text:
Syria, the G20 gives Obama a hand
In the end, they met. Even though Obama cancelled his bilateral meeting with Putin during the G20 and Putin shrugged, the two showed their humanity yesterday by discussing a few ideas. But that didn't resolve the situation. But Obama was happy to go home (and before Congress) with the encouraging support of the majority of countries (including Italy) that, in a joint declaration, stated that Assad was responsible for the violence and use of chemical weapons even though they preferred a non-military solution. For both leaders, the meeting was "constructive" even though there are still "differences." During a press conference, Putin unleashed a furious campaign to delegitimize a possible American attack against Syria from the G20 podium, suddenly forgetting the economic agenda that he was promoting as the elegant host. Sad but decisive, Obama answered with typical American pride that we've rarely seen from him that this unique situation requires his country to decide what is and what is not moral in the contemporary world. He announced that he will speak to the American people on Tuesday from the White House to explain to the country that Assad is a threat to the peace and safety of the world.
During a heated discussion, Europe offered a proposal which, along with a moral claim, seems a bit ineffective, as often occurs. At one time, it dreamed of trying Saddam Hussein. Then it had illusions of peace and safety that Gheddafi destroyed. Now, it's like a little butterfly sitting on Assad's shoulder amid the storm. The idea would be for the G20 to resolve the Syrian crisis peacefully. A Lebanese newspaper, Al Joumouria, discusses the matter: Assad should resign in favor of a transition government which would include men from the government and the opposition until the peace conference in Geneva. Assad would agree on three conditions: immediate elections after his resignation, a safe escape for his family and a guarantee that he will not be tried as a war criminal. Another Lebanese newspaper, Al Mustaqbal, said that Washington would have rejected any compromise because it feels that Assad doesn't have the right to decide anything and the opposition would never accept.
In the meantime, rumors are whirling in Washington that, despite the repeated affirmations that the war would be "limited in scope," the attack would be "significantly larger." The campaign wouldn't just be conducted by launching Tomahawks from US ships in the eastern Mediterranean but through a two-day air strike. This would include missile air strikes and long-range bombs from B-2 bombers that transport satellite-guided bombs and cruise missiles from B-52s and B1s that will carry long-range surface-to-air missiles from Qatar. The importance of the mission seems commensurate with the need to strike 50 sites where, according to intelligence, there are weapons of mass destruction that Obama claims he wants to destroy. Putin, however, claims that there is no way to strike without causing untold damage to civilians and soldiers. The cost of the operation continues to increase. Chuck Hagel has spoken of "tens of millions of dollars." But even Putin is spending Russian tax payers' money: he moved four gigantic war ships into the Mediterranean and the enormous Nikola Filchenkov, claiming that it is carrying a "special load." And then there's Putin's mysterious threat against… well, we're not sure who: "In case of an attack, we'll help Damascus," he said yesterday. Iran and Hezbollah are ready to fight to the death. The US has already intercepted an Iranian order to attack "American interests in Baghdad." Hezbollah announced that it has ten thousand fighters in Damascus who are ready to defend Assad and attack Israel, which has nothing to do with anything but somehow always gets dragged into it.
In fact, at the G20, Putin realized that his cynical pro-Assad stance has easily led him to become the cheerleader of the pacifists, who have the greater support in the contemporary world. Rather than just supporting an untenable axis like Iran-Syria-Hezbollah, he is moving into the virtuous anti-war camp. This confusion should be avoided at all costs but it is actually voluntarily supported by too many virtuous nations. And so a general feeling of anti-Americanism is on the rise thanks to the image of America as a country that loves war.
This article originally appeared in slightly different form in Italian in Il Giornale; English copyright, The Gatestone Institute


text:
RAP HIP HOP Tickets
Latest Events in Rap Hip Hop
- Sat Dec 07 2019Sat Dec 07 2019
- Buy Lil Tjay, The Catalyst Tickets for 12/07 08:00 PM Lil Tjay, The Catalyst tickets for 12/07 08:00 PM at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA
- Sat Dec 07 2019
- Sun Dec 08 2019Sun Dec 08 2019
- Buy Snoop Dogg, The Rose - Pasadena Tickets for 12/08 08:00 PM Snoop Dogg, The Rose - Pasadena tickets for 12/08 08:00 PM at The Rose Pasadena, Pasadena, CA
- Sun Dec 08 2019
- Thu Dec 19 2019Thu Dec 19 2019
- Buy Trippie Redd, The Rave - Milwaukee Tickets for 12/19 08:00 PM Trippie Redd, The Rave - Milwaukee tickets for 12/19 08:00 PM at The Rave Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
- Thu Dec 19 2019
- Sat Dec 28 2019Sat Dec 28 2019
- Buy Roddy Ricch, Hollywood Palladium Tickets for 12/28 07:00 PM Roddy Ricch, Hollywood Palladium tickets for 12/28 07:00 PM at Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA
- Sat Dec 28 2019
- Mon Jan 13 2020Mon Jan 13 2020
- Buy Atmosphere, The Lioness, DJ Keezy & Nikki Jean, Webster Hall Tickets for 01/13 08:00 PM Atmosphere, The Lioness, DJ Keezy & Nikki Jean, Webster Hall tickets for 01/13 08:00 PM at Webster Hall, New York, NY
- Mon Jan 13 2020
- Wed Jan 15 2020Wed Jan 15 2020
- Buy Chance the Rapper, Chase Center Tickets for 01/15 07:00 PM Chance the Rapper, Chase Center tickets for 01/15 07:00 PM at Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
- Wed Jan 15 2020
- Wed Jan 15 2020Wed Jan 15 2020
- Buy Iann Dior, Landon Cube & Poorstacy, House Of Blues - Cleveland Tickets for 01/15 09:00 PM Iann Dior, Landon Cube & Poorstacy, House Of Blues - Cleveland tickets for 01/15 09:00 PM at House Of Blues Cleveland, Cleveland, OH
- Wed Jan 15 2020
- Tue Feb 04 2020Tue Feb 04 2020
- Buy Post Malone, Frank Erwin Center Tickets for 02/04 08:00 PM Post Malone, Frank Erwin Center tickets for 02/04 08:00 PM at Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX
- Tue Feb 04 2020
- Thu Apr 09 2020Thu Apr 09 2020
- Buy NF - Nate Feuerstein, Brady Theater Tickets for 04/09 08:00 PM NF - Nate Feuerstein, Brady Theater tickets for 04/09 08:00 PM at Brady Theater, Tulsa, OK
- Thu Apr 09 2020
- Fri May 01 2020Fri May 01 2020
- Buy Russ, Red Rocks Amphitheatre Tickets for 05/01 08:00 PM Russ, Red Rocks Amphitheatre tickets for 05/01 08:00 PM at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
- Fri May 01 2020
Discounted Rap Hip Hop Tickets
Music has always been a very important and elaborate part of human life. Every era and age had their own form of music and the history of instruments and rhythms goes back thousands of years. Tribes in the old ages would use instruments made out of animal skin and bones to celebrate their ceremonies and drums and war songs have been a part of warfare for as long as human history can recall. As time passed, music has evolved into many forms and we have had eras of classical music, blues, country, rock and even pop. If we were to label the current era for its music form, we would no doubt call this the era of Rap and Hip Hop.
What started out as a cultural movement in the 1970's by the Jamaican and African immigrants that resided in the United States has now become a worldwide phenomenon and hip hop artists have now become some of the most recognized and loved musicians in the world. Back in the 1970's enterprising musicians like Afrika Bambaata and DJ Cool Herc started a movement that went way beyond music. The movement was a whole lifestyle. It started out as hip hop music. The music would feature DJ's sampling audio parts from various songs and mixing them together or putting them in a loop with added effects like scratching and reversing. This type of music was very popular at parties in its originating New York Bronx area. Along with the culture came a new type of laid back dressing sense, style of talking and graffiti art. These are all part of the culture and are what make hip hop what it is today. The style and attitudes of these early purveyors of the hip hop culture was so attractive to people that the adoption of this culture expanded from people with African or Jamaican heritage and moved throughout the world where people would be a part of the culture, no matter what color or race they belong to or what language they speak.
As the hip hop music scene developed, another act that goes back to the Jamaican roasting tradition and African poetry was incorporated into the culture. Rapping was the act when MC's or DJ's would start talking over the music and it then evolved into them speaking rhythmic poetry. The content of these rap songs started out being serious and political with a lot of talk about the struggles and hopes of the people of the time and has now evolved into multiple styles including boasting and even love songs.
Rap and Hip Hop is now an important part of the music industry and no one can deny that the impact this form of music and its performers have had on the world music scene is immense. With legends in the rap scene such as Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem that have garnered the interest and attention of the younger audiences as well as the respect of the seasoned hip hop fan, the rap music industry has nowhere to go but up. No matter what type of hip hop or rap you are into, you will find great deals on tickets to shows by artists like Nelly, Lil Wayne, The Wu Tang Clan and many more while you go through our massive inventory of Rap Hip Hop Tickets.
- Bbno$ Tickets
- Bell Biv Devoe Tickets
- Benny the Butcher Tickets
- Beyonce Tickets
- Big Daddy Kane Tickets
- Big Smo Tickets
- Biz Markie Tickets
- Blac Youngsta Tickets
- Blackalicious Tickets
- Blasphemous Rumors Tickets
- Blaze Tickets
- Blaze Ya Dead Homie Tickets
- Blockheads Tickets
- Bone Thugs N Harmony Tickets
- Boney M Tickets
- Booba Tickets
- Boosie Badazz Tickets
- Brockhampton Tickets
- Brother Ali Tickets
- Bryce Vine Tickets
- Bubba Sparxxx Tickets
- Buku Music and Art Project Tickets
- Bun B Tickets
- Busta Rhymes Tickets
- Busty and the Bass Tickets
- Da Baby Tickets
- Dababy Tickets
- Dadju Tickets
- Dave East Tickets
- Dave Tickets
- Dem Atlas Tickets
- Deorro Tickets
- Die Antwoord Tickets
- Digital Underground Tickets
- Dirty South Tickets
- Dizzy Wright Tickets
- Dj Abilities Tickets
- Dj Keezy Tickets
- Dj Mustard Tickets
- Dj Quik Tickets
- Dmx Tickets
- Dominic Fike Tickets
- Doobie Tickets
- Doug E Fresh Tickets
- Drake Tickets
- Machine Gun Kellys Xxmas Show Tickets
- Macklemore Tickets
- Majid Jordan Tickets
- Marc E Bassy Tickets
- Master P Tickets
- Mc Chris Tickets
- Mc Magic Tickets
- Meek Mill Tickets
- Megan Thee Stallion Tickets
- Merkules Tickets
- Method Man And Redman Tickets
- Method Man Tickets
- Mia X Tickets
- Miami Music Festival Tickets
- Migos Tickets
- Mike Jones Tickets
- Moneybagg Yo Tickets
- Moneybaggyo Tickets
- Monsta X Tickets
- Moonshine Bandits Tickets
- Mozzy Tickets
- Mura Masa Tickets
- Murs Tickets
- Mystikal Tickets
- Saint Jhn Tickets
- Salt N Pepa Tickets
- Sampa the Great Tickets
- Sango & Savon Tickets
- Sango Tickets
- Savon Tickets
- Saweetie Tickets
- Scarface Tickets
- Shwayze Tickets
- Silkk the Shocker Tickets
- Sir Mix a Lot Tickets
- Ski Mask the Slump God Tickets
- Slick Rick Tickets
- Slim Thug Tickets
- Snoop Dogg Tickets
- Sob X Rbe Tickets
- Social Club Misfits Tickets
- Son Little Tickets
- Soulja Boy Tickets
- State Property Tickets
- Stevie Stone Tickets
- Stunna 4 Vegas Tickets
- Styles P Tickets
- Sugar Hill Gang Tickets
- Suicideboys Tickets
- Super Jam Tickets
- Talib Kweli Tickets
- Tech N9ne Tickets
- Tempest Tickets
- The Grouch Murs & Dj Abilities Tickets
- The Grouch Tickets
- The Heart of Hip Hop Tickets
- The Lox Tickets
- The Weeknd Tickets
- Tobe Nwigwe Tickets
- Tone Loc Tickets
- Too Short Tickets
- Trace Bundy Tickets
- Trina Tickets
- Trippie Redd Tickets
- Tucka Tickets
- Twista Tickets
- Twiztid Tickets
- Ty Dolla Sign Tickets
- Yams Day Tickets
- Yasiin Bey Tickets
- Ybn Cordae Tickets
- Yfn Lucci Tickets
- Ying Yang Twins Tickets
- Yo Gotti Tickets
- Young Dolph & Key Glock Tickets
- Young Dolph Tickets
- Young Jeezy Tickets
- Young Ma Tickets
- Young Mc Tickets
- Young Nudy Tickets
- Young Thug & Machine Gun Kelly Tickets
- Young Thug Tickets
- Yung Gravy Tickets
Performing Nearby
Suggested Events
Q:My friend's birthday is on the 26th of next month, i wish to surprise her with young jeezy tickets, is there a way i can get them at very very low price?
A:The index for Rap Hip Hop contains some cheap tickets, we hope that you find them as cheap as you wanted them. But if you don't please contact the live help lady and get your discount code.
Q:How much can i save on bone thugs n harmony tickets by using the discount code?
A:Live Help Lady can guide you better in this regard. We suggest that you check our prices for Rap Hip Hop tickets and also compare it with the competitor's site.
Q:Am i supposed to keep the confirmation email for bone thugs n harmony tickets?
A:Yes, this email contains the information that can help you process your order in case of any unexpected delay.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
♥ This Week's Loves ♥
1. I completed my Japanese course this week! And I got a certificate! It was harder than I thought it would be, for every rule there's an exception, but at least I know some basics now!
2. After my visit to Drum Castle, I made a wreath from the bits and bobs I bought. I quite impressed myself!
3. I bought this sweet little rabbit night light. I had seen them online but when I saw this one for only £2 I decided to treat myself.
4. It's Panda's first Christmas so I filled a tiny Santa sack with some treats that he's never had before so it should be a nice surprise!
5. I never saw The Grey at the cinema which is a shame because it was a really good film. And a bit festive, with the snow and that!
6. Mum's macaroni is the bomb! I ask for it every time I'm round (much to her annoyance)!
7. The big release at the cinema this week was Anchorman 2. I love Anchorman and although I didn't think this was as good (could it ever be?), it was great to have the newsteam back!
8. I bought this reindeer cupcake to eat at the cinema and the reindeer is a ring! Double whammy!
9. It's a bit of a tradition for me to pick out my festive viewing from the Radio Times. There's loads of great movies on this year and of course Doctor Who and Sherlock will be unmissable! My Sky+ will strain with good tv!
Tags: anchorman 2 , drum castle , handmade , japanese course , loves , macaroni , rabbit night light , radio times , reindeer cupcake , santa sack , the grey , wreath
3 comments:
Congrats on your certificate, hun ♥ReplyDelete
Im sure panda will be happy :))
Reindeeeer ♥♥♥ Luv it!!
I've always wanted to learn Japanese, I tried Chinese though through the Open University and it was so tricky.ReplyDelete
Thanks Donny! Panda is certainly very happy with all his new treats! And yes Lisa, it's very difficult isn't it?! And not just because of the symbols!ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Marketing Overview
Property Website
Property QR Codes
Digital Photography
Listing Flyers
Video/Virtual Tours
Property Video Tour
On some of our larger REO properties we include a Video Tour. The footage for the video tour is shot using high definition video equipment. The footage pans every room of the house and we edit the footage into a 5-6 tour. The video tour is placed on searchable sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc complete with proper SEO tag lines.
We also create Virtual Tours of our properties. The virtual tour includes 20-30 high quality photos and 4-5 wide angle panoramic views of larger rooms. The virtual tour address is included on all REO property marketing assets. There is also an unbranded tour that gets uploaded to the MLS that shows the virtual tour on the MLS when buyers agents are searching for properties.
We have included a video tour of one of our properties so you can see what a great asset this is when marketing properties.


