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The GOP primary for Kay Bailey Hutchison's vacant Senate seat may show some resemblance the New Hampshire presidential primary – one wealthy, recognizable Republican with a sizable lead over two or three candidates vying for second place, who, unlike the federal race, are hoping to force a run-off.
The first major test will come Thursday in downtown Austin at a GOP debate hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the Texans for Fiscal Responsibility that features five candidates. Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, said the U.S. Senate seat is important and unique because the winner will be in Washington for six years.
Unlike the presidential race, however, there is not an incumbent for the GOP to target in the debate. This could mean Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst – whose name recognition, big name endorsements and checkbook boosts him to an early lead – will have the target on his back.
Former solicitor general Ted Cruz, who likely will be aiming at Dewhurst, has a campaign that somewhat resembles another Texas legislator, Congressman Ron Paul. His grassroots approach and ability to raise funds represent a similarity between the strategies and techniques of the two campaigns.
"Ted's appeal, like Marco Rubio's, comes from a wide spectrum of the Republican Party, which gives him incredible momentum," said James Bernsen, a spokesman for Cruz's campaign.
Another player in the game is former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert. In his first campaign ad, he targeted Dewhurst and Cruz by saying he is the real conservative job creator, unlike his opponents, "lawyers and career politicians."
Daniel Keylin, campaign spokesman, said he expects Leppert to reinforce this message during Thursday's debate.
"We expect a sharp contrast in the substance and specifics offered by a lifelong businessman and political outsider as opposed to professional candidates and politicians who have worked for the government in Washington and Austin for much of their professional careers," Keylin said.
After second and third place, fourth and fifth may be more of a wildcard. Former SMU running back and ESPN analyst Craig James will make his first major appearance as a candidate tomorrow night.
James would love to have a night like Jon Hunstman had in New Hampshire, where he finished with an almost-out-of-nowhere third place. Many voters and reporters will be eying James' debating skills, which have yet to be seen.
Glenn Addison, funeral home director, said he will hope to use the debate to gain recognition for his campaign. He admitted he is a "second-tier" candidate but hopes to utilize the internet to gain voters.
The debate will be moderated by Jason Embry of the Austin American Statesman, Brad Watson of WFAA in Dallas and Pedro Rojas of Univision Houston, and will begin at 7 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel in Austin.
The Austin bureau will be live-blogging the event on the Texas Politics blog.


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Sometimes it's not what you do that matters, but why you do it. Case in point, the video above. (Don't click on it quite yet.) Someone who has been there, done that sent it to me — this being an anniversary and all — making me wonder yet again whether finding that sense of purpose is the antidote to the choice conundrum. Maybe you've been there, too — doing back-breaking work that made your head spin and your neck ache, making you wonder what on earth you were thinking when you signed on — and yet, bottom line, loving every minute of it. Embracing the tangibility of it all.
On the other hand, maybe you're still searching. In which case, click on the video. You'll get a taste.
Purpose is where you find it. Sometimes in the strangest of places. A lifetime ago I did a story on a college buddy who, one Christmas, rallied a crew of grown-ups who knew better to spend incredibly long nights building a 60 square foot gingerbread house, replete with lights, moving parts, a chocolate-coated amusement park — including a computer controlled ferris wheel, roller coaster and carousel — hundreds of individually sculpted and hand-painted people, and dozens of chocolate and gumdrop yum-yum trees.
The biggest draw was that there was no real reason for the project — other than to rekindle the Christmas spirit. That, and the fact that once completed, the gingerbread compound was the centerpiece of a fundraiser later that month. But the magic was the soulcraft: the nightly stream of lawyers, doctors, engineers, chefs, writers — clearly folks with better things to do — who rushed in after work, chucked their neckties, their heels, and their briefcases into the corner, and ditched their iconic selves to immerse themselves in something that was literally bigger than they were. As one member of the crew, a lawyer with a loosened tie, said at the time: "The best thing about the project is that it makes you feel that everything else you are doing is less important than this."
Purpose is like that — whether it's gingerbread houses or presidential campaigns. It's something that's about more than you. You can't always define it, but you know it when you feel it. Or when you watch this video. Turn it up.

subset: commoncrawl


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e-Procurement | News
The Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC) is contracting with a new e-procurement company to help its member schools cooperatively bid and contract for various products and services from vendors online.
TACC is a network that is open to all junior and community colleges in Texas, which administers its own purchasing cooperative. Members typically use it for their contracts as needed and to the frequency desired.
The contract, awarded to BidSync, was borne out of a competitive bid, as per state procurement laws, and will make all of BidSync's web-based procurement services available to TACC members. Mostly the services allow member colleges to create and award bids, organize responses, and manage contracts.
"We conducted a very competitive solicitation process," said Charles Oberrender, CPPB, director of cooperative purchasing, Texas Association of Community Colleges in a statement. "We feel that BidSync's end-to-end e-procurement solutions will meet the needs of our member agencies and allow them to deploy solutions that will make a positive impact on their organizations."
About the Author
Stephen Noonoo is an education technology journalist based in Los Angeles. He is on Twitter @stephenoonoo. Follow @stephenoonoo
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Our lips are sealed by an embargo on the new 2010 Cadillac SRX, but here's what we can share with you — this (actually good) teaser video of the upcoming all-new crossover from Cadillac.
The new SRX is shot playing on GM's black lake as it's blanketed in snow in what had to be a hugely entertaining teaser to produce. Yes, we've seen the car photographically revealed in the past but this fancy video proves it's a real car which actually moves — even in the snow. We don't know GM's plans on dragging out a pseudo-teaser campaign for this thing, but the newly formulated crossover will be completely revealed at the upcoming 2009 Detroit Auto Show.


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Words Without PicturesBy Charlotte Cotton and Alex Klein
Availability: Out of stock
Also available on the iBookstore
Click here for more details
Words Without Pictures was conceived of by curator Charlotte Cotton and artist Alex Klein to create spaces for thoughtful discourse around current issues in photography. Every month for a year, an artist, educator, critic, art historian, or curator was invited to contribute a short, un-illustrated, opinionated essay about an emerging or changing aspect of photography. Each piece was available on the Words Without Pictures website for one month and was accompanied by a discussion forum, which received both invited and unsolicited responses from a wide range of interested parties—students, bloggers, critics, historians, artists of all kinds, all of which were previously issued as a print-on-demand title.
Aperture is pleased to present Words Without Pictures to the trade for the first time as part of the Aperture Ideas series. Contributors include Walead Beshty, Paul Graham, Darius Himes, Kevin Moore, Penelope Umbrico, James Welling, George Baker, Sharon Lockhart, Shannon Ebner, Allen Ruppersberg, Allan McCollum, Carter Mull, Anthony Pearson, Mark Wyse, Sarah Charlesworth, Sze Tsung Leong, Harrell Fletcher, Leslie Hewitt, A.L. Steiner, Jason Evans, Charlie White, John Divola, and many more.
Charlotte Cotton is an independent curator of photography who has worked at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department, LACMA, among others.
Alex Klein (editor) is an artist and the Ralph M. Parsons Curatorial Fellow in the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department, LACMA.
You may also be interested in:
Photography Changes Everything
Edited by Marvin Heiferman
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150 Photographers On Their Art
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Words Without Pictures$11.99


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Hot Bodies HB61229 Cyclone 12 Offset front wheel shaft.
4mm offset.
Smooth out the steering of your Cyclone 12 with these 4mm offset front axles! The standard axles are 2mm offset; using extra offset enhances the driving feel and smooths the steering input as you go through a corner. All of the Hot Bodies team drivers use these!


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After months of preparation, the 1st Special Operations Wing and 720th Special Tactics Group has earned an overall grade of excellent during their first consolidated unit inspection.
HURLBURT FIELD � After months of preparation, the 1st Special Operations Wing and 720th Special Tactics Group has earned an overall grade of excellent during their first consolidated unit inspection.
�I could not be any more proud than I am right now,� Col. Jim Slife, commander of the 1st SOW, said in a news release issued Wednesday. �This was an absolute home run as far as I�m concerned.�
He said he has been through six operational readiness exercises and this is the best force he�s ever seen.
More than 200 Air Force Inspector General employees evaluated the wing and group between Feb. 11 and March 5 to assess their readiness and ability to conduct combat operations.
Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, told about 300 airmen gathered at Hurlburt on Monday that the excellent grade indicates they exceeded mission requirements, the news release said.
Wing and group personnel prepared for the inspection for the past year while also fulfilling mission requirements.
�We put a lot of demands on your time, both personal and family time with your friends, to do training and go do an exercise and deployments,� Fiel said.
The last Hurlburt inspection was in 2006, the news release said.
The inspection process was revamped in 2010.
Fiel said the inspection�s intent was to make sure the units can perform all mission-essential tasks, not specifically those geared toward the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
�A lot of mission-essential task lists we�ve been doing for the past 12 years have been solely focused on Iraq and Afghanistan, but there�s been much more in there, too,� he said. �That was the intent of the inspection, to make sure we can do all those mission-essential tasks, and you all did an absolutely fabulous job.�
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4440 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.


