text:
Intervju med Steve Vai.
För några dagar sedan spelade Steve Vai på Berns i Stockholm och jag fick åter ett snack med honom. I ett medeltidaliknande rum inne på det klassiska stället slog jag mig ned i soffan bredvid gitarrguden. Det luktade starkt av rörelse, vilket passade bra med tanke på hans spirituella sida.
Vid ett tillfälle skakade väggarna ordentligt och herr Vai frågade snabbt om vi drabbas av jordbävningar i Sverige? Jag lugnade honom och vi kunde snabbt konstatera att det var några barn som härjade runt i rummet bredvid.
Samtalet kom bl a handla om hans vegetariska leverne, mörkret innan solodebuten och hans kärlek till Frank Zappa.
I read in an interview recently where you said that being a vegetarian also had an effect on your music. In what way?
Steve Vai: Well, whenever you change something in your life, you can notice a change in your life and before I became a vegetarian… and I don´t promote anything and I don´t criticize anybody for what they eat, I don´t care. Everybody has to find what´s right for them. Before I became a vegetarian I was always sick and I used to get what they call these hereditary migraines. It was real bad and I would throw up like once a month and my digestion was just bad and I was in a very heavy frame of mind. I read this yoga book, "The complete illustrated book of yoga" and it talked about vegetarianism and it just resonated with me. I used to eat a lot of meat and I never really felt totally comfortable and when I stopped everything changed for me. I never got another headache and it´s 30 years ago. If I did it wasn´t because one of those migraines. They just went away and I can count on one hand the amount of times I´ve thrown up in 30 years and I never get the runs anymore unless I go to Mexico. For me, meat has a very hard effect on the body and it excites the passions and anger and all these things and when I stopped eating meat I just felt clearer in my mind and cleaner. Anything you do like that, have an effect on the work that you do that´s creative.
Was it a hard transition? Do you ever look at a steak and go "Wow, that would be real nice!"?
Steve Vai: Absolutely not. It was a very easy transition, but like I say, it´s a personal choice and I´m not one of these guys that tells people what to do, but as a matter of fact there was a big period of my life where I couldn´t sit at a table if someone was eating meat. It became extraordinarily repulsive. I ate meat three times a day before, but I didn´t see meat as a food. It was a mental thing. I saw it as slaughtered flesh and it was very difficult. It doesn´t bother me now and I don´t think about it. If I think about it, it trips me out, but if I smell somebody cooking ribs barbecue, my mouth starts watering. Just like a Pavlovian reaction. (laughs)
Right. A day like this when you come into a new town, I guess there´s a lot of down time so do you sit around playing the guitar while you wait for the show? Do you practice and stuff like that?
Steve Vai: No. The day is really broken in two segments and I enjoy each segment and whichever segment I´m in, that´s what I´m focusing on. I wake up and when I sleep on the bus, I slepp for eight or nine hours which is absolutely unheard of when I´m at home. If I get six hours when I´m home, that´s beautiful, but when you´re on the bus you just sleep as long as you want and you sleep good. When I wake up I have a couple of hours to do whatever I want and I usually go out around the town or I write some music or answer some e-mails or something like that. Then my day really starts at 3 when I start press. Press is an hour and when I´m doing press I´m not focusing on the gig or walking around town and it can be enjoyable and then from 4-5 it´s usually the EVO premium package which I really enjoy because there are people there that have a deep investment in music and I can be much more personal and they as interesting questions. Then from 5-6 or more, is soundcheck and I don´t even need to do soundcheck but I like doing soundcheck because we always write something. We jam something and I record it. I have hundreds of recordings from all the tours and sometimes they turn into songs, so that´s a fun moment. I just like playing with the band. Then after that it´s the prep for the gig and we usually get about an hour or an hour and a half and that´s where I don´t see anybody except the band and I have a little ritual. I exercise a little bit and then there´s a little meditation to get psyched for the show and then there´s a period where I play. I practice and just warm up. You can´t play too much before a gig because the gig is like going to war with your hands and I have to really balance how much I play before the show. You can sit in your bedroom and practice for eight hours a day, but one hour on stage is very different. Then there´s the show and I always put the same focus into it as all the other elements of the day. Then after show is really fantastic. We do a little meet and greet with some people. One of my favorite parts of the day is after the show and the meet and greet when we roll on the bus as a family. We´re very close and it´s really nice. The bus is like our home and we´re like a little travelling town, like a travelling house. We all really love and respect each other and we have a great time. We do stupid things like eat chocolate, drink tea and watch a movie. It´s great.
Do you ever get nervous before a gig?
Steve Vai: I used to, but that was always because I was projecting into the future and wondering what´s gonna go wrong and what happens if I get out there and something happens? In the matter of years that I´ve been touring virtually everything has happened. (laughs) You just deal with it. There´s parts of me that used to think "People are not gonna like it. I don´t know why they´re coming and they just wanna criticize me and compare me to everybody else. ". So you start thinking about that ahead of time or even when you´re on the stage and it changes your whole ability to express. But that was in the past. Now I just get really excited and I think about "I can´t wait to play this song." and even when I´m playing this one song and I know what the next song is, I get excited about playing that song. Each song is an opportunity to kinda like hone my craft, so it´s good.
As an artist with all the stuff you´ve recorded, all the songs you´ve written, are there songs you get tired of playing?
Steve Vai: Well, if I find myself getting bored of playing something, there´s a lot of things I go to, to remember. A, "You should be really fucking grateful Vai that you can play the guitar and there are people out there that are not bored with this song and it´s your responsibility to play the song the best you can and you´re never gonna get another chance like this.". When I said that, sure I have more shows coming up, but when you waste that moment. The way you feel about something is a product of the way you choose to think about it. Yes, you can cultivate a frame of mind of boredom, but then, how good are you gonna play? But if you just find thoughts that cultivate a frame of mind of gratitude and excitement, then that´s what you´re gonna feel. For some people it might be hard at first to do that and you gotta give yourself some lip service and I had to do that because I used to get so nervous and so freaked out. Look, I´m a highly criticized guitar player and a lot of people will come to the shows and compare it to the other guy they saw. A tiny part of me still feels that way, but I´ve just become fearless because I realized that I have the right to express myself musically any way I want and the only thing that screws people up is fear. And what people feel when they watch you perform, whether it´s me or anybody, they feel your confidence and your confidence in what you´re doing is the thing that gives them the experience they´re gonna walk away with. I really, really feel great when I play some of those songs that I have to play over and over. I focus on what the melody means to me. Like when I play a song called "Frank". I wrote it in respect of Frank Zappa and it doesn´t sound like Zappa´s music at all, but there was a side to Frank that I really loved deeply, almost like a father so when I play that song I think about him and I think about that feeling that I had for him. He was such an interesting and unique and wonderful guy and whenever I would go to the house, which was all the time, before I left I felt kinda high. That´s what I think about when I play that song and I get to go there and when you go there you bring the other people.
Right. Cool. Another thing from way back, what are your thoughts today of the album "Flex-Able"? Do you go back and listen to your old records?
Steve Vai: Yeah I do. Whenever you do something creative and we all do it, it´s like a little snap shot of who you were at that time. When I listen to "Flex-Able" I just think of this very innocent, naïve, passionate kid that loved corky and bizarre things. I wrote those songs and recorded them so me and a small group of my friends would have something to laugh at. I never expected to release it and it represented a time that life was really easy. I had just gotten over of a deep depression. I was like 20 or 21 and in a really bad frame of mind. When I started working on "Flex-Able", I had a tremendous amount of music because that´s all I did all day. Write and record, write and record all day. Some of it was extremely dark. Like dark in ways like… people think of dark and they think of death metal or black metal and it was nothing like that. It was really from a dark frame of mind and then I had to change. I went through a metamorphosis and my whole attitude and outlook changed. I started to find happiness and I started to find satisfaction, equilibrium and I started to write this different kind of music that just made me feel funny and silly and lighthearted. I had a choice of what I was gonna do and I knew that wherever you go with your mind, you perpetuate your own reality and if I would´ve kept on to that dark stuff, I think I would have ended up dead. As a matter of fact I´m sure because I almost got there. "Flex-Able" was a catharsis. It was a young man metamorphosising and just expressing these things, so when I listen to it I feel really good. I mean, it´s silly and corky and some people just don´t get it, but that´s ok.
Cool story. Last thing. I read that you really like Fredrik from Meshuggah. What is it that makes him good?
Steve Vai: He´s organically brilliant. Rhythm makes us feel a certain way and I´ve always liked rhythmic situations that make me feel a different way. He´s capable of creating these emotional rhythmic environments that have an effect on your inner drummer, your inner rhythm and I like it. It scratches and itch that nothing else gets to. On top of all that, the way he´s playing is just totally unique. He´s a unique player and I don´t believe he thinks of conventional music theory the way most people do and that´s one of the reasons he comes up with what he comes up with. It´s pure organic feel and he´s searching for things that feel good to him and feel natural to him and make him feel a particular way. Then he´s got this beautiful musical environment of these other musicians around him that resonate with him on it and they create this brand of music that is very different and very unique. You hear more of it these days and sometimes trends forget who the godfathers are, but that guy is a godfather.
Ok. Do you listen to Opeth?
Steve Vai: Oh yeah, I´ve got all the Opeth stuff.
He´s another great guitar player.
Steve Vai: Yeah, he´s another great player. There´s this whole subculture of metal that… you know, I get a lot of it from my son Julian because he´s really into all this stuff. He´s into very progressive hardcore shit. There´s a big difference between outrageous dark music for the sake of it and really beautifully organic musical darkness. You know Animals As Leaders? I like some of his stuff too and you can tell that they listened to Meshuggah and took it into a different direction. I don´t know if you´ve heard Fredrik´s solo records?
Actually I haven´t.
Steve Vai: Holy mackerel! It´s really powerful and brilliant shit and he can play his ass off.
Ok, I´ll check it out. Thanks Steve!
Steve Vai: Thank you.


