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Is sugar a toxin? Experts debate the role of fructose in our obesity epidemic
American eaters love a good villain. Diets that focus on one clear bad guy have gotten traction even as the bad guy has changed: fat, carbohydrates, animal products, cooked food, gluten. And now Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California at San Francisco, is adding sugar to the list. His book " Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease " makes the case that sugar is almost single-handedly responsible for Americans' excess weight and the illnesses that go with it. "Sugar is the biggest perpetrator of our current health crisis," says Lustig, blaming it for not just obesity and diabetes but also for insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, stroke, even cancer. "Sugar is a toxin," he says. "Pure and simple."
His target is one particular sugar: fructose, familiar for its role in making fruit sweet. Fruit, though, is not the problem; the natural sugar in whole foods, which generally comes in small quantities, is blameless. The fructose in question is in sweeteners — table sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, maple syrup, honey and others — which are all composed of the simple sugars fructose and glucose, in about equal proportions.
Although glucose can be metabolized by every cell in the body, fructose is metabolized almost entirely by the liver. There it can result in the generation of free radicals ( damaged cells that can damage other cells) and uric acid ( which can lead to kidney disease or gout ), and it can kick off a process called de novo lipogenesis, which generates fats that can find their way into the bloodstream or be deposited on the liver itself. These byproducts are linked to obesity, insulin resistance and the group of risk factors linked to diabetes, heart disease and stroke. (Lustig gives a detailed explanation of fructose metabolism in a well-viewed YouTube video called "Sugar: The Bitter Truth.")
Everyone agrees that fructose can be metabolized that way, but not that it always is metabolized that way when people consume it in moderate amounts. In rats, the link between fructose and metabolic diseases is so well established that researchers who want to study insulin-resistant rats feed them fructose to get them to that state. Fructose metabolism research in people, though, is limited by scientists' inability to kill their human subjects in order to dissect their livers and is further complicated by variation from human to human: Race, sex, exercise, melatonin, probiotics and antioxidants, among other things, affect how our bodies deal with fructose.
In some human studies, large doses of fructose have certainly been shown to do harm, and alarmingly quickly. One 2009 study fed 16 men a controlled diet, then that same diet plus a fructose supplement that added 35 percent to their calorie consumption, and found fat deposits on their livers, increased triglycerides and insulin sensitivity after just one week. But as the fructose dose decreases, so does the strength of the link to disease. Luc Tappy of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland concluded in a recent paper that, although large doses of fructose undoubtedly cause problems, "there is no solid evidence that fructose, when consumed in moderate amounts, has deleterious effects."
Tappy, one of the prominent participants in the fructose debate that Lustig ignited, gives voice to the position that many doctors and scientists share: Sugar is a bad guy, but not the one, overarching bad guy. "Telling people the problem is all fructose is completely wrong," says Walter Willett, chair of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health. "In the amounts being consumed, sugar can lead to serious damage and premature death. I think it's fair to say that's toxic," he says. "But it doesn't mean everything else is good."
Read Lustig's book carefully, and it's clear that his position isn't as radical as his sound bite implies: He believes that moderate consumption of fructose is safe. The "likely" safe threshold, he says, is 50 grams per day — which translates to 100 grams, or a quarter-cup, of sugar that's half fructose. Average daily American consumption of added sweeteners, according to the USDA, is 95 grams — just under Lustig's threshold. And our consumption is decreasing, down from a peak of 111 grams in 1999.
Lustig's colleagues may be less frustrated by his assessment of fructose than they are by his campaign to vilify it. He chooses not to emphasize his position that the average American intake of fructose is safe: He mentions it once in his book and not at all in his 90-minute video. He's also familiar with all the fructose research and concedes that the evidence for its toxicity isn't ironclad.
Yet he's willing to call it a poison because he believes that waiting for a fuller understanding is not a responsible option.
Lustig works with obese children; he's deeply concerned about their health and their prospects, and he wants to tackle head-on the problem he believes is at the root of their suffering. "The only thing that matters is fixing it," he says. "The fact is that everyone, whether they believe the mechanism or not, is saying we need to reduce our sugar intake."
Asked whether he uses words like "poison" and "toxin" to attract attention to the problem of sugar, he says, "In part, of course." And it's a strategy that's working. The fructose controversy has been featured in prominent media outlets, including the New York Times Magazine, Scientific American and National Geographic, which put the story on its cover.
But there's a downside to Lustig's tactics. A recent editorial in the journal Nature acknowledged the resonance of simple messages and addressed the problem of sacrificing nuance to get attention: "It is risky to oversimplify science for the sake of a clear public-health message. . . . [S]imple messages and themes are seductive. . . . Black-and-white messages can cause confusion of their own."
Frank Hu, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health who studies the link between sugar and health, gives Lustig credit "for raising awareness about sugar," but he shares other scientists' concerns: "People think if they take care of fructose, their diet is healthy."
Tappy believes that, given the complexities of how foods interact with each other and with the human body, focusing on any single nutrient is a mistake: "An approach to fight obesity has to be targeted at multiple components of our diet and lifestyle." Willett agrees, saying, "We have to find a way to say something is a big problem, a serious problem, but only part of the bigger picture."
Until we do, we'll have to be content with the idea that sugar is a big problem, a serious problem, but only part of the bigger picture.
For study details:-Click Here!


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Photo by Michael Marsland/Yale University Office of Public Affairs J. Willard Gibbs served as Professor of Mathematical Physics at Yale from 1871 until his death in 1903, during which time he made fundamental contributions to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. To honor Gibbs, Yale was among the original set of physics historic sites chosen by the APS Historic Sites Committee in 2005. For scheduling reasons, however, the plaque presentation ceremony was not held until this year. On April 20, members of the Yale Physics department and guests gathered in Sloane Physics Laboratory to celebrate the occasion. Standing, left to right, are Yale Physics Chair R. Shankar, APS Editor-in-Chief Gene Sprouse, and Yale Provost Andrew D. Hamilton, who is explaining the impact that Gibbs had on Yale and on science. Listening intently are the Chair of the APS Historic Sites Committee, John Rigden (seated at left) and J. Willard Gibbs himself (perched on the easel). After the ceremony, the audience was treated to a lecture on Gibbs by Yale historian of science emeritus Martin J. Klein, the first recipient of the APS Pais Prize for history of physics. |
APS encourages the redistribution of the materials included in this newspaper provided that attribution to the source is noted and the materials are not truncated or changed.

subset: commoncrawl


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Between the Avenue Montaigne, the Champs Elysées Roundabout and the Grand Palais, the Maison Champs Elysées is in the heart of Paris's "Golden Triangle". Exquisite luxury stores and top fashion designers, the Grand Palais, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and many more of Paris's wonders are a short walk from this superb hotel that offers a dream like bubble of tranquillity in the midst of the city. Parking is available at the hotel.
- La Maison des Centraliens
- 8, rue Jean Goujon
- 75008 Paris
- + 33 1 83 79 25 18 firstname.lastname@example.com
- email@example.com


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Pearl onions (Recipe: root-vegetables-with-beef stew)
When Ted and I first started dating, a hundred million years ago, he seduced me with a very romantic dinner of beef bourguignon. Chunks of beef, mushrooms, pearl onions, red wine sauce....
One bite, and I was smitten. (Truth? I was smitten long before that, but I'm not sure he knew it.)
I've never made beef bourguignon, and Ted's never made it again, either — after all, he got the girl — but over the years we've experimented with many variations on beef stew.
The only thing I don't like about making stew is peeling the dozen or more little onions that, for some reason, absolutely have to be in there. My eyes start to burn, and the onion skins get stuck to my skin. I love Ted, and he loves stew, so we've both struggled for years to peel through the tears.
A few months ago, quite by chance, I watched an episode of Barefoot Contessa that changed my cooking life. There was Ina Garten, one of my kitchen idols, dumping a bag of frozen pearl onions into her beef bourguignon. Wow! That was the permission I needed; if it was good enough for Ina, it was good enough for me.
I'm a very recent convert to frozen vegetables, but I do understand the concept of IQF: freeze things at their peak of flavor. I keep a few vegetables in the pantry freezer to add to soups and stews when I can't get fresh veggies during the winter months, but why go back to peeling little onions, when I can open a little bag?
Thank you, Ina!
Root-vegetables-with-beef stew
Heavy on the root veggies, this is a wonderful stew that can accommodate your personal preferences in the vegetable department. Like all stews, it improves with age, so make it a day ahead if you have time. Can be frozen, but it rarely lasts that long in our house. Serves 8-10.
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 lb beef stew meat (chuck, bottom round, etc.), cut in large chunks
1 cup flour
1 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, whole
1 Tbsp thyme leaf, or a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 bottle red wine
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp oyster-flavor sauce
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1/2 tsp paprika
4 large carrots, cut into chunks
1 package (16 oz) frozen pearl onions
8 small red-skinned new potatoes, cut into chunks
1 large rutabaga, wax coating removed, cut into chunks
2 small purple-topped turnips, peeled, cut into chunks
4-5 parsnips, peeled, cut into chunks
Heat oil in a very large stockpot (12 quarts or larger). Dredge meat lightly in flour and, adding a few pieces at a time, brown meat thoroughly on all sides (remove the pieces as they're browned, into a bowl; when all of the meat is browned, add back the reserved meat and juices).
Add sliced onion, and the garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the onion becomes translucent. Then, add the thyme, bay leaf, wine, mustard, tomato paste, oyster sauce, honey, peppers and paprika. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to lowest simmer.
Cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Add all of the vegetables and cook, covered, for another hour until all of the vegetables are tender (the potatoes will start to fall apart a bit). The sauce will thicken nicely, but if you'd like it thicker, stir in a solution of 1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp water.
Serve in large bowls with some crusty bread.
Disclosure: The Perfect Pantry earns a few pennies on purchases made through the Amazon.com links in this post. Thank you for supporting this site when you start your shopping here.


