier Mohammad Usman at Jhangar, barely a kilometre from the Line Of Control in Rajouri district.
The Vice President also dedicated to the nation Brigadier Usman Memorial Hospital. Late Brigadier Usman had valiantly fought against Pakistani troops in the 1948 war and died while trying to recapture Jhangar and Nowshers areas from the enemy. | {
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Through some parts of the recruitment process when it comes to Demeitre Brim, there was some drama here and there.
The Florida athlete committed to Virginia without ever having visited Charlottesville and other schools made it clear that they weren't giving up. Now Brim seems more solid than ever and he's proud to be a Cavalier. | {
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In this spin-off to the series, Monster Hunter Stories is a turn-based RPG where you'll tame monsters for battle, swimming, flying, and more. You can also raise your monsters up by hatching them from eggs.
Details are extremely thin on the ground at the moment, but we'll keep you updated when we know more. | {
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UH football: Wide receiver Ayers making early impression
Demarcus Ayers will handle kickoffs and play wide receiver in Friday’s season opener. (UH athletics)
One true freshman that caught the attention of the coaching staff in preseason camp is Demarcus Ayers.
Ayers can expect to see significant playing time in Friday’s season opener against Southern. The Lancaster product will handle kickoffs, along with sophomore Justin Hicks, and is listed as the backup behind Daniel Spencer at the inside ‘H’ receiver spot.
“(Ayers) is a guy who has worked his way into the rotation and will be playing early and often,” coach Tony Levine said.
As a senior, Ayers rushed for 1,337 yards and 16 touchdowns and threw for 1,823 yards and 22 touchdowns to help lead Lancaster to the Class 4A Division II state title game.
• • •
Bryce Redman won’t have to worry about extra wardrobe this season.
With the implementation of a tight end into the Houston offense, Redman is no longer on stand-by to play tight end in short-yardage situations this season.
Redman said a team manager routinely had to follow him around at all times last year. If needed, Redman would quickly switch jersey numbers, not an easy task for a 6-1, 285-pound frame.
“To not have to worry about the whole jersey situation and just concentrate on one position is a good thing,” Redman said.
The Cougars plan to use true freshman Chauntez Jackson at tight end this season.
• • •
The timing was right the second time.
In his first season as head coach Tony Levine attempted to hire Doug Meacham, who was the passing game coordinator and inside receivers coach at Oklahoma State. Meacham turned him down.
When Levine was looking for an offensive coordinator again this offseason – he fired Mike Nesbitt after Week 1 last season – Meacham accepted the offer.
Levine said it will be valuable to have a coordinator who can run the same kind of spread offense that has been successful at UH.
Levine said Meacham will go with an up-tempo, no-huddle spread offense that involves different personnel packages.
It will include some “outside-the-box thinking and twists” that involves some of Meacham’s own style, Levine said.
• Larry McDuffey will handle punts in the opener, with William Jackson as the backup, Levine said. | {
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Helpdesk
Dear Drugs-Forum readers: We are a small non-profit that runs one of the most read drug information & addiction help websites in the world. We serve over 4 million readers per month, and have costs like all popular websites: servers, hosting, licenses and software. To protect our independence we do not run ads. We take no government funds. We run on donations which average $25. If everyone reading this would donate $5 then this fund raiser would be done in an hour. If Drugs-Forum is useful to you, take one minute to keep it online another year by donating whatever you can today. Donations are currently not sufficient to pay our bills and keep the site up. Your help is most welcome. Thank you.
Depression came before the drugs. I was first diagnosed with depression when i was 12 by a family friend who was a therapist. I told myself it wasn't true and that he was just trying to explain my behavior to my parents. But I think he may have been right.
The second time I was diagnosed was after a rape. A friend took me to the campus couseling center where I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and PTSD. I told myself that wasn't true either. That they just wanted me out of the office and thought there job was done if they diagnosed me. But maybe they were right.
I was a victim of a tramatic accident and while in the hospital being treated for physical damage was assaulted. Then I was almost forced into counseling again where again I was diagnosed with depression and PTSD.
I know that mental illness exists. I have never denied that. My mind functions in a very logical, straight lines and math sort of way. So I have a hard time wrapping my head around what mental illness is. I do know that anyone can be depressed, but not necessarily suffer from depression and so on. That part I think is what confuses me.
I want to document my thoughts today. Because it's hard. Every day is hard so I don't know what makes today different. I rarely feel the urge to talk yet here it is. And theres no one to listen.
I have a great life. I am beyond blessed. My husband loves me, I have a job I am passionate about. I have a lot going for me. Why can't I take advantage of it? Why can't I hold onto those things and never look back? Lets see, let me list the mental illnesses I have:
-Depression. (Stopped fighting that diagnoses by this point)
-Anxiety. (Hard to tell If its an illness or I just get stressed a lot)
-PTSD. (Not as bad as soldiers who faught for our country but its there)
-Addiction. (Thats a new one)
I try to stop and remember how great I have it. I mean, life is not perfect but mental illness aside, there is not a thing I'd change. I think they start to all blur together and combined I feel I can't move. Very often I feel like I want to die. And I know suicide stuff isn't allowed on here so I hope this small reference is ok. Im always able to talk myself down, work through the immediate issues then find a way to go to sleep.
Today, I was feeling that way. I snagged a kitten as it ran past my bed and forced him to snuggle up with me as I cried. He fought it as first but eventually fell asleep in my arms. Our adult male cat, who never cuddles. Never. Jumped up on the bed with me and curled up by my side.
Those silly cats were enough to help me get through today. I don't know how I will get through tomorrow. But I survived today and I will worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
Once I get the mental energy to get out of bed and get a phone charger, I plan to research how my drug use effects my depression and anxiety Rx. Because they definitely aren't working the way they used to. I also need to look into mental illness and my career.... my job is flexible, but not go to rehab for a few months no issues flexible. *shudder* even thinking about that is painful. One day at a time is the only way to live without the anxiety over taking me but at the same time I know something has to change. When will it change? Will it be by choice? Will I be strong enough to get through it? Will my family still love me? What will I do with my life if I can't stay in my current career?
Today. I am thankful for my life. Thankful for my ever loving and patient husband. Thankful for hope. Thankful for all the people that have poured into my life.
Today I am especially thankful for my cats. And for DF. I am grateful to have a safe place to record my thoughts, read peoples stories and learn what I can. | {
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Horace Hoilman, 90, a resident of Bakersville, North Carolina, recently had his simple wish for a lift chair granted. Horace lives alone and is housebound. His life centers around his chair where he frequently spend the night because it's so difficult for him to stand up from his old chair. He was nominated by his hospice worker who wrote that his old chair had no more cushion left in it and he was literally sitting on the wooden frame. Horace served in both the Navy and the Army. He was actually on board a naval ship that was patrolling the waters surrounding Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped during WWII. We were so glad to be able to grant this simple wish for such a deserving man. This will make such a difference in his quality of life.
Article originally appeared on Twilight Wish Foundation (http://www.twilightwish.org/). | {
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Friday, December 30, 2016
Best of 2016
I chose my top blog posts of 2016 by the number of page views. Here we go:
#5 Reverse Sawtooth Star
This was a fun quilt that I made from my Anna Maria Horner stash using almost all leftover pieces from other quilts.
#4 Bourbon Street
This was also a stash busting quilt, but turned out so pretty with many of my favorite little scraps of fabric.
#3 Scrappy Trip
I shared how I created my variation of the web phenomenon, Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt.
#2 Squash Blossom
After searching and searching for a pattern for this block, I drafted my own and shared the pattern.
#1 Tumbling Spools
This wallhanging was a variation of the quilt featured on Moda bake Shop several years ago and turned out so pretty in Handmade by Bonnie and Camille.
