text:
In-flight movies used to provide the very definition of the term "captive audience". I remember reading that there are always a million people in the air, flying to various destinations, and it's fun to picture them all being forced to watch Kurt Russell in Disney's THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD as they scream through the stratosphere in their jet-propelled passenger tubes. Of course, they had the option of not watching anything, unless they had the misfortune of flying Air Ludovici.
Today the options are wider, so I got to pick from a range of recent product. BENJAMIN BUTTON felt like a transatlantic journey when I saw it in an earthbound auditorium, and it seemed possible that MARLEY & ME might have me tearing open the emergency exit or attempting to detonate my shoe within seconds of the opening credits, so I gave both a wide berth and started in on Clint Eastwood's GRAN TORINO. This seemed not bad, although the caricaturing of Clint's family was overdone: Clint's face creasing into that ever-so-familiar moue of distaste at the sight of his granddaughter's pierced navel was extremely funny, but when the kid turned out to be an incredibly spoiled, insensitive brat, it seemed to let some of the wind out of the humour. Clint's legendary hard-line stance, applied to domestic drama, is a promising trope, epitomised by his beautiful Harry Callahan line-reading, "Get off my lawn," but it's more effective if the stuff he's pitted against starts very small and petty. When the grand-daughter openly laughed at Clint's wife's funeral, I sort of felt he'd be justified in reaching for the Magnum right there and then.
But I can't actually critique this film because an aeroplane isn't the place to watch it, and I started to feel restless. Maybe you just need distracting crap when you're hurtling about the upper atmosphere. I put on QUANTUM OF SHIT-TITLE, the latest James Bond. I'd heard that the opening car chase epitomised what I shall henceforth call the New Incoherence, that tendency of action movies nowadays to serve up ten minutes of motion-blur and impact FX and call it a brilliantly choreographed set-piece.
The film begins, with chase in media res, and I thought, "No, what's happening here is that they've reduced the chase to the abstract, details and moments, and it will settle down and become specific soon." It seemed like a nice way to start a chase.
But not, I would submit, a nice way to continue and end it. Who's driving which car? Which car is in front? A police radio voice, obviously dubbed in to add a vestige of clarity, says something about a grey Aston Martin, so I started looking for the familiar Bond car, latest model. But Bond's car is black, like all the other cars (a fairly basic mistake, surely?). Then the titles, full of CGI sand-storms, which are the one thing CGI can't do at all (see THE MUMMY and sequels) and the worst Bond theme song ever, and I turn off.
FROST/NIXON. Fiona had been keen on seeing this, and I'd poo-pooed it. Didn't want to see no stinkin' Ron Howard film. Fiona like Michael Sheen and Frank Langella and Toby Jones, and while I do too, I felt it would be wrong to let that sway me.
Fiona was right, in that the film is very entertaining, and perfect for those parts of your journey when the craft is buffeted by what they call "rough air" and I call GUSTS OF DEATH.
Howard is genetically bland, but skilled. He knows how to serve up his performances, catching an expression just as a door closes. He's tasteful to the point of translucency, but the plus side of that is he didn't slather the movie in retro-details or an oldies soundtrack. I was waiting for the one '70s song to come in a the end though, and it did. Donna Summer.
Michael Sheen at times resembles one of his previous roles, Tony Blair, as much as he does David Frost, perhaps because he's trying to avoid caricature, and Frost has plunged into self-caricature these days. When a member of the public accosts Sheen's Frost with the catchphrase, "Hello, good evening, and welcome," the presenter remarks, "I don't actually say that." But Frost today does. He has embraced the one-dimensional image people have of him. (Anybody can impersonate Frost by shaking there head violently from side to side as they speak; Frost doesn't actually do this, but he sounds as if he does.) Frost, at least in this movie, resembles Blair in that he's an over-confident idiot who faces the world from behind a protective grin, raised before him like a Roman legionary's shield.
Frank Langella as President Dracula is a welcome relief from the ludicrous Spitting Image Nixon puppet seen in WATCHMEN. He's not quite as magnificent as Philip Baker Hall in Altman's SECRET HONOR, but he's good. His slurring is authentic, although in his drunk scene it threatens to jam the film in the projector. He sounds like a man going back in time underwater.
It turns out I've seen Rebecca Hall in three different things now, and liked her in all of them, but her range of accents and mannerisms is so rich I never realised it was the same person. I wonder if this will actually hinder her career. It doesn't seem to be doing so.
Matthew Macfadyen is good as John Birt, although not to mention that he later helped destroy the BBC seems a wasted opportunity (neverwaste an opportunity to kick John Birt) and Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt actually become the characters you care about. Impossible to really root for Frost. And I certainly hope nobody wants me to root for Tricky. Toby Jones is hilarious as Swifty Lazar, Nixon's agent. The whole performance is reduced to a sneering expression, plus Jones's startling appearance: bald, round, shiny and beautiful, like a woman's knee. A woman's knee emerging from a shirt collar. My God, that's an arousing image.
Oh, and Kevin Bacon is playing Clint Eastwood, although for some reason his character is called Jack Brennan.
Peter Morgan's script is very entertaining, serving up chucklesome moments with the regularity of a tennis champ. It simplifies and distorts, of course. I liked the description of Nixon as having "an anti-democratic personality," but the movie, like Frost, doesn't really bring home the enormity of the man's crimes. There is a good bit about the bombing of Cambodia, but nobody actually comes out and informs the modern audience (whom they're otherwise quite concerned about) that it was illegal. You could walk out of this movie believeing, as Nixon wants Frost to accept, that it was simply a bit of policy that went wrong. Next to that, the film's most obvious central lie, that the Frost-Nixon interviews made riveting, dramatic television (they were mostly a snooze) is unimportant.
Still, emboldened at my success in actually watching a film in mid-air, I decided to try something cinematically more stimulating. MILK.
Great film, and an instructive contrast to FROST/NIXON. There's more period flavour, much of it thanks to Harris Savides's beautiful grainy photography. More of a melange of pop music, but some interesting and erratic choices to stop it becoming a tedious array of chart-toppers. While some critics found the film too conventional to satisfy as a Gus Van Sant movie, apart from the too-familiar device of Milk recording his testament on a tape deck, I found the narrational strategies pretty interesting: it's a mix-and-match approach rather than a "pure" style, with mocked-up home movies, titles on screen, close-ups of campaign posters, split-screen — whatever works.
At the eye of the storm is Sean Penn, giving one of those rare performances which deserve awards and get them. It's a major transformation without announcing itself as one. His Harvey Milk is lovable, which is something I've never felt about a Penn characterisation before. Those aspects of Penn that can seem unappealing — vague aspects I can't even put a finger on, apart from his obvious unhandsomeness, which are deployed extremely well when he's playing sleaze-bags and creeps — become endearing vulnerabilities here. His observation of the man he's playing seems acute, and he's not pussyfooting around trying to avoid caricature, he just goes for the essence and trusts that will stop any of the outward aspects appearing too outre.
The film I thought of most apart from FROST/NIXON (which, after all, I'd just watched) was PHILADELPHIA, which always seemed like a chickenshit movie to me — well-intentioned and anemic, and paralysed at the thought of its historical import. Jonathan Demme, a nice fellow and a skilled filmmaker, in trying to make a film that would convert homophobes, converted himself into a cartoon Stanley Kramer. Just comparing the Demme and the Van Sant in their approach to the male-on-male kiss, which seems to petrify everybody concerned with PHILADELPHIA, but which is treated in MILK just as it should be — as no big deal. Because if you see it as a big deal, it becomes one. You can't kiss well under such pressure. And if you're worried that your audience can't handle this image… who is your audience? And why do you want to pander to such idiots? MILK, for all its greater "explicitness" (only the playful butt-slap might raise an eyebrow in a "straight movie") contains nothing that could shock a sentient human not deeply entrenched in prejudice. I think it's about context.
Maybe on the return trip I'll try GRAN TORINO again.


text:
Twin City Livery And Limousine Service
Address: Minneapolis, 55408, Minnesota
Address: Minneapolis, 55408, Minnesota
Address: Minneapolis, 55441, Minnesota
Address: Burnsville, 55337, Minnesota
Glidden Limousine Is A Full Service Limousine Company Offering Stretch Limousines As Well As Sedan Service. "total Reliabili more
Address: Saint Paul, 55130, Minnesota
We Have It Town Car's/Suv's H2 Hummer's/Excurison's / Ten Passanger Limousine's/ "you Drink We Drive" 651-777-3500 more
Address: Shakopee, 55379, Minnesota
Address: Richfield, 55423, Minnesota
Black 7 Pass Suburbans more
Address: , 55108, Minnesota
Early Am Specialist more
Address: St. Paul, 55116, Minnesota
Twin Cities Most Affordable Transportation Company more
Address: Minneapolis, 55410, Minnesota
Making Your Experience Memorable For Many Different Occasions. Call Bella Viaggio Limousine Today For Your Special Day! more
Address: Woodbury, 55119, Minnesota
12 Passenger $99. Hour No Rules Call Harold For A Great Deal Tell Him Sam Sent You more
Address: Shakopee, 55379, Minnesota
Excel Limousine Offers Luxury Transportation In The Minneapolis & St Paul, Mn. Metro Area. more

subset: commoncrawl


text:
All Items : Character Collectibles : Movies : Pre 1950 item #928533
Geri and Dan Tucker
This General MacArthur charactor mug was made between 1946 and 1948, and is marked: "Made In Occupied Japan". It is well done and has a nice glaze on it. We doubt if it was ever used.


