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Andrew Lloyd Webber has been defined as the Shakespeare of his day, a musical impresario, with his fingers on the pulse of modern culture. As a composer, Webber is certainly responsible for some of the most commercially successful musical stage shows of all time, from Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, to Cats and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. A London native who began coaxing melodies from his violin at the tender age of three, Webber had penned nine musicals by the time he had graduated from college.
Though the composer would make the occasional foray into cinema with scores for Gumshoe (1971) and The Odessa File (1974), it was his compositions for such timeless stage epics as The Phantom of the Opera and Evita that truly made him a household name. Of course, many of his most affecting stage works were adapted for film and television as well over the years, with Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) and Evita (1996, Oscar winner for Best Song) garnering especially strong followings. As production on the film The Phantom of the Opera drew to a close in 2003, Webber began preparation for a film version of his musical Aspects of Love, while his latest stage show, Woman in White, is another hit. Clearly one not used to the process of movie publicity, it was a timid and nervous Webber that talked about his legacy and this film version of Phantom of the Opera, to Paul Fischer IN New York.
Question: Emmy Rossum said when I asked her about the first time she met you, she said that she was quite surprised at how shy you were?
Answer: I am quite shy.
Question: How does a shy guy, like yourself, survive bad reviews, the British tabloids, all the things that seem to have come your way in the last three years? It must be tough.
Answer: I mean I don't really think about it. You know, do you know what I often say to myself? I think you're very lucky in life if you know what you want to do. If you know what you want to do, as I always loved musicals, and then to have been lucky enough to be successful with them, I think that's all you can ask isn't it? I think I don't really think too much about it. I am a bit shy socially, yeah, I admit that.
Question: But a thick skin .
Answer: I don't think I have a thick skin. I don't worry so much about these things you see.
Question: Is the time right now for . I mean when you first started working on this movie 15 or so years ago, did you think now is the time for Phantom of the Opera as against when you were originally hoping to do this?
Answer: When we originally talked about it, quite honestly, all my collaborators and colleagues, and it's not just me, the Hal Prince and Cameron Mackintosh's and all the others, you know, were very against the idea of a film happening at that time. for the obvious reason, nobody knew what impact that would have on the theatre and at that point a lot of productions had not opened. Like Germany or Japan or touring companies here, and Hal particularly really didn't want it to happen and so we just sort of forgot about it. And about four years I began to think, now is the time. I found quite a lot of opposition in Hollywood about the idea of doing a film musical and we ended up having to buy the rights back. I'm glad we did because it meant John and I were able to make exactly the movie we wanted.
Question: Could you have made this film do you think without the successes of Chicago and Moulin Rouge?
Answer: I think the success of Chicago which sort of happened while we were getting it all together. That really was a help, it certainly was a help.
Question: Why do think modern audiences are likely to respond to a classically structured screen musical which sticks very closely to the original material as opposed to a kind of beefed-up version as Chicago was for modern tastes?
Answer: I don't know. We'll have to see, we'll have to see.
Question: Why do you think it resonates still?
Answer: I think it does, and I think that the wonderful advantage we have in the film of being able to cast a girl as young as Emmy and which we couldn't do in the theatre of course because no girl of 16 or 17 could sing 8 shows a week, couldn't sing two. Because her voice is, it's like the muscles and it develops all the time. That was the fantastic thing for us.
Question: If you'd still been married to Sarah, do you think she could have, in the original film version she would have been more likely to have been cast as —
Answer: Well I think back at the time, if it had been 1988, I would have thought Michael and Sarah probably would have been cast but I don't think, I think it's much better that the girl is younger and if Sarah would have been 26 or 27 then.
Question: But Michael wasn't particularly upset over the fact that he was passed over?
Answer: I think he realised, I think we all realised, once we'd gone the route of casting a very young girl, you can't really cast a 65 year old man opposite. Slightly different resonance I think.
Question: It wouldn't be the first time.
Answer: No, we weren't going to go there. We'd have Jack Nicholson in the lead.
Question: You were obviously comfortable with Gerry's voice.
Answer: Yeah, I mean, what I did, obviously because I'm not a vocal trainer myself, I obviously put it together with people who are, and experienced voices, coaches and things, and the conductor of the movie, Simon Lee, was very very experienced in that area. I said, look, do you think you could bring him through, and they said yeah, absolutely, they thought that. Joel was very keen to cast him. If all my music team were happy, I was happy.
Question: Why do you think Joel was?
Answer: Well we'd just seen Gerry. I think he wanted somebody who had that authority and was handsome. The thing is, he's a big hunk isn't he? All I can say, if you look at his chat line, or the Phantom website, it's quite worrying. Because the girls really seem to love him.
Question: What surprised you about the movie world that you weren't expecting, having been entrenched in the theatre world for so long?
Answer: Yes, I knew nothing about film at all. I suppose the biggest surprise is all these things. In the theatre we sort of do, I might do two or three key interviews and that would be it. I've been doing these round tables around the world now for the last three weeks. That is the biggest difference.
Question: Are you enjoying it?
Answer: Yes I am actually. Another thing I am quite keen to do is try and answer the questions in a fresh way. I like to try and say something different each time.
Question: How hard is that?
Answer: Very.
Question: What's your least favourite question?
Answer: Well the least favourite question is the one that one's asked particularly about in Japan is what's the difference between theatre and cinema and I think, well, that's.
Question: What about eighty bucks?
Answer: That's a good answer.
Question: What's the relationship between you and Joel? Were you surprised at how that worked? Were there any problems there?
Answer: I guess the thing is that we remained huge friends after the original Phantom movie, when we decided it wouldn't take place and we just saw each other socially over the years so we were friends. When we finally came to start work on this, the joy was it was only Joel and I, we didn't have to answer to anybody, and we didn't have to submit a screen play or anything like that. We just wrote it and then made it. I guess we've had a very close relationship because I don't pretend to know about cinema and I think I do know a bit about theatre but he does, he respected that and so we really just had a collaboration which went completely like this. I saw every other day, the dailies, and if there was anything there that was at all a worry that we didn't have, he'd just go and shoot it again. And the other advantage which we had on this film was, we devised a way of being able to make scratch tapes as we went along so most of the performances that you see are in fact the performances. There's no pre-recording on this film.
Question: Did you find any aspect of the cinematic expression of your work especially rewarding, something that surprised you, that was able to be accomplished in cinema that was not accomplished on stage?
Answer: Yes, obviously being able to cast a girl as young as that was probably the most obvious. And yet of course there were things. You'd approach this as a film, we very much approached it in a way, we knew for example, that in the theatre you can get away with things that you can't in cinema, like Carlotta croaking like a toad, you just take that for granted in theatre but in the film we thought we'd better have an explanation because people would ask so we just came up with a little file and the voice broke.
Question: How do you compare this experience with other experiences in terms of film work, Evita, Superstar I guess.
Answer: Superstar was made so early in my career I had nothing to do with it at all. The first time I saw it was the opening screening. In Evita I wasn't really hugely involved with it. I gave a little bit of help but they needed a bit of technical help on the movie and so some of my music people went in at the end of the movie and helped out with it.
Question: Something I particularly liked about the film was that it opened up, particularly the characters of the Phantom more. We got more of its background, we understood more.
Answer: We felt we had to know something of his back story. I don't think people in the cinema would just accept that he's there. I think we had to learn how he (got there).
Question: Was the back story that you gave us, the film back story, you always had in your head or was that a creation?
Answer: It was a creation really for the film. Because in the book, he used to work for the Shah of Persia or something and it's all very confused in the book, but we thought it would be easier if he were at a fair and Madame Giry saw him as a little girl.
Question: It's very Elephant Man.
Answer: What was lovely about that was Joel shot that sequence and I scored it to picture. The music didn't come first there.
Question: You've made such an extraordinary contribution to our culture and our cultural vocabulary. Is there something that you're the proudest of, that you've accomplished?
Answer: Corny answer is of course is that everyone who wants musicals are children in different ways, aren't they? So you think of them in different ways. There are things of mine I'm sorry haven't come here. I'd have loved audiences to have seen The Beautiful Game, for example, because it was about terrorism. And of course there was no way that was coming here. But I would love to get it here one day because it shows another side of me. The Woman in White's coming next October.
Question: How, that show has been getting mixed reviews.
Answer: It's had some very good reviews and some very bad reviews.
Question: How surprised are you by the way that show's going commercially?
Answer: It's going very well at the moment. It's sold out.
Question: How does it compare dramatically to a lot of your work?
Answer: I don't know, I think it's probably, musically, probably the most sophisticated I think. There's a lot more daring harmony in it than in some of my pieces.
Question: Does that sophistication come from you getting older, trying new things?
Answer: I think it's, everything is so story-driven, I think, in musical theatre. I think the story in a way dictates where things are going to go, and the Wilkie Connor story's quite complex, so I guess possibly the harmonic structure of this has to reflect that.
Question: How has musical theatre changed in the decades that you've first began? Is it much more .
Answer: I think the thing's that perhaps sad really is that younger people haven't come in and I think it must have been absolutely fantastic to have worked in the 50's when you had all of the great Broadway composers and when West Side Story didn't win the Tony Award. It must have been an extraordinary time. I guess the worrying thing about musical theatre to me, is if you look at the London season this year, mine is actually the only one to have come in. Billy Elliot will be I suppose (another), when that comes in, and Elton (John) has done a great score for that. But when you think about it, I guess The Producers, that has been around before. Mary Poppins has been around before. I just wish there were more. You've got all these endless compilation shows now. I just wish there were more new writers.
Question: What's next for you?
Answer: I don't know.
Question: Are you working on a play?
Answer: No, the Woman in White's only just opened so I'm into, just let this go. I've got to find something and if I find something that I like, I'll do it. If I don't, I won't.
Question: You were saying that you don't have a thick skin. Was there ever a point or a view or somebody saying something about someone as you were getting it ready, caused you to be concerned and not go ahead, or have you always just gone right ahead?
Answer: I would have gone right ahead but the only thing, the only phenomenon that's going on now of course, which is different in my experiences, is that you are getting things planted in the Net by people and unfortunately I was told by the website What's On Stage, came to me, and said that there are people in the business, planting things about the Woman in White on the Net. That's not a nice change. Negative things, and they were all deliberate and I'm not going to say who they were but I know who they were and it was in the business, and that's not a good sign.
Question: Is there other of your shows you'd like to see on the screen?
Answer: Yeah, I'd love to see Cats.
Question: But there were rumours that Spielberg was going to be doing.
Answer: It stopped between, it's at Universal and they haven't made it. There's a screenplay in existence by Tom Stoppard which is very good and it's a shame. Sunset Boulevard I'd love to see done too.
Question: How would they do Cats? Were they thinking of doing it as a .
Answer: It was originally going to be animated and then of course it fell between the political cracks when DreamWorks happened and so you can see what happened. It just sat on the shelf. And it's a shame because it's a good screenplay.
Question: You seem to not have anything planned right now. I'm just wondering if you're planning a vacation and if there's any place you particularly like to go.
Answer: I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't, I've written 14 musicals now, I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story. Two years ago I hadn't even thought of the Woman in White, and I was doing a television show and I said I hadn't found a story and the next day somebody rang me and said have you ever thought of the Woman in White. And it sort of jogged a memory of something that I read at school and I read it, and I thought God this is it. So you never can tell. I could find something this afternoon.
Question: Who are your musical heroes?
Answer: Who are my musical heroes? Well, I've got so many. We're talking about musical theatre now; I suppose Rogers and Hammerstein, obviously. I think Rogers was the most phenomenal melodist. Bernstein, of course. I think Sondheim is absolutely brilliant. Frank Loesser is a brilliant melodist too. I love melody. So it's not surprising then that I like Prokofiev.
Question: What about lyricists?
Answer: Well, Sondheim is absolutely wonderful and Alan J. Lerner was wonderful. And Tim (Rice), I think.
Question: Would you work with Tim again? Do you have any plans to collaborate with anyone else, or is there anyone you'd like to collaborate with.
Answer: I had a very good time with David Zippel, I must say, and I'd like to work with him again. And Tim, I don't know. Tim is not really actually that into musical theatre. He kind of, he hasn't done a stage musical for a while now.
Question: The Elton John thing, right?
Answer: Yes, but there were films before. The last stage musical he did, straight for the theatre, it must have been Chess I would have thought.
Question: Who was your favourite fan in the movies as a kid?
Answer: They were so different, I treated it with so different.
Question: The Chaney original, was that?
Answer: I saw that ages ago, but it was very much the horror story, wasn't it? Christine was the frightened girl. Of course, my Christine is not frightened of the Phantom at all.
Question: Is there a show here on Broadway that you'd like to see? Do you go to the theatre as a member of the public?
Answer: Yes I do. I haven't, the last musical I saw here was Wicked and I haven't caught up, I haven't been here.
Question: What's your favourite musical?
Answer: I think West Side Story. I don't know. I've also very fond of South Pacific. I know everyone thinks it's rubbish, but I loved South Pacific.


