text:
WASHINGTON, DC — Marketers of the BodyFlex+ System agreed to settle a deceptive advertising complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by offering customers $2.6 million in refunds.
BodyFlex is an 18-minute routine involving stretching, deep breathing and exercises done with the BodyFlex Gym Bar, a plastic exercise bar with a resistance band. In a heavily aired national infomercial and on the Internet, BodyFlex claimed its product would cause users to lose from four to 14 inches in the first seven days of use.
The FTC's amended complaint named Savvier Inc. and Savvier LP, California companies; their principals, Jeffrey Tuller and Jack Ching Chung Chang; BodyFlex Inc., a Nevada corporation; and its principal and BodyFlex spokesperson Greer Childers. In a stipulated motion filed on Aug. 31, 2004, the FTC asked the court to dismiss charges against defendant Jack Ching Chung Chang. The FTC's original complaint was filed in federal district court in November 2003 and was amended in January 2004. The proposed settlement still requires final court approval.
Besides establishing a $2.6 million consumer refund program, Savvier LP will also pay administrative costs of the program, which will give dissatisfied customers the opportunity to receive either a full refund or a pro rata share, depending on the consumer response to the refund offer. Savvier LP will send notices to BodyFlex purchasers describing how they can receive a refund. After the refund program is completed the FTC stated that any unused funds would be disgorged to the U.S. Treasury.
The order also includes an "avalanche clause" that makes $36 million due immediately if the court finds that the defendants misrepresented their financial condition.


text: Breaking......It's not confirmed as of yet, but reliable sources are now claiming that as early as last year, Palin may have put some plastic into a glass recycling bin. Palin is claiming that the plastic bottle was hers, but expert investigators on DU are reported to have proof that the plastic was really her daughters. They cite evidence of a photo of Palin taking out the garbage. The bag doesn't look fat enough to contain a large plastic bottle. They also point to sources that claim Palin was drinking soda earlier in the day before giving a speech, when she dropped the bottle and it broke into several pieces. Experts on DU were quick to point out to their members, that plastic doesn't shatter. More to follow.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bart J. necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 5 diseños de 4 diseñadores freelance.
Verheggen mode & sport is a small retailer in the centre of Heythuysen (a small village in the Netherlands). The south of the Netherlands celebrates every year the Carnival festival (in Dutch: Carnaval).
It is a little bit comparable with the Brazilian Carnival. Everybody puts on beautiful/funny clothing and celebrates a big party for 5 days. Some pictures from the Carnival festival are included to taste the atmosphere.
Apart from having an "offline" shop, Verheggen wants this year to create an online touchpoint also where people can also buy all kinds of party clothing fitting to their own style.
The focus of Verheggenmode is to create your own personal party clothing. Verheggen offers a wide range of clothing possibilities to create your own party style. Verheggen can even personalise the clothing with a personal print. Verheggen pursues a personal approach, even through the online touchpoint. There always is a possibility to have contact through audio/video chat, to get personal advice.
From youth to adult, people interested in celebrating the Dutch carnival.
- Expecting a 1-page design of the header, menu structures, and some content (products)
- The carnival colors are red,yellow and green (not a must-have). See
- The online shop will be build in Magento. Site structures can be based on http://www.magentocommerce.com/media/screenshots


text:
As they left, a photographer heard someone in the party of four use the word "firecrotch." You'll recall the TMZ video in which Brandon Davis went on a now-infamous rant against Lindsay Lohan, peppering his comments by calling her a "firecrotch."
As they left, a photographer heard the reference and asked "What did you say about firecrotch?" Storch replied "We're actually celebrating firecrotch day." As Storch and Paris got in the vehicle which sported bright red interior (Lindsay is famous for her red hair), he added "We even have firecrotch interior for the occasion."
A photographer then asked "Did you get the interior done for firecrotch?" Storch promptly responded "Yes we did, in special honor of her freckled puss." Paris, who smiled during the entire exchange, could not contain her giggles with Storch's parting shot.
Davis, who left in his own car, did not utter a "firecrotch" word. He may have learned his lesson, but this feud is far from over.


text:
We Can Prevent Violence and Protect Freedom
Monday, March 12, 2018
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
The NRA urges all members, Second Amendment supporters and sportsmen in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District to vote ...
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
On Tuesday, November 6, defend freedom. Vote Pete Stauber for Minnesota's 8th Congressional District!
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Brave, young Oklahomans answer the call to serve. But what about their loved ones while they're away? Drew ...
Monday, October 22, 2018
Defend Freedom. Defeat Andrew Gillum. Learn more at www.NRAPVF.org/DefeatGillum.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Defend Freedom. Defeat Stacey Abrams. Learn more at www.NRAPVF.org/DefeatAbrams.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Wisconsinites must defeat Tony Evers in November. He won't protect Second Amendment rights.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Defend Freedom. Defeat Joe Donnelly. Learn more at https://www.nrapvf.org/DefeatDonnelly.
Friday, October 5, 2018
The Supreme Court is divided. Our right to self-defense hangs in the balance. Claire McCaskill sided all four ...
Friday, October 5, 2018
The Supreme Court is divided. Our right to self-defense hangs in the balance,and if Phil Bredesen wins the ...
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Jon Tester is wrong for Montana and he's wrong for U.S. Senate. For more information on Jon Tester's ...


text:
If it hasn't started yet, I can see the huge potential for a phish to come out of this issue. Attacker sends an email saying that the new software is now online and they want verification of information (or update information for the new software). Alternatively, they could have it where it tells people to verify their existing sales/purchases to ensure there are no double billings (using "fake" samples).
Source: CNN
Glitch occurred after software upgrade
SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Despite furious repair efforts, intermittent service outages at the online payment service PayPal continued Tuesday for the fifth consecutive day, affecting payments, log-ins and account creations.
The technical glitch plaguing the eBay Inc.-owned company has affected an untold number of users, making it hard for some online sellers to complete deals, according to the eBay Web site.
Since some people are able to log in while others are not, eBay spokeswoman Amanda Pires said the total number of affected users remains unclear.
Meanwhile, financial analysts were monitoring the problem to see what financial impact, if any, the glitch would cause the online auction giant.
Caris & Co. analyst David Garrity said he was growing more concerned each day with PayPal's technical troubles. "It is certainly something that needs to get resolved," he said Tuesday. "If the outages continue much longer, it will hurt them in the fourth quarter."
PayPal is a common method of payment for buyers on eBay and is gaining in popularity among customers of other online retailers as well as in money transactions between individuals in the off-line world.
The payment service has more than 50 million user accounts worldwide. It processed almost 78 million transactions worth $4.4 billion in payments during the second quarter, a 53 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.
In July, eBay boosted its outlook for the rest of the year, citing in part the strength of the company's PayPal division. Company officials said they expect 2004 sales to be as high as $3.185 billion, $35 million higher than it previously predicted.
The PayPal problem comes at the start of the season when many online sellers are ramping up for the holiday season.
Users began experiencing some glitches on Friday following a software upgrade to the PayPal system, eBay officials said. Ebay has posted numerous apologies to users on its Web site and reassured them that their account data and personal information have not been compromised.
"eBay and PayPal technical teams are working at full force to fix the underlying problems," the company said.
Shares of eBay closed Tuesday at $93.49, down 24 cents, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.


text:
Jbop needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 584 designs submitted by 153 freelance designers.
Breaking Rules or BreakingRul.es (the domain name)
I'm a successful entrepreneur who is in the process of launching a new Web site that teaches entrepreneurs and forward-thinking businesspeople how to use cutting-edge technology to hack business success.
This is a blog/community that demonstrates and discusses innovative new tips, tricks, and techniques for creating an unfair advantage for those who are willing to step outside the box and challenge conventional wisdom. Content will be a combination of text, video, audio, and real-time conversations.
The target audience is entrepreneurs starting or running small businesses who want to level the playing field against the big boys. A typical reader/viewer is 30 years old, male, single, with a bachelor's degree, and enjoys humor and the latest technology.
- The logo should be recognizable, eye-catching, and fun. It should project a sense of out-of-the-box, creative thinking and success.
- The look should be modern and exciting, no retro. Emphasis here is on cutting-edge.
- While out-of-the-box and exciting should be emphasized, the site is still oriented towards business and making money, so nothing TOO wild--this is not a site for a death-metal band.
- Please no stock images. Icons are great, but they must be unique and original.
- Part or all of the logo should fit into a 16x16 pixel area for a favicon (Do not worry about this until final elimination, it is very secondary to the main logo and I know it is hard)
- Bonus points if you can come up with something that is both clean & creative. Some people are doing a fantastic job of this, check out the highest-rated entries. Busier is not better.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Exploration versus progress
I spend a lot of time fiddling around with the classes and crafting professions, then get bored once I'm not learning anything new. In most MMOs you can learn 80% of the mechanics in your first few weekends, and then need to put in another six months or so to get to the endgame where new systems start to open up. There are very few MMOs that have kept me hooked long enough to get to that last 5-20% of the game.
Even in the rare ones that hook me for more than a month or two, I tend to make slow progress. My approach to MMOs is more like ants crawling out in all directions from a nest than a horse charging forward. I always want to see all the starting areas, which takes some time. However, what really slows me down is my penchant for having an interlocking and self sufficient fleet of crafters. For example, in EQ2X I currently have crafters that upgrade abilities for both casters and melee characters, as well as crafters that make bags, cloth armor, leather armor, and metal armor. I'm waffling over whether to use my recently purchased fifth character slot to make metal weapons or jewelry. I may end up buying a sixth character slot for my silver account so I can cover both.
Getting all those crafters up to the point where they can make useful stuff for each other has eaten up most of my playtime. Going on adventures and killing stuff is sort of a side activity that helps me gather the mats needed to keep my family of characters in the best gear that can be crafted. The only MMOs I've played long term where I didn't fall into this cycle were either MMOs that had an absolutely grueling crafting system (e.g., DAoC and EQ) or MMOs that lacked any crafting system to speak of (e.g, DDO and COX). In WoW, LoTRO, and now EQ2X I have fleets of mid to low level characters that make great stuff for each other, and mains that take at least twice as long to level as the mains of users that play these games linearly.
I'm certain that to some players of these games, my diffuse approach to progression borders on insane. Particularly to players that think MMOs "start" once you hit the level cap (?!?). However, it's fun to me and that's really all that matters. . . at least to me :-)
An aside: apologies for the lack of posts lately. I am traveling a lot these days. This is the first weekend I've been in town since my last post. Regular posting will resume towards the end of the month I expect.
5 comments:
- AnonymousNovember 6, 2010 at 4:31 PM
I'm like that with my fleet of crafters too. I have no idea why, since crafting it far from my favorite thing to do in a game. Perhaps it stems from a desire to be independent, so if I need something right away I have it covered. I'm also super stingy when it comes to gold, so it chafes me to pay someone else for a service when I know it's something I can do myself if I put some work into it, heh :PReplyDelete
Although I'm lean more toward the achiever camp, I understand where you are coming from. Exploring the complexities of systems can be quite a joy. That's one of the reasons I played Guild Wars for so long. Figuring out the skill interactions was great fun.ReplyDelete
And although I said I'm an achiever, exploring the new world and how to function in it has been one of the reasons I've been enjoying Minecraft. I haven't built any huge monuments like others have. I'm still enjoying discovering new things in the world.
Completely sensible to me and pretty similar to how I play.ReplyDelete
I am very much an explorer but not so much a crafter, I easily get bored after a while.ReplyDelete
The last two Fallout games really bring the explorer out in me, I just can't help but go to that unexplored section and see what could be there. That's probably where half my time goes in those games.
@MMOgamerchick: I simply enjoy being able to twink the hell out of new characters without having to spend much money on them. It's fun to start some new little guy and see what he can do with the best gear I can craft. On any server where I have a really well stocked fleet of crafters, a common refrain from new alts is "I... am ...Rocket Powered!!!"ReplyDelete
@Anjin: I have always been fascinated by RPG systems. When I was GMing PnP MMOs I would generally rework systems that i found lacking, or expand upon systems that I considered well thought out. New classes (DnD), new races (Star Frontiers), a more internally consistent power system (Marvell Superheroes), slight tweaks to the combat mechanics to make various weapons more distinct (Gamma World).
At least 70% of why I try most MMOs is just to see the mechanics. Unlike my PnP days, I can't really do anything with the knowledge I gather. Still, I enjoy adding to my mental catalog.
@Glad I'm not the only one :-)
@Jaydub: I would argue that Fallout III, Morrowind, and Oblivion are sandbox games to an extent that makes even EVE look constrained. Offline games can allow you certain freedoms that an MMO never could. That said, I think MMO sandboxes still have a lot to learn from offline sandboxes.