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TiVo Slide remote QWERTY vs. TiVo peanut remote - TiVo Slide remote control
The TiVo Slide remote with QWERTY exposed and older peanut remote side-by-side, both available at the TiVo Store.
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Royal Purple Raceway is regarded as one of the Supertracks of the NHRA circuit. This weekend it showed why as it played host to the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Baytown, Texas only has one major motorsports facility, and when the NHRA comes to town it experiences a huge influx of fans, racers, and media alike. The low altitude and coastal weather conditions have made this track known for record-breaking performances. This weekend was no different because the Traxxas John Force Racing Team was shooting to break some records of its own!
Friday's great weather and track conditions enabled some monster runs during the first qualifying session. The first round results left a huge smile on Courtney's face. Her Traxxas Funny Car ran a 4.150, the quickest of all the John Force Racing Drivers. John Force made a solid run of 4.212. However teammates Mike Neff and Robert were not able to get down the track cleanly. On their runs, each went up in smoke at nearly the same point, around the 200-foot mark.
Robert Hight ran a 4.153 during the second qualifying pass, getting him solidly into the show. John Force and Mike Neff had minor problems during their passes, only running a 4.269 and 4.318, respectively. Courtney's Traxxas Funny Car had a unique issue when one of the spark plugs shot out during its pass. There was a small flame as a result, and Courtney wisely shut the car down early to prevent catastrophic failure. At the end of Friday, Courtney would remain qualified sixth, Robert in seventh, and John in tenth. Mike Neff had yet to lay down a good pass and make the show.
Saturday was predicted by the many of drivers to be another great day of fast runs and low E.T. When the initial qualifying session rolled around, that was not the case. The track was hot and the air was marginal, which put the crew chiefs to work on how to get their 8000 horsepower cars down the track. At least half of both Top Fuel and Funny Car teams were unsuccessful. Out of all the John Force Racing drivers, only Robert Hight was able to better his Friday time running a 4.14, the fastest pass of all Funny Car that round. Courtney did manage a 5.065, but both Mike Neff and John Force didn't even come close to making a good pass, and that left Neff with only one more pass to make the show. It wasn't going to be easy, as conditions got even worse as the day progressed.
For the final qualifying pass, both Robert and John must have been running the same setup during their final qualifying pass, because both of them went up in smoke right around the 150' mark. The Traxxas Funny Car made it all the way to half-track before losing grip. The track was so hot and slippery that only a few drivers were able to better their qualifying times. Mike Neff didn't let the pressure or heat get to him as he ran a 4.166 at 306 mph, finally putting him into the show.
Sunday's weather turned out to be even hotter and more humid. Luckily for the fans at Royal Purple Raceway, it didn't affect racing. Most of the teams stepped up to the challenge and put their racecar down the track. In round one the only John Force Racing driver that didn't make it past round one was John himself. Both Mike and Robert defeated their opponents and Courtney Force finally got her chance to face off against Alexis DeJoria. Both Alexis and Courtney made a great pass down Royal Purple Raceway, but it was Courtney's Traxxas Mustang that got to the stripe first running a 4.126! Courtney was now slotted to run Ron Capps in second round. She had lane choice and chose the left lane for the second time in a row. Her Traxxas Mustang only managed a 4.17, which wasn't quite enough to take down Capps who ran a 4.165. Mike Neff and Robert Hight advanced to the semi-final round after their wins in round 2.
In the semi-final round, fans got to see what hasn't happened since Pomona in the season opening race; Robert Hight losing a round of competition in Funny Car. His Auto Club Traxxas Funny Car hazed the tires near the 800' mark and Ron Capps managed to slip by him to advance to the final. Mine Neff had another solid run making his way past Jeff Arend running a 4.176. Mike lost lane choice for the final, but that didn't matter. His Castrol GTX Traxxas Mustang got down the track without problems and Capps' car slipped right near the end, just enough to let Neff rocket by for the win.
Mike Neff's win keeps the John Force Racing winning streak alive at 6 wins in a row, dating back to the season opener at Pomona. Neff also adds his name to the Traxxas Nitro Shootout board, only the third different name to get entered to the Funny Car list this year.
The next stop on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series is Commerce GA for the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals. Traxxas, as usual, will be there with our full line of RC cars, support staff, and mobile hobby store. Fans will have a chance to drive a 1/16 Traxxas rally car, a 1/10 Traxxas Slash, and get to watch our professional RC drivers show the power and strength of the 65 mph Brushless E-Revo! If you are in the area, swing by and check us out. If you can't make it to the track, check out facebook.com/traxxasracing for news, pictures, and an inside look at Traxxas!
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Case Studies
Material Flow Solution - Thorough Rationalisation in Production and Distribution is an Absolute Necessity
Schmalz is the world's leading partner for vacuum gripping systems in automation technology. Innovative and complete vacuum automation systems permit a smooth and fully automated material flow. The reduced set-up times result in shorter amortisation periods. Multifunctional palletising and depalletising systems ensure high productivity and availability, together with optimal utilisation of the available working area
These and other benefits convinced a customer, who was looking for a supplier to build and equip the material-flow and handling periphery for their production lines for folded cardboard boxes.
Schmalz was commissioned with the design and manufacture of a multifunctional vacuum gripper. This gripper, mounted on an articulated-arm robot, grips the corrugated-cardboard boxes full of folded cardboard boxes, or the bundles of folded boxes, for transfer from the production lines to the pallets.
The problem:
- Rationalisation of the periphery of three parallel gluing lines for folded cardboard boxes.
- The cartons containing the folded boxes must be palletised fully automatically, including the insertion of intermediate layers of cardboard.
- Optimal utilisation of the pallets and thus of the available storage space.
- Short cycle times, high availability of the system and free access to the production lines.
- Products: corrugated-cardboard boxes and bundles of folded cardboard boxes
Length: 200 to 700 mm
Width: 180 to 400 mm
Height: 200 to 480 mm
Weight: about 3 to 25 kg (in exceptional cases 30 kg)
Intermediate layers of cardboard:
Size: 800 to 1200 mm
Grammage: 200 to 700 g
The requirements:
- Total output of the three lines: about 600 cartons (12 pallets) per hour
- Gripping time <1 s
- Release time <1 s
- Flexible adaptation to different corrugated-cardboard boxes or bundles of folded boxes
The solution:
The concept developed by Schmalz in cooperation with technology partners was a central palletising system which, thanks to modern robot kinematics, was very compact and space-saving.
The multifunctional griping system mounted on the articulated-arm palletising robot uses intelligent vacuum technology:
- It is extremely flexible and grips boxes of various sizes, bundled goods and the intermediate layers of cardboard with one and the same gripper.
- The goods to be packed and the intermediate layers are positioned quickly and precisely.
- High performance thanks to the use of high-tech control and drive technology.
The gripper:
- 6 parallel aluminium beams (length 600 mm, cross-section 40x40 mm)
- Each beam is equipped with six suction pads of the type FSGA 63 NBR with flow resistors (to maintain the vacuum even when some pads are not in contact with the workpiece)
- A total of 36 suction pads on six beams
- Plates mounted above the beams stabilise the workpieces to prevent them from swinging during high acceleration
- Vacuum generation and control
o The gripper has three separate vacuum circuits.
o Each of these circuits is provided with vacuum by a multi-stage ejector of the type SEM 100 and has its own compressed-air control valve.
o The vacuum is regulated to suit the differing workpieces. - Vacuum and system monitoring
o Each vacuum circuit has its own digital vacuum switch (VS-V-W-D) in order to detect when its suction pads are in contact with a workpiece (part-present monitoring on the gripper).
o If the pads of a circuit are not in contact with the workpiece, the circuit is deactivated.
o This Intelligent control system reduces the consumption of compressed air and thus reduces the
operating costs!
Customer benefits:
- High productivity thanks to short packing cycles
- Short gripping times and, at the same time, safe and reliable gripping
- No need to convert the system when orders are changed, since the extremely flexible gripper adapts itself to the differing workpieces
- Extremely careful handling of the goods thanks to vacuum technology
- 99% availability of the system
- Amortisation in three-shift operation within 1½ - 2 years
Schmalz is the leading supplier of Vacuum Automation Components as well as Robotic and Gantry style Vacuum Gripping Systems. Schmalz supplies modularly constructed area and layer vacuum grippers for flexible handling of varying material properties, configurations and shapes - such as non-rigid cardboard boxes, plastic film and porous materials. Schmalz grippers can handle varying dimensions and undefined positions. The product range of Vacuum Components includes suction cups in (11) standard materials and cup lines for special industry needs, e.g. Automotive cups or cups for the Packaging industry. The product range also includes vacuum generators, mounting elements and system monitoring devices. Schmalz, founded in 1910 in Germany, is family owned and operated in third generation. Schmalz is one of the few positive-energy companies worldwide and has been rewarded for its sustainability several times. Schmalz is DIN ISO 9001 and DIN ISO 14001 certified for more than 10 years.
Schmalz Inc., founded in 1999, is the US-subsidiary of Schmalz. Located in Raleigh, NC, Schmalz Inc. has its own outside sales force and Authorized Schmalz Distributors in all states. Schmalz Inc. is committed to provide an outstanding and timely service nationwide.


