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Teachers and students count on having relatively broad access to online academic content, but a recent federal court ruling has raised questions about whether the education community could lose some of its ability to tap into the vast library of Internet resources.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia this month has been interpreted as giving commercial Internet providers significantly more power to block content or set conditions on its delivery before it reaches customers, including schools.
The ruling struck a blow against the concept of "net neutrality," the idea that all content flowing through the online realm should be treated the same way by providers, regardless of its source.
The court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that regulates interstate communication, does not have the legal authority to prevent telecommunications providers—such as Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon—from blocking the delivery of lawful online content or discriminating against certain kinds of content providers.
While predicting the consequences of the ruling requires weighing a number of hypotheticals, consumer-rights organizations worry that it will give telecommunications companies much greater ability to charge content providers more to guarantee the faster delivery of data to consumers, leaving others, such as schools, with slower delivery.
Additionally, Internet service providers could conceivably block content from sites they regard as rivals, or broker deals with deep-pocketed companies or organizations to put their content in the fast lane.
Those arrangements, some suggest, will benefit wealthier, commercial providers of online materials, while other providers without money to buy their way into the market will suffer.
In the wake of the ruling, telecommunications companies have vowed to preserve consumers' access to a content-rich, open Internet.
The decision "will not change consumers' ability to access and use the Internet as they do now," said Randal Milch, Verizon's general counsel and executive vice president for public policy, in a statement. "Verizon has been and remains committed to the open Internet. ... This will not change in light of the court's decision."
But consumer advocates, and some school organizations, are skeptical. They predict that if the ruling holds up—it could be appealed or superseded by other actions—Internet providers will be tempted to channel content in ways that benefit them financially.
For schools, "at the end of the day, you're likely to be collateral damage," said Harold Feld, the senior vice president for Public Knowledge, a Washington-based organization that advocates Internet openness. The interests of schools amount to "a rounding error," he said, "compared with the billions of dollars [telecommunications companies] have at stake."
Traffic Control
The court's decision was roundly criticized by supporters of unrestricted Internet access, and praised by industry groups, who cast the ruling as an important check on government regulation.
The case was brought by Verizon Inc.—a major provider of phone, cable, and Internet services—which challenged the FCC's "open Internet" policies that promote the concept of net neutrality. The FCC policy was designed to ensure that broadband providers didn't restrict or discriminate against lawful content, applications, and services delivered online, and that those providers disclose how they are managing their networks.
For years, critics of net neutrality have laid out a number of arguments against it.
They maintain that net-neutrality policies stifle innovation by keeping providers from targeting specific online content for streamlined delivery, which could ultimately benefit consumers. They also say FCC policy has prevented Internet providers from being fairly compensated for their work, including costly technology investments.
Others argue that Internet providers should have the right not to transmit content they don't agree with. That case was made by a group of organizations backing Verizon's case, which argued in a legal filing two years ago that the FCC policy wrongly denied telecommunications companies' "editorial discretion," violating their constitutional rights.
In its decision, issued Jan. 14, the federal court ruled that while the FCC has the power to set rules "governing broadband providers' treatment of Internet traffic," the commission does not have the authority to enforce its anti-blocking and anti-discrimination policies. (It said the FCC could, however, continue to require that companies disclose information about their management practices and services.)
A federal appeals court struck down portions of what the Federal Communications Commission describes as its "open Internet" rules, also known as "net neutrality." Some advocates fear the decision could have negative consequences for schools.
Net Neutrality
The belief that Internet service providers should be required to treat all Web content the same in bringing it to customers, regardless of the source. The court hypothesized that, without "neutrality," an Internet service provider might be able to make accessing The New York Times more difficult than using a competing site, or make it less easy to search through Bing than through Google.
The Ruling
The Federal Communications Commission said broadband providers should have transparency in their management practices and terms of service; could not block lawful content over the Web; and were forbidden from discriminating against lawful network traffic. The court let the FCC's transparency rules stand, but said the commission does not have the legal right to enforce its anti-blocking and anti-discrimination rules, a decision that some say could affect quality of access to online content.
Impact on Schools
Some education and ed-tech advocates fear that Internet providers could charge higher prices to certain content providers. Others are concerned that additional costs for faster Internet access could be passed on to consumers—including schools. An additional worry is that schools' access to content will be skewed to favor the most-monied providers, regardless of those providers' educational value.
Source: Education Week
That decision, however, may not be the final word. The chairman of the FCC, Tom Wheeler, has said the commission is weighing an appeal. Industry observers also say the five-member commission could rewrite its rules to give it clearer authority in regulating the Internet—a step some consumer advocates believe is long overdue.
In addition, Congress could pass a law to shape neutrality rules, though many question whether that is realistic, given the prevailing partisan disconnect in Washington.
K-12 Librarians React
The court's ruling alarmed some in the education community, particularly school librarians, who in many districts are charged with finding and organizing online content and helping students and teachers become more sophisticated users of it.
Barbara Stripling, the president of the 57,000-member American Library Association, said she fears the decision will lead Internet providers to give priority to monied content providers, such as commercial interests or the entertainment industry.
Other organizations, particularly noncommercial ones that seek to provide objective content, could be relegated to the slow lane, making it more difficult for teachers and students to get information they want, argued Ms. Stripling, whose organization's membership includes K-12 librarians, as well as those from other fields.
"It will have a huge effect on K-12 in terms of reducing the equity and quality of access," Ms. Stripling said. "Information will be controlled by the provider."
Another risk, raised by Mr. Feld of Public Knowledge and others, is that Internet providers will end up making decisions about users' access to content that favors providers with one agenda or another, for financial reasons, or based on what's popular.
For instance, students searching for information about the classified documents released by the former contractor for the National Security Agency, Edward Snowden, could be stymied if an Internet provider was pressured by the U.S. government to block that information, Mr. Feld suggested. Or students at a conservative, private Christian school might see their access to various sites espousing their beliefs stymied, if a vocal portion of a telecommunications company's customer base complained about that content.
Many schools set up filters to prevent students from viewing online content they deem salacious or otherwise objectionable, he said. But it's another thing for broadband companies to set policy as they "bow to the mass market," Mr. Feld said.
A number of telecommunications companies declined interview requests from Education Week. But Verizon officials and other providers have said that the concerns of consumer advocates are misguided, and that they are not looking to restrict content or play favorites.
Richard Young, a spokesman for Verizon, reaffirmed in a statement the company's intentions to maintain open access. Asked about Internet providers charging content providers for faster services, he added that "the 'two-sided' market already exists in many parts of the Internet ecosystem."
The company would like to explore options that "would enable us to offer consumers products and services that would enhance their experience," he said.
Bandwidth Crunch
Independent of the net-neutrality debate, school districts' lack of fast, reliable Internet access has emerged as a major concern, particularly as demand for bandwidth has increased with the growth of mobile and other computing devices and the overall increase in online instruction and testing. The FCC is currently considering proposals to recast the federal E-rate program, which supports technology in schools and libraries, to align more closely with schools' evolving needs. (See "Districts Get Creative to Speed Up Internet," Jan. 14, 2014.)
One of the great unknowns following the ruling is its impact on academic content that consumes relatively large amounts of bandwidth, including educational videos provided by organizations such as the Khan Academy, said Douglas Levin, the executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, based in Glen Burnie, Md.
If telecom companies make entertainment or related content a priority, leaving less broadband for education videos, applications , and other tools, it would be a setback for schools, Mr. Levin suggested.
News of the court ruling reached Rebecca L. Buerkett, the librarian and technology coordinator for L.P. Quinn Elementary School in Tupper Lake, N.Y., through social media and other networks she uses to connect with peers around the country.
Ms. Buerkett, whose rural school serves a significant number of impoverished students, worries that the ruling will put her neediest students at a disadvantage. Many of them lack computers and Web access at home and rely on the school's connectivity to do online work. She's learned not to assume that the children she works with can finish online projects outside of school hours, even though many students are too embarrassed to tell her that directly.
Ms. Buerkett teaches a class on computer and information skills, encourages students to conduct research and share online content and ideas, and directs them to news, science, and other sites, in addition to helping teachers plan Web-based projects.
She worries that the court decision could impede access to sites her students favor the most.
"We've already got a digital divide–an economic divide between wealthier and poorer kids," she said. For students who might otherwise be "low on the totem pole, on the Internet, they're the same as everyone else. ... Protecting good technology access for my students is very important to me."