text:
I was giving my sister-in-law a ride down to one of the New York airports this morning and she was telling me this story about how she had gotten in trouble taking some pictures over at the local mall. Now, mind you, she was taking pictures of the swans swimming around in the retention ponds outside the mall, beyond the parking lots. A security guard (???) went over to her and said she couldn't take pictures, it was against the law. Yeah, right. Today's image presents sort of the two sides to that story. It is a photograph, taken with a digital camera and "photoshopped" to look like a sketch. The house is the Mark Twain House at Nook Farm in Hartford Connecticut. It's on private property as is the mall in this discussion. If today's image were a "real" sketch, the artist could have sat at the same spot, put up an easel and sketched away. (Would have been a really nice pencil sketch, but you can probably find a hundred artists who could do it justice.) At times, the (whatever it is) Nook Farm Association or Mark Twain Society or something invites/sponsors/encourages artists to do "en plein air" work in the yards. I don't know that the mall does the same type of thing, but it's certainly something they "could" do. So, the question is: Canvas? Yes. Camera? No. Hit the "Read More" to find out what's up.
Hope in a Picture
2 days ago


text:
The Huntsman: Winter's War
Year: 2016
Duration: 1h 54min
IMDb: 6.1
Country: USA
Actors: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach, Sope Dirisu, Sam Hazeldine, Sam Claflin, Sophie Cookson, Conrad Khan, Niamh Walter, Nana Agyeman-Bediako
The evil Ravenna finds that her sister Freya is pregnant and in love with a noble. Freya gives birth to a baby girl but her beloved lover murders the baby and her rage unleashes ice powers and she kills him. Freya heads to North and builds a palace and an army that captures children from the villages to be raised as soldiers without love. Years later, their children Eric and Sara are grown-up and in love with each other. They plan to flee from the castle, but Freya finds and builds an ice wall between them. Eric sees Sara being murdered stabbed on her back by their friend Tull and he is dumped in a frozen river but he survives. Eric, a.k.a. The huntsman grieves the death of his beloved Sara on a daily basis. One day, Snow White is ill and her husband seeks out Eric to tell that the Magic Mirror was taken while carried to a place called Sanctuary. Eric teams-up with two dwarfs to find the mirror, but they are attacked by Freya army and saved by Sara that is alive. She tells that she ...


text: Brand Marketing This Is Advertising's Next Great Leap Forward Right message, right person, right timeBy Garett Sloane|December 9, 2013 Share By Garett Sloane|December 9, 2013 Share The next leap in advertising is literally the ability to leap across screens. Picture a brand's multipart marketing story that begins on your tablet and ends on your smartphone. Sequential messaging is digital advertising's next act, and software, device and ad tech firms are scrambling to build the infrastructure to make it happen. The concept is simple enough, but execution requires powerful technology and perfect coordination. Given how seamlessly consumers move from one device to another, so too must the ads. "You have to put the right message in front of the right person at the right time," explained Omnicom Digital CEO Jonathan Nelson. "And now you have to show the right message a number of times, sending a sequence of messages that build on each other." Seems simple enough, but the current technology is imperfect. Sequential messaging demands the most accurate identifying software, which is one of the reasons why the industry is shifting away from relying on cookie-based profiling on desktops toward a world where it tracks users with unique IDs as they log onto smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and wearable computers. For instance, Microsoft has developed ID software to target users on its Surface tablets. It's also among the companies developing sequential messaging capabilities, per sources. The dynamic ad format would draw marketers like studios promoting new movie trailers. Also, TV advertisers could amplify their campaigns on second screens or in companion apps like Twitter and Facebook. In test cases, sequential messaging is already showing results for advertisers and influencing consumers, according to Paul Dolan, svp of global business development at Xaxis. "The data shows it works," he said. "When you reach someone with a digital video message, then follow that up with a display ad to reach them on a PC and reach them again on mobile—one plus one equals three types of results." Share http://adweek.it/19dKrL0 copy Adweek Adweek


text:
Lenovo describes its IdeaPad U series as "head turning". More cruel pundits than us might add "stomach" to that, if leaked shots of the upcoming IdeaPad U260 are anything to go by.
With your choice of colours set to orange or brown, and a design that manages to match a convex rear to a concave front, some will say there's only one word for it: fugly.
Sorry, Lenovo. We like your other stuff but not this, even if it does have sub-notebook dimensions - 12.5in screen, 17.8mm thickness - and comes with a choice of ultra-low voltage Intel Core i3 and i5 processors, according to ThinkPads.com, which posted the details first.
No word yet on pricing, but you'll get 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4GB of memory and 320GB of hard drive space, plus Ethernet, HDMI, VGA and a pair of USB ports. ®


text:
Congrats to both Logan Watkins and Nicholas Struck as they have been named Minor League Players of the Year for the Cubs organization. Logan is the actual "player" of the year, and Struck is the pitcher of the year, both guys had great seasons, and did so rather quietly. They should be known by now as they have some hardware backing their name now, he is more on their season via Carrie Muskat of Cubs.com.
Infielder Logan Watkins and right-handed pitcher Nick Struck were named the Cubs' Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. The two will be honored Monday at Wrigley Field. Watkins, 23, hit .281 with 93 runs scored, 20 doubles, 11 triples, nine home runs and 52 RBIs in 133 games for Double-A Tennessee. He led the Southern League in runs scored, was second in triples and walks (76) and was fourth in on-base percentage (.383). Originally selected in the 21st round of the 2008 Draft, Watkins owns a .285 batting average in 475 career Minor League games.
Struck, 22, went 14-10 with a 3.18 ERA in 28 games (26 starts) for Tennessee. He led the Southern League in victories, ranked third with 155 2/3 innings pitched and fourth in ERA. He led the club with 123 strikeouts, walked 44, and limited opposing hitters to a .238 batting average. From May 29 through the end of the season, Struck went 10-5 with a 2.29 ERA in 18 games (16 starts). All told, Struck allowed three or fewer earned runs in 20 of his 26 starts while he issued two or fewer walks in 21 starts. Chicago's 39th round selection in the 2009 Draft, Struck is 32-27 with a 3.50 ERA in 84 career Minor League games, including 73 starts. He has struck out 330 batters while walking 134, and has surrendered 28 home runs in 431 2/3 innings pitched
I just completed Logan Watkins' player card, just after he won the award, so I guess I will have to edit that. Nicholas Struck should be up soon, congrats to both guys, great season!
Thanks for reading,
– George


text:
Can You Guess Which Rapper Lives in This Mansion?
This Diamond Bar, Calif., property belongs to one Cali-bred spitter. Can you guess who owns this mansion?
The owner of this mansion grew up in Long Beach, Calif., and formed the group 213 with rapper Warren G, which eventually allowed them to launch their respective musical paths. From the jump, this rhymer established a lauded solo career and for his debut, sold one million copies during its release week in 1994. Last year, he announced a major name change in relation to his new found religion in Rastafarianism.
Have you guessed which rapper owns this mansion? Click below to find out.