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The Highest Yoga Tantra Practice of Buddha Vajrayogini
By Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
In Guide to Dakini Land Geshe Kelsang provides a comprehensive explanation of the Highest Yoga Tantra practice of Vajrayogini, the female Buddha of wisdom.
The instructions on the eleven yogas of generation stage teach how we can create for ourselves a new enlightened world through meditation.
The detailed explanations of completion stage explain how to then consolidate that experience through further meditation and achieve the ultimate realization of permanent inner peace and the power to benefit all living beings.
The appendices include a comprehensive collection of sadhanas and other supporting material for the dedicated practitioner.
"A joy to read. . . Geshe Kelsang has truly brought a blessing into our lives" — TIBETJOURNAL
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The Pure Land of Vajrayogini
Outer Pure Dakini Land is beyond the world of ordinary experience. It is the Pure Land of Buddha Vajrayogini and Buddha Heruka. A Pure Land is a world that is free from true sufferings. Nowhere in samsara is without true sufferings, because the samsaric environment itself acts as a condition to experience suffering. Ordinary beings are born in samsara without choice and continually have to experience dissatisfaction and misery. However, if we purify our mind we purify our experience of the world and thereby attain a Pure Land free from all suffering.
There are different Pure Lands associated with different Buddhas. Pure Dakini Land is similar to the Pure Lands of Tushita and Sukhavati, except that Heruka and Vajrayogini's Pure Land is the only one in which beings can receive teachings on Highest Yoga Tantra and put them into practice.
When through Vajrayogini's guidance those who are very old and infirm reach her Pure Land they will no longer experience the sufferings of old age and sickness. All signs of their old age will disappear and they will be transformed into sixteen-year-olds of great beauty and vitality, enjoying an endless life span.
All the enjoyments they desire will appear spontaneously. They will never be reborn in samsara again, unless they choose to for compassionate reasons. Everyone who reaches this Pure Land will receive teachings on Highest Yoga Tantra directly from Heruka and Vajrayogini and thereby attain enlightenment quickly.
Outer Pure Dakini Land can also be explained in terms of an individual practitioner's personal experience. From this point of view we attain outer Pure Dakini Land by completing the practices of the generation stage of Vajrayogini.
During our training in generation stage meditation we visualize our body as the pure body of Buddha Vajrayogini, our immediate surroundings as the mandala of Vajrayogini, and our world as Pure Dakini Land. If we engage in generation stage practice continuously, the ordinary, impure appearances to our mind will gradually diminish and finally cease altogether. Once we have gained a firm realization of generation stage we shall experience only pure appearances and our world will be transformed into Pure Dakini Land. The great Teacher Tenpa Rabgyä said that Pure Dakini Land is not some faraway place, nor is it necessary to disappear from this world to reach it.
Pure appearances are experienced only by realized practitioners. It is generally accepted in both Sutra and Tantra that the world appears to our mind as faulty, imperfect, and unsatisfactory because our mind is impure – polluted by the delusions and their imprints. In Ornament for Clear Realization Venerable Maitreya says that when the minds of sentient beings become completely pure, their environment becomes a Buddha's Pure Land.
A Pure Land can be attained only by purifying the mind. Even when we have attained outer Pure Dakini Land through a firm realization of generation stage we shall still appear to others as an ordinary, impure being. Ordinary people can-not recognize that another person is in a Pure Land because they cannot perceive that person's Pure Land and cannot share their experience of it. Someone once asked Milarepa in which Pure Land he had attained enlightenment and Milarepa pointed to his cave. The questioner could see only a cold, empty cave, but for Milarepa that cave was a Pure Land.
Because the minds of ordinary beings are impure, whatever appears to them is seen as ordinary. As ordinary beings with ordinary appearance we cannot experience anything as totally pure and perfect. Even an emanation of Buddha appears to us to have faults. It is because we have ordinary appearance that we view ourself and others as imperfect – subject to faults such as sickness and ageing.
According to Sutra teachings the root of samsara is self-grasping and the delusions that arise from it. However, according to Secret Mantra teachings the root of samsara is ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions. The self-grasping recognized by Sutra practitioners is only a gross ordinary conception.
In this context, any being who is not a Buddha, and any environment, enjoyment, or body that is not a Buddha's, is ordinary. Perceptions of these objects as ordinary due to impure minds are ordinary appearances, and the minds that conceive of objects in this way are ordinary conceptions. According to Secret Mantra teachings, ordinary appearances are obstructions to omniscience and ordinary conceptions are obstructions to liberation. Both ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions have many levels of subtlety.
One of the main purposes of practising generation stage meditation is to overcome ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions. We can overcome ordinary appearances by developing clear appearance of being Vajrayogini, and we can overcome ordinary conceptions by developing divine pride of being Vajrayogini.
Because of our ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions we experience an endless cycle of ordinary death, ordinary intermediate state, and ordinary rebirth.
This endless cycle, known as 'samsara', must be broken. Through generation and completion stage practice we can purify the three ordinary states of death, intermediate state, and rebirth, and thereby attain the three bodies of a Buddha.
© Geshe Kelsang Gyatso & New Kadampa Tradition

