text:
Track Attack October 1st
The FIRM
Registration closed September 30, 2017 11:59 PM on September 30, 2017 11:59 PM EDT Registration ends September 30, 2017 11:59 PM on September 30, 2017 11:59 PM EDT Registration opens August 14, 2017 12:00 AM on August 14, 2017 12:00 AM EDT Registration runs from August 14, 2017 12:00 AM to September 30, 2017 11:59 PM
The road course is a 1.6 mile professional race track with elevation changes and many challenging corners. The track has many fast straights and some tight corners that will test your braking points and racing lines. The road course will not be run as a race, passing is allowed on designated areas. Divers are set up into class groups of driving experience: Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner. Each group runs for 20 minutes, and no more than 6 cars on track at a time.
Entry Fee
$214.00 per Driver when purchased online
$125.00 per Half Day Driver
$25.00 per Ride-along
$10.00 per entry
Entry rate increases if you pay at the gate on day of the event
Open Track Day Schedule
- 7:30AM Gates Open*
- 8:00AM – 8:30AM Vehicle tech
- 8:45AM Mandatory Drivers Meeting
- 9:00AM – 12:00PM Track Open
- 12:00PM – 1:00PM Track Closed for Lunch
- 1:00PM – 4:00PM Track Open
- 5:00PM Gates Closed*
*The schedule is subject to change. The FIRM may suspend or cancel operations if severe weather is in the area.
SA-2010 OR NEWER HELMET IS REQUIRED FOR ALL DRIVERS. We do not allow SNELL, DOT or M-rated helmets. If you do not have a proper SA-2010 or later helmet you will not be allowed on track.
Track Layout
Planning Information
- Entry is PER DRIVER, not per car. Each driver must register and pay individually. Pre-registration is strongly recommended.
- If you are unable to attend, give us a call and we will gladly credit your payment towards a future event. We do not offer refunds.
- Open Track Days/Track Attack Weekends run RAIN or SHINE!
- All drivers *MUST* attend the mandatory drivers meeting. If you fail to attend the drivers meeting, you may not be allowed on track. If you know you won't make it on time, please contact us as soon as possible and we will make arrangements.
- Drivers must wear helmet and seat belts at all times when on the track.
- A SA-2010 or newer helmet is REQUIRED for all car drivers!!
- Natural fiber long-sleeve shirt is recommended. Long pants and closed toed shoes are required!
- CONVERTIBLES ARE NOT ALLOWED unless they have proper roll over protection (roll bars or cage).
- Tech Inspection required by FIRM staff.
- The FIRM's Track Policies must be adhered to at all times.
- Participants who do not attend the mandatory tech inspection and mandatory drivers/rider meeting may not be permitted on the track until they see the FIRM's Event Manager.
- All drivers must be over 18 and have valid driver's license.
- Drivers under 18 *may* be allowed on track if they hold a recognized competition license AND have a parent sign The FIRM's parental liability and release waiver form.
- Good condition working seat belts or full safety harnesses are required.
- Fire suits are recommended for all race prepared cars.
- The paddock speed limit at The FIRM is 10 MPH.
- Both the driver and passenger windows must be down.
- Passing is allowed when the wheels are straight and then only with a "point by" from the driver being passed.
- Return to pit-out for tire inspection if you have put two or more wheels off course.
- If you drop two or more wheels off the course, go to the paddock for consultation. Repeated off course driving may end your day.
- Track Days run rain or shine with no refunds*
- Track Days are for drivers of all experience levels. However, you will be required to purchase a minimum of one instruction session with a FIRM instructor if you have no prior track experience.
- The FIRM reserves the right to refuse access to the track to anyone at anytime.
Definition of Flags
- Green: Your session has started
- Checkered: Your session is over – finish this lap and return to the paddock
- Yellow: Caution, slow down, no passing and be prepared to avoid track blockage
- Red: Come to an immediate and safe stop
- Black: Slow down, no passing – come to the paddock
- Blue with yellow stripe: Check your mirrors – a faster car is about to pass you


text:
World leaders like President Obama, Speaker John Boehner and celebrities like Charlize Theron (a South African native) took to Twitter on Thursday after hearing the news that former South African leader Nelson Mandela had died.
Having trouble viewing on mobile? Click here: Celebrities, world leaders remember Nelson Mandela on Twitter

subset: commoncrawl


text:
WASHINGTON - A partisan showdown is looming over what is known as the nation's second-highest court, with President Barack Obama poised to nominate as many as three choices for the understaffed U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington in the face of a Republican proposal to distribute its vacancies to other parts of the country.
The District of Columbia Circuit has been at the center of years of wrangling between the White House and the Senate because its judges have so much influence over national and even international matters. Many cases, heard on the fifth floor of the federal courthouse across from the Capitol, relate to the balance of power in Washington and review of actions by federal agencies that affect health, safety and the environment for all Americans.
The White House is planning to pair Obama's nominations with an aggressive push to get them confirmed despite a GOP bill to trim the number of judges on the D.C. circuit. "Republicans are taking their attempts to manipulate the federal judiciary to an entirely new level," Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said in a written statement the White House planned to post on its blog today as part of its campaign on judicial nominations.
The White House has been frustrated by the successful blocking of one of Obama's nominees to the circuit and by key decisions there recently against Obama's agenda. The circuit overturned the administration's regulation clamping down on power plant pollution that crosses state lines, rejected its attempt to require large graphic health warnings on cigarette packages and found that Obama exceeded his power in bypassing the Senate to make recess appointments.
"We have a majority in that court that is wreaking havoc with the country," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid argued last week on the Senate floor.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell responded to Reid, "The real issue, I guess, is he disagrees with the rulings on the D.C. circuit."
Although Obama also has gotten some victories from the D.C. circuit, which upheld his health care law and his administration's rule on greenhouse gases, he was stymied in his attempts to add his own nominees to its bench until last week. Obama's first offering, Caitlin Halligan, waited two and a half years before withdrawing her nomination in March with Republicans blocking a vote on her confirmation. Obama's second nominee - Sri Srinivasan, who had bipartisan credentials after arguing appeals for both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations - won confirmation Thursday.
While making a concerted push for Srinivasan, the White House has been putting candidates through the vetting process to fill the other three vacancies on the circuit, which has a total of 11 judgeships set by Congress. A senior White House official said officials have been checking the credentials of four candidates and expect the president to choose among them for nominations to be announced as early as this week.
But Republicans are questioning whether the D.C. circuit is busy enough to justify filling more seats. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, has introduced legislation to eliminate one seat, move one to the 11th circuit based in Atlanta and move another to the 2nd Circuit based in New York. He says the workloads in those two circuits are much heavier than in Washington.
"Packing the court because it has issued rulings against the administration is a cynical approach to the judicial branch," Grassley said in a recent committee meeting. He compared the packing of the court to the era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wanted to add justices to the Supreme Court to shift the balance of power after his New Deal legislation was ruled unconstitutional, and says the White House shouldn't be complaining since the Senate has approved 193 of Obama's judicial nomination and defeated just two.
Pfeiffer said it was Republicans who have failed to learn the lessons of Roosevelt with the bill that he called "a blatant attempt to shrink President Obama's constitutional authority to fill this court." Pfeiffer said Grassley voted repeatedly to confirm Bush's nominations to the D.C. circuit and questioned what has changed since 2007, when Congress passed a law to move one seat off the D.C. circuit and set the number at 11.
"Make no mistake about it, this is court-packing in reverse and a cynical attempt to manipulate the third branch of government," Pfeiffer's statement said.
With Srinivasan's confirmation, the circuit now has four Democratic appointees and four Republican appointees among the active judges. But another six senior judges on semi-retired status regularly hear cases, and five were nominated by Republican presidents.
The debate over nominations to the D.C. circuit is not new. Bush's nomination of Miguel Estrada three and a half months after he became president was blocked for a vote by Democratic senators even though he had the clear support of a majority of senators.
The intense dispute over the D.C. circuit is also because it serves as a sort of farm team for the Supreme Court, with four current justices having served on it. And even those circuit judges who don't go on to serve on the high court often are the final word on critical cases, since the Supreme Court reviews so few lower-court decisions.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in response to Grassley's bill that even if the D.C. circuit has a lesser caseload than some others, the cases it hears are more complex and take more time. He appealed to his fellow committee members, "Let's keep the politics, if we can, out of the D.C. circuit."
But so far there are no signs of that.