text:
The Woman Who Died a Lot (Hardcover)
Now with 50% Added Subplot
Viking Books, 9780670025022, 366pp.
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Other Editions of This Title:
Paperback (9/24/2013)
Hardcover, Large Print (2/22/2013)
The Bookworld's leading enforcement officer, Thursday Next, has been forced into a semiretirement following an assassination attempt, returning home to Swindon and her family to recuperate.
But Thursday's children have problems that demand she become a mother of invention: Friday's career struggles in the Chronoguard, where he is relegated to a might-have-been; Tuesday's trouble perfecting the Anti-Smote shield, needed in time to thwart an angry Deity's promise to wipe Swindon off the face of the earth; and the issue of Thursday's third child, Jenny, who doesn t exist except as a confusing and disturbing memory.
With Goliath attempting to replace Thursday at every opportunity with synthetic Thursdays, and a call from the Bookworld to hunt down Pagerunners who have jumped into the Realworld, Thursday's convalescence is going to be anything but restful as the week ahead promises to be one of the Next family's oddest.
About the Author
Praise For The Woman Who Died a Lot: Now with 50% Added Subplot…
Praise for The Woman Who Died A Lot "Fforde continues to show that his forte is absurdist humor in his seventh crime thriller starring Thursday Next, a member of the Literary Detectives division of Special Operations in an alternate-universe Britain. [An] endearingly-bizarre fantasy world limited only by Fforde's impressive imagination." –Publishers Weekly "As always, Fforde makes this wacky world perfectly plausible, elucidating Ffordian physics with just the right ratio of pseudoscientific jargon to punch lines. It's a dazzling, heady brew of high concept and low humor, absurd antics with a tea-and-toast sensibility that will appeal to fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse alike. Fforde is ffantastic!"–Booklist (starred review)
"Strap in and hang on tight.... Another winner for fans and lovers of sf, time travel, puns, allusions, and all sorts of literary hijinks."–Library Journal (Starred review) "Jasper Fforde fans, rejoice! The Woman Who Died a Lot, the seventh installment in his Thursday Next series, delivers all the imagination, complexity and laughs we've come to expect from Fforde and his book-hopping, butt-kicking heroine.The Woman Who Died a Lot brings together the charming lunacy and intricate plotting that have enthralled Fforde's readers over the years." –Shelf Awareness "In Misery, Stephen King compares the euphoric feeling writers experience in creative bursts to 'falling into a hole filled with bright light.' Avid readers also know that feeling: A good story temporarily erases the world. British novelist Jasper Fforde has expanded on King's simile in a wonderful seven-book series of novels featuring Thursday Next. Enormously knowledgeable about literary history, Fforde scatters nuggets for nerdy readers like me. By the end, all of Fforde's myriad particles of plot, accelerated by his immense skill and narrative sense, collide, producing pyrotechnics and a passel of new particles to propel his next tale. I love the Thursday Next books, and when a new one appears, I don't fall but leap into this bibliophile's Wonderland." –The Cleveland Plain Dealer "This is the proverbial madcap lighthearted romp, full of hijinks, parody, and puns. Jasper Fforde does it well. It's safe to say that if you enjoy that particularly British, Douglas Adams-style absurd delivery of wry observations, you'll get a kick out of this one." –New York Journal of Books"The Welsh writer Jasper Fforde's wildly inventive books defy easy description — more accurately, they mercilessly mock the concept of easy description. Are they mysteries? Outrageous parodies of literary classics? Science fiction? Absurdist humor? Gleeful mashups of all the above?" [The Woman Who Died A Lot is] still big, big fun, with enough in-jokes to keep anyone snickering for a long time — especially English Lit geeks." –The Seattle Times "Quirky and surprising and funny. Thursday fans will welcome her return." –The Free Lance–Star
Praise for One of Our Thursdays is Missing "One of Our Thursdays is Missing, like other Fforde novels, is jam packed with spot-on parody, puns and wry observations about words and genres that will delight literary-minded fans of the series." - Los Angeles Times "There is no denying Fforde's supersized imagination, linguistic agility and love of books, Books, BOOKS." - Chicago Sun-Times "Fforde's diabolical meshing of insight and humor makes a 'mimefield' both frightening and funny, while the reader must traverse a volume that's minefield of unexpected turns and amusing twists." - Publishers Weekly "One of Our Thursdays is Missing is filled with passages [in] which geeky humor jostles with genuine insight about the current state of fiction.… [T]ake a joy ride with the passionate reader who wrote this novel." - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel "[With a] furiously agile imagination…Fforde has shaken up genres—fantasy, comedy, crime, sci-fi, parody, literary criticism—and come up with a superb mishmash with lots of affectionate in-jokes for any book lover." - Miami Herald "Fforde is a breath of fresh air." -Kirkus "Fforde's books are more than just an ingenious idea. They are written with buoyant zest and are tautly plotted. They have empathetic heroes and heroines who nearly make terrible mistakes and suitably dastardly villains who do. They also have more twists and turns than Christie, and are embellished with the rich details of Dickens or Pratchett." -Independent "A riot of puns, in-jokes and literary allusions that Fforde carries off with aplomb." - Daily Mail "Fans of the late Douglas Adams, or, even, Monty Python, will feel at home with Fforde." Herald


text:
Disney California Adventure has announced that it will hold Lunar New Year festivities to celebrate the Year of the Monkey February 5 - 8, 2016:
Happy Lunar New Year Celebration Returns to Disney California Adventure Park
by Erin Glover, Editorial Content Director, Disneyland Resort
The Official Disney Parks Blog
January 12th, 2016
This year, the Year of the Monkey, brings the return of the Happy Lunar New Year Celebration at Paradise Gardens in Disney California Adventure park, February 5-8! The event will celebrate time-honored traditions of the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures while inviting guests of all backgrounds to enjoy the festivities. For those who celebrate, it is the customary time to reflect on the past and step into a new life of hope, prosperity and happiness.
Mulan and Mushu will join friends Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Chip n Dale during the festivities, celebrating the Year of the Monkey. Special merchandise and authentic food offerings will be available, and colorful live performers, musicians and local artisans will enrich the celebration. Local community groups will perform throughout the day at the Paradise Garden Stage and on the performance corridor outside Paradise Gardens.


text:
Serviços Personalizados
Links relacionados
- Citado por Google
- Similares em Google
Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe
versão On-line ISSN 2224-7912
versão impressa ISSN 0041-4751
BRAND, Gerrit. Can complexity save souls? A theological plea for simplicity. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2012, vol.52, n.1, pp.103-120. ISSN 2224-7912.
Recent statements and reflections by public intellectuals like the French based "international association" Ars Industrialis and the American author Marilynne Robinson, point to what they see as a crisis of the "spirit" or "soul" in contemporary society. (For present purposes "spirit" and "soul" are use dinterchangeably.) While the cultural malaise suggested by these thinkers is multifaceted, one common thread is a sense that humankind seems to be taking leave of a rich spiritual heritage. The heritage in question (represented in classic writings like Blaise Pascal's Pensées) functions in much present-day discourse (for instance Gilbert Ryle 's influential The Concept of Mind) as a foil for contrasting pre-modern, presumably pre-critical understandings of spirit to a current neuroscience and philosophy of mind in which various forms of so-called physicalism predominate. However, this contrast is largely based on caricatures of pre-modern thought, as can be shown by an analysis of Pascal 's classic reflections on the soul, which are comparable to those of Augustine, Aquinas, Scotus and other formative Christian thinkers, but in conflict with some Cartesian speculations often wrongly characterised as pre-modern survivals. As a result, the supposed modern-pre-modern contrast is handicapped by a lack of clarity on where the significant points of difference actually emerge. A clear generic concept of "soul" or "spirit" can serve as a means of clarifying the precise point at which dominant contemporary forms of physicalism take leave of traditional beliefs concerning the spirit. A helpful definition would point to consciousness, intentionality and freedom as constituting what is traditionally called soul or spirit. It turns out that the notions of consciousness and intentionality are not seriously under threat, despite what many mistakenly regard as a potential result of physicalist theories like those put forward in Daniel Dennet 's controversial Consciousness Explained. The reason is that any denial of consciousness and intentionality would by its very nature be self-referentially incoherent. The real bone of contention, then, is freedom, the denial of which may, according to some, have far-reaching anthropological consequences. In the resultant quest to "save the soul", theorists like Philip Clayton and Timothy O'Connor draw on insights from complexity thinking, especially theories of emergence, in making a case for a robust concept of freedom understood in either asymptotic or libertarian terms. While such accounts may help strengthen humanist resistance against physicalist reductionism, their value in defending some form of real, meaningful freedom should, for a number of reasons, not be overestimated. The relevance of the humanist quest for a convincing account of freedom has its origin in existential rather than explanatory considerations, so that seeking empirical support for the reality of a kind offreedom suited to particular existential demands runs the risk of ending in category mistakes, thereby actually undermining what it is supposed to strengthen. Moreover, in attempting to escape empiricist criticism, such theories end up giving centre stage to a very limited existential relevance of the freedom defended, mainly with reference to some notion of responsibility and its moral importance. Of more vital importance is a view of life in which the assumption of a particular type of freedom is taken up into a wider account of what makes life meaningful. One such account in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic (or "Abrahamic") tradition that requires the assumption of human freedom centres on a matrix of personal relations between God and humans and between humans. It can be argued that, within this language game offaith, the classical doctrine of divine simplicity is more helpful for "saving souls" than are theories of complexity, however valuable and illuminating they may be. The reason is that the simplicitas Dei, as classically understood, is intended above all to secure the radical freedom of God as the basis for human freedom.
Palavras-chave : Abrahamic tradition; Ars Industrialis; complexity; consciousness; Philip Clayton; Daniel Dennet; René Descartes; freedom; intentionality; neuroscience; Timothy O'Connor; Blaise Pascal; personalism; philosophy of mind; physicalism; Marrilyne Robinson; Gilbert Ryle; simplicity; soul; spirit.


