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Yesterday, for the first time in 9 years, I emailed my psychiatrist and lied to him about being sick so that I could cancel my appointment. I don't remember the last time that I missed a session. He could tell I was lying and asked how I was doing emotionally, I wasn't doing particularly well at my last session two weeks ago, but I wouldn't budge and claimed it came on suddenly. I feel mad at therapy right now. I feel mad about everything right now. I feel like I should be better by now. Over the last month I've been slipping back into a super dark place. I won't deny that I made a shit load of progress but right now it feels like I haven't made any of it. I don't feel like I'm able to put the skills I know that I have to work right now. I don't want to. I'd just like to have some semblance of normal. Just a tad, without having to take medication for it or to have to go to see a psychiatrist or to have to tell myself a fuckton of mantras that I don't even believe anyway and I know saying I don't give a shit means that I give a shit but fuck me I'm so tired of trying. I went from being a person who overshared my life with almost everyone I would meet to being someone who hardly talks to even my closest friends. I keep everything all knotted up inside now and the rage and the anger becomes almost unbearable and I'm on this medication that is supposed to help with my fight or flight reflex and I don't think it's working, except for the drying my mouth out and giving me bad breath bit, but then again I think it might be and then I get scared thinking why do I still want to lash out in anger so severely why can I go for months at a time now and be sure as sure can be that I'm over something and then it still comes roaring back like it never left and I fall backwards for days. Or is this part of getting better? That when I do go down for the count is it harder now because I have had a lot of good? This feels different though, it feels old hat. It feels like it's been brewing. A while back my psychiatrist made a comment in regards to how when my depression gets to a certain level that I tend to use my suicidal thoughts as a go to . I was ready to hear that and I've been able to use it since he said it to mostly curb them. As soon as they come on I say to myself stop using these horrendous thoughts to torture yourself it's only a go to, knock it off dumb ass -- or something similar. This and learning forms of meditation were working for a while or so it seemed. I seem to have gone so inward that now I can't get out. I keep telling everyone that I'm fine and that it'll pass. I'm not fine but it probably will pass. But it's hard not to be disappointed in myself. I don't want to be throwing tantrums on Twitter or feeling so low and losery that I can't even run. That's when I know it's really bad, is when I don't want to run. Don't give two fucks that I haven't ran since Monday. I'm supposed to be pacing someone in a race tomorrow. Nope, won't be beating myself up AT ALL for letting my friend down, it isn't like I don't let my friends down ALL THE FUCKING TIME, because I suck at friends. That is actually part of my problem, part of where all of my pent up rage and shit is coming from. It's guilt because I let my depression win and rule my friendships and so I'm unreliable and I let people down and I won't let people in and so they give up because I make them, I don't give them another choice because I truly don't know how. ttp://gusgreeper.com Corinna Carlson thank you kindly for your supportive comments, they are always very much appreciated. Tod M We don't know each other well, but I follow your blog and Instagram. It DOES get better -- you know this. If tomorrow sucks, call it a day, make popcorn, crawl into bed, and watch bad TV. And try again tomorrow. {{HUGS}} ttp://twitter.com/EatsShootsEdits Steven Schwartz I for one have never and will never give up on you. I know the wonderful Corinna. I do not pressure you to spend time with you even though I miss you, because I know you are on a journey. Just know I am always here and always available for you. You do not have to be well or at your best for me to be your friend. Good or Bad, healthy or ill you are my friend I put zero conditions on it. You have given me so much more than you know, I am a better person for being your friend. ttp://twitter.com/Kenzie20 Kenzie Someday, I am going to come to Canada, and you and I are going to have a long chat over coffee (or beers or whatever) about wanting to feel normal. And then afterwards we can go hide in a bookstore and read or something. *hugs*

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Enjoy fun science experiments for kids that feature awesome hands-on projects and activities that help bring the exciting world of science to life. Make an Egg Float in Salt Water An egg sinks to the bottom if you drop it into a glass of ordinary drinking water but what happens if you add salt? The results are very interesting and can teach you some fun facts about density. What you'll need: One egg Water Salt A tall drinking glass Instructions: Pour water into the glass until it is about half full. Stir in lots of salt (about 6 tablespoons). Carefully pour in plain water until the glass is nearly full (be careful to not disturb or mix the salty water with the plain water). Gently lower the egg into the water and watch what happens. What's happening? Salt water is denser than ordinary tap water, the denser the liquid the easier it is for an object to float in it. When you lower the egg into the liquid it drops through the normal tap water until it reaches the salty water, at this point the water is dense enough for the egg to float. If you were careful when you added the tap water to the salt water, they will not have mixed, enabling the egg to amazingly float in the middle of the glass.

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It is said that human resource professionals only look at a resume for an average of 30 seconds. So you only have 30 seconds to stand out from a crowd and make a great first impression! How do you do that? Here are a few pointers to get you started. Formatting While everyone seems to have their own personal opinion on format, the truth is really it's about the content. If you need help or a starting point, there are a number of websites that offer different templates and resume suggestions. Here are a few formatting suggestions: Keep it clear and concise -- use headings for your sections (ex. Experience, Education, etc.) and rather than paragraphs use bullet points to explain your experience For someone with a lot of experience, it is okay to have a two page resume -- if you haven't had a lot of experience, a one page resume is appropriate (if you have a CV or research background different guidelines apply) Layout can and should vary -- if you are a new graduate you should consider beginning with your education; if you are a professional with some good experience to showcase begin with that -- whichever way, be sure that each section is listed in reverse chronological order Unless references are asked for, do not include them on your resume -- also, it is not necessary to state 'References available upon request' at the bottom. Most employers will not hesitate to ask for references if they need them and including this statement on your resume is just stating the obvious Contact information A common mistake that is easy to avoid is an unprofessional e-mail address. Don't think that this is just students or young professionals; there are plenty of experienced professionals with inappropriate or unprofessional personal e-mail addresses as well. Also, include contact information that you can actually be contacted at. If you are currently in a job, we strongly advise that you do not give out your company e-mail or office phone number as contact information for prospective employers. You never know when an employer may contact you. Content Focus on measurables -- rather than providing the employer with a job description of past roles, focus on your accomplishments. Use statements that include action words, such as attract, make, save, etc. Examples of measurable statements: Grew sales by X% in a nine state territory to an annual sales revenue of $X Led X number of people in a department that oversaw the marketing of X number of products Successfully attracted X number of new customers within one year, an increase of X% to the overall customer database in the Eastern region Some people like to include a career objective or skills profile within their resume, while this is something that is not standard it can sometimes be helpful to quickly give a snapshot of abilities. If you choose to include something like this, be sure that it is tailored to the job that you are applying for. Using keywords in these introduction sections that have been featured in the job posting can be an easy way to catch an employer's interest. It can be difficult to know how far to go back in your work history. If you are a seasoned professional this can be particularly important to avoid any type of age discrimination. As a general rule, it is most appropriate to include the past 15 years of experience. As a young professional, if you have built up some good work experience, don't feel that you need to include your part time work from high school unless it directly relates to the position that you are interested in. If you are struggling for good work experience content, you can use your part time work and try to draw again on the measurable or business skills that you picked up. If you have a gap in your resume the best place to explain the reasons is in your cover letter. If it was a minimal amount of time you can sometimes cover these gaps by using years rather than months when including dates in your work experience. Resume databases If you post your resume to a database, there are things that can be done to get your resume recognized. First of all, be sure to keep your resume up-to-date. Many resume databases will remove or deactivate resumes that haven't been updated in three to six months. Use keywords within your resume that an employer might use to search for candidates with your qualifications and skills. You can use current job postings that may be of interest to you -- look at the words used in those and select a few keywords that you can use in your resume. Keywords can be incorporated into your resume in your past work experience and/or your career objective. While we hope you are happy in your current job and won't need your resume, it doesn't hurt to keep it fresh. Updating your resume is much easier as you go. For more information, contact AgCareers.com at agcareers@agcareers.com .

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This year will be a boom year -- for scaremongering But before you start wondering what I'm "on" to make a comment like that, let me explain: I believe this is going to be a boom year for fright. There is no shortage of scary stuff in the media. Things like "House prices are unaffordable!"; "Property prices will crash"; "Europe's financial system will fall apart"; "Which economy will topple next?"; "It's China's turn for a property bubble"; "Will America go into recession again?"; "Britney Spears does it again!" Every year is a boom year Of course just about every year is a boom year for fright. As far back as I can remember there have always been scary stories in the media. And looking back over the years I have invested through many property slowdowns, share market crashes, periods of double-digit interest rates and periods when people thought housing was unaffordable or would never go up in value again. Yet despite all of this the value of my properties keeps doubling, allowing me to refinance and buy even more properties. Like I said, there's always bad news in the media. I remember in the late 1980s the cry was, "Don't buy houses... they can't go up in value. Your kids will never be able to afford them." Then there were similar headlines in late 2003 and predictions of our property markets collapsing in 2008. There always seemed to be scary headlines about a grim future that could have given me plenty of reasons not to invest in property. Before the global warming crisis there was an over-population crisis with politicians, environmentalist and economists predicting massive food shortages, rioting in the streets and an impending collapse of society. I even recall a panic about global cooling. Of course, the media gets more mileage out of this type of story. Journalists find it hard to get readers' interest reporting on the unemployment rate being well below the long-term average, an economy that is the envy of most nations, a resources boom the likes of which we haven't seen in a century and 19 years of continuous economic growth for Australia. This is boring. Take a long-term view As a property investor you need to take a long-term view and refuse to be scared by the next boogey man jumping out from behind the bushes. To be successful you need to step back and take a big-picture view. The fact is, this week somebody's getting married, somebody's looking forward to having a baby, somebody's getting promoted, somebody's getting transferred, somebody's getting divorced. A lot of people are happening to get rich. This year more than 150,000 new households will be formed in Australia and they are all going to have to live somewhere. Those who can't afford to buy will have to rent. This means the long-term fundamentals -- in fact the medium-term fundamentals -- for our property markets are very sound. And if you take a long-term perspective, you'll be able to spot and act on opportunities that arise this year, as many potential home buyers and investors get scared by this boom year for fright. Is this a year of opportunity? This could well be a year of opportunities for property investors who are willing and able to see the big picture. But remember: what you look for is what you see. If you look for bad news you'll find it. On the other hand if you look for opportunities, you will find them. And boy, are there opportunities out there at present. What determines property prices? While many factors, including supply and demand, affordability, interest rates and the economy, affect property values, I have observed: Short-term property price movements (one to three years) are usually determined by market sentiment (which is currently very low) Medium- to long-term property price movements are determined by two main factors: population growth and the wealth of the nation . Despite what some people would like, strong population growth in Australia is a given (to replace our ageing baby boomers) and as a matter of fact so is our increasing wealth. I don't think that anyone would argue that as a nation Australia will become wealthier over the next 15 years. Australia is well positioned to benefit from the growth of Asia, which represents 50% of the world's population. We have vast resources that will be required by our growing neighbours and we're at the beginning of the mother of all resources booms. However, rising property prices, decreasing affordability, changing sentiment and fluctuating supply were a volatile mix that caused our property markets to slump. And now we are in a buyers' market. But the funny thing is that buyers don't buy in a buyers' market -- yet smart investors do! They recognise that the current market presents them with a smorgasbord of opportunities and they step up and take advantage of them. I've found that when there's lots of bad news people believe times are going to be tough forever, just like when things are good people forget the bad times ever existed and think that things are going to remain good forever. Neither case is true! In fact during booms people are most confident when they should probably be the least confident, as things can't continue travelling at breakneck speed and above average rates of growth. Similarly, during the market slowdowns, things eventually turn around. Ironically, people have the least confidence when it's more likely that things are going to improve -- that is, when markets are near their lowest point. Now is the right time to educate yourself and get set to take advantage of the opportunities that this stage of the cycle presents. Yes, things have slowed, and property prices have fallen over the past 18 months. And they will continue to fall in some areas. But this is a normal part of the ups and downs of the property cycle. As always, while some people worry about the bad news and sit on the sidelines, astute investors will set themselves up for the next stage of the property cycle by purchasing well-located real estate. property observer Network partners Property Observer is Australia's number one property investment website for investors and savvy buyers, featuring property news , property information, market forecasts and expert commentary and analysis . Property Observer covers all aspects of real estate, including residential property and commercial property, throughout Australia and around the world. Property Observer offers everything you need to know about selling your house, buying a house and the property cycle, as well as tips on property management and when and how to invest in property.

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Mark Twain is said to have remarked that a gold rush is a good time to be in the pick and shovel business. Investors may be able to apply that same bit of wisdom to the growing number of U.S. states that have legalized pot. Although federal law prohibits the sale or possession of marijuana, Massachusetts last week joined the ranks of states -- 18 plus Washington, D.C. -- that allow its use for people suffering from chronic illnesses like cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. In Washington and Colorado, meanwhile, voters passed an initiative to allow pot for recreational use. How to invest in legalized Marijuana Several states made recreational use of marijuana last week, and there are several small-cap stocks that stand to gain from the drugs growing acceptance. Photo: AP. Those changes have kickstarted a small but fast-growing medical-marijuana industry, estimated to be worth about $1.7 billion as of 2011, according to See Change Strategy, an independent financial-analysis firm that specializes in new markets. In Colorado alone, sales topped $181 million in 2010, and the business employed 4,200 state-licensed workers, says Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association , a nonprofit trade group that campaigns for marijuana's federal legalization. In addition to profiting itself from growing and selling marijuana, the industry benefits a slew of other businesses, such as insurers, lawyers and agricultural-equipment firms, experts say. "Call it the 'green rush,'" says Derek Peterson, CEO of GrowOp Technology, an online retailer of hydroponics -- products used in the cultivation of indoor plants -- and a subsidiary of OTC stock Terra Tech /quotes/zigman/8701126 /quotes/nls/trtc TRTC +1.19% . "The industry is expanding, and there are all kinds of investment opportunities." For regular investors looking to get in on the action -- and without having to actually grow or sell drugs -- there are several small-cap stocks that stand to gain from marijuana's growing acceptance. Medbox /quotes/zigman/7157004 /quotes/nls/mdbx MDBX -90.24% , an OTC stock with a $45 million market cap, for example, sells its patented dispensing machines to licensed medical-marijuana dispensaries. The machines, which dispense set doses of the drug, after verifying patients' identities via fingerprint, could potentially be used in ordinary drugstores too, says Medbox founder Vincent Mehdizadeh. Based in Hollywood, Calif., the company already has 130 machines in the field, and it expects to install an additional 40 in the next quarter. "The smart money is trying to help with compliance and transparency," Mehdizadeh says. Expelled U.S. Olympian: Yeah, I ate marijuana Nicholas Delpopolo becomes the first U.S. Olympian in London to be disqualified for failing a drug test. Of course, investing in drugs the federal government still outlaws poses enormous risks to investors, says Sam Kamin, a law professor and the director of the Constitutional Rights & Remedies Program at the University of Denver. In fact, nearly 500 of the estimated 3,000 dispensaries nationwide have either been closed by the federal government or shut down in the past year, says a spokesman for StickyGuide.com , an online directory and review site for medical marijuana dispensaries -- and yet another ancillary business that's currently seeking investors. That said, there are many companies that appear to be betting on a change in federal law. Steep Hill is a quality-control laboratory that tests medical marijuana to see if there's any contamination from mold, bacteria or harmful pesticides. The company, based in Oakland, Calif., is also actively seeking funding of up to $3 million. David Lampach, co-founder and president of Steep Hill, expects a federal law legalizing medical marijuana within the next decade. Cannabis Science in Colorado Springs, Colo. /quotes/zigman/11136879 /quotes/nls/cbis CBIS +2.33% , an OTC stock with a market cap of $41 million, is developing marijuana-based medicines to help cancer and HIV/AIDS patients. "We're at the beginning of the revolution in medicine," says CEO Robert Melamede. Other companies are creating a range of quirky products that allow people to use marijuana without smoking it. Medical Marijuana /quotes/zigman/548382 /quotes/nls/mjna MJNA -7.45% , an OTC stock with a $69 million market cap, based in San Diego, Calif., offers more than 50 ways to ingest marijuana , from Dixie Elixir soda to Dixie Chill ice-cream and a range of Dixie Edibles, like chocolate truffles and crispy rice treats. While experts say competition in the medical-marijuana business is growing fast, they add that there are also still plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs. For example, Troy Dayton, president and CEO of ArcView Group , an angel investor network for the industry, says demand has been growing for handheld tobacco vaporizers like those made by Ploom (which charges $250 for its "premium loose-leaf vaporizer"). "There's a rush now to make the ideal vaporizer," Dayton says. "There's still room for a kingmaker in this space." In the meantime, at least one drug company is directly selling medical marijuana to patients around the world. GW Pharmaceuticals /quotes/zigman/286334 /quotes/nls/gwprf GWPRF +0.19% , based in London, markets Sativex, billed as the world's first marijuana-based medicine. With a market cap of around $137 million, it's listed on the Alternative Investment Market, a submarket of the London Stock Exchange. Sativex is currently sold as a mouth spray to help alleviate symptoms of multiple sclerosis in several countries, including the U.K., New Zealand, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Canada, a spokesman says, and it is currently seeking FDA approval in the U.S. for use as a pain reliever in late-stage cancer patients.

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Study News Tuesday, 30th October 2012 One year down, three to go! We are now one year into our research study, and what a year it's been! Thanks to everyone who took part and helped us make the last year a successful step towards our mission of defeating dementia in Down's syndrome. But we're not quite there yet, and we have another three years to go before the project is finished! We've seen lots of people since we started, and 21 people have now been to Cambridge to have their brain scans. But we still need about 40 new people to help us! If you or someone you know is interested, we'd love to hear from you. This website contains all the information you need to get in touch, so we hope to hear from you soon! Until then, we'll keep you updated right here, so don't forget to stop by whenever you have a minute to see how we're getting on! Liam. Monday, 3rd September 2012 The Down's Syndrome Energy Study. It's been a busy summer here in Cambridge for the Down's syndrome research group . Almost 20 people have visited Liam and Tiina in Cambridge to have brain scans, and there are more on their way over the next couple of weeks! But we still need more people to come and help us, so please do get in touch if you're interested. It's also been a busy summer for Kate , who has been setting up a new Down's syndrome project. Kate wants to know why some people with Down's syndrome find it difficult to do exercise. She thinks that people with Down's syndrome might have problems with their mitochondria (click HERE to hear how this word sounds). These are like 'little energy factories' inside our cells which help us to make energy. Kate would like people with Down's syndrome to help with her research by coming to Cambridge and doing some exercise. If you would like to know more about Kate's study, you can click on HERE . I know she would love to hear from you! Thanks for keeping up to date with our study, and there'll be more news soon about how we're getting on with our work to defeat dementia in Down's syndrome! Liam. Friday, 6th July 2012 Full steam ahead! We're now well under way with our project, and Tiina and I have been very busy indeed since our last update. We've been plodding on through wind and rain, visiting people all over England. There are now 21 people who have volunteered for our study, and 12 of those people have already been to visit us at the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre in Cambridge. At this point, we'd just like to say a big thank you to all of those ladies and gentlemen who have helped us out so far, you've been fantastic! So now we are going full steam ahead, but the search for volunteers is still on! We need lots more people to help us complete our project, so if you're interested please get in touch, and help us to Defeat Dementia in Down's Syndrome! Liam Friday, 27th April 2012 A strangely dry spa day in Cambridge It has been another busy busy month for Liam and I. We have found ourselves driving by the beautiful scenery of The Cotswold landscape (not that we are complaining!) and explored the small towns of Suffolk and Norfolk counties. Unfortunately, we have mostly been accompanied by clouds and rain with an odd sunny day a week. So there has been even more reasons to shelter in the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre in Cambridge, where the kettle is always warm and the beds of the scanners are comfortable and welcoming. At least this is what we believe. We hope that the two individuals, who visited the brain imaging centre with us, feel the same. After all, they were the lucky ones who had a chance to relax on the comfy beds while listening to their favourite music..We hope it felt more like a strange dry spa break, now who wouldn't want that? Mmm (dreaming..) Tiina Thursday, 29th March 2012 Twelve is the magic number A warm welcome to our followers! It has been the most sunniest and warmest week in March -- I hope you all have had plenty of chances to soak up the sun! Liam and I, on the other hand, have been seeing the sun mostly through the windows of our car as we have been extremely busy with driving to visit our participants all across the eastern counties and beyond! Nevertheless, it is a great pleasure to announce that we have successfully recruited and consented 12 individuals with Down's syndrome, whom have very kindly agreed to help us with the study. We have been treated very well at our participants' homes and greeted with cakes, biscuits and tea -more than we would ever expect! So thank you very much for the families for being so kind to us and for giving us a chance to tell you, why we are so passionate about what we do. I take my hat off to you, the 12 participants and their families, for sharing our passion and for helping us Defeat Dementia in Down's Syndrome! Tiina Wednesday, 8th February 2012 The prologue Today is a happy day for our research team -- an article about 'Defeat Dementia in Down's Syndrome' study was published on Cambridge University website and in Business Weekly . In addition, Cambridge News and Disabled and Supportive Care (D&SC) magazine have also expressed interest in featuring the article. We are glad that we can bring public's attention to the importance of this research and to the implications the results of this study might have in the future. On the same happy note, we are glad to announce that we have officially moved into recruitment phase and have already consented two adults with Down's syndrome, whom have agreed to participate in this research! Hopefully, more people will be able to help us in the future towards our goal of defeating dementia in Down's syndrome!

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Where are the ladies? where are the shadies? The Lizas, the Lotties and Lous? Where have they gone to? You know they want to All go in Revues Girls don't go off to work, all bus'ness now they shirk They've got in Revue On Revue there's now a run, if you'd like to go in one I'll tell you what to do Well, you've got to do this and you've got to do that If you want to get on in Revue Your Maudies and Bessies must wear pretty dresses And a dainty little shoe Plenty of ginger, snap your finger Let the Johnnies in the stalls get a view Have a smile on your face, show a little bit of lace If you want to get on in Revue. Flossie the Flapper was courting a Sapper Who from the front came home on leave And without any warning, he found that she'd gone in A Revue called 'I'VE SOMETHING UP MY SLEEVE' The first night that he got back, To the stage door he made a track To see his little Flossie, but he sighed For he found another battalion there Waiting for his Flossie fair When he said 'What's your game?' she calmly replied, 'Well, you've got to do this and you've got to do that If you want to get on in Revue The night may be 'parky' when a nice young man in Khaki Says, 'Come in my Lotus for a mile or two' If it's fine or if it's raining, remember he's in training 'Sit with me at the back' he'll say to you 'It's as soft as a sofa' but you're safer with the chauffeur If you want to get on in Revue.'

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Majority in U.S. Still Say Government Doing Too Much But fewer Americans now say government has too much power by Frank Newport PRINCETON, NJ -- A majority of Americans (54%) continue to believe the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses, although that is down from the record high of 61% earlier this summer. About four in 10 Americans (39%) say the government should do more to solve the nation's problems. Only a few times in Gallup's 20-year history of asking this question has a higher percentage of Americans said the government should do more to solve the nation's problems than said the government is doing too much. Two of these were in the fall of 1992 and again in early 1993, as Bill Clinton ran for and took office as president. Another was in October 2001, just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and at a time when Americans were especially supportive of government and its efforts to help the nation recover from the attacks and retaliate against those who were responsible. Americans have been most likely to say the government was attempting to do too much during the middle years of the Clinton administration, and in recent years during the Obama administration. These data were collected as part of Gallup's annual Governance survey, conducted Sept. 6-9, which overlapped the end of the Democratic convention. Other Gallup measures from this poll, including satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. , were more positive this year than previously, suggesting that the convention may have made at least temporary changes in Americans' perceptions. Major Partisan Divide on Appropriate Role of Government The appropriate role of government in addressing the nation's problems is one of the most divisive issues in this year's presidential election. President Barack Obama tends to support the idea that government should do more to address the country's problems, while Mitt Romney generally takes the opposite view. It is thus no surprise to find large partisan differences in Americans' views on the appropriate role of government. Two-thirds of Democrats think government should do more, while an even larger percentage of Republicans say government is doing too much that should be left to individuals and businesses. More than six in 10 independents agree that the government is doing too much. Fewer Say Government Has Too Much Power A separate question in the Sept. 6-9 poll asked Americans to characterize the scope of government power. Americans are now basically split between those who say the federal government has too much power and those who say it has either the right amount of or too little power. This marks a change from the last two years; 57% last year and 59% in 2010 said the government has too much power. Gallup first asked this question in September 2002, and found a majority of Americans saying the government had about the right amount of power -- no doubt a legacy of the strong support the government and government institutions received after the 9/11 terrorist attacks of the previous year. By September 2005, however, these views had flipped, and more Americans said the government had too much power than felt its power was about right -- and this has been the case each year since. Partisans' views on the government's power are related to which party is in power. Republicans have been much more likely to agree that government has too much power since 2009, under a Democratic president, while they were comparatively less likely to say the government had too much power from 2002 through 2008, under a Republican president. The fact that Democrats for most of the Bush administration were more likely than Republicans to say the government had too much power probably reflected Democrats' negative views on government power in the Bush years in terms of fighting terrorism, the Patriot Act, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Once Obama took office, however, these partisan views changed, and Republicans' concern about government power overtook Democrats'. This partly reflects Republicans' views on the role of government spending and government power in domestic and economic affairs. Bottom Line Americans continue to say the government is attempting to do too much that should be left to individuals and businesses, and about half say the government has too much power, while the rest say that its power is about right or that it has too little power. These views have moderated somewhat compared with prior surveys, most likely as a result of the apparently successful Democratic convention, which resulted in changes in a number of Gallup trends. Republicans are much more likely to say the government is doing too much and has too much power than are Democrats, underscoring one of the most meaningful partisan and ideological divides facing the country today -- and one that will continue to play out in the presidential campaign this fall. Sign up to get Election 2012 news stories from Gallup as soon as they are published. Survey Methods Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 6-9, 2012, with a random sample of 1,017 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points. Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday. Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household, and phone status (cell phone only/landline only/both, cell phone mostly, and having an unlisted landline number). Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2011 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population living in U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. For more details on Gallup's polling methodology, visit www.gallup.com . Click below to get more stories, RSS feeds, and e-mail alerts on these topics:

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Ted walked into the pet store. With no hesitation, he opened the front door (the cow bell on the handle ding-a-ling-a-linged), marched past the cockatoo perched by the door ("Hello, I'm not for sale!" it cackled), past the various assorted reptiles and birds (the 2 dozen parakeets were extremely noisy!), past the adorable puppies playing tug-of-war in the makeshift playpen (they wagged their tails but couldn't understand why he didn't stop and at least pet them), and went straight up to the rodent section. He ignored the hamsters (which all left their wheels and tunnels and hid in their plastic houses), guinea pigs (whose squeals sounded not unlike a pig's), and the bunnies (which simply sat and started at him). Instead, Ted simply stood directly in front of a large, metal cage full of very fuzzy animals with ears that looked like a cross between a mouse and a bunny; short, coarse-but-fuzzy tails; small little front paws that looked remarkably like little hands; back feet like a tiny kangaroo; and big black eyes. In short, these animals had the face of a guinea pig, the body of a rabbit, and the tail of squirrel. They were chinchillas. Most of them were gray, although one of them was white with a gray tail. Ted stood in front of the cage. He didn't bend over and examine the cute, cuddly creatures, or try to pet them, or anything. He simply stood there and stared at them. He crossed his arms impatiently. Eventually, a store employee realized that this person wasn't "just looking", but was waiting for assistance. The employee walked over to Ted and asked: "Can I help you?" Ted looked up, reacting as many customers do - like nothing was really wrong: "Oh, yes, I would like to purchase a chinchilla. The white one, please." The employee hesitated. "Well, you can't simply pick out a chinchilla. They're very finicky animals, and although these are all handled since birth, and therefore very tame, each one won't like just anybody." Ted repeated, firmly, "I want the white one." "Again, you can't just pick a chinchilla. The chinchilla actually has to pick you." "Hm." Ted bent over and looked into the cage. The chinchillas all turned and looked at him. "Well," Ted said, "I guess I can deal with that. But I'm confident that one way or another, the white one and I will wind up together." "Okay..." In his mind, the employee began to question Ted's motives. He shook his head. This was his job, it didn't matter what he thought of a customer. "Well, let me open the cage for you, and you can put your hand in. It may take a moment, as the different chins may come up and sniff you, maybe even nibble you, but the one that stays the longest or jumps onto your hand will be your chinchilla." Ted didn't respond, so the employee opened the cage. Ted put his hand in the cage, close to the floor, palm facing up. Like the employee said, the various chinchillas (including the coveted white one) hopped, walked, and otherwise made their way to his hand, and began sniffing him. They began sniffing and nibbling all up and down his arm and hand, more and more. Soon every chin in the cage was standing on whatever part of Ted they could find, sniffing him, and making very quiet squeaking noises. Ted's eyes were wide, but he didn't move a muscle. He look over at the store employee. His eyes were just as wide, his eyebrows raised. He shook his head, raising his hands in confusion. "I don't know, this has never happened before." "Well," Ted said, "can you simply remove some of them? Surely if you make some of them move, only some of them will stay." The employee gently reached his arm through the small cage door, next to Ted's arm, and tried pushing some of the chins. They all resisted, but some of them sort of fell off. They immediately got back on. The employee kept brushing them off, but they kept getting back on. The employee got more aggressive, but to no avail. This ritual continued for about 5 minutes until he finally gave up. He threw up his arms. "I don't know what to do! This doesn't make any sense!" Ted tried to withdraw his arm, but there were so many chins that they were pushing against the cage bars. So Ted pulled harder, and they started falling off, but they kept trying to scramble back on. So Ted simply yanked his arm out, and the store employee quickly closed the door. Ted stood straight up for moment, looking down at the normally docile creatures as they began to gnaw on the bars in their crazed desire to get to Ted. Ted looked at the employee, then turned around, and marched out the door. Past the adorable puppies, past the assorted reptiles and noisy birds, past the big cockatoo (which cackled "Goodbye! If you come back I'm still not for sale!"), and out the door, the cow bell of which jangled angrily. The store employee simply stood there, staring after him. He turned and looked at the chins. They had quickly, surprisingly, calmed down, back to normal. They were going about their quiet ways, eating, chewing on cardboard, and climbing around the different parts of the cage. He shook his head. "Maybe my intuition wasn't wrong about that guy after all..." I wish there was a mountain high enough that I could climb up to the stars and bring one home for you. Norm turned on his all-house music system. He needed something to help him focus while he worked, and although he would be working primarily in the study, he wanted to take advantage of this one opportuniy he had to play HIS music over the sound system. Normally, his wife and kids would insist on playing that cheesy country music throughout the whole house, and there was nothing he could do about it - he was outvoted! This time, however, the family was visiting his parents-in-law, and he was going to play what he wanted. He grumbled. He paid good money for this system, and did all the work himself to install it, and he never even got to use it. He put in the soundtrack to that new thriller movie that he saw with his guy friends (his wife refused to watch it with him - she thought it looked like a stupid movie). It starred two popular actors, a man and a woman, as they awoke from cryogenic sleep to find themselves in an country theu didn't recognize, and then trekked across a foreign, post-apocalyptic landscape filled with unknown terrors and paranoid groups of human survivors. Norm really like the soundtrack, because, for the most part, it was very ambient in nature, and provided a unique atmosphere for getting thought-intensive work done. The music began with the swell of an orchestral string section, then shifted into a brooding, slow-moving piece accompanied by ambient piano and harp. He spread out the paperwork from his big work assignment across his desk in a very organized fashion. He didn't sit down in his cushy office chair, but instead leaned on the desk with both of his hands, intently studying the notes and figures on the paper. An hour later, the papers were scattered chaotically, and some of them were on the floor or in the wastebasket. Norm was sitting in the chair with his left elbow on the desk and his left hand on his forehead. In his right hand was one of the papers, which was completely filled with pencil scribbles that had erased, re-written, and then erased again. The movie soundtrack was in the midst of a moving piece that accompanied a scene in which the main characters were being chased by wolfmen and vampires. Norm was seriously considering taking a break when this track was over, so when the hammered percussive section died away into tense, sustained string chords, he set down the paper he was holding with a sigh. He spun his chair around, stood up, and stretched. He was in the middle of a big yawn when he heard a strange noise in the living room. It sounded remarkably like a door being shut, which didn't make any sense, because his family was gone and no one else had a key to the door, which was always kept locked. He froze, and slowly put his arms down. He peeked his head arouund the corner of the room's doorframe, and he heard the noise again. He slowly looked down both ends of the hallway, but didn't see anything. He heard the noise again. It seemed to be coming from the living room, where the door to the house was. Was someone trying to break in? Quietly, Norm grabbed the wooden baseball bat that Norm always kept in the study, even though his family never understood why. Then, while the movie soundtrack continued continued to play its tense, subtle music throughout the house, he began to tiptoe down the hall towards the living room. The noise started happening more frequently now, like whoever it was who may be trying to break in was becoming more frantic, more determined. Norm's heart was pounding in his ears, almost in time to the now building music that he was only barely aware of. He clutched the bat tighter in his hands as he emerged from the hallway and into the main room of the house. The TV was off, and so were all the lights, except for the one directly above the front door. The sound had stopped, but now he heard something rustling by the door. He couldn't tell for sure, but he thought it was coming from the bush just outside the door. He swallowed and moved closer to the door. He'd never encountered a burglar before, but he wasn't about to let one break into his house. The music was almost at its highest point now, with every string instrument (and even parts of the horns and percussion) playing repeated notes in a steady rhythm, getting louder and louder. Norm reached a trembling hand out to grasp the door handle. Just as the music built to a deafening crash, a small, black figure dashed out from behind the couch and leapt at Norm's face. Norm fell backwards, dropping his bat. The figure was behind him now. He whipped around and saw - Inque, the family housecat. The cat was playing with her catnip mouse, which would explain why she was acting in such a strange manner. She was jumping and clawing at invisble things at the air while she still held the mouse in her mouth. Norm swore. He clambored to his feet, grabbed the nearest throw pillow off the couch, and threw it at the cat. The cat retreated into a back room of the house. Still breathing heavily, Norm picked up the bat and trudged back to the study. The CD player built into the wall had ejected the soundtrack CD, as it always did when it finished playing something. Norm stared at it for a moment. He picked up the CD, and then the CD's case that had been sitting on the desk. He studied them both for a moment, then threw them in the trash. Whether you agree or disagree with Casey Anthony's verdict, why don't you pray for her and her family and the loss of an innocent little girl, rather than name calling? It's done, you can't change the verdict. She's obviously a soul in need of saving. But you can pray, that's something you CAN do. Bob, Dan, and Ken are riding in a car down the interstate. Bob is driving, Dan is in the passenger seat, and Ken is in the back seat on the driver's side. As they're driving, they run into construction. It doesn't really slow them down, but Ken is rather keen on the concrete barriers bordering the road. "Those barriers have weird flixible thingies attached to them," he said, indicating the yellow, plastic objects sticking up about 3 feet in the air. They were attached every foot or so. Dan cocked an eyebrow. "I bet it would be real fun to stick your arm out and hit them," he said. "Well it just so happens we have one!" Dan said, grinning. "My hiking stick, it's sticking up in the back!" Ken unbuckled himself and clambered over the back seat, reaching into the station wagon's hatch. "Oh no you don't!" Bob insisted. He tried to find an opening to move into the right lane, but it was filled with other cars, the drivers of whom seemed oblivious to his turn signal. "We're probably breaking at least a dozen traffic laws right now," he muttered. Ken managed to grab the hiking stick from the back, and, much to Bob's chagrin, he stuck it out the back window, holding it by its molded rubber handle to maximize grip and reach. The plastic guards began to slap against the stick, making a very noisy rhythm, and waving in the stick's wake. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere (as they usually are), blue and red lights lit up behind them. Bob groaned. "Oh no..." Despite the busy traffic in both lanes, Bob managed to navigate across to the right side of the interstate, rolled to a stop, and put his window down. Ken had reluctantly rolled up his window after retracting his plastic-smacking stick. After the police car stopped behind them, there was an indeterminate length of time which seemed much longer than it needed to be, and then a husky, brim-hatted officer walked up to the driver's side. Speaking in a slight drawl, he then asked the question: "Do ya know why I pulled ya over, son?" The use of the word "son" made Bob's throat tighten, but he made himself swallow. It just made it more awkward. "Well," he started, "I would guess it's cause my friend Bob here was smacking the plastic things on top of the concrete barriers with a hiking stick." I sound like an idiot, he thought. "Oh, it was him, was it?" the officer gestured to the man in the backseat. "Hell, I thought it was you, and I was gonna give ya a warning to cut it out!" He laughed. Bob forced a laugh in response, and the other two men in the car followed suit. "Listen, if it's the guy in the backseat, I ain't gonna spoil your fun. Just be careful you don't ruin your nice thing-a-ma-jig there!" He gestured to the hiking stick that Ken had been ineffectively trying to hide. Without another word, the cop climbed into his patrol car. Bob was afraid to drive away, but the officer turned off his lights and drove away after a short moment. The three men just stared at each other. Then, in silence, Bob started the car back up, drove back across the lanes of the interstate, and rolled down Ken's window for him. Dan and Ken grinned at each other, and Ken happily stuck his stick out, and started smacking the plastic thingies again.

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Man Utd waiting on the results of Kagawa scan Wednesday 24 October 2012 Manchester United will on Wednesday discover the extent of any damage done by midfielder Shinji Kagawa, after the Japan international injured his knee during United's 3-2 Champions League victory over Braga on Tuesday, the Daily Mail has reported. United came back from two goals down to take three points and all-but secure their safe passage into the next round of the competition thanks to a Javier Hernandez brace and one from Jonny Evans, leaving United with nine points from nine available. Braga scored twice through Alan inside 20 minutes but United completed the turnaround with 15 minutes of the match remaining. Kagawa however was replaced by Luis Nani at half-time having twisted his knee mid-way through the first-half. Sir Alex Ferguson could not say at full-time how serious or otherwise the injury was, instead admitting he was waiting for the results of the scan to be held a day later.

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How to have a good relationship A summary of the research evidence, by Dr Bob Rich Love in the bank: the 5:1 rule Every relationship involves problems and conflict. Trading in one partner for another is freeing yourself from one set of problems, and taking on another set. Choosing to live alone also has its problems. So, the trick is to have a good relationship DESPITE the problems that arise. Research by John Gottman and many others has shown that it is possible to "put love in the bank." When the conflicts arise, you can survive them and maintain a good relationship if, on the average, there are at least 5 good interactions for every bad one. When I found out about this, I monitored good and bad interactions between my wife and me for a week. I found that the ratio was more like 20:1, explaining why we have been married for over 43 years now. A good interaction is anything that one person does in order to make the other feel good. It can be a smile, a friendly tone of voice, a non-sexual touch like a pat on the back... basically, anything the other person notices, and therefore feels good for sharing a life with you. So, deliberately and intentionally, go out of your way to do things that put love in the bank. Avoid actions that go the other way. If one happens, apologise, own up, and counter it with one or more good acts. Do note that this only works if BOTH partners do it. How to handle conflict Every relationship involves conflict situations. Where "there is never any conflict," you can be sure that one partner controls, dominates and therefore abuses the other. There would be conflict if the subjugated person dared. Conflict is healthy -- if handled right. Four dimensions are all-important. Here are the extreme points of each: Listening vs. defensiveness . When you make a complaint, you need to be heard. More than that: you need to feel that you've been heard. Even if the complaint proves to have been misguided and wrong, the emotion associated with it is genuine. So, a response of this kind is good: "I hear that you're hurt that I didn't phone that I'd be late. Sorry you feel so badly about it. But actually, I tried to ring, only my phone ran out of charge, and I couldn't get to any other phone. So, all I could do was to hurry home, and well, here I am." Defending your actions is fine -- AFTER acknowledging the feelings of the other person. The opposite is illustrated by: "You've trampled mud all over the carpet again!" "Yeah? And I see last night's dishes are still in the sink!" A counterattack like this may work, but damages the relationship. Complaint vs. criticism . A complaint addresses an issue. A criticism says something negative about a person. For example, "You've trampled mud all over the carpet again!" is a complaint. "You're a slob for trampling in all that mud" is a criticism. The first is constructive, the second destructive. It's a cliche of childraising to discipline the child with love: to do something about unacceptable behaviour while making the child still feel loved. The same applies to adult relationships. Accepting influence vs. stonewalling . I am stonewalling when whatever you say, whatever you want, I do what I feel like, when I feel like. Included are promising to do a job and then not doing it, not-hearing something or forgetting it had been said, advancing endless excuses, and a straight refusal every time, even if the suggestion or request is wise and reasonable. Some men have the habit of thinking that accepting influence from a woman is somehow demeaning and belittling. It ain't. A good relationship is one in which partners listen to each other, pool their wisdom and make decisions jointly, each accepting influence from the other. Respect vs. contempt . This is the most important. Even if the other three factors are handled right, the relationship will founder if one partner acts with contempt toward the other. Derogatory terms (stupid, slut, bastard, lazy, slovenly, spendthrift, miser...) are terms of contempt. Interestingly, the research shows that universalising statements have the same effect as such labels: "you always..." and "you never..." are terms of contempt. "It distresses me when you drink to excess" is respectful. "You"re a drunkard" is not. Argument style People have various emotional styles for engaging in conflict. The relationship is more stable if you and your partner use the same style. Mismatches cause problems, but with tolerance and goodwill, you can learn to make allowances and put in place defence strategies for minimising the effect of the different styles. Three major styles are called volatile, rational and avoidant. None of these is better than the others -- the issue is whether your way of doing it drives your partner away or not. Volatile arguers are drama queens. They shout, scream, exaggerate, make a great show out of the issue. Then when it's over, they are passionate, and make great love. Rational arguers like to organise a meeting, sit down and seriously talk an issue out. They need to understand, negotiate, look for compromises. Avoidant arguers are those who say, "We can agree to disagree over this." Peace and harmony are a lot more important to them than being right, or having their way. As I said, if you and your partner have matching styles, then you can have a good long term relationship. Two volatiles can have fierce arguments followed by wonderful passion. Two rationals can sort things out. Two avoidants can live together regardless of an accumulation of unresolved issues. The problem arises if the two partners have different styles, and you can see why. A volatile and a rational will drive each other crazy. When one partner calls the other "a cold fish," "boring," "all in the head, no heart," you can be sure it's a volatile talking about a rational. The retort will be "throws tantrums like a spoiled kid." A rational teamed up with an avoidant is a chasing game. One has the need to talk it out, the other to run away. Some situations of domestic violence can be understood with one or the other reaching breaking point, because the issue just won't stop. And yes, a rational can be violent. The worst is a volatile and an avoidant. It doesn't take long for the avoidant to move out. It IS possible to build a loving, lasting relationship despite such mismatches. This needs understanding and allowance. You need to accept the other person's style, and each of you needs to do your best to modify somewhat toward the other's preferred way of doing things. This is difficult, but possible. It may even be good for you. Attachment style As a little child, a person has to make sense of the world. We build a model of reality, including what kind of person we are, what is safe and what is dangerous. As part of this, we form long-term reactions to other people, and these strongly influence romantic relationships in adulthood. If the people who cared for you when you were little treated you with consistent love (even when you needed discipline), and you learned to trust them, then as an adult you will have a positive view of others and feel comfortable around them. But if the big people who ruled your childhood were dangerous and unpredictable, you will have a negative view of others as an adult, and generally keep them at an emotional distance. That's one dimension. The second is how you think of yourself. If the way you were treated as a little child built up your confidence and made you feel good about being you, then that's how you will be as an adult. However, the events in your childhood may have made you feel damaged, never good enough, inferior, and then you have a negative view of yourself as an adult. Naturally, both these distinctions have many degrees. Each is a continuum, not a point. All the same, a good understanding of what makes people tick in relationships is that how you feel about yourself and others determines how you behave as one half of a couple: trust others fear others I'm OK Secure attachment Dismissive attachment I'm faulty Insecure attachment Avoidant attachment Various researchers have used different names for these, and some only have three rather than four types. But the concept is clear enough. People with secure attachment are wonderful partners and lovers, and many of them find secure partners for themselves. Those of us with attachment problems are not so lucky. We tend to have selective perception, seeing situations and other people in a way that confirms our expectations. We fall in love with people who treat us the way out childhood carers treated us, and this keeps our problematic attitudes going. If you have problems in your relationship, chances are your and your partner's attachment style contributes to this. People with dismissive attachment tend to handle conflict by being abusive and contemptuous, those with insecure attachment readily fall into the victim role (and these two often find each other), avoidant people are often loners who wish for love, but don't know how to get it. And because these patterns act as self-fulfilling prophecies, they tend to be stable for many people. But there is hope. Your attachment style is only one of many relevant influences. And it is an invitation, not a command; a tendency, not a doom. I am an example. I have the very worst pattern: "I am damaged and people hurt you." And yet, I am now impervious to negative opinions of other people (while taking in anything they say that might help me to improve). The damaged little boy is still within me, but he no longer has any influence. People like me, and I can form good relationships with them, including those the closest to me: my wife and children. If I could do it, so can you. It took me many painful years, but I can shorten the journey for my clients. If you have identified an attachment style that's not the best, see a psychologist. In summary Look for a mate who argues the way you do. Whatever the provocation, treat your partner with respect, be open to influence, listen, and complain rather than criticise. And put LOTS of love in the bank. ...and something from me I am not aware of any research on the next point, but it works. It turns on the little word "me." Think of the difference between I want someone to love me; I want someone to love. One is needy, the other giving. Or: She is screaming at me. How can I defend myself; She is screaming. How can I help? A rule of the universe is, the more you give, the more you get. If both partners are in the relationship FOR the other rather than for what they can get out of it, they can ride over every difficulty.

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I looked all over for people with similar issues and tried all the solutions posted for issues like this but got nowhere. I have tried both with ow3nd and twitch accounts and with ow3ned when I start my stream I get nothing, with twitch it goes online for a second with a black screen and then back offline, while xsplit still says it is streaming. Trying to local record gets me a file in the xsplit recordings folder that is 0 bytes large and disappears as soon as I stop local recording. When I try to test bandwidth with either stream I get 0kbps, I tried turning firewall off but it did not help. When I start the stream it tells me at first I have 24kbps bitrate, which shortly goes down to 12, then 8, 6, 4, and then the bitrate counter goes away entirely Here is a compilation image with some information, I assume you want something more than just speedtest.net specifics, if so can you tell me how to get to that information and specifically what you want? Absolome wrote: turned off antivirus, turned off windows firewall. Still getting the same problem with local recording and streaming, still starts off streaming at about 27 kbps and steadily drops to nothing Are you using a wireless connection for streaming? If you are, consider switching to a wired one. That said, whether you are using a wireless / wired connection, please try the (applicable) suggestions here . Did you update to v. 1.0 yet? Try updating your channel plug-in - delete it complete from the channels view (take note of settings you want to keep), then add it through the interface. This will install the latest version of the plug-in. Whoops, sorry - completely forgot to write the name of the processes to watch for: VHMultiWriterExt2.exe (this is the encoder, and there has to be one for video and one for audio). Xsplit.core.exe does not change much when local recording, since it's basically the encoder you turn on. Fix: XSplit Not Recognizing Paid Licenses (June 2-4) Last Updated: 16:56 EST In the XSplit 1.0.1204.1301 client we have discovered a bug which for several hours today may have prevented many paid users to login to XSplit. We have constructed XSplit as a service that will still be able to operate for paid users even if our servers should experience unexpected downtime. The official XSplit 1.0.1204.1301 had a bug which prevented this safety mechanism to kick in under some special circumstances which we discovered today during intermittent server down time. We will work very hard to avoid similar situations going forward and we thank everyone for their support and patience. While we are still working on some server issues, the patch in the download page will resolve the issues for existing XSplit account holders who have been logged into their account before on the current workstation. New users that have recently signed up for an XSplit account or existing users who is logging into XSplit on a new workstation may still be getting the following message "You need to be online the first time before you login". We are working to resolve that and will provide an update when this issue is resolved.

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Files seem to be deleted from Free Agent Go Flex 1TB drive I have a Free Agent Go Flex 1TB external drive that I bought expressly to store my movies on when I deploy overseas. I am using HandBrake to transfer the movies to the external, using a MacBook. I've transferred about 100 movies (about a GB each) to the external drive. Today, I transferred one movie successfully and got an error message on the second that the "Destination drive [the Go Flex] is not valid". When I checked the contents of the drive in Finder, the movies do not appear; however, the drive shows that approx 100GB has been used - which is exactly what it showed prior to the error. When I plugged the external drive into a Windows PC, some of the movies showed up, but not all. I'm at a loss as to what to do to get to the files. Help!

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Seeing The Sign Where to go. How to get there. Looking for a picture-perfect view of the Sign? For many visitors to Los Angeles, there is no more coveted photo than a shot of the world famous Sign. Though it is visible from all over the city from its lofty perch on Mt. Lee, it can actually be surprisingly difficult to get a well angled shot. Many are surprised to learn that it's actually illegal to hike to (or basically get anywhere near) the Sign, which is set well back behind restricting gates and protected by security cameras and Park Rangers. With our insider's photo guide to the Sign, you'll beat the crowds and get that perfect photo you were hoping for. (Commercial photographers and filmmakers, please consult our "Filming the Sign" page for information on getting the proper permits.) Check the map below to find the best location near you, or visit them all for a fun day tour!

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I am new 2 this forum... i found this forum very intresting and da forum is providing loads of help 2 studentzz I have Unconditional offer for addmission in PhD integrated (MS by research Leading to PhD) from University of Wollongong. I am abt 2 apply for student viza. I would appreciate help in regardzz wid docuements 2 b submitted @ the time of student visa lodging. Kindly correct me if i am missing some of the documentzz. Here is da List. Congratulations for getting a HEC scholarship to PhD program from a reputable university in Australia. Undoubtedly this is some thing a person should always be proud of. Your efforts and hard work has paid of. As per rules [University of Wollongong] comes in streamline processing which basically means that Embassy recognizes your university to be an authentic education provider. This makes an applicant's chances for obtaining a visa even brighter. Please follow the link to visa check-list below to submit your case to the Embassy. Assessment Levels have been streamlined meaning you will be treated the same as a student from United States. i.e Assessment Level 1 < Reference: http://www.immi.gov.au/students/checklis\\... > There is not need to notarize your statement of purpose(SOP). Your signature at the end are sufficient. Please write it persuasively and put some thought into it as it is a document of utmost importance. Undeniably visa officer will read your SOP and the outcome of the decision will be based on it. I hope it was helpful. Regards C.Sagan P.S- My semester will commence in spring for Masters of Professional Engineering from UOW this July 2012. FaizaJ May 6th, 2012, 10:50 AM Thank you C.Sagen for da info and complements. Yes, University of Wollongong is very nice university and very reputable one. Have you applied for da visa? hope 2 c u at Wollongong. By the way, is PFL a good consultant for australia visa cases handling? Thankzzz once again Carlsagan. carlsagan May 6th, 2012, 04:05 PM @FaizaJ The purpose of human existence should be to help others if we cannot they we should at least try not to harm others. The university is well known for research on Nano Technology. According the updated rankings it's research capabilities are higher than [University of Melbourne]. The program allows me to participate in thesis and contribute directly in my discipline. It is the one of those universities working on nano based solar panels that will eventually end the monopoly of oil cartels around 2030's. Shortage of energy will cause the biggest crisis mankind has ever faced in the future. The world relies heavily on energy, 90% of which comes from oil. Already the price of petrol as of 6th May 2012 is spiraling out of control. It is obvious that if an alternative is not discovered soon, immediate repercussions will be on the price of transportation that will reach beyond the grips of a common man,the price of commodities and overall living cost have been rising and are bound to go even higher in the years to come. In this regard some nations have invested in renewable energy technologies but they are ineffective on an industrial scale. The answer will come from [University of Wollongong, Nano Labs] where today researchers are looking for answer to these questions. That is what I hope to be a part of. I hope to strengthen the fabric of science. I worked in the middle east for few years to earn my tuition fees. My colleagues and boss is Australian and our Head Office is also based in Australia. I got the visa in 2 weeks time. It was difficult on HEC scholarship a few years ago as they were having trouble funding students already pursuing degree abroad. We were hearing news of Pakistani scholars returning home leaving their studies because HEC was unable to provide funds. May be situation has improved since them. This was in around the year 2007/08. I took a decision not to apply for HEC as they were in troubles of their own. In any case it is tremendous achievement to have your efforts recognized by government of Pakistan, considering the current situation. Being fully funded gives you the liberty to enjoy your stay while in Australia on a stipend. As for your queries, National Identity Cards are translated in shops around places where Notary Public sit outside court rooms. They are usually well advertised. One cannot miss their signboards. A translated NIC is a print out of a simple form built in excel with your data. It is nothing really sophisticated or amazing. The reputation of the consultant doesn't matter in your case. You are a sponsored student for research degree. You automatically meet the criteria of [Genuine Student] and [Temporary Entrant]. The only important pieces of paper in your application will be the letter from HEC and your statement of purpose. Regards Escallanio May 6th, 2012, 10:32 PM Hi FaizaJ i am also scholarship awardee (HEC batch X1). However mine is for PhD. Can any one elaborate about financial statement in scholarship case? @FaizaJ and carl i have heard it is MUST to submit first semester fee to be granted australia visa...However in HEC Scholarship tuition fee is paid once visa is granted. Will a simple plain Scholarship letter be enough to submit with application fee for visa to be granted? That's because Embassy is under the impression that you are a fraud. Applying to Australia with the malicious intentions of causing harm to its citizens either directly or participating in activities that will bring harm to its citizens indirectly. The decision officers so far must have been unable to determine [ Genuine Student] and or [Temporary Entrant ] intentions. FaizaJ May 8th, 2012, 02:02 AM @carlsagen i am impressed. You have chosen Wollongong with an excellent frame of mind. You have done thorough research in choosing wollongong. Wollongong is very famous in telecommunication as well. However sometimes nowadays fear comes in my mind. i dont know why but my frame of mind is not set bcoz i wonder why i choose wollongong instead of melbourne or Uni of Sydney. May b i am work i dont know but ???? Carlsagen, is it your own picture in the display. i hope 2 see you soon in NSW. Where you from in Pak? FaizaJ May 8th, 2012, 02:10 AM Escallanio i Nice 2 meet you. I am HEC scholars as well. i am in batch ix. I am going 2 Uni of Wollongong MS leading 2 PhD. HEC wont provide bank statement or any advance payment this is what HEC Islamabad told me. They told me if Uni is world class or above average they will not ask for advance payment once you inform them about HEC scholarship. Normally HEC scholars are accepted by universities abroad without asking fee in advance. one of your post says you got addmission in ballarat as well. Lolzz. I am sure they will ask you about tuition fee in advance as its a low standard uni. I am waiting on Wollongong offer. i have conditional offer which required me 2 pay first semester fee. My consultant (PFL) have inform them about my scholarship last friday. let see when they dispatch unconditional offer. FaizaJ May 8th, 2012, 03:14 AM @Carlsagen In our case, HEC told that we will not pay tuition fee till visa is granted. Is it a pre-requisite to deposit first semester tuition fee for visa 2 be granted? can you please explain tthis situation? carlsagan May 8th, 2012, 08:04 AM @carlsagen i am impressed. You have chosen Wollongong with an excellent frame of mind. You have done thorough research in choosing wollongong. Wollongong is very famous in telecommunication as well. However sometimes nowadays fear comes in my mind. i dont know why but my frame of mind is not set bcoz i wonder why i choose wollongong instead of melbourne or Uni of Sydney. May b i am work i dont know but ???? Carlsagen, is it your own picture in the display. i hope 2 see you soon in NSW. Where you from in Pak? The course was subsidized by my company (Head Quartered in Australia) on the recommendations of my boss in UAE who is an Australian and an alumni of UoW. About the profile picture, it belongs to 'Carl Sagan' a famous American astronomer whose documentaries about the universe has always captivated me. He made science easy and accessible for all. I guess if you are coming to UOW this spring it is likely to run into each other since not many Pakistani students are expected to be there. @Carlsagen In our case, HEC told that we will not pay tuition fee till visa is granted. Is it a pre-requisite to deposit first semester tuition fee for visa 2 be granted? can you please explain tthis situation? As per the official guide lines. If you are a fully funded student, you must show evidence that the sponsoring agency, government or organization will cover the cost of:travel, tuition and living expenses for yourself and dependent family members accompanying you to Australia. < Reference:http://www.immi.gov.au/student\\... | 574-Postgrad Research > canberra_pk May 9th, 2012, 12:38 PM Please also include Form 80 and Form 54 in your application. If you don't want to submit with the application now then make sure you keep them handy as Visa Officer might ask you to submit later. Well, I also wonder why you didn't choose Uni Melb or ANU or other top Aussie Uni. Well, Uni Wollongong ranks 10 in Australia currently (http://www.australianuniversities.com.a\\... Good luck for your visa application. carlsagan May 9th, 2012, 03:43 PM @canberra pk University of Wollongong has exactly the same research breath as ANU. (Reference: http://www.australianuniversities.com.au\\... Overall it is a mid ranking university with faculty a lot less cocky than ANU or Melbourne, thus a lot less pain in the... FaizaJ May 10th, 2012, 06:26 AM @carlssagen thank you carlsagen. Yes, sure i will definitely meet you. I have heard about form 157 A. Never heard about form 54 and 80.. do i need 2 submit them as well? @canberrapk I have applied 2 Uni of Wollongong and Uni of Queensland. If i get addmission in Queensland Uni (Unconditional ) then i will prefer Queensland University as my sister and brother in law are settled there. At the moment i have two conditional offers : one from QU and other from UoW. Lets see who offer unconditional without paying tuition fee 4 first semester. Yes melbourne is good but UOW and QU are also excellent in research. i am getting late as my classes in UoW starts Mid July and QU on 30 July and i havent yet recieved unconditional offer. carlsagan May 10th, 2012, 07:30 AM @carlssagen thank you carlsagen. Yes, sure i will definitely meet you. I have heard about form 157 A. Never heard about form 54 and 80.. do i need 2 submit them as well? Please follow the document checklist as per 574-postgrad research streamline applicants. Any unnecessary/irrelevant documents are discarded by the Islamabad Embassy before dispatching to Adelaide office. canberra_pk May 10th, 2012, 09:59 AM Hi FaizaJ You may also need to submit Student Supplement Form that can be found at: http://www.pakistan.embassy.gov.au/files\\... For PhD Research you don't need to worry about start date as it can be started at any time of the year (preferably before end of Semester 2 the latest.). Depends on when you get your visa. Go for UQ if you get unconditional offer letter of course. It's an excellent Aus Uni and trust me St Lucia, Brisbane/Queensland is a wonderful place to study at and live in. canberra_pk May 10th, 2012, 12:26 PM carlsagan: Please correct me if I am wrong. The student visa application is sent DIRECTLY to Adelaide Office and NOT via Islamabad as you mentioned in your message below?? Thanks! Form 80, 54 and student supplement forms are requested from most of Pakistani students see at (although it's old info but still valid I believe?): http://www.pakistan.embassy.gov.au/files\\... Please follow the document checklist as per 574-postgrad research streamline applicants. Any unnecessary/irrelevant documents are discarded by the Islamabad Embassy before dispatching to Adelaide office. canberra_pk May 10th, 2012, 02:34 PM @FaizaJ THE below info (Pak specific) is available at Australian High Commission (AHC), Islamabad website.