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As nanoscale circuits continue to shrink, electrical resistivity increases in the wiring and limits the maximum circuit speed. A new simulation program developed by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and George Washington University (GWU) can be used to predict such increases with greater input flexibility and model accuracy than other methods. The software program is expected to help the semiconductor industry design and test devices more efficiently and with greater cost-effectiveness.
On average, an electron can travel only 39 nanometers in pure, bulk copper at room temperature before it is scattered by thermal vibrations of the copper atoms. But, as the dimensions of the wiring shrink, additional scattering by surfaces and grain boundaries within the metal lead to undesirable increases in resistivity. The NIST/GWU computer program, described in a recent paper in Microelectronics Reliability,* enables users to examine how these additional mechanisms alter the resistivity of the thin, narrow metal lines that make up the circuit wiring.
As described in the journal article, NIST researchers used the simulation program to demonstrate that, at critical nanoscale dimensions, electron scattering from surfaces and grain boundaries have effects that are interdependent. This interdependence could not be predicted using methods previously available. The finding has implications for both achievable circuit speed and electrical measurements of the dimensions of thin, narrow lines.
For information about obtaining the software code and a forthcoming NIST technical report on the project, contact Richard Allen at (301) 975-5026 or richard.allen [at] nist.gov (richard[dot]allen[at]nist[dot]gov).
A.E. Yarimbiyik, H.A. Schafft, R.A. Allen, M.E. Zaghloul, D.L. Blackburn. 2005. Modeling and simulation of resistivity of nanometer scale copper. Microelectronics Reliability. Posted online Dec. 19.


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Small and mighty, the Optimum series sealed cabinet subwoofer delivers 2400 watts of dynamic power and 1200 watts of continuous RMS power at over 95% efficiency. A single touch of the EQ button allows the room bass correction system to automatically adjust the 7-band digital equalizer, providing optimized performance for any home entertainment system. The front panel display lets you know exactly what's going on with an intuitive, instantaneous readout for ease of use. Kevlar reinforced drivers feature multi-layer, resin cones mounted in die-cast aluminum baskets with massive structures. These signature subs combine beautiful styling, unmatched performance, low distortion, ease of use and incredible dynamic
Sale Price:$1,169.42


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Back in early April, we asked you to share your best personal branding tips. We got nearly 50 tips from readers.
The insight and innovative ideas you shared in those tips impressed us.
In fact, we thought the tips were so good, we compiled them into a downloadable document. That way, you can hang on to the document, post it on your own blog or website, print it out, or otherwise use it for inspiration about building a personal brand for you, as the business owner.
Feel free to share this PDF document, link to it or post it on your blog or website, print out copies and share it with your staff – the document is yours to use and share.
Congratulations and thanks to all who shared tips. Once again, we learn from one other.
Download your copy of Best Personal Branding Tips (PDF).


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Does James Murdoch protest too much?
The younger Murdoch, onetime heir to his father Rupert's News Corp. throne, drew headlines earlier this month when he stepped down as head of the conglomerate's scandal-ridden U.K. arm, News International, where he oversaw his father's British newspaper empire—including the Sun, the best-selling tabloid currently beset by a police investigation into payment of public officials and News of the World, which was shuttered this summer at the height of the phone hacking affair.
But amid the wash of media ink on James' shamefaced departure, seasoned Murdoch watchers pointed out that the News International post was relatively small fry for the heir—as media analyst and longtime Murdoch expert Claire Enders noted to The Daily Beast at the time, James was likely eager to distance himself from the company's sullied tabloid brand. Unlike his father, who harbors a legendary love for the printed word, the younger Murdoch made his career in satellite TV—and it was his post at the helm of one of News Corporation's most prestigious television properties, the London-based BSkyB, that was believed to be his prime concern.
Murdoch's desire to retain that post is thought to be among the motivating factors for an unsolicited seven-page missive that he sent to British Parliamentarians at the start of the week. It is addressed to the chairman of the parliamentary committee on culture, media and sport—the body, formerly known as a posting for MPs to score free tickets to theater and sporting events, that has morphed—under the initiative of members led by the crusading MP Tom Watson—into a bloodhound on the Murdochs and their phone-hacking trail. It was before this same committee that Rupert and James made their infamous appearance last summer to defend their handling of the crisis—with Rupert getting a shaving-cream pie in the face, and James insisting vehemently that, until only recently, the scale of the problem had been carefully kept from his sight. Now, the committee is deliberating on the conclusions of a highly anticipated report that experts believe could spell serious trouble for James Murdoch, possibly even shaking him in his BSkyB seat.
Was the letter from James a preemptive strike?
"His letter was known to the press before the committee members received it," lamented Watson, the MP, via Twitter last night.
In the letter, James Murdoch reiterated his comments from this summer—which, despite mounting suspicion to the contrary, remain his main defense: that he was not aware of the scope of the problem taking place under his watch, or involved in trying to shield it from view. "It has been suggested that my decision to resign my role at News International reflected past knowledge of voicemail interception or of other alleged criminal wrongdoing at News International. This is untrue," Murdoch wrote. "I take my share of responsibility for not uncovering wrongdoing earlier. However, I have not misled Parliament. I did not know about, nor did I try to hide, wrongdoing. I do not believe the evidence before you supports any other conclusion."
Just what James knew—and when—has become a pivotal point of contention. At issue is a simple question, pegged to a specific point in time: did James know about the problem in 2008 when he authorized a then-unprecedented £725,000 settlement to a victim of phone hacking? If he believed at the time—as both he and the company maintained until recently—that phone hacking was confined to a single rogue reporter, then the settlement is just a thing of the past. But if he were aware of the scope of the problem at the time, then his testimony to Parliament would have been deliberately misleading, as critics accused last summer.
Soon after James' testimony, former News Corp. executives insisted that they had informed him before the settlement that phone hacking was widespread. Later, emails surfaced suggesting that News Corp. executives knew of the extent of phone hacking and had clued James in as well. It has even been it revealed that James was forwarded a chain of emails in the build-up to the settlement—later deleted from his account by an IT worker—that suggested hacking went beyond a single rogue reporter, as the company had previously claimed. James now claims he never read the entire email chain.
James details his side of the email saga in the letter to Parliament, reiterating that he was "confident" he didn't read the full email chain in question, as he received the message on a Saturday afternoon, "when I was likely alone with my two young children." James goes on to assert that the emails have since been taken out of context by a voracious press. "In the context of the surrounding evidence, it is clear to me that the email chain has been widely misreported and misunderstood, as it was not, in any way, a warning … that voicemail interception was widespread." The phrases in the email in question—"unfortunately it is as bad as we feared"; "nightmare scenario"—refer to the amount needed to settle the lawsuit, not the extent of the hacking problem itself, Murdoch contends.
"I did not know about, nor did I try to hide, wrongdoing," Murdoch writes.
The committee's report is expected after Easter. Meanwhile, legal problems for News International continue to mount. Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive, was arrested, along with her husband, on Monday under suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice—her third arrest in the saga so far. And Neville Thurlbeck, News of the World's former chief reporter, was arrested yesterday for witness intimidation after posting the home address of an executive leading News Corporation's internal investigation—which is wildly unpopular among journalists in the company—in a blog post.