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August 21st is my third Blogiversary! It has been a great three years and has far exceeded my expectations.
I relish the blog experience of telling my family history stories to a wider audience (instead of boring my family), discovering this different style of writing, coming up with a title and content that appeals - and making new contacts with fellow enthusiasts.
What have been the milestones in my third blogging year?
- Being listed among "Top 50 Genealogical Blogs you Need to Read" in the Australian magazine "Inside History". A special thank you to my Australian readers.
- Achieving 103 followers - thank you to everyone for signing up.
- Becoming a regular contributor to Sepia Saturday which give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history through photographs. I am amazed at the ingenious interpretations of the weekly themes, and the supportive comments from fellow Sepians.
- Taking part in the April 2013 A-Z Challenge. My theme was "A Sense of Place" which was a chance to reminisce on places I had visited, or were connected with my family history. Keeping up with a posting a day (Sunday off) was certainly a challenge but I made it!
- This past year I have spent more time writing than researching and was pleased to complete three volumes - on my father's life and on my mother's Danson family - with more material for blog posts.
What hasn't worked?
- Unfortunately this past year has been marked by a big increase in spam comments and I have put some moderation in place. The worst effect is the impact on my page views. I used to check very regularly my statistics page to see which posts most appealed to readers, but there is no point now as the figures are so out of kilter.
And Next Year?
- My brain is still buzzing with ideas for both research and writing up, so I look forward to my fourth year in such an all-absorbing hobby.
I appreciate it very much.


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Dresswel Women Solid Color Cold Shoulder Party Dress Mini Dress
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Tunnel work to block U Ave. for over two months
One major Charlottesville road is about somewhat more winding and narrow. Starting today, Tuesday, June 10, the University of Virginia is performing an excavation on steam tunnels where McCormick Road intersects University Avenue. UVA appears to be closing down part of a main thoroughfare to deal with its own underground steam heating system.
This procedure is not an emergency effort, according to Jim Fitzgerald, Associate Director of Community Relations for UVA.
"The work is critical in that it is important, not in that it is dangerous," says Fitzgerald.
But it will affect the flow of traffic and public transportation. According to UVA's Community Relations website, the excavation is taking place in two phases. The first involves excavating University Avenue so that Eastbound traffic (traveling from Ivy Road to the Downtown Mall) will be diverted right onto McCormick and then immediately left back onto University (around the triangle). Meanwhile, westbound traffic must travel a more long and winding route– right on Rugby, left on Culbreth, and then right back on to University.
In phase two, workers will excavate across McCormick Road, closing the east side of the triangle. In order to turn right onto University Ave, drivers will need to bear left of the triangle, and then turn right.
"The tunnels are in bad need of repair," says Ric Barrick, Director of Communications for City of Charlottesville. Barrick contends that throughout the excavation, citizen safety should not be an issue. "Because of the way they're built, once they dig them up they are dangerous to be around," says Barrick, "so we're limiting access. There will be some walking detours particularly down the hill next to [Nameless] field."
According to Fitzgerald, each phase should take about four-five weeks. Fitzgerald says that the aim is that the excavation will be complete before U.Va's fall session begins on August 25th.
The steam-tunnel repairs will affect more than just car commuters. Public transportation will also have to follow detours– bigger detours. According to Tamika Harris, Customer Service Supervisor for the Downtown Transit Station, Route Seven buses (Fashion Square Mall & Downtown) will follow an adapted route that will send outbound buses from West Main left onto JPA, continue on to Emmet and continue as usual. Inbound buses will travel on Emmet street, JPA, West Main, and then as usual downtown.
"We aren't following the main detour because of the size of our vehicles," says Harris, who says there will be new temporary stops on Emmet outside of the UVA Bookstore parking garage and on JPA near New Cabell Hall.
"I would expect [the detour] to create slight delays because there will be more traffic in those areas than usual," says Harris, adding that buses will continue to be dispatched every 15 minutes, and the time-points will stay the same. According to Harris, the only thing that will change is the time it takes buses to get from the 11th and Main stop to Barracks Road–a difference projected to be about three or four minutes.
Additionally, some web-related features will not function during the interim. "We can't track the buses because they are off-route," says Harris, referring to the new technology on the CTS web site which allows riders to go online and see when the next bus is coming.
UVA spokeseperson Carol Wood says a firm called Waco Inc. will perform the work for under $350,000.
VDOT has a schedule of fees it charges firms that wish to close state-owned roads, but some commuters may wonder if UVA will compensate taxpayers or inconvenienced drivers. We were unable to find an answer by deadline.
1 comment
Came through that mess last night. They still have the green traffic light in operation for eastbound traffic. And there is NO eastbound traffic now of course. Hope somebody in the traffic department can figure out this is a problem and reprogram the three directions of traffic lights that are actually being used.


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Find out why a Claflin education is more than a means to a degree.
The best way to get a feel for Claflin is to visit us.
Claflin students work with the best leaders in their fields.
You'll find endless opportunities here to get involved.
There is always something happening at Claflin!
Claflin is #1 in alumni giving among all HBCUs, thanks to you.
The Service Learning and Community Service program enhances our vision of preparing students for academic progression and real world engagement.
Claflin requires all freshmen and sophomore students to complete a service learning and community service requirement as part of our commitment to preparing students for academic progression and real-world engagement. We're committed building a bridge between serving and learning and forging a link between the community and higher-learning institutions. Through this program, you'll gain societal insight that will help to broaden your understanding of the community and world around you as well as leadership and real-world communication skills that will benefit your career. By bringing reality to the classroom, coursework becomes more engaging and significant.
The following information outlines specific details of the community service requirement.
Credit is given for hours served at approved agencies only. See the Service Learning and Community Service Coordinator for a list of approved agencies.
Complete ALL information on the top of the Student Service Time Log prior to submission.
Obtain the Agency Supervisor's signature on the Student Service Time Log on each day of service. Before the specified monthly deadline, obtain the Agency's Supervisor signature. This signature validates all information is correct. (NO SIGNATURE= NO CREDIT)
Community Service transportation pick-up and return location is Corson Hall during assigned dates and times only.
Volunteers should be seated on the van no later than 10 minutes prior to their service time.
To return to campus, meet the van at the drop-off location no later than 10 minutes prior to the end of your service time.
When transportation is not required from an agency back to campus, notify the driver immediately.


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Wednesday, October 26th, 2016
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Categories: Local Issues, Larry Walsh, Events
Tags: Larry Walsh, County Executive, 2016 Elections
In his 11th-annual State of the County address Thursday, Will County Executive Larry Walsh said the key to the county's success has been compromise and cooperation.
As he highlighted the "significant accomplishments" of the past year and the "exciting work" that lies ahead, Walsh stressed, "When we work together we can achieve great things."
The third-term Democratic leader has worked with a Republican-majority board on a $275 million effort to replace aging county facilities and, "despite challenges," has partnered with state and federal agencies on road work and expanded services to residents.
Categories: Local Issues, Larry Walsh
Tags: Larry Walsh, County Board, County Executive, 2016 Elections
County officials this week said they were serious about building a new courthouse in downtown Joliet – but some were equally hesitant to go all in, arguing the city should offer incentives for county government to stay put.
"The development of an urban site really is dependent on Joliet's cooperation," County Board Speaker Jim Moustis, R-Frankfort, said during a workshop Tuesday. "It's hard to make a commitment until they make a commitment."
Categories: Local Issues
Tags: Larry Walsh, County Board, Courthouse, County Executive
On Wednesday, Will County officials joined with leaders from First Midwest Bank to assume possession of the bank building upper floors at 50 W. Jefferson St. in downtown Joliet.
The county is planning to relocate some of its offices to the second, third, and fourth floors of the building and First Midwest will continue operations on the first floor until 2017.
Tags: County Board, Joliet, Courthouse, County Executive
A bill that would allow Will County to continue to use the Prairie View Landfill in Florence Township for an additional 15 years passed the U.S. House on Thursday, with bipartisan support from U.S. Reps. Bill Foster, D-11th, and Adam Kinzinger, R-16th.
The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2015, which has yet to be voted on in the Senate, included a provision inserted by Kinzinger and Foster that allows Will County to continue using the 455-acre dump on the site of the former Joliet Arsenal through 2041.
Categories: Local Issues, National Issues
Tags: Bill Foster, County Board, County Executive
P.O. Box 4242 | Joliet, IL 60434 | Email: email@example.com


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The Hero of Otniel
Noam Apter, may G-d avenge his blood, was a true hero who sacrificed himself to save his fellow yeshiva students.
On December 27, 2002, over a hundred Israeli teenagers sat down for the Shabbat meal at the Yeshiva of Otniel. Four of the students whose turn it was to be the evenings "waiters" went to serve the main course in the kitchen adjoining the dining room. Noam Apter, 23, was among them. Suddenly two terrorists dressed in Israeli army uniforms burst into the kitchen and sprayed the four waiters with fire from their M16s. Hit by the bullets and mortally wounded, Noam used his last strength to run to the door connecting between the kitchen and the dining room, and closed it. He locked it and threw the key into a corner. He then collapsed and died, lying against the door.
The terrorists tried to open the door. Seeing it locked, they tried to spray fire through a small glass window into the dining room After realizing that this fire was somewhat inaccurate and wild (it wounded six more students), and having already killed the four student waiters, the terrorists fled the kitchen, later to be hunted down and killed by the Israeli army. According to Yaakov Ohana, an 18 year old wounded survivor of the attack, quoted in the Israeli daily Maariv, "Our great luck was that Noam succeeded in locking the door to the dining room and throwing the key into a dark corner; otherwise the terrorists would have massacred dozens."
A real hero!


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Kent State's Department of Public Safety Will Initiate Fire/Emergency Evacuation Drills on Sept. 11
On Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m., Kent State University's Department of Public Safety will test the emergency notification system on the Kent Campus.
The purpose of this annual exercise is to familiarize students and employees with building evacuations and precautions to be taken in event of a fire or any other type of emergency.
No actual evacuation will take place during this exercise. Instead, classroom instructors and unit supervisors are asked to review the guidelines with their respective students and employees. As always, listen to the message and follow the instructions given.
Additional information on building evacuation and fire guidelines are available in the emergency guide area of the Kent State website atwww.kent.edu/publicsafety/eguide_fire.cfm.
At the end of the exercise, if you experienced any problems understanding or hearing the message, please email or call Bill Buckbee, assistant director of Emergency and Special Services at the Kent State Police Department, at firstname.lastname@example.com or 330-672-1034.