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When traveling, whether for business or leisure, it's always important to gather the gadgets you'll need for your trip. Some are essential, some are fun, but forgetting any of them can make for an unpleasant trip. For the sake of being obvious, we'll assume that you don't forget your laptop or cell phone.
Here are some of the less-obvious gadgets that you may want to consider when traveling:
1) IOGEAR Portable Media Player
With the ability to store 50 DVD movies on its 120 GB hard drive, the IOGEAR Portable Media Player is quite possibly your best friend on travels. It is tiny compared to other PMPs and offers the unique ability to convert standard definition content up to 720p HD resolution. Even better, you won't be stuck paying $9.99 per movie in hotels. This little gadget will hook into just about anything that can play movies.
2) Mobile Printers
When doing business abroad, don't assume that you won't need a printer when you reach your destination (or when you're on the way). It's always good to be prepared in the event printing is required. Trying to hook up to someone else's printer requires drivers. Transferring files to computers that already have printer hookups results in inconvenience from the transfer as well as any security concerns. Then, there is always the potential for a printer to not be available at all. When considering mobile printers, size matters. It's probably better to take a more compact solution and sacrifice a little speed.
3) Video Eyeware
You're probably wondering why you will need video eyeware. When traveling, there is one thing to always keep in mind — there is always someone looking over your shoulder. Therefore this gadget should definitely be in the list of your top gadgets for travelers. This nifty little piece of technology, the EnVision Video Eyeware, gives you privacy and the ability to be completely unobtrusive to travelers around you. Before you say "but you have to connect to your laptop to play", check out. the product information. You'll likely be surprised at its capabilities.
4) Portable GPS Navigation
Trying to rely on maps and directions when driving in unfamiliar territory can be an unnecessary burden. Many car rental companies charge a super-premium price to have a vehicle with navigation. For those who travel and rent often, a portable GPS navigation system is perfect for keeping on the right path. We have mentioned the Garmin GPSMAP 640 GPS navigation system previously. Another option, the portable GPS by Delphi, has many features and an attractive price tag. The unit allows you to input places on your itinerary to receive directions, saving time and energy during the trip that can be spent on more important things.
5) True Global Travel Plug Adapter
If you will be traveling internationally, remember that the power outlets overseas are different from one another. Gadgets also have different plugs. Having the means to power up may sound simple, but without a tool like the Travel Plug Adapter, you may end up being out of juice, out of luck, and out of time.
Regardless of where you travel or how often, having the important gadgets with you can make or break a trip. The best thing about all the gadgets mentioned is that they can all fit in one nice, neat travel bag for placement inside a suitcase or work as one of your carryon bags.
Business is all about being prepared. This information should make preparation easier and your trips a more enjoyable experience.

subset: commoncrawl


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SRBD is characterized by recurrent episodes of reduced or interrupted respiratory airflow. This is caused by soft tissues near the back of the throat collapsing during sleep so that they partially close off the windpipe. These tissues — the tongue, for example — can vibrate as air passes by, causing snoring. Snoring is often worsened sleeping on one's back because this encourages the lower jaw to slip back, which in turn pushes the tongue in front of the airway.
Loud snoring often disturbs the person in the bed who isn't the one doing it, robbing him or her of vital sleep. The snorer, on the other hand, may seem to be slumbering peacefully, but this might not actually be the case. Chronic loud snoring is a common symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, which occurs when the upper airway is blocked to the point of causing significant airflow disruption, or even no airflow whatsoever for 10 seconds or more. This can be dangerous as reduced airflow into the lungs lowers blood-oxygen levels.
A person with sleep apnea may wake 50 or more times per hour without having any memory of it. These awakenings, called micro-arousals, last just long enough to restore muscle tone to the airway so the individual can breathe. Unfortunately, all those micro-arousals preclude deep and restful sleep.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a serious matter as it can lead to heart problems and other health issues. It's possible you may have OSA if you snore and also suffer from any of the following:
By now you're probably wondering: What does my dentist have to do with all this? Here's the connection: Snoring or sleep apnea can sometimes be treated with an oral appliance available at the dental office that's designed to hold the lower jaw forward during sleep. This repositioning of the jaw moves the tongue away from the back of the throat, reducing the potential for obstruction. This treatment is backed by a great deal of scientific evidence; it's a good remedy to try before moving on to more complicated breathing devices or surgery to remove excess tissues in the throat.
Only a dentist can fabricate, fit, adjust, monitor and treat complications associated with Oral Appliance Therapy used in managing SRBD. So if you or a loved one is experiencing any combination of the signs and symptoms mentioned above, a consultation with a dental professional is a good idea.
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Oceania Cruises: Alaska Passages
About Seattle - From $1,622.00 USD per guest
Date: July 25 - August 4, 2016 | June 28 - July 8, 2016
Cruise Destination: Seattle to Seattle
The wilderness of the great Pacific Northwest is so vast that it can only be reached by sea, so what better way to experience this untamed expanse than on board the luxurious Regatta. Keep an eye out for pods of whales hunting in the channels of the Inside Passage and black bears feeding along the salmon streams near Ketchikan. Explore the waters surrounding Wrangell in a canoe, and enjoy a thrilling dogsled adventure on Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau. Marvel at magnificent Hubbard Glacier, North America's largest tidewater glacier, and explore the area surrounding Skagway, which has been inhabited by the Tlingit since prehistoric times. For guests who travel with children, our Alaska Explorer Youth Program offers the opportunity for everyone to experience the excitement of exploring the Northwest Coast and Alaska in a meaningful, enriching way. Designed for age groups between 5 and 12, the program is supervised by experienced and enthusiastic youth counselors and include games, activities and Alaska-inspired special events.
Special Offer (Offer Expires June 30)
- Featuring FREE Unlimited Internet, plus choose one of the below FREE:
- 4 FREE Shore Excursions
- FREE House Beverage Package
- $400 Shipboard Credit
Day 1: Seattle, United States
Head to the top of the famed Space Needle, enjoy the performers in Pioneer Square, watch fish-tossing in legendary Pike Place Market or spend the afternoon in the impressive Seattle Art Museum. Take in the groovy Experience Music Project or the fascinating Pacific Science Center. Dive into the sea at the Seattle Aquarium or take to the skies at the Museum of Flight.
Day 2: Cruising the Inside Passage
At Sea, International Waters
Day 3: Ketchikan, Alaska
Totem poles are one of Ketchikan's chief attractions, and the best places to view them are Saxman Village and Totem Bight State Park. Drop by the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center to learn about the local cultures and ecosystems.
Day 4: Wrangell, Alaska
Once a Tlingit Indian stronghold, then a Russian outpost, and finally an American settlement in 1867, Wrangell has endured dramatic change and honors it. See a preserved tribal house on Chief Shakes Island. Learn about the three gold rushes that transformed the area in the Wrangell Museum. Behold the ancient petroglyphs carved into the rocks on the nearby beaches.
Day 5: Juneau, Alaska
For a state capital, Juneau maintains a surprising small-town charm, in part because it can only be reached by sea or air due to the surrounding wilderness. Collections from the indigenous people are displayed in the Alaska State Museum. Visit Mendenhall Glacier for outdoor adventure.
Day 6: Cruising Hubbard Glacier
At Sea, International Waters
Day 7: Skagway, Alaska
Skagway's spectacular natural setting encourages a walking tour of this well-preserved gold rush town. See the Moore House, built in 1897, a year before the gold rush, and the Gold Rush Cemetery, where famed Old West desperado Soapy Smith is buried. Visit the Trail of '98 Museum for a more in-depth look at Skagway's freewheeling history. Or take a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad and see the trail the gold rushers etched into the high mountain pass.
Day 8: Sitka, Alaska
Called "Shee Atika" by the Tlingit Indians, then "New Archangel" by the Russians who ousted them, Sitka boasts a multicultural heritage. Two dozen of its attractions are on the National Register of Historic Places, including Castle Hill and Building 29, a structure built by the Russians in 1835. The Sheldon Jackson Museum exhibits one of Alaska's oldest native culture collections.
Day 9: Cruising the Outside Passage
At Sea, International Waters
Day 10: Victoria, Canada
Western Canada's oldest city, Victoria proudly displays its British heritage. Explore lavish Craigdarroch Castle, built in the late 1800s for a Scottish coal baron. Trace the area's early British seafarers in the Marine Museum of British Columbia. There's even a Royal London Wax Museum with likenesses of King Henry VIII and Winston Churchill.
Day 11: Seattle, United States
Head to the top of the famed Space Needle, enjoy the performers in Pioneer Square, watch fish-tossing in legendary Pike Place Market or spend the afternoon in the impressive Seattle Art Museum. Take in the groovy Experience Music Project or the fascinating Pacific Science Center. Dive into the sea at the Seattle Aquarium or take to the skies at the Museum of Flight.


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Please submit a Request for Action through this website to report any damage or need for repair on the island's streets and roads. *Note: Lee County maintains Estero Boulevard and the Town maintains all side streets. Town staff are happy to report maintenance issues regarding Estero Boulevard to the County on behalf of residents.*
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If you notice one of the ornate street lights in the Times Square/Old San Carlos business area that is out, please submit a Request for Action through this website.
Trash, refuse, yard waste and recycling may only be put out to the curb the night before a pickup day. It is a violation of Town Code for waste to be out by the curb more than 24 hours before or after pickup.
Thursday regular garbage collection
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To request and schedule a FREE special pick-up of appliances and large items (i.e. furniture), Call Waste Management at 239-334-1224.
The Lee County Solid Waste Division has opened its permanent Household Chemical Waste Collection facility on 6441 Topaz Court in Fort Myers (off Metro Pkwy) for operation. Residents may now dispose of household chemical waste between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday and every first Saturday of the month from 8 am to 12 Noon.The facility will be closed on holidays observed by Lee County. In coordination with the Lee County Solid Waste Division, the Town will host a quarterly hazardous waste collection day on the island. Watch the Town's website, social media and digital publications for information.