text:
Campus Blog
Floor devotions – how smaller is sometimes better
January 28th, 2016 | Ian Richardson
Nine p.m. on Thursday nights is a special time on the floor of Scott 2nd South.
It's a time when textbooks close, laptops rest and the cares of studying subside. It's a time when I claim my favorite spot on the stuffed couch in my floor's study room and relax with my friends as the fellow men of S2S trickle in like a steady stream. It's a time when the entire floor – sometimes with added visitors – unites for one purpose: floor devotions.
Floor devos are a continuing tradition here at Evangel. For about one hour on one night of the week, each floor sets aside a time to meet and study the word of God. It's not a flashy Chapel service with electric worship music and a special guest speaker; it's an informal time spent in fellowship with the people you live with from day to day.
Devos are organized and facilitated by the floor discipleship leader, who is a student selected to be the "go-to guy" of sorts for prayer and spiritual support. Devo topics can take the form of Bible book studies, reads through works of Christian literature or intense discussions of thought-provoking theological topics. And while attendance is optional, being able to count three devotional sessions as one of your required Chapel attendances for the semester is a powerful incentive.
Last semester, my floor decided to take a journey through the book The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. One of the guys owned a dramatized version on CD, so each week we listened to a select chapter and applied the relevant topics to our own lives. We had some insightful discussions on subjects like pride, prayer and friendship, and I have to admit that the voices on the CD were quite entertaining to listen to as well.
What I find most powerful about floor devos is the feeling of unity that results when our floor gathers in a single room. The guys on my floor are the people I live with, eat with, laugh with and even fight with, but every Thursday night I am reminded that we are living for the same purpose: to follow God. None of us is perfect, but by discussing God's word and praying for one another, we have the opportunity to support each other and help each other grow.
In a world where it's easy to get overwhelmed by academics or lost in the hype of a glamorous, superficial type of Christianity, I value the closed-in environment of my floor's devotional time. The sense of community that it builds and the ability to be real with people you are close to are valuable things that I wouldn't want to have to live without.


text:
It's not even spring training, so what better time to fast forward to July and project what Mets could be dealt at the deadline?
JOHAN SANTANA: Assuming he's healthy and producing, and the Mets not in the playoff hunt, who can't see the Mets trying to get out from whatever they can of what is left of his contract? If Santana is on his game, a contender should be interesting.
CHRIS YOUNG: Should the Mets sign him as their fifth starter and the season bogs down, if he shows anything in the first half, some contender is sure to be willing to give up a middle prospect for a veteran who'll make a half-dozen starts. If the Mets aren't going anywhere, what's the point of keeping Young around?
FRANK FRANCISCO: Let's face it, the Mets aren't bringing him back for 2014. So, deal him for a prospect and give the closer job to Bobby Parnell. Parnell is too young and has too much upside to deal him how. If the Mets aren't doing anything this year, I'd be game for trading Francisco now and seeing what Parnell can do.
DANIEL MURPHY: If there's an AL team that needs a DH or a bat off the bench, then Murphy could be ideal.
It is easy to see why Jon Niese or Ike Davis would be attractive – price and production – but those reasons are why the Mets would want to keep them. David Wright isn't going anywhere, and players such as Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis haven't built enough of a resume.


text:
Putting up a tough fight, the Lady Bisons could not pull out the doubles point.
At No. 1 doubles, Elizabeth Keevil and Mackenzie Bishop dropped their match to Lazaro and Camberos 8-2.
Kara Jackson and Danielle Hansen came back to win a close match at No. 2, pulling out an 8-7 win in the tiebreaker over Valderrama and Bello.
Julianne McMeen and Carlina Jow could not quite find their rhythm, losing at No. 3 to Cacciuttolo and Milovanovic 8-0.
After going 2-1 in doubles and losing the doubles point, the Lady Bisons entered into singles, hoping to edge past USC-Upstate's advantage.
At No. 2, Keevil lost to Cacciuttolo 6-1, 6-1, bringing the match score to 2-0 in favor of USC-Upstate.
Shortly following that match, Bishop came off the No. 1 court after falling to Valderrama 6-0, 6-4.
Hansen could not pull out the win against Bello. Losing 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3, Lipscomb was now down 4-0, allowing USC-Upstate to clinch the match.
Jackson played a close match at No. 4, but the win went in favor of USC-Upstate's Lazaro with a score of 6-4, 6-3.
At No. 5, Jow played tough but unfortunately did not get the win, falling to Camberos 6-2, 6-2.
The Bisons found their lone win at No. 6 in the hands of junior transfer Julianne McMeen. McMeen made a solid showing, easily winning her match 6-2, 6-2, adding her first A-Sun conference win to her record.
The final match score was 6-1.
"Overall a tough weekend," said coach Kristin Lusk. "It's not how we wanted to start conference, but we've got plenty of matches left. We are going to do a few things differently at practice this week and go from there."
The Lady Bisons next match will be at the University of Jacksonville on Friday, March 12 as they head to Florida for spring break to continue their conference play.
1. Lazaro/ Camberos (USCU) def. Keevil/ Bishop (LU) 8-2
2. Jackson/ Hansen (LU) def. Valderrama/ Bello (USCU) 8-7
3. Cacciuttolo/ Milovanovic (USCU) def. McMeen/ Jow (LU) 8-0
1. Valderrama (USCU) def. Mackenzie Bishop (LU) 6-0, 6-4
2. Cacciuttolo (USCU) def. Elizabeth Keevil (LU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Bello (USCU) def. Danielle Hansen (LU) 6-1, 6-4
4. Lazaro (USCU) def. Kara Jackson (LU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Camberos (USCU) def. Carlina Jow (LU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Julianne McMeen (LU) def. Estupiñan (USCU) 6-2, 6-2
Written by Ashlan Williams, student assistant in sports information.


text:
5 Cowboys Made All-Pro Team
It was announced today that three Cowboys starters made the first team AP NFL All-Pro Team today – Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Demarcus Ware.
This is Terrell Owens 5th time to be selected for the award. It is Witten and Ware's first All-Pro honor.
"Any time you can be the best in the entire league, that's always a special moment," said Witten. "There's a lot of great tight ends out there, so to be on the top of that list is nice."
Offensive linemen Leonard Davis and Flozell Adams made the second team.