I got the most comments (107) on 2 posts, where I shared my thoughts on blogging and how it's changed over the last couple of years. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on that as well!
Right up there with the number of views was a Photography series that my daughter posted here on my blog. There you can find some really good tips for photographing your quilts: Part 1Part 2Part 3
And the final stats? This year I completed 19 quilts and 4 wall quilts. You can go back through the blog to see most of them. My most recent finish has yet to be photographed, so watch for that soon.
I made 2 quilts that never made it to the blog. Not sure why, they definitely weren't my favorites, but certainly deserve to be noticed.
The first is a Swiss quilt, pattern from Thimbleblossoms. Since I always have lots of aqua fabric, I thought it would be a good pattern to use up some smaller leftover pieces.
This quilt doesn't have a name because it was a design as you go quilt. I used a stack of Cotton and Steel, made some big half square triangles and then just arranged them and sewed them together. I followed with some simple straight line quilting.
I've really made an effort this year to reduce my stash. Believe me I still have plenty of fabric, but it was feeling overwhelming at the beginning of the year. I find with too much, I lose track of what I have. Besides sewing it up, I sold some really nice bundles on Instagram and donated several bags of fabric for charity quilts. I'm definitely feeling better about what I have and this next year I'd like to be better at using my favorites rather than "saving" them.
Just this week, I pulled out some Maze and Vale fabric {hand printed in Australia and super expensive, but loved by me} that I've been so afraid to cut into and made a simple patchwork pillow. Now I get to look at it every day!
I've also been hoarding this piece of Liberty of London fabric that I bought at Pearl Soho in New York City in 2014. I ended up make a Petal Pouch and I just love how it turned out!
So that's a wrap for 2016. Thanks for hanging in there with me for this long post.
And thank you, thank you, thank you for being here throughout the year. I'm so grateful for this Internet thing that allows us to share, converse and simply hang out together. I'll be thinking this weekend about what I'd like to make in 2017...
13 comments:
Hi! How do you make the blocks that are made of three fabrics in the Cotton + Steel HST quilt? Do you sew a strip set for half the block? All your quilts are beautiful! Happy New [email protected]
All great projects. I am trying to get organised for 2017 to finnish some ufos and use up my stash or at least some of it. Have started the planning journel have 10 projects I want to make and 10 ufos. Love your posts. Happy New Year!
Cindy, it's fun to see your most popular projects all together like this. You have a great, distinctive style and color palette! It's not surprising that you have tons of aqua scraps, since almost every quilt featured here has some aqua in it :)
I'm so glad I found your blog this year (hey, aqua is one of my favorites, too!) and I'm looking forward to seeing what you make in 2017. Happy new year!
I think your work has taken on a whole new feel to it this past year, and as always you continue to inspire me and make me want to be a better quilter. Every project you make seems to be flawless from beginning to end and I am always in awe of every project you share!I'm still debating my creative goals for 2017 but I do know I want to focus on finishing a number of projects that deserve some attention. Thanks for all the inspiration!! | {
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For-profit regulation could survive Senate vote, sources say
Many of the country’s largest online colleges still could be subject to the Obama administration’s regulations on for-profit schools, despite a vote by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to stop any attempt to enforce the proposed rules.
House Republicans, along with more than 50 Democrats, passed an amendment Feb. 18 that would block the U.S. Education Department (ED) from using funds to initiate “gainful employment” regulations on for-profit colleges—including the University of Phoenix and other large online-learning institutions.
However, the Democratic-controlled Senate isn’t likely to approve the defunding of “gainful employment” rules, according to sources familiar with Capitol Hill negotiations on the matter. The sources said they would only speak to eCampus News anonymously because senators are still deciding how the for-profit amendment will be handled in a Senate vote.
Under “gainful employment,” for-profit colleges such as Kaplan University and the University of Phoenix would have to prove their students are able to find employment and repay their loans.
Failure to abide by the rules would result in a loss of federal funding, which is the primary source of income at many for-profit schools. For-profit colleges take in more than $140 billion annually in federal aid, according to government statistics.
Even if the House version of the for-profit rules passes in the Senate, organizations that have pushed for “gainful employment” believe President Obama will veto the measure, sources said. | {
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Meta
Equities First Holdings: Specializing In Stock-Based Loans
One of the companies in the financial market acknowledged providing stock-based loans and margin loans to clients is Equities First Holdings. This is one of the most innovative companies in the world. For the use of stocks as collateral to secure fast working capital, the company helps clients find a hedge between their problems and solutions. According to the founder of the company, they have struggled to make ends meet through this innovative ways to sustain the increasing demand for stock-based loans. As a matter of fact, the stock-based loans are now getting more traction amid this world economic crisis.
According to the founder of the company, Equities First Holdings has sought to meet the needs of high-net-worth individuals and companies in need of fast working capital. For the companies, they can adopt the stock-based loans to secure fast working capital as a way of securing one of the most non-recourse featured loans. This means that they can walk away from the loan without getting any further obligation to the lender. For this reason, we are here to promote the services rendered by the company and gain traction on a massive scale.
One of the best features of this loan is that it provides a hedge between the lender and the loan. They also provide a higher loan-to-value ratio that lets you walk away from the loan without any further obligation to the lender. For this reason, you will always get more than you deserve from this loan as one of the best practices. When we look at the stability matters concerning stock-based loans, we find that they provide the lowest interest rates in the world. For this reason, we say that they are a hedge between the lender and the borrower.
The company has been in operation for more than 14 years. For all this time, it has completed more than 2,000 transactions to customers and clients. For Equities First Holdings, they view these transactions as part of their daily business. The company has also worked with stakeholders to provide more than $2 billion to its clients in the form of stock-based loans.
According to the founder of the company, most of their clients keep returning for more loans because they provide better services than any other financial solution company in the world. The company has gained specialization on the stock-based loans. This is the most useful type of loans that explores innovative traction members in the financial markets. | {
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Student Parking Deck renovations change traffic flow
The student parking deck is undergoing some renovations that will permanently change the traffic flow inside and around the deck. A new entrance and exit will be opened on Independence Blvd. in between the IT building and Athens restaurant.
With the opening of the deck onto Independence, the entrance from Elizabeth Ave. will be closed. This entrance is being closed in order to make way for the narrowing of Elizabeth and the installation of trolley tracks, which is due to be completed by 2009.
Additionally, the renovation will remove the barriers between the two sides of the deck so that drivers will be able to access any part of the deck from any entrance.
Entrances
Exits
Independence Blvd.
Independence Blvd.
4th Street
4th Street
Elizabeth Ave.
This renovation may slow traffic around the deck, particularly in the first few weeks of school. Please note that the student deck usually fills by 8 am, so plan to use other lots, including the ones by Memorial Stadium. Security will be directing students to other available parking and to overflow lots. (Please see map below.)
Additionally, the lot on the corner of Independence and Elizabeth across from the parking deck is now for student use. The new structure that is being built on the corner of Independence and 4th Street will be a new student parking deck. The projected completion date will have the deck open for student use by Spring 2007. | {
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Davis v. Joy Brown, Pods Inc.
United States District Court, E.D. New York
September 15, 2014
COREY DAVIS, Plaintiff,v.JOY BROWN, PODS Inc., Defendants.
ORDER
MARGO K. BRODIE, District Judge.
On April 17, 2012, plaintiff Corey Davis ("Davis") commenced this action against defendants Joy Brown ("Brown") and PODS Enterprises, Inc. (s/h/a PODS Inc., ) ("PODS"), asserting claims, inter alia, seeking to recover damages from a lien sale by PODS of property stored by Brown in a self-service storage container pursuant to a rental agreement between PODS and Brown. Pending before the Court are: (1) PODS' motion for summary judgment; (2) Brown's motion for leave to file an amended cross complaint; (3) Brown's cross-motion for summary judgment on the proposed amended cross complaint; (4) Davis's motion for leave to file a second amended complaint; and (5) Davis's cross-motion for summary judgment on the proposed second amended complaint. For the reasons set forth below, PODS' motion for summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part, Brown's and Davis's motions to amend are denied, and Brown's and Davis's cross-motions for summary judgment are denied as moot.