text:
Apple has decided that will not no longer be carrying iPhone 5C in the upcoming year 2015 according to news report by Macrumors and Cnet .
Manufactured by Foxconn and Wistron, iPhone 5C was released by Apple in 2013 as a low cost alternatives to iPhone 5S which is set to be feature-pack. The 5C started off selling on the market for $99 and available in five different colors, but is now available for free with a two-year wireless contract in an 8GB edition that Apple introduced last March.
Although no specific reason has been given for cutting iPhone 5C, it is believe that Apple is stopping production of iPhone 5C because of lower than expected sale after its debut in 2013 as consumers were demanding flagship iPhone 5s. Apple however made another attempt to increased sales of iPhone 5C but with very little success.
It is very difficult to ascertain how poorly iPhone 5C perform in the market as the company doesn't break down those sales per device.
As usual TopAppsReviews will continue to update you on changes in the market. Please follow us on twitter and Facebook and pleas subscribe to our blog for weekly updates. Pleas share your thoughts with our community by leaving a comment below in the comment box.


text:
Pretty New Fisherman
I'm going camping/fishing with my friends in about 4 days. My reel up and broke on me this morning when i was trying to get ready. I used to use a bait caster reel, never really had an issue, my question is. Should i buy a new bait caster or switch to spin casting. Also, i have a medium power rod and it says use 7-17 lb test line, but my grandfather used to say that 20 pound test was the way to go, what do i do. should i go for Hybrid, mono, braided or fluorocarbon line. i'm on a bit of a budget, i have between 70 and 90 dollars to spend (because of 20$ dick's store credit). any suggestions. Help is much appreciated.


text:
The Texas Tech baseball team is under no illusions about the situation it's in thanks to its play in Big 12 Conference games.
"We need every win we can get," starting pitcher Duke von Schamann said. "We've got a lot of talent on this team and we're still hoping to do something in the postseason, so these games are really, really big for us, and everyone knows that. To get into the postseason we have to make sure we get into the Big 12 tournament first and that's what's on everyone's minds."
While virtually nothing has gone their way in the Big 12, the Red Raiders (23-21, 3-12 in Big 12) take confidence from the fact that the remaining schedule still allows them to make some moves in the final month of the season.
Starting with today's 6:30 p.m. series opener at Rip Griffin Park against Missouri (23-19, 6-9), the Red Raiders play two of their three remaining conference series - both at home - against teams they are either tied with (Kansas State) or could pull into a tie with (Missouri) with a good weekend.
But doing so would also involve winning a series, something the Red Raiders have failed at in five tries so far this season, suffering a pair of sweeps at the hands of Baylor and Oklahoma State.
"Obviously, we really need to start winning," head coach Dan Spencer said. "We just need to find a way to win a series. We need to take care of our business and see if we can string three good solid games together, and that starts (today)."
Even though they split their midweek games - losing Wednesday by allowing four runs in the bottom of the ninth - the Red Raiders put together two good games offensively at New Mexico. Tech scored 22 runs in two games against the Lobos, a good sign for a team that managed just four runs in three games over the weekend at Oklahoma State.
"This week we focused on our offense and we did the job," catcher Bo Altobelli said. "We went out and pounded that team with hits and runs. Our main focus was offensively to get back on track and our pitching has been there all year. We just have to stick with that plan ... and go into Missouri with the same plan and see what happens."
It's in league games where the Red Raiders have struggled the most, hitting just .238 with a Big 12-worst 45 runs scored.
Missouri, however, has struggled on the mound when away from the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium. The Tigers are giving up more than six runs per game in road conference games and are just 1-5 in those games.
Starting pitchers Rob Zastryzny, Blake Holvach and Brett Graves have combined to allow 23 earned runs (24 total) on 38 hits over 271/3 innings in six Big 12 road games against Texas A&M and Oklahoma, which equates to a 7.67 ERA.
"New Mexico's pitching in the midweek has been solid, and Missouri's pitching on the weekend will be better than that," Spencer said. "The runs and hits might not translate - let's hope they do - but the approach and the aggressiveness and the understanding of the approach, I think can translate and I think it will."
If it doesn't, then Tech could set a dubious and unwanted record. No Red Raider team since the first one to join the Southwest Conference in 1968 has lost six straight conference series to start a season. But it's the more immediate goal of just qualifying for the Big 12 Championships that is foremost on the team's mind at this point of the season.
"Anytime you start emphasizing to the point of must win ... then in the back of somebody's mind it's 'well, what's the alternative? If we must and we don't, then do we just roll over the next weekend?' You emphasize the importance of taking care of business.
"We need to win some series to get into the Big 12 Tournament. What you don't want is pressing and overtrying. You want big-time confidence, courageous at-bats and innings pitched and defense played. We want to be loose, aggressive and fully understanding that we need to win."
Notes: Spencer said junior left-handed pitcher Daniel Coulombe, who has had just three outings this season after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery last year, will be available to pitch this weekend in short relief. Senior third baseman Reid Redman will also be available and could start today after healing further from the broken metatarsal bone in his left foot. Earlier in the day Spencer termed Redman's availability "limited at best," but after an evaluation late Thursday afternoon upgraded that availability. ... This weekend will mark the last trip to Lubbock for any Missouri team as the Tigers are set to join the Southeastern Conference next season.
To comment on this story:
• 766-2166
• 766-8700


