text:
Former Wake Forest star Josh Howard has apologized for disrespecting the national anthem on a widely-viewed video clip. He did so on the first day of the Dallas Mavericks' training camp Monday. My question now is was Howard being sincere, or was that spin control? (I'd say it was about a half-and-half mixture myself).
To back up for a minute.... At a charity flag football game in July, while a singer performed the national anthem in the background, Howard said into a camera: " 'The Star Spangled Banner' is going on right now. I don't even celebrate that [expletive]. I'm black."
The clip was posted on YouTube and was widely viewed. It prompted a lot of criticism, but Howard stayed silent throughout -- a real mistake, I thought. If you say something like that and you truly believe you were wrong, get out there and correct it. Fast.
Howard said in a statement Monday before taking questions from reporters: "This is not the way I carry myself, not how I want to be portrayed. I'm sorry to everybody I've offended. I'm upset with myself and the way I've acted."
He also said he loves his country. "It was me joking around," he said. "Guys were out there making fun and I decided to get along in it. I wasn't using my head. I guess the valuable lesson I did learn is that words really do hurt. You're held accountable for what you say."
Howard also was arrested in July in N.C. fter police said he was drag racing at 94 mph in a 55 mph zone.
He said he knows that there will be some fan backlash about his troubled summer. Last season, he said in a radio interview that he occasionally smokes marijuana. He also angered former Dallas coach Avery Johnson by throwing himself a birthday party after a playoff loss.
Howard said he wants to prove to fans he's not a bad guy. "I'll try to win them back," he said. "Whatever it takes me to do that, I'll do it."
So, do you believe him? Spin control or sincerity?
We're moving!
4 years ago


text: BUFFALO is your hot trend brand for shoes and handbags with an exciting design. Since 1979, the German shoe label designs and produces shoes and accessories in all shapes and colours. Whether winter boots, sandals, statement heels, or airy sandals - with more than 600 styles, BUFFALO's online shop offers the perfect shoe and bag for every season and every occasion.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bunches of ripe grapes. Chateau Malartic Lagraviere, Pessac Leognan, Graves, Bordeaux, France
Château Malartic Lagravière, Pessac-Léognan, Graves, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.
Use the image SEARCH function to find more relevant photos.
Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere is a big winery in the Pessac-Leognan appellation. Pessac Leognan is just south of Bordeaux city, part of it is actually in the suburbs. A few decades ago it "declared independence" from the greater appellation of Graves of which it was previously a part. It is a bit like the story of someone thinking the club was not good enough for them so they created their own club – all the best known chateaux in Graves are in Pessac Leognan (which is still considered part of Graves too).
Chateau Malartic Lagraviere was acquired in 1997 by the rich Belgian family of Michèle and Alfred-Alexandre Bonnie. They have invested massively in the winery and in the vineyards, as well as in the beautiful chateau itself, located in a small park. Today it is run by the son, Jean-Jacques Bonnie, and his wife Séverine. All the installations have been renewed: new vat-room, new fermentation tanks (stainless steel), now cellar equipment, substantial investment in new oak barrels every year etc etc. They also experiment with various new "technologies", e.g. 'vinification integrale' (fermentation of red wine in the barrel, and oak casks (barriques) of wood other than oak, e.g. acacia.
The vineyard is partially next to the winery, with typical gravely soil. It is planted with vines of the classic Bordeaux varieties: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, and petit verdot. they also make a white wine from sauvignon blanc and sémillon grapes.
All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.
Bordeaux Graves Chateau Malartic Lagraviere stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson


text:
Bar stools always look better when they are decorated with your logo. If you are considering new bar stools, you may want to think about getting bar stools personalized with your company logo, slogan, or product. Custom logo bar stools advertise your brand whenever a custom comes in. Logo bar stoolsa manufactured by Richardson Seating are durable and last for a very long time at the point of service. If you are looking to purchase the custom logo bar stools manufactured by Richardson Seating, you should check out www.BarStoolsandChairs.com's website. They offer great pricing and information on all types of custom logo bar stools. You can read more custom logo bar stool articles at our other sites like Metal Bar Stools, Cracked Ice Vinyl, Logo Bar Stools, and Diner Chairs. We strive to provide you with the best information on commercial restaurant furniture such as custom logo bar stools and other custom logo furniture items.
Custom Logo Bar Stools | Custom Logo Stools | Custom Logo Counter Stools
posted by admin in Bar Stools,custom logo bar stools,Logo Bar Stols and have No Comments
Place your comment
Please fill your data and comment below.


text:
Tax avoidance rather than executive pay is at the top of the UK public's concerns about business behaviour for the first time.
Concerns about potential tax avoidance have topped those about executive pay for the first time in six years, according to the 10th annual survey of the British public's attitudes about business ethics.
The Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) found that 59 per cent of those surveyed thought that businesses behaved ethically in general, up from 48 per cent last year. However, it also noted an increase in the number of those saying that businesses behave less ethically now than they did 10 years ago, to 35 per cent.
"These results could indicate that business has clawed back some of the public trust lost in the wake of the financial crisis, but confidence remains fragile with a year on year increase in those saying that business is less ethical than it was ten years ago," said the IBE's director, Philippa Foster Back. "Tax is also now clearly a reputational issue and has risen very rapidly up the scale."
The IBE was set up in 1986 to encourage high standards of business behaviour. For the past ten years it has commissioned market research firm Ipsos MORI to carry out an annual survey of public attitudes to whether British businesses behave ethically and which issues most need addressing. These issues have evolved over the past 10 years, although executive pay and discrimination of employees have consistently ranked in the top five areas of public concern, according to the IBE.
This year, only 30 per cent of the public cited executive remuneration as the main issue businesses needed to address (8-page/1.9MB PDF). Tax avoidance, which 37 per cent of the respondents highlighted as their main area of concern, was only added as an option last year and immediately ranked as the second most important issue.
According to the IBE, this year's response could be a reaction to "frequent allegations in the media ... that many multinational companies are apparently operating very successfully in the UK yet paying little or no corporation tax".
The tax affairs of companies including Amazon, Starbucks and Google have come under considerable media scrutiny over the past year following accusations of "profit shifting", or deliberately transferring profits from high tax jurisdictions to those with lower rates of tax.
This has been followed by a number of international initiatives, including the work of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on developing a global standard against base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). In June, the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published the results of its investigation into tax avoidance and Google.
Tax expert Heather Self of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, has been highly critical of some of the media reporting on international tax avoidance and the work of the PAC. For example, in some cases businesses had been criticised in the press for claiming interest relief within limits set out by Parliament in the tax legislation, she said. In addition, there were questions over whether the PAC had gone "well beyond its remit" to examine the accounts of expenditure of government by investigating the tax planning behaviour of multinationals, she said.
"Obviously one of the significant elements of public expenditure is actual expenditure on HM Revenue and Customs, and so [PAC chair] Margaret Hodge is asking whether HMRC is being efficient with the money it is given," she said. "However, Hodge has also been an inquisitor of HMRC and has shown an increasing lack of trust since a whistleblower disclosed evidence about large corporate settlements in December 2011, which caused the PAC to investigate the technical side of what HMRC was doing; and we and others have commented that that is not a helpful direction for the PAC to be going."
"Now everything is being portrayed as tax dodging, even if it's merely claiming government incentives such as the patent box or capital allowances. The idea of predictability and certainty is really important for multinationals and the approach of the PAC is at risk of damaging that," she said.
However, Self said that large businesses have changed their attitudes to tax avoidance over the past five years.
"Most large businesses over the last five years or so have moved to a point where they have clear policies as to what is and isn't acceptable tax planning," she said. "They are beginning to be prepared to communicate; this is a big change that has come from the PAC and media attention. Companies used to prefer to keep quiet and 'hope it would go away', but they are now having to move onto the front foot. Companies need to communicate not just with the professional world, but with the public."
The findings of the ICE survey showed that people aged 55 and above were more likely to think that businesses did not behave ethically than younger people. Other issues identified by the survey as areas of public concern included the ability of employees to speak out about company wrongdoing, and business attitudes to the environment and human rights.
Copyright © 2013, Out-Law.com
Out-Law.com is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons.


