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"Classic muscle, modern efficiency."
Fullsize Cars
Editor: New Car Test Drive
$25,995 Base Price MSRP
$38,375 As Tested MSRP
Model Lineup: "Dodge Charger SE ($25,995); Charger SXT ($28,995); Charger R/T ($29,995); Charger SRT8 ($46,250)"
Standard Engine: 5.7-liter sohc 16-valve V8
Engine Options: 292-hp 3.6-liter V6; 300-hp 3.6-liter V6; 370-hp 5.7-liter V8; 470-hp 6.4-liter V8
Standard Transmission: 5-speed automatic
Transmission Options: 5-speed automatic; 8-speed automatic
Basic Warranty: "5 years/100,000 miles"
Assembled In: "Brampton, Ontario, Canada"
Model Tested MSRP: "Dodge Charger R/T AWD ($32,495)"
Standard Equipment: "cloth upholstery, heated front sport seats, 8-way power driver's seat w/ 4-way power lumbar support, 60/40 split rear seat, cruise control, manual tilt-telescopic steering column, dual exhausts, cap-less fuel fill, acoustic front and side glass, power windows with express front up/down, rear window defroster, remote windows down, 8.4-in. touch-screen audio and media center with voice command, six audio speakers, USB port with iPod control, auxiliary input jack, power door locks, remote keyless driver's/all-door entry, push-button start, power trunk-lid release, two 12-volt outlets, intelligent battery sensor, LED-illuminated heated/cooled front cup holders, rear seat armrest with cup holders, map pockets front and rear, illuminated sun visor vanity mirrors, front overhead console, LED-illuminated rear handles and reading lamps, electronic color vehicle information center, leather-wrapped shift knob and steering wheel, trunk cargo net and full trunk liner with emergency deck-lid release, dual deck-lid lamps"
Options As Tested: "29P Charger R/T Plus Group ($2000), security alarm, Nappa leather seats, heated second-row seats, 8-way power driver and passenger seats, driver/passenger 4-way power lumbar support, heated/cooled front seats, front overhead LED lighting, driver and passenger lower LED lamps, 180-amp alternator; Driver Confidence Group ($995), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross path detection, high-intensity headlamps, exterior mirrors with courtesy lamps, rain-sensing wipers, smart-beam headlamps, Parkview rear back-up camera; Driver Convenience Group ($895), heated and ventilated front seats with driver memory, power-adjustable heated mirrors with memory, power-adjustable pedals with memory, power tilt/telescoping steering column with memory; Navigation/Rear Back-Up Camera Group ($995) Uconnect 8.4N with Garmin navigation, SiriusXM Traffic, SiriusXM Travel Link"
Standard Safety Equipment: "front airbags, front side airbags, side curtain front and rear airbags, active head restraints, tire pressure monitor, auto-dimming rearview mirror; electronic traction control (TCS), electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake distribution (EBD), brake assist, rain brake support, hill-start assist, automatic headlamps, active front head restraints, all federally mandated airbags (seven), front seat-belt pretensioners, lower anchors and tethers for children (LATCH), occupant restraint controller"
Optional Safety Equipment: "all-wheel drive, blind spot and cross-path detection, rearview camera, rear park assist, smart-beam headlamps, adaptive cruise control with forward collision warning"Destination Charge: $995
At the same time, it's handsomely designed and has world-class fit and finish. From crankshaft to door handles, everything operates with fine precision and the promise of long-lasting service. Ride quality is very good, and the solid structure soaks up road surface irregularities. Yet the steering is lively and communicative, keeping you in direct touch with the road, and braking performance is exemplary. A full-size, four-door sedan, Charger is a roomy five-seat hauler.
Like any serious performance sedan, Charger is rear-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is available for winter traction. V6 and V8 engines are available.
For 2013, a new cold-air induction system and sport-tuned exhaust boot the standard 3.6-liter V6 up to 300 horsepower with certain option packages. The 292-horsepower version is still standard and, realistically, that's plenty for most drivers. The V6 Charger with 8-speed automatic delivers best-in-class fuel economy: up to 19/31 mpg City/Highway in the EPA estimate.
Even with the 370-horsepower 5.7-liter Hemi V8 and optional all-wheel drive, the Charger is a full-size family sedan with both strong performance and surprisingly thrifty EPA fuel economy, with an EPA-estimated 15/23 mpg City/Highway.
At the top end, the super-performance 2013 Charger SRT8 benefits from the addition of launch control and three driver-selectable modes for its adaptive damping suspension.
From the outside, the 2013 Charger looks a lot like an older rendering of the American sedan, but that appearance is misleading. The retro look is a self-confident exercise in sinuous American styling. The reborn Charger has been around since 2006. Model year 2011 brought a fresh new look that we like even better than the 2006-10 edition. The original Dodge Charger was launched as a 1966 model. General Lee was a '69.
The interior, however, is anything but old style. It's richly furnished with cutting-edge conveniences, advanced technology and the no-nonsense functionalism buyers demand. A first-rate, 8.4-inch touch-screen navigation system is coupled with a rearview camera and ancillary controls for climate and audio. The navigation system is sensationally intuitive, transparent, and pleasing to use, among the best we've seen. It's very easy to read and very easy to understand. Underscoring this user-friendliness, the audio controls for volume and tuning are accomplished with old-fashioned, practical radial knobs, easy to operate while driving on rough roads. And following through, each of these knobs is furnished with a nice rubber feel as you make your one-touch adjustments.
Dodge Charger is a classic combination: a full-size Detroit sedan with strong performance and unmistakable American looks, selling at an attractive price. Compared with the full-size Dodge sedan of 20 or 30 years ago, a new Charger will reward the owner with exciting styling, world-class engineering and impressive value. You no longer have to buy American because it's patriotic. With cars like this, you buy American because it's smart."
"The 2013 Dodge Charger is available with V6 or V8 power. Rear-wheel drive is standard. All-wheel drive (AWD) is available for SXT, SXT Plus, and R/T models.
Charger SE ($25,995) comes standard with a 3.6-liter 292-hp V6, rear-wheel drive, 5-speed automatic transmission with manual selection, cloth upholstery, 6-way power driver's seat, 60/40 split rear seat, cruise control, manual tilt-telescopic steering column, power windows with express front up/down, rear window defroster, 4.3-inch touch-screen audio and media center, six audio speakers, USB port with iPod control, auxiliary input jack, power door locks, keyless remote, push-button start, power trunk-lid release, two 12-volt outlets, intelligent battery sensor, LED-illuminated front cup holders, rear seat armrest with cup holders, map pockets front and rear, illuminated sun visor vanity mirrors, front overhead console, LED-illuminated rear handles and reading lamps, electronic color vehicle information center, urethane shift knob and steering wheel, trunk cargo net and full trunk liner with emergency deck-lid release, dual deck-lid lamps, and 17-inch aluminum wheels with 215/65R17 all-season touring tires. The Connectivity Group for SE ($495) includes Uconnect 4.3S voice command with Bluetooth, auto-dimming rearview mirror, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls and leather-wrapped shift knob. Also optional is an 8-speed automatic transmission ($1,300).
Charger SXT ($28,995) comes standard with the 8-speed automatic and the Connectivity Group, plus halogen fog lamps, heated power mirrors, dual-zone front climate controls, humidity sensor, LED-illuminated front/rear map pockets, front overhead console with dome lamp and universal HomeLink, 8.4-inch touch-screen display with Uconnect 8.4 voice command, premium Alpine 276-watt audio, 12-way power driver's seat, heated front seats, automatic defog, and remote start. Charger SXT Plus ($30,995) adds leather seats with accent stitching,12-way power front passenger seat, heated rear seats, ambient lighting in the front foot wells, LED illumination in the overhead console, heated and cooled cup holders, security alarm, and 18-inch wheels with 235/55R18 all-season performance tires.
Charger R/T ($29,995) features the 5.7-liter 370-hp Hemi V8 with Four-Cylinder Mode Fuel Save Technology, mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission; plus HID headlamps, cloth-upholstered sport seats, 160mph speedometer, and chassis and mechanical upgrades the handle the additional horsepower. Otherwise it is equipped the same as the SXT. R/T Plus ($31,995) adds back all SXT Plus equipment, including leather covering for the sport seats. Charger R/T Max ($36,495) adds mirror-mounted puddle lamps, rain-sensing wipers, adaptive cruise control with forward collision warning, a rear parking sensor, rear cross-path sensor, SmartBeam headlamps, the navigation package (described below), the Beats audio package (ditto), power adjustable pedals, heated and ventilated front seats, power tilt-and-telescope steering column, blind spot monitoring, and 245/45R20 all-season performance tires on 20-inch chrome wheels.
Charger R/T Road & Track ($33,995) begins with R/T Plus trim and adds a high speed engine controller, high-speed (3.06:1) rear axle, black leather seats with suede centers, heated and ventilated front seats, power adjustable pedals, paddle shifters, power tilt-and-telescope steering column, rain-sensing wipers, rear deck spoiler, a unique honeycomb grille, and 245/45R20 all-season performance tires on 20-inch chrome wheels. It's available only with rear-wheel drive, and paint and interior color choices are limited. The Super Track Pak ($400) adds Goodyear Eagle 1 Super Car three-season tires, high-performance brake shoes, and unique suspension and steering.
Charger SRT8 ($46,250) boasts a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 with 470 horsepower, plus a special SRT heated steering wheel with paddle shifters for manual shifting, a new three-mode adaptive damping suspension, an now-standard electronic launch control. Standard equipment hovers somewhere between Charger R/T Plus and R/T Max. A 19-speaker Harman Kardon 900-watt audio system ($1995) is an exclusive option.
Charger SRT8 Super Bee ($43,250) which, much like the various Dodge Super Bee models of 1969-71, deletes some high-end equipment in favor of a more accessible price, while establishing its own in-your-face attitude. The 2013 Super Bee includes paddle shifters, heated steering wheel, power steering column, automatic climate control, auto-dimming outside mirror, heated cup holders, HomeLink, SiriusXM radio, and power adjustable pedals that get axed to sharpen the Super Bee's focus. Additionally, two 12-way heated and ventilated power seats are exchanged for a six-way on the driver's side only; upholstery is black cloth with a unique off-set silver stripe. Paint choices are limited to white, black, or Plum Crazy. Options are more limited as well.
Optional all-wheel drive ($2,500) for SXT, SXT Plus, and most versions of the R/T includes upgraded brakes, unique suspension tuning and 19-inch rims wrapped with 235/55R19 all-season tires.
The Rallye Appearance Group ($1895), available only on rear-wheel-drive SXT and SXT Plus, upgrades the V6 to 300 horsepower and dials the suspension and brakes up to the R/T level. Paddle shifters, sport seats, a deck lid spoiler and 12-channel Beats by Dr. Dre audio are also included; and it all rolls on 245/45R20 tires on 20-inch aluminum wheels painted to match the body. The Blacktop Package ($1995) adds the same upgrades and equipment to the same models, but with blacked-out wheels and grille.
From there the possibilities expand dizzyingly, with pages of options and packages. Most are available only on certain models. Among them: Driver Convenience Group adds heated and ventilated front seats with driver memory, power-adjustable heated mirrors with memory, power-adjustable pedals with memory, power tilt/telescoping steering column with memory. Driver Confidence Group includes blind-spot monitoring, rear cross path detection, ParkView rear backup camera, high-intensity headlamps, exterior mirrors with courtesy lamps, rain-sensing wipers and SmartBeam headlamps; Adaptive Cruise Control Group adds forward collision warning with adaptive cruise control and heated steering wheel. Navigation Group includes Uconnect 8.4N voice command with Garmin navi, SiriusXM Traffic, SiriusXM Travel Link, and ParkView rearview camera.
Safety features on all Dodge Chargers includes electronic traction control (TCS), electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake distribution (EBD), brake assist, rain brake support, hill-start assist, automatic headlamps, active front head restraints, all federally mandated airbags (seven), front seatbelt pretensioners, lower anchors and tethers for children (LATCH), occupant restraint controller. Optional all-wheel drive can improve handling stability in adverse conditions, and the optional rearview camera can help the driver spot a child behind the car when backing up."
Walk Around
"This latest-generation Dodge Charger is immediately recognizable. The front says it's a Dodge, even though its design theme began life on the 1960 Chrysler 300 and was most recently revived on the 1994 Dodge Ram pickup truck. It's been a Dodge exclusive since then, and while the current Ram and Charger could not be more different, the aggressive, muscular cruciform grille suits both perfectly. Achieving that kind of unmistakable model-line identity is no small achievement.
In like manner, the tail of the Charger uses the same array of full-width taillamps made famous on the Charger in the '60s. It's a handsome look that is instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with historic Dodge styling cues. The Charger expresses pride in where Dodge, Chrysler Corporation, and for that matter, all American cars have been during the last few turbulent decades.
The body of the second-generation modern Charger is crisply styled throughout. It is considerably edgier and more muscular than its immediate predecessor, which had great promise but was, by comparison, a bit of a lump. Along the sides of the car are slanting, angular indentations that echo similar features of the 1968-70 Charger as well as the racy, rear-facing engine-room vents made so famous on the all-conquering Dodge Viper supercar. In the Charger, these are unmistakably bad looking in all of the right street-savvy ways.
Continuing this street look, in profile, the car's dramatically low roofline tapers downward rapidly at the car's mid-point. In combination with its high waistline and compressed greenhouse, the car expresses a secretive, almost hot-rod chopped appearance. Occupants seem to peer outward from sinister gun slit-like windows. Yet for all of its hunched-over appearance, the occupants' outward visibility is quite good enough.
When the Charger's dynamic outward appearance is combined with its strong performance, this is an American muscle sedan with the credentials to appeal to a broad range of tastes."
"Examining the Charger's interior, we started in the back seat to investigate just how limited seating room might be underneath this low roofline. Inevitably, tall backseat passengers will have to scrunch down a little, though moderately tall riders will be just fine. The rear cabin is comfortable and roomy without being huge. The top of the backlight has multi-linear applique black stripes, providing a bit of shade from the sun and simultaneously creating the impression from outside that the rear window is even lower and more hooded.
The rear seat is firm and supportive, with a fairly hard back-cushion. A central pull-down elbow rest contains two cup holders and a stowage compartment. Dual rear-seat climate vents are provided, together with a 12-volt outlet and (optional) rear seat heaters. Deluxe.
Our test car featured two-tone black and Radar Red Nappa leather upholstery. The front-seat display is mildly spartan, but not in the sense of being cold or under-supplied. Rather, the instrumentation has attractive, classy white-on-black dials. The display itself, uncomplicated and straightforward, is simple modern.
The dashboard has a sleek, scooped-out titanium-look central motif. (It's actually a distinctive shade of silver fans of older Dodges and Chryslers will fondly remember.) Below the tachometer (which has no redline because automatic shifting prevents over-revving) and speedometer are a water temperature gauge and a fuel gauge. Also included in the instrumentation is a compass and an exterior temperature readout.
Between these instruments, an Info board delivers a list of performance parameters, including coolant temperature, oil temperature, oil pressure, transmission temperature, engine hours, tire pressure and several measures of instant and trip fuel mileage. Our one complaint here was that gaining access to this Info board's numerous categories of data was confusing and took some non-intuitive hunting around.
The navi screen, by contrast, was excellent, intuitive, and immediately accessible. Navigation is by simple plan view. The screen is bright, easily read and devoid of complex graphics. Its touch-screen offers Radio, Controls, Climate, Navigation, Phone and More, the latter signifying SiriusXM Travel Link and a Settings inventory. The system was upgraded last year (for 2102), with hands-free texting, voice commands for Garmin navigation, SiriusXM Traffic, and full iPod control features. Chrysler and Dodge have one of the best navigation systems currently available.
On the steering wheel are controls for the Info board, voice activation and cruise control. On the rear of the steering wheel, where the paddle shifters would be on the R/T Road & Track and SRT8 models, we found a complex set of six different touch buttons. These were designed for manipulating radio volume, selecting stations, bands and pre-selects, but they were a classic instance of too much of a good thing. Mastering which of these buttons controlled what functions, and using the buttons efficiently for their intended purpose would take some serious concentration.
In place of paddle shifters, our test car had a sequential 5-speed manu-matic shifter: It operated independently or could be manually selected. The system had a nice provision whereby if you wanted to cancel manual shifting and return to automatic, you simply push the lever to the right for about one second. Immediately, the transmission returns to selecting its own gears. The manual selector delivered fast, positive manual shifts. Excellent.
In the center console, our test car had two heated-or-cooled cupholders, a deluxe touch."
Driving Impressions
"The stark four-letter badges on the car's sides say, Hemi. Not a lot more need be said. This is a serious American V8, with torque and horsepower enough to pin you back in your seat or, just as surely, enough poise to potter along as complacently as you like.
And because this is a fully self-confident powerplant, Dodge sees no need to hype it with a sudden, falsely energetic throttle pedal. Throttle response is immediate and proportional, allowing smooth, forceful acceleration.
Dodge's Fuel-Saver Technology cancels four cylinders when they aren't needed, also eliminating needless fuel flow when decelerating. In our AWD test car, EPA-rated City fuel mileage, at 15 mpg, is as meager as would be expected in a big V8. But the Charger's 23 mpg Highway fuel consumption is good, considering that this is nearly six liter's worth of Hemi.
All-wheel drive is always a useful thing to have aboard, delivering massively better traction and dynamic balance in almost any driving. And the minute you begin driving the Charger R/T Plus AWD, it's clear that this car is a complete break from the Dodges of decades ago.
All AWD Chargers come with a touring suspension, rather than the performance suspension found on models with the Hemi and RWD. Yet our test car proved a remarkably stable, grippy driver. There was only moderate lean, squat or dive during cornering, acceleration or braking. Pushed hard on dry pavement, the all-wheel drive always gives you just a little more cornering grip than you expect.
Ride quality is very good, and the car's solid structure soaks up road surface irregularities with ease. Yet as relatively compliant as the ride is, steering is lively and communicative, keeping you in direct touch with the road. The thick, sturdy leather-wrapped steering wheel underscores the well-developed solidity of the car. With its variable-assist electronic steering, the driver is encouraged to think of this Charger as not nearly as large and cumbersome as outward appearances may suggest. Despite its dimensions, this is a crisp, sporty muscle sedan. It incites confidence and enjoyable driving.
Braking performance is exemplary. The R/T Road & Track model boasts bigger, more forceful Brembo disc brakes, good for reducing fade when driving on a race track and repeatedly hammering the brakes. AWD and Hemi models come with 13.6-inch vented front discs and 12.6-inch vented rear discs. (In non-AWD V6 models, the standard front and rear brake rotors are both 12.6 inches.) The 13.6-inch brakes provided massive, balanced non-skid stopping power, especially in combination with the multiple electronic brake-assist technologies of rain brake support, ready alert braking, electronic stability control, all-speed traction control and hill-start assist.
The Charger SRT8 can accelerate from 0-60 mph in the high 4-second range and can cover the standing quarter-mile in the high 12-second range. Top speed is 175 mph, according to Dodge. The SRT8 can brake from 60-0 mph in 120 feet."
"The 2013 Dodge Charger is a dynamic, forceful road car that starts, stops and corners with poise. If Dodge had come anywhere near to this kind of Charger years ago, the company would have been every buyer's hero. This is an American sedan to be proud of.
Ted West filed this NewCarTestDrive.com report. John F. Katz also contributed."
Top Cars