text:
Nam (walkthrough)
Nam For DOS / Windows 95 + Nam / Napalm FAQ and walkthrough. This work Copyright (c) 2001 PyroVulcanus. This FAQ/walkthrough is copyrighted by United States and Allied countries, including the UK and Canada. Music: I listened to the following Mp3 files to finish the end of the walkthrough: Godzilla, by Blue Oyster Cult; I Get Knocked Down, by Chumbawumba; Higher, by Creed; But MOST of all, I Want to Get Away, by Lenny Kravitz. Date: Version 1.0: 12 March, 2001 I count my dates from when I send them in, not when I write them. ------------------------------- Thank you for deciding to read this. :) ------------------------------- Legal: This FAQ and everything included within this file cannot be reproduced by any means, shape or form. aside from being placed on a non-commercial, freely accesible web page in completely unedited unaltered and original format. This FAQ may not be used for profitable or promotional purposes. It cannot be used in any kind of commercial transaction. It cannot be given away as a gift with a purchase as this is creating an incentive to buy. You may do NOTHING with this FAQ exept to print it, read it or save it to your hard disk. If you wish to do anything otherwise, e-mail me, and we will reach an agreement. I am PyroVulcanus, AKA 'Lord Vulcanus' and htis FAQ is created by, owned by, and operated by myself and NONE but myself (firstname.lastname@example.com). All copyrights and trademarks not specifically mentioned in this FAQ are respected. This FAQ should be found on, and ONLY found on the following sites. www.GameFAQs.com If you wish to host this FAQ, please contact me and I will decide whether or not your site gets added to the list. Nam / Napalm is copyright (c) GT Interactive. Duke Nukem 3D is copyright (c) 3D Realms. Doom is copyright (c) Id Software. Unreal Tournement is copyright (c) Epic Games. GT Interactive is not affilited with 3D Realms, Id Software or Epic Games. ---------------------------------- =====================/--Updates-- Version 1.1. I added legal info, copyright info etc, and put some more contact info at the bottom. I also moved this very update info, and made the ToC more legible. Nam / Napalm Explanation: ------------------------- Nam. Napalm. Hmmm. I live in Athens, Tennessee. Tennessee is awful, but there are good parts. Knoxville te north, and Chattanooga to the south. In fact, I lived on the highway between them, right in the middle. This highlight of every drive was a visit to the 'McKays Used Books and CD's'. Each one had a game department, and each one had a copy of Nam/Napalm. Problem was, one had Napalm, and one had Nam! Everything on the boxes was the same except minor changes to accomodate the names. I thought I was either dreaming or crazy. You can see how this would be dreamy and deja-vu like. Oh well, since they were both in boxes I could have pressed my parents to buy me both- then I would have had SOME coffee table conversation starter! I did buy the 'Napalm' game however, and this is important to the explanation. Anyway, GT decided to name their game 'Nam', but later changed it to 'Napalm'. You can see this when you open the CD of the 'Napalm' game- the icon is 'Nam'. The name change does carry over into the game and the manual, however. If I had a choice, I'd get 'Napalm', because it qwould be a later version than 'Nam'. For my purposes, 'Napalm' will be the name I sue from now on. Napalm claims to be, "The first all-action, 3D shooter to realistically bring the true experience of war to life." Note that they make no mention of bringing, 'The true experience of the Vietnam war to life', this is probably to avoid lawsuits. Example: you can fire a M-60 machinegun for hundreds of rounds continously, with no need to change your barrel. Overall, the 'experience' of war is rather poor. Nam claims to be made with the assistance of the official Doom conversion for the Marine Corps. If this is true, our marines are in trouble, or at least were until Unreal Tournement showed up :). T o C Table of Contents: ------------------ 0. Gameplay a.Sources b.Thank you's / Credits c.Contact me 1.Story 2.Controls a.Options b.Sound options 3.Weapons and inventory items a.Standard weapons b.Stationary weapons c.Inventory items d.Special inventory items 4.Enemies and hazards. 5.Walkthrough (currently just summaries) 6.Multiplayer 7.Cheats 0. -------- Gameplay: The game is rather dumb. I liked it becuase I can play with an M-16A2 and claymores. The claymores are probably the best part of the game. The game is made using the aging Duke Nukem 3D engine, licensed by 3D Realms. It can use crosshairs and mouse aiming to some degree. The detail is very poor, so I suggest playing the game on a very small size to get the right look. Screen size is sizeable but as you go to the last biggest sizes, the first removes all but your health and ammo, and the second makes for a screen with no info at all, but it is certainly still playable. There are lots of buildings with doors, but apparently to save level space the doors (most of them anyway) are inoperable. You run around shooting people, getting to helicopters and APCs, and picking up health serum. Speaking of which, if the health serum is so secret, why is it scattered around VC hideouts? You also will be required to solve minor 'get from here to here' puzzles. it is a standard FPS that is mostly like a bad Duke Nukem 3D user-created mod. A. Terminology: -------- APC = Armored Personnel Carrier. Serum = Replacement for health pick-ups. VC = Vietcong guerillas, the standard enemies in Vietnam. Huey = Helicopter type. B. Thank you's / Credits / Sources: ---------------------- I played the game for the walkthroughs, and I read the little booklet manual in the CD box door for key info and weapons. Cheats are courtesy GameSages. Kao Megura, for the Legal Layout. CAG1226 and Michael Halwey,for the cheats on GameSages. CJayC for hosting this on GameFAQs. C. Contact me: ----------- My e-mail is firstname.lastname@example.com. E-mail me if you have anything to say, hints, expansions to guides etc, you will get credit. I also want you to tell me if you see this anywhere else but GameFAQs or the specified allowed sites. 1. Story: ------ Here is my paraphrasing, and below is the actual quote: You are Sgt. Alan 'the Bear' Mason, and it is 1966, and the center of the Vietnam War. You are the 'toughest, most deadly' guy the US has, mainly becuse the CIA has experimented with a new experimental drug on you, one that can heal you, stimulate you (snicker) and kill your pain. Your 'mission' is to perform standard operations alone or with stupid AI grunts, always against awful odds. You must survive two tours of duty- War Sucks. ---------------- Actual Quote: NAPALM places you in the center of the Veitnam War in 1966. Sgt. Alan 'the Bear' Mason is the most deadly weapon in the US arsenal. He is a Marine Sergeant that the CIA has 'taken under it's wing'. The Bear is the toughest, most deadly one-man wrecking crew in Vietnam. His secret lies in an experimental serum that is a healing agent, apin killer, and stimulant all rolled into one bad-ass cocktail. His mission is to perform standard military operations, acting alone or in small teams, but always against overwhelming odds. He is the test case for a new type of stealth (HAH!!!) infantryman. His mission (didn't they just say that?) is to survive a couple of tours of duty... (my teacher would freak over this grammer!) just to see if he can live through the side-effects of the drug. War is Hell. -------------------------------------- The serum crap is to explain how you make health pick-ups. For a game that REALLY does a good job of explaining health and armor pick-ups, see Nuclear Strike. Controls: --------- The controls are similar ot Duke Nukem 3D. Default: Arrows: Move Shift: Run CapsLock : RunLock 1 to 0 : Weapons ; and ' : Next / Last weapon Scroll Lock : Holster Weapon. When you holster the M-16, it loads a new clip A : Jump Tab : Map Z : Duck Ctrl : Fire [ and ] : Inventory seclect - and = : Shrink and grow screen size Alt : Strafe Spacebar : Open / Use Enter : Use inventory item Backspace : 180 degree turn (so you face where you were facing away from) U : Turn on mouse aiming I : Turn on crosshair Keypad 5: Center view Home / End : Aim up / down (Note: Aiming up / down stays that way until you move it back, but look up / down bounces back when released) PgUp / PgDn : Look up / down Ins / Del : Peek left / right Pause : Pauses the game, holding shift when you pause will avoid the massage. Esc : Back to main menu F1 : Help F2 : Save Game F3 : Load Game F4 : Sound / music settings F5 : JukeBox F6 : Quick Save F7 : Chase View F8 : Toggle messages on / off F9 : Quick load F10 : Quit to DOS F11 : Brightness F12 : Make a PCX screen-shot M : Medikit N : Night-vision Googles A. Options: -------- From the Main Menu select Options. Detail, high or low (or awfully low / low) Shadows, on or off Screen when you die, on /off Screen size, slider Brightness, slider Mouse sensitivity, slider Mouse aiming flip, on or off Record, on or off, use this to make demos Difficulty: ----------- Easy / Boot Medium / Grunt Hard / Salty Nightmare / Locked On B. Sound Options: -------------- Sound, on or off Sound volume, slider Flip Stereo, on or off Music, on or off Music volume, slider 3. Weapons and inventory items: ---------------------------- A. Standard Weapons: ----------------- My only beef is that I can't get an AK-47, like all the REAL soldiers in Vietnam did, and why my M-16 doesn't jam up like crazy, like real ones in Vietnam did. 1. Ka-bar combat knife. Useless for stealth attacks as the goobers turn to see you whatever direction you come from. 2. M-16A1 5.56mm Assualt Rifle. Fires hundreds of rounds with out over-heating (HAH!!!). An OK weapon, and the reason I bought the game. (I'm not kidding) Clip: 20 rounds, Max Ammo: 180 rounds. 3. Remington 870 Assualt Shotgun. A one shot kill. Handy. Ammo Pack: 10 shells, Max Ammo: 40 shells. 4. M-60 7.62MM General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). The best gun in the game. It's barrel doesn't melt and it's accurate as hell. (GT Boss: 'To PHOOIE with realism!') Belt: 150 Rounds. Max ammo, 150 rounds. 5. M72 66mm Light Anti-tank weapon. Of all the times to be realistic, they chose this. These are one-shot disposables. 6. M26A1 Fragmentation Grenade. Did I mention this game has no grenade throwing physics at ALL? Crate: 3 grenades, Max Ammo: 6 grenades. 7a. M79 'Blooper' 40mm grenade launcher. Ammo Pack: 3 grenades, Max Ammo: 6 grenades. 7b. M14 Sniper Rifle with telescopic sight. It narrows your view by over half but you can't zoom as far as I know. Ammo Pack: 20 Rounds, Max Ammo: 20 Rounds. 8. Rocket Launcher. Multiplayer only, in either Tank or Helicopter modes. 9. M18A1 APERS (Anti-personnel) "Claymore" mine. Mounted on walls etc. and sends a tripwire out. If you have a clear line of sight you can send a trip wire along the entire map! When the trip wire is tripped it doesnt just explode at the mine- it explodes down the entire wire! Ammo Pack: 1 Mine, Max Ammo: 4 Mines. 0. Flamethrower. Dangerous. Ammo Pack: single unit (50 units of napalm), Max Ammo: 50 units of napalm. B. Stationary weapons ------------------ Stationary weapons have unlimited ammo, but when you walk away, you need to get another box of ammo. M2 Browning .50 cal Heavy Machinegun, this is always in a turret position, usually on M113 APC's. You will need the ammo in your special items inventory, then just press open / use to fire. You can also fire any other weapon at the same time, and they will both fire at the same point. M-60 GPMG. This doesn't need your normal M-60 ammo. It is sometimes on helicopters, but not anywhere ELSE. This one doesn't require a box of ammo. 60mm Mortar, this is found in certain firing positions. You must have the 60mm mortar shells in your special items inventory, and then you must walk up to it and press open / use. To select the range you must press duck and press open / use multiple times to adjust the angle of the mortar tube. C. Inventory items: ---------------- Medikit, This is an inventory item that will provide a maximum of 100% health units. When your health is low, select this to bring it back up to 100%. Shortcut: M. Night-vision Goggles, These do a color shift and amplify the enemy troops sprites. The goggles batteries hold 100%, but they slowly tick down as you use them. On some missions you will be given goggles with 450% battery life. For a really good night vision illusion, check out Terminator: Future Shock, and use the icantsee cheat. D. Special inventory items: ------------------------ You can hold only one of these at a time, and picking up one deletes the other. Go figure. All of these items appear as a green crate in yuor inventory, so you will need to remember what you are carrying. the manual says that the 'percentage numbers beside the crates are for classified military use only'. (in other words, these items don't work off a percentage system, but it's coded to put a percentage there, so we made it so you need to know the percentage numbers to identify the items) Here is a helpful key I made, but later I found a similar one in the booklet. Trip Flares 10% - 15% APERS Mines 20% - 25% M2 Ammo : 60% - 61% Mortar Ammo : 63% - 65% Mine Detector : 50% C-4 : 30% These you have to activate to use. Trip Flare, activated on contact when it is walked over, it shoots a flare straight up which then hovers for a while before going out. Useful only in multiplayer. APERS Mines, activated on contact when walked over. You will hear a click, and you can try to disarm them by pressing open / use. Useful only in multiplayer. C-4 Explosive Obtainable ONLY from the AI Demolition Man Marine. Get him to place C-4, then pick it up before it explodes. These are used automaticaly. Mine Detector This prevents all mines you walk on from exlploding, except for trip-wire Claymores. 12.7mm ammo for M2 Heavy Machinegun, just walk up to the machinehun and press open / use. 60mm shells for Mortar, just walk up to the mortar and press open / use. 4. Enemies and Hazards: -------------------- Enemies: -------- AK-47 Soldier: Black pajamas and fair firepower. The ammo saving design keeps him form firing sustained full-auto at you, unless he wants a burnt hand. RPD Light Machinegun Soldier: Deadly. They have a very high rate of fire and can kill you in under 15 seconds. Satchel Bomber: Recognizable by the yellow oriental had. They will walk up to yuo and commit suicide, detonating their crude bomb. Kill them and they blow up. Useful when they are near other VC. B-10 82mm Recoilless rifle: Deadly but slow firing. Appears as a big gun on 2 wheels with a VC crouching behind it. Blows up when killed. VC Sniper: Usually in trees. Very annoying and painful. Night vision goggles are always useful for getting rid of these mothers. DShK Heavy Machinegun: Same basic silhouette as the B-10, but no wheels and a thinner, longer barrel. MiG-21 Aircraft: These fly over and are supposedly linked to the explosions that appear secodns later. T-34 Tank: Big and hard to kill. It can crush you. Hazards: -------- Barbed Wire: This is fairly obvious, and it hurts at a slow rate. Water: Going too deep can drown you. You have about 12 seconds of air. Mines: Step on one and you will hear a click. Press the space bar quickly and you may disarm it. If you carry a minesweeper all mines will be prevented from going off when you step on them, except for above. Chemical Mines: Same as above except there is no exlosion, just a cloud of VX gas that seeps out and makes the immediate area dangerous for about 5 minutes. Same minesweeper rules as above apply. Heights: If you fall from too high you will injure yourself, and if you fall from *very* high you explode into bloody gibs as you hit the ground. Fire: Fire can hurt you at a faster rate than barbed wire, and it is a good idea to get out of it or off of it as soon as possible. Helicopter Blades: When you are near a helicoper, do NOT walk into the blades on the back or jump up into the main rotors on top! It is hilaarious but frustrating to get to an escape helicopter at the end of a mission and gib yourself on the blades. 5. Walkthrough: ------------ I will work on this soon. For now, here are mission summaries, and I am tired of paraphrasing so I'm using their descriptions: Tour of Duty 1: E1L1, Base Camp: You have been inserted into firebase Delta 6 near the DMZ. The base has been attacked by the 4th NVA regiment, but now their pulling back to the north. Get to the M113 APC in the jungle. It will take you 30 klicks north, where we will stage a counter attack. E1L2, Assualt: Search and destroy. Find enemy units and initiate contact. E1L3, Hill 104: Your chopper has crashed and night is approaching. Get to the new extraction point on Hill 104 and find the chopper. Defend the landing zone until the pilot is ready to take off. E1L4, Contact Lost: At 0330 hours, radio contact to company D was lost. Go to the command post of company D and check their situation. If the CP is destroyed, follow the nearby river to the extraction point. E1L5, Huey Down: You've crash-landed again (inventive, aren't they!). Get back to safety. E1L6, Search and Destroy: Find the ammo crates that ahve been transported to the harbor by three NVA ammo trucks. Activate the charges on all three ammo stocks and get back to the M113 ASAP. Tour of Duty 2: E2L1, Good Morning: You must reach the village located about five miles from the LZ. We sent a patrol in that sector yesterday,but lost contact with them. Intelligence indicates high VC activity. E2L2 Village Sweep: There's a chopper waiting for you at the LZ across the river. But be very careful- about 50 VC are between you and the chopper, and they're not playing games. (ironic huh?) E2L3, Night Hunters: Your patrol boat is hit by enemy rockets in an ambush. It's getting dark and time is not on your side. The enemy is hiding in the jungle; (big surprise!) find them quickly or they will notify their friends. break through the jungle and use position Alpha-Lima-3-4-0-9-9 as the extraction point. E2L4, Payback Time: One of our choppers went down this morning. It was flying over Cambodian territory. Sweep the area for any survivors. Intelligence on this area is minimal and unreliable. Expect the worst. We cannot extract yuo from the nearby clearings becuase our activities in the area must remain absolutely secret. You will have to use the valley to the north to get to the first acceptable LZ. E2L5, Casual Ties: You and a small team will disrupt the enemy transports coming into South Vietnam. This morning, we intercepted the position of an incoming convoy. We will intercept on one of the bridges. your team is ordered to assist in the ambush by hunting down fleeing VC's. Because it is a muntiions convoy, expect heavy resistance. C company has been decimated by an NVA regiment. Find them and get the survivors out of there. (eh? first its stopping a convoy, then someone else will stop the convoy wheile we help mop up survivors, then we are told that ehavy resistance is expected even though we aren't attacking right away- or are we? then we are told about something that looks like something they left out of another mission...) E2L6, Bloody River: Our positions are under heavy fire- use maximum force to drive the VC back. Two artillery fire bases will support your counter-attack. Drive them (the artillery??? ;-) ) back and waste everthing in sight. B extra careful, the enemy has serious firepower and a lot of snipers. E2L7, Platoonium: We recieved a report that a local VC commander is located in a village nearby. Take him out. Nothing else matters... It looks like the experiment is working. This mission has been given to you and not the SEALS. Impressive. E2L8, Showdown in Saigon: A group of VCs have stormed the US Embassy and taken hostages. Our counter-attacks have failed, so it's up to you. This is your ticket out. If you succeed it will be the last mission of your tour. Good Luck. 6. Multiplayer: ------------ Soon I will have descriptions of the maps and game types. 7. Cheats: ------- Courtesy GameSages, Type the cheats in during the game. If you are succesful you will see a confirmation. All weapons and accesories: NVABLOOD Debug mode: NVADEBUG Full map: NVAMAP God mode: NVAGOD Level skip: NVALEVEL***, where Tour of duty 1, Level 3 is NVALEVEL103 Lock toggle: NVAUNLOCK Jump-clipping mode: (you bounce over everything instead of clipping) NVACLIP So long! Nam / Napalm FAQ and walkthrough. This work Copyright (c) 2001 PyroVulcanus. firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
How does working part-time versus working full-time affect breastfeeding goals?
Breastfeeding is known to provide significant health benefits for both infants and their mothers. However, while many women intend to breastfeed despite returning to work, a new study finds that mothers who plan to breastfeed for at least three months but return to work full-time are less likely to meet their breastfeeding goals. Conversely, there is no association between women who return to work part-time and failure to reach the breastfeeding goal of at least three months. This new study was published today in the Journal of Human Lactation.
Studying survey data from 1,172 U.S. mothers, study authors Kelsey Mirkovic, Cria Perrine, Kelley Scanlon, and Laurence Grummer-Strawn found that 28.8% of all women who intended to breastfeed for three months were unable to meet their goal. The researchers also found the following:
- Mothers who returned to full-time work before six weeks had 2.25 times the odds of not meeting their breastfeeding goals compared to those who stayed at home for at least three months.
- Mothers who returned to work full-time between six weeks and three months had 1.82 times the odds of not reaching their goals.
- No association was observed between returning to work part-time and not meeting intentions to breastfeed for at least three months.
"Support for a mother's delayed return to paid employment, or return at part-time hours, may help more mothers achieve their breastfeeding intentions," the researchers wrote. "This may increase breastfeeding rates and have important public health implications for US mothers and infants."
More information: "Maternity Leave Duration and Full-time/Part-time Work Status Are Associated with US Mothers' Ability to Meet Breastfeeding Intentions," Journal of Human Lactation, 2014.


