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Earlier this year, the Legislature designated the fourth Saturday in July as Ted Stevens Day, in honor of the late longtime senator. Stevens' family suggested a summer date, rather than the senator's birthday in November, because this is the time he would have been enjoying the outdoors in Alaska. In honor of "Uncle Ted," we Alaskans are encouraged to go do somethings outdoors for the day.
In our experience, the Kenai Peninsula is the perfect place to do just that. Here's a quick list of ideas for enjoying what the Peninsula has to offer:
- Go watch a parade — it just so happens that Soldotna is celebrating Progress Days this weekend, and the parade steps off at 11 a.m. While you're at it, enjoy the weekend's outdoor festival, including activities, vendors and live music, at Soldotna Creek Park.
- The fishing is hot. Go wet a line or dip a net for sockeyes, troll for kings, cast a fly for rainbows or Dollies.
- If you catch a fish, gather friends and family and share the feast.
- If not, work on your story about the one that got away.
- Go take a hike. On the Peninsula, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and Chugach National Forest have a number of hiking trails.
- While you're at it, stay the night in one of the campgrounds. Or, carry your gear with you and find a secluded backcountry spot to camp for the night.
- Toast marshmallows.
- Dust off your bicycle and go "bike the loop" — the bike path that connects Kenai and Soldotna along the Kenai Spur Highway and Kalifornsky Beach Road.
- If you've got a mountain bike, try pedaling the trails at Tsalteshi Trails, with trailheads on Kalifornsky Beach Road and at Skyview High School.
- Try wildlife watching. The Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Viewing Trail Guide is online at http://www.kenaipeninsula.org/kenai_guide/index.htm.
- Try people watching. It can be just as much fun as wildlife watching.
- Get in a round of golf. Courses are open in Soldotna, Kenai and Funny River.
- Check out the disc golf course in Kenai.
- Break out the canoe. Visit one of the Peninsula's many accessible lakes, or check out the Kenai Canoe Trails on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
- Try kayaking Kachemak Bay or Resurrection Bay.
- Visit a park or playground with your kids or grandkids (or borrow someone else's, if they don't mind).
- Grab a Wiffle ball and bat. Work on your curve ball.
- Play with your kids. Catch, tag, kick the can, hide and seek, jump rope, hopscotch — it doesn't matter, just play.
- Take in a baseball game. The Peninsula Oilers play at Coral Seymour Memorial Park today and Saturday.
- Work in the yard (if you enjoy it, it can be called gardening).
The list could go on, but the point is this: there's plenty of fun, accessible, and inexpensive things to do here on the Kenai Peninsula. Get out there and enjoy them. That's what Uncle Ted would've wanted.


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Mall name:
The Shops at White Oak Village
4501 South Laburnum Ave., Richmond, Virginia - VA 23231
Phone number to The Shops at White Oak Village mall
804 364 9516
Hours (mall)
Monday - Saturday 10:00 am - 9:00 pm, Sunday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm.
Driving directions
Other stores in The Shops at White Oak Village:
Looking for another location of Sbarro store?
Go to Sbarro store locator to see all Sbarro stores

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Company To Balloon Tourists To the Edge of Space For $75,000 104
astroengine writes "If the thought of a rocket ride to space — or the $250,000 price tag to get there — leaves you feeling queasy, an Arizona firm thinks it has a gentler, less expensive alternative. World View, an offshoot of privately owned Paragon Space Development Corp., is developing a balloon-launched, near-space (30 kilometers) ride for $75,000 — less than one-third the current cost to fly on Virgin Galactic's suborbital SpaceShipTwo. "It really is very gentle. You can be up at altitude for hours, for days for research if you need to be... I think we have the opportunity to give a really, really incredible experience to people — and for a lot less than most of what's out on the market right now," project co-founder and Paragon president Jane Poynter told Discovery News."


text:
Although asbestos abatement has put Samaritan Medical Center a few months behind schedule with some of its $61 million expansion and renovation project, the hospital is moving forward with planning its next phase of renovations.
Spokeswoman Krista A. Kittle said asbestos was discovered on 4 Pratt, which is on the fourth floor in an older part of the hospital, where alternate level of care beds are. Patients will be moved temporarily to the former progressive care unit on 3 Pratt while the abatement takes upward of two months to complete.
"As we got into the project, there was no way to say where asbestos was," Ms. Kittle said. "Now that patients are out of 4 Pratt, that abatement can take place. Once that's complete, they can move back there permanently."
The old progressive care unit will be renovated into the hospital's new pharmacy, and construction is expected to be complete by mid-August.
Within the next couple of weeks, however, the old registration area on the hospital's first floor will be the new home for the chapel, pastoral care and volunteer services. The nearby physical therapy unit is undergoing renovations and temporarily is housed in the old cafeteria.
Renovation work that has been completed includes the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit and a centralized registration area. A total of 71,500 square feet of older hospital space will be renovated once all units are complete.
Meanwhile, 5 Pratt, a medical/surgical unit, has been gutted and renovated to look like a unit in the patient pavilion. Ms. Kittle said 5 Pratt has a gym to ease recovery for orthopedic floor patients. That unit opened Jan. 29.
"That should conclude this phase of renovations that were outlined in the facility master plan," she said. "That was rolled out in 2006 and expected to be a six- or seven-year plan. That has served us well and resulted in many changes you see today."
New construction includes the two-level connector between Samaritan Keep Home and the main hospital, the parking garage and the patient pavilion.
Although renovations, which are considered phase 3 of the overall project, are expected to be complete by the end of summer, Ms. Kittle said, there's more updating that needs to be done at the hospital. Samaritan is working on developing a separate renovation project, which officials are calling phase 4.
The oldest part of the hospital, she said, is the 1949 and 1952 building, which is across from the Samaritan Keep Home entrance and has "House of the Good Samaritan" engraved in the stone above the doorway. Ms. Kittle said that is used as a physician's entrance and for direct access to support services. Laundry services, which also will handle the bulk of linens from Samaritan Summit Village once it opens, either will remain on site of the main hospital and be expanded or will be moved elsewhere.
Phase 4 also would include improvements to the inpatient mental health and maternity units. Maternity renovations originally were scheduled to be a part of Phase 3 renovations, Ms. Kittle said, but the further Samaritan got into the planning process, the more officials realized it would be best to take their time to further develop plans. Postpartum rooms are often full and some patients have to double up, although Ms. Kittle said Samaritan recognizes that is "not most conducive" for new mothers.
Other renovation ideas for maternity would focus on family bonding time right after birth. The maternity unit was last updated in 2000.
Ms. Kittle said Phase 4 plans will be developed through a new facilities master plan once an architectural and engineering firm is selected. A request for proposals went out, and a contract is expected to be awarded by month's end. The firm will assess space to be renovated and have a report back to the hospital by mid-May. Ms. Kittle said that report could include renovations to the pediatric unit on 4 Pratt.
Because health care changes so rapidly, she said, updated space, equipment and technology are necessary to provide updated, quality services to patients and to help attract physicians to the area.
– Rebecca Madden, Watertown Daily Times staff writer


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Grohe 32226SD0 is a part of the Ladylux Faucet Collection. Ladylux follows the tradition of the original Ladylux, the first kitchen faucet in the United States with a pull out spray with a contemporary design to match nearly any design and a dual spray trigger style spray control and SilkMove technology for improved performance. The Grohe 32226SD0 is a Dual Spray Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet with a Single Lever Handle. This Faucet is designed to handle all those kitchen task from dirty plates to pots and pans, and everything in between. The swivel and pull-down spout make it easy to reach all areas of the sink, and the RealSteel - Stainless Steel construction makes this faucet both elegant and durable. Additional features include SilkMove Cartridge, SpeedClean Anit-Lime System, and an Infinity Stainless Steel Finish.
|Number of Handles:
|Single handle
|Product Collection:
|Faucet Spray:
|Pull Out
|Kitchen Faucet Type:
|Kitchen Sink Faucet
|Stainless Steel
|Connection Type:
|Faucet Handle Type:
|Lever Handle
|Flow Rate:
|1.75 Gallons Per Minute
|Installation Type:
|1 Hole
|Mount Type:
|Deck Mount
|Number of Holes:
|1 Hole
|Product Theme:
|Spout Style:
|Mpn #
|Shipping Dimensions
|1.0" x 1.0" x 1.0"
|8.26 lbs.
4.5 out of 5 rating is our rating for PlumbersStock, we got that rating because we have lots of experience and great people with expertise in plumbing. BUT WE WANT YOUR HELP. This product doesn't have any reviews yet, and we don't want to write our own reviews. It is more valuable to us that the customers get to share their experience with our products. Please, if you have any experience with this product, take a moment to share and help someone else who is trying to make a decision. Thank you!


text: I have talked to the CDT dealer on here, and his prices destroy any website i have seen. So this got me thinking, are there any other dealers on here that most of the forum deals with for other brands? Like rainbow, A/D/S, or any other good component brands? Im not sure i want CDT's again, which is why im seeing what else is out there. But it would make it much nicer for me to research if there are dealers on here that people have dealt with, so i can really see what is in my budget. Thanks guys. :cool: If there are, and you dont' want to post their name for some reason, please PM me.


text: I hate to say it but Fatcessa has been dead on about the Jets this year. As a Jet fan its hard to swallow but he has been dead on about this whole nightmare. Then again its not like this is genius stuff because anyone with half a brain knew this season was a disaster from the start.