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Customer Service Value For Money Media Gallery for Western Union Money Transfer Latest Reviews WU stinks their customer service is non existant. I have yet to have a money transfer overseas to go smoothly there is always something I have to call about and wait and then get someone who I can barely understand as it appears they do not hire anyone who doesn't have an accent. I actually had to resort to yelling at the customer service person today, they are slow, they want confirmation but won't send you a confirmation e-mail, right now I have two seperate transactions hanging out... I sent money online for just 44 as it stated that you can send upto 400 x2 before ID is required. It clearly states this, i only did the transaction because of this, as i dont have any i.d at all. They took my money from my credit card, then frozen the transaction saying i need to send id. Its a joke! I need to send id but dont have any, my money is held and i cant pay my reciever Terrible Service, Bad Company You will be asked to confirm your to call for this message. For your security, we need more information before we can process your money transfer. You call.....then...you'll wait forever!!!.... until your phone runs out of battery charge and wasted so much of your precious time!!!!!!!! What an awful experience I've just had trying to send funds from the U.S. to Canada. It was not sufficient for me to get cash from the bank, fill out forms, provide identification, and pay a $111 fee (to send $1,200 U.S). I needed to also return a phone call to Western Union, wait a half hour, then identify the transaction number, my driver license number, and the recipient's name. Then, incredibly, I had to identify HOW the recipient would SPEND ALL the funds, HOW I am SURE of the... Western Union has the worst system I've ever encountered, you actually went in to my credit report for the transfer of a lousy $200, I was asked questions about who I pay my mortgage to and who I took credit from to purchase my car. To put the icing on the cake, you denied my transfer of $200 for my desperate brother and the agent had the audacity to offer a 50% discount hahahaha what a joke you people are, I rudely stated to him that I wanted nothing from Western Union and rather stick to... Last month, my boyfriend and I were sending money to California from New York to my boyfriend's brother in order to put down a deposit on an apartment that we really wanted to get. We decided to use Western Union and we called the 1-800 number and asked the customer service representative if they deducted the money from the credit card and if it was sent to the destination. The rep "assured" us that the money was there and the transaction was complete and to have a great evening. The next... Mdmdm's response to courtneyrose05's Review Written on: 01/11/2012 I am in the Phillipines.. I have been here 2 1/2 months as I extended my visa 2x and got married.. I am renting a house with my wife and I furnished it and buy her family dinner all the time.. I have burned through all my cash so I try to send myself a $1000 transfer the first one went through ok so after I pick it up I try another one but they cancel it.. they keep cancelling my transfers.. I call them.. I email them I send them my passport but they just say the system is cancelling my transfers.. I KNOW!!! Then they say something about security issues.. Hey dumb butts I'm sending money to myself. I have to show my passport to pick it up. I have had this online account 5 years!!!! Why is this a security issue?? On top of that I can't load my Western Union Debit card.. Then I apply for a Western Union ForX account and get approved but I can't log in. I am running out of money and Western Union does not care if I have been a good customer for 6 years. I recently used the WU Pay service by transferring money from my bank account to them. It's been 2 days now since WU received the money, still they haven't sent any confirmation of receipt. It's impossible to contact them via chat or phone (they're always unavailable, even during their business hours) and their email responses are a bunch of baloney and vague at best. I hope to recover my money soon thanks to my bank. I called in to ask about a problem, but I couldn't understand the person, his english was so bad. I asked him to transfer me to another agent, but he said to hang up and call back. I was on the phone for 2 hours and got hung up on 3 times. No one I spoke to could speak english, and they didn't help at all. I have been using Western Union for may be 4 years sending money home every month. The only reason I stick to WU is it's convenient for my receiver to collect money from local Western Union place. I have spoken to hundreds of companies over the phone but Western Union is by far the rudest one. It is as if I have made a call to some third world police department and I'm getting interrogated! I have always had problems with them whenever I had changed address or phone number etc. They REALLY... This company/bank goes further than the people from the great black continent south of Europe! If you want to be taken for a ride, this is the best Company/Bank to do it. What a lack of unmitigated slight of hand! To start with, they have now started charging 4% above the going base exchange rate, which was only 3% 6 months ago, and only 2% about 2 years ago. They don't provide Vaseline when you start dealing with WU and the problems they create! Then there are the exorbitant transfer... I agree with all the other reviewers regarding this company, which is the worst I have ever dealt with. They have now been holding my payment hostage for over a week and will not respond to my emails. Over the phone, they were "too busy" and wanted me to leave a voice mail. I said that was not acceptable and foolishly continued to wait. After half an hour, I asked for a supervisor, who eventually said she "escalated" my issue (whatever that means) and would call back "hopefully within 24... Took two hours to deal with agents on the phone, then finally after hours of waiting and frustration, they figured they cannot help by phone and wanted me to go to their office to make the transaction. Cancelled the transaction for money transfer but the fee is NOT reimbursed!!! Terrible! Never ever gonna make business again with them! The level of irresponsibility at western union is unimaginable, for a company with global reach, i am completely shocked at how they conduct business. How do you decline service to a customer without explanation of any sort. It's a shame they are still in business. The following is an email I sent them. It explains almost everything. I am a very loyal customer to western union and have been making money transfer for years through this company. But I am so disappointed by the customer service so much that I wonder why the company is even paying people who are like robots and can't help customers. Less than a month ago, I made a large money transfer, but my rewards points were not printed on my receipt. I called the customer service line and after ... What kind of legitimate company denies your transaction, and also closes your account without even sending you a courtesy email as to the reasons WHY it was cancelled and denied? To take it further, I was sending money via Billpay, which required me to verify my account by accessing my online banking (which is a reputable bank btw, CHASE). To put it short, Western Union is a joke. Unless you want to deal with hassles and your money being frozen an a non-FDIC insured system, don't even... Western Union paid money to someone else who didn't have MTC number ( this umber only supposed to be known to sender and receiver) They wont admit it is their issue - said we need to report to police as it was fraud but cant explain how money was paid to someone who was not the correct receiver. They are not interested in helping to solve what happened to money and police cant do anything without details of where money was paid out. Their agents are not trained and pay out to anyone even... They deducted money from my account and it did not reach to receiver . After 2 days they said the transaction has been cancelled . No reason given by them . They said your money has been refunded to your bank account . It has been more than 5 days still I have not received money back . If I try to ask western union they say check with your bank , we have refunded your money back . My bank is asking reference number from western and western union is not providing any reference number . Western Union is worthless! I first started making online transaction in July because they offered zero transfer fee. The money came in the recipient's bank account in a next business day, very impressive. Then I made another transfer to the same recipient's account and they held the money for nearly one week, always stating that it has been transferred, but the recipient has never got the money, until they sent me an email about transfer failure stating that the beneficiary's name was... western union has no customer service i paid for the minute service and my money was not recieved for four days i tried several times to correct an agent mistake and found it very dificult to do so finally after days of effort i was able to get my money sent i will never use the service again I tried sending money OL and it won't go through coz they're asking for some stupid codes.. Everytime I call they'd say I have to wait until the transaction posts then I can enter the code... 3 days later, I decided to just cancel it since it's still on pending approval... To my dismay the next day... My money was deducted from my account even after I cancelled the transaction.. I've called them so many times and all they say is that they'll give me a refund but until now... THEY STILL... Minike's response to Guest's Review Written on: 29/08/2012 I hear you. I had the same experience. Customer service is sluggish, giving nasty reasons to not process the transfer and holding the money for so unreasonablly long time. Their business is just a failure! Reply to this comment Pintikan's response to Guest's Review Written on: 10/10/2012 i am having the same problem right now. they are imbeciles. did they returned the money to you? Reply to this comment Pintikan's response to Guest's Review Written on: 10/10/2012 i am having the same problem right now... are they able to refund the money back to your account? After typing and retyping several time their details required I got nowhere! so annoying! so i popped the cash in an envelope and wished it bon voyage! and yes it made is safely at no cost to me! yes me, the consumer the no 1-the customer! who? yes me! the customer! get lost, waste of time............ THE BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME!!! Most of the locations listed on their website are no longer active e.g Rite Aid at Grand Central. For those money centers that are still open, their computers are often down. Their online service is ABYSMAL! They make it impossible to send money. The security checks they have in place don't work (e.g. you don't get a text message on your cell with the code as promised etc). The customer reps don't know how to resolve the issues and all they say is they can't... A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. I understand that protecting the privacy of customers is important, but I feel as if they make up things. I couldn't wire money online even though the website clearly stated that you could do so and have the funds available in minutes. They told me to try sending a smaller amount which I did, but was charged a separate transaction fee for every smaller transaction sent. I seriously could NOT believe the customer service... and I work in customer service so I feel... When I attempted to withdraw them money in minutes I couldn't until the next day. Attempted to call in to the customer support and demand a refund for mislabeled services. They treated my like I was no one and didn't even care about my call. I was left on hold for half the call and the other half was them shouting company policy at me which had nothing to do with my issue. After an hour of battling I simply asked where I could pick up the money, they put me on hold for twenty more minutes to... Here is why western union should not exists: - Western Union is the ONLY company in the world makes mistakes and refuse to corrected them.In fact, they ask customers to correct them. - the customer service seems like a scam! they cant help you , they don't know how to help you, and can't commnucate at all and their supervisor have no problem being rude and mean to you. - thier over-charge service fee don't match the service quality. finally, if you have someone in need money right away DO... Western Union Money Transfer Fiasco I tried to send money to a friend in Canada yesterday. I gave Western Union $2500 to send, which they on their web site had told me was the maximum I could. I took the cash to their agent. They took my cash and said everything was fine. Then, my friend went to get the money and it wasn't there. In the meantime Western Union had called my phone. Their fraud department had intercepted my transfer. The person who sounded like he was in South America... Okay, listen everyone... All i can say, STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY IF YOU COULD FIND A WAY TO SEND MONEY TO YOUR FAMILY MEMBER, FRIENDS OR TO ANYONE. Someday, they will hold your money and start asking some personal question which is really rediculous and after that, They will ask you to send some documents before releasing your money. I never did.. I never send anything and i never say or mentioned anything. I told them, you know what, just refund my moneyback. Which is they did but before... I tried to use Western Union online money transfer, because they have a promotional zero money transfer fees. It initially shows that the my transaction went through fine and after couple of hours I receive an email that the trasaction is not complete and is rejected. So I call their customer support, this is what they have to say and I quote " Use one of the agent offices, online service requires a lot of verification and is a delayed process", which is suprising because Western Union... I used WU today to transfer money to Spain for my daughter.Because of the RB/Ulster Bank fiasco she was unable to use her own card.Firstly my credit card was declined so I rang my CC issuer and they told me they automatically put a stop on all WU transactions because of fraud. They lifted the stop and I tried again and only after I put in my card details did WU inform me they needed a scan of my passport/id -then followed major panic as I had to change computers and email myself the scans... I sent money to my son in England, from NYC, Western Union Refuses to pay in Brighton England. Customer service give you the run around, they are keeping the money, now they are giving me hard time to get a refund for the lmoney they are keeping and refused to deliver to the receiver. Want to keep the $104 dollars they charged me for "no service" thieves, lousy customer service, people in India that cannot and will do nothing to help, a total disaster of company I hope people read this... Ngocchau's response to Guest's Review Written on: 14/08/2012 NEVER USE WU AGAIN, NEVER NEVER I've sent money to vietnam for my sister on 31/07/12 .She has not received money yet until now, they sent me an email to inform receiver would receive on 02/08/2012. Ive been contacted customer service lots of time but the same answer is to find out why the money has delayed and they would ring me back to let me know.No one ring me back, only i contact them.I want a refund but i dont know how long .Its hard to get money back from them. TERRIBLE COMPANY I tried to send money on line - it failed, after a couple of attempts and 15 min spent filling out all the fields/security questions etc.- with no explanation as to why. I called them, after 15 more minutes wasted on the phone, the agent told me he could not put the transaction through and he did not know why. He offered to look up a location for me, after a few more minutes he got back to say that the system was down and that I should look this up on line. I asked for a phone or email I... I recently tried sending under $5000 from here in BC Canada to Arkansas and got an email from the fellow in Arkansas that WU was very difficult when he went to receive the money. So I phoned WU and had an equally difficult time. They wanted to know all kinds of things like why I was sending money, what it was for, how was I sure that the receiver wasn't scamming me, etc. Basically a lot of information that is none of their business. I cancelled the transfer and will try Money Gram. I will... So Inhad my wallet stolen while abroad in Italy, and my boyfriend sent me euros to hold me over in Florence until I could have my credit card replaced. So I told him where the nearest western union was in Florence, and I went there today with a friend who spoke Italian fluently to help me retrieve the money. I brought my passport and gave the man the transaction number, and he immediately said he couldn't help me. When we asked why, he pointed out that my boyfriend has written the... i would NEVER recommend western union to ANYONE. they have the WORST customer service i have ever encountered. not only was i rudely spoken to but i was blamed for an issue that i did NOT do. save yourself the trouble and the fees and go with another money transfer company. Very bad! Very slow! Very unresponsive customer support! They held up transfer and did not notify me. I kept calling and they asked for more information. I gave them what they wanted and then it happened again. Another call and more questions. Once they had asked everything that was possible to ask they said it would be two more weeks to transfer the money. Four days just to deposit the money from my bank to there account. I have been using Western Union Service for 2 years now. I use it twice a month to send funds to my family in another country. Apart from the fact of it being expensive... considering i was using it twice a month. I still used it because it was available and I really did not want to search for other options. I started with using the agent locations and then eventually moved online. Today there was an error with sending the funds online and asked me to call the number to complete my... Guest's response to emmaferns's Review This is the worst customer service experience I have ever received in my life. I will never recommend this business to anyone in need of transferring money. The only thing I would ever want from you all again is for you to shut all of your doors- GO OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!! I was trying to find how much it costs to send money between the US and Hong Kong. Western Union was the first company to spring to my mind as it has shop locations almost everywhere worldwide. W.U seems like a friendly company judging by it's wording on it's websites but it does not make it easy to find the actual cost of a transaction. Only in the US sites is there a calculator to find the total cost. I also came across this article in my searches. So I tried the calclator to find... I usually don't write reviews . I do make an exception here as the service received in High barnet western union branch was appalling. I waited 1 hour ! There were only 2 people changing currency in front of me ! The agent was EXTREMLY RUDE and UN HEPLFUL. I didn't knew what to fill to receive money . He just vaguely pointed at a paper on the desk nearby so more queue for me. Then he asked any info he could think about including the sender town birth which i have no clue about.. to end... Had not got a clue how to use this service so went to co-op travel on High Street Oldham and could not thank them enough for all the help they gave me.I would use this service again and would gladly advertise this.I was told about Western Union from a colleage at school. Thankyou xxxxxx !!! In mexico showed my ID and they couldnt verify it or something. Wouldnt give me the money. Totally incompetent. Who else would have the code number- it was sent to the same name ! USE MONEY GRAM _ MUCH BETTER !! Ill never use this scum country again ! I went to receive 3700$ was sent from Russia to Alaska for some climbing support, they say they can give me only 2000 $, and sender must split money, so I asked how much people can send by Western Union, so they say up to 10000$, so you can send but you cannot receive. to change transaction - 170$ , are they real?? they must be stoped Bleep's response to Guest's Review Written on: 15/04/2012 THREE times I told the agent my wife in the Philippines requires DOLLARS...as she has a dollar account..of couse it arrived in pesos and at a very unfavorable rate of exchange...which had to be repeated to get it back into dollars! Submitted a online money transfer, then i decided to cancel. Western union said that if my card was debited that it would the money would be returned. I needed to know a timeframe. They said it would be 3-5 days for it to return but they could speed it up by faxing my bank and they would do that within the hour and my money would be in the bank before noon the next day. THAT WAS A LIE. They never faxed anything, so i called my bank and got a direct fax number then called Western Union back... Guest's response to Guest's Review Written on: 17/04/2012 17-4-2012 I can only echo the comments here - WU is an inefficient and incompetent service with possibly the most terrible customer service I have ever experienced (and they dont seem to speak/understand English too well - which doesnt help matters!) Western Union could not be more unhelpful if they tried. You can't get anyone who speaks English. You'll get transferred 10 times. And in the end, never get to make the transfer anyway. They wasted 2 hours of my time tonight and I couldn't be more frustrated. Let this be a lesson to everyone, take complete control of your life and never have an emergency that you don't have money stashed away for because you will definitely NOT be helped by Western Union. If I could have given them no... To send 600 used to cost 12 dollars to send to the Philippines which in my opinion was too high, but now it costs 18 dollars to send 600 dollars which is nothing but a complete rip off and to send online it cost 30 dollars and to send over the phone they will amazingly charge you 60 dollars, and the worst thing about it is that they have everybody over a barrel in that there is not any good competitor of western union to easily choose from otherwise.

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Social media The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject . Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page . (December 2013) Social media is the interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks . [ 1 ] Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 , and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content ." [ 2 ] Furthermore, social media depend on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content. They introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. [ 3 ] Diagram depicting the many different types of social media Social media differ from traditional or industrial media in many ways, including quality, [ 4 ] reach , frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence. [ 5 ] There are many effects that stem from internet usage. According to Nielsen, internet users continue to spend more time with social media sites than any other type of site. At the same time, the total time spent on social media in the U.S. across PC and mobile devices increased by 37 percent to 121 billion minutes in July 2012 compared to 88 billion minutes in July 2011. [ 6 ] For content contributors, the benefits of participating in social media have gone beyond simply social sharing to building reputation and bringing in career opportunities and monetary income, as discussed in Tang, Gu, and Whinston (2012). [ 7 ] Geocities , created in 1994, was one of the first social media sites. The concept was for users to create their own websites, characterized by one of six "cities" that were known for certain characteristics. [ 8 ] By applying a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure), Kaplan and Haenlein created a classification scheme in their Business Horizons (2010) article, with seven different types of social media: However, the boundaries between the different types have become increasingly blurred. For example, Shi, Rui and Whinston (2013) argue that Twitter, as a combination of broadcasting service and social network, classes as a "social broadcasting technology". [ 9 ] Mobile social media refers to the combination of mobile devices and social media. This is a group of mobile marketing applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. [ 10 ] Due to the fact that mobile social media run on mobile devices, they differ from traditional social media by incorporating new factors such as the current location of the user (location-sensitivity) or the time delay between sending and receiving messages(time-sensitivity). According to Andreas Kaplan , mobile social media applications can be differentiated among four types: [ 10 ] Space-timers (location and time sensitive): Exchange of messages with relevance for one specific location at one specific point in time (e.g., Facebook Places ; Foursquare ) Space-locators (only location sensitive): Exchange of messages, with relevance for one specific location, which are tagged to a certain place and read later by others (e.g., Yelp ; Qype ) While traditional social media offer a variety of opportunities for companies in a wide range of business sectors, mobile social media makes use of the location- and time-sensitivity aspects of it in order to engage into marketing research, communication, sales promotions/discounts, and relationship development/loyalty programs. [ 10 ] Marketing research: Mobile social media applications offer data about offline consumer movements at a level of detail heretofore limited to online companies. Any firm can now know the exact time at which a customer entered one of its outlets, as well as comments made during the visit. [ 10 ] Communication: Mobile social media communication takes two forms, the first of which is company-to-consumer in which a company may establish a connection to a consumer based on its location and provide reviews about locations nearby. The second type of communication is user-generated content. For example, McDonald's offered $5 and $10 gift cards to 100 users randomly selected among those checking in at one of the restaurants. This promotion increased check-ins by 33% (from 2,146 to 2,865), resulted in over 50 articles and blog posts, and prompted several hundred thousand news feeds and Twitter messages. [ 10 ] Sales promotions and discounts: While in the past customers had to use printed coupons, mobile social media allows companies to tailor promotions to specific users at specific times. For example, when launching its California-Cancun service, Virgin America offered users who checked in through Loopt at one of three designated Border Grill taco trucks in San Francisco and Los Angeles between 11 am and 3 pm on August 31, 2010, two tacos for $1 and two flights to Mexico for the price of one. [ 10 ] Relationship development and loyalty programs: In order to increase long-term relationships with customers, companies are able to create loyalty programs that allow customers who check-in regularly at a location to earn discounts or perks. For example, American Eagle Outfitters remunerates such customers with a tiered 10%, 15%, or 20% discount on their total purchase. [ 10 ] E-Commerce: Mobile social media applications such as Amazon.com and Pinterest are influencing an upward trend in the popularity and accessibility of e-commerce, or online purchases. [ 11 ] Business Marketing Analysts have stated that one of the key take aways of the Nielsen Company 's "State of the media: The social media report 2012" [ 6 ] is that more consumers are accessing social media content today via mobile platforms, especially apps. [ 12 ] E-commerce businesses may refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value. [ 5 ] People obtain information, education, news, and other data from electronic and print media. Social media are distinct from industrial or traditional media such as newspapers, television, and film as they are comparatively inexpensive and accessible. They enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information. Industrial media generally require significant resources to publish information as in most cases the articles goes through many revisions before being published. One characteristic shared by both social and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach no people or millions of people. Some of the properties that help describe the differences between social and industrial media are: [ 5 ] Quality: In industrial(traditional) publishing—mediated by a publisher—the typical range of quality is substantially narrower than in niche, unmediated markets. The main challenge posed by content in social media sites is the fact that the distribution of quality has high variance: from very high-quality items to low-quality, sometimes abusive content. [ 4 ] Reach: Both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and are capable of reaching a global audience. Industrial media, however, typically use a centralized framework for organization, production, and dissemination, whereas social media are by their very nature more decentralized, less hierarchical, and distinguished by multiple points of production and utility. [ 5 ] Frequency: The number of times an advertisement is displayed on social media platforms. Accessibility: The means of production for industrial media are typically government and/or corporate (privately owned); social media tools are generally available to the public at little or no cost. [ 5 ] Usability: Industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Conversely, most social media production requires only modest reinterpretation of existing skills; in theory, anyone with access can operate the means of social media production. [ 5 ] Immediacy: The time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses). [ 5 ] Permanence: Industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed, changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing. [ 5 ] Community media constitute a hybrid of industrial and social media. Though community-owned, some community radio, TV, and newspapers are run by professionals and some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks. Social media have also been recognized for the way they have changed how public relations professionals conduct their jobs. They have provided an open arena where people are free to exchange ideas on companies, brands, and products. As stated by Doc Searls and David Wagner, two authorities on the effects of Internet on marketing, advertising, and PR, "The best of the people in PR are not PR types at all. They understand that there aren't censors, they're the company's best conversationalists." [ 13 ] Social media provides an environment where users and PR professionals can converse, and where PR professionals can promote their brand and improve their company's image by listening and responding to what the public is saying about their product. There is an increasing trend towards using social media monitoring tools that allow marketers to search, track, and analyze conversation on the web about their brand or about topics of interest. [ 14 ] This can be useful in PR management and campaign tracking, allowing the user to measure return on investment , competitor-auditing, and general public engagement. Tools range from free, basic applications to subscription-based, more in-depth tools. The honeycomb framework defines how social media services focus on some or all of seven functional building blocks. [ 3 ] These building blocks help explain the engagement needs of the social media audience. For instance, LinkedIn users are thought to care mostly about identity, reputation, and relationships, whereas YouTube's primary features are sharing, conversations, groups, and reputation. Many companies build their own social containers that attempt to link the seven functional building blocks around their brands. These are private communities that engage people around a more narrow theme, as in around a particular brand, vocation or hobby, rather than social media containers such as Google+ , Facebook , and Twitter . PR departments face significant challenges in dealing with viral negative sentiment directed at organizations or individuals on social media platforms (dubbed "sentimentitis"), which may be a reaction to an announcement or event. [ 15 ] According to Jan H. Kietzmann, the honeycomb framework of social media is based on the following functional building blocks: [ 3 ] Identity: The identity block represents the extent to which users reveal their identities in a social media setting. This can include disclosing information such as name, age, gender, profession, location, and also information that portrays users in certain ways. [ 3 ] Conversations: The conversations block of the framework represents the extent to which users communicate with other users in a social media setting. Many social media sites are designed primarily to facilitate conversations among individuals and groups. These conversations happen for all sorts of reasons. People tweet, blog, et cetera to meet new like-minded people, to find true love, to build their self-esteem, or to be on the cutting edge of new ideas or trending topics. Yet others see social media as a way of making their message heard and positively impacting humanitarian causes, environmental problems, economic issues, or political debates. [ 3 ] Sharing: Sharing represents the extent to which users exchange, distribute, and receive content. The term ‘social’ often implies that exchanges between people are crucial. In many cases, however, sociality is about the objects that mediate these ties between people—the reasons why they meet online and associate with each other. [ 3 ] Presence: The framework building block presence represents the extent to which users can know if other users are accessible. It includes knowing where others are, in the virtual world and/or in the real world, and whether they are available. [ 3 ] Relationships: The relationships block represents the extent to which users can be related to other users. By ‘relate,’ we mean that two or more users have some form of association that leads them to converse, share objects of sociality, meet up, or simply just list each other as a friend or fan. [ 3 ] Reputation: Reputation is the extent to which users can identify the standing of others, including themselves, in a social media setting. Reputation can have different meanings on social media platforms. In most cases, reputation is a matter of trust, but since information technologies are not yet good at determining such highly qualitative criteria, social media sites rely on ‘mechanical Turks’: tools that automatically aggregate user-generated information to determine trustworthiness. [ 3 ] Groups: The group functional block represents the extent to which users can form communities and sub communities. The more ‘social’ a network becomes, the bigger the group of friends, followers, and contacts. [ 3 ] It is through this process of "building social authority" that social media becomes effective. One of the foundational concepts in social media has become that you cannot completely control your message through social media but rather you can simply begin to participate in the "conversation" expecting that you can achieve a significant influence in that conversation. [ 16 ] However, this conversation participation must be cleverly executed because while people are resistant to marketing in general, they are even more resistant to direct or overt marketing through social media platforms. This may seem counterintuitive but is the main reason building social authority with credibility is so important. A marketer can generally not expect people to be receptive to a marketing message in and of itself. In the Edelman Trust Barometer report in 2008, the majority (58%) of the respondents reported they most trusted company or product information coming from "people like me" inferred to be information from someone they trusted. In the 2010 Trust Report , the majority switched to 64% preferring their information from industry experts and academics. According to Inc. Technology's Brent Leary, "This loss of trust, and the accompanying turn towards experts and authorities, seems to be coinciding with the rise of social media and networks." [ 17 ] [ 18 ] An increasing number of scholars have sought to study and measure the impact of social media. A 2010 study by the University of Maryland suggested that social media services may be addictive, [ 19 ] and that using social media services may lead to a "fear of missing out," also known as the phrase "FOMO" by many students. [ 20 ] It has been observed that Facebook is now the primary method for communication by college students in the U.S. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] According to Nielsen, global consumers spend more than six hours on social networking sites. "Social Media Revolution" produced by Socialnomics author Erik Qualman contains numerous statistics on social media including the fact that 93% of businesses use it for marketing and that if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest. [ 23 ] Several colleges and universities such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Stanford among others have even introduced classes on best social media practices, preparing students for potential careers as digital strategists. [ 24 ] There are various statistics that account for social media usage and effectiveness for individuals worldwide. Some of the most recent statistics are as follows: Consumers continue to spend more time on social networks than on any other category of sites—roughly 20 percent of their total time online via personal computer (PC), and 30 percent of total time online via mobile. [ 6 ] Total time spent on social media in the U.S. across PCs and mobile devices increased 37 percent to 121 billion minutes in July 2012, compared to 88 billion in July 2011. [ 6 ] Facebook remains the most-visited social network in the U.S. via PC (152.2 million visitors), mobile apps (78.4 million users) and mobile web (74.3 million visitors), and is multiple times the size of the next largest social site across each platform. [ 6 ] 51% of people aged 25–34 used social networking in the office, more than any other age group. [ 6 ] While the computer is still the primary device used to access social media despite dropping 4% in usage in 2012, the last year saw a significant increase in usage, most notably through tablets from 3% to 16%, internet enabled TVs from 2% to 4%. [ 6 ] In a study conducted by the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, it was found that on average, any individual is just 12 hours of separation from another around the world, using social networking sites. [ 34 ] In a study titled "Mastering the Art of Social Media," the researcher found that online communication has become a central part in the communication of political actors. In the study, Klinger focuses on Switzerland, where broadband, internet use, and media literacy are among the highest in the world, and how all major political parties in Switzerland run their own websites and social media sites. [ 35 ] "In the U.S. alone, total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83 percent year-over-year. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site for the month." According to the article "The Emerging Role of Social Media in Political and Regime Change" by Rita Safranek, "The Middle East and North Africa region has one of the most youthful populations in the world, with people under 25 making up between 35-45% of the population in each country. They make up the majority of social media users, including about 17 million Facebook users, 25,000 Twitter accounts and 40,000 active blogs, according to the Arab Advisors Group . [ 37 ] Social media has disrupted the personal and commercial habits of Americans to a degree not seen since the early days of television . Just as television turned a nation of people who listened to media content into watchers of media content, the emergence of social media has created a nation of media content creators . According to 2011 Pew Research data, nearly 80% of American adults are online and nearly 60% of them use social networking sites. [ 38 ] More Americans get their news via the Internet than from newspapers or radio, as well as three-fourths who say they get news from e-mail or social media sites updates, according to a report published by CNN. The survey suggests that Facebook and Twitter make news a more participatory experience than before as people share news articles and comment on other people's posts. According to CNN, in 2010 75% of people got their news forwarded through e-mail or social media posts, while 37% of people shared a news item via Facebook or Twitter. [ 39 ] In the United States, 81% of people say they look online for news of the weather, first and foremost. National news at 73%, 52% for sports news, and 41% for entertainment or celebrity news. Based on this study, done for the Pew Center, two-thirds of the sample’s online news users were younger than 50, and 30% were younger than 30. The survey involved tracking daily the habits of 2,259 adults 18 or older. [ 40 ] 33% of young adults get news from social networks. 34% watched TV news and 13% read print or digital content. 19% of Americans got news from Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn. 36% of those who get news from social network got it yesterday from survey. More than 36% of Twitter users use accounts to follow news organizations or journalists. 19% of users say they got information from news organizations of journalists. TV remains most popular source of news, but audience is aging (only 34% of young people). 29% of those younger that 25 say they got no news yesterday either digitally or traditional news platforms. Only 5% under 30 say they follow news about political figures and events in DC. Only 14% of responders could answer all four questions about which party controls the House, current unemployment rate, what nation Angela Merkel leads, and which presidential candidate favors taxing higher-income Americans. Facebook and Twitter now pathways to news, but are not replacements for traditional ones. 70% get social media news from friends and family on Facebook. [ 41 ] For children, using social media sites can help promote creativity, interaction, and learning. It can also help them with homework and class work. Moreover, social media enable them to stay connected with their peers, and help them to interact with each other. Some can get involved with developing fundraising campaigns and political events. However it can affect mental health of teens. Teens who use Facebook frequently and who especially susceptible may become more narcissistic, antisocial, and aggressive. Teens become strongly influenced by advertising, and it influences buying habits for the future. Since the creation of Facebook in 2004, it has become a distraction and a way to waste time for many users. [ 42 ] Americans spend more time on Facebook than any other website in the United States. Based on a Nielsen study, the average American has spent more than 17 minutes per day on the social media site. [ 43 ] In a recent study conducted, high school students ages 18 and younger were examined in an effort to find their preference for receiving news. Based on interviews with 61 teenagers, conducted from December 2007 to February 2011, most of the teen participants reported reading print newspapers only “sometimes,” with fewer than 10% reading them daily. The teenagers instead reported learning about current events from social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and blogs. [ 44 ] Another study showed that social media users read a set of news that is different from what newspaper editors feature in the print press. [ 45 ] Using nanotechnology as an example, Runge et al. (2013) [ 46 ] studied tweets from Twitter and found that some 41% of the discourse about nanotechnology focused on its negative impacts, suggesting that a portion of the public may be concerned with how various forms of nanotechnology are used in the future. While optimistic-sounding and neutral-sounding tweets were equally likely to express certainty or uncertainty, the pessimistic tweets were nearly twice as likely to appear certain of an outcome than uncertain. These results imply the possibility of a preconceived negative perception of many news articles associated with nanotechnology. Alternatively, these results could also imply that posts of a more pessimistic nature that are also written with an air of certainty are more likely to be shared or otherwise permeate groups on Twitter. Similar biases need to be considered when the utility of new media is addressed, as the potential for human opinion to over-emphasize any particular news story is greater despite the general improvement in addressed potential uncertainty and bias in news articles than in traditional media. [ 47 ] On October 2, 2013, the most common hashtag throughout the country was “#governmentshutdown,” as well as ones focusing on political parties, Obama, and healthcare. Most news sources have twitter, and Facebook, pages, like CNN and the New York Times, providing links to their online articles, getting an increased readership. Additionally, several college news organizations and administrators have Twitter pages as a way to share news and connect to students. [ 48 ] According to "Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2013", [ 49 ] in the US, among those who use social media to find news, 47% of these people are under 45 years old, and 23% are above 45 years old. However social media as a main news gateway does not follow the same pattern across countries. For example, in this report, in Brazil, 60% of the respondents said social media was one of the five most important way to find news online, 45% in Spain, 17% in the UK, 38% in Italy, 14% in France, 22% in Denmark, 30% in U.S., and 12% in Japan. [ 49 ] Moreover, there are differences among countries about commenting news in social networks, 38% of the respondents in Brazil said they commented news in social network in a week. These percentages are 21% in U.S. and 10% in UK. The authors argued that difference among countries may due to culture difference rather than different levels of access to technical tools. [ 49 ] News media and television journalism have been instrumental in the shaping of American collective memory for much of the twentieth century. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] Indeed, since the United States' colonial era, news media has influenced collective memory and discourse about national development and trauma. In many ways, mainstream journalists have maintained an authoritative voice as the storytellers of the American past. Their documentary style narratives, detailed exposes, and their positions in the present make them prime sources for public memory. Specifically, news media journalists have shaped collective memory on nearly every major national event – from the deaths of social and political figures to the progression of political hopefuls. Journalists provide elaborate descriptions of commemorative events in U.S. history and contemporary popular cultural sensations. Many Americans learn the significance of historical events and political issues through news media, as they are presented on popular news stations. [ 52 ] However, journalistic influence is growing less important, while social networking sites such as Facebook , YouTube and Twitter , provide a constant source of alternative news sources for users. As social networking becomes more popular among older and younger generations, sites such as Facebook and YouTube, gradually undermine the traditionally authoritative voices of news media. For example, American citizens contest media coverage of various social and political events as they see fit, inserting their voices into the narratives about America's past and present and shaping their own collective memories. [ 53 ] [ 54 ] An example of this is the public explosion of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Sanford, Florida. News media coverage of the incident was minimal until social media users made the story recognizable through their constant discussion of the case. Approximately one month after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin , its online coverage by everyday Americans garnered national attention from mainstream media journalists, in turn exemplifying media activism . In some ways, the spread of this tragic event through alternative news sources parallels that of the Emmitt Till – whose murder became a national story after it circulated African American and Communists newspapers. Social media was also influential in the widespread attention given to the revolutionary outbreaks in the Middle East and North Africa during 2011 . [ 55 ] [ 56 ] [ 57 ] However, there is some debate about the extent to which social media facilitated this kind of change. [ 58 ] Another example of this shift is in the on-going Kony 2012 campaign, which surfaced first on YouTube and later garnered a great amount of attention from mainstream news media journalists. These journalists now monitor social media sites to inform their reports on the movement. Lastly, in the past couple of presidential elections, the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were used to predict election results. U.S. President Barack Obama was more liked on Facebook than his opponent Mitt Romney and it was found by a study done by Oxford Institute Internet Experiment that more people liked to tweet about comments of President Obama rather than Romney. [ 59 ] Criticisms of social media range from criticisms of the ease of use of specific platforms and their capabilities, disparity of information available, issues with trustworthiness and reliability of information presented, [ 60 ] the impact of social media use on an individual's concentration, [ 61 ] ownership of media content, and the meaning of interactions created by social media. Although some social media platforms offer users the opportunity to cross-post simultaneously, some social network platforms have been criticized for poor interoperability between platforms, which leads to the creation of information silos- isolated pockets of data contained in one social media platform [ 62 ] However, it is also argued that social media have positive effects such as allowing the democratization of the internet [ 63 ] while also allowing individuals to advertise themselves and form friendships. [ 64 ] British-American entrepreneur and author Andrew Keen criticizes social media in his book The Cult of the Amateur , writing, "Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering." [ 66 ] This is also relative to the issue "justice" in the social network. For example, the phenomenon “ Human flesh search engine ” in Asia raised the discussion of "private-law" brought by social network platform. Comparative Media professor José van Dijck contends in her book " The Culture of Connectivity " (2013) that to understand the full weight of social media, their technological dimensions should be connected to the social and the cultural. She critically describes six social media platforms. One of her findings is the way Facebook had been successful in framing the term 'sharing' in such a way that third party use of user data is negelected in favour of intra-user connectedness. Tim Berners-Lee contends that the danger of social networking sites is that most are silos and do not allow users to port data from one site to another. He also cautions against social networks that grow too big and become a monopoly as this tends to limit innovation. [ 67 ] Eric Ehrmann contends that social media in the form of public diplomacy create a patina of inclusiveness that covers [ 68 ] traditional economic interests that are structured to ensure that wealth is pumped up to the top of the economic pyramid, perpetuating the digital divide and post Marxian class conflict. He also voices concern over the trend that finds social utilities operating in a quasi- libertarian global environment of oligopoly that requires users in economically challenged nations to spend high percentages of annual income to pay for devices and services to participate in the social media lifestyle. The phrase " Digital divide " was coined in 1996 by Lloyd Morrlsett, a founder of the Children's Television Workshop and President of the Markle Foundation, to describe the chasm that purportedly separates information technology (IT) haves from have-nots in the US. As Virginia Eubanks explains the digital divide in terms of social structure that have-not side users don't have much consumer power but the have side have the power. Money and labors go from the have-not to have. Neil Postman also contends that social media will increase an information disparity between winners – who are able to use the social media actively – and losers – who are not familiar with modern technologies. Since large-scale collaborative co-creation is one of the main way forming information in the social network, the user generated content is sometimes viewed with skepticism; readers do not trust it is as a reliable source of information. Aniket Kittur, Bongowon Suh and Ed H. Chi took wikis under examination and indicated that, "One possibility is that distrust of wiki Content is not due to the inherently mutable nature of the system but instead to the lack of available information for judging trustworthiness.". [ 69 ] To be more specific, the authors mention that reasons for distrusting collaborative systems with user-generated content, such as Wikipedia, include a lack of information regarding accuracy of contents, motives and expertise of editors, stability of content, coverage of topics and the absence of sources. [ 70 ] Social media is also an important source of news. According to 'Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2013', social media is one of the most important ways for people find news online (the others being traditional brands, search engines and news aggregators). [ 49 ] The report suggested that in the United Kingdom, trust in news which comes from social media sources is low, compared to news from other sources (e.g. online news from traditional broadcaster or online news from national newspapers). People who aged at 24-35 trust social media most, whereas trust declined with the increase of age. Rainie and Wellman have argued that media making now has become a participation work, [ 71 ] which changes communication systems. The center of power is shifted from only the media (as the gatekeeper) to the peripheral area, which may include government, organizations, and out to the edge, the individual. [ 72 ] These changes in communication systems raise empirical questions about trust to media effect. Prior empirical studies have shown that trust in information sources plays a major role in people’s decision making. [ 73 ] People's attitudes more easily change when they hear messages from trustworthy sources. In the Reuter's report, 27% of respondents agree that they worry about the accuracy of a story on a blog. [ 49 ] However, 40% of them believe the stories on blogs are more balanced than traditional papers since they are provided with a range of opinions. Recent research has shown that in the new social media communication environment, the civil or uncivil nature of comments will bias people's information processing even if the message is from a trustworthy source, [ 74 ] which bring the practical and ethical question about the responsibility of communicator in the social media environment. Some have said that "fast (social) media and deep slow thought don't mix well." From Nicholas Carr , "As media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation." However, there are several benefits brought from deep reading. For example, "our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connection that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged." But needs for convenience often make it difficult to choose this slower, more deliberate way. [ 75 ] For Malcolm Gladwell [ 76 ] the role of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, in revolutions and protests is overstated. On the one hand, social media make it easier for individuals, and in this case activists, to express themselves. On the other hand, it is harder for that expression to have an impact. [ citation needed ] Gladwell discusses that social media are built around weak ties and he argues that "social networks are effective at increasing participation —by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires”. [ citation needed ] According to him “…Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice, but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice”. [ citation needed ] Evgeny Morozov , 2009–2010 Yahoo fellow at Georgetown University contends that the information uploaded to Twitter may have little relevance to the rest of the people who do not use Twitter. In the article "Iran: Downside to the “Twitter Revolution”” in the magazine Dissent , [ 77 ] he says: "Twitter only adds to the noise: it’s simply impossible to pack much context into its 140 characters. All other biases are present as well: in a country like Iran it’s mostly pro-Western, technology-friendly and iPod-carrying young people who are the natural and most frequent users of Twitter. They are a tiny and, most important, extremely untypical segment of the Iranian population (the number of Twitter users in Iran — a country of more than seventy million people.)” Even in the United States, the birth-country of Twitter, in 2012 the social network had only 107.7 million accounts. [ 78 ] Since there are likely to be many multi-account users, and the United States in 2012 had a population of 314.7 million, [ 79 ] the adoption of Twitter is somewhat limited. Professor Matthew Auer of Bates College casts doubt on the conventional wisdom that social media are open and participatory. He also speculates on the emergence of "anti-social media" used as "instruments of pure control." [ 80 ] Social media content is generated through social media interactions done by the users through the site. There has always been a huge debate on the ownership of the content on social media platforms since it is generated by the users and hosted by the company. Added to this is the danger to security of information, which can be leaked to third parties with economic interests in the platform, or parasites who comb the data for their own databases. [ 81 ] The author of Social Media Is Bullshit, Brandon Mendelson , claims that the "true" owners of content created on social media sites only benefits the large corporations who own those sites and rarely the users that created them. [ 82 ] Privacy rights advocates warn users about uses for the information that can be gathered through social media. Some information is captured without the user's knowledge or consent, such as through electronic tracking and third party application on social networks. Others include law enforcement and governmental use of this information, [ 83 ] including the gathering of so-called social media intelligence through data mining techniques. [ 84 ] Additional privacy concerns regard the impact of social media monitoring by employers whose policies include prohibitions against workers' postings on social networking sites. [ 85 ] A survey done in 2010 from different universities revealed that there are lines drawn between personal and professional lives. Many of the users surveyed admitted to misrepresenting themselves online. [ 86 ] Employees can be concerned because their social media sites reflect their personal lives and not their professional lives, but yet employers are censoring them on the internet. Other privacy concerns with employers and social media are when employers use social media as a tool to screen a prospective employee. This issue raises many ethical questions that some consider an employer’s right and others consider discrimination . Except in the states of California, Maryland, and Illinois, there are no laws that prohibit employers from using social media profiles as a basis of whether or not someone should be hired. [ 87 ] Title VII also prohibits discrimination during any aspect of employment including hiring or firing, recruitment, or testing. [ 88 ] Data suggests that participants use social media to fulfill perceived social needs, but are typically disappointed. [ 89 ] Lonely individuals are drawn to the Internet for emotional support.  This causes problems as it interferes with “real life socializing”. [ 90 ] Some of these views are summed up in an Atlantic article by Stephen Marche titled, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?"  Marche argues that social media provides more breadth, but not the depth of relationships that humans require.  While he makes interesting points about how social media is replacing face-to-face interaction, he fails to cite some of his sources. [ 91 ] Sherry Turkle explores similar issues in her book Alone Together, as she discusses how people confuse social media usage with authentic communication.  People tend to act differently online and are less afraid to hurt each other’s feelings.  Some online behaviors cause stress and anxiety, much of this associated with friends and the permanence of online posts.  This anxiety is also associated with the fear of being hacked or of colleges and employers exploring social media pages and finding unsavory things posted.  Turkle also speculates that people are beginning to prefer texting to face-to-face communication, which can contribute to feelings of loneliness. [ 92 ] Researchers found that only exchanges that involved direct communication and reciprocation of messages to each other increased feelings of connectedness.  However, passively using social media without sending or receiving messages to individuals does not make people feel less lonely unless they were lonely to begin with. [ 93 ] A current controversial topic is whether or not social media addiction should be included in the DSM-V. [ 94 ] Extended use of social media has led to increased Internet addiction, cyberbullying, sexting, sleep deprivation, and the decline of face-to-face interaction. [ 95 ] According to several clinics in the UK, social media addiction is a certifiable medical condition.  One psychiatric consultant claims he treats as many as one hundred cases a year.  And as the title of this article states, "Social media addiction recognised as official condition". [ 96 ] Social Isolationism: The largest form of social isolationism is caused by social networking websites, when the marketers affiliated with these websites actually limit the visibility of users to develop “artificial marketing.” Artificial marketing is something that occurs because of social media platforms, where marketers can follow users through their activities on the web and their individual searches. They are fed information that they already have some interest in, and therefore automatically use this to feed them more information, products, or sources that are all similar. This is a form of isolationism because people are not being exposed to different information, and are constantly trapped into thinking they need more of similar information. At times they don’t even see what else is out there, because of over exposure to the same kind of things. In the book “Networked – The new social operating system” by Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman, the two authors reflect on mainly positive effects of social media and other internet based social networks. According to the authors, social media is used to document memories, learn about and explore things, advertise oneself and form friendships. For instance, they claim that the communication through internet based services can be done more privately than in real life. Furthermore, Rainie and Wellman discuss that everybody has the possibility to become a content creator. Content creation provides networked individuals opportunities to reach wider audiences. Moreover, it can positively affect their social standing and gain political support. This can lead to influence on issues that are important for someone. As a concrete example of the positive effects of social media, the authors use the Egyptian revolution in 2011, where people used Facebook to gather meetings, protest actions, etc. [ 64 ] Rainie and Wellman (Ibid) also discuss that content creation is a voluntary and participatory act. What is important is that networked individuals create, edit and manage content in collaboration with other networked individuals. This way they contribute in expanding knowledge. Wikis are examples of collaborative content creation. Number of US social network patent applications published and patents issued per year since 2003. [ 97 ] There has been rapid growth in the number of US patent applications that cover new technologies related to social media, and the number of them that are published has been growing rapidly over the past five years. There are now over 2000 published patent applications. [ 98 ] As many as 7000 applications may be currently on file including those that haven't been published yet. Only slightly over 100 of these applications have issued as patents, however, largely due to the multi-year backlog in examination of business method patents , patents which outline and claim new methods of doing business. [ 99 ] In early 2013, Steve Joordens, a professor at the University of Toronto, encouraged the 1,900 students enrolled in his introductory psychology course to add content to Wikipedia pages featuring content that related to the course. Like other educators, [ 100 ] Joordens argued that the assignment would not only strengthen the site’s psychology-related content, but also provide an opportunity for students to engage in critical reflection about the negotiations involved in collaborative knowledge production. However, Wikipedia’s all-volunteer editorial staff complained that the students’ contributions resulted in an overwhelming number of additions to the site, and that some of the contributions were inaccurate. [ 101 ] Wikipedia can also be incorporated into assignments related to the gender gap. A 2010 survey of more than 58,000 self-selected Wikipedians indicated that 87% of contributors to the site are male, and 13% are women. [ 102 ] In response, the Wikipedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, has set a goal of raising the percentage of female contributors to 25% by 2015. [ 102 ] As of October 23, 2013, the site’s “Wikipedians” page states that “Experienced women editors can be very successful—they are more likely to become administrators than men—but they are more likely to leave if treated aggressively in discussions, especially as new editors, when their good-faith contributions are more likely to be reverted than a similarly good-faith contribution by a man”. [ 103 ] Wikimedia, Wikipedia’s meta-wiki, labels the gender gap a “very sensitive subject”. [ 104 ] Noting that “[p]eople who want to talk about the gender gap are sometimes victims of harassment,” Wikimedia argues that “The gender gap mailing list is the best place to talk about this with other people who are interested and can help.” Facebook represents a potentially useful tool in educational contexts. It allows for both an asynchronous and synchronous, open dialogue via a familiar and regularly accessed medium, and supports the integration of multimodal content such as student-created photographs and video and URLs to other texts, in a platform that many students are already familiar with. Further, it allows students to ask more minor questions that they might not otherwise feel motivated to visit a professor in person during office hours to ask. [ 105 ] It also allows students to manage their own privacy settings, and often work with the privacy settings they have already established as registered users. Facebook is one alternative means for shyer students to be able to voice their thoughts in and outside of the classroom. It allows students to collect their thoughts and articulate them in writing before committing to their expression. [ 105 ] Further, the level of informality typical to Facebook can also aid students in self-expression and encourage more frequent student-and-instructor and student-and-student communication. At the same time, Towner and Munoz note that this informality may actually drive many educators and students away from using Facebook for educational purposes. From a course management perspective, Facebook may be less efficient as a replacement for more conventional course management systems, both because of its limitations with regards to uploading assignments and due to some students’ (and educators’) resistance to its use in education. Specifically, there are features of student-to-student collaboration that may be conducted more efficiently on dedicated course management systems, such as the organization of posts in a nested and linked format. That said, a number of studies suggest that students post to discussion forums more frequently and are generally more active discussants on Facebook posts versus conventional course management systems like WebCT or Blackboard (Chu and Meulemans, 2008; Salaway, et al., 2008; Schroeder and Greenbowe, 2009). [ 106 ] [ 107 ] [ 108 ] Additionally, Facebook’s privacy settings can be difficult to understand and manage, leaving some potential users – particularly females and older students – uncomfortable about the level of privacy and safety afforded them. [ 107 ] Further, familiarity and comfortability with Facebook is often divided by socio-economic class, with students whose parents obtained a college degree, or at least having attended college for some span of time, being more likely to already be active users. [ 109 ] Instructors ought to seriously consider and respect these hesitancies, and refrain from “forcing” Facebook on their students for academic purposes. [ 110 ] [ 111 ] Instructors also ought to consider that rendering Facebook optional, but continuing to provide content through it to students who elect to use it, places an unfair burden on hesitant students, who then are forced to choose between using a technology they are uncomfortable with and participating fully in the course. A related limitation, particularly at the level of K-12 schooling, is the distrust (and in some cases, outright disallowal) of the use of Facebook in formal classroom settings in many educational jurisdictions. However, this hesitancy towards Facebook use is continually diminishing in the United States, as the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s annual report for 2012 shows that the likelihood of a person to be a registered Facebook user only fluctuates by 13 percent between different levels of educational attainment, 9 percent between urban, suburban, and rural users, only 5 percent between different household income brackets. The largest gap occurs between age brackets, with 86 percent of 18-29-year-olds reported as registered users as opposed to only 35 percent of 65-and-up-year-old users. [ 112 ] Twitter, also, promotes social connections among students. It can be used to enhance communication building and critical thinking. Domizi (2013) utilized Twitter in a graduate seminar requiring students to post weekly tweets to extend classroom discussions. Students reportedly used Twitter to connect with content and other students. Additionally, students found it “to be useful professionally and personally” [ 113 ] Junco, Heibergert, and Loken (2011) completed a study of 132 students to examine the link between social media and student engagement and social media and grades. They divided the students into two groups, one used Twitter and the other did not. Twitter was used to discuss material, organize study groups, post class announcements, and connect with classmates. Junco and his colleagues (2011) found that the students in the Twitter group had higher GPAs and greater engagement scores than the control group [ 114 ] Gao, Luo, and Zhang (2012) reviewed literature about Twitter published between 2008 and 2011. They concluded that Twitter allowed students to participate with each other in class (back channel), and extend discussion outside of class. They also reported that students used Twitter to get up-to-date news and connect with professionals in their field. Students reported that microblogging encouraged students to “participate at a higher level” [ 115 ] Since the posts cannot exceed 140 characters, students were required to express ideas, reflect, and focus on important concepts in a concise manner. Some students found this very beneficial. Other students did not like the character limit. Also, some students found microblogging to be overwhelming (information overload). The research indicated that many students did not actually participate in the discussions, “they just lurked” [ 116 ] YouTube is the most frequently used social media tool in the classroom. [ 117 ] [ not in citation given ] Students can watch videos, answer questions, and discuss content. Additionally, students can create videos to share with others. Sherer and Shea (2011) claimed that YouTube increased participation, personalization (customization), and productivity. YouTube also improved students’ digital skills and provided opportunity for peer learning and problem solving [ 118 ] Eick and King (2012) found that videos kept students’ attention, generated interest in the subject, and clarified course content [ 119 ] Additionally, the students reported that the videos helped them recall information and visualize real world applications of course concepts. In 2013, the United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) began to advise celebrities and sportstars to make it clear if they had been paid to tweet about a product or service by using the hashtag #spon or #ad within tweets containing endorsements. In July 2013, Wayne Rooney was accused of misleading followers by not including either of these tags in a tweet promoting Nike. The tweet read: The tweet was investigated by the ASA but no charges were pressed. The ASA stated that “We considered the reference to Nike Football was prominent and clearly linked the tweet with the Nike brand." [ 120 ] When asked about whether the number of complaints regarding misleading social advertising had increased, the ASA stated that the number of complaints had risen marginally since 2011 but that complaints were "very low" in the "grand scheme." [ 121 ] ^ Gerhards, Jürgen, and Mike Schäfer, 2010. Is the internet a better public sphere? Comparing old and new media in the USA and Germany. new media & society, 12(1) 143–160. DOI: 10.1177/1461444809341444 ^ J. Schroeder and T.J. Greenbowe, 2009. "The chemistry of Facebook: Using social networking to create an online community for the organic chemistry laboratory," Innovate, volume 5, number 4, athttp://www.uh.cu/static/documents/AL/The%20Chemistry%20of%20Facebook.pdf, accessed 14 September 2011. ^ C. Madge, J. Meek, J. Wellens, and T. Hooley, 2009. "Facebook, social integration and informal learning at university: ‘It is more for socialising and talking to friends about work than for actually doing work’," Learning, Media and Technology, volume 34, number 2, pp. 141–155.

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Libyans wave their new national flag in Tripoli during celebrations marking one year since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Photograph: Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images One thing was missing from the highly charged celebrations that erupted in Tripoli's Martyrs Square at the weekend to mark the anniversary of last year's revolution. There were fireworks, marching bands and bouncy castles for the children, a hooting phalanx of tugboats on the seafront and thousands of flickering Chinese lanterns sent into the night sky. But there was no sign of the government. The balcony on the Red Castle overlooking the square was empty, with the leadership of the National Transitional Council perhaps sensing that an appearance would see the cheers turn to jeers. The reality is that, a year after revolution first swept the country, Libya 's government, by turns secretive and inept, is seen by ordinary people less as the solution than the problem. "This celebration was about the people, not the government," said Dr Hana El-Gallal, a legal specialist working with civil rights groups in Benghazi. "The people are doing a better job than the government." Certainly the crisis-bound NTC must envy the ability of ordinary people to contrive celebrations in which militias kept the peace and not a shot was fired, not by order but by what amounts to common consent. The decision of the NTC to hold its meetings in private and rule by decree has left diplomats dismayed, and the country is fragmenting under its feet.Misrata, Libya's third city, will tomorrow hold its own elections, unsanctioned by the NTC, a final step towards what is independence in all but name. Its militias control a 300-mile-long corridor stretching across central Libya, policing it according to the city's own leadership, rather than that of the NTC. To the east, tribal leaders are meeting to consider a similar step, dismayed, as are the Misratans, by rumours that the NTC may delay June's promised national elections. Nor are the government's critics impressed by the declaration by NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil last week that it will form a political party, which seems an aberration of its promise to withdraw from politics once democracy is established. And then there are the militias: Libya has more than 500 armed groups, each following their own orders. The wonder is not how bad the violence and armed clashes are -- the latest being intertribal violence in the southern town of Kufra that has left more than 20 dead -- but how tranquil the country is. Last week Amnesty International, which is making the running on recording human rights abuses in postwar Libya, reported on the continued use of torture and illegal detention. Amnesty highlighted the 12 deaths in custody that have occurred in militia jails since last September. A cause for concern, certainly, but also the kind of figure that would be considered a wild success were it Afghanistan or Iraq The problem is not that Libya's militias are out of control, but rather that there is no mechanism for disciplining the minority who commit human rights violations. "You think this is bad?" said Ahmed, a young militiaman from Tripoli's eastern suburb of Souk al-Juma, regarding an incident last month when two militias battled for custody of a beach house. "Think if you give a gun to every young guy in London. What do you think London would look like the next night?" Yet this lack of central control invites disaster, because the lack of security across Libya means nothing else gets done, and because the discipline of militias will start to unravel. "This kind of thing is very bad for security, for business, for everything in Libya," said Amnesty International's Donatella Rovera. A cabinet of technocrats was announced by the NTC last November, but it is starved of authority. Last month prime minister Abdurrahim El-Keib, regarded as a capable official, met Misratan leaders to complain that he has no power. All strategic decisions are the province of the NTC, whose internal squabbles mean nothing gets done. Instead of tackling problems, the NTC lets them pile up, like water behind a dam. The law for June's election has been published, but there is no justice system to enforce it. Libya now exports more than a million barrels of oil a day, but officials of the internationally mandated Transitional Finance Mechanism complained that even they were not allowed to view the accounts showing where oil revenues are going. Meanwhile, the government is on a collision course with the international criminal court over its decision to try Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late dictator, on home soil and under laws not yet published, rather than hand him over to The Hague. A court system has still to take shape, and the NTC left diplomats scratching their heads last week when it announced that a law on transitional justice had been passed, in secret, two months ago. "They [the NTC] are becoming defensive, they don't understand that their power comes from the people," said El-Gallal. Meanwhile, wages go unpaid, reconstruction is nonexistent, power cuts are common and much of the country is running out of money. Skirmishes, such as the battle between militias and the town of Beni Walid over its refusal to hand over war crimes suspects, simmer unchecked. And on Friday President Barack Obama's spokesman, Jim Carney, joined the chorus of critics, calling for the NTC to make its decisions "openly and transparently". Nervousness among western diplomats is well placed, for while the Arab Spring revolts in Bahrain, Egypt, Syria and Tunisia are home-grown, Nato was the midwife in Libya's revolution. Western recognition was the reason that the NTC, led by figures from the eastern town of Benghazi, are Libya's government, and alliance bombs were the reason it won the war. Should Libya lurch back into dictatorship, the blowback will be felt abroad, not least in London and Paris. And many Libyans now have the hardware to make their feelings felt. As one militiaman from Benghazi put it, he will give the new government a chance, but "if it is no good, well, we know how to do revolution". I believe that Cameron and Sukozy made a bid for ever-lasting personal International fame in Libya - (desire to be remembered as the modern day Churchill and Napolean.) The French and British inspired 'revolution' was both opportunist (riding off the back of the Arab Spring movements) and illegal (incorrect interpretation of the UN Resolution) And the net result - pain, disillusion bankrupty and disorder (not only in Libya but to a greater degree than ever in France and Britain - it was a costly war). Cameron and Sukozy - you failed and should be held accountable. Western recognition was the reason that the NTC, led by figures from the eastern town of Benghazi, are Libya's government, and alliance bombs were the reason it won the war. Correct. So NATO and the west are every bit as responsible for the aftermath as the militias they assisted, and all those who supported intervention will be judged by and held responsible for this: The reality is that, a year after revolution first swept the country, Libya's government, by turns secretive and inept, is seen by ordinary people less as the solution than the problem. Interventionists are vindicated or condemned by the results, just like non-interventionists. In the case of Libya, as in Iraq, the responsibility of interventionists for the deepening chaos is made all the heavier for having been warned, again and again, that this would be the result. Those of us without the desire and arrogance for power do learn; politicians never do, alas! Cameron said the other day that it was no use looking backwards, we can learn nothing from the past. I thought he was a History graduate. As the saying goes; those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. After one is badly injured in say a real"y bad car accident,it takes time to recover. Libya has to find a route not back! but forward where it wants to go,at this moment its a bit like the tower of Babel,though all speak the same language,theres so many ideas. Libya now exports more than a million barrels of oil a day, but officials of the internationally mandated Transitional Finance Mechanism complained that even they were not allowed to view the accounts showing where oil revenues are going. ...analysts have claimed that the no-bid contracts to U.S oil companies constitutes as exploitation since many non U.S companies would give the same service for shorter contracts and lower percentage of revenue , Also the fact that the U.S is still occupying the country and making the hydrocarbon law one of the benchmarks for withdrawal led many to believe the U.S is applying pressure on Iraq to accept this law. George Bush WAS telling the truth in big bold letters, back in 2003, the moment US troops secured the refineries and main the Iraqi oil offices (meanwhile shunning protection for museums looted by mobs) that their real objectives had been met: " Libya now exports more than a million barrels of oil a day, but officials of the internationally mandated Transitional Finance Mechanism complained that even they were not allowed to view the accounts showing where oil revenues are going." Says it all really,i don't suppose any international body could discover who is looting the oil wealth as trade secrets protect corporations accounts. Is it Syria and Iran next in line for destruction and looting ,i hear Assad's forces were attacking a funeral which is obviously not the same as US drone attacks targeting funerals in Afghanistan and Pakistan.is it because only our enemies commit war crimes while we commit war? Clearly the west is adapt at leaving chaos in its wake throughout the middle east . Liberal interventionists' would feel ashamed if they were capable of such emotion. Many of those who called for western intervention genuinely did so for humanitarian reasons, to prevent a massacre in Behghazi. The assumption was that Gaddafi was hated by all Libyans and that support for him would crumble at the first sight of NATO warplanes. The fact that that didn't happen left NATO with a dilemma: They could either withdraw and watch the ugly progress of Gaddafi's revenge, or press on ruthlessly and effect regime change. To do the former would have involved losing face on a grand scale. So they did the latter. Watching the brutal final stages of the Libyan conflict was for me a painful experience. The present outcome, as I have posted on another thread, has cured me of the illusion that military intervention can do any good at all. As now in the case of Syria, where a dictator is bent on crushing dissent we are not entitled to intervene, even if only to stop the slaughter -- just stand by and wring our hands, and hope that the Syrian people will unite to bring Assad down. Massacres are a daily event, and for much of the time it is difficult to determine who is fighting whom or why. I suspect that the eventual outcome may be no less chaotic and destructive than in Libya. Watching the brutal final stages of the Libyan conflict was for me a painful experience. The present outcome, as I have posted on another thread, has cured me of the illusion that military intervention can do any good at all. I applaud you for voicing your change of mind, a rare occurence on these threads. The assumption was that Gaddafi was hated by all Libyans and that support for him would crumble at the first sight of NATO warplanes I honestly don't believe that NATO made that assumption, although that was the narrative. There was plenty of evidence that Gaddafi had a lot of support, much of it reported by knowledgable posters on cif, although not, shamefully, the Guardian itself. As now in the case of Syria, where a dictator is bent on crushing dissent we are not entitled to intervene, even if only to stop the slaughter -- just stand by and wring our hands, and hope that the Syrian people will unite to bring Assad down. Massacres are a daily event, and for much of the time it is difficult to determine who is fighting whom or why. I suspect that the eventual outcome may be no less chaotic and destructive than in Libya. I don't believe that it is a straight choice between wringing our hands and military intervention. Unfortunately, when you have chosen regime change as your only acceptable outcome it limits the options. Lest We Forget* 'Compilation of a small sample of footage, recorded in July 2011, documenting the mass support of the Libyan people for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and their opposition to the barbaric NATO bombing and the NATO backed rebels. These events were given little or no coverage in the pro NATO mainstream media, as to have done so would have exposed the lies and propaganda of the western leaders and their supporters used to justify the imperialist intervention and the subsequent imposition of the reactionary NTC led interim government.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UEMb4m3e\\... To suggest that the brutal nature of the 'rebels' is an oversight by the US and NATO is utter nonsense. These are the same states that supported the fascist contras in nicaragua, General Pinochet, The Muhajadeen in Afghanistan, The KLA in Kosovo, The Libyan Islamic Fighting group in Libya etc - portraying them as 'freedom fighters'. The Libyan uprising has been characterised by racist violence. On the second day of the uprising 50 African migrants were slaughtered by the rebels. This is all justified in the media by nonsense about 'African mercenaries' which Amnesty International have already comprehensively demolished. There were no 'African mercenaries'. The rebels waged warfare against the black Libyan population and African migrant workers. NATO want a government that disunites Africa -- that will draw North Africa away from its southern neighbours. Therefore it is very important for NATO that the government in Libya is a racist one which will discontinue with the Libyan led project to unite Africa against imperialist exploitation of labour and resources. It is no mistake that this uprising has been characterised by racist violence -- it's part of the plan. We must also put the war drive of the last decade into context. The western world is collapsing economically. War is big business and a 'racket' in every sense of the word. It also serves as a distraction from the crisis at home. The current economic crisis is on a scale not seen since the 1910's -1930's.... We all know how that ended... world war which caused mass destruction and death but* resulted in a post WW2 economic boom! A very strange article, whose sensationalist headline is belied by its much more balanced content, which acknowledges to the orderly way in which the mass anniversary demonstrations took place; accepts "how tranquil the country is"; and records the NTC's achievement in drafting a consensual law for national assembly elections. However it treats the upcoming Misratan election in a very odd way, as a "final step towards what is independence in all but name". They're holding a local council election, for god sake! Which the organisers are presenting as a democratic model for the whole country. It seems that the Libyans can't win in the eyes of the western media: if they don't do things they are failing to lead the country; and when they do take serious initiatives they are usurping authority and threatening national unity. We need to look at Libya in context, as the quote from "Ahmed, a young militiaman from Tripoli's eastern suburb" points out in the wisest passage in this article. It was obvious to any thinking person, who was not taken in by the propaganda on television, that with all the different tribes, ethnies, languages and cultures in Lybia, any government other than Khadaffi's had to be carefully studied and organized. France got their 30% of Lybian oil. Otherwise only more death, brutality, destruction and torture has resulted from all the money spent by the so-called civilized west - NATO, and will continue. It is extraordinarily sad. Heads of Government are only out for money and power. Negociation was never tried. People do not matter any more. Preserving history, buildings, treasures is never even considered. 2011 was a very tragic year for the world. Lybia goes the way of Irak. Destroyed. As indeed our environment is going - heading for destruction. It's been prophecied for a long time. When will they ever learn? "Libya now exports more than a million barrels of oil a day, but officials of the internationally mandated Transitional Finance Mechanism complained that even they were not allowed to view the accounts showing where oil revenues are going." This paragraph explains a lot about the Oil being the primary motive of the West in its breaching of the UN resolution and intervening in Libya. Before recognising the NTC the West made sure the NTC gave written commitment to grant Oil contracts to Western companies and now that they are shipping out 1M barrels a day (to make up for the Iranain Oil) they don't care to make sure they pay the right people the right money and what the NTC corrupt bunch are doing with the money and how the people who gave martyrs are being ripped off and betrayed. Enjoy Uncle Sam's and NATO's democracy. And this is just the beginning. The civil wars and the West's final decision that there are too many ethnicities and tribes to live together in peace and risk of "disintegration" and the splitting of the country into tribal and ethnic "regions" and the old colonial strategy of divide and rule has still not come yet. An excellent article but a follow-up that would explain how Libya is disintegrating is needed. The main reason for the failure of this operation is that it was half baked and was stopped in the middle. It's a half finished job. NATO dismantled a regime but did not establish another regime in its place. The NTC a group of profiteers and ex-Gaddhafi bureaucrats will do no better now then they did when they worked for Gaddaf. Abdul Jalil the NTC chief was a Justice Minister administering a non-existent justice system. As explained by Bernard Lugan in this article in French (http://www.egaliteetreconciliation.fr/L\\... Libya is now six small countries where 500 Militia groups call the shots: 1- The city state of Misrata run by an Islamist-Gangster coalition 2 - A fundamentalist run section in the West 3 - A sufi run section in the west 4 - The south which trying to break away with on going fighting in Kufra 5 - Tripoli which has never been enthusiastic about the change. Tripoli is now being policed by Amazigh Militias from outside the city mostly the neighboring areas 6 - The Warfallah tribe (making 30% of the population) with their center in Bani Walid and who refuse to recognize the authority of the CNT and remain loyal to Kaddhafi 's tribe and his sons. Add to these the border skirmishes between Libyan Militias and the armies in the neighboring countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Chad and Niger). Discovery of arms smuggling to Tunisia and Algeria (43 anti air craft missiles, Libya had a stock pile of 20,000). Cameron and Sarkozy have created a new Somalia on the med, if the escalating situation is not managed immediately it will endanger the peace and security of the neighboring countries and Europe. Most popular on the Guardian Today in pictures After advising tourists against travel to the cities of Jammu and Srinagar for nearly 20 years, the Foreign Office has lifted its guidelines after a fall in violence. So, Dal Lake and part of the Valley of Kashmir, one of India's most beautiful regions, are once again open to visitors

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This one caught my eye because of 2 things. Some audio transmission clips from the lunar flights and a photograph that was presumed unseeable, but with todays modern advancements, they claim to make out a pyramid shape. This is the first time that I've personally heard or seen anything about these 2 items in my thread. I have alot of time in reading and video watching invested. Im sure a bit of you already know this info, The vid is from 2008. I have always questioned that NASA put 70 tons of aluminum on the moon with pretty stunning accuracy with pocket calculator computing power. And one conspiracy tugs at the other. If we didnt go to the moon then how are were ground level photos taken, unless its all one giant fraud. Here is a recently uploaded video from Finlands ex minister of health discussing a UFO conference in Russia where a case of abduction of a Russian farmer says he was in a UFO, flew over the back side of the moon and saw bases....Pretty good vid First of all, big problems can have small solutions when the solution is coupled with a good brain. Computing power wasn't the hurdle for the moon landing, knowledge of physics and obtaining accurate information for the basis of the calculations was the hard part. The moon landing can probably be calculated with an abicis combined with knowledge of geometry and algebra to be honest. Computers do not equal answer to all things. Secondly, I've been watching the moon for a while with my telescope. There are no visible structures on this side of it. Who knows what's on the other side. Would nightvision even work on the backside of the moon? This one caught my eye because of 2 things. Some audio transmission clips from the lunar flights and a photograph that was presumed unseeable, but with todays modern advancements, they claim to make out a pyramid shape. This is the first time that I've personally heard or seen anything about these 2 items in my thread. I have alot of time in reading and video watching invested. Im sure a bit of you already know this info, The vid is from 2008. I have always questioned that NASA put 70 tons of aluminum on the moon with pretty stunning accuracy with pocket calculator computing power. And one conspiracy tugs at the other. If we didnt go to the moon then how are were ground level photos taken, unless its all one giant fraud. Yes and the same with mars too! Thanks for sharing the videos! Very important videos for those seeking the truth. Whether your posts get one or tons of flags, still a very important thread. That even if repeated should be repeated for truths sake. Secondly, I've been watching the moon for a while with my telescope. There are no visible structures on this side of it. Who knows what's on the other side. Would nightvision even work on the backside of the moon?. Why is this a concern? The side of the moon that we never see from earth has the same amount of time in sunlight as the side that is visiable from earth. From a stationary postion on the surface of the moon one would have a fourteen day sunlight period followed by a fourteen day dark period. Secondly, I've been watching the moon for a while with my telescope. There are no visible structures on this side of it. Who knows what's on the other side. Would nightvision even work on the backside of the moon?. Why is this a concern? The side of the moon that we never see from earth has the same amount of time in sunlight as the side that is visiable from earth. From a stationary postion on the surface of the moon one would have a fourteen day sunlight period followed by a fourteen day dark period. Your telescope wouldn't pick up objects on the moon. Simply because it isn't designed for that purpose. And no night-vision won't work either. I dont think the dark side of the moon is actually dark, we just cant see it so it referred to as dark. If a extraterrestrial civilization were to build, what better spot. Its human instinct to question what we cant see or the unknown. Its personally one of my favorite subjects. If none of these topics were even real, I enjoy getting a cold drink and reading and filling my mind with fiction or non fiction, its a great way to spend a rainy evening. The first video at 3.30 is the zeeman crater they claim a castle is under the blur the crater is 184km in dia thats a big castle then Then at this post here you will see that Joe Escamilla who ranks with Hoagland and Icke as a bit of an idiot claimed it was an Alien repairing his ship obviously he hadn't checked the size of the objects in the picture. The Above Top Secret Web sites are a wholly owned social content community of The Above Network, LLC. This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.