PODS operates a self-storage business that provides containers to its customers for selfstorage purposes. (PODS' 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 1). Customers can place property into the container, secure the container with the customer's own lock, and request that PODS retrieve the container and transport it to a PODS facility for storage. ( Id. ¶¶ 2-3).
Davis is currently incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Tuscan. (Kunkin Decl., Ex. B ("Davis Depo."), at 6). Davis and Brown were in an exclusive relationship from 1994 through the early 2000s, and have a son together. ( Id. at 8, 89).
Following Davis's arrest on December 27, 2006, Brown contacted PODS to arrange for the delivery of a storage container unit to "Davis's mothers [sic] house [located at 143-12 184th Street, Springfield Gardens, New York 11432] where he was residing at the time" (the "Springfield Residence"). (Amended Complaint ("Am. Compl.") [Docket Entry No. 6] ¶¶ 5-6; Kunkin Decl., Ex. A ("Brown Depo."), at 28-29). Davis's personal property needed to be removed from the Springfield Residence so that Davis's mother could rent out the space to a new tenant. (Davis Depo., at 13-15; Kunkin Decl., Ex. G ("Chester Davis Depo."), at 12-13). Brown packed up some of Davis's belongings. (Brown Depo., at 38; Chester Davis Depo., at 37).
On January 9, 2007, PODS delivered POD number 859B48 (the "Container") to the Springfield Residence and placed the Container in front of the driveway in the street. (Brown Depo., at 54-55; Brown Answer[2] [Docket Entry No. 35], ¶ 2; Am. Compl. ¶ 7). That same day, Brown signed a rental agreement (the "Rental Agreement") that named PODS as lessor and Brown as tenant of the Container.[3] (Ogburn Decl., Ex. A; Brown Depo., at 13-15). According to the terms of the Rental Agreement, Brown was permitted to use the Container solely to store her own personal property.[4] (Rental Agreement, ¶ 4). The Rental Agreement also required Brown to insure the property stored in the Container if the aggregate value exceeded five thousand dollars ($5, 000.00).[5] ( Id. ). Brown has submitted no proof that she obtained any such insurance.[6]
On or about January 10, 2007, Davis's father, Chester Davis, arrived at the Springfield Residence with movers, who wrapped furniture and brought all of Davis's belongings (the "subject property") to the front lawn. (Brown Answer ¶ 3; Brown Depo., at 35-39, 57-58). Brown arrived at the Springfield Residence later that day and observed the loading of the Container; upon completion of the loading, the Container was locked. (Brown Depo., at 35, 39, 53-59; Brown Answer ¶ 4; Chester Davis Depo., at 39-41).[7] PODS picked up the Container and brought it to 50 Oser Avenue, Hauppauge, New York 11788 for storage. (PODS' 56.1 Stmt ¶ 6; Am. Compl. ¶ 8). Brown did not compile an inventory of the items placed in the PODS Container nor did she photograph the subject property. (Brown Depo., at 36-37). Davis testified that he "didn't do anything" in connection with his property after Brown notified him in early 2007 that she had stored the subject property in the Container because "[he] trusted her to take care of it." (Davis Depo., at 11).
As early as August 2008, Brown stopped making the required monthly payments for the Container on time and in full, and the account was in arrears through most of 2008. (PODS' 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 16; Brown Depo., at 61-72). PODS mailed invoices and past due notices to Brown at 145 Clermont Avenue, Hempstead, New York 11550, which reflected the outstanding balance on the account as well as the newly incurred monthly charges. (Ogburn Decl., Exs. E, F). While Brown initially testified that she stopped making payments because she did not receive the invoices, she later admitted that she received the invoices and past due notices for August 2008 through January 2009, but had no explanation for her failure to make the required payments. (Brown Depo., at 63-73, 79-80; PODS' 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 17-18). Specifically, Brown admits that she received an invoice and past due notice, both dated January 26, 2009, which indicated an outstanding account balance of four hundred fourteen dollars and fifty-six cents ($414.56). (Brown Depo., at 70, 79).
According to Davis, Brown never notified him that the account was in arrears. (Davis Depo., at 21). Brown testified that she did not recall whether she sent the invoices and past due notices to Davis's family or alerted them that the account was in arrears. (Brown Depo., at 78). Chester Davis testified that he had never seen the invoices or past due notices prior to his deposition. (Chester Davis Depo., 48). Chester Davis further testified that he would have made the payments if Brown had contacted him about her inability to make the required payments, but Brown did not do so. ( Id. at 55-56).
On January 26, 2009, PODS sent another letter to Brown at the same address, which notified Brown that if she failed to pay the full amount of the outstanding balance by February 8, 2009, the contents stored in the Container would be sold at an auction on February 24, 2009 ("Notice of Auction"). (Ogburn Decl., Ex. C). Although Brown admits that she received the invoice and past due notice dated January 26, 2009, Brown contends that she never received the Notice of Auction. (Brown Depo., at 75, 83). On February 24, 2009, PODS conducted a lien sale of the property stored in the Container (the "Lien Sale"). (PODS Memorandum in Support of Summary Judgment ("PODS' Memo") [Docket Entry No. 47-19], at 1; Notice of Auction).
On or about April 2010, Davis learned from his sister that PODS had sold his property stored in the Container. (Am. Compl. ¶ 12). While Davis alleges that it was Brown who informed his sister about the Lien Sale, ( id. ), Brown contends that "Davis's sister found out" and "she, actually, informed [Brown]." (Brown Depo., at 91). According to Davis, at the time his sister told him about the Lien Sale, Brown had not informed him that his property had been sold. (Am. Compl. ¶ 14). Brown testified that she did not tell Davis about the Lien Sale because she thought Davis's sister had told him. (Brown Depo., at 99). While Brown does not recall whether she attempted to inform Chester Davis that the account was in arrears, Brown admits that she did not tell Chester Davis about the Lien Sale. ( Id. at 109).
B. Procedural History
On April 17, 2012, Davis commenced this action against defendants Brown and PODS, seeking to recover damages from the Lien Sale. [Docket Entry No. 1]. On June 22, 2012, Davis filed an amended complaint ("Amended Complaint"), asserting the following claims against PODS: (i) negligence; (ii) intentional negligence; (iii) breach of contract; and (iv) conversion. [Docket Entry No. 6]. The Amended Complaint also asserts the following claims against Brown: (i) negligence; (ii) intentional negligence; and (iii) violation of bailment. On August 27, 2012, PODS filed an answer to the Amended Complaint. [Docket Entry No. 9]. On May 31, 2013, Brown filed the Brown Answer and the Cross ...
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Modig speaks
Swedish political activist Jens Aron Modig, who was reportedly dozing
in the passenger seat of the car in which dissidents Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero
died in the accident near Bayamo July 22, announced and then canceled a press
conference that was to be held last Friday in Stockholm.
In a segment presented last Friday on the Mesa Redonda program on Cuban
television, there are more statements from Modig, recorded in Cuba, and a few
from Carromero.Modig, speaking clear
English, discusses their political activities, not the accident.
The narration comes very close to asserting that the mission of Modig
and Carromero was financed by the United States government, claiming that Washington
is now undertaking new strategies “involving emissaries from other countries to
diversify the sources of support for subversion and to offer the image that it
is not Washington that pays directly.”
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
There is no relationship between the origin of a courier and who is paying for his trip.
The advantage of using non cuban americans for this purpose is that Cuban American opposition figures are well watched by Cuban government agents and Cuban consular agents in US territory and denied permission to travel to Cuba.