text:
Strand Releasing has acquired all US rights to Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy: Paradise: Love, Paradise: Faith and Paradise: Hope.
The project is about three women from one family. Paradise: Love, which premiered in Cannes and also plays at TIFF, is about an Austrian woman, Teresa, going to Kenya in search of love. Paradise: Faith, which premiered in Venice and won the jury prize, is about a devout missionary woman (Teresa's sister) who argues with her estranged husband.
The third film, Paradise: Hope, is due out in 2013 and will deal with a teenager (Teresa's daughter) who goes to a diet camp and falls in love.
The deal was done between Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing and Olimpia Pont Cháfer of Coproduction Office.
"Ulrich Seidl is such a unique auteur, one that definitely fits Strand's sensibilities and we're looking forward to handling the US distribution of this trilogy," said Gerrans.
"It is a big project in the modern film industry. We are very happy to work with Strand Releasing who will make an excellent "handmade" marketing for the film and position Ulrich Seidl in the US," added Philippe Bober, Coproduction Office's CEO.
Strand plans for a 2013 release for all three films beginning in the first quarter.
The trilogy has sold to Austria (Stadtkino), Belgium (Lumière), CIS (Maywin), Denmark (Ost for Paradis), France (Happiness), Germany (Neue Visionen), Greece (Feelgood), Italy (Archibald & Academy2), Luxembourg (Lumière), Netherlands (Eye Institut), Norway (AS Fidalgo) , Poland (Against Gravity), South Korea (World Cinema), Spain (Golem), Sweden (Triart) and the UK (Soda Pictures).
Paradise: Love has sold to Argentina (LAT-E), Bulgaria (A Plus), Chile (LaRed), Costa Rica (LaRed), Hong Kong (Edko Films), Hungary (Anjou Lafayette), Israel (Orlando Films), Mexico (Mantarraya & Interior13), Paraguay (LaRed), Romania (Cloro Film) and Uruguay (LaRed).