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Before The Fast and The Furious, cars were slow and the scenery never got all blurry. Then Din "the Actor" Viesel discovered NOS, and it was good. When equipped with big bottles of Nitrous cars could travel faster than the speed of sound and were finally able to overtake Superman.
As a famous artist once claimed, "When the pimp is in the crib mother, drop it like it's hot, drop it like it's hot."
Nitrous was virtually unknown before the release of the German documentary about Hitler, "Der Faust Unt Der Fuhrernicht". The film shows Hitler installing NOS on his Mercedes Benz 540K, eventually leading to his brainchild, the Autobahn. The plot thickens when he cannot figure out how to keep his floorpans from dropping out. After removing his passenger seat, a tickertape device connected to a typewriter was installed in its place, with LEDs encircling the glass dome. The SS was ensured that this was not for aesthetic reasons, but to warn him of manifold failure after several bursts of nitrous through the supercharged V8. His impatience led him to scream, "Mein bodenwannen fällt heraus! SCHEISSE! Die bodenwannen sind einer nuisance-wannen...." Germans everywhere saw the film and demanded a "People's Car with NOS", which Hitler obliged and took credit for. Soon after, NOS spread through Europe, causing blurred vision, vomiting and violent diarrhea. This however was the creation of an economic miracle; Jobs were available to all whom wanted to cruise the autobahns in flatbed trucks gathering scattered floorpans, burned out shells of former vehicles, and scraping the remains of drivers off of the road surfaces.
That film was followed by another, which was the same film, but in a different location.
That film was followed by one that was exactly like the original two films, except that it took place in Tokyo. Oddly, Tokyo looks just like L.A..
That film was followed by another, which again was the same film, but by different people, and with motorcycles. Logically, it was called Torque, a characteristic for which which crotch rockets are known. Most crotch rockets are rotary powered turbo diesel engines with a top RPM of 4,000.
Torque was followed by another, which again was the same film, but by different people, called Biker Boyz, because it had "boyz" who were "bikerz", probably. It would've been best if they'd had a dictionary instead.
Neither of the motorcycle movies had nitrous, but then again none of them were any good, so at least they have that in common (the bit about being bad, not the bit about NOS).
Taken together, all of these films teach you everything you need to know about nitrous, especially films three and four, which didn't mention it even once.
There may have also been another film in there somewhere. It had cars, probably. Maybe scooters. The scooters used the same size NOS tanks as passenger vehicles, so seats were mounted to the tanks for comfort.
The Science Behind NOS, Made Simple[edit]
Scientifically, Nitrous Oxide contains stuff that makes your engine more betterful. The more bottles of nitrous your car has the faster it will be.
You will also need-
- Red NOS seatcovers made of pure asbestos bought from your local car parts store, this is to reduce the risk of fire. Making fire outside good; fire inside bad.
- An eight-inch tach with a 400watt yellow shift light to remind you, while under the influence of NOS, that you have to change gears. Especially if your "whip" is equipped with an automatic gearbox. The tack should sweep up to at least 10,000rpm, as the limit of the tach is the limit of the engine.
- Manifold made of extremely strong material to avoid "manifold failure"
- An unsecured laptop on the passenger seat to warn you of manifold mailure. Or to spool MP3s to the stereo. It's all good.
- Cut out the front driver and passenger floorpans and spot-weld diamond-pattern aluminum (or aluminium) floor plates in their place. These will fall out when you are both fast and furious. The laptop's MP3 decoding software, no matter how advanced, will not warn you of this.
- Have your parents purchase lightweight, carbon fiber seats to replace the slightly heavier factory seats, and blinking LEDs for scattering in various places both in and outside the vehicle.
- Be sure to reinforce the welds on the intake manifold, lest they blow under extreme pressure.
- Build up your car in a montage. Everything works better after a good montage. It does not matter the skill levels of those who help you, as long as the music is loud.
- Vinyl stickers. It doesn't matter if you don't know what the company makes, they'll automatically boost your HP by MaD NuMBAz. A "Powered by Acura" sticker on the fender of your '93 Toyota Camry wagon, for example, is a guaranteed 5-7 horsepower boost.
Installation of NOS[edit]
You need lots of big bottles of NOS. Forget anything you've heard about "jets" or "fuel", and if you've heard of "wet shot" or "dry shot" those are actually porn terms and have absolutely nothing to do with nitrous (except of course, for after the not illegal and not extremely stupid street race, when you hook up with the honeys after not falling off the road, not crashing, and not blowing up the engine in your '77 Ford Pinto[1]).
Be careful your polished aluminum floorboards do not fall out and be careful not to, as Din Viesel said, "burn up your piston rings.". Don't worry about burning up your pistons, dropping a valve at 10,000 rpm, cross threading your iridium plugs, laying an ignition wire against your flakey/crusty headers, or pushing a connecting rod out the side of your block as the piston rings are the only thing that can burn up. ( throw the canisters under the hood they'll sort themselves out)
How to avoid burning up your piston rings is, sadly, not explained in any of the films - this means no one, not even Hollywood, knows how to avoid this. Luckily, as in the first film, rebuilding an engine can be completed in one simple montage (don't forget the background music!)...and if you get a crappy and slow non-turbo MK IV Supra don't forget to act awed and surprised when you pop the hood and find a 2JZGE engine. Also the second film shows that dirty but mint condition R34 Skyline GTR's can be found cheap in the back of shitty used car lots.
Be careful of the Chinese mafia, they have little patience when dealing with Gaijin mechanics that take too long to put Nissan engines into their Acuras, and will subsequently argue over what weight of oil to fill your mouth with. Also, don't make the mistake of sleeping with their sisters; they will avenge this transgression by flagging you down the parking lot of a Golden Buffet, attempt a series of witty comments, and then unload several hundred rounds of ammo into your car.
Don't worry about pesky trivialities like Air-Fuel ratios or "building up" the engine, as NOS will massively increase horsepower on a completely stock engine and never, ever causes your engine to violently disintegerate - provided, of course, that you follow the teachings of Din Viesel exactly.
- Ensure the NOS bottle is full by cracking open the valve and taking a whiff.
- Place bottle in car, take another whiff to make sure it's still good.
- Connect tubing, sniff the end of the tube.
- Close garage door, you want to build up some NOS in the environment.
- Start engine to get environmental NOS into the engine.
- Take a good deep breath from the NOS tube. Repeat.
- Vomit from trace sulfur content in bottle.
- Try to ignore your dead grandmother crawling up your leg with a knife in her teeth.
Enormous additional power increases are guaranteed if you add a K&N filter, coffee can sized exhaust tip (Folgers will do, make sure to paint "Type R" on the side of it), 20" spinning wheels with 8 inch spacers, (This will improve the handling and increase the longevity of your balljoints and wheel bearings) a body kit with a cool name like "Combat" or "Buddy Club" (make sure it comes with a wing that rests no less than three feet off the trunklid), dropped springs (so every time your wheel is anywhere off center you'll hear a cool scraping sound), and LED windshield squirters.
Avoid granny shifting and make sure to double clutch as if you were shifting a non-synchro transmission out of a semi from 1954. Double clutching is used by speed-racers when downshifting; foot off the gas, mash clutch, put tranny in neutral, let off clutch, mash clutch, blip the gas, put tranny one gear lower than before, punch the NOS button and mash the accelerator. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Remember, if you do it right the transmission will make cool grinding sounds. Grinding adds power through weight reduction; the less material on the gear or synchro, the faster it spins!
Or, as Din Viesel said in the historical drama XXX, "Stop thinking Prague police and start thinking Playstation!". Words to live by, indeed.
HowTo:Use Nitrous To Win Friends and Impress People[edit]
After pressing the Nitrous botton installed in your super-car (preferably Japanese, but German steel can be substituted in a pinch), the world around you will blur, accurately portrayed in the computer simulation "Need for Speed Underground" (a sim that's so realistic you can use it to learn how to "drift", (A phenomenon created by setting the front toe angles in separate directions) then use your skills at high speed on real city streets! This is in direct contrast to arcadey games like "Gran Turismo" or racing on sanctioned, safe racetracks - both of which will fail to improve your "skilz", yo).
If you don't have NOS, or if your driver's licence has been pulled because you raced on public streets, this blur can also be simulated by standing up too fast, or by getting really, really drunk. Or standing up too fast.
Be sure to purge your lines at every available opportunity, to ensure that the system is armed with a fresh batch of gas (not to impress passersby and other road users). Do not at any stage take note of bottle pressure or temperature, as only pussies and nerds keep track of things. Time spent to check bottle pressure is better spent polishing the diamond plate floorpan. Chicks dig shiny floors.
Remember, Din Viesel lives his life ten seconds or less at a time. Ten seconds! Or less! At a time! That means Din Viesel is just like a goldfish. Just like a goldfish, indeed.
With NOS you can be just like Din Viesel! Just like Din Viesel, indeed[2].
Fire = Good[edit]
Another important aspect of using Nitrous is the super-heated fire that blazes out of the back of your tailpipe. Fire coming out of the tailpipe is always a good thing and never indicates that your engine is running really, really rich or that the catalytic converter has mere minutes to live. It could also mean your car is on fire, Which also creates power and looks cool, but that only happens if you don't use enough nitrous. Don't worry. To be safe, make sure to replace the cat with a "test pipe", and don't switch it back. That black smoke coming out of the chromed 6" tip is the colour of horsepower!
Without these features, Nitrous would never attain the speeds that it claims on the label printed on the bottle, next to the Expiration date and "for off-road use only". Make sure to leave the nitrous connected when you go to your local emissions station for a smog test. This will cause the exhaust to shoot ubercool fireballs into their diagnostics gear, lowering your emissions and guaranteeing that your car will pass with flying colors.
The NOS Virus[edit]
*** I put this in my gas tank for teh horse powerz!!!1 ***
The "NOS Virus" has recently been identified as the single most crippling attack to Skynet system to date. Little is known of the virus origin, but in 2009 the hacker legend "sti2gsxr" single-handedly hacked a website critically linked to the main internet hub, causing blackouts throughout central Asia and parts of Wisconsin. The site gixxer.com was first introduced to the NOS virus at 3:00pm on 05/19/2009... that's 19/05/2009 to you britts.
The virus is designed to distract global citizens from their daily activities, therefore simply stopping all productivity and development on a global scale.
At this time, there is no known cure for stopping this internet virus, and it has seemed to take on a life of its own. It has been estimated by webmasters that by the end of 2009, the virus will take over all web pages search engines, and direct all internet traffic to the gixxer.com website. From here, it has been established that hacker legend "sti2gsxr" will simply turn off the internet. When asked why he would do such a thing... he was cited to say "Omfg noobs. nobody helpz me got my bike to run!" then babbled something off topic about "how could more octane hurt?"
Network analysts are working on a cure, somehow linked to deleting all avatars. While these solutions are tested, it has been recommended by government officials to avoid energy drinks, and use the internet for its primary functions... searching for porn and playing WOW.
Also Known As[edit]
- NOS (pronounced "NAWZ")
- HIPPY CRACK (in balloons)
- "Boost", "Booster", or "Turbo Nitro Booster"
- Nitro, originally was meant for nitromethane, but to be cool you gotta associate "nitro" with N20
- "Spray"
- Laughing gas (if medical grade)
- Painful, throbbing headache (if industrial grade)
- Naaaaaaaaawwwwwwsssssssssss
- Cop Attractant
- Motor Sploder
- Sti2gsxr
- teh horse powerz
- That explosive stuff used in Fast and Furious
- ^ Your results may vary. It's most likely that, instead of being Din Viesel, you'll continue to be the pale and scrawny suburban brat that you are now. On the plus side, you'll also be dead.
- Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyotas, Nissans, Subarus, Minivans (or any other 60hp factory vehicle) are the only cars NOS stickers should be applied to. If NOS Stickers are applied to Hot Rods, Muscle Cars, Drag cars, you will lose hp and respect from the rice community.