text:
Video Index
Session IV - The Jewish-Arab Dimension Inside Israel
Session V - The Current Debate: Is Partition Still Relevent?
Audio Index
Session I - The Zionist Debates on Partition
Session II - The Arab Debates on Partition
Session III - Comparative Perspectives on Partition to Resolve Multi-Ethnic, Mutli-National Conflicts
Session IV - The Jewish-Arab Dimension Inside Israel
Session V - The Current Debate: Is Partition Still Relevent?
Video & Audio Archive
One Land, Two Peoples:
Sixty Years since the 1947 U.N. Partition
Plan for Palestine
December 1-2, 2007
The Crown Center for Middle East Studies and
The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies
Sixty years after the U.N. decision of November 29, 1947, the question of partitioning Palestine remains unresolved. This symposium explored the Jewish and Arab debates on partition in the 1930s and 40s, reflected on the history of partitions as a way of resolving multi-ethnic and multi-national conflicts worldwide, and examined the relevance of this issue in today's discourse among Israelis and Palestinians.
To listen, select the link title. Audio files are delivered in streaming QuickTime format. Please click here to download quicktime player.
Jehuda Reinharz, President, Brandeis University
S. Ilan Troen, Director, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University
Shai Feldman, Judith and Sidney Swartz Director, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University
Session I - The Zionist Debates on Partition
Chair: Donna Robinson Divine, Smith College
Colin Shindler, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Itzhak Galnoor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Download the mp3
Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, Provost, Brandeis University
Session II - The Arab Debates on Partition
Download the mp3
Chair: Joseph Lumbard, Brandeis University
Yousef T. Jabareen, Haifa University
Muhammad Muslih, Long Island University
Session III - Comparative Perspectives on Partition to Resolve Multi-Ethnic, Multi-National Conflicts
Download the mp3
Chair: Steven Burg, Brandeis UniversitySession IV - The Jewish-Arab Dimension inside Israel
Mari Fitzduff, Brandeis University
Chaim Kaufmann, Lehigh University
Download the mp3
Chair: Avigdor Levy, Brandeis University
As'ad Ghanem, Haifa University
Asher Susser, Tel Aviv University and the Crown Center
Session V - The Current Debate: Is Partition Still Relevant?
Download the mp3
Chair: Asher Susser, Tel Aviv University and the Crown Center
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Khalil Shikaki, The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Crown Center
Download the mp3
S. Ilan Troen, Director, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University
About the Speakers
Shlomo Avineri is a professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, served as Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the first government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He has held visiting appointments at universities across the United States and Europe, and has been a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 1996 he received the Israel Prize, the country's highest civilian decoration. A prolific author, his most recent book is an intellectual biography of Theodore Herzl.
Shai Feldman is the Judith and Sidney Swartz Director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. Feldman served from 1997–2005 as head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. He also serves on the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and as a member of the board of directors of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. The author of numerous publications, his most recent book Track-II Diplomacy: Lessons from the Middle East was coauthored with Hussein Agha, Ahmad Khalidi, and Ze'ev Schiff.
Mari Fitzduff is a professor and the director of the Master's Program in Coexistence and Conflict at Brandeis University. From 1990-1997 she was the first chief executive of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council. More recently she served as director of UNU/INCORE, a United Nations University center where she was chair of conflict studies. Her many publications include Community Conflict Skills; Beyond Violence: Conflict Resolution Processes in Northern Ireland; and NGO's at the Table with Cheyanne Church. She is coeditor of a 3-volume series The Psychology of War, Conflict Resolution and Peace.
Itzhak Galnoor is the Herbert Samuel Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been a visiting professor at universities across Europe, North America and the Far East. He has served on the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association, and edited Advances in Political Science and the IPSA book series. In March 2007 he was appointed deputy chair of the Israeli Council of Higher Education. He has written many articles and several books, among them The Partition of Palestine: Decision Crossroads in the Zionist Movement and The Israeli Political System forthcoming in 2008.
As'ad Ghanem is a senior lecturer and the head of the Department of Government and Political Philosophy, and a member of the Jewish-Arab Center at the University of Haifa. He heads the board of the Ibn-Khaldun Association in Tamra and the board of the Civic Forum in Ramallah. Ghanem's work has explored the legal, institutional, and political conditions in ethnic states. He has authored and edited numerous articles and books, among them Identities and Politics in Israel; Israel: The Strategic Report; and The Arab Municipalities in Israel at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: Difficulties and Challenges.
Yousef T. Jabareen teaches law at the University of Haifa and Tel Aviv University and is founder and director of the Arab Center for Law and Policy based in Nazareth. He is a human rights scholar, lawyer, and community activist, and is director of the Equality for Arab Citizens of Israel project and staff attorney for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Among many other publications, he is the author of "Law, Minority and Transformation: A Critique and Rethinking of Civil Rights Doctrines" in the Santa Clara Law Review and the forthcoming Constitution Building in Deeply-Divided Societies: The Case of the Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel.
Chaim Kaufman is an associate professor in the Department of International Relations at Lehigh University. Since 1996 he has served on the editorial board of Security Studies. A prolific author of many articles and books, his most recent publications include "An Assessment of the Partition of Cyprus," in International Studies Perspectives; "What We Have Learned about Ethnic Conflict," in Harvard International Review; "Living Together after Ethnic Killing: In Theory, in History, and in Iraq Today," in Living Together after Ethnic Killing: Exploring the Chaim Kaufman Argument.
Muhammad Muslih is a professor of Political Science at Long Island University. He has authored and coauthored numerous articles and books, including The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism; Toward Coexistence: An Analysis of the Resolutions of the Palestinian National Council and The Golan: The Road to Occupation. He coedited The Origins of Arab Nationalism with Rashid Khalidi, Lisa Anderson, and Reeva Simon.
Khalil Shikaki is a senior fellow at the Crown Center, and has directed the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah since 2000 and has conducted more than one hundred polls among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1993. A world-renowned expert on Palestinian public opinion and a widely published author, he has taught at several institutions, including Birzeit University, An-Najah National University, the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and the University of South Florida. He also was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. in 2002.
Colin Shindler is a reader in Israeli and Modern Jewish Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was editor of the Jewish Quarterly (1985-1994) and of Judaism Today (1995-2001). His most recent books are The Triumph of Military Zionism: Nationalism and the Origins of the Israeli Right and What do Zionists Believe? Cambridge University Press will be publishing his History of Modern Israel in 2008 to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the state.
Asher Susser is senior fellow on the Myra and Robert Kraft Chair in Arab Politics at Brandeis University. Susser was director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University from 1989-1995 and from 2001–2007. One of Israel's leading experts on Jordan and the Palestinians, Susser was the only Israeli academic invited by Prime Minister Rabin to join him and King Hussein at their historic appearance before the U.S. Congress. His most recent publications include Jordan: Case Study of a Pivotal State and The Middle East: The Impact of Generational Change.
S. Ilan Troen is the Karl, Harry, and Helen Stoll Chair in Israel Studies and director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. Formerly he served as director of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute and Archives in Sede Boker, Israel. He is the founding editor of Israel Studies, an international journal sponsored by Brandeis University and Ben-Gurion University. He has authored or edited 11 books in American, Jewish, and Israeli history including, most recently, Imagining Zion: Dreams, Designs and Realities in a Century of Jewish Settlement and, with Jacob Lassner, Jews and Muslims in the Arab World: Haunted by Pasts Real and Imagined.
Symposium Sponsors
The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies is dedicated to promoting exemplary teaching and scholarship in Israeli history, politics, culture, and society at Brandeis University and beyond. The Center is committed to advancing knowledge and understanding of the modern State of Israel by training a new generation of scholars and teachers, building a vibrant academic community, and supporting research, publications, and conferences. It seeks to make Brandeis a hub for nurturing and catalyzing Israel Studies.
The Crown Center for Middle East Studies is committed to producing balanced and dispassionate research regarding all aspects of the contemporary Middle East. The Center's research focus extends well beyond Arab-Israeli tensions to include Arab politics, Islamic studies, economic, social, and cultural developments, and regional security and arms control. Research activities of the Center include an array of seminars, conferences, and publications, the flagships of which are the Center's Middle East Briefs and Crown Papers.


text:
To our community of brilliant artists and loyal fans, We are in the process of overhauling our services to better suit the needs of artists and music lovers. As a result, FAME900, Chillriot, Pillsound & RADIO900 will be shutting down. Our goal is to bring you a series of new tools & services that we sincerely believe will change the music industry for the better. As part of our new initiative, we are building powerful mobile apps and websites for outstanding artists at no charge. These apps will generate revenue for artists while raising funds for social causes. We have a number of incredible artists on board and are currently accepting more applicants. Artists interested in participating are encouraged to apply
. The application process is simple and takes around 2 minutes to complete. We are grateful for the love and support you've shown us over the years. We look forward to changing the world as our community embarks on the next leg of this creative journey. Lots of love, Arif Qureshi, Founder 900 Seconds of Fame Ltd
apply now
learn more


