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National Post readers answer the question: "Are people making too much of the royal baby?" It was a touching moment, echoing the day 30 years ago when William, then aged two, was brought to the same hospital to meet his new brother Harry Many think it is likely that William and Kate would use the name Diana — though probably as one of the baby’s middle names to avoid comparisons with her late grandmother 'We see this even with the Queen. But especially for Kate, when she is going to a function, you can almost guarantee someone is going to describe her dress' To the naysayers, news is only proper news when it is about murder, war or politics. But many of us are quite thrilled to hear more about the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy. The key job of the British king’s consort has always been to produce an ‘heir and a spare.’ The former Kate Middleton appears to have conformed to tradition Kensington Palace said William signed the birth registry Friday for Prince George, third in line to the throne, who was born July 22 in London Thanks to our future kings' sterling senses of duty — to say nothing of the vigilance of our elders and betters such as your editorialist — we cap-in-hand forelock tuggers will continue to know our place. Thanks awfully.” Before the new mother even left the hospital, members of the Twitterverse expressed their shock that the Duchess still looked pregnant hours after giving birth

New reports today claim that a staffer within Rob Ford’s office knew the whereabouts of an alleged video that reportedly shows the Toronto mayor smoking crack cocaine, potentially contradicting Ford’s own statements that the video “does not exist.” Toronto homicide detectives confirmed Monday they have interviewed a member of Ford’s staff after they reportedly received a tip from the mayor’s office in relation to the whereabouts of the video. A photo allegedly taken from the video that was given to the Toronto Star and U.S.-website Gawker appears to show Ford with Anthony Smith, a 21-year-old who was gunned down in a “targeted” murder earlier this year outside a Toronto nightclub. Ford fired his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, last week after sources said the pair had a falling out after Towhey asked the mayor to seek rehab. On his radio show Sunday, Ford said he didn’t discuss personnel issues but did deny the firing was related to football issues. Staff Inspector Greg McLane, the head of the Toronto police homicide division, told CP24 that the investigation was not related to a homicide but his officers conducted the interview because they have expertise other police officers may not. The disclosure comes after Globe and Mail reported Monday that police spoke to a senior staffer after a tip linked a killing to the alleged drug video which was reportedly viewed by an editor at Gawker and two Star reporters that they say shows the mayor smoking drugs. The Globe article said that the staffer “purported to know the address and unit number” where the alleged drug video was being held. Neither report named the Ford staffer. “Police did have a serious conversation last week with a senior official in Mayor Ford’s office,” Globe and Mail editor-in-chief John Stackhouse said on CBC’s Metro Morning, one of several interviews he gave Monday morning. “That indicates that senior people in the mayor’s office believe there is a video out there, and certainly enough to pass on information to the police and to participate willingly in an interview with police about circumstances around the video and disappearance of the video.” Gawker has raised nearly $200,000 to buy the video but said the sellers of the video have gone underground and they can’t get in touch with them. When asked about the photo on his radio show Sunday, Rob Ford said he took pictures with “everyone.” He said he could not comment on a video “that does not exist.” Councillor Doug Ford has repeatedly called Gawker’s efforts to buy the alleged video “disgusting.” “I think it is disgusting . . . That an organization like Gawker would go out there and deal with a bunch of extortionists, a bunch of Somali drug dealers,” he said. “I puts a real tarnish on a great community, the Somali community.” On Sunday, the Fords called a caller’s inquiry about the alleged photograph of the mayor with Smith, “racist.” Councillor Ford lashed out at those questioning the mayor for posing “with his arms around two young black men,” deeming the comments “racist.” “That’s very sad that she is a racist,” added Rob Ford. The National Post has not seen the alleged video and therefore cannot verify its authenticity. Meanwhile Councillor Doug Ford has vigorously denied allegations from the Globe and Mail that he was a drug dealer in Etobicoke throughout the 1980s. He called the allegations “disgusting.” “I was not a dealer of hashish in the 1980s. Their stories are not accurate whatsoever. These newest accusations represent, in my opinion, the lowest of the low when it comes to journalistic integrity,” Doug Ford said on the radio. But politically, it seems the damage has already been done to the Fords. Coun. Josh Matlow, a council centralist, said the allegations that Doug Ford was a drug dealer “has been one of the best known secrets around City Hall for a long time.” Coun. John Parker, told CP24 “it’s hard to believe it’s all lies” as Doug Ford has said. With files from Natalie Alcoba, National Post

The home of a family who treated a vulnerable man like a slave and subjected him to daily beatings has been targeted in an apparent vigilante attack. Windows have been smashed at the bungalow in Sheffield where the Rooke family treated Craig Kinsella like a "punchbag", during a six-week campaign of violence. The property in the Grenoside area of the city has been boarded up and a police van was parked outside, guarding the area. David Rooke, 44, his wife Donna, 40, and son Jamie, 19, were all jailed on at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday by a judge who heard that Mr Kinsella, 34, was subjected to frequent attacks. The court was told that the family beat him with a range of weapons, including a pickaxe handle and crowbar, while forcing him to work 17-hour days without pay, and making him sleep in a garage with a bucket for a toilet. Mr Kinsella, , , who has learning difficulties, resorted to feeding himself with scraps he found in bins. Judge Peter Kelson QC said it was "almost unbelievable" and "absolutely staggering" that this kind of thing was happening in modern society. He jailed David Rooke for six-and-a-half years for false imprisonment and causing actual bodily harm. Donna Rooke was jailed for four months for battery, and Jamie Rooke was jailed for four years for causing actual bodily harm and affray. A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman confirmed that officers were called to reports of windows being smashed at the property in Halifax Road at 8.45pm on Tuesday. She said the incident was being investigated as a case of criminal damage. Police found Mr Kinsella in a shocking physical state after responding to reports of a man being abused outside the Rooke house on July 6 last year. He had a broken right arm, a fractured rib, extreme bruising to his back and around his kidney, a fractured chin and cuts, as well as lumps and bruises on his head and legs. :: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202. - Related Stories - Sheffield Family Jailed Over 'Slave' Beatings

A gang-rape victim from India, brought to Singapore for medical assistance, has died as a result of organ failure at 4:45 a.m. local time, reports say. She was treated at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where staff state she “passed away peacefully,” The Hindu reports. “Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth Hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days. She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain. “She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome,” the official statement by CEO Dr. Kevin Loh reads. She underwent multiple surgeries, in India as well as Singapore. She was taken in at Mount Elizabeth on Thursday, December 27, but by Friday her condition had “taken a turn for the worse.” The girl's family has asked for her to be buried in her hometown of New Delhi. “The family is shattered by this development. At the same time, they realised that best possible medical attention was given,” Indian High Commissioner to Singapore T.C.A. Raghavan says. The 23-year-old paramedical student was raped on a bus, in Delhi. The case rocked India and sparked heated, violent protests, according to the Daily Mail. At the time, Huffington Post detailed that 6 men participated in the assault, repeatedly raping the victim over a period of a few hours. She, as well as the male friend that accompanied her, were severely beaten and dumped on a side of the road. “It appears to be that a rod was inserted into her and it was pulled out with so much force that the act brought out her intestines... That is probably the only thing that explains such severe damage to her intestines,” a doctor at Safdarjung Hospital in India assessed after the incident. One of the assailants confessed to the crime soon after: “I admit to my crime. Hang me,” 20-year-old Vijay Sharma reportedly admitted.

"Today, when you surf the Web," Wang commented, "at any point, you may wander to a bad neighborhood, and when you click on a link and navigate to a malicious Web site, your computer can be compromised, your private personal information can be stolen, and your machine can be used as a zombie for a larger botnet. What are the problems with those bad links, bad neighborhoods? Some links include a bad executable download. On other occasions, a Web page is crafted especially so a particular vulnerability in your browser is exploited, and your computer can be compromised." With BrowserShield, the Redmond Company aims to stop the tendency of using browsers as attack vectors, by providing runtime associated logic content synonym to the final result delivered by the rendering of the Web page, while intercepting embedded code prior to its execution. The actions are possible by the implementation of vulnerability filters policies that amputate malicious code designed to exploit browser flaws. "Say there's a zero-day browser exploit," Wang added. "At a particular time, a patch might not be available. But in the meantime, we can allow users to browse through a BrowserShield-enabled toolbar. Users would then be able to type URLs into the toolbar rather than in the usual address bar. This allows all Web sites to be sanitized by the BrowserShield toolbar and enables a safe browsing experience."

|By Marketwired .|| |July 17, 2014 07:01 PM EDT|| REDMOND, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/17/14 -- Data I/O Corporation (NASDAQ: DAIO), the leading provider of manual and automated device programming systems, today announced that it has scheduled a conference call to discuss financial results for the second quarter, ending June 30, 2014, on Thursday, July 31, 2014. Management will hold the conference call at 2 p.m. Pacific Time/5 p.m. Eastern Time. Data I/O Corporation will release the company's financial results after the market closes that same day. To listen to the conference call, please dial (612) 332-0107, passcode: DAIO. A taped replay will be made available approximately one hour after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for one week. To access the replay, please dial (320) 365-3844, access code: 332479. The conference call will also be simultaneously webcast over the Internet; visit the News and Events section of the Data I/O Corporation website at http://www.dataio.com to access the call from the site. This webcast will be recorded and available for replay on the Data I/O Corporation website approximately one hour after the conclusion of the conference call. About Data I/O Corporation With 40 years of expertise in delivering intellectual property to programmable devices, Data I/O offers complete, integrated manufacturing solutions in wireless, automotive, programming center, semiconductor, and industrial control market segments for OEM, ODM, EMS and semiconductor companies. Data I/O is the leader in programming and provides hardware and software solutions for turn-key programming and device testing services, as well as in-system (on-board), in-line (right before use at the SMT line), or in-socket (off-line) programming. These solutions are scalable for small, medium and large volume applications with different device mixes. Data I/O Corporation has headquarters in Redmond, Wash., with sales and services worldwide. For further information, visit the company's website at http://www.dataio.com. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Data I/O Corporation 6464 185th Ave. NE, Suite 101 Redmond, WA 98052 Culture is the most important ingredient of DevOps. The challenge for most organizations is defining and communicating a vision of beneficial DevOps culture for their organizations, and then facilitating the changes needed to achieve that. Often this comes down to an ability to provide true leadership. As a CIO, are your direct reports IT managers or are they IT leaders? The hard truth is that many IT managers have risen through the ranks based on their technical skills, not their leadership ab... Aug. 29, 2015 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 300 A producer of the first smartphones and tablets, presenter Lee M. Williams will talk about how he is now applying his experience in mobile technology to the design and development of the next generation of Environmental and Sustainability Services at ETwater. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Lee Williams, COO of ETwater, will talk about how he is now applying his experience in mobile technology to the design and development of the next generation of Environmental and Sustainability Services at ET... Aug. 29, 2015 03:45 PM EDT WebRTC has had a real tough three or four years, and so have those working with it. Only a few short years ago, the development world were excited about WebRTC and proclaiming how awesome it was. You might have played with the technology a couple of years ago, only to find the extra infrastructure requirements were painful to implement and poorly documented. This probably left a bitter taste in your mouth, especially when things went wrong. Aug. 29, 2015 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 414 Whether you like it or not, DevOps is on track for a remarkable alliance with security. The SEC didn’t approve the merger. And your boss hasn’t heard anything about it. Yet, this unruly triumvirate will soon dominate and deliver DevSecOps faster, cheaper, better, and on an unprecedented scale. In his session at DevOps Summit, Frank Bunger, VP of Customer Success at ScriptRock, will discuss how this cathartic moment will propel the DevOps movement from such stuff as dreams are made on to a prac... Aug. 29, 2015 03:15 PM EDT Reads: 192 Cloud and datacenter migration innovator AppZero has joined the Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Alliance Program. AppZero is a fast, flexible way to move Windows Server applications from any source machine – physical or virtual – to any destination server, in any cloud or datacenter, using its patented container technology. AppZero’s container is also called a Virtual Application Appliance (VAA). To facilitate Microsoft Azure onboarding, AppZero has two purpose-built offerings: AppZero SP for Azure,... Aug. 29, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 135 WSM International, the pioneer and leader in server migration services, has announced an agreement with WHOA.com, a leader in providing secure public, private and hybrid cloud computing services. Under terms of the agreement, WSM will provide migration services to WHOA.com customers to relocate some or all of their applications, digital assets, and other computing workloads to WHOA.com enterprise-class, secure cloud infrastructure. The migration services include detailed evaluation and planning... Aug. 29, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 130 This Enterprise Strategy Group lab validation report of the NEC Express5800/R320 server with Intel® Xeon® processor presents the benefits of 99.999% uptime NEC fault-tolerant servers that lower overall virtualized server total cost of ownership. This report also includes survey data on the significant costs associated with system outages impacting enterprise and web applications. Click Here to Download Report Now! Aug. 29, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 140 IBM’s Blue Box Cloud, powered by OpenStack, is now available in any of IBM’s globally integrated cloud data centers running SoftLayer infrastructure. Less than 90 days after its acquisition of Blue Box, IBM has integrated its Blue Box Cloud Dedicated private-cloud-as-a-service into its broader portfolio of OpenStack® based solutions. The announcement, made today at the OpenStack Silicon Valley event, further highlights IBM’s continued support to deliver OpenStack solutions across all cloud depl... Aug. 29, 2015 11:30 AM EDT Reads: 189 SYS-CON Events announced today that Pythian, a global IT services company specializing in helping companies leverage disruptive technologies to optimize revenue-generating systems, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Founded in 1997, Pythian is a global IT services company that helps companies compete by adopting disruptive technologies such as cloud, Big Data, advance... Aug. 29, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 233 Consumer IoT applications provide data about the user that just doesn’t exist in traditional PC or mobile web applications. This rich data, or “context,” enables the highly personalized consumer experiences that characterize many consumer IoT apps. This same data is also providing brands with unprecedented insight into how their connected products are being used, while, at the same time, powering highly targeted engagement and marketing opportunities. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Nathan Trel... Aug. 29, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 193 While many app developers are comfortable building apps for the smartphone, there is a whole new world out there. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Narayan Sainaney, Co-founder and CTO of Mojio, will discuss how the business case for connected car apps is growing and, with open platform companies having already done the heavy lifting, there really is no barrier to entry. Aug. 29, 2015 10:30 AM EDT Reads: 106 SYS-CON Events announced today that HPM Networks will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For 20 years, HPM Networks has been integrating technology solutions that solve complex business challenges. HPM Networks has designed solutions for both SMB and enterprise customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Aug. 29, 2015 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 844 SYS-CON Events announced today that G2G3 will exhibit at SYS-CON's @DevOpsSummit Silicon Valley, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Based on a collective appreciation for user experience, design, and technology, G2G3 is uniquely qualified and motivated to redefine how organizations and people engage in an increasingly digital world. Aug. 29, 2015 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 432 SYS-CON Events announced today the Containers & Microservices Bootcamp, being held November 3-4, 2015, in conjunction with 17th Cloud Expo, @ThingsExpo, and @DevOpsSummit at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. This is your chance to get started with the latest technology in the industry. Combined with real-world scenarios and use cases, the Containers and Microservices Bootcamp, led by Janakiram MSV, a Microsoft Regional Director, will include presentations as well as hands-on... Aug. 29, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 176 Through WebRTC, audio and video communications are being embedded more easily than ever into applications, helping carriers, enterprises and independent software vendors deliver greater functionality to their end users. With today’s business world increasingly focused on outcomes, users’ growing calls for ease of use, and businesses craving smarter, tighter integration, what’s the next step in delivering a richer, more immersive experience? That richer, more fully integrated experience comes ab... Aug. 29, 2015 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 577

Product News: Waste Handling Equipment Phosphorus Removal Unit counters blue-green algae proliferation. Press Release Summary: April 29, 2013 - Used to remove phosphorus coming from residential wastewater discharges, Self-Cleaning DpEC unit is based on electrocoagulation principle and certified to requirements of standards CAN/BNQ 3680-600 and NQ 3680-910. Industrialized solution activates only when wastewater enters system, minimizing energy consumption. Functionality provides property owners living in sensitive areas with additional support regarding standardization of inadequate septic installations. Original Press Release Innovating to Counter the Proliferation of Blue-green Algae: Premier Tech Launches a World First as a Solution to Phosphorus Discharges Press release date: April 16, 2013 RIVIÈRE-DU-LOUP, QC - Premier Tech is pleased to announce that its Business Unit Premier Tech Aqua has introduced a world first to the onsite wastewater treatment market: its Self-Cleaning DpEC unit. It is the very first industrialised phosphorus removal solution applicable to individual dwellings in wastewater treatment. The cumulative discharges of phosphorus into lakes and rivers lead to the periodical outbreak of blue-green algae that make water undrinkable and lead to restrictions on the use of these water bodies. Human activity is largely responsible for those phosphorus discharges which, in addition to affecting the vitality of water bodies, result in a depreciation of the value of shoreline properties. Several municipalities in Canada, USA and around the world are faced with this problem. The introduction of a system for the removal of phosphorus coming from residential wastewater discharges thus represents an excellent solution as well as a convenient development tool. "Certified according to the requirements of standards CAN/BNQ 3680-600 and NQ 3680-910, the patent-pending Self-Cleaning DpEC unit developed by our team combines simplicity of operation with optimal performances in any conditions," explains Roger Lacasse, Vice-President Research & Development. "The unit is entirely factory-built and ready-to-use for a quality installation. Based on the electrocoagulation principle, it is equipped with an efficient and reliable self-cleaning system. The Self-Cleaning DpEC unit activates only when wastewater enters the system, which requires less energy and reduces operating costs." "Premier Tech Aqua has the world's largest Innovation, Research & Development team for the treatment of small-flow wastewater," said Henri Ouellet, President. "We are committed to offering municipalities and home owners sustainable solutions that exceed the most stringent environmental standards, that can easily be exported and transferred, and that are supported by a proven integrated maintenance service." This solution allows municipalities and wastewater treatment professionals to provide property owners living in sensitive areas with additional support regarding the standardization of inadequate septic installations. Decreasing phosphorus discharges ensures a better protection of sensitive environments such as lakes and rivers, and helps maintain or increase the value of properties. With this new system, it is also possible to replace holding tanks that must be emptied periodically, or to build on land considered non-constructible until now. For 90 years, Premier Tech has been building its know-how and reputation on the expertise and synergy of its three groups - Horticulture and Agriculture, Industrial Equipment and Environmental Technologies. They have one mission: to become technological and commercial leaders in their respective industries. Driven by a multidisciplinary team of over 2 500 people located in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Premier Tech focuses on the development of its team members, on Innovation, and on the introduction of value-added products and services to support its long-term growth. CONTACT: France Begin Parent Public Relations Supervisor Phone: 418 867-8883 ext. 6059

COLONIE, N.Y. – SEFCU is hosting the Capitol Region Heart Walk at the Crossings of Colonie. The American Heart Association’s community event is being led by SEFCU on Saturday morning. Starting at 9 a.m., walkers in the community came out to support the association. The event is open and free to the public. Funds raised will support the American Heart Association’s research and education programs.

Last modified: Thursday, June 7, 2012 CEEP report examines educational implications of U.S. decision to stop funding UNESCO FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 7, 2012 BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Experts agree that UNESCO funding cuts are counter to U.S. interests, according to a new report from the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy at Indiana University. The report assesses the implications for education worldwide after the United States withheld funding from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in response to UNESCO granting member state status to Palestine. Federal law prohibits the U.S. government from providing funds to any U.N. agency or affiliated organization that "accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states." The U.S. withheld an approximately $60 million contribution last fall, which accounts for about 22 percent of UNESCO's annual budget. The U.S. provides the most financial support, by far, of all the member nations. UNESCO is arguably one of the leading agencies in education worldwide. Its goals in education are to be a clearinghouse and laboratory of ideas, standard-setter, collector of educational statistics, catalyst for change, and capacity-builder. Since the withdrawal of U.S. funding six months ago, the organization has undergone considerable changes, mostly in its abilities to support its critical programs around the world. The CEEP report, "UNESCO Without U.S. Funding? Implications for Education Worldwide," was written by Laura Engel, an assistant professor of international education and international affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and David Rutkowski, an assistant professor in educational policy at Indiana University. The authors present the facts around the controversy and include the perspectives of four leaders in international education. All four contributors are greatly concerned by the U.S. funding cut, but they present widely different views on how this will affect UNESCO programs and operations around the world. They also agree that cutting funds for the organization's educational programs is very likely counterproductive to U.S. interests in international development, health, education and economic growth. However, they have different perspectives about what concerns them most and what the U.S. should do next. Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, describes how the education mission of the organization is being pursued through vital programs like Education for All and UNESCO's Literacy Initiative for Empowerment in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, and 35 countries with some of the world's lowest literacy rates. She highlights the organization's unique programs for education professionals and young people on anti-racism, tolerance and the promotion of a culture of human rights and mutual understanding. UNESCO's education mission stretches from early childhood through adulthood, from technical and vocational education and training for youth to second-chance opportunities and professional development. "A 30 percent reduction in funding affects all these efforts," Bokova writes. The cuts were a chance "for UNESCO to clean house, establish a sound and sustainable financial footing, reduce its administrative staff and revamp its education staff, and generally seize the initiative to become once again the premier global education agency," wrote Nicholas Burnett, managing director of Results for Development Institute and former UNESCO assistant director-general for education. But since the organization did not take advantage of this opportunity, he recommends the U.S. should re-engage with UNESCO but use the funding as a way to force desperately needed reorganization of UNESCO's operations and priorities. Emily Vargas-Baron, director of The RISE Institute, reviews several key education programs that will likely be negatively affected by the lack of funds. Many of them are in critical, developing areas of interest to the United States and the European Union, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. She agrees the cut might create an opportunity for some inward reflection and improvements of the organization but says, "in the short run, several UNESCO initiatives that are of value to education programs in the U.S., support U.S. foreign policy activities, and collaborate with our agenda for international development and cooperation will be heavily impacted." Steven Klees, professor of education policy at the University of Maryland, presents the view that cutting the strength of UNESCO's education programs only increases the influence of the World Bank in the field of international education. He points out that the World Bank already spends more than 16 times what UNESCO spends on education programs, and he doesn't believe it is in the best interests of the U.S. or others to tilt the balance even more in favor of the Bank. "Global education policy should not be determined by a bank," he concludes. Report co-authors Engel and Rutkowski wrote that the situation should spur more discussion. "Dialogue is needed on UNESCO's mission," they write, "the extent to which it is able to carry out its mission, and the U.S. gains and losses from withdrawing its financial support from the organization." They offer five points for U.S. policymakers to consider in their ongoing debate of this matter. - Move beyond the Palestine debate and focus on UNESCO's work in education. - Focus on learning about UNESCO's education work in strategic contexts of interest to the U.S.. - Don't overlook UNESCO's role in global and cultural diplomacy. - Pay attention to UNESCO's budgetary and governance practices. - Consider the future of the Education for All mandate after 2015. In February, officials from the White House said they were working with Congress on legislation that would provide authority to waive restrictions on paying the U.S.-assessed contribution to UNESCO. The report's authors write that they "hope that the perspectives provided (in this brief) will inform both policymakers and the general public in creating informed decisions." CEEP, one of the country's leading nonpartisan education policy and program evaluation centers, promotes and supports rigorous evaluation and research primarily, but not exclusively, for educational, human services and nonprofit organizations. Center projects address state, national and international education questions. CEEP is part of the IU School of Education.

BMO Experts Available To Comment on Latest Developments in the Eurozone TORONTO, ONTARIO and CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--(Marketwire - June 18, 2012) - The situation in Europe will surely be at the top of the agenda at the G20 meetings taking place in Mexico today. The Eurozone continued to dominate headlines over the weekend. The latest developments included: - Greek voters gave a majority mandate to political parties supporting the country's economic bailout, which eased worries about a break up of the Eurozone. - However, Spain bond yields shot up 22 basis points to 7.14 per cent - beyond the level that forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts. - Additionally, Italy's bond yields rose 15 basis points to a worrying 6.08 per cent. Paul Taylor, CIO, BMO Harris Private Banking (Toronto) and Jack Ablin, CIO, Harris Private Bank (Chicago) are available to help put the latest news from Europe in context for North American investors. Topics they can address include: - Do the election results in Greece hold the promise of some degree of stability for the markets? - What countries might be next in line to seek a bailout? - Are there measures the G20 can adopt to address the ongoing crisis in the Eurozone and, if so, will there be the political will to do so? - What should North American investors watch for this summer? Where is the smart money going? Amanda Robinson, Toronto Jim Kappel, Chicago

Brian’s Blog: My Sherman Hemsley Encounter When the news came out yesterday that TV icon Sherman Hemsley had passed away, it reminded me that I actually, sort of, met the man in person. Back in 2000, my wife Sandy and I took a road trip to Jackpot, Nevada. There we met Sandy’s sister Mary and husband Gary for a few days of gaming and overall R & R. To quote Las Vegas Sun columnist John Katsilometes, “Jackpot is where people from Twin Falls, Idaho go to get loose”. It’s a very small town with a few hotel-casinos. The largest is Cactus Pete’s. We had been spending an afternoon at Cactus Pete’s, where we had seen posters that Sherman Hemsley of TV’s “The Jeffersons” was appearing as the headliner. You may not know that before Hemsley became a TV star, he had done Broadway, and was an accomplished singer. Our little group had seen Hemsley go around a corner outside the hotel, so we decided to follow him for a bit. He must have sensed this, because he stopped, turned around and stuck out his hand to be shaken. He wasn’t rude, but wasn’t exactly enthusiastic either. Sort of a “Yeah, fine, how you doing, gotta go” encounter. Not exactly old home week, but not “leave me alone you idiots” either. Still, it was an encounter with a TV legend.

Metro-North Hudson Line Back On Track With ‘Scattered Delays’ NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Metro-North says trains are running with “scattered delays” Monday on the Hudson line, four days after a freight train derailment affected service between New York and Poughkeepsie. The railroad says all trains are running with scattered delays of up to 15 minutes until 10 p.m. After 10 p.m., bus service will connect commuters to shuttle train service. The freight train was hauling compacted garbage when it derailed in the vicinity of the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx last Thursday night. Ten of the train’s 24 cars derailed and needed to be removed one by one by crane. The damage was so substantial, that only one of two tracks in the area is back in service on Monday. Work will continue on rebuilding the other track before it can be returned to passenger service. “It’s by far the worst derailment I’ve ever seen on Metro-North’s history,” said Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders. Anders said the derailment happened in the worst possible location because the track is wedged between a rocky cliff and the river. “It looks like a snow plow went through the track and just piled up all the rock and ties,” she said. “It’s a major mess.” While the cause of the derailment is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer believes the extreme weather could have something to do with it. “In the recent heat wave, we’ve had a whole series of derailments and equipment failures,” he said. There have also been at least three breakdowns in the past month and slowdowns have affected Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North. In May, a Metro-North train derailed in Connecticut, injuring 60 people. Schumer said federal investigators should be put in place to protect the systems from heat-related glitches. Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com: - Police: Man Found Engulfed In Flames Behind Building In Astoria - Woman Accused Of Mowing Down Pedestrian At Traffic Light In Central Islip - Bystander Dies After Being Shot By NYPD During Undercover Gun Buy In Mount Vernon - 2 Fatal Shootings Shatter Newark’s Attempt At 24 Hours Of Peace (TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

To celebrate Leap Day, we’re wishing a Happy Birthday to former NFL linebacker/defensive end Bryce Paup. Both on February 29, 1968, Paup turns 44 today. Or 11, if you only count the number of actual birthdays he’s had. The Packers selected Paup in the 6th round of the 1990 NFL Draft. He spent five seasons in Green Bay before joining the Buffalo Bills. In 1995 Paup recorded 17.5 sacks for Buffalo and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He was selected to the Pro Bowl for four consecutive seasons (1994-1997), and ended his 10 year career with the Vikings in 2000. Here’s a look back at Paup in his Defensive Player of the Year Award winning season of 1995, as originally presented in that year’s Bills’ highlight film.

Photo and caption by Istvan Kerekes The miners' children childhood. In the background the miner block of flats. The Jiu Valley is Romania’s principal coal mining region. The Jiu Valley expanded rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, under the leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu - the communist dictator of Romania from 1965 to 1989. After the revolution in 1989, Jiu Valley has been profoundly influenced by deteriorating infrastructure, mine closures and massive layoffs, environmental degradation, and political and cultural isolation from the rest of Romania. Today, the everyday life in this region it is very hard. Location: Jiu Valley / Romania

Note To Editors "Women's Health in Sports and Exercise" Tuesday, June 29, 1999 10:30 a.m. - noon 2358 Rayburn House Office Building* Along with the tremendous growth in women's participation in sports and other fitness activities (particularly since the passage of Title IX in 1972) has come an increase in female sports injuries. This briefing for Congressional staff and the media will raise awareness of the need for greater attention to women's health in sports and exercise, and shed light on future directions for research and sports injury prevention. The timing of the briefing coincides with the 1999 Women's World Cup Soccer events in Washington, DC, and with the first month of the 1999 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It also follows a scientific workshop in mid-June cosponsored by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), with participation by the Women's Sports Foundation. The briefing will include highlights of this workshop and lay out future directions for related research efforts. The briefing is organized by the AAOS and the NIAMS. Cosponsors are the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, the Office on Women's Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Osteoporosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation. An agenda is attached. Preregistration is encouraged, as space may be limited. To RSVP call (301) 907-8900 x 439. *The Rayburn Building is on South Capitol St. between Independence Ave. and C St., SW. Nearest Metro stops are on the Blue and Orange lines at Capitol Hill South and Federal Center SW.