text:
Ben Affleck knows the truth about Argo
Ben Affleck's Argo is the favourite to win best picture at the Oscars on Sunday (Monday NZT), yet he is still fielding questions on the film's accuracy.
It's been a long conversation for the director and star of the film, as the truth of the matter was Affleck's first question as well.
Affleck says when he received the script "I read it and it had this incredible nail-biting thriller, and this really funny comedy, and this incredible CIA spy story, all written you know into one, I just couldn't believe it. The fact that it was true completely blew me away. So, as soon as I read it, I looked on the internet. Like, did this stuff really happen? I've got to do this movie".
Despite being a story "based on fact" with no claim to documentary status, the movie has been criticised for its historical inaccuracies, particularly playing down the role of the Canadian government in facilitating the extraction of six US diplomats from Iran disguised as a fake science fiction film crew and reimagining their adrenalin-charged departure from Tehran's Mehrabad airport.
For Affleck, these are essentially insignificant changes, necessary to adapt the true story for the screen.
"The majority of the characters are exactly real people," he explains.
"They have the same names. They do the same things. It's what happened. It's absolutely true that these people, with these names, were working at the US embassy. It got taken over. They hid out with the Canadians. And one of them was Kent Taylor. Then John Chambers, Hollywood make-up artist, and Tony Mendez, CIA agent, came up with an idea to get them out, rescue them using the cover of a movie story location scout. That's completely true. All of those characters are completely real.
"The stuff that we had to do to sort of help make a three-act structure was kind of tertiary."
Even when it came to digital effects, the key for Affleck was that any changes were unnoticeable.
"There's no real footage in the movie except some news footage.
"What we did was we used special effects. Usually people use that to make Harry Potter's wand turn into fire or what-have-you. We used it to change things to Farsi letters or take off the new McDonald's logo off something and make everything period, but not obvious and not funny. We didn't want the clothes to be like Shaft and all the stuff to just be endlessly about like 'Remember this brand?'. We wanted to layer it in so that it was in the background and it felt convincing. But we spent a decent amount of special effects time doing stuff that you would never know was special effects because it was just basically 1979 special effects."
Far from trying to rewrite history, Affleck hopes the film's success will provide a hook to audiences to learn more about what happened.
To that end, special features included in the home entertainment version will mean "you'll be able to see a bunch of the interviews with people who are involved in this, who you didn't get to see in the movie, because it's this incredible story that would have taken me 10 hours to tell. And because I couldn't do that, I still wanted the audience to be able to see some of the documentaries and to be able to hear the voices from the real people who were there. So we have these incredible interviews with hostages at the embassy and all kinds of people who participated in the actual event".
Affleck is receiving accolades and awards for his efforts on Argo, but he admits to having worked just as hard on his equally famous flops such as Gigli.
"It's always hard trying to make a movie good," he says. "I've never been in a situation where I felt that it was easy. Movies that I've done that I think have worked OK and the ones that I'm not as happy with, they're just as hard, both of them. They're equally difficult."
"Fortunately, [Argo] turned out to be what I think is the best movie I've ever been involved with. I just think it's amazing."
*Follow the all Oscar action with Stuff on Monday.
Sydney Morning Herald


text:
I want to comment in this post on the first part of Wess's essay, Representative Anecdotes in General, and then get around later to his application in the second half, where he offers Yamashita's novel as an appropriately representative anecdote for Burkean ecocriticism.
Wess is surely right on when he labels dramatism a realism. Walter Fisher and some others published an article in CSSJ decades ago advancing this theme. Bernard Brock modifies that characterization appropriately in his introduction to KENNETH BURKE AND CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN THOUGHT, where he calls Burke a critical realist. Critical realism adds action, judgment, and interpretation on the part of the symbol-user to the mix, so as to distinguish it from representative realism (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY, Vol. 7, pp. 77-83). I especially like Wess's reference to the real effects symbols impose on the sheer brute materials of the world as it is (GM), the recalcitrant (P&C) reality Burke emphasizes. I found most congenial, also, Wess's use of the term link[s] to underscore the relationship between the synecdochic part by which language refers to the whole that is beyond the capacity of symbols to represent with any thoroughness. I would interpret the notion of link by way of adjectives like referential and ostensive as fitting descriptives of Burke's philosophy of language (not interlocks with). Languarge directs the attention (Terministic Screens, LASA) of persons, often toward specific phenomena, as well as away from other parts of reality.
I personally prefer to call Burke an interventionist realist, after the distinction Ian Hacking makes in his book REPRESENTING AND INTEVENING. Language intervenes in the real world (take note of artifacts and the morally purposive action that produces them), and, reciprocally, the real world intervenes in language, forcing the symbol-user, often so tardily and reluctantly (PERMANENCE is so darn hard to CHANGE sometimes, if not most times), to modify her or his terminology. Burke's extreme example of the human bird who jumps off a cliff in P&C, then matures his descriptives of himself after the fact, comes to mind.
So Burke is not a constructivist in any pristine definition of the term, nor thoroughly Saussurean, like Derrida, with his dictum that there is nothing beyond the text, or Jameson, whose Prison House of Language metaphor Wess appropriately contrasts with Burke's position. Consistent with Wess's take in this essay, we could, I believe, denominate Burke as proto-postmodern in his early period, or quasi-postmodern, taking into account his career as a whole. Burke serves nicely as a bridge between traditional views of language and the Gadamer types, with, I would suggest, more of a pronounced tilt toward the postmodern than the traditional, much more.
(Parenthetically, I would assert that Burke's philosophy is not only realistic. It is also pragmatic, idealistic, materialistic, and mystical. It is, in my view, a mata-system that encomasses all the philosophic schools Burke teats of in the GRAMMAR.)
To be continued.


text:
Go to...
Kinases can be classified in different ways: according to sequence homology (as illustrated on the cover) or according to the residue that they phosphorylate: serine or threonine, tyrosine, or a lipid. Tyrosine kinases are further divided into receptor tyrosine kinases that contain an extracellular domain, a transmembrane domain that localizes at the plasma membrane, and an intracellular domain that contains the catalytic domain; or cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases, which are not anchored to the membrane.
Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a distance-dependent interaction between two fluorescent molecules in which energy is transferred from the excited state of a donor molecule to an acceptor molecule, resulting in excitation and fluorescence of the acceptor molecule. The efficiency of FRET is dependent on the inverse sixth power of the intermolecular separation, making it useful over distances comparable with the dimensions of biological macromolecules. Thus, FRET is an important technique for investigating a variety of biological phenomena that produce changes in molecular proximity.
Time-resolved FRET (TR-FRET) utilizes a lanthanide chelate with a long decay lifetime (on the order of milliseconds) as the donor species. This enables detection of acceptor fluorescence after interfering signals from autofluorescent compounds or light scatter from precipitated compounds have decayed (see Figure 1). Therefore TR-FRET is a preferred format for biological assays because of its reduced sensitivity to fluorescent interference.
TR-FRET has additional advantages over traditional FRET in that distance requirements for the interacting components are less stringent. Because of the extended excited-state lifetimes of the Tb or Eu chelate, the macromolecules can undergo conformational changes that bring the donor and acceptor within the correct distance for FRET to occur.
In the LanthaScreen kinase assays discussed in this module, the donor can be either a Tb or a Eu chelate. The Tb chelate is paired with a fluorescein-labeled acceptor, while the Eu chelate is paired with an Alexa Fluor 647–labeled acceptor. This module covers two Invitrogen™ LanthaScreen Assays, LanthaScreen Kinase Activity Assays and LanthaScreen Eu Kinase Binding Assays. LanthaScreen TR-FRET assays are sensitive, typically requiring only nanomolar or subnanomolar amounts of kinase, resulting in cost savings.
|Figure 1. Schematic of measurement setup for gated detection in a TR-FRET assay. Gated detection of the long lifetime lanthanide chelates such as terbium (Tb) incorporates an initial delay that allows the interfering signal to decay and measurement of the signal due to Tb or Eu chelate at a later time.
LanthaScreen Kinase Activity Assays use active kinase, substrate (labeled with acceptor), terbium (Tb)- or europium (Eu)-labeled phosphospecific antibody, and ATP.
Figure 2. Schematic of a LanthaScreen Kinase Activity Assay.
LanthaScreen Activity Assays are typically performed at an ATP concentration equal to the ATP Km[app] for the kinase. The Km is an apparent value because it is only an approximation that is specific for these assay conditions and format. The amount of ATP in the reaction affects the amount of kinase required. The ATP Km values for Invitrogen™ kinases have been determined and are found in the validation packets. The optimal amount of kinase must be determined experimentally by a kinase titration using ATP at its Km.
The optimal amount of kinase is typically the amount required to reach 80% of the maximum signal (EC80) based on a kinase titration curve. The typical starting concentration for such a kinase titration is 100 to 500 ng/mL. Using a concentration of kinase above the EC80 will lead to a slight increase in the assay window but is undesirable as it will underestimate ("right shift") inhibitor potencies. The IC50 determined for the control inhibitor may then fail the IC50 specification. Using less kinase may reduce the statistical confidence of the assay as measured by the Z'-factor and result in the Z' failing its specification. However, in some cases, especially with kinases that have low activity, it may be prudent to perform assays at a lower concentration (e.g., EC50) to minimize the amount of kinase necessary and improve the lower limit of IC50 resolution ([kinase]/2).
When using an Invitrogen™ kinase, i is generally only necessary to perform a kinase titration at the predetermined ATP Km prior to performing inhibitor titrations (Steps 3 and 4, respectively, as described in the validation packet). For other sources of kinases, Steps 1 and 2 may need to be performed first to determine the ATP Km. For the purposes of this training, we will assume an Invitrogen™ kinase is being used at its ATP Km.
In general, the kinase titration should cover >5 logs (Figure 3). This can be accomplished by doing a 16-point 2-fold serial dilution of the kinase.
Variation in the activity of a kinase from one manufacturing lot to another may result in differences in the optimal amount of kinase to use. It is generally advisable to redetermine the optimal amount of kinase by kinase titration for any new lots.
The activity assay components needed for each specific kinase can be found in the validation packets.
Note: Optimization steps for a LanthaScreen Activity Assay as outlined in kinase-specific protocols (validation
- Kinase titration (EC80 determination) at 1 mM ATP
- ATP Km-apparent determination
- Kinase titration (EC80 determination) at ATP Km
- Inhibitor titration at ATP Km
Figure 3. The EC80 value determined from the example data was ~10 ng/mL kinase. Based on this result, 10 ng/mL kinase was used to determine inhibitor IC50 values.
The second category of LanthaScreen Kinase Assay is a competitive binding assay using an epitope-tagged kinase, a fluorescently labeled ATP competitive "tracer", and a Eu-labeled anti-epitope tag antibody (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Schematic of a LanthaScreen Binding Assay.
Assays are typically performed with the tracer concentration close to the dissociation constant (Kd) for the kinase:tracer interaction. For Invitrogen™ kinases, the Kd values have been determined and are in the appropriate detailed protocols. However, the Kd values should be determined experimentally for other sources of kinase.
The binding assay components needed for each specific kinase can be found in the detailed protocols
Go to...
- Previous : General Information
- Next : Practice: Comparison table of materials required
- Frequently asked questions