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This weekend (Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Boerne and Sunday at 3 p.m. in San Antonio) Camerata San Antonio kicks off their season of Musical Postcards with a program of German romantics. The group has an interesting web site because it links to Instant Encore. If you visit the Camerata's Instant Encore links you can listen to recordings of the works over the Internet!
Click here to listen to the Mendelssohn sonata.
Click here to listen to the Schumann quintet.
The web site also answers that burning question, "What is a Camerata?"
From the New Harvard Dictionary of Music – "[It.] An informal gathering, usually for the purposes of literary, philosophical, or artistic discussion. Specifically, a group of noblemen and musicians who met in the salon of Giovanni de' Bardi in Florence from ca. 1573 to ca. 1582 to discuss poetry, music, and other subjects." In classical music it has come indicate an ensemble consisting of a group of musicians who may be combined in various configurations to perform a wide variety of chamber music.
Now that you can finally sleep again at night because the Camerata mystery is solved, you might want to treat yourself to one of these two performances:
Camerata San Antonio
Boerne Concert: October 23 7:30pm First Methodist 205 East James
San Antonio Concert: October 25 3pm Travis Park United Methodist Church 230 East Travis
$20 adults $8 students. For tickets call 492-9519 or visit http://www.cameratasa.org/
Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata in D Major, Op. 58
Juon: Suite in C Major, Op. 89
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Performers: Sayaka Okada & Matthew Zerweck, violins; Emily Freudigman, viola; Kenneth Freudigman, cello; Vivienne Spy, piano
If you are in more of a choral mood, don't forget the San Antonio Mastersingers:
Sing for the Cure: A Proclamation of Hope
Sunday, October 25 at 4pm First Baptist Church 515 McCullough
$20 general admission. Proceeds benefit breast cancer research.
Jack Fishman
Twitter @SASym
Facebook: San Antonio Symphony
For more blogs by Jack Fishman visit: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/jackfishman/files/legacy/