text:
Jump to navigation
Abstract: Myths and Social Life in Etruscan Tombs: The Hellenistic Urns from Chiusi
The funerary ash-urns produced in the Etruscan city of Chiusi in the 3rd and 2nd c. BCE were decorated with a great variety of scenes, most of which illustrate episodes taken from Greek mythology. Due to the lack of literary sources for Chiusi in this age, as well as to the unsatisfactory state of the archaeological evidence pertaining to its urban center, these urns represent an invaluable source of historical knowledge. In particular, both the choice of themes and the iconographic details of the images allow us to get an insight into some basic values of the Chiusine society, and to follow the changes which they underwent during the Hellenistic period.
The talk will focus on the methodological and historical issues raised by this material. To what extent is the imagery of the urns specifically linked to the funerary context? How can we use it in order to draw general conclusions about the value system of the Chiusine society? What does the comparison with the contemporary cases of Volterra and Perugia tell us in this respect?
AIA Tours


text:
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UGG® Boots are known worldwide for their style, comfort and quality. All original UGG® boots are crafted with the high quality leathers, suedes and genuine sheepskin. There are UGG® authentic boots for every personality and every occasion. You can find Authentic UGG® boots with buttons, sequins, Swarovski crystals, fun patterns, buckles and more!
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text:
Welcome to
The Potato Museum
Here you will find features, exhibits from our collections as well as interactive modules, teacher and student resources, blogs, and a shop. The Potato Museum, started (1975) in Brussels, Belgium, is the world's first museum about the potato and features the planet's largest collection about this valuable vegetable. The Potato Museum is not a product of the potato industry. We are a non-profit educational organization dedicated to exploring the potato's fascinating past, controversial present and promising future.
Who's Online?
Spud Tees!
Buy The Potato Museum's spud shirts at Zazzle
Speaking of Spuds
Why The Potato?
In the space of just 400 years, the potato has become a staple crop of many people around the world whose antecedents had subsisted perfectly well upon grain crops for anything up to 4000 years. The reason for this somewhat surprising development is that the potato is the best all-around bundle of nutrition known to mankind. John Reader, Man on Earth, 1998. Why The Potato Part 2


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From 1 March 2013, Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai redefines afternoon tea in Shanghai by launching the Champagne Afternoon Tea.
Upon being seated, guests will be presented with champagne flutes for an option to enjoy an unlimited flow of Taittinger champagne. A ritual around creating the perfect brew is next on the agenda for guests, be it a cappuccino or a café au lait set with Narumi chinaware. Guests can also choose from the 10 types of high-quality Chinese tea hand picked by Shangri-La and presented on a traditional bamboo-like tea stand.
The venue's iconic Tree of Delights is then presented to guests. The tree is dotted with dim sum (Chinese snacks), traditional Chinese desserts, a modern chocolate selection and petits fours.
The following servings are presented on a Christofle trolley and guests are encouraged to choose as they fancy, as portions are unlimited. The first serving starts with open faced sandwiches with new menu offerings such as smoked shrimp and avocado mousse in a bagel. The second service continues with modern afternoon tea pastries that carry Pastry Chef Chen Jie's distinctive style, such as lime meringue chocolate brownie cake. The third service includes traditional afternoon tea pastries, such as rum and raisin scones with clotted cream. Lastly, guests will be presented with a selection of signature chocolate mousse desserts that include 72 per cent Peruvian dark chocolate, South American tonka bean white chocolate and creamy Venezuelan chocolate beans.
The concept of the afternoon tea owes its origins to Anna Russell, the seventh Duchess of Bedford. In the early 1800s, it was common to eat only two main meals a day, with breakfast scheduled early in the morning and dinner occurring late in the evening. Greeted by hunger pangs each day, the duchess decided to schedule time to have tea and snacks each afternoon. This ceremony first took place privately in her bedroom, but in time acquaintances joined her and the practice was perpetuated.
Available from 3 to 6 p.m. daily, the Grand Tower Champagne Afternoon Tea is priced at Rmb258 for the hot beverage option and Rmb398 for the champagne option, subject to 15% service charge. For reservations, please call (86 21) 6882 6888.
Perched next to the lobby of the Grand Tower, an intimate entrance leads guests into the Grand Tower Lounge, lit with natural light through floor-to-ceiling windows. A simple harmony between pastel chinoiserie-chic decorations and contemporary furnishings, the Grand Tower Lounge is a perfect venue for any occasion. Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai is located in the Lujiazui finance and trade district of Pudong, an important economic hub in Shanghai and China. The hotel is ideally located on the eastern bank of the famous Huangpu River, overlooking Shanghai's legendary waterfront strip, The Bund. A landmark famous the world over, The Bund was Shanghai's financial centre in the early 1890s. Today, it continues to attract visitors from various parts of the world with its showcase of turn of the century architecture.
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33 Fu Cheng Road, Pudong, Shanghai, 200120, China
電話:(86 21) 6882 8888
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text:
by Wendy Hirsch
ChildFund Strategy Manager
Haiti is a place of extremes, which demands a lot of you and rewards you immensely for the effort. I discovered this while a Peace Corps volunteer from 1998 to 2000 working in and around Cabaret, Haiti.
I regret that most people are only exposed to the most negative of these extremes — dire poverty, environmental degradation, corruption, insecurity — and over the last week, the absolute horror that comes when you add a natural disaster to the mix. I don't deny any of these. But I'm not going to write about them here. I want to talk about the other extremes of Haiti — beauty, vibrance, kindness, gratitude, humor and wisdom, and lots of hard-earned wisdom.
I don't possess the literary gifts necessary to describe the grace that is Sunday morning in Haiti — regardless of religion, whether you go to services or not — it's a quiet and comforting time. Nor can I adequately convey the gift that is Haitian drumming, or the life and energy that literally leap from the paintings. But I can share with you some Haitian wisdom, as conveyed through proverbs.
I used proverbs a lot when I lived in Haiti. They provided a bridge to understanding the culture, attitudes and thinking of Haitians — and usually got a laugh when delivered through the mouth of a small, blonde American woman. Tenacity, effort, acceptance, practicality, hope and humor are all showcased in the proverbs — aspects of the Haitian people that I treasure and am privileged to share with you.
One proverb in particular came to mind as I learned of the earthquake last week:
W'ap fè'm monte nan sièl pado.
You're making me go to heaven backwards.
Here are a few of my other favorites…
Chita pa bay.
Sitting doesn't get you anywhere.
Piti piti zwazo fè niche li.
Little by little, the bird makes her nest.
Yon sèl dwèt pa ka manje kalalou.
You can't eat okra with one finger.
Men anpil, chay pa lou.
Many hands lighten the load.
Practicality…and its associated wisdom
Tout moun se moun. Tout moun pa menm.
All people are people. All people are not the same.
Ou we sa ou genyen, ou pa konn sa ou rete.
You know what you have, you don't know what's coming.
Wendy Hirsch works at ChildFund International headquarters in Richmond, Va. Her Haitian friends and family survived the earthquake. Some are now homeless and some hurt, but as they put it: "We eat, we sleep. We can't complain."


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To become aware of the full — and, I would say, fully intended — subliminal effect, you might need to read the letters — in red — under Michelle Obama's picture: "REPORT: First lady 'likely' to meet 'commercial sex workers' in India!"
Now, expand the frame and see what else was there:
After a few hours, the picture of Michelle disappeared, and the top picture changed from the man-on-man clasp, to this:
There's a secret sex story for close observers of the Drudge Report. Playful, naughty innuendo. I'm not saying that Drudge is suggesting that Barack Obama is gay or that he wants to engage in fellatio with Harry Reid. But that's the funny image of the Drudgtaposition. Then, when Michelle and the phallic symbol were removed, Obama is in the embrace of a woman — a rather boyish-looking woman with mannish glasses — and lots of women are grabbing at him.
If we were to understand the sequence of pictures on Drudge the way we understand panels in a comic strip, we first see Obama approaching an an embrace with a man (who seems to be holding him off at arms' length), and then, in the next, "panel" he finds himself in the eager arms of a person who has some of that masculinity he thought he was about to receive, but who is in fact female.
It reminds me of the sequence in the Stanley Kubrick movie "The Shining," in which the character played by Jack Nicholson enters a bathroom and sees a beautiful, desirable woman in a bathtub. She gets out of the bath, naked, and approaches him for an embrace, and then, once he's holding her, it becomes apparent that she is a dead and rotting old woman.
Does any of this actually say anything about Obama, his sexuality, or his wife? Probably not. It's aimless horsing around, in all likelihood. But we do know Obama is out there this week, trying to woo the women.
The outreach to women — which came on the same day that the White House released a report that said Mr. Obama's policies, including the health care and economic stimulus bills, have helped women over all — is part of a fevered push to cement a Democratic firewall that White House officials are hoping will stem losses in November.Hmm... "fevered push"... "important pillars"... "fired up and... excited"... But that's not Drudge. That's the New York Times.
Women are one of the most important pillars of that wall. "Make sure you're as fired up and as excited now as you were two years ago," Mr. Obama told a raucous rally...
What's the better spelling of the portmanteau word that combines "Drudge" and "juxtaposition"? Drudgtaposition or Druxtaposition?
IN THE COMMENTS: XWL said:
Instead of a Harry hand job, we have a Lewinsky hugClick that link. The photo similarity is the amazing.
(and let's not forget, that's the photo that essentially launched Drudge's empire)