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"In the 4th century B.C., the ancient Greeks colonized an island off Kuwait's coast, now known as Failaka, and named it "Ikaros".[13] By 123 B.C., the region came under the influence of the Parthian Empire and was closely associated with the southern Mesopotamian town of Charax.[14] In 224 A.D., the region fell under the control of Sassanid Empire and came to be known as Hajar.[15] By the 14th century, the area comprising modern-day Kuwait became a part of the Islamic caliphate.[16]
The first permanent settlers in the region came from Bani Khalid tribe of Nejd and established the state of Kuwait.[16] In 1756, the people elected Sabah I bin Jaber as the first Amir of Kuwait.[17] The current ruling family of Kuwait, al-Sabah, are descendants of Sabah I. During the rule of the Al-Sabah, Kuwait progressively became a center of trade and commerce. It now served as a hub of trade between India, the horn of Africa, the Nejd, Mesopotamia and the Levant. Up until the advent of Japanese pearl farming, Kuwait had one of the largest sea fleets in the Persian Gulf region and a flourishing pearling industry. Trade consisted mainly of pearls, wood, spices, dates and horses.
In 1899, Kuwait entered into a treaty with the United Kingdom that gave the British extensive control over the foreign policy of Kuwait in exchange for protection and annual subsidy.[18] This treaty was primarily prompted by fears that the proposed Berlin-Baghdad Railway would lead to an expansion of German influence in the Persian Gulf. After the signing of the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, then Amir of Kuwait, Mubarak Al-Sabah, was diplomatically recognized by both the Ottomans and British as the ruler of the autonomous caza of the city of Kuwait and the hinterlands.[19] However, soon after the start of World War I, the British invalidated the convention and declared Kuwait an independent principality under the protection of the British Empire.[20] The 1922 Treaty of Uqair set Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia and also established the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, an area of about 5,180 km² adjoining Kuwait's southern border.
On 19 June 1961, Kuwait became fully independent following an exchange of notes between the United Kingdom and the then Amir of Kuwait, Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah.[19] The Gulf rupee, issued by the Reserve Bank of India, was replaced by the Kuwaiti dinar. The discovery of large oil fields, especially the Burgan field, triggered a large influx of foreign investments into Kuwait. The massive growth of the petroleum industry transformed Kuwait from a poor pearl farming community into one of the richest countries in the Arabian Peninsula and by 1952, the country became the largest exporter of oil in the Persian Gulf region. This massive growth attracted many foreign workers, especially from Egypt and India.
Kuwait settled its boundary disputes with Saudi Arabia and agreed on sharing equally the neutral zone's petroleum reserves, onshore and offshore. After a brief stand-off over boundary issues, Iraq formally recognized Kuwait's independence and its borders in October 1963. During the 1970s, the Kuwaiti government nationalized the Kuwait Oil Company, ending its partnership with Gulf Oil and British Petroleum.
In 1982, Kuwait experienced a major economic crisis after the Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash and decrease in oil price.[21] However, the crisis was short-lived as Kuwait's oil production increased steadily to fill the gap caused by decrease in Iraq's and Iran's oil production levels following the events of the Iran–Iraq War. In 1983, a series of six bomb explosions took place in Kuwait killing five people. The attack was carried out by Shiite Dawa Party to retaliate Kuwait's financial support to Iraq during its war with Iran.[22]
USAF aircraft (F-16, F-15C and F-15E) fly over Kuwaiti oil fires, set by the retreating Iraqi army during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.Kuwait had heavily funded Iraq's eight year-long war with Iran. After the war ended, Kuwait declined an Iraqi request to forgive its US$65 billion debt.[23] An economic warfare between the two countries followed after Kuwait increased its oil production by 40 percent.[24] Tensions between the two countries increased further after Iraq alleged that Kuwait was slant drilling oil from its share of the Rumaila field.[24]
On 2 August 1990, Iraqi forces invaded and annexed Kuwait. A long-time ally of Saddam Hussein, Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh was quick to back Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.[25] Saddam Hussein, then President of Iraq, deposed the Amir of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Sabah, and initially propped up a puppet régime before annexing Kuwait and installing Ali Hassan al-Majid as the new governor of Kuwait.[26] During the Iraqi occupation, about 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians were killed and more than 300,000 residents fled the country.[27] After a series of failed diplomatic negotiations, the United States-led coalition of thirty-four nations fought the Gulf War to remove the Iraqi forces from Kuwait. On 26 February 1991, the coalition succeeded in driving out the Iraqi forces, restoring the Kuwaiti Amir to power.[28] Kuwait paid the coalition forces US$17 billion for their war efforts.[28]
During their retreat from the coalition, the Iraqi armed forces carried out a scorched earth policy by damaging 737 oil wells in Kuwait, of which approximately 600 were set on fire.[29] It was estimated that by the time Kuwait was liberated from Iraqi occupation, about 5 to 6 million barrels (950,000 m3) of oil was being burned in a single day because of these fires.[30]
Oil and soot accumulation had affected the entire Persian Gulf region and large oil lakes were created holding approximately 25 to 50 million barrels (7,900,000 m3) of oil[31] and covering 5% of Kuwait's land area.[29] In total, about 11 million barrels (1,700,000 m3) of oil was released into the Persian Gulf[32] and an additional 2% of Kuwait's 96 billion barrels (1.53×1010 m3) of crude oil reserves were burned by the time the oil fires were brought under control.[33] The fires took more than nine months to extinguish fully and it took Kuwait more than 2 years and US$50 billion in infrastructure reconstruction to reach pre-invasion oil output.[34] Kuwait has since largely recovered from the socio-economic, environmental, and public health effects of the Persian Gulf War".
Kuwait, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kuwait&oldid=416078522
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FORT WORTH, Texas – Richard Childress is bringing back the No. 3 car full time into the NASCAR Nationwide Series next season with his grandson, Austin Dillon, moving up from trucks.
Dillon has used No. 3 in the Camping World Truck Series, where he is the season points leader, but this will be the first time the No. 3 will be regularly used on a car since Cup champion Dale Earnhardt's death at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500.
"Dale made that number famous," said Childress, who drove the No. 3 himself from 1976-81 before Earnhardt, a seven-time champion.
Childress quickly said Friday that there are no intentions now to take the No. 3 back to "Cup with Austin someday." Dillon could drive some races in NASCAR's top level next season.
Before deciding to use the No. 3 on a car again, Childress spoke with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won consecutive Nationwide championships (1998-99) in the No. 3 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Then, Dale Jr. won Nationwide races in the No. 3 for Childress at Daytona in 2002 and 2010.
"Austin is taking the next step in his career by moving to the Nationwide Series," Earnhardt said. "He has used the 3 predominantly throughout his career, and I for one am excited to know he'll be running it at the next level. He's a sharp kid with a lot of potential. The respect he shows the sport and his competitors is a reflection of the family values that has molded him into the person he is today."
When Dillon first got into racing as a kid, he told his grandfather that he wanted to use his number.
"How are you going to tell your grandkid no to something," Childress said. "That's how we got him that."
Childress said there is a picture in his office with Dillon standing on the Daytona 500 trophy in 1998.
"He's holding his fingers up right next to Dale looking," Childress said. "I know (Earnhardt) would be proud."
The return of the No. 3 was part of an announcement of a sponsorship deal with Richard Childress Racing and AdvoCare, a health and wellness company that will be Dillon's primary sponsor for 20 races next season.
The 21-year-old Dillon made his Nationwide debut in 2008 and has four top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
"The way we laid the plan out, we didn't want to carry him too fast," Childress said. "I've seen so many good young talented drivers come along that would be pushed into a series. ... We've watched him, we felt he was ready."
Richard Childress is returning to the Nationwide Series after a one-year hiatus. The team won 56 races in the series since 2000, with Kevin Harvick (2001, 2006) and Clint Bowyer (2008) winning driver championships.