subset: commoncrawl


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Turkey Must Present Defense by August 19 in Adana Land Suit
Posted 15 August 2011 - 11:28 AM
18:09, August 15, 2011
A Los Angeles Federal District Court has given Ankara until August 19 to present its case in a suit brought by Armenians seeking compensation for lands that once belonged to their ancestors and subsequently used for the Incirlik Air Base .
The base is located five miles from the city of Adana on the Mediterranean Sea Coast. The U.S. Air Force and the Turkish Air Force are the primary users of the base.
In December 2010, Yeghiayan filed a suit against the Turkish government and two Turkish banks, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and Ziraat Bankası, for seized Armenian assets seized in the region of Adana.
The plaintiffs are demanding $63.9 million dollars as compensation for the 49.5 hectares of property seized during the 1915 Genocide.
Posted 15 August 2011 - 11:29 AM
Posted 15 August 2011 - 11:34 AM
yev iys pastaban iyn mardn e ov arden isk kaskatsanqneri tak a
"hey sued Vartkes Yeghiayan, Rita Mahdessian, the Center for Armenian
Remembrance aka Conservatoire de la Memoire Armenienne, and Yeghiyian
Law Corp.
Geragos and Kabateck claim that Yeghiayan "created a sham charity as
a means by which he could funnel monies for his own personal charity
- himself."
Yeghiayan created the Center for Armenian Remembrance in 2005, after
a settlement with the New York Life Insurance Company, "to defraud
class members, the court and the Armenian community," according to
the complaint."
Posted 15 August 2011 - 11:36 AM
12:22, August 13, 2011
LOS ANGELES, CA. -- A U.S. federal district court in Los Angeles handed Armenian plaintiffs an early victory in what will surely be a difficult legal battle over reparations for land seized from Armenians in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide (Alex Bakalian et. al vs. Republic of Turkey, the Central Bank of Turkey, and T.C. Ziraat Bankasi et. al, Case Number 2:10-CV-09596, December 15, 2010). Nearly eight months after the complaint was filed, the court determined that all three defendants, in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in the United States, had been lawfully served.
The lawsuit, filed by descendants of Armenian Genocide victims, accuses the defendants of stealing and then profiting from land that was illegally seized during the Armenian Genocide, when the Ottoman Turks drove Armenians from the Adana region of southern Turkey. The property at issue in the lawsuit is currently part of a strategic U.S. airbase in southern Turkey.
Representing the plaintiffs are the Yeghiayan Law Firm in Glendale, Schwarcz, Rimberg, Boyd & Rader, LLP in Los Angeles and Michael Bazyler from Chapman University School of Law in Orange.
The plaintiffs have spent recent months attempting to serve all the defendants, and then to have the court affirm their service efforts. In the August 2 order, the court denied Central Bank of Turkey and Ziraat Banks motion to dismiss the complaint for insufficient service of process. The court acknowledged that the plaintiffs presented credible evidence that their process servers made several attempts to serve the bank defendants at addresses in New York City were repeatedly denied access to the buildings and misdirected as to Ziraat Banks actual location.
The court further found that the banks security guards had engaged in behavior apparently designed to thwart service of process. The banks did not deny having actual knowledge of the pending lawsuit, and thus the court ordered them to serve a responsive pleading to the complaint by August 19.
The court additionally recognize that the Republic of Turkey had also been recently served with the complaint through diplomatic channelsa lengthy process involving high-level contacts between the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and the Turkish Foreign Ministryand must also file papers responding to the complaint by August 19.
From the outset, the banks have sought to make it as difficult as possible to litigate this lawsuit, says Vartkes Yeghiayan with the Yeghiayan Law Firm. Finally, after months of maneuvering and numerous attempts to evade service, the U.S. federal court has required all three defendants to respond to the Armenians complaint.
Center for Armenian Remembrance
CenterAR News
Posted 07 September 2011 - 12:28 PM
Turkish Government Ignores Armenian Property Rights
Lawsuit, Court Enters Default
LOS ANGELES, CALIF.--The Turkish government is now in default after ignoring a lawsuit brought against it and two Turkish banks over reparations for land in southern Turkey seized from Armenians during the Armenian Genocide (Alex Bakalian et. al vs. Republic of Turkey, the Central Bank of Turkey, and T.C. Ziraat Bankasi et. al, Case Number 2:10-CV-09596, December 15, 2010). The default notice was entered on September 1, 2011.
The land in question is currently home to the Incirlik Air Base, which houses the United States 39th Mission Support Group and 39th Medical Group. The Air Base is located near Adana , Turkey .
After refusing to accept service of the lawsuit under governing rules of the 1906 Hague Convention , Turkey was served through U.S. embassy channels on June 20. Service was confirmed and the court was notified. Turkey had 60 days (by August 19) to answer the complaint but did not. The two bank defendants, Central Bank of Turkey and T.C. Ziraat Bank, requested and were given an extension to respond by September 19.
"The U.S. Department of State had sent a diplomatic note to Ankara warning that the country is bound by law to defend against the lawsuit," says Vartkes Yeghiayan, with the Yeghiayan Law Firm and one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. "Choosing to ignore the lawsuit won't make it go away."
The plaintiffs are arguing that their Armenian relatives owned land now occupied by the Incirlik Base. Their complaint includes documents showing legal ownership. When their relatives were forced to flee the then Ottoman Empire , their property was subsequently seized and then sold without their permission.
By refusing to respond, Turkey risks having the court rule against it in absentia. Damages could be as high as $100 million.
Representing the plaintiffs are the Yeghiayan Law Firm in Glendale , Schwarcz, Rimberg, Boyd & Rader, LLP in Los Angeles and Michael Bazyler from Chapman University School of Law in Orange .
Posted 27 January 2017 - 12:25 PM
Posted 27 January 2017 - 12:49 PM
Posted 14 September 2017 - 08:44 AM
The State Bar of California has recommended a Glendale-based attorney be disbarred after finding her "culpable," or guilty, in an embezzlement scheme involving funds from a multimillion-dollar settlement relating to the Armenian Genocide, The Glendale News Press reports.
The state bar has asked the California Supreme Court to strip Rita Mahdessian of her ability to practice law in the state after determining there was enough evidence that she had misled a judge, misappropriated funds and committed moral turpitude.
This comes a year after she and her husband Vartkes Yeghiayan were accused of embezzling more than $300,000 of settlement funds from a class-action lawsuit over survivor benefits for descendants of Armenian Genocide victims.
Specifically, in its Aug. 29 recommendation for disbarment, the state bar said Mahdessian misappropriated $30,000 of that $300,000.
The organization said Mahdessian opened an investment account in which she transferred the funds and that the account was opened in her daughter's name without the daughter's knowledge or permission.
"[Mahdessian] then continued to maintain control over the funds, about which the daughter had no knowledge until being subpoenaed by the state bar to testify in this matter," according to bar documents.
Although Mahdessian and her husband have denied any impropriety, state bar officials said there was enough evidence of culpability, or guilt, on Mahdessian's part to recommend disbarment.
The money was the result of a pair of class-action lawsuits in 2005 against French insurance company AXA and the New York Life Insurance Co. over survivor benefits for descendants of victims of the Armenian Genocide. Mahdessian անդ հեռ հւսբանդ were co-counsels on the case against AXA.
The resulting $20-million settlement was split into two parts; $17.5 million was paid out to members of the class-action suit, while $3 million was set aside for an Unclaimed Benefits Fund, to which nine beneficiaries were named, according to court documents.
Any money left over after paying the main settlement and administrative costs would be transferred into the Unclaimed Benefits Fund, which could then be distributed to charitable nonprofit organizations recommended by the suit's lawyers — Mahdessian and Yeghiayan.
The organizations were to "advance the charitable interests of the Armenian community," according to documents from the state bar.
State bar officials said one of the nonprofits, the Center for Armenian Remembrance, was based out of the couple's Glendale law firm and created three months after the settlement's approval. A second nonprofit, the Conservatoire de la Memoire Armenienne, was also said to be based out of their office.
According to the state bar, Mahdessian and Yeghiayan requested more than $300,000 for the two nonprofits because of their supposed charitable status. However, according to court records, they were unable to provide any record of charitable activity and failed to disclose their ties to the two organizations.
The state bar said the couple used the funds for personal expenses such as issuing checks to their own law firm and paying law school tuition for their two children.
Posted 14 September 2017 - 11:16 AM
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Our History
Father Paul Matthias Dobberstein was born in Rosenfeld, Germany on September 21, 1872. He received part of his early education at the University of Deitsche-Krone in Germany. When Paul was 20 years old he immigrated to America. On coming to America he entered the Seminary of St. Francis near Milwaukee to prepare for the Priesthood. It was there that he began to show signs of unusual artistic ability that was to characterize all the waking hours of his earthly existence. He completed his studies for the Priesthood at St. Francis Seminary and was ordained there on June 30th, 1897.
Shrine Hours
We're open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
Office Hours | 9am-5pm, M-F
Gift Shop
Nov – Apr | 9am-4pm
May – Oct | 9am-6pm
January | Closed for Inventory
Ss. Peter & Paul Mass Times
Tuesday & Friday | 8am
Thursday | 6pm
Sunday | 10:15am
Holy Days of Obligation as reported in the bulletin.
30 minutes prior to Mass or by appointment
About the Grotto
The Grotto is frequently considered the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and The Iowan magazine has described the Grotto as a "Miracle in Stone." The location was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2001 and has been included in such features as Roadside America and Disney's The Straight Story. A composite of nine seperate grottos, each portrays a scene in the life of Christ. The largest man-made Grotto in the world, the Grotto contains the largest collection of precious stones and gems found anywhere in one location!
Shrine Address
208 1st Avenue NW
PO Box 376
West Bend, Iowa 50597
515-887-5591 (Gift Shop)
Ss. Peter & Paul Address
206 1st Avenue NW
West Bend, Iowa 50597


