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The 12-year-old brother of Leila Fowler, shown in a screen grab from video, was arrested Saturday on murder charges in her death.
The 12-year-old brother of a California girl found stabbed to death in their home last month was arrested Saturday, authorities said.
Calaveras County Sheriff Gary Kuntz told reporters that Leila Fowler's brother, who had said that an intruder killed her, was taken into custody after a two-week investigation. Kuntz said the boy would be charged with homicide, NBC station KCRA of Sacramento reported.
The 8-year-old girl and her brother were home alone on the afternoon of April 27 at their Valley Springs home when she was killed, KCRA reported, citing school district superintendent Mark Campbell, who met with the parents. The parents were at a Little League game in the small town at the time of the attack, Campbell said.
Officials said at first that Fowler's brother told them he had found her body and described her killer as a tall man with long gray hair. The county coroner told KCRA that Fowler died of shock and hemorrhaging caused by multiple stab wounds.
Authorities searched the home and neighborhood, while dive teams searched two reservoirs near the house. A neighbor who told authorities a man ran from the home was discredited, KCRA reported. Investigators have said there was no sign of a burglary or robbery.
Her death and her brother's account of a murderous intruder put the town of about 7,400 on edge.
"Nobody is staying alone," parent James Barci told KCRA in April.
Barci, a truck driver, who is a volunteer at Jenny Lind Elementary School, where Leila was a popular third-grader, added: "I told my work I'm not coming in, and I'm just going to have all of my kids' friends at the house until this is over."
And Sheriff Kuntz said then: "We will not rest until we capture the responsible person."
In a statement issued Saturday, Kuntz did not reveal what evidence led to the arrest.
But NBCBayArea.com reported that he said at the news conference: "Citizens of Calaveras County can sleep a little better tonight."
Rich Pedroncelli / AP
Teacher Cecilia Richardson helps a student tie a ribbon honoring third-grader Leila Fowler, at Jenny Lind Elementary School in Valley Springs, Calif., on April 29.
'We will not rest': Sheriff hunts California girl's killer


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With so many different entertainment options out there for your children, we at PopcornBiz thought we'd take a moment each week to dissect one piece of family entertainment strictly from a parent's perspective, so that you know what parts are appropriate for your loved ones, and which are not. This week's COVER YOUR EYES subject: "Gremlins"
It's holiday movie season time. And what better way to share in the joy and spirit of the season than by watching cuddly creatures mutate into bloodthirsty mini-demons? That's right, it's time for us to revisit "Gremlins," the 1984 Christmas classic that will probably go down as the second-most violent PG film ever made ("Temple of Doom" is #1). I watched this movie when I was eight years old, which probably scarred me for life. But I had no choice. The movie was the talk of the playground at the time. PEER PRESSURE WILL KILL US ALL. Before subjecting your kids to the horrors "Gremlins," let's consider a few factors.
The "Will Parents Be Able To Tolerate It?" Factor: Yep. "Gremlins" still holds up after nearly three decades (God, I'm old). You will find very few family movies these days that are as willing to venture into black, black comedy. I'm virtually certain that the movie is meant to be an allegory against teen pregnancy. I know I never wanted a pet or a child for years after I saw it.
The Dead Parent Factor: Oh, it's a doozy. You don't see Phoebe Cates' dad killed, but you sure do HEAR about it. In fact, it's probably the most traumatic part of the movie. How is that possible, given that the rest of "Gremlins" is a virtual bloodbath? We'll let Cates' character explain exactly what happened to dad:
The worst thing that ever happened to me was on Christmas. Oh, God. It was so horrible. It was Christmas Eve. I was 9 years old. Me and Mom were decorating the tree, waiting for Dad to come home from work. A couple hours went by. Dad wasn't home. So Mom called the office. No answer. Christmas Day came and went, and still nothing. So the police began a search. Four or five days went by. Neither one of us could eat or sleep. Everything was falling apart. It was snowing outside. The house was freezing, so I went to try to light up the fire. That's when I noticed the smell. The firemen came and broke through the chimney top. And me and Mom were expecting them to pull out a dead cat or a bird. And instead they pulled out my father. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He'd been climbing down the chimney... his arms loaded with presents. He was gonna surprise us. He slipped and broke his neck. He died instantly. And that's how I found out there was no Santa Claus.
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Seriously, that's the worst thing I've ever heard.
The Sexy Sex Sex Factor: This is the Phoebe Cates movie where she DOESN'T take off her top. Your loss.
The Scare Factor: Huge. You know darn well that once those gross cocoons start popping up, bad things are gonna happen. Then there's that scene where the one teacher is about to be killed by the Gremlin and director Joe Dante stretches out the foreboding sense of doom to almost-unbearable lengths. It's a tense, tense viewing experience. I suggest giving your children a glass of sherry beforehand.
The Violence Factor: TONS. "Gremlins" is a full scale orgy of death. Watch the kitchen scene if you don't believe me. People get killed and eaten. Gremlins get chopped up in food processors and blown up in movie theaters. And then there's the infamous microwave death, which was THE playground topic of 1984. If you hadn't seen the microwave death, you weren't nobody at my school. It's a slasher movie to the core.
Age Range: 2 and up. Just kidding. 13 and up. It's a PG-13 movie in retrospect--treat it like one.

subset: commoncrawl


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The new monthly challenge is up on the Sarah's Cards Blog - loads of inspiration from the design team, and a £10 e-voucher up for grabs so get creating!
I've been playing along with The Color Room again - this week's palette was a gorgeous mixture of blues and greens with a little brown thrown into the mix. Perfect for one of our London Eye photos taken last year when we spent the day in the capital for our 1st wedding anniversary. Not only do you get a fab colour selection to inspire you, there is also a sketch provided each week, and I loved this week's so stuck to it pretty closely. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I even used up a few really old scraps - got to be a bonus right?!
Patterned paper: MME, SEI, October Afternoon 'Night Light'; Letters: AC Thickers, My Little Shoebox, Jenni Bowlin; Gems: Basic Grey; Journalling Spot: Scrap 'Em @ Etsy; Puffy shape: AC 'Abode'


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Click Here to Get the Free Tenth Amendment Center Newsletter,
by Michael Boldin
A recent article in the New York Times covered the growth of state-level resistance to a future national health care plan. For example, in 2010, voters in Arizona will have a chance to approve a state constitutional amendment that would effectively ban national health care in that state. Legislators in Florida and Michigan have already introduced similar legislation, and potentially, 15 other states will do so in the 2010 legislative session.
But here's something fundamentally important that NYT writer Monica Davey claims in her article:
…the Constitution's supremacy clause ordinarily allows federal law to, in essence, trump a state law that conflicts with it…
A best, this is a highly-misleading statement.
There are two main points to make here:
1. The "supremacy clause" does not allow federal law to trump state law in all situations, or even "ordinarily" as Davey claims. It only does so when both laws are in pursuance of a power that has been delegated to the federal government by "We the People." – in the Constitution.
2. We know that this is the case because Monica's version of the supremacy clause was actually proposed by leading founders – and rejected. When the Constitution was being drafted, James Madison and others proposed what came to be known as the "Virginia Plan." A major part of this plan was to give the congress a veto over state laws. It was defeated. That means, in plain English, the founders considered this idea, and said no. And Davey is irrefutably wrong in her claim.
So we know from this short lesson that the supremacy clause did not authorize the power that Davey is claiming. In reality, things are pretty much the other way around. The biggest Constitutional problems that actually exist in this country are those times when the federal government exercises powers not delegated to it by "We the People." And that happens far more often than not.
Unfortunately, though, not enough people know this important history of the Virginia Plan, and this basic premise of the Constitution, so they're easily swayed by patently false statements by people like Davey and the New York Times.
Click Here to Get the Free Tenth Amendment Center Newsletter,
Or make a donation to help keep this site active.


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The Children
Random House, 1998 - History - 783 pages
The Children is David Halberstam's brilliant and moving evocation of the early days of the civil rights movement, as seen through the story of the young people--the Children--who met in the 1960s and went on to lead the revolution. Magisterial in scope, with a strong you-are-there quality, The Children is a story one of America's preeminent journalists has waited years to write, a powerful book about one of the most dramatic movements in American history.
They came together as part of Reverend James Lawson's workshops on nonviolence, eight idealistic black students whose families had sacrificed much so that they could go to college. And they risked it all, and their lives besides, when they joined the growing civil rights movement. David Halberstam shows how Martin Luther King, Jr. recruited Lawson to come to Nashville to train students in Gandhian techniques of nonviolence. We see the strength of the families the Children came from, moving portraits of several generations of the black experience in America. We feel Diane Nash's fear before the first sit-in to protest segregation of Nashville lunch counters, and then we see how Diane Nash and others--John Lewis, Gloria Johnson, Bernard Lafayette, Marion Barry, Curtis Murphy, James Bevel, Rodney Powell--persevered until they ultimately accomplished that goal. After the sit-ins, when the Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate buses were in danger of being stopped because of violence, it was these same young people who led the bitter battle into the Deep South. Halberstam takes us into those buses, lets us witness the violence the students encountered in Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma. And he shows what has happened to the Childrensince the 1960s, as they have gone on with their lives.
The Children bears the trademark qualities that have made David Halberstam one of the leading nonfiction writers of our era. The Children is his most personal book since The Best and the Brightest, a magnificent re-creation of a unique period in America, and of the lives of the ordinary people whose courage and vision changed history.two
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If lesson number one had been that their numbers were not small because their idea was powerful, then lesson number two was about shedding the most powerful of all feelings — the shame of being black ... Read full review
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Excellent civil rights history and relationships.. Read full review
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activists Alabama American Baptist arrested arrived asked Atlanta became become believed Bernard Lafayette Birmingham black community Branscomb Bull Connor C. T. Vivian called church Churchwell civil rights cops Curtis Murphy dangerous decided Deep South Diane Nash downtown father felt Fisk force Freedom Riders friends going gone Hank Thomas happened Interview Jackson jail James Bevel Jim Clark Jim Lawson John Lewis Kelly Miller Smith Kennedy kind Klan knew later leaders leadership lives Marion Barry Martin Luther King mayor meeting Meharry Memphis minister Mississippi Montgomery mother moved Movement Nashville never night nonviolence parents police political protest race racial reporters Rides Rodney Powell SCLC seemed segregation Seigenthaler Selma sense sit-ins SNCC social someone Southern sure talk tell Tennessean Tennessee things thought tion told town trying turned Vanderbilt vote wanted Washington young black