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BETHESDA, Md. — Bill Haas made the long walk across a makeshift bridge and under the grandstands to the 18th green for the trophy presentation, high-fiving kids along the railing and raising his cap to thousands of fans who cheered as they saw him coming.
His victory Sunday in the AT&T National was even sweeter when he compared it with all the times he failed.
"As many times as I've choked and hit bad shots and I've been nervous and it hasn't worked out — I was feeling all those things today — and to hit good, quality golf shots down the stretch is such a good feeling," Haas said. "I wish I could explain it. It's amazing."
His golf spoke volumes.
Haas pulled away from a crowd of contenders with three straight birdies, two good pars and one good hop. It led to a 5-under 66, giving him a three-shot win at Congressional over Roberto Castro and putting him into distinguished company on two levels.
Haas has won at least one PGA Tour event in each of the last four years, joining Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose. And he kept the pedigree of champions at the AT&T National on a day when a half-dozen players were trying to win their first PGA Tour event. In the seven-year history of the tournament, Rose was the lowest-ranked player to win. He was No. 35 when he won at Aronimink in 2010. Haas started the week at No. 29.
Haas is honest to fault, which explains why he is too hard on himself. He talked about how he "threw up on myself" at Riviera when he lost a three-shot lead in the final round, and he twice used the word "choke" in describing past failures.
"That's terrible to say that 'I choke' and 'I throw up on myself,' but I'm just honest that I did that," he said. "But go from there. How do you get better? Don't do it again, you know? That's my best statement. Just don't do that again. Today, I didn't do it. I think it makes it that much sweeter, too, when you can remember the times you stunk."
He made only one bogey, making good on his pledge Saturday to clean up his card after a third round that included a triple bogey on the 11th hole.
As many as six players had a share of the lead at some point until Haas rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 8. Worried about a splotch of mud on his ball, he hit his approach to just inside 12 feet for birdie on the par-5 ninth, and then hit a 5-iron to 10 feet for another birdie on the 10th.
Haas led by at least two shots the entire back nine, though he never allowed himself to think about winning until he stood over a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole and realized he had three putts to win.
"I just kept the ball in front of me," Haas said. "Nothing too crazy."
The 31-year-old won for the fifth time in his career, and this was the first one with Tiger Woods on the property — not to play, but to hand out the trophy. Woods sat out this week with an elbow injury and won't play again until the British Open, though he was impressed with what he saw.
"He played beautifully today," Woods said. "He handled his business through the tougher stretch of holes and pulled away."
Castro, part of a four-way tie for the lead at the start of the final round, made Haas work for it.
"He didn't make any mistakes, and the birdies on 9 and 10 were big," Castro said after his 69.
The other leaders fell away. Andres Romero had a double bogey on the fourth hole and shot 75. James Driscoll didn't make a birdie in his round of 74.
Jordan Spieth, the 19-year-old from Texas who needs a win to become a PGA Tour member and be eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs, started his day by holing out from a fairway bunker for eagle and chipping in for birdie to tie for the lead. He dropped a shot at No. 11 — the hardest hole at Congressional — about the time Haas was on his critical run of birdies. Spieth had a 69 and finished sixth, pushing his earnings for the year over $1.1 million.
Castro bogeyed the opening hole, and that was his only mistake. He was one shot out of the lead at the turn, couldn't match birdies with Haas at the par-3 10th, and then stuck with him the rest of the day.
"It helped that Roberto played so well," Haas said.
Haas, who finished on 12-under 272, never allowed himself to think about winning, even after he seized control around the turn. Congressional wouldn't let him. Even though he made 15 birdies on the weekend, he remembered the triple bogey on the 11th hole Saturday that temporarily derailed him.
This time, he found the fairway, hit onto the green, took two putts for par and exhaled.
Haas saved par from a bunker on the par-3 13th with a 6-foot putt that swirled 360 degrees around the cup before falling, and then picked up an unlikely birdie on the 14th when his 9-iron was drifting toward a mound covered with shaggy rough to the right of the green. It hopped off the mound to about 10 feet, and he went from a possible bogey to a birdie when he made the putt.
He made one more birdie with a wedge that checked up a foot from hole on the par-5 16th, and Haas was on his way.
The biggest struggle after that was hoisting the silver trophy of the U.S. Capitol over his head in the stifling heat of the closing ceremony on the 18th green.
Haas was still smarting over losing a three-shot lead in the final round at Riviera, making five bogeys in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of his round. He had the 36-hole lead at the Memorial until a 76-71 weekend.
He was solid on Sunday at Congressional, and the win moved him to No. 7 in the FedEx Cup standings with the playoffs about two months away. That's important to Haas, who won the FedEx Cup in 2011 and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship last year.
D.H. Lee made nine birdies to match a tournament-best 64 and tied for third with Jason Kokrak, who briefly shared the lead on the front nine and had a 69. Stewart Cink closed with a 67 and finished alone in fifth, his best finish on the PGA Tour in stroke play since he won the British Open four years ago at Turnberry.


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• amen •
Pronunciation: ah-men, ay-men • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Interjection, Noun
Meaning: 1. (Interjection) Used at the end of a hymn or prayer, to express assent firmly. 2. (Noun) The act of saying "amen", used mostly in the phrase "to say 'amen' to". 3. The end or completion of something, as to live a life to its amen.
Notes: Today's Good Word goes mostly unnoticed. Back in the 60s this joke made the rounds: "Why do we say 'amen' and not 'awomen'?" The reply: "Because it comes at the end of a hymn, not a her." (I'll admit, it is a joke better spoken than written.)
In Play: We don't want to start pray in or singing hymns in this section, so we are left with the nominal sense to work with: "Someone said they needed a drink after the contentious office meeting, and Tom Collins replied, 'Amen!'" Everyone said 'amen' to the proposition that office meetings no longer be held.
Word History: Today's Good Word comes from Latin amen, borrowed from Greek amen, which in turn was borrowed from Hebrew 'amen "truly, certainly". Amen in Hebrew was used adverbially as an expression of agreement. The West Semitic root was a-m-n "to be firm, reliable", probably seen again in mammon, Hebrew mamon. Those who advance this view proposed an later meaning of a-m-n was "security" or "deposit". Mamon originally meant "wealth, riches", and only in the New Testament was this idea personified, converting the love of money into a demigod. (We can all say "Amen!" to an expression of our appreciation to Dawn Shawley, the translation manager at Lexiteria, the parent company of alphaDictionary.com, for suggesting today's Good Word.
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!


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African pygmy hedgehogs are not pets, says RSPCA
The RSPCA says the exotic animals are a considerable commitment and would need a large temperature-controlled enclosure to mimic where they come from in the wild with space for digging, foraging and exercise.
RSPCA exotics senior scientific officer Nicola White said: "It is difficult to adequately meet the animal's needs in a household environment and, where these needs can't be met, the animal really should not be kept."
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Hide AdThe warning about the craze comes after one hedgehog was found abandoned at a London Underground station.
The hedgehog, now named Paddington, was spotted in a hamster carrier at Edgware Road on August 11.
RSPCA animal collection officer Jill Sanders said: "I was relieved that the little hedgehog was still alive as it was far too cold for him.
"He was crammed into a tiny cage and must have been very disoriented and frightened."
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIt is not clear if someone accidentally left the animal behind or abandoned it on purpose.
The animals would need an enclosure of between 24C to 30C. Anything hotter and the animal is likely to suffer heat stroke while a temperature lower than 18C can induce torpor, a form of hibernation, the RSPCA warned.


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Plymouth, Mich. – January 26, 2011 – Lycera Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering an innovative approach to developing novel oral medicines to treat autoimmune diseases, today announced positive data from the University of Michigan demonstrating the role of bioenergetics in selectively inhibiting pathogenic lymphocytes while preserving and enhancing the normal immune system. The findings, published online today in Science Translational Medicine, support Lycera's promising novel therapeutic approach to treating a broad spectrum of immune diseases.
Cellular bioenergetics is a field of biology focused on studying how energy is made and utilized in living systems in both normal, healthy cells and disease-causing cells. Lycera's bioenergetics program is focused on developing orally available small molecules that exploit bioenergetic abnormalities in pathologically activated lymphocytes and result in the selective silencing of these cells, while keeping healthy immune cells intact.
The data show that bioenergetic and redox properties of alloreactive T cells differentiate them from other proliferating cells and can be exploited pharmacologically to arrest graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in mice. In the study, treatment with Lycera's prototype compound Bz-423, a first-in-class F1F0-ATP synthase inhibitor, induced selective apoptosis of alloreactive donor T cells and reversed GVHD in several bone marrow transplantation models without affecting hematopoietic stem cell engraftment, immune reconstitution or normal resting lymphocytes.
"The preclinical data suggest that alloreactive T cells rely primarily on oxidative phosphorylation for their energy, challenging the current paradigm that activated T cells meet their increased demands for energy through aerobic glycolysis," said lead author Gary D. Glick, Ph.D., Lycera founder and chief scientific officer, and Werner E. Bachmann Collegiate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan. "This difference, along with the phenotype of T cells, provides a mechanistic basis for the specificity of Bz-423 to eliminate disease causing cells. The specificity and the ability to preserve normal immune reconstitution differentiate Bz-423 from high dose systemic steroids, the current standard of treatment for GVHD. Efficacy has also been demonstrated in autoimmune disease models where pathogenic cells have similar bioenergetic characteristics. The robust body of preclinical research is very compelling, and we look forward to entering the clinic with our lead compound in Lycera's bioenergetics program this year."
The researchers tested the potential of Bz-423 to halt the progress of established GVHD in two allogeneic bone marrow transplantation models. Treatment with Bz-423 significantly reduced GVHD clinical scores after one week and improved survival in mice compared to controls treated with vehicle (75% vs. 29%, p< 0.02). Similar improvement in survival was seen when treatment was continued for 10 weeks (74% vs. 29%, p=0.02). In another aggressive model of GVHD using a fully allogeneic donor/recipient strain combination, Bz-423 treatment for seven weeks again significantly reduced all clinical and histological parameters of disease. Bz-423 did not impair immune reconstitution in either the thymus or spleen and all the mice treated with the drug showed complete donor bone marrow engraftment. Additionally, the compound's favorable toxicity profile is consistent with other studies and with the normal bioenergetic and redox profile of rapidly proliferating bone marrow cells (basal rates of oxygen consumption, normal levels of anti-oxidants and stable mitochondrial membrane potential).
The Science Translational Medicine paper titled "Manipulating the Bioenergetics of Alloreactive T Cells Causes Their Selective Apoptosis and Arrests Graft Versus Host Disease," was published today online at www.ScienceTranslationalMedicine.org, and will appear in an upcoming print edition of the journal.
About Cellular Bioenergetics and Bz-423
Cellular bioenergetics is a field of biology focused on studying how energy is made and utilized in living systems in both normal, healthy cells and disease-causing cells. Cells generate adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) by aerobic glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. Despite the importance of having sufficient ATP available for the energy dependent processes involved in immune activation, little is known about the metabolic adaptations that occur in vivo to meet the increased demand for ATP in activated and proliferating lymphocytes.
Lycera has unique expertise in the emerging area of cellular bioenergetics. The aim of Lycera's bioenergetics program, which originated from the lab of Dr. Glick at the University of Michigan, is to develop orally available small molecules that exploit bioenergetic abnormalities in pathologically activated lymphocytes and result in the selective silencing of these cells. Testing has been conducted in preclinical models of lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, graft-versus-host disease and other medical conditions. The mechanism has been supported by extensive published and unpublished work over the past eight years and has generated multiple potential drug candidates. Preclinical data characterizing the metabolic phenotype of pathologically activated lymphocytes were published in Lupus in July 2010.
Bz-423 is an important prototype for Lycera's bioenergetics program. The data with Bz-423 provide strong validation of the mechanistic approach. The company has identified other compounds that act through this same mechanism and will be the basis of further advancement in the program.
About Autoimmune Diseases
Serious autoimmune diseases are a major and growing public health problem. An autoimmune disorder is a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. There are more than 80 different types of autoimmune disorders1, and approximately 50 million Americans, or one in five people, suffer from autoimmune diseases2.
Currently available biologic drugs are typically very costly and have been associated with significant risks including opportunistic infections and death. Despite these limitations, they generate more than $13 billion in annual sales. There is a clear need for oral drugs that demonstrate the efficacy of biologics, but with improved safety and administration profiles.
About Lycera
Lycera Corp. is focused on the discovery and development of selective, small-molecule immunomodulators for the treatment of patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. Lycera is developing drug candidates that target two novel therapeutic pathways and have the potential for first-in-class oral efficacy without the adverse effects of current standard-of-care antiproliferative and immunosuppressive agents. Lycera is focused on the emerging area of cellular bioenergetics to selectively target and silence pathologically activated cells. The company also has a program targeting the Th17 pathway through the inhibition of ROR-gamma. Lycera's leadership team and advisors represent the core thought leaders in immunology, inflammation, organ transplantation and kinase biology and are responsible for key advances and discoveries in these fields. Visit www.lycera.com for more information.
1 Medline Plus, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000816.htm.
2 American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, http://www.aarda.org/q_and_a.php.
Science Translational Medicine