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Capcom Series Art Contest! (Jan-Feb 2014!)This year it was all about the Samurai Shodown fighting games during Januar-Februar, in 2014 it is going to be a Capcom Celebration Contest of their many Fighting Games and Beat'em Ups with the EXCEPTION of Street Fighter and Darkstalkers since both of these series have a ton of fan art already and we try to get those other games and characters in the spotlight on FGE!
The Prizes are
25€ (around 30$) OR a 12 Month deviantART Premium Account for the 1st Prize
10€ (around 13$) OR 3 Month deviantART Premium Memberships for the 2nd and 3rd winners
1 Month dA Premium Memberships for the 4th and 5th winners
Feature for all 5 winners here on FGE and on http://www.game-art-hq.com
This contest runs from today till Friday the 28th Februar 2014
Allowed are up to 3 submissions per artist.
Not allowed is strong violence and nudity.
Redesigns are allowed, OC's are not.
Not allowed are old deviations, everything has to be made for this contest of course.
It has to be mentioned th


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艾未未被中国当局拘留已经超过一个月的界限。今天,两大著名艺术家基金会:The Andy Warhol Foundation and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation,加入了全球艺术家要求释放艾未未的请愿。
The full joint statement, below:
WARHOL AND RAUSCHENBERG FOUNDATIONS CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF AI WEIWEI原文:http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2011/05/03/ai-weiwei-gets-support-from-warhol-and-rauschenberg/
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation join the global arts community in calling for the release of artist Ai Weiwei. The detention of this visionary individual, and the subsequent suppression of information concerning his whereabouts and well being, is in direct conflict with those who work to create a more just, enlightened society.
It is encouraging that artistic institutions large and small have moved swiftly and with great compassion to turn their concern into action. Among many others, New York's Creative Time and the Philadelphia‑based Slought Foundation have both been exemplary in their activities, organizing public events and promoting awareness through social media and diplomatic channels.
We also applaud the efforts of the International Council of Museums, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Tate Museum in London, and others who have advocated for the humane treatment and release of Ai Weiwei. As stalwart supporters of the rights of individual artists and free expression in every form, our foundations are proud to add their names to the following petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-the-release-of-ai-weiwei.
In our capacity as leaders of artist-centered foundations, our primary concern is to ensure that artists everywhere are given the proper access and support they need to remain critical, creative and have their voices heard. As citizens of an interconnected, globalized world, we cannot remain silent when others are being silenced. We urge everyone to become informed about this case and remain attentive to threats to freedom of expression, wherever they may occur.


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Somewhere over Naxos tonight, there is a "bat light" summoning the island's cats to Sunday Studios in Agia Anna.
I don't know how they found me out, but they recognize a sympathetic cat loving soul when they smell one. I got home from a VERY long journey to and from town today (7km each way, as it turns out), and was changing out of my ridiculously warm pants when a cat opened the door and sauntered inside. Oh yes. These are no ordinary cats. The Naxos cats can open your door and/or bleed out your jugular before the word 'go.'
As for my calico visitor, moments later, she was followed by five others, one only three or four months old. And they all proceeded to love upon my feet and calves in a manner that can only be described as obscene.
I didn't have much by way of food, so I resisted feeding them. And that's when they brought out the big guns, the deadly weapons – the kittens. Kittens so young their eyes are still blue. I'm not even sure how they made it up the stairs. Probably one of the other cats carried them? I had some milk, and cow milk isn't actually good for cats…but they like it, so why not? You only live once. And apparently, in the case of the cats of Naxos, you not only live once, you probably don't live long.
Wherever I go on the island cats come up by the handful meowing and rubbing on my legs, and it doesn't take much to notice that they all have upper respiratory infections. Some of them have it quite badly, a terrible weeping from their eyes and nose. At one point in my life I had nine cats (simultaneously) and they all got sick like this. In their case, they were all given medicine (which makes it sound so simple. One of them, a calico named Wingnut BIT THROUGH MY THUMB NAIL when I gave here her medicine, but that's another story for another time) and they all recovered. However, Alexandra, the owner of the place I'm staying, tells me that every winter for the last three years, the cats have died a terrible death.
As it gets colder, their eyes get worse and worse. And then, within a week's time, they lose all their weight and cannot move. And they lay around on the driveways and sidewalks and streets of Naxos mewing and dying, so weak they cannot get up. "They suffer," she said, "You can tell that they suffer." She said that if they have 20 cats in the fall, by the next year there are only two or three.
We were watching this funny little baby kitten stalk one of the older cats when she informed me that the tiny ones are sure to die. After I calculated the odds of getting a cat out of Greece, into Turkey, and through customs in the United States – ZERO – plus the fact that even the babies claw the crap out of you if you pick them up, I decided to make a more rational contribution. This is I bought them the largest bag of cat food at the store today – probably brought in at the start of the season waiting for just the right sucker to arrive.
As for this pandemic, Alexandra tells me she's talked to vets and they say nothing can be done – there's no medicine. And in a twisted way, I suppose it's nature's horrible way of controlling the population. I guess the only upside is that I didn't come so late in the year to witness the cat plague in full form. For now, they're cheerful and friendly and I've done what I can to make their last month one big binge. Bon Appetit, kids!
Meanwhile, and totally unrelated, can anyone explain the curtain-less shower to me? How is this supposed to work? How is everyone else managing not to get soap and shampoo and water everywhere? Once I'm done, it looks like someone took a hose to the room. As a solution I've taken to sitting in the little tiny basin on the floor, crouched up against the corner, and only turning on the flow when absolutely necessary. And let me tell you, this sucks.
The first time I encountered the configuration was at my place in Croatia, and I thought it was a mistake – like they forgot to install the curtain or had the glass encasement on back order or maybe just figured they'd get around to it next season. This situation was particularly tense because they didn't provide any towels or floor mats, and I've got one travel towel and no consistent means to do laundry, so I'm not about to mop up somebody's filthy floor with the same thing I use on my hair. Thus, I had to leave all the water all over the place and remember to walk carefully when going in there at night.
Now I know there are worse things out there, but that's why I don't put myself in the $6.00 a night Portuguese hostel where the shower and the toilet are the same thing (meaning hole in the ground, and the shower spigot is directly above.) I believe they call this a 'Turkish toilet' and I hope to hell I never have to use one, at least for showering. Imagine if you SLIPPED!?!? (***cringe***) And I'm not saying the lack of shower curtain situation is uncivilized…just wet. And baffling. And probably unnecessary. I mean, give me $5 and access to a Dollar Store, and I'm confident I could rig up something pretty efficient.
Meanwhile, I am using Alexandra's laptop to write this, and she and her father are having a very heated 'discussion' (screaming fight???) behind me. It brings to mind the two guys on the train from Ljubljana to Vienna, and I'm wondering if typical run-of-the-mill Greek conversation comes across like verbal warfare or if they just fight a lot or ??? Regardless, I'm feeling a little awkward here in their living room, so I will cut this off and catch up with you all tomorrow!


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Showing results for tags 'train'.
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_The Train
pain_18_ posted a gallery image in Subscribers Gallery
Any fans from LA going to San Diego Friday?
trueblue7 posted a topic in San Diego - Qualcomm StadiumI'm going to San Diego Concert on 9/22 on the train from Los Angeles. Thinking of leaving on the 11:20pm or 12:30pm Amtrak from Union Station LA.(arriving at 2pm or 3 respectively). Anyone out there doing the same thing or carpooling from Los Angeles on Friday? I'm looking to find some True fans, heading to San Diego on Friday, who want to come back to LA right after the show. The morning train doesn't leave San Diego till about 7am Saturday. I don't want to wait that long in the dark at a lonely train station. So I was hoping to share the ride back Saturday--even halfway to Orange County— then using Uber the rest of the way. I'm a rock girl; U2 is like church for me. I have been to every tour since October. Hoping to meet like minded fans, who know all the lyrics to sing along with me from the seats. Also, I haven't bought a GA ticket yet. Plan to on Ticketmaster tomorrow, unless someone has an extra ticket.