text:
Livestock producers considering adding a layer of protection against drought loss on annual forage crops have an insurance deadline ahead, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist.
The Rainfall Index – Annual Forage Insurance plan, referred to as RI-AF, is a risk policy designed to provide livestock producers the ability to buy protection against losses due to a lack of moisture, said DeDe Jones, AgriLife Extension risk management specialist in Amarillo.
The sign-up deadline for RI-AF is July 15 for the fall growing season – Sept 1, 2013-March 31, 2014 – and Dec. 15 for the spring season – March 1-Sept. 30, 2014. All premium payments are due by Aug. 30, 2014.
While RI-AF is similar to Pasture Range and Forage Insurance, or PRF insurance, the difference lies in the type of commodity covered, Jones said.
PRF encompasses perennial grasses such as pasture and hay, while RI-AF is strictly for annual forage crops, she explained. These include but are not limited to winter small grains, such as wheat, oats, rye and triticale, and spring plantings such as sudan, haygrazer and millet.
If you are enjoying reading this article, please check out Southwest Farm Press Dailyand receive the latest news right to your inbox.
Under both insurance plans, payment is not determined by individual damages, but rather area losses based on a grid system, Jones said. Producers can select any portion of acres to insure. They must also choose a maximum of three, two-month intervals per growing season per year. Insured acres are then spread between time periods, with no more than 40 percent of the acres placed in any interval.
Coverage levels between 70 and 90 percent are available, she said. Once coverage is selected, the producer chooses a productivity factor between 60 and 150 percent. The productivity factor is a percentage of the established county base value for annual forage. Base value is a standard rate published by the Risk Management Agency for each county. For example, Hansford County's value is $107.74per acre.
The Rainfall Index determines RI-AF coverage. This model uses National Oceanic and Atmospheric Climate Prediction Center data and a 12-by-12 mile grid system. Indemnities are calculated based on the deviation from normal precipitation within a grid for a specific period selected, Jones said.
You may also like:
Renovating forages in drought requires sound management
Cotton and corn production estimates lower in latest WASDE report
Farm bill conference report gains sorghum's support


text:
By Russ Britt
Now that the Obama administration has delayed a key provision of the health-care overhaul by letting large employers wait a year before complying with the law, it raises the question of what else in the landmark legislation might be altered or postponed.
One key question is whether the individual mandate that forces people to get insurance if they're not covered can be enforced, particularly for workers at companies whose coverage plans are in flux until 2015, when the employer mandate kicks in. Individuals are required to find insurance either through employers, health exchanges or other means by 2014.
It may be the opening needed for Republicans who have been trying to strike down the law since it was passed in 2010. By using the employer mandate delay as a wedge to force a postponing of the individual mandate, it could give them more time to undermine the bill.
ModernHealthcare.com points out that the GOP officials who oppose the law ironically may end up making the argument that the president cannot unilaterally delay the bill. California Congressman Darrell Issa is quoted calling the delay "extra legal."
But Obama has delayed several requirements of the law, including the requirement that "Cadillac coverage" be dropped for executives when the rest of the company gets skimpy coverage, as well as other provisions.
A Reuters story this week quoted administration officials saying the employer mandate affects only a small slice of businesses — the conventional estimate is less than 5% — and the same is true for the individual mandate. They add, however, that the individual mandate is needed in order to get younger adults signed up and bring overall health costs down.
The employer mandate was delayed, administration officials said, because a large number of businesses would have trouble complying and the rules needed to be streamlined.
The penalties for not complying with the individual mandate in the first year are not as severe as they would have been for employers. Any company with 50 or more full-time workers faces a $2,000 penalty per employee for not offering insurance and $3,000 if that coverage isn't affordable. For the first year, the individual mandate penalty is $95, or 1% of income, whichever is greater.
Follow Russ Britt on Twitter @russbrittmktw
Follow Health Exchange on Twitter @MWHealthBlog


text:
"You've got your back to the window, so you're kind of screwed," Bradley Cooper said.
Cooper was scanning the room from a high-backed chair, his eyes tracking the waiter carrying his breakfast, the guy in the hoodie tapping away on a laptop near the door, the "at risk" reporter staring back at him.
Assessing the potential threats in a space — even in a Tribeca luxury hotel on a sleepy December morning with horizontal rain — was a habit Cooper had picked up while making "American Sniper."
"After that, you're more aware of everything," he said of the experience of crawling inside the mind of the military's deadliest sniper, Chris...


text:
The following pages link to Help:User page:
"Computer security should be strong enough to repel virtually any attack
***from the outside***, yet unobtrusive enough that the average user is
unaware that he is being guarded by a strong defense." - Mike Muuss
All trademarks referenced herein are the properties of their respective owners. This site is not sponsored, endorsed, or run by the U.S. Government.


text:
What would happen to your beach vacation investment in the event of a tropical storm, an illness or some other unforeseen event?
The best way to ensure a relaxing day at the beach is to start with a little planning. For tips on packing for a fun day at the beach, check this blog post.


text:
Album owned by:
63 items, 3 comments
We're back! Unfortunately all data was lost. Please re-register to continue posting!
Re: JUGHEAD'S TIME POLICE returns to the future in June by DeCarlo Rules
[Today at 12:22:08 am]
ARCHIE COMICS FOR MAY 2019 by Oldiesmann
[February 22, 2019, 07:48:47 pm]
Re: New features by Oldiesmann
[February 21, 2019, 07:05:56 pm]
What song are you listening to by Oldiesmann
[February 18, 2019, 10:44:05 pm]
Re: Jughead in Twysting Hearts by Mr.Lodge
[February 18, 2019, 01:37:43 am]
Re: Riverdale Reviewed by Tuxedo Mark
[February 17, 2019, 09:12:27 am]
Re: Site Upgrade by Oldiesmann
[February 16, 2019, 06:53:19 pm]
PTF Reviews The Blue Baron 3.1 by PTF
[February 16, 2019, 12:46:41 am]
Re: Days we look foward to as Archie Fans. by BettyReggie
[February 15, 2019, 06:35:13 pm]
Re: Library Books That You All Read by BettyReggie
[February 15, 2019, 06:34:28 pm]
Album owned by:
63 items, 3 comments
Sort the album
DeCarlo Rules
The Archie character names and likenesses are covered by the registered trademarks/copyrights of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. and are used with permission by this site. The Official Archie Comics website can be visited at www.archiecomics.com.


text:
Your Name:
Your E-Mail:
Your Phone Number:
Desired Color:
What is your total quantity? (minimum 12)
If you have artwork, upload it here: (file types: AI, EPS, PDF, PSD, JPG)
If not, how many colors will you be printing?
Additional information or questions?
There are no reviews yet.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Your review *
Name *
Email *


text:
- Welcome to Gazzyboy.com!!! Your unlimited source for free online games. Now explore the largest collection of escape games, dress up games, cooking games, action games, hidden object games and lot more only at Gazzyboy.com. Every game placed at this juncture has been compiled with great efforts to guarantee hard core entertainment with irresistible latest releases. We are committed to ensure our visitors experience real gaming experience with our latest innovative free online games.
Gazzyboy escape games have always been a reception while players waiting eagerly for every weekend releases. Our Games are lined with most played numbers which includes escape games; dress up games, recipe games, with high end graphics. Ever wondering about action games then you are at the right place to experience the latest free online action games. Not only our escape games and dress up games come with high end graphics even our other action games, hidden games and cooking games are also of the highest quality. Our games never have a similarity unlike several websites our free online games and escape games will make you adhere to our website without any subscription free.
- Gazzyboy offers 100% free online games with free lifetime membership without trying to entice or up sell to our gamers. With no hidden strings attached you can always enjoy the latest online games including cooking games, action games, hidden games, escape games and dress up games free of cost at any point of time. Age is not a barrier at gazzyboy.com now anyone can enjoy our latest escape games, cooking games, and dress up games without any limitation. Our website is available globally to drive entertainment and maximum amount of pleasure with nothing to stop you playing our free online games.
We have designed our website to present you an easy access for all your favorite games, just a click away you can access your games with lot more fun awaiting to share your likes with facebook. Now to extend our entertainment we have also developed a gaming page which can be accessed through your facebook account. The largest collection of free escape games, dress up games, cooking games, hidden object games, action games are organized systematically in unique categories. Every games are been archived which can be accessed at any point of time you will never feel lost at our website.
- The largest collection of escapes games is only found at gazzyboy.com our cluster of games are been designed with innovative creativeలesented with User friendly interface under neatly organized categories. We offer the simplest form of sign up process at Gazzyboy.com with no windy steps. We thrive to provide best online security when you sign up with our website; we are bounded to ensure safety to all your information provided at the time of registration.
Your online security is 100% guaranteed at gazzyboy.com we will never make any marketing calls or send any marketing mails. We never market or sell your personal information to any third parties at any point of time henceforth with no doubt you can precede with our registration with no second thoughts. We have adhered to latest security protections to save your information from hackers and all variety of unprincipled acts such as Trojans and viruses. We treat thousands of visitors who play escape games, dress up games, cooking games, action games, hidden object games with no comments argumentative towards our escape games.
- Our game consoles are designed with safety, no games would encourage individuals to perform the same in action. The games are developed by highly professional designers executing futuristic concepts to provide every visitor the best gaming experience. With hundreds of games in gazzyboy.com we have exceptional players who still return back to enjoy the previous versions of archived games with enthusiasm. With highly innovative escape games Gazzyboy has nailed its presence in developing the worldࢥst escape games with simplicity and easiness to play.
Our gaming interface is most accepted by hundreds of players who return back every day to relax and enjoy each and every moment of their escape games. Every game is well tested for its accuracy before being available for the visitors you fill differences in every game you play with no disappointment and promising gaming experiences. We have the largest collection of games on the web and we continue to add many new games in each category.
- Get the latest versions of categorized escape games, dress up games, cooking games, action games and hidden object games only at Gazzyboy.com. There is so much of variety and fun waiting for you now Bookmark our website and visit frequently to get the latest escape games that we add to our collection every week. Our intention is not just to increase the number of free online games we also thrive to provide the highest quality games with unmatched graphics. Sign up for your free account and gain access to hundreds of exciting games. All fun begins only with Gazzyboy Gaming zone.
Tarzan Escape
Escape Games - Room Escape Games - Free Online Games - Online Games - ...
Game Description:
Hi folks, the gazzyboy gaming group have again come up with a new escape game for all the escape game lovers. The name of the game is gazzyboy tarzan escape. You have to help Tarzan who has been trapped in the forest got tied up in a tree and a cheetah is roaming in front. Use your technical skills to make Tarzan escape from the cheetah. This is an escape game with suspense and anonymous turning point. Play escape games and bring out your creative ideas. Enjoy playing these free online escape games at your favorite site gazzyboy.com. Gazzyboy Tarzan escape game will be an amazing game from the gaming world gazzyboy.com. Play new escape games, hidden objects games, room escape games, point and click games daily at your favorite free online gaming site www.gazzyboy.com. Happy to announce, an escape game per day will be uploaded by gazzyboy gaming community. Have a great fun in playing escape games.