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Good work sped - hopefully this works like your Crows one did last night PUDDINGS. __________________ Somebody who loves life and thinks that North Melbourne are grouse. A word of warning this is not have anything to do with porn or anything disgusting. So please refrain from posting up pornographic images and posting about it. Also no trolls allowed. __________________ Somebody who loves life and thinks that North Melbourne are grouse. A word of warning this is not have anything to do with porn or anything disgusting. So please refrain from posting up pornographic images and posting about it. Also no trolls allowed.

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Rhona Mitra Cast as Female Lead in Michael Bay's 'The Last Ship' Rhona Mitra is a badass English actress with plenty of silver screen skills, starring in "Doomsday," "Shooter" and "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans." Her TV list is just as impressive: "Strike Back," "Nip/Tuck," "Boston Legal" and "The Practice." Now, Mitra can add one more show under her belt -- "The Last Ship." "The Last Ship" is based on the popular 1988 novel of the same name by William Brinkley. The show, set to debut sometime in 2013, will feature a post-apocalyptic world in which members from a naval destroyer find themselves as some of the last people on Earth. You can bet your bottom dollar this show will be the next big thing. Why am I so sure, you ask? Mega producer Michael Bay will be producing this TNT drama. Who's in Charge? Michael Bay will produce the show, who is most famously known for his Transformers series . The show is written by "Without a Trace" creator Hank Steinberg. Steven Kane -- who recently worked on "The Closer" -- will take the role of producer. According to Deadline.com, casting for the show has closed and all the major roles have been filled. And the Cast is... Rhona Mitra: Mitra will play Rachel Scott, the strong-willed and fearless paleomicrobioligist. Eric Dane: He will play Captain Tom Chandler, the captain of the USS Nathan James. Chandler gets word from his family that they are still alive, but militias everywhere, jeopardizing their lives. It is up to him to figure out how to save the last of humanity. Dane became a household sensation for playing Dr. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan on the medical drama television series "Grey's Anatomy." He was also in the films "Marley & Me," "Valentine's Day" and "Burlesque." Adam Baldwin: He will play the character of Mike Slattery, second in command to Captain Tom Chandler. Baldwin is most known for his role in "Independence Day" as well as several TV series including "Leverage," "Castle" and "Chuck." Charles Parnell: He will be playing the role of Commander Master Chief (CMC) Hugh Jeter aboard the USS Nathan James. CMC Jeter runs a tight ship and even threatens to shoot a sailor who attempts to leave the ship without permission, according to i09.com . Parnell is a television actor and has made appearances on "Bones," "Fringe," "CSI: Miami," "All My Children" and "Law & Order." Michaela McManus: Michaela McManus will be playing Lt. Jackie Makena, who runs the Combat Information Center and is in charge of missile deployment. She is dating Danny Green, the leader of a group of SEALS. McManus has experience in short film and television, making appearances in "Cosa Bella," "One Tree Hill," "The Vampire Diaries" and "CSI: Miami." Sam Spruell: He will play the character of Quincy Tophet, a paleomicrobiologist who is the assistant of Rachel Scott's assistant. He helps her dig for ice samples in the hopes to find a cure for the mutating virus. Spruell has been featured in British series "Spooks" and "P.O.W." and is most recently known for his role in "Snow White and the Huntsman."" A strong cast of veterans mixed with a quality production and writing team should blend well to make this a good watch. Bay creates cinematic wonder with his eye for special effects, bringing settings to life in a surreal way. As long as the acting is adequate, a good script will make this show a hit.

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Campaign provides phone cards to soldiers SAVANNAH -- The Coastal Bank, a community bank serving coastal Georgia, launched its third annual initiative to raise money for the USO's Operation Phone Home, which provides prepaid phone cards to deployed military personnel, enabling them to call loved ones while away from their families this holiday season. The bank will lead the 2012 fundraising campaign for USO Operation Phone Home, which runs through Nov. 30. "This campaign is a small way for us to express our gratitude for their selfless sacrifice and service to our nation," said Jim LaHaise, acting bank president and CEO. "Our goal is to put at least one phone card in the hands of every soldier and service member in our area who is deployed during the holidays." The public is invited to join the bank and the USO in connecting deployed soldiers from the Coastal Empire and the Lowcountry to their loved ones. A $5 donation will provide a service member with a phone card. Cards will be given in December to deployed members of the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Naval Reserve. Anyone donating $5 or more will be entered into a drawing to win one free Chick-fil-A sandwich per week for a year. Two winners will be announced at the conclusion of the campaign. The public can buy phone cards online at www.phonehomesav.com or visit a Coastal Bank branch to make a donation to the campaign. The Hinesville branch is at 101 W. Hendry St. "We are fortunate to live in such a generous community, where people are willing to support our local service men and women," said Mitchell Bush, president of USO of Georgia-Savannah. "This year, we hope to raise a record number of phone cards for service members serving overseas during the holiday season." SAVANNAH -- The Coastal Bank, a community bank serving coastal Georgia, launched its third annual initiative to raise money for the USO's Operation Phone Home, which provides prepaid phone cards to deployed military personnel, enabling them to call loved ones while away from their families this holiday season. The bank will lead the 2012 fundraising campaign for USO Operation Phone Home, which runs through Nov. 30. "This campaign is a small way for us to express our gratitude for their selfless sacrifice and service to our nation," said Jim LaHaise, acting bank president and CEO. "Our goal is to put at least one phone card in the hands of every soldier and service member in our area who is deployed during the holidays." The public is invited to join the bank and the USO in connecting deployed soldiers from the Coastal Empire and the Lowcountry to their loved ones. A $5 donation will provide a service member with a phone card. Cards will be given in December to deployed members of the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Naval Reserve. Anyone donating $5 or more will be entered into a drawing to win one free Chick-fil-A sandwich per week for a year. Two winners will be announced at the conclusion of the campaign. The public can buy phone cards online at www.phonehomesav.com or visit a Coastal Bank branch to make a donation to the campaign. The Hinesville branch is at 101 W. Hendry St. "We are fortunate to live in such a generous community, where people are willing to support our local service men and women," said Mitchell Bush, president of USO of Georgia-Savannah. "This year, we hope to raise a record number of phone cards for service members serving overseas during the holiday season."

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Now that the days of painfully straight-looking hair are over and more relaxed, voluminous-looking styles are in, it's time to put your flat iron on the backburner and brush up on your blow-drying skills. To find out more, we hit up hairdresser Phillip Gallo for some styling shortcuts. STEP ONE: KEEP IT REAL "Begin by detangling the hair using a wide-tooth comb before towel-drying the hair and applying a heat protection or volumising product," advises Gallo. To speed up the drying process, He recommends blow-drying your hair upside down, using your hands to create body and texture in at the roots as you dry off excess moisture. STEP TWO: DIVIDE AND CONQUER Once the hair feels close to dry, that's your cue to separate the hair into two sections from ear to ear. Then all you need to do is secure the first section into a hair clip before tackling the bottom section with a barrel brush. "As you grab each section, you want to pull the hair in an upward direction from the roots so that it feels like you're gently stretching the strands against the downward pressure of the hot air." STEP THREE: SEAL THE DEAL "Once you're satisfied with the amount of volume and movement in the hair, give each section a quick once over with the cold air button to seal the hair cuticle and add shine," Gallo says. And if you're thinking of adding a finishing product or hairspray to the routine, it's best to wait until the hair has cooled down as the heat will only cause the product to set looking stiff and crunchy. STEP FOUR: DON'T OVERDO IT "The biggest mistake most women make when it comes to at-home styling is overloading the hair with too much product," says Gallo. "The roots produce enough oil as it is, so aim to keep the product concentrated on the lengths and ends where you need the protection and shine the most." TOOL TIME Owning the right styling tools is half the battle when it comes to perfecting a professional blow-dry at home. When it comes to creating shiny, smooth-looking hair, you can't go past a thick-bristled, round brush. Unlike a flat paddle brush that slips through the hair, the thicker, the more concentrated the bristles, the more hair it means you can collect at once to cut down on styling time. Aside from boasting ionic and ceramic technology that's designed to minimise heat damage and frizz, salon-grade dryers are built to handle heavy-duty use. Plus, the powerful motor means you can get away with using the medium heat settings for the majority of your styling needs.

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High School lives up to the title High School 3.0 stars TORONTO - What to do when your high school introduces mandatory drug testing? Make sure the entire student body is baked. And the teachers. That's the game plan in High School , a stoner comedy with Matt Bush as the nerdy Henry and Sean Marquette as his ne'er do well childhood friend, Travis Breaux. Breaux is always stoned. Henry is on his way to MIT and will be class valedictorian, but then he and Travis cross paths and Henry is convinced to smoke a joint. Trouble. The headmaster (Michael Chiklis, fairly demented here) suddenly decides to hold school-wide drug tests. Henry will fail, get kicked out and lose his future at MIT, so he and Breaux need to come up with a plan. They decide to get the entire student body stoned on brownies so that all the drug test results will be rendered useless. To get enough dope for all those brownies, they pay a visit to the local psycho drug dealer (Adrien Brody) and steal his stash of kief. Then they start baking. Everything that could go wrong does go wrong in High School , a cheerful if lightweight comedy about being young and footloose and not bowing to authority, and all that. The performances are decent. Bush and Marquette are entirely watchable as the high school schemers; Brody is out of control crazy as the dope specialist and -- pleasant surprise -- Colin Hanks and Yeardley Smith turn up in small roles. The action is frantic and funny, what with all the students and all the teachers getting stoned, but what it means in the end isn't clear. Silliness is what it means, probably. It's a fun ride, but entirely forgettable.

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Carson, Calif.  Alvaro Saborio was back in the starting lineup for Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, as it prepared to take on Chivas USA in a crucial Major League Soccer game at the Home Depot Center. The team's leading scorer missed its game last weekend with a shoulder injury suffered in a CONCACAF Champions League game last week, even after lobbying coach Jason Kreis to play. But Saborio now will get a chance to add to his 14 goals this season against a team that hasn't won in two months. The last-place Goats are riding a nine-game winless streak since July 28. Led by former RSL assistant Robin Fraser, they are 7-15-7 and have lost their last five in a row by a combined 10-1 score, having not found the back of the net at all in their last three games. Beating them is crucial for RSL, which is 15-11-4 and fighting to stay in the top three in the MLS Western Conference to avoid a wild-card game in the playoffs. RSL, the Los Angeles Galaxy, and the Seattle Sounders all are within one point of each other in the battle for second and third place, with four regular-season games remaining (five for the Sounders). The Galaxy are playing at Colorado on Saturday, while the Sounders are at Vancouver. RSL also will start Luis Gil in place of midfielder Ned Grabavoy, who injured his right quadriceps during practice this week. The team has shown some hope for the stretch run by going 2-1-1 in league play since a three-game losing streak. Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, click the red "Flag" link below it. See more about comments here.

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Things to do after Mass Brothers and sisters - it has been a while since ive posted so excuse the long distance Just wanted to know things to do after Mass or things to talk about to invoke discussion with friends/bf after Holy Mass. Ive done the whole "So what did you understand from the Gospel, what did the homily mean to you, how do you think we can implement this in our life, did you like the priest, the mass the church etc". But i feel as though it is all rigid and straight forward responses. I want the discussion to open up so i can see their perspective and point of view. E.g. after Mass yesterday the radio got turned on - i wasnt happy with the station or songs so i turned it off. We sat in awkward silence and brouught up random convo material - when really i wanted to talk about what i just learnt and it helped/affirmed me to continue my spiritual journey.. I brouught up the usual churchey topics but nothing really extended. The only time things get interesting (religiously) is when were in a heated debate (fun but tiring lol). I just want a casual exchange but i dont know how to bring it on.

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Fund-raising Appeal The Asia-Pacific Journal needs your financial support to take the next step in expanding our work and outreach and above all to placing the journal on a firm long-term trajectory. With some 200 articles on themes related to Japan's 3.11 triple disaster, we have become a major source of information on Japan and the Pacific. We are now launching an ambitious new venture: under Laura Hein's leadership we will post the first of a series of course readers that provide readers an outline, introduction and ten to twenty core texts on a major theme such as war and visual culture; women and Japan's political economy; environmental history, and war in Japanese popular culture. Available free to readers. As we approach our first decade of publication, we need to place the journal on a sustainable foundation. This will require hiring of a part-time managing editor. We rely on the support of 6,000 regular readers and many more who consult our work periodically. We ask those who value our work to go to the red sustainer button on our home page http://japanfocus.org and contribute generously. In addition to the many who become members at our basic rate of $25, we need the help of those who are able to support the journal at higher levels to become sustainers at the $100, $500 and more. Thanks in advance. The United States and East Asia: The decline of long-distance leadership? 1 Mark Beeson The election of Barrack Obama was a remarkable event in many ways. Not only was the election of a black, Democratic president a domestic milestone, but it was a potentially transformative moment for foreign policy, too. The administration of George W. Bush was responsible for some of the most divisive and counter-productive foreign policies of recent times. The standing and authority of the US had been steadily undermined as a consequence. It is clear that the election of Obama has already seen a dramatic improvement in sentiment toward the US around the world, something that bodes well for the US's 'soft power' and influence. One might expect, therefore, that US policymakers will once again be able to assert themselves in East Asia, a region in which the US has had a powerful presence and influence since the Second World War. While the region is not unique in this regard -- the US as the world's sole remaining superpower has been a major factor in the development of every other region, too -- East Asia's post-war trajectory, both as the epicentre of international wars between 1945 and 1975, and as a rapidly advancing economic region throughout the era, has been especially marked by American influence. 2 Indeed, East Asia's recent development history, its intra-regional relations and its place in the overall international system might have been profoundly different were it not for its engagement with the United States. But will the US continue to exert such a powerful influence in the future? To understand why the US might loom so large in East Asia's recent past and how its influence might be changing, we need to historicise its relationship with the region. This involves saying something about the nature of American power and the way it has been theorized. Consequently, the article begins with a brief consideration of the nature of 'American leadership', distinguishing it from the sort of institutionalised 'structural' power that has been an enduring part of American power and influence. The key point that emerges from this discussion is that the effectiveness and coherence of American leadership in East Asia has fluctuated, and has not simply been a function of its underlying structural dominance. Indeed, while the contemporary international system has frequently being characterised as 'unipolar' and unparalleled, there are substantial grounds for thinking that the US capacity for exercising leadership is in decline. 3 This article explains how this situation has come about. After first sketching the US's historical influence over East Asia, I explain the steady erosion of its leadership. This has come about, I suggest, partly as a consequence of the rise of China and a growing interest in an exclusive form of East Asian regionalism that excludes the US, but primarily because of America's own political, economic and strategic problems. Bound to lead? Structure, agency and American power Writing nearly twenty years ago, Joseph Nye argued that the US was 'bound to lead' the international system as a consequence of its overwhelming material and ideological dominance. 4 In part, Nye was responding to Paul Kennedy's highly influential thesis, which claimed that American power was entering a period of inevitable and unstoppable decline brought about by 'imperial overstretch'. 5 Such debates are not just historical curiosities, however. Precisely the same sorts of debates continue between those who think that American power is unparalleled and enduring, 6 and those who argue that its authority and even its material dominance have been eroded, especially by the costly and ill-advised wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 7 Before evaluating such ideas and their repercussions on US relations with East Asia, it is worth making some initial observations about the sources of American power. One way of understanding how American influence operates, I suggest, is to distinguish between the 'structural' and 'agential' aspects of American power. Although structure and agency are deeply connected, mutually constitutive forces, 8 it is useful to isolate the different properties associated with each to gain a clearer understanding of the nature of American power and influence. Only those countries that have enjoyed economic pre-eminence have been able to assert a concomitant influence over the international system, 9 so it is worth spelling out how these forces have worked and why they have had such an impact on East Asia. After the Second World War it was clear that the US had the world's largest and most dynamic economy and would play a major role in determining the shape of the emerging international economic order. One of the reasons that the US was able to exert such a profound influence on not only East Asia but also the rest of the world was this economic dominance. In 1953, the US alone accounted for around 45 percent of the world's manufacturing output, 10 a situation which stands in marked contrast with its current position of about 20 per cent, which China is expected to overtake by 2016. 11 Indeed, the rapid rise of China (and, to a lesser extent, India) as a global economic power has begun to undermine the primacy of the American economy, 12 something that has potentially major implications for its concomitant political influence. Initially, however, US dominance was entrenched in the Bretton Woods institutions, notably the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the United Nations, and was deeply reflective of American values and preferences. 13 When thinking about the sources of American power it is important to recognise the pervasive, enduring nature of its influence. This owes a great deal to the US ability to institutionalise an international order that reflected and enhanced its dominance, 14 or turn structural potential into political agency. The possible unravelling of this multilateral order and the shift to a more unilateral foreign policy stance on the part of the US is, as we shall see, one source of its declining leadership influence. 15 The links -- and possible contradictions -- between structural or material power on the one hand, and agential influence on the other, are also evident in US strategic dominance. Fifty years ago the US not only wielded formidable economic power through the activities of American multinationals and the centrality of its financial sector, but this was reinforced by what Chalmers Johnson described as a global 'empire of bases' or military outposts. 16 Of course, this is still the case, as those who emphasise the material elements of American primacy are quick to highlight. 17 But the world was a very different place in the late 1940s and '50s; the military stand-off with the Soviet Union, and its expression in the Korean and Indochinese Wars, gave the military a prominence and importance it no longer enjoys. One of the most widely noted features of the contemporary international order is the decline of inter-state warfare, 18 something that potentially robs the US of a good deal of influence and leverage. The fact that the financially-constrained Obama administration may be less enthusiastic about the military option than its predecessor may further diminish US strategic leverage that had already been undermined by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the maladroit conduct of the 'war on terror'. 19 This situation stands in marked contrast with the febrile atmosphere of the Cold War, when America's capacity to actively 'lead' and the willingness of other countries to follow -- in the capitalist world, at least -- was considerably enhanced. As Gaddis points out, much of the willingness of America's allies to go along with its leadership flowed from the perceived legitimacy of the cause compared to the Soviet alternative, 20 America's failings in Vietnam notwithstanding. The importance of this ideational or ideological aspect of the Cold War in particular and of American foreign policy more generally is also worth emphasising. While there is clearly an important structural aspect of recent US dominance of the international system, 21 it is equally apparent that it has made an enormous difference to the constitution of the inter-state system that it has been America (rather than some other potential hegemon) that has been in the ascendant. 22 This has been manifest in an ideological commitment to the promotion of liberalism and (to a significantly lesser extent) democracy, and to a particular view of itself as a force for enlightenment and good in world affairs. 23 Not only have such domestically rooted views about the unique historical role of the US given a distinctive cast to the nature of American foreign policy and influenced the way such policies have been pursued, 24 but they have made many American policymakers remarkably oblivious to the way America is perceived in the world. As Barry Buzan notes, the 'combination of a benign self-image as the carrier of universal values and domestically driven foreign policy insulates the US from the idea that people abroad oppose it, or even hate it, because of its foreign policies rather than because they oppose or hate its values'. 25 This matters more now because of the declining legitimacy and thus authority of American policy. The potential importance of this point becomes clearer if the contemporary situation is contrasted with earlier phases of American dominance. Historicising American hegemony reminds us that debates about the nature, impact and importance of American power are not new. Charles Kindleberger famously argued that the Great Depression was largely a consequence of a failure of American leadership to provide public goods, a stabilising influence, and an open economic system, 26 sparking a major debate about the nature and impact of American hegemony that continues to this day. 27 The fact that Kindleberger operated from a broadly realist position explains his state-centrism and emphasis on leadership rather than more encompassing, multi-dimensional notion of hegemony. 28 The key point to emphasise here is that American leadership matters today as it has throughout the post-war world, but its impact and content are powerfully mediated by contingent circumstances. At one level, as we have seen, this may reflect the bipolar structure of the post-war international order, and the size and importance of the US economy, especially for its capitalist allies. At another level, the content of American leadership -- its agential component, if you will -- is shaped by a combination of ideas, interests and institutional variables at both the international and national levels. Post-war American foreign policy has shown remarkable continuity. The structurally imposed constraints of the Cold War may have made such an outcome in recent history entirely predictable, but Andrew Bacevich has persuasively argued that a consistency of purpose has been a continuing characteristic of American foreign policy even in the post-Cold War period. Bacevich suggests that a commitment to 'openness' has been the continuing 'Big Idea' underlying recent American policy: the removal of barriers to the movement of goods, capital, people and ideas, thereby fostering an integrated international order conducive to American interests, governed by American norms, regulated by American power, and, above all, satisfying expectations of the American people for ever-greater abundance. 29 While it is possible to quibble about both the extent of America's support for the universal liberalization of population flows, and its commitment to reducing its own barriers to trade, nevertheless Bacevich highlights some important continuities in American policy. But it is one thing to have some consistency of purpose, it is quite another to see this supported and realized. For that to occur, policy -- especially that of another country -- must enjoy a degree of authority, legitimacy, or the promise of some instrumental pay-off that makes support or at least acquiescence worthwhile. The rest of this article looks at the evolution of American foreign policy in East Asia and argues that the sustaining confluence of structural and agential factors that sustained American hegemony for so long are beginning to unravel. History, hegemony and East Asia Hegemony differs from leadership, and both aspects of American power are evident in its relations with East Asia. America's military primacy was demonstrated vividly in its defeat and subsequent occupation of Japan, positioning the US to play a leading role in the construction of East Asia's bifurcated post-war international order. But hegemony means more than simply imposing foreign policy preferences on weaker or subordinate powers. For hegemony to be enduring it requires a degree of consent and support from less powerful states -- something both radical and liberal theorists of hegemony have highlighted. 30 What was striking about American hegemony in the post-war period was that for many of its allies it offered a number of potential long-term advantages, which generally outweighed possible disadvantages that came with American dominance. It is worth spelling out what these were, as the calculus of advantage has started to shift, despite the persistence of the earlier structures of dependency and domination. Two inter-connected, but distinct and differentially realized aspects of America's post-war relations with East Asia were vital in underpinning its overall dominance. On the one hand, the multilateral institutional order associated with the Bretton Woods regime, broadly understood as the World Bank, the IMF and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, held out the prospect of integration into what would prove to be a highly effective and expansionary economic order, and which provided strong incentives to join the US side. The incentives included access to the world's largest market on favorable terms. On the other hand, a series of bilateral, 'hub and spokes' relationships in East Asia constituted an America-centric security architecture that profoundly influenced the trajectory of regional development. Indeed, while helping to prop up American allies, it effectively foreclosed the possibility of meaningful regional integration until the end of the Cold War. 31 Some observers suggest that the historical animosities that are such a prominent and endlessly invoked part of East Asian history 'virtually bid the United States to play the "hub"'. 32 The reality is more complex: not only did the US treat post-war Asia very differently from Western Europe, 33 but from the start the Americans played an interventionist role in directly shaping East Asia's post-war order. The logic and impact of American bilateralism was most obvious in the reconstitution of Japan as a pivotal, subordinate part of the region's strategic architecture. 34 That Japan has remained in a dependent and subordinate position that has effectively prevented it from exercising regional leadership despite its economic renaissance is testimony to the durability and importance of the relationships established in this period. 35 It might be objected that Japan is not a 'normal' country and its historical ties to the US are atypical. While there is something in this, 36 it is still the case that the US has effectively determined the shape of the region's security institutions and its intra-regional relations -- even for those countries that are not allies. The most obvious manifestation of this possibility, of course, was the US involvement in the region's two major wars in Korea and Vietnam. Somewhat surprisingly, participation in these bloody conflicts did little to undermine the idea that regional stability was dependent on the continuing strategic presence of the US in East Asia, despite stalemate in the first and US defeat in the second. Whatever the merit of this idea, (and it is not as widely or uncritically supported as it once was), 37 it is plain that it has influenced the evolution of the region's institutional architecture. The most enduring multilateral institution in the developing world -- ASEAN -- owes it existence, in large part, to the Cold War divisions that American grand strategy helped entrench, and to the prospect of America's strategic withdrawal from the region under the rubric of the Nixon Doctrine. 38 Similarly, two of ASEAN's most significant claims to fame -- the resolution of the conflict in Cambodia and the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum -- have been dependent on an absence of American opposition. 39 Even what has arguably proved to be the pivotal moment in East Asia's post-war history -- the rapprochement between the US and China which ultimately opened the way for the latter's rise via its reintegration into the international system -- occurred more as a consequence of shifts in American rather than Chinese or East Asian policy. 40 The potential paradoxes of American policy were evident in the differences between, and impact of, America's economic and strategic goals as they became increasingly separate and disconnected over time. 41 The most obvious expression of American influence was strategic: its policies reinforced ideological divisions across the region and help explain the limited amount of regional political integration that occurred there as a result. At the economic level, however, the consequences of American policy have been less obvious and immediate, but may have greater long-term ramifications in an era where inter-state war is less common. Indeed, it is hard to overstate the importance of much of East Asia being revitalised within the framework of an America-centric, capitalist hegemony, especially given China's recent incorporation into the global economy. One of the key consequences of this period generally and the priority the US attached to capitalist consolidation in particular was, America's declaratory rhetoric notwithstanding, 42 frequently anti-democratic. The exigencies of the Cold War era actually helped consolidate the 'strong' states of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and the patterns of US intervention that were their hallmark. 43 As far as America's hegemonic influence and its capacity to exercise decisive leadership were concerned, this period highlighted the limits and contradictions of its overall position. To be sure, the US was able to shape the overall structural configuration of the international system, especially during the Cold War, but it is equally clear that enthusiasm about, and support for, American economic practices was less than fulsome or universal. Indeed, the persistence of a degree of antipathy, if not outright hostility, toward the more doctrinaire aspects of the 'Washington consensus' is a surprisingly common feature of East Asia's integration into the international economic order the US did so much to constitute. 44 This was especially galling for the Americans given the otherwise unambiguous success of their overall engagement with the region. The 'East Asian miracle' may have owed much more to prosaic forms of state-led development than that label implies, but the net result, at least, was unambiguous: American aid and markets in combination with the efforts of East Asia's developmental states underpinned an historically unprecedented economic expansion across much of Northeast Asia. 45 The nurturing of successful capitalist economies may have fulfilled a crucial strategic objective in the struggle with communism, but it also created sources of relentless competition which would steadily undercut America's economic strength at home and abroad. 46 The emergence of first Japan and subsequently China as formidable economic competitors and -- paradoxically -- critical sources of capital, owes much to the creation of an 'open' international economic order generally and existence of seemingly insatiable American consumers in particular. Attempting to reconcile the different objectives of strategic and economic policy would become a major problem for the US as it also found itself having to rapidly adjust to the new post-Cold War international order that it had done so much to bring about. Life as a normal nation In the aftermath of Japan's decade-long recession, during which it became synonymous with policy inertia and economic under-achievement, it is easy to forget just how concerned American policymakers were with the possibility that Japan might overtake it economically. 47 Throughout much of the 1980s in particular, there was an influential literature that described a seemingly inexorable process of American decline and which depicted an international order 'after hegemony'. 48 We now know, of course, that such prognoses were at least premature. But before considering the current situation, and what I suggest is the continuing erosion of American leadership, it is worth reminding ourselves of why the US seemed to be in decline. Two points emerge from this period generally and from America's relationship with Japan in particular. First, despite the relentless application of bilateral pressure by the US on Japan's policymakers, it is debateable how much was achieved. Despite the seemingly interminable trade talks of the 1980s and early 1990s, the extent of Japanese trade liberalisation was modest, and most likely only where there was a domestic constituency in Japan that added additional leverage. 49 As far as wider structural reforms and the adoption of American norms and practices are concerned, the record has been even more ambiguous: market-oriented reform has again been partial and perhaps inadvertent. 50 This leads to the second point: where the greatest change has occurred as a consequence of American 'leadership', it has often come about as a consequence of longer-term, unintended consequences of very different initiatives. The greatest consequence of American leadership in this context was arguably the Plaza Accord which, while failing to do much about its ostensible target -- America's trade deficit with Japan -- had the effect of creating Japan's 'bubble economy', 51 which would ultimately have far-reaching impact on Japan's domestic political-economy in general and the governance of its financial sector in particular. 52 The point to emphasise again is the disjuncture between, and differential impact of, elements of American power. The fact that the US economy had been, and remained, of critical importance to Japan and its distinctive, politically embedded, export-dependent economy, 53 meant that it had potential leverage over Japanese policymakers. Such leverage was reinforced by Japan's strategic dependence and subordination, a position which has only recently shown signs of change. 54 As a consequence, many in Japan have felt compelled to cooperate with the Americans and, indeed, make concessions with tangible outcomes, at times. 55 However, there were plainly limits to what American pressure could achieve. While some observers consider America's 'penetrated hegemony' a source of strength that allows legitimacy-enhancing access by subordinate powers, 56 others fret about the way that American policy has been defined by the actions of powerful foreign and domestic lobbies. 57 But whatever the confluence of forces that shaped the discursively realised and protean content of American foreign policy, it was plain that it was not always motivated by Kindlebergian concerns about systemic stability. Notably in the presidency of George W. Bush, American policy was dedicated to the pursuit of a narrowly conceived, bilaterally pursued 'national interest'. Consequently, expectations about the potentially beneficial impact of American hegemony on the international economy were invariably unfulfilled as the US was frequently often a source of instability. 58 The decline of long-distance leadership Much has been written about the East Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s and its aftermath, 59 and there is no intention of adding to that literature here. However, the crisis proved to be something of a turning point for both intra- and inter-regional relations and it is worth spelling out why as this period had major implications for American leadership in the region. The first point to emphasise is that American actions in the aftermath of the crisis were frequently seen to be opportunistic, insensitive, and unhelpful. Consequently, they were widely resented across much of the region. 60 While it may have been the IMF that made the actual attempt to impose neoliberal reforms on Asian economies, (of a sort that had been resisted before the crisis), American dominance of the international financial institutions made it easy for Asian leaders to connect the dots. 61 The fact that the policies proposed by the IMF were widely viewed as inappropriate and counter-productive added to the generally negative perceptions of American conduct in the immediate post-crisis atmosphere. 62 In the longer term, the most enduring impact of the crisis may have been to transform much of the received wisdom in East Asia about the region itself, its relationship to the wider world, and what many continued to see as the inescapable necessity of American primacy. 63 Three factors were especially important in catalysing this change. First, the crisis made it painfully obvious to East Asian policymakers that there were potential costs as well as benefits from integration into a global economy, especially one characterised by rapid, massive movements of mobile capital. 64 Second, it was clear that, in the event of such a crisis, the region was heavily reliant on external assistance and vulnerable to the intrusive, reform agendas of actors from outside the region. Finally, it was equally apparent that the region had little indigenous capacity to deal with such crises, and hardly any effective leadership within the region itself. Paradoxically, therefore, East Asia's much discussed leadership failures 65 may yet provide the most important challenge to, and erosion of, America's long-distance, de facto, sometimes inadvertent, leadership of the region. Indeed, some believe that 'the American approach in Asia has created a leadership vacuum into which China can and has adroitly stepped'. 66 The rise of long-term leadership competition China was the only country to emerge from the East Asian crisis with its position unambiguously improved. 67 China's 'responsible' attitude, especially its willingness to maintain the value of its currency and not add to the region's downward economic spiral, was greatly appreciated in the region. More than that, China's constructive role contrasted with that of the US and of its key ally Japan: not only were Japan's own leadership aspirations initially snuffed out by the US, but it was seen by some observers as having been responsible for the genesis of the crisis itself as a result of the implosion of its economy in 1990. 68 Moreover, Japan's own attempts to play a constructive leadership role by underwriting a regionally based currency swap scheme were thwarted by the US and its own deference. 69 In such circumstances, China's position was significantly enhanced, not only because its high-speed growth continued through the crisis, but especially as its increasingly deft regional diplomacy reinforced its emerging structural power. It is worth briefly indicating just how much China's position in the region has changed, because it has direct implications for the US and helps to explain the erosion of American influence. Two aspects of the 'rise of China' are especially germane. First, and most tangibly, the remarkable expansion of China's economy -- a consequence of its incorporation into a capitalist international order shaped by American hegemony -- has transformed its relationship with its neighbours. 70 One of the key reasons that East Asia recovered so rapidly from the effects of the crisis was that China provided a major catalyst for regional growth. Not only has China become of central importance to the countries of East Asia, but America's position is less vital than it once was. 71 Indeed, the dependence on China and Japan for continuing inflows of capital to fund the US budget and trade deficits, making it possible to maintain its consumption pattern, marks a major shift in the balance of power between East Asia and North America, and a significant erosion of America's material dominance. 72 Even if this latent leverage is too risky for any other state to utilise without triggering a major economic and political crisis, it still marks a potentially major turning point in the relative standing of the US and China in the regional and global economic and financial order. 73 This profound, continuing reconfiguration of the underlying patterns of economic integration in the region is significant enough in itself but, in China's case, it is being reinforced by a surprisingly sophisticated and effective 'charm offensive' that is winning over formerly nervous, if not hostile neighbours. 74 Such realignments are bound to have an impact on the relative standing of the US, especially when its own actions stand in such sharp contrast, most notably in the Iraq and Afghan Wars. Thus, while China has become an enthusiastic participant in a range of multilateral forums including ASEAN +3 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, 75 American foreign policy during the Bush-Cheney years would become increasingly unilateral and confrontational. 76 Throwing off the constraining influence of multilateral obligations has always had its attractions as far as the US is concerned, but during the George W Bush administration in particular, succumbing to the 'hegemonic temptation' and embracing unilateralism became the US's defining characteristic. 77 Given the influence of so-called neoconservative thinking within the Bush administration, 78 and the long-standing desire to exploit the strategic leverage that unipolarity seemed to confer, 79 the outcome was to weaken the US position internationally. What was less obvious was how this possibility would be reinforced by the increasing emphasis on security in the wake of September 11. US foreign policy was significantly reconfigured, undermining the foundations of the most distinctive and enduring aspects of American hegemony and leadership: its legitimacy-conferring, confidence-inducing, multilateral institutionalisation. 80 In this regard, it is striking how rapidly and extensively attitudes toward the US turned negative, and not just in the Middle East where its policies have had the most deleterious impact. 81 While the 'war on terror' may not have been solely responsible for this transformation in attitudes, the relentless American emphasis on security made life awkward for some of the states of Southeast Asia in particular, where governments must walk a fine line between support of US policies and often hostile national sentiment. 82 In this context, the development of a less intrusive, more 'pragmatic' and development-oriented 'Beijing consensus' has begun to assume a greater attraction for those primarily concerned with national rather than international security. 83 The Obama administration, of course, promises significant change from its predecessor, and great hopes are held about what this may mean for inter-regional relations. Certainly, the rhetoric has changed, and much greater importance is attached to multilateralism and cooperation. 84 Cynics might observe, that George W. Bush had come to office promising to make the US a 'humbler' nation, a pledge that would prove to be almost laughably at odds with reality. Whatever the foreign policy style and rhetoric of the Obama presidency, many prominent American observers continue to believe that the US remains an indispensable actor in East Asia and elsewhere, no matter who may be running the country. 85 And yet it is clear the US cannot get its way as easily as it once did, and the rise of new centres of power among the so-called BRICs are creating new challenges for American diplomacy. 86 The limits to US influence and its possible institutional marginalization are becoming clearer in East Asia. One of the most tangible manifestations of this possibility can be seen in the creation of new institutions in East Asia that self-consciously exclude the US. A number of points are worth emphasising about this development. First, for a region that is stereotypically seen as being 'ripe for rivalry', 87 eternally on the point of conflagration, and wracked by barely contained instability and animosity, the fact that any form of indigenous regionalisation is taking place is worthy of note. Not only has there not been a major war in the region since 1975, but China has been an increasingly integrated and important part of the regional economy since the Sino-US rapprochement of the early 1970s., Indeed, intra-regional relations have improved so much that there is possibly an excess of regional initiatives and suggestions for institutional development, which threaten to become too much of a good thing and suggest that a process of institutional shakeout may occur in the future. 88 Second, it is highly significant that the development of ASEAN+3, which seems poised to become the most important regional grouping, is coalescing around China. 89 While it remains to be seen quite how important this grouping will become, it is noteworthy that it has emerged at all, given that a similar Malaysian-sponsored initiative was effectively derailed in the mid 1990s by a combination of American opposition and a concomitant Japanese leadership failure. 90 For some observers, the re-emergence of China at the centre of East Asian affairs is something of a return to 'normal', and not something that American policymakers should necessarily become too exercised about. 91 Predictably, enough, however, it is something that many American observers are concerned about. 92 The fact that 'the United States' finds it so difficult to react to China's rise with any consistency tells us much about the constraints on and counterproductive nature of American leadership in the contemporary era. As Christensen points out, one of the paradoxical consequences of America's East Asia policy has been 'to improve [China's] relations with its neighbors diplomatically and economically at least in part as a hedge against US power and the fear of encirclement by a coalition led by the United States'. 93 Equally importantly, the dynamics embedded within the political economy of the US-China relationship mean that there are limits to what the US can now do: on the one hand, America is highly reliant on continuing inflows of capital, on the other, China's position in the international division of labour makes it a pivotal cog in global production (and consumption) processes, and one that many American business elites have a vested interest in preserving. 94 The Obama administration confronts a very different geopolitical and economic landscape in East Asia than did its predecessor. On the one hand, the legacy of the 'war on terror' may constrain the new administration in surprising ways: terrorism is not considered as pivotal an issue as it once was and while this may allow the US to improve its image in the region, it may also deprive it of some strategic leverage. The victory of the Democratic Party of Japan in the 2009 elections and the pledge by the new prime minister Yukio Hatoyama to make Japan's relationship with the US more independent is highly significant, as is Australia's decision to consider pulling out of Afghanistan. 95 That two such key allies would feel less obligated to the US is a telling indication of the shifting strategic calculus in the region. In Japan's case this rather belated pursuit of policy independence has been driven in part by the realisation that it is simply no longer part of the most important bilateral relationship that the US has in East Asia. 96 China is not only effectively bank rolling the US government and providing an increasingly important market for its neighbours, 97 but it is rapidly assuming a regional and international leadership position to match its economic importance. As a result, the US finds itself excluded from potentially important regional institutions like ASEAN+3 and the East Asian Summit; even familiar institutions are evolving or taking on new forms. The demise of the G7/8 in favour of the G20 is one example of the ways in which new players are being included in multilateral processes, which may undermine the influence and centrality of the US. 98 Even more tellingly, perhaps, the possible development of a so-called 'G2' between the US and China is a striking symbol of the new international order and the relative fortunes of its two key members. 99 In such circumstances, even a relative improvement in the reputational standing of the Obama administration may not be enough to offset the long-term decline in the material basis of the waning US hegemony. Concluding remarks When attempting to gauge the extent of American influence or leadership in East Asia, much depends on the time frame we adopt. When seen in the long sweep of history, the fact that there is no longer an ideological rival in the region, and that China is a capitalist country in all but name, are clearly developments of the utmost significance. The symbiotic economic relationship that has developed between the US and China is even more remarkable. China's successful incorporation into the global capitalist economy is largely a product of America's hegemonic influence and plainly of overall benefit to America's strategic position. Significantly, US policy during the Cold War -- the period in which this transformation was incubating -- was characterised by a high degree of integration in the agential and structural components of American power. Not only was the unambiguous ascendancy of the American economy of crucial importance to the rest of the world, but American policymakers were able to reinforce this material dominance in an institutional order that reflected its norms and furthered its broadly conceived national and strategic interests. The foundations of this earlier order look more fragile than they once did. True, the Bretton Woods institutions are still with us, but their authority is less assured. The recent crisis that had its origins in the US not only raised questions about the durability of Anglo-American capitalism, but also highlighted a more fundamental long-run problem: the material importance of the US economy to East Asia is simply not as great as it once was. On the contrary, of late it is the US that has become increasingly dependent on East Asia generally and China in particular to underwrite its budgetary position. Without the continuing willingness of countries such as China and Japan to continue buying American government debt, the policy options of the US government will be increasingly constrained. True, this is something of a two-way street that poses dangers for lenders as well as the borrowers, 100 but the net effect has surely been to diminish the relative attractiveness of the Anglo-American model. After all, unlike the first 'Asian crisis', this one was unambiguously made in the heartlands of neoliberal capitalism. While the structural dominance of American economic interests may be in decline, it is of course possible that effective policy might limit or even reverse some of the damage inflicted during the Bush years. The great hope for the US is that the Obama administration will prove more effective than its predecessor. At one level, it could hardly be otherwise. At the same time, though, the 'rise of China' places inevitable constraints on what the US can and cannot do, a possibility that is increasingly recognised by the Obama administration itself. 101 As far as East Asia is concerned therefore, not only is the material preponderance of the US being steadily eroded, but its ideational influence is not as great either -- especially as China's diplomacy and continuing economic growth begins to provide an alternative model of development. If China's growth and seemingly inexorable rise can be sustained, it seems inevitable that it will steadily undermine the US ability to provide long distance leadership. Indeed, it is no longer difficult to imagine East Asia generally and China in particular assuming a more independent and influential role on the world stage. 102

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find an error in my paper that has been submitted I find an error in my paper that has been submitted to a journal and is currently under review. The error is more like a "typo". It is a short statement about the motivation of an important definition of the paper (just a two-sentence statement embedded in the text, it's neither a lemma nor a theorem). The statement is true under certain condition. But, in the paper submitted, I forgot to mention the condition. A careful reviewer may figure out that the statement holds only under that condition. However, I doubt that the reviewer is willing to spend some time to figure that out and may simply think the statement is wrong, and this may lead the reviewer to misunderstand the remaining part of the paper (although the remaining part of the paper is all correct and accurate).

Forum

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The Beginning of your VIEW You wake up out of your every day routine life or what some people call society sleep and you pick up a copy of your View. After studying the beautiful cover of this Zine, you begin to read the words that begin on the very next page and by doing so you have now entered a new dimension or a place which can only be pictured inside the minds eye of the reader. The image of a big blue door now stands in front of you, inside a dream state where the only outstanding color to be focused upon is that damn door. Being stuck inside a blank space of time and the fact that this big ol' door smack in front of you has lured your curiosity almost like a magnet, you make your first step forward in your VIEW journey. Stepping towards the door on what you thought would be a solid floor you notice that things in this realm might not always be what they appear to be. Once your body became alive and interested in moving on to the next scene the blank space in which you became accustomed to had now been covered with a gooey substance some what like that of a heated marshmallow. Now it was time for you to show off your strength by fighting off this substance that you were beginning to sink into and make your way towards the door. Being covered with all this Goo you were feeling quite icky and disgusted that you were thrown into such a consequence. You wanted out so you struggled with all your might, ignoring this disgusting feeling you had and made it within reach of the door. You began to stick your hand out and turn the knob of this big blue looking door and all of a sudden that gooey crap you had exhausted yourself fighting with had all disappeared, not a trace was left. You were now confused as all hell but you wasted no time and swung the door open in which you felt a sort of magnetic force bring you forward as you heard a loud crashing sound. From this latest action you have now noticed that your eyes can only see what's in front of you and once you have left a scene their is no turning back. You were now placed inside a bare white room with one small school desk where a little girl was working. You immediately focus your eyes upon this girl who was wearing a fancy red dress and had the appearance of what your mind says to be the look of an elementary level girl. The girl finishes the sentence she was writing dotting her I"s and crossing her T's, shuts her book placing the yellow #2.pencil beside and begins to get up from the desk. Now this girls head is all that is in view and she is wearing a mask which contains a mouth but no eyes or ears. You begin to motion to this girl like your going to ask her something but before you can do so she begins to yell, "attention, attention, in order for you to pick up anything from this VIEW, in order for you to have any understanding, you must listen to what you read". Comments The writing is a litte clumsy in places, ubie, but given a polish you might have something worth pursuing here. Have you ever read anything about supposedly genuine out of the body experiences? This is what this piece reminds me of. sorry about the clumsiness of the writing but it was just an idea I had and went with. There was no editing happening here, I guess that's why I joined this site to find out if any of my ideas were worthy of any serious diving into. I have read parts of books that deal with out of body experience and have taken a few surrealism classes and have been simply inspired by anything that deals with the subconscious. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, it means a lot to get a little feedback.

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Every winemaker, at one time or another, has had to deal with grapes having less than ideal pH and acid balances. Whether the grapes come from California, a warm climate, or Oregon, Washington and the Okanagan, cool climates, the winemaker is faced with the problem: how to adjust the acid and pH. It may be necessary to adjust the grape acid level for different reasons: 1. The pH is too high and the acid too low; 2. The pH is too low and the acid is too high; or 3. Both the pH and the acid are too high, usually the result of excessive amounts of malic acid and potassium. Both 2 and 3 are phenomena common in cool climate grapes; although 3 occurs in warm climate grapes also. Before continuing, it must be pointed out that when Total Acidity (TA) is referred to it will be in grams per litre. Some books refer to acid as a percentage: ie - 0.7 percent. To make the transition to grams per litre, move the decimal one space to the right; thus 0.7 becomes 7 grams per litre. All white and ros musts should be adjusted to a maximum of pH 3.3 and all reds should be adjusted to a maximum of pH 3.4 in order to achieve optimum flavour extraction and to minimize bacterial infection. These adjustments should be made with tartaric acid . Even if this procedure increases the TA above desired levels, the tartrates can be precipitated with cold stabilization. The rule-of-thumb for tartaric acid addition is 1 g/l to reduce the pH by 0.1 . However, there are some cautions: 1. Different grapes have different buffering capacities; 2. High pH drops, say from 3.6 to 3.3 may require about 4 g/l of tartaric acid instead of the rule-of-thumb 3g/l as the ratio is on a curve rather than being linear; 3. Adding acid can result in some precipitation of potassium hydrogen tartrate (KHT) which may affect both pH and TA values. Therefore, lab tests should be performed. The most convenient way of testing for the appropriate amount of tartaric acid to add is to prepare a 10% solution (10 grams in 100 ml of water) of tartaric acid in distilled water. Dissolve the acid in a little water and add water to exactly 100ml. Set up several glasses containing 100ml of juice and, using one as a control, to the other glasses add 1, 2, 3, etc. ml of the 10% solution and measure the pH changes. The volumes of the 10% solution used are equivalent to the grams per litre of acid necessary to make the required adjustment. That is, one ml of the solution equals one gram of acid. The same process can be used if post-fermentation acid adjustments need to be made. By using the 10% solution, results are instantaneous and less bothersome than dissolving the acid volumes one at a time. Be aware that all the acids - tartaric, malic and citric - will affect the TA values differently. While a one-gram addition of tartaric acid will increase the TA by one gram per litre, malic acid will increase the TA by about 1.12 and citric acid by about 1.17. They also affect the flavour differently. So lab tests are essential. Whether the grapes are pressed immediately after crushing or let stand on the skins for flavour extraction before pressing, once the juice sample has settled and cleared, the acid and pH readings should be accurate. The same cannot be said for red grapes, however. Most winemakers take their samples immediately after crushing, but the readings are not accurate. Doing a test twenty-four hours later will see an increase in pH of between 0.1 and 0.2 as the direct result of potassium extraction. The TA change will be minimal. A further increase in pH will be observed after pressing due to maceration during fermentation and greater extraction of skin constituents. Many grapes, particularly in climatically unfavourable years, may require the acid to be reduced prior to fermentation. This can be achieved in several ways. Water Addition: Adding ten to fifteen percent water, particularly with the more floral grape varieties, will achieve the desired TA without making significant changes in the pH; however, sugar will have to be added as the result of dilution. Occasionally grapes from California, even the Okanagan, have high Brix ( or SG), high pH and high TA; and it may be desirable to add some water in order to decrease the potential alcohol of the high sugar. While adding water will also reduce the acid, it will still be necessary to add acid in order to reduce the pH. Cold Stabilization: This procedure is usually performed after fermentation, when the weather is slightly below freezing. Putting the wine into a refrigerator is an alternative. In either case, it also helps to "seed" the wine with cream of tartar crystals in the amount of 2 - 6 g/l. Do bench trials to determine the optimum amount to be used. Cold stabilization will not work if the pH is too low, less than 3.2, because the malic acid content will be higher than the tartaric acid content; and malic acid does not precipitate its salts as does tartaric acid. As well as reducing acidity, cold stabilization reduces the probability of tartrate precipitation when the wine is chilled before serving. Prior to cold stabilization, the pH should be below 3.65, otherwise any precipitation of potassium bitartrate will lead to a decrease in both the pH and the TA, possibly necessitating the addition of acid prior to bottling. Conversely, if the pH is much above 3.65, the pH will increase. ACIDEX : This so-called double salt of calcium carbonate , in theory, reduces both tartaric and malic acids equally. Before fermentation a portion of the juice is treated wherein all the acid is removed and then added back to the rest of the juice. Do not use this procedure on wine, as the portion treated will have a pH close to 8.0 and the wine will oxidize irrespective of its SO 2 content. Do not be alarmed at the dark brown colour of the deacidified juice; fermentation will clear it up. It is advisable not to use any SO 2 in the treated juice, otherwise the colour may become "fixed" or bound. In order to use Acidex O effectively, it is necessary to consult the Desired Acidity table below. Unlike the following carbonates, the juice must be stirred into the Acidex O in order to reduce the malic acid as well as the tartaric acid. In order to reduce the malic acid, the pH must be higher than 4.5 , preferably above 5.0 , during the entire process, so stir the juice in slowly. (See Explanations for Acid Reduction p. 4) Some winemakers have added Acidex O to the juice or the wine and observed an acid reduction, but only the tartaric acid has been reduced. The same result could have been obtained by using one of the carbonates described below at a fraction of the cost. Calcium Carbonate (CaCO 3 ) or Chalk: Use at the rate of between 0.67 and 1.53 g/l to reduce TA by 1.0g/l. Seeding with cream of tartar crystals and chilling hastens the process. If the pH is too low, calcium carbonate will not work for the same reason that cold stabilization will not work. If this procedure is used, do it well before bottling, at least three months, or a chalk haze or crystalline deposit could occur in the bottle. I prefer to use calcium carbonate before filtering. Calcium carbonate is not the preferred method of acid reduction by wineries because of the length of time it takes to complete the process, as well as the possibility of tartrate precipitation in the bottle. They do, however, have metatartaric acid at their disposal. This acid prevents tartrate precipitation for up to a year. Metatartaric acid is temperature sensitive, and wines should be held below 20 C in order to retain the activity of the acid. According to Peynaud ( Knowing and Making Wine), this acid should be used only in wines that are not going to be kept very long. Since I have not used it, I cannot comment on its effectiveness. Potassium Carbonate (KCO 3 ): Use at the rate of about 1.0 g/l to reduce the TA by 1.0 g/l. The wine should be chilled, although it will work at cellar temperature, and unlike calcium carbonate, potassium carbonate reacts immediately and does not leave a deposit. As with tartaric acid, for the purpose of testing for the proper additions of potassium carbonate, make a 5% solution. Put one litre of wine into a refrigerator and chill to about -3 or -4 C. Set up a few glasses with 100 ml of the chilled wine. Using one as a control, add 1, 2, 3, etc, mls. of the solution which will be the equivalent of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, etc, g/l. Refrigerate for two hours or so stirring regularly - 7 or 8 times. Let the samples warm up to cellar temperature and taste to determine the amount to add to the batch. It is necessary to taste the wine after the potassium carbonate has been added to the glasses in order to determine whether there is a resulting flabby taste. I have found that some wines, particularly aromatic wines lose their crispness when potassium carbonate is used even in very small amounts. NOTE: The last two procedures are generally carried out on wine. It is always best (safest) to do lab trials before treating the entire volume of wine. Potassium will increase the pH very quickly compared to calcium, so do not use it if the wine pH is already high, say above 3.5 or for large reductions. Potassium carbonate is best used to "fine tune" the acid balance. When using either of the carbonates, put it into a small quantity of wine, mix well, add back to the larger volume and stir it well. Always leave plenty of space in the larger container, as foaming can be violent unless the wine is very cold. Because both carbonates reduce only the tartrates, it is quite possible to notice that there may be little drop in TA if the malic acid is predominant despite the increase in pH. The rule of thumb is to use 1 g/l to reduce acidity by 1 g; however, this equation is not linear. If it is necessary to reduce acidity by, say, 5g, it will require more than 1g/l. Malolactic Fermentation (MLF): Unlike the four procedures described previously which remove tartrates, malolactic fermentation removes malic acid. It does so by converting malic acid into lactic acid. One gram of malic acid is converted into 0.67 grams of lactic acid and the rest is given off as carbon dioxide . This procedure is often used for two reasons: it is a natural means of reducing acidity; and as a stylistic tool: it changes the character of the wine by making it softer and slightly buttery. It also influences microbial stability: if used in marginal to high pH's - between 3.5 to 4.0 - it can encourage growth of spoilage forms of lactic acid bacteria. Leuconostoc Oenos is normally the only lactic acid bacteria inducing MLF in lower pH wines (<3.5). Higher pH wines support the growth of Lactobacillus and Pediococcus , both spoilage bacteria. One of the most readily available MLF cultures was developed at Oregon State University. It consists of two strains, Erla and Ey2d, now referred to as OSU1 and OSU2 , which were developed to tolerate both low temperature fermentation (about 15C ) and low pH (about 2.9), similar conditions for winemaking in B.C. If you use this culture, make a starter. It is in liquid form and the package states that it is good for 5 gallons, and at about $7.00 per package, that's expensive. Buy some apple juice, which has the desired pH of about 4.0 (it also has lots of malic acid), and start the culture in this medium. Gradually add white grape juice to sensitize the bacteria to the lower pH of the must and add directly to the ferment. This starter can be used for both red and white grapes. Freeze-dried cultures have recently become available. They are very easy to use and very effective - just sprinkle them into the wine after alcoholic fermentation has been completed. The drawback is that they are very expensive. MLF is routinely carried out on red wines and a few white wines (Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc). Some winemakers like the taste; others don't. It also has some important catches to it: l. Sulfite levels must be kept dangerously low - 30 ppm - during malolactic fermentation. Malolactic bacteria are sensitive to sulfite; they may be stunned, but they are not killed. If the MLF is not completed before bottling, when the free sulfite degrades, the bacteria can become active again; and the wine will undergo malolactic fermentation in the bottle. 2. Since home winemakers cannot test for either tartaric or malic acid levels, they don't really know how much TA drop to expect; and the only way to find out if the MLF is completed is to use color chromatography. See Charles Plant's explanation of this procedure. Obviously getting involved with MLF is another dimension of winemaking that many people may not want to step up to, but it bears serious consideration. If MLF is not practiced and the sulfite levels are not high enough to inhibit the ML bacteria, there is the real danger that the wine, once it has been corked, will undergo MLF in the bottle. So it is best to use the process for no other reason than to avoid the potential problem. Blending: Blending high acid wines with low acid wines is a method of balancing acid that many winemakers prefer. It is safe, uses no chemicals and yields immediate results. Many winemakers do an MLF on a portion of the wine and blend it with the non-MLF portion in order to balance the softer lactic characteristics with the more aromatic and fruitier characteristics of the grape resulting in a more complex wine. It can be a lot of fun to experiment in this way, and the rewards can be considerable. All of the above-mentioned procedures are useful and safe; indeed, it is unlikely that many commercial wineries make their wines without using one or another - or a combination - of these methods of dealing with acid imbalances. Explanations for Acid Reduction All acids have an isoelectric point (also isoionic or dissociation point ), the pH at which 50% of the acid is in its free form and 50% is still in its bound form. However, the isoelectric point pH's differ for each acid. The two main acids, tartaric and malic , have isoelectric pH's of 2.96 and 3.41 respectively. It is only after the isoelectric pH's have been attained that optimum acid reduction can occur. Once the isoelectric pH of tartaric acid is reached and continues to increase, the bound tartaric acid becomes free tartaric acid ( H 2 T- ) which changes into potassium bitartrate ( HT- ) which, in turn, changes into dipotassium tartrate ( T 2- ) both of which are salts. While the free tartaric acid can be reduced with carbonates, the potassium bitartrate and the dipotassium tartrate can be reduced with a combination of cold stabilization and carbonates. The most frequently encountered problem, if it is a problem, is low pH and high TA. It is not unusual, however, to encounter both high pH and high TA due to a higher concentration of malic acid and high potassium which results in high pH. Under normal growing conditions, some of the malic acid is metabolized into sugars and some disappears through transpiration. And the decrease in TA is directly parallel with the decrease in malic acid. ( See graph ) Tartaric acid and its salts, on the other hand, remain fairly constant during the ripening process; and ultimately the level of malic acid is metabolized to the point where the dominant acid is tartaric. One method of dealing with the high pH/high acid phenomenon is the following: Since it is unlikely that few, if any, any home winemakers can determine both the tartaric and malic acid levels, it is best to consider the above procedure only in terms of the standard practice of reducing the pH to the desired level prior to fermentation. The problem can be dealt with in the same way with those white grape varieties that can be enhanced by malolactic fermentation. However, white grape varieties that depend upon malic acid for their aromas and flavours do not respond well to malolactic fermentation and require other treatments, including the use of higher levels of SO 2 to prevent spontaneous malolactic fermentation after bottling. On the other hand, grapes from warm climates can also exhibit both high pH and high TA. When this situation occurs, the high pH is due to high potassium, and the high TA is almost entirely tartaric. Tartaric acid must be added to reduce the pH, and the necessary acid reduction must be accomplished by using procedures discussed previously. It is unlikely, however, that malolactic fermentation will result in any significant reduction in TA due to very low levels of malic acid. Index of Acidity (IA) or Acid Taste Index Ultimately, acid balance is a matter of taste and there is no "rule of thumb" that will determine what the correct acid balance is. However, research has been done that provides some general guidelines that can be helpful in determining whether the acid balance is within the "desired" range for the type and style of wine. It is simply a matter of subtracting the pH from the TA. For example: dry red wines should have an IA range of about 2 to 3, dry white wines about 2.7 to 3.7 and off-dry white wines about 3.8 to 4.8. Too far below these levels and the wine will be flabby or soapy; too far above them and the wine will be sharp and acidic. Specialty wines such as dry Sherries, sparkling wines, dessert and after dinner wines are not as easy to assess using this method: Sherries because of their general low pH and low TA; sparkling wines because their low pH and high acid are mitigated somewhat by carbonation; dessert and after dinner wines in particular require a much higher pH-to-TA ratio because they usually have a lower pH with higher acids in order to balance the sweetness. Icewines, for example, may have an IA as high as 12 or more. Of significance in red wines is the level of astringency: high astringency will tend to make wines on the high side of the IA seem more acidic than they really are. While numbers may be useful tools and can be used as aids in striving for good pH/acid balance, the final arbiter of proper balance is the taste buds.