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Michael T. Kiley
Abstract: Consumption growth is predictable, a basic violation of the permanent-income hypothesis. This paper examines three possible explanations: rule-of-thumb behavior, in which households allow consumption to track per-period income flows rather than permanent income; habit persistence; and non-separability in preferences over consumption and leisure. The data appear most consistent with non-separable preferences over consumption and leisure.
Keywords: Habit persistence, inattention, excess sensitivity, excess smoothnessFull paper (152 KB PDF) | Full paper (Screen Reader Version)


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I have lately inherited a goodly number of papers relating to the Watson family from my grandfather Watson's youngest sister, Dixie. Part of these were kept and maintained by the eldest brother of the family, Ralph Watson, who is now deceased. Uncle Ralph saved several important family papers, including the complete chain of title for his grandfather Daniel Alexander Watson's land with a copy of the original land entry.
One of those documents provides clear evidence of the relationships between various members of Dan's mother's family, the Alexanders of Pickens District and later Oconee County, South Carolina. This Complaint for Partition of Real Estate is likely a copy sent to Dan and his siblings, James F. and Elizabeth Watson.


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WE ARE OPEN! But due to COVID19 our delivery times might be a bit longer than usual.
Brighten somebody's day from a distance...
Check out our amazing new collection with the winners of our lockdown contest!
Share your pics on social with #spreadtheFword
£25.00 Size Guide
Premium quality organic open neck T-shirt with the original and statement-making '90degrees' Let's Make Herstory slogan by The Feminist Shop.
Wear your feminism guilt free:
Collections: All Products Feminist Apparel for Women Feminist T-Shirts Open Neck Tees The '90degrees' Collection by The Feminist Shop


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Saluting the Fallen: September 11th Ceremonies at SUU
Published: September 10, 2013 | Category: Special Events
It has only been 12 years since the terrorist attacks took place in New York City on the World Trade Centers. Many people lost loved ones and the country will never forget what happened to the nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.
The attacks may have been more than 2,000 miles away, but impact was felt deep on Southern Utah University's campus. To remember those who were lost and injured on that day, SUU's Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics & Public Service and the Community Engagement Center will host the September 11th Tribute Wednesday, September 11 at noon in the Gilbert Great Hall located in the Hunter Conference Center.
Eric Kirby, executive director of the Michael O. Leavitt Center, said of the purpose behind the event, "Thousands of innocent people died and we believe that those people deserve to be honored. Especially the firefighters and policemen who gave their own lives to save others and the military personnel who continue to fight for our freedoms."
To remember all those lost and affected, the services will begin with remarks from SUU Interim President Rich Kendell and SUU Student Association President Jeff Hertig will follow him.
"This will be a great opportunity to remember who we are, and why we are here. I hope it will help us to all individually reflect on the sacrifices of others," said Hertig of the need for students and community members to attend. "I hope we can remember that we are not just getting an education to better ourselves, but to better the people around us, and the country we live in."
The tribute will also include the Pledge of Allegiance by a North Elementary fifth grader, prayers by local religious leaders, and performances by SUU Department of Music and the North Starz Choir. Senator Evan Vickers will be in attendance and give the final remarks.
The University encourages students, faculty, staff and community members to attend the September 11th Tribute to honor and remember those who lost their lives that day and who continue to sacrifice their lives.


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|An audio podcast
Janet Tinsley and Cephas Miningou, two staff members from CFCA's international programs department, explain why CFCA's bottom-up (rather than top down) approach to sponsorship is effective in assisting with needs that go beyond sponsorship benefits.
Click the play button below the picture to start the podcast.
Mar 5 2009


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Tuesday, September 1
Jack Nicklaus, Honorary Masters Starter
ARNIE AND JACK. They just go together. It's their golf destiny. Now Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus will be seeing each other on the first tee at Augusta National Golf Club for the ceremonial opening shots at The Masters.
"Recently, I was invited by both Augusta National and Arnold to join him on the first tee," Jack said, "and because he enthusiastically supported the invitation, it became an easy decision for me."
Jack completely fooled me on this one. I never thought he would do this stuff—or at least not this soon. Because that's what he told us, and he seemed adamant about it.
Look for them to make it a threesome in the near future. Joining Palmer and Nicklaus on the first tee, Gary Player.
−The Armchair Golfer
3 comments:
I'm really surprised that Jack decided to do this. I suspect it may have been a hard decision for him to make because no one likes to feel that their age is creeping upon them. But so it goes; he is a credit to what he gave his life to and to the human race. In short, a really good man.
- Unknown said...
What a great idea - Golf's Big Three on the first tee. And, as one writer suggested, why not let them play a few holes, as many as they feel like playing.
Looking ahead to 2045, I wonder who will join Woods on the first tee.
- The Armchair Golfer said...
Good question, Phil. No clue, as of yet, who could possibly join Tiger.
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With the Amalto fully-managed e-Business Cloud, you can focus on your core responsibilities instead of the complexities of designing, implementing and managing ongoing operations pertaining to your B2B/EDI/integration needs. Amalto effectively handles it all.
Order to Cash describes the business process of receiving and fulfilling customer orders for goods or services.
You'll gain speed and productivity, reduce WCC/DSO and boost ROI.
Important for improving cash flow, the Order to Cash process includes all steps for receiving and fulfilling customer orders.
Amalto, the Order to Cash Company, provides updates on news and events related to O2C automation solutions.


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By Ellery Adams
Last month's "Guess Which Character I Kill Off" Contest was such a hit that I decided to run another contest.
This time, however, I'm shining the spotlight on a fantastic cozy mystery series penned by my dear friend, E.J. Copperman.
What? You don't have a poster of him hanging on the back of your bedroom door? You have't left him rave reviews on Amazon or ordered a dozen copies of his November 5th release to freely hand out to all your friends and relatives?
Never fear. There's still plenty of time to make amends.
Here's the 411 on THE THRILL OF THE HAUNT:
Alison Kerby's guesthouse is already crowded with spirits. The last thing she needs is a whole new batch of haunts settling in.
As Alison's reputation as "the ghost lady" grows, so does her business—and not always in a way she'd like. Tourists may be flocking to her guesthouse for a chance to glimpse her resident spirits, but her special abilities are also bringing unwanted private investigation cases to her door. And she has no choice but to take a case when the local homeless man is found murdered under mysterious circumstances, just hours after asking for help in exorcising a specter.
If that weren't enough to deal with, Alison's other PI case soon turns fatal, as the mistress she was spying on for a jealous wife turns up dead as well. The cases seem like they couldn't possibly be linked, but with a mountain of clues, motives and suspects—both living and dead—Alison will have to think fast before someone else checks out for good…
Now tell me that blurb hasn't gotten your attention? If so, kindly click a link to preorder (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository)And while you're here, why not enter the contest? E.J.'s question is listed below. Post your best guess in the comment section and we'll draw a name from the correct replies. The winner gets a $25 ecard to the book store of his or her choice and will notified by Nov. 2nd. Good luck and Happy Haunting!
Contest Question: In The Thrill of the Haunt, Alison has decided to renovate what was her game room (pool table, cooler, that's about it) for another purpose. What do you think it'll become?


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Lounge chairsContemporary Lounge Chairs | Modern Armchairs | Lounge Furniture
Lounge chairs
When we think about who produce the best clocks, it's of course Swiss. As for saunas we'll undoubtedly think of Finland. When it comes to furniture, instead, the best producing country is of course Italy. The history of Italian furniture, in fact, is very ancient and goes back to XIV - XV century. From Middle Age to Renaissance, Italian furniture became more and more sophisticated. Italian furniture refers a lot to the ancient models and traditions of the past. This has been a trait of Italian style ever since. Italians showed to Europeans the prototype of a modern chair, which is still popular today. Style comes and goes, but what really matters is that is always changing and that armchairs and lounge chairs, despite their new, whimsical and weird patterns, are becoming more and more comfortable as well.
The ones that we sell are all very different. They are of course suitable not only for a single that wants to enjoy some good TV-watching or book-reading on a cosy chair, but also for big families who need to add more armchairs and of course for whoever likes to have guests and make them feel welcome! Anyway, lounge chairs are not only great for your house. If you are a doctor and you want your patient to feel good before their visits; if you have a bar, a pub or a nice coffee shop and the comfort of your customers is one of your priorities, than this could be the right solution for you!
We have a lot of different kinds of lounge chairs, whether they may be poufs, which we have talked about in the specific sections, or small sofas, that you can find in their sections as well. Depending on the style of your house, anyway, you can choose between many kinds of armchairs and we are sure you will find the best for you. If for example you really like extravagant pieces, then we strongly recommend the amazing ultramodern Funky Armchair Bomb by Adrenalina, which you may find in different colours and can be a real explosion of irony in your room. The design is made by Simone Micheli. It's perfect for a contemporary interior and gives a funky edge with that triggers a daring fascination. A part from its very original looks, it also provides comfort.
As Adrenalina is well-known for its ultramodern and contemporary design, you may want to check out the other pieces that are probably less daring and weird, such as the beautiful Love. If you prefer a more traditional style, then we suggest you to look for the beautiful Artibella by Domingo Salotti, which is modern but classic in its unique and elegant way, or Diva by Imperial Line. They are both smart, comfortable and cosy armchairs. 203 by Domingo is also very elegant and classic, and can be found in many colours. Our catalogue, anyway, includes many lounge chairs and we strongly advice you to have a look.