text:
2003 Softball
weekly recap
Bluffton softball squad wins four in a row with sweeps of Defiance, RochesterBy Tim Stried
April 21, 2003
|Special to: The Bluffton News (April 24), The Witmarsum (April 25), Alumni e-newsletter (April 22), but you read it here first.
With two double-header sweeps last week, the Bluffton College softball team has now won four games in a row as the regular season begins to wind down and the Beavers aim to peak as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament nears.
|Sophomore Allison Lange
Last week's action at Marbeck Field saw Bluffton sweep a pair of games from rival Defiance on Wednesday by the final scores of 7-0 and 4-3, then take two games from Rochester on Friday by 8-0 and 5-1 decisions. The Beavers are now 13-17 overall and 5-7 in the HCAC.
Defiance visited Bluffton on Wednesday having won five of its last six games, but the Beavers defended their home turf with a pair of wins thanks to some timely hitting and outstanding defensive. In the first game, Bluffton erupted for seven runs in the sixth inning and freshman Sarah Betts pitched a three-hit shutout with five strikeouts. In the sixth, sophomore Allison Lange led off BC's offensive display with a single and later scored, then was back in the batters' box 15 minutes later, still in the sixth, and added a two-RBI double to cap off a 3-for-4 performance in the game.
In game two, Defiance scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead, but sophomore Lane Leedy delivered a single that produced two runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score at 3-3. Sophomore Mandy Snider then came through with the game winning RBI with a single in the fifth inning that scored Lange, and Betts pitched the final 3.1 innings in relief of sophomore Jenny Lehman to earn her eighth win of the season.
Betts improved to 9-7 and struck out seven of the 11 batters she faced on Friday as Bluffton drilled Rochester 8-0 in the first game of a double-header. Lange went 3-for-4 and Snider was 2-for-2 to lead the offense.
In the second game against Rochester, Lange led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homerun, her third of the season, which ties the Bluffton single-season HR record held by Jessica Spain in 2001 and Elizabeth Snavely in 1999. Lehman scattered five hits to earn her third win of the season, while sophomore Becky Heller and freshmen Kate Barringer and Lindsay Miller all contributed two hits each.


text:
Fox Searchlight pulled off a counter-programming coup over the weekend.
While "The Avengers" was breaking box-office records, superhero-free "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" slipped into the top ten films in the U.S., taking in $2.6 million from 178 screens in its second week. That works out to a per-screen average of $14,888 for the film about British retirees in India, which expanded from 27 first-week locations.
Also read: 'The Avengers' Bashes Way to Billion Dollars at Worldwide Box Office
Another independent film, Lionsgate's "Girl in Progress," took the No. 10 spot with $1.3 million from 322 locations. Eva Mendes, Matthew Modine and Patricia Arquette star in the story of a single mom too busy to give her daughter the attention she desperately needs.
Millennium Entertainment's dark comedy "Bernie" managed $216,500 from 36 locations to raise its overall domestic gross to 537,000 in its third week.
The Weinstein Co.'s rerelease of "The Artist," Academy Award winner for Best Picture, brought in $161,000 from 751 screens. That gives it an overall cume of $44.4 million domestically.
TWC's documentary "Bully" added another $142,000 from 263 locations, upping its overall take to $2.8 million.
CBS Films' "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" brought in $158,000 from 200 screens. Its overall U.S. gross stands at $8.5 million.


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Whenever you need me, whenever want me, you know you can call me. I'll be there shortly.Wiz Khalifa
Any chick that I handle, I teach'em patience. How not to win the award but be glad for your nomination.Wiz Khalifa
Being single doesn't necessarily mean you're available. Sometimes you have to put up a sign that says Do Not Disturb on your heart.Wiz Khalifa
When you think about a rebel, you think about people who are going against things. I dont really go against anything; I just do exactly whatever the fuck I want to do. I just do whats natural, and go for it, and deal with it later.Wiz Khalifa
Some say that life's a b-tch, but I'mkeep flirting and f-cking that b-tch for her money and Louis V purchases.Wiz Khalifa
Honestly, Im just consumed by the work. Everyday, Im trying to come up with new stuff and do new things.Wiz Khalifa


text:
The 23-year-old United States international signed a four-year deal with the Black Cats on Tuesday as he completed his move to the Stadium of Light from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Altidore scored only once in 28 Premier League appearances for Hull City during a loan spell in 2009/10 but he netted 31 times in all competitions for AZ last season.
He has already joined up with his new Sunderland team-mates at their pre-season training camp in Italy and featured in the second half of a practice match on Wednesday.
Di Canio told the club's official website: "Altidore is one of the top strikers in Europe. He only joined us on Tuesday but I'm very happy, curious and excited because I have a very good attacking side at the moment.
"I'm really pleased because a new arrival can benefit the squad and also individuals because there is competition up front."
Source: Sunderland-Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD


text:
2 more bodies in Texas explosion, death toll at 14
- Associated Press
- April 19, 2013 - 4:20 PM
WEST, Texas - A law enforcement official says two more bodies have been recovered in the wake of the Texas fertilizer plant explosion, bring the death toll from the blast to 14.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes did not say where the bodies were found but said more information would be provided later Friday.
He says the bodies will be sent to the Dallas County medical examiner's office for identification.
Reyes earlier announced that 12 bodies had been recovered by Friday morning and that search and rescue efforts were ongoing.
© 2018 Star Tribune


text:
an anagram of the words "alternate" and "contrarian", typically, one who seeks and cites any reason, no matter how obscure, to be contrary and/or to disparage others, and often uses that reasoning to edify oneself in contrast
Bill won't come to the company party because of the gift exchange. He says there is something in a David Icke book about gift exchanges and devil worship and he refuses to lower himself like the rest of us. I think he is being quite an altairien.
by A'dal November 04, 2007