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19/19 Reg | 4,320 miles | Petrol | Metallic - Champion Blue | Manual
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text: Say hey, DaddyO, let me tug your coat about The Dean Martinis. Put these six cool cats in the mix and you'll have an instant lip-smacking, hand-clapping, boogie-your-woogie good time. Stirring up a heady brew of jump blues, swinging jazz, and 1950's New Orleans R & B, The Dean Martinis keep the dance floor jumping all night long, yet manage to give the wallflowers something to hang their hats on. When they aren't playing the music, chances are you will see them out dancing to it. So, if you need your joint to jump, shake things up with The Dean Martinis!


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Traveling is, inherently, stressful. Traveling internationally through airports can be extremely stressful. Amidst the endless queues for security and clamped-tight seats in economy, tension can run high.
Which is why i always try to be as polite, smiley, and generally considerate when in international terminals. It's a good rule to have in life, but by virtue of being human, i'm not always the most adept at obeying good rules. I do find the extra compassion when in pressurized places, though, makes the extra effort worth the reward.
Abby and i had arrived, at last, in Amsterdam. Waiting in line for customs, i saw what i thought was a spot open up in the line adjacent to us – so i scurried over to snag it and keep people moving. From behind me came a snappish English voice. "We queue in Europe. Apparently, you don't."
I turned, bewildered, to see an older man flushed with anger. "Sorry," i replied, "i thought you were in the other line!" I turned and went to the back of the other line, rolling my eyes at Abby and trying to play it cool. It had been an honest mistake. There's so much shuffling and lining up in airports, it's easy to get cut off or unintentionally step on toes (metaphorically and non-metaphorically). And the last thing i needed was some guy to be condescending to me, presumably because i was not European and therefore (apparently) of some lesser status than he.
We got through customs just fine, and our new friend passed through at precisely the same time. After tucking my passport back into my rucksack, i smiled and waved at him. He blushed. "Sorry – i – just was falling behind. I – uh…" I just waved it away, my jaw fixed in a (admittedly somewhat passive-aggressive) smile. "Well, have a good holiday, anyway," he spluttered as we turned to go. I said thank you, and walked off.
Easily, i could have fallen apart and wept on the spot. I was tired, no one likes being yelled at , and i was really preoccupied with trying to read maps in Dutch. Or, i could have been snappish and rude and dished it right back to him. Maybe i wanted to show him how nasty his remark was by being overly kind. Maybe i was a little peeved at the Euro-elitist attitude and trying to wield my Southern American hospitality to prove a point. Maybe that doesn't make me any better in my thinking. And maybe he'd been just as confused and wanted to channel his own frustrations at someone else.
But, at the end of the day, he clearly regretted being rude to a confused foreigner. And i felt satisfied that i resisted the urge to snap back. I learned to double-check the line's mobility, and i hope he learned not to jump to conclusions by being mean. Mostly, though, it just was a lesson in reiterating one of my mother's favorite phrases: you attract more flies with honey than vinegar.
Being kind, especially under stress, can really can make an enormous difference.
in other news: we're safe and sound in amsterdam and having a rollicking good time! be sure to stay tuned for more, hopefully more uplifting posts in the next few days!
current jam: the sounds of an amsterdam street.
best thing: cheese!


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|Hingham, Mass.
|High School:
|House Affiliation:
Sophomore (2012):
Had two hits at 19th-ranked Central Florida on 3/16 ... Hit a three-run homer against UCF on 3/18 ... Had a double and three RBI at Army on 3/24 ... Ivy League Honor Roll on 4/10 ... Batted .615 in four Ivy games against Columbia and Penn with four doubles ... Ivy League Player of the Wek on 4/17 ... Batted .458 for the week of 4/16 ... Was 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI in a Beanpot victory over Boston College on 4/10 ... Was 2-for-4 with an RBI at Northeastern on 4/11 ... Had five hits including a pair of doubles in a weekend series at Yale 4/14-15 ... Batted .444 in five games bwteen 4/18 and 4/21 ... Was 3-for-5 with two RBI in game two of a DH at Dartmouth on 4/29.
Freshman (2011):
Made his collegiate debut in the season opener, playing shortstop at Jacksonville State on 3/4, going 0-for-3 with an RBI ... Was 2-for-4 with a double at JSU on 3/5 ... Was 2-for-3 at Mercer on 3/14 ... Was 2-for-6 with two RBI at Penn on 4/2 ... Had a pair of doubles against Princeton on 4/9 ... Was 2-for- with two RBI, a double and a sacrifice against Northeastern on 4/12 ... Had a pair of doubles including an RBI double against Bryant on 4/19 ... Was 2-for-4 against UMass in the first round of the Beanpot on 3/20 ... Drove home the only run of a 1-0 win over Yale on 4/22 with a suicide squeeze ... Had a two-run, opposite field homer and two hits in a win against Yale on 4/24 ... had two hits against BC in the Beanpot championship game at Fenway Park.
Son of Amy and Dan ... Earned four letters in baseball at Hingham High School as a shortsop and third baseman ... Senior captain ... Three-time Patriot League all-star ... 2009 Patriot-Ledger All-Scholastic team ... 2009 Under Armour pre-season All-America team ... 2009 team MVP ... Member of the 2009 Patriot League championship team and top seed in the Division II state tournament ... President, National Honor society ... Middlebury Book Award ... Two-time class president ... Father, Dan is a 1979 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy where he is in the the Athletic Hall of Fame for Football and Wrestling ... Uncle, John Whorf, is also in the MMA Hall of Fame, graduating in 1980 as a member of the baseball team ... Brother, Ben, attends Johns Hopkins '12.


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SEATTLE - A tour-bus company based in B.C. is facing another lawsuit over a crash in northeast Oregon last month that killed nine people and injured 38 others.
The accident occurred on Interstate-84 near Pendleton, Ore., on Dec. 30 after the bus operated by Mi Joo Tour & Travel crashed through a guardrail and tumbled down a snowy embankment.
The Oregonian newspaper reports that 74-year-old Eun Sook Uhm of Lynnwood, Wash., is suing the company and seeking unspecified damages for herself and her husband, who was not on the bus.
She remains hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Wash., with injuries described in the lawsuit as "severe and permanent."
The suit, one of several filed against the Coquitlam, B.C.-based tour bus company, alleges it allowed the bus driver to work without proper rest.
Tour company lawyer Mark Sheer has said the driver had plenty of sleep before the crash and that black ice was a major factor.
Oregon State Police continue their investigation. The tour company has been barred from operating in the United States and Canada.
None of the allegations contained in the lawsuits have been proven in court.
Also on HuffPost


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Seattle police have released previously unseen images showing drug paraphernalia from the scene of Kurt Cobain's suicide 20 years ago.
Police spokeswoman Renee Witt said Thursday that several rolls of undeveloped film were found when a detective re-examined the Cobain case recently.
Seattle police released two images to the media late Thursday. One was an image showing a box containing a spoon and what appear to be needles on the floor next to a cigarette and sunglasses. The other showed the paraphernalia box closed, next to cash and a wallet that appears to show Cobain's identification.
Seattle Police Department
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Other than the new photos, Witt said Thursday that otherwise the review found nothing new. "There was nothing earth-shattering in any of these images," Witt said.
Police took another look at the Cobain suicide to be ready to answer questions in connection with next month's anniversary, she said.
"There's still a lot of interest in this case," Witt said. "The detective went into the case files to refresh himself. The outcome of the case has not changed."
Cobain's body was discovered in Seattle on April 8, 1994. An investigation determined that days earlier Cobain had gone into the greenhouse of his large home and taken a massive dose of heroin. He then shot himself with a 20-gauge shotgun. Earlier that year Cobain had tried to kill himself in Rome by taking an overdose of tranquilizers.
Cobain, who was 27 when he died, sold millions of albums with Nirvana and helped popularize the Pacific Northwest's heavy, muddy "grunge" rock, along with bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Mudhoney.
After his death thousands of young people converged on Seattle Center, near the Space Needle, for a public memorial.
Cobain grew up in the logging town of Aberdeen, Wash., about two hours west of Seattle. A riverfront park there is dedicated to his memory.