Moreover, Cuban Americans visiting Cuba who are not opponents of the government are also reluctant to do such work because they are aware that they are well watched by the repressive network while on the island and that the penalty for being caught doing such activities is to be denied future access to the island.
This makes most (some obviously do) non opposition Cuban Americans very reluctant to participate in such activities, since they do not want to compromise themselves by doing courier services for the opposition because this might affect the future possibilities they have to travel to the island to visit their families and friends.
Foreigners, on the other hand, are less well watched abroad and on the island and have less fear of the consequences of being deported.
Spanish speakers of course are preferred because they blend in better with the population and are more aware of the environment and the threats around them and are thus less likely to get caught and to bring back more information when they return.
However, all that said, it is a gigantic boner to use well known political figures from European countries such as Modig and Carromero as couriers.
They were probably detected as couriers or foreign oppositon envoys in the Cuban consulates where they applied for their visas and watched from that moment on all throughout their whole visit to the island by the Cuban security services.
The Cuban security services once they identify such easily recognized foreign political opponents as would be tourists obviously let them travel around the island under constant surveillance to see who they contact and what they are up to.
This would be doubly true if they contacted Osvaldo Payá who is at the center of the Ministry of Interiors attention.
There should be no doubt in our minds that during this whole rented automobile trip from Havana to Oriente they were under constant vigilance in the hope of detecting some illegal opposition activities, making mass arrests of numerous Cuban dissidents and submitting them to long prison sentences and deporting the foreign couriers.
Whoever chose Carromero and Modig for this activity ought to have his head examined and to be given another line of work to perform since either he is excesivelly naive or capable of severely underestimating the professional expertise and organization of the Cuban repressive apparatus.
I venture to speculate that the highest officials of the Cuban repressive apparatus were very sorry that the traffic accident occurred and that Carromero, Modig and Paya did not continue their activities since they were probably under constant observation throughout their whole trip and their minders had plans to abort their activities at moment that best suited the Cuban G2.
The whole raucus and public posturing and stupid accusations that surrounds this unfortunate accident only serve to confuse the issue and probably totally miss the point about what was really going on.
I am absolutely certain that there were police cars following the car that had the accident but not with the purpose of creating an accident and murdering any of its occupants but simply to shadow them and to coordinate their arrest with local police officials when their shadowers saw fit to do so.
In the aftermath of the incident, there might be some perverse intention to hold Carromero hostage for a while to embarrass the Spanish conservative Partido Popular to which he belongs (for which the Castro brothers have no lost love) and to discourage the presence of future European opposition couriers.
But this is at best and attempt to make the best possible use of what remains of a much better opportunity that was lost because of a random traffic accident.
The whole enchilada is a great example of the random workings of serendipitous incidents.
I did not go to bed for an hour last night thinking what could have happened if the accident had not occurred.
What possible plans did the G2 have that they allowed this car trip to continue for so long?
If the accident had not happened and the trip had continued what was the G2 planning to do?
Maybe the death of Paya and his Cuban colleague stopped a massive arrest of Cuban opposition figures from taking place.
Who knows what plans the Cuban G2 high command had for the conclusion of the political safari they must have had under close constant observation?
The death of Paya was a huge blow for the Cuban democratic opposition but it might have forestalled a massive arrest and long jail sentences of Cuban opposition figures!
This probably was his unintended last postumal service to the cause he served during his whole life. Cantaclaro | {
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The new parents answered questions from press, describing the birth of their first child as a "very emotional" and "special" time.
The child - bestowed with the title Prince of Cambridge - replaces Prince Harry as third in line to the throne.
Prince William said: "He's a big boy, he's quite heavy. We are still working on a name but we will have that as soon as we can. It's the first time we've seen him really so we are having a proper chance to catch up."
He also acknowledged the amount of time that press and well-wishers had been waiting outside the hospital, joking: "I'll remind him of his tardiness when he's older because I know how long you've all been standing out here.
"Hopefully the hospital and you guys can all go back to normal now and we can go and look after him." | {
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A Photo-Realistic Ice Cube, ideal for close-up renders.The model is ready to render. No additional plug-ins needed.Standard procedural materials + reflection texture.Scene is set to render using Mentalray.Created and rendered with 3ds Max 7. | {
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Trump Labelled “Dangerous” by UN Rights Chief
According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, Trump’s “deeply unsettling and disturbing” views make him dangerous internationally.
Mr Hussein cited the source for his concerns as Trump’s comments on the use of torture and his attitude toward “vulnerable communities”.
As is well documented by now, the list of controversial and sometimes unsettling things that Trump has said seem to be almost endless, but the most recent controversy has of course been his abhorrent comments on women.
The comments were criticised by President Obama during a rally for Hillary Clinton, where he said: “The guy says stuff that nobody would find tolerable if they were applying for a job at 7-Eleven.”
As for Mr Hussein, he made his comments at a Geneva news briefing: “If Donald Trump is elected on the basis of what he has said already – and unless that changes – I think it is without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view.”
Mr Hussein was keen to stress that he had no desire to interfere with any political campaign in any country, but did say that when an election could result in the use of torture “or the focus on vulnerable communities in a way that suggests that they may well be deprived of their human rights, then I think it is incumbent to say so”.
This isn’t the first time that Mr Hussein has spoken out against Trump, he made similar comments back in June, saying “bigotry is not proof of strong leadership”.
As we already mentioned, the UN chief has no desire to interfere with the election, but it’s not exactly reassuring to hear that someone so high within the UN considers Trump a danger internationally. | {
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Author
Topic: Iron Golem Question (Read 384 times)
WIKI STATES"Materials: Iron 1500 Ingots, smelt=4500 Ingots, 3 slot=7500 Ingots Special Ability: Mines all ore types based on user skillSpecial Defense: Min Skill Required: 100=basic, 160=smelts, 240=3 slot Commands: "Start Mining" and "Stop Mining"Special Requirements: Place a normal shovel in the Iron Golem's backpack so it can mineNote: The Iron Golem is the only one available, other Golems are in development."
So how do you get your Golem over 120? I made two and they both state "smelting enabled" so I want to get up to 160 as the Wiki statesOne is already at 120 and seems stalled there.I know you can add sockets but I have never seen a mining augment and even 5, +5 mining augments would only get it to 145.Dang thing wont wear clothes either so that aint gonna work
the min skill required is for tinkering to craft them, at 160 tinkering you can make one that will smelt, 240 it will also be a 3 slot instead of 4, as for mining skill it caps at 120 and only the enhanced golem can go over that
smelting is easy, for the one with 3 slots you need some more gear and as for smelting don't even think that its the same as the enhanced golem which autosmelts on the go. For the crafted one you will have to smelt by dropping ore on your golem | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
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Heart Attacks and Web Analytics / OMS
Imagine that you are in for your annual physical.Your doctor tells you that you are a heart attack waiting to happen. You are overweight, your cholesterol is high, you eat bad foods (i.e. nachos), you don't exercise.You can choose to heed the advice of your doctor. You openly welcome Crestor into your life, you begin eating turkey breasts instead of bacon cheeseburgers, you walk three miles a day, you do the things necessary to minimize the risk of a heart attack.Or you can keep going down the path you're on ... hoping that 0 or 00 won't come up on the roulette wheel.Which brings us to Web Analytics and the Online Marketing Simulation, better known as "OMS".Web Analytics is great, in that you are potentially given all of the information necessary to understand the health of your business today. You've got metrics (cholesterol) and multivariate testing (ekg). Maybe the health of your business isn't so great.Here's why you need consider the Online Marketing Simulation (OMS) environment. If you decide to keep eating nachos (discounts and promotions), you increase your personal happiness (conversion rate), but you edge yourself closer to a heart attack (bankruptcy). The OMS environment allows you to play "what if" games --- what if I switch from nachos to boiled chicken, what is the probability of living a longer, healthier life --- or in the case of your business, what if you switch from free shipping in your e-mail campaigns and paid search activities to acquiring customers without discounts/promos, what impact will that have on your business, long-term?With traditional Web Analytics, you're the doctor telling the patient about the potential for a heart attack.