text:
1 Introduction
"Consumer-directed" health plans (CDHPs), characterized by high deductibles and tax-advantaged personal health accounts, are becoming increasingly popular. Enrollment in these plans has risen from 4% to 17% of employer-provided insurance between 2006 and 2010, with 59% of large employers (with 1000+ employees) offering such a plan in 2011 (Kaiser Family Foundation and HRET 2011; Towers Watson and National Business Group on Health 2012). In exchange for the high deductible, CDHP enrollees typically face lower monthly premiums. To help cover the high deductible, CDHP enrollees, their employers, or both can contribute to tax-free personal health accounts. The goal of CDHPs is to reduce health care costs while maintaining health care quality through the use of higher value services. Proponents of CDHPs argue that by having enrollees pay the entire price out of pocket for services received before reaching the deductible, enrollees have increased financial incentive to "shop" for lower price providers of health care. Moreover, many CDHPs aim to facilitate price shopping by providing online decision support tools. To the extent that enrollees respond to these incentives, CDHPs could lower health care costs and even stimulate price competition among providers.
Prior research demonstrates that CDHPs reduce short-term costs (Lo Sasso et al. 2004; Parente et al. 2004; Feldman and Parente 2010; Buntin et al. 2011). However, it remains unclear whether these reductions reflect price shopping or indiscriminate reductions on the part of enrollees. Numerous papers have shown short-term reductions in emergency department use and hospitalization rates after CDHP enrollment (Wharam et al. 2007, 2011b; Haviland et al. 2011), potentially indicating more efficient use of health care. However, the prior literature shows mixed effects on use of high-value services. Some papers show decreased use of some preventive services (Wharam et al. 2008, 2011a; Buntin et al. 2011) and reductions in both high-and low-priority office visits (Hibbard et al. 2008). In contrast, research examining a single CDHP shows no evidence of reductions in preventive care use relative to traditional plans (Rowe et al. 2008). Estimated impacts on pharmaceutical utilization are similarly mixed: results from a single employer show discontinuation of drugs treating asymptomatic chronic conditions and little change in use of generics (Greene et al. 2008), while estimates across employers and plans show increased use of generic drugs (Haviland et al. 2011). Other research finds that individuals in CDHPs with chronic conditions are more likely to delay care (Galbraith et al. 2012), and CDHPs restrict access to care and increase financial burden for sicker or lower-income individuals (Davis et al. 2005; Galbraith et al. 2011). There is no research to date investigating whether CDHP enrollees shop for lower cost care.
Even with the right incentives, price shopping for health care can be challenging, as consumers often do not have information on the prices charged by different providers. Although a number of states have implemented initiatives aimed at improving price transparency, the effects of such policies remain largely unknown (Sinaiko and Rosenthal 2011). Early evidence shows that one initiative in New Hampshire had little impact on price variation (Tu and Lauer 2009). As most of these initiatives do not make available to patients the price they will actually be exposed to – the one negotiated by their health insurance plan (focusing instead on charges or averages over all negotiated prices) – challenges are likely to remain. Several CDHPs attempt to address these concerns and facilitate price shopping by providing online decision support tools with information on prices charged by different providers in their network.
This study is the first to investigate whether CDHPs are effective in encouraging enrollees to shop for lower-cost providers of health care. We examine the prices paid for common outpatient procedures using claims data from 63 large employers more than half of which offered CDHPs in 2007. In order to identify the role played by price transparency, we investigate a range of common outpatient services with both higher and lower levels of price transparency and scope for price shopping (e.g., office visit vs. pelvic ultrasound).
2 Methods and Data
2.1 Study Design
The objective of our analyses is to estimate differences in price-shopping behavior between patients in CDHPs and patients in conventional health plans. We define a CDHP plan as including a deductible of $1000 or more for individual coverage (twice this for family coverage). CDHP plans typically are defined to include a tax-advantaged health savings account (employee owned, employer contribution not required) or health reimbursement arrangement (employer owned, employer contribution required); 91% of CDHP plans in our sample include such personal health accounts that comprise 94% of all CDHP members in our sample. We focus on total prices for the following nine common outpatient procedures and services: arthrocentesis, chest X-ray, colonoscopy, emergency department visit, flu vaccine, mammogram, office visit, pelvic ultrasound, and preventive visits.
We first estimate differences in total prices paid by CDHP beneficiaries relative to prices paid by enrollees in traditional plans. If CDHP patients are more price sensitive, they may be more likely to seek lower-cost providers of procedures and services. However, unadjusted differences in prices may also reflect differences in individual characteristics related to the propensity to price shop or differences in health plans affecting bargaining power to negotiate lower prices for procedures and services. Reflecting this, we also compute adjusted differences, controlling for individual and zip code level demographic characteristics and plan characteristics.
In further analysis, we more explicitly account for differential price availability between CDHP and conventional plans. Specifically, the set of available prices for a given service may be higher for enrollees in CDHPs compared to conventional plans if the CDHP has a smaller share of the market and thus less bargaining power when negotiating with providers.
In such a case, CDHP enrollees may pay higher prices than conventional plan enrollees even if CDHP enrollees price shop more than enrollees in conventional plans. To account for this, we identify the distribution of unique prices paid for each service within a plan and metropolitan statistical area (MSA). If CDHP enrollees are more likely to price shop than enrollees in conventional plans, we would expect a higher proportion of CDHP claims to come from providers in the lower end of the distribution of offered prices in comparison to this proportion in traditional plans.
However, it is possible that the proportion of enrollees purchasing health care from the lower end of the observed distribution of offered prices is sensitive to the distribution of unique prices. Therefore, the results from the above analysis might be biased if there are large differences in the distribution of unique price points across CDHP and conventional plans. Table 1 shows that although there are more unique price points in traditional plans, there is no systematic relationship between plan type (CDHP vs. conventional) and the standard deviation (SD) or interquartile range of the distribution of unique price points. However, there could still exist differences in access to specific price points between CDHPs and conventional plans. For example, conventional plans might have larger networks and thus more providers with low price points compared to early CDHPs from smaller carriers, biasing our estimates against observing price-shopping behavior. To account for such differences, we examine within-plan changes in price-shopping behavior for CDHP enrollees before and after reaching the deductible. CDHP patients have a greater incentive to price shop prior to reaching the deductible when they must pay the full cost of nonexempt services. If CDHP enrollees exhibit price-shopping behavior, we would expect to see a higher proportion of claims for providers in the lower end of the price distribution prior to reaching the deductible relative to after reaching the deductible.
However, one potential problem with the above analysis is that if enrollees are forward-looking then their price-seeking behavior might be determined by the end-of-year price of health care services rather than the current price (Aron-Dine et al. 2012). If this is the case, we would expect less price shopping from enrollees more likely to reach the deductible as they face a lower end-of-year price. We examine this by estimating whether CDHP enrollees who are more likely to reach the deductible are less likely to demonstrate price-shopping behavior. We note that behaviorally, this requires patients to have no "myopia;" that is, they are impervious to seeing and paying out of pocket the entire price of care prior to meeting their deductible, which, while rational, may be unlikely.
The scope for individuals to price shop varies across services and may be a function of price transparency, the urgency of the service, and whether patients have agency to choose providers. For services such as office visits, prices are knowable and relatively transparent, especially as the service is used repeatedly on a regular basis. Patients may have time to search for the lowest cost provider, and patients have agency to choose from a range of providers. However, some consumers might find it difficult to change primary care providers even if they are expensive, especially if they have a long-standing relationship with that provider. In contrast, even with transparent pricing, there is little scope for patients to price shop for the lowest-cost emergency department after an accident. However, patients might have the ability to price shop for nonurgent emergency room care. For services such as pelvic ultrasound or chest X-ray, there may be less ability to choose a lower-cost provider as the service might be bundled with a physician visit, or a patient's physician may always use a particular facility for such services. Moreover, price shopping for laboratory tests might be easier, as the quality of services offered is likely to be similar across providers. Reflecting this potential heterogeneity, we examine price shopping for a range of outpatient procedures and services.
2.2 Data Sources and Study Population
The study population is drawn from full-time employees and their dependents working for 63 employers in 2007. Roughly half of the employers were recruited on the basis of their offering of a CDHP between 2003 and 2007, representing a range of geographic locations, size, and industries. The other half was drawn from the Thomson Reuters MarketScan database to roughly match the characteristics of the CDHP-offering firms. To account for variation in prices by geographic location, we define each plan unit as the unique combination of plan by MSA, meaning that a plan that spans across two MSAs is considered two distinct plan units. Henceforth, we will use the term "plan-MSA" for these units.
The base sample includes beneficiaries incurring a claim for one of the nine outpatient services in the analysis. We identify these services in the claims using the designated Current Procedure Technology (CPT) code. Each service has a number of variations, all identified by a unique CPT code; we use the most common CPT code for each procedure. The list of services, their CPT codes, and a detailed description are displayed in Appendix Table A1.
We limit the sample to include only plan-MSAs with at least 50 claims for a given service in 2007. Our empirical strategy requires within-plan-MSA variation in prices; thus, we only include plan-MSA combinations with at least three unique price points for a particular service. As shown in Table 2, the final sample includes 6.3 million claims from 2.1 million enrollees in 9377 plan-MSA combinations (21% of which are CDHPs).
2.3 Study Variables
2.3.1 Outcomes
The primary outcome in the analyses is the total amount paid for a particular claim. The total amount includes payments by both the insurer and the enrollee. To account for errors and outliers, we drop claims that have negative payment values and claims with payments that are greater than the 99th percentile or less than the 1st percentile of payments for each respective service, resulting in 1.8% of claims being dropped. To ensure the validity of claims and the distribution of unique price points, we require that the payment on a claim be observed more than once within a service and plan-MSA; otherwise, the claim is dropped (5% of claims were dropped as a result of this restriction).
For analyses investigating the distribution of claims over unique price points, we construct variables indicating whether the claim was from a provider in the highest or lowest tercile of a plan-MSA's distribution of unique prices for each service. Specifically, we construct the set of unique prices for a particular service within each plan-MSA combination, define terciles in the unique price distribution, and then indicate claims from the highest tercile as coming from "high-cost" providers and indicate claims from the lowest tercile as coming from "low-cost" providers.
Finally, we construct a variable, "Savings from Price Shopping," indicating the savings due to price shopping relative to costs if patients randomly chose a price from the available price points for a particular service. This outcome is defined in Equation (1):
where Pip represents the price on claim i from plan-MSA p, Puprepresents the uth unique price point for plan-MSA p, and Np represents the number of unique price points in plan-MSA p.
2.3.2 Explanatory Variables
The explanatory variable of interest is whether a claim belongs to a CDHP or traditional plan enrollee, whether a CDHP enrollee has reached their deductible, or the CDHP enrollee's prospective risk of reaching the deductible.
Individual-level demographic controls include age, agesquared, indicators for being <2 years old and between 2 and 16 years old, and gender. Zip code level socioeconomic status controls include the share of residents that are Hispanic, Black, and White; the share of residents that have a high school and college education; the unemployment rate; and median household income. Plan-level controls include the number of claims for each service and total number of enrollees to serve as proxies for bargaining power, and coinsurance rate and average copayment to control for cost-sharing features of each plan's benefit design.
2.4 Statistical Analysis
We complete three analyses for each of the nine services, each estimated at the claim level. First, we regress the natural log of total payment on just an indicator for CDHP enrollment to estimate the percent difference in mean prices between CDHPs and conventional plans using ordinary least squares. We then estimate adjusted percent differences in prices paid controlling for the individual and plan characteristics described above.
Second, we estimate probit regression models where the outcome is either that the claim came from a low-cost provider (a provider with a price in the lowest tercile of the unique prices for a plan-MSA) or a high-cost provider (a provider with a price in the highest tercile of the unique prices distribution for a plan-MSA). The explanatory variables include the CDHP enrollment indicator and the individual and plan characteristics described above. We then estimate linear regressions of the savings variable [defined in Equation (1)] on the CDHP indicator, and controls.
Next, for CDHP enrollees only, we run probit regressions on the low- and high-cost indicators with the "predeductible" indicator, demographic characteristics, plan-level characteristics, and a cubic specification of calendar month to control for seasonal variation in utilization as predictors. We report the adjusted shares of pre- and postdeductible claims that fall into each category (using recycled predictions) and the difference in these shares pre- and postdeductible.
We then use linear regression models to model average savings among CDHP enrollees from price shopping pre- vs. postdeductible including controls for individual and plan characteristics and a cubic in calendar month.
It is possible that CDHP enrollees are forward-looking and anticipate reaching their deductible, in which case price-seeking behavior would not change after reaching the deductible (enrollees would be paying up to the deductible out of pocket regardless) (Aron-Dine et al. 2012). To account for this, we perform an additional analysis using the 2006 prospective risk score; this score predicts health care costs in 2007 based on health utilization and demographic information from 2006. A higher 2006 prospective risk score indicates a greater likeliness of reaching the deductible in 2007, and therefore less incentive to price shop. For the sample of CDHP enrollees, we regress the natural log of price paid for a particular service on the prospective risk score (in the main analysis, the risk score is defined as a continuous variable; in alternative specifications we used the quintile of risk score), controlling for individual, and plan characteristics and a cubic polynomial in calendar month.
We cluster standard errors at the plan-MSA level for all analyses. Obtaining separate estimates for the nine services in our sample poses a potential multiple-comparisons problem. We account for this by implementing the Bonferroni correction in our statistical inference, multiplying each p value by nine. All analyses were performed using STATA/MP 12.0 (StataCorp LP, TX, USA) and the study was approved by the institutional review boards of each of the study authors' institutions.
3 Results
3.1 Study Population
Table 2 displays the summary statistics for enrollees with claims for the nine services in our sample. The statistical significance of the difference between CDHP and traditional plans is indicated for average measures. CDHP plans comprise roughly 21% of the sample (1953 plans compared to 7424 traditional plans) and approximately 10% of claims. CDHP plans have fewer enrollees. CDHP enrollees with claims for common outpatient services are younger, more likely to be female, and live in zip codes with higher income and education levels (p<0.01 for all). CDHP plans have a median individual deductible of $1250 with first and third quartiles of $1100 and $1750, respectively. Traditional plans have substantially lower deductibles with a median of $250 and first and third quartiles of $0 and $400, respectively.
3.2 Price Differences in CDHPs Relative to Traditional Plans
Table 3 shows the mean price paid for each service in CDHPs and traditional plans for all nine procedures along with the 25th and 75th percentiles (across all CDHP or traditional claims) and the percentage differences with and without adjustment for controls. The unadjusted differences are either statistically insignificant or show that CDHP patients pay more for services than non-CDHP patients (emergency department visits, p<0.01). The 25th and 75th percentiles are similar between CDHP and traditional plans and for most services imply a wide range of available prices (and thus scope for price shopping). Flu vaccines have somewhat narrower ranges indicating a smaller scope for price shopping for these services. Once demographic and plan-level controls are included in column 4, most point estimates on the percent differences are reduced and remain statistically insignificant except that after adjustment the price of an office visit is 2.3% less for CDHP enrollees compared to the price of an office visit for traditional plan enrollees (p<0.01).
3.3 Price Selection in CDHPs Relative to Traditional Plans
Table 1 shows the average number of price points per plan, the average SD, and the average first and third quartiles for CDHP and traditional plans. This table shows that there are more price points in traditional plans; however, there is no systematic relationship between plan type (CDHP vs. traditional) and the SD or interquartile range of the distribution of price points.
The first two panels of Table 4 display estimates from probit regressions, showing the predicted share of CDHP and traditional plan claims from low- and high-cost providers. The table also reports the difference in these shares between CDHP and traditional plans. Across the nine services in the sample, there is only a statistically significant difference in the share of low-cost providers for office visits. The share of claims of low-cost providers in CDHP plans is 6.4% points higher than the share of claims of low-cost providers in traditional plans (p<0.01). The only statistically significant difference in the share of high-cost providers is for colonoscopies. The share of claims of high-cost providers in CDHP plans is 28.8% points higher than the share of claims from high-cost providers in traditional plans (p<0.05). Finally, to test the robustness of our results to our tercile-based specification of high- and low-cost providers, we run an additional analysis using within-plan price point percentile (continuous) as the dependent variable and find that our results are consistent with the main analysis. In particular, CDHP enrollment has a negative and significant coefficient for office visits only.
The third panel of Table 4 shows estimates of savings from price shopping for CDHP and traditional plans. This measure indicates the average percent difference in observed prices (for either CDHP or traditional plans) relative to what would be seen if patients randomly choose providers from the observed unique price points; a positive percentage indicates positive savings and evidence of price shopping. Panel 3 shows price-shopping-related savings for CDHPs for only five procedures, whereas we see price-shopping-related savings for eight of the nine procedures for traditional plans. Savings from price shopping are only greater for CDHP plans compared to traditional plans for office visits (p<0.01). Claims for colonoscopies show a greater degree of price shopping in traditional plans compared to CDHP plans (p<0.01).
3.4 Price Selection Pre- vs. Postdeductible
The first and second panels of Table 5 show differences in the predicted share of claims from high- and low-cost providers, pre- and postdeductible. If CDHP enrollees are price sensitive and engage in price shopping, we would expect a higher fraction of claims from low-cost providers prior to reaching the deductible relative to after the deductible when patient cost sharing is lower. Similarly, we would expect a lower fraction of claims for high-cost providers prior to reaching the deductible relative to after reaching the deductible. However, panel 1 shows that predicted shares for low-cost providers are similar before and after reaching the deductible (p>0.1) for six of the nine services. The only procedure where the share of low-cost providers is significantly higher prior to reaching the deductible is preventive care visits (p<0.01). For chest X-rays and colonoscopies the low-cost provider share is significantly lower prior to reaching the deductible (p<0.01). Panel 2 shows that the fraction of claims for high-cost providers are similar pre- and postdeductible for all services (p>0.1).
The third panel shows whether the savings from price shopping change after reaching the deductible. We would expect greater savings prior to the deductible relative to after reaching the deductible, as cost sharing decreases. However, savings are similar in both periods for all services (p>0.1) except for chest X-ray and pelvic ultrasound, which implies 5.7% (p<0.01) and 7.7% (p<0.1) more savings from price shopping after reaching the deductible (p<0.01), respectively.
Finally, we find no relationship between CDHP enrollees' prospective risk score and price paid for all procedures (results not presented). This result is consistent with a lack of forward-looking behavior, as patients who anticipated spending past the deductible would have reduced incentive to price shop.
4 Discussion
Overall, we find that prices for most common outpatient services are indistinguishable in CDHPs and traditional plans. The only exception to these null findings is office visits which fall at the upper end of the price transparency and price shopping scope continuum. The lower average prices, greater use of low-cost providers, and greater plan-level savings due to price shopping for office visits in CDHPs relative to traditional plans suggest that CDHPs may be effective at incentivizing price shopping for office visits. However, the magnitude of the effect is modest.
Consistent with the above null findings, comparing price shopping by CDHP enrollees, we see no evidence of greater price shopping for CDHP enrollees prior to meeting their deductible compared with after meeting their deductible. One possible explanation for this lack of change is that patients are returning to the same providers they used prior to meeting their deductible and another is that patients are forward-looking and thus not sensitive to this within-year change in the price.
The findings of this study should be viewed in light of its limitations. First, whereas we address potential differential bargaining power of CDHPs vs. traditional plans by analyzing share of high- vs. low-cost providers across CDHP and traditional plans and within CDHPs before and after reaching the deductible, bargaining power could still play a role. For example, traditional plans may be able to negotiate the same low price point for a larger share of their providers relative to CDHP plans. Also, a traditional plan may have larger networks and thus many providers offering the same (relative) low price point. This would make low price providers the default option for many traditional plan enrollees, whereas CDHP enrollees may have a more difficult time finding prices at the lower end of the distribution.
Second, we only look at price outcomes, but not quality. Thus, CDHP enrollees may make "value"-based decisions using quality outcomes that we do not observe. Ideally, we would like data on the provider choices for each consumer including data on the prices charged by each provider, the quality of care for each provider, and information on amenities and other provider characteristics that might influence such choices. Such data could be used to estimate choice models to understand how the role of price and quality in determining provider choice differs across CDHP and traditional plans. However, to the best of our knowledge such detailed data on providers is not available.
Finally, our study relies on observational data, and thus CDHP status is not randomly assigned. Although we control for a range of observable characteristics, there may still be selection on unobservable characteristics biasing the results. Specifically, our estimates of the effects of CDHPs on price shopping might be positively biased if individuals with an inherent propensity to price shop (unobserved to the researcher) are more likely to enroll in CDHP plans. If this is the case, our findings might overstate the effects of CDHPs on price shopping. Moreover, the CDHP enrollees utilizing outpatient care in this study are healthier, lower utilizers of health care and somewhat higher income than those in traditional plans. Thus, CDHP enrollees might be less experienced health care consumers and less sensitive to prices. If this is the case, our findings might be understating the effects of CDHPs on price shopping.
Overall, our results suggest that CDHPs do not stimulate "price shopping" for most common outpatient services. This naturally raises the question: Why do the incentives of CDHPs appear to be largely ineffective in motivating price shopping for outpatient services? There are a number of potential factors. In particular, there may be limited scope for patients to search for low-cost providers. Other studies have shown that the price transparency of health services is low, and early state-level efforts to improve price transparency have so far shown little effect. This is compounded by uncertainty in the degree to which patients perceive their agency to choose alternative providers for some services.
Similarly, it may be that price shopping is not an immediate response to enrolling in a CDHP plan, perhaps because patients do not perceive the degree of price variation. One key factor encouraging price shopping may be the availability of clear signals of price (such as generic drugs, or "out-of-network" providers). Another important determinant of price shopping may be repeated use of a service. The only service where we found limited evidence of price shopping was for outpatient doctor visits, which occur with some regularity and thus offer opportunities to "learn" to price shop after having to pay for a service that may then outweigh patients' potential attachment to the providers seen most often. Finally, consumers might not have the agency to shop for some diagnostic services if the service is bundled with a physician visit, or a patient's physician may always use a particular facility for such services.
Improved education for enrollees about benefit design and more aggressive, health insurance carrier specific, price and quality transparency initiatives may be the next steps for employers, health plans, and policy makers to increase consumerism in health care decision-making.
Funding was provided by the California Health Care Foundation and National Institute for Aging grant R01 AG043850-01.
Aron-Dine, A., L. Einav, A. Finkelstein and M. R. Cullen (2012) Moral Hazard in Health Insurance: How Important Is Forward Looking Behavior? Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Buntin, M. B., A. Haviland, R. McDevitt and N. Sood (2011) "Health Care Spending and Preventive Care in High-Deductible and Consumer-Directed Health Plans," American Journal of Managed Care, 17(3):222–230.Google Scholar
Davis, K., M. Doty and A. Ho (2005) How High Is Too High? Implications of High-Deductible Health Plans. The Commonwealth Fund, Pub No. 816.Google Scholar
Feldman, R. D. and S. T. Parente (2010) "Enrollee Incentives in Consumer-Directed Health Plans: Spend Now or Save Later?" Forum for Health Economics and Policy, 13(2):Article 3.Google Scholar
Galbraith, A. A., D. Ross-Degnan, S. B. Soumerai, M. B. Rosenthal, C. Gay and T. A. Lieu (2011) "Nearly Half of Families in High-Deductible Health Plans Whose Members Have Chronic Conditions Face Substantial Financial Burden," Health Affairs, 30(2):322–331.Web of ScienceCrossrefGoogle Scholar
Galbraith, A. A., S. B. Soumerai, D. Ross-Degnan, M. B. Rosenthal, C. Gay and T. A. Lieu (2012) "Delayed and Forgone Care for Families with Chronic Conditions in High-Deductible Health Plans," Journal of General Internal Medicine, 27:1105–1111.Google Scholar
Greene, J., J. Hibbard, J. F. Murray, S. M. Teutsch and M. L. Berger (2008) "The Impact of Consumer Directed Health Plans on Prescription Drug Use," Health Affairs, 27(4):1111–1119.Web of ScienceCrossrefGoogle Scholar
Haviland, A. M., R. D. McDevitt, N. Sood and M. S. Marquis (2011) "The Effects of Consumer-Directed Health Plans on Episodes of Health Care," Forum for Health Economics and Policy, 14(2):Article 9.Google Scholar
Hibbard, J. H., J. Greene and M. Tusler (2008) "Does Enrollment in a CDHP Stimulate Cost-Effective Utilization?" Medical Care Research and Review, 65(437):437–449.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kaiser Family Foundation and HRET (2011) Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits 1999–2011.Google Scholar
Lo Sasso, A., T. Rice, J. Gabel and H. Whitmore (2004) "Tales from the New Frontier: Pioneers' Experiences with Consumer-Driven Health Care," Health Services Research, 39(4p2):1071–1090.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Parente, S. T., R. Feldman and J. B. Christianson (2004) "Evaluation of the Effect of a Consumer-Directed Health Plan on Medical Care Expenditures and Utilization," Health Services Research, 39(4, Part II):1189–1209.CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, J., T. B. Stevenson, R. Downey and J. Newhouse (2008) "Effect of Consumer-Directed Health Plans on the Use of Preventive and Chronic Illness Services," Health Affairs, 27(1):113–120.Web of ScienceCrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sinaiko, A. D. and M. B. Rosenthal (2011) "Increased Price Transparency in Health Care – Challenges and Potential Effects," New England Journal of Medicine, 364(10):891–892.Web of ScienceGoogle Scholar
Towers Watson and National Business Group on Health (2012) Performance in an Era of Uncertainty: Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care. Los Angeles, California: Towers Watson.Google Scholar
Tu, H. T. and J. R. Lauer (2009) Impact of Health Care Transparency on Price Variation: The New Hampshire Experience. Washington, DC: Center for Studying Health System Change, Issue Brief No. 128.Google Scholar
Wharam, J. F., B. E. Landon, A. A. Galbraith, K. P. Kleinman, S. B. Soumeraj and D. Ross-Degnan (2007) "Emergency Department Use and Subsequent Hospitalizations Among Members of a High-Deductible Plan," Journal of The American Medical Association 297(10):1093–1102.Web of ScienceGoogle Scholar
Wharam, J. F., A. A. Galbraith, K. P. Kleinman, S. B. Soumerai, D. Ross-Degnan and B. E. Landon (2008) "Cancer Screening Before and After Switching to a High-Deductible Health Plan," Annals of Internal Medicine, 148(9):647–655.Google Scholar
Wharam, J. F., A. J. Graves, B. E. Landon, F. Zhang, S. B. Soumerai and D. Ross-Degnan (2011a) "Two-Year Trends in Colorectal Cancer Screening After Switch to a High-Deductible Health Plan," Medical Care, 49(9):865–871.Google Scholar
Wharam, J. F., B. E. Landon, F. Zhang, S. B. Soumerai and D. Ross-Degnan (2011b) "High-Deductible Insurance: Two-Year Emergency Department and Hospital Use," American Journal of Managed Care 17(10):e410–e418.Google Scholar
About the article
Published Online: 2013-03-20
Published in Print: 2013-01-01
Citation Information: Forum for Health Economics and Policy, Volume 16, Issue 1, Pages 35–53, ISSN (Online) 1558-9544, ISSN (Print) 2194-6191, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/fhep-2012-0028.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston. This content is open access.