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Yesterday when I read a newspaper article, unwittingly I come across a line that well describes the current condition of marketing jobs: technology makes marketing channels every day at every second. It correctly reminds those who engage on marketing jobs that when we try to excavate a new channel to try to market our products or services, we should come to the newly initiated technological gadgets..
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I wish they'd get working on Elite 4.
Until Elite 4 comes out (ahem, cough) Infinity: Quest for Earth looks to be its spiritual successor (yes there's seamless space travel to planetside, as showcased in the trailer)
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp8WOCuR_pQ [youtube.com]
Site: http://www.infinity-universe.com/Infinity/ [infinity-universe.com]
Can't wait for this to come out... Frontier First Encouters with a DirectX engine just isn't cutting it anymore....
... if you could actually figure out how to play it that is...
X3 doesn't have seamless planetside travel, does it? I think the last review I read said it didn't... although technically that means I'm looking for a "Frontier: Elite II" or "Frontier First Encounters" successor... the original Elite had no planetside stuff
Until the day I can warp into a system, take my ship that's in space 10,000 AU from the nearest planet, point it at that blue looking planet over yonder (all the while dealing with Newtonian physics), and fly down to the surface (without cutscenes or whatever), then fly around some mountains, notice a weird looking tribe staring at me, then fly back out to space I won't consider a game Elite's successor.
Yea I'm a little bit religious about a damn good realistic game set in space
"warp into a system, take my ship that's in space 10,000 AU from the nearest planet, point it at that blue looking planet over yonder (all the while dealing with Newtonian physics)"
That might take some time [tads.org]... perhaps you want to handwave in some non-Newtonian (and non-Einsteinian) physics instead?
Ehhhh... I think with the statement "warp into a system" he has already decided he wants to add in some non-Newtonian physics... (though it would have been nice if he noticed that
In practice, he wants what everyone wants with the holy grail of space sims - seamless transitions between extraplanatary, solar system, and terrestrial environments. Ideally with seamless transitions between "inside the ship" and "outside the ship", whether it's on a space station, planet, or just ejected into the void. Hones
That's why planetary exploration should be done by AIs loaded into high thrust nuclear rockets... as soon as we get AIs and high thrust nuclear rockets.
Even then, accelerating at 100g for 6 days is implausible, due to the fuel mass requirements. Even with just a 1kg payload, your fuel to accelerate it is going to weigh millions of tonnes.
This is why I prefer Elite's original solution to the problem, the jump drive: point in the right direction and engage a non-newtonian drive that stops working when you're
Indeed... and Newtonian manoeuvring just doesn't work too well in the human brain.
Movies depicting space travel with Newtonian manoeuvring are regarded as artsy. Movies with "etheric rudder" (to borrow the Star Wars term) have exciting space battles.
Battlestar Galactica (the original) used etheric rudder. The re-imaging was Newtonian, but got away with it by making things about strategy rather than tactics (and people rather than ships), and obscuring combat in a haze of gunsmoke and camera shake.
Games are the same way. Playing I-War is hard. Playing the X-Wing series isn't easy, but the curve is less steep, because it's like air combat, but the vector of gravity has been removed, simplifying the flight model.
I was certainly impressed by the Newtonian mechanics in the Frontier series, but I enjoyed the combat in Elite a lot more.
Space combat with laser weapons in a world of Newtonian mechanics just isn't interesting, because it consists of
Victory is entirely determined by who has the most power behind their shields and lasers. You spend the majority of your time in the early stages of Frontier avoiding combat because you'll be whiffed out of existence like a water balloon hitting the sun. Then when you have enough cash to beef up your ship, you are effectively untouchable.
Short-range particle bolt weapons and etheric rudder may not be realistic, but they are a lot more fun.
This is why the "realistic" space sim zealots will never be happy. If a company ever actually gave them the game they wanted, one that was truly realistic as per our current understanding of physics and such, it'd be way too boring to actually play. They do not actually want what they believe they want. Goes double since realistically, a pilot would have almost nothing to do with combat. A computer would be doing all the controlling, the pilot would simply press a button to let it know that it was weapons free.
We already see this with air craft today. When a pilot goes on a bombing run, they don't fly the plane, it flys itself. Its route has been programmed in to the on board navigation computer. The plane lets them know when they are near the target, and when to signal for bomb release. When they do signal, it doesn't actually drop the bombs, just lets the computer know that it is allowed to drop the bombs when it calculates the time to be right. The bombs then guide themselves according to their navigation computers, as the plane moves on.
This sort of thing would apply to space combat to an even larger degree. A computer would be handling all the complex aspects of moving the ship and aiming the weapons, a human would only specify targets and destinations and such.
So thanks but no thanks, I'll take highly unrealistic, fun games.
it'd be way too boring to actually play.
Then the game design was crap. Games do not get boring when you use realistic physics, they get boring when you cram realistic physics into gameplay that was designed for StarWars-type physics. The reason why space flight with lasers can't work with real physics in a game is simply that it can't work in reality either. Physics in space just aren't any good to emulate normal airplane behavior. The solution of course is to simply go away from completly unrealistic gameplay situations and back to something mor
We already see this with air craft today. When a pilot goes on a bombing run, they don't fly the plane, it flys itself. Its route has been programmed in to the on board navigation computer. The plane lets them know when they are near the target, and when to signal for bomb release.
That'd be a simulation, not a "realistic space" game.
This sort of thing would apply to space combat to an even larger degree. A computer would be handling all the complex aspects of moving the ship and aiming the weapons, a human would only specify targets and destinations and such.
So thanks but no thanks, I'll take highly unrealistic, fun games.
You as the pilot simply set destination and targets and when to fire, but you'd be amazed at the complexity of the game.
You o
This is why the "realistic" space sim zealots will never be happy. If a company ever actually gave them the game they wanted, one that was truly realistic as per our current understanding of physics and such, it'd be way too boring to actually play.
BS. There's a reason MS Flight Simulator succeeded though it was rather boring to most people. There's a reason IL-2 Sturmovik is still making money. Realistic sims sell, just to a much smaller niche market. Boring for you and other 12 yr olds? Probably. Most of them can't even get a plane off the ground in IL2.
http://www.fasterlight.com/exoflight/ [fasterlight.com]
Exoflight is a sim based on realistic newtonian physics. Kinda fun. No combat. Space Combat by the X-Plane guys is fun too but the "combat" part is lame
This is why the "realistic" space sim zealots will never be happy. If a company ever actually gave them the game they wanted, one that was truly realistic as per our current understanding of physics and such, it'd be way too boring to actually play.
As one of those "Space Realism Zealots" I can tell you flat out that you're wrong. Realism doesn't make the game boring, it makes the game different, and what I'm seeing you do, is equating different with bad.
A good example of how you can make realistic space combat fun would be the tabletop wargame Attack Vector: Tactical [adastragames.com]. Here [adastragames.com] are [adastragames.com] some [adastragames.com] battle reports to give an idea what it plays like.
Heck, the biggest complaint against AV:T has more to do with the rules being fairly complex than anything about the
My combat algorithm was somewhat less refined than yours. I couldn't keep track of the enemy in flight, so I developed:
1) Lock autopilot onto enemy
2) a) If enemy is flying away, shoot at him.
2) b) If enemy is shooting at me, break lock and fly in another direction until he stops
2) c) If enemy launches missile, lock on autopilot, shoot, and hope missile bites it
3) If enemy is still alive, return to 1
As you can probably guess, about half of my encounters resulted in mutual destruction by collision.
I think I was idealising it somewhat
In actuality I remember pretty much what you describe.
It didn't help that most of the ships had reaction drives capable of of fairly excessive acceleration ; I think they topped out at about 12g. Again, human brains are optimized for lower accelerations. And because there was no upper limit on relative velocity, there was a lot of "jousting". And if you used the autopilot, collisions
Space combat with laser weapons in a world of Newtonian mechanics just isn't interesting, because it consists of
Victory is entirely determined by who has the most power behind their shields and lasers. You spend the majority of your time in the early stages of Frontier avoiding combat because you'll be whiffed out of existence like a water balloon hitting the sun. Then when you have enough cash to beef up your ship, you are effectively untouchable.
Short-range particle bolt weapons and etheric rudder may not
Even then, accelerating at 100g for 6 days is implausible, due to the fuel mass requirements
Isn't that a matter of the type of energy conversion?
If we use an 2H_2 + O_2 => 2 H_2O reaction we get about 1.56×10^7 J/kg of energy.
If we use nuclear fission, we get about 1.5×10^13 J/kg
If we use nuclear fusion, we get about 6.3×10^14 J/kkg
If we use matter-antimatter, we get 9×10^16 J/kg
The gains in energy density results in a massive reduction of weight (or increase of payload).
Now, I tried
Even then, accelerating at 100g for 6 days is implausible, due to the fuel mass requirements
Isn't that a matter of the type of energy conversion?
IANARS (I am not a rocket scientist), but I do know a little about the field, so take this with a small pinch of salt:
Energy balancing is the wrong approach here, as you can quite easily violate fundamental limits without noticing it when performing the calculation in this fashion. It comes more down to the requirement that the acceleration of the ship be produced
I wrote: For Isp here
Ahem. What I meant to write was:
For Isp < 2.55e8 (ie 85% of the speed of light) this is actually unattainable (the mass of the non-fuel portions of the ship would need to be negative).
There's a handy table of Isp for some thruster technologies, both real and proposed, here [projectrho.com].
So, even with this fundamentally implausible drive method, we still need to carry nearly 7 times as much fuel as mass of the rest of the ship.
Is that necessarily a big issue?
If we go back to matter+anti-matter reactions, you'd need some matter to annihilate. Any human expedition will have to carry food and water in large quantities, and if we can annihilate the human waste directly, we can save weight on toilet facilities. If we use large amounts of water as a shield against radiation, we get "free" radiati
I could've sworn it was called time compression back in Elite. That must've come in with Frontier.
space flight sim
Have you tried Celestia [shatters.net]? It does have some rudimentary flight controls. Probably not exactly what you're after but might be a bit of fun. And it's FOSS, so there's chance for a fully-blown space flight sim.
Hmm reading over your description maybe I'll get a box together capable of running X3... it does sound pretty good
I just read the first post (damn cliffhangers!) but yea, appetite successfully whetted
X3 definitely does have the Elite feel from what I've seen... I really love being able to fly down to a planet seamlessly though... it really cranks up the "suspense of disbelief" factor IMO
I played Vendetta Online for a while, but the skyboxes didn't do it for me (you can see the planet and other stuff off in the distance, but don't you dare try to fly to it or anything - you're in a box,
Oh nice description. I have x3:runion collecting dust. I liked the idea of it and got all psyched up to play it, but the upfront work confused the living hell out of me and I kind of let it just go before I could really get myself into it. That and securom!
You need earthsim2
I sat down for a few hours with a friend a while back and detailed the level of realism we'd like to see in a successor to Frontier. We drilled right down to surface transportation, with the freedom to trade goods at that level. While we were both programmers, it was a tall order, and we never really began the project; although I have memories of writing a mockup of a detailed trading system.
The intent was to have the player begin planetside, and earn their way to escape velocity. Players would be able to o
One game that really should have been patched to support multiple cores fully.
The rest of the galaxy (out of sector) could have been done really well on extra cores.
Or even better, an add-on to support offloading OOS processing to networked machines too.
Too bad it is a MOO, so it will never be a fun game to play. Just a space grind.
Yes I actually remember seeing a lot of people on Infinity's forum gnashing their teeth because it will be MMO... hopefully that doesn't sap all the fun out of it...
I found this video showing off combat [youtube.com].
Made me think "damn, I would love to see what a Serenity (Firefly) type battlescene would be like in that engine.
Hundreds of ships, big and small on either side just duking it out and you in the middle trying to get to the space port on the planed.
Oolite [oolite.org] is the most obvious one. It faithfully recreates the Elite gameplay, but updates the graphics (slightly) and provides a simple way for others to expand the game. It is basically what you would end up with if you tried to write Elite (rather than 'some space trading/combat game') today.
Vega Strike [sourceforge.net] has broadly the same gameplay mechanics as Elite, but is much richer; lots of different things to trade, different things available at diff
I concur on Vega Strike. Been following its development for years, it's actively developed and maintained, with an active base of players/beta-testers, and of course it's open source so if you want you can fork it and customize any way you want. And of course it has been very playable for years. Only wish it were more widely known.