text:
Are you looking for a Roman Catholic study Bible? Why not try out The New Catholic Answer Bible? Not only does this volume include color inserts on various topics, it also uses the popular text of the New American Bible (NAB), beloved by millions of Roman Catholics. The New American Bible was put together by a group of Roman Catholic scholars. These scholars also took the time to provide thousands of helpful footnotes on the text of the Bible. These are included for free in the The New Catholic Answer Bible!
Here's a recent testimony by the one of the masterminds behind The New Catholic Answer Bible on the value of the NAB footnotes:
The NAB footnotes are notoriously liberal. I wouldn't place all that much confidence in them in the first place, myself.
But.... asks Hannah:
If the footnotes in the officially sanctioned New American Bible really are overly liberal compared to the actual teaching of the Catholic Church, isn't that a serious problem for millions Catholics who use it as their source of Scripture?
To which one of the masterminds behind The New Catholic Answer Bible responds: "Yes."
If you've got a Roman Catholic friend or family member, and you'd like to keep them confused by the Biblical text, purchase the New Catholic Answer Bible (along with its helpful NAB footnotes) from Amazon.com.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The NAB Perpetuating "a serious problem for millions of Catholics"
Posted by James Swan at 5:58 AM
Labels: Spy Vs. Spy


text:
Office 365 Video networking Frequently Asked Questions
The Office 365 Video repository and streaming services make storing and streaming videos within your organization simple. There's a lot of great information about Office 365 Video; this networking FAQ is designed to answer the most common questions around bandwidth planning, encryption, and how the service leverages Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).
If you don't already have a thorough understanding of what happens when a video is uploaded or played back, have a look at this video we put together, What happens to a video file when uploaded to Office 365 Video.
What are the Office 365 Video bandwidth requirements?
There are a numerous supported video formats that can be uploaded to Office 365. Each video file is then encoded to a standard format with several different video qualities for playback. Office 365 Video uses adaptive bitrate streaming to select the best video playback quality based on the available network bandwidth and size of the video player. To do this, the player initially requests the lowest playback quality. The service then begins sending 2-second video segments to the video player. The player can then request higher or lower playback quality based on how quickly each segment is delivered.
The adaptive bitrate streaming does all this in the background while the video plays with the least amount of disruption or buffering. During video playback, the video player allows the viewer to manually override the automatic playback quality, to select a specific video playback quality.
Here's a quick table that outlines the network requirements for each of the video playback qualities. The minimum bandwidth per person needed to play a video is 802Kbps.
|Playback Quality
|Network Speed
|1.2 Mbps
|2.5 Mbps
|3.8 Mbps
How do Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) help video playback?
If several people from the same organization within the same geographic location are streaming the same video(s), CDNs will store a copy of these videos in a location closer to that geographic region. With the video stored, or cached at the closest location, each person streams the video from the location closest to them instead of a location further away. Office 365 Video uses Azure Media Services to manage what is cached in the Azure CDNs, and for how long. Azure Media Services can use any of the Azure CDN locations to cache video fragments and manifests for a few days. If people in your organization continue to watch the cached videos they'll stay in the cache. If no one accesses the video for several days, the video will eventually drop be dropped from the cache. The next time someone attempts to watch the video it's once again cached at the nearest CDN location.
Everyone who attempts to watch the video while the content is cached at a nearby CDN benefits from the video being closer, and in most cases less hops, away. This improves video playback speed; however, it doesn't change the network requirement to play the video.
There are some circumstances, such as our capacity limit being reached, where the video may be removed before the three days has been reached.
Can I cache the videos locally for faster playback?
Yes. Office 365 won't prevent you from using a local CDN or a caching proxy to bring video or other Office 365 content into your local network for faster access. There are several ways to implement a local caching solution on your network, the most common method is to use a proxy solution that caches content locally. Once a proxy or private CDN has cached the video fragments and manifests, future requests for those files that route through the proxy or private CDN are pulled from the local cache and not pulled from an internet location. Consider network bandwidth, capacity, and video playback concurrency during the planning of a solution like this.
How videos are encrypted and secured?
Office 365 Video knows how important it is to keep your data secure and private. Microsoft Trust Center describes our commitment to the privacy and security of your content. With video playback, speed is important for a good experience; however, we don't compromise your security or privacy in exchange for speed. Here's how we accommodate speed, security and privacy.
When you or someone in your organization uploads a new video, that video is transcoded, encrypted with AES-128 encryption, and stored in Azure Media Services. This means the videos are encrypted both in transit and at rest.
When someone in your organization attempts to watch a new video, they follow these steps:
Ask SharePoint Online if they have permission to view the video.
SharePoint Online uses the file permissions to determine if the person can watch the video.
If they're allowed, SharePoint Online retrieves a token from Azure to give to the video player.
The video player then uses the token to request the decryption key from Azure.
With the decryption key in hand, the video player is able to stream the video.
What are the requirements to playback Office 365 Video?
Office 365 Video supported operating systems and web browsers are the same as the SharePoint Online requirements in Office 365 system requirements. Depending on which operating system and web browser configuration you have will determine the specific needs of the video player. Here's more information on video playback requirements.
I can't get Office 365 video to work, where should I start?
Troubleshooting connectivity to Office 365 Video involves troubleshooting your network, your ISP(s), and your configuration of Office 365. The first place to start is the service health dashboard. This will tell you of Office 365 Video is having a problem or not. If everything looks great there, here's some additional resources to help you.
Make sure you can connect to the network endpoints required for Office 365 Video.
Check your network connectivity using our Office 365 network troubleshooting guide.
See our best practices for using Office 365 on a slow network.
Office 365 Video resources
Here's a few other resources to help you successfully deploy and use Office 365 Video:
Find help about Office 365 Video configuration
Create and manage a channel in Office 365 Video
Manage your Office 365 Video portal
Video formats that work in Office 365 Video
Here's a short link you can use to come back: https://aka.ms/video365networkfaq
Loading feedback...


text:
Lute Olson, a name often mentioned in the same breath as John Wooden, will now be mentioned in the same breath as backwards Game hats and conch shell necklaces. That's right, a press release from Pi Kappa Alpha informs us that the Silver Fox is now a member of the fraternity known collectively as the Pikes.
Olson was sworn in by the Arizona University chapter of the fraternity and is justifiably ecstatic to have made it through the grueling pledge process. "It is a nice feeling to be a part of this organization; I am looking forward to finding more ways to support Pi Kappa Alpha."
Olson's induction is more of a formality than a surprise. He's a legacy name at the school, with a ton of cash and a sweet nickname—it was bound to happen.


text:
News : LinuxSolved.com Linux Help Community Forum..
Hi there,I have intalled a mandrake 9.2 on my system, and it work not to bad, but my sound card do not work as I hope to.I have a lot of trouble with mixer's: alsa and kde one are not working properly. I think I have to tell I use only 2 analogic speaker for stereo.I need to use the 3DPCM or somthing like that as main volume, the main volume haven't any effect. A lot of application can't take control of volume(the only way I have found is to use esound with xmms or mplayer).Doesn't somebody understand anything to this alsa driver ?PS: for other people with this card and stereo speaker: youu have to turn off numeric output for head any sound.thank.


text:
Madigan, attorneys general urge Congress to reject bill reducing oversight of payday lenders
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) and 40 of her counterparts called on Congressional leaders Oct. 5 to oppose legislation that would preempt states' authority to crackdown on predatory high-cost, short-term loans.
In a joint letter initiated by Madigan and Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller (R), the attorneys general issued a warning to U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., to the effects of H.R. 6139 — the Consumer Credit Access, Innovation and Modernization Act.
In effect, the legislation would undermine the power of individual states to protect their residents from the high costs of short-term loans and other financial services, including payday and car title loans and check cashing. These loans typically carry triple-digit interest rates and can quickly trap consumers in an endless cycle of debt.
"The legislation is nothing more than a shameless attempt by the payday lending industry to do an end run around states' decades-long battle to protect low-income families from becoming trapped in a downward spiral of debt," Madigan said.
Many states have established a framework of regulation to protect consumers from the risk associated with payday lenders, installment lenders, car title lenders, prepaid card issuers and check cashers. The bill threatens to turn back these protections by giving these non-bank lenders the ability to obtain a federal charter that would allow them to sidestep more stringent state laws.
Signing onto Madigan and Zoeller's letter were attorneys general from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.


text:
Log In | Register
& . Advice And Auto Billericay Blog Braintree Brentwood Cajun Cave Cavern Chelmsford Chinese Colchester Comfort Computer Creole Design Designers Developers Diving Ecommerce Edegra Family Favorites Fein Florida Foods For Forum Generic Ireland Irish Italian Kamagra Marketing,Monitoring,Measurement,Analysis Media Online Penegra Portuguese Recipes Repair Repair, Republican Scuba Shop Silagra Sinn Social Southend Technical Tips Tips, Training Tweaks Viagra Web Website Yankee Zenegra advance advice, amie astral auto automotive automotive, bathroom blog bottomless business buyers car car, car,project cleaning code college computer conduct crysta design donna download dreams ebbok emo energy entertainment entities entrepreneur entrepreneurs entrepreneurship erotic forum forum, free give grocery guides health home idea kitchen life love magick material,free mens money movies music neoconservatism new organizing owned pagan paper,engineering parts, parts,auto pics pictures product, question quit quotes race recipes regulations removal repair repair,Auto repair,how reviews, romford rules save scene service, shamanic shopping small smoking spirit stain stories story student study stuff time tips to tunin unsolved up videos vides web woman womens young youth
Page 0 of 1
The ExactSeek Featured Listing program offers an attractive Google-type Ad Box, your choice of Keywords, Top 10 Ranking, and Placement within 8 Hours! No Pay-Per-Click. No Bidding. Just great value. Visit our Featured Listings page for details or to place your order.
Submit your site to the ExactSeek Rapid Paid Inclusion program and it will appear in the organic search results of our growing search engine partner network within just 48 hours! And, we'll ensure your listing stays fresh by re-indexing every 48 hours for a full year.