text:
The B.C. government has fired its Auditor General for Local Government, after accountant Basia Ruta "lost all confidence" of her supervisors to complete audits that compare local government spending practices.
"The auditor general for local government's obstruction of an intended review of her office has created an intolerable situation that compounds the unstable work environment and lack of performance from that office," said Community Minister Coralee Oakes, who took the action on the recommendation of the government-appointed audit council.
Former deputy minister Chris Trumpy was due to start his own review of the new office Monday. It is the first attempt in Canada to do "performance audits" by comparing groups of municipalities, but the performance of Ruta's office has become the pressing issue.
Oakes said Ruta will not be offered severance pay, because the government has determined she has been fired for cause. The work environment in the Surrey office of the AGLG had deteriorated, and Ruta's decision to refuse Trumpy's involvement led to the decision, she said.
Ruta issued a statement through her lawyer Monday, saying she will go to court to challenge the decision to fire her.
Hired to execute an idea proposed by Premier Christy Clark in her 2012 bid for the B.C. Liberal Party leadership, Ruta set herself a target of 18 audits in the first year. Clashes with the staff at her Surrey office and the audit council began to emerge last year.
NDP local government critic Selina Robinson said the two-year-old office has lost credibility over spending $5.2 million over two years to produce only one audit. Two more reports were issued last week.
The function should be included in the existing B.C. Auditor General office, which is an independent office of the legislature, Robinson said.
Oakes said she remains committed to the current structure, which had envisioned three audits in the first year and five in the second. It was Ruta who raised expectations far beyond that and then didn't deliver, she said.


text:
Voyager 1 Spacecraft Enters New Realm at Solar System's Edge
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has discovered a new layer of the solar system that scientists hadn't known was there, researchers announced today (Dec. 3).
Voyager 1 and its sister probe Voyager 2 have been traveling through space since 1977, and are close to becoming the first manmade objects to leave the solar system.
Scientists haven't been sure exactly when that exit would occur, and now say the spacecraft are likely in the outermost region of the solar system, which is defined by the extent of the heliosphere, the large bubble of charged particles the sun puffs out around itself. Voyager 1, in particular, has entered a new region of the heliosphere that scientists are calling a "magnetic highway," which allows charged particles from inside the heliosphere to flow outward, and particles from the galaxy outside to come in.
"We do believe this may be the very last layer between us and interstellar space," Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, Calif., said during a teleconference with reporters. "This region was not anticipated, was not predicted."
Therefore, he said, it's hard to predict how soon Voyager will leave the solar system behind altogether. [How NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 Probes Work (Infographic)]
"We don't know exactly how long it will take," Stone said. "It may take two months, it may take two years."
The scientists don't think the Voyagers have left the solar system yet because of the orientation of the magnetic field they detect. So far, this field still runs east-west, in agreement with the field created by the sun and twisted by its rotation. Outside the solar system, models predict the magnetic field to be orientated more north-south.
As Voyager 1, the outermost of the two spacecraft, gets farther and farther away, it measures more and more of the higher-energy charged particles thought to originate beyond the solar system, compared to the lower-energy particles thought to come from the sun.
"Things have actually changed dramatically," said Stamatios Krimigis, principal investigator of the low-energy charged particle instrument, based at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "The particles from outside have increased a lot and those on the inside … have dropped quite a bit."
The Voyagers are NASA's longest-running spacecraft, and will keep traveling outward even after they've left the sun's neighborhood. However, it will be at least 40,000 years before they ever come close to another star, Stone said.
Long before that the probes will run out of power to operate their scientific instruments and beam their findings back home.
"We will have enough power for all the instruments until 2020; at that point we will have to turn off our first instrument," Stone said. By 2025 the last instrument will have to be turned off.
"We're very lucky that there seems to be a compatibility between our mission and the extent of the heliosphere," Stone said.
This story was provided by SPACE.com, a sister site to Live Science. Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now
Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
Most Popular
By Paul Sutter
By Andrew Jones


text: Character Analysis Winston Smith Winston Smith is the protagonist of 1984. He is the character that the reader most identifies with, and the reader sees the world from his point of view. Winston is a kind of innocent in a world gone wrong, and it is through him that the reader is able to understand and feel the suffering that exists in the totalitarian society of Oceania. Even Winston's name is suggestive. Winston is taken from Winston Churchill, the exalted leader of wartime England, and Smith is the most common last name in the English language, thus allowing readers to see him as Orwell intended: an ordinary man who makes a valiant effort in extraordinary circumstances. A reader cannot resist identifying with Winston: He is ordinary, yet he finds the strength to try and make his circumstances better. He represents the feelings in every human being, and it is for this reason that a reader hopes that things will change. Orwell characterizes Winston as a complete, sympathetic human being, and in doing so gives the reader a stake in the outcome of the novel. Because Winston is so real, so common, it is easy for readers to identify with him and to imagine themselves in his place. Perhaps Winston carries even more weight for today's reader, who can imagine the possibility of a society like Winston's, the value of technology over humanity. Even though Winston's life is replete with misery and pain, Orwell allows him a brief time of happiness and love. During this time, there is hope for Winston, and subsequently, hope for the future. But Orwell makes certain that there is no happy ending. Totalitarianism does not permit such an ending; Winston must be crushed. If Winston were to escape, Orwell's agenda of showing the true nature of totalitarianism would have been lost. Readers identify so closely with Winston because he has individuality and undying self-determination. Winston embodies the values of a civilized society: democracy, peace, freedom, love, and decency. When Winston is destroyed, these things are destroyed with him, and so goes the reader's faith that these values are undying and a natural part of being human. Winston represents the struggle between good and bad forces, and there is no mistaking where the lines are drawn. Ultimately, Winston loses his spirit and his humanity, the two characteristics that he fought so hard to keep. Orwell insists that Winston's fate could happen to anyone, and it is for this reason that Orwell destroys Winston in the end, so that the reader may understand Orwell's warning and see that the society of 1984 never come to pass.


text:
WASHINGTON – The causes of the massive Gulf oil spill will be laid out for the first time Monday by investigators working for President Barack Obama's independent commission, potentially shifting the blame and settling disputes between companies over the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Representatives of the three companies most involved in the April accident — Halliburton, Transocean and BP — will be on hand to answer the allegations and respond to questions.
"It's the first public look at the events and actions that our investigators believe contributed to the blowout," said David Cohen, a spokesman for the seven-member commission, which has a Jan. 11 deadline to deliver a report to Obama outlining what caused the disaster and what needs to be done to prevent another one.
In a preview of what is likely to come, the panel's chief investigator, Fred H. Bartlit Jr., revealed in a letter last month that testing on cement mixtures similar to those used in the well showed that the formula was unstable before the blowout, but BP and Halliburton used it anyway. Bartlit said the companies should have reconsidered the type of cement used in the well. Cement is an essential barrier to preventing blowouts.
Hours after the letter's release, Halliburton Co., the contractor hired by BP to mix and pump cement, said in a statement that it never conducted stability tests on the final mixture, and that the earlier failed tests were on a different formulation than the one used.
After months of hearings, investigations and finger-pointing, there is still disagreement over what and whose mistakes triggered the explosion that killed 11 workers and released more than 200 million gallons of crude oil from BP's Gulf of Mexico well.
The president's commission could bring needed clarity, as the first independent body to weigh in. Other investigations have been done by companies involved in the blast, Democratic lawmakers keen on taking on Big Oil, and boards with members from the government agency that approved BP's drilling plan.
BP PLC had its say — its internal investigation found flaws with contractor Halliburton's cement job and the maintenance performed by rig owner Transocean Ltd. on critical pieces of equipment. The company also questioned how its own employees misread a critical pressure test before the blowout.
Democrats in Congress have focused on BP's well design, saying the company made decisions that sacrificed safety for profits.
The panel so far has shown that it's not shy about leveling criticism.
Led by President George H.W. Bush's former Environmental Protection Agency administrator and a Republican senator from Florida, the panel has been critical of the Obama administration's response to the spill, including decisions to suspend deep water exploration and whether the Interior Department did enough to separate its dueling duties of collecting money from oil companies and policing the companies' activities on federal lands.