Vega Strike is a good open source example... good point. I heard they're working on moving to Ogre too... should be interesting. I played around with Vega Strike a couple of years ago, but it felt like it hadn't "cooked" long enough so to speak
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/wiki/Development:Ogre [sourceforge.net]
it becomes tougher to get people to invest in an idea that isn't safe
Yeah, maybe cause ideas that are not safe are not safe. Innovative ideas are a crapshoot, no matter how brilliant it seems you can't tell if it's going to stick or not.
Yep, I know what you mean, I myself have taken risky bets that have paid off. But it's usually hard to convince anyone to take a piece of your own risk pie.
I remember getting Elite on my BBC Model B back in '84 on cassette. It took quite a while to load but was well worth it. When I upgraded my machine with Opus DDOS and an 800K double sided, double density 5 1/4" floppy drive I was able to get the floppy version which loaded my more quickly. You really needed the analogue controller too. I stuck an old Scalextric controller on top of mine to give me a full hand grip and I could fly rings around other ships.
I tried other versions like the C=64 and PC versions but they really didn't work as well as the version for the BBC despite the fact that there was little use of colour (only the dash) but the mode 4 high resolution monochrome graphics were much crisper and animation was faster on the BBC than other platforms. The BBC Micro was a real gem for quality games. The versions of arcade games like PacMan, Defender, Scramble and so on were in many ways better than their arcade equivalent. The BBC had some really nice hardware acceleration features such as hardware scrolling (both vertical and horizontal) and a very configurable video ULA which is how they were able to do the mode switching part way down the screen in Elite where it switched from mode 4 (320x256 1 bit colour) to mode 5 (160x256 2 bit colour).
It was a real slog to get to "Elite" but worth the journey. Very few games today are anything like as enjoyable despite the improvements in technology. I guess GTAIII was the first time since Elite I had anything like the same feeling of freedom and the thrill of just being bad.
"We crafted every single byte and would work for hours just to free up three or four bytes so we could put in a new feature or ability.
"That level of concentration on things have been lost today when you have things that are many megabytes or even gigabytes in size," he added.
I wish more developers would do this with today's games. Then perhaps i wouldn't have to upgrade my computer so often when i wanted to play a new game. I know the article only mentioned memory usage, but i'm sure this goes for cpu / video power as well.
Personal computers back then were more akin to consoles with keyboards, with a standard configuration and hardware features making it possible to optimize.
That simply isn't true -- at least, not of the BBC Micro, which came in a number of different configurations and was easily upgraded.
And just how many models of Apple II were there, again?
And let's not even get into the MSX, which was produced in dozens of variations by different manufacturers.
Yes, and then you also wouldn't see games released for about 10 years too.
The kind of memory and CPU cycles you can free up by these kinds of optimizations, compared to the amount of memory and cycles available just makes it not even worth it. The amount of time required to do this level of optimisation on games of the size and complexity we have today would add many years to development time.
This coupled with the fact that compilers nowadays do a better job on the fly than most developers can anyway means it's really a pipe dream to have all your games completely and thoroughly hand optimised from start to finish, and amusingly you'd likely only see a couple of fps benefit, and maybe a few mb of memory savings. It's just not justifiable.
From a commercial standpoint it would be suicidal too, everyone else would be developing as normal, and by the time you'd finally released your perfectly hand optimised game, the optimisations would be irrelevant as your game would be 5 - 10 years old and everyone would've bought far more powerful PCs anyway.
If upgrading your PC is a problem, and you're not bothered about the above side effect of having games behind the times that hand optimisation of a complete game would cause, why not just buy last gen games rather than trying to play all the latest and greatest?
The fact is, those skills have been lost for a reason- they're just not important in modern game development where the pressure is on to produce ever more code and content than before and where that level of optimisation offers so little benefit when taken with the fact most game/renedering libraries (DirectX, OpenGL), and most compilers ensure this optimisation is done for you already where it matters. I certainly think we're at risk of losing low level programmers, and that's not a good thing, but this is certainly not an area where their loss matters- I'm more concerned about the loss of people who can do low level stuff to support reverse engineering of DRM, proprietary protocols and that sort of thing.
This is not to say games don't need optimisation at all, of course they do, there is still plenty of scope for that, but to hand craft each byte of content and machine code? Not worth it.
>>This is not to say games don't need optimisation at all, of course they do, there is still plenty of scope for that, but to hand craft each byte of content and machine code? Not worth it.
I remember going to a talk held by the SOE people in San Diego back in the Everquest days, and they said that just saving one byte off one of their status updates would save them X millions of dollars every year in bandwidth costs. So they really did inspect and handcraft every bit that went out over the network.
Back then, your 6502/Z80 home computer had around 64K RAM at most. 8K to 16K of that would be for the OS. The screen would take 8K. That leaves you with 32K of bytes to play with. Instructions would take anything from 1 to 3 bytes, so you could write at most 30,000 instructions.
You are going to need to reserve some memory for your graphics library (drawing points, line, triangles, text, pixelmaps, circles and ellipses). You can't use floating point maths, so will need your own fixed point 16-bit library for
Doug Neubauer's Star Raiders, a 1979 game for the Atari 8-bit line of personal computers, is a shining example of what happens when a developer is told that something can't be done, does it anyway, and then is promptly forgotten for having done it. Star Raiders is one of those rare games that can truly be said to have been ahead of its time.
If you launched, then spun round and re-entered the dock hitting hyperspace at the same time, you appeared, docked, at your destination.
Saved all that tedious trading until you could buy lots of weapons etc.
If you launched, then spun round and re-entered the dock hitting hyperspace at the same time, you appeared, docked, at your destination.
Saved all that tedious trading until you could buy lots of weapons etc.
That wasn't the only bug in the Spectrum version. It also let you save your game from the screen that appeared after you had died; if you did this, then reloaded it, you would appear inside the station in the system you died in, with full cargo etc.
That's not a bug, that's a feature!
I used this "feature" countless times to get a new pilot started, you know, get enough credits to buy decent equipment instead of getting blown out of the sky on the first trip. Good ole times.
To go one step further on the Spectrum when you loaded the game for the first time, rather then starting the game hit save instead. Then load that back in and you had max amount of cash and elite status.
Cool, I played for so many years and didn't know this. Of course, the catch is that you also become a fugitive, and the sun you're orbiting around is going nova... (yeah, I just had to try it)
I found oolite a year or two ago and was amazed at how much fun this game still is!
If there is one thing I miss about my old C64, it's Elite. I lost many, many hours on that game. How they built such a large universe on such a small platform I'll never figure out. Thanks guys!
Seeding! The huge universe was generated, procedurally, from a one-byte-or-so seed. The procedure is deterministic so the universe always turns out the same provided the seed is the same, but it's essentially arbitrary.
If there is one thing I miss about my old C64, it's Elite. I lost many, many hours on that game. How they built such a large universe on such a small platform I'll never figure out.
It was all produced from a random number generator. Ian Bell has released C source code [clara.net] that's equivalent to the original 6502 assembly version, if you really want to know.
Well, yeah, they were. You just had to have played long enough.
It took me a long time (Apple ][ version) before I encountered them by chance. Still wasn't sure it was real the next morning. Then a couple of weeks later, the Galactic Navy found me. Had some papers they wanted delivered.
And then "Thargoids. Why'd it have to be Thargoids?"
It wasn't a story arc by modern standards -- but after countless hours of play that stood on their own as just plain fun -- to have something like that pop out of nowhere, and to have the rarest "random encounter" spawn chase me more than halfway across the galaxy... was something I remember to this day.
It wasn't until DOOM came out that I had dreams about a video game.
Happy 25th, Elite. I still have that Apple ][, and I'm digging out that disk this weekend.
but plagued by mutant tree frogs.
...you may like Oolite, an Elite tribute. It has the goodness that ArcElite has too - it is not player centric, you can encounter epic battles (I've seen three or four distinct groups of ships battling it out, with the Police mixed in there too). The game is open source (GPL) and expandable with expansion packs (so now you can have Generation Ships and Space Dredgers, as well as scenes from the Dark Wheel like the Tionisla Orbital Graveyard). It's available for OSX, Linux and Windows (it was originally developed for OSX).
http://oolite.aegidian.org/ [aegidian.org]
Latest version is 1.73, and there is a wiki for the game at http://wiki.alioth.net/ [alioth.net]
I've been wanting an Elite clone for some years now... never worked out whether Vega Strike was that; it always ran too slow.
sudo apt-get install oolite
Oolite, moreover, is in the Ubuntu repositories! Clearly someone out there is thinking...
I went and downloaded it.
First it tried to install into c:\oolite, completely disrespecting the past fifteen years of application development for Windows. I have no idea where it's going to save files, but I'm willing to bet it's not nowhere near my profile folder.
After it got installed, it opened a readme file that said how to edit
Francis Spufford's book The Backroom Boys has a chapter about the creation of Elite, and a fair chunk of it is on The Guardian's website [guardian.co.uk]. One of my favourite bits is, after they came up with the procedural method for creating the universe, how they picked the seed:
"Braben and Bell called the starting number for a galaxy "a seed" and, in truth, creating the game this way was more like gardening than deliberately constructing something. You had to plant the seed and see what grew. It was another sense in which they were ceding direct control over the game in favour of working indirectly on the player's experience. But they did want to start the player off in a reasonably friendly bit of space, where the pickings were good and they wouldn't get instantly clobbered. Since there was no way to edit a galaxy, you just had to try galaxy after galaxy, seed after seed, until something suitable grew. "I remember thinking it was very wasteful," Braben says. "You'd type in a number, a birthday or something, and see what galaxy that came out with. 'No, I don't like that. No, I don't like that. That cluster looks horrible'." They also decided they had better check the 256 system names in the galaxy where the player would be plunked down, in case any of the four-letter words were actually four-letter words. "One of the first galaxies we tried had a system called Arse. We couldn't use the whole galaxy. We just threw it away!""
3D Shooter Games [feeddistiller.com] @ Feed Distiller [feeddistiller.com]
...then watch the musical [clara.net]!
No, really, go and look --- it was written by Aiden Bell (Ian Bell's brother) and Brian Phillips. Okay, you are going to have to stage it yourself, but the full book's there.
There's lots of other good stuff on Ian Bell's Elite website [clara.net], including versions for most microcomputers, actual source code for the original BBC Micro version (which is damn scary, by the way), concept art, lots of reviews and interviews, a version of the trading engine written in C that's compatible with
'They just didn't get it; they wanted a high score and they wanted players to have three lives,'
Funny how that drives games development until this day. It's not 3 lives, but in the MMO market, for example, few dare to deviate from the "Level 60 cap, classes, crafting and grinding" concept. And those that do are almost always the minor players.
I cant even begin to imagine how many hours my younger brother and I put into this game on the C64. I was hooked from the start, with the fabulous novella that came in the instruction manual. I pity those that only ever had a pirate version, the box set/manual/novella were a huge help in fuelling the imagination.
I still remember the day though when I came back home and my brother said 'oh I was playing Elite and it said something about 'Do you want to accept this mission' so I said no'
He still has imprints of my hands around his neck. I never ever saw a mission appear when I was playing.
Anyone else get through the missions? They still remain one of the greatest mysteries around that game to me.
Not strictly on topic... but Elite is mentioned and I just have to post this as this entire thread reminded me of the following animation;
http://www2.b3ta.com/heyhey16k/heyhey16k.swf [b3ta.com]
Awesome... and good old days. Damn... now I'm going to fill the rest of my week of vacation playing Oolite... thanks, Slashdot
I must say that Elite is one of the earliest computer games I played on a PC. I never managed to get the C64 version which is a shame, but around the time I (or my parents rather) upgraded my C64 to a new PC (a nice shiny 486 20Mhz with 2MB of RAM and an 80MB hard drive), Wal-mart had a ton of their old stock of PC games on the floor clearances for $2 each. I remember getting Elite and Millenium from that stash, and both were a blast. There may have been an old Commander Keen game in there too - can't
I THINK MAN INVENTED THE CAR by instinct. -- Jack Handley, The New Mexican, 1988.