The Dead Sea is said to have a salt concentration so high that it allows the body to float easily with no effort at all.This guy is supposedly proving that to us. But I suspect that's his girlfriend hiding behind the newspaper, holding him up.The Dead Sea is also said to be the site of Sodom and Gomorrah. That fits. So that's what salt is for... My wife used to have us taking a type of multi-vitamin, one of whose virtues was said to be that the array of minerals it contained was the same as was found in ancient seawater. I have no idea what research was done to establish this. The pickling story hits home, sort of like the short but rich tale in A Diet of Murderous Thoughts. Salt is powerful; the Dead Sea seems gross. Look at the feet of the guy reading the newspaper in the photo Tom posted. Curtis I did look. Yuck. That's probably tar not salt. But how would I know? I'm not allowed to consume either substance.The marine oil deposits off the coast at Isla Vista, near Santa Barbara, create a sharp tar-like odour that permeates the atmosphere for some distance. Unforgettable.That odour drifted back, like the taste of that famous madeleine of Marcel's, the minute I saw this photo.(The great naturalist W.H. Hudson believed that of all sensory memoria, those involving smell mysteriously persist and retain their evocative powers the longest... though, happily, he wasn't referring to stinky feet, but to The Perfume of an Evening Primrose.) Post a Comment

Booker, Lonegan to Spar in US Senate Debate There won’t be much common ground when Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan meet in their first debate in New Jersey’s U.S. Senate campaign. Lonegan believes in limited government, opposes the nation’s new health insurance law and applauds shutting down the government over the law. Booker circulated a petition urging Congress to end the shutdown and believes the new health care law will give access to insurance to those who can’t otherwise afford it. The pair will meet for the taping of their first face-to-face debate on Friday, and again five days later for their second and last. The first debate will be televised Sunday morning on WPVI in Philadelphia and WABC in New York. The special election to fill the remaining 15 months of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s term will be Oct. 16. Voters already engaged in the race are unlikely to discover any surprises about the candidates, who hold starkly different views on virtually every issue. On guns, Lonegan supports fewer restrictions on gun owners, while Booker favors more controls on firearms. On gay marriage and raising the minimum wage, their differences are just as obvious: Lonegan opposes gay marriage and efforts to raise the minimum wage; Booker supports both. Lonegan, the underdog, has so far been the aggressor in the race, and that is unlikely to change in the debates. “We’ll see a very aggressive Steve Lonegan, who will stand up for his conservative beliefs of limited government,” said Ben Dworkin director of The Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “Cory Booker will restate his position of government bringing people together and that necessitating compromise.” The positions of most New Jersey voters line up more closely with Booker’s, and he enjoys a comfortable double-digit lead over the former state director of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group founded by billionaire businessmen David and Charles Koch. But a steady stream of Lonegan barbs has cut into Booker’s lead, and comfort level, as shown by a new television ad released Tuesday in which Booker describes Lonegan as “too extreme” for New Jersey. The race has produced some theatrical moments, such as when Lonegan rolled out a red carpet at a restaurant to mock Booker’s appearance at a fundraiser in California with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Or when he held a news conference in front of two derelict Newark properties once owned by Booker and since donated to charity. Or when he stood outside the New York headquarters of Waywire, Booker’s social media startup, to call attention to his opponent’s relationship to Silicon Valley investors. Booker, who is better known than Lonegan and has raised a lot more money, has mostly stayed above the fray. But he also hasn’t been available much to answer questions about the accusations Lonegan has levied. In the debate, Lonegan said he will press Booker on his record as mayor of the state’s largest city. (Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Trading binary options can be a good way to increase your income. But trading on financial markets is always risky so it is a good idea to start without risking your own money. For this purpose you can use binary options no deposit bonus. Because the binary options industry is still new, binary options brokers offer a lot of bonuses to promote this type of trading. These include deposit and no deposit bonuses. As the name tells it, a deposit bonus is associated with a deposit. When you open an account with a binary options broker, he will add a free bonus to the amount you deposit. It can often be up to 100 percent, which means that you end up with the double of money you deposited on your account. For example when you deposit $500, the broker will add another $500 and you will start trading with $1000. However 100 percent bonuses are more common to higher deposits in thousands of dollars. If you deposit hundreds of dollar, you are more likely to get a bonus around 50 percent, which is still very helpful. However a lot of traders prefer binary options no deposit bonuses, that allow you to trade without depositing any money. They can reach up to $100, which is good enough to try free binary options trading with real money. Before you start trading binary options with a bonus, you should know that you have to meet certain conditions before you can withdraw your profits. Brokers will often demand that you reach a certain turnover before you can get back what you earned. It depends on each broker, but you will have to trade your deposit 15 to 40 times before you can withdraw. With a no deposit binary options account it is a bit different, since you made no deposit the turnover criteria should apply to the bonus itself. However you will still have to deposit money before you can start withdrawing profits. Always check with your broker what conditions apply. So if you you want to try trading with a binary options nodeposit bonus, choose your broker, open an account and start.

Results tagged ‘ 2011 ’ You’ve seen it a hundred times: A player rounds third, heading for home; a strong throw from the outfield beats him to the plate; and the runner finds himself confronted with a catcher blocking his path, leaving him with no other choice but to plow over the catcher in hopes of dislodging the ball and subsequently being called safe. But due to a new rule (rule 7.13) instituted by Major League Baseball on Monday, you may never see that again. An agreement to form some kind of rule to prevent home plate collisions was formed back in December at the Winter Meetings, however, it wasn’t until Monday that an official rule was released highlighting what will be allowed and what will not in 2014 (and beyond if the rule is successful). The official rule is as follows: A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate). If, in the judgment of the umpire, a runner attempting to score initiates contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate) in such a manner, the umpire shall declare the runner out (even if the player covering home plate loses possession of the ball). In such circumstances, the umpire shall call the ball dead, and all other base runners shall return to the last base touched at the time of the collision. Rule 7.13 comment: The failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runner’s lowering of the shoulder, or the runner’s pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation of Rule 7.13. If the runner slides into the plate in an appropriate manner, he shall not be adjudged to have violated Rule 7.13. A slide shall be deemed appropriate, in the case of a feet first slide, if the runner’s buttocks and legs should hit the ground before contact with the catcher. In the case of a head first slide, a runner shall be deemed to have slid appropriately if his body should hit the ground before contact with the catcher. Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the umpire, the catcher without possession of the ball blocks the pathway of the runner, the umpire shall call or signal the runner safe. Notwithstanding the above, it shall not be considered a violation of this Rule 7.13 if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in order to field a throw, and the umpire determines that the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking the pathway of the runner and that contact with the runner was unavoidable. While the rule will take some time to get used to, for both the players and the umpires, for the most part, it’s being accepted around the baseball world. Nearly everyone agrees that the major injury to Buster Posey back in 2011 likely began the discussion for a rule of this nature to be put into place, and Posey’s manager, Bruce Bochy, has been one of the biggest advocators. Not wanting to lose a player of Posey’s magnitude in such a way again, Bochy made the statement in response to the new rule that he’s “all for it”. However, some people aren’t completely on board, including Brewers’ catcher, Jonathan Lucroy, saying, “I’m a conservative-type guy. I like keeping things the way they are, although I do understand where they’re coming from . . . I understand the importance of [avoiding] concussions. I get it. It’s just really hard to break old habits.” But the executive director of the MLB Players’ Association, Tony Clark, stands by the new rule. “We believe the new experimental rule allows for the play at the plate to retain its place as one of the most exciting plays in the game while providing an increased level of protection to both the runner and the catcher,” said Clark on Monday. “We will monitor the rule closely this season before discussing with the Commissioner’s Office whether the rule should become permanent.” For me, I’m not fully for or against the rule. Collision plays at the plate can be extremely exciting, especially when it’s the potential game winning run, but I also don’t like seeing anyone get injured on an avoidable play. Although I feel that catchers have done a fantastic job in the last few years of making an attempt to move out of the base runners path and instead use a swipe tag for the out, this new rule will go a long way in ensuring that a rogue player with an altercation to settle doesn’t get away with going out of their way to knock over a catcher. I’m certainly all for that. Prince Fielder is one of the most underrated players in all of Major League Baseball. Sure, he receives a lot of praise, and is respected in terms of how much he can affect any team he’s on, but as far as the overall value he brings, he isn’t viewed as the absurdly impactful player that he should be seen as — and that includes the impact he has on his teammates. Going back to 2011 when Ryan Braun won the National League Most Valuable Player award — bringing controversy, as many felt Matt Kemp’s 39 home runs and 126 RBI’s deserved the honor more than Braun’s 33 homers and 111 RBI’s — Prince Fielder acted as protection for Braun in the Brewers’ lineup, batting behind him in the cleanup spot. And even so, Fielder was able to put together 38 home runs and 120 RBI’s of his own — truly amazing. Then, in the 2012 season, after going to the Tigers, Fielder aided to Miguel Cabrera’s stats, taking him from a 30 homer, 105 RBI star the season before, to a 44 home run, 139 RBI mega superstar in 2012 — good enough to earn Cabrera the first Triple Crown award in 45 years. And once again, Fielder posted solid numbers, tallying 30 home runs and 108 RBI’s — remarkable. Although Fielder had a somewhat down year by his standards last season, posting 25 home runs and 106 RBI’s, he still gave Cabrera added help by making pitchers pitch to him, given Fielder’s well known track record. That led to another fantastic year for Cabrera, where — if not for Chris Davis’ breakout 53 home run season — he nearly won a second straight Triple Crown award, knocking 44 home runs for the second straight year and driving in 137 runs. That’s the incredible personal, and team, impact that Prince Fielder brings on a daily basis. But with Fielder moving to the Rangers in the offseason, as part of a trade between the Tigers and Rangers, Cabrera could very well see his stats tumble a bit, with Fielder having a bounce back year to become more like his normal self. While Cabrera isn’t going to lose his stardom, and will post an amazing stat line this season, it likely won’t be the 40+ homers, 130+ RBI’s that he’s been able to amass over the past two season, as Victor Martinez will be his protection in the lineup. Not quite as threatening as Fielder. While Ryan Braun in 2012, after Fielder’s departure, was able to post even better stats without him than he did the previous season in which he won the MVP, I don’t see Cabrera keeping up the same numbers, as Miller Park is more of a hitter friendly ballpark than Comerica Park. Realistically, I see Cabrera having more of a 30 homer, 110 RBI season. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Many players aim for that year after year. But Cabrera has simply set the bar so high in recent years that without Fielder, I don’t see him keeping up his monster stats for three years in a row. Hopefully he’ll prove me wrong. Just the opposite of Cabrera, I could easily see Fielder having a breakout season in 2014. For the first time in Fielder’s career, he won’t be providing protection to someone else. Instead, he’ll be provided protection by Adrian Beltre, who is reportedly going to be batting in the cleanup spot behind Fielder, after he had so much success there in 2013. With that ballpark being a left-handed-hitting-paradise, combined with the protection of Beltre, I feel that Fielder will have a 40+ homer, 130+ RBI year, especially with newly acquired Shin-Soo Choo getting on base in front of him. Though that’s not a career year for him — Fielder hit 50 homers in 2007 and had 141 RBI’s in 2009 — it’s a major improvement from his past few seasons. Everything combined together, the Rangers could once again have enough to beat out the Athletics in 2014, who have won the division the past two seasons. If every player plays to the best of their ability and are able to stay healthy — that shouldn’t be an issue with Fielder, who has played in 157 or more games every full season of his career — it’s very possible, although their starting pitching is a bit of a question heading into the season. It comes down to which team has the most go right. Prince Fielder heading to the Rangers does two things: It helps the Rangers and himself, and it hurts the Tigers and Miguel Cabrera. While the Tigers and Rangers will both be competitive teams in their divisions this season, it will clearly be seen how big of an impact player Fielder is to any team he’s on. That’s truly something to look forward to — unless you’re Miguel Cabrera.

Subscribe to Blog via RSS Search for Events Recent Blog Articles - 'Tis the Season to be Zinful - New Tasting Rooms & a Grand Opening in Lodi - Cinsault Good - How You Can Contribute to Earthquake Relief in Napa - On a Vertical Tasting of Grgich-Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville Selection - A Tale of Two Conferences - Cats and Dogs Blogging Together - Getting the Wine Bloggers Conference We Deserve - New White Wines and Rosés from Rutherford's Day in the Dust - Examining 2011 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon - 6 More California Rhone Wines to Try at Rhone Rangers - Lodi Zinfandel Goes Native - Study: Researchers Discover New Taste - He Wasn't Talking To You, Mr. Outrage - 16 North Coast Rhones to Try and a Toothsome #WineChat - How Many Wines do Critics Taste per Day? - Howell Mountain Spring Tasting Wrap Up - Of Tasting Notes and Photographs - Rhone Rangers Tastings and Rhone-Variety Wines Tasted - How Critics Taste Wines - Glassware Most Read Articles Napa Valley Premiere - Competitive Juices Yield Record Prices - General Interest - Written by Fred Swan - Monday, 24 February 2014 08:22 On Saturday, February 22, 225 one-of-a-kind lots of meticulously produced Napa Valley wine were offered at auction to some of the world’s most passionate and well-moneyed wine sellers and restauranteurs. Four-and-a-half hours later the last gavel fell and a record $5.9 million had been realized, nearly doubling last year’s take which had been an all-time record itself. The gavel falls on the last lot at the 2014 Premiere Napa Valley Auction. Photo Bob McClenahan. The proceeds of Napa Valley Premiere go to support the efforts of the Napa Valley Vintners in promoting, preserving and improving that AVA, but there’s much more on the line. There is pride. There’s reputation. And, to some extent, there’s the promise of winery revenue. Stratospheric auction results aren’t an abstract number. They are to some degree a measure of the winery’s reputation, the star-power of the winemaker. Top results mean a press release and the opportunity to edge the price of all wines upward. One particularly competitive winemaker stumbled toward me, crestfallen. “I’m a loser!” he said. This from a guy who was actually among the top sellers. But a handful of lots had gone for more than his best. Moments later when the 60-bottle lot of Scarecrow made by Celia Welch sold for a mind-blowing $260,000, he looked like he wanted to throw up. He was now “loser” by an order of magnitude. For the most part though, Napa Valley Premiere was an “all smiles” event. Dozens of winery-hosted events earlier in the week had drawn trade buyers, top sommeliers and press to the valley. New releases, library wines and the auction cuvees were poured side-by-side. There were big dinners, quiet meetings, cocktail parties, dancing and more. The after-lunch auction itself was preceded by a tasting of all the lots that morning in the historic barrel room of the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. It’s the best meet-and-greet-and-taste that this country’s most important wine region offers with samples poured by the winemakers, proprietors or both for a crowd small enough to enable friendly conversation and detailed questions. I didn’t taste every wine this time, opting instead for deeper conversations and very detailed notes on a select number of wines which I was reviewing for the St. Helena Star. Alder Yarrow did make it to nearly every barrel though, so keep an eye on Vinography for his commentary. Of the wines I did taste, I found much to love. There was the savory complexity of the Mt. Brave and the dynamically fruited Ovid. Oakville Ranch offered yet another supple, stunningly gorgeous Cabernet Franc. Inglenook’s wine is showing heightened sophistication under estate manager Philippe Bascaules. New label Pulido-Walker debuted with a wine made by Thomas Brown that offered amazingly pure aromas of freshly crushed black currants. Another wine by Brown, for THE GRADE, offered mineral-laden scents and a beautifully creamy mouthfeel. Schramsberg refreshed and delighted with a late-disgorged sparkling wine from the 1993 vintage. I taste thousands of wines every year. Many of them are truly excellent. Nonetheless my pen was shocked to be writing scores such as 95, 96 and 97 with such frequency. Quick Stats for the 2014 Premiere Napa Valley Auction Auction lots - 225 Total revenue - $5.9 million Average bottle price - $283 Highest-selling debut offering - Pulido-Walker for $65,000 Top Ten Lots $260,000 from The Wine House for 60 bottles of Scarecrow made by Celia Welch $100,000 from Beverage Warehouse for 60 bottles of ZD Wines made by Brandon deLeuze and Chris Pisani $100,000 from Zoes Restaurant for 60 bottles of Shafer made by Elias Fernandez $100,000 from Bounty Hunter for 60 bottles of Schrader made by Thomas Brown $90,000 from Wine Library for 240 bottles of Robert Mondavi Winery made by Genevieve Janssens $90,000 from Wine Library for 240 bottles of Cakebread Cellars made by Julianne Laks $85,000 from Wine Library for 120 bottles of Bevan Cellars & Chateau Boswell made by Russell Bevan $80,000 from Cliffewood Wine Syndicate for 240 bottles of Reynolds Family, Constant and David Arthur made by Steve Reynolds $80,000 from Imbibe Wine & Spirits for 60 bottles of VHR Vine Hill Ranch made by Francoise Peschon $80,000 from Total Wine for 240 bottles of Silver Oak made by Daniel Baron Top Five Bottle Prices $4,333 for Scarecrow $1,666 for ZD Wines $1,666 for Shafer $1,666 for Schrader $1,333 for VHR Vine Hill Ranch Most Represented Winemakers Thomas Brown - eight wineries Philippe Melka - seven wineries Aaron Pott - four wineries Top Grossing Winemakers $340,000 - Celia Welch $302,000 - Philippe Melka $255,000 - Thomas Brown $113.000 - Russell Bevan Total Wine & More of Potomac, MD Bounty Hunter of Napa, CA Cliffewood Wine Syndicate of Little Rock, AR Wine Library of Springfield, NJ The Wine House of Los Angeles, CA Gary’s Wine & Marketplace of Madison, NJ Nakagawa Wine Company of Tokyo, Japan Beverage Warehouse of Los Angeles, CA Yakiniku Hiroshi of Honolulu, HI Meritage Wine Market of Encinitas, CA Zoes Restaurant of Virginia Beach, VA HEB of San Antonio, TX. Specifics on each wine can be found at http://premierenapawines.com/2014/

By Teri Carnicelli It has been a tough eight months for the Boerner family but things are finally looking up as they get set to open the doors to their brand-new bakery space. Karl’s Quality Bakery and The Baker’s Daughter, who in August were given just 10 days to vacate their established location at 7th and Dunlap avenues, found a new location just down the road at the Marketplace @ Central shopping center, at Central and Dunlap avenues. Karl and Stefanie Boerner started Karl’s Quality Bakery in 1994. Their eldest daughter, Christine, opened a chocolate shop right next door in 2010, appropriately named The Baker’s Daughter, featuring decadent European chocolates, fancy pastries, gourmet coffee drinks, and more. But after their leases weren’t renewed and they were asked to vacate their spaces, the Boerner family tried to find a new home in the Sunnyslope community that had been such a strong customer base for nearly 20 years. The first location they looked at ultimately didn’t work out, but now things are full steam ahead. The new, shared bakery-and-chocolates space is set to open at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1, and Karl’s has pledged to offer its signature pumpkin doughnuts that longtime customers had to miss out on over the fall holiday season. Christine will have her own chocolate room in the back with separate thermostat, and her own display case in the front of the store. There will be a couple of small tables with chairs outside where patrons can enjoy their purchases immediately, with sunshades to protect them—and the delicate chocolates inside—from the blazing sun. The bakery’s 200-plus regular menu items will be in full force at the new location; however, the fancy coffee drinks that once were served at The Baker’s Daughter will be reduced to just regular coffee and espresso, so as not to compete with new neighbor Grinders Coffee Co. There is one other significant change: because of the financial strain of not having a working storefront for so long, Stephanie ultimately took another job working as a job coach with troubled youth. It’s something she had done as a volunteer, working with youth in the old bakery site. “She’s really firm but caring,” Christine says, which makes her a perfect fit for mentoring young people. She loves the work so much, Christine adds, that Stephanie likely will continue to do it in the afternoons and work at the new bakery in the mornings. Customers have come to expect to see Stephanie’s smiling face behind the front counter over the years. “I just play in the back,” Karl laughs. “Stephanie is the one who is the heart of the bakery.” They have had some income trickling in during the last eight months, selling their pastries at the Old Heidelberg Bakery at 22nd Street and Indian School Road, and some limited pastries and chocolates at the French Market, located at the southeast corner of 7th and Missouri avenues, which also served as a pick-up location for phone orders during the bakery’s closure. Both locations likely will continue to carry those products even after the new location opens. Christine also created a crowd-sourced fundraising campaign on Indiegogo, which netted about $5,400. But they have a long hill to climb to become financially solvent again, and two big April events should help get them on the right track. The first is the Sunnyslope Art Walk, set for 5-9 p.m. Saturday, April 12. The new bakery location is right in the heart of the main art walk area. April also brings a major holiday—Easter. Karl’s will offer its festive chocolate bunnies, as well as chocolate lambs, hens and teddy bears. They sell out every year, so if you want a specific style, like the bunny pulling the basket of eggs or riding a scooter, it’s best to call and reserve one in advance. Also available for the spring season are Lamb Cakes—a lemon Bundt cake in the shape of a lamb—and the traditional egg-shaped frosted cookies. Hosting an Easter brunch? Quiches are always a popular menu item, and Karl’s offers half and full sheets in four flavors: Lorraine (with bacon), spinach and mushroom, spinach and onion, and broccoli and onion. Karl’s Quality Bakery and The Baker’s Daughter are located at 111 E. Dunlap Ave., Suite 13, facing Central Avenue. The bakery will be open seven days a week, with extended hours on Friday and Saturday. Call 602-997-7849 to place your holiday orders or e-mail email@example.com. They can also be found online at www.thebakersdaughter.net.

POTSDAM -- St. Mary's Thanksgiving Basket Program is gearing up for its annual distribution of holiday food to needy families, and has set some dates for donors to help prepare the baskets. They are seeking donations of turkeys and non-perishable foods, such as stuffing mix, cranberry sauce, vegetables, and pie filling, and of money to pay for turkeys and perishables. Items can be brought on or before Friday, Nov. 16 to St. Mary's rectory at 17 Lawrence Ave. or the lobby at St. Mary's Church. Box packing day is Friday Nov. 16. Potato bagging day is Saturday, Nov. 17, which will be done by Boy Scout Troop 77. Distribution day is Monday, Nov. 19, from The Church of Latter Day Saints on Castle Drive, which has been generous in providing space for the program for the last five years since St. Mary’s School closed. Annual participants include the local Lions, Elks and Kiwanis Clubs and Knights of Columbus, with donations that go toward turkeys. The Lions helps with deliveries. Potsdam Central School clubs hold grocery store food drives and make monetary donations. Parishioners from St. Mary's Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints make donations of non-perishables and recruit sorters and packers from church youth groups. This program distributes food to families who need it, regardless of religious belief. Some of these are large families; many are elderly people who live alone and may be home-bound. “There is a small core group of volunteers whom we can count on most every year to help with some of the pre-distribution tasks, sorting, packing, set-up before distribution, delivery, and working on the day of distribution—checking people in, working tables, distributing and assisting the clients with getting their boxes to their cars,” said Pat Reichhart, who is co-director of the program with Betty Rowe. “We're ever so grateful for whatever help the community can give to aid us in putting these food boxes together for around 90 to 100 families,” Reichhart said.

Want to help your favourite local fruit picking organization win $1,000 and keep an art student warm at the same time? There may be only one way to do these two things at once: head to Patagonia Toronto (500 King St. W.) and cast your vote in the Colours For Conservation art show and competition! Colours For Conservation is a joint effort by Patagonia Toronto and OCAD to bring awareness to at-risk landscapes and conservation work in Ontario. More than 70 OCAD design students participated in the show, each one creating a poster to promote the work of an environmental organization of their choice. The organization featured in the poster that gets the most votes will receive a $1,000 grant from Patagonia and the student designer will win a new winter coat. A few students chose to create posters for Not Far From The Tree. Here’s one by Michelle Wong: There are lots of beautiful posters to see and many great causes worth supporting. Posters can be viewed and voted on at Patagonia Toronto until December 31st (just one week left!).

It’s the middle of July and in most places around the Northern Hemisphere, it’s hot. And not just normally hot – the national forecast for the United States and Canada in the next five days is for above-average temperatures across the entire continent. How often does that happen??? Needless to say, cool treats are a welcome respite on a hot day and this strawberry ice cream will not disappoint. Ice cream is certainly a perennial pleasure, but right now, when the strawberries are just coming into season where I live, it’s extra reason to make strawberry ice cream. As our family’s favorite comedians say whenever they hear the words “ice cream”: it’s delicious, delectable, and delightful! Now, a quick note about the eggs in this recipe. As is usual in making a custard-base ice cream, I have included egg yolks. However, unlike a traditional custard-base, I have left the egg yolks raw. This is for three reasons: 1. Egg yolks are extremely nutritious – egg yolks contain caretenoids, essential fatty acids, Vitamins A, D, E, K, B6, and B12, calcium, iron, zinc, folic acid, and Omega-3 essential fatty acid DHA, just to name a few! However, these are minimized or negated when cooked, so I look for as many opportunities as possible to eat egg yolks raw, and ice cream is a brilliant foil for this purpose. 2. It’s quicker – MUCH quicker. Making a cooked custard takes a bit of time, as well as a bit of tinkering. It’s easy once you get the hang of it, but it always made making ice cream feel like a chore, so once I tried adding the raw egg yolks straight into the cream mixture and LOVED it, I tossed out cooked custard ice cream bases for good. 3. It’s lighter in texture, yet still full-flavored. While I ADORE custards in most forms – crème bruleé, crème caramel, and flan being just a few favorites – cooked custard bases for ice cream always felt too rich and heavy to me. By using the egg yolks raw, you still get the flavor of custard, yet lighter. Just right, I’d say. One word about raw egg yolks, however – conventional, store-bought eggs absolutely should not be consumed raw, especially if you are pregnant or dealing with illness. If you are going to consume raw eggs, be sure to use only very fresh eggs from chickens that were raised on pasture, as this makes a vast difference both in nutrition and in safety. If you are uncomfortable eating raw egg yolks or don’t have access to farm fresh eggs, feel free to skip the egg yolks altogether. You may absolutely make this without them – the cream mixture is delectable even on its own. Strawberry Ice Cream 3 egg yolks 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/16th teaspoon sea salt 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 vanilla bean, very finely chopped (optional) 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk 6-8 large strawberries, very finely chopped 1 tablespoon beet juice (optional) Freeze your ice cream churn if necessary. Mine take a full 24 hours to freeze fully. If you don’t have an electric ice cream maker, you can certainly make this strawberry ice cream in a ball that you roll around the yard or an old-fashioned hand crank ice cream maker. Whisk the egg yolks briefly in a large bowl until smooth. Add in the salt and the maple syrup and whisk again. Add the vanilla extract, chopped vanilla bean, the cream, and the milk. Whisk again until smooth. Pour the cream mixture into the ice cream maker and process according to its instructions. In my electric machine, it takes about 30 minutes to become soft serve. When the ice cream has just started to firm up but while it’s still quite soft, add in the chopped strawberries and the beet juice, which turns the ice cream a lovely pale pink. Serve as soft serve or scrape into a freezer container and freeze for at least three hours to firm up. Store in the freezer for up to one week. This post may contain affiliate links, including those from Amazon.com, which means we earn a small commission off your purchases. And here's the thing: We only mention services and products that we think are truly worth your attention, whether they're free, paid, or otherwise. This site relies on YOUR trust, so if we don't stand behind a product 110%, it's not mentioned. Period.

How can a patch of grass be described as fast or slow? It’s certainly not going anywhere! For those of you whose closest look at a golf green is from the car window as you’re driving by, the speed of a green refers to how fast or slow a ball will roll on the green, the area of very short grass that contains the target hole. When your ball lands on a level slow green, a mighty rap might be required to get the ball to the hole. But on a level fast green, that same mighty rap could send the ball back off the green and into a sand trap! Many factors determine the speed with which a ball will roll on the green, such as the length of grass and the direction in which the grass is growing and the wetness of the surface and underlying soil. Before they ever step on the first tee, both casual and serious golfers would like to know how fast the ball is going to roll on the green with a rap of a given force on that particular day. And they can, because of a simple measuring tool called the Stimpmeter®, which is described in Science of Golf: Kinematics. This installment of the Science of Golf series, produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Chevron, is one of ten that highlights the science, technology, engineering, and math behind the sport. The companion NSTA-developed lesson plans help you use the sport to convey science concepts in an engaging, hands-on way. The videos are available cost-free on www.NBCLearn.com. Download the lesson plans and use them as a base for your particular situation. If something works well (or not!) with your students, leave a comment and let us know. –Judy Elgin Jensen Image of green at the Tierra Rejada Golf Club in Moorpark, California courtesy of Dan Perry. SOG: Kinematics discusses the importance of putting, the use of a device called a Stimpmeter® for determining the speed of a green, and how a branch of physics called kinematics applies to the use of this device. STEM Lesson Plan—Adaptable for Grades 7–12 The lesson plan provides ideas for STEM exploration plus strategies to support students in their own quest for answers and as well as a more focused approach that helps all students participate in hands-on inquiry.The SOG: Kinematics lesson plan models how students can investigate a question about how one might design a system for determining the speed of greens in golf. You can use the following form to e-mail us edited versions of the lesson plans:

Bastian, Forst lead New Ulm FFA February 18, 2014 NEW ULM — Seniors Allison Bastian and Bridget Forst were among the busiest New Ulm FFA members honored Monday at the 78th Annual Parent/Member Banquet and Awards Program in the New Ulm High School ...... No comments posted for this article. Post a Comment News, Blogs & Events Web

Last summer, when we got Jackson, we got a lot of toys and puppy things. We especially liked the Petstages brand. Well, I took photos and wrote them a letter and now, over a year later, he's their featured pet! I'm so proud :) And fedex pulled up today - they also sent us two little toys :) So, writing a letter brings good things - Fat cat toys will be hearing from me next!

By now many (but probably not most, still) Manhattanites are aware that the United Homeless Organization was revealed last year to be a total sham. Organizers Stephen Riley and Myra Walker would rent out tables, collection canisters, and tax forms to dozens of "volunteers" across the city, who would collect cash from unsuspecting people hoping to help out. The rental fees went straight to Riley and Walker's pockets, where they'd use it at places like GameStop, Home Shopping Network, and Bed Bath & Beyond. (Riley even used some to pay for his Weight Watchers.) The money collected from do-gooders would be pocketed by the volunteers themselves. So a judge ruled the whole organization a fraud and disbanded it, barring its leaders from ever working in "nonprofit" again. But many of the so-called volunteers have realized that they don't need the larger organization to perform the scam, and are just continuing to solicit money for themselves in the name of the defunct group. Because this is New York, and fleecing tourists who are appalled by seeing actual homeless people for the very first time has always been a little bit of a cottage industry. As has taking for yourself what other people desperately need!

Paul Labrecque recently added a new 3-D Facial to his spa menu, and it costs $1,000. We stopped by recently to give it a test run, and to answer: Is this facial worth more money than our rent? And, if so, will it at least provide us with a brand-new face? The 90-minute treatment consists of three parts. You begin with a round of microdermabrasion to exfoliate. Then the skin is ready for its first laser treatment, Laser Genesis, which feels like warm beams of pulsating light and is meant to tackle fine wrinkles, large pores, and uneven skin texture. The most painful part is the finale, which calls for the Laser Titan, a laser meant to tighten skin. Even though the Titan's heat had to be adjusted numerous times, our face still felt like it was being scorched by a branding iron. According to Labrecque's laser specialist Carmen Tosado, the extreme heat “bruises” the collagen in skin, which promotes new growth, and in about two months you start to notice firmer skin as the fresh collagen develops. So, is the mini-torture session worth it? Technically, $1,000 is a deal for the treatment. À la carte, a regular Laser Titan session at Labrecque is $1,100, while Genesis and microdermabrasion treatments go for $425 and $150 at the salon, respectively. And while we didn’t get a new face, skin definitely looked more radiant and our fine laugh lines were slightly diminished, though it's worth mentioning that less expensive facials with other top aestheticians have achieved the same results. To be fair, Tosado did say it takes two months to see a change, so we’ll be patient. She also recommended multiple treatments. Until then, we’ll consider spending a grand on something useful, like Louboutins. At least we can count on those to be far less painful than the Titan. Paul Labrecque East, 171 E. 65th St., nr. Lexington Ave.; 212-988-7816

Diane Von Furstenberg must know that while the look of vintage is great, the smell of it isn't everyone's thing. On February 22 on dvf.com, she's launching a line of "slightly modernized versions" of her wrap dresses from the seventies with vintage prints. The full line also includes accessories, bathing suits (hey, it's going to be 61 and sunny tomorrow, so get on that), and the requisite iPad and iPod cases, all in vintage DVF prints. We have an exclusive video montage of the collection for you to enjoy. The best part about it may be the opening shot of a letter from Vogue to Diane from then editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland, dated April 9, 1970, reading: I think your clothes are absolutely smashing. I think the fabrics, the prints, the cut are all great. This is what we need. We hope to do something very nice for you. Look for vintage footage of Diane in the video.