text:
The advent of digital brings the potential for new strategies and approaches. But how does one make the most of innovation while continuing to deliver cost-effective, value-adding procurement and sourcing?
Accenture offers end-to-end services that can address any aspect of sourcing and procurement, from strategy, organization, people, processes, content and technology. No matter what issue you are trying to address, it all starts with a good strategy. As trusted advisors, we help our clients devise procurement strategies that truly create competitive advantage. We support industry and enterprise-wide transformations in a way that integrates business, technology and operations. Accenture Strategy specializes in procurement visioning and strategy definition, including the impact of digital disruption and technology, value targeting by the function, blueprinting the future procurement operating model, optimizing spend demand management in the context of zero-based budgeting, strategic planning and sourcing for direct/core categories and supplier relationship management and risk strategies.
Transforming Sourcing & Procurement from Business Service to High Performance Driver
Rapidly evolving technologies and the emergence of new business models are contributing to the sudden expansion in cost-reduction and growth opportunities around sourcing and procurement. Most businesses, however, are unsure about how to transform their procurement organizations to constantly reduce costs while maximizing value from supplier relationships.


text:
So! That church that wants to burn the Koran this weekend, Dove World Outreach Center? While we can't make them disappear altogether, they've at least been taken off the internet by their web host, Rackspace.
While the church is crying censorship, Rackspace's argument that maliciously setting fire to a holy text violates the "no hate speech" clause in Dove World Outreach's contract is pretty inarguable. Pastor Terry Jones has until midnight to gather up his internet flock and move them to another host. The First Amendment protects Jones's right to express his beliefs as he pleases, but it doesn't mean Rackspace has to put up with it—especially if it violates a binding legal agreement between the two. [CNN via CrunchGear; Image: AP]


text:
Recent Posts
Tagsantioxidants appestat appetite appetite control tricks arthritis asthma athlete's nutrition blood sugar problems cardiovascular help diabetes energy exercise exercise program fitness free radicals healthy eating heart Herbal Aloe Drink Herbalife Herbalife nutrition Herbalife protein Herbalife supplements Herbalife vitamins herbalife weight loss herbs housework how to lose weight immune system leukemia lose weight lose weight fast love handles multivitamin Olympic athlete nutrition Olympic athletes osteoporosis prostate cancer protein protein shake protein shakes soy importance health sports energy vitamins water weight loss
Tag Archives: look younger
Why Spend More for Skincare?
The best skincare products by Herbalife, called NouriFusion, deliver Vitamins A, C and E and are a great value for money. Continue reading


text:
A Sydney family's Sunday lunchtime in the pub has provoked a major rumpus after the hostelry allegedly served them with faeces-laced ice cream, Oz's Daily Telegraph reports.
Stephen and Jessica Whyte, their three kids and chums Patrick and Tina Elliott were in the Coogee Bay Hotel's brasserie on 3 October to watch a rugby match in the "family-friendly" environment. Builder Stephen reportedly got involved in a "trivial altercation" with the management after he complained about "not being able to properly watch the grand final as advertised - because the television screen was in another room".
The powers that be apparently served up a bowl of ice cream as an apology, although the "compacted chocolate" concealed beneath the gelato turned out to be less than appetising. Mrs Whyte said: "The minute I put the spoon to my lips the stench went through my nostrils. I retched and spat it into the napkin. My friend thought I was over-reacting, but when she smelt it, she started screaming 'Oh my god, they've served us s***'."
The Whytes promptly submitted the offending dessert for independent testing, which revealed that it did indeed have "an offensive odour and physical properties similar to human excreta" and contained "fragments of a variety of plant matter typical of excreta".
The pub's general manager Tony Williams offered the family AU$5,000 (£2,000) without admitting liability, but the Whytes rejected the offer, preferring to instead demand AU$1,000,000 (£400,000) in compensation. The pub responded by accusing the family of attempting to extort "hush money", and described the claim as "suspicious".
Williams said: "We categorically stand behind the high quality of our food and hygiene standards in the new brasserie and kitchen. Consequently, if indeed this allegation is proved to have occurred, we believe it must have been some form of sabotage."
Indeed, news sources suggested that the Whytes had "links to rivals of the Coogee Bay Hotel". Specifically, it was revealed that Mr Whyte's brother-in-law works for Keystone Hospitality, which owns two rival pubs. Stephen Whyte thundered: "I don't even know who Keystone is. All I know is my wife's brother works in the industry - a thousand people would in Sydney."
The family's lawyer, Steven Lewis, ridiculed: "What is this, the Kevin Bacon ... six degrees of separation [defence]? My question is: 'Did Kevin Bacon put the faeces in the ice-cream?'"
Patrick and Tina Elliott have weighed into the fracas, backing their friends' claim that they were indeed served human excrement. Mrs Elliott confirmed: "They've served us poo - there's nothing else it can be. It absolutely stunk."
To add spice to the mix, the Elliot's lawyers have dispatched a letter to the Coogee Bay Hotel "demanding an apology for allegedly defamatory comments against the family by Mr Williams".
New South Wales Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald confirmed the state government was probing the matter, and explained: "This is an issue of public importance and it is essential we speak to as many parties involved in the alleged incident to get all the facts. We are approaching this investigation with an open mind and it's essential we don't pre-empt the important work that is now under way."
Whatever the eventual outcome of this unholy catfight, the incident has had a "lasting effect" on Jessica Whyte, who said she "now struggled when wiping her youngest son's bottom and was anxious about eating out". ®


text:
Mornings in my house are hectic and by lunch time, I need a hearty, but healthy meal. To keep from mid-afternoon slumps, it's best to focus on protein to keep you full. If you're eating lunch in the office, there are many inexpensive meals you can make the night before and grab out of the fridge in the morning. If you have time during the weekend, I suggest prepping as much as you can! I make hard boiled eggs, grill some chicken on the Foreman and make a batch of quinoa or brown rice. Any veggies can be chopped and prepped for weekday meals.
1. Salad Jars. Put the dressing in the bottom of a mason jar (or any recycled jar) and pile in your favorite salad fixins. I like to keep chicken or ham on the side, as well as any croutons. Keep a nice big salad bowl at your desk to dump your jar into. If you are looking for some salad ideas, check out this post
2. Veggie Burgers. I love protein packed veggie burgers…especially the great new flavors that are out there. I buy the Boca Bruschetta variety to break up for lunch pita pizzas. The Mediterranean MorningStar burger is ah-mazing with some Oikos Dill Greek yogurt dip and cucumbers on a sandwich thin. At Costco, they sell black bean burgers that make a great quick quesadilla! Since they are veggie burgers, they are filling…but not heavy like a normal burger. You can keep some in the freezer at work and heat them up quickly in the microwave.
3. Overnight Oats. Yes, this is an amazing breakfast, but with the Greek yogurt and chia seeds, it makes a nice lunch too…especially if you're working at your desk. I love to add peanut butter and bananas to mine.
4. Wrap it up! I love whole grain wraps stuffed with veggies and turkey. Instead of mayo, try veggie cream cheese or Greek yogurt dip to lighten up. TIP: Since wraps can easily get soggy, I like to wrap the inside ingredients of my wraps in parchment paper and keep the tortilla on the side until lunch.
5. Quinoa Bowls. Love Mexican food? Try a quinoa bowl. Add black beans, grilled chicken or steak, fajita peppers or whatever floats your boat! Top with cilantro and avocado and you have a great burrito bowl and you won't miss the extra calories! It can be served cold or hot.
6. Homemade Soup. Even in the warmer months, I love soup for lunch. I have a whole series of simple soups on my blog that freeze well and can be made quickly. When freezing soups, put in a lunch sized portion and just take out of the freezer the night before…viola!
The main idea is to step away from frozen meals for lunch (I'm guilty of buying them!) and try to lighten up lunch. If you do a little prep, your waistline will thank you for healthy lunches…and so will your wallet!
What's your go-to lunch?