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(I want the exception to actually run but it won't, the exception class is no worry it's fine, the exception is if gameA is over 2 or gameB is over 0 it should say what's written in the exception, its just it won't run when I reach the point in which the exception would activate. The only way it would activate is if I take off the brackets in the if statement but then the text overlaps with the beginning text of the program I'm making. I've also tried putting the try statement outside of the if but that's useless too....)
if (A == 2 && B == 0){
g.drawString("(random text", 1, 1);
g.drawString("random text", 1, 1);
g.drawString("It bit you and now your one,", 1, 1);
try {
new GameOver(A,B);
catch (RandomException e){
g.drawString("No more, this program stops!", 1, 1);


text:
Quiznos Sub Prices and Locations in Altoona, IA
Quiznos Sub - 550 36th Ave SW
Altoona, Iowa (515) 967-1005
Looking for a Quiznos Sub near you?
Dining is never a trivial thing. Is it troubling you in finding a restaurant with the most comfortable environment, the most delicious food, the most balanced diet and the fairest price? Find the nearest restaurant and up to date menus on FoodMenPrice.com. Bon appetit!
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- Wendy's Menu


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In this game of tag, Justin Bieber is decidedly not it.
The 16-year-old pop sensation has been cleared of assault charges stemming for an incident that occured at a Canadian laser tag park in October, reports CNN.
A spokeswoman for the Richmond Royal Canadian Mounted Police told CNN that though they couldn't specifically comment on particular individuals involved due to their age, they could say that the investigation into the Bieber case was closed due to a lack of supporting evidence.
U.S. & World
In the incident in question, Bieber allegedly assaulted a 12-year-old while playing laser tag in Richmond, British Columbia. The mop-haired "Baby" singer reportedly punched the younger boy in the face after being targeted by him during the game.
Selected Reading: CNN, Entertainment Weekly, Zap2It


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New theater production office opens in NYC
The producers behind one of the largest comedy festivals in the world are launching a new theatrical subsidiary that hopes to become a major player on Broadway and in London's West End.
The Just For Laughs Group on Monday unveiled its new stage-orientated producing division and said Adam Blanshay will be its chief executive officer.
Just For Laughs Theatricals, which will be based in New York City, is already signed on to help produce the new Broadway musical "Kinky Boots," the West End productions of "A Chorus Line," "Old Times" with Kristin Scott Thomas, and "Merrily We Roll Along." Future projects include the new Broadway musical "Bullets Over Broadway" in 2014.
"While comedy has always been our focus, we believe great theatre - whether musical, drama or comedy - can be an equally powerful unifying force," Gilbert Rozon, founder of the Just For Laughs Group, said in a statement.
Blanshay's recent Broadway credits include the revival of "Evita" starring Ricky Martin, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" with Daniel Radcliffe, "The Scottsboro Boys," "Catch Me If You Can" and "Jerusalem." He has been nominated for six Tony Awards, one Grammy Award, and is a graduate of McGill University.
The Just For Laughs Group creates comedy festivals around the globe, dozens of hours of TV and operates concert tours. It is behind the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, which this summer will celebrate its 31st anniversary.
The festival attracts 2 million people each summer and has featured Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, John Cleese, Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Jason Alexander, Dane Cook and Tim Allen.


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The man who made Splinter Cell and designed Far Cry 2, Clint Hocking, has found a new home after leaving Ubisoft earlier this year, one of two recent high profile departures from the developer. Looks like he's now at LucasArts.
Hocking's landing at the house of Star Wars games comes via Ubisoft community developer Kimi Matsuzaki, who welcomed the former Ubisoft creative director via her Twitter, as spotted by Joystiq.
The addition of Hocking to LucasArts comes not long after another high profile departure. Haden Blackman, executive producer on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, recently made public his decision to leave LucasArts for other projects.
We're still waiting for former Ubisoft star Patrice Desilets to announce his new home—THQ?—so that this creative shuffle can be complete.


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A blog post from professor Jack Pitney, identifying ways that the Republican National Committee has previously attempted to bring minorities and young voters into its fold has, so far, earned more than 3,000 page views.
The blog, which draws on content from a textbook written by Pitney and CMC colleague Joseph Bessette, gives examples of the rather bumpy ways the RNC has attempted over the years––and still, now–– to win over minorities, women, and young voters. Pitney, the Roy P. Crocker Professor of American Politics, posted the blog on Sunday, March 17, under the headline: GOP Outreach: A History. The examples begin at about 1977 and move forward through December 2003.
"Pitney's list is a stark reminder that the attempt to expand the party's membership outlined by Republican National Committee Chairmans Reince Priebus Monday follows many others that have come up relatively empty," writes National Public Radio's Frank James. James featured Pitney's timeline in a March 19 blog for NPR called: Scholar Outlines the Long, Rocky Road of GOP Outreach Efforts.
"We've seen this movie before," Pitney said in an interview. "The Republican National Committee has frequently mounted outreach efforts over the past several decades. The big question is whether this time will be different."
The textbook co-authored by Pitney and Bessette, who is the Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor of Government and Ethics, is called American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy, and Citizenship and is based on the idea of "deliberative democracy."


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Kimalé aims to combine a vibrant and colorful cultural heritage with the minimalist side of modern fashion.
- African wax print
- Dimensions: 20x11 cm
- Zipper closure on top
- This product ships internationally
- It is available and ships immediately
- Delivery up to 3 business days
- Free Returns
- Refunds
Kimalé - Irène Mamfredos & Aliki Demi - Philosophy & Bio
Kimalé was established in 2013 by Irène Mamfredos, a French/Greek designer based in Athens, together with her friend and patern-maker Aliki Demi.
Using high quality fabrics -often handmade or rare- from all over Africa, they created a collection of unique clothes and accessories with clean cut silhouettes and functional shapes. Marrying the vibrant and colorful palette of traditional African culture with the minimalist side of contemporary urban style.
Kimalé embraces the movement of "slow fashion". The label sources many fabrics from the French association "Les Piroguiers" which is active in Togo and Burkina Faso, helping schools with material and funds and supporting a number of local artisans.
"We believe every woman is unique and style is above all personal. This is why we insist in sourcing small batch original prints and handmade African fabrics. For the individual clothes - no two pieces are alike!- we design and make, with love and craftsmanship, in Athens, Greece".
Εvery item is unique.


text:
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We're excited to announce that we'll soon be holding an Enterprise...Read more


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117. JOHN DONNE: For Whom the Bell Tolls
John Donne (1572-1631) was an English poet. This passage is taken from his work Devotions of Emergent Occasions, a compilation of reflections, meditations, prose and poetry. Donne wrote the work while recovering from a serious illness and this particular quote is taken from Meditation XVII. You can read the entire verse here. This passage was made famous after Ernest Hemingway used 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' as the title for one of his most acclaimed novels.
Jeff Hanneman (1964-2013) was a guitarist and one of the founding members of the metal band Slayer. He recently passed away due to cirrhosis of the liver, after also just recovering from necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease he was diagnosed with after getting bit by a spider. Before his death, Hanneman played a gig where he proudly displayed the large scars on his arm the disease had left him with.
I will not pretend I know anything about metal – the idea of this comic was suggested to me by my brother. It's also a total coincidence that another metal band, Metallica, have a song named For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Thanks to everyone who sent in this passage, there's too many to name. It's definitely one of the most-requested quotes.


text: Nice try, Republicans, running a political protection racket to push your Medicare scheme. Scrubbed of the sweet talk about saving Medicare, your offer boiled down to this: You older folks support us, and we won't touch a hair on your government health-insurance plan. Only those 55 and under get whacked.


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I am attempting to get the Quick Chat WordPress plugin to load only if you click on a button.
I'm currently using this code:
$('#chat').load('path to my wp template/quick-chat.php');
... where the file 'quick-chat.php' has a WordPress function that calls Quick Chat. When the file loads, however, it's not recognizing the function. It's acting like it was outside of WordPress.
Any ideas?