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Climate at a Glance
Divisional Time Series
Choose from the options below and click "Plot" to create a time series graph.
Please note, Degree Days and Palmer Indices are not available for Alaska. Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI), and Palmer Modified Drought Index (PMDI) are not offered for multiple-month time scales.
Place mouse on axis and left-click to pan; wheel up/down for zoom in/out (or shift key+left-click).
Citing This Page
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental information, Climate at a Glance: Divisional Time Series, published January 2020, retrieved on January 29, 2020 from https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/


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Artist description:
Thank you RMD !!!!
Java Draw Created Sep 22, 2010 460 x 640px Unless noted Copyright 2010 junco.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
super cute 5/5
Wonderful and so creative! 5h collect
this is super cute! I'm a fan!
awwwww!! this is sooooooo cutee!!!!!! loveeeeeeee this! :D
LOVE IT. :D deff.3
I rated 4 hearts by accident! T_T Wanted to rate 5 hearts!
I love the drawing!!
Absolutely wonderful... beautiful art 5 heart Fav's & my collectyion "Brightest & happiest Drawings " :)
Lovely! Beautiful colours and it's spanish too! *high five everyone who speaks spanish!* 5/5
awww this is so cut! live the detail


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Tea Towel Microfibre - Mr Whippy Blue
Mr Whippy Blue designed microfibre Tea Towel
Australian made and Australian designed, these Tea Towels add a bit of Australiana to your kitchen. Iconic images of everyday Australia, they also make terrific gift ideas for overseas friends.
Features of the tea towel include:
- Perfect for drying and cleaning crockery, glassware and cutlery
- Absorbs 6 times its weight in moisture
- Removes smears, watermarks and fingerprints effortlessly
- Microfibre reduces bacteria on surfaces by up to 92%
- Light and soft, so great for drying large or delicate objects.
Extra info:
- All towels individually boxed
- Made of microfibre
- Approx 70cm x 50cm
- Single Towel
- Machine washable
This product is part of KE Design - a family run and community minded business from Melbourne, Victoria. Alongside skilled regular workers, KE Design also employ special needs workers who are trained, supported and encouraged within a respectful and positive environment.
We Also Recommend


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel said the "window is closing" on Iran and the possibility of diplomacy if it continues to ignore international demands to end pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
In his first opportunity to express his opinions since President Barack Obama nominated him Jan. 7, Hagel addressed a range of issues, from Iraq and Afghanistan to women in combat, in a 112-page questionnaire for the Senate Armed Services Committee. The panel submitted the extensive questions to Hagel in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday.
The former two-term Republican senator has faced a barrage of criticism that he is not sufficiently pro-Israel and tough on Iran. In his responses, Hagel adopted a hardline on Iran, echoing Obama's contention that the United States would consider all options, including military action, to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
"If confirmed, I will focus intently on ensuring that U.S. military is in fact prepared for any contingency," Hagel said in response to committee questions.
The United States and other Western nations have demanded that Iran stopped its uranium-enrichment program, which they perceive as a precursor to production of nuclear warhead-grade material. Iran insists that its program is for peaceful purposes.
The most recent round of negotiations ended in a stalemate last June.
"If Iran continues to flout its international obligations, it should continue to face severe and growing consequences," Hagel said. "While there is time and space for diplomacy, backed by pressure, the window is closing. Iran needs to demonstrate it is prepared to negotiate seriously."
In the past, Hagel has questioned the efficacy of unilateral sanctions on Iran, arguing that penalties in conjunction with international partners made more sense.
He said in his response to the committee that he would continue to implement the "smart, unprecedented and effective sanctions against the Iranian regime" that Congress and the Obama administration have adopted in recent years.


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Obama to push immigration reform at White House meeting
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A day after pushing the administration's gun control proposals on the road in Minnesota, President Obama will sit down with groups to push for immigration reform Tuesday, White House officials said.
The president will meet with leaders of labor unions, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and and Eliseo Medina, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, as well as representatives of progressive groups, like the NAACP and the Center for American Progress, and key immigration reform groups.
Separately he will have a meeting in the afternoon with a dozen leading CEOs, including Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, Yahoo's Marissa Mayer, Coca Cola's Muhtar Kent, Alcoa's Klaus Kleinfeld, Marriott's Arne Sorenson and Motorola's Greg Brown.
The White House said the meeting will allow the president the opportunity to discuss how to get a bipartisan immigration reform bill passed this year and how it fits into his economic agenda.
This latest outreach is part of the White House effort to help engage the public on its second agenda priorities of immigration and guns to build public support for the ideas and to help generate momentum for action in Congress.
Last week a bipartisan group of senators unveiled their principles on immigration reform, including linking a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. to continued efforts to strengthen border security. The president applauded those principles and said if Congress failed to pass of its own he would submit his own proposal.
Meanwhile Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is traveling to California and Texas Monday and Tuesday to look at border security operations, meet with state and local officials and discuss the department's efforts on security.
Later this week the AFL-CIO will unveil details of nationwide events this month when it will push the idea of citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants, and labor officials will also detail how they will try to mobilize working families to lobby for reform.
Several administration officials will meet with law enforcement representatives on Wednesday.


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Lean cuts of fresh pork can be included in your family's heart-healthy meals.
Nutrition Facts
Ingredients and Preparation
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Trim fat from pork chops. Place chops in a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.
- Spread onion and peppers on top of chops. Sprinkle with pepper and salt. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Cover pan and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, turn chops, and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes or until no pink remains. Garnish with fresh parsley.


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I followed my instinct and came even if I was all by my self.... It has been such a magical experience and I felt so inspired that I wish I could see next year's one! Thank you everyone for such a good job!Sara VU SHEN YUN À Edinburgh (Edinburgh Playhouse), mai 2019
I got the pleasure of experiencing Shen Yun for the first time this year after years of anticipation. It exceeded my expectation; it truly was a dream. It was beautifully executed.LyNae VU SHEN YUN À Palm Desert (McCallum Theatre), mai 2019
The performance was Magnificent and so inspiring. It's amazing to see so many talented performers move like the wind so effortlessly. I will be looking forward to the next Shen Yun performance! Outstanding!Brenda L Patterson VU SHEN YUN À Memphis (Cannon Center for the Performing Arts), mai 2019
Magic and a lot of subtile emotions to see... Saturday the 11th of may in Paris Thank you... It seems like you were flying, ...I need time know to understand the imaginary beauty and traditional art of your dance. MayaDagorne Mathieu VU SHEN YUN À Paris (Palais des Congrès de Paris), mai 2019
SCOTTI B. CASSIDY It was beautiful. I loved seeing/hearing such an amazing orchestra. I have been around dance for years so this was a real treat without having to leave the desert. I regret my friend left during intermission. I loved how the last part of the program built up to the end. Just beautiful! I left full to the brim! Thank you for such a lovely night.SCOTTI B. CASSIDY VU SHEN YUN À Palm Desert (McCallum Theatre), mai 2019
I've been wanting to see this show, since discovering it last year. I decided to make this event more special, by taking my girlfriend of 3 years out on our anniversary. She was happy and so was I: They delivered a great spectacle, that's worth seeing time and time again!Jermaine Yelverton VU SHEN YUN À Newark (New Jersey Performing Arts Center), mai 2019
Exquisite in every way, something for all the senses!Sherri Melvie VU SHEN YUN À Grand Forks (Chester Fritz Auditorium), mai 2019
My Daughter had bought me tickets for my birthday in March. My Wife and I got to see the performance at Lincoln Center in New York City. It was amazing! I definitely want to see what they have in store in 2020.Gary Aaronberg, mai 2019
My daughter bought excellent tickets for early Mother's Day gift and we both loved, loved, loved the show! I was especially thrilled to have an answer to my question about the sweet sound in the orchestra, when the curtain went up on Linda Wang playing the Erhu. What beautiful music!! The entire orchestra was totally amazing also. The new background in Hi-def and integration was superb and mind boggling! Only one big disappointment: allowing guests to enter late (all through the performance) was extremely maddening! People should not be let in until the intermission---no matter what the excuse! We had groups of 5 or more talking and changing seats when they arrived late. Spending more than $400.00 on tickets etc. should be worth more than all the parts we missed due to that rudeness.Delores Vigil, mai 2019