With the OMS, we get to see all of the likely outcomes of our dietary and lifestyle changes.
Find a techie who can program the OMS environment for you, if you cannot create it yourself. If you don't have the resources and are interested in an Online Marketing Simulation (OMS) project, contact me here.Or the best solution of all ... encourage your favorite Web Analytics vendor (Omniture, Coremetrics, WebTrends, Unica) to partner with me on migrating this algorithm to their platform! | {
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} |
Imperial is ranked #9 in the world by Times Higher Education and can boast numerous eminent world-famous researchers in machine learning, many of which will be contributing to this program alongside a number of pioneering tech companies.
Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence are among the most in-demand fields in today's job market, and the goal of this degree is to meet this demand by providing training in the invaluable practical skills and guided experience needed to tackle real-world problems be that as a data scientist, a machine learning engineer, or a computational statistician.
About the degree
The curriculum will include hands-on projects allowing you to build a portfolio showcasing skills in probabilistic modeling, deep learning, unstructured data processing and anomaly detection. The course will cover foundations in mathematics and statistics as well as teach you how to implement scalable machine learning solutions using industry-standard tools such as PySpark. The ethics of machine learning applications will also be addressed.
Pre-requisites
Applicants will need to have a quantitative undergraduate degree in a subject like computer science, math, statistics, economics, or physics. | {
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} |
NY Giants Rush: Drafting an Impact Player to Wear Giants Blue
There seems to be three different camps when evaluating what the New York Giants need in the 2014 NFL Draft.
1. Tight End – someone explosive that can block
2. Defensive End – If JPP doesn’t return to form it could be along year for Prince and DRC
3. Offensive Tackle – Beatty clearly isn’t the guy, so he needs to be moved over or inside. The position is vital in helping Eli rebound.
If the Giants draft one of the two premier tackles(Lewan or Martin), no one will complain. While it might not be a sexy pick…who cares. Securing Eli Manning’s back side is something that would put everyone at ease, especially after watching Will Beatty get over paid and over run in 2013.
If a tackle gets his named called on day one…training camp instantly becomes full of drama from the big boys. Possible a position battle between Snee and Schwartz.
So that leaves a Defensive End or a Tight End. This is an interesting debate. Osi is gone, Tuck is gone and who really knows if JPP can perform at a high level. At this stage of Kiwi’s career he is on the down swing and Ayers from Denver is not play maker, especially in the NFC East.
The 2014 NFL draft class for defensive ends is thin…very thin. The top players at the position are Kony Ealy, Dee Ford, Stephon Tuitt, Scott Crichton and Trent Murphy. Outside of Jadeveon Clowney, these other athletes are all panning out to be third round and fourth round selections with a low ceiling.
That leaves the position with the most dynamic players: Tight End. Ebron, Seferian-Jenkins and Amaro could all be first day selections. Depending on what new Offensive Coordinator, Ben McAdoo wants to do in his new attacking style offensive, all three players can make an instant impact. Lets hope McAdoo has the weapons to turn Eli back into…Eli.
The Giants could also play it safe with a Tight End and take Niklas or Fiedorowicz in the second round. These Tight Ends will block their way to a pro bowl, but don’t expect a dynamic down field threat…leaving the wild card: Wide Receiver Mike Evans | {
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Artizan's Nest
The living space combines kitchen, dining and living areas in one cosy space with a large window onto the city below. A contemporary white fitted kitchen with white granite top has an induction 4 ring hob and electric oven, a small fridge and small separate freezer compartment, a small dishwasher and a washing machine combined with dryer. An alcove utility cupboard in this room has a microwave and at the main entrance, a larger utility cupboard has the WiFi unit. There is a sofa for 2 (which is a sofa –bed if required) and a wall mounted TV on the opposite wall with DVD, films and books and games in the cupboard. A round dining table to seat 4 is placed beside a large original sash window from where it's fun to watch the lively scene of cocktail bars, restaurants, shops and nightclubs built into grand Georgian terraces.The comfortabl... Read more
The living space combines kitchen, dining and living areas in one cosy space with a large window onto the city below. A contemporary white fitted kitchen with white granite top has an induction 4 ring hob and electric oven, a small fridge and small separate freezer compartment, a small dishwasher and a washing machine combined with dryer. An alcove utility cupboard in this room has a microwave and at the main entrance, a larger utility cupboard has the WiFi unit. There is a sofa for 2 (which is a sofa –bed if required) and a wall mounted TV on the opposite wall with DVD, films and books and games in the cupboard. A round dining table to seat 4 is placed beside a large original sash window from where it's fun to watch the lively scene of cocktail bars, restaurants, shops and nightclubs built into grand Georgian terraces.The comfortable and tranquil double bedroom at the back of the property overlooks roofscapes and the hills to the South of the city. There is a 4' 6” double bed, small wardrobe and large chest of drawers. A chic compact contemporary tiled en-suite has a good sized shower, a hand basin with storage under and WC with shelf over.Parking for 1 car is in Charlotte St car park a couple minutes walk away. Alternatively the Bath Spa bus and train station are only a ten minute walk away.Children welcome
Both Bath Holiday Rentals and Shelley of Artizan's Nest were well organised and good communicators.
The apartment is in the heart of Bath- great for exploring by day and going out at night. It's very well equipped with lots of thoughtful touches. It was also...More
This is a charming apartment in the heart of Bath. The apartment is beautiful, is well laid out, and well maintained. The bedroom is in the back away from the street so it is quite. Our hosts were warm and available if we needed something....More
I loved my one-week stay at the Artizan's Nest. It is classy, stylish and comfortable (the bed is especially awesome!) and I didn't want to leave. The location is perfect and within walking distance of all of Bath. Both the flat owner and the owner...More | {
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The Honest Kitchen Dog Food Reviews, Coupons and Recalls 2018
The Honest Kitchen was only founded in 2002 but the company has already made a name for itself in the holistic pet food industry. What began as a single homemade recipe has expanded to include a variety of complete and balanced meals, all made with premium-quality ingredients. This company offers their customers what they call “the Honest Difference” which promises that their products are made “from healthy, human grade whole foods that make a positive difference to pet health and wellbeing”. Not only are all of their products made with human-grade ingredients, but each recipe offers an assortment of nutritional benefits. This company is extremely transparent about what goes into their products (and what doesn’t) so the name “The Honest Kitchen” is very fitting.
Not only is this brand dedicated to providing high-quality nutrition for pets, but they are also very committed to reducing their environmental paw print. They always uses fresh, organic ingredients when possible and they use only 100% free-range, antibiotic-free, and sustainably raised chicken in their products. Their produce is all non-GMMO and their seeds and grains are all organic – many of their products are also Non-GMO Project Verified. In addition to taking an ecofriendly stance in selecting and sourcing their ingredients, they also employ green manufacturing methods. By manufacturing all of their products in the United States, this brand reduces transportation and carbon emissions – they also use recyclable and biodegradable materials as much as possible.
When it comes to their product offerings, they offer an excellent variety of choices. Their Whole Grain Food product line includes five different recipes of healthy, nutritionally balanced meals made with 100% certified organic non-GMO grains and premium proteins like chicken, turkey, and duck. This brand also offers an assortment of grain-free foods made with gluten- and grain-free carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, coconut, and pumpkin. All of this brand’s products are designed to offer premium-quality nutrition as well as other benefits such as improved energy levels, healthy bodyweight maintenance, silkier coat and healthy skin, and improved digestion. Simply put, you can feel good about feeding your dog any one of their food products.