text:
Durable and Reliable CompactFlash 5000 Offers 30MB/Second Read/Write
for Mission-Critical Applications
SAN JOSE, CALIF., April 3, 2007 - SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today introduced SanDisk CompactFlash® 5000, a new line of high-performance industrial grade memory cards aimed specifically at the industrial market. In addition to fast read and write speeds, the cards provide a high level of durability and reliability for industrial applications such as industrial single-board computers, telecom equipment, point-of-sale (POS) systems and other mission-critical applications.
The announcement was made at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Silicon Valley at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, where SanDisk is showcasing its comprehensive line of storage products for use in industrial and system level embedded applications. On display in Booth number 841 is the new industrial grade CompactFlash 5000, SanDisk's Solid State Drive (SSD), iNAND™ and mDOC H3 embedded flash drives (EFDs), and other flash-based storage products.
"During the past 17 years, SanDisk has had a proven track record of providing cutting-edge storage technology and performance for millions of OEM systems and applications, whether through cards or embedded solutions," said Greg Rhine, senior vice president and general manager of SanDisk's Consumer Products Division. "Offering industrial grade CompactFlash cards is a logical extension of SanDisk's high-end industrial lineup. We've come to recognize that there is substantial market demand for this type of industrial-strength card from a major, proven supplier such as SanDisk. With our industry-leading technology roadmap and leadership in the flash memory market, SanDisk is uniquely positioned to meet the demands of industrial users and applications with our industrial grade CompactFlash 5000 product line."
Here are the key features of SanDisk Industrial Grade CompactFlash 5000 cards:
Engineering samples of SanDisk industrial grade CompactFlash 5000 cards are now available to OEM customers for evaluation with mass production slated to begin by the end of May.
SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world's largest supplier of flash data storage card products, using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Milpitas, California, and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the U.S.
1 Based on SanDisk internal testing; performance may be lower depending upon host device. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes.
2 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes.
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded from
SanDisk's web site/home page address: www.sandisk.com
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. iNAND is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder (s).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for new product introductions, applications, markets, and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or there may be a slower adoption rate for these products in new markets that we are targeting, no security technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update the information contained in this press release.
SanDisk Corporation
Ken Castle
(408) 801-2195


text:
Today at Colliding Universes
Introduction: Why should the search for Darwin's "warm little puddle" (the supposed origin of life) be publicly funded?
1. Origin of life - the Genesis of a new religion?
2. Was origin of life ever mainly a science quest in the first place?
3. The sacred mysteries of the prebiotic soup
4. So should the established religion seeking the origin of life be disestablished? There is an alternative ...


text:
Tanaka turns in yet another efficient outing
BOSTON -- Masahiro Tanaka may be just four starts into his Major League career, but the Yankees right-hander has shown just how impressive he can be.
Case in point, his first taste of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry Tuesday night at Fenway Park. Tanaka was poised on the hill, allowing just two runs on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings for the win.View Full Game Coverage
BOSTON -- Masahiro Tanaka may be just four starts into his Major League career, but the Yankees right-hander has shown just how impressive he can be.
Case in point, his first taste of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry Tuesday night at Fenway Park. Tanaka was poised on the hill, allowing just two runs on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings for the win.View Full Game Coverage
"These are big games," center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury said. "For him to come in with the expectation he has on him, he's been lights-out. He has pitched tremendous."
Tanaka's efficiency during this early stretch of the season has been uncanny. He struck out seven batters without allowing a walk on Tuesday, bringing his total to 35 strikeouts and two walks on the season.
That strikeout total through four career starts is tied for third-most in the Majors over the past 100 years.
"I could be wrong, I'm making an assumption, but I would assume that he's been followed pretty closely over in Japan. I don't think this is really anything new to him," shortstop Derek Jeter said. "He has a great presence on the mound, it doesn't seem like he's fazed by too much. He has a lot of confidence in his ability on top of having a lot of ability. He's fun to play behind, he's been fun to watch."
Tanaka said he could feel the rich tradition and history of Fenway as he took the mound.
"I think I was a little bit pumped up today," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "I know how good their lineup is and how small the stadium is. That is one thing I had in mind."
Improving to 3-0 on the season with a 2.15 ERA after the win, Tanaka has yet to lose a regular-season game since Aug. 19, 2012, with the Rakuten Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball. He is a staggering 31-0 in that time.
Getting four runs of support from the Yankees' offense after just three innings, Tanaka mowed down Boston hitters in that stretch, facing just one over the minimum.
However, Tanaka fell into a little bit of trouble in the fourth, allowing back-to-back home runs to David Ortiz and Mike Napoli and a double to A.J. Pierzynski. It marked the first time this season Tanaka allowed multiple home runs.
"I think bouncing back after giving up the two home runs and the double. Making an adjustment, getting right back on track and understanding what he needed to do to get people out was most impressive," said manager Joe Girardi.
Never having faced Tanaka before, the Red Sox hitters were fooled early and often.
"He never gave in. His split is one that presents itself in the strike zone and forces guys to commit. With late action, you're going to get some swing and miss and some mis-hits," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "But the overall walks issued speaks to his strike-zone ability. He forced us to swing the bat early in the count at times to try to get something going. You know what? He pitched a very good game tonight."
While the Yankees know that Tanaka is just four starts into the season, they're thrilled with the way he's thrown the ball and the composure he's shown on the mound.
"I think we'll continue to learn about him all year long. There are going to be firsts," Girardi said. "There have obviously been things we haven't seen him go through yet that he's probably going to go through. We seem to learn something about him every night."
Quinn Roberts is a reporter for MLB.com.


text:
Customer feedback ...
Highly Recommended
We have used the Mobile Vet for over ten years. We have had seven dogs in this time and he is always there when you need anything. He has taken great care of our animals and keeps cost in mind when recommending their care. The ability to have him come to your home when your best friends time has come makes all the difference. Give them a call you won't be disappointed.
Dr MIke takes care of my two dogs...very professional and a great environment and service ... and best value that I have found in town!


text:
But videos are not all I do! I'm currently studying Game Design at college, and starting next year will be learning 3D Modelling in University. I plan on becoming a Game Asset Developer when I am older, and I love 3D modelling! While I haven't done anything worthy just yet, expect to see some of my work in the future!
Sometimes, I do like drawing, not very often, but I might feel in the mood now and then, so I'm leaving this section here in case I decide to draw something.
I've recently taken an interest in sprite art, so I thought I'd give it a go whenever I felt up to it.


text:
As Cybex International celebrates higher revenue in first quarter 2011, the company awaits word on whether banks will put up money to cover a bond the company needs to stay the execution of its liability suit payment before its appeal can be filed in appellate court later this month.
John Aglialoro, Cybex CEO, said yesterday in a conference call that the Medway, MA-based fitness equipment manufacturer had first quarter 2011 revenue that was 10 percent higher than the same period last year. First quarter 2010 net sales were $31 million compared to $26.12 million a year ago. The purpose of the call was to discuss fourth quarter 2010 and year-end 2010 financials, but because the call came almost a month later than normal, Aglialoro was able to share a sneak peek at first quarter numbers.
Cybex also had higher fourth quarter 2010 and year-end 2010 revenue compared to the same periods last year, but the numbers were affected by a product liability suit judgment of $66 million in which Cybex was found 75 percent liable.
Cybex had vowed to appeal the December judgment in a case where a 25-year-old piece of Cybex equipment was pulled over on a woman, rendering her a quadriplegic. In January, the trial court denied Cybex's post-trial motions for a new trial or reduction of the judgment. Cybex must now appeal to the appellate court, which it expects to do within the next 30 days.
"I believe it is outrageous litigation that the government has allowed to happen to Cybex," Aglialoro said during the call. "It's an unacceptable reality that has occurred. We must deal with it. We are close to getting this into the appellate courts where we think a more rational outcome will occur."
Art Hicks, COO, said management is working with banks to secure a bond. A bond prevents the plaintiff from collecting on the $66 million judgment during the appeal process.
The appellate court must determine the amount of the bond, Hicks says, adding that it could be anywhere from 0 percent to 100 percent of the judgment.
"If they demand 100 percent, we don't have 100 percent, so we are coming up with a proposal that we think is reasonable," Hicks says. "The lawyers tell us it's likely we'll get the court to agree to a bond that we can post."
James Moss, a lawyer and editor of recreation-law.com, says that the bond amount is often the amount of the judgment. Moss says that 97 percent of all cases such as this settle before trial. Because the plaintiff received such a big reward, however, he doubts a settlement will occur.
Hicks is more optimistic, saying, "These things either settle or get thrown out, hopefully. I wouldn't be surprised by either result."
Hicks estimated a resolution might take six to 12 months, with legal fees running about $100,000 per quarter.
"We are going to win this thing," Aglialoro said. He also was positive about future revenues, noting an upswing in fitness equipment buying that he expects to continue.
"Visibility has substantially improved," Aglialoro said. "We see a tone there where people are buying and getting their clubs redone and expanding to a certain degree."