text:
The world of 2030: U.S. declines; food, water may be scarce
By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News Dec 10, 2012
Sorry, everyone, but flying cars don't appear in the "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds" report that the director of national intelligence's office made public on Monday.
Instead, the National Intelligence Council paints the picture of a world in which the U.S. is no longer the unquestionably dominant global player; individuals and small groups may carry out devastating cyber or bioterror attacks; oh, and food and water may be running short in some places.
The 160-page report is a great read for anyone in the business of crafting the script for the next James Bond movie, a treasure trove of potential scenarios for international intrigue, not to mention super-villainy. But the council took pains to say that what it foresees is not set in stone. The goal is to provide policymakers with some idea of what the future holds in order to help them steer the right economic and military courses.
"We do not seek to predict the future—which would be an impossible feat—but instead provide a framework for thinking about possible futures and their implications," the report cautioned.
Other ideas the futurists reported: Global population will reach "somewhere close to 8.3 billion people," and food and water may be running scarce in some areas, especially regions like Africa and the Middle East.
"Climate change will worsen the outlook for the availability of these critical resources," the report said. "Climate change analysis suggests that the severity of existing weather patterns will intensify, with wet areas getting wetter, and dry and arid areas becoming more so."We are not necessarily headed into a world of scarcities, but policymakers and their private sector partners will need to be proactive to avoid such a future."
What about America in 2030? The report predicts that the U.S. "most likely will remain 'first among equals' among the other great powers." But "with the rapid rise of other countries, the 'unipolar moment' is over and Pax Americana—the era of American ascendancy in international politics that began in 1945—is fast winding down."
Also, "Asia will have surpassed North America and Europe combined in terms of global power, based upon GDP [Gross Domestic Product], population size, military spending and technological investment," the report said.
It also suggests that Islamist extremism may be a thing of the past in 2030. But that doesn't mean small groups won't try to wreak havoc.
"With more widespread access to lethal and disruptive technologies, individuals who are experts in such niche areas as cyber systems might sell their services to the highest bidder, including terrorists who would focus less on causing mass casualties and more on creating widespread economic and financial disruptions," said the report.
Four "megatrends" shaping the world were cited: growing individual empowerment; diffusion of power; major shifts in demographics; and rising demand for food, water and energy.
The report also sees the potential for "black swan" shocks to the system. These include: a severe pandemic; faster-than-forecast climate change; the collapse of the European Union; the collapse of China (or its embrace of democracy); and a reformed Iran that abandons its suspected nuclear weapons program. They also include a conflict using nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, or a large-scale cyber-attack; solar geomagnetic storms that may knock out satellites and the electric grid; or a sudden retreat of the U.S. from global affairs.
So what about the flying cars, a staple of science fiction? The report is mum on that front, but it does raise the intriguing possibility that "self-driving cars could begin to address the worsening congestion in urban areas, reduce roadway accidents, and improve individuals' productivity (by allowing drivers the freedom to work through their commutes)."
And the cool cats over at Wired magazine's "Danger Room" national security blog have underlined how the report sees the growth of other technologies, including "superhumans" potentially roaming the landscape.
It's An Evil And Sinister Conspiracy That Involves Very Rich And Powerful People Who Mastermind Events And Control World Affairs Through Governments And Corporations And Are Plotting Mass Population Reduction And The Emergence Of A Totalitarian World Government! By Using Occult Secret Societies Along With The Power Of LUCIFER The ILLUMINATI Will Bring All Of The Nations Of This World Together As One.


text:
It is worth mentioning that Two Elk at the top of Vail is at 11,200 Feet. There are people that will experience altitude "adjustment". In the summertime, it is highly advised to wear 100% UV sunglasses. At this altitude, eyes can become "sunburn" within a few hours. Likewise, suntan lotion is advised during the summer. Remember, about 82% of UV rays are filtered out from the atomosphere from 7,500 feet and below. The UV exposure can be high. We always wear shorts in the summer, but take a backpack with rain gear. If lighting and storms appear suddenly in the mountains, the gondola stops service. This can last minutes or for many hours.
Summer Activities: There is a great Frisbee Golf course! It is very different at high altitude in thin air.
Article Needs a Cleanup[edit]
This article needs an editing overhaul to bring it in compliance with the Wikitravel templates and the Manual of Style. The individual listings for "See", "Do', 'Buy", "Eat" and "Sleep" are also not properly formatted. Please help bring this article up to standard. Thanks! WineCountryInn 17:09, 30 January 2009 (EST)
Warning Box[edit]
Isn't the warning box a little over the top? Couldn't this same information be conveyed through the Get In section "By car"?WineCountryInn 16:27, 1 February 2009 (EST)
Shuttle services[edit]
Apparently the ski resort shuttle services are making an effort to out-tout one another in this article as well as the articles for Breckenridge (Colorado), Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, etc. Per the guideline on touting and on not listing individual car services when there are many available (see Wikitravel:External links) I've removed the lot and would suggest that discussion take place on this talk page before any are re-listed. -- Ryan • (talk) • 02:25, 3 December 2011 (EST)


text:
missing translation for 'onlineSavingsMsg'
Learn More
Learn More
Please login to your online account to display your discounted pricing
Falcon™ Tissue Culture Treated Flasks
Manufactured from optically clear virgin polystyrene for easy viewing of sample or cells. Corning™ Falcon™ Tissue Culture Treated Flasks features vacuum-gas plasma tissue culture treatment to ensure consistent growth surface.
Manufacturer: Corning Life Sciences C353139
- Nonpyrogenic; Sterile
- Manufactured under a registered ISO 9002 quality system
- 100% leak testing of injection-molded flasks
- Volumetric graduation accuracy (±5% of volume) Stringent requirements for flatness of optical growth surface
- Canted-neck 150cm2 flasks which are low-profile for stacking and efficient use in incubator; include locking caps and graduations
- Straight-neck 175cm2 flasks have frosted writing area
- 225cm2 flasks with locking caps, frosted writing area, vertical graduations, 100mL maximum horizontal working volume line and a skirted, canted neck for extra stability
- 300cm2 flasks, manufactured in an ISO Class 8 cleanroom with blow-molded design, printed graduations, straight neck, and white marking area
- Two-position plug-seal caps for use in open or closed incubation Vented caps incorporate a 0.2μm membrane for consistent gas exchange and reduced contamination Rigid phenolic (lined) caps twist on and provide the most reliable liquid/gastight sealing
- Patented locking incubation position, found on the 150cm2 and 225cm2 flasks, prevents caps from falling off or closing while in the open position
|27.05 oz.
|Plug Seal
|800 mL
|For enhanced cell attachment and growth
|Tissue Culture Treated
|225 cm2


text:
Back in June, the controversial Rockstar title Manhunt 2—sequel to the gruesome original and host to plenty of graphic imagery—was denied a rating in the UK and Ireland. This forced the company back into development to tone down the title in order to see release in the regions. While the revised edition garnered a M rating in the United States by way of the ESRB, the British Board of Film Classification in UK has found that the game is still not suitable for release.
The BBFC claims that Rockstar "ignored" the suggested changes to the game and says that the title is still simply too grotesque. The changes do not "go far enough to address [the] concerns about the original version," says the BBFC. Director of the BBFC David Cooke went so far as to express his disapproval to the press:
The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the 'execution kills', but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature.
Rockstar is reportedly preparing to meet with the Video Appeals Committee in the UK later this year in the hope of appealing this decision, which was previously suspended for a reclassification of Manhunt 2 upon revision. There's no word on whether the UK version presented was equivalent to the version given to the ESRB.
Update: Rockstar has issued a statement regarding the ruling, reiterating that the company will be "continuing to appeal the British Board of Film Classification's (BBFC) decision to deny the edited version of Manhunt 2 an 18+ certificate and thereby ban its release in the United Kingdom." Furthermore, Rockstar feels that the "changes necessary in order to publish the game in Britain are unacceptable [...] and represent a setback for video games," citing other adult content such as films as a comparable medium allotted more freedom.


text:
Mostly, there are only minor quibbles like the HD of the shadow being 3+3 instead of 2+2 which probably doesn't really matter either way. However, I think it can matter in the context of the Undead Turn Table which is a major problem.
If you compare 1st printing of S&W Complete and the 2nd printing, the difference in the Undead Turning Table was my persuasion to Matt Finch to change it. It was compromise since the challenge level column is still really wonky. Since the 1st printing of Core, he had basically the OSRIC or 1e version with undead that weren't even in S&W. 1e has a screwy progression that was corrected in 2e.
So, to now focus on White Box version. As much I disliked the 1st printing Complete version, I really dislike the White Box version. I noticed that Charlie changed it to 10 levels only which is a good change. However, there is so much wrong with this table left from previous printings.
1) HD does not properly track with undead examples.
2) There are no "T"s on the table.
3) The ghoul is missing.
4) The lich and demons were not turnable in 0e.
In S&W Compete 2nd printing, the lich was added and the demon entry removed. I am including a proposed table using a 2d6 probability curve. This could easily be changed to 3d6 probability and replacing the numbered entries in my example. The lich is still included but is extremely difficult to turn. This line could include any undead greater at 10 or greater HD like the ghost. The shadow and ghast are also easily incorporated into the table.