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It was just last month when a cold December had local snow buffs eager for the slopes of local mountains as the newly white hilltops translated into green dollars.
That was last month.
This month — at least this week — local residents are seeing a lot of red.
Dry weather and gusty winds prompted extended red flag warnings for much of the Southland through Wednesday, as winter temperatures increase to the mid-80s by midweek.
Winds are expected to blow at 20 to 30 mph through the Inland Empire, with gusts as high as 55 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
In Los Angeles and Ventura counties, there will be strong winds at 40 to 50 mph across the coasts and valleys in the morning through midafternoon the next few days.
That's going to bring humidity down. Forecasters say humidity could reach 5 percent in the Inland Empire.
Because red flag warnings indicate hazardous fire weather is present or anticipated, the San Bernardino County Fire Department boosted staffing levels Sunday morning to be ready.
Extra firefighters have been sent to stations at the edge of wildland areas — called the urban-wildland interface. Those include stations in San Antonio Heights, Mentone, Phelan and Devore.
Twice as many firefighters will be sent to fires during the warning.
"We know the wind has the ability to carry these fires out of control," said county fire spokesman Eric Sherwin. "The goal is to get enough people on scene quickly, hook it and stop it before the weather can exert its influences upon the fire."
AccuWeather forecasts high temperatures today through Friday in the mid 80s, with each day approaching record high tempratures for the date.
Santa Ana winds are not uncommon in January, but what's not common is to have the high winds coupled with extremely dry vegetation this time of year. There hasn't been enough rain and snow yet.
"Even though we're in January and we have overnight lows that are quite cold, we don't have the correlating moisture to renourish those fuels," Sherwin said.
According to Bill Patzert, climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, the past year was the driest in 135 years.
"If we had already had a wet December and early January, which is normal, then we would just be worried about the high winds," Patzert said. "The fire danger hasn't really receded since the end of summer, so we're high fire danger in the summer, fall and midwinter and it really hasn't diminished. Everyone has been good about starting fires so let's encourage them to be careful out there."
While firefighters are gearing up for potential hazards, some mountain resorts are using the dry weather to their advantage.
"We're in a typical pattern we've seen in the past three years," said Kim Hermon, marketing and sales director for Mountain High. "We're able to make snow, our doors are open and people can still come ski and snowboard. We need dry and cold air and that's what we're getting at night so it's perfect."
However, she said the warmer weather may cause people to forget about skiing or snowboarding entirely.
"If you're in the city and it's 80 degrees, you're not thinking about the snow," Hermon said. "As far as the business volume, we have seen a decrease in our business volume due to the warmer temperatures because there's other things to do,"
The area should remain very dry Thursday and Friday, but the winds will be weaker.


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Aliens land. They've traveled from some distant planet with a specific mission: to find out what this 'rock and roll' stuff is all about. Through some curious coincidence, they find you. "What is rock and roll?" they demand, rayguns drawn. You begin to sweat. Still, there is really only one question you need to ask yourself:
"Which Neil Young album do I play them first?"
This is no hyperbole; Neil Young is the personification of rock and roll in human form. From his humble beginnings as a surf rocker in the Squires to his tenure in Hall Of Fame acts Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, to his most recent blitzkrieg Psychedelic Pill, Neil has spent a career as the embodiment of artistry despite fierce resistance. This iron-willed devotion to the Muse has not come without a price, however: While Neil's successes have mostly flown in the face of prevailing music biz wisdom, his uncompromising nature has earned him almost as many failures, failures that should have sunk him several times over. His unpredictability and star-chamber business practices have often made him a pariah; his impulsive spirit and mood swings would frequently estrange his fellow musicians and most ardent supporters. Even more than Dylan, Neil Young has made a career of being consistently inconsistent.
As an architect of what we now consider 'underground music' there is no peer: For every Great Indie Moment of the past thirty years, there is a Neil Young song correlative. Wanna hear ground zero for Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs? See "Journey Through The Past." The raw-nerve humanity in the songs of Jason Molina? Check out "On The Beach." The primary influence on J Mascis's wild, feedback-laden guitar playing, or his reedy, cracked vocal style? That'd be "Cortez The Killer" and "Mellow My Mind," respectively. Alt country? "Harvest." I could do this all day. Of course, it works both ways: Neil Young's decision to release 1991's Arc, a 35-minute collage of feedback and noise, seems directly inspired by his run-ins with Sonic Youth, while the Pearl Jam-assisted Mirror Ball would find the newly-sired Godfather Of Grunge an awestruck but reluctant don of the alternative rock revolution.
Neil Young has never lent his music to a commercial. He was the Canadian hippie that publicly supported Reagan (despite the fact that he was not eligible to vote), only to record an entire album arguing for the impeachment of George W. Bush. He vainly made movies that made Cocksucker Blues look like Double Indemnity. His autobiography depicts a man more interested in model trains, vintage cars, and cutting-edge technology than his legacy as a rock star, which seems to bore and trouble him.
This, at least, is consistent: As early as 1966, the reluctant star penned "Out Of My Mind" for Buffalo Springfield's debut album, a song containing the lyrics "All I hear are screams/ from outside the limousines/ that are taking me out of my mind." He introduced himself to the world with songs about epileptic seizures, tormented small-town girls, and the rent that always seems to be due. His peers may have been enjoying the nectar of flower power, but Neil's acute perception allowed him to see the darkness just below the surface.
It is easy to view Neil as a cranky contrarian who takes his gifts and fortunes for granted, but this is an oversimplification. It is equally tempting to define him alongside similarly protean artists from Bowie to Gaga, but this, too, is specious. The genre experiments of other artists often indicate an identity crisis, or an attempt to recreate oneself in the hopes of appealing to increasingly fickle market forces. It could be argued that Neil's shape-shifting is motivated by the exact opposite reasons: trends, expectations, and market forces be damned, he doesn't feel like making another country-rock record right now. Whether his imagination leads him to Greendale or to goldrush, it's all the same to Neil Young. This is why even his most seemingly impersonal, comically overambitious leaps of faith contain, at their core, an honesty — a humanity.
His music may be frequently peevish and outwardly rebellious, but at heart, Neil's a moralist. His fierce loyalty to talented-but-toxic characters like Bruce Palmer, Rusty Kershaw and Danny Whitten is an example of a probity that undermines a reputation for hardness. Other examples can be found within the songs themselves, full of lessons: Sooner or later it all gets real. Only love can break your heart. Don't be denied. Don't wait till the break of day. Time fades away.
It has become customary when introducing Counting Down pieces to note that there is no 'worst' album by the featured band, acknowledging that a great artist's relative failures are often redeemable within a greater context. In previous entries I have written on Sonic Youth and Drive-By Truckers, among others, this has been true and I stand by it. It is not true for Neil. I won't claim that the bottom five entries on this list are complete turkeys, but they're certainly pretty close.
Still, I feel I must disclose that Neil Young has created some of the most important music of my life. Since the release of Freedom in 1989 and subsequent concert at Jones Beach that same year, I have unfailingly purchased every Neil Young record on the Tuesday of its release; I have done this even as the digital age has allowed me to audition lousy albums like Greendale and Fork In The Road beforehand. A tattoo on my right wrist reads 'WWNYD,' elevating Neil to the status of Jesus Christ, and a promotional poster of Neil at Massey Hall hangs over my writing desk. In some ways, this makes me both the best and worst person for the job of ranking Neil's albums; I am, and shall always be, a Neil Young apologist.
Start the Countdown here.


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Hard Crossword
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Because these are daily crossword puzzles, you'll need to first choose which date's free crossword you would like to play. After you select your desired puzzle, start filling in the squares on the crossword grid -- it's that easy! But that's the only easy part. When (not if) you get stuck, you'll need a bit of help. Simply click "reveal" on the bottom-left of the screen to help you move along and solve this hard crossword puzzle.
Come back daily for new online crossword puzzle challenges. Good luck!