text:
Guide part 5
Walkthrough - Eastern Front
Stage - The Flag Must Fall
The Russian sergeant will lead the charge with some allies. They are going to seize some of the MG42s and turn them against the enemy. Open the door and let your allies take the brunt of the fighting by pressing action when facing them. Kill all opposition in the room so the machinegun can be set-up.
|(Left) Small rooms with various cover will be the standard in Leningrad. (Right) Aim down and shoot the enemy.
A cut-scene will occur, and a Russian sniper woman (certainly more attractive than Dunya - huah! - of Aliens Vs Predator fame) will be your new (mostly invincible) ally. Man the machinegun quickly and kill the enemies before you in the street. You can zoom in using the fine aim key on your controller; this helps immensely when dealing with the insane firing rate of the MG42.
The emplaced MG42 has infinite ammo ... it doesn't overheat (as it would in real life) so hold down the fire key and hose the place with super-heated lead. Your allies (if any) are infinite in number, so don't be afraid to cack a few here and there. Your bullets should not faze them (no friendly fire) either. You main concern is your own lifebar. If it gets low, you may need to use a health kit you took from the previous stage. Portable and use-now health tins may also be in the area after you cleared the room for the MG42. Don't be afraid to ditch the gun and hunt for health before resuming your killing duties. Strangely, that doesn't count for dereliction of duty.
|(Left) Man the gun and clear the streets. (Right) The target are the pillboxes from left to right, then the main bunker..
Once the objective to clear the foot of the hill is done, the sniper will remark that the bunker at the top of the hill must be taken or blah, blah, blah, artillery, blah, blah, blah, Mother Russia, blah, blah, flag must fall. All you should worry about is keeping your MP40 filled and taking the PPHs41 in the house before moving downstairs and outside to storm the Nazi-held hill.
To take the bunker, you need to deal with three pillboxes that are defending this side of the hill. Although the game says you should take out the left pillbox, you may take out any of the three pillboxes in any order to (A) stop the MG42 from firing; and (2) avoid getting damaged too much by cutting out overlapping fire zones. However, the pillboxes are pretty much set so you can take out the pillboxes from left to right. Hug the side of the hill and storm up its slope while moving quickly to the log bunker areas. Cover is hard to find on the hill, so expect to be shot several times while moving from the trenches into a pillbox.
|(Left) Trench warfare was emphasized in World War I, but not abandoned in World War II. Most of the trenches will lead to the pillboxes, but not all. (Right) This Nazi in one of the three pillboxes is about to die. Don't let this happen to you in multiplayer -- team up with a buddy who can watch your back.
It is hard to choose between prone movement and standing movement since explosions will down you when you are prone and bullets will cut you down while you stand. Crouching is not recommended since you will move too slow to be of any use. The best thing is to move quickly to the bunker and trench areas while standing and then crouching behind cover to kill the enemy soldiers. Your MP40 will be your main workhorse since it has the ammo and rapid fire ability to kill multiple enemies without reloading. The PPHs is also helpful, if you brought it along and choose to use it. Note though, that PPHs ammo is uncommon, and you may be using the MP40 exclusively by the end of this stage.
Luckily, there are usually (but not always) small use-now health tins from dead enemies. Try to remember where they are dropped. Since they are randomly dropped by enemies in the game, you will have to memorise where they are each time you play (or die and continue). It is frustrating, but do not rush this stage and you will be surprised at how much ammo and health you can preserve while working methodically up the hill.
|(Left) Grab the MG42 near the right pillbox and make like Fuse in Jin-Roh Wolf Brigade. (Right) Locate the Nazi flagged bunker and slaughter all enemies within. Very few prisoners were taken on both sides of the Eastern Front.
Allied bots constantly spawn to aid your attacks. If you find your allies are dead, find a safe spot to hide and wait for the new respawns to appear to help you. The new allied AI usually carry the Mosin-Nagant, so you will never be short on ammo. Taking well dug in troops is a slow and steady process ... If you require extra firepower, a man-portable MG42 is available in the trench near the right pillbox. It is the only trench with a T-intersecetion. The MG42 is in a radio room at the end of the trench.
The top bunker is your main goal after taking all three pillboxes. Unless you are completely devoid of health and ammo, try not to dwaddle around the hill's face or you will risk being killed by a grenade or a stream of MG42 fire from the bunker. Instead, drop to the ground and head to the side of the hill (or at least to the edge of the map) and move up the hill from there. This places you at the extreme edge of the enemy MG42's cone of fire and exposes you very little to being shot.
Move to the top of the hill, and hit the enemy bunker with what is left of your grenades. In such tight quarters, you cannot help but damage something if you bounce them off correctly. If by some chance you lack grenades, you will need to be more methodical by leaning past the edge of the door and using the MP40 on everything with a swastika or a Schutzstaffel insignia on the uniform. The game is detailed enough so you can recognise the Waffen "SS" symbol at a acertain range, so don't hesitate to shoot when you see a soldier with that symbol.
Clear the bunker and press action to do a good old fashioned flag raising and end the stage.