Honest Kitchen Recalls 2018:
This brand of pet food features wholesome, human-grade ingredients including many organic and non-GMO ingredients. Not only does this company promise quality in their ingredients and in the nutritional integrity of their products, but they also guarantee that all of their products are manufactured in North America in plants that also produce human food. All of this information paints a picture of a high-quality pet food brand and a review of their products reveals this to be true. Even so, the brand has been affected by one recall in recent years. Here are the details:
In February 2003, the FDA issued a recall for several of The Honest Kitchen’s dog food products in the Verve, Thrive, and Zeal product lines due to potential salmonella contamination.
Honest Kitchen Dog Food Coupons 2018
Because they offer such a wide variety of different products you will find a wide range of prices when you start shopping. For a 2-pound box of Honest Kitchen dehydrated dog food you will spend about $15 to $25, depending on the recipe. Their base mixes cost about $30 for a 3-pound box and grain-free dehydrated foods cost between $50 and $70 for a 4-pound box.
The Honest Kitchen Reviews
What makes their food products so unique is the fact that they are dehydrated, not cooked. The freeze-drying process helps to increase the shelf-life of the product without compromising the nutritional integrity of the ingredients. To feed your dog Honest Kitchen dehydrated food, simply add water to rehydrate it. This brand offers an assortment of grain-free and whole-grain food options. For grain-free foods there are six different recipes featuring quality proteins like chicken, turkey, beef, and Pollock as well as grain-free carbohydrates like sweet potatoes. For whole-grain foods, they offer five different formulas including the original Verve recipe which features beef, organic oats, organic barley, and an assortment of fruits and vegetables. All of their dehydrated food formulas are free from corn, wheat, soy, and GMO ingredients.
Is this food Good for my Dog?
With a name like The Honest Kitchen you might assume that this is a high-quality pet food brand even without doing any research. You cannot always assume, however, that what a pet food company says about itself is true. The fact that this brand only has one recall in its history is certainly a good thing, but a review of their ingredients and products is necessary in order to determine the quality of the brand as a whole. This brand offers their customer’s the “Honest Difference” which promises 100% human-grade ingredients such as premium proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables – they also promise that their products are manufactured to the highest standards for quality and safety. This information combined with a brief review of several food products is enough to confirm that they are indeed a high-quality brand and an excellent choice for your dog.
The Honest Kitchen Dry: What makes them different from other pet food companies is the fact that all of their food products are dehydrated. The cooking process for traditional kibble (called extrusion) involves subjecting the raw ingredients to extreme temperatures which robs them of much of their nutritional value. Dehydrating raw ingredients helps to increase the shelf-life of the product while preserving most of their nutritional integrity. To use their dehydrated food products, all you have to do is add water!
Grain Free Dog Food Recipes:
Love Beef Formula
Zeal Fish Formula
Force Chicken Formula
Embark Turkey Formula
Whole Grain Dog Food Recipes:
Keen Turkey Formula
Verve Beef Formula
Halcyon Duck Formula
Revel Chicken Formula
Limited Ingredient/Minimalist Recipes:
Thrive Chicken & Quinoa Formula
Brave Fish & Coconut Formula
Marvel Turkey & Parsnip Formula
Base Mixes: In addition to offering a variety of complete and balanced meals, they also offer two base mixes. These mixes can be used to prepare fresh food right in your own kitchen – all you have to do is add water and your choice of meat or fish. Their base mixes are designed to ensure nutritional balance and completeness when making homemade food. There are two grain-free base mixes to choose from – Preference and Kindly.
Dog Treats and Toppers: As a supplement to their regular food offerings, they also sell a variety of dog treats. Like their meals, their dog treats are all made from premium-quality ingredients and they are full of natural flavor. There are several types of treats to choose from including dried catfish skins, baked cookies, grain-free fish treats, training treats, and even liquid treats. They also offer two Proper Toppers meal enhancements which consist of superfood clusters that can be used to add a boost of flavor and nutrition to your dog’s meal.
Force Grain-Free Chicken Recipe Review:
This Force Grain-Free Chicken Recipe Food formula an ideal diet for dogs that are picky eaters or for those who suffer from food allergies or sensitivities. It is a protein-packed recipe made with free-range chicken and fresh produce such as celery, apples, green beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and more. Like all of their products, this recipe is free from corn, wheat, soy, and GMO ingredients – it is also made without any artificial additives. Because this formula is made with dehydrated human-grade ingredients, you can expect excellent quality and plenty of natural flavor that your dog is sure to love. Feeding your dog this Force chicken recipe will provide him with the nutrition he needs to become a force to be reckoned with.
As promised, the first ingredient in this recipe is chicken. Normally when you see a fresh meat listed as the first ingredient in a food recipe you might worry that the cooking process would destroy some of the nutritional value in addition to reducing the total volume for that ingredient as moisture is cooked out. Because all of their products are dehydrated and not cooked, however, you don’t have to worry about this ingredient losing its nutritional integrity. In fact, because the chicken is dehydrated it is a highly concentrated source of animal protein which makes it a very valuable ingredient. In addition to providing plenty of protein, chicken also supplies your dog with important vitamins and minerals like phosphorus, niacin, selenium, and vitamin B6.
The second ingredient in this recipe is organic flaxseed. While this ingredient does provide some dietary fiber, it is more valuable as a source of omega-3 fatty acids. The flaxseed is followed by an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables including potatoes, celery, sweet potato, apples, pumpkin, green beans, bananas, cabbage, and papaya. There are also some fresh herbs like basil and garlic. All of these fruits and vegetables contribute essential vitamins and minerals as well as dietary fiber. Because these carbohydrates are gluten-free and grain-free, they are unlikely to trigger food allergies or sensitivities in your dog – they will also provide him with more slow-burning energy than refined grains would. The remaining ingredients in this recipe consist primarily of supplements, including chelated minerals which are chemically bound to protein molecules, making them easy for your dog’s body to digest and absorb.
Bottom Line:
Overall, they are an excellent food brand that sets itself apart from the competition in a number of important ways. Not only does this company use human-grade, certified organic, and non-GMO ingredients, but they dehydrate their foods rather than cooking them at high temperature. All of these things combined with safe and sustainable manufacturing processes points toward high quality and excellent value for pet parents. Because their products are all dehydrated, you may find that you pay a premium price for what seems like a small amount of food. What you have to remember, however, is that The Honest Kitchen’s products need to be mixed with warm water to rehydrate them before you feed them to your dog. It might take your dog some time to get used to the unique taste and texture of rehydrated food but once he makes the transition it won’t be long before you notice the benefits of high-quality nutrition in his overall health and wellbeing.
Kate Barrington
Kate Barrington holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and is the published author of several self-help books and nutrition guides. Also an avid dog lover and adoring owner of three cats, Kate’s love for animals has led her to a successful career as a freelance writer specializing in pet care and nutrition. Kate holds a certificate in fitness nutrition and enjoys writing about health and wellness trends — she also enjoys crafting original recipes. In addition to her work as a ghostwriter and author, Kate is also a blogger for a number of organic and natural food companies as well as a columnist for several pet magazines. | {
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Gamboa places third at Masters
Note: Most newspaper content reprinted here is incomplete and delayed. Want it all? Sooner? Subscribe to our full print and online editions by calling (559) 674-4207 and get both editions for the price of one!
Madera’s Alec Gamboa faced a familiar opponent in the Central Section Masters and came away with the same result to advance to the State Wrestling Championship Friday and Saturday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
Gamboa faced Nick Callender of Clovis East in the 170 pound Consolation Championship and came away with a pin for a third place medal Saturday at Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia.