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£233.00 (inc. VAT)Quantity:
The ATM350a is the ultimate microphone solution for discreet, rock-solid mounting on your instrument of choice, from Piano to 20-piece Drum Kit.
Offering a crisp, clear, well-balanced response, even at extreme SPLs, the ATM350a is ready to capture your sound, whatever instrument you choose.
Rugged 4-pin cH-style screw-down connector provides secure connection to Audio-Technica body-pack wireless transmitter. The ATM350UcH comes packaged with the AT8491U Universal Mount which fits tightly and securely to a multitude of instruments.
The ATM350UcH Wireless Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphone w/ Universal Clip-on Mounting System includes: ATM350acH microphone, AT8490 gooseneck, AT8491U universal mount, AT8468 velcro mount and a hard carrying case
|ATM350a User Manual (Multi-lang)
Register your ATM350UcH for the latest product information, warranty repairs, and easy access to all your Audio-Technica products.
The ATM350UcH Wireless Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphone w/ Universal Clip-on Mounting System is covered by Audio-Technica's European Warranty. This covers your product to be free of defects in materials and workmanship.
The Audio-Technica Service Centre offer you spare parts and repairs for Microphones, Wireless Systems, Headphones and all other Audio-Technica branded products.
Help us to put you in touch with the right support team for your country. Select your region and country below:
Whether it's on the boardroom table, the stage or in the studio, Audio-Technica products are trusted time and again by industry professionals looking for reliable, lovingly developed audio products for all budgets.
It's Audio-Technica's commitment to innovation, customer service and meticulous design that ensure professionals turn to us to provide solutions in conferencing, houses of worship, broadcasting, live sound, recording studios and beyond.
For over 50 years Audio-Technica has worked alongside leading figures in sports and music broadcast to develop and hone a range of products that deliver on the highest level.
Audio-Technica have developed and delivered products to power the Grammys, World Cup, Super Bowl, Commonwealth Games as well as every Summer and Winter Games from Atlanta 1996 to Sochi 2014.
Founded in 1962 by Hideo Matsushita, Audio-Technica positioned itself immediately as a leader in the manufacture and design of innovative audio products.
Its expertise in innovation quickly spread to various new fields and led to the development of tone arms, microphones and headphones. Audio-Technica soon became a benchmark in those fields. Making history.
A self-made man and audiophile, Hidéo Matsushita was the former Director of the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art. It all started in his workshop, with the hand crafting of stereo cartridges. 50 years later, Audio-Technica has become a global leader in audio innovation.
Humility, passion, creativity and expertise in sound are the core values behind Audio-Technica's legacy, greatly inspired by its founder - whose imprint on the company's philosophy is still felt today.
Audio-Technica's passion for listening evolved in the 70's, when it started designing headphones, building upon a legacy in innovation, meticulous engineering and artistic design.
Today, Audio-Technica's audio products have become globally synonymous with consistently high sonic performance paired with impeccable build construction and artistic design.
All Audio-Technica 40 series, 50 series, Artist and Artist Elite products come with a lifetime warranty as standard meaning you can enjoy your product safe in the knowledge that it's guaranteed for life from the date of purchase to be free of defects in materials and workmanship. In the event of such defect, the product will be repaired or replaced without charge.*
(* Deemed by Audio-Technica to be 15 years (Serviceable lifetime), T&Cs apply)


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If you are the lucky owner of a brand new Samsung GALAXY Note II then you need to check out our handy Beginner's Guide video above, which details our picks of the top ten things all GALAXY Note II owners should test out on their new Samsung super-phone straight out of the box.
1. Watch a Movie on the 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen
Film fans might want to watch a Movie on the 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, which provides a cinema-like viewing experience with its 16:9 clear and crisp widescreen display.
2. Take a Picture & personalize it with Photo Note
Keen snappers will certainly enjoy taking superb quality mobile pictures with the Note II's eight-megapixel camera. And if you're keen to personalize your prized snaps then be sure to try out Photo Note, which lets you scribble down notes and messages on your favourite shots.
3. Use Idea Sketch to illustrate your everyday ideas
If you wish to convey an idea visually, then Samsung's Idea Sketch feature on the Note II is an absolute godsend. Idea Sketch allows you to visualize your everyday ideas quickly and professionally. Simply write the name of the object you want to draw and a picture will automatically appear in your sketch - making diagrams and brainstorms a breeze.
4. Preview email, calendar and videos without screen changes
Instead of wasting valuable time opening and switching between your email, calendar and media apps, Samsung's new Air View feature lets you quickly preview the content in each. By using Air View feature you can rapidly see information from, for example, your emails, calendar appointments or videos without the need to change in and out of multiple screens.
5. Enjoy more content on one screen using Multi Window
The expansive 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen on the GALAXY Note II is ideally designed for viewing several things at once. Multi Window lets you perform multiple tasks on the same screen at the same time. So for example, you can now make notes or send emails as you watch videos or browse the net.
6. Shoot amazing videos in slow and fast motion modes
Keen moviemakers and would-be Spielbergs and Scorseses will love the ability to shoot incredible footage on the Note II. No more boring videos thanks to the Note II. Use slow and fast motion modes on the device to capture and create unique memories in mini movie form.
7. Use Easy Clip to capture & share images that inspire
Clipping and sharing images from websites has never been as easy as it is with the Note II. With Easy Clip you can crop an image from any screen. Save it or simply share it. With this feature you can now capture inspiration where and whenever you find it.
8. Test out Paper Artist to transform your images
The Samsung GALAXY Note II is all about encouraging mobile creativity. Thanks to Paper Artist you can now create new and unique images in a matter of seconds, meaning even the most mundane photos can excite and entertain on the Note II.
9. Create the perfect photo using Best Face
Taking great portrait shots and truly memorable pictures of your friends and family is an art. Be sure to test out Best Face on the Note II. This clever camera feature helps you capture only the best pics, meaning no more strange or awkward faces in your spontaneous mobile masterpieces.
10. Visualize the month ahead in S Planner
Updating your calendar with handwritten notes about forthcoming work meetings and social gatherings is a cinch. Paint, perfect and personalize your appointments on the Note II. Using the enhanced S Pen you can now bring to life your monthly calendar with handwritten notes in S Planner.


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The indie dramedy Smashed follows Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Charlie (Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul), a young married couple who prefer to drink than deal with their own demons. But, when Kate's drinking puts her job as a school teacher in jeopardy, it scares her into wanting to join AA and get sober. Directed by James Ponsoldt, he film also stars Octavia Spencer, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman and Mary Kay Place.
At the film's press day, actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about why she wanted to make an independent film, what attracted her to this specific project, the research she did for the role, finding the awkward humor, and how important it was that her character did not just have an easy road to recovery. She also talked about re-teaming with Ponsoldt for The Spectacular Now, what attracted her to A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charlie Swan III, and going to Budapest for A Good Day to Die Hard. Check out what she had to say after the jump.
Collider: How did you come to this film? Were you sent the script and then pursued it, or were you offered the role?
MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD: It was a unique situation. I knew, at that point, that I really needed to do something small. And I had been saying, for a long time, that I wanted to do something small, but it's one of those things where it's not really heard unless you say it really loudly. You don't make any money, so people aren't actively trying to find you those projects, unless you come out and say, "This is what I want you to do. This is what you have to do." So, that's what I said to my team. I was like, "I've been having a lot of fun. This has been great. But, this is what I have to do now. I want to do something small and intimate. Just send me those scripts for awhile because my next project has to be something like that." And this was one of the first scripts that I got.
It actually started with a meeting with Jonathan Schwartz, who's one of the producers. That was a couple days after I had called my agent and was like, "Just introduce me to somebody who's doing something small and intimate," and he just introduced me to him. He didn't know what projects he had, he just knew he was that type of producer who was working on some new things. So then, Jonathan sent me the script and I just flipped out over it.
I didn't think I would even have a chance at being cast because it just seemed like one of those roles that some big actress was going to want to put her name on. But, I wanted to do whatever I could to at least get my foot in the door, so I immediately called him and said, "What can I do?" So, I did an audition tape and did pretty much every major scene in the film. It was a pretty long audition tape. And, amazingly enough, they saw it and they didn't audition anyone else. They just cast me, off of that. They were put a lot of faith in me, which was amazing 'cause that never happens. It was really nice.
Were you nervous, waiting to see how it would all come together and who else would get cast?
WINSTEAD: It just went above and beyond my expectations, entirely, every step of the way. It was a really small film when I signed onto it, and it still is a very small film, but I had no idea so many big actors and talented actors were going to sign on to it. I thought maybe somebody interesting would take Charlie 'cause that's a really good role, but I still didn't expect someone like Aaron Paul to come on and just be so incredible. And then, with every subsequent role, it was like, "Wow, these people who are incredible actors love this script enough to take a two or three scene role and make it into something really powerful." That was amazing to me. It just kept making the project more and more exciting. And the fact that, with them being a part of it, it meant that people were probably going to see it. With just me, I thought maybe it would just be this little thing that I did, just for me, to prove to myself that I could do a role like this. But, once more actors started signing on, it became very real that it was a real movie that people were going to see.
What was it like to shoot some of those great moments that you have with Megan Mullally?
WINSTEAD: She was so excited to do a dramatic role. She really is so talented, and she doesn't get to show that side of herself, very often. So, to see someone who's so seasoned and who's won awards, but still feels like there's something they haven't yet shown the world and are really excited to do, was really a pleasure.
Did you do research or talk to people to understand where your character would be coming from?
WINSTEAD: I did. I talked to a lot of people in recovery. I talked to our co-writer, Susan Burke. She was the first person I talked to a lot. From there, one of our producers is in recovery. They both not only talked to me a lot about themselves and their own experiences, but took me to AA meetings and I was able to speak to a lot of people at those, as well. That was the first step into relating to the character and seeing into her world. And then, after that, it became a lot more about looking at myself, personally, and figuring out my own demons and issues, and working through those as Kate is working through her own stuff.
Was it nice to have Aaron Paul there to go through this with?
WINSTEAD: Absolutely! He's exactly what I was hoping to have, in that role. You just have to go to so many dark places, playing a character like this, in a relationship like that. You just hope you have an actor who's really open and giving, and who's going to make you feel really comfortable and not embarrassed to try anything. And he was just so open and giving and so warm that it was really easy to just fall into that relationship with him and for that love to really be there. He's such a good person.
Were you aware of the delicate balance of humor?
WINSTEAD: For me, I didn't want to think about the humor, so much. I knew that the script was funny, but I really was against playing anything for laughs or to try to be comedic. I just relied on my own sense of humor and hoped that that would come through. If something is meant to be funny in the script, you just hope it comes through as funny. I just played the reality of the situation and didn't worry about whether or not people were going to laugh. And it turned to be funnier than I thought it would, to be honest. As funny as I knew it was, it wasn't something that was on my mind, so when I saw it the first time and heard people laughing at so much, I was like, "Oh, wow!" It actually made me realize how funny it really is. For me, I was so focused on the emotions and the dark pain that she was going through, that I almost didn't realize how funny some of the moments really were.
With this kind of heavy subject matter, how was the mood on set?
WINSTEAD: I don't think that we tried to set a tone for any certain purpose. I think it just turned out to be a very light set, just because of the people who were involved. It was a really relaxed, low-key, fun set to be around. It was the type of place you would want to hang out, all the time. It was really great. Even when it was dark, everyone was so respectful that you were still having fun, but in a more quiet, low-key way. Everyone was respectful of the actors going through their process, which was great. Sometimes when you're on really fun sets and you're trying to do a serious scene, you're like, "Oh, my god, you guys, give me a second! I don't want to joke around right now!" But, it was a really nice balance because everybody understood what we were trying to do. It was very easy for everyone to understand each other's emotions, and to know when it was time to joke around or when it was time to be a little more quiet. It just felt like a really comfortable place to be.
Was it important to you that this character stumble a bit, in her recovery, and not just have an easy road with it?
WINSTEAD: Yeah, I think that was important for all of us. When you get sober, life becomes more challenging, in some ways, because all of your problems become very clear and you have to deal with your pain. You can't just drink and forget about it and pretend it doesn't exist. At that point, you have to actually face it, head on. Life, at least for a certain period of time, becomes harder and you have to work through that to get to the light at the end of the tunnel. It's an ongoing thing. Any addict in recovery would say that it never becomes perfect. Your life is better, but that doesn't mean it's easier. That's the key thing that James [Ponsoldt] and Susan [Burke] wanted to make sure was kept in there.
Did your experience on Smashed lead you to want to work with director James Ponsoldt again for The Spectacular Now?
WINSTEAD: Oh, for sure! I would want to work with him on everything, if I could. He's just so easy to work with and he approaches things from a standpoint that is very easy for an actor to understand and relate to. His directions, when he's speaking to you, make so much sense. Sometimes, with directors, you have to take what they say and translate it in your head, into something that makes sense to you, because you're speaking two different languages. With James, he speaks the actors' language, so it's very easy to interpret and it makes it very seamless. Working with him was a true collaboration. It was fantastic!
Have you already finished shooting that?
WINSTEAD: Yeah. He shot it over the summer, and I went in for a week and did a few scenes. It was great. It reminded me how easy it is to work with him. It all just falls into place because we communicate so well with each other.
What attracted you to A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charlie Swan III?
WINSTEAD: Everything! It was such a great group of people, ultimately. It was just so fun. Jason Schwartzman was the one who recommended me for it, to Roman [Coppola]. And then, when I heard Bill Murray, I was like, "These are my dream people to work with." It was a no-brainer. It's a really fun part. It's a small role, but she's really a ball-buster of a woman. It was a fun part to play.
Are you also in the new Die Hard film, A Good Day to Die Hard?
WINSTEAD: I am, yes. It's another brief supporting role, but it was also fun. I got to go to Budapest and hang out with Bruce [Willis] for a couple of days. It was nice.
Is it fun to get to be a part of such a big franchise, like that?
WINSTEAD: Definitely! It's always been a lot of fun for me, just to be in films that people see and they connect to, bit or small. The big ones tend to reach a wider audience, so it's exciting to feel like you've got fans in countries, all over the world, who are watching what you're doing. That's really great! The older I get, the more I'm drawn to the smaller films, but I still hope to keep those bigger films in my repertoire. It's just maybe going to be a shift in focus, but I'll definitely still hopefully be kicking around in those.
Smashed opens in theaters on October 12th.