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More Snow On the Way for Bangor + Eastern Maine
Mainers already sick of snow might not want to listen to this, but don't put the shovels away just yet.
The National Weather Service on Saturday issued a winter storm warning for Bangor and much of Eastern Maine, predicting 12-20 inches for the area.
The warning is in effect from 7 p.m. tonight to 1 p.m. Sunday.


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Malaysia has this culture that when there is a function, a lot of expenditure are incurred on trivial things in order to make it a big splash. There is a lot of wastage on food and souvenirs. Even at the state level, the same sin is committed. There is one Ministry where every weekend, there are seminars throughout the whole country and this are often held in 5 star hotels and if there are non in the town, they will seek the best hotel in town. Another favourite outing for Ministry's staffs is brainstorming. When I was the Minister, I prohibited brainstorming sessions to be held outside KL since brainstorming requires your brain rather than facilities of hotels. At that time, I even prevented functions to be held in hotel unless the crowd is big and international. A lot of ministry staffs like to hold functions in the hotel, away from Putrajaya because there are less work and more claim for mileage if its more than 30km from Putrajaya. This expenditure can be very substantial in any ministries. I see no reason why the government is worried that if less function is held in hotel, it will affect their bottom line. Hotels should be dependant on their in house guest rather than to be dependant on government's function. There is over provision of food and tea break. We should copy from China. I had the opportunity of attending a number of conferences in China where the breakfast, tea break, lunch and dinner during function and meeting are simple. Why must we spend RM200 for food per day per person? If the government start throwing out all these unnecessary frails of the daily operating expenditure, we save well over more than RM2 billion a year.
We are famous for building the longest cake, the longest flag, longest popiah, a lot of forms but no value added component. Malaysia should condemn ministers and ministries in undertaking such program at this time of cost cutting. We spend a lot on gimmicks. Some gimmicks needs expenditure of RM150, 000 – RM200, 000. Why do we need a gimmick? It is the content of seminar that is more important. Having cultural performance as part of entertainment should also be toned down.
All these efforts would save the government billions every year. Look at how Singapore conducts its official ceremony, including international ceremonies!


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Evert Pot has posted to his blog about a CalDAV library he's worked up to allow for read/write access to calendaring that's compatible with the normal CalDAV systems.
My main goal is to create a general-purpose CalDAV library, rather than a consumer-ready server app. I'm hoping people will be able to use this library to enable CalDAV functionality in their existing applications.
You can get more information on the installation of the library from the SabreDAV wiki and to get at the code, you'll need to do a subversion checkout to get it.


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The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has recently allocated $100,000 in funding for the Tennessee Partner's Project (TPP) to help improve waterfowl habitat through the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
The TPP is a local multi-agency partnership effort that includes the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Ducks Unlimited, Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, UT Extension Service, and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency that hopes to return waterfowl to the breeding ground physically conditioned for maximum reproductive success.
Ducks Unlimited Regional Biologist Tim Willis says, "The Tennessee Partner's Project has been very successful. It is a true partnership among various agencies and organizations that share a common goal of enhancing wintering waterfowl habitat while improving water quality."
Tennessee landowners can apply for funding on a continuous basis but the next funding deadline is February 15, 2013 at their local USDA Service Center. These conservation practices will provide habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds, and other wetland dependent wildlife. If selected, producers can utilize these funds to install water control structures, build or repair dikes that will promote minimum or no-till farming, increase soil moisture, and inhibit weed growth while providing wetland habitat.
The Tennessee Partners Project is designed to provide water and food sources for wintering waterfowl and associated wetland species in the Tennessee portion of the birds' migration route. Participating landowners receive a project construction plan, financial assistance for water control structure materials, technical assistance during installation, and management recommendations.
According to Mike Hansbrough, USDA-NRCS Area Biologist, "Impounded water will allow settlement of silt and pesticides and inhibit runoff into surface water that drains into streams, rivers, and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. These structures will also help control flooding, control erosion, and improve biodiversity for a wide range of wildlife."
Selected projects will encompass a minimum of 5 acres of surface water and adjacent habitat buffer zones. Participants agree to sign a minimum 10-year Wetland Development Agreement, not permit hunting after 12 noon, and permit an annual inspection by any representation of the partners.
More information on Ducks Unlimited Conservation Projects can be found at http://www.ducks.org/tennessee/tennessee-projects. Applications for Tennessee Partners Project assistance funds can be made at your local USDA Service Center. For more information on USDA Conservation Programs please visit: http://www.tn.nrcs.usda.gov/.


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Office of the Dean of Students
The Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS) oversees student life at Georgetown Law. We focus on issues affecting the student community and act as the primary liaison between students, faculty and the administration. Think of ODOS as your portal to the Law Center.
Our affiliate offices include Residence Life, Student Life, Disability Services, and the Center for Wellness Promotion. Together, our programs and services include academic and personal counseling, mentoring through the Peer Advisor and Resident Fellow programs, guidance for 90+ student organizations, tutoring and academic support programs, disability services and accommodations, on-campus housing and community programs at the Gewirz Student Center, and a wide range of healthy living programs to promote balance as you navigate the law school experience.
ODOS conducts the J.D. Orientation program and 1L 101, a continuing orientation program that offers academic support for first-year students. ODOS partners with the Office of Public Interest & Career Services and the Office of Career Services for the Search Before The Search, which emphasizes reflective, values-driven decision-making among first-year J.D. students, and supports the work of the Law Center's nationally-recognized Lawyers in Balance program, a course that provides students with a unique opportunity to incorporate mindfulness and meditation into their law school experience.
Students are always welcome to visit the office and to ask questions or share concerns affecting the Law Center community.
Contact Information
Mitch Bailin
Associate Vice President, Dean of Students
210 McDonough Hall
Summer Office Hours
Mon - Fri
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Evening appointments available by request for part-time students.


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CHARLOTTE – As a transfer who had to sit last season out under NCAA rules, Rodney Hood has waited a long time to finally get his chance to play basketball at Duke.
For a few nervous days this summer, it appeared as though his wait might get even longer.
The 6-foot-8 forward was in Colorado trying out for the team that represented USA Basketball in the U19 World Championships when he felt a tightness in the heel of his right foot. Instead of heading to the Czech Republic to play basketball, Hood caught a plane back to Durham to get his sore Achilles tendon examined.
"That was a big scare for me," Hood said Wednesday at the ACC's Operation Basketball media day. "I sat out all last year and I thought it was worse than it really was. I couldn't walk on it for about a week."
Hood's worst fears were eased after the doctors at Duke examined his aching foot and determined there was no structural damage.
It wasn't long before he was back on the court. As the season inches closer to its opening night on Nov. 8, Hood said his physical problems have become nothing more as a distant memory.
"I'm 100 percent healthy," Hood said. "I'm feeling great and thinking about this coming season."
An SEC All-Rookie team selection at Mississippi State in 2001-12, Hood averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as a freshman. He's expected to make even more of an impact for the Blue Devils this season.
He's held in such high regard by coach Mike Krzyzewski that he was named a team co-captain, even though he's only classified as a sophomore and he has yet to play his first game in a Duke uniform.
"I always try to be a leader," Hood said. "From the time I stepped on campus, during the recruiting process, that's what coach wanted me to be. I've just tried taking on that role and doing a great job. It's a great responsibility, but it's also a great honor to have the respect of your coaches and teammates."
Even though he wasn't able to play in any games, Hood was able to practice with the Blue Devils last season and begin the process of building chemistry with his teammates.
According to fellow co-captain, senior point guard Tyler Thornton, Hood is an even better player than he is a leader. Although Hood's strong suit is slashing to the basket off the wing, he'll also be called upon to play inside as one of Duke's taller players this season.
"Rodney is a special player," Thornton said. "Coach has him in different spots all over the floor to give him opportunities to score. He's going to be a big part of what we do."