text:
Early this month I mentioned that Taiwan and China are creating a body to coordinate military cooperation between the Republic's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). More good signs comes in news that the People's Liberation Army and the Army of the Republic of China (Taiwan) will meet in Hawaii.
From the article:
Senior Chinese and Taiwanese military officers will meet for the first time since the end of a civil war in 1949 at a forum in Hawaii this summer, state media said on Tuesday, in a further sign of improving ties between the political rivals.
Officials from both sides will attend August's Transnational Security Cooperation forum organized by the U.S. Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, an institute under the U.S. Department of Defense, the official China Daily said.
A skeptical interpretation of this is available from The View from Taiwan. This is bad news for both the Taiwanese independence movement and politicans on both sides of the Pacific whose careers depend on purchasing for a major war in the Taiwan Straight. However, this is a major forward to lasting peace in the Western Pacific, and also for the United States. China and the United States are the two most critical nations in the world today, and moves like these, by making conflict less likely, make cooperation more likely.
Hawaii, besides being the headquarter of U.S. Pacific Command, is also pronounced birthplace of Chinese President Sun Yatsen and American President Barack Obama.
Update: The View from Taiwan links to a DefenseLink clarification. This is the first meeting of the Transnational Security Cooperation Course provided by the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) attended by both Taiwan and China. In previous years, they have alternated attendance.


text:
Rick Ross - I'm Not A Star
Official music video for "I'm Not A Star" by Rick Ross off his new album Teflon Don out now! Directed by Spiff
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
Go Pop Up Tent Camper Trailer
SylvanSport was shooting for versatility when they thought up the Go Pop Up Tent Camper Trailer. This amazing piece of compact engineering functions as a trailer to pack up bikes, kayaks, motorcycles, or other toys on its aluminum frame, and it can sleep up to four people comfortably when its transformed into a camper. The biggest advantage is that this 840-pound trailer can be towed by most any vehicle with a trailer hitch.
Biolite Campstove
Since its debut, the Biolite Campstove has been one of our favorite gadgets for camping. This camp stove will not only cook your food and warm your coffee, but it harnesses the waste heat from its fire and turns it into electricity. The electricty stored by Biolite Campstove can be used to charge everything from your iPhone to your digital camera — so don't worry about your camera going kaput before you can capture all those new memories.
Eton Raptor
Eton's Raptor is a must have whether you are camping in your regional park or backpacking in the Sierras. The Raptor is a solar-powered radio that also has a built in altimeter, barometer, compass, and clock. What makes it even better is that it can be used to charge almost any electronic now that has a USB adapter!
Voltaic Systems 1010 OffGrid Solar Backpack
The camping and adventurer's gear list has expanded over the past 10 years and now it seems mandatory to take along a portable solar charger. Voltaic Systems' 1010 OffGrid Solar Backpack is one way campers can now collect solar energy while hiking around the national parks. You can also purchase a flexible solar panel that snaps on ANY backpack if you've already got a handy bag to carry your goods.
Solio Classic2 Portable Solar Device
The Solio Classic2 Portable Solar Device is an advanced hybrid charger for the serious adventurers. The Solio's efficient solar panels combine with a high capacity battery that stores the power for versatile use later in your trip. The Solio is a hybrid because it has the capability to either capture the sun's energy or plug into a wall socket. Its also compact and lightweight and can be taken anywhere so that you will never be stuck without power for your cellphone, iPod, or digital camera.
Rab Genesis 1 Sleeping Bag
Outdoor companies are continuing to push further into the realm of sustainability for sleeping bags, and this year the outdoor company Rab has produced the Genesis bags for the eco-conscious consumer. The bags are made from 100% recycled polyester and filled with Rab's eco3D insulation (which is also 100% recycled polyester). All the plastic components of the sleeping bag are also Bluesign approved.


text:
Random Packer thoughts:
- Apparently Greg Jennings is close to signing a deal. This is very good. I could see Greg seeking exactly what's fair and not being an idiot about negotiations because ultimately, he's just a really good guy. The general number people are putting out there for him from what I've heard is $8 million per year. I think the only thing the Packers need to be somewhat concerned about frankly, is not giving Jennings too many incentives because he's the kind of guy who will find a way to realize most of them! Let's get him signed – I hope this happens soon.
- Aaron Kampman has quietly grown more comfortable in his new role. Relieving significant pressure from the whole transition is the fact that Brady Poppinga has been named his main back up – so there is virtually no competition.
- After reading Greg Bedard's article last week about Anthony Smith – it really does seem as though he could wind up the starter. He understands the 3-4 scheme so well and would be a good defensive quarterback. (Though I will say I still have a fresh memory of Marquand Manuel – another guy who was supposed to have a great understanding of the scheme…) But what I like about Anthony Smith may in fact be something I didn't like about Anthony Smith at all when we signed him: his trash talking. I saw the game when he played for the Steelers and talked some trash against the Pats. He was horrendous in that game – approaching the worst game I've seen from a safety ever. At the time, I hadn't read his full quote (which to me is not nearly as bad as the few words the press ran away with). Anyway, I got to thinking the other day that maybe having someone who apparently speaks his mind like Smith does is not such a bad thing. A byproduct of drafting and acquiring "coachable" players is that the team can take on a bit of a boring/flat-character collective persona. While this team has some personalities for sure, I don't think many would argue that it's collective persona is that riveting. I think people like Anthony Smith and Jermichael Finley might serve to mix it up a bit – which could help remind teammates that football is fun and not so serious. This is another reason I want to see Desmond Bishop play more – I think the guy has an energy/excitement to him that most of the other LB options lack.
- On Sunday, Greg Bedard wrote a feature for jsonline about Aaron Rodgers (here). There was one small paragraph in this article that struck me more than anything else – quote from Rodgers: "There are always going to be distractions, we just have to manage them," Rodgers said. "We have so much talent in this room; the only thing that can stop us is ourselves. And we stopped ourselves way too many times last year. If we can limit the distractions, I think we're going to be in a position to make a big run." It was this last sentence in particular that struck me – Rodgers saying they could be in a position to make a "big run". As he admits earlier in the article, Rodgers is not one to stir the pot or make things particularly interesting for the media. So, to me, when he throws out there the possibility that the Packers could make a "big run", this is significant. He could have said something a lot more tame, but he chose "big run". My guess is that Rodgers indeed has fairly high expectations for this team – and that's a good thing.He has to feel confident after demonstrating clearly last year that he can comfortably handle the hardest position in football. I'm glad he's confident – I wouldn't want it otherwise.


text:
A Burien auto glass company owner has been sentenced to jail for a billing scheme that's believed to have cost insurers more than $ 1.5 million.
Michael Alan Perkins, 44, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree theft in King County Court July 1. He was sentenced to 9 months in jail, with 30 days of the sentence converted to 240 hours of community service.
Investigators for state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler are recommending a total of more than $1.6 million in restitution to the companies. The court will decide the amount at an upcoming hearing.
Perkins is the owner of Autoglass Express Inc. and Premier Auto Glass, LLC., both run out of Perkins' Burien home. The glass shops overbilled insurers, including State Farm, Allstate and MetLife insurance companies.
An investigation by Kreidler's office's anti-fraud Special Investigations Unit, which spent months combing through more than 10,000 records, found more than $1.5 million in deceptive billing by Perkins' companies between September 2005 and December 2009. Read the full release.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Weight gain is a huge issue for women. I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to do eat the way you should and still see extra pounds creep on, or have difficulty losing weight. When I treat women who are having these struggles, they often ask, "Is it my thyroid?"
Often, the answer is yes – but the connection isn't simple. Thyroid function is intimately connected with your metabolism; thyroid hormones basically regulate calorie consumption. But a healthy thyroid also depends on the proper functioning of other body mechanisms, including your neurotransmitters, your reproductive hormones and your adrenal glands.
The Thyroid and Weight Gain
Because patients with an underactive thyroid tend to have a very low basal metabolic rate, one of the most noticeable symptoms of hypothyroidism is weight gain and difficulty losing extra weight. (Sometimes an overactive thyroid can mimic an underactive thyroid by causing weight gain, although this is less common). A minority of women with hypothyroidism don't gain weight. The difference arises from their individual biochemistry, the quality of the calories they consume, and how they use those calories.
Often the "metabolic burn" continues to fall as calories are reduced when dieting. That's why some women with low thyroid can have weight gain even when they severely restrict calories. In order to fix your metabolism, you have to understand your entire health picture, not just your thyroid.
The Thyroid in Women
More women than men suffer from hypothyroidism, and many more women than men with thyroid issues have problems with weight gain. Most thyroid problems occur within the gland itself and often don't reveal themselves until a broader pattern of hormonal imbalance develops. That's why thyroid issues, menopause and weight gain often appear together.
Why do women experience low thyroid and weight gain with such frequency? There are manifold reasons, but primarily:
- Women spend much of their lives dieting, usually in a yo-yo cycle of feasting and then fasting. This undermines your metabolism and decreases your metabolic rate, a compounding factor for the thyroid, especially during perimenopause.
- Women tend to internalize stress, which affects their adrenal, brain, and thyroid function, resulting in increased cravings for sweets and simple carbs to provide instant energy and feel good hormones.
- Women experience monthly hormonal fluctuations that affect their biochemistry.
What You Can Do About Hypothyroidism and Weight Gain
The first thing to do if you are experiencing stubborn weight gain is to talk to your practitioner. She or he may order a thyroid test or measure TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). I have found in my practice that many women who test within the "normal" range of traditional medical standards still need thyroid support. Their TSH may be only slightly elevated, but enough in their unique biochemistry that it influences their metabolism and causes weight gain.
For these women, supplemental nutrients such as selenium and a regular meal plan that balances a proper ratio of protein to carbohydrates increases their metabolic functioning and they begin to lose weight. In some cases, a low-dose thyroid replacement hormone is also needed.
There is a lot of controversy in the endocrinology world regarding hypothyroidism treatment. There are those that believe that patients who test within the normal range but have very low basal metabolic rates and very low basal temperatures need thyroid supplementation. Others argue that only patients with significant abnormalities should be supported with thyroid hormones.
At the Women to Women clinic we look at the individual needs of each patient and treat her accordingly — sometimes using medication, sometimes not. Weight gain is not sufficient evidence to conclude that someone has a thyroid abnormality, but it is one part of the picture we try to bring into focus. Efforts to lose weight without addressing related thyroid issues are doomed to fail. The greatest success is found through a holistic, natural approach that considers thyroid function as an integral part of your overall hormonal balance.
For more information on this topic, read our many informative articles in the Thyroid Health section of our Health Library.