text:
LEWISBURG, West Virginia (Reuters) - Weary West Virginians dumped rotting food from their refrigerators and tried to clear fallen trees from the roads on Friday as new storms prolonged the power outages that have already lasted a week.
The forecast for the weekend called for more record-breaking heat across the Midwest and into the Eastern United States, with heavy rains and severe storms in the upper Midwest, the National Weather Service said.
The temperature in Chicago hit 100 Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) for the third day in a row on Friday, while Nashville, Tennessee, was expected to hit 103 F (39.4 C). For Saturday, forecasters predicted the heat on Saturday in Washington may reach the all-time record for the city of 106 F (41 C).
At least 406,000 people were without electricity on Friday in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio, power companies said. New storms knocked out power to parts of West Virginia on Thursday, while other areas have been without electricity since violent storms hit a week ago.
Utility companies warned that some residents in the worst-hit areas could be without power and air conditioning until early next week.
A powerful storm felled hundreds of trees and killed two people on Thursday as it whipped through Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
A man riding a motorcycle was killed when a tree limb crashed onto him, said park spokeswoman Melissa Cobern. Another tree fell onto a popular swimming hole, killing a woman and injuring three others, including a 7-year-old girl who was knocked unconscious. The child was pulled from the water, given CPR and taken to a hospital with her father, who suffered broken bones and a collapsed lung.
Crews were still clearing the roads and checking out stranded vehicles in the park.
Just north of Lewisburg, West Virginia, down winding Benedict Lane, huge fallen oaks and other trees covered roads in a neighborhood interspersed with thick woods and open fields.
The area has been without power for a week to run the gas pumps, and locals are struggling to find gasoline to run the back-up generators.
"You couldn't get gas for two days to run anything," said Darius Snedegar, a retired 71-year-old truck driver, as he took a break from cutting his lawn. "It ain't been good at all."
Sawn tree limbs and other storm debris were stacked in his yard, and a chainsaw whined from a nearby house. "I've seen some bad storms but nothing like that," Snedegar said.
Dollie Gabbert, 64, said she had just finished dumping food from her two refrigerators and two freezers. She was worried about her husband Gene, a 79-year-old diabetic who is on oxygen for heart and lung ailments, she said. Without power, the Gabberts have been using bags of ice to keep his insulin cold.
"We are having a time, having a time," she said, a miniature flashlight in one hand.
The Gabberts have been able to recharge the batteries for his oxygen pump from a neighbor's generator and he has been sitting in their truck running the air conditioning to feel more comfortable, she said.
Lewisburg is part of Greenbrier County, where half the homes and businesses were without power. Workers hoped to restore electricity to all 36,000 residents by Sunday night.
Being without electricity "affects everything. It's something that is beyond my comprehension, it affects so much," said Emergency Management Director Al Whitaker, who was working from emergency headquarters at a volunteer fire station.
The county had received 230,000 bottles of water from the Federal Emergency Management Agency since Thursday night, and pallet loads filled the station's truck bays.
In a gravel parking lot, more water was being unloaded from tractor trailers onto public works and fire department trucks for distribution. Water service had been largely restored but residents were being advised to boil tap water before drinking.
About 60 National Guard troops are aiding in the recovery.
Whitaker said the biggest problem was getting enough ice, which was being shipped from Louisiana.
Food, water, Meals Ready to Eat and other supplies were being handed out at nine sites in the county.
At the First Baptist Church in Fairlea, just south of Lewisburg, church volunteers from North Carolina were preparing about 3,000 lunches of macaroni and cheese with ham, peas, pudding and bread. The food was cooked in a kitchen built into a tractor trailer and then put onto Red Cross trucks for distribution or handed out at tents in the steamy parking lot.
"Today makes seven days without power since last Friday, and we don't have water either," said Tammy Pickles, a 40-year-old convenience store manager waiting in line with a dozen other people under a hot midday sun for a meal.
She said she had lost $400 to $500 worth of food from her freezer and refrigerator when the power went out.
"Money is really tight," said Pickles, who has a 12-year-old daughter at home. "I'm not sure how many more trips I can make out here to get a hot meal. I'm not sure I can afford the gas."
Recovery efforts were compounded by miles-long traffic jams as 30,000 to 40,000 fans attended the Greenbrier Classic professional golf tournament in White Sulphur Springs, a few miles to the east, Whitaker said. Power company and tree-trimming trucks were seen sitting in dense traffic on Highway 219, which goes through Lewisburg.
"Our infrastructure is not set up to handle massive amounts of people. It's just a fact of life," Whitaker said.
Additional reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Timothy Ghianni in Nashville, Writing by Jane Sutton; Editing by Doina Chiacu


text:
The San Francisco SPCA offers tours of our Mission Campus starting at 250 Florida Street, which houses the SF SPCA Adoption Center. A tour provides an opportunity to learn about the SF SPCA and see firsthand hundreds of animals in need of permanent, loving homes.
- There is one monthly tour:
- The fourth Sunday of each month, 10:30am - 11:30am
- NOTE: The tour on July 28, 2019 is cancelled.
- Please RSVP to firstname.lastname@example.com. We meet in the adoption center at 250 Florida Street.
- If you are organizing a tour for a group, please follow these instructions:
- If you are a donor to the SF SPCA, call 415.554.3029.
- If you are a member of the animal welfare community, call 415.522.3520.
- If you are organizing for a youth group, please visit our Youth Programs Tours page.
- If you are a member of the community, email us at email@example.com.
Tour Guidelines
- The minimum age for tour participants is five years old.
- Tours are generally provided free of charge. Of course, monetary and in-kind donations are always appreciated. Click here to donate.
- For groups larger than 12 and those coordinated as part of a tour group, we need at least six-weeks notice and there may be a per-person fee. Please email email@example.com to schedule.
- Tours last from 45 minutes to one hour.
- Group chaperones must make appropriate arrangements for individuals with allergies.
You are always welcome to visit the public areas of our shelter during regular business hours. View the adoption center hours.
If you would like to take a tour of our Pacific Heights campus at 2343 Fillmore Street, please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
We hope to see you soon!
If you can't get to our facilities for any reason, you can take a virtual 360° tour of both campuses via your computer or mobile device at http://sfspca.interactive360.net!


text:
SANFORD, Fla. - Minutes after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, police surrounded the community where the unarmed teen was shot and killed.
[PICS: Zimmerman trial | Protesters | SPECIAL SECTION: Trial | VIDEO: Sanford Police Chief]
Police swarmed the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford, as a precaution following the verdict, which was delivered late Saturday after the jury deliberated for nearly 15 hours.
"There is no party in this case who wants to see any violence," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said immediately after jurors began deliberating. "We have an expectation upon this announcement that our community will continue to act peacefully."
Zimmerman, 29, blinked and barely smiled as the verdict was read. Zimmerman's wife, Shellie Zimmerman, had tears in her eyes after the six-member, all-woman jury delivered its verdict.
Tracy Martin, the father of Trayvon Martin, tweeted, "Thanks to everyone who are with us and who will be with us (so) we together can make sure that this doesn't happen again."
He later tweeted, "Even though I am broken hearted my faith is unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY."
Supporters of Martin's family who had gathered outside the courthouse yelled out, "No! No!"
[WATCH/CHAT LIVE: Local 6 coverage; Tony Pipitone live-tweeting]
The verdict came a year and a half after civil rights protesters angrily demanded Zimmerman be prosecuted. That anger appeared to return Saturday night outside the courthouse, at least for some who had been following the case.
Rosie Barron, 50, and Andrew Perkins, 55, both black residents of Sanford, stood in the parking lot of the courthouse and wept.
"I at least thought he was going to get something, something," Barron said.
"How the hell did they find him not guilty?" her brother added.
Perkins was so upset he was shaking.
"He killed somebody and got away with murder," Perkins shouted, looking in the direction of the courthouse. "He ain't getting no probation or nothing."
Entertainer Steve Harvey tweeted, "A Child is Dead & The Man that Killed Him is Free & Again The Child is Black...My Country Tis of Thee?"
The jury had been given the chance to convict Zimmerman of manslaughter but did not do so, despite asking for a clarification of the charge earlier in the evening.
After hearing the verdict, Judge Debra Nelson told Zimmerman he was free to go.
Jurors heard two different portraits of Zimmerman and had to decide whether he was a wannabe cop who took the law into his own hands or a well-meaning neighborhood watch volunteer who shot the unarmed teenager in self-defense because he feared for his life.
The NAACP tweeted after the verdict, saying, "Zimmerman acquitted on all charges. We will update you as we work to pursue civil rights charges against Zimmerman through the DOJ."
[SEE THESE? Fla. mugs | Tattoo spell check | Worst tats ever | Bizarre airport sightings]
Watch Local 6 News and stay with ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
on Jan 6, 2011 from Southwestern News
Men represent one of the greatest mission fields in the United States. The church must define biblical manhood and reach men with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the ultimate Man.
Established 1908 We Are Southwestern Fort Worth, Texas
All content © 2015 Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary • Fort Worth, Texas. All rights reserved. Privacy Disclaimer.