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This article is more than 1 year old
US pokes intelligence agencies into Web 2.0 overhaul
Facespook? Spyspace?
The US intelligence community plans to introduce an information-sharing portal for spies modelled on the operations of well-known parasite advertising operations MySpace and Facebook.
The spook web forum, however, will be taxpayer-supported rather than ad-based, and instead of lists of favourite boy bands it will presumably feature favourite terrorists, cells, doomsday plots, secret weapons, mysterious femme fatales, agents of malign foreign powers, martini recipes, and so forth.
According to a report in the Financial Times, the scheme has been dubbed "A-Space" and is the brainchild of Thomas Fingar, deputy director of US national intelligence for analysis. One of his officials from the office of the director, Mike Wertheimer, is running with it.
"I am unable to send email, and even make secure phone calls, to a good portion of the Intel community from my desktop because of firewalls," said Wertheimer. He finds that efforts to share information between the thousands of analysts working in the many American spook agencies tend to be frustrated by worries about blowing agents' covers and similar concerns.
"The risk for people under cover... is drawn out so starkly, even though it is speculative, that they tend to carry the day."
Wertheimer seems to argue that such concerns led to poor liaison in the run up to 9/11, and so contributed to the definite loss of thousands of innocent American lives - as opposed to the possible loss of an unknown (but presumably small) number of foreign traitors working for America, or perhaps the diplomatic expulsion of their US handlers.
"We are willing to experiment in ways that we have never experimented before," he says.
"It breaks a lot of traditional senses that people's lives are at risk, and how can you take any step that increases that risk."
It appears that the US would like certain unnamed foreign agencies to log on to A-Space, along with the American spook community. These would probably be the British security and secret-intelligence services (aka MI5 and MI6) and the Australian ASIO plus the Canadians and maybe the New Zealanders - the traditional, long-established Anglophone spying axis.
But apparently the Brits et al aren't too keen.
"I would say in the entire community, the folks most virulently against sharing the information are the foreign partners," says Mr Wertheimer.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, has apparently invited the chief executives of Facebook and MySpace to a conference at which the A-Space plans will be discussed. However, Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook is just too busy to do his bit for world security.
A Facebook spokeswoman, according to the FT report, said the decision was purely because of scheduling conflicts. ®


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CO: Secret energy lab spawns million dollar govt employee
By Tori Richards and Earl Glynn | Colorado Watchdog
GOLDEN, Colo. – The federal government's dream of a renewable energy empire hinges on a scrubby outpost here, where scientists and executives doggedly explore a
National Renewable Energy Laboratory campus
new frontier.
If you live outside Colorado, you probably haven't heard of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory – NREL for short. It's the place where solar panels, windmills and corn are deemed the energy source of the future and companies who support such endeavors are courted.
It's also the place where highly paid staff decide how to spend hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars.
And the public pays those decision-makers well: NREL's top executive, Dr. Dan Arvizu, makes close to a million dollars per year. His two top lieutenants rake in more than half a million each and nine others make more than $350,000 a year.
Dan Arvizu
But what is really going on there? Energy expert Amy Oliver Cooke drove out to the site, which looks something like Nevada's Area 51 with its remote location and forbidding concrete buildings. NREL had started a construction project and Cooke wanted to see for herself. She didn't get far: a man in an SUV seemingly appeared out of nowhere, stopped her car, and told her to leave.
"A beefy looking fellow told me, 'It's top secret,' said Cooke, director of the Energy Policy Center at the Independence Institute think tank. "I said, 'I'm a taxpayer and I want to see what you're building' and he said it was it was 'top secret so we can bring Americans a better future.'"
With its bloated budget and overseen by a $533 million a year government-funded management company, Cooke isn't buying it.
"NREL has given us two of the most significant boondoggles, one of them being ethanol and the other being (bankrupt) Abound Solar," she said. "They were part of the team that pushed Abound Solar along. In fact, they wrote in March 2011 on their website how proud they were of their role in abound solar.
"Am I impressed with NREL? No, not really," she said.
Ed Perlmutter
NREL's taxpayer-funded management company has seen its budget more than double since 2006. That's when one of its most ardent supporters, Rep. Ed Perlmutter D-Lakewood, was first elected to Congress. The lab sits in the middle of his district.
But Perlmutter's ties go beyond merely promoting green legislation and lobbying his colleagues for NREL funds. He has received $12,670 in campaign contributions from executives of NREL and its management company, MRIGlobal, a company that describes itself as "an independent, not-for-profit organization that performs contract research for government and industry." Perlmuter's father has served as a trustee for MRI and MRIGlobal during the past decade. Between 2003 and 2005, Perlmutter was also a trustee. These positions were unpaid.
Perlmutter did not respond to phone calls seeking comment for this story.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, NREL started in 1977 as the Solar Energy Research Institute, a Jimmy Carter-era response to the 1973 Mideast oil crisis. Its budget, then about $100 million, was slashed during the Reagan era.
By the time Perlmutter was elected, NREL's budget was $209.6 million. It increased steadily before ballooning to $536.5, a beneficiary of President Obama's stimulus plan and a $135 million contract spread out over five years to construct a new science center. Its current $352 million budget is down slightly from last year's $388.6 million.
From its inception, NREL has been managed by MRIGlobal, back then called the Midwest Research Institute.
To handle lab management, MRIGlobal partnered with Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute, which describes itself as "the world's largest nonprofit research and development organization." The pair formed Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a separate non-profit in 2008, for the sole purpose of managing NREL and installed NREL's top executives as its directors.
Despite record federal debt, municipal bankruptcies and a nagging global recession, those executives enjoy pay packages that are out of reach of most Americans who pay their salaries. MRIGlobal and Alliance tax documents obtained by Watchdog show most earned well into six-figures:
- Dan Arvizu, Alliance president and NREL director
2010: $928,069
2009: $691,570
2008: $652,159
Bobi Garrett
- Bobi Garrett, NREL senior vice president of Outreach, Planning and Analysis
2010: $524,226.
2009: $398,022
- William Glover, NREL deputy lab director and CEO (retired)
2010: $557,571
2009: $407,361
2008: $315,465
- Catherine Porto, NREL senior vice president
2010: $406,339
2009: $223,553
The budget to manage Alliance is mind-boggling — and rising. For 2010, tax documents show, Alliance received $532.9 million from the Department of Energy, a whopping $189 million more than they were paid in 2008.
In 2010, MRIGlobal's tax return shows DOE funding of $104.8 million, while Battelle's tax return reported $4.55 billion in government grants. Its activities included management of five national laboratories (including NREL) and operating as subcontractor at a sixth.
However, at least one expert who has studied NREL doesn't see any problem with the fact that the agency is overseen by a management company.
"I have no problems with the contractors operating the lab. They would do a much more efficient job than the government," said Nick Loris, an energy policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation. "It should lower the cost of these projects."
But what Loris doesn't like is the entire concept of placing the government in a role of making energy affordable. That should be a job for the private sector.
"It's not the government's role to make energy cheaper. There is no reason the taxpayer should subsidize this," he said. "We've seen the failures when the government gets involved in these projects. If they are going to be successful in the marketplace, they wouldn't need help from the government"
In fact, the billions that have been siphoned into renewable energy have yet to produce a fraction of the promised return, Cooke claims.
Solar and wind still remain prohibitively expensive and not viable for general use as are corn and wood chips to fuel cars. Yet NREL labs continue to work to this end. Cooke predicts that numerous taxpayer-subsidized companies will go bankrupt in the coming years just as the overinflated housing market came crashing down.
And it's not just the money, she said. It's the environmental threat.
Solar companies have been fraught with bankruptcy
"I'll tell you what's pollution," Cooke said. "It's solar panels and wind turbines abandoned — things with toxic chemicals in them," she said. "We don't know what's going to happen to these things. What do you do with a farm of abandoned wind turbines that are 500 feet tall?"
Despite its bloated stimulus funding, there are signs of financial trouble at NREL. The company offered to buy out 100 jobs when its budget dropped between 2011 and 2012.
Perlmutter spokeswoman Leslie Oliver expressed concern about the buyouts, calling NREL the nation's green energy "crown jewel" and a driving economic force, the Denver Post reported.
"What about next year?" Oliver said. "Where does this stop?"
On his website, Perlmutter blamed Republicans for the cuts and claimed NREL generates 5,500 jobs. Its direct workforce is listed at 1,700.
By all accounts, Perlmutter's relationship with NREL will continue. He spent two years trying to pass legislation to give solar companies a break with bankers before successfully adding the language to the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.
He is co-chairman of the New Democrat Coalition Energy Task Force, part of the Financial Services Committee. Perlmutter has leveraged that role to keep alive a 20-year-old energy tax credit to producers of wind technology.
That credit would have expired at the end of the year. But the Financial Services Committee produced a bill to extend the credit for another year, which carries a cost of $12 billion over the next decade, The Hill reported. It faces stiff opposition from House Republicans.
Meanwhile, as energy expert Cooke predicts, the green business is still shaking out unsustainable ventures. The Danish wind company Vestas, which has several Colorado production sites, announced on Nov. 7 that it will shed 6,700 jobs through the end of next year.
Who's to blame for the industry's troubles? Government subsidies? Poorly run companies? Insufficient demand? Foreign competition?
Perlmutter blamed the Tea Party.
"It is clean and it is the future of energy production," Perlmutter wrote on his website. "Until the Tea Party took over this has always been a simple, noncontroversial tax credit."
Contact Tori Richards at firstname.lastname@example.com and Earl Glynn at email@example.com.