text:
Unskippable: R.U.S.E.
Pages PREV 1 2
"He's going home in a soup can."
Also, did anyone else notice how the guy seemed to have some kind of siezure when he said that line? His head started flopping around for no reason.
In case anyone was wondering, the cutaway happened DURING the flashback. Rommel was defeated in Africa in 1943.
Readily Underlying Suspicious Errors
Yay for the Babylon 5 reference!^^
Prometheus again and again?! As if there weren't any other mythological heroes! *sigh*
Well, there was Epimetheus, but he was just an afterthought.
Okay, I admit it: I'm a pretty new Escapist user. That being said, this is the first time I've checked out Unskippable. I also watched (part of) the RDR edition as well. What I want to know is, what is this? Is it supposed to be funny like MST3K, or what?
Perhaps I'll be put on probation for this comment, but man, I will never waste my time clicking on an Unskippable again. Boring, not funny and pointless basically sums up my opinion of this feature. Sorry guys, keep trying.
Bang! You took the words right out of my mouth with that post.
God lord guys, I know it's war time and all but I know you can get some light bulbs for the buildings you know. D:
Well, there are some other heroes as well (http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/heroes.html). Some can even be found in video games :)
Now why you gotta be hatin' on Eugene's sunhat? He paid ten bucks for that.
Good episode. Felt like you guys were in a bit of a slump. Now we go up the hump.
that was better this video was like your old ones, enjoyed it alot
It might be profuse sleep deprivation from any combination of work, university, homework, and girlfriend aggro but you gotta hand it to these guys. They get funnier every time.
How can they play cards with such crappy lighting? How they know what they got or for that matter were the door is lol
For all of you complaining, it's sort of the put a scene in the present then go back in time thing to where it all started, if you played the campaign basically all Prometheus is, is a spy who is very good at what they do who is responsible for "killing American solders"(literally this is the motivation Sheridan has for taking Prometheus, even when he captures Vichter and interrogates him despite the Germans taking some of the biggest military casualties of the war that dwarf the American casualties), there's no point in paying attention to the story since it's just another cliche teacher-warrior story and it's terrible. Rather annoying when the hardest parts of the campaign have in game cutscenes which locks your camera from doing anything while the game world is still active, so your defences could be destroyed by the time the in game cutscene is over rather annoying.
It actually stood for nothing apparently so yah.
She's a spy and yes they did. The only ones that come to mind would be Britain and Russia since they had granted universal suffrage and that would be one of the things they showed off. In fact some of Russia's most famous war veterans like their best sniper and best fighter pilots were women. Hell the fighter pilots would put a painting of a rose on their plane for each kill they got.
Good effort guys but his was a meh episode due to this cutscene being pretty flat and boring.
Kasserine is a big girl... FNAAARRRR!
Well, it wouldn't say it's our best episode but, whatever, you're entitled to your opinion. Thanks for giving us a shot!
Well, thanks for taking the time to respond. I just don't understand what Unskippable is. I watched, or tried to watch, two episodes. It was basically you guys talking over cut scenes. I couldn't tell if you were discussing them, making fun of them, cracking jokes, critiquing them or reviewing the story. It just sounded like two internet guys who thought they were funny and had made a video to show their buddies, talking over top of a video game. I guess I'm just not "in" on the joke. (if there is one)/
As someone who actually played the game. she's a super spy. Not everything you see in games is 100% based off of the nazi channel (history channel).
I just finished an Unskippable marathon session (watching it for one and half days straight from bed till bed while I play a game with annoying sounds on mute) and I have to say I love this feature. There are some ones out there that made me almost cry with laughter.
Some of them are excellent and some are just above-average (emphasis on the above-average not the just).
You have to just chill and it makes you feel like you have your friends over chatting through the cutscenes like mine always do. Lot more penis jokes/sexuality questioning in our cutscene chat though I have to say.
Does anything happen in that game? Seems like a lot of talking to me!
Oh and Really Uneasy Sideglance Ending
The only "In" joke, is that they ARE funny.
Tsk tsk guys, Prometheus isn't on Olympus, he's in Tartarus!
Speaking of Prometheus and burning...
OT: This was a very confusing series of cutscenes.
I'm a big fan of your work, I love LRR and Unskippable, but this by far was one of your weakest, Don't get me wrong, I'll watch again next week, but I'm hoping for better.
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.
We're making fun of it, yes. Both the story, and the way the scene is presented, but mostly making fun of how game designers choose to introduce their game.
Fair enough. Sorry if I originally came off as a dick. It's just so easy to be offended by something you don't like and beak off about it safely ensconced behind the anonymity of the internet. I try and avoid that, but it creeps out sometimes.
Escapist you can suspend me for this but man it is gonna take a while to not silently snicker every time the producers Russ Pitts and Steve Butts show up in credits.
Rampaging Ungulate Scares Ewoks?
The only thing I got out of the entire series of scenes was that there was a Colonel Campbell meeting Major Joe.
I'm disappointed: you didn't say anything about the fact that the person talking to Major Joe, in the desert, was named Colonel Campbell
Can someone please explain to me why germans in english videos always talk english with a pretentcious german accent?
I understand that you don't want to hire german voice actors and sub the whole thing, but if you bend reality enough to have them talk english, why not have them talk properly?
None of ze germanz I know talkz like zat.
That last line was genius
|Pages PREV 1 2


text:
February 11, 1990, Section 1, Page 30Buy Reprints
A study of Lyndon B. Johnson provides new evidence that the 36th President stole his first election to the United States Senate, in 1948.
The book, ''Means of Ascent,'' by Robert A. Caro, is the second volume of a projected four-volume study, ''The Years of Lyndon Johnson.'' With a first printing of 250,000 copies, it is to be published on March 15 by Knopf, and excerpts have appeared in The New Yorker.
Mr. Caro maintains that although ballot fraud was common in the late 1940's in some parts of Texas, the Johnson campaign of 1948 raised it to a new level. Mr. Caro supports his charge with an interview with Luis Salas, an election judge in Jim Wells County who said he acknowledged his role only after all others involved in the theft had died.
Determined to Win at All Costs
It has been alleged for years that Johnson captured his Senate seat through fraud, but Mr. Caro goes into great detail to tell how the future President overcame a 20,000-vote deficit to achieve his famous 87-vote victory in the 1948 Democratic runoff primary against a former Governor, Coke Stevenson. A South Texas political boss, George Parr, had manufactured thousands of votes, Mr. Caro found. Johnson died in 1973, Stevenson and Parr in 1975. Mr. Caro says the election showed Johnson's determination to win at all costs as well as his coolness under fire and his ability to select gifted lieutenants, whom he then manipulated.
''The point is that the 1948 election shed light on Johnson's character,'' Mr. Caro said in an interview. ''People have been saying for 40 years, 'No one knows what really happened in that election,' and 'Everybody does it.' Neither of those statements is true. I don't think that this is the only election that was ever stolen, but there was never such brazen thievery.''
Some Johnson loyalists refuse to accept Mr. Caro's conclusions. For example, Horace Busby, who was a 24-year-old aide to the Johnson Senate campaign, said he agreed with the historian's factual presentation but said it should be put in a broader context.
''I don't disagree with the accuracy of anything Bob has in there,'' said Mr. Busby, now a political analyst. But he went on, ''There was a lot of stealing in that election.''
Mr. Busby said: ''The irregularity in the voting was caused in most instances by the local races - for a county commissioner, sheriff and county judge. It was just incidental that there were also votes stolen for Johnson and Stevenson.''
The Dead, the Halt, the Unaware
''I don't think that either Johnson or Stevenon were directing any of this,'' Mr. Busby said. ''But if there had been no stealing, Johnson would have won that election by 5,000 votes.''
Mr. Caro not only reviewed thousands of pages of court records, but also interviewed Mr. Salas, the election judge of Precinct 13 in Jim Wells County. Under Mr. Salas's supervision, Mr. Caro said, Johnson received the votes of the dead, the halt, the missing and those who were unaware that an election was going on.
On primary night, a Saturday, the first tallies of the Democratic primary showed Johnson trailing his opponent by 20,000 votes. Still unreported, however, were the votes from San Antonio, where Stevenson had defeated Johnson 2 to 1 in the first primary. When those votes finally came in, Johnson had won a stunning victory, carrying San Antonio by 10,000 votes.
Later that evening, the rural counties in the Rio Grande Valley further eroded the Stevenson lead, which was reduced to 854 votes.
A Precinct Is 'Discovered'
The next day, county officials ''discovered'' that the returns from one precinct had not yet been counted, Mr. Caro said, and those votes went overwhelmingly to Johnson. On Monday, there were more new returns from the Rio Grande Valley.
But on Tuesday, the state's Election Bureau announced that complete returns had given Stevenson a 349-vote victory, with 40 votes still uncounted.
There were no significant changes Wednesday, and Stevenson still led on Thursday. On Friday, the Rio Grande Valley precincts made ''corrections'' in their election returns, cutting Stevenson's lead to 157.
Also on Friday, Jim Wells County telephoned in its amended return, ''and suddenly, with virtually all the counting in the election over, Coke Stevenson was no longer ahead,'' Mr. Caro said. Johnson had won by 87 votes. Challenge and Affirmation Mr. Caro confirmed the charges made at the time by Stevenson supporters that county officials had cast the votes of absent voters and had changed the numbers on the tallies. For example, he said, Jim Wells County provided an extra 200 votes for Johnson merely by changing the 7 in ''765'' to a 9.
Johnson's victory was upheld by a 29-to-28 vote of the Texas Democratic Party's executive committee, and he went on to defeat Jack Porter, the Republican candidate, in the general election. And although a Federal District Court had ordered his name off the ballot pending an investigation, the order was voided by Associate Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black on a petition from Abe Fortas, who was Johnson's chief lawyer.
Mr. Caro's book also belies Johnson's contention that he played no role in buying and managing KTBC, a radio station purchased by his wife, Lady Bird, that flourished after the purchase. Months later, the Federal Communications Commission approved Mrs. Johnson's request to operate 24 hours a day on a more desirable frequency. Subsequently, the F.C.C. increased the station's wattage and profitability and KTBC became a CBS affiliate.
Cornerstone of an Empire
''Lyndon Johnson was always to maintain that his wife's radio interests were totally divorced from politics and that he, the politician in the family, had absolutely nothing to do either with acquiring KTBC's license or, once it was licensed, with its operations,'' Mr. Caro wrote.
He cites documents that contradict Johnson. Johnson is seen as involved in virtually every aspect of the enterprise, from payroll to frequencies to sales of commercials. The radio station formed the cornerstone of his financial empire.
''It was a case study of political influence,'' Mr. Caro said in the interview.


text:
Note that these presets can only be used in the registered Harmor Plugin.
Read more information about the Harmor plugin
Add the Harmor plugin to your shopping cart
available for $149 USD in our web shop.
Related content
ASL SoundLab NeuroVision 3 (100 presets)
The Harmor plugin comes by default with presets included.
The ASL SoundLab NeuroVision gives you an extra range of high quality presets to use inside the plugin.