text:
Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter
Every Action Has a Cost
This madam was not the usual picky. In fact, she was looking at the jewelry before her with disdain. Those things that seemed like superior goods to Feng Yu Heng were not worth a cent to her. Even the maidservant at her side let out a faint snort and said: "If it wasn't for us coming such a long distance, we definitely would have brought nice things with us. We thought that the capital would be a treasure trove, and we would be able to get anything that we wanted; however, who knew that this place known as the best in the capital would actually only have such low-quality items."
Qing Yu laughed angrily, looking at the madam and asking: "If these are low-quality items, then may I ask madam, what would be considered good?"
"Tsk!" The wealthy madam did not speak, but the servant asked: "I must ask you, if the imperial concubines in the palace want to buy things, are you willing to send these into the palace?"
Qing Yu smiled and replied: "Naturally, we could not. The imperial concubines of the palace receive higher quality things."
"Then there it is!" The servant's eyes became fierce, "It's clear that you're looking down on our madam. Quickly bring the things that you send into the palace. Don't waste your words."
Qing Yu let out a cold snort, "You want things that can be sent into the palace? Then may I ask this madam, would you be a consort of the palace?"
"Why do you care so much…" The servant wanted to interject; however, she was stopped by the madam. She then asked Qing Yu: "We said earlier that we came from the South. Naturally, we cannot falsely declare ourselves to be imperial concubines, but I must ask you. If we did not say, how could you know that we are not from the palace? If I was, would you not have offended an imperial concubine?"
Qing Yu looked at the madam as if she was an idiot then said after a long time: "Indeed, you are from the South; otherwise, anyone from near the capital would not say such a thing. Madam, if you really were an imperial concubine from the palace, you would have been easy to take care of."
"Oh?" The madam was puzzled, "How do you mean?"
Qing Yu told her: "Because the imperial concubines of the palace definitely would not come to Nirvana Pavilion to cause trouble. They, even more, would not come here to try and cause trouble."
"You're saying that our madam came to cause you trouble?" The servant began shrieking, "Are you running a business or not? We came here with money to buy things, yet you actually say that we're causing you trouble?"
Qing Yu spread her hands, "But I already brought out the best things that can be sold, but you were not satisfied. That's just how doing business goes. This shop doesn't have the things you want, and you can go to another shop. You cannot cause a disturbance because there's nothing that you like. You said today that Nirvana Pavilion has low-quality items. I am not arguing with you because you came from a long way. Madam, please go back!" After she finished speaking, she immediately directed the clerk to put away the things on the table.
The servant was extremely indignant; however, she also felt that Qing Yu was hard to deal with. She had to look to her madam and heard the madam say: "How about bringing out the accessories that are only sold to the imperial concubines in the palace? If there is anything I like, there will be no shortage of money for you."
Qing Yu shook her head, "No."
"Why not?"
"You're not qualified."
The two went back and forth, but it left the madam feeling ashamed. The servant, however, was unhappy once more, fiercely saying: "Do you know what you are saying? Our madam isn't qualified? Aren't they just some accessories? How could our madam not be qualified?"
Qing Yu felt that explaining the reasoning to these two was truly difficult, and she could not help but get up and say: "Because those are things that only the imperial concubines of the palace can use. If madam feels that your position is on the same level as the imperial concubines, I would not mind immediately sending you into the palace to have the imperial concubines make the final decision. Also, I will remind madam that the so-called imperial concubines are all masters above a certain rank. What status do you think you have?"
Qing Yu was very resolute when she said this. Whether it was in the capital or in the imperial palace, who did not know that imperial daughter Ji An, Feng Yu Heng, owned this jewelry shop. Who would have nothing better to do and come cause trouble here? Even the imperial concubines of the palace needed to give a bit of face. Even if the Empress herself visited, she would speak kindly. She definitely would not put on such airs and act so picky. The one before them really did not know the depth of the world.
"Madam, watch your step. I won't be sending you." Qing Yu was a bit impolite, directly chasing them out.
The servant wanted to say some more; however, she was stopped by the madam. She did not immediately go down the stairs and leave. Instead, she walked around the third floor until her gaze landed on Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng; however, she let out a "huh" sound and stared straight at the box Xuan Tian Ming was holding.
"Did you two also come to buy things?" She directly asked Xuan Tian Ming.
How proud of a person was Xuan Tian Ming! Was he someone that just anyone could speak to if they desired? He immediately rolled his eyes then leaned back in his chair to rest.
The madam was embarrassed, and the servant was furious, rushing to saying: "Hey! Our madam is speaking to you. Are you deaf?"
Once this was said, the people in Nirvana Pavilion were scared witless. Qing Yu quickly went forward to step in front of Xuan Tian Ming, quietly saying: "You must not be rash. This place cannot stand up to a fight. If things are broken, it's your own money being lost."
When Xuan Tian Ming heard this, his anger dissipated. The hand that was reaching into his sleeve for a whip pulled back. Qing Yu was right! If he started something here and broke something, his wife would feel extremely distressed. He could not hit them. He could not hit them.
"Madam, please have your servant know some manners!" Qing Yu turned around and raised her voice, "This is a place that conducts proper business. It is not a place that tolerates impudence! All of the businesses in the capital are protected by the government. If madam's servant truly does not know how to speak, I can have her sent to the government office to be taught."
Qing Yu's words were totally rude, and her gaze was frigid. The madam clearly understood how to read the situation. Seeing that a worker in a shop dared to speak to her like this despite knowing that she was the madam of an official, she knew that the supporter of this shop had some sort of background. She recalled what her husband had said on their way. He had said that the capital could not compare to the outer provinces. The imperial family is near, and any random person could be related in some way to a large family. Some of the shops in the capital might be owned by people with great power. It's even possible that some are owned by the imperial family. That's why she had to be extremely careful in the capital. She must not act as recklessly as she did in the South.
Thus she held down her servant and no longer allowed her to speak. She then walked past Qing Yu and asked Feng Yu Heng with a smile: "Are you with this gentleman?"
Feng Yu Heng rolled her eyes at her, "If madam wishes to ask me a question, you should at least say may I ask before that question. You also cannot just use you. You must use miss." After she finished speaking, she shook her head, "People from the South really don't know the rules."
The madam was still angry, but she did her best to suppress it, repeating her question: "May I ask this miss. Would you be with this gentleman?"
Feng Yu Heng nodded, "That's right."
The other side then said: "I saw that you have a wooden box that looks very expensive. For such an expensive piece of wood to have been turned into a box, the contents must be quite expensive. Was that something that was purchased in this Nirvana Pavilion?"
Qing Yu was also getting angry and immediately replied for Feng Yu Heng: "There is no need for madam to worry about it."
Feng Yu Heng, however, stopped her and said with a smile: "That's right. Indeed, it was some good jade materials. I was preparing to bring it back to have it made into some things."
The madam's eyes lit up. Jade materials, she loved jade the most. She had been wanting to visit the capital to search for some top-quality jade. Who knew that she would actually end up running into such a treasure.
She quickly asked: "Could I be allowed to see?"
Feng Yu Heng was puzzled: "Why must I let you see?"
"If our madam thinks it's good, we will buy it at a high price. We guarantee that it would not be a loss for you." The servant was quick to speak and could not stop herself from interjecting.
After the madam heard this, she also nodded, expressing that she had such an intention.
As a result, once she nodded, it was Xuan Tian Ming that laughed, saying: "There really isn't a lack of strange things in this world. I really have not seen such a strange matter or such fools in many years."
Feng Yu Heng, however, did not feel that it was funny, as she thought quickly and said: "You can look, but you cannot look for free."
"Oh?" The madam also became interested and asked: "Do tell, how much would be considered enough?"
A trace of a sly smile appeared on her lips; however, it was not noticed by them. Feng Yu Heng then said: "Madam has good eyes, recognizing the materials used for this box as out of the ordinary. It is as you said, the contents of a box made with materials that are out of the ordinary will naturally be out of the ordinary. But as for how out of the ordinary, and whether it will be enticing to madam is not something that I can take responsibility for. Either way, this box is mine, and the thing inside is also mine. Madam is asking me to take a look, thus I will allow you to take a look with compensation." After thinking a bit, she spread her five fingers: "500 tales of silver to take a look."
"What?" The servant shrieked, "Are you stealing money?"
Feng Yu Heng nodded, "That's right, I am stealing money. Who told your madam to insist on looking at my things. Why should I show my things to people at random?"
"Who do you think you are?" The servant was sizing her up with great disdain. Although she was wearing quite nice clothes, she was far inferior compared to her madam. People like this were mostly young misses with a bit of money. At most, they would be young misses from officials' families. They could not possibly have too high of a status. Thus the words that she said were even more impolite, "Our madam wants to see your things. That is a favor to you. Don't turn down face when given it."
Qing Yu suddenly raised her hand and very fiercely slapped the servant's face. A handprint immediately appeared on the left side of the servant's face. "Little girl does not pay attention to the weight of your words. I will teach you a lesson for your master. It will also save your master the trouble of losing face when going out."
The servant was dazed from being hit. She had been with her madam for many years. When they were in the South, they would move as they pleased. No matter what they did, nobody dared to offend them. Why was it after they came to the capital, a person doing business dared to slap her like this?
And this slap also gave the madam a shock. She did not pay attention to her own servant. Instead, she pointed at Feng Yu Heng and asked Qing Yu: "What is her relation to you?"
Qing Yu replied: "Master and servant."
"Nirvana Pavilion's owner?"
Qing Yu nodded, "Indeed."
The madam was puzzled. She was just the owner of a jewelry shop, but she had such a grand bearing. She could not help but look at Feng Yu Heng once more, wanting to ask who exactly this little girl was.
But at this time, she heard Feng Yu Heng ask her once more: "500 taels of silver, will you take a look or not?"


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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment has sixteen possible results. The assessment will "test" your natural preferences. There is no right or wrong answer. Four abbreviated letters refer to your Type preferences, which include:
- Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)
- Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)
- Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
- Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)
Your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment results will prove useful to both you and your employer, but that doesn't mean you should wait to take it. Here are a couple reasons why taking the assessment even before landing the job can help you:
You can find out more about your personality and what jobs are right for you. Learning your Myers-Briggs® psychological Type will help you to discover what jobs would be the most compatible with your personality—and where you might be the most satisfied. Your Type will also indicate how naturally things may come to you. While there is no Type that will indicate certain success in any particular job field, knowing where your personality would be the best suited and how to adjust with any job will save you orientation time.
Taking the assessment will help you figure out how you would thrive in a particular position. Understanding your Type can help you and your employer figure out how you will need to adapt in order to flourish in the position. If your employer has your results, he or she will be able to gauge what your comfort level might be in certain situations. The results will also let your employer know your strengths and how you, as an employee, can best contribute to your company.
Mona Abdel-Halim is the co-founder of Resunate.com, the world's only search engine optimizing resume builder. Resunate has recently partnered with Myers-Briggs® to give users the option to take the assessment online and feed their results into its engine, enabling Resunate to provide personal insight into how well you fit to any job. The verified Myers-Briggs® assessment will be available to Resunate users starting January 2012. You can find Mona and Resunate on Facebook and Twitter.
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Focal's Utopia speakers take center stage
A video tour of an award-winning car audio system
Harold Jones, winner of Virginia's IASCA Sound Quality Challenge, was kind enough to drop by Headquarters to show off his impressive ride. The centerpiece of Harold's system is his Focal Utopia Be No. 5 component speaker system. Until now, most of us here had only seen them in their cool shipping case — but then Harold stopped by.
Of course, the Utopias are only part of Harold's impressive system. Here are some of the other key elements:
- JBL MS-8 digital sound processor
- Focal 2-way speakers for handling mid-bass
- JL Audio 10" subwoofer
- JL Audio HD Series amps (2x 600/4 for the speakers, and a 750/1 for the sub)
Check out our short video to see what other gear contributes to his award-winning sound.
Reader comments (0 responses)
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Chad Ochocinco grew up as a child loving to watch the Miami Dolphins play. He went to Miami Beach High School but never got the chance to make the jump to play at the University of Miami - the big time for local stars - instead heading west to play in college at Oregon State.
He was taken in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and spent nine years by the Ohio River before moving to the New England Patriots for the 2011 season. The Pats released him after one disappointing year, in which he caught only 15 passes for 276 all season.
But there's good news for the former Pro Bowl receiver (and Dancing with the Stars contestant) to celebrate. He's coming home.
Ochocinco will get to play in front of his hometown crowd, as a part of the Dolphins after the team announced on their website that they signed him to beef up their offense.
Ochocinco will likely get some good preseason airtime too. That's because the Dolphins will be the latest team to have their training camp and preseason filmed as a part of HBO's "Hard Knocks. " The team might have been interesting enough to watch considering it will chronicle the coach Joe Philbin's first season. But with Ochocinco aboard, who famously changed his last name to match his jersey number, the show may have just gotten a little bit more interesting.
His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was one of the first to call out the welcome wagon on Twitter:
Congrats to Chad & his family on signing with the Dolphins. This a great fit for Chad, the team and Dolphin fans. It's nice to come home.—
Drew Rosenhaus (@RosenhausSports) June 12, 2012
Chris Burke, writing for SI.com, said the move makes sense from a football standpoint. But like many others are sure to do, Burke questioned whether the flamboyant player will make a good fit in Miami.
"Why Ochocinco, of all guys? The Dolphins, after all, just traded away the enigmatic Brandon Marshall, in part because he didn't fit in well in the locker room. Miami has also shown no outward interest in guys like Plaxico Burress or Santonio Holmes — players who, like Ochocinco, can make a few plays here and there but also raise a team's trouble quotient," Burke wrote. "Maybe Miami believes Ochocinco brings more to the table than those guys, or that he'll be extra motivated playing in Miami, where he grew up. Maybe the Dolphins think last season's embarrassing run in New England will give Ochocinco the spark he needs to pick up the pieces and put together one last 1,000-yard season."
Congratulations! I hope it all goes well for you and the team. Everyone deserves a chance to work.
Yup, this is just a ratings booster for Hard Knocks and nothing more.