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Under the ground, deep in the earth, among the roots of the trees, the little root-children were fast asleep all winter long. So begins the lyrical, magical story of nature that delights us as a read-aloud every spring and fall. The Story of the Root Children is a celebration of the seasons through a fairytale about Mother Earth and the enchanted flower creatures she dresses in beautiful colors for their half-year above ground. It is a more innocent Persephone and Demeter, Gaia adorned in her most festive clothes. There are snow-drops, forget-me-nots, buttercups and poppies—each meadow flower choosing a bit of cloth for a summer dress.
Beetles, ladybirds, butterflies and snails appear right on time as the trees green and the air softens. The story is gentle, poetic, many-layered and spiced with grumbling insects, industrious ants and a chill autumn wind. I discovered this tiny treasure when I was collecting a library for a very small child and we have enjoyed it ever since. The story appeals to our pagan, pantheistic sensibilities but it is a charming secular tale that doesn't refute science or deify anything—and it can help to demystify death and loss as well as explain the life cycles of a year.
Another seasonal marker in our New York City neighborhood is the tulip festival in our community garden. Every April the wonderful garden on West 90th Street erupts in a kaleidoscope of vivid blooms that are breathtaking for an instant and then gone for another year. The garden is in its glory right now and too seductive to ignore.
Tulips are showier blooms than the field flowers of The Root Children but they provide equivalent spellbinding magic. The book and the garden are balm for the spirit after the rigors of an unforgiving winter. Sometimes it helps to be reminded of the inexorable rhythm of the days and months, measured in the fragile petals of fairies and flowers.
Story of the Root Children Sibylle von Olfers | Floris Books 1997
(originally published in Germany 1906)


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In February 1999, Google moved from Susan Wojcicki's garage to "new digs at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto with just eight employees" and in August 1999, Google relocated to Mountain View: 2400 E. Bayshore. Five years later, Google moved to "the new Googleplex at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, giving 800+ employees a campus environment."
Former Google employee Doug Edwards posted some videos from November 1999 of the old Googleplex. At that time, Google's search engine was only available in English, it didn't include ads or image search results and it was the only Google service.
Unravel the symbols of ancient Egypt
6 hours ago


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Shabere (Feat. AWALL & Dipp) - Something That You Like [Trap-A-Holics Submitted]
3rd single from "Shabere Is Here 2" hosted by Trapaholics AVAILABLE NOW ON iTunes & LiveMixtapes.com
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It has been confirmed that the legendary Isaac Hayes died from a stroke this past weekend. The soul icon had suffered a stroke in 2006 due to high blood pressure but had made a full recovery.
A memorial service for the star will be held on Monday in the Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova, Tennessee.


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Bridlington - Family & Seaside
Children also love the busy harbour, from where you can sail across the bay on a traditional pleasure cruiser, a pirate ship or a speedboat, or just watch the fascinating day-to-day business of the local fishing industry. And they'll adore the birds and animals (including everyone's favourites, the penguins!) at Sewerby Hall and Gardens zoo.
Bridlington Spa offers a regular programme of events, ranging from entertainment for all the family to evening concerts featuring some of the biggest names in British music – recent bookings have included Jake Bugg, The Beautiful South's Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, and Bryan Ferry.
Search for Family & Seaside Attractions in Bridlington
Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery
The Distillery, Unit 1 Hunmanby Industrial Estate, Hunmanby, North Yorkshire, YO14 0PH (8 miles, 13 km)
Our distillery tours run 7 days a week, on the hour, every hour from 10am - 4pm. Tours cost £10 per person and include 3 tastings of our maturing spirits. Come and see for yourselves how we are making Yorkshire's First Single Malt Whisky.
RSPB Seabird Cruises
North Pier Bridlington Harbour, Bridlington, East Yorkshire, YO15 2PB (0 miles, 0 km)
All the family will enjoy these special RSPB Cruises which sail from the North Pier at Bridlington Harbour. The cruises last approximately 3 hours and offer spectacular views of the coastline, seabirds and a range of fish and sea mammals.
John Bull's Candy Kingdom
Lancaster Road, Carnaby, Bridlington, YO15 3QY (3 miles, 5 km)
Filey Seafront Sculpture Trail
The Beach, Filey, North Yorkshire, YO14 9LA (9 miles, 15 km)


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Harley's 110th about more than just motorcycles
You don't have to be a biker to celebrate Harley-Davidson's 110th anniversary because it incorporates so many things around town, such as Thursday's tribute to law enforcement.
Erik Estrada made the motorcycle cop famous by playing one on TV in the 1970s. He is in Milwaukee for the celebration and led a special commemorative ride in tribute to real life officers, which he said he has now become.
"This is a real badge. I earned it for the last eight years I've been an I-tech investigator out of the state of Virginia," Estrada said.
The ride is sponsored by Concerns of Police Survivors, according to Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn.
"For those grieving families who had loved ones torn from them in the prime of life, I salute them in their work, and I thank all of you," Flynn said.
Retired Oak Creek police hero Lt. Brian Murphy stopped by with some encouraging words.
"Two things: Be safe, be vigilant when you ride," Murphy said.


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Our New Year's Day menu includes a fine selection of freshly-prepared treats from thyme-roasted Portobello mushrooms to succulent roasts with all the trimmings, including beef, pork, and turkey. Our Bramley apple crumble is a perfect end to the meal and will leave you feeling satisfied and content. Start your 2019 feeling refreshed and rejuvenated – it's going to be a great year after all.
You can choose to have 3 courses for £26.95.
Once you've made a booking, Simply complete the information about your booking below (including your booking reference), make a menu selection for each guest in your party, and then 'submit' your form and it will be emailed straight to us. For larger bookings of over 10 people, Please download the pre-order form below and send via email directly, after filling out the required fields, by clicking here. Alternatively, you can print out the form and hand it in at The Inn On The Lake in person.
All our food is prepared in a kitchen where cross-contamination may occur and our menu descriptions do not include all ingredients. Full allergen information is available upon request. If you have a question, food allergy or intolerance, confirmation of our full allergen information will be available from early November to allow you to confirm your booking. The allergen information is, to the best of our knowledge, correct, however is subject to change between the time of advance booking and the time of dining. Please ask to see the allergen guide at the time of your visit to check if there have been any changes that may affect you. (v) = made with vegetarian ingredients, (ve) = made with vegan ingredients, however some of our preparation and cooking methods could affect this. If you require more information, please ask your server. Please note a discretionary 10% service charge will be added to tables of 6 or more.