A Long Island mom who was driving drunk lost control of her car then smashed into a tree — injuring her two small children, who were not wearing seatbelts, authorities said. Laquita Brooks, 39, drunkenly piled her seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son into the back seat of her Mercury Mystique then hit the gas in Huntington on Thursday at around 10:50 p.m., Suffolk County police said in a press release. She lost control of the car, struck a sign post and a tree near Dix Hills Road and Dellwood Drive, sending her kids flying, police said. Brooks’ daughter suffered a serious head injury. Her son suffered a minor head injury. Both kids were transported to Huntington Hospital by Huntington Community First Aid Squad. They were later taken to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park. Suffolk County Police charged Brooks with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child, driving while intoxicated and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She was scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

After outcry from its members, The Law Society of B.C.will revisit its decision today to accredit a controversial law school whose code of conduct effectively excludes LGBTQ students and staff. In April, The Law Society of B.C.’s benchers granted approval for graduates of Trinity Western University’s future law school to practice law in the province. Trinity Western, located in Langley, B.C., is a private Evangelical Christian institution that requires students and staff to sign a “community covenant” that forbids intimacy outside of heterosexual marriage. The school’s policies state they reserve the right to expel or otherwise discipline community members who do not adhere to the covenant. After the vote to approve Trinity Western, more than 1,100 lawyers from The Law Society of B.C.’s 13,000-strong membership signed a petition to overturn the decision. Surpassing the five per cent membership threshold required of petitions, a special general meeting is being held Tuesday that will allow members to vote on the resolution. Today’s vote is not binding, but members could call for a binding resolution if action is not taken. The law school is slated to open in 2016 with the preliminary blessing of The Federation of Law Societies of Canada. Provincial law societies have the power to either accept or reject graduates from entering their respective bar associations. Ontario’s The Law Society of Upper Canada voted to reject the school on April 24 and a day later The Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society voted to only accredit Trinity Western if their community covenant agreement is revised. Trinity Western’s administration has maintained they do not discriminate against gay community members and that law students will be educated with the “highest educational and ethical standards.” The school has vowed to launch legal action in Ontario and Nova Scotia. The result of today’s vote in B.C. is expected after 8 p.m. local time. With a file from the Canadian Press

By Monique Muise MONTREAL – A former construction entrepreneur testifying at Quebec’s corruption inquiry pointed the finger Tuesday at Montreal’s one-time city manager, a man reportedly favoured by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a public appointment. Lino Zambito painted a detailed and disturbing portrait of an alleged system of collusion surrounding public contract tendering in Montreal, making fresh accusations against top city officials and explaining how he thought even the sub-contracting on many projects was rigged. Zambito began the third day of his testimony by pointing the finger at former Montreal city manager Robert Abdallah, who, Zambito alleged, had an illegal “understanding” with at least one construction company. Abdallah, according to many reports, was the favoured candidate of Harper and the city of Montreal for the top job of CEO at the Port of Montreal. News reports have cited members of the port’s board saying that former Harper spokesman Dimitri Soudas lobbied them to appoint Abdallah. Abdallah did not, however, get the position. Opposition MPs immediately challenged the federal Conservatives, asking why the Torieswanted Abdallah appointed to the Port of Montreal in the first place. NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice said, “Its troubling and we’re here to make sure there’s light on the subject and everyone is clean.” Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, speaking for the government, declined to answer directly. “It’s funny that they (the NDP) are trying to distract from the real issue … they accepted over $300,000 from their big union bosses,” he said, referring to money the NDP paid back to union contributors following an Elections Canada ruling earlier this summer. Maxime Bernier, minister of state for small business and a Quebec Conservative MP, said the federal government had no role in whether or not Abdallah was considered for the Port of Montreal position. “The board was in charge of appointing the president. That’s nothing to do with this government,” Bernier said. Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said he wouldn’t jump to conclusions about the allegations. “This is not a court and this is not a trial,” Rae said, adding Abdallah should have a chance to respond. Accusations made in front of the commission have not been proven in a court of law. In his testimony Tuesday, Zambito said that in 2004, his company, Infrabec Inc., had won a contract to install a collector pipe along Sherbrooke St. West inMontreal. Zambito said his winning bid was about $10 million, but that about a week after the contract was awarded, he received a call from the private engineering firm in charge of the conception and monitoring of the project. What he was eventually told, Zambito said, was that he had to use pipes supplied by a particular company, Tremca Inc., even though Tremca was charging $300,000 more than other pipe suppliers. The “requirement,” Zambito said, came from Robert Abdallah. If he didn’t comply, the contract would go back to tender. “So what you’re saying is that there were companies that were being protected by the city of Montreal?” Justice France Charbonneau, in charge of the corruption inquiry, asked. “In my opinion, it was clear that there was an understanding between Tremca and Mr. Abdallah,” Zambito answered, then suggested that Abdallah would eventually pocket the $300,000 difference. In interviews with various media outlets in Montreal, Abdallah denied the accusations, calling Zambito’s testimony “a pack of lies.” Abdallah resigned from his position as city manager in May 2006 with two years remaining in his five-year contract. The reason for his leaving the $250,000-a-year job was never given. He said only that he was leaving “with regret.” A year later, Abdallah, allegedly with the backing of construction magnate Tony Accurso, set his sights on becoming the new CEO of the Port of Montreal. He eventually lost out on the position at the Port Authority to Patrice Pelletier, despite reports that Abdallah had been the favoured candidate of both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay. – With files from Postmedia News

Use your phone to record a message sharing your fond memories of Adeline (Kuppinger) McIntyre and to share with visitors to the audio guest book.* To record a message, call: *Standard phone charges apply. All messages are subject to the family's approval before being published to the audio guest book.

Nathaniel Ellison 1954 - 2013 BOSTON - Nathaniel Ellison of Boston passed away Jan. 5, 2013. He was born on June 3, 1954. Memorial Services will be held on Sunday, Jan. 13th at Captain Charles Leonard House, 663 Main St., Agawam at 2:30 p.m. The Guest Book is expired. Published in The Republican from Jan. 11 to Jan. 12, 2013

President Obama made sure to have his picture taken with Hakeem Jeffries when he visited, giving Jeffries a nice photo for his campaign mailers. Furthermore, an Obama fundraiser is raising money for Jeffries this evening. Charles Barron accused Jeffries of being “divisive.” The Queens Chronicle gave a sound endorsement to Rory Lancman. Robert Mittman’s campaign has ties to the Queens County Democratic Party. Kirsten Gillibrand has almost $10 million in her campaign war chest. While Bob Turner’s fundraising remained lackluster. He discussed his campaign on Capital Tonight. Mark Murphy raised $112,000 since his last report. Incumbents not facing primaries raise more than candidates in contentious races. Ethnic vote splitting could impact the race for Grace Meng’s seat. Republicans in the State Senate shot down Tom Duane’s HIV Housing bill. Bain Capital objected to a pro-Obama Super PAC ad railing against the firm. Two of Mr. Romney’s potential vice presidential picks, Marco Rubio and Rob Portman, gave back-to-back remarks at a conservative conference in DC. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina reportedly met with a slew of executives Steve Jobs and Steven Spielberg to get their advice for the president’s re-election effort. Mr. Spielberg denies any meeting with Mr. Messina occurred. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson may give $100 million to a Romney Super PAC. Adelson is a mediocre gambler and doesn’t use computers. Herman Cain sent the Daily Caller a poem. A military drone caused a UFO scare in DC. Republicans in Michigan banned a female member of the State Legislature from participating in debates at the capitol after she used the word “vagina.” Tea Partier Jesse Kelly dropped out of the race for former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords’ seat.

Westfield Fire Department and County Hazmat called out for leaking train engine WESTFIELD - On Sunday evening, the Westfield Fire Department and the Chautauqua County Hazmat team were called to CSX tracks near English and Pearl streets in Westfield because a train engine was leaking what was believed to be a coolant. The engine had been pushed to an emergency pull-off point. Westfield's First Assistant Chief Dave Davies reported that the call took about an hour. "It was found to be a non-toxic substance," Davies said. South Dayton man, 30, dies in motorcycle crash POLAND - On Saturday at about 5 p.m. the New York State Police at Jamestown investigated a fatal motorcycle accident which occurred on Route 62. Allen E. Jones, 30, of 63 Main Street Apartment 205, South Dayton, was operating a 1982 Yamaha motorcycle south on Route 62 and failed to negotiate a right curve in the roadway at the intersection of Miller Valley Road. Jones crossed over the northbound lane of travel and exited the roadway off the east shoulder striking a tree. Chautauqua County Coroner John Sixbey responded and pronounced Jones at the scene. The New York State Police were assisted at the scene by the Kennedy Volunteer Fire Department. Dunkirk Police Department David J. Kessler, 25, of Deer Street was charged with passing through a red light, failure to keep right, driving while intoxicated, having no registration and first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle on April 28. Glen J. Hurreu Jr., 22, of Forestville was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana on April 28. Connor E. Farnham, 18, of Leon Place, Fredonia was charged with failure to stop at a stop sign, speeding, having no insurance and failure to notify DMV of address change on April 28. Michael M. Stephawy, 25, of East Main Road, Fredonia was charged with failure to yield the right of way on a left turn, third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of motor vehicle and improper or unsafe turn on April 28. Emily Melendez, 17, of West Second Street was charged with second-degree harassment on April 25. Maria Uszacki, 47, of Middlesex Drive, Fredonia was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated per se on May 1. Daniel J. Shuart, 28, of Grant Avenue was charged with driving while intoxicated per se on May 1. Stephanie M. Grandy, 32, of Mt. Morris was charged with two counts of petit larceny on May 1. Richard A. Gaszynski, 61, of North Main Street was charged with failure to stop at a stop sign on May 1. Luis A. Alvarado-Ortiz, 28, of Lake Shore Drive East was charged with failure to stop at a stop sign on May 1. Nicole R. Colvenbach, 25, of Union Street, Fredonia was charged with having no seat belt, operating a motor vehicle with no insurance and no registration on May 2. Luis A. Rodriguez Jr., 21, of Washington Avenue was charged with having no license and violating the noise ordinance on May 2. Rodolfo C. Tanco of King Street was charged with disorderly conduct from a previous charge and second-degree harassment and a fines warrant on May 3. Javier Cruz-Corraliza, 23, of King Street was charged with operating a motor vehicle while using a cell phone on May 3. Jenice D. Echevarria, 31, of Armadillo Street was charged with operating a motor vehicle while using a cell phone on May 3. Darryl J. Bray, 32, of Lake Shore Drive East was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana on May 3. Victor Santiago-Lopez, 32, of King Street was charged with unsafe backing, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, having no insurance and unlicensed operation on May 3. Wayne Charles Sutton of Central Avenue was charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property on May 4. Miguel Sanchez-Sanchez, 37, of Wright Street was charged with having no registration and unlicensed operation on May 4. Steven D. McCool, 18, of Washington Avenue was charged with unlawful possession of alcohol under 21 on May 5. Samuel J. Barreto, 21, of Grant Avenue was charged with disorderly conduct on May 6. Jeffery L. Thompson, 31, of Maple Avenue was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and disorderly conduct on May 6. Chautauqua County Sheriff WESTFIELD - On Saturday, Jeff B. Gonzales, 54, of Clairton, Pa., was charged with driving while intoxicated, DWI per se, failure to signal turn, and an open container in motor vehicle. Officers report that Gonzales made a right turn off Route 20 onto Portage Street without signaling. Deputies report observing a red solo cup containing an alcoholic beverage in the center console of his vehicle Gonzales submitted to a chemical test that was reported to show results above the legal limit. He was issued tickets, released, and is scheduled to appear in the Village of Westfield Court at a later date. Deputies were assisted by the Westfield Police Department.

Baltimore's show this weekend was the one I enjoyed more. It was a chance to catch up with a bunch of old friends and make some new ones. But it was also a place where I could see more clearly the face of mainstream superhero comic book fandom, those who visit regularly the hundreds of smaller comic stores across the country. Though they purchased some key Vertigo titles like "Fables" and "Preacher," this was largely not a crowd into "indie" comics. The biggest draws for them were the handful of ultra big-name guests who attended, such as Mike Mignola, David Finch, and Jim Lee (whose long line of autograph seekers cut through the convention hall). These and other such artists were treated like celebrities, people whose signature on a copy of their favorite comic meant so much to fans. It was likely that some convention attendees, once their quest for a Mignola or Lee sig was completed, did a little bit of comic shopping and went home, their convention experience complete. Where does that leave the independent exhibitors and comic creators who attended -- or the webcomics people, for that matter? The truth was that the sense of willingness to try new things on the part of the attendees -- seek out new books and talent -- was relatively small. At least much smaller than San Diego or New York. Some webcomics creators expressed frustration about the con, noting this lack of attendees who were even receptive enough to take their flyers. "In a few cases they actually gave my flyer back and refused to look at it" one webcomics exhibitor reported. "In all the many conventions I've been to, that has NEVER happened." The same exhibitor noted that their success in anime conventions has been far greater, even though their webcomic is not related to manga. "Anime fans just have much more of an adventuresome energy, and want to try new things." Who was the average Baltimore Comic Con attendee? While making unscientific generalizations is hardly enough to replace solid marketing data, I'll take a shot anyway: About two-thirds of the attendees were white, and more than two-thirds were male. Many of the women attending did not look like comic book fans but seemed to be the girlfriends & wives of comic book fans. The biggest age group seemed to be mid-20s-40s. They often had their children with them (of either gender). There were teenagers, but not a tremendous amount. Few dressed up in costume, and of the ones I saw most were characters from Star Wars. This is in sharp contrast to the attendees in San Diego, of which there were far more females & far more young people. Also, I have to note that this was the first convention I have attended in a long time when I had that old "squicky" feeling about being the only woman at the comic boxes. I did not feel 100% comfortable. That largely comes from, in most cases, being the only woman at the boxes, the toy shelves, the spinner racks, etc. I felt self-conscious. I think what I saw at Baltimore was the "face" of the mainstream superhero comic book reader -- the demographic that major comic book publishers have depended on for decades. But that face is getting older. And there did not seem to be enough young people to replace them, at least at this show. Now, the "alternative" comics expo SPX will be held in Bethesda on October 12th & 13th -- not that far away from Baltimore. If the show is anything like MoCCA in New York City, there will be far more diversity of race & gender. Will the type of people who attend SPX tend not to check out the Baltimore Comic Con (and vice-versa)? Has comics truly become a place of two distinct houses -- mainstream (superheroes) & "indie" (everything else)? Can you bring those two houses under the same roof? How much outreach to the other house should be done? Is such outreach worth it? And is it worth it for the major comic publishers to try to reach out past their traditional base, when that base comes out in such strong numbers in conventions such as Baltimore? The only answer I have for that is, again -- there are not enough younger members of that fanbase to replace the older ones. So if a company invests 75% of their product into giving exactly what that fanbase wants -- and not exploring & nuturing & growing new fanbases -- they are setting themselves up for obsolescence. But I do not see that as what is happening. I think DC and Marvel finally "get" the broader base that they need to appeal to (though their results may vary). And what will probably happen in 10-15 years is that the traditional superhero comic book as we know it will be a specialized "niche" of the comic book industry in total -- just another genre to choose from in a graphic format. And the traditional mainstream capes & tights comic convention will be as "niche" as the anime conventions.

My blog about the occult belongs to a fringe subculture. The paranormal…the esoteric…these are certainly fringe topics. These are beliefs outside the mainstream of staid society and rightly considered “fringe”. Yet fringe elements are also a vital creative force in society. What was once “fringe” may become commonplace. Elvis and the Beatles were on the fringe for a very short time before they became recognized and became mainstream and swiftly absorbed by the corporate money machine. A couple of decades ago the comic book and science fiction/fantasy subculture were totally a nerd/geek fringe. Until it starting making BIG money. I remember it started with the first Michael Keaton Batman movie. Now the comic book culture has evolved and been absorbed by giant corporations (think Disney’s Marvel Avengers). This could be considered a victory for fandom. Or is this the fading away of true fandom? Once a fringe is acceptable it is no longer a fringe. A fringe evolvers into a new creature. Popular Culture. It is like a Borg victory…”You will be assimilated.” It is a victory for popular culture and big business, but at what price? Ghost hunting was once a true fringe before it became absorbed by the ravenous cable TV industry, which pretty much destroyed the hobby. I was involved in this hobby before anybody ever heard of it. It was cool at the time as individuals actually got into this activity; it was something new. Now we have reality TV; we have ”professional” ghost hunting groups. Ghosts still exist, but the hobby has faded away. If a fringe subculture has a large enough audience it will eventually be recognized and exploited. However, there are fringe cultures that will likely never be accepted by acceptable society. One of these places popular culture has avoided is genuine occultism. The genuine occult has continued to remain a scary place. Yes, the occult is a huge element in popular culture. Nearly every horror or fantasy movie deals superficially with the occult. But genuine occultism, the real thing is invisible in popular culture. Much of the fear has to deal with religion. Religious folk can accept the occult as a fantasy like in the Harry Potter books and movies. Religious people won’t accept the reality of it. It won’t sell. That is why the occult is a true fringe. Consider comic books. In the Marvel Universe, magic is commonplace. My favorite character is Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. Why is there no movie based on this character being proposed? Because it would introduce controversial elements into the scientific based movie version of the Marvel Universe. Even Thor was reduced to an alien. Why add spiritually, religion and the occult to the Marvel world? There is no profit in that. Occultism is a fascinating subculture. And we can feel safe it will remain our own. Nobody will make any coin of it. Paranormal Activity 2 I enjoyed the movie Paranormal Activity 2. It effectively used subtly to scare, a neat trick. Since the movie’s pretense is fairly realistic, let’s consider if there are any real life lessons about the paranormal in the movie. Passive acceptance versus aggressive resistance. In the movie, the two sisters who are at the center of the malevolent activity discussed what to do about their situation. One sister (who starred in the first Paranormal Activity) suggests not talking about it and trying to ignore what was happening. She said the more they displayed fear, the stronger the entity would get. Bad move for the sisters! Passive acceptance of such a situation would allow an entity to literally get under your skin. Actual exorcisms are thought to be an attempt to convince the possessed to reject an invading spirit. Every human being has the power to reject any outside force, IF they choose to do so. Passivity allows the spirit to become entrenched. The flip side of the coin is aggressive resistance. In the film a Hispanic housekeeper senses something is amiss. She says prayers, and then smudges the home. Smudging is a means of purifying a space using smoke from incense or a bundle of herbs like sage. Even if the smoke is useless against a spirit, the act itself and the belief in the process strengthen the resolve of those involved. Had the housekeeper remained in the home it’s likely the story’s evil spirit would not have gotten very far. The power of skepticism. The movie’s husband character is a stout skeptic. He does not believe in nonsense and has rational explanations for what occurred. He is not personally involved in any paranormal activity until the end. Only the wife, teen daughter and infant experience these events. Why is that? Because they accept the possibility, he does not. It seems a spirit has to channel through the living to influence the physical world. If someone is a determined skeptic, nothing is getting channeled…period. Their skepticism is like armor. But it also means a skeptic will never experience anything paranormal on a personal level. The movie suggests a family curse is the cause of their bedevilment. Could family curses actually exist in real life? The movie lays out the idea of a possible pact with the devil in past generations, but that makes no sense in reality. People do inherit all types of real problems, medical or behavioral, like mental illness and addiction issues. Bad blood they say. It may also be possible to inherit psychic sensitivity, like heredity witches. However the movie’s family curse idea is a lame explanation. In real life, spiritual obsession and possession happen because of something we did to invite their presence, or we had an unlucky chance encounter. Can such things as shown in the movie actually happen? There are historical instances of poltergeists. Yet in modern times nobody has recorded anything like this happening, except for faked video. Yet, I wrote abut someone who had an encounter with what I call a growling ghost. How far could such events progress if allowed to? Edgar Allen Poe It appears the famous Poe Toaster has given up his yearly visit to the original grave marker of Edgar Allen Poe. Every January 19 for six decades the Poe Toaster visited the grave in the dark of night to leave three roses and half a bottle of cognac. Below is one of many new stories concerning this: Nevermore? No mystery visitor on Poe birthday. For first time in 60 years, no one leaves roses and cognac at writer’s grave After the holidays of December I always looked forward to January 19, the birthday of Poe, and reports of the Toaster’s annual pilgrimage to Poe’s grave. It seemed like an unofficial holiday for fans of the macabre. It added a bit of mystery and intrigue to the cheerless month of January. Who was the Poe Toaster? Nobody knows. We can only make a few guesses about the Toaster’s motivations. The Toaster visited the grave of Poe from at least 1949 if not earlier. That was a lifetime of paying respects to Poe, a steadfast accomplishment. This was not done to gain attention, but a unique way to honor an author who at did not get the recognition he deserved in his lifetime. Did the Toaster realize this simple act of appreciation would eventually remind the world to remember Poe every year on his birthday? It did exactly that. It is suggested the three roses left at the grave are for Poe, his wife and mother-in-law who were also buried there. As for the half bottle of cognac, what does that mean? Poe died from drinking at 40. Cognac is an ironic but strangely meaningful gift for Poe. I had a good friend pass away from cancer a decade ago. My friend had his own problems with drinking, which he usually (not always) had under control, thanks to his wife who would give him endless grief if he veered off the rails. Yet he and I shared good times over some Goldschlager. When my friend died he was cremated and his ashes scattered. I don’t have a place to visit to offer my respects; I wish I did. If I did, I could see myself leaving a miniature bottle of Goldschlager at his grave along with flowers as a personal gesture. I know he would have appreciated it. Perhaps the Poe Toaster was thinking the same thing, that Poe’s downfall was also his passion. Why has the Toaster stopped this tradition? Eventually the Poe Toaster’s act of respect gradually turned into a media circus. A note said that the original Poe Toaster had passed away in 1998 and handed the task to his son. In the era of reality TV and celebrity wannabes doing anything to get on television, I really respect that father and son wanted to maintain their privacy. It seems the 200th anniversary of Poe may be the last visit by the Toaster. I don’t blame the son for not wanting the hassle anymore. The Poe Toaster is now part of the story of Edgar Allen Poe. Will we ever see the Toaster again? I think others will take his place who have no relationship to the original. Wannabe toasters, pretend toasters. Maybe next year we’ll see three of four new Poe toasters trying to leave flowers and cognac. Is that a bad thing? Others can be inspired by the Toaster’s example. I want to thank the Poe Toaster for bringing some light into the world every January 19. I raise a class of cognac and toast the Toaster. If I knew where he was buried, I would visit to leave a rose and perhaps a bottle of cognac as well. Salute! January 19, 2011 update. This year the Poe toaster did not appear. It seems the tradition has truly ended: Tell-tale letdown: Poe visitor again a no-show I saw Avatar in wonderful 3-D. To see the movie on the big screen is something that won’t be duplicated on a TV; it is quite an experience. Avatar was very entertaining and a real crowd pleaser. I also liked how it was thoughtful at the same time. Afterwards I pondered how spirituality and the paranormal are portrayed in science fiction films. Avatar is a spiritual movie in its own way; even it explains away it’s spiritually in physical terms. Ideally, the spiritual or supernatural shouldn’t be included in science fiction. Yet, even hard-science fiction movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Contact are metaphysical. In some ways Avatar reminded me of Star Wars in combining science fiction with the spiritual. With the Stars Wars movies, it was all hardware combined with an elusive paranormal energy called the Force…clairvoyance, telepathy and telekinesis. For the times Star Wars’ mixture of technology and mysticism was appropriate, trying to insert some mystery into the absolute rule of hardcore materialism. It was as if Star Wars was trying to rediscover a popular Zen-like transcendence along with its science opera. Avatar reminded me of Return of the Jedi, except instead of Ewoks, we have Pandora’s thundercats…the Na’vi who are bigger, bolder versions of Ewoks. However, the spirituality is different then Star Wars. With Avatar, it is about the interconnection of all life in balance with nature. The times have changed since the 1970s and 80s when cold war fears of an evil empire occupied our imagination. Now we have new fears. The real-life consequences of technology’s triumph are environmental degradation, global warming and the near-future depletion of our natural resources. We are facing a dire future if profit is the only thing that matters. Is self-destruction worth the price of making money? Unlike the Star Wars or Star Trek worlds, in Avatar technology is literally the enemy. The movie directly faces this question, along with domination of one culture over another. This is a movie for our times, a green movie. Unlike Star War’s Force, there is no dark side. Predator and prey are equal. This movie’s dark side is simply ignorance, profit seeking and carelessness. Paranormal Activity Paramont Films The supernatural has long been a staple of movies. Yet movies that treat the paranormal as reality are not common. There is a distinction between using the magical as grist for special effects and considering them thing as real. As an example, The Exorcist was a film about the spiritual/supernatural while a film like Poltergeist or Ghostbusters were great entertainment that had nothing to do with the genuinely paranormal. Poltergeists might be real, but they don’t open gateways to other dimensions or make houses vanish. A couple of movies that tackle the topic of the paranormal are Paranormal Activity and The Men Who Stare at Goats. Paranormal Activity is famous for having been made with a budget of $15,000 and making over a hundred million dollars at the box office. Its limited budget is part of the movie’s appeal since it had to portray the paranormal in a realistic manner without over-the-top special effects. Scares come from little things…lights turning on spontaneously in the hallway or the sound of unseen footsteps by the bed while the couple sleeps. Paranormal Activity does bring up a question. Can ghosts be dangerous? It is said true ghosts are harmless, and so they are. There really is nothing to fear from a ghost. But this movie is not dealing with a ghost but demonic activity. Inhuman, infernal entities can be quite dangerous. The movie portrays what is called demonic obsession. Demonic obsession is different then demonic possession -exorcist style. Spiritualists believe negative entities can sometimes latch onto an individual like a parasite and try to inject the entity’s thoughts into the mind of their host. The obsessed individual will feel these are his or her own ideas when they are actually the entity’s. These thoughts will be irrational, self-destructive, and harmful to others. Spiritual obsession is a danger involved with opening one’s self to contact with the spirit world. It may occur more often then anybody imagines. If someone is passive in the face of obsession and allow these thoughts to persist, they could become entrenched. Another paranormal film is The Men Who Stare at Goats. This film is loosely based on actual government programs to develop psychic abilities like remote viewing as tools for spying or as weapons. The film views such activities as a farce. The movie also brings up a question. Can anyone harm another by simply willing it? This may seem impossible but it could happen in real life. In the past I wrote about something like this. I know someone who was cheated in a business deal. This person was so upset, everyday for months she visualized the person who wronged her would trip and fall backwards on their back outside the office. This was not done with the intention of actually causing anything to happen; it was just her response to deep-seated anger. Three months later this happened almost exactly as she visualized. The person tripped by their office and broke their back, ending up in a body cast for months. The power of intense, persistent visualization can cause harm. However, this is not instantaneous like staring at a goat and having it drop dead. The lesson here is beware whom we wrong because not every misfortune we suffer might be just an accident. Anyone can try this as an experiment on somebody we don’t like, but there is a danger involved. There is a long-standing tradition that if a curse fails, the effect will return onto the curser. Blowback. In addition, dwelling in negative energy is not good for our soul or body. Negativity can cause all types of physical illnesses. Some aspects of the paranormal are best left alone. I was invited to visit the annual World of Faeries festival by a friend. I like faeries so I was happy to join Jamie and his family. I’ve never been to this annual festival before which was held in South Elgin, IL. The weather was overcast and windy, with the threat of rain at any minute. Somehow it seemed appropriate for a fairy festival, since fairies very much symbolize the captiousness of the natural world. The faeries of legend can be friendly one day and hostile the next, and as nature spirits they reflect nature. Many of the attendants were dressed up in fairy and medieval costumes. A lot of the costumes were really elaborate. It did feel like we had entered fairyland. There were tents selling all types of fairy related crafts, a lot of cool stuff. They had performers. Above is a picture of a crowd pleaser, a performer who created huge bubbles that floated through the air as the children chased after them. The music included the Elven Drummers. My favorite was a lady who would freeze and appear to be a statue (pictured left below). Jamie joked that maybe some of the people here were real fairies. That jest might not be purely a jest. It was held in a park by a river at a natural area. A gathering of fairy friendly humans might actually attract the attention of the invisible fairy folk. The idea of wearing masks and pretending to be fairies is a method to summon the wee people. Did anybody possess the second sight to actually spot one? Jamie is a pagan and he ran into number of fellow pagans he knew at this event. I thought about the significance of the faerie in paganism. Christianity has its angels and paganism has faeries. Bird’s wings symbolize angels while butterfly wings symbolize faeries. Angelic folklore and faerie folklore seem to express the same desire to touch the “other”, to contact benevolent spiritual entitles who sometimes interact with humanity. To what extent does the faerie of popular imagination reflect the faerie of folklore and reality? I think the fairy of popular culture does not represent the real thing. The fairy of folklore was not a sugarplum, Victorian style fairy that rode on caterpillars. They don’t have butterfly wings. Unless we imagine them that way. With their glamour they would appear to us anyway we visualize them. The faerie of folklore were dangerous beings. Long ago people would use pleasant names to refer to them, such as the “People Of Peace”. Why? So as not to offend them. To offend the faeries was to bring peril into your home. The People Of Peace did not suffer fools gladly. Encounters with the faerie folk were an exercise in diplomacy. The faerie did not think the same way human beings did. They essentially had an alien mentality. They shared some common elements with humanity, but most of their thinking could be considered…non-human. The UFO abduction phenomena seem to be the faerie folk at work in the modern world. They still interact with humanity, at the time and place of their own choosing. And it is not a pleasant experience for those who make “contact”. Based on these modern true real life encounters with the Wee People (Grays), our image of fairies as cute things is the result of popular culture and not reality. Try to imagine butterfly wings on Grays as they abduct your astral body. As for the festival, I liked a vendor who crafted some nice leather facemasks (below). I like to dress up for Halloween parties, but finding a classy mask that allows me to breath is not easy. His masks were great, and he can customize a mask if you wish. When Halloween comes around I might be giving him a call. His booth and his business card are below. James Bond Tarot - Movie Tarot Imagery For something as intriguing as tarot cards, I’d imagine the tarot would be more recognized in our popular culture then it is. I can’t think of many films where the tarot was involved. One film is Woody Allen’s “Scoop” where tarot cards played a minor role. Perhaps the film that stands out using tarot cards as a significant plot device was the 1973 James Bond film “Live and Let Die”. This was Roger Moore’s first time playing James Bond. This is not a movie review, but a look at the use of tarot cards in film. The deck created for ‘Live and Let Die’ is called the “Tarot of the Witches” designed by Fergus Hall. At the time the movie came out it was marketed as the James Bond 007 Tarot. The is not a typical deck. The art is bold, colorful and surrealistic. The characters have tiny little hands and feet. Otherwise the deck follows the standard tarot format. I understand why the filmmakers would use such a colorful deck. It stood out visually in the movie. If you look carefully at the back of the cards you’ll see a stylized “007” pattern. How realistic was tarot reading portrayed in the film? The card reading character was a Bond Girl, aptly named Solitaire (played by Jane Seymour) who had the power of clairvoyance. Her power was hereditary, passed down from her mother who had the same abilitiy. The villain in the film was Kananga and he used Solitaire’s clairvoyance for his own sinister purposes. Implausibly, Solitaire’s clairvoyance was never wrong. Yeah, that is pure fantasy. The process of card reading involved elaborate costumes. Otherwise, notice the Celtic Cross layout in one of the images. A plot element was her clairvoyance existed only if Solitaire remained a virgin. Her virginity (and her usefulness to the criminals) was obviously in jeopardy with Bond mulling around. When Bond first encounters Solitaire, she speaks to him while reading her cards. She said, “I know who you are and what you are and why you come. You made a mistake. You will not succeed. The cards have followed you for me.” Bond seems to believe in Solitaire’s abilities, but he is also uninterested in her power. If I were a secret agent and discovered someone with her amazing abilities, for sure I’d report her to intelligence. Forget the bad guy. Then again, maybe not. Who would believe? He really didn’t appreciate the significance. The villain sure did. In real life there are accounts of governments employing psychics and remote viewers. But no. Bond only wants to chase bad guys and have nookie with the girls. Bond cleverly uses Solitaire’s belief in the cards to his advantage, seducing her by using a stacked deck. After sex, she tells Bond “The power…I’ve lost it. The High Priestess is wife to the Prince no longer of this world. The spiritual bridge to the secret church. It was my fate. By compelling me to earthly love, the cards themselves have taken away my powers. It makes no difference. The physical violation cannot be undone. When he finds out I’ve lost my power…” This is an odd statement. Does it have any connection whatsoever with real-life spirituality? What to make of the movie’s association of virginity with clairvoyance? It’s only a plot contrivance. I don’t know any authentic spiritual practice that requires virginity for spiritual development, outside the Catholic Church. If anything, a card reader should have a full life experience. It would aid in card reading, not inhibit it. The silliness aside, it is nice to see a movie with the tarot in full display, even if it is portrayed fantastically. The presence of tarot imagery in popular culture is uncommon enough, that anytime I see it I think it is worth noting and recording. Also noteworthy is another tarot deck featured in this movie, the famous Rider-Waite deck. Can you spot all of them in the images? There are quite a few. The Rider-Waite deck is the real deal, not movie making. Bulgarians are fascinating people. Their culture is very old and very deep. This past March I was given a delightful Bulgarian gift…martenitsa! I received a selection of martenitsa. They are only available in Bulgaria before March and disappear until the following year. I’ll have to wait until next March to get more. They are symbolic gifts with a historic background. What is the significance of the Martenitsa? Ok, what is a martenitsa? A martenitsa is something to be worn. In Bulgaria, they have a tradition of giving a martenitsa as an act of friendship and affection. On the first day of March they give these tiny gifts to people they care for, to wear or put around their wrist. Martenitsa come in a variety of shapes, sizes and formats, but they have this in common. Martenitsa are made of thread, and are composed of two colored threads, white and red. I was told many Bulgarians end up wearing dozens of these tiny decorations. They became similar to walking Christmas trees with red and white ornaments, if only for a day or two. Martenitsa is considered a blessing for the year ahead and a sign of affection. Martenitsa worn on wrists In Bulgaria they have a holiday called Baba Marta, which means “Grandmother March”. It is a holiday to celebrate the beginning of spring, and kissing off winter. Baba Marta is a mystical figure of an old lady who symbolizes March, with wild mood swings just like their weather. Some March days might be nice, but on another day Grandmother March could drop a blizzard. Baba Matra symbolized how natue was temperamental and our desire to embrace spring. March weather in Bulgaria can be rough, like an unending winter. Bulgaria’s climate is similar to my hometown Chicago, and March in Chicago is a desperate hope for winter to end. After a long winter, the need for the snow to stop and summer to start becomes palatable. Maybe a key to understanding the martenitsa is its premature celebration of the end of a long winter and the beginning of spring. It symbolizes hope that better days are soon ahead. Chicago could use such a holiday. Chicago’s version of the martenitsa is the city parking ticket. It is said the martenitsa’s white threads symbolize the snow of winter, and the red threads represent the beginning of summer with the reflection of a sunset. Angry Grandmother March finally gives sway to summer. Yet, I think there is more to this symbolism. The shape of the martenitsa often represents male and female figures along with red and white threads. Part of this symbolism is a touching legend in Bulgarian culture about tragedy concerning a brother and sister, with red and white representing blood on white clothing. The symbolism of red and white is also a powerful fertility symbol representing male and female. Grandmother March departs and summer begins the cycle of life. With spring comes fertility and procreation. Folklore is full of this symbolism. Consider the symbolism of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs. The symbolism of fertility is very old. Looking at the male and female versions of the martenitsa, the fertility symbolism becomes clear to me. A fertility blessing is not only for procreation. It’s also for a healthy family life. and good fortune. And necessarily a healthy society for our children. For civilization. Exchanging martenitsa is an act of shared community. As a public service, the Occult View’s End-of-the-world Warning System has been lowered from RED ALERT (imminent end of the world) to GREEN ALERT (remain watchful). It seems the danger of humanity’s collapse due to the swine flu has passed…for now. However, this warning system might return to red alert at any instant. There has been speculation as to the cause of the swine flu. The Occult View has conducted an investigation into the cause of the swine flu. We have been able to “connect the dots” where others have not to discover the TRUE nature of what has transpired. The world’s governments do NOT want the truth to be told! But as a service to humanity, we are compelled to reveal the results of our investigation. Reptile Threat Documentary Footage To understand the origin of the swine flu, we have to go back to the 1950s and 1960s Japan. Having observed documentaries about a giant reptile that threatened the island nation, I made a stunning observation. These documentaries showed the Japanese military wore white gloves as they defended their nation against this threat. This is the vital missing clue! Obviously they wore white gloves to protect themselves from the swine flu! Now it is 2009 and the same lizard has been sighted in Mexico City during the swine flu pandemic. Mere coincidence? Observe the following news stories: April 27 2009: MEXICO CITY Swine flu shuttered Mexico’s government operations, schools, and many private businesses, and canceled church services and public Cinco de Mayo festivities. April 27 2009: MEXICO CITY A strong earthquake is rattling nerves in Mexico City, where the swine flu outbreak has already stirred up fear. The magnitude-5.6 quake swayed tall buildings and sent office workers running into the streets. There is one conclusion…the swaying buildings and running office workers were the result of this giant lizard in Mexico City. Since most people were indoors to avoid contact with the flu, most residents did not actually see this giant lizard. Yet its presence was clearly felt. Is this creature is the source of the contagion? Any actual evidence of this creature has been suppressed. However, the Occult View has obtained the following photographic evidence (below) taken at the time of the earthquake. Look carefully and you might spot the cause of both the earthquake and the swine flu. The important question is…where and when will this disease-bearing creature appear next? At the next sighting, we will raise our End-Of-The-World Alert System to RED. An UPDATE, check out this site for further supporting evidence: Mexico: Really Big Footprints Mexico during Earthquake Obama's Star Trek Connection I thought I’d write about Obama’s Star Trek connection. It is a little known fact, and one of the reasons he is president today. I am from Illinois, so I’ve watched the rise of Obama from the beginning. During Obama’s 2004 run for the Illinois Senate, he was up against a new Republican candidate Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan was an attractive, fairly moderate guy who would have given Obama a real run for the Senate seat. However, there was a “scandal” that really wasn’t a scandal and Jack Ryan withdrew from the general election. What alleged scandal? Jack Ryan used to be married to the actress Jeri Ryan, best know for her role as Seven of Nine in the TV series ‘Star Trek Voyager’. Jeri Ryan played the role of a former Borg returned to humanity…while dressed in a spandex jumpsuit! Jack and Jeri divorced in 1999, and their divorce records were sealed. Yet these divorce records were opened during the campaign, and in them were allegations that Jack wanted Jeri to go to sex clubs and have sex in public. Well…we’d expect the Democrats to jump all over this alleged scandal. Nope, they didn’t. The Democrats were “ho-hum…nobody else’s business”. It was Ryan’s own fellow Republicans who jumped on it. The family values crowd went ballistic! It looked like Ryan was forced out by the right-wing of his own party, who were not happy with a married man wanting to (allegedly) do the kinky with his wife. The right wing of the Illinois Republican party then picked the PERFECT candidate to replace Jack Ryan. Who else but Alan Keyes? Keyes was an African American religious-right conservative activist best know for his social issue advocacy, and who had no connection with Illinois. It was as if the Illinois Republicans had lost their minds. Obama won, 70% to 27%. Since then the Republican Party in Illinois has totally collapsed. We used to have a healthy two party system in this state, but since the Right took over the Republican Party they have shrunk into irrelevance. The self-destructiveness of the right-wing of the Republican Party is interesting. Just now Senator Alan Specter left the Republican Party to become a Democrat handing Obama a filibuster proof Senate. What happened to the Illinois Republicans seems to be replaying itself on the national scene. The Republicans are on the way to becoming marginalized and irrelevant. What political party prospers by purifying (purging) their membership of moderates? The Democrats did the opposite and ran moderate or conservative Democrats in Republican districts with great success. Geithner demonstrating Vulcan nerve pinch On another note…has anybody noticed that President Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner looks suspiciously like a Vulcan? Every time I see him on television, I think he does. Those arched eyebrows, those odd looking ears, the unblinking stare and the furrowed brow. Even his name Geithner has a Vulcan sound to it. Could the Vulcans have infiltrated the highest branches of our government? Should we be concerned? Check out these photos…what do you think? Vulcan or not?