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Time Traveler by Tom Burgoon
Time Traveler by Tom Burgoon
George Washington Takes an Incredible Trip into the Unknown!
The Story: I'm sure you've all heard the story of George Washington crossing the Delaware River during the battle of Trenton in 1776. But there's a strange tale about this even that the history books seem to have left out. It seems that as Washington was crossing the Delaware with his troops they encountered very rough waters not to mention huge pieces of ice. As Washington stood perched surveying the river, the boat struck an unseen piece of ice just below the surface.
Washington fell from the boat into the icy river. (DROP DISK INTO GLASS) the troops frantically tried to rescue their leader but the ice and rough water made it impossible. George Washington, The Father of our Country, had apparently drowned. Now for the really weird part, As the saddened troops finally reached the opposite side of the river they were stunned to see George Washington standing on the bank without a scratch and bone dry! Needless to say the attack on the English went on as scheduled. (THE GLASS IS SHOWN EMPTY and THE COIN IS REPRODUCED from the POCKET)
The Theory: Some say George Washington fell into a type of Time Vortex that projected him into the future and across the river. Washington had absolutely no recollection of what happened after hitting the ice water. He never spoke of the event again.
Comes complete with secret gimmick and routine!


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ODD-NUMBERED street addresses should sprinkle between the hours of 7 and 11 a.m. or between the hours of 7 and 11 p.m.on dates of the month having an odd number.
EVEN-NUMBERED street address should sprinklebetween the hours of 7 and 11 a.m. or between the hours of 7 and 11 p.m. on dates of the month having an even number.
The watering of trees, shrubs, flowers and gardens shall be permitted at all times provided such watering is done by means of handheld devices. Watering by "soil soaking" method also shall be permitted.
During any period in which an extreme water supply shortage exists in the Village, as determined by the Mayor, no water from Village water mains shall be used for any purpose outside a residence, business or other building, other than for the extinguishing of fires or other emergencies.
Violation of this ordinance may result in a fine. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact Westmont Public Works at 630-981-6270.
Show All Answers
Complete the on-line form below, call the Village Clerk's Office/Water Billing: 630-981-6220 or visit us 31 W Quincy Street, Westmont, IL 60559-1865 Contact the respective sanitary district to establish your sewage account. If you live west of Cass Avenue call Downers Grove Sanitary District at 630-969-0664, east of Cass Avenue call Flagg Creek Water Reclamation at 630-323-3299 In addition to setting up your account, the Clerk's Office will: * Contact Waste Management for the delivery of recycling bins for residents.
Call the Village Clerk's Office/Water Billing: 630-981-6220 or visit us 31 W Quincy Street, Westmont, IL 60559-1865
* Contact the respective sanitary district to terminate your sewage account. If you live west of Cass Avenue call Downers Grove Sanitary District at 630-969-0664, east of Cass Avenue call Flagg Creek Water Reclamation 630-323-3299
Residential renters are required to place a $50.00 deposit in order to set up water & garbage service in their name. Commercial property renters are required to place a $60.00 deposit in order to set up water service in their business name. Contact Waste Management 1-800-964-8988 to set up disposal service. Residential and Commercial deposits will be applied towards your final bill. Credit balances will be refunded via check.
* Please note that water rates are typically adjusted each year. The following rates went into effect May 2023.
* All water rates are billed at 1,000 gallons.
* First 1,000 gallons an additional $5.00 fixed connection service fee.
IN VILLAGEResidential…………..…………..…......$11.17 per thousand gallonsCommercial & Multi-Family………$12.17 per thousand gallons
OUTSIDE VILLAGE LIMITSResidential…..................................$16.76 per thousand gallonsCommercial & Multi-Family…..….$17.76 per thousand gallons
Please see the Recycling and Garbage Collection webpage for current rates.
Map link provided below: Pickup Schedule: Westmont provides a comprehensive solid waste collection program. Three vehicles collect materials on each pick up day. One truck picks up garbage, another picks up recyclables and a third truck picks up yard waste (April 1st to November 30th). The Village contracts these services through Waste Management (800)-964-8988. Pickups are made once per week in each quadrant of the Village. Wednesdays are reserved for commercial/business pickups. Every week residents are to use the 96 gallon (all green in color) waste container provided by Waste Management and can put out one large item out for disposal (no additional garbage cans, must be under 50 pounds and no electronics). Any additional garbage requires a red garbage sticker for removal by Waste Management. Residents should place their garbage, recyclables (container green and yellow in color) and yard waste next to each other 3 feet apart out for pickup on the morning of or evening before their collection day. (Recycling is picked up every other week. Please see recycling FAQ) Holiday Pickup Schedule: During the year, there will be six holidays on which garbage, recycling, and yard waste will not be collected: Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day New Year's Day During these weeks, collections will be made one day late from the observed holiday through the end of the week, with the final pickup day being Saturday.
Day 1 Bill is mailed.Day 20 Total bill amount is due. Day 21 10% late charge is assessed.Day 26 Late notice mailed.Day 33 Shut-off notice is mailed. Day 45 Termination of service.
Westmont citizens age 65 and above who live in an owner-occupied, single-family residence may receive a 25% discount on their recycling and waste hauling bill. To participate, qualified citizens must fill out the Senior Recycling & Garbage Discount Form, provide proof of age, proof of property ownership, and must currently reside at the address. For more information regarding this program, contact the Village of Westmont Business Office at 630-981-6220.
To pay in person (Checks, Cash, Visa & MasterCard):
Please come to the Village Hall, located at: 31 West Quincy St. Westmont, IL 60559-1865
To pay by mail: (Please use the enclosed envelope.)Village of Westmont31West Quincy StreetWestmont, IL 60559-1865
Please write your account number on your check and make the check payable to the Village of Westmont. DO NOT SEND CASH. Using the envelope provided with your bill include the remittance portion of your bill along with your check.
If you use online banking, please use the Village hall address and remember to include your complete account number:31 W Quincy StreetWestmont, IL 60559-1865
To pay via the the internet click on the Make A Payment button and follow the instructions.
Payments are accepted at the Clerk's Office Cashier Window or use the 24 hour Depository Box located on Quincy Street, 100 feet west of the Westmont Train Station Depot. Remittances made before 7:00 a.m. are credited to the prior day; after that time, payments are credited to the current day's business. Direct Debit is available. Visit the Village Clerk's Office or download the application from our website.
Questions about water quality or service problems:Call Public Works: Water Division at 630-981-6270
Questions about late payments:Call Village Clerks: Collectors Office at 630-981-6220