text:
1384.6 - Statistics - Tasmania, 2005
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/09/2002
Page tools: Print Page Print All | |||
The 1990s were characterised by the following:
1990 April Launceston businessman Edmund Rouse stood trial and pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe Tasmanian Labor MHA Jim Cox, and Anthony Aloi pleaded guilty to helping in the attempt. October The Labor-Green Accord dissolves when the Government announced its adoption of the Forests and Forest Industry Strategy. October 28 World Rowing Championships held at Lake Barrington. December 22 The Sea Cat Tasmania, built locally by Incat, begins summer crossings of Bass Strait between George Town and Port Welshpool. 1991 Freedom of Information legislation passes. January Thousands of sheep culled due to glut in wool trade. July Port Huon pulp mill closes. September Savings Bank Tasmania and Tasmania Bank combine to begin trading as the Trust Bank. Pioneer's Electrona silicon smelter closes. September 18 Governor Island, Nine Pin Point and Tinderbox Marine Reserves proclaimed. 1992 February 1 Liberal Party wins State election with Ray Groom sworn in as Premier. May Inaugural Targa Tasmania automobile rally held. May 4 Aborigines occupy Risdon Cove in protest over land claims. May 29 Final phase of King River Power scheme officially opened. November 6 Royal Hobart Hospital nursing school closes, marking the end of hospital-based nursing training in the State. December 15 Industrial relations legislation, giving workers the choice of working under the existing award system or switching to enterprise agreements, causes a wave of protests and strikes. December 21 The ordination of seven women as Anglican priests takes place at St David's Cathedral, Hobart. 1993 February Christine Milne (Tasmanian Greens) becomes the first female leader of a political party in Tasmania. May 8 Mrs Jill Tabbart is commissioned as the first woman president of the Tasmanian Council of Churches. November 3 Henty Gold mine launched. November The Spirit of Tasmania begins the Bass Strait passenger ferry crossing. 1994 HMAS Huon naval base decommissioned. Controversial Heemskirk to Zeehan link road commenced. May 13 The Tribute power station, part of the Anthony power development, opened. October 9 Grounding of the catamaran ferry Condor II on Black Jack Rocks, south of Hobart. 1995 July 11 Grounding of the bulk ore-carrier Iron Baron on Hebe Reef off Tamar River causes an oil spill requiring a massive clean-up operation. September 15 Legislation regulating the growing marine farm industry passes in the Living Marine Resources Management Act and the Marine Farming Planning Act. October 17 The Premier announces legislation to transfer 3,800 ha of land of cultural significance to the Aboriginal community, including Oyster Cove and Risdon Cove. November 14 Threatened Species Protection Act passed. December Announcement made that an aluminium and welding fabrication school is to be established to provide skilled labour force to Incat. December 8 Inland Fisheries Act and Historic Cultural Heritage Acts passed. 1996 Legislative Council electoral boundary reform results in 19 more evenly sized electorates. February 24 State election returns Liberal Government. April 28 Gunman Martin Bryant fires on residents, visitors and staff at Port Arthur Historic site, killing 35 people and injuring 21 more. July 5 Tioxide Australia Pty Ltd ceases operations. August 30 Firearms Act 1996 passes regulating the possession, use, registration and licensing of firearms. November 13 Mole Creek Karst National Park established, with final approval of Parliament. 1997 January 1 Electronic gaming machines introduced into hotels and clubs. March Repeal of two old laws which together criminalised all male homosexual activity. July 1 Removal of operational subsidies for community-based childcare centres. July 26 The Royal Hobart Hospital announces that it is to be partly privatised. July 30 A joint Commonwealth-State inquiry headed by Hon. Peter Nixon OA into the Tasmanian economy and its prospects released, recommending a major reduction in the number of State MPs and an overhaul of the State bureaucracy. July 31 Coats Patons Mill, Launceston closes. August 13 Premier Tony Rundle, on behalf of the Tasmanian community, formally apologises to the Aboriginal people for past actions relating to the 'stolen generation', and reaffirms support for reconciliation. Tasmania is the first State to offer such an apology. September 19 Official opening of Hobart's Aquatic Centre. October 1 South Bruny National Park proclaimed. October 25 Golden Triangle Resources propose a magnesite mine and smelter in the north-west. October 26 The Anson makes its last voyage from the E.Z. (Pasminco) Company's works to dump jarosite at sea. November 8 A Regional Forests Agreement between the Commonwealth and State Government is signed amid a wave of protest from environmentalists. November 21 The controversial Oceanport development, Hobart, declared as a project of State significance. December 4 Macquarie Island gets World Heritage listing. 1998 January Widespread water shortages experienced throughout the State due to a very dry summer. January 18 Bushfires in Hobart suburbs destroy 6 houses and burn 3,000 hectares. February Anti-logging forest protests begin at Mother Cummings Peak. March 17 Official opening of Hydro Tasmania's wind farm at Huxley Hill on King Island, the State's first major commercial wind power project. March 20 Hobart and Launceston airports sold by Federal Government. April 9 Patrick Stevedores stand down 30 waterside workers in Burnie as part of national cutbacks. Industrial unrest ensues with picket lines erected on the Burnie wharves. The men return to work in May following a High Court decision against the company. April Legislation passed giving the go-ahead to the disaggregation of the Hydro-Electric Commission into three separate bodies, namely Aurora Energy Pty Ltd, Transend Network Ltd and the HEC. May Despite a number of sightings of escaped foxes in Tasmania over the past 30 years, the case of a fox that entered the State on a container ship in Burnie in May 1998 receives much publicity. Should the fox become established in the State, nearly all of Tasmania's native land animals will be at risk. May 27 Nurses in public hospitals impose workbans which last until an industrial agreement is reached in September. May 30 Crest Resources Australia announces plans for a proposed magnesite mine and refinery plant in the north-west. June 27 Plans for a new Concert Hall for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra announced. July 1 Yolla Consortium reports finding commercial quantities of gas in Bass Strait. July 14 Premier Rundle announces an early State election, seeking approval for privatisation of the HEC. July 23 An engine room fire strands the Antarctic supply vessel Aurora Australis in ice, marking the start of a series of mechanical failures which disrupt operations of the vessel over the next 6 months. July 24 Federal Government funding for the restoration of the old Abt railway (Strahan to Queenstown) announced. July 27 The Parliamentary Reform Act passes to cut the number of Members of Parliament from 54 to 40. August 3 Three councils (Devonport City, Central Midlands and Southern Midlands) take legal action to stop local government elections following the announcement of the Local Government Board's proposed council amalgamation program. The Supreme Court finds that the proposed changes are beyond the provisions of the Local Government Act. August 10 Re-opening of Launceston Coats Patons mill commenced by the Tasmanian Wool Company. August 29 Labor wins State election with Jim Bacon becoming Premier. September 16 Ansett announce plans to cease domestic flights to Hobart and Launceston, with its subsidiary Kendell Airlines taking over the routes. September 23 Floods in the north; Deloraine is particularly hard hit. October The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra commences its international tour of China. October 23 Australian Paper Mills' (A.P.M.) Burnie pulp mill closes its operations. November 2 The Government announces support for Basslink, a $500m project to build an undersea power cable across Bass Strait to link Tasmania to the National Electricity Grid. Basslink will also provide Tasmania's second fibre-optic telecommunications cable. December Stormy weather and massive seas cause the loss of 6 lives during the Sydney-Hobart yacht race, making it the most tragic in the race's history. 1999 January A spate of rioting and vandalism by prisoners at Risdon Gaol, Hobart, erupts, lasting two weeks. World Cup Swimming held at Tattersall's Hobart Aquatic Centre. February 26 The Queen Alexandra Hospital building, Hobart, handed over to private operators on a lease agreement. March Local government elections held. Legislation passed handing Wybalenna, Flinders Island, over to the Aboriginal community. March 18 Official opening of the Port Arthur Visitor Centre. April 13 A Parliamentary Inquiry into forced adoptions during the 1950s and 1960s announced. April 20 The proposed Oceanport development, Hobart abandoned in light of findings outlined in a Resource Planning and Development Commission report. May 12 The first 200 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo arrive in Tasmania where they are housed at the Brighton Military Barracks (re-named the Tasmanian Peace Haven). May 16 Golden Triangle Resources announce they may abandon Tasmania as a site for a magnesite refinery in favour of Victoria. May 19 Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve (Australia's first deep sea reserve) is proclaimed. May 26 Financial pressures temporarily close the Hobart YMCA, but a joint rescue plan between the State Government and the Glenorchy City Council is announced in June. June Commonwealth Government announces that a further part of Telstra would be sold and the resulting funds deployed as a social bonus package. Tasmania is allocated approximately $150m for a range of specific telecommunications and electronic service delivery-related projects. September 27 The first gold ingot for 85 years is poured from Beaconsfield Mine. October 30 Tasmania votes 'No' in the Republican Referendum. November 13 Five rock lobster fishermen drown off Pineapple Rocks, 300 m south of Bruny Island in Tasmania's worst ever small boating accident. November 16 Colonial Ltd announces it will buy the Trust Bank and its 40 branches. December Hydro Tasmania announces its intention to proceed with Stage 1 of a $200m 130 megawatt multi-stage wind farm at the historic Woolnorth property on the North-West Coast. Pipers Brook Vineyard is named the Australian Exporter of the Year. December 10 Anti-Discrimination Commission Tasmania is established by the Tasmanian Parliament.