text: I got the urge to try forging a knife last night, found a couple pieces of rebar in the yard and started research on what I would need to do to make it into a knife. This is my first attempt at forging anything and making any type of knife. The knife is supposed to be a small utility knife, 2.5" blade, about 6" overall. This is the forge I threw together from some housing bricks and a propane torch. Worked pretty well once it got heated up, ran it for three hours straight at full fire with no problems after some slight cracking sounds at startup. Finished forge shaping. Blade close to desired thickness at spine, forged some slight thinning toward edge. I had trouble drawing out the heel like I wanted, but I have enough metal to work with to get close to my desired profile. Handle was tapered. Since I don't have proper hammers for this type of work, I one-handed a sledge hammer for the majority of the work accompanied by a small ball-peen hammer. For an anvil, I used the little flat anvil spot on top of my bench vice. This is about 3.5 hours total, including building forge, to this point. I hope to finish this week. I will continue to update this thread as I work on this.


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The Greatest Point Guards in NBA History
List Rules Only NBA players who played primarily point guard for most of their career
Who are the greatest point guards in NBA history? Certain names stand out, including several players who are definitely among the best NBA players of all time. The best point guards to ever play the game were leaders: they kept their teams in the hunt for championships and kept their opponents at bay.
Vote for the good basketball players that you think deserve the title of best point guards ever, vote down any you don't like and certainly, re-rank this list anyway you want. Anytime you're dealing with a "best ever" list of professional basketball players, you're going to have some disagreement. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion.
Some believe that Magic Johnson is the best point guard to ever grace the hard courts; others might go with John Stockton or even Oscar Robertson. There's absolutely no denying that several players on this list are among the best current point guards in the NBA, and the best 2012 overall NBA players, too. While a player's stats are certainly important, when it comes to the point guard position, it's about way more than that: It's also about a players overall intelligence and being a true leader on the floor. Who did it best? You decide. Who are the best point guards of all time?


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Green Bay Packers Are Super Bowl Favorites, Other Things About NFL Week 13
Week 13 of the 2014 NFL season was filled with important games. A potential Super Bowl preview didn't disappoint, and the playoff picture began to take shape in both conferences. Here's a recap of this week's action:


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
This 11 member commission is appointed by the Board of Aldermen and serves in an advisory capacity to the Board regarding Recreation and Parks issues. Read more about the Recreation and Parks Commission.
For more information email the Town Clerk or call 919-918-7309.


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Wildlife Warriors 101 LIVE! - 12:00pm
Are you ready for some serious wildlife action? Our keepers and their amazing animals will take you on a slithering, swooping, jaw-snapping adventure of epic proportions! Every day in the Crocoseum we are taking on the world's conservation issues and protecting the animal kingdom, and we want you to join our army of Wildlife Warriors.
Come on a journey of discovery and adventure with our giant snakes, colourful birds and prehistoric crocs in the world famous Crocoseum!
The Crocoseum is the home of the world's ONLY Crike-Off! Picture this: the two facing sides of the world's largest wildlife arena, both filled with a sea of happy faces, face off - each trying to 'out-CRIKEY' the other. The roar of thousands of voices yelling "CRIKEY!" is enough to get anyone pumped for all of the wildlife action and entertainment!
In a place like Australia Zoo, you really can't help but be entertained no matter where you go - there are just too many awesome animals to see, thrilling wildlife encounters to experience and friendly, informative staff to meet! But the entertainment factor goes up a notch when you hit our Crocoseum. Check out our resident Masters of Ceremonies doing their thing during the wildlife shows, as well as a whole host of crazy and hilarious characters!
Crocoseum Dream
The Crocoseum is the fulfillment of one of Steve Irwin's lifelong dreams. Steve wanted to provide the visitors to Australia Zoo with the opportunity to see crocodiles in clear water ponds. This idea was to help educate the public by showing them how crocodiles live and behave in the wild.
Crocodiles use the murkiness of the water in their territory to camouflage from their prey. By using clear water, we can highlight for you the dangers that can be lurking just below the surface of a seemingly serene billabong.
Steve's dream was to be able to use an intricate system of channels and gates to allow him to house several male Saltwater Crocodiles alongside each other in private enclosures, and bring them individually out into the centre of the Crocoseum for our crocodile shows.
Not only did he disprove his critics, who said "It just CAN'T be done", he has provided Australia Zoo with the perfect arena to display some of the most beautiful animals on the face of the earth. This includes not just our crocs, but animals such as our snakes and one of the most amazing free-flight bird shows you will ever see.
Overall, the construction team took almost eleven months to complete the mammoth task. They spent weeks bringing in nearly 7000 cubic metres of dirt to level the building site! Crikey! That is a lot of dirt.