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Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version for $13.99 by clicking here.
For the most part, the Twins spring training rosters are pretty well set. I wouldn't be surprised if there is another reliever brought in, and there could be some more minor league signings. I thought it would be late enough in the offseason to start taking a look at the Twins organizational depth. So, over the next two weeks, I'll go position by position and name the players throughout the farm system with a few thoughts. In doing so, I'll be trying to figure out what the Twins minor league rosters will look like.
I'm going to start with the catcher position and work through all of the positions. First and foremost, I need to point out that these are my thoughts. I have no insider information to know where players will be. Obviously after spring training, some of these players will be let go. There will be Disabled List players, extended spring training and more.
Minnesota Twins
Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit, Drew Butera
Maybe it's hopeful optimism, but I'm not worried about Joe Mauer in 2012. 2011 started out with injury, a bad diagnosis made public, and a not-so-subtle hint of confusion surrounding his health, his toughness and how even his teammates and managers didn't always understand what the situation was either. If Mauer is healthy, he's one of the best catchers in baseball, offensively and defensively. Ideally, he could again catch 110-120 games and if he does so, we know that he will likely hit .320/.390/.490 or so with 35 or more doubles and potentially a dozen home runs.
Doumit was a tremendous signing early in the offseason. His career numbers in the NL show that he has posted an OPS very similar to Jason Kubel's. Offensively, I expect the same type of hitter as Kubel. That's probably a little optimistic. I think Doumit (along with Trevor Plouffe and Luke Hughes) will be the primary DHs, unless Justin Morneau can't play 1B and they have him DH. Doumit can also catch 30-40 games a season to give Mauer a day off from behind the plate. He's not too good back there.
Butera is the opposite. He has no chance offensively, particularly when overexposed as he was last year. Butera is the actual backup catcher, in my mind, since Doumit should be starting every day. As a true backup catcher, he's fine, plays good defense, does a good job against the running game, and works well with pitchers. When he has to play most days and gets 400 plate appearances, that isn't the design. In reality, the Twins have a bunch of versatility on their major league roster, so I might prefer to have Butera in Rochester. If Mauer or Doumit is hurt one game, the other could catch the rest of that game, and Butera could be up the next day. Of course, that would assume the Twins utilized the DL well, something they did very poorly the last couple of years.
Rochester Red Wings
Rene Rivera, JR Towles
We saw in 2011 what Rivera could do, and it was pretty much just as bad offensively as Butera. He just swung more crazy and more often. Defensively, he is obviously quite solid.
JR Towles comes over from the Astros where he was once a top prospect in baseball. He never really hit with the Astros, although he never really got much consistent playing time. There may be some hope here for some optimism.
New Britain Rock Cats
Danny Lehmann, Chris Herrmann
Butera, Rivera and Towles are pretty much the same. I may be wrong, but everything I've seen, read and heard from players throughout the system, Lehmann is the best of that group. He won't hit a lot, but no worse than Rivera and Butera did, and his defense is just as good, if not better. I've talked to a lot of pitchers in the Twins system the last couple of years and all agree that they love throwing to Lehmann.
Chris Herrmann is the Twins top catching prospect, and it isn't terribly close. He made a very strong impression in 2011 at Ft. Myers and in New Britain. He didn't hit for average, but he gets on base a lot. He also hits a lot of doubles with a smooth left-handed swing. He runs very well for a catcher. Part of his value is his versatility. In college, he played mostly in the infield. Early in his Twins career, he played mainly in the outfield and played well there. Pitchers say that his defense behind the plate has improved, and he now throws out a solid percentage of would-be base stealers. He could be a versatile backup player with the Twins by September, and he is also good enough to be the primary backstop for the team as well should they move the $184-million-dollar man to another position at some point.
Ft. Myers Miracle
Danny Rams, Dan Rohlfing, Josmil Pinto
Rams made a good impression last year at big league spring training and was very good in April. At that point, he got hurt and played through it, but his numbers were not what he and organization would have wanted. Defensively, he has a strong arm, but isn't touted as a great defender. It's just a gut feeling, but Rams is very talented, and I think once he gets to New Britain, we'll start seeing some of his power potential turn into some power numbers.
Rohlfing played infield in high school and the Twins moved him to catcher. After awhile, he was moved to the outfield. Last year, he was pushed to New Britain where he held his own as a backup catcher. When he was sent back to Ft. Myers, he was in the lineup most every day, either behind the plate or in the outfield and he played well. He was invited to spring training this year because he has made an impression on the right people.
Josmil Pinto put up huge numbers in E-town a couple of seasons ago, but he really struggled in 2010 in Beloit. He returned to Beloit and did alright before being moved up to Ft. Myers. He has a strong arm, but it's likely he's a DH because he does struggle behind the plate.
Beloit Snappers
Andy Leer, Philip Chapman, Matt Koch, Matt Parker, Jairo Rodriguez, Kyle Knudson
This is where you start realizing that not all of these players will remain in the organization beyond spring training. There will likely be some injuries and others also added to the Disabled List for depth.
Andy Leer is from North Dakota and went to college at the University of Mary. He was an infielder with the Snappers in 2011, and at Instructional League, he was moved behind the plate. Philip Chapman and Matt Koch were both drafted in 2011. Chapman hit well, but he was a college guy playing in the GCL. Koch signed late and played in a dozen or so games in Elizabethton. Both are old enough that they should move up to Beloit, but based on numbers, one could stay in Extended Spring Training. Matt Parker was a non-drafted free agent singing a couple of years ago. He's a defensive guy. Knudson played with Beloit in 2011, but he missed most of the second half of the season with a groin injury. He's one that they will need to keep because he is solid defensively and has some offensive potential. Jairo Rodriguez is a strong-armed backstop without much offensive upside.
Elizabethton Twins
Kelly Cross, Michael Quesada
Cross was drafted out of high school in 2010 and signed late. He got into just a couple of games. He really struggled last year with the GCL Twins, but he's a guy that they're going to have to push quickly because he's only got one more season that he can play in the short seasons.
Quesada was one of the better hitters with the GCL Twins last year and showed good power. Some scouts really like his potential.
The Twins typically draft a couple of college catchers in the first ten rounds or so, and they go to Elizabethton as well. So, it's really impossible to predict who will play any position in Elizabethton or the GCL.
1.) Chris Herrmann, 2.) Danny Rams, 3.) Dan Rohlfing
Joe Mauer is an All Star, an MVP, a Gold Glove winner, a Silver Slugger winner, and he's paid like it. A couple more big seasons and he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But, he has to stay healthy. Chris Herrmann is likely a year away from being ready for the big leagues. He is likely the one player in the minor leagues that has the chance to be a starting catcher. There are several terrific defensive catchers whose ceiling is backup catcher, not that that is a bad thing!
If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail Seth Stohs at email@example.com or leave your thoughts in the Comments Section!


text: This is a game of honesty because the rest of us are not there with you to time your response. A word will be presented and you are to reply with the first word or words which pop into your thoughts. Simple, huh? You'll find that eventually there will be a challenge, and that there are some very amusing responses. I enjoy this game when I'm with a group of people. I hope you enjoy it, too.