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Enjoy! I especially love the sounds of the whales about 3/4 of the way through - please listen/meditate to the whole song. It is a little over an hour long but definitely worth it. Please share as mentioned below as this truly is a gift of healing for all of humanity.
Musical rapture - A Healing Gift for Humanity
A Healing Gift for Humanity
June 21, 2011, Solstice
Precious Hearts, I would like to share with you information about a sacred and wondrous musical gift that is being given to Humanity. The Divine Intent of this gift is to assist each of us through the physical challenges we are experiencing as we move through this auspicious time. Please read these words with an open heart and an open mind. We have been longing for the time when Heaven and Earth would come together to assist us in our endeavors to transform this planet and ourselves. This is that moment.
I would like to share a little background about this musical gift. 2011 began with an incredible influx of Light. On December 21, 2010, we experienced the Solstice and a very powerful Full Moon Lunar Eclipse. The synchronicity of these two events occurring at the same time had happened only one other time in the past 2,000 years.
That Lunar Eclipse took place within two degrees of the Galactic Center, which opened a mighty portal of Light from the Core of Creation into the Center of the Earth. The Light of God that poured through that portal initiated incomparable pivotal changes for all Life evolving on this planet.
Once the portal was opened, the Light of God built in momentum until the New Moon Solar Eclipse which took place on January 4, 2011. During that monumental influx of Light, Lightworkers around the world joined hearts with the Company of Heaven and cocreated a NEW Planetary CAUSE of Divine Love. The powerful Light that bathed the planet during that two-week period catapulted every atomic and subatomic particle and wave of Life on Earth further up the Spiral of Evolution. This paved the way for a God Victorious 2011 which is a year that the Beings of Light have heralded as "The Transfiguring Year of Rebirth and Renewal."
On Christmas Day, in the midst of that incredibly powerful influx of Light, our beloved son Joao got sick. On December 29, 2010, he passed away from complications with pneumonia. Joao was 42 years old. He left behind his wife and three beautiful sons. Since his transition, Joao has shared with his Father and me that his time on Earth was complete. He said that he was able to move directly into the Light and that he is now working with Archangel Michael and the Legions of Healing. He said that he will be able to "Gift" Humanity in our service to the Light in ways that he could not accomplish from the physical plane.
When Frederic Delarue, a wonderful French musician, received my e-mail announcing our son's transition into the Light, he said he felt very connect to Joao's soul. Frederic said that he knew Joao was trying to connect to with him and that he needed to be at Joao's Celebration of Life ceremony, which took place on January 8, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona.
Once Frederic made the heart commitment to attend the service in Tucson, Joao began communicating with him. Joao asked Frederic if he would accept the responsibility of receiving a musical transmission that would be a legacy for his family.
Frederic agreed to Joao's request without knowing any of the specifics about the music. After Frederic returned from Joao's Celebration of Life ceremony, Joao began to reveal to Frederic just what this music would be, a Healing Gift for Humanity.
When Frederic Delarue was 12 years old he had a near death experience after which he realized he was given an amazing gift of music. When Frederic was 13 years old the Angelic Music of the Spheres began flowing through his hands as he played people's soul songs. He just quieted himself, moved his own consciousness aside, and the music of the person's soul flowed through his hands.
For the next few months after Joao's transition, Frederic said that Joao would come to him and tell him some things about the music and how it was to be distributed. Then, just before Easter, Frederic awoke with a powerful heart prompting to go to France immediately, so he made arrangements and flew to France. During the month of May while he was in France, he went to Rennes-le-Chateau on several occasions. Rennes-le-Chateau is a sacred focus of Mary Magdalene, who is at this time working with Mother Mary and all of the Feminine Aspects of our Father-Mother God to bring to the consciousness of the world the return of the Divine Feminine, our Mother God, or as we have often referred to this Aspect of Deity, the Holy Spirit. Frederic said that when he sat in the church and contemplated the Presence of Mary Magdalene, he had a miraculous experience that transformed his life. He returned home a different person. He knew that his experience with Mary Magdalene was a necessary factor in preparing him to receive Joao's gift of healing music for Humanity.
During the month of May, while this initiation was occurring for Frederic in France, Mother Mary was assisting every one of us in a miraculous way. Over 40 years ago Mother Mary told us that prior to Humanity's embodiment this time she had made a covenant with every man, woman, and child on Earth. She said that in the not too distant future, when Humanity was open and receptive to the influx of Divine Love from our Mother God, the Holy Spirit, she would draw us into her Temple of the Immaculate Heart and assist our I AM Presence to expand the Threefold Flame in our heart to its original size. She said that this would greatly enhance our ability to receive and assimilate the frequencies of Divine Love from our Mother God and the 5th-Dimensional Realms of God's Infinite
The Threefold Flame in our heart originally enveloped our physical, etheric, mental, and emotional bodies. It was the perfect balance of our Father God's Blue Flame of Power, our Mother God's Pink Flame of Divine Love, and the Son and Daughter of God's Yellow-gold Flame of Wisdom. It was the true reflection of the Holy Trinity. When we fell from Grace we closed our hearts so we would not feel so much pain. This blocked the portal through which our Mother God's Love entered the world. This caused our Threefold Flame to become imbalanced, which caused us to lose the awareness of our Mother God. Our Threefold Flame eventually shrunk to what we now refer to as the "spark
of Divinity" in our hearts. Well, now that we have cocreated a NEW Planetary CAUSE of Divine Love everything has changed!
This May as we each slept at night, our I AM Presence escorted us into Beloved Mother Mary's Temple of the Immaculate Heart in the Inner Planes. Within her focus of Light, Mother Mary helped our I AM Presence to expand the Threefold Flame in our heart to its original intensity. This is the fulfillment of the covenant Mother Mary made with each one of us prior to this embodiment.
On June 10th, Frederic sent me an e-mail and said that he wanted to talk to me about Joao's music. I did not know anything about Frederic's trip to France and he did not know anything about the gift that Mother Mary was giving to Humanity during the month of May. We talked about those things and he said that since he returned from France, Joao would not leave him alone about the music. He said Joao seemed to feel that there was now an urgency to make this music available to the world. Frederic asked me to ask Joao about the music to be sure that the message he was receiving was correct.
That night I asked Joao about the music and Frederic's information. Joao said that all was in readiness, and that it was time for this music to be made available to the world. He said for me to let Frederic know that Sunday, June 12th was Pentecost, the day that is celebrated as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Mother, and that there would be a greatly amplified influx of our Mother God's Divine Love on that day. Joao gave me a quote to include with the music that he would play through Frederic's hands. This is the title of the music followed by Joao's quote:
A Healing Gift for Humanity
Celestial Music from Joao Cota-Robles
through Frederic Delarue
"The frequency of this Celestial Music communicates with the Divine Intelligence of the body at a cellular level raising the consciousness of each cell. As the music soothes and comforts the cells, the body's natural ability to heal itself is enhanced.
"This sacred music is compatible and works in harmony with every healing modality or medical treatment a person may choose to experience. The music resonates with an additional blessing for everyone who is dealing with any form of cancer.
"This music is a gift from On High and it is never to be bought or sold. Please share this information with everyone you feel would benefit from this sacred gift of Celestial Music."
Joao Cota-Robles
The next morning Frederic e-mailed me and said, "This is the day." It was Pentecost. Frederic said that early that morning Dr. Florence Phillips, who was the only Minister to allow him to do his work with the Angelic Music of the Spheres without conditions, passed away from cancer after being in a deep coma.
Right after I received the e-mail from Frederic Joao's Dad called me into the kitchen to see a magnificent White Dove that had flown into our garden. We have lived in our home for 45 years and we have never seen a White Dove in our garden.
Frederic prepared his equipment and turned everything on so that he would be ready. When the time was right, Mary Magdalene expanded her luminous Presence and held Frederic and Joao in the embrace of her radiant Light as Joao played his healing music through Frederic's hands.
Joao said this music is encoded with frequencies of healing that Humanity has not been able to reach until now. This is being made possible because of the expansion of Humanity's Threefold Flame, the return of our Mother God, and her monumental influx of Transfiguring Divine Love. He said for Frederic and me to make the highest possible resolution of the music available to Humanity. Otherwise, some of the new healing tones might be missed.
Joao said the Company of Heaven is going to help anyone who wants the music to have access to it through his or her own computer or through the computer of someone they know. He said all is in Divine Order; all Frederic and I need to do is make the music available through the highest possible resolution for anyone who wants to experience it.
The complete CD of "Musical Rapture" is 62 minutes long. You may download this sacred music for FREE from my website: www.eraofpeace.org
The FREE mp3 download is also available on Frederic Delarue's website: www.FredericDelarue.com
To protect the integrity of this Celestial Music, it has been copyrighted in Frederic Delarue's name and all rights are reserved. The music is never to be bought or sold.
We have also produced a 15-minute YouTube video of the music, so you can see what a sample of it sounds like and you can let the members of your family and friends who you feel may be interested in this Healing Gift for Humanity know about the music.
If this link does not work, please copy it and paste it into your browser.
It is not by chance that this Gift of Healing Music is being given to Humanity at this time.
Remember, we are in the midst of one of the most powerful influxes of Light we have ever experienced. This summer the Company of Heaven is standing in readiness awaiting the invitation to intervene in our lives. Powerful celestial alignments are occurring that will help us release and let go of the behavior patterns that have kept us stuck in our dysfunctional human miscreations. This is an incredibly powerful and sacred time. This month we will experience three eclipses and the June Solstice, all of which will provide unique opportunities for Humanity to add to the Light of the world as we pave the way for the unprecedented influx of Divine Love that will be secured in the physical plane through every person's Heart Flame, in August 13-18, 2011. For details about this event you can go to my website and click on the box that says 25th Annual World Congress on Illumination.
Each of these alignments will build on the previous influx of Light which will catapult the Earth and ALL her Life further up the Spiral of Evolution. This will move us a quantum leap toward our ultimate goal of Ascension into the 5th-Dimensional frequencies of Divine Love and Unity Consciousness.
June 1, 2011 - New Moon Solar Eclipse
June 15, 2011 - Full Moon Lunar Eclipse
June 21, 2011 - Solstice
July 1, 2011 - New Moon Solar Eclipse
August 13-18, 2011 - Securing Humanity's newly created Planetary CAUSE of Divine Love in the physical plane of Earth through every person's newly expanded Heart Flame.
Patricia Diane Cota-Robles
New Age Study of Humanity's Purpose
a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit educational organization
Phone: 520-885-7909
New Age Study of Humanity's Purpose
PO Box 41883,
Tucson, Arizona 85717