text:
SEC Chief Given Waiver on Work for Former Client
Ethics office says contact between Mary Jo White and Credit Suisse was minimal.
An agency ethics office has given the chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission the go-ahead to end her recusal from cases involving a major bank that was among her prior clients at a Wall Street law firm.
Mary Jo White received word in a Feb. 6 letter that waiving a part of her standard conflict-of-interest ethics pledge applying to the international bank Credit Suisse "will directly serve the public interest," according to SEC ethics counsel Shira Pavis Minton.
Before White took over at the SEC in April 2013, she was a partner at the firm Debevoise & Plimpton, which represented Credit Suisse. The ethics office considered White's previous work for the Zurich-headquartered bank, which has multiple operations inside the United States, to be "minimal," according to Minton's letter. White "billed in total less than one hour (0.5 hours in January 2012 and 0.4 hours in February 2012)," the decision said, adding that "there is no reason you should not be able to function objectively."
Because the SEC regulates in areas in which Credit Suisse is active -- broker-dealer activities, asset management services and investment banking -- "this has led to a situation in which your leadership, experience and expertise have not been brought to bear on significant matters before the commission," said Minton's letter. The Office of Government Ethics, the agency responsible for governmentwide ethics enforcement, posted Minton's letter on its website.
The nonprofit Project on Government Oversight in a blog post noted that the SEC chief's husband, John White, a partner with the law firm Cravath, Swaine and Moore, has represented Credit Suisse. "A few months before White's nomination, the SEC charged a U.S. subsidiary of Credit Suisse with misleading investors in the sale of mortgage-backed securities," one of the financial products linked to the 2008 economic meltdown, wrote POGO investigator Michael Smallberg.
After her nomination in January 2013, Mary Jo White announced that her husband would address conflict-of-interest concerns by converting his law partnership from equity to nonequity status, thus capping his salary, The New York Times reported.
An SEC spokesman declined comment beyond the language in the waiver.
NEXT STORY: Play of the Day: A Sad Day for Sochi


text:
Translation Software for Windows English to/from Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish. © SYSTRAN S.A.
Price: $7200.00
Item #: ST24102-20
Price-Match GuaranteeIf you find a lower price anywhere else on a new identical item, just show us the lower price when you buy the item and we will match the price.We don't price match items sold on auction sites.Order Processing TimesAll orders received Monday through Friday are processed within 24-48 hours.All orders received Friday afternoon, or any time on Saturday or Sunday are processed within 48-72 hours.The package includes a Systran Business Translator CD, Manual, and licensing for 20 users.By purchasing 20-Users License package you can install the software on 20(TWENTY) computers, using just one CD. SYSTRAN Business Translator is used by small to medium size companies for day-to-day translation needs. SYSTRAN Business Translator lets you easily access and understand multilingual documents, Web pages or incoming email written in a foreign language. You can also create multilingual documents from existing or newly drafted text such as letters, company safety standards, procedures, product information, or presentations. Support 12 language pairs: English to/from Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish.
Translate Outlook emails and Microsoft Office documents in just one click The SYSTRAN Toolbar translates files in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and Outlook emails directly from Microsoft Office applications while preserving their original layout. Translate PDF files SYSTRAN converts and translates unlocked PDF files into Microsoft Word files. Translate files or multiples files in Windows folders Choose multiple files or folder. Right-click to call the SYSTRAN Quick File Translator and translate all files as a group. Surf the Web in your native language Integrated into Internet Explorer and Firefox, the SYSTRAN Toolbar lets you surf the Web in your native language and display the original Web page next to the translation. Quick access to the Larousse and SYSTRAN dictionaries 2 applications combined in 1 product. The always available SYSTRAN Toolbar lets you consult with alternative meanings of selected words and expressions. Use the specialized Economics/Business dictionary for business-specific translations Reach better quality business-specific translations when you select the SYSTRAN Economics/Business Dictionary. Take advantage of a highly intuitive tool The SYSTRAN Toolbar automatically detects the source language of the text you want to translate. Just choose the target language and click the button to translate! Create your own dictionaries SYSTRAN Dictionary Manager lets you create User Dictionaries by adding your terminology into the translation process to reach better quality, and context-specific translations. Manage translation projects SYSTRAN Translation Project Manager provides powerful tools to save your translation choices, build personalized dictionaries, align source and target texts, identify ambiguous terms, display alternate meanings and review translations.
Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, Swedish
20-Users License
Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Products | Services | Support | Press Room | Links | About Us | For Resellers | For Affiliates
Licensing of linguistic engines: dictionaries, translation engines, spellcheckers, Internet tools ..............................more
Multilingual glossaries building based on your company specific terminology ..............................more
Web Page design and localization services ..............................more
Quick translation of your personal letters, e-mail messages or business correspondence ..............................more
Smart Link Corporation Phone: (800) 256 4814 (949) 552 1599 Fax: (949) 552 1699
© 2020 Smart Link Corporation. All rights reserved.


text:
Reprinted from The Conversation
In 20th-century popular culture, journalists were portrayed as needy hacks desperate to write the Great American Novel. Journalism was the means to an end that few achieved.
But Tom Wolfe, who died May 14 at age 88, helped change that in the 1960s. He was one of the New Journalists, who wrote nonfiction using the techniques of fiction.
As an example: Journalists had long been trained to use direct quotations sparingly and to look for money quotes, working them into stories with stenographic rhythm. Wolfe and the others broke rules, using great stretches of dialogue, knowing people reveal their character with the words they utter.
In a business demanding informational triage, Wolfe included obsessive detail, using scene-by-scene construction to observe and describe. "Show, don't tell" was the mantra. The New Journalists wouldn't just say "the man wore a pocket protector"; they would examine and describe everything within: Paper Mates, Pentels, Eberhard Faber Mongol 482s.
Origin story
Tom Wolfe took an unusual path into the world of journalism that he would so flagrantly disrupt. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, he went to Washington and Lee University, but did not follow the prescribed English-lit path to becoming a Man of Letters. He majored in American studies, examining the country from the ground up. His mentor, Marshall Fishwick, had students work shifts as brick masons and garbage collectors.
Post-graduation, he sought a career in Major League Baseball. Wolfe had a good arm and was invited to spring training with the New York Giants. He was cut, so he did what people do when they don't know what else to do: He went to graduate school.
He earned a doctorate in American studies at Yale – yes, he's been Dr. Tom Wolfe all this time. While he chipped away at his dissertation, he adopted the all-in-black look and body odor of the beatnik, moving office furniture and chatting up young secretaries, hoping one might concede to a date. No luck for the sweaty. So he brooded on the dissertation over beer, manspreading on his couch, watching late-night TV.
Stumbling into journalism
Then he saw it: "His Girl Friday." Being a newspaper reporter looked like fun and after years of academic overload, he longed for the real world. That world with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell looked real enough, and so he blanketed North America with resumes. He got two bites, one of which was a joke offer so the New York Daily News could brag about having a Ph.D. copy boy. (He'd finally finished the dissertation.)
But the other offer was from the Springfield Union in Massachusetts. He took that job and wrote about tax rates and sewer lines. Having paid his dues, he was off to The Washington Post in 1959 and the New York Herald Tribune by 1962.
In the heady competition in New York, he soon developed a fascination with the work of New York Times reporter Gay Talese. Talese spent off-hours writing features for Esquire, which drew Wolfe's whistle of admiration.
Infuriating the establishment
Wolfe wanted to play that game. He covered a custom car rally in California for the Herald Tribune and spun off a free-association feature – actually his verbatim memo about the car rally – into an Esquire article titled "There Goes (VAROOM! VAROOM!) that Kandy-Kolored (THPHHHHHH!) Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (RAHGHHHH!) Around the Bend (BRUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM."
His style was born of deadline fear and set his course to cover the decade he considered mirthful pandemonium. His writing was freckled with Tourette's-like ejaculations that infatuated some and infuriated others, including the editors, staff and perhaps every reader ever of The New Yorker. Wolfe's savage parody takedown of the magazine and its beloved and cloistered editor, William Shawn, drew lifelong hatred from much of the literary establishment. E.B. White called the article "sly" and "cruel" and the reclusive J.D. Salinger called it "poisonous." Wolfe wore such criticism as a thorny crown.
He excelled in annoyance; witness his clothing. When he showed up at an autumn lawn party in his white suit – as a Son of the South, he was practically issued the thing – guests approached him sputtering with rage: "Why, it's after Labor Day! How dare you?" And so he began dressing with insufferable flamboyance, using clothing as harmless aggression. Even people who didn't read knew who he was: the Man in the White Suit.
In his work, he wrapped up the spiritual quest of the 1960s in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," his high-octane meditation about a generation born to affluence searching for something beyond the working definition of happiness, a spiritual and physical journey he showed through the eyes of writer Ken Kesey, who'd gone off the rails. Fifty years later, "Acid Test" stands as the best book to give to a kid who wants to know why there is such a fuss about the 1960s.
Then he asked the simple question: What do you do when you know your life has peaked? After walking on the moon, going to Walmart loses its mystique. In the 1970s he investigated for Rolling Stone how the astronauts held up after returning to Earth and going back to normal life. A decade of research followed into the nature of heroism. He produced "The Right Stuff" in 1979.
Climbing the mountain
Inevitably – because the mountain was there, demanding to be climbed – he turned to fiction. Using his reporter's skills and determined to write a realistic novel in the manner of Charles Dickens, he spent a decade – and a very public first draft, also in Rolling Stone – to produce "The Bonfire of the Vanities," a big best-seller, loathed by the literary community that had always despised him.
I knew him and wrote a book about him many years ago. I was with him during the research phase of one of his novels, and I marveled watching him watch people. With grace and a seeming effortlessness, he extracted stories from people, slipping into a corner to pull his notebook from his suit pocket and dash off a few lines of insight.
He kept it up the last decades of his life, producing doorstop best-sellers ("A Man in Full," "I Am Charlotte Simmons," "Back to Blood") and remaining a chortling televised commentator, sowing disdain and insult like some Johnny Pissed-off Seed.
He didn't care for acceptance by the literary community. He knew that would never happen. As an outsider who'd long urinated on the pretensions of much modern writing, he never expected to be invited into the tent.
He left behind not only his work, but validation for the journalists who have followed in his wake. He – and Talese, Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Norman Mailer and others – celebrated nonfiction writing as an art form at least as legitimate as modern fiction.
When I look back at the sore-thumb decade of the last century, there's no definitive novel of the 1960s, but there is "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." There is no single novel that spelunks to the depths of the American character, but there is "The Right Stuff."
In the end, he gave the world the story of 60 years of the American experience, in fiction and nonfiction. Our descendants will decide whether his work has a long shelf life, but today it can be hard to look back and imagine the grand and catastrophic spectacle without him on the sideline, taking notes.
William McKeen is Professor and Chair, Department of Journalism, Boston University


text:
The first in a series, the Gazetteer of the Known World provides an overview of the world, its gods, customs and social hierarchies.
It includes three full pantheons of deities, new rules for making the clerics of one deity different from those of another deity, rules for social class, and a new class, the Crusader.
The Gazetteer also includes four new variant classes: the Anti-Paladin, the Bounty Hunter, the Hunter and the Poacher. Variant classes take an existing class and modify it just enough to give it a new feel.
In Cities of Fantasy Volume 2: Racial Neighborhoods, five distinct neighborhoods are described, each based on a key fantasy role-playing game race.
The Gravediggers' Guild is Volume One in the new Cities of Fantasy series, a guidebook to help Game Masters flesh out their campaign world and Players develop intriguing backgrounds. GMs get a thorough manual for setting a grand conspiracy in motion. Players will find a multi-layered organization that they can join or oppose depending on their character's disposition.
John Simcoe has worked on RPGObjects' popular GM Mastery series and is the creator of three Paizo-era Dungeon adventures and has written for EN Publishing and West End Games.