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By Jessica, Pure Matters
IBS affects at least 25 million people in this country, and women account for 2/3 of the sufferers. While the exact cause of this illness isn't yet known, strides have been made in learning how to manage it. Whether you have IBS, or you could just use a little help in the digestion department, read on for some eating advice that will help you run a little more smoothly.
The Bad:
Red Meat
Your digestive tract hates red meat. Period. It contains no fiber, hard-to-break-down proteins, and too much saturated fat. I'm all about everything in moderation, but if you eat a lot of red meat and you have a lot of problems with digestion, it might be time to give the turkey burger a chance.
A cup of coffee in the morning isn't just waking up your brain -- it's stimulating every part of you, including your digestive tract and colon. And if you're someone who is already stimulated enough in that area, you aren't doing yourself any favors by reaching for the caffeine. Unfortunately, caffeinated tea isn't much better. Exercising, showering or having breakfast right after waking are three great ways to get yourself going naturally.
A glass of wine a day may be good for your heart, but it may wreak havoc on your digestive tract. Alcohol irritates the lining of your gastrointestinal tract, which can cause diarrhea. Some IBS medications can put a strain on your liver, too, which makes it harder for your body to process alcohol. Again, everything in moderation, but if you have any digestive issues, don't drink on an empty stomach.
The Good:
Fermented Foods
When someone mentions "probiotics," what do you think of? If you said "yogurt," you're not alone. The truth is, though, lots of people have problems digesting dairy, and that includes yogurt. So where's a digestion-challenged person to get probiotics if not from yogurt? So many places! You can take a supplement for one, but also, most fermented foods have the same beneficial bacteria that yogurt has. So load up on that miso, sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles and kombucha.
Fresh ginger root stimulates digestive enzymes and reduces inflammation, which is why it's long been used as a digestive aid. (Ginger ale, anyone?) Add ginger to stir-fries, sautés, and any Asian-inspired meal, or sip fresh ginger tea -- about one half-inch of ginger grated and steeped in boiling water -- alongside a meal.
High-Fiber Fruits and Vegetables
When it comes to IBS sufferers, fiber can be a tricky issue to contend with. Soluble fiber -- the kind that comes from whole grains like oatmeal, beans, lentils and starchy vegetables -- can help keep your digestive tract on track in a kinder way than soluble fiber, the type found in broccoli, cauliflower and garlic. Both types are important to overall digestive health, but with the latter, start small and gradually increase the amount.
The bottom line, though, is that everyone's different. Some people's digestive tracts thrive on broccoli and yogurt, while others can't even handle a little bit of garlic. The most important thing to do is to listen to your body. If something you're eating or drinking is making you sick, cut down on it or eliminate it entirely. Sometimes, just giving your body a break from a food that doesn't agree with it for a while is enough to heal whatever's ailing you.
Source: http://blog.purematters.com/diet-nutrition/be-nice-to-your-digestive-tract-this-month


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"Glee" is in hot water over some steamy pictures.
The Parents Television Council is attacking the hit FOX show for a series of photos in the November issue of GQ that depict cast members Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, and Cory Monteith in sexually suggestive poses, reports CNN.
"It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters," said a statement from the PTC. "Sadly, this is just the latest example of the overt sexualization of young girls in entertainment.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
PTC President Tom Winter said that the shoot "borders on pedophilia."
Fox declined to comment on the controversy, but GQ editor-in-chief Jim Nelson said that the PTC needs to learn to separate the actors from the characters they play.
"The Parents Television Council must not be watching much TV these days and should learn to divide reality from fantasy," he said in a statement. "As often happens in Hollywood, these 'kids' are in their twenties. Cory Monteith's almost 30! I think they're old enough to do what they want."
Selected Reading: CNN, Washington Post, GQ


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The A-Team has got a new member and he does not even know it yet…
Ed is from the South, so we now cover all of North America.
He told me he had many pictures all related to the Alexandres and he asked me Monday night if I was interested.
I don't think Ed has read all my articles on this blog. Almost 300 since September 2009.
In point of fact, this is post 294!
Of course, I was interested, especially when I still have unidentified people on some pictures I have, like young man 2 who I believe is David Alexandre, John B. Alexander brother's
young man 2
David Alexandre never married. He was a bartender and he was deaf and mute. People back then would say deaf and dumb. I don't think David was dumb.
David and John were very close to each other.
David is listed in the 1930 U.S. Census.
He was living with John, Odila and their children. I have a feeling Ed will find the answer in the pictures he has, just like Robin, Sandy and Joe did.
Tomorrow…? Post No. 295.
You will see what Ed has in store for us.
About David…
Of course young man 2 could also be Peter Alexander, another brother. Just let's say I have a hunch…


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Emissions Compliance Declaration: QUALIFIED MANUFACTURER DECLARED "REPLACEMENT PART"
WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive harm - www.p65warnings.ca.gov
The TRC-D is a dual-outlet version of the race-proven TRC and boasts a carbon fiber cone end-cap. The TRC-D requires no inserts or restrictions, increasing muffler packing life and providing five percent more open exhaust outlet area and as much as three decibels lower sound output (compared to the standard open TRC). The TRC-D also offers greater gains in low- and mid-range power without restrictive inserts.
- Tri-oval shaped sleeve
- Carbon fiber dual-outlet end-cap
- Large volume of packing material
- Straight baffle for ample flow
- Stainless steel tail-pipe
Instructions and Parts DiagramInstructions / Parts Diagram
All Street Series systems are Slip-on / Bolt-on applications that do not require tampering with the vehicle's emissions control system, yet still deliver that special spirit the world has come to expect from the legendary company known as Yoshimura. Street Series applications cover all of the iconic profiles that Yoshimura has become famous for. From the legendary tri-oval profiles to the refined ALPHA mufflers, and even our R-55 angular masterpieces. Our Street Series exhaust offer street-legal options for almost everything on two wheels.


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Table of Contents
error handler – method called when an error occurs.
Let foo be a function defined as:
@validate(validators={"bar":validators.Int()}, "baz":validators.Int())
def foo(self, bar=None, baz=None):
Basic form of error handling is via decorator error_handler with error handler as argument:
my_eh can have an arbitrary signature, however one might wish to declare parameter tg_errors wherein errors (causing our error handler to be called) will be passed. Other parameters of interest are any named the same as arguments being validated, allowing us to fully reconstruct the original call (that failed validation). A more general approach would be using *identifier and **identifier.
my_eh now looks something like:
def my_eh(self, tg_errors, bar):
Of course nothing prevents us from using an existing (exposed) method as error handler.
A method can even be its own error handler when error_handler is applied without any arguments:
Care should be taken with this approach as it can introduce subtle bugs. Consider the following example:
def foo(self, bar=None, baz=None):
Whenever validation fails identity.require will be by-passed! This happens because the function as it was at decoration time is registered as error handler.
A safer alternative is to for the method do declare parameter tg_errors:
def foo(self, bar=None, tg_errors=None):
Mind, tg_errors should be a keyword argument, when used in this manner (since for valid input the method will not get re-called as error handler, hence tg_errors will not get passed in).
If no appropriate error handler is defined and validation failed, NotImplementedError? [1] exception (from standard library) is raised.
What if we want to handle invalid baz-es differently than invalid bar-s? Fortunately for us, error_handler takes a second keyword argument rules, making it possible to influence selection of appropriate error handler (actually a limited interface to RuleDispatch). Rules are arbitrary logical Python expressions passed as strings. For example:
@error_handler(baz_eh, "'baz' in tg_errors")
The most specific applicable rule is selected, meaning if validation of baz fails, baz_eh will be called regardless of bar's state or in other words, bar_eh will be called if and only if validation of bar fails and baz passes.
Any number of calls to error_handler can be made with the same handler.
Since both arguments of error_handler are optional, specialization is possible even when method is its own error handler:
@error_handler(rules="'baz' in tg_errors")
If validation fails for an input, said input also does not get to be converted to designated Python type, which could be rather inconvenient. A fail-safe mechanism is provided for such cases.
Analogue to error_handler and tg_errors, exception_handler and tg_exceptions are defined.
If no appropriate exception handler is defined, exception is passed to a lower layer (e.g. CherryPy?).
One method can have any number of exception handlers and error handlers.
If having the same handler for errors and exceptions is desired, one can use errorhandling.register_handler which is similar to error_handler and exception_handler but without inherent specialisations.


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It's staggering that only 3 per cent of people see dyslexia as an advantage, according to YouGov research for charity Made By Dyslexia. The founder of the charity, Kate Griggs, is determined to combat the stigma and misinformation about dyslexia. She has spoken for a wonderful Ted Talk, which is well worth a listen.
She's focused on changing the perception (or misconception) of dyslexia and helping people understand it for what it is – a different way of thinking. The charity itself is run by dyslexics and brings together many dyslexics who have done amazing things.
I wouldn't be where I am if I wasn't dyslexic – I wouldn't have struggled and dropped out of school to start Student magazine and then Virgin Records.
She explains how dyslexia is caused by a different wiring in the brain and how it enables people to think creatively, laterally and differently. Dyslexic children are often not supported well enough at school and are made to feel lazy and stupid. Made By Dyslexia want to show the world the huge value of dyslexic thinking and reimagine the education system to support children who need it.
Kate says how when children are young they have an amazing excitement for life and think they can achieve anything they put their mind to – but we send them to school and all the creativity is educated out of them.
I completely agree. Dyslexic children are capable of great things and we shouldn't be teaching our kids to conform, we should be nurturing their talents and encouraging them to chase their dreams.
In the real world dyslexia can be a huge advantage. This is backed up by the amount of successful entrepreneurs, inventors, writers and leaders who have dyslexia and have gone on to achieve incredible things.
Head over to Made By Dyslexia to learn more about their mission.