text:
Happy Friday from Griswold! As you may know, we're dedicating this week to our dedicated franchisees and their inspiring stories. The spotlight now shines on Bobby Crider, the Care Director of the Columbus, Bloomington and South Indy, IN franchise.
Last Saturday, May 12, Bobby and his wife Stacy walked for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Out of the Darkness (OOTD) Campus Walk for Columbus, IN. This fundraiser raises awareness for suicide prevention and money to help fund AFSP's annual budget. Services provided by the AFSP include counseling, crisis hotlines, etc. They are also at the forefront of suicide education, research and prevention.
Bobby and Stacy will be walking as part of the Johnnie Walkers team to commemorate Stacy's best friend Kisha's father, Johnnie Simpson, who took his own life in the summer of 2008. Kisha was able to channel this tragedy into some positive energy by organizing the fist OOTD walk in Columbus last year. That walk was an amazing success and ranked 3rd in the nation!
But here's some excellent news to go along with the Criders' compassion and ambition: you can still support their cause! To do so, head to Bobby's donor page or Stacy's donor page! Every little bit helps — sometimes, it's the short steps and small subsidies that make the biggest difference.
Thank you, Bobby and Stacy, for the incredible things you're doing for your community and both the home care industry and suicide prevention. You both are shining examples of Griswold's spirit and the passion for compassion that sets it in motion.
This ends our series on Griswold franchisees. As we said before, we cannot possibly recognize each and every one of you, but please know that we at Griswold appreciate every effort you take and every moment you spend spreading quality and affordable home care to your communities.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know our franchisees — the spirit that makes Griswold's mission possible. Next week, we'll dive back into advice on how to make your loved one's life as meaningful, independent and comfortable as possible. Do you know what makes some homes safer than others? Check back soon or subscribe to find out!
[hs_action id="3452″]