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Hello All, I'm looking for some serious advice and guidance. I have a 4 month old Puppy GSD cross Malamute (three quarters GSD ). I've had her for just under two months. I'm an experienced dog owner having proudly owned a GSD cross called Jed for 10 years and more recently two English Bulldogs. I thought I had witnessed it all with that mixture, however I was wrong !! Lola was a very nervous pup, so much so that I got in a dog trainer for help. He was a great help to me. But now Lola has become quite confident bordering 'arsey' and seems to look on me and my family members as staff ! She prone to tantrums, which sound and look horrendous. She becomes quite aggressive and bounces around the living room barking and snapping (yet her tail is often wagging ?) I know it's a dominance thing, trying to become alpha bitch, but I really don't know how to handle her in these episodes. Her tantrums are very frustrating as I don't know what triggers them often. How should I deal with her ??????? I'd appreciate any help and pearls of wisdom, I'm getting quite desperate. Thank you in anticipation, Tray She prone to tantrums, which sound and look horrendous. She becomes quite aggressive and bounces around the living room barking and snapping (yet her tail is often wagging ?) I know it's a dominance thing, trying to become alpha bitch, but I really don't know how to handle her in these episodes. Her tantrums are very frustrating as I don't know what triggers them often. How should I deal with her ??????? I'd appreciate any help and pearls of wisdom, I'm getting quite desperate. Thank you in anticipation, Tray Hi, welcome to the forum. Firstly forget about her trying to become Alpha bitch - dogs really don't think like that, she is not plotting to take over leadership of the household. Sounds to me like she is trying to get you to play and is getting over excited/frustrated when she is not getting a reaction. When you say she becomes quite aggressive what do you mean? Is she trying to nip you? I would either turn my back on her and totally ignore her, or completely walk out of the room and only return when she has become quiet. The 'game' would end immediately. Pups usually have a 'puppy license' up until the age of around 16 weeks, this is where adult dogs will let them get away with anything. After 16 weeks they start to learn that they have to follow certain 'rules' in life and gradually they are taught to calm down. Some pups have a 'mad' period just before they crash out to sleep - it is what they would do when they are with the rest of the litter (play hard and sleep hard!). I would have to agree, she's not trying to take over your house hold and be top dog, you have to remember she is a baby, like all babies she will experience her world though her mouth, I know those pearly whites are sharp and hurt like hell, but she is simply checking out her new world, I also understand she has to learn. You have been given some great advice so far and really I can add nothing more, walk away from her, stop play until she settles, lots of praise when she is playing nicely, she will learn, if I keep my teeth to myself they will play and I get lots of cuddles. Dont worry, this time passes, looking forward to seeing some pictures. __________________ Sarah "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." Firstly forget about her trying to become Alpha bitch - dogs really don't think like that, she is not plotting to take over leadership of the household. Sounds to me like she is trying to get you to play and is getting over excited/frustrated when she is not getting a reaction. When you say she becomes quite aggressive what do you mean? Is she trying to nip you? I would either turn my back on her and totally ignore her, or completely walk out of the room and only return when she has become quiet. The 'game' would end immediately. Pups usually have a 'puppy license' up until the age of around 16 weeks, this is where adult dogs will let them get away with anything. After 16 weeks they start to learn that they have to follow certain 'rules' in life and gradually they are taught to calm down. Some pups have a 'mad' period just before they crash out to sleep - it is what they would do when they are with the rest of the litter (play hard and sleep hard!). Firstly forget about her trying to become Alpha bitch - dogs really don't think like that, she is not plotting to take over leadership of the household. Sounds to me like she is trying to get you to play and is getting over excited/frustrated when she is not getting a reaction. When you say she becomes quite aggressive what do you mean? Is she trying to nip you? I would either turn my back on her and totally ignore her, or completely walk out of the room and only return when she has become quiet. The 'game' would end immediately. Pups usually have a 'puppy license' up until the age of around 16 weeks, this is where adult dogs will let them get away with anything. After 16 weeks they start to learn that they have to follow certain 'rules' in life and gradually they are taught to calm down. Some pups have a 'mad' period just before they crash out to sleep - it is what they would do when they are with the rest of the litter (play hard and sleep hard!). Thank you all so much for your quite responses and most excellent advice. Lola was a very nervous puppy when we got her home and it took us a month to get her to trust that nothing horrible was going to happen her when strangers etc came into the house. Now she's feeling her feet she has become boisterous and jumps up on friends etc when they come into the house. We're using the ignore the baby technique to overcome anti social behaviour but she is clinging onto the habit. Her play does become very rough and boisterous and does nip. She's started 'chopsing' and nipping at the air if she doesn't get her own way. I'm not sure is this is a baby's tantrum or the first signs of aggression. I know that being a baby she will push all my buttons to see what she can or can't get away with, but the bouncey tantrums are concerning me. They usually occur after she tries to engage me in boisterous play (nibbling involved) I try to tell her sternly no, and walk away and that is when she amps it up. Is this still her playing ?? To counter this I put her lead on her, make her get off the sofa and I make her sit on the floor until she's calmer. Often she lulls me into a false sense of security and kicks back off again. I admit I try to stay calm but I do get frustrated and end up raising my voice. Do you think she is just a gianormous baby that doesn't know her own strength etc. Even though I've always had dogs, she is out on her own !!!! I've never met a baby like her ! Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond, Tray

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Writing for children can be a very enjoyable and rewarding activity, but it is not easy. If you are new to the publishing world and serious about writing, we suggest that you first do the following before submitting your manuscripts to Kube for consideration: Read a few books on the subject of writing for children and how to get published. We recommend ?Writing for Children and Getting Published? or ?Teach Yourself Writing for Children? by Pollinger and Jones, and the most recent ?Children?s Writers? and Artists? Yearbook? to get started. If you are able to do so, take a course on writing for children or join a writer?s group. Read the top five bestselling books for your intended genre and age range in the mainstream as well as Muslim markets. A children?s writer should generally be familiar with what children are reading at school and the popular literature available in bookshops and libraries, as well as British and American children?s classics and folktales. If you are writing non-fiction, research your subject well and make yourself familiar with what children of your intended age group are learning at school on the subject ? in particular, the English National Curriculum. Once you have written your first draft, ask several children who are not related to you to read it and give it their honest feedback before finalising your second draft. Now you are ready to send your work in to us! J How to submit a proposal to the Children?s Editor Please pay careful attention to these guidelines because the Editor will not read your unsolicited manuscript unless you first send in a complete submission. Send in your proposal in a Word document. It should include the following: (Page 1) A cover letter with your full name and contact details. (Page 2) A brief CV/resume. (Page 3) A one-page description of the proposal, including: A synopsis of the plot and description of the main characters; The intended age group and audience; A paragraph explaining what is unique or necessary about this book in comparison to similar titles that are currently available on the market or our publishing backlist (Islamic Foundation and Kube). What is distinctive or different about this book? Word length (actual or proposed) (Pages 4+/Attachment) If your manuscript is short, you may submit the entire manuscript; otherwise, in the case of chapter books, submit one or two sample chapters. Please make sure that your spelling and grammar are correct! British English is preferred, although North American English is acceptable. All manuscripts should be submitted as MS Word documents (.doc or .docx) by email attachment, as follows: The whole manuscript must be in a single document (not separate documents for different chapters); Set your manuscript in plain text, Calibri or Times New Roman font, 11 point, 1.5 spacing, left-margin justified with document margins of 2.5 cm on all sides. Do not send manuscripts in fancy or coloured fonts. Do not send in handwritten manuscripts by post. Do not send in artwork for your manuscript. If you have ideas for artwork or layout, you may submit these along with your text. If you are a professional artist and are writing and illustrating a picture book or comic book, please request our style sheet for artists before submitting your manuscript. Manuscripts longer than 25 A4 pages should also be sent in hard copy, to the address below. After considering a submission, the Editor will contact you to say if the Editorial team wish to see a complete manuscript for further consideration or not. This may take up to three months if we send your manuscript to be reviewed by external readers; otherwise we aim to give a response within six weeks.

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you did such a great job with the boiler last time please can you mend my baby he hasn't moved for three weeks don't they use coffins when they are that small I don't want this poor thing in my house sir my chin has been getting rather hot lately so lick your chin stand on a tall building in the stiff breeze don't know what to do it's saturday night I seek good advice from who knows what's right why don't you ring friends and go for a few drinks and then go see a movie did you prescribe my daughter a pound of heroine I'm sorry, I can't see, I think I've blinded myself did you prescribe my daughter pound of heroine I'm sorry, I can't see, I think I've blinded myself it isn't a spot, it is a baby you're not a doctor, you're a wanker

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I think this really needs to be said. I've seen this everywhere, including on a lot of fat/body positive blogs. This, in my opinion, is more rampant than the shaming of skinny women and might even equal the shaming of fat women. It's a bit tied in with skinny shaming though: THE SHAMING OF ANOREXIC WOMEN. Can we please stop? Don't call yourself body positive and then snark and about how ugly skin and bones are. It's all very well if you include a disclaimer that you don't mean naturally skinny women... So then who do you mean? Women with a legitimate mental disorder who desperately need help and acceptance rather than shaming? Seriously, it's very hypocritical. Let's all stop making disparaging comments about anorexic women. I never really understood what reviling the bodies of anorexic women was supposed to accomplish anyway. Body shaming is not the way to reach out to people with this illness. What's more is that once one starts talking about how revolting 'skin and bones' are, he or she starts down a slippery slope that can end in language that denigrates all thin women, equating all of them with those with eating disorders. I had a friend who struggled with an eating disorder, and when she overcame it, she was still a petite but much healthier-looking girl. However, it continues to be a struggle for her to accept her body, because of this kind of body shaming that continues in even some well-intentioned resources for body acceptance. You are pretty brave to bring up this issue on your blog. Keep up the good work. I totally agree! It's isn't fair and it's just as cruel. No one is better than anyone else because of how they look, the kind of body they have or don't have. I too am sick of it. "Real women have curves." is not only not (necessarily) true but degrading, just as degrading as some larger (any larger) is less of a person or less of a woman or not as worthy. I've noticed this a lot too with larger women trying to reclaim their confidence and thats ok what's not ok is treating someone or saying mean things and trying to lessen someone's worth because they aren't like you. A size 0 is just as ok as a 24 or a 4 or a 12 or a 16 or a 6. All women are beautiful. All shades all sizes. Absolutely. I, and the fat acceptance activists I surround myself with, certainly call people out when we see this. Body shaming in all its forms is terrible, but it's body shaming someone with an illness like anorexia is on a whole other level of bullshit.

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Such is life Meaning An acceptance of the unpredictable fortunes of existence, often spoken with an air of weary resignation. Origin The early uses of this phrase date from the mid 18th century; for example, Joseph Baretti's A Grammar of the Italian Language , 1762, translates "Cosi va'l mondo!" as "Such is life" and continues: "Such is life, that whatever is proposed, it is much easier to find reasons for rejecting than embracing." 'Such is life', of course, mirrors the French 'C'est la vie', which equates to the English 'that's life', or 'life's like that'. Modern variants are 'that's the way it goes', 'that's the way the ball bounces', 'that's the way the cookie crumbles' etc.

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A lot of "I thought Romney was going to win" was media hype to keep the game alive (it like Thunderdome). There's no way to dissect reality from fiction with all of the information channels combined with extreme polarization, but its certain that media gets the most out of a close race. And just for fun, here are white people mourning Romney's defeat: http://whitepeoplemourni... ----------------------------------------\\... I feel a little bad about this, really I do. And I realize there is something slightly wrong with me, but that page made me smile a little. Maybe there is some good that will come from all this suffering. For tomorrow, is, anoth er, day... I think Romney thought he was going to win because he deserved it. He's always been given everything to him in life and he thought that he'd have the presidency. That's how rich entitled people think: they should have everything because they deserve everything I have about as much sympathy for Romney's crying supporters as I'd have for Hitler's supporters when they learned of his death. When you party's core values include taking away people's rights and profiting from fear, you deserve to lose, and I sincerely hope it hurts like hell. No, Romney does not equal Hitler, but when your campaign platform is all about making sure gays are less equal and rape victims have to give birth to their rapist's babies, you have no right to complain when i make that obvious comparison. So those of you who supported Obama don't think he spent millions on his re-election? Who is naive Kay? Romney never had a chance. Blue states were gonna stay blue this cycle. I'm just glad I finally got rid of a 40 year in office democrat from my congressional district. Sure, it was with another democrat. But at least he seems a little more moderate... "when your campaign platform is all about making sure gays are less equal and rape victims have to give birth to their rapist's babies, you have no right to complain when i make that obvious comparison." I'm sure Romney had some good if not great economical policies/reform for our country but the media always focuses on the negative/controversial issues which is (in this case) abortion and homosexual marriage. This is all that we see and base our votes on. Republicans could have had a great shot if they had found someone better to represent them...someone who is more in tune with today's world, youth, and generation instead of conservative Christian (Mormon) policies that openly discriminate against others. This is why he really lost IMHO. BTW Kudos to all my yelp veterans! I'm a veteran myself and I hope you celebrate your Veterans Day with pride! I heard we get a free meal at applebees! https://www.facebook.com... I have nothing against Obama in fact I voted for him! I want him to have another 4 more years to see what he can do. I want our country to move forward instead of backwards and yeah sure I'm going to get hate from all the Romney supporters but if you really want the GOP to get into office try updating your policies and campaign toward EVERYONE in this country instead of just the conservative rich. Just my 2 cents. All the states that were expected to go Obama did. That's not a landslide. It's not a mandate. It is what was expected. The Incumbent party not losing a Senate seat is also not a surprise. The House gaining Republican seats however is. i think its all b/s anyway!... our votes don't mean anything.. if your vote won its only because that guy was already set up to win!!.. On another note i myself do not believe in homosexual marriage if your a homosexual you should not get married you take away from what marriage means it is only between a man and a women only a man and a woman can make babies read your bible it tells you ... I'm sure this is going to upset a few of you but oh well I'm not saying you cant do what you want but remember you are going to answer to GOD someday you don't have to answer to me or anyone Else! don't hate me for what i feel because I'm sure you feel your way and i feel mine!... troy s. says: ^^^ Thats sad. As outspoken of a support of Obama that I am on YT, I don't take joy in watching these people have their man get defeated. Election is over, lets all focus on working together to fix some of our problems. ==============================-=========\\... I can only feel bad for these people up to a point. Yes, those specific people feel a genuine chance to change the country was snatched away from them and it was caught on film. But to feel bad for a party that is basically saying they will tank the economy if they don't get to keep their tax cuts for the rich? A wise man once said "fuck that noise". I love how my conservative idiot friends on the Facebook first alleged fraud, then once they saw the numbers, had to blame it on the ignorant masses going for Obama. As if the Red States are loaded with intellectuals. Hi friends, I'm sorry I have not chimed in on this until just now, but to be completely honest with you, I have been drinking heavily since November 6th. In fact, I have been drinking all day and I can not be responsible for anything I say so I apologize in advance if I should happen to offend any of you STUPID IDIOTIC MUSH-BRAINED SHORT-SIGHTED BIRTH CONTROL PILL POPPING LIE-BERAL SCUMBAGS. Why did Ayatollah Obama get re-elected? Well friends, it's pretty obvious: The Republican party made the mistake of running a ticket that contained one Catholic, one Mormon, and ZERO Christians. Had the ticked featured one Mormon and one Christian or one Catholic and one Christian, I do not believe the Lord would have removed His hand of protection from the GOP. A presidential candidate and a vice presidential candidate who were both non-Christians, though? It is obvious that this enraged the Lord and He chose not to stay all of your filthy hands has you cast your ballots for Barack Hussein. This does not in any way, however, absolve each and every one of you of your guilt and complicity in this matter. Don't worry, though, as I am praying night and day that all of your worthless souls will be spared the righteous judgment which you so richly deserve. I pray for you treasonous Democraps not because I want to, but because the Bible says I should: Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ----------------------------------------\\... I agree with Saint Vincent that Mormonism is not mainstream Christianity. I'm also glad to see he's been tossing a few back. It's about time Saint Vincent loosened up a bit. Hopefully, he'll get laid too! Hello everybody, I would like to take this moment to apologize for my outburst a few days ago. Everything I said was true, but I should have found a more constructive way of expressing those truths. Please forgive me. You did an excellent job of skewering Mormonism and several other groups. Besides, what's the big deal? You're not the ambassadorial type anyway Saint Vinny. More like a raving cousin who passes through town once in a while. Brandon "Support Your Local Businesses" M.-Uh are you aware that the area that was hit is full of Liberals? Don't forget the head Liberal is Mayor DOOMBERG. If any one deserves God's Wrath it's that Communist piece of garbage (no large sodas my ass). He DiD almost win. Did You happen to look at he popular vote? (Wish people would actually READ, rather than watch Honey Booboo!! @Maureen: a couple weeks back a study was published about the levels of bias at Foxnews and mSNBC. They found that about 60% of foxnews coverage of BO was negative. Meanwhile at MSNBC, they could find NO, none, nada, favorable coverage of Romney. Almost funny how vociferous the complaints are at the left against foxnews, but SILENCE if its a "news" organization you agree with. But....living in the Bay Area, I'm used to the "freedom of speech as long as I agree with it" hypocrisy. Sad and almost funny!

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Walter Day : I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted the glory, I wanted the fame. I wanted the pretty girls to come up and say, "Hi, I see that you're good at Centipede." Share this quote Brian Kuh : You know, he's gonna have to play it perfectly, he's at the hardest part of Donkey Kong, and it's not gonna get any easier. So we may have an exciting moment here, or you know, the pressure may get to him, one of those random elements might happen. Sounds like he just cleared another board, but we could have a wild barrel, or some aggressive fireballs. I thought I was gonna be the first FunSpot kill screen, and then I had three fireballs trap me, I had the hammer in my hand, they still got me. So anything can happen in Donkey Kong. So for someone else to beat me to the kill screen would be a letdown, but lets see what happens, maybe he'll crack under the pressure and maybe I'll get my chance to do it first. Share this quote Mr. Awesome : Everything would've fell right into place, but he forgot about one thing: About me convincing Steve Wiebe not to be a chump, talking him out of chumpatizing himself. Share this quote Robert Mruczek : When I have to watch that pile of eight tapes over there for Dwayne Richards' two-day Nibbler performance, that's 48 straight hours of paying attention and making sure he's doing everything correctly. Share this quote Adam Wood : I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs. I play video games, which I think is a far superior addiction to any of those other ones. Share this quote Mike Thompson : I've heard a lot of talk of Billy Mitchell, and I've heard a lot of talk of strange videos and things. But I haven't heard much in the way of him getting in front of a camera crew with people and getting a record in front of people. I haven't heard about that yet. Maybe he did that 25 years ago. But I haven't heard of him doing it lately, and it makes you wonder why not. Share this quote Jillian Wiebe : I never knew that the Guinness World Record Book was so... I never knew it was so important. Steve Wiebe : I guess a lot of people are... yeah, a lot of people read that book. Jillian Wiebe : [ while directly looking at Steve, her father ] Some people sort of ruin their lives to be in there. Share this quote Billy Mitchell : ...but competetive gaming, when you wanna attach your name to a world-record, when you want your name written into history, you have to pay the price! Share this quote Related Links You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Edit page' button will take you through a step-by-step process. To share this quote, copy and paste the following link into an email, instant message or webpage. Hide link

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The first Europeans who explored the region were the Spaniards. They gave it the name of Nevada (snowy) due to the snow which covered the mountains at winter. The land comprising the modern state was inhabited by Native Americans of the Paiute , Shoshone , and Washoe tribes prior to European contact. It was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, turning into Mexico at 1821 (Mexican independence day). The United States gained the territory in 1848 following its victory in the Mexican-American War , and the area was eventually incorporated as part of Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a population boom that was an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864, as the second of two states added to the Union during the Civil War (the first being West Virginia ). [ 9 ] Nevada is known for its libertarian laws. [ citation needed ] The establishment of legalized gambling and lenient marriage and divorce proceedings in the 20th century transformed Nevada into a major tourist destination. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Nevada is the only state where prostitution is legal, though it is illegal in Clark County and Washoe County which contain Las Vegas and Reno, respectively. The tourism industry remains Nevada's largest employer, [ 12 ] with mining continuing to be a substantial sector of the economy as Nevada is the fourth largest producer of gold in the world. [ 13 ] Nevadans usually pronounce the second syllable of their state name using the /æ/ vowel of "b a d". Many from outside the Western United States pronounce it with the /ɑː/ vowel of "f a ther" / n ə ˈ v ɑː d ə / . Although the latter pronunciation is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, it is not the pronunciation preferred by locals. Notably, George W. Bush made this faux pas during his campaign for the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election . Vindication later came when President Bush campaigned at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on June 18, 2004. The president opened his talk by proclaiming that "It's great to be here in Nevada / n ə ˈ v æ d ə / ," emphasizing the correct "A" – the crowd roared its approval when he light-heartedly noted, "You didn't think I'd get it right, did ya?" [ 15 ] Bush subsequently carried the state in the election. Assemblyman Harry Mortenson has proposed a bill to recognize the alternate (quasi-Spanish) pronunciation of Nevada, [ 16 ] though the bill was not supported by most legislators and never received a vote. The native pronunciation is the de facto official one, since it is the one used by the state legislature. Nevada is almost entirely within the Basin and Range Province , and is broken up by many north-south mountain ranges. Most of these ranges have endorheic valleys between them, which belies the image portrayed by the term Great Basin . Much of the northern part of the state is within the Great Basin, a mild desert that experiences hot temperatures in the summer and cold temperatures in the winter. Occasionally, moisture from the Arizona Monsoon will cause summer thunderstorms; Pacific storms may blanket the area with snow. The state's highest recorded temperature was 125 °F (52 °C) in Laughlin (elevation of 605 feet or 184 metres) on June 29, 1994. [ 17 ] The coldest recorded temperature was −52 °F (−47 °C ) set in San Jacinto in 1972, in the northeastern portion of the state. [ 17 ] The mountain ranges, some of which have peaks above 13,000 feet (4,000 m), harbor lush forests high above desert plains, creating sky islands for endemic species. The valleys are often no lower in elevation than 3,000 feet (910 m). The southern third of the state, where the Las Vegas area is situated, is within the Mojave Desert . The area receives less rain in the winter but is closer to the Arizona Monsoon in the summer. The terrain is also lower, mostly below 4,000 feet (1,200 m), creating conditions for hot summer days and cool to chilly winter nights (due to temperature inversion ). Nevada and California have by far the longest diagonal line (in respect to the cardinal directions) as a state boundary at just over 400 miles (640 km). This line begins in Lake Tahoe nearly 4 miles (6.4 km) offshore (in the direction of the boundary), and continues to the Colorado River where the Nevada, California, and Arizona boundaries merge 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the Laughlin Bridge. The largest mountain range in the southern portion of the state is the Spring Mountain Range , just west of Las Vegas. The state's lowest point is along the Colorado River, south of Laughlin. Nevada has 172 mountain summits with 2,000 feet (610 m) of prominence. Nevada ranks second in the US, behind Alaska, and ahead of California, Montana, and Washington. This makes Nevada the "Most Mountainous" state in the country, at least by this measure. Nevada is the driest state in the United States. [ 18 ] It is made up of mostly desert and semiarid climate regions, daytime summer temperatures sometimes may rise as high as 125 °F (52 °C) and nighttime winter temperatures may reach as low as −50 °F (−46 °C). While winters in northern Nevada are long and fairly cold, the winter season in the southern part of the state tends to be of short duration and mild. Most parts of Nevada receive scarce precipitation during the year. Most rain that falls in the state falls on the lee side (east and northeast slopes) of the Sierra Nevada. The average annual rainfall per year is about 7 inches (18 cm); the wettest parts get around 40 inches (100 cm). Nevada's highest recorded temperature is 125 °F (52 °C) at Laughlin on June 29, 1994 and the lowest recorded temperature is −50 °F (−46 °C) at San Jacinto on January 8, 1937. Nevada's 125 °F (52 °C) reading is the third highest temperature recorded in the U.S. just behind Arizona's 128 °F (53 °C) reading and California's 134 °F (57 °C) reading. Las Vegas strip . The majority of Nevada's population lives in Clark county. Nevada is divided into political jurisdictions designated as counties . Carson City is officially a consolidated municipality; however, for many purposes under state law it is considered to be a county. As of 1919 there were 17 counties in the state, ranging from 146 to 18,159 square miles (380 to 47,030 km 2 ). Clark County is the most populous county in Nevada, accounting for nearly three-quarters of its residents. Las Vegas, Nevada's most populous city, has been the county seat since the county was created. Clark County attracts numerous tourists. An estimated 40 million people have visited Clark County in 2009. [ 21 ] Eight days prior to the presidential election of 1864 , Nevada became the 36th state in the union. Statehood was rushed to the date of October 31 to help ensure Abraham Lincoln 's reelection on November 8 and post-Civil War Republican dominance in Congress, [ 25 ] as Nevada's mining-based economy tied it to the more industrialized Union . As it turned out, however, Lincoln and the Republicans won the election handily, and did not need Nevada's help. Nevada is one of only two states to significantly expand its borders after admission to the Union. (The other is Missouri, which acquired additional territory in 1837 due to the Platte Purchase .) In 1866 another part of the western Utah Territory, whose population was seeking to avoid Mormon dominance, [ citation needed ] was added to Nevada in the eastern part of the state, setting the current eastern boundary. Nevada achieved its current southern boundaries on January 18, 1867, when it absorbed the portion of Pah-Ute County in the Arizona Territory west of the Colorado River, essentially all of present day Nevada south of the 37th parallel . The transfer was prompted by the discovery of gold in the area, and it was thought by officials that Nevada would be better able to oversee the expected population boom. This area includes most of what is now Clark County . Mining shaped Nevada's economy for many years (see Silver mining in Nevada ). When Mark Twain lived in Nevada during the period described in Roughing It , mining had led to an industry of speculation and immense wealth. However, both mining and population declined in the late 19th century. However, the rich silver strike at Tonopah in 1900, followed by strikes in Goldfield and Rhyolite , again put Nevada's population on an upward trend. Gambling erupted once more following a recession in the early 20th century, helping to build the city of Las Vegas Unregulated gambling was commonplace in the early Nevada mining towns but was outlawed in 1909 as part of a nation-wide anti-gambling crusade. Because of subsequent declines in mining output and the decline of the agricultural sector during the Great Depression , Nevada again legalized gambling on March 19, 1931, with approval from the legislature. Governor Fred B. Balzar 's signature enacted the most liberal divorce laws in the country and open gambling. The reforms came just eight days after the federal government presented the $49 million construction contract for Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam ). [ 26 ] The Nevada Test Site , 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the city of Las Vegas, was founded on January 11, 1951, for the testing of nuclear weapons . The site is composed of approximately 1,350 square miles (3,500 km 2 ) of desert and mountainous terrain. Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a 1 kiloton of TNT (4.2 TJ) bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on January 27, 1951. The last atmospheric test was conducted on July 17, 1962, and the underground testing of weapons continued until September 23, 1992. The location is known for having the highest concentration of nuclear-detonated weapons in the U.S. Over 80% of the state's area is owned by the federal government. The primary reason for this is that homesteads were not permitted in large enough sizes to be viable in the arid conditions that prevail throughout desert Nevada. Instead, early settlers would homestead land surrounding a water source, and then graze livestock on the adjacent public land, which is useless for agriculture without access to water (this pattern of ranching still prevails). According to the Census Bureau's 2012 estimate, Nevada has an estimated population of 2,758,931 which is an increase of 38,903, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 58,379, or 2.2%, since the year 2010. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 81,661 people (that is 170,451 births minus 88,790 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 337,043 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 66,098 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 270,945 people. According to the 2006 census estimate, Nevada is the eighth fastest growing state in the nation. [ 27 ] The center of population of Nevada is located in southern Nye County . [ 28 ] In this county, the unincorporated town of Pahrump , located 60 miles (97 km) west of Las Vegas on the California state line, has grown very rapidly from 1980 to 2010. At the 2010 census, the town had 36,441 residents. [ 29 ] Las Vegas was America's fastest-growing city and metropolitan area from 1960 to 2000, but has grown from a gulch of 100 people in 1900 to 10,000 by 1950 to 100,000 by 1970. [ citation needed ] From about the 1940s until 2003, Nevada was the fastest-growing state in the US percentage-wise. Between 1990 and 2000, Nevada's population increased 66.3%, while the USA's population increased 13.1%. Over two thirds of the population of the state lives in the Clark County Las Vegas metropolitan area . The rural community of Mesquite located 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Las Vegas was an example of micropolitan growth in the 1990s and 2000s. Other desert towns like Indian Springs and Searchlight on the outskirts of Las Vegas have seen some growth as well. Large numbers of new residents in the state originate from California, which led some locals to feel that their state is being " Californicated ". [ 30 ] A small percentage of Nevada's population lives in rural areas. The culture of these places differs significantly from that of the major metropolitan areas. People in these rural counties tend to be native Nevada residents, unlike in the Las Vegas and Reno areas, where the vast majority of the population was born in another state. The rural population is also less diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. Mining plays an important role in the economies of the rural counties, with tourism being less prominent. [ 31 ] Largely African American sections of Las Vegas ("the Meadows") and Reno can be found. Many current African-American Nevadans are newly transplanted residents from California. Asian Americans lived in the state since the California Gold Rush of the 1850s brought thousands of Chinese miners to Washoe county. They were followed by a few hundred Japanese farm workers in the late 19th century. By the late 20th century, many immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and recently from India and Vietnam came to the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The city now has one of America's most prolific Asian American communities, with a mostly Chinese and Taiwanese area known as "Chinatown" west of I-15 on Spring Mountain Boulevard, and an "Asiatown" shopping mall for Asian customers located at Charleston Avenue and Paradise Boulevard. Filipino Americans form the largest Asian American group in the state, with a population of more than 113,000. They comprise 56.5% of the Asian American population in Nevada and constitute about 4.3% of the entire state's population. [ 39 ] At the 2010 census, 6.9% of the state's population were reported as under 5, 24.6% were under 18, and 12.0% were 65 or older. [ 32 ] Females made up approximately 49.5% of the population. [ 32 ] Las Vegas was a major destination for immigrants from South Asia and Latin America seeking employment in the gaming and hospitality industries during the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, but farming and construction are the biggest employers of immigrant labor. Senior citizens (over age 65) and young children or teenagers (under age 18) form large sections of the Nevada population. The religious makeup of Nevadans includes large communities of Mormons , Roman Catholics and Evangelicals ; each is known for higher birth rates and a younger than national average age. American Jews represent a large proportion of the active adult retirement community. Church attendance in Nevada is among the lowest of all US states. In a 2009 Gallup poll only 30% of Nevadans said they attended church weekly or almost weekly, compared to 42% of all Americans (only four states were found to have a lower attendance rate than Nevada). [ 43 ] The economy of Nevada has long been tied to vice industries. "[Nevada was] founded on mining and refounded on sin—-beginning with prizefighting and easy divorce a century ago and later extending to gaming and prostitution", said the August 21, 2010 issue of The Economist . [ 47 ] The Bureau of Economic Analysis [ 48 ] [ 49 ] estimates that Nevada's total state product in 2010 was $126 billion. Resort areas like Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe , and Laughlin attract visitors from around the nation and world. In FY08 the total of 266 casinos with gaming revenue over $1m for the year, brought in revenue of $12 billion in gaming revenue, and $13 billion in non-gaming revenue. A review of gaming statistics can be found at Nevada gaming area . The state's Per capita personal income in 2009 was $38,578, ranking nineteenth in the nation. [ 50 ] Nevada's state debt in 2012 was calculated to be $7.5 billion, or $3,100 per taxpayer. [ 51 ] As of August 2011, the state's unemployment rate was the worst in the nation at 13.4%. [ 52 ] In portions of the state outside of the Las Vegas and Reno metropolitan areas, mining and cattle ranching are the major economic activities. By value, gold is by far the most important mineral mined. In 2004, 6,800,000 ounces (190,000,000 g) of gold worth $2.84 billion were mined in Nevada, and the state accounted for 8.7% of world gold production (see Gold mining in Nevada ). Silver is a distant second, with 10,300,000 ounces (290,000,000 g) worth $69 million mined in 2004 (see Silver mining in Nevada ). [ 53 ] Other minerals mined in Nevada include construction aggregates, copper, gypsum, diatomite and lithium. Despite its rich deposits, the cost of mining in Nevada is generally high, and output is very sensitive to world commodity prices. As of January 1, 2006, there were an estimated 500,000 head of cattle and 70,000 head of sheep in Nevada. [ 54 ] Most of these animals forage on rangeland in the summer, with supplemental feed in the winter. Calves are generally shipped to out-of-state feedlots in the fall to be fattened for market. Over 90% of Nevada's 484,000 acres (196,000 ha) of cropland is used to grow hay , mostly alfalfa, for livestock feed. Nevada has by far the most hotel rooms per capita in the United States. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, there were 187,301 rooms in 584 hotels (of 15 or more rooms). The state is ranked just below California, Texas, Florida, and New York in total number of rooms, but those states have much larger populations. Nevada has one hotel room for every 14 residents, far above the national average of one hotel room per 67 residents. [ 55 ] Prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada in licensed brothels, but only counties with populations under 400,000 residents have the option to legalize it. Although prostitution employs roughly 300 women as independent contractors, and not a major part of the Nevada economy, it is a very visible endeavor. Of the 14 counties that are permitted to legalize prostitution under state law, 8 have chosen to legalize brothels. State law prohibits prostitution in Clark County (which contains Las Vegas), and Washoe County (which contains Reno). However, prostitution is legal in Storey County, which is part of the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area . The state sales tax in Nevada is variable depending upon the county. The minimum statewide tax rate is 6.85%, with five counties (Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, and Mineral) charging this minimum amount. All other counties assess various option taxes , making the combined state/county sales taxes rate in one county as high as 8.1%, which is the amount charged in Clark County. Sales tax in the other major counties: Carson at 7.745%, Washoe at 7.725%. The minimum Nevada sales tax rate changed on July 1, 2009. [ 56 ] Road from Carrara, Nevada towards the marble quarry in the background. Interstate 15 passes through the southern tip of the state, serving Las Vegas and other communities. I-215 and spur route I-515 also serve the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Interstate 80 crosses through the northern part of Nevada, roughly following the path of the Humboldt River from Utah in the east and passing westward through Reno and into California. It has a spur route, I-580 . Nevada also is served by several federal highways: US 6 , US 50 , US 93 , US 95 and US 395 . There are also 189 Nevada state highways . Nevada is one of a few states in the U.S. that does not have a continuous interstate highway linking its two major population centers. Even the non-interstate federal highways aren't contiguous between the Las Vegas and Reno areas. The state is one of just a few in the country to allow semi-trailer trucks with three trailers—what might be called a " road train " in Australia. But American versions are usually smaller, in part because they must ascend and descend some fairly steep mountain passes. RTC Transit is the public transit system in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The agency is the largest transit agency in the state and operates a network of bus service across the Las Vegas Valley , including the use of The Deuce , double-decker buses , on the Las Vegas Strip and several outlying routes. RTC RIDE operates a system of local transit bus service throughout the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area. Other transit systems in the state include Carson City's JAC. Most other counties in the state do not have public transportation at all. Additionally, a 4-mile (6.4 km) monorail system provides public transportation in the Las Vegas area. The Las Vegas Monorail line services several casino properties and the Las Vegas Convention Center on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip, running near Paradise Road, with a possible future extension to McCarran International Airport . Several hotels also run their own monorail lines between each other, which are typically several blocks in length. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is the busiest airport serving Nevada. The Reno-Tahoe International Airport (formerly known as the Reno Cannon International Airport) is the other major airport in the state. The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body divided into an Assembly and Senate. Members of the Assembly serve for 2 years, and members of the Senate serve for 4 years. Both houses of the Nevada Legislature will be impacted by term limits starting in 2010, as Senators and Assemblymen/women will be limited to a maximum of 12 years service in each house (by appointment or election which is a lifetime limit)—a provision of the constitution which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court of Nevada in a unanimous decision. Each session of the Legislature meets for a constitutionally mandated 120 days in every odd-numbered year, or longer if the Governor calls a special session. The Supreme Court of Nevada is the state supreme court . Original jurisdiction is divided between the District Courts (with general jurisdiction), and Justice Courts and Municipal Courts (both of limited jurisdiction). Incorporated towns in Nevada, known as cities, are given the authority to legislate anything not prohibited by law. A recent movement has begun to permit home rule in incorporated Nevada cities to give them more flexibility and fewer restrictions from the Legislature. Town Boards for unincorporated towns are limited local governments created by either the local county commission, or by referendum, and form a purely advisory role and in no way diminish the responsibilities of the county commission that creates them. In 1900, Nevada's population was the smallest of all states and was shrinking, as the difficulties of living in a "barren desert" began to outweigh the lure of silver for many early settlers. Historian Lawrence Friedman has explained what happened next: "Nevada, in a burst of ingenuity, built an economy by exploiting its sovereignty. Its strategy was to legalize all sorts of things that were illegal in California ... after easy divorce came easy marriage and casino gaming. Even prostitution is legal in Nevada, in any county that decides to allow it. Quite a few of them do." [ 61 ] With the advent of air conditioning for summertime use and Southern Nevada's mild winters, the fortunes of the state began to turn around, as it did for Arizona , making these two states the fastest growing in the Union. Prostitution is specifically illegal by state law in the state's larger jurisdictions, which include Clark County (which contains Las Vegas), Washoe County (which contains Reno), and the independent city of Carson City . Otherwise, it is legal in those counties which specifically vote to permit it. Nevada's early reputation as a "divorce haven" arose from the fact that, prior to the no-fault divorce revolution in the 1970s, divorces were quite difficult to obtain in the United States. Already having legalized gaming and prostitution, Nevada continued the trend of boosting its profile by adopting one of the most liberal divorce statutes in the nation. This resulted in Williams v. North Carolina , 317 U.S. 287 (1942), in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina had to give " full faith and credit " to a Nevada divorce. Nevada's tax laws are intended to draw new residents and businesses to the state. Nevada has no personal income tax or corporate income tax . [ 63 ] Since Nevada does not collect income data it cannot share such information with the federal government, the IRS . [ 64 ] Nevada's state sales tax rate is 6.85 percent. Counties may impose additional rates via voter approval or through approval of the Legislature; therefore, the applicable sales tax will vary by county from 6.85 percent to 8.1 percent in Clark County. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, imposes four separate county option taxes in addition to the statewide rate – 0.25 percent for flood control, 0.50 percent for mass transit, 0.25 percent for infrastructure, and 0.25 percent for more cops. In Washoe County, which includes Reno, the sales tax rate is 7.725 percent, due to county option rates for flood control, the ReTRAC train trench project, mass transit, and an additional county rate approved under the Local Government Tax Act of 1991. [ 65 ] The lodging tax rate in unincorporated Clark County, which includes the Las Vegas Strip, is 12%. Within the boundaries of the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson, the lodging tax rate is 13%. Corporations such as Apple Inc. allegedly have set up investment companies and funds in Nevada to avoid paying taxes. [ 66 ] Nevada provides friendly environment for the formation of corporations, and many (especially California) businesses have incorporated in Nevada to take advantage of the benefits of the Nevada statute. Nevada corporations offer great flexibility to the Board of Directors and simplify or avoid many of the rules that are cumbersome to business managers in some other states. In addition, Nevada has no franchise tax . Non-alcohol drug laws are a notable exception to Nevada's otherwise libertarian principles. It is notable for having the harshest penalties for drug offenders in the country. Nevada remains the only state to still use mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for marijuana possession. However, it is now a misdemeanor for possession of less than one ounce but only for persons age 21 and older. In 2006, voters in Nevada defeated attempts to allow possession of 1 ounce of marijuana (for personal use) without being criminally prosecuted, (55% against legalization, 45% in favor of legalization). However, Nevada is one of the states that allows for use of marijuana for medical reasons (though this remains illegal under federal law). Nevada voters enacted a smoking ban ("the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act") in November 2006 that became effective on December 8, 2006. It outlaws smoking in most workplaces and public places. Smoking is permitted in bars, but only if the bar serves no food, or the bar is inside a larger casino. Smoking is also permitted in casinos, hotel rooms, tobacco shops, and brothels. [ 67 ] However, some businesses do not obey this law and the government tends not to enforce it. [ 68 ] In 2011, smoking restrictions in Nevada were loosened for certain places which allow only people age 21 or older inside. [ 69 ] Nevada has been ranked as the most dangerous state in the U.S. for five years in a row, just ahead of Louisiana [ 70 ] [ 71 ] In 2006, the crime rate in Nevada was approximately 24% higher than the national average rate. Property crimes accounted for approximately 84.6% of the crime rate in Nevada which was 21% higher than the national rate. The remaining 20.3% were violent crimes and were approximately 45% higher than other states. [ 72 ] In 2008, Nevada had the third highest murder rate , and the highest rate of robbery and motor vehicle theft . [ 70 ] Latest data also ranks Nevada as having the highest rate of women killed by men, for the third year in row, and Nevada has topped the list five out of the last six years. [ 73 ] [ 74 ] Due to heavy growth in the southern portion of the state, there is a noticeable divide between politics of northern and southern Nevada. The north has long maintained control of key positions in state government, even while the population of southern Nevada is larger than the rest of the state combined. The north sees the high population south becoming more influential and perhaps commanding majority rule. The south sees the north as the "old guard" trying to rule as an oligarchy . This has fostered some resentment, however, due to a term limit amendment passed by Nevada voters in 1994, and again in 1996, some of the north's hold over key positions will soon be forfeited to the south, leaving Northern Nevada with less power. Historically, northern Nevada has been very Republican . The more rural counties of the north are among the most conservative regions of the country. Washoe County, home to Reno, has historically been strongly Republican, but has become more of a swing county at least at the federal level. Clark County, home to Las Vegas, has become increasingly Democratic . Clark and Washoe counties have long dominated the state's politics. Between them, they cast 87 percent of Nevada's vote, and elect a substantial majority of the state legislature. The great majority of the state's elected officials are either from Las Vegas or Reno. An August 2012 Public Policy Polling survey found that 47% of Nevada voters supported legalizing same-sex marriage, with 42% thinking it should be illegal, and 11% were not sure. In a separate question, 80% of Nevada voters supported legal recognition of same-sex couples, while 17% opposed all legal recognition and 3% were not sure. [ 80 ] UNLV is most remembered for its men's basketball program , which experienced its height of supremacy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Coached by Jerry Tarkanian , the Runnin' Rebels became one of the most elite programs in the country. In 1990, UNLV won the Men's Division I Championship by defeating Duke 103–73, which set tournament records for most points scored by a team and largest margin of victory in the national title game. In 1991 , UNLV finished the regular season undefeated. Forward Larry Johnson won several awards, including the Naismith Award . UNLV reached the Final Four yet again, but lost their national semifinal against Duke 79–77, and is referred to as one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA Tournament. The Runnin' Rebels were the Associated Press pre-season No. 1 back to back (1989–90, 1990–91). North Carolina is the only other team to accomplish that (2007–08, 2008–09). The state is also home to one of the most famous tennis players of all time, Andre Agassi . Along with significant rises in popularity in mixed martial arts (MMA), a number of fight leagues such as the UFC have taken interest in Las Vegas as a primary event location due to the number of suitable host venues. The Mandalay Bay Events Center and MGM Grand Garden Arena are among some of the more popular venues for fighting events such as MMA and have hosted several UFC and other MMA title fights. It has currently held the most UFC events with 74 events held in total. Area 51 is located near Groom Lake , a dry salt lake bed. The much smaller Creech Air Force Base is located in Indian Springs, Nevada ; Hawthorne Army Depot in Hawthorne ; the Tonopah Test Range near Tonopah ; and Nellis AFB in the northeast part of the Las Vegas Valley . Naval Air Station Fallon in Fallon ; NSAWC, (pronounced "EN-SOCK") in western Nevada. NSAWC consolidated three Command Centers into a single Command Structure under a flag officer on July 11, 1996. The Naval Strike Warfare Center (STRIKE "U") based at NAS Fallon since 1984, was joined with the Navy Fighter Weapons School ( TOPGUN ) and the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School (TOPDOME) which both moved from NAS Miramar as a result of a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decision in 1993 which transferred that installation back to the Marine Corps as MCAS Miramar. The Seahawk Weapon School was added in 1998 to provide tactical training for Navy helicopters. Nevada enjoys many economic advantages, and the southern portion of the state enjoys mild winter weather, but rapid growth has led to some overcrowded roads and schools. Nevada has the nation's 5th largest school district in the Clark County School District (projected fall 2007 enrollment is 314,000 students grades K-12). [ 85 ] While the state was recently one of the fastest growing in the country , population growth slowed down to a halt in 2008. [ 86 ] In August 2008, it was announced that Boyd Gaming would halt construction on a 4.2 billion dollar project called Echelon , which was to replace the old Stardust Resort & Casino . The reason cited for this is lack of funding/credit from banks. Coyote Springs is a proposed community for 240,000 inhabitants in Clark and Lincoln counties. It would be Nevada's largest planned city . The town is being developed by Harvey Whittemore and has generated some controversy because of environmental concerns and allegations of political favoritism. [ 87 ] ^ The distinction of highest point in Nevada goes to the summit of Boundary Peak, so named because it is very near the Nevada-California border, at the northern terminus of the White Mountains. However, Boundary Peak can be considered a subsidiary summit of Montgomery Peak, whose summit is in California, since the topographic prominence of Boundary Peak is only 253 feet (77 m), which falls under the often used 300-foot (91 m) cutoff for an independent peak. Also, Boundary Peak is less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away from its higher neighbor. Hence Boundary Peak can be described as not being wholly within Nevada. By contrast, the prominence of Wheeler Peak, 13,063 feet (3,982 m), is quite large and in fact it is the twelfth largest in the contiguous United States. Wheeler Peak is the highest point in a radius of more than 200 square miles (520 km 2 ) and is entirely within the state of Nevada.

Information/Explanation

CORE

English

Time For A Change When I was little and I'd done something wrong -- which seemed to happen a lot -- my mother would set the oven-timer and wait for me to confess. If I confessed of my own accord, her forgiveness came more easily. If the oven-timer went off before my guilt got the better of me, the punishment would often be disproportionate to the crime. Halfway through our fish suppers the timer goes off and I jump in my chair, trying to work out what I've been caught out doing. It's a Pavlovian response which spans the twenty-five years since I moved to London as if I'd never left. 'Is there something you wanted to discuss?' I um and ah and shift in my seat. 'Do you need money?' 'I told you I'm fine at the moment.' 'You're just here for a holiday then?' 'I wanted to see how you were doing.' My mother comes back through, wiping her hands on her skirt. She sits down and sips her water. 'It's been a while. Did you move my bags somewhere?' 'I've put you in your old room,' says my mother. 'I wasn't sure if you'd be bringing a friend, so the double in the spare room is made up too. Just in case.' I chase the last curl of batter around the plate with my fork. Then I tell them I'm tired from the journey and I'm getting an early night. Upstairs I stretch out on the single bed, under a curly-edged poster of David Bowie, and listen to my parents watching television in the room below. Eventually they switch it off and I quickly turn out the bedside lamp so that when they pass my bedroom door they won't see a light and come knocking and bothering me. Their footsteps creak along the landing, pause and then continue. I can hear them brushing their teeth. They talk in voices too low to pick out individual words. I wait for what feels like an hour then I slip off the bed and pad downstairs in my socks. I shut the kitchen door carefully before switching on the lamp on the dresser. I sit down at the head of the table in my dad's seat, and practice. Come on boy, out with it. You're a real disappointment. When are you going to move back and take over the family business. We all know how badly you're doing down in England. Nobody respects you. What kind of man do you think you are. You can barely support yourself, what are you going to do when you have a family to support. When I was your age I owned my own business. I speak in a hard whisper, hands on my knees bunched into fists, eyebrows pinching together across my forehead. I freeze, thinking I can hear a creaking from upstairs but it's just the boiler in the utility room; the central heating must be on a timer. I move along into my mother's seat and put my hands palm upwards on the table, leaning forward on my elbows. Am I going to live to see my grandchildren. Do you know how much your father worries about you. Why don't you visit more often. Are you happy, are you really happy. I don't think they treat you right at work, what happened to that promotion you were expecting. When we talk on the phone you sound so distant. Are you seeing anyone. You can bring her home, next time. We're always interested to meet new people. I don't care where she's from. The chair scrapes on the floor tiles as I move across to my chair. I leave damp handprints on the varnished surface of the table. In my chair, I struggle to find the right words. I sit with my mouth partly open, running my tongue over my teeth. 'Can't you sleep?' It's my dad in the doorway. 'Something on your mind?' 'Just getting a glass of water.' I follow him up the stairs. He waits outside my room as if expecting me to invite him in. 'Sleep well.' They sit there the next morning -- after I tell them -- letting spoonfuls of muesli drop back into their bowls. I hold on to my wrist and massage it with my thumb, waiting for someone to say something in response. Eventually, my dad breaks the silence. 'You're not moving back then.' 'No, I'm staying in London.' 'There are plenty of gay bars through in Edinburgh. We read about them in the newspaper.' I assure him it's not because of a lack of scene. I cite my friends, my job. 'Is this why you didn't get the promotion?' 'It took a lot of effort for you to say that, didn't it.' She's smiling, but the hand holding the spoon is trembling. 'Thank you for being honest with us.' She turns to my dad. 'Christopher, can you pass the milk please.' I tell them I'm going to wash my face. I pause outside the kitchen door, but they're discussing when the spring bulbs are likely to start, given the frosts. In the bathroom I lock the door and turn the bath taps on, then I call Benedict on my mobile. 'I just told them. It went okay.' 'I'm so proud of you.' The line is crackly. 'I'm so glad we can move forward.' 'Will you look at the list of rentals I left out? We could go to the open viewings next week.' 'Tell them I'm really looking forward to meeting them. Tell them to come visit us in our new place. We'll have to find somewhere with a spare bedroom.' I say I have to go. 'I'm sorry I didn't think you'd go through with it.' I tell him it's okay. Down in the hallway I stand with my mother and look at the line of family portraits on the wall. There are no photographs of her, my father or me. Out back by the fertiliser shed I help my dad heave sacks through the ankle-deep snow and onto the mini-trailer for the pick-up on Monday. Good, manly activity to assert our common ground. Pity I've always hated gardening. 'Your mother has pies for lunch,' he says. 'From the bakery.' 'Is that a new roof on the shed?' 'I painted the door in the autumn. There were problems with rats.' It's a relief to be back to normal. There's a satisfying rhythm to the work and I find it easier than I remembered. He puts the radio on and we work side by side to The Week in Westminster and From Our Own Correspondent until my mother calls us in to wash up before lunch. The kitchen is warm from the cooking. In my reflection in the window I can see that my cheeks are chapped red like my dad's. I use the small pink, plastic nailbrush in the utility room to get the last of the dirt out. There's geranium-scented gardener's hand cream from Crabtree and Evelyn next to the sink and it leaves my hands so greasy I find it hard to turn the round door handle to get back out. When I do I notice that the oven-timer is on but all I think is that it must be for the pies, although I can see them right there in front of me on the table. My plan was to ease them into it. For their own sake. When your son announces he's gay in his mid-forties, I thought maybe it'd be easier if they were told it was a recent development. Give them time to get their heads round the idea before being confronted with proof positive. Like a live-in boyfriend. Like a live-in boyfriend less than half my age. My mother cut Benedict off mid-sentence -- hanging the phone up -- and set the oven timer for an hour. I'll give her that, she believed in me enough to give me the chance to own up. After it went off that second time, I can see that it's just the timer that has been set: the oven itself isn't switched on. I wonder why my mother has so many sheets to soak. She gets up, taking her half finished plate over to the sink and tipping the leftover pie into the bin before switching the beeper off. She scrapes the plate loudly, then throws the cutlery into the washing-up bowl and bursts into tears. 'When did you start lying to me?' My mother waits by the sink for an answer, then sits down and asks me again. I push a crust to the side of my plate and try to smile. 'I know this is difficult for you to take in.' 'My son tells me he's gay. Fine, I'm happy if you're happy.' 'I've wanted to tell you for so long.' 'How long?' She waves her hand in my father's direction. 'He says he didn't know. I didn't know. How long have you known for?' Even if I wasn't tipped off by the set expression on her face, the atmosphere screams out that this is a trick question. Turns out the real question is, why give your boyfriend your parent's home phone number if you don't want him to call it. Don't ask your boyfriend to go house hunting so the pair of you can move in together unless you expect him to get over-excited and call your mobile phone ten times but you can't hear it because it's up in your old room and you're outside. But it's so important that he thinks, well, I know this was just in case of emergencies but this is an emergency because he needs to know if you can take the Wednesday morning off work because that's when the estate agent has some openings. And, after all, your parents know everything now. Because that was the only condition he gave you about moving in together, that you were honest with them about everything. 'You weren't supposed to find out like this.' 'How were we supposed to find out? When did this really happen?' I shrug in what I hope is a placatory fashion. 'He said you're moving in together. He invited me to come stay for the house-warming. Who is he?' 'You'd really like him.' Even to my ears, it sounds lame. 'I've always known I'm gay, but I've only been out since I moved to London.' She freezes. My father is the first to work out the maths. 'Twenty-five years?' I nod. He nods back and that's that, he and I are back to normal. It's a liberation and for a moment I can overlook the fact that my mother still hasn't moved. My chair squeaks against the floor tiles when I stand up to give Dad a hug. I turn and open my arms to her too but she's gone. * In my room at The Glendower, the socks over the radiator are more or less dried so I move them to the back of the chair, stretching out the soap-washed stiffness of the material at the same time, and put my underwear on to cook instead. The mobile reception in this room is awful. I blame the oak panelling. Finally I find a patch near the window and send Benedict another apology text. I am not expecting a reply. I pad through to the en-suite and brush my teeth, trying to find reasonable answers to the questions I imagine he would be asking, if he were talking to me. Why are you still there. Don't you know how important this week was to me. I really needed you there at the gallery opening with me. Have you told your mother she can't talk to me like that. Why did she say she had no idea who I was. Have you really told them. What's going on up there. Why haven't you come back. If you lose your job because of this, who is going to pay the rent on our new place. Have you asked your dad for the deposit money yet. There are answers, but no opportunity to explain them. * Dad is waiting in the doorway. He still has his slippers on. He tells me she's in the sitting room but that I shouldn't expect too much. He tries to take my case in for me but I tell him I can manage just fine. The pull-out handle comes off as I bump it over the doorstep and one of the wheels comes off too. Then we're laughing, both of us, although it was a bloody expensive piece of luggage and I hope I still have the receipt. He makes tea and says we can have a look in a minute, he's sure there's something I can use instead. We sit at the table and I ask if my mother has said anything more about the situation and he says no, not really. 'Twenty-five years of silence, that's what she said on Saturday. Tit for tat.' Then he reaches out and pats my hand. 'I'm sure she'll reduce the sentence eventually.' It's hard to stop laughing. After a moment dad joins in. 'What time's your train? I can give you a lift to the station.' I tell him the taxi's booked. On our way upstairs, I poke my head round the sitting room doorway. My mother turns her head away to stare at the fireplace. Neither of us say anything. Dad pulls my arm. 'There's probably something in the spare room cupboard. Come along.' I let him herd me away from her. From the back of the top shelf my dad pulls down a small, red leather case. 'Nobody will miss this,' he says. 'I don't remember us ever using it. Must have been there for years. Look at this dust.' 'Should we check?' 'Better not to bother her.' He takes out a handkerchief and polishes up the brass fittings with a bit of spit. 'It never hurts to get rid of old baggage.' We're off again laughing away, bordering on hysteria. Everything fits in except my laptop bag. 'Better to carry it separately anyway,' dad says. 'It'll be lighter for you. Saves your back.' I put the laptop to one side and take out my cosmetic bag, trying to stop my spare shirt from creasing too badly. Dad advises I roll it rather than fold it and goes to check on my mother. Smoothing the shirt into the corner, my fingers brush against a small, zipped inside pocket and I both feel and hear the crispness of paper. It's an envelope. Two envelopes. And a wad of cash. There must be at least a grand. One envelope is handwritten, no address, just two names. Christopher & Jacob . My mother's handwriting. Unopened. The second letter is typed, sealed, stamped and addressed: never sent. The name on the front is Kitty Patterson. I can't tell how recent it is; my mother's typewriter broke about five years ago but worked perfectly up until the end. There are low murmurs from the sitting room. I stuff the cash and the letters back in the suitcase. Then I take out the letter marked Christopher & Jacob , zip the pocket up, buckle the case up and put it next to the front door. I walk back into the kitchen and wait for my dad to join me. 'Is there anything you want to tell me?' Dad looks puzzled at my question. 'Anything at all. Clear the decks. Tit for tat.' 'Just that I love you, son.' I keep looking at him. 'And I'm sure your mother loves you too.' I think about the unopened note and I think well then . Dad goes into the hallway to call the taxi and I set the oven-timer and go to see my mother.

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The Depressing Lot of the Conflicted American Mother Motherlode Book Club Motherlode has asked women at different stages of their family and career lives to respond to Elisabeth Badinter's "The Conflict" by describing how reading it has affected their views or plans for work and motherhood. The following is a continuation of an ongoing conversation. KJ , you asked if reading Elisabeth Badinter's provocative screed, "The Conflict," influenced the way I think about how to manage work and motherhood. It did -- but not in the way Ms. Badinter intended. Let me explain. My husband and I are in the pre-child stage, so I often turn over in my mind how I will handle a career that's been at the center of my life for eight years with the demands of motherhood. In the freshest, most intriguing section of Ms. Badinter's book, she argues that embrace of "the natural" -- breast-feeding, avoidance of all chemicals and vices while pregnant, eschewing the epidural during birth -- has subjugated women. I can see where women who buy fully into natural motherhood are cutting off other possibilities. When you're still breast-feeding your 3-year-old, it might be difficult to devote yourself to work in quite the same way. But Ms. Badinter seems to completely exaggerate the pressures of this natural lifestyle. She makes the La Leche League sound like a milk-obsessed militia, forcing women to breast-feed against their will. It might be because none of my friends have children, or because I worked in women's media for so long, but I don't feel much pressure at all to breast-feed my future kinder for a set period of time, or to eat my placenta . I read my colleague and friend Hanna Rosin's marvelous " The Case Against Breastfeeding " in The Atlantic three years ago and was thoroughly convinced that if I couldn't or didn't want to breast-feed, my offspring wouldn't be pallid and dull-witted. So Ms. Badinter didn't move me much on the natural front, but the way that her book did shift my take on work and motherhood is that she made me even more depressed about the pitiful support that American women have for any choice we might make about either one. Since the book is not geared toward an American audience, I doubt this is the takeaway Ms. Badinter intended. But we're one of the few countries that doesn't have paid maternity leave ; child care is more expensive than the median monthly rent in every state; and you can forget about paternity leave in most scenarios. I knew things were better for many European mothers, but it wasn't until I read the statistics in Ms. Badinter's book that I saw how pathetic the comparison really was. Because she is French, Ms. Badinter focuses most on the benefits for French mothers: six months' maternity leave, access to child care, free nursery school. We keep hearing about how French parents are superior -- the stereotype is at least that they're less neurotic -- but it would be easier to be less anxious if there were more structural support for parents in the first place. If anything, this book made me feel as though when it comes down to deciding what to do about balancing work and motherhood, the decision will be an economic one, not one mandated by the iron fist of the La Leche League. I suppose my parting thought about this would be that for most women who don't have incredibly high paying jobs or wealthy spouses, these "choices," about work and family aren't actually choices. We weigh our particular circumstances and attempt to figure out the best course of action. The notion that scads of women are chucking fulfilling jobs to be handmaidens to idealized, natural motherhood just doesn't ring true to me. But I'm curious to hear what the other book clubbers think about Ms. Badinter's lively work, and whether, as an envoy from pre-child-land, I don't understand the kind of judgments that other mothers, and society, are truly making about your individual parenting decisions. Jessica Grose is the deputy editor of Vulture.com , New York Magazine's culture site. Her debut novel, Sad Desk Salad, is out in October from William Morrow. About Motherlode Raising healthy, happy, well-adjusted kids isn't easy. At Motherlode, we cover it all -- homework, sex, child care, eating habits, sports, technology, the work-family balance and much more. KJ Dell'Antonia , the lead blogger for Motherlode, has been writing about the personal, cultural and political aspects of family life for a decade now. She is also a former corporate lawyer and prosecutor and a New York City exile, who is now raising four kids, two dogs and a cat in rural New Hampshire. Come join her in a conversation about the parents we are and the parents we want to be. Among other things, "Far from the Tree" is a tribute to parents who live the daily grind, who celebrate incremental victories, and who avoid reading books about their child's diagnosis until they're ready.

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I will sing sing a new song A 7 I will sing sing a new song Em 7 D I will sing sing a new song C 2 To the Lord Chorus 1 G Let Your Kingdom come D Let Your will be done Em 7 C 2 On earth as it is in Heaven G Ev'ry heart proclaim D The mercy of Your name Em 7 C 2 On earth as it is in Heaven G D C 2 Verse 2 G Dsus God give us new ev'ry morning C 2 Mercy as daily bread Em In the name of Jesus D C 2 In the name of Jesus we pray G Dsus And lead us not to temptation C 2 But deliver us with Your hand Em In the name of Jesus D C 2 In the name of Jesus we pray (REPEAT CHANNEL and CHORUS) Bridge G For the Kingdom is Yours D And the power is Yours Em 7 C 2 And the glory forever amen

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It's been a brutal election season. It seems that our nation is irreparably divided, but we are still good people. Sometimes you have to look for it and sometimes you accidentally find it. With security cameras everywhere, they are bound to find people at their best as well as at their worst. Watch this video and enjoy. And next time you see a security camera, let them catch you doing something really awesome. Here's the video:

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Interview: Hello Games on Joe Danger 2: The Movie and PSN Delays Joe Danger took a detour during his journey back to PSN -- but he's finally arrived For many, the Joe Danger franchise will forever be associated with PlayStation. After struggling to find a publisher, Guildford-based indie developer Hello Games signed up to Sony's widely-publicised 'Pub Fund' scheme -- a move which provided the studio with financial support in return for exclusivity. The game proved to be one of the PlayStation Network's biggest hits of 2010, prompting positive word-of-mouth from multiple corners of the PlayStation community. In order to celebrate the game's overdue arrival, we sat down with Hello Games' technical director Ryan Doyle to discuss delays, inspirations, and the future of the Joe Danger franchise. Push Square: You know where we're going to start. The PlayStation 3 version of Joe Danger 2: The Movie is out today in Europe, but what took so long? Ryan Doyle: [Laughs]. To be honest, it's all very long and complicated and, honestly, boring. Ultimately, we hadn't been able to say anything about the PS3 version at all. We wanted to, obviously -- we really, really wanted to tell people it was coming, but we couldn't. It's been really hard, but now we've finally announced it's coming out, hopefully it's pleased everyone. PS: Are you happy with the reaction so far? RD: Yeah, it's been really nice. I've been busy, so I haven't had a chance to see much of it on the internet, but what I have seen has been really good. I'm glad people appreciate that we've explained what happened. PS: So, as PlayStation 3 owners, what can we expect as compensation for the slight delay? RD: [Laughs]. Well, there's another ten hours or so of content, and that's based on the pure experience of the original game. There are more of the old-school Joe Danger motorbike levels, because a lot of people seemed to miss that a little bit. Hopefully, that'll satisfy everyone. Pursuit force PS: Can you talk a little bit about the game's movie aspect? What sort of themes does the game go through during the campaign? RD: It's all sorts really. The game is the result of us watching loads of old films. PS: It shines through! RD: [Laughs] Yeah, if you look at the level names they're all puns. In fact, you probably saw that on Twitter -- loads of fans were giving us really cool puns. In terms of the inspirations, though, there's Indiana Jones , and then there's lots of James Bond and 60's spy and sci-fi stuff too. We also incorporated some really crazy stuff in the "Deleted Scenes" section of the campaign. One example is where you play as a bear on a unicycle. There's some time-travel stuff as well, where, for example, you race through a jungle inhabited by dinosaurs. So, there's plenty of variety compared to the first game. PS: Cool. Talking about the original game, why did you decide to go absolutely mad with the sequel? RD: Well, to be honest, we wanted to do more with the original game anyway, but we couldn't. It was just four of us at the time, and we were fairly limited in what we could do. In the jungle PS: Have you grown, then? RD: Yeah, there are a few more of us now, and it's given the opportunity to do this. We've got a lot more resources to put a ton more variety into the game. But, as I was saying, the first game came about by playing with lots of toys and stuff, whereas the sequel emerged as a result of watching loads of old classic movies. It's perfect for where Joe Danger's going, and it gave us the excuse to do pretty much anything. PS: You're probably not talking about it just yet, but is this the last we're going to see of Joe Danger? Are you thinking about trying something different now, or are you keeping that quiet? RD: Well, we've got the iOS version still to come, but at the moment we're not planning Joe Danger 3 or anything like that. We want to move on a bit and work on some new IP. Being independent has given us the freedom to do that, so we don't want to get stuck doing the same thing. Being independent has given us the freedom to try new ideas, so we don't want to get stuck doing the same thing PS: Whatever you decide to do, make sure you release it on PSN at the same time as everywhere else, yeah? RD: [Laughs]. Yeah. PS: Do you have any final words you'd like to share with the rest of the PlayStation community? RD: I just hope that they understand where we're coming from with the delay, and I really hope they enjoy the extra content. PS: Alright, thank you so much for your time, and the very best of luck with the game -- we can't wait to play it. RD: Cheers. Are you eager to play Joe Danger 2: The Movie? Did you enjoy the original game? Let us know in the comments section below.