text:
This first one is based on this this week's sketch, CPS 153. It uses a new release from PTI called "Year of the Flowers: Violets". I think this set makes for really fabulous encouragement cards. And who doesn't need a little encouraging every once in awhile?
Cardstock/Floss: Bazzill Basics
Paper Frill/Glitter/Jewels: Doodlebug Designs
Ink: Clearsnap (Watermark & Pigment: moss green, evergreen)
Corner Rounder: EK Success
Corner Rounder: EK Success


text:
Supreme Court
Senators Warn Court Against 'Activism' on Voting Rights Law
By Robert Barnes
The Supreme Court hasn't even ruled in its examination of the constitutionality of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, but key senators are already warning that a decision striking down the law will be seen as "conservative activism pure and simple."
That was the phrase used by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT.) in a speech to the law school at the University of the District of Columbia. Questions about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's impartiality ring hollow, he implied, based on the performance of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito, the court's two newest members, both nominated by President George W. Bush.
"For all the talk about 'judicial modesty' and 'judicial restraint' from nominees at their confirmation hearings, we have seen a Supreme Court these last four years that has been anything but modest and restrained," said Leahy.
Leahy, like others who watched the April 29 oral arguments in the Voting Rights Act case, said the majority of the court seemed skeptical about Congress's overwhelming votes in 2006 to reauthorize the act and its provision that some states, mostly in the South, must receive advance approval from federal authorities for any change in their election laws and procedures. But Leahy said the finding that Congress had overstepped its authority would be a radical departure for the court.
"Since the initial court challenges in 1966, whenever the Supreme Court has reviewed or even cited to the Voting Rights Act, it has affirmed the Act as a valid exercise of congressional authority. The court should not depart from these precedents," Leahy said. "Striking down the Voting Rights Act would be conservative activism pure and simple."
Leahy is not the only senator with his back up. Newly turned Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania today released a letter he sent to Sotomayor that outlines questions he wants her to answer at her July hearings about "the adequacy of congressional fact finding to support legislation." But it is as much a complaint about Roberts and a court increasingly dismissive of some of Congress's conclusions.
Specter said that Roberts, at his 2005 confirmation proceedings, said that judges sometimes "transgress into the area of making a law" when they are "in a position of re-evaluating legislative findings, because that doesn't look like a judicial function." He added: "It's not our job. It is your job."
But Roberts during oral arguments in the Voting Rights Act case aggressively questioned whether Congress's prescriptions for protecting minority voting rights "are sweeping far more broadly than they need to."
Such statements, Specter wrote, "suggested a very different attitude on deference to congressional fact finding than he expressed as his confirmation hearing."
The court's decision in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder is expected to be one of the last the court issues before finishing its work at the end of the month.
Posted at 4:51 PM ET on Jun 17, 2009
| Category:
Supreme Court
Share This: Technorati | Tag in Del.icio.us | Digg This
Previous: Obama Issues New Call to Service | Next: Clinton Falls and Breaks Her Elbow
Get This Widget >>
Please email us to report offensive comments.
What Congress needs to do before we get a new President is put a limitation on the terms of Supreme court justices. It's obvious that the latest picks under Bush weredesigned to hold back progress with an clandescent form of ultra conservatism meant to eat at the very fabric of the current social structure. Justices should not be able to serve for life, esp since it's obvious that the recent picks aren't as dynamic as the constitution itself.
Posted by: lidiworks1 | June 18, 2009 9:22 AM
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was one of the key figures who has helped to inject partisanship into the Supreme Court and who has helped to make the confirmation process for Supreme Court justices the ordeal that it is today.
It has led to stealth nominees who have to hide their light under a bushel to avoid having a confirmation fight. Previously, the Senate would show deference to the president's nominees unless they were clearly unqualified. Under this system, the court would be balanced over time as Democratic and Republican presidents would come and go and we would get the best legal minds on the court instead of someone who was "confirmable."
Now, like everything else in politics, the selection of Supreme Court justices is just another partisan political game.
I hope the Senator told the law graduates that he has set the stage for a generation of mediocrity on the Supreme Court. Nice work, Senator.
Posted by: danielhancock | June 18, 2009 1:44 AM
As a pre-empt to a comment by JakeD, since his criteria of professionalism is opposition to abortion these four intemperate men would be leaders of the community. JakeD can't think beyond the abortion issue. Could it be he has experienced a botched abortion?
Posted by: Gator-ron | June 17, 2009 5:43 PM
The four conservative judges ruled that giving a supreme court judge 3 million dollars should not be considered as undue influence on that judge. Their concern was there would be a backlog of cases if judges had to recuse themselves if large contributions were considered a reason for recusal. The poor unimaginative souls could find no other way to prevent the back log.
I suppose those same four justices would consider that having one's spouse as a litigant would not be cause for recusal, unless the judge were having sexual relations at the time the judgement is being rendered.
These four are an embarrassment to the court.
Posted by: Gator-ron | June 17, 2009 5:39 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.


text:
Two years ago I knew very little about my ancestors.
I wanted to know the reasons that led my father to cut all ties with his immediate family and also with his children.
While I won't go into that subject, I can say that I now understand why my father acted the way he did.
His father Leo Lagacé Senior married Marie Landry in 1912. I thought she had died and that he had remarried Juliette Métayer in on around 1926 since my father was born in August 1927.
I tried desperately to find this marriage in several data banks but to no avail…
Guess what?
They never married… And this was in 1927!
How did I came across this information?
I met the nephew of Maria Landry this spring.
How did I contact him?
Since I entered Maria Landry's file and all her ancestors on my Heritage genealogy site, I got a Smart Match. Someone had the file of one of Maria's family members. I wrote this person and she gave me a phone number to call.
I picked up the phone and talked to a 84 years old man.
This man wanted to see me so he could tell me what he knew of my grandfather Leo Senior though he had never met him in person.
Next time, you will meet Antonio Landry, Maria Landry's nephew.
Just to tease you, here is a picture of Antonio Landry.
Antonio Landry


text:
Home > Order Form > Uk Driving Licence
We are guaranteed the best and most reliable for Fake IDs at the best prices!
We are focused on providing high quality fake ID, with as quick turn around as possible. All of our IDs have all the security features you want! We have excellent customer service and we'll respond to nearly all emails the same day! Any questions? - Please send them to us, we are here to help You.
e-mail: [email protected]
www: eufakes.com
Offered cards are only to collectable use. Dear Customer please remember about that! | Template by W3Layouts


text:
View all OsiSense XM
pressure switch XMLB 35 bar - adjustable scale 2 thresholds - 1 C/OShow more characteristics
Commercial status
Discontinued on 30 December 2017
End-of-service on 30 December 2017
XMLB035P2S12 has not been replaced. Please contact your customer care center for more information.
The maximum number of products that can be compared is 4. Remove already added products.
Main range of productOsiSense XM product or component typeElectromechanical pressure sensor pressure sensor typeElectromechanical pressure sensor device short nameXMLB pressure sensor size35 bar controlled fluidViscous product (0…160 °C) fluid connection typeG 1 1/4 (female) conforming to ISO 228 electrical connectionScrew-clamps terminals, 1 x 0.5...2 x 2.5 mm² AWG gaugeAWG 20...AWG 14 cable entryCable gland 7…13 mm contacts type and composition1 C/O product specific application- pressure switch type of operationRegulation between 2 thresholds electrical circuit typeControl circuit scale typeAdjustable differential local displayWith adjustable range of switching point on rising pressure3.5…35 bar adjustable range of switching point on falling pressure1.8…32.45 bar possible differential maximum at high setting20 bar maximum permissible accidental pressure80 bar destruction pressure160 bar pressure actuatorDiaphragm materials in contact with fluidFPM, FKMSteel enclosure materialZinc alloy [In] rated current3 A, B300, AC-15 (Ue = 120 V) conforming to EN/IEC 60947-5-11.5 A, B300, AC-15 (Ue = 240 V) conforming to EN/IEC 60947-5-10.1 A, R300, DC-13 (Ue = 250 V) conforming to EN/IEC 60947-5-1 Complementary possible differential minimum at low setting1.7 bar (- 0.5 bar, + 0.7 bar) possible differential minimum at high setting2.55 bar (- 0.5 bar, + 0.7 bar) maximum permissible pressure - per cycle45 bar terminal block type4 terminals maximum operating rate120 cyc/mn repeat accuracy2 % [Ui] rated insulation voltage300 V conforming to UL 508500 V conforming to EN/IEC 60947-1300 V conforming to CSA C22.2 No 14 [Uimp] rated impulse withstand voltageEN/IEC 60947-1 6 kV auxiliary contacts operationSnap action contacts materialSilver contacts maximum resistance across terminals25 mOhm conforming to IEC 255-7 category 325 mOhm conforming to NF C 93-050 method A short-circuit protection10 A cartridge fuse, type gG (gl) mechanical durability5000000 cycles settingExternal height130 mm depth76 mm width50 mm net weight0.715 kg Environment standardsCECSA C22.2 No 14UL 508EN/IEC 60947-5-1 product certificationsULCSALROS (Lloyds register of shipping)BVEACCCC protective treatmentTC standard version ambient air temperature for operation-25…70 °C ambient air temperature for storage-40…70 °C operating positionAny position vibration resistance4 gn conforming to IEC 60068-2-6 (f = 30…500 Hz) shock resistance50 gn conforming to IEC 60068-2-27 electrical shock protection classClass I conforming to IEC 1140Class I conforming to IEC 536Class I conforming to NF C 20-030 IP degree of protectionIP66 conforming to EN/IEC 60529 Contractual warranty Warranty18 months
View more
CatalogueFormatSizeAdd to My DocumentsElectromechanical sensors for pressure control OsiSense XM (Version 2.0)DescriptionElectromechanical pressure and vacuum switches for control circuits. Electromechanical pressure switches for power circuits.prp.document.label.format pdfSize 23.7 MBDate 6/14/16DescriptionElectromechanical pressure and vacuum switches for control circuits. Electromechanical pressure switches for power circuits.prp.document.label.format pdfSize 23.5 MBDate 6/14/16CADFormatSizeAdd to My DocumentsInstruction sheetFormatSizeAdd to My DocumentsXMLA... /B... /C... /D... Electromechanical vacuum switches and pressure switches for control circuits (Version 07)Description.prp.document.label.format pdfSize 3.8 MBDate 8/1/11Description.Product Environmental ProfileFormatSizeAdd to My Documentsprp.document.label.format pdfSize 275.1 KBDate 11/1/17
- All Languages5
- English4
- French3
- German2
- Italian2
- Spanish2
Technical FAQsNo results found.Unfortunately, related FAQs are unavailable due to temporary technical issues. Please try again later.
Dimensions DrawingsDimensions(1)1 fluid entry, tapped G1/4 (BSP female)(2)1 electrical connections entry, tapped M20 x 1.5
Connections and SchemaWiring DiagramTerminal Model
Performance CurvesOperating Curves(y)Rising pressure(x)Falling pressure1 :Maximum differential2 :Minimum differential(y)Pressure(x)Time(1)Adjustable valuePH :High pointPB :Below point