text:
We have a range of table centrepieces available to hire to create your theme or style, putting together all of the pieces you require to give your tables the wow factor and add your personality.
We can create from scratch a totally bespoke table centrepiece using items to create your theme or you can hire a centrepiece we already have from our wide range of glass vases high and low, birdcages, Logs and white trees.
With Floral wedding table centrepieces they should coordinate with your Bridal flowers and bring the theme and style of your wedding from your ceremony to your reception.
We have a variety of vases and vessels available to fill with florals, you could go tall if you have a venue with high ceilings and lots of space or a mixture of high and low throughout the room. Posy style arrangements on low pedestals or vases in the middle of the tables are great for smaller venues and more intimate weddings.


text:
|Onconova Therapeutics CEO Ramesh Kumar
The biotech: Onconova Therapeutics
Round: $50 million
Based: Newtown, PA
CEO: Ramesh Kumar
Investors: Undisclosed
The scoop: Onconova unveiled the big round back in August in a filing with the SEC. And a month later it put out the word that Baxter International ($BAX) had stepped in with a $50 million upfront to license European rights for its late-stage cancer drug rigosertib. The biotech has a full slate of mid- and late-stage studies under way on the experimental drug, a multikinase inhibitor targeting mitotic and PI-3 kinase pathways. Investigators are pursuing a study for an IV formulation of rigosertib for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes who have failed other drugs or relapsed. And a Phase II/III is enrolling pancreatic cancer patients, one of the toughest cancer populations any developer can tackle. An early-stage study for acute myelogenous leukemia is also being prepped.
For more:
Baxter and Onconova ink $500M-plus licensing pact for PhIII cancer drug
Onconova hauls in $50M to fuel late-stage leukemia program


text:
Let me preface this by saying....this is not my normal post, but I am so passionate about this, I had to post it! Thanks for enduring!
This morning I had to stop and pick up fresh fruit from the grocery for the office. As I was walking in, I passed a table full of marked down Easter items. On this table were 2 boxes of Russell Stover's Easter candy, which included one of my VERY FAVORITE, candies of all times.
The Russell Stover's Coconut Nest
There is a GOD...Coconut Nest at 50% off and there were 9 of them. I bought every one! And continued to dig to make sure I had ALL of them. These little delights are a very fond childhood memory for me. Every year, I would find several of these little delectable delights in my Easter Basket (Thank you MOM!) Well....I am a little older now and I no longer get an Easter basket, but I usually will buy myself at least one of these around this time of year. This year....I got 9, and not only did I get 9, but I got 9 at 50% off! Did I mention I got 9 of them? Enough to last at least almost a week! I was SO excited! I continued on to purchase the fruit that I had gone in there for in the first place, but the only thing on my mind was sinking me teeth into one of those yummy little nests!
I got in my car....opened my bag, pulled out one of my nests and then looked at the clock. It was only 9:00am! I thought for a brief moment maybe I should wait until later. Then I said..."no way"! I studied the package for a moment (I did not do this when I was frantically trying to hoard all of these for myself in the store) and realized they had changed them. I didn't see the jelly beans in the picture.
Thanks for ruining my childhood memory Russell Stover's! If you care even a little about your customers you will ditch the hockey puck and bring back the NEST! Quit trying to be cheap....it's not working!
Update: Apparently...I am not the only one that feels this way! According to this link (http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=117183871632005) they brought back the old ones....could have fooled me! I wrote to RS on the contact section of their website. We will see if they respond!
Russell Stover's Response!
Update: Apparently...I am not the only one that feels this way! According to this link (http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=117183871632005) they brought back the old ones....could have fooled me! I wrote to RS on the contact section of their website. We will see if they respond!
Russell Stover's Response!
Dear Ms. Beadle:
Thank you for recently contacting us. It is always a pleasure to hear from our customers
whether it is to praise or in offering their comments and/or suggestions. We constantly ask our
consumers how we can improve our products. On occasion, a change is amde that not all our
consumers are happy with. We offered 2 oz. Chocolate Coconut Nests with Jelly Beans on our
website and at Russell Stover Retail Stores only.
Thank you again for contacting us, and we hope you continue to enjoy our candies.
Future purchases can also be made through our Mail Order Department.
Just call our toll-free number, 1-800-477-8683, and someone will be pleased to assist you or
visit our website at www.russellstover.com. Order now and receive free standard shipping with
your purchase of $25.00 or more. This offer applies to online and mail order purchases only.
Russell Stover Candies Consumer Service
My comment:
That's just peachy! We have no Russell Stover Stores here in Indy, I don't want to pay shipping
and I don't need $25.00 worth of chocolate so FREE shipping won't do me any good! Thanks for nothing!
Can't you just make the originals for everywhere? Really!