text:
Product was successfully added to your shopping cart.
Product was successfully added to your compare list.
Product was successfully added to your wishlist.
Description :
Lumenis Lightsheer ET Diode Hair Removal Laser. Excellent Condition, Original Owner; Original Pulses = 347,715; Headroom (Auto Mode) = 1.58; Included Handpiece: 9x9 mm Spot, 400 ms Pulse Width; Also Includes: Cart, Operators Manual, Power Cord, Key, (2) Operator Eyewear, (1) Patient Eyewear, Warning Sign, and 90 Day Warranty
Year : 2005
Product Specifications :
LaserType AlGaAs Diode Arrays
Wavelength 800 nm
Repetition Rate Up to 2 Hz
Spot Size 9 mm (square)
Fluence 10-100 J/cm2
Pulse Width 5-400 ms OptiPulse
Peak Power 1600W
Cooling Self-contained, closed cycle
Electrical 100-120 VAC, 12 A, 200-240 VAC, 6 A, 50/60 Hz
Weight 60 lbs/27 kg
Dimensions 17 W x 20.5 D x 15 H in/43 x 52 x 38 cm
Optional Cart 47 lbs/21.5 kg; 19 x 23.5 x 24.5 in/48 x 60 x 62 cm
Manufacturer Notes :
LightSheer: Setting the Standard for Hair Removal
Hair Removal -
In response to the ever-increasing demand to remove unwanted hair on virtually any body area, the ability to offer superior results to the widest variety of patients is critical. The LightSheer Diode Laser System offers high powers and both short and very long (400 ms) pulses to safely and effectively treat all skin types including tanned skin and the broadest range of hair colors, diameters and depths. The recognized "Gold Standard" for hair removal, the LightSheer family of diode laser systems represents quintessential simplicity in a state-of-the art package.
The "Gold Standard" for hair removal with an unsurpassed library of clinically documented success:
- Treats all skin types including tanned skin, most hair colors, depths and diameters
- Patented ChillTip provides continuous contact cooling of the epidermis for maximal patient safety and comfort.
- Fast coverage rate with large 9x9 mm or 12x12 mm square spot and up to 2 Hz repetition rate
- No consumables, low cost of ownership
- Proven reliability and outstanding "up time" track record ensures that patient treatments can proceed on schedule.
- Compact and lightweight design allows portability between offices or movement between rooms within the same office.
Multi-Application Capability:
In addition to documentation of clinical efficacy with hair removal and permanent hair reduction, the LightSheer is also FDA cleared for the treatment of pseudo folliculitis barbae (PFB), benign pigmented lesions, and leg veins, providing the operator with multi-application capabilities and versatility.
Leg Veins - Approximately 50% to 60% of men and women have unsightly leg veins. While sclerotherapy is still considered the treatment of choice for the removal of superficial leg veins, many vessels may be too small to inject or patients may have an aversion to this invasive procedure. The LightSheer diode laser system can provide an alternative method of treatment that requires no painful injections.
Benign Pigmented Lesions - The LightSheer diode laser system can successfully treat a wide range of cosmetically undesirable benign pigmented lesions.
Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB) - PFB, or razor bumps, is a common condition in which the regrowing hair, after shaving, curves back towards and pierces the skin resulting in a pustule or papule. PFB is very prevalent in populations with curly hair, affecting nearly 85% of men of African decent and a growing number of women. The LightSheer's excellent safety profile for all skin types including the darkest skin, makes it a safe, effective and revolutionary alternative for the treatment of pseudofolliculitis barbae. Physicians desiring more information about LightSheer laser treatment of PFB can request a copy of Pseudofolliculitis Barbae A Treatment Module: Etiology, Medical and Laser Therapies authored by Fran E. Cook-Bolden, M.D. Ethnic Skin Specialty Group, New York, New York by filling out our Contact Us form.
The Right Choice for Optimal Safety and Efficacy
The LightSheer system was designed from the ground up for effective hair removal, providing unsurpassed safety and efficacy, reliability, and ease-of-use. Its advanced high-power diode technology delivers high fluence combined with a large spot size, user-selected pulse width, aggressive contact cooling and compression for high-performance, unmatched by other high-tech hair removal systems. Both in rigorous scientific trials as well as extensive clinical practice, LightSheer system has emerged as the gold standard in laser hair removal.


text:
Moderators: Three Stars, dagny, pfim, netwolf
newarenanow wrote:This lull is getting to me too. At least after this, we get to a more regular schedule.
Going to my first game of the season though tomorrow night! Can't wait!
penny lane wrote:Again. pens face a team tomorrow that has to play tonight. Oilers playing the Nash and the bluejackets.
Last time Edmonton here they schooled the pens; don't know if Therrien has his epic rant after this game in 06 or when they lost to Vancouver.
We need to make the President Elect a hockey Dad.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 51 guests


text:
Sign in
Not a member? Sign Up Here
Achievement Unlocked!
Create a bucket list
Unlocked 5 years ago
This is a special achievement that can only be unlocked when certain criteria are met. HBT has earned this special badge by meeting "Create a bucket list on BucketListly" criteria.
This was unlocked 5 years ago on February 4th, 2014 04:22
Create a bucket list
February 4th, 2014
No location specified.
0 photos
Embed Achievement
Add this achievement as a widget on your website
Simply copy this code below and paste it on your website. Make sure options above works well with your website.
Unlike most apps nowadays, we plan to stay free for the long haul and so we need to ask for your help. Support us and 100% of your donation will go directly into maintaining and improving services on BucketListly and keep it free for everyone to use. Thank you! Read More


text:
Paramedic is very similar to another occupation for which we have
a full profile.
Check out our full profile for:
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants
Drive ambulance or assist ambulance driver in transporting sick, injured, or convalescent persons. Assist in lifting patients.
Ambulance Attendant
Ambulance Driver
Certified Emergency Vehicle Operations Technician (CEVO Technician)
Class B Driver
CPR Ambulance Driver (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation Ambulance Driver)
Driver Medic
Emergency Care Attendant (ECA)
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
Emergency Medical Technician-Basic (EMT-B)
Emergency Vehicle Operator
EMS Driver (Emergency Medical Services Driver)
EMT Ambulance Attendant (Emergency Medical Technician Ambulance Attendant)
First Responder
Medical Driver
Medical Van Driver (Medi-Van Driver)
Patient Carrier


text:
Friday, August 16, 2019, 10:30am - 11:30am
Previous Repeat
Next Repeat
Blackshear Place Library Meeting Room
Let's Play at My Library
Welcome to babies and toddlers Let's Play at my Library storytime!
A fun and interactive playdate and literacy building program.
Enjoy social and playtime to develop your small child's social, emotional, and imaginative skills.
This program is free and open to the public.
by ajunius


text:
Oct 24, 2011
Oct 24, 2011
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Cancio Del Abuelo No 2 by Atahualpa Yupanqui (1908-1992)
|Atahualpa Yupanqui was an Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist, and writer. He is considered the most important Argentine folk musician of the 20th century.
Folk. 4 pages. 68 measures, 3/4 time signature. Drop D.
Category: 20th Century, Argentina, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Latin
Tagged: Atahualpa Yupanqui, Drop D, guitar pro, midi, sheet music, tablature
Everything on the website is free, but we won't say no to a small donation, to keep it going, and to make it even better. ( :