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Thursday, June 28, 2012
Mitt Romney reaction to SCOTUS Obamacare ruling (Full Video 06-28-12)
6 comments:
weak response. Please Mitt grow a pair and call it what it really is, Romneycare.
- June 28, 2012 at 1:26 PM
- leighrow said...
What are you talking about? The response was solid! He will repeal Obamacare if elected.
- June 28, 2012 at 1:55 PM
- Machtyn said...
Absolutely correct. Romney was resolute and determined. We are at a crossroads. Do you want bigger government? Do you want more governmental intrusion in your personal life? If not, join me!
- June 28, 2012 at 1:58 PM
If he called it Romneycare, everyone would be confused and think this case only pertained to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Don't be dense just because you dislike Romney.
- June 28, 2012 at 3:28 PM
Mitt followed states rights and Romneycare did not impose the garbage Obamacare imposes. Wake up for goodness sakes. The man has has had donated 3.2 million with this decision today...less than a day.
Paulee here....
- June 28, 2012 at 7:32 PM
Anon @1:26pm: You're just spouting the old liberal/Democrat/MSM talking point that MassCare and Obamacare are the same. All the legal reasoning and practical analysis in the world won't get you off that meme. Maybe you should grow a PAIR--of frontal lobes. As in a BRAIN. And if you're not deficient in that anatomical department, I can only conclude that you're an Obama plant making mischief on this site.
- June 28, 2012 at 8:12 PM


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NEW YORK — Even Alicia Keys couldn't get investors excited about the debut of the newest BlackBerry.
The smartphone maker formerly known as Research In Motion stumbled in its introduction of the BlackBerry 10 lineup Wednesday, disappointing shareholders with the lack of a firm U.S. release date and setting a price that may be too high to win back customers from Apple and Google's Android. The shares tumbled 12 percent after the event, which included an appearance by Keys, a Grammy-winning R&B singer who was given the title of BlackBerry's global creative director.
BlackBerry 10 phones won't appear in the United States until March, raising concerns that the company will fall even further behind the iPhone and Android in its biggest market. The lag also means BlackBerry won't get as much value out of its first-ever Super Bowl commercial, which airs on Feb. 3, weeks before Americans can even buy one of the new devices.
"For the BlackBerry faithful, another month is a long time," Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee in San Francisco, said in an interview. "The execution could have been crisper."
The investor reaction is a knock to a company struggling to rebound from years of market-share declines and financial losses in three of the past four quarters. The BlackBerry was set to finish 2012 with 4.7 percent of the global smartphone market, compared with almost 90 percent for Apple's iOS and Android combined, according to estimates from research firm IDC. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company is counting on BlackBerry 10 phones to win back customers and put it back on the road to profitability.
The company, which changed its name to BlackBerry Wednesday to unify its branding, unveiled a touch-screen phone called the Z10 and a version with a physical keyboard named the Q10, both of which will run the retooled BB10 software. The Z10 went on sale in Britain on Thursday, before appearing in Canada and the United Arab Emirates in the next 10 days.
Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins, who assumed the role of Steve Jobs-style pitchman at Wednesday's event, said carriers were responsible for the BlackBerry's slow arrival in the U.S. The four largest mobile-phone services — Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA — are taking longer to test the devices than their U.K. or Canadian counterparts, he said.
"Everybody's trying to do the job as best they can," Heins said in an interview. "I would love to see the U.S. earlier, I really do, but what can we do?"
Apple's new products are usually available within a few weeks of their unveiling, though customers can face several more weeks of delays because of supply constraints. When Apple introduced the first iPhone in 2007, it wasn't available to customers for six months after the initial announcement.
When the new BlackBerry phones do appear on store shelves, the price may deter some buyers, Wu said. The Z10 will cost $149 to $199 with a wireless contract — a level that doesn't compare well with the price of Android devices, he said.
"Many Android smartphones are available for $99, $49 or free," Wu, who has a neutral rating on BlackBerry's stock, said in a report.
The Q10 won't appear until April because the company has focused its resources on getting the touch-screen model out first. That means fans of BlackBerry's once-hallmark feature, a physical keyboard, will have to wait even longer to upgrade.
"Let's be honest, if they want a full touch screen, they're going to go for an Android or an iPhone," Wu said.
At least three analysts reiterated their sell recommendations for BlackBerry Wednesday, with at least two — James Moorman at S&P Capital IQ and Mark McKechnie at Evercore Partners — cutting their ratings to the equivalent of sell from hold. In all, six analysts recommend buying the stock, 20 have a hold rating, and 20 advise selling, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Heins has spent the past year overhauling the company, cutting 30 percent of its workforce in a bid to save $1 billion and reorganizing the sales and marketing teams. The stock has more than doubled since late September, reflecting growing investor support for the CEO's strategy and early buzz about the BlackBerry 10.
BlackBerry executives are trying to distinguish their devices from the iPhone and Android smartphones by touting its interface. The touch version of the phone relies on a virtual keyboard that learns where you usually hit the keys, improving typing accuracy over time. Its software also lets users check their email, calendars and other features without leaving the application they're running — relying on a "hub" approach.
"Whatever you do, you're always one swipe away from the heart of your activities," Heins said at Wednesday's event.
BlackBerry also announced support for the new platform from makers of applications, including the "Angry Birds" game, Microsoft's Skype and Amazon.com's Kindle.
The company has about $2.9 billion in cash, giving it enough money to market the new phones aggressively. The Super Bowl ad could cost as much as $4 million, based on prices cited by CBS Corp.
Heins brought Keys on stage during the presentation, where she extolled the new phones. She said she had re-embraced the BlackBerry as a customer after trying other smartphones.
"I kind of broke up with you for something that had a little more bling," she said. "Now we're exclusively dating again and I'm very happy."
That endorsement probably won't lure buyers to the new phone, Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners in New York, said in a televised interview on "Bloomberg West."
"They are going to look at it, and if it is better, people will purchase it," he said. "I do not think that is going to be the case for this device."
Emily Chang contributed to this report.


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CHAPEL HILL – Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina will hold its Fall For Children Fundraiser this Sunday at the Chapel Hill Country Club from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Jeremy Salemson, of Corporate Investors Mortgage Group, says Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina is the only state-wide organization that spreads awareness about child abuse and help set up support programs in all 100 counties.
"A very important event this Sunday, this is our third annual event for Fall for Children, this is an event that helps raise money and helps raise awareness for a cause and an organization that does great work throughout the state of North Carolina" Salemson says.
VP of External Relations for PCANC, Maureen McKeon, says that child abuse can be very dangerous and scarring for children.
"The stress of living in an abusive environment and not having the safe, stable, nurturing, supportive relations that they need causes toxic chemicals to be released in their brains and their bodies that physical damage them and result in long term health conditions" McKeon says.
Providing resources and support programs for families can help reduce child abuse. McKeon says she thinks child abuse can be completely avoided.
"Absolutely, when communities have factors in place, components in place, they're called protective factors, they've been proven through research to prevent abuse and neglect from ever occurring at all. These are things like making sure that parents have the support they need, the resources they need, access to quality children, access to parenting resources, access to knowledge that helps them acquire the skills they need" McKeon states.
The money raised during the fundraiser on Sunday will go towards helping families prevent child abuse.
For more information on Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina click here.


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I have attended many of the recent public hearing meetings of the Lee County Zoning Board of Appeals regarding the special use petition for the Green River Wind Farm.
Mainstream seemed to hurry to get its petition in before the County Board voted on changes so any new rules might not affect them.
Mainstream's petition listed nine requirements of the existing wind ordinance that Mainstream would meet before or during the hearing of its special use petition. One requirement is to identify all area structures so a person could determine what the effects of installing 512-foot-tall turbines might be on them or their property.
While every other standard for impacts uses property lines as the point of measurement, Mainstream insisted studies be done from the foundations of residential receptors, not considering impacts on other structures in the area, such as barns, businesses, churches, and other buildings, or recreational uses of the Green River Environmental Corridor.
To sell the Green River Wind Farm to area landowners, Mainstream distributed materials stating shadow flicker could be easily planned around so no home would have to suffer from it. Mainstream petitioned for a 30-hour flicker allowance and asked for 50 hours in its good neighbor agreement.
It's necessary to know all that's going on in the area to determine who and what will be impacted by the turbines. Mainstream should not be given a pass on the structure identification requirements of our ordinance.
Please approve the findings of the Lee County Zoning Board of Appeals, and let us move on with our lives.