text:
What words share the meaning and mystery of Christmas?
What words do we sing?
What dramas and skits bring the words of Christmas to life?
Christmas Songs
Nativity and Christmas pageants
Christmas prayers and worship resources
Worship resources:
Mysterious paradoxes collide in this story
A story of a baby,
Born into nothing,
Yet born into everything.
Born in a shed,
But born in love,
And is love
And brings love.
The paradox of a young woman,
Not yet wedded,
Blessed to bring life,
Into this world that needs life
Needs hope
Requires love.
She trusted that it was she
Who God entrusted this life
This bundle,
This hope.
How afraid would she have been?
How excited would she have been?
How honoured would she have been?
And so in fact,
She brings love.
In the form of a baby,
Who cries
And nurses,
And brings hope.
And the young man,
That carpenter,
Who trusted the voice that said
Love her
Support her
Guide her.
And contrary to anything
And everything
That society said,
He did love her
Support her
Guide her.
The paradox of working men,
Out in a field,
All alone,
Yet not alone.
Glorious glowing friends,
Speaking of good news –
Lord knows we need good news.
Good news of hope
And peace
And love
And joy.
They needed to see this
Good news of hope
And peace
And love
And joy.
They trusted these strangers in the night,
And travelled,
Travelled to see the infant,
Born into nothing,
And yet everything.
This baby born into a world that was theirs.
A world that they knew,
They understood.
Not of wondrous gold
And glittery diamonds,
But a world of smelly animals,
And feed troughs.
A world that was their own.
This beautiful paradoxical mystery,
Where two thousand years ago
This baby was born.
This baby who brings light
And life
And hope
And peace,
And yet – today,
This baby is born again.
We have to trust like Mary
Trust that today it is us
Who is blessed to bring
And trust that as Jesus is born today,
God entrusts this life
This bundle,
This hope
To us.
Have faith like the carpenter Joseph,
That we are guided to
Love all,
Support all,
Guide all,
And contrary to anything
And everything,
That society says,
We must love all,
Support all,
Guide all.
When the song of the angels is stilled
when the star in the sky is gone
when the kings and princes are home
when the shepherds are back with their flocks
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost
to heal the broken
to feed the hungry
to release the prisoner
to rebuild the nations
to bring peace among the people
to make music in the heart.


text:
Secure PC Cleaner is the best registry cleaner and optimizer to improve your PC's performance by removing all registry errors.
Secure PC Cleaner cleans all invalid registry entries using its advanced scan engine. It keeps the registry streamlined for smoother system performance. You don't need to have any specialized computer skills to use this handy tool. Its user friendly interface makes it super easy to repair registry errors for basic users.
Secure PC Cleaner fixes your slow PC, eliminates registry errors and improves your PC performance easily.
Secure PC Cleaner makes Windows run more efficiently. It easily organizes registry entries of your computer so that you enjoy an accelerated PC speed.
Before fixing registry errors or cleaning your registry, Secure PC Cleaner automatically makes a backup copy of your old registry so that changes can be undone easily.
Regularly fixing registry errors minimizes random system crashes, BSODs and frequent runtime errors. This provides a more stable environment to work in.
Secure PC Cleaner has a quick scan engine that scans your PC's registry for errors in no time. It then gives details of errors found.
Secure PC Cleaner comes with a built in scheduler for launching registry scan automatically. No manual intervention needed, you can schedule weekly scans and keep your PC clean and error free.
This feature automatically backs up your registry before optimizing it so that you can always revert back to previous system state.
"The experience of using Secure PC Cleaner is quite soothing. It quickly fixed my registry errors and improves the overall performance of my computer. Happy to have it!!"
Dorothy Stapf Munich, Germany
"The result of using Secure PC Cleaner is really amazing. It recognizes the annoying problems and solves them in no time. My computer works super fine. This is the best registry fixer. "
Rodriguez Chicago, U.S.A
"With the frequent crashes, my computer almost gave up. Thanks to the friend's recommendation of Secure PC Cleaner. It fixed all the annoying crashes and registry errors in no time. Strongly recommended!! "
Evelyn AmosFort Worth, U.S.A


text:
February may or may not be grilling season, depending upon your temperament and the climate where you live. I like to grill year-round, sometimes on an outdoor barbecue (even if there's snow), sometimes in the fireplace. Also handy is a ridged stovetop grill, and of course there's the broiler if need be. This means that kebabs, wings and even grilled vegetables are always an option, sunshine or not.
Korean restaurants often have tabletop grills designed to let diners cook their own meal. One day, when my dining room is properly ventilated, I may get one of those, too. In the meantime, my other grills work fine to make galbi, Korean short ribs — utterly simple and completely delicious.
Everyone I know loves short ribs, but most people consider them suitable only for long braising. It's a tough cut of beef, after all. But most cuts of beef will be tender if they are thinly sliced and quickly seared over a hot fire. For Korean cooks, grilling short ribs is as natural as cooking hamburgers.
Galbi is a fine thing to eat in a restaurant, to be sure, but it also makes for a wonderful and easy meal at home. First you need to get the beef, though. There are two ways to proceed. If you buy English-style short ribs, which are cut along the bone, you must butterfly the meat into a thin, long strip. This is easier than it sounds, and it is what most restaurants do.
Home cooks, however, usually buy their ribs flanken-style, in which a band saw is used to cut across the ribs, creating half-inch slices of beef dotted with three little bones. Most Asian groceries sell packages of short ribs cut just this way. Your butcher may also prepare them for you. Give the beef a cold-water bath to remove any bone fragments, and it is ready to season.
The traditional marinade is a flavorful mixture of soy sauce, garlic and sugar, often with the addition of sesame oil and ginger. Some cooks add honey or even cola, and many recommend adding a bit of puréed fruit, like pear, kiwi or pineapple, to help tenderize the meat (it's the acidity and enzymes that do it). In Western cuisine, it's rare to find savory dishes that emphasize sugar (barbecue sauce being the exception), but a balance of sweet and salty is common in Asian dishes, and with these short ribs, sugar is an essential ingredient. It's a good idea to let the ribs marinate for at least two hours to allow the seasoning to penetrate; marinating overnight is even better.
To eat the galbi, it is customary to wrap a small piece of grilled beef in a lettuce leaf, along with a spoonful of steamed rice and a dab of ssamjang, the spicy Korean bean paste, adding hot chiles and raw garlic to taste.
I see no reason not to follow this custom, but if you want to eat your short ribs with a knife and fork, or with your fingers, go right ahead.


text: The style of this vintage desk was inspired by 19th century British military campaign trunks, which were specifically designed to break down into sections, making them easy for soldiers to transport. The brass corners at that time protected the trunks from dings. Now they are solely decorative. We've seen these desks in a wide range of colors, but we chose to keep this one sophisticated in Benjamin Moore's Graphite. This desk measures: 42"W x 16"D x 30"H.


text:
AMPRO is a leader in the design, installation, maintenance and management of facility lighting, commercial signage, and electrical services. With expertise in each of these fields, we are reducing our clients' energy and maintenance costs in West Lealman, FL. AMPRO's specialties include:
Isram Realty has depended on AMPRO for all of our Shopping Center parking lot lighting repairs and upgrades, signage, and interior work Statewide since 2007. The Ampro team works tirelessly & professionally to meet all difficult deadlines and has never let us down. Always available in an emergency, Ampro is the best 24/7. I am proud to say that Ampro is not only a great Electrical Contractor, they are my Electrical Contractor.
- Andy
West Lealman is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 15,651 at the 2010 census. Prior to 2010, West Lealman was part of a larger CDP named West and East Lealman.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.3km2), of which 3.1 square miles (8.1km2) is land and 0.08 square miles (0.2km2) (1.96%) is water.
Learn more about West Lealman, FL


text:
Being a student is harder indeed than may seem. Though college or university years can be the best in your life due to lots of new friends you make and other pleasant activities, they can also turn into a nightmare because of multiple writing tasks. No wonder lots of students start looking for academic essay help, which can give them more free time for having fun or spending it on their majors.
Whatever reasons you may have to use expert assistance with your papers, you should be very attentive while choosing a company to entrust your assignment to. At the moment, there are quite many fraudulent websites which offer either too cheap help or even resell essays to multiple students. We will try to help you distinguish them and explain why using custom writing services like ours is a better choice.
Reasons to use our essay writing help
There are several basic things which differentiate professional essay help from an insecure service. In order to make you feel safe while using our website, we have implemented all of them in the form of our guarantees to you:
- Plagiarism-free papers. Unlike essay banks, we never reuse the works we've completed previously. You can be sure any essay we deliver you is written from scratch, based on the instructions you've shared with us.
- Unlimited free revisions. Sometimes it happens you can be not satisfied with the paper you've got from us. To make you fully happy with our writing help, we are ready to revise your essay as many times as you need it. The only condition is your comments shouldn't contradict your initial instructions.
- Money-back guarantee. There might be some rare cases when the quality of your paper is absolutely unsatisfactory. If this happens, we are ready to issue your money back. All you need to do is to request a refund and our support representatives will contact you regarding all the details.
- Full confidentiality. We have developed a sophisticated Privacy Policy which secures your personal information. This means we never share your private data or contact details with any third parties. Also, we cooperate with secure payment systems only, so your financial data is safe as well.
Types of essay assignment help we offer
We have more than 500 top writers, who specialize in different disciplines. Before hiring them, they pass multiple tests to prove their professional skills and also are trained to work with different types of papers, formatting styles, and other academic writing nuances. So, if you are looking for a thesis, coursework, dissertation, term paper, or best admissions essay help, they will readily complete a perfect sample for you, strictly following your custom instructions. You can check the full list of the paper types we work this on our order form.
We deliver college essay writing help on any subject you need
In addition to the abovementioned, many of our writers have a master's or PhD degree of their own in narrow subjects. This is why they can apply their expertise to write an excellent paper for you whatever your major is.
So, if you want to receive top-notch college essay assistance in engineering, finance, psychology, business studies, or any other discipline, be sure to place an order on our website.
How to order urgent essay help from us
If you have a tight deadline and need your essay to be done in 8 hours, we will deliver it right by the time you need. We have writers from all over the world, including the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Thus, they can work on your paper even if you place your order at night. In such a case, we will search for the available specialist in the different time zone.
We take pride in timely delivery, which equals 97.44% of the overall number of orders we get. Though, if the impossible happens and your paper is late, you can rely on our money-back guarantee. Of course, in case you cannot give us a little bit more time to finish your paper. And if you can extend your deadline, we will readily issue a refund.
Help essay topics you can get on our website
We work with multiple topics in different disciplines. For example, it can be an argumentative essay on environmental changes like global warming; a case study on launching a new product or brand to the market; a term paper on the application of artificial intelligence in everyday life; coursework on machine learning; a dissertation on big data; or admission essay writing help which will make your application stand out from the crowd.
If you haven't made up your mind regarding the topic of your paper, our writers can come up with some fresh original ideas for you. So be sure to place your order now and get professional essay help in no time!