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In preparation for this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, Crew midfielder Wil Trapp has joined U.S. U-20 training camp in Carson, Calif. Trapp is one of seven MLS Homegrown players in the camp. The central midfielder is expected to play a key role for the Yanks in the tournament after being named to the CONCACAF U-20 Championship Best XI last month.
Joining Trapp in California is Crew Technical Director Brian Bliss, who serves as an Assistant Coach on Tab Ramos' staff.
The camp runs from April 22-29 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.


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The road to adapting Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel "On the Road" for the screen was filled with potholes and began several decades ago when the author courted Marlon Brando for the lead role of Beat generation drifter Dean Moriarty. Brando expressed little interest in the part, and Francis Ford Coppola eventually bought the rights in the late '70s, first hiring several screenwriters to adapt the book before attempting to crack the script with his filmmaker son, Roman Coppola. A number of top actors, including Brad Pitt, Ethan Hawke and Colin Farrell, also flirted with the lead part, and directors Joel Schumacher and Gus Van Sant were reportedly interested in the material but never made the film. Coppola eventually hired Brazilian director Walter Salles after viewing The Motorcycle Diaries, and Salles went through several years of further start-date and monetary setbacks and intense research before shooting On the Road in late 2010. His film arrives with a cast less mainstream than the actors courted for earlier attempts, and actor Garrett Hedlund, best known for his work in TRON: Legacy, takes the reins as Dean Moriarty. On the Road is attractively assembled, with beautiful cinematography from Eric Gautier and music from Gustavo Santaolalla, but perhaps misses the seat-of-the-pants energy and fringe courting from Kerouac's novel. Hedlund commands attention, but Sam Riley is less impressive as secondary lead Sal Paradise. The supporting cast is of appropriate pedigree, including Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, but only Kristen Stewart manages to embody the wind-whipped rebelliousness that the story suggests.
I will be upfront that I have not yet read Kerouac's complete novel, and I am judging On the Road solely on its merits and supplementing the critique with what I know of the source material. The novel was certainly controversial for its depiction of Beat generation outsiders unconcerned with following the prescribed routes for a successful American life. Critics were passionate - fondly and savagely - but the book got people talking, and TIME Magazine named it one of the best English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel's content and historical context are likely the reason for the delay in brining it to the screen. It's difficult to film a feeling, a movement or an experience, and so it's not surprising that some critics have criticized On the Road for playing it safe and literal. The fundamental flaw I find with On the Road is that it never really explains why Dean is such a magnetic presence. This is a wanderer, artist and renaissance man; he pulls men and women alike into his web of unconventional love and friendship, all the while remaining oblivious to the pain he causes as he skips in and out of lives. I suspect this is something lost in translation from page to screen, and, while it's not necessarily Hedlund's fault, there is clearly something less persuasive about the leading man as filmed than as written.
The narrative of On the Road, shot from a screenplay by Jose Rivera, is an unconventional series of interconnected events in the lives of Dean, Sal and their troupe. Recurring characters include Dean's temporary wife Marylou (Stewart), who is introduced as a sixteen-year-old nymphomaniac who craves Dean's kind of chaos. Her arrival is preceded by an introduction to Dean, who Sal describes in voiceover as having spent equal portions of his life in jail, in the streets and in the library. Sal needs Dean to inspire him to write a novel, and Dean needs Sal to teach him how to write. Dean needs others, including eventual love interest and mother to his children Camille (Dunst) to wait for him as he gallivants about the country, bedding women all the while. There are many scenes that depict the ruination that follows a visit from Dean. He leaves his first wife Galatea (Elisabeth Moss) alone and destitute, and Sal's longtime friend Old Bull Lee (Mortensen) muses that Dean's madness is especially dangerous because it is not from drugs or booze but from Dean's own internal workings. Dean guts another of Sal's friends, Carlo Marx (Tom Sturridge), by beginning an intense love affair with him that Dean ends coldly and without warning. Dean's ultimate betrayal comes in Mexico and affects Sal, who learns the true extent of his friend's fickleness. It's through these betrayals that On the Road builds an unusual sympathy for Dean, whose Good Time-Charlie personality masks an intense loneliness and tendency for self-sacrifice.
Although it debuted at Sundance, On the Road received surprisingly little promotion from the studio, and its soft landing was likely a disappointment for Coppola after the project's lengthy gestation. I don't think the film's box office performance is indicative of its quality, as it's certainly an ambitious movie that offers enough to recommend despite its flaws. The period locations, props and costumes are impressive, and On the Road is attractively lensed. The pacing is never as suitably breakneck as it might have been under a different director, and the two hour-plus runtime drags at points. Hedlund gives himself completely to the character, but there just isn't enough there for the articulate actor to fully live up to Dean's legend. Stewart, oft criticized for her lack of emotion, is the only actor given the opportunity to really let loose. Her Marylou is a wild, inwardly devastated woman, and Stewart plows forward with a furious energy lacking from much of the film. On the Road will likely be remembered as a disappointing adaptation of Kerouac's novel and forgotten as a dramatic film. The emotions, characters and conflicts are all there in spirit, but On the Road never brings them into our world.
The beautiful 35 mm cinematography is let down somewhat by a transfer that is adequate but not especially impressive. The 2.40:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image is often nicely detailed, with sharp texture and good delineation, but there's a sloppiness that occasionally threatens to overwhelm the proceedings. This may be the result of MPI using a single-layer Blu-ray disc, but there are more than a few scenes where compression artifacts pop up. These are usually a problem only in outdoor scenes and manifest themselves in rain/snow, on tree branches and in backgrounds. This gives the film a slightly muddy look that I suspect could have been remedied with a better compression algorithm. Fortunately, MPI does not scrub the natural film grain to death, and both color saturation and black levels are good.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix is impressive, and provides a much more consistent experience. The track is often quite immersive, and the jazzy score surrounds the viewer. This music is given full LFE and surround support and is layered nicely with effects and dialogue, which is always clear. These effects - mostly ambient but occasionally more pronounced - move through the sound field appropriately, and directional effects are common. An English 2.0 LPCM track is also included, as are English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
The disc is sadly lacking in extras, and a lengthy making-of documentary might have at least explained some of the problems with adapting the novel into this film. All you get are a few Deleted Scenes (7:48/HD) and the film's Theatrical Trailer (2:29/HD). Perhaps Coppola, Salles and the cast and crew didn't care to comment, but I suspect the film's underperformance scuttled a more extensive extras package.
The lengthy struggle to bring an adaptation of Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel "On the Road" to the screen finally ended with this Walter Salles-directed drama. Francis Ford Coppola personally selected Salles for the job, and the Brazilian director does an adequate if imperfect job directing his ensemble cast, which includes Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams and Kirsten Dunst. On the Road suggests the emotions, conflicts and character interactions of Kerouac's Beat-generation epic, but the film's case for why Hedlund's Dean Moriarty is so damn appealing is flawed. Despite its tempered approach to the once-salacious material, On the Road still offers enough of interest to offset some of its flaws. With that in mind, Rent It.


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Process water – High purity
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Initially, single-stage or multistage pumps transport the water to the disinfection and treatment processes. Once the process water is treated, it is essential that the purity remains exactly the same during transportation to the consecutive process steps. Grundfos' sanitary pumps feature electro-polished surfaces that have been optimised to handle high purity water with great care – even the extremely delicate ultrapure water that must be completely free from particles.
Naturally, advanced digital dosing pumps and disinfection systems are available to support the process of making high purity water.
All sanitary pumps are CIP and SIP-compatible, allowing the pipes, tanks and process lines to be efficiently cleaned without dismantling any equipment. The process is further accelerated by means of precise dosing pumps that add only the necessary amount of chemical, making sure that a minimum of subsequent flushing is required. Which in turn saves both time and money.
|Ultrapure water is an aggressive liquid that is hard on the pump.
|Grundfos' sanitary pumps are made from stainless steel and further feature certified shaft seals that meet every norm and design criteria.
Important notes
- All Grundfos pump solutions for the pharmaceutical industry can be supplied with relevant certificates.


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In Why concrete language communicates truth, you'll learn that psychology research shows most people find vivid details and lots of facts make a statement more credible. There's a catch, though:
But all these involve adding extra details or colour. What if we don't have any more details? What if we want to bump up the believability without adding to the fact-count? Just going more concrete can be enough....The solution means choosing words that reinforce the concrete nature of your statement. Here's how to do it:
- Avoid abstractions in your nouns and verbs: With nouns, that means specificity (instead of cars, say Thunderbird; instead of breakfast, say steak and eggs). With verbs, that means less passive tense verbs and more action verbs (less "I was hoping you'd have questions" and more "Ask me anything"). Overall, use fewer adjectives and adverbs and stick to concrete nouns and verbs; you won't sound as if you're exaggerating and your credibility will shine through.
- Avoid ambiguity: Can your words be miscontrued easily? That might involve how they sound (mussels versus muscles), whether your audience understands a technical term, or terms that mean different things in different circumstances. Reading your lines aloud to a friend will help you figure out the words that make an audience pause and think through confusing terms. Aim for simple, universal terms.
- Add the invisible visual--the description we can picture in our minds' eye. That kind of specific, easy-to-understand, simple description does more than any slide can do to make your talk memorable--and credible.


text: Thanks to JRhyan for sending the photo! Wow, more that 6 months after we released the book, it's still selling vigorously! It's still #1 for the month of June 2012! No words to describe how good it feels that a little pet project could be enjoyed by so many people! Hehehe I hope it still stays in the charts until we release book two! So go and get a copy (or copies) in your favorite bookstores, in case you haven't yet, or get new copies in case your books are getting all worn out! Again, thank you to everyone who's still buying, and we promise to try our best to come up with more goodies for the sequel!