text:
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (iPad)
Published by
Developed by
Also For
DescriptionPrince of Persia: Warrior Within is the direct sequel to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Seven years later, the Prince is hunted by a monster known as Dahaka. He finds out that anyone who manipulates the Sands of Time is destined to die shortly afterwards; but the Prince has escaped his fate, and that's the reason for Dahaka's rage. Now the Prince must travel to the mysterious Island of Time, where he hopes to find the Empress of Time and, through time manipulation, somehow prevent her from creating the Sands in the first place...
The game comes with a new, darker look for the Prince and his surroundings. The fights are more brutal and take a larger part in the game, as the Prince now has enhanced fighting moves including new attack moves via walls and poles.
Even though the fights make up a large part of the game, the puzzle sections are still present and more complicated than before. A new move in the puzzle sections of the game is the curtain slide, which allows you to slide down to the ground slowly. There are still plenty of options for time manipulation and the storyline also lets you travel back and forth in time, visiting the same locations in an alternate time period.
Promo Images
Alternate Titles
- "波斯王子:武者之心" -- Simplified Chinese spelling
- "Принц Персии: Схватка с судьбой" -- Russian spelling
- "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within HD" -- iPad title
- "Prince of Persia: Spirito Guerriero" -- Italian title
- "Prince of Persia: L'âme du Guerrier" -- French title
- "Prince of Persia: Kenshi no Kokoro" -- Japanese title
- "Prince of Persia: El Alma del Guerrero" -- Spanish title
- "Prince of Persia: Dusza Wojownika" -- Polish title
- "Prince of Persia 5" -- Informal title
- "Prince of Persia 2" -- Working title
- "PoP: Warrior Within" -- Common abbreviation
- "Bosi Wangzi: Wuzhe zhi Xin" -- Simplified Chinese title
Part of the Following Groups
- Game Engine: JADE
- Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
- PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits releases
- PlayStation 2 Platinum Range releases
- Prince of Persia series
- Setting: Middle East
- Technology: amBX
- Theme: Time Travel
- Ubisoft eXclusive releases
- Xbox Classics releases
- Xbox Platinum Hits releases
User Reviews
There are no reviews for the iPad release of this game. You can use the links below to write your own review or read reviews for the other platforms of this game.
Critic Reviews
There are no critic reviews for this game.
|# Posts
|Last Post
|An Enigmatic Photo Behind the Credits
|Rifatul Islam
Mar 01, 2019
Two endingsIf the players is able to collect all live upgrades, he can retrieve the final sword upgrade (Water sword) from the hourglass chamber and unlock the canonical ending (The Two Thrones) by fighting the Dahaka. Whiteout the upgrades the sword cannot be retrieved and the player is forced to fight Kaileena the Empress of Time. This also happens if one chooses to not take up the Water sword.
Jordan MechnerIn the December 2005 issue of Wired Magazine, Jordan Mechner(the developer of the original Prince of Persia who was not involved of the development of this game) was not happy with the direction of Warrior Within. He said "I'm not a fan of the artistic direction, or the violence that earned it an M rating. The story, character, dialog, voice acting, and visual style were not to my taste." However, he was quite happy when the direction taken by The Two Thrones.
- 4Players
- 2004 – Best PC Action-Adventure Game of the Year
- GamePro (Germany)
- 2004 - Best Console Action-Adventure in 2004 (Readers' Vote)
Related Web Sites
- Hints for PoP: Warrior Within (Question and answer type strategy guide. Gives subtle clues before the solutions are revealed.)
- Prince of Persia Warrior Within (Official website)
- Wikipedia: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (Information about Prince of Persia: Warrior Within at Wikipedia)
POMAH (60779) added Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (iPad) on Mar 25, 2011
Credits (107 people)
Executive Producer:
Ma Jia, Zhang Jia Lu, He Li Li, Cao Bo Yang, Tang Yi Yun, Ding Sai Chao, Zhang Rong Guang, Quan Cong, Zhang Jin LingLead 2D Graphics:


text:
September is usually a busy roster month and the Cubs are doing nothing to dispel the notion. Two moves of note today, first, the Cubs purchased the contract of Chang-Yong Lim and DFA'd Michael Bowden. Lim is intriguing, the 37-year-old right-handed pitcher was signed this off-season as he was rehabbing from Tommy John Surgery. All that Lim has done since getting back on the mound is dominate, and has done so while pitching at four different levels this year. His most recent stop was at Triple A Iowa where he had an ERA of 0.79 in eleven appearances.
The second move of the day could end up being a big one. There were whispers that once the Red Sox cut Daniel Bard the Cubs would be front-runners to claim him, and they did. This season has been a disaster for Bard, think Rick Ankiel disaster, as Bard can't find the plate. Bard tossed 6.1 innings in the minors this year and threw ten wild pitches and walked twenty-three, yes both numbers are correct. The Cubs don't want that Bard, they want the Bard that was considered to be one of the best bullpen arms in baseball in 2010, and 2011. In 2010 Bard worked 74.2 innings while posting a 1.93 ERA, and in 2011 Bard worked 73 innings with a 3.33 ERA. If Bard can find that magic once again this could be a huge deal for the Cubs as they might have acquired the best set up man in baseball for nothing, well they had to DFA Cole Gillespie to make room, so Bard for Gillespie, I'll take that chance.


text:
Sunday Brunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly Turnovers Recipe
Here's another recipe that I've adapted from my new favorite brunch cookbook, Gale Gand's Brunch! I like what Gale wrote in the headnote for this recipe in her book: "Peanut butter and jelly is one of my favorite classic combinations" (me too, Gale). But in the morning? Why not! Why not, indeed. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cold glass of milk is my idea of a fine, fine breakfast, so from there it's just a hop, skip, and a crimp or two to Gand's peanut butter and jelly turnovers. Gand ices these turnovers, but I don't think the added sugary sweetness is necessary. By the way, you can serve these beauties for dessert at a dinner party with a pitcher of ice-cold milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- One 16-ounce box frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed overnight in the refrigerator
- All-purpose flour, for rolling
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup jelly or jam of your choice
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Lay the puff pastry sheets out on a work surface and roll them out into 10-inch squares, using flour if the pastry sticks. Cut each sheet into four 5-inch squares. Use a pastry brush to brush beaten egg along all four edges of each square. Place 1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter and 1 heaping tablespoon jam in the center of each puff pastry and fold it in half diagonally, pressing the edges together to enclose the filling and working out any air. Use a fork to seal the edges completely by pressing the tines down to make a crimped pattern.
Arrange the pastry triangles on a baking sheet. Brush the surface of the turnovers with beaten egg. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Remove the turnovers from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool slightly. Drizzle the turnovers from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool slightly.
Serve with glasses of really cold milk.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text:
New judge to preside over Argyle fire case
Green County judge appointed to hear case
DARLINGTON, Wis. — A new judge will preside over the trial for two brothers charged with killing three children in a Lafayette County house fire.
Green County Judge Thomas Vale was appointed to replace a Lafayette County judge at the request of Armin and Jeremy Wand. One of the first motions Vale will consider is a defense request that could move the trial out of Lafayette County.
Thirty-two-year-old Armin Wand is the father of the children killed in the fire — 7-year-old Allen, 5-year-old Jeffery and 3-year-old Joseph Wand. The brothers are also facing attempted homicide charges for allegedly trying to kill Armin Wand's wife, Sharon, and their 2-year-old daughter, Jessica.
The State Journal reported the request for a change of venue was based on heavy media coverage of the case.


text:
Normann Copenhagen's Circus pouf is a delightful, Scandinavian take on antique Moroccan poufs. Designer Simon Legald has transformed their traditional patchwork patterns into simple triangles that bring in mind the graphic look of circus tents. The pouf is made of two kinds of foams: the solid base maintains its shape and the soft top provides a comfortable seat. The wooden board at the bottom ensures the pouf's stability. Multifunctional Circus will stand out in any room with its pleasant design and beautiful velour upholstery.
- Manufacturer:
- Normann Copenhagen
- Design:
- Simon Legald
- Colour:
- Dark red
- Height:
- 35 cm
- Diameter:
- 65 cm
- Seat cushion:
- HR foam
- Upholstery fabric:
- 100% polyester, woven velour
- Weight:
- 7 kg
- Care instructions:
- Clean with textile or upholstery cleaner


text:
main(713) 939-7272
Schedule an appointment online with ScheduleNow
To search Houston doctors, please select a specialty & submit your Zip Code below.
To schedule an appointment online, select provider type, service and submit your ZIP code below.
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System has special concern for confidentiality in the workplace. Safeguarding patients' health information is not only a legal requirement but also an important ethical obligation. As a health care provider, Memorial Hermann and its staff are entrusted with clinical information regarding our patients. We recognize that medical and billing records are highly confidential and must be treated with great respect and care by all staff with access to this information. Memorial Hermann's policy regarding confidentiality of protected health care information reflects our strong commitment to protecting the confidentiality of our patients' medical records and clinical information. The "Joint Notice of Privacy Practices" booklet given to every Memorial Hermann patient, explains our policies in more detail. Learn More
MHiE securely and electronically moves your health information among authorized physicians, specialists and healthcare organizations. The types of information exchanged in MHiE include allergies, medications, immunizations, vital signs, test results, chronic conditions and more.
Enrolling in MHiE is voluntary. If you choose to stop participating, any information already in the system will be blocked from access. To end participation in MHiE, you will need to contact MHiE at 713.456.MHiE (6443). Learn More
As a user of this site, you take on certain risks and responsibilities. You also have the right to know how we protect your privacy and ensure your confidentiality and what you should expect from us. Learn More
The marks "Memorial Hermann," "Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital," "Ironman Sports Medicine Institute at Memorial Hermann," "Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute," "Memorial Hermann Medical Group," "Memorial Hermann Prevention & Recovery Center," "Memorial Hermann Women's Hospital," "MHealth," "MHMD," "Mischer Neuroscience Institute at Memorial Hermann," "NewStart," "ScheduleNow," "Texas Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann," "TIRR Memorial Hermann," "University Place" and the Memorial Hermann "glow" logo are trademarks and/or service marks of Memorial Hermann Healthcare. The content and design of Memorial Hermann websites and online services are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. You may not copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, display, transmit, or frame any of these materials without prior written consent from Memorial Hermann or other copyright owners, except that you may view, download, display and print a single copy of these materials on a single computer for personal, noncommercial use only, so long as: (1) you do not alter or modify the materials in any way; (2) you include all applicable notices and disclaimers (including copyright and trademark notices); and (3) you do not use the materials in a way that suggests an association with Memorial Hermann or an affiliated Memorial Hermann entity.