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F500 Home Gym with 210 lb. Weight Stack
- $ 1,710 00 1710.00
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About this itemBody Solid's Fusion 500 efficiently combines traditional and functional training in a compact, superior-quality home gym.
Take a modular approach to self-styled fitness, and establish a motivating presence in your own home. Multitasking rises to a new level when you configure the Fusion 500 multi-station gym into a system that works for you. Just add the stations and accessories that will help you achieve your specific fitness goals. Then, work out on your own time, at your own pace, in your own home.
With its revolutionary functional training arms, design-forward aesthetic and motivating presence, you've found a new partner in total physical fitness with the Fusion 500 home gym. Design your gym to adapt to your available floor space and address your training needs, preferences and goals.
Station to station, the Body Solid Fusion 500 offers you a superior workout experience, with the function and flexibility to perform over 60 exercises, including: chest press, incline press, decline press, lat pull-down, leg extension, bicep curl, tricep extension, mid row, cable row, shrugs, shoulder press and many more.
The Fusion 500's single-stack, multi-function approach to home gym design offers you an amazingly versatile workout. Isolate individual muscles or introduce functional training into your routine to establish and sustain improved coordination, balance and stability.
Whether you configure your Fusion 500 single stack gym to include a multi-hip station, vertical knee raise/dip station, leg press, weight-assisted pull-up station, inner/outer thigh station or chin-up attachment (or any combination of stations and accessories), form and function converge to provide you with balanced, biomechanically efficient upper and lower body development.
- New curved, design forward aesthetic
- 50mm x 100mm 11 gal. oval tubing
- 6mm upper support plates
- 4 position standard Press arm with ergonomically designed multi-position handles
- Leg extension with pivoting rollers
- Synchronized articulating functional training arms with range extending from upper ab exercises to side accessed workouts
- Low row positions
- Lat pull down with wide groove pulley
- Telescoping back rest with multiple position cushion
- Gas assist telescoping seat
- Two pre-cabled accessory attachment points
- High density foam handle grips and chrome endcaps
- Weight stack shrouds
- Optional side pulley covers
- 210 lb. weight stack
Assembled Country
Assembled Size
83" H x 76" L x 48" W
Component Country


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25th September 2006, 02:44 PM
What can I expect from the above combination? I'm 95ish kilos and fairly competent but no pro. Sails are Vapors 11 and 12, waterstate is everything from flat to 80-100cm chop and weird wind and boat waves. Will it work at all, will it be good, great or what?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.


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Concierge Preferred is a Chicago resource for visitors and native Chicagoans alike. We congratulate Tim O'Malley, Publisher and Founder, and Amber Holst, Editor, on the timely information and advice.
One question we get alot from visitors is "where are you located." The good news is that we are on the northwest side, just west of Wright College, has tons of free parking and are accessible via public transportation. I have attached a closeup of the Chicago Metro Map from Concierge Preferred showing our relationship to 0″Hare, the Kennedy Expressway
and Frank Lloyd Wright's Oak Park.
Come visit the Eli's Cheesecake Bakery Cafe seven days a week or visit online 24/7 at www.elicheesecake.com.


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Barron's Buzz: Ballmer Exit Bullish for Microsoft
Microsoft's next leader could return more cash to stockholders and make better use of R&D spending. Plus, is Puerto Rico the next Detroit? Senior editor Jack Hough joins the News Hub with a preview of this week's Barron's Magazine. Photo: AP.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the thought of as book with a sneak peek at the latest issue of Barron's Magazine ... joining me now is Barron's senior editor Jack now ... the bigger ... very interesting week right into the markets what he is focusing on ... what we have we ever heard of storing your course on Steve Palmer and his departure of and what that could mean for Microsoft's stock ... aam we looked a couple a strategic things here Micra soft seems to have a lot more ability to return cash to stockholders ... on its commitment under spending which has potential to come to repurchasing shares ... aam and some strategic things that I can do with its business ... aam admits office franchise making them available on tablets for example making better use with research spending ... my Pursell spends two one a half times as much money is Apple ... on research and development given opportunity to either bring the cost down here and and and and have more to maximize for get better use that money so that the appeal of the stock is twelve times earnings the company has about a ... quarter of its market value sitting there in cash ... so plenty of potential here we gotta look it's only options are on ... the cover story though he is ... Puerto Rico ... to try to domestic chores that nasty thing to say that I can say ... instead of ... yelp or Ricoh if you were treated to a lot of as the asthe statement and then look of the amount of debt that has only New York and California rank higher in terms of the amount of debt ... if you then compare that debt with the size of the local economy estimates that its off the chart is what this copy coasts compared to its economic resources ... that's a problem ... E-mail of Puerto Rico bonds if you're a New Yorker ... you can get a tax break on municipal bonds many state and federal taxes ... yet when New York Times you might get that state tax break ... but in any state you can buy Puerto Rico bonds and get your local ... state tax break is a special deal ... but seized on by the end of ... the what that means that you won a municipal bond mutual fund that invests in your state bonds ... there's a good chance they also want some Puerto Rico bonds to ... some people would think a this is happening down and the Caribbean it doesn't affect me forget about the Ira municipal bond investor in you and wants the mutual fund and one the country chances are you could have some exposure here ... the battle of the funds have a big portion of their assets in the last sleeve turning college costs college costs um you know that the president has been speaking on this one and one ways to control the rising college costs Marco Mr. McTague tics like this that and ... some innovations your online we all know that there are a lot of courses out there online debate he remains ... credentials getting that degree ... and there some some new things out there with companies are creating portals online courses where they then will share you were scorers with potential employers in the last students who do well on forces ... with the employers who are looking for white students in particular areas ... the kind of bypasses the college degree mechanism ... and would just from walking down the road here are potential innovation that could drive down the cost of college in the future for ... calls that cost is so high you have to look and get wind of Corrections ... finding the potential of the market could be finding some answers on its own Here ... are a good stuff check out thank you Grandma thank you ... read more on this same bad the news isn't hopefully coming into your mailbox and online ...


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When it comes to improving life in Mundelein, the three candidates in the town's mayoral race cited customer service and the ongoing redevelopment of the downtown area among their priorities.
Mundelein Park District Trustee Wally Frasier believes the village hall staff needs to be more customer-friendly, particularly when it comes to helping business owners who want to locate in town.
Village Trustee Robin Meier was focused on the staff, too, saying consistency and accountability are needed in village hall.
Village Trustee Steve Lentz took a different approach, saying officials need to focus on the village's downtown business district and continue a redevelopment effort there.
Frasier, Meier and Lentz are seeking to replace Kenneth H. Kessler as Mundelein's mayor in the April 9 election. Kessler is stepping down after two terms.
The candidates met in a joint endorsement interview at the Daily Herald's Libertyville office earlier this month. They were asked about the town's future, the local economy and other issues.
Frasier, a former police chief in town, believes village employees need to be more customer-friendly, particularly when dealing with prospective businesses.
More businesses coming to town will produce more jobs and tax revenue for the village, Frasier said, so the staff should focus on its service skills.
Village employees who deal with residents should improve their efforts, too, he said.
"We need to be sure that all village employees realize that they work for the residents and the businesses in town," he said. "If we have people who are customer-friendly and try to assist and help people, we make it a place where people want to live and work."
Lentz, a trustee since 2009, disagreed, calling customer service a "very minor" issue.
Instead, he suggested officials need to focus on the development of what's generally known as the downtown area, a section of the village east of Route 45 and south of Hawley Street.
In the works for years, a centerpiece of the redevelopment is the proposed construction of a new village hall and other buildings on land near the town's Metra station.
"We need a new downtown," Lentz said. "We have that going, but we're going to have to keep that moving."
Previous revitalization efforts in the area focused on the construction of wide, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and the installation of old-fashioned streetlights and other aesthetic improvements. Lentz said Mundelein needs a downtown "that has a sense of place, that people want to go to."
He also cited street repairs as a key concern.
Like Frasier, Meier said officials and staff need to focus on customer service. Consistency at village hall is needed, she said, as is a greater sense of accountability.
"If you're not meeting the needs of your residents and businesses, you cannot accomplish the revenues you need and fix the services," said Meier, a trustee since 2008.
If employees improve how they do business with customers at village hall, Meier said, it will improve the town's image.
She said she's spoken to many residents who said they moved to Mundelein because they couldn't afford to live elsewhere.
"That's not the answer we want to hear," she said. "We want to hear, 'Because the services are great, because the people are friendly, because it's easy to go out and get a permit, because it's easy to do business here.'"


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Defense attorneys seeking to derail the trial of five men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks are asking a military judge to order President Barack Obama and former president George W. Bush, Vice President Joe Biden, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Attorney General Eric Holder to testify at the Guantánamo war court.
At issue in the motion unsealed Wednesday evening at the Pentagon is whether accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators can get a fair capital murder terror trial from a military jury of 12 or more U.S. officers.
Attorneys for the accused argue they cannot, citing widespread pretrial publicity that has included unending prejudicial statements from the highest public officials in the U.S. government. They are asking the military judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, to acknowledge the political influence in the process and, if not throw out the case entirely, remove death as a potential sentence even before the case is presented to a jury at least a year from now.
For the past 10 years, through the administrations of two presidents, these accused have consistently been described as thugs, murderers, and terrorists who planned the 9/11 attacks and must face justice, the lawyers argued.
It can easily be understood by members of the public that this system of military commissions exists solely for the purpose of imposing a death sentence upon these accused.


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The Institute communicates its scientific and educational information in a number of ways. One major outlet is peer-reviewed publications and reports. Cary Institute staff regularly publish in the best-rated journals in their respective fields.
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Impacts of trace gas fluxes in mid-latitude ecosystems", in D. S. Ojima and B. H. Svennsson (eds.). Trace Gas Fluxes in a Global Perspective, 1992, p. 124-132., "