text:
SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University junior wide receiver Beau Smith caught two touchdown passes, including a 36-yard reception for the winning score with 6:46 remaining, as the Bearcats defeated Sewanee: The University of the South, 33-28, on Saturday, Sept. 14 at McCulloch Stadium.
The Bearcats improved to 2-0 on the season, while Sewanee dropped to 1-1. Willamette quarterback Josh Dean (Sr., QB) completed 23 of 33 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns.
WU trailed 21-19 in the third quarter and 28-27 midway through the fourth period, but the Bearcats drove 61 yards in five plays to regain the lead for good.
Terrell Malley (Sr., RB/WR) opened the drive with a 6-yard run. On the second play, Dean threw a pass to Derek Traeger (Jr., WR, Mount Angel, OR/John F. Kennedy HS) for five yards and a first down at the midfield stripe.
Erik Baker (Fr., WR) rushed for three yards and then Dean tossed an 11-yard pass to Dylan Jones (Jr.) to move the ball to the Sewanee 36.
On the next play, Dean found Smith up the middle with a step on his defender. The pass was in front of Smith and at the edge of his reach, so when he lunged forward he wasn't able to make a clean catch. The ball barely popped out of his hands before he caught it in stride near the goal line. WU missed the two-point conversion, but held a 33-28 lead.
Following the kickoff, Sewanee took over at its own 25-yard line. The Tigers gained a first down on a 14-yard run by Andy Moots. The next two plays were runs by Moots for a total of seven yards, but a face mask penalty gave the Tigers a first down at the WU 39.
Moots rushed for six yards and a first down three plays later. The next two plays each gained two yards, before quarterback Cody Daniel was sacked for a two-yard loss by Tom Merkle (So., DE) at the WU 23.
On 4th-and-8, Daniel passed toward Stephen Jackson on the right side, but Tyson Giza (Sr., ROV/CB) broke up the pass with 1:36 remaining to prevent a first down and end the Tigers' final threat.
Sewanee saved its last time-out in hopes of stopping Willamette on downs, but Jones rushed for 28-yards on 3rd-and-6 to run out the clock.
Willamette built a 19-7 lead in the first quarter.
After stopping Sewanee on three plays to open the game, WU took over at it's own 40 following a punt. Dean's first pass was incomplete, but he followed with a 19-yard toss to De'zhon Grace (Fr., WR). Two plays later, he hit Grace with an 18-yard pass to the Sewanee 15.
A pass to Jones covered seven yards, before Dean rushed for seven yards to the 1-yard line. Dean kept the ball again and scored the game's first touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
Sewanee answered with a 7-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown run by Moots. Callum Wishart kicked the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 8:12 left in the quarter.
WU punted for a touchback on its next possession, placing the Tigers at their own 20. A penalty on the first play resulted in 2nd-and-18. On 4th-and-10, a misplay on the snap forced punter Christian Biedenharn to run and he was tackled at the 25-yard line.
On the next play, Dean connected with Smith on a 25-yard scoring strike. Kyle Derby (Sr., PK/P) kicked the extra point, as WU earned a 13-7 lead.
The Bearcats limited Sewanee to five plays and then took over at the WU 21 following a 45-yard punt by Biedenharn.
Dean moved WU to the end zone in six plays, including a 17-yard pass to Traeger, a 13-yard pass to Malley and a 31-yard throw to Baker. Dean ended the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. His pass failed on the conversion.
Willamette had possession for just 4:11 in the second quarter and 2:39 in the third quarter, as Sewanee gradually rallied.
The Tigers recorded the only points of the second quarter on a 4-yard fade pass from Daniel to Jackson. WU held a 19-14 lead at halftime.
Sewanee forced the Bearcats to punt early in the third quarter. On the ensuing possession, the Tigers drove 67 yards on 12 plays to take a 21-19 lead on a 1-yard run by quarterback Curtis Johnson and an extra point kick by Wishart with 6:49 on the clock.
Just nine seconds into the fourth quarter, Willamette started a possession at the WU 5-yard line. The Bearcats scored 13 plays later on a 32-yard pass from Dean to Baker to regain the lead.
Dean completed 6 of 8 passes on the drive. Baker scored the touchdown despite being held toward the end of the play at the 5-yard line. WU declined the penalty. After Dean hit Traeger on a two-point pass, Willamette led 27-21.
Sewanee answered with a 6-play, 74-yard drive. On 3rd-and-13 at the Sewanee 23. Powers Spencer rushed up the middle for 72 yards to the WU 5-yard line. Giza caught him from behind, and Spencer appeared to fumble, but the play was ruled dead. On 3rd-and-goal, Johnson scored on a 1-yard run. Wishart kicked the PAT and Sewanee led, 28-27.
Willamette scored its 33 points with just 17:41 of possession. The Bearcats amassed 435 yards on 60 plays. Traeger caught eight passes for 76 yards, while Baker hauled in four passes for 91 yards and Smith caught three passes for 66 yards. Malley led WU with 37 rushing yards on five carries.
Moots rushed 22 times for 122 yards and Johnson added 92 yards on 21 carries for Sewanee. Daniel completed 4 of 5 passes for 27 yards. The Tigers gained 378 rushing yards and 405 total yards with 42:19 of possession.
The Bearcats were led on defense by Jack Nelson (Jr., ILB) with 12 tackles, including nine unassisted tackles. Brendan Manion (Jr., OLB) provided 11 total tackles. Quentin Jones topped Sewanee's defense with eight tackles.
Willamette does not play next weekend. The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 28 at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CDT)/5 p.m. (PDT).


text: Music Notes Colorado's Resident Big Band Shares Jazz Favorites | Jan. 23 By npepperl • Jan 12, 2015 The Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra (CJRO) will present their favorite big band jazz arrangements for an evening of hard swinging masterworks January 23 at the Lone Tree Arts Center. "Colorado's best musicians will be passionately delivering the swinging blues, beautiful ballads and Latin jazz that speak most to them," said CJRO Founder and Director, Art Bouton. "Needless to say, the audience is in for a real treat." Running Tunes: An Interview with Bobby Greene By Peter Furlong • Jun 6, 2014 Candy Gordon (Pianist Bobby Greene and bassist D Minor play The Mercury Café on Fridays at 9:30 p.m.) The following is an excerpt from a lengthy interview I conducted with Bobby Greene on May 16, 2014. In this excerpt I focus on the struggle in a student's life, when the young musician determines that a career in music is possible. Live Music in May By dmeny • May 7, 2014 Throughout May we have more great performances coming up in the Phyllis A. Greer Performance Studio. If you're not a member of the Studio Club, consider becoming one - you could be sitting in our intimate studio, listening to world class music. If you are a Studio Club member, contact Arvida via e-mail or by phone at 303-446-7631 to reserve your seats for any of these performances. Regina Carter's Southern Comfort - yours with a pledge! By KUVO Staff • Apr 29, 2014 Coming to Dazzle on May 10 and 11: Regina Carter's Southern Comfort. When you pledge $120 to KUVO today and pay with a credit or debit card, or by Electronic Funds Transfer, you may receive tickets to one of these sure to be sold out shows as a thank you from us. regina carter - violinmarvin sewell - guitarwill holshouser - accordionchris lightcap - bassalvester garnett - drums Tonight's Vinyl Vault By dmeny • Apr 29, 2014 Tuesday's at 8:30, Geoff Anderson presents the Vinyl Vault. Tonight, we'll hear some tracks from their second album overall and their first album on Atlantic Records from the Manhattan Transfer. Released in 1975, it has a great swinging version of "Tuxedo Junction," a sultry "Java Jive" and more. Check out how the Transfers sounded back at the beginning, tonight at 8:30 on the Vinyl Vault on KUVO. Pages1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next › last »