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The Changing Landscape of Employee Benefits | Ohio Benefit Consultants
There is no denying our industry is changing rapidly, and it's not about to slow down. Combined with disruptive advances in technology and evolving consumer expectations, we're seeing consumer-driven health care emerge. Take, for example, the fact that employees now spend more than nine hours a day on digital devices. There's no doubt that all … Continued


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Remarks by the President at a Working Dinner with SICA Leaders
PRESIDENT OBAMA: (In progress) during this visit. And I want to thank you for your thoughtful presentation about some of the agenda items that we need to address.
We last met as a group during the Summit of the Americas in 2009. And I was mentioning that at that time I had less gray hair than you see today. I know that the United States is technically here in our observer status and sometimes that means that you observe but don't speak, so that I know that you're all indulging me by allowing to say a few words. But I am here more than anything to listen and hear the concerns that all of you have not only individually but collectively as a region.
This is a region that has more than 40 million people. Every day they work to give their families and children a better life, and we're grateful for the strong bonds between the United States and the people who trace their origins to the countries that are represented at this table.
As governments, our job is to make sure that we're doing everything we can to provide security and opportunity and ladders for success and prosperity for our people. Economic growth that creates jobs, security for people so that they can be safe in their own neighborhoods, and development that allows people to live in dignity. And so that's why we're here.
The agenda is a broad-based, socially inclusive agenda that ensures that our entire region and hemisphere are prospering. And in pursuit of that, I think some of the issues that President Chinchilla mentioned are going to be vital.
Number one, we need to think about investments in our infrastructure -- roads, bridges, border crossings, customs, electricity grids; all of which can allow for more trade, more growth, more jobs. As I mentioned as we were walking in, this is a very competitive global environment. And it's important for us to recognize that if the hemisphere is working effectively together, all of us benefit. And if we're not, then we will lose in that competition to other regions. And we know that trade and investment flows to areas where there are strong public institutions, where there's accountability and transparency and effective governance. And I think one of the things that we need to talk about is how we can work together to help each other in those areas.
The second area that has been mentioned is energy. Costa Rica has shown great leadership in clean energy. And as somebody who believes in the challenges of climate change -- and I think that everybody in Central America has to be concerned about that given the history of natural disasters and the severe costs that take place here. We want to continue to pursue a whole range of energy strategies for the future -- solar, wind, hydropower. It is true that the United States has been making great progress in oil and natural gas development due to new technologies. And I know that's something that's of interest to you, so that's an area that we can discuss.
But the bottom line is my concern is helping every country at this table reduce its energy costs, making its economy more efficient because when you have high power costs, that's not only a tax on your citizens effectively, but it's also a situation that impedes growth over the long term. And so that's an area where we're very interested in helping.
Investing in people: In this knowledge-based economy, if we don't have the best workers in the world, the most highly skilled and trained workers in the world, then we're going to lose. And it's important to recognize that we need high-skilled labor throughout the hemisphere because our economies have become more integrated. And if you look at that global value chain, we want to be not at the bottom, but we want to be nearer to the top because that means more prosperity for our people. So everything we can do to train our young people in math, science, technology, and everything we can do pool our resources to help achieve those goals I think will end up benefiting everybody.
And by the way, I think it's very important -- those countries that are succeeding are investing in the development of their young people, not just some young people, but women and girls, indigenous communities. It's important that we don't go onto the field with just half our team. We've got to make sure that the entire team is on the field. That's how we're going to succeed.
And then finally the issue of citizen security: Obviously, that's something that's important. During this trip I've tried to make the point that we are interested in cooperating with every country around issues of citizen security. We know what a major toll it's taken. We are obviously deeply concerned about narcotrafficking and the drug trade.
I was asked a question about this in a press conference that President Chinchilla and I were doing, and the questioner suggested given all the violence that is taking place in Central America, how does America feel about that. And I had to remind people that we have violence in the United States. If you go to my hometown of Chicago, and you go to some neighborhoods, they're just as violence, if not more violent than some of the countries at this table -- in part because of the pernicious influence of the drug trade.
But what I also believe is that we can't just have a law-enforcement-only approach. We also have to have a prevention approach. We have to have an education approach. We have to think creatively because obviously some of the things that we're doing have worked, but some things haven't worked. We've got to think about institution building and capacity in our law enforcement and our judicial systems. Those are all going to be very important, and I know that the work that we've done together has made some progress, but I'm interested in learning more about other things that we can do.
So I've spoken long enough considering I'm an observer, but I just want to again say thank you to all of you for taking the time to come meet with me. I know that all of you are extraordinarily busy and have great demands on your time. So for you to come in is something that I'm very grateful for, and I'm looking forward to a good discussion.


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Tuk Tuk Thai - South Trail Crossing
Tuk Tuk Thai is 'fast and flavourful' authentic Thai dishes handmade with fresh ingredients on site, in a real kitchen.
Tuk Tuk Thai was established in 2015 with the mission to serve authentic Thai food made from natural ingredients and traditional Thai recipes. Our promise of 'fast and flavorful' means that our meals are prepared fresh on-site, so they can be served quickly without sacrificing quality. Packaged in our distinctive lotus flower-shaped takeout box, your meal from Tuk Tuk Thai is sure to surprise and delight.
Calgary ( (listen) KAL-gər-ee) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Calgary is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in the transitional area between the Rocky Mountain Foothills and the Canadian Prairies, about 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies, roughly 299 km (186 mi) south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and approximately 240 km (150 mi) north of the Canada–United States border. The city anchors the south end of the Statistics Canada-defined urban area, the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor.Calgary's economy includes activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors. The Calgary Metropolitan Region is home to Canada's second-highest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations.
Abbeydale, Bayview, Beltline, Bowness, Britannia, Cambrian Heights, Capitol Hill, Castleridge, Collingwood, Crescent Heights, Deer Run, Douglasdale, Dover, Edgemont, Erlton