text:
SYS-CON.TV Webcasts
Did you read today's front page stories & breaking news?
Today's Top SOA Links
From the Wires
SQM Reports Earnings for the Third Quarter of 2012
By: PR Newswire
Nov. 20, 2012 07:19 PM
SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A (SQM) (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A) reported today earnings for the first nine months of 2012 of US$507.4 million (US$1.93 per ADR), an increase of 31.2% with respect to the same period of 2011, when earnings totaled US$386.9 million (US$1.47 per ADR). Gross margin reached US$794.3 million (43.4% of revenues), 24.3% higher than the US$638.9 million (39.8% of revenues) recorded during the first nine months of 2011. Revenues totaled US$1,828.2 million for the first nine months, representing an increase of 13.8% over the US$1,606.4 reported in the same period of 2011.
The Company also reported quarterly net income of US$165.2 million (US$0.63 per ADR) compared with the 2011 figure of US$143.2 million (US$0.54 per ADR). Third quarter gross margin for 2012 reached US$262.3 million, 8.5% higher than the US$241.7 million recorded for the same period of 2011. Revenues for this quarter totaled US$615.3 million, an increase of approximately 7.1% with respect to the third quarter of 2011, when revenues amounted to US$574.7 million.
Patricio Contesse, SQM's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Following the strong results posted in the first half of 2012, we are pleased to announce our financial results achieved during the third quarter. Margins have been driven primarily by increased prices in iodine and by increased sales volumes in the potassium, lithium, and industrial chemical business lines."
Mr. Contesse continued, "These strong results though, pose a new set of challenges for the next months. On one hand, potash price environment has been relatively unstable in the past weeks and difficult to predict for the near future. On the other hand, European economy slowdown is starting to show some effect in volumes across all our business lines. However, our unique commercial flexibility and operational synergies will allow us to continue maintaining our competitive advantage and to react and benefit to changing market needs."
For the complete version of this press release, please visit our Web site: www.sqm.com.
SQM is an integrated producer and distributor of specialty plant nutrients, iodine, lithium, potassium-related fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Its products are based on the development of high quality natural resources that allow the Company to be a leader in costs, supported by a specialized international network with sales in over 100 countries. SQM's development strategy aims to maintain and strengthen the Company's position in each of its businesses.
The leadership strategy is based on the Company's competitive advantages and on the sustainable growth of the different markets in which it participates. SQM's main competitive advantages in its different businesses include:
For further information contact:
Kelly O'Brien. 56-2-4252074 / email@example.com
For media inquiries, contact: Rosalia Vera / email@example.com
Statements in this press release concerning the Company's business outlook, future economic performances, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses, or other financial items, anticipated cost synergies and product or service line growth, together with other statements that are not historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" as that term in defined under Federal Securities Laws.
Any forward-looking statements are estimates that reflect the best judgment of SQM management based on currently available information and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements. Risks, uncertainties, and factors that could affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements should be considered in light of those factors.
Web 2.0 Latest News
Subscribe to the World's Most Powerful Newsletters
Subscribe to Our Rss Feeds & Get Your SYS-CON News Live!
SYS-CON Featured Whitepapers


text:
Black & white Landscape
Read More
A selection of Black & White landscape images. I personally like the drama a black & white image gives.
Please take your time to view them and I hope you see something that brings enjoyment.
Please note, I am happy for my work to be shared across Pinterest but other uses, ie, web design, promotions, printing, modifying, etc, is not permitted without permission or prior purchase. Thanks & enjoy viewing.


text:
Cool name? Check. Surprisingly competitive team? Check. The league's top cornerback this year? Might be. So why isn't Alterraun Verner a household name yet?
According to Pro Football Focus, the 2010 fourth-round pick from UCLA is the NFL's best corner through five games. Quarterbacks have thrown at him 28 times; Verner's allowed nine catches for 159 yards and zero touchdowns. To compare, Revis has conceded 12 catches for 102 yards and a score on 22 targets, and Sherman's given up 14 receptions for 258 yards and a touchdown on 26 targets.
His past two games have been nearly flawless. Against the Jets, Verner didn't allow a completion on four targets and picked off Geno Smith twice, earning AFC defensive player of the week. In the Titans' loss to the Chiefs on Sunday, Verner surrendered only one catch, although it was a 41-yard reception on a go route by Donnie Avery. On two other plays we'll see below, however, Verner came very close to picking off Alex Smith.
In the first quarter, Verner jumped an out route by Chad Hall but couldn't wrap his hands around the ball. It was still an excellent prediction on his part.
This rushed, inaccurate bomb from Alex Smith would've been incomplete anyway, but Verner, sitting back in zone, again showed a knack for being in the right spot.
Verner's coverage is great, but his tendency for getting the ball back to the (currently Jake Locker-less) offense is what puts him at the top. He's already contributed to six turnovers, although that frequency will almost certainly slow down, despite the two missed opportunities against KC. Verner already has four interceptions under his belt, tied with Aqib Talib and Kiko Alonso for most in the league. He cashed in on Matt Schaub's first pick-six back in Week 2, when Schaub's turnovers were considered an aberration and not a disease. (Verner also has two fumble recoveries, although those require more luck than do his picks.)
Should we have seen this coming? In 2012, Verner barely cracked the league's top 25 at his position, allowing 53 catches for 556 yards and two touchdowns on 84 targets. Decent numbers, but far from shutdown. He also only racked up a pair of interceptions, a number he matched in his first two games this year. But what hasn't changed is Verner's knack for avoiding penalties—he drew a single flag all last season, and just one so far this year. Verner's managed to get more aggressive—reading the QB, jumping routes—without becoming reckless.
If the switch has gone on and Verner has finally made The Leap, it's good timing for him. He's in the final year of his rookie contract. If Verner can maintain this kind of play and be an elite first line of defense in a pass-happy league, he's going to cash in handsomely. By then, everyone will know his name.


text:
Product Information
Give your truck a touch of shine that will leave all eyes on your ride with Putco nylon oval locker bed rails! Putco uses heavy-duty T-304 stainless steel that polished to make you believe your looking in a mirror.
Putco's stainless steel tubes are a massive 2.5" wide with an unbelievable 500-pound tie down rating on each post. Not only do these rails offer style but they also ensure that your cargo will stay exactly where you need it to be. Each stainless steel tubes feature black nylon caps.
Putco nylon oval locker bed rails offer an easy no drilling installation. If you did not think these bad boys could get any sweeter, think again. Putco offers a limited lifetime warranty covering their quality of work and materials used on these truck rails.
These rails will ride with you throughout the year, so what are you waiting for? Get yours today.
|Stainless Steel
Putco offers a limited lifetime warranty on their nylon oval locker bed rails. This protects against materials and craftsmanship used.
Installing Putco nylon oval locker bed rails is easy to do and will include all needed mounting hardware. Easy to follow instructions will also be included. If you have further questions, we are available 7 days a week! So give us a call at 877-216-5446.


text:
Swimming Pool Blog
by Rob Cox, July 13, 2010
Aboveground Pool Safety
Aboveground pools - are they safer than inground pools? That is a common statement made by an above ground pool salesman, that because of their height they are harder for small children to get into, and because of their depth, easier to stand up inside of. Most above ground pools do not have deep ends, and although pool depths are getting deeper now, with dealers offering up to 54" depths, the standard may still be considered 48 inches.
According to the most recent drowning statistics from the CPSC, for children under age 15, nearly 60 percent of fatalities took place in inground pools, followed by aboveground pools (14 percent) and portable pools (9 percent). Many states have revised their definitions of pools, to include the smaller, soft sided pools, of depths greater than 24 inches. These revisions were due to a sharp increase in the incidences occuring in very small inflatable pools. It is true that a small child can drown in 6 inches of water, as many bathtub tragedies attest to.
The low cost of intex type pools have made them very popular, but small pools such as this are easily accessed by small children, with un-lockable ladders, nearby chairs, and a soft, easy to roll into side. Children less than 3 feet tall are at great risk in the vicinity of soft sided pools.
Here's some tips for keeping your above ground pool safer:
- Install surround above ground pool fencing, required in many states.
- Ladders should be safety type ladders, with a locking gate or locking ladder.
- Decks leading from the house should have self-closing, self-latching gates.
- Doors leading to pool decks should use door alarms.
- Pool alarms make a good final Layer of Protection.
- Teach your babies to swim, and teach them pool safety, too.
Just because a pool is smaller, don't think it's safer.
- Many baby humans are much smaller than the depth of many above ground pools. They also tire easily and may not have learned how to swim, or survive in water. When non swimmers are in panic, they forget that they can push off the bottom, and very small children don't understand this.
- Even very small inflatable pools of 18" depth, can be dangerous in the backyard with unsupervised toddlers. Better to drain the water after each use for inflatable pool safety.
- If your pool is deeper than 24" check with your local health department to find out if a fence or pool alarm has been mandated.
- During winter, safety is also important. Above ground pool covers have claimed many young lives. When one falls on a floating solid pool cover, the material grabs around your legs, with the weight of the water inside the pool. The trapped person begins to thrash about on the cover, and with rain water on top, or if the cover comes loose on an edge, the rushing water can easily overcome a young non swimmer.


text:
Whether you're looking for a celebratory weekend getaway or planning to relocate permanently, it's likely that you'll want to find a city that offers plenty of fun activities, but doesn't break the bank.
With the help of WalletHub's 2016 Most fun cities in America ranking, we've come up with a list of 15 cities that are both fun and affordable.
To determine it's original ranking, WalletHub compared the 150 largest US cities based on 51 key metrics, ranging from number of fitness centers per capita to movie costs to number of music venues per capita. Each city was scored on three categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and costs. (Read more about their methodology here.)
To compile our ranking, we averaged the cities' overall score and costs score — a category made up of 10 metrics, including average beer price, average food price, movie costs, and bowling costs. The cities with the lowest averages made it to the top of our list.
Below, check out 15 US cities where you can have a blast on the cheap.