text:
BlackRock Fund Sinks $80M into Twitter; Deal Values Firm at More than $9B
Twitter has scored an investment offer from a fund run by BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) that reportedly values the social media company at more than $9 billion.
A spokesperson at BlackRock confirmed the investment by one of the money-management giant's funds, but declined to give financial details.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the investment is valued at $80 million and would allow some of Twitter's early employees to sell their stock. The short-messaging company wouldn't make any money on the investment.
Twitter didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deal is similar to liquidity-providing transactions reached by the likes of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) before they went public.
Weigh in: What do you think Twitter is worth?
BlackRock has offered to buy Twitter shares at about $17 each, compared with 2011 stock sales by Twitter at $16.09 each, the Journal reported. The deal would value Twitter at north of $9 billion, up from $8.4 billion in 2011.
Twitter has previously raised more than $1 billion, including from Benchmark Capital, Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital.
Shares of New York-based BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, dropped 0.79% to $234.56 Monday morning.
Twitter, which has more than 200 million active users to Facebook's 1 billion, has thus far resisted the lure of an initial public offering.
The company has likely been given pause by the post-IPO stumbles for another Internet companies, including Facebook and Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA).


text:
Residents in southeast Queensland are mopping up after more storms battered the region on Sunday evening, capping off a weekend of wild weather.
Meanwhile, the state's weather boss will examine why forecasters failed to issue a specific warning about the storm that hit the city on Saturday.
Clear blue skies over Brisbane this morning offered no clue to the torrid weekend of weather, which saw two house fires sparked by lightning strikes and a 46-year-old man struck by lightning in Jimboomba about 6.30pm on Sunday.
The man was using a high-pressure hose at his home when he was struck. He was rushed to Logan Hospital, where he is in a stable condition.
Hail stones larger than golf-balls pummeled western suburbs, including Middle Park, Riverhills, Kenmore and Moggill.
Trees were torn out of the ground and tossed across cars and into roofs by winds that gusted above 100 km/h. There was also isolated flash flooding in parts of Brisbane.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said council crews would be out in force today, repairing infrastructure and assessing the damage.
"All of these things come with a price tag and of course the price tag won't be known until the clean up is complete," he told 612 ABC Brisbane this morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the worst of the weather had passed and while more storm activity was possible, it was unlikely.
As residents cleaned up after Saturday's storms that caused widespread damage, thick storm clouds rolled in again Sundayday afternoon.
The storm front hit the Brisbane CBD shortly before 6pm, and by 6.45pm there were more than 18,000 homes and businesses without power.
Nearly 25,000 lightning strikes were recorded by Energex during Sunday evening.
Two homes caught fire after being hit by lightning, but the heavy rain extinguished the flames.
Hail 9cm in diameter hit areas from Boonah to Mt Coot-tha and Bardon, while hail stones as large as tennis balls pelted Toowong.
The heavy rain forced motorists to stop on the Gateway Motorway, Deagon.
And public transport services were interrupted across the city as a result of debris and fallen objects, with major delays to the Ipswich and Cleveland lines.
The State Emergency Service reported receiving a call every 30 seconds in the first 10 minutes immediately after Sunday night's storm.
Between 5am on Sunday and 5am today, the SES received 102 calls for help from Brisbane residents.
The SES received 37 calls from the Gold Coast and Ipswich areas and 32 calls from the Sunshine Coast and surrounds.
More than 10,000 people were evacuated from the Harvest music festival at Brisbane's Botanic Gardens, but were later ushered back in as the danger cleared.
Meanwhile, Bureau of Meteorology regional director Rob Webb defended the actions of forecasters, but conceded he would have liked to see a warning about Saturday's storms issued a ''little earlier''.
The massive storm was clearly visible on a BoM radar image taken at 10.12am Saturday. The radar showed the intense storm centred between Amberley and the Ipswich CBD, moving east towards Brisbane.
However the bureau did not issue an alert about the severe weather until 10.50am, after the storm front mashed into Brisbane city.
Forecasters at the Bureau of Meteorology were ''sweating on every radar scan'' on Saturday morning, but the bureau's chief said he would review the decisions of forecasters in the lead up to the destructive storm.
''On Saturday morning forecasters were monitoring those storms ... and given that it was early in the day the forecasters felt the storms would pass through without the reaching the high end of severe weather,'' Mr Webb told 612 ABC Brisbane this morning.
''Once we forecast the storms people should be aware that they can change their structure very quickly. You really need to be keeping an eye on the environment, as well as our website for warnings.
''Our forecasters were watching those storms really closely - every six minutes as they came through. They made that judgment call on the storm behaviour as it moved across.''
Mr Webb said the bureau had warned southeast Queensland residents throughout the week of weekend storms.
''Without having seen the absolute details of all their decisions on the day, they really watched until they felt, 'this storm is got too big, we've got to get a warning out','' he said.
''This was in the backdrop of having the community being prepared anyway - that would be another thing going through the forecasters mind.
''We're reaching the peak of the storm season now and we will see more severe weather and you just need to be aware that that happens in Brisbane.''
Ipswich City Councillor Paul Tully has called for a public apology from the bureau for its "monumental failure" to issue a timely storm warning.
"They must have been enjoying a long morning tea or an early lunch not to realise the intensity of the approaching storm," he said.
Other critics took to Facebook.
"Methinks the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (Queensland Weather Warning Feed) must have had their Chrissy drinks last night. They are blaming the speed of this morning's storm for their not being able to issue a warning until 5 minutes after it hit (rattling their building in the process)," wrote Lipscome Mick, linking to the feed.
"You are hopeless !!! More chance of making your own decisions by looking at the sky !!! Your warnings are late and worthless ...," wrote Dallas Garton.
"Freaking hopeless ... who has been sleeping on the job then ??" wrote M'lady Stompalot.
Michelle Truesdale reflected on the lack or outreach to social media users — despite most other emergency organisations regularly updating followers of their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds:
"Your last post was 28 October. No warnings of super storm cells expected in SE Qld & Nthn NSW today & tomorrow. (And one huge storm has already hit Brisbane this morning.). Think I might 'unlike' this page."
Over the weekend, Brisbane city received about 80 millimetres of rain, while Gatton received the heaviest downpour in four years with 96 millimetres falling in the town on Saturday.
On the Sunshine Coast, 11 millimetres of rain fell in Maroochydore in only 10 minutes about 3.40pm yesterday.
Brisbane is expected to reach a top of 31 degrees today, although the mercury is tipped to climb to 34 degrees in Ipswich.
Temperatures will drop quickly during the late afternoon, however, as a brisk southerly change arrives.
- with Katherine Feeney