text:
[Global Comment: Africa]
Speaking in advance of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's arrival for the economic meeting in Nairobi, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga was cheered when he declared that we in Africa do not need any lectures from the West.
Of course, lectures are exactly what the African leadership got.
Perhaps the greatest favor that Clinton's visit would do us is if it led our potentates and their hapless subjects to ask one question: Why is Africa poor?
Our continent's penury has been proclaimed far and wide. Governments, NGOs, the media and celebrities alike have taken to the rooftops to proclaim their sorry tale of Africa's woe. We've all heard the statistics. To quote just a few: More than 300 million people south of the Sahara have to survive on less than a dollar a day.
Two thirds of the poorest countries in the world are in Africa, as are 34 of the 35 states with the lowest life expectancy.
However this is at best a misrepresentation of the true story and at worst a deliberate attempt to mask the real and fundamental cause of the continent's underdevelopment.
Africa is possibly the largest producer of raw materials in the world. Our mineral and agricultural resources are what keep the rest of the world churning. Many of the world's largest corporations make their money on the backs of African peasants who receive little in return for their labor.
For example, according to the Global Policy Forum, we together with our brothers-in-alms in Asia and Latin America, grow the coffee that drives a $70 billion global business and accept only $6 billion for our troubles.
African countries harvest about two-thirds of the world's cocoa, the main ingredient for the $75 billion chocolate industry; mine 21 per cent of its gold; and, control nearly 17 per cent of its oil reserves.
Kenya alone is home to fully 10 per cent of the world's unexploited titanium reserves, which some have valued at $11 billion. Yet only 1 per cent of the world's wealth is created in the region between the Sahara and the Cape of Good Hope.
How do we explain this seeming paradox?
First, let us disabuse ourselves of this notion that Africa is poor. Africa is not poor. We lack the things of this world because what we have is freely given away to the developed countries.
For example, in what was then described as "an unprecedented act of generosity," the government of Kenya in 2006 gifted the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company exclusive rights over a total of six out of 11 available oil exploration blocks, after which the Chinese held an auction in London and sold off the concessions.
In the case of the titanium find, Kenya's colonial-era Mining Act stipulates that mining companies pay only 5 per cent of the value of the minerals to the government. According to Haroun Ndubi of Kituo cha Sheria: "A developed country--would be talking about a third of the value of the mineral deposits."
We could also add that it is doubtful that any developed country would allow $11 billion to sit in the ground for 15 years while its citizens starved.
In these and other ways, Africa effectively subsidizes the industrialized world's economies to a scale that dwarfs any of the agricultural subsidies paid to their farmers --also to the detriment of our farmers-- or any amount of aid that they decide to favor us with.
And it doesn't stop there.
We spend our money training countless doctors, nurses and other professionals only to freely send them to work in the West. We receive "aid," promptly pay it back to the "donor" nation's companies, and then are paradoxically still left with a debt whose interest payments are mind-boggling...
Between 1970 and 2002, the countries south of the Sahara received a total of $294 billion in loans. In the same period of time they paid back $268 billion, and accumulated, after interest, a mountain of debt amounting to $210 billion.
Who is responsible for this state of affairs? Not the perennial scapegoats, the West. The truth is that the blame lays squarely with us Africans because we tolerate the situation and accept the rationalizations that support it.
We agree to sell our raw materials on the cheap and cough up to buy back the processed stuff. We accept that the major international commodity exchanges be in the Western capitals that don't produce any commodity.
We faithfully obey the dictates of a patently skewed market; we take the aid that is no aid at all but a form of internationally sanctioned loan-sharking; we buy the weapons that slaughter millions in pointless wars while at the same time we are busy sending peacekeepers to police the war zones of Europe.
We rip off our brethren then stash their hard-earned money away in foreign banks, boosting foreign economies.
This is the real Black Man's Burden -- our largesse.
The west, though, has no interest in solving our root problem because, as we have seen, it benefits handsomely from it. So they foist on us all sorts of agendas and after a lot of soul-searching and wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth, they also provide us with the solutions.
[] More aid; specifically 0.7 per cent of their GDPs -- that's 7 cents out of every $100.
[] Some debt cancellation: More talk on market access and subsidies. Anything to avoid dealing with the central inconsistency of an entire continent sitting on a mountain of wealth and living off a pittance.
In spite of the obvious contradiction, our governments and NGOs fall over themselves to implement the latest proposals, gratefully accepting crumbs as their benefactors in the West continue to feast on bread made from our wheat.
In defining the agenda, the West succeeds in owning the problem. It never ceases to amaze me that any show on Africa by the TV networks always ends up interviewing some white guy from the West.
According to the Washington Post, "When the foreign media descend on the latest crisis, the person they look to interview is invariably the foreign savior, an aid worker from the United States or Europe. African saviors are everywhere, delivering aid on the ground. But they don't seem to be in [the West's] cultural belief system."
Anti-poverty shows meanwhile feature plenty of rich whites bemoaning the open sore that is Africa and a token Black --probably an "enlightened" Aids victim or a survivor of some horrible famine-- as a representative of the redemption a donation of a few dollars can buy.
Bob Geldof's Live AID provides this telling scene as related by Margo Kingston: "Geldof introduced a young Ethiopian woman whose photo we saw from 20 years earlier when she was ten minutes away from death. But the moment was quickly lost; not even here could the audience be trusted with time for memory and reflection. 'Live' overruled Life. The young woman was led onstage to stand by as a prop to Madonna's Like a Prayer. There was no Miriam Makeba on hand to embrace this African sister. A life 'saved' but now ready to aspire to the West's idealized image."
Like the poor Ethiopian, we have become props to the West's struggle with its conscience. Africa is the stage where they seek absolution for their past misadventures, as Parselelo Kantai amply demonstrates in his insightful article, "Death of a Kenyan Dream." They do so, not to relieve our suffering, but theirs.
In this drama, the African has been assigned his stock role of the "noble savage" needing to be rescued from himself while the West is cast as the heroic, self-sacrificing --the whole 7 cents-- harbinger of civilization.
Having accepted our role and donned the costume of moral and material bankruptcy, we have come to rely on them for answers to everything. When a parastatal --state run company-- is insolvent, bring in some Westerner and hey presto! Problem solved. Endemic corruption? Why, let's get some Western "experts" to advise us.
Famines and disease? Here come the white messiahs riding on their standard issue luxury 4 X 4s; and receiving hefty allowances to compensate them for the hardship of exchanging a council house in London for a palatial residence in Muthaiga with several servants thrown in.
Africa needs to wake up and wrest back the problem. It is our problem, not the West's. The solutions will come from us, not them. "Fair trade," debt relief, removal of subsidies and "aid" cannot be anything other than a band-aid on a gaping wound.
We need to extract ourselves from a global trade system that is bleeding us dry. Africa needs to be run for the benefit of Africans, not modern-day imperialists.
The Virginia Centre for the Teaching of International Studies, whose central purpose is to enhance the teaching of international studies in Virginia's middle and high schools, thinks that Grade 8 kids in the US should be able to "identify minerals in sub-Saharan Africa, explain how man uses these minerals and how developed nations need these minerals, identify minerals that are strategically important and examine factors that limit sub-Saharan Africa from becoming more industrialized and using these mineral resources themselves."
I would recommend the same course to Raila and his fellow heads of government.
Patrick Gathara is general secretary of Katuni, the Association of East African.
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...
Black Star News has been producing stellar investigative journalism since 1997, including focusing on police brutality and other abuses targeting marginalized communities. We have broken several major stories. We welcome news tips to firstname.lastname@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com
We need your advertising support to produce strong journalism, especially during periods of economic instability, so please contact firstname.lastname@example.com for advertising rates and long term packages.
Black Star News has been producing stellar investigative journalism since 1997, including focusing on police brutality and other abuses targeting marginalized communities. We have broken several major stories. We welcome news tips to firstname.lastname@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com
We need your advertising support to produce strong journalism, especially during periods of economic instability, so please contact firstname.lastname@example.com for advertising rates and long term packages.
All content is copyright Black Star News © 2011. All rights reserved.


text:
Cat's Science club
Join the Club
Looking for fun and interesting experiments? Look no further! The club has all kinds of activities that are exciting and cool. Tired of just reading books about science but not doing any hands-on? Join the club. We hate to read and not do, so lets get doing.
Welcome to Cat's Science Club! We will show you science that you can do easily at home or in your back yard (with proper adult supervision of course). Cat's Science Club hands-on learning is fun and educational. So, if you like science and having fun, join the club!