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Tradeshow Profile:As Malaysia moves towards a high-income nation, lots of emphasis has been put into the manufacturing sector. Kuala Lumpur Manufacturing Expo (KLME) will be the latest edition of effective exhibitions organised by Trade-Link Group Exhibitor's Profile:KLME plays host to six key sectors for the manufacturing industry, namely:
With a comprehensive combination, it ensures exhibitors and visitors alike will find KLME a breath of freshness in their sourcing needs. Visitor's Profile:Offering a wide variety of exhibits to cater for the manufacturing industry. Organizer:Premier Exhibition Services Sdn Bhd Accommodation Options:Rentnow.My Apartments is located conveniently next to PWTC. RentNow Kuala Lumpur Apartments is the official accommodation option of the PWTC Blog and offers a selection of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartments for daily, weekly and monthly rental. Ranging from 800 to 1400 sq ft, guest will find themselves feeling very much at home in our luxury designed apartments. For added convenience our centralized location is only minutes walk from 3 major public transport rail systems. Accommodation Packages:
We also can extend the days and plan some Sightseeing Tours for you to explore Kuala Lumpur or our beautiful surroundings. For more information please see: http://www.rentnow.my |


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My card today was inspired by three challenges this week, Hand Stamped Sentiments, Paper Craft Crew, and Stamp, Ink, Paper.
My card starts off with Tempting Turquoise cardstock. I then took a panel of Whisper White cardstock and the Fabulous Flamingo stamp set to create my scene. I stamped the water image in Soft Sky ink and Tempting Turquoise ink on the bottom and stamped the palm leaf image in Bermuda Bay and Lemon Lime Twist ink at the top.
Next I took a 3″x3″ square of Tempting Turquoise cardstock and embossed it using the Seaside embossing folder.
I stamped the solid flamingo image in Memento Black ink on Whisper White cardstock and fussy cut it out using Paper Snips. Then I stamped the sentiment in Tempting Turquoise ink on Soft Sky cardstock.
Yesterday I finally (after having set the goal months ago to do so) did my first Facebook Live Video making this card.
You can check it out here on my Facebook page. Of course something was going to go wrong because it was my first one and I was, well, live, so just be aware that the camera is upside down for the first 5 minutes. (Face in hand.) Oh well.
In my video I switched around the sentiment to "Thanks." Here are the two cards below.
Stampin' Up! is offering a great sign on bonus during July. Not only do you receive the usual $125 worth of product for just $99, but you receive a FREE Essentials Gift Pack. This includes paper snips, SNAIL permanent adhesive, grid paper, 2 D blocks, and a bone folder worth an additional $52!
In addition Stampin' Up! will give you for FREE the brand new Carols of Christmas stamp set from the Holiday's Catalog.
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The project, which is located located near Sidensjö, in Vasternorrland county, will use 48 3MW direct-drive turbines. Construction is expected to start this year, with the aim of bringing the wind farm online by spring 2015.
The Sidensjö project is Nordisk's biggest project to date.
Speaking about the project, Nordisk CEO Arne Lorenzen said: "This cooperation with Stadtwerke München marks another milestone for us and the wind farm will be one of the biggest in Sweden when constructed."