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I have to think about my companions, I can't be selfish and I have to think of what's best for Spanish sport, especially tennis and Spanish players and give fellow sportsmen with better preparation the chance to compete. I've waited until the final moment of my preparation and my training, but I cannot do it." Nadal did not mention any specific injury, but he cancelled a charity match in Madrid on July 4 because of tendon problems in his left knee. Speaking after his elimination from WImbledon but prior to his withdrawal from the London Games, Nadal had said: "I am doing everything possible to recover. After Roland Garros I had a difficult time, but the excitement is at its maximum, I am working as hard as I can and hopefully I will be at 100 per cent. "I am the one who is most worried. I hope that things improve and my intention is to arrive in London well prepared and recuperated. It is for this that I work every day. "Carrying the flag will the something unforgettable and I hope that Spain continue on the path of success it has been on for the past few years." The tennis competition, which will be held at the All England Club, begins on July 28 with Serbia's Novak Djokovic the top seed.

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All car seats have an expiration date . Generally, it's 6 years, but contact the manufacturer of the seat to find out what the expiration date is. Never buy a used car seat if you don't know its full history and never use a car seat that has been in a crash . Don't use any products in the car seat that didn't come from the manufacturer . Car seat fabrics meet strict fire safety codes. Add-on toys can injure your child in a crash. Remember Car seats are made for travel . Don't leave your baby for hours on end in the car seat outside of the car. Did You Know? Securing babies in rear-facing seats has proven to be the safest option to support their head, neck and spinal cord to prevent injuries. Toddlers under age 2 are safer riding rear-facing, if the seat allows it.

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Sub menu The impact of student and migrant employment on opportunities for low skilled people This study looks at the impact of student and migrant employment on opportunities for low skilled people. It improves our understanding of the changing nature of low skilled work, and the attitudes and motivations of low skilled people and employers in one local economic area. The study presents little evidence to support anecdotal suggestions of students and migrants displacing low skilled people from opportunities in the local labour market. Instead it highlights the varying job search priorities and techniques employed by different groups of individuals when seeking low skilled work; and explores how far they match those of employers. This study looks at the impact of student and migrant employment on opportunities for low skilled people. It improves our understanding of the changing nature of low skilled work, and accounts for the attitudes and motivations of low skilled people and employers in one local economic area: the city of Coventry and the wider Coventry and Warwickshire sub-region. Following a mixed method approach of interviews, focus groups, secondary data analysis and a UK wide literature review, the study presents little evidence to support anecdotal suggestions of students and migrants displacing low skilled people from opportunities in the local labour market. Instead the study highlights the varying job search priorities and techniques employed by different groups of individuals when seeking low skilled work; and explores how far they match those of employers. The research considers the impact of student and migrant employment on three aspects of employability: the ability of lower skilled workers to find employment; to remain in employment, rather than cycling between paid work and unemployment; and to progress within work, for example through engaging in training. It also illustrates the importance of the local economic and demographic context when seeking to promote employment and progression in work amongst low skilled people. In essence, this study represents a valuable contribution to the policy debate around creating a sustainable market for skills that can support economic growth and individual progression for all.

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The two men weren't exactly the best of friends during the bitter 2008 Democrat primary between Obama and Bill Clinton's wife Hillary Clinton, the former senator and now US Secretary of State. Apparently the two men are putting their disagreements aside for the sake of party unity and other reasons and now enjoy a "quasi friendship." Most television viewers will be watching the Cowboys-Giants NFL opening-night game instead of the political convention, but in case you're interested, AP indicates that "Bill Clinton's convention speech is expected to be an enthusiastic plug for Obama and the economic policies he has pursued as president -- and stir nostalgia for the former president and first lady." According to a piece by Ryan Lizza in The New Yorker , however, Clinton allegedly made a blunt assessment of Obama in 2008 while trying unsuccessfully to get the late Sen. Ted Kennedy to endorse his wife's presidential candidacy over Obama: Tim Russert told me that, according to his sources, Bill Clinton, in an effort to secure an endorsement for Hillary from Ted Kennedy, said to Kennedy, "A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags." The late Tim Russert was the long-time moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. Clinton was quoted in the book Game Change as saying roughly the same thing, but the reference was instead to "getting us coffee." Bill Clinton apparently didn't want his wife to wait until 2016 to make a presidential run either. Before Obama locked up the nomination, the New York Post reports that "Klein said Clinton had convened a meeting at his Chappaqua, Westchester, home to urge his wife to challenge Obama for the 2012 nomination." In June, Clinton has also got in trouble with his own party for remarking that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney had a " sterling business career " and possessed the necessary threshold qualifications to serve as commander in chief. Secretary Clinton, by the way, is nowhere near the Charlotte convention site. She is on a diplomatic mission to Asia.

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' I wouldn't have been able to do it...' Nigel Lewis, whose 21-year-old son is severely disabled, has every sympathy with the parents of Ashley X She is known as the Pillow Angel and her story is one of the most moving and morally perplexing most of us will ever come across: Ashley X, the severely disabled little girl from Seattle who, thanks to modern science, will remain a child for ever. Their decision to ask doctors to administer hormones to their nine-year-old daughter -- who is in a vegetative state because of a rare brain condition and cannot walk, talk, hold her head up or swallow food -- to stop her growing, has sparked an intense ethical debate. One can only imagine what a harrowing week it has been for them since they tried to explain the treatment and their reasons for pursuing it via the internet. This followed the furore caused by the publication of a paper in a medical journal written by the doctors who treated Ashley X, describing the case (although the family were not named). Ashley's parents feared that if their daughter matured naturally, she would become too big and too heavy for them to lift or move easily. High doses of oestrogen, which cause bones to fuse, will restrict Ashley's height to 4ft 5in, while her breast buds and womb have been removed surgically. Her parents are adamant they have done the right thing. While they have had many messages of support, they have also been harshly criticised. I neither support nor condone the specifics of their decision, but I do feel deeply for them. My wife and I know all too well the anxieties they face in trying to do the best for their child. Our son Andrew was born with severe disabilities. The official term used to describe his condition is spastic quadriplegia with multiple learning difficulties. In Andrew's case, this means he has no voluntary movement. Initially, my wife and I looked after Andrew at home with the support of carers, visits to a respite centre and a local nursery school for disabled children. Even when he was a tiny it was incredibly hard work, especially when our second son Matthew, who was perfectly healthy, was born when Andrew was three and a half. Caring for Andrew, was a 24-hour job that was both emotionally and physically draining. By the time he was five we'd come to the painful realisation that we couldn't cope with him at home. We found a good residential school where he stayed until he was 19, coming home every holiday. Two years ago, he moved to a full-time residential care home near us. He is now 21 and his life expectancy is no more than 30. Making him as comfortable as possible is all that matters. As a natural consequence of Andrew's disabilities, he weighs only 33kg and is the size of a 10- or 11-year-old. The desire of Ashley's parents to keep her small struck a chord with me because there is no doubt in my mind that Andrew's small size makes caring for him easier. Nevertheless, it's still very tricky to lift him; his body is rigid and he can't help you by clinging on, so he's a dead weight. An adult weighing 12 or 13 stone would present a far greater problem. However, I don't think I would have been able to do what Ashley's parents have done. Surgery and hormone treatment are significant interventions and I would not have wanted to take such drastic action. But if Andrew's doctors had told us when he was five or six that they could arrest his growth then, we would at least have thought it through. You naturally want to know about anything that might help your child. What it is harder to judge though, is whether it would be worse for Andrew himself if he was bigger. Modern lifting equipment enables adults with severe disabilities to be taken out and about and parents and carers do everything necessary to give them all the experiences they can, even if it is more physically demanding. The physical impact of keeping severely disabled children small is only one aspect of this debate. There is another factor. In their blog, Ashley's parents say that they feel it is more dignified for their daughter to have a body that is better suited to her cognitive state, and our own experiences suggest that many people, perhaps subconsciously, share this view. We make regular trips to the hospital with Andrew where lots of people say things like, "poor little chap". It somehow seems more acceptable to others that Andrew looks like a child. But whatever the driving factors behind Ashley's parents' choice, it is something only they have the right to decide. Making the right decisions for a child is the most important thing for any parent, but when that child will always depend upon you for everything, it becomes even more significant. In my view, unless you have had a severely disabled child, you cannot possibly begin to imagine the choices you might find yourself making. I wish Ashley X and her family well.  For information about support for disabled children and their families www.nch.org.uk

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Initial Surface Impressions I posted this on the Blitz Forums, but I know some folks aren't registered there. I am definitely looking forward to a Metro target(or Modern UI now.) A Surface was sitting on my desk when I arrived this morning. Fedex must have been out and about early. Some very quick impressions after getting it up and running. Packaging: The box and design were nice and felt high quality. It was easy to unbox and the presentation was nice. Fit and Finish: It has a very nice feel and the quality is excellent. This will sound crazy, but it is the nicest power adapter that I have ever seen or felt. I think you will have to hold it to understand. Apple?s look nice, but they feel cheap because they are made out of plastic. This has the nice look, but it is metal? Or something that feels like metal and it is black. It is very nice. I had read that the magnetic adapter wasn?t as nice as magsafe and that is correct. It could do use with a little more powerful magnet. The keyboard cover is very nice. It has a felt back. I find it very easy to type with. It actually seemed very natural switching between the touchpad, keyboard and screen. All the reviews said 4 or 5 days to get up to speed. I don?t think I will have that issue. Screen: This was a big deal for me. As some background, I am seriously into screen quality. I have a 30? Dell IPS panel with 2560x1600 res as my primary and I have a Pioneer Kuro Plasma at home. My laptop has an RGB LED, anyway, you get the picture ;) When I heard that it was 1366x768 I was skeptical, even though MS said they did all this mumbo jumbo to make it look good. Well, MS was telling the truth. The screen looks great and if I was guessing resolution, I would have guessed much higher. Usage: It feels very smooth and the touchscreen is very responsive. Setup was easy and Windows 8 is very at home here. I definitely think MS put it in the best light. I have been using iOS for years, but for me it has felt more like a toy or presentation layer. I have never used it as a productivity tool. I really think you could take this on a trip and do some serious work but you can also remove the cover and use it as a straight tablet. I have been using Windows 8 for about a month on my laptop and I like it, but it definitely feels more at home on the tablet. I got to play around with the Surface RT at the microsoft store the other day. Its definitely a refresh from the sea of iPads and Androids tablets. Although not sure if it can replace my iPad as the tablet of choice yet. My friend has a Samsung Slate tablet and while it can run the full version of Windows 8, its definitely not something i would want to carry around as a tablet. Gonna wait for the Surface Pro...

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Top KIELY WILLIAMS lyrics KIELY WILLIAMS - Spectacular lyrics Last night I was drunk I don't remember much But what I do comes in pictures Thats how gone I was But he was tall and he was buying So I gave him a try and Said he was built like a stallion And the man wasn't lying Last I remember I was face down Ass up, clothes off, broke off, dozed off Even though I'm not sure of his name He could get it again if he wanted Cause the sex was spectacular The sex was spectacular (yeaaah) The sex was spectacular The sex was spectacular So it was the morning after I couldn't get home faster Doing the walk of shame In the same clothes from yesterday I think he pulled a track out When he was blowing my back out What was I drinking I cant believe I blacked out Last I remember I was face down Ass up, clothes off, broke off, dozed off Even though I'm not sure of his name He could get it again if he wanted Cause the sex was spectacular The sex was spectacular (yeaaah) The sex was spectacular The sex was spectacular You can say what you want but You can call me a slut but What he did to me last night felt so good I must have been on drugs I hope he used a rubber Or I'mma be in trouble Problem is I don't remember Except for rollin' over Give it to me, give it to me Ooh baby what a ride ride a ride ride So smooth like it beats I like the heat Ooh baby what a night night Right right

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Emeralds - Just To Feel Anything Until a couple of years ago, the electronic noise and extended synthesiser workouts of the prolific Ohio-based trio Emeralds were only familiar to people who had encountered them live or stumbled across one of their numerous self-released CD-Rs, most of which showcased them jamming in their basement. Then came two fine studio albums, What Happened? and Emeralds appearing almost back-to-back in 2009, followed by the highly acclaimed Does It Look Like I'm Here? in 2010. Whilst Emeralds haven't released anything under their own name since then, the individuals behind the band have been anything but idle. Guitarist Mark McGuire has released a few solo albums and has toured extensively, synth guru Steve Hauschildt issued a trance-influenced album on Kranky, and John Elliott has been busy running his own label Spectrum Spools which has released over 20 albums in the last couple of years, some of which (Imaginary Softwoods, Outer Space, Mist) are actually groups or side-projects which he plays in. The three of them have now regrouped for Just to Feel Anything , their fifth full album release under the name Emeralds, and the album's overall sound is unmistakably them, with the familiar intertwining of Hauschildt's pulsing Krautrock-style synth work and McGuire's freeform guitar solos, although there are noticeable attempts to stretch themselves and try to push things forward. Whereas a lot of those early home recordings and live events were built around improvisation and jams, their studio albums have always seemed more controlled and planned than that. Just to Feel Anything follows this path. Although the seven tracks here show that these three musicians could go off at any moment into lengthy improvisation, there is a very strong sense of melody and composition. It appears carefully arranged and composed rather than just being a record of a jam session. This time around the band has subtly introduced new instruments and sounds into the mix. As well as the bank of synths and guitar effects that create their sound, they have adopted Fender Rhodes piano, organ and acoustic guitar, but perhaps the biggest change is the introduction of the steady beat of the distinctive Roland TR-808 drum machine. This gives tracks like 'Andrenochrome' and 'Everything is Inverted' a pulsating, danceable core. The most dominant influence may still be the German synthesiser experimentalists of the 1970s but, perhaps due to the presence of the 808, Just to Feel Anything evokes the music of the 1980s more than on their previous releases. Even a title like 'Andrenochrome' hints at the gloss and the excess of that particular decade. Another less predictable '80s influence is evident on 'Through and Through' which, with its soft synth underscore and straight forward lead guitar lines, could almost be an outtake from one of Mark Knopfler or Ry Cooder's film scores. Normal service is resumed for 'Everything is Inverted', which is a much faster track and is basically a frantic duel between the twin leads of McClure's guitar and Hauschildt's synth. 'The Loser Keeps America Clean' provides more contrast and is at odds with the rest of the album. It is perhaps the only track where you can't distinguish the separate parts of the band as they have come together to create a large wall of noise, which is only broken up with some fluttering electronics. The title track, 'Just to Feel Anything' is more familiar Emeralds territory - a pulsing synth pattern which builds up, and trancelike elements which combine with McGuire's fluid guitar lines. Although the faster, 808-propelled tracks were the highlights of my first few listens, closing piece 'Search for Me in the Wasteland' is a beautiful, dreamy ending. Guitars are carefully layered and they weave around a cyclical melody. Again, this is one that could spiral off into a huge improvised piece but they are disciplined enough to make it work within the confines of the studio album. Overall, Just to Feel Anything is the sound of a band moving forward whilst holding on to the elements that make them special. At times it feels very different to their earlier work, yet still manages to fit perfectly with their other releases, and that's quite a good trick to pull off.

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It is always a source of humor -- dark humor, to be sure -- that the traditional media is way, way behind the curve when it comes to understanding a story, particularly when it involves unions. So, you know how all those politicians are now rushing around, wringing their hands about the recent violence in King's Cross? Well, hello, unions have been way ahead of the curve here. Two years ago -- TWO YEARS AGO -- a coalition of unions representing doctors, nurses, paramedics and police officers demanded that politicians act to stop alcohol-fuelled violence. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand why: those front-line workers have to deal with the violence and it's an occupational hazard. While politicians -- the same ones rushing to the microphones now -- sit home in comfort, its the union workers who have to transport injured people to hospitals, stitch up the wounds, and restore order in the streets. The campaign, called Last Drinks , was pretty clear about what needed to be done: The coalition believes strongly in evidence-based policy solutions. And the evidence shows that the most effective way to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence in the Australian context is by placing restrictions on the late night sale of alcohol. In particular, the recent experience in Newcastle has shown a sustained decrease in the number of night-time assaults of over 30 per cent -- which was achieved after a number of restrictions were placed on licensed venues in the Newcastle CBD. These restrictions include: 3am closing time for all venues; Lock-outs at venues from 1.30 am; and Restrictions on the sale of high-alcohol content drinks (such as shots) after 10pm. By the way, it's already worked, as you can see from this news report : The Last Drinks coalition, a group of union-led police, doctors and nurses, says the measures have helped reduce late-night violence since being introduced in Newcastle. So, here you have one shining example of the wiseness and knowledge of workers, and the union leaders who represent them, on the one hand, versus the short-sited rantings of craven politicians, on the other hand. If it wasn't for ideology -- meaning, why should we listen to unions? -- politicians might have listened to the people leading the Last Drinks campaign , and, maybe, just maybe, one young man, Thomas Kelly , would still be alive, and a lot more people would have returned home to sleep in their beds, with no injuries other than a bit of a hangover.

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Baldurs Gates, Icewind Dales, Neverwinter Nights. All of them & expansions for 11.50 I posted this in the Baldurs Gate thread in gaming but I noticed over at steam that people were thinking the Neverwinter Nights collection for $30 was a good buy so this properly is I guess and needs a bargain forum post. I wonder how long it would actually take to play all of these to completion? They're all famously insanely long as well as insanely good. Baldurs Gate 2 is 200 hours! You're probably looking about a penny an hour for this collection!

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I want to know your plans and how involved in them I am. When I go to sleep for good will I be forgiven? And If you want roses you can go buy a bouquet. If that just won't cut it, well what can I say? You're what keeps me believing the world's not long dead, Strength in my bones put words in my head. When they pour out to paper, it's all for you. 'Cause that's what you do. That's what you do. I want to know your fears, from your feet to the back of your ears. When they raise the landing gear will your heart stay here? If you could forgive me for being so brash, well you you could hit me or whip me, I'd savor each lash. You're what keeps me believing the world's not long dead, Strength in my bones put words in my head. When they pour out to paper. It's all for you. Cause that's what you do. No more fighting. This is only a waste of our time 'cause soon we'll be leaving. Will this strength still be mine? I'll look out for you until I die, 'til I rot. 52 Comments Song Meaning: (I PROMISE IM NOT A JESUS FREAK) First of all, there are a couple different versions of this song floating around. I think this site has both of them. This one is the original album version, I think its off Is a Real Boy. This one sounds like a love song, and i'm pretty sure it originally was, but later he changed a few lines to describe his relationship with god. This is easy to see in the first verse and chorus, but becomes a little more clouded in the second verse and bridge. This is because of the lines "When they raise the landing gear, will your heart stay here." Its a little tricky to interpret this in a religious context. The plane taking off is a symbol for him leaving the earth (dying) and his question "Will your heart stay here?" Is asking does god focus only on the living? Will his soul be forgotten once he dies? This goes back to his original question "When I go to sleep for good, will I be forgiven?" He's afraid if he isn't forgiven for his sins he'll be forgotten in God's Eyes. The bridge is talking about the changes he'll make in his life. How he doesn't want to spend what little time he has on earth fighting. And when he changes the tense to "our" in "Its only a waste of our time" he's telling the audience directly that fighting over petty things is worthless. The second part of the bridge "I'll look out for you..." Is about his constant search for God in his life. The lines "I'll remember you..." Is meant to read I'll keep you in mind as I live my life. Weirdly enough this is a praise song (Which is strange because i'm pretty sure Max is Jewish.) The other version I know of changes a few lines and is totally about the precursor to a long distance relationship. I promise I'm not a jesus freak I just think that this is the best interpretation of this version. PS. "If you wanted roses..." is about how he isn't about to dedicate his life to worship, or give sacrifice to prove his faith. General Comment: I just wanted to say that I completely disagree with thatiswhy. I'm 100% positive that he says "you can go buy a bouquet". This is because Max Bemis isn't really your everyday guy. He's not going to buy this girl flowers just to make her feel better. He's saying that if she wants them, she can get them herself, and if that doesn't work then "oh well, what can he do about it" type of thing. Because she's still what keeps him believing this world's not gone dead. And that should be enough. General Comment: "and if you want roses you can go buy a bouquet if that just won't cut it well, what can i say what does that?mean??? i dont get it!! help me out guys," To me I hear "I'll buy a bouquet". anyways I interpret that in a literal way, as in: the guy will do anything for this girl. If she says roses will fix everything, he'll buy her a bouquet. If that's not enough, what can he say to make it better? ( what a cute part, hah... Anyways I think it's pretty obvious that this song is about a boy sharing his feelings for a girl he loves that he will never see again.(wow run-on sentence) I can't decide if the boy and girl were in a rocky relationshp and he's trying to say he loves her no matter what happened (as a few past people have thought) or if they were never dating and the girl maybe didnt even know the boy existed. I'm leaning towards the former though, for such lines as "If you could forgive me/ for being so brash" and "no more fighting/ this is only a waste of our time". Perhaps it's a mix of both; the boy loved the girl for a long time and only a short while ago they started dating, but the relationshp was vey rocky and upsetting. Now that the girl's leaving forever, the boy regrets all the time he wasted without her and wishes she could just understand how much he loves her. It's overall a very cute but also upsetting song... the kind where you wish the singer would make it a happy ending at the end. But of course, there is no happy ending.

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The manager of the Neptune Global Equity fund said leading indicators point towards an acceleration in growth over the next six months. Consequently, Geffen has maintained a cyclical bias with a focus on the US and the 'superior growth potential' of emerging markets. 'Reflecting our conviction in the economic recovery, we have continued to add to our US exposure, which is currently at its highest historic level,' said Geffen. 'In addition to gaining access to the US recovery -- which we believe will be borne out in the Q4 corporate earnings seasons -- we have also sought high quality global companies with growing market share in emerging economies.' To play this theme, Geffen has bought consumer stocks that he believes have strong balance sheets, dominant market share and resilience against margin pressures. 'We also favour more cyclical names in the consumer discretionary and energy sectors, including Halliburton -- our top performer in the third quarter,' he added. In terms of emerging markets, Geffin said they are cheap relative to developed markets as well as to their long-term averages. China, for instance, is trading on a P/E multiple of 11 times versus its peak of 30. 'Relative to their contribution to global growth, we believe these valuations are unjustified and we fully expect to see the emerging markets re-rate -- particularly China and Russia, two of our long-held overweights,' said Geffen.

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Coffee drinking: the rationale for treating it as a potential effect modifier of carcinogenic exposures. Source Abstract Clinical and epidemiological studies on cancer etiology seldom treat coffee drinking as a potential effect modifier. Yet caffeine exerts significant effects upon a large variety of physiologic, cellular and molecular systems. Caffeine, 'the world's most popular drug', is also a fundamental research tool, widely used in clinical studies on drug metabolism, and in experimental studies on cell cycle checkpoints, DNA repair, and apoptosis, among many other. Caffeine can profoundly alter cell cycle checkpoint function and several mechanisms of DNA repair, as well as carcinogen metabolism. The impact of caffeine on cell cycle checkpoint function occurs in spite of it being nonmutagenic in traditional mutagenesis assays. A complex body of biologic evidence suggests that caffeine-containing beverages can both enhance and antagonise potentially carcinogenic exposures. However, most pathways leading to the ultimate effects in human beings remain unknown. It is unclear whether any of the hundreds of compounds contained in coffee and tea exert a direct and significant carcinogenic effect per se in any human tissue at usual conditions of use. Reasons exist to consider that coffee may sometimes be an indirect, positive confounder. The study of interactions between caffeine-containing beverages and environmental agents in well defined groups of healthy and diseased people could yield new insights into checkpoint signal transduction and other mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Information on the use of caffeine-containing beverages should more often be integrated in studies on the role of gene-environment interactions in the pathogenesis of cancer. Related information Calculated set of PubMed citations closely related to the selected article(s) retrieved using a word weight algorithm. Related articles are displayed in ranked order from most to least relevant, with the "linked from" citation displayed first.

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Brand Loyalty and Love in MENA Ernst & Young recently polled more than 4,000 adults from 9 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA -- Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) and found that consumers in the region are more brand loyal than their global counterparts. Brands in the food and beverage category enjoyed the highest levels of consumer loyalty, followed by commodities, clothing and medical supplies. Cars, household insurance and consumer loans scored on the lower end of the scale. With a burgeoning economy and a young urban population, brands in the MENA region are experiencing shifts in the way people think about brands. As more international companies move into the region to capitalize on its growing spending power, the imperative to distinguish one's brand is reliant on more than competitive price. Consumers are looking for more than value and will pay more for priceless value. They are looking for retail experiences that wow, customer service that is second-to-none, and technology that connects them seamlessly from online and in-store. Loyalty may be the key desire for many brands in the MENA market, but striving for love will protect them from the risk of commodization. Here is a selection of brands that people who live in the Middle East and North Africa love on www.lovemarks.com :

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Sir Humphrey Appleby is waiting to see Jim Hacker and is joined by his old friend Sir Desmond Glazebrook, the Chairman of Bartlett's Bank, who also wishes to speak with the Minister. He wants his approval for six floors to be added to the bank's international headquarters, making 44 storeys in total. However, Hacker has just made a speech attacking skyscraper office blocks, recommending a maximum height of eight storeys each. Sir Humphrey reassures Sir Desmond that there are ways and means of gaining the Minister's permission, but he will have to be patient. The banker lets slip that there is a place for Sir Humphrey on the bank's Board when he retires, but the Permanent Secretary is quick to quieten him. They are joined by Sir Desmond's architect as they continue to wait. Meanwhile, Hacker is in his office discussing his newspaper coverage with his press officer, Bill Pritchard. While the broadsheets have reported his speech concerning high buildings, there is nothing in the tabloids and Hacker asks Bill's advice. Apparently, animals and small children are ideal subjects for ministerial photo opportunities, and the Minister's visit to a city farm that afternoon should provide some good publicity. As Bill leaves, Bernard reminds the Minister that Sir Humphrey is waiting to see him and shows him in. Sir Humphrey puts the case for Sir Desmond's building proposal, but Hacker is adamant to take a stand on the matter and asks to see Sir Desmond, who enters with his architect. The pair put the case for the extra six storeys to no avail, and Sir Humphrey is on hand to back up his Minister with several cogent arguments against the proposal, including the fact that the bank owns another piece of land just 400 yards (370 m) away. Hacker invites Sir Desmond to make a formal application for planning permission, but is certain of the likely outcome. Sir Desmond leaves and Hacker needs to make an urgent exit himself, but just before he does so, Sir Humphrey thrusts a document upon the Minister that requires his signature immediately. He explains that it is an administrative order that allows government to temporarily utilise unused local authority land until it is developed. After Hacker has signed it and left, Bernard questions Sir Humphrey on its urgency. His Permanent Secretary points out that it was not urgent, but "important". It was therefore necessary to ask the Minister to sign it when he was in a hurry. Hacker arrives at the city farm — but then has to do so again for the benefit of the BBC TV cameramen, who missed it the first time. He is introduced to Mrs Phillips, the farm's warden, who shows him around. The Minister is invited to give a speech, and as he embarks upon it, he suddenly realises that he is reading out the one he gave the previous day regarding high-rise buildings. He eventually locates the right one, in which he pledges his support to the city farm movement. Afterwards, Mrs Phillips informs Hacker that the farm's lease is due to run out and she seeks his assurance that it will be renewed. He can't guarantee it, but offers to do what he can. Then Sue Lawley arrives to conduct an interview for Nationwide . However, Mrs Phillips tells her that the Minister is definitely going to ensure the farm's continuation. When Lawley asks Hacker to confirm this, he is unable to do so unequivocally. The next day, Sir Humphrey meets for lunch with Sir Frank Gordon, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury . Sir Frank has been looking for land on which to construct a car park for Inland Revenue inspectors and Sir Humphrey informs him that a suitable location is about to become vacant. The document that Hacker signed gives him permission to use the site — which is currently occupied by the city farm that the Minister visited. Then Sir Humphrey seeks out Sir Desmond Glazebrook. The civil servant is confident that he can get his friend's planning application approved. Back in Hacker's office, Bill Pritchard shows Hacker the extensive press coverage of the city farm visit, and the Minister is very impressed. However, he then hears from Mrs Phillips that the farm is indeed being forced to close so that a car park can be built on the land. Bernard explains to Hacker that the Minister authorised it himself by signing Sir Humphrey's order the previous day. With Mrs Phillips waiting impatiently in the outer office, Hacker demands to see his Permanent Secretary. Sir Humphrey states that it was a Treasury decision, and therefore outside of his department's jurisdiction. Furthermore, the order is irrevocable. Mrs Phillips storms in and insists that Hacker keep his word. The Minister promises that he will do all he can, but is unconvincing. She promises him in return that her husband, who is a deputy editor by profession, will ensure that he is "roasted alive" by the press. She walks out, to be replaced moments later by Sir Desmond Glazebrook, who has had an idea. He now proposes that if Hacker will let him have an additional nine storeys on his tower block, instead of the original six, he will allow the bank's nearby land to be used by the city farm, which he suggests could be renamed "The James Hacker Cuddly Animal Sanctuary".

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Over You Lyrics Miranda Lambert Weather man said it's gonna snow, By now I should be used to the cold. Mid-February shouldn't be so scary. It was only December, I still remember the presents,the tree, you and me. But you went away, How dare you? I miss you. They say I'll be okay, But I'm not going to ever get over you. Living alone, here in this place, I think of you and I'm not afraid. Your favorite records make me feel better, Cause you sing along with every song. [ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/over-you-lyri\\... ] I know you didn't mean to give them to me. But you went away, How dare you? I miss you. They say I'll be okay, But I'm not going to ever get over you. It really sinks in, you know, When I see it in stone 'Cause you went away How dare you? I miss you. They say I'll be okay, But I'm not going to ever get over you. Tell Us What These Lyrics Mean To You... The lycris over you by Mirdian Lambert remind me of that I don't want to get rid of my baby puppy Debbie Long - May 8, 2012 at 8:01 pm This is just stating how much my husband after 10 yeara. Jim Emett - May 10, 2012 at 11:12 am Lost my wife two years ago. Shelia Bennington - June 5, 2012 at 12:08 pm I lost my sister in 2/15/09 but it seems like yesterday. I think of her everyday. I hurt so bad because I never got to say goodbye and tell her how much I loved her. I miss you Jenny and you are always in my thoughts. See you again soon. Love Shelia

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Have you noticed that The New York Times editorial page is becoming increasingly strident, increasingly emotional and increasingly irrational? Here is Paul Krugman in last Monday's column: Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan...want to expose many Americans to financial insecurity, and let some of them die, so that a handful of already wealthy people can have a higher after-tax income. No, that's not a misprint. The Republicans actually want to let some people die so that they can reward their rich friends. It's not an isolated comment either. Under the heading "Death by Ideology," Krugman actually lists all of the ways in which a President Romney would proceed to kill people. For example: Mr. Romney wants...to repeal ObamaCare and slash funding for Medicaid -- actions that would take insurance away from some 45 million nonelderly Americans, causing thousands of people to suffer premature death. And their longer-term plans to convert Medicare into Vouchercare would deprive many seniors of adequate coverage, too, leading to still more unnecessary mortality. [M]any, and probably most, older Americans -- would be left with inadequate insurance, insurance that exposed them to severe financial hardship if they got sick, sometimes left them unable to afford crucial care, and yes, sometimes led to their early death. So what, you may ask, is the basis for all this vitriol? Krugman is writing about health care -- a subject about which he has proved time and again he knows virtually nothing. On this occasion he lets loose with this bold assertion: The overwhelming evidence, however, is that [health] insurance is indeed a lifesaver, and lack of insurance a killer...there's no real question that lack of insurance is responsible for thousands, and probably tens of thousands, of excess deaths of Americans each year. Krugman claims to have reviewed the economics literature. If he has, then he is an embarrassment to the economics profession, despite his Nobel Prize. Then again, if he claims to have done so but really hasn't, I suppose that's equally embarrassing. (And remember, while all this is going on he is invariably calling everyone who disagrees with him a liar.) Let me briefly set the record straight. Some studies actually have claimed that tens of thousands of people have died prematurely because they lacked health insurance. But these studies were not done by economists and were never accepted in any credible, peer-reviewed social science journal. They are basically junk science and they have been thoroughly discredited on several occasions, most notably by Richard Kronick , an economist who served in the Obama administration and actually helped design HillaryCare. Kronick writes that "there is little evidence to suggest that extending insurance coverage to all adults would have a large effect on the number of deaths in the United States." I'll get to the children below. In general, the economics literature has found no evidence that lack of health insurance has any substantial effect on mortality. Prof. June O'Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, thoroughly investigated this issue and found that among Americans above 250% of poverty, lack of health insurance does not affect mortality. Below 250% of poverty, people without health insurance have an 11% higher probability of dying. But the probability drops to under 3% when you take into account demographic differences in the two populations. In fact, it is likely that the differential probability would disappear altogether with a complete inclusion of all the demographic differences between the two groups. (See her PowerPoint slides .) The most recent evidence on children comes from a paper posted by the National Bureau of Economic Research. It looks at the effects of Medicaid on mortality and finds: Medicaid insurance leads to a substantial decline in mortality in older black children. It has no effect on white children. It has no effect on children -- black or white -- in states with the most Medicaid expansion. The last finding is the most important. Krugman claims that by expanding Medicaid, ObamaCare will save thousands of lives and that by repealing ObamaCare, Romney would cause thousands of people to die. The evidence says otherwise. Paul Krugman deserves the Nobel Prize for his clear thinking and advocacy of free trade. But on health care issues, he is a rank amateur. Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan...want to expose many Americans to financial insecurity, and let some of them die, so that a handful of already wealthy people can have a higher after-tax income. This assertion seems rather melodramatic. Why does an advanced "free society" have to become a cradle- to-grave welfare state? There isn't enough money in the country to insure every person's financial security . For all long as there have been people on this Earth, they have had to collaborate and fight for security. A "handful of already wealthy people" cannot do anything about that. They certainly cannot alleviate the suffering of millions of people. However, they do make for a handy scapegoat when one political party is willing to undercut the future of the American economy for a few more years in power. Paul Krugman's communications and demeanor seem to reveal an angry man. Wonder what makes a man who expresses such confidence in his own capacity and virtue to be so angry. Fear? Insecurity? Sad for him, unhelpful for the rest of us. John, You do us a service by continuing to cover the excesses of Krugman. Apart from a psychological study, there is little reason to pay his political views any attention. Yet, since it is important to know what the opposition believes, even if it is as foolish and wrongheaded as Krugman has allowed his views to become. Thus, a sincere thanks for continuing what must be an unpleasant task. Dr. Goodman, the data from the "Oregon Medicaid Experiment" also supports the point you make here. Other than increased health care utilization and expenditures, the only effect of Medicaid coverage that objective data in the study shows is a decrease in medical collections from credit report data. The authors specifically say, regarding Medicaid beneficiaries in the study, "Currently our only objective health measure is mortality, on which we were unable to detect an effect." and "...it does not appear to reduce their risk of bankruptcy (at least in the first year)...". Is it safe to assume that you expect the data from Oregon to continue to show no effect on mortality in the coming years, or has self-selection in the enrollment process created a sample with such poor health status that there will be some effect on mortality? Apologies if that is a false dichotomy or a leading question I hate to break it to Mr. Krugman, but the death rate will be 100% no matter who is president. I know Obama promised that the seas would lower once he became president, but even he never promised immortality. Maybe he's saving that for his second term. The problems with the conflicting results in studies of premature mortality of the uninsured are partly due to measuring a fairly uncommon event (death under age 65) in a very large group (the uninsured). Nevertheless, numerous studies have demonstrated that premature death due to lack of insurance is a very real phenomenon. The study in children suffers from the fact that, fortunately, death in children is quite rare, and those that do occur often are from conditions in which medical interventions are ineffective, so insurance status would not have made an easily measurable difference. Innumerable other studies have demonstrated the great value of Medicaid and CHIP in children beyond that of preventing death. Richard Kronick is a highly credible and well respected researcher. His study failed to demonstrate that insurance prevents deaths, but he controlled for illnesses that individuals were aware of, yet did not control for those that the uninsured are less likely to be aware of, such as diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension. Thus his adjustment for baseline health status, ignoring these common conditions, could easily have resulted in the negative findings. Those of us who have been in practice for decades have many anecdotal accounts of uninsured individuals delaying their health care, resulting in lethal outcomes. Although anecdotes do not meet the test of scientific validity, we still mourn those lives lost by individuals who told us that they didn't come in earlier because they were broke and uninsured. We should make every effort we can to remove financial barriers to health care. Neither Romney nor Paul Ryan have proposed anything that can be called "cuts" in Medicaid. They have proposed reforms that would potentially greatly improve access to health care by the poor covered by the program, with the program costing far less as scored by CBO because of the improved incentives and efficiency, just exactly as the 1996 reforms of AFDC caused costs of that program to decline by 50% from where they would have been under prior trends, while incomes of the poor formerly on the program were documented to increase by 25%, and poverty among them declined precipitously. It would be an abuse of the English language to say that those 1996 AFDC reforms "slashed" or even cut AFDC/TANF. Similarly, it is an abuse to say that the same reforms of Medicaid would "slash" or "cut" the program. Medicaid with the reforms proposed by Romney/Ryan would be better for the poor than Medicaid today, especially as it will be under Obamacare. Similarly, Medicare under the reforms proposed by Romney/Ryan would be better for seniors than Medicare under Obamacare. Krugman abuses his positions to push juvenile quality Marxism. Krugman got his Nobel Prize for economic geography. It is his job to see patterns among socioeconomic and spatiotemporal lines. As for his work on healthcare.. people tend to find what they're looking for. If it makes you feel better, Obama got one of those Nobel thingies too. Don M., I don't think you need a government takeover of health care or the expenditure of trillions of dollars to screen for diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension. Thus even if what you say has some merit Kronick's study remains just as valuable. All true, but still disappointing that Romney dismisses the very real problem of the uninsured/underinsured with the blithe statement that they can go to the ER for emergency care. Is he really that clueless? While I agree that Krugman is WAY out of his area of expertise on the issue of health insurance, the suggestion that lack of access would have no impact on mortality is absurd on its face. Divine intervention would be required to make that so. Of course if you REALLY believe this, Mr. Goodman, you could always show us by dropping your own and your family's health insurance. What? Not quite THAT sure, are you? I enjoyed the exchange between Krugman and Mary Matalin a couple of weeks ago. I would have loved to know what was going through Carville's head as he sat between them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfjNNBfRm\\...

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (Reuters/Brendan McDermid) Crude oil prices jumped and US stocks sagged following Israel's attack on Gaza and amid renewed violence in the oil-rich Middle Eastern region. In London, Brent crude spiked $1.58 to $109.84 per barrel. And in New York, the benchmark WTI light crude gained 87 cents to $86.26 a barrel. According to CMC Markets analyst, Michael Hewson, it's a direct response to the violence in the Middle East. "Crude oil prices have jumped back once again after news of fire fights breaking out in the Middle East as Israel launched an airstrike on Gaza killing a Hamas commander, in retaliation for rocket attacks on Israel earlier this week," Hewson told reporters. A top Hamas commander was among the ten people killed in more than 20 Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as Israel launched an operation targeting militant groups. Ahmed Jabari, the operational commander of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was killed alongside his bodyguard, Mohammed al-Hams, in an initial Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City. Gaza's Health Minister Dr. Mufeed Mkhallalati said forty-five people have been injured, 10 of them are in critical condition. An 11-month-old baby and a 6-year-old girl were among the dead. The attacks follow a flare-up in violence between Israel and Gaza-based groups, which saw rockets fired from the Palestinian territory into the Jewish state, and Israeli air strikes and shelling that killed seven people.

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Miley Cyrus Behind-The-Scenes in 'Two & a Half Men' [PHOTOS & VIDEO] Miley Cyrus Behind-The-Scenes in 'Two & a Half Men' [PHOTOS & VIDEO] Miley Cyrus isn't really planning a wedding anytime soon with fianc, Liam Hemsworth. Instead, the cropped-blonde cutie is working out her career with her latest stint with Ashton Kutcher in "Two and a Half Men." Take a look at the behind-the-scenes stills and read on to find out how Miley felt making out with a guy who isn't her fianc. Showing off her country twang and fast-blabbing skills, Miley Cyrus stars as Missi in a few episodes for "Two and a Half Men" starting on October 18. Cyrus plays Jake's love interest, played by Angus Jones. Jon Cyrer explains Miley's role in the following statement. "[Missi] is just coming to L.A.to see what it's like to live out there and she stays with us for a few days and of course throws everything into disarray. [Miley] is beautiful and remarkable. You will enjoy her on the show!" While playing the provocative and talkative Missi on the show would appear as easy for Miley, in an interview with "Tonight Show", Miley admitted to feeling a bit awkward during the make-out scenes. "It was kind of weird because [while] I was doing it , here were the prop guys and they were like, 'Do you have your ring on?' And I was like, 'This feels weird' [to] take off my ring and make out with Angus,'" explains Miley, adding, "This is creepy'... But it was fun." Check out the stills by clicking the slideshow and check out the preview video below.

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The Junction -- an accident in the offing The car exits the magic roundabout*, 50m to the left of the junction. It's moving quickly, pressed into action by the volume of traffic that orbits the roundabout like an asteroid belt. The car accelerates, plugging the short gap between high velocity objects. Looking ahead, the driver spots traffic approaching on the other side of the road. That's painful, he muses, assessing the brief window of opportunity to take a hasty right turn onto Sanquhar Steet. The foot goes down, the car swings right, scything the corner of the junction. Shock spreads across the drivers face. The car swerves hard to the left, just missing the cyclist patiently waiting to turn right and standing precisely where he should be - at the 'T'. In broad daylight, the cyclist is prominent and obvious. Obvious? The speed obsessed driver was oblivious. Thanks to the magic of straight lines, the left and right hand sides of the road are separated quite neatly at the junction. This happened to me about 3 weeks ago. The car careered around the turn and skidded to avoid me. I didn't even have time to react, standing bemusedly, watching the car thump into the curb whilst the driver jumped at the impact. He apologised. I nodded acceptance. Then my legs almost buckled beneath me as I realised that I'd narrowly avoided being tossed in the air like a beaten bullfighter. Now incidents like this can, and do happen. That I can accept. Fair enough. Put it down to misfortune. About a week later, another car did exactly the same at precisely the same spot. Still bad luck? Then last night another car did the same thing again, this time the mortified driver in the car behind shook his head and waved a sad acknowledgement to me -- 'Now THAT , was a close call'. Once, maybe. Twice, co-incidence. Three times? A pattern. And drivers wonder why cyclists creep forward at junctions, ignore lights or hop on the pavement. Maybe, just maybe, because there's so little protection on the roads. Now here's an idea. In the work place there's a health and safety book that records incidents for the purposes of pattern recognition and future accident prevention. Perhaps there should be a regional register that allows any road user (pedestrian, cyclist, motorist) to formally record concerns. With modern technology and mobile comms, it really shouldn't be too tricky. Do you have any thoughts on this? Does a database exist already? Feel free to comment below. Incidentally, the sound thing is an experiment. Sound is much more personal than video. *The roundabout at the head of East Tyndall St is dubbed 'The magic roundabout' due to some controversial and expensive artwork. Endearing? Naff? Endearingly naff? You decide (below).

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Story Tools More than 10,000 people have signed a petition to stop tomorrow's New Zealand International Rodeo at Claudelands Event Centre. But the rodeo looks set to go ahead amid calls from Save Animals From Exploitation (SAFE) and a Hamilton animal activist that rodeo is a dated blood sport and should be banned. Rodeo organiser Darryl Tombleson says there have never been any injuries to animals, or people, in his rodeo in the five years it's been operating. "We have vets on site and structures in place to ensure there aren't any injuries. I appreciate their opinion but we are pedantic about ensuring the animals' safety," said Mr Tombleson. "I've never understood the mentality of people jumping up and down without knowing the facts." SAFE campaign manager Mandy Carter said rodeo had "nothing to do with New Zealand". "It's not a tradition here - it's something that's been imported from the US. The animals are genuinely scared. The animals are put under an enormous amount of stress. It's totally unacceptable. "We encourage pet owners to lock cats and dogs inside and to put horses away in stables around Guy Fawkes but the animals [in the rodeo] are metres from pyrotechnics and loud music. It's twisted logic." Mr Tombleson said pyrotechnics would not be used in this year's rodeo. "The short answer is we are not using pyrotechnics, we are using some visuals." He said the 'visuals' consisted of "flame cannons suspended in the air". A press release about the show stated the rodeo would feature pyrotechnics. Animal activist Alvina Edwards started an online petition which has drawn signatures from throughout the world. "Rodeo is banned in many countries. It is banned in Auckland," said Ms Edwards. Auckland Council passed a resolution banning rodeos from council-owned land following public backlash at plans for Auckland to host a tri-nations rodeo in June, 2008. Mayor Julie Hardaker has been condemned for allowing the rodeo to be hosted at a council-owned facility and some want her to stand down as chairwoman of Waikato SPCA. Hamilton City Council events facilities' director of business development and marketing Murray Jeffrey said "council is not hosting the event; it is hiring the facility to the event promoters and organisers. The event complies with council's event venues booking policy and last year drew a sold-out crowd of 4200 at Claudelands." The show will feature top Kiwi showjumper Katie McVean in a stunt riding display, alongside other riders from New Zealand, Australia, the US and Canada.

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10 ways to be the best pet owner ever Princess collars , doggie day care and even designer pet beds are popular among pet owners, and it's easy to understand the temptation to indulge your pets. How can you not spoil the kitten that falls asleep on the small of your back, or the puppy that trots behind you carrying a prized oversize stick? But pampering your pet should only be a bonus; keeping them safe, happy and healthy is what really makes you the best pet owner. "We invite these animals into our homes, we make them part of our family," says Steve Carroll, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (chfs.ca.) "And when we make that commitment, we need to live up to it." Here are 10 ways to make sure you are. 1. Pick the right pup "One of the most important things you want to consider before you buy a pet is whether your lifestyle will accommodate it," says Carroll. Your experience owning pets, the time you have at home, your level of physical activity, whether there are other pets in the house and the amount of room you have should all factor into your decision. The Humane Society has a comprehensive program to match owners and pets, and many breeders also discuss compatibility. 2. Keep him healthy Your pet can't tell you if he's sick, points out Carroll, so it's important to schedule regular checkups with the vet. You might also want to consider pet health insurance, an increasingly popular option that can help you avoid unexpected bills if your pet is injured or sick. It's also important to spay or neuter your pet: it prevents unwanted animals and makes your pet less likely to be aggressive or roam, and lowers its chances of catching a disease. 3. ID your pet All pets need some form of permanent ID, either a tattoo or a microchip. Microchip programs don't yet link to a universal database, so ask questions before you buy. In addition to a permanent option, every pet needs a collar with its name, your name, and a phone number. This often allows for pets to be returned directly, preventing a trip to the Humane Society that nobody wants. 4. Go to obedience school Take your dog to obedience school . Training (which should be mostly with positive reinforcement) will help people feel safer around your pet, can reduce the amount of damage your pet may do to your home, and will make your dog happier. "The animal feels more well adjusted and safe, because they know what the expectations are (for him)," explains Carroll.

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And On That Farm He Had A Duck Yesterday I ventured into deepest darkest Wales in order to collect the ducks that John (of Going Gently fame) has donated to my miniature smallholding. Here they are huddled together in hysterical panic in the corner of the converted wendyhouse which is their new home. Apparently this state of hysteria is not unusual in runner ducks. In fact it may well be their default setting. It's a pretty big contrast to my placid fat hens, a couple of which are so languid that they let the kids stroke them rather than bother to get out of the way. The ducks are currently undergoing a period of confinement in order to get them used to their sleeping quarters, so haven't been let loose on the garden as yet. Evan did take an exploratory foray into their hut this afternoon to see if he could make friends with any of them. However the calcophany of panicked quacking he provoked soon saw him shoot for the exit. "Why are they quacking so loud dad?!" he asked. "Because, as John warned me when I asked for them, they are mad as a box of frogs". It was really great meeting John. He was a virgin to the blogger-meet-up experience, and so I feel honored to pop his cherry. Judging by his blog entry I think the whole thing freaked him out a little bit. Meeting people you've followed online is a funny old thing. We all use the internet to project an airbrushed image of ourselves, and so meeting a blogger in person feels a bit like meeting their slightly less charismatic twin sibling. A bit like in Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Xander's twin brother popped up on occasion -- yeah, he looks sort of the same, but he had a funny shaped head. Not that I felt that way with John I hasten to add. His head was perfectly normal shaped. But I'm sure he must have felt it with me (the current wild state of my beard alone is enough to send people running for the woods). But it wasn't just John I met. John's tales of his various pets and livestock play such a big part in what makes his blog a fantastic read. So meeting Constance the bulldog, Boris the turkey, and Jesus the cockerel felt like meeting minor celebrities. I got the same little thrill from the encounter as I would attending a dinner party with the Chuckle Brothers and Michael Fish. Exciting stuff. 1. The ducks look very nice but I'm sure they would appreciate a little more effort on your behalf to decorate their new home. Maybe some colour similar to their natural habitat on the shed wall would calm them down a little. 2. I thought you were a lot shorter than you actually are when I met you. I never expected a 'Hagrid'. ;-)

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Posterior Babies - Mothers can trust their instincts By Rosie Denmark AIMS Journal, Summer 2000, Volume 12 No. 2 I first heard about the posterior presentation of babies early in my pregnancy from Margie Polden's article 'Getting into position' [1]. The description of the shape of the abdomen in a posterior pregnancy came back to me as the months went by, as I noticed that my bump, quite small and compact and prominent to the right, and with palpable hand and feet kicks at the front, did not appear to be developing the forward round shape of the other pregnant women I knew. Indeed, people were always remarking on how small and neat my bump looked, usually with admiration for retaining a slim figure. I would almost say that I had an instinct that something was wrong-above and beyond the usual and fairly constant pregnancy worries. Around week 26 onwards I had thought that I could feel that my baby was in a breech position-normal at this stage of pregnancy-as I could feel her kicks very low down in my abdomen. This was so uncomfortable that I slept for a few nights with my hips raised on a large cushion. I felt her turning during one night; and the next day my bladder no longer felt as if I had a foot pushed through it. A few weeks later, I became more and more suspicious that my baby was presenting in a posterior position. At 32 weeks, I tried to confirm this suspicion with my midwife. However, she neither seemed confident to diagnose her position ('So does the baby feel as if she's posterior?' 'Well, her head's down, so that's good' 'Yes, but is she posterior?' 'Well lots of babies face outwards at this stage') nor happy to discuss exercises to change her position if she was posterior. Her opinion was that babies stay in the position most comfortable to them, and there's nothing you can do to change that. She told me that she would tell me my baby's position at 38/39 weeks. I do not know whether this midwife was unsure of the position of my baby, or whether she simply would not tell me. Despite the fact that the presentation of the baby is a key factor defining the progress of labour, with posterior labours well-recognised as longer, more painful, and often necessitating more medical intervention [2], is it the case that many midwives only routinely diagnose the cephalic/breech presentations? Indeed, a recent title of an article in a mainstream pregnancy magazine stated 'Why the position of your baby matters-breech or cephalic'. Is it really the case that these are the only presentations routinely recognised? And is it coincidence that breech presentations are the ones that doctors (sometimes) "fix" - but not (generally) something that mothers and midwives can do anything about? As this was my first baby and I was booked for a home birth, I was alert for any problems which might indicate a need to transfer into hospital-a scenario repeatedly raised by my midwife. As I knew that posterior labours had a high rate of medical intervention, I decided to find out more. I was also deeply worried at the idea of diagnosing my baby's position at the very end of pregnancy, when it would be too late anyway. Having spent 10 years successfully using natural family planning, and being therefore quite used to knowing and respecting what was happening in my body, this deliberate ignorance seemed mindless to me. At this point I tried the exercises outlined in the literature for turning posterior babies1, but succeeded only in making myself very uncomfortable and bringing a lot of fear and negativity that I wouldn't be able to change my baby's position and therefore would have to have a hospital birth. I vacillated between wondering if I was making a 'fuss over nothing' (which the approach of my midwife seemed to imply); and panic that I was rapidly heading towards a hospitalised, managed labour. I found it far too hard to keep up all these exercises without support and was in a vacuum of self doubt, with my body telling me one thing-that something was wrong-and the midwife another. So how did my body tell me something was wrong? I did not feel 'settled', and I felt as if my baby was uncomfortable. I used to feel an 'edginess'-physically, as her head began to engage, as if two bones were grinding together. I would wake up feeling uncomfortable with the strangest urges-one night wanting to sleep kneeling on the floor with one leg cocked up like a dog! I had a dream of lying sideways on the top of stairs and falling forwards, with the forward rolling sensation being very peaceful and comfortable. I felt as if my body was 'urging me on'-but to what, I didn't know. I noticed that when I was relaxed the baby would do deep churning movements as if she was turning right round. In summary, I had a strong urge to do something physical, but I was not sure what! In my first two weeks of doing the exercises alone, I simply increased my feeling of pain and agitation. The forward leaning exercises (described below) caused the baby to move more, and the deep uncomfortable churning movements increased, often waking me up for long periods at nights. Along with my own lack of confidence in what I was trying to do, I simply found it too hard alone. Around this time, I received my copy of Jean Sutton's book Optimal Foetal Positioning [2]. The morning I read it, I cannot describe the fear and panic it instilled in me. Far from my home birth, it raised a likely spectre of a managed labour, even a caesarean. It frightened me sufficiently to change midwives: it was clear to me that I needed to have my baby's position properly diagnosed and have some help if possible in trying to change it; and so I eventually changed my booking to independent midwives. Following their first visit, my suspicions were confirmed that my baby was in fact posterior, and I was very relieved to get a proper diagnosis. My midwives were very understanding of my fears, but managed to convey a calm and confident attitude that it was perfectly possible for posterior babies to change. They gave me exercises to do, and I wrote out a list that I left in each room of the house of postures to aim for and avoid. Three times a day, I would spend 20-30 minutes per day on hands and knees, or lying on my front. In the mornings this tended to be reading on my front propped up by cushions in bed, and at night on hands and knees in a warm bath. I did a lot of house painting on my hands and knees. This was, admittedly, difficult to maintain as it made my heartburn very much worse, and I would sometimes feel quite sick afterwards. I was very strict about never using backwards leaning postures, always sleeping on my side, never sitting back on the sofa (the hardest!), only sitting on a special back chair that allows you to lean forward with your knees lower than your hips, or sitting forward leaning on a bean bag. I also had a large 'birth ball' (available through the Active Birth Centre catalogue), which I would sit forward and rock my pelvis on. I am convinced that it is the birth ball that made the real difference for me: after 5 or 10 minutes of rocking on this, I would feel the baby start churning movements, and if I then went into the kneeling forward positions I could almost feel her fall forwards. The feeling of agitation that had previously been my instinct that something was wrong now became more definite: the baby was trying to move and I could help her to do so. It is worth making central to our understanding that babies themselves seem to want to move into the right position. Research has begun to recognise that it is babies who instigate the birth process2, and it therefore seems highly likely that they are active in trying to find the right position in which to do so. I was still occasionally woken up at night feeling uncomfortable; now I went and rocked on my birth ball, and did the exercise my midwife gave me of walking up the stairs sideways, two at a time. I had a difficult weekend of pre-labour pains when the agitation peaked, and I awoke constantly with a feeling of bones grinding in my pelvis. It was at this point, discouraged and worn out by pain, that I eventually resolved to really work at it, thinking clearly that my baby had to turn at some point: it would be much less painful to do this before labour than during, possibly with the help of forceps or venthouse. This was a passage through which I had no choice, so weary as I was, I might as well get on with it. In the last weeks of my pregnancy, my midwife suggested that I go to the swimming pool every day, floating forwards in the water for 20 minutes or so. I'm sure the local swimmers thought I was mad; but the combination of relaxed muscle tone caused by being in a warm pool and the forward leaning posture seemed to do the trick as, at my last antenatal visit, direct anterior was diagnosed and I went into labour shortly afterwards. The main reason I think the exercises worked on the second attempt is that skilled support enabled me to 'walk into' the discomfort (which I had anyway been experiencing but which the exercises made worse) and go beyond it. It became clear to me that this agitation was in fact the experience of the baby trying to move; fairly painful in itself, and therefore more painful as it is successful. On my second attempt at trying to turn her, my baby's head had already begun to engage. As I continued with my exercises she disengaged, re-engaging as direct anterior. My 'forwards kneeling, never leaning back' regime was really hard work, and I was much encouraged by the support and positive attitude of my midwives. Having experienced both pre-labour pains whilst my baby was turning, and an anterior labour, it is clear to me that contractions with a posterior baby are of a very different nature to usual first stage contractions, and are recognised as being particularly painful [3]: the pain is more agitating and exhausting and somehow more 'difficult to handle'. I do not think I could have coped with a posterior labour at home. Your baby's position is fundamentally about the relationship between your body and yourself, and your baby and you. Your body gives you clues as to the positioning of your baby, some of which you can begin to learn to interpret yourself, although you may need an experienced and skilled midwife to help. It is the sensations that you feel that guide you through your progress in the exercises. And getting your baby into an optimal position for labour is one of the most important aspects of your relationship with your baby as you approach birth together. At a time when medicalisation of labour can act all too often to reinforce our natural fear and apprehension as we approach labour, when a lack of confidence in our abilities to give birth is paramount, perhaps we should start by trying to get the basics right, starting with the position of our babies. And as with the rest of motherhood, it often takes a lot of hard work to get the fundamentals right. AIMS makes information and articles freely available on its website as a public service. We also provide advice and support to individual parents and professionals at no charge. We receive no government or charitable funding, and rely solely on donations, membership subscriptions and the efforts of our volunteers. Please help AIMS to help others by joining AIMS or making a donation.

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Code of Conduct for Members and ICAC Note: This briefing paper outlines the background provisions of the Code of Conduct. It cannot comprehensively cover every aspect of the Code's application, and Members seeking advice about particular matters should contact the Parliamentary Ethics Adviser or seek private legal advice. The New South Wales Legislative Assembly adopted a Code of Conduct for its members for the first time on 5 May 1998. (The same code applies to members of the New South Wales Legislative Council.) The resolution adopting the code of conduct for the current Parliament was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 8 May 2007 with an amendment being made to the Code in June 2007. The Code of Conduct that has been agreed to by both Houses is as follows: Preamble to the Code of Conduct The Members of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council have reached agreement on a Code of Conduct which is to apply to all Members of Parliament. Members of Parliament recognise that they are in a unique position of being responsible to the electorate. The electorate has the right to dismiss them from office at regular elections. Members of Parliament acknowledge their responsibility to maintain the public trust placed in them by performing their duties with honesty and integrity, respecting the law and the institution of Parliament, and using their influence to advance the common good of the people of New South Wales. Members of Parliament acknowledge that their principal responsibility in serving as Member is to the people of New South Wales. THE CODE Disclosure of conflict of interest Members of Parliament must take all reasonable steps to declare any conflict of interest between their private financial interests and decisions in which they participate in the execution of their office. This may be done through declaring their interests on the Register of Disclosures of the relevant House or through declaring their interest when speaking on the matter in the House or a Committee, or in any other public and appropriate manner. A conflict of interest does not exist where the member is only affected as a member of the public or a member of a broad class. Bribery A Member must not knowingly or improperly promote any matter, vote on any bill or resolution or ask any question in the Parliament or its Committees in return for any remuneration, fee, payment, reward or benefit in kind, of a private nature, which the Member has received, is receiving or expects to receive. A Member must not knowingly or improperly promote any matter, vote on any bill or resolution or ask any question in the Parliament or its Committees in return for any remuneration, fee, payment, reward or benefit in kind, of a private nature, which any of the following persons has received, is receiving or expects to receive: A member of the Member's family; A business associate of the Member; or Any other person or entity from whom the Member expects to receive a financial benefit. A breach of the prohibition on bribery constitutes a substantial breach of this Code of Conduct. Gifts Members must declare all gifts and benefits received in connection with their official duties, in accordance with the requirements for the disclosure of pecuniary interests. Members must not accept gifts that may pose a conflict of interest or which might give the appearance of an attempt to improperly influence the Member in the exercise of his or her duties. Members may accept political contributions in accordance with part 6 of the Election Funding Act 1981. Use of public resources Members must apply the public resources to which they are granted access according to any guidelines or rules about the use of those resources. Use of confidential information Members must not knowingly and improperly use official information which is not in the public domain, or information obtained in confidence in the course of their parliamentary duties, for the private benefit of themselves or others. Duties as a Member of Parliament It is recognised that some members are non-aligned and others belong to political parties. Organised parties are a fundamental part of the democratic process and participation in their activities is within the legitimate activities of Members of Parliament. Secondary employment or engagements Members must take all reasonable steps to disclose at the start of a parliamentary debate: the identity of any person by whom they are employed or engaged or by whom they were employed or engaged in the last two years (but not if it was before the Member was sworn in as a Member); the identity of any client of any such person or any former client who benefited from a Member's services within the previous two years (but not if it was before the Member was sworn in as a Member); and the nature of the interest held by the person, client or former client in the parliamentary debate. This obligation only applies if the Member is aware, or ought to be aware, that the person, client or former client may have an interest in the parliamentary debate which goes beyond the general interest of the public. This disclosure obligation does not apply if a Member simply votes on a matter; it will only apply when he or she participates in a debate. If the Member has already disclosed the information in the Member's entry in the pecuniary interest register, he or she is not required to make a further disclosure during the parliamentary debate. This resolution has continuing effect unless and until amended or rescinded by resolution of the House. This code forms part of the web of definitional terms of corrupt conduct in sections 8 and 9 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988. Section 8 of the Act is an inclusive provision which specifies the kind of acts that might constitute corrupt conduct. This section defines corrupt conduct as the dishonest or partial exercise of official functions, or breach of public trust or the misuse of information or material which was acquired in the exercise of official functions. Section 9 is an exclusionary provision, establishing the boundaries of corrupt conduct. An act mentioned in section 8 will not constitute corrupt conduct unless it would amount to either: a criminal offence; a disciplinary offence; or reasonable grounds for dismissing, dispensing with the services of or otherwise terminating the services of a public official. In the case of conduct of a Minister of the Crown or a member of a House of Parliament -- a substantial breach of an applicable code of conduct. As noted, subsection (d) above was introduced through the 1994 amendments to the ICAC legislation so that an act by a Minister or member could also amount to corrupt conduct if it amounts to a substantial breach of an applicable code of conduct. An applicable code of conduct is defined in the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 as, firstly, in the case of a Minister, a ministerial code of conduct prescribed or adopted for the purposes of section 9 by the regulations, and, secondly, in the case of a member of Parliament (including a Minister of the Crown), a code of conduct adopted for the purposes of the section by resolution of the House concerned. Under the provisions of the Act, the Legislative Assembly is required to appoint a committee to carry out functions in relation to the Code of Conduct, including reviewing the code at least once every four years. (Section 72E of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 . The designated committee for purposes of the Act is the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics see VP 04/12/2003, pp. 536-7). The code was last reviewed in 2006 by the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics. (See the report of the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics, Review of the Proposed Amendments to the Code of Conduct and Draft Constitution (Disclosure by Members) Regulation 2006 , September 2006). Background In 1988, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established with jurisdiction over all "public officials". Public official was defined to include officers in the Parliament, government departments, statutory authorities and local councils, as well as parliamentarians and local councillors, judges and magistrates. Those working in the private sector and general community who are not public officials may be covered if their conduct adversely affects or could adversely affect the honest or impartial exercise of a public official's official functions. The principal functions of the ICAC are to: investigate, expose and prevent corruption involving or affecting public authorities or public officials; and educate public authorities, public officials and members of the public about corruption and its detrimental effects on public administration and on the community. (See information on "What is the ICAC?" http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/go/the-icac ) The ICAC does not punish offences nor does it have any prosecutorial role. Its role is to protect the public interest and to prevent breaches of public trust by exposing and minimising corruption. The legislation establishing the Commission has incorporated many amendments since its assent as a result of court challenges and anomalies that have been recognised in the legislation. Of note is the New South Wales Court of Appeal decision in Greiner and Moore v Independent Commission Against Corruption. Greiner v ICAC (1992) 28 NSWLR 125. This court case concerned an ICAC inquiry into the appointment of a former member of the Liberal Party and Minister of that Government, Dr Metherell, to a senior public service position as an alleged inducement to resign his parliamentary seat. The former Premier (Mr Greiner) and former Minister (Mr Moore) appealed the decision in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and a judgment was brought down that the ICAC's finding was made without, or in excess of jurisdiction, was a nullity, and was wrong in law. In 1994 the Parliament passed an amendment to the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 in response to continued debate following this decision. The ensuring amendment to correct this anomaly expanded the jurisdiction of the Commission in relation to Ministers of the Crown and members of Parliament. This expanded jurisdiction enables the ICAC to investigate an allegation that a Minister or member of Parliament has breached a code of conduct applicable to that Minister or member, if the alleged breach was substantially of a corrupt nature.( Section 122 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 precludes any action contrary to Article 9 of the Bill of Rights and thus parliamentary privilege.) The link between the Code of Conduct and the Members' Handbook Under the Code of Conduct "Members must apply the public resources to which they are granted access according to any guidelines or rules about the use of those resources." The preface to the Legislative Assembly Members' Handbook explains that the handbook "has legal status as a set of guidelines for the appropriate use of facilities, services and entitlements provided to members of the Legislative Assembly." The handbook sets out guidelines for the conduct of members in regard to such matters as travel entitlements. It explains the relationship between the guidelines, the Code and the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 in the following terms: Failure to use public resources in accordance with the guidelines detailed in the Members' Handbook amounts to a breach of the Members' Code of Conduct which may, in turn, amount to corrupt conduct under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 , even if the conduct is not otherwise illegal.