text:
LAKE FOREST>> There was a hostage situation within the halls of a middle school, and Tim Stack and Steve Lieberman were moving in.
They stood back to back, covering each other as they moved through the hallways and classrooms.
Children ran past screaming. Stack and Lieberman told them to take cover.
The two shuffled into a room, still covering each other's backs, when the assailant emerged in front of Lieberman, holding a gun to a hostage's head.
Lieberman called for the armed assailant to drop the gun. Instead, he aimed it at Lieberman, and Lieberman fired, killing the gunman and freeing the hostage along with the rest of the middle school students.
Lieberman and Stack managed to do all of this without firing a single bullet or leaving a Lake Forest warehouse. Welcome to Artemis Defense Institute, the only virtual defense training facility in the Southland.
Since Lieberman and his wife, Sandy, opened Artemis Defense Institute in April, the training facility has prepared 21 police and sheriff's departments across Southern California, six of them in Los Angeles County, to use clear judgment in intense, fight-or-flight situations like an active shooter, as well as boost the confidence in about 500 private citizens learning how to properly handle a firearm.
"It's really about perception and training," said Stack, a Southern California law enforcement officer and instructor at Artemis Defense Institute. "It fully immerses you, where typical law enforcement training doesn't."
The Liebermans have worked against a reinvigorated gun control debate to get Artemis Defense Institute running, spurred by deadly shootings inside a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., and the Sept. 16 shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
In a 5,760-square-foot warehouse at 11 Spectrum Pointe Drive in Lake Forest, Artemis Defense Institute uses three different high-definition, interactive systems for training, each worth about $500,000: A simple flat-screen monitor; a tri-fold, 180-degree system and the 300-degree, fully immersive system that Stack and Lieberman used during their school shooting scenario.
"It's really a highly evolved Power Point presentation," said co-owner Sandy Lieberman. "Our value in the business is not in our virtual machines, our value is in our instruction."
Artemis Defense Institute was the result of a "compromise" between the Liebermans, Sandy said. Steve, an attorney and shooter since he was 8 years old, wanted to open a shooting range and gun education facility after his family's plastics business closed. Sandy, never having any interest in guns before getting married, wanted to leave college entrance counseling, but remain in education.
Artemis has 65 interactive scenarios that participants can run through, including hostage and active shooter situations, and shooting ranges to improve marksmanship. Eventually, Artemis Defense Institute will incorporate its own custom footage and scenarios into the VirTra system, the Liebermans said.
A team of operators control the outcome of the scenario with computers, changing the situation based on the participant's verbal communication with the simulator, as well as their body language and shooting accuracy. An advanced sound system also adds realistic gunfire sounds to enhance the experience.
"I know exactly what they need," Stack said. "There's a lot of things being thrown at a copper when they go in the field."
The scenarios might not be real, but the guns used during the training are. They lock, load and fire, but you won't find any bullets in the training warehouse. Instead, the barrels have been removed so no ammunition can be stored. They are loaded with CO2 canisters.
The guns have also been modified to interact with the scenario footage, so when a trainee aims at something and pulls the trigger, the video simulator reacts. Trainees can opt to wear Threat-Fire packs that will generate a small prick of electricity to simulate the consequences of getting shot. The packs can be set to shock for 30 milliseconds, or as long as 2.5 seconds.
"I thought it was shocking and disturbing, but it did as advertised," Lt. Bret Parker said of the Threat-Fire packs. "It inoculated me to being in pain. As I continued to do training, I could fight through the pain."
Parker, a lieutenant in the Courts Services Division of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said he uses the VirTra simulations at Artemis Defense Institute at least once a week, sometimes with his adult son and daughter. The virtual school shooting scenario has prepared him should he ever find himself responding to such a situation, Parker said.
"It's about as realistic as you're going to get for that type of scenario training," he said. "It was a more realistic, more comprehensive, and more stimulating shooting experience than going to the range."
There are nine instructors at Artemis Defense Institute that work with both law enforcement officials and private citizens. That covers everything from the proper position of your hands and fingers on a gun — even when CO2 replaces bullets, your finger is never on the trigger until you're absolutely ready to fire — and the proper stance when firing: knees slightly bent, chest slightly out.
"We work at their level," said instructor Kyle Geenen. "The more realistic you treat it, the more it will trickle into real life."
Of the 500 private citizens Artemis has taught to safely and properly shoot a gun, most have been women, the Liebermans said. Women rank as the fastest growing group of shooters, the Liebermans said.
When creating the business, the Liebermans wanted to have a female-friendly atmosphere since most shooting ranges are "dirty, with lots of testosterone," Sandy Lieberman said.
"People who are practicing to get better, that alone is relaxing," said Madison Morris, a female lab facilitator at Artemis and longtime shooter.
The training software has also been used for corporate team building and even bachelor parties, but guns are always pointed at the screens, and never at each other.
"That's the difference between us and paint ball," Sandy Lieberman said.
According to Steve Lieberman, training private citizens and law enforcement can reduced future shooting tragedies.
"Being exposed to guns totally de-mystifies the experience," he said.


text:
Tuesday 8th October 2013
Afrobeats star Fuse ODG is nominated a massive SIX times in this year's UK Urban Music Awards.
He's up for Artist of the Year, Best African/Afrobeats Act and Best Male Artist, as well as being nominated for his smash single "Antenna" in the Best Collaboration (with Wyclef), Best Music Video and Best Single categories.
For more head over to the UMA website and check out their feature on Fuse.
Make sure you VOTE FOR FUSE.
Fuse ODG's latest single "Azonto" is available now on iTunes. Did you get your copy yet?
You can watch the video for "Azonto" here:


text:
- Inside Athletics
- Tickets
- Fan Zone
- Media Zone
- Social
- Shop
- Donate Now
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 26, 2010) - The ETSU baseball team is set to face Radford and Tennessee Tech in a pair of midweek games. The Bucs head to Dedmon Center Park in Radford, Va. for a 3 p.m. contest Tuesday before hosting the Golden Eagles Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Cardinal Park.
The Bucs (22-17, 11-7 A-Sun) are coming off of their fourth conference series win and third consecutive series win on the road after sweeping Campbell in a doubleheader Saturday. ETSU is in the top three in the A-Sun in slugging, on base percentage, runs scored, RBIs and home runs pounding out 165 extra base hits while driving in 323 runs.
Junior Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) picked up his first ever Atlantic Sun Player of the Week honor after hitting three home runs and driving in six last week. The local product has had an incredible year hitting an A-Sun best .452 with 18 doubles, 16 home runs and 56 RBI.
The Highlanders (20-19, 8-7 Big South) come into the contest having won three of their last five including a road series win over Winthrop. Senior Reggie Keen leads Radford hitting .375 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 30 RBI.
ETSU is 18-12 all-time against RU including a 22-10 beat down of the Highlanders at home earlier this season.
Tennessee Tech (20-20, 6-5 OVC) has won seven of its last eight games including a season-best five straight. The Golden Eagles are led by Chad Oberacker and A.J. Kirby-Jones. Oberacker has a team-best .438 average with 20 doubles, while Kirby-Jones has 18 home runs and 55 RBI.
TTU defeated the Buccaneers in the only meeting of the season between the two teams as the Bucs dropped a hard fought 6-5 game in at Bush Stadium in Cookeville, Tenn.
Live stats and audio are available by clicking the links above. For more information on Buccaneer baseball or any other athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.


text:
My little garden is a well planned garden. It's a lot of work but it's completely worth it. In comparison to other people's gardens, my garden is small, efficient and in my opinion, for its size, it kicks some serious butt. By the time spring rolls around, I know exactly what is getting planted and where. What's even worse is that I am extremely picky about the tomato plants that I grow every year. If you don't believe me, just ask Bruce. I have limited space so I have to choose my plants wisely. I make a list and I stick to it. When it comes to tomatoes, I like a variety of shapes, colors and flavors. This year I chose Green Zebra, Early Girl, Pineapple, Sun Gold, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Sweet 100, Lemon Boy, Japanese Black Trifele, Mortgage Lifter, Caspian Pink and Moskovich. That's my list and I'm sticking to it. Until today…
I prefer to do my gardening early in the cool hours in the morning. I hand water my plants everyday and inspect every one for pests or other possible plant problems. Everything that I grow is organic and free from pesticides or sprays. Sometimes, the veggies that I grow are not as pretty as store bought but I don't care. Pretty is not everything. What's important is that what I grow in my garden is safe for my family to eat.
My tomatoes are ripening and I just realized that have an alien specie in my garden. The tomato that you see is not what I intended to plant. This little unripe tomato completely threw my well planned orderly universe on it's side. This tomato was supposed to be a Green Zebra. Green Zebras are my son's favorite. That is why I planted two plants. This is no Green Zebra and frankly, I was a bit miffed. Either someone switched tags at the nursery where I bought it or the seeds were switched at birth. Fortunately I have a backup. As for the alien specie, it took me about an hour of internet time to figure this one out. This tomato is called Stupice. Yes, Stupice. Go figure.
One of my favorite ways to prepare tomatoes from my garden is to oven roast them. It's easy to do, they taste freakingly amazing and once they are roasted, they are so versatile. Just toss them in your favorite pasta dish or blend them up for a delicious sauce. They also taste great on pizza, in soup or even in scrambled eggs. The possibilities are endless!
Just toss the tomatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper.
And roast them… Roasted tomatoes are seriously delicious. As for the Stupice tomatoes, I don't know why I was having such an issue… Stupice have a wonderful sweet and tart tomato flavor. It's highly likely that Stupice will find a place in our little garden next year and possibly in the many years to come.
- tomatoes
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cut tomatoes in half or into large chunks and remove the tops. If the tomatoes are small, then there's no need to slice them. Gently squeeze out some of the seeds. Toss lightly with olive oil, salt, pepper. Arrange tomatoes in a single layer on a foil lined cookie sheet (for easy cleanup). Bake for 45-60 minutes depending on the size or variety of tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes start to shrivel and get a bit of color or until your liking. Remove from oven, let cool and toss in the refrigerator. Use within a few days. Can be frozen for later use. Note: if you don't like the skins on the tomatoes, just pull the skins off after cooking. They pop off pretty easily. Enjoy! Tessa


text:
Definition of glioma
n. - A tumor springing from the neuroglia or connective tissue of the brain, spinal cord, or other portions of the nervous system. 2
The word "glioma" uses 6 letters: A G I L M O.
No direct anagrams for glioma found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after glioma (in bold), or to agilmo in any order:
n - loaming s - gliomas
Shorter words found within glioma:
ag agio ago ai ail aim al am ami amigo gal gam gaol glia glim gloam glom go goa goal imago la lag lam li lima limo lo loam log logia ma mag magi mail mi mig mil milo mo moa mog moil mol mola ogam oil om
List shorter words within glioma, sorted by length
Words formed from any letters in glioma, plus an optional blank or existing letter
List all words starting with glioma, words containing glioma or words ending with glioma
All words formed from glioma by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: gl li io om ma
Browse words starting with glioma by next letter
Previous word in list: glioblastomata
Next word in list: gliomas
Some random words: fub fyce ikat sib ufological phut kyack
This is not a dictionary, it's a word game wordfinder.
- Help and FAQ - Examples - Home
Privacy and Cookies Policy - Share - © Copyright 2004-2019 Morewords.com - 26.424mS


text: I've been fortunate to spend most of my career at the Library of Congress, and lucky to have discovered many treasures there over the years. But this recording resonated more than any other (so far). Here is a short documentary made by Kim Fields for the release of the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall tapes. The tapes were discovered at LC in 2005 and subsequently released on CD by Blue Note and on vinyl by Mosaic.