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On the track of historyTrier, a city of the Romans, is an architectural showcase with buildings from a rich 2000-year history. Not only is Trier a Roman city, it is also the oldest city in Germany, then a purely civilian city 120 kilometers/80 miles away from the Rhine and the Germanic tribes. It began around a wooden bridge from 18 B.C. at the site of a ford used by the Celtic Treveri and soon occupied the wide valley with an extensive grid pattern of streets on the site of sporadic Celtic settlements. Because it had been founded under Roman Emperor Augustus in the area of the Treveri, it was called Augusta Treverorum and later shortened to Treveri.
Facing the threat of a Germanic invasion, the Romans finally built a city wall around A.D. 180, 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) long, which ultimately had five gates. The remains of the gates at the Amphitheater and the Römerbrücke (Roman Bridge) can still be seen and the Porta Nigra is almost perfectly preserved. The prosperity of Treveri is attested to by the largest gold coin hoard from antiquity found in 1993 (2517 gold coins), but in 275, the city was destroyed by the Germanic Alamanni only to be reborn even more magnificently after 293 as one of the three capitals of the Western Roman Empire alongside York and Milan.
In the 4th century, the city numbered between 60,000 and 80,000 inhabitants, saw six emperors reign from here and, under Constantine the Great (306-316), became an early center for the spread of Christianity north of the Alps.
The Germanic tribal migrations of the fifth century brought destruction at the hands of the Franks, who took over politically after 485 and thus also imported their Germanic language. Treveris, as it was now called, had dwindled down to perhaps 2000 to 3000 inhabitants, but the elevation of the Trier bishop to archbishop in 802 by Charlemagne signaled a new ascent when in 882 the Vikings destroyed Trier.
The city never recovered its former splendor, but at least it grew (more than 12,000 inhabitants in the 14th century); it finished its new city wall in 1248 and had in Balduin of Luxembourg (1307-1354) its leading prince elector. Balduin, brother and great-uncle to two Holy Roman emperors, Henry VII and Charles IV, made sure that he and his successors were among the seven prince electors to elect the German kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
The city itself, however, tried to become more independent of the archbishops, who, in turn, spent more and more time in Koblenz on the Rhine. Trier, as it was now called, played host to several imperial diets. During the one in 1473, the university was founded; during another, the most famous relic of the Cathedral, the "Heilige Rock" (Holy Robe), was shown publicly for the first time in 1512.
In 1522, the city wall proved strong enough to withstand a siege by Franz von Sickingen, thus vouchsafing Christopher Marlowe's later assessment, but the Reformation and the subsequent religious quarrels weakened Trier. The attempt to introduce the Reformation in 1559 failed, and the Reformation-minded weavers, the backbone of the local economy, moved out. In 1580, the Imperial Court ruled in favor of the archbishop/elector, who took possession of Trier again. The return of the electoral administration partly offset the loss of workplaces in manufacturing and wine trading - the climate had worsened, producing a string of bad wine harvests, which in turn led to hundreds of witch trials.
The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and the subsequent French Wars brought Trier, only 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the French border after 1552, an almost continuing series of sieges, occupations, and destructions between 1635 and 1737. In 1697, Trier numbered fewer than 2,700 inhabitants - plus the residents of 29 monasteries.
It was its function as a religious center that kept Trier going, and by the middle of the 18th century, eminent architects and artists turned Trier into a place set splendidly with baroque and rococo churches, palaces, and gardens. It was the ecclesiastical splendor that Goethe eloquently described in 1792 on his way to the battles against the French Revolutionary troops. But Goethe saw the change, too - the French won, and by 1794, Trier was taken and later, like the whole area west of the Rhine, incorporated into France. Irreversible changes took place: the university was closed in 1798; the old guilds were abolished; the vestiges of the Electoral State were dissolved in 1802 along with the office of archbishop, an office created by Charlemagne exactly a millennium earlier; French law was introduced along with the metric system; Napoleon was hailed as a visitor in 1804.
After Napoleon's defeat in 1815 at the hands of the British and the Prussians, the latter took over Trier as their westernmost possession, poor and isolated. Here, in 1818, Karl Marx was born when Trier numbered fewer than 10,000 people.
The First World War set Trier back again: it was bombed 50 times; it lost all its hinterland again and became a French garrison city (with a young major, Charles de Gaulle). The Second World War seemingly brought the end: 40 percent of the inner city was destroyed and Trier was so poor that little could be rebuilt immediately. That, however, proved to be a boon since enough historical consciousness developed later to repair and rebuild along historical lines so that in spite of the wartime losses, Trier is an architectural showcase with buildings from a rich 2000-year history.
Since 1970 a university city again (with other academic institutions), Trier is an administrative center as well as a shopping center for shoppers from as far as Luxembourg and parts of Belgium and France, a city of 100,000 inhabitants where every building site is an investment in the future as well as an investigation of the past.


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Baker Motor Company Charleston Fashion Week® (CFW), one of the leading fashion weeks in the US, was bigger and better than ever in 2013. With record attendance, sponsor participation, and international media attention, the event made a significant impact to the local economy. According to the Office of Tourism Analysis at The College of Charleston, Baker Motor Company Charleston Fashion Week® 2013 boosted the local economy more than $2.6 million in its seventh year, and the event had the following characteristics:
• 184+ million media impressions including TV, print, radio, and online.
• Total expenditure per out-of-town attendee was an average of $1200, and residents spent $500.
• 7,500+ attendees were highly educated with significant disposable income.
"We are very pleased with the continued success of Baker Motor Company Charleston Fashion Week® and the recent survey results reinforce the growing economic impact of the event. We're thankful to the community, our employees, participating retailers, vendors, sponsors, and volunteers for their support, and we look forward to continuing relationships in 2014," said Jed Drew, the president of Gulfstream Communications, which owns and produces CFW, as well as Charleston magazine.
Continuing, Drew noted, "We're also thrilled about the national press we've received such as Southern Living's online story, 'How Charleston Fashion Week Became the Biggest Style Event of the South' and CNN's broadcast and online piece, 'Why The Other Fashion Weeks Matter'. We're gearing up for next year and proud to announce the event will take place March 18-22, 2014."