text:
Use Current Location
Press the down arrow key to interact with the calendar and
select a date. Press the question mark key to get the keyboard shortcuts for changing dates.
Art & culture
Beauty & wellness
Family & fun
Festivity & celebration
Gastronomy & dining
Romance & honeymoon
Sport & adventure
City & entertainment
The world smallest social network
Are you exploring the world as a couple, with friends or for work? From business trips to family vacations, discover the Golden Tulip experience. For short weekends or longer vacations, our hotels, residences and resorts offer you delightful breaks worldwide. Whether you're skiing, having a city or seaside break, in a suit or a bathing suit, relax in our elegant rooms and suites with top-class services. Our 3, 4 and 5 star establishments will look after you during all your trips, from Italy to Indonesia, and from the streets of Bordeaux to the beaches of Cuba!
A haven of peace and refined warmth, our 4-star Golden Tulip hotels add a nice touch of pleasure to the rank of a high-class establishment. There, you can enjoy a range of entertainment and cozy rooms, whether traveling with the family, friends, for a romantic get-away or traveling for work. You can go for a tandem bike ride, enjoy a quick snack from a food truck or create your own beauty combination in a soap bar. Days interspersed with relaxation sessions in the spa, gourmet meals in the restaurant or creative drinks in our cocktail bar.
Savor a real experience at the heart of our 5-star Royal Tulip hotels. These exceptional establishments are waiting for you in the world's most beautiful destinations, ready to transform your trip into a wonderland full of luxury and special touches. Surrounded by caring staff, pampered by a long list of personalized and extremely high-quality services, you can relax in luxury rooms and suites, magnificent spas and savor local delicacies in our gourmet restaurants. In an elegant, sophisticated and comfortable environment tailored to you, you will enjoy an exceptional stay in luxury hotels and resorts full of state-of-the-art equipment.
Are you on a cultural trip, business trip or visiting family? Whatever your needs, Tulip Inn 3-star hotels can suit your needs quickly and easily, as they are located right in the heart of city centers and business districts. Their practical locations allow you to be close to your meeting venues, to visit the city museums or to explore the shops, before ending the day with a meal in the restaurant, rich in local flavors and a good atmosphere all round. Good value, friendly and functional quality accommodation available for you worldwide!


text:
Last update was written from Minnesota and I was planning on going to Madison WI. I decided to avoid being in the city since it is no fun to be in one while driving a 35ft bus with no particular destination - streets get narrow fast and plus the traffic drives me nuts. Instead I took a smaller highway and headed to Winona MN. On the way there I made this image - the only one for July 21st.
As I mentioned above - I need to post these updated more often because according to my Facebook update on July 22nd at about 1pm I made these images of the lock upon the mighty Mississippi, but the timeline somehow doesn't make sense because I know that I got to Winona on the night of the 21st and these were made before that... So much happens I can't keep my dates straight - sorry.
I do remember that I made it to Winona at night and found a nice bar where to get a pint of local brew. The bar happened to have been owned by a Ukrainian guy and so we had a nice little chat. Well, I was mostly talking to his lovely fiance, who was helping him behind the bar, but it was nice nonetheless.
In the morning I drove to an island in the middle of the river to get some shots of the floating houses that someone at the bar recommended I check out. They were truly unique and I spent quite a good amount of time shooting these unique structures. Apparently no new ones are allowed to be built, so there's a finite number of these odd flotillas.
While on the island I saw a beautiful lady by the name of Elena, who occupied one of the structures. We made conversation and that resulted in me doing one more plate. Unfortunately she was sitting on a floating platform and her dogs were playing next to her and that resulted in a rather blurry image. It wasn't so bad that I wanted to scratch it out, but it wasn't up to the standards of the collections, so I decided to leave it for the model. I also showed her how the plates were prepared and processed and she said that she happens to be a model and works sometimes with a photographer in La Crosse WI who has done some wet plate images of her in the past. I was excited to hear that and asked her for directions to his studio, which she gladly provided, so my next destination was clear. Before setting off from Winona I did go back into town and made these two plates by the light of the setting sun.
La Crosse is not too far from Winona and so I was able to get there pretty quickly and spent the night at a local rest area. In the morning I looked up directions given to me by Elena and drove over to the studio. The sign on the closed door read that the gallery/studio was 'open by appointment and chance' (love that sign!). I thought to myself "what are the chances of me making an appointment for right now?" I called the number provided on the sign and spoke with the owner - David Bass. He was at his regular job, but sounded very excited by me showing up and agreed to meet me on his lunch break and show me the space. I was happy with that arrangement and went to get lunch myself.
David showed up right on time and we had a great time, though it was short due to his work commitments. SG1311 is a space he opened up to the public after the original owner (a painter by the name of Willian Vafeas) passed away in 2011. Now David shows a lot of local artists there, does photography right in that space and shows the wonderful works of Mr. Vafeas as well. David has made tintypes in the past, however he confessed to me that he hasn't done them for a while, but does hope to dig up all the equipment and get back into it soon. I truly hope that he finds time to do that and to see some wet plate work appear on his blog. Meanwhile David collects tintypes and after looking through my most recent plates he expressed interest in purchasing a plate of Aleasha and Ford Fiesta that I made back at Buttercup Ranch in Lake Nebagamon. He also asked if I could make a tintype of his gallery for him and I was happy to oblige. Here is that plate and the one I made along with it of the buildings right next to his. Actually SG1311 is located in a 1898 building that used to be a butcher shop in the olden days and it's really cool to have David now cleanse the space with artistic vibrations. Do check out SG1311 blog - David has already put up an entry about my visit and there's much more about his artistic ventures. David also blessed me with a really nice print of Elena, seeing how I met her and she was the one who brought us together.
After leaving the varnished plate in an vintage Kodachrome 5x7 box along with the shot of Aleasha I moved on down the road. Along the small highway I was traveling by I saw a scene that I couldn't pass up - an American Legion Post 13 in Richland Center WI. Here are some plates from there.
Down the road was a town of Harvard and I reached that place just in time to hear Johnny Cash blaring from the open doors of a small bar. That was a sign for me to go in. As soon as I walked in a guy sitting at the bar looked at me and asked me if I was a blacksmith. I answered that unfortunately I was not and that started a instant friendship. That guy happened to be an artist by the name of Gabriel Karagianis and after a quick beer he invited me to park the bus at the lot by his studio. His studio happened to be located in an huge awesome space called The Starline Gallery and I can't really even begin to describe how cool that space is. Gabriel is a great guy and we had a wonderful time talking about art, listening to Chopin and Felonious Monk, looking at his and mine art and even taking a meandering tour through the winding halls and stairs of the building at close to 3am. Here are some images of Gaberiel's studio and even a short video shot while some of his original music was playing in the background. I was also very happy to trade him one of my silver 8x10s for a high quality poster of one of his paintings.
We stayed up so late that by the time I went to bed it was getting light outside, so I woke up pretty late. In fact Gabriel's phone call woke me up and he brought by another artist friend of his (I am VERY sorry - if you are reading this I do not remember your name friend, but I did very much enjoy meeting you - please contact me and I'll update this little section to include your info). His friend actually happened to have been a photographer back in the days of film and with a glimmer in his eyes remembered the days of shooting 4x5 product shots by a boatload. He also said that somewhere in the attic of his garage there lay giant copy camera bellows and a set of lenses for that camera - he promised to send that to me and so I gave him my card with my San Diego address. It would be really cool if he did send that before I get back home as I can totally use those lenses on the new 24in camera that's waiting for me right now.
From Harvard it was a relatively short drive to a place I've been waiting to visit ever since I started to do Wet Plates - Main Trophy Supply in Mt. Prospect IL. This is the place that supplies aluminum plates to tintype photographers all over the country and even outside of US as well. I have ordered from them in the past and was very excited to actually be there in person. I was also running out of plates, so I re-stocked with about 25 12x24in sheets and had them cut me some more 8x20 plates for the next time I get brave enough to use that monster camera.
The company is small - only 5 employees and I met two of them - Dave (manager) and Karen (the lady who is always so nice on the phone while taking my orders). I think wet plate photographers make up less than 1% of their business - mostly it's companies that make trophies (as the name suggests). They carry aluminum and bronze sheets for plaque engravings in any color, thickness and finish that you can imagine. They even have iodized aluminum and Dave was kind enough to give me a sheet of that to try out. Here are some images from that mecca:
Now when I call up I'll have a wonderful visual of the location and the smiling faces of the people who work there and my readers can see where the support for the tintypes I'm currently making come from. I do wonder where they are actually manufactured... That's next on the list I guess.
Main Trophy Supply is located in an industrial part of Mt. Prospect and I shot the following two images in their parking lot. These images perfectly exemplify industrial parks across America, so I think they are entirely appropriate for my 'Landscape of America' series.
From Mt. Prospect (which, for those of you who don't want to look that up on the map is just above Chicago) I shot down past the windy city with its traffic, crazy road construction and the nation's highest murder rate and back to the small country highways that define America for me. I spent the night parked behind a small grocery store somewhere off the two-lane highway and was awoken rather early by the owners saying that deliveries are coming soon and I had to move... Nowhere near enough sleep was allotted, so in the morning, when I found myself passing a town of Fort Wayne IL and found more industrial parks there, I took a nap before making the following images.
Heading farther east on highway 6 I came upon a town of Waterloo where I saw a very typical mobile home park on the north side of the highway and an out-of-business building on the south side. That provided a perfect opportunity for the following two images. Middle America is full of mobile home parks comprising half of small towns and empty business buildings filling the other half....
These were made on the last of the 4x5 plates that I had originally started the journey with, so that indicates that I have made at least 100 tintypes by now as I vaguely remember there being over 100 to start with. As you can see in the background of the above images, by the time I was done drying these plates the sun has gone down and it was well into the dusk part of the evening. I decided to finally break down and find a motel for one night in hopes of getting some rest and maybe catching up on emails. I reached the city of Bowling Green OH pretty late at night and saw a glowing sign that read 'Best Motel'. Falling for this advertisement I pulled over and got a room. I should have known... Nothing that claims to be 'best' usually lives up to it's name - the room was rather dingy, there was no tub to take a bath (just a very minimalistic shower stall) and above all the internet was so slow and connection so spotty that I barely got to read and answer a few emails before becoming frustrated and falling asleep. I dreamed that a professor that I had in junior college actually bought the 8x10 camera that I could not find in the clutter of the Duluth house and now was trying to sell it to me for an inflated price...
In the morning I had to cut the 12x24in sheets that I just picked up at Main Trophy Supply. I cut down 4 out of 25 sheets into 68 smaller plates - I'll be set for another couple of weeks now. I am very lucky to have this wonderful cutter - it came with a ton of junk for which I overpaid when I bought the equipment of my San Diego darkroom. This cutter rocks and saves me 35¢ for every plate that I cut. Furthermore it is a very expensive cutter and I would never be able to talk myself into buying it if I didn't have it already. On top of that this one can even be considered to be vintage by now as it was made in Western Germany - a country I grew up knowing, but that no longer exists.
While I was at work the bus drew the attention of the owners of the motel (an Indian family). I was going to make a couple of plates of the motel (as it was again a very typically American one) and so I offered them a rare opportunity to see the creation of a tintype. The kids jumped on the opportunity, but their father waited outside of the darkroom - I think the heat and ether fumes were too much for him while the kids were so interested that they didn't seem to mind those factors too much. Here they are watching the magic of a clearing plate come to life and the images created on the property of 'Best Motel'.
I really didn't drive as far as I planned before seeing a scene that drew my attention - ruins of a barn were being burned and a very interesting boat was sitting just by the raging fire. I turned around an pulled right onto the property, approached the owner who was idly watching the flames, explained what I was doing and was given permission to park anywhere and do what I needed to do. I was very interested in how fire would show up on tintypes. The answer came soon - NOT AT ALL! Here is a an image (Fuji FP100c with Polaroid 450 camera) of what the fire looked like:
And here is the resulting two plates. Notice that there seems to be no fire at all! The exposures were 2 seconds at f16 and 1/4sec at f5.6 (the sun was going in and out explaining the difference). I did suspect that I will not get much of the flames to show as collodion images are sensitive to UV and blue light, but I thought at least some glow will be recorded... Nope - daylight completely overpowered the flame and the scene looks more like a post-war smoulder than a full-on fire.
I swear - there were 3ft tall flames in both of these compositions... Collodion sees right through them though. Oh well, it was well worth a try and the experience. Plus the owner of the property got to observe a making of a tintype and then we had a very nice chat while I was washing the plates.
After drying the above tintypes I said my goodbyes and pulled out of the driveway back onto highway 6. While waiting for the cars to clear the way for Gilli I saw an interesting character walking on the side of the road heading west just about 40ft to the right of me. I think this is the first pedestrian I saw on a side of the road for a long long while, so I paid close attention when I passed him. he was pushing a baby stroller and on top of the gear loaded was a sign proclaiming that he is WALKING ACROSS USA! WOW! I couldn't believe my eyes, immediately pulled over, left the bus idling, grabbed my Rolleiflex, caught up to him and made one exposure before calling his attention (can't wait to actually develop that shot and send him a copy). Turns out that his name is Don Erickson and he's walking from NY to CA to raise awareness about organ donation for Iowa Donation Network. What an incredible coincidence to run into this guy! We hugged, wished each other safe travels and good weather and went on in opposite directions. Here is a shot of Don with Gilli in the background and the driveway that I pulled out from on the right. He also asked me to stand behind his stroller and took a very similar picture with his phone - can't wait to see it! Good luck Don! It's a great cause and you are doing a wonderful thing.
The rest of the day my mood was definitely uplifted by this most random encounter. I drove a bit north to the shore of Lake Erie and found a nice little park from where I could make some exposures of this great body of water. When I pulled in I saw a sweet-looking older couple sitting in folding chairs gazing at the water. I decided that my first exposure will be of them, but I wanted it to be as natural as possible - they were so engulfed in the bliss of the moment that they didn't even turn around when I parked the bus just about 40ft behind them and set up my 4x5. I really love the resulting plate as it really has a feel of a lot of my street images. After developing the plate I showed it to them and they told me that today was their anniversary! Here's to Mel and Carol - may you have many more happy anniversaries! I sent them a copy of this image - hope they print it out nicely, the plate is really nice actually - the shadow detail and the fact that the sunny background both recorded were slightly surprising to me, maybe I'm getting better at this whole tintype thing...
After my tintype paparazzi experience I made the following plate of the quiet beauty of Lake Erie's shoreline. The Great Lakes are really something to behold... Beautiful!
Washed and dried the plates and decided to have a sandwich at the table by which Mel and Carol were sitting (they had left by that time). While I was making my sandwich a family had occupied the table, so I chose to sit not too far from them on a lonely bench. Just as I sat down they had a delivery of pizza come to the park and I overheard one of them saying that they didn't have napkins, so I went to the bus where I have a plentiful supply of those and brought out a stack. In return I was rewarded with a few slices of delicious local pizza pictured below.
I wasn't about to get free food without some sort of a return favor (napkins just didn't seem enough), so I invited all 5 aboard the bus and gave them a really quick history of photography rundown - starting with camera lucida and shadow drawings, through daguerreotypes, tintypes and albumen prints and into platinum, carbon, gum and bromoil prints and finishing up with gelatin silver and Ansel Adams. They thanked me profusely and said that since their two kids are home-schooled this was a really nice treat - that made me even happier than I already was and so I decided that it was time for this update.
Now I am sitting at Blue Sky restaurant in Amherst OH, it's 3am, I'm hopped up on coffee and am actually ready to go back to the bus and varnish the 28 plates that I have recently made. I really shouldn't fall back on both writing blog entries and varnishing plates - this update took me a few hours to write and then 28 plates are going to take me another few hours to varnish (especially seeing how I really should filter the varnish at this point).
Tomorrow I will sleep in as long as the sun will allow me and go explore Cleveland.
How was that for a 100th post?