text:
J-Lo is hoping one movie she starred in never gets released.
Some 12 hours of video shot by Ojani Noa during his brief marriage to Jennifer Lopez could hit the web by Monday, according to Noa's lawyer. But those looking for a sex tape with Jenny from the Block as leading lady may be disappointed. Noa, who Lopez is suing to try to block from making the tapes public, says there's no nudity.
"They think I have a sex tape with her and that I'm trying to sell it," Noa told E! News earlier this week.
"My tape is from our honeymoon, the wedding, us hanging out. There's no nudity - maybe one spanking. There's moments of her fighting with her mom...couples having fun and kissing. If someone has a sex tape, it's not me," the 35-year-old added.
The tapes could show up on the web Monday id Noa's lawyer, Ed Meyer, follows through on his plan to enter them as evidence in their court case. That would put them in the public record, and it would take about five minutes for them to be posted on the Internet, legally.
U.S. & World
"Jennifer Lopez does not want the home videos to be entered into the open court record," Meyer told RadarOnline.com.
The Bronx-born Lopez filed a $10 million suit earlier this month to stop Noa from releasing the video, shot during their 10-month marriage in 1997.
Noa reportedly was peddling a mockumentary film, titled "How I Married Jennifer Lopez: The J.Lo and Ojani Noa Story."
"I'm not going to harm anybody," Noa told E! "I'm a great guy. If I was going to hurt anybody I have had many, many chances to do it. I always wish her the best."


text:
Mark David Chapman disrupted culture and history when he killed John Lennon 30 years ago this December. The disturbed assassin's actions have reverberated in pop culture ever since.
From recent films like The Killing of John Lennon and comics like Superman to the dark beyond of music, tabloid TV and conspiracy theory, Chapman's avatars have flourished while his dumpy mortal coil rots away in New York's Attica Correctional Facility.
Chapman makes his seventh appearance before a parole board Monday and may walk out a free man. Lennon's widow Yoko Ono opposes Chapman's parole, and anti-Chapman Facebook groups have joined the chorus. (You can send your own message to the parole board.)
Chapman considered himself an iteration of The Catcher in the Rye's phony-killer Holden Caulfield. He was a walking text with a murderous mind, overwhelmed by media and mounting voices. Four decades on, his assassination of Lennon has been set free from reality into a hyper-reality swimming in alternative context and confusion.
As part of our series Geek The Beatles, which tracks the continuing influence of one of the most important and technologically innovative bands ever, Wired.com revisits the timeless relationship between Lennon and Chapman, which has gone viral in movies, TV, comics and music. Turn off your mind and float downstream into the heart of darkness.
Working-Class Comics Superhero
From J. Michael Stracyznski's new Superman story arc (above) to Rock & Roll Comics' The Beatles Experience, Lennon and Chapman live on in a bizarre comics kinship.
Stracyznski's new charge of "re-invigorating Superman," starting with issue No. 700, strips the timeless superhero of villains to battle. Instead, he walks the streets of America to reconnect with humanity. Rather than kicking ass on Lex Luthor, he helps people start their car or catch a clue. In Superman issue No. 701 (at top and above), released in July, the Man of Steel talks down an would-be jumper by invoking the paradox of Lennon's death and Chapman's continuing life.
Truth is trickier in The Beatles Experience, published in the '90s but reissued in graphic novel form in 2009. Densely packed with sociopolitical context and musical history at the beginning of each chapter, The Beatles Experience packs loads of information into its 200-plus pages. It all starts in deep space with Lennon, a 2001: A Space Odyssey-like Star Child who takes physical form on Earth to teach the world about creation, peace and love like a space-faring Christ.
It's not a new idea, of course. Seething anger over Lennon's controversial statement that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus" was one reason Chapman later painted Lennon as a phony who deserved extermination. In The Beatles Experience, the assassination comes not strictly through the schizophrenic mind of Chapman, but through the devilish conspiracy of Nixon, Hoover and — wait for it! — George H.W. Bush. One panel of The Beatles Experience features a disgraced Nixon pestering Bush to make good on the government's promise to eradicate Lennon — as both sport nefarious devil horns to drive home the drama.
Written by the late Todd Loren and illustrated by Mike Sagara and Stuart Immonen (Legion of Super Heroes, Ultimate X-Men), The Beatles Experience careens between sci-fi, non-fiction and dark conspiracy, setting the reader adrift in an enlightening but nevertheless confusing hagiography of Lennon and his super sidekick The Beatles.
The Lennon rabbit hole goes much deeper in Mack White's indie comic Dead Silence in the Brain, which posits that Chapman was not living vicariously through his favored fictional avatars like Holden Caulfield or Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz but instead was a true-life iteration of The Manchurian Candidate. And in Enki Bilal surreal, futuristic Memories (below), the elderly surviving Beatles unknowingly chat with the freed assassin Chapman about their collective loss.
Chapter 27
Director Jarrett Schaefer's Chapter 27 is based on Jack Jones' biography, Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon. The movie, named for the unwritten chapter of The Catcher in the Rye that Chapman believed he would finish by killing Lennon, is a cold exploration of a schizophrenic mind fully losing its moorings. A pudgy Jared Leto, who gained 70 pounds to play the assassin, channels the film through the pages of J.D. Salinger's novel as Chapman perversely lived the fiction in reality.
Thankfully skipping most of Chapman's life to focus only on his assassination of Lennon, Chapter 27 spares us the ghoulish details of that murder by keeping its lens firmly fixed on Leto's bloated face. Chapman in Chapter 27 ascribes invented personal significance to The Wizard of Oz and Rosemary's Baby, the horror movie that used The Dakota apartment building — where Lennon lived and would eventually meet his end — as a set.
These viral narratives merge when Chapman realizes in the clip below that Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of Rosemary's Baby director Roman Polanski, was brutally murdered by Charles Manson, another madman whose justification for his horrific violence took root in The Beatles.
Chapter 27's intertextual vertigo unfurls further. It co-stars Lindsay Lohan, a tabloid celebrity construct. And then there is actor Mark Lindsay Chapman, who plays Lennon. It's a role the actor was prevented from portraying in the 1985 TV film John and Yoko: A Love Story, due to the similarity between his name and the killer's.
The Killing of John Lennon
The British original behind Chapter 27, 2006's The Killing of John Lennon was released in the United States after the American movie it inspired, giving our homegrown cinematic John Lennon assassination simulation a head-start on the suspicious trend.
It's a faltering predecessor, especially in the overkill assassination sequence below. It's definitely not safe for work.
But for all its gore, it still screens as superficial, incapable of communicating the humanity at stake in Chapman's mindless reality-shifting. It's filled with blood, but lacking life.
The Killing of John Lennon, directed by British television veteran Andrew Piddington, is a sensationalist attempt to portray one of reality and cinema's most unsympathetic characters in the last mad months before Chapman's attack (as well as in humanizing flashbacks).
It's the most brutal, indulgent assassination simulation on this list.
Imagine: John Lennon
A sparkling, emotional and exhaustive biopic, the 1988 documentary Imagine: John Lennon is marred, unlike the flaccid Chapter 27, by an unnecessary assassination re-creation punctuated by the icon's bloodied glasses.
Starring a repurposed Lennon, cobbled together from myriad film clips and audio from lengthy interviews with Rolling Stone and Playboy, Imagine: John Lennon is the greatest film yet made about the musician.
But the re-created assassination scene is its fatal flaw. Buttressed by a photo montage taken during Lennon's last days and the orchestral orgasm from Sgt. Pepper's "A Day in the Life" — a song partially about suicide — it falls flat in both drama and rationale, a perverse deviation for the otherwise brilliant film.
The U.S. vs. John Lennon
An energizing 2006 documentary exploring Lennon's character assassination, courtesy of Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover, The U.S. vs. John Lennon questions diverse sources like Noam Chomsky, Walter Cronkite, G. Gordon Liddy and Gore Vidal about the concerted effort by the corrupt Nixon administration to deport Lennon because of his outspoken activism and sheer cultural power.
In the process, The U.S. vs. John Lennon shines much-needed light on the dark conspiracies that plagued Lennon's life, and went instantly viral upon his death. As journalist Jon Wiener explained in the 2000 book Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files, the bureau considered Lennon a threat to national security to the point that it warned of "military retaliation against the United States" should the files be made public.
For all its nefarious true crimes and conspiracies, The U.S. vs. John Lennon's assassination iteration is tastefully oblique. After momentous shots heard over a black screen, viewers arrive at the aftermath, spared Imagine: John Lennon's bloody imagery in favor of what's important: How Lennon's untimely death touched millions.
Mass Mediation
Mark David Chapman's demented mind has gained serious traction in the more sensationalist medium of television, which is stuffed with newsertainment programming attracted to Lennon and Chapman's yin-yang deathmatch. An exclusive 1992 interview with 20/20 reporter Barbara Walters (above) finds a comparatively lucid Chapman sizing up his assassination rationale as simple jealousy.
"I thought by killing him, I would acquire his fame," Chapman told Walters.
That post-paranoid delusion is extensively explored in an American Justice special (below) that features Let Me Take You Down author Jack Jones, Lennon's best friend and journalist Elliot Mintz, and officers and lawyers involved with Chapman directly after the assassination. It's shot through with audio from Chapman's chilling interviews, in which he tries to reason away his madness by focusing on Lennon's blasphemy. Chapman was particularly angered by Lennon's perceived insults to Christianity.
Whether the exposition comes from Chapman himself or those associated with the procedural aspect of Lennon's murder, the picture blurs considerably during the TV shows' piecemeal re-creations of the assassination. Soundtracked by brooding music and featuring B-roll footage of the Dakota, television's John Lennon assassination simulations communicate a few truths, the most important being that Chapman acted in a premeditated fashion to exterminate his idol, all in hopes of becoming a "somebody." That mundane reality is more sobering than any of the various cinematic and comic-book distillations of Lennon's murder, and adds weight to the argument that — far from being a victim of what American Justice calls "temporary schizophrenia" — Chapman knew exactly what he was doing.
Musical Meditations
Two popular bands have tackled Mark David Chapman through music, with quite notable differences. In one song, Chapman is an existential loser; in the other he becomes a vengeful savior.
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's electrifying track "Mark David Chapman" appeared on the band's sublime 1999 release Madonna. Its lyrics portray Chapman as an automaton lost in the spotlight, obsessed by transcendent celebrity.
"I was thinking about popular culture and the cult of celebrity," said songwriter Neil Busch, who later left And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and now spearheads Los Angeles power trio Broken Mirrors.
"John Lennon's murder was a perfect allegory for the decline of artistry and rampant materialism of the world," he told Wired.com in an e-mail interview. "I tried to identify the creative, idealistic and essential good with Lennon and set up Chapman as a proxy for society and its ills."
The song's poetic lyrics envisioning a "satellite-transmitted dream" leading directly to a life of banal violence and incarcerated boredom display a distaste for disposable pop culture.
"We're fed unrealistic ideals through cultural outlets like television, pop music and more, and they create a masochistic dynamic," Busch said. "You can never obtain the goals they set out for you — kind of like Christianity! And even if you do you attain them, you find them less rewarding than the value ascribed to them in society."
A similar dislike of empty-headed pop culture and celebrity is on cyborg display in the video above for another "Mark David Chapman" song, this time by self-described "industrial jungle pussy punk" outfit Mindless Self Indulgence. The video is packed with sci-fi CGI factories mass-producing pop androids who all bang to the same beat on autopilot — that beat being supplied by Mindless Self Indulgence.
Meanwhile, Lennon's assassin is the chosen one come to eradicate hapless musical simulations from the planet, describing the current musical landscape as one where bands are "indistinguishable from one another." The song's call-to-action: "When the world's overrun / With too many bands / Who is it time for? / Mark Chapman!"
You Light Up My Second Life
The deeper lesson of these cultural simulations is that reality as we know it is only a part of our still-forming technocultural puzzle. In a future Geek The Beatles piece celebrating the 70th birthday of John Lennon, we will learn how Lennon's avatars live, despite the best efforts of the intertextual madman Mark David Chapman.
Whether it is the real illuminated Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland or its internet equivalent in Second Life, multiple multimedia memorials are being executed or planned. Lennon biopics like the recently released Lennon Naked, starring Doctor Who himself Christopher Eccleston, and Nowhere Boy (due stateside in October) rewind the narrative once again.
Meanwhile, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will seal three authorized Lennon time capsules on his 70th birthday, not to be opened until the musician's 100th birthday in 2040, weaving more data into our sprawling public memory banks.
"I am delighted to support this effort to help share John's music and messages of peace and love with the children of today and tomorrow," Ono said in a press release. "I know that John's work, life and dreams will help inspire them to bring a better world for everyone."
One can hope that a real or simulated Mark David Chapman doesn't enter the picture and screw up the program. Again.
See Also:
- Geek The Beatles: Let It Be's Recombined Reality Bites
- Geeking Out With the Beatles: The Magic of Music and Melody on a Young Mind