text: Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - degree authentication for u.s. citizens Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today! Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in degree authentication for u.s. citizens Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Kuwait View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message poompuiJoined: 27 Apr 2010Posts: 9 Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:58 am Post subject: degree authentication for u.s. citizens hey, could any american living in kuwait now please let me know where i need to have my diploma authenticated. and the process. i was told the "foreign ministry" office but after searches online, i can't find this office. also, is a local police check from my hometown good enough for the criminal report required for the visa? also, will i undergo a medical check once i arrive in kuwait and what does that consist of? and to anyone, is 100KD enough for an apartment in kuwiat city area? i will be given 100KD housing support if i choose not to live in the school provided housing. also, how much am i looking at in bills each month. i should state that i love air conditioning... please, only those with relevant and helpful information please respond. i appreciate anyone's help. thanksLast edited by poompui on Wed May 26, 2010 1:21 pm; edited 1 time in total Back to top veiledsentimentsJoined: 20 Feb 2003Posts: 17644Location: USA Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 1:04 pm Post subject: Are you in Kuwait now? This process is easiest done in your home country. In the US, there are companies that will do it for you... for a fee, of course. Is 100KD enough for rent? Only if your standards are very low or you don't mind sharing or maybe if you go way out. My rent for an acceptable (not fancy) place 12 years ago was more than double that. Kuwait hasn't had the rent spike of some Gulf countries, but I would say it is not sufficient. Medical check after arrival is blood test (HIV, Hepatitis, I think) and x-ray (TB) was pretty much all in the past, but someone can come on and tell if there is more. VS (BTW... I can't think of a more useless thread title than "help" - why not put something like "degree authentication" or "new hire processes." You could edit it with the button in the upper right of your post. Think about future people who are trying to use the search for information with your same question.) Back to top bedwiyaJoined: 24 Jan 2003Posts: 66Location: Kuwait Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:51 pm Post subject: 100kd is not enough for an apartment. Possibly 200kd, but would entail living down south and driving on the 'highway of hell' daily in nightmare traffic. Oh wait - nightmare traffic is everywhere here A more realistic amount would be 250-300kd for a decent apartment. Rents have skyrocketed here, even though demand is down. Kuwaitis don't seem to understand the supply/demand theory and would rather have an apt. building stand empty than to lower monthly rent 50kd. AC is very good here, and all utilities are usually included in rent, so you don't have to worry about that. You will need to rent a car or find a driver - not very reliable public transportation. Your degrees get attested at the Kuwaiti embassy in DC. I had to do mine a couple years ago when I switched jobs. My school told me who to send them to and then they notified the school with my "aproval code". I didn't have to do anything else but tell my uni the address to send them to in DC. I will look in my notes to find the details - I think if you look up the Kuwaiti embassy in DC you can find the link online. I think I used it too and emailed them and they actually replied...the person was very helpful. Info about medical tests was correct, don't think they have changed this. DON'T do them ahead of time in the States. You will waste your time and money. My friend was told she could do that a year ago, then once she got here they made her do it all again anyway. Back to top bangkok_bobJoined: 07 Feb 2010Posts: 11 Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:01 am Post subject: I was told to go to the US embassy and to the Kuwaiti embassy to get my degrees certified and attested. The US embassy told me that they could not guarantee that the degrees weren't fake. The only thing the embassy can do is make a copy of the original and certify that the copy came from the original. Back to top tam0782Joined: 10 Jun 2010Posts: 4 Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:24 am Post subject: Poompui If you are in Kuwait, you can get your degree attested by amideast. The other route is pretty painful. First your degree needs to be notarized by the school. Second, you degree needs to be attested by the State that you got the degree from. Third, Your degree then needs to be attested by the State department in Washington.l Fourth, Degree has to then be authenticated by the embassy of Kuwait in Washington. After all of that, when you come to Kuwait, your degree then needs to be translated by an approved translating company. The translation will then need to be authenticated by the foreign ministry, then the ministry of justice ( not sure about the order of these two ministries) Its a pretty painstaking process so i would recommed going the Amideast route. 100KD is not at all enough for an apartment in Kuwait. The cheapest studio/one bedroom you could find is around 160-200 and you can imagine the rest. If you dont mind sharing, 100 would be sufficient for a sharing accomodation in a 3 bedroom apartment. Hope this helps and Bedwiya's reply is spot on when it comes to renting in Kuwait. Back to top veiledsentimentsJoined: 20 Feb 2003Posts: 17644Location: USA Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:33 pm Post subject: There was a post here lately that AMIDEAST was not providing this service any longer. VS Back to top bangkok_bobJoined: 07 Feb 2010Posts: 11 Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:43 pm Post subject: Amideast just contacted me and they said that they provide the service. The cost is 50 KD for one degree and 100 KD for two degrees. It will take 6-7 weeks. Back to top bangkok_bobJoined: 07 Feb 2010Posts: 11 Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:46 pm Post subject: Sorry for the correction. 50 KD for one degree or two degrees from the same university. 100 KD for two degrees from two different universities. Back to top 15yearsinQ8Joined: 17 Oct 2006Posts: 462Location: kuwait Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:54 pm Post subject: versus a 5 kd stamp for the ministry of higher education to send it to the kuwaiti embassy in washington 5 kd per degree min of higher educ is in shwaikh port free trade zone straight down 60 past kuwait university Back to top StarfellJoined: 24 Mar 2010Posts: 138 Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:44 pm Post subject: lol there's one born every minute 15years.......sounds like old Rommel getting his facts wrong again, mind you, apparently his degree was.......anyway- University of Darwin online perhaps. Back to top bangkok_bobJoined: 07 Feb 2010Posts: 11 Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 4:06 pm Post subject: Below is an email that I have received from the US Embassy: Dear Mr. ..., We can only make certified copies of original documents. If you need your U.S. diploma authenticated, you will find this information at: http://travel.state.gov/law/info/info_606.html AUTHENTICATION OF AMERICAN ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS FOR USE ABROAD DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION IN THIS CIRCULAR RELATING TO THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN COUNTRIES IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. QUESTIONS INVOLVING INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN LAWS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO FOREIGN COUNSEL. U.S. embassies and consulates cannot authenticate diplomas or other documents from universities and other schools in the United States or provide notarial services related to such credentials. PROVISO: Effective January 1, 1983, the U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad ceased to authenticate or provide certified true copies of academic credentials, transcripts or degrees. The U.S. Department of Education determined at that time such documents are not required in the United States for persons who studied abroad who wish to attend primary or secondary school, or college in the United States . This was announced in a joint release by the U.S. Departments of State and Education published in the NAFSA newsletter of December/January 1983. See 7 FAM 874. The U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security also determined that authentication of foreign academic credentials generally is not/not required for U.S. immigration purposes. In an effort to be of assistance to persons who wish to present academic credentials from the United States for use abroad, the following step-by-step guidance is provided. I. COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS 1. Obtain from the registrar of the University an official true copy of the credentials bearing the seal of the university. The registrar should then execute an affidavit attesting to the validity of the document before a notary public in the registrar's office or elsewhere at the university. Frequently the business office of colleges and universities have notaries public. 2. Take the document to the clerk of court of the county wherein the notary was licensed or commissioned to obtain a notarial certificate suitable for use abroad. 3. Transmit the document, with the notarial certificate to the state Notary Public Administrator for application of the state seal. If the country where the document will be used is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the state Notary Public Administrator will affix an apostille certificate and no further authentication is necessary. See the Hague Conference on Private International Law Apostille Page for a current list of countries party to the treaty. The treaty is in force in more than 87 countries. 4. If the country is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the state Notary Public Administrator will affix a state authentication certificate. You should then send the document to the Authentications Office of the Department of State, following the instruction on that offices web page. 5. If necessary, obtain authentication of the U.S. Department of State seal at the foreign embassy in Washington, D.C. (B) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CHAIN CERTIFICATION METHO 1. If the university is located in the District of Columbia , obtain from the registrar of the university an official true copy of the credentials, a statement, executed by the registrar, attesting to the accuracy of the credentials and have that statement notarized by a notary public in the registrar's office, business office or elsewhere in the University. 2. Proceed to the District Building, 441 4th Street, NW, Room 810S and obtain a formal notarial certificate for foreign use. 3. Send the document to the Authentication Office of the Department of State for application of the Department 's seal in the form of an apostille or general authentication certification depending on whether the country where the document will be used is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. 4. For non-Hague Apostille Convention countries, if necessary you may obtain authentication of the U.S. Department of State seal at the foreign embassy in Washington, D.C. Back to top metalvalJoined: 15 Jan 2009Posts: 44Location: Ukraine Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:26 am Post subject: That sounds like hell. The procedures are very time-consuming. In my case, it's worse. I got my degree in the U.S, but now I reside in Ukraine. How am I supposed to do all that stuff when I'm in a different country? Back to top jeffelseJoined: 28 Jul 2010Posts: 8 Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:34 pm Post subject: If you reside in the Ukraine and can't get the apostille, they have people in the U.S. to do these things for you. Sometimes, it's cheaper for the agency to do it 'cause the FedEx International charges back and forth. You can go to places like Apostille Pros www.apostillepros.com metalval wrote: That sounds like hell. The procedures are very time-consuming. In my case, it's worse. I got my degree in the U.S, but now I reside in Ukraine. How am I supposed to do all that stuff when I'm in a different country? 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Remember back when KFC introduced the "Double Down" sandwich? The one that posed the question, "Why do we even bother with bread? Let's just make a sandwich entirely of meat." Well, "The Raid" is like the movie equivalent: "Let's just make a movie out of a two-hour action sequence."
"The Raid" (sorry, "The Raid: Redemption" - apparently you can't import a film into America without giving it a meaningless subtitle. Yanks get nervous if they don't see colons) gives you a brief moment of set-up before lighting the fuse and letting everything go to hell. Whatever information you need, you get while running full speed, as this movie is a marvel of sustained pace and pressure. Here's the premise: An apartment complex in the Indonesian city of Jakarta is populated almost entirely by criminals and lorded over by a vile crime boss. The police attempt to move in and take the complex by force. That's it. What follows is a brutal floor-by-floor assault involving guns, machetes, knives, improv'd explosives, and some of the most brutal, bone-snapping martial arts you've ever seen. And it's kinda awesome.
The sequences build from WTF to OMG so quickly, you can barely keep up, and some of the more imaginative kills (and there are A LOT) were impressive enough to earn appreciative cheers from the audience we saw it with. Sure, "The Raid" often deals in kung-fu movie reality (combatants walk away from blows that would leave the average human in a vegetative state on the floor) and some of the computer-assistance shows its budgetary constraints, but none of it takes away from the sheer adrenaline rush of the movie.
In one stand-out sequence, a bunch of cops get sealed up inside an apartment and decided to hack their way through the floor into the apartment below. They proceed to drop in on a room full of crooks while ANOTHER room full of crooks starts spilling through the hole above them. It's the kind of set piece you can't believe hasn't been done before.
Even more surprising is that the director, Gareth Evans, is Welsh. Maybe we're narrow-minded, but we didn't imagine a British director delivering the kind of movie you'd expect from Tony Jaa. And speaking of Jaa ("Ong-bak"), we are officially rooting for "Raid" star Iko Uwais to be the next big thing in martial arts movies. The guy's got it.
Oh, and if you are the type who fears subtitles, don't worry. Dialogue is, shall we say, sparse. Don't wait for the inevitable English remake (it just won't do it justice, there's no way) and dive in. You won't be disappointed.
"The Raid" opens in limited release March 23rd


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Well I find it hard to believe that they find the same amount or MORE mites on small cell.
I'm not a commercial keeper but here's my story.
I've only been keeping for 3 years now.
Previously to this year I had only the standard 2 boxes on "standard" cells.
I had about 1/2 of my hives with mites at the end of last season.
I don't treat with any chemicals.
I've incorporated methods discussed on the forum here and I went to small cell this year.
I started checking and rechecking 3 weeks ago and my mite count is 0.
That's correct I have no mites this year.
I find it hard to believe that if the cells on small cell are capped earlier, etc. you have more mites because they are not developed by the time the bee comes out.
I have 2 Russian hives and the remainder are Italians and 2 swarms from this year.
Just the way it's working out for me.
The only problem I have is that being "chemical free" I never have enough honey to sell it seems.


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The death of Ahmed Hassan Ahmed, a sports reporter for SIMBA radio, weeks after a star soccer player was killed in a suicide bombing highlights that nowhere does soccer involve a greater act of courage and defiance than in war-ravaged Somalia, a soccer-crazy Arab nation straddling Africa's strategic Gulf of Aden.
Ahmed died of bullet wounds in the stomach and the shoulder.
"As we were covering the match between SITT and Dekadaha, Ahmed fell to the ground at the second half of the match " Somali Football Federation (SFF) spokesman Shafii Mohyadin Abokor said.
Somali league teams SITT and Dekadaha were playing in Mogadishu's Hodan district as African Union-backed forces were battling militant Islamists of Al Qaeda-associated of Al Shabab, which controls large chunks of Somalia.
Soccer is a major battleground for the government and the Al Shabab who have banned the game as 'un-Islamic.' Somalia's U-20 soccer team suffered a serious setback in February when a militant Islamist suicide bomber killed one of its star internationals and wounded two other players.
The attack was also a blow for the SFF which is waging a campaign to lure child soldiers away from the Islamist militia with the prospect of a soccer career. World soccer body FIFA supports the SFF campaign that has succeeded in turning hundreds of Somali youngsters recruited by the militia into soccer players.
The SFF's FIFA-backed campaign under the slogan 'Put down the gun, pick up the ball" is one of the few successful civic efforts to confront the jihadists.
"However difficult our situation is, we believe football can play a major role in helping peace and stability prevail in our country, and that is what our federation has long been striving to attain. Football is here to stay, not only as a game to be played but as a catalyst for peace and harmony in society," Abokar said.
"If we keep the young generation for football, al-Shabab can't recruit them to fight. This is really why al-Shabab fights with us," adds another Somali soccer executive, Abdulghani Sayeed.