text:
Smart card reader combined with fingerprint scanner
Biothentic is a high performance device perfect for users willing to have a ever lasting workmate in the filed of logical security respecting private property and integrating match-on-card technology.
Secure your transactions and your data
Biothentic is designed to secure data and transactions keeping in mind that private data cannot be exposed to any malicious person. When enrolling a new user, the user's fingerprint is stored inside the smart card chip. Then, for authentication, the matching is done inside the card. Private data are always hidden and never transmitted outside the card. This process is also fully encrypted for a maximum security. When positive authentication, the user card is unlock to allow electronic secure transactions.
Desktop Access
ID Cards
Highly secured architecture,
USB 1.1 full speed,
Powered by USB bus,
Max consumption 300 mA @ 5V,
Operating temperature 0 – 50 °C,
Storage temperature -10°C – +70°C,
Size 84 x 133 x 40 mm,
CE, FCC , RoHs compliant.
Thermal swipe sensor,
500 dpi fingerprint image,
300×428 pixels fingerprint size,
256 grey scale levels,
17 cm/s max of sweeping speed,
Minex II certified Match-on-Card,
ISO/IEC 19794-2 Template format,
Bicolor LED for biometrics operations.
ISO7816 compliant for 3V/5V smartcards,
ISO7816 internal interface with GSM11-11 connector for optional SAM,
T=0, T=1 protocols,
Bicolor LED for smart card operations,
Windows XP home/pro,
Windows Vista,
Windows 7,
Windows 8.
Biothentic SDK,
id3Card Toolkit.
Want to know more?
Feel free to contact us for any further information.


text:
|Clean face without any product
|after applying Pond's BB+ in shade medium
|Full makeup face and using a finishing powder
|Full Makeup face without using a finishing powder. I prefer this look best especially in this heat we are having.
|All products were given to me from Influenster and Pond's
www. Influenster.com
|Pond's Luminous Finish BB+ Cream in Light
|Pond's Luminous Finish BB+ Cream in medium to the far right.
|medium shade on top
light shade on bottom
|My other 3 BB creams I have
|top right-Garnier BB Cream
middle-Physicians Formula
Bottom right- Loreal Magic Finish (white one)
This product can be found in mass retailers and drug stores for about $9.99


text:
Dan Abramovici and Mars Horodyski cleaned out their bank accounts to make ultra low-budget romantic comedyBen's At Home.
And while nobody was paid, or has made a dime since — aside from canine
star Schnitzel, who got all the kibble she could handle — that hasn't
stopped them from aiming higher for their next movie.
"We love the Duplass brothers and Lynn Shelton
and if only we could have a little team of people here in Toronto that
could help each other out and make stuff together it would be
unbelievable," said Abramovici, who co-wrote and stars in Ben's At Home, now playing at the Carlton and Kingsway theatres.
Ben is the first feature for Abramovici
and co-writer and director Horodyski, who have made several shorts
together. Their goal is to keep making movies and "figure out a way to
tell these stories that are comedic, that have a lot of heart to them,"
Abramovici explained.
Ben was shot in August 2013 for
$20,000, half coming from Abramovici and Horodyski and half raised
through crowdfunder Indiegogo. They entered it in a dozen film festivals
from Puerto Rico to Rhode Island, where the 70-minute movie won several
prizes, including Best Feature at the Canadian Film Fest in March.
That caught the eye of distributor Vancouver-based Pacific Northwest Pictures, which put Ben into two Toronto theatres, taking it to Regina and Calgary ahead of its June 16 VOD release.
Their next project is brother-sister road trip comedy … You Have Feet In Your Shoes, which Abramovici says will have a $700,000-to $1 million budget, although "we don't know how to raise that money."
Landing a "name" actress — they are hoping for Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany or Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls) to co-star with Abramovici — would certainly help.
"This movie is made with pieces of tape and a lot of heart," said Abramovici, 33, of Ben's At Home, where he plays a guy who becomes a recluse to avoid risking heartbreak.
Abramovici, who has been an actor for 10
years, is a familiar face, having made more than 30 TV commercials for
everything from fast food to cough medicine. "I love doing commercials.
They pay so great and it's a lot of fun but that's not why I got into
acting," he said.
He and Horodyski, 34, called in favours to
assemble cast and crew. Luckily, they have talented friends, including
Jessica Embro, who plays love interest, Jess. She and Abramovici met on
an audition for a coffee chain and made a comedy short for website Funny
or Die before Ben's At Home.
Toronto indie band Freedom or Death contributed original music without charge.
Horodyski figured if they couldn't pay
anybody, at least they could serve a good meal to cast and crew once a
day so "people would feel nourished on a lot of levels," and they built
that into the budget.
"We wanted to make this movie and we got this
window of time and the stars aligned," Abramovici explained. It was shot
primarily in his west-end home, his pinball machine, foosball table and
pup all put to good use.
They "kind of winged it" as they went along,
he said, unsure how much the movie would cost and realizing they needed
most of the cash to pay for post-production and editing.
Horodyski shot in chronological order so the
script could change as needed, grateful so much of the cast was made up
of quick-thinking improv comedy veterans (including four from Second
City) like Jim Annan and Rob Baker, as well as Craig Brown and Gemini
winner Inessa Frantowski.
"We do have a great indie filmmaking
community," Horodyski said. "People came out every day and these
wonderful comedians brought a lot with them."
By the numbers:
A breakdown of the numbers behind making the Toronto-shot, low-budget indie Ben's At Home.
Duration of shoot
10 days
Cast and crew salaries
Food budget
$2,240 mostly in Thai food and Portuguese chicken
Kibble for dog star Schnitzel
20 bowls
Box office/profits
Not yet known
Number of cast
17 humans, 1 dog
Second City alumni in cast
Film festivals attended with film
Best Feature awards
Audience Choice awards
Best Actor awards
Post-production time
1 year
Budget for next movie
$750K to $1 million


text:
SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University softball team earned a doubleheader split with Frostburg State University on Sunday at Sea Gull Softball Stadium falling in the opener 7-3 before coming back with a 1-0 victory in the second game of the twinbill.
Game 1: Frostburg St. 7, Salisbury 3
After two scoreless innings in the first game, in which only one player reached base, the teams got the offense going in the middle innings, with the Bobcats striking for three runs in the top of the third to kick things off.
Salisbury starting pitcher Rachael Milligan hit a batter and walked two to loaded the bases with two outs and Emily Harvey took advantage of the opportunity driving a three-run triple to left field.
Frostburg got another run in the top of the fourth before the Sea Gulls struck back with three in the bottom of the fourth. Junior LeAnne Collins got Salisbury's first hit of the day with a single to left field to begin the inning. With one out, Collins stood on third, while senior Caitlin Lake was on second after reaching on a fielder's choice and stealing second.
Annie Pietanza drove in Collins with a bloop double to right field and freshman Mikayla Meehan sent a double to right-center field to score two more runs, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
The Bobcats rebounded with three in the top of the fifth, to take control as Salisbury managed just one base runner over the final three innings.
Sophomore pitcher Brooke Mizelle came on in relief, giving up two hits over 2 2/3 shutout innings. Pietanza was the lone Sea Gull with two hits in the game.
Game 2: Salisbury 1, Frostburg St. 0
In the second game, it was a pitchers' duel throughout, with a total of just 11 hits as Salisbury starting pitcher Shannon Powell and Frostburg starter Hannah Tavik both went for complete games.
The Bobcats (14-10, 5-1 CAC) got two of their five hits in the top of the first inning, with two-out singles from Tavik and Emily Harvey, but Powell got a strikeout – one of her four in the game – to get out of the inning.
Each team put runners on base in each of their first two innings, with Salisbury (15-13, 4-2 CAC) getting hits from Meehan and Allen to begin the second inning, but a pair of strikeouts and a flyout kept the game scoreless.
All of the game's offense came from one swing of the bat of Pietanza, who blasted a solo home run on a 1-and-0 offering from Tavik in the bottom of the third inning. The shot was her team-high-tying fifth of the year.
Powell took over from there, allowing just one more Bobcat to reach base in the final four innings, and that runner could not get past second base.
Powell improved to 6-2 on the season with the victory, scattering five hits and walking none. Salisbury had just six hits, with Meehan accounting for two of them.
The Sea Gulls return to action this Wednesday, April 5 hosting Wesley College for another CAC doubleheader, beginning at 3 p.m., at Sea Gull Softball Stadium.


text:
The Russian Museum
Founded in 1895 by the decree of Emperor Nicholas II (In 1895 Nicholas II, who had just ascended the throne, decided to immortalize the memory of his father, Alexander III, by creating a museum of Russian national painting; the Exchequer acquired the Mikhailovsky Palace, and the architect Vasily Svinin rebuilt its interiors to suit the museum's requirements), the Russian Museum today is a huge complex and a veritable treasure trove of Russian art.
It is housed in the Mikhailovsky Palace and the nearby Benois Building (which contains the main exposition). The Russian Museum Complex includes the following: the Mikhailovsky Palace (4 Engineering Street), Mikhailovsky Castle (2 Sadovaya Street), Stroganov Palace (17 Nevsky Prospect), Marble Palace (5/1 Millionnaya Street) and unique gardens and parks – the Summer Garden with its Summer Palace and the Mikhailovsky Garden.
The Russian Museum opened in 1898. The White Drawing Room, which remained unchanged in the middle of the first floor, became the Alexander III memorial room. It contained gifts received by the late emperor and also his portrait and portraits of his children painted by his wife, Maria Fyodorovna.
The other rooms were hung with canvases by Russian artists. Some were collected by Alexander III himself and others were presented to the Academy of Arts. The newborn museum received many presents from collectors. Princess Tenisheva, for example, donated several hundred watercolors.
Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky presented his collection of Russian historical portraits. By its opening date the museum already possessed 445 paintings, 111 sculptures and 981 drawings and watercolors. By 2014, according to official figures, the collection grew to 399,158 pieces.
Collection of ancient paintings and objects of decorative art, paintings, watercolors and drawings, engravings, sculptures, coins, handicrafts and art objects is divided into ten categories.