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NEEDHAM, Mass.--(Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDX) announced today the presentation of three-year survival data from the Phase 2 rindopepimut clinical program in EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma—a more aggressive form of glioblastoma typically associated with reduced long-term survival in comparison to the glioblastoma population as a whole. Across three Phase 2 studies of rindopepimut, survival data remains consistent and suggests a substantial and continuing survival benefit in comparison to independent control datasets (see chart below) at the median and at three years. In the multi-center Phase 2 ACT III study, the median overall survival is 24.6 months from diagnosis (21.8 months from study entry) and overall survival is 26% at three years. In the Phase 2 ACT II study, the median overall survival is 24.4 months from diagnosis (20.5 months from study entry) and overall survival is 23% at three years. In the Phase 2 ACTIVATE study, the median overall survival is 24.6 months from diagnosis (20.4 months from study entry) and overall survival is 33% at three years.)--
|Rindopepimut Overall Survival (OS) Across Three Phase 2 Studies in EGFRvIII-Positive Glioblastoma vs Independent Control Datasets
|Rindopepimut Phase 2 Studies (all data from study entry)
|OS 3 years
|ACT III (n=65)
|ACT II (n=22)
|ACTIVATE (n=18)
|Independent Control Datasets (all data from study entry)
MD Anderson EGFRvIII-positive patients matched1 to ACTIVATE patient population (n=17)
(contemporary with ACTIVATE)
Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0525 study - all EGFRvIII-positive patients (n=142)
(contemporary with ACT III)
RTOG 0525 study - all EGFRvIII-positive patients treated with standard dose temozolomide (n=62)
(contemporary with ACT III)
RTOG 0525 study - EGFRvIII-positive patients matched1 to ACT III/IV patient population (n=29)
(contemporary with ACT III)
1Controls are closely matched to rindopepimut patient criteria including gross total resection of patient tumor and ~3 months without disease progression at time of study entry; 2In order to provide comparable timeframes across datasets, data have been estimated assuming study entry at three months from diagnosis.
"The long-term survival data across all three rindopepimut Phase 2 clinical trials are consistent and suggest that rindopepimut is providing long-term survival beyond what is historically seen in this subset of EGFRvIII-expressing glioblastoma patients—a group that typically has more aggressive disease associated with a worse prognosis than the general glioblastoma patient population," said John Sampson, MD, PhD, Dr. Robert H. Wilkins and Gloria Wilkins Professor of Neurosurgery & Associate Deputy Director, The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC and lead investigator of the ACT II and ACTIVATE studies. "Based on the results to date, I am hopeful that with continued success in the clinic, rindopepimut has the potential to be a much needed treatment option for patients with EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma."
In addition to the presentation of updated survival data, Celldex also announced the presentation of data from a retrospective analysis of EGFRvIII expression status and associated clinical outcome in the Phase 3 Radiation Therapy Oncology Group's (RTOG) 0525 study. This analysis was conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in cooperation with RTOG to provide an assessment of the prognosis for patients with EGFRvIII-positive disease contemporary with the ACT III data.
"The RTOG 0525 data continue to demonstrate that patients with EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma fare worse than the general glioblastoma patient population, particularly when it comes to long-term survival," said Thomas Davis, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Celldex Therapeutics. "In line with our expectations given improvements in both the overall standard of care and in best supportive care, the updated historical control data demonstrate a modest improvement in outcome compared to previous data. This improvement is well within the bounds of what we anticipated when we designed our ongoing Phase 3 randomized ACT IV study and provides further confidence in the ACT IV study design."
"The results presented at SNO provide further validation for the rindopepimut clinical program," said Anthony Marucci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Celldex Therapeutics. "The median and long-term survival rates are impressive in comparison to both the MD Anderson and RTOG historical control datasets, with 23% to 33% of patients on rindopepimut surviving to the three year mark versus 6% to 18% of patients in the historical control datasets. In addition, while the ACT II and ACT III data continue to mature, across all three Phase 2 rindopepimut studies, approximately 15% of patients are alive at five years compared to an expectation of 0%. These results support our belief that rindopepimut has the potential to dramatically alter the prognosis for patients with EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma. To that end, we continue to actively enroll patients in the pivotal ACT IV study with more than 150 clinical sites around the world selected to participate and, to date, 118 of these sites actively screening patients."
The data announced today were presented at the Society for Neuro-Oncology's (SNO) 17th Annual Scientific Meeting and Education Day in Washington, DC. Duane A. Mitchell, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery (Neurosurgery), Duke University Medical Center presented the updated overall survival data from the rindopepimut Phase 2 ACT III, ACT II and ACTIVATE studies in an educational session entitled "Immunotherapy of Malignant Brain Tumors" and Michael Weller, MD, Professor, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich presented data from a cohort of patients with EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma that were included in the Phase 3 Radiation Therapy Oncology Group's (RTOG) 0525 study (closed to accrual in 2008) in an educational session called "Biomarkers and Clinical Care: are we there yet?"
Rindopepimut is an investigational immunotherapeutic vaccine that targets the tumor-specific molecule epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII). EGFRvIII is a mutated form of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that is only expressed in cancer cells and not in normal tissue and is a transforming oncogene that can directly contribute to cancer cell growth. Expression of EGFRvIII is linked to poor long-term survival regardless of other factors such as extent of resection and age. EGFRvIII is expressed in approximately 30% of glioblastoma tumors. Celldex is actively enrolling two clinical studies of rindopepimut—a Phase 3 international study called ACT IV in patients with newly diagnosed EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma and a Phase 2 study called ReACT in patients with recurrent EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma. Drs. Sampson and Mitchell have a patent that has been licensed by Celldex and may receive royalties related to sales of this immunotherapeutic vaccine.
About Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.
Celldex Therapeutics is the first antibody-based combination immunotherapy company. Celldex has a pipeline of drug candidates in development for the treatment of cancer and other difficult-to-treat diseases based on its antibody focused Precision Targeted Immunotherapy (PTI) Platform. The PTI Platform is a complementary portfolio of monoclonal antibodies, antibody-targeted vaccines and immunomodulators used in optimal combinations to create novel disease-specific drug candidates. For more information, please visit www.celldextherapeutics.com.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those related to the Company's strategic focus and the future development and commercialization (by Celldex and others) of rindopepimut (CDX-110), CDX-011, CDX-1135, CDX-1401, CDX-1127, CDX-301, Belinostat and other products. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current knowledge, assumptions, judgment and expectations regarding future performance or events. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, they give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and you should be aware that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, our limited cash reserves and our ability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all, including the additional capital which will be necessary to complete the clinical trials that we have initiated or plan to initiate; our ability to adapt APC Targeting TechnologyTM to develop new, safe and effective vaccines against oncology and infectious disease indications; our ability to successfully complete product research and further development of our programs; the uncertainties inherent in clinical testing; our limited experience in bringing programs through Phase 3 clinical trials; our ability to manage research and development efforts for multiple products at varying stages of development; the timing, cost and uncertainty of obtaining regulatory approvals; the failure of the market for the Company's programs to continue to develop; our ability to protect the Company's intellectual property; the loss of any executive officers or key personnel or consultants; competition; changes in the regulatory landscape or the imposition of regulations that affect the Company's products; and other factors listed under "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K.
All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We have no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update, revise or correct any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


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Nearest Town: CottonwoodSite Size:
Highlights: Raptors, Raptors, Shorebirds, Songbirds, Upland Birds, Waterbirds, Waterfowl
Access: Year-round. Access free of charge.
Directions: From Cottonwood, US 95 S; at mp 254.4, R (W) onto Twinhouse Rd (signed for "Weis Rock Shelter"); zero odometer; at 1.4 mi, L (S) on Grave Ck Rd; land on either side of rd is private until you reach the river; bird from Salmon River to Pine Bar Rec Area.
Description: During migration, 2 small ponds at mile 1.9 may have shorebirds and waterfowl. At milepost 2.6 is an old orchard. Just past the curve at mile 3.5, use the large pull-out and look for Cordilleran, Willow and Dusky Flycatchers, Veery, Cassin's Vireo, MacGillivray's Warbler, Western Tanager, Lazuli Bunting, and Spotted Towhee. At mile 3.8 is a tiny marsh covered in brush; listen and look for warblers. At the Weis Rock Shelter (7.2 mi) watch for Yellow-breasted Chat. The confluence of Grave Creek and Rock Creek (7.9 mi) is often good birding. Where Grave Creek joins the Salmon River upstream from Pine Bar Recreation Area look for Common Merganser, Chukar, Lewis's Woodpecker, and Canyon Wren. White-throated Swift can be seen on cliffs along creek and river.
More Information: BLM (208) 962-3245Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce (208) 926-3231
General Services:
Handicapped Services:What do these icons mean?
Select a species from the list to view other sites on the Idaho Birding Trail Sites this species may be observed.


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Florida was the only state that remained too close to call Wednesday as votes in Miami-Dade were still being counted a day after President Barack Obama won a second term.
Poll workers scanned absentee ballots all day long and into the night Wednesday at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department headquarters in Doral.
About 10,000 absentee ballots had been counted by Wednesday evening, with another 10,000 still to be tallied.
"We received 20,000 absentee ballots in our possession before 7 p.m., and this is a really high number. We've never had this volume of absentee ballots turned in the afternoon of Election Day," said Carolina Lopez, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections.
Election officials blamed that volume, and the length of the ballots, for the delay in reporting the county's results – which in turn is holding up the state's voting results.
"The volume of absentee ballots that have come in, it grows in popularity one election after the other. In addition to the number of pages that we have to process, that's why we're still reading," Deputy Supervisor of Elections Christina White said. "It's not due to any issues at all, it's volume-driven."
But critics like Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez don't buy it. The absentee ballots are one thing, he says, but another are the enormous lines he saw at polling sites like one in Brickell that closed at 1:30 a.m.
"And I want to personally apologize to those people that stood in line that long, for that period of time. That's certainly not something that I'm happy with," Gimenez said.
Thirteen extra poll workers were sent to the Brickell site Tuesday night, and overall about 10 percent of the precincts stayed open past 10:30 p.m., according to the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections.
Gimenez said his administration will look into why the long lines happened.
"Who's responsible for that to happen? Did we have the proper equipment, did we have the right
number of personnel?" he said. "Obviously we didn't do something right in those precincts."
The absentee ballots were counted throughout the night on Tuesday.
"We're very optimistic that we'll be done by this afternoon," White said at a news conference on Wednesday.
That did not happen.
"This may not necessarily be a quick process," Supervisor of Elections Penelope Townsley admitted.
Looking to future elections, she said, "There are lessons to be learned, and we will be considering all the activity that took place during this election and making those decisions for efficiencies."
South Florida Voters Stood In Line Hours After Polls Closed
White said the steps for reviewing an absentee ballot include putting it through an automated system, verifying the signature, a possible review by the canvassing board and opening them and putting them through vote tabulators.
"We want to make sure the integrity of that process is upheld and we follow all those steps properly so we've been working through the night," White said, adding that workers were placed on 24-hour shifts to complete the process.
The results are being reported to the state elections department every 30 minutes, White said. Provisional ballots will be counted on Thursday and Friday.
Voters in Miami-Dade stood in lines until the wee hours of Wednesday to cast their vote, even after Obama had been declared the winner of the 2012 election. While Florida was still too close to call in the presidential contest, many local races had already been called.
White said some precincts remained open past midnight, about five hours after polls were supposed to close, with the last ones finally closing around 1:30 a.m.
One busy nighttime polling site was Miami Fire Station No. 4, where voters were in line outside the station just before 11 p.m. and were handed pizza by firefighters. Those allowed to wait in line after hours were voters who arrived at polling sites by the scheduled 7 p.m. closing time.
Some voters at South Kendall Community Church in the Hammocks said they waited around five or six hours to cast their ballots.
Voters Endured Delays Amid Election Day Glitches in South Florida
"I did decide to stay this long after I saw the line," Andre Murias said. "It's my first time voting, so I thought I'd make it memorable."
Voter Andre Martin didn't finish voting until around midnight.
"There was definitely some frustration, because I would have liked to put in my vote before I knew what the results were going to be," he said.
White said that in addition to the large number of absentee ballots turned in Tuesday, the length of the ballot and the number of pages that have to be processed contributed to the delay.
She said turnout in Miami-Dade was around 65 percent.
"All in all, our precincts ran very smoothly," White said. "Yes, we did have lines and in some cases very long lines, we understand that and we'll be reviewing that after the election as we typically do to see how improvements can be made."