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You grew up in the 90s if . . . This decade had so much going for it, at least those of us who grew up in the 90s think so. So join us and let's travel down nostalgia road reminiscing about the good ole days we like to call the 1990s. If you remember all these fond memories then you too are 90's kid. Without further ado, you grew up in the 90s if . . . You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school You remember reading "Goosebumps" You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, wax off" 'Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?' was both a game and a TV game show

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More than a Vignette: The Simple Secrets of Dodging and Burning On the wonderful journey through the world of photography many of us have points where we stop to smell the roses for a bit. Maybe we change from shooting landscapes to portraits or delve into the miraculous details of the macro world. Either way, after a shoot we are inevitably left with some post-processing finesse to add to our images. If you are like me, you can never learn too many techniques to give your images some spark or flair hoping that the final result captures the viewer's attention, making them stop for that split second to admire the magnificence of your capture. So lets add a gourmet recipe to your photography cookbook and give you a simple, elegant way to add that extra special spice to your photos. As you peruse the photo collections of your peers you will find that many photographers use vignettes that darken the corners or edges of their images while leaving the central area of the photo lighter. Why do they use this technique? It is likely that most of you already know that as you look at a photo, the eye is naturally drawn to lighter areas of the photo and away form darker areas. In the days of the darkroom, negatives were dodged (lightened) and burned (darkened) for this same purpose. Thus, the vignette is one of the simplest ways to guide the viewer's eye toward your central subject. Let's delve into this idea with a little more depth. If we are using vignettes to focus the eye of our viewer and we can all agree that the viewer is the one responsible for deeming whether our artistic endeavor is view worthy, then this business of lightening and darkening in an image is pretty powerful stuff. So why not use this lightening and darkening in a pre-meditated way to take the eye on a narrated, guided tour of our image? Think about that statement for a second. It's like having parallel park assist on a new vehicle. We can control where we want the viewer's eye to park. Let's start with seeing the simple and subtle use of this technique in an image I took while on a trip with a good friend to Portland, Oregon. This is Punchbowl Falls, one of the many gorgeous waterfalls in the Portland area. When you look at this photo, the lightness of the water automatically draws you into the majestic waterfall roaring down into the creek where the rippling torrents slowly meander out towards the bottom of the frame. As you look further, you see the lush, green vegetation surrounding the scene in an explosion of growth, however, then the eye goes right back to that waterfall. The only thing you don't see is me, standing barefoot, and ankle deep in the middle of the creek, balancing on a few rocks praying that I can get the shot before the hypothermia sets in. Now, let me show you an overlay of how I used this lightening and darkening technique in a subtle yet calculated way to get you to drawn into the scene and experience the full gravity of it. Bingo! I have selectively lightened the areas outlined in red and darkened the areas outlined in blue and all of those leading lines guide your eye right back to the middle of the photo. The key is that it is not totally obvious that this is happening when you look at the original. It is a subtle yet wonderfully effective method to help further enhance the visual impact of your photo. Now let's get to the meat and potatoes of how this is done. There are several ways to lighten and darken areas of an image and really any technique you prefer can work, but I like to do this in Photoshop just cause that is where I am comfortable working. Once my image is open I hold down the Alt/Option key (PC/Mac) and click on the new layer icon to bring up a new layer dialogue box. In the Dial ogue box I change the blend mode to soft light and check the box to fill the layer with 50% Gray. What this does is give me a layer on which everything that I paint that is darker than 50% gray gets darker and anything I paint lighter than 50% gray gets lighter. I then get a soft edge brush set to an opacity of anywhere between 4-8%. I like to keep opacity low so I can just lightly layer in the effect with each brush stroke with a lot of control as to how much I am adding. Next, I paint anywhere I want darker in black and anywhere I want lighter in white. Remember the key is to keep in mind how you want the image to be visualized by the viewer and plan your brush strokes accordingly. I do many separate brush strokes in each area until I start seeing the effect set-in. Now, I know some die hard Photoshop enthusiasts are saying why not do separate layers for the dark and light areas so each is independent of the other? That certainly could be done, but I try to keep my number of layers to a minimum so I don't bog down my system and I find that if I have gone too dark somewhere then I just paint over it again with white to lighten it and vice versa. If you over do it a bit, you can always decrease the opacity of the layer itself. Now for that little extra something just to make it all transition smoothly. I like to go to Filter->Blur->Gaussian blur and add about anywhere from a 10-30 pixel radius of Gaussian blur to the effect to get a smoother and more subtle look. This is my secret sauce so to speak and I find it does wonders especially when applying this effect to portraits. Portraits? Did he just say portraits? You bet! I apply this same effect to highlight cheekbones, brow lines, accentuate hair highlights, etc... Usually with portraits I find that my end step Gaussian blur pixel radius is a lot higher than for landscapes and often keep it set at 30. Here are a couple more images where I have successfully used this technique in different ways. So now you are equipped with yet another pearl in your post-processing repertoire. I just hope you remember that it is not just a technique, but it is a guided visual tour through your photo. Use it to enhance drama, create mood, or simply just to de-emphasize some of those more distracting elements in your photo. Now, get out there and give it a try. Your viewers have bought their tickets and are waiting for you to guide their way! Alex Smith is a photographer and blogger out of Denver, Colorado. His blog Shutterhogs.com is dedicated towards making better photography easier for everyone. More of his work can be viewed at alexsmith88.500px.com . Guest Contributor This post was written by a guest contributor to DPS. Please see their details in the post above. Become a Contributor : Check out Write for DPS page for details about how YOU can share your photography tips with the DPS community. I went back and forth on whether or not to post the before and after shots for the additional photos. Ultimately, I thought about two things: 1) I wanted the reader to think about how the technique was used differently for each photo. 2) I had a hard time with posting a photo of an attractive young woman with red and blue lines drawn over her face. Lol! Yep. Thats how I do mine too. In HDR, I do two layers of D+B. One as a copy background, using the dodge and burn too, playing with the opacity till I am happy. Then another using a 50% gray fill layer, ( as mentioned above ), and playing around with the opacity after application. I find with both d+b layers, the photos colour and "ping" factor is even better. I will try the blur, next time I do a hdr, see how it looks! Great post! A really important tool to understand! I read your 8 tips on sports photography and liked it so I followed the link. My name is George and I live in Queens N.Y. I would like to do what you do, like for instance shoot the Jets playing in Met Life Stadium! Of course you don't know me but if you could give me some tips on how to get started that would be great. I don't have school experience but I'm good and creative. Hi Alex. This article has come at just the right time for me as I am focusing very much on what this article handles, I have been trying ti out and it has some very nice results, although I think to get it just right I will have to practice a lot. So thanks and I like this method very much and will be working to get it right. Dewan, Thanks for the nice comment. I am thrilled that you have found it helpful. Like most photoshop effects I have found that subtlety is key and that lightly brushing in the effect with very low opacity brush works better than doing too much with each stroke. Usually, I will get it to where I like how it looks then back down the opacity of the entire layer just a touch to make sure I have not overdone it. What's Your Preference? Daily Digest Each day we send out a quick email to thousands of DPS readers to notify them of updates. This email is just short excerpt of the first few lines of our latest post with a link if you want to read it all. You can unsubscribe from this this service at any time. This service is provided by a third party (Feedburner) and you can subscribe to it by leaving your email address in the following field and confirming your subscription when you get an email asking you to do so. Enter your email address for Daily Updates: Weekly Summary For those wanting a weekly summary of what happens on this site this free email newsletter is probably your best option. It includes a summary of the tips posted to the site each week. This newsletter is subscribed to by over 25000 readers (many who also subscribe to the other options above) - come join the community! To subscribe to this weekly newsletter simply add your email address to the following field and then follow the confirmation prompts. You will be able to unsubscribe at any time.

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Consultant in the Temps chair : Sandi Mahlli What was your first placement in recruitment? Customer Service Officer for the Financial Times How did you get into temporary recruitment? I went to register with the agency I ended up working for -- they felt I had some great skills to become a recruitment consultant and it all started from there in 2004! I was completely new to recruitment and didnt know what I would enjoy in terms of a temp or perm desk so ran a dual desk which I loved as it gave me experience in both areas. What do you enjoy the most about it? I enjoy that no 2 days are the same and it can be very fast paced sometimes. You might get a call from a Client that needs someone asap which I love as I like that challenge to try and find that right person as quick as I can. What are the main challenges of working in this division? I find that when temporary workers are available for work, they would ideally like something to start asap but I can find on some occasions that if a Client is interested in the candidate and takes too long in the process and the temp workers gets offered something elsewhere we unfortunately lose that person and its back to square one of the process! What are the three most important qualities in a good temporaries controller ? Being organised, knowing your temps, using my own judgement on finding the right person for the booking. What's the difference between a good temp and an exceptional candidate ? A good temp is someone who calls to check in, lets me know of their availability and does not need to be chased for the timesheet when its due!! An exceptional candidate is someone who can work at any time, is reliable, keeps in constant contact on a regular basis, refers friends for work, good timekeeper and does the booking to the best of their ability. How has the recruitment industry changed since you started ? When I started in recruitment it was so different when I put temporary workers in to bookings. The Client did not want CV's for when they booked a temp and left the decision to me to get the right person, now Clients most of the time want a big selection of CV's and to interview for short bookings. What is the biggest lesson you have learnt in life? Live life to the max : ) What advice would you give to someone who wanted to work in your industry? If you are new to recruitment and really want to experience what it is about, see if any recruitment agencies would allow for you to shadow someone to see if it is something that you would enjoy. It is a role that has candidate contact, client contact, business development and account management so you would need to love all these areas to do the job well. What would you be doing if you weren't in recruitment? Running an amazing cafe in East London -- a place I love! This entry was posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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Just One Of Those Days Lyrics Sizzla Oh, ooh, I'm missing you, girl I'm missing you Dry cry, even tears Even my heart cries, but who cares Whose fault? No one but myself Things do happen words can't explain Beyond the human reasoning, joy mixed with pain People would spend time just for us to separate They don't want to see us reach nowhere Oh girl, and you know I care Why does it have to be this way? Can't tell you go, can't tell you to stay Just one of those days, just one of those days Am I too humble or ignorant? Things begun to fade, nothing seems important Oh, my girl has left me and gone Just don't want to see her in another arm The essence of her beauty and her charm The perfume still linger, oh damn Remember girl, where we coming from, oh I'm the one to whom you belong, whoa yeah Girl, you keep me strong You and you alone, no other one Why does it have to be this way? Can't tell you to go, can't tell you to stay Just one of those days, just one of those days It's looking to see her at my gate Listening to hear the phone rings by the fire place Now, somewhere out there is my girl Now, where can I find her in this world? Still not gonna break down nor be sad Even though I'm stressed out, fed up and feeling mad I just can't do without her, oh Jah Still a man got to try Why does it have to be this way? Can't tell her to go, can't tell her to stay Just one of those days, just one of those days Is this happening for real? Only if you know the vibes what I feel Still trying to do my best and I still won't lose my interest My girl, I love you so, really hate to see you go Why does it have to be this way? Can't tell you go, can't tell you stay Just one of those days, just one of those days Dry cry, even tears Even my heart cries but who cares Whose fault? No one but myself Things do happen words can't explain Beyond the human reasoning, joy mixed with pain People would spend time just for us to separate Oh, they don't want for us to reach nowhere Oh girl, you know I care Oh, why does it have to be this way? Can't tell her go, can't tell her to stay, oh Just one of those days, just one of those days

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5 Common Mistakes that Even Great Writers Make Writers make hundreds of mistakes, but most writers end up making the same mistakes over and over again -- often without even noticing. These repeated stumbles leave your writing dull and lifeless, and they eventually cause your readers to think your work always sounds the same. So here are 6 ways you can avoid common writing mistakes -- and what to do to really make your work shine: What's Your "Tell"? Just as every poker player has a "tell," writers have sets of words or phrases they tend to overuse, often without knowing it. These are the crutches we fall back on when inspiration or concentration levels are low, and they dull the shine of your writing. Here are some suspects you can look for in your own work: smell/sound/taste, watch/notice/observe, very/nice/great... Those are just suggestions, and you probably have your own personal "tell" set of words, so try to figure out what they are. Do a "find" search in your document for words you know you use frequently, and highlight these words as you uncover them in the text. How colourful did your page become? Can you make your sentences stronger by rewriting these words for new, more interesting ones? Replace your "tell" with something new no one yet suspects, and you'll soon move your writing up to the big money tables. Cut the Boring Teacher Tone You've probably had one of those clichd high-school teachers who talked in a boring monotone. You may not remember that teacher, of course, because you were asleep through most of class. Watch out -- it's easy to become the writing equivalent. If you've ever looked at a piece of your writing and thought, "This is SO dull," chances are that it's because of a monotonous sentence structure. Sentences of a similar length may be subconsciously perceived by readers as a dull tone. Try to vary sentence length through your piece. Make some short and sharp; others long and engaging. Long sentences (by their very nature) tend to drag the story out. They can be the equivalent of pauses in a narrative, stopping the action to convey information that the reader might need to know at that moment. Both structures have their uses, but always using one in particular can be boring to your readers. A good trick is to plot your sentence lengths on a graph and identify sets of sentences with similar lengths. Determine which sentence structure works best in each situation and try to rework them for variance. Your readers will thank you -- and stay awake. Rejoice in Your Verbs Verbs drive our writing. They excite and engage the reader. And they should be strong and active. But many writers end up accidentally hiding their verbs. It's a process called nominalisation , and it turns verbs into nouns. That weakens words and takes away their impact. It also confuses meaning, in some cases. For example, look at this sentence: "I need a change." Change is actually a verb, but in this case, it's been turned into a noun. It has become a "thing". Consider how that sentence sounds when the noun "change" is turned back into a verb: "I need to change." If you want to find hidden verbs in your writing, look for all the nouns you can find. Then ask yourself, "Can I pick this up and carry it? Can I touch it, feel it or see it? Can I buy it off the store shelf?" If the answer is no, then you've found a nominalization. You should be proud of your verbs -- they're your tools. And with the right tool for the task, your writing will improve. Ditch the Clichs Clichs are boring! They've been around the block and run their course (whoops!). They're what you write when you don't have the energy or inspiration to think of something original. It's all right to use clichs in your first draft, as thinking of a better metaphor may take time and interrupt your flow, but always try to cut clichs out when editing your work. Your readers don't want to see clichs. They want to see fresh, new metaphors that get them thinking in different and exciting ways. So when you find a clich in your writing, try to brainstorm. For example, if you're trying to replace, "She was happy as a lark," think of what else is happy, or think of situations in which you are happy and magnify them. Maybe you have a penchant for chocolate, which might lead to a metaphor involving Charlie and the Chocolate Factory : "She was as happy as if she'd found Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket." The Road to Hell is Paved with Adverbs Adverbs are evil. Often, they're redundant. ("Creeping stealthily," or, "whispering quietly", for example.) At other times, they just serve as a prop-up for weak verbs, like "go", "have" or "to be". In his book 'On Writing' , Stephen King wrote that adverbs are, "like dandelions. If you have one on your lawn, it looks pretty and unique. If you fail to root it out, however, you find five the next day . . . fifty the day after that . . . and then, my brothers and sisters, your lawn is totally, completely, and profligately covered with dandelions. By then you see them for the weeds they really are, but by then it's -- GASP!! -- too late." Post by Chris Banks Chris Banks is a writer for Pro Writing Aid the free website that can help you improve your writing. Pro Writing Aid is more than just a grammar checker; it's your personal online writing coach and editor. Get Your Free Updates If you liked this post, there's a lot more coming! Enter your email below and we'll send you content that rocks your world! We respect your email privacy. We'll never rent, sell, or otherwise share information we collect, because that'd be a violation of everything we believe in. All excellent advice, as relevant to writing for all purposes. The idea of writing tells always makes me think of writing narratives -- whenever I'm redrafting my creative writing it always baffles me how many times people smile, nod and snarl. First, Chris, your software looks really useful. I know a lot of people balk at paying to edit their work (even though they absolutely should). A tool like this is great because as you note in the information, this tool will clean up a lot of the stuff that is black and white (spelling, repeats etc) and then you can use a human editor for the developmental aspects. As far as your question about repeated mistakes, I wrote a blog post earlier this year about an overuse I started to catch in my writing. That is the use of the word "thing". Not sure when it crept in, but I was finding it quite a bit and now try to pay close attention to that one. Definitely one your software would catch I'm sure Cheryl, you're absolutely correct. Our software is designed to act as a complement to a professional editor to make sure that you get value for money from the editor by addressing all of the quick wins first. No computer could ever substitute for a professional editor but it can be a valuable tool for finding and addressing some of the flaws in your writing before spending money on an editor. I'm going to keep you/your site in mind and I've also connected on FB/Twitter. Hope to launch a new site for non-fiction writers in the near future and I can see potential benefits in working together.

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When you select the 'Remember me' option, your login information will be stored on your computer in the form of a cookie. When you visit Forkliftaction.com again, the stored login information will be retrieved automatically and you will not have to submit your login parameters (email address and password) each time you want to visit our members-only pages. A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. A cookie can't read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Cookies do not damage your system. You might struggle to get another two manufactors. Man down VNA are a thing of the past. These are low volume production now and built to old designs. The world will not miss them when the last is phased out. There are quite a few reach trucks manufactured today that lift to 12M that require a stacking aisle greater than 3M. Many of these are being replaced with articulated man down machines that lift to 12M and that operate in aisles of approx 2.1M. These are working with better performance results than reach trucks because of their reduced aisle size, greater lifting capacity, high performance lift and lower speeds and the ability to work indoors and out. Hi Goodie, Based on all the discussions, do agree that it is not a good idea to have a man-down truck for 13 meters. Usually, a person vision and judgement is good up to 6 meters. And if you want order picking, then a man-up will be the best. Operator goes up to 13 meters, pick up the goods and then he can go to another location to pick other items. PAPA is right Jungheinrich had not sell a single ETX515. Forkliftaction.com accepts no responsibility for forum content and requires forum participants to adhere to the rules. Click here for more information. FORUM GLOSSARY Click for description. FORUM A place for members to share ideas or ask questions. Every Forum is focused on a subject. Choose an area that is of interest. DISCUSSION A series of messages in chronological order; a conversation about a Forum subject. Start a new discussion with a question, a comment or an idea, and let fellow members respond. MESSAGES Each text contribution within a discussion, as posted by a member. All messages contain details about the author and the time of posting. Any member can contribute to any discussion in every forum. NICKNAME This is your unique Forum identity. You may choose your first name or any other nickname. It must be a unique name: "first in, first served". SIGNATURE A short message created in your Forum profile, which you may opt to attach to any of your messages. This could be a slogan, anecdote or greeting.

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Living in the back of beyond....... Hi, I'm Steve and I live in the highlands of scotland, not far from Loch Ness. My nearest big city or town is Inverness (35 miles), followed by Aberdeen (140). CIMA in their wisdom have decided to abandon Inverness as an examination centre, leaving me with a huge logistical problem. I have just taken my one remining paper (P3) and had to make the long trek, starting at 3am, in order to be at my desk on time. Not the best preparation for an exam and although I could have stayed somewhere local, the accommodation in Aberdeen is very expensive. Does anyone alse have a similar problem? I dont understand why CIMA can't have a centre in Inverness, is there a chronic shortage of invigilators up here? I'm hoping that after July I don't have this problem anymore but just in case.... PLEASE CIMA reinstate the Inverness centre, some of us live in remote areas and we need all the help we can get.

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About The Axis of Awesome are The World's Most Awesomest Comedy Band. In the incredible time that they have been together, they have done literally so much stuff. They have blown audiences away across Australia and around the world with their mixture of original comedy songs and pop parodies. Their Four Chord Song is one of the highest rated comedy video of all time on YouTube, and has received over 20 million hits. They have made TV appearances in Australia, the UK and Sweden and their albums "Scissors, Paper, ROCK!" and "Infinity Rock Explosion" and DVD "The Axis of Awesome Live" are hits with audiences worldwide. They recently picked up the Time Out Award for Best Australian Act at the Sydney Comedy Festival, and they are also recipients of the prestigious Moosehead Award for their first ever Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, "The Axis of Awesome Comeback Spectacular". Their most recent show "Songs in the Key of Awesome" had it's Australian premiere at The Sydney Opera house. The Axis of Awesome are currently touring the United States. They leave men laughing and women gasping (and also laughing), and before long you'll be laughing and/or gasping, depending on your gender. The Axis of Awesome are: Jordan Raskopoulos: Lead vocals. Star of stage and screen, Jordan is best known for his work on "The Ronnie Johns Half Hour" on Channel 10. His memorable characters and humorous lines were both memorable and humorous. Currently a National Theatresports Champion, Jordan was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival for his one-man show, "The Adventures of the Man With the Dominant Claw". Jordan enjoys Snickers bars and the music of David Bowie. Benny Davis: Keyboard, vocals. A classically trained musician, Benny brings some class to the Axis. And a portable keyboard. As an original member of the sketch comedy troupe "The Delusionists", Benny was a stand out in their 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Show. A regular cast member of almost every improvised comedy show in Sydney, Benny is a virtuoso on the keyboard. Benny enjoys Super Mario Galaxy on Nintendo Wii and the music of Billy Joel. Lee Naimo: Guitar, way way back up vocals. One of Sydney's best improvisers, Lee has made stuff up while touring Australia and internationally. Along with Jordan, Lee is a current National Theatresports Champion, and he is co-creator of the hit live show, "Scrabble Unscripted", which was a sold-out success at both the Melbourne and Sydney Cracker Comedy Festivals in 2006 and 2007. Lee enjoys sunshine and the music of Hannah Montanna.

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Description When a Web application provides the capability of deleting information, the server can provide a means to recover information that was deleted in error by a user. One approach is to delay deleting the data by merely marking it for deletion or moving it to a holding area (such as a trash can) and waiting some period of time before actually deleting it. During this time period, the user can request that the data be restored or can retrieve it from the holding area. Another approach is to record all delete transactions in such a way that data can be restored if requested by the user, such as in the edit history stored by wikis and source control applications.The retrievable information that is stored should be that which would be needed to correct the transaction. Examples A Web application allows users to set up folders and store data within them. Each folder and data item is accompanied by a checkbox to mark it for action, and two buttons, one to move and one to delete. If the user selects the delete button by mistake, large amounts of data could be lost. The application presents the data as deleted to the user right away, but schedules it for actual deletion in one week. During the week, the user may go into a "deleted items" folder and request any folder or data item awaiting actual deletion to be restored. Tests Procedure Identify functionality that allows deleting content Delete content and attempt to recover it. Check if deleted information can be recovered. Expected Results #3 is true. If this is a sufficient technique for a success criterion, failing this test procedure does not necessarily mean that the success criterion has not been satisfied in some other way, only that this technique has not been successfully implemented and can not be used to claim conformance.

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Shop around for everything - cheapest isnt always best, but value is... larger amount for the same price etc... Pay cash for goods rather than bank it - avoid bank charges ! Only spend what you can afford, if I have had a quiet week, I buy no stock - with being creative, I can still make the shop look full ! - overdrafts are great - but for a dire emergency! Dont buy the same product twice ! - sounds silly? not really - when you renew your car insurance (after shopping around of course) if it includes the same level of breakdown cover than your AA membership would - why pay separately for the AA membership? - see what I mean, it usually works out cheaper included. With 'special orders' - always get a deposit - no deposit, no order (I have been stitched up too many times !) and make sure the amount of the deposit covers the wholesale cost of the item - then if the customer does not return, it does not reduce your cashflow ! It's often surprising just how lots of small things add up. Quite a few times, I've taken out a "drill down" report for a client, for a heading such as office supplies and they've been amazed that hundreds of pounds have been spent for virtually nothing - i.e. no big single payments - just lots of fivers here and there. This is so true. Unfortunately we tend to justify the small ticket items but don't realise how much they really do add up! Shop around for everything - cheapest isnt always best, but value is... larger amount for the same price etc... Pay cash for goods rather than bank it - avoid bank charges ! Only spend what you can afford, if I have had a quiet week, I buy no stock - with being creative, I can still make the shop look full ! - overdrafts are great - but for a dire emergency! Dont buy the same product twice ! - sounds silly? not really - when you renew your car insurance (after shopping around of course) if it includes the same level of breakdown cover than your AA membership would - why pay separately for the AA membership? - see what I mean, it usually works out cheaper included. With 'special orders' - always get a deposit - no deposit, no order (I have been stitched up too many times !) and make sure the amount of the deposit covers the wholesale cost of the item - then if the customer does not return, it does not reduce your cashflow ! You clear here some most valuable points like Only spend what you can afford, Dont buy the same product twice and also i want to suggest here not to rush for the cheapest always because sometimes it is more worse and causes big quality and finance loss. The Following User Says Thank You to a4creations For This Useful Post:

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Every hospital and care home in England will have a doctor tasked with ensuring dementia patients are well looked after, under new Government plans The scheme is expected to be announced on top of plans for memory clinics "in every town" and extra training for doctors to spot the spot the illness in its early stages. But the national dementia strategy is not anticipated to include commitments of extra funding of research into the illness, which charities warn is vital to learn how to prevent the condition. Ministers are also expected to announce that a review into the use of so-called "chemical cosh" anti-psychotic drugs, estimated to kill more than 20,000 care home patients a year, will not be published until the spring. Alzheimer's charities described the strategy, first announced by ministers last summer, as a "huge let down". They said that they were also concerned about slow progress on a Government plan to hold a scientific symposium on dementia, designed to stimulate research. Related Articles More than 700,000 people in Britain suffer from dementia, with about 400,000 diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the most common form. Speaking at the weekend, Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, said that he wanted the strategy to reduce the "stigma" around the illness that meant it took three years for most patients to be diagnosed. But Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said that it was "astonishing" that the plan had ignored so many issues vital to tackling the disease. "This strategy is only the first step to tackling our dementia crisis, and it is a huge let down that so much has been left out," she said. "It is astonishing that dementia research is not a fundamental component of this strategy, and disappointing that the review of anti-psychotic drugs has been delayed yet again. "It is not clear if sufficient funds will be made available to fulfil what is included in the strategy. "The government spends about as much on dementia research each year as it costs to build a single mile of motorway. Dementia costs our economy 17 billion a year -- more than cancer, heart disease and stroke combined -- yet receives eight times less government support for research than cancer. This economic burden will triple within thirty years." She added: "If we do not commit to investing a lot more in research, the care costs could cripple our health service within a generation."

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Despite lacking an overseas empire , Poland maintained a slow but steady level of economic development. The cultural hubs of interwar Poland – Warsaw , Kraków , Poznań , Wilno and Lwów – became major European cities and the sites of internationally acclaimed universities and other institutions of higher education. By 1939, the Republic had become "one of Europe's major powers". [ 1 ] Nevertheless, the Polish economist Witold Gadomski has calculated that the Republic was a much poorer nation than contemporary Poland. According to his estimates, Poland's gross national product in 1929 was between 50 and 60 billion US$s, which compares starkly with an estimate in 2007 of 422 billion dollars. In 2007, Poland's share in international trade was 1.1%, while in 1937, it was 0.8%. [ 2 ] On 5 November, in Lublin , the first Soviet of Delegates was created. On 6 November the Communists announced the creation of a Republic of Tarnobrzeg . The same day, a Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland was created in Lublin under the Socialist, Ignacy Daszyński . On Sunday, 10 November at 7 a.m., Józef Piłsudski , newly freed from 16-month imprisonment by the German authorities at Magdeburg , returned by train to Warsaw. Piłsudski, together with Colonel Kazimierz Sosnkowski , was greeted at Warsaw's rail station by Regent Zdzisław Lubomirski and Colonel Adam Koc . Next day, due to his popularity and support from most political parties, the Regency Council appointed Piłsudski Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. On 14 November, the Council dissolved itself and transferred all its authority to Piłsudski as Chief of State ( Naczelnik Państwa ). After consultation with Piłsudski, Daszyński's government dissolved itself and a new government was created under Jędrzej Moraczewski . In 1918, Italy was the first country in Europe to recognise Poland's sovereignty. [ 4 ] The Polish government-in-exile operated in Paris and later London, between 1939 and 1990, maintaining that it was the only legal and legitimate representative of the Polish nation. In 1990, the last president in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski handed the insignia to Lech Wałęsa , signifying continuity between the Second and Third republics. The Second Polish Republic was a parliamentary democracy from 1919 (see Small Constitution of 1919 ) to 1926, with the President having limited powers. The Parliament elected him, and he could appoint the Prime Minister as well as the government with the Sejm 's (lower house's) approval, but he could only dissolve the Sejm with the Senate 's consent. Moreover, his power to pass decrees was limited by the requirement that the Prime Minister and the appropriate other Minister had to verify his decrees with their signatures. Poland was one of the first countries in the world to recognize Women's suffrage . Women in Poland were granted the right to vote on 28 November 1918, with a decree of Józef Piłsudski. [ 7 ] Poland had a large army, with 283,000 on active duty, in 37 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry brigades, and two armored brigades, plus artillery units. Another 700,000 men served in the reserves. [ 9 ] The units were poorly equipped and poorly trained. The high command was not well regarded and planning was inadequate and haphazard. The war plans failed as soon as Germany invaded, as 10 divisions were never mobilized and others were sent to the wrong places. The limited defense budget allowed minimal mechanization; most weapons were purchased abroad, and foreign exchange was scarce. [ 10 ] PZL , the state aviation company, in 1934 developed the PZL P.11 , the most modern fighter in Europe. In the late 1930s its successor the PZL P.24 was even better armed and faster, but Poland exported its entire production to earn currency, forcing the use of obsolete PZL P.7 and P-11 fighters. The PZL.37 Łoś was an excellent twin-engine medium bomber; only a few dozen were available when the war began. After regaining her independence Poland was faced with major economic difficulties. In addition to the devastation wrought by World War I, the exploitation of the Polish economy by the German and Russian occupying powers, and the sabotage performed by retreating armies, the new republic was faced with the task of economically unifying disparate economic regions, which had previously been part of different countries. [ 14 ] Within the borders of the Republic were the remnants of three different economic systems, with five different currencies (the German mark , the Russian ruble , the Austrian crown , the Polish marka and the Ostrubel ) [ 14 ] and with little or no direct infrastructural links. The situation was so bad that neighboring industrial centers as well as major cities lacked direct railroad links, because they had been parts of different nations. For example, there was no direct railroad connection between Warsaw and Kraków until 1934. This situation was described by Melchior Wańkowicz in his book Sztafeta . On top of this was the massive destruction left after both World War I and the Polish–Soviet War . There was also a great economic disparity between the eastern (commonly called Poland B ) and western (called Poland A ) parts of the country, with the western half, especially areas that had belonged to the German Empire being much more developed and prosperous. Frequent border closures and a customs war with Germany also had negative economic impacts on Poland. In 1924 prime minister and economic minister Władysław Grabski introduced the złoty as a single common currency for Poland (it replaced the Polish marka ), which remained a stable currency. The currency helped Poland to bring under control the massive hyperinflation, the only country in Europe which was able to do this without foreign loans or aid. [ 15 ] Average annual growth rate ( GDP per capita ) was 5.24% in 1920–29 and 0.34% in 1929–38. [ 12 ] Hostile relations with neighbours were a major problem for the economy of interbellum Poland. In the year 1937, foreign trade with all neighbours amounted to only 21% of Poland's total. Trade with Lithuania (0% of total) and the Soviet Union (0,8%) was virtually nonexistent. Czechoslovakia accounted for 3,9% of Polish foreign trade, Latvia for 0,3%, Romania for 0,8%, and Germany, Poland's most important neighbour, for 14,3%. By mid-1938, after the Anschluss , Greater Germany was responsible for as much as 23% of Polish foreign trade. The basis of Poland's gradual recovery after the Great Depression were mass economic development plans (see Four Year Plan ), which oversaw the building of three key infrastructural elements. The first was the establishment of the Gdynia seaport, which allowed Poland to completely bypass Gdańsk (which was under heavy German pressure to boycott Polish coal exports). The second was construction of the 500-kilometer rail connection between Upper Silesia and Gdynia, called Polish Coal Trunk-Line , which served freight trains with coal. The third was the creation of a central industrial district, named COP – Central Industrial Region ( Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy ). Unfortunately, these developments were interrupted and largely destroyed by the German and Soviet invasion and the start of World War II. [ 16 ] Among other achievements of interbellum Poland there are Stalowa Wola (a brand new city, built in a forest around a steel mill), Mościce (now a district of Tarnów , with a large nitrate factory), and creation of a central bank . There were several trade fairs, with the most popular being Poznań International Fair , Lwów's Targi Wschodnie , and Wilno's Targi Północne . Polish Radio had ten stations (see Radio stations in interwar Poland ), with the eleventh one planned to be opened in the autumn of 1939. Furthermore, in 1935 Polish engineers began working on the TV services. By early 1939, experts of the Polish Radio built four TV sets. First movie broadcast by experimental Polish TV was Barbara Radziwiłłówna , and by 1940, regular TV service was scheduled to begin operation. [ 17 ] Industry and communications in Poland before the start of World War II According to the 1939 Statistical Yearbook of Poland, total length of railways of Poland (as for 31 December 1937) was 20 118 kilometers. Rail density was 5.2 km. per 100 km 2 . Railways were very dense in western part of the country, while in the east, especially Polesie , rail was non-existent in some counties. During the interbellum period, Polish government constructed several new lines, mainly in central part of the country (see also Polish State Railroads Summer 1939 ). Construction of extensive Warszawa Główna railway station was never finished due to the war, and Polish railroads were famous for their punctuality (see Luxtorpeda , Strzała Bałtyku , Latający Wilnianin ). In the interbellum, road network of Poland was dense, but the quality of the roads was very poor – only 7% of all roads was paved and ready for automobile use, and none of the major cities were connected with each other by a good-quality highway. In the mid-1930s, Poland had 340,000 kilometers of roads, but only 58,000 had hard surface (gravel, cobblestone or sett ), and 2,500 were modern, with asphalt or concrete surface. In different parts of the country, there were sections of paved roads, which suddenly ended, and were followed by dirt roads. [ 18 ] Poor condition of roads was the result of both long-lasting foreign dominance, and inadequate funding. On 29 January 1931, Polish Parliament created State Road Fund, whose purpose was to collect money for construction and conservation of roads. The government drafted a 10-year plan, with road priorities: a highway from Wilno, through Warsaw and Cracow, to Zakopane (called Marshall Pilsudski Highway), asphalt highways from Warsaw to Poznań and Łódź, as well as Warsaw ring road. However, the plan turned out to be too ambitious, as there was not enough money in the national budget. In January 1938, Polish Road Congress estimated that Poland should spend on roads three times more money to keep up with Western Europe. In the Second Polish Republic, the majority of inhabitants lived in the countryside (75% in 1921), and their existence depended on land. Farmers made 65% of the population, while about 1% were landowners. In 1929, agricultural production made 65% of Poland's GNP. [ 20 ] After 123 years of partitions, regions of the country were very unevenly developed. Lands of former German Empire were most advanced – in Greater Poland and Pomerelia , crops were on Western European level. [ 21 ] The situation was much worse in former Congress Poland , Kresy , and former Galicia , where agriculture was most backward and primitive, with a large number of small farms, unable to succeed on both domestic and international market. Furthermore, another problem was overpopulation of the countryside, which resulted in chronic unemployment. Living conditions were so bad that in several regions, such as counties inhabited by the Hutsuls , there was permanent starvation. [ 22 ] Farmers rebelled against the government (see: 1937 peasant strike in Poland ), and the situation began to change in the late 1930s, due to construction of several factories for the Central Industrial Region , which gave employment to thousands of countryside residents. In the 1920s there was a trade war with Germany, involving tariffs and restrictions. After 1933 the trade war ended and new agreements regulated and promoted trade. Germany was Poland's largest trading partner, followed by Britain. In October 1938 Germany granted a credit of Rm 60,000,000 (120,000,000 zloty, or £4,800,000). Germany would deliver factory equipment and machinery in return for Polish timber and agricultural produce. This new trade was to be in addition to the existing German-Polish trade agreements. [ 23 ] In 1919, the Polish government introduced compulsory education for all children aged 7 to 14, in an effort to limit illiteracy, which was widespread, especially in eastern Poland. The process was slow, but by 1939, 90% of children attended school. In 1921, one-third of citizens of Poland was illiterate (38% in the countryside), by 1931, illiteracy level dropped to 23% overall (27% in the countryside), [ 2 ] and fell to 18% in 1937. [ 24 ] In 1932, Minister of Religion and Education Janusz Jędrzejewicz carried out a reform which introduced the following levels of education: middle school ( szkoła średnia ), with two levels – 4 grades of comprehensive middle school and 2 grades of specified high school (classical, humanistic, natural and mathematical). A graduate of middle school received a small matura , while a graduate of high school received a big matura , which enabled them to seek university-level education. Historically, Poland was a nation of many nationalities. This was especially true after independence was regained in the wake of World War I. The census of 1921 allocates 30.8% of the population in the minority. [ 26 ] This was further exacerbated with the Polish victory in the Polish–Soviet War , and the large territorial gains in the east, made by Poland as a consequence. According to the 1931 Polish Census : 68.9% of the population was Polish, 13.9% were Ukrainians, around 10% Jewish, 3.1% Belarusians, 2.3% Germans and 2.8% – others, including Lithuanians , Czechs and Armenians . Also, there were smaller communities of Russians , and Gypsies . The situation of minorities was a complex subject and changed during the period. [ 27 ] Poland was also a nation of many religions. In 1921, 16,057,229 Poles (approx. 62.5%) were Roman (Latin) Catholics , 3,031,057 citizens of Poland (approx. 11.8%) were Eastern Rite Catholics (mostly Ukrainian Greek Catholics and Armenian Rite Catholics ), 2,815,817 (approx. 10.95%) were Greek Orthodox , 2,771,949 (approx. 10.8%) were Jewish, and 940,232 (approx. 3.7%) were Protestants (mostly Lutheran Evangelical ). [ 28 ] By 1931 Poland had the second largest Jewish population in the world, with one-fifth of all the world's Jews residing within its borders (approx. 3,136,000). [ 26 ] Urban population of interbellum Poland was rising steadily – in 1921, only 24% of Poles lived in the cities, in the late 1930s, the ratio grew to 30%. In more than a decade, the population of Warsaw grew by 200,000, Łódź by 150,000, and Poznań – by 100,000. This was due not only to internal migration, but also extremely high birth rate. [ 2 ] Pillar near the summit of Popadia in Gorgany . During the Second Republic, this marked the Polish-Czechoslovak border. The administrative division of the Republic was based on a three-tier system. On the lowest rung were the gminy , local town and village governments akin to districts or parishes. These were then grouped together into powiaty (akin to counties) which, in turn, were grouped as województwa ( voivodeships , akin to provinces). The Second Polish Republic was mainly flat, with average elevation of 223 m above sea level (after World War II and its border changes, the average elevation of Poland decreased to 173 m). Only 13% of territory, along the southern border, was higher than 300 m. The highest elevation was Mount Rysy , which rises 2,499 m in the Tatra Range of the Carpathians, 95 km south of Kraków . Between October 1938 and September 1939, the highest elevation was Lodowy Szczyt (known in the Slovak language as Ľadový štít ), which rises 2,627 meters above sea level. The largest lake was Lake Narach . The country's total area, after annexation of Zaolzie , was 389,720 km 2 , it extended 903 km from north to south and 894 km from east to west. On 1 January 1938, total length of boundaries was 5,529 km, including: 140 kilometers of coastline (out of which 71 kilometers were made by the Hel Peninsula ), Almost 75% of the territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was 180,300 km 2 ), the Niemen (51,600 km 2 ), the Odra (46,700 km 2 ) and the Daugava (10,400 km 2 ). The remaining part of the country was drained southward, into the Black Sea , by the rivers that drain into the Dnieper ( Pripyat , Horyn and Styr , all together 61,500 km 2 ) as well as Dniester (41,400 km 2 ) Moklak, Jaroslaw. The Lemko Region in the Second Polish Republic: Political and Interdenominational Issues 1918–1939 (2013); covers Old Rusyns, Moscophiles and National Movement Activists, & the political role of the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches

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LeMay was born in Columbus , Ohio , on November 15, 1906. His father, Erving LeMay, was at times an ironworker and general handyman, but he never held a job longer than a few months. His mother, Arizona Dove (Carpenter) LeMay, [ 4 ] did her best to hold her family together. With very limited income, his family moved around the country as his father looked for work, going as far as Montana and California. Eventually they returned to his native city of Columbus. LeMay attended Columbus public schools, graduating from Columbus South High School, and studied civil engineering at Ohio State University . Working his way through college, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering . While at Ohio State he was a member of the National Society of Pershing Rifles and the Professional Engineering Fraternity Theta Tau . He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in October 1929. He received a regular commission in the United States Army Air Corps in January 1930. While finishing at Ohio State, he took flight training at Norton Field in Columbus, in 1931–32. [ 5 ] On June 9, 1934, he married Helen E. Maitland (died 1992), with whom he had one child, Patricia Jane LeMay Lodge, known as Janie. LeMay became a pursuit pilot and, while stationed in Hawaii, became one of the first members of the Air Corps to receive specialized training in aerial navigation. In August 1937, as navigator under pilot and commander Caleb V. Haynes on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , he helped locate the battleship Utah despite being given the wrong coordinates by Navy personnel, in exercises held in misty conditions off California, after which the group of B-17s bombed it with water bombs. For Haynes again, in May 1938 he navigated three B-17s over 610 miles (980 km) of the Atlantic Ocean to intercept the Italian liner Rex to illustrate the ability of land-based airpower to defend the American coasts. In 1940 he was navigator for Haynes on the prototype Boeing XB-15 heavy bomber, flying a survey from Panama over the Galapagos islands. [ 6 ] War brought rapid promotion and increased responsibility. When his crews were not flying missions, they were subjected to relentless training, as he believed that training was the key to saving their lives. Throughout his career, LeMay was widely and fondly known among his troops as "Old Iron Pants," and the "Big Cigar". [ 1 ] [ 7 ] Robert McNamara described LeMay's character, in a discussion of a report into high abort rates in bomber missions during World War II : One of the commanders was Curtis LeMay—Colonel in command of a B-24 [ sic ] group. He was the finest combat commander of any service I came across in war. But he was extraordinarily belligerent, many thought brutal. He got the report. He issued an order. He said, 'I will be in the lead plane on every mission. Any plane that takes off will go over the target, or the crew will be court-martialed.' The abort rate dropped overnight. Now that's the kind of commander he was. [ 10 ] LeMay soon concluded that the techniques and tactics developed for use in Europe against the Luftwaffe were unsuitable against Japan. His Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers flying from China were dropping their bombs near their targets only 5% of the time. Operational losses of aircraft and crews were unacceptably high owing to Japanese daylight air defenses and continuing mechanical problems with the B-29. In January 1945, LeMay was transferred from China to relieve Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell as commander of the XXI Bomber Command in the Marianas . [ 8 ] [ 9 ] He became convinced that high-altitude precision bombing would be ineffective, given the usually cloudy weather over Japan. Furthermore, bombs dropped from the B-29s at high altitude (20,000+ feet) were often blown off of their trajectories by a consistently powerful jet stream over the Japanese home islands, which dramatically reduced the effectiveness of the high-altitude raids. Because Japanese air defenses made daytime bombing below jet stream-affected altitudes too perilous, LeMay finally switched to low-altitude nighttime incendiary attacks on Japanese targets, a tactic senior commanders had been advocating for some time. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Japanese cities were largely constructed of combustible materials such as wood and paper. Precision high-altitude daylight bombing was ordered to proceed only when weather permitted or when specific critical targets were not vulnerable to area bombing . General LeMay was informed by a senior staff member, Colonel William P. Fisher, that bomber pilots were turning back from these low altitude bombing runs due to heavy anti-aircraft fire from Japanese defense forces. Fisher suggested to LeMay that crews who achieved successful strike rates should be rewarded by being released from their deployment. LeMay implemented this unorthodox plan and the strike rate went up to eighty percent. [ 11 ] LeMay commanded subsequent B-29 Superfortress combat operations against Japan, including massive incendiary attacks on 67 Japanese cities. This included the firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9–10, 1945, the most destructive bombing raid of the war. [ 12 ] For this first attack, LeMay ordered the defensive guns removed from 325 B-29s, loaded each plane with Model M-47 incendiary clusters , magnesium bombs, white phosphorus bombs, and napalm , and ordered the bombers to fly in streams at 5,000 to 9,000 feet (1,500 to 2,700 m) over Tokyo. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] The first pathfinder airplanes arrived over Tokyo just after midnight on March 10 and marked the target area with a flaming "X." In a three-hour period, the main bombing force dropped 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs, killing 100,000 civilians, destroying 250,000 buildings, and incinerating 16 square miles (41 km 2 ) of the city. Aircrews at the tail end of the bomber stream reported that the stench of burned human flesh permeated the aircraft over the target. [ 13 ] A "LeMay Bombing Leaflet" from the war, which warned Japanese civilians that "Unfortunately, bombs have no eyes. So, in accordance with America's humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives." Precise figures are not available, but the firebombing campaign against Japan, directed by LeMay between March 1945 and the Japanese surrender in August 1945, may have killed more than 500,000 Japanese civilians and left five million homeless. [ 14 ] Official estimates from the United States Strategic Bombing Survey put the figures at 220,000 people killed. [ 12 ] Some 40% of the built-up areas of 66 cities were destroyed, including much of Japan's war industry. [ 12 ] The remaining Allied prisoners of war in Japan who had survived imprisonment to that time were frequently subjected to additional reprisals and torture after an air raid. The massive bombing also hit a number of prisons and directly killed a number of Allied war prisoners. [ citation needed ] LeMay was aware of the implication of his orders. The New York Times reported at the time, "Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, commander of the B-29s of the entire Marianas area, declared that if the war is shortened by a single day, the attack will have served its purpose." [ 8 ] [ 9 ] The argument was that it was his duty to carry out the attacks in order to end the war as quickly as possible, sparing further loss of life. He also remarked that had the U.S. lost the war, he fully expected to be tried for war crimes . [ 15 ] As the firebombing campaign took effect, Japanese war planners were forced to expend significant resources to relocate vital war industries to remote caves and mountain bunkers, reducing production of war materiel. As a lieutenant colonel who served under LeMay, Robert McNamara was in charge of evaluating the effectiveness of American bombing missions. Later, McNamara, as Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson , would often clash with LeMay. LeMay also oversaw Operation Starvation , an aerial mining operation against Japanese waterways and ports that disrupted Japanese shipping and food distribution. Although his superiors were unsupportive of this naval objective, LeMay gave it a high priority by assigning the entire 313th Bombardment Wing (four groups, about 160 airplanes) to the task. Aerial mining supplemented a tight Allied submarine blockade of the home islands, drastically reducing Japan's ability to supply its overseas forces to the point that postwar analysis concluded that it could have defeated Japan on its own had it begun earlier. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] LeMay piloted one of three specially modified B-29s flying from Japan to the U.S. in September 1945 , in the process breaking several aviation records at that date, including the greatest USAAF takeoff weight, the longest USAAF non-stop flight, and the first ever non-stop Japan–Chicago flight. One of the pilots was of higher rank: Lieutenant General Barney Giles . The other two aircraft used up more fuel than LeMay's in fighting headwinds, and they could not fly to Washington, DC, the original goal. [ 17 ] Their pilots decided to land in Chicago to refuel. LeMay's aircraft had sufficient fuel to reach Washington, but he was directed by the War Department to join the others by refueling at Chicago. The order was ostensibly given because of borderline weather conditions in Washington, but according to First Lieutenant Ivan J. Potts who was on board, the order came because LeMay had one fewer general's stars and should not be seen to outperform his superior. [ 18 ] After World War II, LeMay was briefly transferred to The Pentagon as deputy chief of Air Staff for Research & Development. In 1947, he returned to Europe as commander of USAF Europe, heading operations for the Berlin Airlift in 1948 in the face of a blockade by the Soviet Union and its satellite states that threatened to starve the civilian population of the Western occupation zones of Berlin. Under LeMay's direction, Douglas C-54 Skymasters that could each carry 10 tons of cargo began supplying the city on July 1. By the fall, the airlift was bringing in an average of 5,000 tons of supplies a day with 500 daily flights. The airlift continued for 11 months—213,000 flights—that brought in 1.7 million tons of food and fuel to Berlin. Faced with the failure of its blockade, the Soviet Union relented and reopened land corridors to the West. Though LeMay is sometimes publicly credited with the success of the Berlin Airlift, it was, in fact, instigated by General Lucius D. Clay when General Clay called LeMay about the problem. LeMay initially started flying supplies into Berlin, but then decided that it was a job for a logistics expert and he found that person in Lt. General William H. Tunner , [ 19 ] who took over the operational end of the Berlin Airlift . In 1948, he returned to the U.S. to head the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base , replacing Gen George Kenney . When LeMay took over command of SAC, it consisted of little more than a few understaffed B-29 bombardment groups left over from World War II. Less than half of the available aircraft were operational, and the crews were undertrained. Base and aircraft security standards were minimal. Upon inspecting a SAC hangar full of US nuclear strategic bombers, LeMay found a single Air Force sentry on duty, armed only with a ham sandwich. [ 20 ] After ordering a mock bombing exercise on Dayton, Ohio , LeMay was shocked to learn that most of the strategic bombers assigned to the mission missed their targets by one mile or more. "We didn't have one crew, not one crew, in the entire command who could do a professional job" [ 21 ] noted LeMay. A meeting in November, 1948 with Air Force Chief of Staff, Hoyt Vandenberg , found the two men agreeing the primary mission of SAC should be the capability of delivering 80% of the nation's atomic bombs in one mission. Towards this aim, LeMay delivered the first SAC Emergency War Plan in March, 1949 which called for dropping 133 atomic bombs on 70 cities in the USSR within 30 days. Air power strategists called this type of premptive strike, "killing a nation." [ 22 ] However, the Harmon committee, released their unanimous report two months later stating such an attack would not end a war with the Soviets and their industry would quickly recover. This committee had been specifically created by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to study the effects of a massive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, within weeks, an ad hoc Joint Chiefs committee recommended tripling America's nuclear arsenal and Chief of Staff Vandenberg called for enough bombs to attack 220 targets, up from the previous 70. [ 23 ] Upon receiving his fourth star in 1951 at age 44, LeMay became the youngest four-star general in American history since Ulysses S. Grant and was the youngest four-star general in modern history as well as the longest serving in that rank. [ 24 ] In 1956 and 1957 LeMay implemented tests of 24-hour bomber and tanker alerts, keeping some bomber forces ready at all times. LeMay headed SAC until 1957, overseeing its transformation into a modern, efficient, all-jet force. LeMay's tenure was the longest over an American military command in nearly 100 years. [ 25 ] Despite popular claims that LeMay advanced the notion of preventive nuclear war, the historical record indicates LeMay actually advocated justified preemptive nuclear war. Several documents show LeMay advocating preemptive attack of the Soviet Union, had it become clear the Soviets were preparing to attack SAC or the US. In these documents, which were often the transcripts of speeches before groups such as the National War College or events such as the 1955 Joint Secretaries Conference at the Quantico Marine Corps Base, LeMay clearly advocated using SAC as a preemptive weapon, if and when such action was necessary. [ 26 ] General LeMay was instrumental in SAC's acquisition of a large fleet of new strategic bombers , establishment of a vast aerial refueling system, the formation of many new units and bases, development of a strategic ballistic missile force, and establishment of a strict command and control system with an unprecedented readiness capability. All of this was protected by a greatly enhanced and modernized security force, the Strategic Air Command Elite Guard . LeMay insisted on rigorous training and very high standards of performance for all SAC personnel, be they officers, enlisted men, aircrews, mechanics, or administrative staff, and reportedly commented, "I have neither the time nor the inclination to differentiate between the incompetent and the merely unfortunate." A famous legend often used by SAC flight crews to illustrate LeMay's command style concerned his famous ever-present cigar. [ 27 ] In the first known published account of the story, Life Magazine reporter Ernest Havemann related that LeMay once took the co-pilot's seat of a SAC bomber to observe the mission, complete with lit cigar. [ 28 ] When asked by the pilot to put the cigar out, LeMay demanded to know why. When the pilot explained that fumes inside the fuselage could ignite the airplane, LeMay reportedly growled, "It wouldn't dare." [ 28 ] The incident in the article was later used as the basis for a fictional scene in the 1955 film Strategic Air Command . In his highly controversial and factually disputed [ 29 ] [ 30 ] memoir War's End , Major General Charles Sweeney related an alleged 1944 incident that may have been the basis for the "It wouldn't dare" comment. [ 31 ] Despite his uncompromising attitude regarding performance of duty, LeMay was also known for his concern for the physical well-being and comfort of his men. [ 32 ] LeMay found ways to encourage morale, individual performance, and the reenlistment rate through a number of means: encouraging off-duty group recreational activities, [ 33 ] [ 34 ] instituting spot promotions based on performance, and authorizing special uniforms, training, equipment, and allowances for ground personnel [ 35 ] as well as flight crews. LeMay was an active amateur radio operator and held a succession of call signs; K0GRL, K4FRA, and W6EZV. He held these calls respectively while stationed at Offutt AFB, Washington, D.C. and when he retired in California . K0GRL is still the call sign of the Strategic Air Command Memorial Amateur Radio Club. [ 36 ] He was famous for being on the air on amateur bands while flying on board SAC bombers. LeMay became aware that the new single sideband (SSB) technology offered a big advantage over amplitude modulation (AM) for SAC aircraft operating long distances from their bases. In conjunction with Art Collins (W0CXX) of Collins Radio , he established SSB as the radio standard for SAC bombers in 1957. [ 37 ] LeMay was appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in July 1957, serving until 1961, when he was made the fifth Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force on the retirement of Gen Thomas White . His belief in the efficacy of strategic air campaigns over tactical strikes and ground support operations became Air Force policy during his tenure as chief of staff. As chief of staff, LeMay clashed repeatedly with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Air Force Secretary Eugene Zuckert , and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Maxwell Taylor . At the time, budget constraints and successive nuclear war fighting strategies had left the armed forces in a state of flux. Each of the armed forces had gradually jettisoned realistic appraisals of future conflicts in favor of developing its own separate nuclear and nonnuclear capabilities. At the height of this struggle, the U.S. Army had even reorganized its combat divisions to fight land wars on irradiated nuclear battlefields, developing short-range atomic cannon and mortars in order to win appropriations . The United States Navy in turn proposed delivering strategic nuclear weapons from supercarriers intended to sail into range of the Soviet air defense forces. Of all these various schemes, only LeMay's command structure of SAC survived complete reorganization in the changing reality of Cold War -era conflicts. Though LeMay lost significant appropriation battles for the Skybolt ALBM and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress replacement, the North American XB-70 Valkyrie , he was largely successful at expanding Air Force budgets. He advocated the introduction of satellite technology and pushed for the development of the latest electronic warfare techniques. By contrast, the U.S. Army and Navy frequently suffered budgetary cutbacks and program cancellations by Congress and Secretary McNamara. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, LeMay clashed again with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Defense Secretary McNamara, arguing that he should be allowed to bomb nuclear missile sites in Cuba . He opposed the naval blockade and, after the end of the crisis, suggested that Cuba be invaded anyway, even after the Russians agreed to withdraw. LeMay called the peaceful resolution of the crisis - whereby Kennedy secretly agreed to remove US missiles from Turkey and Italy - "the greatest defeat in our history". [ 38 ] Unknown to the US, the Soviet field commanders in Cuba had been given authority to launch—the only time such authority was delegated by higher command. [ 22 ] They had twenty nuclear warheads for medium-range R-12 Dvina (NATO Code SS-4 Sandal ) ballistic missiles capable of reaching US cities (including Washington) and nine tactical nuclear missiles. If Soviet officers had launched them, many millions of US citizens could have been killed. The ensuing SAC retaliatory thermonuclear strike would have killed roughly one hundred million Soviet citizens. Kennedy refused LeMay's requests, however, and the naval blockade was successful. [ 22 ] The memorandum from LeMay, Chief of Staff, USAF, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, January 4, 1964, illustrates LeMay's reasons for keeping bomber forces alongside ballistic missiles: "It is important to recognize, however, that ballistic missile forces represent both the U.S. and Soviet potential for strategic nuclear warfare at the highest, most indiscriminate level, and at a level least susceptible to control. The employment of these weapons in lower level conflict would be likely to escalate the situation, uncontrollably, to an intensity which could be vastly disproportionate to the original aggravation. The use of ICBMs and SLBMs is not, therefore, a rational or credible response to provocations which, although serious, are still less than an immediate threat to national survival. For this reason, among others, I consider that the national security will continue to require the flexibility, responsiveness, and discrimination of manned strategic weapon systems throughout the range of cold, limited, and general war." [ 39 ] LeMay's dislike for tactical aircraft and training backfired in the low-intensity conflict of Vietnam, where existing Air Force fighter aircraft and standard attack profiles proved incapable of carrying out sustained tactical bombing campaigns in the face of hostile North Vietnamese antiaircraft defenses. LeMay said, "Flying fighters is fun. Flying bombers is important." [ 40 ] Aircraft losses on tactical attack missions soared, and Air Force commanders soon realized that their large, missile-armed jet fighters were exceedingly vulnerable not only to antiaircraft shells and missiles but also to cannon-armed, maneuverable Soviet fighters. LeMay advocated a sustained strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnamese cities, harbors, ports, shipping, and other strategic targets. His advice was ignored. Instead, an incremental policy was implemented that focused on limited interdiction bombing of fluid enemy supply corridors in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. This limited campaign failed to destroy significant quantities of enemy war supplies or diminish enemy ambitions. Bombing limitations were imposed by President Lyndon Johnson for geopolitical reasons, as he surmised that bombing Soviet and Chinese ships in port and killing Soviet advisers would bring the Soviets and Chinese more directly into the war. Evidence of LeMay's thinking is that, in his 1965 autobiography (co-written with MacKinlay Kantor ) LeMay is quoted as saying his response to North Vietnam would be to demand that "they’ve got to draw in their horns and stop their aggression, or we’re going to bomb them back into the Stone Age . And we would shove them back into the Stone Age with Air power or Naval power—not with ground forces." Some military historians have argued that LeMay's theories were eventually proven correct. Near the war's end in December 1972, President Richard Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II , a high-intensity Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aerial bombing campaign, which included hundreds of B-52 bombers that struck previously untouched North Vietnamese strategic targets, including heavy populated areas in Hanoi and Haiphong. Linebacker II was followed by renewed negotiations that led to the Paris Peace Agreement , appearing to support the claim. However, consideration must be given to significant differences in terms of both military obejctives and geopolitical realities between 1968 and 1972, including the impact of Nixon's recognition and exploitation of the Sino-Soviet split to gain a "free hand" in Vietnam and the shift of Communist opposition from an organic insurgency (the Viet Cong) to a conventional mechanized offensive that was by its nature more reliant on industrial output and traditional logistics. [ 41 ] In effect, Johnson and Nixon were waging two different wars. Owing to his unrelenting opposition to the Johnson administration's Vietnam policy and what was widely perceived as his hostility to Secretary McNamara, LeMay was essentially forced into retirement in February 1965 and seemed headed for a political career. [ citation needed ] Moving to California, he was approached by conservatives to challenge moderate Republican Thomas Kuchel for his seat in the United States Senate in 1968, but he declined. For the presidential race that year , LeMay originally supported Richard Nixon; he turned down two requests by George Wallace to join his American Independent Party that year on the grounds that a third-party candidacy might hurt Nixon's chances at the polls (by coincidence, Wallace had served as a sergeant in a unit commanded by LeMay during World War II). LeMay gradually became convinced that Nixon planned to pursue a conciliatory policy with the Soviets and accept nuclear parity rather than retain America's first-strike supremacy. LeMay felt that Lyndon Johnson had lied to him on several occasions and that Hubert Humphrey, if elected, would do the same. [ citation needed ] Consequently LeMay, while being fully aware of Wallace's segregationist platform, decided to throw his support to Wallace and eventually became Wallace's running mate. The general was dismayed to find himself attacked in the press as a racial segregationist because he was running with Wallace; he had never considered himself a bigot . When Wallace announced his selection in October 1968, a press conference was held that Wallace aide later referred to as a "fiasco." When LeMay was asked if nuclear weapons were necessary to win the war in Vietnam, he responded, "We can win this war without nuclear weapons." However, he then added, "But I have to say, we have a phobia about nuclear weapons. I think there may be times when it would be most efficient to use nuclear weapons." Wallace's staff began to consider Lemay to be "politically tone-deaf" and the former Air Force General did nothing to diminish the perception of extremism that some American voters had of the Wallace-LeMay ticket. [ 42 ] The "bomb them back to the stone age" comment received significant publicity but General LeMay disclaimed the comment, saying in a later interview: “I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it." [ citation needed ] The Wallace-LeMay AIP ticket received 13.5 percent of the popular vote, higher than most third-party candidacies in the US, and carried five states for a total of 46 electoral votes . According to historian Warren Kozak, Wallace's defeat left LeMay's public reputation in tatters. LeMay was commonly assumed to share Wallace's widely unpopular racist views, even though LeMay had enthusiastically supported racial integration in the US military publicly and privately. He fought segregation in the Air Force before Executive Order 9981 systemically banned the practice. [ 43 ] The April 25, 1988, issue of The New Yorker carried an interview with former US Senator from Arizona Barry Goldwater , a retired Air Force Reserve major general, who said he repeatedly asked his friend General LeMay if he (Goldwater) might have access to the secret "Blue Room" at Wright Patterson Air Force Base , alleged by numerous Goldwater constituents to contain UFO evidence. According to Goldwater, an angry LeMay gave him "holy hell" and said, "Not only can't you get into it but don't you ever mention it to me again." [ 45 ] LeMay was also a sports car owner and enthusiast (he owned an Allard J2); as the "SAC era" began to wind down, LeMay loaned out facilities of SAC bases for use by the Sports Car Club of America , [ 46 ] as the era of early street races began to die out. He was awarded the Woolf Barnato Award, SCCA's highest award, for contributions to the Club, in 1954. [ 46 ] In November 2006, it was announced that General LeMay would be one of the inductees into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2007. [ 46 ] LeMay’s first contact with military service occurred in September 1924 when he enrolled as a student in the Army ROTC program at Ohio State University. By his senior year, LeMay was listed on the ROTC rolls as a "cadet lieutenant colonel". On June 14, 1928, the summer before the start of his senior year, LeMay accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery Reserve of the U.S. Army. In September 1928, LeMay was approached by the Ohio National Guard and asked to accept a state commission, also as a second lieutenant, which LeMay accepted. This created a unique situation in LeMay's service record since in 1928 it was unusual for a person to hold commissions in both the National Guard and the Army Reserve . [ citation needed ] On September 29, 1928, LeMay enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. For the next 13 months, he was on the enlisted rolls of the Regular Army as a cadet and he held commissions in the National Guard and Army Reserve. His status changed on October 2, 1929, when LeMay’s Guard and Reserve commissions were terminated. According to his service record, these commissions were revoked "by telephone" after an Army personnel officer, realizing that LeMay was holding officer and enlisted status simultaneously, called him to discuss the matter. [ citation needed ] On October 12, 1929, LeMay finished his flight training and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps Reserve. This was the third time he had been appointed a second lieutenant in just under two years. He held this reserve commission until June 1930, when he was appointed as a Regular Army officer in the Army Air Corps. LeMay experienced slow advancement throughout the 1930s, as did most officers of the seniority-driven Regular Army. At the start of 1940 he was still a first lieutenant but, beginning in 1941, began to receive temporary advancements in grade in the expanding Army Air Forces. LeMay advanced from captain to brigadier general in less than four years and by 1944 was a major general in the Army Air Forces. When World War II ended, he was appointed to the permanent rank of brigadier general in the Regular Army but held his temporary rank of major general in the Army until promotion to lieutenant general in the now separate United States Air Force in 1948. He then was promoted to general in 1951 and held this rank until his retirement in 1965. According to letters in LeMay's service record, while he was in command of SAC during the 1950s several petitions were made by Air Force service members to have LeMay promoted to the rank of General of the Air Force (five stars). The Air Force leadership, however, felt that such a promotion would lessen the prestige of this rank, which was seen as a wartime rank to be held only in times of extreme national emergency. Per the Chief of the Air Force General Officers Branch, in a letter dated February 28, 1962: It is clear that a grateful nation, recognizing the tremendous contributions of the key military and naval leaders in World War II, created these supreme grades as an attempt to accord to these leaders the prestige, the clear-cut leadership, and the emolument of office befitting their service to their country in war. It is the conviction of the Department of the Air Force that this recognition was and is appropriate. Moreover, appointments to this grade during periods other than war would carry the unavoidable connotation of downgrading of those officers so honored in World War II. Thus, no serious effort was ever made to promote LeMay to the rank of General of the Air Force, and the matter was eventually dropped after his retirement from active service in 1965. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (fiction), in which LeMay is Vice-President of the United States in the dystopian alternate future created by the main character's actions in the past, which saved President John F. Kennedy's life, and resulted in the eventual election of George Wallace as President. [ 50 ] ^ Watson, George M., Secretaries and Chiefs of Staff of the United States Air Force , Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program, USAF (2001) p. 132: LeMay recorded the incident in a memo to staff the same day, stating "this afternoon I found a man guarding a hangar with a ham sandwich. There will be no more of that." ^ Carter, Dan T. (1995). The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics . New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 359–360. ISBN 0-8071-2597-0 .