text:
Celebrating illustration, design, cartoon and comic art of the mid-20th century.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Realities of Working in an Art Studio
"Pat" (Patterson) and "Sully" (Sullivan) ran a tight ship.
They were two business-minded individiuals who were bottom-line oriented, and they constantly pushed their artists to be more productive.
Stan Galli, who Patterson & Sullivan hired right out of the San Francisco Art Institute in the 1930's, remembers fellow art students warning him against going to work at that studio because it was too commercial. "But I needed a job. I needed to make some money, and they paid $40 a month."
Clyde Seavey (below) was a talented artist at P&S who, in the early 30's, did a series of humorous caricatures of all the P&S artists and a series of cartoons depicting, from the artist's perspective, the grueling existence of a staff artist.
It's an insightful and amusing look at daily life in the agency at that time, which included client demands, creative differences, and squeezing budgets.
You can find the full length version of this article in Illustration magazine #19.
6 comments:
nice illustrations, specially the last one with the "brainstorm" theme :), some kind of illustrators factoryReplyDelete
That is certainly the sense you get, isn't it, Pablo? And of course such places are legendary in every city that has a commercial art industry.ReplyDelete
Here in the Toronto market there was a shop that specialized in catalogues and flyers that everyone was afraid to work at. Word was that nobody had ever lasted more than ten years there before getting burned out and having to retire from the business.
Probably a slight exaggeration...
- Anonymous4:36 PM
Thank you, Bruce, for your fine article about Patterson and Hall (nee Sullivan). I particularly enjoyed Seavey's wonderfuly designed cartoons and caricatures today. They are delightful and they also provide a social commentary on the times.ReplyDelete
Notice that all of the illustrators are male. It's also surprising that they are all right handed. Perhaps Seavey took artistic liberties for the sake of composition.
Barbara B
- mark harris9:07 AM
Eek, those illustrations make me break into a cold sweat!ReplyDelete
Must be the PTSD...
I have one of those caricatures,27x17, done in oil, and I'm wondering what it's worth.ReplyDelete
I suggest you contact Bruce Hettema about it at his email address:
Bruce is the current owner of the company for which the artist worked and may be interested in purchasing your original. Other than that, he may have more information about the artist for you.


text:
Visa Swipes Jamie Dimon Lieutenant for New CEO
Charles Scharf is stepping out of James Dimon's shadow and into the executive chair at Visa. Robin Sidel on Markets Hub explains who he is, and what the move means for the payments giant. Photo: Bloomberg.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... is Charles Scharf he never heard that he only learned about right now ... he is the new CEO of the stock ... Viselman Welsh film from J P Morgan to come right out from under Jamie diamonds and always ... Robinson tells you that story ... very interesting and longtime JPMorgan inside are really well I mean it seems he was a pretty high for such a young guy ... now gone these ... yes keen on the has been one of the loyal lieutenants Jamie Dynan for twenty years ... aam they've been very close to one four so that my Mikey and start working with foreign Jamie right after college ... aam and I at the Citigroup predecessor commercial credit so he's follow him ... on the Citigroup an end to a bank line and then back to JPMorgan ... and Dom Charlie's been wanting to be CEO for of something for awhile ... and then you're not going anywhere right so aam and the third full them and in a lot mean a lot worse on spill into the morning when the thereto thinking yet which is ... the huge dirty he did it not only that thousands and thousands of branches ... by all their mortgage operations on about a hundred and thirty thousand employees ... though he had a lot of responsibility over there ... while he didn't have any specific credit card experience ... he obviously was involved in any was on pieces for ... him and I leave that for familiar with the company is in and certainly to the retail business on the labor involved debit card to swell ... and Africa last year in fees ban on ... kind of ... buried in ... JPMorgan's Private equity division ... it was clear he was not can and stay there forever aam and he's been looking around and it's the perfect opportunity for him ... to the sea Gets ... New CEO bright young guy a lot of energy in you know they they they're challenge is obviously right write out what was really interesting is that the Fed on JPMorgan is the biggest issuer of these the cards said that relationship is very important to both of them central you'll be able to ... further cement the relationship of the go the


text:
Making the case for public safety broadband
Keynote speech by NYPD Deputy Chief Chuck Dowd at IWCE focuses on the future of wireless broadband, the D-Block, and 700MHz
By Scott M. Bruner
PoliceOne Product Editor
Deputy Chief Chuck Dowd, a 30-year veteran of NYPD and an expert on public safety communications, addressed attendees at the International Wireless Communication Expo (IWCE) held recently in Las Vegas. Dowd detailed the future of mobile broadband communications for public safety responders, and spoke briefly about the critical choices public safety, and the big players in the wireless industry, will soon have to make.
In the context of the FCC's new plan to build a low-cost, national wireless network, Dowd's comments reflect public safety's concerns over the D-Block, which has sat dormant for more than a year. In the context of IWCE, an annual convention for manufacturers of wireless communications devices and accessories, Dowd's comments could potentially influence the roadmap those manufacturers use in build out that network.
According to Dowd, one of the most important decisions to be made is whether or not to adopt a "splintered" approach to mobile communication — with voice traveling in the traditional manner and data traversing the broadband network — or a unified approach, with data and voice being sent on the same broadband channel. Dowd clearly favored having them travel on the same bandwidth, setting out clear reasons of how public safety would benefit, and outlining advantages of using a unified approach to transmitting voice and data.
First, using a single device to send data would be more efficient, resulting in lower subscriber costs, and allowing for a common frequency band.
Dowd noted that fracturing the two modes of transmission was inefficient, leading to two separate technologies evolving independently of each other. A common technology and common platform would allow for them to grow and evolve together.
"It makes absolutely no sense…In three, four, five years, you will have mission critical capabilities in broadband, specifically LTE," Dowd said.
Dowd referenced a number of emergencies in the past where current systems were overloaded, and that true communications interoperability would be essential for future incidents. In addition to the obvious, massive-scale incidents typically raised during such discussions, events on much smaller scale can lead to severely strained communication systems. Dowd specifically mentioned the 2006 Corey Lidle plane crash, where there was up to six times the demand placed on those systems. Dowd recounted other situations, such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Fort Hood shootings, as incidents where communications system can face severe threats of being overloaded.
Dowd spend a good deal of time explaining the advantages of a broadband network dedicated solely to first responders and not based on commercial networks. Because commercial networks are based on a market economy, and access is based on "best effort," consumer connectivity is not considered absolutely essential at all times. Commercial network can be overloaded at peak hours, when traffic is highest, so some connections do not get made. Compare that to the requirements for a public safety network, where even one instance of connectivity failure is totally, completely unacceptable, and you can see why Dowd embraces a dedicated public safety network: for a first responder, the highest traffic would likely occur when the need for communication is highest.
"We need the reliability of land mobile radio applied to a mobile solution," Dowd said. "A public safety network cannot be compromised under any condition…Reliance on commercial systems is a non-started for the public safety field. In order to overcome these difficulties, we need our own dedicated broadband network."
Dowd also enumerated the reasons that public safety absolutely needed the D-block band of the 700 Mhz spectrum. In urban areas, the additional spectrum might be able to provide enough capacity for 1,000 or more public safety responders requiring wireless broadband connectivity. In rural areas, the additional spectrum could provide the capacity to deploy networks with fewer sites which still providing adequate cell edge performance.
Additional spectrum allows for flexibility in rural and urban areas when designing the network. Dowd believes that 700 Mhz is ideal for public safety use, noting that the higher bands provide greater data capacity, and better balance.
He listed several critical public safety applications for using the spectrum, from license plate recognition to gunshot detection, incident command and even real time crime analysis centers.
Dowd commented on the current FCC proposal, highlighting what public safety liked and didn't like about it. Chief among his concerns was that there was no requirement in the proposal for the D-block winner to build a public safety network. "If we don't get the spectrum, we can't do our job," he said.
Shortly after the conference, the FCC proposed a 10-year plan to build a new, lost-cost, national wireless broadband network over the next decade. In coming months, the FCC will continue to work on the issue, and various decisions will be pivotal for the future of public safety wireless broadband communications and interoperable communications.
PoliceOne will continue to follow this issue—if you have information on what your agency is doing in the meantime, we want to hear from you. Add your comments below or send us an e-mail.
Request product info from top Police Communications companies
Thank You!


text:
Today's guest blog post was provided by transition coach and writer Deborah A. Bailey (www.dbaileycoach.com).
So what happens when you have doubts about your business dream? You can see it...most of the time. Other times it seems much too difficult or too far away from your current reality to ever manifest. Perhaps people have told you that you're crazy, or that you aren't the type of person to take such risks.
You're juggling a day job with your business and feeling overwhelmed by both. At times like that you can wonder why you thought you could bring your dream into reality. What were you thinking? To be honest, if a lot of entrepreneurs knew what they were getting into, they might have run away screaming instead of starting a business. The thing is, dreams don't go away that easily. You may try to dismiss them, but they're always in the back of your mind.


text:
BERLIN (Reuters) - Bavarian capital Munich, which hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics, will make a bid to stage the Winter Games half a century later in 2022, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) said on Monday.
Munich, which failed to land the 2018 Olympics after being comfortably beaten by South Korea's Pyeongchang, will have to wait for a November 10 referendum before formally announcing a candidacy with the International Olympic Committee by the November 14 deadline.
Should Munich be elected in 2015 it would be the first city to have been awarded Summer and Winter Olympics.
"The DOSB is moving ahead with its plans for a bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2022," it said in a statement.
"The next step is a referendum in the communities of Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen as well as in the counties of Berchtesgadener Land and Traunstein on November 10, four days before the bid has to be announced to the IOC."
The previous Munich bid had faced several obstacles from Garmisch residents as well as German environmental groups and the Greens political party over the impact to the Alpine community as well as land disputes.
DOSB officials said their new plans would reduce the burden on Garmisch while also spreading the Games to a three-cluster complex after moving the biathlon and cross-country skiing events from Garmisch to Ruhpolding.
Apart from Kazakhstan's Almaty, there have not been any other official candidacies yet but more are expected with Poland, Ukraine, Spain, China and Norway among those considering a bid. Oslo residents voted in favor of a bid earlier this month.
Newly-elected International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was among the 2018 bid leaders for Munich and his influence could prove vital though it is unclear how willing fellow IOC members would be to opt for Germany again after electing him earlier this month.
Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Alison Wildey


text:
Simple Toddler Boy Bedroom Ideas is mainly to do with personal preference for making it a relaxing environment separate from the rest of your home. Choosing for bedroom furniture you can get a complete set that includes a bed, matching closets, side tables, dresser and mirror.
This is some resource for Simple Toddler Boy Bedroom Ideas. There are many more bedroom decorating ideas that you can easily incorporate for awesome effects. I hope you come up with more great ideas from here.