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A 1 year old Po-Po
This Sweet Po (aka Crazy Naughty Po-Po aka my Baby from Arabie) is going to be 1 year old this week! Time FLIES!
I saw my friend's newborn today and OMG the difference. Actually, my baby is not a baby anymore at all. He's a toddler flat out. He's a handful of a toddler too, always trying to find something naughty to do like:
- trying to flush a roll of t.p.
- throwing diapers in the bath
- putting toys in the garbage
- climbing onto the couch
- moving my dining chairs and any small furniture
- climbing into my recycling bin
- throwing any folded clothes onto the floor
- emptying whole boxes of tissues
- climbing on top of a box to go scratch the TV
- turning on the dishwasher
- hanging off the oven door to open it
But HIS FACE!!!!! <3 p="p">
I'm in love.
|Can anyone tell that my daughter ALSO is pretty naughty herself
|He was planning his next move (proceeded to go around the bed to the other side to grab a container and stuff the card he had in his hand (not shown) into it)
|Raking leaves, and no, the small one for kids is NOT the same
|Found him in my recycling bin, half emptied


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Seizing on big changes in both politics and journalism, the website Media Trackers is making life uncomfortable for some South Florida Democrats.
The group brought its brand of advocacy-activist journalism to the Sunshine State 16 months ago at mediatrackers.org/florida, combining its conservative outlook with old-fashioned, shoe-leather reporting and sleuthing to turn up gotcha documents.
Media Trackers has made its biggest splash with investigations of the residencies of Broward and Palm Beach county Democratic state legislators. They've dogged lawmakers who claim to live in small apartments or with other people in their districts but still own comfortable homes, usually with their spouses, outside the districts they're elected to represent.
James Taylor, who oversees Florida content as the state communications director, said Media Trackers has four objectives: questioning others' news accounts that exhibit what he deems "a liberal bias," reporting on issues "the establishment media chooses not to cover or simply misses," holding elected officials accountable when they behave unethically, and holding elected officials accountable "when they claim to be conservative but govern as liberals."
State Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, said Media Trackers "really have been beating Democrats down very badly" through what he regards as "personal attacks."
Gibbons, said he lives in his district, but his residency has been questioned by Media Trackers, along with state Reps. Lori Berman, Jared Moskowitz, Hazelle Rogers and Perry Thurston and state Sen. Maria Sachs.
Gibbons said there are Republicans, none of whom he named, who don't live in their districts, but Media Trackers doesn't investigate them.
Its real impact has been spurring other news reports. After WPLG-Ch. 10 followed Media Trackers' work with a series of reports and the issue was mentioned in the Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, the questions sparked official inquiries in Tallahassee.
Publishing only on the Internet, Media Trackers also is different from its traditional news organizations with its melding of investigative reporting and opinion.
Taylor said Media Trackers is a "nonpartisan, conservative populist group that calls balls and strikes fairly, regardless of whether a person has an 'R' or a 'D' next to his name. … We're not just sitting here cheerleading for one political party or another. We're standing up for principle."
Democrats don't see it the same way.
"They pretend to be nonpartisan or fair and balanced, but they clearly are a hit squad against Democrats," said state Sen. Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale, the Senate Democratic Party leader. "If you're going to be a conservative or right-leaning group, say it. But don't say, 'Hey we're nonpartisan.'"
It's a continuation of the trend away from traditional, objective journalism, said Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political science professor who's teaching a media and politics course this semester. "People want to hear things that are consistent with what they already believe."
Media Trackers got its start in Wisconsin during the unsuccessful effort to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2012, digging up dirt during on the other side. It then expanded to Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania — mostly critical swing states that can determine the outcome of presidential elections.
It has a total of three staffers in Florida, but the organization declined to disclose who's funding it or the budget in the state. It's linked with the conservative political group American Majority. When American Majority president Ned Ryun was in Fort Lauderdale conducting political training last month, he lauded Media Trackers, which is run by his brother, Drew, a former staffer at the Republican National Committee.
Although the investigating is aimed at Democrats, the site has occasionally written critically of Republicans. Last September, when film company Digital Domain declared bankruptcy after receiving taxpayer subsidies, Media Trackers reported former state Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, had pushed the subsidies — and received campaign contributions from Digital Domain's CEO.
It's also reported interesting, though less significant tidbits, such as the legislative candidate whose website described a campaign worker as an "image consultant." The worker's online resume said her current job was working as a "Hooters girl."
Taylor, who is based in the Tampa area, said the staffer who does the investigative work, Tom Lauder — who has been active in the Republican Party — is based in South Florida. And, he said, South Florida has more to investigate than the rest of the state.
"In South Florida, elected officials tend to behave more badly than they do in the rest of the state," Taylor said.
While South Florida Democrats aren't big fans of Media Trackers, it's a model that's appealing to some.
Kartik Krishnaiyer, a Coconut Creek Democratic activist who blogs at the site Florida Squeeze, said via email that Media Trackers is doing a better job than Democrats and the political left. "While it may seem below the belt, it is an important weapon for the GOP going forward and one I would expect they use well to continue defining the Democrats in this state."
Taylor said he'd like to add more people. "We don't cover everything we'd like to cover," he said.
Wagner said that could pay off for Republicans and make life more difficult for Democrats. "If you have enough money, and you can send enough people searching for things the other side is doing wrong, you're going to find it."
firstname.lastname@example.com or 954-356-4550


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Do you need to run errands, attend classes or simply need a break? Do your children need a little extra help with schoolwork? Do you have a child with special needs who could benefit from assistance with life skills, developing social skills and making new friends?
Do you need to run errands, attend classes or simply need a break? Do your children need a little extra help with schoolwork? Do you have a child with special needs who could benefit from assistance with life skills, developing social skills and making new friends?
Hour Special Place Family Resource & Activity Center offers a safe sensory environment with areas for structured and child directed activities that promote cognitive, physical and emotional development.
The center, which opened in 2012, is available to all children ages 2 1/2 to 14 years old, however, there is a special focus on children with special needs and learning disabilities.
The center is brightly colored, with books, toys, games, computers for online learning activities and musical instruments.
Parents can drop their children off for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to four hours and must be reachable by telephone during that time.
Myron Gavin, managing director, is an Exceptional Children�s teacher at H.J. MacDonald Middle School. She received a Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences from UNC-Greensboro, an associate�s degree in Early Childhood Education from Craven Community College, and her teacher certification from East Carolina University.
Gavin said her interests in working with exception children stem from her daughter, who has disabilities. During the process of gathering information and resources for her child, she was overwhelmed by the need to help others who may be in her situation. The center also offers information for parents who may need help in finding out what resources are available to them.
�They may need someone to talk to or someone to just listen�, she said.
The staff consists of volunteers who are skilled exceptional children professionals. The volunteers undergo proper reference and background checks, are trained in CPR and First Aid, and Non Violent Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI).
Pam Woods, who has been a volunteer since the opening, said, �We are a 4-hour drop-in childcare, however we are more of a play center. We also have tutoring services in the areas of math, reading, sensory development and so much more.�
The concept of Hour Special Place answers a �need� in our community, said Woods.
The center offers activities such as story hours and Friday Date Night, and tutoring. Children are also treated to sensory-friendly movies. For some children, a movie is too loud, too dark, or they are unable to sit still through the movie. New Bern�s two movie theaters offers the center a block of time where they will adjust the sound and lighting and the children are allowed to move around. They are also allowed to bring their own snacks because some children cannot eat popcorn or drink soft drinks. There are no credits and no previews.
Her goal is to have activities that all children can participate in, said Gavin. She refers to a cartoon that depicts a man shoveling snow from the steps, and there is a ramp nearby. A child in a wheelchair asks, �Could you please shovel the ramp?� The man replies that the other children are waiting to use the steps. The child then says, �But if you shovel the ramp, we can all get in.�
Although the center is open to all children, she said she has created an environment that welcomes children with disabilities in which they are comfortable and are able to participate in activities with other children.
The next adventure will be a Family Fun Night from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Strike Zone in New Bern. Strike Zone also offers the children a sensory-friendly night at a special rate of $3 per game and no charge for shoes. This allows for parents who would like to bring their entire family to the event at a reasonable cost.
Tina Adkins can be reached at 252-635-5681 or at email@example.com. Follow Tina on Twitter @tinaladkins
Hour Special Place is located at 939 U.S. 70 East, in the Trent East Crossing Center in James City. The hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 1 to 10 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Hours change during the summer while children are on vacation from school. For more information, call the center at 633-4646 or email email@example.com.