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Famed author J.K. Rowling has swapped fantasy for reality in her new book "The Casual Vacancy," which hits stores Thursday.
In perhaps the most hotly anticipated book of 2012, Rowling has eschewed Hogwarts for the fictional English village of Padford, where a local member of government has just died - a circumstance referred to as a "casual vacancy" in British legalese. Rowling told The New Yorker that the book is a "comic tragedy'' aimed at adult readers and that she drew on experiences from her own upbringing in Gloucestershire, England, for the setting of the novel.
Poverty and heroin addiction are included in the 512-page tome, as are frank descriptions of sex and sexuality. Hermione Grainger would most likely not approve.
U.S. & World
Rowling, 47, has sold 450 million books and amassed a personal fortune of almost $900 million thanks to the seven-book Harry Potter series. The author admits that her initial trepidation of publishing her first post-Potter story has eased.
"I thought I'd feel frightened at this point," she said in The New Yorker interview. "Not just because it's been five years, and anything I wrote after Potter — anything — was going to receive a certain degree of attention that is not entirely welcome, if I'm honest. It's not the place I'm happiest or most comfortable, shall we say. So, for the first few years of writing 'The Casual Vacancy,' I kept saying to myself, 'You're very lucky. You can pay your bills, you don't have to publish it.' And that was a very freeing thought, even though I knew bloody well, in my heart of hearts, that I was going to publish it. I knew that a writer generally writes to be read, unless you're Salinger."
Aware that the novel stands a good chance of alienating current fans who associate her solely with school-boy magicians, Rowling is happy to publish and let the cards, and fans, fall where they may.
"The worst that can happen is that everyone says, 'Well, that was dreadful, she should have stuck to writing for kids' and I can take that," she told the Guardian." So, yeah, I'll put it out there, and if everyone says, 'Well, that's shockingly bad — back to wizards with you', then obviously I won't be throwing a party. But I will live. I will live.''
Frank descriptions of sex and drugs will no doubt scandalize some of her core readers, but Rowling told The New Yorker she was ready for not just a change of genre, but also of audience. "I had a lot of real-world material in me, believe you me," Rowling said. "The thing about fantasy—there are certain things you just don't do in fantasy. You don't have sex near unicorns. It's an ironclad rule. It's tacky.
"There is no part of me that feels that I represented myself as your children's babysitter or their teacher," Rowling added in the interview. "I was always, I think, completely honest. I'm a writer, and I will write what I want to write."
While "The Casual Vacancy" deals with different storylines and characters, the author maintains there are some similarities with the boy wizard and the word he inhabits. "I think there is a through-line," she told The New Yorker. "Mortality, morality, the two things that I obsess about."


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WEST COVINA — A tourist from Hong Kong died after being wounded in the head during a robbery in a parking lot Friday after eating lunch with his brother, authorities said.
Sheron Khemlani, 28, died at a hospital following the attack and robbery, West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez said.
The attack was first reported to police about 2:30 p.m. in the 100 block of North Barranca Avenue, in a parking lot shared by several restaurants just north of the San Bernardino (10) Freeway, according to police Lt. David Lee.
The vacationing victim had just eaten lunch with his brother at a nearby restaurant when they were approached by two assailants, described only as male, Lopez said.
"As the two were returning to their vehicle, which was parked in the middle of the parking lot, two suspect assaulted then robbed them," according to Lopez.
Due to the ongoing investigation, police Lt. Dennis Patton said investigators declined to discuss what property the brothers were robbed of.
Rescuers took Khemlani to a Los Angeles trauma center, where he died a short time later, officials said.
Though the incident was initially reported as a stabbing, it was not clear what type of wound the man had suffered, Lt. Dennis Patton said. An autopsy will be carried out by coroner's investigators to determine his cause of death.
The brother was hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The killers were last seen running to a waiting vehicle also parked in the parking lot, Lopez said. It was described only as a four-door car.
"The investigation is continuing and robbery appears to be the motive," Lee said.
Further details or a description of the attackers was not available Saturday.
"We're in the infancy stages of the investigation," Patton said.
Any witnesses or anyone who was in the area where the attack took place, near Carino's, Chipotle, Islands or Ono Hawaiian restaurants between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Friday was asked to contact West Covina police Detective Karmann at 626-939-8576. Tips can also be submitted anonymously via the West Covina Police Department's tip hotline at 626-939-8688.
UPDATED: Tourist from Hong Kong slain during robbery in West Covina
WEST COVINA — A tourist from Hong Kong died after being wounded in the head during a robbery in a parking lot Friday after eating lunch with his brother, authorities said.


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I've been pretty good lately in keeping up with my quilting bee commitments. It really helps now that I am down to a much more manageable number of bees (2).
I was able to make 2 blocks for Rita and had a lot of fun pulling a few fabrics from my stash to add in.
Over in the Buzz Cuts group, November was Sara's month. She is making a quilt for her husband and asked for traditional (i.e. non-wonky) blocks using brown, orange, and black fabrics from our stash.
I made this block up on the fly. It's not traditional in the traditional sense -- and by that, I mean that it's not a star, or pinwheel, or another more traditional pattern -- but the construction is based on simple log cabin squares. I think it looks more modern because of the fabrics I chose to use (Joel Dewberry woodgrain, Moda grunge in black, an orange stripe from Moda's Wee Woodland collection, and a featured square in the center from Rosemarie Lavin's Spa line).
December's an off month for {Bee} Imaginative, and it's MY month in Buzz Cuts! I was so excited to send off my precious stash of Tula Pink's Flutterby line, and I asked for spiderweb blocks. (A spiderweb quilt made from bug-themed fabrics? How meta!)
A few have already popped up in the pool, and I can't WAIT to put this quilt together ...


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Produce for Kids has donated more than $4.1 million to children's charitable concerns, including the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and DonorsChoose.org. The program brings grower-shippers and retailers together to help raise funds that stay in the local community.
Produce for Kids started as a one-time spring promotion, conceived by John Shuman of Shuman Produce in Reidsville, GA, after his young son received care at a Children's Miracle Network hospital. Shuman connected with Orlando, FL, marketer Heidi McIntyre for that first campaign. The results were so overwhelming the campaigns continued and Produce for Kids has since become a full-time, stand-alone organization.
Here's a look at the highlights of last year's Produce for Kids activities.


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Developing and prototyping new projects can be a daunting task, especially if you're stuck using the older stripboards for electronic designs instead of the solder-less breadboards found in the market today. Combine that problem with using multiple boards and SBCs and the project can quickly become overwhelming even for the best of engineers and hobbyists. A rat's nest of wiring, multiple board layouts, and a mess of electronic components often leads to confusion, which is detrimental to project development.
To combat these issues, Bud Industries has released an ingenious solution with its Board-Ganizer multi-development board enclosure kit. The enclosure allows users to layout and assemble up to three PCBs/SBCs and shields along with a single breadboard, which are attached with adhesive-backed rubber pads. This is done when the enclosure is laid out in its flat mode, allowing users to maintain an organized assembly area, which lessens the overall confusion while sorting out the project's wiring.
Once the job of wiring and sorting is complete, users can the fold the Board-Ganizer into a 5-inch x 5-inch x 3-inch cube that maintains an organized platform without interfering with any of the components. Another feature incorporated into the enclosure's design is the inclusion of special openings that allow for a myriad of connection options such as USB, HDMI, and audio/video that can be accessed from all sides of the cube.
Since the single-board computer revolution has gained in popularity, the enclosure can accommodate most major brands on the market, including the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and Freescale's Freedom, among a host of others. Bud Industries Board-Ganizer comes with four smoke-colored ABS plastic side panels with two tops that snap into place, a total of 20 adhesive rubberized feet, along with four pins to connect the side panels together for just over $16. The company even offers extras such as 300tp or 600tp breadboards and Jump-wire bundles. No more will users need to worry about board and wire management for their projects as the Board-Ganizer keeps everything organized and secure with everything sorted in one easy to use foldable platform that can be used everywhere from the classroom to the kitchen table.
I have to admit, all my past breadboard projects were precariously balanced. Often enough, a shifting of a wire would tend to render the build inoperable. I do have a moment of pause looking at how the Board-Ganizer folds up. Also, long wires on a breadboard are essentially antennas. So, I think the system should tighten up. Just a thought.
Related posts:
- Design News Is Looking for the Best of the Best
- Enter the 2013 Golden Mousetrap Awards!
- Are You the Next Rising Engineering Star?
- Salary Survey: 2013 Delivers Bigger Paychecks
- Motor Kits Let BLDC Designs Roll
- Understand How & Why a Dev Kit Should Be Your Design's Starting Point
- Dev Kit Supports Graphical Programming
- Microchip Rolls Out Android Development Kit
- Touch Sensor Kit Gets Thumbs Up


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- Process plants
- Air separation plants
- LNG and natural gas processing plants
- Hydrogen and synthesis gas plants
- Petrochemical plants
- Adsorption and membrane plants
- Cryogenic plants
- CO₂ plants
- Furnaces, fired heaters and incinerators
- Linde Hydrogen
We design and supply furnaces, fired heaters and incinerators as custom-built, turnkey plants or as plant components. These products are mainly used in the petrochemical, refining, gas processing, steel, and environmental engineering industries.
The principle design of furnaces and fired heaters consists of a fire box with radiant coils, a convection zone for flue gas heat recovery, a stack, fan(s) and auxiliary components. The recovered flue gas heat is used for feed preheating or steam production.
The flue gases leave the heater via stack to ambient air and fulfill local emission regulations. If necessary, we can help achieve a material change in feed chemistry.
Incinerators are needed when fluid or gaseous wastes have to be eliminated by combustion.
You find more information in our overview about our furnace companies and their product portfolios.