Posted 2 years ago on Jan. 1, 2013, 11:14 p.m. EST by OTP from Tampa, FL This content is user submitted and not an official statement Bought another two months. All this arguing and nonsense over what? A few percentage points of the top that no one pays anyways? Oil is still getting subsidies. Same with Monsanto. Banks still getting 85 billion a month. A third of a year of arguing like idiots over this? Either the system is incapable or we are getting played. PS- Watching MSNBC....Is Obama really congratulating McConnel and Biden for their "extraordinary" effort? This is one of the most pathetic moments in US history. Accomplishing nothing over the course of almost a half year. Someone put these fools in the particle accelerator in Japan when its done.

Fox 25 did a segment on Video Podcasting. Here's For Eyed Monsters on Fox. Via Holland Wilde who asks: What is vlogging? Is it simply getting a camera, acting stupid, and up-loading it to the internet? No, it is not, but big media would like us to think it is. A vlog is not a mini, personal TV station…we have too much TV now. Vlogging can be a revolutionary media tool for social change. But will it be used that way?

The Ohio Growth Summit…Let’s Do It AgainFeb 25, 2013 by Michael Bowers If you own a small business are you looking for creative new ways to build your business? I have just what you need. The Ohio Growth Summit 2013. First of all as the Founder and Director I want to welcome you to the ninth annual Ohio Growth Summit. When I started the Ohio Growth Summit in 2005 I committed to give you, the small business owner, your own conference. I wanted the Summit to celebrate you and all you do to grow businesses and jobs in what has been a tough economy. For the past eight years we have brought in top notch national speakers like Guy Kawasaki, Gini Dietrich, Chris Brogan and Carrie Wilkerson to go along with over 100 local and regional business experts. Each year a tremendous amount of time and effort goes into developing, producing and delivering the Ohio Growth Summit. It is a tough job but we have a team that shares my vision and is committed to providing the best experience and content to those of you attending the event. So after eight years of producing the Ohio Growth Summit what can I say about the event? Let’s do it again…Only Better! The Ohio Growth Summit is a conference that features incredible national and local speakers to inspire and share ideas that are different and cutting edge. Not the usual “how to” content but more focused on how you can be innovative and build a truly word class business. This year I am particularly excited about our plans. We will feature keynote presentations from two of my favorite speakers, S. Anthony Iannarino and Amber MacArthur. In addition, we will open up the opportunity for “YOU” to speak at the Summit as we are launching our first call for speakers. There is no doubt that those who attend the Ohio Growth Summit will walk out better than they were before the event. You will have the tools to reach your goals and build a truly world class business. The Ohio Growth Summit is “THE” one conference that you, the small business owner, would not want to miss. If you are serious about Success (and I know you are) The Ohio Growth Summit is the place you will want to be.

Will common sense prevail in state government? It seems we have a good start. Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, held a public hearing July 9 to discuss the possibility of flexible or compressed work schedules ” essentially a four-day workweek ” for state employees. Shelton noted that employees of state agencies could cut their commuting costs by 20 percent if they were permitted to work four 10-hour days instead of the standard five eight-hour days. No additional laws or regulations would be required for directors of state agencies to create such flexible scheduling, nor would it necessarily be required of all employees. “There are options available if the state agency directors just make the move to do it,” Shelton said. The Office of Personnel Management has offered agency directors assistance to develop flexible scheduling. Some state agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Office of Juvenile Affairs, have already instituted a four-day workweek for some of their employees. The idea makes sense from several perspectives. For employees, who have been subjected to higher gasoline prices and overall inflation without a corresponding increase in pay, any chance to save money on transportation costs would be a boon. State employees were granted no general raises by the Legislature this year and only three pay increases in the past decade. Those of us who aren’t state employees might benefit, as well. If state offices are open for 10 hours a day instead of eight, it may become easier for people to deal with state offices without having to take time from their own jobs. With or without four-day workweeks, Gov. Brad Henry has expressed his preference that state offices remain open five days a week, so not every employee with a compressed schedule would necessarily work the same four days. Not all employees, however, would welcome a four-day week. Child care, family activities and other evening commitments could be made more difficult ” even impossible ” by longer hours in the office. Furthermore, not all jobs are equally adaptable to the four-day workweek. A myriad of factors might come under consideration in deciding whether to change schedules. Still, to extend the choice to as many people as possible would grant employees some measure of self-determination about their working hours and, therefore, their satisfaction with their positions. Without question, the state would face some additional costs for utilities if the lights, heating and air conditioning remained on and running for two extra hours each day. However, some of those additional utility costs are currently being incurred by state employees who arrive early or work late. After all, light bulbs use the same amount of electricity whether they are lighting an office for one person or 100. Ultimately, those costs may be negated by the gains of a work force with greater job satisfaction, greater efficiency and lower turnover. Flexible scheduling seems like a win-win situation for state employees and taxpayers. It makes sense. What a concept! Judith Murphy is a freelance writer living in Norman.

Nicole Kidman stunned in an electric orange Berardi dress at the photocall for The Paperboy in Cannes today. The actress was accompanied by her co-stars, Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, director Lee Daniels and singer Macy Gray to help promote the flick that's been described as a "sexual thriller." Zac, for his part, was thrilled to work with Nicole and called the Aussie "gorgeous." "Nicole was something else and was always in character," he told reporters. "She didn’t get weird method, like some actors do, but I have never seen anyone so centered.”

Basically, GlassesUSA gave me a gift card and told me to pick out any of the prescription glasses from the site that I would like to try. I'm pretty frugal and I didn't have any extra money in my budget for glasses so I tried to stick close to the amount of the gift card. There were very few glasses in my style (Large, Heavy, Plastic Frame) in my price range. But they do have some pretty snazzy glasses at a higher price range if that's your thing. Like these $104 cat eye darlings. GlassesUSA offers a virtual mirror feature where you can try on your glasses before buying them. Check it out below. I settled on the Pioneer frame because it appeared to be my jam. It met my style requirements and I just went with it. I sent a few options to my trusty friends and this one landed on top. There was apparently some issue with my prescription, mostly around my PD. (I have a tiny head y'all, and thus a freakishly tiny PD.) It's so small (52) that the people over in GlassesUSA land just couldn't believe it. They called 12 days after I ordered my glasses to verify my PD. (They thought it was 51, but I double checked my order and wrote 52 Fo' SURE). They left me a voicemail while I was at work and when I called back I was told that customer service was busy and if I left a voicemail they would call me back. No one ever called me back. So about a month after ordering my eyeglasses and having not received them (or receiving another phone call about my PD) I contacted the rep who set this up to let her know I didn't receive my glasses. A few days later I receive a phone call from someone at GlassesUSA letting me know what happened. Apparently the factory did not believe in my FREAKISHLY TINY HEAD and just decided to make the glasses with a PD of 62. Way wrong. Thankfully the man who contacted me let me know that he caught the problem before they were sent out and they had to re-do my glasses. My glasses finally arrived a month and a half after ordering them. So what do you think? Honestly, I'm not a big fan. They look really funny on my head and kind of pinch my ears. Also, if I wear them for more than a few minutes I start to get a little headache. I don't know if this has something to do with the PD issue or if it's just that I'm not used to new glasses. I'm debating returning them and trying something else out. If you are looking to buy glasses you can take 10% off any order with the code BLOG10. They also have a refer-a-friend program where you can get $30 for each purchase a referred friend makes toward your next pair of glasses. But honestly, I have ordered from both Warby Parker and Coastal Contacts before, so I'm old hat to the Internet glasses game. And honestly, I have better experiences with both of those companies. Neither of them questioned my TINY HEAD and the prescription was right on the first go-around. I honestly think that, for the price, Coastal is a much better deal. Plus, I have had fabulous dealings with their customer service department (a pair of glasses I ordered got a little messed up and they sent me a brand new pair- wow). These are my beloved glasses from Coastal that I wear all the time. They are Derek Cardigan's and I love them. *I was given a gift card code, and was instructed on using it to purchase glasses and to review the process. I assure you that these are my honest opinions and I am not being paid for my opinions, or to write this post. I was only given the gift card in exchange for giving my review.

About the Creator Posted 4 years, 12 months ago at 11:12 am. 1 comment RM Rhodes lives in a garden-style underground fortress in Alexandria, VA with his wife and two cats. (He moved out of the one shaped like a volcano years ago.) He is best known as the man in the purple suit, which makes him the easiest person to find at SPX. He makes high concept comics from photographs and other mixed media. As if this wasn’t enough to make him credible, he also remixed Star Wars, has Dave McKean’s signature tattooed on his arm and he won a Nerdlinger award in 2010. He loves his wife, Bandes Desinees and talking about himself in the third person.

|DIL Plant Ajax Ontario where my Mom & Grandmother worked in WW2| I'm going to tackle this challenge too. I plan to write about 10 women who made a difference somehow. Perhaps they made a difference in my life, or to the world. But I want to recognize women this month - women who suffered hardships but endured, women who were the first to challenge what had been a man's world, women who made important discoveries, and women who were pioneers. Ten ideas that might help you to join me in honouring women this month are - Which of your female ancestors were alive when women achieved the right to vote. How do you think they reacted to the ongoing suffragette movement? Different countries extended the right of voting for women in different years and even within one country, different areas sometimes had different rights. For example in Ontario Canada women who owned property could vote for school trustees as early as 1850. In 1917 women in Canada gained the right to vote in all elections. It was 1920 before women in the USA were given the right to vote. In the UK women over the age of 30 who met certain property qualifications could vote but it was not until 1928 that all women over the age of 21 achieved that right. - Do you have a female relative (direct ancestor or collateral lineage) who played an active role in women's issues? Perhaps one who was a Suffragette or was a pioneer in a male-dominated role or occupation? Perhaps she sailed to the New World to start a new life in the 1600s or was a refugee from a war-torn or religious-intolerant location. Tell her story in a blog post or comment here on this blog. - Choose one female ancestor and the historical context during her life. Pick one historical event that would have impacted on her life. Perhaps she lived through the Spanish influenza in the early 1900s or she was widowed during the Civil War, or lived through the Depression. - Write a biography of your favourite female Ancestor. Be sure to tell us why she's your favourite - Make a list of your direct line maternal ancestors beginning with your mother. So you will list your mom, her mom, her mom's mom and so on, back as far as you can. Now figure out how many children each female ancestor had. Did the females in your direct maternal line tend to have the same numbers of children each generation? Did they have more? Less? Were they prolific or are there few children born to each woman? Is there a pattern emerging? - Write about your mtDNA findings. If you haven't been tested yet, order an mtDNA kit! There are several companies offering DNA tests - Family Tree DNA, Ancestry DNA, 23andMe.com - Did any of your female ancestors participate in some kind of war-related activity? My mother and grandmother both worked in a Munitions Factory in WW2. Perhaps your ancestor rolled bandages or knitted socks for the troops. Write about one ancestor who was active in some way during a war or skirmish. - Which female ancestor do you most identify with? Tell us what she did or what she was like and why you identify with her - Was there a female (teacher, minister, friend, relative) who impacted on your life? Tell us about her - Did any of your female ancestors or relatives follow a non-traditional female role either in their relationships, occupations or in society?

Jan 9, 2014, 9:46 AM EDT If figure skating is artistic, John Coughlin‘s back is the ultimate canvas. The U.S. pairs skater’s entire back is covered by a tattoo of St. Michael to honor his mother, Stacy, who died in 2010. Coughlin, 28, got the tattoo before the 2011 World Championships. “It’s the saint who my mother prayed to a lot to get my dad home safely because he was a policeman,” Coughlin said at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday, according to ESPN.com. “I just wanted something to remember my mom by because he’s the saint for policeman.” The tattoo reportedly took 10 hours to complete over three sessions. In July, Coughlin wrote a letter to his mom via a blog post on TeamUSA.org. “I hope you look at where I am and feel like all of the sacrifices the family made for me were worth it,” he wrote. “More importantly, I hope you are proud of the man I am trying to become. I have decided to approach whatever I am meant to do from now on in this sport as a gift.” Coughlin and partner Caydee Denney are favorites to earn one of two U.S. Olympic spots in pairs figure skating this week. They open with the short program Thursday evening. They are the 2012 U.S. champions. It would be Coughlin’s first Olympics and Denney’s second. It’s a shame the tattoo will be covered by Coughlin’s costume on the ice. “I don’t know if someone has ever skated topless,” he said with a smile, according to ESPN.com. “It might hurt our component mark a little.” - Usain Bolt anchors Jamaica to 4x100m relay gold after U.S. mishap 0 - Ashton Eaton breaks decathlon world record, wins World Championship 0 - Aries Merritt wins bronze before kidney transplant; incredible Worlds performances 0 - Usain Bolt may retire after Rio Olympics 0 - Usain Bolt crushes Justin Gatlin in World Championships 200m 3 - Allyson Felix wins 400m, breaks U.S. record for Worlds medals; Rio preview? 1 - Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin’s first race together from 2005 (video) 0 - Emotional Bode Miller medals in race that mattered most (63) - Russian women kissing after relay victory at World Championships causes stir (62) - IOC drops wrestling from 2020 Olympics (47) - South Korea filing official complaint over Yuna Kim’s Olympic silver (39) - Zola Budd, 47, dominates college runners in 5K (33)

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The open race for Post 3 on the Oconee County Board of Education pits Walton County school administrator Kim Argo against Ashley Hood, a community volunteer and full-time mom. Argo, 55, a former Oconee County School System teacher, said her experience as an educator makes her a good choice for the school board. "I think I can bring the perspective of an educator to this school board," Argo told voters at a recent candidate forum. "I understand the awesome responsibility the school board has of working with the most precious possession that each of you has ... your child." But Hood, 38, who taught for a couple of years in Texas, said the most important thing for a board member is to have children in the school system. The oldest three of her five children attend Oconee public schools, and she said she thinks of her job as a stay-at-home mother as an advantage in the race. "You do have different expectations," Hood said. "Everyone wants the best for the school system, but (as a parent) you also have an inside look at what's going on." Hood, who said she's visited 20 neighborhoods to talk to people during her campaign, said people are most concerned with holding board members accountable for the way they spend taxpayers' money. "They want more of the tax dollars spent in the classroom, and of course I support that," Hood said. The candidates, who will face off in Tuesday's Republican primary, are vying for a two-year term this year, as the board transitions to staggered terms. Carter Brank, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent, withdrew from the Post 3 race last month after learning a federal law prohibited him, as a federally-paid employee, from running in a partisan election. Post 3 Candidates Age: 55; Job: Assistant principal at Youth Middle School in Walton County; School experience: School administrator, former teacher in Oconee County. Age: 38; Job: Stay-at-home mother; School experience: Teacher for two years, North Oconee High School PTO.

Thanks to the efforts of directors like Morgan Spurlock and Davis Guggenheim ("Waiting for Superman"), documentaries have gained more popularity over the years. Documentaries have moved away from their legacy of dull tedium and become one of the most exciting genres of film, constantly showing the ability to take topics that most audiences would not usually find interesting and turning them into cinematic gold. That's not always the case, though. Sometimes, a story is so fascinating that all a documentarian has to do is roll film. Case in point: Bart Layton's "The Imposter," a new doc at the Milwaukee Film Festival that plays like a thriller. In 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay disappears walking back to his San Antonio home. Three years later, the police in Spain call his family to let say that they miraculously found their son. However, when he returns home, the local police begin to question Nicholas, who arrives in town with a strong French accent and the wrong-colored eyes. It turns out they were right to be suspicious, as "Nicholas Barclay" turns out to be a 23-year-old Frenchman named Frederic Bourdin, who somehow convinced multiple police departments and even the missing child's family that he was their long-lost son. Obviously, considering the film's title (and the fact that the story made national news), Bourdin's trickery isn't exactly a twist. Instead, Layton goes into the minds of his subjects, including the shifty French fake himself, who through an insightful interview describes his entire mindset and strategy during the debacle in incredible detail. Much of "The Imposter"'s fascinating story is told with a combination of interviews and reenactments. In most cases, reenactments are to be feared, normally combining fake-looking drama with hammy acting to take the audience completely out of the story. That's not the case with "The Imposter." Instead of being an afterthought, the slick, shadowy reenactments are feature film quality, making it hard to believe that it's a documentary and not a stylish, heart-pumping Hollywood-produced mystery. In most cases, it's better than most of Hollywood's latest batch of mystery tales. Though the audience knows Bourdin has to get caught eventually, it's remarkably intense to watch the imposter's crafty web of lies come together and then slowly fall apart. No thanks to the family, though, who seem shockingly eager to accept their new son despite the glaring differences. Midway through "The Imposter," in fact, Layton takes Bourdin off the hot seat and puts the family there. How could they have not seen this wasn't Nicholas? Did their desire to get their son back make them blind, or is it something more sinister? It's a creepy turn of events that adds even more intrigue to an already riveting real-life story. It's often said that real life can be more dramatic than anything a screenwriter could come up with, and "The Imposter" proves it. With its band of complex characters, sleek storytelling and a compelling mystery that only gets more bizarre as it goes along, Bart Layton's film is the best thriller Hollywood wishes it could've come up with. "The Imposter" has three more showings at the Milwaukee Film Festival: Sept. 29 at 4:30, Oct. 2 at 9:45 and Oct. 5 at 2:15. No Talkbacks for this article. Post your comment/review now Disclaimer: Please note that Facebook comments are posted through Facebook and cannot be approved, edited or declined by OnMilwaukee.com. The opinions expressed in Facebook comments do not necessarily reflect those of OnMilwaukee.com or its staff. Recent Articles & Blogs by Matt Mueller Published Aug. 27, 2015 Growing up, the Bay View-based toy maker Peggy Brown has plenty of memories of the classic board game Operation - and her family didn't even own it. Decades later, Brown - along with her friend and fellow toy maker Tim Walsh - are trying to give something back to the man whose legendarily buzz-worthy game gave them so many fun times and fond memories over the years with the documentary "Buzz Heard 'Round the World." Published Aug. 27, 2015 Considering its reputation as Milwaukee's haunted bar, Shaker's Cigar Bar, located at 422 S. 2nd St., certainly knows a thing or two about old stories coming to life. After giving plenty of historical tours through the years and guiding eager guests to some of the city's ghosts, bar owner Bob Weiss and marketing director Amanda Morden are hoping they've found a new way to resurrect some of Milwaukee's old tales of yore: Hangman Radio. Published Aug. 26, 2015 Now, with their Internet comedy series "Shangri-L.A.," Milwaukee-grown filmmakers Drew Rosas and Nick Sommer ("Billy Club," "Pester") are the latest to go in search of the worldly utopia. Well, kind of, as the search for dreams brings them to the very real city of Los Angeles - and to Kickstarter to help finish the 11 episode production. Published Aug. 25, 2015 Yes, the Packers will probably be just fine without Jordy Nelson, who's done for the year with a significant right knee injury. But sometimes, you just need to grieve ... with a collection of Dubsmashes from Olivia Munn and Aaron Rodgers from before the injury that eerily fit this time of great sadness. Published Aug. 23, 2015 If you're planning on riffing off of one of Hollywood's greatest director's greatest movies, you better know what you're doing. Luckily, the man behind "Phoenix" is the extremely talented German director Christian Petzold, who smartly takes a touch of Hitchcock and twists it into an impressive project all of his own, a brilliantly crafted modern post-war noir carefully cloaked in mystery that slowly but satisfyingly burns to a quiet fireworks display of a finale. Published Aug. 22, 2015 The jazzy retro style of Guy Ritchie's "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." is slinky fun, but enjoy it while you can because, like a toddler, if you take your eyes off it for a second to grab your drink or glance at your watch or merely blink, it is gone, a whooshing little breeze where it once used to be on screen and in your mind. The projector might as well be one of those neuralizers from "Men in Black." Published Aug. 19, 2015 Dieter Sturm may not be a household name, but for about 30 years, his work has been all over some of your favorite Hollywood movies. Yes, fitting for a Wisconsinite, Sturm's business is snow, and when a Hollywood production needs to call in anything from a flurry to a blizzard, Sturm and his Lake Geneva-based company Sturm Special Effects bring the storm. Published Aug. 18, 2015 The first time Indianapolis native and "Big Lebowski" superfan Tom Esterline, Jr. saw the 1998 Coen Brothers cult classic, well, he fell asleep. But then he watched it again. And again. And again and again and so on until he became a superfan - an Achiever - decked in his finest Pendleton sweater and attending as many Lebowski Fests as possible - the next one located right here in Milwaukee this weekend at Cathedral Square Park. Published Aug. 18, 2015 The combination of bagpipes and didgeridoo is an almost impossibly rare mix - one that belongs almost exclusively to Brother. Unfortunately, the band's upcoming return to River Rhythms on Wednesday night will likely be the final one of its kind, as lead singer Angus Richardson recently announced that he was stepping away from the band. Before his likely final Milwaukee show, we chatted with Richardson and reflect on saying goodbye to Brother. Published Aug. 15, 2015 Some legendary movies managed to emerge from production fires stronger - "Jaws" and "Apocalypse Now" most famously - but "Fantastic Four" lands far from joining that company. The movie is a mess, one that - even at its best and most promising - plays like a sleepy also-ran before it even gets out of the gate.

After watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade yesterday I got thinking. Have I ever spotted an On Screen Car in the parade? I couldn't recall off hand. So I did some browsing and came across this! A 1965 news-reel clip of the Munster Coach in the Macy's famous parade. I thought I would share this with you guys. Check out the YouTube video below. I also found a great model kit of the Munster Koach as well. Amazon link below. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. Hope your holiday kick-off goes well. Say safe! Now off to the gym. I'm sure I over-ate lol. Classic Detroit muscle has always been a great fit for superheros. The Green Hornet is no exception. Black Beauty is an awesome name for a car of such caliber, a 1965 Chrysler Imperial. Also known as the top of the Chrysler line. Elwood Engel the same guy that brought us the 1961 Lincoln Continental, designed this generation Imperial. The lines are straight and long as with most cars of the time. As you can see Black Beauty earns it's name. The car is nearly completely black. You might miss the Green Hornet's green headlights. But you won't miss the sound of a Big Block Chevrolet... What? No Mopar? That's right folks. Reports show that the movie cars were powered by Chevrolet engines. I'm sure they'll dub over the engine sounds with the factory 440 and 413 V8 these monsters came with. Most of the On Screen Cars were modified with full roll cages. Some were beefed up to take side impact. Your template movie car on the inside. Guns? Oh yea. Two large guns as well as missile launchers. I think actor Seth Rogen will have plenty of fun with those. I have to say though the weapons array reminds me of Triple X. So who's the designer? Sources say Sony Pictures put the screen cars together. I would have thought George Barris (the creator of the car in the original '60s TV series). ButYou can hear the display staff at Comic Con video confirm it isn't. None the less an amazing retro re-creation of a Dean Jeffries* design. Don't forget to watch the trailer (below). I'll be putting it on my list to watch. Catch ya next time! * Correction from http://www.theblackbeauty.com, Dean Jeffries did the original design of Black Beauty on the TV series. The shows Bewitched and Bonanza have very few things in common. However they do share one interesting fact. They were both sponsored by automaker Chevrolet. In late 1964, Chevrolet ran a five and half minute promotional ad about their up coming 1965 line up. The promotional featured stars from both Bonanza and Bewitched. Each car was presented by a different star. They featured the details of each new model. What's very interesting is the Chevrolet logo can be seen during the opening credits of Bewitched and Bonanza both. The Bonanza version of the logo features the word "Chevrolet" in a cattle branding iron. I wasn't alive during the original airing of these shows. But I do recall catching reruns of Bewitched on Nick-at-Nite as a kid. Thanks to the TheBewitchedCollector on YouTube for sharing this video! Catch ya next time!

Your work is so fun.I recognise some of from Watercolor Wednesdays. Really nice blog too! What a great illo! the colors and the action is so fun. Very cool drawing. I love the style -it reminds me of old cereal boxes and ads from the fifties. This is awesome! I agree with Steve. There is something retro and very cool about your drawings. I love your little children. They're so expressive. Great illo! This is great, I like the color scale and interpretation, Really nice illustration. this is awesome! great drawing anf space theme - love it. You are good! I love this piece.Very nice concept also!Drawing on a computer is not easy except for the erasing and undo features... you did an excellent job, one more feather for your hat of styles. Have a great week end. :) this is fabulous! so glad to find your work; i love your illustration style! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog page. I so look forward to visiting your sites as well. I do mean each and everyone of you. I'm blogging so much now my butt hurts, but I truly do look forward to what everyone is doing. It's great inspiration, encouragement and lots of laughs too! Have a wonderful and creative week!Vanessa aka Enda Mole Oh, I want to join in the fun! This is just charming!!! It's so nice to see your work.Cookie They look like they're having a jamming time! Cool and different illo!www.indigeneartforms.blogspot.com what a lovely and fun illo! i love your limited use of color and the colors you chose! fun!!! This is brilliant and really fun! Lovely illo! Great colors and linework This is amazing! I love it! The style seems very retro and it's fun and just adorable! If you don't mind I will be adding you to my blogs of interest. so beautiful illo again. (i'm a fun of paintings with moon...) and love so much the white lines here. great choice! I love love love this! OoooOooh!It´s a super nice illustration, and very stylish too! cool!i love it!AV,無碼,a片免費看,自拍貼圖,伊莉,微風論壇,成人聊天室,成人電影,成人文學,成人貼圖區,成人網站,一葉情貼圖片區,色情漫畫,言情小說,情色論壇,臺灣情色網,色情影片,色情,成人影城,080視訊聊天室,a片,A漫,h漫,麗的色遊戲,同志色教館,AV女優,SEX,咆哮小老鼠,85cc免費影片,正妹牆,ut聊天室,豆豆聊天室,聊天室,情色小說,aio,成人,微風成人,做愛,成人貼圖,18成人,嘟嘟成人網,aio交友愛情館,情色文學,色情小說,色情網站,情色,A片下載,嘟嘟情人色網,成人影片,成人圖片,成人文章,成人小說,成人漫畫,視訊聊天室,性愛,a片,AV女優,聊天室,情色 Post a Comment

693 F2d 10 United States v. A Guerro 693 F.2d 10 11 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1598 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, Thomas A. GUERRO, Defendant, Appellant. United States Court of Appeals, Argued Sept. 8, 1982. Decided Nov. 17, 1982. Nelson S. Baker, Boston, Mass., by appointment of the Court, for appellant. Janis M. Berry, Sp. Atty., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Boston, Mass., with whom William F. Weld, U.S. Atty., and Jeremiah T. O'Sullivan, Sp. Asst. U.S. Atty., Boston, Mass., were on brief, for appellee. Before COFFIN, Chief Judge, ALDRICH and SWYGERT*, Senior Circuit Judges. BAILEY ALDRICH, Senior Circuit Judge. On this appeal from a conviction for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance--phencyclidine (PCP)--in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1) & 846, defendant Guerro contends that the evidence did not warrant the court's finding of conspiracy, and, particularly, that the admission of certain statements by an alleged co-conspirator violated Rule 801(d)(2)(E) of the Federal Rules of Evidence and the standards established in United States v. Petrozziello, 1 Cir., 1977, 548 F.2d 20, and United States v. Ciampaglia, 1 Cir., 1980, 628 F.2d 632, cert. denied, 449 U.S. 956, 101 S.Ct. 365, 66 L.Ed.2d 221. We find no error. Defendant was indicted, with three others, Merlino, Travers, and Fox, for conspiracy to distribute. The three others were further indicted for the substantive offense. They pled guilty. Guerro was tried alone, and convicted. Apart from the objected-to testimony, the evidence showed a conspiracy to distribute PCP from the Massachusetts Correctional Prison Project at Medfield State Hospital (Hospital) and the TRC Generator Company (TRC) in Dorchester, Massachusetts. During the course of the conspiracy, which the court, without objection, established as existing between February 18, 1978 and February 5, 1979, Guerro was on parole from a state prison sentence, and worked at the Hospital as a paralegal. During the same period Merlino was an inmate at the Hospital and Travers worked at TRC. There was evidence that Merlino distributed PCP directly from the Hospital, and that Travers and Fox distributed it from TRC. There was no evidence that Guerro actually distributed PCP. There was, however, considerable evidence that he transported PCP in and out of the Hospital and TRC. There was also evidence that he associated with Merlino at the Hospital. Additionally, he was shown to have procured supplies that are used to make PCP, and even to have such supplies delivered directly to him at the Hospital. Finally, he made incriminating statements to government agents. The objected-to hearsay statements were made by Merlino in various conversations he had with undercover agent Keefe.1 According to Keefe's testimony, he met with Merlino at the Hospital on January 18 to discuss a possible purchase of cocaine. Merlino also offered to sell Keefe PCP. Keefe replied that he was without funds to purchase PCP because he had not been forewarned that Merlino would have some. Merlino stated that he had not known "his man" would bring it up on that day, but that "his man" had brought up a "pound of the green stuff"2 and that "his man had it up here now." Keefe also testified that just before he met with Merlino he saw Guerro's car in the parking lot outside. Another agent testified that he saw Guerro drive away from the Hospital that day. On January 24 Keefe telephoned Merlino and tried to arrange a purchase of PCP. Merlino stated that he was having difficulty procuring supplies of PCP because "I haven't seen that guy at all since he left that day [January 18]." And, again, "He hasn't been around. I, uh, kind of think he's out of town." On January 31 Keefe again telephoned Merlino regarding the purchase of PCP. Keefe. "Anything new on that green?" Merlino. "Uh, no. I haven't talked to the guy." Keefe. "Nothin, huh." Merlino. "He said sooner than ten days and I don't know when those ten days are ...." Merlino. "I should be seein' him towards, uh, the weekend." Keefe. "Mike was telling me that your man had some problems, he got locked up or something?" Merlino. "Yeah, uh ...." Keefe. "Is that gonna be a problem or what?" Merlino. "Well, uh, it very well could be." The problem lay in the fact that on January 23 Guerro was arrested in New York on charges of selling plastic explosives. Taken in context, the conversations provided a basis for inferring that he was the supplier of PCP referred to by Merlino, and clearly were prejudicial if erroneously admitted. Defendant objected, when the statements were originally offered, on the ground of hearsay, and again objected to the Petrozziello-Ciampaglia finding at the end of trial. Rule 801(d)(2)(E) provides that a "statement is not hearsay if ... [t]he statement is offered against a party and is ... a statement by a coconspirator of a party during the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy." Noting that this changed our prior procedure, we pointed out in United States v. Petrozziello, 548 F.2d, ante, at 23, that the trial court should admit into evidence hearsay statements under Rule 801(d)(2)(E) "if it is more likely than not that the declarant and the defendant were members of a conspiracy when the hearsay statement was made, and that the statement was in furtherance of the conspiracy ...." There is no merit in defendant's claim that the evidence was insufficient to support the court's finding that the government had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Merlino and Guerro participated in a conspiracy to distribute PCP. It is not an objection that the evidence was circumstantial. E.g., United States v. Patterson, 1 Cir., 1981, 644 F.2d 890, 893. Our cases do not always contain direct indicia of a conspiratorial relationship. E.g., United States v. Nardi, 1 Cir., 1980, 633 F.2d 972; United States v. Pappas, 1 Cir., 1979, 611 F.2d 399. In determining defendant's involvement in the conspiracy, the court could, and did, look to the evidence of his many suspicious movements in and around the Hospital, his interaction with Merlino, his trips to TRC, his procuring supplies that are used to make PCP, his making incriminating statements to government agents, Merlino's sales of PCP from the Hospital, and Travers' and Fox's sales of PCP from TRC. Finally, although standing alone or with only very little additional evidence, Merlino's statements themselves would not be sufficient to establish Guerro's involvement in the conspiracy, the court could look to those statements as further evidence of Guerro's participation. See United States v. Martorano, 1 Cir., 1977, 557 F.2d 1, 11, reh. denied, 561 F.2d 406, cert. denied, 435 U.S. 922, 98 S.Ct. 1484, 55 L.Ed.2d 515. The total was clearly ample. Nor do we have difficulty with a finding that Merlino's statements, apart from the question of whether defendant was still a participant, furthered the conspiracy. In both the January 24 and 31 conversations Merlino was willing to sell, but was temporarily unable to do so because of his problems with his supplier. Merlino still had hopes of a contact "towards ... the weekend." Merlino's statements were not, as defendant claims, part of an idle conversation lamenting the end of a conspiracy. Cf. United States v. Miller, 5 Cir., 1981, 664 F.2d 94, 98. An ongoing transaction was contemplated, and the conversations reflect an unsuccessful attempt by Merlino to further the aims of the conspiracy. Thus, defendant's argument can succeed only if we interpret the "in furtherance of" language in Rule 801(d)(2)(E) to require actual achievement. This restrictive interpretation is unwarranted. See, e.g., United States v. Handy, 8 Cir., 1982, 668 F.2d 407, 408 ("intended to further"); United States v. Peacock, 5 Cir., 1981, 654 F.2d 339, 350 ("served the conspiracy"). Success is never a necessary attribute of a conspiracy. We have more trouble, however, with the court's finding that Merlino's statements were made "during the course" of Guerro's participation in the conspiracy. Since Guerro was arrested in New York on January 23, his involvement in the conspiracy at the time of the January 24 and 31 telephone conversations presents some difficulty. However, although arrest may often end a defendant's role in a conspiracy, each case must be decided on its own facts. E.g., United States v. Mason, 9 Cir., 1981, 658 F.2d 1263, 1269-70. See also, United States v. Fortes, 1 Cir., 1980, 619 F.2d 108, 112. Being in jail would not necessarily destroy these parties' ardor. Guerro was arrested for an unrelated offense, and might well be released on bail, or transferred to Boston, where he was on parole. From the conversations themselves it is apparent that Merlino contemplated a continuance of the relationship although he knew of the arrest. This was probative. For so short a period the court could conclude that Guerro remained involved. Cf. United States v. Mason, 658 F.2d, ante, at 1269-70; United States v. Testa, 9 Cir., 1977, 548 F.2d 847, 852.

Resonance enhanced dynamic light scattering Plum, M. A., Menges, B., Fytas, G., Butt, H.-J. and Steffen, W., 2011. Resonance enhanced dynamic light scattering. Review of Scientific Instruments, 82 (1), 015102. Related documents:This repository does not currently have the full-text of this item. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided below. (Contact Author) We present a novel light scattering setup that enables probing of dynamics near solid surfaces. An evanescent wave generated by a surface plasmon resonance in a metal layer is the incident light field in the dynamic light scattering experiment. The combination of surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering leads to a spatiotemporal resolution extending a few hundred nanometers from the surface and from microseconds to seconds. The comparison with evanescent wave dynamic light scattering identifies the advantages of the presented technique, e.g., surface monitoring, use of metal surfaces, and biorelevant systems. For both evanescent wave geometries, we define the scattering wave vector necessary for the analysis of the experimental relaxation functions. |Creators||Plum, M. A., Menges, B., Fytas, G., Butt, H.-J. and Steffen, W.| |Departments||Faculty of Science > Chemistry| Actions (login required)

Benefit For Tyler Zickefoose A benefit has been established for Tyler Zickefoose of Oskaloosa (the 15 year old son of Shane and Mindy) who was involved in an accident on Easter Sunday that resulted in serious injuries. Since Tyler is a member of the Oskaloosa Senior Babe Ruth baseball team, the benefit will be a matchup between the Oskaloosa Varsity Girls Softball Team taking on the Oskaloosa Varsity Boys Baseball team on Friday May 9 (with a rain date of Saturday May 10th) with NO admission fee. The action starts at 7:00 pm and ends at 10:00 pm at the Charlie Kentfield Babe Ruth diamond located at Lacey Sports Complex. All proceeds from this benefit will go to the Zickefoose family. Opportunities to contribute at the game include: • # TylerStrong shirts that can be ordered in the sizes you need • TylerStrong #15 bracelets may be purchased • Raffle for a $200.00 grocery gift cards • Silent Auction of numerous and varying items • Face Painting • Bake Sale • Food and Beverage Concessions We expect a large turnout so with limited bleacher seating, bring your lawn chair, come enjoy an entertaining evening of baseball and help us support the Zickefoose family. If you are unable to attend, an account has been established at the Valley Bank in Oskaloosa, where donations may be made to the Tyler Zickefoose Benefit.