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NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M SLI
The NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M SLI is a high-end DirectX 11-compatible graphics solution for laptops, consisting of two GeForce GT 750M. Each card has a 28nm GK107 core based on the Kepler architecture. With SLI, each card usually renders a single frame (AFR mode). Therefore, it may suffer from micro stuttering in low fps ranges of 30fps. This happens because of different timespans between two frames (e.g., irregular delays between sequential frames).
The GK107 Kepler core offers two shader blocks, called SMX, each with 192 shaders for a total of 384 shader cores that are clocked at the same speed as the processor core. Although more shader cores are available in the Kepler architecture as compared to the Fermi design, the Kepler shaders are expected to be up to two times more power efficient. However, due to the missing hot clock of the shader domain, two shaders of a Kepler chip are as fast as one shader of a Fermi chip, even though Fermi shaders are clocked at twice the speed.
PCIe 3.0 is now supported by the mobile Kepler series and GPU Boost 2.0 can automatically overclock the card if the laptop cooling system allows it. This feature is available on any notebook with a graphics card of the 700M series.
Equipped with fast GDDR5 memory, the GT 750M SLI performs similar to a single GeForce GTX 675MX or GeForce GTX 770M. Depending on the game, there can be big differences here, depending on how well SLI scales in a particular case. Overall, most current games (as of 2013) can be played fluently in 1080p and (very) high settings.
The feature set includes support for up to 4 active displays. Furthermore, high resolution monitors of up to 3840x2160 pixels can now be connected using DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a if available. HD-Audio codecs, such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, can be transmitted via bitstream mode through the HDMI port.
The 5th generation PureVideo HD video processor (VP5) (also integrated in the GK107 core) offers hardware decoding of HD videos. Common codecs such as MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264 and VC1/WMV9 are fully supported up to 4K resolutions while VC1 and MPEG-4 are supported up to 1080p. Two streams can be decoded in parallel for features such as Picture-in-Picture. Another feature is the inclusion of a dedicated video encoding engine similar to Intel QuickSync that can be accessed via the NVENCI API.
Power Consumption
The power consumption of the GeForce GT 750M SLI doubles compared to a single 750M, reaching about 70 - 80 W. As a result, the Nvidia GPU is only suited for larg gaming notebooks.
GeForce GT 700M Series
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | N14P-GT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | Kepler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pipelines | 768 - unified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Core Speed | 967 MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Speed | 2000 - 5000 MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Bus Width | 2x 128 Bit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Type | DDR3, GDDR5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Max. Amount of Memory | 2x 2048 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shared Memory | no | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
API | DirectX 11, Shader 5.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transistor Count | 1.3 Billion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
technology | 28 nm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | GPU Boost 2.0, PhysX, Verde Drivers, CUDA, 3D Vision, 3DTV Play | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notebook Size | large | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of Announcement | 01.04.2013 |


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The reason a BART train got stuck in the Berkeley hills tunnel this morning is that an electrical short caused the emergency brakes on one of its cars to suddenly activate while it was traveling at full speed at about 70 mph, a spokeswoman for the transit agency said.
BART spokesman Alicia Trost said shorts are "quite rare" for BART and have only happened three times this year.
Jim Allison, another spokesperson for BART, said the 10-car train, which was traveling from Pittsburg/Bay Point to San Francisco International Airport and was carrying 600 to 700 passengers, gradually stopped on its own when the brakes activated at about 8:20 a.m.
The brakes are friction brakes that have pads and the activation of the brakes created brake dust that got into the impacted train car from its intake system, Allison said.
The train was stuck in the tunnel for about an hour but finally arrived at the next station, the Rockridge station in Oakland, at 9:34 a.m.
Oakland fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said medical crews treated 11 passengers at the station, nine of whom were taken to local hospitals with breathing problems and other issues. She said there didn't appear to be any major injuries and there wasn't a fire or any smoke.
Drayton said medical personnel came to the Rockridge station at 8:45 a.m. and had the situation under control by 10:30 a.m.
BART's Orinda and Rockridge stations were closed while the train was stuck in the tunnel and BART service was impacted for several hours, as some trains were operating at reduced speeds for a time.
Allison said BART resumed full speeds on both of its tracks at 11:25 a.m. but there were still residual delays until noon.
Allison said the materials on the brake pads that were affected in the problem today are "organic," meaning that they are carbon-based and don't contain any toxic materials that might have harmed passengers.
He said the train that was stuck in the Berkeley tunnel was taken out of service at the Rockridge station and was then moved to the nearby MacArthur station in Oakland.
Allison said the train will be taken to one of BART's maintenance yards when BART service shuts down for a few hours overnight.
Will Wilkins, 42, made it back home in Brentwood after sitting for an hour on the disabled BART train.
Wilkins was heading from Pittsburg/Bay Point to his IT job in San Francisco when the train stopped in the tunnel.
"At first when the train stopped, people were annoyed," he said.
But when a smell, which he described as similar to electronics burning, and a visible haze filtered into the car, people became concerned, he said.
He said after a while the smell dissipated and "that's when people got more jovial."
Initially he, and his fellow passengers, thought the train was burning, he said.
"I instantly took inventory of everything I had and consolidated it," Wilkins said. "I wasn't going to panic; it wouldn't serve a purpose."
The train operator at one point walked the length of the train and told those more affected by the smell to head to the front cars.
Wilkins said there were some people in his car coughing and others who were sensitive to the air quality.
His car, filled with mostly commuters, were all on their phones once the train stopped, he said.
Wilkins said social media was more informative than information BART was telling passengers. He read some tweets aloud to those sitting near him, he said.
Once the train eventually made it to Rockridge station on its own power, Wilkins said he didn't feel well with a splitting headache. He waited for trains to resume service and decided to not go into the office.
Given the long-lasting ordeal and potential for chaos, he said, "Everyone handled it really well."
Jeff Shuttleworth/Sasha Lekach, Bay City News


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To place underneath a homemade biscuit topping, a mixture of onions, carrots and garlic was softened in just a touch of olive oil. While the original recipe didn't call for fresh garlic, I thought it would be an appropriate addition, especially given the recipe name... so we tossed a couple minced cloves in. We tossed the sirloin in and let the crumbles gain a bit of color before adding a couple cups of homemade marinara sauce that we also had stashed away in the freezer. Jarred sauce would certainly be fine, but just be sure to use a favorite that has plenty of flavor coursing through.
After giving the beefy mixture a few minutes to bubble and thicken, we divided the saucy concoction between four ramekins. If you don't have any of those handy ramekins, you could use a smaller casserole dish or even a larger loaf pan, if needed. With a few strokes of a sturdy wooden spoon, we prepared the rosemary-scented biscuit dough to scoop on top to cap these individual pot pies off. Rosemary wasn't the only ingredient flavoring these biscuits; we also tossed in a grating of fresh Parmesan cheese for a sharp note.
While the filling is completely cooked, you'll need to bake these ramekins long enough to lift the biscuit dough to a light golden brown. Quite hearty, these pot pies were homey, comforting and didn't take too long to throw together! If the biscuit topping doesn't strike your fancy, how 'bout whipping up a batch of mashed potatoes (using the same rosemary and Parmesan additions!) and piping or dolloping them on instead to twist this more towards being a shepherd's pie?
Italian Pot Pies