text:
[](/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/05/boston-Tamerlan-Tsarnaev-bomber.jpg)The media coverage of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has one theme and one tack. Like 30 of the 31 men on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list, they were terrorists who just happened to be Muslim.
While the New York Times dispatched its best and brightest lackeys to Boston to write sensitive pieces on how hard it was for the two Tsarnaevs to fit in, it fell to a UK tabloids like The Sun to conduct an interview with the ex-girlfriend of the lead terrorist and learn that he wanted her to hate America and beat her because she wouldn't wear a Hijab.
There are all sorts of jobs that Americans won't do. Like pick lettuce, bomb the Boston Marathon and report honestly on the motives of the bombers. The only news network that operates outside the media consensus is owned by an Australian mogul who also owns The Sun.
Americans like to think of their press as freer, but it's only free in the sense that it voluntarily puts on its own muzzle. European tabloids get into bloody brawls with regulators. American newspapers have nothing to brawl about. They will gleefully report anything that undermines national security at the drop of a hat, knowing that they won't be touched, but there is a long list of subjects that they won't touch with a million-mile pole.
In Europe, editors risked their lives to publish the Mohammed cartoons. In America, on the rare occasion that they were depicted, they were usually censored. CNN, which could show Kathy Griffin trying to molest Anderson Cooper, without the benefit of pixelation or a suicide button, blurred out Mohammed's face; assuming that Muslims would appreciate the sensitivity of treating their prophet's face like an obscene object.
The American media does not need to be censored. It censors itself.
Did the New York Times really fail to come across Tamerlan Tsarnaev's ex-girlfriend while they were busily interviewing every single person in Boston who ever ran into the future terrorists? The New York Times may be incompetent, but it isn't that incompetent. If it could track down Tamerlan's old coach, it could track down his old girlfriend. It chose not to.
So did every other paper.
Either The Sun is staffed with crack journalists who could do what no American newspaper, news channel and network news program could, or The Sun got the scoop on Nadine Ascencao because no newspaper on this side of the ocean wanted to touch it. And it's easy to see why.
Nadine talks about being beaten in the name of Islam, forced to memorize Koran verses and being taught to hate America. Most journalists on this side of the ocean want quotes on what nice boys the two Tsarnaevs were and how, in true liberal fashion, no one could have expected them to do something like this.
Every background story on them is filled with the same pabulum, because the endless march of "We couldn't have known" quotes provides the government-media complex with the plausible deniability it needs to continue doing the same thing all over again. If the people couldn't have known, then it stands to reason that their government or their media couldn't have known either.
The only newspaper besides The Sun to do an interview with Nadine Ascencao was the Wall Street Journal; which just happens to be owned by the same tabloid mogul. But there is an interesting difference between The Sun and the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ piece doesn't mention Hijabs, Koran verses or hating America. It doesn't mention Islam at all.
Co-written by a Pakistani journalist, it emphasizes only that Tamerlan was a bully of no particular religion. That reporter's twitter feed features a retweet from another Muslim WSJ reporter who broadcasts that the plans of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to head to Times Square amounted to nothing. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Instead of wasting time on a dead end like Islam, the media has spent its time chasing down every other possible angle.
Did Tamerlan turn terrorist because he took too many blows to the head while boxing? Could the Boston Marathon bombing have been prevented if only we had let him win?
The New York Times assembled a touching story of an aspiring immigrant boxer radicalized by the petty restrictions of a government that wouldn't let him apply for citizenship because of his history of domestic violence and appearance on a terrorist watch list. But how does that jibe with the Tamerlan from five years earlier who beat up a boy that his sister was dating because he wasn't Muslim?
When the media must deal with Tamerlan's theology, it keeps him in the category of the troubled man who turned to some wacky extremist version of Islam propounded by a YouTube convert. The man who beat his sister's boyfriend because he wasn't a Muslim and beat his ex-girlfriend because she wouldn't wear a Hijab wasn't some brainwashed drone who had his mind stolen by YouTube videos. He was a Muslim.
That angle is the most terrifying one that the media can think of. If they have to mention the "I" word, they will sandwich it between "extremist" and "radicalization." But it's not Tamerlan who was the radical extremist. Among Muslims, his views were mainstream. The Wahhabis are in ascendance in most parts of the world, including the United States. Islamist parties roundly won the Arab Spring.
What was the difference between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and any of the Syrian Jihadists held up by the media as the epitome of courage and bravery? What is the difference between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Hamas and Fatah terrorists that the media peevishly contends Israel must make peace with? What is the difference between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and any of the tens of thousands of Muslim terrorists fighting in conflicts around the world?
While the European media, for all its faults, occasionally grapples with the incompatibility of liberal values and Muslim values; on this side of the ocean the topic is all but untouchable.
A story about a future Muslim terrorist beating his girlfriend because she wouldn't wear a Hijab creates a sneaking suspicion that Muslim multiculturalism is incompatible with liberal values. The incompatible Muslims, like Mohammed's face, have been pixelated out of existence in the reports on terrorist attacks by disgruntled boxers, doctors and perfume salesmen who just happen to be Muslim.
These are the Muslims that the media doesn't see. And it is doing everything possible to make sure that we don't see them either.
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here.


text:
Welcome to our dating tips page. The idea here is to offer dating advice for men from some of the best experts around. The theories and tactics of pick-up artists have come a long way in the past 15 years, so we'll be laying out some of the best for your review. At the very least you'll eliminate some glaring mistakes you've been repeating, but hopefully you'll develope and refine your skills in the area by considering and evaluating the advice from these sources. Take what works for you, but understand that you need to challenge yourself. Don't just dismiss some advice because it makes you a little uncomfortable. Check back soon as we will be adding more resources to this page and our entire dating channel. Finally, remember that many call it the "game" because it's supposed to be fun!
Our latest dating content can be found in the Dating category in our new magazine format.
These sites offer a variety of online options, from excellent adult personals to a great free dating site. Check out our Best Dating Sites for Men page for more options.
This site takes the best of adult dating sites and combines it with the best features of your favorite social media sites. The result is a pretty awesome hookup site where you can meet real women posting pics and starting converations. Of course you have to do some screening, but if you put some effort into this you can find some incredible hookups!
Men might think that buying a girl a drink is a surefire way to win her attention, but Eric Rogell says it's not what she wants at all.
Eric Rogell discusses dating with Olympic snowboarder Elena Hight.
Eric Rogell explains how you have to avoid this at all costs when approaching women.
Thinking about buying her a drink? Don't. Learning these five mistakes won't guarantee you get the girl every time, but your average is sure to climb if you switch up your approach.
Forget the reservations. Prepare your own unforgettable meal and you may be making breakfast for her in the morning.
Want to win her over for good? Forget the flowers and the gimmicks, and plan a weekend getaway she'll never forget. Just keep your budget in mind.
Neil Strauss: a.k.a. "Style"
Neil's book "The Game" is probably the best and most entertaining resource if you're interested in the world of pick-up artists and how to improve your own game. Neil recounts his personal journey as a successful writer who rarely "got lucky" with women to one of the best pick-up artists in the world. It's a fascinating read, and regardless of whether you pursue his strategies, you'll never look at women and interpersonal relationships in the same way. If you want to improve your game and hook up with more women, definitely check out his StyleLife Academy.
Ross Jeffries – Speed Seduction
Ross Jeffries is the trailblazer in the area. His Speed Seduction exploded onto the scene years ago and spawned the new generation of pickup artists. Ross's system is based on NLP: neuro-linguistic programming. The notion here is that we are influenced greatly by our subconscious needs and desires, and that you can influence a woman's perception of you with the words and phrases you use when speaking to her. Words trigger responses in our brains, and NLP can be used for all sorts of self-help purposes. Speed Seduction is a fascinating system, and anyone who wants to improve how they approach and interact with women should explore Ross's program.
David DeAngelo
The creator of the "cocky-funny" approach detailed in the Double Your Dating system is one of the most widely read and followed pick-up artists around. We have carried his articles for years, and you can check them out for some incredible advice on improving your game.
David DeAngelo provides some great dating advice with these exclusive Dating Top 10 lists.
November 19, 2009
Items like a zen garden, interactive video games and a wine rack can lead to great conversation while also helping to take things to the next level smoothly and without rejection.
October 9, 2009
If luck is when opportunity meets preparation, you have to prepare yourself before you go out for a night on the town.
September 3, 2009
Many dating mistakes can be avoided by simply keeping your mouth shut. If you've ever asked "how many guys have you slept with?" on a date, David D. has a list for you!
August 11, 2009
There are more places to meet women than at bars and coffee shops. David D. lists some places you may not have considered, like wine tastings and social media websites.
Check out our complete Double Your Dating page for even more articles from David DeAngelo that will help you improve your game!
Planning the perfect first date
As they say, "first impression is always best." Here are three ideas to wow your date and make your first impression a lasting one.
The ultimate mistake men make with women
Avoid this mistake and you will improve your success rate!
STD 101: Sex on Campus
Read this infographic to find out if you're one of the highest risk schools in the nation, and how you can be safe during your 'extracurricular' activities.
Secrets of dating beautiful women
Don't sell yourself short. Learn how to approach and close with beautiful women.
Initial conversations with women
Learn the artof the opener. Nothing happens if you don't start a conversation, and you don't need a dopey pickup line.
You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.


text:
Falls are scary, and they can be disabling in both direct and indirect ways. Directly, they often cause injuries that can make it difficult to move and function normally. And then indirectly, they can create a significant fear of falling in many individuals, which in turn leads to less movement and activity which can then further increase the risk for another fall. Any way you slice it, falls can do some serious damage to the lives and independence of older adults.
So if you or someone close to you is in the "at–risk" population for falling, you may very well be interested in taking action to somehow lower the chances. There is a variety of steps one can take to work towards reducing their fall risk, but perhaps the most direct and effective solution is to see a physical therapist for specific guidance.
Physical therapists are experts of human movement that specialize in finding ways to help patients move more effectively and confidently. As such, they are perfectly equipped to identify which older adults are at risk for falls and then guide them through the steps needed to improve their health and modify their lives in ways that will prevent falls from occurring.
From screening, to assessment, to prevention The first step of the fall prevention process is determining whether or not someone is at risk for falling. This is done by an initial screen, which can be given to anyone over the age of 65 and typically consists of three questions:
- Have you had 2 or more falls in the last 12 months?
- Have you fallen recently?
- Do you have any difficulty with walking or balance (the therapist will also examine this briefly to make a determination)?
If the answer to any of these questions is "yes," then the patient is considered to be in the "high risk for falls" category. From here, a much more thorough assessment is needed, which will include a detailed interview about medications the patient is taking, their fall history, and a physical examination to evaluate balance, strength, mobility, and other factors. This assessment allows the physical therapist to more accurately understand the actual risk for a fall and the impairments present in each patient that need to be targeted.
Based on these findings, the therapist will then create a personalized fall-prevention program to begin right away. Every program is therefore unique according to the patient's specific impairments and abilities, but research has shown that the best prevention strategies include a variety of different exercises, particularly those that aim to improve balance and strength. As patients repeatedly perform these types of exercises, their reaction times will become more automatic, which will consequently reduce their risk for falls. Part of the program will also involve recommendations for regular physical activity in order to boost fitness levels, which is key for fall prevention.
Lastly, a physical therapist will educate patients and provide specific instructions on how to reduce or eliminate hazards in the home environment and elsewhere. Below are some of the most common tips physical therapists usually provide:
- Conduct a walkthrough of your home—or have a friend/family member do it—to identify possible hazards that may lead to a fall, then make necessary changes
- Install handrails on both sides of all stairways, avoid clutter and putting any items on the floor, remove throw rugs and make sure your home is well–lit
- In bathroom, use nonskid mats, a raised toilet seat and grab bars as needed
- If you're supposed to use a walking assistive device, be sure you're using it properly and at all times, both in and out of the house
- Get your eyes checked once a year, and get adequate calcium and vitamin D
- If you're taking numerous medications, learn the side effects and if there are any interactions that can increase your risk of falling
- Wear shoes with nonskid soles and consider using Velcro or Spyrolaces
- Take your time, be patient and ask others for help with difficult, risky tasks
While the power to prevent falls is ultimately in your hands, seeing a physical therapist will be extremely helpful for guiding you and to identify the safest approach to keep you on your feet.