Gamboa defeated Callender 1-0 on Feb. 16 to win the Consolation Championship in the Yosemite Divisionals at Madera South.
Gamboa will be joined by four other teammates at the State Wrestling Championships... | {
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Gheri Pancho
Gheri Poncho is the most favorable designs of gheri products for both men and woman. Generally, these ponchos are handmade by Nepalese artisans on the slopes of the Himalayas. Poncho can be made with different attractive and beautiful colors of gheri. Poncho is designs with the attaching of loppy, hood and pocket to look more attractive and good looking on wearing. This product is more popular for selling all over the world. It provides more comfortable and fashionable looks on wearing. | {
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Christian giving charity responds to 2000th request for help
Acts435 said applicants for help were often people struggling with relationship breakdown, redundancy or a change to their benefits
An online giving charity set up by the Archbishop of York in 2010 has responded to its 2,000th request for help.
Acts435.org.uk connects those in need with those who can help, while protecting donor anonymity and applicant confidentiality.
Donors around the country are giving on average £7,000 a month through the platform, more than triple the level of donations this time last year.
Since its launch, Acts435 has provided over £175,000 in donations to people needing help with things like school uniforms, furniture, food and debt relief orders.
The charity says many of the applicants are people struggling to cope after a relationship breakdown, redundancy or a change to their benefits.
Executive Director Jenny Herrera said: "To think just 12 months ago we were seeking to hit our 800th request and now we are already seeing that activity has more than doubled - it is inspiring that people want to give to help those in need in the UK today.
"It is a tragedy that people, often through no fault of their own, find that their circumstances have changed and it can suddenly feel there is no support at all.
"As the country goes through tough economic times, many people are struggling to cope with unexpected expenses and even everyday ones. Acts 435 is bringing real hope for these situations."
It is not always convenient to serve others, but it is definitely worth it. Olga Mantula from Hillsong Moscow shared an experience she had when she was only six years old that helped change her perspective about helping other people.
Why is Pastor Carl Lentz such a hit among NBA stars? The Bleacher Report called the Hillsong Church pastor "the patron saint of NBA stars" for offering spiritual guidance to the likes of Kevin Durant, Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy Lin, Landry Fields and other basketball bigwigs. | {
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Known Russian boxer casually photographed UFO in Sahara
Known Russian boxer Alexander Kolesnikov, during a tour across Sahara, casually photographed UFO. Sparkling UFO took off from the ridge and disappeared at high speed. It is remarkable, it was not far from the place where once filmed one episode of Star Wars..
Known Russian boxer Alexander Kolesnikov, during a tour across Sahara, casually photographed UFO. Sparkling UFO took off from the ridge and disappeared at high speed. It is remarkable, it was not far from the place where once filmed one episode of Star Wars..
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Public Transportation
Public transportation is a means of moving groups of people throughout a city, or even longer distances. Public transportation usually charges a fee, but are often a more efficient alternative to driving your own vehicle.
Public transportation in New York City is regulated and administered by the NYCTA (New York City Transit Authority), which is a sub-division of the MTA (Metro Transit Authority). The MTA is the New York State transit authority. See the Related Links below for more information about the NYCTA and...
If you are travelling far out of Central London or making many journeys in a small area an oyster card would be best. A travelcard would be better if you are making quite a lot of journeys of varying distances. If you are still not sure your best bet would probably be an oyster card.
Most aspects of the transport system, and all forms of masstransit, within the Greater London area, including the LondonUnderground, are managed by a branch of local government calledTransport for London (TfL).
You can use your bus pass for free travel on most local services throughout England (after 0930 Mondays to Fridays). In Greater London the pass is valid on London Bus services all day, every day. You cannot use your new bus pass on: .
Express services or excursions .
Some special services .
Tram,...
Yes, dogs travel for free on the London Underground, but you have to carry them through the ticket barriers and on the escalators - so probably not a good idea if you own a Great Dane! In all seriousness though, the underground does get hectically busy at times and your dog would have to be very...
The first electric tram operated between Box Hill and Doncaster from 1889 to 1896 when it was abandoned. After that cable trams ran exclusively until 1906 when the first permanent electric tram service began operation in the North Melbourne area. Cable trams were progressively phased out but...
England had them earliest, but the first subway system in Continental Europe was in Budapest- Buda Line One- started up in l896 and still operating restored pattern of l896 cars which have chain drive, by the way. Budapest"s lines two and three use more modern, say, fifties- pattern subway cars but...
Rochester! at various times in the twentieth century- probably using trolley cars modified for center-third rail ops- as Manhattan used for streetcars ( as there was no trolley pole, these were not strictly speaking trolley cars- but people called them that) Rochester had all traces of subway...
36. What does BMT® stand for? The acronym BMT® stands for Biggest, Meatiest, and Tastiest. In the early days of SUBWAY ® restaurants, it was a promotion that was based on the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit system in New York City that went along with the subway theme.
because they were energy efficient and didn't need to keep refueling and thereby much easier to run. it made it so that it could keep going and making the journey much quicker for the passengers. ANSWER BY JASON LEE
Sometimes it depends on where the subway is. IF it is in Japan there is no room for anyone. There it is people's job to push people inside the subway so that it can get more people on. In busy citys there is no telling how much space you will get at all.
Generally, bigger cities have better public transportation because there are more people in them trying to get more places. That being said, more regular and cost-efficent systems are usually put in place to meet a huge demand: they're generally overcrowded and not always comfortable. Non-West Coast...
Take the 1 train (of the 1-2-3 , the red line), or the 2 late nights, to Houston Street. Even though it's called the Houston Street Station, you will get off on Varick Street, between King and Houston Streets. If you're going further south on Varick Street, then take the 1 (or 2 late...
Homeowners insurance does have liability. This liability is universal and is good for any where in the world. The insurance companies will not cover anything intentional though. It also breaks down to a scenario by scenario type of basis.
It is way, way ahead of cars environmentally, nobody in their right minds would argue otherwise. There is huge 'but' here [no jokes please] the system must be cheap, clean, fast, efficient, and above all, Its time tables must run to suit the commutors, not the reverse. There is a limit to what...
London Underground depots are all over London, with the most central one being at Waterloo for the Waterloo and City line. The depot which is easiest to see from a passenger-accessible area is most likely Hammersmith, where Hammersmith and City, Circle and District line trains are stabled. It can be...
It has everything but a subway. The city does not have a metro, but does have a commuter rail service which passes through the city centre in a tunnel. There is also a dense tram network (one of best in the world).
Not sure of your question but yes, NYC has the largest public transit system in the U.S. and is one of the largest in the world. The subway has 468 stations, over 6,000 subway cars, over 700 miles of track. Over 6 million people ride the system daily. It also has one of the largest bus fleets...
Cost of repairs to everything in the system. I believe one of the two power generators cast iron frame was badly cracked. It would have to be replaced from overseas. My grandfather was a tram driver with no job on that day.
You mean, how do you pay for your ride? There are still some stations that are manned by transit workers, and you can buy your Metrocard from them. But most often, you have to buy it from one of the electronic kiosks. Half the time those machines won't take bills. Or, sometimes you get the reverse...
No, but there is a regular commuter rail line to and from Riverfront Station in Nashville to Lebanon. The trains travel on surface rails and have stops at seven stations. All other Tennessee cities utilize bus service. Memphis however has trolley (street car) service through the downtown area around...
Yes, there are subways in Philadelphia. We have the Broad StreetLine which operates a north-south, south-north route. We also havean Elevated line that uses tunnels as well called theMarket-Frankford line. It operates on a roughly East-West,West-East manner. Lines in Philadelphia are color-coded.... | {
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Dr. Mario / Puzzle League
Unlockables
Horizontal Playing Field Mode
For both Panel de Pon/Puzzle League/Tetris Attack and Dr. Mario, there is an unlockable mode where the playing field is flipped ninety degrees so that you have to turn the GBA on its side to play. The graphics are enlarged to see the field better.