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Talmid Shorts Video Series originated from the short devotionals that Pastor Eddie Ildefonso began sharing with the congregation here at WLA Living Word Christian Church. Talmid is a Hebrew word for a disciple who desires to be like the Rabbi Jesus.
Study notes are available on our Church Website: www.pastoreddie.org


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Kinch Reindl is an entrepreneur out of Colorado. He started autocrossing in 2002 in a 1997 Honda Civic Coupe. He promptly bought an Audi S4, the wrong car for class, but attended SCCA Tire Rack Nationals in 2007 at the behesting of his friend, Jeff Lundgren. He has attended every Nationals since. He has three ProSolo® Challenge wins and three ProSolo Class Championships in D Street in an Acura Integra Type R.
JH: Thanks for agreeing to do this, Kinch. I have been asked by a few people that know we are friends, what does he do for a living? He seems like he is doing all sorts of stuff! So, what is it that you do? And what led you down the road of being an entrepreneur?
KR: I knew very early on that I wanted to make money. It started with shoveling horse manure and mowing when I was really young. And from then on, I was always finding new ways to make money. When I was 16, I watched a friend's dad buy stuff wholesale, then sell it. At first from the side of the road, but then he got a small building. And then he got another building in a bigger city. So, I started doing that. I went to the wholesale market and bought clothing, speakers and the like. And I wouldn't say I was good at it. This is something I've realized in life, I'm not really good at things when I start them. I just kind of keep with it. Then I went to college. Why? Not sure. Probably because my parents expected me to. While there, I ended up joining Amway. And the crazy thing is, they taught me more about business than the two business degrees I ended up getting! After I graduated, I got a job. But for me, sitting in a cubical was painful. Still, I did it for years. Then, luckily, I changed jobs and I ended up working for a company with Jeff Lundgren. And he had a side biz. And when we merged with another company, I saw all these other people doing the same. And it wasn't rocket science. So, all that lead to a couple friends and I starting a web hosting company as a side biz in 2002, which is the same year I started autocrossing. But we didn't pay ourselves anything from that company for seven years. And shoot, I can't recall what year I stopped working full time, but between consulting and the webhosting company, I was able to quit my job. So what I do now is still the web hosting gig, but about a year ago we started the Barndo thing, which are steel buildings converted to houses. I also still consult, work on patents, and have ventured into real-estate. Basically, I try to be good at saying yes to things.
JH: People may or may not know about your podcast, Autocross Talk. What inspired you to start that?
KR: I was already doing a podcast about business (YourBusinessPodcast.com) where I did solo shows, as well as interview people who have their own business. After doing that for a couple of years, I thought it would be interesting to do an interview show of various autocrossers. Michael O'Neal, a fellow autocrosser and host of the SolopreneurHour Podcast, thought it was a good idea as well and encouraged me to do it "right" with a real intro etc. So, I went out and took the muffler of the Type R, and revved it up, and sent everything to a guy to have him do, and redo, the opening sequence. Anyway, I really like to hear people's stories, as well as how they approach autocross. And I figure the only thing better than me just learning from all these people is to share it so others might be able to learn as well.
JH: Some may know of your love of the Acura Integra Type R. Why that particular car? And how many do you own currently?
KR: After taking an Audi S4 to Nationals two years in a row, I figured if you can't beat them join them. While my S4 did great up here at altitude, the extra 1200lbs really showed up at Nationals! So, I talked to David Fauth about the Type R and Kevin Youngers, Bob Tunnell about the BMW 330ci. I was initially set on the BMW. I went to look at it, and even really contemplated the M3. But after discussing it more with a few people, it sounded like the BMW needed a clutch each year, if you did a lot of ProSolos like I did. The Type R was also a favorite of my brother who wanted one, but never got one. A great memory of mine is that my first autocross ever was in the Honda Civic I bought from him. He passed before I ever raced, but was a big influence on my journey into being a car enthusiast. So that kind of sealed the deal on the Type R. And I have really enjoyed them ever since. I currently own two, as I accidently bought one out of Canada on Bring a Trailer. That might be a story for another time!
JH: What is your favorite car/class you have competed in?
KR: Driving Salil's GT3 was something I appreciated each and every run, and I hope I thanked him each run! Just an absolutely amazing car.
JH: So, we all know you have your fingers in a bunch of different things. If you had to "settle down" and focus on doing one thing for a living, what would it be?
KR: What would I do if only one thing? I would help people in whatever capacity I can. Whether it is speaking on stage, social media posts/videos, etc. … or one-on-one conversations. I've realized my energy really peaks when I can help people in their journeys whether it is autocross, business or life! The only thing better than learning is sharing something with others.


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Zynga has announced that they will be closing down their Hidden Chronicles game. It has been around since January of 2012. The game will disappear from both Facebook and the Zynga website on July 22, 2014. As of May 28, 2012, Hidden Chronicles is no longer open to new players.
Current players are being offered "special packages" that will help them get started in one of Zynga's other games. Specifically, Zynga is suggesting that players of Hidden Chronicles try FarmVille 2, Puzzle Charms, or CastleVille Legends.
The decision to close Hidden Chronicles does not surprise me. The game was a competitor to the Gardens of Time game from Playdom. Both games required players to find objects that were hidden in an image. Doing so enabled players to unlock special buildings or decorations that they could put into a virtual space of their own and move around as they liked. Each game had its own, somewhat limited, storyline.
In April of 2014, Playdom removed their Gardens of Time game from the Playdom website and from Facebook. At the same time, Playdom also removed all of their games that could be played through their website. Zynga's Hidden Chronicles game outlasted its competitor, and it appears that Zynga doesn't feel a need to keep it any longer. The company may feel that it served its purpose.
Part of the message that current players of Hidden Chronicles got from Zynga said: "We are making the tough decision to close Hidden Chronicles so we can put more time and energy into developing new games that we hope you will love just as much."
The wording is extremely similar to part of the message that Playdom sent Gardens of Time players when it announced the closure of that game. They said: "Although it is a difficult decision to shut down a game, this decision will allow us to focus on building new, more engaging games."
It is also worth pointing out that RockYou purchased, and will assume operation of, three of the games that Playdom closed: Gardens of Time and Words of Wonder, on Facebook and mobile, and City Girl on Facebook. There is no evidence at this time that suggests that RockYou has any intention of purchasing Hidden Chronicles from Zynga.


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| 17.1°C Dublin
Robert Pattinson has revealed he is "ridiculously proud" of his sister's X Factor auditions.
The Twilight heartthrob's older sibling Lizzy has sailed through the arena auditions for the upcoming 11th series of the ITV show and is set to face the judges at boot camp this weekend.
Rob, who played guitar with his band Bad Girls, said he is overjoyed she has made it through to the next stages, adding he wouldn't have the guts to do it himself, reported The Sun.
"I'm like so ridiculously proud of her. I can't believe she's done it. It's amazing," he said.
The 28-year-old actor added: "I would never have the balls to do it in a million years."
Show insiders said that the judges - Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Mel B and Louis Walsh - were won over by Lizzy's soulful voice, and that she initially kept quiet about her celebrity connection.
"It was really important Lizzy was judged for her voice on the show and not as Rob's sister - that's why she hid the link at first," the source said.
"But she couldn't keep it under wraps for long. During her audition she was asked about him but all she said was he was very supportive. She's not the kind of person to cash in on the connection. However far she goes, she wants it to be on merit."
The new series of The X Factor, with Simon and Cheryl returning to the UK panel for the first time since 2010, begins on August 30. It will also be shown on US screens.
PA Media


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I recently had the opportunity to go appreciate the most beautiful automobile made for production "Model S". This car is not only awesome but very practical. It goes from sports car by day to super luxury all night. The Model S has been designed for everyone in mind. All the luxury you ever wanted in a car, then add everything else you ever expected an automobile to have. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test drive the car. Speaking to the representative, taking the time to go through key aspects of the car I felt an instant perception of how the car handles and drives. This car has the "It Factor". My wife was with me and she was more anxious for me to make a deposit, than remodeling a custom kitchen. If you could believe that. Go Team TESlA.
It is just great to see another American company back into innovation.
Nothing to say, just commenting so that others notice this over the flood of spam.
Good idea Timo.
I've gotten so ignore all new thread in General, unless there's been a reply.