text:
HOOD RIVER, Ore. (December 14, 2009) – DAKINE, the leader in action sports accessories, is pleased to announce the release of version 3.0 of the free DAKINE iPhone app. Version 3.0, which is an upgraded version of the application released this past summer, has been entirely recoded for enhanced performance and interactive features.
A new interface makes it easier to navigate quickly to the user's point of interest, with content sorted by ski, snowboard, surf, skate, windsurf, kiteboard, mountain bike, music and girl's.
Showcased products are easily browsed by the swipe of a finger. Team rider sections are packed with athlete profiles, photos, and video clips. The music section features recent DK Music artist and song updates; surf and snow reports, continuously updated news sections and a retail store locator rounds out the mobile site highlights. When connected to a high-speed wireless or 3G network users can experience optimum performance of streaming music and video clips.
Other smartphone users will now experience faster download time and updates via DAKINE's mobile site, www.Dakine.com/mobile, which shares the same content.
About DAKINE
Backed by a pro team roster that includes some of the world's top action sports athletes, DAKINE has been an industry leader in action sports accessories for thirty years. Founded in Hawaii and based in Hood River, Oregon, DAKINE offers a complete range of innovative products, including sport-specific to street-savvy backpacks, bags, travel gear and accessories for guys and girls. To view the current line of DAKINE products, log on to www.DAKINE.com.
source: Lindsay Robinson


text:
Lindsay Lohan Reveals to Oprah That She Suffered a Miscarriage
LiLo has revealed she suffered a miscarriage during the filming of her reality TV series
Lindsay Lohan has revealed she suffered a miscarriage during the filming of her reality TV series.
The Mean Girls star's eight-part docu-series on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network came to an explosive end on Sunday, when the 27 year old shared her devastating secret.
Breaking down in tears, Lohan made the confession while explaining why she took a two-week break from filming, saying, "No one knows this – I had a miscarriage for those two weeks that I took off.
"That's why on the show when it says she doesn't want to come down, I couldn't move, I was sick. Mentally, that messes with you."
She refused to divulge the identity of the father, simply saying it was "a very long story".
Lohan also discussed the leaked list of her celebrity lovers, which was published in U.S. tabloid magazine In Touch last month.
The actress explained she was heartbroken after a picture of the note, which featured famous names including James Franco, Ashton Kutcher, Heath Ledger, Justin Timberlake, Zac Efron, and Colin Farrell, hit headlines.
She added: "That was part of my (rehab) Betty Ford (treatment) – it's step number 5 or step number 8. It's your sexual inventory. So that was really personal to my sponsor.
"When I was moving, there were two people there that helped me move... Someone took a photo, and I'm pretty sure I know who it is, unfortunately."
"The fact that that happened was not only humiliating but it was just mean. It was mean-spirited for someone to do that. That's a desperate human being who is really f**ked up in the head."
Adding up her experience shooting the series, Lohan insisted she has no regrets: "I cried so many times watching it.... But I'm happy. The biggest thing I learned from his experience and doing this show is my work ethic is different. I have that fire back in me."