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About Senior FriendFinder Senior FriendFinder is more than just a seniors dating service. For singles over 60 and in their prime, Senior FriendFinder is a wonderful place to where senior people meet for friendship, dating, and marriage. Thousands of senior singles have joined our Senior FriendFinder to meet seniors and share new experiences and new friendships at the prime of their lives. Senior FriendFinder provides online senior matchmaking services, including online personals and photographs to help you get to know each other before reaching out. Join other senior singles at Senior FriendFinder today to make the prime of your life even more amazing! Feel Safe and Secure At Senior FriendFinder, we take our members' safety and security very seriously. In addition to our fraud detection algorithms, we have real people that review every senior dating profile at the time of registration, and every Senior FriendFinder member's photo is scrupulously reviewed by our Customer Service Department, so you can browse, email, and even flirt with confidence. Customer Care You are always welcome to contact our Customer Service Department for any additional help and guidance. Email us or call our toll-free number for expert assistance from our friendly staff. Success Stories "As soon as I jumped into what seemed to be a very active 27-member chat room, I was welcomed by nine of those members. For a newbie, I was happy to be engaged in a very upbeat, friendly, and diverse conversation. And Bob was kind enough to point out the HELP guide to translate all those cute little chat abbreviations: HAK MTFBWY! There is a place for all of us! THANK YOU!" -- kumikochan "We spent two wonderful weeks learning about each other. We fell in love through the internet, instant messaging and hours of talking before we met. So when we actually did meet we already knew each other. I feel so fortunate to have found the person that is perfect for me."

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Though you will be getting older , you do not have to let your body and mind fall victim to aging. Learning about what causes growing older to increase your youthful mind and appearance is simple and can be used to great effect in your life. If you put these techniques to use, you can increase the number of years that you stay healthy. A healthy lifestyle can help you slow the aging process. Eat the proper amount of vegetables, dairy products, fruits, whole grains and protein to get the nutrients that your body requires. Remember to eat three moderate meals per day in combination with several nutritious snacks. Eat foods rich in fiber to help fight aging effects. Fiber can help to prevent the accumulation of toxins in the digestive system. Additionally, it helps to remove bad cholesterol, slow digestion and stabilize blood sugar. Fiber is the key to great digestion. Be proud of any gray hair you may have; just remember to adjust your makeup accordingly. Gray hair can make you look pale, and you will want to adjust your makeup to improve the look of your skin. Use a foundation makeup in a slightly darker shade than your usual. Accent lips and cheeks with shades of peach or rose. Use a brow pencil to define your eyebrows, and a yellow-based concealer to hide under eye shadows. If you put on the right kind of makeup, you will make gray hair look fantastic and even you will look younger. TIP! A good facial massage will do wonders for your facial skin and keep you from looking old. Massaging your facial features improves circulation to your face and will reduce puffy eyes. Try not to fall. Falls can cause damage to your body which sometimes cannot be repaired. They are especially dangerous when a senior is involved. You can improve your balance and become more physically fit by making an effort to take 30-minute walks, three days per week. Decrease your risk of fractures through a program of weight training, increased calcium intake, and Vitamin D supplements. Do not spend an excessive amount of time worrying about how old you are. It is all about how you feel, not what age you are. Age is just a number that doesn't determine how you feel. You can be chronologically one age but feel much younger inside. The best thing you can do is to not allow your age to get the best of you mentally. In order to age gracefully, you must remain active. Keeping active can help you look and feel younger by allowing you to have a sharper mind and a fitter body. In contrast, a stagnant existence can increase negative effects of growing older and reduce your overall quality of life. Enjoy an activity that you like everyday. A good hint to help you age is to restore your hormones. When your hormone levels start to decline, you will experience loss of libido, energy and stamina. This will happen as you start to get older. Talk to a doctor to see if it is possible to take hormone supplements if this is a problem for you. TIP! If your physician recommends further testing, you should follow his or her directions. By checking in with your body and health often, you can catch potential health issues early and have the best chance at effective treatment. Know how much sleep is required for people in your age group, and make sure to get it. You will maintain a sense of calm and relaxation, as well as a proper hormonal profile if you sleep for roughly 7-9 hours nightly. Not getting enough sleep can often result in irritability and can generally put you in a bad mood. Consult your doctor regarding the appropriate supplements that you can take that have anti-getting older properties. You need to include a balanced regimen of multivitamins, antioxidants and perhaps anti-inflammatory medicines. If you take these supplements, your energy level will increase and you will experience less complications from growing older. Include these in any daily plan you build. Frowning can increase the number of wrinkles in your skin. Beyond ruining your mood, frowning is bad for the face. Every time you sense a frown coming on, pinch yourself. The habit can be broken in time using this method. You should sleep for eight hours every night. Every time you sleep, your body is renewing itself. That is why you need a full night's sleep. Most people need at least eight hours; some may need more or less. TIP! Save early and often for retirement, but don't neglect to keep some savings for health issues. However, don't neglect to cover yourself for times when your health may degrade or emergencies arise. Pressure Checked Regularly Get your blood pressure checked regularly. "The silent killer" refers to high blood pressure because many people have no symptoms to alert them to this dangerous condition. As you age, it's more and more important to have your blood pressure checked regularly so a problem can't sneak up on you. If you know about high blood pressure early, you'll have time to solve it. Growing Older can be done gracefully. Your life can still be active and vibrant if you take special care of your body and mind. Look for ways to fit these ideas into your daily life, and find the joys that you could be missing. Reducing the amount of red meat and increasing the amount of fish in your diet can help to prevent heart disease. There are many unhealthy fats in red meat that can contribute to clogging of the arteries, and this can result in heart disease, as well as other illnesses. Fish is full of healthy fats which are believed to slow down the clogging and help you to live a long, healthy life. TIP! To keep aging skin looking smooth and less wrinkled, try using a primer product. These types of products are silicone-based and can make a significant difference in the appearance of your makeup.

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Sterilising baby bottles There are several ways in which you can sterilise your baby's feeding equipment. For example, by using a cold water sterilising solution, by steam sterilising or by sterilising by boiling. The following instructions apply to all feeding equipment you use for your baby, whether you are using expressed breast milk or infant formula. Remember, before sterilising, always: Clean the feeding bottle and teat in hot, soapy water as soon as possible after a feed, using a clean bottle brush. Rinse all your equipment in clean, cold running water before sterilising. Cold water sterilising solution Follow the manufacturer's instructions. Change the sterilising solution every 24 hours. Leave feeding equipment in the sterilising solution for at least 30 minutes. Make sure that there is no air trapped in the bottles or teats when putting them in the sterilising solution. Keep all the equipment under the solution with a floating cover. Steam sterilising (electric steriliser or microwave) It is important to follow the manufacturer's instructions as there are several different types of sterilisers. Make sure the openings of the bottles and teats are facing down in the steriliser. Manufacturers will give guidelines on how long you can leave equipment that you are not using immediately (straight after sterilising) before it needs to be resterilised. Sterilising by boiling When using this method, care must be taken to ensure safety and prevent scalds or burns. Hot pans and liquids should not be left unattended, especially if children are present. Make sure that whatever you sterilise in this way is safe to boil. Boil the feeding equipment in water for at least 10 minutes, making sure that all items stay under the surface of the water. Remember that teats tend to get damaged faster with this method. Regularly check that teats and bottles are not torn, cracked or damaged. Wash your hands thoroughly. Clean and disinfect the surface where you will put together the bottle and teat. It is best to remove the bottles just before they are used. If the bottles are not being used immediately, they should be put together fully with the teat and lid in place. This is to prevent the inside of the sterilised bottle from being contaminated, along with the inside and outside of the teat.

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But is there much of a performance hit when using Double instead of Long? Reading that link you provided, a Long is 4 bytes long while a Double is 8 bytes long. There is a significant performance hit when using Double (or Single), not because of the different number of bytes but because Doubles are floating point and use a different representation. Longs are just simple binary numbers and are much more straight forward to process. However it depends on what you are doing as to whether it really matters to your application. If you are doing massive, complex calculations where a large part of the processing time is spent just calculating then it will make a big difference, but if it's just displaying a simple screen or reading a few rows from a database etc you won't notice any difference at all. Will there be much of a performance hit when using a Double instead of a Long variable type? I wouldn't worry about it too much. I know the purist's will come down on me for saying this, but the reality is you can spend a lot of time writing code that will be really efficient in order to save a couple of milliseconds and maybe a meg or two of RAM. I would rather see that development time go towards better application testing and documentation. If you are writing something that is computationally arduous, you should probably use a lower level language like C++ as opposed to Visual Basic. You really don't want to store integer data as a floating point number, as this will lead to a variety of problems with inaccuracy. Of course not. I was just trying to think of a way that earlier statement could be justified, that a Variant is slower with respect to a Double than it is to a Long :-) I would really hope MS had designed the Variant type so that it could store both an integer value and a floating-point value at the same time. It's interesting to consider how other languages solve this problem. Perl variables, for instance, contain separate IV, NV, PV (integer, numeric, pointer value) slots, and there's a bunch of flags to indicate which slots contain valid values, whether the IV is actually unsigned, etc. Variants can hold almost any type of data, including objects. In VB6 you should almost never use Variants unless there are specific reasons why you need to (e.g. you are writing a COM component that needs to be called late-bound and that has by-reference parameters). Not only is the overhead excessive, unless you specifically convert the variants to a particular type in your code then you have no control over how the runtime treats them when doing calculations and comparisons etc. The decision as to which numeric data type you should be based on the business logic, not performance. If you only need to store integers that will fit in 4 bytes use Long (Int is not really any faster than Long on modern processors). If you need to store floating point numbers (i.e. decimal fractions) other than money use Double, or Single if you are sure that the accuracy and/or size required are compatible with Single. If you need to store money use Currency (aka decimal). Of course if you are storing your data in a database then obviously you need to take into account what data type is used in the database, in which case you don't really have a choice at the VB6 level. Hmm, yeah, I think you're right. It appears that in VB6 the "decimal" datatype is just an odd kind of Variant. Probably should avoid it. How about Currency? Also, doesn't VB6 come with online help? Surely you can find out these kinds of things just by looking through that? The help that came with it is now even more valuable, since Microsoft no longer have it on their website! Edit: Just dug out some old MSDN library CDs: Note At this time the Decimal data type can only be used within a Variant, that is, you cannot declare a variable to be of type Decimal. You can, however, create a Variant whose subtype is Decimal using the CDec function. Currency (scaled integer) 8 bytes -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807 Decimal 14 bytes +/-79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,- 950,335 with no decimal point; +/-7.9228162514264337593543950335 - with 28 places to the right of the decimal; smallest non-zero number is +/-0.0000000000000000000000000001 - User-defined (using Type) Number required by elements The range of each element is the same as the range of its data type. Note: At this time the Decimal data type can only be used within a Variant, that is, you cannot declare a variable to be of type Decimal. You can, however, create a Variant whose subtype is Decimal using the CDec function. I would just use Double if I was you if you want to use numbers longer than 2,147,483,647. Sure, if you don't care about precision. 12-digit numbers might be OK, but if you're multiplying and dividing them a lot, you're going to get inaccurate results. If you're doing integer maths, there's really no excuse not to use an integer datatype. Why would you choose Decimal over Currency, if it means you'll incur the variant overhead? Craig wants to store 12-digit integers, not 20-digit integers. 12-digit integers fit comfortably within the limits of Currency. Currency is an inbuilt data type. "Decimal" is actually a COM data type that is supported in VB6 through using variants. It's not a "native" data type, but if you need really big numbers, or really small numbers with no rounding errors, then you need to use decimals (or, preferably, a different language altogether). Since OP only needs to store large integers I would use Singles, since they are faster and smaller than Currency or Double. I doubt he's going to see too many files that are larger than 1.0E38 bytes. Since OP only needs to store large integers I would use Singles, since they are faster and smaller than Currency or Double. I doubt he's going to see too many files that are larger than 1.0E38 bytes. Hi Woodle. Looking at this page ( theopensourcery.com/vb03tut.htm ) it reads: "Double is much more accurate and even runs about 10-20% faster than Single." Is this true, is it really 10-20% faster using Double than Single? How do I determine how many numeric digits a Double can store if it's maximum is "1.79769313486232E308". I don't understand this number, why does it have an E in it? How do I determine how many numeric digits a Double can store if it's maximum is "1.79769313486232E308". I don't understand this number, why does it have an E in it? That is computerese for 1.79769313486232 x 10 308 . For the origin of this number, have a read of the IEEE 754 standard. As to "how many numeric digits" this is... well, that's an interesting question. Computers generally use "floating-point" arithmetic to represent non-integers, and floating-point numbers have a "precision". This determines how many digits are significant in the number. According to the IEEE 754 spec, double-precision numbers (the Double type in VB) have a precision of 53 bits, which is approximately 15 digits. So in that sense, a Double can only store up to 15 digits. Put simply, the double-precision numbers: 1234567890123456711111 and 1234567890123456799999 are "exactly the same", as far as the computer is concerned -- there is only enough precision to represent the left-most 15 digits accurately.

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Get In Shape With These Fitness Tips TIP! If you have difficulty staying motivated to continue your fitness program, you should consider mixing things up with a variety of fitness classes. When you change things up a bit, you make it easier to stay engaged and excited about your fitness goals. There are many different things under the umbrella of fitness. Such things as exercising, going to the gym, dieting and all sorts of supplements and vitamins are just some of what the fitness world deals with. Lots of different workouts are out there that can improve your health and appearance. After reading these tips and hints, you will be able to put together something that will work for you. TIP! So that you can be truly fit, make sure your abs get sufficient exercise. It's best to exercise your abs two or three times per week, but don't overdo it; your abs do need to rest, after all. How you start the day is very important to your fitness. Eating breakfast is a requirement that will ensure your successful outcome in the short and long term. Breakfast sets your metabolism going, which sticks with you all day. TIP! For the best fitness results over time, divide each run you take into three sections. Begin with a reduced pace, and gradually increase it until you reach your normal pace. Kickboxing is phenomenal exercise. Nobody can go to try kickboxing and not come out of the work out covered in sweat and thinking, "man what a workout". Kickboxing burns massive calories while helping you gain strength. Foot Behind TIP! Have a dietitian help you with your diet. Although you may think it's easy to get rid of all the junk food in your home, are you aware of how your workout routines will impact the diet you require? A dietitian will be able to establish how many extra calories you need because you are more active, as well as help you find healthier foods. This exercise will help you improve the agility of your feet. Quickly lift your left foot and then touch it with the opposite hand before lowering it to the floor. Next, raise your right foot and touch it using your left hand before lowering it. Then touch your left foot behind you with your right hand, then your right foot behind you with your left hand. Go for 20 seconds at a time, moving as fast as you can, and repeat for a total of three to five sets. TIP! You should use shoes that fit when exercising. Shop for exercise shoes at night because your feet stretch during the day and will be at their largest when the sun goes down. To motivate yourself for proper fitness, create some personal goals. When you have goals, you concentrate on beating obstacles instead of focusing on an exercise's overall difficulty. If you think of a weight loss program as part of a larger life goal, you are less likely to drop out halfway through. TIP! Stretch the targeted muscles in between sets. Stretches should last a little less than half a minute. Work out in your house. You can do a variety of exercises such as crunches and squats that can give you the results you desire. Make use of different dumbbells or elastic bands to begin a home exercise routine on your own. A jump rope is all you need when doing cardio exercises. TIP! In the past, weight belts were routinely use. These days, they are reserved for extra-heavy duty lifting only. Think heart smart. Being overweight is taxing on the heart. You can lose weight and have a healthier heart through proper exercise and fitness. Don't forget that your diet needs to become healthy, too. Reduce your caloric intake by decreasing your consumption of foods high in saturated fats, while increasing your intake of fiber and vegetables. TIP! Prior to beginning any fitness regimen, be sure to get a physical done at your doctor's office. This will ensure that you are not compromising your health and that you will maximize the benefits. Sudden or specific joint fatigue or pain can be an indication that you should visit a doctor. If you already keep an exercise log, add a "pain" section to each workout to record any problems you might have. TIP! Do you think that you are too busy to stay fit? Split up your workout. Instead of boosting the overall time you exercise, simply split your current minutes into parts. Fitness is a large subject that is covered in a lot of different areas of your life. Learning the correct and wrong way to do exercises is vital and learning which things you can switch up to fit your needs is important, too. With any luck, the information you've just read has helped to demystify all things fitness-related.

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Help Index How do I use my PVR (Personal Video Recorder)? You've made the right choice. The Rogers Digital PVR Box is the best thing to happen to home entertainment! Your new box will make it easy to record TV programs without a VCR, Control Live TV, and watch two TV programs at the same time with Picture-In-Picture. PLUS... Your Digital PVR Box will allow you to record two programs while watching a previously recorded program, as well as offering other recording and playback options (see chart below). While Recording: You can view: One program Live TV One program A previously recorded program Two programs at the same time A previously recorded program Two programs at the same time One of the programs being recorded Two programs at the same time Both of the programs being recorded using picture-in-picture To view information about a specific PVR feature, select from the links below:

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The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason , by Sam Harris The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left , by Ed Husain Sarah Boyes posted 4 March 2008 If Sam Harris and Ed Husain met you might think it would be pistols at dawn, tumbleweed flying past and plenty of this world ain't big enough for the both of us, but the American New Atheist and reformed British Islamist have more in common than their excellent taste in jackets. Whilst both believe isolating politics from religion is necessary to clear the way for a progressive politics in a climate saturated by religious identities, Husain nevertheless believes in Allah, whereas Harris is every mote the evangelical anti, calling for the total obliteration of faith. But the two 'H's have a more interesting similarity, endorsing at the end of their books a carefully-defined mysticism, and talking about the importance of meditation. Meditation is certainly making a comeback as a niche growth industry with trinkets and yoga courses to boot, and grounding its appeal is its potential as part of the good life: popular books on the subject slap up the importance of setting aside time for ourselves to cultivate inner gardens away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, while a waffly anti-capitalist mentality urges us to stop being material girls by having a dabble in the spiritual realm. Or for those who dislike touchy-feely stuff, there's stats on the scientifically-proven benefits of meditation, tales of longer life and wrinkle-avoidance, increased intelligence or emotional IQ. Stranger still is the kitsch legitimacy mysticism takes from the natural idyll, with adverts conjuring up images of untouched misty mountains set to the strain of atonal bamboo flutes. Another fetish in the current climate is renunciation of past political beliefs gone wrong, and in this vein The Islamist follows Husain through the 1980s and 1990s, from being taken under the wing of a renowned Islamic scholar during his early childhood, through his campaigning campus days with Jaamat-e-Islami, Hizb ut Tahrir and the Islamic Society of Britain and his agitation for a Caliphate in Britain. The book tells his story, it's beautifully written and it draws you in. And it spits you out, as the close sees him embrace a dignified, meditative Sufism as the true expression of the spirit of Islam, a peaceful personal religion that makes no political demands. Though this doesn't mean Husain has quit the public sphere, having been catapulted to fame by the success of his book, lauded (and later lampooned) in the liberal press: the New Statesman , the Guardian and a clutch of BBC Radio 4 programmes to name but a few, into the public eye as an authority on political Islam, landing neatly now -- and as his father was before him -- in the lap of the Labour Party. Nevertheless, he speaks not just as a public figure or party member but as a moderate Muslim and spokesperson for others who share his beliefs. Which is just what Sam Harris does for the New Atheists in The End of Faith . Harris writes widely on the central place religion has come to occupy in American life, the rise of radical Islam, the merging of private and public spheres; he also makes a strange defence of the use of torture on terrorist suspects, and discusses the reaction to 9/11. His lynchpin is that a person's beliefs and ideas -- however much in the background of their day-to-day lives - ultimately shape the world they live in - a claim with something in it, and one used to frame Harris' anti-religious polemic. He says since people 'of faith' believe irrationally in an afterlife -- virgin orgies with unlimited honey sort of stuff -- they can't be trusted to make reliable decisions, which explains why suicide bombers happily blow themselves up, and 'the religious' (mostly Muslims) are a bit knee-jerk. Better to eradicate irrational beliefs, he says, and make decisions from The Evidence. And in his proposed world without faith, mysticism gets awarded a place since it has a rational basis, in that the claims of mystics can be verified empirically by each one of us in our ongoing search for knowledge. Which is why Harris meditates. What draws the two authors together is that neither seems quite able to let go of a gentle obsession with the religious experience, and both -- though not always in name -- advocate a 'soft religion' that points to the importance of personal feelings and private journeys. Whether it's Harris' fascination with people's experience of the divine or Husain pursuing inner peace, mysticism holds a fascination for both authors that has less to do with straightforward characterisations of religion than the question of what being human is all about. That said, mysticism seems praised more for its innocuousness and lack of prescriptions about how society should be, as something to be saved from religious practice as a last ditch option, than for any robust contribution it makes to the ongoing exploration of humanity. It's seen to have an emancipatory quality in that it can free our minds, defended accordingly in terms of the 'enlightenment' found at the end of a journey of mental -- rather than societal - liberation. No wonder it's chosen as the upbeat ending to two books that have an ultimately bleak message about people's ability to get together meaningfully to shape the world we live in. There is a benefit to premising the private, personal and not overtly 'religious' parts of religion like meditation or prayer: it broadens understanding of what faith is and the role it plays in day to day life in debate where definitions are a little thin. But the New Atheist critique also serves to blur boundaries and confuse social, moral, and political issues: whilst a more thorough understanding of the way religious codes and practices influence moral attitudes and political persuasions is worthwhile, it all too often ends up smudging the boundaries between private and public realms. It ultimately undermines the idea of a shared secular social space where people are judged by what they say and do rather than what they get up to in their heads or behind closed doors. On the other side of the coin, religious institutions have begun to defend themselves in terms of 'social cohesion': they claim to offer communities a space where people can come together in mutual activity, provide comfort and support to families and get yoof off the streets. To get rid of them, the new defence goes, would unravel the very fabric of our society. And it's hardly wrong that religious institutions attempt to deal with contemporary concerns and respond to the public mood. A recent meeting at St Mary le Bow Church in London, for example, discussed the role of neuropsychology in debates about God and the psychological necessity of religious experience; religious leaders have begun both to market themselves as 'therapists' and to get annoyed by the trend. But most worrying in this new defence of religion is the way it's played out in terms of state-set agenda, as if religious institutions and practices become legitimate once they begin to deliver policy objectives. What's interesting is that this move towards premising the more innocuous parts of religion is made by those defending and attacking religion alike. It reflects a more generally fragmented world-view. Undeniably, having a community is important and religion does play a role, but this doesn't mean we can't look elsewhere for social groups or that a drop in shared worship signifies the end of civil society while its growth benefits society. That's just conservative scare-mongering. And whilst there does seem to be something to the idea that meditating or generally thinking about things deeply can be emancipatory, it comes at the cost of -- to be crass -- premising the inner at the cost of the outer. Whereas really, the whole focus on 'soft religion' is a thinly-veiled corrective about how people should think and behave in public. Faith: Harris says it has to go since you can't trust people who've got it; Husain worries it makes people do bad things. Talking about meditation makes sense as it has a double appeal: it's open to all and it's harmless. And here, meditation -- or mysticism -- is about more than the dictum 'the unexamined life is not worth living', since it has a specific method and focus of inquiry apart from getting cross-legged and analytic on your ass. There's a disturbing context at play, as Harris gives way to popular anti-Western East-fetishism when he says we're 'conceptually inequipped' to deal with staple mystic Buddhist expositions on consciousness, and this orientation toward the mystical is fast becoming trendy. The broad premise of a series recently on BBC2 for instance, Extreme Pilgrim , is that we in the West must turn to the east to reclaim our notion of spirituality and sense of meaning, since losing it is the price we pay for economic development, greater choice and perverting the divine music of the spheres. A search for meaning is certainly important and it helps to have faith, but truncating what faith is meant to be cuts off any deeper value to be had from truly believing in anything. It makes faith out to be a matter of sexless belief, valued for the personal benefits it brings rather than for what it's faith in. Not to say that mysticism doesn't have benefits: it can constitute some of the wonder of being alive. But imagining this will bring existential comfort and that's all we can ask for whilst saving us from the Sisyphean frustrations of the daily grind, shows more a lack of clear ideas about where Western liberalism will lead us and infuriation with diminishing political subjectivity. And in ejecting religious faith from the public sphere, what the brothers H really want to avoid is the idea faith might play a role in politics. Taking a position perhaps too easily diagnosed as postmodern nihilism, they seem to think any ambitious forward-looking project will end in disaster. Both have seen it -- they know -- and rather than see us make the same mistakes they warn us away from Getting Ideas: if we want to change the world we would be better off tackling problems one by one by using tried and tested methods, or else tweaking ourselves. Change should come at the mystical level of ideas where they're safely divorced from everything else, and the final word of both books is across-the-board-or-I'll-eat-my-hat against faith doing any work in public debate. For we have sinned. As if faith was the nub of all our problems so we should all take a reason steam bath and the world will come smelling up roses. But the interaction between faith and reason is boringly more complex. For example, inductive reasoning -- used in scientific methodology and the way we navigate the world -- is said by many to have no underpinning in deductive logic and doesn't conform to easy-reading models of rationality. To think beliefs can be separated like goats and sheep into irrational faith-based ones and rational evidence-based ones is a bit reckless, since what's rational depends on contextual factors. And it further seems right that just as the non-religious shouldn't have a monopoly over acting reasonably, it's wrong for the religious to monopolise having faith in things. And before you say it, the question of whether a gob of beliefs amount to a faith -- secular or otherwise -- is much less interesting than what these beliefs themselves are, and whether we should believe them. Rather than focusing on people's intentions or motivations it would be much more productive to look at what they're trying to achieve and go from there. And more to the point, the contemporary vogue of blacklisting ideas characterised in religious terms at the cost of trying to understand their potency smacks of the petty-authoritarianism of the 'new Enlightenment' wave. Why try to anaesthetise a generation already accused of nihilistic, selfish indulgence by giving us a lobotomised idea of what faith -- in things like human beings at the very least -- can really do? But leering under the surface of both these texts is a fear of ideology, of anything with a utopian tinge, and a tendency to merge having ideals with both these things. Harris refuses to recognise the rational life as an ideal itself: rather than looking at beliefs one by one and vetting them for how rational they are, he would be better settling for rationality as a bearer of value and cornerstone of a broader world-view. Rationality and the ideals of the Enlightenment should be championed, but not as something 'inherited' that put us in slavish relation to the past. The worth of a fully rational society isn't given its due once rationality is wielded like a wily weapon by the few against the many, and the fact shared agreement is key to the whole shebang is shoved under the carpet in the face of dumbed down public debate. Harris is right when he points out being rational doesn't mean not being able to fall in love or have 'experiences', but he goes too far in claiming a monopoly on rational action for us 'the worthy' in his attack on all those silly faith-heads. And the upshot of all this is a tendency to romanticise Reason itself - as if a thinly-defined reason alone can save us and set us free so long as we give ourselves over to its transformative power. Of course this is kind of right, but even then can never be the whole story: deciding to be reasonable and rational is one thing, collectively coming to conclusions and implementing decisions another. The answer to the question of why we've done something must be more than the bald 'because the evidence told me to'. Rather than the rise in mysticism being a Romantic reaction against the New Atheists, or even a straightforward response to the dissatisfactions generated by a perceived all-pervasive consumerism and capitalism, it seems to come more from the Romantic focus on the rational life pushed by those clamouring for people to take notice of their emaciated version of rationality. It's a crowd-puller that attracts anybody not looking to make too much of a commitment and it ties in with the trend: look inside rather than out, don't under any circumstances get your hands dirty, avoid contamination with vain ideals for you shalt be disappointed. And don't under any circumstances entertain faith of any kind in the hallowed halls of reason. It's a half-way house for those who want more rational thinking about the place, but also want a sense of spirituality or deeper meaning, which mysticism is seen to deliver through its links with tradition and the pseudo-ideology of self-transcendence. Not that romanticising is in itself bad, but maybe there are better things to romanticise if that's your thing, and there are better reasons to be rational than a vague feeling of attraction to the image. Faith can and does play a role in the rational life, which allows it to do more than make us feel a bit better. If it comes to it, content is more important than form. And being rational is nothing to the cause without a broader framework that says something about what we really have faith in. Ohm-ing is only the easy bit.

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On this page: Twenty most common cancers There are more than 200 different types of cancer, but four of them - breast , lung , bowel (colorectal) and prostate - account for over half (54%) of all new cases. 1-4 Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, despite the fact that it is rare in men. The 20 most commonly diagnosed cancers in the UK are shown in Figure 2.1 . 1-4 Invasive tumours of the brain and central nervous system (CNS) rank 13th highest in males and 15th highest in females; however, when the non-invasive brain and CNS tumours are also included in the total, the ranks are 11th and 8th highest, respectively (data not shown). Figure 2.2: The 10 Most Commonly Diagnosed Cancers in Males, UK, 2009 *Bowel cancer including anal cancer (C18-C21) **3% of all male cases are registered without specification of the primary site Prostate cancer , with an age-standardised rate of 106 per 100,000 males, accounts for one in four (25%) male cases ( Figures 2.2 and 2.3 ), with the next most common cancers being lung (14%; even though the rate of lung cancer has fallen dramatically since the mid-1980s) and colorectal (14%). Bladder , oesophageal and stomach cancers are among the top ten most common cancers in males, but not in females. *Bowel cancer including anal cancer (C18-C21) **4% of all female cases are registered without specification of the primary site Breast cancer , with an age-standardised rate of 124 per 100,000 women, is by far the most commonly diagnosed cancer in females, accounting for almost a third (31%) of all female cases. The next most common cancers in women are colorectal and lung , accounting for similar proportions of cases (12%) each. Two of the top ten female cancer sites are sex-specific ( uterus and ovary ), compared with just one site ( prostate ) in males. Trends over time The percentage change in incidence rates in the last decade in the UK for the top twenty cancers show varying trends by cancer site and sex ( Figures 2.6 and 2.7 ). 1-4 There have been large increases in the incidence of many cancers strongly linked to lifestyle choices, such as kidney , liver , malignant melanoma , oral and uterine . 5 It is worth noting that the decrease in bladder cancer incidence will have been affected by a change in coding practice that reduced the number of registrations of malignant bladder cancer from 2000 onwards. This change was recommended by the European Network of Cancer Registries and subsequently adopted and implemented by the United Kingdom Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR). 6 Malignant melanoma is the fastest increasing cancer in males and the second fastest increasing cancer in females (with age-standardised rates rising by 67% and 51%, respectively, in the last decade). Some of the increase may be due to increased surveillance and early detection as well as improved diagnosis, but most is considered to be real and linked to changes in recreational or holiday exposure to UV rays (including sunlight and sunbeds). 7,8 Liver cancer, though rare in the UK (age-standardised rates are 7 per 100,000 males and 3 per 100,000 females) is the second fastest increasing cancer in males and the fourth fastest in females (increases of 40% and 30%, respectively, in the last decade). Cirrhosis of the liver (caused by excessive drinking, viral infections or inherited diseases) is a major risk factor for this cancer. 9 Kidney cancer is the fourth fastest increasing cancer in males and third fastest in females (age-standardised rates have increased by 26% and 31%, respectively, in the last decade). Established risk factors for kidney cancer include cigarette smoking and obesity. 10-12 Prostate cancer is the third fastest increasing cancer in males, with age-standardised rates rising by around a third (32%) in the last decade. The use of PSA testing for prostate cancer will have contributed to the marked increase in new diagnoses of this disease. 13,14 While thyroid cancer is the fastest increasing cancer in females, with the age-standardised rate rising by more than two-thirds (68%) in the last decade, it has a small disease burden (5 per 100,000 females). Increased breast cancer incidence (and subsequent treatment) may explain some of the increase. 15 Another rapidly increasing cancer with a small disease burden in females is mesothelioma , which is not among the 20 most common cancers, but the age-standardised rate (1 per 100,000 females) has increased by 44% in the last decade. Most cases of mesothelioma are caused by occupational exposure to asbestos (often second-hand in females, for example, by handling contaminated work clothes). Mesothelioma has an extremely long latency period (up to 50 years), which means that past exposure to toxic chemicals contributes new cases of this disease. 16 In the last decade there have been large decreases in stomach cancer incidence in both males and females (age-standardised rates decreasing by 32% and 27%, respectively). Much of this can be attributed to better living conditions and a decline in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (a major cause of stomach cancer). 17 Other cancers showing large decreases in incidence in the last decade include lung and laryngeal in males (age-standardised rates decreasing by 16% and 14%, respectively), and ovarian in females (10% decrease). Non-melanoma skin cancer On these incidence pages 'cancer' includes all malignant neoplasms excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). NMSCs are often excluded from cancer statistics for several reasons: studies have shown that NMSCs are greatly under-ascertained in cancer registration data (this is because they are often treated at GP surgeries or on an outpatient basis and the lack of a discharge record means that information is generally not conveyed to cancer registries); NMSCs are very common and some cancer registries only record the basal cell carcinoma primary; NMSCs are also curable in the vast majority of cases. Cancer of unknown primary Cancer of unknown primary (CUP, also known as malignancy of unknown origin or cancer registered without specification of primary site) is a diverse group of cancers that are diagnosed from one or more secondary cancers (often in the lymph nodes, liver, lung or bone) and the primary site cannot be found, or is registered without the site being specified. Some cancers are initially registered as CUP but then changed to a specific cancer if tests reveal the primary site. CUP accounts for 3% of new cancer cases. 1-4 CUP is quite rare under the age of 40, with more than half (55%) of cases being diagnosed in persons aged 75 and over. There is no standard definition of CUP, which means that the true incidence of this disease may be underestimated. A recent NICE guideline stated that the majority can be defined by the ICD-10 codes C77-C80. 18 Variation in the UK Across the UK, the lowest age-standardised rates are seen in England for both sexes (424 and 367 per 100,000 males and females, respectively), and the highest in Scotland (452 and 407 per 100,000, respectively). 1-4 The numbers of new cases and incidence rates are summarised by cancer site and country in the UK Countries Summary Table: Numbers of Cases and Rates. England The incidence of colorectal cancer is significantly lower in males compared with the three other UK countries, with incidence rates ranging from 57 per 100,000 in England to 68 per 100,000 in Scotland; colorectal cancer incidence is also lowest in females in England, though the differences between the countries are not significant (rates ranging from 38 per 100,000 in England to 45 per 100,000 in Scotland). Other sites with the lowest incidence rates in England include lung cancer in males and cervix in situ. Very few cancers have particularly high incidence rates in England in comparison with the rest of the UK. Wales The incidence rates for nearly all cancers in Wales show no significant differences in comparison with the three other UK countries. Cancers with the highest rates include leukaemia in males (with rates ranging from 11 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland to 15 per 100,000 in Wales) and ovarian (rates ranging from 16 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland to 19 per 100,000 in Wales). Scotland The high prevalence of smoking in Scotland (25%, compared with 20% in England 19 ) means that smoking-related cancers have particularly high incidence rates. Lung cancer incidence is significantly higher in Scotland in comparison with the rest of the UK, with incidence rates in males ranging from 56 per 100,000 in England to 81 per 100,000 in Scotland, and in females from 38 per 100,000 in England to 57 per 100,000 in Scotland. Oral cancer incidence is also significantly higher in Scottish men, with incidence rates ranging from 11 per 100,000 in England to 17 per 100,000 in Scotland. The incidence of malignant melanoma is highest in males and females living in Scotland in comparison with the rest of the UK (though the incidence rates are not significantly higher). A survey of children and young people found that Scotland has the highest percentage of young sunbed users in Great Britain (almost 14%). 7 Prostate cancer has a significantly lower incidence rate in Scotland in comparison with the three other UK countries, with rates ranging from 87 per 100,000 in Scotland to 114 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland. Some of this variation may be explained by differences in the availability and uptake of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing across the UK. 13 Northern Ireland The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma is significantly higher in Northern Ireland in comparison with the rest of the UK, with incidence rates in males ranging from 16 per 100,000 in Wales to 27 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland, and rates in females ranging from 12 per 100,000 in Wales to 22 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland. In situ cervical tumours also have significantly higher incidence rates in Northern Ireland in comparison with the three other UK countries. The incidence of breast cancer has been lowest in Northern Ireland compared with the three other UK countries for almost two decades, 20 with rates in 2009 ranging from 119 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland to 127 per 100,000 in Scotland. Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666) and the Isle of Man (1103). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: Angel Building, 407 St John Street, London EC1V 4AD.

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MPs get in a funk over open source The Conservative's open source technology strategy may have reached its culmination at a low water mark with the coalition government's renegotiated contract with Computer Sciences Corporation. Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude and chancellor George Osborne presented open source software as the antidote to the Labour government's "catastrophic" NHS National Programme for IT - and a recipe for cheaper and less botched government computing all round - when they launched their technology strategy in 2009. Now four years on, what they have done instead is reconfirm 2bn the 2.9bn contract CSC originally signed under Labour, and dropped that bit of it that would have given them the means to open source the goods. But the original Conservative tech policy was floated on a stream of opportunistic press leaks and anchored with a fishy tie-in with the then Conservative Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh. The coalition government's lack of progress since raises questions about whether it is prepared to put its weight behind the policy. Spin A party insider told Computer Weekly the NHS element of Conservative open source policy was spun to latch on to then current news about NPfIT - the National Programme, Labour's NHSIT disaster. Osborne floated his open source policy on 27 January 2009, the same day the Public Accounts Committee published a report warning NPfIT wouldn't be delivered till 2015, four years late and at a cost of 12.7bn, because of BT and CSC in particular. The weekend before the Public Accounts Committee released its report, Osborne's team did a last minute edit of his unpublished 2007 open source policy backgrounder. The day the committee report came out, Osborne leaked his backgrounder to the tech press. It had in fact been gathering dust in Osborne's draw for nearly two years. It was now unofficial Conservative policy : open source software would cut IT costs and "free government bodies from long-term, monopoly supply situations" such as its NPfIT contracts with BT and CSC. A week later, The Times newspaper and Computer Weekly scooped the nethermost reserves of poop from the bottom of the Conservative policy headquarters' mudslinging barrel and slung them right in the then Labour government's bullseye. It was a big bullseye. IT bodges had been par for the course since Labour took office in 1997. The Times' had done an exclusive investigation of government IT bodges. But it was old news. The paper had dug right down into the archives, dragged up a clutch of rotten old IT bodges and slapped them up as an exclusive investigation. Outrage Leigh was so gullibly outraged he told The Times: "As a result of The Times' investigation I am going to immediately ask the Comptroller and Auditor-General [the head of the NAO] to investigate the whole matter of government IT spending and in particular the contracts highlighted in the paper." The old dog must have had a short memory, because he forgot to mention he had already handled most of these IT bodges as chair of the Public Accounts Committee. And that's how The Times and Computer Weekly new about them in the first place. The Times' investigation, published on 2 February, involved simply taking a bunch of old stories about IT budget over-runs and adding up the numbers. It said the total cost of Labour IT budget over-runs was over 18bn. But 10bn of that came from the NPfIT cost over-run the NAO recorded in a report it had submitted to Leigh's committee three years before, in 2006. The NAO reviewed the situation again in May 2008 and stuck it in another report to Leigh's committee. After conducting its usual hearings into the 2008 NAO report, the committee then produced its usual report about the NAO report. That's the report the committee had published on 27 January - one that Leigh had been talking about in all the papers. Now a week later, he was calling for the NAO to produce a report about The Times' report about his committee's report about the NAO report about NPfIT, as though it was the first he had heard of it. It was an outrage. It really was. More outrage Most of the rest of The Times' 18bn budget over-runs had come from HMRC's Aspire contract with Capgemini. The NAO had reported on this one in 2007. So had Leigh's Committee. So had the press. Leigh had said in a 2007 committee press statement "the forecast figure is some 8.5 billion...compared with the original estimate of nearly 3 billion". Now two years on, The Times had reported it again. Leigh was outraged. And most of the rest of The Times' 18bn came from the publication just 18 days before of Leigh's own committee report into the Ministry of Defence's Defence Information Infrastructure. That was about 5bn over-budget - a terrible state of affairs, really. But The Times' had learned about it from Leigh's committee, and they had both got it from the NAO about six months before. Now The Times was regurgitating it again, and Leigh was outraged like it was the first he'd heard of it. Most of the rest of the 18bn came from Leigh's Committee's 2003 report into the Courts Service Libra project. Libra's cost had more than doubled to 400m, said Leigh in 2003, drawing from NAO numbers given him earlier. The cost had more than doubled to 500m, said The Times in January 2009, drawing from Leigh's earlier work. Leigh was outraged. The rest of The Times' investigation regurgitated old news about three cancellations: a DWP benefits processing system from 2006, and police and passport websites from 2007. Ah and there was the National Offender Management Information System - then still work-in-progress for the NAO. Leigh was outraged. Investigation Leigh was so forgetful that no sooner had he called for an NAO investigation of The Times' investigation of the committee report on the NAO report than the whole idea of an NAO investigation was forgotten, like it had never even been officially proposed at all. It hadn't. The NAO recorded no official request from Leigh for such an investigation. The NAO in fact never conducts general studies. So it says. So Leigh's committee would have been surprised if the NAO had done a general report into government IT bodges, because it has for the last 30 years worked to a Standing Order by which it examines about 40 of those non-general NAO reports every year. This was all nevertheless important enough for Osborne to pitch in with a commentary in The Times on 3 February. Osborne said : "Yesterday's report in The Times that government...IT is running nearly 19 billion over budget was genuinely shocking". It seemed nobody had read any of Leigh's old committee reports. Or they were so far back on his shelf that everyone else had forgotten about them as well. But at least Osborne had an answer to this old problem that he had known nothing of till The Times regurgitated it. The solution, he said, was to stop handing out big IT contracts to the same old big suppliers and break them up into manageable chunks using open source software and open standards. Maude, then head of the Conservative Party's Implementation Unit, was to lead the work. Now nearly four years on, the coalition government has still to reach a significant milestone on either its open source or open standards policies. The big departments of state have continued to sign large contracts with the same old large suppliers. The same old large suppliers have opposed the coalition's open source and open standards policies, just as they oppose the contract transparency the coalition government promised as well. The Tory top team may have been so desperate to put nails in Labour's coffin in 2009 that it would have said anything to get the vote - even that it would use open source software. The two parties were clambering over one another to make the most convincing noises about IT bodges. Labour's own open source policy had been gathering dust for years.

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How to publish legend along with the .mxd with REST API Hi all, I was working on getting layers from arcgis sample servers and also displaying their legends, but I am unable to get legend info with my own published map services on my local server. The issue I believe is that as shown below, on the sample servers of arcgis there is a hyperlink "Legends" but when I publish my service through arccatalog, it doesnot show any folder/link with the name of legend. If some one can kindly solve my confusion as how to put up a legend folder like in the sample servers while publishing my map services using REST API, I would be highly grateful. Re: How to publish legend along with the .mxd with REST API Hi, Now I know that I cannot do this while using 9.3.1 as this service is only available in 10.1 . So I wanted to ask that what can be the alternative way of getting legend information from a map service which is running on local arcgis server 9.3.1 and then displaying it in a wpf/silverlight application.

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Why does the spectre of May 68 still haunt French discourse? Alain Badiou on the country's longue dure sequences of restoration and revolt, and the place of Sarkozy's presidency within them. Lessons in political courage from Plato and Corneille, and a call to reassert the Manifesto's founding wager. ALAIN BADIOU THE COMMUNIST HYPOTHESIS There was a tangible sense of depression in the air in France in the aftermath of Sarkozy's victory. [1] It is often said that unexpected blows are the worst, but expected ones sometimes prove debilitating in a different way. It can be oddly dispiriting when an election is won by the candidate who has led in the opinion polls from the start, just as when the favourite horse wins the race; anyone with the slightest feeling for a wager, a risk, an exception or a rupture would rather see an outsider upset the odds. Yet it could hardly have been the bare fact of Nicolas Sarkozy as President that seemed to come as such a disorientating blow to the French left in the aftermath of May 2007. Something else was at stake -- some complex of factors for which 'Sarkozy' is merely a name. How should it be understood? An initial factor was the way in which the outcome affirmed the manifest powerlessness of any genuinely emancipatory programme within the electoral system: preferences are duly recorded, in the passive manner of a seismograph, but the process is one that by its nature excludes any embodiments of dissenting political will. A second component of the left's depressive disorientation after May 2007 was an overwhelming bout of historical nostalgia. The political order that emerged from World War Two in France -- with its unambiguous referents of 'left' and 'right', and its consensus, shared by Gaullists and Communists alike, on the balance-sheet of the Occupation, Resistance and Liberation -- has now collapsed. This is one reason for Sarkozy's ostentatious dinners, yachting holidays and so on -- a way of saying that the left no longer frightens anyone: Vivent les riches , and to hell with the poor. Understandably, this may fill the sincere souls of the left with nostalgia for the good old days -- Mitterrand, De Gaulle, Marchais, even Chirac, Gaullism's Brezhnev, who knew that to do nothing was the easiest way to let the system die. Sarkozy has now finally finished off the cadaverous form of Gaullism over which Chirac presided. The Socialists' collapse had already been anticipated in the rout of Jospin in the presidential elections of 2002 (and still more by the disastrous decision to embrace Chirac in the second round). The present decomposition of the Socialist Party, however, is not just a matter of its political poverty, apparent now for many years, nor of the actual size of the vote -- 47 per cent is not much worse than its other recent scores. Rather, the election of Sarkozy appears to have struck a blow to the entire symbolic structuring of French political life: the system of orientation itself has suffered a defeat. An important symptom of the resulting disorientation is the number of former Socialist placemen rushing to take up appointments under Sarkozy, the centre-left opinion-makers singing his praises; the rats have fled the sinking ship in impressive numbers. The underlying rationale is, of course, that of the single party: since all accept the logic of the existing capitalist order, market economy and so forth, why maintain the fiction of opposing parties? A third component of the contemporary disorientation arose from the outcome of the electoral conflict itself. I have characterized the 2007 presidential elections -- pitting Sarkozy against Royal -- as the clash of two types of fear. The first is the fear felt by the privileged, alarmed that their position may be assailable. In France this manifests itself as fear of foreigners, workers, youth from the banlieue , Muslims, black Africans. Essentially conservative, it creates a longing for a protective master, even one who oppresses and impoverishes you further. The current embodiment of this figure is, of course, the over-stimulated police chief: Sarkozy. In electoral terms, this is contested not by a resounding affirmation of self-determining heterogeneity, but by the fear of this fear: a fear, too, of the cop figure, whom the petit-bourgeois socialist voter neither knows nor likes. This 'fear of the fear' is a secondary, derivative emotion, whose content -- beyond the sentiment itself -- is barely detectable; the Royal camp had no concept of any alliance with the excluded or oppressed; the most it could envisage was to reap the dubious benefits of fear. For both sides, a total consensus reigned on Palestine, Iran, Afghanistan (where French forces are fighting), Lebanon (ditto), Africa (swarming with French military 'administrators'). Public discussion of alternatives on these issues was on neither party's agenda. The conflict between the primary fear and the 'fear of the fear' was settled in favour of the former. There was a visceral reflex in play here, very apparent in the faces of those partying over Sarkozy's victory. For those in the grip of the 'fear of the fear' there was a corresponding negative reflex, flinching from the result: this was the third component of 2007's depressive disorientation. We should not underestimate the role of what Althusser called the 'ideological state apparatus' -- increasingly through the media, with the press now playing a more sophisticated part than tv and radio -- in formulating and mobilizing such collective sentiments. Within the electoral process there has, it seems, been a weakening of the real; a process even further advanced with regard to the secondary 'fear of the fear' than with the primitive, reactionary one. We react, after all, to a real situation, whereas the 'fear of the fear' merely takes fright at the scale of that reaction, and is thus at a still further remove from reality. The vacuity of this position manifested itself perfectly in the empty exaltations of Sgolne Royal. Electoralism and the state If we posit a definition of politics as 'collective action, organized by certain principles, that aims to unfold the consequences of a new possibility which is currently repressed by the dominant order', then we would have to conclude that the electoral mechanism is an essentially apolitical procedure. This can be seen in the gulf between the massive formal imperative to vote and the free-floating, if not non-existent nature of political or ideological convictions. It is good to vote, to give a form to my fears; but it is hard to believe that what I am voting for is a good thing in itself. This is not to say that the electoral-democratic system is repressive per se ; rather, that the electoral process is incorporated into a state form, that of capitalo-parliamentarianism, appropriate for the maintenance of the established order, and consequently serves a conservative function. This creates a further feeling of powerlessness: if ordinary citizens have no handle on state decision-making save the vote, it is hard to see what way forward there could be for an emancipatory politics. If the electoral mechanism is not a political but a state procedure, what does it achieve? Drawing on the lessons of 2007, one effect is to incorporate both the fear and the 'fear of the fear' into the state -- to invest the state with these mass-subjective elements, the better to legitimate it as an object of fear in its own right, equipped for terror and coercion. For the world horizon of democracy is increasingly defined by war. The West is engaged on an expanding number of fronts: the maintenance of the existing order with its gigantic disparities has an irreducible military component; the duality of the worlds of rich and poor can only be sustained by force. This creates a particular dialectic of war and fear. Our governments explain that they are waging war abroad in order to protect us from it at home. If Western troops do not hunt down the terrorists in Afghanistan or Chechnya, they will come over here to organize the resentful rabble outcasts. Strategic neo-Ptainism In France, this alliance of fear and war has classically gone by the name of Ptainism. The mass ideology of Ptainism -- responsible for its widespread success between 1940 and 1944 -- rested in part on the fear generated by the First World War: Marshal Ptain would protect France from the disastrous effects of the Second, by keeping well out of it. In the Marshal's own words, it was necessary to be more afraid of war than of defeat. The vast majority of the French accepted the relative tranquillity of a consensual defeat and most got off fairly lightly during the War, compared to the Russians or even the English. The analogous project today is based on the belief that the French need simply to accept the laws of the us -led world model and all will be well: France will be protected from the disastrous effects of war and global disparity. This form of neo-Ptainism as a mass ideology is effectively on offer from both parties today. In what follows, I will argue that it is a key analytical element in understanding the disorientation that goes by the name of 'Sarkozy'; to grasp the latter in its overall dimension, its historicity and intelligibility, requires us to go back to what I will call its Ptainist 'transcendental'. [2] I am not saying, of course, that circumstances today resemble the defeat of 1940, or that Sarkozy resembles Ptain. The point is a more formal one: that the unconscious national-historical roots of that which goes by the name of Sarkozy are to be found in this Ptainist configuration, in which the disorientation itself is solemnly enacted from the summit of the state, and presented as a historical turning-point. This matrix has been a recurring pattern in French history. It goes back to the Restoration of 1815 when a post-Revolutionary government, eagerly supported by migrs and opportunists, was brought back in the foreigners' baggage-train and declared, with the consent of a worn-out population, that it would restore public morality and order. In 1940, military defeat once again served as the context for the disorientating reversal of the real content of state action: the Vichy government spoke incessantly of the 'nation', yet was installed by the German Occupation; the most corrupt of oligarchs were to lead the country out of moral crisis; Ptain himself, an ageing general in the service of property, would be the embodiment of national rebirth. Numerous aspects of this neo-Ptainist tradition are in evidence today. Typically, capitulation and servility are presented as invention and regeneration. These were central themes of Sarkozy's campaign: the Mayor of Neuilly would transform the French economy and put the country back to work. The real content, of course, is a politics of continuous obedience to the demands of high finance, in the name of national renewal. A second characteristic is that of decline and 'moral crisis', which justifies the repressive measures taken in the name of regeneration. Morality is invoked, as so often, in place of politics and against any popular mobilization. Appeal is made instead to the virtues of hard work, discipline, the family: 'merit should be rewarded'. This typical displacement of politics by morality has been prepared, from the 1970s 'new philosophers' onwards, by all who have laboured to 'moralize' historical judgement. The object is in reality political: to maintain that national decline has nothing to do with the high servants of capital but is the fault of certain ill-intentioned elements of the population -- currently, foreign workers and young people from the banlieue . A third characteristic of neo-Ptainism is the paradigmatic function of foreign experience. The example of correction always comes from abroad, from countries that have long overcome their moral crises. For Ptain, the shining examples were Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany and Franco's Spain: leaders who had put their countries back on their feet. The political aesthetic is that of imitation: like Plato's demiurge, the state must shape society with its eyes fixed on foreign models. Today, of course, the examples are Bush's America and Blair's Britain. A fourth characteristic is the notion that the source of the current crisis lies in a disastrous past event. For the proto-Ptainism of the 1815 Restoration, this was of course the Revolution and the beheading of the King. For Ptain himself in 1940 it was the Popular Front, the Blum government and above all the great strikes and factory occupations of 1936. The possessing classes far preferred the German Occupation to the fear which these disorders had provoked. For Sarkozy, the evils of May 68 -- forty years ago -- have been constantly invoked as the cause of the current 'crisis of values'. Neo-Ptainism provides a usefully simplified reading of history that links a negative event, generally with a working-class or popular structure, and a positive one, with a military or state structure, as a solution to the first. The arc between 1968 and 2007 can thus be offered as a source of legitimacy for the Sarkozy government, as the historic actor that will finally embark on the correction needed in the wake of the inaugural damaging event. Finally, there is the element of racism. Under Ptain this was brutally explicit: getting rid of the Jews. Today it is voiced in a more insinuating fashion: 'we are not an inferior race' -- the implication being, 'unlike others'; 'the true French need not doubt the legitimacy of their country's actions' -- in Algeria and elsewhere. In the light of these criteria, we can therefore point: the disorientation that goes by the name of 'Sarkozy' may be analysed as the latest manifestation of the Ptainist transcendental. The spectre At first sight there may seem something strange about the new President's insistence that the solution to the country's moral crisis, the goal of his 'renewal' process, was 'to do away with May 68, once and for all'. Most of us were under the impression that it was long gone anyway. What is haunting the regime, under the name of May 68? We can only assume that it is the 'spectre of communism', in one of its last real manifestations. He would say (to give a Sarkozian prosopopoeia): 'We refuse to be haunted by anything at all. It is not enough that empirical communism has disappeared. We want all possible forms of it banished. Even the hypothesis of communism -- generic name of our defeat -- must become unmentionable.' What is the communist hypothesis? In its generic sense, given in its canonic Manifesto , 'communist' means, first, that the logic of class -- the fundamental subordination of labour to a dominant class, the arrangement that has persisted since Antiquity -- is not inevitable; it can be overcome. The communist hypothesis is that a different collective organization is practicable, one that will eliminate the inequality of wealth and even the division of labour. The private appropriation of massive fortunes and their transmission by inheritance will disappear. The existence of a coercive state, separate from civil society, will no longer appear a necessity: a long process of reorganization based on a free association of producers will see it withering away. 'Communism' as such denotes only this very general set of intellectual representations. It is what Kant called an Idea, with a regulatory function, rather than a programme. It is foolish to call such communist principles utopian; in the sense that I have defined them here they are intellectual patterns, always actualized in a different fashion. As a pure Idea of equality, the communist hypothesis has no doubt existed since the beginnings of the state. As soon as mass action opposes state coercion in the name of egalitarian justice, rudiments or fragments of the hypothesis start to appear. Popular revolts -- the slaves led by Spartacus, the peasants led by Mntzer -- might be identified as practical examples of this 'communist invariant'. With the French Revolution, the communist hypothesis then inaugurates the epoch of political modernity. What remains is to determine the point at which we now find ourselves in the history of the communist hypothesis. A fresco of the modern period would show two great sequences in its development, with a forty-year gap between them. The first is that of the setting in place of the communist hypothesis; the second, of preliminary attempts at its realization. The first sequence runs from the French Revolution to the Paris Commune; let us say, 1792 to 1871. It links the popular mass movement to the seizure of power, through the insurrectional overthrow of the existing order; this revolution will abolish the old forms of society and install 'the community of equals'. In the course of the century, the formless popular movement made up of townsfolk, artisans and students came increasingly under the leadership of the working class. The sequence culminated in the striking novelty -- and radical defeat -- of the Paris Commune. For the Commune demonstrated both the extraordinary energy of this combination of popular movement, working-class leadership and armed insurrection, and its limits: the communards could neither establish the revolution on a national footing nor defend it against the foreign-backed forces of the counter-revolution. The second sequence of the communist hypothesis runs from 1917 to 1976: from the Bolshevik Revolution to the end of the Cultural Revolution and the militant upsurge throughout the world during the years 1966 -- 75. It was dominated by the question: how to win? How to hold out -- unlike the Paris Commune -- against the armed reaction of the possessing classes; how to organize the new power so as to protect it against the onslaught of its enemies? It was no longer a question of formulating and testing the communist hypothesis, but of realizing it: what the 19th century had dreamt, the 20th would accomplish. The obsession with victory, centred around questions of organization, found its principal expression in the 'iron discipline' of the communist party -- the characteristic construction of the second sequence of the hypothesis. The party effectively solved the question inherited from the first sequence: the revolution prevailed, either through insurrection or prolonged popular war, in Russia, China, Czechoslovakia, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, and succeeded in establishing a new order. But the second sequence in turn created a further problem, which it could not solve using the methods it had developed in response to the problems of the first. The party had been an appropriate tool for the overthrow of weakened reactionary regimes, but it proved ill-adapted for the construction of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat' in the sense that Marx had intended -- that is, a temporary state, organizing the transition to the non-state: its dialectical 'withering away'. Instead, the party-state developed into a new form of authoritarianism. Some of these regimes made real strides in education, public health, the valorization of labour, and so on; and they provided an international constraint on the arrogance of the imperialist powers. However, the statist principle in itself proved corrupt and, in the long run, ineffective. Police coercion could not save the 'socialist' state from internal bureaucratic inertia; and within fifty years it was clear that it would never prevail in the ferocious competition imposed by its capitalist adversaries. The last great convulsions of the second sequence -- the Cultural Revolution and May 68, in its broadest sense -- can be understood as attempts to deal with the inadequacy of the party. Interludes Between the end of the first sequence and the beginning of the second there was a forty-year interval during which the communist hypothesis was declared to be untenable: the decades from 1871 to 1914 saw imperialism triumphant across the globe. Since the second sequence came to an end in the 1970s we have been in another such interval, with the adversary in the ascendant once more. What is at stake in these circumstances is the eventual opening of a new sequence of the communist hypothesis. But it is clear that this will not be -- cannot be -- the continuation of the second one. Marxism, the workers' movement, mass democracy, Leninism, the party of the proletariat, the socialist state -- all the inventions of the 20th century -- are not really useful to us any more. At the theoretical level they certainly deserve further study and consideration; but at the level of practical politics they have become unworkable. The second sequence is over and it is pointless to try to restore it. At this point, during an interval dominated by the enemy, when new experiments are tightly circumscribed, it is not possible to say with certainty what the character of the third sequence will be. But the general direction seems discernible: it will involve a new relation between the political movement and the level of the ideological -- one that was prefigured in the expression 'cultural revolution' or in the May 68 notion of a 'revolution of the mind'. We will still retain the theoretical and historical lessons that issued from the first sequence, and the centrality of victory that issued from the second. But the solution will be neither the formless, or multi-form, popular movement inspired by the intelligence of the multitude -- as Negri and the alter-globalists believe -- nor the renewed and democratized mass communist party, as some of the Trotskyists and Maoists hope. The (19th-century) movement and the (20th-century) party were specific modes of the communist hypothesis; it is no longer possible to return to them. Instead, after the negative experiences of the 'socialist' states and the ambiguous lessons of the Cultural Revolution and May 68, our task is to bring the communist hypothesis into existence in another mode, to help it emerge within new forms of political experience. This is why our work is so complicated, so experimental. We must focus on its conditions of existence, rather than just improving its methods. We need to re-install the communist hypothesis -- the proposition that the subordination of labour to the dominant class is not inevitable -- within the ideological sphere. What might this involve? Experimentally, we might conceive of finding a point that would stand outside the temporality of the dominant order and what Lacan once called 'the service of wealth'. Any point, so long as it is in formal opposition to such service, and offers the discipline of a universal truth. One such might be the declaration: 'There is only one world'. What would this imply? Contemporary capitalism boasts, of course, that it has created a global order; its opponents too speak of 'alter-globalization'. Essentially, they propose a definition of politics as a practical means of moving from the world as it is to the world as we would wish it to be. But does a single world of human subjects exist? The 'one world' of globalization is solely one of things -- objects for sale -- and monetary signs: the world market as foreseen by Marx. The overwhelming majority of the population have at best restricted access to this world. They are locked out, often literally so. The fall of the Berlin Wall was supposed to signal the advent of the single world of freedom and democracy. Twenty years later, it is clear that the world's wall has simply shifted: instead of separating East and West it now divides the rich capitalist North from the poor and devastated South. New walls are being constructed all over the world: between Palestinians and Israelis, between Mexico and the United States, between Africa and the Spanish enclaves, between the pleasures of wealth and the desires of the poor, whether they be peasants in villages or urban dwellers in favelas , banlieues , estates, hostels, squats and shantytowns. The price of the supposedly unified world of capital is the brutal division of human existence into regions separated by police dogs, bureaucratic controls, naval patrols, barbed wire and expulsions. The 'problem of immigration' is, in reality, the fact that the conditions faced by workers from other countries provide living proof that -- in human terms -- the 'unified world' of globalization is a sham. A performative unity The political problem, then, has to be reversed. We cannot start from an analytic agreement on the existence of the world and proceed to normative action with regard to its characteristics. The disagreement is not over qualities but over existence. Confronted with the artificial and murderous division of the world into two -- a disjunction named by the very term, 'the West' -- we must affirm the existence of the single world right from the start, as axiom and principle. The simple phrase, 'there is only one world', is not an objective conclusion. It is performative: we are deciding that this is how it is for us. Faithful to this point, it is then a question of elucidating the consequences that follow from this simple declaration. A first consequence is the recognition that all belong to the same world as myself: the African worker I see in the restaurant kitchen, the Moroccan I see digging a hole in the road, the veiled woman looking after children in a park. That is where we reverse the dominant idea of the world united by objects and signs, to make a unity in terms of living, acting beings, here and now. These people, different from me in terms of language, clothes, religion, food, education, exist exactly as I do myself; since they exist like me, I can discuss with them -- and, as with anyone else, we can agree and disagree about things. But on the precondition that they and I exist in the same world. At this point, the objection about cultural difference will be raised: 'our' world is made up of those who accept 'our' values -- democracy, respect for women, human rights. Those whose culture is contrary to this are not really part of the same world; if they want to join it they have to share our values, to 'integrate'. As Sarkozy put it: 'If foreigners want to remain in France, they have to love France; otherwise, they should leave.' But to place conditions is already to have abandoned the principle, 'there is only one world of living men and women'. It may be said that we need to take the laws of each country into account. Indeed; but a law does not set a precondition for belonging to the world. It is simply a provisional rule that exists in a particular region of the single world. And no one is asked to love a law, simply to obey it. The single world of living women and men may well have laws; what it cannot have is subjective or 'cultural' preconditions for existence within it -- to demand that you have to be like everyone else. The single world is precisely the place where an unlimited set of differences exist. Philosophically, far from casting doubt on the unity of the world, these differences are its principle of existence. The question then arises whether anything governs these unlimited differences. There may well be only one world, but does that mean that being French, or a Moroccan living in France, or Muslim in a country of Christian traditions, is nothing? Or should we see the persistence of such identities as an obstacle? The simplest definition of 'identity' is the series of characteristics and properties by which an individual or a group recognizes itself as its 'self'. But what is this 'self'? It is that which, across all the characteristic properties of identity, remains more or less invariant. It is possible, then, to say that an identity is the ensemble of properties that support an invariance. For example, the identity of an artist is that by which the invariance of his or her style can be recognized; homosexual identity is composed of everything bound up with the invariance of the possible object of desire; the identity of a foreign community in a country is that by which membership of this community can be recognized: language, gestures, dress, dietary habits, etc. Defined in this way, by invariants, identity is doubly related to difference: on the one hand, identity is that which is different from the rest; on the other, it is that which does not become different, which is invariant. The affirmation of identity has two further aspects. The first form is negative. It consists of desperately maintaining that I am not the other. This is often indispensable, in the face of authoritarian demands for integration, for example. The Moroccan worker will forcefully affirm that his traditions and customs are not those of the petty-bourgeois European; he will even reinforce the characteristics of his religious or customary identity. The second involves the immanent development of identity within a new situation -- rather like Nietzsche's famous maxim, 'become what you are'. The Moroccan worker does not abandon that which constitutes his individual identity, whether socially or in the family; but he will gradually adapt all this, in a creative fashion, to the place in which he finds himself. He will thus invent what he is -- a Moroccan worker in Paris -- not through any internal rupture, but by an expansion of identity. The political consequences of the axiom, 'there is only one world', will work to consolidate what is universal in identities. An example -- a local experiment -- would be a meeting held recently in Paris, where undocumented workers and French nationals came together to demand the abolition of persecutory laws, police raids and expulsions; to demand that foreign workers be recognized simply in terms of their presence: that no one is illegal; all demands that are very natural for people who are basically in the same existential situation -- people of the same world. Time and courage 'In such great misfortune, what remains to you?' Corneille's Medea is asked by her confidante. 'Myself! Myself, I say, and it is enough', comes the reply. What Medea retains is the courage to decide her own fate; and courage, I would suggest, is the principal virtue in face of the disorientation of our own times. Lacan also raises the issue in discussing the analytical cure for depressive debility: should this not end in grand dialectical discussions on courage and justice, on the model of Plato's dialogues? In the famous 'Dialogue on Courage', General Laches, questioned by Socrates, replies: 'Courage is when I see the enemy and run towards him to engage him in a fight.' Socrates is not particularly satisfied with this, of course, and gently takes the General to task: 'It's a good example of courage, but an example is not a definition.' Running the same risks as General Laches, I will give my definition. First, I would retain the status of courage as a virtue -- that is, not an innate disposition, but something that constructs itself, and which one constructs, in practice. Courage, then, is the virtue which manifests itself through endurance in the impossible. This is not simply a matter of a momentary encounter with the impossible: that would be heroism, not courage. Heroism has always been represented not as a virtue but as a posture: as the moment when one turns to meet the impossible face to face. The virtue of courage constructs itself through endurance within the impossible; time is its raw material. What takes courage is to operate in terms of a different dure to that imposed by the law of the world. The point we are seeking must be one that can connect to another order of time. Those imprisoned within the temporality assigned us by the dominant order will always be prone to exclaim, as so many Socialist Party henchmen have done, 'Twelve years of Chirac, and now we have to wait for another round of elections. Seventeen years; perhaps twenty-two; a whole lifetime!' At best, they will become depressed and disorientated; at worst, rats. In many respects we are closer today to the questions of the 19th century than to the revolutionary history of the 20th. A wide variety of 19th-century phenomena are reappearing: vast zones of poverty, widening inequalities, politics dissolved into the 'service of wealth', the nihilism of large sections of the young, the servility of much of the intelligentsia; the cramped, besieged experimentalism of a few groups seeking ways to express the communist hypothesis . . . Which is no doubt why, as in the 19th century, it is not the victory of the hypothesis which is at stake today, but the conditions of its existence. This is our task, during the reactionary interlude that now prevails: through the combination of thought processes -- always global, or universal, in character -- and political experience, always local or singular, yet transmissible, to renew the existence of the communist hypothesis, in our consciousness and on the ground. [1] This is an edited extract from De quoi Sarkozy est-il le nom? , Circonstances, 4, Nouvelles Editions Lignes, Paris 2007; to be published in English by Verso as What Do We Mean When We Say 'Sarkozy'? in 2008. [2] See my Logiques des mondes , Paris 2006 for a full development of the concept of 'transcendentals' and their function, which is to govern the order of appearance of multiplicities within a world.