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- Nucleoside Analogs
- Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)
- Protease Inhibitors (PIs)
There's lots of talk these days about new targets for antiretrovirals -- fusion, integrase, zinc fingers, and other approaches. Drugs using current targets (the reverse transcriptase and protease enzymes) have plenty of problems, including difficult dosing, short- and long-term side effects, resistance -- the list goes on. The following are brief descriptions of some of the new drugs in development from currently approved classes.
As with all drugs in development, take everything you read here with a grain of salt. Today's "promising new treatment" is often tomorrow's forgotten footnote.
Nucleoside Analogs
Nucleoside analogs were the first type of drug approved to fight HIV. While there are already six approved nucleosides (and one nucleotide), many people have become resistant to some or all of them or can't take them due to side effects. So new drugs in this class that work against resistant virus with fewer side effects and easier dosing are being studied.
Coviracil (emtricitabine, FTC) is a nucleoside analog that is chemically similar to Epivir (3TC). Both drugs stop working if HIV develops only one mutation (called M184V), so Coviracil won't work for people who are resistant to Epivir. And both drugs have a low incidence of side effects. So why develop this drug? Well, it's taken once a day, which we like, but Epivir was also approved for once-daily dosing back in June. Triangle Pharmaceuticals, the company behind Coviracil, was recently purchased by Gilead Sciences, so a pill combining Gilead's Viread (tenofovir) with Coviracil is a real possibility. That would be one pill, once a day -- cool.
Trials have shown that people taking Epivir can successfully switch to Coviracil, and that Coviracil is superior to Zerit (d4T) when used in combination with Videx (ddI) and Sustiva (efavirenz). The latter study was actually closed early due to the superiority of Coviracil (81% had viral loads below 50 after six months, compared to 70% of those on Zerit). But two things might have helped Coviracil in this situation. First, it was taken as part of a once-daily regimen, while Zerit was taken twice daily, so adherence might have been an issue. Second, people in the Zerit arm had a higher dropout rate due to side effects (possibly because they were taking it with Videx).
Coviracil is also being tested for hepatitis B, and initial trials have shown that it is quite effective. Triangle submitted their NDA (new drug application) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November. Since the FDA didn't see an urgent clinical need for Coviracil, the company was granted only a standard, rather than an accelerated, approval, so the drug probably won't be on the market until the fall of this year.
Amdoxovir (DAPD) is a twice-daily nucleoside analog that has shown activity in the test tube against virus that is resistant to certain nucleosides and non-nucleosides. And some mutations actually make HIV more sensitive to amdoxovir (again in the test tube). Taken by itself for two weeks, it lowered viral load by 1.7 logs (a decrease of 98%) -- a substantial antiviral effect. Triangle was ready to start a trial of this drug in combination with T-20 (Fuzeon), but it has been delayed while further safety tests are added in. Those kinds of trials -- drug companies working together to offer people two new drugs instead of just one -- are what people with HIV have been demanding for years. Let's hope it gets off the ground soon. Amdoxovir is also being studied in combination with CellCept, a drug used for organ transplant patients that may boost amdoxovir's effectiveness. Don't expect approval until 2004 at the earliest though.
ACH-126,443 is another once-daily nucleoside that should work against both HIV and hepatitis, and, in the test tube, is active against virus that is resistant to Epivir (3TC). Achillion Pharmaceuticals just started a Phase II trial to find out if this is also true in people, but the trial design may make it tough to enroll: you must be resistant to Epivir and have been taking it for the last four months, have a viral load within a very narrow range (1,000 to 30,000), and be willing to possibly be randomized to Epivir for another month, after which time you can get ACH-126. In the test tube, ACH-126 does not damage mitochondria like other nucleoside analogs can. If this is true in people -- and that's a big "if" right now -- it could mean that ACH-126 would be less likely to cause lipodystrophy than certain other nucleosides. Approval is a few years away at best.
Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)
This class of drugs surprised everyone by being as effective as protease inhibitors when used as part of a three-drug combination. But a single mutation (K103N) can make the entire class useless. New drugs for people who are resistant to approved NNRTIs are badly needed.
Capravirine is a twice-daily NNRTI that is active in the test tube against HIV with the dreaded K103N mutation. Other mutations can make capravirine useless, however, such as Y181C, which also creates resistance to Viramune (nevirapine). One Phase II study of capravirine taken with Viracept (nelfinavir) in people resistant to the NNRTIs found that half of them reached viral loads below 400, but was it the capravirine or Viracept that was responsible? And capravirine was no better than placebo in preventing viral load rebounds in this trial.
Research was moving along until the FDA put all capravirine trials on hold in January of 2001 due to reports of vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) in dogs. But Pfizer reported at the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona last July that this side effect has not been seen in people, so trials were recently re-started. Phase I trials suggested that capravirine is ten times stronger than the approved NNRTIs in people who have never taken them. Let's see if that translates into real-world use. So far, capravirine has not caused the rash that is often seen with the other NNRTIs.
DPC-083 (BMS-561390) is a Sustiva-like NNRTI that was originally developed by DuPont Pharmaceuticals. It stays in the body a very long time, so it could theoretically be taken every other day -- but everyone seems to think that's too difficult for people to do, so it will most likely be given once a day. In one trial, people who were resistant to the available NNRTIs switched to DPC-083 and added one new nucleoside -- 70% of them got their viral load below 400. But only 40% of those who did not add a new nucleoside got below 400, so you may need other new drugs available to get the full benefit of DPC-083.
Since taking over DuPont, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has put this drug on hold while they compare it to three other NNRTIs they have in the pipeline (DPC-082, DPC-961, and DPC-963). So we'll have to wait and see which drug they decide to pursue. In the past, BMS has put drugs on the back burner while they pursued a lead candidate (Zerit languished in Phase I trials for years while BMS studied Videx), so they might not study two non-nucleosides at the same time.
TMC-125 is a twice-daily NNRTI that also looks good against HIV that is resistant to currently available non-nucleosides. In one small study, sixteen people who were highly resistant to Sustiva or Viramune switched to TMC-125 for eight days and got a viral load drop of 0.9 log (a decrease of about 87%). More time on drug will hopefully lead to even greater drops -- but will they be sustained? Some people who had never taken any antiretrovirals before had viral load drops of over 3 logs (99.9%) after a week on this drug, so it may turn out to be quite strong.
An interesting study compared viral load results in people who took TMC-125 alone for a week to earlier studies of people who took five-drug combinations, none of whom had ever taken antiretrovirals before. TMC-125 by itself produced better viral load drops (almost 2 logs, a decrease of 99%) than the five-drug combinations (1.5 logs, or 97%). What this means, no one knows. Could TMC-125 be used with just one other drug? We'll have to wait and see. The answer remains a long way off, as does approval, since trials are still being done to find the best dose. Johnson & Johnson recently acquired Tibotec-Virco, the company behind this drug. Hopefully, this won't slow down the drug's development.
Protease Inhibitors (PIs)
When protease inhibitors made their debut in 1995, they were hailed as "wonder drugs" that might even eradicate the virus from the body. That didn't happen, of course, and shortly after they were approved, side effects like lipodystrophy and elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels began showing up. Once again, the need is for drugs that work for people who have become resistant to the approved PIs, with fewer side effects and easier dosing.
Atazanavir is a once-daily PI from Bristol Myers-Squibb with a unique quality -- it doesn't seem to cause the kind of triglyceride and cholesterol increases seen with other PIs. It can, however, raise bilirubin levels, a substance produced by the liver. As with Crixivan, however, this increase in bilirubin levels doesn't seem to mean that the drug is damaging the liver. Atazanavir worked as well as Viracept in one study, but since Viracept may not be the strongest PI, that's not particularly impressive.
The real test was a head-to-head comparison of atazanavir to Sustiva. In this trial of people who had never taken anti-HIV drugs before, 32% of people taking atazanavir had viral loads below 50 copies after 48 weeks, compared to 37% of those on Sustiva. That's about the same, but the big question is: why did Sustiva perform so poorly in this study? Other trials have found rates of 80% or more reaching 50 copies while on Sustiva. It might have been the viral load test that was used, the way the data were analyzed, or the fact that the trial was done around the world, in people with many different subtypes of HIV. Still, atazanavir's low pill burden (two pills once a day) and the fact that it does not increase lipids may make it a good candidate for use as a first-line drug.
The $64,000 question: will it work for people who are resistant to other PIs? BMS has shown that it's effective in the test tube against HIV that is resistant to other PIs, but whether that's true in people is still to be determined. The drug was submitted to the FDA for approval in December. If the FDA grants accelerated approval, it should be approved by June; if not, look to the end of the year. Atazanavir is currently available through an expanded access program (877-726-7327).
Tipranavir is a twice-daily PI that has languished for years while various drug companies searched for the right dose. It appears that Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), the new owner, has finally decided on a dose. Unfortunately it includes 400 mg of Norvir (ritonavir) a day, which many people can't tolerate. BI is also testing a lower dose of Norvir (200 mg a day) in people who have never taken antiretrovirals. Tipranavir is important because early trials have shown that it may work in people who are resistant to other PIs. One trial found that people resistant to multiple HIV drugs were still responding to tipranavir after a year, with viral load drops of up to 99%. Large-scale trials to confirm this are scheduled to begin early this year, and Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed not to wait until those trials enroll before starting an expanded access program. Instead, people who don't qualify for the trials or who live too far from a trial site will be able to get the drug through an expanded access program if they meet other requirements. Those randomized to approved drugs in the trials will be able to take tipranavir after eight weeks if the other drugs don't work.
So if you missed last year's tiny T-20 early access program (which filled up within a week), tipranavir is an option to explore. The best-case scenario for a tipranavir early access program is early this year. Since T-20's approval is expected around the same time, people in need of treatment options may be able to combine tipranavir with T-20 for the best antiviral effect. Look for approval sometime in 2004.
Fosamprenavir (GW433908) is an old drug in a new suit. One of the biggest drawbacks to Agenerase (amprenavir) has always been the pill count -- eight huge pills twice a day! Taking it with low-dose Norvir can lower that to eight pills once a day, but that's still a lot of pills. With some antiretrovirals now being dosed at one pill once a day, GlaxoSmithKline understands that Agenerase can't compete, so they've come up with this pro-drug of Agenerase. Fosamprenavir turns into Agenerase once the body absorbs it. It will probably be dosed at just two pills once a day when taken with low-dose Norvir. Efficacy so far appears similar to Agenerase, and side effects are also about the same, perhaps less. The main decision now for Glaxo is what dosing regimen to recommend -- twice daily without Norvir is still possible. Of course, if you are resistant to Agenerase, fosamprenavir won't work for you either. Application for FDA approval will most likely happen this year.
Mark Milano is a longtime AIDS treatment activist and a treatment educator at ACRIA.