text:
The Mazda3 is offered in three trim levels: Sport, Touring and Grand Touring. The two powertrain choices are a 155-hp 2.0-liter direct injection SKYACTIV four-cylinder engine, or a 184-hp 2.5-liter direct injection SKYACTIV four-cylinder engine; both are offered with either a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic with sport mode. Trim-dependent standard equipment includes: a power moonroof, 18-inch aluminum wheels, passive entry/start, heated front seats, leather upholstery, dual-zone automatic climate control, HD/satellite radio, Bluetooth wireless phone/audio streaming and a 7-inch color touchscreen display. Standard safety features include four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes with brake assist, electronic stability and traction control, and forward collision mitigation, as well as six airbags. Enhanced technologies, such as lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, radar cruise control and traffic sign recognition, are also available.
Following a refresh last year, the Mazda3 carries over with minimal changes for 2018. Most notably, Smart City Brake Support is now standard on all models, while the Grand Touring gets distinctive new auto-levelling LED headlights and LED daytime running lights.


text:
Oakland Voices, a program that teaches East Bay residents to tell the stories of their neighborhoods, held its second graduation at the 81st Avenue Public Library in Oakland on Saturday.
The program is a partnership between the Oakland Tribune and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and has funding from the California Endowment, a private health foundation that grants funds to community-based organizations.
"The Oakland Voices program consists of members of the community that care about where they come from and want to see improvement," said director Christopher Johnson. "The program is not about giving voices; our correspondents already have that. It's about giving them skills and an outlet to let their voice be heard."
Once accepted through the application process, the project asks community members for a nine-month commitment in which they will learn and develop journalistic skills such as reporting, photography, blogging, and multimedia story telling. At the end of the process, each graduate will have a blog and at least one printed story in the Community section of the Oakland Tribune.
This year's graduates are: Deborah Gordon, Edward Cervantes, Howard Dyckoff, Jian Liang, Katherine Brown, Katrina Davis, Michael Holland, Ronald Owens, Sabirah Mustafa and Sheila Blandon.
Oakland Voices accepts members of all ages and demographic groups in order to fairly and accurately represent Oakland's diverse community. Correspondents as young as 17 have been accepted.
Blandon, 19, is the youngest member of the second class and has high aspirations upon completing the project.
"I learned to mature through the program and felt the youth perspective was important to portray," Blandon said. "I am interested in going into politics and maybe running for mayor and eventually make it to the White House."
Correspondents for Oakland Voices cover a wide range of issues, from gun control to education.
The program is important as it teaches Oakland residents to be storytellers, said Dori J. Maynard, program partner and president of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.
"They are telling the stories that would go untold and in the minds of others would leave an incomplete picture of what Oakland is and could be," said Maynard.
Liang, a 21-year-old Oakland Voices graduate and Chinese immigrant who has only been in the United States for two years, said the project was a great opportunity to share the opinions and issues of different community members.
"If we have different backgrounds, we can all learn something from each other; we can learn to cooperate," Liang said.
The positive impact Oakland Voices has on the community and its correspondents is something that will not go unnoticed, Johnson said.
"We want to change the story of our city," said the program director. "We are committed to Oakland."


text:
Boston Man Quits Job to Find Cure for Wife's Rare Cancer
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES (@SusanDJames)
July 4, 2013
For 25 years, Rick and Erica Kaitz were volunteers in the world of cancer research and fundraising, living a good life in Boston with their two daughters and spending five months a year in their second home in Hawaii.
That was until last June, when Erica, 52, was diagnosed with a rare form of uterine cancer -- myxoid leiomysarcoma (LMS). Fewer than 150 patients in the United States have the disease, which is poorly understood and for which research is virtually unfunded.
"Our life was totally altered," said Rick Kaitz, 58 and an attorney. The couple, married for 27 years, have two adult daughters. "We were enjoying life, cutting back on work. The kids were out of the house and we were very much in touch."
Now, Kaitz is on family medical leave and is the main caregiver at home, driving back and forth to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and on a quest to find a cure to save his wife.
"I think what drives me is trying to figure out this cancer," he told ABCNews.com.
Since the early 1990s, the couple has ridden or volunteered with the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), which raises money for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber through an annual bike-a-thon that crosses the state. For much of that time, Erica Kaitz has been on the PMC's head staff.
In the last three decades, the organization has raised $375 million, more than any other single athletic fundraising event in the country.
And now Rick Kaitz has organized a PMC team of more than 100 runners and cyclists to raise $1.5 million for the foundation he created -- the Erica Kaitz LMS Research NOW Fund at Dana-Farber so that scientists can study these rare sarcomas.
Erica was diagnosed with what her doctors thought was a benign uterine fibroid. A partial hysterectomy revealed that it was an LMS, a cancer with no standard of care for treatment.
Sarcoma in general occurs in less than 1 percent of the population, said Dr. Suzanne George, medical oncologist at Dana-Farber and Erica Kaitz's doctor.
"LMS is a sub-type of soft-tissue sarcoma," she said. "It can originate in any part of the body, but the uterus is one of the more common locations of this uncommon cancer."
About 85 percent of all women have uterine fibroids, according to George, and the chances of a suspected fibroid being this type of sarcoma are about 1 in 10,000.
"The challenge is that we don't have any way of identifying which ones of those fibroids may later be identified as sarcoma."
Some doctors speculate that new non-invasive techniques for removing fibroids -- more common now than surgery -- can actually unleash these hidden and aggressive sarcomas.
"The challenge is, we need better tools to ID these rare tumors up front to see if we need to change management at the beginning," she said of treatment for common fibroids.
LMS is so rare it is considered an "orphan disease," one that so few patients have, that there is insufficient funding for research and treatment, and pharmaceutical companies have no incentive to create potential drugs because profits will be negligible.
But the Kaitz fundraising will enable the Dana-Farber research team, led by Dr. George Demetri, senior vice president for experimental therapeutics, to learn more in collaboration with other scientists from top universities.
Demetri was instrumental in demonstrating that Gleevec -- one of the first examples of targeted cancer therapies -- was effective in treating gastrointestinal stromal tumor, a form of sarcoma. His work has led to the FDA approval of several other "smart drugs" for cancer.
An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Americans are diagnosed with sarcomas each year. Of those, only about 3,000 to 4,000 are leiomysarcomas.
"Erica has a particularly unusual subtype -- at most only 5 to 20 a year," said Demetri. "It looks like it acts differently than other sarcomas and we worry that its behavior is more aggressive."
Though there are many clinical trials for sarcomas and LMS, there are few for her subtype myxoid, which means "mucus."
After his wife's diagnosis, Rick Kaitz consulted with three top medical institutions -- Dana-Farber, New York's Memorial Sloane Kettering and Duke University in North Carolina -- and each offered different opinions on how to best treat the disease. None could promise a good outcome.
"One thing we learned, and this is not the case with all rare cancers, it's really kind of trial and error," said Rick Kaitz. "It's like going to Vegas and playing craps. You see if something works and then you try something else. You really don't know what is driving [the cancer] and what works and what doesn't work."
Erica Kaitz underwent a second surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, but a month later, there was explosive tumor growth in her abdominal and pelvis. Doctors at Dana-Farber began chemotherapy with IV treatment, once every three weeks.
"Things slowed down," said her husband, but after seven cycles over 21 weeks, "it stopped working."
For the last 10 months, doctors have tried a variety of drug therapies.
"In the most successful type of targeted therapy [in other sarcomas], we have identified the mutation and the short circuit and the cell that shuts off the short circuit," said lead researcher Demetri. "In Erica's type, nobody knows where the short circuit is or what they are. The challenge to develop an elegant targeted therapy is basically impossible."
He said Kaitz's funding may help scientists understand more about this class of tumors and help a larger group of patients down the road, but may not provide any benefit for Erica.
"What does it take to be game-changing?" asked Demetri, who will also ride in the PMC race. "It's important to manage public and private expectations. We are incredibly grateful for the support of orphan research. It's hard to get research funding even for the common diseases and for the rare ones, almost impossible."
But with such a complex challenge, even "a billion dollars" may not yield immediate answers. "But, as I tell Rick and Erica," he said, "you never know when we are going to trip over the next discovery."
Today, Erica Kaitz is "hanging in there," according to her husband, who does all the cooking, shopping and organizing of her multiple medications.
"It's been a total role reversal," he said.
She suffers side effects from therapy and Kaitz worries about cardiac damage with the latest drug. "For her, it gets a little old and tiring," he said. "She has no hair and fatigue and it's hard making the bowels work."
"She appreciates everything I am doing but I don't think she particularly likes being the patient," he said. "We don't spend a lot of time talking about regression and we try to enjoy the good days, and there are a fair number. But many days are not so good."
Rick Kaitz said he feels as if he has become a "research scientist" as he desperately works against the clock to raise funds to save his wife. He also knows that in the $35 billion war on cancer, his foundation's $1.5 million contribution is "peanuts."
"But it's peanuts that will be driving the largest LMS research initiative ever taken," said Kaitz. "It's exciting, but it's also pretty pathetic. …I am not poo-pooing breast cancer or prostate cancer -- no one wants to get any cancer, but you are better off with one of those rather than one that is not understood."