text:
(Reuters) - They call it "rahowa" - short for racial holy war - and they are preparing for it by joining the ranks of the world's fiercest fighting machine, the U.S. military.
White supremacists, neo-Nazis and skinhead groups encourage followers to enlist in the Army and Marine Corps to acquire the skills to overthrow what some call the ZOG - the Zionist Occupation Government. Get in, get trained and get out to brace for the coming race war.
If this scenario seems like fantasy or bluster, civil rights organizations take it as deadly serious, especially given recent events. Former U.S. Army soldier Wade Page opened fire with a 9mm handgun at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin on August 5, murdering six people and critically wounding three before killing himself during a shootout with police.
The U.S. Defense Department as well has stepped up efforts to purge violent racists from its ranks, earning praise from organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has tracked and exposed hate groups since the 1970s. Read More
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Army battling racists within its own ranks
Posted by Lynsey at 2:15 PM
Categories: SOCIETY'S COLLAPSE


text:
My dear friend Asha some time ago asked me if I was willing to participate to her street-food month to celebrate her blog anniversary.
No doubts I wanted to be part of such fun and deserved celebrations though I was a bit doubtful about venturing into German street food. You see, what passes for street food here is mostly grilled sausages in a bun, with French fries or with a curried ketchup sauce. Not really my cup of tea as concerning experimentation.
Sicilian street food was the way to go.
Lately I have seen quite a number of Arancini posts around the blogospheres so I thought I should give it a try but in one of those blissful moment of inspiration I remembered of another street food that I simply adore:
Crispelle di riso di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's sticky rice fritters)
For the recipe let's head over to Asha's.


text:
Mexican Americans in Texas: A Brief History
Wiley, Jan 20, 2009 - History - 219 pages
This third edition of our ground-breaking publication, the first survey of Tejanos, has been completely updated to present a concise political, cultural, and social history of Mexican Americans in Texas from the Spanish colonial era to the present day, a time when people of Mexican descent are poised to become the demographic majority in the Lone Star.
Writing specifically for the college-level student and careful to include a consensus of the latest literature in this strong and continually growing field, Professor De León portrays Tejanos as active subjects, not merely objects, in the ongoing Texas story. Complemented by a stunning photographic essay and a helpful glossary, and featuring new biographical vignettes that now introduce and set the context for each chapter, this third edition of our well-loved text is certain to be even more engaging and relevant to readers of all levels.
And while the book targets a wide reading audience, it is ideally fit for classroom use. Professors teaching courses in Texas, western, and borderlands history will find it an ideal complement to their class lectures and other outside reading assignments. Of particular interest to students will be discussions describing the survival techniques Tejanos developed to withstand poverty and disadvantage, the process of assimilation over many generations, the changes engendered by the Chicano Movement of the 1960s, the role of political figures such as José Antonio Navarro, J. T. Canales, Alonso Perales, Héctor P. García, or Irma Rangel, or the impact of court cases like which Hernández v. Texas or Plyler v. Doe that changed the direction of Mexican American history.