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Zoomax M5 HD Plus is the latest 5″ high definition handheld video magnifier, featuring compact design as well as easy access to abundant settings including image storage, distance view, and reading line & masks. Proven by full investigation and research of users' feedback for better user interaction, M5 HD Plus video magnifier will make a change to your reading experience!
Internal Storage of 60 Images M5 HD Plus offers storage of up to 60 images captured. Saved images can facilitate your record of reading materials, including books, photos, and some information you would like to share with others later. Just save, and check the images stored in your favorite way.
Adjustable Reading Line and Masks Reading line and masks will make a significant difference for people with some eye conditions leading to vision distortion. M5 HD Plus is one of the few handheld video magnifiers preparing reading line and masks for people in need; adjustable reading line and masks, 4 types in total, will match diverse needs of various requirements easily.
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High Definition Image on High Settings M5 HD Plus is equipped with two 5 megapixels cameras and 1280x720p screen technology to guarantee your catch of every single word even in the highest magnification. Just open the reading stand to place the device on newspaper, photos or magazines, and read with comfort easily.
Intuitive & Easy Operation M5 HD Plus adopts explicit button design for intuitive use as well as integrated operation system with all functions accessible easily. Compared with video magnifiers requiring complicated manipulation, M5 HD Plus simply implements fewer combinations of buttons to achieve all the functions and adjustments, making the device easier to everyone with vision loss.
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Magnification - 2.3x ~ 16x continuous magnification
Display Modes - Full color and 10 high contrast color modes
Focus - Tap-to-focus in distance view / Fixed focus in close view
Screen - 5″ widescreen TFT touch screen
Screen Resolution - 1280x720p
Camera - Dual cameras 5 megapixels
Reading Line and Masks - Horizontal/vertical reading line - Horizontal/vertical reading masks
Viewing Distance - 4.8 cm for close view - >5 cm for distance view
Connection - Connection to TV / Monitor through HDMI cable
Power Saving - Turn off after 3 minutes non-use
Battery - Rechargeable lithium battery of around 4 hours continuous use; 4.5 hours charging time (depending on Mode and Brightness level settings)
Weight - 265 g / 9.35 oz.
Dimensions - 173mm (L)* 80mm (W)* 20mm (D) / 6.8″ * 3.1″ * 0.8″


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Just wondering the impact on the nutrient requirement for asian elephants.
From Juvenile all through its life stages and the changes?
any website recommendations?
need some t-shirt for some charity or other purpose then click the url
So relaxed, my dog sleeps for 20hours each day
Hey! I'm new to this forum, and I'm not quite sure how to navigate it yet, but bare with me! I think I'll really like it here :)
Here's a little bit about my animals...
I have 5 animals:
1 Cockatiel named Francois
1 Archangel pigeon named Stanton
1 Flemish giant rabbit named New Zealand
1 Mini rex rabbit named New England
1 corn snake named Salem
--Although I only own a few species, I have experience with many different types of animals!--
Take a look at this Artic Fox getting closer to a man in Greenland!!!!
Look at the video: https://al.ly/ult1X5
Its amazing!
Updated 09-26-2019 at 11:01 PM by agomez042


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Just Because Music: The Kinks' "Come Dancing"
I loved this song when I was young and I still like it now that I'm not so young:
Wikipedia says there's a story behind the song:
"Come Dancing" is a tribute to Davies' sister Rene who bought him his first guitar, with the song's lyrics affording Davies' sister a happy life denied her in reality. Living in Canada with her (reportedly abusive) husband, the 31-year-old Rene was visiting her parental home in Fortis Green at the time of Ray Davies' thirteenth birthday — 21 June 1957 — on which she surprised him with a gift of the Spanish guitar he'd tried to persuade his parents to buy him. On the evening of the same day, Rene — who had a weak heart as a result of a childhood bout of rheumatic fever — suffered a fatal heart attack while dancing at the Lyceum ballroom.


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Photos and info on Ayurvedic medicinal plant's flower named as Shankupushpam in Malayalam, the language of Kerala. The flowers of this perennial plant is also known in names, Clitoria ternatia, butterfly pea or blue pea, mussel-shell climber, pigeon wings etc in English.
Other names of this medicinal flower are, Shankupushpi, Aparajit(hindi), Aparajita(Bengali), Kakkattan(Tamil), Bunga telang (Malay), Gokarna (Marathi), Fula criqua (Portuguese), Sangu pu (Tamil), Nagar hedi (Kannada), Aparajita, saukarnika, ardrakarni, girikarnika, supuspi, mohanasini, vishadoshaghni (Sanskrit).
Luminescent blue flowers with light yellow core of butterfly peas. You may often find Shankupushpams in violet and white mixed colors also. The flower and plant has a major importance as Ayurvedic medicines for a number of ailments. Also the flowers are used as food and for food pigmentation. The plant is seen mostly in tropical regions of Asian continent and is believed to be native of Asia.
The blue Clitoria Tenetia flowers, or the blue peas. The blue flower petals are about 2 or 3 cms wide and the fruit is long like beans and usually encloses about six or seaven seeds within. rarely they are grown as ornamental plants and sometimes they are used to revegetate the depleted soil of disturbed lands, like that around mines. The plants of butterfly peas can improve soil quality as they are nitrogen fixing plants.
The cute violet bloom, aparajita flowers of bengal. Kerala's Shankupushpam and world renowned as blue-peas or butterfly peas. A conch shaped flower in the herbacious plant that belong to pea family. More technically they are of Fabaceae family or Leguminosae. The plant is also placed among papilionaceae. The flower got its name Clitoria Tenatia from its similarity to human female organ and is believed to cure many sexual disorders like infertility, gonorrhea, menstrual disorders etc
Butterfly Pea flowers as Food!
The flowers of blue peas are used as ingredients in many cuisines in some of the Asian countries. The flowers are used for pigmentation of foods in some of the south east Asian countries like Thailand. In Burma the flowers are fried and served as food. In Malay cooking the water extract of the flower is used to colour rice before cooking. In Thailand a syrupy extract made from the blue flowers are used as drink named 'nam dok anchan'.
More of the butterfly peas medicinal uses will be on the next posting with white flowers of pigeon-wings, another name of blue peas. Haven't ever thought this perennial vine to be this useful plant as a herb and also in foods. It keeps growing unnoticed around us here. Apart from the blue and white flowers have seen light blue flowers too.


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Published by Penguin Genres: Paranormal
Source: Publisher
Reviewed by Jo
A group of former Navy SEALS, the Alpha Pack is a top-secret team of wolf shifters with Psy powers combating the greatest dangers in the world. But sometimes those dangers are more intimate than they bargained for… Ever since he saved Dr. Mackenzie Grant's life, panther shifter and sorcerer Kalen Black has had trouble keeping the beautiful doctor out of his thoughts, and his heart. The brush with death awakened an intense passion between them—one that for the first time had the notorious loner letting down his guard. With the Alpha Pack battling an evil Fae who is slowly gaining control over Kalen's mind, Kalen can no longer trust his own actions, and he breaks off his affair with Mackenzie in order to keep her safe. But when Mackenzie learns that she is carrying Kalen's child, no amount of danger will keep her away from the man she loves. To protect his mate and unborn child, Kalen will have to battle a terrible evil, unleash the full fury of his power, and risk destroying them all…
Dr. Mackenzie (Mac) Grant works in the infirmary, which does a lot more than just heal wounded members of the Alpha Pack, a top-secret team of wolf shifters with Psy powers who work with the government to keep the world safe. She and the other doctors also help them adjust to difficult situations and give them all the backup they can. For Mac even getting to work there was a feat as her father is a member of the military who knows all about who and what the Pack is and he wasn't real happy when Mac won the job. Mac became very, very close to one of the new members of the Alpha Pack – a young, powerful and gothic Sorcerer.
Kalen Black is a mixture of many backgrounds; first he is a can shift into a jaguar and he is also a sorcerer even though his control over his powers isn't the best right now. Kalen hasn't had the best of lives in his short 20 something years and he was on his own and roaming when the Alpha Pack found him and made him a part of their unit. Now Kalen isn't sure if he is better off with his new situation compared to his old one, but when he and Mac had an unforgettable night together it changed something in Kalen.
Kalen knows that Mac is his mate, but rather than let her know or even the other pack members, Kalen works on driving her away to protect her. Kalen knows that something dark is within him and it seems to be coming out now and he refuses to have the darkness ruin the sweetness he found in Mac. Mac has no idea why Kalen has suddenly turned her away but she isn't about to let him get away with it, especially now that she has learned there is a reason to become even closer to him. As Kalen fights to learn more about that darkness, he discovers things about himself that can not only put himself and Mac in danger but the entire Alpha Pack. On the WTF mode, Kalen learns that he has family and it's very close to him right now. Unfortunately, those family members are also light and dark. Mac believes in Kalen and his ability to defeat that darkness with love and support, now she just has to convince him, her father and the pack commander. It has come down to a final battle of good against bad or light and dark in Kalen's mind. When the night is over, has Kalen defeated that darkness trying to turn him as black as his eyeliner or has he finally proven himself with the light and earned his right to finally experience all the love that Mac is offering him?
The battle between good and evil has changed involving species who have feet in the paranormal world fighting side by side with humans. Within this battleground, a young human doctor and a gothic sorcerer fight for their love against all the odds in Black Moon. I thought it was bad enough that Kalen had to fight the darkness invading his mind but when I saw he also had to prove himself to the very men who should have his back – I was outraged for him. I enjoyed watching Mac standing up not only to Kalen, but also her father and even the Alpha Pack members when they were downing Kalen. There were several times when I wasn't sure if Kalen would come out of the darkness and survive in the light, even with the huge reason to do so that Mac had given him. There were several times that I wanted to bounce a few of the pack members against a wall to knock some sense in them, but even that was taken care of by the time I turned the last page. Kalen and Mac have more than earned the right to their happiness in my mind with this battle for Kalen's life. I will be watching to see how they grow in the future books. Black Moon is intense with emotions and has a large suspense factor added in, when I add that in to Mac and Kalen's journey to their ultimate happy ending, I found it to be an excellent addition to any paranormal library.