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Summary In dependance
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Chapter One
Tayo is the first Nigeria to receive a scholarship to study at Balliol College, Oxford. He visits his relatives in the village of Ibadan before travelling the next day to uncle kayode's house, another relative in Lagos.
On the day he sets to sail, his parents, headmaster, some of his teachers and other Lagos-based relatives stands at the Lagos port to bid him goodbye.
Chapter Two
Tayo describes his journey through the seas and the warm reception he gets at England in a letter to his father. He mentions his new friends at the college and explains in details his perception of things in his new environment.
His father replies promptly, giving him precise report on the state of affairs in the family and the country.
Chapter Three
Mr. and Mrs. Barker, Tayo's older friends invites Tayo and Africans for a drink party in their home. There he formally meet Christine Arinze with whom he develops a casual relationship.
Chapter Four
Vanessa attends a party with her friends. There, she meets Charlie and Mehul. She gets drunk and wakes up the next morning with a splitting headache. Vanessa takes up her pen to write an article for the school magazine but changes her mind to write to her friend Jane instead.
Chapter Five
In attendance for the West Africa Society meeting is Tayo, his friends and other college students. After the meeting, he introduce himself to Vanessa Richardson who is also in attendance.
Inspite of being a trifle jealous of Tayo and Vanessa's chit, Christine invites him over to her place. She tells him about how she is struggling to maintain her academic excellence amongst other things. He console her and assures her that she will excel like she's always done.
Chapter Six
Tayo and Vanessa goes for a walk in the direction of the meadows. They talk on various issues ranging from Malcolm X's visit to oxford to Tayo's father's duties during colonial admission as well as Vanessa's father and grandfather's involvement in colonial services.
They outrun each other to a country pub where they bought drinks. They leave early because two men spill their drinks and Vanessa declines Tayo's offer of another one.
Chapter Seven
Vanessa goes back home for the Christmas holiday. She receive a not so warm welcome from her family as the atmosphere between her parents is strangely cold. At dinner, she has a misunderstanding with her father about his inviting apartheid friend to the Christmas party her African friends will also attend.
Chapter Eight
Tayo arrives Aberleigh, Vanessa's home in London for the Christmas party. Aside from being mistaken for a servant by one of mr. Richardson's friend, everything else goes smoothly.
Vanessa visit Tayo in the room he is spending the night in. They talk briefly on the demeanor of her parents and Tayo discuss his mother at Vanessa's prompting.
Chapter Nine
Tayo and Vanessa spend everyday of the week together and on Friday, she bring him daffodils to brighten up his room. Tayo shares one of his family photograph with Vanessa and the latter makes assessment of each member herself.
Vanessa on the other hand shares her worries about being on African correspondent considering her British lineage. Tayo reassures her that Africa needs good journalist; British or African can then pull her close for a dance.
Chapter Ten
Tayo and Vanessa spends Easter in Paris' with Simon and Nima. Tayo gets his first writing journal from Vanessa where he documents their stay in Paris from the first day. There, they live the Bohemian life – all four of them. A day before the completion of their holiday, Tayo gets a telegram that Christine is dead. While Tayo grieves for her, he also blames himself for not being sensitive enough to her needs as a friend.
Chapter Ten
Tayo and Vanessa spends Easter in Paris' with Simon and Nima. Tayo gets his first writing journal from Vanessa where he documents their stay in Paris from the first day. There, they live the Bohemian life – all four of them. A day before the completion of their holiday, Tayo gets a telegram that Christine is dead. While Tayo grieves for her, he also blames himself for not being sensitive enough to her needs as a friend.
Chapter Eleven
Vanessa and her family visits France to the Bastille holiday. Jane, Uncle Anthony, Mr and Mrs. Murdoch joins them in France. They engage in conflicting talks considering Uncle Anthony and Mr. Richardson's ever opposing views. Later that night, Jane confess to sleeping with Uncle Tony on their way home from the train station and Venessa also tells Jane about her relationship with Tayo.
Chapter Twelve
Vanessa writes to Tayo describing the weather in France and expresses her opinion on the margery Perham's review he is working on. Tayo replies and fondly relates his experience so far in Bradford with his cousine Tunde where those who aren't on scholarship like him have to work long hours to make end meet.
Chapter Thirteen
At Tunde's house in Brandford, London. Tunde and Yusuf decides to hold a party in honour of Gambia's independence. Yusuf and Tayo discuss the marriageability of either British or African women. The party is in full swing when Tayo finds himself pressing a lady to the wall. Suddenly he takes a punch to his jaw and a fight ensures.
A policeman arrives and takes them to the station for questioning.
Chapter Fourteen
Tayo decides against telling Vanessa the truth about his chpped tooth which he gets as a result of the fight in Bradford. He attends Yusuf's wedding with Joy, where Vanessa later joins him. On their way back, Vanessa accuses Tayo of lying about his relationship with the late Christone. Tayo tries to cajole her from her outburst but Vanessa wouldn't have none of it, so he leaves her in the carriage.
Chapter Fifteen
After their fight, Vanessa suggests they spend Christmas apart which Tayo promptly agrees to. He sets himself on a strict schedule and manages to survive alone until New Years Eve when he decides to make chicken stew. Vanessa walks in during his lousy attempt at cooking. They eventually settle their differences and spend the rest of the holiday together.
Chapter Sixteen
The New Year brings Tayo's uncle, Kayode to England. Vanessa gets to meet one of his family members and they get on so well. They discuss various topics ranging from Tayo's sporting prowess to Annais Nin, a writer of erotica. Vanessa concludes that she'll love to meet the rest of Tayo's family with Uncle as loving as that.
Chapter Seventeen
With a first-class degree and a graduate scholarship, Tayo gets a chance to speak at Bellamy Boy's School where Mr. Richardson works as a headmaster. His lecture is solely on Nigeria and it makes a big hit in the school.
Mr. Richardson invites Tayo to his office after his lecture and tells him on clear terms his views on Tayo's relationship with his daughter. Tayo returns to college sullen and Vanessa asks him what the matter is. He tells her father is not in support of their relationship to which Vanessa asks him to fight for them if he truely loves her.
Chapter Eighteen
Tayo is back in Ibadan, Nigeria due to his father's critical illness. He tries unsuccessfully to write to Vanessa due to his incessant pleading for more details of Englad. While ruminating on what to tell Vanessa in his letter, Tayo is called outside his room to hear the news of unsuccessful coup to kill Ironsi.
This leads to unrest in some parts of the country but Tayo reassures the people, telling them not to panic.
Chapter Nineteen
Tayo sends Vanessa a letter after a long while apologising for his long silence. He attributes it to his father's second heart attach, the coup d' etat and the civil war.
Vanessa leaves for Lagos after her exams, ignoring Tayo's telegram telling her not to visit yet.
After their loving reunion and Vanessa getting familliarized with the Lagos, Tayo tells Vanessa another woman is carrying his child. Vanessa, devastated, leaves.
Chapter Twenty
1970 at Dakar, Semegal, Vanessa now works as a correspondent for Reuters. She makes friend with Salamatou a Senegalese who braids her hair and teaches her the local language, Wolof.
Salamatou asks her about her love life. She touches briefly on Tayo, explaining to her that she's since move on.
Chapter Twenty One
In 1984, Tayo is a husband to Miriam and a father to Kemi. He is also an accomplished writer and a professor. One Sunday a month, they have lunch with friends at Yelwa club. There, they discuss various issues concerning the country and universities. After Lunch, Yusuf advises Tayo to limit the way he criticizes the government and Tayo tells him there's nothing to worry about.
Chapter Twenty Two
Tayo recalls how nhe ends up with Marriam and Flips through Vanessa's diary that he keeps in his drawer. Kemi, his daughter catches him unawares and chides him that he works too hard. Eventually, father tells daughter a story and they are joined by Mariam before they all go to bed.
Chapter Twenty Three
For the summer holiday, Tayo and his family decides to spend three weeks, Uncle Kayode's in Lagos his mother and other relatives in Ibadan. Despite Miriam's objection, Tayo visits an old man who serves Lord Lugard during his reign in Nigeria, instead of visting his mother in Ibadan.
On his return, he learns that his mother dies in a fatal accident while coming to Lagos to visit him and his family.
Chapter Twenty Four
Six months after the death of Tayo's mother, the coup to overthrow the democratic rulers by the millitary takes place successfully. The people's optimism quickly dies out when the millitary administration proves to be the as corrupt as the preceding rulers and this leads to lots of unrest and protests.
Admist the unrest, Miriam advises that they leaves Nigeria for England but Tayo objects claiming his loyalty to his country and wouldn't let him.
Chapter Twenty Five
In 1990, Tayo's hopes for improved educational system is dashed when a foundation that promises to help provides only second-hand books and old software programmes that can't be used due to lack of computers. Miriam and Kemi leave for England the previous year.
Chapter Twenty Six
In 1994, Tayo on his way back from his office meets soldiers who has mount up road blocks in order to inspect citizens or collect bribes. Tayo is surprised they do not ask him for money but instead they take him to the barracks for questioning. He is severely beaten and ask to stop his critical writing against the government.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Tayo meets vanessa for the first time after their break up, during his tour of England while promoting his new book on Lord Lugard. After the seminar, they both catch up on each other's lives. At the end of the evening, Tayo asks if he would kiss her but she politely declines, saying she would miss her train.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Vanessa sits at Broadwell Park reminiscing on her meeting with Tayo during his book tour. She revisit the past and dwells mostly on how she finds herself marrying Edward Barker, Tayo's friend in Oxford. Later that evening, Vanessa receives Mandelo's 'Long walk To Freedom' as a wedding present from her husband.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Tayo writes to Vanessa where he expresses himself freely like the old times. He shares his opinion on the role of artists in his letter. Vanessa earnestly implores him in her reply to be careful in his fall prey to the hands of military rulers. Tayo replies to her complaints about her failures as a mother by reasuring her she is a good mum and also tells her about his imperfections as a father and a husband.
Chapter Thirty
Vanessa drives Suleiman to the airport where he leaves for Senegal, his home country. Vanessa is heartbroken with the way they part and worries about him constantly. She bares her heart in a letter to Tayo, expressing her sadness and longing for what could have being. Eventually, she decided not to send it.
Chapter Thirty One
Vanessa visits her father, Mr. Richardson, who is now old and lives in the Carrington Home for the Elderly. With her father is murdoch and Mrs. Halliday. After the brief visit, she buys a fitting skirt in preparation to meet Tayo at the airport the next day. Unfortunately, Tayo is not on the list of those on the expected plane.
Chapter Thirty Two
On Tayo's way to the airport, his plan to visit Englad for a long while fails as he is involved in a ghasly accident orchestrated by the Nigerian military.
Chapter Thirty Three
After Tayo's survival of the accident that lost the life of his driver, Abdou, he resorts to living at Kemi's apartment in San Francisco. There she works as a nanny to fund her artistic pursuits.
Kemi sensing her father's depression suggest that he sees a therapist. Tayo promptly refuses, saying he doesn't need one. This outburst dregs up the ugly past making father and daughter exchange harsh words. Later that night, they apologize to one another.
Chapter Thirty Four
Vanessa, after the death of her father, tries to publish his manuscript. She finds out interesting news on the period of their stay in Nigeria as a family. She speculates on different twists to what leads to her mother's early departure from Nigeria. She reconciles with Suleiman, her son, who on his return to England promptly apologizes and resolves to start up a business.
Chapter Thirty Five
Tayo gets the opportunity to teach, which he does not appreciate initially but soon seems to enjoy. His legs heal completely, given to his long walks. He later recives a letter from the Nigerian president that states that he has being awarded a honoraby degree from oxford.
Chapter Thirty Six
Family and friends gather for the occasion in the Sheldonian, England. Tayo, after receiving his award joins his family while Kemi introduces herself, miriam and some other family members to Vanessa and her son. Tayo and Vanessa later steals away from the party to have an alone time.
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Well, once again it's been a brutally bad fortnight for the Brits, with only Andy Murray remaining in the main draw for a chance at The Championships. Perhaps if he's victorious his coach, Miles Maclagan, will take his shirt off in celebration? We can dream, can't we?
Meanwhile, home-grown future champ Laura Robson went down – and hard – yesterday, losing 8-6 in the third set of her third-round girl's singles match. Robson made a strong showing in the first round of the women's draw, losing to Daniela Hantuchova in three sets. She officially announced her junior career is over. Let's hope this gal is the real deal- there sure has been lots of hoopla about her, right?
Andy's bro, Jamie, is also carrying the nation's flag (and the Scottish flag) in Mixed Doubles, the title which he won two years ago in 2007 with Jelena Jankovic. This time he's paired with doubles specialist Liezel Huber, a South African who now plays for the US. Meanwhile, the entire Britsh press corps was lamenting the failure of its nation's tennis while I was in London last week, and even the Wall Street Journal has weighed in on how little success the LTA is cranking out.
(photo by getty images)


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Friday, February 28, 2014 ratings — New episodes: Hannibal, Grimm, Dateline, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0, Undercover Boss, Enlisted, Raising Hope, Last Man Standing, The Neighbors, Shark Tank and 20/20. Reruns: Who's Line Is It Anyway? and Bones.
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Welcome to Dragon Cave! Dragon Cave is an online adoptables game. Collect eggs, raise them to adulthood, and then breed them to create interesting lineages. New dragons are added regularly!
Originating from a single species that thrived in ancient times, Xenowyrms have become an incredibly diverse breed whose appearances vary depending on their habitats. Each Xenowyrm subspecies is heavily reliant on the power of different types of mana, making them powerful magic users. Aquilo live high in the firmament and are almost never seen on the ground. They are all too happy to greet travelers going through the mountains, and also seeing their panic as the Aquilos dive from great heights towards them, only to change course at the last moment and soar back into the sky. Many Aquilo enjoy testing their agility and mastery of air magics in dangerous feats of flying at one another, only to twist and harmlessly pass one another in intricate patterns. They try, with little success, to get the more foul-tempered Astrapi to join in their games.
Dragons are highly-intelligent reptilian creatures that—from a human perspective, at least—appear to live forever. Many different varieties of dragon exist, each with their own unique qualities, habitats, and behavior. Adolescence in dragons is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling's wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. In Galsreim, dragons and humans coexist peacefully.


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A couple of weekends ago Brad Wilson and I added a new Assert to xUnit.net
Recently I was doing the first cut of refactoring the console program and I noticed that we wrote the following test code quite often:
IResultXmlTransform transform = transforms.Single();
var transform = Assert.IsType<XslStreamTransformer>(...);
As I looked around we wrote this same type of code over and over. What I proposed was to write a new Assert named Assert.Single() which would take an IEnumerable<T> (and reluctantly its non-generic equivalent) and Brad suggested if there was only one element then the Assert would return that element. After introducing this new Assert the above code likes like the following:
IResultXmlTransform transform = Assert.Single(transforms);
Not only is the more explicit it provides a better message. If the previous one had failed you would have received a LINQ exception. When we made the changes to our code we found that it affected about 3.5% of the Asserts in the xUnit.net code. Note: xUnit.net works with .NET Framework 2.0 and higher.
I ran this by Kent Beck and we discussed the idea of having Asserts return useful values. His concern was that it was unexpected which can be a problem because its not discoverable. However, he said (I am paraphrasing) that if that many asserts were changed then the code is telling you something and its good to listen.