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I recently finished playing through The Last of Us (warning: some minor spoilers ahead). It's a beautiful-looking game, the characters and acting are quite good, and though the story is somewhat ridiculous at times, the overall environment and context provided by the game together with the characters make for some affecting experiences. You play the game mostly as Joel, survivor of a global pandemic that's killed much of the population by transforming infected into violent, brainless zombies. A bit silly, but all right, we'll go with it. Survivors huddle in heavily policed and well-guarded settlements ("quarantine zones"). Beyond these zones lie roaming infected and nomadic groups of bandits and independent settlements, with lawlessness and violence the norm. Joel works as a smuggler in this typical post-apocalyptic world. We learn in a flashback at the game's opening that he lost his teenage daughter 20 years earlier at the start of the outbreak.
Enter Ellie, a 14-year-old girl who we discover early on has an immunity to the disease, the first case anyone seems to know about. Joel is hired to help smuggle her out of the city (Boston, nicely recognizable), and through a series of events, the trip leads the two of them across the country. Outside the walls of any quarantine zones, Joel and Ellie must do what is necessary to survive, often extraordinary violence, gruesomely realistic in its rendering. Ellie is mostly believable in her evolution as a character grappling with this violence. At first, she's oddly cavelier about it, though in a way that feels appropriate for a teenager not able or willing to consider the full reality of her situation and what is demanded. Joel, for his part, attempts to insulate her from this violence and he has a clear fatherly instinct that develops further over the course of their journey. Amidst all the violence, the obvious psychological story here, mostly unstated, is that Ellie evolves into the role of a surrogate daughter for Joel, "replacing" the daugher he lost 20 years earlier. And Ellie, likewise, comes to view Joel as a father figure.
Though nothing about the narrative arc is really surprising, I found the characters, their evolution, and their relationships believable and compelling. And the game's final scene is poignant and beautiful, given everything the characters have been through.
To me, this shows a glimpse of what games are capable of. Games offer something that movies and books can't--interaction. And this ability to interact with the characters of a game is a powerful vehicle for developing relationships and attachments to these characters. Likewise for the environment of a game--in a book or movie, we are merely shown the environment or a situation with no control over how it is explored or experienced. Being given even limited control makes us feel more connected to the world being imagined. There are some nicely quiet moments in Last of Us I enjoyed--simply walking along a path, occasionally climbing over obstacles, stopping to admire the wonderful scenery, and listening to Ellie's occasional musings about this or that as she follows along. These moments were oddly engaging to play through, which is interesting because there is almost no "gameplay" in the traditional sense. If I were watching the same events in a movie, it wouldn't be engaging, but when experienced interactively, it is, and helps deepen the relationship the player has to the characters and the story. For comparison, the movie adaptation of The Road has a similar arc to The Last of Us, but with better writing and acting, and while I certainly cared about the characters and enjoyed the film, The Last of Us was in some ways a richer experience for me.
Unfortunately, amidst the rich backdrop of character development and immersion in a beautifully rendered and desolate post-apolocalyptic world in The Last of Us, we get the usual insipid, tedious gameplay largely confined to the framework and mechanisms of the third-person shooter and survival horror genres, with occasional breaks for adventure game style puzzles. I'm not a hardcore gamer--I always set combat difficulty to easy, I don't really care to learn complicated mechanics, and I get easily frustrated by puzzles. In the real world, and in my field of programming, there are usually fifty different ways to accomplish the same thing, and I get to use my creativity in determining what approach I take. Nothing about this is exactly "hard", but there is something satisfying about simply being able to choose an approach, implement it, and have an intended effect. Puzzles in games, on the other hand, can usually be solved in exactly one way, which is arbitrary, unguessable, and unsatisfying. To take just one example from Last of Us, by no means unique to that game, you can't stack boxes on top of each other or climb to reach a ledge, you need to find a ladder. Over time, you certainly get better at guessing what arbitrary sequence of actions gets you to your goal, but it's still tedious.
Likewise for the repeated violence and endless killing throughout the game--again, not at all unique to Last of Us. There is nothing wrong with violence in a game. But playing through area after area of mindless baddies that must be "cleared" to advance is just tedious. The gameplay mechanic of running around shooting and killing has gotten old--it's boring and breaks immersion by virtue of it feeling contrived. In Last of Us, I'd estimate the player must kill upwards of a thousand people. This is ridiculous, and the gameplay stands in stark contrast to the verisimilitude shown in the character development and their relationships in the rest of the game. The characters are more real than the situations they are placed in.
Imagine a game where let's just say fewer than five people (or creatures) are killed or attacked. What would such a game be about? Removing the gameplay crutch of endless violence means more time to focus on character development and interactions, and interaction with the environment, which can all be made much richer. And violence that does remain in the game can then be given appropriate weight and attention and experienced more believably by the characters. The world is an interesting place, it's not just about violence and military strategy, so why can't games reflect that?
I am interested to see how games develop in the coming years. Will the arms race toward greater graphical realism continue, with games largely operating within the confines of the usual tired gameplay mechanics and frameworks? Or will games develop into a powerful and expressive new artistic medium?
I certainly hope it's the latter.


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Affordable Care Act predictions
This contribution for our symposium is by Orin S. Kerr, a professor at George Washington University Law School, where he teaches criminal law and procedure. His scholarly work focuses on the Fourth Amendment and computer-related crimes. Professor Kerr was a law clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy for the October Term 2003.
Here are my predictions on the future of the mandate litigation in the Supreme Court:
1) Will the Court grant cert, and if so, when?
I think they'll probably grant cert eventually in one of the cases, but I doubt they're in a hurry. The lower courts are just beginning to evaluate the constitutionality of the mandate, and each new opinion is adding a fresh perspective. The initial opinions were high on ideology but weak on analysis. More opinions, including en banc opinions and dissents from denial of hearing, will help both the Justices and the litigants better refine their arguments. In Supreme Court lingo, the Justices will want the issue to "percolate." So while I think they'll take a mandate case eventually — and they certainly will if a circuit court strikes down the mandate en banc, or with a panel that survives en banc review — I expect it will be a while.
2) If the Supreme Court does review the constitutionality of the mandate, how will they rule?
Predicting the future is hard, but SCOTUSblog isn't paying us the big bucks for nothing. To make things interesting, I'll hazard a guess of how seven of the nine Justices will vote (assuming all nine are still on the Court when the case is heard).
Here are my guesses. Justices Breyer and Ginsburg are pretty obvious votes for the mandate, as they dissented in United States v. Lopez. Justices Kagan and Sotomayor seem like safe votes for the mandate, even if only for the reason that there is almost no opposition to the constitutionality of the mandate in the Democratic establishment from which they were appointed. Chief Justice Roberts will likely vote to uphold the mandate given the very expansive views of the Necessary and Proper clause that he signed on to just recently in United States v. Comstock. I suspect Justice Kennedy will vote to uphold the mandate given his concurring opinion in United States v. Lopez. And I'm pretty sure Justice Thomas will vote to strike down the mandate given his views of the Commerce Clause. In contrast, I don't have good sense of where Justices Scalia and Alito might come out.
Putting the numbers together, I expect 6 votes for the mandate, 1 against, and 2 uncertain. If my numbers are right, the mandate will be upheld by a vote of anywhere from 6-3 to 8-1.
Recommended Citation: Orin Kerr, Affordable Care Act predictions, SCOTUSblog (Aug. 11, 2011, 6:25 PM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2011/08/affordable-care-act-predictions/


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Mexican Eats: Phenomenal Tinga at Roosevelt Tacos in Jackson Heights
Roosevelt Tacos is a fairly new taqueria on Roosevelt Boulevard in the lively Latino stronghold of Jackson Heights. Formerly, Suadero Tacos, the bright corner shop has maintained the former taquerias' emblem (a photoshopped eagle in flight as well) as its craft: fresh antojitos like huaraches that drape over plates, quesadillas, and sopes, thick coasters of masa, that steam from their time spent on the flattop. There are burritos under blankets of crema ($7), mojarra frita ($14), fried porgies with their skin slashed so the oil can sizzle the flesh, and spicy caldo de camaron soup ($12) that seethes under a film of red oil.
Tacos ($2.50) arrive double-wrapped and anointed with avocado salsa. The suadero's edges are crunchy and well-browned; lengua comes tender and beefy. There's also cecina, carnitas, al pastor, oreja, tripa, and chivo, to round out the selection and a thin, red salsa with a walloping heat.
But everyone in the restaurant—extended families, couples eating at the bar, and single men—hovers over plates of quesadillas ($7). The LP-sized corn tortillas, folded in half to form giant half-moons, are made by hand and as moist as tamales despite their toasting on the griddle, light-years away from the brittle trappings of most street-cart quesadillas. They're topped with refried beans, crema, and cheese, and stuffed with enough meat to take a steak knife to. The tinga, a delicate braise of chicken, onion, tomato, bay, and garlic, could have been pulled straight from the pages of a Chez Panisse cookbook, if not for the robust boost of chipotle pepper. When cradled in the quesadilla, it's one of the best I've ever had the pleasure to eat.
Roosevelt Tacos
94-06 Roosevelt Ave. Jackson Heights, NY 11372 (map) 718-429-0555
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