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Search Pretty Little Liars Halloween Recap, "This Is a Dark Ride" All aboard the ghost train: Pretty Little Liars is back, Halloween style, in one of the craziest episodes yet. Flashbacks reveal that Ali was murdered at least three different times on the same night. Aria gets drugged and trapped in a crate alongside Garrett's fresh corpse (!!), and she's about to be pushed off board a moving train when a combination of her killer screwdriver aim and her fellow Liars' good timing saves her life. Meanwhile, Hanna's mom and Pastor Ted encounter what appears to be an actual ghost -- one of the twins from last year's Halloween special. And in the TWISTIEST TWIST since we saw Toby in A's trademark hoodie, Ezra. Fitz. Has. A. Bandage. On. His. Hand. Read on for more of the spooky twists and turns of this year's Halloween special. The Liars' Halloween costumes were, as usual, flawless. Hanna was Marilyn Monroe in her iconic white dress, Aria was Daisy from The Great Gatsby ("the book," she clarifies, although really what difference it makes with respect to her costume is unclear), Spencer was Lauren Bacall circa To Have and Have Not , and Emily was Barbarella. Which was your favorite look? And any other notable costumes from the rest of the cast? Sarah T: Hmm I can't choose a favorite, they all looked great -- and of course the choices were perfectly tailored to their personalities. (As Spencer tells Hanna, "How could you have been worried that we'd pick the same costume?") But in terms of other noteworthy costumes: Jenna showed some dry wit with her pirate eye-patch costume and admirable commitment with her dreadlock-and-curls hairstyle. I couldn't tell what Noel was supposed to be. (A prince?) It's fun that Mona wore a costume under her costume. You KNOW our girl was probably wearing a costume under the paper mache mask too. She's turtles all the way down . Phoebe B : Aaah Mona, what a wonderful evil genius. Her costume was SO scary! But I think Aria's Daisy was actually my favorite since it seemed an homage to the one book we can be certain the PLLs read and Ezra's former career as a high school teacher. Remember when they read The Great Gatsby forever?! After that, I thought Emily was rocking her Barberella costume too! Also, I kind of missed Spencer's ridiculous queen costume from last year's Halloween flashback. If Garrett's version of events is true, the night Ali died he saw her arguing with Byron. Then he threatened her with a hockey stick, making the then-blind Jenna believe he had killed her when in fact he was hacking away at a poor old tree. Do you buy Garrett's story? And if so, what might Ali and Byron have been fighting about? Sarah T: I think I do believe Garrett. For one thing, he's dead now, and I feel like on PLL people usually get axed right after they tell the truth about something. Also because we saw a flashback, and thus far none of the flashbacks have been disproven, which makes me think they're a truthiness-indicator. I think Ali may have been blackmailing Byron about his dalliances with Meredith the College Student, which makes him a new member in the ever-growing lineup of people who had motive to want Ali dead. I am thrilled about this development, because Byron has always seemed like a creeper and this seals the deal. Phoebe B : Good questions! And I agree. That was a crazy revelation and I am inclined to believe Garrett now that he is very dead. I have always suspected Byron of something as he just seems so creepy and suspicious all the time. I agree about Ali blackmailing Byron but I also thought perhaps Byron made the grave mistake of sleeping with Ali. I realize that's extra creepy, but there seemed to be something more afoot than blackmail. But the story too about Garrett fake killing Ali was so weird! What were her and Jenna fighting about? Why were they going after each other? I thought Jenna and Ali reconciled when Jenna was in the hospital. I'm so confused. A came after Aria with a vengeance this episode. Why do you think she was the target (along with Garrett), and who do you think were the most likely A-team suspects on board the train? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: Ezra has a bandage on his hand when he makes his sudden reappearance after Garrett's body is found and just before Ali's corpse is discovered. Was he the A-team member that Aria stabbed with a screwdriver? Sarah T: I thought it was very unusual that Aria was in this life-or-death scenario! A's never come after her this hard, whereas all the other girls have dealt with murder attempts (sometimes multiple). I can't help but think that the Aria-targeting has something to do with whichever specific members of the A team were in on this plot. Which brings me to: we know Mona was on board the train wearing the same phantom costume as Caleb, and I'm willing to bet that she was the female voice we heard from Aria's perspective (the one who was arguing that they had to push the box off). But clearly she had at least one other accomplice on board, and maybe more -- the person who was wearing the joker costume, most likely a guy given the oversized fake nail clue plus the male voice arguing with Mona. I know Toby is on the A team now (perhaps as a double agent), but I don't think he was the one in the joker costume -- partly because I don't think he would beat up Spencer like that, even if he is evil (wishful thinking?) and partly because on a practical level I think that he was in some of the scenes where we simultaneously see the joker, though I'd have to go back and check. I don't really think the joker was Lucas or Noel because I guess I don't actually think they're A-team. Phoebe B : I agree! I was so surprised to see A go after Aria! The attack though also made me think that the Byron clue was real and that Ezra is now a seriously suspicious character (more than before when he was just a creepy teacher sleeping with his student). The bandage! I didn't even notice that the first time I watched him though I was super surprised at his prompt arrival aboard the Ghost Train (Also, did you notice how the party was a "Rear Window" party? Yay for PLLs love of Hitchcock!). I don't think the joker is Noel since he seemed legitimately surprised by the discovery of Ali's corpse but also I felt like Toby knew that her body was in there and picked a fight in order to reveal it or something. And then Lucas. His camera was down in one scene and he was nowhere to be found, which made me suspicious but he also was extra nice to Hanna at the beginning of the episode, which was surprising. Sarah T : If the person in the joker costume, the one who drugged Aria and beat up Spencer and was defeated by Paige, is the same person as the owner of the male voice who did not want to push the box off the train -- telling his accomplice "You lied to me," "I can't" -- then the person in the joker costume is also the one who Aria stabbed with her screwdriver through the box. So they'd have a wound. And do you know who has a fresh bandage on his hand when he sweeps in unexpectedly to comfort Aria, just as Ali's corpse is revealed chilling in a cooler full of refreshing soft drinks? EZRA FITZ. J'ACCUSE! Phoebe B: Aaaah I don't know! SO many suspects and terrible scary people in Rosewood! What was going on with the creepy ghost in Hanna's house? Is the twin from last year's special also a young Ali? Or is Pastor Ted secretly messing with Ashley? Sarah T: Good question! I think the ghost is real because we've already crossed the border into supernatural with those living dolls from last season. And I do think it would make sense if the ghost is also the ghost of young Ali. Questions: does this mean that Ashley is going to have more conversations with dead people? Can anyone else see the ghost or just her? And can ghosts make phone calls? Phoebe B: Aaah SO creepy! It totally seems like Ali's ghost ... Or her sister's ghost?! But also because I trust nobody and also think Pastor Ted is creepy, I feel like maybe he is involved in the A-team or being creepy in general. But also PLL doesn't usually do supernatural things, thus I'm inclined to believe the ghost is real and like part of some creepy A-related plan. What was your favorite (scariest) moment of the show? Sarah T: Definitely the scariest moment for me was when Aria finds out she's trapped in a box with Garrett's corpse. Aaaaa that freaks me out just thinking about it. But my favorite moment was when Mona sings a creepy song while painting her paper mache mask and delivering her monologue. This show knows how to give the people what they want! (All Mona all the time.) Phoebe B: When Spencer said to Toby,"you make it so hard to be a modern post-feminist when you get all alpha-male!" And then Toby said, "you want me to stop" and then Spencer said, "no." And then they made out. Ugh. Terrifying. But also, yes for Mona singing! She is so amazingly villainous and wonderful. I also loved when Spencer heard a girl humming on the train (right before Garrett takes her aside) and I presumed it was Mona. Who do you think was buried alive at the shot at the end of the episode? Sarah T: Ali! I think it's Ali having been murdered a second time (post-fake-murder-by-hockey-stick, post-buried alive) and then she gets out and then she gets murdered again . She was having the worst night. Phoebe B : I too think the hand coming out of the ground (which looked like it was in the flashback, right?) was Ali's. But I am so confused! She clearly was having a bad night. But also, maybe it means Ali didn't die that night? But that she killed someone else? And has remained to haunt and destroy people's lives? Or maybe something else entirely? Aaaah I don't want to wait until January to find out more!

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Friday, Jun 20, 2008 ?Believe it or not ? I?ve been able to convince people to add more money.? In the spring of 2007, as the mortgage market came unglued, two Bear Stearns executives shared their growing fears in a series of e-mail messages to each other about the perilous condition of the giant hedge funds they oversaw. The two funds had names as abstruse as the complex subprime securities in their portfolios ? High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund and its riskier sister offering, the High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund.

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Shakespeare work axed in Arizona schools as law bans 'ethnic studies' William Shakespeare's The Tempest is among a list of banned books in the state of Arizona by a resolution aimed at curbing resentment, government overthrow and ethnic distinction and separation in any district or charter school's curriculum. The Tuscon Unifed School District has announced they will end their 13-year Mexican American Studies Program after found in violation of the June resolution that bans the books during a court appeal this past December. If the ruling was not followed by the district they faced a multimillion-dollar penalty in state funds. Banned: William Shakespeare's play The Tempest was banned by Arizona as part of an ousted Mexican-American ethnic studies program The district had first appealed the June 15, 2011 ruling by Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal to cut the program using the books but it was rejected by an Arizona administrative law judge o n December 27, 2011. PROHIBITED COURSES AND CLASSES IN AZ BY 15-112 : A. A school district or charter school in this state shall not include in its program of instruction any courses or classes that include any of the following: 1. Promote the overthrow of the United States government. 2. Promote resentment toward a race or class of people. 3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group. 4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals. - Arizona State Legislature That resulted in the first planned cut of $5 million to the district's February allotment, according to Arizona Department of Education spokesperson Ryan Ducharme, speaking to the LA Times. More... At issue, the district's Mexican-American program violated the A.R.S.  15-112 which prohibits courses and classes that 'promote the overthrow of the United States government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals , ' according to the Arizona State Legislature. The books used in the program, according to Mr Huppenthal in a statement reported by the Los Angeles times, assert that 'Latino minorities have been and continue to be oppressed by a Caucasian majority.' Pushed: Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal ruled the ban back in June of 2011 which the school district appealed and lost in December resulting in their state funding cut if not followed As it's explained by district spokesperson Cara Rene, the books 'will be cleared from all classrooms, boxed up and sent to the Textbook Depository for storage,' she said, speaking to Salon.com. The Tempest, Shakespeare's play believed to have been penned in the early 1600s by the famous British writer, accounts a banished duke of Milan who seeks revenge through his use of magic while at sea, and is among the list of books banned according to Salon. The list also includes all textbooks that deal with Mexican-American history which 60 per cent of the district's student population share a heritage with, according to Salon. Mr Huppenthal's June ruling originally axed the district's Mexican American Studies program saying that 'we would find it nearly impossible for them to cure the program,' speaking to the LA Times. Worry: The textbook Rethinking Columbus was one of several books banned and accused of teaching that Latino minorities have been and continue to be oppressed by a Caucasian majority 'The problems are so widespread and so deep that it would be very difficult. These are decisions they would have to make,' he said suggesting if the district keeps the Mexican American Studies program they would need to make resulting financial adjustments in sacrifice. If the district had continued the program, they would have lost about $14.4 million over the fiscal year, Mr Ducharme said. That's an amount the school district decided they could not afford. 'In my role as State Superintendent of Public Instruction I have a legal responsibility to uphold the law and a professional imperative to ensure that every student has access to an excellent education,' Mr Huppenthal stated in a release while praising the judge's December ruling. 'In the end, I made a decision based on the totality of the information and facts gathered during my investigation -- a decision that I felt was best for all students in the Tucson Unified School District. The Judge's decision confirms that it was the right decision,' he said. Among that list of books include Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years, a textbook described as 'resources for teaching about the impact of the arrival of Columbus in the Americas,' along with Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Brazilian educator Paolo Freire, Occupied America: A History of Chicanos' by Rodolfo Acua, Chicano!: The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement by Arturo Rosales, 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures, by Elizabeth Martinez and Critical Race Theory a textbook by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. The Tempest can be read as an allegory of European conquest of the Americas - Prospero arrives on the island, supplants the witch Sycorax, its former ruler, (I don't remember offhand exactly what happens to her), and enslaves her son Caliban. - Tom B, Springfield, OH, 17/1/2012 14:52 -------------I'm right there with you Tom. I can't make the connection between the issue here and The Tempest for the life of me. I too wish the writer of this "article" would have explained that part. Tom - I agree with you. I think it's a case of liberals ( the media) looking to take up for the liberal agenda even if it means to create lies around it. I live in AZ and I can tell you there is a lot more to this story than what you are reading here. The teachers and administration in charge of the program are promoting anti - American philosophies, teaching things that are not true...basically creating hostility between the Hispanic children and USA and it's history ( typical of liberals) all at the expense of the tax payer. What this boils down to is radicals teaching children that really have no business in the classroom. I've watched and read enough about this to be able to see it for what it is. Tom B. I posted a comment about 4hrs ago and it has not appeared so I can only assume that comments regarding the political climate of the southwest is not allowed, Suffice it to say Shakespeare is the baby and certain parties are content to throw it out. Maybe I'm just having a bad morning but I had to stop reading this article about 3/4 through. It's gibberish. I understand not promoting one race over another but for the life of me can't figure out why Shakespeare is even mentioned in this article. This whole story is just non-sensical garbage. If anyone can help that would be great.

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Sweet cherry bliss... So light and fluffy, this cake bursts with juicy cherries and has a moist light crumb... did I mention its light too! It's the kind of cake that's got the bonus of being gluten free too and makes use of whatever beautiful fruits you currently have at hand. I've been playing around with some sour cherries at school of late... Ok we are playing around with a lot of things in the current pastry module... some of which will be up & coming soon...promise! Not only do those little dark mouthfuls burst with flavour, but that sultry liquid that can be adapted for a few more uses down the track (perhaps a roast duck breast with dark cherry sauce? Or as a homemade jelly with some vanilla bean ice cream, or even frozen into little cubes and (left for another day?) It's time for some baking therapy and with the upcoming weekend, I fancy a bit of dark cherry bliss, specifically this Dark Cherry Frangipane. Share this: Like this: I don't know how I never stumbled across this blog before...I've got A LOT of catching up to do, this blog is really awesome! This particular cherry cake looks delicious, I can't wait to see what other things you've been playing around with! Hi Lorna, wow! I'm thrilled you like them because I figure the best part about a good recipe is sharing it with like minded folks Sadly just tinned cherries at this stage but I have to say it was such a moreish cake, ultra moist and a very easy treat... I seem to be more of a teacake kinda gal, not too fussed with icing and frosting but I have a super recipe for the best (glaze in the world) so I might just need another baking session by next week. I've passed your muffin recipe on to a friend too, so it's getting a bit of circulation! I'm with you, I'm not too fussed about icing and frosting on the whole either, although occasionally I'm in the mood for something extra sweet. Hello Cecille, this was a fun tea cake for the weekend and we've been experimenting with dark cherries and fruit for my baking module. I love a clafoutis and some lovely fruit so (very similar) in a way. Thank you for visiting Your photos are stunning! I know this is probably the 100th time I said so, but they just keep getting better and better. You could easily teach a class on how to create beautiful images with your iPhone, honestly! Why don't you write a post for us when time permits. There's so much we can learn from you. Not forgetting the recipe....it looks and sounds delish. Anything with sweet cherries is my weakness. And I'd kill for the dark brown oozy sides! Thank you! It's actually a recipe that we used in the baking module as a tart. I've adapted it to suit a tea cake and (used a similar recipe to the Flourless dark choc torte from a previous post.) I'm thrilled that you enjoy the images because there's no doubt yours are also incredibly beautiful and always so vibrant. I had thought to write a little post on iphoneography, so thank you for the encouragement! As I only use my phone camera I wasn't sure if my tips would be relevant as there are many other blogs which showcase brilliant techniques but if you really want to know more, then I will down the track. Thank you for the compliments! Most folks don't have a DSLR but have an iPhone and I seriously believe that iPhonogtaphy is the future...fast, effective and almost effortless yet brilliant. I know I would love to know more from you on how you use your phone for your blog pictures, the kind of light, the filters, arranging etc. And I bet the rest of your readers would love it too! You know, pictures are worth a thousand words. As a tart or cake, I love this recipe and I'm still waiting for cherry season here so (looking forward to summer.) As for the baking bit I have to apologise as it's the current module till the end of year (but never fear,) there's some juicy Asian recipes coming up, no baking but lots of kitchen fun! Thank you! I don't want to bore you all with my new found pastry techniques but I figure there are some tricks of the trade (which) I shouldn't keep to myself! Nonetheless my next post is about zen masters.... Alice that looks absolutely mouthwatering! I wish I could take a bite right now! Shame our cherry season is past.....you can't find them anywhere! sniff sniff.......But next summer will definitely try this out! Beautiful photos too! Lol, Hi Carla! I have to add that these were tinned cherries and I too am still waiting for the cherry season to hit! I love a nice teacake and weekends are the perfect excuse for baking too. The pics are from the iphone4S using instagram per usual, they have very effective light filter which is useful Happy Snapping! Well in Barcelona there are too many gorgeous foods to eat at any given time of the year no doubt. As for the iphones, I find the apps can help to enhance what the phone already does. At least the 4 has a HD camera too Have a great week! Thank you! I gotta say your clean living and eating really is inspired. How you manage to feed hubby and not have a riot on your hands is beyond me! I amp it up with lots of veggie love to compensate but I do have a pasty habit on the side Thank you! There's a lot of martinis and wine mixed in, so it's not *that* virtuous. And as for your pasties, I have a burrito addiction that has to be fed at least once every other month or so. It's usually worth the tummyache! Thanks Erika, that pic seems to be the all round favourite! It's amazing to think they're just canned cherries but I guess the appeal is in the shiny, glossy exterior (like so many other shiny things too!) I've got a little joke with one of my readers, she's very inspired by my quirky titles sometimes. Thank you for stopping by and visiting both here and on Facebook. Loving your sausage & cider hot pots, along with fresh sausage rolls and jeruselum artichokes too! From Sydney-Australia, this site is dedicated to Girl in a Food Frenzy (aka Alice Lau) and her day to day antics from the kitchen at home to her most recent journey at school as a budding chef! From previous passions in costumes, theatre design & events to more recent ones, ... Continue reading Follow Blog via Email Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

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Posted in: Guides Part 1: Infinity From the start, turn around and proceed down the slope to the right. Continue to follow the set pathway through the jungle until you reach the room with the objective marker in it. Along with the dead marine, you will also find a pair of knights. They will teleport away when you drop down into the area. Interact with the objective marker on the ground and then loot the bodies nearby for some UNSC weaponry if you are interested in such things. There is also a box of grenades behind a tree at the far side of the area from where we entered. Climb down the slope when you are ready to go. As you get around halfway down, a good size group of crawlers will appear in the clearing below on the ground and on the various trees, walls and stumps around the area. Once they are gone, work your way into the clearing and when you reach the other side another 8-10 crawlers will emerge from the trees in front along with a knight who will remain in the distance. Kill the lot and then, continue with the path around to the left. Clear any remaining crawlers out of the area as you proceed. As the path becomes narrower, you'll see into the next open area. Kill the watcher and any crawlers you can see before entering to finish off the rest. Continue around the large tree in the center of the zone and down the path opposite the entry. Check out the objective marker on the ground to pick up the Promethean vision ability. When we activate this, we'll now be able to see enemies highlighted in red and be able to see through the fog that lies just ahead. Move forward to the edge of the cliff and use Promethean vision to identify the knight and 7-8 crawlers below. Kill them all before dropping down to their level and heading to the right. Once you can go no further, look for a slope leading upwards to your right and kill the knight and the small group of crawlers that come down it. Climb the ramp and then ascend the tree roots to the left. Enter the clearing nearby and examine the objective marker. Proceed a little further, and as you reach the top of the slope leading down to the next area, 6-7 crawlers will run by. Kill them all as you enter the area. Once they are dead, continue around the corner to the right and kill the knight, watcher and another group of crawlers here. Remember to use the Promethean vision to tack down all of those pesky crawlers who might be hiding. Proceed into the area with the objective marker, kill any crawlers lurking about and then jump up to the structure approach the door for a short story scene. Part 2: Reunited Exit the building and turn to the right, kill the watcher, the pair of knights and large group of crawlers in the immediate area. Proceed further into the jungle when it is clear and follow the path to the left and up the ramp. Continue along the winding path here until you encounter a group of three crawlers and a knight. Deal with them before continuing. When you reach the group of marines under fire, continue down the slope and help them repel the crawlers, knights and watchers in the open area beyond their cover position. When it gets quite, hop the marine's defenses and clear out any remaining enemies before proceeding to the structure at the afar end of the area. As you approach a knight, a pair of watchers and another small group of crawlers will ambush you. During this encounter, a pair of Promethean laser emplacements may also be activated, so if they do, destroy them as well. Once everything is dead, head for the structure. Place Cortana into the socket on the pillar to the right of the door and then defend the area for a few moments whilst she does her thing. You will have to fight off a healthy number of crawlers and a few knights, any remaining marines will help you out and there is also a gun turret here to make things easier if you wish to use it. Once time is up, Cortana will let you know she is finished and the door will open, giving you access to the next area. We'll be in a large open cave. We need to clear it of all enemies to create a landing zone. As you exit the tunnel, note that covenant and Promethean forces are now working together! Kill the knight and 5-6 grunts in front. Move into the main part of the cave and you will see a watcher, a couple of knights and a good number of jackals and grunts. Once you have killed a few of the baddies here, a couple of phantoms will show up and drop off some additional covenant grunts and jackals, additionally a couple of extra knights seem to appear at this point too. Now all we need to do is simply clear the area until a friendly ship shoes up. Run over to it and wait until a scene plays. Part 3: The Gun Show From the start, run down the hill to the right and jump into the scorpion tank. After entering the tank, continue forward in the direction the tank is facing and use the tank shells to deal with any bad guys that get in your way. We're essentially going to follow the linear path through covenant lines until we reach an open area. Make sure to destroy any ghosts that approach and destroy the wraiths in your path as well, you can also blow up all the the sniper hover towers along the way if you are into that kind of thing. Once you reach the tunnel leading down, cruise to the bottom and park the tank on the circular platform. Ride it up to the inside of the Infinity. We are in a cargo bay of sorts and there are a large number of covenant forces here. There are hunters, grunts and elites. They should not bother you at all with the tank though, so take them all down. Once everything is dead, you'll receive a transmission from the captain. Hop out of the tank and continue through the open door. Hit the switch at the top of the ramp inside. Part 4: Shining Armor Climb into the mantis. This is a suit of armor equipped with missiles and a mini-gun. Use the weapons to destroy the door at the bottom of the ramp and enter the hole you create. As with the previous tank section, the mantis is borderline indestructible on normal difficulty and still pretty sturdy on higher difficulties as well so it goes without saying that you'll need to kill an abundance of enemies, kill anything that gets in the way. Continue along the long hallway here and turn to the right. At the end of the hallway, turn left and continue up the ramp. At the top turn left and continue along the pathway and enter the door at the end. Kill the enemies inside and ride the lift up. Part 5: Eviction Proceedings Exit the lift and continue through the door at the end of the short hallway. We are now in an outdoor area. In the centre is a giant gun turret that we need to activate. To do this we need to destroy three covenant signal jammers. These are located against the far wall of the room as we enter, unfortunately there are a lot of enemies hanging out in this room. The lot of them can easily be taken down with rockets and a few rounds of the minigun. When you are ready, destroy the three marked jammers. As you destroy them, a number of phantoms will swoop in to drop off additional covenant forces for you to blow up. Note that you can destroy the turrets on the bottoms of the phantoms so that they cannot shoot at you. Eliminate the enemies that they drop off. This will cause a number of banshees to come in and attack the area. Whilst this is going down another pair of phantoms will come in to drop off troops. Kill them all and continue to shoot down banshees until the objective is complete. When prompted to do so, hop out of the mantis and activate the marked switch. After a few moments, a story scene will play to complete the mission.

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You have to be kidding.... Okay, agreed. There's nothing about Stephen Harper that suggests he is a big joker. He doesn't speak in public except in modulated monotones. Very reassuring, like Prozac. No off-script moments of hilarity. No pirouettes in the hallways. But I had to wonder. Was he going for political satire? Some sort of self-referential pop cultural joke in kicking off the budget implementation bill debate? I mean, he must have read Andrew Coyne's piece in the National Post . Noting that a huge number of non-budgetary matters are stuffed in the over 420 pages of C-38, much of it dramatically changing environmental laws, Coyne wrote, "This is not remotely a budget bill, despite its name," further noting that while throwing non-budgetary matters into a budget bill is not unknown, in C-38, "The scale and scope are on a level not previously seen, or tolerated." (Or if the PM didn't read it, he must have people who read it for him and left post-it notes somewhere he would see saying, "Coyne and others seem to have noticed the budget bill is crammed full of new laws to remove environmental protection. Offence to democracy alleged...must deflect.") No sign of recognizing anger is stirring across the land. They went for the Full Monty as it were. No shame. The kick-off speaker to the Budget Implementation Bill? Not the Minister of Finance. No sir. What would Flaherty have to say about a budget bill anyway? The lead Conservative Speaker was Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. Say it ain't so, Joe. He gave the standard Harper "energy super power" message. It goes like this: Canada is an energy super-power -- in the same way a business in bankruptcy is a super-power. Everything must go. We are running out of time to sell everything fast. Oil-hungry markets won't wait. Really? "We need to act quickly," said Joe Oliver in the House on Wednesday. But the existing pipeline infrastructure is, according to Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers projections, sufficient to meet demand until oil sands production expands by 150%. (Testimony of former government petroleum geologist, J. David Hughes, to the NEB Joint Review Panel on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project). Minister Oliver cited many statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA), establishing that the world is energy-hungry and oil-thirsty...without once mentioning the IEA urgent warnings about the climate crisis. The IEA is screaming from the rooftops (figuratively speaking, but the reports are increasingly frantic) that time is running out to reduce dependency on fossil fuels to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change at its worst. No reference either to Mr. Harper's promise to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies (now there's a budget measure), promised in 2009 at the G-20, underscored in every IEA report as an urgent step, which the PM has steadfastly ignored. No reference to the International Energy Agency advice that Canada needs to put a price on carbon. And then for more laughs, in answer to a question from one of his colleagues, Mr. Oliver said, "Mr. Speaker, the whole point of this exercise is to ensure that we have a robust environmental review of major projects... under the aegis of the Canadian Environmental Protection Agency." Now, in fairness to Mr. Oliver, there is no particular reason he should know much about the environmental laws C-38 is destroying. He is not the author of this strategy; the Prime Minister is. And the fact that Canada doesn't have an agency called the Canadian Environmental Protection Agency is not something he has to know...Peter Kent should know it, and, of course, he spoke next. No sign of the finance minister...but what would he have to contribute to a debate about freeing the oilsands and mining from the tyranny of environmental laws. I expected to hear, "Free at last, free at last..." from some conservative script, recycling the end of the long-gun registry invocation of the Rev. Martin Luther King in more triumphalist Libertarian oratory. With 420 pages plus of detailed, complex and sweeping changes to laws originally passed decades ago, any thought that there was even a hint of shame in the Conservative strategy was dashed. Within the first hours of debate, Peter Van Loan made a motion to invoke time allocation on Bill C-38. After all, we are in a hurry. None of this is funny. It is an outrage. PLEASE, if you are angry, say so. Please insist that your MP work to pull the environmental laws impacted by this bill ( Canadian Environmental Assessment Act*, Fisheries Act, Navigable Waters Protection Act, Species at Risk Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act, National Round Table on Environment and Economy Act*, Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act*) , out of the so-called budget bill. (Note: the bills marked with * are repealed in C-38. CEAA is replaced with a brand new, gutted version of environmental assessment law, which, at this rate will be passed by the end of June -- without a single day of hearings before the environment committee). I read your blog with growing alarm (although I like the sarcasm in there). I would take your advice, but I am sadly in the riding of Mr. Clement. (And that's another issue that just makes me want to scream or something more. I have written to Mr. Clement's office--and not received any reply. If I could have one wish for this country is that we had a representative system that really did have to work together for the common good. Harper and cronies really don't get it. And we and our children and grandchildren--7 generations or more--will end up paying for their greed. I am open to suggestions beyond haranging a man who won't care anyway. At some point, progressive governments, whenever they get elected need to simply do the same thing -- simply pass an omnibus bill that repeals the conservative one. I don't understand why it never happens. Why do progressives have to show civility and reasonableness when the other side does not? The omnibus bill goes against the spirit of proper parliamentary process -- it simply should be undone whenever possible and then after it is repealed, we can discuss the possible merits of anything that may have been contained in it. Perhaps corporate interests would demand a little more civility in the future if this were the case. There have been a number of observers who have suggested that the only recourse may be for the opposition to ignore the call to vote upon this undemocratic Omnibus bill which effectively shows NO respect for either the wishes of the majority of Canadians OR the need for open and prolonged debate of all portions of such bills. At least untill such time as it is split into seperate bills as a minmum goal. In reading about the previous occurrence of such action in the House it would seem as if even this option has been removed. Perhaps Elizabeth with her extensive knowledge of parliamentary procedures would care to comment upon this possibility. "After a particularly acrimonious two-week continuous sitting during a filibuster of the Bill early in 1913, the government brought forward a motion on April 9, 1913, to amend the Standing Orders. As a result of this incident, rules were adopted which, among other things, introduced closure. After an uncharacteristically long debate on the motion, the rules were adopted on April 23, 1913 ( Journals , April 9, 1913, pp. 451-2; April 23, 1913, pp. 507-9; Debates , April 9, 1913, cols. 7388-414). Second, decades later, in what is known as the "Bell ringing" episode, changes were made to the Standing Orders in order to prevent a recurrence of the situation that took place in March 1982 when division bells were rung continuously for two weeks." I note that I too am in the riding of a Harper 'yes man' and on the few previous occasions I have had contact with him all I get is a regurgitation of the party line. I no longer waste my time contacting him! May I suggest, in addition to the letters and emails, make PHONE CALLS to your mp and the prime minister this time. Leave messages with their admin, ask for a call back. Call again. Let's do this en masse. If you get a hold of them - hold them to account for the confusing nature of the bill, ASK them questions about it! Even if you do this politely, it will become obvious - they didn't know what was in it EITHER! Please please call! http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliamen\\...

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Does anyone wake up in the middle of the night? Does anyone wake up in the middle of the night, or is it just me? I usually wake up to go potty but sometimes it's for no real reason. The last thing I'll eat is usually the only cooked food of the day and that is usually 2-3 hours before I go to bed. Help? No that definitely makes sense because I really do need to get more active. Weird though because last night I did play soccer for about 2 hours and I still woke up. Maybe if I get into a routine though it'll turn out better. Thanks! i used to have same problem for the answer was eating more which was suggested ONLY here are 30bad . its said here that our body stays awake cuz its wants food . to me a reasonable theory . and it worked for me . also agree strongly with Vice you got move and work the body for it to sleep wonderfully though the night... One of the possible reasons for waking up is that the pain is supposed to be the strongest at night, between 1 and 3 in the morning, the pain that you might not even be aware when you're awake... it might be joints, headaches, menstrual pain, or some other types. At what time do you usually wake up? So I should have mentioned this. I go to bed around 8-10 pm (10 occasionally) and usually wake up around 3, sometimes even around 5 am but I'm thinking thats ok maybe. Interesting about the pain thing, could you tell me more? Yes i have experienced this alot! Especially when I have gone back from all low fat raw to trying to incorporate a cooked evening meal again. Cooked food is so filling that it is easy to not get enough calories in at that last meal!! So don't save your calories for this meal!!! You think you're sooo full and then your day finishes and you go to bed and then you wake up between 2-3am(that's usually the magic time when I wake up and know I have not eaten enough) The problem with the cooked food is that I find it numbs you alot and I find I have a hard time distinguishing my hunger until it wakes me from my sleep literally! It could be also possible that you are dehydrated, make sure you go to bed with clear pee-if not drink water until it is. When I wake up in the night I will first drink some water to make sure-if i still can't fall asleep I will eat a high water content fruit like grapes (just what I prefer) than I always fall asleep. It's better to eat something rather than not I find. It really helps me! I do try not to eat late at night as much as possible though! I've learned that it is so so important to get those calories in early on in the day- if not it has come back to haunt me in my sleep;) This still happens even when I'm completely raw too, but again it'd due to not eating enough majority of the time or sometimes dehydration.. I just find it happens way to frequently when I have gone back to cooked for a few days-again the cooked meal really messes with my system on a whole now. If you are waking up to just pee well that seems fine- I wake up a few times a night just to pee and then right back to dream land I go:) I hope this helps. If you think that this is the problem, really focus on those fruit calories during the day! Load up so your cooked portion won't be so large at the end of the day. Are you planning to go all raw eventually? If not just still make sure load up on fruit through out the day either way. P.s when I wake up at that hour I don't experience hunger pains or growling-it feels more like dehydration, like a feeling in the throat-I say this because you may not think your hungry but you might very well be. It took me sometime to realize this. Yeah, so I do pack mostly raw fruits and veggies during the day and just a little bit of cooked food later in the day. Nonetheless, I think I need to increase my calorie intake and start exercising again. I'll try to drink more water too! I am planning on going raw one day. I did raw for about 3 weeks but couldn't (physically) get the calories in so thats why I am doing the cooked meal. Thanks for the insight thought and I'll pay attention to the throat thing, that's interesting. Waking up between 3 am and 5 am is a sign of cortisol imbalances. You may have elevated cortisol-levels (cortisol is a stress hormone). This can be due to too little eating. Maybe some walking and stretching could calm you down and some changes to your diet would help as well. Maybe you don't eat enough. If you feel extremely dehydrated, that can be a sign of hormonal imbalances (elevated cortisol for example) as well. I did the same thing for years on cooked food, for me when I changed to high raw i found that bananas relax me and make me a little sleepy so I have a lot of bananas for dinner or a banana smoothie. i sleep through the night and when i do get up to use the bathroom i can go right back to sleep. Might help.

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Evidence from Finland The Authors Timo Rintamki, School of Business Administration, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland Hannu Kuusela, School of Business Administration, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland Mark T. Spence, Bond University, Bond, Australia Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the referees for insightful comments that we believe have significantly improved the positioning, value and clarity of this manuscript. Abstract Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to decompose total customer value as perceived by department store shoppers into utilitarian, hedonic and social dimensions, and empirically test this conceptualization in a Finnish department store shopping context. Design/methodology/approach -- Data were collected by a questionnaire administered over three days at a department store that generates the second largest turnover in Finland. A total of 364 shoppers completed the questionnaire. Findings -- Empirical evidence supports our tripartite conceptualization of total customer value. In particular, social value is an independent construct. Further, social value varies by day-of-week, with a significant increase on Saturday (versus weekdays) when the store is more crowded, whereas no such differences in utilitarian and hedonic values were detected. Originality/value -- The principal contribution is a tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. Individually these dimensions are all well rooted in streams of consumer behavior literature, albeit mostly at the product or brand, not the store, level. Increasing our understanding of these softer aspects of shopping, particularly the social dimension, is important because they represent possible differentiating factors in the highly competitive and often commoditized retail markets. Journal: Volume: Number: Year: pp: ISSN: 0959-0552 Introduction Customer value is a key concept in retail strategy and differentiation because it addresses "what they [customers] want and believe they get from buying and using a seller's product" ( Woodruff, 1997, p. 140 ). Creating and delivering customer value is a precondition for retailers to survive in today's competitive marketplace. Many shoppers are looking for more than simply fair prices and convenience, the cornerstones of utilitarian value. Retailers who understand the multiplicity of motives for shopping have the best possibilities to create value for their customers. Instead of defining motivation to shop only as a function of buying, the role of hedonic and social shopping motives should also be recognized ( Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ; Sheth, 1983 ; Tauber, 1972 ; Westbrook and Black, 1985 ). In response to these various motivations, we decompose total customer value as perceived by department store shoppers with respect to their shopping experience into utilitarian, hedonic and social dimensions. While the experiential aspects of consumption -- central to the study at hand -- have been dubbed "hot topics" of the millennium (for a review, see Holbrook, 2000, 2001a, b ), the phenomena itself is hardly new ( Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ; Woods, 1981 ). Two decades ago Sheth (1983) proposed two kinds of shopping motivations: customer's functional needs and non-functional wants. Retailers strive to deliver what customers need, but the most successful retail store concepts are often based on what customers want. More recently Solomon (2002, p. 299) noted: Shopping malls have tried to gain the loyalty of shoppers by appealing to their social motives as well as providing access to desired goods. The mall is often a focal point in community ... Malls are becoming giant entertainment centers, almost to the point that their traditional retail occupants seem like an afterthought. Even mass retailers like Wal-Mart who compete on low prices have started to pay more attention to connecting with the social and emotional sides of their customers. However, creating value is not costless, hence the need to understand the drivers of total customer value. This research effort is in response to the need for an expanded, yet still parsimonious, definition of total customer value that encompasses hedonic and social aspects of consumption. Its principal contribution is a tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. Individually these dimensions are all well rooted in streams of consumer behavior literature, albeit mostly at the product or brand, not the store, level ( Arnold and Reynolds, 2003 ; Parsons, 2002 ). We measure and test if these three constructs capture customer value in a department store shopping context. Hedonic and social dimensions of customer value are seen as meaningful and important aspects that complement the traditional utilitarian perspective. Increasing our understanding of these softer aspects of shopping is important because they represent possible differentiating factors in the highly competitive and often commoditized retail markets. In the words of Tauber (1972, p. 49) : "Many retailers would benefit by defining their business as being part of the social-recreational industry." Conceptual overview A hierarchical structure of customer value may be represented by using a means-end chain ( Woodruff, 1997 ; Zeithaml, 1988 ). Product attributes represent the lowest level in the customer value hierarchy. These attributes may be concrete or abstract, positive or negative. The extent to which these bundles of attributes are meaningful, i.e. perceived as benefits or sacrifices, depends on the customer's subjective goals and purposes. Goals and purposes represent the highest level of the customer value hierarchy. Although the highest level of the customer value hierarchy could cover a wide range of life values, those that relate to motivations to engage in department store shopping are the foci here. It is assumed that customer value stems from attributes and consequences that contribute to customer's instrumental goals and purposes (e.g. monetary savings and convenience) as well as those that are meaningful ends in themselves (e.g. to some, shopping is an adventure and/or social outing). The shopping experience, therefore, generates a variety of concrete and abstract benefits and sacrifices that contribute to total customer value that goes beyond the mere acquisition of physical products or core services. In order to understand shopping motives, one has to consider the satisfaction provided by both shopping activities and the utility derived from the merchandise. Tauber (1972) asked a convenience sample of 30 people (half men, half women) to recall their most recent shopping trip (of any type), discuss their activities while shopping, and tell what they enjoyed about the trip. As a result, from a list of shopping activities and satisfactions, a number of hypothesized motives for shopping were classified ex post as either personal or social. He concluded: If the shopping motive is a function of only the buying motive, the decision to shop will occur when a person's need for particular goods becomes sufficiently strong for him to allocate time, money, and effort to visit a store. However, the multiplicity of hypothesized shopping motives suggest that a person may also go shopping when he needs attention, wants to be with peers, desires to meet people with similar interests, feels a need to exercise, or has leisure time ( Tauber, 1972, p. 48 ). Consistent with Tauber's conclusion, Sheth (1983) proposes, but did not test, an integrative theory of patronage preference and patronage behavior theories, resulting in two separate models. The former model addresses shopping motivations and values, which he believed related to the choice of outlets to which one could shop. He proposed two shopping motives, one relating to functional needs and the other to nonfunctional wants. To quote:  Functional needs are related to what have traditionally been referred to as time, place, and possession needs. Specific examples include such things as one-stop shopping, cost and availability of needed products, convenience in parking and shopping, and accessibility to the outlets.  Nonfunctional wants are related to various shopping outlets as a result of their associations with certain social, emotional, and epistemic values. For example, many retail outlets acquire positive or negative images because of patronage by desirable or undesirable demographic, socioeconomic, and ethnic groups, or they arouse positive or negative responses such as masculine, feminine, garish, loud, or crude, because of store atmospherics, personnel, or business practices in general. Finally, customers do shop for novelty, to satisfy their curiosity, to reduce boredom, to keep up with new trends and events. These are all reflections of the epistemic, nonfunctional wants. It is important to recognize that functional needs are clearly anchored to the outlet attributes, whereas nonfunctional wants are anchored to the outlet association. In this sense, functional needs are intrinsic to outlets, whereas nonfunctional wants are extrinsic to the outlets ( Sheth, 1983, p. 15-16 ). Parsons (2002) applied Tauber's (1972) personal and social motives as representative of Sheth's (1983) non-functional motives for shopping on the internet. He found that non-functional motives can be adapted to the twenty-first century mode of shopping, namely internet shopping. Because "softer" non-functional sources of motivations apply to the internet, to gain market share internet sellers should not focus solely on functional aspects. Arnold and Reynolds (2003) focused on the hedonic motivations of shopping. They recognized six dimensions of hedonic shopping motivations: adventure, gratification, role, value, social, and idea shopping. By using these dimensions and additional background variables, five shopper types were profiled. But these authors are not alone advancing motivation-based shopper typologies -- see, e.g. Westbrook and Black (1985) for a nice review and alternative perspective. Regardless of motivation typology, all of which acknowledge non-utilitarian aspects, being able to segment customers based on underlying motives lends support for the need to broaden our understanding of how customers derive value from the department store shopping experience per se . Given the importance of customer value to marketers, it is not surprising that there is an abundance of definitions and conceptualizations of value that depend both on the context of the study and the methodology and measurement techniques used. Conceptualizing value as a simple ratio of quality and price ( Gale, 1994 ) has been turned into a rich description of intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. Among these are instrumental (functional and cognitive) and non-instrumental (experiential and affective) benefits and sacrifices ( Aylott and Mitchell, 1998 ; Babin et al. , 1994 ; Chandon et al. , 2000 ; Reid and Brown, 1996 ; Csikszentmihalyi, 2000 ). Store atmospherics, e.g. music, lighting and layout, can enhance the shopping experience, hence shopping value ( Babin and Attaway, 2000 ; Bitner, 1992 ). Holbrook (1994, 1999) defines customer value as interactive between a subject (customer) and an object (product). In addition, customer value is relativistic because it involves preferences among objects, it varies among people, and it is specific to the context. Value is, therefore, comparative, personal and situational. Further, value is the outcome of an evaluative judgment and thus preferential. Holbrook notes that value (singular) as an outcome differs from values (plural) that are used as standards, rules, criteria, norms, goals or ideals for the evaluative judgment. Table I provides a flavor for the various conceptualizations provided by some of the aforementioned authors as well as others. What is striking is the lack of agreement. For our purposes customer value goes beyond product purchase (i.e. the outcome) to cover the whole shopping experience. Our objective is to demonstrate that total customer value within a department store shopping context consists of three dimensions: utilitarian and hedonic dimensions -- which have attracted attention ( Babin et al. , 1994 ; Arnold and Reynolds, 2003 ) -- and a third, lesser understood dimension, social value. The proposed tripartite perspective of total customer value Earlier research ( Table I ) has treated social value either as a lower level construct contributing to utilitarian and hedonic value ( Chandon et al. , 2000 ), or modeled it as one of several dimensions comprising value realized from a consumer good ( Sweeney and Soutar, 2001 ). Thus, for example, to capture the perceived social value inherent in a consumer durable good Sweeney and Soutar (2001) included measures such as: "If I bought or used this item, it would create a favorable impression of me." Our focus is the shopping experience provided by the retailer, not the brand. One of the many purchase related decisions is where to purchase; a brand may be available at multiple outlets. Our insights are, therefore, directed toward retailers. We conceptualize the total value of department store shopping as having three dimensions. Briefly, utilitarian value stems from monetary savings and convenience; hedonic value stems from exploration and entertainment; and social value is realized through status and self-esteem enhancement. These dimensions need not be orthogonal: a successful purchase of a product at a discount at the first store visited -- perhaps with assistance from a friend one met while shopping -- could yield multiple values ( Babin et al. , 1994 ). We propose that in the department store shopping domain social value merits treatment as a separate, third construct because: modeling social value as a separate construct will test its relevance in the shopping domain. If supporting evidence is realized, it would add conceptual clarity to what comprises the global construct, total customer value. Figure 1 shows the proposed model. A more detailed account of the three dimensions is summarized in Table II . Utilitarian value The utilitarian perspective is based on the assumption that consumers are rational problem-solvers ( Bettman, 1979 ). As a result, the utilitarian perspective stresses functional, product-centric thinking, and research has focused on consumer decision processes. Consumption is understood as a means to accomplish some predefined end. Therefore, the consumer is seen as a utility calculator, Homo Economicus . Shoppers experience utilitarian value when their task-related needs are fulfilled. Therefore, utilitarian value is characterized as instrumental and extrinsic ( Babin et al. , 1994 ; Holbrook, 1999 ; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ). Monetary savings and convenience contribute to utilitarian value. Monetary savings reduce the pain of paying ( Chandon et al. , 2000 ); therefore, utilitarian value can be increased when a customer is able to find discounted products or when prices are perceived to be less than those at competing stores. Convenience can be defined as a ratio of inputs to outputs, time and effort being the relevant inputs ( Holbrook, 1999 ; Seiders et al. , 2000 ). As Seiders et al. (2000) point out, in order to provide customers convenience one must understand the "retail experience from drive in to check out" and find ways to "maximize the speed and ease of shopping." They define four different kinds of convenience which stem from the speed and ease with which consumers can: reach a retailer (access convenience); identify and select the essential products (search convenience); obtain desired products (possession convenience); and effect or amend transactions (transaction convenience). Our analysis involves a store within a shopping mall, hence the convenience aspects focused on are search and possession. Hedonic value Consumption experience as an end valued for its own sake became a topic of interest among consumer researchers in the early-1980s. The experiential view highlighted three F's -- fantasies, feelings and fun -- that represented the hedonic aspects of consumption ( Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ). Hedonic consumption designates those facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of one's experience with products ( Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982, p. 92 ). The experiential consumer may be called Homo Ludens , a man guided by his senses and wants. In the late-1990s the experiential view attracted interest through the experience economy, a term coined to describe "a new economic offering" ( Pine and Gilmore, 1999 ) that customers wanted to "sense, feel, think, act and relate" ( Schmitt, 1999 ). Social value The social dimension of consumption can be understood through a symbolic interactionism perspective which emphasizes the importance of products in setting the stage for the multitude of social roles that people play ( Belk, 1988 ; Solomon, 1983 ). From the symbolic interactionism perspective the consumer is seen as Homo Faber . Shopping represents a social act where symbolic meanings, social codes, relationships, and the consumer's identity and self may be produced and reproduced ( Firat and Venkatesh, 1993 ). Patronizing a department store that has certain store attributes/atmospherics (or buying and using certain products) depends on how a customer wants to be seen and/or how she wants to see herself ( Erdem et al. , 1999 ; Sheth et al. , 1991 ; Sirgy et al. , 2000 ; Sweeney and Soutar, 2001 ). In other words, the act of shopping can provide a symbolic benefit, as customers are able to express their personal values through the consumption experience ( Chandon et al. , 2000 ). According to the symbolic interactionism perspective, the "cues" present in a retail shopping experience are used by individuals in assigning meaning to others as well as in assigning social identity to themselves ( Belk, 1988 ; Solomon, 1983 ). Thus, we view social value as an independent dimension of total customer value (albeit one that can covary with the other two proposed dimensions). Many of us may have perused products at stores that clearly push our financial capabilities, perhaps with little intention of purchasing, but the process of doing so enhances our status and/or self-esteem, which contribute to social value. Status enhancement is a benefit attained by using symbolic features in communicating signs of position or membership to others. It has been suggested that status seeking has its origin in materialism and that it is connected to conspicuous consumption ( Babin et al. , 1994 ; Richins and Dawson, 1992 ; Veblen, 1967 ). Status is actively pursued, cognitive, intentional and instrumental ( Holbrook, 1999 ; Chandon et al. , 2000 ). Individuals that engage in status enhancement are characterized as high self-monitors, who are mainly concerned with how they play their role, i.e. what kind of impression they give to others ( Browne and Kaldenberg, 1997 ). Self-esteem enhancement is a benefit experienced when symbolic features derived from the company, store, products, personnel and other customers are attached to self in order to define and maintain one's concept of self. Shopping is an environment where customers stroll, gaze and are gazed upon. In addition, symbolic properties may be used in emphasizing unique traits. Shopping experiences may sometimes carry personal meanings so important that they are characterized as "sacred or magical" ( Belk, 1988 ; Csikszentmihalyi, 2000 ; Holbrook, 1999, 2001b ; Solomon, 1983 ). In the next section we provide empirical evidence that supports our tripartite perspective of total customer value. Empirical analysis Data were collected by a questionnaire administered over three days at a department store that generates the second largest turnover in Finland. In our case, the department store is an anchor store in a large mall that has become a destination shopping location, attracting customers from long distances. Wakefield and Baker (1998) found the "tenant variety" as an important construct explaining the attractiveness of a mall. Because the data include customers from many parts of Finland, we see this as strength in our study[1]. Theory on customer motivations and values reviewed earlier in conjunction with results from qualitative research were used in questionnaire design. Qualitative research was conducted in order to illuminate the salient shopping benefits, customer value dimensions and their relation to the customer value formation process. Six shoppers were theme-interviewed using a laddering technique recommended by Woodruff (1997) and Vriens and Hofstede (2000) . The interviewees were first asked to describe the purpose of their shopping trip, main purchases made, and an evaluation whether or not the shopping experience matched their needs and expectations. Based on their descriptions the interviewer asked more about the positive and negative aspects of the shopping experience. Themes -- in our case value dimensions -- were not given to the interviewees during the interviews, but more specific questions concerning the perceived benefits and sacrifices were asked in the order that the interviewee mentioned them. The results provided support for both the proposed model and questionnaire. Our study uses statements that reflect the perceived benefits in order to capture utilitarian, social, and hedonic value dimensions. A five-point Likert scale response format was used in the data gathering. Using only benefit constructs (and not measuring sacrifices) may be a limitation, but a common way to proceed when value dimensions are investigated ( Mathwick et al. , 2001 ; Chandon et al. , 2000 )[2]. In order to increase reliability several aspects of data collection were carefully considered. The first objective was to minimize memory-based bias. This was done by focusing on the shopping experience that had just taken place in the department store the data were collected. A shopping experience that took place minutes ago is easy for respondents to recall; this would not have been the case if data gathering had been by telephone or mail survey. Moreover, using a specific shopping excursion at one store as an object of inquiry makes more salient the strategic implications that creating social value can have when differentiating retail stores than would be the case had we investigated shopping in general. Customers were asked to take part in a survey "investigating general aspects of the in-store shopping experience." Customers who agreed to participate were taken to a lounge where the questionnaire was explained and administered. Those customers who completed the questionnaire were given a voucher for a meal at any of the restaurants located in the mall. Our primary purpose was to decompose total customer value into three dimensions: utilitarian, hedonic and social. Thus, first the existence of these three dimensions needs to be established. However, to show that these dimensions have clear managerial relevance, a second goal was to show that these dimensions can be influenced. We choose an exogenous moderating variable to test, namely day-of-week. It seems reasonable to assume that these dimensions would be affected by the day-of-the-week that shopping takes place; afterall, the number of shoppers is affected by holidays, day-of-week and weather variables ( Parsons, 2001 ). Store patronage is greater Saturday than during the week, which would suggest that if the social value dimension can be established, we might find that its effect is moderated (increased) on the weekend because the greater number of customers would increase the likelihood of status enhancement. Data collection was, therefore, executed during three days: Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was anticipated that all three dimensions would be supported ( Figure 1 ); and that the relative contribution of the three second-order constructs comprising total customer value would vary by day-of-week, with social value in particular exhibiting its strongest effect on weekends when the store is most crowded. Sample characteristics The sample consisted of 364 questionnaires, 54.1 percent of which were from female respondents. The number of non-participants was 96 (21 percent of the total). Non-participants were customers who were asked to answer the survey, but declined to do so. For non-participants, gender and an estimate of age were recorded. Comparison of age and gender among participants and non-participants does not reveal any significant differences, indicating that the sample is free of bias in this respect. Sample characteristics are presented in Table III . Measurement models The first step was to estimate three measurement models, one for each of the three value dimensions, to establish construct validity. Because the scale of each first and second order factor is indeterminate, the scale was fixed by setting one loading equal to one, as seen in the lower two-thirds of Figure 2 . The estimated loadings for all three models were significant: t -values varied between 5.33 and 13.64. The R 2 -values of basic variables varied between 0.23 (COA) and 0.90 (ENC). These results provide support that the individual constructs are valid. The next step was to run the complete model shown in Figure 2 . Complete model In the complete model the second order factors were allowed to correlate -- as noted earlier, a shopping excursion can yield multiple benefits. We hypothesized that the total customer value provided by the shopping experience is hierarchically organized with utilitarian, social and hedonic value operating as second order factors. The t -values for first-order factors vary between 6.96 and 14.59 ( Table IV ), and for second-order factors between 5.76 and 11.13 ( Table V ). The overall ? 2 =371.28, df=129, p <0.001 ( Figure 2 ). All estimated parameters are significant ( p <0.001). The proposed model provides a good fit to the data and can, therefore, be considered nomologically valid. The overall goodness of fit is 0.89 and the root mean square residual is 0.074. Independence AIC results in 6250.11 and model AIC in 455.28. The correlation between second order factors is positive, as expected. The estimated loadings together with their t -values and R 2 -values for first-, second- and third-order constructs are given in Tables IV-VI . In three cases the estimated R 2 -values were above unity, noted as HC in the right-hand column of Tables V and VI . This corresponds to the "Heywood case", which is common in studies similar this ( Rindskopf, 1984 ). This does not have a significant effect on the results[3]. The effect of day-of-the-week The next step was to determine the benefit, if any, of isolating the social value construct. We hypothesized that social value would increase from weekdays to Saturday because of the greater number of customers on the weekend. As noted previously, enhancing one's status -- which requires the presence of others -- contributes to social value. Data were collected on Thursday (27.7 percent), Friday (35.4 percent), and Saturday (36.9 percent). The purpose was to examine whether model parameters differed between weekdays (Thursday and Friday were combined) and Saturday. As before, measurement models were allowed to vary freely in each case. Three tests were performed using a ? 2 test, results of which appear in Table VII . These tests indicate that there is a significant difference between weekdays and Saturday by the second order constructs on the third level, total customer value. Specifically, the significant difference lies in test 1: social value parameters are not equal between weekdays and Saturday. The social value parameter estimate was 0.90 on weekdays and 1.86 on Saturdays, a twofold increase ( Table VIII ). Thus, on Saturday the social value is significantly greater, as hypothesized. Hence, the relative contribution of social value varies by day-of-week. This is particularly interesting since social value is introduced here as an independent shopping value dimension that complements utilitarian and hedonic value. There was no significant difference between weekdays and Saturday for the latter two dimensions. Discussion To create and deliver customer value retailers are pursuing differentiation strategies, adding hedonic and social value in an effort to increase customer patronage. Unfortunately doing so is not costless, hence the need to better understand the drivers of total customer value. Successful retailers understand that customer value encompasses concrete and abstract aspects of the shopping experience, from entrance to check-out, and from choice (buying) to using (consuming) and experiencing. This research responded to the need for an expanded definition of customer value that emphasizes experiential and social aspects of consumption. The principal contribution is the tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. The results suggest several managerial implications. On the basis of the results of this study, we can repeat the proposition that was originally presented three decades ago: "Many retailers would benefit by defining their business as being part of the social-recreational industry" ( Tauber, 1972, p. 49 ). We have provided empirical support for this proposition. Orchestrating a value providing shopping experience calls for an understanding of the relationships between benefit and value dimensions. As is true with brand management, at best only a small number of retailers can pursue a cost leadership strategy, i.e. emphasize value and convenience, for example, through an everyday-low-price strategy -- a strategy fundamentally at odds with increasing hedonic and social value. Others must, therefore, differentiate by creating hedonic and social value, the costs of which must be recovered via higher product prices or a greater quantity of sales per customer. Creating hedonic value is common. Upscale stores, for example, have maze like floor layouts, put-up extensive seasonal adornments, and let consumers use/play with product offerings. Our insights suggest expending effort that boosts one's status or self-esteem could be a viable differentiation strategy as it would create social value. Using narrowcast media directed toward specific segments and incorporating messages that appeal to esteem needs are means of doing so. Another is to train and retain "expert" salespersons that dress and act like the store's desired clientele. Thus, by becoming aware of the utilitarian, social and hedonic dimensions that comprise total customer value, and the benefits that customers associate with these dimensions, the concept of customer value can be used as a managerial tool in planning advertising and promotions, segmentation strategies, managing store atmospherics, and in staging integrated and memorable shopping experiences. Utilitarian value can be seen as the bedrock that is a precondition for business, but is in itself often unable to differentiate the company and its products from the competition. Complementing utilitarian value with hedonic and social dimensions of customer value is where the real edge is. Limitations and suggestions for future research Although this study was carried out in an authentic retail setting consisting of actual shoppers, the results should be interpreted with a several caveats in mind. One, the results have been accomplished in a shopping goods environment. Hence, caution should be exercised in generalizing the results to other areas of retailing, such as grocery shopping. Two, the use of questionnaires and statistical methods of analysis is often criticized when studying experiential and symbolic aspects of consumption. The conceptualization of some constructs might benefit from more thorough use of qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews and narrative analyses in future research. And finally, sacrifices were not conceptualized nor measured in this study. Overall, there is a lack of empirical validation and modeling of sacrifices in general and of psychosocial sacrifices in particular. Both theory and practice would benefit from a causal model addressing the role and importance of sacrifices, since in some areas of retailing it is easier -- and cheaper -- to increase value by cutting down psychosocial sacrifices than by adding more benefits. Figure 1 The structural model: utilitarian, social and hedonic value contribute to total customer value in a department store shopping context

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