Adam Sweeney, Doug Doucette, Wei Hu, Curtis Anderson, Mike Nishimoto, and Geoff Peck Silicon Graphics, Inc. In this paper we describe the architecture and design of a new file system, XFS, for SGI's IRIX operating system. It is a general purpose file system for use on both workstations and servers. The focus of the paper is on the mechanisms used by XFS to scale capacity and performance in supporting very large file systems. The large file system support includes mechanisms for managing large files, large numbers of files, large directories, and very high performance I/O. In discussing the mechanisms used for scalability we include both descriptions of the XFS on-disk data structures and analyses of why they were chosen. We discuss in detail our use of B+ trees in place of many of the more traditional linear file system structures. XFS has been shipping to customers since December of 1994 in a version of IRIX 5.3, and we are continuing to improve its performance and add features in upcoming releases. We include performance results from running on the latest version of XFS to demonstrate the viability of our design. XFS is the next generation local file system for SGI's workstations and servers. It is a general purpose Unix file system that runs on workstations with 16 megabytes of memory and a single disk drive and also on large SMP network servers with gigabytes of memory and terabytes of disk capacity. In this paper we describe the XFS file system with a focus on the mechanisms it uses to manage large file systems on large computer systems. The most notable mechanism used by XFS to increase the scalability of the file system is the pervasive use of B+ trees [Comer79]. B+ trees are used for tracking free extents in the file system rather than bitmaps. B+ trees are used to index directory entries rather than using linear lookup structures. B+ trees are used to manage file extent maps that overflow the number of direct pointers kept in the inodes. Finally, B+ trees are used to keep track of dynamically allocated inodes scattered throughout the file system. In addition, XFS uses an asynchronous write ahead logging scheme for protecting complex metadata updates and allowing fast file system recovery after a crash. We also support very high throughput file I/O using large, parallel I/O requests and DMA to transfer data directly between user buffers and the underlying disk drives. These mechanisms allow us to recover even very large file systems after a crash in typically less than 15 seconds, to manage very large file systems efficiently, and to perform file I/O at hardware speeds that can exceed 300 MB/sec. XFS has been shipping to customers since December of 1994 in a version of IRIX 5.3, and XFS will be the default file system installed on all SGI systems starting with the release of IRIX 6.2 in early 1996. The file system is stable and is being used on production servers throughout SGI and at many of our customers' sites. In the rest of this paper we describe why we chose to focus on scalability in the design of XFS and the mechanisms that are the result of that focus. We start with an explanation of why we chose to start from scratch rather than enhancing the old IRIX file system. We next describe the overall architecture of XFS, followed by the specific mechanisms of XFS which allow it to scale in both capacity and performance. Finally, we present performance results from running on real systems to demonstrate the success of the XFS design. The file system literature began predicting the coming of the "I/O bottleneck" years ago [Ousterhout90], and we experienced it first hand at SGI. The problem was not the I/O performance of our hardware, but the limitations imposed by the old IRIX file system, EFS [SGI92]. EFS is similar to the Berkeley Fast File System [McKusick84] in structure, but it uses extents rather than individual blocks for file space allocation and I/O. EFS could not support file systems greater than 8 gigabytes in size, files greater than 2 gigabytes in size, or give applications access to the full I/O bandwidth of the hardware on which they were running. EFS was not designed with large systems and file systems in mind, and it was faltering under the pressure coming from the needs of new applications and the capabilities of new hardware. While we considered enhancing EFS to meet these new demands, the required changes were so great that we decided it would be better to replace EFS with an entirely new file system designed with these new demands in mind. One example of a new application that places new demands on the file system is the storage and retrieval of uncompressed video. This requires approximately 30 MB/sec of I/O throughput for a single stream, and just one hour of such video requires 108 gigabytes of disk storage. While most people work with compressed video to make the I/O throughput and capacity requirements easier to manage, many customers, for example those involved in professional video editing, come to SGI looking to work with uncompressed video. Another video storage example that influenced the design of XFS is a video on demand server, such as the one being deployed by Time Warner in Orlando. These servers store thousands of compressed movies. One thousand typical movies take up around 2.7 terabytes of disk space. Playing two hundred high quality 0.5 MB/sec MPEG streams concurrently uses 100 MB/sec of I/O bandwidth. Applications with similar requirements are appearing in database and scientific computing, where file system scalability and performance is sometimes more important than CPU performance. The requirements we derived from these applications were support for terabytes of disk space, huge files, and hundreds of megabytes per second of I/O bandwidth. We also needed to ensure that the file system could provide access to the full capabilities and capacity of our hardware, and to do so with a minimal amount of overhead. This meant supporting systems with multiple terabytes of disk capacity. With today's 9 gigabyte disk drives it only takes 112 disk drives to surpass 1 terabyte of storage capacity. These requirements also meant providing access to the large amount of disk bandwidth that is available in such high capacity systems. Today, SGI's high end systems have demonstrated sustained disk bandwidths in excess of 500 megabytes per second. We needed to make that bandwidth available to applications using the file system. Finally, these requirements meant doing all of this without using unreasonable portions of the available CPU and memory on the systems. In designing XFS, we focused in on the specific problems with EFS and other existing file systems that we felt we needed to address. In this section we consider several of the specific scalability problems addressed in the design of XFS and why the mechanisms used in other file systems are not sufficient. A file system with a crash recovery procedure that is dependent on the file system size cannot be practically used on large systems, because the data on the system is unavailable for an unacceptably long period after a crash. EFS and file systems based on the BSD Fast File System [McKusick84] falter in this area due to their dependence on a file system scavenger program to restore the file system to a consistent state after a crash. Running fsck over an 8 gigabyte file system with a few hundred thousand inodes today takes a few minutes. This is already too slow to satisfy modern availability requirements, and the time it takes to recover in this way only gets worse when applied to larger file systems with more files. Most recently designed file systems apply database recovery techniques to their metadata recovery procedure to avoid this pitfall. We needed a file system that could manage even petabytes of storage, but all of the file systems we know of are limited to either a few gigabytes or a few terabytes in size. EFS is limited to only 8 gigabytes in size. These limitations stem from the use of data structures that don't scale, for example the bitmap in EFS, and from the use of 32 bit block pointers throughout the on-disk structures of the file system. The 32 bit block pointers can address at most 4 billion blocks, so even with an 8 kilobyte block size the file system is limited to a theoretical maximum of 32 terabytes in size. None of the file systems we looked at support full 64 bit, sparse files. EFS did not support sparse files at all. Most others use the block mapping scheme created for FFS. We decided early on that we would manage space in files with variable length extents (which we will describe later), and the FFS style scheme does not work with variable length extents. Entries in the FFS block map point to individual blocks in the file, and up to three levels of indirect blocks can be used to track blocks throughout the file. This scheme requires that all entries in the map point to extents of the same size. This is because it does not store the offset of each entry in the map with the entry, and thus forces each entry to be in a fixed location in the tree so that it can be found. Also, a 64 bit file address space cannot be supported at all without adding more levels of indirection to the FFS block map. Another problem is that the mechanisms in many other file systems for allocating large, contiguous files do not scale well. Most, including EFS, use linear bitmap structures for tracking free and allocated blocks in the file system. Finding large regions of contiguous space in such bitmaps in large file systems is not efficient. For EFS this has become a significant bottleneck in the performance of writing newly allocated files. For other file systems, for example FFS, this has not been a problem up to this point, because they do not try very hard to allocate files contiguously. Not doing so, however, can have bad implications for the I/O performance of accessing files in those file systems [Seltzer95]. Another area which has not been addressed by other Unix file systems is support for directories with more than a few thousand entries. While some, for example Episode [Chutani92] and VxFS [Veritas95], at least speed up searching for entries within a directory block via hashing, most file systems use directory structures which require a linear scan of the directory blocks in searching for a particular file. The lookup and update performance of these unindexed formats degrades linearly with the size of the directory. Others use in-memory hashing schemes layered over simple on-disk structures [Hitz94]. These in memory schemes work well to a point, but in very large directories they require a large amount of memory. This problem has been addressed in some non-Unix file systems, like NTFS [Custer94] and Cedar [Hagmann87], by using B trees to index the entries in the directory. While EFS and other file systems can theoretically support very large numbers of files in a file system, in practice they do not. The reason is that the number of inodes allocated in these file systems is fixed at the time the file system is created. Choosing a very large number of inodes up front wastes the space allocated to those inodes when they are not actually used. The real number of files that will reside in a file system is rarely known at the time the file system is created. Being forced to choose makes the management of large file systems more difficult than it should be. Episode [Chutani92] and VxFS [Veritas95] both solve this problem by allowing the number of inodes in the file system to be increased dynamically. In summary, there are several problems with EFS and other file systems that we wanted to address in the design of XFS. While these problems may not have been important in the past, we believe the rules of file system design have changed. The rest of this paper describes XFS and the ways in which it solves the scalability problems described here. Figure 1. gives a block diagram of the general structure of the XFS file system. The high level structure of XFS is similar to a conventional file system with the addition of a transaction manager and a volume manager. XFS supports all of the standard Unix file interfaces and is entirely POSIX and XPG4 compliant. It sits below the vnode interface [Kleiman86] in the IRIX kernel and takes full advantage of services provided by the kernel, including the buffer/page cache, the directory name lookup cache, and the dynamic vnode cache. XFS is modularized into several parts, each of which is responsible for a separate piece of the file system's functionality. The central and most important piece of the file system is the space manager. This module manages the file system free space, the allocation of inodes, and the allocation of space within individual files. The I/O manager is responsible for satisfying file I/O requests and depends on the space manager for allocating and keeping track of space for files. The directory manager implements the XFS file system name space. The buffer cache is used by all of these pieces to cache the contents of frequently accessed blocks from the underlying volume in memory. It is an integrated page and file cache shared by all file systems in the kernel. The transaction manager is used by the other pieces of the file system to make all updates to the metadata of the file system atomic. This enables the quick recovery of the file system after a crash. While the XFS implementation is modular, it is also large and complex. The current implementation is over 50,000 lines of C code, while the EFS implementation is approximately 12,000 lines. The volume manager used by XFS, known as XLV, provides a layer of abstraction between XFS and its underlying disk devices. XLV provides all of the disk striping, concatenation, and mirroring used by XFS. XFS itself knows nothing of the layout of the devices upon which it is stored. This separation of disk management from the file system simplifies the file system implementation, its application interfaces, and the management of the file system. XFS goes to great lengths to efficiently support large files, large file systems, large numbers of files, and large directories. This section describes the mechanisms used to achieve such scalability in size. XFS supports full 64 bit file systems. All of the global counters in the system are 64 bits in length. Block addresses and inode numbers are also 64 bits in length. To avoid requiring all structures in XFS to scale to the 64 bit size of the file system, the file system is partitioned into regions called allocation groups (AGs). These are somewhat similar to the cylinder groups in FFS, but AGs are used for scalability and parallelism rather than disk locality. Allocation groups keep the size of the XFS data structures in a range where they can operate efficiently without breaking the file system into an unmanageable number of pieces. Allocation groups are typically 0.5 to 4 gigabytes in size. Each AG has its own separate data structures for managing the free space and inodes within its boundaries. Partitioning the file system into AGs limits the size of the individual structures used for tracking free space and inodes. The partitioning also allows the per-AG data structures to use AG relative block and inode pointers. Doing so reduces the size of those pointers from 64 to 32 bits. Like the limitations on the size of the region managed by the AG, this helps to keep the per-AG data structures to an optimal size. Allocation groups are only occasionally used for disk locality. They are generally far too large to be of much use in this respect. Instead, we establish locality around individual files and directories. Like FFS, each time a new directory is created, we place it in a different AG from its parent. Once we've allocated a directory, we try to cluster the inodes in that directory and the blocks for those inodes around the directory itself. This works well for keeping directories of small files clustered together on disk. For large files, we try to allocate extents initially near the inode and afterwards near the existing block in the file which is closest to the offset in the file for which we are allocating space. That implies blocks will be allocated near the last block in the file for sequential writers and near blocks in the middle of the file for processes writing into holes. Files and directories are not limited to allocating space within a single allocation group, however. While the structures maintained within an AG use AG relative pointers, files and directories are file system global structures that can reference inodes and blocks anywhere in the file system. The other purpose of allocation groups is to allow for parallelism in the management of free space and inode allocation. Previous file systems, like SGI's EFS, have single threaded block allocation and freeing mechanisms. On a large file system with large numbers of processes running, this can be a significant bottleneck. By making the structures in each AG independent of those in the other AGs, XFS enables free space and inode management operations to proceed in parallel throughout the file system. Thus, processes running concurrently can allocate space in the file system concurrently without interfering with each other. Space management is key to good file system performance and scalability. Efficiently allocating and freeing space and keeping the file system from becoming fragmented are essential to good file system performance. XFS has replaced the block oriented bitmaps of other file systems with an extent oriented structure consisting of a pair of B+ trees for each allocation group. The entries in the B+ trees are descriptors of the free extents in the AG. Each descriptor consists of an AG relative starting block and a length. One of the B+ trees is indexed by the starting block of the free extents, and the other is indexed by the length of the free extents. This double indexing allows for very flexible and efficient searching for free extents based on the type of allocation being performed. Searching an extent based tree is more efficient than a linear bitmap scan, especially for large, contiguous allocations. In searching a tree describing only the free extents, no time is wasted scanning bits for allocated blocks or determining the length of a given extent. According to our simulations, the extent based trees are just as efficient and more flexible than hierarchical bitmap schemes such as binary buddy bitmaps. Unfortunately, the results of those simulations have been lost, so we will have to settle here for an analytical explanation. Unlike binary buddy schemes, there are no restrictions on the alignment or size of the extents which can be allocated. This is why we consider the B+ trees more flexible. Finding an extent of a given size with the B+ tree indexed by free extent size, and finding an extent near a given block with the B+ tree indexed by extent starting block are both O(log N) operations. This is why we feel that the B+ trees are just as efficient as binary buddy schemes. The implementation of the allocation B+ trees is certainly more complex than normal or binary buddy bitmap schemes, but we believe that the combination of flexibility and performance we get from the B+ trees is worth the complexity. XFS provides a 64 bit, sparse address space for each file. The support for sparse files allows files to have holes in them for which no disk space is allocated. The support for 64 bit files means that there are potentially a very large number of blocks to be indexed for every file. In order to keep the number of entries in the file allocation map small, XFS uses an extent map rather than a block map for each file. Entries in the extent map are ranges of contiguous blocks allocated to the file. Each entry consists of the block offset of the entry in the file, the length of the extent in blocks, and the starting block of the extent in the file system. In addition to saving space over a block map by compressing the allocation map entries for up to two million contiguous blocks into a single extent map entry, using extent descriptors makes the management of contiguous space within a file efficient. Even with the space compression provided by an extent map, sparse files may still require large numbers of entries in the file allocation map. When the number of extents allocated to a file overflows the number that can fit immediately within an XFS inode, we use a B+ tree rooted within the inode to manage the extent descriptors. The B+ tree is indexed by the block offset field of the extent descriptors, and the data stored within the B+ tree are the extent descriptors. The B+ tree structure allows us to keep track of millions of extent descriptors, and, unlike an FFS style solution, it allows us to do so without forcing all extents to be of the same size. By storing the offset and length of each entry in the extent map in the entry, we gain the benefit of entries in the map which can point to variable length extents in exchange for a more complicated map implementation and less fan out at each level of the mapping tree (since our individual entries are larger we fit fewer of them in each indirect block). In addition to supporting very large files, XFS supports very large numbers of files. The number of files in a file system is limited only by the amount of space in the file system to hold them. Rather than statically pre-allocating the inodes for all of these files, XFS dynamically allocates inodes as needed. This relieves the system administrator of having to guess the number of files that will be created in a given file system and of having to recreate the file system when that guess is wrong. With dynamically allocated inodes, it is necessary to use some data structure for keeping track of where the inodes are located. In XFS, each allocation group manages the inodes allocated within its confines. Each AG uses a B+ tree to index the locations of the inodes within it. Inodes are allocated in chunks of sixty-four inodes. The inode allocation B+ tree in each AG keeps track of the locations of these chunks and whether each inode within a chunk is in use. The inodes themselves are not actually contained in the B+ tree. The B+ tree records only indicate where each chunk of inodes is located within the AG. The inode allocation B+ trees, containing only the offset of each inode chunk along with a bit for each inode in the chunk, can each manage millions of inodes. This flexibility comes at the cost of additional complexity in the implementation of the file system. Deciding where to allocate new chunks of inodes and keeping track of them requires complexity that does not exist in other file systems. File system backup programs that need to traverse the inodes of the file system are also more complex, because they need to be able to traverse the inode B+ trees in order to find all of the inodes. Finally, having a sparse inode numbering space forced us to use 64 bit inode numbers, and this introduces a whole series of system interface issues for returning file identifiers to programs. The millions of files in an XFS file system need to be represented in the file system name space. XFS implements the traditional Unix hierarchical name space. Unlike existing Unix file systems, XFS can efficiently support large numbers of files in a single directory. XFS uses an on-disk B+ tree structure for its directories. The directory B+ tree is a bit different from the other B+ trees in XFS. The difference is that keys for the entries in the directory B+ tree, the names of the files in the directory, vary in length from 1 to 255 bytes. To hide this fact from the B+ tree index management code, the directory entry names are hashed to four byte values which are used as the keys in the B+ tree for the entries. The directory entries are kept in the leaves of the B+ tree. Each stores the full name of the entry along with the inode number for that entry. Since the hash function used for the directories is not perfect, the directory code must manage entries in the directory with duplicate keys. This is done by keeping entries with duplicate hash values next to each other in the tree. The use of fixed size keys in the interior nodes of the directory B+ tree simplifies the code for managing the B+ tree, but by making the keys non-unique via hashing we add significant complexity. We feel that the increased performance of the directory B+ trees that results from having fixed size keys, described below, is worth the increased complexity of the implementation. The hashing of potentially large, variable length key values to small, constant size keys increases the breadth of the directory B+ trees. This reduces the height of the tree. The breadth of the B+ tree is increased by using small, constant sized keys in the interior nodes. This is because the interior nodes are fixed in size to a single file system block, and compressing the keys allows more of them to fit into each interior node of the tree. This allows each interior node to have more children, thus increasing the breadth of the tree. In reducing the height of the tree, we reduce the number of levels that must be examined in searching for a given entry in the directory. The B+ tree structure makes lookup, create, and remove operations in directories with millions of entries practical. However, listing the contents of a directory with a million entries is still impractical due to the size of the resulting output. File systems of the size and complexity of XFS cannot be practically recovered by a process which examines the file system metadata to reconstruct the file system. In a large file system, examining the large amount of metadata will take too long. In a complex file system, piecing the on-disk data structures back together will take even longer. An example is the recovery of the XFS inode table. Since our inodes are not located in a fixed location, finding all of the inodes in the worst case where the inode B+ trees have been trashed can require scanning the entire disk for inodes. To avoid these problems, XFS uses a write ahead logging scheme that enables atomic updates of the file system. This scheme is very similar to the one described very thoroughly in [Hisgen93]. XFS logs all structural updates to the file system metadata. This includes inodes, directory blocks, free extent tree blocks, inode allocation tree blocks, file extent map blocks, AG header blocks, and the superblock. XFS does not log user data. For example, creating a file requires logging the directory block containing the new entry, the newly allocated inode, the inode allocation tree block describing the allocated inode, the allocation group header block containing the count of free inodes, and the superblock to record the change in its count of free inodes. The entry in the log for each of these items consists of header information describing which block or inode this is and a copy of the new image of the item as it should exist on disk. Logging new copies of the modified items makes recovering the XFS log independent of both the size and complexity of the file system. Recovering the data structures from the log requires nothing but replaying the block and inode images in the log out to their real locations in the file system. The log recovery does not know that it is recovering a B+ tree. It only knows that it is restoring the latest images of some file system blocks. Unfortunately, using a transaction log does not entirely obsolete the use of file system scavenger programs. Hardware and software errors which corrupt random blocks in the file system are not generally recoverable with the transaction log, yet these errors can make the contents of the file system inaccessible. We did not provide such a repair program in the initial release of XFS, naively thinking that it would not be necessary, but our customers have convinced us that we were wrong. Without one, the only way to bring a corrupted file system back on line is to re-create it with mkfs and restore it from backups. We will be providing a scavenger program for all versions of XFS in the near future. In addition to managing large amounts of disk space, XFS is designed for high performance file and file system access. XFS is designed to run well over large, striped disk arrays where the aggregate bandwidth of the underlying drives ranges in the tens to hundreds of megabytes per second. The keys to performance in these arrays are I/O request size and I/O request parallelism. Modern disk drives have much higher bandwidth when requests are made in large chunks. With a striped disk array, this need for large requests is increased as individual requests are broken up into smaller requests to the individual drives. Since there are practical limits to individual request sizes, it is important to issue many requests in parallel in order to keep all of the drives in a striped array busy. The aggregate bandwidth of a disk array can only be achieved if all of the drives in the array are constantly busy. In this section, we describe how XFS makes that full aggregate bandwidth available to applications. We start with how XFS works to allocate large contiguous files. Next we describe how XFS performs I/O to those files. Finally, we describe how XFS manages its metadata for high performance. The first step in allowing large I/O requests to a file is to allocate the file as contiguously as possible. This is because the size of a request to the underlying drives is limited by the range of contiguous blocks in the file being read or written. The space manager in XFS goes to great lengths to ensure that files are allocated contiguously. One of the key features of XFS in allocating files contiguously is delayed file extent allocation. Delayed allocation applies lazy evaluation techniques to file allocation. Rather than allocating specific blocks to a file as it is written in the buffer cache, XFS simply reserves blocks in the file system for the data buffered in memory. A virtual extent is built up in memory for the reserved blocks. Only when the buffered data is flushed to disk are real blocks allocated for the virtual extent. Delaying the decision of which and how many blocks to allocate to a file as it is written provides the allocator with much better knowledge of the eventual size of the file when it makes its decision. When the entire file can be buffered in memory, the entire file can usually be allocated in a single extent if the contiguous space to hold it is available. For files that cannot be entirely buffered in memory, delayed allocation allows the files to be allocated in much larger extents than would otherwise be possible. Delayed allocation fits well in modern file system design in that its effectiveness increases with the size of the memory of the system. As more data is buffered in memory, the allocator is provided with better and better information for making its decisions. Also, with delayed allocation, short lived files which can be buffered in memory are often never allocated any real disk blocks. The files are removed and purged from the file cache before they are pushed to disk. Such short lived files appear to be relatively common in Unix systems [Ousterhout85, Baker91], and delayed allocation reduces both the number of metadata updates caused by such files and the impact of such files on file system fragmentation. Another benefit of delayed allocation is that files which are written randomly but have no holes can often be allocated contiguously. If all of the dirty data can be buffered in memory, the space for the randomly written data can be allocated contiguously when the dirty data is flushed out to disk. This is especially important for applications writing data with mapped files where random access is the norm rather than the exception. To make the management of large amounts of contiguous space in a file efficient, XFS uses very large extent descriptors in the file extent map. Each descriptor can describe up to two million file system blocks, because we use 21 bits in the extent descriptor to store the length of the extent. Describing large numbers of blocks with a single extent descriptor eliminates the CPU overhead of scanning entries in the extent map to determine whether blocks in the file are contiguous. We can simply read the length of the extent rather than looking at each entry to see if it is contiguous with the previous entry. The extent descriptors used by XFS are 16 bytes in length. This is actually their compressed size, as the in memory extent descriptor needs 20 bytes (8 for file offset, 8 for the block number, and 4 for the extent length). Having such large extent descriptors forces us to have a smaller number of direct extent pointers in the inode than we would with smaller extent descriptors like those used by EFS (8 bytes total). We feel that this is a reasonable trade-off for XFS because of our focus on contiguous file allocation and the good performance of the indirect extent maps even when we do overflow the direct extents. In addition to the above features for keeping disk space contiguous, XFS allows the file system block size to range from 512 bytes to 64 kilobytes on a per file system basis. The file system block size is the minimum unit of allocation and I/O request size. Thus, setting the block size sets the minimum unit of fragmentation in the file system. Of course, this must be balanced against the large amount of internal fragmentation that is caused by using very large block sizes. File systems with large numbers of small files, for example news servers, typically use smaller block sizes in order to avoid wasting space via internal fragmentation. File systems with large files tend to make the opposite choice and use large block sizes in order to reduce external fragmentation of the file system and their files' extents. The work by Seltzer and Smith [Seltzer95] shows that long term file system fragmentation can degrade the performance of FFS file systems by between 5% and 15%. This fragmentation is the result of creating and removing many files over time. Even if all of the files are allocated contiguously, eventually, the remaining files are scattered about the disk. This fragments the file system's free space. Given the propensity of XFS for doing large I/O to contiguously allocated files, we could expect the degradation of XFS from its optimum performance to be even worse. While XFS cannot completely avoid this problem, there are a few reasons why its impact is not as severe as it could be with XFS file systems. The first is the combination of delayed allocation and the allocation B+ trees. In using the two together XFS makes requests for larger allocations to the allocator and is able to efficiently determine one of the best fitting extents in the file system for that allocation. This helps in delaying the onset of the fragmentation problem and reducing its performance impact once it occurs. A second reason is that XFS file systems are typically larger than EFS and FFS file systems. In a large file system, there is typically a larger amount of free space for the allocator to work with. In such a file system it takes much longer for the file system to become fragmented. Another reason is that file systems tend to be used to store either a small number of large files or a large number of small files. In a file system with a smaller number of large files, fragmentation will not be a problem, because allocating and deleting large files still leaves large regions of contiguous free space in the file system. In a file system containing mostly small files, fragmentation is not a big problem, because small files have no need for large regions of contiguous space. However, in the long term we still expect fragmentation to degrade the performance of XFS file systems, so we intend to add an on-line file system defragmentation utility to optimize the file system in the future. Given a contiguously allocated file, it is the job of the XFS I/O manager to read and write the file in large enough requests to drive the underlying disk drives at full speed. XFS uses a combination of clustering, read ahead, write behind, and request parallelism in order to exploit its underlying disk array. For high performance I/O, XFS allows applications to use direct I/O to move data directly between application memory and the disk array using DMA. Each of these is described in detail below. To obtain good sequential read performance, XFS uses large read buffers and multiple read ahead buffers. By large read buffers, we mean that for sequential reads we use a large minimum I/O buffer size (typically 64 kilobytes). Of course, for files smaller than the minimum buffer size, we reduce the size of the buffers to match the files. Using a large minimum I/O size ensures that even when applications issue reads in small units the file system feeds the disk array requests that are large enough for good disk I/O performance. For larger application reads, XFS increases the read buffer size to match the application's request. This is very similar to the read clustering scheme in SunOS [McVoy90], but it is more aggressive in using memory to improve I/O performance. While large read buffers satisfy the need for large request sizes, XFS uses multiple read ahead buffers to increase the parallelism in accessing the underlying disk array. Traditional Unix systems have used only a single read ahead buffer at a time [McVoy90]. For sequential reads, XFS keeps outstanding two to three requests of the same size as the primary I/O buffer. The number varies because we try to keep three read ahead requests outstanding, but we wait until the process catches up a bit with the read ahead before issuing more. The multiple read ahead requests keep the drives in the array busy while the application processes the data being read. The larger number of read ahead buffers allows us to keep a larger number of underlying drives busy at once. Not issuing read ahead blindly, but instead waiting until the application catches up a bit, helps to keep sequential readers from flooding the drive with read ahead requests when the application is not keeping up with the I/O anyway. To get good write performance, XFS uses aggressive write clustering [McVoy90]. Dirty file data is buffered in memory in chunks of 64 kilobytes, and when a chunk is chosen to be flushed from memory it is clustered with other contiguous chunks to form a larger I/O request. These I/O clusters are written to disk asynchronously, so as data is written into the file cache many such clusters will be sent to the underlying disk array concurrently. This keeps the underlying disk array busy with a stream of large write requests. The write behind used by XFS is tightly integrated with the delayed allocation mechanism described earlier. The more dirty data we can buffer in memory for a newly written file, the better the allocation for that file will be. This is balanced with the need to keep memory from being flooded with dirty pages and the need to keep I/O requests streaming out to the underlying disk array. This is mostly an issue for the file cache, however, so it will not be discussed in this paper. With very large disk arrays, it is often the case that the underlying I/O hardware can move data faster than the system's CPUs can copy that data into or out of the buffer cache. On these systems, the CPU is the bottleneck in moving data between a file and an application. For these situations, XFS provides what we call direct I/O. Direct I/O allows a program to read or write a file without first passing the data through the system buffer cache. The data is moved directly between the user program's buffer and the disk array using DMA. This avoids the overhead of copying the data into or out of the buffer cache, and it also allows the program to better control the size of the requests made to the underlying devices. In the initial implementation of XFS, direct I/O was not kept coherent with buffered I/O, but this has been fixed in the latest version. Direct I/O is very similar to traditional Unix raw disk access, but it differs in that the disk addressing is indirected through the file extent map. Direct I/O provides applications with access to the full bandwidth of the underlying disk array without the complexity of managing raw disk devices. Applications processing files much larger than the system's memory can avoid using the buffer cache since they get no benefit from it. Applications like databases that consider the Unix buffer cache a nuisance can avoid it entirely while still reaping the benefits of working with normal files. Applications with real-time I/O requirements can use direct I/O to gain fine grained control over the I/O they do to files. The downsides of direct I/O are that it is more restrictive than traditional Unix file I/O and that it requires more sophistication from the application using it. It is more restrictive in that it requires the application to align its requests on block boundaries and to keep the requests a multiple of the block size in length. This often requires more complicated buffering techniques in the application that are normally handled by the Unix file cache. Direct I/O also requires more of the application in that it places the burden of making efficient I/O requests on the application. If the application writes a file using direct I/ O and makes individual 4 kilobyte requests, the application will run much slower than if it made those same requests into the file cache where they could be clustered into larger requests. While direct I/O will never entirely replace traditional Unix file I/O, it is a useful alternative for sophisticated applications that need high performance file I/O. Another barrier to high performance file I/O in many Unix file systems is the single threading inode lock used for each file. This lock ensures that only one process at a time may have I/O outstanding for a single file. This lock thwarts applications trying to increase the rate at which they can read or write a file using multiple processes to access the file at once. XFS uses a more flexible locking scheme that allows multiple processes to read and write a file at once. When using normal, buffered I/O, multiple readers can access the file concurrently, but only a single writer is allowed access to the file at a time. The single writer restriction is due to implementation rather than architectural restrictions and will eventually be removed. When using direct I/O, multiple readers and writers can all access the file simultaneously. Currently, when using direct I/O and multiple writers, we place the burden of serializing writes to the same region of the file on the application. This differs from traditional Unix file I/O where file writes are atomic with respect to other file accesses, and it is one of the main reasons why we do not yet support multiple writers using traditional Unix file I/O. Allowing parallel access to a file can make a significant difference in the performance of access to the file. When the bottleneck in accessing the file is the speed at which the CPU can move data between the application buffer and the buffer cache, parallel access to the file allows multiple CPUs to be applied to the data movement. When using direct I/O to drive a large disk array, parallel access to the file allows requests to be pipelined to the disk array using multiple processes to issue multiple requests. This feature is especially important for systems like IRIX that implement asynchronous I/O using threads. Without parallel file access, the asynchronous requests would be serialized by the inode lock and would therefore provide almost no performance benefit. The other side of file system performance is that of manipulating the file system metadata. For many applications, the speed at which files and directories can be created, destroyed, and traversed is just as important as file I/O rates. XFS attacks the problem of metadata performance on three fronts. The first is to use a transaction log to make metadata updates fast. The second is to use advanced data structures to change searches and updates from linear to logarithmic in complexity. The third is to allow parallelism in the search and update of different parts of the file system. We have already discussed the XFS data structures in detail, so this section will focus on the XFS transaction log and file system parallelism. A problem that has plagued traditional Unix file systems is their use of ordered, synchronous updates to on-disk data structures in order to make those updates recoverable by a scavenger program like fsck. The synchronous writes slow the performance of the metadata updates down to the performance of disk writes rather than the speed of today's fast CPUs [Rosenblum92]. XFS uses a write ahead transaction log to gather all the writes of an update into a single disk I/O, and it writes the transaction log asynchronously in order to decouple the metadata update rate from the speed of the disks. Other schemes such as log structured file systems [Rosenblum92], shadow paging [Hitz94], and soft updates [Ganger94] have been proposed to solve this problem, but we feel that write ahead logging provides the best trade-off among flexibility, performance, and reliability. This is because it provides us with the fast metadata updates and crash recovery we need without sacrificing our ability to efficiently support synchronous writing workloads, for example that of an NFS server [Sandberg85], and without sacrificing our desire for large, contiguous file support. However, an in depth analysis of write ahead logging or the tradeoffs among these schemes is beyond the scope of this paper. Traditional write ahead logging schemes write the log synchronously to disk before declaring a transaction committed and unlocking its resources. While this provides concrete guarantees about the permanence of an update, it restricts the update rate of the file system to the rate at which it can write the log. While XFS provides a mode for making file system updates synchronous for use when the file system is exported via NFS, the normal mode of operation for XFS is to use an asynchronously written log. We still ensure that the write ahead logging protocol is followed in that modified data cannot be flushed to disk until after the data is committed to the on-disk log. Rather than keeping the modified resources locked until the transaction is committed to disk, however, we instead unlock the resources and pin them in memory until the transaction commit is written to the on-disk log. The resources can be unlocked once the transaction is committed to the in-memory log buffers, because the log itself preserves the order of the updates to the file system. XFS gains two things by writing the log asynchronously. First, multiple updates can be batched into a single log write. This increases the efficiency of the log writes with respect to the underlying disk array [Hagmann87, Rosenblum92]. Second, the performance of metadata updates is normally made independent of the speed of the underlying drives. This independence is limited by the amount of buffering dedicated to the log, but it is far better than the synchronous updates of older file systems. Under very intense metadata update workloads, the performance of the updates can still become limited by the speed at which the log buffers can be written to disk. This occurs when updates are being written into the buffers faster than the buffers can be written into the log. For these cases, XFS allows the log to be placed on a separate device from the rest of the file system. It can be stored on a dedicated disk or non-volatile memory device. Using non-volatile memory devices for the transaction log has proven very effective in high end OLTP systems [Dimino94]. It can be especially useful with XFS on an NFS server, where updates must be synchronous, in both increasing the throughput and decreasing the latency of metadata update operations. XFS is designed to run well on large scale shared memory multiprocessors. In order to support the parallelism of such a machine, XFS has only one centralized resource: the transaction log. All other resources in the file system are made independent either across allocation groups or across individual inodes. This allows inodes and blocks to be allocated and freed in parallel throughout the file system. The transaction log is the most contentious resource in XFS. All updates to the XFS metadata pass through the log. However, the job of the log manager is very simple. It provides buffer space into which transactions can copy their updates, it writes those updates out to disk, and it notifies the transactions when the log writes complete. The copying of data into the log is easily parallelized by making the processor performing the transaction do the copy. As long as the log can be written fast enough to keep up with the transaction load, the fact that it is centralized is not a problem. However, under workloads which modify large amount of metadata without pausing to do anything else, like a program constantly linking and unlinking a file in a directory, the metadata update rate will be limited to the speed at which we can write the log to disk. In this section we present results demonstrating the scalability and performance of the XFS file system. These results are not meant as a rigorous investigation of the performance of XFS, but only as a demonstration of XFS's capabilities. We are continuing to measure and improve the performance of XFS as development of the file system proceeds. Figures 2 and 3 contain the results of some I/O throughput tests run on a raw volume, XFS, and EFS. The results come from a test which measures the rate at which we can write a previously empty file (create), read it back (read), and overwrite the existing file (write). The number of drives over which the underlying volume is striped ranges from 3 to 57 in the test. The test system is an 8 CPU Challenge with 512 megabytes of memory. The test is run with three disks per SCSI channel, and each disk is capable of reading data sequentially at approximately 7 MB/sec and writing data sequentially at approximately 5.5 MB/ sec. All tests are run on newly created file systems in order to measure the optimal performance of the file systems. All tests using EFS and XFS are using direct I/ O and large I/O requests, and the tests using multiple threads are using the IRIX asynchronous I/O library with the given number of threads. Measurements for multiple, asynchronous threads with EFS are not given, because the performance of EFS with multiple threads is the same or worse as with one thread due to its single threaded (per file) I/O path. The test files are approximately 30 megabytes per disk in the volume in size, and for the raw volume tests we write the same amount of data to the volume itself. The stripe unit for the volumes is 84 kilobytes for the single threaded cases and 256 kilobytes for the multi-threaded cases. We have found these stripe units to provide the best performance for each of the cases in our experimentation. We can draw several conclusions from this data. One is that XFS is capable of reading a file at nearly the full speed of the underlying volume. We manage to stay within 5-10% of the raw volume performance in all disk configurations when using an equivalent number of asynchronous I/O threads. Another interesting result is the parity of the create and write results for XFS versus the large disparity of the results for EFS. We believe that this demonstrates the efficiency of the XFS space allocator. Finally, the benefits of parallel file access are clearly demonstrated in these results. At the high end this makes a 55 MB/sec difference in the XFS read results. For writing and creating files it makes a 125 MB/sec difference. This is entirely because the parallel cases are capable of pipelining the drives with requests to keep them constantly busy whereas the single threaded cases are not. Using XFS, SGI recently achieved record breaking performance on the Datamation sort [Anon85] and Indy MinuteSort [Nyberg94] benchmarks. The Datamation sort benchmark measures how fast the system can sort 100 megabytes of 100 byte records. The MinuteSort benchmark measures how much data the system can sort in one minute. This includes start-up, reading the data in from disk, sorting it in memory, and writing the sorted data back out to disk. On a 12 CPU 200 Mhz Challenge system with 2.25 gigabytes of memory and a striped volume of 96 disk drives, we performed the Datamation sort in 3.52 seconds and sorted 1.6 gigabytes of data in 56 seconds for the MinuteSort. The previous records of 7 seconds and 1.08 gigabytes of data were achieved on a DEC Alpha system running VMS. Achieving this level of results requires high memory bandwidth, high file system and I/O bandwidth, scalable multiprocessing, and a sophisticated multiprocessing sort package. The key contribution of XFS to these results is the ability to create and read files at 170 MB/sec. This actually moved the bottleneck in the system from the file system to the allocation of zeroed pages for the sort processes. The results of the SPEC SFS (a.k.a. LADDIS) benchmark using XFS are encouraging as well. On a 12 CPU 250 Mhz Challenge XL with 1 gigabyte of memory, 4 FDDI networks, 16 scsi channels, and 121 disks, we achieved a maximum throughput of 8806 SPECnfs operations per second. While XFS plays only a part in achieving such outstanding performance, these results exceed our previous results using the EFS file system. On a slightly less powerful machine using EFS, we originally reported a result of 7023 SPECnfs operations per second. We estimate that the difference in hardware accounts for approximately 800 of the operations, leaving XFS approximately 1000 operations per second ahead of EFS. The difference is that EFS achieves 65 operations per second per disk, while XFS achieves 73 operations per disk. While this 12% increase might not seem like much, the LADDIS workload is dominated by small, synchronous write performance. This is often very difficult to improve without better disk hardware. We believe that the improvement with XFS is the result of the high performance directory structures, better file allocations, and synchronous metadata update batching of the transaction log provided by XFS. .br .ne 6 |Figure 4. Lookup Operations Per Second| It is clear from this test that lookups in medium to large directories are much more efficient using XFS. EFS uses a linear directory format similar to that used by BSD FFS. It degrades severely between 1,000 and 10,000 entries, at which point the test is entirely CPU bound scanning the cached file blocks for the entries being looked up. For XFS, the test is entirely CPU bound, but still very fast, until the size of the directory overflows the number of blocks that can be cached in memory. While there is a large amount of memory in the machine, only a limited portion of it can be used to cache directory blocks due to limitations of the IRIX metadata block cache. At the point where we overflow the cache, the interior nodes of the directory B+ tree are still cached, but most leaf nodes in the tree need to be read in from disk when they are accessed. This reduces the performance of the test to the performance of directory block sized I/O operations to the single underlying disk drive. The reason the performance continues to degrade as the directory size increases is most likely that the effectiveness of the leaf block caching continues to decrease with the increase in directory size. The main idea behind the design of XFS is very simple: think big. This idea brings forth the needs for large file systems, large files, large numbers of files, large directories, and large I/O that are addressed in the design and implementation of XFS. We believe that by satisfying these needs, XFS will satisfy the needs of the next generation of applications and systems so that we will not be back to where we are today in just a few years. The mechanisms in XFS for satisfying the requirements of big systems also make it a high performance general purpose file system. The pervasive use of B+ trees throughout the file system reduces many of the algorithms in the file system from linear to logarithmic. The use of asynchronous transaction logging eliminates many of the metadata update performance problems in previous file systems. Also, the use of delayed allocation improves the performance of all file allocations, especially those of small files. XFS is designed to perform well on both the desktop and the server, and it is this focus on scalability that distinguishes XFS from the rest of the file system crowd. We would like to thank John Ousterhout, Bob Gray, and Ray Chen for their help in reviewing and improving this paper; Chuck Bullis, Ray Chen, Tin Le, James Leong, Jim Orosz, Tom Phelan, and Supriya Wickrematillake, the other members of the XFS/XLV team, for helping to make XFS and XLV real, commercial products; and Larry McVoy for his magic troff incantations that made this paper presentable. [Anon85] Anonymous, "A Measure of Transaction Processing Power," Datamation, Vol. 31 No. 7, 112-118. [Baker91] Baker, M., Hartman, J., Kupfer, M., Shirriff, K., Ousterhout, J., "Measurements of a Distributed File System," Proceedings of the 13th Symposium on Operating System Principles, Pacific Grove, CA, October 1991, 192-212. [Chutani92] Chutani, S., Anderson, O., et. al., "The Episode File System," Proceedings of the 1992 Winter Usenix, San Francisco, CA, 1992, 43-60. [Comer79] Comer, D., "The Ubiquitous B-Tree," Computing Surveys, Vol. 11, No. 2, June 1979 121-137. [Dimino94] Dimino, L., Mediouni, R., Rengarajan, T., Rubino, M., Spiro, P., "Performance of DEC Rdb Version 6.0 on AXP Systems," Digital Technical Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, Winter 1994 23-35. [Ganger94] Ganger, G., Patt, Y., "Metadata Update Performance in File Systems," Proceedings of the First Usenix Symposium on Operating System Design and Implementation, Monterey, CA, November, 1994, 49-60. [Hagmann87] Hagmann, R., "Reimplementing the Cedar File System Using Logging and Group Commit," Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on Operating System Principles, November, 1987. [Hisgen93] Hisgen, A., Birrell, A., Jerian, C., Mann, T., Swart, G., "New-Value Logging in the Echo Replicated File System," Research Report 104, Systems Research Center, Digital Equipment Corporation, 1993. [Hitz94] Hitz, D., Lau, J., Malcolm, M., "File System Design for an NFS File Server Appliance," Proceedings of the 1994 Winter Usenix, San Francisco, CA, 1994, 235-246. [Kleiman86] Kleiman, S., "Vnodes: an Architecture for Multiple File System types in Sun Unix," Proceedings of the 1986 Summer Usenix, Summer 1986. [McKusick84] McKusick, M., Joy, W., Leffler, S., Fabry, R. "A Fast File System for UNIX," ACM Transactions on Computer Systems Vol. 2, No. 3, August 1984, 181-197. [McVoy90] McVoy, L., Kleiman, S., "Extent-like Performance from a UNIX File System," Proceedings of the 1991 Winter Usenix, Dallas, Texas, June 1991, 33-43. [Nyberg94] Nyberg, C., Barclay, T., Cvetanovic, Z., Gray, J., Lomet, D., "AlphaSort: A RISC Machine Sort," Proceedings of the 1994 SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data, Minneapolis, 1994. [Ousterhout85] Ousterhout, J., Da Costa, H., Harrison, D., Kunze, J., Kupfer, M., Thompson, J., "A Trace-Driven Analysis of the UNIX 4.2 BSD File System," Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on Operating System Principles, Orcas Island, WA, December 1985, 15-24. [Ousterhout90] Ousterhout, J. "Why Aren't Operating Systems Getting Faster As Fast as Hardware?" Proceedings of the 1990 Summer Usenix, Anaheim, CA, June, 1990, 247-256. [Rosenblum92] Rosenblum, M., Ousterhout, J., "The Design and Implementation of a Log-Structured File System," ACM Transactions on Computer Systems Vol 10, No. 1, February 1992, 26-52. [Sandberg85] Sandberg, R., et al., "Design and Implementation of the Sun Network File System," Proceedings of the 1985 Summer Usenix, June, 1985, 119-130. [Seltzer95] Seltzer, M., Smith, K., Balakrishnan, H., Chang, J., McMains, S., Padmanabhan, V., "File System Logging Versus Clustering: A Performance Comparison," Proceedings of the 1995 Usenix Technical Conference, January 1995, 249-264. [SGI92] IRIX Advanced Site and Server Administration Guide, Silicon Graphics, Inc., chapter 8, 241-288 [Veritas95] Veritas Software, http://www.veritas.com Adam Sweeney, Doug Doucette, Wei Hu, Curtis Anderson, Michael Nishimoto, and Geoff Peck are all members of the Server Technology group at SGI. Adam went to Stanford, Doug to NYU and Berkeley, Wei to MIT, Curtis to Cal Poly, Michael to Berkeley and Stanford, and Geoff to Harvard and Berkeley. None of them holds a Ph.D. All together they have worked at somewhere around 27 companies, on projects including secure operating systems, distributed operating systems, fault tolerant systems, and plain old Unix systems. None of them intends to make a career out of building file systems, but they all enjoyed building one.