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Breaking News! Maloofs to sell Kings to Seattle
Word on the street is that the Sacramento Kings are headed to Seattle.
Hoopsvibe quick call: Seattle fans are passionate about their sports teams, and they should have the Supersonics to route for.
This past September, I published an article about Seattle's plans to get a basketball and hockey team in town by 2014. At the time, we didn't know which teams; but thanks to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports, we now have a pretty good idea that it will be the Kings who will be taking their talents to the Pacific Northwest. (Still no word on which hockey team the city is looking to acquire).
Wojnarowski broke the news over an hour ago when he reported that the Maloof family, current owners of the Sacramento Kings, are very close to finalizing a deal that would move the team to Seattle.
"The Maloofs are finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to the Hansen-Ballmer led Seattle group, sources tell Yahoo! Sports." Wojnarowski tweeted earlier this afternoon.
The Hansen-Ballmer Seattle group is led by wealthy hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft Chairman Steve Ballmer. If the deal goes through as reported, the Hansen/Ballmer led group will purchase the Kings from the Maloof family for roughly $500 million and will move the team immediately, so that they will be in Seattle by the 2013-14 NBA season. The goal has always been to have the team renamed the Supersonics, and to have the franchise playing in Seattle's Key Arena for the next two seasons before they move the team into a brand new Seattle arena, for which they have already secured the financing.
The Hansen-Ballmer group, which reportedly includes a few members of the Nordstrom department store family as well, has already committed to providing a $290 million private investment for the new arena and has developed plans for the remaining $200 million in public financing to come from rent money and admissions taxes. Hansen's group has also agreed to contribute funds for transportation improvements in the downtown area surrounding the arenas and to pony up more money if the public financing isn't enough.
With the financial plan approved, all that was left was finding a team. Well now that they've found a team in the Kings, the last hurdle to get over is reaching an agreement with the Maloof family, who have a history of trying to sell the team and subsequently backing out at the last minute. However, according to sources close to the matter, the deal is close to being done.
According to reports, the Maloof's will maintain a very small ownership percentage of the team, but won't have any say in team management or decision making.
The city of Seattle and it's fans have been desperate to get the Supersonics back since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008. There has always been a bitterness from Seattle faithful toward OKC, who are now one of the best teams in the league. Imagine how electrifying the atmosphere would be when the Thunder came to Sea-town to play the Supersonics??!!
That would be as crazy of a sports environment as you could get.


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Europeans, and particularly Germans, appear to be choosing nationalism and convenience over higher returns on investments. The European Central Bank (ECB) recently announced its decision to keep its interest rates at historically low rates, hurting returns on relatively safe investments like those offered by banks. Nevertheless, many Europeans are sticking with these investments instead of moving their money abroad.
Interest rates in deposits and loans vary widely from one European nation to another, but many banks pay depositors different rates in different countries. For example, Deutsche Bank pays 0.75% to Italian customers, but a mere 0.1% to its German members. While recent movements towards centralized European banking should mean that such discrepancies are outdated, the reality is very different. In addition, many Europeans seem to be okay with that, preferring to accept rates in their local bank rather than insist on shifting funds to another location for the higher returns.
Theoretically, such a shift should be relatively simple to execute. Every European nation guarantees all deposits up to $106,000, and no nation has yet failed to follow through on this guarantee, regardless of its own financial woes. Taking the money across a border is easy for European citizens, typically requiring little more than providing identification. Some banks even allow customers to shift locations online or by request at a branch.
The reasons for moving money in such a fashion are undeniable. In nations like Italy, some of the best deposit accounts return 1.6% interest rates. Portugal has its own at 2%. Meanwhile, Germany tops out around 0.5%. Still, for reasons that remain unclear, most are failing or refusing to take advantage of these simple strategies to improve their returns.
Moreover, such techniques should appeal to Germans who have invested the equivalent of nearly 55% of the nation's gross domestic product in deposit accounts like savings accounts and term deposits. Most prefer not to invest in property or stocks. Still, they are not taking advantage of these discrepancies in return rates.
Some speculate this odd behavior is due to a sense of nationalism, and that keeping the money invested in local banks is better for the economy. Others believe it may be a matter of convenience or, fundamentally, laziness. However, as noted, many of these banks are multinational affairs that have made this process easy, particularly in the modern digital age. Similarly, the shifting of money between countries depending on need means keeping it on deposit in one nation versus another is likely of little real benefit to the economy of that particular nation.
Still, sentimentality versus national self-interest seems to influence the decision-making process for many Europeans. What this tendency will mean as European banking becomes more uniform and centralized remains an unknown. However, it does make for an interesting and surprising insight into the financial motivations of different population groups in the European Union.


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Google Tweaks AdWords To Give Landing Page Quality More Weight
Oct 3, 2011 at 7:19pm ET by Pamela Parker
After quietly testing in Brazil, Spanish-speaking Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, Google will roll out a new algorithm globally that gives more weight to landing page quality when it comes to AdWords Quality Score. This means ads with landing pages that Google deems to be most relevant to the query will be able to rank higher for lower cost-per-click bids.
"What we've seen is that there are ads available in the auction that are as good a quality as the top ads. But the landing pages — the merchant sites, the advertiser landing pages — are of much higher quality than the ads that we see at the top of our auction," Jonathan Alferness, director of product management on Google's ad quality team told me. This, says Alferness, means the user experience isn't what it could be. Hence the change to give more weight to landing page quality. "In the end, we believe that this will result in better quality experience for the users."
Landing page quality has long been a factor in Google AdWords, but more as a negative signal. If an advertiser's landing page was particularly terrible or misleading, advertisers could have their ads rejected or their accounts suspended or revoked — depending on how bad the policy violation was. The new change will assign landing page quality a positive value, incentivizing advertisers to make sure the landing page's keywords and content are closely aligned with the keywords for which they're bidding. Ads with high landing page quality will get a "strong boost" upward in the auction, according to Alferness.
Alferness says Google will crawl the landing pages associated with every ad and make a determination as to its quality.
"What we always ask our advertisers to focus on is relevance — choose a landing page or site experience that is both relevant to the keywords that you're targeting and also a good experience for end users," said Alferness. "This is just continuing to sort of push on those best practices. I gives us the ability to really reward those advertisers that have been doing this, whose landing pages really are some of the best in our systems."
The change will roll out in the next week or two. Advertisers may see some variations in ad position and keyword Quality Score at first, but things should settle down within a couple of weeks, according to Google.
Related Topics: Google: AdWords | Top News
About The Author: Pamela Parker is a contributing editor for Search Engine Land. She's a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since 1998, including a stint as managing editor of ClickZ. She's also worked to help monetize independent publishers' sites at Federated Media Publishing. She blogs about media and marketing at The River and about cooking, gardening and parenthood at Free Range. She can be found on Twitter as @pamelaparker. See more articles by Pamela Parker


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Washington DC CDL Practice Test: HazMat - Test 2 2020(From the 2020 Washington DC CDL Handbook)
|Number of tests:
|Number of questions:
|Passing score:
Directions: To obtain this endorsement for hauIing hazardous materials, applicants must pass a 20-question test. Before taking the test, applicants must pass a Transportation Security Administration background check. And to pass the test, applicants must score at least 80%. Test questions are from the Washington DC Commercial Driver Handbook. The Hazardous Materials endorsement can be used with the Class A, B, or C CDL. If you need additional information, please contact your local DMV office. You can find your nearest DMV office at Washington DC DMV locations.
1. What should you do when you need to back up your vehicle but you do not have a look out?
2. If the school bus is so equipped, the school bus driver should activate the bus' alternating flashing amber warning lights in accordance with state law or at least ______ before the school bus stop.
3. You should adjust the outside left and right side convex mirrors so you are able to see _______.
4. Because of passing cars, the area ______ of the bus is always considered dangerous for school buses.
5. What color are the ABS malfunction lamps on school buses?
6. If your bus is equipped with ABS, during an emergency situation, you should _______.


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Building on the real-time data mining capabilities of the Adaptive Session Intelligence (ASI) technology that it announced in November of last year, NetScout Systems Inc. is announcing nGenius Enterprise Intelligence, the first module built on the technology, which is intended to provide service-level analysis on an end-to-end session basis of network communication.
The software has three major functions: Prediction, triage, and diagnosis, and can monitor both the network and the applications that run on top of it. The nGenius Enterprise Intelligence product is part of NetScout's Unified Service Delivery Management framework and is an integrated module with the company's nGenius Service Assurance Solution.
"I see Netscout's announcement as the next logical, and necessary, evolution of the network and performance management space," says Rohit Mehra, director for enterprise communications infrastructure for International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass., consultancy. "Managing the physical IT infrastructure and applications is good, but taking that to the next level with service delivery management is better, and provides a comprehensive view of the network, IT and service infrastructure. Adding network intelligence is going to be key as enterprises adopt varying degrees of private, public and hybrid cloud infrastructures, and the need to support multiple business needs and applications continues to increase. From that standpoint, the end-to-end service session analysis available with nGenius Enterprise Intelligence will help provide insight into all application tiers, and also provide visibility into how the network, applications and service components interact with each other."
An example of how the nGenius Enterprise Intelligence product could be used is in analyzing the recent Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) outage, says Steven Shalita, vice president of marketing for NetScout. Because the software is capable of monitoring both networks and applications, it can help organizations move from an application-oriented model to a service-oriented model, because many organizations still work in "silos" by looking at things that happen on the web but not between a company's multiple data centers, he said.
The software can create session representation in real time and is linked to the top-level data, making it easier to help perform root cause analysis. Previously, users had to go through multiple processes in order to drill down on data, Shalita said.
The purpose of the software is to determine the interdependencies and interrelationships between an organization's application, network, and service components that can end up degrading system performance, the company says. For example, the software monitors physical elements such as servers, links, and devices, but also elements of an application and calls between applications.
The underlying ASI technology also has the ability to enable the user to see things across multiple domains. The software is in early field trials now and is expected to begin shipping in July, Shalita says.
The company is also expecting to demonstrate the software at Interop in Las Vegas this month. Existing NetScout users can add the new functionality for about $75,000 per console; new users would also need to purchase additional NetScout infrastructure to support the product.