text:
World Environment Day? People celebrate World Environment Day in many ways. Some of these are tree plantations, forwarding environment conservation messages on social media, talk shows by conservators, car rallies to spread environmental awareness to name a few. Are these activities causing any impact? Woefully, NO!
The fact is humans are chained by habits. We don't like altering our lifestyle which produces discomfort. A critical question is what are we accomplishing at our personal level for the environment? I'm sharing three pictures to highlight some of the environmental issues here in Jaipur.
- Nahargarh Hills
I captured this picture on a road which leads to the Nahargarh Fort. This 6 Km road is Jaipur's biggest "Open Air Bar". Residents love driving to the fort with friends & enjoy drinks with awesome city view from Nahargarh Hills. This is what draws people to Nahargarh hills
Everyone is free to enjoy in their own ways. Leaving behind trash by way of emptied bottles, wrappers, plastic glasses flying around is not a sign of a sensible person. There is a large amount of trash lying on both sides of this road. The leftover of "Good Times". Let's ask ourselves if we will ever do this in our home?
2. Heritage walk in Jaipur
I clicked this picture at the Heritage walkway in the walled city area of Jaipur. It is enough to put all citizens of Jaipur to embarrassment! Heritage walkway draws many tourists, every day. A picture from Jaipur Heritage Walkway. Click here for details.
Looking at all this filth strewn around is a shame. Local residents dispose of their garbage in the street for the sweepers to settle it. Till the time a clean up takes place, litter sits on the street. People are only concerned with keeping their houses clean. Neighborhood? It's not their problem. This prompts me of a video I saw many months ago. A gentleman in Mumbai got infuriated with people throwing trash out of their cars on roads. To teach them a lesson, he picked up trash thrown by these insensitive people and chased them. He unloaded it all back in their car! It's not a bad idea if it works!!
3. Jal Mahal, Jaipur
These pictures are from Mansagar lake/ Jal Mahal, a notable tourist attraction in Jaipur. It is popular among tourists by the name of the water palace. Here is a picture of Jal Mahal along with Mansagar Lake.
The Mansagar lake surrounding the Jal Mahal is home to various species of fishes, birds & turtle. Many people throw bread, biscuit, etc in the lake to feed fish unaware that their action is causing damage to its delicate ecology. You can refer to the entire story here in this write-up posted earlier. The newspaper reported recently on fishes dying because of water pollution.
Yes, we need planting more trees, bring down the pollution levels and so on. Can we at least improve upon environment & things around us? Make a small change rather than participating in press conferences, talk shows, rallies, etc. which makes no difference? More action and fewer talks! Let's begin at our own level!
You can read more write on conservation here.
Stay updated via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram


text:
George Pimentel/WireImage
Bienvenido, baby!
Pen lope Cruz and Javier Bardem welcomed their second child on Monday, July 22, Hola reports.
Cruz, who is said to have delivered a daughter in Madrid, flew under the radar, giving birth the same day as Kate Middleton.
Details or official confirmation of the couple's new addition – who joins big brother Leonardo, 2 – have not been released.
Following months of speculation that Cruz, 39, and Bardem, 44, were expanding their family further, PEOPLE confirmed in February that a second baby was on the way.
And when the actress was unable to attend Spain's Goya Awards weeks later, her rep issued a statement that simultaneously explained her absence and confirmed her second pregnancy. "[Penelope is] tremendously happy and very excited," her rep said at the time.
– Anya Leon


text:
Joanne Fiore
Vice President, Professional Media, Pathways and Inclusion
Joanne Fiore is Vice President of Professional Media, Pathways and Inclusion at the American Institute of CPAs. In this role, she is responsible for the AICPA's newsletters, flagship magazines Journal of Accountancy and The Tax Adviser, and other related news aggregation and advertising activities.
In addition, Fiore oversees the development of programs that engage accounting educators, refine accounting curriculum, and advance future generations of CPAs. Her teams drive student awareness of the CPA profession and promote the value of sitting for the CPA exam. Fiore oversees the Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program, AICPA Scholarships, and the efforts of the National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. Her team supports activities related to the CGMA designation, including CGMA Advantage and Financial Management magazine.
Fiore joined the Institute in July 2006 as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Accountancy and was promoted to Publisher of Magazines and Newsletters in 2008. In this role she has vastly improved the standing and content of the JofA and The Tax Adviser, deepened the quality and sharpened the focus of our vast array of newsletters and created an expertise in news generation and aggregation. Her team brought the JofA into the digital age with a robust website, award-winning mobile app, and social media coverage of daily accounting, tax and business news.
Fiore has over 25 years of leadership experience, having previously served as President of Oakstone Legal and Business Publishing, and prior to that as Vice President of Editorial of LRP Publications.
She has served as Board Chair for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, and prior to that as Executive Director of the Mount Snow Valley, Vermont, Chamber of Commerce.
Fiore earned her BA from the University of Texas at Austin and is a graduate of New York University School of Law, admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania.


text:
Our product team was reviewing the feature backlog to determine what should have top priority. We'd heard from many of our larger customers that they wanted Users and Groups to be supported by my company's product, ProtoShare. There were user stories written for this: "As an editor I want to be able to easily hide/expose content to arbitrary groups of users so that I can control their experience" – which was the main story that we wanted to tackle.
I really like user stories for higher-level stakeholders. Executives and business analysts approach the problem of product development from a different angle. The primary motive is "what can we build that will increase our revenue the most?" Now, thankfully, this dovetails with "what do our current users want?" and "what do potential customers want?" but it puts a particular lens on the problem. By focusing on a user story, which can be written quickly and understood at a high level, you can make a pretty good rough-cut at what you should build and what the business value should be.
Now in a pure Agile environment, this user story might have been sent straight to developers. Can you see the danger here? I've heard of Agile teams who want only one sentence of guidance before they start coding. If your developers are also UX experts, no problem. They can solve the user issue, design and develop a solution, and off you go.
So what did we do next? We prototyped. Using ProtoShare, our UX Guru prototyped an implementation hypothesis. It included facets of the issue that weren't included in the original user story: If arbitrary groups are supported, how are they managed? Do users have their own groups or are they project-wide or account-wide? If someone is added to a group, what happens to all the artifacts that the group is subscribed to? Are groups just a way to select a bunch of users or do they have some independent existence?
Prototyping made these issues concrete. Instead of thinking up all the edge cases, the higher-level users could experience the prototype and would ask specific questions (e.g. "I want to do this, how do I do it?"). Now sometimes these questions fall outside of the original user story, but sometimes they don't. In the end, we answered enough of these questions to take it to our end users.
So we ran some sessions with customers who had specifically asked for this feature. They had lots of users. During these sessions, the reaction was typically: "yeah, this is useful, but I really want it to do X, Y and Z." Ultimately, once the users saw and experienced the feature, they were able to effectively judge the actual value of the feature to them. What we realized is that the feature we were considering to be the top business priority was really a "nice to have" for a handful of larger customers.
You can see why the business stakeholders liked this feature at first: it met the needs of our largest customers. The thinking was that we want to keep them happy, and that by addressing this need we would be a better fit for other big customers. And there was nothing obvious that appeared to serve this end better.
So our UX team learned, through collaboration with the business stakeholders, what the value proposition was for this feature. The business stakeholders learned, through collaboration, that the feature was deeper, more complicated and had more profound implications than were obvious at first glance. And both business stakeholders and the UX team learned from customers that this really wasn't going to help us sell any more product.
Missing from this story is our development team. They never got involved other than some initial feedback about the feasibility and technical difficulties of various proposals. They continued to work on the already prioritized and understood features.
If we had decided to go ahead and build this feature, there would have been additional collaboration all up and down the chain focusing on development implications. (There are frequently even more missed functionality discoveries once development starts. Having open lines of communication to clear these up quickly is important.) By the time implementation was complete, business, UX, developers and end users would all understand and confirm the value of the feature.
Ultimately, the decision was made not to add this functionality in the next sprint. The total elapsed time between the initial prioritization of the idea and its abandonment as top priority was 3 days. But what I really love about this process is that we actually significantly moved the ball forward on this feature. We didn't drop the idea completely, we just adjusted its priority. And the knowledge and understanding of the problem didn't disappear. The user story is still in our system and it is linked directly to prototypes that explore the problem, questions and comments by all stakeholders, decisions and resolutions that are recorded along with their reasoning.
Something else you'll notice about this story is that for each step in the collaboration, there are defined roles: business analysts prioritize the user stories and communicate that to UX. UX investigates the stories and communicates those issues to business analysts. Part of UX's investigation involves testing hypotheses with end users.
This process emphasizes my two touchstones for successful UX: user testing and validation, and creation of a shared understanding. One other feature of this method of collaboration is that you need to maintain structure and responsibility for the various stages of the collaboration. This is not free-form brainstorming. It's adding collaboration to a defined process. Business analysts do their work, and then they are required to communicate it to UX. The communication is a two-way street, with the goal of creating shared understanding. UX pros do their work and communicate it to business analysts, end users and developers, again in a back-and-forth process that listens to feedback, gathers evidence and responds to it.


text:
"Crazy, Stupid, Love" is a trans-generational look at the madness often inspired by affairs of the heart. It stars Steve Carell as Cal, a freshly cuckolded family man who is mentored by a relentless Lothario (Ryan Gosling) in the art of getting women in bed in an effort to help him reclaim his manhood.
Though not without its problems, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" transcend its faults on the strength of its cast and injects a rare level of smarts and depth into the rom-com genre.
Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa quickly establish the state of Cal's marriage to Emily (Julianne Moore) with a single shot of their feet—he's sporting a pair of white New Balance 407s, she's' rocking 4-inch heels. Suffice to say, these two have arrived at different places inexplicably together.
Cal is well-trod territory for Carell, a mix of his clueless "40-Year-Old Virgin" and his too-settled character from "Date Night," but here Carell plays the part with sincere moments of drama. The situations are easily played for jokes, but there's real pain behind the laughter.
The casting of Gosling is absolutely inspired. News that he was taking this role was met with incredulity, but watching him play Jacob with self-aware glee is a treat. The professional ladykiller is a role that begs to be played broadly, tempting less disciplined actors to go over the top. But Gosling resists, playing it straight, letting the inherent ridiculousness of skirt-chasing supply the humor, occasionally letting a little twinkle in his eye let you know he knows how stupid he is.
Gosling and Carell develop a great rhythm, one that shifts to track the progress of the dynamic between the two. Gosling is equally great opposite Emma Stone who plays the woman with whom he unexpectedly falls in love. His first attempt to bed her is a master class is modern day thrust-and-parry, and the night she goes home with him hums with chemistry--if only there were more of it.
Unfortunately, screenwriter Dan Fogelman spreads the love around too thinly--Cal's 13-year-old son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo) is in love with his 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton) who's in love with Cal… And Ficarra and Requa lose the reigns on the tone of the film as it devolves into French farce territory. Fogelman has made a career of penning animated films for kids, while Ficarra and Requa are the guys whose explorations of humanity's darker side includes "Bad Santa" - "Crazy Stupid Love" at times feels like those two sensibilities are fighting for primacy.