NOTE: These modes work best on a Game Boy Micro or original GBA.
Unlockable
How to Unlock
Complete Virus Level 20 in regular 1 Player Mode.
Horizontal Mode (Dr. Mario)
Rack up a score of 10,000 points or more in Endless Mode.
Horizontal Mode (Panel de Pon)
Contributed By: KirbyKollector.
Unlock Vertical Mode
Complete 1-player Line mode (by beating level 6-5) to unlock Vertical Mode. This will allow you to play Marathon, Timed, and Garbage in Vertical Mode. | {
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Hi there guys, just a note to add to this, on all my audi 80,s water finds its way in via the sun roof motor, it seems to get into the cables that move the roof and creep along this until it escapes thro the motor, then runs along the roof trim down the windscreen side trim and down to the carpet, a hint of this is rust on the motor but not always, cure is lots of grease onto the cable which has a hairy covering both at the motor drive it back and forth and when the roof is open remove the cable cover and push grease in it. This problem is agravated if the car is not parked on the level
helmsy157Audi Nut
Joined: Jan 17, 2013
Posts: 73
Location: scotland
Posted:
Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:45 am
To add to this problem, water in the passenger side could be coming from the seal between the heater air filter and the fan inside the car, often happens if car is parked off level, best to remove the filter housing and replace the seal between it and the body. Another odd leak hides behind the small panel covering the bottom of the A post, remove this panel and you will find a small bit of plastic film glued over an opening, make sure this is sealed all round or replace.
EightyWayNeeds to get out more
Joined: Jul 17, 2014
Posts: 125
Location: Ireland
Posted:
Sat Sep 16, 2017 5:10 pm
+1 for the sunroof water ingress on my side. I'll give your grease fix a go!
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CANCELLATIONS AND DELAYS CAUSED BY THE POLAR VORTEX, SOME PASSENGERS ARE FINALLY REACHING THEIR DESTINATIONS AFTER DAYS OF TRAVEL TROUBLE BUT ALL TOO MANY OF THEM ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THIS, GRAB THEIR BAGS. THEY'RE FINDING THEIR LUGGAGE DID NOT MAKE THE TRIP. TODAY ONLY AROUND 800 FLIGHTS IN THE U.S. HAVE BEEN CANCELLED, DOWN FROM THE THOUSANDS OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS. ANOTHER 3800 ARE DELAYED. IN JACKSONVILLE, FOUR DEPARTING FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED. AT LEAST SEVEN OTHERS HAVE BEEN DELAYED. NOW, IN JACKSONVILLE, TWO COURIER COMPANIES HAVE CONTRACTS TO DELIVER DELAYED LUGGAGE TO TRAVELERS' DOORSTEPS OR HOTELS. AS TARIK MINOR SHOWS US, THE OWNER OF ONE OF THOSE COMPANIES SAYS IT MAY BE MONTHS BEFORE A SENSE OF NORMALCY RETURNS TO AIRPORTS AROUND THE COUNTRY. CHANCES ARE, IF YOUR FLIGHT HAS BEEN DELAYED OR CANCELLED, YOU'LL LIKELY BE SEPARATED FROM YOUR LUGGAGE LIKE THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WAITING TO BE REUNITED WITH THEIR BAGS. THEY WERE ALL SEPARATED FROM THEIR OWNERS. AT THE HEIGHT OF A WINTER STORM. DELAYED LUGGAGE FROM RHODE ISLAND TO FLORIDA. LINES THE WALLS AT JIA. I KEEP MINE NEXT TO ME SO I DON'T LOSE IT. IT'S THE REASON WHY THIS FREQUENT FLYER SAYS SHE DOESN'T TRUST THE AIRLINES WITH HER BELONGINGS. I DON'T CHECK MINE HARDLY ANYMORE. PEOPLE ARE NOW REALIZING THE COMPLEXITY CREATED BY A POLAR VORTEX. IN FACT, I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE, BECAUSE THIS IS MY LUGGAGE, ARRIVING AT MY HOUSE SOME 48 HOURS LATER, AFTER OUR BAGS WERE MISPLACED IN WASHINGTON, D.C. SOME MIGHT BE SURPRISED AT JUST HOW BIG THIS PROBLEM IS. IT WILL BE A COUPLE OF MONTHS FOR WHAT I WOULD SAY GETS BACK TO NORMALCY AROUND HERE. HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT. HIS COURIER COMPANY IS ONE OF TWO CONTRACTED BY JIA TO DELIVER LOST BAGGAGE. HE ADVISES NEVER TO PACK ANYTHING YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT FOR 48 HOURS, ADDING THERE'S A CHANCE YOU MAY NEVER SEE IT AGAIN. THERE ARE SITUATIONS WHERE THEY NEVER FIND THEIR LUGGAGE, BUT I WOULD SAY THAT 98% OF THE TIME AIRLINES LOCATE IT. THE COMPLEXITY IS MORE THAN JUST THE AIRCRAFT ITSELF. IF THE WEATHER WERE JUST IDEAL THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, YOU STILL HAVE MECHANICAL PROBLEMS. YOU STILL HAVE FLIGHT CREW PROBLEMS. YOU STILL HAVE OTHER ISSUES. AIRPORT OFFICIALS SAY MAJOR AIRLINES ARE COMPENSATING PASSENGERS FOR THEIR INCONVENIENCE WITH TOILETRIES OR T-SHIRTS BUT PASSENGERS HAVE TO ASK. MANY OF THESE PASSENGERS OPTED TO TRAVEL WITHOUT THEIR LUGGAGE. THIS IS GOING TO TAKE SEVERAL DAYS TO CLEAR UP BECAUSE THOSE FLIGHTS THAT WERE CANCELLED, THOSE PEOPLE HAVE TO BE PUT ON FLIGHTS THAT WERE ALREADY ALMOST FULL. SO IT TAKES SOME TIME. A PERIOD OF TIME THAT COULD CONTINUE TO GROW IF THE WINTER
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -
The brutally cold temperatures this week have crippled airports across the country, and even though some passengers are finally reaching their final destination, they're learning their luggage did not.
Two courier companies are contracted with Jacksonville International Airport to deliver delayed baggage to fliers' doorsteps or hotels. But the owner of one company say it may be months before a sense of normalcy is returned to airports across the country.
Delayed luggage from Rhode Island to Florida lined the walls at Jacksonville International Airport on Wednesday, separated from its owners during the height of the most recent winter storm.
"I just keep mine next to me so I don't lose it," said traveler Leanne Bryan, whose flight was canceled. "I don't even check mine anymore."
Others who chose to travel with their luggage on the plane are now realizing the complexity created by a polar vortex.
"It will be a couple of months before what I would say it gets back to normalcy around here," said David Hill, of Airko Freight Systems.
Hill's courier company is only one of two contracted by JIA to deliver lost baggage. He advises never to pack anything that you can't live without for 48 hours, adding that there's a chance that you may never see it again.
"There are rare situations where they don't find their luggage, but 98 percent of the time, they do find their luggage," Hill said. "It may take a couple of days to get here."
"The complexity of the system is more than just the aircraft itself," said Michael Stewart, of JIA. "If the weather was just ideal, you still have mechanical problems, flight crew, other issues."
Airport officials say major airlines are compensating passengers for their inconvenience, providing them with toiletries or T-shirts. But passengers have to ask.
Most bags displaced during the storm were lost in layovers or when a passengers' flights was canceled. Rather than pay baggage fees again for rebooking on another airline, many of the passengers opted to travel without their luggage.
"This is going to take several days because people are getting put on flights that were already full," Stewart said. "So all of this is going to take some time."
A period of time that could continue to grow if winter weather hits again.
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