text:
Yellow Tail Has A Currency Problem, Aussie Wine Has A Yellow Tail Problem
Australia's commodities boom created the $200,000 high-school dropout, the world's richest woman, and the least affordable housing market on earth. But it could soon put a dent in the makers of Yellow Tail, the best selling Australian wine in America. From the WSJ's Caroline Henshaw:
Australia's largest family-owned winery relies on the U.S. for three-quarters of its sales, but the Australian dollar's rise against the U.S. dollar has made its products less competitive against wines from rival regions such as California's Napa Valley and South America.
Casella Wines is looking to shave costs and secure a deal with lender National Australia Bank ahead of an extended Jan. 30 deadline. A failure to secure a new loan could force the company to sell off vineyards or other assets, Chief Executive John Casella told The Wall Street Journal.
Casella recorded a loss of 30 million Australian dollars (US$31.6 million) in the last financial year, down from a A$43.5m profit the year prior.
The Australian dollar has strengthened by about 50% against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of 2009, and that's a big problem for Casella, which can credit the massive success of its Yellow Tail brand in the U.S. to its sub-$7 price point. There isn't a lot of room to raise prices on a product best known for its price, and the company says Yellow Tail is still selling like hot cakes — it just isn't profitable any more. The plan is to wait it out and hope the Aussie dollar returns back to earth.
"Provided we have the support of our financiers, we can make little or no money for a year or two," Casella's CEO Joan Casella told the Australian Financial Review. "I'm hopeful the dollar is overvalued and we can return to some normality."
That's a luxury many other Australian wine producers don't have. As many have pointed out, the huge success of Yellow Tail in America came at the detriment of the rest of the Australian industry, which has become associated with lightweight, cheap, cheerfully branded product targeting the most mass of mass markets. That's a bad position to be in when you are on the other side of the world with high labor costs, a rising currency and increasing competition from other low-cost producers.
Australia, the world's fourth-largest wine exporter, rose exports by volume in 2012, but the nature of those exports is heading decidedly downmarket, Bloomberg reported: for the first time, exports of bottled wine were overtaken by exports of bulk wine, "packed in giant bladders inside shipping containers and bottled in its end- market." When Yellow Tail is overtaken by Chateau de Shipping Container, you may have an image problem.


text:
The money pit
State megaprojects leave scant funds to fix existing infrastructure
Drive around the state and it's easy to see where transportation dollars are being spent.
In fact, more than $3 billion -- or 94 percent of all highway funds -- is being funneled into one project.
The Pearl Harbor Memorial-Quinnipiac River Bridge at the mouth of New Haven Harbor is slowly taking shape as new links are formed between the busy Interstates 95/91 and Route 34 interchanges. Started in 2001, it's a colossal project that still has at least two years of construction remaining, but will continue to have financial impacts for years to come and influences nearly every transportation funding decision the state makes.
"The Q Bridge is an example of a highway project that has sucked up so much of the available funding in the road budget that it heavily impacts other projects," Steve Higashide, senior planner for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. "The state has plenty of repair needs on its roads and bridges, and should reprioritize more money for repair needs, including for transit."
By some estimates, the state needs nearly $3.6 billion to upgrade and repair the New Haven Line -- a stretch of 75 miles of tracks, bridges and signal systems -- where Metro-North Railroad is experiencing steady ridership growth along with a series of calamities that have pointed out weaknesses in the system. Nearly $2 billion is needed to replace two movable bridges that are now more than 110 years old and are vital to Metro-North and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
Without significant federal funding, the state has little capacity to fund such megaprojects.
But even when funding did become available under the federal stimulus program, the state chose new projects to extend transit services elsewhere, such as the New Britain to Hartford busway, dubbed CTFastrak and the New Haven, Hartford, Springfield rail line, rather than use the necessary matching funds for existing infrastructure.
"It's a great concern that we are pursuing new projects that don't necessarily show they will get high usage while not maintaining a currently highly utilized transportation corridor," said state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton. "I-95 is now congested 24 hours a day and we have a rail system that is falling apart. There is no doubt the way the state and federal government prioritize transportation is key."
Boucher, a ranking minority member of the legislature's Transportation Committee, who has pressed for the electrification of the Danbury branch line said that regional cooperation on projects like the New Haven, Hartford, Springfield line tend to rely on the premise that connection between regions will generate jobs and long-term economic benefits.
The New Haven, Hartford, Springfield line is being built using $191 million in Federal Transit Administration funding awarded four years ago. Scheduled to go into service in 2015, the project is seen by supporters as a cornerstone of a plan to revive the economic fortunes of central Connecticut. The DOT estimates it will reduce the number of cars on state roads by 4,000 a day.
The state bonded another $113.4 million in state matching funds for the CTFastrak project -- a 9.4-mile busway -- which has received $459.4 million in federal funds including $266.4 million awarded under a FTA program for modernizing "fixed guideway," systems scheduled to open in February 2015.
The state's ability to obtain federal funding for those projects through state matches is an important investment in the economic future of the central region of the state, said Andrew Doba, spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
While Republicans like Boucher have criticized the projects, Doba said the state's decision to accept the federal funds brought in hundreds of millions in hard to come by transit money that otherwise would have gone elsewhere.
"When you are looking at investing at transportation across the state you have to look at new lines and getting people in and out of our larger cities and towns," Doba said. "Whether it is CTFastrak, the New Haven to Springfield, or even improvements on the New Haven Line we are investing more money in transit now than at any time in the state's history."
Like many other states, Connecticut faces fraught and often controversial choices putting large-scale transportation projects in order of significance and urgency on the New Haven Line as well as major stretches of highway that need to be rebuilt, such as a $1 billion to $2 billion rehabilitation of the I-84 viaduct in Hartford and $2 billion to $3 billion for the I-84/Mixmaster project in Waterbury.
Among the unfunded projects listed in the state's five-year capital plan is $1.8 billion to replace two century-old swing bridges over the Mianus and Housatonic rivers on the New Haven Line and unspecified costs of awaited improvements to the New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury branches.
A report this year by the Regional Plan Association found that the New Haven Line needs $3.6 billion in upgrades to remedy the symptoms of aging infrastructure to avoid service disruptions, and called for the immediate replacement of the swing bridges.
"The New Haven Line is taking the brunt of traffic like no other corridor and all we're doing is keeping it running," said Amanda Kennedy, Connecticut director for the RPA. "While there have been investments in the line we don't want to lower expectations and not have the foundation to build a modern rail line."
One of those unfunded projects would electrify the 24.9-mile line between Danbury and South Norwalk at a cost of $300 million.
Lawmakers and transit advocates said that while not alone among states with an ever growing list of aging infrastructure, Connecticut faces a philosophical choice between highway expansion and long known maintenance needs.
State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, said because of the New Haven Line's status as the largest segment on the nation's second-busiest rail line and congestion on I-95 justify a renewed look at whether they are being given adequate priority.
"The new stuff always has more sizzle which is great," Steinberg said. "But we have the most heavily used corridor in southwestern Connecticut and frankly I'm not sure we have an effective plan for dealing with what our issues are."
Floyd Lapp, executive director for the South Western Regional Planning Agency said that for years the agency has argued the New Haven Line's economic position as the nation's second-busiest rail line justifies a bigger share of transportation dollars for long discussed capacity expansions to meet rising demand in coming decades.
This year the agency is asking legislators to prioritize improvements on the 7.9-mile New Canaan branch line, including construction of a passing siding in Springdale to allow more trains to run on the line, and extending platforms at its New Canaan, Springdale and Talmadge Hill stations to reduce boarding times.
The events of 2013, including the derailment in Bridgeport and the plight of commuters dealing with pervasive and extended delays on a daily basis, raises basic questions about using bonding capacity for the busway and New Haven to Springfield line when safety on the New Haven Line has become an issue, Lapp said.
"More than ever given the various calamities of the New Haven railroad since last spring, funding is desperately needed in this part of Connecticut rather than continuing to tilt the resources towards the capitol district," Lapp said.
In recent years, Connecticut's ability to get the federal funding needed to embark on larger projects has been made more challenging by policy changes in Map 21, the two-year surface transportation reauthorization act that made steep cuts in the type of discretionary funds that flowed more freely to fix the Q Bridge and create the New Haven to Springfield line, said Jim Redeker, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation.
Redeker said the unfunded initiatives for the New Haven Line or to repair hundreds of bridges throughout the state may not move forward at the clip he'd like, they also don't represent work that must be done within a given time frame in order to maintain safety and reliability.
"The state of Connecticut has significant and large maintenance obligations but that doesn't mean we're in a bad place somehow or we are deferring things we should have done years ago," Redeker said. "When the Q Bridge is done and Moses Wheeler Bridge (between Milford and Stratford) we'll move up to Hartford and take care of the viaduct. We move on the ones that are most critical first."
Jim Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group and a long time rail advocate said he doesn't blame underinvestment in Metro-North infrastructure on the state's recent transportation funding decisions.
"I don't think the condition of Metro-North is what it is today because money was taken from those projects and put into the busway for instance," Cameron said. "I think those are great projects and I think they will benefit the entire state and should be done."