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush pursued financial de-regulation, Barack Obama bailed out Wall Street in 2008, and 2010 brought in a much more bank-friendly Congress. But 2012? Well, so far, Elizabeth Warren , the Harvard academic and financial regulator, is projected to be elected to the Senate from Massachusetts. That august body filibustered her appointment to run the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the newly-created bank watchdog that she essentially invented, so now she's now joining the old boys club. Expect her to be a major voice on financial rules, whether or not she ends up on the Senate Banking Committee. And though she worked briefly for President Obama, she's an equal opportunity populist: As the chair of the committee that oversaw the TARP bailouts, she had plenty of harsh words for Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner.

WASHINGTON – The Campaign for America’s Future today applauded the Senate for overwhelmingly passing H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009 by a vote of 90-5. Sponsored by Senator Chris Dodd (D – Conn.), this bill would amend the Consumer Credit Protection Act to ban abusive credit practices, improve consumer discloses, and require more transparent practices in the credit card industry. The companion bill, H.R. 627, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D – New York), was passed by the House on April 30 by a vote of 357-70. STATEMENT OF ROBERT BOROSAGE, CO-DIRECTOR, CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009 will restore some much-needed fairness to a credit card industry that is largely out of control. It prevents credit card companies from arbitrarily hiking interest rates, applying newly-increased interest rates to prior existing balances; imposing major penalties for minor transgressions; imposing late fees even when it is proven that payment was mailed on time; imposing finance charges on balances repaid on time; and marketing and issuing cards to young people who are clearly unable to repay debt. For far too long, credit card companies have exploited their own customers with misleading information and usurious interest rates. Usury laws are designed to set fair and reasonable limits to the interest rates credit cards can charge customers. But beginning in the 1980s, conservatives began chipping away at these laws, and widespread deregulation has left customers vulnerable to unscrupulous credit card companies. But while this measure is a strong first step toward restoring basic fairness and transparency in credit card industry practices, we urge Congress to continue this work. For example, this legislation fails to place a cap on interest rates, which is vital to protecting consumers. In this unstable economy, we urge Congress to enact additional legislation aimed at protecting the average American from unscrupulous lenders.

Per-patient costs of delivering antiretroviral treatment for HIV: a review for low and middle income countries O. Galarraga1, V. Wirtz2, A. Medina-Lara3, A. Figueroa-Lara2, Y. Santa Ana Tellez2, I. Coulibaly4, K. Viisainen4, E. Korenromp4 1National Institute of Public Health (INSP), Health Economics, Cuernavaca, Mexico, 2INSP, Cuernavaca, Mexico, 3University of Liverpool, School of Management, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 4Global Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Geneva, Switzerland Background: Demand and program capacity to implement antiretroviral treatment (ART) are now approaching, and sometimes even exceeding, available health budgets in several low-income countries. Global health financing organizations are committed to supporting countries to measure per-person costs of key services. This information is critical to improve efficiency in service delivery, and maximize health effects. Objective: To systematically review the literature to estimate program-level delivery unit costs for adult antiretroviral treatment (ART) in low- and middle-income countries. Methods: A systematic review of the literature from 2001 to 2009 was conducted using PubMed, EconLit and POPLINE, and websites of international donor organizations. Included were empirical measurements of program-level expenditures, based on micro-costing, step-down or ingredients approaches that reported (at least) antiretroviral (ARV) drugs/medicines, laboratory testing, and human resource costs as separate cost components. Cost findings were analyzed by country income level (according to the World Bank classification: low-income, lower-middle and upper-middle), after transformation into 2009 US dollars. Results: Out of 202 articles assessed, 30 met the pre-established eligibility criteria addressing adult ART costs. For low-income countries the median cost per adult patient-year for first-line ART was US$212 (range: $132-$514). In lower-middle-income countries, first-line ART had a median of $651 (range: $97-$5503), and in upper-middle-income countries the median cost was $1022 (range: $228-1795). In all settings, ARV drugs/medicines were the largest component of overall treatment delivery cost, followed by human resources and laboratory costs. Conclusions: There is a paucity of information on per-patient costs in different settings and the relative efficiency of different delivery systems. Heterogeneity in program implementation and costing methodologies make it difficult to define global benchmarks based on published studies. More research is needed to document per person costs of delivering ART in low-income countries, and to uncover the sources of differences in costs among countries with similar income levels. Back to the Programme-at-a-Glance

The City AdvantageTimes of India - Mumbai Sep 29, 2008 In a Q&A with Dean Thomas F Cooley of the Leonard N Stern School of Business, New York University, Niyati Chheda-Gala discusses the benefits of pursuing an MBA in the heart of America's most cosmopolitan city, what it takes to make the cut, and the changing job market in the US today. Q: Stern is unique because it is located at the heart of a large, dynamic city. How does this location contribute to academics at your B-School? A: Our urban campus acts as a great intellectual and professional stimulus. We use New York City as both a classroom and a laboratory for learning. Business leaders from banking, finance, entertainment and the media, are frequent guest speakers, enriching our rigorous academic programmes with their pragmatic insights. Many co-curricular activities also take advantage of our location. For example, MBA students are exposed to many of the unique cultural organisations in New York and have the opportunity to consult for them and for small businesses. Q: Do you see a lot of applications from Indian students? How can Indian students interact with your representatives? A: For our undergraduate college and full-time MBA programme, India is one of the top countries from which we receive applications. To recruit for our full-time MBA programme, we visit several cities in India during the fall as part of our admissions process. We hold our own presentations in Mumbai, and this year, in Bangalore, as well. We return to the region in the winter to interview prospective students whom we have invited to interview (we interview everyone we admit). Q: What is the average student profile that you adhere to when reviewing applications for the MBA programme? A: One of the greatest assets of our school is its community. For example, in our full-time MBA programme, our students bring with them a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, which enriches the experience of their peers. There are some highlights, however. About 42 per cent of our student body constitutes women, a little more than one-third of our students are international or dual citizens, and we have among the highest percentage of underrepresented minority students at 16 per cent. About 40 per cent of this class previously worked in either the financial services, consulting or marketing industries (data from the Fall 2007 entering class). In our Executive MBA programme, which targets senior executives, the average age is 38 and almost 50 per cent of enrolled students already hold advanced degrees. We don't have a defined GMAT score requirement. Applicants can visit our website to see our admitted class profile. As far as work experience is concerned, most students in our full-time MBA programme have about five years of work experience under their belt. All our programmes are extremely selective and competitive. For entry to our fulltime MBA programme this fall, we received more than 4700 applications for about 400 spots. It was a record year for our GMAT, which hit 707, as well as our selectivity (admissions rate), an indicator of competitiveness, which is 13 per cent. Q: If the situation is so competitive, what can a student do right before applying to Stern to make sure that he/ she is admitted to a programme? A: For our full-time MBA programme, we evaluate each candidate holistically, based on academic potential, career history and goals, and personal and professional characteristics. Since our community at our institute is one of our strongest assets, we try to ensure a student's 'fit' with our community. A student must illustrate through the application and interview process why this institute is the right fit for him and how he envisions himself contributing to our community. Q: Do you think management graduates are holding up well in the face of the current economic situation and changing job market in the US? A: This is certainly a tougher job market, but our graduating MBA students are faring well. Currently, our placement rate is only slightly behind where we were last year. What we are seeing is that some recent alumni are experiencing lay-offs as a result of the credit crunch. In response to the end of the dot-com bubble in 2001, we created the Career Centre for Working Professionals for our working professional student population and alumni. So we're in a strong position to provide support to our alumni in this economic cycle.

If you live in bear country, these simple precautions can reduce or eliminate your chances of creating conflicts with bears: • Keep garbage in a secure building or a bear-resistant trash can or Dumpster. • If you don’t have a place to store garbage, ask the trash company for a bear-resistant container or order one. Many suppliers advertise containers on the Internet. • Place smelly food scraps in the freezer until garbage day. • Rinse out all cans, bottles and jars so that they are free of food and odors before putting them out for recycling or pickup. • Put out garbage cans only on the morning of pickup. Do not put out garbage the night before. • Wash garbage cans regularly with ammonia to eliminate food odors. • Don’t leave pet food or pet dishes outside. • Bird feeders are a major cause of wildlife conflicts. Besides bears, feeders may also attract small mammals, deer and mountain lions. Birds do not need to be fed during the summer. As an alternative to feeders, attract birds naturally by hanging flower baskets, putting out a bird bath or planting a variety of flowers. Use bird feeders only from November until the end of March when bears are hibernating. • If bears get into bird feeders, take the feeders down immediately and don’t put them back up. • Pick ripe fruit from trees and off the ground. • Clean outdoor grills after each use; the smell of grease can attract bears. • Never intentionally feed bears. • Close and lock lower floor windows and doors of your house. • Clean up thoroughly after outdoor parties. • Don’t leave food in your car, lock car doors. Bears are smart and many have learned to open car doors. • When camping, store food and garbage inside a locked vehicle. Keep the campsite clean. Don’t eat in the tent. In the backcountry, hang your food at least 10 feet high and 10 feet away from anything a bear can climb. • Bears are not naturally aggressive toward people and prefer to avoid contact. If you see a bear in your neighborhood make it feel unwelcome: yell at it, throw sticks and rocks at it. But never approach a bear. Remember this: “A fed bear is a dead bear.” Making food available to bears teaches them to associate humans with food — and that’s the start of conflict. To report bear problems, contact your local Colorado Division of Wildlife office, or local law enforcement. To learn more about living with bears, go to the DOW’s web site: http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/LivingWithWildlife/.

|Paizo Pathfinder® Paizo Games| |Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Pathfinder Adventures Pathfinder Campaign Setting Pathfinder Player Companion Pathfinder Accessories Pathfinder Miniatures Pathfinder Fiction Pathfinder® Society™ Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible Products Pathfinder Apparel & Gifts Pathfinder Licensed Products| Pathfinder Module: Carrion Hill (PFRPG) Paizo Inc.(based on 16 ratings) Show Description For: Add PDF: $9.99 Print Edition: Unavailable A dark urban horror adventure for 5th-level Pathfinder Roleplaying Game characters. The strange city of Carrion Hill has long loomed over the surrounding swamps in eastern Ustalav, yet its rulers have shifted many times through the centuries. Often enough that only a few sinister scholars and curious minds know the true nature of the hill’s original inhabitants—vile and depraved cultists of the Old Gods. Yet this morning, a dreadful recrudescence rises from the depths of buried nightmare in the vaults below Carrion Hill. A monster stalks the twisted alleys of the city, spreading panic before it and leaving destruction in its wake. Can the Carrion Hill Horror be stopped? Carrion Hill is an adventure for 5th-level characters, written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest RPG. The adventure features a mix of urban and dungeon sites, and draws its inspiration from the popular writings of H. P. Lovecraft. This adventure is set in the sinister country of Ustalav in the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, but can easily be adapted for any game world. Written by Richard Pett Pathfinder Modules are 32-page, high-quality, full-color, adventures using the Open Game License to work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the standard 3.5 fantasy RPG rules set. This Pathfinder Module includes four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action, and full-color maps to enhance play. ISBN 13: 978-1-60125-206-7 Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Modules Subscription. PDF: Fulfilled immediately. Will be added to your My Downloads Page immediately upon purchase of PDF. Print Edition: Unavailable Non-Mint: Unavailable This product is non-mint. Refunds are not available for non-mint products. The standard version of this product can be found here. Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at firstname.lastname@example.org. << Pathfinder Module: Crypt of the Everflame (PFRPG) Pathfinder Module: Masks of the Living God (PFRPG) >> What's wrong with pathfinder and how to fix it..., 3 questions about kineticists, Deep 6 FaWtL, New Trait Fate's Favored, Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition Errata, Store Blog: "Who Are You?" "No One of Consequence.", Deciphering the Occultist, Spheres of Power Elementalist vs OA Kineticist,

Amazon Queen on Throne All Thunderbolt Mountain miniatures are cast out of quality metal and require painting and some assembly. Ships from our warehouse in 1 to 7 business days. Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at email@example.com. Product Reviews (0) Deep 6 FaWtL, Paizo Blog: FAQ on Errata, Deciphering the Occultist, Gestalt Inquisitor with UC Monk, Items Seen List: Season 9 Edition, New Trait Fate's Favored, Magic Item Replacement Program (MIRP), Prestige at lvl 3?, New Order of the Stick Strip Up,

NWS Juneau Spotter Page |The National Weather Service in Juneau is always looking for volunteer weather spotters in Southeast Alaska. Volunteer spotters support their local community and government by providing the NWS with timely and accurate weather reports. These reports, when integrated with NWS Doppler Radar signatures, satellite, and other data, can be critical in the issuance of weather warnings and advisories. This can save lives and protect property, which is the main mission of the NWS. Volunteers help the NWS by reporting thunderstorms, hail, heavy rainfall, strong winds, heavy snow, freezing rain, flooding, etc. It must be stressed that we are looking for reliable and objective reports. When snowfall reports are inflated or hail sizes are exaggerated, for example, it can do more harm than good. It is imperative that volunteers are available to receive a call from the NWS, in the event we feel that something suspicious is happening in their area or to ask further questions on a report that you already gave to us. In order to become an official NWS spotter, you need to attend a training session conducted by the NWS. It is about a 2 hour slide and video presentation about how to identify and report significant weather. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer spotter, click on the link below and fill out the form. If you have a report to send, click on the enter report link. |Examples of Weather Information to Report Significant or severe weather in Southeast Alaska may

Hello again! It's Liz with another installment of Closet Confidential and this week I want to talk about shoes. Specifically I want to talk about sandals, because with the weather warming up across the US my eyes are burning with so many pretty styles popping up over the internet. Normally, I would only rely on a good pair of heels to take your outfit from casual to dressy, but this seasons sandals have completely changed my mind. Because heels are not always ideal, here are a few of my current favorite flat sandals to put a little chic in your step: Loeffler Randall Serafina Sandals // ASOS Carvela Bow Flat Sandals // Rebecca Minkoff Bettina Sandals // DVF Mint + Leopard Janee Sandals // Alice + Olivia Bella Print Flats // Loeffler Randall Filippa Mignon Snake Print Sandals // Zara Jewel Vamp Sandals // ASOS Carvela Glitter Flat Sandals // Zara T-Strap Jelly Sandals Clearly these would be perfect with any outfit, but I love the idea of a sweet feminine dress and pretty sandals, don't you? Which pair would you choose? Until next time, have a stylish week!

Daily News Where you Live Wind: 25 mph 29 Aug 2015 30 Aug 2015 Body of missing Portlander identified The body of a Portland man missing since last December has bee identified. Matthew McConnell-Hegland was 29 years old when he was reported missing to the Portland Police Bureau on Dec. 22, 2012. Family and friends launched an extensive search that included searches of the area where he was last seen and the distribution of fliers Now the Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office has identified McConnell-Hegland as the body disvovered in the Willamette River on May 22. It was recovered by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office River Patrol downstream from the Cathedral Park area of North Portland. According to the sheriff's office, based on an extensive investigation by Portland Police Bureau Missing Persons detectives and the post-mortem examination conducted by the Medical Examiner's Office, there was no evidence of foul play involved in McConnell-Hegland's death.

Effects of Accruals, Cash Flows, and Taxes on Earnings Management: Evidence from Chile and Malaysia affiliation not provided to SSRN Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso September 23, 2008 In January 2009, Chile will require its listed companies to adopt IFRS. Malaysia has a tradition of modifying the IFRS before adopting them. Chile's legal system is based on the French Civil Law tradition and Malaysia's legal system is based on the English common law tradition. Hence, this study investigates whether the listed firms in these two countries use deferred tax expenses to manage their earnings. It also studies the factors that affect the amount of deferred tax expenses reported. The study finds that beyond total accruals, deferred tax expenses are not incrementally useful to detect earnings management. Further, the amount recognized as deferred tax expenses is significantly associated with changes in operating cash flows, and in Chile, it is also related to the level of institutional ownership in listed firms. Number of Pages in PDF File: 26 JEL Classification: M41, M43, M44, M47, H25, G32 Date posted: September 23, 2008 © 2015 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This page was processed by apollo1 in 0.297 seconds

Clean Water Act NPDES Developments in the Courts Widener University - School of Law February 8, 2006 Environmental Law, ALI - ABA Continuing Legal Education, 2006 Although the Clean Water Act has been in effect for over thirty-three years, many aspects of the Act remain for the Supreme Court to define. In fact, the Court is still called upon to determine certain threshold questions about the Act’s scope and jurisdiction, permits, water quality standards and enforcement. One central question has been the definition of “navigable waters” as it relates to wetlands. The purpose of the Act is to protect the nation’s waters, and a logical question that the Court must address is “to what extent can wetlands be included as navigable waters?” Two cases have been instrumental in addressing this question, finding that wetlands must bear some connection to navigable waters or interstate commerce. These cases also serve to highlight the split amongst the circuits with regard to the connection between wetlands and navigable waters, i.e., is there a need for “adjacency,” “ecological connection” or “direct abutment?” Questions have also arisen with regard to pollutants and point sources and whether pesticides may be considered pollutants. Similarly, can mine shafts be considered point sources that discharge pollutants? Other sources of controversy among the key terms of the CWA include those involving concentrated animal feeding operations, ballast discharges, general permits, storm water permits and NPDES delegation. This article attempts to answer these questions. Number of Pages in PDF File: 6 Keywords: clean water act, environmental law, water pollution, navigable waters, wetlands JEL Classification: K32 Date posted: September 22, 2009 © 2015 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This page was processed by apollo8 in 0.313 seconds

Necessary Suffering?: Weighing Government and Prisoner Interests in Determining What is Cruel and Unusual University of Denver Sturm College of Law September 28, 2012 American Criminal Law Review, Fall 2012 U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-32 The Eighth Amendment espouses a normative principle — that the government will not inflict “cruel and unusual punishment” — but courts have struggled to give content to the prohibition where it concerns prison conditions. Society expects a prison term to be uncomfortable and potentially painful, but the Constitution protects prisoners from inhumane conditions that violate standards of decency. To find that a condition is cruel and unusual, courts have two requirements: 1) an objective component, that the condition is sufficiently serious, and 2) a subjective component, that the prison official acted with a culpable mindset, which is defined as deliberate indifference. In this article I assert that these two prongs are not functioning as intended — the objective prong has become subjective and the subjective prong has become objective. In determining what conditions are sufficiently serious, the lack of objective guidance forces courts to rely only on their own biases or assumption about prison. I suggest a more explicit and concrete balancing test to determine what conditions are serious, urging courts to balance the competing interests at stake — the harm to the prisoner caused by the condition and the interest of the government in having the condition. This article also considers the subjective mindset requirement of the Eighth Amendment conditions test, and argues that many courts are already using objective factors to infer a culpable mindset in injunctive cases. I urge that this inference be made uniform, so courts are explicitly allowed to infer intent where the challenged conditions are ongoing, because of society’s heightened interest in allowed courts to protect prisoners from future harm. Number of Pages in PDF File: 41 Date posted: September 29, 2012 © 2015 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This page was processed by apollo2 in 0.360 seconds

Communicative Content and Legal Content Lawrence B. Solum Georgetown University Law Center February 11, 2014 Notre Dame Law Review, Vol. 89, No. 479, 2013 This Essay investigates a familiar set of questions about the relationship between legal texts (e.g., constitutions, statutes, opinions, orders, and contracts) and the content of the law (e.g., norms, rules, standards, doctrines, and mandates). Is the original meaning of the constitutional text binding on the Supreme Court when it develops doctrines of constitutional law? Should statutes be given their plain meaning or should judges devise statutory constructions that depart from the text to serve a purpose? What role should default rules play in the interpretation and construction of contracts? This Essay makes two moves that can help lawyers and legal theorists answer these questions. First, there is a fundamental conceptual distinction between "communicative content" (the linguistic meaning communicated by a legal text in context) and "legal content" (the doctrines of the legal rules associated with a text). Second, the relationship between communicative content and legal content varies with context; different kinds of legal texts produce different relationships between linguistic meaning and legal rules. Number of Pages in PDF File: 42 Keywords: philosophy of law, jurisprudence, interpretation, communicative content, semantics, pragmatics, originalism, plain meaning Date posted: February 12, 2014 © 2015 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This page was processed by apollo5 in 0.312 seconds

The state’s health care plan for public employees has decided drug companies don’t need to know what medications are being prescribed to its members. The Public Employees Insurance Agency has asked its pharmacy benefit manager, St. Louis-based Express Scripts, to stop providing that information to drug manufacturers. Advocates of ending the disclosures say the drug companies use the information to encourage doctors to prescribe brand name medications instead of cheaper, generic equivalents. “Basically, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, the chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee. Even though Express Scripts has agreed to stop providing the information to drug companies, Perdue said he’s still considering introducing legislation to ban the practice for any company providing pharmacy benefits to West Virginia state health plans. Express Scripts said it would comply with the PEIA’s request.

Having just read about the 30% decline of wildlife on this planet since 1970 it seems unfathomable that we can allow it to continue. But we do. (That figure of 30% can be a little misleading since in tropical areas it rises to a 60% loss which is horrendous). When my dad first moved to East Africa in 1952 he, like many other white people over there, became one of Africa’s hunters. It didn’t take him long to realize what was happening to the wildlife and he soon turned to the camera to document rather than hunt and became a passionate advocate of wildlife. This was in the late 50s and early 60s so if everyone else followed suit, we’d have already worked out what we needed to know by 1970. Dad, back in the late 50s in East Africa – somewhere It obviously didn’t happen though because we are decimating wildlife at unprecedented rates despite a slew of conservation societies around the world trying to educate us not to. So what is happening, how are mucking things up and why aren’t we fixing things? Of course, the problems run much deeper than saying “take care of the environment and the animals in it”. Just off the top of my head we have land loss and degradation, pollution, bush meat trade, souvenier collecting, removal of major predators which causes grazers to flourish and destroy the land through overeating, illegal fishing and hunting, legal fishing and hunting (which can be managed well but in some countries are NOT). Add to this our consumer society where we absolutely must have the latest whizz bang thing just to keep up with the Joneses or to feel like our life has meaning, and of course the built in obsolescence which most modern electronic and mechanical devices have. Let’s face it, our repairmen have become fitters because it’s cheaper and easier to fit a new one and throw the broken one away rather than repair it. You only have to look on the side of the suburban and country roads to see the discarded TVs and computer monitors to illustrate this point. I’m one of those who likes to keep things upbeat but when I read that awesome wildlife artist Eric Wilson‘s 2007 blog post about the imminent demise of the tiger, it really hit home. There are massive efforts underway to prevent this animal going the way of the dodo and many other extinct species and yet even he, a man who cares deeply for this animal and is part of those efforts, has just about given up hope. So why is it that we feel defeated? Here’s an example. I routinely try to turn lights off and use as little fuel as possible yet BHP is planning to expand the Roxby Downs mine in South Australia, my home state, and has stated that they will need to use one million litres of diesel per day for the next six years simply to remove the overburden of this expanded part of the mine (overburden is the rubble that needs to be removed before you even start to get to the valuable bit). This is the equivalent of doubling the amount of cars on Adelaide’s roads. I’m not even going to comment here about whether this is a good thing or a bad thing since mining brings prosperity to a depressed economy, but it goes to show how little the caring individual can do. (Of course, responsibly run mines can be a good thing – we wouldn’t want to be hypocrites since we all use the products that come from mining. However, many mines around the world whose products we use everyday are not run responsibly – what is in your computer and mobile phone if not coltan, the ore that is routinely mined in the Congo and then stolen by surrounding countries? This same mining practice that has displaced whole neighborhoods and decimated their income so that they now have to resort to the bush meat trade so they can live. And what do they kill? Well, they live where the mountain and lowland gorillas are and that’s what they kill!) However, just because we feel like we can’t do much doesn’t mean we shouldn’t. We are the example for the next generation. We are the people who can bring about change but in order to do that we need to become engaged. There is no room for complacency in the fight to keep our wild heritage. We need it more than it needs us. Maybe my generation will scrape by but subsequent ones won’t. And I don’t want to just scrape by while magnificent species vanish. Some people say “Imagine being the generation that had to explain to their kids why the tiger is no longer with us” but I’d rather say “Imagine being the generation that saved the tiger”!! Let’s not end up with the chimps “turning back in anger” as in my pastel sketch below. “Turn back in anger”

The last 9-11 event did not occur on any date with 9-11 in it, and that was the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords. That occurred on January 8th of this year. But why is that significant? Because it appeared 119 days after 9-11.November may be the most evil month of all: Even the month of November has a certain amount of evil to it because it is a combination of 9 and 11. November is the 11th month of the year, but it was originally the 9th month of the year, that is until the Cesars, Julius and Augustus added two months, that is July and August, to the year. Now we have 12 months. The "N-O-V" in November stands for nine. November, itself, is a 9-11 month.11-9-11 is the first evil date in November: Notice that we have both 9-11 in this date and 9-11 backwards, that is 11-9...I'm uploading this on the 8th, so we will soon find out.As you may recall, the 9th was the day when toke demons seized Brother Rick Perry's mind, clouding it with visions of Funyuns at critical moments during the GOP debate. Third Eagle Tapley continues: The next evil date in November would be 11-11-11....Jonathan Kleck posted a video saying that the Hoover Dam will be blown up on that date, and it's very likely that the Hoover Dam will be an upcoming false flag event, although it may not occur on that specific date. The Lord has verified to me that Jonathan Kleck is a true prophet.But even true prophets of the Lord can be wrong. As Third Eagle Tapley notes, Kleck is using the wrong picture of the Our Lady of Guadalupe when he says that "the cowl on Mary's head looks like a goat's tongue and the whole image is like a goat." The Co-Prophet of the End Times goes onto note that 11-11-11 is also 666: ...the starter numbers on a bar code signify 666...those bar codes also signify 11-11-11 and that means 11-11-11 means 666Here's how Third Eagle Tapley says it works: - On bar codes, two thin parallel lines represent the number six. - The number six appears three times (666) in the registration lines of every barcode. - The lines representing the number six are shaped like an 11. The next significant date for potential evil this November would be 11-23-11...23, itself, is an evil number; it signifies also 666, because 2 before 3 symbolizes man before God...and 2 before three, or over 3, equals .666 in mathematics, and, of course 666 is the number of the antichrist.The Co-Prophet predicts that two events may occur on 11-23-11. The first is a huge earthquake resulting from the comet Elenin's alignment with the Earth and the Sun. The second is the beginning of World War Three, which Third Eagle Tapley notes actually started a year ago when "North Korea attacked South Korea." The Co-Prophet declares that 11-29-11 is "the next date for potential evil in November" He believes that is the day when Hoover Dam will be blown up by secret Obamunist guvmint agents, because: ...this is another expression of 11-11-11, because 29 added together equals 11.Third Eagle Tapley finishes his sermon by pointing out a very evil date from the past: 5-6-66*: This is the day Margaret Sanger died. She was certainly one of the precursors of the antichrist. She founded Planned Parenthood, perhaps the most wicked organization in the planet. * In the description Co-Prophet Tapley posted for the video, he says he was mistaken about the date of Sanger's death: Check out Jonathan Kleck's true prophecies. In this video, the corrected date for Sanger's death should be 9/6/66.

Quintina D. Arnett and Stephen Simmons will exchange wedding vows at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31, 2013, at the Highland Missionary Baptist Church in Pine Bluff. The bride-elect is the daughter of Clyde and Sammia Thomas of Pine Bluff and the late Charles Arnett of Orange, Texas. She is the granddaugther of Jessi Mae Cole of Pine Bluff and the late Sam Cole Jr. of Pine Bluff and the late Lon and Hannah Arnett of Orange, Texas. She is a 2001 graduate of Pine Bluff High School and a 2006 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She is a operations supervisor at Kraft Foods at Fort Smith, Ark. The prospective bride-groom is the son of Arthur and Rosemary Simmons of Pine Bluff.. He is the grandson of James Dodson of Forest City, Ark., and the late Myrtis Johnson and the late Arthur Simmons and Dimple Lee Johnson, both of Pine Bluff. He is a graduate 2002 graduate of Watson Chapel High School and attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He was previously employed as a lieutenant at the Arkansas Department of Correction before relocating to Fayetteville, Ark., and is presently self-employed. Immediately after the ceremony a reception will be held at Habor Oaks in Pine Bluff. Friends and relatives are invited to attend the ceremony and reception, according to spokesman.

. . . promoting capitalist acts between consenting adults. One of the most popular children’s-books-for-adults this month has a title you can’t use on a family blog. So here’s Samuel L. Jackson to read it for you. Interstingly, the msnbc story on this quotes New Zealand's Family First party calling on all governments to ban it, as it may lead to child abuse.The only thing NZ makes the news in the USA for: Calls to ban a book. Yeah, but it was only on MSNBC, so nobody other than a few commies and Move-On types were watching, and nobody cares what they think. This book is for small minds stuck in the juvenile phase who still think the word Fuck is funny.