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Israel and Syria continue to fight, Robert Downey Jr. continues to pretend to fight, and in sunny, pastoral northern Pennsylvania, a former judge is still getting international attention a week after his sentencing over what amounts to a human-trafficking scheme. Welcome to your daily trends report for Monday, May 6, 2013.
Mark Ciavarella, a former common pleas judge in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., was sentenced early last week for his role as a cog in the prison-industrial complex. Ciavarella and another judge, Michael Conahan, received kickback money from private jail operators to fill their beds with children as young as 10 without due process, often on first-time offenses. By the time Ciavarella gets out, those kids will be well into middle age: He received orders to pay back $1.2 million and serve 28 years in prison for his part in the crimes.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic ocean, leaders in Israel and Syria are facing off, with each heavily armed nation claiming the other is in violation of international law after violence between the two countries broke out last week. (Israeli officials claim that the munitions stores it targeted were headed for Lebanon, where they were to be used against Israel by Hezbollah. Syrian and Egyptian officials say the rocket strikes against the Syria-based stores were an act of pre-emptive, cross-border aggression by Israel. Both Syria and Israel have recently received international scrutiny over other matters.)
Iron Man 3
"Iron Man 3" surpassed everything except "The Avengers." The third Tony Stark movie from Disney's Marvel Studios enjoyed the second-best opening in box-office history, grossing an estimated $175.3 million in its debut weekend, Disney said Sunday.
[The Baltimore Sun]
Syria's information minister has warned that Israeli air raids against three targets on the outskirts of Damascus "open the door to all possibilities".
[Al Jazeera]
Postal Workers
In September, the post office will close one of its two remaining centers where workers try to read the scribble on envelopes and address labels that machines cannot.
[The New York Times]
Kids for Cash
An American judge known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom manner was jailed [early last week] for 28 years for conspiring with private prisons to hand young offenders maximum sentences in return for kickbacks amounting to millions of dollars.
The Independent
(Google search)
Talladega is always a race of attrition and lottery luck. It was amped up to the fullest on a rainy Sunday afternoon when a guy who was a 100-1 longshot won the race, followed by a teammate racing with a good-luck pink sticky note from his 10-year-old daughter.
[The Baltimore Sun]
Cinco de Mayo, BBQ
(Google search, Twitter)
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is commemorating Cinco de Mayo by urging his countrymen to tackle current problems with the same "unity and commitment" that defeated the French 151 years ago.
[USA Today]
Chicago Bulls
(Google search)
It's happening two years later, one round earlier and without Derrick Rose. But the Bulls earned their rematch with the Heat. They did so by defeating the Nets 99-93 Saturday night at Barclays Center to win Game 7 of their first-round NBA playoff series, following a familiar script to do so.
[The Baltimore Sun]
chris kelly
jason collins
kentucky derby
farrah abraham
amanda bynes
iron man 3
mothers day
iron man
maryland judiciary
*Last seven days


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I just saw a website, its PR 10. Now this is impossible as the websites quality is nowhere near PR 10. I know that one can change to PR to show 10 if he redirects the site but in this case, its not getting redirected anywhere. I am pretty sure something is wrong with it. Please help me out.
The domain is


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Push for gambling expansion faces long odds
AUSTIN — A fresh push to bring casinos to Texas faces long odds, but backers say lawmakers shouldn't ignore the potential economic impact of keeping gambling dollars in the state.
Track and gaming interests say voters should be allowed to decide whether to give Texas a shot at the benefits of $2.5 billion they say is wagered in surrounding states annually by Texans.
"They are taking our money to fund their programs, and I think they frankly have just been smarter than we have. My hat's off to 'em," said John Montford, a former state Senate Finance Committee chairman. He carried the legislation that established Texas' lottery and now is involved in the casino battle.
Critics doubt the figures and call expanded gaming a losing proposition for Texas, saying gaming would take money from the pockets of people who can ill afford it.
Montford has been hired by the partnership of Penn National Gaming and Sam Houston Race Park to push the gambling expansion under the name of Let Texans Decide.
Among supporters listed on the group's website are Valley Race Park, the Texas Association of Business, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Greater Houston Women's chamber, Houston Hispanic chamber and Houston Northwest.
Possibilities for gambling expansion include existing racetracks and tribal lands, Montford said, potentially along with some casinos in major metropolitan areas and on the Texas coast.
The parameters would be set by the Legislature, Montford said, and the bottom line is Texans should get a chance to vote.
Rob Kohler, a consultant for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, said, "The voters of the state do decide, whenever they send folks to the Legislature."
The Legislature has repeatedly turned down the chance to amend the state constitution to expand gambling, which would require a two-thirds vote of lawmakers before going on a state ballot.
The battle doesn't look to be any easier this time.
State lawmakers who faced a huge revenue shortfall in their last regular session in 2011 now are seeing a recovering economy, and the House and Senate are no less conservative. Several incoming senators are viewed as further right than their predecessors.
"Before this session, there was probably a shot at passing something like that through the Senate. I think with the new members that we have in the Senate, it's probably less likely than it was before. And I think it is very unlikely that either one of those proposals would get through the House," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, when asked about slots at tracks or casinos. Williams said he has never voted to expand gaming in Texas, adding that revenue figures presented in years past by supporters of the idea appeared unrealistic.
"I don't have a big, huge moral objection to it, but I'm not sure it's for the benefit of the state," Williams said.
Dale Craymer, president of the business-based Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, said, "One of the considerations for casino gambling is the fact that it raises revenue, and that's a big issue during a session when they are looking for revenue. This is not going to be a session where they are looking for revenue."
Montford pointed to funding needs in areas including water and education. He said that besides the gambling going on out of state by Texans, there's gambling in Texas through a proliferation of eight-liners without benefiting the state treasury.
Let Texans Decide says casinos at racetracks would bring 75,000 jobs and $8.5 billion in economic growth statewide, boost the horse industry and could generate $1 billion annually in tax revenue.
Kohler said pari-mutuel wagering came with promises of revenue that didn't pan out and that the state lottery didn't solve education funding problems as some thought it would.
F. Scott McCown of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for programs for lower-income Texans, said "Any plan that relies upon taking more money out of poor people's pockets is going to leave you poor."
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, is among lawmakers who would be comfortable with slots at tracks, saying she sees senior citizens taking casino trips every two weeks.
"How come it is OK for someone to risk large amounts of money in the stock market ... but it's not OK for my mother and my aunt to take $100 of their own spending money" for a bit of gambling? she asked.
To boost their views, gambling interests spend money in Texas.
Texans for Public Justice, which tracks money in politics, found that gambling interests donated $1.6 million to Texas political action committees and candidates going into the 2010 elections.
TPJ, in a check of reports available for this year, found top gambling PACs from 2010 donated more than $904,000 this cycle. The total included only reports covering up until eight days before the election, so the total is sure to be higher.
According to Let Texans Decide, the Chickasaws and Choctaws, which have Oklahoma casino operations, have given Texas candidates five times as much as they gave Oklahoma candidates since 2008 — more than $807,000 in Texas compared to nearly $152,000 in Oklahoma. The Chickasaws also have invested in a Grand Prairie track.
"Frankly, I think it's going to come down ultimately to a battle between you're either for Texas or you're for Oklahoma," Montford said.
Proposed constitutional amendments that would allow casinos have been filed by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston.
Montford said his group would be discussing proposals with various lawmakers.


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Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87. According to a spokesman, Thatcher died peacefully this morning following a stroke.
Baroness Thatcher served Great Britain as Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, becoming the first woman to hold that office. She was known as England's "Iron Lady," was re-elected twice, and became a close friend and confidant of then-President Reagan.
Thatcher presided over a very brief war between Great Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982, and emphasized deregulation of businesses and industries in her country.
http://www.wmmbam.co … t-thatcher-11160768/