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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A year of upheaval at the U.S. Interior Department has seen dozens of senior staff members reassigned and key leadership positions left unfilled, rules considered burdensome to industry shelved, and a sweeping reorganization proposed for its 70,000 employees.
The evolving status quo at the agency responsible for more than 780,000 square miles (2 million square kilometers) of public lands, mostly in the American West, has led to praise from energy and mining companies and Republicans, who welcomed the departure from perceived heavy-handed regulation under President Barack Obama.
But the changes have drawn increasingly sharp criticism from conservationists, Democrats and some agency employees. Under President Donald Trump, the critics say, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has curbed outside input into how the land is used and elevated corporate interests above the duty to safeguard treasured sites.
The differing views illustrate longstanding tensions over the role of America's public lands — an amalgam of pristine wilderness, recreational playgrounds and abundant energy reserves.
A year into his tenure, Zinke, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and Montana congressman, has emerged as the point person for the administration's goal of American "energy dominance." He's targeted regulations perceived to hamper development of oil, natural gas and coal beneath public lands primarily in the West and Alaska.
He's also made plans to realign the agency's bureaucracy, trimming the equivalent of 4,600 jobs — about 7 percent of its workforce — and proposed a massive overhaul that would move decision-making out of Washington, D.C., relocating headquarters staff to Western states at a cost of $17.5 million.
The intent is to delegate more power to personnel in the field who oversee activities ranging from mining to livestock grazing to protecting endangered plants and animals.
Staffing reductions would be achieved through natural attrition and reclassifying some positions to lower pay grades as employees are moved outside the D.C. area, Zinke spokeswoman Heather Swift said Monday.
Zinke's actions have stirred dissent within and outside the agency — from his claim that one-third of Interior employees were disloyal to Trump to a proposal to allow more drilling off America's coasts while carving out an exception for Florida at the request of Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
Along with Zinke's full-throated promotion of the Trump administration's new agenda came the transfer of at least 35 senior Interior employees. Among them was Matthew Allen, who was demoted from assistant director of communications at the agency's Bureau of Land Management.
He's now in a new position, performing "nonspecific duties" in an Interior branch that oversees offshore drilling. Allen sued in December, challenging his reassignment as retaliation for his support of government transparency.
"There appears to be a collective effort to suppress information being shared with the public, the press and the Congress," he said.
At the agency's highest levels, 11 leadership positions are vacant a year after Trump took office, including the directors of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.
Panels such as the National Park System Advisory Board have languished, according to a letter submitted by board members who resigned last month. Board Chairman and former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, complained that requests to engage with Zinke's team were ignored and members were concerned stewardship and protection of the parks was being pushed aside.
When the Park Service in October proposed increasing entrance fees at 17 of the most highly visited parks — from Grand Canyon to Yellowstone and Zion — the board wasn't consulted, said Carolyn Finney, a University of Kentucky geography professor who was among those who resigned.
"How do we make parks more accessible? It's cost," Finney said. She said the fee increase would hinder the ability of a "more diverse and wider group of the public to visit the parks."
The board's charter expired in December after it collected comments from more than 100 experts on how parks should deal with climate change, increase visitor diversity and protect wildlife.
Zinke's associate deputy secretary, Todd Willens, called the resignations a "political stunt" because another meeting was planned and because the agency was working to renew the board's charter.
Similar action has been promised for idled advisory boards at the Bureau of Land Management. Under Trump, the charters for 22 state-level resource advisory councils — composed of local officials, representatives of business and environmental groups and others — expired in January.
Some expired months ago and at least 14 remained so as of Friday. Interior representatives did not respond to numerous requests for information on the status of the other councils.
The councils make recommendations on activities on public lands, such as whether off-road vehicles should be allowed in wildlife habitat or whether logging could help prevent wildfires.
Zinke suspended the panels for five months in May as part of a review of more than 200 boards and advisory committees. Some had not met in years. Congressional Democrats objected, saying the move would stifle non-governmental views on how U.S.-owned land is used.
Swift said it was "common practice" to periodically renew and refine the panels' charters.
Oil and gas groups in particular have embraced the concept of change for an agency once seen as an obstacle to drilling. The withdrawal or cancellation of Obama-era rules on fracking and methane emissions from oil and gas exploration were positive first steps, they say.
Next comes getting Interior staff on board, said Kathleen Sgamma with the Western Energy Alliance, which promotes giving oil and gas companies' access to federal lands.
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the House Natural Resources Committee's ranking Democrat, said Zinke's actions have made it easier to pollute federal lands and waters while giving special interest groups more influence.
"He's in over his head," Grijalva said.
Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at www.twitter.com/matthewbrownap.


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Two interesting news items have recently caught my eye. One from the New York Times "Libraries See Opening as Bookstores Close" and one from the Daily Telegraph "Bookshop numbers halve in just seven years" I don't think there should be any surprise that bookshops are continuing their decline - over 1 per day in the UK would seem to be the average, and there are a variety of reasons that are being given for it. Amazon is blamed of course, as are supermarkets, and eBooks come in for a fair amount of stick as well. The Telegraph quotes the figures that British consumers spent £261 million on e-books this year, almost double the £138 million spent in 2011. At the same time physical book sales fell from £3.3 billion last year to £3.1 billion this year.
The Telegraph article doesn't mention libraries, while the NYT is almost exclusively focussed on them, taking the view that libraries are replacing bookstores. The point is however being almost entirely being missed. The only thing that bookshops and libraries have really got in common is that both of them use the printed word as a coin of activity. For bookshops, that's their only coin - they just exist to sell books, and there's nothing wrong with that - it's what they've always done, and it's what they'll always do, until the final one closes its door. Or they diversify within their niche. A good example of this is Forbidden Planet - which I've been visiting for years. I just visited the website and it's branding itself as a cult entertainment megastore, and that's a pretty good description, since it sells books, comics, games, models, clothing, posters, toys and so on around the area of science fiction. I visit it every time I'm in London, and I'll usually find something to buy. However, thinking about it, I don't tend to visit it *as a bookshop* I visit because I want to see what's going on. I'm very unlikely to buy a Dr Who model, but I like to see what's there, but in getting me there, I'm going to see what's available in the way of Dr Who books. comics and other merchandise. FP as it is fondly known caters to a very specific community - of science fiction and fantasy fans, as well as general book readers and comic consumers. It also has a very nice website to back up the stores, and it has very knowledgable staff. In actual fact, it sounds to me as though it's more like a library than a bookshop really - because what it's really doing is providing a service to a community.
Libraries do not provide books. I'll say it again. Libraries do not provide books. They provide access to entertainment, they provide formatting options that members can use to read what interests them. They provide access to computers and so on. But that's just the trappings, and it's all too easy to confuse that with the real purpose of the library, which is to serve and hopefully improve the community that it it is in, and the people of that community which make up its members. I go into a bookshop and I buy a book, then I leave. Sure, I might wander around a bit, but it's a pretty cold and calculating transaction. If I come out without a book, the bookshop has essentially failed in its primary purpose, which is to make money out of my purchase of a book. However, I can walk out of a library empty handed, but I could have used a computer, been taught something, had an opportunity to work with a librarian to research something, have filled out an online form, have discovered how to take an ex employer to a tribunal, have got a lead for a new job and so on.
I really rather hope that libraries DON'T replace bookshops, because I wouldn't want them to dilute their offerings to me. It's much more important to a community that we protect the library than the bookshop, because sad to say, we can manage more easily without bookshops than we can without libraries. A bookshop is for the few, a library is for everyone. Of course, I hate the idea of bookshops closing - I can't resist peeking into them whenever I can, but if a bookshop is to survive it needs to change - the bookshop needs to become more like a library, a library doesn't need to become more like a bookshop.


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24 Nights | Canada
About Halifax, Nova Scotia
You will visit the following 13 places:
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire "New England" region. The city proper had a 2009 estimated population of 645,169, making it the twentieth largest in the country. It is also the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called "Greater Boston", home to 4.5 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country. Greater Boston as a commuting region includes six Massachusetts counties: "Essex", "Middlesex","Norfolk", "Suffolk", "Plymouth", "Worcester", northern "Bristol" County, all of "Rhode Island" and parts of "New Hampshire"; it is home to 7.6 million people, making it the fifth-largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States.
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was incorporated in 1904 and dissolved on August 1, 1995, when it was merged into the regional municipality. It is the largest urban centre on Cape Breton Island. Together with Sydney Mines, North Sydney, New Waterford and Glace Bay it forms the Industrial Cape Breton region. Sydney is located on east bank of the Sydney River where it discharges into South Arm of Sydney Harbour.
Halifax, legally known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a major economic centre in Atlantic Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, Dalhousie University,Saint Mary's University, the Halifax Shipyard, various levels of government, and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of the municipality. Halifax was ranked as the fourth best place to live in Canada for 2012, placed first on a list of "large cities by quality of life" and placed second in a list of "large cities of the future''. Additionally, Halifax has consistently placed in the top 10 for business friendliness of North and South American cities. Waterfront warehouses known as the Historic Properties recall Halifax's days as a trading hub for privateers, notably during the War of 1812.
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It has a latitude of 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state, and is a popular tourist destination. It is the heart of Icelands's cultural, economic and governmental activity. The city itself is spread out, with sprawling suburbs. The city centre, however, is a very small area characterized by eclectic and colourful houses, with good shopping, dining, and drinking.
St. John's
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. St. John's was incorporated as a city in 1888, yet is considered by some to be the oldest English-founded city in North America. Situated on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, it is one of the world's top ten oceanside destinations. Its name has been attributed to the feast day of John the Baptist, when John Cabot was believed to have sailed into the harbour in 1497, and also to a Basque fishing town with the same name.