As the April 22 opening of the awe-inspiring “African Cats†approaches, Disneynature is tapping into the true power of social media by building awareness of its “See ‘African Cats,’ Save the Savanna†program. During the film’s opening week (April 22-28), a portion of the proceeds from that week’s ticket sales will be donated to AWF through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to protect the Amboseli Wildlife Corridor, a passage between the Amboseli, Tsavo West and Chyulu Hills National Parks that is frequently used by lions, cheetahs, elephants, zebras, giraffes and a host of other animals in the African savanna. A host of compelling and unique social initiatives allows participants to make a difference, giving them the power to pledge their intent to see the film, support the cause and spread the word to others. By becoming a fan of Disneynature on Facebook, participants have the ability to interact with “African Cats†content daily. Furthermore, liking, commenting on and sharing the content with friends spreads the viral reach of the film’s message and philanthropic mission exponentially. Fans pledge to see “African Cats†opening week by logging onto eventful.com/africancats. Participants can watch how honoring that pledge can effectively save the savanna. A real-time counter will show how many people have participated, and there will also be a graphical map representing the number of acres across the savanna that are being conserved based upon the number of pledges received. Upon arriving at the theater, fans can check in via their mobile device to win special prizes. Join the “African Cats†grassroots community and donate to the African Wildlife Foundation on Causes: Fans can join the “African Cats†grassroots community on Causes by signing the pledge to help Africa’s lions and other imperiled wildlife survive and thrive for generations to come. Additionally, users are given the opportunity to enhance Disneynature’s commitment by donating directly to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) via the platform. Buy tickets through Disney Tickets Together, invite friends and Disneynature will double its donation: Disney Tickets Together, Facebook’s first social ticketing application, allows fans to engage with the film by inviting friends to see “African Cats” and purchase tickets for local theaters without ever leaving Facebook. For all “African Cats” events created in Tickets Together, Disney will increase the donation to the Save the Savanna fund for every “Yes” RSVP that the events receive. The application launches during the week of April 18. “African Cats,†which will be released in theaters worldwide, opens in North America on April 22, 2011. Tickets for groups of 20 or more are available in the United States by calling 1-888-DISNEY6. ABOUT THE MOVIE An epic true story set against the backdrop of one of the wildest places on Earth, “African Cats†captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna. The story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a once banished lion. Disneynature brings “The Lion King†to life on the big screen in this True Life Adventure directed by Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill (“Earthâ€). An awe-inspiring adventure blending family bonds with the power and cunning of the wild, “African Cats†leaps into theatres worldwide beginning on Earth Day 2011. For more information about the movie and the “See ‘African Cats,’ Save the Savanna†initiative, check out Disney.com/AfricanCats.

|By Admin1 (admin) on Monday, July 09, 2001 - 1:17 pm: Edit Post| Allan Goldman '76PH was a health-care worker in the poorest province of South Korea As a Peace Corps volunteer from 1971 to 1973, Allan Goldman '76PH was a health-care worker in the poorest province of South Korea. ALLAN GOLDMAN '76PH Turning on to health care As a Peace Corps volunteer from 1971 to 1973, Allan Goldman '76PH was a health-care worker in the poorest province of South Korea. When he thinks back about his time there, what he recalls most are the people. "I remember some of these country folks coming into the health center and their kindness, their honesty, their acceptance of life and of me," recalls Goldman, who was a member of the first class at Emory to receive a master's degree in public health. "They just were good people. Some of them did not have a lot of money, and they would come in for these market days and I remember on several occasions that folks gave me a present because they knew I wasn't with my family and I was all alone in their country and that it was a poor country. They felt so bad, and I was doing something nice for them." In Korea, Goldman was in charge of a tuberculosis control program. When public health emergencies arose, however, his job description expanded to meet the crisis. "It was sort of like the cowboy frontier," he recalls. "There would be a typhoid epidemic, and we'd go out to the bus stations and vaccinate people. Whenever there was a problem, we'd go out [and work on it]." An Atlanta resident, Goldman has worked for Georgia's Department of Human Resources for more than a decade. As an assistant to the director of that agency, he is responsible for developing programs and for the financing and delivery of services to older adults. In 1985, he performed the first state study of Alzheimer's disease in Georgia, the results of which were used to develop services for Alzheimer's patients. Goldman says his time in the Peace Corps inspired him to pursue a career in public health. "The experience was really old-timey public health, and it was a turn-on. It was exciting, and you could see how you could make a contribution by preventing some of these diseases. It was really very meaningful."--J.D.T.

Ascent of Mount Garfield on 2007-07-08 |Date:||Sunday, July 8, 2007| |Ascent Type:||Successful Summit Attained| | Location:||USA-New Hampshire| | Elevation:||4480 ft / 1365 m| |Summary Total Data| | Route Conditions:||Maintained Trail| This page has been served 280 times since 2005-01-15. Questions/Comments/Corrections? See the Contact Page Copyright © 1987-2015 by Peakbagger.com. All Rights Reserved.

My teacher friends in Vancouver have long complained to me about the excessive union dues they have to pay each month. I don't have an exact figure but they're often reported as the highest union dues in Canada. A scandal is now brewing about the outrageous salaries and benefits packages being paid to staff and officials at their union, the BCTF. Here are some highlights: - Admin staff start at $80,000 per year. Yes, that's EIGHTY thousand dollars! - After 5 years this salary jumps to over $99,000 per year. - Anyone working there can claim up to $500 per year for Viagra.

According to John Shively, government and community relations officer of Holland America Cruise Lines, the cruise ship industry pumps millions of dollars into Alaska -- dollars that float far beyond the coastal ports visited annually by the ships. "The cruise industry has made (inland) investments in a whole lot of areas," Shively told the Kenai Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. He pointed to figures that show more than half of all Outside tourists who visit Alaska come by cruise ship. "Last year we brought over three-quarters of a million people to the state," he said. Those visitors not only spend money in coastal towns, but they also get an idea of what Alaska is all about -- something Shively said is important to areas like Kenai and Soldotna, which depend on independent tourists rather than cruise passengers. "We get people interested, we give them a taste and they come back," he told the chamber, saying 27 percent of repeat visitors to Alaska previously visited the state via cruise ships. In addition to bringing visitors into Alaska, Shively said his industry is responsible for employing 16,000 people and contributing a total of $800 million to the state's overall economy. And although Alaska's cruise ship industry is facing increased competition on the global market, Shively said the industry continues to see Alaska as a key to its success. "We continue to invest in Alaska because we continue to see growth opportunities," he said. Shively also took time Wednesday to speak out against recent talk of placing a head tax on cruise ship passengers. Although such plans recently died in the Alaska Legislature, Shively said there is a citizen's movement that's trying to move the issue forward through the initiative process, something he sees as a threat to the industry and the state's economy. "You're actually gambling with the growth of the industry (with taxes)," he told the chamber. He pointed to a recent survey showing that roughly half of cruise ship passengers would take into account a head tax when making their purchasing decisions and said no other state in the nation has a similar tax. Shively said that a better solution to Alaska's fiscal woes would be an income or sales tax -- both of which would be funded partially by the cruise ship industry. "Either one, the cruise ship industry would contribute to significantly," he said. Peninsula Clarion © 2015. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us

Miller, John F. (b. 1831) John F. Miller, of San Francisco, was born in Indiana, in 1831, his parents being Virginians; he received an academical education at South Bend, and was fitted for college at Chicago, but did not enter; commenced the study of law in 1849, and graduated at the New York State Law School in 1852; commenced practice at South Bend, soon went to California, where he practised law for three years, when he returned to Indiana and resumed practice there; in i860 he was a member of the State Senate, but resigned to enter the Army as Colonel of the Twenty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, and was soon placed in command of a brigade, serving under Sherman, Buell, Rosecrans, and Thomas, and receiving severe wounds in the battles of Stone River and Liberty Gap; promoted to Brigadier-General; in the battle of Nashville he commanded the left division of 8,000 men, and was brevetted a Major-General for conspicuous bravery; at the close of the war he was offered a high commission in the Regular Army, but he declined it, and returned to California, where he was Collector of the Port of San Francisco four years, declining a reappointment; he was a Republican candidate for Presidential Elector in 1872, in 1876, and in 1880; he was a member of the California State Constitutional Convention in 1879; was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican, to succeed Newton Booth, Anti-Monopolist, and took his seat March 4, 1881. His term of service will expire March 3, 1887. 1. U. S. Congressional Directory, Washington, D. C., 1886, page 9. Are you looking for MILLER ancestors? If so, we suggest posting a query to our Community Message Board to get assistance from other researchers. << Biographical Sketches Online << Life Stories Project

Boston University, Visible + Invisible Users: Internet, Social Media, and Youth in Global Perspective. Monday, February 11, 2013. Time: 2 – 5:30 PM, Location: College of Communication, 640 Commonwealth Ave, Room 209. Harvard University, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Luncheon Series (RSVP required). February 12th. 12:30pm. 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor – this talk was recorded, view it here or read Ethan Zuckerman’s recap. Stanford University, Africa Table. February 20. 12:00pm. Encina Hall West, Room 202. Pitzer College, Munroe Center for Social Inquiry. Series on Examining THE CITY: Issues of Sustainability, Social Stratification, Democratic Public Spheres, Privatization, Cosmopolitanism and the Arts. February 26th. 4:15 pm, George C.S. Benson Auditorium

Sheryl Cruz is a Filipino actress. Sheryl Cruz was born Sheryl Rose Ana Marie Sonora Cruz, in Makati City, Philippines. Her zodiac sign is Aries, and in Chinese astrology, her sign is that of the Tiger. As an actress, Sheryl Cruz has performed in movies such as "Everlasting Love", released in 1989, "Bihagin ang dalangang ito"(1989), "Sagot ng puso"(1990) (Elsa), "Pardina at ang mga duwende"(1989) as Pardina, "Puso sa puso"(1988), and "Langit at lupa"(1988). |Be the first to post a message about Sheryl Cruz.| You can post a comment, pose a question, share any news and information you have, or simply start a discussion relating to Sheryl Cruz! Wreck-It Ralph 2VIDEO | Coming Soon: Wreck-It Ralph 2 - The Know Wreck-It Ralph 2NEWS | 'Wreck-It Ralph 2: Vanellope's Choice' Is Official, Says Com... Lois ChilesPicture of Lois Chiles is MAUD ADAMS Daniel YostDvorak film?? Addison BellHello to Mr. Bell! Dix DavisDix Davis is alive Above and BeyondVIDEO | Official Trailer for "Above and Beyond," a documentary film ... Cate Buschercate buscher... James McDonaldShadow Silence Director.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (PAI & Workday Minnesota) - More than 325,000 of Minnesota's lowest-wage workers just got a raise. Joined in the Capitol Rotunda on April 14 by legislators, advocates and Minnesotans from across the state, Gov. Mark Dayton, DFL-Minn., signed a bill into law raising Minnesota's minimum wage for the first time since 2005. The new law increases the state minimum wage to $9.50 per hour by 2016, and indexes it to inflation to help ensure Minnesotans' wages keep up with the cost of living. The state's teachers' unions say the increase will help the kids they instruct, too. With strong union backing and lobbying, Minnesota became the latest state to raise its minimum wage this year. Two other recent hikes occurred in Connecticut, where it will increase to $10.10 hourly by 2016, and Maryland, where it will rise to $10.10 hourly by 2018. Minnesota, Connecticut, Maryland and other states are not waiting for the dysfunctional U.S. Congress to raise the wage to $10.10 by 2016, as Democratic President Barack Obama and unions advocate. They're going ahead on their own. "Minnesotans who work full-time should be able to earn enough money to lift their families out of poverty, and through hard work and additional training, achieve the middle-class American Dream," said Gov. Dayton. "Raising the minimum wage to $9.50, and indexing it to inflation, will improve the lives of over 325,000 hard-working Minnesotans. I thank the legislature for recognizing the need to make work pay in Minnesota." Obama congratulated Minnesota for improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of hard-working families. He said Dayton and state lawmakers are "giving more hardworking Minnesotans the raise they deserve." Before today, at $6.15 per hour Minnesota had one of the lowest minimum wages in the nation-lower than neighboring Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In fact, Minnesota was one of only four states in the country with a minimum wage below the national rate of $7.25 per hour. The bill's lead authors, Rep. Ryan Winkler and Sen. Jeff Hayden, said the increase will make work pay again in Minnesota. "We believe all Minnesotans deserve the dignity of supporting themselves and their families through hard work," said Winkler. "Raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation is an important step to create a rising floor for all wages that will benefit hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who work hard and deserve to get ahead." Raising the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour will add an estimated $472 million to the pockets of Minnesota's lowest-wage workers each year. Many economists agree that when minimum wage workers get a raise, they often spend those new wages on basic necessities, goods, and services. That increase in consumer spending is expected to help local businesses in Minnesota communities, and provide another boost to its economy. "Today represents a big step forward for low-wage workers in our community," said Hayden. "We rely on these workers every day, yet many cannot support their own families. Raising the minimum wage is part of a larger effort to lift up the working poor and ensure all Minnesotans have the opportunity to earn enough to get by." Under the previous state minimum wage of $6.15 per hour, a single parent with two children working full-time earned an annual salary of $12,792. That is $7,000 below the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour will put another $6,970 in that parent's pocket, helping them earn more to provide for their family. The bill phases in increases in the minimum wage over the next several years. To help small businesses, it establishes lower minimum wage requirements for small employers and young workers. Starting in 2018, Minnesota's minimum wage will be indexed to inflation to help ensure Minnesotans' wages keep up with the cost of living. Minnesota's minimum wage hike will benefit Minnesota children, educators said. "This has always been an education issue for us," said Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, a joint AFT-NEA affiliate that represents 70,000 teachers, education support professionals, faculty and others in districts and campuses statewide. "Now that 40 percent of Minnesota children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, Minnesota educators see the toll that poverty-level wages take on the children of working families every day," she said. "Too many parents spend all their time and energy holding down two or three minimum-wage jobs just to make ends meet," Specht said. "We believe raising the minimum wage will give those parents enough breathing room to assist in their children's formal education. Parents have always been their children's first and most important teacher." Service Employees Local 284 member Mike Poke, a custodian in the Wayzata schools, said the increase will improve life for low-wage workers and families. "For the children I see in our schools every day who have parents struggling to make ends meet, raising the minimum wage in Minnesota is an important step," Poke said. "We see too many parents who work hard but are unable to afford basic necessities for their children. This will put more money in pockets of families, which benefits the children." Photo: Surrounded by Minnesotans, Governor Mark Dayton signed legislation raising the state's minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2016. Photo courtesy of the Office of Governor Mark Dayton

12th Annual International Conference on Ordered Algebraic Structures| Monday, June 15th, through Thursday, June 18th, 2009| Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA The conference will be a celebration of the work and achievement of Prof. W. Charles Holland. The main themes of the conference will center around the theories of lattice-ordered groups and MV-algebras. If you are interested in participating in the conference please contact Dr. McGovern at the email given below. the Consortium for Order in Algebra and Logic (OAL) the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Bowling Green State University the College of Arts and Sciences at Bowling Green State University the generous private donations of several individuals For more information about the conference please contact Dr. Warren Wm. McGovern: firstname.lastname@example.org Workshop for new faculty and graduate students on Lattice-Ordered Groups and MV-Algebras

11. Favorite movie you watched Just went with my hubby yesterday and saw 'Warhorse'. VERY good! 10. Favorite TV series I am a true blue 'SURVIVOR' fan! 9. Favorite restaurant I eat there almost once a week. The BEST in Utah- 'Cafe Rio'. 8. Favorite new thing you tried. That would have to be blogging. I started when school started in the fall. It is very addicting but VERY useful. I LOVE all the great ideas I've gotten from everyone. And I hope I've shared a few things with others along the way. 7. Favorite gift you received I received not one but two new grandchildren this year. In March, we got a beautiful little girl named Tylie. Then in May, we got a handsome little boy named Keagan! It makes a total of 8 wonderful grandchildren! I also have the privilege of teaching one of them this year in my first grade class and love it! 6. Favorite thing you pinned I absolutely LOVE Pinterest! It is a great place to get ideas. This is a hard one for me because I love everything I pin but I love this quote I found. 5. Favorite blog post Probably my Holiday Math Stations. I thought it had a lot of good freebies. 4. Favorite accomplishment This wasn't my accomplishment totally but it sure made this momma proud! My son graduated with his Bachelors Degree in Business Management then he found a great job working for a super company. Isn't he a good-looking kid! Now I just need to get him married. (Don't tell him I said that) 3. Favorite picture This was a hard one too. I LOVE to take pictures. I've already put some in of my family so here's one of my favorites from school. Yes, that is a live kangaroo in my classroom. Kangaroos are one of my favorite animals and a mother just brought him by to visit. Yes, he is wearing a diaper. The kids loved that. I think I was more excited than the kiddos! 2. Favorite memory In February, we had to put our beloved Gracie (Mini Schnauzer) to sleep. She was just 1 month shy of her 3rd birthday. We had become very attached to her, to say the least. She developed liver disease and there was nothing they could do for her. We missed her so much that in May we had to get 2 puppies to replace her. We love our new dogs, Sammie and Bella, but Gracie will always hold a special place in my heart. 1. Goal for 2012 For school, it would have to be to survive this school year with 30 firsties. I'm positive that number will go up to 31 or 32 on Tuesday when I return to school. And who knows what I'll end the year with-34 or 35. Heaven help me! I've never taught this many kiddos before and it's killing me. I can't get to all of them or teach like I want to. So my goal is to survive and hopeful teach the best I can. For home, it would be to keep loving life, enjoy every minute I have with my family, and make the most of every memory! This has been fun. I hope you enjoyed learning more about me. Come join the party. I'd love to hear about you and your year!

Despite criticism by some that Ray Rice should have faced a stronger punishment Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain is defending the decision to place Rice in a pre-trial intervention program that keeps him from jail. According to Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain, two police officers have been arrested for separate and independent acts of child sexual assault and official misconduct. DA Seth Williams says formation of the unit is the “right thing to do” and veteran prosecutor Gilson is the perfect person for the job. The teen turned himself in at the Camden County Metro Police Department Sunday evening. A prosecutor in Pennsylvania says his office is investigating whether one of Jerry Sandusky’s former defense attorneys stole “a significant amount of client funds.” The federal prosecutor who helped convict former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is being asked to investigate the apparent political payback scandal involving New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration. Lawmakers want a prosecutor to consider contempt charges they leveled last week against a former appointee of Gov. Chris Christie who refused to answer questions about the closing of approach lanes on the George Washington Bridge. Only on CBS 3 — there are new developments surrounding the suspect charged with creating a major security scare at Philadelphia International Airport.

*Sheet Metal Worker’s Local #19 Strike Update* It has been reported that today Sheet Metal Worker’s Local Union #19 and their contractors association have reached a tentative agreement. There will be a ratification meeting set for this coming Monday May 6th at 7pm for Local #19 members to vote on the agreement. Local #19 leadership would like to thank the membership, who stood up for each other even during such uncertain economic times. You have proven that solidarity really works!

I am so sorry and incredibly frustrated, but I regret to inform you all that I am still unable to post today's strip. I have tried multiple times but the system still won't allow me to post an image. Well, this is the last straw. I promised myself that if Blogger's technical difficuties ever prevented me from making my self-imposed deadline, then I would find another platform. So, hopfully, with a little e-mail assistance from Paul and Knife, I can make the transition withing the next couple of days. Sorry! I'll get the strip up when I can! Thanks for reading and thanks for your patience!

I just recently bought Aperture 3 and I already have iPhoto 11. My iPhoto has thousands of pictures. Many are dupes. Many are low quality from a 1MP (yeah, remember those?) camera. However, I have recently upgraded my camera (Sony A55) and I have an iPhone 4. What I am thinking of doing is using iPhoto as a "catch all" to import everything. Then use Aperture for picking the "best of the best" out of iPhoto. Aperture would also be used for greater photo editing once I learn how to use it. Does this logic seem good? Or would you point Aperture to the existing iPhoto library to save space?

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images Supporters listen to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a rally at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Marion, Ohio on October 28, 2012. Michael O'Brien of NBC News reports that auto industry politics is dominating the closing days of the campaign in the all-important battleground state of Ohio: The Romney campaign circulated on Sunday several newspaper endorsements — the Des Moines Register and the Cincinnati Enquirer among them — to argue that the Republican ticket had made inroads in crucial swing states. The Obama campaign responded in kind by sending reporters endorsement editorials from the Youngstown Vindicator and the Toledo Blade, both of which referenced the 2009 auto industry bailout as a point in Obama's favor. The auto bailout — which Romney had opposed, memorably, in a New York Times op-ed entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" — has assumed a central role in the closing days of the campaign, especially as the election plays out largely on a Midwestern, industrial and economically-battered playing field. Read the full story. Vice Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Carly Fiorina; Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne; New York Times columnist David Brooks; MSNBC's Rachel Maddow; and NBC's Chuck Todd discuss the importance of Ohio in this presidential election. From tramping through cornfields to munching ice cream cones to holding babies – the time-honored traditions of the campaign trail leave President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney looking surprisingly alike.

Sony today unveiled the VAIO Graphic Splash Maya Hayuk Edition notebooks featuring designs from New York-based, emerging artist, Maya Hayuk. These limited edition PCs are available in two head-turning designs—“Grow” and “Never Stop”. Known for her colorful and symmetrical imagery, Hayuk conceptualized and painted these designs for Sony. These new styles transform what was already a stunning PC into a functioning work of art, beautifully blending cutting-edge images with a sleek design. The “Grow” edition captures the feel of an organic forest with deep green, blue and purple flower-growing wildly across the top of the notebook while “Never Stop” is a colorful, kaleidoscopic design that is decked in interlacing lines and spherical shapes. Hayuk’s extraordinary artwork is also featured on the interior of the PC. These models include wallpaper that matches each design, a limited edition engraving and a pre-installed video of Maya discussing her inspiration behind the designs. Each notebook comes with a certificate of authenticity with Hayuk’s original signature as well. Also, a percentage of each purchase will be donated to Creativity Explored, a non-profit organization supporting artists with developmental disabilities. The VAIO Graphic Splash Maya Hayuk Edition notebooks go for about $2,500 and will be available at sonystyle.com this month.

A rapid, climate change-induced northern migration of invasive marine is one of many research results announced Tues. Nov. 11 during opening day presentations at the First World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, in Valencia. Investigators report that invasive species of marine macroalgae spread at 50 km per decade, a distance far greater than that covered by invasive terrestrial plants. The difference may be due to the rapid dispersion of macroalgae propagules in the ocean, according to Nova Mieszkovska, from the Marine Biological Association of the U.K. The international conference Nov. 11-15, organised by the Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) and the European Network of Excellence on Marine Biodiversity MarBEF will gather over 500 scientists from 45 countries. Says CSIC scientist Carlos Duarte, co-chair of the Conference: "Overwhelming evidence of an accelerating deterioration of the oceans has provided the ímpetus to call the marine biodiversity scientific community together in this first World Conference." According to Duarte, the convergence of pressures on the ocean is leading to a global erosion of marine biodiversity "where climate change may deliver the coupe de graçe for a catastrophic collapse." "The impacts of the pressure of climate change are particularly dramatic, according to results presented at the Conference, in the abrupt deterioration of the Arctic and coral reefs" Duarte asserts. Almost half of the 450 communications at the Conference will address the loss of marine biodiversity and its consequences, whereas the rest will cover the exploitation of marine living resources, as well as exciting discoveries of novel ecosystems in extreme ecosystems, particularly in the deep sea. DISCOVERIES IN THE DEEP SEA Deep sea research has increased greatly in the last decades thanks to technical developments like submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and autonomous vehicles (AUV). One of the coordinators of the deep sea program in Spain, CSIC researcher Eva Ramírez, is studying the hydrothermal vents which, discovered in 1977, are one of the principal discoveries of modern oceanography. These submarine volcanoes sustain high densities of fauna which, with specific adaptations, live independently of solar energy. "Since their discovery, more than 500 hydrothermic vent-species have been described, most endemic, as well as 200 cold water seep species and 400 morphological species of chemosynthethic ecosystems which form on the carcasses of whales," points out Ramirez. For instance, on the mud volcanoes in the Cadiz gulf 13 new species of polychaetes (marine worms) are described as well as a new genus, Bobmarkeya that, due to his characteristic appearance, owes his name to Bob Marley. During the Conference, the result of collaboration between more than 160 expert taxonomists on the identification and description of marine species will be presented. Their goal: To complete a database before 2010 which describes all known marine life -- a world registry of marine species. The Census of Marine Life, a collaboration of 2000 scientists in 82 nations, is also participating in the conference. Juan Carlos Castilla, the scientific director of the International Laboratory on Global Change, of the CSIC and the Pontificia Universidad Católica, will present his alternative to protected marine reserves. This focuses on units of fishery management, based in administrative concessions to cooperatives of fishermen who evaluate the sustainability of ecosystems. The responsibilities of these collectives have been more efficient to maintain the ecosystems than traditional marine protected areas, Castilla says. He explains that "as there is no private property in the sea, all being common property, none of the actors involved in exploitation take responsability for marine resources." Castilla's model has been the basis to develop innovative components of fisheries law in Chile and, under Castilla's supervision, is being developed for implementation in other countries, such as Japan. UP TO 1 BILLION NEW SPECIES OF BACTERIA Carles Pedrós-Alió, a CSIC researcher at the Insitito de Ciencias del Mar (Institute of Marine Sciences) in Barcelona, is leading the way in the discovery of new taxons of marine bacteria. "While it is estimated that 100 to 1,000 million species of bacteria exist, only 6000 of them have been described, since most of them either have low abundances or show little biological activity. Thanks to the availability of sequencing techniques that are much cheaper, researchers have now begun to explore the largely undiscovered world of microbial diversity." "The gene pool of these bacteria are one of the vastest resources of genes of the world," he adds. "We hope to find genes that can be useful to the pharmaceutical industry, medicine, the production of biofuels, bioremediation, etc. What´s more, a greater understanding of this diversity, hidden until now, will help us understand better the evolution of life," explains Pedrós-Alió. Daniel Pauly, of the University of British Columbia in Canada, will present a historical reconstruction of artisianal capture fisheries and will argue that sustainable fisheries are those that are carried out at a small scale. Although this type of artisanal fisheries does not show up in the international statistics, and has decreased over the past decades, Pauly says it is more common than assumed. Rudolf de Groot, of Wageningen Univeristy, the Netherlands, puts a price tag on the beneftis derived from the protection of coastal ecosystem. He has calculated that effective protection of 20-30% of coastal ecosystems costs between 5 and 19 billion dollars per year, but can generate benefits in terms of improving the surrounding fish stocks, exceeding the costs. As the actual expenses to maintain the currently unsustainable fishing industry are between 15 and 30 billion dollars per year, the Dutch researcher estimates that creation of the network of Marine Protected Areas would be a more effcient way to boost the fishing industry than the direct financial assistance they now receive. CSIC scientist Nuria Marbà will present results that demonstrate that the recent invasión of the Spanish Mediterranean by the invasive algae Lophocladia lallemandii is leading to a steeper seagrass decline in the Mediterranean coast. According to Marbá, "the invasion of Lophocladia increases seagrass mortality by five fold". The paleogeographic study of the historic processes leading to the present distribution of species in the African coast, the impact of the collapse of ice shelves in Antarctica, or the impacts of the acidification of the Southern ocean are among the issues that will be discussed at the Conference. Source: Census of Marine Life Explore further: Data backs limits on deep-sea fishing by depth

Driver-assistance systems help prevent accidents. Quite simply, the more a car knows about its surroundings, the more intelligently it can respond to them. Researchers have now developed an optical sensor for the windshield that can even tell the difference between fog and darkness. The system will also be available for small cars. The number of traffic fatalities on Germanys roads has steadily fallen in recent years. As studies show, this also owes to the numerous new driver-assistance systems that react more quickly than a human being can. They identify risks, warn of hazards and assist the driver in critical situations. Radar sensors, for instance, scan surrounding traffic conditions, monitoring the vehicles blind spot or maintaining a safe distance to the vehicle in front; infrared detectors improve night vision, and fatigue sensors sound an alarm if there is a risk of momentary driver drowsiness. To monitor the surroundings during a journey, complex systems equipped not only with a camera but also with sensors are now in use. These systems can register difficult-visibility areas near the vehicle such as when parking and automatically analyze the camera pictures generated. These sensors are mounted between the windshield and the rear-view mirror. In addition to imaging data, they also deliver information about ambient light conditions; for instance, they can distinguish between darkness and fog. The sensors interpret the optical data and analyze weather conditions. Still, thus far such high-tech systems have found their way only onto high-priced vehicles. They have been too expensive for standard-size and small models. The reason: with conventional components, constant use results in imprecise measurements the integrated LEDs become less powerful over time, and the needed light detectors lose some of their sensitivity. To date, only expensive components have proven able to offset these effects. This is all about to change: in the EU-sponsored "ADOSE" project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM in Berlin, working with Centro Ricerche Fiat and the chip manufacturer STMicroelectronics, have developed a sensor system that can be inexpensively produced for medium-sized and small cars as well. "Our multifunctional system consists of an entire camera, two sensors equipped with Fresnel lenses to detect light signals, and an infrared LED. Because fog and darkness can exhibit optically identical spectra, it is difficult to distinguish between these two light phenomena. Thats why the infrared LED emits light waves that are scattered back in fog but not in conditions of darkness," explains IZM group manager Dr.-Ing. Henning Schroeder. "Its particularly difficult to capture the light signal from a broad aperture angle, to bundle the signal and pass it along the circuit board to the four corners of the camera chip. Because the middle of the chip is reserved for recording the camera image," Schroeder notes. To make this possible, the researcher and his team have developed lightpipes in a hot stamping procedure. These are hollow, mirrored tubes that can deflect a light signal by as much as 90 degrees. Up until now, optical fibers have been used to transmit these signals. But these snap at even low bending radii, are expensive and must be painstakingly mounted in place manually. "With the lightpipes, we have succeeded in making the optical signal transmission more efficient, making the entire system smaller and reducing costs as a result," the researcher points out. The hot stamping method involves several optical channels being produced in a single pass, simplifying assembly considerably. The trick: the IZM scientists system is scalable and can be expanded through the addition of additional lightpipes to record solar radiation, for instance. The experts at IZM developed not only the lightpipes but also the Fresnel lenses for these sensors. They are also responsible for the design of the sensor module, which was carried out via Rapid Prototyping. A prototype of the sensor module is already in hand. Centro Ricerche Fiat is currently putting it through the paces in an initial field test. Explore further: The car 'learns' to see and understand

Heading out from Rood Bridge Park Clean water inflow Great Blue Heron Broken leg or drown - 1/2 mile south of Farmington Bridge Don't be stupid - time to portage Portage. Over the fence and thru the scrub. Portage trail - about 150 - 200 ft like this to a steep mud slide down to the water. Portage trail - Watch out for the stinging nettles Portage Mudslide - steep and slick down to the water. The river mud will steal your shoes. This shows the distance portaged around the log jam and the mud-slide put in location. On the road again

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« Ariad Loses on Appeal | | Sir James Black, 1924-2010 » March 22, 2010 Benford's Law, Revisited I mentioned Benford's Law in passing in this post (while speculating on how long people report their reactions to have run when publishing their results). That's the rather odd result that many data sets don't show a random distribution of leading digits - rather, 1 is the first digit around 30% of the time, 2 leads off about 18% of the time, and so on down. For data that come from some underlying power-law distribution, this actually makes some sense. In that case, the data points spend more time being collected in the "lag phase" when they're more likely to start with a 1, and proportionally less and less time out in the higher-number-leading areas. The law only holds up when looking at distributions that cover several orders of magnitude - but all the same, it also seems to apply to data sets where there's no obvious exponential growth driving the numbers. Lack of adherence to Benford's Law can be acceptable as corroborative evidence of financial fraud. Now a group from Astellas reports that several data sets used in drug discovery (such as databases of water solubility values) obey the expected distribution. What's more, they're suggesting that modelers and QSAR people check their training data sets to make sure that those follow Benford's Law as well, as a way to make sure that the data have been randomly selected. Is anyone willing to try this out on a bunch of raw clinical data to see what happens? Could this be a way to check the integrity of reported data from multiple trial centers? You'd have to pick your study set carefully - a lot of the things we look for don't cover a broad range - but it's worth thinking about. . . + TrackBacks (0) | Category: Clinical Trials | In Silico | The Dark Side POST A COMMENT - RELATED ENTRIES - The Last Post - The GSK Layoffs Continue, By Proxy - The Move is Nigh - Another Alzheimer's IPO - Cutbacks at C&E News - Sanofi Pays to Get Back Into Oncology - An Irresponsible Statement About Curing Cancer - Oliver Sacks on Turning Back to Chemistry